Chapter 2: ...That It Always Requires A Bit Of Quick Thinking/Lying

Her sudden cry of 'Might Guy' startled both Samantha and the man in question. He quickly lifted himself off of her person before bowing low in apology.

"I am so sorry, miss! Not only have I knocked you over, but I have also misplaced your name. You seem to know me, but I cannot recall you. How very un-youthful of me!"

"Uh," Samantha stared, shocked. Might Guy, the man who considered Kakashi his personal rival, was standing right in front of her, but all Samantha could think of was that this was some elaborate scheme to fool both her and Victoria. With a quick glance at Victoria, Samantha could see that her friend was just as confused and perhaps terrified for her sake. Clearing her throat, Samantha glanced back at the man in front of her, briefly noting his "student" standing just behind him, staring unabashedly between the two of them. "I can't say I'm surprised you don't know me… I mean… we've never met before." She studied the man a little closer, "but it really is crazy how well you pull off that outfit! Seriously. I kinda want a picture…" She'd mumbled the last part.

"Where are we?" Victoria blurted abruptly. The fact they had found someone that spoke English was super hopeful - granted, the amount of detail in the cosplay was probably indicative that this dude was on the side of the serial killer. Victoria shared a worried look with Samantha and then instinctively scooted behind her friend. To her mind, Sam's purple belt in kenpo was probably the most useful thing they had just then. "We're kind of lost."

"Two ladies, lost! We can't have that, now can we, Lee?"

"No sensei!" The younger of the two replied, enthusiastically. Rock Lee was a surreal presence. He was simultaneously the scrawniest thirteen-year-old Victoria had ever seen, but also the one with the most...raw physical presence. Like, he looked like he was made of pixie sticks, but somehow you could totally tell that he could probably pick up and literally throw a cow. Top that all off with a bowl-cut and… Well, it was just too weird. Tori was sorta staring, but it was just because she could not quite reconcile the impression with the appearance. Maybe she had hit her head when they got dropped on the mountain…

"How did two youthful young ladies end up lost in the lustrous town of Konoha? Being an elite Jounin, I will take it upon myself to help the two of you get to your destination!"

"Eheheh," Samantha responded. She couldn't really decide if the man was being serious or if he was hired to impersonate Might Guy down to the man's core essence of his love for youthfulness. In any case, he had offered both of them the safety of an escort, and while a part of Samantha wondered if this man and his lackey were a psychopath bound to kidnap them inside of their kidnapping (or they're the ones who did the drug induced kidnapping in the first place,) another part of her wanted to accept his help. After all, being totally lost in a strange place was kind of frightening. Though, getting to see a live action of one of her favorite anime's was kind of a cool concept. Unfortunately, Samantha had no idea how to respond to the man's question. She silently pleaded that Tori would get the hint and come up with an idea, and fast. After all, they couldn't keep their company waiting.

"Oh, well, we were traveling," Victoria offered quickly. Her many years of writing adventurous stories helped her quickly build the lie. Samantha's eager "Mmhm!" prompted her to continue. "Nearby. And, well, we had some trouble and we had our map stolen. And then..lost our luggage. Over a cliff, ya know. Rough trip. Anyways, we're just trying to get in contact with our families. I don't suppose you gentlemen could help us?" For extra innocent points, Victoria whipped out a worried but hopeful expression...it wasn't too far off the terrified but desperate feeling that she really wanted to express.

At the end of Victoria's explanation, Rock Lee (or the kid doing a marvelous job at cosplaying,) staying so well in tune with his character, had tears streaming down his face.

"We must help them find their families, Sensei!"

"You're right, Lee! We must!" Might Guy walked forward and placed a comforting hand on the two friends' shoulders, "Don't worry, you two. We will help you-!" At this point in time, Samantha's stomach gurgled once again, signifying to all that she still needed some food in her belly. Samantha's eyes widened in embarrassment.

"Uh," She stated oh so eloquently once again, "Sorry! It's been a while since we last ate…" She laughed nervously as the man impersonating Might Guy and his student, Rock Lee, both had a gleam in their eyes.

"Well, Lee, I think you know what we must do next!"

"Right!" Rock Lee emphasized with a short fist pump, "We must not let them go hungry!"

"But," Samantha interjected, "We don't have any money. It was stolen." After all, if they were in a place pretending to be Konoha, it was most likely that they didn't take normal cash. Samantha wouldn't be surprised if the coins and bills they carried had the faces of the Hokages on each one.

"Such a tragic tale!" Rock Lee gushed, as Might Guy said,

"Do not worry! We cannot make two youthful, spirited ladies starve."

The two green-spandexed menfolk began to boldly stride forward, loudly narrating the history of the town and its sights. Victoria groaned, but forced her poor, aching feet to start to jog along with their insanely healthy pace. Samantha, a much faster walker, did not seem to struggle the same, but they both naturally fell into step just behind the crazos. The village began to more properly converge: neat houses and tidy yards replacing the farms. There were people too: kids, adults, grannies… way too many to be a prank. The costume budget alone.. Something is really not right here, Victoria fretted. Either they are all drinking the special kool-aide or I am. "It's - it's a cult," she panted softly to Sam. "A Naurato-cult. We finally found your people, Sam. Can we go home now?"

