Chapter 5: This Continuing Nightmare

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The sky was letting every last drop of rainwater loose. It was pouring down, yet Hitomi had no intention of stopping her sprint. 

 

The forest, dark as it was, was nearly impossible to trek through, and especially in this weather. Hitomi had to admit it; She was running on steam at this point. She wasn’t exactly healthy. This body...this small, child-like, and malnourished body was proving to be completely useless. How she wished she was back to her adult state again.

 

Distracting herself, she took a look at her bony arm and saw traces of bruises and dark spots. The damage troubled her. It was extensive, and though she hadn’t taken a look further, she could feel wounds all across her small body.

 

It made her wonder, absentmindedly, about the life of this body. How had she lived? Did she have any family? Were she loved? She tried not too think too deeply on that particular thought. Or on the happy little girl who probably died to make room for her. Her stomach churned.

 

These were questions that she distracted herself with while running through the thick foliage. The trees seemed even taller in the night, haunting and eerie. It didn’t faze her much. She had just escaped a place far worse than a creepy forest, after all. Then there was the matter of the boy. Yes, the little boy sleeping on her back.

 

She had initially ignored all of this, opting to keep running, but it was all too much. It had been 3 days, and she was done. She needed to think things through, for too many questions were being raised inside her mind, and she felt like she would explode if she didn’t answer any of them.

 

What was this? A dream?

 

She had died, hadn’t she? Was she a spirit? Had she taken over this poor girl’s body, stealing her vitality for herself? With a self-loathing chuckle, she continued to run. How far had she come? Were she inside a different city by now? She had no way to tell. She had no idea where she had gone. She had simply chosen a direction and run with all her might. Worse yet, the boy hadn’t woken in the entire time she had run.

 

She hadn’t slept, she was hungry, and she could see next to nothing in the darkness. For the past few hours, she had contented herself by saying the phrase ‘just a little more...’ and repeating it. It was at this point that she had to admit to herself that she couldn’t continue. Where would they go? Who would accept them? Hitomi’s worries seemed to only increase during this journey. And worse yet, she had been ignoring perhaps the most worrying thing; the fact that she might have time-travelled as well.

 

If waking up inside the body of a child wasn’t disorienting enough, she had seen too much of the interior of her former village. Even if she were to disregard that, then there was the matter of her clothing, and the clothing of Hibiki. The boy’s clothes were made of expensive material. It hugged his small frame in a way that fit him, and the way the clothes matched made it clear that he was a favored and important boy. It was an attire fit for a Mayor’s son. But her? Her eyes darted down, as she reminisced her clothes. They were in a terrible state. They consisted of a long, frameless dress in a dull green color. HItomi suspected it was made of some plant-like material. It wasn’t very thick and has several holes. In fact, even her shoes were thin and badly made. On the way, she had learned the hard way, and snapped the strings of the sandals quickly. She was then forced to abandon them on the road.

 

The bottom line was, the clothes, the architecture of the fallen village, and even this flourishing, untamed wide forest area all pointed to one theory - she had time-travelled away from Modern Times. There was no way she was anywhere that resembled life in her world. There wasn't anything even remotely modern inside that house, either. It was frighteningly medieval. 

 

There was more important things to consider.

 

The threat of running into the murderer seemed too great to ignore. Every time she would contemplate resting, gathering food, or drinking, she would remember the easy way he dealt with her savior, and she would feel that awful sense of dread again. What would keep him away from her? Nothing. The best thing to do would be to escape to a nearby town.

 

While she knew he hadn’t seen her, her paranoia told her otherwise.

 

‘So what if he didn’t see you,’ she’d whisper. ‘If he bumps into you out here, you’re as good as dead anyway.’

‘It might not end that way’, she’d argue, desperately willing the voice to go away. It didn’t work.

‘What about context clues? Your body is now that of a child. If he sees you, he’ll see you, the Mayor’s son, and your bloody clothes. And what then? What do you think is going to happen then?’

Hitomi’s eyes widened in horror. ‘I’ll....I’ll die for real this time.’

Her paranoia chuckled. 'Bingo.'

 

Hitomi may have forgotten during the craziness, but she had also been involved in a housefire, a murder and a village-wide massacre. And if you were to look at her body, it definitely showed. That didn't bode well for her.

