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Kira awoke to the sounds of her alarm, she swiped around before finally hitting the snooze button. Her head seemed worse now than it did earlier. 'I wonder if that was real...' she thought. She sat up slowly, trying not to aggravate her head further and slouched to the door.
"Don't leave me..." moaned Sam, "It's too early...." Kira shook her head at her friend and left the room. The events of the early hours of the morning turned out not to be a hallucination as she saw 4 figures asleep in her lounge. Still not trusting herself, she decided to wait for the others to wake up and went to the kitchen and began prepping some food. Not too long after, Aaron came drowsily into the kitchen, rubbing his head.
"Keers, my head hurts..." he grumbled, resting on the high counter, "That smells nice though... what you making?"
"Pancakes, I think..." she replied searching through the cupboard for a mixing bowl, "Plain or flavoured?"
"I don't care as long as I get something in my stomach!" cried Shanay from the hall. She came into the room looking unaffected by the previous night of drinking. Aaron stared at her murderously.
"Lucky bitch..." he grumbled. Shanay just patted him on the head, which made his head ache even more, "I feel sick..."
"Just don't spew on the bench," said Kira, "I don't want it in the pancakes." Aaron made mocking laugh faces at her before getting up and going to the bathroom. Shanay took his spot at the bench, dipping her finger into the pancake batter, Kira swatting her away.
"Aww, come on Kiki, just a little taste," Shanay pleaded. Kira brought the wooden spoon up.
"Not til they're cooked," she said. Shanay poked her tongue out at her friend and stared over at the living room, a frown adorning her face.
"When did those people get here?"
"You can see them too?" asked Kira, "I thought I was dreaming."
"Why wouldn't they be there?" asked Shanay.
"Because...they're..." started Kira, "They just dropped by so early this morning that I thought I imagined them..."
"Wow, you must've been reeeeaaaaally pissed last night," laughed Shanay, "You didn't even drink that much. You should lay off the booze." She looked back over to the couch, "That guy is a hottie though; give me his number would ya."
By the time lunchtime came around, everyone had grumbled out of bed. Sam's face still had traces of blue on it much to her chagrin. She apologised to Kira for leaving blue stains on her pillows. After a brunch of leftover pizza and pancakes, Kira's friends decided to get going; the twins and Shanay going shopping, Aaron taking his brother to his friends and Jake just going home. They all questioned her about the new arrivals which she answered with they were friends from out of town. Shanay was still probing Kira for the hottie's phone number, and teasing her when she wouldn't give it up. Aaron was becoming increasingly jealous at the sleeping man on the couch. He was pulled from the apartment by a call from his impatient little brother who wanted to get to his friends' house. Soon, just Kira, Zoey and the four sleeping ninja were left in the house. Since Kira wouldn't tell her anything about them, Zoey was ignoring her and had barricaded herself in her room. Since the ninja were still passed out, Kira took the opportunity to take the contacts and make up off so that there wouldn't be a repeat of this morning. She still didn't know how they had gotten into her living room, or why they were there in the first place. 'I suppose I'll have to wait for them to wake up,' she thought, wiping the eye-liner from her cheeks. 'There weren't even any fights over the remote or anything.' She took the contacts out and rubbed her eyes, dark circles appearing beneath them. Sighing she went back out into the living area, noticing the pinkette that was sleeping on the bean bag was stirring out of sleep. Sakura stared at Kira with sleepily.
"Where am I?" she asked, looking around the room, eyes becoming focussed on Kira, "Who are you?" Her stomach rumbled, making her embarrassed. Kira just shook her head and went into the kitchen, Sakura watching her every movement closely, remembering how she had moved earlier.
"There's no need to be afraid," said Kira, "Or suspicious. If anyone should be acting that way, it's me. You are intruding in my house you know. Now come have something to eat." Sakura frowned at her, slowly standing and walking over to the kitchen counter. She took the plate that Kira handed her carefully, suspicious of the woman who came close to killing Sasuke. She looked at the food like it was poisoned, only lightening up when Kira ripped a bit of the pancake from her plate and ate it. Her stomach rumbled again.
"Eat it or go on making that noise," said Kira with a smile, washing some dishes, "Before the blonde over there wakes up and eats it." Sakura looked over to the corner where Naruto was snoring loudly.
"I accept this meal..." she said quietly, cutting into the pancake. Kira passed her some maple syrup which she poured on slowly. Her eating became more relaxed as she realised there was nothing wrong with the food. After a few minutes of silence as Sakura ate, Kira decided to ask some questions.
