Horrors of the Night
Summary: The group wanted something more scary. Itachi's old country home? Perfect. But they didn't know what was there. For Halloween. Sasusaku.
A/N: Hope you like this fic, the start will be quite normal but later on in this story it will get more horrific. This is AU. Konoha will be a town in Japan that celebrates western events. Eg. Halloween.
...
Tuesday 30th October 2012...
Sakura sighed at lunch and sat down at a canteen table.
"So what we doing for this Halloween?" Naruto asked for the umpteenth time.
"How about... a haunted house?" Ino piped up next to her, putting a chunk of her muffin into her mouth. She smiled at the taste.
"No." Naruto groaned. "Haunted houses aren't scary enough. We need some real terror."
"What do you mean by that?" Ino questioned loudly, offended.
Naruto raised his arms and moved them around crazily while answering, "Something that will scare us to death, that has a real history of being haunted! Not just some normal house decorated with pictures!"
"Where will we find one of them? Like, a house with real ghosts reported there?" Sakura asked, her tone sarcastic and obviously disbelieving.
"My brother's old home."
Everybody seated at the table turned to face Sasuke. Sasuke, disinterested and bored turned his gaze upwards to stare at everyone.
"What?" He asked, irritated.
"Your brother's old home has ghosts in it?" Naruto asked childishly.
"Yeah, what about it?" He snapped.
"Tell us the story!" Naruto begged.
Sasuke's face turned serious and he put his elbows on the table. He linked his fingers together and rested his chin on them. "It's an old home in the countryside in the middle of nowhere. Itachi used to go there for peace." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "One day, a fan named Karin went inside the house to try and spy on Itachi. Days later, she was reported missing. Turns out, the fan never came out and Itachi never saw her in the house." It was barely noticeable, but Sasuke's shoulders tensed. "But when the police were investigating, they found her body there. Her ankle had fallen off naturally and her camera was still in her hand. The police checked it for evidence but nothing was found. A year later, I heard that policeman named Suigetsu died, in his sleep from suspected drowning for over drinking . While the other, Juugo went crazy and had to be sent to a mental hospital. I don't think I'll tell you anymore or you'll lose your guts."
Sasuke stopped talking and turned calculated eyes around the table. Naruto was squealing and cuddling Sakura's arm. Ino was fidgeting with her hair nervously, her muffin forgotten. Shikamaru looked uninterested, but Sasuke could see his clenched fist. Hinata was trembling slightly. But Sakura was just looking at him. Sasuke glared back at her, making Sakura avert her eyes awkwardly.
"Anymore on what?" Sakura mumbled.
"Where the investigators think the ghosts came from."
"We should go there this Halloween and stay there the whole night!" Naruto declared bravely.
"Why n-not just trick or t-treat N-naruto-kun?" Hinata asked timidly.
Naruto slammed a hand down on Hinata's shoulder, making her jump. "Where's the fun in that Hinata? This year, we are all sixteen, we're old enough for adventure!" Naruto scrunched his face up. "Besides, last years trick or treating was horrible."
"W-what h-happened last y-year?" Hinata asked curiously.
Naruto turned to Sakura. Everyone else did too.
"What?" Sakura asked.
"Tell them what happened last halloween Sakura-chan!" Naruto said. Sasuke scowled in remembrance.
"Well..." Sakura started.
...
Halloween 2011
"Last year, Naruto ran around Konoha happily, in a yellow tight fitting body suit. He claimed he was dressing as a ramen noodle. He then asked everyone for candy."
"What's so wrong about that?" Ino asked.
"I'm not done." Sakura said. "Anyways, as he was asking everyone for candy people thought he was greedy so didn't give him any. So he went pranking houses and stealing candy from kids. I found out. The end."
"What's so bad about that?" Ino asked.
"Well, after that Sakura-chan beat me everywhere, including below. Then, she even made me return all the candy and apologise!" Naruto whined.
Sasuke smirked. Sakura saw this and smiled.
...
Wednesday 31st October...
Sakura sat awkwardly on Ino's blue leather couch. Sasuke sat opposite her. The group had decided that they would stay for the night at Itachi's old home. But Sasuke had warned them it hadn't been touched for five years.
The designated time to meet was 4pm at Ino's apartment after school. Right now it was 4:03pm and the others still had yet to arrive. Sakura had arrived ten minutes early and Sasuke five minutes. Ino had still been packing when they arrived so she and Sasuke had been sitting in silence, none wanting to start a conversation. One didn't care but the other cared too much about what to say.
