Disclaimer: This is your generic disclaimer, I do not own Naruto, I only own this plot that some might not like, if you don't like it my question to you is why are you reading it? Well for those that do like it, I love you! I love these kind of stories, along with comedy… enjoy!

In this chapter, not much will happen, other than some of the history of the house being revealed along with Naruto and Gaara meeting. Next chapter will have more action, this chapter is more or less needed though for the story. This chapter is dedicated to Beyond Birthday's Lover, who suggested both POV. Thank you!


We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were much too afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to.

Oscar Wilde

Chapter 4: Puppets

Gaara hung the phone up, something told him that this was the real deal. After the past couple of weeks of having people prank calling him or his siblings, they would finally have a real case. It was a good thing too, they were running low on the savings that they had and would soon need to replenish it.

He never thought of those things, it was Temari that made sure the bills got paid, and that they had food to eat. Without her, Kankuro and himself would be homeless and possibly dead from starvation.

He hated that the few real cases that they had gotten were few and far between. The fact that no one seemed to need him was good, yet he had thought that more people would in fact use his services. Well that just goes to show that most of the spirits that pestered Gaara were not a bother to other people.

Why him though, he continually wanted to know. Did he have a large neon sign on his back telling all the lost souls to haunt him?

As a young child, he hadn't known that the souls that he encountered were not real people. He had assumed that everyone could see them. When his dad had found out, he had promptly been institutionalized. He had been blamed for nearly everything as a child, in their dad's opinion, he was a freak, he had killed their mom, and was able to communicate with ghosts. Temari and Kankuro never once thought of him as a freak though, and for that he had been grateful. After spending nearly two years in one institution after another, he had met a man named Baki that took him in and trained him.

Baki was a low level psychic, he had said that Gaara was a ultra high level one. As a child, Gaara didn't know what that meant. Now as a young adult, he wished he was just normal. Or as normal as someone could be.

Baki was working as a cop psychic and often would ask Gaara's help on certain cases, other than Baki, Gaara only had Temari and Kankuro. He had no social life what so ever, no friends and no one to love. He was lost in his thoughts as the phone rang once more, it would be that Naruto Uzamaki guy that had called earlier.

"Suna Psychic Puppets…" God he hated the name of the agency. Temari had told each of them to think of one word, Gaara had thought up Suna, Temari had thought of Psychic and Kankuro had thought of Puppets. Kankuro had refused to think of a different word. He had claimed that it sounded good. To Gaara it sounded like they did puppet shows or something. Well now after three years, it had stuck, and Kankuro did do robotic puppets to do filming. At least that's what Kankuro referred to them as. "This is Gaara, how can I help you this evening?" Just because he was seventy five percent sure it was Naruto, didn't mean he shouldn't answer the phone properly.

"Gaara… This is Naruto." in the background, Gaara could hear a woman laughing, "we got the tickets. Your flight leaves Phoenix at six thirty your time. We got three tickets." Naruto gave the confirmation number and time it would get to Denver. "We will be at the airport to pick you up."

"Okay." Gaara knew that they were serious now. Before he had only a gut feeling that they had been.

"See you soon."

The hope in Naruto's voice was relayed thorough the phone line.

Once he had hung the phone up, he went into Kankuro's bed room. It was nearly two in the morning here, he knew that Kankuro would want to pack his equipment himself. So he headed in and turned the light on.

On the bed, Kankuro groaned, rolled over and promptly resumed the light snores that indicated he was still asleep.

Gaara pulled the blankets down off his brother, "Get up."

"Wha…" Kankuro reached down, trying to pull the blankets back up.

"If you don't get up, I will pack your stuff and whatever gets broken on our way to our new job will be your fault."

"Jus five more minu…" Kankuro was mumbling near unintelligibly.

"If you say so." Gaara started rummaging around the 'puppets' not doing more than making some noise.

Kankuro sat up in bed, "Get the hell away from Karasu, Kuroari, and my new puppet Sanshōuo."

"So we have to be at the airport by five thirty. The flight leaves at six thirty. So hurry up."

"What the hell? Where are we going?"

"Like I said," Gaara said as if speaking to a slow child, "We are going to go to work in Denver. Well technically its near Denver somewhere…"

"You don't even know where it is at?"

Looking away, Gaara just said, "I have a vague idea."

"Oh great, you have a vague idea…"

"Just get ready." Gaara said as he left the room. Across the hall, he lightly knocked on his only sisters door. He knew that she would be still asleep, so he let himself in, the only reason he had knocked was out of a deep seated fear she had instilled in both her brothers at an early age.


"So…" Shikamaru quirked his eyebrow, "are they coming?"

Naruto nodded his head, "We will need to pick them up at the airport in Denver."

"At least someone will get here to take care of this damn ghost though."

"Yeah, he said that it will take about a week or two though. He cant help anyone pass on to the next level until he knows why they are still lingering."

