Chapter 22

They were all walking at a hurried pace; not that they were concerned or anything, on the contrary, the lack of concern in the shinobis' face told Abigail that they were close to Konoha, and she started to feel the anticipation.

She was tired; she had been tossing and turning that night. The few hours she did sleep were filled with nightmares. She saw Tori dead on the ground, and Gaara beside her, lifeless. She would call out for help, but no sound would come out; the other shinobis did not seem to care, shrugging their shoulders: "this is normal here for us," repeated Sakura. She woke up each time, and had to wipe her eyes.

So there she was, emotionally and physically drained. She looked at Tori who was finally awake but quiet and a little feverish. Kankuro had her on his shoulders. She felt relieved of course, but deeply sorry for the little girl; She couldn't imagine what it must have felt like; to have such deep cut in the throat. Sakura was able to save her, with the help of Shukaku, but still; she had not spoken since or smiled. She must have been traumatized by the whole thing and her throat must have hurt like hell. She glanced towards Sasuke, Yashiko and Shikamaru, who were surrounding Gaara, who was walking slower than usual.

She wanted to go to him so badly; she wanted to talk to him, ask him if he was OK, hold his hand, but even if she knew they shared the same feeling, she thought "what else can I possibly do?" He was already surrounded by strong shinobis. She had nothing to offer, except a comforting hand. She walked to Tori and rubbed her back gently; she blinked but did not react beyond that.

Her mind went back to the previous fight and she cursed her lack of skills; she wanted to be worthy of him. She wanted people to look at them and think, "Of course, it makes sense!" She wondered what he was thinking. She just kept on walking, with Akio and Sofia by her side. She realized that he had been staring at her this whole time.

"What?"

"You girls are not heeding my warnings" he said accusingly.

Sofia scoffed. "What did I do?!"

The Gatekeeper sighed deeply with frustration.

"I may be quiet and a mere extra character in this story, but I see things!"

"Mr. Daisuke!" Abigail suddenly said with frustration. She was tired of being told what to do and how to feel. He looked up in surprise.

"The heart is not a switch that can be turned on and off at will!"

Exactly! thought Sakura, who eyed Sasuke. Akio looked at Aby and smiled; Her countenance had changed.

"The Grand Gatekeeper knows best," he said.

Just like that, she decided she wasn't going to let any barrier rise between them; physically or mentally. She didn't have the skills yet, but she was here to work on them. She was not part of their story, but she was in it, so she would take her place, somehow.

She walked past the shinobis and walked beside Gaara; she was surprised that Yashiko would let her in so easily.

"How are you feeling," she asked, concerned.

He finally looked at her, after what seemed to have been an eternity. He gave her a frail smile.

"I've been better,"

"You've been worse too!" encouraged his brother behind him."

"I've been worse too," acknowledged Gaara.

He placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair, like a kid.

Sofia grimaced at the sight and Akio smiled, as if reading her mind.

"It's an Asian thing," he explained. "That is how men express their affection with ladies" he said in a more serious tone.

"In America, we just kiss,"

"Yes, I know."

"How far are we from Konoha?"

"Five minutes closer than last time you asked," laughed Shikamaru.

Temari smiled. "They are eager to see their friends!"

"Yeah, yeah … I guess it can't be helped."

"Are we gonna see Naruto?" screamed Toshiko, suddenly excited. "You keep talking about him! He seems really cool!"

"Yes!" Abigail found her smile back. They would see Matthew and Hazel, and Naruto, Sai, Ino, Shino, Hinata, and the rest of the gang! She looked down the road and saw the village's gate at last; a familiar sight from an anime rose before her, the six faces carved in a stone wall; in real life … sort of.

Wow! I can't believe it!

The leaf shinobis went ahead, and were soon greeted by four guards, wearing the familiar green shinobi jackets and headbands. One of them ran in the village and the others walked toward Gaara to greet him.

"Lord Gaara, welcomed to the Leaf Village, Lord Seventh will be coming to greet you.

