Chapter 17: Halloween Thrill
I added some more information on Chapter 2 and changed a few things slightly but the end result is still the same. I just made it more realistic. That's all.
Shisui- 16 years old (You don't age in the afterlife)
Itachi- 16 (Part 1 of Naruto, obviously)
Jeri- 17
Lori- 15 nearly 16
~ I will cover
And hide the
part of my heart
that
wants to
cry and
scream ~
chapter 17
As Itama, Tobirama, and Hahsirama sat near the young teenaged girl and they too started to stare at the water. Watching as the fish were swimming about. The two older shinobi shuddered, remembering their time as fish. They hoped they would never go back to being fish, Itama, however enjoyed it.
Trapped huh? Just like when we were trapped in a world of water, in that water bottle, and then the fish tank. Confined to only one place with limited freedom. Is that how you feel? Thought the snow-haired shinobi as he stole a glance at the female.
"Lori?" Jeri calls as she walks into the pool room with the rest of the shinobi on her heels. Finding Lori sitting quietly beside the pool with the three Senjus. Plopping herself at Lori's side but slightly behind her she smiled.
"Are you okay?" Jeri asks, a tinge of sadness tracing her lips for the answer she knew was to come.
"I'm fine." Replied Lori who continued to look at the water seemingly being in a daze.
Itachi and Shisui look to each other. The quote...
~"Are you okay?" It's always the same question. "I'm fine." And always the same lie.~
"You know, if it's easier on you, you can always talk to me." Shisui reminds the blonde as she stays quiet for a moment.
"Yes, I know..."
Lori stood up and started to walk away from the people crowding her until a small pair of arms wrapped themselves around one of her equally small legs. Looking down towards where the arms belonged to she found Itama, staring up at her looking ready to cry.
"Please... Please talk to us... I want to see you smile like you did before they came in!" Itama begged with his bottom lip stick out and quivering with his eyes tearing up with water. For some reason this scene didn't effect her at all. Just like nothing else ever does. She wanted to know why. She also wanted to know why this small boy "cared" for her so, why he was almost shedding tears over her not smiling and talking.
Lori stared at Itama blankly.
"Itama. There is nothing to talk about. I need you to let go of my leg." Lori says easily. Itama only felt tears stinging his eyes as he tried to hold them back but failed easily. Tears ran down his now flushed cheeks from being upset as Lori continued to look at him with indifference.
Lori hesitated when she saw Itama crying. It made her remember something...
A small girl with pale blonde hair was crying after witnessing her mother and father fighting for the millionth time that day and sat in her room crying her heart out. This girl was four years old, huddled in a corner and curled into a ball. Pressing her knees to her chest as sobs wracked her body. The door opened to see a man, she could not remember what he looked like but his voice was soft yet deep. Kind.
"Why are you crying -?" Asked the man, his face cut off from her vision when she looked at him. He held her in his strong arms. For some reason his voice soothed her and she stopped her sobbing and explained.
"You and Ma'ma are fighting again..." cried the girl as her bottom lip quivered.
Even though she couldn't see his face she knew he was giving her a sad smile.
"Mommy and Daddy are just having a tough time sweetheart." He promised. "I'm sorry you've been hurting and Listening to us fight, want me to show you someone I know you'll like?" He preposed trying to cheer his baby girl up.
"Yeah!" Agreed the small girl as he took her outside the house. He took her to what he knew was her favorite place to look at fish, goldfish in the pond out back. Pointing to one of the fish the man began to speak.
"See? Aren't the goldfish beautiful? Look, it even likes you!" The man cooed to the four year old as she grinned and giggled watching as it followed her finger and swam around with its friends.
Lori blinked and seemed to be in shock as she stared at Itama's face. What was that?
Lori noticed the tears falling down the boy's cheeks as he clung to her pants leg with snot coming out of his nose. Lori didn't know what to do so she did the one thing she could. She used whatever she saw in her head, be it a long forgotten memory or her imagination to make Itama calm down. She repeated most of what she remembered from the "motion picture" in her head.
