Maya - a Naruto Fanfic

1. Down The Rabbit Hole

They were right when they said curiosity killed the cat.

I scrub my palms over my shorts, brushing off the mud and leaving smears of brown and red over my thighs. I'll think about that later. Right now, I have bigger problems than a few scrapes, starting with; where the heck am I?

Not where I started, that's for sure. I crawled through a hole in a fence, but now there's no fence. At all. Just a really freaked out bunny. Which leaves me very few explanations.

Explanation One: I went exploring, fell and hit my head and now am suffering selective memory loss.

Explanation Two: I'm having a really vivd hallucination.

Explanation Three: something super weird happened that I would really rather not think about.

There's no bump when I feel the back of my head, and I've never hallucinated before, so those two are pretty unlikely. Which leaves...

On second thought, maybe I am hallucinating, there's a first time for everything, right?

"Oh, who am I kidding?" I groan and sink down into a crouch, wrapping my arms over my head. This is going to suck, I just know it.

Explanation Three: whatever I crawled through brought me to somewhere an unknown distance from where I was.

"Ugh!" I roll back and sprawl out over the dirt. The bunny hops over and stares down at me.

"I wish you could talk," I tell it, "then maybe you could tell me what happened." The bunny wriggles it's nose. I flip onto my stomach and prop my chin up on folded arms, looking the bunny in the eye.

"You know all the stories say that when you crawl through a portal you get transported into another world, but that doesn't really happen. Does it?" The bunny's ear twitches.

"Because that would be insane, me getting transported to another world. You know what would be less insane? Is if I'm suffering a premature psychotic break and now I'm in the middle of a hallucination. That would be less insane." The bunny presses it's pink nose to mine, and I scowl.

"You're no help." It curls up in the crook of my neck, and I can feel it's little breaths puff against my skin.

"What if I really am in another world? What do I do then?" It's pure stubbornness that stops me completely freaking out, but already I can feel my chest tightening and those buzzing thoughts getting louder. I need to figure things out and make up a plan - quickly.

"Oh my, it seems I've found a young girl in the forest." Someone says mildly. I shoot upright, my hand snapping out and wrapping around a nearby rock. The bunny cowers behind me.

In front of me is a man, probably twice my age, looking totally relaxed. A book dangles from his fingers and he peers at me disinterestedly with his one visible eye.

"Who're you?" I ask suspiciously. Because there is nothing more suspicious than a strange man in a strange forest.

"Me first. Who are you and what are you doing here?" His voice is soft and slow, and carefully mild. I don't trust it for an instant. My eyes narrow - why doesn't he find it strange that I'm alone? This can't be private property.

"I asked first." I scowl.

"I'm older." He raises one eyebrow, still apparently totally disinterested.

"... My name's Maya. I'm lost." I mutter eventually.

"I'm Kakashi."

"Well, what're you doing here, Kakashi?" If it sounds a little petulant, that's not my problem. I'm having a bad day.

"Reading." He holds up the book. I squint at the cover.

"Icha Icha... Paradise? You're reading a book called Make Out Paradise?" Alone, in the forest. Yep, this guy definitely can't be trusted.

"It's a wonderful romance between a man and a-"

"It sounds like porn." I deadpan, and his eye crinkles it what must be an awkward smile. Gotcha.

"Look, I won't tell anybody that you sneakily read pornos in your free time, if you tell me where the nearest town is." I sigh, standing up slowly. Something drags on the back of my t-shirt and there, hanging from the hem, is the rabbit. I purse my lips, but gather it up anyway, holding it closely to my chest. It can't hurt to bring it along, right?

"... Alright, I'll even walk you there. Oh, and by the way, it's erotica." He calls over his shoulder as he walks away.

"Not with a name like 'Make Out Paradise' it isn't." I taunt.

Our walk passes in total silence. I'm too busy trying to take in every detail, while Kakashi somehow reads his book without falling flat on his face. It's not long before a grand set of gates loom over us, appearing almost from nowhere.

"What- shouldn't I have been able to see that from where I was?" I ask, frowning. The bunny stares up at the gates with wide eyes. I take an experimental step back, and the gates disappear from view. That's not possible. That's totally, totally not possible. And yet, when I step forwards again, there are the gates, rising well above the crest of the hill. 

"No." Is all Kakashi says in reply. Rude. Still, I follow him up to the gates where two men look like they're standing guard outside. Who even stands guard anymore? Come to think of it, why is there a wall around this village in the first place? And if it was meant to be protection, why is the entrance so big?

"Kakashi, you're back. But who's this?" One of them says, his hand falling to a pouch on his belt. Something sharp glints in the light, and my heart claws it's way up into my throat. They look more like military than police, and I take an unconscious step back. 

"This is Maya," Kakashi gestures to me, "I found her lying in the forest. She says she's lost." Something about the way he says that sets my teeth on edge. What is he implying?

"I am lost." I chime in, frowning. The bunny wriggles uncomfortably in my tight grip, and I have to work to relax my arms even a little. I'm starting to get the feeling I'm in really big trouble.

"That's what I said." Something about his mild tone takes a dangerous edge, and I take another small step back.

"You can't run now, you know where our village is." One of the men's hand grips my shoulder, sending ice arching down my spine. When did he get behind me?

"Why does that matter? Let me go!" I pull hard against his grip, but all he does is tighten his hold, glaring down at me with ice cold eyes.

A/N: So this is the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, it was a bitch to write. I have literally no idea where I'm going with this so be prepared for a pretty wild ride. Leave a comment or review or whatever the heck you do on this site telling me what you think; I thrive on constructive criticism, it is my life's blood.
Ta-ta~