"It is not necessary for him to come meet me. I can still go to the Hokage's office. I may be slower, but I'm …"

"No no … the Hokage himself insisted on being notified of your arrival, he …"

The guard who stood looked toward Abigail and the rest of the "strangers" and broke off. His eyes grew bigger when he saw Sofia, who smiled politely in response.

"The … they … hum, Kakashi, I mean Lord Kakashi knows you are injured, he received the note from Sasuke's hawk. He was also intrigued by the … people coming over."

The man stared at Sofia while Gaara tried to understand what he was saying.

"People …"

"Oh … them, the strangers from the other world."

"They called themselves 'Americans'," exclaimed Kankuro to the man, seemingly annoyed.

"Oh yes, I believe they mentioned that word …" he said, still looking at Sofia. Abigail was surprised to see Sofia look away, without attempting to flirt with the man who was flustered.

"Soooo … can we come in?" laughed Kankuro, still carrying Tori on his back; he gave her a little jump to reposition her.

"That kid needs special attention, if you don't mind … so does Lord Gaara."

Gaara raised his hand to protest, but was interrupted.

"Oh! Yes! My apologies!"

The man seemed to wake up, and led them inside, passed the gate.

"It's the hair," said Kankuro to Sofia with a smile. "That teal color turning metal light blue at the bottom … that's quite unique!"

"It'll change soon enough," she said. "If we are staying a month or more here, the color will eventually fade and turn dull.

Temari looked surprised. Nobody changed their hair color … Some were lucky enough to have different hair colors. Sofia's was, indeed, very peculiar, but she thought it was her natural color.

Kankuro raised an eyebrow and smiled, amused.

"You're very peculiar; a tattoo on your back, just for fun; hair colored, just for fun, pretty interesting you are!"

Sofia glared at him for a second.

"Hey, I didn't say it was "bad"... I said it was interesting; as in 'nice'."

Sofia's cheeks turned pink at his words. She didn't think he thought of her as 'nice'. Since the last events together, she thought she must have passed for an idiot to anyone, especially to him.

Aby looked around, amazed. A few meters inside, and the streets were busy! People everywhere! Markets, shops, restaurants; the smell, the sounds, the noise; it was nothing like Suna. It was alive! People looked at them and whispered amongst themselves. It was already something special to have a Kage visit the village, but she had a feeling that their presence also raised their curiosity.

A voice interrupted her spying and her face lit up when she saw the man approaching.

"Welcome! Lord Kazekage! Please sit for a moment, I'm aware of the encounter you had yesterday. I trust everyone is okay-ish?" He looked at the group frowning and saw Tori on Kankuro's back.

"That little one needs attention right away."

A man that Aby did not recognize bowed and led Kankuro and Tori away, towards the hospital.

"Lord Gaara, maybe you should also …"

"No need, I'm fine. You have an exceptional shinobi who is skilled in healing jutsu. She took great care of me and for that I'm very grateful."

Sakura smiled and bowed in response. "It's only natural!"

"Sakura San had her fair share of healing these past few days! I would think she saved quite a few lives!" Yashiko said enthusiastically.

Sasuke looked at him annoyed. What was there to be so excited about? Everyone knew about her exceptional abilities … that wasn't anything new.

"You're really overpraising me! Lord Kakashi? May I head over to the hospital? I feel they might need my help with Tori."

"'Kakashi' is fine …" he mumbled under his breath, annoyed. "Sure, you may go."

"Toshiko, why don't you come with me? I bet your sister would like you to be around!" She then turned to Yashiko. "Let's meet later, we can talk more if you want?" she smiled.

"I'd be really glad! Thanks!"

Sakura ignored Sasuke's sigh; she led Toshiko toward the hospital.

Kakashi finally looked at Abigail, Sofia and Akio. They didn't look as different as their friend the first time he met them; Sunagakure's clothing must have been helping.

He removed his Hokage's hat that had been replacing his headband, and passed a hand in his silver hair. A dark, smokey grey scarf was pulled up his mouth.

