Summary: Something follows Sasuke home from a Ghost Tour. And it doesn't want to talk. For Sim.
Notes/Warnings: 1) This is an AU fic.
2) Het and slash pairings. Don't like don't read.
3) Possible depictions of gore and/or violence in future.
4) Possible depictions of implicit/explicit sexual violence later on.
5) I know that usually last names are used between strangers in Japan (or at least I think so) but its hard for me to always remember that because where I stay, people hardly use last names to address others in daily life. Also, there's the fact that I had to create last names for a few of the characters and I don't want to create confusion.
ashes
the beginning
The first thing Sasuke notices is that its cold. He should have stayed on the bus, where it was warm and comfortable. The night air is chilly, and he can't help the involuntary shiver that runs down his spine as he draws his jacket tighter around himself.
By him, Ino is shivering too, but he knows its not just from the cold. This whole idea was stupid. If she is scared, she doesn't need to go through with it. But then, he supposes that's what she craves - the thrill that comes with the fear, the realisation of doing something forbidden, of crossing a line. He doesn't understand it, and he doesn't care for it. Bu Ino does, and so as much as he wanted to smack her upside the head for being an idiot and coming out here despite knowing she'd be scared out of her wits for forever after this he doesn't. Instead, he merely huffs. And she's supposed to be the most intelligent girl in our class, he thinks. Someone tell me how?
And then Ino looks up at him and smiles through her trembling, and he rolls his eyes. Perhaps this stupid 'Ghost Tour' thing will finally snap her out of the obsession she seems to have with the paranormal. In his opinion its stupid because ghosts don't even exist. He only agreed to accompany Ino on this elaborate hoax of a 'tour' because he didn't want her to go alone. There weren't any ghosts, but who knew what these guys would do to make the scam they were pulling seem real. He doesn't want his only friend hurt, and he certainly doesn't want to listen to her bitch him out forever if he let her go alone.
The voice of their driver snaps him out of his thoughts. The brunette seems annoyed for some reason, and if he didn't know better, Sasuke would say that was nervousness and even fear lurking behind his gruff tone.
"Oi, you two. Don't lag behind."
He shrugs, and Ino apologises, quickly moving away to join where the rest of the passengers have gathered. The group is not too large, but still bigger than Sasuke had expected.
Standing with the group is someone he hadn't seen in the bus - a blonde-haired, blue-eyed male with tanned skin who looks like he could be the prototype for Aryan Race theorists. He's smiling, but Sasuke's sharp eyes detect a tinge of nervousness behind it.
As soon as they walk up to the rest of the group the man whom Sasuke has nicknamed Sunshine (and he means this in the snarkiest way possible) beams at them. His voice is too loud when he speaks.
"I'm Naruto, and I will be your guide."
What is this, Sasuke thinks with a mental snort, Boy Scout Camp? This Naruto is inappropriately cheery for a paranormal tour guide. Shouldn't he be spouting creepy dooms and trying to scare them out of their wits?
But the cheerful guide hasn't finished speaking.
" - safety in numbers, so we're all going to stick close together. No wandering off by yourself or with a friend!"
No shit. They don't even have a map of the area. Why on earth would anyone wander off in a forest in the middle of night without a map or a guide? Sasuke's snort is almost audible this time.
"Alright! So now that that's clear, lets get introduced before we start."
The realisation that he has missed almost all of the rules is received with indifference. He'll stick close to Ino and the others, thats all the rules he needs.
The brunette girl standing a little to his left speaks up first.\par
"I'm Tenten Bushin* from Tokyo." Tenten smiles at them, and points to the redheaded girl beside her. "That's Tayuya, my roommate."
Tayuya wasn't exactly what you would call beautiful, but her face and posture have a strength that makes her more attractive than plain. She graces them with a "Hmph" that makes Sasuke think she was as willing to come on this trip as he.
A dark-haired boy who is standing with a somewhat sick-looking white-haired boy speaks up next.
"I am Sai Yamato and this is my brother Shin Yamato. We're from Osaka."
He stops, and then eyes Ino. Sasuke tenses a bit. Judging from Ino's previous boyfriends or crushes (including, unfortunately, him), Sai's exactly her type. She must have known what he was thinking because she turns to him and rolls her eyes. Of course, she's committed to that Nara-something guy. Not that Sasuke approved of him either. He settles for sending this Yamato a glare. The other man looks mildly intrigued as he glances from him to Ino, before sighing.
It takes him a minute to realise someone else is speaking.
"I'm Shion Mikamura* from Tokyo." Sasuke can already tell she has a crush on the Naruto with the way she keeps throwing him glances.
"And I'm Temari Sabaku. We're classmates." The last person, a dirty-blonde haired woman who was leaning against a tree near Shion said.
Sasuke hates introducing himself, and so he keeps quiet. Even after all eyes turned to them, he maintainsed his silence making Ino huff and rush to dissipate the awkwardness.
