Crossing Over (#2 In Shifting Series)

Hangovers Suck

Melissa held onto the trashcan as if it was a life preserver.  Her head was pounding and she literally was just dry heaving.  It had been fun the night before but what an awful way to wake up so early in the morning.  Iruka knelt in front of her with a glass of water.

"Drink this," he said softly.  "It will help."

She glowered at him before setting the trash can down and taking the glass.  Her head felt like it was going to explode.  The water did feel good going down her throat, though.  She groaned as he took the glass from her and she buried her face into her hands.

"I'm going to die..."

Iruka grinned at her, "I've had a few of those kinds of mornings.  It will get better."

"Ugh... I just want to go back to sleep."

"Sorry, love, but you got to get yourself together and go to work."

Melissa groaned and flopped back on the bed.  She pulled the blankets up over her head.  "No."  Iruka laughed and started tugging at the blanket.  She reluctantly released her death grip on it as she remembered the last stack they had not gotten to of paperwork.

"Okay, okay..." She muttered.  "How did I get home by the way?  I don't remember that part."

Iruka looked to the ceiling and grinned.  "I carried you home."

"Did I throw up?"

"Oh yeah..." Iruka said with a laugh.  "You almost did on me but I was fast enough to avoid it."

Melissa covered her face.  "I'm sorry."

"You were cute last night," he responded as he helped her to her feet.  "Go ahead and get in the shower and I'll bring your clothes in for you."

Melissa nodded and walked towards the bathroom.  Her head was still pounding and she prayed that the hot water would help.  An hour later, she was dressed and heading out the door.  Iruka walked with her to the building before splitting away to continue to the Academy.  She watched him go for a moment before starting up the steps.

As she stepped into the office she shared with Sarah, she saw that her friend was sitting at the desk with her head in her hands.  Kakashi had obviously made her get up and go in as well.  She wondered if it wasn't their punishment for getting so drunk the night before.

"Don't... say... a... word... for... awhile..." Sarah whispered.

Melissa nodded her understanding and went to the last stack of papers.  Sarah slowly stood and almost dropped to the ground as she sat down.  It was painful reading the papers for the first hour before their headaches started easing off.

"God... I'm not drinking like that again for a long time," Sarah finally spoke after an hour of silence.

Melissa nodded her head, "At least not on a day we got to come in to work."

"Nope, I'm done," Sarah muttered.  "I don't wanna feel like this again... and Kakashi isn't very happy with me right now.  I swear, he woke me up at four-thirty just to punish me.  The man... made me jog..."

Melissa choked, "He made you do what?"

"We usually go for a four-thirty run and training session in the morning," Sarah said with a groan.  "This time he just made me run until it was time to get ready to come in.  He said it would get the alcohol effects done faster... I think he was just torturing me."

Melissa laughed then groaned as her head protested the sound.  "Iruka was very sweet about it.  I don't remember a lot about going home but when I woke up, he had gotten me out of my clothes and tucked me into bed."

They fell into silence as they sorted the last pile of papers.  Melissa stilled as she looked at one of the papers in her hand.  It was from one of the ANBU locations within the last few weeks.  As she read the contents, she felt her hands shaking a bit.  She looked at Sarah, who was muttering under her breath about hard ass husbands as she sorted papers.

"Sarah... This looks really important... I think the ANBU might have stumbled across the groups hideout that attacked the village."

Sarah's eyes widened and took the paper from her.  She read the contents then quickly got to her feet.  "Good eyes!  Come on, we gotta show this to Naruto and Shikamaru now!"

After yesterday, the guard stepped to the side as Sarah burst into Naruto's office.  She did not even look at the person that was standing in the room.  She slapped the paper down in front of Naruto.  "Look at what Melissa just found."

Naruto took the paper then came to his feet in excitement, "Yes!"

Melissa was frozen at the door as she stood staring at Sasuke Uchiha.  His eyes had drifted over to her and she felt spooked.  How Sarah had not noticed his presence was beyond her.  She really could be one tracked when she was on to something.  Sarah then noticed him and she... Smiled?! at him before moving over to give him a hug.

"Sasuke, when did you get back?"  She then slapped his arm, "You're gone way too much.  You need to stay home more often, Sakura and Sarada have missed you."

Sasuke's lips only very faintly lifted in that smile that did not seem like much of a smile.  He then said, "I'm planning on being home for the most part now.  I just got back in."

"Good because I miss you too," Sarah responded.  "Oh, Sasuke, meet my friend Melissa.  She's from my world.  I brought her here after you left this last time."

Sasuke turned his full attention to her.  She felt like her soul was open bare to him as he cast his Rinnegan eye over her.  It was not entirely a pleasant sensation.  He gave a slight nod then looked back at Sarah, "Have you started training her yet?  She's fully capable of doing Ninjutsu."

Sarah bit her lip, "Um, no.  I hadn't even thought about it lately.  A lot has happened while you were gone Sasuke."

Naruto interrupted then, "The village was attacked.  I'm sure you noticed some of the damage on your way here.  A group of escaped prisoners from the Land of Lightning, including Jaylyn Uchiha, has waged war on the Leaf."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "I knew we should have killed her.  Is she the leader?"

Sarah shook her head, "It did not seem so when she spoke to me.  She said something about making alliances with some powerful people.  It didn't sound like she was the leader."

"Then we do have a serious problem on our hands," Sasuke said softly.  "Someone like her would not submit beneath someone else unless that person was very powerful.  Do we have a list of all the prisoners that escaped?"

"Sai is gathering everything right now," Naruto answered.  "Melissa, however, just found this missive that might give us a clue as to where they are based out of."

Sasuke appraised her once more before taking the paper from Naruto and reading it.  He flashed a smile that looked more like a snarl.  "I'll check this out myself.  I can be there and back in a short period of time.  If it looks promising, we can send more operatives to keep a watch on it."

"Sasuke... be careful," Naruto said softly.  "We don't know who is leading this group."

He made a sound of contempt before walking out of the room.  Melissa felt a chill go down her spine as he passed.  He really creeped her out.