"I finally get to see you! Let me tell you, we have heard a looooooot about you two … you however …" he looked at Akio who bowed down in response.

"I believe we'll have a lot of time to talk." he answered.

Abigail raised her hand excitedly. It's Kakashi! "Hi!"

"I like the hair!" Sofia said with a grin.

"Uhm … yeah, I like yours too … so, how are you two holding up?"

"Well … It's fi ..." started Sofia, but Abigail jumped in, unable to hide her excitement.

"It's so awesome here! You look even better in real life!"

"Oh!"

"Can I ask a question?"

"Well …"

"Are you still seeing that pretty girl that works at the prison? You know, the one you met at the airship in the Land of Waves?"

"Ehhhh" he barely had time to blush that Aby asked another question.

"Why DO YOU wear a mask? That was never clear …"

"Oh That …"

"Do you miss the Sharingan? Oh wait! No! You still have it, right?"

"..."

"..."

"Well it's…"

"How did you feel when you found out Madara was actually Obito? It must have been so painful, realizing it was Obito that started the whole thing! How do you like being Hokage? Is it hard? Do you miss going on missions? How is Naruto doing in his …" Aby gasped. "WHERE IS NARUTO?"

She looked around but sighed in frustration, not recognizing anyone at all. She realized, it WAS a big village, full of villagers. She did see a couple of leaf shinobis around, looking their way, but did not recognize them either.

Gaara looked at her, turning round and round in anticipation and grinned, amused.

"She's … a big fan … apparently," he said grinning to Kakashi who was puzzled and confused by all the questions. Once more, he attempted to answer her last question.

"Who knows, he's always with Hinata … or …"

"ICHIRAKU RAMEN NOODLES!" she exclaimed.

"Ah … yes …"

"Lord Sixth, we should talk," said Gaara. "And he could help answer a few questions as well." he added pointing at Akio.

"Yes … why don't you two go and eat! Go and explore, you are safe here! Just meet us back at the hosp ... "

"OK!"

Abigail took Sofia's hand and led her towards the shops and restaurants. Her friend followed with a grin; Abigail seemed to have forgotten about all her concerns.

"Why don't you go with them," said Temari to Shikamaru. "I'll go home, I'm a little tired."

"I should go with you," he said disapprovingly.

"Why should you go with her?" suddenly inquired Kakashi.

Shikamaru looked at Temari.

"There are no reasons," she said, waving her hand and laughing. "Go with them! You can introduce her to the others! Where are … what are their names again?"

"Matthew and Hazel," said Shikamaru with a long face.

"Yes, they are dying to see each other again! Go!"

"Fine," he sighed. "What a drag …"

He led the girls on ahead, towards Ichiraku ramen Noodles.

Kakashi eyes squinted and looked at Gaara.

"Let's go. I've got some great tea given to me by the Mizukage!"

Aby, Sofia and Shikamaru arrived at the noodle place when a voice called out to him.

"Hey! Is that the other girls?!"

They turned around and saw a man around their age, a small goatee and two deep purple marks adorned his face. The man was happily trotting their way with a huge white fluffy dog following his footsteps.

"Oh! You're Kiba!" shouted Abigail.

The man grinned amused.

"Oh! Hazy was right! She really knows us!"

"Kiba, Sofia and Abigail; Sofia and Abigail, this is Kiba and …"

Sofia was already all over the fluffy white dog. To Kiba's surprise, the dog was asking for a belly rub.

"Oh my goodness! You are so soft! What's your name cutie?!"

"Ehhh that's … Akamaru … wow! He likes you!" said Kiba a little puzzled.
Sofia stopped petting the dog and shyly looked between the dog and Shikamaru.

"I'M SHIKAMARU! SHI-KA-MA-RUUUU!"

Aby laughed with tears in her eyes …

"I'm gonna have to write you a list with the names, Sofia!"

"Sorry …" she said, petting the dog again.

"Ok … Akamaru-Dog, Shikamaru-Shadow guy, Shikaku-racoon …"

"My deceased dad …" corrected Shikamaru, growling.