"I'm Ino Yamanaka, and this is my best friend Sasuke Uchiha. We're from Kyoto. Don't mind him, he's just- " Here, she flashes him a slightly carnivorous smile. "- shy."
Sasuke lets her know he resents that with a glower that she takes no notice of. So he sulks, thoughts of He's not a grade schooler on the first day of class, and he was twelve at the time will she ever let it go dammit swirling around rebelliously in his head.
Well, he supposes its his fault for not speaking up before she took the chance to bruise his pride. Also his fault for thinking she wouldn't stoop so low as to resort to that. Ino's maturity level seems to drop ridiculously around him or Nara.
Sunshi- Uzumaki's nervous laughter snaps him back from the glaring contest he was having with Ino. Sasuke barely represses his urge to stick his tongue out at the surrounding crowd of tittering or smiling people, all focused on his and Ino's silent war and makes a mental note that Ino's maturity level drop seems to be contagious.
"So, um, lets get started, guys. We only have one night!"
Uzumaki's chipperness really makes Sasuke want to bash his head in. Its 11 am and he could - and should - be sleeping in his nice, comfortable, soft bed. Instead he's out here with a group of maniacs, being led into a supposedly haunted village (without nice, comfortable, soft beds to nap on) by an annoyingly cheerful guide who doesn't seem to understand this is not the Boy Scouts. What the hell is there to be so happy about when you're wandering in a forest with no map, a sadistic friend who will embarrass you every chance she gets and a not-entirely-reliable-looking guide who probably has a few screws loose?
They trudge through the trees, Sasuke bringing up the rear with Tayuya. Ino's right in front of him, and Tayuya's roommate - Tenten, he thinks - is at the very front. The only one between her and Uzumaki is Shion, who seems to be shamelessly flirting with the blond guide. Even Ino isn't that obvious, but when he voices this in a whisper to Ino he gets an elbow to his side that sends him back into sulking mode.
After a ten minute or so long walk, Uzumaki stops. Like a row of ducklings following a mother duck, they all stop too. Squinting, Sasuke can make out the shape of a torii gate in the darkness. This must be the entrance to the village. It isn't until someone's flashlight shines on it that he realises the full extent of what he's looking at.
The torii is jet-black. Its wood finish glistens in the light. A faint memory of something his Aunt Uruchi used to say stirs in Sasuke's mind.
Black torii you must avoid
The filthiest places, gateways to Hell.
He shakes his head to clear it. Seems like the organisers of this 'ghost tour' did their research well. Banking on old, half-forgotten superstitions and paying attention to small details like the colour of the torii...he has to give them points for effort, at the very least. No one else seemed to have caught the reference, and - much to his surprise - Naruto didn't offer up the superstition, choosing instead to give them a bright smile.
"This is where we really begin our tour. Once we're inside, you can't get out till its morning. There will be no pit stops. Is there anyone here who wants to stop here?"
Why would they have come all the way here only to turn back now? Sasuke's thought is voiced by Tayuya, only phrased more crudely than he would have cared for.
Naruto scratches his head and smiles a sheepish smile. Sasuke finds himself thinking the expression suits him, and then: what?
But Naruto's speaking already.
"Well, its good that you don't, because the bus is already gone and you'd have to camp out by yourself while the others went in."
"So there wasn't really a point in asking us." Tenten mutters. She doesn't seem to realise that this was just another psychological tactic. Like the black torii. Which Naruto forgot to point out the significance of. He does look like he's a bit of a - well. A bit of a scatterbrain, so Sasuke doesn't think too much of it and follows the group through the sinister-looking tori (but he's sure it only looks sinister because of the connotations it brings - a gate to a reportedly haunted village in the middle of a night on a paranormal tour which has the added symbolism of being an entrance to Hell, how could it not look sinister?).
tbc
*Bushin - God of War (catch this reference and you're awesome). What with Tenten's reputation for being the Weapons-Mistress I felt this is the perfect surname for her, and I really didn't want to go with the standard 'Kunai'.
*Made up surname from 'miko' (priestess).
Temari is called Sabaku because of the whole Sabaku no Gaara thing.
Tori gates usually mark the entrance into Shinto shrines. I'm not aware if they mark entrances into villages too, but this is not a regular village. A tori marks a symbolic divide between this world and the spirit world (Shinto shrines are supposed to be in places where the Spirit world overlaps with the normal world) and so I thought it fitting for my purpose of demarcating the village as a place that exists on a spiritual plane (okay, here its more of a ghostly plane, and the spirits aren't deities).
I don't know if there's a real symbolism of black tori being the gate of Hell. I took that from Nurarihyon no Mago. Thought it was a really cool concept but I can't find a valid origin or source in Japanese folklore.
A beta-reader/soundboard-of-ideas would be wonderful. Please PM me if you'd like to volunteer QAQ
Feedback is loved, concrit is worshipped. Thank you for reading.