Hopefully this chapter doesn't get confusing for some people. Well please enjoy, and if you didn't understand this chapter you are free to email me and ask. Hopefully you won't need to. (Email is on userpage.)
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru, Time: Unknown, Place: Unknown
I felt a warm, wet tongue lick across my face.
"Akamaru… stop… it…" I muttered, groggy. Again a tongue licked my face. I pushed it away from me with my hand only to have it be bitten. "OWCH!" I sat up straight and glared at Akamaru who let go and whimpered at me. Sudden pain surged through my head making me fall back over onto the ground. The throbbing continued for about a minute then died down. Akamaru helped me sit up again. I looked around at my surroundings and widened my eyes.
"Where the hell is this?" It was a barren land with nothing but snow. There was a fog of snow so I couldn't exactly see if I was in the middle of nowhere or not. "This sure isn't the temple or the swamps… Man what happened…" Akamaru whimpered again, which made me look at him.
"Aarooh…" I sighed and shook my head.
"I don't know, but you're right it's really cold." I stood up with the help of Akamaru then slowly I got on top of him. "Okay Akamaru, let's see if we can find a place to get out of the snow." Akamaru barked in agreement then trotted forward into the fog of snow. I had no idea where we would end up, but all I could do was rely on Akamaru.
-oO0-o)
I had no idea how much time past, but it was getting colder and colder. It seemed to be nighttime as well, or was it? I didn't know cause I didn't know what this was! Where the hell was this? And where the hell are the others? So many unanswered questions kept swirling through my mind. I couldn't think well either because of the cold. I was starting to lose feeling in my fingers and feet. I wouldn't be able to last much longer out here.
Akamaru looked at me, he could sense my suffering and see it too. He quickened his pace and tripped over something in the process. I flew off of him and skidded against the snow. Pain surged through my head again, worse than before. I tried getting up, but the pain was too great.
"What… the hell… is happening…?" I closed my eyes and blacked out for a minute. Akamaru licked my face to try and get me up, I couldn't really move. Again he licked my face, but this time he grabbed my jacket and started to drag me through the snow. I would have gotten up and walked next to him, but I could barely feel my legs. He continued to drag me around the snow until we were under some kind of building. I looked around and noticed that snow barely fell onto the ground here. I could sort of rest and keep warm. I sat up and leaned against the cold wall, Akamaru came up next to me then laid over me. I slowly wrapped my arm around him and closed my eyes.
I don't know how many hours past, but I woke up to the sound of talking. It didn't sound close to me, but the voices sounded familiar. I opened my eyes and looked around. It had stopped snowing and I was able to see that it was just a huge flat land surrounded by mountains; I could see it was night as well. I slowly got up with Akamaru; we walked around to see if we could find the source of the conversation. An open window caught my attention; I nodded to Akamaru then grabbed string from my pocket and tied a kunai to the end. I threw the kunai up towards the window and hoped it would catch onto something, which it did. I tugged on it to make sure it wouldn't fall out then I started to climb. It was a slippery climb, but I managed to make it to the top.
Grabbing onto whatever I could I looked into the window. I gasped at what I saw. Shikamaru, Temari, Gaara, and Naruto were standing around talking, but there was something different about them. The clothing they wore, it wasn't the same as before, and the way they spoke seemed different as well. I carefully sat on the window seal and listened in.
"Oh? So they've finally arrived?" Shikamaru asked looking at Naruto. He nodded to him.
"They've all been separated as well."
"Who's with whom?" Temari asked Naruto.
"Not really sure, but your double, Shikamaru-sama, is with Neji-sama's double… And Alysa." My eyes widened. Naruto never used -sama to address others. He wasn't that polite, and what did he mean by "double"?
"Oh? Alysa survived the return over?" Naruto nodded to Shikamaru.
"Who would have thought she'd be able to make it. I know she's strong, but give me a break, does Kumo Konjou-sama only keep her around because of her kekkei genkai?" Temari yawned and leaned against the wall; Shikamaru shook his head at her and smirked. I cocked my head slightly; Kumo Konjou was that spirit that Sasuke said convinced Shikamaru to come here, so why did they talk about him as if he was on their side? Had he already gotten to Shikamaru and everyone? No, that couldn't have been right. These guys acted too different to be the same people I know, but still…
"Temari, she is from this world as are we, but she is more complete than us. That makes her stronger." Temari sneered at him and turned away. Shikamaru shook his head again and rolled his eyes. He glanced over at Naruto. "Do you know about the others?"
"Yeah, it seems that Temari-sama's double is with Hinata-sama's."
"Is that so? Heh, I can easily take down my double with that weakling girl from the other world."
