Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ When Darkness Falls ❯ Chapter 3: Roommate and Nightfall ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto or the movie “Darkness Falls”

Summary: And noooowww …. Naruto needs to be held by the police for what happened, and, what better way to do it than to have him room with the police chief’s son …?

Pairing: SasuNaru -x-X-x- <*~.o.O.o.~*> When Darkness Falls <*~.o.O.o.~*> -x-X-x- Chapter 3: Roommate and Nightfall

By the time Naruto had thought to go after Sasuke, he’d already turned the corner and was gone from sight; no luck there. Looking down at the flashlight in his hands, he absently opened it and checked for a battery, which he unsurprisingly found there, heavy as the thing was. The blonde stayed at the swing he was in for a long time, blue eyes looking downwards as he continued to move slowly back and forth, the light clasped in his hand so that it wouldn’t fall as he simply thought. And, Naruto thinking was never a positive thing, in all respects of the word.

Survivor’s guilt, it was called; if Naruto had only stayed where he was a second longer instead of running like a coward - it would have only been one death instead of nine. They had been his best friends for such a long time - and, Konohamaru had looked up to him like an older brother. So why? Why was I spared when so many other’s were slaughtered - it’s not fair; they didn’t do anything wrong …

“They were just looking for me!” he yelled, angrily throwing the flashlight in his hand at the ground, as it was what he happened to be holding at the moment. And then, the blonde fell from the swing, landing on his knees, fists pounding the sand, head bowed and his blue eyes clenched shut, welling with tears. “Why did they have to die, and I had to live? WHY?” his voice was a harsh whisper now, fists clenching so tight he might have drawn blood if suddenly, a cloud hadn’t floated past the sun, which made him instinctively grab the light and turn it on, hands shaking and causing the beam of light to flick back and forth unsteadily, blue eyes darting around to see in short, disjointed movements, looking for any signs of her. But there was nothing, and the cloud soon passed, after which, the blonde clicked it off, sighing to himself as he slid down the metal pole that held the swings up, laughing. The sound was sharp and bitter - it held none of it’s usual mirth and carefree tones; he was laughing at himself, for being such a complete fool.

Eventually, the blonde dragged himself from the ground, the light still grasped firmly in his hand, and he didn’t bother to dust off his blue jeans as he walked, wishing he had grabbed a sweater as the wind started to pick up a little bit, he moved to the sidewalk that ran through the center of the park, left hand in his pocket, right hand swinging at his side, still gripping the flash light that Sasuke had left him. He had only taken perhaps a dozen and a half steps, staring down at the yellow-gold boots that were on his feet, before he looked up and saw someone standing, leaning on a tree up ahead. The man wore a long sleeved navy, almost black shirt, and pants that were the same color, baggy like sweatpants and tucked into black combat boots. He had something pulled up over the bottom half of his face, and silver hair crowned his head almost wildly, though he looked far from being old. He seemed to be watching Naruto intently, though the blonde couldn’t seem to bring himself to care as he continued to walk; it was now around one in the afternoon, and he just realized he was pretty hungry, actually, which was much more concerning to him than some strange man that was staring at him.

“Interesting marks on your cheeks,” a voice commented just as he got to where the man was standing, and Naruto stopped walking; a lot of people commented on the thin black lines he drew on his cheeks with sharpie to represent whiskers. Usually, he didn’t look twice when they did, as he was used to it, but, something about this man’s demeanor told him he needed to pay attention to him.

“I’m the police chief, and you’re in my custody until we have evidence to convict you, or we find a place for you to stay.” the silver haired one stood from where he was leaning against a tree in the shade and took a few steps closer to the other, stopping as he came to the edge of the sidewalk, continuing, “you can call me Kakashi.”

