A/N: It's begun! My time to finally join in on the NaNoWriMo challenge! I've been stressing, but now that it's begun I've become a little more optimistic.
Before you dive in, I'd like to say that there's going to be deliberate OOC among numerous other changes from canon.
I've decided to be lenient with myself, so this is just for fun so you may see some pacing problems or whatever. I plan to just let this story take me wherever it goes, and I hope that some of you will enjoy it along the way.
Father yawns, propping his elbow onto the dining table and opting to stare at Mother with a pleasant, patient grin. Mother picks at her food with a frown, her shoulder wrought with tension and discomfort. There is no battle, for Father has already won.
"Should tell the honey bunnies that you have the conscious of a dead person in your head." Shion suggests, her husky voice laced with a tone of devious amusement.
Sakura contemplates the thought, as that would be something different for Mother and Father to argue about. Their favourite topics are work related and whether or not to sign her up to the Academy, although Father would surely be happy for some variety.
"I have the voice of a dead person in my head." she announces, before casually shoving mashed potatoes into her mouth. "She says that she's the reason I nearly died after being born because of excess chakra… and some other things. Her chakra is in the diamond thing on my forehead, she told me."
Mother's face is blank, which states that she's at a loss and is really quite done with the fact that her family isn't as civilian-like as she wants. Shion has commented before that it's no one's fault but Mother's for marrying a shady businessman with hair shaped like a sakura.
Father's reaction is far more positive, because he beams and his blush-coloured sideburn moustache moves to accommodate. He sits up, then scoots his chair closer to his offspring before laying a hand down on one of her tiny shoulders.
"My strawberry cupcake!" he exclaims, his dramatic tendencies kicking in. Shion rather enjoys the presence of Father, but Sakura suspects it's probably because they're related somehow. "For how long? Who is it? Are they corrupting you with a disgusting sense of righteousness?"
"Kizashi!" Mother chides, because her 'disgusting sense of righteousness' has been slighted. "We need to take her to the doctor! Get her examined or something." she sighs, clearly exasperated and tired of her family.
Neither Sakura nor Father feel very sympathetic, but that's because she takes after her paternal parent far more. Shion also has a large influence, for obvious reasons such as she's in Sakura's mind and could very likely take over.
"Shion's always been here," Sakura replies to Father, opting to ignore Mother since Mother often has useless things to say, "but she's like you. As in… eccentrically sociopathic? Perhaps?"
"Proud of you, sugar plum. Learning all those big words before you're even half-a-decade old. Mostly my fault, but hey, knowledge is power. Fuck 'em up with knowledge."
She smiles, because though Shion typically sounds uncaring and sarcastic, Shion is always truthful and blunt even if it means others get hurt. Father is very much the same, only in a more amicable way where he smiles often.
Father slaps the hand previously on her shoulder to his chest, his expression contorting into one of dramatic pride on the verge of tears. "Look at you, shortcake! See, Mebuki?" he looks over to Mother, whose eyes of pine are spitting irritation. "I told you all those books would be educational and good for her!"
Sakura stabs a piece of her steak and begins to devour it, though her attention is currently focused on Mother. The books Father mentioned aren't exactly meant for children, but he thinks it appropriate considering her accelerated learning comprehension. Mother thinks that she should never look at them at all.
It's too bad, because she quite enjoys learning about the human body and how to make it continue functioning or stop. Shion's more interested in botany and fuuinjutsu among other things, but is knowledgeable enough to answer Sakura's questions until she grows tired of answering.
"You… You're corrupting our child so much that I…" Mother's eyes begin to water, her expression one of distress as she stares at an unconcerned husband. "I feel like she's not even my child!"
"I'm thinking that's a good thing, but my views are skewed so you know. I'm betting, jelly bean, that she's going to get the fuck out real soon." Shion chuckles at her prediction, which is a rather harsh and ominous sound. "Or sugar daddy will make her, if not. I think he's pretty much done with her shit too, yeah."
