AN: Welcome to a nightmare… welcome to the tale of the boogeyman killer. If you dare, read this only at night with a creepy musical score to back it up… I'm only suggesting that, because reading it in broad daylight is kind of boring. I assure you, nearly every genre of horror will be implemented into this story. Slashers, demons, monsters, exorcisms, anything you can think of or possibly suggest… except zombies. That's just kind of played out by now.

The premise of this tale is based on a single thought… what if John Constantine were in this movie? That's right, Naruto will be based off of the demonic slayer himself. He is loosely based on him, but he is not him. He is as enthralled in the horrific side of the undead as Constantine, as pessimistic as any 'emotionless' Naruto fanfic, and as fearless as a man who has seen too much.

This fic will implement more than a few iconic horror characters we've all come to love, being portrayed by the characters of Naruto. The Naruto characters are all fairly diverse enough to implement into any roll if you know what you're looking for. Naruto will venture into cases of various horror movies and real life events, its gonna be sweet. I'm working on my suspenseful writing so this will be good practice. Although I am using a lot of movies, I will also be creating a few of my own instances as well. To start out, they will mostly be my own creations, but later on down the road, expect some sick ass winks to the famous horror flicks. You'll know them when you see them.

Things to know

Not all of the Konoha ninja know each other right off the bat.

If you don't see someone who you feel like would be part of the main characters life, it is either because they haven't been introduced yet, they may be an eventual antagonist, or they are already dead and will be explained later.

This story is written as a very religious tale, using various religious tokens or books. Not everything is accurate as I'm not too familiar with more than my own religion.

I may make up some biblical stories in order to fit the plot, so I wouldn't use anything I say in an argument.

I will not disclose the pairing until I finish the story. It may be another Naruto and Ino, it may not. Who knows?

I plan on making this a long running fic, much longer than my other two, but if I find a natural stopping point the way I'm seeing it in my head, there will most definitely be a sequel.

Please enjoy… at night time you pansy.

Please Believe Me

Chapter 1

Gently and elegantly a blonde woman, no older than twenty, sat on a cold metal chair. Her eyes fixed blankly on the bristles of her paintbrush as it slid and flicked across the canvas before her. On the desk behind the painting, there were piles and piles of finished canvases either on display or stacked upon each other. The portraits were all of many different flowers. They were very tastefully done with magnificent colors that beautifully contrasted the eerily dark backgrounds.

The photos themselves also discriminated the layout of the room she was in. With walls of all white, the barren room held one window with bars bolted on the wall outside. Just as the pristine white walls, the young girl's attire was also white. The white clothes were as fresh as when she was given them. Not a crease was out of place as if she had not moved from that spot since she was dressed.

Maybe she hadn't.

Her attention was completely captivated by the movement of her own brush which grazed the nearly completed image of a bleeding rose before her. Her mind remained blank as her pale blue eyes, which seemed so exhausted, roamed every crevasse and corner of the once white canvas for any mistake to the truly beautiful piece of art. After ten minutes of gazing at her newest work, she stood gently from her seat and propped it up on her desk leaning against the wall to dry.

Without a single word ever leaving her lips, she grabbed a blank canvas from the pile between her desk and twin sized white bed. Retaking her seat, she set the canvas onto the floor easel in front of her desk and began a new picture. Her slender pale fingers guided the brush with ease across the sea of white resembling the blanch state of her everyday surrounding.

Her physical appearance was unnaturally beautiful for someone in a place like this. With her hair a bit frizzy laid lightly across her back. Her pale white skin was unscathed and porcelain. Her eyes displayed no negative or positive emotion. If she hadn't been moving her hand to paint, anyone watching her would think she were dead in her seat.

So perfect, she could have been made in a factory.

The only blemishes on her form were those derived from simple things such as a lack of sleep. The heavy wrinkles beneath her eyes said that much. Her frazzled hair could also be seen as a dent in her otherwise flawless appearance. That appearance remained unfazed as three hollow knocks caught her ear.

Without a reply or any kind of gesture from her, the door opened with a click. In walked a man who looked an awful lot like herself, except the darker shades of both his skin and hair, sporting the white long coat of a doctor with a tray of food in his hands. The man looked worse for wear with bags beneath his eyes as well and a half-assed smile plastered on his face. A large set of keys hung on his belt line along with other essential items. On his coat pocket, his badge hung displaying his position within this place.

