Incubi.
Demons that prey on people in their sleep, especially women.
These were supernatural things left to belief, faith. Sasuke Uchiha was not one who induldged these childish fairytales. He was a person bound to the earth by reason, not philosophy.
That's why on the day he stepped into the Konoha's Hospital for the Mentally Ill, his ideals were put to the test.
...
Sasuke always hated the smell of hospitals. They reeked of cleaning chemicals and burned his nose. It was like when some one died, they were immeditaly cleaned with the fake chemicals, hiding all trace of their existance. The returned missing nin supposed that this was society's need to hide death and disfunction away.
Kakashi Hatake walked infront of his ex-student, hands shoved in his pockets. The two stuck out in the hallways, which were a pristine white while they were dark.
I can't believe this is part of my punishment. Sasuke thought gloomily. Does this really do anything?
The Uchiha was now 17 years old, and finally dragged back to his birth-village. After Naruto's own 'training', Konoha had decided to execute another retrivial mission. This time, it was a success, much to the disdain of a certain cold-blooded Sanin.
After being ripped away from said ninja, the missing nin was tried as a traitor to the Hidden Leaf Village. Most of the ninjas and civilians scoffed at him, opinions of him slashed forever. Others, like his old team mates, still talked to him for some unearthly reason. The Elders laid down the punishments that they say fit accordingly.
No missions higher then D-class for two years and he was not allowed to pass chuunin levels for two years as well. And...
Volunteer hours at the mental hospital for two months.
"Ah, Hatake-san." A pretty nurse greeted the Jounin from behind the reception desk. "Are you hear to see Kami-chan?"
"Hai, Haruko-san. And," He looked back at the sulking teenager behind him. "I've brought Sasuke Uchiha so he can start his hours."
"Ah," The nurse eyed him over. "Good, thank you Hatake-san. Kami-chan is still in group thearpy, but I'll let you know when she's done."
"Arigatou, Haruko-san."
As Kakashi turned, he gave his companion a light tug on his sleeve signaling him to follow. Sasuke's brow furrowed, who was Kami-chan and who was she to Kakashi?
The two shinobi plopped down into the plastic chairs in the waiting room, both with slouchy posture. The avenger looked at his teacher from the corner of his eye. The Copy Nin didn't usually show emotion, but today he seemed sort of depressed.
But, then again, this was more of Naruto's expertise.
"Who's Kami?" The black-haired teen asked, stuffing his hands into the huge pocket of his hoodie.
"My sister."
Sasuke sat bolt upright, onyx eyes wide. He gaped at his teacher, both eyebrows quirked. "You have a sister?!"
"Yes, she's the same age as you."
Suddenly, he remembered where he was. "Why's she in the mental hospital?"
He realized how stupid that question was.
Kakashi sighed, running a hand through his silver hair. "One day Sasuke, maybe I'll tell you. But not today."
Chewing on his bottom lip, Sasuke grunted and slouched down further in the chair. Minutes ticked by with neither saying anything, and it didn't take a genius like Neji Hyuga to figure out what it was.
Kakashi was disappointed in Sasuke, and the raven haired nin knew it.
He had betrayed his village, that Kakashi had gone into battle to protect. When he went to Orochimaru, Sasuke might as well had spit in Kakashi's face. He'd been his sensei, and his actions spoke that Kakashi wasn't a good enough teacher.
Truth of the matter was, Sasuke had none of those things in mind when he came to his descion. Only memories of his dead parents and his damned brother who was still skulking around out there.
"Hatake-san." Haruko walked over to them. "Kami-chan just finished group thearpy. She's in her room, would you like me to escort you?"
Kakashi thanked the nurse, but pulled her to the side and whispered something to her. Sasuke couldn't hear what they were saying, but Haruko's eyes kept flicking between Kakashi and himself.
"Come on, Sasuke." Kakashi called, following Haruko down a corridor.
Silently, the Uchiha followed the two, his sneakers scraping against the intact tile floor. Glancing behind him, Sasuke saw the scuff marks that he'd left behind.
Not so pristine anymore.
Smirking, Sasuke followed his sensei down the hall. It was lined with grey doors, each with a small square window placed towards the top. Most didn't have faces in them, but a few did. Frizzy hair that stuck out in all directions peeked near the windows, and crazy eyes followed the unfarmiliar guest as he walked. Surpressing a grimace, Sasuke ignored them and followed his sensei until the got the desired room.
