Slumberland

Author: Ladelle

Comments: Chapter Two! Wahoo! I decided to rewrite the second half so it took me a bit longer to post than I thought. For this, I am sorry. Thank you so very much for all of the reviews and support with this idea, and I hope I do you all proud!

Thank you for beta'ing Reyn!

~Part Two~

"We've stopped."

The fact Kiba was whispering meant he thought that Naruto was awake. Naruto was, but he didn't want to admit to it. The truck had stopped, and Naruto wondered if they had reached their destination, wherever it was. He had no sense of how much time had passed, but he guessed an hour. He usually wasn't able to take long naps.

"Naruto, are you awake?" Kiba sounded quiet and unnerved.

Naruto opened his eyes and saw the other man standing beside him, reaching his hand towards a spill of light invading the enclosed space from a tear in the metal. The warmth from the sun was too high for him to touch so he stepped backwards, letting the golden haze bathe a small portion of his face. Naruto watched as Kiba closed his eyes and soaked up the familiar feeling, relishing it.

"I'm awake," Naruto answered. He sat up and immediately grimaced. The metal floor had not been kind to his back and his neck felt like it had pins and needles jabbing it. He rubbed the feeling away and Kiba reached a hand down towards him; an offer to help him up. Taking it gratefully, Naruto was hoisted onto his feet, feeling a whole new pain in his legs.

"I feel like I've been rolling around on a tin roof," he said with irritation, rubbing some sensation back into his thighs. Kiba shushed him, and Naruto would have frowned if it weren't for the voices he began to hear as well. They were coming from outside, best heard through the tiny gash in the truck's siding that the sun leaked through.

Both of the men went silent, straining their ears to hear.

"…won't live, they're sick, all of them…"

Naruto and Kiba met eyes, and Naruto felt his shoulder tingle. The conversation outside continued, but only small bits were audible.

"…doesn't matter. Their infections will spread—" the voice was eager and angry, and abruptly cut off.

"—which is exactly why we need to keep them separated—"

There was a booming noise as the bolt to the back door unlocked, metal hissing as it was unhinged. Both Naruto and Kiba jumped back, surprised, and the fear sleep had stolen from Naruto was back ten-fold. His insides grew tense and he could feel his hands shaking as light poured into the small space.

"Don't do anything stupid," one of the guards said, and his eyes met Naruto's almost immediately. A frown smothered the officer's lips.

Something jolted through Naruto; another feeling of panic. His skin was turning clammy and he felt a fevered sort of fire sear through his veins, washing away any soreness his muscles felt. The feeling was overwhelming, demanding that he try to run again, and this time, succeed.

"Naruto…" Kiba was staring at him, his eyes wide. Naruto was sure he looked the way he had earlier, a sort of craze taking over him, a hysteria he wasn't able to explain or control. Maybe he was infected. It was the only way he could explain the anxiety that coursed through his body, making his intuition weigh on him; insisting he do things; things like run.

Kiba was moving closer to him, looking a bit more cautious than Naruto liked. But he could see it in his friend's eyes; he didn't want either of them to get hurt. The guard had climbed inside now and was moving towards them, and Naruto turned, his eyes narrowing. They were taking each other in, wondering who would make the first move.

Naruto's feet itched and his fingers moved; tiny impulsive jolts, blood pounding from his heart to the tips of his toes and straight up to the pads of his twitching fingers. A means to escape; his body was preparing for it.

Air choked out from his lungs, a shaky exhalation that made Naruto realize just how much he was trembling. It was no wonder the officer was staring at him like he was guilty of something; he was practically rattling where he stood, so amped with the momentum to bolt that he couldn't focus on anything else.

"…nothing stupid…" the guard said under his breath, still approaching slowly. His hands were outstretched as though he was cornering a fierce little animal, one that could erupt in movement at any time. His lips had even parted a bit more, quirking as though he was ready to dive forward.

Kiba's hand wrapped around Naruto's wrist and the touch made Naruto suck in air like he had been drowning, lost in the sensations of feeling caught. The intern was yanking him forward, and Naruto saw a blur of red—blood spurting from the guard's nose as Kiba punched him hard, forcing him out of the way.

"Run!" Kiba yelled and Naruto felt his body obey faster than his brain. Kiba took a flying leap from the back of the truck, successfully vaulting over a couple guards waiting outside. Naruto tumbled out behind him, his heart racing and limbs tingling. A rough hand grabbed his shoulder, hard enough to make him cry out. He spun around and clawed out, smacking the officer in the face.

The hold on his shoulder was gone and so he tore himself forward, away from another grasping hand that briefly touched his jeans. He stumbled forward and felt his breath grow thick in his lungs, searching through the scrambling chaos of bodies before him for Kiba.

"Naruto-!"

Naruto looked up and saw him. He was far ahead; too far. Kiba was fast runner and Naruto had to squint his eyes to focus on his figure in the distance. The sun's warmth was so blistering that the intern was blurred by waves of heat rising from the pavement, looking much like a hazy oasis in a desert.

Something stung Naruto's leg and he looked down, feeling a bit nauseas at the sight he beheld. A guard on the ground had jammed a syringe into his calf, and suddenly, his entire body burned.

"Naruto!" Kiba was screaming, and Naruto looked back up to his friend, reading his indecision. If Kiba were to turn away and run as fast as he could into the greenery behind him, he would be fine. But the intern's feet were planted to the ground, his eyes wild and raging, stuck between saving himself and staying behind.

"…run …" Naruto mouthed. He could feel spit bubbling in his mouth as his nerves began to numb, the sedative taking over his body. He attempted a step forward but the movement was disoriented, and his knees were about to buckle.

Pooling together what he could of his strength, Naruto growled from the top of his lungs. "Stop standing there and run, you idiot!"

