I crossed my legs, my nose buried in a book, as I tried to block out the sounds and noises of the town on the other side of the wall.

I sat in the local library, finding sanctuary in these books, than in any other place that I could imagine.

I wasn't sure, but there is something about reading that had always appealed to me.

Being able to immerse oneself in a world that wasn't their own, the ability to block out all outside distractions in order to focus on what the words were trying to show you, the brief amount of time one had, those small moments when I could just pretend that life wasn't so bad. Where I could share the character's happiness, mourn their losses, savour their victories and revel in their glory… it was like I was in the book… but on the outskirts of it. Involved, but only watching.

I loved it.

It was freedom within pages. Liberty within paper. Expression at its finest, through ink.

I learnt so much through people that never existed.

I sighed as I closed the book, unable to focus on the words in front of me. Unlike with English words, I had to concentrate a bit harder to be able to read the books in Japanese, harder, but not impossible.

I glanced at my watch and saw that it was nearing to three in the afternoon.

'I should go soon.' My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten a thing in about seven hours. My breakfast small and pathetic, now that I remember.

I stood up and stretched, feeling my cramped muscles stretch deliciously.

'I should go look for somewhere to eat.' I thought to myself. 'I have a feeling I won't have much of an appetite when I get back.'

I left the library, hoping that I would get a chance to visit it once again before I left, when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I frowned, seeing the unfamiliar number, but answered the phone. "Hello?"

'Miwa! How's Jap?'

My eyes widened at the familiar voice. "J-Jordyn? What happened to your old number?"

'Some dickhead stole my phone,' I could just imagine her wiping away an imaginary tear. 'I swear, I left it on the ground for one moment!'

"What were you doing? Where were you?" I asked, walking down the road, looking for a place to grab a bit.

'Tay got into a fight again,'

"Jordyn, don't tell me…"

'So naturally, being the cooler, stronger, older cousin that I am, I jumped in.'

"Jordyn…!"

'Hey, trust me when I say that it was a quick fight!'

"It's not about how quick the fight is! It's about you two not getting into them!" I chastised her, shaking my head at her and her twin's antics.

'That's why we need you here!' She whined, 'When are you coming back, anyway? We all miss you'

I felt my heart ache at her words, "Jordyn… I-"

I didn't realise that I had stepped onto the busy road, too busy worrying about my friend, a thousand miles away, to pay attention to what was right in front of me.

Beep! Beep!

"Watch out!"

I felt myself being pulled backwards, stumbling to keep myself upright, when I fell backwards into my saviour.

'Miwa? Miwa?! What's going on, Miwa?!'

My breath came out in rapid pants, my chest beginning to constrict.

"Hey, uh… Miss?"

'Miwa, goddamnit! Answer me!'

I swallowed heavily, forcing myself to take deep breaths, trying to get my heartbeat under control.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I picked up my fallen phone, relieved that I didn't have an iPhone, knowing it would be damaged beyond repair. "Sorry, Jor. I just… I was just distracted."

'Miwa, are you-'

"I'll call you later, aye? Give my love to everyone. Stay out of trouble and all that shit." I mumbled into the phone, before ending the call.

I took another moment to calm myself, fighting off the dizziness that threatened to overtake me.

"Miss? Are you alright?"

I nodded, looking up to see the purest shade of blue eyes that I had ever seen.

The teenager who had saved me, breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good… because Teme would have killed me if anything happened to his little sister."

I blinked in confusion, staring at the teen before me.

He ran a hair through his blonde spikes, offering the other hand to me, helping me up when I accepted his offer.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked, tilting my head to the side, in confusion.

"Name's Naruto." The blonde grinned. "You know, we're all looking for you right now."

"'We'?" I repeated, "Wh-who else?"

"Don't worry, your dad doesn't know that you're out of the house." He winked at me, pulling me behind him in a walk. "Thinks you're with Kaa-san right now."

"No, seriously, who are you?" I pulled my arm away from his grasp. "As far as I know, no one is supposed to know about me."

The blonde smiled a bit sadly, and for the first time, I noticed three strange whisker-like marks on either side of his face. A birthmark?

"I think you've met my Kaa-san, Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina?" Naruto smiled, "Mikoto-oba-san never really kept you a secret from us. She always said, that since she considers Kaa-san as a sister, and me as a second son, who was she to keep you away from her family?"

I blinked, looking up at the blonde. "You… knew Kaa-chan?"

Naruto nodded, "Come on, Kaa-san is worried sick about you! You're lucky Satoru-oji-chan covered for you!"

I stumbled after the loud blonde teenager, not knowing what to say or do.

'Hopefully, there will be food.'

~XXX~

"Miwa-chan!"

Out of nowhere, I was gathered up into soft yet strong arms.

"Where were you? Are you hurt? Do you know how worried we were? We've been running all over Konoha looking for you! Satoru-jii is worried, so it Itachi-kun! He left work early to look for you, you know? Are you hungry? That Fugaku is such an-"

"Kushina-koi, let the girl breathe." A gentle, masculine voice interrupted the red-haired woman's ramblings.

The older male turned his cobalt-blue eyes to me, and smiled. "Welcome Miwa-chan, to our home."

I smiled shyly at Naruto's father, so obvious that they were father and son, from the colour of their hair and their eyes. Naruto seemed to have inherited Kushina's soft features rather than his father's sharp ones.

"H-hello," I mumbled, twisting the hem of my shirt in between my fingers.

