*HAPPY HALLOWEEN! at least to those who celebrate it. I'm surprised I got something out on time. X3 Well, not really. This was actually supposed to be for LAST Halloween, but I didn't finish it until about 15 minutes ago. (sweatdrop) But the point is, I'm not dead and I'm still writing. Just, not anything that I should be. Eheheh... I will attempt to get out another chapter to Blood Brothers tonight, but there really is no guarantee (So sorry for all of you who are waiting! I really do appreciate your patience.)
Yes, this may have a slight base to one of my favorite Halloween appropriate movie Hocus Pocus, but it isn't quite the same.
WARNINGS! Not much really. No sex, because I didn't want any awkward teen sex in a closet. But there is kissing between two teenaged boys. I think a teeny bit of language, but meh. We don't care.
Have fun, be safe, and go die of sugar overdose tonight. ^_^*
A Cho-chan09 Halloween Special: The Witches of Konoha
Naruto was on his way to Sasuke's house. It was still very bright outside, seeing as it was only 4 in the afternoon on a nice Friday afternoon. However, they would need a lot of time to prepare. As it turned out, it was Halloween, Naruto's favorite holiday. He was 15 and still found it extremely fun to dress up and get free candy. He just couldn't understand why adults didn't. Anyway, he was on his way to his best friend's house, but not to compare costumes like other years. This year, things would be a bit different.
~ Earlier That Day in School~
"There is no such thing as actual witches," Sakura said, rolling her eyes. Kiba gave her an annoyed look and protested, "Of course there are! They're just not alive anymore. These witches died almost 200 years ago, but my big sis told me that their spirits still haunt their home." The pink haired girl gave him an exasperated look. "So why haven't I heard about them until now?" The grin that had found its way onto the boy's lips slipped. "I don't know! Maybe it was to protect you. My sis says that the spirits of the witches only come out on Halloween night, the night that they died, to seek out young, pure souls. Mostly kids because I think they need virgins or something like that."
By now, Kiba had the whole class listening to him. "Why do they want souls?" Ino asked. Kiba looked at her and smiled mischievously. "Well, they don't want to stay dead! If they can get enough souls then they can cast a spell from their ancient book of magic and live again! But, they have to finish the spell before midnight or else they just fall back to sleep until the next Halloween. There's only one way to destroy them forever, and that is to steal their book and burn it before midnight."
This had the class gasping and murmuring amongst themselves. After a couple minutes Naruto stood up. "So where did these witches live Kiba?" The others looked at him and then at Kiba. Kiba was silent for a moment, drinking in the attention before saying quietly, "There were three of them. Sisters I believe. Their names were Rina, Yuna and Kana. This wasn't called Konoha yet and most of our village was still forest. However, our ancestors knew that these three were different somehow. They were shunned by the villagers. They went far up into the mountains, away from the village but still not far enough to lose sight of it. There they stayed, looking down with hate at those who abandoned them.
"Not long after making their home, they came across a book that gave them all of their power. No one knows how they got the book. Some say the devil himself gave it to them. Others say that it was already there and that it tainted their souls. Either way, the three sisters soon delved into the Dark Arts of witchcraft, intent on getting revenge on the villagers who banished them from their society!"
A short silence followed this, the eyes of the others wide in awe and fright and some with disbelief. A shaky voice said, "H-how did th-they die?" Kiba gave her a toothy smile. "I'm glad you asked Hinata! A few years after the sisters left the village, children began to go missing. At first, the villagers didn't know what was happening. They thought of bears or other wild animals but after sending search parties and hunters, they found no trace of anything like that. Soon, it dawned on them that it must be the sisters. A few villagers went up the mountain to confront them, and they never returned.
Panic raced through the village. Soon, even more strange things began to happen. Bats infested their homes at night and spiders their crops in the day. The villagers were miserable. When rats started to appear in their food storage, it was the last straw. They all carried lit torches, ropes and pick-axes and anything else they could use as a weapon up the mountain to the home of the witch sisters. They saw them. The three had grown beautiful, no doubt from some spell, but they had evil all around them! The villagers set their house on fire, but it didn't burn, just turned black. But that didn't matter because they had the sisters. It didn't take long. Before they pulled the ropes over their necks to have them hanged from a tree, the oldest sister, Rina, laughed. She said, 'This isn't the end! We will have our revenge!' And then they were hung until they died."
