A/N: I know some of you want longer chapters. I'll make it happen after my midterms are over. For now, here's another shorty filler chapter.

Chapter 4 - The Ride to Acalypha

We all rode in the back of our family's high-speed magic-powered carriage as it rolled bumpily down the road, heading out the gates of the mansion and onwards to a nearby town and their magic shop. Mother sat beside me and across from us was Naruto who peered outside, seemingly amazed and confused by the sights all at once. He said that he couldn't recognize anything. He said the buildings looked weird, that the people dressed funny (the nerve!), and that somehow even the trees looked different from those from his world. It made me wonder how different his world could be.

I also wondered about him. I studied the whisker marks on his face, undecided on whether or not they were scars or birth marks or actual whiskers. I admired the determined look in his eyes and pondered how a boy so young could be a summon, or if maybe he was much older than he looked. Something like that wouldn't be out of place for a summon. Partway through my musing, he looked at me and caught me staring at him.

I couldn't help but blush a little. I'm not even sure why.

"So where is this place?" he asked, pointing out the window of the carriage.

"Our world, or rather this world, is called Earth Land," said my mother with the patience and understanding of... well... a mother, "and all the land you see now is part of the Kingdom of Fiore."

"Fiore huh...?" he repeated the name as if he were trying to get a feel for it.

I couldn't hold back my boundless curiosity any longer. "Where are you from?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Fire Country. In my world, countries are named after elements. Not sure what a... Fiore... is. Anyways, I lived in a village called Konohagakure before I got here. Hey, how did I get here anyways?"

"I summoned you," I said cheerily, "remember?"

"Oh yea... right," he said, scratching his head. "Wow, and I thought only animals could be summoned. Guess there's still stuff they didn't teach us at the Academy yet. So did you use some kind of special summoning scroll or something? Is that what brought me here?"

I laughed a little. Summoning from a scroll? That sounded silly. Everyone knows that you needed a special key to unlock a door to another world. I figured it was be easier to show him. "Nope, I used this to get you here!" I took out the black key from behind my dress and held it up for him to see. It now hung from a silver chain that my mother had given me. He stared at it for a bit.

"A key?"

"Mmhm!" I started explaining. "This key opens the door to your world."

"How?"

I thought about it for a second. "Well... with magic, duh," I said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Magic...? Really...? I see..." he said.

I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if he actually understood. I figured he might. It was a simple enough thing to grasp.

But then, he started to laugh. And it sounded like the hysterical kind of laughter, too. "Ahaha... haha... ha... Ahahahahaha!"

I frowned. "Umm... what's so funny?"

"I think I get it now!" he said. "This is all just a dream, isn't it?"

That caught me a little off-guard. "What?"

"Hah! Of course this is a dream! Magic? Gimme a break. I knew I was studying too hard for the Genin exams. I must have fallen asleep or something. Man, maybe I should take it easy for a bit. This dream is so weird."

I scowled at him. "This is not a dream." And what the heck was a Genin exam?

Then, Naruto stared at me, as if actually seeing me for the first time. "Hey, wow, I didn't notice before but you're pretty realistic for a dream girl. You don't even look blurry or anything." He started jabbing me in the shoulder with his finger. "You even feel real."

"Geez, I'm not a dream-" I flared. "And stop poking me!"

"You too, lady," he said, looking towards my mother this time.

"Why thank you," my mother replied, all smiles. Wait a minute, how was that even a compliment? Why wasn't she saying anything? Why was she just quietly laughing to herself like this was all one big joke?

Then, for some reason, Naruto turned pale. "W-wait a sec!" Naruto said, suddenly jolting to his feet. "Oh no... OH NO!"

For some reason he was staring at me. "Wh-what is it?" I asked him warily.

"I think... before I dozed off, I was studying a new jutsu from the scroll I took from the Hokage's office."

"Huh?" Jutsu...? Hokage...? What the heck are those?

"If I don't wake up and show Mizuki-sensei the new technique I learned, I'm gonna fail for good. Crap, I don't want to repeat another year."

"Okay..." Who's Mizuki? What technique is he talking about? I didn't know what to say.

Naruto gripped my shoulders, staring me into the eyes. "Hurry, dream girl! You have to do something!"

I blushed. "D-do what?"

