Warnings: Both Hidan and Inner Sakura's language.
This is all your fault. I told you to leave. I told you this place was fucking creepy. And now look at who the hell was right!
I let out a tightly controlled breath through my nose, attempting to ignore my inner and instead focus on slowly shifting towards the window while pausing at the slightest sound released from my pursuer. Not exactly my best escape option seeing as I was on the third floor of a mansion, but I work with what I have.
"Hey, there's no need for that, un! We just want to talk!" The blonde one smirked at me, his single blue eye dancing, the other covered by a golden bang, even as he tried to coax me away from the dusty windowsill. I merely glared back, my green eyes blazing at that remark.
"You threw a bomb at me! Last time I checked, you can't talk to people spattered across the walls!" My voice was wavering between anger and panic, a sharp, high-pitched combination.
After bumping into Blondie's chest I'd once again attempted to hightail it away from both him and the man cackling on the ground, only this time running down a hallway that I prayed led to the backdoor. Of course that would be too easy. Instead I was taken straight to a flight of stairs, having nowhere to go but up with the blonde in hot pursuit and the masochist slowly pulling himself up from his position on the ground. Especially since I couldn't determine whether the groan the albino let loose as he rose was from pain or pleasure.
My belief that running was a good option was only further cemented when Blondie, who I now believed to be as crazy, if not crazier, than Albino, reached underneath his black cloak and pulled out a motherfucking bomb to throw at me. Who the hell carries around bombs in their pockets?!
Um, psychopathic killers.
And then, of course, after the second floor's main hallway was reduced to rubble, another, redheaded stranger appeared from a side hallway, joining the blonde in his pursuit. Because apparently the universe hates me. At least this one didn't throw bombs or laugh at his own blood, although the dead look to his brown eyes was frightening in itself.
The blond man raised a hand to the back of his head in response, giving a slightly chagrined laugh at my accusation. One of my pink brows twitched at the casual action, as though throwing bombs in people's houses was a normal occurrence.
The redhead slowly stepped forward while the blonde chuckled, his face blank. He paused when my shoulders hunched defensively and my hand twitched towards the window in response, glaring at his partner sharply at the action. The movement of his glare seemed almost unnatural on a face that just, ironically, screamed stoic.
"Deidara, you're an idiot." The blonde, Deidara, turned on his partner quickly, his temper easily flaring to life.
"It wasn't my fault Sasori, yeah! Hidan's the one who scared her in the first place!" While Sasori smacked Deidara upside the head (with a nice thunk) and spurred the dispute into a full-fledged argument, I slowly continued creeping towards the window, cursing every creaky board.
I glanced out the cracked frame, mentally calculating the chances of the roof over the porch holding my weight in its decrepit state. They were not good.
Do you think I could beat them to the car with a broken leg?
No. But I think it's a better option than waiting here for them to start arguing over who gets to keep the liver.
I still lingered with my hand over the latch, not really wanting launch myself from the third story despite the rather limited options.
"Did you shitheads catch the bitch yet? Everyone's waiting in the dining room for your slow asses, seriously." I paled at the obnoxious drawl, turning just in time to watch the albino, now dubbed Hidan, swagger into the room.
There's more of them?!
Jump out the fucking window!
My decision very quickly made by the presence of the shirtless Hidan, I swiftly unlatched the window, shoving desperately upwards while preparing to hoist myself over the edge.
Thunk!
Oh hell no.
I continued to tug at the frame, my eyes filling with horror as the stupid thing remained lodged about two inches up. I tensed up, suddenly noticing very keenly how silent it had become behind me.
"Stupid bitch."
I turned around nervously, my shoulders sagging in defeat as I took in the sheer amount of muscle packed on Hidan's bare musculature. There was no way I could take him out without the element of surprise to help me, even if I unleashed Inner on him. Especially so with the grinning blonde and the slightly smirking Sasori backing him up.
Hidan let loose a smug smile while casually swinging his scythe over his shoulder, almost as though he could hear my dejected thoughts.
Well. Now that we're fucked, I'll just say it. I hope they're the kind of killers that rape first.
Are you crazy?!
Have you seen Hidan's abs?! Masochist or no, he's hot!