The laughter was more subdued, Naruto looked up at the top of the stairs where it was coming from, he hoped he was doing the right thing. Regret filled him that Tenten had gotten hurt, along with worry about Hinata. He didn't know the two girls that well, and he didn't want anything to happen to anyone else that was his friends. Maybe he should just leave the house… nah, he couldn't do that, he could have everyone else leave till everything was done, that way they could be safe.

As if the thought of his friends had somehow summoned them, the front door opened and Suigetsu and Sasuke walked in.

"How is Tenten?" Shikamaru asked before Naruto could.

Sasuke sat down across from them and crossed his legs, "The doctor seems to think she will pull through. We were able to see her, she doesn't remember everything, she just said that some woman was trying to drown her."

Suigetsu sat down next to Sasuke in exhaustion. "I don't think she will want to come back here."

"I don't blame her." Naruto said, "In fact I want all of you to leave till this is all over."

"No fuckin way." Shikamaru glared at Naruto.

"On this one I agree with him." Sasuke nodded his head at Shikamaru. Suigetsu nodded in agreement.

"No way can we desert a friend in need." Suigetsu said.

"I know you all mean well," Naruto began. "So all I am going to say is that I will not allow any of you to stay."

"Who exactly do you think you are?" Suigetsu leaned forward, "I do not think that you are my parent or my maker, so you have no say in what I do."

"Sui-" Naruto was about to reprimand him when he was interrupted by Shikamaru.

"Naruto, just let it be, you can not dictate how we want to be here to assist you if you need it."

"Three against one." Sasuke absently rubbed small circles on Suigetsu's back, "Can you believe I am siding with Shikamaru?"

"Hard to imagine…" Shikamaru grumbled. "And besides, I am the one that found the ghost buster."

"When theirs something strange in your neighborhood…" Suigetsu laughed softly. "Who you gonna call?"

"Ghost busters," Naruto answered with a small smile. "Okay… okay, you all can stay. On one condition, no one is allowed to be alone again. We all have a buddy with us that way we will not be hurt alone."

"Yeah," Sasuke sourly added, "we all get hurt in pairs now. If you are gonna die by a ghost, at least you wont die alone, you will have a buddy to die with you."

"Stop being so cynical." Naruto said.

"I want to be Naruto's death buddy." Suigetsu laughed.

Sasuke glared at Naruto before pulling Sui down on his lap, "You will be mine."

"Whatever," Shikamaru just shrugged, "I didn't want to hang around Sasuke anyway."

"We gotta go." Naruto stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Do I hear a note of panic?" Shikamaru teased Sasuke.

"Shut up you lazy bones."

"We are going to go pick up the ghost busters at the airport." Naruto ignored the two.

"We have an airport?" Suigetsu looked up.

"No," Naruto sighed, "We are going to Denver to pick them up."

"What their was no one local?"

"Yeah, as if." Shikamaru started to laugh, "Ghost busters limited is opening a branch near you…New store hours are from ten a.m. till two p.m. Make sure you ask about the special of the day…"

Naruto chuckled and pulled his best friend out the door after him.

Once they were gone, Suigetsu looked at Sasuke and said, "Are you sure we should stay here with him gone?"

"They wont be gone long, and we can get some sleep then go see Tenten."

"Can we stay here on the couch then?"

Sasuke put his lovers head in his lap and smiled before softly saying, "If that is what you want."

It seemed like the two of them had just fallen asleep when someone was pounding on the door to wake them up. Sasuke detangled himself from Suigetsu and stood up, Suigetsu was slowly stretching before he too stood up.

When Sasuke opened the front door, standing on the stoop as if he didn't want to be there was a middle aged man wearing wire rimmed glasses. He reminded Sasuke of a deer caught in a car's head lights, frozen in fear.

"Yeah," Sasuke said a bit grumpily, "What do you want?"

"Are you the owner?" The man said.

"What do you mean am I the owner?"

"Of this house?"

"Oh no."

"I need to see the owner."

"He's gone for the day." Sasuke didn't know how long Naruto would be gone, so he just said for the day. Besides, it was not this strange persons privilege of knowing all about Naruto.

"My name is Kabuto, my boss lives next door, his name is Orochimaru. He needs to tell the owner the history of this house, so he sent me to get him."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Would you please act as the owners proxy?"

Sasuke glanced at Suigetsu, Sui shrugged his shoulders at the silent question. "I guess we can." Sasuke said.

"Oh thank you very much."

Sasuke let Suigetsu go out first, then closed the front door. "We can walk." the man was saying, "Its just around the curve in the road."

"We know where it is." Sasuke said. Like always, Suigetsu was allowing Sasuke to do all the talking, Sui was just observing everything.

Orochimaru's house was large, yet not grand like Naruto's, it was made out of log and brick. With a circular driveway and a two car detached garage. Typical mountain cabin. Nothing extraordinary.

Inside, the house had a faint odor of death and sickness. Sasuke could feel the close proximity of it, like it was a sentient being. When they first saw Orochimaru, they noticed that he was in fact close to death, by the looks of him, he didn't have long.

"You are not the owner." His smooth voice sounded accusing, yet intrigued at the sight of the raven headed youth.

