The lucky chapter (13) has arrived! I gotta say, you guys seriously have the best timing. Every time (and I mean every. single. time) I get closer to posting, I get a comment! Good job on the timing! (Are y'all psychics, or?)

Pros: Grad school is now over! Thankfully. (I hate procrastination with a passion.)

Cons: I need to stabilize my visa/job situation or find another country to migrate to… (cue stress)

Thanks for sticking with me and coming back for more! I always appreciate your lovely comments! :D I will definitely finish this story one way or another, just don't hold me to a firm deadline… life likes to throw curveballs... Anyway, enjoy! You deserve this!

– – – – – – – –

Chapter 13: Revelation

Kakashi unfolded his sleeping bag and paused in the middle of the room. Figuring out who slept where wasn't usually this much of a hassle, but given the givens…

Maemi glanced at him when he paused. He didn't seem the undecided type.

"Sleeping preference?"

"Oh. Uhh..." She cast a quick look around the room. The window caught her eye. "This wall?" She moved to the side of the room and settled in the middle of the wall, giving her a nice view of the night sky.

Kakashi settled as far as he physically could, which was still about a foot away. He laid the sleeping bag down and took off his flak jacket. She turned her back to him and faced the window, halfheartedly laying out her own sleeping bag. Tsune would probably kill me for this… Then again, I'd kill her for getting me here. Guess that makes us even? Maemi heard the blessed sound of a page turning and looked back.

Kakashi was reading a book despite lying flat on his back (what, no cramps?). She couldn't help herself. "Do you have another book?"

Judging by Kakashi's sudden flustered face, she probably should've read the title first. Figures the main character is a closet pervert... "Never mind. I probably don't want it." She resumed staring at the night sky, missing the comforts of her own bed. She definitely missed her mom, but dwelling on those thoughts would do nothing but grind salt in her own wounds.

The noise from the other rooms finally quieted down, leaving her with her roommate's ruffling of paper and the night sounds. After what felt like ten minutes, it sounded like Kakashi put his book away. Sure enough, Maemi heard the rustling of his sleeping bag and was left alone. Well, as alone as she could get.

She didn't feel like sleeping though, she'd rested a decent amount earlier while flying and had probably messed up her sleep schedule. Not that she'd had a regular one since coming to this world, but clearly something wasn't right if she wasn't tired at all and the sky was this dark. The gentle rustle of the leaves made for perfect background noise, but Maemi began to feel hungry.

Grabbing her backpack, she pulled it on her lap to explore, and hopefully discover, its wonders. She found the plushie first, which she left next to her pillow, it'd be amenable to cuddle if she felt so inclined. She found water, and helped herself generously, yet not so generously to avoid being woken early morning by a full bladder. She groped around the bottom of her bag a little longer, but unfortunately, there was nothing left to grab.

The disappointment stung. She tried not to let it evolve into bitter resentfulness or all kinds of thoughts would undoubtedly ruin her night. Why didn't they give me food? Do they think I'm too weak to carry it, or is it a protective measure to make sure I don't run off while they're not looking? Not that I could now, thanks to this- bullshit. Not like I have anywhere else to go, either. Ugh. This is the worst. I'm the worst. Fuck it all.

"You can look in mine."

Maemi jumped. "God, I thought you were sleeping!" She had to take a breath to steady her startled heart. "Nearly gave me a heart attack..."

Kakashi chuckled, as if embarrassed. "Sorry… I'm a light sleeper while on missions."

"Yeah, guess that makes sense… Don't want to be ambushed in the middle of the night." Maemi stared at him. "Oh my god, are we gonna be ambushed in the middle of the night!?"

"No no, I didn't mean to worry you. We're close to the village and we have a full schedule of lookouts. We'll know if anything happens."

Maemi nodded, as if convincing herself his words were true. Which they probably were. Right? Kakashi distracted her by pushing his backpack towards her. "I probably have two or three rations left. Help yourself." On that note, he settled on his back again and closed his eyes.

"Thanks..." She definitely felt awkward rummaging through someone else's bag, but… the hunger convinced her otherwise. Attempting not to make too much noise was proving quite a challenge as she had to pull out some clothes (what is this, a cloak?) only to discover there were some sharp objects in there! Thankfully, they didn't fall in her lap but in front of her crossed legs. She stared at the ridiculous amount of what certainly constituted weapons and immediately began to rationalize again.

