Chapter One: Wrong Turn
"How long do we have to wait?" Winnifred whined, sitting in the front seat … for now. Their friend Roxanne Turner had called shotgun when the plans for their month-long vacation were being made three weeks ago. Lynne Belfoco provided the suburban, and so was deemed the driver of the group. She was also the best driver of the group. Ronnie Buchanan, short for Veronica, even though she didn't look or act like a Veronica in the least, was to provide snacks and libations. Winnifred Buchanan, Ronnie's older sister, was tasked with being the back-up driver, being the oldest, and the second best driver of the group. Roxanne Turner, who was smack dab in the middle going by age in the group, was deemed the Navigator, since they were staying at the Turner's summer home in Maine, and no one wanted Cordelia navigating anything anywhere. And last of the group was Cordelia Turner, the youngest of all of them, who was in charge of entertainment.
Summer had just started for Ronnie and Cordi, who just graduated high school. This summer was the last they would be together really. Ronnie was going to start college in Florida to become a Marine Biologist. Cordi was about to start college in Georgia, at her mother's alma mater, to become something in law. Roxy was about to transfer to the university in Georgia with her sister, since the university offered her a scholarship she couldn't pass up. She was studying graphic design. Lynne was studying psychology three states away. And Winnifred had remained in their small hometown in the middle of Virginia, wondering when her life would start. She hated the idea of going to university, especially when she wasn't sure what she wanted to do in life. But her best friends were already chasing their dreams, and leaving her in the dust. Not that she'd voice this to any of them.
The big road trip was her idea, when she and Ronnie started talking about what they should do after she and Cordi graduated. A small girls' weekend quickly evolved into month long summer road trip featuring their squad when they realized both Lynne and Roxy would be back from college for the summer two weeks before.
"WOOOH!" Cordelia squealed at the top of her lungs from the driveway of the Turner house. "Yeah! Road trip!" She looked like a pack mule with all her bags hanging off her. Roxy stepped up behind her, carrying two less bags than her younger sister.
Lynne's eyes bulged at the luggage while Winnifred laughed, "You pack enough stuff?"
Cordi huffed her bags over to the car, straining as she said, "It's my philosophy that one should be prepared for anything." Winnifred raised an eyebrow at her as Cordi listed off, "I have books, movies, board games, music, and clothes for cold and hot weather. As well as manicure stuff, face masks, literally everything." She threw the last bag in the car as she stated, "I'm more prepared than a navy seal."
Rox frowned at her sister's boisterous tone. "Just get in the car," she mumbled, having loaded her stuff in already. She walked over to the front passenger seat, seeing Winnifred sitting in it. Roxy smirked. "I believe you're in my seat."
"Lynne, I think we need a ref call," Winnifred huffed. "Isn't it against the rules to call shotgun a week in advance?"
Lynne lifted her hands, shaking her head so much her dyed red hair fluttered around her, "Do not put me in the middle of this." After a few silent moments, Lynne let out a sigh, then said, "Although Roxy is the map."
Roxy smirked, holding the GPS up. "See? I'm the map."
Winnifred rolled her eyes, hopping out of the car, grumbling, "Fine! Whatever!" She moved to the back seat as Roxy got comfortable and began typing their destination into the GPS.
"You text us when you get there!" Mrs. Turner called out. She and Mr. Turner stood just past the garage door to wave their daughters off.
"Will do!" Roxy called back. She and Cordi waved at their parents as Lynne started the engine. "Love you!" they called to their parents as they set out of the driveway, and down to the main drag.
They didn't stop again until it was nearing time for dinner. They stopped quickly, wanting to get back on the road as soon as possible, and Winnifred took over while Lynne rested her sore shin. Then they continued their journey. Their music was still blaring over the commands of the GPS. And they played games like I Spy, Twenty Questions, and the License Plate Game. It was going to be a sixteen hour drive. They'd reached the middle of Pennsylvania around midnight, and they decided to keep going through, even though both Lynne and Fred were tired.
It was one forty a.m. when Winnifred declared, "That's it. I'm falling asleep at the wheel. We're pulling off."
Rox lifted the GPS, tiredly. She'd been dozing as well, and let out a yawn as she said, "I'll see if I can find us a hotel."
"Recalculating," the GPS said. They didn't hear it say anything else. After ten minutes of "Recalculating," Winnifred snapped, "Look, we're in the middle of nowhere. I'm about to fall asleep, which would be disastrous. I think it's best if we just pull off on the side of the road, and sleep in the car until sunrise." She was met with a chorus of, "Alright." So, Winnifred pulled the car over, and they slept in the car. When the GPS said "Recalculating" one last time, Fred unplugged it, then went right back to sleep.
