Hello! This is part one of my 3 part series. I hope you enjoy this small fic.
Next chapter will be updated soon so if you enjoy it be on the look out for chapter 2!
As alway I don't own Naruto
Please Enjoy!
Twilight was beginning to set across the land casting a dark ominous shadow over the wide forest. The once bright blue colors were transformed into various dark shades blending in together. Indigo burned the brightest in the sky tonight. The feeling was almost like an antebellum for the group of five people sitting in front of the small campfire. The crackles of the fire and the sound of the lively forest was the only thing that could be heard. The sounds consist of a vicious river, a strong wind blowing west and crickets singing their tune. A loud rumble broke the relaxing state. Sakura's left eyebrow began to twitch in irritation.
"Naruto!" She yelled out nudging the blond boy's head. Kakashi sighed and closed his book appearing behind the two preteens, he coughed, gaining their attention. Sakura jumped up a bit at the sudden movement.
"Tonight is our last night accompanying Mr Yoshinoya to his village. Lets not scar him with bloodshed tonight." The silver haired man teasingly hit the top of his student's head with his little orange book. Sitting back in their original spots, the four man squad sat patiently waiting for their fish to fully cook. Their charge, Yoshinoya Ren, an incredibly handsome young twenty six year old man. A little shorter than average male height with dark brown hair and hazel eyes.
"This reminds me of the camping trips my brothers and I would take with our father every year. Yoshinoya chuckled a bit. "You know what we would do on our last night in the forest?"
"What?" Naruto asked him, sitting on the tip of his seat in excitement. The last night of the mission was always Naruto's favorite, aside from all the ass kicking. Anything can happen to them at this point. An undercover assassin can pop out and try to kill their charge and he would be able to show off his new jutsu.
"We would tell scary stories and have smores." Ren gained the attention of the young trio. Digging through his bag he brought out a bag of marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers.
"That sounds childish." Sasuke spoke in a haughty voice but Yoshinoya was no fool, he could see the Uchiha's peaked interest.
"Shut up you jerk. I wanna hear one!" Naruto huffed at him. Sasuke huffed at him but made no attempt to argue. He brought out a few more sticks and placed marshmallows on them giving the snack to the preteens. Sasuke politely declined stating he didn't like sweets.
"The story goes like this." Yoshinoya rubbed his hands grinning at the trio.
"Charles Rogers lived in a small cabin not too far from my village. He lived there with his two young daughters and his wife. There was an ongoing investigation seeing as seven people had gone missing in the span of eight months. Charles and his family were never on the suspect list seeing as him and his family were very charismatic. One day at a party Charles completely snapped and started acting very odd. He spoke about a few of the victims as if they were still alive which raised a lot of red flags. His family quickly left feigning a sickness. Once the Anbu arrived at his home to investigate the allegations from guests, their house was empty.
When searching the house they found a secret underground room and inside the room they found all seven victims. Their bodies coated with wax to not decay. All arranged and groomed next to a partner. Their arms and legs chopped off and replaced with plastic ones.
Charles and his family were never found again."
"That's so gross! They were all living dolls. " Gagged Naruto. A gust of wind caused the trio to shiver. Sakura placed her smore down, not able to take another bite.
"A true story. Charles roams around these woods preying on his next victim." Kakashi nodded his head.
"That can't be possible. But we're safe right?" Sakura asked her sensei, inching closer to the man in fear.
"They could be anywhere really. Yoshinoya's village wasn't too far from here and you know people tend to not stray far from home." Kakashi yawned, stretching out his arms as high as he could. "Okay kiddos time for bed."
"I'm not scared!" Naruto pouted as he made his way towards his shared tent. The bushes closest to him began to rustle hard. The movement was far too great for a small animal. Naruto turned his back away from the shrub to look at his teammates. None of them paid even the slightest attention to him, as they conversed amongst each other. Naruto's face contorted into fear as he felt two hands clasped his shoulders, pulling him back. "It's Charles, he's going to kill us!"
