{Video - 19}
[When the video feed clicks on, it's dark. Sakura's face is lit only by the artificial light of the Forge and stray moonlight. She's opening a door into a hallway, but she's moving so quietly that if you listen, you might be able to hear amateur piano music in the air.]
Did anyone else find the orphanage? The mansion on the edge of the woods. This place is... [... something, but she can't quite find an adjective to describe it.]
[Naruto however, has just the adjective.] F-freaky! [ It sounds out somewhere behind Sakura and that note in his voice? That would be borderline panic. Hushed borderline panic.] It's freaky! I dunno why the hell we came here, it was supposed to be a nice walk- that's all I wanted, just a nice walk, this isn't a nice walk, there's nothin' nice about this at all and what the hell is that!?
Naruto! [A frustrated, clipped rebuke.] Calm down, would you? It's just another one of those ghosts. [Yes. Ghosts.]
Come on. [Or else be left behind, is the clear implication, because Sakura keeps going forward, turning the Forge briefly away from her to illuminate her path. There are a set of stairs before her, and she wastes no time as she starts to climb them.]
[Naruto actually whimpers.] Ihatethisplace. [But he is sticking close to Sakura. Fear is a wonderful motivator.] I hate ghosts. I hate ghosts. That one keeps l-lookin' at me. [Tense whisper.] Least he has his jaw, if we find any without their jaws I'm gettin' the hell outta here-
[A brief pause.] You sure we can't just turn back? I don't like this.
[Unseen by Naruto, but quite visible to the network at large, she rolls her eyes.] You can turn back if you want. I'm sticking around to continue investigating.
[Fear or no fear, that gains her a snort.] Shinobi who don't follow the rules are trash, but shinobi who abandon their friends are lower than trash. You know that. [Firmly.] I just don't like this and-- would you stop lookin' at me!? S'freaky!
[He's not talking to Sakura here. Obviously.]
[She turns toward him, briefly, her face away from the Forge.] Yeah, I know. [And she magnanimously ignores his outburst this time.
There's a door at the top of the stairs, and beyond the door, living quarters of some kind. Without pausing, or any kind of ceremony, she crosses to the desk and begins looking over the few items on it.]
Anyway. [This time she's addressing the Forge. Yes, she does remember that this is recording, she just got... distracted.] If you follow the dolls out into the mist, they'll lead you here. It's an orphanage... or it was. The children are all dead.
Except they're still here, you know, just hangin' around all creepy and stuff, not dead-dead like they should be. [Naruto's voice comes from somewhere behind Sakura again. It's an odd mixture of fear and irritation as he rummages around. Clearly he does not approve of dead-people hanging around as ghosts.
Some silence.] And the mist likes the dolls. S'not as bad with the dolls around. [Closer now. A moment later Naruto's head appears over Sakura's shoulder.] Found anything?
[She puts the Forge down and reaches to open one of the drawers.] Not yet... [Nothing interesting in that one, so she shuts it and opens another.
This time, she pulls out a book, opens it up on the desk. Sakura picks up the Forge again for light, and the pages appear warped and ruined on camera but she is apparently reading it; there is a look of increasing interest and concentration on her face.]
What's that? [Over her shoulder, Naruto tilts his head.] A journal? [He reads for a moment, scanning the page idly.] Blah blah, boooring. [But something seems to catch his eye then, and he points to some of the text.] Hey, wait.
'The twins, at least, seem unaffected by the stench of sickness in the air.' ... Twins.
[He falls silent, initial derision fading fast.]
Yeah. [She flips back a couple of pages.] Apparently they were pretty reclusive, too. That sounds familiar.
It looks like this was owned by whoever ran the place... hang on, I need to-- [What, exactly, she never says, and at this point she absently ends the recording.]
Did anyone else find the orphanage? The mansion on the edge of the woods. This place is... [... something, but she can't quite find an adjective to describe it.]
[Naruto however, has just the adjective.] F-freaky! [ It sounds out somewhere behind Sakura and that note in his voice? That would be borderline panic. Hushed borderline panic.] It's freaky! I dunno why the hell we came here, it was supposed to be a nice walk- that's all I wanted, just a nice walk, this isn't a nice walk, there's nothin' nice about this at all and what the hell is that!?
Naruto! [A frustrated, clipped rebuke.] Calm down, would you? It's just another one of those ghosts. [Yes. Ghosts.]
Come on. [Or else be left behind, is the clear implication, because Sakura keeps going forward, turning the Forge briefly away from her to illuminate her path. There are a set of stairs before her, and she wastes no time as she starts to climb them.]
[Naruto actually whimpers.] Ihatethisplace. [But he is sticking close to Sakura. Fear is a wonderful motivator.] I hate ghosts. I hate ghosts. That one keeps l-lookin' at me. [Tense whisper.] Least he has his jaw, if we find any without their jaws I'm gettin' the hell outta here-
[A brief pause.] You sure we can't just turn back? I don't like this.
[Unseen by Naruto, but quite visible to the network at large, she rolls her eyes.] You can turn back if you want. I'm sticking around to continue investigating.
[Fear or no fear, that gains her a snort.] Shinobi who don't follow the rules are trash, but shinobi who abandon their friends are lower than trash. You know that. [Firmly.] I just don't like this and-- would you stop lookin' at me!? S'freaky!
[He's not talking to Sakura here. Obviously.]
[She turns toward him, briefly, her face away from the Forge.] Yeah, I know. [And she magnanimously ignores his outburst this time.
There's a door at the top of the stairs, and beyond the door, living quarters of some kind. Without pausing, or any kind of ceremony, she crosses to the desk and begins looking over the few items on it.]
Anyway. [This time she's addressing the Forge. Yes, she does remember that this is recording, she just got... distracted.] If you follow the dolls out into the mist, they'll lead you here. It's an orphanage... or it was. The children are all dead.
Except they're still here, you know, just hangin' around all creepy and stuff, not dead-dead like they should be. [Naruto's voice comes from somewhere behind Sakura again. It's an odd mixture of fear and irritation as he rummages around. Clearly he does not approve of dead-people hanging around as ghosts.
Some silence.] And the mist likes the dolls. S'not as bad with the dolls around. [Closer now. A moment later Naruto's head appears over Sakura's shoulder.] Found anything?
[She puts the Forge down and reaches to open one of the drawers.] Not yet... [Nothing interesting in that one, so she shuts it and opens another.
This time, she pulls out a book, opens it up on the desk. Sakura picks up the Forge again for light, and the pages appear warped and ruined on camera but she is apparently reading it; there is a look of increasing interest and concentration on her face.]
What's that? [Over her shoulder, Naruto tilts his head.] A journal? [He reads for a moment, scanning the page idly.] Blah blah, boooring. [But something seems to catch his eye then, and he points to some of the text.] Hey, wait.
'The twins, at least, seem unaffected by the stench of sickness in the air.' ... Twins.
[He falls silent, initial derision fading fast.]
Yeah. [She flips back a couple of pages.] Apparently they were pretty reclusive, too. That sounds familiar.
It looks like this was owned by whoever ran the place... hang on, I need to-- [What, exactly, she never says, and at this point she absently ends the recording.]