I typed most of this today, and it ended up being (probably) my shortest and worst chapter thus far; which is sad, because it's the most important after the intro chapters...

I also only own my OCs. The others aren't mine, and neither is the Naruto-verse. Please enjoy anyway. :3

Caitlin's P.O.V.

I adjusted my newly-bought black dress and fidgeted as Tracey tried - unsuccessfully, of course - to tame my hair. "Maybe Tiamat was right, and I shouldn't go to the wake ceremony."

Tracey giggled. "Didn't Tiamat say that when she was drunk? Between swearing at and insulting Kakuzu in Arabic, I mean. Don't worry about it, Cat; the guy's mom invited you, and you're mostly just there to take care of her, so why not?"

"It's just kind of suspicious. I've only known Nakano-san for a little over a week, and suddenly I'm getting invited to go with her to her son's funeral. It's not like we suddenly became super-close to each other in the days I've been visiting her."

"Do you think she'll do something to you?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I just… I haven't even met the guy."

"Don't worry about it, then. You're there for Nakano, the guy's mom. He won't mind if you're helping her out when the rest of his family can't." Tracey patted my hair and blew air through her mouth in an exaggerated sigh. "What do you do to your hair to make it so unmanageable? It's worse than Shylah's!"

I swatted her hand away, and she skipped away from me laughing. "The rest of me is so awesome that the Fates just gave me unruly hair to make it seem like I'm not actually perfect. Spoiler alert - I'm still flawless. And sexy," I added, walking out of the door to my room with an exaggerated sway to my hips. Of course, the moment was ruined when I tripped over my funeral wear because apparently I need things tailored for them to ever fit me properly.

Who should be standing in the hall to witness my embarrassing moment but Shylah? At least she didn't look like she actually cared that I'd tripped, even if she'd probably tease me for it. "Smooth move. Your boyfriend would be proud." Called it.

And who would be standing with her other than Deidara? He turned to Shylah, signature smirk in place. "Why do you always say that Neko and I are dating, hm?"

"Why don't you?" Shylah returned. Without giving him a chance to reply, she continued. "I mean, look at her. Not to mention that you two have been hanging out almost constantly when we're all about your age, and you sometimes zone out and stare at her during lunch when you think no one's looking."

Deidara tore his gaze from me - not that he was actually checking me out - to roll his eyes at Shylah. "I don't stare at her! And even if I did, which I don't, you haven't ever sat in a place where you'd be able to see it since you appeared here, un!"

"I have eyes, ears, and noses everywhere."

"…"

"Not literally."

Tracey giggled and popped her head out over mine. "Good, because that would be weird. Especially the noses part; that's just gross."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, if we're done here, I have a wake to attend."

Deidara furrowed his brow in confusion. Oh, I guess I forgot to tell him. Oops. Hehe… "Whose wake?"

I shrugged. "I didn't actually know the guy, but he's Haruko's son, and she wants me to accompany her since her son and daughter-in-law are too grief-stricken to tend to her. Depending on how much time it takes, I might be a while."

"Oh. Why didn't you tell me, hm?"

This time Shylah rolled her eyes. "Probably because she just found out last night and was too busy helping a drunken Tiamat get to bed. The only reason Tracey knows is because she's the only one with the skill to handle Caitlin's hair, so quit acting ridiculously jealous."

Deidara's face immediately cleared up, and he smirked at Shylah. "I'm not jealous. I was just making sure Neko wasn't keeping secrets from us, yeah."

I raised an eyebrow. "Everyone has secrets, you probably more than the rest of us considering that you're a ninja. If I have any, I'll keep them and share them at my own discretion, not yours." Okay, so maybe he didn't necessarily mean it in a bad way, but in case you hadn't noticed, I'm usually pretty defensive. Pushing past them instead of walking calmly probably wasn't the best way to end the conversation, either.