He turned towards the door and kicked it closed. Turning around, he stopped momentarily to stare at the back of the blonde girls head. His smile faltered for only a second before he continued on. He walked over to the bed and set the meal down making his presence known. "Hey Ino… it's uh… t's me again… dad…" he said getting quieter as he got closer.

Ino made no indication that she even heard him as her attention was still plastered solely on the canvas before her. Not a tilt of her head. Not a stutter in her strokes. Nothing. Just an eerily cold gaze stuck on the movements of her hand.

Inoichi seemed to expect this however as he ignored her silence and simply squatted down next to her seat. He was now about eye level with her shoulder looking up at her daily activity. "That's very beautiful Ino… you've gotten incredibly good…" Once again not even a twitch of her eye lids. "You know, back when your mom and I first met, she worked at a flower shop that sold every kind of flower there is... she loved them… absolutely loved them…" he drawled off.

Inoichi looked away from the painting in dejected thoughts. How could this have happened? He's worked hundreds of different cases and has gotten through to mostly all of them and yet he can't even get a reaction of any sort out of his own daughter. A truly ironic case. A psychiatrist's daughter loses her mind.

Sad irony.

Looking back up to the face of his only child, he gulped down the lump in his throat in order to repress the wail of a cry he felt screaming within his chest. Using the sleeve of his right arm, he quickly wiped the tear from his left eye just as it was falling. Just then, two quick knocks came before the door clicked open immediately after.

"Oh, Dr. Yamanaka." Came a female's voice. "It's two o'clock… time for her meds." Inoichi looked back to the half drawn image of what he could already make out as a blue orchid. His wife's favorite flower. In an effort to maintain some amount of professionalism, he coughed and stood from his squatted position still facing the wall as he wiped his face.

He leaned left and grabbed the mostly eaten tray off her bed from her last meal and walked towards the exit, not sparing the nurse holding two small white cups a single glance. "Make sure she eats." The nurse watched him exit with a saddened expression already knowing of the tragic case. Forcing a smile, she continued on to finish her assigned job.

Outside of her room, Inoichi leaned back against the wall and used his free hand to rub his face. His eyes were red with unshed tears and the tip of his nose shared the color. With a sigh and a rub of his neck, he steadied himself and headed on his way to continue working.

On the drive home, Inoichi found it hard to focus on any of his actual patients as his daughter took precedence over all, of course. Why couldn't he get through to her? He can crack open complete strangers whom he's never met, yet he can't even get his own daughter to speak. Some psychiatrist he is. None of this was supposed to happen.

He didn't understand how it could have happened. Just three years ago, she was a normal girl going to school, hanging with friends, and spending time with the family. Then at the drop of a hat, she was different. She hated going out in public and yet she hated being home. She seemed a lot tenser than she had recently and her behavior at school declined drastically.

Inoichi of course picked up on quite a few things such as her lack of sleep and missing meals. He had just assumed her school life was catching up with her. That was until she sought the help of the two people she thought she could trust without a doubt. She told her parents that their new house had a dark history. She explained that strange things had been happening to her since they've moved in.

Being the rational people that they are, they assumed she was just having difficulty adjusting to the new home and that she'd eventually calm down. She at first took their word for it seeing as they had never steered her wrong before. This time however they did.

A few weeks passed and the unnatural activities continued to progress upon her normally. When it got bad, she once again brought it up to her parents. When she did, she was absolutely hysterical in fear. They had never seen her this frightened but at the same time, they had experienced none of what she claimed to be seeing. Against their better judgement, they hired a priest to come and bless the house. From there, her world effectively changed for good.

Pulling up to their two story house, he stared up into the window that was once occupied by his daughter. Wondering what it was that could have frightened her to such an extent that she would do what she did. A few times, he slept in her room in an effort to catch whatever it was she feared for himself. He always woke in disappointment.

Ino always had an imaginative mind, even in her younger years. She had more than a few imaginary friends but she stopped mentioning them when she hit her teens as her social life took off. So, what makes a 17 year old girl blabber on about a ghost only she could see? Seeing her in the mental institute every day truly broke Inoichi's heart. So much that he did want to believe her, he just—couldn't.

Rubbing his neck once more, he climbed out the car and walked towards his door with a heavy heart. Now, he had to tell his wife. A task that got harder and harder every day.