He collapsed to his knees and a guard was already walking past him. It was like slow motion. The man swept by like a ghost, and Kiba, a small and sweltering blur of pink flesh in the distance, wasn't moving at all. Naruto felt hands on him, restraining him, and he struggled futilely against them.

"Run damn you!" Naruto screamed, and a hand clamped over his mouth as tears stained what was left of his vision. At once, Kiba's figure disappeared, like a balloon lost to the sky; Naruto watched through strained tears as his comrade disappeared into the trees behind him, escaped, free, and safe.

After that, everything fell apart.

Naruto couldn't see clearly, and his thoughts were jumbled. It was the feeling of being caught between dreams and reality, with giant faceless monsters with red glowing eyes chasing him through ageless forests smothered in dead trees, their skeletal branches fighting to snatch the moon from the sky.

His head was aching so badly that the agonizing sensation ripped him from his drug-induced frenzy to a room the complete opposite of his dreams. It was white and sterile, with blazing florescent lights and a stucco ceiling that reminded Naruto of fresh cottage cheese.

A haze of grey took the shape of a table beside his bed as his eyes focused on the things closer to him. He saw a nurse standing at the foot of the bed; a middle-aged blonde with a generic lab-coat and ruby red lips. Her eyes were blue and serious, and though Naruto didn't understand why, she looked very concerned.

"How are you feeling?"

Naruto didn't answer. He kept his mouth closed and stared at her, his head still pounding as blood rushed through is body anew.

The woman looked struck between being irritated and upset, but instead of acting on either, she merely repeated her question.

"How are you feeling?"

Naruto still didn't speak. His throat felt dry and there was a strange smell in his nose, like chloroform or formaldehyde, or something painstakingly sterile and starchy. He noticed that he was warm, bundled in blankets, and he heard the gentle lull of an EKG machine. He whipped is head towards it, relieved to see it was not connected to him, but someone else hidden behind a curtain. Whoever it was groaned, and the sound was morbid and grotesque.

"You should have a headache," the woman was saying, and she held out two red pills and a small cup of water. Naruto didn't trust her, so he didn't take them. He did shuffle to sit up however, effectively pushing her hand out of his way.

"Do you know where you are?" the woman asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Her nerves were getting ruffled, and it was evident in her tone. Naruto stared at her, and when he finally answered, his voice was thick and chalky.

"A place I do not want to be."

His answer seemed to catch the woman off guard, but she managed to smile impassively despite. She tried handing him the pills again, but he ignored them, even though the blood thumping against his temples made him grimace. His body wasn't aching like he half expected it to be, and to his surprise, his shredded work clothes no longer existed. Except for the white heated blankets piled on top of him, he was wearing only a thin hospital gown.

He looked up to the woman viciously, almost seething. "I am not infected."

The woman retracted the pills finally, and set them and their cup counterpart on the metal table beside Naruto's bed. She looked at him, her eyes narrowed and her lips turned downwards in a frown.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

Naruto snarled, "You know damn well. Them. I am not infected!"

The whole room went silent and even the groaning from the curtain beyond had quieted with his outburst.

"It takes days, even weeks to know for sure." She said matter-of-factly. "Besides, no one even knows what kind of contact you've had apart from that pretty little scar on your arm."

Naruto had almost forgotten about it. He nearly ripped back his sleeve to get a good look at the swirl that decorated his skin, sucking in a breath when he saw how red it had become. It looked more like a healing burn now, and his skin was beginning to warp around it. It didn't hurt at all.

"This isn't a nice place," the woman was saying. Her frame was too perfect for someone of science, but Naruto wondered what stereotype led him to that conclusion. Her words were as threatening as her lips were red. "Cooperation will help you see the better side of it."

Naruto stared at her, feeling his heart pound against his chest. He didn't want to cooperate. Not in some military hospital where he was being held captive against his will. Not where had had to talk about what he had seen; not where he had to reveal anything about the thing that had saved his life. It felt dishonest.

"How did you get that mark?" the woman asked and her eyes bore holes through him. Naruto simply stared at her; he didn't say anything.

The woman stared at him and her expression darkened, making her disposition grow cold and pitiable. "Alright. It's your choice."

That being said she left the room through a small door on a plain white wall opposite Naruto's bed, not another word from her mouth. Naruto jumped up to follow her, nearly tripping over his tired legs as he struggled free from his blankets. The door was locked, however, and there was no window for him to peer out and gage his surroundings.

The person from next to him groaned; it was a hoarse sound that ate away the serenity of the stale room and made Naruto's skin crawl.

"You should tell them," the voice said, and Naruto collapsed against the door, burying his face in his hands. There was a pregnant pause before the hidden patient let out a small cackle.

"Whatever they are, they can't get to us here."

The man spoke as though Naruto was afraid of them. It wasn't fear that inspired his silence however, it was conviction. As much as he felt alone and cornered, he also felt like he had something to protect.

Naruto sat quietly, until he was sure that the other patient had given up on speaking to him. The scar on his shoulder turned white as he absently traced it, trying to distract himself from the anxiety churning in his gut. It was a feeling he couldn't quite get used to.

He remembered the enormous ship in the sky, groaning as it slid below the cloud cover, skidding across the atmosphere with a technological grace Naruto had never known. He recalled the city bathed in sudden light, darkness washed away like dirt caked on unblemished hands. He felt the same tug he had felt then, like an invisible rope lassoing him closer, begging him not to leave.

His heart started racing at the memories. Every detail of the ship he had seen, every detail of the face of the person that had saved him. Too beautiful to be human, but human to any eye. Ivory skin, so smooth it looked porcelain and soft, like a child's. A slender nose that fell above thin lips, parting and folding together to create that language, those words…

"Eesshiao-anomona…"

Naruto felt his lips ghosting the words. They were like nothing he had ever heard. He was a translator, and he knew four languages. Latin was what he was best at—the grandparent of all European tongues. But he couldn't compare this language to anything he had learned in college. Not to mention, it didn't sound like any language he had heard before.