~Current Time~
And that was why Naruto was on his way to Sasuke's house. The two of them were going to find the house of the witches and see if Kiba's story was true. Naruto wasn't sure how he had persuaded Sasuke to go along with it when he had asked him to come with him after school, but he had managed. He went up to the door and rang the doorbell. Mikoto Uchiha answered the door and smiled at Naruto. "Well now, look who we have here. Where's your costume Naruto?" she said as she stepped to the side to allow Naruto inside. Naruto grinned and showed her his backpack. "I've got it right here Auntie Mikoto. Is Sasuke upstairs?" Mikoto nodded and Naruto went right on up.
Sasuke was just finishing packing his bag for their trek when Naruto walked in. "Alright, we're just about ready. You got everything we may need?" Naruto began as he sat on Sasuke's bed to observe him pack. Sasuke just nodded, focused on his task. He soon finished and the two boys pulled on their backpacks. They exited Sasuke's room and went the stairs. Mikoto popped her head into the entryway. "Oh! Are you boys leaving already? Where're your costumes?" Sasuke and Naruto showed her their backpacks. "We're gonna change at Kiba's house Mom," Sasuke said and Mikoto just smiled and nodded. "Have fun and stay safe tonight. If you stay over at anyone's house, call me ok, Sasuke?" Sasuke nodded and then he and Naruto left the house.
As they walked, Naruto did think about going to get Kiba, just to see if he wanted to help them prove his story, whether right or wrong would remain to be seen. But Naruto really wanted to go with just Sasuke. He couldn't really explain it, but he didn't like sharing his best friend. Maybe he was just selfish. "So, Naruto, do you even know where it is that we're going?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Nope, just the general direction. I know that it's in the mountains surrounding the western side of the village. If I'm not mistaken, the witches' house should be in the lower mountains where they can still see the village fairly well." Sasuke nodded, impressed at how much Naruto had thought of this. It was still early; about a quarter to five. However, it would take quite a while to get into the mountains and the boys wanted enough daylight to allow them to see. Even so, the sun already seemed to be hanging low in the sky.
"Well, there won't be any candy for us this year, eh Naruto?" Sasuke asked casually, taking a sidelong look at the blonde. Sasuke knew how much of a sweet tooth Naruto had. He himself didn't care for the treats and so ended up giving the majority of it to Naruto. For a moment Naruto seemed regretful, but the next moment he was smiling and shaking his head. "Nah, this is better than candy! If this old legend is true, that would be way awesome!" Sasuke had to agree with that. He was even actually getting excited at the prospect of discovering these old hags and their vengeance.
They had made it passed the village gates without drawing too much attention to themselves and were now entering the forest at the foot of the mountains. It was darker under the shade of the trees but not dark enough for their flashlights yet. Naruto was getting ever more jumpy with each step. Sasuke wondered if the other boy had used the restroom before he had left his house.
Naruto looked at his friend and grinned widely. "This is awesome. I mean, not the whole walking up mountains and stuff, but just having an adventure with my best pal is really awesome." Sasuke smirked and replied, "Yea, it is pretty awesome. I just hope we aren't doing this to come up with nothing. I at least want to find the house, if nothing else." "Yea yea! I just know we'll find cool stuff!" They passed the time discussing what they may find up the mountain.
It was nearing 7:30 or so and the boys were growing weary of hiking through trees and up mountainsides. "Let's rest for a bit Naruto," Sasuke said. Naruto just nodded and they looked for a place to rest. Spotting a low wall of rocks, Sasuke pointed and they went to sit. However, when they got there, they noticed that the way the rocks were stacked seemed a bit unnatural, like they were placed there deliberately. "Sasuke! I think we've found it!" Naruto said excitedly. He hopped over the rocks and went to the low ridge behind it, Sasuke following close behind. On top of the ridge, they turned. Below, they could see nearly all of Konoha clearly. They could almost see individual figures as they moved through the streets. Making an about-face from the village, Sasuke and Naruto looked upon the structure of an old black building. Beside it stood a large old tree with three partially decayed nooses hanging from one of its larger branches.
It was very quiet here, as though there were no living creatures in the immediate area. Naruto looked at Sasuke, his face shrouded in shadow. Sasuke flicked on his flashlight and nodded. They walked forward with cautious steps. Even though the house was completely black, they could see that it was once very beautiful. A garden of dead flowers sat in the front along with a few stone benches. Sasuke wondered how such horrid women could live somewhere so nice. The door was made from sturdy oak, most likely from the surrounding forest, and had very intricate and detailed designs on them. "Sasuke, this is really weird. I kinda feel strange." Sasuke felt it too. It was like getting butterflies in your stomach, but he knew he wasn't nervous or afraid. "Maybe this place is cursed Naruto."