Putting a hand on Itama's head she patted I gently which seemed to smooth Itama slightly. She kneeled on the knee that wasn't being held by the small child and hugged his to her as best she could with her leg separating the two of them.
"I'm sorry you've been hurting, want me to show you someone I know you'll like?" Lori suggests trying to cheer the small child up, this time she wasn't even thinking about what the ninja could do to her. She wasn't worried. She didn't care. She honestly even forgot everyone was there.
Itama sniffs and nods as Lori uses one of her arms and points her finger to the pool and touches the saltwater. Ripples ensued from the waters' surface. Some of the fish rush to her hand in hopes of food and some are scared off. Lori traces her fingertip on the waters surface more ripples and some fish started swimming closer to the surface as they had adjusted to the quaint ripples.
"See? Aren't the fish beautiful? Look, they even like you." Lori muses touching Itama's finger tip to the surface as a small fish trailed it. Itama giggled and laughed. Lori glanced to see that this had in fact cheered the small child up. He wiped his tears and snot away and continued to try to play with one of the fishes. The scene brought a barely visable smile to her lips, one would have to use the sharingan to see it.
As she had forgotten about the ninja and Jeri standing there she was unaware of the smile Jeri had on her face. But sims smirked to Tajima, who humphed. Itachi stares relishing the peace and quiet and seeing a new side to Lori, a seemingly kinder side but he got the feeling it was all an act. Hahsirama looked so happy he was about to cry and had stars in his eyes. Tobirama remained stern faced, however a small smile was on his lips just like Lori's.
Shisui grinned childishly as it seemed to him that they didn't have to use their plan after all, but he would still use the plan anyway.
Lori wasn't sure what to think about making Itama smile again. She didn't know what to do now. Should she ask them all about family? Ask if family are like this or should she ask it differently with more detail? Could she possibly make it more discrete by asking what their family life was like?
Lori shook those thoughts out of her head. That would never work. Their ninja, they'll figure it out.
Lori just needed to focus on the task at hand and get out as soon as possible. She came here for a reason and needs to finish what she started.
"What's on your mind?" Butsuma asked Lori as he looked down at her, she was shorter than him by a lot. When Lori opened her mouth to speak her stomach growled and everything was quiet as it was like a scene out of a movie, because everyone's eyes were on her.
Shisui cchuckles as he has a humorous side to him. Damn Uchihas, why are they so irritable?
"Come on sis, let's get some food!" Jeri suggests as Lori does not attempt to argue, she was in fact hungry and had not ate dinner the night before.
After eating breakfast everyone was now in the living room with Itachi, Shisui, and Lori reading books. Jeri and Itama were playing video games, or Jeri was trying to teach Itama how to play video games. Madara and Izuna watched the tv screen with interest as they saw the racing game displayed on the screen. Tobirama was looking through a world geography book, trying to find out more about this world and Hahsirama was giving Itama a pep talk as he had just lost on the game. The game was Mario Kart Wii.
Butsuma and Tajima glared at each other. They were all trying to get along, all of them have been doing their best. They mainly stayed away from their enemies to try to not get in fights and death matches. The only reason was because Juliet's rage scares them. If only slightly.
Something kept nagging at Shisui's mind as he thought about their time here in this strange world that is very different from their own.
"Lori, back at the other house., you said it was out of reflex that you clothes lined Jeri... What do you mean?" Shisui asks looking at the blonde with curiosity. Lori stared back with a wary gaze.
"I saw something coming and moved to defend myself, its second nature. Why?" Lori replies with a wary tone, eyeing Shisui with a look of both curiousity and as if she expected him to attack her. Everyone noticed her body tense slightly, like a rabbit ready to run away from the hunter.
Shisui quickly realized that he had to not be so forward with his questions regarding the blonde if he wanted her to answer and be more... Willing to talk.
