Disclaimer : Nope, I don't own Naruto. But the ghost version of its characters? Yess…
A/N : See? See!? I continue it for you! Would you stop asking? Sigh… you know I have a weak spot for reviewers' requests… (has a weak heart here…) and you almost got me in tears when I read those wonderful encouragements! I supposed to continue this once ST finished, but… I figured you would like to read this one immediately (since it's been so long). And because I love you all, and currently sick of studying and doing homework… needless to say, my writing addiction gauge is high right now (a.k.a. running away from the harsh reality). Prepare for coming updates!
Dedication : Dizzykins-chan, I'm sorry I kept you waiting though this fic is dedicated to you… Maybe you won't be able to read this second chapter because of your problem you told me, but if you could, I hope this'll cheer you up!
Chapter 2 : True Nightmare Begins
Naruto saw a very odd dream.
He was at a Halloween dance party, dancing with a certain attractive man who dressed up as a vampire. It was strange, because Naruto felt weird around him. That 'vampire' was different than the others, his enchanting gazes caging him as they danced, as if devouring his whole being. Naruto had found himself completely powerless before him.
Then, the scene changed.
He was inside a forest, searching for a missing boy. Then, again, he met the raven haired vampire. No, not face to face, Naruto was hiding behind the bushes, ogling at him and his gigantic green friend, who dressed up as a Frankenstein. Oh, with very realistic makeup too. Naruto watched them as they talked, then after they'd left, he stalked the two.
The next thing he knew, he'd lost them. Then Naruto arrived at a certain area, which was, once again, odd. There was a lone dead tree in the middle of that woodless field, and a rather wide hole near the base trunk. And he heard a creepy song…
"Hey…"
Hmm? No, the song wasn't like that.
"Hey, are you alright? Wake up…"
No, no, Naruto remembered clearly that the song was telling about ghouls… vampires… werewolves… something about flying… feasting… roaming…
"…it looks like he won't awake. What should we do now?"
"Maybe we should take him to Tsunade."
"That witch? I don't think it's a good idea, she's ill-tempered…"
'Huh? What are they talking about? Who's Tsunade? What witch? Why does everything looks so dark and black? Where's the light…?' Naruto tried to wriggle, but found his limbs were useless to even move a single digit. His eyelids felt heavy.
"True. But she's the best to search for medical attention, though the Witch's Peak is too far from here, and we don't have any means of transportation to bring him there…"
"How about the werewolves? They live nearby…"
'Werewolves? Witch?' Mused Naruto confusedly.
"They're insolent beasts, Lee, I don't think we could trust them."
"Then what else?"
"…yet again, maybe we should hand this creature to them, to see if it means harm or not."
"But what if they hurt it? What if it isn't evil like you hypothesized? Don't you feel sorry for him, Neji-san?"
"Think straight Lee, look at it. I've never seen a creature like it before, have you?"
"Well, no, but…"
"He resembles a vampire, yet he has no fangs. He's too small to fit a Frankenstein's or Goblin's characteristics. He has slender body and his skin is not too light, like those of a Witch's, but we knew that all witches are females. I don't think it's one. And if it's a Mummy…
Naruto's whole body suddenly stiffened in gruesome, his nerves were going crazy. Something he couldn't see seemed trapping him in place like a serpent held its prey. Never letting go.
…then we have to kill it."
"Neji-san!"
Naruto heard a chuckle. "Don't worry, Lee. I'm quite sure this one isn't a mummy. Mummies are prideful and powerful creatures, unlike this pathetic, weak dirty mass of a living thing (Naruto's veins twitched at this). And they live in the north desert; they couldn't possibly roam in the middle of a lush jungle such as here."
"Ooh… Neji-san, you scared me for a minute there…"
"Don't be. Now let's find a way to transmit this creature to the werewolves' hideout."
Naruto vaguely felt he was being lifted up by a pair of strong, yet cold, moist arms, his body relaxed in father-like weight, but what was occurring in his little mind, was a huge uproar. 'What… what the hell is going on!? Why can't I move? Why can't I open my eyes? What's happening to me? Who're these guys!? Let me go…!' Naruto wanted to scream, wanted to thrash his body and release himself from those cold grips, but he soon found his lips and lungs too, were unable to do coax anything out.
What was happening…?
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The dashing male moved his finned arms to tuck it below the blonde's back and waist as he lifted him, cradling him close to his bare, greenish blue-skinned chest carefully. Twitching his fine eyebrows unpleasantly when Naruto's scarred cheek meet with the sharp, tiny scales covering his bare torso. He seemed disgusted.
"Neji-san, are you alright? Should I help you?" asked the green water beast beside him, the big turtle shell attached to his back seemed too heavy and large for his rather small, slender figure.