I quickly pushed away and gagged Inner, trying to avoid looking at said abs. It wasn't a very successful endeavor. Instead I laughed nervously, pressing myself so hard against the wall behind me that I could hear it creak ever so slightly.
"So, about that talk…" I darted forward in one last escape attempt as they moved forward towards me, Hidan simply grabbing my forearm and jerking me back to him, my back now pressed firmly against his chest. I hissed lowly through my teeth as the motion pulled painfully on my joints, my arm now in an extremely uncomfortable position.
Ouch! Bitch!
Oh hell no! Sexy or not, I am not getting manhandled!
My muscles began to tense as Inner Sakura rose to fight, despite my attempts to shove her back, before Hidan let loose a purr into my ear, a low, foreboding sound.
"Hell yeah. Let's fight, bitch." I shivered at the dark anticipation laced into the words, his breath ghosting over my neck.
It almost seemed as though he had enjoyed my kick earlier.
I quickly went to restrain Inner, my heart racing, but she was already falling back to lurk at the edge of my consciousness. I reeled as I took in both the shock and the excitement she exuded at his words.
"Hurry up, Hidan; I don't like to be kept waiting." Sasori lethargically called back to us as he walked through the door.
I reluctantly followed, my arm still in Hidan's bruising grip.
Why me?
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
I drummed my fingers slowly against the mahogany tabletop, finding a bit of trouble in doing so with the way my hands were currently tied together. I could only rap the first two fingers against the table before I had to tilt my hand to get to the others, creating an odd rhythm. I continued my off-beat drumming for a few more seconds before slowly looking back up at the man across from me. I searched his pierced face for a moment, my vivid eyes locking onto his stormy gray, ringed orbs before I finally spoke up.
"So what you're telling me is that you all are ghosts that have somehow been tied to this mansion for all eternity since, for some reason, you can't move on. That it's my job to watch over you and make sure you guys don't escape while, at the same time, attempting to help you all move on to whatever comes next, even though none of you have any idea how to do so. And, should I choose not to, then this house will get torn down, effectively erasing you all completely. And the reason all this pressure falls to me is because I'm a Haruno and it runs in the family. The family I just found out I had yesterday." Pein merely arched one bright orange eyebrow at my little speech, his face otherwise emotionless.
"Well, when you put it that way…" I glanced over at Kisame, noting how good a quality the blue paint he used on his skin must've had to look so realistic.
There was a moment of silence where I looked at the seven men across the lengthy dining room table from me and they looked back. I allowed my eyes to slide across the group, starting with my smirking captor on the far left, Hidan. Next to him was a man with luminescent green eyes whose sclera was pink tinted, obviously contacts, and who wore a mask covering the lower half of his face; he'd been introduced as Kakuzu. Directly next to him was Sasori, a bored look on his face. Then came Pein, the man I'd immediately categorized as the leader. I lingered slightly longer on his face, feeling deeply unnerved by the unreadable quality of his ringed eyes. Then I glanced at Deidara, who appeared to be messing with something in his hands. I paused there for a moment to send a small prayer to Kami that it wasn't another bomb, before moving on to Kisame, who was grinning at me with extremely sharp teeth. He must've filed them down himself. Lastly was Itachi, a man who, quite frankly, scared the pants off of me with his unnerving red contacts and his absolute, emotionless silence.
If only we could scare the pants off of him…
You really need to censor yourself.
These were the men who had just calmly explained to me that they were dead. These clearly visible, healthy even, men expected me to believe that they were dead.
I took a deep breath, looking back down at the table before turning my face back up with a bright grin.
"You're all batshit insane." And then I proceeded to resume my off-beat drumming, my heart clenching nervously as I thought of my imminent doom at the hands of a group of psychos.
"Hey bitch, we aren't crazy!" Hidan spoke up, leaning dangerously across the table; his scythe, though barely brushing against the surface, sliced a large gash in the wood.
I glared back, the hopelessness of my situation making me brave, brave enough that I attempted to argue with my soon-to-be killer.
"Okay, if you're ghosts, then how did you touch me? Why aren't you see through? How'd you even leave a gash in the table?! No, you're just a group of psychos who like contacts and body paint!" I gestured wildly towards Kakuzu and Kisame at the end of my small rant with bound hands.
