Sorry to keep you guys waiting. I just did a new chapter for "A Fragile Blue Rose" (final in the Konoha Kaidan Trilogy) with one more to go. :D

Of course, since this story is based off the movie, I have been debating what to include and what not to include. Because after all, shock is shock, though this content isn't for the fainthearted.

Oh and thank you so much for the support in the last chapter, especially the one who replied to me and my father's ordeal. Long story short: he's retired from the army, for five years now, but before then, he's been an alcoholic ever since he joined them. They say sometimes it changes a person for better or worse - and I may have fallen into the latter category. :(

Last April he was diagnosed with liver cancer, was ordered to STOP drinking, and he did for five months until now. He's putting himself in an early grave, doesn't care how it affects us (me and Grandma, his mother). :'(

Right now, we're trying to enjoy the peace while it lasts.

Chapter Two

Rats in the Walls?

He enjoyed his mornings - most of the time - because they were always warm and peaceful. If there would be any trouble, it was in the afternoon until early evening when he wanted nothing but relaxation from then on. He said good morning to the kitchen staff until he found the one he was looking for.

"Last night, there was scratching again, Kisame," he said as he helped himself to his steaming beverage at the table by the bright alcove which showed the gardens and all the privacy needed. Sarada was long since gone. "But if it isn't rats, then I damned well don't know what we can do!"

"You have me there," his friend and head of the household replied as he joined him just as the other servants were getting to work. "I left all the traps I could myself, Itachi, but none of them snapped, and bait was left exactly as I placed them." He shook his head.

Kisame Hoshigaki had once been a member of the special services, but after having his face scarred to make it appear like a shark, he retired after ten years and settled down to find service in the Uchiha household, because he was a family friend since Itachi and his brother were children. As far as he was concerned, this was all the business and pleasure in one he needed.

Itachi himself was a stay-at-home consultant who ran his own firm; not only was the income his wife made for them included, but what his father left was enough to help him and his family get by. Sasuke had his own, but he was otherwise stationed wherever he was ordered, though when he was home, he would not bother to come to the house. There were times Itachi tried seeking him out for his daughter's birthday, for Christmas even, only to hear from his buddies - including Naruto who also wasn't home much, but he would always go to his family - that Sasuke would often disappear, and they wouldn't know where he was.

Seated at his desk within his personal office, he called the exterminator to come by and take a look into the wall system. If there weren't rats, it could be insects, that was all.

But what kind of BUGS scurried in the early hours of the morning?

The gentleman whose name was Takuetsu promised he would be here tomorrow morning. In the meantime, he had his table full of memos written as well as the phone blown up with clients asking for advice on how to make it work. He would arrive before the afternoon hour would strike. And in the meantime, when the day was ending...

His niece - his pretty, spectacled and growing so fast little niece - came home and with something else in her backpack besides her homework, but she waited to show him until after dinner. A dinner he slaved away to make, consisting of miso ramen, grilled fish and then dango. And what it was turned out to be a shocker that was reserved for other children who had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

"Sarada Uchiha, where on earth and WHO did you get this from?!"

What she had was none other than an Ouija board - a seemingly innocent gameboard, but it harbored a dark secret: communication with the dead. "Boruto borrowed it from a friend of his at school. He did it before and with his mom, then let me borrow so I can use it with you. Said they did it once to communicate with Neji, his and Himawari's uncle who died before she was born. They actually TALKED to him!" Her eyes flashed excitedly, also pleading with him to try it.

Itachi did not approve of what she was implying: she wanted to use it to attempt to communicate with her mother who died after birthing her.

"No."

Her face fell. "Why not?"

"Because it's dangerous. Surely you've heard the rules?"

"Yes, Boruto explained them. But nothing terrible happened. At least he would have told me if it did. I know you shouldn't goad, so to speak, no asking when you'll die, don't use it alone, be in the dark and devoid of background noises, say good-bye when you're done."

Itachi motioned for her to come around the table to stand beside him. When she did, she laid down the board before their eyes. "There is more to it. No usage within burial grounds, or in the place the person you are in contact with died." I remember Sasuke bringing it home, saying Naruto let him borrow. These days, the need to talk to deceased loved ones...

But there was also Sarada being sad and desperate, because she never knew her mother and sometimes thought her father purposefully didn't want her based on what she accidentally heard her uncle once say over the phone. "It was never your fault," he would say, sometimes only doing so much.

Now she brought this thing home so that they could try and contact Sakura. It wasn't like she died in THIS house, but Itachi still didn't have a good feeling about this. "If you want to, then let me be here, and if any of the warnings happen, we cut it off," he said sternly. He didn't believe in the supernatural, unlike his wife whose family was more devout than his, but rules were rules.