Of course they need weapons, they're ninjas. Hah! Ninjas. Are you hearing yourself? Tsune would have a field day to hear me say that. But… those are definitely shuriken. And everything looks sharp. I don't even want to touch anything, I might accidentally lose fingers, or chunks of flesh.

As quietly and carefully as she could, Maemi attempted to wrap the cloak around the sharp pieces of metal, and skillfully slid the whole thing in between herself and Kakashi, a little ways away from his bag. He could enjoy packing that up tomorrow, she wasn't risking it. Continuing with her backpack search and rescue – search for the food, rescue herself – she pulled out a few more things before hitting the jackpot. One of those things was a small, empty notebook.

Along with the death cloak, it was the only thing she didn't replace in the bag and instead left it near her head. She'd ask him the favor in the morning. But first things first: food! Maemi unwrapped the deliciousness and ate to her heart's (or stomach's) content. By the time she was done eating, the shining moon and lazily blinking stars enticed her to sleep. Tomorrow was a big day anyway, everyone would probably be able to pick her out as an impostor within any crowd.

Maemi wiggled in her sleeping bag and rolled on her side, grabbing the plushie as cuddle buddy because she didn't particularly want to fall asleep sad, and having it close to her was the closest thing to having a friend close by. Before she knew it, sleep dragged her under.

– – – –

Tsuneko paced to and fro in front of the tiny shop, both hands tightly hanging on to her bags. It took another five atrociously long minutes for the shop lady to beckon her in and it felt like Tsuneko had waited for hours. In all fairness, she had, but she'd had to wait until after the scheduled appointments, right before closing time.

In no time at all, she'd launched into a rushed explanation of the situation, sitting on the edge of her tiny chair. The shop lady simply sipped her tea, nodding here and there. "So I bought a replica, and I want to know if you can bring her back." Tsuneko pulled a newly bought Kakashi plushie from a shopping bag and placed it on the table, where it promptly fell on its face.

The old lady looked at the plushie with calculating eyes, flicked it over and scowled. "Unfortunately not." Tsuneko started to protest and beg at the same time, but the lady continued. "This is not the original item, it means nothing to you, it has none of that imbued energy the previous doll had. Remember what I said?"

Tsuneko faltered. "Any ordinary object won't suffice. I could end up lost in between worlds forever."

"Exactly. I cannot send you to her with this deficient replica." The old lady finished her tea, never changing facial expressions, which was slightly concerning.

"Could you- bring her back another way?"

The old lady took a deep breath and lit a cigarette, taking a drag before exhaling a perfect circle. "There might be a way..."

Tsuneko straightened up, focusing completely on her possible savior.

"If you can find something she valued as much as you valued your doll, it might be strong enough to pull her back. Otherwise..."

"Yes?"

"She might be able to send herself back, if she has something important connecting her to someone she loves strongly."

"… So you can't do a spell to bring her back, like you did to send her here?" Tsuneko tried hard to hide the crushing disappointment from her quivering voice.

The old lady, breathing out another cloud of smoke, shook her head. "No, she's already in another world. For a spell to work, I'd need to meet her face to face."

Tsuneko sighed and let her head drop with overwhelming chagrin.

"Don't despair so much. If your friendship is as strong as you said, you might meet her sooner than you'd think."

"What? How? What do you mean?"

The old lady stood up and escorted her to the door, clearly indicating she was closing up for good. "Come back when you understand. Maybe then you'll have found something important to her."

And just like that, she closed the door in Tsuneko's face. Rude. And cryptic. With wild thoughts buzzing around, Tsuneko began her trek back home utterly puzzled and confused, half of her hopeful Maemi might still come back, the other half completely lost as to how to make it happen. The emotional roller coaster of the last 24 hours seemed to have sapped her strength. All she wanted to do now was curl up in bed and cry, or maybe sleep until she woke up from this nightmare.

Unsurprisingly, she found herself drifting off as soon as she sat on the train. The sound was familiar and comforting, and the warmth from the crowd too overbearing to ignore. Her head lolled from her chest to a stranger's shoulder, too used to sleeping passengers to shrug her off. Tsuneko drifted to sleep listening to the lulling bilingual announcement for the next station.