"Heh, oh and Kiba's double is alone, I believe he landed near here." I gasped and slipped slightly making noise. They stopped talking and looked around. I peeked down when I got a gripping; wish I hadn't done that though. Gaara was glaring at me with a cold stare that sent chills down my spine.
"Up there. Kiba's double." Shikamaru, Temari, and Naruto all looked up with wide eyes. I twitched then whistled. Akamaru got below me; I jumped off and landed on top of him. I told him to run and he did, just in time as well. A blast of sand shot down where we had just been. I looked back to see Gaara on the window seal staring at me with murderous eyes. Akamaru picked up his pace and ran away from the building not looking back. I leaned my head on Akamaru's back and sighed greatly looking up. It was starting to snow again, hopefully that would cover up our tracks.
I stared up at the sky; I knew something was wrong. This wasn't our world. This was completely different; a parallel universe like that spider had told us. We were in a world we knew nothing about. Separated from each other and no clue about how to get back.
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
Gaara and Shino Aburame, Time: Pre-morning, Place: Unknown
Gaara
Shino Aburame and I looked up to the sky from under my sand that was above us, protecting us from the snow. As soon as we had awoken we both noticed that something was not right, that we weren't where we were supposed to be. I had given us covering from the heavy falling snow. Shino Aburame had sent out a couple of his destructive insects to see if there was anyone or anything nearby. Both of us were now waiting for his insects to return.
I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. We needed to hurry, it was getting colder and I knew we both hated the cold.
"Gaara." I opened my eyes and looked at him. "There's a settlement two miles to the left of us." I nodded to him and slowly placed my sand back in my gourd.
"We go." He nodded to me and we ran to our left. Since we had no general idea which way north was we had to guess. Hopefully the snow would not get any harder than this. Luckily running would keep us going until we found that settlement, but unfortunately if we stopped before finding it the cold air that kept swirling around us would quickly catch up.
It appeared to be nighttime in this desert snow land. I was unsure about the exact time we had arrived here, or how long we had been unconscious. I could already feel the cold biting at my bare skin, my body felt slightly numb as well. Shino Aburame was probably feeling the same, meaning we didn't have much time before we would start slowing down.
"Gaara," I looked over at him, "there seems to be no life here."
"Yes, I noticed that as well. The snow must prevent people from…" I stopped running and looked around carefully. Shino Aburame stopped and looked at me. I heard something, the running of footsteps. I motioned to him that it was coming from the direction of us; he nodded to me. I tried looking through the snow to see the source of the noise, but it was snowing too heavily. Shino Aburame sent out of one his insects to scout ahead. I crossed my arms and waited patiently.
The insect came back and the footsteps grew louder. I could now tell that it wasn't something with two feet, it had four feet and it was running fast.
"It can't tell." I nodded to him and jumped to the left ready to capture whatever this was; Shino Aburame did the same. My sand started to come out of my gourd, while his insects started to come out of him. The footsteps grew louder then we created a barrier and the enemy flew right into it.
"AAAAH!" We swirled our sand and insects around the enemy then dropped them on the snow. I blinked then released my sand when I saw it was Kiba Inuzuka. Shino Aburame dropped his insects and knelt down next to Kiba Inuzuka. I looked to my left to see Akamaru snarling at us.
Kiba Inuzuka shook his head then jumped back in surprise. Akamaru came to his side all the time growling at us.
"Kiba, what are you doing?" Shino Aburame stood up and looked at him with concern. His eyes looked between us then he sighed greatly.
"Akamaru, it's not the other ones." Akamaru barked then stopped growling then sat down next to Kiba Inuzuka looking extremely tired.
"The other ones?" I questioned him, placing my sand back in my gourd.
"Yeah, I just met another one of you Gaara." I blinked in surprised.
"Another one of him? That does not make sense Kiba." Kiba Inuzuka frowned at Shino Aburame.
"What I mean is-"
"Wind scythe jutsu!" A large gust of wind blow toward us that knocked us off our feet; Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru skidded across the snow and landed in-between Shino Aburame and I.
That attack, I thought, It's Temari's.
"Shit, this isn't good. 'Shikamaru' and 'Temari' have caught up to me. Damn it!" I glanced over at Kiba Inuzuka. The way he said Shikamaru and Temari made me believe that there was something different. I looked up and noticed that the snow had suddenly stopped. It gave me a clear view of who was in front of us. My eyes widened, it was Shikamaru and Temari, but they looked different.
"Oh look Shikamaru… It's my little brother's double." Temari grinned at me. Her eyes were not normal, they were the same as the eyes that kunoichi we had encountered before, though they looked a little different. I slowly sat up and stared at them, if she had attacked us then that indicated either she was being controlled or this wasn't my sister. She raised her fan to attack again, but Shikamaru grabbed it and shook his head.
