So yeah, I guess this is the first day of my diary. Damn it feels weird talking to myself like this. I mean, do I really have to write every single day down? I've been here for ages already and I haven't needed one. Even if Mira-chan said it's a good habit and could help me get home, I still don't see how this'll actually help do that.
Stupid women for being so persuasive.
Stupid Ero-Sennin for making me so soft.
Bah, I've had enough of this already. Writing sucks anyway, I'm gonna train.
Day one, start
*A few weeks, maybe months earlier*
Kakashi was carrying an exhausted Naruto on his back after a monumental clash between the blond and the leader of Akatsuki, a being simply known as Pein.
The deluded man had attacked the hidden village of Konoha without hesitation, announcing his decision that it was time the village felt a pain comparable to his own. In one fell swoop, the self proclaimed god turned the whole of Konoha into a crater, killing hundreds and injuring hundreds more. That was when the unpredictable blond on Kakashi's back had arrived and confronted him.
A whole lot of seemingly impossible things then happened that the Jonin could hardly begin to describe, such things like Naruto nearly losing himself to the Kyuubi, Hinata stepping up to Pein, the basin that once was the village being turned into a lake... honestly, if he hadn't had it verified by several reliable resources, he wouldn't have believed it himself. He had been dead the whole time this happened though so it was kind of understandable. Then after all that, Naruto had managed to confront the true Pein, coerce him to stop the madness and then, somehow, the man gave back life to every single person that was killed in the assault. It was as far fetched as you could hope to imagine but here he was, running through the trees, as alive as he was the day before the attack. But even with all the evidence, he still couldn't quite believe it.
Despite this, Kakashi wasn't one to really pick at the details when something worked as well as this had, merely opting to just go with the flow. Smiling behind his trusty mask, his eye shifted to the side to view the blond mop of hair resting on his shoulder.
"How are you holding up Naruto-kun?"
The mass of blond shifted and a blue eye became visible. "Yeah, holding in there. I'll be right after a good sleep, dattebayo."
Kakashi's eyes twisted upward as he smiled happily at the response. "Good to hear. We're nearly back so just hold tight."
Shifting his grip, Kakashi vaulted over a branch and suddenly twisted as a kunai nearly lodged itself in his throat. His feet landed on the side of a tree trunk and he pushed off, shooting over to a large branch that was almost completely concealed by the foliage. Backing Naruto up against the trunk, Kakashi shielded his body as he withdrew a kunai from his leg holster, looking around suspiciously for the enemy.
He sweat dropped when Naruto let out a soft snore behind him. Trust the boy to sleep through something like this. He had used up an incredible amount of chakra through the passing events though so Kakashi couldn't blame him. Swinging around, the grey haired Jonin deflected another kunai in line with his heart. Frowning, the Junin snuck a glance at Naruto. It was clear whoever it was had no interest in Naruto. It probably wasn't the Akatsuki either; intelligence indicated that they operated in pairs. Naruto had told him that Pein's companion had taken the body away somewhere to be buried so they were accounted for. Suddenly, Kakashi had to catch a shuriken that nearly lodged itself in his belly. Ignoring the stinging cut on his palm, he flicked his hand and sent the weapon back in the direction it came. He was rewarded with a rush of movement as a body shifted out of danger. Stealing another look down at the boy, Kakashi shook his head ruefully. This was exactly what he didn't need right now. Sighing, he lifted his headband and revealed his sharingan, looking to finish the fight quickly. It was frustrating though, because he couldn't leave Naruto undefended in such a state.
Kakashi's one red eye managed to pick up the tiniest amount of movement off to his left and quickly let off a hail of kunai. Instantly using the distraction, he bit down on his thumb, flicked his hands through some familiar seals and slapped his palm down on the branch. There was a puff of smoke and a small pug was suddenly sitting before the masked man.
It raised a small paw in greeting. "Yo, Kakashi. What's going on?"
Shaking his head, Kakashi pointed in the direction of Konoha. "No time, I'm currently being attacked and I need backup now. Naruto is with me and unconscious, so hurry!"
