aghostownwhereibelong
Sup y'all. a lil dusty in here.
I recently got some more inspiration to write this story, I've been working on my worldbuilding some more, so by the time you guys see the next chapter after this, I'm already gonna have a full fledged storyline plotted out, I've kinda been going along about this process like I'm also the reader, so I gotta get out of that mindset.
I hope this story continues to get traction, and I really hope people continue to enjoy it!
now, without further any ado...
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may the story continue...
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SAME DAY.
3:09 PM, /01/05/20
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The two boys continued down the road after meeting Yasutora Sado again, remaining in companionable silence for most of the way.
Naruto continued to think of ways to leave the family behind Ichigo, the latter continuing to lead the boy to the unknown destination, none the wiser to Naruto's brewing desire for departure.
'I really don't wanna hurt these guys somehow. I also don't know anything about ANYTHING, and their place is the only thing that's even close to a home, or at least a safe place.' Naruto continued to think.
'But, come on, let's be realistic here Naruto, these guys aren't even your friends, let alone family. If you were to run away right now, they wouldn't be very bothered by it, nothing against them, it's just they don't know you.'
Naruto took a short break from thinking, he noticed that the water had started to disappear from his left and the building and the lands began to reappear.
Strange figures to his right sped past him loudly, striking fear into Naruto, who didn't say anything because Ichigo wasn't reacting to them.
The more time passed, the less scared he became of these things, now starting to play a game to try to see how many details he could get from them.
The building got taller and the people grew more frequent, staring at him strangely as they passed each other.
"Look, mommy! That boy looks like an angel!!". Naruto heard from behind him.
Naruto turned around in confusion, looking to see a mother pushing a strange object on wheels while walking with her small daughter.
"Hana, come on, let's leave them alone." The mother said, offering a short look of apology towards the boy.
"Hehe, and that other boy looks like an orange!".The girl commented, giddy at the strange hair she encountered.
"Hana! What did I say about shouting out your thoughts in pu-"The pair faded out of earshot quickly, causing Naruto to walk back ahead.
"Welp, at least someone gets complimented on their strange hair." Ichigo said, having overheard everything.
"She called me an angel for some reason. You were kind of accurate, though." Naruto teased.
"Alright, don't start with me."
The two talked some more while continuing the walk to their destination, until they eventually reached a building on the edge of the city, one with the words,"Shinsei Dojo" printed on its upper front.
"Here we are." Ichigo said, turning to Naruto, who was visibly confused.
"What the hell am I looking at, orange?". Naruto asked.
"This is a dojo, a place where people learn how to fight."Ichigo explained readily.
"A place where people fight, huh?".
"Yeah, that's what it is. I brought you here because I wanna sign you up."
"For what?".
"For the sake of having a hobby, I guess. I know how much you like fighting, so I decided to show you where you can fight people while learning from them!" Ichigo explained, a slight smile creeping up on his face.
Naruto inspected the building with an uncharacteristic mask on his face."It's pretty cool, but I don't really feel fighting right now, Ichigo." Naruto said.
"I mean, I that's not why I brought you here. We can't sign up without an adult, and neither of us are 18 years old yet."
"Why can't we do that?".Naruto asked.
"That isn't important right now, when we go inside especially since school is out, we are gonna be seeing a whole bunch of kids being taught how to fight. I'm gonna need you to pay attention to eeevverrytthing you see, just so you know that you do or don't wanna commit."Ichigo informed.
"Oookay."Naruto shrugged, following Ichigo into the building.
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The inside of the building was colorful, and it immediately popped in Naruto's eyes.
There was a blue wall to his right that had people in white clothes preparing for a fight it seemed, while the wall directly in front of him had people fighting on it too, it was a bright red wall.
"Whooaa..." Naruto looked around the building in wonder, staring at the wooden floors, which were covered by black and white mats that were scattered in patterns all over the floor.
There were people of several different sizes all over the room, what looked to be adults, teenagers, and small children app participating in some sort of training.
Naruto followed the mats to the left of his vision, and stared at a yellow wall, yet again depicting white figures in the midst of combat.
"Naruto. Take off your shoes." Ichigo tapped on the blonde's shoulder.
"Wha-why?".
"It's a tradition. It's disrespectful to walk into places while wearing your shoes on, 'cause of the fact you've been outside."
Naruto shrugged, "Alright, whatever."
The young boy grabbed his blue and white shoes and put them in Ichigo's outstretched hands, going back to ogling the room.
Naruto jerked at the feeling of a hand on his back, until he saw it was just Ichigo,"You gotta bow too." Ichigo pushed against Naruto's upper back gently as they bowed for a reason unbeknownst to Naruto.
"Why do have to do that?".
Ichigo sighed,"It's another respect thing, Naruto. Just follow my lead and we'll reintegrate you back into society in no time."
"One of those words you used threw off my entire understanding of that sentence." Naruto deadpanned.
"Focus on the fighting."Ichigo pushed through partially clinched teeth.
Naruto took his directive, staring at a tall man talking to smaller boys and girls about their form and kicks.
Naruto payed close attention to their moves, he noticed how the smaller kids had green belts around their waists, and then the next ones had blue belts, whereas the rest of them had purple belts.
He saw one kid who had spun on his feet, turning his body into a kick towards a cushion, and then turned around again to kick it with his back turned to it.