"Temari… you can't attack to kill them. That's for their doubles to do. Remember, you're only allowed to kill your double." Temari glared at Shikamaru, but listened. She placed her fan on her back and yawned.
"Fine, they wouldn't be worth killing anyway." Now I knew for sure that this wasn't Temari and Shikamaru. I closed my eyes then threw my sand toward them, Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka attacked in their own way. We were about to make contact when suddenly we all froze. My sand stopped moving, but fortunately Shino Aburame's insects didn't.
"Temari!"
"Those damn insects of his. Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Strong gusts of wind blew toward us and knocked the insects out of the air, Shikamaru released us from his jutsu and jumped back. We skidded across the snow once again. "Heh, they are so weak Shikamaru. Should I get Gaara to deal with his double?" Get Gaara to deal with his double? She wants to get me to deal with me? I was getting more and more confused about what was truly going on.
"No, Kumo Konjou-sama wants us to wait before attacking. We head back, Temari." Temari growled and glared at him and stayed put. "NOW!" Fear ran into her eyes, she bowed and placed her fan away then jumped back and ran off. Shikamaru watched after her then looked at us. He slowly grinned then ran after her. I stared out after them then sighed and looked at the ground.
"Did we just get our asses kicked around?"
"Yes Kiba." Shino Aburame answered him. I stood up and looked up at the sky.
"It's snowing again. We need cover." Kiba Inuzuka blinked then got up with Akamaru and nodded to me. I made a covering for us to hide under, while Shino Aburame sent out some of his insects to find another settlement.
"What now?" Kiba Inuzuka asked.
"We wait." I answered him. He looked at me then sighed, he got on top of Akamaru and waited. Eventually the insects came back and Shino Aburame informed us of another settlement to the right. I nodded, placed my sand back in my gourd, and then led the way. We needed to find out exactly what was going on here or else we would die. I looked to my left to see the sun starting to rise; we were heading south.
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, Time: Early Sunrise, Place: Unknown
Sasuke
Just hang in there a little bit longer, Sakura. I had been running for almost an hour. Sakura was in my arms, unconscious. We had awoken at the same time, but because of what she was wearing she quickly fainted from lack of heat. I feared that she might get hypothermia, so I had to quickly find cover. We were in a rocky terrain so it was harder to navigate around, especially while carrying someone. I held her closer to my body and looked for a cave, but unfortunately for us there was none in sight. I didn't want to stop and let the cold air wrap around Sakura anymore, so my only choice was to build a fire out of the way of the snow.
I saw an overhanging rock where barely any snow reached. I quickly ran over there and placed Sakura on the ground. I took off my jacket and placed it over her. I ran out and grabbed as many fallen tree branches as I could. I dried them off as best as I could then I stepped back.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Fire came out of my mouth and lit the branches in front of me. I stopped and watched the fire, it stopped then lit up again and stayed. I sighed relief and looked at Sakura. I grabbed her and held her close to the fire and me. "Sakura…"
A couple of hours past, I kept the fire going as long as I could, but I knew we needed to leave. I picked up Sakura and held her close to me before running up the mountain again. The snow was still falling heavily, which slowed me down. It was getting colder and harder to see through the snow.
"Mmm…" I glanced down at Sakura; she was starting to wake up.
Shit, I need to hurry. I tried to quicken up my pace, but I was already tired, plus my legs were starting to numb. Damn it! If only there was… I stopped and blinked. Is that…? It is! I quickly ran to my left to the cave I had seen on the ridge. I looked inside when I arrived. I sensed no danger, so I walked in and placed Sakura on a dry part of the ground. I grabbed a log from out side and took out a kunai. Quickly I started to cut it down to pieces that I could use. After about a minute I placed the logs together and lit a fire. I grabbed Sakura and moved her next to the fire then I sat down next to her exhausted.
"Mmm… S… Sasuke-kun?" I looked at her as she started to open her eyes.
"I'm here Sakura." She opened her eyes more and located me.
"Wha… what happened?" She started to get up, so I placed my hand behind her back and helped her sit up.
"You just fainted, that's all." I pulled her close to me and held onto her. "Everything will be fine. We just need some rest before moving out again." She nodded to me and placed her head in my chest.
"Where… are we?"
"I don't know. All I know is that we are in a foreign land, and of course there's snow everywhere, but right now we need to rest okay?" She nodded to me and closed her eyes. I pulled her into my lap and leaned against the wall behind us. I looked at the fire to make sure it'd burn for a while then I closed my eyes to sleep.
-oO0-o)
"Sasuke-kun…Sasuke-kun!" I opened my eyes to see Sakura staring down at me.
