Apartment - Normal

"Sasuke-kun…"

"Not even close."

Sakura's eyes flew open and she looked around frantically. She was in a classroom but it had returned to normal. The desks were in neat rows and the walls were intact. At the front of the room was Shikamaru, who stared at her as he tapped a pencil on the desk.

"What…" she started.

Shikamaru sighed. "You know, I don't have to help you in school," he said. "I could just tell you to find another tutor. I do have other things to do." Sakura stared at him with wide open eyes and eventually he toned down his lecture. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head. "I was… it must have been a nightmare. But… Ino was there and…"

"Who?" he asked.

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Ino…" He still looked confused. "Yamanaka Ino."

Shikamaru shrugged. "What, a friend of yours or something?"

"You know her!" Sakura cried, standing up from the desk. "She was here, not too long ago. You went to eat lunch with her… you were laughing with her!"

"Sakura," Shikamaru replied, "just calm down. I'm sorry but I have no idea who you are talking about."

The door slammed opened and Naruto gripped the side of the frame, trying to catch his breath. He looked up at her with panic-filled eyes. Sakura quickly collected her things and walked over to him. It was obvious that whatever had happened was not a dream at all.

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru-san," Sakura said. "But I need to go."

"Whatever," he said, a hint of his normal laziness coming back into his voice. "Just be careful. The weather is a bit… strange."

Sakura waved him off and followed Naruto outside. They took a few steps down the hall to put some space between themselves and Shikamaru. As soon as they were sure no one else was within earshot, Naruto began speaking.

"It wasn't a dream was it?" Naruto asked. Sakura shook her head. "I woke up in the music room and everyone there looked normal again."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, me too, only… Shikamaru doesn't remember Ino."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like," Sakura started, frowning with every word, "she never existed here."

"Shit," Naruto said. "So what the hell does that mean? Was that other world real?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know, but I think it can affect this world." She looked around the empty halls. "We should find Sasuke-kun."

Naruto nodded. "Any idea where he is?"

"None," she replied. "It seems like half the day passed while we were in the other world."

"Maybe he went home," Naruto suggested. "Not that we know where home is."

Sakura tapped her foot as she thought. "His locker. He might have information in there." She started to walk down the halls, looking at each name taped onto the lockers, searching for Sasuke's. But it was no use.

"Damn it!" she cried, kicking one of the lockers with her foot. "I still can't read anything."

Naruto nodded and quickly took her spot, looking at the names himself as Sakura slumped dejectedly onto the wall. He moved quickly, rattling off many familiar names but not the one they needed until finally several rows down he began to wave frantically.

By the time Sakura reached him he was pulling at the door. "Damn thing is locked." He glared at it for a moment before slamming his fist into it. The door barely moved but Naruto tumbled backwards, cursing up a storm as he held his bruised knuckles.

"At little more finesse, Naruto," Sakura chided, leaning over and placing her ear on the door as she turned the lock. There was a click and she glared at her teammate. "We are ninja after all."

She opened the door and was met with a mostly empty locker. There were textbooks but no pictures, no coat, nothing that was personal. She reached into the back and slowly pulled out his schoolbag, glad to have at least that.

She sat down and started to rifle through it, pulling out books and handing them to Naruto to look through. She remembered how protective Sasuke had been of his bag but as she emptied it she couldn't understand why – until she got to the bottom and found a crumpled photograph.

"Got it," Naruto smiled, ripping out a piece of paper from a notebook to scribble down the address from the inside of textbook. "Che, not like I know where this is or anything but it's a start, right Sakura-chan?" He looked at her and found that she wasn't paying attention to him "What is it?"

Sakura's forehead scrunched as she examined the picture. It explained why Sasuke was so reluctant to let them see inside his bag and why he refused to believe any of this was real. "Naruto…" Sakura started, holding up the picture for him to see.

Naruto took it and frowned. Sasuke was in it, doing something he rarely did, smiling. But what was more disturbing was the older Uchiha that was standing next to him, smiling as well.