And then the kid readied himself to spin into yet another kick onto the cushion, a lot of precision and practice showing in his moves.
"Wooww..."Naruto marveled at what was in front of his eyes with a large smile on his face.
After a few minutes had passed, the kids had all dispersed and begun to mingle with one another, the man who had been teaching them had greeted the two boys with a lively smile on his face and a bow.
"Hello, sirs! I am Satoshi Watanabe, I have taught at this dojo for about 12 years, and I am a Black Belt in Taekwondo. Is there anything that I could help you with?". The man greeted politely.
Ichigo pushed Naruto back down again, both of them bowing in response,"Hi Mr. Watanabe, my name is Ichigo, I just came with my friend here so that we can observe your teachings. He kinda likes fighting, so I thought I'd bring him here."
"Oh, well that's nice of you! And what's your name, young man?".
The teacher asked cheerily.
Naruto's heart sped up for a second, before he remembered that he already knew his first name,"Naruto."
"Nice to meet you two kids! Well, if there is anything that I could help you two with, don't hesitate to seek me or any other adult out for information!". The teacher shook the hands of each kid before returning to the greater area of the dojo.
"Welp, that was short." Naruto said after a short while.
"What do you mean?". Ichigo asked, looking for a chair.
Naruto followed him,"We just came here and I already feel like leaving." They pair found some chairs and sat on them, beginning their conversation.
"What? Why do you want to leave? We on-", Ichigo's sentence was cutoff by what looked like a student approaching them with a card and a smile.
The student handed Naruto the card while bowing and left without a word.
"The hell is this?". Naruto asked Ichigo.
"Hold up, give it here."Ichigo grabbed the white card from Naruto's hands,"Ah, it's the WiFi password and the address."
"Huh?".
"Anyways, why do you want leave so early?". Ichigo asked, tucking the card into his shirt pocket.
"Oh, well I guess it just seems like we saw all it has to offer already, ya know?".
"Naruto, it's only been like, 5 minutes. You don't think you can wait for a little while longer to see if you wanna go here?".
"I didn't say I didn't wanna go here, I just said that it's kinda boring here, and I wanna not be bored." Naruto stretched in his seat, bouncing his feet on the ground a moment afterwards.
"Well, let's wait for another lesson, we'll look at it, and then we can make an informed decision, then we'll, I dunno do something after." Ichigo said, sounding equally as bored.
"Whateeever you say pal."
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The pair watched as a few more lessons took place, he clicks ticked on the wall, the children laughed, and the adults conversed in separate groups during breaks.
Naruto observed some of the moves performed in front of him closely, but eventually he regressed back into thinking about his escape.
'Nothing to do, but to just do it.' Were Naruto's final thoughts.
He sought out the man from before and called out to him, "Mr...uhh, do you think tell me where I can use the bathroom, sir?".
"Of course, It's right behind you, next to the entrance!". The teacher pointed.
"Oh, okay, thanks old man!".Naruto said, jogging to the entrance.
Naruto saw that there was actually a separate hallway from the entrance, and so he went through it, and was faced with two doors.
One of the doors, the doors, the one to his right had a shape that faintly resembled a bald person, colored pink, while the other had another similar shape that was colored blue.
Naruto saw that the pink one appeared to have something on their waist.
Naruto decided to trust his gut and go into the door on the right.
He walked into a room covered with white surfaces, a row of brown, levitating doors clung onto walls of sorts ahead of Naruto, and as he moved further into the room he saw mirrors like the ones in Ichigo's house to his right.
Naruto saw what he was looking for, a window that lead outside presented itself above a closed door.
Naruto walked to the door, opting to open it until something told him not to.
Moments later, he heard a loud familiar sound, what he knew to be a "toilet" behind the door, so he hurried to walk into the doorway to his left, hiding from the person coming out of the stall.
'Damn it, that was loud! I almost ran right into them! Well now I have to wait until they're out for me to go into it.' Naruto thought.
The sound of a girl humming a tune was outside of the door, she had begun to wash her hands and was out of the bathroom.
"Sorry about that, I almost ran into you!". Naruto said while, climbing over the wall to the other side.
"Huh!? Who was that?!". The girl had yelled.
Naruto proceeded to close the door,"Would ya mind? I'm doing something here!".
"Why did you climb over the stall!?". The girl asked, her voice raising.
"And I don't mean to be rude, but you have a really weird voice for a girl." She persisted.
Naruto's face twisted in confusion,"What?".
"It's all scratchy, you might want to clear your throat, or something."
"Whateeever." Naruto then began to observe the window.
"You really don't sound like a girl. If you're a boy, I hope you know you shouldn't be in here!!".
Naruto opted to ignore the girl, he saw that the window was slim, but it was open and he could just jump through it.
"I'm gonna wait right here until you come out!".
In one leap, Naruto grabbed onto the ledge and slipped himself out of the window without a problem.
Except for the fact that he was now plummetting towards the ground headfirst.
"WHOOO-OOF!!". Naruto had landed on front, other than scratches on his face and hands, he hadn't sustained horrible injury.
"Ah-shit! Damn..."Naruto gathered himself and looked around, observing his position.
He was on some sort of side road next to the building, and it had a line in it that kept people from falling easily over the side.
