Yuri-chan and the other kids were found the next morning, all still in the same dazed state. Classes were cancelled again, the fear of whatever was going on with the children spreading to more finally got the Jonin's attention. It was too late though, it seemed everyone but Sora, a few classmates, and I weren't under a spell.

We couldn't track what was happening anymore though, Kurenai had me on lock down and Sora's aunt went "full crazy mother mode," according to him. He wasn't allowed to leave his house either, so we had to resort to a different way to talk to each other. Somehow, Sora got ahold of a messenger pigeon and we used it to write short notes. Unfortunately, there was a reason he was able to catch it. The stupid bird had trouble telling if the window was open or not and flew into it all the time.

"Aurora, I thought we talked about leaving the window open for the bird." Kurenai sighed when the sound of it hitting the window woke up Mirai.

"It is open, it hit the otherside." I explained, putting the dizzy bird into its personal recovery box. "He's ok." Just...stupid. I took the note off its leg and tried to decipher Sora's bad handwriting.

AUNTIE IS CATCHING ON, CAN

BAKA HATO STAY WITH YOU?

I had no idea where to keep it, but what choice did I have. He was all we had.

"Kurenai, can Hato stay with us for a while?" I heard her hum in thought.

"There's an old rabbit cage in the back, I guess you can keep him there for a while, but he can't stay forever." For now, that would have to work. It was better than a shoe box at least.

Nothing new happened for a few weeks, at least from within the house; it was pure torcher not being allowed to leave without an adult with me. Kurenai was too good at catching me trying to sneak out, already having caught me twice. I thought I had the upper hand once when Mirai was fussing. Turns out, she had a clone taking care of her, the real Kurenai was waiting below the window ready to catch me. Since then, she'd set more harmless traps around the house to catch me. I had to figure out a way out, Sora and I needed to see if Yuri was ok and figure out this mystery.

We had tried to send Hato to Yuri-chan, but the bird ended up sitting in a tree all day, making it nearly impossible to get him back. We just got lucky that a crow tried to attack him and he flew back into Sora's place. We would have called her too, but both of us forgot to get her number before classes were disbanded. We were both worried that something bad had happened, and I had this feeling that something really bad was coming.

A thump against the window told me Hato was back, but this time he landed on the outside sil instead of hitting head first. The note he held from Sora was about another escape plan, but it was doomed to fail too. I hadn't figured out how to disable the newest traps she'd set, so there was no escape unless I could get to the front door.

I CAN'T YET, NO WAY OUT

TRAPS ARE TOO GOOD

"Ok, Hato, take this to Sora. SORA." I said his name slowly, holding the pigeon out the window. I let him go, but he didn't fly immediately and nearly hit the ground before catching on he should fly. "Baka…" I watched him land in the grass and sit there. He'd take off eventually.

An hour later, Mirai was crying again and had Kurenai's full attention. She had been up all night with the baby, trying to get her to calm down. I guess babies were sometimes fussy for no reason, but it did give me an idea. Kurenai was too tired to keep track of me at all times today, I just had to wait until Mirai started up again.

I quietly went into the living room, where Mirai was quietly playing with her socks. Kurenai was nowhere to be seen, giving me the chance to make Mirai upset.

"Sorry, Mirai-chan, but I've gotta see if my friend is ok." I told her, brushing her hair back and kissing the top of her head. I took the sock from her, stuffing it under a pillow away from her, making her pout, but she didn't cry; so I took the other sock from her, which made her wail. I hated being mean to her, but she was the perfect distraction.

"Not again…" I heard Kurenai from the kitchen. I let her see me play with a rattle for Mirai before disappearing back into the hall, making sure Mirai had her full attention. Finally, I was able to get to the door and slip out without setting off any alarms.

"Sora!" I called up as quietly as I could. His apartment just had to be on the third floor. I thought as I tossed another pebble at what I hoped was his bedroom window. Finally, the window opened, but it wasn't Sora, it was his younger cousin.

"Who you?" the three year old "whispered" down.

"Em...a friend of Sora's. Is he here?" He disappeared for a second, loudly "whispering" to Sora to that someone was at the window. This time, Sora showed up holding the kid.

"Aurora?"

