Chapter 7
When Abigail woke up, the sky was a shade of red and lavender; the sun was rising; overlooking a range of bare mountains. Below them, a rocky desert. To the right, lush evergreens and deciduous, following a river bed. She was laying on some kind of mat, on a small but abundant patch of soft grass. She laid her head back down. Above her, was a single tree covered with fragrant orange flowers. The wind was blowing a few petals off, which were transported far down, where the rocky desert was; Just like in anime. She turned her head to follow the floating leaves and blink a few times.
How did she get here again? What happened? She remembered the pain...
She was a little sore but most of it was completely gone now! She was bruised everywhere, but the cuts had a shiny coating on them. The previous night's memory started to resurface. There was a fight and a dream.
She held her painless but tired head to gather her thoughts. Was the fight part of the dream too? She remembered a pair of bright green eyes and ... sand! She gasped, sat up and frantically looked around, blushing. Was he real? Or was it a random guy doing cosplay? Maybe she was confused because of her concussion?
No ... the fight was real ... the bruises on her body was proof of that. But the guy!? She growled and massaged her temples. Her fingers were reminded of the paste that had now dried up. She closed her eyes to try to make sense of what was real and not.
"Neesan!"
The little voice was strong and joyful. Abigail turned towards it and saw her two little companions, happily munching on different kinds of fruits and berries. There was also some bread wrapped in some kind of linen.
"Oh…" she said, drooling.
A tall, familiar man came behind them and gave them some water in a thin grey clay cup. Aby froze when she recognized him. No way!
He had deep indigo markings on his face, it should be purple, like in the anime, she thought, but then again, she was not in an anime...right?
His head was covered with a lengthy dark grey hat, complementing a loose shirt of the same color. Kankuro! That has to be Kankuro! she thought. Another man she did not recognize was sitting across the kids, beside a big travel bag that seemed to hide someone; hair, or something alike, was coming out of it. That must be Kankuro's puppet!
"Well, well!" said Kankuro mockingly, "look who's up!"
His eyes looked from Aby, to someone behind her.
"She must be hungry!" he told that person.
Aby turned around. The world around him blurred before vanishing entirely. All she could see was him!
Holy shit, he was real too!He walked towards her, holding another similar thin clay dish; whatever was inside was steaming hot. He must have come out of that big tent further back ... wait, is that tent made out of sand?! As he was approaching, she could have sworn there were bubbles and cherry blossom petals swirling around him, like a divine being, majestically walking towards her.
Gaara was still wearing the same cloak from last night, but his usual crimson coat and body armor peeked through, and his head was now uncovered. She couldn't help but stare. So handsome!
He looked dignified, like a prince! His posture was straight and he held his head high, while his eyes looked down at her. She could see, under the rising sunlight, his hair was a deep brownish red with fiery highlights, reflecting the sun. His signature dark circles around his eyes, which were actually more like a very dark ash color, gave him a piercing stare, and his eyes had more green in them, compared to last night; probably due to the change of light. He was undeniably handsome! However, something wasn't right; his demeanor was now different. A chill ran down her spine as he came closer. The gentle smile he had while tending to her was no longer there. The vibe was not threatening, as when they first met, but the expression he wore was not a friendly one. He stopped when he was half a meter away and simply looked down at her for a few seconds. Then he squatted down to her level, offering her the bowl of steaming rice porridge. There was some dark brown stuff in it ... it didn't seem nor smell appetizing, but she was so hungry!
Her hand extended to accept wholeheartedly the food, but when she did, he slightly drew the bowl back out of reach. She met his eyes in confusion and she could see their expression; just like that, the bubbles and flower petals surrounding him, disappeared.
"Who are you?" he said in a calm voice.
Toshiko quickly stood up, still chewing up on something.
"I told you already! We're from..."
Gaara cut him off with a smile, the index across his lips. Toshiko smiled back and sat down again. Gaara turned back to Aby; his face as serious as before. She felt a pinch in her heart; the prince was not being charming to her. She had done nothing wrong, but he was already treating her like a trouble maker.