Opening the door, he could hear the sound of running water coming from the kitchen. Closing the door he shrugged his coat off and hung it on the designated hook. Walking through the dining room he entered the kitchen silently as to not alert the beautiful brunette absent mindedly washing the dishes. Her eyes were fixated on the vase of flowers sitting limply on the window ceil.

Inoichi begrudgingly noticed the fact that her expression matched that of their daughter who he had seen earlier. Her brown hair was held up in a tight bun atop her head and her dulled, tired brown eyes stared unblinking at the vase. With a sigh and one last rub of his face, he walked up behind her.

Without warning, he wrapped his hands around her midsection receiving a gasp of shock. Once she realized who it was she blinked away whatever daydream she was caught in and continued washing the dishes remaining. "Oh, Inoichi. You're home." She commented in an obviously forced tone of content.

Inoichi reached out and cut the water off as if telling her they had to talk. She leaned forward and supported her weight by propping her hands on the edge of the sink. Inoichi gently tugged at her hips, nonverbally telling her to turn around. She got the hint and turned around with hopeful yet doubtful eyes.

Inoichi could see the sadness resting on the surface of her beautiful brown eyes just waiting for that one last push to force it out. This news was going to break her heart just as it has for the past 2 years. It's gotten to the point where she just cries. No sniffles, no moans of sadness, nothing but empty tears. As if she lost faith.

She could see the saddened expression within Inoichi's eyes and immediately deduced his news for herself. Ino wasn't better and there were no signs of improvement. A single tear fell from her eye and she quickly wiped it using the sleeve of her sweater. Before she could escape to find something to distract herself, Inoichi wrapped her up into a hug.

"I'm sorry Kiori…" He rubbed her back while she wrapped her hands around his waist. What could be said in a situation like this? Were there any words that could heal the heart of a mother who has lost her child? There seemed to be a list of sweet nothings to say when a mother's child dies but none for a situation like this. That's because there were no situations like this. Or there shouldn't be.

"She'll come back to us… I know she will." Kiori said whispering the last part more to herself than to Inoichi. That's what she said every day. Every single day, like a prayer to God himself. They are people of faith but they've been waiting for an answer for far too long and desperation is tempting.

Kiori held her ear to her husband's chest listening to the lulling sound of his gently beating heart. Each beat was soothing with a gentleness of a man who's been through more than he was ready for. His warmth blanketed her in a way she dreadfully needed. That warmth came to an end when their doorbell rang throughout the house.

With a frustrated and tired sigh, Inoichi released his wife and made his way over to the door. Kiori followed right behind in interest of who would be visiting this late. Opening the door, a big man with a black trench coat and a blue bandana around his head stood in wait with a vanilla folder in hand.

"Ibiki. Why the late visit?" He asked stepping aside so he could come in. Kiori gestured him towards the dining room.

"It happened again." He said simply as he walked over and took a seat. Kiori and Inoichi sat across from him as he set the folder onto the table. Inoichi opened it to see a set of shocking images. A patient from the hospital was laying in his padded cell with bruises and lacerations covering the visible parts of his body. "Twenty eight year old Kenji Mahada was found like this in his cell. His family has received word and are now demanding we call in outside help."

Outside help, great. This was becoming extremely stressful for Inoichi. "What more do they want? We've already had a priest come and bless him." He said in frustration rubbing at his temple. If a priest says the kid shows no signs of an evil entity, then there is clearly nothing wrong with him besides the mental aspect.

"A priest?" Kiori asked in curiosity. "Why did he need a priest?"

"The kid was brought to the ward about 4 years ago because he believed he was being tormented by his uncle." Ibiki explained shuffling through the papers.

"Ok? Was it investigated?" Kiori asked not really seeing the problem there.

"There was no need." Inoichi said as he continued to look over the new photos brought to him. Ibiki slid the papers he dug out over to Kiori. "His uncle had been dead for eight years." Inoichi finished.

Kiori looked the papers over and realized they were police reports. When he was brought in, he had bruises and cuts covering his body just as the new pictures. The first responder's initial investigation notes stated that the kid was completely by himself. There was nobody else in the house. His mother and father had been at a dinner party at the time.

When they came home, they found their son laying on the ground in his beaten up state and the house was completely destroyed. What was strange was the fact that there were absolutely no signs of forced entry and every other entrance was locked besides the front which the parents said was locked when they returned. Kiori was left speechless as she slid the documents back to Ibiki.

"Definitely classifies as crazy." Ibiki remarked while he stuffed the papers back into the folder.

