Naruto - A Cursed System

Chapter 54 - There Are Those Who Whisper [Rewrite]

A/N: This rewrite changes the identity of the victim and their role. For those who have already read it before the rewrite, you should give it another try.

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A man with a skinny frame was walking towards his house. Those who saw him looked at him with disgust and fear. They would scurry away like rats.

He noticed how others acted around him but didn't care. Instead, he had a smug, ċȯċky grin on his face. He continued making his way towards his destination.

It didn't take long for him to reach his lovely abode. Compared to the other houses on the same street, his house looked shabby and worn down. It had a creepy vibe emanating from it.

When he was inside, he reached inside his bag and pulled out a wooden figurine of a spikey pangolin. He held it in front of his eyes for a few seconds before placing it on the nearest shelf.

'I hope brother likes this present. It looks like his kind of thing.'

This man was a well-known person within his respective neighborhood. And not for good reasons. He was notorious for having a talented brother who was a Suna shinobi. Using his brother's reputation, he was able to 'persuade' others into giving him free stuff.

Even if others were to complain about the man's actions, they would be overlooked thanks to his brother. Of course, the man had to be careful with using his brother for his own benefit. If he gain too much attention, he, and likely his brother would face the necessary repercussions.

In fact, if it weren't for the sentimental memories involving his house, he would've had gotten a new one through his persuasive methods.

The large man went into the kitchen to prepare for dinner. After he finished his dinner, he prepared for bed.

The moment he fell asleep, the shadows inside his bedroom stirred. At the same time, the man's dream slowly turned into an ominous nightmare that persisted for four hours.

After four hours, when it was the dead of night, the large man woke up with a scream. His entire being was covered in sweat. He tried to recall the details of the nightmare but he could only see blurry images.

The clearest thing he did remember was Pain. Outrageous pain.

Taking deep breaths, the man sat up and tried to calm himself down.

After going to the restroom to relieve himself, he went back to bed to go to sleep.

Well, he tried.

Once he laid in bed, he heard someone whispering right into his ear. He abruptly sat up and looked around, but found no one around him. Was someone playing tricks on him? He hated tricks! Unless it was his brother.

Was his brother playing with him? Usually, his brother would tell him if he would be coming home.

*yawn*

He tried to sleep once more, but like previously, someone whispered into his ear. This time, it sounded louder than last time, just enough for him to make out what the content was.

"kill me."

"kill him."

"kill yourself."

Hearing the last whisper, the man erupted in anger. He tried to sit up and look for the unknown whisperer, but alas, he couldn't move a muscle.

Seconds passed by and the whispers grew louder, angrier, scarier.

After what seemed to be hours of torment, he felt his restraints slightly weaken. It wasn't much, but he could now lift his head.

He only managed to lift his head a couple of inches when he noticed something peculiar about the bedroom. In the corner, there was a shadowy figure standing there, facing the walls.

As if sensing his stare, the figure slowly turned around to face him. It was too dark to identify who the figure was. The man opened his mouth to yell at the figure but no words came out.

His eyes widened in shock at the figure's face. There were little to no facial features; no eyes, nose, mouth, nothing. Instead, there were multiple lines stretched across its face.

Fear became apparent on the man's face as he realized the figure - no, monster - was now climbing onto his bed. His vision began to blur as his eyes teared up.

Was this the end for him?

They were now face-to-face. Despite having no eyes, the man could feel it staring right into his eyes. No, not his eyes, but his soul.

*krrr*

Tears gushed down his face as he saw how the monster was making the noise. The lines on the figure's face opened up, revealing rows of eyes underneath, arranged like teeth.

The moment those 'mouths' opened up, he heard whispers. It was then he realized that ever since he gained the monster's attention, he stopped hearing whispers.

"kill me."

Then it disappeared as if it never existed in the first place. The scrawny man's head fell onto the pillow, heavily gasping.

He didn't even try to question why the monster disappeared as it did. All he cared about was getting out of here. He was going to report the incident at the Sunagakure police station or tell his brother about it.

Just as he sat up in his bed, he felt something graze against his arm. He turned around and saw that the monster never disappeared. It was now on the other side of his bed as if it was trying to cuddle him.

That was the last straw.

He screamed in terror and ran out of the bedroom. Stammering into the kitchen, he picked up a large, sharp knife to defend himself. His eyes gazed into the hall as the monster emerged from the darkness.

"kill me."

"kill yourself."

"kill everybody."

He rushed towards it and tried to stab it but the knife slipped out of his hand and fell onto the floor. The man quickly fell to the floor to grab the knife. But when he looked up, he saw that there was nothing in the hallway.

Shaking out of fear, he looked around to find it and found it in the reflection of a mirror. He saw... himself? No, the monster was himself.

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A large crowd was surrounding a small house. They were all gossiping with each other about what had happened to their neighbors. On everybody's face, there was a faint commonality, they all wore a smile, pleased at what was happening.

Silence filled the area when the gossiping neighbors saw two ȧduŀts carrying a corpse wrapped in white cloth. Although his identity was covered, they all recognized the body. Their smiles only grew wider.

The ȧduŀts placed the body onto a carriage and left.

The neighbors resumed their fervent gossiping but stopped when they saw a shinobi walk out of the house with a dark expression. He turned towards the group and glared at them, causing them to quickly disperse.

A couple of hours later, the neighbors finally learned what had happened:

The shinobi who left the building was the victim's brother.

Apparently, the man who everybody feared, was about to kill himself with a kitchen knife. However, his brother arrived on time to stop him.

When he was stopped, the man kept on screaming about a monster which the nearby neighbors had heard last night but were too frightened to investigate.

The brother managed to convince the man to calm down. He was about to investigate the house himself when the man suddenly stole his kunai and jabbed it into his heart, killing himself.

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How did they come to know all of this? Nobody knew who started it first.. Whoever did, was very, very persuasive.

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