FUUSHIGI YUME (( Mysterious Dream ))

A story co-written by authors Pyrogirltohru and XxFissshbonesssxX. Both are aspiring artists and talented authors, having written the majority of this tale by hand in several notebooks filling both sides of the college-ruled paper. Editing was done by XxFissshbonesssxX; a drawn version of the story is being worked on by Pyrogirltohru. Neither of these authors claim ownership over the Naruto characters as much as they would like to, and invite you to read on and enjoy. They welcome all comments and critiques. Thank you for your interest.

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00.01

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It was a black moonless night in the woods at the edge of the Konohagekure village. In the thick mist covering the trees, two figures could be made out. One was a tall, pale, handsome young man with long black hair. His skin was as pale as a vampire's, and his eyes were blood-red. The other was a short, equally handsome young man. He had short spikey blue hair and golden skin-kissed skin. His face was fierece and his eyes an even fiercer golden brown.

"Ryu!" the shorter one argued, walking forwards, "We shouldn't be doing this! You don't know the outcome of this... this technique! If we're caught performing a forbidden jutsu without knowledge of its end effects... we could be sentanced to death."

"Relax, Koryu. We won't get caught. Hatake-san dug his own grave telling us about this. We're far enough from the village anyway, so why worry? You're not scared, are you?" Ryu said, pulling out a long scroll from his backpack.

"Well... I... N-no... but--" Koryu was cut off by his taller brother.

"Let's give it a try then," he said soothingly, opening the scroll. "The worst that could happen is the jutsu actually works, and then... and then, well..." The other boy gave him an exasperated look. "Well, then we just see what happens from there, okay?" he finished defensively. His brother looked to his feet, pouting at his brother's tone.

"Yes, onii-chan," Koryu said.

The two brothers chanted in the ancient leaf language a spell that would save the world and reunite many enemies.

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00.02

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Over 2 centures later, a girl with carmel brown skin was rushing to the mall to meet her frinds. Her name was Jaya. She had hazel brown eyes and wore a pair of comfortable jeans and a red tanktop. She met up with her friend, Monica, in front of Hot Topic. The shorter asian girl was staring off into space as usual, and didn't notice it when her friend was nearly upon her.

"DJ!!!" Jaya squealed, nearly knocking her friend to the floor with a hug.

"Ahh--Jaya! Oh ... it's you," she said, catching her breath. "You scared me for a second."

"Oh! Hehe ... Gomen nasai!" Jaya said, smiling brightly, "C'mon! Let's go! We're supposed to meet Evan and Jesse at Victoria Secret."

"Those perverts. All they think about is sex, sex, food, and sex," Monica grumbled as they walked towards the langire store.

"Uh, DJ? You said sex three times," Jaya pointed out.

"Glad you were listening," she replied with a bite of sarcasm, "it was for emphasis."

Jaya blushed. "Oh! Of course--"

She was cut off by the shouts of two of her best friends, Rachel Berger and Evan Berben, arguing. Both were slender pale-skinned with shoulder-length hair, though Rachel's was straight and Evan had white-blonde curls. Evan was currently in Rachel's face, both figures directing icy blue-eyed glares at each other.

"You fucking SLUT! I told you to stay away from me! I didn't invite you here!" the blonde boy yelled at Rachel's face.

"What the fuck? I don't have to listen to you! You're not my mother; I can go to the mall whenever I want to!" she retorted promptly.

"Well don't go and break up my group! I invited Jesse, not YOU!" Evan exclaimed.

"What? So now I can't talk to one of MY friends at the mall?" Rachel asked snidely, glaring at her long-time adversary as Evan grit his teeth. The taller blue and green-haired teenager stepped forwards and held a hand to Evan's shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, Evan!" Jesse said, holding Evan back firmly.

On the sidelines, Jaya and Monica were watching with different amounts of interest. The smaller girl had her arms crossed over her chest and let out an annoyed sigh. "Oh, look ... another catfight. You know, this gets less interesting every time they--hey, what's wrong?" she asked, noticing the tears that had suddenly welled up in Jaya's eyes. Jaya gasped.

"Huh? O-oh! No-nothing, I-I'm fine," Jaya sniffed, quickly rubbing at her eyes, "I've-I've just got something in my eye ...'s all ..."

"Loser," Monica said with a half scowl as she bopped Jaya lightly on the head, "No crying!" Jaya nodded and tried to ignore the words her friends were saying. In her heart, she hated fighting between good friends more than anything. Fights between people that disliked each other weren't good either, but it hurt more inside to know that good friends had such strong dislike towards each other. Monica saw Jaya's distressed look through her smile and tried to divert her attention from their warring friends with some talk about the weekend. They had been obsessing over their favorite manga, Naruto, as usual, and were working on cosplay outfits. The fighting ensued while they talked, despite Jesse's continued attempts to sooth both parties, and soon the shouts were too loud to ignore. Jaya stopped talking abruptly, tearing her eyes from the shouting blondes who had the attention of the entire mall. It didn't matter that an officer was coming over to investigate the disturbance so much as the fact that every time they got together, Evan and Rachel would break into fights.