"You're right. This place is cursed."
Naruto and Sasuke froze. "N-Naruto? Please tell me that was you who just said that," Sasuke said, a slight chill running up his spine due to the fact that he already knew the answer. Naruto slowly shook his head 'no' and looked at Sasuke, his face slightly pale.
"Why don't you boys come in for some tea and we'll discuss what to do with you for disturbing us."
The doors opened suddenly and a force pushed the two boys inside. It was dark; their flashlights turned off suddenly. Then, candles lit themselves around the room. It was very dusty inside, but it was warm. Naruto and Sasuke found themselves sitting on a sofa in a living room area in front of a huge stone fireplace. The fireplace suddenly alighted in green and purple flames, which caused Naruto to jump and clutch Sasuke's arm. Sasuke just stared in mute fascination and fear. The flames settled and out of the fireplace came three of the most beautiful women the boys had ever seen. They were identical, with long black hair and piercing green eyes. They could only be told apart by the color of their dresses: green, red and purple. The one in green smiled and stepped forward.
"Oh, what delicious boys have walked into our humble home sisters! My name is Rina little ones. May I ask what they call you?"
Naruto couldn't seem to get his mouth to work so he dug his fingers into Sasuke's arm. Sasuke winced and then coughed a bit. "Uh, my name is Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha. And this is my friend Naruto Uzumaki." Rina smiled sweetly at them. "Those are beautiful names darlings. However, I can't help but notice that you called him your friend. We can see souls, dear child, and your soul doesn't see him as a mere friend. Nor he you."
Sasuke's face paled in surprise and Naruto's reddened in embarrassment. This was getting way too weird. At that moment, Naruto seemed to regain control of his voice.
"Hey, lady, you can't just go around saying stuff like that! It can have irrevocable repercussions!" Rina gave him a mildly surprised look. Sasuke did too. Naruto wasn't known for having an extensive vocabulary.
The other sister in the purple dress spoke up. "Well, those repercussions probably won't come to pass since you won't be leaving here tonight. You two are the final souls that we need to complete our spell." Rina smiled and nodded. "Yuna is right. The powers of your souls are very strong and clean. I can almost taste them already." The three witches shared a cackle that ran chills through the boys' bodies.
"Sasuke, I'm thinking we shouldn't have come," Naruto said dejectedly. Sasuke gave him a well-no-duh look but it was pointless since they were in near total darkness. The witches had deposited them in a small room with no light. They hadn't even bothered to bind them, but the two boys soon discovered that the door was locked. So now they just sat in the dark with naught but each other and a musty smell for company. Sasuke sighed. "It's ok. We did come to see if Kiba's story had any truth to it. All we did was get more than we bargained for."
"Yea, no kidding!" Naruto laughed almost nervously. He couldn't see Sasuke, but he felt as though the dark haired boy had something on his mind, so he said, "You know, this could be our final hour of life. If there's anything we gotta confess, now's the best time, huh?" Sasuke breathed in and out heavily, as though taking an extra second to decide something. "You know what that witch, I think Rina, was saying? About her seeing our souls and that we don't think of each other as just friends…" Naruto was blushing and he was thankful that Sasuke couldn't see him. With a nervous chuckle he said, "Uh, yea! About that, um… What do you think she meant?"
"Naruto, what do you think of me?"
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"Do you like me, more than a friend?"
"Sasuke, I don't know what you're talking about. Obviously those crazy women are-"
Naruto's eyes widened. He didn't know how, but suddenly, Sasuke was kissing him. It surprised them both really. "Dobe. You talk too much. I asked a simple yes or no question," Sasuke said as he pulled back. It took a few moments for Naruto to figure out how to work his vocal cords again. "Sa-Sasuke! You just kissed me!" he said intelligently. It took a lot of self-control for Sasuke not to hit the other boy. "No shit Sherlock. Kissing is just a standard form of showing affection, so shut up and deal with it."
Naruto could tell Sasuke was blushing almost as much as he was and he was glad. No, glad wasn't the right word for it. He was absolutely overjoyed. Even facing imminent death by soul extraction couldn't rain on Naruto's parade at that moment. He tackled Sasuke to the ground in an overexcited glomp.