"I was just curious Lori, no need to be tense." He grinned trying to ease Lori's suspicions and when it didn't work he began to think of other ways to ask his questions.
"Who wants to watch Walking Dead?" Jeri asks excitedly as she searches the show on Netflix that she prepared while Shisui and Lori were distracted.
"NOOO!" Screeches Jeri as Glen gets his head beat in with the bat by Negan, the guy with black hair and blue eyes, in the new episode. Jeri flinches and covers her eyes all the while biting her bottom lip until it bled. She tried her best to keep her screams buried deep in her chest but they rose from the back of her throat echoing throughout the room.
Lori slapped her hand over Jeri's mouth. "Be quiet woman... The actors are fine, it's just the characters that are "harmed"." Lori ordered. Jeri ripped Lori's hand away from her mouth and glared icily at he blonde.
"Your heartless! How can you watch that and not be affected?!" Jeri says angirly, her voice dripping with venom as she feels she has ventured with these characters by watching them from the start and following them on the screen throughout their journey.
Lori stares at Jeri in slight shock, only visible by her pupils enlarging for a brief millisecond, then turning back to normal. Lori suddenly seemed colder than usual.
"I'm not heartless... I just learned how to use my heart less." Lori states with her voice having an unusual tone of anger to it. Standing up Lori begins to walk away from her spot on the couch. Jeri, realizing her mistake, grabs her foster sister's wrist in panic.
"Relax." Lori says calmly, turning her head slightly to see Jeri's face. "I'm just going out for a walk. I'll be back."
Jeri frowns feeling bad for the words she had spoken just a few seconds ago. "How do I know that? Last time you... You..." Jeri couldn't finish.
Lori let out an exhausted sigh. "it's not like I have anywhere else to go, Jeri." Jeri knew Lori was right and also knew maybe going for walks was Lori's way of cooling off. Letting go of her wrist Jeri nodded. Watching as Lori was walking out of the house, Jeri called before Lori got to the door.
"You better come back! Or I'll hunt you down and drag you back!"
Lori took in Jeri's proclamation and responded with her own. "Even with the sharingan you'd still never find me on your own... Dummköpfe." Lori smirks as she walks out the door knowing that Jeri was getting all riled up and flustered.
"What the Hell did you just call me?! Get you ass back here!" Jeri shouts as she runs to the door and outside with Itachi heaving out a sigh. Jeri walked back inside not one second later.
"She's gone... Damn. She can run fast."
Lori walks around the Mississippi River and around the woods nearby unaware that she was being tailed. And not by the ninja either...
Jeri sighs as she has been waiting for Lori to come back home for 30 minutes now. Shisui chuckled lightly. "You want to go after her, don't you?"
Lori blushed a light scarlet and turns her head away. "I could care less if she got kidnapped!" Jeri must have had amazing timing because the TV turned to the news channel for a special report. A beautiful lady with brown-curly hair and blue eyes was broadcasting for the report. Her makeup was perfect.
"Live on New Orleans, some mysterious clowns have been sighted near Veronese St New Orleans, LA 70129. These clowns are believed to be part of a cult that has been causing the missing people reports and some mysterious killings, in some states in America-" Jeri jumped up from the couch before the news report could even finish and made a bee line out of the house leaving the door wide open.
"I'M COMING LORI!"
The ninja ran out the door after Jeri and because of all the foliage of the woods, the animals running amock because of Jeri's sounds of running some of her tracks got covered up by leaves, sticks, rocks and most of them didn't even make a dent in the ground. The ninja managed to lose Jeri.
"Damn it..." Shisui mutters as they search by ground to find both Jeri and Lori.
"We need two teams. One to go after Jeri and one to go after Lori." Izuna comments much to a certain albino's annoyance.
"I hate you so much." Tobirama says hatefully to Izuna who smirks.
"Right back at you. Senju."