Nodding, Naruto said nothing as he looked up at this one - he didn’t seem so bad; and, hadn’t Sasuke mentioned that Kakashi had told the blonde to go with the brunette hours ago? Kakashi stepped to stand next to the blonde, who moved over a half step to allow room for the man, who simply started walking, and Naruto started following. He didn’t have any proof that this man was who he said he was, but, he went with him anyway - Naruto just didn’t seem to care anymore, and he was having a real hard time trying to make himself too …

“This is the apartment,” he said absently - he had lead Naruto through the city and to an apartment building, and had promptly gotten into the elevator and taken the blonde up to the third floor, stopping there and getting off, the former prankster still clinging to the flashlight, as if it were his only true link to reality. And, maybe, it was … They had stopped in front of 3C, and Kakashi had taken a key out and unlocked the door for Naruto, motioning him inside. The blonde blinked, shielding his eyes for a moment when he stepped through the threshold. There was such a glare, he thought he would go blind from it. When his eyes finally adjusted to it from the dim hallway lighting, they grew wide and disbelieving. There were Christmas lights lining every inch of the white walls (though they were the only things lit at present), twenty dome lights hanging from the ceiling, table lamps without shades on all tables, desk lamps clipped to the edges of the counters, flashlights lining a table that was against a wall and just under a window. Everything in the room was white - the furniture, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, all the light bulbs. Everything. It was what appeared to be a one bedroom apartment with a bathroom off to one side, and he was sure that if he went into the other two room, they would be just as bright, and just as sharply white. And, sitting in the middle of it all on a white bed with white sheets and a white comforter, was none other than Uchiha Sasuke, and it looked like he was reading a book. Obviously the harsh glare of the lights was something normal for him, because he acted as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. There was a kitchenette to the left with white tile on the floor, white countertops, and white cabinets, and there was a table with a few chairs sitting to the right. The apartment was roughly “L” shaped, the letter sitting backwards from where Naruto was standing at the door. Two white doorways marked the other two rooms, and, if one was a bathroom, Naruto didn’t know what the other one was, because the bed was obviously out in the middle of the living room. Apparently, it was used as something else.

“You’ll be staying with Sasuke until this case is sorted out, or a more suitable home is obtained for you.” though Kakashi’s tone said don’t count on that last one, because Naruto was a seventeen year old and didn’t need anything more than a ‘babysitter’; and, they probably wouldn’t find a place for him anyway … The brunette closed his book, setting it on the white nightstand that was next to the bed before turning to look at the two that stood in the doorway. Well, actually, now that Naruto thought about it, it was only him; Kakashi was suddenly gone …

“Tell me if you want to sleep - you can take the bed …” the brunette said simply before he sat up, sliding into a seated position, legs hanging off of the side of the bed towards Naruto. Thinking that that was a strange thing to say, the blonde absently closed the door behind him, leaning against it as he looked at Sasuke, holding the flash lightly loosely behind him, between his back and the door.

Taking a few steps forwards, the blonde set his flash light on the counter next to the rows of them that were already there, blue eyes lingering on it before he turned back to Sasuke for a moment, looking at the brunette; almost as if searching for something in his black eyes. But, those eyes … they seemed so tired, so empty, so hollow … he couldn’t see anything but darkness in them.

“Let me see it.” was all he said as he looked at the blonde intently, unblinking where he sat. Naruto blinked a few times at Sasuke, unsure of what the brunette was asking for, and so, he murmured,

“What?” His expression said that he had heard Sasuke, but his tone said he wanted to know more, and so, the brunette explained a little bit more clearly, voice still quiet as it always was.

“What she gave you. Let me see it.” And immediately, the blonde’s hand flew to his pocket on reflex, feeling the small bump that the gold coin made against the jeans he wore. He of course still had it with him - he still wasn’t sure why he’d taken it from the nightstand, but he was still holding onto it. He just felt like he needed to keep it, for some reason or another.

“Why?” Naruto didn’t say anything about having it, not having it, or otherwise; but, it seemed that there was one thing that was now clear - he wasn’t trying to deny that something had happened the night previous. Sasuke stood at this, striding towards the blonde slowly and reaching in his pocket uninvited, withdrawing the gold coin held therein.

