Hey y'all!! Thanks for the reviews! Who knew I just had to delay longer than usual? jk. I've been busy-and I got a new cousin, Mason on the tenth! He's such a cutie.

JSinuYasha: Yeah, I wanted this to steer away from cliche. Thank you for the many reviews, and I hope not to disappoint with the twist coming up. At first I was letting him go for rather straight forward reasons, but now that I've got some of Saph's original idea's..well they were to good not to fit in!

Saph: Hey!! Yeah, I fixed the spacing. Thanks for pointing that out!

snowbunniex3:Got the spacing issue taken care of. Thanks!! You think I'm a great author? Cool!

cancelmyaccountplz: Here ya go! awesome name btw.

oxygen deprived: why don't you get an account? You're my second anonymous review!Yay me!! I don't mind, just curious.

To all: Thank you for reviewing! I'm meeting some people with some really cool names. That goes to all four of the above and evilpopcorn.

Chapter 7: Reality is just an illusion, anyway, right?

An insane jailer wouldn't be a good thing. It was already degrading enough. But still, at the thought of chaos and bloodshed..how could anyone resist?

---

Sweat ran down his brow. His face was sticky from the stuffy heat, and his orange jacket stuck to his back, soaked through with perspiration. Naruto wasn't sure when his shirt had been lost. He could have sworn that it was on when he fled from the Akatsuki base. Huh. Dawn, or Red Moon if you will, was what they called them selves. How spiffy.

The escapee let out a long breath, puffing his cheeks out. The sun beat down hard, unlike his journey here which had been filled with overcast weather. The light was immensely bright with the branches and leaves of trees to filter through. He could smell the own stink of his dirty tired body, and the sounds of his harsh pants seemed to blot out everything else. In rare moment or exhaustion, the genin bent over, hands on his knees.

Naruto felt sick. Totally and completely sick to his stomach. Something was crawling up his throat, (bile? he couldn't remember his last encounter with food) and his gut felt as if it couldn't decide where it wanted to be-his throat, or should he cough it up so that it may lay on the ground?

Right now if he looked in a mirror, the blond would probably say he looked like a sunflower..or some type of plant anyway. Green face, and yellow hair.

Ha ha.

If he wasn't so busy glaring, he'd be all over the idiot that was laughing at him. Cause someone had to be out there, knowing his luck.

The past ten hours he'd been running, practically non-stop, only briefly halting when he thought he heard an approach. But all had been false warnings. The weather had been unforgiving-a relentless heat that was somewhat familiar, but drier than normal (the lack of humidity was a partial relief) stuffy air was a big change. It only exa-excab..he couldn't think of the word Iruka-sensei had used once, but it made his parched throat a hell of a lot worse.

So of course now he was probably suffering from a case of exposure to the elements and heat stroke.

Wow. Wouldn't that be awesome to go down as the lamest jinchuuriki (and ninja) ever- dying from a case of heatstroke. And he was from the land of FIRE too. How embarrassing.

In fact, he felt so crappy, he never noticed as he slipped from reality.

Into a void. He must have. There was no other explanation.

---

Back and forth. Back and forth the silly little human went. Never realizing it was trapped. That this was all a game. The creature wondered why exactly did this duty fall to it, to watch over such a pathetic pitiable being. But as their rank was low, and the one who had assigned the job a much more higher and powerful being, the creature did as was told, pushing away such idle questions.

---

"Ugh."

Really, did he have to groan every time he woke up? Actually, why did he always have to pass out in the middle of nowhere for that matter?

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, only to see dry grass. The blond had apparently faced planted when he'd, ahem, 'lost consciousness'. "Fainted."

"What?" his head whipped around. "Who was that?" He was too far gone if it was an enemy.

"Oh, little ole me? I am nothing. And a funny thing you are."

By now he was in a crawling position, on all fours. And then it just slowly materialized. Fell into place, like puzzle pieces. There was no word, or no string of words and letters for it.

Out of nowhere a dog appeared. No noise, no chakra signature. Impossible. The grass crunched like straw with the smallest amount of pressure.

"Are..A-are you a g-ghost?" the genin tripped over his words, it was like living his worst nightmare. "Or..or a spirit?"

The canine was a unexplainable mix of green and red, fur matted. Somehow the dog had a dirty look though no mud covered it's fur coat. One ear was up, the other down. And his eyes..were swirls of color. Right now an eerie yellow. Like a cattle dog gone wrong on the whole. Then the dog cocked it's head in the way dog's do when they're curious..but kept on going.

This was unnatural. Something should have cracked at that angle. A disturbing smile came to light it's face, pearly teeth gleaming and paradoxically clean.

"I'm neither here nor there, young traveler. You are the one that doesn't belong."

What?..what is this?..can this dog read minds?

Then the creature blinked. Now it's eye were solid orange. "You could go one way..or go another. All of the paths are open. What's stopping you from going down another road? Hm?"

This was just giving him a headache. Despite his earlier fear, now all he could feel was annoyance. Why all the questions. "Why don't you stop pestering me!"

