~~~~~~~~ 5 ~~~~~~~~

"Kakashi-sensei," said Sasuke, "You don't really trust her do you?"

Kakashi turned to the Uchiha, "Everyone has things they don't want people to know, Sasuke. I, myself, am a very private person." His students sighed at his question dodging methods.

"I still want to know how she disarmed all of us," said Naruto, "I didn't even see her move… Did you Sakura?" She shook her head, Naruto stepped closer to her, "She even disarmed sensei... there aren't many people that can do that." Sakura nodded in agreement, both looking over to their teacher who could hear them.

"That is enough you three," sighed Kakashi, "Let's just focus on our mission and find that jewel."

The lift came to a stop, the light lit on the G button. The doors opened and the four ninja left its confines, stepping into the foyer. The look of the polished floors and large walls made of glass that allowed them to see to the sea on the other side of the road left them awestruck. The way the building was set up was much different from what they were used to with any of the inns they had previously stayed in.

"Where do we even start looking?" murmured Sakura, still taking in the scenery, "We don't know anything about this place."

"Then I suggest we learn about it," said Kakashi, studying the cars with great fascination, "Like perhaps what these carriages are." As they began walking again, Sakura paused, her vision clouding over.

'Take them to the farm,' she heard a voice say. She recognised it as the voice from the void, "I'm not sure why… but I think we should look for a farm…" The boys looked to her and she blushed, "It's somewhere to start… Or not…"

"Why do you say a farm?" asked Naruto.

'Because a voice told me to,' she thought, 'Like I can really say that…' Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and turned away, her blush even more prominent, "I told you I don't know… It just came to me!"

"It's alright Sakura," calmed Kakashi, "Well, shall we find a farm then?"

"Where would we find a farm? This entire place looks like it goes on for miles," whined Naruto, "I don't think it's going to turn into farmland or forest soon."

"Just keep your mouth shut and look, idiot," said Sasuke, not even dignifying Naruto with a look as he insulted him. Instead he looked up to the top floor of the apartment building at where Kira's apartment was located before looking away in anger. 'How did she best me? It was more than luck,' he thought, his eyes fleeting over to his teacher, 'The way she moved was even undetected by Kakashi… there isn't anyone that can do that.' Looking away, his glare hardened, 'No one but him…'

The group stopped at the end of the street behind a large group of people who were also stopped. Sakura looked up at the light signals, noticing the small man that was lit up was a red colour. Within a minute, it turned green and the crowd dispersed, crossing the street quickly. The ninja followed on with the group, continuing down the street, still getting used to the sights of this new world. The vehicles on the road proved a great fascination to Kakashi who was now watching a deep blue soft top Porsche drive past. 'That's a nice looking carriage,' he thought, 'I wonder how it works… it's not drawn by anything… steam perhaps?' His preoccupation with the cars almost caused him to miss Sakura turning up a street, "Sakura… where are you going?"

"Huh?" replied Sakura, snapping out of a trance. She looked at where she was walking then to where the rest of the team was, a good 10 metres between them. "Something's telling me to go this way… don't look at me like that Naruto!" Naruto stopped pulling a creeped out face, his hand now scratching the back of his head as he murmured an apology. "Sensei, please… just this once trust me… if it turns out to be wrong then feel free to ignore me in our future missions."

Kakashi nodded, "Since you are being so insistent Sakura," he looked back to the Porsche which was now speeding down the road, "It is better than wandering around aimlessly hoping to stumble upon something." A small smile came on Sakura's face, "Thank you Sensei." From there, Sakura led their expedition, her path being led by the voice in her head. In any other circumstances she probably wouldn't listen to something as suspicious as that but this world was a strange place to her. Something in the tone of the voice gave her trust and confidence in it, it had helped her find her way in the white abyss. Naruto watched Sakura as she led them with a small amount of uncertainty through the streets, becoming apprehensive of her as he wondered what was leading her around this city. However he didn't want to risk her yelling at him if he asked her again, instead deciding to keep his fear to himself. After about an hour of wandering through the streets, the density of the city buildings began to thin out, turning into groups of houses. Some of them were large while others were old looking and quite small. All the houses had sizable amounts of front yard, as they progressed, that land grew to encompass the entire property. Then the houses stopped and a forest of thin trees appeared, going back past the ends of the determinable property lines and stretching past further backwards, cutting through the back fields of the last few houses they had passed. This is where Sakura stopped.

"That's all I have…" she said quietly, "The feeling I had isn't leading me any further than this… It's somewhere in there, I'm sure of it." Kakashi patted her on the shoulder encouragingly.

"I'm sure we can find it from here," he said, "There can't be that much forest can there? You've done a good job, I think I'm starting to feel something coming from this area. We are looking for a small blue gem, no bigger than a chicken's egg. Spread out and search, go."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

Kira lay on the couch, Zoey sprawled out over her lap half asleep and desperately trying to stay awake. She looked out the window and watched the sun setting, a small amount of it still peaking over the horizon.

"Don't disappear Kira," muttered Zoey, holding on to her sister's hand tightly. The sudden murmur caught Kira's attention and she looked down at her sister fondly.

