A/N: Yay! Beginnings of stories are always so fun to write! I don't really have much of an idea where this story is going to go yet…. So I'll just let my mind run loose and let my fingers go crazy! Yay! Now time to scare my friends *Grins evilly and rubs hands*
Disclaimer: I own everything but Kakuzu in this story *Cries* (Well maybe not my friends. They actually help me with their own character in the story, so they should get some credit.) *Claps* If I did so happen to own Naruto and the associated characters, I am sure there would be some people that I would like to bet some sense into. And others that I would give more screen time and avoid their deaths. I understand why Masashi Kishimoto did it, I just kind of wish he hadn't. (Mumbling about writers who kill off the good characters way too quickly)
"What was that?!" Ian said loudly in my ear.
"It was probably just a raccoon or an opossum or something falling off an old branch. Calm it down a little."
"Sorry it's just really dark out here and the only light we have is from our phones." Ian sulked.
I smiled to myself and looked at Ian with a huge grin on my face. "Or was it… something else." He couldn't see my facial expression but that didn't stop me from smirking evilly. It was a job of mine, a simple pleasure to scare the living hell out of my friends when it gets dark. In the process I would scare myself as well, but that's just what makes it more fun, right?
Milyssa's boyfriend, Humberto was well ahead of our little group. Either he was scared and wanted to get out of the woods fast or he was just annoyed with Virginia's extreme inexperience with nature. Actually we weren't really IN the woods. We were in a huge fifteen feet across clearing where certain companies come and check the sewage pipes. There were broken trees strewn across the ground, some with skinny trunks sticking up ready to trip us in the gloomy darkness. Brittle thorns scraped through our pants trying to cling to anything to escape this desolate stretch of land.
Since I take it upon myself to lead my friends into danger I convince Humberto to walk back to us and then proceeded to convince the group to go in the opposite direction with encouragements of "who's the bravest." Just to see how far we would last before we go too scared and had to turn back. They all agree and we continue to head away from the lake and deeper into the forest.
A light rain started and lightly misted our clothes and hair. Our paces slowed down, I swore a toddler could move faster than this in the dark. My mind started wondering and I contemplated what would happen if something tried attacking us. It really was a perfect place for a murder scene. Pitch black woods, no one around for miles, plenty of huge rocks to hide mangled bodies under, and hundreds of thousands of towering trees to bounce around the sounds of our screams.
This was the perfect opportunity.
"Oh my god..." I stopped in place and stared off into the woods. "D-did y'all see that just now?!"
"See what!?" Milyssa spoke quickly sounding a little scared.
"I swear I saw something in the woods. I have no clue what it was, all I could tell is that it was something large moving along side of us." I let my words soak in fear in hopes of it rubbing off on everyone else and getting them scared.
"Guys. What's was that...?" Ian said shakily as he lifted up his arm and pointed in the direction of a rather loud twig snap.
"I've got no idea, but I think we need to get out of these woods." Milyssa said sternly as she gently guided Virginia, our extremely nerdy 'don't touch nature with a ten foot stick' kind of girl.
We made it to the creek. This was our turn back point since we definitely couldn't scale that in the dark. With or without Virginia. We turned around and started the twenty minute walk back to the lake in Humberto's neighborhood.
I had made sure that everyone had a very sturdy stick that didn't reach over three feet, ya know just in case some thing bad happened?
Actually I think they were there just to make everyone else feel better. As for me I saw them as an opportunity. I took the liberty of falling back to "protect" the group from anyone comming up from behind. Then while all the attention was directed ahead I would pick up pinecones or brake the end of my stick and chuck them into the woods as far as I can throw. Most of the time it would result in a pretty satisfying crash against a nearby tree or sail into soft pine needles on the ground and sound like something taking a step.
I grinned wickedly to myself as everyone flinched from the noise. Milyssa, Ian, Virginia and... Wait where was Humberto?! I squinted so I could make him out in the dark, but I didn't see a damn thing.
Ian noticed it too. "Guys I can't see Humberto anymore!" He spoke quietly and urgently. I'd give the shirt off my back to see his facial expression right now.
Virginia stopped and Milyssa kindly tried to coax her to continue. Just then the strangest sound came out of our Asian friend's mouth.
Was... That a crying noise? Had I really pushed them all this far that I had made one of my friends cry?!
Guilt hit me in the stomach like a rock. I felt like a horrible person for all of this, she was going to hate me and probably never come into any woods ever again. Greaaat.
Just then I saw something moving swiftly up ahead. Up on an incline on the trail was Humberto, waving his arm to get our attention. Why didn't he just say something? He would have to raise his voice but it's not like we couldn't hear him. No one else was out here but us.
I rolled my eyes. "Guys Humberto is still a bit of ways ahead of us. Milyssa text him and get him to stop, we'll catch up shortly. Come on Virginia, it's okay." She hadn't ceased crying, honestly it had just gotten louder.
Ian tried to tell us he saw something dark climb over a rock to the left of us but it was quickly shut down by Virginias borderline hyperventilating and Milyssa yelling at her brother to stop trying to scare her.
I was just about to throw my stick down in slight disappointment and anger with one last longing look behind me when I noticed something back there. Two orbs barely caught the glare of the street lights that were about a mile up the trail.