"Are you a coward?"

Naruto froze. "Who the hell do you think you are!! What the hell are you saying!!" He snapped, rounding on the dog.

Only to find that it had disappeared.

The genin fell to the ground. "Dammit."

---

Zetsu hummed contentedly, watching the flames roast the flesh, as he turned the spit. He'd withdrawn his plant like features, understandably not wishing them to be burned. "Almost done. Just a few more touches." The criminal murmured. The meat sizzled in the heat of the furnace, and spat as a glob a fat hit the hot surface. Cooking was his hobby, though many preferred to skip his cuisine.

This was been a man once after all.

Currently his thigh was being cooked. Zetsu had added some spices for flavor. Blood was all the sauce he needed.

The head was the most delicate of all, and to be prepared last. "I do love eyeballs."

The head cavity would be stuffed with herbs, once he cracked the skull. He couldn't stand the taste of plain brain. It was only good in stir-fry. Otherwise he smothered the flavor with other delicacies such as the juice squeezed from the liver, topped with eyeballs. They were his favorite part after all.

Itachi stepped in. Unusual. Typically he didn't act as a messenger. It was either Hidan, Sasori, or Kakuzu that was the go between. "Leader-sama would like to see you, as soon as you are able."

Even the young murderer's lips turned as he walked out the door.

Zetsu didn't care if they found him strange, repulsive.

That just meant he didn't have to share.

---

"How long 's it been?"

"Three days."

Someone whistled. "Damn."

"Given him any food or water?"

A beat. "No."

---

Not too long after the dog had left, Naruto had punched the ground, hard. And now it felt as if a knuckle might be broken.

"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!" He was still full of frustration and unable to vent it.

Now every once in a while, he was aware that something was following him. When he looked over his shoulder, nothing was there. Suddenly look up, nope, nothin'.

Hoping to lose the pursuer (cause he knewsomeone was there) the genin had veered off his original course, and even started to zig-zag.

But the sensation remained. Nothing could shake them.

The sun was setting, and trying to set it out of his mind, Naruto happened upon a river; he decided to follow it.

But first, he was REALLY thirsty.

And then the damn dog showed up again.

"What are you doing here?" his voice was hoarse, but still full of anger.

The dog blinked. "I'm neither here..nor there." It's head tilted at an unnatural angle again. "But I happen to be thirsty."

To his horror, the dog started lapping up HIS water. "No. No! I found this water first!! Shoo!"

If it wasn't so sad, it would be comical.

None of his efforts (and shouts) seemed to work. The dog kept drinking, and Naruto finally shoved it, to no effect.

The blond literally couldn't touch it. It was like an invisible shield was rebounding him. All of his water was being sucked away!!!

The dog opened his mouth, and it seemed to get wider, and wider, a great black maw. And the river changed course, flowing into the dog with no end in sight.

The river bed was sucked completely dry. Tears might have been flowing down his face. This CAN'T be happening.

"You don't know the meaning of thirsty."

Those words, the image of the dog walking away without a second look, would be engraved in his mind forever.

---

Later, while continuing down river, Naruto happened upon a spring that led to a great lake. The surface of the water rippled gently, innocently. The sun had just set and the blond had watched, hunger still gnawing at him.

For once it was a clear night and he could see the moon and the stars as he'd imagined them. A grove of tree's surrounded the area, and as a chilling wind blew he retreated the the cover of the tree's and sat at the edge of a swamp. The water was dark and murky. Vines hung down everywhere like decorations and moss grew on everything.

He could hear his own breathing, heartbeat..the chirps of insects and soft whoosh of wings. The ground felt softer here, not as hard and full of cracks and bitterness as out in the plains.

Naruto leaned against a tree trunk.

That was when the show began.

The twelve-year-old blinked at first, convinced that his eyes were playing tricks on him. But then he saw the soft red glow again.

This was not a lack of sleep.

The orb of light floated over the swamp, alone for a moment, and he felt sad. But then a whitish blue light appeared, then a green-yellow. Soon a whole assortment of colors had joined the first, and they mingled together like a group of friends.

Naruto felt a pang.

Then he reminded himself that he was strong, and not weak like a little spoiled kid.

He spent the night watching the werelights dance.

---

Words:2027

Ok done. That wasn't TOO hard. Only took a day or so once I started. Can anyone guess what word describes sarutobi in the last chapter? Just curious if anyone figured it out.

Last chapter was my longest to date. I could have made this longer, the only hard part was trying to get the dog right. But I love reviews, and didn't want to keep you waiting.

the award for best ideas: SaphireWhiteWolf. Kyuubi plushy to you!

Feel free to let me know what you'd like to see. Although no guarantee it'll make it in there. Saph kind of has more sway as this was originally her idea. Any suggestions on the dog's name?

Story of the day:

Bunny! by silvablaze. this is wonderful crack. I know saph is already read it. trust me, it'll brighten your day. Involves chibi madness.

7/12/09