Everybody hide your body from the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W...
It was a strange night, there seemed to be a chill in the air…
I pulled my thin jacket tighter around my shoulders, the rain soaking through the thin black fabric like icy bullets. My pace quickened, sending twin ripples through the puddles that ubiquitously dotted the streets of Amegakure. Soon I broke into a full run, wary of the rumbling thunder.
It was mid-August, and yet, the rain that seemed to inherently haunt the skies surrounding Amega hadn't let up in the slightest. Well, it was the rain village, after all. But tonight, the partially obscured full moon fell ominously down over me, casting odd shadows on the dank alleys, gave me the suspicion that I was being watched. I looked around me worriedly, now sprinting towards my house, nestled between two taller buildings and looking cozier than ever. I threw the door open and stumbled into the warm dark. The pipes that covered the walls rattled with the plumbing, and the leak bucket that sat under a dripping hole was almost full. I grabbed the green rubber edges and struggled over to the ajar door, heaving the pounds of moisture out into the rain. I groaned and stretched from the weight- yep, that's me, not-strong, not-ninja Karasu.
And I was fine with that.
Really, I was.
I sat down on the couch, nearly buried alive by the thick quilt I had curled up in. With a book in my hands, I tried to pass away the time until dawn. Soon, my eyelids grew heavy and I began sinking into sleep, the book slipping out of my hands and falling on the floor, opening to a certain page.
'Harold took a baseball bat and smashed the scarecrow's head to pieces until all that was left was little bits of pumpkin strewn around the floor. The brothers swept up the pumpkin head pieces and threw them in the trash. Then they went back to bed and were soon fast asleep, having put all thoughts of the disgusting scarecrow face out of their heads.
Some time after midnight, Josh and Harold were awoken by the sounds of scratching and clawing at their bedroom door.
"Did you forget to put the dog out?" asked Harold, sleepily.'
I jolted awake, panting heavily, dishwater hair disheveled and sweaty. "Good God." I breathed, whipping my head around. "I need to stop reading horror stories before I go to sleep."
At that, I laughed a little- weren't those the exact words my mother had told me when I asked her to read this very story to me? Oh, how easy a mother's advice was to forget when you needed it most! I untangled myself from the sheets, having half a mind to give myself a little jolt in the form of a cold shower or cup of coffee. I did both of these things, taking them as more of a relief than a punishment- nothing like a stream of ice water to freeze away the nightmares, I'll tell you that. I soon returned back to the couch, having nothing to do but wait out the rest of the night once again.
When one is left alone, with nothing but their own thoughts and memories, it becomes a dangerous game. I am no exception. Lounging on the worn duvet, I was rolling around in many less than savory memories- especially one in particular, about a tall, silver-haired ninja hailing from the Leaf Village. Kakashi Hatake.
It was just a fling, a summer romance that was destined to last no longer than a few months, but he made it seem so real it was nearly unbearable. Like it wasn't a feeble attempt to conjoin our two countries after the Ninja War. A choice that we made, rather than a short-lived order made by our Kages. But although it was nearly fake, don't think for a second that I didn't miss him- I did. He was a fundamentally good person, though we weren't compatible romantically.
A faint scratching noise eased me out of my thoughts, and I padded over to the door, checking to see a lone animal was at my door. Sliding it open an inch, I saw nothing but the raindrops bouncing off the black pavement, light pooling from the only lamp post on the street. I squinted, shrugged, and closed the door again, punctuating my investigation with a firm slam.
But the scratching continued, and it took the majority of my willpower not to look outside. I picked the book back up, determined to use my literary addiction as a distraction. This was to no avail, however, because I could still clearly hear the vexing sound, and try as I might, I probably wouldn't be able to ignore it. I dropped the book again, sighing heavily and this time taking a look outside the window.
Nothing.
But something.
I felt perspiration prickling at my skin, goosebumps coaxing the hairs on my arms upwards. Turning suddenly, I faced the kitchen, where I thought the noise came from. But I was alone, only the humming refrigerator making any noise. But there was something there, I just knew it.
I whirled around in a full circle, frantically looking around for the source.
"Come out, damn it." I breathed. "Fucking coward."
A cold metal edge inched across my neck, followed by a calm, almost monotonous voice.
"Coward? I don't appreciate being called that."
I bit back a gasp, because I knew who it was, and I knew what was to happen. I was proven right, when the deadly kunai sliced a shallow cut in the nape of my neck, and a crimson waterfall stained the front of my shirt. I shrieked, the minimal ninja training I had undergone snapping into action. I bolted away, out the window into the night, gripping my bloody neck.
"Fuck." I spat.
My assailant soon followed with inhuman speed, a flash of silver against the ebony sky. Silver? The thought sped through my mind like a bullet, shortly followed by another: Kakashi?
My breath came in shallow pants, puffing white clouds up into the gathering mist. Arms pumping frantically, blood shooting down my back in a red comet, I skidded into a dark alleyway and dove behind a garbage can. I knew it was a horrible hiding place- knew he would find me in an instant, but at the moment, my brain was too fogged with fear to think of anything else. Soon, I was able to control my breathing into something more controlled, meshing with the sounds of the dank night. I didn't dare peer around the corner, because I knew he was there, waiting for me. He was a top-notch assassin, after all. He'd wait me out, until I lost it and came stumbling out, begging for mercy or death (or both).
This gave me time to think- how had he come to discover my new place of residence- more importantly, why? Why would he dedicate what must be a significant amount of time to seek me, of all people, out? My eyes squinted with the concentration of breathing evenly. What was the meaning of all this?
A hurricane of questions had already deluded me when the answer came in a simple worded scrap of parchment, fluttering down from one of the buildings.
I'm sorry Karasu, but you know too much.
A flood of realization inundated me with a sudden, sheer force- had I not stumbled upon one of Konoha's best kept secrets the very day the feudal lords had agreed our bonding to be unnecessary? The demon child, the one with the force of a thousand monsoons locked inside of him- I had found him. Naruto Uzumaki.
And now, I guess, curiosity had come to kill me, the cat.
Or rather, the scarecrow.
Everybody hide
I'm not lying when I say that this took about a month to write. Pathetic, ain't it?
Originally, this was meant to scare the living hell out of you, but I doubt that that point actually drove home :/
Obviously inspired by My Chemical Romance's (my fucking heroes) song, S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W.
Kakashi, you are a scary, scary man.