On the other side showed more of those vehicles passing by rapidly, a place Naruto did not want to find himself.
To his left, the road extended towards the back of the building, so he opted to go this way instead.
He traveled down the path at a moderate speed, seeing that he was now at a place where people store those figures from the roads below.
Naruto saw that there was a path that lead out of the space, so he took it and ran out of the vicinity.
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A Few Hours Later.
Naruto walked with his hands in his coat pockets, the day turning cold and harsh as he walked with no direction.
Naruto grew accustomed to the figures passing on his right,
they were loud and still dangerous, but he's managed to almost completely ignore them.
He shivered constantly, the temperature dropped suddenly a while ago and it was bound to get worse the more he walked and spent outside.
"...Where should I go...?".Naruto spoke to himself, observing his surroundings.
The population grew sparse as Naruto stalked through the asphalt streets, cotton candy clouds bordering on the horizon behind tall buildings.
Naruto walked down a hill, the lush vegetation showing itself in between the muted colors of the buildings.
He walked some more, searching for something that could aid him in any way.
.*rmmmmbbb*.
"S-s-shit, I'm h-hungry."Naruto grimaced, quickly going bitter with the environment.
Naruto's fingers were icy and balled in his hood pockets, his nose red and runny.
The cold air ran through Naruto's clothing, offering little regards for his efforts to stay warm.
In the back of Naruto's mind, he felt a warm pain, followed by a shiver not caused by the cold.
Naruto strolled aimlessly through the streets of the settlement, a vibrant blue atmosphere filled the strangely emptying town like visible wind.
'.RRRGGAAH...'
Naruto turned around hastily, spinning and searching for where that familiar screech originated.
" *HUFF* *HUFF* *HUFF* *HUFF*",The boy's heartbeat quickened, flashes of last nights encounter with one of those monsters dominating his common sense.
"Wha-wh-wher-", His sentences were broken by cold, rushed breaths, bruising his windpipe.
The cold was becoming a distant memory in his newfound adrenaline, eyes racing and darting up the hill.
At every corner and behind every wall, Naruto felt he saw shadows darting from view.
He shut his eyes tight, holding his hands in tight, trembling fists as he tried to get his breathing under control.
'...rrRRAAGHhhh...' Again, the screech sounded like a hunting call, rattling the boy's nerves once again.
But this time, he was snapped out of his trance, realization helped to pull him back to cognizance.
The cry was far enough from his position to be safe for a while, so Naruto decided to take the time to control his breathing some more.
" *Hufh*...*Hufh*...*hufh*...*GULP*Hwhhoo*...Ho-ohkay."
Naruto gathered himself slowly, peaking at his surroundings some more.
Naruto found that the once relatively bustling figures on the street next to him were completely absent, as well as the people walking on the sidewalk.
No one in their windows, no lights anywhere, it was completely dark inside all of a sudden, and it was becoming that way inside almost as rapidly.
The blue atmosphere quickly grew darker and darker, Naruto's fear welling up with each step and second.
'...rrraaAAGHH...
'...rraAAGYHH...'
'...rraGGGHHhhh...'
He quickened his pace to match his breathing, the screams grew in number, frequency, and proximity all in the same second and Naruto was in the verge of another breakdown.
Naruto felt a feeling of dread in his spine, in the distance he could feel the desperation getting closer to him, the hunger, the malice, they were clambering towards the location he was, searching for a meal.
The cold presence in his spine lingered and persisted, he ran down the gravel street in continuous lack of direction.
"...*Huff*...!*Huff..! Fuck...!". Naruto sputtered curses anxiously.
A click in the back of his head made him stop.
As his anxious energy rose, Naruto felt a pause in the coldness in his spine, and the warmness at the back of his head.
He was still alone, but suddenly he felt like he was being watched, unlike before.
A pregnant pause dominated the world, for a moment all was still, tension thick in the dead air.
' *RRAAAAAAGHHHRRROOGGGGHHRRRAAAGGGHH*'.
The creatures all roared at once in the distance, Naruto immediately felt a stronger sense of fear, the prey-like instinct to run pervaded all of his other instincts as a target grew wider in his back.
"HOLLY SHITT!!!". The boy screamed, breaking into a sprint.
Naruto ran into a street, the trees appearing more here as the buildings died out.
He sprinted as fast as he could down the pathway, until he felt a strange sensation to his left.
There was a tall forest that beckoned him, and Naruto answered the instinct without a second's hesitation.
The buildings died out more and grew into trees and rocks, the gravel disappearing into dirt and soil.
Instantly, the strange feelings in his body faded, to Naruto's confusion.
He didn't stop to figure it out, he ran and ran for an indeterminate amount of time.
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Later, Naruto stopped running, breathing hard, struggling to catch his breath.
The forest around him creaked slowly, the cold re-entering his body with cruel permanence.
"*Huff, *Huff, OHH, SHIT!!". Naruto exclaimed as he caught his energy back, letting out his stress to little effect.
He looked around as he breathed, the thick woods blocked his vision mercilessly, dead leaves were sprinkled all over the forest floor in vibrant colors that were muted by the falling night.
The scent of what Naruto grew to recognize as "the outside" was strong in the forest, providing a sense of calm to his frenzied state.
Naruto waited several minutes to hear something or feel something, but he didn't see or sense a thing.