The small dog's eyes widened before nodding once and disappearing in a blur of motion. Silently wishing his friend safety and a swift trip, Kakashi hunkered down and waited. Whoever it was that decided to attack was now taking a breather, gathering themselves for the next round.
The Jonin's eyes flickered around cautiously, taking in every single movement within viewing range. Drawing a breath, Kakashi knew another attack was due any second now. Had it been under any other situation, he would have led the attacker away from his student. Damn this guy's timing.
A hand flicked two kunai at Kakashi, which he quickly deflected. Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi wondered what the attacker was trying to do. Thus far, all he had managed to do was waste a few kunai and shuriken. It was almost like he was stalling for something.
Kakashi's eyes widened as he suddenly became aware of a sizzling sound behind him. One of the kunai had been tagged. Diving backwards, Kakashi grabbed Naruto's shirt and flung the boy away just as the tag exploded. Taking the brunt of it, Kakashi was thrown backwards as he fell through the trees, bouncing painfully off the branches that filled the forest. He bit his lip as an old dead limb crunched under his weight, the sharp wood piercing his right thigh. Finally after that, the ninja broke through the last of the branches to land solidly on his left leg, heavily favouring his new injury. Groaning, he grabbed the wood piece and ripped it out. Blood squirted out of the hole but quickly fell back to a trickle down his leg. Thankfully, it seemed it hadn't nicked an artery.
Ignoring the pain, Kakashi started running towards the direction Naruto had been blown. He had to have taken some form of damage after something like that. Being asleep meant he couldn't have tensed for the shock and probably knocked him out cold. Diving around a rock, Kakashi's eyes widened as he saw a man in an Akatsuki robe kneeling over Naruto. He cursed his luck. Of course now had to be the one time a solo agent was around. They must have been planning this from the start. That first attack on Kakashi was all just a distraction from the man's real goal. Something weird was happening before the man too. It seemed like the very air before him was being warped for some reason, spirals of matter twisting around in front of his face. Naruto seemed to be affected as well, as his body seemed to start dematerialising right before Kakashi's very eyes.
With no time to think about it, Kakashi's sharingan began to twist as it was upgraded to the Mangekyou stage. Widening his eye, Kakashi zeroed in on his target.
"Kamui (Authority of the Gods)."
Instantly, the air around the mystery man began to twist as well as Kakashi's original technique began to suck the villain into a separate dimension. Sensing the attack, the Akatsuki member dived out of harm's way, growling loudly in annoyance. Unfortunately though, this left Naruto behind as the agent's self preservation instinct didn't involve grabbing other people. The boy fell from the suction of the first technique right into Kakashi's own. Instantly aware of the horrific accident, Kakashi nearly cut off the technique but remembered back to when he fought Deidara. He'd stopped the technique early and had successfully ripped the blind man's entire right arm off. And with Naruto now halfway absorbed into the technique, Kakashi didn't even want to think about the end result of that.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the Jonin had no choice but to finish the technique. His eyebrows quivered as the boy disappeared into the air, struggling not to show any emotion. He could only hope Tsunade-sama wouldn't completely decapitate him for this. He managed to take some comfort in the thought that Naruto was indeed being sent alive to another realm. Hopefully the boy would find a way to escape and get back. It didn't matter if Naruto didn't anyway because Kakashi would be sending himself off to that dimension as soon as he was done here. Finishing up, Kakashi wiped his eye as a single tear of blood trickled out of it. Turning to face the Akatsuki agent, Kakashi's gaze hardened as he saw him running away. Whoever this person was, he was guaranteed a very painful death for what he had just done. Completely blocking out the pain from his leg, Kakashi vanished in a flicker as he raced to catch up with the offender.
All Naruto knew was pain. Every single cell in his entire body was screaming at him. Unending agony, the likes of which he had never experienced before. If his eyes were opened, all he could see was white. Immeasurably bright, pure, painful white. If his eyes were closed, all he could then see was black. Filthy, burning, hated black.
He tried to scream, but found himself unable to. It seemed that wherever he was, there was no air. Had he the presence of mind, he would have wondered how even being alive was possible. Writhing in his torture, Naruto reached out feebly, trying to touch something, anything to ease his suffering.