"I got out, come on! I don't know how long we have before Kurenai catches on." In that time Sora had turned back around to set his cousin down and talk to him, shushing him when he got too loud when he asked him to keep a secret.

"No, you can't come with us. I promise to make it up to you, just don't tell auntie…" Sora said as he slid down the rain spout. "I know where you keep your gameboy!" It was an empty threat, but the three year old took it to heart.

Sora and I didn't make it too far before we were caught. We had been careful to stay in the alleyways, but it got harder to do in the newer part of the village. Not everything was finished and there weren't very many places to hide, exposing us when we passed a pottery shop.

"Hey! You two, where your parents, un?" Sora and I stopped when a blonde woman came after us from the shop. She had a baby swaddled in a holster, tucked into her right arm, but it didn't slow her down one bit.

"We...um…" I faltered, but Sora was quick to cover.

"We're heading home right now!"

"Really? And they were ok with letting you two out on your own?" She raised an eyebrow, seeing through our lie. She sighed, debating on what to do with us. "Come on you two, where are you really going?"

"We're trying to see our friend. She was one of the kids that got...hypnotised or whatever." I explained, not wanting this woman to make a scene.

"I see. And this friend of yours lives where? I'm guessing not anywhere near here, un." She had a strange speech pattern, making me wonder where she was from. "Make you two a deal, I'll go with you and pretend to be your guardian ."

"And in return?" Sora asked, wondering why she wanted to help.

"I need a pair of helpers to set up my shop." She grinned. "And I think I found two willing volunteers. Unless, you just want me to take you home right now." She had us, there was no way out at this point. If we ran, she could obviously catch us and drag us back to her shop to wait until someone came to get us.

"Fine. We accept." Sora make a face, but agreed as well.

"Before we head off, I'm Nina. And you two are…?"

"I'm Aurora and this is Sora." Nina looked at me funny, but quickly smiled again.

"Nice to meet you two. Now then, shall we?"

Sora wasn't happy we had been found out, but it was better having Nina than his auntie or Kurenai. She seemed nice and wasn't adamant about keeping us locked up inside.

"So, why are you helping us?" I finally asked. "Don't you have...well, a baby to care about?"

"I do, but I also can't let two kids wander around without supervision." She tightened her hold on her baby, making him coo softly.

"Is it a girl?" Sora asked, trying to peak at their face from Nina's right side.

"No, he's a boy." She laughed. "Though he is pretty enough to pass as a girl. His name is Hiroshi." Nina stopped and knelt down to us to show us his face. She was right, he was cute and his lashes made him look like a baby girl. His cheeks looked like Mirai's too, squishy and pink. I couldn't help it, wanting to know if he felt the same, and gently poked his cheek. He didn't fuss like Mirai had, instead he kind of smiled.

"So...where's his dad?" Sora asked, sounding unsure if he should ask. Nina hid her eyes with her hair for a minute, upset by the question. "I-I didn't mean to...I'm sorry." Sora quickly backtracked.

"It's ok. You didn't know." Nina gave a heavy sigh, looking back up at us. Her blue eyes looked wet, like she wanted to cry but was holding it back. "He...isn't here anymore. He died protecting this village." I noticed she hadn't said his name, but let it go. It must be hard not having someone you loved never come home. "Anyway, don't you two have a personal mission to go on?" She poked my forehead and then Sora's. Somehow, that felt so familiar but I didn't know why.

Up until we got to the gate, Nina seemed to be on board with us going to Yuri's house, but once it was in view she stopped, taking ahold of my hand and pulling us back.

"I'm sorry...I know I said I would take you, but I can't."

"But you promised…" Sora started, but she cut him off.

"I know, I know. But I can't leave...and without anyone to guide you, you can't either. I assumed they were in the village, not on outside of it."

"We...should have mentioned she lives on a farm." Sora and I felt bad for not telling her that part, but we figured she would have stopped us right at her shop if we said. "But we've come this far! We can't just stop here!"

"Sora, Nina's right. We can't leave without a Jonin guide and none of them are going to help us right now. They're busy doing...stuff." I had no idea what they were doing. Mostly keeping the village running and safe I guess.

