Disclaimer: I do not own naruto
Suigetsu laid on his bed, a cold cloth placed on his forehead to reduce his fever. He forced his eyes open to look over at the person next to him. His vision was a bit blurry but he could recognize the person's bright red hair color, "Karin" his voice sounded a bit hoarse as he spoke.
The red haired woman shushed him. "Don't speak, you need to rest." she told him, switching the small cloth on his forehead once in a while. He could tell she was worried by the tone in her voice. "But I feel better now. although, it does feel a bit cold. Why don't you come join me?" He patted the empty space on the bed next to him.
Karin scoffed at his slyness and smacked him with the cold cloth. "You're crazy if you think I'm going to lay down with you when you've been sweating buckets the past two hours." She grabbed a blanket and covered him with it. "There, you can stay warm now."
He tried to laugh but ended up coughing instead. "You can be so cruel sometimes."
"Someone has to keep you in check. Now shut up and go to sleep." She commanded. It was hard seeing him in this state. If this was the beginning of his curse then, she didn't want to imagine how much pain it would cause him in the future.
Sakura sat down with everyone at the table, including sasuke. This was an important matter that needed to be taken care of. She placed a flier on the table for everyone to see. "While I was in town with Naruto and Suigetsu, we found a bunch of these fliers all around. We don't know who did this but I'm pretty sure people have started to bring up rumors about it. If we don't put an end to this soon there will be hunters trying to find Sasuke."
Shikamaru inspected the drawing before placing it back down. "This means someone has already seen sasuke in his beast form."
"And if that person is determined enough, then they'll do anything to get more evidence." Neji added.
Naruto leaned back on his chair, wincing in pain seconds later due to his injured back. "What if there was more than one person who saw him? We'd be screwed, especially if it's a hunter."
Amy looked over at sasuke. "We can't let them hurt him! They'll end up killing him!"
"Thanks for Stating the obvious," muttered tenten, rolling her eyes.
Everyone looked over at sasuke who kept staring at the flier on the table. "What do you want us to do?" Asked Sai, tilting his head to the side with a smile.
They heard the entrance to the door slam open which startled everyone, thinking hunters had entered the property to hunt sasuke down. "Guys!" Yelled ino, interrupting the meeting.
They were all surprised to see her in a wheelchair. "Ino? What happened to you!" Asked Sakura worriedly.
The blonde waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. I'll explain later." She turned around to face everyone. "Kiba and I have been finding a bunch of these fliers going around town."
"Yeah, we know, we were just talking about it,'' said Sakura, holding up the Same flier so ino could see it. "The problem is we don't have a clue who it is."
Ino pushed her way closer to the table and looked at everyone. "Listen up everyone, I suggest We don't do anything."
Everyone looked at her with puzzled looks on their faces.
Neji raised an eyebrow. "what?" Had she lost her mind? "What do you mean by not doing anything, yamanaka. Something clearly has to be done to stop this." He pointed at the flier just in case she was also losing her vision.
She huffed, feeling insulted. "Look, In a few days the town's people will be holding a ball. Everyone will be distracted and forget about these fliers. unless of course, they bring this up again after the event is over."
Shin looked over at her. "I feel like it would be wiser if we all attend as well, just in case people do end up gossiping about it."
"Yes! And we can just laugh it off and convince them that it's all a big lie!" Added ino, excited about the whole plan.
Sakura pondered. They were right, if people were out at the ball having fun they would surely forget about all this, right? She placed a hand on the table. "Then, all we have to do is find the person who did this before the ball ends." She looked over at sasuke who seemed to be deep in thought, looking down at the table.
Everything seemed to be getting out of hand and it felt like he couldn't do anything but rely on everyone. It made him feel angry and disappointed in himself. It felt like he was some damsel in distress who needed saving, pathetic. He stood up and left without saying anything.
Hizashi sat on his couch looking out at the night sky. His eyes seemed distant, almost lifeless. There were books scattered beneath his feet. books about mythical creatures and books about demons. What he had seen that night…That thing…no, that monster was flying away with his daughter. Was she still alive when it was carrying her? Was she holding on to dear life? Or, Had it really killed her? His eyes watered as he recalled the painful memory.