Ding dong!
The doorbell went. Sakura went to the door and opened it.
"Hi guys! You're three minutes late."
"Sorry." Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Shikamaru forgot to fill up the gas tank."
"It was too troublesome." Shikamaru drawled.
"Hello, S-Sakura-san." Hinata said timidly.
"Hey Hinata." Sakura smiled gently.
"All our bags are in the boot, go and put yours in." Shikamaru told Sakura.
Sakura nodded and reached to take her bag when a hand wrapped around her wrist.
"Let me do it."
Sakura looked up and saw Sasuke. Sasuke picked up her bag, a pink cheap backpack. Sakura blushed and uttered a quiet "Thank you."
"Hn." Sasuke nodded and left.
"Okay, everyone! Let's go! Shikamaru's car!" Naruto jumped enthusiastically.
Everyone went over to Shikamaru's FRV, which was a black six seated car with three seats at the front an three seats at the back.
"Bagsie front!" Ino called, raising her hand.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled.
The group slid into the car with Shikamaru driving, Ino next to him and Hinata next to Ino. Sasuke sat behind Shikamaru in the rear of the car, with Sakura in the middle and Naruto next to Sakura.
"This is going to be an hour long trip." Shikamaru said, lazily starting the car and driving down the road. The radio wasn't on as Shikamaru needed to use the sat nav.
Sakura sighed and put her iPod on shuffle. She looked to her left to see Naruto looking bored. She handed one of her earphones to Naruto. His face lit up and he grabbed it, shoving it into his ear.
Ino was talking to Hinata about the story of her ugly brown coat, while Shikamaru concentrated on the road. Sasuke, however just stared at the outside surroundings. Sakura directed her gaze to Naruto's window , as she couldn't see ahead because Ino's blonde head was there.
...
It was now halfway into the trip and now Sakura could see the beginnings of hills. They were reaching the Konoha outskirts.
Shikamaru had turned off the sat nav a few minutes ago, claiming it was now just driving on a straight and easy lane. Ino had used that oppurtunity to turn on the radio. Tuning it to Sand FM, DJ Temari started to talk, filling the silent car with noise. Sakura turned off her iPod, wanting to listen too.
"Okay today it's Halloween! Isn't it great?! Too bad my brothers aren't celebrating but I will here. Wind by Akeboshi is on next. Anyway we've got a clear cool evening today, so live it up."
"Well, today is also the day -" The DJ's voice cut off and the static sound filled the car.
"No signal." Shikamaru sighed, obviously pissed. Now Ino was going to start yapping again. Troublesome.
"Hey, what's that?" Ino piped.
"Yeah, what is it?" Sakura echoed.
There was a ominous grey cloud of mist in the middle of the road.
"That's weird. Temari didn't say there would be mist! She said it would be clear!" Naruto worriedly claimed.
"Shut up Naruto. Mist isn't as bad as fog. We should still be able to see ahead of us."
"We're going in." Shikamaru sat up, his eyes more alert.
Once they entered the thick mist, the clear view of trees and hills were gone.
Inside the car, the temperature had dropped and all was silent.
"When will we get out of this mist?" Naruto mumbled impatiently.
Suddenly, the car stopped. Shikamaru started it up again but the car died out.
"No gas. I should of filled it to the fullest." Ino slapped Shikamaru's arm.
"Stupid!" She shrieked.
"Relax, I brought spare gasoline. It should be in the boot." He replied.
Shikamaru opened the front door and went to get it. Ino followed out the car, wanting to help.
The boot was pulled up. "Here!" Ino said loudly. Shikamaru grabbed the container out of Ino's hands and started to read.
"Contains 22.73 litres. So 5 gallons." Shikamaru calculated quickly.
Shikamaru then started to fill up the car. "We'll use this gas so we can get back to somewhere with signal and call someone."
Once the tank had the 5 gallons in, Shikamaru and Ino slipped into the car and the vehicle started reversing.
Sakura brought her phone out, ready to declare when she got signal. They had reversed for ten minutes now, and had gotten out of the mist. She found it strange that the mist was only on the road, usually it spreads.
Suddenly a bar popped up and her phone. "I've got signal." Sakura said.
Sakura quickly dialled a number. "Hello?" A high voice said.