What had he been told at that time? To hold still? That cauterizing the wound would hurt? Or maybe something completely unrelated that Naruto couldn't even begin to guess. Was it a name? Did these aliens even have names?

Naruto's lips moved again, the words forming on his tongue. "Eesshiao-anomona." He said it slowly, piecing his way through each vowel, stressing the part that had been emphasized to him.

The phrase had been something kind; he knew that much. It was something to calm him, something to keep him unafraid. Naruto remembered now, how frightened he was, his head turned away as the burning sensation bubbled over his skin. He wondered what the alien had been thinking then; why save him at all? And to leave so quickly?

The military.

Naruto felt the realization sweep over him.

It had to of known. Not minutes later the stairwell had been packed with people descending the stairs, headed by that disturbing sergeant with the icy glare. Even the memory of that face sent chills down Naruto's spine, but so did this place. Glancing up, Naruto wondered how long he would be here, trapped and unwilling to speak against the thing that had saved his life.

Was his experience worth admitting to these people?

Naruto bit his lip. This place wasn't safe. The warmth from the blankets had long since left, and now there was only cold. His cotton gown did nothing to help, and the sterility of the room only made him feel more unwelcome. He doubted he was supposed to feel comfortable. He was a guinea pig or a mouse—something that had answers that the military couldn't seem to find elsewhere.

He pulled his knees to his chest and felt himself start to shake, that nervous tremble taking over again. He heard scuffling outside of the door and it opened, revealing the woman and a military officer.

Naruto was quick to his feet, his eyes darting back and forth between the two, hearing the door click locked behind them. He stepped back, his adrenaline racing with panic and entrapment, his gut churning as the general—as was labeled by a pin on his coat—stared down at him.

"This is him," the woman said shortly, and Naruto looked at her for only an instant before turning his attention back to the disinterested man before him. He didn't look impressed.

"Do you know why you're here?" the question was asked so casually that Naruto was taken aback. Wondering if the officer was attempting to lead him into a false sense of security, he frowned.

"Let me go," he demanded. The general looked surprised at the confidence behind the request but managed to retain his passive stance on the opposite side of the room.

"Can you hold him?" the general queried the nurse, and Naruto wasn't quiet sure how the woman managed to obey. But she had come behind him somehow, her hands holding Naruto's so tightly behind his back that he couldn't find a way to move without a sharp pain shooting up into his skull.

The general repeated his question, but this time added, "Defending them makes no sense. Are you afraid of them?"

Naruto didn't say anything, only continued to glare. It must have been an interesting expression, because the general stepped closer and let his fingers roam a tray of medical instruments. Retractors, a scalpel, packaged alcoholic wipes…and a syringe. The officer picked it up, looking surprised to find that it already had fluid inside.

"You're not afraid of them?" he asked, his eyes swallowing Naruto's from beside the needle he held between them. When he didn't answer right away, the general took one step closer, bringing the two of them nearly nose-to-nose.

Finally, Naruto shook his head to answer, but he was distracted when the syringe fell lower; nearer to his stomach. The close proximity of the needle to his gown made Naruto's heart rate speed up again, and even the nurse sounded apprehensive.

"General Nara," she said coldly, almost as though in warning. The guard spurted a bit of the fluid onto Naruto's gown before raising it to his eye level, examining it with little vested interest. His attention returned to Naruto.

"Is that it? You're afraid?"

"I'm not afraid," Naruto answered thickly. "Of them, anyhow."

He stared the general straight in the eye, thinking that for a moment, he and the alien looked similar. Pale skin, blemishless Asian complexion, glassy eyes that looked altogether too serious. But the person in front of Naruto was definitely human.

"Or maybe you're just afraid of this place," a squirt from the syringe seemed to be the perfect emphasis to his comment. "I wouldn't blame you for that one."

It was interesting, because Naruto felt it suddenly—the fear he had was draining. The person in front of him was smart. Holding the needle so close to him was a method—but not a means to an end. The officer himself even looked bored with the idea of scaring Naruto into a revelation, and without knowing why, he couldn't help but speak.

"One of them protected me," Naruto said quickly. "I won't sell out something that saved my life."

The comment brought a strange expression to the general's face, and Naruto heard the sharp intake of breath from the woman behind him. The grip on his arms loosened, and taking the opportunity to jump away from the two, Naruto did just that. He planted himself against a wall opposite from them, looking much like a cornered animal ready to pounce.

"It…saved you?" the woman was staring in disbelief. Naruto turned his attention to the general and noticed that he was, too.

"That's all that I'm saying to either of you," Naruto said, but there was a screeching sound that made Naruto whip his head around towards the door. Something crashed outside; the sound of something wild thrashing about. There was screaming and before Naruto could gage what was happening the general was shoving him back and yanking open the door.

The woman let out a yelp from across the room, and Naruto felt his breath catch in his throat.

It was one of them.

It was tall and awkward, it's skin pallid and its eyes untamed. It looked like something escaped, something angry, and something thirsty for something Naruto couldn't name. Blood? Revenge?

Sergeant Nara was already moving into the hallway when the woman yelled, "Shikamaru—be careful!"

Naruto glanced to her, back hunched against the wall, her slender frame inching towards the curtain of the patient sharing the room. Naruto was propping the door open with his body, watching as the thing lumbered down the hall, looking less like a human and more like an emaciated skeleton of a being, angry and fang-bearing.

It screamed again, and Naruto spun around as he heard the woman doctor let out a yelp, tripping over the table and tearing the curtain down by accident. Naruto's eyes widened at the other patient. There was hardly anything left to call a body.

Face curling in terror Naruto stumbled out of the door, reeling back when the sergeant named Shikamaru slammed him against the wall protectively. "Don't you dare go off on your own!" he warned, and Naruto looked past him at the creature.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, and he took in his surroundings as the other man bit out a response.

"Obviously, it escaped."

They were in a hallway that reminded Naruto of the inner-city hospitals he hated. The hall opposite the alien was speckled with bodies crumpled to the floor, victims of the raging beast. A few officers were planted against the sidelong walls, threatening to shoot. The tension was driving the thing mad, and it crashed through doorways, looking more and more disappointed with whatever it wasn't finding.

Was it looking for something?

Naruto felt calm and it was strange. It was speaking in that beautiful language, but its tone was infuriated. Officers were shouting crude things at it and to each other. A gun fired, piercing the ceiling. Someone yelled that the 'thing' was still alive—and it wasn't just a thing, it was smart. As smart as a human; and just as resourceful as one that had been trapped and drugged, which Naruto was sure was the case.

"Eesshiao-anomona…" I won't hurt you.

A light bulb went off in Naruto's mind and suddenly he knew what it meant.

He ducked out from behind Shikamaru and dodged forward, ignoring the vicious barks and demands of the chaotic military personnel around him. The being turned, its eyes black and glossy, it's expression waning on the urge to snap Naruto to pieces or examine him with an amused curiosity.

Naruto held up his hands and said the only words he knew in their language, as careful as a translator could. "Eesshiao-anomona."

The alien had been ready to smack him, ready to scream and take one more life it didn't care to spare. But it stopped and stared at him, and Naruto, shaking a bit now that he was so close, repeated what he had said with a stronger voice. "Eesshiao-anomona."

He and the creature met eyes, and it stared at him cautiously. The look faded as its eyes fell to Naruto's shoulder, and the mark burned. Naruto broke eye contact with the creature, realizing how silent the hallway had become. Everyone seemed to be paralyzed and confused, and Naruto had every intention to take advantage of it. He had to figure out what it was the alien wanted…

He felt like an idiot. An escape, of course.

Naruto stared down to the end of the hall and saw light from behind the farthest door. Willing to take his chances with his own race, Naruto grabbed the alien's hand and pulled it forward. It didn't move with him, and thus he was yanked back. Naruto whipped around and stared at it. "Come on!"

He pulled it again, ignoring the speculative glance it was giving him, but slowly moved forward. The military personnel were so overwhelmed by shock that none of them moved; they only watched in fear as Naruto led the creature away from the people that needed medical attention, not quite realizing what Naruto was attempting to do.

So he moved faster, wanting to free the thing behind him as fast as humanly possible. The cool metal handle of the door met his hand and his body slammed against the door, tearing it open. Sunlight bathed his skin and it felt like rebirth, and he spun around, letting go of the creature's hand.

"Go," Naruto said loudly. "Go!"

It looked at him, confused, something akin to gratitude in its eyes. Also bewilderment; a lingering gaze on the mark decorating Naruto's arm. The door behind Naruto burst open and a hand yanked him backwards; it was Shikamaru.

"What on earth—"

But the alien was already gone, disappeared, too fast to be seen. Naruto turned to Shikamaru and knew his eyes were begging for the other man to understand. Shikamaru's lips parted; only there was nothing for him to say. People from within the building poured out and Naruto realized he was being watched, and again the feeling that made him nervous returned.

Shikamaru stayed close to him and sirens blared, and Naruto realized that he had done something worse than withhold information from the facility. In their eyes he had become an enemy, or something foreign and feared, something that knew their language. Somehow he had become one of the aliens; he could tell by the way the workers of the facility watched him, nervous, amazed, and above that, furious.

"Do you know what you just did?" One man asked. He was a huge form in front of Naruto, his shadow stretching as thick as the bulk of an aged oak tree. His eyes were wild with disbelief and suspicion laced his anger.

"I did what was right," Naruto said, his voice full of venom.

The officer's eyes narrowed to the point that they may no have been open at all, and the sneer that encompassed his mouth was enough for Naruto to feel warned. He stepped backwards and Shikamaru's fingers curled around his arm, and oddly enough, he felt protected.

"Watch it," he heard the general say, but Naruto wasn't sure if the comment was meant for him. The officer that was staring holes into him grunted and bit his tongue, obviously doing his best not to speak out. Naruto figured that Shikamaru was his senior, and was suddenly grateful that he had such a defense.

"Come on," Shikamaru said, and before Naruto knew it the grasp on his arm was too tight as he was being dragged back into the brightly lit halls of the facility. His eyes stung under the sharp florescent lights and he found himself stumbling to keep up, the tiled floor icy cold beneath his bare feet.

It was funny how he hadn't noticed that before.

"Where are we—" he started, but the general shushed him and proceeded to walk faster. Naruto glanced back, noting how the other personnel from the halls were watching him like he was something to be ostracized. Their stares were threatening; in fact, that's exactly what he felt. Danger.

If he had been in any sort of peril when he had first arrived, what he had just done had definitely made things worse. He had helped one of the creatures escape and betrayed the military—his own kind—in an effort to do it. He had somehow made himself to look like an enemy, even if his gut told him he had done he right thing.

A harsh tug to the right had him in a nearly empty room, complete with a metal table, a chair, and a glass of water that was half empty. Whoever had been inside had probably rushed out to gage the commotion, distracted from whatever it was they had been doing. Shikamaru slammed the door shut and turned to face Naruto with an expression that rivaled infuriation.

"Tell me what you know." It wasn't a request, it was a demand.

Naruto slunk back against the door and stared at the general, his emotions clouded. He wasn't sure where to start; in fact, he wanted to hold true and not admit to anything at all. But at this point in time, he wasn't sure if it was a wise idea to keep things hidden. He felt a strange sort of draw to the man in front of him, but even so, there was something gnawing inside of him, begging him not to tell.

"I told you, one saved me—"

"I don't care if one asked you to marry it," Shikamaru bit out. He slammed his fist onto the table and a stinging noise erupted from it, making Naruto jump. While Naruto knew that Shikamaru wouldn't harm him, he felt his anger like a tidal wave of emotion, pooling in the room like a flood. "Tell me what you know."

Naruto stared silently before he collapsed backwards a bit, looking like a child caught with their hand in a cookie jar. The general continued to look daggers at him and it was obvious that he had no intention of letting Naruto leave the small room until something was said.

"Are you one of them? Do you know what they want? Are you dangerous? That's what everyone out there is thinking right now," Shikamaru almost snarled. He began to pace a small portion of the room and Naruto watched his expression grow even dimmer. "Do you want to be trapped here forever? Do you even know what 'here' is? Do you know what they do to people like you?"

"What 'people like me'?" Naruto said suddenly, that comment catching his attention. The man standing across from him struggled to keep his cool disposition.

"People who lie, people who know things, people who might be infected," he answered.

Naruto unconsciously covered his wound with his free hand. "I'm not infected…"

Even though he had been denying it, there was no argument that something inside of him had changed. It was as though his intuition had magnified and like he couldn't control his emotions; he had feelings about things before he even knew what they were, and about people too.

Shikamaru looked at him, something akin to deviance affecting his expression. It changed though, when he spoke. "Should I tell you? What happens to the people that are infected?"

Naruto watched him warily, unsure of how he wanted to answer. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and looked premeditative. "I could tell you anything and you'd believe me."

Naruto shook his head. "You won't lie to me," he answered, sure of it.

The general narrowed his eyes, but after a moment, they relaxed. Naruto had been right. No matter how threatening the general was, he was honest. How Naruto knew this, he wasn't quite sure.

"Their blood, it can be like poison," Shikamaru said. "Sometimes it mixes with human blood and things get confusing."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Confusing?"

Shikamaru seemed to calm a bit, and he fell into a chair next to the metal table. His elbow came to rest on the cool surface and he looked every bit the part of a young person put through too much stress; someone who had seen too much for their age. Someone like Naruto.

"They're blood is perfect…" Shikamaru seemed to be searching for the right words. "They say that it's exactly like ours, but without defect. No sicknesses, no virus strains, and hardly anything that implies that they even age. The few people that have been infected—that have come into contact with their blood—they've become almost superhuman."

Naruto stared at Shikamaru, wondering if his intuition had been false. Maybe the general was a practical joker after all. "Are you lying to me?"

Shikamaru frowned and looked at him, very serious. "Why would I make up such a ridiculous story?" he shook is head, looking confused and embarrassed to have said such a thing with such a solemn tone. "Not all bodies seem to be able to handle the change…"

Naruto remembered the man he had been sharing a room with.

Naruto pursed his lips; he also remembered what he had heard in the bed of the semi, along with Kiba. He tried to recall the exact words. "They're all going to die, their infections will spread…' I heard them say that," he said, and Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Heard who?"

"I don't know. People from here, when I first arrived. Who? Who's going to die?" he felt panicked and confused, wondering what exactly he had heard. The general looked a bit skeptical, but let out a sigh.

"They may have been taking about them. The aliens. Some of them aren't doing so well here; they're sick, like that one you just set free."

Naruto wondered why that could be, and he couldn't help but shake War of the Worlds from his head. If their blood was perfect, they certainly weren't catching any colds.

There was a brief period of silence and Naruto walked over to the table, feeling more vulnerable as Shikamaru's eyes searched him for something, anything, any bit of information he would give.

Naruto sighed, giving in. "There are two of them," he said, and Shikamaru looked up, surprised.

"Two? Of what?" his eyes had lit up and he soaked up Naruto's every word.

Naruto took a calculated breath. His gut was telling him to trust this person.

"Two of the…aliens." The word felt childish on his lips, even if it had formed so effortlessly on Shikamaru's. "I was at work when the ship shadowed the city. The power went out, and everything was dark. Pitch black. I saw flares outside with shadows in them, and was told that those were their capsules, falling from the sky…" Naruto felt his mind slip back to that time.

"There was one on the outside of the window, staring at me, holding onto the window somehow. It broke in. It tried to kill me, but I ran," he remembered. He could still feel the stairs beneath his feet and hear the door tearing from it's hinges behind him.

Shikamaru listened quietly, and Naruto continued.

"I wasn't paying attention to where I was going—I should have seen him, but I didn't," he explained and he looked the general straight in the eye. "He grabbed me and protected me, and with one finger…he killed it. The thing chasing me; it was dead."

Naruto was silent as he remembered the feel of the slender arm around his waist, the leather overcoat against his skin. He could still hear the bones snapping apart behind him and a sound like potatoes falling to the ground and rolling about; that carcass falling to the ground.

"What do you mean? He punched it?" Shikamaru was trying to wrap his mind around the concept. Naruto considered how the story must have sounded, and in all honesty, anyone outside of the situation would have looked at him like he was crazy. He shook his head.

"He didn't touch him. I couldn't really see. But his arm was raised, and it was like the other one broke apart from the inside. I…collapsed then. I had a piece of glass stuck in my arm; I was bleeding pretty badly. The good one…it told me that. Eesshiao-anomona. I didn't know what it meant, but I felt relaxed, and it healed me…"

Naruto showed his arm to Shikamaru, who looked at it now like it was something different than before. Something amazing and perplexing, and far from dangerous. It was something precious, because the aliens that everyone seemed to fear had given it as a gift, in a way.

"What happened next?" Shikamaru asked, and Naruto looked a bit bewildered.

"I don't know. It left. The building was being evacuated from above, so I think…maybe he was trying to get away? It was only a couple minutes later that people came from upstairs, and they saw the body…and me…" Naruto looked Shikamaru straight in the eye. "The military personnel. I don't trust them. I get these feelings now; they're overwhelming. Like I know things that I shouldn't; like I know who to trust, and who to fear…"

Shikamaru watched him, and Naruto felt his palms grow sweaty. He swallowed a lump in his throat, and the general eyed him, an eyebrow raised. "You trust me?"

Naruto nodded without hesitation. "You're good. You're honest. You'd protect me; you already have. We're alike somehow. You don't look at me like the others do. For some reason, you see me and you hear what I'm saying…and you're not afraid of it."

Shikamaru was more aware of him now. There was an aura about him that made Naruto feel like he was slowly beginning to understand, at least as much as he could. After a quiet moment between them, Shikamaru spoke.

"So, there are two. The one that chased you and the one that saved you," he said. "How were they different?"

Naruto tried to remember. He couldn't recall much about the enemy alien; most of his thoughts were of it's decrepit body bent at odd shapes at the bottom of the stairwell.

"They're not different, in appearance," Naruto scrunched his eyes closed, trying to remember. "Its how they feel. The one that chased me…it was so angry; I knew it wanted to kill me. The other…it felt safe. I just wasn't afraid anymore."

General Nara nodded and folded his hands together, intertwining his fingers to create a steeple beneath his chin. "I've never heard anything like that."

Naruto figured as much. Everyone at the facility seemed overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. Those emotions led to jumping to conclusions, and Naruto was positive that unless the government had known something about whatever was going on previously, there wouldn't be such a widespread panic.

There was a knock on the door and both of the men jumped. Naruto felt his heart begin to race, and his blood begin to boil again as Shikamaru stood up, aiming to answer it.

"I feel it again," Naruto said. "That intuition. Whatever is outside of that door isn't good, and the feeling is scaring me."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at him before turning to look at the handle, debating on answering it. After a minute, he asked, "Who is it?"

There were some muffled movements and a thick voice sounded. "General Nara, are you in there?"

Naruto felt his skin crawl at the tone, but Shikamaru let out a sigh. "It's just the lower division," he said, and he opened the door. Naruto didn't have the chance to tell him not to.

The division entered, nearly pushing Shikamaru out of they way, shoving him against the wall. They were all staring at Naruto, greedy with some unknown emotion. From behind them, Shikamaru looked livid.

"Excuse me, but this wing is under my jurisdiction," he stated. He attempted to move forward, but one of the men stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"That may be true, General Nara, but this man is property of military investigations now," he said, and Naruto watched Shikamaru's eyes widen and then dissolve to slits.

"He is innocent of aforementioned crimes and should be absolved," he directed, and the man blocking him smirked.

"Oh? Does that mean he's talked?"

Naruto felt it, that inevitable and unresolved tension in his gut. The men before him were horrid and pretentious, and they looked at him like they wanted to hurt him; they wanted to do things to him to make him admit what he knew. He could feel it; they hated him. They hated him because of their fear, and Naruto felt his breathing come out in sharp little bursts.

"Look, he's getting ready to run," one said, and Naruto looked up, confused. He hadn't moved an inch. But that was the point; they needed an excuse to be rough with him. One of the men grabbed his arms and pulled them tight behind his back. Naruto let out a small grunt of pain. He tried to yank himself forward, to loose himself from the grasp, but it was a lost cause.

"Where are you taking him?" Shikamaru demanded to know, and the officer snorted.

"A place where he can be better supervised," he spat, and Naruto could read from Shikamaru's face that he knew exactly where they meant. And whatever the place was, it wasn't good.

"Who made that decision?" he asked, looking between the four men that had entered. None of them felled compelled to answer, but when Shikamaru parted his lips to demand one, he man in front of him irritably responded.

"The facility head," he snorted. "Danzo."

Shikamaru looked as confused as Naruto felt, and they met eyes. The moment between them was short lived as Naruto was jostled forward, past the general and out into the hall. Naruto twisted his head to see Shikamaru's face, amazed to see someone so calm and intelligent so overwhelmed.

"There are two kinds," Naruto yelled to him. "Remember that!"

Naruto saw Shikamaru's face rise and his head bob as he hesitantly nodded to him. A hand cupped tightly around his mouth.

"Keep your mouth shut," was the icy command, and Naruto debated on biting the skin against his lips. He would have, if he had a place to go, and if he didn't have four of those brute soldiers surrounding him.

He was swallowed by apprehension yet again, especially when he was yanked out of the facility and into the sun, the sky now fading color in favor of dusk. It was hot outside, and muggy, and even though Naruto was still only wearing the ridiculous little medical robe, sweat prickled his skin.

He could hear his staggered breath loud against the hand on his mouth, and his feet burned on the smoldering pavement outside. The scolding pain made his eyes water and his nerves shoot bursts of tingles up his legs, and the man holding him from behind did nothing to hurry their movements.

Luckily, they didn't walk far; there was another transport vehicle parked not too far ahead, and somehow, Naruto knew he was destined for it.

"Where am I going?" Naruto inhaled as soon as the fingers left his lips, their cold clasp on his face gone. The men ignored him and to his surprise, brought him to the front of the truck and yanked open the passenger side door.

"Get in."

Naruto looked at the seat and then back to the officer. The burly man looked agitated.

"Don't worry. You won't escape because the driver has been given permission to use any means to subdue you." His comment seemed to be amplified with the fact Naruto's hands were suddenly cuffed behind him. After that he was mercilessly hoisted in, and after collapsing into a disorganized pile onto the seat, the door slammed shut behind him.

He struggled to a sitting position, the heat manifesting around quickly becoming too much to bear. His forehead was already dripping with perspiration, and the air he sucked in was hot. He tried to use the dampness on his wrists to slide his hands from their bonds, but the metal had been pulled too tight. He sat back against the leather seat, which was like hot coal against him, and the skin of his thighs stuck to the material like a hot glue had been slathered between them.

It was too quiet.

Where was the driver?

That question repeated itself over and over inside his head, with every breath he took. The compartment was stale and oppressive, and his flesh was pruning and clammy. He sucked in another round of air but it felt too thick. The base of his neck was starting to feel heavy, a heat-induced sleep urging him to close his eyes. Sweat ran like rivulets down his back, dripping from his bare skin.

"Damnit," he mumbled, closing is eyes in an attempt to focus. It had probably been some ridiculous vengeance that inspired the officers to put him in front instead of the back, no windows cracked or air conditioning to aid against the heat. His entire being felt numb and his throat was starting to feel tight and he wondered if he would suffocate—if after everything he had been through, heat stroke would be the end of him.

He was about to lose it when a gust of warm air—though significantly cooler than the current atmosphere—swept over him. He gulped down the air like he had never tasted something so rich, and turned his head to the side, meeting eyes with the man that was presumably his driver.

Or, more rather, meeting 'eye'.

The man had graying hair, even though he couldn't have been older than thirty, and a patch pulled tightly over his left eye. He climbed in and pulled his door closed, and made Naruto raise an eyebrow at him with the first word that left his mouth.

"Yo."

Naruto didn't say anything. He just watched him, wishing he felt something more than anxiety. The truck started and in minutes, they were leaving the giant lot of the complex. Naruto continued to watch the driver, suspicious, all until the man finally let out a long sigh.

"You're making me nervous," he said, and he flashed Naruto a reprimanding look with his good eye. Naruto felt slightly put off.

"Who are you?" he wasn't sure why exactly those words left his mouth, but they were the right ones. He didn't feel anything towards this man; nothing good, nothing bad. It was almost as though he was a typical guy, only he was wearing the uniform of the men Naruto couldn't stand to trust at all.

The man frowned, and leaned forward to turn the air conditioning higher. "No one you need to be so scared of," he answered.

Naruto did feel frightened though, because he didn't feel anything.

"I'm on your side, really," the driver said. "My name is Kakashi."

Naruto still didn't say anything and he felt himself edging towards the door, crushing himself against it. Getting as far as possible from the man seated only feet from him. It didn't seem like Kakashi was an enemy, but these days it was becoming difficult to tell.

"The one that healed you must have really liked you," the driver went on. He turned a corner and they were suddenly entering a freeway, and Naruto looked at his arm, the mark still pink on its surface.

"How do you—"

"Know? That whole facility knows. Well, they don't know it healed you, but then again, what else would it mean?" This time he did pass a cynical glance Naruto's way. "That one of them decided to try arts and crafts on your shoulder?"

Naruto felt the mark tingle and he clasped a hand over it, an action that drew Kakashi's attention once again. "What does it feel like?"

Naruto gave him a skeptical look. After a minute, he answered. "It tickles, a bit."

The driver nodded and let out a sigh. "I thought so."

Naruto's cheek smashed against the passenger door window as Kakashi made a quick exit, driving the monstrous vehicle up a dirt road. So few of them existed anymore that Naruto wasn't used to the bumbling sensation and his legs went numb. He turned to glare at Kakashi but the man was already speaking again.

"It'll do that, you know. When he's calling you."

Naruto was beginning to think this man was crazy.

"What are you talking about?"

Kakashi started the truck down a long and abandoned road, his expression unchanging. "You're connected with him. That's how it works. How it worked for me."

Naruto's eyes widened and he couldn't help but allow his lips to part. "What do you—"

"Hopefully yours will have a bit more luck," Kakashi's smile was sad as he cut Naruto off. "I'm taking you back to the city."

It was such a curt change in conversation that Naruto had to stop himself and think for a moment, his attention drifting from what 'connection' Kakashi was referring to why they were headed back to the place where everything had begun.

"Is that where they want you to take me?" he asked slowly, thinking about the military personnel that had sent the truck on its way. If Kakashi answered yes, he was going to have to start thinking of a way to escape.

"It depends on who you mean," was what the older man said instead, and the narrow road curved to meet a highway, one that reminded Naruto of a rainbow. It was narrow and arched and at its foot was the vacant city, cold and dark without mainstream traffic and street-walkers to liven it. "If you meant the military, then no."

Naruto scooted closer to the door on his side, straining himself in an effort to not let his discomfort show. "Then…who? The aliens?"

He was beginning to think he should escape anyway.

Kakashi snorted. "Yes. The aliens as you so delicately put it."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What else would they be?"

The driver was silent for a good minute before he spoke, his tone turning condescending. "If I were you, I would invest in reading a book or two. History works wonders in reference to the marvels of the future."

Naruto had nothing to say to that. If anything, he was more convinced that he was in a vehicle with a lunatic, and not just any lunatic, one that was well read. And as much as he valued the free ride to the city (he had every intention of finding the being that had saved him) he was starting to realize he valued his sanity (and possibly life) a bit more.

"I would like you to let me out here, please," he said, staring directly ahead, the city much closer than it had been the last time he had looked. He was completely serious, too. He could walk the rest of the way and be perfectly content with his own company and no one else's.

The laugh that came in response was like nothing Naruto expected. He turned his head to get a good view of the man seated beside him and was even more surprised when Kakashi looked even more serious than he himself felt. "No can do, kiddo. If you got captured again, it'd be chaos all over."

Frowning, Naruto replied, "Why? Because of this?" He deftly rubbed his arm above the mark that had settled there. It felt like sore skin now, instead of something alive. "It's just a scar, isn't it?" He himself didn't believe those words, but he was hoping if he sounded disbelieving it would be enough to get Kakashi to let him go.

"Is it?" Kakashi wasn't necessarily asking a question. If he was, his tone hinted it to be rhetorical. He looked thoughtful before he spoke again.

"It's a crest. A mark of ownership. Even if humans don't understand what is happening, they're still smart enough to connect the dots." He pointed to the ship, still hovering high above the tallest skyscrapers, and Naruto glanced up to where Kakashi was pointing.