– – – –

Maemi walked around her campus, looking fondly at everything. The shape of the buildings, the beautiful trees, the hidden courtyards couples usually occupied, the cafeteria with its delicious yet cheap food… All of which were out of this world for her. She walked around, trying to memorize everything, and found herself in front of her usual vending machine, in the same hallway she'd teased and chided Tsune what felt like eons ago.

She sighed heavily. "Oh Tsune..."

Footsteps behind her made her jump and turn in apprehension, no doubt a new reflex from her previous 'adventures.'

"Ma- Maemi?"

Maemi stared, incredulous, at her best friend who'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Tsune? What-" But she was cut off when Tsuneko ran into her at full speed only to embrace her in the tightest hug she'd ever had.

"Ohmygod, Mae!" Tsune squeezed her friend even harder. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Tsuneko attempted to stifle her sobs, with very little success. "Are you alright? What happened, where are you?"

Maemi hugged her friend, feeling each hiccuped breath as she rambled on. "I'm fine, I'm okay," she repeated soothingly. "The spell worked."

Tsuneko stepped back, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head. "Ohmygod, did you meet him!? Did you find Kakashi!?"

"Well, they kinda found me… But yeah, we're um… traveling back to his village, I guess."

"Holy shit! Wow. I don't- I can't-" Tsuneko flailed around a bit. "Hot damn, the spell worked!" She froze. "The old lady… Holy crapadoodle, she was right! She said I could meet you sometime soon, and- and there you are!" Tsuneko had to pause for a much needed breath. Instead she just hugged her friend again. "I never meant for you to go there! I mean, I wasn't entirely sure it was gonna work, but for someone else to go instead of me-"

"Oh Tsune, I missed you," mumbled Maemi in her friend's shoulder.

"Me too. We all do." Tsuneko abruptly pulled out of the hug. "Oh my god, your mom came back almost immediately and I can't tell her, I haven't told anyone I'm responsible. Oh god. I'm a horrible person-"

Maemi gave a faint smile. "It's alright… Maybe I should've taken you to your word, literally. But..."

"Yeah… we never change, huh?"

They both smiled at each other sadly.

"Well, maybe it's a good thing I ended up here." Tsuneko gave her a worried, and tiny bit surprised, look. "After all, you probably would never try finding a way to leave, right?"

Tsuneko spit out a laugh. "Right… And no one better than you to figure that out."

"You bet." Maemi's smile froze slightly, her expression transforming into a frown. "Wait, how are you here? I'm pretty sure I'm in a dream… Am I dreaming this up? Of course I am, my subconscious is trying to reassure me and you're saying exactly what I'd want to hear. But it's still nice to see you Tsune, even if I just conjured you straight from my mind."

"What? No! I- I think I fell asleep too, I just came back from that shop behind Mandarake..."

"Wait so… you're- actually you?"

"Most definitely!"

"Scientists would have a hell of a time trying to explain this then." They both laughed. What a feeling to be able to laugh with Tsune again, Maemi's heart swelled with joy.

Tsuneko fidgeted, fingers playing with her hair. "To get you back, I-"

"Tsune." Maemi looked at her friend with a serious expression. "I-"

But before she could continue, the world, which had been cozily dark, started brightening from the outside in. The light cut buildings in half, and whatever the light touched vanished. Both friends looked around, confused and scared. Suddenly, the space between them blinded them before disappearing. They both stumbled back to relative safety.

"What's happening!?"

Tsuneko, on the other hand, tried to get closer again, yelling to be heard. "Mae! To get you back-"

"Try to meet back here! Whenever- however we can!"

The light exploded everywhere, taking with it anything and everything, drowning the world in silence.

– – – –

Tsuneko lurched awake with a gasp, startling her pillow. She apologized to the business woman for falling asleep on her shoulder and looked around, trying to catch up to reality. She'd missed her stop. Crap. She hurried off the next stop and transferred to another line. It would mean taking the bus instead of walking home, but at this point she didn't care.

For some reason, she'd dreamed with Maemi, a fact which, if told to anyone, would land her in a psychiatric hospital for sure. She had more questions than the old shop lady had left her with, but she'd have to wait until she was well and truly alone to ponder them seriously. As it was, she'd probably have to explain to her mom where'd she been and why she was so late…

– – – –

"Are you awake?"