"Hey! I would never join a cult," Samantha whispered her affronted pout, "But you have to admit, this is pretty cool, even if a little intense! I mean… at least in the sense that something this elaborate is pretty cool to be able to see in person. Just look at the houses! Let alone the Hokage Mountain," Samantha looked pointedly towards the mountain, the faces still very close to their view, if not slightly hidden by the houses and shops they were passing by. Her hazel eyes sparkled, fangirling at the awesome houses and culture, even if it scared her. To have people be so crazy to form an actual city… Samantha loved anime, and even collected action figures and sometimes cosplayed at Comic-Con but… she'd never delude herself into thinking she was actually a ninja. Not like these people seem to have done. Point in fact, the two in front of them, leading them to get some food.

"Well...I suppose this could all just be in our heads," Victoria offered after a second. "Maybe it wasn't a magic marble you found in my yard, but a magic mushroom. This is some kind of hallucinogenic contact high and we have to try to just ride it out until we get sober. Maybe we are just in my living room right now stoned out of our minds?"

"That's the least likely possibility that I have ever heard. There'd be no way that we'd be hallucinating the exact same thing. Especially since you can hardly remember any of the characters!" Samantha giggled softly in response, "Magic mushroom… that marble was way too solid to have been something like that. I can prove it!" She pulled out the marble from her pocket, "See?"

"Maybe we managed to get the tv on… Guh. You're being too logically illogical," Victoria declared petulantly. "You probably want the real answer to this to be that we are in some crazy alternate dimension." She gasped suddenly, "That's it! You want this to be a different dimension so that you don't have to pay bills or clean your room!" She pointed an accusatory finger. "I see right through you, Samantha Winter! I finally figure out the real reason the world's upside down but you just want to keep it on its head." She scowled, but not with any kind of anger. They were the kind of friends that teased but very rarely actually fought. Their friendship was way too important to be mean to each other.

"Hah! My room is clean, thank you very much." Samantha pronounced smugly, "besides, your point doesn't make any sense. Even if we had Naruto playing in the background, we still wouldn't be dreaming the exact same thing." She gestured grandly at their surroundings as she spoke, "Besides… it would be kinda cool if this were real… don'tcha think? I mean… think about it! Real ninja's! Jutsu! How freaking awesome would it be to see a rasengan? Or even a rasenshuriken?" Though the idea was fascinating to her, Samantha still pouted at the end, "But it probably isn't… I think your theory earlier of being drugged and kidnapped is the most likely thing to have happened."

For a moment, the true terror of that idea showed on Victoria's round face. "That's the one I least want it to be," she said weakly. Rather pathetically she leaned her cheek on Sam's shoulder, even if it was awkward as they scurried after the ninjas. "Sam..I don't see how there can be any kind of happy ending for whatever the heck is happening, but I think I'll go totally crazy if I let myself think that some psycho is using us for his own twisted version of "The Most Dangerous Game." So..I'm gonna stick with the mushroom theory, okay? Even if Jesus would be super sad at me for accidentally doing drugs.."

"I think Jesus would forgive you for this. Considering we didn't even mean for it to happen." Samantha placed a finger on her chin, racking her brain for any other possibilities. There was one thing that she could think of that would either prove or disprove their theory.

"Uh, excuse me!" Samantha called out to their escorts. Both turned swiftly towards them, Might Guy sporting a dazzling smile and Rock Lee with determination gleaming in his own smile. "You're ninjas, right?" Sam asked.

"Why yes, dear lady, that we are!" Might Guy declared as Rock Lee nodded emphatically his agreement.

"So, we've never had the chance to see real ninja do their thing..like walking up walls and stuff. Could you show us?" To Samantha, this was the perfect way to know whether or not the men in front of them were telling the truth or not. As of yet, they'd seen no other ninja, and even if there were other ninja in the area, they were most likely the Anbu Black Ops, so they were unlikely to see them anyway.

Victoria tugged sharply at Samantha's elbow. "Dude! Don't go poking holes in their worldview," she hissed. "If they can't do it, the game's over and they lock us up and you'll never get your food. Think of the ramen, Sam!"

Samantha glanced at her friend with a furrowed brow before Tori's response made her wonder if she were right. Would they really lock them up before they got the food? "How do we know that's where they're leading us to in the first place? What if they're just using that as a disguise for locking us up!"

Sending a pointed look back to the ninjas, Victoria pursed her lips tightly closed, reminding Sam that while the men had been distracted earlier they weren't exactly deaf now. She then did her best to laugh off what they might have heard Sam say. "Sorry. She's got a weird sense of humor. You both are being so awesome to help us. You don't have to show off any ninja skills. It's totally cool."

