The Legend of Creepy Konoha
Prologue
Sarutobi Asuma jumped casually, letting his chakra-laden feet hit the tree branches with a practiced ease. He took a drag from the cigarette perched in his mouth, giving an almost invisible flinch when a stream of smoke flew into his eye when he exhaled. The weight of the scroll in his jounin vest reminded him of his duty and he raced on further towards his destination. The tree branches Asuma was traveling on cast shadows to every part of the forest. A dense fog had surrounded the area, increasing the look of utter dismal. Asuma ignored the dreary setting and continued, wanting to complete this mission.
There was a rustling in the leaves, but Asuma ignored it. It was better to not pay any heed to any noises, unless the noises sounded suspicious, like an enemy shinobi. But the sound of moving leaves could have been made by the wind, or some nocturnal animal. He continued on.
More rustling. There was no wind, and Asuma did not sense the presence of any animal or some other shinobi. He halted on the tree branch, taking time to survey his surroundings as he took another long drag from his cigarette. He listened closely, just closely enough to hear a tapping sound, which sounded to him like feet landing on branches. Someone must be following him. Asuma took out his trench knives, preparing for an enemy attack.
Suddenly, something pounced from behind a wall of leaves. A kunai flew at Asuma, who dodged it easily and fell into a battle stance. The dark figure jumped towards him, and Asuma slashed away at it with his knives. The figure slid back into the shadows, leaving Asuma to wonder if he had hurt it or not.
Deciding not to dwell on it any longer, Asuma continued his journey, his pace increasing just in case the shinobi was still following him. It was only two minutes later when Asuma heard the tapping sound again. He raced on through the trees, dodging branches and skipping around from one tree branch to the next, trying to elude his pursuer.
But that didn't work. Several seconds later, the shadow-covered figure jumped out from behind the Sarutobi. Asuma jumped away, his trench knives set in a defensive position. He clenched his teeth. This enemy shinobi was persistent. The figure stood still just long enough for a beam of moonlight to stretch through the canopy of branches. Asuma's entire body froze with terror as he gazed upon the enemy.
And so frozen in terror was he that Asuma was helpless when the shinobi launched at him, unsheathing a katana.
The next morning, the Hokage sent out a couple of shinobi to find Sarutobi Asuma, seeing as he had not returned from his mission yet. The two shinobi stumbled upon the jounin's body, horrified to find that Sarutobi Asuma's head...was missing.
And in it's place, was the cigarette that he had been smoking the night before.
"Konoha?" Nara Shikamaru quirked one eyebrow, his attention on the sky above him.
The blonde sitting next to him nodded. "Yeah. Konoha. It seems there's been some recent murders there. Heads sliced right off." Temari slid a finger across her neck to emphasize her point. Shikamaru said nothing, but Temari could see his eyebrows were scrunched down, deep in thought. She continued on. "Gaara wants you to investigate the murders."
The Nara's eyebrows rose, his dark eyes asking a silent question. When Temari didn't answer, he voiced his question aloud. "Why can't he have someone else do it? It's too troublesome to travel to Konoha."
"You know as well as I that you're the most intelligent shinobi in all of Suna. If anyone could solve who is behind the murders, it's you. Besides, you've lived in Konoha before. You know that village much better than you know Suna." Temari replied, standing up. She grabbed her humongous fan and started walking away. "Just think about it, okay? Gaara will probably ask you about the mission later." She walked away, leaving the genius to his musings.
"Konoha, eh...? It's been awhile." Shikamaru commented lazily. The last time he'd been in Konoha was when he was just a boy. He was born in Konoha and had lived there until he was eight. The Nara could just remember bits and pieces of his life there. It had been eleven years.
Shortly after Shikamaru turned eight, his father had been assigned a mission. The mission was to seek and capture a renegade ninja that had escaped Konoha's grasp and fled to Sunagakure. Nara Shikato, Shikamaru's father, had not known how long the mission would take. Nara Yoshino, Shikamaru's mother, did not want to wait forever for her husband to complete his mission. She had taken it upon herself to pack up all their belongings and move to Suna with Shikato. Shikamaru, only being eight at the time, had to tag along.
Shikato had completed the mission in three years, but they did not return to Konoha immediately. Shikato had suddenly been given even more missions to do in Suna, therefore preventing their return to their native village. He had completed every mission until one unfortunate one where an enemy had executed him when Shikamaru was sixteen.
Now Shikamaru was nineteen. His mother had died a year before due to an incurable illness, but even though he was an adult and free of any parental hold, Shikamaru had still not yet gone back to Konoha. It wasn't because he had become friends with Temari, the troublesome daughter of the late Kazekage, nor was it because the citizens in Suna treated him with utmost respect (being a shinobi with an IQ over 200 did have its perks). Nope, it was because Shikamaru was too lazy. It was way too troublesome to move back and have to visit all his old friends, tell him his parents were dead, and then have to deal with the many condolences he'd receive.
But maybe it would do him good to return. He did have friends waiting for him, provided they still remembered who he was.
Later that day, when Temari's younger brother Gaara, the Kazekage, briefed him about the mission to Konoha, Shikamaru had complained it was too troublesome.
But he accepted it anyway.
I've had the idea for this story for some time now, and I just got around to writing it. If you haven't noticed, it's like 'The Legend of Sleep Hollow'. I just bought Tim Burton's 'Sleepy Hollow' as a b-day gift for myself a month ago, and I got the idea for this. So, here is the product of watching the most awesome movie by Tim Burton ever! (well, no offense to you Nightmare Before Christmas/Corpse Bride/Edward Scissorhands/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fans. I like those Tim Burton films, too, but I love Sleepy Hollow the most!)
When I first wrote this, I had no intention of putting in that scene with Asuma. But then I wrote it and I was like 'Hey, it's not that bad', so i decided to keep it. I also thought it kinda matched what was happening in Naruto because Asuma just...you know..he kinda died (I'm still in a sort of denial about it!) I hope you people liked it. I don't really write action/suspense that much (which is why I'm still a little unsure of this story because I'm kinda basing it off ovf Sleepy Hollw and there was a lot of action/suspense/gore in it). Please tell me if it's okay or if it needs to be worked on.
Sorry if people are mad at me for not continuing with my other fics. It's just writer's block (don't you hate that?)..and of course my natural laziness! I promise to try and work on my other fics soon. I know I really need to finish The Kunoichis' Animals, so I'll probably end up working on that the most.
I could use some good constructive criticism. Feedback makes me happy!! Virtual cookies to anyone who gives feedback!!