Chapter Title: Sterile

Words: 7662

Series: Naruto, ...

For perhaps the first time in days, his eyes opened. His eyelids cracked as dry mucus tore apart, a film of it left behind making his vision foggy and clouded. The sharp contrast of clarity between his left eye and his right eye was immediately apparent, and he reflexively reached up to his left eye to ensure that he wasn't imagining things. It was there, as there as it had ever been, and the memories of having it torn out by his deceased teammate seemed blurred and fuzzy.

That's right... it had all been a dream; a nightmare. One induced by some powerful demon of sorts. Considering there was no horrific imagery of people long since dead, he could assume he was no longer in that realm. Then... it seemed Sasuke and Naruto were successful in getting them out. Letting his nerves calm down, Kakashi shut his left eye, allowing his right eye to more readily adjust to vision. After a few minutes of slow blinking, any bleariness and mucus film cleared, allowing him perfect vision once again. With his vision restored, he took the time to examine his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was that the room looked like a hospital room. The equipment he was hooked up to appeared very new and pristine, and the entire room had a very clean, very sterile look to it. However, he could immediately tell it was not Konoha's Hospital. As much as he wished it was the familiar hospital, and all that had occurred in his recent memory was just a horrible, hallucinogenic dream, the entire debacle he had gone through in the past few days of his memory were not dreams, but very much reality. This was a completely unknown hospital he did not recognize, and one that was just different enough that he would bet any amount of money that it was a completely different world. A shame; he had really hoped they'd jump to their world, but it went just as he expected, more or less.

Adjusting himself so that he could sit, Kakashi collected his bearings. The first thing he did was take off the face mask that was pumping too much oxygen for his now awake self. Rubbing lightly at the creased skin, he began to sort his thoughts.

The last thing he really remembered – remembered with clarity, that is – was seeing Sakura with a large gaping wound in her chest. After that, his memory got fuzzy. He recalled a cat – rather, a cat person – moving shadows that were too much like a Nara's for his liking, a haunting voice in his head, as well as the two male members of his team. It was only after meeting up with them that Kakashi's memories – fuzzy as they were – completely ended.

Rubbing his left eyelid absently, he recalled the strange change in his Sharingan; particularly one that was even more draining than the normal form of the Sharingan, and had resulted in a vortex that sucked those shadows inside. It had taken a lot out of him, and left him mildly delirious – which left him very pointedly delirious due to the fact he had already been mildly delirious over the fact he had thought he had killed Sakura.

Which, he thought absently, was something he'd soon prefer to forget. Nightmare or no, the thought of killing another person close to him – as distant as he and Sakura were, regardless – like that. He had enough blood on his hands. He couldn't stain them with those of his own companions.

Drifting away from his more morbid thoughts, Kakashi vaguely recalled reading something about an advanced stage of the Sharingan, once upon a time. It was considered a clan secret, but going through a few channels later on in his life – ANBU channels – had given him some useful information on the Sharingan. If he was right, there was an advanced stage of the Sharingan called the "Mangekyou Sharingan" that required sufficient mental trauma to awaken.

It was somewhat odd, he thought, that he hadn't awoken it before... or had he? He couldn't recall having it before, but he did know that – after killing Rin – the Sharingan had matured from its two tomoe to three... he remembered that much, at least.

Regardless, it was something he'd have to check more thoroughly when he had access to a mirror.

The door to the room opened up, drawing him from his thoughts. At the thought of human(or otherwise) contact, Kakashi briefly realized he wasn't wearing his usual mask, but shrugged it off as the person entered the room. It was a young woman, snappily dressed and quite attractive. She wore one of those foreign suits he'd known had become popular in some areas of the Land of Fire: a black 'suit' coat, white button shirt, a red tie, a black, knee length skirt, finished off with tall black heels. Past her attire, she had dark reddish-brown eyes, red hair that covered part of the left side of her face, and pale skin with just a hint of makeup.

Judging by her perfectly neutral expression, she was a serious person. Not quite harsh or cold like many ninja were, but one who took business matters seriously. When she looked at him, she did not seem surprised, but nodded her head in a mild greeting, one Kakashi returned. It was only then that Kakashi noticed someone else entering the room. A man wearing a suit similar to the woman, save for black slacks instead of a skirt, stepped inside and closed the door shut behind him. He took up position at the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed. His expression was rougher than the woman's, a clear agitation causing his brow to set into a mild scowl. His sharp facial features were contrasted by the short, messy, bright white hair and a pair of narrowed gray eyes. For some reason or another, he had a small white bandage over his left brow, and a shadow of facial hair that was just a bit longer than a shadow, but his white hair made it harder to tell.

"It's quite fortunate that you woke when you did, sir," the woman said calmly as she walked over to the foot of his hospital bed, "I was just checking up on you on the off chance you had awoken. I would have been gone for several days had you not already been awake."