"Sakura…?"
"Sasuke-kun, the snow has stopped." I nodded my head and slowly got up to my feet. The fire looked like it had burned out a few minutes ago. That was good, we'd be warm for a little bit during our run. Sakura came over to me and offered me my jacket. I shook my head at her.
"Keep it, you need it more than I do." She hesitated before placing it on. "Alright, let's go then." I grabbed her hand gently then ran out of the cave. Looking around I could see that we were high on a mountain ridge. The best place to go would be down, so I started to head that way. I looked and noticed that it was starting to snow again. Damn it, does this snow ever stop? I picked up my pace with Sakura behind me. I looked around and almost expected an ambush, but all was silent. It made me worry even more.
"Sasuke-kun, I don't sense any danger…"
"I don't either…"
"… … …What do you suppose happened to the others?" I glanced back at her.
"I don't know… I hope that they didn't end up in a place like we did."
"Yeah…" We both fell silent; all that could be heard was our footsteps on the soft snow. I sighed hoping nothing bad would happen.
We reached the bottom of the mountain to find an old ruined town. Carefully we entered and looked around. It was really silent and that was starting to bug me.
"Sasuke-kun, something's wrong. I don't sense any people." I stopped and closed my eyes. She was right, I didn't sense anyone either.
"Maybe no one lives here anymore…"
"You're right, no one lives here anymore." We quickly turned around, kunai drawn. A young boy stood behind us with a spider doll in his hand. "Well… no one 'alive' anyway." I kept my kunai out and slowly approached him.
"What do you mean no one 'alive'?"
"This town… it used to have people, but they all died. Now all that lives here is an unknown creature." Unknown creature? I didn't like the sound of that.
"What exactly does this… creature look like?" I looked at his emotionless face; his cold empty eyes glanced behind us. He lifted up his hand and pointed.
"That." I turned around quickly, my eyes widening. Something, I don't know what it was but it was heading toward us slowly. It walked as if it was crippled, had spider-like arms out of its chest, and it didn't have a face whatsoever. Sakura screamed making the creature look at us. I grabbed her mouth and stared at it staying still. It stopped then it started to move again, but this time faster.
Shit, time to get the hell out of here! Still holding onto Sakura, I grabbed the boy and jumped onto the building next to us. Luckily the creature just kept running forward, or I thought it was luckily. It stopped next to our building then started to climb it. What the hell is this thing? I kept jumping to other buildings then hid behind a chimney. I remained completely silent hoping that thing wasn't able to jump.
"That creature," the boy in my arms whispered, "It reacts to sound. It can't see, so we are alright here." I nodded to him and placed my hand in a quiet motion over my mouth. He nodded and stayed still.
And I thought all things were going well, but damn, this thing just had to come out of nowhere. I looked at Sakura who was trying to control her breathing. She was nervous and I was just as nervous. I glanced at the boy the only one completely calm. I shook my head wondering how he could remain so calm at a time like this, he was calm when he pointed at the monster as well. Maybe all his fear had disappeared from seeing that monster so much. Grunting from behind us made me stop thinking about him and start thinking about that thing.
I turned my head slowly and looked through a hole in the chimney. The creature was still on the first building. It was just standing there, probably listening for us. I gulped and closed my eyes. You can do this Sasuke, I told myself, It's just a creature, a really creepy one that might eat us. But you can take it down easily… right? I looked away and slowly breathed in and out. The boy tugged on my shirt making me look down at him.
"What?" I said soundlessly.
"Fire-based attacks won't work on it." My eyes widened. How did this boy know that I was going to use a fire-based attack? I looked back at the creature and bit my lower lip. Our only option then was to run the hell out of this town. I got a grip on the boy and Sakura then jumped up and off the building as quiet as I could. I heard the creature grunt, it probably heard us. I ran out of the city and toward the barren plains. For some reason it wasn't snowing in the town, but it was definitely snowing out here.
"The creature will no longer follow us. It kind of just protects that town." I stopped and looked at the boy. I placed him down on the ground and examined him. He was filthy and his hair was choppy as if he'd been traveling around a lot. Sakura bent next to him and examined him more closely.
"What is a boy like you doing in a town with a creature like that?" Sakura asked him.
"I was… ow… looking for you two." My eyes widened and Sakura stopped examining him.
"Looking for us? But why?" He looked at Sakura then at me.
"I want you to help my sister… I know she was the one who brought you here…"
"Wait what? I don't get quite what you…" I heard a loud scream that made all of us jump, even the boy. "Don't tell me that was the monster…"
"It was… it's leaving the town."
"But I thought you said-"
"I thought it wouldn't leave, but I guess it senses your chakra." I twitched.
