The sentries standing outside the Hokage's door watched Lucien pace the hall with amusement, their faces hidden by white animal masks with red accents. It had been perhaps ten minutes since the Hokage had kicked him out and he was impatient to hear what they were going to do about his situation. Turning to walk the other way for the fifty-something time, he was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening. Kakashi stepped out and briefly fixed him with a glance that somehow seemed to see right through him before the taller man wandered over to his students. One of the masked guards, this one sporting a bear mask, jerked his head toward the open door, saying gruffly, "Your turn, kid."

The other dipped his deer mask delicately and murmured, "Go on," when Lucien hesitated. As soon as he was inside, the doors closed with a soft click that somehow seemed to say doom. Swallowing, Lucien approached the desk and stopped a respectful distance away. The Hokage peered out at him from under his hat, and Lucien ducked his head very slightly, letting his dark curls hide some of his face.

The old man chuckled behind his interlocked fingers and stated plainly, "You're not from this world, are you?"

Lucien's mouth fell open. "I'm… Not entirely sure what you mean, sir."

"I mean," the old man continued, "that you are currently in a different reality than the one you lived in. Have you ever heard of the Land of Waves before?" Lucien shook his head. "No? How about, genin? Chuunin? ANBU? Have you ever heard the word 'Hokage' prior to entering this room?"

"Well, no…"

"What about the village? Do your 'cities' look like this?" The Hokage waved a hand at the windows and Lucien approached them hesitantly, gazing out with awe when he reached them.

"No, sir, they certainly don't…" he breathed, amazed.

"You have never before heard of any of the things I have mentioned, you dress strangely, even your appearance is strange. You were in your world, a mysterious storm defying the laws of nature swept through, and you awoke here, in a place you've never seen or heard of before. I have my reasons to think that perhaps you are not from the same reality, or even time, as we are."

Lucien looked back to him, brows knitting. "Alright, you've got me there, but what do I do about this?" The Hokage smiled, his pale eyes warm.

"For now you will stay here. There are enemies of our village who I think would be very interested in the idea of traveling between worlds. When you're here, we can protect you. Now we just have to find you a place to stay. I'll have someone look through the housing arrangements and see if there's a space for you. In fact, I think I know someone without a roommate who would be happy to have you." The old man grinned and waved a hand. Taking this as his cue to leave, Lucien turned to go before pausing.

"Sir?" he began hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"What did you mean by my appearance being strange? I mean, what about me looks odd?"

The Hokage answered his question with another question. "Does everyone in your world have such interesting hair?"

"Huh?" Lucien reached up, running a hand through his dark brown locks. Understanding struck him as he realized something; not a single person he'd seen so far had curly hair. "Oh, no, not all of them. It's rather uncommon, but apparently not half as rare as it is here." Giving the old man one more smile and a final 'Thank you,' he hurried out.

Bear Sentry seemed to be grinning behind the mask as he asked, "So how'd it go?" Stag Sentry turned his head to Lucien, his black eyeholes watching him eerily.

"Alright, I guess," he replied with a shrug, then he turned to Bear Sentry and asked, "Why do you guys wear those masks?"

Stag Sentry replied simply in his soft, elegant voice, "We're ANBU."

Lucien turned his attention to him. "What're ANBU?"

Bear Sentry replied, with a growly, gruff satisfaction, "The best of the best."

"Oh…" 'Well that answered absolutely nothing.' Nodding as if he understood, Lucien hurried off, wondering where he was supposed to go now. Stag Sentry called after him, "They're still in the mission's room. If you hurry, you can catch them," and before Lucien could ask where the mission's room was, Stag answered his thoughts. "Down the hall to the left."

"Thanks," he called back, and waved before padding down the hallway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There were no ANBU standing guard at the door to the mission's room, and Lucien walked right through, looking around himself at the various men and women, most dressed similarly to Kakashi, standing around or sitting in chairs filling out papers. Behind several long desks at the far side of the room sat a few more people, taking the papers they were offered and glancing through them before dismissing the people handing them in. The majority of the people in the room, Lucien noticed, were male.

Someone slammed into him suddenly and he fell backward with a yelp and a flurry of papers. Sitting up on his elbows with a groan, he looked around to see what hit him. He was met with a pair of warm brown eyes. The man before him was perhaps in his early twenties, maybe even younger, his brown hair pulled up into a fluffy ponytail, a thin scar running horizontally across his tan nose. The man scampered to his knees, apologizing profusely and blushing. Lucien sat up, saying quickly, "No, it was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry about that." Smiling sheepishly, he helped the still-blushing man gather his papers, which had scattered all over the place when they fell.

When all the folders and sheets had been gathered up and both were standing, the older man held out a hand and said, "I'm Iruka Umino. I'm a teacher at the academy."

Lucien took the proffered hand and shook it, grinning. "Lucien Hunt. I'm… New here. Pleasure to meet you."

