Chapter Thirteen

When I looked at the clock, I couldn't suppress a groan. According to my traitorous time-telling machine, it was only three in the morning.

It had been three days since my most recent encounter with Koda, and I hadn't been sleeping very well since. Every night since the first one had been the same. I saw that same dream or vision or whatever it was every single night. Maybe Koda's words were getting to me, maybe I'd finally cracked, but they were starting to get the feel of a memory to them. Or maybe that sense of familiarity just came from seeing it so often.

Every night was the same. The images were always the same. They only ever varied slightly. My father was always there, along with my younger self and the young boy… The young boy who was unmistakably Koda's younger self.

My father was always smiling down on us peacefully while we ran and played and laughed. The laughter was terrible… We both sounded like we were having a wonderful time, but the sound had begun to grate on my nerves. Like we were deranged children in a horror film.

I glanced across the room now at Luke, who was still asleep. He looked so peaceful… and I aimed to keep it that way. I had considered telling him about Koda and the dreams that had followed a few times over the past few days. Each time, I had quickly shot that idea down. He was worrying enough, thinking that I still didn't see these people all around us as real. And I had come to no conclusions to offer up... no even vaguely reassuring ones anyway. No. I would deal with this on my own.

I glared out the window at the dark sky. Whatever Koda was doing, it was cruel, playing with someone else's mind. I couldn't stand to be the butt of his prank. No. I would get him back for this. I vowed to that as I lay back down.

…

Unexpectedly, I did fall back to sleep, and for the first time in a long time, Luke was up and moving around before I was the next morning. He grinned when I sat up and blinked blearily around the well-lit room.

"Strange of you to wake up after nine," he teased. (Upon further inspection I found that it was nearly nine-thirty.)

"Strange of you to be up before noon," I responded a little hoarsely. I cleared my throat. If this went on much longer, the lack of sleep would soon start to visibly wear on me.

He shrugged. "Well, it's hard to sleep when the landlord's banging on our door. Not that you had any problem, though…"

I began to wake up a little more. "The landlord was here? Why?" I tried to think back, but he'd never really bothered us before. I could hardly remember what he looked like. More often than not, our dues were left in his mailbox. In fact, I couldn't recall seeing him once since my first day. "We already paid this month's rent."

"He had a letter to deliver." Luke handed me the piece of paper along with a plate of eggs and toast. "And he said this one was on our doorstep." He dug two more pieces of paper out of his pocket and handed those over as well. I thanked him absentmindedly and began to eat while I opened the first letter.

The writing was very neat, but it didn't have any obvious feminine touches to it. My eyes widened as I read it. The Hokage wanted to meet with us after lunch today!

"What's this all about?" I asked.

Luke shrugged. "The landlord didn't even know what was in the letter. He said some ninja delivered it this morning. I wonder what the Hokage wants to talk about…"

I began to unfold the other two pieces of paper. One was a map with a route drawn out in red ink. It started at my house and ended at an unknown, circled destination. This made no sense until I opened the other paper. In very messy handwriting was a short note. (And people say my handwriting looks like chicken scratch!)

Follow this map to the circled town.

It may answer a few of your questions if you know where to look.

Just trust me.

-Koda

Well, I can truthfully say that my initial thought was that there was no way in hell that I was going to go along with anything Koda had planned. I had ignored his first note. I could only assume this map led to that same address. But then I started thinking it over… From the unbroken seal, I could tell that Luke hadn't opened this one. It had been addressed solely to me. Luke was watching me out of the corner of his eye, but he wasn't asking any questions, and I wasn't offering up any information. Silently, I decided that I would check it out. Just this once. Just for curiosity's sake. But I wouldn't tell Luke.

Our day went on as normally as possible. Neither of us had work today, and we mostly just hung around the apartment. Luke left me to my thoughts. I didn't really think Koda would approach me before I got a chance to do as he asked, but I didn't venture outside anyway.

"Your breakfast was surprisingly good this morning," I commented as lunchtime drew nearer.

"Yeah, well, breakfast is easy," he responded. "But here, I'll be generous. You can do lunch."

"Alright, but I'm not exactly a master chef," I warned. I began to look through our cupboards. "Okay… I can make peanut butter and jelly… and if you're feeling really adventurous I can toast the bread."

Luke laughed and our day continued. It had been a while, I realized, since Luke and I had just hung out. The distance that had become so familiar in our world seemed almost nonexistent here. It was a welcome realization... And one more reason not to tell him anything that could possibly stir up another conflict between us.