"Great, just great. How about we keep running?"
"Okay, but before we do. You know the girl that was guiding Shikamaru-sama?" Sakura and I glanced at each then nodded our heads at the boy. "She is my sister, I need you to help me locate her. Otherwise Kumo Konjou will kill her and take over Shikamaru-sama's body." Our eyes widened and we looked at each other. This was not going down well.
"Let's go, we'll talk about this later… um…"
"Itzal."
"Right, Itzal. Let's go before that thing gets us." Sakura grabbed his hand and I grabbed hers. We ran across the barren snow land, and I started to wonder.
Where the hell were we exactly?
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
Tenten and Choji Akimichi, Time: Mid-morning, Place: Unknown
Tenten
"AAAAAAH! Where are we?" I hit my head on a tree and stared at the ground. Choji came up next to me and placed his hand on my back. We had no idea where we were or what this place was, but we did figure out a couple of things.
One: It was snowing like there was no tomorrow.
Two: We were in a forest.
And three: There was not a single person around. I sighed and looked up at the sky. Hitting my head against a tree was not going to get us anywhere.
"Tenten-san… are you going to be alright?" I looked at Choji and tried to smile, but failed.
"I will be once I figure out what is going on around here." I stood up straight and looked around. "Which direction have we been going?" Choji looked up at the sky then pointed to the left.
"We've been heading west."
"West huh?" I shook my head and started to walk. "I wish Neji, even Kiba, was here. It would make finding a settlement easier." Choji nodded his head.
"We are just going to have to keep going west toward that building we saw."
"Yeah…" My stomach growled making me stop. Choji looked at me and slightly laughed, I gave him a look and rolled my eyes.
"Here." He said handing me some food. I blinked then grabbed the bag.
"Thanks." He smiled and took out a bag for himself. I leaned against a tree and started to eat. I had a weird feeling about not moving. I didn't feel any presences, yet I felt like we were being watched.
"Hey Choji… you feel that? The feeling of being watched?" He stopped eating and looked at me then around.
"Kind of… I thought it was just me though."
"Hmm… I think we should walk and eat. I don't like not moving. Something doesn't feel right about just staying put."
"Okay." We started to walk again and the feeling kind of dissipated, but still stayed at the edge of my mind.
"Where do you think this place is?" I asked trying to get that feeling out of my mind.
"Um… we are in a snowy land, but I don't think it's the Snow Country."
"Hmm, yeah I thought that too. I mean, the Snow Country had people there. This place is… empty."
"Yeah, I haven't seen a single soul, or even animals for that matter." I stopped and looked at him.
"You're right."
"Animals should be around here right? I mean there are animals that live in the snowy lands."
"Yeah, but… it's so quiet. It's creepy. It's like the entire land is dead…" We stared at each other; what if what I had just said was right? Could the land really be… dead? "I think we should keep going." He nodded to me and started to walk again. I walked next to him silently. I felt so confused and even somewhat helpless. I never feel helpless, but why did I? Maybe because Lee and Neji aren't here, but no… that can't be it. I've never felt helpless before when they weren't around. Perhaps it's because this place feels different.
I sighed and looked up at the sky as we walked. Would we ever find a way back home?
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
Ino Yamanaka and Rock Lee, Time: Afternoon, Place: Unknown
Ino
"IT'S SO COLD!" I screamed out to open space. Lee came up behind me looking like he was unsure what to do. He didn't have a jacket to give me, and if he did I know he'd give it up. I crossed my arms over myself, shaking.
"Ino-san… calm down please…" I turned and glared at him.
"Calm down? NO I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! I'M COLD, C.O.L.D. I hate the cold!" Lee winced and took a step back. I turned around and stared up at the sky.
"… Ino-san…"
"What?"
"If we continued to move, you would be warmer…" I glanced at him then sighed greatly.
"Fine, whatever! You lead then."
"Yes ma'am!" He offered his hand to me; I twitched then took it. He ran forward and I followed him. I looked around as we ran; we had awoken near a bog-like area. I didn't like it; it was filthy and disgusting.
"Lee, stay away from the bog this time." He nodded his head and moved to the east. I watched him then our surroundings. We were dangerously close to the bog. To close for me, but I guess it couldn't be helped considering this entire area was bog-like. Why did we have to be in a place like this? Why couldn't we just have awoken in a warm, grassy place? No, we had to wake up to a snowy, cold bog. I sighed knowing complaining about it wasn't going to get us anywhere.
We continued running and my mind started to drift to past events, all the events that caused this to happen. The first time we encountered Kumo Konjou, Shikamaru's memory loss, the return of the Sand Siblings, Shikamaru's sickness, a spider from Kumo Konjou, Shikamaru leaving, and then us coming here… wherever here is. Why did all of this have to happen? And why does it surround just Shikamaru? What's so special about that lazy bum?
