Searching – A Halloween Special
I do not own Naruto.
Summary: A little girl is saved by a man on the Nanako River and in return she tries to help him find someone important to him. Someone named Itachi. Set in a future long after the Fourth Shinobi War.
Hmm yes the plot is a little cliché, but hey, its a ghost story :P
Feet clad in tennis-shoes squished upon the soft green grass.
"This way," a high pitched voice that had yet to hit puberty called to those behind him. Flashlights danced upon the speaker as other children pointed them to see his location.
"I don't know if I want to go," spoke a little girl in back of the group of children.
"What's wrong, are you afraid?" the speaker teased, pointing a finger at her in accusation.
"Am not!" the girl cried, "But we shouldn't be disrespectful of the dead. And the Uchiha compound is closed down because there's rusted nails and stuff."
"Sounds like you're scared to me."
The other children laughed and continued forward, looking for the rumored way into the mysterious place. Their parents whispered about the place with dread, and their brothers, sisters and older cousins spoke about it too. They told tells of their midnight journeys to the sacred buildings. In those tales there were ghostly apparitions walking around with their throats cut, screaming for vengeance. They also gave hints at how to get in without getting caught by patrols.
The little girl stood still, rubbing tears from her eyes, trying to put on a brave front. She shook her head and zipped up her coat against the howling wind; she shivered still, a feeling of dread overcoming her. She looked around, the dark woods screeched as the wind whipped through branches. Scared, the girl took off to catch up with the others. But it was to no avail. They were long gone, and she was lost; not that she knew it yet.
They are just beyond this bend, she said to herself, rushing through the trees. Or she thought, I hear them now, when it was just the wind carrying the sound.
She ran faster and faster, in the wrong direction. The wind became the screams of the dead and her heart began making its way up her throat in her fear. She took off in a full sprint. Suddenly the wind let up, and the sound of a river became clear. Her flashlight pointed down and she saw the grass cut off. She tried stopping, but stopping so sharply caused the little girl to slide off the embankment and into the chilling water. Her body sunk down into its dark depths and she pushed up, head bobbing above the water and with the breath she took, she screamed.
The wind carried her howl away from any ears that might have heard her.
The water gushed upon her, dragging her to where all rivers led the ocean. The rocks she was rammed against took air from her lungs, and scratched at her legs and feet. She desperately tried to remain above water, to swim against the current.
"Help!" She cried, "Someone help me!"
No one replied.
The girl tried to cling to the dirt walls, but it did little good. Her hands were gloved, and her grip was a child's. The river continued to pull her along.
She struggled but so clothed was she for her midnight adventure that she could barely flounder. Finally, so tired and about to give up, she looked up. Above her was a bridge. Hope filled her hammering heart. "Someone please help me!"
No living thing heard her cry.
Her body bumped against something then, just as she went to the other side. She turned her head.
"Next time you should probably stick to calmer water," a low male voice laughed. A man held her by the shoulders. The moonlight caused the water droplets to look like crystals upon his pale, almost white skin. His black hair was meshed in all directions. Dark eyes looked down at her. He smiled, warm and inviting.
She clung to her savior.
The man laughed and walked easily to the embankment and lifted her upon it before he pulled himself out.
The girl immediately noticed the headband of her village and the weapons on his waist. "Thank you, shinobi-san," the girl bowed her head.
The man ruffled the girl's brown hair in affection, "It's Shisui-san, and I work as a police officer."
"Oh... Thank you then, Shisui-san."
"The honor is mine to rescue such a cute damsel in distress," the man gave a fake bow, making the little girl laugh. The man looked up and his smile then faded. "I was wondering... I was looking for my little cousin; did you happen to see him?"
The girl tilted her head to the side. "What does he look like?" Perhaps someone had found out they all had gone 'missing' from their beds. Her mom would definitely go out searching for her too.
"He's about to my chest, long black hair and eyes like mine. His name is Itachi," the man looked at her, and she could see the worry plainly on his crinkled brow.
The girl paused in thought. She didn't know anybody by that name, but there had been some kids she hadn't met. It was dark too; the black hair would have been hidden by the night. "I don't remember seeing him, but maybe he is with the others. They are going to the Uchiha compound."
The man blinked, then smiled, "Oof, I should have figured," the man smacked his forehead. "How could I have forgotten? Of course that's where he is."
The girl smiled back, "Yeah, do you know where to go?"
Shisui laughed, "I would be ashamed if I didn't."
They walked side by side upon a well-traveled dirt trail through the woods. At the turn of the trail the trees lessened and lights, orange and yellow, came into view. The illuminated site looked to be a small village. The man's steps became quicker and a smile pulled upon his lips. The little girl rushed beside him, for he had long legs and in his pace was leaving her behind.
"Hello!" the man cried, as they drew closer.
"Shisui!" a voice called to them in the darkness.
Shisui looked down at the little girl and winked, "Let's go."
They walked across a bridge over a river before entering the small town. People bustled about, selling and bartering, cooking and eating. The little girl's stomach rumbled at the smells coming from the stalls. The river must have taken me farther than I thought, the little girl said to herself, how long was I in there? I have never been to this village before. The houses here are so old fashion and beautiful.
"We'll get some food as soon as we find Itachi," the man said, turning to the first vendor. "Have you seen Itachi today?"
"Can't say I have Shisui," came the reply.
Odd, thought the little girl, I told him where he might be. Surely everyone I was with earlier wouldn't have come to this small town when they were only going to the Uchiha compound.
"Have you seen Itachi today, Akemi?"
"No, I'm sorry Shisui."
"Have you seen Itachi?"