"So melodramatic…" Shylah put in behind me. At least I could resist the urge to turn around and let my temper loose on her. Practice in anger management seems to be missing here…

"Nakano-san?" I called, knocking on the door to her house. Without waiting for a response, I let myself in and began making tea on her stove. She had told me to do so in preparation for her when she woke up, so it wasn't like I was breaking and entering - the door wasn't even locked. That's probably a bad thing, since there's some kind of serial killer on the loose.

The kettle was barely whistling before Nakano-san had entered the kitchen. Motioning for me to remain seated, she bustled over to the hot water and poured them into the cups of tea leaves I had prepared for her. She was wearing a simple, plain black kimono, and her silver-white hair was pulled back into a respectfully uncomplicated bun.

I bowed awkwardly as she set my tea before me, and followed her lead for proper tea-drinking manners. Something was different about the process this time - it was more ritualistic, and the cups looked barely used but in near-perfect condition. It gave a sense of seriousness we hadn't used when drinking tea before.

"I have lived on this world for over fifty years. From the age of twenty to now, I have survived the wars and dangers of a powerful group of humans with abilities I'd never even imagined. By now, I've grown tired-"

Whatever Nakano-san was getting at was interrupted when her son burst through the door and ran into the kitchen. "Obaa-chan!" he yelled before running, crying his eyes out, into Nakano-san's lap. "Obaa-chan~!" he wailed, climbing up and burying his face into her shoulder.

"What is it, Yo-kun?" Nakano asked urgently, alarmed. "Where is your mother? Why isn't she with you?"

"Kaa-chan," Yo - his actual name was Yorito, but since Nakano introduced him as 'Yo', that's what I always mentally addressed him as - wailed over and over again. After what seemed like hours waiting tensely for him to continue, he finally stopped sobbing and looked up at Nakano. "Kaa-chan is- is d-dead!" he blubbered out between gasping sobs.

Nakano's eyes widened, and she began to gently rock him back and forth, notwithstanding that she was at least seventy and, while Yo was little, he was still tall for his age. We sat in relative silence until Yo's crying died and he passed out into a fitful, traumatized sleep.

Shakily rising to her feet, Nakano-san carried her grandson into the depths of her small house, probably to tuck him into her bed. After only a minute, she returned, her age truly showing under the weight of the second consecutive loss in the span of only a few days. She held out a slip of paper, and I grabbed it firmly before looking at it. "That's the address to where my son liv-… lived with his wife and son. Please lead the police there and answer any questions you can - direct them to my home if you must."

I nodded mutely and headed to the door. "Neko-chan? Thank you. You've been a great help to me since I first met you. Be safe," she called as I shut the door after me.

Glancing down at the piece of paper, I groaned. Why I had thought the instructions would be written in plain, legible English rather than Japanese kanji, I will never be able to tell you. Unfortunately, the kanji meant I couldn't read it; even if I could - which, I feel the need to repeat, I can't - that didn't really mean I'd understand it. I decided that if I was going to lead the police there, I should know where it was first, so I set off in the hopes of finding the house.

The second I found the house, my first thought was, Why didn't I just find the police and give them the slip of paper? They can read it! Of course, the answer to that question was pretty obvious - as flawless as I am, I'm also pretty stupid. My second thought was, Oh, hey, the police are already here.

Yep. I went through all that effort, and it wasn't even necessary. And why is that? Oh, yeah, because Pein uses the freakin' RAIN to SEE EVERYTHING! In the interest of not seeming like a total idiot because Shylah's told me this at least ten times, I blame Nakano-san.

When I walked up to the door, one of the policemen spotted me and walked over. "You are Caitlin-san, correct?" No, I thought helpfully, ignoring the fact that people seemed to be having a harder and harder time pronouncing my name as time went on, like I was just now noticing that certain sounds it used weren't in their natural ability to make.

"Yeah, that's me," I replied in a more helpful tone than I'd just thought, bowing at the last second when I remembered Emi's stilted etiquette lesson from a couple weeks ago.