"I'm fine." The handsome merman said, though he didn't look like he was. "You don't have to help me, Lee. Your injury hasn't fully healed yet."
"Oh, don't worry about it, it's just a scratch." Lee smiled, showing his sparkling teeth. "Let me—"
"No." Neji refused briefly. "Do you think I am weak? I can handle this little creature just fine."
"No, of course not, Neji-san…well, if you insist…" The water beast hesitantly said, forcing a smile. "Oh! I remember I saw one of the werewolves' messengers walking nearby a while ago, I'll go find him!" He suddenly lit up, smiling radiantly, before Neji could respond, the green water beast already dashed his way into the lush jungle.
Sighing tiredly, Neji walked to the side of the huge lake, lowering the blond creature's body on the grassy field. After that, he took his time to observe him, Naruto's face, his golden hair, his waist line, his clothed chest, and even his crotch. Finally, Neji quietly leaned closer, taking a liberty to remove the buttons of Naruto's shirt, revealing his smooth, bare tan chest, and also, more and more specific scents of the blonde being released from its container. Neji sniffed at it. The moment Naruto's scent had been identified by his nose, the proud merman quickly withdrew.
"What…?" He muttered disbelievingly, eyes widened with surprise. Even though Neji's nose wasn't as sharp as werewolf's outside of the water, but if he hadn't mistaken this scent… he knew it seemed odd, but he shrugged it off at first, thinking it couldn't be true…
But his scent...
Naruto's scent was mixed with a vampire's, that's why Neji had thought Naruto was a vampire, but he couldn't smell the sickening thick scent of blood on him and Naruto didn't have sharp canines like most vampire possessed. But he also smelled some sweet fragrance like the witches' have, their body structures were also awfully similar… but as he had mentioned, witches were all females, there was never been a male born case occurred within their kind. His body was too small and fragile to belong to the gigantic Frankenstein or Goblin family. Mummies can't survive outside of the desert. He couldn't be a merpeople like Neji… yet he didn't have a wereanimal's or monster's beastly characteristics. So the last option was…
"No, it couldn't be…"
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"Neji-san! Over here!" Lee exclaimed, waving his hand at the waiting merman as he ran toward the latter male, a small bulldog followed him from behind, wriggling its tail.
"Lee." Neji greeted, regarding the green beast a look as he stood from a large rock he sat on before.
"Neji-san, what's wrong? You look troubled…"
Neji shook his head, and then turned to face the small dog. "Pakkun, can you take a look…?" He asked, his gaze pointed at the limp body lying on the grass field not so far from them.
"Roger." The dog replied, then he approached the human. Cautiously, Pakkun observed the unconscious boy, then sniffed at him slightly. Neji watched the dog as his ears suddenly perked up, while Lee, stealing glances from Neji to Pakkun and Naruto, then to Neji again.
"He's a human." Pakkun concluded, twisting his head back toward Neji.
Lee gasped, while Neji remained calm, sighing. "I figured as much." He said, crossing his greenish blue-scaled arms, two digits bridged with transparent blue fin messaging his temples. "But I'm not sure because my nose isn't as keen as it should be underwater. I trust you land-crawlers would be able to identify it better."
"An honor to be praised by a snobbish underwater creature." Pakkun responded dryly.
Neji ignored it. "But why is a human here? They're supposedly cannot enter our world…"
"Maybe there're some distortions in the portal gates we used to enter their world, it might suddenly appeared in a random place and sucked this human in, or he accidentally fell into a portal...this isn't the first case, though." The dog explained, poking Naruto's chest with his small paw.
"Distortion!" Neji shrieked in surprise. "We must inform this to the High Sages!"
"No, we don't have to. The portal already been closed a few hours ago. Halloween is over." Pakkun interrupted, shrugging his head like a wet dog.
"Then, what must we do to this human? Kill it?" Neji suggested.
Pakkun cast him a look. "We can't just kill humans, young merman. We don't want to cause a fuss with the human's world, now are we? How is he?"
"He'd been unconscious since the first time we've found him, it's already been over three hours, and I still couldn't find a way to wake him. Do you know why?"
"Well, for starters…" Pakkun sniffed at the boy again. "He already gained conscious."
"What? Why didn't he wake up?" Asked Lee.
"I could smell his restlessness, his heart rate escalating when I poked him, that's why I know his mind is awake, but his body don't." the dog explained. "He's a human from another world, a world with different air and different situation… maybe he subconsciously detected the odds of this world that is different with his own when he'd arrived here, and he shut his body functions in attempt of self-protection. But he probably didn't realize it."
Neji raised his eyebrows. "How do you know?" he asked.