Maemi gasped and flailed around, only to entangle herself in her sleeping bag. Kakashi looked at her with mild concern. "I didn't mean to scare you..."

"No, it's fine, I just-" She paused and looked at her sleeping bag, trying to extricate herself slowly.

"Just…?"

Once successfully out of the sleep trap, Maemi grabbed her water bottle and gulped all of it. She took a deep breath and wiped the corner of one eye as she answered. "I just had a weird dream." From his silence, she could tell he knew it was more than that, he was simply waiting for her to be ready to share. The sound of hurried footsteps outside the door made her look up and beyond inquisitively.

"Yeah, we're nearly ready." Kakashi stood up.

He was already dressed, and to her great dismay, Maemi noticed he'd already repacked everything. "Why am I only ever woken at the last minute? Way to make someone feel rushed..." she mumbled half sleepily and started rolling her sleeping bag.

Kakashi patiently held its bag open for her to shove the sleeping bag in. She noticed his fingers held no cuts whatsoever; she'd been right in letting him put his weapons away. Turning around to fill her backpack, with what meager belongings she had, she saw he hadn't touched the notebook she'd left next to her head. "Can I keep this?"

"Sure, but we have better ones back at the village."

"No this one's good, I can keep it on me all the time." She slid it in one of her many pockets with a content smile. "You wouldn't happen to have a pen to go with that?" Of course he did. She slid it in the same pocket. Then all packed, with her lightweight bag on her back, they left the room and were, as usual, the last ones out.

The house creaked and shrank until it was no more. Maemi stared at Yamato with a bored expression. "Just can't help yourself, can you."

Yamato looked confusedly from Kakashi to Sakura and Sai. Maemi hid a smirk behind a fake yawn. So they were all kinds of amazing in ways she never could. But her smartassery could potentially remain unmatched, and that was worth a mini, solitary, celebration.

She looked around, half expecting her bird to be ready – Sai had always been punctual with these things. "What, are we walking?" She'd clearly meant it as a joke, but…

"Yes. We're close enough to walk there, even for you, and we usually try to avoid flashy entrances."

"Speak for yourself!" Naruto grinned widely. "I'll announce Uzumaki Naruto's return from the rooftops! And then, and then, I'll finally get to eat at Ichiraku!" He started ranting and raving about the deliciousness of ramen as he followed the leading group, the three latest arrivals.

Sakura and Sai followed behind Naruto, clearly taking the position in front of the unlikely duo, leaving the rear to Shikamaru, the fan lady, and the house wizard. The walk was slow, and Maemi had more than one chance to complain about their low opinion of her, insisting she was used to walking at least five to six hours a day (which gathered pitiful looks) in heels. "Of course guys can't understand the pain of heels, when do they ever truly understand the pain women go through without minimizing or dismissing it?"

Kakashi's neutral mask was slowly crumbling into bored stupefaction. "Oh god, don't tell me, this world is actually sexist isn't it. Of course it is, if it's written by a man. And it most definitely was. Pink hair? Can you say stereotype?"

"Um..."

Maemi paused mid-rant (as if she could ever truly be done) and glanced at Kakashi. "What?"

"When you say 'written,' what exactly do you mean?"

Oh shit! Fuck. Did I-? I guess that never came up… I probably shouldn't have mentioned that, should I. Crap. Seriously, of all things to rant on! Damnit. What would even happen if protagonists self-actualized, would I die? Would this world end? What about the manga back home? Oh shit. I'm doing it again.

Kakashi's curiosity only amplified when he felt her anxiety bubbling.

"I mean… like- it's just… You know?" Clearly Kakashi did not. His eyebrow disappeared further beneath his forehead protector. "Like, well, how to say this, um…. See, so, in my world- no, uhh, well-"

As unusual as her mumbling was, it told Kakashi this was crucial information. "Just say it. There's probably nothing we can do that'll change that."

Maemi sighed. "You're right about that..." As far as she knew. But couldn't things change? She looked at his face, nearly three-quarters hidden but honest enough. "Fine… I'll tell you, but only you. And you won't share that knowledge with anyone unless I agree to it. Deal?" She had no way of ensuring he won't break his promise, no way of enforcing it, and definitely no power to keep him quiet, but hopefully none of that mattered.