Samantha lightly jabbed Tori's shoulder, huffing with a pout. However, the men in front of them had been distracted enough that Rock Lee looked positively enthralled with the idea.

"There is no way that we could not follow through on a lady's request! Right, Guy Sensei!"

"Right, Rock Lee! Such youthful desires should never be ignored." Might Guy, ever the kind sensei, nodded to his student to impart his permission. The scarecrow-like boy excitedly pumped his legs up and down like a sprinter preparing for a one hundred yard dash. He then flexed, amping up the drama of the moment before running straight towards the plaster-coated wall of a storefront. The two women's eyes went wide as he not only made the first two or three steps up - any decent parkourer could do that - but then, impossibly, he kept going...and going. Within a minute the kid was cheekily waving down from the roof of the two-story building.

Samantha stared up at Rock Lee in awe, her heart flipping at the sight. "There's two possibilities here," She whispered to Victoria, "Either, he's got a harness on and climbed the wall that way, or… That was legit."

"...I'm definitely high," Victoria lamented. "Dang it. I knew I should have mowed my yard more often."

Might Guy, watching on at their awed looks, laughed heartily. "That's the spirit, Lee!" He turned towards the two girls, animatedly giving them a thumbs up with a smile Samantha was sure he meant to be a killer heartthrob. Don't get her wrong, Might Guy was definitely an attractive man, but if she were to be honest… Samantha would be far more attracted to Minato Namikaze. The character had most certainly been drawn to be a good looking character. On top of his personality… it was too bad they'd never get to meet the guy. After all, they had been placed in a town where the actor who played Might Guy was grown up. Which meant that, if it followed the timeline of the series, Minato was already passed away and wouldn't appear. It was too bad. Then again, if this were all a trick, probably best that Samantha didn't meet a guy she was totally attracted to. He could be a serial killer for all she knew. Except… the evidence both she and Victoria had seen just then nearly made Samantha want to believe that what they were seeing was real. Albeit scary to know that they had no way of contacting their families ever again.

Victoria, dazed, but determined now to accept this strange world as, at least temporarily real, blinked around at the village and the strange man who, for all she could tell, was somehow an actual ninja. If teenagers could sprint up walls, then this guy in front of her knew twelve dozen ways to kill her. Somewhere out there were giant toads and men that could dissolve into thousands of bugs. It was a crazy, hallucinogenic dream, but somehow it was actually being consistent. Which meant, as long as she followed the rules, there was a chance of them being okay. There's not a serial killer! Pure relief poured through her and left her stomach-clenching anxiety weightless and adrift in its wake.

But the floaty haze of her acceptance did not block out the sudden hardening of Might Guy's dark eyes as Samantha unconsciously turned her head. When Samantha got to thinking, she almost always adopted the same pose: thumbs tucked in her pants pockets and gaze focusing out over her right shoulder. It was a rather heroic pose, but the problem was, when Sam did that now, it placed her super cool hat as the main item in Might Guy's sight. Victoria's anxiety came thundering back only too quickly: she and Sam were far from safe yet, especially based on that look! Danger seemed to shriek from his jaw line and even Benedict Cumberbatch's cheekbones had never managed to look so threatening. Something he had noticed had made this "Mike Guy" angry.

Leaning around, Tori realized suddenly just which hat her friend was wearing: a very cool, but wholly inappropriate for their cover story, black cap with the iconic metal Hidden Leaf headband.

"Oh!" she gasped. "S-Sam!" Her sudden grip on Samantha's elbow disrupted the other woman's daydreams about Minato. "You should tell Mike Guy about your hat! Cuz - cuz you got it from someone, right? Like- like a friend? Or something?"

"Huh?" Samantha said ever so gracefully, "What're you…?" Realization dawned on her face when she fully understood the predicament they were in, "Uuuh, right! It was given to me. As a, uh… momento! From a friend!"

Might Guy looked at her skeptically, "And who is this friend of yours?"

"You wouldn't know him!" Samantha quickly said, racking her brain for who in the world that friend could be. Might Guy tilted his head, still disbelieving.

"What's his name? I'm sure I would know any ninja who comes from Konoha!"

"Er," Samantha responded awkwardly Crap, crap, crap! Think! What's a name in Naruto that could be believable! Oh! Eyes twinkling, Samantha couldn't help the smile that creeped upon her face, "His name is Tobi!" She announced matter of fact. If only to assure the confidence she felt. Might Guy furrowed his brow, taking notice of Rock Lee who had jumped from his position on the roof to stand, precisely next to him. As if the parkour move needed no jump-and-roll to assume a safe landing.

"I don't know this Tobi." Might Guy replied with a frown.

"He was a friend that I knew quite a while ago," Growing up, Samantha had never been a very good liar. Whenever she had tried, she'd always end up with a tiny smile on her face. Usually in the midst of her lying. So it was in her favor that she'd been smiling at the announcement!