"Fred? Fred!" someone hissed in Winnifred's ear, poking her harshly in the shoulder.
"What?" she grumbled, trying to go back to sleep.
"The sun's up. And I don't think we're in Pennsylvania."
Winnifred groggily opened her eyes, seeing in fact the sun had risen and they were surrounded by rice fields. Winnifred frowned, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. She noticed it was Lynne who had poked her awake. Lynne had grown up in Pennsylvania before moving to Virginia with two years left of high school. If there was anyone familiar with the Pennsylvania horizon, it was her.
Winnifred licked her mouth, noting it tasted like ass. Damn morning breath. "Where are we?" she groaned.
Lynne shook her head. "Beats me. But I know for a fact Pennsylvania isn't rolling with rice fields. Corn, maybe. But rice, definitely not."
Winnifred turned the GPS back on, tapped in the last address, which was the Turner Summer home. The GPS stated loudly, "Recalculating."
Rox, Cordi, and Ronnie all groaned, "Shut it up!"
Winnifred frowned when the GPS again said "Recalculating," and was again met with groans. The other girls were now starting to sit up, and glare at her, as she pulled out her phone. No bars. It wasn't even registering the time. Fred frowned, "What … the … Hell?" She got out of the car, lifting her phone up like she was Rafiki and her phone was Simba. No reception at all. But even so, her phone should still register the time for where they were. She looked around seeing only rice fields, mountains, and a forest not far off. Under her feet, she heard the crackling of loose stones, and she looked down. The road they were on was a gravel road, even though the road was paved the night before. And last night, weren't they driving with fields on one side and a forest on the other? Where was that forest?
She checked behind the car, and it wasn't the landscape she remembered. It looked like off in the distance was mountains and rice fields. She looked back to her friends who were all seriously confused as hell.
"Where are we?" Roxanne asked, stepping out of the car.
"Lost," Cordi replied sarcastically.
"Thanks for the input," Roxy snarked, rolling her eyes at her little sister.
"Weren't we on a paved road last night?" Lynne asked, looking directly at Fred, who only nodded her answer.
"Was that a rhetorical question?" Cordi asked, not seeing Fred's agreeing nod.
"No, I was serious," Lynne replied in an angered tone. "And Fred thinks so, too!"
"Well, I thought we were, but apparently not," Ronnie added, her lips forming in a strange purse as she tapped the dirt road with her foot.
Suddenly they spotted a man with a bag on his shoulders walking along the road. They quickly rushed over to him. He was old, about in his sixties.
"Excuse me, sir" Ronnie piped, smiling as amiably as possible. She could pull off innocent better than any of them in the group, and it was best not to scare off this old man, who if Cordi was to judge, was dressed rather archaically. "We're kind of lost. Would you mind pointing us in the direction of a local town, or at least how to get back to the highway?"
The man looked slightly confused, but he replied, "I don't … know what a highway is… but if you follow this road, and it will lead you to the closest village, which is just past those trees."
The five girls' eyes widened at this. Who didn't know what a highway was? The man continued on his way, and the girls thanked him. They quickly jumped in their car, earning a weird look from the old man, and drove off. Lynne drove this time, stating Fred driving was what got them lost. It took them five minutes to reach the village, but it wasn't really a village. It was a rather large town, almost city. And the road led them through big huge doors right to an opening of a ton of different little streets where people would be walking if they weren't busy staring at their car.
Lynne suddenly turned off her car and got out, her eyes huge as if she had seen this place before, but couldn't believe it. She got out of the car first, almost catatonically looking around as she breathed, "Oh my God." The other four quickly got out and started their normal pestering for information.
"Lynne, what is going on?" Cordi asked.
"Yeah, what's with all the people looking at us like we're some kind of alien race?" Fred asked.
"You guys don't recognize it?" Lynne asked incredulously, gesturing towards the large gate they drove through.
Everyone looked around and Ronnie shook her head. Fred frowned, looking closely at the large gate, asking, "Jurassic Park? I don't know." Then Roxanne gasped loudly when she realized where they were.
"But this is impossible," Rox whispered to herself.
"What's impossible?" Ronnie asked.
"We're in Konoha," Lynne and Rox explained.
"Holy shit!" Cordi exclaimed to herself seeing the resemblance in the setting of the cartoon and where they were currently.
"Where?" Fred asked. Of the five of them, she was the only one who had never looked at a volume of Naruto. When it came to anime, she preferred her Gundams. But she recognized the town's name from the years of discussions over the lunch table.
Cordi shrugged, "Well, this can't be real. This has to be some sort of replica some billionaire built or some shit."
"A billionaire who's a fan of Naruto, really?" Lynne offered.
Cordi looked at her pointedly. "Then you explain it."