"Ok … Shukaku is the raccoon … I'll get this right, I promised!"

"Where're you off to?" asked Shikamaru.

"Tamaki …"

"Ohhhh" Shikamaru grinned.

Aby grabbed Sofia's hand and pulled her toward Ichiraku Ramen while the two men were talking.

They pushed the curtain and entered the noodle bar. Everything was exactly the way she expected it. The man and the young lady were busy behind the counter, tossing noodles and other toppings in their pans. She looked around in anticipation, but was disappointed to see Naruto wasn't around. There was only a tall guy dressed in a seemingly old blue sleeveless hoodie and a black cotton pants; seemingly in his own world, reading a small hardcover black book, he was loudly sipping on noodles once in a while, without taking his eyes off the pages he was reading. The heat of the fire could be felt within the shop. The man behind the counter turned around quickly.

"What can I get you?"

"Uhhh …" started Sofia.

"First time here?" asked the lady with a smile.

"Yes!" Aby said excitedly.

The lady gave a quick grin and pointed to a picture on the wall. "That's our most popular!" she said.

"What are those pink and white spirals?"

The lady looked at Sofia with inquiring eyes.

"Where are you from?" She asked.

"Far …"

"We came from Sunagakure, " said Abigail.

"I believe even Suna knows what these are …"

"They're fish cake," explained Aby to Sofia, then turned towards the lady. "She doesn't usually eat ramen."

The man beside them scoffed, without lifting his nose off his book.

"Hey!" The cook said, behind the counter, "respect!"

"Don't pay attention to him! He just loves ramen!" the girl said with a grin.

"I'll take that," said Sofia pointing at the picture.

"What's Naruto's favorite?" Asked Abigail.

The man sitting beside them stiffened at the name, while the girl looked at Aby, curiously.

"Do you not know him?"

"Well, I saw him only in pictures …" which, she thought, was kind of true. "I know he really likes ramen and comes here, I just want to know what his favorite ramen tastes like!"

"Why don't you …"

"He likes that one, there, miso with extra porc," the man in the black hoodie pointed ahead, above the cook's head, interrupting the lady.

"Oh ok! I'll take that one then."

"You're such a groupie," laughed Sofia.

"I am! I can't wait to meet him!" exclaimed Aby. " him and the others!

The man in the hoodie snickered, his nose still in his book.

"What?"

"Nah … nothin' … something in the book."

Aby stretched out to try to see what the guy was reading but to no avail.

"So what's so special about this Naruto guy?" he asked before the lady could say anything. He removed his hoodie to uncover short sweaty blond hair and brought his bowl of ramen to his mouth and gulped its content down.

"What do you mean?" she said, startled. "You should know how special he whether you are from this village or not!"

"Looks who's talking!" he laughed, while turning to face her, at last. "you don't even know what he looks like!"

"Of course I do!"

"..."

"..."

The guy dropped his book on the counter and bursted out laughing, holding his tummy with both hands.

Aby, puzzled, looked at the man and the lady behind the counter.

"Didn't you know? He was sitting beside you all this time!" The lady said while smiling.

She looked to Sofia, confused, and looked at the man beside her who looked nothing like Naruto … or … wait a minute!

Fine defined scars stretched on each side of his face. His eyes were deep blue, like sapphire. His hair though …

"... OH MY GOD IT'S YOU! It's really you!" She couldn't help but stare. " What the hell happened to your hair?!"

He lost the smile.

"What? What's wrong with my hair?"

"Why are they so short?!"

"Well … I … I can't look like a punk when I'm about to be a dad y'know?"

He stared at her, concerned and self conscious of her staring back with a smile. She was jumping, skipping up and down, her fists under her chin.

He stretched out his hand for proper greeting; she ignored it and threw her hands around his body.

"I'm sorry! But I'm a big fan!"

"Groupie …" laughed Sofia.

"Yeah … that is not weird at all …" he said without moving, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"ABY? SOPHIA?"