"We can touch things, un. We just can't intentionally cause harm to you." Deidara piped up, still mostly focused on whatever was in his hands. Upon a closer look, it appeared to be some sort of clay.
"Oh, right, because throwing bombs at people totally isn't causing harm!" Deidara glared at me, now completely focused on our conversation.
"Hey, I wasn't aiming to hit you, yeah!" I snorted, rolling my eyes at that comment.
"Oh, yeah, because that makes it so much-"
"Enough." Despite the fact that we'd been on the verge of shouting, Pein's quiet command was enough to hush all of us instantly. "I can assure you that we are perfectly serious about this matter."
I began to shake my head at his words, ready to start up again, before my perspective very suddenly, forcefully changed.
"Have you idiots convinced Ms. Haruno yet?"
I blinked. I blinked again. And then my mouth dropped open and I began to gape at the half black, half white man with a giant venus flytrap surrounding him sticking up halfway out of the floor.
What. The. Fuck?!
Oh my Kami.
I looked back and forth between him and the men before me a few times before speaking again.
"So you're really…" A nod from a wickedly grinning Deidara. "And that means…" A once-again cackling Hidan managed to shoot me a thumbs up. "And I have to…" Sasori sent me a bored nod, his brown eyes watching me with a hint of amusement.
I took a few deep breaths before standing from the table, my bound-together feet precariously keeping balance.
"Well then. If you'll excuse me." I then proceeded to attempt to run away, falling to the ground and starting to crawl away like some sort of inchworm.
Go bitch, go!
Once a man pops out of the floor, it's time to leave!
I only made it a few feet before another face rose out of the floor in front of my own. Well, not exactly a face, rather a swirly, orange mask with a shock of black hair rose out of the floor.
"Why is the pretty girl leaving?! Tobi waited for her to get told the story just like Tobi's senpai said to, but now she's trying to leave Tobi!" I let loose a shriek as the man continued to pull himself out of the floor, rolling to the side to avoid him before I felt something wrap around my ankle.
I glanced backwards as thick black cord quickly enclosed my legs, tugging me back towards the table. My shriek escalated into a full-blown scream as I realized the cord was coming from beneath Kakuzu's cloak, writhing as though it had a life of its own.
"Someone shut the bitch up!" Hidan roared, covering his ears and clenching his eyes shut.
I began to scream louder, almost in defiance, before the cord that had been wrapping around my body covered my mouth, muffling my screaming.
"Thanks fucking miser." Kakuzu glared in response to Hidan's thanks.
"You owe me ten gold coins for that." Ignoring Hidan's squawks of protest (and his several curse words), Kakuzu sat me back upright in my chair, threads still covering my mouth even though my scream had subsided. "Will you shut up now?" As soon as I nodded, the threads retracted back into his sleeves.
I stared, panting, at the men-er, ghosts-before me, a mixture of horror and denial coursing through my veins. The feeling only intensified as the plant-man slowly melded back into the floor, seemingly arguing with himself.
"No way. No. I can't do this. I'm sorry, but I can't babysit a bunch of phantoms for the rest of my life." I began to shake my head, my pink tresses whipping about at the violent motion.
"It's your duty as a Haruno-" I cut Sasori off, my viridian eyes narrowing.
"I'm not a Haruno. Well, I am, I guess, but I didn't even know that until yesterday." I paused to let that sink in for a moment. "You can't honestly expect me to take up the duties of a family line that's ignored me for twenty years, to spend my life doing their work!"
"Ms. Haruno." I stiffened at the dark, velvety voice, my gaze slowly moving over to meet Itachi's red eyes as he spoke for the first time. "I don't think you realize the full extent of our situation. If you choose not to remain with us, then we cease to exist."