Might Guy still looked unconvinced, but couldn't question Samantha further. She chalked it up to the fact that he couldn't dispute her claim. After all, people went by many pseudonyms when on the road. The man could've been someone who had even stolen a Konoha headband. In any case, Samantha just smiled cheekily as if nothing was wrong. She was good enough at keeping her head even in the craziness that somehow her calm came across as honesty. It was just one of the reasons Tori accused her of being much too main-character some days. She proudly lived up to her Gryffindor status.

Silence had settled uncomfortably between the three of them, and Rock Lee's slow blinking was rather fascinating to watch as he and Might Guy sized up Samantha and her lying face. Lee had ridiculously long lower lashes, after all. A passing dog barked at the lot of them for their standing in the middle of the road. Victoria shifted her weight from one aching foot to the other, grimacing from the pain left by their unanticipated several mile hike. "Ma-maybe we could sit down for a bit?" Victoria asked weakly. "I'm sorry, but it's been a really, really long day for us.."

"That sounds like a great idea!" Samantha agreed, enthusiastically. Another growl rumbled through her stomach and Samantha marched forward towards the shinobi with a fist in the air. "On to the ramen!"

They soon found themselves sitting in the little ramen shop known as Ichiraku Ramen. Samantha was beside herself with excitement. Being able to sit in the ramen shop that Naruto so enthusiastically boasted about was a marvel no one could say they'd get the privilege of experiencing. Until today. Samantha gleefully looked over the tiny menu, ignoring the hussle and bussle going on behind them. The shop was set up nearly identical to the anime, though Samantha could see the tiny differences between the anime and reality. Considering the fact that this was real life and that was just drawings, it made sense.

In any case, Samantha paused to glance over at her friend, hoping her glance was somewhat reassuring. After all, Samantha knew that she, herself, could endure any circumstance they were put through, but they hadn't had a chance to really talk about their current situation. Taking a sidelong glance to her left, where Might Guy and Rock Lee both sat (they had been training, perhaps they always ate after training? Either that or Rock Lee was just curious about them) Samantha studied the man who was considered the Green Beast of Konoha. His impersonation was flawless. Whoever hired him (and Rock Lee, too) did their research. Noticing the older man with equally large eyebrows look at her, Samantha quickly turned her gaze towards her menu.

Victoria sighed softly and discreetly nudged the backs of her shoes off to give her aching arches a little relief without risking the possible foot stink of full shoe removal. She had asked Samantha to order for her; the menu was written in Japanese despite everyone around them speaking perfect English. Yet another inexplicable oddity that she was worried even accidental drug use wouldn't explain away. Tori had the very uncomfortable feeling that somehow or other, this was reality. It certainly wasn't a dream. The past hour had really battered her mental state back and forth, and she finally had a chance to sit and think through it all. Closing her eyes against the sight of the squiggly menu, Victoria mentally whispered a tiny prayer for strength, safety, and calm thoughts. Heaven at least would know what the heck was going on. And then she blessed the food. Just in case.

By the time the bowl of steaming hot ramen was in her belly, Victoria was feeling the comfort and assurance she had prayed for. It didn't matter how or why all this was happening: she just needed to be herself and be true to her morals. Everything else was gonna be okay. A small smile found its way back home and Victoria shared it with the blissful Samantha. "Was it as good as you hoped?" She teased.

"Oh dude," Samantha commented, happily slurping the last bit of noodle, "this really was just as good as Na- uh, as he said it was." Another sidelong glance at Might Guy had Samantha hoping the man didn't hear her near slip up. After all, why would she know who the heck Naruto was? "What about you? Did you enjoy your ramen? The miso is delicious, right?" She wiggled her eyebrows at Victoria, happy to see the semi-contented look. Food really did bring miracles. A well-fed Samantha could at least acknowledge that her hangry self was a sight to behold. Her feet kicked back and forth as they sat, unable to keep herself completely still, not unaware of the shinobi listening in on their conversation.

"It was pretty darn good," Victoria agreed. "Does it measure up to two years ago? When you...went on your trip to Mt. Fuji?" Tori wasn't sure how much geography matched up so avoiding real world city names like Tokyo sounded smart.

As Samantha discussed the difference between real-Tokyo ramen and dreamworld-Konoha ramen, there was a small, rippling change to the air about them and the bustling market side just at their backs seemed to suddenly gain twice the volume. The sound of teenage voices cut sharply over the hubbub and suddenly the cloth drape directly behind Samantha was tossed violently up. "Hey, old man Teuchi!" called a young but surprisingly husky voice, "You gotta move this line out here! I'm starving!" The two women spun about on their chairs and there HE was.

Naruto Uzumaki. It was immediately apparent to Samantha that this was Naruto from the earliest years of the anime. He didn't even have his headband yet! He was surprisingly short but built rock tough. His yellowy hair bristled up around his square features like a startled hedgehog. The distinctive slashes across his cheeks were more like birthmarks or connected freckles than the tattoo-like look one might have expected. His huge, bright blue eyes were commanding and practically burning with passion and the desire to succeed. He also was way too thin for his muscles - like he never quite got enough of the right things to eat. And he had bruises on him: some fresh and others a week into healing.