The preteens looked over at the blond's direction in fear and worry. Quickly yelling out to him Sasuke and Sakura rushed over to look for the missing nin. The duo turned over to the laughing adults and glared at them. One of Kakashi's clones stood up from the bushes holding onto a crying Naruto. The blond looked around and assessed the situation. He began to laugh when the clone disappeared and pointed at his two teammates.
"I totally knew what they had planned and I was going along with it. You should have seen your guy's faces! It was priceless." Naruto forced out his usual laugh. "I wasn't even scared at that stupid story."
"Since you're so fearless Naruto, you can sleep on your sleeping bag outside the tent." Sakura huffed as she stomped into the shared tent.
"No!" Naruto cried out as he followed his teammates in.
"You really have an interesting trio there Kakashi." Yoshinoya chuckled as he saw Naruto being kicked out of the tent by his two teammates. He yelled out apologies until they finally let him in.
"They really are something else." Kakashi commented. He looked up at the shining stars for a few minutes before going up to a tree ready for his nightly watch. Whenever they had missions outside the village Kakashi rarely slept. Constantly keeping watch over his students making sure they didn't get hurt.
…
Arriving at Yoshinoya's village, Naruto and Sakura excitedly looked around as they saw people setting up different stations. A festival was set to start at the village and people were ambling to get their kiosks ready. The village was lively with different people. Sakura squealed in excitement when passing a man who was juggling balls on fire. Multiple street performers were by the entrance drumming up attractions in hopes to drum up business in tonight's festival.
"Tonight is the start of our yearly Autumn Festival." Yoshinoya told them as they walked towards his home. The dark haired man turned to the shinobi and grinned. "I have an idea! Why don't you guys stay with me tonight. I have a guest room you guys can use tonight and a very comfortable couch. My wife makes wonderful homemade meals and you can also attend the first night of the festival."
"Can we?" Naruto asked his sensei. "I really want to go to the festival."
"If it's no trouble we would like to accept your offer." Kakashi's eye crinkled a bit signalling his hidden smile. Arriving at Yoshinoya's two story home a woman was waiting at the steps. She looked up with bright eyes and a wide smile. Running up to Ren, the woman circled her arms around his neck and smiled.
"I missed you so much sweetie." She let go of him and turned to the four man squad. "Thank you for bringing my husband back safe and sound."
"It's no problem!" Naruto grinned at the woman.
"I was starting to worry because you were a day late and all the rumors going around in the village." She worriedly bit her lip. She turned back to the leaf village Shinobi and smiled. "Sorry for being so rude. My name is Veanna."
"These guys are going to stay the night with us so they could attend the festival tonight." Smiled Ren at his wife.
"Come in. I was just about to start lunch preparations." Veanna ushered them all in. Sitting down at the dining table, they began to eat.
"What are the rumors going around the village?" Ren turned to the short brunette woman.
"Claire, one of the young teenagers here, went missing a week after you left the village." She frowned looking down at her food. "The men looked for her three days straight in the woods with no sign of her." Naruto's face paled a bit as he remembered Ren's story from the night before. "Some people are scared to go to the festival this year."
After lunch, the boys accompanied their female teammate out to the open shops to pick out a kimono for the festival. The village was big but nowhere compared to Konoha. There were a lot of people doing last minute shopping for tonight's festivities. The trio went into a small kimono store filled with a lot of people. Sakura could hear her teammates in the near distance bickering with each other. A small smile graced her lips at the boys. She spotted a white Kimono with cherry blossom petals scattered around and a matching pink bow.
"Are you going to tonight's festival?" An old woman with greying hair spoke softly. Sakura could barely register her words.
"Were you speaking to me?" The Pinkette looked over to the woman next to her.
"Are you going to the Autumn festival tonight?" There was something off by the way she spoke, but Sakura quickly dismissed it. She eye'd Sakura's hair and smiled wide. "You have beautiful hair. It looks so natural, where did you get it done."
"Yes, I'm going with my friends. My hair is naturally pink." She answered her twirling a small lock of her long hair. The woman gave her a great smile and handed her a card.
