literature

Horror

Deviation Actions

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Literature Text

“Naruto, you suck at genjutsu-”

“Hey!”

“So that’s why,” Sakura continued, ignoring his interruption. “I’m going to teach you to break genjutsu…you seem to get caught so often.”

“But why not just teach me to use simple genjutsu?”

Sakura looked at him, her expression clearly saying ‘You’re kidding right?’.

Naruto bowed his head dejectedly. “Yeah…” He confessed. “I know.”

“Anyway,” She said, clapping her hands together. “We’ll start off easy.”

“With what?” But she was gone. “Sakura-chan?”

He suddenly yelped as he started sinking. Looking down, he saw that he was standing in quicksand…and sinking fast. Due to instinct, he began struggling. Suddenly, the 18-year-old boy flashed back to three years ago. Chiyo-baa-sama had said to focus his chakra. So he did. Despite the fact he felt like he was sinking, he told himself it was genjutsu. He closed his eyes and focused his chakra.

It tool one very slow minute for him to break his genjutsu and as he opened he eyes, he found he was still standing before Sakura. She grinned at him.

“Naruto, that was fantastic! You broke it so easily.”

Naruto grinned. “Yeah well, I’m stronger now.”

Sakura was amazed at his maturity, and praised him for it. Naruto grinned again.

“C’mon, let’s go again.”

They practiced five more times with increasing difficulty of the situation Naruto was put under. After they finished, they sat down, and Sakura described the difficulty of ‘personal genjutsu’.

“Personal genjutsu?” Naruto queried.

“Hai, it’s when the situation you find yourself in hurts you emotionally.”

“Like the one you and Chiyo-baa-sama pulled me out of?”

“Hai, exactly! Those things that ‘Sasuke’ and ‘I’ said, that hurt you didn’t it? That sort of genjutsu is extremely hard to pull out of.”

“So you want to put me through emotional hell?”

“Only if you agree.”

“Bring it!”
--------------------
They practiced for two hours. It took Naruto three tries to break out of the first genjutsu, of ramen not existing. The second genjutsu took longer…five tries…of Sasuke saying things he never wanted to hear from him, including ‘You’re a failure’, ‘You were never my friend’, and ‘I’m not coming back’.

That was all the emotional and physical pain he could take in one day, so he and Sakura parted ways, agreeing to meet the next day to practice some more.
--------------------
Sakura met with Hinata, Tenten and Ino for dinner that evening, explaining the training she was putting Naruto through.

“Just…Sakura-chan, just be careful onegai. You don’t want to m-mentally scar him.” Hinata said softly, slightly worried for her crush.
--------------------
Naruto was on his hands and knees, panting heavily and shaking slightly. He had just broken the genjutsu in which his client, the one he was supposed to protect, died. He hadn’t saved him, but he broke the genjutsu.

“Very good Naruto. I know how important protecting people, is to you. Now, do you want to try one more?”

“Will it be harder?”

Sakura nodded. “Hai, but when you break it, I have no doubt in my mind you’ll be an expert at breaking out of genjutsu.”

“Well…alright.” He was finding emotional pain much harder to deal with, compared to physical pain.

At least the Kyuubi could quickly heal him of physical pain.

“Hinata gave me the inspiration for this one.”

“Hinata?” He tried to ignore the smile that crossed his face, and the warmth that spread through his heart. “Did she suggest this one?”

“No, but something she said to me last night…gave me an idea.” She paused. “Ready?”

Before he could answer, she was gone and he found himself standing in darkness. He looked up, and stars materialised. He looked around him, and trees appeared. Looking straight ahead of him, a waterfall appeared…and on the water, was a naked, dancing woman.

The woman stopped dancing and walked over to him with a smile. She walked right up to him and cupped his cheek.

“Hi-Hinata?” He stuttered.

She smiled. “I love you.” And she kissed him on the lips.

First, the kiss was soft, testing…nervous. He was shocked, but the moment he responded, she deepened the kiss, turning it passionate. The passion of the kiss caused a blush to warm his cheeks, but the warmth didn’t stop there. As they kissed, the warmth spread through his body, seeping into every muscle, every organ. Soon, it wasn’t warmth; it was heat…and quickly becoming hotter.

His body kept growing hotter and hotter, burning him, scorching him, but he didn’t pull away from the kiss…he didn’t want to. Suddenly, he felt his mind reel, and he found himself in front of the Kyuubi’s cage.

The Kyuubi was snarling and squirming…then the seal broke.

The next few moments were a blur, and then Naruto came to his senses again, realising the heat had dissipated. Looking at Hinata, he realised they were not longer kissing. The expression on her face was one of confusion, sadness…then pain. She opened her mouth, and blood started pouring out. Naruto was terrified, but he suddenly realised what had happened.

His arm had pierced her stomach, protruding out her back.

His heart clenched, his throat closed, and tears burned his eyes. He reeled back, pulling his arms from her stomach, and she collapsed to the ground in silence. He was screaming her name. He reached out to her with an arm, and then he saw it…his arm was covered in blood.

Her blood.

He screamed.
--------------------
He screamed and Sakura jumped. Naruto suddenly collapsed onto all fours, and vomited. Sakura was terrified. Reaching forward, she touched his shoulder, whispering his name.

“N-Naruto?”

His head snapped up, it was obvious he was free of the genjutsu, but his face was white and he was crying. Yet, the look on his face broke her heart, and she realised she’d gone too far.

Horror. Pure, unadulterated horror. Horror at what he’d seen, what he’d ‘done’. She reached for him again, but he scrambled to his feet, backing away from her as fast as he could.

