Fandom: Naruto
Author: Snow Tigra
Pairings: SasuNaru
Warnings: Horror, as usual and Alternate Universe. The rest is up to my muses
Now Naruto was sure he'd seen a ghost.
The boy in front of him was a little shorter then himself, wearing the standard black polo shirt and khaki pants that the library preferred all its employees wore. His name tag was a little crooked and the shirt wasn't tucked in, while his glasses were slightly smudged from late night reading and all around being bored. After all there really wasn't much to do in the library after it closed but rearrange and read.
Green eyes matched the little boy's perfectly and of all things, the boy had a locket hanging around his neck, worn from age and use. The locket seemed to just fit him, really and Naruto couldn't help but wonder who was in it.
But back to the matter at hand, there was just no way to describe how creepy it was to see this boy and that ghost… they just had to be related! The fact that they shared the same name just made it even worse.
"Umm, hey."
Gaara frowned at Naruto. "The library is closed, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Right um, standard procedure, I get that. Problem is I work here too, that's how I got in. And well, other problem is this is kinda important. I really, really, really need to figure out what's going on. So if ya could let me look around I'm sure I'll find something…"
"It's 4 in the morning." The boy was obviously not convinced. What's worse he was definitely not the morning person type. Naruto frowned, trying to think of some way to explain that he was sick to death of being haunted and he certainly didn't want it to go on any longer, but at the same time he didn't want to sound completely crazy.
"I know it is, but seriously this is an emergency. Please just let me-"
Naruto's voice dropped away as the little ghost boy appeared next to Gaara, looking up at the red haired boy. And suddenly, all of it just seemed to make sense. Well, most of it actually. There was just one issue that didn't fit.
"Did you used to live at the large house? You know, the one by the lake at the end of fifth street?"
Gaara blinked, his frown fading. "How did you…?"
"And this is gonna sound really weird, but your mom…. She was gonna have another kid and then she got killed right? Am I right?"
"Who are you? How do you know any of this?" Gaara was obviously mad now and he was stepping toward Naruto, ready to demand an answer out of him. But rather then let him get that far, Naruto just pointed at the ghost boy next to him and watched as Gaara turned and looked… at the younger version of himself.
As soon as their eyes met, a light giggle filled the room again, melting into a low, angry moan. Naruto groaned loudly while Gaara looked around, confused. "What… was that?"
"Oh, just that little kid's big brother. He's all freaky and so not safe. We should probably leave now." Naruto's voice cracked with nervousness as he looked around them. Suddenly the library felt small and cramped and he was painfully aware of the fact that the two closest exits were on the other side of the building thanks to maintence being forced to close the door on this side. It just rubbed in how deadly and dangerous fire hazards could be in cases where there wasn't a fire.
The giggle sounded again and both boys turned to see the little ghost boy was now standing in front of them, blocking them from the lobby. This time his eyes were locked on Gaara and Naruto watched the two just stare at each other. He could see panic in the other boy's eyes and disbelief. Then the ghost boy screamed again.
"MOMMY!!"
"Stop it!" Gaara's hands flew to cover his ears and he staggered back, knocking into a bookshelf. The old wood shook behind him and books started falling, landing on the ground with loud, dusty thumps that only added to the scene. Naruto looked between the two, then just gave a groan of annoyance.
"Well, fuck this." He grabbed Gaara's hand and jerked him away from the shelf, running right through the ghost boy and headed for the closest exit. This was insane. This was just crazy and he wasn't willing to deal with it anymore. No more ghosts, no more creepy visions and no more screaming 'Mommy' to the point that it felt like his own brain would explode. This was enough!
The two bolted for the door, Gaara stumbling along behind him. Unfortuantely the screaming continued around them and they didn't make it far. Another sound filled the air and Naruto was suddenly knocked harshly to the ground, his head hitting the floor hard enough for his vision to go out like a light before slowly fading back. The air around him grew thick and for a moment he couldn't breathe.
"Gaara."