"I'll take the team to go after Lori." Tobirama states with finaility.
"And I'll take the one to go after Jeri." Hahsirama agrees. Tobirama turns to the remaining ninja.
"Kagami, you and your son follow me." Tobirama orders much like the Hokage he is. Shisui and Kagami nod letting him know they will follow him.
"Madara, Izuna and Itachi will come with me. The rest of you search on your own." Hahsirama orders as well and begrudgingly Izuna and Madar follow the First Hokage as he jumps through the trees.
"Don't give us orders asshole!" Yell Izuna and Madara after Hashirama.
As Tobirama was leading his squad of two ninja he began to wonder where the damn blonde headed ball of fire went. She should have been easy to find but that seems to not be the case. However he soon located her chakra and speeds ahead with his fellow ninja on his heels.
"You found her, right Tobirama-sama?" Kagami asks to which he gets a nod in response.
"Yes Kagami."
Shisui smirks. "That's Lord Second for you."
soon enough Lori was found walking towards the three ninja alone. She wasn't afraid of anything, more looking bored than anything. Tobirama was the first to appear before her, his red eyes boring into her head.
"Yes, Tobirama?" Questions Lori clearly not amused but more calm. Tobirama's eyes scanned over Lori's appearance rather quickly. His eyes checking to see if she was disheveled in any way, and looking for any signs of running from a threat or injury. When he found no signs of either he gave a stern nod before answering.
"Is Jeri not with you? An she sama, its Tobirama-sama, to you." Lori's pale blue irises glared at Tobirama's crimson ones in a battle of wills. Still glaring at each other Lori answered, her voice hard.
"No. Why? Don't tell me that woman's been looking for me again..."
Tobirama and Lori were glaring so fiercely that Kagami and Shisui thought they were about to hit each other. Both of the light haired people had one tick mark ea hand on their heads, both really looking pissed. Kagami didn't notice it before, but Lori was mostly cool, calm and collected, like Tobirama-sama. Until both of them crossed fire... then they both were like boiling water.
Kagami sweat drops. While Shisui steps up to explain.
"Long story short there are killer clowns in the area and Jeri went out after you to make sure you weren't hurt. By the way, what is so wrong with someone caring enough to look after you?" Shisui asks slightly annoyed. Lori looks taken aback but quickly returns to being pissed off.
"How did you find out about the clowns? And I don't like people, I just don't. I especially don't like it when someone keeps tabs on my every footstep, which is what Jeri does when I'm out of her sight for even two seconds." Lori replies hotly. Tobirama was really close to bending the girl over his knee, she was only four years younger than him, at least.
"We saw it on the news report." Kagami answered feeling slightly angered at the blonde.
"What repor-" Lori was cut off by a loud "Ding" as her phone alerted her to a notification. Another sounded but it sounded like a text message. The sounds were different for different notifications.
looking at the notifications she saw the word clowns on the report. "Okay. There's the report... But how did I get a text from Jeri?"
Unlocking her phone she saw that a video had been sent by Jeri. Looking to the ninja questioningly she clicked it and let it play on full sound so the two Uchiha and one Senju could hear it as well. They crowded around to watch the video.
"Lori, before you ask I put our phone numbers into each others phones when you were asleep!" Shouted Jeri as she was running in the video. From what Lori didn't know, but she seemed in a panic.
"I'm being chased be these psycho ass clowns!" Turning the phone all four could see two clowns chasing after her yelling vulgar insults towards the 15 year old girl. One of them had a butcher knife and another had rope.
"We're going to get you girly!" Shouted one clown.
You can run, but you can't hide!" Shouted the other as Jeri ran behind a random tree. Jeri's breathing was hard and heavy.
"Just in case this is my last time to communicate with you, I love you sis!" Jeri says with fear clear in her voice. Her body was shaking with fear and adrenaline. In the video the clowns popped up beside Jeri causing her to let out a shrill shriek before the video ended.
