Inspired by my love for the Studio Ghibili & Hayao Miyazaki movies.
I suggest listening to the soundtracks of any of the Studio Ghibili films while you read this. If you're too lazy to search it up, copy and paste the link provided below (it's bolded) onto your address bar. It is a youtube playlist of songs from various soundtracks of various Studio Ghibili movies.
playlist?list=PL6ADF7A154DF0CD4A&feature=plcp
Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters used in this story do not belong to me. All ideas, characters, and elements from the Studio Ghibili movies used in this story do not belong to me either.
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(Chapter 1)
(Discovery)
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The Path of the Wind
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[Spirited Away]
"What are all those stones? They look like little houses."
"Those are shrines. Some people believe spirits live in them."
[Quoted from Chihiro & her mother]
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"Otou-san, are we there yet?"
"Be patient Sakura, we're almost there."
The girl closed her eyes and sighed. This was not exactly what she wanted. All of her life she had lived in Tokyo, the city of technology and advancements. She loved the city life with all the buildings, cars, shops, and people. Now all of that was behind her.
Her father, Jiraiya, was a famous writer who worked for the publishing company Konoha. He was at his peak of fame, but all of a sudden he quit his job when he was at the top. Without prior notice, he grabbed all of their belongings and hit the road.
Now Sakura was stuck in a car going to a place she didn't even know of. Although Sakura was angry with her father for his rashness, he always had his reasons for everything. The pinkette knew never to question his decisions. As the head of the house hold, one must never go against the head's decisions.
She looked down at her lap and started playing with the long strands of pink hair. It's been hours since they started driving and she still had no clue where they were. Turning her head, her gaze became fixated on the rural setting surrounding them. There were farms everywhere, rice fields and dirt roads, and barely any houses.
The pink haired girl jerked her head towards her father. With pleading eyes her voice strained, "Please don't tell me this is where we're living."
"And if it is?" Her father raised an eyebrow. A knowing grin was present on his tan face.
She groaned.
"Out of all the places to live, you choose a farm? I was expecting the suburbs at least!"
"So city girl can't handle the country life?"
Sakura folded her arms in front of her chest. A childish pout was evident on her pale face.
"Whatever."
The grey haired man chuckled, "Stubborn as always, just like your mother."
She sighed as she returned her sights back outside the car window. She tried to think about the positives of the situation. More fresh air, more natural food from the farms, open space, less pollution, clear night skies. That was all she could think of.
After a few more minutes of driving down the dirt path, a huge forest came into view. Sakura stared; she never saw so many trees in her life. Soon after, the car made an abrupt stop in front of a large gate entrance. There was a large rock staircase behind it.
The pinkette turned her head towards her father and gave a questioning stare.
"This gate and staircase leads to an ancient shrine. No ones goes anymore, but I heard it's a very spiritual place."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Just wanted you to know a little about what we're living next door to."
"Our house is next to this forest shrine?"
Jiraiya just smiled in return.
He started the car and continued driving along the dirt road. Along the edges of the forest Sakura noticed little stones that looked like miniature houses.
"What are those small stone houses?"
"Those are Hokora. They are small Shinto shrines where spirits are believed to live in."
"Spirits?"
"The villagers here believe that the Dosojin gods live in these small shrines."
"Dosojin? The kami that protects travelers and villagers from evil spirits?"
"Hai."
Sakura nodded.
They continued driving until they had reached the end of the forest. A little way further, there was a smaller dirt path that led slightly uphill. Jiraiya turned right onto the path and continued up the steep.
Soon after, they finally arrived. In front of the parked car was an old fashion styled house. Weeds protruded everywhere, the grass was in need of a good cut, and the flowers that were previously planted had withered. Vines and moss covered some parts of the exterior of the house as well.
"And it continues to get worse."
"It's not that bad. Just a few minor fixes and it'll be as good as new."
"Well, looks like we got most of the things inside the house."
Sakura waved her hand in front of her face in an effort to cool done. After helping her father move in all of the heavy furniture she became all sweaty and hot.
"Ah, I'm so tired."
Jiraiya glanced back at Sakura as he started unpacking some stuff out of boxes. He then picked up a broom and dustpan and threw them to his daughter. She clumsily caught them both.
"Why don't you sweep around? This place is a little dusty."
She rose in eyebrow at her father. "A little?"
"Well, while you're dusting you can explore the house at the same time. It'll give you something to do."
With a pout she grunted, "Fine."