"Itachi?" Naruto asked. Sakura nodded. "But… I don't get it."

Sakura took the picture back. "Don't you see, Naruto? Shikamaru is polite and a hard worker. Lee was a jerk. Neji almost cried. And Itachi…"

"Itachi is the perfect brother," Naruto finished. "Shit."

Sakura sighed in agreement. "At least now I know why he didn't want us to look inside his bag." She put a hand to her head. "We need to find him right away."

"Yeah, that's why we were…" Naruto started.

"No, think about it Naruto. Sasuke isn't exactly rational when it comes to his brother. The 'nightmare' started when Ino noticed that we weren't acting by the rules of this world. So…"

"So when Sasuke sees Itachi, he's not exactly going to be the smiling younger brother," Naruto finished.

"Exactly. We need to find him and try to stop that from happening. Otherwise the illusion is going to try to compensate again." She stood up and headed towards the doors, Naruto quickly behind.

The moment they stepped outside, they understood what Shikamaru had meant about the weather being bizarre. A deep fog had descended on the town and they could barely see two feet in front of them.

"Crap," Naruto said. "I can't see a damn thing. It almost makes me wish Neji was here to show us how to get through this."

"Let's just go, standard defense formation with you in the front," Sakura stated. "I can't read the street signs so you'll have to make the map." She pulled out a small notebook from her bag and handed it to him with a pencil.

Naruto frowned for a moment but took the materials all the same. He walked forward, knowing that Sakura would cover his back. In fact, she was only a few inches behind him, slowly walking backwards and trying to find anything dangerous in the fog.

They moved like that past endless stores, none of which seemed to be open. The streets were deserted and when they heard a noise neither felt the need to investigate it.

"What the hell!" Naruto yelled, coming to a stop so suddenly that Sakura almost ran into him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, not willing to turn around.

"The road ended," he said. He pulled her around to face what he was seeing. In front of him was a tall wall that disappeared into the fog. There were no doors present, no gap between where it touched buildings on either side.

Sakura put her hand to it and pressed, feeling the cement beneath it refuse to move. "Who the hell builds a cement wall in the middle of the road?" she yelled, giving it a kick.

"A bit more finesse," Naruto replied with a smile as he pulled her away. "We just need to find another way around it."

Sakura nodded, glad at least one of them still had their wits about them. She started to search the wall for any sign of weakness but it appeared completely solid. Naruto got a good grip on a crack and tried to climb up. But after a few feet, the cement smoothed to perfection and he slid back down.

"Should we double back?" Naruto asked as he landed on the ground.

Sakura frowned. "I don't know. I feel like… we're being herded someplace and I don't think that's a good thing. We should really try to keep going straight."

Naruto nodded and pointed to the side of the street. "Maybe try finding an unlocked building and cross through a few backyards?"

Sakura nodded in agreement and resumed her defensive position as Naruto moved to the sidewalk and began working the doors. Most were commercial buildings and all were heavily locked. They turned the corner and started down a more residential street. Sakura couldn't read the names but something seemed oddly familiar about the road.

"None of these are going to open," Naruto whined, looking back to ask his teammate what they should do next.

But Sakura was walking ahead, her eyes fixated on one of the houses a few meters away. Before he could ask what was going on, he saw it to.

"Sakura-chan…isn't this…"

Sakura swiped her hand across the top of the door frame and found the familiar key there. She pulled it down and traced the familiar symbols on the wall. Haruno. She didn't need to be able to read to know this was her house.

"Why is your house here?" Naruto asked softly.

Sakura shook her head in response. She had no idea but she still reached forward to put the key into the lock. Naruto grabbed her wrist.

"Before, you said you felt we were being herded someplace," Naruto replied. "You can't tell me that this doesn't feel like still."

Sakura frowned. "It does but… I don't think we really had a choice anyway."

