There is a book, bound in human skin and inked in human blood, of ancient Sumerian burial rituals. Its title translates roughly to "The Book of the Dead". In it lie several passages speaking of demons and monsters.
What you are about to read may be very disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.
"Well, nice of you to finally show up." Kankuro said flatly, standing up from the trunk of his car. Gaara smiled enough to joke with his brother.
"Sorry that traffic exists." he said. "How have you been?"
"Fine."
"Teaching high school finally turned you into a bitter old coot?"
"You kept us waiting for three hours." Sakura interjected.
"It is alright." Lee spoke up. "We have been waiting patiently."
"Whatever." Shikamaru mumbled. "Let's just get this over with. He's waiting for you in the back. No idea why he'd want you for this support."
Gaara's nearly invisible smile disappeared. "Naruto and I go far back, Shikamaru." he said flatly before turning on his heel to go to the back of the run-down cabin.
Kakashi sighed. "Give him time. He can't be a stoic pain in the neck all the time."
Gaara stopped when he saw Naruto sitting upside down on a rusting car under the tree in the backyard. He knocked on the side of the house. Naruto jumped and fell off the hood of the car, groaning.
"Not funny, Gaara!" he said. "Wait, you actually showed up? There's a shocker." he added, grimacing.
"We're friends, right Naruto? Friends are there for each other."
"Easy for you to say." Naruto mumbled, angrily.
"Wait." Gaara said, looking shocked. "What's that?"
"What?"
"That! Right- here." Gaara smirked and pretended to pull a pendant from behind Naruto's headband. Naruto laughed shakily.
"That's not funny, Gaara." he said, trying to shake the small scare off. "What is that, anyway?"
"It's a charm from the local hoodoo store." he said. "It's supposed to make your will stronger."
"I thought you didn't believe in that stuff."
"You do, though. Maybe it'll help."
Naruto, Kankuro, Sakura, Lee, Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Gaara had all gathered around the vine-ridden well in the front of the house. Naruto held out his hands and everyone followed, taking ahold of the hands of the person next to them.
"I make a promise, witnessed by my closest friends and my teacher, that can never be-" he stopped, as if forgetting what to say next. "Screw it." he said, shaking his head. He pulled a small plastic bag from his pocket and dumped it down the well. "I promise never to touch this shit again."
He nodded once and wiped his hands on his pants before turning to the house. "Let's get started then."
Several hours later, they had cleaned the house to the point where they could live in it. They had to sweep just about everything and fix much of the lighting and plumbing, but eventually they were settled in.
Gaara stepped out on the porch to watch the sun set in the distance, glancing over at Lee and waving shortly.
"Gaara," Lee said. "there is something I have to tell you."
"What is it?"
"We already tried this back at the Hidden Leaf Village." he said.
Gaara looked puzzled and turned to look at Lee for an explanation. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.
"Naruto. He made the same dramatic vow of sobriety and then threw the drugs down the toilet." he said. "Eight hours later, we found him locked in his bedroom with the secret stash."
Gaara looked shocked. He and Naruto may have grown apart over the years, but he never knew the blonde to do something like that, let alone even start drugs in the first place.
"When he breaks-and believe me, he will-we cannot let him leave. No matter what. He will not survive another OD."
"Wait, Naruto OD'd?"
"Legally, he was dead. Sakura had to defibrillate him."
Gaara clenched his fists angrily and sighed. "Fine. But if things get too bad, I will take him home if none of you do." he said, turning and going back inside.
Sure enough, only two hours later, Naruto was screaming at the top of his lungs.
"I CAN'T FUCKING TAKE IT ANYMORE! THIS FUCKING SMELL, GOD DAMN IT!"
Sakura wrapped her arms around him, rocking him and stroking his back, shooshing him quietly.
"YOU HAVE TO GET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE! PLEASE, SAKURA, PLEASE!"
Gaara and a few of the others hurried to Naruto's room, fear and concern on everyone's face. "PLEASE! Please! Lee! Please, take me home! Gaara, Kankuro!" he begged. "Kakashi, please, don't you fucking care?!"
"Shhh..." Sakura said. "We're not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere..."
After they managed to calm Naruto down, he went to the living room with everyone else. "I don't understand you people." he said. "Something is dead and it fucking smells."
"There is no smell." Lee assured him.
Kankuro sighed and went back over to his seat, tripping over the run on his way. He cursed under his breath and then stopped short. Was that blood under the rug?
Kakashi looked over Kankuro's shoulder and Gaara pulled the rug away. Sure enough, there was blood surrounding the trap door to the cellar, as if someone had been dragged into it.
The rest of the group crowded around and Lee pulled the door up. Immediately, the smell of death and rotting flesh hit them. Gagging, Sakura pulled her collar over her nose and started down the steps. Gaara hurried to get ahead of her and flicked on a light.
Dead cats, petrified and still rotting, hung innumerably on the ceiling by barbed wire. Naruto turned away and Sakura backed up, grabbing Kakashi's hand for support. One of the support beams under the house was half-burnt and a book wrapped in plastic and barbed wire was on a table of bloody, rusting knives.