She entered the kitchen and started sweeping dust and dirt into the dustpan. The kitchen wasn't so modern, but it had everything that they needed in order to cook. Although the house in general was old, it just added to the charm of it. It was different from what she was used to, but Sakura decided she could grow to like it. Since she previously lived in an apartment building, she never knew what it felt like to live in a house.
The pinkette continued to go onto different rooms and sweep around. She didn't really do that great of a job since she was really just looking around the place. She discovered that there was a lot of old furniture that was left from the previous owner as well.
Sakura murmured to herself, "So vintage looking."
She continued on looking at the different rooms when she entered the small narrow hallway. As she walked down it she discovered a door on the left hand side. Curiosity struck her as she turned the handle.
"What's this door for? A closet?"
After opening the door, all she could see were the first several steps to a wooden staircase. Due to the lack of lighting, she had no view of what could be upstairs. Was it empty? Was it also filled with old belongings left of the previous owner?
"It'll probably be the dustiest room in the house."
Taking her broom and dustpan she began climbing the stairs. She finally reached the top, but again, the lack of light prevented her from really seeing what was in the room. She looked up at the ceiling to see if there were any light fixtures that she could turn on, but it looked like she was out of luck. After giving up on finding a light switch, she caught the outline of a window.
"I guess I'll just open these shutters."
She carefully walked towards it so that if she bumped into anything, if there was anything that is, she wouldn't hurt herself too bad. After finally reaching it, she opened the windows and a burst of sunlight entered the room. A strange sound emitted behind her, making her turn around.
Just in time, Sakura saw a huge black blob trying to enter a small hole in the wooden floor.
"Oh no you don't!"
Just as the black blob was about to disappear, Sakura swung her broomstick hitting what seemed to be the "butt" of the black blob.
"Did I get it?"
A small tennis-ball shaped black blob slowly floated down to her feet. She bent down to pick it up. As her hand approached the black furry creature, it suddenly opened its eyes and jumped in surprise. With speed, it flew into the hole where the bigger black blob went and disappeared from her sights.
With eyes wide and mouth open, Sakura falls back onto her butt. With fright she screamed, "Eh?"
She quickly got up and ran down the stairs to bump into her father.
"Otou-san!"
The grey haired man quickly caught his daughter and held her by the arms.
"What's wrong? Daijobu ka?"
"Otou-san, there was this huge black blob and it went into this hole in the floor,
"Sakura,"
"And before it was gone I hit it with my broom and this smaller black blob fell onto the floor,
"Sakura,"
"And then I went to pick it up but it suddenly opened its eyes and flew into the hole where the bigger black blob went into—
"Sakura!"
Jiraiya laughed.
Sakura glared at her father, "What? It was scary! I don't know what that thing was, but whatever it was, we need to call an exterminator or someone to get those things out."
"I wouldn't worry about them."
The pinkette's mouth fell open in surprise. "Are you kidding me? What if they're mutated termites or something? They could cause this house even more damage. That would mean even more things to fix."
"Sakura, by what you have told me I'm guessing those black blobs are Susuwatari. They are completely harmless." Jiraiya shrugged her shoulders at Sakura's incredulous looks.
"What's a Susuwatari?"
"They're little black soot balls that live in old, abandoned houses where they spread soot, dust, and dirt."
"Uso!" Sakura narrowed her eyes.
"Iie, uso ja nai."
The pink haired girl crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"You did when you were a child."
"Well of course I did, I was a child, I believed in everything you told me. Those things don't exist, do you really expect me to believe the Susuwatari from my childhood story books are alive?"
He just nodded his head in return.
"This is crazy. You're crazy."
Jiraiya rolled her eyes at his child's accusations. "Anything's possible Sakura. Just because something doesn't seem real doesn't mean it's not. Your mother—
The mood suddenly shifted into a less pleasant one.
"You and mother were foolish then. All these spirits and stories are just old myths and folklore. They're not real. People just make them up because back then, they had no way to explain all these natural occurrences and phenomenon,"
"Sakura." Jiraiya gave her a warning glare. She ignored it as she continued ranting on.
"But now we have the technology to explain the reality of what these things are. You just can't move on can you? All the things she told me were just fairytales . . . And for you to believe and agree on all of this? It's time to let Okaa-san and her crazy ideas go."
"That is enough! You will not speak of your mother that way. You do not know what she has gone through Sakura. You don't even know what you're talking about."
"Otou-san—
A knock on the door suddenly interrupted their conversation. Jiraiya turned to his daughter and gave her a look that said you-better-behave-or-else. With that he opened the door to find a small old woman. She had a wrinkly face with two small brown marks that people get when they age. Her hair was a light grey and held back by a dark colored headband.