Victoria's first and most primal instinct was to hug the little bugger and ruffle his ridiculously messy hair. He looked so, so much like her little brother. "Oh, wow," she breathed. But little brothers shouldn't be bruised up and look like they had the weight of the world on their tiny, orange shoulders. She wanted to just wrap him up and take him home to where he could be a normal little kid. But..normal little kids weren't sorta possessed by powerful rage-driven demons. She had to remind herself of that and the fact that this wasn't real.

The moment that she first heard him speak, all Samantha could think was "Naruto!" in that whole "holy crap it's my favorite character!" kinda way. Her heart skipped a beat and the instant he finished his complaint towards the ramen guy, Samantha turned to view the iconic character that had changed people lives just for his perseverance and determination. Even his voice, amazingly, sounded similar to the English voice actor, though how that was possible, Samantha would never know.

Naruto, in all his grandeur from the anime, was perhaps thinner than the author, Kishimoto, had initially hinted at. Though some bruises forming on the boy's body were fresh, other's looked to be about a week old or so and wasn't he supposed to have regenerative abilities? Naruto's pout was almost comical as he stared at the busy ramen stand. All the while, Samantha's eyes sparkled with famous fangirling, unable to stop her fists from clenching from excitement. There was so much she wanted to ask! Even if Nagato had suddenly stormed the ramen shop, she still probably couldn't have wiped the infatuated smile off her face. Her fists were clenched so tightly that if she didn't bite her nails, she'd more than likely have drawn blood.

The young man's whole face furrowed into a frown as he spotted the empty bowls over Sam and Tori's shoulder. He turned his accusing glare on the blue-haired girl. "Yo! Are you done? Cuz some of us are really hungry out here, you know!" His small fists planted on his hips in an almost challenging way.

Samantha's eyes widened slightly and her smile fell as she turned to look at her bowl that was officially empty. Realizing that she and Victoria had both finished eating and thus had no excuse to be taking up seats, Samantha sent her friend a helpless look before turning back to the indignant blonde boy in front of them.

"Uh, sorry-"

"Naruto!" another man called out. Samantha's head snapped to her right, having forgotten that there was a fifth person eating ramen at the ramen stand as well. This voice was likewise unmistakable! "Where are your manners?"

A war between self-righteous anger and grudging respect battled on the boy's features for a moment, but respect for his sensei won. Sagging his shoulders, Naruto grumbled, "Sorry, Iruka-Sensei!" His eyes narrowed a little at Samantha as he pointedly complained, "but if people are done, they should leave so others can eat. There's ramen right there! It's such a waste to not be eating it!" His little stomach growled definitely loud enough to have competed with Samantha's stomach's earlier complaints.

Despite the situation calling for her to feel affronted, Samantha couldn't help the amused smile forming. The relationship between the teacher and his student really was like a brother relationship. She bit her lip, looking back and forth between the two, before Might Guy interrupted their arguing.

"Ah, the refreshing honesty of youth! It would be most uncouth of us to linger any longer, ladies. Let us make our leave. Teuchi-San, thank you for a most refreshing and excellent repast! Young Lee, let us introduce our unfortunate travelers to Lord Hokage! He surely shall know how to care for our friends!"

The two women jumped down from their stools to follow Might Guy. (Although in Victoria's case it was more of a staggering, wincing limp. Even her toenails hurt at this point.) Grabbing Samantha's arm, she used her grip as much to get up to pace as to pull Sam in close for another quick whisper conference. "Oh my glory, how the heck did you not just fall at Naruto's feet and sing praises, girl?" she teased. "Dude! Nice recovery.."

"Are you kidding? It was all I could do to not squeal. You've got no idea how hard that was…!" Samantha squealed quietly, reserving her blatant excitement only for Victoria. Rock Lee sauntered backwards to the two whispering girls, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Victoria laughed breathlessly. "I'm very proud," she assured. "And still so weirded out, but I'm just rolling with it now. Do you think we'll meet everyone then? Like, little Sakura and everything? And Hokage - that'll be the guy with the mushroom hat, right?"

"The mushroom hat?" Samantha smirked, "well yes, all the kage's have one of those." She contemplated the prior question, "I don't know if we'll get to meet everyone. I mean… what are the chances? But wouldn't that be cool! Oh man…" Samantha suddenly whipped her body to face Victoria's, despite their continuous walk behind the two shinobi, "What if we got to meet Minato! Wouldn't that be so friggin' cool? Except… No I guess that wouldn't happen… we're not in that era…" Samantha pouted briefly, "But…" she wiggled her eyebrows at Victoria with a knowing look gleaming in her eye.

Victoria gave her a very flat look. "He's married," she responded instantly. It was the very firm and distinct rule to Victoria where crushes were concerned: once there was a ring, no more wistful sighs. But, she totally knew that her friend was no homewrecker and so she stuck her tongue out at Samantha to soften the sharpness of the reply. "No Minato for you."