Giddy, Sarada sat down and positioned the planchette in the middle of the damned thing, and said with her eyes closed, "M-Mama -?"

"No, wait!" Quickly, Itachi put his hand on the thing. "Go on."

"Mama, is it you?" she asked, biting her lower lip.

The microscopic thing began to move - I'm not even moving it myself, and neither is she! - going to the top left...YES.

Itachi felt like the breath had been knocked out of his lungs. S-Sakura...

Suddenly, it felt like he suddenly sensed the presence - if she was here. He remembered the times he could have sworn she would still be here, only to find no one there. Izumi would say the same. And Sasuke, grieving widower, never once talked about it, but he mentioned a few times seeing her in his sleep. Seldom did he have a night's rest since then. "What's my name?" the girl went on, pressing excitedly, and then the letters began to spell out.

S. A. R. A. D. A.

She'd spelled her daughter's name! But how would you explain the cold shiver up Itachi's spine? "What is your name?" he questioned, treading carefully and hoping he didn't sound too offensive. If this unseen force spelled out what he was thinking about, then he was going to end it here and now - but nothing of the sort happened.

S. A. K. U. R. A. I. T. A .C. H. I. - all coming down to the message: Sakura, Itachi. He gasped sharply; she had said his name right after hers!

"It's really her, Uncle!" Sarada said happily, taking off her glasses to rub her eyes with one hand, keeping the other on the planchette, and wiping tears she didn't want to fall.

Itachi gazed upon the black, ancient letters painted on modern cardboard, feeling something light in himself...though he wasn't going to take things lightly based on the strings in his heart tugging.

~o~

About time the shoot was over! Now she could catch a short flight and then go home. And get ready for Itachi's dinner.

One of the best dresses in sleeked black topped with a dramatic lace overlay, almost like a cape - it was one of the newest trends. And after it was over, she found herself as well as her fellow line-up girls being blinded by paparazzi cameras as well as fans who wanted their autographs. It was fun, but also exhausting. She was glad to be home.

"Hello, Auntie is home!" she called. But it wasn't her niece to answer first; her husband answered back that he was in the kitchen. He was finishing up some paperwork, which made her click her tongue. She swore he worked himself much harder than she did with herself, which she sometimes scolded him for, but Uchiha were natural workaholics that required someone to keep them on their feet.

And just like that, the little terror herself arrived, coming around to attack her from behind, wrapping her arms around Izumi's waist. "Summer!" she said happily, still sweet and innocent as ever before she was even a teenager. "Auntie, fishing trip! Right, Uncle?!" It was then that she let go and sneezed, but not before covering her mouth.

"Oh, gods!" Izumi quickly pulled out a couple tissues from her purse and gave them to the girl, before pulling out the small bottle of sanitizer she made sure to have on hand. You'd better not be coming down with a cold or flu on your first day of summer!

"I'm fine," Sarada said after wiping her hands clean and tossing the tissues into the trash. "Just a sneeze...though when the day was almost over, I felt sick and suddenly hungry."

"Well, how about we all go out now and treat you to something that will make you feel a little better?" Itachi said, standing up and putting his pen down. "Dango for all of us!"

Their niece clapped her hands in affirmative, jumping up and down.

~o~

The best days of her life were when Uncle Itachi took her and Aunt Izumi for sweet dumplings. He always did it for birthdays, for holidays, and special days when she would bring back good grades from school.

Last day of school: she brought back a report card with solid highs across the charts. And her boys were a mixed result, in the sense Mitsuki was near the same as her, but Boruto was average at best. That idiot - it made her wonder how he could be the son of her father's best friend. Thinking about her dad whom she hardly saw in her life made her fall inside, especially when Boruto asked her if he was coming home while they were all on summer vacation.

"Who cares," would always be her answer.

From what her aunt and uncle told her, her mother died after she was born, and her father was so distraught that he got away to deal with his burdens on his own. They both said he loved her, but he was dealing with it in his own way. Except Sarada had a hard time believing that. If Sasuke loved her, why didn't he stay in her life just like Itachi and Izumi?!

Her guardians said he was also fighting with other men and women to make sure their country was safe; so, in a small way, she was glad that he was protecting her along with everyone else.

Sakura Uchiha - the picture was still in the house so that her only daughter would see her face. Actually, there was more than just that one. But for Sasuke to look at her face in mementos added to his absence. She was filled with so much life, Sarada was told, and it showed in her bright smile, the pink hair and vivid green eyes - she looked like the flower she was named after. She was the opposite of her husband, but they loved each other very much.