Room #6 in the 6th wing on the 6th floor.
666
Sasuke vaguely wondered if the did that on purpose. Kakashi reached out for the door knob, his huge hand covering the small brass circle. Opening the door, a girl sat in the middle of the floor, crayons spilled around her.
"Kami? Your brother's here." Haruko lowered her sweet voice so it was lower.
The girl looked up from the floor, her red eyes piercing through the three that stood watching her silently. Sasuke was thrown off by the red eyes, Kakashi's normal eye was like his own dark ones. The girls long hair hung around her and had a white color instead of silver like her brother's. However, on a closer look her hair was actually blonde but appeared to be white.
Kakashi walked over to his younger sister, who was 14 years his junior. Kneeling down infront of her, Kakashi wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
"I'm sorry I haven't been visting the last few weeks." He apologized.
Kami stayed silent, her chin resting on her brother's shoulder. Sasuke heard Kakashi sigh and draw away, but his ex-sensei had fake smile on his face. He glanced down at the floor, and saw the drawings.
It appeared to be a large outer ring, with symbols and words after it, and then another ring. Sasuke felt a chill go down his spine, it looked like some demonic ritual.
"You've broken all the crayons." Kakashi muttered.
Indeed, the jumbo box of crayons that came with odd colors like 'mac-and-cheese orange' was spilt out over the floor. Sasuke noticed, if no one else did, that only the regular colors remained untact.
"They're fake." Kami spoke, she had a soft voice.
Kakashi rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Kami remained silent, fixated on the crayons. Then, abruptly, she reached out and yanked Kakashi's headband off and yanked it down to his neck. His Sharingan blared, staring her own red eyes down. Haruko sighed, and ushered Sasuke out of the room.
As the nurse was pushing him out of the room, he swore he heard her sigh "Not again". Quirking an eyebrow, Sasuke considered asking a question, but Haruko shook her head.
"Alright, Uchiha-kun. Let me explain what you will be doing here." She placed her hands on her hips like she was directing a 4-year old. "The more stable patients you will help entertain, but that's only if I instruct you to do so. Otherwise, you will be serving food, cleaning, and other things of that nature."
Pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, Sasuke thought that this nurse reminded him of Karin. Nodding, he shoved his hands deeper in his pockets.
"Oh, and I almost forgot!" She exclaimed, grabbing Sasuke's arm. "The hallway we just came through, you are never to go down there."
Haruko had a serious expression on her face, her blue eyes staring the Uchiha down. Sasuke nodded in understandment, but he was curious.
"Why is Kakashi's sister here?" He asked.
Haruko looked a little surprised, most likely because he hadn't spoken to her since he came. Sighing, she removed her glasses, and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Hatake-san's father died when they were younger. Hatake-san wasn't past 17 when his sister stared to...say things." She finished akwardly.
"Like what?" Sasuke was hooked now.
"She claim she can see ghosts." Haruko slipped her glasses back on, and Sasuke could see where the rims hid the bags under her eyes. "Hatake-san was never home to watch her, so she was always with nannys and such. But they all became frightened of her, and one day the village came and took her away to come here."
For a fleeting moment, Sasuke felt bad for Kakashi. It's hard to lose people you love, even if they're still alive. Not only that, but she was crazy.
He wanted to ask something else, but Kakashi came walking down the hall. His hands were shoved in his pockets, but no book. Walking up to Haruko, he leaned in closer to the pair.
"Her usual nurse came in, but Kami doesn't want her to take care of her." Kakashi sighed.
Haruko groaned. "Not again. That's the third one in 2 months!"
Kakashi noticed Sasuke's questioning look. "Kami is very picky about the nurses that watch her during the day."
Haruko sighed, flipping through some files on her desk. "I suppose I'll re-asign another nurse then."
"Ah, she already picked some one Haruko-san."
"Who?"
Kakashi's visible eye fell on Sasuke. "She wants Sasuke to watch her."
...
It had been a few weeks since Sasuke had started watching Kami. He was a little freaked out at first, but who could blame him? After the first few times, Sasuke found the Hatake girl harmless. All she really did that was weird was claim to see dead people.
Bah, he'd dealt with worse.
"Do you know what the sun looks like, Sasuke-kun?" Kami asked, enjoying the outdoor breeze.
"No."