Iruka beamed. "You too! Well, I have to get going, but it was nice meeting you. I hope you like it here." He grinned, a faint pinkness in his cheeks as he rubbed the scar on his nose with his thumb.

Lucien flushed slightly and smiled. "Thanks. I guess I'll see you around, then. 'Bye."

Iruka nodded and scurried out, and Lucien turned to find himself almost nose-to-nose with Kakashi Hatake. Gasping and jerking backwards, he almost fell over again.

"God, Kakashi! Are you trying to kill me!" The intense stare of the masked ninja's visible eye broke abruptly as he smiled, little crinkles appearing in his mask.

"That might be amusing." Huffing, Lucien brushed past him, only to choke as he was pulled back by the collar of his shirt.

"I'd like to speak with you, Mister Hunt." 'Mr. Hunt' was about to argue when a puff of smoke and a flutter of leaves obscured his vision. Waving his hands to clear it, he squinted through the fading smoke. As a man's outline appeared through the fog, he felt Kakashi's grip tighten on the scruff of his neck. An exuberant voice rose out of the clearing air.

"Kakashi! My most esteemed eternal rival! I have been searching for you, for I have found a new way to battle!"

The man standing (in a ridiculous pose) before them had a bowl haircut, inhumanly large and rectangular eyebrows, and the blackest, shiniest hair Lucien had ever seen. And the Hokage thought his hair and clothing were weird? The man was wearing green spandex, for Gods sake! Back-stepping until his shoulder blades ran into Kakashi's chest, Lucien watched in horrified fascination as the man flashed a blinding smile and gave his 'eternal rival' an enthusiastic thumbs up. He felt Kakashi groan, the sound vibrating into his own body from Kakashi's.

"And who is this! Ah, fair flower, the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha is delighted to make your acquaintance!" Lucien looked around, trying to figure out who the man was babbling to, before he realized with a thrill of horror that he was talking to him.

"Um… Nice to meet you?" Lucien smiled nervously, then winced as Kakashi's grip tightened yet further. He nudged him with his elbow, trying to get him to let go.

"Ah, fair maiden, such manners! And never before have I seen such original hair! So new! So in! And such beautiful, lucid eyes! You are an angel on earth, dear lady!"

Lucien twitched. "Um, actually I'm-"

"Hatake!" Lucien felt Kakashi's stomach muscles tense through his shirt and vest.

"Let the lady be a witness to our battle! If I do not best you, I shall run fifty laps around the village! This fair flower of Konoha shall choose the victor of our fight!"

"Um, actually, I have to-"

"What hair-brained test have you spent all day scheming up this time, Gai?" Kakashi's voice was nonchalant. Bored, even, but his muscles hadn't relaxed. Was he actually accepting this… Challenge-thing? Lucien twisted his head around to look up at him. His face appeared calm, as far as he could tell, and his visible eye was half-lidded and lazy-looking, though his eyebrow was very slightly furrowed and his grip on Lucien's scruff was still iron-hard.

Gai struck a pose and exclaimed, "Such a hip response! I will best you yet, Kakashi! We will test our skills in a battle of generosity! If I can not paint every wall of the home being remodeled on 41st before you, I shall-"

"Yes yes, we know. Fifty laps around Konoha. However," Kakashi's eye was glittering, "I can't help but doubt your endurance, Gai. After all, D-rank missions with genin aren't going to keep you in shape. Perhaps you should lower the number. Say, ten laps? Five?"

Gai puffed himself up. "MY MOST ESTEEMED ETERNAL RIVAL! Time and again you have proven yourself a most worthy opponent! And now you do so YET AGAIN! (If he shouted anymore, Lucien thought his ridiculous bowl-cut would explode) How could I even THINK of challenging the great copy-nin Kakashi without PROVING myself FIRST! I will show my worthiness through DEDICATION! I SHALL RUN SIXTY LAPS AROUND OUR BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE RIGHT NOW TO PROVE MYSELF TO YOU, MY MOST ESTEEMED RIVAL!" And with that, he was gone, leaving Lucien to gape after him. He felt a little shove as Kakashi pushed him off his chest (which he had started leaning back into when Gai started bellowing like a wounded buffalo).

"Now then," Kakashi began, steering him toward the door, "Let's take this elsewhere. Team 7, let's go. We have a mission." Lucien looked around and found Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke trailing after them, looks of awe and/or shock on the faces of the first two. Naruto had Lucien's bag clutched to his chest.