The guy nodded and led me inside like he'd been expecting me. I swear, if Pein let them know I was on my way but didn't bother to help me, I'll~… I don't know what I'll do, but it'll be terrible, I swear!

He creaked open the door to a bathroom and stepped back to reveal whatever was inside. "Can you identify this as Nakano, Ruko?"

What's he talking abo- OH MY GOSH THAT'S A BODY!

The body of Nakano's daughter-in-law lay on the center of the floor, obviously-naked body covered respectfully with a clean, white medical blanket. The woman's - Ruko's - dark brown hair was plastered to her face, and her mouth was twisted into a frozen grimace. Her skin was slightly bloated, like she'd been filled with air or-

My eyes slowly lifted to the still-full tub, where a few stray strands of dark hair rested near the bottom. From some far-off place, the coroner beside me mentioned that while they couldn't yet tell if she'd been drowned or suffocated, she had been submerged in the tub water since midnight this morning.

I stopped listening after that, since I was too busy running out of the house. I'd just barely made it into the alleyway when I started vomiting.

Why do I always get roped into this shit? If it's not Tish dragging me to the morgue to go 'pre-grave robbing', it's that I somehow manage to befriend the one old lady in the whole of Amegakure who will trust me enough to check out a body. Seriously, fuck my life.

Tiamat's P.O.V.

Someone pulled apart the curtains of my window, disturbing my slumber in possibly the rudest fashion since I'd met Shylah. Hissing involuntarily, I threw my thick blanket over my head and turned to the wall, away from the offending light.

"What does 'enta mossa zebb bila fluse' mean, exactly, and should I be pissed that you called me that?"

I winced at both Kakuzu's gruff tone and his use of such an uncouth phrase in the presence of a lady. "Exactly what happened yesterday?"

"How drunk did you get?"

Placing a hand on my throbbing forehead, I groaned and resisted the urge to bury my face in my pillow. "I didn't think sake would affect me as much as it did." Shunning the world for the rest of the day sounds rather nice at the moment.

After a few seconds of silence, in which I remembered that Kakuzu wouldn't act like a good little servant and leave without bothering me any more than he already had, I let out a put-upon sigh and slowly removed the covers from my face. The first ray of cloud-dulled light pierced my eye like that three-bladed scythe Hidan was so fond of, and I immediately regretted not staying under the safe shade of my blanket. "Must I really answer you so early in the morning?"

"It's noon, and you must." As if to further emphasize his words, he leaned back against my now-closed bedroom door.

"Does no one have any sense of propriety in the world anymore?" I scolded half-heartedly, knowing he wouldn't actually care. "In answer to your question, I have a rather low tolerance for alcohol. I tried not to drink any of the sake while I was out yesterday, but I suppose I wasn't as careful as I should have been. The after-effects of having alcohol in my bloodstream also tend to be unusually… exaggerated, so I would appreciate not being bothered unnecessarily."

Ignoring my implied 'please leave,' Kakuzu instead stared at me with his red-and-green eyes. He was no doubt attempting to intimidate me, but I refused to succumb to the force of his harsh gaze. "'Taban lak, sharmouta' and 'enta mossa zebb bila fluse'. Exactly what do those phrases mean?"

The tips of my ears heated up at his words. "Would you really expect a lady such as myself to repeat those words out loud?!"

"You said them yesterday." His stare turned quickly into a glare. "Tell me now, before you irritate me."

Do you remember when I said I refused to be intimidated by him? Yes, well, that appears to have been a false assumption on my part. "If I must. Respectively, they mean, 'fuck you, whore', and 'you suck-' Er… 'You… perform fellatio for free'." Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor (and knowing that I definitely did not want to enrage him), I fled the room faster than I'd ever had need to before.

Emi's P.O.V.