Later, he sat himself against a tree, opting to take a break after so much running.
His feet scrubbed harshly against the dirt, and he hissed at the pain that rose in them.
"Ah...what the fuck...?"Naruto held his right foot with his hand and squinted his eyes in attempt to inspect it.
His feet were bloody and scarred, even with socks on he had rocks and sticks poking out of them after several minutes of sprinting through it's seemingly endless areas.
Both of his feet were injured, but he decided that he was going to push through the pain when he felt he was ready to keep going.
"...*Wfhooo,this is a nightmare right now...but it's better than anyone else experiencing it."Naruto commented quietly, checking his surroundings often for anything suspicious.
"I kinda miss them, or maybe I miss sleeping in a bed. And eating warm meals..."Naruto felt a burning loneliness well up in his heart, the wind pushing through the leaves and assaulting his exposed skin as if on cue.
"Yuzu and that old man were so nice...not the other girl though, she's kind of annoying. But Ichigo's cool too...and so is...Tatsuki? Yeah, I think that's her name." Naruto reminisced on the memories he made in the short amount of time of being "alive" in this world.
"They don't seem to deal with these things at all, so I DEFINITELY can't get near any of them. I don't want them to be this scared, like I am."
A few minutes passed, Naruto buried his head in his arms.
"I don't know how I was able to fight back against them that one time...It was pure instinct, it honestly felt like I was in the backseat or something." Naruto talked some more.
" *Huff*...Well, I don't know where to go, I don't wanna go back the way I came, but if I want to get out of here I'd best just walk in one direction. This forest is bound to end at some point."
As Naruto was about to get up, ripped shards of some sort of paper fell in front of his eyes and landed in front of him.
"...Hmm?".Naruto looked up as his heartbeat sped up, not finding or hearing anything, but he was still on guard.
He picked up the few pieces of ripped up paper and attempted to inspect them in the dark environment.
No matter what angle that he was placing the paper at, he couldn't get any more information out of it besides it being a photo, so he pocketed it and decided to walk in one direction.
For a long while, Naruto was walking through the forest, the cold grew colder his fear was never swayed.
The only sounds that reached Naruto's ears were the crunching leaves underneath his feet and the constant rumbling of his stomach, as well as the wind that caressed the dying leaves above his golden crown.
This went on for a while, the same scenery perpetuating itself until Naruto saw a trail of some more ripped paper that lead to a clearing ahead of him.
He stared at the trail in mild confusion, there were some bits of paper that kept floating as it fell perfectly to make this path.
He sped up his pace, curiosity immediately controlling his common sense and leading him to the clearing.
Even though the trees were thinning, Naruto found that it wasn't a clearing he was walking into.
The forestry he walked into had lost their sparse leaves completely, just naked branches and barren trunks lining a makeshift path for Naruto.
His curiosity persisted more, he felt a strange sensation ahead, one that beckoned him due to the lack of danger of the same source.
As he walked further, excitement started to resurface inside him, and it catapulted as he found a large building, black in large spots and broken down in others.
At first it was a frightening sight, but he quickly rid himself of fear when he felt the presence of another person near it.
Right after that, Naruto heard a whistling tune, a melody he couldn't have possibly recognized, clear and strong.
He walked further to the front of the building, quickly discovering
the face of it, and the source of the whistling.
A little girl wearing a black skirt and a white shirt similar to Ichigo's sat on the long steps, her raven hair in fell messily around her face, which was caked with old blood and dirt.
"...Yo." Naruto waved at the girl who seemed startled at his sudden appearance.
"Wh-who are you!?". She asked.
"My name is Naruto, I just found this place...are you okay?". Naruto held his hands up in question and concern.
"I don't know you!! Get AWAY from me!!". The girl started to scramble towards the entrance.
"Wai-wait it's okay!". Naruto started to walk after her, keeping his eyes peeled.
She ran into the building, and Naruto followed.
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Naruto chased the girl, spewing unheard affirmations as he slowly traversed the blackened building, following her energy throughout the building.
Her whimpers and cries filled the halls, ghostly wails wading throughout the abandoned surfaces and drifting through the cold air, into and out of the holes in the ceilings and floors.
It took a while for him to really catch up, and when he did they had climbed a few broken staircases.
"Hello??I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise!". Naruto yelled.
Nothing but his own heartbeat responded to him, leaving him frustrated at the girl.
"Ugh, dammit!".
He stood still, opting to seek out that energy that he had been feeling.
A cold presence that felt like it was somewhere else and inside of him at the same time moved throughout his senses, staying in certain spots before running to another destination.
Instinctually, he quieted his mind, waiting until she came around to his location.
Eventually, she walked into the hallway below him, and up into the stairway he had just taken.
Naruto opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings, deciding to stick in the same place to greet her.
He sat down, attempting to appear smaller and non intimidating for her arrival.
Small footsteps made their way up the broken steps, she hopped up the gaps in the stairway and made walked into the hallway they now both occupied.
Her breath caught at the sight of him, and she stood as still as a statue.
"Hi, again."
She looked at him with fearful eyes, not responding.
"Sorry for chasing you, that probably didn't help. But I gotta ask, why are you here?".
She shrugged her shoulders.
"You didn't just run away when I started chasing you, why not?".
She shrugged again.
"Well, my name is Naruto. I'm kinda lost here, and I was hoping for some directions? Or like...I dunno, something."
