Shirasuki (Crossing the Worlds Part I) 20- Back to Konoha

*Shirayume's POV*

"Come here, little Pinky." A car stops and the driver leans out his window. I glare at him, but don't get any closer to the car.

"You want a fight? Cuz I'm not a pushover."

"That's not what I want at all." Then what does this guy want?

'Be careful out there, Yume-chan. There have been girls your age going missing lately. Make sure that you don't get in the car with any strangers. And don't take a taxi either. Who knows what's been going on?' No way. Could the girls have been kidnapped? I back up and get ready to bolt for the school. I can't go home. This guy might follow me.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you to come when you're called? Get in the car. I'll take you home. It's too late for you to be walking alone."

"I'm fine, thank you very much. If you don't leave me alone, I will use my cell phone and call the police." I reach into my school bag, not for my phone, but for my pepper spray.

"Oh, you talk big for a little foreign girl."

"I'm not foreign." He gets out of his car. Oh know. I grab the pepper spray and tighten my grip on it. My phone is right next to my hand. Oh. I know the set up on it well enough to call 911 and turn down the hearing part so this guy won't be able to tell that the police are listening. Please connect.

"Really? That pretty pink hair could've fooled me."

"I'm serious. If you don't get away, I will call the police." I start to pull my hand out of my bag and get ready to spray him with the pepper spray. He grabs my hands and pushes me against a wall.

"That's not a good idea, missy."

"Help! Please! Someone help me!"

"No one can hear you." That's what he thinks. He picks me up and I struggle.

"Put me down! Put me down! Tasukete! Someone! Onegai!" He throws me into the back seat of his car.

"Shut up." I hope that my phone connected. I hurry to dig through my bag and get out my phone. It did connect! "Trying to call for help? I won't allow that. You're more stubborn than the others."

"Others? You're behind the missing girls?!"

"Heh." He snatches the phone out of my hand, accidentally ending the call. He throws it out the car window and I scream. He grabs my hair and pulls me towards the front seat, pressing something against my face. I can't breathe! This smell…it makes me tired…my eyes are heavy too. I pass out. When I wake up, I'm in some room, with my ankle chained to the post of a bed. I sit up and look around. It smells like blood in here. This is a long room…with about twelve beds all along it. I look at myself. Eh?! I'm not wearing any clothes?! I cover myself up and look at the bed closest to me. There's another girl, about the same age as me, asleep and chained to the bed by her ankle. But she's wearing something. A corset that only covers her stomach, knee length boots, and elbow length gloves.

"Hey. Where are we?" She wakes up and looks at me.

"You're the new girl right?" I notice that there are scars on her legs. Like someone cuts her every day! How horrible! "He should be getting back now."

"Who? The guy that kidnapped us?"

"Kidnapped? Otou-sama would never do something like that. We're all his precious daughters." She's crazy.

"Darlings, wake up!" She sits up and looks towards the voice. Other girls sit up as well. There are eleven girls, including myself. All of them are wearing clothes that don't cover anything important. There's a girl with the man at the door. But she's asleep. He sets her on the last bed and chains rattle as he chains her to the bed. He walks down the room, all eyes following him, to me.

"What are you doing?!" He's going to unlock the chain? I'll make a run for it the moment he does that! He grabs my leg and pulls out a knife. What?

"You should be more polite to Otou-sama. Bad girls are punished." He cuts my leg with the knife. It's a sharp pain. And I've had worse from fighting.

"No way am I gonna be polite to the guy that kidnapped me! Onii-chan will find me! And he'll bring the police with him!" Another cut, higher up my leg this time.

"For that, you won't get any food today." He pockets the knife and picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder so I can't run when he gets the chain undone. I struggle and beat my fists against his back.

"Let me go you bastard! Let me go! Agh!" He cuts me again…

"Shirayume! Wake up. Please." Nani? Tenten? A dream? Why was I dreaming about that time? I haven't had that memory plague me since…I bolt upright. Neji? Where is he?

"Yume?" Neji walks over and I hug him.

"Daijobu?" I nod.

"Yea."

"That's good. We were pretty worried about you for a while there."

"Why? I just passed out from exhaustion right?" I look up at Neji. He looks away. Why? "Neji? What's wrong?" Huh? I can't move…what's wrong with me?

"Yume…you weren't breathing for a while."

"Nani? But…" Shit. What's wrong with me? Why can't I move?

'We got it. Minako-chan, call Kiriku. The number is by the phone. I have to hold this open.' Again? Am I hearing things? That was Taisho-sensei's voice…in my head.

"Yume? Are you okay?"

"Yea…I think…" Dizzy…I'm dizzy again.

"Yume? What's wrong?"

"I…don't know…I'm dizzy all of a sudden." The phone rings.

"Tenten, can you answer it please?"

"Sure…but who would be calling?"