"I have a small building in the festival. It's called 'The Red Door.' Come by and visit. I'll be doing card readings and giving complimentary tea." The woman told her. Sasuke and Naruto walked over to Sakura's side. "Don't forget dear, it's called 'The Red Door."
"What was that about Sakura?" Naruto curiously asked her as he watched the odd woman walk out of the store.
"She said she had a small building in the festival and invited me to check it out. I forgot to get her name." Sakura frowned. She looked down at the Kimono she was going to purchase and smiled. "I picked something out already. It's perfect and affordable."
…
Sakura walked down the steps from the Yohinoya's staircase, receiving looks of amazement. Veanna helped style her hair in an authentic bun, pulled back with gold chopsticks that held small hanging porcelain butterflies, and lightly did her makeup.
"At least one of my students knows how to clean up well." Kakashi commented looking up from his book. Naruto dressed in his regular orange jumpsuit and Sasuke in his blue shirt and white cargo shorts.
"We are gonna train at the festival. I'm gonna beat Sasuke on all the games!" Naruto proudly stated. He turned his attention back to Sakura and grinned. "You look really pretty Sakura!"
"Thank you." Her smile faltered for a second when she noticed Sasuke wasn't giving her the slightest attention. "Let's go already. I want a funnel cake!"
"Be careful out there." Veanna yelled out to them as they all ran out and blended in with the crowd heading to the festival. Kakashi sat back down on the couple's couch ready to enjoy a nice quiet evening with his book.
…
The sun had gone down hours ago but the festivities were far from over. As the night progressed Sakura found herself with a lot of new presents from the prizes her teammates won.
"Here." Sasuke thrusted a small pink plush bunny into her open hand. His back turned towards her but even with just the light of the lanterns she could see his ears were a burning red.
"Thank you." She whispered, not wanting to scare him off. She twirled the owl necklace she received from Naruto from the last game. She spotted an abandoned bench not too far from her. As she made her way to sit, she heard a strange melody nearby. She had an odd sensation to follow the soothing sound. She felt as if she was in a trance as she followed the sound of the song without alerting her teammates.
The further she followed she noticed the less people lurking around. Stopping in front of a red door she took in a deep breath. Before she could turn back and return to her teammates the door opened to reveal the woman she met earlier.
"Come on in dear!" She eerily called out to her. "Sit down and have a cup of tea and I'll read your cards."
"My teammates are probably looking for me. I should tell them where I'm at." Sakura told the woman.
"It'll only be ten minutes at the most dear. Come sit down." The woman demanded grabbing on to the free hand the pinkette had, forcing her into the building. Sakura noticed the shelves and countertops were covered in porcelain dolls. The dining room table had a tea set ready for her arrival.
"My teammates must be worried over me." Sakura mentioned trying to get up from her seat. There was an odd smell in the room that Sakura couldn't quite place. There was something ominous about the room she was in. The lights were dim and most of the light that shone was coming from the small fireplace. The crackles of the fire could be heard over the alluring music. She shouldn't be there, something was wrong in this place.
"Have some tea dear. To calm the nerves." The woman passed her a tea cup. Sakura took a drink from the cup and found she loved the taste. Placing the cards down the woman began to cut the deck. "Are your teammates near sweetie?"
"Yes." Finishing her tea, the pinkette set the tea cup down. Sakura felt an odd sensation curling around her body, it was as if her chakra channel began to deplete. She felt hot and dizzy. Grabbing her pink bunny, Sakura got up from her spot and walked back towards the door. "I need to get back to my team." The room was starting to spin and Sakura felt as if she couldn't think straight. "What was in the tea?" She yelled out. Her eyelids began to grow heavy by the moment. The old woman began to laugh in her seat.
"I crushed a chakra suppressant pill that I bought off the black market and paired it with a strong sedative." She got up from her spot and walked closer to the preteen.