I looked up from the book I was currently reading (a romance, of all the genres a criminal headquarters could contain) to smile shyly at whoever had just opened the door. It was a pleasant, if unexpected, surprise to see Tiamat, although she looked… terrified. "What's wrong, Tiamat? Did something happen?"

Tiamat froze before slowly turning to me. "No, I believe everything is quite all right," she replied, relaxing. "I just wasn't sure if he would follow me, and as he hasn't burst through the door hunting for my head, I think I'm safe. Of course, I could've just jinxed it, but the risk comes with the territory."

"Are you… feeling alright?" I asked, trying not to seem concerned enough to hurt her haughty pride. For some reason, she was starting to sound more and more like Shylah the more she kept rambling about some head hunter.

Tiamat winced visibly before placing herself delicately into the seat next to mine. "I seem to be hungover."

I giggled before I could stop myself. Remembering that Tiamat didn't like to be laughed at, I sent her an apologetic frown. "Sorry, it j-just kind of slipped out."

Tiamat waved her hand away. "Don't be. You made a milestone just now; normally you would have stuttered over at least one or two more words before you'd managed to complete the sentence. Just don't inform Tracey of your progress and I'll call it even. I won't be able to tolerate another one of her 'self-improvement' parties."

I shuddered at the memory of the last 'self-improvement' party Tracey had thrown. Tish had gone a full week without swearing, and by the end of the party Tish had resumed cursing up a storm even more than she had before. It was a close second to the results of the party Tracey threw for Shylah's improved relationship with her mother - at least Tish's results didn't ruin her relationship with the people who cared about her. (I refuse to believe that Shylah's mom is as antagonistic as Shylah makes her out to be.)

"Don't worry, I'd rather k-keep my progress, thank you v-very much," I assured her, politely closing my book and putting it down.

Again, the door opened, so silently I almost missed it. Kisame poked his head in and grinned when he caught sight of me. "Tracey's coming up with groups for volleyball, and she said you knew how to play," he informed me, stumbling slightly over 'volleyball' in an odd way I'd never really noticed before.

My face heated up as both he and Tiamat stared fixedly at me. "I-I g-guess I c-can p-play, if you're s-sure…"

"We'll be down in the training grounds," Kisame told me before disappearing into the hallway.

From beside me, Tiamat sighed. "Well, I thought you were making progress."

Somehow, Tracey had managed to drag together enough people for two teams of five. Tracey, Itachi, Hidan, Tish, and Shylah were on one team, while I was on the other with Kisame, Deidara, Tobi, and Mischa. When the teams were divided (with Tracey and Kisame as team captains), Mischa wailed pitifully, stretching her arms towards where her older sister stood irritably on the other side of the net.

"No! Don't take my sister from me!" She called to Tracey and Itachi, who for some reason shared the blame in 'the crime of the century'. "How could you, Itachi?"

Shylah rolled her eyes while Tracey giggled and Itachi remained impassive. "Sis, Itachi didn't pick the teams."

"He could've told Tracey no!"

"And Kisame could've argued for me to be on his team. He didn't, so this is how things turned out."

Mischa abruptly hopped up from the floor (she'd fallen down in her melodrama), face turning deadly serious. "So it seems, dear sister, that we are on opposite sides of this battle. You shall lose this day, and I will come out of this fight the victor!" Pointing dramatically at Shylah, she ignored her sister's mutterings of 'there's a reason we're put in teams.' "May it be a glorious battle, and may the odds be in our favor!"

Tobi, Kisame, and Deidara joined in her subsequent battle cry. Shylah rolled her eyes again while Tracey, Hidan, and Tish came up with their own cheer and Itachi just watched with his trademark blank expression. When the members of my team all started chest-bumping, Shylah turned to me with obvious irritation. "I pity you."

Both of our gazes trailed to where Hidan and Tish had started a 'good-natured' brawl and Tracey was cheering them on. "Um, m-maybe I should be the one p-pitying you…"

"This is a waste of time," Shylah muttered before turning to leave.