The girls jumped at the familiar voice that came from outside the noodle bar.

"Hold that thought!" Aby let Naruto go and ran out.

Right there, stood Matt and Hazel, looking as good as the morning they got separated. Their clothes were different, probably property of Konoha village, as she and Sofia also wore Suna's clothing. Matt had a faint bruise on the bridge of his nose, vestige of former black eye. Hazel was glowing, as she usually did.

The three girls took a second to look at each other in shock, then screamed at the same time.

Shikamaru and Kiba grimaced. Matt just stood there and put his pinky in his ear to try and regain his hearing, while Sofia and Abigail embraced him and Hazel.

"Are they always like that?" asked Naruto to Matt.

"Hard to say; they never get separated for more than a week ..." he answered with a smile.

The three girls then proceeded in a chaotic retelling of their own personal story.

"The kids and I were just falling!"

"I couldn't find Matt!"

"It was pitch dark!"

"Pink hair girl and emo guy found me, thankfully!"

"Hazel! Gaara; He almost killed me!"

"Matt had a broken arm … wait what?!"

"I know right?! I wasn't happy about that either!" chimed in Sofia.

"But then he saved my life a couple times!"

"Who's Gaara again?" asked Hazel, turning to Matt.

"Eyeliner guy …" he answered. "Where is he?"

Gaara entered the office first, after Kakashi, followed by Akio and Yashiko, who stood dutifully behind his superior.

They were not a big group as if they would have been if the five nations leaders were present; so they stood in Kakashi's busy office, instead of the conference room. It was a bright office, lit by the sun; it's location in the sky, told Gaara that it was still early afternoon.

Although he stated otherwise, the standing position was getting very uncomfortable. He was glad they were not attacked on their way earlier.

He gladly accepted the Hokage's invitation to sit down. Everybody else, except for Kakashi, remained on their feet.

Gaara discreetly sighed from the instant relief he got from sitting. He felt the wound pulsing under his rusty red shirt. He moved his Kazekage's cloak out of the way to peek at the fabric. A dark wet spot indicated that the wound had reopened, which was not unnoticed by the Hokage.

"No matter how Sakura skillfully heals flesh, nothing can be done if you do not rest! I'd really feel better if you had it checked at our hospital."

"Fine," he resigned, "I'll go as soon as we're done here. Thank you for your hospitality."

Kakashi had his back turned to them and watched the village from his window, down below.

"I see,"

He didn't quite know what to make of it. Another world that created their world? A guardian to protect the gates of other worlds, including this one?

He turned around to look at the Gatekeeper. He couldn't bring himself to believe that his life and the life of all other people he knew was because of a writer.

"I know it sounds surreal, but I've seen enough to believe it." Gaara said, as if reading Kakashi's mind.

"So, according to your research, we have one month until the next gate opens?"

"More or less," answered Akio. "But I'm not sure if it is always the case. The book said all the gatekeepers need, is a key and the power. So I don't understand why there would be a time limit. Or should Isay, I never tried it myself … A Gatekeeper is not supposed to open the gate just for fun! We are only there to guard it! Perhaps Abigail's power is not up to par yet … the new moon might bring some energy making it easier to open gates? Perhaps it is helpful for novices like Abigail. This was my initial thought."

"You don't seem to know very much …" indicated Kakashi.

"I know more than enough! This is God's providence; Abigail is like a creature raised as a lamb and who discovered she is actually a lion. She has a few weeks to learn to stand for herself and for others! This is the perfect place!"

Kakashi faced the window again.

"And what about the others? Her friends and the two children? Are they to be gatekeepers as well?"

"I don't think so. I do not get the feeling from Sofia anyway … neither from the kids; only with Abigail. However, I did not have a chance to meet her other friends."

"Have they shown any powers similar to ours?" Gaara asked the Hokage.

"No," he answered, still looking in the distance. "They are completely devoid of chakra and have no water, earth, fire or wind release … it was a mystery to me until I heard from Sasuke about Sofia, Abigail, and the children.

"There is something else," added Gaara.