She justified his behavior, reminding herself that she knew him well, but he did not know her. They were, after all, from different worlds. She took a deep breath and prepared for the obvious interrogation. Toshiko probably already told them everything, as impossible as the story may have seemed, he was probably just curious to know how different the story would be, coming from her.
He repeated his question one more time.
"Who are you."
"Abigail," she answered.
"Which village are you from?"
"I'm not from here ... I'm-"
"Yeah, I know you're not from here," he interrupted her, annoyed. "Which village are you from? Which country?"
"No, I meant, I, hum, we are not from this world," she pointed to the kids and herself, "We ..."
Gaara slightly raised his hand; a light web of sand lifted from the ground and twirled around them. His brow-less frown was intimidating. This time, instead of flowers and bubbles, she was sure tiny little spiders were floating on strings of webs around him, evilly grinning at her with their red creepy little eyes.
"That load of crap you're throwing at me is too heavy to carry. You better lighten it up before I throw it back at you."
He's angry, she thought. She was getting nervous.
"But …"
"As you witnessed firsthand last night, I'm not in a very good mood. Since you appeared, my village took a hit and a third of our buildings crumbled down. Now I have to feed and shelter families who have nowhere to go ... because of you! WHO ARE YOU!? WHERE DID YOU COME FROM? WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"
Kankuro frowned, concerned. This was not going the way he expected. Why was he suddenly so aggressive towards the girl?
Abigail was getting frightened. What did he mean "since she appeared"?
"I don't know ..."
Gaara suddenly grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up with one hand. Toshiko somehow found the courage to move forward.
"H-Hey! I already told you everything! Why are you doing this to Onee-chan? She didn't do any ..."
Gaara pushed him to the ground with one hand and Aby suddenly felt enraged.
"HEY! L-Leave him alone, you ... dirtbag!" she said as she tried to break free from the hand that was choking her. "...What's your problem? F-First you tend to us ... and then you want to ... kill us? "
"Easy little brother …" Kankuro said while helping the boy back up. "Them kids didn't do anything, and frankly, we don't know for sure she's the culprit ... what's with you?"
"Look at her! Look at them! They are clearly not from here! She might ask them to do stuff, and no one would ever suspect anything since they are kids!"
His men watched him perplexed.
"Gaara, what are you talking about ... they're just kids!"
"Oh yeah? I used to be just a kid too! A loooooong time ago!" hi hissed.
Gaara never left his eyes from Abigail. She started to feel pain from his hand around her neck. She was still up high, and started to feel heavy as her body was pulling down. Her hands started to shake, trying to hold onto his arm; his fingers were digging into her neck. His face was scary. What was going on inside his head? Where was the gentle and kind Gaara she loved so much in the manga and anime? Where was the caring Gaara that was tending to her wounds just a few hours ago? None of this made sense ... She met his eyes and teared up.
He felt something ... her tears, her eyes were inducing something. Just like before ... something he had never felt before, but he was not going to let that girl use whatever jutsu she was using to soften him. He shook off the pin on his heart by shaking his head and tightened the grip. She gasped for air and the tears ran down.
"Don't think for a second that those eyes of yours will help you. I don't know what you are doing to me but it is not going to work!" He threw her on the ground and put a foot on her chest to hold her down.
"Gaara! That's enough! What is wrong with you? It's not like you!" yelled Kankuro.
Aby was helpless, she didn't know what he was talking about. Doing what to him? She was not doing anything! She sobbed and looked at his enraged eyes. She was scared and confused. Could he be different after all? Was it really Naruto's world? Or was it Naruto's world with some kind of twist? Her mind turned to Kankuro. He did mention that it was not like him. She tried to calm down, her hands still on his foot, but she loosened her grip and looked straight in his eyes.
"I know ... I know I look different to you. I know ... I'm ... aware that …" she sobbed and tears ran down again. She was trying so hard to keep calm, and for now, at least, he was listening.
"What I say doesn't make sense. I don't understand either ... OK? I don't know how we got here! But you ... you want to put the blame on me? Go ahead! But of all the people, you ... you should know better than to treat a kid like that! He did nothing! He can't do anything! He's just a kid! You should know, right? How it feels to be a kid and not being able to do anything?