The girl started to fidget with her hands, never taking her eyes off of him.
Naruto noticed that there were multiple chains wrapped around her, also hanging from her chest, it hung low to her feet.
"What's that?".Naruto asked, pointing at them.
"Chains." She responded for the first time since their chase.
"Yeah, well I'm not stupid. Why do you have them?".
The girl shrugged once more.
" *Sighh*." Naruto ran a hand through his hair.
"What's your name?". He asked.
She stood silent.
" *Sighh,well, you can be secretive if you want, I don't need to know." Naruto said, giving up and opting to explore the place instead.
He saw her flinch as he walked by, but decided to ignore it, walking further down the halls of the strange building.
Naruto spent some time getting the layout right, he peeked through a window, discovering that he was pretty high off the ground and that night had fallen completely, so he decided to keep from looking through too many windows from then on.
He walked around holes in ceilings and a lot of doors as he reached a turning point, only to happen upon a large gap in the floor he couldn't just tiptoe around.
Naruto eyed the hole, measuring it to see if he could jump the gap.
"Oookay, let's do this!". Naruto said, breaking into a sprint that his feet didn't agree with.
Regardless of the pain, Naruto kept his eyes on the hole and leaped across both of his legs, clearing it surprisingly easily.
"Heh, hehe, he-WHOAH!!".Naruto's celebration was cut short, for when he turned around he saw the chained girl directly behind him, startling him into falling backwards.
"WHEN THE HELL-WHY THE HELL ARE YOU FOLLOWIN' ME?!". Naruto screamed, fear being replaced at anger at being scared so easily.
"I could ask you the same question." The girl deadpanned.
Naruto was extremely confused, as he didn't hear anything, he didn't sense anything either, which was new to him.
Before Naruto's annoyance could further claim him, he calmed himself down and stood to his full height, dusting his clothes off unsuccessfully.
'Welp, at least she isn't scared of me anymore. Now we can talk about...whatever the hell.'Naruto resolved himself.
"What are you looking for?". The girl asked.
"Nothing, really. I guess just something of interest?".
Naruto said, shrugging in response.
The chained girl looked to her right, stepped to the wall and poked her head through, disappearing partially for a moment.
"HUUUHH?!?". Naruto was flabbergasted.
She stuck her head and shoulders back inside of the building,"It's not rainy or anything, and those monsters aren't here, so I could show you the roof?".She offered kindly.
"Uhh, excuse me, are you just gonna NOT offer me an explanation for you sticking your BODY through a WALL!?". Naruto hadn't seen anything like that yet, so that helped to worsen his confusion and astonishment.
"I can tell you on the roof." She said, walking to his left up a pair of stairs.
Naruto's gaze followed her before his body did, waiting for nothing as she stepped out of view.
He picked himself up and jogged after her, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings.
She had gone behind a closed door,'Probably went invisible again ', so Naruto opened carefully to see what she wanted to show him.
Once Naruto opened the door, he saw a plethora of holes scattered across the building, he even noted that one section of the building had completely caved in, all of this damage happening long ago.
He made sure to watch his step and stick to the parts that were intact.
He did a 360, looking for the girl until he found her sitting on a railing to the left of the entrance.
He walked up to her and leaned on it,"So how old are you?".
"I used to be 12." She replied softly, dangling her feet over the edge.
"What...do you mean 'used to be'?". He inquired.
She let a second pass before responding,"I think I'm dead. I'm a ghost."
The boy quirked his eyebrow up,"A ghost?".
She looked at him with an equal amount of confusion,"You don't know whatta ghost is?".
He shook his head slowly, rubbing his hands in the cold.
" *Sighh, I don't really know how to explain it to you. It's like one of those things that you learn as a kid that you can't really define."
Naruto decided to stay quiet.
"Then again, I don't want you to be any more confused than I am, so I'll try. A ghost is basically a person who isn't alive anymore, they lost their physical body, and...they're cursed to roam the lands until...the end of time."She began to bite her lip trying to get those last words out.
"I'm...dead."
"Oh...damn."
A cool breeze greeted the two.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?".He asked, turning back to her.
Her face scrunched up and she started to cry.
"It's okay, you don't gotta tell me if you don't wanna, ya know?". Naruto reassured, patting her back lightly as to not scare her.
She spent a little while recomposing herself, wiping her tears and playing with her chain.
Naruto hopped on top of the railing, standing straight up while doing a balancing act to keep from falling over.
"So what's your favorite color?". He asked, walking on the rail in the opposite direction of her.
"Blue. That's dangerous for you."
"Nah, I'm fine. I may not be dead, but I've survived worse than a fall like that...I have to have..."Naruto said reassuringly.
"You're kind of like a cat. You have whiskers on your face, and you have really good balance." She said, still sniffling.
"Oh yeah? I guess I am! I haven't lost my balance since I "woke up", so maybe your right!". Naruto spoke with increasing gusto and pride.
He eventually did a cartwheel on it, bringing out a laugh in the dead girl.
"You like that? I'm a pro, huh!".Naruto said, his huge smile making it hard to pronounce the words correctly.
"You look like one!".
He could hear the smile on her face, and opted to keep doing careful cartwheels towards her.
"...one...two...three...Annnnd...four" .He now stood on the railing normally, smiling down at the chained girl.