For what seemed like hours, he reached out, unable to cry, unable to keep his eyes open; unable to keep them closed, unable to do anything. He didn't know how long he reached, but eventually something grabbed onto his hand with a suction like grip. His hand flailed around, desperately trying to drag himself towards it. Whatever it was, it felt cool, like a waterbed mattress only a thousand times softer.
His hand seemed to fall through it as he shifted and as it did so, sweet relief came to the limb. That single fact pierced his consciousness like a bucket of ice and with a mammoth effort, Naruto reached out with his other hand and let himself be pulled through. Peaceful respite flooded his body as he was pulled free from the world of pain, flopping to the ground outside with a solid thump. The last thing Naruto saw before he passed out was a number of odd looking trees surrounding him and a strong feeling of natural energy. His eyes closed and just as darkness claimed him, a strange voice called out in the distance.
"Natsu! Quit stalling already! I wanna get home and have a bath."
"Nah, hold on a second, I smell something funny that way."
"But what about Macao? We really should get him home to rest."
"He'll be alright. Come on, let's go check this out! Happy! Go on ahead would ya?"
"Aye, sir!"
Voices carried through the forest easily in the afternoon light as three curiously dressed individuals veered off the road and began following the nose of the boy who had been identified as Natsu. A larger man was leaning heavily on his shoulder, looking like he had just come out of a rather brutal fight. He didn't look too much like he wanted to take this unnecessary detour either, but didn't really have a choice as he was dragged along energetically. Rounding out the three was a rather pretty young blond girl, the type you'd expect to see in a fashion magazine and not trekking through the mountains covered in dirt. She had a pout on her face as she stomped along after her companions, trying her best to convey her displeasure through physical means. She failed spectacularly.
"Natsu, Natsu! There's something weird just over that hill!"
Looking up, Natsu was greeted by a long time friend floating in the air. A small blue cat with white fluffy wings protruding from its shoulders hovered just above them, pointing energetically over towards the anomaly.
"Hurry up! You might miss it!"
Quite literally smelling an adventure, Natsu let out a howl of excitement and charged off in a cloud of dust, leaving his female friend behind, squealing in embarrassment as she tried to stop her skirt blowing up and revealing everything underneath. Dashing over the hill, his eyes widened as he skidded to a stop.
"Natsu? *cough* Where are you? I can't see anything because of this stupid dust cloud you created."
"Hmm?"
The girl ran from the dust, only to smack heavily into the backs of her two friends. Crying out, they all toppled forward and landed in a tangled heap. Happy floated down, looking curiously at the group as they tried to free themselves from one another.
"Lucy, it's not really the time for cuddles ya know?"
Growling, Lucy pulled her arm out of the group and glared at the cat. "It's not my fault Natsu stopped so suddenly! You could have been of more use and let me know while you floated up there."
Happy just shrugged and looked down at the still fallen men. "I just thought you'd be fast enough to avoid them. It's not my fault if you're too fat and slow to stop in time."
The girl started grinding her teeth together, glaring at the blissfully ignorant cat as she muttered death threats under her breath. Her grumbling was interrupted though when the strange occurrence caught her eye. Her eyes widened in surprise as she actually saw an arm floating in midair, looking like it was crawling from the centre of a strange airborne whirlpool.
"N-N-Natsu, w-what's that?"
Heaving Macao off the top of him, Natsu jumped up and looked at the strange phenomenon before them. "I dunno, it looks like an arm."
Lucy smacked the back of his head in frustration. "I know that! But like, what's it doing in the middle of the air?"
Walking up to it, Natsu gave it a few experimental sniffs as he tried to work it out. "No idea. Pretty cool but hey!"
The girl shivered as the arm continued to grow rapidly from the hole. "S-someone's coming out!"
Hearing a groan, Lucy looked down at Macao who was trying to push himself over. "Can you help me out here? I can't see what the thing is and I'm too weak to roll over."
Pursing her lips, Lucy dug her toes into the man's side and gave him a kick, flipping him onto his back. "Much better, thanks."