"Lucky." Kakashi rasped, wincing as he did. Although not dry, his throat was fairly rough from disuse. The woman kindly grabbed a pitcher of water on a small table at the end of the bed, pouring a glass that she quickly handed to Kakashi. After several large gulps, he finished the glass and handed it back to the woman. "Where am I?"

"Tatsumi Port Island in Japan." The woman said, pouring more water into the glass. "You're in the Kirijou Company's Private Hospital, and I am Mitsuru Kirijou, the CEO of the Kirijou Company." Words that meant nothing to Kakashi, but the glass of water she held out was more than welcome. He remained quiet as he took several sips of the water, eying the woman carefully. "We have quite a lot of questions of you, but the first is simply your name, if you'd be so kind."

"Kakashi. Kakashi Hatake."

Kirijou nodded her head. "I see." She paused for a moment, eying Kakashi carefully, and he could tell she was considering something. What, he couldn't say. "If I may be so bold, would you kindly explain to me why you and three children appeared out of a white wormhole in a nondescript alleyway?"

Kakashi blinked owlishly at the question. Is that how they appeared? Through a white wormhole? It wasn't quite what he had been expecting, but he supposed it made sense with the bright flash of light that using the technique caused. "Am I the first to awaken?"

"Second to last, actually." Kirijou said, giving him a very pointed look to go along with that statement. She didn't seem to happy that he had asked a question instead of answering her question. "The blond gave an insane tale about how you all arrived, the black haired boy refused to speak, and the pink haired girl is catatonic."

Kakashi winced at the last bit of information, confirming what he had feared while he had still been conscious. Sakura's chakra had been all over the place, and it seemed she had been stuck in a nightmare, one that was simply too much for her relatively fragile mental state. He felt especially guilty considering she got drawn into his own nightmares against her will and had been killed by his own hands inside of it.

"I'm sure whatever Naruto – the blond boy – told you is accurate, albeit with some slight exaggeration and confusion on his own part." Kakashi started, debating whether to tell the truth or not... knowing Naruto, the blond had already blabbed the entire truth to the woman and was merely being treated as an insane boy. Perhaps, then, the truth would "set them free" if it came from a second source? He could only hope. "While I wasn't conscious when he actually used the technique, we used it to escape a very bad, very dangerous situation that would have resulted in a fate worse than death. The technique we used is a Fūinjutsu technique that crosses the borders of Time and Space, a technique designed to allow the user to travel to different worlds, different dimensions, and even different times."

"You can't expect us to believe that." The white haired man interrupted, scoffing as he did. "That's completely ridiculous!"

"Quiet, Akihiko." Kirijou said, her tone short but not rude. The man shut his mouth, grumbling irritably under his breath. "I suppose that this isn't your first time using this... Fūinjutsu technique?"

"No, unfortunately. The technique isn't completed, and it's unstable. It spits us out at random points with no rhyme or reason to its methodology. It's the third time we've used it, unless I missed something very important when I was unconscious." Kakashi said with a shrug.

"Do you recall what your previous... 'world' was like?"

"In a word? Nightmarish. Lots of shadows, some tentacles too." Kakashi said vaguely. "There was more, but to be honest, I'd rather forget it all."

Kirijou nodded her head, expression thoughtful. "Well, your story more or less lines up with the boy's. Vaguer than his, but I don't think the boy would know what 'vague' was, even if it was staring him in the face."

"No, I don't think he would." Kakashi said with a smile.

"You can't be believing this crap, Mitsuru!" 'Akihiko' cut in again, looking irritated. "Just because their stories line up doesn't mean they're telling the truth! World travel? Dimensional travel? Time travel? It's too ridiculous!"

"Perhaps it is, but we've both dealt with things that should be impossible." Kirijou said laxly, giving Akihiko a sideways glance. "Regardless of the absurdity of their story, they've been unconscious since the moment they arrived through the wormhole, yet their facts line up. Unless they planned the lie before the travel, which I have a hard time believing to be the case, it's more than likely true. The blond boy is simply too hyper and scatterbrained to be capable of remembering an elaborate lie like this prior to their appearance through the wormhole. If he tried, I'd expect more blunders than what we got from him."

Kakashi got a chuckle out of that, nodding his head in agreement. "He's a simple minded individual, and he certainly forgets a lot of important things he should remember – and tends to remember things most people would prefer he forgot." Kirijou smiled slightly at the comment, while Akihiko let out a slight scoff. "You kept us separate to ensure our stories matched, didn't you?"

"Quick on the uptake." Kirijou said, not at all phased about being called out on the fact. "There were security reasons, as well as space availability, but yes, that was our primary intention. I was inclined to believe the blond, despite how outlandish the tale he told us was. Here in this world, things like the 'supernatural' and 'magical' and 'scientifically impossible' are all things that the vast majority of the population believe to be nonexistent. The thought of interdimensional travel would be scoffed at by most people."