Unfortunately for her, Tracey noticed just in time to drag her back. "C'mon, Ice, this'll be fun! Stop being such a grumpy-pants; even Itachi's playing, so you should, too." Tracey ignored Tish's cackling at her choice in insults. "Let's play!"

"I hate everyone keeping me here. Just thought you ought to know," Shylah muttered darkly.

Kisame noticed and grinned toothily at her. "I'm going to keep you here as long as it takes for my team to kick your sorry asses."

Focusing her suddenly-threatening glare on the opposite team (and me), Shylah immediately took her place. "Let's get this over with."

…

Let it never be said that Shylah had no skill with which to back up her threatening aura. And let it never be thought that she couldn't combine with Tracey, Itachi, Hidan, and even Tish to create some kind of super-team. It was kind of scary, especially when her spikes had a tendency to be aimed towards the locations of the vital organs of our team members.

The only thing that scared me more was the fact that Hidan and Tish had some kind of freaky, telepathic link that let them know what the other was going to do before they started - probably because they were so alike. It wouldn't have been too bad, except that they hit people with spikes even more than Shylah did.

On my team, after being hit a few times Deidara had started doing the same - adding clay to the volleyball so that it would transfer to Hidan and explode. The first time that happened, Hidan had attempted to strangle the blond bomber. Now, all it was doing was provoking Hidan even more, if that was even possible.

Kisame and I worked well together (I like to think I could work well with all of them), even if Kisame's methods tended to end up in at least a bloody nose for someone on the opposite team.

Tobi and Mischa made probably the weirdest pair ever. Mischa was loud and boisterous, yelling death threats to the other team and encouragement to our own. Tobi had a tendency to trip or bump the ball in the wrong direction. When he did the former, it had a habit of being the move that saved us from losing the point; when it was the latter, Mischa or Deidara were almost always there to back him up.

The game was fun, and only ended (in a tie) when Caitlin came down the stairs and stared at us blankly, as if trying to process exactly what shenanigans she was seeing. "Uh, did you all take some kind of ecstasy shot while I was gone?"

Shylah immediately left her position (earning a yell from Mischa to 'get back in line, soldier!') and walked at her usual pace to Cait. "You can take my place," she offered before hurrying up the stairs.

That comment brought forth complaints from Deidara, who wanted to be on 'Neko's' team but didn't want to be on the same side as 'the bastard Uchiha'. Tracey said she wasn't giving up Itachi, so Mischa offered to switch with Caitlin, which made Tobi whine about being separated from 'Mischa-chan'; since they were practically inseparable now, it wasn't surprising.

I sighed. "I-I c-can go to the other t-team, and Caitlin could b-be on this team," I offered as a form of peace.

"I picked you for this team, Emi, and I'm going to keep you." Kisame's comment brought a new round of complaints and arguments from everyone else.

This is going to be difficult to resolve…

We ended up having to end the game abruptly as all the ninjas (except for Itachi) started fighting, and the rest of us had to run out of their way.

Reia's P.O.V.

An explosion shook the hideout and I jumped in surprise. Zetsu didn't so much as twitch by my side, obviously way more used to this than I was. It made sense, since I'd only been here for a few weeks, and yet he'd known them for… Well, I didn't know how long he'd known any of them, but I didn't doubt that it was much longer than I had.

"Should we be worried?" I asked rhetorically, since I already knew both of their answers. It'd happened often enough for this to be an almost ritual conversation.

"No. They'll be fine."

After a few seconds, I returned my thoughts to what we were doing. "Are you sure it's a good idea to try cross-pollinating a Venus flytrap with one of your genjutsu-casting plants?"

"We wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't. Are you worried it will attack you?"