"So, where are you from?"
Sakura placed her cutlery down. "I am not of liberty to tell you."
"Oh I see," jested Kira, "On a secret mission for the President are we?" Sakura coughed. "So you are... hmm... let's see..." Kira thought for a moment, "You are super assassins sent to kill someone who is about to betray a great secret that could end the world? No, not that. You... are thieves that are stealing from a rich mob boss..." She looked at Sakura, "Am I getting warmer?" Sakura looked like she was trying to hold in laughter, to Kira that meant her plan was working. She walked to Sakura's side of the bench and leaned against it.
"Or perhaps you are ninjas from a far away land," she said mistily, "Here to find a lost princess." She heard Sakura draw a short, sharp breath. "Well, whatever it is can I at least know the names of my intruders?"
"You should not get involved in things that are none of your concern," came Kakashi's monotone.
"Since you crashed into my house, I think it is my concern," retorted Kira, "I should call the police on you. This is breaking and entering, and there are children present, how do I know you didn't kidnap them?" She looked at Kakashi disapprovingly. Kakashi's expression remained unamused.
"By the sound of your voice this morning," he began, "You were shocked when you heard my name... if I am correct, that means you know of me." Kira stood silently. "Though it begs the question, how do you know of me? This is a different place to where we are from, is it not. Were you informed by someone of our arrival?"
Kira shook her head and walked over to the closet the ninja had emerged from; making silent irate noises at the mess it was in. After about a minute, she came back out holding a DVD. The two ninja watched her curiously. She put it into the DVD player and hit the play button. After the first few warning screens, the menu popped up with a background of the leaf village she pressed the enter button and the first episode began to play.
"This is called 'Naruto'," she said factually, "It is a cartoon that many people here watch." She fast-forwarded the credits, speeding through the episode. "Feel free to watch it..." She pressed stop and ejected the disc, "But not now, I have to clean up... and give the little grump some food." Kira went back to the kitchen and put some more pancakes on a plate, leaving the room to go see her sister. Sakura stared down at the cover, not sure what to think. It was a TV show, about them. She began to feel weird, 'Does that mean they watch us while we bathe?' She shivered. Her eyes stopped on the title, reading it over and over, becoming increasingly enraged.
'Naruto... Naruto... WHY NARUTO!!!!' she thought, "It's not fair!!! That annoying brat has a show named after him!!! What is wrong with this world!?!?!?" She turned angrily to Kakashi to see if he could come up with a reason, only to find her teacher sitting in an armchair staring blankly out of the window. He didn't even respond to her yelling.
'This must be too much for him...' Sakura concluded smartly, "Sensei... are you alright?" Kakashi's head turned mechanically towards her, his visible eye completely blank.
"My book... it's gone..." he whispered pitifully. Sakura stared back at him, unsure of what to say or how to react. Inner Sakura got the best of her.
"AT A TIME LIKE THIS THAT STUPID BOOK IS ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT!?!?!?" she yelled in outrage, "DID what she said not CONNECT with anything!??!"
"Mmm... Sakura... do you have to be so loud?" murmured Naruto, before snuggling down to sleep again.
'I hope they don't show the things he dreams...' thought Sakura, getting weirded out that Naruto may have been dreaming of her. She went over to him and leaned into his ear. "WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!!!" Naruto jerked into a sitting position, his mouth hanging open.
"A-aaa-aaa!!!!!!! That hurt!!!!!" he cried, clutching his ears, "What was that for Sakura?" Sakura just glared at him and walked away, throwing the DVD case at him. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the picture on the cover. "It's me... wh-what is this? Sakura? Kakashi-sensei?"
"It's a DVD," replied Sakura.
"What's that?" asked Naruto, "More importantly, why does it have my picture on it?"
"It's some sort of information disc," replied Sakura, beginning to growl, "And it contains a TV show about you."
"About me? Then that means..." He paused, bringing the cover closer to him, hugging it to his chest, "I'm famous... I'm famous... I'm FAMOUS!!!!" Jumping up he did a dance in the spot he was once sleeping in, cheering about his new found fame. Kira returned to the room, wondering about the yelling but as soon as she saw Naruto awake and dancing with the DVD, she guessed what had happened.
"You mind giving that back before you break it," she asked. Naruto turned to her, his face growing fearful.
"A-aaa-aaa... Sensei, Sakura watch out!" he cried, "It's Itachi!!" Naruto went for his weapons, only to come up empty handed. Frowning, he made the sign for the shadow clone, but found he couldn't mould his chakra. "What have you done to my chakra!?!?"
