Author: nodirection

Summary: "If you look hard enough into the dark, you might see something. Some say they see a light. And if you, my friend, focus on that light hard enough, you might be able to out run it." "Who?" "The Darkness." [vote for pairings] [M: violence/language]

X

X

X

X

X

My name is Haruno Sakura. I'm an ordinary girl, an average student, with average looks, with a boring background. I am the essence of the phrase, 'nothing special'. I've ever been kissed, I've never even talked to a guy, and I am quite good at staying hidden in the classroom. I am…well…a bit of a loner. I always thought I would be…

….Fuck this woe is me shit. Let me tell you what I really think.

Introductions are quite boring. They never quite tell you enough about a person. One might say he has a prestigious job at company and makes few million a year, but in all actuality, he is a polygamist with a drinking problem. Yes I know, that's a little farfetched but a possibility nonetheless.

What I just described to you was me three months ago. And, I can guess you are probably laughing your ass off at the fact that you just imagined me, Sakura, a polygamist with a bad drinking problem. No, that's not me. But I am the girl, or was the girl, with no one to talk to and quiet in class, with an ordinary past, and overall, I guess, well to do future. This is before it came around. It being the darkness that had haunted me so greatly; and as you, the reader, sit there in your comfortable chair, you pause think about what it could be. But I know for a fact, reader, that you could never guess what it could be.

Go on! Try and guess!

And don't bother looking back at my vague introduction that started off this story, because you can't tell what it is if I just told you only that.

Whatever you just said, or thought, is most likely wrong. It is not a person, or an inanimate object, or really an event. Well in my mind I don't classify it as such because I consider it to be in its own category.

So let me enlighten you, reader, and tell you a story of twisted fantasy and a good adventure.

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

The evening was chill. I was being stupid this morning and decided to wear stupid shorts with a stupid tank top. Yeah ok, it's not like I ever look outside before I leave the house.

The sky was overcast and reminded of one of those bad horror flicks I watch on Saturday nights. The clouds looked so ominous and depressed; I was considering using it as an excuse not to go to school. I decided against it since I had finals today and that would be a bitch to make up.

Walking to school was always entertaining. You could people watch as much as you wanted. One time I caught an ugly, old guy leering at this pretty waitress while picking his nose. It was pretty nasty. Let me tell you, although I was pretty disgusted I couldn't look away because it was so damn funny at the same time. Hmmm, I guess my polygamist slash alcoholic theory could've matched up here. Well, maybe, but I didn't see him drinking alcohol with his breakfast.

Ah, sorry I got off topic again didn't I? I do that a lot don't I? Well, if you didn't know that now you do.

Besides interesting stories from my people watching, I also have a few friends I meet along the way. Naruto Uzumaki and Shikamaru Nara. I've known them since preschool, so that's the only reason I talk to them.

I've mentioned that I've "never talked to a guy". Well, what I meant was that I've never had the courage or self esteem to start up a conversation with a random guy. Maybe a, "Do you know the date?" or "Can I borrow a pencil?" But that's about it.

And besides, I rarely talk to anyone at all. I sort of like being a loner though. It has its perks. I don't have to answer to anyone's annoying questions. Ooo, and not to mention, if I talked a lot I wouldn't be able to hear anything else. When I'm alone in the backyard I like to listen to the trees rustle. And I love to follow the dancing leaves. Yeah I know, it sounds really cheesy, but I feel like not enough people appreciate the beauty of nature. So I suppose my slightly romantic nature makes up for it.

"Sakura chyaaaaaan!" Geez Naruto's voice is so loud. If I was lost in a sea of traffic , stranded in a freeway in LA, I'd be sure to still hear his voice.

"Naruto, stop being troublesome." Shikamaru's drawl was a lot quieter, and in the opposite mood of Naruto's.

I stopped so they could catch up to me. And Naruto threw his arms around I and Shikamaru's shoulders. Shikamaru looked a little pissed off, for whatever reason.

"So, you guys ready for finals!" Shikamaru mumbled something about not getting around to studying. Yeah right, the freakin genius doesn't need to study. The only thing he has to worry about is falling asleep during finals today.

Naruto on the other hand, "Well guess what, I STUDIED! YEAH THAT'S RIGHT MR. HATAKE! TRY TO FAIL ME NOW!" Hatake was also known as the "masked pervert", in school. He was the geometry teacher. But…oh geez, I guess I better break it to Naruto.

"Naruto, we don't have our math final today. Today we have History." Naruto's eyes widened to rival the size of dinner plates.

"Wha.." he croaked. I think the realization began to sink in. His mouth opened and closed, gaping like an idiot in shock.

"…"

I felt bad for him, since the first time he's ever studied, happens to be for the wrong final.

But at the same time I was fighting the urge to giggle at his hilarious predicament.

My urge won out.

X

X

X

X

X

Later, after a killer final, school was only an hour and a half from letting out. I was sitting on the floor in gym, waiting for directions from my sadist teacher, Mr. Gai. Today was a run day, so we had to run 7 laps around the track in 20 minutes. Which is ridiculously easy, but annoying nonetheless.