"But you aren't most people." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"No, we aren't." Kirijou smiled wryly. "The Kirijou Company is – secretly – the leading investigator of the supernatural and paranormal, although our primary goal is to ensure they remain secrets to the common populace. If word got out that these sorts of things existed-"

"Panic would strike." Kakashi said, nodding his head. "I understand." While it never was about 'supernatural' things in his world – people were all too willing to believe the supernatural when things like Ninjas and the Tailed Beasts existed – there were plenty of things leaders kept secret to prevent a public outcry. One such secret was Naruto's heritage, as the people of Konoha would no doubt freak out, riot, and just cause general mayhem over him being the son of their beloved Fourth Hokage, not the spawn of the devil himself. No one who knew knew if the people would react positively or negatively at the news, but no one who knew wanted to risk it.

"Good. Keep that in mind whenever we decide to discharge you from the hospital." Kirijou said, causing Akihiko to whip his head around to her.

"You're going to discharge them?" He asked, shocked. "We don't know anything about them!"

Kirijou sighed slightly, giving Akihiko a flat look. "We won't discharge them fully, naturally. They will still remain under the Kirijou Company's watch, but they will be at least be allowed access to more than just a few cramped hospital rooms." Kirijou told him sharply. Akihiko didn't look too pleased at the information. Waving him off, Kirijou said, "Please inform the nurse that he is awake. It'll give the doctor time to find a way to work his physical into his schedule."

Akihiko growled, grumbled and cursed as he left the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Kakashi watched him go with slight amusement. "A bit grumpy, isn't he?"

"He's just worried." Kirijou responded lightly. "With good reason, albeit an unrelated reason to your predicament, but your appearance managed to set us all on edge. Unfortunately in his case, his worry and over protectiveness can affect his overall judgment sometimes." Shaking her head, Kirijou cleared her throat. "Regardless, I have business to attend to at the moment, so I can't stay any longer. Until the next time, Hatake-san."

"Ah, yes. Ja ne."

Naruto wanted to scream. He wanted to shout. He wanted to throw a temper tantrum and go on a spree of destructive pranks. Being stuck in a hospital room alone of all things was infuriating, especially since the people who were keeping him there refused to utter even a single peep on how Kakashi, Sasuke or Sakura were doing. He really, really wanted to get out of the stupid room and check on them, but noooooo. For 'security', he'd be stuck in this room until they 'verified' his story or some such.

It wouldn't have been so bad if he could just make a clone to stay there and then sneak out to check on them himself, but nope. They had cameras everywhere, apparently, and they had no qualms sending in several armed guards to detain him. Normally, that wouldn't have deterred Naruto, but they had things that looked like those 'gun' things Kakashi was nervous about, so he surrendered(for once listening to Kakashi's advice – the older man would be so proud!). But now he was strapped to the damned bed with no way to leave it, and his arms were bound completely in a way that he couldn't even scratch a few itches that were doing their damnedest to piss him off.

"ArrrrrgGGHHHHHH!" Naruto roared, once again fruitlessly yanking at his bindings in a vein attempt at ripping them apart. They, as expected, did not budge. They were cast iron after all. He didn't have that kind of strength to rip 'em off, and he doubted even Kakashi would be able to do that without some serious struggle.

He immediately stopped his temper tantrum at the sound of the door to his room clicking, and he froze on the spot out of nervousness. A small part of him felt panic at the thought it was another one of those creepy male nurses coming in to tell him to turn his head and cough, only to get mad at him when his coughs weren't strong enough. At the same time, he wouldn't mind if it was a cute female nurse coming into to do the same.

As it turned out, it was not even a nurse at all, and that caused him to involuntarily tense up. It was a very pretty blond lady with bright blue eyes, wearing a strange headpiece over her ears. Normally, that wouldn't be a huge cause for alarm, but she wore a suit similar to the other lady that had talked with him - the red headed lady - with the black coat and red tie, but instead of a skirt she wore pants like the guys with the guns. That made him nervous.

"Is everything alright? I heard a scream." The woman asked with concern clearly evident in her voice. Naruto relaxed a little at those words, and he couldn't help but feel sheepish.

"Ah, y-yeah..." Naruto wanted to scratch his head so badly, but the damned bindings wouldn't let him. "I'm just getting frustrated being cooped up in a hospital bed and not able to see my friends!"

The woman looked thoughtful, cupping her chin. Naruto briefly caught a glimpse of something shiny on her hands, and had to do a double take when he saw her wearing a weird set of gloves. The ends of them were metal, with the main part being a very pale white. Really strange looking gloves...

"That would be very frustrating, wouldn't it? I understand what it's like not being able to see one's friends for reasons like this..."