"Hello, I am Chiyo. I live on the farm with my family to the left of you. I just wanted to stop by and welcome you to our village."
"Arigatou gozaimasu Chiyo-san."
"Iie, nandemonai yo."
"I am Jiraiya, and this is my daughter Sakura."
Sakura bowed to the elderly woman, "Hello, it's very nice to meet you."
Chiyo smiled in return and then looked around the room. "Ah, I see you're cleaning the house. Why don't you let me help, it's the least I can do to welcome you here."
"If it's not too bothersome then that would be very helpful," Jiraiya laughed. Sakura just rolled her eyes in response. He would make an old lady help them clean the house.
"Sakura why don't you help Chiyo-san. I'll be in my room unpacking my belongings."
"Hai," Sakura drawled.
"Sakura-chan?" Sakura turned around to look at the little old lady beside her.
"Yes Chiyo-baasama?"
"Did you know this place is haunted?"
Sakura took a step back in surprise. "Eh? Like ghosts?"
"Not necessarily ghosts. More like spirits."
"Oh not you too," Sakura groaned.
"This village is filled with magical sightings. And they all happen near or around the forest. It's a very spiritual place Sakura-chan, I wouldn't doubt that this house is filled with spirits as well."
In an almost whine-like voice Sakura pouted, "But those are just stories."
"There's always some sort of truth behind such fairytales." Chiyo winked at the pouting pinkette. She lightly laughed at the child's facial expression. Although she didn't mean to eavesdrop, she over heard the conversation Sakura had had with Jiraiya. Although the girl in front of her did not believe it, Jiraiya was telling the truth. But that was for the pink haired beauty to discover.
"I suppose so," Sakura grunted. Chiyo laughed again at Sakura's response. This child would definitely lighten up the monotony that the village had been having lately.
Chiyo clapped her hands together in readiness. "Well, enough about that. Let's get this place cleaned."
Nighttime soon fell upon them. Jiraiya bade Sakura good night as he went into his room to continue working on a manuscript. His daughter just nodded in response as she went into the bathroom.
The green-eyed beauty continued to prepare for bed and then after, laid down on her futon to rest. Sakura sighed as she turned onto the right side of her body.
Sakura thought about her argument with her father and then the words that Chiyo-baasama said to her. "Maybe I was a little harsh. I should probably apologize to otou-san,"
Sakura gave a yawn as her eyes started to close.
"I'll just do that tomorrow then." With another yawn she finally closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
"We must be careful. If we're discovered we will be forced to leave."
"Don't worry otou-san."
"Just get the tissue so we can go."
Sakura swore she was hearing things. Lazily she opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times to help her become more alert.
"Oh stop being such a worry wart."
There was that voice again. Sakura turned her body around to get into a more comfortable position. Her eyes soon fell on two little . . . human beings? They were so small, but they looked human.
"I must be dreaming," Sakura whispered to herself. She saw a miniature girl in a red dress pulling out a tissue from her tissue box.
"What the—
The small man with a green backpack turned his body towards the awakening pinkette. He grabbed the girl trying to take the tissue. "Arrietty quick let's go."
"But I have the tissue—
"There's no time we must go. Leave it there."
Sakura sat up and called out, "Hey wait!"
The two jumped down from the box and ran towards a small hole in the wall. The tissue the miniature girl tried to get floated onto the tatami mat floor.
The green-eyed girl shook her head in disbelief. "I must be dreaming."
Sakura stood up to open the sliding doors of her room. She needed some air. Maybe all the summer's heat was getting to her head. A light breeze brushed against her face. The girl took a deep breath of air and then exhaled.
Crunch!
The pinkette's sights were soon casted onto the backyard. She tried to find the thing that made that crunching sound. It was probably just a rabbit that stepped on a leaf or something.
A small white creature with tall ears holding a green leaf above its head appeared. And then it disappeared.
"What the . . ."
It then reappeared again. It looked like it was walking towards the bushes, which acted like a barrier between the forest and her house.
"Where is it going?" Without any hesitation, the young girl began following the bunny-like eared creature.
The white thing entered into the bushes. Sakura bent down and pushed some of the leaves apart. A small opening appeared before her. Curiosity got the best of her as she crawled into what seemed like a briar patch. She continued crawling forward, but the little white creature was nowhere in sight.
"I'll probably find it at the end of this tunnel."