"Hehe, am I cool or what!?".Naruto sat down on the railing next to the girl.
"That was pretty cool!". She agreed cheerily.
"Man, it's kind of fun out here. You never told me your name. Do you mind telling me?". The boy asked.
She shook her head, then said,"My name is Natsumi."
"Hi Natsumi, my name is Naruto!". He said, holding out a dirty hand for her to shake.
"...I-I don't think I'll be able to touch you. I'm a ghost remember?".
"Well, no harm in trying, right?". He said smiling ever so widely.
She reached out with her left hand and touched his palm, gasping and drawing it back in shock, as if she had been burned.
"I-I can touch you!".She said, astonished.
"Yeah! That hasn't changed for me yet, so I'm not really surprised!". He said, now holding his left hand out.
She took it and shook it, a smile highlighting her hazel eyes for the first time.
"It's nice to meet you!". She said.
"And you as well, Natsumi!".Naruto replied, a smile that surpassed hers on his own features.
The two sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before she said,"Wow, it's really pretty tonight."
"Whaddya mean?". Naruto asked.
"Look up, silly!".
And look up he did.
He found himself staring at those familiar bright lights once again, colors of purple, gold, red, green, brighter than before, they were all streaking the sky, highlighting their spot from above.
"Whoa...",Naruto said breathlessly.
It wasn't the first time he had seen these lights.
The first time was with Tatsuki and Ichigo, after they had fought in the park,'The sun was really red that day, and I also learned what a photo was.' Naruto reminisced.
"I've never seen these lights here before. Is it because you're here?".She asked.
"Nah, I don't think so, I ain't that special."
"I think you are. You look like an angel to me."She complimented.
Naruto blushed,"Uh, thanks. Someone said that earlier today too."
"I've never met someone with eyes as blue as yours. They look bluer than the sky on a sunny day."
"Oh yeah? Well I've never payed much attention to my eyes, hehe." Naruto said, grateful for the compliments.
"I'm sure your family loves you.You were born so pretty..."
Naruto's happy features gradually faded, replaced by confusion and a familiar feeling of loneliness near his heart.
He grabbed on to his shirt where the pain was,'Why did that hurt so bad...? '.
Natsumi had became reclusive again, drawing Naruto's attention with her silence.
"You good?".
She nodded her head, biting her lip again.
"You think your family's out there?". He asked gently.
Tears fell from her face as she struggled to keep her cries from spilling out, she shook her head and grabbed on to her chest like he did before.
Naruto didn't say a word, instead purring his arm around her shoulder and caressing her arm in attempt to console her.
She let her cries out quietly, resting against him.
A little bit of time passed before she had wiped her nose and face.
She continued leaning against him, shifting to put her legs in his lap.
"My dad hated me."
Naruto listened, not saying a word.
"He always sent me over to my mom's house on the weekends, he told me how much he reminded me of her."
A bit of silence,
"He insulted me every night...got drunk every other night...he never looked at me. The only times where he was really nice to me is where he fed me, and took me on walks. But I didn't really like walking...
I don't think my mom liked me either. She was famous, and whenever she had me for the weekend, she barely payed any attention to me. She had butlers and maids that treated me good."
Naruto nodded along with her sentences.
"I don't really need them anyway. They never like me*sniff, so I don't need them...". She trailed off on her sentence.
"I made a couple of friends here...They were two boys and a girl.
I told them about the things I've been going through, and we made a promise to never leave each other alone.
I think they were lonely too."
Naruto digested the information, his heart clenching with each syllable.
"I only ever saw the at this school. The teachers were pretty nice too. The food was...better than at home, with dad. I got to learn things. I wanted to be an astronaut.
A lot of people made fun of me, they said I wouldn't make it two feet off the ground if I tried...
...I-I guess they were right..."She whimpered trying to get her sentences out, cries coming back to her.
Naruto gulped down the lump in his throat with some difficulty.
"There was a fire. It burned everything down in the summer.
I fell asleep in class.
But they woke me up, tried to save me.
The building broke down and we almost died a lot of times, I heard screams from people I used to know.
That's when...that's when the person who started the fire saw us.
They came around the corner with a gun... and they shot them.
I ran the other way, I heard them cry, they asked me to go, one of them asked me not to.
It didn't matter in the end. They got me."
She managed to keep herself under wraps.
"They shot me somewhere, and I didn't get the chance to bleed out before the building collapsed on me...over there."
She turned around and pointed behind them, Naruto saw that it was towards to the collapsed ceiling he noted earlier.
"I don't know how long it's been. I don't remember their names anymore.
I don't remember anyone's names.
I'm surprised I remembered my own..."
Naruto sat quietly, still digesting everything.
"W-why don't people like me?". She asked Naruto, a broken voice barely making it to his eyes.
"I-I don't think I can answer that question, Natsumi."
"...Do you like me?". Her eyes were clenched tight.
"Yeah, I think you're a pretty cool girl." Naruto said.
Her worries had left her quickly, replaced by relief and grateful tears.
"...Th-thanks." She said between sobs.
" 'Course."
They spent a little while longer like that, calming down and looking at the ceaselessly colorful sky.
Later, she was still crying.
"...OWW!!". She screamed, startling Naruto into falling backwards.
"What the-whats up!?".
