Work Text:
“Yo Sasuke, Sasuke!”
Standing up from his crouched position, Sasuke perks a brow at the trio of people jogging toward him. “...hey.”
Practically starry eyed, Naruto reaches him first, ignoring the quite obvious signs that his friend is busy. What with the gloved hands, hat to shade his face, and the pile of weeds building up beside his mother’s flowerbed. “Dude. You gotta come with us.”
Dark eyes blink slowly. “...what?”
“So y’know how Sakura’s dad is a history buff, right? Well he was telling her about these super cool underground tunnels at the south end of town!”
Oh, he can see where this is going. “I’m not going spelunking into some dumb tunnels with you, moron.”
“Wait wait wait! They’re supposed t’be haunted!”
“...and that’s supposed to change my mind because…?”
Stepping up beside Naruto, Sakura folds her arms, cocking a hip. “Mostly it’s just something to do. You know, get out of the house and maybe get spooked? Why do you have to be such a spoilsport, Sasuke?”
“Cuz I’ve got better things to do than wander around in a bunch of tunnels which probably just echo funny and convince everyone they’re haunted,” he rebukes.
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
“Doesn’t matter what. Point is, I’m not going.” In truth...he doesn’t have anything specific to stop him from going. This just sounds...dumb.
...and he’s not afraid of ghosts. They aren’t real.
Naruto gives a loud, long groan, head craning back. “You’re so lame, Sasuke! We thought you’d wanna come along!”
“Have you done anything out of the ordinary yet this Summer?” Sakura asks, giving him a squinting look.
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“It means if you haven’t, you’re boring!”
“Like I give a sh-”
“Is he not coming…?”
It’s then the last of the trio steps up, expression looking a bit disappointed. Hinata’s pale eyes flicker between the duo and their friend.
“Apparently not,” Sakura huffs. “Not that I’m surprised. He never wants to do anything.”
“Such a stick in the mud,” Naruto agrees, going so far as to stick out his tongue.
“These two drag you into this?” Sasuke asks, addressing the Hyūga.
“Well, I...I thought it might be fun,” she replies softly, a hand fiddling with the hem of her hoodie. “It’s...something to do.”
“Turns out Hinata loves ghost stories!” Naruto offers, grinning.
“Says the scaredy cat,” Sasuke rebuffs, seeing the blond shrink.
“Hey man, I’m not one to just...not believe something! Just cuz you can’t prove it’s real doesn’t mean you can’t prove it’s not -”
“Makes me wonder why you’re agreeing to this in the first place,” Sasuke cuts back in, arms folding and leaning in with a perked brow. “If you’re so scared of ghosts, why go to a supposedly-haunted tunnel?”
“Hey, I - I’m not scared!”
“I have a video on my cell phone from last year’s haunted house that says otherwise,” the Uchiha taunts.
“Well everyone knows that stuff isn’t real! You’re supposed to get scared!”
“Okay guys, back on topic?” Sakura reminds them, giving each a scowling glance.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go…?” Hinata asks, looking to Sasuke with a hint of a hopeful expression. “It would be more fun with more people…”
“Yeah, and that way Hinata won’t have to third wheel it!” Naruto blurts before Sakura wrestles his mouth shut.
“You’re so rude!”
Hinata flinches a bit at the confrontation, looking more than a bit awkward. “That...that’s okay…”
Glancing to her, Sasuke weighs that particular tidbit. True, Naruto and Sakura started dating this Summer...much to the long-crushing Hyūga’s dismay. But it would appear she’s at least trying to keep up the friend group regardless, agreeing to go with them.
And no, he doesn’t want her just...stuck with the pair of them and being a dreaded third wheel. That’s just cruel.
...and...well…
Glancing aside with a sigh, Sasuke mutters, “All right...I’ll go.”
“Yeahhh!” Naruto whoops.
“When is this, exactly?”
“Tonight, duh! S’why we’re all here and ready!”
“...but it’s almost sundown…?” Sasuke asks, perking a brow.
“Well sure,” Naruto replies, leaning in with wriggling fingers. “What better time to explore a spoooky underground tunnel than after dark?!”
Sasuke deadpans with a sigh. “...a little more forewarning would’ve been nice…” He was doing yard work for his mom, after all.
“C’mon, man! Be spontaneous! Live life on the edge a little, huh?”
“Yeah, yeah...lemme go change and grab a flashlight.” And...tell his mother where he’s going.
Mikoto, to his surprise, perks up at the idea.
“Not gonna tell me it’s dangerous and stupid?” he drawls, putting fresh batteries into a flashlight she found for him.
“Not at all!” In fact, she gives him a coy grin. “That’s been a teenager hotspot since I was in school.”
“...you mean you’ve been down there?”
“...maybe,” she replies, grinning. “Back then, it was all the rage with the guys. They’d take girls they liked, and protect them from all the spooky sounds and such nonsense. Nothing builds a little atmosphere like your girl hiding in your arms from a distant wailing ghost, right?”
That earns a slow blink. “...you gotta be kidding.”
“I guess you’ll just have to find out,” Mikoto replies airily, leaving him to it. “Just be home before it gets too late, okay? I doubt there’s cell signal down there, so if you’re not home by, say...three, I’m coming to look for you.”
“Fair enough.” Screwing the cap back on the light and giving it a testing flicker, Sasuke mulls that over. Ghosts get you girls, huh…? Well, maybe…
“Oi!” Naruto calls from outside. “C’mon, man! It’s getting dark!”
Once united, the group makes their way across the suburb, sun sinking lower toward the horizon. Eventually they find the entrance Sakura describes, peering in
“...anyone else think it’s weird this isn’t, like...sealed off or something?” Sasuke asks.
