Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter IV: Twisted Clips
Sakura's eyes fluttered opened and she immediately sprung up into a sitting position when all she saw was pitch black. Her heart gave a jolt and thumped in her chest. Her hands roamed around her. Tiles. She had woken up on the floor. Past events flooded in her head and she slowly rose, but something prevented her from calling out for her friends.
Her hand slipped into her thigh holster and she brushed her finger against the fine points of her arsenal until it came in contact with a blunt surface. She grasped the silver torch and pulled it out, aiming the light in front of her. White light bounced off the glass toward the wrapped face of a reddish glossy skinned nurse looming behind her. She gasped and whirled around, stopping the incoming thick needle syringe aimed for her neck. She tightened the grip on the nurse's wrist, crushing the bone underneath. The nurse snapped its head back uttering no cry of pain and the syringe fell from its fingers. Sakura took the time to deliver a powerful spin heel kick to its stomach and the nurse slammed into the stalls behind it, toilet water quickly soaking through its uniform.
A flicker of movement had her eyes snapping toward another glossy skinned nurse whose robust cleavage jiggled as it staggered toward her. Sakura's body froze when she realized the cloth wrapped around its was in fact its own skin that was stretched and creased. Dirty white pumps stumbled closer and Sakura could not get out of her frozen state.
Sakura felt the fine point of the thick needle poke her artery and her fist smashed through the nurse's face. Bones fracturing and crushing underneath. Muscle strings snapped and blood sprayed on Sakura's face. The syringe clatter ominously on the floor and the nurse's cap flew off its head from the force of the blow. Sakura tried not to gag as the corpse slumped against her, weighing down on her outstretched arm Blood traveled down her forearm, dewdrops collected at the tips of her fingers, splattering on the cracked tiled floors below.
She tore her eyes away and slipped her arm out of the corpse's head. Instantly springing away and spazzing her hands in a shiver of disgust as it fell at her feet. Blood pooled underneath the large gaping hole of its head, crawling through the crevices of the floor.
Sakura's teeth gripped the silver torch as she rubbed her arm raw under the running water. She scrubbed her face and turned off the faucet, flicking off the dewdrops and wiping her hands on her clothes. She gripped the torch and aimed the light around. The restroom was cracked and filthy. Blood like stains coated the walls and rust grew on the large mirror. She hopped over the nurse and reached her hand toward the knob. She stepped into a empty dark corridor and swung the light around making sure no nurse stood around the corner. Grating floors underneath unsettled her. She was afraid to point the light down in case she would find a mutated face staring up at her. She took a deep breath and crept down the hallway, trying a few doors, but frowning when she found them locked.
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Gaara's eyes snapped open, blinking away the light that flooded his vision. He was mounted on a carousel horse, slowly rotating in a wave like motion around the large pillar aligned with golden lit light bulbs and childlike carvings. An array of blood stained deformed demonic looking horses galloped with him. Their hand painted turquoise and gold saddle barely recognizable.
The rust-covered platform underneath stirred as he hopped off the horse. His footsteps rippled movement under the surface of the floor, squirmed away like bloody maggots. He stepped off the rickety grating steps and stopped, his hand snapped behind him when he did not feel the curves of his gourd press down against his back and cursed.
He scanned around for it, but could not sense the presence of his sand at all except for the dark entities that roamed this place. This entire area, from the eroded plate with the engravings 'Happy Carousel' nailed on the ticket booth to the rust on the grating ground below.
Above him the sky was dark, no moon and no stars in sight, like a thick sheet of darkness. A light veil of fog rolled around him giving him a sense of a ghost town. He moved along, the light provided by the carousel fading in the distance leaving him in total darkness.
He needed to find a map and quick.
He needed to leave this place and find Sakura, unless she was here, which he doubt it. He could not sense her signature, even if she did masked it, something in his gut told him she was not in the park, but far away. He scaled an old roof of a ice cream stand and stood tall, squinting his eyes for any source of light. He worried for his friend. Her psyche was not the most stable. He had been with her when she saw those things in the forest. The blood drained from her face and her heart visibly bulged in her chest. By the time they made it to the restaurant, she had been already emotionally drained and cracking some morbid jokes that no one really laughed to except her.
Naruto would not have it so easy either. He became utterly terrified when there was mere mention of ghosts or the supernatural. Even as he tried to puff out his chest about it, he always covered his ears to avoid hearing ghost stories. As for their teammate, he did not know much, but after while anyone could end up anxious in a place like this.