"Oh my fucking God..." Naruto mumbled.
"D-do not worry about it." Lee said. "We will start cleaning." he assured the other. "The smell will be gone in no time." he said.
Kankuro grabbed the book on the table before going back upstairs.
While Gaara, Lee, and Kakashi worked on cleaning the dead cats from the basement, Shikamaru and Sakura were preparing dinner. Outside, Naruto paced around in the rain, hoping to rid himself of the withdrawal symptoms.
Kankuro stared at the book on his bedroom desk thoughtfully before taking a pair of wire cutters and opening it. It was bound in pale, peach colored leather that had been stitched together with thick, black string. The first page read in scratchy handwriting, "LEAVE THIS BOOK ALONE!"
Thinking it was some prank, he pressed on. The images were disturbing, most of the depicting young girls or boy doing horrible things to their bodies. One showed a girl tied up in thorns with a serpent-like vine forcing itself into her womb. Another showed a boy cutting off his own face with a knife. A third showed a girl pouring boiling water on herself.
Kankuro cut his finger as he turned a page and cursed quietly. When he reached to clean the drop of blood from the paper, he noticed a page had been torn out. Next to it, on the opposite page, was more scratchy writing. "DON'T READ IT. DON'T WRITE IT. DON'T SPEAK IT."
Curiosity got the best of him, though, and he took a sheet of notebook paper and shaded over it with a pencil to find the words beneath.
"Kunda."
A screech echoed in the woods.
"Astratta."
The noise became louder, accompanied by footsteps in the rain.
"Montosse."
Naruto continued to pace, his face deadpan as he shivered.
"Canda."
A human scream echoed in Naruto's mind and he suddenly doubled over, throwing up.
"Please God..." he mumbled. "Give me a break!" He glanced up and saw... himself in the woods, dressed in a filthy white undershirt and his boxers, blood, pus, and black ooze pouring from his mouth.
"Narutooooo..." it hissed.
Naruto yelped and ran inside. "I have got to get out of here! Right now!" he yelled.
"Oh, no!" Sakura said, running over to him from the kitchen. "Slumber party's not over yet."
"Yeah, right! We still haven't play 'Fuck, Marry, Kill' right?!" By now, everyone in the house was watching.
"Naruto," Gaara said. "you have to stick this out."
"Yeah, well, fuck you very much!" he yelled, grabbing the keys from the table by the door and running out to Kankuro's car.
"Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled. "Someone go get him!"
Naruto had his foot all the way down on the pedal, driving madly. "Fuck!" he yelled. "What the fuck am I doing?! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!"
Then he saw it, that demonic image of himself in the road, hissing his name again. Naruto screamed and swerved the the right, landing in a swamp at the bottom on the hill.
He awoke groggy and fumbled for something to get him out of the car once he'd realized he was waist deep in water nad still belted in. He climbed out the broken window and landed in the water, hurrying to get out of the murky stuff. He turned and yelled when he saw that thing behind him and started hurrying for the shore, crawling through the mud, sinking elbow deep in the dirt and grime.
He managed to get to his feet and started running. Something was chasing him, he knew it. Even if he couldn't see it, he knew it was true. Blinded by fear and the tears in his eyes, he didn't manage to see the hole in the ground and went tumbling into a thorn patch. He struggled to stand and fund the thorns had entangled his limbs. He tripped suddenly as one wrapped tightly around his neck.
He couldn't breathe, he couldn't hear. He struggled to pull himself up by the thorn-covered vines on his arms and finally managed to get upright, but now the vines were tighter and he had no chance of getting free. Looking ahead, he saw that monster only feet from him, panting and hyperventilating.
It opened its mouth and a thick, slimy vine covered in thorns the size of Naruto's thumb fell out. It slithered across the ground, moving closer and closer to Naruto, who by now was panicking and screaming to get free. It coiled around his leg and closer to his thighs. By the time he felt it literally inside him, it was too late to do anything.
When it had done the deed, he was silent for a moment before he screamed.
Naruto was huddled under the covers in his room, shaking and whimpering. He was cold, terrified, and disgusted. Gaara came into the room to check on him and sat down on the bed. Naruto jumped, and Gaara shooshed him, assuring him it was okay.
Naruto grabbed Gaara's collar and pulled him close. "Gaara. Listen to me. You have to get me... out of here. There was something... in the woods. I think that it's in here..." he looked around, terrified. "...with us, right now."
Gaara sighed and took Naruto's hands off his collar. "You know it's all in your head." he said. Naruto looked helpless. "Get a shower. You'll feel better. Change your clothes, too." he said.
"N-no! No! P-please...!"
Gaara went out to the shed a few minutes later, searching for the old dog that lived on the property. "Kore?" he called. "Kore?" He stopped when he saw a trail of fresh blood going to the hole in the floorboards. He was wary now and peered over the broken floor carefully to find the dog lying dead on the mud beneath the shed.
Gaara forced himself not to choke up. It was only a dog, after all, but it held so many memories about this place and his friends. He pulled the dog out by his collar and swallowed thickly. "Oh shit..." he mumbled. "What did you do?"