'I don't want to be near this,' Jaya thought sadly, hands gripping together as Monica called Jesse and nodded in the direction of the officer who was heading over.

'I want to go away,' Jaya thought to herself. 'I need to be away from here.'

'I wish I were anywhere but here...'

"Oh man," the long-haired asian said as the correctional officer walked up to the two teenagers, "Oh man, now they're--" Monica blinked twice, attention averted as she noticed a soft glow on her right where Jaya stood. Her eyes widened.

"What the--"

Jaya was glowing, and the floor beneath her feet had begun to disappear.

"Huh?" Jaya said looking up at Monica and then down at her feet. She gasped in surpise.

"Holy--! What's going on?! I'm see-through!" Jaya said, her voice rising rapidly in pitch.

"Jaya--" Monica whispered, grabbing onto her shoulders as the glowing spread, and the two were enveloped in it as Jesse turned around to see what Jaya had screamed for. His hazel eyes widened as he witnessed the glow expand to cover the two girls.

"JAYA!!!"

When others turned to look in the direction Jaya and Monica were standing, the glow escalated into a blinding flare and suddenly the floor disappeared under them altogether, and with a flash, they vanished completely. A scrunchie and a small bracelet fell to the floor, the only sounds in the mall. Jesse, who had seen the most of it, was the first to recover.

"Whoa ... what in the flying FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!" He sprinted over to the section of the floor they'd been standing on, Evan close behind. "I ... I have no clue--Holy SHIT, where did Monica and Jaya go?!" Rachel came up behind Jesse slowly, in shock that two of her friends had just disappeared, spotting the two artifacts on the floor.

"Wait, hold on! There's something here!" She picked up the two. "Jaya's bracelet and Monica's hair tie ... I'll keep them," she said quickly. Evan stopped freaking out to register the sentence.

"No way," he said, trying to grab the bracelet away from Rachel.

"Whoa, hold on," Jesse said, trying to keep Evan away from the pale girl, "How about we all switch every day--Rachel can hold onto Monica's scrunchie and Evan can take Jaya's bracelet first, and then you can switch... Ok?"

"Fine," Rachel and Evan grumbled at the same time. The two flushed, glaring at each other, then looking away, "FINE!!!!"

"Jeez ..." Jesse said, running a hand through his blue and green-dyed hair, "it's impossible to win with you two."

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00.03

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"Uhn ..."

Monica grumbled, opening her eyes to see the outline of trees. She looked up to see Jaya sprawled unconscious on a thick tree branch above her. She scrambled up to the branch and pulled Jaya into a sitting position... and then shook her awake.

"Huh? Wha? Uh ..."

"Oi! Jaya! Wake up," Monica said.

"Uh? Oh! OH! Where are we?" Jaya asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I don't know and I don't care--I'm hungry," Monica announced, jumping down from the tree, "Let's go find food."

"W-wait for me!" Jaya called, carefully climbing down the tree trunk.

A few minutes later, Monica suddenly came to a stop, making Jaya run into her.

"Oof! What's wrong?" Jaya asked, rubbing her smarting nose.

"It may sound crazy... but I think we know this guy ..." Monica murmured, indicating a figure lounging under a tree. Jaya looked in the direction her finger was pointing and her eyes widened in disbelief. The spiked silver hair, the dark blue face mask, the orange novel in hand ... it was unmistakable from their angle that it was indeed the one and only Hatake Kakashi. Jaya stood frozen in place. Monica looked interested.

"Maybe he's got food," Monica said, dragging Jaya in the direction of the spiky haired man.

At the moment, Kakashi was at a very interesting part in the story. Two dazzling young women were walking up to the hero, and, hand-in-hand, asked him if he'd allow them to assist him in any way possible. His finger was under the page to turn it when two shadows fell on his page. He looked up to see a long-haired girl holding a blushing brown-skinned girl's hand, and wondered briefly if he'd been pulled into the little orange novel, silly as the thought was.

"How can I help you two ladies?" he asked, hoping that the answer would parallel the one in his novel. The long-haired girl looked at him for a moment, half-lidded eyes meeting his, and her lips parted to ask--

"Do you have food?"

Kakashi's face fell. "Ah. No."

The brown-eyed girl blinked, undaunted. "Do you know where we can get some?"

The jounin sighed, standing up. "Aa." 'They can't be ninjas,' he deduced, 'no chakra, no weapon holsters, and their footfalls are about as quiet as Naruto's. They're probably villagers from nearby. And they're not being followed.' Thus, it was acceptable if he showed the two to Konoha.