I sighed; I shouldn't be talking about my teammate like that. It's not his fault that everything is revolving around him lately, but I still won't understand it.
"Hey Lee…" Lee glanced back at me.
"Yes Ino-san?"
"Are we… going to find the others?" He slowly stopped and looked at me. A smile came to his face.
"I'm sure we will!" I stared at him then nodded smiling back.
"Heh, you're right! … Hey this area, it resembles an area like a swamp right?"
"Yes."
"Then maybe the others are in the swamp! Perhaps the swamps near here?" He looked around then pointed west.
"It gets swampier that way. I believe what you're saying is correct."
"Alright then! Let's head that way!" I ran forward and he quickly followed after me. Whatever was going on, we were going to find our friends for sure!
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
Kankuro and Naruto Uzumaki, Time: Late Afternoon, Place: Unknown
Kankuro
"NARUTO WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TOUCH?"
"I DIDN'T TOUCH ANYTHING!"
"THEN WHERE DID THOSE BIRD THINGS COME FROM?"
"Um… the vents?"
"AH DAMN IT NARUTO!"
"I'M SORRY!" Naruto and I were running from a horde of black birds, and they sure weren't happy to see us. We were just exploring an empty building when sudden birds came out of nowhere. I swear Naruto had touched something, no matter how many times he said he didn't. Well I guess it didn't matter anymore considering if we didn't get out of here we'd die! We turned right sharply into an alleyway, unfortunately the birds followed.
Damn, we have some pretty smart birds here. I reached into my shuriken pouch and pulled out a poison bomb. Dodge this birdies.
"Naruto close your mouth! Don't breathe in!" I made sure he was ready then I threw the bomb backwards and grabbed his arm and ran into a building. I quickly hid in another room with him. We held our breaths, and hoped those birds would die from that. Screeching filled the air for several minutes then died down. We looked at each other and waited a couple of more minutes for the poison smog to disappear. Carefully we looked outside, no more birds only the sight of the snow falling silently. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat on the ground, Naruto sat down next to me.
"I hope that never happens again." Naruto said sounding exhausted.
"Me too… how about we get going before it does happen again."
"Can we rest first?" I looked at him and nodded. After a couple of minutes we got up and walked. "Why is this city so big? I've never seen a city this big before! And the buildings… they are so different than anything I've seen before." I nodded in agreement, the buildings had designs I'd never seen before either.
Suna's buildings didn't even come close to these buildings. They were several stories high and made out of some kind of metal. There were windows on practically every floor. My mind wandered on how this could be possible. We can build buildings with several stories, but not as many as these ones had. They had to at least be between twenty to forty stories. And the material it was made out of it; it was very unique. I've never seen buildings made out of metal before.
I suddenly stopped, something from one of the buildings caught my eye.
"Naruto, look at this." He stopped and looked where I was pointing.
"What are…" His eyes widened and he took a step forward. "Is that… are those…?" I nodded to him and walked toward the building with him following me. Walking over some debris I examined what I had seen. Naruto came up behind me with his hand over his mouth. "It reeks."
"Looks like this person's been dead for quite a few years." The skeleton in front of me still had some skin on it. I couldn't tell how it died though. There was nothing to indicate its death.
"It looks like the person just sat down and died." He was right that was what it seemed like. I stood up straight and searched around. More dead bodies laid across the building.
"This is just… I can't even find a word to describe this horror." I walked out of the building and looked around at the others. "Same thing here Naruto." He came up next to me and looked in.
"What the hell caused this? Why would an entire city just die for no apparent reason?"
"That's what I would like to know. That probably explains the birds, we disturbed their 'feeding' time." Naruto shuddered at the thought and just stood there, I kept on moving. "Come on Naruto, we shouldn't just stand around. Whatever killed this city, it might kill us too." That got him moving, he ran up to catch up with me but tripped. I stopped and looked at him frowning.
"Owowowow…" He got up and looked to see what he tripped on. His eyes widened and he jumped away.
"Eh…?"
"It-it-it-it's a hand!" I looked to where he was pointing. Indeed it was a hand, a hand that wasn't dead! I moved away slowly as the hand went into the ground. I looked at Naruto and gulped then we both jumped up onto a building to stay off the ground.
"I'm officially freaked out now. What the hell was that? I really do hope it wasn't anything…" We hid in the shadows inside of the building and waited. Nothing, the hand didn't come back out. I picked up some debris and threw it down where the hand disappeared. It hit the surface and immediately the hand popped back out grabbing what I had thrown. Naruto and I looked at each then backed up. "Ooookay, time to leave." He nodded to me and we ran through the building and to the other side. We decided to stay on top of the buildings this time after witnessing that.