Samantha rose an eyebrow, "Yeah, but he's hot!" She replied, her mirth sharing her obvious 'I can still look' worldview. "Besides, that's not even what I was meaning. Because… you know. He's here." To further explain her point, Samantha used her hands to indicate the gravity-defying hairdo the man sported. "Eh? Eh?" She smiled knowingly.

It took a second to decipher the hand gestures, but then Victoria's blue eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh! You mean not-quite-so-pervy-sage?" she said brightly. Once, she had attempted, rather poorly, to identify Kakashi-sensei and the awkward nickname had stuck. Victoria was bad at names in any language, though, so it wasn't too weird for her to give weird nicknames. Like when Roy Mustang had been called "Fire Guy" for about the first twelve episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist. She gave a rather girlish giggle. "That'd be cool...not that I'd manage to say anything coherent or funny if he's even half as hot in real life."

"Heck yeah you could!" Samantha exclaimed, jovially, perhaps a little louder than she intended. She nudged Victoria's shoulder as she straightened herself out, "And did you notice? The menus and everything were all in Japanese?" The gushing that oozed from Samantha's voice could not be held back, "I could totally learn the language! Or… at least, learn what all the words mean. 'Cause obviously they're speaking English… I don't know if they even know they are. Oh!" She looked at Victoria once again, eyes sparkling in wonder, "What if they're actually hearing us in Japanese? How weird would that be!"

Rock Lee, having been listening in on their conversation (wasn't he ever the chivalrous guy?) took that moment to chime in, "Of course you're speaking Japanese! What other language is there?"

"Uh, well, I… Japanese, huh?" Samantha sputtered, not sure how to explain what she'd said. She wondered how suspicious that made them? Hopefully the kid wouldn't go and spew off his thoughts to Might Guy. The man may talk flowery, but he wasn't a doofus. He definitely had perceptive powers.

"Star Trek's universal translators," Victoria murmured quietly, finding an explanation in the extensive library of her brain. "We hear our language and they hear theirs, but the written text remains the same." She absently played with the curling tail of her half-demolished bun, turning it into a regular old ponytail with another tug. "Afraid that won't actually help you much, Sam-Sam."

"Or it's the gift of tongues from the bible!" Samantha mused quietly back. Straightening out her otaku hat, the light blue haired woman looked back at Rock Lee, "Sorry!" She said louder, "We just have this code that we write in so often, I forget that Japanese is a thing." She laughed nervously and shrugged. Victoria mentally applauded Sam's quick thinking.

Rock Lee's eyes lit up wider than the two women had seen previously, shining in wonder. "That is so youthful! I would love to see this code that you write in!"

Victoria gave him a weird look. "Youthful?" she repeated. "We're almost old enough to be your mom…" She tilted her head a little, this time she was the one dealing the genin a suspicious look. "Are you related to the Mike Guy, too or something?"

"Uh, no it's Might! Like, I might do something. Might!" Samantha snorted at Victoria's mispronunciation.

Rock Lee looked confused for a second before he stated proudly, "Guy-Sensei is the best sensei in the world! We aren't related, but don't discount that the bond between a student and teacher can be stronger than the blood-ties of family!"

"I wouldn't doubt it," Samantha agreed, walking with her hands clasped behind her back.

"I guess so," Victoria agreed belatedly. "How long has he been your teacher, ..Rock Lee?" She shot Sam a little glance to double check that she hadn't butchered that name too. Samantha nodded her head in the affirmative.

"Guy-Sensei has been my teacher for one whole year! He's the most amazing sensei ever!" The boy could have ranted for much longer had not Might Guy intervened.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have arrived."

"Arrived?" Samantha repeated, blinking up at the Green Beast before looking past him. Without realizing, they had walked the entire way to the Hokage's office. Either they'd travelled in time, or the girls' musings distracted them long enough to make it the whole way, aching feet and all. Leaning each to one side of the bulky jounin, Samantha and Victoria stared up at the distinctive round, red building.

Beneath the yellow rooftops, a surprisingly large number of people swarmed about, standing in groups talking or rushing about on important ninja business. Samantha's wide eyes were taking in everyone and Victoria could tell each time Sam spotted a character she recognized because her arms would pump into matching fists. As they made their way to the impressive doors across the courtyard, it became obvious why there were so many people there. Every third conversation they walked past mentioned something about the Academy's upcoming graduation. "It'll be good to get a new crop of genin," a huge man with bristling white hair remarked gruffly. "I've been teamless since the snows melted."

A fierce female ninja nodded curtly in agreement. "Let's hope they have a few this year that are at least able to tie their sandals on by themselves…" She folded her arms and scowled at the world in general. "Last year was slim pickings. Except for that Hyuuga boy."