Using a nearby river, she wondered about the extent of the damage. Once she'd stepped closer to see, she was shocked. It was worse than she thought. How did so much blood stain her clothes? Where were these wounds from? She realized that her escape attempt had made her ignorant on just how affected her body was.

 

Her arm was hurting badly. A nasty burn had left itself on her left arm, snaking its way up her forearm. It was red, ugly, and strangely enough, it only started hurting once she'd realized it was even there. She grit her teeth, her knees doubling at the undisguised stinging pain.  Her hair, dark and long, was singed in strange places. Her face was covered in soot. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, she also suspected her clothes smelt like fire and smoke. If that madman had travelled in their direction, they would be done. As simple as that.

 

After all, Hitomi thought morbidly, ‘His goal wasn’t to kill the blond man, but rather, to kill the children.’

 

That thing he mentioned, thought Hitomi, might be a child. It was either that, or Chouryo Village was home to freaky scientists who had created the worst abomination known to man.

 

She scoffed. 'That wasn't possible.'

 

Considering how much of an unhinged lunatic the murderer was, she doubted that was the case. No, the village was likened flattened due to purely evil intentions.

 

Like any other scum, he just wanted an excuse to kill. After all, a murderer needs no reason to do what they do best. 

 

Even so, by analyzing his words, Hitomi could surmise that the man's preferred victims were children.

 

That meant all children of Village Chouryo were in danger. As it stood, that meant Hitomi and Hibiki. If that man happened to realize there were survivors of The Massacre, he would come back... and slaughter them both. A foul sense of dread spread throughout her body as she rushed further along the forest’s end. Her feeble running was pathetic, but she could do nothing else.

 

Contemplating these thoughts, she suddenly felt a great chill envelop her body. Her feeble body, who had tirelessly run for days, had finally reached its breaking point. Her vision blurred. 

 

'No...No!' She wanted to scream, but her throat was sore. Her eyes widened. Could she not even emit sound anymore...?

 

If that wasn't bad, it was about get even worse. Branches in the distance broke. Somebody was there. 

 

Her heartbeat pounded relentlessly. 'Let it be someone else...' was all she could think. Sweat began to pour down in waves. She could only look on in horror. 

 

After what felt like a lifetime, a male figure showed. An adult. In fear, her battered body crawled away from him, but it was futile. 

 

His steps were slow, as if not to startle her. "Are you okay?" Once he'd come closer, he moved down to check her state, but she kept flinching and moving away from him. His face adopted a worried look. His body turned back, as he shouted, "Hey guys! You were right, there's somebody here!" Having alerted his friends, he moved closer to her, and flipped her on her back. For the first time, he saw her frightened face. "Are you hurt? I'm sorry for touching you, but you need help," 

 

Hitomi didn't know if the man's intentions were good or bad. If she was by herself, she would have the priviledge of ignoring his help, but...She thought about Hibiki.

 

Hibiki! Where was he? 

 

Her mind went into overdrive. She tried to alert the man. "Ghr..." It was no use. Her throat wouldn't work! 

 

The man's brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you saying?" He was then joined by another man. "Touji, what's she saying?" He asked. 

 

She tried again, with similar results. "Idiot," the man said as he came closer as well. "She can't speak." The previous man made a confusion noise.

 

"Eh? Was that it?" he muttered. "Besides that, she looks terrible. Grab her and let's get going." 

"Alright!"

Touji picked her up, though she seemed to wriggle violently. They continued their walk, until her wriggling became unbearable. Touji said, "What, what? What is it now?" 

Other man: "She seems to want to say something."

Touji sighed, as he motioned for the other man to stop. "No, I get that, but...it's frustrating not knowing what it is," he whined. "What is it, little girl? We're taking you to a safer place. Getting you to people who'll help you," 

 

She wriggled even harder, and motioned with her head a firm 'no.'

 

Touji was confused. "What then? What do you want?" Even the other man stared at her intensely. She moved her tired body towards him instead. Then, she motioned towards the place they'd rescued her from. Once, then twice, then thrice. After awhile, their eyes slowly moved in the same direction, before it dawned upon them. "Oh!" Touji exclaimed, you want to go back here? For what?"

