Yay! Double update! Why? 'Cause a plot line is forming for the THIRD STORY! HAPPY FACE!

Too bad it's a depressing plot line...

But it's something! So it isn't over yet! Double yay!

I felt a shiver run down my spine. I was dead? Okay, I wasn't expecting that. Then again, who would expect to hear their best friend telling you, you were dead? Well, it wasn't a nice feeling. Not at all. It was… scary, to say the least. Imagine that. You're dead. It's like walking into a graveyard and seeing your own name etched into a gravestone. Yeah… not a nice feeling. "I'm… dead?"

Her hands slid off my shoulders, and her eyes went to the ground. "You… were killed."

"…Who killed me?"

She closed her eyes, tears beginning to flow again. "…Madara did."

My eyes widened even further. "What… happened?"

She gestured to the floor, and we sat. "You know Maxey Island – that's the same, correct?" I nodded. "And the clearing?" I nodded again. "And when Tobi came into the clearing?" I blinked, then shook my head. "Well then, that's where we'll begin. When Tobi came into the clearing, he offered to take us on a walk," she began. "He took us to an Akatsuki hideout, but locked us up almost immediately. They drugged us… and we went to sleep in a flash. While we were sleeping, they extracted our beasts. I didn't even know we had beasts! But… we didn't die. Sometimes, I wish we did….

"But anyway, after that, we were able to mingle with the other members as if we were one of them. And that's what they made us think: that we were one of them. However, Pain didn't allow me to stay around Deidara. I didn't even mention him, and they told me I couldn't be around him. I still don't quite know why…."

I do, I couldn't help but think. Natalie was the one who got him to be a good guy….

"But still, I stuck with Sam… uh… you. And you flocked to Itachi like a bee to honey. The leader said nothing against you trying to befriend him. It was weird, you barely mentioned Gaara, even though he was just your favorite character. Of course, you had been deciding over Gaara and Itachi…." She shrugged. "You went for the whole 'being-a-badass-Akatsuki' thing almost instantly. The Akatsuki was like a family to us. Hidan was like a brother to you." I blinked, surprised. Not that anything else wasn't surprising. "I guess I could say Pain was like a brother to me…. I hung around him a lot too, when I didn't feel I needed to be with my only connection to home.

"I guess it's safe to say you and Itachi became pretty good friends. But… that was all. You liked him more than you let on, as you confessed many times in our roomy two-bed room. Still, though, he only found slight comfort in being around you, because he knew you still had a pretty clean slate. Your whole future ahead of you. And don't get me wrong, you didn't just hang around him. You hung around Hidan a lot too; as I said, he was like your brother. You became quite the curser. I guess I swore a bit more often too. I didn't feel any need to hold back stuff like that when we were living with S-ranked criminals. I didn't just hang around Pain and Konan, either. I also hung around Tobi. He was fun to be around. I knew he was Madara, but if he was acting like Tobi right then, I wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. Not only that, but we began changing into them – it was weird. That is, until Tobi taught us how not to change.

"Of course, we weren't always in the same place. Whenever the Akatsuki separated, we could choose to stay with Pain and Konan in the Rain village, or go out with another group. But then… they started dying off, one by one. First was Hidan and Kakuzu. You were devastated your 'brother' had been incapacitated, and you wouldn't see him again. Then, when Deidara died, you began to panic. I had told all that would happen, so you knew Itachi was next. You had become incredibly tough and cold. Living like this does that. But you still cared; that toughness was just the outside.

"You begged Itachi not to go, but he refused. You knew he was sick anyway, you had seen him coughing up blood more than once. However, you still begged him to stay. But… he left. You were completely heartbroken. That night, you told me you were going after him. I told you not to, and you promised you wouldn't… but you did. And you were caught, by Madara. I was awoken the next morning by Tobi, saying the leader had a request. I immediately went with him to his room. His office, I guess." She paused, and gulped. The next part wasn't going to be good.

"Tobi went through the door first, and I closed the door behind me. Then, he wheeled around to face me, no longer Tobi. He wasn't a silly, care-free, kind little boy. He was an evil, heartless, bastard of a man. 'Your friend Samantha has disobeyed orders,' he told me. 'She needs to be punished.' I told him that all she wanted was to save her good friend, but he kept saying things like you were disobedient, that you shouldn't interfere with that fight, not to disrupt what was meant to be." She licked her lips. "Then he told me you were to be killed. I screamed at him not to. Begged him not to do it…. But… he didn't allow it.

"I fell to my knees, sobbing, crying that you were my best friend, that it would be punishing me, too. He… he hesitated. Maybe if I had tried a little harder…. But he wouldn't have it. He answered that it would teach me obedience, even though I had been incredibly obedient already. I guess I sorta forgot he wasn't Tobi anymore. If I had remembered, maybe I could have kept it together a little more. Maybe I could have reasoned with him. I'd rather have my own life taken than yours…. Pain came in, holding your arms behind your back. You were struggling your heart out, but he wouldn't let go.

