Had this around for ages. I keep going back to it when I'm feeling down because it actually makes me smile. I hope it gets a smile out of you, too. It will not be all humour and such; just letting you know. I also haven't finished writing this but I wanted to post what I had to hopefully help brighten another's day.

Haven't edited it recently. Haven't written much either, so everything is probably rusty. Apologies.

Please enjoy!

Warnings? Language and sexual themes.

Edit (17/10/2021): Changed title of story. Originally called 'Windows'.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

THIS COMMON GROUND
—CHAPTER ONE—

She paused, heart suddenly lurching to her throat and beating like a drum. It was hard to breathe through the fear as she took another uncertain step down the hallway, floorboards squeaking softly under her weight. The curtains behind her cast dancing shadows across the passage, and the wind rattled at the windows.

Tears piqued in her eyes, a whine almost escaping her chapped lips. Her legs shook. She didn't know if she could take another step. And so she stood in the middle of the hallway, trembling, chest burning and her—

A short scuffle drew Josie completely out of the movie and release a breath she had no idea she'd even been holding. With a greasy hand poised over her bowl of buttery popcorn, she blindly patted around the seat with her other hand for the remote as she looked over her shoulder with a frown. She quickly paused the movie, sitting in the silence that blanketed the living room. The only light was the glare of the television and the vibrant red of the clock on the microwave in the adjacent kitchen. She crunched down on the now soggy popcorn sitting in her mouth.

Was the noise from the movie?

Perhaps it was from her friend moving around her bedroom?

Taking a deep breath after another few seconds of silence, save for the wind starting to rattle on her own living room windows, Josephine resumed her movie. The strong, tense strings of the musical score were so deafening in her ears that her nerves stupidly spiked, stressing her out again.

Well, at least the movie was doing its job, right?

Thunder rolled in the distance and there was another slew of heavy wind against the house. The protagonist had found her courage and started moving on down the hallway when—

There was a long creaking noise, like a door opening. Josie frowned, confused, straightening in her seat and putting her popcorn to the side. "Mollie?" she tested, though she knew it was unlikely. Mollie did not know the meaning of tact. She did not squeak open doors. No. She threw them open no matter the time of day. She did not sneak, she stomped. She was not quiet; she was always grumbling, yawning, something when she was awake.

And true to Josie's fear, there was silence.

Until she saw a shadow slink between the dark formations of furniture.

Josie shot up, skin and senses prickling with warning. Her socked feet suddenly felt like they were swimming in their own sweat as she rounded the couch cautiously, grabbing her crochet hook from a side project. She found nothing.

She turned to the dining room, hook brandished in case—just in case—

She exhaled sharply. She didn't know what she was thinking; 'just in case'? In case of what? A burglar? An armed burglar? Hell, the crochet hook was going to be useless even against a baby. And with that thought Josephine softly laughed at how stupid this all was, but she still entered the dining room, ignoring the eerie music of the movie at her back.

Licking her dry lips she lowered herself to the ground to look beneath the table and found a black lump amidst the legs of the table and chairs. She held her breath as she tightened her grip on the crochet hook and prepared for whatever was going to happen once she poked this thing. Maybe it was a cat? Mollie did have a habit in leaving the garage door – any door, really – open; but this thing was so still, had no tail brushing the floor, made no noise at her approach or glowing eyes to suggest caution; it couldn't be a cat.

A dog? A lost confused kid? A kid that enjoyed breaking into houses and scaring the utter daylights out of people for kicks? A pokémon?

Yet she still poked the lump, and there was a second of silence before it grabbed the hook from her grasp and clung to her arm tightly. Josie screamed in pure terror, leaping back into the wall corner and slamming her arm against the wall several times before resorting to using her feet to pry it off. She screamed again when it refused to get off, and with a croaky, panicky inhale she found her now discarded hook and grabbed it, slamming it straight into middle of the oddly soft black lump.

It fell from her. She kicked it away, bringing her legs into her chest and watching the thing lying motionless on the tiled floor.