"Tenten." Sakura sighed in relief. "Listen, we're in the countryside and we need more gas for the trip home tomorrow."
"Well, it's late in the evening now. Tomorrow morning, me and Neji will come and pick you up and bring lots of spare fuel." Tenten resolved.
"Okay, thanks. Bye." Sakura replied gratefully.
"What did she say? Does she know where we are?" Naruto asked.
"Tomorrow, she and Neji will come and give us gas. She should know where we are, I gave her the address yesterday. But she didn't want to come." Sakura replied slowly.
"We should get out the car and walk. I'll leave the car parked here, but we should get our bags and walk to the house."
"W-Why? Wouldn't it be q-quicker to drive?" Hinata asked, confused.
"No, we should save what gas we have now for tomorrow. Walking will only take three quarters of an hour at most." Shikamaru answered. "Let's go."
Everyone nodded and started to exit the car. Sasuke opened the boot and grabbed his rucksack. Sakura picked up her backpack and swung it onto her back. Ino got her purple suitcase and lifted it, while pushing in the wheels. Hinata slid her messenger bag on her shoulder. Shikamaru and Naruto both carried their duffel bags. After asking "All set?" everyone set off.
Ino hooked on to Shikamaru's arm, while he lead the group where to go. Hinata was quietly talking to Ino.
The mist was approaching. Once everyone was in the mist, they walked straight forward and didn't stop.
"W-What's that?" Hinata pointed timidly. The was a dark figure in the mist, to her left. Hinata squinted her eyes, trying to view it.
Something was there.
"Oh my god! It's moving!" Ino said fearfully. The shadow blocked by the mist moved to the right.
"I can't see anything. Sure it's not a tree?" Sakura asked.
"I-I saw it though." Hinata had perfect eyesight, so there must of been something there. But whatever it was, it was gone.
They treaded on the road silently. A large gust of wind blew past them, but it did nothing to move the mist. The group had been walking for about ten minutes now and they had finally escaped the mist.
"Look!" Sakura jumped happily. "I can see the house!" Everyone but Sasuke smiled and ran.
At the top of the low hill, there was a house that stood alone. Ivy covered the two story country house, starting from the bottom of the house to the roof. It looked like large and normal countryside home. Well, everything except for it's size and the fact that the house is nowhere.
Four fairly narrow windows were on the top floor. On the bottom floor, two medium length windows were positioned equally on each side of the door, which was in the centre of the house.
"Wow Sasuke! This house looks rich! How much money to you have?" Naruto asked, shocked.
Sasuke looked away and muttered, "More than enough."
Ino skipped ahead of the group and started to approach the house. Shikamaru followed slowly behind, with Naruto dragging Hinata. Sakura and Sasuke were at the back.
Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke looked silently to her, indicating she should speak. Sakura blushed and said, "Is there really any ghosts? I mean it's a good looking house and it's so magnificent but ghosts give me the creeps." Sakura shuddered.
Sasuke stopped walking. Sakura copied. "Sakura. Don't worry." Sasuke spoke calmly. Sakura felt warmer and more assured. Nodding, she mumbled a "Thank you." and continued walking.
Once the group were all gathered outside the house, they looked at the front garden. Overgrown nettles surrounded the path along with dead flowers. Japanese knotweed could be seen growing by the front door.
"My brother really liked plants. He enjoyed their beauty. Itachi also had a penchant for Sakura trees." Sasuke stated quietly.
"That's weird." Naruto said. "There aren't any here."
"Itachi told me he planted 10 though." Sasuke answered. His eyes narrowed a fraction. Itachi wouldn't lie to him on such trivial matters. Something must of happened. But what could destroy trees without being seen?
Ino was staring at one of the upstairs windows. A dark outline stood at one of the windows.
"Is that a mannequin?" Ino asked unsurely.
"I think it is." Sakura answered strangely, wondering if it was real.
"B-But we should be able to see it i-in this light." Hinata reasoned. It was sunset so they should be able to see the mannequin clearly.
"Then what is it?" Ino questioned again.
Sasuke stared too. There was something there, in human shape. But he was pretty sure it wasn't a mannequin. What could it be?
A tense atmosphere had started to form from the figure through a window. Almost everyone's eyes were focused on it.
"Hey guys look!" Everyone jumped and looked at Naruto, who was pointing at a cat.
"A cat in the countryside?" Sakura raised a brow. "There are no homes nearby."