"Yeah, I don't believe it either," Ronnie replied skeptically.
"Believe what?" a man walking closer to the group said. He had short spiky blond hair held in a black headband tied around his forehead with an iron plate and a swirly leaf engraved on it. His cerulean blue eyes were full of curiosity and a bit of arrogance. He wore a black shirt and orange capris, and on his right leg was tied a kunai pouch. But the most telling feature was the six whisker lines on his face, three on each cheek starting at his laugh-line, then spreading to the apples of his cheeks.
The man looked at each girl, fully taking in their features. Cordi had stick straight long dirty blond hair with brown, almost black eyes. She wore a fitted forest green tank-top – accentuating her hourglass figure – flared blue jeans, and black ballet flats. Fred had chin length brown hair and sparkling green eyes. She wore a lime green t-shirt with a turtle print on it, a short blue jean skirt – showing off her skinny figure – and green flip-flops. Lynne, who also had a thin figure, wore a patterned thinly-fabricated tank, with shorts, and white ballet flats. She had flaming red hair down to her jaw that held a beachy sort of wave and bright blue eyes, with small tinges of a golden brown ringing the pupils. Ronnie was similar to Cordi, except her hair was a little bit darker and had the natural beach wave, and her eyes a little bit lighter, almost a caramel brown. She also had an hour-glass figure, but she was thinner than Cordi. She wore a hot pink t-shirt, light, flared blue jeans, and black laced flats. Rox was similar to Fred in figure, but a little less thin and shorter. She had dark brown eyes with a slight tinge of red in them, and wavy brown, almost black, hair. She wore a purple fitted tank, ripped flared jeans, and black flip-flops.
"So who the hell are you?" the man asked, looking at them each carefully.
Lynne pointed at him, saying breathily, "Either that's really Naruto … or …" She trailed off, her eyes big and full of hope as he replied.
"How do you know my name?!" Naruto asked, obviously freaked.
"Oh, ha ha, it's long story," Fred laughed nervously, covering for Lynne as she waved him off. She leaned over to the eldest of the group, hissing in Lynne's ear, "He's clearly a crazy person, and this is probably some sort of weeaboo cult. We need to go."
"Yeah, you probably wouldn't believe us if we told you," Cordi forced a grin, overhearing and agreeing with Winnifred's sentiment, making a motion for Ronnie behind her to get back in the car. Naruto looked like he wasn't buying it.
"Oi! Naruto!" someone called from off to the side. They all looked over and saw two people who looked oddly like Shikamaru and Ino. He wore his usual all black with a green vest over it. He had his black hair tied back in the usual pineapple ponytail. His brown eyes held boredom and annoyance in their gaze, as his thin eyebrows showed his obvious indifference. And Ino was in her standard purple belly shirt with a matching skirt that went down to her calves, but she now wore her blonde ponytail down, and her bang hung over one eye.
Rox began fainting, only to be caught by Cordi, who quickly pushed her back upright. The man who looked like Shikamaru frowned, asking, "Who are they?"
"I dunno'," Naruto replied, turning back to them with a curious expression.
The girls stared at them silently for a minute. Cordi couldn't help but think the phrase "Deer stuck in headlights" was probably an apt description. "Who? Us?" She pointed at their group awkwardly. Naruto and Shikamaru each nodded, eyeing them with a mix of annoyance and curiosity. "Well," Cordi started, nervously, since no one else was talking, "I'm Cordelia … I mean Cordi. This is Winnifred, or Fred." Winnifred scowled at her as Cordi introduced them. Cordi shrugged. What am I supposed to do, figure out fake names? Her friends knew she couldn't lie. So she continued, pointing each one out as she went, "That is Lynne. And that is Ronnie. And Miss Can't-Figure-Out-How-To-Breathe-Right," she emphasized each word by elbowing her sister's side until Roxanne took a deep breath, "is my older sister, Roxanne, but we sometimes call her Rox," Cordi quickly added. Each of them gave Naruto a winning smile, who only returned it with a quizzical look.
"You have such strange names, and weird machines," Shikamaru stated, gesturing towards the car. His gaze narrowed on them for a second as he thought. "The Hokage's going to want to know about this." He scratched his head under his ponytail, grumbling, "Man, what a drag." He whispered something to Ino, who nodded, lifting her hands in a simple handseal and disappeared in a poof of smoke, which left the girls all staring with their jaws on the floor.
Lynne was the first to recover from the shock as she stated, "Well, that settles that."
Shikamaru turned to them with a bored frown. "Well, my name is …"
"Shikamaru Nara," Cordi, Rox, and Lynne answered together. Cordi shrugged, as she added inexplicably, "We know. And that was Ino Yamanaka." She visibly gulped as the words left her lips. This is real.