The air whooshed out of Sasuke's lungs as he hit the floor. He was a bit dazed for a second before realizing that the blond was kissing his face, not unlike a puppy. "Ack! Naruto, I get it! Now get off me baka!" Naruto sat up and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Gomen, gomen! I got too excited. Anyway, it is way too dark in here. Where're our flashlights?" "We left our packs on the couch outside. Maybe there's something in here that we can use," Sasuke said. They began to rummage around in the dark for anything they could use, but quickly found that there was nothing in there but a rickety chair and a cracked cauldron.
"This is hopeless! We're doomed to die in a dark place and help revive three freaky girls so they can take revenge on our home," Naruto announced in defeat. Sasuke had to admit that their situation wasn't very good. Naruto had a point earlier. Now was the best time to do everything he wanted so he didn't die with regrets.
"Naruto, there's something that I want to say. Well, more like a request," Sasuke said slowly. Naruto's curiosity rose. "What is it Sasuke? Did you figure a way out of this?" Sasuke thought for a second and then smirked. "Actually, I think I have. It's actually really simple if you think about it. The witches can only use pure souls, right? All we have to do is taint our souls!"
"Sasuke, I am not going to kill you," Naruto said flatly. The seriousness of his tone made Sasuke smack the blonde on the arm. "No dobe! Neither one of us has to die. Kiba said that they use the souls of virgins," Sasuke explained. Naruto blushed as he figured out what Sasuke was suggesting. "You mean we should…" Sasuke gave a nervous cough and said quickly, "I'm just saying that it may be our only way out, unless you can think of a better idea Naruto." Naruto couldn't think of anything. He seemed to be incapable of thinking much after hearing that from Sasuke. It was rather shocking.
Then again, anyone would do anything they could think of in a life or death situation. At this point, Naruto was one of them. "Uh, ok, but how do we do that? I don't really watch porn, and I swear I've only ever touched myself like, five or six times." Sasuke smacked his own forehead this time. "Naruto, I don't need to know all that, but you have a point. I don't really know what to do either, and having no light isn't going to help. I guess we'll just have to go by feel."
Naruto swallowed nervously as he lifted his hand in search of Sasuke. He felt his arm and then pulled the dark haired boy closer. They kissed, much more forcefully than before, and continued to do so as they allowed their hands to wander and familiarize themselves with each other's bodies. They were nervous but at the same time excited. The room suddenly felt stuffy and warm. Sasuke pulled off Naruto's jacket and shirt and ran his hands up and down the youth's torso.
Naruto shivered. He hadn't lied; he really was inexperienced. Apart from kissing, he didn't know what else to do. Of course, everyone knows the basics of sexual intercourse, at least with a male and female; which posed another problem altogether. How did two guys have sex?
They didn't get to find out just then. Light poured into the confined space of the broom closet the two boys were in. Rina stood there in the doorway with a menacing grin on her face. "It seems our pups are in heat. Well, that just won't do, will it?" She lifted her hand and an invisible force pulled Sasuke off of Naruto. Naruto tried to reach out for him, but he found himself immobile. Rina just laughed as she levitated Sasuke out of the closet.
Before the door closed, Naruto got a glimpse of what was going on in the living room. A large cauldron was billowing green and purple smoke. Yuna was stirring the concoction while Kana read from an old leather-bound book and occasionally added something from a shelf behind her. That book must be the one with all their magic spells!
As soon as the door closed and locked, Naruto regained control of his limbs. He immediately went and banged on it. "You stupid old hags! Bring him back right now or I'll be really mad!" It wasn't exactly the best threat he'd ever made, but he really couldn't do anything from his position anyway. He was beginning to get annoyed at his uselessness.
Sasuke was pretty pissed off at the old hags. And just when it was going so well! Now he sat tied to a chair while he watched the horrid trio go about their potion making. They had begun chanting and their voices steadily rose. The room was thick and hazy with smoke from the cauldron and Sasuke could barely see. He did, however, notice when there was a loud bang from the closet he'd recently been extracted from, and a few minutes later he saw the door to said closet creep open very slowly.
Naruto was practically panicking as he thought of ways to get out of his current situation. It wasn't exactly easy while in a tiny space with no resources. Not even pacing was helping; probably because he could only walk three steps before he hit a wall. He sat down with a huff on the rickety chair, which did not hold his weight and he subsequently crashed to the floor, upsetting the cracked cauldron on his way.
He lay there on the floor for a moment, fearing the wrath of those crazy witches, but no one came to see what had happened. He slowly rose from his position on the floor. The chair was crushed and the cauldron upturned. Something caught Naruto's attention. There had been something inside the cauldron: several small rods. This got Naruto's mind working.