 

"Maybe she lost something," the other man replied. "Do it quickly, it'll be dawn soon. We need to report to the Hokage."

"Oh, alright." 

All of them moved towards the previous spot, only for Touji to scan the surroundings with his hands. "Is anything there?" his partner asked him, but he didn't respond. "There's nothing really..." Then, they both heard it. The unsteady breathing of a human.

 

They turned towards eachother in horror. "There's somebody else out here?!"

 

Touji ran towards the sound, revealing a shivering Hibiki. His clothes had become damp and muddy. Through half-lidded eyes, Hitomi was enveloped in a wave of shame. She had dropped him along the way. He had fallen into a big rainwater puddle. And now, his health had taken another hit. 

 

The other man noticed this, and barked orders at Touji. "Touji! Check his condition!" A strange gleam of green lit up the area as he looked over Hibiki. "This little one is suffering. He's malnourished, has signs of overexposure from fire," "A fire? That's odd," the other man commented. "He's running a fever. If we don't get him to a hospital, he might not make it. Ryuuichi, we have to hurry."

Ryuuchi: "Hn." 

 

Meanwhile, Hitomi forced herself not to reveal her panicked state. How did they know? She had planned to lie about their circumstances once they'd reached another town, but this plan failed spectacularly. And just what was that green gleam? 

 

The men each picked up a child respectively and began to run forwards - at a monstrous speed. Hitomi could hardly believe it. Her eyes, unaccostomed to the speed, felt the unyielding wind barge into them and she closed them in confusion.

 

'What...what is this?!'

 

Hitomi opened them again, aiming her eyes instead at the man who carried her. It was Touji, who noticed her gaze.

 

He shot her a silly smile.

 

"What's up? Never travelled like this before?"

 

Hitomi could only shake her head in confusion.

 

He chuckled. "You know, I love it when civilians react like this. It's so fun! Of course, it would have been better under different circumstances, you know!"

 

He met her worried gaze, and smiled. "Really, you can rest assured, little lady. We'll save you and your little friend!" 

 

His next words were meant to have a pacifying effect, but they just made her want to throw up. 

 

"I swear it on the Konoha name!" Springing from tree to tree, he even found the time to flash his head-band proudly.

 

"Ever heard of us? That name means no one will hurt you once we get there," he continued. "We'll heal you right up!"

 

Ryuuchi chose that time to pipe in. "Stop annoying the poor girl. There's no way she can keep up with your chattering. Heaven knows I can't," he replied with mirthful scorn. 

 

"What did you say?!" he responded angrily, only to look back at her in apology. "Sorry, little lady! I jostled you a little, didn't I? Ah, you want to know who that is, right? That's Uchiha Ryuuichi, by the way. It's okay if you forget, he's no one important. He might be a member of the great Uchiha Clan, but you won't believe how much of a major stick in the mud he can be."

 

Ryuuchi bristled in anger. "Hah?! What did you say?!"

 

"You know it's true! That's why Shiji-chan won't give you the time of day, you know."

 

"You! What do you know about Shiji-chan?!"

 

If it was any other time, Hitomi would have been slightly impressed with their ability to argue while holding two children and travelling through the trees at break-neck speeds.

Instead, all she could think about was Touji's words. 

 

'Konoha...head-band....speed...Uchiha?'

 

Uchiha? Where did she remember that name from. Where was it, where was it, it was at the tip of her tongue, Naruto! Right, it was Naruto...

...? 

---!

Eh. EEEHHH????

Realization dawned on her. 'No. No. NONONONO.'

'...This isn't happening. No. You've got to be kidding,'

She felt like crying. Then, she did. 

 

Touji felt confused. "Eh? Little lady, why are you crying?"

 

Hitomi paid him no mind. She had bigger fish to fry. Like her dropping inside a shounen manga about magical ninjas, for one. 

Tears streamed down her cheeks in disbelief.

'Are you actually serious right now???'

'I'm inside the Naruto World?!'

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Thanks for all the awesome comments!! Seriously.

I read them all and am grateful for every single one. To every reader, thank you so much for reading my story! Hopefully by now, the plot can begin for real. Can you guess which timeline Hitomi is inside? Which "generation" she'll interact with? I won't answer, but you can certainly try to guess! Anyway, thank you for giving this story a read!