"Here, kitty!" Naruto held a hand out. The cat screeched and clawed Naruto's hand. After that, it disappeared.
Naruto looked down at his hand. There were four long red lines across his palm. The top one started to release blood, the red liquid then started falling into the second cut, which in turn fell to the third until that one reached the last cut. The blood finally travelled off the last cut and dripped onto the ground.
"What a mean-" Naruto was cut off as Hinata screamed.
Everyone turned their heads to Hinata. Hinata turned a terrified finger to the upstairs window.
"What's wrong Hinata?" Ino asked worriedly, cuddling Hinata. Hinata struggled to find her breath.
Sasuke turned his eyes from the sight and evaluated the scene. His eyes finding Sakura, he found her glaring calculatedly at the window. Following her gaze, he saw the figure at the window. Only this time it had moved three windows. It was like it was watching them.
"I-It's moved windows!" Hinata finally managed to speak.
"Let's not think about it. We just have to spend one night in this house. Then we can go home, ok?" Ino comforted Hinata, patting her gently on the shoulder.
Sasuke went up to the front door and unlocked it. The wooden door creaked and pushed open. Hinata looked wearily around the house before stepping in. Everyone else just quickly went inside. But Sakura hovered on the doorstep. Sasuke gestured for her to come in. Sakura blushed and nodded. Just when she was about to step in, she turned round. Narrowing her eyes at the garden, she entered the house.
The group all dumped their belongings. They were stood in a hallway. Following through the front door, a carpeted staircase went straight up to the second floor. To the right of the hallway was a kitchen and two the left was the living room. There was also another door which led to Itachi's old office.
"Let's go have a look round the house." Shikamaru said lazily. He travelled slowly to living room while Hinata and Ino headed to the kitchen.
Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto decided to scout upstairs. The stairs creaked with every step. Naruto turned the light switch on. Yellow light filled the corridor. Sakura climbed to the top step and walked to her left. Sasuke turned right and Naruto headed to the attic which was a ladder right where the stair case ended.
Sasuke had looked into all the three rooms on his side. The three rooms were a bathroom, small library and a bedroom. He continued around the hallway which led to the right side. He eventually stopped at a room. Sakura was frozen at the doorway. It was a small bedroom with a desk.
"What's wrong?" Sasuke questioned.
"The figure should be here. But there is nothing by the window." Sakura said softly, but unsurely.
"Let's go back down." Sasuke turned around.
They passed a room with a locked door and sauntered downstairs.
The group were all sat in the living room. Shikamaru had turned on the heating and they were currently trying to work the tv.
"What's upstairs?" Ino asked curiously.
"Two bedrooms, a locked door, library and bathroom." Sasuke answered, disinterested.
"And an attic! You girls should sleep there! It's quite warm there." Naruto suggested proudly.
The TV turned on.
"Finally." Shikamaru muttered.
Everyone settled for watching the Simpsons. The girls had set off in the middle of the show to make dinner.
"Guys! Come and get food!" Ino yelled loudly but cheerfully.
Switching the TV off, the boys started to head directly to the kitchen. A loud bang sounded in the kitchen. The guys all ran over. Sakura was on the floor kneeling. Hinata had frozen from setting the table and Ino had turned away from the sink to help Sakura.
"What happened?! Sakura-chan! You're bleeding!" Naruto babbled frantically.
"Nothing. Just an accident." Sakura replied calmly. Her hand was bleeding and so was her thigh. But her thigh had glass lodged into it. A shattered glass bowl lay in front of her, along with a knife.
"What's a knife doing there?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.
"I didn't see it and I tripped on it. I was holding the bowl to give to Ino to wash it. Sorry for worrying you." Sakura apologised, putting on a fake smile.
"Who had the knife last?" Shikamaru questioned.
"I-I did. I swear I p-put in on the c-counter though. A-And I never h-heard it h-hit the floor." Hinata stuttered nervously.
"How strange." Shikamaru said seriously, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"Let's just forget about it." Sakura laughed awkwardly and stood up. She grit her teeth at the pain and leaned on the counter. Sasuke stepped forward and lifted her. Placing her gently onto a dining chair, he turned to everyone.
"What do we need?" He asked impatiently.
"Bandages, soaked cloth and tweezers." Ino answered immediately.
Hinata quickly stumbled to the sink, soaking a clean cloth before squeezing the excess water out. She passed the cloth to Sasuke who started wiping the blood of her hands. Ino had gone to her belongings and pulled out her makeup bag, along with a pair of purple tweezers. Naruto, however, had ventured into his bag and pulled out a roll of bandages.