The name was whispered in the air as Naruto rubbed his eyes, forcing himself to sit up. When he was finally able to focus on everything, he really started to wish he couldn't. He found himself, and Gaara, standing in the lobby of the library. All the doors around them slammed closed at the same time, the sound ringing in the air. Sand started to fill the room, seeping under the doors and gathering before them to create a shape. A creature made of sand with its mouth twisted into jagged edges and eyes slitted in a look of pure anger and hatred. Behind them the ghost boy appeared, effectly surrounding both of them, though both creatures couldn't seem to stop staring at Gaara.
"Damnit, shit… move!" Naruto scrambled to his feet to try for the exit again, only to have the mass of sand shove him back to the floor harshly as it grew in front of Gaara, stretching out in front of him to look like some strange hybrid of something that looked just as twisted as the ghost boy's face.
Gaara didn't respond to what Naruto said, just watching the mass of sand between him and door, a look of complete fear on his face. Then the mouth started moving, but there was no voice… instead Gaara was speaking.
"I'll kill him… I'll kill him for what he did."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Your father killed your mother… for getting pregnant."
Gaara turned his head, glaring at Naruto and both of the ghosts turned to face him too. But then Gaara's eyes faded back to normal and he looked away, resisting whatever they were doing to him. The same scream filled the room, covering the air with its sound and just soaking through Naruto's ears and his hands which were covering them.
"MOMMY!!"
The little boy screamed with him, his voice so high pitched that it felt like it could shatter glass and bone. Meanwhile the sand monster in front of him burst apart, swirling in the air around Gaara, leaving Sasuke to crumble to the ground unconscious. It had been around Sasuke… it had taken Sasuke… Sasuke hadn't left!
Naruto didn't have time to be happy or overjoyed about that revelation as the world around him seemed to explode in screams and sounds. Then the ghost like things faded away and the remaining two boys crumbled to the ground. Naruto landed on the cold floor, his entire body shutting down from exhaustion.
Was it over?
Could he sleep now?
Apparently so, because his eyes closed and the world just faded away.
(later)
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke shook his head, leaned forward and ignored him, his eyes intent on the screen as he started moving again. The character ran down the slope, he pressed all the right buttons and ran right into the boss. One short cut scene skipped and Sasuke started right into the knife fight, clutching the controller tight enough to make his knuckles white as he tried to beat the part for the umpteenth time.
And for the fifteenth time in a row, the same combo knocked his character back on his ass into the lava pits below. The words "You DIED" appeared on the screen in blood as Sasuke swore and resisted throwing down the controller.
"Lemme try!"
"No, Naruto!"
Naruto frowns at Sasuke, then pounces and grabs the cord to the controller. Sasuke looks completely surprised at the move and isn't able to hold onto the controller, which of course ends up in Naruto's hands. He grins happily and presses the 'start' button, ready to try the fight and beat it and then laugh in Sasuke's face because he mastered a hard level boss fight-
Naruto blinked as the words "You DIED" appeared on the screen again. But… no, he'd pressed the correct buttons. He'd done all the right things… and his character had died in two seconds.
"This game's broken!" He tossed the controller to the floor.
"It's not broken, you just lost."
"It's broken!" Naruto refused to believe anything else. That had to be the reason why it didn't work. It was broken and that was just that. Period. He should have won that game, he could have won that game. Damnit why couldn't he ever show up Sasuke on anything?
"Gaara, you want to try?" Sasuke glanced over at the red haired boy as he stepped in the room. Gaara shook his head and dropped on the couch, opening a can of pop.
"Naw, never really been into video games."
Naruto couldn't help but smirk. "You're a book person, aren't you?" He said in a teasing voice.
"Hey, you work there too." Gaara's dry and unamused tone made all of them chuckle a bit and Naruto just kept pushing the controller into Gaara's hands before Gaara finally relented. Then Naruto got to watch his boyfriend spend the next ten minutes trying to explain to Gaara how to play the game… and the smile slowly hint at Gaara's lips.
The ghosts hadn't shown up since that day, and Naruto was quite happy to leave things as they were, especially now that he had his nice fat paycheck from the house. He'd stopped house-sitting for a while, he just didn't feel up to it. Besides, him and Sasuke were busy now, playing the new games he'd used the money to buy. Not to mention showing their new friend how to become a video game dork as well.
The End.