Chapter Three: Blood Red Eyes
"Is it true that there's a monster living in the apartment at the end of the hall?" Tenten questioned.
"Yes!" Lee exclaimed. "Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru went in there the other night on a dare and they saw it!"
Tenten put her hands on her hips, not convinced. "And what, exactly, did they see?"
"A demon!" Lee said. "It was the middle of the night so they couldn't see anything and Choji tripped over a chair or something and there was a noise, like footsteps, and then they saw a pair of glowing red eyes the color of blood. They got out of there as fast as they could after that!"
Tenten sighed. "And now I suppose you want to go in and see too?"
Lee nodded his head furiously. "Can't you just get Neji to go with you?"
Lee shook his head this time. "Neji was sent on a very important mission and won't be back for a few days! So, will you come with me?"
"Why don't you just get Guy-Sensei to go with you?" Lee perked up at that. "That's a great idea Tenten! Then maybe with all of us going together we can get rid of that demon once and for all!"
Before Tenten could protest, Lee scampered away calling, "Come back here tonight! I'll get the others!"
Tenten was only half interested in who the "others" could be.
She just shook her head and went home.
This was going to end badly.
That night, Tenten, Lee, Guy-Sensei, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi were gathered in the hallway of the small apartment.
"Why are we doing this?" Kakashi asked. "Shhhh!" Lee hushed him.
"The demon will hear you!"
"You don't really think there's a demon here," Sakura whispered to Tenten. "Do you?" Tenten tilted her head to the side.
"I'm sure Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino saw something. But I'm also sure it wasn't a real demon." That still didn't seem to make Sakura feel any better.
"I'm sure it'll be fine." Tenten said, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Maybe it's just a stray cat or something."
Sakura offered a small smile. "Yeah, probably."
They approached the apartment cautiously.
"This is the apartment?" Sakura questioned. "It looks like someone lives here."
"Exactly!" Naruto chimed in. "The demon!"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh, not you too!"
"Be quiet everyone!" Guy said. "Ready?" Everyone crowded towards each other and nodded.
Guy carefully tried to push the door open. It was locked.
"It's stuck!" Guy said in a hushed whisper-yell.
Seeing their expressions Guy flashed a hurried smile and pulled a small lock pick from his pocket. "Never fear! A good ninja is always prepared!"
They watched as he carefully picked the lock. He opened the door, and….it stuck again.
"What's the problem now?" Tenten huffed in annoyance.
This time Guy-Sensei's smile was sheepish. "This demon seems to be very prepared for our arrival! It's taken the liberty of using a chain to keep us out."
He stepped aside so he could see the small door chain that had been slid into place.
"I've got it!" Lee said. Somehow he managed to slide his arm into the small sliver of space and undo the chain.
No one bothered asking how he had managed it. They were all too afraid of the answer.
Now with the way un-bared, the small group entered the dark apartment.
There were probably windows but they were all covered by curtains and no lights were on.
"Be careful everyone." Tenten said.
No one needed to be told twice. Heck, they didn't even need to be told once.
Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time until someone screwed up.
They were entering what was probably a small living room, when Naruto stumbled.
Before he could catch himself, he tripped on the rug, and was sent sprawling onto the hard wooden floor with a loud thud.
And as if that weren't bad enough, he tried to pull himself back up using a small table and ended up knocking that over too, sending a lamp clattering to the ground.
It shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.
The others had to step back to avoid being hit with the shards.
That was when they heard it.
Footsteps.
Just like Ino and her team had said.
Everyone held their breath.
Those who had them readied their kunai or shuriken.
But the footsteps stopped near the door to the apartment.
"What's it doing?" Sakura whispered. She was terrified, but in the darkness of the room it would be difficult for anyone to tell.
She just hoped her shaking voice wouldn't give it away.
"I don't know!" Tenten whispered. She was scared too.
Then, there was a sharp clicking noise and the lights went on.
Everyone hissed as the brightness of the lights assaulted their eyes after being in the darkness for so long.
"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" The voice was clearly angry, but it didn't sound like it belonged to a demon.
More like…..a kid?
When they could see again, they blinked and rubbed at their eyes until the person standing before them became clear.
The gasped.
A very annoyed Saskue Uchiha stood in front of his door.
His black hair was messed up as if he had been sleeping. He was barefoot in shorts and a t-shirt and he had his arms folded across his chest with a scowl on his face.
But what they really noticed was that his eyes were blood red.
No.
They were Sharingan red. Duh.
This was Saskue's apartment. None of them had realized that they didn't know where he lived.
When people entered this room by mistake, Saskue would hear them, and just in case they were an enemy, his Sharingan would react instinctively and their glowing red light would be all that the ninjas saw.
"Oh my gosh!" Tenten exclaimed. "T-this is your apartment!?"
Saskue nodded once, still looking irritated.
"Yes, yes it is. Which means it isn't your apartment, so get out! Now!"
They all knew enough to do as they were told and quietly followed out, all very embarrassed.
Each one mumbled an apology before leaving.
Saskue slammed the door behind him, and they could hear the locks sliding into place again. They heard one extra one this time as well. Just to make sure there were no more uninvited guests.
"We should have known!" Sakura said.
"I mean, really! He's the only one we know with red eyes! And he has to live somewhere!"
"I know!" Lee said. "I always though he still lived in the old Uchiha clan village!"
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and stared at him.
"Even Naruto's not that stupid." Sakura said blankly.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed, then, realizing what Sakura had just said exclaimed, "Hey!"
They all ignored him and kept walking.
Tomorrow they would have to tell everyone that there was no red-eyed demon.
And find a way to replace Saskue's lamp.
Here we go again.
A/N: Two in one day! Not that anyone seems to care. Oh well. If anyone is ever going to read this, then please review!