Gaara just stared, in complete shock of the truth that just slapped him in the face. He removed his foot slowly, backed away three steps and looked around. The little girl was still crying and was hiding behind the boy who was shaking in fright. His brother just stared at him disapprovingly and the other man was looking down, avoiding eye contact…
Shame suddenly overcame him. He looked back at her, still on the ground, too afraid to move. She didn't look anything like a trouble maker. Quite the opposite in fact; he could now clearly see that she looked vulnerable. She had no weapons, no protective gear. She was bruised everywhere. She did not even attempt to attack him; everything that happened, he realized with disgust, 'he' started it, and Kankuro was right: that was not like him "not anymore," he thought.
There was a time, he would have killed her on the spot; now, very few things got to him. He always studied before he attacked. He had seen many things in his young life so far; extraordinary things, wonderful things, terrifying things ... why was he suddenly so defensive and aggressive towards a girl?
"I ..."
He couldn't release the rest of the words … "I'm sorry" wouldn't cut it. He just turned away and walked towards his tent. He picked up the bowl he had thrown on the ground earlier and gave it to Kankuro.
"I need to cool off. I don't know what came over me. Give her some food, and let me know when they get here."
"Who's 'they' ?" she wondered, still shaking. The man she did not recognize helped her back up. And Kankuro gave her the bowl that she was so anxious to get at the beginning. She took it but did not eat heartily. She was no longer hungry. She looked back towards his tent. He had already disappeared inside.
What was that all about?
"Yeah...sorry about that. I'm not sure what's wrong with him." said Kankuro.
"Didn't he say he was in a bad mood because of the state Suna is in?" the other man asked.
"Huh, I don't know, Kankuro said, sitting beside his comrade. "He does care a lot for his people, but he usually doesn't lose his cool like that."
He had a concerned look on his face. He turned towards Aby.
"So … Abigail, was it? Quite a different name!"
Abigail didn't know what to say. Was this all real? She looked up at the perfect clouds and jump in surprise ... she couldn't believe she did not think of this before!
"I'm dead!" she announced, staring at the fire, eyes wide opened.
The man across from her choked on the water he was drinking and it poured down his brown Suna uniform.
"Huh?"
"Of course!" she said, clapping her hands. She felt the sudden relief from the realization. "It makes so much sense! The earthquake; I must have died while everything was collapsing! I love Naruto so much that this must be my personal heaven!"
The men looked at each other, confused. She was in love with Naruto? What did heaven had to do with it? Naruto was not even here!
"I mean, yeah sure, I thought there would be angels with white wings and walking bare feet on clouds or something, but nobody knows exactly what heaven looks like, right? Except that is supposed to be beautiful, and look at this place! The colors, the water, the air, the colors!"
"You already said that last one," said Toshiko.
She looked at the children. Tori was smiling, not understanding what she was saying, but seeing that she was happy made her smile. Toshiko, however, just looked confused.
"Oh no! You guys must be dead too! Oh! That's so sad!"
She frowned for a second, but smiled again. "Oh! but it's OK! We're in heaven!"
"What?! Now, hold on for a sec ..." started Kankuro.
"Don't want dead!" said Tori, who suddenly dropped the smile.
"Onee-Chan, we're not dead!"
"Oh you guys don't worry! Heaven is a wonderful place! Everything is so beautiful here, and there is no sadness, no pain, everything is pure joy…"
"... pure joy? No pain?" said Kankuro, inquisitive.
"..."
"..."
"OH MY GOD WE'RE IN HELL!" Aby suddenly had an anxiety attack and started to cry.
"This can't be! I didn't do anything wrong! Why am I in hell?! Oh! It's that guy I told off, right? And ... OH Noooo!"
Abigail stopped right in her tracks, her hands on her head and eyes full of horror.
"He saw my thoughts! God saw my impure thoughts! This is so embarrassing!"
The rest of the group just watched her rambling on to herself.
"Nii-San, what is 'impure thoughts'?" asked Tori to her brother.