"One hundred years living in human's world really taught you that much." Pakkun replied. "Oh, by the way, he probably could hear our conversation and is totally freaked out by now. Hear it? His hear rate's pounding like crazy." He poked Naruto's chest with his paw, idly musing what kind of reaction this human would muster if he saw a talking dog…?
"Anyway, if you want to wake him up, then I have the right thing at our den."
Strangely, Neji's body tensed at the hint of invitation. And Pakkun noticed it.
"Don't worry, Leader and most others are out to hunt, they won't be returning until next week. You can rest assure."
"But…" Neji hesitantly said. "Is he…?"
"Young master stays to protect the young, if you really need to know. He got injured in the last hunting season."
Neji gave a gesture as if he wanted to say something, but he quickly clamped his lips shut. He looked away, hiding his expression. Lee also looked nervous.
"Let's go, then."
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Naruto felt his body was being moved to someplace he certainly didn't know. Though he couldn't talk or move, however, Naruto could still hear those people's voice talking to each other. He also could smell the scents of fresh grass, wet soil, and rain, felt the sharp tree branches scrapping at his skin, he must be in some kind of a forest. But he had a strong feeling that this forest wasn't the one he entered to before.
'Where am I? Why am I here? I'm supposed to be in the forest near the park, but… why do I feel it's different somehow?' Naruto questioned in his mind. 'And these… these freaky guys… they talk like I'm some kind of an alien from another planet or something, talking about portals, and merman, and vampire, and werewolves… What are they talking about? Where are they taking me to?'
Meanwhile Naruto was busy with unanswered questions in his mind, he suddenly heard sounds of running water, and the fresh scent of grass vanished, and was replaced with damp, humid air that made him wanted to choke at the unpleasant scent.
"It's empty. Maybe Young Master goes out to hunt for dinner."
"Wow, it's huge! All of you live here?"
"Yes. Our clan is nomads, actually, we moved here fifty years ago after our previous cave up in the north mountain scorched and became a desert plateau. We finally found this one after traveling for almost two years."
"…the mummies?"
"Yes."
'Mummies?' Naruto mused confusedly. 'I thought they just appear in movies?'
"Put him here."
"Where?"
"On the flat stone over there. No, the one a little to the right."
Naruto felt his body was being lowered, until his back touched a hard, cold surface of something resembled steel, flat and smooth, like a billboard.
"Now what?"
"Wait, I'll fetch the herb…"
Naruto heard some rustling noise filled the humid space, echoing.
"Lee, can you pinch the small flower buds near his nose?"
"Sure."
The blonde smelled some unpleasant scents… which gradually became worse and worse, and it filled Naruto's small nostrils to his windpipe, then to his lungs… The horrible smell even worse than vile trashes and Jiraiya's three months of unwashed socks being put together!
When Naruto's chest was about to explode from the lack of the wonderful, healthy air, he let out a very long, hoarse final scream.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" He screamed loudly, mouth opened wide and hands desperately grasping his throat which was screaming for oxygen.
'Wait…' Naruto mused, coughing erratically. The grip at his neck loosened, and he drew it back and stared at it. 'Wait, I…'
"I can see my hands! I can move again!" Naruto exclaimed in half-surprised and half-joyful. "Hey… I can talk too! YEAH!!" Screamed Naruto merrily, thrusting both of his fists upwards. "YEAH! WOO-HOO!"
"…I hate to disturb your happy celebration, but…" A voice suddenly interrupted. Without thinking, Naruto unknowingly twisted his head to the speaker, to Pakkun.
"Are you alright, youthful human?" Asked a green guy worriedly, leaning his body to the blonde.
"Lee, don't get too close to that filthy creature." Neji growled, piercing snowy eyes glaring at the human boy distastefully.
"But Neji-san, I've never met a human before…"
"You don't know where it's been."
"Boys, boys! You're rude to the guest! I'm sorry, young human, how do you feel?" asked the dog.
Naruto stilled, and remained silent for a grand total of five seconds, before his blue eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he slowly arched backwards, finally fell to the flat stone bed with a 'thump', limply lying there.
He'd fainted dead away.
There was a content silence between the three monsters then.
"…well, it's not very surprising, since he saw a talking dog…" Pakkun commented, scratching the stoned ground.
"…with a merman and a kappa. Humans are weak." Neji scoffed as he flung a long dark strand away.
"What should we do now?" Asked Lee, poking the unconscious blonde.
"Lee…" Naji called boredly, crossing his arms. "Use the pollen again."
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The second time Naruto awaked with a talking bulldog, a freakish blue fish-man, and a gigantic mutated green turtle right in front of him, he'd screamed bloody murder.