Just then, a pained cry sounded out from the thing behind them and Lucy dived behind a large tree in fear. Natsu just continued to stare at the torso that was being spat out from the hole. In a final heave, a blond haired boy popped out of the air and fell flat onto his back. His eyes flickered a few times before they closed and he slipped into unconsciousness.
"N-Natsu!"
"Lucy, I think he heard you the first five times."
"Shut up you useless cat!"
"Oi Lucy, come have a look at him! Do you think he's dead?"
"I certainly hope not..."
Cautiously approaching the unmoving human, Lucy looked over Natsu's shoulder. Seeing the slight rise and fall of his chest reassured her enough to walk past her friend and take a closer look. He didn't look all that unusual except for his clothing. He had a strange black and orange jacket on, along with a set of bright orange pants with a bandage wrapped around his right thigh. Actually, those strange marks on his cheeks were also a bit curious...
Hesitantly reaching out, Lucy touched the mark before sharply pulling her hand back. Natsu and Happy were instantly besides her, looking in keenly.
"Oh, what happened when you touched him? Did he bite you?"
Lucy rolled her eyes and ignored them as she rubbed her fingers together. "Those whiskers are like marks... they're actually in his skin."
Blinking owlishly, Natsu stared at the marks before taking in a huge whiff through his nose. "Heh! He smells super weird!"
"What was that Natsu?"
The boy looked over his shoulder at the still incapacitated man lying several metres back. "I said he smells funny! Like nothing I've ever smelt before!"
"Really? That's rare for your nose. Think we should bring him back to the guild?"
A smile broke out across Natsu's face when Macao suggested the next move. "Yeah, sure! Lucy, you carry this guy. I'm A grab Macao 'n' we'll head back!
Stiffening at the order, Lucy whipped her head around as Natsu quickly picked up his partner. "Wait, what? You want me to carry this guy all the way back to the guild?"
Happy floated down beside her and looked at the boy. "Well, he couldn't be much heavier than you. I struggle to fly when I carry you."
Taking a swipe at the cat, Lucy missed and settled for shaking an angry fist at the animal. "Shut your mouth! If you think he's so light, you carry him!"
Happy had already started floating away, ignoring the girl's protests. "No, I can't, I'm just a little cat. How would I carry him? He's too big."
Stomping a foot angrily, Lucy pointed at his back. "You always carry around Natsu without a problem!"
Hearing no response, the poor blond was left to grumble about crappy teammates and struggle to lift up the deceptively heavy boy.
'Ohhh... my head...'
Naruto's mind slowly began to kick back into gear as consciousness started to spread over his senses. His eyes twitched as he struggled to think back over what happened. There was that fight with Pein, then Kakashi came and caught him, then... sleep? It started getting fussy about that stage and Naruto racked his brain to try and remember what happened.
An explosion, then a hard landing, then someone standing over him? He remembered splitting an eye open and seeing someone in a black coat standing over him. Akatsuki? That would explain the pain that followed. But it was too fast, wasn't it? But still... Did that mean he was dead?
Groaning, Naruto wriggled a few fingers to try and test out the theory. There was something solid under his hands, a mattress perhaps? But why would heaven have a bed? A soft gasp off to his side made an ear twitch and Naruto tried to roll his head towards the noise. Who was that? Didn't sound like anyone he'd ever met before. Forcing all his willpower into muscle power, Naruto pulled his eyelids up and a blurry world came into view.
Everything was pretty white, so it could even be the hospital. It didn't smell artificially clean enough though so it probably wasn't. There was a hazy mound standing off to the side which Naruto assumed was a person. The mound called out in a soft voice but he couldn't make out the words. He shut his eyes and shook his head to try to clear the fogginess. A wave of vertigo and nausea hit him which instantly made him stop. Very bad move.
A pair of hands came to rest on his person, one on his chest and another under his head. They gently lifted him up and he felt a cup rest against his lips. Taking a test sip, he found it to be full of probably the sweetest water he had ever tasted. Quickly sinking the lot, he tried to say his thanks but his voice just growled around in his throat. Giving up for the moment, Naruto just tried to work on clearing his vision. The water granted him some form of strength which was very well received and quickly put to use.