"Right?!" Naruto agreed, huffing. "Sure, I tried to leave a few times, but I only wanted to see them! It's not like I was going to escape, or anything!" Which was only half-true. He'd escape if he could get the other three together, but only then!

"I comprehend." The woman said, somewhat oddly. Naruto didn't have time to dwell on what she comprehended, as she walked over to his bed. Then the woman did something that floored Naruto. Grabbing onto the one cast iron bindings wrapped around Naruto's right hand, the woman pulled on it ever so slightly, the result causing the binding to rip lean off.

Naruto's mouth fell open in shock, and he stared at her as she went over to the other side of the bed and repeated the process. Holy shit! She didn't unlock them, didn't loosen them or anything like that, she just ripped them off like they were paper! Naruto just gawked at her, even as she continued by ripping off his leg bindings with equal ease, dusting her hands off with a few pats upon accomplishing it. "There we go." She said, not even sounding winded.

Naruto just kept gawking, wondering if he wasn't going a little loopy after being cooped up for so long. His mouth kept flapping unintelligibly, but the woman didn't seem to notice as she said, "Although I can't let you wander around on your own, I'd be happy to accompany you as you go see your friends."

His jaw snapped shut with a click, Naruto recovering from his shock in an instant. "Uh... sure!" Naruto was still shocked of course, but he wasn't one to look a gift-horse in the mouth! If this lady was gonna let him go see his teammates, by god he was gonna take it! Hopping off the bed, Naruto grinned up at the woman. "Thanks, lady!"

"Please, call me Aigis." The woman said kindly, a small smile gracing her face. Then, she frowned ever so slightly, tilting her head inquisitively. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

"Naruto!" He stuck his hand out for a hand-shake, Aigis taking it after a moment of consideration. Naruto was struck by how cold her gloves were, but just shrugged and shook her hand exuberantly. "So, so..." Naruto pulled his hand away to scratch his head. "Where are the others?"

"Follow me, I'll show you." Aigis said, turning on her heel and walking out of the hospital room. Naruto followed after her, internally rejoicing at being able to walk again. Being bed-ridden for a few days straight was the worst thing ever! Naruto couldn't help but stretch his arms far above his head as he walked, letting them slowly fall down to their usual place behind his head, both hands linked together. Oh yeah, it felt good to be free.

As they walked, Naruto examined the rest of the hospital. It kinda looked like Konoha's main hospital in a way, not that he ever went there much to comment on its appearance. The only time he did was usually because the Hokage wanted him to get a checkup after he did a crazy prank/stunt and got injured somehow. There was a lot of the same stuff going on here: people in uniforms walking about, going into rooms, checking papers and stuff, and some patients slowly walking along, or being rolled along in a wheelchair by a nurse. Nothing really exciting at all.

"So, so! Where is this place?" Naruto asked, keeping his hands locked behind his head.

"Hm?" Aigis turned her head to look at him. "Kirijou-san didn't tell you?"

"Who, the red-head lady?" Naruto squinted, making a face. "She didn't tell me much, just kept asking me a bunch of questions and kept telling me to tell the truth even though I was telling the truth."

"I see." Aigis tilted her head, thoughtful. "This is the Kirijou Company's private hospital in Tatsumi Port Island. You were brought here after you appeared through a small wormhole not too far from here."

"Huh." Naruto frowned, looking up at Aigis. "What's a wormhole?"

Aigis' brow rose at the question, but she remained quiet for a moment as she considered it. "That's a difficult question to answer, Naruto-kun. I would have thought you'd know, considering you traveled through one." Naruto bristled a little at the comment, but Aigis seemed to pay it no mind. "Would you prefer a scientific explanation, or a more simple explanation?"

Naruto squinted up at Aigis, frowning. "Uh... simple would be good." He hated science.

"Hm... it's difficult for me to explain in a non-scientific way, as I do not know any such simple way specifically..." She said, slowly. Then, after a moment of consideration, she continued, "I suppose one way I could explain it is with our arms."

"Our arms?" Naruto blinked, looking down at his own. "What do you mean?"

"Well, imagine there was a small ant on one of your hands, and it wanted to get to the other, but you had your arms spread completely out. That would mean the tips of your fingers are as far away from each other as possible. It would take a long time for the ant to crawl to the other hand, correct?"

"Yeah...? I guess?"

"Well, if you were to bend your elbows in and touch the tips of your fingers together , your hands would be much closer together, wouldn't they?" Aigis continued, and Naruto frowned in thought. After a moment of serious thought, he nodded his head, a smile starting to spread across his face

"Yeah, yeah! Then the ant could just walk on over to the other hand really quickly!"

"That's the basic concept of a wormhole." Aigis said. "It's essentially a bend in time and space that creates a 'shortcut' from one place to another. In this case, you're bending your elbows to create a shortcut for your hands to become closer, allowing the ant to cross over easily. In your case, you're bending time and space to allow you to travel from one point to another in a matter of seconds."