'I just need to get to Sasuke and Naruto.' Sakura thought to herself as she used all her strength to run out of the room. Holding on to her bunny tightly she looked for anyone that could help.
"Not so fast Missy." A gruff voice called out behind her. Taking out a hidden kunai Sakura blocked the man's attack, dropping Sasuke's gift in the process. Before drifting into unconsciousness Sakura witnessed the old woman transform into a young woman in her twenties. Long black hair with deep blue eyes. She wore a white halter top, black fishnet tights and a black skirt.
"This one is perfect. She looks so exotic, Sam." Excitedly squealed the woman.
"Don't get excited yet Claire She has teammates around here. We aren't in the clear yet." Sam threw Sakura over his shoulder.
"Hey you! Let go of her!" Naruto yelled out as he saw his unconscious teammate in the hands of a dirty man. Naruto summoned ten shadow clones and followed the couple.
"One of you go alert Kakashi Sensei and tell him Sakura was taken!" Sasuke ordered one of the clones.
"On it!" One of the clones strayed off to Yoshinoya's house to get Kakashi.
"These brats are fast and persistent." Sam told Claire as they strategically ran from tree branch to tree branch.
"I'll try to get rid of them." Claire turned around and threw kunais at the clones.
"I'll take care of her. Go save Sakura!" Naruto yelled out to Sasuke.
"Right!" Sasuke dodged one of Claire's attacks as he followed the strange man who held onto Sakura.
"You guys give her back right now!" Naruto, with the help of a clone, made a rasengan. Running over to Claire , his attack hit her in the stomach. Flying back she hit her head on a tree.
"Well that wasn't very nice." She began to chuckle. Getting up Claire went in to attack the blond. Her taijutsu rivalled that of Might Guy. Naruto rolled on the floor after a hard kick to his left.
"I won't give up." Naruto's breath was hard as he stood up, wiping the blood from the side of his mouth. "Sakura is my friend and I won't let you guys lay a finger on her!"
"Couldn't have said it better myself Naruto." Kakashi side kicked Claire, finally making his appearance. "Where's Sakura and Sasuke?"
"Sasuke is chasing after the other guy. Sakura wasn't moving sensei!" Naruto worriedly yelled out.
"We'll have to finish this quickly then." Kakashi lifted up his headband to reveal his sharingan eye. Claire and Kakashi fought hand to hand before Kakashi got the upper hand and hit her with his lightning blade.
"That was a nice warm up. Until next time we meet then I'll show you what I can really do." Claire giggled as her body transformed into mud.
"Kakashi sensei!" Sasuke jumped down from the trees. "The guy that took Sakura. He disappeared out of thin air."
"Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke!" Yoshinoya led a group of angry men carrying torches with them. "We're here to help look for Sakura."
"Did she talk to anyone suspicious at the festival?" Kakashi asked the two boys.
"No, she was with us the whole time. Until she disappeared." Naruto answered him. "We need to stop wasting time and look for her!"
"We need clues. Calm down and think. We need to know where she was taken." Kakashi answered him.
"The Red Door." Sasuke muttered, gaining the attention of the group. "A lady at the Kimono shop insisted Sakura visit her there. She said it was a small building at the festival."
"While you guys look for clues. We'll roam around the forest and look for her." Ren told the trio. All the men in the group agreed and split into different groups and headed into different directions.
Upon arriving at the festival a lot of the people began to head home due to the rumors of a disappearance. Women and girls afraid to be next were escorted home. Naruto led Kakashi and Sasuke to where he spotted Sakura being taken. The Uchiha male frowned as he picked up the plush bunny he found on the floor.
"This belongs to Sakura." Sasuke turned to his sensei and held up the stuffed animal towards him. Kakashi nodded and summoned one of his ninja hounds.
"Pakkun, Sakura was taken, we need your nose to help look for her." Kakashi ordered his summonings. The small brown pup sniffed at the bunny and at the air.
"She was definitely in that room behind you, but she's long gone." Pakkun sniffed at the air and looked towards the forest. "I get a faint smell. Let's go before I lose it."