DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters affiliated, a drama club, or a gentleman Nazi.
Michelle and Denise sat side by side on the streetcar back to their home. As the buildings flashed by, the two friends tried to sort out what was going on. But first they were silent with their own thoughts.
"What time is it?" Michelle asked suddenly.
Denise turned from the window she was looking out of listlessly, to her friend.
"You're the one with the watch, not me."
Michelle looked down at her right wrist, not at all surprised that they were both back in their normal clothes.
"It's just past 3 o'clock," she said.
"So?" Denise raised her eyebrows.
I had a boyfriend for all of ten minutes, Denise thought bitterly, And I like him. A lot.
"I remember that we first entered the world at about 11am."
Denise's expression didn't waver.
"Remember? I checked the time because we wanted to go back to the greenhouse later."
The green-eyed girl thought for a moment, then nodded.
"We've been out for four hours," Michelle said, gesturing to a newspaper that another streetcar passenger was reading.
Denise looked at the paper carefully, and saw that it was the same date as the day she and Michelle had first entered Konoha.
Huh. It's still Monday, Denise thought.
I don't want to be here...I want out.
Denise flinched, then looked at Michelle. Her friend looked like she was thinking very hard, but after examining her eyes, Denise could see pain.
I don't want to go home. My home is with that box of puppies and Hinata, and...Shino. Shino, what am I going to do now?
Denise blinked, and realized what she was doing.
"Michelle," Denise whispered.
The brown-eyed girl sighed and turned to her friend.
"Yeah?"
"I have my bloodline limit."
Michelle stared at her for a second, then leaned towards her friend.
"What?"
"I'm picking up your thoughts. And look!"
Denise pointed at Michelle's backpack that she was keeping on her lap. The bag rose up a fraction of an inch, then floated back down. Michelle looked from the backpack to Denise, then raised her hand beside her side, where she and Denise could see it, but the other passengers couldn't. Concentrating, she tried to turn it into fire.
"...Nothing," Michelle muttered.
She gets a link back to there and I don't. Great. ...No, I won't be jealous.
"You're lucky," Michelle said softly, smiling at her friend weakly.
"Don't feel bad," Denise said, patting Michelle's arm, "We'll come back tomorrow by eleven and find that greenhouse."
"I can't," Michelle said firmly.
Denise raised an eyebrow just as the streetcar stopped at the station they were getting off at. She followed Michelle to where the subway was as Michelle explained.
"There's no trip or anything tomorrow that I can hide behind," Michelle said.
The girls sat on a bench on the subway platform. As it wasn't rush hour yet, there was no-one else with them.
"We don't even know if it'll work," Michelle added, "How come we were the first on that tree?"
"True...fine, I'll go alone. I've done it before, I'll be fine," Denise said, seeing the look Michelle was giving her.
Denise half-expected an argument, but Michelle merely sighed again and nodded.
"Ok. Well, if it does work, you need to know how to do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. You need these seals..."
Michelle demonstrated, completing each of the seals slowly so that Denise could mimic her. As she did the seals, she waited for Denise to form it as well, then moved on to the next one.
"...and then you activate it like this."
Michelle formed the last seal, wishing that it would work, and Denise did the same, with mutual thoughts. To their shock, a puff of smoke formed, and they came face to face with an exact replica of Michelle, who was staring right back at them.
"How...?" Michelle started.
"Did I just..." the clone began at the same time.
"How come mine didn't work?" Denise asked.
Both Michelle and clone stared at Denise, then the clone disappeared.
"I have no idea," Michelle answered.
She formed the seals again, but this time made the clone look like Denise. Denise formed the seals, but again, nothing happened.
"See, now you can skip school," Denise said, gesturing to the clone before Michelle made it disappear.
"No," Michelle said, shaking her head, "Clones disappear if they get too far from their maker."
"Right, right," Denise nodded, remembering what Kakashi had said to his team when first fighting against Zabuza.
"I'll make a clone for you when you skip school," Michelle said.
Denise nodded her thanks, and again caught Michelle's thoughts.
But why these specific techniques?
Ok, when did you last use the bunshin technique? Denise asked in Michelle's head.
...We were falling down from our balcony, Michelle answered, I wanted to use clones as a ladder, like how Naruto did in the movie. Only...I freaked. I couldn't remember how to activate it. ...and you were using your bloodline limit while we were falling, too.
So...when we fall off a balcony, we come back to our world? Denise thought.
Ok, no offence, but that sounds stupid, Michelle thought, and Denise poked her in the ribs.
Hey, that's all I have to work with, Denise thought.
...Maybe we can't die in that world, Michelle thought, Maybe instead of dying, we come back here. We wouldn't have survived that fall.
The subway train screeched into the station, and the girls rose and got onto the train. Sitting beside each other, they each thought plans for the next day, to make sure that there was still a way back into Konoha.