"Deal. If anything happens that'll warrant sharing this information, I just hope we'll have time for a discussion." And boy did things pop up out of blue, like that time giant snakes attacked the village. Or the many times enemies infiltrated their village. But at least he was being honest. They'd discuss this if there was time.

She eyed him semi warily. "Alright…" She lowered her voice, just in case. "Where I come from… your world is fictional." She let that sink in. "In my world, this is just a book, and you're only a character in that book."

Kakashi contained his astonishment and instead concentrated on everything he felt, especially all the distant, fuzzy feelings. There was no excited pounding like five minutes ago when she clearly wanted to avoid this scenario. If anything, he could feel an undercurrent of nervousness, a smidgen of apprehension, and a big chunk of awkward sadness. "A book." Maemi nodded. "Fictional?"

"Yes. Like the book you were reading last night." She studied his face, but he was quite practiced in keeping a poker face. She tried to feel his surprise, or shock or- anger? She didn't really know what to expect, after all, she'd never been told she wasn't real. But I'm here. Does that make me not real? She brushed the thought away. She'd just spoken to Tsuneko, it wasn't like her presence on Earth hadn't left a mark. Right?

The few awkwardly silent minutes stretched longer and longer, Kakashi seemingly too deep in thought (or processing thoughts) to do much of anything except walk. Maemi kept glancing at him every few seconds, expecting either a meltdown of epic proportions, or an erupting volcano. Maybe she should add an oddly timed epiphany to the list, just in case.

Worryingly, she didn't feel his feelings bubble and explore one way or another, he just- was. Maybe he's meditating… Hah, yeah right. A strange idea, though not the strangest by far. The silence lingered as the walk dragged on and on. Thankfully the forest was flat, she was spared the potential embarrassment (and pain) of stepping on the wrong stone and tumbling down. Let me guess, in manga world I'd probably hit my head, and end up passed out and bleeding. She could be a writer too, it couldn't be that hard to come up with a plot, could it?

Except this story involved a concept she was completely unfamiliar with, and to be able to foretell the predictable plots and twists, she'd probably need an excellent grasp of the whole- chakra thing. Am I seriously giving myself homework... Maemi sighed, then chuckled. Studying, she was good at, and once she was caught up on how this world works, it wouldn't matter how weak her chakra was.

Sai hung back, letting Sakura deal with Naruto (as usual) and fell in step with the forced pair. After some time passed in silence, he glanced at Maemi. She'd been too preoccupied with Kakashi's reaction (or lack thereof) to notice him until she blinked, and suddenly Sai was just there. She hid her surprise well, all things considered.

"Oh, hi."

He gave her his usual smile. "How are you doing?"

Maemi shot Kakashi a quick look before nodding away. "Fine, I guess..."

"Are you tired?"

Oh, that kind of doing. "No, not really. More thirsty? But I have water, so, all good, really." She patted her backpack and sank back into silence. Kakashi's nonplus-ness was starting to get to her.

Sai glanced between the two of them and jumped to conclusions. "Oh. I see, you need space. Later then." In a flash, he'd rejoined his comrades leading the way, leaving a puzzled Maemi behind. After a few more steps passed in silence, her thirst became too distracting.

"Is the book finished?"

Maemi, who'd been quenching her thirst, nearly choked on her water trying to inhale and spit at the same time. Of all the things to say, she hadn't seen this coming. Once her mouth was free from water, she peeked at him wearily. "Um… as in, complete?" What else could he mean, duh!

Kakashi simply nodded. "Hmm..." She actually had to think about that, given she wasn't a manga fan herself. She frowned in concentration, trying to recall all of Tsuneko's babbling. It was no easy task, for Tsuneko rambled on for days at a time, and Maemi had learned to block it out like background noise: it streamed in one ear and straight out the other. Still, the last time… must have been a few weeks before her arrival?

"I don't think so?" She paused, shifting through her recollections. "I mean, as far as I remember, which probably should be taken with a grain of salt, Tsune was going on about the latest arc of some attack or something..."

Kakashi frowned. "Attack?" The opportunity to gather intel wasn't lost on him, especially if it meant saving lives by being prepared. Although a nuisance, this girl could be a blessing in disguise – a very cumbersome, shackled disguise.