"Miwa-chan, this is Minato Namikaze, my husband." Kushina smiled up at the blonde man, a look of love passed between the two. "Of course, you've met my son Naruto."

I nodded, feeling very shy in this house of strangers.

"I… uhm, I'm Miwa," I looked down at my feet.

'What the hell do I do?'

"Come, let's get you settled in, ne?" Kushina took my arm, and led me to the guest room.

When we got to the room, I wasn't surprized to see my things already there. Satoru must've sent them here.

I smiled softly when I saw that Via sat on top of the bed, I picked it up as Kushina left the room.

"You know, Via, I really wish you were real right now." I hugged the toy to my chest. "My friends are so far away… I really need a friend right now."

Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I looked at it and smiled.

It was as if fate was being kind to her for once.

"Hello?"

'MIWA!'

I winced as I held the phone away from my ear. "Taylor?"

'Miwa, how are you? What happened before? Jordyn told me. How many fingers am I holding up? Are you hurt? Did you get hit? Are you in hospital? Are you resting? You're not injured, are you? Are they feeding you well? Are they being nice? Are they treating you well? When are you coming back? Where are you now? What have you eaten? Is this even Miwa? What's my favourite anime? Why is it my favourite? Who is Jordyn? How did we all meet? Miwa, is this you? Miwa! WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME?!'

"Good. Nothing. Yeah? Can't see you. No. No. No. Kind of. No. Yes. So-so. Kind of. Soon. Aunt's place. Nothing much. Yes. Clannad. Because, and I quote you, 'It's so heart-breaking-ly beautiful and it's full of beautiful scenes that tug at one's heart-strings. She's our friend, your cousin. At church. Yes. How can I when you won't even stop to breathe, Asswipe?"

'Sorry, mate.' I could just hear the smile in her voice. 'At least we know that you're fine. You're the same as ever.'

"Yeah, but…" I sighed as I flopped onto my bed. "It's weird though…"

'What's weird?'

"Like… I act differently here, than I do there, you know?" I ran a hand through my hair. "You know how I'm never quiet, and I don't give a shit about what people think back home?"

'And how you hurt people's feelings without meaning too, yes I know.' My friend laughed.

"Shut up, that was one time."

'It was more than one, Dipshit.'

"Whatever, Asswipe." I turned around to lie on my belly. "Anyways, here, I'm all quiet and shit. It's weird… Like, I'm always watching what I say. I never talk. Instead of doing something, like cooking, cleaning, or doing some sort of exercise, I just sit inside doing nothing!"

'Found a library yet?'

"Yes, I found it today. But that's beside the point!" I shook my head. "Point is; I'm different here than what I'm like back home! Why is that?"

'Well…' I could just see her drumming her fingers on her thighs, thinking. 'It's probably still you… it's just… you're changing the way you act due to the people around you.'

"Eh?" I raised an eyebrow. "Please speaka da engles" (Please speak English)

'Yeah, it's like… how do I put this…' Taylor exhaled lightly. 'Ooh! You know how Jordyn is really smart although she doesn't act like it? Like inside class she's like the top, while outside she's this dumb shit that would start the game of Lava Floor in Sir's classroom at lunchtime and everyone would just join in, no questions?'

"Yes, I remember that." I smiled at the memory.

We were all bored that day. Having just finished a meeting in our English teacher's classroom, we had him next period so we didn't bother leaving. Jordyn was bored, and somehow she roped Taylor, three other girls and myself into playing Lava Floor for nearly half an hour. Our teacher was pretty pissed off that we were jumping on and walking all over his tables and chairs, which weren't very stable to begin with. It was a fun time.

'Well, do you really think that Jordyn would do that in front of our pastor at Sunday school?' Taylor asked. 'Would she act all scholar during a fono?'

"Nah, she wouldn't. She'd get a hiding." I rolled onto my back. "But what's your point?"

'My point is that all sides are her.' Taylor reasoned. 'She is a scholar, but at the same time, she's this weird, crazy psycho bitch that we love, and at the same time she's a respectful girl who is actively involved at the church. That's all Jordyn, there's more to one side of her. Just because she doesn't act smart, doesn't mean that she isn't. She just knows when to show which side of her. Just like you.'

"Like me?" I raised an eyebrow, before remembering that she couldn't see me. "What do you mean?"

'You turn into a demon when playing soccer, but do you turn into a demon when cooking? You're so damn quiet when reading a book, but are you when you're playing a video game? You're respectful when talking to strangers or elders but do you show the same courtesy to us?' Taylor explained. 'You have different sides to you, Miwa, you just show them to different people. It doesn't mean that any side of you, is less of you that the other sides of you. You act differently to the Uchihas than you do to us, because you know that if you acted like you normally do, then you know that it's "frowned upon". It's still you Miwa, just a side of you that you don't always use. Get it?'

"Yeah, I get it now." I smiled to myself, "You're a good friend, you know that Tay?"

'I know, I know.' Taylor groaned to herself, 'I'd love to talk some more, but Sir says that if I don't turn in this essay by tomorrow then I'm done for. Now, scat.'

"When was it due?"

'Last week.'

"…how much have you done?"

'…does the word "The" count?'

"…you've been watching too much SpongeBob again, haven't you?" I chuckled to myself. "Anyways! Good night, good bye, I love you, finish that essay before Sir kills you! Buh bye!"

'Bye Miwa! Love you too!'

I smiled as I heard a click, then the tone sound. Signalling the end of the call.