Blinking a few times, the mound he saw previously came into focus. It turned out the mound was actually a white haired girl in a poofy maroon, full body dress. It had a few frills around the neck which held the strapless piece up, the frills continuing down the front like he had never seen before too. She had very large, blue eyes that seemed to exude nothing but concern and peace. The delighted upturn of her lips finished off her rather inviting appearance very well. The groggy boy decided he rather liked the strange look.
Looking down, he saw another girl, this time blond with a part of her hair pulled up into a ponytail on the side of her head, holding the cup which he suspected he drank from. She also had rather large eyes, this time brown but just as inviting as the first woman's. She had a weird white and blue striped shirt on that looked like it was struggling to deal with the mass of chest beneath it. She also had a rather short skirt on, but nothing Naruto hadn't seen before. Ino wore shorts.
Letting his eyes drift across the room, Naruto picked up on another person in the room, this time male. Seeing his hair, he could now count all of two people he had ever seen that had naturally pink locks. He had a strange sleeveless black and gold trimmed, unzipped waistcoat over his shoulders with no visible shirt underneath and a weird scaly scarf wrapped around his neck. His lower legs were covered with the remaining half of his waistcoat, the open front revealing short white trousers that were tied off at the knee with black ribbons. He seemed to be abnormally interested in Naruto too if those wide staring eyes were anything to go by. Unconsciously creeping back into the wall behind him, Naruto cast a wary glance around. Seeing a striking red headed woman decked out in complete torso armour, Naruto finally found the strength to push himself up.
The first two girls reached out quickly as he sat up, hands held out to catch him in case he toppled forward. Taking another look at the warrior girl, Naruto couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Her entire chest was hidden behind a mediaeval style chest plate which sharply contrasted with the simple, mid thigh length skirt that covered her upper legs. A pair of matching metal gauntlets covered her crossed arms up to the elbow. The entire uniform was then finished off with long, knee high black boots that were probably a lot tougher than they looked. Her piercing brown eyes never left him, obviously gauging his potential as a threat. Groaning, Naruto held a hand to his forehead and shut his eyes again as a headache made itself known. He heard what sounded like a male voice call out, but he still couldn't make out the words. Something must have been clogging his ears. Taking a deep breath, Naruto held his hand out towards the blond.
"More water, please?"
It took a moment, but the cup was placed back in his hand and he downed the second lot in a flash. Running his tongue over his lips, Naruto sighed happily. At that exact moment, what looked like a bald old midget decided to jump onto his bed. Crying out in surprise, Naruto backed away and the thing was quickly reprimanded by the white haired girl. Again he couldn't understand what was said, so he stuck a finger into his ear and wriggled it around. Popping it out, he sniffed and took another look at the man on his bed.
He was definitely short and old, but still had some hair in the form of these comical tufts sticking out from the sides of his head, along with a matching white moustache that covered his upper lip. He was also dressed in a crazily coloured orange and blue shirt and some blue shorts with these little gnome shoes sticking out from under him. The thing that stood out most to Naruto though was the odd hat he was wearing. It was like a brimless cap but with these two long, thin antenna things that sprouted from the top of it and fell back over his head. It was striped blue and orange and looked positively stupid. It seemed the old man knew the benefits of orange, but even that mighty colour couldn't make the hat look any good.
Naruto snorted and stifled a bark of laughter. What did this guy think he was? A magician? Shaking his head, Naruto looked around the group and eyed each person individually.
"So... where am I?"
The room froze and looked at him with surprised eyes. Frowning, Naruto clicked his tongue and repeated himself. "Oi, I asked where I am?"
The small man before him coughed and drew his attention. He then spoke in a typical old person's voice, the only difference being Naruto couldn't understand a single word that he said. This time, Naruto's eyes widened as he realised something. It wasn't his ears that were wrong, it was just that they were speaking an entirely different language. Not quite sure what to do next, Naruto just looked around the room before sighing.
"Well doesn't this just suck."