That was when I heard a bunch of squeals of delight from the group of vain girls that seem to follow you no matter which PE class you are in. That can only mean one thing, The Boys are here. Yes, they were capitol 'B' worthy because they were famous in my hometown. They are known for their good looks and athletic ability. They are the essence of the phrase 'God handcrafted your face then packed on some ridiculous muscle beneath your clothes just so you could make girls worship the ground you walk on.' Yes that is a phrase, look it up. And by the way, yes, girls practically did worship the ground they walked on. They had their own fan club for crying out loud!

If you don't know who these boys are, then you must be some nube who lives in the trees of the Amazon forest, ignorant of all things popular and deemed acceptable in a vain society. If so, good for you! I don't see what's great about them, which I'll get around to telling you after I reveal to you their identities.

Ahem, so, these are The Boys of Konoha: Sasuke Uchiha, Neji Hyuuga, Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, and Kiba Inuzuka. Then there's the TA of the class, Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older, hawt brother.

Ahhh, so you have heard of them? Well I'm not surprised. Most people have.

Like I was saying before, I didn't see what was so great about them. Sure they were amazingly attractive, but that's all I saw in them. There was no substance to their personality. Plus, Naruto and Shikamaru only gave me the time of day because I wasn't drooling over them, going home to a shrine to worship their hawtness. I had self control, especially compared to the girls of my school. And the others, of course didn't talk to me because I didn't have a history with them like Naruto and Shikamaru. Plus no courage, remember? I guess I could ask them what time was it, but an actual, deep conversation, might not work out so much.

"Hey Sakura chan!" Naruto said to me. I couldn't help but ask him because I was so curious.

"So how'd your final work out?"

"I made a cool picture of with my scantron since I didn't know anything. I guess I failed."

"What was your picture?"

"Just a cherry blossom."

"That's cool," I thought I saw a blush on Naruto's face, just like I thought I saw Kiba have an exasperated look on his face. I thought nothing of it as class began.

Gai was talking nonstop and I was falling asleep (again) in my roll call spot, when an abrupt siren sounded off. Was the school under siege or something?

Gai looked panicked at first then screamed, "ALL YOUTH! HEAD TO THE LOCKER ROOMS!" There was a bustle towards the girls' locker room. We have been taught that in case of a lockdown, our class goes to the girl's locker room. The other PE class on campus was on the soccer field, so they had to go hide in the grove of trees that lined the cross country track.

And one thing that sucks about our education system is that each class is way overcrowded. I was one of 7 who didn't fit in the tiny locker room. I am not fat or anything people. In fact I'm quite thin, but the room was so damn crowded…I and the few others had to stay hidden in the boys' locker room. Yea, lucky me, I get to smell sweaty boy shit!

I absent mindedly looked at those who would join me in the boy's locker room; wow, what are the chances. The six others who just had to be stuck with me had to be them. The Boys…

X

X

X

X

X

I took in my surroundings. Nothing special, if you don't count the nasty odor in the air. Boys smell.

"Is this just a drill?" Kiba spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Hn," Sasuke and Itachi spoke at the same time. Wow, so talkative. It just makes me want to applaud them in the raw emotion they seem to express, due to their impressive articulation.

"Likely." Just wow, Neji too.

"Yo temes, what if there really is a gunman on campus? Don't worry Sakura chan, I'll protect you!"

"Naruto shut up, if there is a gunman on campus you'd let them know exactly where we are." Shikamaru said irritatedly. Hmm, usually Shikamaru is more calm, I wonder what's got him agitated?

From across the gym, there lies the girls' locker room. The reason I say this is because there was suddenly, distant screams of horror. I can't describe them too you besides hair raising and bloody. Even horror movies couldn't compare to the terror that shook every vocal cord across the gym. An air of fear heightened, its force crushing on all of us.

We were sitting on the benches in one of the rows of the locker room. That needed to change of course.

"We need a new hiding place." Shikamaru spoke with authority. "If they went to the girl's lockers there bound to come here." His voice shook a little at the end. I was so frightened. I've heard of Columbine and other shooting like that, but I never thought one would end up at my school. If we were thinking rationally, instead of fear inspired, we might've been able to think a little more clearly about the situation. Like perhaps stopping the killer, but, in a situation like this, in the heat of the moment, instinct tells you to run the other direction when in the line of fire.

But the screams were getting worse.

"Where do we go?" I asked, fearing for my life.

X

X

X

X

X

We decided to cram ourselves in a tiny bomb shelter below the locker room. It had this sort of trap door that was hard to notice if walking by. I might not have said this but my school is really old, made around WWII. I kind of wonder why they made it so tiny, but maybe the Boys drink too much milk or something. They are pretty buff.

The wait was terrible. I covered my ears with my hands and tried not to cry. What were they doing to my classmates over there? Slow torture? I tried not to think about it and squeezed my eyes shut. I felt an arm wrap around me.

Sasuke?

Normally I would've said WTF or something, since this was so out of character for him. But I leaned in closer. The thought of dying was great. So a hug was welcome at the moment. And I'm sure he needed something to hug too. It didn't cross my mind that his brother, his family member, was by his other side.