Shikamaru's brow furrowed then said, "Please, come with me."
He turned to lead them away, but Cordi stopped, raising her hand quickly. "Uh, please give me a minute! I need to grab something." Before anyone could say anything, she sprang back towards the car, reaching in the backseat and pulling out a backpack which she slung over her shoulder. The backpack was clearly heavy, but she was able to run back into place. "Thanks. Just needed to grab some books." Shikamaru frowned, but turned as he led them towards the Hokage's office.
Naruto followed, falling in step with Cordi who led the group. "I take it from your expressions earlier, you've never seen jutsus performed."
Cordi eyed him strangely before pursing her lips and gulping, "Not really, no. They aren't all that commonplace where we're from."
Naruto smiled easily at her. "And where's that?"
Cordi looked back at the group. Lynne who walked immediately behind her just shrugged. "Virginia?" Cordi answered. She was never good at lying.
Naruto frowned. "I've never heard of Virginia. Is that somewhere in the Samurai states?"
Cordi tugged at her earlobe, shaking her head. "I-I think it's further out than that."
"Really?" Naruto asked, now really interested in this strange new land she spoke of.
He opened his mouth to ask about it, but she cut him off. "I was wondering," Cordi started, "Is Lady Tsunade still in office, I mean, Hokage?"
Naruto gave her a short glance, then turned and looked ahead. "Uh, no. She hasn't been hokage in two years."
"Oh," Cordi chirped. I hope Danzo didn't replace her permanently, Cordi thought. Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought. In the comics, they were just reaching the first Five Kage Summit, and while Danzo was clearly the obvious choice, everyone knew he was evil. And trying to convince him five girls from a land that didn't exist in the ninja world weren't a threat to Konoha was definitely going to be impossible. Again, she shot a look back to Lynne and Rox, both avid readers of the comic, who were clearly thinking the same thing.
They had finally reached the Hokage's office after a trek that seemed to last forever. Cordi had dodged all of Naruto's questions about their homeland of Virginia as best she could. Shikamaru had told Naruto it was best he introduce them to the Hokage, given their special bond and whatnot, which gave the girls pause. The new Hokage was not Danzo.
Naruto shrugged, then knocked on the door loudly. Inside they heard a cool voice reply, "Enter."
Naruto opened the door, and as they followed him in, they saw a man with spiky gray hair and a mask over all of his features except his black eyes, one of which showed a scar going down over it. Cordi felt her jaw drop as she balked at Kakashi behind the Hokage desk. Lynne was the first to say a small, "Oh my God," through her hands over her nose and mouth, while Rox breathed a small, "Really?"
Naruto frowned at their reactions before stating, "These girls just showed up in the village from someplace called 'Virginia.' Do you know where that is?"
Kakashi frowned as he looked at the girls who stared back at him wide-eyed, except the green-eyed girl, who looked on uninterested. He raised one of his eyebrows and asked, "And this was so important, you felt the need to interrupt my lunch meeting?" He asked it so coolly, but the edge was very clear.
Naruto scratched his head as he stated, "Well, I've never heard of that place, so I believe so, and so does Shikamaru." Kakashi's gaze swept to the side past Naruto's jutted thumb, seeing Shikamaru give a half-hearted salute from behind the group. Naruto continued, "See these girls arrived here in a strange contraption. It's a box with wheels and …"
"That's called a carriage, Naruto. A lot of people have them," a woman stated haughtily with a frown. The group of girls looked over to the other side of the room, and Cordi's breath audibly caught in her throat. The woman in question was blonde with pigtails, wearing a white blouse, navy blue skirt, and a gray overlay with the red obi tying over it, which tied her giant fan to her back. It was impossible to think she was anyone other than Temari, especially when the man next to her had vibrant auburn hair, seafoam green eyes that were ringed with black lines, and the kanji of "love" sitting prominently on his forehead where his hair parted. He wore a burgundy red button up shirt with silver buttons and a high collar, and similar color pants, as well as a thick brown belt around his hips, with a small sand gourd hanging casually. Cordi reached around, grabbing her sister's hand who squeezed her hand back tightly. Yes. This is real.
Naruto scowled at the interruption, adding, "Except their so-called 'carriage' was made of metal, and wasn't pulled by anything. It was kind of like the Thunder rail system. But it's only one cabin."
Lynne blinked at them as she asked, "When you say rail system, it sounds like you're talking about a train. Right?" Everyone frowned at her, before she added to the other girls, "Trains didn't exist yet in comics."
Fred gave Lynne a strange look, then looked at the ninjas in the room as she said, "Wait a goddamned minute. You mean to tell me we're stuck in a world where trains and cars aren't even a thing!?"
