Chapter 1

People believe there is no life after death. That they move on to Heaven or Hell, to be with past family members and friends. I used to believe this too, lying awake many a night wondering.

Where would I go after I died?

Of course, no one knew. No one could come back to life and tell them. Some believed that you lived another life, born into another body with no recall of your past. But maybe there was nothing after death? Maybe you just stopped. The world had nothing for you after that. Maybe.

But, I was just about to find out.

O.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.O

Tuesday, September 9th.

2001, New York, NY.

The World Trade Center.

8:40 a.m.

I walked through the courtyard of the Twin Towers. Many employees littered the steps up two the two large front doors of one of the towers, fitting in a breakfast before work or finishing up something. I stood at the front, gazing at the fountain and the sculptures.

I pushed open the wide doors, and immediately sound reached my ears. The low drone and honking of cars stuck in traffic was replaced with the eager chatting of people and the gentle 'ding' of the elevators. I couldn't help but gaze in wonder at the high ceiling, the clean floors that had your reflection, and the beautiful granite walls.

Though I had been in the World Trade Center many times, I still couldn't suppress the amazement and the sheer awe for the huge, 110 story buildings.

Tight in my left hand was my mom's lunch, which in her haste for waking up late (again), she had left upon the counter. This was a normal thing for me. I walked up to the receptionist, who gave me a bored look before handing me a visitor's sticker and waved me away. I shrugged my shoulders, nodding politely to some of the other workers, before catching an elevator up to the 70th floor of the North Tower.

Once there, I wandered the halls until I found my mom's office. I knocked, hearing the small call of 'come in' before entering. I had walked in on one of my mom's meetings once before, and she had not been pleased.

"Hey, Mom," I said, placing the lunch on her desk with a cheeky grin upon my face. My mom hit her forehead with her hand, laughing. "I forgot it again, Maya? I felt like I was missing something when I left," she said.

I rolled my eyes, "You should keep a buzzer. It would go off every time you'd walk out the door without your lunch."

My mom smiled. We were exactly alike, with dark hair and brilliant blue eyes, (though my hair was longer as it went down to my waist) and pale skin. My dad had died when I was seven in a car crash, and my mom was still single. She just couldn't remarry after my father.

"You're such a good girl, Maya," she said.

I grinned, "I know I am. Do you need anything else? Or do you want me to high-tail my ass out the door and stop bothering you?"

My mother scoffed, "Maya Rachel Monroe! Don't use such language! I don't want any of my damned bosses to hear you!"

I put on a look of mock innocence, rubbing my toe against the ground and pouting in a chibi way. "Gomen-nasai, Okaa-san…"

My mom rolled her eyes. I was very obsessed with anime and manga, my name favorites being Higurashi, Rozen Maiden, and Naruto. Naruto was at the top of the fangirl list currently, being the thing I screamed over like 'normal' teenagers with Twilight. Yuck.

I flashed my mom a peace sign, winking, "Well then, I hope you have a good day at work! Give Nasty-Ass a hard time for me!" Nasty-Ass's actual name was Nastiyaz, but it sounded like Nasty-Ass so my mom and I called him that behind his back. He was a total ass, pun intended.

My mom opened her mouth to reply, when suddenly the whole building shook. There were collective screams from the hallways, and my mom leaped to her feet to look in the hallway. People were running to-and-fro, screaming their heads off. I walked to the window, opening it and looking above me.

I don't know who screamed, it might have been me, because the top floors of the skyscraper were on fire. There was a gaping hole, and a plane had crashed into the towers. There was another rumble, and the top floors of the tower had begun to sink.

"Maya!" my mom screamed. I turned away from the window, grabbing my mom's hand as she shepherded me through the mob of people fleeing the tower. There was another rumble, and everything froze.

"The other Tower was hit!" someone called, and immediately all chaos broke loose. The tower was caving in on itself, and smoke was wafting in from the hallway.

I coughed, tightening my grip on my mom's hand. My eyes watered, and I couldn't see a thing. I felt my mom's hand slip from my grasp, and I yelled something but I couldn't hear my own voice. I coughed again, holding my hand over my nose and mouth as my mom shouted over the heads of the crowd as they swept her away.