FLASHBACK…
For once in his life he had been out early from work today. He thought about what to do with his spare time. Hmmm.. his face brightened up, "I know! I'll go see mebuki for a little while and then I can go visit Sakura before it gets dark." He headed to the cemetery to see his wife's tombstone and sat down to talk to her for a while. He said his goodbyes and headed into the woods to visit his daughter. He was sure she would be happy to see him after not being able to see each other for about a month. After walking for at least 30 minutes straight he stopped to take a break. He sat down by a tree and rubbed his poor knees. "ha, seems like old age is finally getting to me." He took in the beautiful scenery before him, the wind caressing his face.. how lovely, his eyelids closed and opened slowly and before he knew it he ended up falling asleep.
He slowly opened his eyes and woke up to the chilly temperature that engulfed his body "w-when did it get so cold. He stood up, eyes wide open. "my goodness, what time is it!" The sun was going down and he didn't know whether he should keep walking or just go back home. No, he already made it this far. He kept on walking until he reached the mansion. He opened the gates with a lot of struggle but was finally able to walk in. "That's strange, there's usually a bodyguard or two guarding the gate." As he got closer he could see the door had been broken. He took a step inside the mansion, cautiously.
He stood there in shock "what in the world happened here." Everything was broken and Scratched as if a giant wild animal had attacked the place. He looked down at the carpet full of shattered glass and… blood. His eyes widened and he backed away, running out of the mansion. He couldn't bear to look around for he was afraid of what he might end up seeing in those other rooms. He ran into the woods, stopping to catch his breath. In the distance, he could hear wolves and an eerie cry. He looked up to see a huge winged creature flying above his head. He stood there, frozen in fear "w-What is tha…'' his eyes widened in horror when he saw what it was carrying in its arms, "Sakura." He couldn't see her face due to the distance but he could clearly see her long pink hair fluttering in the wind and stains of blood covering her clothes and feet.
Had it killed his daughter? His body trembled with anger and sadness. What was he supposed to do? If he went after it, it would surely end up killing a weak old man like himself. He had no weapon with him or anything to attack it with. He forced his legs to turn around and run back into town. Maybe someone would be able to help him.
As he neared the town he could see the lights from inside the bar still lit up. Yes, they would surely help him. He ran inside, the doors slamming on each side. Everyone turned around to look at him. "P-please help! My daughter she's- she's been taken away by a beast in the woods!" He yelled, trying to catch his breath from running.
Silence…
A few men started laughing, followed a few seconds later by the rest.
A tall muscular guy stood up and smacked his shoulder playfully "a beast ye say?!" He laughed, "whata he look like?" He asked, intrigued by what the crazy man had to say.
Kizashi almost fell over when the man smacked him again. "I-it was bigger than any human being, and his skin was a purple brownish color. He had long black spiky hair, scary blood red eyes, and h-huge hand like wings! His eyes widened as he remembered the horrible image in his head.
"Oh shi* Sounds like something from my nightmares!" Laughed a guy, drinking his beer.
"P-please you have to help kill it! It can end up hurting innocent people!" He looked over at someone he recognized and clung to his feet in desperation. "Allen! My daughter, she helped cure your wife and your son when you had no money to take them to the hospital! If the monster finds this town they could be in danger! Do it for them! For the safety of your family and friends!"
He looked down at him in disgust. "Well, she's the one who decided to help out of her own free will, it's not like I owe her anything." He kicked him away and gulped down his drink. "Seems like your brain isn't working like it used to. Perhaps, you should get that checked out." He grinned as everyone laughed and yelled for him to leave.
Kizashi lifted himself up. "I'm not going crazy! There really is a monster out there! Please help me get rid of it!" He begged as he was thrown out the bar by the same muscular guy. "I'm not Lying!"