Kakashi turned to face him. "What?"

"There was another man whom we met on our way to Suna."

Kakashi's eyes grew with surprise. Sasuke did not mention anything about another man.

"Another man?"

"He is also from their world, according to the girls, but …"

"But?"

"Ahhhh, I don't know …" Gaara shook his head with frustration. "Something is off with that guy; and I'm not the only one thinking that; Shikamaru also thinks so. Something happened between him and Abigail. We believe he took off with the key. We haven't seen him since then."

"But you don't have proof …"

"No but …"

"He did take interest in the key, before we left. It was my fault. In my haste and excitement, I left the key behind. The point is, he disappeared at the same time as the key." said Akio. "And more importantly, even if it wasn't him; the issue remains that without the Key, Abigail cannot open the gate!"

Kakashi sighed. He didn't know enough to understand the gravity of the situation, and yet, he could feel that the situation was much more serious than it seemed … this was out of their control, since it was an issue from another world … and yet … it seemed they would be affected somehow.

"So we need to help Abigail become … whatever she is supposed to become, and help her find the key…"

"Perhaps we should involve the other nations' leaders," suggested Gaara.

"No," replied Akio instantly. "It is not something that this world should have been aware of in the first place! Somehow you have been mixed in the complicated events, but we have to keep it as quiet as possible. Besides, not everybody would understand."

Kakashi and Gaara looked at each other; The man had a point.

"So what do you suggest then?" the Hokage asked the Gatekeeper. The latter replied with a smile.

"I will limit myself to provide the information I know. I will leave the decision to the both of you!"

"How about sending shinobis to look for Chris and the key. In the meantime, we should keep helping Abigail in her training." said Gaara.

"Ahhh … training. We've never trained anyone to become shinobis this late in their life! It takes years of training!"

"With the right teachers, it could be achieved. This is a special situation. I'm sure she will be able to do it," Akio said.

"I will help her with her ability with the water," said Gaara. "And if I may, I know of a leaf shinobi who is excellent with taijutsu!" he said with a grin, remembering the first time he confronted Lee in a match. Lee had zero skills with ninjutsu but excelled in the close range combat that offered taijutsu.

"There you are!"

Hazel ran behind Abigail when she recognized the voice. Matt grinned when he saw Lee walking towards them with determination.

"Miss Hazel! This is NOT how you will become stronger! Walking away from training is unheard of, and quite frankly, childish!"

"Listen, you weirdo! I never said I wanted to become stronger in the first place! I consider myself strong enough! I do hot yoga, I'll let you know!"

The man dressed in his green bodysuit looked stunned by the sudden lack of respect.

"Hey! This is no way to speak to your sensei!"

"You're not my sensei!"

"Hazel, calm down, you know he's just trying to help!" Matt said.

"He's crazy! Two thousand pushups?! Really?!" she whispered back.

Lee came to meet them and noticed Abigail and Sofia. He bowed ridiculously low.

"Abigail-San and Sofia-San, I'm assuming! Greetings! It is a great pleasure and honor to make your acquaintance! My name is Lee, but people might refer to me as 'the handsome blue devil' While that might be true, do not be deceived by my appearance! I may look devilishly handsome but outer beauty does not define me! I thrive only on perseverance and to better myself in strength and speed every single day! The words 'give up' are not part of my vocabulary!"
"You just said "give up" though … so it is part of your vocabulary," said Hazel to mess with him. As expected, his thick eyebrows rose high above his already big round eyes.

"You are right! This is unacceptable! I shall find another word …"

"Lee, will you leave the poor girl alone!"

A lady with two hair buns on each side of her head, tied with thin red bows, came into view. She wore a pretty white and red asian style blouse with red baggy pants. She carried nothing but a green scroll in her back. She pointed accusingly to Lee, with a fingerless gloved hand holding a kunai.

"You're being weird again! Besides, I told her I would teach her how to throw kunais! So that's that … my turn …"

"Thank you!" Hazel mouthed to Tenten. She winked in response.