"Well then what could've made those marks?" Kiori asked, not satisfied with the unsolved case.

"He did. Most likely." Replied Inoichi looking at the photos. "Most of them were self-inflicted… well in the first case." He murmured still intently examining the new pictures. Ibiki stood up and walked around the table so that he could see what he meant. "look…" Inoichi said pointing down at the photo.

Kiori remained in her seat wondering what it was they were looking at. From the quick glance she took a second ago, she could already tell it was gruesome. Whatever it was they were looking at, she didn't even want to see it.

"whoa…" Ibiki remarked lowly as he rubbed his chin. This was something he hadn't noticed on his first glance through. "Well… what do you make of that?" he asked as he stood up straight and scratched his head.

"I uh… I'm not sure." Inoichi admitted as he dropped the photos onto the table. "I mean, maybe he… his psychosis could be escalating?" He said in an attempt to describe a reasonable explanation for this. "…who do we even call about something like this?" He asked aloud not really expecting an answer. "Do we try the priest again?"

"Actually, the family has someone in mind." Ibiki said digging in his pockets. He pulled a black business card from his pocket and handed it to Inoichi. The card held only a number and nothing more.

In a rundown apartment building, the halls were barren and quiet, seemingly void of all life. There was life, but everyone breathing was piled into the hallway leading to the room 219 waiting…

A deep, menacing, hoarse growl echoed throughout the hall coming from the room. Everyone lined the walls with fear stricken faces. Nobody moved a muscle as they prayed for God's grace, something that seemed like the right action to take in this situation.

The only sound was that of whatever beast resided within room 219. Muffled screams and frustrated growls crept their way through the cracks of the door. A brown haired man standing next to the door seemed to be more distressed than the others. His clenched fist wrapped around a rosary so tight, his knuckles were white. The cross was pressed firmly to his trembling lips as he prayed silently to himself. His eyes creaked open slowly as the entire hall was suddenly set in silence.

Everyone put their attention onto the wooden door wondering what happened. The man next to the door leaned forward trying to hear something from inside. A muffled voice from within could be heard but not understood. It was the voice of a man seemingly speaking to whatever beast was in there earlier. The brown haired man put his ear up to the door to hear what he was saying.

Once again the room went silent making everyone wait in anticipation. The man next to the door nearly jumped away as a much clearer voice caught his ear. This voice surprised those who weren't truly aware of the circumstances of this commotion. As far as they knew there was some old guy inside freaking out. For that reason alone, the voice coming from within truly terrified them.

"… Daddy?..." came the voice of a young girl probably in her teens. The man by the door stepped back in shock for only a second. He leaned forward in an attempt to hear better.

His shaking hand reached out to touch the wood as if to reach through it. "h-… Hitomi?" he asked hesitantly afraid of the response he'd receive.

"Daddy, what's going on?" the voice asked in true fear. Before he could answer, the voice of the man talking to the beast addressed him with a warning.

"Satori, that's not your daughter." He stated calmly.

The now named Satori looked at the door in worry and slight confusion until his daughters' voice caught his ear once more. "Daddy, who is this man!? Why am I tied up!?" She asked sounding a lot more frantic than before.

"This is one of its tricks Satori. Ignore it." The voice called out again. A brief moment passed until the man addressed the other occupant of the room directly. "…Speak your name…" he said in a calm and demanding tone.

"Daddy! h-He's touching me!" the female voice yelled out in horror. Satori's eyes shot open in fear of what could be happening within the room. Everything he heard told him his daughter was in trouble, but everything he was told would happen by the man just a few minutes ago was taking place systematically. Should he open the door? If he did and he was wrong, he could possibly put her in even more danger. If he didn't and his fears were correct, then he'd feel inadvertently responsible for her suffering. "Daddy! Please! H-He's trying to rape me!" she shrieked in fear. "No!" her voice was panicked and accompanied with convincing moans of what all of them could describe as forced and unwanted pleasure. "What the fuck is wrong with you!? Please daddy!"

Satori put his head against the wood of the door mentally tearing himself apart on what he should do. His eyes were fixed in worry on the silver knob an inch away from his hand holding the key. A woman behind him was confused as to why this man wasn't doing something. "What the hell is wrong with you!? Open it!" she called out as her motherly instincts screamed at her.