And then he saw it. The blood covered hammer nearby. The only thing that came to Gaara's mind was Naruto, screaming and slamming the hammer repeatedly into the dog's head.
He stood up and marched back to the house. "Where's Naruto?" he demanded.
"In the shower." Shikamaru answered. "Why?"
Gaara ignored the question and pressed on, grabbing the doorknob of the bathroom. Locked. "Naruto, open this door!"
"Gaara!" Sakura yelled, trying to pull him away. "Gaara, stop!"
"Open the damn door, Naruto!"
But the cries fell on deaf ears. Naruto stood, twitching in the corner of the shower in his sleep clothes, the water pouring over him. He reached forward for the water knob, as if in a daze, and turned it all the way to hot.
"Naruto!"
"Gaara, stop!"
The water was boiling by now, and when Gaara forced the door open, burns had already formed on Naruto's face. "Oh God." Gaara mumbled.
Gaara was given the responsibility of taking Naruto to the hospital while everyone else prepared to leave. Naruto was foaming at the mouth, twitching, half-alive. "Come on, stay with me!" Gaara yelled.
He slammed on the brakes in horror and got out of the car. The rain... Oh God. It had flooded everything. There was no way out now. He turned to look at Naruto through the car window, worried. Naruto slowly but surely began to grin.
"Alright." Sakura said shakily. "I gave him some sedatives. He should be out for a few hours." Everyone was silent. "His... His burns are serious. Like... second, third degree?" Sakura said. Her medical knowledge had finally failed. Things were going seriously wrong.
"Alright, but what if-" Gaara stopped. Naruto stood in the doorway, dazed, holding a shotgun limply between his fingers. He lifted it and aimed for Gaara's shoulder.
"Naruto..." he warned. "Put the gun down." Nothing. "Naru-"
Bang!
Naruto screamed, wind billowing wildly around him. A distorted voice echoed around the room, screaming, "Die! One by one! He will take you!"
Then everything was silent.
"You are all going to die tonight." Naruto warned, his voice distorted. Then he collapsed.
"The gun!" Kakashi yelled! "Get it!"
Sakura started frantically crawling towards the gun, grabbing it, but Naruto's hand was soon on top of hers.
He tackled her, straddling her to keep her still. He glared at her for a moment, his eyes red and his skin pale, black and red ooze gushing from his lips He opened his mouth and a cascade of red slime and chunks of meat came pouring out over Sakura. She screamed and writhed under him and managed to throw him off her into the cellar below. Shikamaru slammed the trap door shut.
"Oh my God!" Lee said, a hand over his mouth. Kankuro grabbed a blanket from nearby and gave it to Sakura to clean her face with. Kakashi rushed to Gaara.
"I need to get the shrapnel out of my arm!" he said. "I have tweezers in my bag." Kakashi said, nodding and hurrying to get them.
Sakura pushed Kankuro away. "I'm going to get more sedatives." she said.
"That would put him into a coma!"
"Guys!" Kankuro said. "I'm sorry to say it, but I don't think we're dealing with a panic attack here!" He nodded to Sakura and she hurried to the bathroom.
Sakura managed to clean herself off and was hurriedly readying the syringe and sedatives. She turned when she had finished it and went to the door, but found herself unable to move. She looked over at the desk in the next room, fearful, and saw the book on Kankuro's desk flip to the page with the girl cutting off her face. She gasped and the door slammed shut.
Sakura went limp, her entire body numb, and dropped the syringe in her hand.
Kankuro jumped when he heard the door slam and left the living room to check on Sakura. He slowed when he saw the page on the book had changed and opened the door.
"Sakura?" he asked. The lights were out and he fumbled for the switch. Although there was light, it was constantly flickering and dimming. The sound of metal on bone, almost like a saw, could be heard, and he saw Sakura huddled in the corner of the shower, the curtain partially obstructing his view.
"What... what are you doing, Sakura?" he asked, reaching for the curtain. "Sakura?" He pulled the curtain back and Sakura turned. A slice of her skin had been cut off by the mirror shard in her hand. Her eyes looked dead and her skin looked like it was rotting. She twitched and growled.
"Oh God!" Kankuro said in horror. "Why would you do that?! Why-?!" he didn't have a chance to finish, because he slipped in a piece of Sakura's flesh and landed on the toilet. Kankuro rolled over, holding his back as Sakura came closer and closer. The door slammed shut and before he could react, Sakura was straddling him.
She shrieked and slammed the shard of glass into his shoulder and then grabbed the syringe nearby and began frantically stabbing him with it. He screamed and yelled and finally pushed her away. She broke a piece of the counter on her way down and went still. Kankuro shuddered and pulled the needle from under his eye, choking back screams.
When his vision had cleared, Sakura was crawling towards him. In a hurry, Kankuro grabbed the piece of stone that had broken off the counter and slammed it into Sakura's head three or four timed before she was really dead. Gaara flung open the door and gagged.
"She tried to kill me..." Kankuro said, shaking. "She tried to kill me!"
Author's Note: If you've seen the new Evil Dead movie, you'll recognize a lot of this. The beginning is really close to the film, but after Sakura's death, things start to take a different course of action.