"It's Taisho-sensei's friend…Minako."

"Huh? What makes you say that? Oh." Tenten hurries out of the room and the phone stops ringing.

"I heard it…Taisho-sensei told her friend Minako to call me…I think they got the path open earlier than she thought she'd be able to…" Neji stares at me and I smile.

"You're sure?" I nod and frown. I can't see straight… "Yume? What's wrong?"

"The room is spinning…"

*Neji's POV*

Again?

"Yume?" She passed out again. What on earth is wrong with her?

"Guys! Great news!" What? I lay her down and head towards the stairs, almost getting knocked over as Lee and Gai-sensei run down the stairs.

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

"What's up, Tenten?"

"Shirayume's teacher just called, well, it was a friend of hers, but still! She wants us to go to her house. We're going back home!"

"That's great!" So she was right…I go back to the bedroom and sigh. Before…she was right about Tenten looking for us. What on earth? Well…whatever's wrong, we can't go back to Konoha like this.

*Tenten's POV*

"Something's wrong with those two…"

"What makes you think that?"

"They've been acting weird since we got stuck here."

"Really? I don't think so."

"That's because you're dense, Lee-kun."

"Nani?"

"I'm gonna change clothes! Can't go back home in this outfit." I run up to the room I've been staying in, pausing at the door to Shirayume's room. It's weird. Ever since we got here…almost immediately, Neji asked if I'd be willing to switch rooms with him…and then they seemed to be getting closer and closer every time they were together. He's even shortening her name now. And how did Shirayume know who was calling? I shake my head and go to the other room to change clothes. Shirayume's face turned the same color as her hair when I mentioned sex. Something must have happened before we ended up here.

I thought I understood why they wanted to be in the same room…she's been alone for so long and probably got used to sharing a room with him…I go to the door of that room. "Shirayume? Neji-kun? I think we're about to head over to Taisho-sensei's house."

"Kay." Just Neji?

"Oh. Hurry downstairs then." I go to the living room and my eye twitches when I notice Lee and Gai-sensei…they're back in those annoying jumpsuits…I sigh. There's no hope for them. After a few minutes, Neji comes downstairs, carrying Shirayume. So he changed her clothes as well? She was still wearing that costume earlier…wait. Why is he carrying her? She was awake. "Did she pass out again?" He nods and I nod slowly. What on earth is wrong with her?

"Let's go."

"Do we even know where this woman lives?"

"Huh? No…" Someone knocks on the door.

"Sumimasen!" I hurry to answer the door. "Oh, you must be Tenten-san. Watashi ha Hatake Minako desu. I forgot to give you instructions to Naki-chan's place on the phone earlier, so I figured I should come and show you the way." Hatake? I nod and put on my shoes.

"Right."

"Oh. Hyuuga-kun…right? I can carry Kiriku-san, if…"

"I'm fine."

"Oh. Okay then. Follow me." We leave the house and Hatake-san gasps. "Naki-chan! I thought you were holding the path open."

"I know that. But I figured that it would be quicker to open the path here instead of having everyone run all the way to my house. It takes too long. And it looks like Kiriku-san is still out cold…" Huh? Hatake-san walks over to the teacher.

"Taisho…so you're Nakira-sensei?"

"Gai-kun…you're…still wearing that absurd outfit? How embarrassing…I feel sorry for your students…"

"Anno…Naki-chan, we should hurry…Kiriku-san doesn't look too good…"

"Oh right. Minako-chan!"

"Hai!" Taisho-sensei takes Hatake-san's hand and they both close their eyes. What the? Wind? I cover my eyes. The wind dies down and I stare at the hole behind Taisho-sensei and Hatake-san.

"What is that?"

"The path to Konoha. Well…technically, it's a secondary door that leads to the path to Konoha. Since we can't get the actual door to open, we have to take a back door route, so to speak." I didn't understand a word she just said. "You guys didn't understand me at all just now did you?" We all shake our heads. "It can't be helped I guess. Hurry up before we lose control of this opening."

"Right." We hurry into the hole and I look back. As soon as Hatake-san and Taisho-sensei get through, the hole disappears.

"Pardon me." Taisho-sensei walks to get in front of us and she snaps her fingers. "Follow me! We should end up right at my place…" Should?

"You don't know where we'll end up?"

"Not really. Like I said, we should end up at my place. But we could end up in Hiyashi-kun's study too…that would be a problem…"

"Why?"

"Hiyashi-kun doesn't like me…anyways! We need to get going. Once we get to Konoha, I'll be able to figure out what's wrong with Kiriku-san." We nod and follow her to a door. She pulls it open and looks out. "Mataku. He's gonna be pissed about this…oh well." I take it we're about to end up in the Hyuuga compound.

"Naki-chan, can't you redirect the path?"

"Oh right! I had forgotten about that! Okay! Hold on a sec guys!" Scary…she's scary.