Lori stayed still for what seemed like an eternity to her but in reality was only one second before taking off with her feet pounding the foliage of the woods. If anything happens to Jeri... I am not getting blamed for it! Thought the blonde as she raced through the woods and past trees, ignoring the shouts of the three ninja tailing her. Lori was blamed for the craziest of thing she in the past and she was not getting blamed for murder. Lori wasn't worried, she wasn't afraid, she didn't feel anything at all. She just wanted to save her hide. She didn't care about Jeri herself, but knew that shit would go down should her family or any of the other ninja find out that Jeri had been killed or kidnapped while going out to search for her.
Lori wasn't aware of the ninja that had jumped from the trees in front of her and narrowly dodged Hashirama with a side step spin. Hashirama reached out to grab a hold of the rushing blonde and steadied her with his hand.
"Woah, are you okay Lori? Where's Jeri?" Asks the First Hokage as he looks between Lori and the three ninja who were right behind her.
"She's been kidnapped, if we can get to the house I have some connections who can track down Lori's location." Lori answered keeping her cool as all the ninja nod in understanding and Body Flicker back to the house. Lori opens her phone to the home screen and starts to flick through her contacts until she finds the person she's looking for.
The ninja hear a dial tone as Lori clicks the call button and waits for the person on the other line to pick up.
"What are you doing? And what connections were you talking about?" Itachi asks warily.
"I'm calling an aquantance of mine, she's good with technology and even better at hacking, something she taught me to do." Lori answers as the someone picks up on the other end of the call.
"Hello?" Sounds a groggy voice of a young woman.
"Hey, it's me. I need you to do me a favor..." After explaining the situation to the aquantance, Rose to be exact, Lori sets to work on telling her the location where Jeri's phone should have been near. The location of the house, at 4580 Veronese St New Orleans, LA 70129. All Lori could hear was typing on the other end of the phone.
"Alright! I'm into NASA's satellite system and I'm tracking Jeri's phone now." Rose informs into the phone earning a nod that she couldn't see from Lori.
Within five minutes she heard Rose on the other end. "Okay her location is at a warehouse, its right in front of Bella Ridge, a hotel in New Orleans."
"Right." Lori answers back.
"Good luck Lori." Rose offers.
"Thanks."
With that the call was ended and Lori turned to the ten ninja, well... Nine ninja, one little boy of five or six. "In front of Bella Ridge, a hotel. She's in a warehouse. Let's go."
Lori set her phone to google maps and plugged in the address of Bella Ridge, New Orleans and could see that the location was across town. She found herself literally swept off her feet not a few seconds later and looked to see Hashirama had picked her up bridal style.
"Lets move out!" Hahsirama orders.
Q1: Why did Itama trigger that memory? And what was that memory or her wild imagination? Was it Lori who was being consoled by her father, or was it a memory of a sister? What did you think about Lori using the memory or her imagination, to cheer up Itama?
Q2: who do you think Lori's Father is?
Q3: What did you think about Lori unknowingly repeating the quote? When she said she was fine and Jeri asked her if she was okay? What did you think when Shisui and Itachi looked to each other right after that?
Q4: What is this inner conflict Lori is feeling about Family?
Q5: Why does Itachi feel like it is an act that Lori is putting on for Itama?
Q6: What do you think the task is that Lori has started and needs to finish?
Q7: what do you think is going to happen to Jeri? What did you think about Lori using her connections to locate Jeri and trying to find her?
Q8: What could have Lori been blamed for in the past?
Q9: Does anyone see brother/sister moments between some of the characters?
Please Review and give your own opinion and thoughts along with answering these questions please!
Thank you so much for your comments and observations in the reviews and answering my questions! I know what I am going to do for this chapter because of all of your support thank you so much!
I added some more information on Chapter 2 and changed a few things slightly but the end result is still the same. I just made it more realistic. That's all.