"Ooooh!" Naruto nodded his head, despite the fact he didn't completely get it. He supposed the wormhole they appeared out of was how they got from Balmora to here. It was just weird to think there could be a 'shortcut' from two worlds and universes entirely... That was the part that didn't make sense to him. It would probably make more sense to him if he actually understood what all those crazy seals on the scroll meant instead of them just being a bunch of squiggly lines to his eyes.

"The question in my mind is how you four created a wormhole that brought you here." Aigis continued, looking at Naruto closely. It was not a look of anger, suspicion, or coldness; just one of utter curiosity.

"Eheh..." Naruto scratched his head a bit nervously. "It's kind of a long story... and it was a total accident!" The first one, anyways. The past two were fully conscious decisions on their part. They didn't have much choice but to use their dimensional hopping powers. Too many sticky situations. Especially the last one. Ugh, those weird tentacles guys that started popping up were super gross... gave him the creeps just remembering them.

"I see." Aigis seemed to accept the 'accident' story, and became completely silent as they walked. Naruto felt a bit uncomfortable in the silence, but luckily enough they reached a door. "Here is a room with one of your friends."

Naruto jolted, looking at the door with just a hint of worry. He really hoped it was Sakura or Kakashi. Naruto wasn't sure how to react to Sasuke just yet. Sure, Sasuke seemed to have been a bit less hostile – just a bit – after he and Naruto were forced to team up in Quagmire... but he still wasn't sure how to act around the other boy. Especially since there had been no reconciliation after their argument, not to mention that whole thing about the willie... it was going to be really awkward.

Opening the door, Naruto felt crushed when he saw it was indeed Sasuke in the hospital bed. The boy was sitting up, unbinded, and looking like he usually did. Irritated and with a deep scowl on his face. It didn't change much when he saw Naruto, and in all honesty, it probably got worse.

"Hnnnn..." Sasuke's grunt was a bit lower and longer than usual. Naruto frowned, taking time to think about what to do. There were a great many things he wanted to do and say to Sasuke, but he didn't know which ones to say that wouldn't result in them fighting.

To hell with it, Naruto told himself. Briskly, he walked over to Sasuke and slapped the raven haired boy across the back of the head. Sasuke's eyes widened, and he reached up to grab the back of his head in surprise. "What the hell...!?"

"That's for being an idiot!" Naruto said, crossing his arms and wearing his biggest scowl. "Do you know how worried Sakura-chan and I were when we found out you got dragged into that nightmare realm?! Not only did we have to find Kakashi-sensei, but we had to find you too! Sure, it all worked out in the end, and I guess me and Sakura-chan got separated when we went in anyways, but it still sucked!"

"You think I don't know that already?" Sasuke growled, eyes sharpening with his glare. "I know I got us all into more trouble than we should have been! What else do you want me to say?!"

"Even if you know, I still had to hit you for being an idiot. If I didn't, you won't learn!" Naruto said, nodding assuredly to himself. Sasuke rolled his eyes, idly rubbing the back of his head with some irritation. "At least we're all okay and got out of that place..." Naruto trailed off, recalling Neeshka who had made the decision to stay behind. She had said she wanted to stay behind, and that she was content with the four of them leaving without her, so there was no reason to feel guilt over it... right...?

Sasuke didn't notice Naruto's inner turmoil - or perhaps he ignored it - scoffing instead. "And now we're somewhere else entirely. What a great alternative."

"Hey, at least it's better than that place." Naruto said, crossing his arms. "There's no creepy nightmare place here."

"It's still not our world." Sasuke snapped, to which Naruto could concede that. It was about then that Sasuke noticed Aigis standing at the door, his eyes narrowing. "Who's that?"

"Huh?" Naruto glanced over his shoulder, spotting his new blond friend. "Oh! That's Aigis. We're not allowed to leave the hospital and all that, so she's gotta come with me to visit you guys."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, eyes still narrowed at Aigis. The woman didn't seem perturbed, instead dipping into a formal bow, smiling as she did.

"I'm Aigis. It's a pleasure to meet you...?" She trailed off, fully expecting Sasuke to add his name.

He didn't.

"This is Sasuke." Naruto said as he glared at Sasuke. Aigis was a nice lady, and Sasuke being so openly rude like that didn't sit well with him. "He's a big asshole who doesn't know what being friendly is." Sasuke's eyes turned to Naruto, then, his brow furrowing into a glare.

Aigis' brow rose, tilting her head to the side. "Are you two not friends?" She asked, to which both Naruto and Sasuke made faces and scoffed.

"Nope." They responded in unison, glaring at each other the moment the words left their mouths. "Don't imitate me!" Naruto growled, shaking a fist at Sasuke. The raven haired boy rolled his eyes.