I allowed the full gravity of those words to hit me, biting my lip as I reluctantly thought it over and tallied up the pros and cons. I had two options. One: I could remain with these... Ghosts in my Grandfather's house, trying to help them get to the afterlife. I had to admit that my scientific, med-student curiosity was itching to learn about how ghosts even existed, but I was also more than a little worried about my sanity and still in a bit of denial. Even if I did decide to stay, I had no idea how to even start attempting to help these people. I know nothing about my family history and my experience with the paranormal is limited to what I've seen in scary movies. Not to mention I'd have to balance that pursuit with work and school. How long does it take to make a group of ghosts move on? For all I knew, my grandfather had spent his whole life trying with no success. And that's all assuming I'm even ready to accept my duty. I've never been a part of the Haruno family until there was something I needed to do for them, so why should I accept that? But then the positives… I could stay. I could learn about my family, maybe figure out why I never knew about them. I could learn about my mother… And I could help these people. I don't know them, I don't owe them anything, but they were basically asking for my help. And option two: I could leave. I could go back to my normal life and forget all about this. But is there really normal after you meet a ghost? Would I ever be able to assume that creaking in the night was really just the wind? And what bothered me even more than that, would I really be able to forgive myself for losing the opportunity to learn about my family? It was almost pathetic that I was more worried about that than the whole talking to dead men situation, but I couldn't help it.
Well, I, for one, think that we should offer our badass services and help these guys.
You were just telling me to run from them, like, ten minutes ago!
Yeah, but just look at them; they're hot! Plus, how can you say no to Tobi? He's adorable!
"Is the pretty lady going to stay with us?! Tobi really hopes so!" I groaned as Tobi spoke up, wriggling in his seat next to me and across from Deidara.
He is pretty cute…
I'm always right. That's just how our relationship works.
My inner put it that way, but I had the wry feeling she was more intrigued by a certain albino than by Tobi.
I rubbed my temples, really not wanting to make a life-changing decision in the course of a day.
Wait a second…
"Okay. Assuming for a minute that this isn't a dream and I haven't gone crazy," everyone perked up as I finally spoke, my voice tired and weary, "my grandfather gave me a week to decide whether or not I wanted to move into this house before he tore it down. I could stay here until the end of the week to see how things go and make my decision then."
A couple of mutters escaped the group, clearly dissatisfied by my noncommittal answer, but Pein nodded his head in compliance without even a flicker of the annoyance the others had.
"And I have a few questions, rules, and requests before I agree to this." I could tell even Pein wasn't happy to be bending to my rules, but he nodded once more. "Well, um, I don't really know you all that well. I don't know what sort of rules should be set, so I'll just go with the basics and we can work it out from there. One: no destroying the house. This means no bombs." I looked meaningfully at Deidara when I said this, but he merely sent a not-so-innocent grin my way. "Two: no popping out of places or anything else to freak out and/or scare me. Three: no entering my room, when I pick one, without my permission. Fair enough?"
I watched as they all nodded, after displaying amusement at my second rule, my heart settling slightly as I took in their agreement.
"Okay, next are my requests. Well, I only have one." I flushed and looked away from them, not really knowing if my desire was rude or ridiculous. "Could you possibly, um, look less terrifying?"
I flushed brighter at the snickers at my question before Kisame spoke up.
"Sorry Pinkie, but we don't have a say in the matter." I arched a brow at that, and Kisame elaborated. "Our appearances all somehow relate to our deaths. Me, for example. Have you ever heard those amazing stories about people who survive and come back from shark attacks?" I swallowed heavily at his toothy smile, somehow knowing where this was going. "I wasn't one of those people."
I leaned back in my seat, my stomach turning as I took in his story and did a double take at his blue skin and gills. How awful it must've been to look in the mirror every day and see your death staring you back in the face. I cleared my throat once, the atmosphere somehow becoming heavier at the talk of Kisame's death, even though he kept up his large grin.
"O-okay then. Last up are my questions…" I paused, looking down at my still bound hands once more. "What do you know about my grandfather? Do you know anything about what he was like or how he attempted to help you all?"
Do you know why he didn't contact me?
For some reason my last question couldn't make it past my throat, settling there in the form of an uncomfortable weight.
There was a pregnant pause where I continued to look at the grain of the table, not catching the group's looks at each other.
"Most of us only arrived here for the last few years of his life, right after our deaths. He was very reclusive, so we don't have much information on him." Pein paused, and I chanced a look up to his entrancing eyes. "The oldest among us is Tobi. He'd have seen the most of him, but as you can imagine…"
I glanced over at the humming man beside me, my hopes crashing as he began to bounce in place in a sort of small dance. He didn't exactly seem the observant type.