"What do you mean disappear?" she asked, "I'm right here." Zoey rolled over onto her back, looking up at Kira through tired eyes.

"Kain says you always disappear this time of year," she said, "Not literally but… he says you always go off on your own somewhere… Don't disappear this year Kira…" Kira smiled sadly down at her, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, "You promise?"

"I promise sweet," she replied, shifting her into a sitting position, "But I think you should go to bed… you maybe stayed up too late last night, hmm?"

Zoey glared at her defiantly, "I'm a big girl! I can stay up as late as I want! It's not even 6 yet…"

"You're right," said Kira, looking over at the clock, "It's just past 9, I think that's late enough for you miss. Mum'd have my head, don't tell her you stayed up past 1 last night."

"I'll tell if you don't let me stay up," pouted Zoey, "I'm not tired!"

"How about some hot chocolate then?"

Zoey's eyes lit up at the mention of the beverage, not able to resist it and Kira knew this. She also knew that it would put her straight to sleep, something that Zoey had yet to realise. Kira went into the kitchen and made the drink for her sister, no sooner had she set it on the table then her sister had snatched it up and was sipping on it with a smile on her face. Placing it back on the table, she snuggled down into her blanket and laid on her sister again. After about five minutes, Zoey lay asleep in Kira's arms, a third of her drink gone. Squeezing out from under her sister, Kira went into her room and locked the door. She cleared a space on the floor next to the window and took a deep breath, slowing her heart rate down. She concentrated on the setting rays of the sun, slipping into a trance. Concentrating, a small blue flare reflected off the window, caught in the palm of her hand it swirled around. The feeling of energy flowing through her hand was something she hadn't felt for a long time, she focused on it. After a few minutes she felt a small amount of chakra connect with the swirl that was in her hand, beginning to form a sphere. Though the process was getting to be tiring, she continued with it for another 20 minutes, able to create a small sphere about the size of a golf ball. Breathing slowly over it, the coldness of her breath hardened the small mass of chakra. She went over to the window, opening it and stepping onto her balcony. Her forehead was covered in a light layer of sweat,

"This should do…" she whispered to herself, closing her fist around the newly made gem. She flung it into the air where it was promptly caught by a crow, being a shiny object. The crow then altered its flight path and flew to where Team 7 were in the forest, now meeting back in a group and sitting around a campfire.

Kira went back into the living room and picked up Zoey, a task that had become difficult as gathering proper chakra took a lot more in this world than it did in the ninja world. She held Zoey close to her and took her to her room, placing her on the bed and kissing her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry Zoey," she said softly, "I'm going to have to break my promise… and disappear…" She hugged her sister close, "Please forgive me, sweet."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Back at the ninja's campsite, Naruto was massaging his feet, complaining about how he was sure he had stepped on something. He kept asking Sakura to have a look at it but she outright refused saying that it was making her lose her appetite.

"How can you do that while we're eating?" she growled, "That is just disgusting Naruto." She looked down to her chips which she could no longer bring herself to eat after watching Naruto rub his feet, "Thanks a lot Naruto, now I can't finish my food."

"Well pass it over here!" he said, holding out his hand. Sakura gave it a dirty look and placed her chips a foot away from her, near enough for Naruto to reach them without making contact with her.

"Wash your hands at least!" she scolded, "Sensei, tell him! Sensei?" When no reply came from the masked Jounin, Sakura and Naruto, with food in hand, went over to him and saw that he was asleep. A wicked grin spread over Naruto's face as he turned to Sakura. For the moment, the two of them were on the same wavelength, Sakura's curiosity overriding her disgust of Naruto. The two of them reached down for their teacher's mask, only to have him roll over onto his side. Trying again, Kakashi rolled onto his other side.

"You can keep trying," came Kakashi's muffled voice, causing the 2 genin to freeze. "But you'll never get it off like that."

'He was awake?' they thought, retreating like they had been shocked by electricity. Kakashi sat up, stretching his arms out, "That was a nice rest." His eye turned to the 2 of them, "Eh? What are you two doing here? Did you have a nightmare? Surely you're not scared of camping outside after all this time?" They shook their heads in unison, retreating back to the campfire, "No? Then what was it?"

"You… had a mosquito on your face?" suggested Sakura, looking over to Naruto who nodded feverently. 'Maybe he really was asleep,' she thought. Kakashi scratched the back of his head, his eye turning happy.

"You should have just let it bite me," he said, "Then maybe you would've gotten to see under the mask." Naruto and Sakura's faces turned white, 'He was awake…' "What's the matter with you two? You get stung by a bee?" Their heads dropped, expressions going blank. Kakashi looked around the campsite, "Where is Sasuke?"

"He went for a walk," said Sakura, "He's been gone for a little while… he hasn't touched his food…"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sasuke threw another punch at the tree, creating a large crack in the trunk. He breathed heavily but threw a kick at it, further breaking into it. He had been working at the tree for half an hour and little more than a small crater had appeared in its trunk, it was working on his last nerve. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't gather any chakra which only added to his frustration. His thoughts drifted back to Kira and how she had so easily pinned him to the ground and disarmed him. Once more he punched the tree, breaking further into the trunk.