Lynne scowled back at her, and hissed, "Don't say that like it's my fault! You were the one driving the car!"
Fred shot her an incredulous look as she turned to the second eldest of their group. "No, we were in Pennsylvania when I pulled off the highway. Amish country it may be, but even they know what the fuck a car is."
Cordi looked at the ninjas who looked on at Lynne and Fred's argument with interest. Cordi gave them a nervous smile as she said, "We were on our way to our family's summer home," she gestured to Rox as she mentioned their destination, "and got very VERY lost."
"Very lost is an understatement," Rox said through pursed lips and raised eyebrows.
Fred's green eyes landed on her best friend as she added, "Says the navigator of the group."
Rox's brown gaze locked with hers as she snapped back, "The GPS was working fine until you said you were pulling off the highway to find a hotel."
That did it. Suddenly, all three of the older girls were bickering back in forth about whose fault it was, while Ronnie and Cordi both looked at their friends dismayed, although Cordi looked more and more annoyed. She looked over at the ninja who also looked confused at the spectacle. Cordi pinched the bridge of her nose as the older girls entered the hair pulling part of the fight. Her fists clenched as she snapped, "ALRIGHT! KNOCK IT OFF!" The older girls paused as Cordi grumbled in a huff, "I swear, sometimes with you three it's like herding cats." The three older girls balked at her annoyed tone, Fred recovering first to snap back at her, but Cordi turned back around, throwing a hand back to silence her friend, and face Kakashi as she said, "Alright, I'm going to go ahead and explain the extent of what we know happened, and I'm just going to warn you that it's likely to sound utterly and absolutely batshit crazy. But I promise it's the truth."
If Kakashi wasn't interested before, he was now. He leaned forward just slightly, bringing his hands together in the slightest show of earnest.
She dropped her backpack in front of her and dropped to her knees. Several of the ninja tensed, until she added, "I brought proof what I'm about to say is true." She pulled out a paperbound book with a white cover. She clutched it to her chest as she stood. "Where we come from, all of this," she gestured to the whole room now as she said it. "I-it's a series of comics. It's all fiction." This earned some skeptical stares. She jutted the comic forward as she said, "Here. I brought a volume with me to read on the ride, since it was going to be sixteen hours."
Kakashi's gaze narrowed skeptically at her, but held out his hand. She put the book in his hand, and he eyed the cover. It was a drawing of Naruto in his old gear standing in the forefront, and behind him were old Akatsuki members, Deidera, Sasori, and Zetsu in the background. Kakashi frowned further as he opened it and started flicking through the pages.
"It's the last part of the Kazekage Rescue Mission," Cordi stated, her gaze flicking over to Gaara. The Kazekage just scowled more intensely at Cordi. She smiled nervously, averting her gaze from his eerie seafoam glare, trying to scoot back a little from him. "Where we're from, ninjas don't exist. Chakra and magic aren't real. Neither are demons, or tailed beasts. I don't know how, but somehow, we've found ourselves in an alternate dimension or another world from the one we're used to where everything in that series of Comic books is real. I'm not sure how else to explain it." As Kakashi flicked through the comic book, Cordi heard herself say, "Please don't loose my spot," then frowned, realizing the thought was ridiculous. I know you're verifying that this is really your life printed on a page, but can you not lose my spot in reading about your private and personal life.
After a beat of silence, Naruto asked, "You're serious?" Although he sounded more excited by the prospect.
The rest of the girls nodded simultaneously.
Kakashi gave an intrigued shrug, then held the book out to Gaara. The Kazekage reached for it, his expression resolutely pokerfaced as he also inspected the cover.
Kakashi turned to Shikamaru, and asked, "Shikamaru, bring me Hinata." Shikamaru gave a small nod, then poofed away.
Gaara opened the first couple pages of the comic book. His jaw twitched as he flicked through it, most likely because he saw his dead body drawn while the leaf ninja and Akatsuki fought over him. Gaara nodded and asked, "But how is this possible?" They looked at the group of girls who just shrugged.
Naruto snatched the comic book from Gaara's hands, flipping through it. Gaara seemed unfazed by Naruto's action as he giggled, "Hey. It's even named after me."
"We just took a wrong turn," Lynne tried to explain. "We were on a trip …"
"A last 'hoorah' before we all go our separate ways in life, if you will," Winnifred offered. Suddenly, she was uncomfortable by the shift in focus on her as she continued in a mousy tone, "We pulled off to find a hotel and got lost."
"If you ask my opinion, I think we drove through a portal to an alternate dimension, thus landing here," Ronnie offered. She shrugged as she offered, "That doesn't explain the why or how, though."
That remark earned a contemplative stare from Gaara. Kakashi shrugged and stated, "It has our fight with Deidera down to the letter."