Samantha winced, glancing at Rock Lee as they walked into the magnificent building, praying the young, impressionable boy wouldn't be affected by the terrible musings of his fellow Konoha shinobi. No one deserved to be told they couldn't become their best selves. No one should be told they weren't good enough. The idea of it angered Samantha, and a part of her wanted to shout at the arrogant shinobi who would dare say something so awful about someone trying to become better. She huffed angrily, frustrated that she couldn't find the right way to tell the lady off.

"Don't worry, Rock Lee!" Samantha reassured, as it became apparent that the boy had heard the chatter by the slight hunching of his shoulders, "That woman doesn't know what she's talking about. I'm sure you're amazing! After all, you did climb a wall to the roof. Which is freaking awesome." Rock Lee looked up at Samantha, his previous dark thoughts washing away immediately.

"Of course! If you had said otherwise, then I would have run one hundred laps around the village!"

"Oh, that wouldn't have been necessary," Samantha smiled uneasily. It would have been bizzare to see the boy exhausting himself just because of something she'd said.

"Right this way," Might Guy chose that time to interrupt. Samantha swore that he did that on purpose. Every time. He chose just the right time to intervene the conversation. The Green Beast motioned for Samantha and Victoria to walk up a flight of stairs, several flights, to the top level of the building. As much as Samantha enjoyed working out (which really was only when she was practicing her awesome kenpo moves!) walking up that many flights of stairs seemed far too exhausting. There had to be at least four flights! There can't have been this many in the anime. Unfair! She thought. She glanced at Victoria, nearly bursting out in laughter at her friend's face. As much as she didn't like the idea, she knew just how much her friend hated the idea.

A very, very long suffering sigh spilled over Victoria's downturned lips. There might have even been little, shiny tears in her eyes. "They're trying to kill me," she muttered under her breath. "I'm not gonna even make it to the Hokage. I'm gonna die on these steps. There's just no way." A soft whine, like that of a kicked puppy dog, sounded at the back of Tori's throat. But with the life-long knowledge that she was not the type of girl to get offered piggy-back rides, Tori staggered onwards and upwards with all the mighty might of her long dead ancestors cheering her on against the worst trial she'd faced all day.

By the time they made it to the top level, both Samantha and Victoria had sweat falling down their faces. Samantha didn't even dare smell her armpits. Without the use of deodorant, she smelled. Wiping her forehead and hoping no one else could smell her (as long as no one from the Inuzuka clan were around, she'd be fine, right? Right?), Samantha glanced at Victoria, feeling glad she wasn't the only one huffing from the four flights.

"The Hokage will see you, now," said a woman who seemed to be the secretary as she was sitting behind a wooden desk. Surprisingly, the room they walked into was rather large, with many windows that brought in the natural light. The wooden theme never gave the impression of 'oh geez, we're back in the seventies' vibe. Hallelujah! Samantha couldn't help but wonder how wooden the hokage's office was and if it gave off a cheerful vibe as well.

The moment they entered the room, escorted in by Might Guy while Rock Lee followed behind, Samantha was struck by the aura of authority that oozed off of Sarutobi Hiruzen. Samantha stared in awe, coming to a stop way before the intended mark. The man seemed to have a knowing look about him, as if he'd already been made aware of who they were. Sam wouldn't doubt it. She nervously, in all her sweaty glory, looked towards Victoria, wondering if her friend had the same sense of foreboding as she did.

Victoria was still trying to recover her breath from their horrible staircase adventure. She really was so out of shape. But seriously, who lived in buildings that were four floors tall but didn't have elevators? Pressing both her palms hard against her too-soft tummy, Victoria focused on not coughing. She gave the man in front of them a cautious, but obviously worried half-smile. On a normal day, Victoria would have taken this as a chance to give the man a piece of her mind about the treatment of poor Naruto Uzumaki. Right now, however, she didn't really remember that in face of the slight dizziness and two columns of pure fire that had replaced her lower legs. She gave a small, weak wave to the Grand Lord Hokage. What else was she supposed to do?

"Report," The man uttered, his intense gaze drizzling between the two women, even as his response was directed towards Might Guy.

"Lord Hokage, these two strangers entered our village from the north approximately one hour ago. They call themselves Samantha and Victoria. They claim to have lost their traveling gear and map. This one possess a Konoha forehead protector that she says was given to her by a man called Tobi. They have been in the presence of young Rock Lee and myself since passing the boundary." Victoria blinked at the abrupt tone switch. Might Guy was far from what she had assumed was his normal flowery self now that he was speaking to the Hokage. She self-consciously straightened up a little in a vague approximation of the two ninja's parade-rest stance.

Though Victoria seemed about to cry, (Samantha tried to send reassuring glances her way) Samantha immediately pushed her exhaustion to the back of her mind, studying the proceedings going on before them. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. The Third Hokage listened to Might Guy's explanation before he finally turned towards the two friends, and at this, Samantha did straighten her gait, wanting to look less pathetic than she probably seemed. After all, it wasn't every day you got to meet the Third Hokage...and the Seventh Hokage too, for that matter..How weird.