Maemi shook her head. "I know what you're going to ask, but forget it. I told you before, Tsune rambled at me, it wasn't really my thing so I just let her talk, you know? I wasn't paying attention because hell, it wasn't real!"

"Until now..."

"Yeah. Until now." She sighed. "I just know the series has been going on for yeeears, and Tsune has been buying every single volume and nearly going broke despite her part time job, not to mention she wastes so much time watching the entire anime. I mean, literally, all the episodes, including the shitty fillers! Not that I know anything about any of that, it's just- she really loves that stuff and I'm the only who'll listen to her talk about it day in and day out..."

Kakashi attempted to sift through that information, but there wasn't much useful info in there, except that their book had been started a few years back. But none of that made any sense, their countries' histories were older than four generations of Hokage. Further thought or questioning would have to wait: lunch time had crept up on them, and their conversation had to remain private.

They sat in a loose circle, Maemi safely tucked in between Kakashi and Temari, who was too busy chiding Shikamaru to bother her with mundane conversation. Not for the first time, Maemi wondered how her shadow ate anything at all with that mask.

He must've sensed the spike in curiosity, or perhaps the increasing pile of question marks hovering around her, because he turned to her with a questioning look. "Something on your mind?"

Maemi abandoned her sandwich and furrowed her brows at him. "Many things, actually." She noticed (but ignored) the rest of the circle quieting down, as if preparing for the upcoming show. "Why do you keep your left eye hidden? How does it not give you headaches functioning with only your right when both your eyes actually see? What's actually the point of your mask? Is it to filter out pollen, or are you super self-conscious? Doesn't it make breathing harder? What happens if you eat garlic? Do you ever take it off? How often do you wash it, and how many do you even have? But more importantly, how do you eat with it on?"

Naruto and Sakura exchanged a meaningful look. They'd been down this disappointing road before. Maybe they should have predicted this could happen and warned Maemi of the futility, but… they certainly would enjoy watching another show.

Kakashi sighed, half relieved it wasn't anything serious, and half dumbfounded she was questioning his clothing choices. Seeing her just staring at him told him she'd be expecting an answer to every single question. He'd better think of a diplomatic answer to placate her and avoid another outburst, but he was rather at a loss on exactly how to do so.

Maemi was still staring at him when the big white dog (seriously, how did dogs get this big?) barked and whined a little. She noticed the crowd tensing instantly.

"Kiba?"

"Is it me, or is he actually sniffing the air?" Maemi's whisper was dutifully ignored.

Kiba suddenly let out a loud laugh. "Don't worry, he's just letting me know it's gonna rain soon."

Maemi's inquisitive frown furrowed even further. "As in… he speaks to the dog? I thought dogs were the ones to talk in this world. Can anything make sense for at least two minutes?"

Everyone had returned to their food, but Maemi could tell there was still a quiver of uncertainty, and people seemed to be looking around more often and definitely more attentively.

Maemi glanced at Kakashi, who'd somehow finished his food in a flash, what!? "Well that's just not fair. I can't even- not even one answer out of you, I mean- c'mon." She shook her head at him with a bored yet resigned expression. She wasn't surprised, definitely not, if anything she'd come to accept that's just how he rolled, but she'd be damned if she didn't pester him about it.

She was about to finish her food when the loud crack of thunder startled her. A second later rain was pouring through the canopies of trees, drenching them nearly instantly to the bone. "… I think I just lost my appetite." She dropped her soggy food on the ground and followed Kakashi's move against the trunk of a tree.

Despite being surrounded by a platoon of what she assumed were skilled shinobi, Maemi couldn't shake her sense of unease. Actually, it was Kakashi's unease that had her on edge. She glanced at him inquisitively. "Something you're not sharing?"

His frown worried her even more. "We don't usually get these sudden downpours in this season..."

Maemi's relief was evident. "What, don't you know the world's coming to an end? Climate change and al-" It was her turn to frown. "… You guys don't have climate change, do you?" His confused expression was confirmation enough. "… Well shit."

– – – – – – – –

Look at this, around 5000 words! To think I had to write 6000 for my special project, which I did in about 3 or 4 days. (I know, I'm crazy.) But fanfiction is much easier to write because there's no referencing! Plot is another matter though… like this ending. It insisted, so… I obliged. (Brain, I trust you to fix this!)