Author's Note: After nearly four years of inactivity outside of adding stories to my favorites and alerts list, as well as the occasional review, I have decided to give writing fanfictions another go. I'm using a pretty cliche idea here, but it just seems to interesting and fun that I can't help but write it. Also, the credit for inspiration for this story goes to Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen. So, if you're familiar with that story, it won't come as a shock that this'll be a SI as well.

Title for this story is inspired by the quote below

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Oh, and obligatory disclaimer of Naruto not being mine.

With that out of the way, on with the story!

Prologue

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I was in the dark for so long. Trapped within thick, impenetrable black, I was left blind and alone with no escape in sight. I would like to say I was scared, seeing as I was practically suffocating under the oppressive inky depths that refused free me, but I can't. I wasn't scared. I wasn't really anything, to be honest. There was an inkling of consciousness—something that kept telling me this isn't right, why am I here—but aside from that... nothing. All I know was that I was there for what felt like an eternity.

At the same time, it only felt as long as a night of dreamless rest. A blink of an eye, and I was free. It flew by, and ultimately left me completely and utterly unprepared for what I'd awake to.

Then again, going to sleep as one person and waking up as another isn't really something anyone could ever hope to prepare for, regardless of the amount of time given.

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I had never been much of a runner. No, I was the quiet girl who'd frequently turn down her parents proposals of going out on light jogs in favor of reading, or drawing, or—my favorite—simply sitting on my bed doing nothing. Yet upon my return to the realm of consciousness, the first thing my mind screamed at me was run.

Kidnapped. I had been kidnapped. That's what must've happened to me; that was the only explanation I could come up with to explain my change in scenery. The night before I had fallen asleep in my room—of that I was absolutely certain. Yet, come the following morning, the room I awoke to was most definitely not my own.

Throwing off plush white covers with much more difficulty than I had ever experienced—maybe I'm still under the effects of whatever they drugged me with? What other reason would there be for me to not recall being transported here?—I launched myself from the bed. Upon hearing the loud, jarring slap of bare feet colliding with wooden flooring, I couldn't help but wince. Even more so upon hearing how awkward and uneven my steps were, regardless of how carefully I tried to walk.

Quickly surveying my surroundings, my eyes caught sight of a veranda and, beyond that, a dirt path. Further still, I could make out a bamboo fence surrounding the building. Briefly, I wondered how on Earth could I see everything so clearly, as normally I couldn't even make out size twelve type font if it was more than a foot away from my face. But, considering the situation at hand, such thoughts were quickly forgotten. A mantra of runrunrun cycled itself through my mind, and who was I to disobey?

I darted towards the door, hand reaching out to grasp the sliding glass so as to throw it open and—

Squeak!

Suddenly light flooded the room, allowing me to see what it was that alerted my presence to my captors. There beneath my foot laid a plush dinosaur, button eyes grinning up at me almost mischievously.

I heard a chuckle, deep and masculine, laced with what sounded like amusement. Something was said, but to my fear addled mind it could only be registered as static. I had been caught trying to escape. I had been caught. What was to happen to me? Why had they taken me in the first place? What had I done to deserve this? Why me? Why why why?

Once again my world turned to black.

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Author's Note: There she is, folks! The beginning of my hopefully interesting self-insert!

Oh, and before I forget, many, many thanks to my wonderful beta Orodruin!