"It's not that…" I mumbled uncertainly, eyeing the flytrap that was the product of two plants already bred to specifically create seedlings larger and more receptive towards the genes of Zetsu's man-eating plants. Finally, I glanced up at Zetsu, who was gazing at all of his plants with an intense fixation. "I'll just be more careful about how close I get to this one."

"It's not going to just eat up an unrestrained human. That will be a few more generations down the line. Any ideas on how to accomplish that?"

"I'd suggest a plant that responds very sensitively to changes in light or vibrations. Do you have any of those here?" Why am I helping with this?

"Not right now. But we'll be sure to look for some the next time we leave the base." White Zetsu laughed while Black Zetsu chuckled darkly. "And you thought she wouldn't help us with this. She's not helping, just giving us a few ideas."

"I resent that comment; I'm being very helpful."

"You haven't done anything but question us and suggest things we would've come up with on our own. Be nice! No. She was very helpful. You're still delusional and in need of a psychological evaluation. We both know neither of us would pass a test of sanity. And yet I'd still do better than you. That's not saying much… You just insulted yourself. Actually, I acknowledged one of my failings; how's that for delusional? Even someone like you could say something reasonably intelligent given enough time."

I tuned them out, sort of concerned with how easy it was to do now. I sincerely hope insanity isn't contagious.

Caitlin's P.O.V. (yes, again)

Five Days Later

I escorted Nakano into the door, hovering over her worriedly. She moved slowly, weighed down with the grief of the deaths of her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. I squeezed my eyes closed, the unwanted memory of Yo's mangled corpse flashing vividly into my mind.

The wakes and joint funeral service had all occurred by now, and Nakano-san (I had to keep reminding myself to add the honorific) was now alone in this world of Shinobi. Well, almost alone; after all, she did still have me, and she knew it.

I eased Nakano-san into her kitchen chair before turning to the now-familiar stove and beginning preparations for tea. Over the past week, tea had acted almost like a drug (cannabis, to be specific), the herbs relaxing Nakano like nothing else could. And in this past week, I had learned how to use it better than I'd ever been able to use a stove for anything before.

In a few short minutes, I'd made tea and poured it into one cup for each of us. Nakano bowed her head slightly in thanks when I gave her her tea, but otherwise made no movement or sound. I sat down opposite her and sipped my tea, hoping it would settle my queasy stomach.

"Neko-chan…"

I perked up at hearing Nakano-san's now weary voice. "Yeah, Nakano-san?"

"Do you remember what I was talking to you about, before Yo-kun… before he ran in to tell me about Ruko? I was telling you that I have lived on this world for over half of my life."

I nodded mutely before something she was saying stuck out to me. "Nakano-san? How have you lived only half of your life on this world? Unless…" My eyes widened as I realized how that could be possible.

Nakano-san nodded, knowing what I'd figured out. "Yes; I used to live on Earth, until I appeared here on my twentieth birthday. It was disorienting - I experienced severe culture shock, and didn't trust anyone here. The man I would eventually marry had to save me on several occasions - first a group of rogue ninja looking for 'a good time', then from myself and my own depression."

"Why didn't you tell me this before now?"

"I keep my past buried; it's unnecessary, because my life is here, now." She drew in a shaky breath before continuing. "You have about a year since you first arrived before you return. I don't know what causes people to travel, but I do know that everyone who has appeared in the past has always returned to Earth in one way or another."

I leaned back, my mind reeling. "If everyone goes back to our world after a year, then why are you still here?"

Nakano-san smiled a slow, bittersweet smile. "My husband… He was a good, wonderful man. By the end of my year here, I was already in love with him. I found a way back."

"How do you know other people have… traveled here?"

"I met a woman when I'd first arrived, who told me what I'm telling you. Her story was a bit different; she appeared with her brother, and they came back for the orphan children they'd begun taking care of. Her brother had married into a clan, although I don't know which one. Others have come before you, men and women who have all either died somehow or stayed on Earth when their time was up."