"I'm not imitating you, dumbass. You're the one imitating me. Aren't you the one who's always spouting off about your 'friends'?"

"Oy, oy! I might do that, but you're not one of them! You're the guy who wanted to go home and leave everyone else behind, you jerk! Why would I want to be friends with someone like that!?"

Sasuke's lips quirked into a snide smirk, his arms crossing over his chest. "You say that now, of course."

Naruto knew exactly what he was talking about, but he didn't say anything in response. After all, both of them knew their hostility was a front to hide their current awkwardness around one another. Neither of them really knew how to act around the other after their argument, and instead were just falling into their usual routine of bickering.

Looking back at Aigis, Naruto found she was actually laughing lightly. "I see." She said, her tone implying she knew they were the sort of friends who were constantly at each others throats, rather than actual enemies. "Well... would you like to move onto another one of your friends?"
"Sure!" Naruto nodded, thrilled at the notion of being able to get out of Sasuke's room, but... urk... "Oy, Sasuke..."

"Yes, I'm coming." Sasuke grunted, his legs already dangling over the side of the hospital bed. "I was getting tired of this damn room."

Fantastic. Just wonderful.

They left the room in complete silence, refusing to look at one another as they followed Aigis. They had been walking for a good minute when Sasuke poked Naruto, causing the blond to look at the raven-haired boy in annoyance. "What?" He snapped, to which Sasuke simply pointed at Aigis' feet. Naruto looked in the direction of her feet, not sure what to expect. What he saw made him tilt his head and frown. Aigis, for one, was not wearing shoes. For two, her 'feet' were like... metal hooves, almost. Kinda like a pig's or a cow's, and nothing like a human's foot.

Naruto briefly had a moment of panic, wondering if everyone in this world had people with hooves, and they were the only ones with feet. First, he glanced down at his own feet to make sure that they had not been replaced by metal hooves. Then, after confirming his feet were still there, he threw a few quick glances at passing nurses. They all had normal feet, and normal shoes, which meant hooves were not the norm here. Okay... what in the world was Aigis, then?

"Don't those things on her head look... attached to her?" Sasuke muttered. Naruto squinted at the weird earpieces, slowly nodding his head in agreement.

"...Yeah..." That also made Naruto think of her weird looking hands. Rubbing his chin, Naruto wasn't sure what to make of Aigis. Was she not human, like Neeshka was? She looked human, or at least the face did. Her body, on the other hand... something was definitely different about her.

"Ah, here we are." Aigis announced as they came to a stop outside another hospital room. Their curiosity about Aigis' identity temporarily forgotten, the two stepped inside the room without any consideration or deliberation.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said happily, rushing over to the bedside of his teacher. Kakashi glanced away from the window to look at the blond, his expression one of mild surprise at hearing his voice. Naruto froze on the spot, his mouth hanging open in shock.

Kakashi was not wearing his mask.

Naruto's eyes bugged, his mind unable to comprehend this fact, his mouth moving aimlessly, trying to form words but nothing was coming to mind.

"Ah, Naruto. It's good to see you!" Kakashi said, his surprise morphing into amusement at Naruto's shock and confusion. Looking past Naruto, Kakashi's single open eye landed on Sasuke, who was looking down at the ground, decidedly uncomfortable. "You too, Sasuke."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, avoiding even looking at Kakashi. Kakashi's face pinched in amusement, knowing exactly why the boy was refusing to look at him(though he was unaware of all the details, only basing it off what he could recall hearing from Neeshka), and it had nothing to do with his mask being off – if the boy knew Kakashi wasn't wearing a mask, no doubt he'd look. Kakashi's eye shifted over to Aigis, his brow rising slightly at her.

"And you are?" Kakashi questioned, to which Aigis immediately dipped into another formal bow.

"My name is Aigis. It's a pleasure to meet you..."

"Kakashi Hatake."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hatake-san." Aigis repeated, rising from her bow.

Kakashi nodded his head, smiling. "Like-wise, Aigis-san." Aigis blinked, looking slightly taken aback, before she nodded her head. "Naruto, could you stop gawking at me, please? I realize it's surprising to see me without my mask, but having my own student stare at me is making me uncomfortable." Sasuke's head whipped up so fast he actually winced and grunted from a mild whiplash.

While Sasuke began to gawk openly in complete shock at seeing his teacher without his mask, Naruto managed to recover enough to shake his head, pointing wildly at Kakashi. "Y-you never take off your mask!"
"Indeed." Kakashi agreed. "But it wasn't me who took it off, unfortunately! Someone took advantage of me while I was unconscious and unable to do anything about it." The way he said that made it sound so scandalous. "Still, what are the two of you doing wandering around?"

"Ah-" Naruto turned his head to look at Aigis, who bowed her head.