We had been walking around this city for quite a long time, but that was the weirdest thing we had seen so far. I was hoping we didn't see anything else just as freaky. With the snow falling it made it really cold, even inside of the buildings. I shook myself and jumped onto the top of a building, Naruto landed next to me.
"Kankuro, this place is huge. How are we going to get out of here?" I shrugged and looked around for any signs of life. I didn't sense any, but that didn't mean there wasn't any here. Naruto placed his hands behind his head and watched me. It was really silent and that was starting to disturb me.
"Naruto, do you feel anything unnatural about this place?" He didn't look at me, I slightly twitched. "Naruto." Again he didn't move. I was about to say something again, but he placed his hand over my mouth making me glare at him.
"Shh, listen. Do you hear that?" I frowned then closed my eyes and listened. Nothing at first, then faint screaming. My eyes widened.
"Temari!"
"Are you sure?"
"Positive, I'd know her scream from anywhere. Let's go!" I jumped off the building with him following, we ran on the ground not caring what tried to grab at us. All that mattered was getting to my sister.
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
Temari and Hinata Hyuuga, Time: Late Afternoon, Place: Unknown
Temari
I screamed as a huge black bird lifted me off the ground. Hinata grabbed a hold of its other talon and hanged on tightly.
"Temari-san!" I looked over at her then closed my eyes. This day was not going well. First, we fall through a couple of floors in a building. Second, spiders tried to cocoon us. Third, we were chased by small black birds, which I easily killed off. And now a bird the size of a small building was kidnapping me! This day was definitely taking the turn for the worse.
I tried to move in the bird's talon, but my arms were pinned against my body. Frustrated I decided not to move at all, I couldn't reach my fan so it was just a waste of breath. All I could do was wait for Hinata to do something. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was climbing up the bird's leg probably trying to reach its head. The bird swerved suddenly almost making Hinata fall off.
Damn bird, I thought, what is your problem? I started to struggle again getting impatient with being in its talons. I am not going to be carried off to your damn nest! I looked over at Hinata to see that she was at the bird's face. She closed her eyes then shot chakra at it making it scream and shake violently. Its talons loosened up greatly and I realized right then how far up we actually were. Hinata fell off the bird, while I fell out of the bird's talon. We screamed as we fell down, I tried to reach for my fan but the air turbulence was too great. I looked over at Hinata and tried to grab her, but she was too far away. I closed my eyes hoping this wasn't the end.
"TEMARI!" I opened my eyes and felt someone catch me. Whomever it was slid across the ground with me in their arms. I blinked and saw that Hinata had been caught as well. I looked up to see who had caught me.
"Kankuro!" I hugged him as he sat up, his eyes widened in surprise. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"Yeah I'm glad to see you too. That was a bit frightening to see you falling from the sky like that." I nodded to him smiling with relief. I looked over at Hinata to see that Naruto was the one that had caught her. I poked Kankuro to watch. Hinata opened her eyes and blinked. Her face suddenly got completely red and she struggled slightly. Naruto unprepared for her struggle wobbled and fell over backwards with Hinata landing in his lap. Kankuro and I laughed as he placed me feet first on the ground.
"Hinata, are you alright?" Naruto asked sitting up. Hinata got up quickly nodding her head. "But your face is all red, you don't have a fever do you?" I laughed again at how naïve Naruto still was. Kankuro shook his head as well then his eyes widened.
"Oh shit, talking time is over. That bird is coming back!" Kankuro grabbed my hand and jumped down into the building we were on top of. Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and followed. The bird swooped over the roof screeching. Kankuro pulled off his puppet ready to fight it, but I grabbed his hand and shook my head. "But…"
"Not here, I have a feeling we might wake up those little black birds." His eyes widened and he sighed hanging his head. He put his puppet back on his back.
"I don't want to go through that again… that's for sure." I half smiled. That bird was circling around us like we were prey, which apparently we were.
"So now what?" Naruto asked me, while still holding Hinata's hand.
"We wait till it goes away?" I said unsure myself.
Sudden talons broke through the hole and clawed at us. We jumped to opposite sides against the wall. It kept screeching and trying to get us. I gulped and looked down behind me. It was a long fall, and I didn't feel like falling all over again.
"How about we run!" Naruto yelled over the screeching.
"That's a great idea! You two get over here then!" Kankuro agreed. Naruto's eyes widened, but he nodded. His hand gripped Hinata's tighter then he ran and dodged the bird's talons getting over to us. "Alright everyone jump across through the building's window into the other one!"
"Are you insane, Kankuro?"