There was another scream, and a sickening crunch as a banister fell from the ceiling and cut off the people. I plowed forward, forcing my way between bodies as they made towards the elevator. Someone hurled themselves from a window, screaming into the day.

The tower rumbled again. I could only see hazy outlines of those in front of me from all the smoke.

"Maya!" I heard the familiar call, and looked up. There was my mom, forcing her way to me. I realized I had lagged behind, and was at the end of the crowd. She wove a comforting arm around my shoulder.

The tower gave another rumble, and I felt myself slip as the floor below caved in. Pipes broke, and my mom and I fell a good ten feet into a mass of bodies. We were quickly scooped up, and ushered through the hall. There was the elevator, but my mom hurried me past it.

Suddenly, the Tower began to lean to the right. It was going to fall. I stared, fearful, at my mom. We were too high up to still make it.

My mom smiled at me. Tears were streaking down her cheeks. Her smile said, 'It's going to be alright,' but it wasn't. I knew. I sniffed, wiping my own eyes and reaching into my shirt. I pulled out a locket, and opened it. There was me, my mom, and my dad, smiling in a picture; unknowing of how our family would be torn apart. Mom took out an identical necklace, and nodded. We turned toward a window, hand in hand, and jumped.

I had cuts all over my body from the glass, and my eyes streamed as air rushed into them. I turned my body over, looking to my mom who had done the same. The drop was achingly slow. I had closed my eyes, and seeing my life flash forward like a movie in a millisecond for me. It was too short. I still wanted to live it out, to see the sights the world had to offer.

I still hear the crunching of bones as my body had hit the ground. That was something I will never forget.

O.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.O

Death had come easily to me, as it had taken me into its warm embrace. I was content, happy. Not a care in the world.

I had heard a small voice, 'Open your eyes' it whispered. But I didn't want to. I was in a blissful state, floating freely. The voice repeated, stubborn, and wanting. I frowned, wanting to remain in the state I was in. I didn't want to see the world, filled with death and chaos as it was.

The voice repeated itself, and I finally succumbed. I opened my eyes, and felt my body thud against the ground.

Nothing surprised me more than what I saw in front of me. Green leaves stretched to the sky on trees that I had never seen that tall. Sounds of wild animals and the twitters of birds reached my ears, and I breathed in a foresty scent that no air freshener could copy.

Was this Heaven? No. I couldn't see my mom, or my dad anywhere. I was alone.

The events that had occurred before my untimely death struck me like a train, no, like the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. I buried my head in my hands, too distraught even for tears. Would I ever see my family again? I realized that I wasn't scratched up, and I could breath just fine. I was still dressed in the GIR hoodie with a black tank top, jeans, and gray converse. Weird.

My head snapped up, and I leaped quickly to my feet. I stared hard at a bush that had rustled. "Who's there?" I called. I tried to sound as demanding and important as possible, but my voice shook. Fail.

I tensed, ready to run as fast as I possibly could. Then a little bunny hopped out of the bush. I groaned, hitting my forehead with my hand.

"You're such a worry-wart, Maya," I grumbled to myself. Hey, when you're stuck in a forest, alone, with only who-knows-what for company, you tend to get a little crazy.

But, then I felt something metallic latch around me. I screamed, wriggling back and forth.

"Will you hold still, girl?" a voice growled. I opened one eye, which I had shut tight in my fear, and peered down. Something that looked like a metal, scorpion-like tail had wrapped around me, and I was dangling from the air. Wonderful.

"Sasori-no-Danna, are you planning to turn the girl into a puppet, un?" another voice asked boredly. My eyes snapped to a man walking towards me. He had long blonde hair up in a ponytail and bangs covering his right eye. There was something metal behind the bangs. He wore a black cloak, with a red cloud design on it. Oh. Shit.

Just my luck I had fallen over 10 stories, died, and landed somehow in the Naruto world. And also just my luck, note the sarcasm, I had happened upon the Akatsuki. Not good.