"WHAT… WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU!? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? WHAT'S THIS PLACE!?" Naruto frantically screamed, an accusing finger pointed toward the triad.
"That is certainly an expected reaction." Pakkun muttered. "He's a quite easy one to read."
"Please calm down, youthful human!" Lee exclaimed soothingly.
"Calm down!?" Naruto almost shrieked. "I've been kidnapped by a bunch of weirdos! How the hell can I be calm!? What do you want from me!? Money? Well, it's too bad 'cause my perverted dad's POOR!"
"Wow, wow. Young human, I don't think you should scream like that, you'll wake the night-walkers. And it would be a very bad thing, because they suffered from low-blood pressure."
Naruto backed away, a horrified expression plastered to his face clearly. "Shit." He mouthed. "Oh shit, that dog…that dog is talking to me…a freakin' dog! Shit, shit, shit, this must be a dream…a nightmare…it'can't be real... I have to wake up soon…Wake up, Naruto! Wake up, dammit!!" Naruto slapped his cheeks with both palms, urging himself to alertness, aroused from this terrible nightmare. He was sure a few seconds again he would wake up in his bed, inside his messy bedroom. Then Jiraiya would scream for him to quickly take a bath and eat breakfast because he was already late for school…
But as he'd slapped himself until his cheeks were swollen red and hurt, Naruto still hadn't wake up in his bed yet. He wasn't inside his messy bedroom. There wasn't any of Jiraiya's demanding screams. He was still inside the dark, humid cave. Sitting on the flat stone bed. With three monstrous creatures watching him observantly.
"It won't go away…" Naruto uttered shakily. "Why won't it!? It's just a dream, dammit!" He screamed frustratedly, slapping at his already swollen cheeks some more.
As he observed the pathetic human trying to run away from the reality with one of the most unreasonable and illogical way, Neji couldn't help but to let out a heavy sigh. "Listen, human." He started tiredly. "I've heard all of your ridiculous chants of reality-denial, and it starting to irritate me tremendously. But as a high-class merman of my caliber, I have to say that—"
"AAARRHHH! Shut up, you ugly fish-man! Go back to your swamp!" Naruto exclaimed randomly, furiously hitting at his head.
Neji paused. "Ugly fish-man…?"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You're all just some witty imaginary fantasies! You're not real! It's just a dream!"
A dark brow twitched. A palm balled. "…witty imaginary…fantasies?"
"Neji-san?"
"Oh man, why did I have to had this weird dream!? Somebody, wake me up…I don't want to be with that freakish, slimy, scaly creature… He even touched me! Eww…"
"…freakish…slimy…scaly…'eww'…!?"
"N-Neji-s-san?"
Growling a throat deep, the furious merman stepped forward, quickly approaching the chanting blonde with an outstretched blue-scaled arm ready. Then he roughly snatched the front of Naruto's shirt, pulling the human's face close to his. A pair of resentful snowy-white eye met with shocked blue ones, as Neji growled angrily once again, he had never felt this much humiliation before!
"Listen, human." Neji uttered deeply. "I've been watching those ridiculous things you've said and done since you awaked, and it pisses me off. So much that I just wanted to dip my claws through that fleshy, scale-less chest of yours." He hissed, tightening his grip.
"But because I don't want to cause trouble for my kind, and I have no time to dispose of your corpse before the werewolves returned and feast on you, then let me tell you one thing; this is not a dream." Neji smirked, enjoying as Naruto's eyes grew wide and his expression twisted in shock. "Everything you see, you smell, you hear, you touch, you feel right now… is the reality."
"You're not a creature of this world. I don't know why you could enter our world, but we'll find out soon enough. Hear and keep this in mind, human, that you are not belong in this world." Neji released his grip, and Naruto flopped down to the stone bed again, staring up to the triumphant merman, who, stared down at the wordless boy arrogantly.
"Welcome to the world of endless night, the Underworld."
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TBC…
A/N : Okay… that wasn't like what I'd expected myself, I mean the lack of humor! I only wrote about how Neji is such a mean, arrogant person… not exactly what I've put this fic as a Romance/Humor fiction… Well, how's it? I know I've been keeping you for soo long, I'm sorry! But because I really enjoyed writing this one, might as well continue! For those who disappointed in Sasuke's lack of appearance, don't worry dears. He'll show up in the next chapter. Ah, I want to add NejiKiba in this one too, what do you think? Hehehe, I've come to love this pair immensely, it's because of Skirt Tragedy's influence, I think…I might use this pair as side-pairing often in the future. Review[:)
The next updates will be A Price To Pay and Platinum Snowflake! And Hatari-chan? Your requested one-shot! Addiction meter hitched to the sky…
Ja, Mata Ne!