Naruto giggled still flipping through it fascinatedly, "And it's named after me."
"Well, yeah," Lynne replied, her gray blue eyes shooting over to the annoying blonde and rolling her eyes. "You are the main character. It starts with your graduation from the Ninja Academy, and the last chapters out feature the beginning of the five Kage summit in the Land of Iron. It's been running for about ten years now."
Gaara looked to Kakashi, and asked, "What do you think?"
"I don't know," Kakashi answered, his gaze narrowing on the girls. "I think Hinata's opinion will greatly shed light on the situation."
A few moments later, Shikamaru came in with Hinata Hyuga. "You wished to see me, Lord Kakashi?"
Kakashi gave a nod to the girls, stating, "I'd like you to use your Byakugon on these women to inspect them of any chakra irregularities."
"What? You think this is a genjutsu or something?" Lynne asked. Hinata already started using her power, inspecting the girls with a frown, while the other ninja tensed at the mention of genjutsu.
Kakashi's gaze flicked to Lynne as he asked, "What do you see, Hinata?"
"Nothing," she breathed, but there was a hint of worry in her tone. "Lord Kakashi, these girls don't have chakra networks."
The ninjas tensed again as Cordi quickly stated, "I told you chakra doesn't exist where we're from. This isn't a trick. I promise you." She could tell by Kakashi's look and the stances the ninjas around them were now taking they were very suspicious. Why wouldn't they be? Five strange girls just showed up on their doorstep, claiming to be lost from another world. It was ridiculous.
"I think they are telling you the truth," Hinata said. Cordi turned to her, her eyes wide with hope. Hinata stepped forward toward Kakashi as she stated, "While they don't have chakra networks, I can tell they are real." Kakashi leaned forward, his eyes full of shock as she continued, "And while I don't see any chakra in them, there is something within them I can't put my finger on."
Kakashi gave a small nod. So, they were telling the truth. Kakashi turned to the group of teenage girls and asked, "Do you know how to get back to your home?"
"Uhm," Fred started looking at the other girls, who were all shaking their heads. "No. I think we've already established, we'd need magic to get back to our world, which we don't have. Not to mention, our navigation equipment doesn't work here."
Kakashi frowned, "You must have something. Some ability that got you here in the first place."
The girls shook their heads. Cordi offered with a sigh, "I think best guess is wrong place, wrong time."
Kakashi nodded, eyeing each of the girls carefully. "You think this might be the work of the Otsutsuki Clan?" Gaara asked. The girls all frowned at that. Who the fuck were the Otsutsuki? "They all possess the power to travel between worlds."
"It's possible, but it's completely without logic," Kakashi stated. His gaze trained on each of the girls as he added, "Why would they bring five girls from a world where chakra doesn't exist?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, then let out a sigh. "Naruto, Hinata, thank you. I'll have Shikamaru assist with anything final."
Naruto frowned, knowing they were about to discuss something important, but the look Kakashi gave him told him to leave. He let out a sigh, then turned to Hinata, "Come on, Hinata. Let's go get some ramen." The girls turned to watch Naruto and Hinata with bated breath.
"Wh-what? Naruto?! But – !" she gasped as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the office.
There was a long silence before Cordi jutted her thumb over her shoulder towards the office door an asked, "Have they started dating yet?"
Kakashi looked at them puzzled. "Uhm."
"I have money on them being endgame," Cordi stated with a serious frown.
Lynne rolled her eyes, and added with a sigh, "I told you, he's never gonna' get over Sakura."
"Yeah? Well, clearly it's been a while since the comic happened. So maybe in that time …" Cordi added with a shrug.
"I'm getting high school cafeteria flashbacks," Fred muttered to Rox who nodded with pursed lips, who only answered with a small, "Mhmmm."
"Next thing you know, they'll start debating who has the most tragic backstory," Ronnie muttered. She rolled her eyes with a sigh, and stepped between Cordi and Lynne, calmly stating, "Come on guys. We've got bigger things going on."
Lynne and Cordi straightened up, looking back at Kakashi. Shikamaru scratched his head, muttering, "Oh, man."
Kakashi looked at the girls tiredly. This was going to be a mountain of paperwork. He was sure of that. He let out a sigh. "As I was about to ask, did any of you see anything when you crossed over? A black hole? Or someone dressed in white?" They all shook their head, and he let out another huff. "Who was leading your group at the time?"
"Fred."
"Fred?"
"Fred!"
"Fred…"
Each one came out staggered and in different tones, but close enough that it was difficult to differentiate who said what. They all turned to the girl with silky black hair and vibrant green eyes with the turtle shirt, who let out a nervous, "Uh … well…" She poked her index fingers together awkwardly.