"I voluntarily offered to accompany Naruto-kun to visit his friends under my supervision." Aigis said curtly. "I am not entirely aware of the situation surrounding your appearance, knowing only a cursory bit, but I do know that you all have been forced to rest in bed for roughly five days now. I made the judgment to allow you to meet, under my supervision."

"I see." Kakashi nodded. "It's probably my fault, after all I've been out of it for quite some time, haven't I?" He looked a bit sheepish as he said that, and Naruto couldn't get over being able to see the rest of his face.

"It's not your fault." Naruto said, scratching his cheek. "If anything, it's Sasuke's fault."

Sasuke was snapped out of his shock, finally tearing his eyes away from Kakashi. "How is it my fault?!" He asked irritably. "It wasn't my fault Kakashi got captured in the first place!"

"No, but you made rescuing him take longer since we also had to rescue you!" Naruto huffed, crossing his arms. Sasuke crossed his arms right back, ready to devolve into a shouting match when Kakashi reached over the side of the bed and bopped them both on the head.

"No arguing, you two. We're comrades, and if we want to get back home we'll have to work together, okay?" Kakashi said, reasonably. Naruto and Sasuke remained quiet, silently brooding at being admonished. "As for you, Sasuke... we'll have to have a private talk about camaraderie one of these days." Sasuke looked less than pleased, especially when Naruto began snickering. "No laughing." Kakashi said to Naruto, bopping him once again on the head.

"Yeah, yeah..." Naruto grumbled as he rubbed the mildly injured spot on his head.

Kakashi chuckled then, shaking his head. Then, his chuckles slowly died out, his expression becoming somewhat somber. "I presume you haven't visited Sakura yet?"

"Nope. Visited Sasuke first, then you." Naruto said, linking his hands behind his head. "We'll probably go visit her next."

"I see... I'm not sure if they'll let you. I heard she was in a catatonic state." Kakashi said, glancing up at Aigis for confirmation. Naruto frowned in confusion, mouthing 'catatonic' to Sasuke who just shrugged cluelessly in response.

"Yes. She's been awake for as long as the boys have, but she is non responsive to verbal and non-verbal stimuli. From the preliminary tests done, it appears that she is suffering from severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

Kakashi winced at the last bit. It... wasn't unexpected – in fact, he had been expecting it after hearing Sakura was catatonic in the first place – but it certainly wasn't welcome to have it confirmed. After all, it was largely his fault she was like that. Being tortured in such a cruel fashion, before she had even managed to grow as a ninja... only those who were fully prepared for the worst would be able to get through that sort of situation without serious trauma.

"Do you think seeing us will help her any?" Kakashi asked, knowing that there was always a risk that seeing people the victims of PTSD would trigger negative reactions, including vivid flashbacks. Others, however, needed to see those they were close to, to anchor themselves and give them something to focus on.

"It's hard to say. The psychiatrists and psychologists that examined her are unsure if she'll ever recover. All attempts at stimuli and treatment thus far have failed, and there is little brain activity in response to said stimuli. It's led to some of the Kirijou Company's greatest doctors to conclude that eventually she'll slip into a coma that she may never wake from."

Naruto gaped up at Aigis, horrified. Sakura-chan never waking up? Naruto didn't want to believe it. He couldn't believe it! "Sakura-chan will definitely wake up!" Naruto said forcibly, almost as if to convince himself of it.

"Technically, she is already awake." Aigis clarified to Naruto, causing him to stop in confusion. "She is catatonic – awake, but unaware of her surroundings; she is in a complete state of stupor. The doctors simply believe her condition will worsen with time."

Words that went in one ear and out the other for Naruto. He once again looked to Sasuke for help, but the other boy just shrugged, not knowing the answer himself. Then, they both turned to Kakashi.

With a heavy, weary sigh, Kakashi muttered, "Did you even pay attention to your lessons in the academy...?" Then again, perhaps that was taken out of the curriculum in times of peace? Shaking his head, he continued with, "Catatonia is a state wherein a person is – usually - not mentally aware of their surroundings. I guess you could call it a state in between unconsciousness and consciousness. There are a number reasons people may suffer catatonia, but the most common cause in our profession is usually trauma, be it mental or physical. In Sakura's case, it was most likely a combination of both."

Naruto still didn't totally get it, but Sasuke seemed to, his expression twisting into a frown. The boy knew what that was like all too well, though he didn't want to admit it outright. "Was it because of that nightmare realm?" Sasuke asked darkly, to which Kakashi nodded gravely.

"What triggered the experience was the result of my own nightmares, and it appears what she suffered in there after was too much for her and she entered a catatonic state to escape the situation." Kakashi himself nearly broke after driving his Chidori into her heart, and it was only seeing her living, breathing self that he hadn't. Nothing else to it.