She had begun screaming now, crying in what looked like pain.
Naruto rushed to her side and cradled her, attempting to see what the problem was.
"Wha-whats wrong!??".Naruto asked, breathless.
"It-IT HURTS SO BADD!!". She held her chains tightly, and that's when Naruto saw that what the problem was.
The chain had began to...eat at itself, and it also burned a golden fire, quickly making it's way to her heart.
"I don't understand, what going on!?".
"Please-please, I don't wanna die again please!!". She had broken down completely.
Naruto started to hyperventilate, attempting to do something about the chain, he grabbed onto it and yanked on it, which caused her to scream and convulse,"AGHHHHGH!!".
Suddenly, energy had begun to skyrocket and go haywire all around Naruto, her screams had started to sound like echoes as her bones cracked and she began to morph into something.
Her heart had been replaced by a hole, and from that hole she had begun to be change into something else, grey skin replacing her original ones, her fingers elongating and a tail growing from the base of her spine.
Naruto dropped her and stepped back cautiously.
She grew quickly in size, contorting into what looked like was one of those monsters that Naruto had been running from, like a large raven.
Naruto was thoughtless, astonished at her sudden transformation and paralyzed in fear.
Until suddenly, "RRRAAAAAGGGHHHHHHH".
The familiar screech of a desperate, masked creature abused his sensitive ears.
The creature had turned to him, screaming at him and rushing towards him with reckless speed.
Naruto moved instinctually once more, he jumped off of the building and soared through the air.
It wasn't far behind, it had grabbed on to his hoodie and flew in increasing speed towards a barren tree, tossing him at a breakneck speed towards it.
"OHHHH SHIEEET", Naruto turned in middair, tucking his legs and slamming into the tree feet first, saving him from sudden death.
Naruto fell quickly, falling onto his left arm, hurting it badly.
"AGGHH, DAMN IT!!" He quickly got up, carrying his left arm with his right and sprinting back towards the school.
"RRRAAGGGHHH!!!", the creature turned tail and dove towards him.
Naruto turned and screamed,"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, NATSUMI!!! YOU DON'T GOTTA BE THIS-OH SHIT!!!".Naruto dove into the building, narrowly dodging her claws.
She slammed into the building, breaking the walls on the upper floor.
" *HUFH* *HUFF* *HUFH, HOLY SHIT!". Naruto struggled to catch his breath.
She screeched ear piercing screams, endlessly attacking the building in search for her prey.
"...FUCK."He yelled simply, he observed her flight patterns and the damage she dealt to the building, she was way to fast and too big to deal with, bigger than the monsters he fought before.
"FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!!". Naruto spat out curses as she tore the walls piece by piece with her claws and new raven body.
"ROORAAARGGGHHHGHH!!!".
Naruto ran to the other side of the building, seeking to get closer to the heart of the dark building.
He ran and ran, he smacked into walls and stumbled into small crevices, bumped his adrenaline filled arm against corners in an attempt to run away.
Eventually, Naruto slammed into double doors, stumbling into a rubble filled room.
"*HUFF* *HUFF* *HUFF* *HUFF* *HUFF* *HUFF*". He attempted to slow his breaths, basking in the moment of reprieve he got.
"Ho-HOLY SHIT. Damn it, I think-I think I accidentally killed her..!!!"Naruto thought back to when he pulled her chain from out of her body, sorrow filling his emotions.
"DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT...!!".He smacked his head repeatedly, frustration building along with his guilt.
He stood up, holding his arm, the pain was coming mainly from his elbow, but he couldn't see how bad it was in the dark room.
"Whe-where am I?".Naruto asked himself, scanning his surroundings slowly.
His eyes took in all the light they could, the stars and moon from outside poured into the large room, which was littered with tables and rubble.
"It's a big room...".Naruto noted, walking forward.
"RRAAAAGGGGHH!!"*BOOOOOOOOOM*
A large crash right in the center of the room sent dust and debris flying at impossible speeds, the raven from before finding his location easily.
"SHIT, I KNEW IT WAS TOO QUIET!!". Naruto had prepared to sprint backwards, but she was too fast, before he got to the doors she slammed her wing against his back, sending the double doors flying out to the hallway and off their hinges.
"ARRRGHH!!".
Naruto was dazed, his other arm had hit the wall too fast, and he was struggling to find which way was up.
"*HUFF*...*HU*-AGHHH!!!". Naruto felt his shoulder get pierced, then he was dragged with impossible speed back into the large room, his head bumping against large rocks and opening gashes in his head and face.
The creature had taken him into the room to fly back through the hole it came from, flying even higher then it had before until the school became small below.
"*HUFH*HUFH*HU*-WAIT, NATSUMI!! YOU DON'T GOTTA DO THIS!!".
The creature climbed higher with effortless flight, not heeding his pleas, grunting in effort.
They flew higher still, until suddenly the creature dropped him from its claws.
Naruto grabbed onto her claws before he could fall, climbing the large body onto the white beak and mask, attempting to reach the girl.
"LISTEN! Natsumi, you gotta friend now!! I'll always remember you, you don't have to be this way!!".
" RRHHEEEAAARGGGK!!".
The monster flapped it's wings and screamed in his ears, trying its hardest to break free of the stubborn boys grasp.