"What are you making now?" Luke asked as we began to clean up lunch.

"Tea," I replied.

He just stared for a moment. Then, "Tea?"

"The Hokage will be arriving soon," I said defensively. "I want to give him a proper welcome."

Though his entrance made me realize for the first time just how shabby this apartment must look to outsiders, the Hokage very respectfully took no notice of it. He seated himself on one side of the table, and Luke and I sat down on the other. I handed him his cup of tea.

"Thank you, but my visit will be very brief." He took a sip. "I've come to invite the two of you to the finals of the Chunin Exams as my guests. Now, it won't be for some time yet, but I think it should get you acquainted very well with an important aspect of this village's culture."

"Wow, thank you!" I already knew how that whole experience was going to play out, and I wasn't exactly sure it was something I was eager to experience, but it was still a very kind gesture.

"Yeah, thanks." Luke wasn't really paying attention. I looked over and winced inwardly at the obnoxious amount of sugar he was heaping into his own cup of tea. The Hokage finished his cup and was then soon off, wishing us well as he went. It felt like a lot of buildup for such a short visit. At the very least, it lifted a little of the weight off my shoulders. I'd been almost certain this was going to be a much more serious talk about boundaries and our state as outsiders. But it would appear that our little Forest of Death adventure had been forgiven after all.

"You were right," Luke said nonchalantly, taking a sip, finally satisfied with the taste. "He is pretty cool."

"Yeah…" Well, I guess there was really no point in putting it off any longer. I grabbed the letter and the map that Koda had sent me. As I walked out Luke asked, "Where are you going?"

I pretended not to hear him, shutting the door behind me to block out his queries. I knew it was a little rude, but I hadn't thought up an excuse, and Luke had grown used to my somewhat erratic behavior over the years. I was sure he was patient enough to wait just a little longer for a proper explanation. I hurried down the stairs and began walking along the red line. As terrible as my map-reading abilities were, I finally managed to find the town marked on Koda's map. I looked up at the sign and walked in. Well, what now? There were no directions after this.

Slowly, I walked onward. This town didn't look terribly different from any of the others I'd seen so far in Konoha. The street was filled with people going about their daily lives. It was only after the first ten minutes, when I'd reached a spot literally filled with people that I began to notice the staring.

At first it was just casual glances. Then there were some double takes. Then there were some right out stares.

I began to feel self-conscious. I began to walk quickly with my head down as if I actually had a destination in mind.

What was going on? God, this was like a bad fanfiction! All I was doing was walking! What were they all staring for?

I began to remember something. Kakashi had given me a second look when we'd first met… as had Gai. Like they saw something I didn't. Or knew something I didn't…

I walked until I reached the other side of the town. I chanced a glance back and was struck with a sudden realization. I'd just been through one of those sectors that was nearly all ninja families. But what that could possibly mean, I had no idea.

I'm not sure what it was that made me look up when I got out, but I found Koda sitting on a rooftop, his legs dangling over the edge, watching me. He gave me a quick nod as if he'd proved his point, and then got up and began to jump from one roof to the next in the opposite direction.

All of my days had been so strange lately… In some desperate ploy to hold onto my sanity, I was going to go home and just do nothing out of the ordinary for the rest of the day. This was what I got for following the directions of some whacko. If Koda had hoped to give me closure with whatever he'd had planned today, it didn't work. If anything, I was even more stressed and confused than I'd been before.

That night my dreams were much of the same… until they weren't.

They started out as they usually did. Koda, my father, and I were all in the clearing that I couldn't remember ever going to in real life. Then, Koda frowned. Fear flooded a pair of eyes; it took me a moment to recognize that the view had changed, and I was looking into my own horrified scream. A sense of panic overcame me.

There was a terrible, piercing scream. My scream.

And then it all went black.

I sat up quickly, sweating, my oxygen coming in horrible, gasping breaths. The panic had continued on into the real world.

I had to wait quite a few minutes to calm down. I envied Luke, who slept on through all of this. When I was calm once more, I made a vow.

I was going to find out what was going on. And, more importantly, I was going to discover just what in the world it had to do with Koda.

Review please!

I'm sorry it took so long to update!

I know it's all pretty confusing right now, but I'm infamous for rushing my stories and I'm trying very hard not to do that with this one. There are a few more things that have to happen first.

I don't own Naruto!

Please, leave me your thoughts!

Revised June 3, 2016.