"Pain looked down at you and said that it was time for your execution. You struggled even harder. Eventually you stopped struggling, eyes wide, and stared at me. We made eyes contact." She paused; she was crying by then. "Then I averted my gaze. Konan came out of nowhere and grabbed my arms, forcing me to stand. Pain, being the nice guy he is, suggested that this shouldn't happen. That it was too cruel. He knew how I felt. He basically killed Yahiko, and that was his best friend. Madara was his leader though, and his decision didn't sway. After his reasoning, Pain accepted I needed to know the true meaning of pain, anyway. Nice guy, huh? I had no choice. Maybe I had been a little more skilled…." She shook her head. "You looked at me with pleading eyes, and I struggled as hard as I could, yelling for them to not do it, to change their mind. Madara flipped out a kunai, walking towards you. For a second, you and made eye contact one last time. Then, without warning, he shoved the kunai into your chest. He drove it right through your heart. My breath caught in my throat; I stopped yelling. You just sorta stared, unblinking, for a second or two, but then you collapsed. Pain let go of your arms, Konan let go of mine, and I went to the floor right with you."

She stopped, tears streaming down her cheeks, but soon wiped them away to continue. "…I had lost my best friend. I had lost my last connection to my original home. I had lost one of the only kind souls left around me. I had lost all hope, ambition, energy, the will to move on. I had lost everything. I stumbled into a deep abyss of depression and self-doubt. Tobi came back, acting silly again, even though 'Deidara-senpai' had died. I didn't hang around him as much anymore. I didn't really hang around anyone. Usually I'd end up alone in our room. It was incredibly hard to accept your death. I walked through time as though in a fog, just doing as I was told, nothing else. Well, I guess it did help with obedience, since I didn't so much as question anything I was told to do. But then, Pain died. I awoke in a new hideout, with no memory of ever moving – Madara had teleported me, most likely. So, I didn't have the choice to stay with Konan, the new leader of the Rain. So, I was stuck with Madara, Kisame, Zetsu, and soon Kabuto and Sasuke. I stayed around Sasuke then, if anyone, because he was connected to Itachi, and it made me feel closer to you. We didn't really talk, and he barely noticed me, but just being near gave me some satisfaction. Kisame died soon after, and not much happened on my part. And now… we're here."

I did something I don't often do. I hugged her, and hugged her tight. She needed it. I may not have liked hugs, but I gave some of the best. Ironic, isn't it? She cried into my shoulder. "It's all because of Madara," I whispered. "If he hadn't come, things would be better. You'd get Deidara on the good side…. Itachi survives the fight…. Sasuke goes back to the Leaf…. We find our way back to the real world, back home. We all have a happy ending. It's not your fault. It's okay."

She pulled away, wiping, yet again, the tears of her cheeks. "I lost hope, Sam. I lost my will to move forward." She paused, then stood, eyes now full of life again. "I need to thank you…. You said you had to make it back to that good time." I nodded, and she smiled. "What can I do to help?"

Darn…. Madara just loved to rub things in people's faces, didn't he? Ugh…. Britt and I were transported to another room before we could even answer his question. My answer would have been no, anyway. It was probably a rhetorical question. Too bad. This new room wasn't all that great, though. It was just as gray as all the other rooms. Of course, this room was bigger than all the rest; it might have been a meeting hall. And Kabuto was there.

"Oh, hi French Toast!" I greeted. Britt snickered at the memory of that party.

Kabuto just crossed his arms, confused.

"…He doesn't remember, does he?" I sighed, realizing he probably wouldn't, considering everything else had changed.

"Remember what?"

I blinked innocently. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. You were drunk. You kept chanting 'I'mma French toast!' It was fun."

He uncrossed his arms. "What? That didn't happen!"

"That's what you think," Britt smirked.

"Oh, I suppose you want to see your Akatsuki friends?" Madara asked me, interrupting.

I opened my mouth to answer, when three coffins came out of the ground, at Kabuto's signal, a smirk on his Orochimaru-y face. Each of them opened, and Madara and Kabuto swirled out of sight. Idiots. We'd just break out. I looked around and laughed nervously. "Ahaha… there's no way out…." And there wasn't. There were no windows, no doors, no nothing.

Britt pointed to the coffins, and I looked.

"Agh, where are we now, hm?" Deidara asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

I swallowed hard. Deidara was… dead in this world. Right. I looked at the other two coffins. They held… Nagato and Itachi. "Oh shi… uh… shiz," I muttered. This meant that they probably didn't remember us….