The next day...
Michelle twiddled her pen in her fingers, not really listening to the other student who was reading out loud. French wasn't that hard of a course for her; she had already read the textbook's story ahead of the volunteer. Also, she wasn't at all interested in studying right now; Denise had left for Chinatown that morning, and Michelle was now wondering how her friend was. In the back of her head, Michelle could sense her clone, made to look like Denise, in a class on the other side of the school. Shifting in her seat, she tried to concentrate, but she still wanted to know if her friend was alright. Finally, the school bell rang; the day was over. Scribbling down the questions that she needed to finish for next class into her planner, Michelle slipped through the crowd and maneuvered to her locker. Denise, to her relief, was calmly waiting for her.
"Hey," Michelle said, smiling to her friend as she opened her locker.
"Yo," Denise said, nodding, "You walking by my house today?"
"Yeah," Michelle answered.
She stuffed a textbook into her backpack and grabbed her coat.
"Is it cold out?" she asked Denise.
"A little," Denise answered, "It's almost November; there's supposed to be snow in a couple days."
Denise's eyes turned from her friend, to something behind her. Following her eyes, Michelle turned and saw their other friend, Corey, approaching his own locker.
"Hey, Corey," Michelle said, pulling her coat on.
"Hey," Corey said, and he and Denise exchanged nods, "You skipped school again? I can understand yesterday, but you must have bought whatever you wanted already."
"Who says I went to Chinatown?" Denise asked, almost innocently.
"You just did, confirming what I thought," Corey answered.
The 16-year-old boy was in Michelle's grade; he lived near Denise. He was actually quite smart, but he wasn't an over-achiever; most of their friends weren't. Taller than both the girls by a few inches, and with unkempt, curly, shoulder-length dark brown hair, the stocky Irish boy could seem quite menacing. And he could be, when he wanted to. However, he was actually a gentleman if you were on his good side. A gentleman and a bit of a hypocritical advisor. For example, right now.
"You shouldn't skip school," Corey scolded.
Both the girls gave him knowing looks.
"I don't skip, I just don't come to school," Corey shrugged.
"Whatever," Denise waved him off, "Are you walking with us?"
"Can't, I have drama club stuff," Corey answered, shaking his head.
"I didn't know you acted," Denise said.
"I don't."
"Then what do you do?"
"Back-stage person," Michelle answered for him, "He helped out last year too."
"Why aren't you going?" Corey asked, "You were in the play last year."
"Yeah, but this year doesn't have an ensemble," Michelle answered, giving him a rueful look.
Corey waved as he walked off, and Denise turned to Michelle; the latter pulled her backpack on, and the two girls headed their own way.
(singing) Because of you, I don't stray to far from the sidewalk...(stops singing)
"I couldn't get in," Denise said, very seriously.
The two girls were walking down the street. Shivering from the cold, Michelle pulled her collar up so that half her face was covered...which reminded her of someone else.
"Couldn't get in like the greenhouse was locked," Michelle said, "Or as in-"
"There was no greenhouse," Denise said, "I went exactly to where the alley would have been, and there was just this brick wall. Part of a store. There was nothing there."
Michelle put her hands in her sleeves, trying to keep calm.
I know Denise doesn't get lost, so she can't have gone to the wrong place. There has to be a way back. There has to be, she thought.
"I also went back at 11 o'clock, the same time that we first got into Konoha," Denise continued, "That didn't work either. So now I think that maybe we have to both be there at the same time."
By now, Michelle and Denise had arrived at Denise's apartment. They stood by the doors for a moment; neither were in much of a rush to get home.
"How about on Saturday?" Michelle asked, "I need to go grocery shopping that day anyway; my cousin's sleeping over at my house for the long weekend."
"Ok," Denise nodded, and began walking towards to doors to her building.
"See you," Michelle waved, and she walked to her bus stop, heading home.
I promise that I will never mangle that song again...
That Saturday, Michelle met Denise at the latter's apartment building, and together they took the TTC to Chinatown. All the way there, they barely spoke; both were fervently hoping that this time they'd be able to get into Naruto's world.
"Here goes," Michelle said softly, as they stepped off of the streetcar.
She gave Denise a half-smile, who returned it, and then they walked straight for where the alley was supposed to be. But the greenhouse wasn't there; just a brick wall, like Denise had said.
"Maybe at 11 o'clock?" Michelle suggested weakly.
Denise nodded, a sad look crossing her face, quickly replaced by a determined one.
We're going to get back, Denise thought firmly into both of their minds.
But the alleyway still didn't appear. The girls hunted down the items on Michelle's shopping list, and went home, defeated. They had no other ideas.
A/N: Don't flame me! It's not my fault they don't know how to get back! ...(thinks)...ok, just review!