Piper: Hi guys! I've been trying to get back into writing more, so hopefully this will help get me back on track.

NOTE: This story involves the Slender Man myth/the game "Slender". If you've heard of neither, look them up. The game "Slender" is a free game, simple to play, and fun when you want to get scared. Be careful where you download it, just incase, and try to find the origional sight if you want to download it. If you just want to check it out and see what it's about, look for "Slender Playthrough" on Youtube. You'll find tones of vids.

WARNINGS: AU. SakuxMulti. This story will include horror, some angst (maybe).

I don't own Naruto or Slender Man/Slender.

Chapter 1 - Can't Run

Sakura Haruno

The hallways were so thin and terrifying, especially since I knew that something was chasing me. But I knew that another page had to be in there. It was the only building I could find that wasn't locked tight. But it's open feeling ended right at the door, because the building was full of dangerous dead ends that threatened to get me stuck. But, so far, I hadn't seen my pursuer. It was strange, seeing as I already had the majority of the pages to his little game.

He had gotten more persistent the longer I had lingered inside the forest, his domain. I didn't know why he was chasing me, if I could really call it chasing when I never saw his legs move, but I did know that he wanted something from me. Whether it was me or the pages I carried, I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to keep pushing forward, or I would die.

My camera's battery was dying, I realized with a roll of fear. I could see my only source of light dimming with each passing second. I knew that soon I would be drenched in darkness and without a way to see back to the fence. I would be even more blind then I already was, the whole territory unfamiliar and intimidating. The fact that it was the dead of night made it so much more terrifying, with fog clinging to the air beneath the leaves of the forest.

I had no flashlight, only the video camera clutched in my hand. It was an expensive video camera, one of the finest money could buy, for I had once longed to be a movie producer and loved to take videos. It had been a gift from my father before he had been called back to the front line of war. It was dear to me, and now it was the only thing keeping me from being swallowed in darkness. The video was running, and a small thrill went through me when I realized that if I got out alive I would have footage of the strange being chasing me. But, the depleting battery symbol in the corner and the dimming of the lights was beginning to terrify me.

This tiled building was no better than the forest it was in. I couldn't decipher any reason for the building at all. It held no furniture and was completely tiled through like a bathroom. The most I saw from the building were the multiple exits and one brown chair that had been curiously flipped on its side in one of the hallways. The small dead ends had nothing in them either, so it wasn't like the building used to be a house. It was like it had been built just to corner unsuspecting victims.

My heart was hammering loudly in my chest as I found myself at another empty dead end. I was so cold that I hadn't even felt myself shaking, but I knew I was by the way the dimming beam of my video recorder twitched. It was getting closer to winter, mid fall back then. But, I couldn't truly say whether I had been shaking from the cold or from the vicious, raw fear that had implanted itself into my heart.

If I hadn't suffered from anxiety before that instance, I certainly did then.

I didn't want to move, and I stood there staring at the wall in front of me. The fear of having to turn around was heavy in my chest, but I knew that he would get me just as quick if I just stood there. So, after taking in a slow breath, I turned back around and into the hallway with fear clawing at my insides.

A breath I hadn't known that I had been holding came out when I saw the hallway was empty, but it also left me with the fearful curiosity of where he was lurking. Brushing it off, I continued to make my way down the hall. If I didn't find the page soon my flash light would go out and I would have no way to navigate in the darkness.

I took the turn slowly and saw the hall empty, seeing two ways I could go. I could go straight and take a left at the end of the hall, or I could take the right that I had come from. Knowing I hadn't checked the other side, I continued to walk straight so that I could reach the end of the hall.

As I passed the right turn, something caught my eye. Instinctively, I looked.

Screams clawed their way up my throat as I found myself staring at the figure of my chaser. He stood silent, still and haunting. I could hear my video recorder begin to crackle with static, the video image that displayed back to me showing that it was blurring more and more with each passing second. It was almost as if he were pulling the very life out of my camera. I pushed my thoughts down and sprinted the rest of the way down the hall. My heart was beating as fast as my feet were running, and I refused to stop.