Aunt Izumi sat her down for this. "Sometimes when you lose someone you love, it just tears you apart and you don't know what to do anymore. It's easy to close off, but it takes a stronger person to make things right, to fix what was broken. Death brings some together, but it also separates them." She was really sad, just like the time she, too, lost her father when she was a little girl. That time, she and her mother were closer than ever.

This Sarada didn't understand, although it was going to take time to make more sense. As far as she was concerned, family was family. And it made her happy to know the mother she never knew wouldn't have wanted THIS happening between her husband and daughter. I got Uncle and Auntie when Dad isn't here. They gave me everything I wanted.

Though, they were heartbroken over the baby they lost when she was too young to understand. Was having a cousin going to be the same as having a brother or sister? Boruto had Himawari, but Sarada decided being an only child was enough. That meant all the attention she had.

Speaking of Boruto, he gave her the ghost board to let her borrow and play with Uncle Itachi while her aunt was away in Tokyo for the next couple days.

Except when he laid his eyes on it, he vehemently insisted she not play it because of how dangerous it could be. But Boruto said he contacted his uncle on his mother's side, and nothing terrible happened. What was the harm in HER wanting to communicate with her dead mother if it was possible?

She and Itachi lucked out when SAKURA replied, before he insisted they end the channel to be safe. "Tomorrow, you take it back to your friend, and that's final," he'd said firmly, and his word was law. That was one thing that scared her about the man who raised her when his younger brother never did. In fact, anyone who saw Itachi Uchiha cold and commanding would freeze in their tracks and dare not say no.

Her uncle kept it locked away in his study, in a place that she wouldn't find it, and it was when Hinata would come by to pick her up that she had to give it to the woman who was sympathetic but otherwise agreed with what Itachi said.

Still...it was worth talking to Mom and knowing she was there.

There was also a problem: the scratching in the walls which had gone on for a while now, and they sometimes scared her - but not too much? She tried to say it to herself, but her spine would tingle. Uncle promised her it could just be rats, and that the exterminator would handle it if there was. Or bugs.

Except during the day, Sarada felt herself sneeze a fair few times, wondering if she got herself the allergies of the season or the start of a cold, and that scared her. Uncle Itachi had planned a fishing trip with her and Aunt Izumi, Uncles Naruto and Shisui as well as a few of their friends. She didn't want it to be cancelled if she was sick.

When she got back on this last day with her perfect report card in hand, thanked Hinata and said bye for now to Boruto, she ran up to the house to show her uncle, and it was this day Izumi came home, tired but glad to be home. Sarada had time to hug her before sneezing and coughing again.

Now she was hungry, and what better than dango treated by Uncle?

Sweets always made her feel better, so she was excited. "Oh, before we go out there, at least let me get settled back into this house," Izumi said, but her husband laughed and picked her up like it was their wedding day.

"Not just yet, dearest. You're going with us first so that we can get something sweet in our stomachs, because some of us earned it - and some of us need to feel better." He winked down at Sarada who blushed pink.

They were at the tea shop in no time, and it was there that they ran into none other than Naruto who had just gotten home that day. Sarada was so happy to see him that she ran and hugged him around the waist, after he'd placed his order to take home to surprise his family. "Oh, there's my girl!" he said happily, returning the hug. "And hi, Itachi, Izumi."

"Naruto, you're back," Itachi answered, pleased, but then it vanished. "I take it my brother is also home." The mention of Sasuke made Izumi scowl, too, and Sarada backed away by a few steps. She wasn't sure she wanted to see her father, even though she wished she could do something to get him to stay home for good...

And Naruto was grim, of course. "Yeah, but I haven't seen him since we landed. Hinata came after she dropped the kids - and you, Sarada - off at school, so here I am. I tried to get Sasuke to ride with us, but he took a cab and said he would be around until he couldn't take it anymore."

Something in Sarada cracked, but she tried not to cry. Something dark inside was swelling that her young mind couldn't comprehend. That makes me think Dad doesn't want me, after all. If that's true, why would he bother existing?!

"Sarada, sweetie, go sit down and wait with Auntie," Itachi told her, disappointing the girl and aggravating his wife who agreed and led Sarada to the furthest table, but the latter managed to hear what her uncle bitterly muttered to Naruto. "If I see my foolish brother, I'm going to sit him down and make him see what he's been missing. His daughter is getting old enough to not feel she needs him anymore, and sooner or later, he is going to regret it."

Takuetsu (the exterminator) was named for the masseur character in Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan.

So, doing the Ouija board moment - of course for those who know the movie, the girl did it alone and that resulted in the possession. :O Though Sarada wasn't alone...but does that change a thing?

Obviously not.

One of the signs of demonic possession is obviously the sensing of a possible presence. Mostly it could be the belief it is a deceased loved one.

Review please. :D