He decided to stay silent for the trip, taking in his surroundings as they wandered through the streets to a small but comfortable-looking house with a large garden. A middle-aged woman opened the door to greet them as they walked in through the gate and told them they would be pulling weeds in her backyard. She handed them a few gardening tools and showed them around the side of the house to the backyard, then told them she would be out later with some drinks. Kakashi promptly unfolded himself under the shade of a tree as Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke set down their ninja gear (and in Naruto's case, Lucien's bag) and set to work. Glancing up at the hot sun beating down, then over at the lounging Kakashi, who now appeared to be engrossed in an orange paperback book he'd pulled out of thin air, and finally over to the kids, Lucien picked up a spade and knelt down with them, carefully working the earth loose around a few tangled weeds, and set to work pulling them up. He saw Kakashi glance at him out of his peripheral vision, but paid him little mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Twenty minutes later, Lucien was hot, sweaty, dirty, and panting, but his large patch of garden was weed free and the dirt patted firm. Satisfied, he stood up and brushed off his knees to get rid of some of the dirt. His shirt was smeared with it. He shrugged, then peeled it off, feeling relieved as a cool breeze blew over his sticky, burning skin. Sauntering over to the tree and rolling his shirt up as he went, he surveyed the others' progress. Naruto was tearing up anything in front of him, apparently in a race with Sasuke, who seemed torn between being cautious and pulling the right plants or winning the race and potentially pulling up every herb and flower along with the weeds. Sakura was panting heavily and wiping her brow, the prongs of her gardening tool half-buried in the earth as she struggled with the heat.

Lucien flopped down next to Kakashi, using his rolled-up shirt as a pillow and closing his eyes with a sigh of contentment.

"Enjoy yourself?" purred Kakashi's mocking voice close to Lucien's right. Cracking one eye open, he hmphed and settled deeper into the cool green grass. They sat in semi-amiable silence for a while before Lucien asked, without opening his eyes, "So what're you reading?"

Had his eyes been open, he might have caught the mischievous glint in Kakashi's one eye, but they weren't and he didn't.

"Would you like to see?" Alerted by the playful tone of his voice, Lucien opened his eyes and sat up, leaning against the tree next to Kakashi, watching him warily.

"Sure…"

Kakashi beamed and edged closer to him, settling in with their hips just brushing and held up the book. Lucien couldn't read the title because it was in Japanese characters (or at least that's what it looked like to him), but there was an odd cartoon of a girl running away from a boy with his arms outstretched to her on the cover. Arching an eyebrow, he glanced up at Kakashi's face as he opened up the book.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI, NO!"

Three blurs tackled the grey-haired man, Sasuke (surprisingly) pressing him back against the tree, Sakura trying to drag him away by his legs, and Naruto clinging to the arm holding his book. Thoroughly freaked out, Lucien scrambled up, retreating a fair distance from all four of them before just watching the show. The three kids dangled in the air as Kakashi stood and one by one tried to pluck them off. Enjoying the spectacle for a few moments, Lucien hid a smile and stepped forward, grasping Naruto and gently prying him off Kakashi's arm and setting him down. Sasuke hopped off, did a graceful back flip, and landed in a crouch a few feet away. Sakura slid off and stepped back, all three of them watching Kakashi for signs of retaliation, Naruto edging behind Lucien's legs.

At that precise moment, an ANBU leapt into the backyard, appearing out of nowhere. As Lucien turned to face him, he recognized Stag Sentry's mask and smiled.

Stag bowed briefly before holding out a scroll to him and explaining as Lucien took it from him, "These will be your new living arrangements. We are working to find you a place to stay on your own, but until that time you will share an apartment with a roommate. The Hokage also recommends you consider occupational options. Job ideas," he translated with his smooth voice, catching Lucien's blank look.

"Oh. Thanks." Lucien looked down at the scroll, looking thoughtful, then asked, "Was it coincidence that you were the one to give me this?"

The ANBU chuckled, dipping his elegant deer mask gracefully. "No. The Hokage wanted to find someone that would know where you were going, and Bear was busy." Lucien grinned, then his happy expression became one of astonishment as the ANBU disappeared right in front of him.

Catching his look of amazement, Kakashi said incredulously, "You really don't know anything about ninja, do you?" Lucien shook his head, unable to tear his eyes from the spot Stag had stood just moments ago. Naruto hopped up to him, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Wanna see my best jutsu? It's awesome!"

"…Jutsu?"

"Yeah, cool ninja moves!"

"Oh, okay, sure. Let's see it."

Lucien had to admit he was a bit doubtful as Naruto took up a wide-legged stance and clasped his hands together in an odd sign, then shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

But as a huge plume of smoke engulfed them, along with several faint, strange pinging noises, he started to get nervous. The smoke cleared quickly, revealing twelve Narutos. Lucien stood frozen, his mind not quite processing it. The Narutos gave him foxy grins and all but one of them disappeared in little puffs of smoke.

…

…Silence…

The four ninja watched him as he stood unmoving for a long moment, then whispered, "Holy shit…" and passed out. Naruto rushed forward, horrified, while Sakura gasped, Sasuke turned back to the garden, and Kakashi looked on with interest and amusement.