Nakano - Nakano-san - let out another world-weary sigh. "I took so long to tell you because… each of those men and women, when I told them, died long before their year was up. I don't mean that the Land of Rain is a magnet for our people; I've met enough from each country to know that. But each person I've met, no matter where they arrived, has died. I refuse to believe that the same is for anyone I haven't met, but the outcome is rather dire.

"We weren't meant to live in this place. Even our world has stopped fighting on the scale that these nations are doing, although there's war everywhere. I would've died several times over if it hadn't been for my husband. …What I'm trying to say, Neko-chan, is that no matter how good you are at pretending, no matter how ingrained this society's mannerisms become in your mind, none of us truly belongs. Our chances of survival rely on running into someone we can trust, who will help us through this."

"Can you get us through this? You know where we're coming from, you could help us!" I pleaded, jumping to my feet. I don't want to wait a year to see my family again, but I'd rather do that than die in a world I know nothing about.

Nakano-san smiled tiredly. "I can teach you; however, it's late, and I've had a hard day. Go home. I'll tell you in the morning."

I frowned and opened my mouth to argue, but stopped short. Nakano-san looked exhausted and sad and de-… She looked worse than either of my grandparents had when Mom and Dad died. Nakano-san needed rest, and I wasn't about to argue her into a coma just because I needed information I could get just as easily tomorrow.

"Good night, Nakano-san."

"Pleasant dreams, Neko-chan…"

The Following Morning

I hadn't told anyone about what Nakano-san had said last night. I wanted to surprise them, and then tell them everything at once. Waiting wouldn't hurt them, as long as they didn't know they'd waited.

I rushed down the now-familiar street to the even more familiar house where Nakano-san had lived since she'd married her husband. Today, I'll get the answers I need, and we won't have to worry about anything.

"Nakano-san!" I called, knocking on the door before letting myself in. I could see the kitchen from here, and the sight made me pause.

Nakano-san wasn't sitting in her normal chair, which faced the door. Instead, she was facing the chair opposite it, the one closest to the entryway. There was a kettle of tea next to the stove, still steaming. A cup rested in front of Nakano-san, but she didn't move to sip it. She didn't move at all.

"Nakano-san?" I called, quietly this time. If she was crying, I didn't want to disturb her, but… Cautiously, I moved around to her front.

I screamed.

Nakano stared straight forward as though transfixed by the sight of some horrible monster. Her eyes were glassy, her skin pale and lifeless. Red-tinged foam dribbled out between her blue lips, and her hands clutched desperately at the table cloth.

Nakano-san wouldn't be telling me how to survive in this world. Nakano-san was dead.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though I think it turned out terribly.

And so we get to the heart of the matter. In a world filled with billions of people, I think it's okay for a hundred or so to have been transported to another dimension (from newborns to the decrepit). Er, not okay- just that it would make sense... sort of... eheh...

Question: Do any of you have a favorite Akatsuki member? Why/why not?

My Answer: My personal favorite would have to be Konan, because her hair color is awesome and hey, female power! Although I do get a kick out of Obito's Tobi persona, and Obito himself is pretty dang cool... This merits further examination!

In other news, plot-bunnies for this story are slowing down, which means I'm gonna pick up the pace. For anyone curious, exactly thirty days since Mischa's intro have passed, making it July 2nd in the story. No, the dates won't match up with my past chapters because I messed up the order for some key events since then.

The method of the serial killer is to: 1) Kill someone (duh); 2) Wait around for whoever discovers the body; 3) Stalk them until it's the third day after the first murder; 4) Kill them in some creative and hopefully gruesome way (rinse and repeat as necessary). I find it ironic that this turned out to be a four-step process considering that the number four tends to be related to death in some Asian cultures. It's equally ironic that Caitlin, being the next target, will be the thirteenth death.

Have a nice week!

P.S. - I also find the term 'plot-bunnies' to be incredibly funny when taking into account the phrase 'breed like rabbits'.