Lights suddenly flickered on in the distance. Light bulbs framed a large billboard with bold rocky text reading 'Mountain Coaster'. He narrowed his eyes, someone else had to be around to operate that contraption. Someone had to be around for that carousel to be running or could it be just this place's doing? If that were the case, then one thing was for certain; they were in the world where all of Sakura's monsters manifested from. That mere idea tightened his chest and had him speeding across the amusement park.
Gaara cursed this realm's lack of light. He had been running, darting from roof to roof when he did not notice he had stepped on to a damaged roof until his foot slipped through the large crack and the roof collapsed under him. He tried to get away, but it was far too late and he landed on the wreckage. Old splintered planks painfully poked his back and few broken pieces dangled from the roof. He huffed, swatting away the dust that wafted into his nose and threw a strew the debris pinning his body, ignoring the splinters that dug into his fingertips.
He stood up, wincing at the sharp pain in his side. He snapped his hand down and pressed it against his waist, alarmed when a warm sticky substance quickly soaked through his clothes and stained his palm. "Damn it." he cursed, stumbling off the detritus and gripping the table in front of him.
Black velvet draped the table underneath his whitening grip. Three lit candles stood on a old-fashioned oxidized candlestick holder. An old Egyptian rug stood under his feet. Grey stone tiles under the wreckage he left behind. Wooden trimmed and forest green brocade walls surrounded him, corroded by this realm's influence. Across the table, behind the Victorian chair, wallpaper peeled, revealing the oxidized chain linked fence underneath. An antique armoire stood near the corner, its glass doors revealing nothing of use.
His eyes traveled to the obsidian and crimson crystal ball whose colors swirled and did nothing else. He clutched his side and looked at the Victorian chair near him with a longing look, but he tore his eyes away and looked around for a door. He straighten his back, trying his best to ignore the chastening pain and proceeded forward, stepping out of the 'Fortune House'.
The bent metal gate creaked as it swung open and Gaara staggered on his own two feet, catching himself on a lit cast iron lamppost. He rested his forehead against the freezing metal and smiled in spite of himself. Things just shot to hell.
This park just seemed to grow bigger and bigger like some vast forest. But hell how would he know how large this place was? He was not even certain where he even was. The thick darkness at this height veiled any light from the distance. He could not move much without white dots exploding in his vision. He did not trust these building's durability and he was much more vulnerable for an attack. If he was attacked, but he knew that sooner or later he would be.
He stood there for a while, his legs wanted to buckle from under him and his eyelids felt ridiculously heavy. The cold air numbed his wound and bit the tip of his nose.
Hairs on the nape of his neck stood and Gaara lurched his body out of the way just in time for a colossal fist to strike the pole. The metal crumpled under the blow like tin foil and left the post looking bent and abstract.
Gaara kneeled on the grating ground, huffing and puffing from the mere exertion of jerking his body around. This was not good. Not good at all. He hid in the shadows, blinking the white dots away and ignoring the throbbing pain in his waist, and watched with wide eyes as the sutured bodied monster use its marred forearms and its fist like legs to drag its body around. The flickering light glossed its patches of thick greasy hair and accentuated the oddly bent neck. Gaara darted behind a bin just as more gorilla-like monsters appeared from the shadows of the park.
Was this what Sakura saw? He gulped down the anxiousness building in the pit of his stomach and harden his eyes. He needed to find his blush haired friend now and fast.
He grimaced, darting across them and pulling out five kunais, hurtling explosive tags at the closest monsters, embedding themselves into their chests. He rolled behind a filthy oxidized bin and pressured his hand against his side, trying to drone out the hindering pain.
He ducked his head just as singed limbs and rotten chunks of flesh flew, splattering on the ground around him. Goosebumps prickled his skin and he sprung off the ground, feeling sweat glisten his neck when another sutured fist slammed down on the bin, crumpling it like a can of pop and smashing it flat. His heart pounded in his chest, he felt the fist ghost passed his body in that one.
He landed a few feet away, dodging another gorilla-like monster who barreled toward him from behind. He was not the best at taijutsu and he felt rather defenseless without his sand, but he had to make due. He was not Kazakage for nothing. He spun heel kicked the monster in its gut, sending it reeling and slamming into another. Both stumbled over each other's limbs and crashed into a stone wall. Rubble caved and crushed the monsters.
The metal vibrated under his feet as the last three's fists thundered around him, denting the grating ground below. He ducked every move with agility that would even impress Gai and moved his hands in a series of hand-signs. Four clones emerged from the smoke, slightly stunning the sutured beasts. Each clone leaped at them and proved to distract them as the Kazekage thought fast.