END OF FLASHBACK…
"Nobody…believed me" he whispered as he clutched a picture of his daughter and wife to his chest. "I couldn't save her and now they're both gone! Why! Why must I suffer like this again!" He yelled as tears streamed down his face. The pain he felt was indescribable. "I have no one left…" his gaze fell to the floor where all the books about demons and creatures laid open. It was all that creature's fault that his daughter was gone. He would never get to see her again. He stood up and dragged his feet towards his room. He pushed aside the carpet from the floor and opened a small door where he kept a few weapons. He took out a rifle. If nobody was willing to help him he would kill it himself.
The next day…
Sakura realized how gloomy the mansion looked and wanted it to look a bit more lively, a bit brighter and so, everyone decided to help dust, clean and remodel. Sasuke, Kiba, and Shikamaru were upstairs setting up the new bed. And everyone else was downstairs or upstairs cleaning.
Naruto sneezed for what seemed like the twentieth time that day. "Who knew there would be so much dust in this mansion!" He whined, sticking a piece of tissue paper on both of his nostrils. "Hino stop throwin duhst thes wey."
Ino looked over at the blonde. they were in sasuke's study room dusting his awards that he had won over the years. "Maybe you should wear a mask?!"
"Dats a good iydea" he stepped out telling her he would be back.
She placed the trophy she had just cleaned on the desk beside her. Her lips turned into a frown recalling the lie she had told everyone. That she had walked out into the road without looking, causing the car to crash into her. Well, it wasn't a complete lie either. She told Sasuke and Sakura she wouldn't be working in the mansion anymore but Sakura didn't allow it. She sighed, They wanted her to stay even if she wouldn't be able to walk anymore. She looked up at the last trophy there was to clean. Naruto had been the one handing them to her but he had left a while ago. She held onto the cabinet for support and tried reaching it, just a little…
"Ino!"
Startled, she grabbed the shelf of the cabinet and the whole thing moved forward along with her. She closed her eyes and waited for the thing to crush her to death but it didn't. She looked up to see Shikamaru and Naruto pushing it back in place.
"What were you thinking!" Yelled Shikamaru, not even helping her sit up. She laid there on the floor staring up at him. Why was he yelling at her when he's the one who scared her in the first place! "You could've gotten hurt again!" She wanted to yell back and tell him not as much as he had hurt her but she kept her mouth shut. She had caused a lot of damage already. She looked away from him. The memory of him yelling at her at the restaurant was still vivid in her mind.
Naruto put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down and noticed his body was trembling slightly. "She's fine. I'll take care of her."
He unclenched his fists and walked out without even glancing her way.
The blonde man lifted her up and placed her back on her wheelchair. He could see a dark shadow covering her face like a veil. Was she going to unleash her wrath on him? He prayed she wouldn't. "Hey ino, Shikamaru was just worried about…"
"Naruto"
"Eek! Y-yes?" He asked, cowering in fear.
She looked up at him and smiled a little too nicely. "Let's not talk about him, ok?"
Naruto nodded quickly.
"Good. Now, about the ball. I was thinking that this would be another good chance for the curse to break."
Naruto looked at her, lost.
She sighed. "Think about it, Sakura won't want to go to the ball with us if she finds out that sasuke won't be going. Therefore, the two of them will be here all alone." She looked at the blonde to see if he was catching onto her plan.
He looked at her like she was the smartest person ever. "I see, keep going."
I can tell Sakura that we felt bad that she couldn't attend so we ended up throwing her a ball of her own just for her and her man. she grinned "everyone will help out by decorating the ballroom downstairs. Nobody has been there for years and I doubt sasuke would set foot in there. So we can decorate at night without them suspecting anything. The problem is getting Sasuke to dress up and dance with Sakura." She frowned, knowing he would probably ruin the whole plan if he wasn't cooperative.
Naruto gave her a wide grin. "don't worry, leave it to me. All I have to do is make him feel guilty about Sakura not going because of him. And if that doesn't work out I can just blackmail him." He hugged his cellphone where he held all types of blackmail that could be used.
Ino clapped excitedly, "perfect! Let all the others know about the plan. She watched him leave and right after, Kiba appeared.