Sakura quickened her pace and finally saw an ending to the long bush tunnel. Without stopping the tunnel ended and to her dismay, discovered that the ground ended too. Without any time to prepare, she was falling.
She covered her head ready for impact, but her body fell on something furry and soft. Sakura opened her eyes to find her self face to face with a big snoring creature. It looked like a bigger version of the miniature white thing she followed from her backyard.
The only exception was, this one was grey and white, had boomerang shaped outlining's on its chest, had whiskers, and an oval shaped black nose.
"Oh my god."
The creature continued to snore, blowing her long pink hair back in the process. With great caution, Sakura started to crawl down and off the creature by using the fur in her grasps to keep her from falling. However, her plan soon failed as the large creature decided to change his sleeping position. This movement caused Sakura to loose grip of its fur and once again, she found herself falling.
"Ah!"
Again, Sakura prepared herself for impact, but once again felt soft fur beneath her. She opened her eyes to find the creature that was once sleeping awakened and holding her in its palms.
She remained silent, too afraid that if she made noise it would eat her. They continued staring at each other for a while. The large creature then yawned, set her on the ground, turned so that its back was facing her and fell back asleep.
After calming down and realizing it wasn't going to eat her, Sakura turned away from the snoring creature and looked around. It looked like she was in the hallow of a large tree. Bark made up the walls and small tree roots and dirt were protruding from the floor beneath her.
"What is this place?"
A large opening was on the right of her. Deciding to leave the sleeping beast, she decided to climb out of the opening. She left the tree hallow-like room and found herself climbing out of a hole near the base of a huge tree.
"Am I in the forest?"
She climbed down from the large camphor tree, making sure to be careful of the huge tree roots. There was nothing there this time to save her from falling. Sakura finally reached the ground where the more normal sized trees were. Sakura looked around. Somehow, the forest gave off a very serene atmosphere. It was so peaceful.
The girl continued walking around the forest, hoping to find a path or way out. All of a sudden she heard this weird winding sound followed by rattling. She turned around to discover little white humanoids. Their heads were bigger then their bodies and all had different head shapes and sizes. They had mask-like features because of the three holes on their face.
"Kawaii," Sakura said unconsciously.
She turned around to find that even more of these white creatures appeared. It looked as if they were leading some sort of path for her.
"You want me to follow?" The white things just rattled their heads.
She continued walking and following the path where the white creatures appeared. They lead her to this huge lake. The water seemed to give off a sort of healing glow. She couldn't quite explain it, but it looked so beautiful. Nature at it's finest. In the middle of the lake, Sakura noticed there was a small island where a tree was isolated from the rest. She didn't question it, as she was more interested in the thought of fish swimming in the water. She looked down at the lake; the water was practically crystal clear. To her disappointment however, she could not see or find any fish swimming around.
Sakura bent down to touch the water but suddenly a reflection of a deer caught her eye. She looked up to find herself staring into the eyes of what looked like a man's. It startled her because even though the body belonged to one of a deer, its eyes looked like one of a human.
A gasp escaped her lips and the deer disappeared.
"What are you doing here?"
Sakura turned around to find herself in the presence of a young man. He looked a little older than her, maybe 21? With dark black hair tied back into a ponytail, his bangs framed the sides of his pale face. He was dressed in a traditional Japanese outfit. He wore a black hakama with a white shirt underneath and red sash that held the outfit together.
"I, uh—
"Humans don't belong in this world."
Sakura scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. She questioned, "This world?"
"You have to get out of here before the spirits awaken."
"What are you talking about?"
"Human, you leave me no choice."
With a graceful speed, he stood in front of her and brought his hand up to her forehead. Using his pointer finger and thumb, he proceeded to flick her on the forehead.
"Itai!"
After a couple of seconds, a bright light started to emit from the place he hit her.
"Hey—
The brightness of the light soon engulfed her and all she could see was white.
She opened her eyes as she sat forward. She looked around to find herself in her futon. She was in her room.
Sakura sighed, "What a strange dream?"
She looked to her right; the screen door was open.
"No."
She looked to the left where the tissue box was. There was no fallen tissue on the ground next to it.
"It was just a dream. Of course none of it was real."
She sighed once again, this time in relief. She walked over to the screen door and shut it so that no bugs, wind, or sunlight could enter.
"I was definitely dreaming."
Chapter 1 Completed
There are so many references in just this first chapter. If you would like a list of these references, leave it in a review. I will then list references used from the Studio Ghibli movies at the end of each chapter before the author's note.
Also, please note in your review if you like this idea and any further thoughts you had while reading.
Thank you!
~七転八起