Gathering round Sakura, everyone directed their eyes to Ino.
"First of all, we should pull the glass out her thigh." Hinata stepped timidly forward, holding the pair of tweezers. Sakura grabbed Sasuke's and Naruto's hands and squeezed. Hinata carefully pulled out each piece of glass. Sakura grimaced in pain but didn't produce a sound.
When the process was done, all the broken glass was deposited in the bin. Sakura's thigh was wiped clean and bandaged. "That actually didn't hurt as much as I thought it would." She murmured, surprised. Looking up to Hinata, she smiled. "You're a professional at this."
"T-Thank you. I'll leave your hand to Ino." Hinata said shyly.
Sakura held out her left hand. She then realised that was why she was still feeling pain. By also, she noticed that she had gotten Sasuke's hand covered in blood. She opened her mouth to apologise.
"I'm so sorry Sasuke-kun! It's just I-"
"It's fine." He cut her off.
Ino washed her hand gently before dressing it. Handing the bandages back to Naruto, she sat down for dinner. Shikamaru sat next her. Sasuke sat next to him, facing Sakura. Hinata sat next to Sakura, with Naruto to her left.
In front of everyone, was pork ramen. After a quick, " Itadakimasu!"
everyone dug in.
"Let's change into our ninja costumes!" Naruto declared after everyone was done. The girls decided to sleep in the attic and took their clothes but left their bags. The boys did the same but changed in their bedroom. Sasuke, however decided to change in his own separate bedroom.
Before planning to go to a haunted house, the group had chosen what to dress as. They all chose shinobi together as it seemed like a unique idea.
Once everyone was finished dressing, they excitedly travelled downstairs.
Sakura wore a red headband, with a dark red zip up vest. She wore pink elbow pads. She also wore mid thigh black shorts. On her right leg, which had the bandages on, she had fashioned them into the outfit. On top of her bandages though, was a weapons holster. A pink cloth was worn over her shorts and she wore open toed long boots that reached just below her knee. Gloves came with the outfit, giving it the complete look.
Sasuke wore a zip up grey short sleeved shirt. He also wore black arm guards and blue pants. Wrapped around the pants was a purple rope that held his weapon, a fake katana. He also wore sandals and a blue cloth that covered part of his pants.
Everyone else in the group quickly evaluated each others outfits and they were done. The group only had fake weapons.
"Let's act out sparring!" Naruto declared excitedly. He took out a plastic kunai and held it in front of him. "Come on Sakura-chan."
Raising her fist idly, Sakura rammed it into his stomach. "I win." The group smirked at the scene and they all sat down on the couch.
After an hour, the girls started to tire and decided to just go to bed. The boys went to their rooms too.
They sleepily climbed up the ladder and closed the hatch, which was fitted to close properly, and not hit the ladder, but it also wouldn't allow people in.
"I'm going to g-get my teddy." Hinata said nervously. She reached out to unlock the hatch. "Er...guys?"
...
Sasuke was having difficulty sleeping. He felt an invisible force pushing him, which made it harder to breathe. He looked to his left, for his family picture. He froze. On the picture was two drops of blood. He sat up and lifted the picture, wiping it.
Naruto burst through the door, looking panicked and worried.
"Sasuke! The girls are stuck and they claim there's something in the attic with them!"
Sasuke put the picture down and quickly travelled to the ladder. Shikamaru was already up the ladder, trying to unlock it. When he saw Sasuke he climbed down the ladder. Sasuke climbed up. When he reache the top, the anxious and fearful cries of the girls were heard.
"T-There's something there in the corner." Hinata cried nervously.
"Sakura." Sasuke said the word calmly, knowing she wouldn't try to panic.
"Yes? Sasuke-kun, hurry and think of something. There is something there in the corner." Sakura had been staring at it for a while now, ready to protect the girls.
Sasuke, thinking fast, grabbed his fake katana and jabbed it through the ladder. "Break the hatch!" He commanded.
Sakura rushed to pick up the katana. Once it was within her hands, she started to jab the locks on the hatch.
"Shannaro!" She yelled angrily, using strength she didn't know she had to break the hatch. She put the katana down and lifted the hatch door an put it onto the floor.
"Ino, Hinata, get out!" Sakura directed hurriedly.