"Ahhh…"
"Just wait, hold on! You're..."
"Please God! I was so lonely, I could only dream of romance and it might have gotten a little out of ..."
"Oh for crying out loud, will you shut up!" Kankuro demanded, his face all red. "People die every day here ... if it was heaven or hell, people would not be dying; there would be no pain, but there would be no joy either!"
Gaara splashed water on his face. It was not even noon and he was already exhausted. What the hell was that all about. What was happening to him? Why was he so aggressive?
It started yesterday, he thought. They heard talking then; He told his men to stay back. He saw the kids first, picking up berries. He thought their clothing was odd, but he didn't feel so uneasy.
Then he saw her.
He let himself fall back; his sand, as usual, caught him like a cloud, gently forming some type of 'sand mattress'. He closed his eyes and rested his right arm over his face. Why did he feel threatened? She did look different; so did the kids. Of course he wouldn't feel threatened by kids. His heart skipped a beat when he remembered her looking out into the desert. He skillfully sneaked under the bridge before she turned around, which was typical Shinobi stuff. Her hair shone under the moonlight.
He could tell right away she didn't belong, but there was something else about her.
Pretty, was his first thought, but so was Hakuto ... no ... Hakuto was beautiful...and yet, this was different ... he felt drawn right away ... like enchanted ... this was not normal ... witchcraft maybe?
Her skin was very pale and it was so easy to defeat her even if she had some ability with water ... Like a child playing with new tricks for the first time, he thought. When the kids told him they fell in a hole and ended up here, it seemed so stupid. However, looking at them, it was plain to see that their sudden presence was very odd and out of ordinary. He decided then that he would take a different approach, instead of killing her. He would remain cautious.
Her eyes though ... he brought his hands behind his head. They were strikingly beautiful. I got lost in them last night, while I was tending to her wounds …
He gasped.
"That's it!" he said to himself out loud. "She must be doing something with her eyes!"
"Now you're just being paranoid!"
Gaara screamed in fright from Abigail's sudden appearance. His sand pushed him up at full speed as his hands reached his side pockets and drew four shurikens in a matter of seconds. He threw them right at Abigail with a flick of his wrists. Aby's hands instinctively shielded her face. Two shurikens hit the sand wall behind her, while the remaining two bounced back to the sandy ground, from a solid water barrier that formed before she even raised her hands in defense. Both looked, in disbelief, at the shurikens and the water vessel that was now empty. To Gaara's surprise, the girl looked genuinely as shocked as he was.
"D-did I just do that?" she asked, her hands still raised.
Gaara seemed to wake up right then.
"NEVERMIND THAT! YOU CAN'T JUST COME IN HERE WITHOUT PERMISSION! I'M THE KAZEKAGE! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO JUST ENTER THE KAZEKAGE'S …" he took deep breaths to calm himself down and turned around, his hand on his forehead.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! You are right! I'm so, so sorry! Please forgive me Gaar ... ahhh ... I mean, Lord Gaara? Lord fifth? Kazekage?"
She couldn't remember how to formally address him. After all, all good readers just referred to him as "Gaara".
He sat back down on the sand mattress as she grabbed a random cloth on the floor and started cleaning the water with shaking hands.
"You startled me. How did you get in here without me noticing you?!"
"Oh! Well, I called out a few times but you didn't answer ... so I peeked in, I really wanted to talk to you and I didn't know if you would ... well ... I'm sorry. I just admire you a lot and I wanted to make things right!"
She admires him?! He glared at her, his eyes full of suspicion.
"If you're not of this world ... how do you know me to the point of admiration?"
"Oh I know you all right!" she laughed. "I know Kankuro too! And Temari! I know pretty much everybody ... except the other guy over there ... I don't know him."
He stiffened. She knows Temari?!
She felt his uneasiness. She let go of the cloth and looked up, still kneeling down.
"As I was saying before; my name is Abigail. I was on a leisure trip in Japan with 3 of my friends. We were in Hakone, in an Onsen for the night and were about to leave, when some earthquake happened and we got sepa ..."
"An earthquake?" interrupted Gaara.