"Satori. Do not open this door." The man's voice from within said calmly once more over the whimpering of the girl inside. Satori grit his teeth in frustration trying as hard as possible to make the correct decision. His gut told him not to open it but his heart and everyone else around him were screaming at him to do so. With a cry of frustration, he put the key up to the lock trying to shove it in with the violent trembling and shaking of his hand. Before he got it in, he dropped it to the floor. Bending over to pick it up, he fell back onto his butt from the unexpected return of the seemingly demonic voice.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR YOU FUCKER! OR I'LL TEAR HER APART!" With that, the apartment complex erupted into sheer chaos. The ground beneath them trembled, the dust from the ceiling fell continuously and everyone got down on the ground or scrambled back into their rooms for cover. Satori however was rooted to his butt a few feet away from the door. His eyes were fixed firmly on the cracking wood in front of him. From inside the room, he could hear objects being thrown around at random and the sound of the beast spouting curse words towards anyone and everyone.

Underneath the hectic sounds of devastation, he could hear the man within speaking in an unidentifiable language loud enough for the screaming entity to hear him. Satori got up and began to timidly creep towards the door to hear him but before he reached it, everything stopped except for the beast which was now making a loud drawn out yell.

When it seemingly ran out of breath, Satori could hear its heavy breathing and the man whispering something frantically yet as calm as ever. There was a fit of coughing that progressively got lighter and lighter until it was a young woman coughing vehemently. When she calmed down, a few tantalizing moments passed until the door opened with a click.

It swung open to reveal a blonde man with dark blue eyesf. He was dressed in a black turtle neck jacket that he left open exposing the white T-shirt underneath. He had on beige khaki cargo pants and a pair of black boots. His facial expression was set into one of exhaustion. He had heavy bags under his eyes and his skin seemed a bit pale.

Satori looked passed this man to see his daughter sitting on the floor surrounded by a pool of some kind of black liquid. She was holding her chest as she cried through her smile clearly overjoyed by the cleansing of her body. Satori looked as if he were ready to sprint towards her but a hand to his chest stopped him in his tracks.

The blonde man looked him in the eye and held his hand out as if expecting something. Satori seemed confused for a split second until it dawned on him at last. He pulled his wallet out and shuffled through it for a second. He pulled out a black card with a phone number on it. He handed it to him and the man stepped aside allowing him to pass.

The man then made his way down the hall passed the awestruck faces of the other residents. They watched him leave for a second until their attention was drawn to the heartwarming, tearful embrace taking place in the now opened door. Immediately the entire building felt a lot lighter.

The blonde man made his way out of the apartment complex and into the rain. On his way to the parking lot, he pulled a metal flip liter from his jacket pocket and set the black card he took from Satori on fire. When the flames hit the card, the orange immediately turned to a snow white color and he flipped it over his shoulder. The burning card landed in a puddle on the sidewalk and continued to burn until it was nothing more than a few ashes floating in the murky brown water.

The man made his way to a black Dodge Charger and got inside. Before anything else, he pulled a box of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one placing it gently into his mouth. Breathing it in slowly, he pulled it out and blew the smoke into the air with his head leaning back tiredly. His phone rang effectively killing the small moment of peace. Putting the cigarette back into his mouth, he answered.

"Yeah." He said flatly answering the caller.

"Uh hi, is there a Mr… Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Speaking…" he said in conformation.

"Oh, ok. Well, my name is Dr. Inoichi Yamanaka. I work at the Greenleaf Mental hospital in Konoha and we have a young man here by the name of Kenji Mahada. He seems to believe he is being tormented by some kind of ghost or something, I don't know. But, his family is requesting assistance." Inoichi explained.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, ignoring the blatant amusement in the man's voice as he took another drag of his cigarette.

"Well just a few days ago, he was found within his cell covered in lacerations that seemed to be self-inflicted, but his family doesn't believe so." Inoichi tried to explain. Naruto took another drag and tapped the ashes into the ash tray.

"Have you contacted a priest?" he asked.

"Sadly yes. He told me everything checked out so I don't really see what the problem is. His family however seems to believe he is being tormented by the soul of his late uncle. They are the ones who have requested your services."

"Ok well, I can come take a look. I can be there next week." He replied as he cut his car on.

"Look sir, the Mahada's… they're good people, so if this is some kind of scam…"

Naruto chuckled through his nose. "You have a goodnight Dr. Yamanaka." He hung up before he received a reply and drove away.

AN: Most of the other chapters will be longer than this one.