"Um, thank you, sir!" Jaya piped up as they began to walk.

The jounin nodded. "No problem, miss. Call me Kakashi."

Jaya nodded and corrected her sentence. "Thank you very much, Kakashi-san!"

Kakashi sweat dropped. "Right ..."

They walked in silence for a second, and then Kakashi slipped a casual question their way. "So, what village do you two come from? I haven't seen you before."

Jaya nodded. "That's right, because we're--"

"--from Suna," said Monica smoothly, not even looking to see if Kakashi was surprised by her sudden intervention, "I'm DJ. This is Tohru." She gave the brown-skinned girl a look from the corner of her eyes that read 'go-along-with-this-and-don't-ask-questions', to which Jaya responded by backing their story.

"We've lived in Suna all our lives ... our parents abandoned us when we were five, or younger. And we were kicked out a week ago. We've been here and there, wandering around since then." A soft, sad smile summed up their tale, and Kakashi nodded, reminded of a blue-eyed blonde.

"Aa. Orphans ..."

DJ and Tohru nodded unconsciously. The subject seemed tenative enough to make Kakashi silent for the rest of the walk.

A few minutes later, they arrived in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Kakashi led them to a large stone building. "Do you think you can wait to get food until after you're registered as Konoha citizens?"

DJ looked up sharply, instantly wary. "What?"

The jounin tilted his head towards the building. "If I submit your names and put your family history as orphaned or unknown, then you can become an official citizen of Konoha." Jaya nodded, though DJ was still thinking about it.

"Sure, ok! Thanks, Kakashi-san; we're forever in your debt." When she bowed, DJ gave her a sound smack on the back of her head.

Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Get up," she muttered, her stomach growling, "and don't bow so much. We'll wait out here." Jaya nodded, slightly frazzled at being smacked around so much. Kakashi disappeared into the building, and the two girls were left outside. As they waited, Monica's stomach began to growl longer, in shorter intervals. Jaya grinned.

"Looks like you can't wait," she teased. Suddenly, a noise came from her own stomach. Jaya blushed as Monica grinned at her, and the two laughed at each other.

Kakashi exited the building as Jaya finished wiping tears away from her eyes. "Ok, as of now, you're offically Konoha citizens." The two girls stood abruptly, DJ suspicious and Jaya glad. "That was fast," the former said casually as Kakashi had before, the Jounin noting her mimicking his tone. He made no indication that he noticed though and pulled out several things. The first he handed to Jaya. "This is some money to hold you over until you find a job."

Jaya blushed. "But we couldn't--"

"It's not my money," Kakashi said quickly, to Jaya's relief, "it's the village's. I assumed neither of you had enough money to cover rent for an apartment." When neither girl protested, he continued. "This should cover the rent costs for a month, which is plenty of time to get a job and settle in." DJ snatched the thick wad of bills from Jaya and pocketed it. "Safer with me," she said as explanation when Kakashi stared at her. The jounin tried to shrug it off and moved on. "These are ID cards to carry on you, and this is the address of apartment complexes with openings. Also, there's a personality quiz, and a ninja qualification sheet."

"Qualification sheet?" Jaya asked. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes. If you were gennin in Suna, then you'd be gennin here in Konoha. You'd have to talk to the Hokage about ... you DO know what ninjas are?" he asked slowly, unsure of the girls' knowledge. DJ and Jaya nodded simutaneously. 'More than you think,' DJ thought to herself as Kakashi continued. "Well, if you were chuunin or gennin in Suna, then you'd have to see Hokage-sama about being re-instated as the same ranking here." Jaya nodded, a little lost, but pleased nonetheless.

"Ok, thanks so much, Kakashi-san! We're indebted to you yet again--"

"--and if you bow, I'll hit you 'yet again'," DJ promised, keeping an eye on Jaya's teetering form.

Kakashi shrugged and decided to leave. "All right. Welcome to Konoha," he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The two girls took out the list of addresses and headed towards the north end of town.

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00.04

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Some time later, after they'd found an apartment they liked, the two girls decided to venture out and finally find some food. They spoke with the apartment manager who tried to generously cut their costs until they got jobs but both girls refused and paid for the first week in full, thus cutting their money for food and other living amenities somewhat short. As they were walking down the streets, Jaya spotted a stand that read, 'Ramen: Miso Special Today!' Without thinking, she said, "Ramen?"

Monica visibly froze. "Food? Where?"

Jaya pointed to the sign. "It says--"

"Food," the brown-eyed girl repeated in delight, dragging Jaya over by the arm to claim two seats.

"What can I do ya for, ladies?" asked the cook at the counter.