"Uh, yeah. It happened the night before too, but that one wasn't as big ... everything happened so fast! The ground, like, opened somehow, and me and those two kids fell in. But the fall was, like, forever! And there were flashes for a second, which I thought were lightnings. I remember it was very dark. But we kept falling! Then I just bumped into...well ..stuff and I think I lost consciousness. I woke up with a concussion, I think, 'cuz I was not feeling too good ... and then it was night and we were in a cave and the volcano wasn't there anymore and …"
"Wo wo wo ... a volcano? You said you were at a hot springs. You're going too fast! I can't understand what your saying!"
"OK, well, Hakone has hot springs and a volcano."
"Where is ... Hakone?"
"In Japan"
"OK, but this is Ame country ... we are now on the border of the Land of Wind and the Land of Stones."
"I know that! But we were in … oh right," she remembered, whispering to herself, "you guys wouldn't know Japan … "
He stared at her for a moment and she became a little self conscious, looking away. He definitely calmed down and his demeanor was no longer threatening. He looked away as well and finally broke the silence.
"Hum, why are you …"
"Well, you wanted to know from the beginning, I wanted to show you that I mean no arm."
"Oh, no I meant, why are you kneeling?"
She blushed a little.
"Is-isn't this the formal way to speak to you?"
"N-no, not really …" he said a little bashfully.
"Oh!" She slowly stood up, embarrassed. It is true that no one ever spoke to a Kage while kneeling ... However, he looked so much like a prince that she was treating him like one.
Gaara's thoughts were spinning in his head.
So basically, he thought, she was in her world with her friends; there was an earthquake and, somehow, ended up here.
"We had earthquakes here too," he said to her, then realized something. "How long have you and those kids been here, in this world?"
"Not sure...I was confused when I woke up and I felt sick and I know I might have slept for a long time ... maybe 2 days? 3 days? It was morning in Japan when the earthquake happened ... when I woke up, it was night time."
"Now that you mention it, the last earthquake was about 3 days ago. It was also a big one."
She remembered him telling her that his village was almost destroyed, since she got here; however, his facial expression softened for the first time since he tended to her. She and those children had been dragged into a mess they had nothing to do with.
She rubbed her arm, suddenly aware of a stubborn ache above her elbow. He frowned and reached in a small bag attached to his thigh. When he opened it, she could see the handle tips of small and neatly organized weapons. But what he reached for was a tiny tin container. He held out his hand.
"Your arm," he said. She extended it and, once again, he applied a paste to her arm. It smelled like mint and other herbs; it was just a bruise, but the paste had a cooling effect that made her feel better.
"I'm sorry," he simply said, while working on the green paste.
"It's OK,"
He shook his head as if to say "no, it's not"; but she gave a faint smile.
"Just don't do it again, OK?" she said, as a mother to a child after getting in trouble.
"I promise," he said smiling.
Wow! she thought, Gaara never smiles! It was shy, but a killer nonetheless!
Gaara's eyes met hers and they locked in. He couldn't look away. He felt the same flutter in his stomach as before; only now, he realized what the flutter was, and it had nothing to do with witchcraft.
"Lord fifth?" They both jumped, startled.
"Yes Yashiko, What is it?"
"They're here!" his man said nervously as he entered the sand structure. He looked at Abigail. "And they're not alone …"
All five Shinobis stared at Aby and Sofia's reunion. First they screamed so loud that each party thought the girls were attacking each other; Then they both started to cry uncontrollably while throwing each other in each other's arms and retelling the unfortunate events in the most chaotic, confusing cacophony of random words, spilling out from their guts.
"... There was a cave and I lost consciousness …"
"... It was so bright! I couldn't see them anymore …"
"... started a fire that wouldn't start …"
"... only had Taiyaki and …"
"... the water started moving around!"
"... those squirrels! Those stupid squirrels attacked me! ..."
"... the fish were stuck in the bubble that was floating ... wait what? Squirrels attacked you out of nowhere?"
"What do you mean you made a floating water bubble?!"
"Squirrels don't attack people! What is this place?!"
"Apparently they do here! When you have a bag full of roasted chestnuts!"