"So, what were you two girls doing by the north part of our village?" Lord Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, as if to say he wasn't a threat, but had the capacity to be.

"Uh, well, you see, we got lost." Samantha laid bare the underlying premise of their whole existence in the supposed Konoha.

"Got lost?" Sarutobi Hiruzen repeated, lifting an eyebrow.

Clearing her throat, Victoria took over. "Yes, sir. We are just trying to get home. It was only by luck that we got high enough up on the cliffs to see your village. We thought we might be able to find some help here. We don't have anything with us. We're at your mercy, really…" It was not hard at all to look pathetic and beseeching. And, what she said was totally honest, even if it didn't give them any real details.

Samantha couldn't agree more. They were most certainly at the mercy of the Third Hokage. She chewed on her lip, suddenly feeling nervous that they'd be kicked out of the village, as ridiculous as that seemed. After all, if they weren't actually in Konoha, and this was all a ruse to make them think they were, then the hokage wouldn't actually kick them out. Yet, she still worried. Sleeping on the ground did not seem ideal. Or comfy. She was all for comfort. Samantha stuffed her hands in her pockets, fiddling with the marble. This was all too surreal.

Victoria half-jumped when Sam shoved her hands in her pockets, expecting that Might Guy was gonna tackle them to the ground again, but the ninjas simply stood in perfect readiness. "But, um, Lord Hokage, we totally understand that you have to keep your village safe," Victoria continued. "So if you need us to leave, we totally understand. But is there any way you can help us contact our families first?" Inwardly, Victoria praised herself for sounding reasonable, logical, and hopefully on the right track to not getting them killed.

Samantha was supremely grateful that Victoria was able to come up with those kinds of questions. In the midst of her shock and excitement, Samantha had completely forgotten to ask for a way to contact them. A part of her, the pessimistic side that wondered if they had been kidnapped, wondered if that would even work. Calling their families. If anything, they'd reach a dial tone or a "I'm sorry, your call could not be completed as dialed" for either scenario. Kidnappers would never let you contact your families, right? Even so, Victoria's head being on straight was enough for Samantha. She nodded in agreement, hoping that they'd at least get the chance to try.

Sarutobi Hiruzen contemplated Victoria's question, his face giving no indication of his answer. "I will allow you to contact your families, yes. However, being that you two have shown up here, unannounced on the outskirts of my village, I cannot have you wandering around by yourselves." He glanced toward Might Guy, "Might Guy, seeing as you were the one to find these two, please be sure that you escort them to where they will be staying. I expect you to be their guard until further notice."

"With all due respect, Lord Hokage," Might Guy began, hesitant, as if he didn't want to bring up what he was about to say, "Because I have my wonderful, youthful students to take care of, I feel it wouldn't be a good idea to have unvetted civilians following the routines of shinobi."

Nervously, Victoria yanked at the end of her ponytail, playing with the maroon-dyed strands. "Lord Hokage, we really don't mean to be any trouble," she promised, helpless to stop the desperation sneaking into her voice. He raised one hand and she abruptly bit back the rest of what she would have said.

"Might Guy, with the current demands upon my time, I cannot spare effort to organize this. Do it or you find your own replacement...or a suitable location to hold them."

The two women shared a worried glance and almost simultaneously gulped. It was pretty clear what that implied! But then a rich, masculine voice sounded from the back of the room.

"I'll do it."

Deleted Scene:

Between staircases, the women had to call a halt and politely ask for a chance to use the bathroom. By that point, Victoria was about to burst with something else as well. "Sam, I've been dying to say something to you for hours but I really didn't want to be overheard."

Sam looked surprised, but gestured for her to go on. "What is it?"

"So..forever ago when I very first watched Naruto I did it without subtitles, right? Well in the English dub, they kinda say Rock Lee weird, and, well, earlier when you corrected me on Might Guy I remembered that when I was first watching, I totally thought that they were saying "Broccoli" instead of "Rock Lee.'" Samantha snorted as Victoria continued one with her spiel, "And like..he's always wearing green, and he's got that hair.. It sorta made sense…"

Samantha paused for nigh a second before she burst out laughing, "You thought!" She laughed again, "You thought his name was Broccoli!" She held a stitch in her side, laughing while mutterings of broccoli left her lips. Samantha wiped a tear that had begun to fall, "Oh that's just too good." She sighed, half giggly, half tearfully. Victoria, man. Victoria.

"Well what kind of name is Rock Lee anyway?" Victoria muttered softly, but she was giggling a little still, too. It had been awfully good to laugh that hard.

A/N: Hiyo, Everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Me and RoyalVicTorie certainly enjoyed writing it xD Ah, the comedic relief, eh? And who could that be at the end? Ooo and Aaah everyone! Prepare to be amazed! xD And please... Like, Favorite, READ and REVIEW! We just love you guys and your thoughts are always welcome. Plus they make us giggle with excitement.

P.s. We don't own any of the rights to any other shows or actor's or people that have been mentioned in the real world. You know which they are.