Ino and Hinata fast pedalled down the ladder. Sakura climbed down the ladder single handedly, one hand holding Sasuke's katana. She tripped on a rung and was about to fall when Sasuke lifted her off the ladder.
Naruto had successfully managed to kick the locked door down. Turning on the light switch and coughing at the dust, he looked at the room.
A large mat lay in the middle of the rectangular space. On either side of the mat were rows upon rows of weapons. Real harmful weapons.
Ones that can kill.
"Guys look! We can defend ourselves with these!" Naruto shouted.
The group hurried to find weapons to put in their holsters. Slipping kunai, shurikens and senbons into their place, the group stood. Sasuke was the only one who didn't pick up weapons and instead slid a katana into his case. It was a real katana and these weapons were real too. You could kill a person with it but you could also protect a person.
Silently signalling to open the door, Sakura gathered the rest of her med packs and placed them in her back pouch. Shikamaru slowly pulled open the door. Ino was hugging tightly on his arm. Running like a pack of wild beasts, the group raced down the stairs and into the living room.
But...the living room wasn't the same. The lights had turned off, filling each corner of the room in darkness. Hinata quickly switched on her torch. The light illuminated part of the room. Sakura and Ino turned theirs on too. The room was brighter now and they hurried to find a light switch.
"I found it!" Sakura whispered victoriously. Turning the light switch on, she froze in horror. "G-Guys! Come over here!" Her voice quivered.
Naruto was the first to make it there.
"What the hell?" He asked confusedly. A body of a 15 year old boy lay bleeding next to the light switch. The corpse had parts missing and it had turned grey. The eyes were lifelessly open and blood had smeared everywhere.
Naruto rushed to a corner and hurled. Sakura choked with horror and slumped to the floor.
Hinata looked out the window, it was night time now and she wanted to keep an eye out for prankers.
A figure. A dark figure hid in the tree at the front garden. Hinata stopped breathing in terror. Earlier, there were no trees. The faceless shape started to approach the house. Hinata turned around. Her eyes widened when she saw the figure in the corner too. "N-Naruto-kun!" She called out in warning before fainting.
"Hinata!" Ino shouted worriedly.
Naruto was about to run to Hinata when something pulled his wrist. His head crashed violently into the wall.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. She also felt some force pushing on her. It was stifling. She collapsed onto the floor, when Sasuke lifted her and pulled her out of the dark corner. Her chest heaved with air and she pointed a shaking hand to Naruto.
Shikamaru pulled Naruto out. His head was bleeding but he was still awake.
"What was that?" He asked seriously.
"The body is gone." Sakura stated.
"What body?" Ino asked, shaking Hinata awake.
"A corpse. Look, the blood is..." Sakura trailed off slowly, the blood was gone too. "But it was there!" She argued.
"W-We have to go u-upstairs. T-The shadow is behind a tree o-outside!" Hinata stammered, terrified.
"But there were no trees." Sakura recalled.
"Something's happening here." Sasuke said, suspicious. "Something unfriendly."
"Let's go upstairs." Naruto told everyone. His head wasn't hurt that much because of his forehead protector.
Carrying Hinata on his back, he started to climb upstairs. Ino grabbed Shikamaru's hand nervously and treaded upstairs. Sakura was last to go up when she felt something tug on her leg. She lost her balance and started to fall.
"Sasuke-kun!"She screamed. "It's got my leg!" Sakura struggle to grip a step when she finally lost all strength. She started to slip. Sasuke grunted and pulled her up.
Carrying her bridal style, he ran with speed across the stairs. Unaware of where the rest of the group had gone, he stumbled into his temporary room,
"We're safe." He murmured, laying Sakura down. Pulling out his katana, he examined the metal and the few drops of blood speckled on the handle.
Sakura breathed silently, thankful that nothing had come yet. A light rain had picked up outside. The soft pitter-patters were calming and she soon fell into sleep.
...
Naruto and Hinata were gathered in the bathroom. Naruto had to urinate and had decided to come here. Hinata, who followed after him, didn't know this and went inside. She was terrified at being alone so she didn't mind being in here with Naruto peeing.
"We should be safe if we get to the car and wait till morning." He whispered. "But we can't leave the others." He washed his hands.
"But we can't die either." Hinata spoke softly.
Hinata steeled herself with determination. "L-Listen Naruto-kun. In case we don't make it out alive, I need to tell you this-" The glass from the window shattered. Hinata ducked in reflex and Naruto covered his face.