"Ahhh so lucky! We were starving for two days until we found berries!"
"The squirrels took them! I didn't eat anything until I found them!"
Sofia pointed at Sasuke and Sakura. Aby seemed to notice them for the first time. Her eyes grew big with excitement, and so did her smile.
"Is that?"
"Hey you! What were you saying about the bubble of water and the fish?!" demanded Sofia with a frown.
"Oh ... I can control water, somehow …"
"Huh?!"
Sasuke and Sakura both looked at Gaara simultaneously.
"She has water release ability?" asked Sakura confused.
"I'm not sure," said Gaara. "She is definitely connected with water, however, I don't sense chakra in her. So I don't know how this could be possible," he answered.
"There is no chakra in her friend either. How they're still alive is a mystery to me."
"Aren't there people without chakra on earth?" asked Yashiko.
"Not that I know of," said Kankuro.
"Humans used to live without chakra long ago," said Sasuke, "it was only since Kaguya Ōtsutsuki came around that Chakra started to spread throughout generations; so it might not be impossible …"
"But you can't use element release without chakra! That's a fact!"
"Apparently she can," argued Kankuro.
"Not quite," said Gaara. "I don't think she 'controls' it per say. It's as if she just discovered she could. Usually, it takes years of practice to understand and use the element. It also takes time to understand the limit; overdoing it could be fatal. It took her only a few days; And there's more …"
"What do you mean?" asked Kankuro.
The two girls kept talking and crying at the same time. The children ran around them and Sofia picked up Tori who hugged her back. They were completely unaware of the eyes that were looking at them, perplexed.
"Something weird happened in my tent," continued Gaara, "when she came in, I was startled and acted defensively, by pure habit. My hands just reacted on their own and threw shurikens at her. Before she could raise her hands, the water from my vessel reached her, solidified, somehow, and protected her."
They all stared at him, letting his words sink in.
"You mean she stopped your shurikens from reaching her?"
"No, I mean the water stopped the shurikens before she gave a command …"
Kankuro's eyes widened.
"You mean ... like your sand automatically protects you?"
"Yes"
The sand team packed up. Gaara came out of his tent, with the big sand gourd he always carried. He swiftly threw his Kazekage cloak around his shoulder and pinned its front with both hands. While he did that, he gave a little kick at the bottom of his gourd which in turn, opened the cap. He then simply made a hand gesture and the 'sand tent' just collapsed, swooshed around in big spirals and gathered back into the big sand gourd he was already putting on his back.
Aby and Sofia watched the whole thing unfold, mesmerized.
"Wow! That's crazy magic right there!" Sofia whispered.
"That's not magic," Kankuro walked beside her and offered some water. "It's a mixture of magnet, earth and wind release. Gaara can control the sand at will!"
Sofia gasped and looked at Abigail.
"THAT'S GAARA? The creepy eyeliner guy?"
"Shhhhh! Yes, and he is not creepy! Keep your voice down! Also duh…did you see any other guys with the same outfit as my ... where is it?"
Aby looked around and in her bag; she realized for the first time that her chibi Gaara charm had disappeared.
"How would I know?! Those anime characters all look alike to me …" replied Sofia.
"Shush! They don't know they're …"
"What are you talking about? Characters?" asked Kankuro.
"Oh don't worry about it. What were you saying about Gaa ... I mean, Lord fifth?" said Sofia.
"He can control sand."
"Oh OK honey, that's what we call magic, where we are from." said Sofia.
"It's not magic! It has to do with the type of chakra ..."
Abi was still looking for the charm. A hand suddenly extended in front of her face; the little charm dangling from it.
"Looking for this?"
She looked at Gaara, holding his chibi form by the fingertips; she couldn't contain an amused smile. Gaara stopped walking, which made everyone halt.
"Funny thing you seem to know me inside and out, but your friend does not …"
"Oh, well, she doesn't ... huh ..."
How was she going to explain that they were manga and anime characters? Sofia sighed and obviously did not care about the sensitive subject.
"You guys are comic book characters ... also made into cartoons."