"Nope, isn't he on a mission?"
The little girl tugged on Shisui's arm. The man leaned down, "What's up? Did you see him?"
"No, I told you... Itachi might have gone to the Uchiha compound."
The man's head went to the side, and his brow's went up. "Yeah," the man laughed, his eyebrows quirking as if finding her words perplexing. He went to the next vendor, "Have you seen Itachi?"
"No."
The girl tugged again. The man leaned back down. "We need to get to Kohona."
The man laughed, "You hit your head in the river? We're in Kohona, in the compound," suddenly he leaned in closer, "are you enemy shinobi?"
The girl looked at the man in confusion, "The compound was damaged in Pein's attack, that's what my dad said. It's been closed off for years now." The girl turned, inspecting the village and its inhabitants. A chill made its way up her spine. Something was very, very wrong. These people, something wasn't right about them. Their clothes were too differently styled, but she'd been so distracted by food and objects in the stalls that she hadn't looked at that or at their faces. They were blank of emotion, or blurry as if part of a dream. She looked back at Shisui. Red eyes swirled inspecting her. Fear gripped her heart and she stepped away.
The eyes went back to black. "You're not a shinobi," the words left his mouth like a whisper.
The little girl had heard of such red eyes before. "This... this can't be real. Most Uchihas were murdered in the massacre." Suddenly the name they were looking for had meaning. The girl gasped, "Itachi, he killed them..." The girl wracked her brain for information on the man; her history class had devoted an entire month to him and Uchihas.
"He killed me too, didn't he?..." Shisui questioned his voice growing quieter. The man's head dropped and he gave a shiver. He kneeled, covering his face in his hands at a memory, "He held me in the water..."
"He was ordered by the council because they thought the Uchihas were planning a coupe d'état... He just wanted to save his little brother."
"Sasuke-chan," the man said a ghost of a smile on his lips.
"They both died in the Fourth Shinobi war."
The smile dropped and the man looked up at the girl. He looked around, as did she. The 'town' had become transformed. The moon and stars were now the only light and it revealed bare building foundations, broken walls and cracked timbers. All around them nature was beginning to reclaim the land. Grass grew from roofs and ivy climbed up any post it could find. A tree was growing from a doorstep. The man's mouth hung ajar for several moments before it snapped shut. "Where is he then? Where is Itachi?" He looked at the girl expectantly and hopeful.
The girl looked at the man sadly, "I don't know."
His face fell and looked up and into the sky. Clouds were beginning to cover the moon. "I'm all alone," he whispered, "all alone."
"I'm here," the girl said, "I'll be your friend." She took the man's hand in her own.
The man looked at her and he gave small smile. "Ha, yes I have a little girl who has decided to keep me company." He then became serious and tugged his hand away, "Thank you. But I'm afraid I'm not a very good friend."
"Bu-"
"If I had been a good friend, perhaps I wouldn't have been left alone." The clouds covered the moon and he was gone.
"Shisui?" The little girl called as the wind picked up. "Shisui, where did you go?" The girl now realized how cold it was to be in wet clothes. "Shisui!"
"Hey, shut it. The patrols will hear you if you keep crying," a boy appeared from behind a collapse building, a troupe of children behind him.
I'm back, the little girl thought. Yet, she didn't know how she felt about it or how she felt about Shisui. Had she truly just spoken with a dead member of the Uchiha clan?
"We're leaving, you coming?" the boy asked.
She gave a nod, following them through ruins of what had been such a beautiful place, so beautiful that it had been dreamlike. She walked like she was dazed. Had any of it been real?
"Wow, you're wet, did you fall in that river back there?" someone asked.
She nodded dumbly, looking over her shoulder for one last glimpse at the buildings before they disappeared from view. She half hoped to see the man, to see if he were real. His sadness had been intoxicating, and she found that her heart still hurt from seeing him. What must it have been like to be left alone? To live upon a world where you forgot everything that had happened to you? But the question that plagued her mind was what had happened to him?
She turned and followed the children before her, making a promise that she would find out all she could about the man.
Years passed and the little girl became a shinobi. Her few good friends trusted her on the field as a talented poison expert, and all saw her as brilliant. Yet if asked about her largest flaw or noticeable quirk, they would reply that she was a history freak especially anything involving ancient clans of the village. But they were wrong. If someone were to watch closely, on clear full moon nights she dawns a kimono and makes her way through the forest, to a long and churning river known as the Nanako. There she walks beside it for a ways, until she gets to a bridge. She leans across its only stable banister, waiting patiently.
"I'm sorry for bothering such a pretty young lady," a man always interrupts her, "but I was hoping you could help me find someone."
She replies, like always, "Of course, I will help you search."
She takes his hand in hers and together they set off on a trail to a bridge, where beyond lays a compound casted in orange lights.
But of course, if someone were truly watching they would only see a woman, wandering alone in the dark, talking and laughing to herself like a mad woman. They would see her walk through knee-high grass and across a bridge that is rotten and unsafe, and they would see her enter a place of decay, ruin and say aloud, "We're searching for Itachi, have you seen him?"
Lately I have been fascinated with Shisui's character (I've been doodling a story around Itachi and him. In it he isn't so nice or kind and that always makes my heart-ache [I do love my characters, I hate to see them suffer] so this was sort of written to off-set my guilt.)
Anyway, I would like to wish everyone a happy Halloween. Please remember to be safe as you go off tricker-treating, partying, staying at home, etc.
I hope you enjoyed and thank you for spending time to read this.
May God bless and keep you
Z.z
Edited 11/7/11: changed small things: grammar and spelling for readability and mistakes. Also re-added initial and ending breaks.