"Naruto, calm down..." said Sakura, slightly calmer than a minute ago, "She's not Itachi." Emphasising the she in her sentence. Naruto stared confusedly at Kira, looking her up and down, eyes stopping at her chest.
"It could be a transformation," he said, "You won't get away with this." He aimed a punch at her chest, only to be hit to the floor by Kakashi, who had recovered from his ordeal.
"Cut it out Naruto," he said, "If you couldn't use your chakra, what makes you think someone can pull off a transformation jutsu?" Naruto pouted angrily, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Fine," he said, "But that still doesn't explain why she was dressed like him! Why does she have an Akatsuki cloak?" The ninja looked at her smugly, "Explain that one."
"Eh hem... it's called a cosplay," replied Kira, "It's basically playing dress up but you go as people from cartoon and video games, fantasy characters. And I was dressing up as him."
"But why would you do that?" asked Sakura.
"Coz it's fun, and you feel like a kid again," replied Kira, "Getting dressed in play clothes."
"That's not what I meant," said Sakura.
"I know what you meant," said Kira, "Because Zoey wanted it... she likes me to match with her. And coz she wanted to dress up as Sasuke, she told me to go as Itachi. She bought me the cloak and everything. I couldn't say no, she would've never spoken to me again."
"Why would you want to go as Sasuke?" grumbled Naruto, "I'm much cooler, isn't that right Sakura."
"In your dreams, Sasuke is the coolest ninja there ever was," said Sakura, glaring at Naruto.
"But it's my show!" he argued, pointing forcefully to his likeness on the cover, "See... 'Na-ru-to', not 'Sa-su-ke'."
"What idiot is messed up enough to give Naruto his own TV show?!?!?!" cried Sakura, taking the DVD off of Naruto, looking murderous. Kira took the DVD off her before she did anything to it.
"What's with all the noise in here?" yelled Zoey, appearing in the doorway, hands on her hips, "I can barely hear the TV with all of this yelling!!!" She glared at Naruto and Sakura, before turning to her sister, "'Just because it was your birthday doesn't mean you can be so loud', isn't that what you said to me on my birthday?" Kira kneeled down next to Zoey.
"'But it was my birthday so I can be as loud as I want,'" replied Kira, "Isn't that what you said to me?" She poked Zoey's forehead, "Besides it wasn't me that was making the noise, now go play your games."
"When do I get to play with you?" asked Zoey. Kira ushered her sister into the hall.
"When I get these people sorted out," replied Kira.
"This is the last time I spend a weekend with you! Why are you being so mean?!" Zoey shut the door to her room, locking it behind her. Kira sighed, turning her attention to her unwanted guests. Naruto and Sakura were staring at her, "What's the matter with you two?" They didn't answer her so Kira let it go. "Either way, you have to go back where you came from... however you got here..."
"We're not leaving until we complete our mission," said Naruto, snapping out of his stupor, "We have to find that jewel." This comment snapped Sakura from her paralysis and she promptly smacked the blonde over the head.
"You're not meant to talk about it with outsiders," she growled in a whisper, "Are you stupid... are you that stupid?" She let go of him "Don't get someone innocent involved with this."
"I'm involved in this only because you've landed in my house," said Kira, "And you could use my help anyway. The way you guys are dressed, you'd stick out like a sore thumb... you'd probably get run over by a truck."
"What's a truck?" asked Naruto.
"Don't worry about it," said Kira, waving the blonde away, "You should just try to find that jewel and go home. I will be here, pretending that this never happened and that you're just figments of my imagination." She looked over to Sasuke, "You should move this kid to one of the rooms, if you don't mind." Kakashi nodded and picked up the sleeping Uchiha. "I can't believe he's not up... I'd have thought Naruto would still be passed out."
"Hey! Why do you say that about me!?" cried Naruto, "By the way, how did you take Sasuke's weapon and get away from Kakashi-sensei?"
"That's not fair Naruto, changing the subject like that," said Kira, "And I did nothing of the sort. How would I be able to do that?"
"That's what I'm asking," said Naruto, "How did you do that?" Kira shook her head and went into her room, "Now who's changing the subject?!"
"If you want some food, there's leftovers in the oven," she said as she shut the door.
"She's hiding something," he concluded, looking at Sakura, "And I wanna find out what it is."
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Kira sat on her bed, holding her still slightly pounding head.
"Just what am I gonna do about this?"
She stared out of the window watching the clouds slowly pass by, hoping they would offer her some insight on where she should go from here.
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