Sifting through the rods, he found some that were similar-looking to some that he'd seen in a video on how to pick locks. So, he got to work on the old-fashioned lock of the closet door. He hoped the chanting he could hear beyond the door would keep the noise of the scratching metal from being heard.
Sun kissed hair poked out from the door very slowly. Sasuke wondered if he should create a distraction or something, but the witches appeared to be absorbed in their chanting. They had not once stopped or looked around since they started. The three now were standing in a circle around the bubbling cauldron, holding hands and chanting loudly with their eyes closed.
Naruto looked over at the three witch sister, then at Sasuke tied in a chair and finally to the book of spells. He closed the closet door softly behind him and then went around the small living room, hiding behind everything big enough to cover him until he got behind Sasuke's chair. He worked at the ropes binding his (boy?)friend and soon got him free.
"How the heck did you get out of there?" Sasuke murmured in Naruto's ear. The blond just grinned and said, "I'm a ninja on my days off. Now come on. We've gotta grab that book and get out of here. Without it, they won't know what to do, and without us, they'll be completely lost! So let's hurry before they finish their chanting."
Sasuke needed no more encouragement. So they again ducked behind furniture and dusty stacks of books to get to where the spell book sat atop its podium. Naruto carefully lifted it and they quietly dashed to where their packs still sat. By now, the chanting was deafening. Naruto stuffed the book inside his pack and he and Sasuke put them on and were nearly at the door when-
The chanting suddenly stopped. A cold chill ran up the spines of both boys. Sasuke didn't even look back. He grabbed Naruto's hand, wrenched opened the door and ran as quickly as he could into the woods. Infuriated shrieks rang out behind them. It was pitch dark in the woods and their flashlights did little to help, since the beams bounced around as the two of them ran.
Fog suddenly filtered through the trees and glowing red eyes gazed at them out of the trunks of the trees closest to them. The ground shook slightly as the roots were pulled up and out. Tentacle-like branches reached for Sasuke and Naruto as they stumbled, attempting to find an escape.
The voices of the sisters echoed between the branches and fog. "It's over…" "Just give in…" "There's nowhere to run…"
Their flashlights went out. Now completely unable to see, Naruto and Sasuke tripped and fell to the cold hard forest floor. Sasuke still held Naruto's hand and he pulled the blond towards him. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I shouldn't have asked you to come with me on this stupid adventure." Sasuke shook his head, even though he knew Naruto couldn't see him. "I don't care. It helped me get up the courage to finally tell you how I feel. I'm glad to be here at the end with you."
Naruto hugged Sasuke close as he watched those glowing red eyes get ever closer to them. They almost looked like little balls of fire floating towards them in the dark. Wait; fire. Something Kiba had said came to the forefront of Naruto's mind.
"Sasuke! What time is it?" he exclaimed, pushing the dark haired boy away just a bit. Sasuke pushed back the sleeve of his jacket in order to view the screen of his light-up watch. The time read 11:47pm. They had only 13 minutes left before the witches went back to sleep. But, those trees were nearly upon them, and the threat would only be gone for another year. What would happen the next Halloween?
Naruto rummaged blindly through his backpack. He pulled out the book and then, in a small side compartment he got a lighter. He lit it and Sasuke nearly cried with joy. "Naruto, I never thought I'd ever have to say this, but you're a genius!" Naruto graced him with a little frown of disapproval before he set the little flame upon the pages of the book.
As soon as the sparks caught the corner of the binding, agonizing screams rent the air around them. The fog immediately began to clear and the ground shook as the trees re-rooted themselves and lost animation. Naruto dropped the spell book as it began to smoke and quickly turn into sickly green embers.
Above them, the witch sisters were floating in a somewhat half-mist form. Their faces were no longer beautiful, but melting like wax. Their ghastly shrieks and cries of agonizing pain and frustration echoed through the mountains. Then, they just dispersed in a cloud of red, purple and green smoke.
"Hey Naruto, Sasuke! How was your Halloween? I don't think I saw you guys around. You must've had some really good costumes," Kiba said to Naruto and Sasuke when they got back to school that following Monday. Sasuke gave Naruto a knowing look and Naruto just grinned back at him.
"Well Kiba, let's just say that it was, an enchanting night."
*Hope you all enjoyed and have a ghastly Halloween. Again, sorry for my slowness in terms of updating my main stuff, but soon I'll be on break and I'll (hopefully) be a little faster. Bye for now! ^_^*