"Natalie…?" Nagato asked.

I blinked. Or not. "Uh… hi guys! What's up?" My hopes rose. If they remembered us, then they might have recollections on the world that was meant to be.

"We're dead, right?" Deidara frowned.

I gave another nervous laugh.

"…More like reborn," Itachi murmured.

"Or undead," Nagato put in glumly.

"Uh, well, you guys… remember me, right?" I asked.

"What do you think we are, hm? Idiots?" Deidara asked angrily.

"Maybe," Britt answered.

"Uh, no," I came in. "No. Uh…. Tell me, Itachi… did Sam and I try to stop the fight between you and Sasuke?"

His expression grew cold (not that it wasn't already). "Not you. Just Sam. Sam tried…."

"Okay," I said, even more confused. "Nagato, in your final talk with Naruto, did I burst in to try and save you from yourself?"

"No…."

I sighed. I had more questions than before now. Great. "…Does any of you have anything to say to me?"

"Not really, I barely know you, hm," Deidara muttered, annoyed.

Itachi stayed silent.

"I'd like to say… I'm sorry," Nagato said. "For not helping your friend."

I frowned. "Hey Britt, do you have any idea what they mean?"

She shook her head. "Nope!"

I sighed. "Well this is just freaking perfect," I muttered.

Three people swirled back. "Sorry, we just had to pick up a friend," Madara said innocently.

"You know how much this stinks?" I asked him. "These people are confuzzling me!"

"Oh, it gets worse."

"Recognize me?" the third person asked. It was Orochimaru. And he looked perfectly fine, too. He wasn't lying in a bed, hacking his lungs out.

There was something seriously wrong with this world.

Britt gasped. "Oreos!"

I winced. She's not supposed to be happy about this…. Before I knew it, Orochimaru was being glomped. He was obviously still weak, as he fell over. Everyone just sorta stared, while Oro was struggling to get her off. Orochimaru, by the way, was wearing a dark robe. Kinda like a bathrobe. But it wasn't. So… yeah. It was a… kimono, maybe? He had lost the purple rope, anyway. That was good. I didn't really like the purple rope. In fact, when I first saw the Shippuden Sasuke, the first thing I said was 'Oh… he even has the rope!'

"Get off of him, you fool!" Kabuto ordered once he processed what had happened. She reluctantly got up, though Oro was now breathing hard… and mad. He was definitely mad

"Well," Madara commented, "that certainly wasn't the reaction I expected…. I suppose I must congratulate you for surprising me."

"How the hell could you even think of liking that snake bastard, hm?" Deidara yelled. "I thought he was fucking dead! I—" Deidara, along with Nagato and Itachi (who weren't saying anything) were silenced, and the coffins sunk into the ground.

"How annoying…," Madara breathed, then turned to me. "Have I convinced you yet? That this world is much better than the one you knew?"

"Well," I said, knowing he was just trying to freak me out, "not really. Now, tell me; what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?"

I sensed his smile, and I prepared myself. "Just one," he said, and a single coffin rose from the ground. It looked so lonely there, as the room was utterly empty besides me, Britt, Oro, Kab-to, and Maddie. I couldn't prepare myself for who came out of the coffin, however. I mean, really…. I could never have even imagined it, except if it were in a nightmare.

It was Sam.

Was Sam… dead in this world? This world was way too twisted…. I really didn't like it now…. I gulped. I think the creepiest part about it was the fact Kabuto didn't bring her original personality. Her eyes were shadowed, and it was, to say the least, creepy. And it hit me hard. Madara always knew just what hit someone the hardest. And since we'd been enemies for a while now, and strained acquaintances in the time he was Tobi, he knew me well.

Ha… crap.

"Holy crap! It's… it's Sam!" Britt cried.

Madara took a step forward as my knees started going weak. Not now, damn it! I can't show weakness here. I'll die! I don't wanna die!

The coffin began to sink, Sam along with it, Madara saying to me, "See? This world is wonderful. That nuisance Samantha has been disposed of. Itachi is out of the way. You're a faithful member of Akatsuki. And, of course, everything is as it should be. As Masashi depicted it."

"No," I argued. "If it was as Masashi depicted, Sam and I wouldn't even be here." My confidence grew slightly. "And Mamoru, Tama, Miki, and that other dude wouldn't be in your hideout! What of them?"

"That may be true. However, they didn't interfere with the true storyline. The actual show."

An idea hit me. "Is that what you really want? Masashi's depiction? The show's called Naruto! You gotta think straight! Your ending won't be happy! The good guy nearly always wins, you idiot!"

He shook his head. "You are a fool." It was then that Zetsu molded out of the ground.

And... Oro's alive! Dun dun dunnn... Or is that a good thing? THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW.