Slumberland

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Author: Ladelle

Comments: I wrote this chapter three times, I am not even kidding you. 18 pages deleted, and this is what you get, LOL. A teacher of mine once said that your tenth draft is your best one, and I thought she was crazy. But I'm starting to wonder if I'm getting a writer's OCD because I get so many ideas I just re-write and re-write and re-write, haha. Anyway, it's a tiny bit shorter than the others, but it was a good place to end so I did.

Hope you enjoy~

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~Part 3~

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Naruto found everything needed in the first store he stepped into. He hadn't expected getting inside to be so easy, but the evacuation of the city had obviously frightened people to the point of not locking business doors. Not that Naruto was complaining. He needed clothes for the sake of reclaiming a sense of normalcy not found in the sweat and dirt stained hospital gown that he less than affectionately planned to discard.

After snagging a pair of jeans from an organized display pile near the check-out counter, Naruto stalked towards the rear of the store, passing an employee break room and a storage closet before finally locating the destination he sought. Even without a tub or anything remotely homely inside, the bathroom was a more than welcome sight.

Hot water splashed from the faucet to Naruto's hands and he scrubbed his skin red, rubbing away the griminess that days without bathing had culminated. He washed his face and combed water through his hair with his fingers, tugging at knots and rinsing it clean. The sensation of water pouring over his skin was liberating, and when he was finished bathing, he pulled on the pair of jeans and wandered back into the store to explore.

In the employee lounge he found a snack machine and his stomach twisted at the thought of food. How long had it been since he had eaten? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had anything to drink either, which made him feel nauseated. The snack machine had bottled spring water, jerky, chips, donuts, and candy, and Naruto felt weak with a sudden hunger. It felt like a cruel joke when he realized he didn't have any money on him.

Licking his lips through the dryness that had suddenly caked his throat, Naruto looked around, wondering if he would be lucky enough to find any that a worker had left out before leaving. There was a backpack on the floor next to the refrigerator and, throwing away any manners he would have had if its owner was actually present, Naruto rifled through it.

There was a laptop and some notebooks, enough to make Naruto assume the person had been a student. He unloaded the bag and stacked everything neatly on a cherry-wood table, feeling a little jittery when the last item he pulled out was a wallet. He could see some tattered bills poking out from the top and his stomach growled.

Naruto clenched his eyes closed and silently asked forgiveness as he withdrew a few dollars and retrieved some food and drink from the machine. He downed a bottle of water and plowed through a pack of donuts, not quite feeling full in the end, but feeling a bit more energetic nonetheless.

The newfound vigor encouraged him to scout out the rest of the store, collecting some things in case he needed them in the future. He borrowed the backpack he had found, promising that he would someday return it. He put on a t-shirt before cramming the bag full with some other shirts and things that were on display, hoping he was collecting things he'd end up using. He had no idea what an encounter with the aliens would mean and he wanted to be prepared, or at least feel like he was.

There was a glass case near the cashier station with a plethora of switchblades and as he remembered the creature that had nearly killed him, he snagged a nice one for himself. There was display shelf with imported tennis shoes and Naruto's feet suddenly felt cold and bare. Knowing he would need shoes once he left, Naruto made an effort to pick the most boring pair on display, hoping the shoes' simplicity would help ease his conscience about the fact he was stealing them.

They sky's hue was beginning to turn a faded shade of orange, and Naruto decided that it was time to leave. It would still be another hour until the sun set, and so, with the backpack tight against his back, he decided to take in a bit more of the city while it was still safe.

He didn't see Kakashi waiting towards where the truck had stopped, so he figured he still had some time he could kill on his own. Another lucky break gave him a sign that had a big arrow stating that the library was 'that way'. Naruto obeyed, following as many bits of shade as he could find in order to avoid any direct sunlight. Even for being late afternoon, the sun was still blistering.

There weren't many cars stranded on the streets in this part of town; everything appeared vacant and simply enough, empty. Naruto felt like he was the last person left in the giant metropolis he called home, except he knew that Kakashi was wandering around out there as well. It made him wonder where the aliens hid during the day, and why they preferred coming out in darkness.

The library was as close as the sign had admitted it to be, and it was scrunched in between two larger buildings that Naruto recognized as court houses. He walked forward slowly and looked up, straining his neck until his eyes reached the tip-top of the structure. It was gigantic and alluring, as well as cold and unwelcoming.

Naruto crept up the steps of the building, admiring the architecture of it. The whole structure was white and insanely detailed, with pillars and slabs of marble that made it look like a roman sanctuary. It felt cold though, somehow. And empty.

The wind whistled around the edifice as though it had been vacant for more than a couple of days, and even though the day was boiling hot the building forced out a cold draft from it front doors. The feeling made Naruto pause. It made his heart-rate pick up. He recognized his new and intensified intuition beginning to bubble in his gut, making him wonder if there was something inside.

They prefer the night.

Naruto found no comfort in what Kakashi had said as the creeping sensation of warning made his gut feel heavier in his belly. His hand drifted to his pocket, where he had hidden his blade and with a deep breath, he continued forward.

"Why am I going in?" he asked himself in a breathless confusion. He felt like the people in scary movies that went after danger when they could have simply walked away. But now he felt what they felt—the insatiable wonderment of curiosity—the strange satisfaction in the way fear danced through his nerves; the bizarre sensation that he was in control when he knew very well that he was not.

He stepped inside. Despite having no air conditioning, the building's air was stale and icy. Naruto had only been to this library once in the past in an attempt to find a Latin copy of Homer's Odyssey, only to be vastly disappointed when it had been checked out.

He stepped into the main hallway, a long tiled space that webbed off into different branches of the building. The elevators in the center were jammed open, and papers were scattered on the floor near the book keeper's desk. It was dark, all except for fingers of light that trickled in through windows that lined the upper level's walls.

He avoided them, sticking to the shadows, creeping quietly across the smooth floors with his new shoes. He was thankful they didn't squeak as he pushed his weight forward. He paused, hearing a sound.

Books falling to the floor. Their pages spilling open. Shuffling and rifling, and grunts and groans.

Naruto felt his lips curl downward, wondering what sort of alien would be pilfering the fiction section of a library. A thought of the creature that had saved him reading Harry Potter made him bite back a laugh. This was a serious situation, and he wondered if the sense of humor rousing from it was a result of him becoming desensitized or going insane.

He snuck towards the sounds, clutching his backpack tight to his shoulders, switchblade in hand. He felt like an inexperienced James Bond, creeping through the less than vacant shadows cast by shelves and overhanging lights in an attempt to not be seen. The crashes grew louder as he drifted further into the fiction section, until they sounded as though they were happening right beside him.

He peeked through a gap between two teen horror novels, searching for the source of the noises. And to his surprise, the room suddenly grew quiet.

That same fear that had motivated him earlier now sent daggers through his nerves, making him feel watched from every angle. He saw a discarded book at the end of his aisle, its spine broken from whatever impact it had had with the marble flooring. He went towards it, holding his breath as he shakily decided to peer around the edge to see if the creature was there.

He looked, but aside from a pile of books and a now-emptied shelf, there was nothing.

He could hear his heartbeat pounding inside of his skull. It was so loud he was sure whatever else that was in the building with him could hear it too. He couldn't think straight, much less decide his next move. He stood still, the hair on the back of his neck jumping to attention with the feeling that someone—no, something—was watching him, evaluating his every move.

Why did I come here…

Naruto pulled the blade out from his switchblade set, preparing to defend himself. There was a heaviness in the room that was beginning to drown him; the feeling that something was going to happen soon. That a confrontation was going to happen soon.

Not able to hold his breath any longer, Naruto exhaled, his lungs feeling abused as they struggled to demand more air. Naruto turned his head, peering over a set of short-stature books as he was eaten by the sensation of something peering over his shoulder.

Two eyes stared back at him, wide and alert.

Naruto released a less-than-manly scream and leapt backwards, slamming himself into a rack of books with a clumsiness that was unparalleled. He groaned even as his backpack broke his fall. He struggled to pull himself to his feet but a shadow was settling over him.

He thrust his knife forward and a cold hand gripped his wrist.

"Haven't you ever heard of being quiet in libraries?"

The black splotches that invaded Naruto's vision from the intensity of the fall faded and his eyes adjusted to the meager light. It wasn't an alien standing above him, it was a man. An old man at that, with long and uneven bits of white hair mixed with a few clumps of darkened gray. He looked irritated, and when Naruto was too stunned to say anything, he merely pulled Naruto to his feet.

"I, uh…"

"And for God's sake, put that ridiculous weapon away," the old man released Naruto's hand, and suddenly the switchblade did look pretty pathetic. Finally retrieving his voice, Naruto found himself met with nothing. The old man had walked away, and for his age, he moved fairly swiftly.

Turning the corner of the nearest book stand, Naruto watched the old man scramble up a ladder slanted against a tall built-in of novels, only to rip the books off their shelves and send them soaring towards the floor. Naruto had to move to avoid getting smacked on the head.

"Curious kids, sneaking around, carrying knives like they're toys," the man was muttering, and Naruto glanced around the room before turning his attention back up to the older man.

"Um," he wasn't sure how he should refer to the man, considering that this point in time, he looked like a lunatic. "What are you doing?"

The old man knocked five books off the shelf and peered down, only his eyes visible over his broad shoulder. They were narrowed and irritated.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting rid of the things they can use!" the comment was followed by another arm-sweep of the shelf to which Naruto jumped backwards in order to avoid another book-to-head collision.

Naruto glanced down to his feet, lightly kicking a young adult vampire series to the side. He snorted. "Why would they want fiction books?"

The older man clawed his way further down the shelf, the ladder bumbling along below him. He scraped a few more novels off and grumbled, "We've written about them in almost every fiction book that exists! They all need to be burned…"

The last book burning Naruto remembered from history didn't prove to be a good memory for anyone, so he found himself narrowing his eyes at the older man above, unsure of what to say to that.

"Who are you, boy?" the old man's voice sang out, but when Naruto looked, he wasn't paying him any special attention. He was focused on cleaning all of the shelves more than gauging Naruto's expression.

"Naruto," he answered softly, still looking around for signs of anything else that had heard the old man's racket. "Who are you?"

The older man gave a dissatisfied grunt before replying, "Jiraiya. My books are in that pile, too, so don't go giving me any lectures."

Naruto had heard that writers were a bit zany, but this man apparently pushed the limits.

"Excuse me," Naruto almost yelled over the explosion of hard-covers that landed next to his feet. The man paused and gave him an exasperated glare. "What?"

Naruto sucked in a deep breath and buried his pride. He'd rather get some ideas from a crazy old man then try to fish them out of Kakashi. "You said we've written about them in almost every book…" Naruto picked up the vampire book and eyed it skeptically. "I honestly don't think this has any aliens in it."

There was a second of silence that seemed to stretch a lifetime before the older man tipped his head back and erupted in a roar of laughter. He started down the ladder, his eyes tearing from the joke Naruto hadn't even known he had told, and when his feet reached the floor he regained his normal psychotic composure.

"You think that they are aliens?" he asked, but Naruto could tell that the question was rhetorical. "All of the answers are right here," he waved his arms around, "but no one takes the time to read anymore."

Jiraiya paused for a moment, stuck in a thought or passing memory that took up his attention. When he snapped back to reality, he grabbed Naruto's wrist and dragged him down an aisle of books, pulling Naruto to a section he remembered from the one and only time he had ever visited this library in particular.

"Not that you can read the language that hailed all western languages," Jiraiya started, but Naruto interrupted with, "I can read Latin."

The old man gave him an airy look of disbelief before continuing. "The books of the original philosophers," he said, "tell you everything. All of the legends of what have made us to be the way we are. Everything is written here."

Jiraiya plucked a book from the shelf beside Naruto and eyed it, looking fascinated, almost as though he had never before read the book himself. The cover was simple and the title, written in Latin, alluded to a collection of writings from Plato.

"Everything is written here?" Naruto doubted. "It's not that I don't believe his works are important, but their value has changed up until now."

The old man named Jiraiya gave him a disapproving look. "Those who see with their eyes are blind."

Naruto snorted. "That's Socrates, not Plato," Naruto again examined the cover of the book.

"Wasn't Plato his closest student?" Jiraiya said it as though he was insulted. He wasn't asking the question himself, he was urging Naruto think outside of a box he wasn't aware he was stuck inside. "Read it."

Naruto vaguely wondered if he had read it before. He felt annoyed. He understood the developmental value of the stories born from the old stories of Greece, but in today's world, they only served as philosophical devices or commandments for morality.

"These stories aren't real," Naruto stated, still looking at the book like it was nothing to him. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and frowned when Naruto continued. "They may reflect society, but the writings themselves are still fictitious."

"They were once real though, and that, Naruto, is the point."

Naruto felt his body slouch in disappointment. "What does that matter? They're myths. The only thing you can learn from myths are morals."

"Have you even taken a philosophy course? The myths have to of started somewhere, from something greater. Don't you agree with that?"

Naruto found himself back in his philosophy classes, arguing points that couldn't be proven. "Humans created religion and law, not God."

"I am not talking about God," Jiraiya glared. "The gods. The lot of them."

The forefront of Naruto's mind urged him to place the book back onto the shelf and simply leave. He had no idea what this man was talking about. But there was another part, a lesser known part of himself that made it impossible for him to move.

What did he mean?

"You believe there is more than one," Naruto said finally, trying to sort what he could from the older man's sentiments. Jiraiya looked calmer suddenly, perhaps realizing that Naruto was actually listening to him.

"At one point, a whole society thought that."

Naruto frowned. "And now, an entire society only believes that one exists."

"Not an entire society," Jiraiya clarified, "but close enough." He shoved the book at Naruto's chest and the younger man had no choice but to embrace it. "There is an importance in that. Read the book."

And just like that, the old man started tearing books from their shelves again, scattering them on the floor as though they were useless. Naruto looked down to the book in his hands and felt cool suddenly, realizing how dark the room had become.

"Is the sun setting already?" he looked up towards the beautiful upper landing windows, seeing less light filtering in.

The man grunted, still fishing through the lot of Latin books. "Close enough. I gave you what you wanted, so leave," he said, and his tone was clipped. Jiraiya looked as though he had very little time to destroy the books he had set out to obliterate, and honestly, Naruto didn't have the energy to stop him.

He turned to obey when a shadow caught his attention and caused him to jump back. His eyes roved the figure and he let out a deep sigh when he recognized it as Kakashi. He panicked suddenly, thinking he had lost track of time.

"Is it already night?" he asked, and Kakashi shook his head, his expression oddly grim. Naruto noticed and frowned. "What's wrong?"

Kakashi wasn't looking at him; he was staring at Jiraiya, his eyebrows drawn downward. Naruto glanced between them and felt the room turn cold when Kakashi finally spoke.

"You have one here," he said, and Naruto felt his blood run cold. Jiraiya had what?

The older man snorted. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kakashi stepped past Naruto, and for the first time Naruto got a good feel for what the other man was like when angry. He was holding something in his hand that looked suspiciously like cloth, but in the dim inside lighting it was hard to tell exactly what it was.

"Where is it?" Kakashi asked, and the tone of his voice hinted that there were no options but to tell. Naruto looked to Jiraiya, still confused, and the old man narrowed his eyes. "What's it to you? You're a hunter, aren't you? I can smell it on you; their blood."

Naruto felt his breath catch in his throat but didn't have the opportunity to ask anything before Kakashi was in front of him, clutching the old man's shirt by the collar. He was infuriated, and growled, "Where is it?"

Jiraiya didn't look intimidated as his eyes stayed glued to Kakashi's, a bored expression pinching his lips. He knocked his head to the side towards a darkened back hallway, and in seconds, Kakashi's grip on him was gone. Naruto jogged after him towards the area that Jiraiya had pointed, and glanced back to see that the old man was no longer where he had been a moment previous.

"Kaka—"

"Be quiet for a minute," the other man said, and his tone wasn't friendly. The room was so dark that Naruto couldn't see a thing, and when Kakashi stopped without warning, Naruto stumbled into him. "Damnit," Naruto heard him murmur.

"I don't understand what's going on," Naruto said, and he squinted his eyes, trying to make out anything in the dark room. He reached out to feel for something; anything that gave him a sense of awareness, but nothing seemed to be close enough. Except for Kakashi's hand which grabbed his and yanked him forward.

"Untie this," Kakashi said, and he placed Naruto's hand over something that felt like a tether. It was thin and splitting, and the little hairs were coarse against Naruto's palm. When Kakashi's hand left his own he tugged on it, and then followed its length in an attempt to find the knot. A satin material felt warm beneath his fingers, and as he rested a hand against the knot, he felt the material rise and fall.

He jerked backwards. "I-is that a person?"

He couldn't see Kakashi in order to make out a nod; instead, Kakashi yanked him forward and pulled his hand to the twine, urging him to loosen it. "It's one of your aliens," he answered, and his voice sounded more than concerned. "It's a woman…women are held in high regard in their culture…the fact she's here…"

Naruto pulled the knot loose and leaned forward, still trying to make out more than a shadow in front of him. "Is she okay?" Naruto asked, remembering the creature he had set free back in the medical lab. It had looked so pained, and he didn't want to imagine that expression on a woman.

Kakashi was moving; Naruto could hear it. He was shuffling around in an attempt to examine her, and finally, he stilled. "She's just unconscious. What an idiot…"

Naruto had a feeling the idiot was the older man that had captured her.

"What did he mean by saying you're a hunter?" Naruto asked, looking in the direction he believed Kakashi to be. There was a small amount of silence before the other man answered. "I hunt the ones that are incomplete. The ones that are bad and that prey on humans."

Like the first one that I met, Naruto thought. He also wondered what Kakashi meant by incomplete, but didn't have the opportunity to ask.

"Stay here," Kakashi directed. "I'm going to go and meet with the others and bring them back here for her. She shouldn't wake up before then…I'll be right back."

Naruto heard movement, and suddenly, he knew Kakashi was gone. He heard his breaths, slow and even, like the beat of a breathy drum. He was cold and he was growing irritated with the fact he couldn't see, and his shoulders were starting to burn where the straps of his backpack dug into his skin. He pulled it off and jammed his Plato novel inside, all before he heard a loud crash from the book section.

He had forgotten about Jiraiya, and he was pretty sure Kakashi had as well. Naruto had a shaky feeling building inside of him as he stood up, finding his way back down the hallway towards the pin-prick of light he had entered from. He figured the woman was safe enough hidden away, and he wanted to scout out the area and make sure Jiraiya had no intention of coming after either of them.

A small part of himself wanted to warn the old man too, because Kakashi was returning with reinforcements. As much as he disagreed with the fact Jiraiya had captured one, he didn't want to see any blood shed.

"You should get out of here," Naruto recommended, sticking his hands in his pockets as he rounded a corner towards the sound of more falling books. The old man paid him no mind, and Naruto didn't take any offense. Instead, he added, "It might get dangerous…"

Jiraiya's head whipped around and glared daggers into Naruto's very being. " You're telling me this?" He kicked the books into a closer jumble and shook his head. "I've got nothing against you kid, but now's the time to make your own decision about things."

Naruto watched as the man pulled a small box from his back pocket, and with the flick of his wrist, a match was set aflame. Stepping backwards, Naruto felt panicked. "A decision?"

Jiraiya dropped the match into the pile of books and grabbed Naruto when he tried to leap for it; to dig it out, or to snuff it from even igniting any of the literature on top of it. The books burst into flames and the fire crawled to a shelf, devouring it with pops and groans.

"You can stay, or you can leave," Jiraiya said, stepping forward as the heat crept closer to his trousers. Naruto shoved him back and narrowed his eyes. He didn't answer, but the older man didn't seem patient enough to wait for one.

"Suit yourself," he said, and he left, leaving Naruto to watch an entire bookshelf topple to the ground. Cinder flew into the air like confetti as it collapsed, and smoke was already beginning to form clouds.

Naruto twisted around towards the darkened hallway and took off, feeling dangerously confident that the fire would spread faster than his comfort level would approve of. When he found his way back to the room he collapsed to the floor, still unable to see anything around him, even as his eyes adjusted.

He crawled around, spanning his arms wide around him, searching for the warm satin he had felt earlier. His fingers met table legs, the wheels of rolling chairs, and most of the time, just the scratchy carpet beneath him. He shuffled around, feeling his heartbeat hasten.

Make a decision.

"I don't give up," Naruto bit out, and he stretched his fingers as far forward as they would go. Relief swept through him when the feel of satin met the pads of his fingers and he let a breath of relief slip through his lips.

Something curled around his stomach.

Naruto looked down and could see a thing. It felt like an arm, wrapping around his abdomen, hooking around his waist. His blood ran cold and every hair on his body stood straight up when he felt breath on the back of his neck. He was frozen in place.

Oxygen came shakily to his lungs as he struggled to stay still, his eyes wide but unable to see anything but pitch black. The mark on his shoulder burned like salt on an open wound, and fear rippled through him uncontrollably.

The grip around him tightened and with seemingly no effort at all, Naruto was thrown across the room. The sudden sensation of being airborne caught him by surprise, but one that didn't last long before he slammed with a wall and collapsed onto a table below. The impact was so jolting that the table snapped apart under his weight, and he fell another few feet to the floor below.

With only a second to suck air into his lungs and ignore the sharp pains creeping up his side, Naruto felt a hand tangle in his hair and pull him to his feet. He cried out when his scalp seared, and his instincts sent his leg forward, kicking his captor hard enough that they both stumbled backwards and tumbled to the floor.

The grip on Naruto's hair vanished as the creature broke his fall, and he tried to scramble up and away. Two hands caught his wrists and yanked him back down, only this time, he collided with the floor and he yelled out when his shoulder felt like it had been set on fire.

He heard the other person moving; coming closer to him. He tried to pull himself away with his good arm, and nearly choked on the smell of smoke. He heard the figure above him, feet standing on either side of his body. Naruto's heart was racing and he was still blind with human eyes.

He twisted onto his back and choked out another cough, his entire body aching. His eyes drifted closed and he did the only thing he could do. He listened.

I won't give up.

It was going to kick him, straight in the gut, from above. He couldn't see it because he had his eyes closed, but he could feel it. His skin tickled as air followed the movement, and Naruto, trusting his gut, rolled to the side.

Something heavy hit the ground where he had been, and he felt momentarily bedazzled in that he had somehow predicted it. The moment didn't linger long before a hand grabbed his leg and he was being dragged backwards across the floor. His injured arm sent blood pulsing to his temples, but he ignored it.

He scrambled to grab anything he could, feeling lucky when his fingers wrapped around what felt like a vase. He picked it up and heaved it with all of his might at the thing attacking him, contented to hear the shatter of the porcelain relic meeting the body. He pushed himself onto his butt and felt another surge of intuition. The vase hadn't slowed the thing down, only made it angrier. It was coming towards him now. He coughed on the smell of smoke and blood and scrambled to scoot backwards, away from the footsteps he could hear coming straight towards him.

He hit something solid. His eyes clenched closed, preparing for impact. A hand curled around his waist from behind, again. A woman's voice was loud from behind him. Had he scooted back against her? Still, the footsteps stopped.

He felt his body drain and he slumped backwards, trying to catch his breath. His chest was rising and falling like he had almost drowned, and he tasted the metallic tang of blood on his tongue. His shirt was damp and his arm was still screaming in pain, and his head suddenly erupted in a pounding rhythm.

The thing in front of him spoke and the woman responded. This went on for a while. The smoke clustering in the room was enough to make him hack, and before he had a chance to figure out what was going on, the alien that had attacked him was yanking him to his feet…by his bad arm.

Naruto let out a cry that faded into a whimper, and clenched his eyes closed. He ground his teeth together and tried to focus on something else. Like the sounds of more footsteps entering the room. Kakashi's familiar voice was a comfort.

"Naruto, you—"

That as all he got. The rest was in that other language, the one he didn't quite understand. Kakashi yanked him away and Naruto managed to keep himself upright, though it took an effort. A mutual agreement to move outside of the burning building must have been made, because Naruto was being pushed and pulled until he could finally see, thanks to the giant flames eating away the library.

He inhaled the fresh air around him and leaned back against a bike railing, holding his arm tight with his hand. He was pretty sure it was dislocated. Kakashi looked him up and down a moment before letting out a sigh of relief.

"Neji offers his apologies to you. The woman is a relative of his, and when he saw you, he assumed you were responsible…" Even though it was a plausible explanation, Naruto could hear the irritation in Kakashi's voice.

Something heavy clunked to the ground beside them, and Naruto recognized it as his backpack. When he looked up to see who'd brought it, he was taken aback.

It had to be the woman, but she was unlike any woman Naruto had ever seen. Her skin was pale white and her hair was like a ghostly sheet of black around her face, and her eyes were nearly purple. She smiled at him, and Naruto wasn't sure how to respond.

Instead he looked past her, locating this Neji person right off the bat. He had a few small cuts on his perfect face, which Naruto knew were related to the vase. His eyes were the same faded color as the woman's, and his hair was only different in that it was hazel colored.

They were both beautiful.

Neji said something.

"He also says that your arm is dislocated." Kakashi said, studying Naruto's arm wearily. Naruto let out a breath. "Yeah, I kind of figured that."

Neji said something else, but his body language deceived his tone. While he sounded helpful, he looked annoyed. Naruto could tell that he didn't like humans; he could feel it, and it made his skin crawl. The apology earlier had merely been a formality.

"He says he can reset it," Kakashi offered, and Naruto almost jumped away. "Hell no!"

The action brought him unwanted attention, as Neji sent a fierce glare in his direction. The woman spoke, and Naruto looked from her to Kakashi.

"She can do it, too," he said. Naruto looked back at her before he asked, "Where are the rest? Where's the one that saved me?"

"The rest?" Kakashi asked, looking confused. Naruto nodded because he had been thinking that there would be more.

"We were only planning on meeting a couple tonight, and by coincidence, we have." Kakashi explained. Naruto looked at the two again and frowned.

"What about mine?"

Neji said something and the sound of the language drew Naruto's attention towards him, his ears relishing the flow of it. Kakashi hesitated before saying anything back, and Neji came forward, his presence so dominating it felt intimidating.

Neji said something to Naruto, and reached for his injured arm. Naruto stepped away from him.

"Just let him reset it," Kakashi directed, looking a bit impatient. Naruto shook his head and teetered further from the brunet's reach, feeling skeptical about the entire offer. Not ten minutes previous Neji had attempted to kill him. Naruto wasn't sure if he felt gung-ho about an alien turning chiropractor for the sake of his shoulder.

Neji proved that he didn't care what hesitations were running through Naruto's mind by grabbing his arm. The movement happened so quickly that Naruto hadn't had an opportunity to be evasive. Instead, he simply jerked his head upwards, catching unearthly violet eyes with his own.

There was a force that held his gaze there, and one he couldn't explain. It was a feeling that told Naruto he had been caught; that there as nothing he could do to get away, even if he tried anything and everything that came to mind. So he stood, frozen, as Neji's long arm and slender fingers curled around his back, his other delicate hand clenched around Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto sucked in a breath and Neji reset his arm.

"Jesus Christ!" Naruto yelled, and in an effort to ignore his pride, his eyes flooded with tears. The pain vanished as quickly as it had come, and Naruto pushed himself away from Neji and tentatively lifted his arm up, happy to see it move normally. His muscles still burned, however, and he rubbed his shoulder.

Neji said something, and it didn't sound pleasant. Taken back by the sudden change in tone, Naruto glanced up, surprised to see Neji examining his hand. The flames that curled up around the library lit the street, and also what Neji was complaining about; it looked like his hand was burned.

"What happened?" Naruto asked, and he looked over to Kakashi for an answer. The older man ran a hand through his hair and let out a long breath before saying something to Neji. It didn't seem to be something good, because a sound came from Neji's throat that was almost guttural. And even the other being, the woman, looked curious.

"Your mark," Kakashi said, turning to Naruto. "Show it to them."

Naruto hesitated, but decided to obey. He tugged his sleeve up to his shoulder, revealing the strange mark that curved over his muscle. He hadn't felt it for a while, but judging by the situation, when Neji had grabbed him, the mark had seared the palm of his delicate hand.

More words that Naruto didn't understand were exchanged, and as a few cinders blew past his eyes, he was suddenly aware of everything happening around him. The oddity of being invaded, of having to escape a military facility, of fighting a creature ten times as strong as himself had somehow become normal.

But looking at the two beings in front of him reminded him how abnormal everything had become. They were intelligent and strong, and more of everything he didn't understand. They were staring at him like he was some sort of disease; something that shouldn't exist.

Neji's lips were moving and so were the woman's, and Kakashi was talking over the both of them. They were arguing, Naruto realized, and his ears were trying to follow. He had spent so many years learning languages that it almost came as a sixth sense to him. He watched their lips, listened to the gentle roll of consonants and the rich sound of vowels.

Hominemargu.

The g was almost silent, but Naruto heard it. It was a word that was repeated, over and over, said by all here. His brain told him to break it down, and despite knowing they were not human, Latin assaulted his mind.

Hominemargu…Hominem…Homi…Homo…man? Argumentum meant there was a disagreement. Did the word mean there was some sort of discrepancy involving him having received the mark? He listened in some more. Most of the words were clumped together; being spoken too quickly for him to pick up.

Shaking his head, he stepped back, his ears ringing as the pitches of their voices grew higher and higher. He couldn't make out much of anything anymore, and he doubted they were speaking Latin. After all, esshaio enomona wasn't anything he'd ever heard before.

His mark started to tingle, and he rubbed it wearily. "Yeah, I'm tired too," he said to it. He had assumed it was flaring because of his dislocation, but when the pain started to seep into his shoulder and melt in his gut he found himself feeling almost sick.

"Kakashi…" he said, slumping backwards against a stair railing behind him. He squeezed his arm in an effort to alleviate the pain, frustrated that Kakashi hadn't even heard him.

"Kakashi!" Naruto yelled. Again, the argument was too loud for him to be heard.

Naruto felt panicked. Something wasn't right. His emotions felt constricted and his nerves were rippling under his skin. There was something there; something wrong. Something watching them, watching him, something hidden in the shadows. Something with sharp teeth and something fast—he could see it, in his mind's eye.

He could see something he'd never seen before.

Naruto whipped his head around, searching for it. Searching every shadow he saw for something out of the ordinary. Looking for some misplaced bit of light, or for a curved bit of darkness that stuck out too far from a blackened alleyway.

He didn't see anything.

He found himself creeping closer to Kakashi until he bumped into him, an action that caused the discussion to cool. Naruto's eyes were darting everywhere they could, the hair on the back of his neck standing tall and alert. The voices faded and when Kakashi asked what was wrong, Naruto didn't want to risk looking back at him.

"There's something out there," he said quietly.

Kakashi frowned and looked around, and said something to the others, who suddenly looked alert. After a few seconds they spoke and Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Neji and Hinata don't sense anything. I think…this day has just taken its toll on you," the older man said, and Naruto shook his head, the sick feeling in is gut never fading.

"There's something out there. It's watching us. Watching me," Naruto stated, clutching his arm tighter. "My arm feels like its on fire…"

If Kakashi had planned on looking at the mark, he was interrupted. They all were, by a ruffling sound that drew their attention towards a dimly lit building across the street. There was an alley there, just as dark as the one that had invaded Naruto's mind, and this time he did see the shadows contort. A figure formed from them, a tall man, dressed in all black.

Kakashi stepped in front of Naruto while Neji and Hinata gave each other wry glances. The man was walking towards them, and Naruto leaned to the side, taking him in as though he were going to sketch him.

He was lean and had dark hair. His skin was pale, but not pale enough to be whatever Neji and Hinata were. His fingers were slender, creeping from the sleeve of a tight black jacket that looked completely ordinary to Naruto.

Was he…human?

His eyes were dark. As he got closer, Naruto could see them, and his heart almost skipped a beat. They were like his, like the one who had saved him. But…the man looked like…a man.

"I was a little lost," he said, and his words were perfect English. His eyes drifted to Naruto and lingered just long enough for him to say, "But it seems I'm not anymore."

Neji and Hinata didn't say anything, though Naruto could tell that a million thoughts were running through their heads. They looked calm and collected, and surprisingly cold. Why hadn't they heard this man, this human coming?

"I don't know this area very well, so I can't give you directions," Kakashi said, and Naruto stepped forward to come beside him. He saw the confusion on Kakashi's face, even if he wore a very good mask in an attempt to hide it. No one quite knew what to make of the person, and Kakashi was doing an expert job at playing it safe.

"Ah. I don't need directions," the man said, and Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Naruto's arm seared when the man looked at him. "I've found what I was looking for."

Words had only just begun to escape Kakashi's lips when the man was beside him, hand wrapped around his throat. Kakashi gargled a bit when the pressure tightened, and Naruto stumbled backwards, tripping over a stair and tumbling down onto the concrete.

Neji had moved just as fast, his fingers curled around the stranger's wrist, speaking harsh words that Naruto assumed were meant to get the man to back away. Hinata was behind him, a finger placed at the base of his skull. Naruto wondered if she was going to snap him apart, a scene he was reluctant to admit he had witnessed before.

The man didn't look phased. Instead, he smirked and let his eyes wander to Naruto, amused. "You've met my brother, I see."

Naruto frowned and it took a minute for him to realize that the man was staring at his arm; to where his mark was. He glanced down only to see that it was covered by his sleeve, and then snapped his attention back up.

"Your brother?" He compared the two in his mind and it didn't seem impossible.

Kakashi tried to say something that sounded suspiciously like a warning, and Neji was glaring holes into Naruto, looking angry that he had even spoken to the thing they had cornered.

That thing smiled again. "Yes, my brother, Sasuke. I am Itachi."

There was nothing that could explain the feeling that overpowered Naruto's senses when that name entered his mind. Sasuke. It filled him as though he was an empty pitcher of water thrust into a cool and ever-winding spring, gurgling with life and spirit. Every part of him felt renewed in that instant, and he felt all the aches and pains from his body fade almost immediately.

Naruto stood up, his eyes almost wild. "Where is he?"

The being named Itachi looked awfully clever, but Naruto didn't let it faze him. He stepped forward and repeated his question. "Where can I find him?"

Kakashi growled something else, but the grip Itachi had on his throat only became more restricting. Neji shouted in his native tongue, and Naruto knew it was something equivalent to, "Shut up!"

But Naruto couldn't shut up. Not when it had something to do with the one that had saved him; the one that had marked him. The person he couldn't escape no matter what he tried or where he went. Sasuke.

"I won't be able to tell you if they kill me," Itachi said.

Naruto looked back and forth from Hinata's confused eyes to Neji's furious glare, and then to Kakashi's cheeks, reddening as he struggled to breathe.

"Let Kakashi go," Naruto ordered, and Itachi's lips curled up again.

"And if I don't?"

Naruto lowered his head. "I won't go with you. That's what you want, right?" It wasn't in any being's nature to offer up information so freely. While Naruto felt his heartstrings being tugged in the direction of anything relating to Sasuke, he could see the danger in Itachi.

He wanted something. And Naruto knew, from what he had seen in his mind—the shadows, the teeth, the overwhelming gravity of emotion—that what Itachi wanted was him.

"Good boy," Itachi said, and his fingers loosened around Kakashi's neck, causing the man to stumble backwards, choking in raspy breaths of air. Before Neji or Hinata could react, Itachi was beside Naruto. "You've chosen wisely."

From his crouched position on the ground, Kakashi croaked, "Naruto, do not go with him!"

Neji and Hinata were crouched beside him, and Naruto couldn't help but find it interesting that they looked so confused. Did Kakashi know this man, and they did not?

"Too late, Hatake," Itachi replied, and the pain spouting from the mark on Naruto's arm made Naruto feel like he was being incinerated.

"Come."

It was a demand, and Naruto obeyed. He grabbed his backpack and pulled it over the shoulder that didn't hurt, and in less time that it took to blink, Itachi was pulling him away. They were moving fast too, making Naruto wonder how on earth he was keeping up. He glanced back to the trio he was leaving behind, knowing he was walking into danger.

But how could he say no?

He let out a disgruntled grumble as the pain in his arm started to numb, the pins and needles beginning to subside. No one was coming after him, but he could see the looks in their eyes. Naruto knew this wouldn't be the last time he'd see them.

"So tell me, what did my brother look like when he found you?"

Naruto felt confused, and his lungs were burning as he struggled to keep up. He tried to remember every detail. "He…was wearing a coat and—"

"No. His face. How did he look at you?"

Naruto's skin crawled. The question was weird. He frowned. "I don't know…worried? Look, I don't understand a lot of what's going on—"

"Worried," Itachi interrupted, and his face changed. He didn't look amused anymore, he looked irritated. The fire was fading from behind them, and Naruto was slowly becoming blind again.

Naruto struggled to keep his backpack on his shoulder as Itachi yanked him around a corner, and the utter darkness made him feel claustrophobic. His feet skid over pebbles and loose concrete and the stale smell of abandoned trash invaded his nostrils.

They didn't go much further before Itachi suddenly stopped, and Naruto coughed out a groan when the other man slammed him against the brick wall of the building behind him.

"What are you—"

Itachi yanked up Naruto's sleeve and revealed the mark, glowing red. It gave off enough light so that Naruto could see Itachi's face clearly, and he didn't look like he was ready to do Naruto any big favors.

"You want to see Sasuke, right?" Itachi asked, and Naruto's intuition was telling him to run. He tried to struggle against Itachi's grip but it was too strong.

"What are you doing?" he questioned.

Itachi smirked. "Making Sasuke worry just a bit more."

A cool hand covered the mark on Naruto's arm and everything went black.

---

a/n: I would love to promise an update really soon, but I'm going to challenge myself to do NaNoWriMo this month. It started today, but I really wanted to get this out instead...But I will do my best! Cheer me on! You never know, by the end of November I may have a good chunk of a real novel written. ;)