"I'd like an extra large bowl of the Miso," Monica said. "I'll have a small of the same," Jaya put in, quickly counting out the number of coins they'd need to cough up to cover the small meal. The man grinned. "All right, coming right up!" Monica and Jaya leaned forwards and picked up a pair of chopsticks out of the bin and snapped them in half at exactly the same time.

"Hey... you're not from around here, are you?"

Monica and Jaya turned to face the new voices of a blue-eyed blonde, a pink-haired girl, and a stoic boy. Monica lifted an eyebrow in surprise. 'Hmm... first Kakashi, now these three.' Jaya was responding to their question while Monica was thinking.

"Yes, we were just shown in! My name is Tohru Tsuraki, and this is my cousin, DJ! Who are you?" she asked happily, trying to make friends.

"None of your business," the stoic boy said, standing and turning before Jaya could get his name. The pink-haired girl frowned and took off after him, berating him about rudeness, but in fact she too had left without leaving her name. Only the blonde grinned at them and slipped them a word. Two, in fact. "Uzumaki Naruto!" After that he bounded away to catch up with his team.

Monica stared at the meal that had just arrived. "Well, Sasuke sucks," she decided, picking up her chopsticks and digging in. "I suppose," Jaya said, turning to her bowl to eat her own food. As she ate, she took out the personality quiz and the ninja 'qualification' sheet. She handed one set to her 'cousin', along with a pencil. "We should fill these things out and see if we can get headbands," Jaya suggested, though Monica had already begun to bubble in answers on both. The questions were nearly a joke to both girls, highly obsessed with Naruto, and even ended up choking on some ramen because of the simplicity of the quiz.

Finishing their quizzes and meals a few minutes later, the two girls headed out to an address on the bottom of the Ninja 'qualification' sheet. Monica had an idea of who they would end up meeting as the Ninja academy came into view. Jaya led them through the halls until they came to a stop in front of one door. The brown-skinned girl knocked twice before opening the door to reveal a curious chuunin teacher.

"Oh? What can I do for you two ladies today?" he asked softly, a smile spreading across his parent-like features.

"Hatake-san gave us some things to fill out," Monica said before Jaya could introduce them to the chuunin, "and he gave us directions to get here." She held out her papers, Jaya mimicking her. The schoolteacher nodded, taking the papers from them. "Oh? And what do we have ..." He paused, scanning the paper's contents. His eyes flickered from test to test, eyebrows knitting together for an instant as he scanned their answers.

"You two want to become ninjas?"

Jaya nodded. "Yes."

"You come from Suna ... I see--well, then it shouldn't be a problem re-instating you as gennin here." He looked up from the papers. "You were only gennin, weren't you?"

"Yes," Monica said, cutting off another answer from Jaya, who pouted and began to look frustrated. The chuunin nodded, not noticing their odd on-and-off answers.

"All right! I'll take these straight to the Hokage. The paperwork won't take more than an hour, if you want to come with me."

"Sure!" exclaimed Jaya, not letting Monica say a thing. The long-haired girl just nodded, aware that Jaya was a little angry at her for interrupting her before. They followed Iruka out of the classroom.

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00.05

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About an hour and a half later, the two girls strode down the streets, this time with identical silver metal plates in their possession. Neither girl had felt bold enough to wear it yet, and had resolved to be 'normal' villagers until the next morning, in the mean time they would get mediocre chores done without anyone bugging them. Jaya decided to shop for food, Monica decided to buy other odd commodities that they would need to live. They counted the money left over and were delighted to know that they could probably live off of it for two months instead of one if they kept up their spending-saving trend.

They arrived at their apartment after another half hour, arms full of bags, and locked themselves in.

Inside the apartment was some furniture from previous renters, and not in bad condition. There was a couch, two arm chairs, a coffee table, and four bar stools by the kitchen counter. Other than that, the creamy walls were barren of decor of any kind. A few lamps stood in the corners of the room, and the coffee table had several candles in candle holders. The floor was carpeted with a plain blue carpet, and the ceiling was comfortably four feet above both girls' heads. The bedrooms had blue walls, housed two beds, and one bathroom including a toilet and bath shower. Both girls checked every nook and cranny of the apartment, discovering no food or amenities. The apartment had running water hot and cold and a working refrigerator and stove. There was also an oven, but to their dismay, no fireplace. After looking around, they flopped down on the comfortable couch.

"Well, what now?" Jaya asked, glancing sleepily over at her roommate.

"I think we should sleep. We've got instructions to meet our new team at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, and I want to sleep."

"Who do you think'll be on our team?"

Monica didn't respond out loud. 'I'm sure you know,' she thought to herself as she abandoned the curious girl in exchange for a warm bed, and soon Jaya was alone in her conscious state, left to wonder on her friend's knowing silence.

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End . Chapters . 1-5

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Next Chapters: 6-10.

Again, thank you for your interest, all comments and critiques are welcomed.