"Ino, we're going to be late."
She looked confused at first and then she remembered today was her first therapy session. "Right, let's go." She'd tell him on the way of her marvelous plan.
Sakura had finished cleaning one of the many rooms and was headed to another. She stopped when she recognized the yellow caution tape. It would have been nice to at least dust and clean but she knew sasuke wouldn't want her to. She stepped back and turned around only to bump into him. She looked up in surprise. "I didn't go in, I swear! I was just thinking it would be nice to clean the rooms a bit."
He walked over to the caution tape, grabbed it and tore it down. "I'll help you clean." He offered.
She looked at him, a bit skeptical. "Are you sure? you don't have to force yourself, i can do it." She knew it would probably be difficult for him to walk down the place where his parents were killed.
He gave a short nod, turning around to face the dark hallway. He tried walking forward but his feet refused to obey. The sounds of screams suddenly filled his head and visions of blood, lots of blood. He unconsciously clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth. He felt his breathing become heavier as he invisioned the dead bodies on the ground. How did he come in here last time without this dreadful feeling? He felt a soft hand grab his and he looked down at the person beside him.
"You can do this, I'm right here with you." She smiled, giving him the strength to face his fear. He nodded as they walked up ahead and entered the first room, sasuke having to squeeze in through the door to get in.
Sakura started dusting the room while he organized and threw away unwanted things. She would glance at him once in a while just to make sure he was ok. He seemed to be doing fine to her relief.
She opened the large windows so the dust wouldn't make their nose feel stuffy. She felt the cold air hitting her face and she pulled her cardigan closer to get more warmth. It was a surprise that it hadn't snowed yet, or how that cherry blossom tree was still in bloom in mid November… "hu, maybe it's a magical tree." She mumbled with a small smile. She stepped away from the window and got started on cleaning.
"There's so many cobwebs," she said, looking at the top corners of the wall. She prayed there weren't any big, hairy spiders hanging around. She shivered involuntarily at the thought of one crawling on her precious hair. She grabbed a chair that was in the center of the room and climbed on it, hoping she could reach the edge of the ceiling with her feather duster. She tipped toed and realized she could hardly even reach. "Ughh, it's too high!"
Sasuke watched in amusement as she struggled to reach the corner of the wall. A ghost of a smirk formed on his lips when she huffed and complained about her height. He stood up to go help her. He held her by the waist and lifted her up and over his shoulders, holding onto her legs so she wouldn't fall backwards.
She squeaked, a bit startled when the raven haired man had grabbed her unexpectedly. She blushed, her hands had automatically grabbed onto the top of his soft hair. She lessened her tight grip. "Can you reach?" He asked, glancing up at her. She blinked, looking down at him and then at the corner of the wall. She reached out with her feather duster and was able to get rid of the webs easily. "Yeap, that was much easier." Once they finished with the other 3 corners she sighed in relief as she was finally about to get down from sasuke's shoulders. His back was probably hurting from carrying her around.
She got down quickly as soon as sasuke kneeled down for her to get off. She was about to thank him for helping her out when she felt something hairy brush against her feet . She froze, looked down and screamed. she didn't know how she managed to jump so high but she jumped up and latched onto Sasuke's back like a monkey. "R-rat!" She pointed out, watching as the thing ran out the room and out of sight.
Down the hallway, they heard a girly scream, (lee) followed by a couple of yells (hinata, and tenten) and seconds later, a string of colorful language (naruto and neji) and lastly, a harmonious scream and sounds of knives being thrown everywhere (choji)
Sakura, realizing she was still clinging onto Sasuke, hopped off, landing with a soft thud. She was too embarrassed to even say anything. He was probably thinking of how unrefined she looked a minute ago. She watched as his shoulders trembled and what sounded suspiciously like light laughter disguised as a cough. Her eyes narrowed, was he laughing at her? She huffed as he turned around with his usual stoic expression and cleared his throat. "Let's take a break." He suggested, walking over to the bed. The bed must have been so old that as soon as the raven haired man sat down, it broke down completely.