"Sorry," Sasuke sat down without being invited and pulled Suigetsu down next to him. "Naruto is away on business right now."

"Ah… you are not sorry indeed. To be young again, I would show you how to live life to the fullest."

If the older man had not been so ill, Sasuke would have sworn that he was flirting with him. "As you can see, I do that already." he indicated Suigetsu.

Orochimaru didn't pay any attention to the other youth sitting next to Sasuke, "Tell me boy, what is your name?"

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto assisted the ill man into a sitting position, "Please remember what I told you."

"I know Kabuto." Orochimaru seemed to get irritated.

"My name is Sasuke, this is Suigetsu."

"Well Sasuke-kun, would you like some coffee or tea?" Orochimaru blatantly ignored Suigetsu.

"No thanks."

Kabuto was the one to offer some to Suigetsu. Which he also declined.

"You need to understand that house is evil." Orochimaru pushed Kabuto's hand away as Kabuto put the oxygen to his nose. "I will tell you if I need that up my nose."

"Sorry Orochimaru-sama."

After Orochimaru took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, he continued. "My great grand parents worked for the family that built that house. They had money, and lots of it. Very prominent in the community. Eric Forsythe was the owner of the local silver mine, his wife, Elizabeth, was a socialite and when they were married, he built that house for her. The parties that they held in that house was legendary for this part of the state, rumor even had it that he was destined to be governor of the state. They had three daughters, triplets. Jessica was the oldest, Angela was the middle child and then was Sara. All three were beauties, a little spoiled, yet given who the parents were, who could blame them?

"My Great grand father was the one that took care of all out door chores and the few horses that they had. My great grand mother was the maid, cook housekeeper, in other words, anything to do with the inside of the house. When the girls vanished, my great grand mother was only twenty. She had a brother that had come up missing when he had been ten, about four years before all the events that were to come. No one in town made a big deal about it due to them being poor, yet my grand mother never forgot the uncle she would have had if he had lived.

"Enough about my family," Orochimaru pulled on the oxygen tubing before continuing. "You want to know about that house.

"Once the girls vanished, Eric and Elizabeth were never the same. They rarely ventured out of the house, and when they did they did not look the same. It was as if they had aged twenty years. My great grand parents were married and then a year later my grandmother was born. That was when the family paid for this house to be built for my family. My grandmother used to tell me the stories of having to go up to that house while her mom and dad would work. She used to feel as if the Forsythe's were watching her. Well considering she was a girl just like their missing daughters, it was no wonder.

"My grandmother was six when Eric and Elizabeth committed suicide together." Orochimaru paused to take a sip of water before continuing. "She told me that at the funeral only one other person was in attendance besides her family. That one person was Hiro Uzamaki. He had been staying at the house at the time of the triplets disappearance."

At his words Sasuke nearly gasped and Suigetsu did choke. "Our friend is Naruto Uzamaki." Sasuke said quietly.


Karin had driven all night, she had hacked into Sasuke's pc and found out where he was. Now if only that damn map quest had given accurate directions. She was going a little too fast on the dirt road and nearly spun the car out of control as she rounded a curve and passed a log cabin. Rounding another curve the road abruptly ended at the base of a large home. Cheering silently to herself, she noticed Sasuke's small Honda. Next to it was Shikamaru's truck.

She had found it… She knew that she was showing up unexpected, yet she had wanted to surprise them. She was a little upset with Naruto for not inviting her like a proper friend should, however she would forgive him when he let her stay as well.

As she climbed the steps to the front door, a chilly pre winter wind kicked up, sending chills down her spine. Lifting the brass knocker on the door, she let it drop. The sound seemed to echo along the porch. A few leaves swirled around her ankles as she waited. After counting to ten, she lifted the knocker again, maybe they didn't hear her, she reasoned.

Peering in the nearest window, she called out, "Sasuke? Naruto? Anyone home?" she knocked on the glass a few times before walking away. They must be still asleep, they all liked to sleep in, and it was only nine a.m. so she walked the porch, peering into every window she could find. It was while doing this that she heard a distinct click come from the French doors she was near. Someone must have unlocked them for her. Most likely Suigetsu, he was rude like that to her, even though Sasuke was her boy friend, he assumed that he was more important than she was… As if. Well at least he had let her in.

As she passed the window between where she had been standing and the door, a flash went by. Suigetsu would most likely be hiding from her now, oh well she could do without seeing his ugly face.

The French doors opened easily into a comfortable room that reminded Karin of a room she had stayed in as a child at a ski resort. "Sasuke, Naruto? Wake up…"


A/N: Sorry for the late update, I wanted to post this last week, alas, I moved… I have been without Internet, cable and busy moving, so please forgive me… Much love to all of you that are taking the time to read and review this story and even though school has started back up, please don't worry, I still plan on updating this. I want to get this up weekly, so I can post the other ones that have plagued my mind lately. To those that are going back to school, have a good year! Also if anyone knows of any good beta, please let me know. I have none... so sad.