"Punch me. Or slap me. Or kick me or something," he said. "Just wake me up. Please!"

It's official, my summon had gone insane. "But... you're already awake!" I argued. He stared me in the eyes but I didn't budge. I'm not about to hit my own summon, even if he was a little delusional.

"Tch, fine then, I see how it is," he said when it became clear to him that I refused to cooperate. "Guess I can't really expect much help from my own dream."

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he began hit himself! First a punch. Then a particularly painful looking pinch. Then a few mighty slaps across his own face. It was hard to watch and I was baffled on what I should do. "Why isn't it working?" he asked out of desperation. "C'mon, wake up, Naruto, wake up!" With a strange fervor, he peered outside again. "Huh, this thing is going pretty fast. Maybe if I get myself run over..." As if on cue, he opened the door to the carriage, forcing a strong current of wind to blast in.

I gasped and turned to my mother. "Mama! Do something!"

She smiled sweetly, hair and clothing blowing violently in the wind but otherwise unfazed. "But Lucy, he's your summon. Remember our lesson from two weeks ago? He is your responsibility as you are his."

Eh? I forgot.

"So do your best, Lucy!" she cheered. "I know you'll make me proud."

Gah, I wanted to pull out my own hair in frustration. I turned back to Naruto who was already starting to climb outside of the speeding carriage.

I was beginning to think 'insane' wasn't strong enough of a word to describe him. But still, mother was right. He was my responsiblity now. I had to keep him safe if I didn't want him to die. And I didn't. He was my first summon. We didn't even write up our contract yet. There was no way I was going to let him go like this. So I jumped on him, grabbed hold around his waist, and pulled back, hard.

"Hey, what the heck are you doing?" he yelled, trying to free himself from my grasp, "Let go!"

He was strong. Much, much stronger than he looked. But I refused to give up. No way. "Are you stupid?" I yelled back at him. "You'll die if you jump out at this speed." That was what I sincerely thought.

Suddenly, he stopped struggling. It surprised me.

"Huh, you might be right," he said.

Quickly, without any further resistance from him, I pulled him back in, shoved him back onto his seat and just barely managed to get the door to the speeding carriage closed again before collapsing to my hands and knees, exhausted. My mother applauded me. That was too close. I looked up at Naruto and apparently all I get back for saving his life was an understanding nod.

"Thanks dream girl, you saved me," he said.

Finally... wait, did he say 'dream girl' again? Was he was still in denial that he wasn't dreaming?

"I remember now. One of my old teachers once said that if I died in my dream, then I might die in real life too. That was scary, I almost made a huge mistake!"

I sighed. How was I supposed to get through to him? He was so dense.

"What to do... what to do..." he pondered. "I'll need something else to wake up now."

"Get a hold of yourself!" I got up and nearly screamed at him. "Just realize that this isn't a dream already, you idiot. Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

He completely ignored me! I couldn't believe it. I was his summoner - his master - and he ignored me! I shot my evil death glare at him and he still ignored me. He just continued to look around the rest of the carriage until his eyes, for some reason, landed at my mother.

"Ah! I know!" he exclaimed, "I should have thought of this in the first place..." Without any warning. Without a trace of remorse or regret. Without even a hint of shame. He reached both of his hands out and grabbed my mother's breasts.

I froze. I'm not sure what the exact expression on my face was but I'm sure it was a mix of shock, awe, anger, and fear. What would that even look like?

Maybe something like the expression my mother wore? She smiled oh-so-sweetly yet it was perhaps the most terrifying expression I had every seen on her yet, as if a demon was now wearing my mother's skin.

And yet he continued to fondle, continued to squeeze. "Wow, they're so soft," he said. "Is this what they feel like in real life too?" he asked. He was blushing, for god's sake.

"Lucy?" asked my demon-mother, still all smiles like it was plastered on her face. "Please turn away for just a second."

I complied. Sorry Naruto... I tried to protect you. I tried to save you. But you were just... so this is how it ends, huh?

A boyish blood-curdling scream filled the air shortly after.

A/N: Thank you for your continued support of this story. I'm trying to build things up to the big event I have planned for Lucy and Naruto so sorry if it seems like the story is going too slowly for your taste. Pacing has never been my strong point.