She tried not to laugh, she really did, but she couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. "A-are you ok?" She asked ,wiping away a few tears.
He glared at her before pulling her down with him. She gasped as she landed in a lying position next to him, hair sprawled all around her. She broke into a fit of giggles as he laid down next to her and smirked.
The sunlight seemed to engulf her in a bright light. He could see every detail on her face. Her emerald green eyes looked more intriguing as the light reflected in them. Her pink hair gave off a glowing effect in the sunlight. Her bright smile could even rival the sun itself. She looked ethereal. He wished he could keep this image, this moment engraved in his mind forever even after he turned into a beast… he broke out of his trance when he felt her place a hand on the side of his face. Her eyes held a look of surprise mixed with worry. she pursed her lips as if debating on what to say. "one of your eyes… it changed to purple." Her voice sounded a bit sad.
His lips turned into a small frown. He placed his hand on top of hers, "does it… scare you?"
She laughed lightly and shook her head. "Of course not." She could see the uncertainty in his eyes. "I'm not lying," she reassured, trying to look as sincere as possible. He pulled her close to his chest. she could feel his hot breath on her hair. He must've noticed she was starting to shiver slightly due to the cold air coming through the window. His embrace felt so warm and cozy that she almost fell asleep in his arms.
She had to admit she was scared, but for a different reason. It seemed like the curse mark was beginning to affect Sasuke even more than anyone could have imagined. She didn't want to lose him to the curse. She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to think about it.
"Dinners ready!" Yelled choji from down stairs.
"Is it rat stew?!" Yelled Naruto, receiving a few gagging noises from everyone.
Sasuke snorted.
Sakura looked up at him. "do you really think he cooked the rat?"
"Maybe, he enjoys new recipes." He chuckled when he saw the horrified look on her face.
She hit his chest playfully. "I'm surprised the cat didn't notice the rat."
He raised an eyebrow in question. "a cat? Where?"
She nodded. Last time I was up here I saw a black cat coming out of your brother's room."
He sat up with a small frown. "Sakura, nobody owns a cat in this mansion."
…
….
They were in Itachi's bedchambers, the secret room Sakura had found a while ago.
Sasuke was tense the entire time there. To think itachi had a hidden room was new to him. Once he had entered and noticed the letters in red smeared across the wall he felt sick to his stomach. Only a sick bastard like his brother would do something like this. He clenched his fist. He had the great desire to demolish the room into pieces.
"There's no way the cat could have gotten in through here, unless there was an open door or window, but the room doesn't even have any." Mumbled sakura, looking around.
They looked under the table, they pushed the walls to see if maybe there was a secret door but there wasn't. They checked everywhere but found nothing.
"Maybe the cat I saw was a ghost," said Sakura nervously. She was so scared back then that her mind was probably playing tricks on her.
The raven haired man was going through the wardrobe, looking at the hideous clothes itachi used to wear. Clothes that were fit for a villain. He'd make sure to burn them for him sometime. He noticed a gap at the bottom of the wardrobe which he found strange. He pushed the whole wardrobe to the side and it slid slowly on its own, revealing a very small room with nothing but a door and what seemed to be a table on the side.
Since sasuke couldn't fit, sakura entered the room instead, gagging as she went in further into the pitch black room. The place smelled putrid. Like something or someone had died in there. She covered her nose but the smell was too strong. "What is that smell?" She hurriedly opened the door, letting in some sunlight and fresh air. She looked around the room and noticed something black on top of a table. And then she realized what the smell was.. she ran out the door and started to throw up.
Sasuke felt frustrated as he tried squeezing into the room but to no avail. He cursed under his breath and stopped trying. "Sakura, sakura." He wondered what she had seen to end up throwing her guts out. He peered his head through and noticed a dead animal on the table. The horrible smell reached his nose and he backed away from the room.
"T-thats the cat that I saw but who…" who would have done such a horrible thing? "The door that leads to outside wasn't even locked."
Sasuke's face hardened. "There's a spy in this mansion."
Ooooh, who could that person be? I know XD