"I've been here the longest out of the rest of us." I looked back up at Kakuzu, my eyes urging the masked man to continue. "Seven years, but I know next to nothing about him. If you really want answers, he had a study that he sealed off from us. There might be something in there." Kakuzu paused once more, seemingly thinking. "He was good with money."
Hidan snorted, glaring at the man.
"Fucking cheap bastard, seriously."
I nodded eagerly anyways, taking the lead with hope.
"Thank you." I filled those two words with more meaning than I'd intended, but Kakuzu merely grunted before melding out of his spot at the table and into the wall, done with our discussion. For some reason I got the impression he wasn't really a people person. Or a people ghost?
I sighed deeply through my nose, my head whirling as my life once again changed completely over the course of a day. How many times can that happen in a lifetime?
"Okay, I can't take any more today. I'll go home tonight, pack, and move in tomorrow." The men still in the room nodded, slowly standing or melding, before I spoke up again. "So, uh, can someone untie me?"
Tobi cocked his head to one side, his hair flopping slightly over his mask.
"Pretty lady isn't tied up though?" I glanced down at his words, my green eyes widening as I realized both my hands and feet were free.
"Wha-"
"An illusion. Itachi's specialty." My eyes remained wide at Kisame's explanation and accompanying wink, quickly turning to find the mysterious man, only to see his dark ponytail exiting the room.
"That's breaking rule number two!" I called after him, standing up and rubbing at the skin of my wrists as though to wipe off any remaining illusion while Kisame laughed.
I made my way to the front door, Kisame following to make one last smart remark.
"If it's that easy to freak you out, Pinkie, then you're going to have one hell of a time here." I shivered slightly at the promise in his words, but turned back to send him my own parting comment.
"Don't call me Pinkie. My name's Sakura, Fish-sticks." I allowed the front door to swing closed on his boisterous chuckles, shivering at the sudden chill of outside.
I quickly darted down the steps, still wary of the spider's web, before entering my car and cranking up the heat.
I can't believe you're still scared of a spider after meeting nine ghosts.
I'm still in denial about the ghost thing.
It's kind of hard to deny a man sticking up halfway through the floor, and that's disregarding the flytrap.
I'm trying not to think about that right now...
Inner and I sighed in tandem as I pulled away from the mansion, which somehow seemed less foreboding than when I'd first arrived. Which seems silly, considering I now knew it was full of the paranormal that the outside had promised. Maybe it was just not knowing what could be inside that built up the fear so high.
What are we going to do?
I'd asked the question rhetorically, but I couldn't help but smile at Inner's response, my spirits lifting ever so slightly.
Well, I don't know about you, but I plan to kick ass.
A/N: Ah, the second chapter is finally out! I felt so much pressure here after your reviews because I wanted to make sure it was up to your expectations! I really hope you enjoyed it! Also, a special thanks to my reviewers:
FallenAngelBloodyTears (I hope I didn't make you wait too long haha)
berryboom (I'm glad you like it! I hope I lived up to expectations!)
candy candy (I'm the same way about logging in... And yes lolz Hidan!)
Guest (Thank you for the review!)
paradox (Thank you! You enthusiasm really helps me get excited about the story too! (: And yeah, Inner Sakura is pretty much a badass.)
Dropdeadbabe (thanks, I'm glad you thought she was realistic! I hope it was worth the wait)
rawr (yeahhh the idea just hit me and I couldn't drop it)
treavellergirl (haha why thank you! I'm trying)
MinaBlahBlahBlahAnimeFan (wow! That's a lot of update haha so here it is for you! The beautiful words are ready to meet your eyes!)
leebee14 (haha I'm glad it was amusing for you!)
crystalthrone (I'm glad that you like it! I hope you like this chapter just as much!)
Whew! I'm so glad you all liked it! (: Please tell me if this chapter was as good as the first! Also thanks to all my favorites and follows! You guys are great! Anyways, I'm going to stop talking so I can post this now haha bye lovelies! Please review!
Disclaimer (for this and the first chapter)(because I always forget this): I don't own Naruto! But I wish...
Word Count: 4,190