She unlocked the door and it swung open effortlessly. Naruto slipped in, not willing to let her face the danger first. He scanned the area and found it was almost an exact replica of Sakura's house. It was eerily still though, the furniture covered with a thick layer of dust. There were no enemies here. In fact, the entire house felt devoid of life.

Sakura moved slowly behind him, almost afraid to look around. It was her house but she felt it too, the lingering feeling of lifelessness. She walked slowly but the realization of what this might mean hit her suddenly and she ran toward the stairs. Naruto called out for her but she ignored him.

She walked down the upstairs hall, letting her hand trail against the familiar wall. She stopped in front of her door just as Naruto caught up. They looked at each other for a moment and Sakura pushed it open.

The room inside was a complete copy Sakura's bedroom in the real world. Pink curtains, pink sheets and scrolls strewn all over the place. Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

"We were worried for nothing," he said.

Sakura smiled in agreement. "I don't think there's anything of danger here. Why don't you look downstairs for supplies and I'll finish checking the upstairs." Naruto nodded and bounded down the stairs, never seeing Sakura's smile fade.

She turned away from her room and walked across the hall, putting a hand on the door that was her parents' bedroom. Even before the handle turned in her hand, she knew what she was going to find.

The bedroom was almost empty. Gone was the quilt covered queen sized bed she had jumped on as a child. Gone were the pictures of their family. All that remained was a tiny altar with separate pictures of both husband and wife. Sakura walked up to it, kneeling in front of it.

If the world here was opposite of everything back home, then of course her parents would be dead. But it wasn't real, she reminded herself as she looked at their pictures. Nothing in this world was.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled from downstairs.

Sakura stood up quickly, knocking the altar over as she did. Something metallic hit the ground and she leaned over to see what it was. A tiny gold key lay amongst the incense ashes and broken glass. She gingerly pulled it free of the debris and pocketed it as she walked out the door.

"What is it?" she demanded as soon as she came down the stairs.

"There's a door in the back," Naruto said. "I think if we can cross this yard and the one neighboring it, we should be able to get around the cement wall. Only… the door is locked."

Sakura nodded. "I think I found the key. Let's go."

She walked through the familiar rooms and never looked back. She understood why 'it's not real' had become Sasuke's mantra. She slipped the key into the back door and the lock clicked open. When they stepped into the backyard, she almost choked on the fog. The air was too humid for it not to be raining, but instead the fog was just getting worse.

In her rush to get away, she had completely forgotten they were supposed to stay close. The yard couldn't have been more then a dozen meters across but it took a matter of seconds to lose Naruto. Sakura came to a stop and turned around, finding only the fog behind her quickly erasing her path there.

"NARUTO?" she yelled, frantically trying to find him.

Something answered her but the low growl most definitely did not sound like him. Looking at the source of the noise, she watched as the four legged beast emerged. Sakura took a step back, recognizing it as her neighbor's dog. In the real world, it had been friendly but it had changed dramatically here.

The dog looked up at her and growled again, madness in its eyes. Sakura frowned as she watched it lean back on its haunches and realized a second too late that it was going to attack her.

A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her away just as the dog leapt. It dragged her back to the house and threw her inside, slamming the door shut as soon as she was clear. Sakura looked up at Naruto with a bit of gratitude but he shook his head.

"We need to stick together," he said firmly. "So don't run ahead again. I couldn't see you in the fog at all." Sakura nodded in agreement. She wasn't going to try that again. This world was turning into one as hostile as the nightmare.

"Do you parents keep any weapons here?" Naruto asked.

"In their bedroom usually but… I checked and they weren't there." She paused for a moment. "My dad does have some gardening equipment we might be able to use." She walked over to the kitchen and pulled open the storage closet door. Lucky for her, everything inside was exactly as she remembered.

"Your father gardens with these?" Naruto asked, not masking the shock in his voice.

"We have a big problem with weeds," she said, reaching in and grabbing a sickle and a hammer. "Here take these, you were always faster with weapon fighting then I was so these should work well."

"What about you?" he asked.

Sakura reached in and hefted a huge woodcutting axe out and onto her shoulder. "I'll take this," she said. Naruto looked at her and then back down at his own weapons.