"Hey! Gentle! Not 'comic book'! Manga! And they are anime, not cartoons ... Japanese are much more artistic than the western world. You can't compare the two."
"Anyway, she knows all of you, " she vaguely pointed at them and all around her. "But I don't, sorry ... I'm not into anime or cartoons …"
"Tori likes Pokemon!" Tori shouted excitedly.
They all stared at both of them, not knowing what to make of this new information. There was also "insult" mixed with the feeling of shock and confusion.
Gaara gave back the charm to Aby, who took it while blushing. He gave the thing one last look and rolled his eyes before turning around to face forward, as if to say "that thing looks nothing like me".
"I'm sorry about my friend ... we're not saying you guys aren't real or anything …" It did cross her mind though.
Gaara stopped walking for a moment, seemingly thinking about something.
"Before we go on, I think it would be better to properly introduce ourselves."
Gaara turned towards Sofia.
"My name is Gaara. I am the Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure; the village hidden in the sand. This is my older brother Kankuro, and this is a new jonin who is in his first mission as my bodyguard; Yashiko …"
"Why is it hidden?"
"... I'm sorry?"
"The village, why is it hidden? Is it, like, under the sand?" asked Sofia.
"Huh ... n-no"
Abigail snorted.
"It's more of an expression ... like, 'in the midst of'. I'll explain later," she said.
Aby introduced themselves to the Shinobis, who did the same in return. Of course she knew them already but it was a strange feeling to see that it was only one sided. Maybe that is how celebrities felt in a crowd. She was getting excited by the possibility of seeing the rest of the gang ... especially Naruto! She was trying to picture him.
"How's Naruto?" she asked Sakura.
"You know Naruto too?"
"Everyone knows Naruto!" answered Aby and Sasuke at the same time.
"Hum, he's OK I guess …"
"Is he studying to become the Hokage now?"
Sakura looked ahead, visibly uncomfortable.
"Y-yeah …"
"Oh that is so cool! Hey! Shikamaru is helping him out right?"
"OK, I get that you know everyone, but I don't know you, so ... would you kindly stop with the personal questions?" Sakura said in a harsh tone. She kept walking catching up to Sasuke. Sofia looked puzzled; Sakura was not like that with her.
"OK" Aby said, a little hurt. She was so much into the story and the characters that she automatically assumed that she would be friends with them, which was silly. She remembered how Gaara attacked her earlier. She looked his way and saw that he too was looking at her; having probably witnessed the full exchange. She felt stupid, and like an excited kid who was put back into her place, she just looked down and kept quiet.
"Where are we going?" Sofia asked.
"We are bringing you girls and the children to Amegakure and we will part from there," said Sasuke.
"What? Why?! What are we supposed to do from there? How are we getting back home?" Sofia inquired. She turned to Aby.
"Where is Amegakure?" asked Sofia, running along.
"Oh ... that's ... uhhh …" Abigail turned to Sasuke. "Where is Amegakure?"
"Right ahead."
Sasuke pointed to the horizon, where a tower rose, surrounded by other peaks and irregular shapes.
Gaara sighed. His head was full of questions.
"I'm not sure that we should leave them behind."
Sasuke turned to Gaara for a moment, before speaking, as if choosing his words.
"We shouldn't have them following us. They can't fight, they can't defend themselves, they would be in the way. They are not our mission."
"I agree, but they are definitely involved. They appeared since the last earthquake. According to her story," he discreetly pointed towards Aby, "they were dragged here along with the last earthquake. For some reason, it appears the earthquakes were shared in both worlds."
Sasuke kept silent. He also noticed there has been no more earthquakes since the last one. No tremors either.
Aby was still looking down, disappointed with the turn of events. Something distracted her in the distance, to their left. She kept on walking while looking. There was nothing there, only sand and rocks. But she felt uneasy; watched. She looked at the shinobis who did not show any concerns.
Must be my imagination, she thought. If someone would know they are being watched, it would definitely be a shinobi.
Not too far from there, in the shadows, a man was staring, low on the burning sand. The man licked his lips and a wicked smile formed on his face.
"Gotcha!"