“N-Naruto?” She croaked again.

He shook his head, eyes closed, but the moment he did, the vision of what he’d seen flashed in his mind and he gagged. He hunched forward, suppressing the desire to vomit, and bit his lips hard to do so, drawing blood. He saw a drop of blood fall to the ground and he screamed again, mind assaulted with the horrifying images. Screaming, shaking and grasping his head with his hands, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Sakura alone, and feeling very, very guilty.
--------------------
Hinata and Ino were down the main street when a howl of pain tore through the atmosphere. Every citizen of Konoha that was in the vicinity stopped what they were doing and looked up, looking for the source of the tortured scream.

Hinata and Ino looked at each other in confusion and fear. Before they could say a word, Sakura ran up to them, panting, crying and looking guilty. Ino frowned.

“What did you do to him?” She hissed.

Sakura looked at Ino, then at Hinata, guilt evident on her face. “I went too far.”

Hinata gasped. “Naruto-kun!”

“What did he see?” Ino snapped.

“I…I had him…I had him kill Hinata.” Sakura sobbed, looking remorseful. “The Kyuubi overtook him after she confessed and kissed him-”

“Sakura-chan!” Hinata shouted.

“Sakura, that was wrong!” Ino cried out.

“I-I…I didn’t think he’d react that badly. I knew he liked her…I mean you Hinata. But he hadn’t even asked you out yet, I thought it was just attraction. I didn’t know he cared for you so deeply!”

Hinata frowned at Sakura. “I told you to be careful!” She shouted, all shyness evaporated. “Did you hear that scream? He’s in pain!”

“I know! I know!” She cried, face in her hands.

“Where is he?” Hinata snapped. “Where is Naruto-kun?”

“I…I don’t know.”

Hinata hissed angrily and turned on her heels, running towards Naruto’s apartment
--------------------
Hinata didn’t even knock as she entered Naruto’s apartment, she could hear his sobbing and groaning. She tracked the sounds to his bedroom. As she opened his bedroom door, another heart-wrenching howl of pain ripped the air and tears sprung to her eyes. Then she saw him, curled up in the far corner of his room, darkness surrounding him, as the curtains were drawn.

She walked over to him, kneeling down in front of him. “Naruto-kun…” She whispered softly, touching his leg gently.

His head snapped up to her, and she saw his pale, tear-streaked face. He curled up tighter, trying to distance himself as much as possible.

“S-S-S-Stay a-a-aw-away.”

Hinata felt her heart drop; she hated seeing him like this. “No Naruto-kun. You need to see me.” She grabbed his head and forced him to look at her. “You need to see I’m alright. It wasn’t real, I’m right here.”

He gagged, but she didn’t move, didn’t even flinch. She softly caressed his face, tracing the whisker-marks on his face.

“It wasn’t real. I know you would never do that to me. Never. It was only genjutsu, and Sakura took it too far. You didn’t hurt me Naruto-kun. You never could. I know it.”

“K-K-Kyu…K-Kyuubi.”

“No Naruto-kun, even under the influence of the Kyuubi, I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”

He groaned in pain, leaning forward head pressed firmly against her neck. Hinata sniffed, pained at seeing her Naruto-kun in such a state. And because of her.

She let go of him, shifting so she was sitting beside him. Tugging on his arm, she pulled him sideways, guiding his head to rest on her chest.

“See Naruto-kun, I’m still alive, my heart’s still beating.” And his sobs subsided, listening to her heartbeat. “It’s beating for you. Only you. It’s beating because of you. If it wasn’t for you, it wouldn’t be beating.”

Like it was his lifeline, he pressed his ear against her chest, desperately listening to her heartbeat. One of her hands was curled into the hair at the back of his head, and the other was holding one of his, fingers entwined.

“You’re the reason I’m alive. You taught me to be stronger, to keep trying. If I’d given up, I’d be dead. You saved me Naruto-kun, that’s why I know you’d never, ever hurt me.”

“ ‘Nata?” He croaked, voice hoarse.

“Hai, I’m here. I’m here Naruto-kun.” She whispered soothingly.

Freeing his hand from her grasp, he rested it on her belly, gripping the hem of her jacket. Suddenly pulling up her jacket and shirt, he rested his hand flat on her warm flesh. Assuming that had something to do with what he’d see during the genjutsu, she didn’t move. She did however; lower her head until her cheek was nuzzling the top of his head.

They sat that way for half an hour, and she whispered sweet nothings to him, reassuring him. His breathing finally evened, his body stopped shaking, and the sobs had ceased.

“Hinata?”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing,” He whispered. “J-Just…checking.”

She hummed again, nuzzling his head. Naruto exhaled loudly, like a weight had been lifted off his chest. Soon, he lifted his head, looking at her with a watery smile. She returned the smile warmly, stroking his face again.

He smiled sheepishly. “I’m…I’m cramping up.”

Hinata nodded and they both stood up and stretched. Once she finished stretching, she noticed that Naruto was watching her intently, wondering if she were real.

She took his hand and gently pulled him towards his bed. Intent on doing anything to prove to him she was real. Anything, to help him forget that vision that caused his great horror.
Nawwww, poor Naruto!! :hug:

Funnily enough, I'm listening to 'Cry' by Mandy Moore.

Wouldn't that be terrifying though? Seeing a vision of killing someone you cared for? I've had a dream of my sister shooting me...that was creepy.

This is for the 100 Themes challenge, No. 65: Horror.

I give permission to :icon100themeschallenge: to use/dispaly this story.
© 2008 - 2024 Sleepwalking101
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