“What the hell are you doing!?” was the suddenly surprised exclamation from Naruto as he made a swipe at Sasuke’s hands to try and pull back the coin. But, it didn’t work - the brunette already had his back turned to the blonde, and he was digging in his own pocket, for something or another. Drawing something out, he seemed to be looking at the coin Naruto had been given and whatever he had pulled out of his pocket, turning and sitting down on the edge of the bed. The blonde saw that what Sasuke had taken from his pocket was an identical gold coin, the same size and shape as his, sporting the same strange markings on it.

“Did … Have you … seen her too?” Naruto barely recognized his own voice, such a harsh, hesitant whisper it was; so unlike the normal loud, sure tone that he used every other time he had ever spoken. But, it seemed that Sasuke either didn’t hear him or wasn’t paying attention to him, black eyes affixed on the two coins he held, one in each hand for a long time. The orphan was about to yell at the other that it was rude to ignore someone when they asked a question when …

“Darkness is the Demon’s breath. Light will spell her doom and death. Brightest flame engulfed her whole. Setting free her wicked soul…” the rhyme was uttered quietly, half as loud as Sasuke’s normal tone, almost as if transfixed and unseeing, not realizing he was speaking aloud as he did so, dark eyes simply watching the objects for a few more moments before he stood, holding one back out to Naruto, who held out his hand and allowed said coin to drop into his hand, he turned as Sasuke pocketed his own and walked past the blonde, as if nothing had happened.

“Hey - Sasuke-teme! Don’t just spout some stupid little nursery rhyme at me, and then walk away as if nothing happened - answer my damned question, you jerk.” he said angrily - if there was one thing that Naruto hated more than anything else, it was to be ignored, and that was precisely what Sasuke was doing to him at the moment, and he didn’t like it at all. Still no reply.

“Damn you,” he growled, grabbing the other’s collar and turning him around, shoving Sasuke up against the wall by it, though leaving the brunette’s feet against the ground, as the other was a tiny bit taller than him, and it would have been awkward to do it.

“Answer me! Why did she leave me?! Why did she leave you!? Did you even see her!? ANSWER MY QUESTIONS YOU ASSHOLE!” he was starting to get very, very angry - something he really never did at all, and so, this was a pretty important event. The brunette just … got under his skin, somehow …

“Why do you think?” the brunette snapped at the blonde, black eyes turning to a cold hard glare at Naruto. “You had a flashlight with you. She can’t go into the light, and so, you were safe! And then, you went into a room that was completely lit up - what did you think was going to happen? They turned on the hall lights, and she left because there was too much there for her! Put two and two together before you ask obvious questions, dumbass - light is your answer, plain and simple!” Sasuke’s voice was hard, and slightly condescending - something that was starting to make Naruto’s blood boil. Fingers curling more tightly in the brunette’s shirt, the former prankster’s teeth clenched tightly as he bit back his growl.

“Fine,” he said, letting go of Sasuke and backing up a step. “If you think all of my questions are pointless, then I’ll just go somewhere else to get them answered!” And then, he moved towards the door, hand on the handle and making to open it and storm out. However, just before he got that knob turned, something was shoved into his pocket, and Sasuke’s voice hissed,

“Keep it with you. Always.” Before the brunette walked past him again. Half yelling half groaning, the blonde opened the door and slammed it behind him - man, that guy was completely annoying - he just wanted to choke him. And I gotta put up with him until ‘more evidence comes up’ … he thought angrily as he shoved his hands in his pockets, still hungry for lunch, but only just now realizing it as he stomped down the street, blue eyes focused on the ground below his feet. He knew where he was going - it was somewhere he’d only ever been once or twice before, but it was enough for him to remember how to get there. The Public Library.

It was a good two hours later that the blonde finally walked over to the counter with all of the books he wanted - it wasn’t very many either; only three books, and a few print-out copies of old newspapers were all he had as he used his library card for the fourth time that he could recall (not counting the school library - he had used that for the first time the day before). Walking outside after sticking his wallet back into his pocket, arm wrapped around his books - he had exactly three dollars in his wallet, and don’t ask him where it came from, because he had absolutely no idea, but he was elated; that meant he could have a bowl of ramen at the Ichiraku (his favorite ramen place) before he went back to deal with Sasuke.

