Police and fire truck lights of red, white and blue flashed across their front yard, illuminating the night in splashes of color that quickly faded away, only to reappear again. The whining of the alarms had long since dulled in Chouji's ears and he found himself feeling numb as the kind nurse with the short pinkish blond hair checked his hands and arms for burns and other injuries. Before he knew it the burn on his arm was patched up, and he was drinking warm, but tasteless, hot cocoa form the ambulance while the uniformed officials moved in and out of the house before him.
Across the yard, next door, Naruto and his father stood at the windows, watching the spectacle. Chouji knew that Inoichi had to be holding Naruto back, to keep the blond boy from rushing out and joining in the 'excitement' of the incident. He couldn't see Ino in any of the windows.
And they hadn't brought her out of the house either.
Chouji frowned at the half full cup of warm chalk tasting cocoa. Of course he wouldn't see Ino in any of the windows and he wouldn't see them carrying her out. He'd seen the shadows come out and attack her, swallowing her up into nothing as they defended their own. He'd heard her scream and he'd seen her seemingly snap out of existence. She was gone. As weird and as odd as it seemed, she was gone.
How was that going to be explained to Naruto and Inoichi? He couldn't tell them what he'd seen. Well, he might be able to tell Naruto, but all he could imagine was Naruto getting upset with him and breaking off the friendship right there. Telling Inoichi what happened would probably just bring a tired look and persistent insistence on the truth, rather then this 'lie'.
But he knew for a fact he couldn't stay silent about what he'd seen.
Commotion came from the front door, interrupting Chouji's thoughts as yelling moved across the lawn. Seconds later a stretcher was pulled out from the ambulance next to him and rushed into the house, coming out a moment later with someone wrapped in a white sheet, officials crowding around them and yelling at each other.
Chouji jumped down from where he sat and quickly rushed over, ignoring the people around him and nurse's protests for him to stay out of the way. Weaving around a fireman and an officer he stopped next to the stretcher and his body just seemed to freeze from what he saw.
Lying in front of him, on the stretcher, was the boy made of shadows. But he wasn't shadows anymore. Instead he looked as human as anyone else, with burns covering his skin, but not to a horrible degree. Now he had black hair, burned close to his face, and his skin was pale in spots where it hadn't been burned, as if he were a normal boy who stayed inside all the time. And when he opened his eyes and looked at Chouji quietly, his eyes were a fractured green, with patches of darkness still showing, almost resembling a cat's eyes and their extreme sensitivity to light.
Chouji couldn't breathe.
"Is he all right?" Warm hands rested on Chouji's shoulders, helping him become grounded again and making the light feeling in his head go away. His father had asked the question, sounding not surprised at all at the boy's appearance. Chouji managed to close his mouth and stop looking surprised, as he watched them fit a breathing mask over the boy's mouth, giving him fresh oxygen.
"He doesn't look too badly injured." The pink haired nurse was beside them in seconds to answer that question. "Of course we want to take him in to get the burns looked at, but from what I can see now there's a couple 2nd degree, but nothing too bad. Is he family?"
Chouza opened his mouth to answer, but Chouji cut in. "He's my cousin. Shikamaru… he was staying with us for a couple weeks."
The boy on the stretcher blinked at Chouji, at the mention of that name and reached out toward him. Chouji stepped forward and caught the pale hand, giving the boy a comforting smile.
"Can I ride with him to the hospital? He's from out of town and I don't want him to get scared."
The nurse smiled at Chouji. "Of course you can, since we need to make sure your burns are taken care of too. Just come this way."
Chouji smiled up at his dad and followed the stretcher to the ambulance, never letting go of Shikamaru's hand. As the stretcher was loaded up in the back, he climbed up with it, making sure the boy could always see him. At first the boy squeezed his hand tightly, while the ambulance went off but soon his grip loosened and he soon began brushing his fingers against Chouji's skin, seeming to be fascinated with the fact that he could touch him.
Chouji leaned forward, speaking softly in his ear. "Don't worry. We'll take care of you. I promise."
Shikamaru looked at him quietly, for a long moment. Then he smiled and nodded, looking completely relaxed and content.
(Epilogue)
It was that incessant music again. Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke. Always Sasuke. Sasuke's music playing from speakers. Sasuke's face plastered on the wall. Sasuke's deep voice coming up to announce the actions of the computer. Sasuke's most annoying tune as the ringtone on the phone.
This hell could only be one place in the world, and when Ino opened her eyes, she could only stare with complete hatred at her brother's room and all the paraphernalia of the black haired pop star. Her brother wasn't lying in bed, and she was standing alone in his room, in completely darkness… but she couldn't remember why.
From the window she could see lights flashing in bright colors, obviously from police cars. Ducking back into the corner of the room, she quickly made sure she hadn't been near the window enough to be seen. She couldn't remember clearly, but she'd remembered the house next to them burning. Served them right if their wonderful place was burning down now. That's exactly what they deserved for taking it all away from her.
She waited while the lights died down and the noise soon faded, leaving the silence from the night. Somewhere in the house she head the front door close and her father and brother talking as they passed to the living room. No doubt they were planning to watch the news for updates, as they weren't family and weren't allowed to go to the hospital. Silence passed again, and Ino waited until she heard the tv click on quietly, before moving.
As soon as she was sure it was safe, she stepped out from the corner and moved toward the door.
It was right at that moment that she realized she wasn't alone in the room. Somewhere along the line she'd felt eyes on her, but had ignored it to make sure she wasn't caught, but now the feeling was stronger and as she walked to the door, she noticed the eyes on the poster next to her moving, following her steps.
Ino paused, turning her head to face the poster. It was simply laminated printed paper, and it couldn't be looking back at her. She was obviously paranoid and not thinking straight.
But the picture did move. The eyes did follow her. And the face did slide out of the poster, slinking to step out and land on the ground.
In the blink of an eye Ino was surrounded by vaguely human shapes, all resembling the outlines of human bodies, but lacking eyes, mouths, and any detailed features. She could make out heads and indents where eyes would be, but nothing else. And the things moved around fluidly, like water, surrounding her.
Whispered filled the air, all just a step from understandable words. She could hear them, but she couldn't understand a word being said, even though the volume was rising, the sound loud enough to crawl over her skin.
Ino suddenly remembered the basement.
She remembered the fire, and she remembered the boy.
She remembered his scream as the fire touched him.
She remembered his skin burning like paper.
She remembered the air closing around all of them.
She remembered the shadows coming to life and surrounding her.
She remembered them yelling in her ear and burning her skin.
She remembered screaming as the darkness covered her.
Ino screamed again, the shadows diving at her.
It's just too bad, that shadows can't make sounds.