"But what about…"

"I think I have the answer to that." Nina interrupted him again. She removed her fingerless glove with her teeth and pulled something out of her pocket. "It's not to be placed anywhere near fire or heat, but this should help you." She opened her hand and a clay dove sat in her palm.

Nina helped us send the clay bird off, making sure it was tied to us so it would return to us, before telling us we had to go back home now.

"I don't want you getting into trouble, un. Come on, it's getting late." She took Sora's hand to guide him away. The sun had long since set, the full moon just peeking over the Hokage monument. "I'm sure your friend will be fine…" As she said that, someone landed in front of us. They were in ANBU gear and didn't feel friendly.

"There you are!" I heard Kurenai as she came around the corner carrying Mirai, Sora's aunt not far behind. Kurenai knelt in front of us, checking us over to make sure we weren't hurt.

"I found them running through the village…" Nina tried, but Sora's auntie gave her a death stare.

"Shut up! You of all people...how dare you take our children!" Sora's aunt was as pleasant as usual. "Do you realize what could have happened?"

"Yes, which is why I followed them. Look, I get wanting you protect them, but locking kids up inside isn't going to solve it, un. I know I should have alerted you about them, I just figured if someone was with them they could get a bit of freedom." Nina didn't back down from her, blaming his aunt for our actions. "No one likes being caged in…"

"I thank you for watching over them and stopping them from leaving the village." Kurenai stood up, making Mirai fuss. "They're a handful...but you kept them safe. What do we…"

"Don't worry, their debt is to help in the shop, that is if it's alright with you, un?" Nina looked toward the baffled woman, who was in disbelief that Kurenai stood up for a stranger. "I can escort them back and forth of it helps."

"Fine." Sora's aunt was short with us. She took Sora's hand and was about to led him away when the ground trembled and the moon became much brighter, like it was daytime.

"What the…" Nina said as Hiroshi started crying, scared of what was going on. Sora looked up into the bright light first, his eyes changing to a weird swirly purple.

"Sora?!" I was pulled away by Nina as tree roots started sprouting from the ground.

"Whatever you do, don't look at the moon." The blonde told me and lead me back towards her shop. I watched as Kurenai and Mirai fell to the same fate as Sora, unable to move from her spot.

On the way there, there was a window that reflected the moon, which was enough to catch both of us in the jutsu. We both stopped, unable to move. I felt a sharp pinch on my leg and was pulled from the spell just long enough to see part of the roots looping itself around me. I looked over to Nina to see her being pulled away by a different root, completely wrapped up like a mummy. I struggled, trying to get out of it as it covered me completely.

"No!" I screamed, trying my hardest to tear it open, but was unable to grab ahold of anything. I knew I had torn my hands up pretty badly, but the pain was starting to fade away. I started to feel really tired and found I really didn't want to fight anymore.

I woke up with a start, flinging my pillow off of my bed. Wait...when did I get into my room? Shouldn't Kurenai have picked me up? No wait, I wasn't at her house. We were in the street...Nina-Chan!

I got up, running out of my room towards the front door, only to be caught around the waist. I cried out, not expecting anyone to be here.

"Easy, it's me." Father said as he set me back down. "Where are you running off to? You couldn't possibly be going out in you pj's." I couldn't believe what I was seeing, there was no way he was home!

"D-dad?" He just tilted his head a bit, not at all deterred I had called him dad. "But…"

"But...you have school today. Come on, go get ready." Something was off about him, but I couldn't tell what. He just seemed...even happier than normal? No...I had to be seeing things.

At school though, I knew something about this place was very wrong. Everyone was acting normal, like nothing had happened in the village. Yuri, Midori and every other kid were fine...at least sort of. Midori was acting nice, Yuri was being cold, the bunny hat girl was talking a lot and Sora...he wasn't pranking anyone. He always did something, even if it was just a paper aeroplane, but today he was quiet. It was a nice change, but it got old fast.

"Aurora, care to demonstrate a shadow clone jutsu? You have yet to pay any attention, you must know it all then." The worst was Dad. He acted like he didn't know me, like I wasn't his daughter and just another student.