All I could hear was the sound of the static on my recorder slowly retreating, my heart beat, and the sound of my rough breath coming out in cold puffs of air. I couldn't hear him chasing me, but I knew that he was. He shouldn't be real, I thought childishly. But even I knew that it was naive to think that way anymore. Not after what I had been through, not after what I had seen.

I turned left, and saw another left ahead of me. I turned, and felt fear slam me as I saw another dead end. But, I realized as my almost dead light scanned over the wall keeping me trapped, that the last page was crookedly attached to the wall. I didn't care to keep my camera steady as I darted for the page, reaching my hand out.

Just as I snatched the page up, something curled around my left wrist. I turned around sharply, finding my attacked right behind me. My camera light lit up his pale features, and my scream was accompanied by the loud scratching of static coming from the last few bits of life in my camera battery.

My whole world blanked, and-

A scream tore its way from my throat, and I shot up straight in my bed. I searched wildly, and found my alarm clock was innocently blaring from my bedside, the red letters blinking "10:30" into my terrified face. When I realized that I wasn't in the thick of a forest and was in the comfort of my own bed in my home, my heart rate slowly began to decline once more.

The hand that had been clutching at the material of my nightshirt above my heart slowly began to loosen. The aftershock of fear was still crawling along my cold, dampened skin. I felt utterly exhausted and not rested, knowing that as long as I kept having nightmares I wouldn't be able to fully sleep in comfort. I went to sleep every night, afraid to close my eyes because I knew what assault would attack my mind once it succumbed to sleep.

I shut off the alarm before sliding out of my covers, feeling cold sweat on my skin. I padded around my messy room, lazily dodging half-way unpacked boxes on auto pilot. I couldn't get my mind off of my nightmares, but hoped that a nice shower would help me clear my mind and set myself straight for the long day ahead.

You wouldn't be able to tell that it was Summer time with how cold it was in Amegakure. It rained everyday in my new place of residence and kept the temperature low all year round. I used to love the cold before the incident last fall. Now, it was only a blunt reminder of my nightmares.

I found myself walking through the busy streets of the city early that morning. I was job hunting, because there was no way I could spend the last two months of the Summer without something to keep my mind occupied. I felt paranoid every time I was left alone for too long, and with one working parent and one parent over seas. I would be alone for the majority of the day. I wouldn't be able handle being alone for so many hours. I would end up driving myself insane with fear and worry before the first few hours ran out.

So, I came to the conclusion that getting a job would be the best choice of action. My mother was against it, due to the new mental state I had taken. I had stopped interacting with people in general and had dropped my friends and family faster then hot coals. I had secluded myself, but craved some kind of company to keep me from being alone. I knew that I couldn't be trusted with my own thoughts, while she just plainly thought I couldn't be trusted, period.

The rich society was something I had never taken to, which upset my rather heavy-wallet mother. She was a big business woman while my father had been a military man. I didn't get to speak with him much, but missed him terribly. I would feel more safe if he was at home, but I knew that he was needed elsewhere. He was defending our country, and even though he couldn't be around to protect me from the darkness that lurked within it I still loved him.

I looked into a few jobs at some of the local cafes and grocery stores near my building complex, but I found myself a bit turned off from having to socialize with people on a constant, continuous basis. I knew I shouldn't be so picking, but even the part of me that craved to not be lonely knew that there was only so much of people I could take without becoming a bit overwhelmed. I didn't know how to interact with them any longer, because they weren't the same. They weren't tainted.

Wandering the city for a few hours, I found myself sitting in an open, outdoor cafe around noon. I had no luck with finding any jobs other than cashier and waitress jobs. I felt a bit put off at the lack of teenager jobs in such a large city except for the basic, low-wage jobs every other teenager of the current time was forced to endure. But I wasn't like every other teenager of the current time. I couldn't force myself into smiling at customers or be someone who had to look picture perfect. I need a background job.