He supposed, as he entered the Ichiraku and sat down, that he didn’t need to go back to Sasuke’s apartment, but … if that thing was still after him (and for some reason, Naruto didn’t doubt that it was), that seemed to be the safest place for him - Sasuke seemed to know a lot about it, even if he didn’t seem too willing to share that information with the blonde. And, it was stuff that the blue eyed boy couldn’t find anywhere either - he had scoured that library for everything and anything the library had on file about a ‘Matilda Dickson’ and ‘the tooth fairy’. All he could find were a few interesting newspaper articles and a book or two about it - but nothing had anything that was too extensive; it was as if people wanted to cover it up or something, and they had done a real bang-up job about it too.

Ordering a bowl of Miso Ramen from the kind shop owner, who had apparently not heard that Naruto was the resident murderer of the town, because the old man was still as congenial as ever, he paid a dollar fifty for his bowl and began to slurp it down happily - it had been a long time coming, and even though it had been in the opposite direction of Sasuke’s apartment to go there, he hadn’t minded it at all; the extra walk would be well worth it, he decided.

After his second and third bowls (the last one being on the house), Naruto sighed in contentment - that had filled him up for both lunch and dinner. Now, a 45 minute walk to the bastard’s apartment, and he would be fine. Wait a second … 45 minutes …Naruto looked outside the restaurant at the sun as he exited and visibly blanched. Judging by the orangeish color of the sky as of now, and the position of the huge yellow star, it would be night in about twenty minutes, half an hour if he was lucky. Ohhh shit … the blonde took off down the street, suddenly glad that the brunette had forced a flash light on him - he would surely need it …

He was almost home-free when he clicked on the flashlight - the streets on this side of town cleared more quickly than he was used to, and so, in the dead of night, he found himself completely alone on the street. Naruto didn’t know if that was a blessing or a curse … At least, if she came around, no one else would be hurt, right? … Right.

The blonde stopped dead under a streetlight in the yellowish cone of illumination that it supplied. He’d heard a sound. A sound very much like the one he’d heard the night before, when he’d seen the shadow on his wall … Gripping his flashlight tightly, he looked around, starting to shake slightly without meaning to - he was only about half a block from Sasuke’s apartment; he could see the building from where he was standing. There were five streetlights from where he was standing and his destination, and about four feet of space between each cone of light.

The blonde almost jumped out of his skin when a cat ran by him, running into the light post behind him and just barely biting back his scream, hitting his head on the metal and rubbing it as he saw it was only an alley cat. Blinking a few times and laughing slightly at himself, he turned around to face where he wanted to go again and froze. There was the shadow, lingering not three inches from the light he was in, yellowed eyes staring at him almost menacingly from behind the white porcelain mask.

“HOLY SHIT!” He yelled as he jumped back, grabbing the lamppost that he was standing next to to avoid falling over, breath coming in sharp pants as wide blue eyes stared at her. And then, as suddenly as she was there, she vanished again. Bending down to pick up the books he had dropped, he looked around cautiously, eyes drifting back to the steps of Sasuke’s apartment complex, which were very brightly lit, as if to say, ‘come on - right here!’. Looking around cautiously again, he walked as close to the next post down as he could without coming out of the light at all - and he felt something brush against his hair before sharply retracting, causing him to yelp and jump backwards a half a foot and land on his butt.