His world swayed and the muscles in his side trembled. He did not know how much longer he could go on like this. It was only a matter of time before this commotion drew the attention of others and Gaara feared he may not live to see his village and his friends again. He tried not doing much and hiding so he would not exert so much out of his throbbing side. He winced when one of his shadow clones was destroyed. His sea foam eyes scanned the area, bullets of sweat stung his vision and his heart gave a jolt when another clone poofed from existence.
His eyes narrowed at the rubble and a light bulb flared in his mind. Gaara closed his eyes and lifted the debris into the air and wavered. It was only a matter a time before he would collapse.
Another clone dissipated and his concentration slipped, the powder seeped down into the grating grounds, falling into a dark abyss. He cursed and lifted an army of rocks. He ignored when the last clone cut itself off from his conscious and concentrated. The thundering monsters headed his way were just distant hums in his head, even as they drew close, Gaara's concentration did not falter. Even if six swollen fists rose above his head and swung down, he did not stop. Only when their knuckles just barely tickled the cowlick that stood the most erect than most of the strands on his red head, did he strike. His eyes snapped open and sand seized the monsters in prisons, crushing their forms from this realm and any other realm following this one.
The grey 'sand' now chunky and useless, oozed down the drain and Gaara closed his eyes and let out a loud sigh.
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Sakura's heels clanked madly against the grating floors, making her wince at the excessive racket. She skidded a corner. The edge of her heel caught itself on one of the grids and her world toppled. The skin on the tip of her chin shredded off and the silver torch flew from her hand. She watched with wide eyes as everything else seemed to slow down. "No!" she snapped her hand out, but it was too late. The pen slipped passed her fingers and disappeared through the grids. Terrified eyes watched the light descended into the thick darkness below.
Sakura laid there stunned in complete darkness, vaguely aware she should be running for her life. "No." she whispered. "No! No! No!" her palms banged against the grate. Tears of frustration leaked from her eyes and a sob escaped her.
Metal groaned in the hallway behind her and her ears cringed. Sakura scrambled to her feet, desperately seeking a unlocked door. She whimpered as the groaning drew near and the endless hallway stretched. She kept looking back over her shoulder to see nothing but shadows. Yet as her mind continued to go into a state of panic, the shadows provoked her even further.
She moved forward bumping into something, she let out a yelp and covered her mouth. Her heart skipped a couple beats and Sakura suddenly wanted to just end her life right then there before she faced anymore horrors. Confusion surfaced when the thing in front of her did not retaliate and her hand hesitantly reached out to quickly pat it down. She felt relief overwhelm her when she felt leather, bars, handles and wheels. But what was a wheelchair doing in the middle of a hallway?
The groaning rounded the corner and stopped. Sakura's body went rigid, mentally berating herself for being so goddamn stupid. She gritted her teeth to keep them from chattering and closed her eyes, calming her hitched breathing. Her small frame trembled and sweat poured from her scalp, rivulets tickled the tip her nose and she bit the inside of her cheek. She was doing every thing in her power not to move to scratch it nor break out into a scream.
The silence was killing her and she was sure whatever was trailing after could hear her heart thunder. What was it with this place? They just kept spawning and spawning. More nurses staggered after her and they seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. Stealthier and stealthier. To the point she had to be forced to use chakra and a lot of it.
When she first came to, she thought the nurse was human but as she soon realized they were not and Sakura felt fear overcome her as a paling realization hit like a ton of mental bricks. She was in that 'place'. The place where she first encountered the 'Straight-Jacket' in the hall. Where these monsters descended from. It was their own world.
In here she could not find rest from them. In here she was alone with no friends around the keep her sane and help her. She was alone with no chance of getting out. An image of a two smiling blonds flashed in her mind and Sakura found distress settle in. She will never see them again. She wanted to thank Gaara for sticking with her and not abandoning her. Even though she knew she was emotionally draining him and his siblings.
The empty wheelchair next to her whined away, bumping into the corner wall and the groaning faded into loud clanging. Sakura's eyes snapped open and she tried to get away, stumbling over her own haste and her back colliding with the floor. She whimpered pitifully, scrambling away until her back hit the wall. She cowered, arms shielding over her head. Eyes wide with fear. The clanging seized her and a gut wrenching scream ripped through the empty hall.
End Chapter IV
Cliffhanger? I do not always know.
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Do not mess with me fandom software!
I must catch up on my Animation projects.
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And caught up with my Animation projects I did. Never again am I lagging it.
I like drawing, coloring, painting, sculpting, crafting, animating. It comes natural to me.
Let's just remember one thing mate...I am lazy.