“It was,” Sakura replies. “But kids kept finding ways in, so...they kinda gave up. There’s warning signs about liability and all that inside. There’s nothing really dangerous, but they have to cover their butts in case of like...a collapse or something.”
“Or a murderer hiding in here,” he deadpans.
The rosette rolls her eyes. “Come on, let’s go.”
All armed with flashlights...they make their way in.
Naruto and Sakura take point, light beams glazing over the stone walls.
“So...what was this used for?”
“A lot of things over the years. I won’t bore you with the history lesson, but apparently some people, like...lived in here at one point? Some say there’s been murders, which explains the ghosts, but...there’s no official documents. It’s all just myth and hearsay.”
“...uh huh.”
Hinata walks beside Sasuke, eyes round as she takes in the atmosphere. He keeps a careful eye on her, not sure what they might run -
“WAH!”
Startling, the group panic as sound suddenly fills the enclosed space, and something starts...moving?! Acting mostly out of reflex, Sasuke tugs Hinata to a wall, helping her crouch as dark flickering objects scurrying through the air back toward the door. Wait...those noises…?
“...bats!” he calls out, realizing what they’ve found. “It’s sundown, they head out this time of night!”
On the other wall, Sakura and Naruto seem to calm with the explanation, looking a bit sheepish. “Oh, uh…” Naruto, who’d been the one to holler, nervously rubs his neck. “...sorry.”
Sasuke just rolls his eyes.
“Thanks for, um...for getting me out of the way,” Hinata offers as they keep moving.
“No problem,” the Uchiha replies, trying to sound nonchalant. “They wouldn’t have hurt you, but best to stay out of the way.”
The group continues on a ways, and...well, not much really...happens.
“Man, if the scariest things down here are a bunch a’ bats, I’m gonna be pissed!” Naruto grumbles, still searching the dark nooks and crannies.
“It’s mostly things you hear, dofus,” Sakura cuts in. “So try being quiet, huh?”
“Both of you, shh!” Sasuke hisses.
The group freezes...listening…
...there, in the distance...a quiet, fluctuating sound can be heard. Almost like some kind of ghostly wail. A lamenting, melancholy noise that fades in, lilts...and then silences.
Everyone exchanges a silent glance.
“...y’know...maybe, uh...maybe we should -?”
Naruto’s suggestion is cut off by a loud bang, his arms immediately clinging to Sakura’s middle as though to climb her like a tree for safety.
Hinata, gasping and dropping her flashlight, stumbles into Sasuke’s side. With hardly a thought, he latches an arm around her, light searching the tunnel for a possible cause.
“Okay! Okay!” Naruto wheezes, still attached to his girlfriend. “This is - this is gettin’ a little, uh -?”
“Quiet,” Sasuke cuts in. “Your panicking is making it worse!”
“I-I think...we should go,” Hinata mumbles, a hand resting against Sasuke’s chest as she peers down the corridor. “What if - what if we’re not alone down here…?”
Doing his best to think past the fact that she’s touching him, Sasuke weighs their options. “...all right. Let’s head back.” Leaning, he picks up Hinata’s flickering flashlight. “I dunno if this thing is gonna -”
...all at once, all four lights go out.
Three of them scream, Sasuke flinching at the reverberating sounds.
“It’s a ghost!” Naruto screeches. “It took all the juice outta the batteries! We’re gonna die! We’re gonna -!”
Slapping his light against his thigh, Sasuke gives it a shake, and by some miracle, it comes back to life. “Okay, come on! Before something else goes wrong!”
At a dead run, the four of them take off back down the tunnel, stumbling and panting until they finally emerge out into cool, fresh air. Lungs gasping and postures all leaning over their knees, they struggle to calm.
“Holy shit…!” Naruto manages to wheeze. “Holy shit…”
“That was...the stupidest thing...you’ve ever had me do,” Sasuke retorts between breaths.
“What was that…” Sakura asks, recovering quickly and staring back into the tunnel. “I mean...the first sound might be wind from an opening, but...the slamming? Our lights…?”
“Nope...never again,” Naruto mumbles, tone bordering on a whine.
“...let’s go home,” Sasuke mutters.
“Hey, uh...can I stay at your place? My godfather’s outta town, and -?”
“Whatever. Just no keeping me up with your whining.”
“Maybe, uh...maybe I’ll stay too, if that’s okay…?” Sakura asks.
The Uchiha sighs. “Well shit, why don’t youall just stay, then?”
“It...it might be nice not to be, um...alone,” Hinata agrees quietly.
“...all right, fine. Let’s get going.”
Mikoto is still awake, the hour barely midnight when they show up. After a blink, she asks, “...that bad, huh?”
Sasuke just gives her a look. “...we’re having a sleepover.”
“...all right. I’ll make breakfast once you guys get up. I’d say wake up, but...something tells me you won’t be sleeping.”
“Ha, ha.”
They commandeer mattresses and couches in the living room, a lamp kept on in a corner. “Okay, just...try to sleep,” Sasuke offers from the floor, he and Naruto letting the girls have the softer cushions.
“Easier said than done,” Naruto mutters, burying under a blanket.
Time passes like molasses, Sasuke staring at the ceiling. Eventually, he hears Naruto snore, Sakura’s breathing quiet. Hinata, too, seems to finally calm enough to sleep. Glancing to her, Sasuke sees her hand hang over the edge.
For a moment, he hovers his own beneath it...then thinks better. She’d probably wake up and scream…
Scowling, he rolls over...and tries to get some rest.