"LISTEN TO ME, PLEASE!! YOU CAN PASS ON AND SEE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AGAIN, I'LL HELP YOU. I'LL HELP YOU, I SWEAR I WILL!!! YOU'LL GET TO ASK THEM THEIR NAMES, AND THEY'L-WAAAGHH, THEY'LL TELL YOU, BUT YOU WON'T HAVE TO TELL THEM, BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN WATCHING, WAITING.
I know that there out there SOMEWHERE, they probably miss you so so SO SO MUCH!!! Please, don't let this nightmare take cont-ROOAAUUHHH!!", Naruto was cutoff, he was successfully thrown off, and he had begun to plummet towards the ground with increasing speed.
The air drowned out any other noise in Naruto's ears, his screaming made to be felt only in his bloody throat, the cold air being cut by his falling body as oxygen was being rushed out.
Naruto continued this fall until it all stopped.
He had hit the ground.
.
.
.
.
'*tweet* *tweet* *tweet* *tweet*...'
Birds passed over by, perching in branches to rest their wings.
.*Wwwwffoosh*
Calm, cold winds brushed through the leaves and branches.
.*...*honk* *honk*...*...vrrrrrr...*
The same figures from before became present again, establishing a regular in congruence to the birds and the breeze.
"...ruto !?Naruto!!?". A name was called by several seekers, causing the subject of those yells to stir in his slumber.
"...mmff..."
"Naruto!??Where are you!!?".
"..."
"Naru-oh shit, ICHIGO HE'S OVER HERE!!". A voice rang out.
.*tmp* *tmp* *tmp* *tmp* *TMP* *TMP* *TMP* *TMP *.
Footsteps drew closer to the unconscious boy, until they finally reached him.
"Ohmygod, he's bleeding, ALL.OVER." A feminine voice spoke.
"Yo Ichigo, we gotta get him to a doctor, your dad, he helped him before right!?". A masculine voice called out.
"Hold on a minute, step back."Another masculine voice commanded.
Cold hands traveled across the boy's body, one to the neck, both on the shoulders to position him.
Naruto awoke at the sudden touch, frenzied and panicked.
"AGGHH, HOLY SHIT, WHO ARE YOU!??".The blonde boy screamed.
"Holy-calm down Naruto, it's me! Ichigo!".The young orangette put his hand on Naruto's shoulder to attempt to ground him.
"Wha-bro, what the hell happened!?". Naruto looked to his right and saw a slightly taller brown-haired boy.
" *GULP, I don't remember...Last thing I knew I was using the bathroom, and then..."Naruto trailed off, trying to remember but to no avail.
"S-so you remember us?". The raven haired martial artist asked, who was directly in front of him.
"Of course, I don't who the hell he is though." Naruto said, pointing at the brown-haired figure.
"This is Keigo, the perverted friend I told you about?". Ichigo said.
"Not ringing a bell, man."
"Hold up, let's skip the introductions for now, you are bleeding out, how are you so casual about this!?". Tatsuki asked, panic creeping into her tone.
"Should I be in more pain?".Naruto said, looking down at himself, extremely shocked to see large dark spots on his shoulder and side, rips in the hoodie Ichigo lent him filled with it, his legs were cut at certain parts and his feet stung, but other than that it looked worse than it actually was.
Naruto shook his body and moved around a little bit to confirm, jumping up and down and crouching, to the trio's utter confusion.
"Yeah, it looks worse than it actually is. I feel fine!". Naruto said, hoping to reassure them.
"Your hair has blood in it too, are you sure you're alright?".Ichigo asked Naruto.
"I'm pretty sure."
"I'll take your word for it, but we're gonna have to patch you up."
Ichigo said leading Naruto towards the end of the forest.
Naruto noticed the sun for the first time, it was beginning to rise in the horizon, cotton candy colored clouds lining the unseen ocean in the distance, coldness present everywhere in the early morning, creatures and nature omnipresent in all the land in front him.
"So, how did you guys find me anyways? I didn't even know where I was."Naruto asked.
"Ichigo called us and we came to where he was, he said that he spent hours looking for you and that you had vanished out of thin air, and then we looked for a couple more hours until we came across this tall guy who said he saw you stumbling in the woods after a someone hit you with a car." Tatsuki explained.
"I got hit with a car?". Naruto asked.
"Well it's sure what it looks like! Look, I don't know how or why you left that dojo in the first place, but do you want to get patched up and get some food? I told my family that we're sleeping over at Keigo's house, so they aren't freaking out, but we should be heading back."Ichigo took Naruto by the shoulders and explained the situation to him further.
"Yeah, I think I'm ready to stop being cold."
"Alright you three, let's head back to my house." Ichigo said.
Before Naruto left the forest with them, he looked back towards the forest, something inside of him felt an ominous beckoning from behind the trees.
'I wonder what happened...' Naruto thought, the memory of this location steeled in his head.
"What's wrong, dude?".Keigo asked.
"Well-I can't help but feel like something's wrong. I don't think I get hit by a car, but I can't prove it otherwise." Naruto explained.
"Well, we need to get you a meal before long, so let's not worry about that okay? Com'mon."Ichigo said, pulling lightly in his shoulder.
"Yeah, alright..." And with that, they began the long trek back to Ichigo's home.
.
.
.
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OWARI/FIN/DAS ENDE/THE END.