'How did she do that?'

He kicked the trunk then turned when he heard a noise from the top of the tree. He reached for a kunai only to remember that he had none, they had all been taken by Kira. In the dim light he spied a crow holding a glowing object in its claws; it stared down at him with red eyes. Squawking, it dropped the object down to him, landing at his feet. The bird flapped its wings and took off, leaving Sasuke alone once more. He looked down at the glowing blue orb, holding it in his hand, he could feel a small amount of his chakra flow into it. Observing it more closely he could see small swirls of lighter blues in its colour, even in the darkness. Sensing a presence behind him, he turned and spied Kira emerging from the trees. Leaning up against the tree, her hair swayed with the gentle breeze, the moonlight casting shadows on her face reminding Sasuke eerily of his brother. The expression her face held reminded him of his mother, the only thing keeping him from attacking her. He eyed her suspiciously, his distrust of her growing as she approached him. Kira's image disappeared as she came out into the moonlight, putting Sasuke on edge. He looked down to the jewel in his hand suspiciously, placing it in his pocket then looked back to where the illusion had stood.

'Why would I see her?' he thought, 'Does this thing react on thoughts? Well, whatever… at least this mission will be over soon.'

He left the small grove and made his way back to the campsite. Returning to the camp ground, he ignored the looks his teammates were giving him and went over to Kakashi. He took the jewel out of his pocket and set it down in front of his teacher.

Kakashi looked up at him in surprise, "Welcome back Sasuke… what have you found?" Placing his hand over the gem, he too felt some of his chakra flow into it, "Well, isn't this interesting. It seems we have found what we were searching for… well done Sasuke, Sakura." Naruto regarded Sasuke bitterly, making his way over to Sasuke's food and beginning to eat it.

Sakura looked over to him, "Naruto! What are you doing! That's Sasuke's food!" Naruto ignored her and continued eating, making Sakura even angrier.

Kakashi sighed tiredly, "Cut it out you two… we have a guest." He motioned over to the trees behind Sasuke where Kira stood, half submerged by shadows. Sasuke watched her closely as she came into the campsite, his suspicion of her growing. Hearing her footsteps, he was sure that this time she wasn't an illusion.

"What brings you to us?" asked Kakashi, "Though your timing couldn't be better." She set a small satchel down by her feet, the bag making metallic clinking noises. "We would have come back for those, we have to leave from your house."

Kira shook her head, "If that was where you were meant to leave from, you would have been led to my apartment and not here."

Sakura looked up in shock, "How did you know we were led here?"

"How did you find us? You are really suspicious you know!" interjected Naruto loudly, pointing a finger at her, "What are you hiding from us! Tell us now!"

"I knew you would be led here eventually," said Kira, "Because this is where I was found… coincidentally on this day 9 years ago." She looked to the jewel in Kakashi's hand and placed her index finger over it. The 4 watched in awe as the jewel was absorbed into her hand.

"Oyoyoyoyoy!" cried Naruto, "We just found that! You can't just suck it up into your hand like you're slurping ramen!"

"It is more like absorbing chakra, Naruto," said Kakashi, "But it was a good metaphor all the same." Kakashi studied her, "Though that begs the question, Kira… how are you able to use chakra?"

"That's right," said Sakura, "You said chakra can't be used here… were you lying to us?"

"I was telling the truth, people from here can't use chakra," she said evenly, "I came to be here because of the jewel." Sakura and Naruto became shocked, Sasuke's anger grew and Kakashi merely raised an eyebrow.

"There's no way…" murmured Sakura, "Is that even possible Kakashi-Sensei?"

"I had heard that the jewel had mystical properties," said Kakashi, "But I did not know it was capable of trans-dimensional travel." Kakashi stepped back, "Could you perhaps offer us an explanation?"

"The jewel acted on the desperation to survive and took my chakra and I wound up here," she said shortly. Kakashi nodded, accepting the explanation.

"Hang on a second!" yelled Naruto, storming over to the two of them, "How is that an explanation! It wasn't a good story at all! You didn't explain anything about how you beat Sasuke. Now tell me!"

"She explained what she said she was going to explain," said Kakashi, "It was a reasonable explanation."

"No it wasn't!" cried Naruto, "You owe us more than that! Now how did you beat Sasuke?"

"Naruto, stop being rude," scolded Sakura, almost half-heartedly, "She doesn't have to… tell us."

A small smile wormed onto Kira's face, hidden behind her hand though not missed by Kakashi. She walked through the two curious genin and made her way to the campfire, sitting beside it on the grass. She turned to them with a serious look on her face, the look slightly scaring the two of them. She patted the ground beside her, "Well come sit down, the story might take a while… if it's alright with you Kakashi." Kakashi nodded, also sitting down, though he sat under the tree away from the fire. Sasuke looked disinterested in the ongoings of his team and sat away from the fire, further away than Kakashi.

Kira sighed, "If I tell you about the mission will that appease you?"

"I'll decide when you've finished," answered Naruto, "Now tell me how you beat Sasuke." He and Sakura joined Kira by the fire, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and focused intently on her.