"Fred was driving the car," Ronnie stated helpfully.
Fred scowled at her little sister. "Thanks," she growled. She turned to the ninjas who all looked at her with piercing glares. She straightened her back, looking them directly in the eye. "Well," Fred started, "When we got lost, it was around two o'clock in the morning. So, low visibility. Wouldn't see a black hole. Also, they're invisible technically." The words tumbled out of her quickly as she got the story rolling, finishing with a shrug and a "What'cha gonna do?" expression.
"What are we going to do with them?" Shikamaru asked.
The Hokage frowned and stated, "Well, here's the issue with housing. Currently we only have enough room in our ninja dorms for four people, which I can give to you if you're a ninja or training to be a ninja. I'm assuming that none of you have money in our currency. Am I correct?"
The girls gave solemn nods, except Fred who said, "Not unless you guys take debit or credit cards." This again earned confused glares. She let out a sigh as she said, "No. We have money for our world. We don't have fictional ninja money."
Kakashi shrugged, looking up as if this was such a meddlesome issue, adding, "I can put you in the dorms if you sign up for the ninja academy. Beyond that, my hands are tied. And the fifth girl, I have no idea what to do with." He held his hands out in a mea culpa, looking at each of the girls who looked amongst themselves, trying to figure out who would be the odd man out. Kakashi's gaze shot over to Gaara, adding, "What do you think Gaara? Given the absurdity of the situation, surely, you have an opinion."
Gaara gave a small frown, stating, "Instituting them as ninja would give you better observation of their movements. If they are part of another Otsutsuki plot, that would be the best way to find out."
Kakashi eyed him closely. "And the housing issue?"
Gaara looked at the girls, and only one held his gaze with earnest. She had dirty blond hair the color of shifting sands. Dark brown eyes, unwavering underneath long eyelashes and dark eyebrows. She was pretty, he'd give her that, with full lips as red as his cactus blooms. But something in her stare caused his heart to jolt. He couldn't move his eyes from hers. It was such a strange feeling. Gaara suddenly said, "We should offer our assistance. Even if it only need be for a little while."
"Gaara!?" Temari hissed. Clearly, she thought it was a bad idea.
"We can house one of the girls until they find their way home," Gaara offered. "In Suna, if you need."
Honestly, he wasn't sure what possessed him to suggest it. It was that glimmer in her eye. It stirred something in him.
Roxanne pursed her lips, looking over to Cordi who actually seemed to be thinking it over. "Huddle," she ordered to her friends. And they got together quickly and discussed their options, Cordi only joining them after being yanked by her sister.
"I know you're thinking about taking that offer," Roxanne hissed disapprovingly.
Cordi looked at her as if she was crazy. "Of course I'm thinking about it." Roxanne scowled at her as she whispered, "The Gaara of the Sand just offered to let me live with them!" Roxanne still scowled. "Come on!"
"No," Roxanne growled. "This romantic image you've built of him in your head doesn't exist. It's not going to be like Beauty and the Beast. You'll probably never see us again. Think about that." Cordi scowled at her older sister who scowled back as she said, "You know I'm right. Don't do something stupid. We can figure something out." She let out a huff as Cordi looked away, her lips pursed. Cordi's gaze fell on Gaara who watched them with only slight interest. Rox turned to Winnifred, asking, "What if we offer to conserve rooms, by having sisters bunk up."
Winnifred shrugged. "We'll be at each other's throats, as will you be. But other than that …?"
"Cordi can bunk with me," Lynne offered. She was an only child, and didn't know what it was like to share a room, but she'd always wondered.
Rox leveled a gaze on her, "Cordi snores really bad, and I know how much of light sleeper you are."
Lynne shot her a look, offering, "Then you. Technically, we only need one pair to bunk up."
Roxanne pursed her lips then nodded. "Ok. I'll bunk with Lynne, and Fred, Ronnie and Cordi will get the singles." She turned to Cordi starting, "And I don't want to hear any …" she cut herself off as she saw Cordi step away from the huddle up to Gaara, saying, "I'm your girl."
"What!? Cordi, no!" Rox snapped.
"Uh," Gaara breathed, a little floored that one of the girls just jumped on his offer so willingly. He felt Temari shooting him a sideways glare, but he remained resolutely pokerface.
"Cordi, that wasn't what we agreed on!" Fred shrieked.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Cordi replied, her gaze not leaving Gaara's. Her resolute stare unsettled him a little.
"So you're going to break up the group when we had a plan?" Roxanne asked.
Cordi frowned, then turned to Kakashi and asked, "Lord Hokage, the rooms available, are they big enough to house two people?"
Kakashi frowned, his fingers steepled. "No."