Josie sniffed, only now noticing the tears on her cheeks. She huffed, wiping the water from her face and shakily rising to her feet, moving around the thing while maintaining distance. It was in the shape of a humanoid; a huge head; small, rounded feet and four fingered hands spread out like a starfish.

She hadn't the foggiest idea what to do next. Temptation commanded her to turn on the lights and see what the hell this soft, padded thing was but fear struck her to her spot, and if her screaming hadn't woken Mollie there was nothing else she could do.

Or was there?

Absolutely done with her evening, Josephine moaned to herself, stalked to her movie, paused it, then swiftly made her way to her friends room, last on the left; but a brief glance into her room made her stop cold and step back into its view.

Her door was open, but that wasn't the worst of it.

The muppet she was working on was gone from her workbench.

Josie slowly looked back over her shoulder to see the lump vanished from the floor. She was rooted, for a moment that felt like eternity, before she shot into her room and slammed the door closed, locking it. Stumbling backwards, she dropped into her wheeled chair and pulled her legs up, hugging them tightly, her eyes set on the door and daring – just daring – for it to open. It always did; always in horror movies, and this certainly damn well felt like one.

Maybe Mollie was right. Maybe she did watch too many suspense, horror, thriller films, but they were like crack. The thrill of getting scared, then laughing it off – laughing at others – just sent excitement circling right down to her toes. The thrill of the scare was that the payoff was immediate, and it most definitely didn't actually harm her.

If this was a prank, she was not a fucking fan.

"I assume this is your room," a deep voice said from behind.

Josie squeaked, straight as a board when a chill gathered tightly on her back. Her blue eyes dropped to the floor where shadows played on the cream-colored carpet from the moon shining through the window, and her heart nearly stopped at the sight of a small comically spiky haired human shaped shadow standing right behind her on her desk. Noise caught in her throat, all Josie could do was dig her nails deep into her bare legs as a second little human came crawling out from under her workbench, and then a third from behind a fake pot-plant she had by her laundry basket. The second was one she recognised beating up, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on her hook.

She couldn't breathe. Lightning flashed ominously silent outside, illuminating briefly the little human she had fought with. She bit her tongue hard, the urge to scream clambering up her throat.

It was her muppet. It was her silver haired muppet glaring at her with those big purple eyes and permanent heavy frown. He lacked clothes. She hadn't attached his little red and black cloak to him yet, nor sewn his pants and white belt properly onto him, so they slid down. He grabbed at the cloth without batting an eye, jabbing her second crochet hook at her menacingly.

Josie hadn't realised she'd clamped her own hand over her mouth until the sight of him was burned into her brain.

She had just been working him. A little over two hours ago. He was unmoving. She had been poking holes into him not. Long. Ago. So, to save her sanity, why was he brandishing her hook?

Oh my God. Oh my God. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.

"We want answers," the one behind her spoke again. Josie absolutely refused to turn around to face it. Him. What? "Deidara, release the others."

Eyes wide, Josephine watched the third muppet shadow move silently to her stack of boxes where she had packaged the rest of the group order she had received months ago for Christmas; the silver-haired one was the last of the lot she had to make. And only then did she notice the foam peanuts littered all over the floor and the two already empty boxes thrown into a corner against her wardrobe.

They were alive.

They were freaking alive!

Horrified, Josie couldn't tear her eyes from this pony-tailed muppet clawing his way through each of the boxes, grumbling something under his breath. More foam peanuts fell, submerging the bottom of her chair in white, and hesitantly she turned her gaze to her door. Perhaps… perhaps she could make a run for it; kick this silver-haired one out of the way and scramble down the hallway to Mollie and pray – oh sweet Jesus, pray – that she could escape this horrible, unamusing nightmare.

Maybe she could have if her legs were in the mood to obey her.

Josie felt light-headed, though knew quite well and clearly that it was nothing to do with the hot and humid weather or dehydration and everything to do with the fact she was now surrounded and receiving evil glares of promised pain by ten frowning muppets.

Someone, somewhere, clearly had a sense of humour. She just lacked the capacity to laugh.