He hadn't noticed it before, and now, he felt like an idiot for it. There were two large symbols on a lower extension of jutted metal; one that reminded Naruto of a leaf, and another that swirled around to create an intricate spiral; a design that was a replica of the scar on his shoulder.

His tongue moved to form a single word. "Ownership…?"

Was that it? He felt this way because somehow he belonged to the being that had saved him? He owed it something now?

"Few people get the opportunity to become a part of this," Kakashi said dully. "It's not my place to give you all of the answers."

And that was that. The ride turned silent and whenever Naruto felt the urge to ask something, he bit his tongue. He felt like a child, questions collecting in the forefront of his mind, only he was without the courage to actually voice them. If it wasn't Kakashi's place to fill him in, whose was it?

The highway dipped underneath a larger freeway and the quick bout of shade jerked Naruto from his thoughts. His eyes, which had been glued to his own window in a contemplative rebellion, now drifted forward to see the city much larger on the horizon.

He felt his palms turn sweaty as he took in the massive entirety of the ship as they traveled closer. It was looking more like how he remembered it; like a curved chunk of metal swallowing vines and extrusions that dangled from below. His eyes grabbed at the one symbol he recognized, the one that matched the mark on his shoulder, and he tried once again to make some sense of it.

When he couldn't, he just let his vision drift further, latching on to something else he hadn't before seen on the craft. Like the large panels of black that glittered against the sun's eerie glare from the ship's uppermost decks. He wondered if it was solar powered but shrugged that idea away, seeing as to it had managed to stay afloat during the night.

It was simply like nothing he had ever seen, and even in his mind, no words could pool together to describe it. He wondered if he could remember each lingering detail if he concentrated hard enough, afraid that like everything in life, the days would swallow up this moment until it became nothing more than a hazy memory.

The thought frightened him and made him uneasy. Kakashi himself had said that he had become a part of this, whatever this was. But he wanted it now that he wasn't afraid. He was confused, but not even that uncertainty could ebb away the draw he felt. A feeling that sat in the pit of his stomach, like butterflies tumbling around one and other, turning to an incomparable energy that made the hairs on his arms stand straight and his whole being feel drugged.

He knew this.

How?

There was no reason he would. He didn't even like science fiction movies and could only remember one book in high school he'd been made to read. His imagination had never been that great, and he couldn't remember one video game that even came close to alluding to anything he saw in front of him at the moment.

No, this was something different. Something that the mark was doing to him. It was tugging him in all sorts of different directions, making his thoughts run rampant and his sense of self feel muddled. He knew this.

What did that mean?

He blinked when the under-hangings of the ship disappeared above the tinted strip of the truck's windshield. He was griping the seat beneath him with such a force that his knuckles had turned white.

"Calm down," Kakashi advised. "We'll see them tonight."

Naruto wasn't sure how to answer, because he couldn't quite peg what he felt so anxious about. It was the same feeling he remembered getting while taking tests in college, the answer being on the tip of his tongue but not complete. The same feeling of that tin hint eating away at his mind—and the harder he tried to remember it's whole, the more he felt even that tiny hint fading, like it never even existed at all.

"Where are they?" Naruto wasn't happy with how his voice sounded. It sounded like a little kid's; impatient, demanding almost. He felt like he was close to them, so close he couldn't stand to sit still. His hands found the seat again and he squeezed it again, trying to dislodge some of the strange tension boiling in his blood.

Kakashi seemed to think for a moment before he turned a corner, into an area Naruto had been to only once or twice in his life. There were corporate buildings along with some political ones as well, with a tiny shopping district towards the capitol and a library a bit south of there. The truck stopped, and the engine hummed as it sat stagnant in the middle of an abandoned street.

"There's nothing to fear during the day," Kakashi finally answered. "They prefer the night. When the sun sets, they will find us."

The comment sent a chill down Naruto's spine and images of Nosferatu made his blood run a little colder through his veins. Feeling a little foolish in comparing aliens to vampires, Naruto nodded, accepting what Kakashi had told him. The older man watched him skeptically before clearing his throat.

"I need to go and get rid of this truck. When the facility realizes it's missing, they'll be looking for it…" he was glancing around, probably thinking of the best place to hide it. "There are some stores around here, so you can clean yourself up in the meantime. You're not going to run away on me, are you?"

Naruto suddenly felt how dirty and vulnerable he was in his sweat-soaked hospital gown and found himself shaking his head softly. "I won't leave. I need to find him again," he stated, his words feeling a bit lost in the emotions that came with them. Even Kakashi gave him a look, but it was one he didn't understand.

"Alright." Kakashi leaned to Naruto's side of the truck and forced him forward, just enough to free his wrists from the cuffs. Naruto saw a bracelet on Kakashi's hand as he settled back into his seat; a bracelet with several keys dangling from it. Naruto wondered how he hadn't realized it before, but his thoughts were interrupted.

"Get out and I'll meet you back here."

Naruto nodded and popped up the lock to his door. He slipped out of the truck, making sure his gown fell to cover as much skin as was possible. Kakashi made a noise behind him and Naruto turned, an eyebrow raised.

"Be back before nightfall," the older man said, and Naruto nodded, wondering what would keep him.

The truck revved and Naruto slammed his door closed. He watched as Kakashi drove it out of sight, and beads of sweat collected on his forehead as the sun weighed onto him from above. His feet burned on the sidewalk and he hopped between them.

The shadow of the ship was too far from him, even if an edge of the ship hung not to far above. He watched the metal hover above, and listened to it groan; small whimpers from loosened bolts and aged metal that sounded like a mysterious song when combined with the airy whistle of a hot breeze.

Unable to take the burning sensation searing the pads of his feet, Naruto turned towards the cluster of expensive shops that only business executives and politicians found affordable. He released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He would change his clothes and wander to the library, and hopefully the time would pass quickly enough that night would come sooner rather than later.