A knife was stabbed into the wall right above their heads. The space around them became darker. The rain was heard louder. Drops were splashing into the the bathtub.
"There." Hinata whispered airily. In the corner of the room, the faceless figure could barely be seen. In it's hand was a glinting object. It looked strangely like the kitchen knife Sakura had slipped on.
It had been a mistake to come here.
A big mistake.
And now they were going to die.
...
"Shikamaru! I can't go on any longer!" Ino yelled out desperately.
The two had ran upstairs, only to quickly reconsider and stumbled back downstairs. They had quickly picked up their belongings and rushed out the house. They were now along the road. It felt like they had been running for hours, but truthfully, the pain didn't compare with the guilt Ino felt.
She collapsed at the side of the road. "Shikamaru...I can't believe we left them behind. What if they..." The word was left unspoken.
"They won't die. Let's hurry to the car, we can drive up to the house and help them." Shikamaru said gently. He held out a hand. Ino turned determined eyes to him, placing her pale hand into his.
...
Sakura woke up with a jolt. She felt something watching her. There! Past Sasuke's sleeping face and right behind him, was the shadow. But...Sakura realised, her blood turning cold...he was armed.
Sakura quickly thought it was now or never. Raising her fist and holding a kunai, she punched the figure. Her arm went straight through it. Shuddering at the cold air her arm felt, she raised her kunai and blocked the incoming knife awkwardly.
The force was too strong and Sakura's back was slammed mercilessly into the wall. Sakura groaned in pain.
Sasuke woke. He found Sakura lying on the wall. "Who hurt you?" He asked angrily.
"Sasuke-kun." She grimaced. "Figure...knife." She managed to utter before collapsing.
...
Hinata didn't mind dying now. She would die with Naruto and not be pressured by her father.
But Naruto minded. He was too young to die. His life had barely started. Grabbing a shuriken, he hurled it at the shadow. It went straight through the figure and into the wall. The form started to disappear and fade into the darkness.
Not wasting another moment, Naruto grabbed Hinata's wrist and ran out the room.
...
Sasuke had managed to knock the knife out of the hidden shadow. That was when it vanished.
Naruto burst into the room, with Hinata in tow. "Sasuke! You're ok!" Naruto looked relieved. Until he looked down at Sakura. "Sakura-chan..." He walked forward and shook Sasuke's shoulders. "What's up with her?"
"She fought that thing first. It hurt her." Sasuke said simply. He bent down and lifted her up. "Let's go to the car. This house is too dangerous."
The four travelled down the stairs. Quickly picking up their belongings and wondering where Shikamaru's and Ino's were (Sasuke took Sakura's backpack) they set foot outside.
It was raining heavily and the garden looked eerie. The trees loomed above them and the garden looked dead. The front door slammed shut and the group ran across the path, eager to escape to safety.
Their car was in front of the house and Shikamaru and Ino were waiting inside of it. Hinata rushed to the front and got in the car. Naruto slipped inside the back while Sasuke strapped Sakura in before taking a seat himself. He closed the car door and Shikamaru started to reverse.
Taking one last look at the house, the group watched anxiously as they drove past the home. The lights were all on in the darkness, but the figure was still there silently watching.
But they were safe.
"Ugh...Sasuke-kun." Sakura muttered, slowly coming into consciousness.
"Sakura." He murmured.
"My back hurts." She moaned.
"Awww." Ino and Naruto cooed.
Sakura glared. "Shut up."
Sasuke sighed quietly. "I knew I never should of spoke about here."
"Huh?" Naruto asked.
"The truth is, Itachi built this home here for peace. To do that, he demolished a whole village. But no one wanted to leave, so they stayed. Itachi's workers flooded the village and people drowned. They must have come for revenge."
Sakura gently placed a comforting hand on Sasuke's chest. He sighed in peace. "Thank you."He whispered into her ear.
Silence filled the car. It was a quiet drive across the hills. The stopped halfway to Konoha as they ran out of gas. But the next morning, they would have a story to tell.
The End...
A/N: I based this off a reservoir I visited in the peak district. I think it was Derwent reservoir . To build the reservoir they moved a graveyard and the people in the village elsewhere. But the church steeple was left and people could see it, making old villagers upset.
I want to do a Christmas follow up to with more romance. Good idea?
Happy Halloween
Please review and thank you for reading!