Sipping lazily at my coffee, I watched the busy bustle of the city. I wasn't used to seeing everything in such an uproar. My old home had been a simple, calm town with a small population of about two-thousand. My mother had loved it, being able to work city work in a small town. She loved being able to flaunt her money around. Living in such a small area with so much money made her feel big and bad. She was slightly bitter when she realized how catatonic I had become, and decided to take her company up on its offer of moving us closer and provide me with a change of scenery.

She didn't know that no matter where she moved me, he would follow.

My green eyes took in the many faces that passed. They were fleeting, and I wouldn't remember them by the end of the day. I just took comfort in seeing their humanity, despite my sadness of not finding a quick job. I had wanted something as soon as possible to keep my days as busy and fast paced as the local traffic.

Something caught my eyes, and I looked up.

Two men. They were so different from the crowd. People seemed to scatter around them, parting when they saw the men advancing. No one looked them straight in the face, either. They seemed to recognize something about the men. I don't know whether they respected it or fear it, but either one seemed to get the men the access they wanted through the crowd. The walked passed my table, and I looked over my shoulder to continue watching.

One of them had hair the color of liquid silver, slicked back across his head. I had noticed as he past that he had deep, purple eyes that seemed to shine with an egotistical gleam. He was rather built, as you could tell beneath the jacket he wore. His partner was covered. His head and most of his face were veiled away from the rest of the world. But, as he passed I gotten a good look at his eyes. It was almost impossible to miss them, because they were brightly discolored. The whites of his eyes were a deep crimson, while the middles were a bright green.

Both were dressed in a black jacket that had an odd red cloud with white trim along the edges.

I watched the odd pair curiously, feeling an interest I hadn't had in any form of life for a long time.

The two stopped at a bulletin board a few feet away. It was old and soggy, most papers perched on it soaked all the way or so old that they were undistinguishable. The man with multicolored eyes reached into his jacket and pulled out a plastic baggy. It contained a bunch of papers and what looked like a staple gun on the inside.

He pulled the staple gun and some of the papers out before tucking the bag under his arm and stapling them to the board.

Pursing my lips, I watched as they stapled a few to the board before beginning to walk away.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I rose from my table to wander over to the board. I plucked one of their fliers off of it, bringing it closer to my face because I had forgotten to put my contacts in that morning. I scanned the paper, my eyes catching the main heading of the flyer:

Courier wanted. Akatsuki official business.

I didn't know what the Akatsuki was, but I did know that courier was a perfect job for me. All I needed to do was learn a bit more about the area and I could start delivering things. It wasn't smart to jump right into a job that I knew nothing about and for people I knew nothing about, but I needed it. I needed the job and I needed the distraction.

Spinning on my heels, I slapped some money down on my table before sprinting into the crowd. It didn't take me long to see the two men walking ahead of me, seeing as the crowd still split for them when they walked. It was almost like a normal occurrencefor the people, moving out of their way to make room for these two men. Something drew me to them, but I smothered it down.

"Hey!" I called, making several people turn to stare in my direction.

The men didn't seem to realize that my first call was directed at them, so I proceeded to call a few more times before the two finally turned to look and see who was making a commotion. I didn't feel as confident when I felt their eyes fall on me, but I knew that I needed to try. I couldn't let the job slip through my fingers without even trying.

People stared at me, dumbfounded. They looked like I had broken some sacred, unspoken rule that was to never be forgotten or cross. The men, however, looked like they were unused to getting called out to in the streets like it was some unnatural occurrence. Judging from their rugged, unapproachable appearances, it wasn't. I couldn't let that throw me off.

"You're looking for a courier?" I asked simply, watching the two blink slightly.

Finally, the multicolored eyed man nodded. "Yes, we are."

"I'll do it."

Piper: A bit of a slow beginning, but I liked it. The chapters should also get longer. Tell me what you think and if I should continue this. If not, I'll probably try something else.

Like I stated above, if you don't know the Slender Man myth or haven't heard of the game "Slender", you should look into it.

Please review, I hoped it was okay.