A bit of fear creeped into my heart, but my more adventurous side made me stop and screamed at me to go investigate what it was. How could light so far away cause eye shine on an animal in almost complete darkness. We were in a slight valley so it was kind of hard to tell if the animal was fifteen or fifty feet away.
Either complete stupidity or absolute insanity came over me and I turned around, gripped both of my hands around the stick and carefully stepped closer to the beast.
Ian saw me moving away, "Jenny Lynn. Get back over here. It's not funny anymore." He was mad but I could still hear that tiny bit of fear leaking through his words, cracking that facade I loved to break.
Time to shatter it. The footsteps of my friends stopped and Virginia's sobs ceased as well. They were watching.
Perfect. A smile lit up my face as fear tried to creep into my limbs, begging me to turn and run to safety, but this was my game. It won't control me, only push me in the direction I see fit. And toward this nocturnal animal is where I wanted to go.
As I crept closer I listed off in my head the worst outcomes of this situation. And let me tell you, nothing that I even considered was even close to reality.
Back behind me I heard Milyssa tell Ian to take Virginia to Humberto. Footsteps leading further away and then shakily Milyssa asked, "Jenny Lynn. What are you doing? You're really scarring Virginia and it's getting late. Let's just go back to the house."
No. I didn't want my game to end yet. All day was pretty much a dud. We did get into a part of the forest we hadn't been in before, but the pace was so slow with Virginia. We finally came to a clearing, a perfect place to build a fort! I made each of them do certain jobs to help me complete my structure and in the end it turned out pretty well.
Sturdy branches built the walls, a thick tree making up a portion of the wall, and thick vines intertwined with thick thorns helped keep everything up. I had made the group gather pine needles and ferns to keep the ground soft and comfortable. And threaded in thick grasses through the huge branches we had found to help disguise the whole thing. It looked pretty damn good, only about ten scratches as a reminder of all my hard work.
Whoops. There goes my wondering mind again... In the short time I had spent thinking of my fort, I had come even closer to the creature with the glowing eyes.
The eyes never left me, no matter how I moved my head. Fear threatened to take over me, and I refused, forcing it to bubble over into a furious rage.
I heard screams behind me. And I lunged. My stick slicing through the air, the tip making contact with what was before me. With a sinking feeling I realized how big this animal actually was. But I couldn't stop now. I've made a HUGE mistake and I couldn't mess it up further by running away like a little bitch and having it attack my open back. No, now I needed to fight my way out of this.
Holy shit. This thing was TALL. I proceeded to snake around the thing and hit it from different angels with the stick, trying my best to confuse it.
This wasn't a thing. It was a person!
The person grabbed my hand with the stick in it and caused me to scream. Which of course made my friends scream louder.
I tried twisting my hand away and kicking him anywhere I could, but it only caused me to get off balance. The person took the weakness and used it against me. His other arm shot out and clamped around my other wrist. I started lashing out violently with all the strength I had, but came to no avail once he pinned me to the ground.
I'm guessing it's a him since it's so big!
I lifted my head up as fast as I could and sunk my teeth into his shoulder. He grunted loudly and increased the pressure on my wrists, which only made me angrier as I continued to sink my teeth straight through his clothing.
Just as I felt my wrists were going to snap in two, a nauseating but strangely satisfying sensation of blood entered my mouth.
I opened my eyes, my teeth still digging into the large and rather heavy man. My eyes widened in the gloom as a shape caught my eye, the colors so familiar.
A thick deep voice whispered in my ear. "Remove your teeth before I snap your bones to pieces." I gasped and my head fell onto the decaying leaves. This voice... How could I be hearing this voice and seeing this... Wetness escaped from my mouth and I felt it flow out the corners and down my jaw.
I went limp and stared up at the man in shock, a tear escaped the corner of my eye. My voice coming out in a rasp, "A-Akatsuki..."
I felt the man above me jolt as I spoke the name of the organization. My head started spinning with the possibility and craziness of this whole thing. He let me go and sat up. "How do you know that name?" He growled, his deep voice giving me shivers.
My mouth fell open, causing more blood to seep from a corner. I lifted a hand and shakily lifted it up to his face. He quickly grabbed my hand, stopping it from coming any closer.
"Ka...Kakuzu..." The words whispered out of my mouth before I could even realize what I was doing. The grip slackened on my hand and I could see his eyes widen as he looked at me. I'm pretty sure at this moment is where I lost my thinking part of my brain. Tears fled down my face, mixed with the blood and plopped down on my shirt and rolled onto my pink camo pants. The man I had idolized for years was sitting in front of me.
His face mask and headband weren't covering his face, leaving it exposed with his hair falling and framing his face. His deeply tanned skin shadowed in the gloom making it a bit hard to tell exact details, but somehow I KNEW it was him. All control left me as I launched myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. The sudden movement and weight caused him to lose his balance and fall back against the leaf covered ground.
I was almost positive no one had ever reacted to this man in this kind of manner.
I felt the wetness of my tears mix with his bloody shoulder, but I didn't care. This was the best daydream I had ever had, it felt so damn real, and no way was I going to let it escape me.