"I think you should lead," he suggested with a smile. "I don't want to be in the path of that thing."

Sakura returned the smile and walked out the door, making sure Naruto was a few steps behind her. She heard the dog growling again but this time she was ready. The second the fog split, she swung the axe, connecting with the dog and sending two pieces into the abyss.

"This is why I try not to get on your bad side," Naruto whispered as he followed her closely.

Sakura reached the back fence and came to a stop. She looked over at Naruto to verify that he had heard it too. But he was already staring into the fog as three more dogs appeared.

"You have got to be kidding me," Naruto said, swinging the sickle the moment the first dog attacked. He caught it in the throat and slammed the dog into the ground, following up quickly with a hammer blow to the head.

Sakura took the second and cleaved it in two. The third wisely backed up and eyed them warily. It let out a long howl that was quickly answered several times over from the depths of the fog. Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances and jumped over the wall into the neighbor's yard, running at full speed towards the road.

"Turn left!" Sakura yelled as Naruto swung at an attacking dog. Sakura didn't miss a beat and grabbed his arm before he could finish the opponent off. "Forget it! We'll be overrun if we keep fighting every one of them. Just RUN!"

Deciding not to argue with a girl carrying that huge of a weapon, Naruto complied. He kept an eye on the sidewalk looking for any street signs until he finally recognized a name.

"Sakura! The street from the address is on the right!"

She nodded and shifted her run quickly. "Start looking for the right number," she told him. He began rattling them off as they passed, knowing it would be better if she had an idea of how far away they were.

"Three hundred two, that's it!" Naruto yelled coming to a stop in front of a huge apartment building. Sakura paused too, taking the chance to catch her breath.

"I think we lost them," she said, putting the axe on the ground and taking a few deep breaths.

The fog answered her with a growl. Worse than that, it was coming from all around them. Naruto and Sakura exchanged a glance before locking on to the building and bolting towards it. They squeezed through the front doors before anything attacked them and didn't stop running until they were well into the lobby.

"Did the address have an apartment number on it?" Sakura asked, sitting down on the floor to let her legs rest.

Naruto shook his head and started to look around for anything useful. There was a map of the apartment building on the bulletin board and he ripped it down. Even though the tenant names weren't on it, it would help them get around.

"Mailboxes," Sakura added, pointing to wall next to him.

He nodded and started to look for Sasuke's name one on of the door. "You're not going to believe this," he said softly.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Every name here is Uchiha."

Sakura let out a deep sigh and leaned back, letting herself just lie on the ground for a moment while she tried to think things through. Naruto joined her, putting his weapons on the ground.

"It's just getting worse isn't it?" Naruto asked.

Sakura closed her eyes. "Yeah," she replied softly. "I just wish we could remember something about what happened before we woke up here. Were we in a fight? Did we open a scroll by mistake?" She paused. "Did we die and this is…"

Naruto reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He smiled broadly, the same warming one he gave whenever his teammates needed some cheering up.

"We're fine," Naruto replied. "Probably just ate some bad ramen or something."

Sakura looked at him for a moment before falling into laughter. Only Naruto could lighten up the situation like this. She had almost calmed down when the scream filled the air.

They didn't waste a moment but charged up the stairs and towards the source of the pain filled cries. They were definitely masculine but it didn't sound like Sasuke. Sakura could only hope they weren't too late.

They reached the second floor and ran down the hall, heading toward the one door that was open. Sakura stepped inside first, barely aware of Naruto's attempt to make her stop and be more careful.

Inside the tiny apartment, they found the one thing they had feared. Sasuke was there, staring at the ground, hand bloody and broken. On the ground was what looked to be Itachi, covering his face. They couldn't hear his words but they could understand the disbelief.

"You couldn't have waited five more minutes?" Naruto asked Sasuke, watching his teammate fall to the ground.

A second later the noise began and Naruto could barely stand as it filled their being and brought the darkness again.