Cordi turned back to her friends, gesturing to Kakashi. "See, this is our only option. And out of the five of us, who knows Suna better than me?"
They were silent for a little while until Ronnie asked, "So you're just going to leave us? What happened to the last hoorah?" She sounded lost as she asked it.
Cordi frowned, "Well, that plan's already been shot in the face. I don't see another option. So I'll go to Suna."
"And burn like a crisp," Rox muttered, eyeing her sister with annoyance. "Did you think of that? I know what you look like after five minutes at the beach. What do you think the desert is?"
"I did pack a lot of sunscreen," Cordi added. Then with a beaming smile said, "See, more prepared for anything than a navy seal." Rox rolled her eyes, looking away. Cordi frowned and said, "I've made up my mind. I'll send letters and come by to visit. It's not the end of the world." Ronnie walked up and gave her a teary hug.
"We'll miss you, a lot!" Ronnie said, the others sniffling in agreement.
"I'll miss you too." Cordi said, a small sniffle escaping as well. She looked back at Gaara and asked, "So when do we leave?"
Gaara had the most confused face that he was obviously trying to hide. "We have a week and a half. The finals of the Chuunin exams begin the fifth of July," Gaara said steadily.
Then all the girls straightened. "So, we have time?" Lynne asked hopefully. Gaara gave them a nod with a look that was kind of surprised they didn't see the obvious.
"That means the housing issue is still an issue," Kakashi stated boredly.
"She can stay with us in our hotel." Gaara didn't know what was possessing him to say all this. He didn't want a stranger staying with them, but the look in her eyes made him feel like he was either kicking a puppy, or an amazing hero, depending on his offers. "Is that all right?" Gaara asked, keeping his tone even as he chanced a look back at her. A chance he regretted. She positively beamed at him, and he felt his heart flutter. What the fuck was that?
"Good," Kakashi said, smiling. "Now that that's settled, and I guess our meeting is over?" He turned to Gaara with the question, who gave a small nod. "Why don't you join us for lunch?"
"Sure," the girls cheered simultaneously again.
"Come with me," Kakashi directed the group, walking out of her office and down towards the dining hall. Everyone sat down, Kakashi at the head, Gaara to his right, and Temari next to him, then Shikamaru. On his left sat Cordi, then Ronnie, then Lynne. Then at the other head was Rox, and in between her and Lynne was Fred. The group was served plates of Lo Mein, Fried Rice, Yakiniku steak, sushi and dumplings.
Everyone at in silence, Ronnie, Cordi and Fred struggling a little with the chopsticks, but eventually being able to grasp a few things, but not the rice. "So, how old are all of you?" Kakashi asked, changing the subject. "I'll need to know to get started on the paperwork."
"Well, I'm seventeen, but I'll turn eighteen in October," Cordi started, picking up some lo mein.
"I'm eighteen, soon to be nineteen in September," Rox smiled, holding her cup.
"And I just turned eighteen," Ronnie stated, trying again for a bite, but again failing.
"I just turned nineteen," Lynne laughed.
"As did I, but that was several months ago," Fred smiled, until her rice fell through the sticks again. Cordi snickered, which received a swift glare from Fred. Glaring at her, she plucked up some Yakiniku Cordi was angling for, and smirked when her expression fell, watching her smirk as she chewed on her prize.
"What about you?" Lynne asked, looking at Shikamaru pointedly. "In the comics and show, it leaves off with you all around seventeen?"
Shikamaru swallowed his bite before answering, "Twenty."
Gaara remained silent.
Lynne nodded knowingly, grabbing her water and taking a sip. "And the Akatsuki?"
"Gone," Gaara growled, his jaw taut at the mention of the group.
Lynne chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Interesting. How?"
Gaara eyed them closely, his gaze narrowing at her comment. Temari smirked, saying, "So, you aren't all knowing about us."
Lynne shrugged, "Only because the comic went to the Five Kage Summit. I'm sure any of us would ace a test on any you."
"Except Fred," Ronnie added around a mouthful of rice. Fred shot her sister a rueful glare.
"We are currently in times of peace," Kakashi stated over his tea, adding in a calculated tone, "Which is why we can make an exception for your presence as we are doing now." Lynne pursed he lips, knowing better than any of her friends how to read Kakashi's tonal subtext, which clearly stated, "Shut up, and only answer questions we ask." Lynne looked around, and noticed her friends also caught Kakashi's threatening tone, and separately agreed to stay silent for the rest of the lunch.
Until Cordi looked out the window and balked, "Is that fucking Orochimaru?" The girls all looked out the window, seeing the pale snake wielder waltzing through downtown rather brazenly, with Yamato trailing behind him. They turned back to Kakashi who answered with a disinterested glance.