"I might be… just a little." I glared at him, but sighed. We all stood on the edge then jumped out grabbing onto the edge barely. We quickly got up and ran deeper into the building. Fortunately the bird didn't notice, it continued to claw around. "Let's get out of here. I don't like being in buildings much, or being on the ground for that matter." I blinked but followed him as he ran out of the building.
"Kankuro… have you heard from Shikamaru or anyone else?" He glanced at me and shook his head.
"No, I awoke here in the city with just Naruto. I'm guessing you just woke up with Hinata." I nodded to him.
"Do you think everyone else woke up in this city, or somewhere else?"
"With our luck, somewhere else." I frowned sadly and sighed. What were we supposed to do now? We were lost in an unknown city with no idea of how to get out or where to go. I gripped my heart feeling sadness overwhelm it.
Shikamaru…
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
Shikamaru Nara, Neji Hyuuga, and Alysa, Time: Sunset, Place: Unknown
Shikamaru
"Neji stop it!" I grabbed Neji's hand, which was at Alysa's throat. He held her against the wall with anger in his eyes.
"Shikamaru be quiet for a moment! This is her fault, and I want answers!" He pushed me back with one hand making me glare at him. Alysa didn't struggle in his grip, but she did start to cry. "So answer my question! Where the hell are we?" I've never seen Neji lose his cool like this; it was really out of character for him.
"… I'm… I'm sorry. We… we are in the World of Chaos. My home world." Neji's eyes widen and he slightly loosened his grip.
"How did we get here?"
"Through the Ritual of Time… it is a ceremony that affects the Time Continuum. Kumo Konjou sent us to a parallel universe, a place where your own selves exist, except living different lives. They are incomplete though…" Neji let go of her completely, which she dropped and grabbed her throat coughing. Clash jumped onto her shoulder and rubbed his head against her neck softly. Neji knelt down in front of her looking guilty for hurting her.
"Incomplete?"
"I am complete because I am the only one of myself between our two worlds, but since your own selves exist in this place they need to absorb you in order to become complete." Our eyes widened, confused.
"Absorb us?"
"Yes, if they kill you they will absorb you becoming complete. Kumo Konjou will then give them access to your own world where they will cause chaos and make a world like this one." I looked around and gripped my hands. A world like this, huh? Snow everyone and always freezing, a place with no people or life? I sure didn't want a world like this.
"How do we stop them from doing this?"
"You must kill them before they kill you, but it will be difficult. I can help you with that, like I was doing before."
"Like you were doing before?" Neji cocked his head slightly and Alysa nodded.
"When I first met you, Gaara-sama, and Naruto-sama. My kekkei genkai is the ability to take a person's jutsu and fighting abilities. I can become them without looking like them."
"I see… that's what we kind of concluded after the fight. Alysa… that is your name correct?" She nodded to him. "Can you tell us where we are?" Alysa looked at me and held out her hand.
"The book please." I blinked at her then remembered what she wanted. I reached into my bag and pulled out Myths of Kumo Konjou and handed it to her. She flipped through to the back and showed us a map. "We are here, in the swamp. This place is called Angra Mainyu meaning Evil Spirit of the Swamps. The other areas are: The forest Agana meaning Blood Forest, the snow desert Morton meaning Desert of Death, the mountains Nereza meaning Mountains of Darkness and the town at the edge of the mountain Cyth meaning Messenger Village, the bogs, Akeldama meaning Field of Blood, the city Céleste meaning Heavenly City, the lake Usha meaning Dawn of Demon's Lake, and the river Avdima meaning River of Destruction. That is all the areas of Chaos." I blinked and stared at the book. All those places had evil names. I glanced at Neji who had a serious expression on his face.
"Alysa, where are our friends?"
"They are in pairs, each at one of these locations. Though it is impossible to know which location."
"So we are going to be trying to find them blind?" She nodded to him sadly. He sighed and looked away. "This is becoming a big problem."
"Neji, we need to find someone soon or…" My eyes widened and my heart started to hurt. I grabbed at it and fell to the ground in pain.
"You're finally mine!" No, Kumo Konjou! I felt something enter my body then everything started to fade.
"Kumo Konjou is possessing his body!"
"What? Shikamaru! Shikamaru!" I fell to the ground closing my eyes. Pain surged throughout my entire body, I couldn't move. It felt like my heart was going to burst, and that my body was on fire. I couldn't hear anyone anymore, I couldn't hear anything. My mind started to drift away, but not before I thought of one thing before I fainted.
Temari…
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
So? How did you like it? Pretty different right? Don't answer that.
I've had a couple of confusions about this. NO, this is not the end of the story! There are still plenty of chapters to come.. Sorry about that.