"I...sure." Everyone was watching me as I went up front. Iruka-sensei didn't feel warm, instead he felt intimidating in a very bad way. I made the hand signs, making a near perfect clone and surprising him and the class. The only problem with her was her obi was tied to the left, not the right.

"Not bad...now focus, will you?" With that he sent me back to my seat. I wanted to ask Sora if he noticed anything odd too, but that wasn't Sora next to me. I came to the realization that one here was real.

After class, I decided to explore the village and find out what was really going on. Everyone seemed to be back in the village again, but there was something off about each of them. Hinata wasn't shy and sweet anymore and acting more like Ino, while Ino acted like how Hinata should be. They weren't the only ones that were opposite, but they were the most drastic I had found as of yet. I found father and trailed him for a while, finding out he was acting more like Gai-sensei than himself. I stopped following him when I saw someone new, deciding to follow them instead.

He felt familiar, but then again so did dad and father and they were not themselves. Who ever this was, it wasn't really them.

"You've been following me for sometime. Can I help you?" He finally stopped when the streets became a little less crowded, turning to look at me. I couldn't believe it…

"S-Sasuke-nii?" I remembered him, but his face had been a blur anymore, but I recognized his voice.

"Tsk, did you get lost again? Come on." He held his hand out for me to take. "Everything is going to be fine." I almost took his hand, but what he said…

"No...you're not real!" I smacked his hand away and ran past him to get away. I pushed through the crowd, hearing Sasuke call to me but he seemed to give up after a while. I stopped running when I reach the lake in town. I fell into the grass, gripping at it in frustration. I had no idea where I was and no one here was real...what was I going to do?

"Hello there." I tensed up, having no idea who was behind me. "Are you alright?" I didn't recognize his voice, so I didn't look up. I felt the person sit next to me in the grass, but pretended they weren't there. "Are you hurt?"

"No…" I wanted him to leave.

"May I ask why you're near the Uchiha compound? You're allowed of course, but you're the only one here that doesn't seem happy." I finally looked up when he said that. The Uchiha compound was destroyed in the fight with Pain, not only that but no one lived there anymore. So what was this guy talking about?

"That's not…" I stopped when I saw his face. He looked a lot like Sasuke, but his hair was longer and a little lighter and he had deep lines on his face. He wore a strange red and black cloak but had taken it off to put around me, incase I was injured. He looked deep into my eyes, like he was reading my mind to find out who I was.

"Hn, you're Kakashi-senpai's daughter, right? I don't believe we have met, I'm Itachi." No way...now I know for sure I'm not in my world anymore, Itachi was dead. Father had mentioned it in passing to dad, thinking I hadn't heard him, but here he was, talking to me in the grass by the old compound.

"Y-yeah…" I had no idea what to say. "Um...I mean." He just gave me a small smile and leaned back on his hands.

"I'm not in the village a lot, but I have heard about you from Kakashi-senpai. What are you doing out here alone? Shouldn't you be with him?"

"He's acting weird...everyone is." Even if he wasn't real, he was the only one willing to listen. "No one is acting like themselves." Itachi stayed quiet as I explained what was happening.

"I see. You're concerned that everyone is acting different after coming back from a war. I know it may seem that way, but it's possible something happened that made them change." I guess it made sense. "You don't have a concept of what war is like, but it does change a person."

"But, can they change someone so much that they forget you?" He was making sense, except it didn't explain dad. "Dad doesn't know who I am…"

"Kakashi-senpai?"

"No, Iruka." That's when it clicked, in this world, they might not be together. "Unless…"

"I don't know who Iruka-san is, but he sounds important to you. Have you asked why he doesn't seem to know you?" Itachi asked, but seemed to know I hadn't. "Maybe that's your next step. Go find Iruka-san, you can come back to report to me if you want." He teased, which was odd for someone I just met.

I found dad at his old apartment, grading papers alone. He didn't seem too happy to see me when he opened the door, but his face softened a little when he saw how upset I was.

"Aurora-chan, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?" From here I could see his place was a mess, not just from papers from school but there was trash strewn about. Dad was usually a pretty neat person...

"I...do you remember me?" It was so strange to ask, but it's all I had.