I heard the boys' locker room door open with a slow creak. Slow footsteps down the aisles of the room echoed. I felt two feelings in the atmosphere of the small container. Fear and courage. Of course I was the one really afraid. Each boy had an aura I couldn't really make sense of. But I would realize later, it was a sort of camaraderie. They were like brothers, ready to defend each other's backs if one got hurt.

The footsteps came closer to us. Each of us held our breath. I hung on to Sasuke in outright fear. The footsteps stopped at the door of the bomb shelter. Then…..

The door creaked open. Light from the windows shone through. I kept my head buried in the shoulder of Sasuke, he tightened his grip on me.

"Get out…all of you." The voice was harsh, powerful, and left no room for questioning. We scrambled out to be faced with nothing but the white wash walls of the locker room. Nobody was there. Footsteps still echoed, as if many people were walking through the room. It drained the life from me, and I felt faint. I felt someone else prop me up. It was Neji's strong hands that helped me keep from sinking to the ground and screaming for dear life.

We backed ourselves back down one of the aisles, not wanting to be out in the open. My breathing was becoming faster, and my heart felt like it jumped to my throat. The man's voice spoke again, still as unseen as before. I could understand why the others were screaming so much now, as He walked through the wall in front of us, from the shadows. He held up a gun.

"What luck, you are all here."

I was about ready to pee my pants and a scream died in my throat. It sounded like a sort of whimper. Neji took me from Sasuke and pushed me behind him and the rest of the boys. I felt scared, but not only that. I realized that whatever happened, all of them intended to fight to the end. They were brave enough to defend themselves…

…I wasn't. I couldn't…

I couldn't have anyone hurt from my weakness. If one of them died for me, I don't know what I'd do.

I had to do something!

"Sit down all of you," We all obeyed willingly. What choice did we have when he had a gun in his gloved hand?

His trench coat billowed as he walked forward toward us, towards me. He gripped my shoulder and dragged me to the opposite side of the aisle. I stood shaking, tears dripping from my eyes without my consent.

"Wh – why are yo – you doing this?" My voice cracked with emotional distress.

He raised the hand gun to my forehead.

Up until this point, the boys had been quiet. Even Naruto. But at this, each had a fierce look, save Itachi, whose eyes were the only ones that gave away his anger.

"Don't touch her!" Naruto cried.

The dark man ignored their obvious anger and various remarks similar to Naruto. He leaned forward to whisper in my ear. I wished nothing more than to sink back through the lockers and run away.

"I want to make you remember." Cryptically he spoke, getting pleasure from my fright.

Understand, this man was not normal. He had appeared like a ghost, and obviously had weird capabilities. His face and entire body was cloaked. He was a mystery to all of us, except for his purpose.

He pulled the trigger.

I knew no more…

X

X

X

X

X

"NOOOOOOO!" various voices cried out at the scene before them.

Sakura's body sunk to the floor. The man took off his trench coat and threw it on top of the still body.

"So, how are you all today?" His voice morphed into a sadistically pleased one. The dark man motioned them all with his gun toward the wall.

Distraught as all the males were witnessing the death of a classmate, and…perhaps something else, they obeyed. After all what choice did they all have?

All their backs were pressed to the wall. A distraught Naruto had eyes that began to tear up in anger. Kiba's own enraged look promised just as much pain and suffering as well, while Sasuke had a certain glow of his own in his eyes that appeared almost a violent red.

Shikamaru, being more level headed then the others aforementioned spoke with a dangerous tremor in his voice, "How could you…why did you…" his words fumbled in distress.

Why? How could he have let this happen? He should have moved her out of the way, done something to save her! And now…

Shikamaru stared at the still form beneath the oversized coat. His body began to shake. In anger or regret, he couldn't tell.

"Bastard." Itachi's face was covered by his bangs, not that his expression would reveal anything, but his tone spoke all that needed to be said. Itachi was seething at the event he just witnessed. It took a lot for him to lose control, and he was quickly losing the battle.

The dark man ignored the boys' obvious fury and sudden angst

"Relax; let me tell you the story. You all need to hear it don't you? About the Darkness," He paused, waiting for a reaction. When getting none, he proceeded.

"The Darkness resides in the…"

"Shut up," Neji said, a certain malice laced his voice. The man had just killed an innocent girl in front of them, and probably the rest of the entire fucking school, and he wanted them to listen to some fucking fairy tale?

"The Dark has one enemy. It was lost for a long time. But I restored it."

What the hell is this fucking loon talking about? Kiba thought absent mindedly.

"I will die now, because I wanted the Cure to rise again."

No one knew what the fuck this man was raving about, but what they did know, was that the body beneath the cloak began to move. A pink head, two bright green eyes, and an aura of life filled their senses.

A/N: The first chapter isn't supposed to make any sense. So if it didn't, good. Sorry for the bad language. Also, if you didn't notice, look how the guys went from The Boys, to the boys. What do you guys think. I dunno I thought it was pretty original. Review and/or fav please!