"Red, like he slit his wrists in a bathtub and the blood is on top of the water."
"That's gross."
It was autumn now, and the garden near the hospital was covered in withered leaves. Kami was twirling around on one of the white stone benches, her worn coat flowing around her. It was toward the end of his shift, so the sky was bleeding red and the moon was peeking out in the corner of the sky.
"And the moon just sits there and watches." Kami pulled her coat tighter around herself. "She probably drove him to it..."
Sasuke shook his head. "You're weird, Kami."
Smiling, Kami jumped down and ran up to him. Her blonde hair fell out of the hair clips that were weakly holding the tendrils up.
"Let's go roll in the leaves!"
"What are you? A two year old?"
Kami's smile just grew bigger, and she skipped off to gather leaves. Sighing, Sasuke followed her and picked up arms full of leaves as he went. Soon, the two made a huge pile of brown leaves.
"Okay, on three! One...two...three!"
Gripping his arm, Kami pulled Sasuke down into the leaf pile with her. The two landed in an upstart of wet fall leaves. Kami laughed hysterically, and Sasuke had to admit it was fun doing it.
As much as he hated saying it, he had fun with her. She was pretty normal, and sometimes he didn't understand why she was even in the KHMI. Sure she said some strange things, but every ninja here was a little strange...
Look at Lee for God's sake!
He was curious though, because since he'd been watching her she'd never said anything about ghosts to him. He admited he was a little baffled, but he didn't believe in them. Pushing himself up from the sea of leaves, Sasuke looked down at her.
"Kami, do you really see ghosts?"
The happy expression drained from her pale face, and her red eyes darkened. "I'm not supposed to talk about that."
Sasuke turned his body toward her, so he was leaning over her slightly. "Come on, you can tell me." He coaxed.
The red eyes that made him want to hide and let himself fall on top of her settled on him. The studied his face, and Sasuke could see the debate she was having with herself.
Finally, she caved. "Fine, I'll tell you you're followers."
Sitting up herself, Kami turned toward him and reached her hand out. Sasuke thought she was going to touch his face, and he found himself excited for her hand to make contact with his skin. However, it stopped a few centimeters away from his ear, and stayed there. Kami's eyes were closed, and she appeared to be concentrating. Sasuke watched her, God she was beautitful! A pale face without a blemish on it, silky white hair and gorgeous red eyes. He was tempted to just grab her wrist and press it to his face.
Just for a moment...
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and Kami drew her hand back fearfully. Her breathing increased, and her eyes widened.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" Sasuke asked worriedly.
Scuttling backward, Kami tried to get away from the Uchiha. Her back came to rest against a tree, and she still clutched her hand tightly. She sounded like she was hyperventalating, and she looked fearfully at him.
"Kami, are you okay?" He asked gently as possible.
"They're everywhere!" She whispered hoarsly, her eyes darting around the garden frantically. "They're all around me, all inside me. I can hear them! And they're saying...nothing!"
Tears were streaming down her face, and she hid her face in her hands. Sasuke felt like his heart was breaking, she was only crying because he made her search for ghosts. He thought maybe she was at the mental institution for another reason. Slowly, he crept over to her like he was approaching a hurt and scared animal. Holding his hand out Sasuke touched Kami's arm lightly.
"It's okay." He soothed. "I'm here. They can't get you if I'm here."
She gasped and looked up at him, her red eyes puffy from crying. She made a choking sound and threw herself at Sasuke, burying her face in his clothes.
Stroking her hair absently mindedly, Sasuke tigthened the hug around her. While he let her sob, Sasuke wondered that if Kakashi couldn't take care of her, maybe he could. It's not like he'd be going on any big missions for a while, and he had the room. Sasuke smiled, ideas hatching in his brain.
"Come on, Kami. Let's go back to your room and get you cleaned up."
Nodding, Kami sniffled at bit, trying to clear the mucus from her nose. Grasping onto his hand, Kami let her caretaker lead her back to hospital. The two walked silently, then she broke it.
"You have many people following you, Sasuke-kun." She whispered, her grip tightening.
"What do you mean?"
"Many from your family follow you. They almost cloak you, like a veil of death."
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, he wasn't sure if he believed that his family was following her around in spirit. But...
He liked the idea.
...
This one came to me when I was watching a movie. I got the idea from The Covenant and I just had to write it. I was going to make this a series but I just have the other 3 stories, it would have been too much.