"Is this a prank? Cause if it is…" I didn't mean to, I didn't want to, but I started crying. "Aurora...hey, don't cry." He knelt down and put a hand on my shoulder. "I don't know what you mean, but of course I…"rememember" you. You're one of my students. Should I walk you home?" I shook my head, deciding to just leave and not waiting for him to catch on. I used my chakra like father had taught me and ran away as fast as I could.

If father wasn't with dad...then who else lived with us? Or did anyone else live with us? I ran home to find out, thankful that father didn't seem to be home. I know I wasn't allowed, but I went into his room without asking to look around. I snooped around, trying to find clues but came up with nothing. It seemed to be just me and father here.

"I'm home!" I heard him call from down the hall. "Aurora?" Crap! I was going to be caught! There was nowhere to hide, so I let him catch me sitting on his bed. "What are you doing in here?" He didn't sound angry as he sat with me.

"I got scared." I lied. "There something in my room again."

""Uh huh, and running around the village spying on people has nothing to do with it?" Of course he caught me spying on him.

"Maybe…"

"Aurora, what's going on? You can tell me." I wanted to, but he wasn't my father.

"You wouldn't get it." I tried to walk away, but he pulled me into his lap, holding me close to his chest.

"Try me." He was not going to let me go until I gave in, so I told him what I thought was going on, but he gave me a look when I brought up Iruka. "Maa...Iruka and I broke up a long time ago. You were just a baby, but he didn't like my way of teaching, so we decided to just be friends. Is that what's wrong? You want Iruka back in our lives?" He didn't sound happy about it, but he would try if I asked.

"No…" I wanted my real life back, but I couldn't have it.

"I thought you liked Tenzou. Do you not like him?" Wait a second… "Has he said something to you?"

"Tenzou?" He couldn't…

"Well, yes, but you know he prefers you to call him papa. You don't have to..." I felt dizzy again, not liking this at all. Sure, I liked Tenzou just fine, but as a dad?

"I don't feel so good…" I wanted to go home, but this was home. Father kissed my forehead and took me to "my" room, laying me down to sleep.

Once I was sure he wasn't going to come check on me, I crept out of my window and back towards the lake. I hated this world, nothing was right and no one seemed to notice or care! I wasn't watching where I was going and tripped, falling hard into the muddy bank of the lake. I didn't bother to get up, deciding it wasn't worth it and just cried into the mud. I was frustrated, my mind whirling and trying to make sense of everything. If nothing was right here...was I the one that was wrong? What if I was the stranger here and they were all normal?

"You're back." I felt Itachi lift me up, making me sit up out of the mud. "Why are you in the mud?"

"Nothing is right! No one here is supposed to be here or they're all acting like someone else! I don't understand…" I was angry that no one had an answer. "What is going on?!"

Itachi calmly wiped mud off of my face, never one breaking his unreadable stare. "It's unclear what you mean, but it's hurting you that things aren't the way you remember. Can you try to clarify for me, what is wrong with this world?"

"No one is themselves." It wouldn't make sense to him, he was part of this illusion. "You...I never even got to meet you before you died." That one made him break his stoicness and give me a confused look.

"I'm dead?" He touched over his heart. "I do not feel dead. How can I be if I'm right here?"

"I...I don't know! That's the thing...I woke up in this world and nothing's right. I'm supposed to be at Kurenai's with her and Mirai...I…" I left her when I promised to protect her. I messed up, this had to be a punishment. "Genjutsu…" That was it, it had to be.

"Genjutsu?" The Uchiha gave a short laugh. "If you are in a genjutsu, it must be a very powerful one to bring me back. Aurora-san, are you sure that this world is so bad? Your father is here, all of your loved ones are here, why is that so bad?"

"It's not...it's just not my world…" Or was it? I was starting to question it all again.

"Why is that?" Itachi's voice was soothing, making me forget what I was trying to do. "It could be your world. Sasuke's even here, isn't that what you wanted? To bring him back so Naruto would stay too? Now it can be that way."

"I guess so…" I saw the light around us brighten for a second, covering me in a warmth I couldn't resist. "Maybe it isn't so bad." Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was a bad idea to give in, but it melted away with the light.

Maybe this world wasn't so bad after all.

Please R&R

* Hato- means pidgeon or dove