This is getting me nowhere …he thought to himself in mild annoyance - it was a little mechanism he had at times; when he got a little scared, he tended to get annoyed. He wasn’t yet too afraid to move, and so, he had the presence of mind to become annoyed at himself. Taking a breath to slowly his quickly beating heart, Naruto looked at the distance between him and the next light - 4 feet … Four whole feet. Normally, it would seem like nothing for him to just keep walking, but - this definitely was a situation that did not count as normal. And, even though he couldn’t see her, he knew that she was there, watching him, waiting for him to make a move before she made hers …

Steeling himself one last time, he made a split second decision - he couldn’t walk because it was too slow, and he couldn’t jump, because she could easily pluck him out of the air before he landed - and suddenly pushed off of his feet and rolled across the space between the two light cones. As soon as he moved, he felt something make a grab for his shirt, but because of his angle, the fabric had stuck to the concrete ground and slid with him. An infuriated hiss met his ears as he landed next to the pole in the center of the cone. One down, four to go …he thought to himself as he continued to shake lightly, looking around for the creature and not seeing it anywhere - but, he could hear it. That sound was echoing almost quietly through the silent street - he couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but he knew that she was out there somewhere; and that next time, she wasn’t going to miss him …

Shit shit shit … What do I do, what do I do, what do I do …he was completely lost for a way to get away. And, just as he was considering staying where he was … the street light next to him; the one that he’d just come from … flickered out. Wide blue eyes turned towards it, and he blinked at it a few times in disbelief, as if doing so would make it light up again. The truth was that it did not and would not …

“That’s definitely not good …” he uttered, turning towards Sasuke’s apartment complex, whishing there was some way that he could run that distance and not get caught - however, he suspected that he most certainly could not and come out in once piece. Well, only one way to find out I guess … he thought to himself as he clicked his flash light on and off a few times before leaving it on and standing up straighter, walking as far as he could in the second cone of light to the edge. And … … just as it started to flicker, he bolted, flashlight waving almost madly as he sprinted, almost running into the light post, breath panting hard when he stopped, though it wasn’t because of the exercise, that much was for sure. Now, he had 2 lights to go, and both of the lights behind him were out.

And then … suddenly - his luck seemed to have run out. The light that stood closest to the apartments suddenly flickered out and into darkness. Wide blue eyes watched as it did so, mind screaming that he was screwed - it was hard enough running four feet, but from the next lamppost and over, it was almost fifteen - much too far to go, as he was pushing it with four.

Shit - what do I dooo …? he looked around frantically, though stopped as he noticed that the closest street light was … … also flickering … … “You have got to be kidding me!” he half moaned as that one went out as well - now it was a whapping 10 yards to his destination - there was no possible way he could make it … And then, suddenly, that face was back, as close as it could get to the light, looking at the blonde, almost daring him to try his luck and see what happened. But, Naruto wasn’t budging - he was trying to come up with something, anything that could help him.

And then, the light above him started flickering, and the blonde sank to his knees, sitting down against the light post and drawing his knees up to his chest, shaking. He knew he was a goner, there was no possible way that he could get anywhere, and a flashlight would only do him so much good - it couldn’t cover all of his sides at once, and whatever one wasn’t lit up, she could get him at. The blonde set his forehead to his knees. Think … THINK you idiot - what can you do …? But, the answer was nothing … there was nothing he could do. The streetlight above him was starting to flicker more violently now - it would only be a few seconds and it would go out completely.

Maybe I should just get up and go out into the dark and let her have me ……he thought to himself wryly, blue eyes closed as a short, bitter laugh erupted from his throat. What a way to go - torn apart by some fucking fairy tale thing that wasn’t even supposed to exist. She was a damned tall tale gone wrong, and the blonde was at the brunt of the joke. Sighing softly to himself, in the next second, the streetlight went completely off…

Glossary:

Dobe - Dead last

Usurukontachi - Dumbass

Reviews:

Choi-sama: I’m fairly certain it’s 18, unless you’re referring to Chrno Crusade, in which case it took place in the 1920s, so, more likely than not, it’s changed. However, I don’t know, but in this universe, I guess that’s how it is … ^^;; And, don’t worry about the angst; I’m not called an ‘angst whore’ for nothing … XD

Rebel Blah: ^_^ It’s based on the movie “Darkness Falls” - sadly, though I love the praise, I didn’t come up with it … ^^;;