"Nightmare realm..." Aigis muttered, tilting her head. "Is that where you came from? The place you came from through the wormhole?"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto nodded his head, though less exuberantly than he would normally do. "We ended up in a weird world where some 'Day-Drick' Prince ruled nightmares or something, and Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke got sucked up into it. Me and Sakura had to bust 'em out, but..."

"She ended up getting dragged into the nightmares herself." Kakashi said, earning a nod from Aigis.

"I comprehend. I will file this information away and inform the nurses of the cause. It might not help, but any information could be useful." Aigis said. "I understand your fear for your friend, but the Kirijou Company has some of the smartest and most talented minds in the country at their disposal. I'm sure they will find a way to help your friend."

Naruto was relieved by her words, but Kakashi and Sasuke were both less convinced. However, neither one said anything, as they wanted to believe Sakura would be fine, but were not convinced of it actually being possible. "Can we see her?" Naruto asked, to which Aigis shook her head softly.

"Unfortunately, she is in a psychiatric ward, which is in another building entirely. I don't have authorization to allow you to leave the building yet." Naruto deflated on the spot. "However, I will request to allow you to meet with her when Kirijou-san returns from her business trip."

Naruto pumped his fist in a small gesture of victory. "Alright! Thanks, Aigis-san!"

"Yes, thank you very much, Aigis-san." Kakashi said with a kind smile.

Aigis nodding, dipping into a half-bow. "You're welcome." She said politely. "It will probably be best if the two of you return to your rooms, now. I believe Akihiko-san is planning on coming to check up on you three soon, and he won't be happy if you are missing."

"Even if we're with you?" Naruto asked with a hint of a whine. He really didn't want to get locked back up in those iron bindings.

"Yes." Aigis said simply. "There have been some problems that have gotten him uptight, and your appearance has him convinced you're partially to blame."

"Problems?" Kakashi repeated slowly. "Nothing... nightmarish and shadowy, I hope?"

"There's not a bunch of weird creepy tentacle guys running around, right?" Naruto asked, shuddering. Next to him, Sasuke shared his own shudder. They vividly remembered the horrific image of hundreds of those things swarming towards them as they frantically tried to set up the sealing array. If Neeshka hadn't been there, they likely would have been dragged back into the nightmares.

Even outside of the illusions, the place was a complete nightmare.

"No, nothing of the sort." Aigis said. "It's classified information, so I can't disclose the details surrounding it. I personally do not believe it has anything to do with you four, and neither does Kirijou-san. You'll likely be discharged as soon as Kirijou-san returns from her trip to America."

They all let out a sigh of relief. "Well, it was nice of you two to visit little ol' me," Kakashi said, smiling down at his two students, "but you should get back to your rooms. We don't want to cause any more problems for them, or cause any problems for our own safety, ne?"

"Okay..." Naruto sulked, dragging his feet along the ground as he made his way back to the door. Sasuke let out a grunt towards Kakashi, taking one final look at his face before he too dragged himself away. Aigis gave Kakashi a formal bow, before ushering the two boys out and into the hall.

Kakashi let out a soft sigh when the door was closed. Things could be going better for him. Not only had his face been exposed to his students, he was unsure of what sort of fate awaited Sakura. Would she ever recover? Was she strong enough to recover? Kakashi prayed she was. He didn't think he'd be able to handle the guilt if she never recovered from her trauma.

Laying back down on the bed, Kakashi stared up at the ceiling with the heavy weight of guilt resting firmly on his shoulders. All he could do now was wait... wait, and hope.

A/N: Double feature! Initially, I planned for last week to have both chapter 4 and 5 of World 2 posted since that Saturday I was officially free from the confines of the spring semester and figured it'd be a silly little gift. Unfortunately, since that week was also finals weeks, I didn't have enough time to rewrite the parts I planned to rewrite in the last two chapters. Thus, I decided to post two chapters this week, along with the title change that I've been wanting to do for a while, as well as the official move into the crossover section. I've decided to just go for Naruto/(Current World's Series), since that's the best I can do with the way FF sets up the crossover stuff. Should really be a Misc. Crossover section, or something...

Anyways, this is pretty much the first world where there's actual genuine crossover character interactions instead of OCs, and because of that, there will be less conflict. There will still be a decent amount, but it won't take up most of the world like the past two. Naturally, the series featured is one of my favorite series: Persona. I'll go ahead and say up front that this world is not strictly Persona, and will contain plenty of elements from other Shin Megami Tensei titles(as well as some elements of another series entirely that has had a connection to SMT in the past, but it won't be as overt obvious as the SMT stuff). I also take some liberties here or there, especially when it comes to some of the 'mechanic' aspects, but it's overall a fairly Persona experience.

If you don't know the characters "Mitsuru Kirijo", "Akihiko Sanada", and "Aigis", a quick search wouldn't hurt. It'd let you see how they look outside my fairly brief and vague descriptions of them.

Don't have much else to say, so until next time. Don't expect another double feature anytime soon! Ja ne!