For the charming Miss o0KittyBlue0. :)

Disclaimer: I suppose since these are required, and I must say, "I do not own anything of this fic but the idea!"

xlviii — axis: mirage

"—me-san… Yo, Kagome-san."

Kagome's dazed eyes slowly fluttered open, and at once they squinted in disagreement with the blazing afternoon sun. Her initial reaction was to cover her face from the blasted thing with her arms, but she found she hadn't the strength to do so. She was drained, and dried up as though she would be the chewiest raisin in the entire world.

I hate the desert, she lamented, her gaping mouth desiccated.

"Kagome-san," the male looming over her repeated again. "Think you'll be okay now?"

Once she focused she could make out the slight spikiness of his red hair, and the prominent outline of his eyes. There was a symbol on his forehead where his bangs parted; the kanji for the word love.

"Get it together, will you?" he encouraged roughly, though his lips weren't moving. His face was coming a bit closer, maybe to inspect her. As he did she could pick out his turquoise-colored eyes, and boy, were they brilliant. A pair of diamonds fitted into his sockets.

Hey, this isn't so bad.

"Oi, Gaara, she's totally out of it," said the same voice from above her, the young Kazekage's lips still motionless. (Maybe he's a ventriloquist for a job on the side, Kagome considered seriously.) "Look at how she's drooling! And that creepy look in her eyes—anyway, we need to get her under some shade, fast; it'll be bad if Kumo's representative dies on us here. That fickle nation definitely won't hesitate to point fingers at us."

"You're right. Place her inside Kuroari where she'll have protection from the sun."

Wait, that's the Kazekage's voi—huh?

"Got it."

Everything became clearer, and the strange hotness distorting her vision evaporated.

The tattoo on Gaara's forehead fell back into his skin, disappearing from view, and his complexion developed interesting purple stripes. His skin was tanner. He had an eccentrically styled hood on his head that made him out to possess black cat ears. Just when Kagome was about to tell the young man that he had an interesting fashion sense, she felt her body get lifted into the air by strong arms, and—

She screamed.

Then slapped the revealed Kankurou.

He yelped, dropping her.

It was all but a blur as Kagome was secured mid-way in her fall by a bed of sand.

"Kagome-san—"

And she found herself staring into the eyes of the real deal.

The enamored woman hardly even heard Kankurou's heated complaints as she locked gazes with the Kazekage.

Yeah… this is pretty darn nice.

Shortly after, she fainted from dehydration.

Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I could be wrong.

—Terry Pratchett

Author's Note: Hope that was satisfactory for you, Kitty! Next up is a Rock Lee-centric chapter for Midlina, and then I intend to begin posting up the "7 Deadly Sins."