Sakura nods, making a face at the pile of carrots on her plate. Disgusting. "You can go if you want, kaa-san." she informs Mother, because it's not like anyone is keeping her there.
Father grins, but it's sharper than his usual grin. "Babycakes is correct, Mebuki my darling. We've had quite a blast, but I'm sure you're tired of having no sway over your family." he chuckles, and it's rather cruel. This is one of many reasons he and Shion may be related.
Mother slams her hands onto the table as she shoots out of her chair, her eyes glistening with fury and tears ready to fall. "I should never have married you." she hisses, before disappearing into the entrance leading to the hall. Her furious stomping is quite audible, though.
Sakura mixes her mashed potatoes and steak together. "Can you make some gravy, tou-chan?" she queries with a furrowed brow, because of a sudden craving she blames on Shion.
Father looks down at her, and he smiles. "Sure thing, cupcake." he replies. She likes how the cerulean of his eyes become alight with warmth when he looks at her. Father is a shady businessman with a shady personality, but she knows he treasures her.
"My god, I'm both real glad and not that you share your senses with me. Because you know, food and then there's the iffy when you get older and start to go through puberty. That's going to fuck me over for like the third time, or some shit."
Sakura wonders how old Shion really is, but Shion herself has forgotten. She has too many memories and can only keep them for so long, she says.
Hanging out in cemeteries is something Shion has influenced her to do, but Sakura herself doesn't mind. There's a garden of higanbana that she likes to occupy, watching as some people come and go to visit deceased loved ones. Mother never approved, but she's been gone for a few days now.
Shion taught her how to make a flower crown out of higanbana, so she likes to wear them and make Father wear them in his weirdly shaped hair. Higanbana of Konoha has a unique smell, which has a calming and relaxing effect. Shion says it's good for genjutsu, but that for it to work properly, the flowers have to be dowsed in Sakura's blood among other things.
"The scent of the blood and higanbana mix together, making it stronger and more effective so that it's easier to trap people in genjutsu, yeah. So it's some cool shit, sugar bean. I know you'd be a genjutsu type even if I wasn't sticking around inside your head, it's just that vibe you've got. Or my freaky intuition, but you know."
They've questioned why Shion managed to stick herself to Sakura, but Shion only remembers having to forcefully create a seal called the Byakugou no In so that her chakra wouldn't kill Sakura because of undeveloped chakra coils being unable to handle it all.
"My chakra's mostly spiritual, but I've managed to modify the seal enough that it slowly assimilates into your own chakra. Of course, your own chakra is getting stored in there too so when you finally learn to control it you can release it all at once and be a fucking badass. I learned it from my like, uh, great-aunt or whatever. Don't remember exactly, but we were from the same clan."
"So…" Sakura hums, fiddling with higanbana in her hands. The broken stems have a particularly potent smell, but increased exposure has made her immune to it. "My chakra signature will be like yours once was."
Shion makes a sound of contemplative doubt. "Well, I mean… kind of. I guess. It's basically diluted because of your own unique chakra so it's mixed together into this weird ass thing. I've never shared a body and chakra with someone, so I've only got theories and shit. But my chakra will affect your body so your chakra coils will expand more than it's supposed to, meaning you'll be feeling some early growing pains."
Sakura groans at the thought, but doesn't complain. Father and Shion have ingrained it in her mind that nothing gained comes without pain. Larger chakra coils means a larger chakra reserve, more time until fatigue and exhaustion.
"Shion…?" the rough voice of a male murmurs, prompting Sakura to blink and turn to face the owner. She hears Shion make a strangled sound in her head as she registers that it's a shinobi with hair the shade of clouds and one eye she thinks to be coal. She glances to his bare shoulder and mentally corrects herself because he's not just a shinobi, he's part of ANBU. How exciting.
"I'm Sakura." she corrects him, feeling her forehead tingle with the weight of his gaze. "Do you know Shion, shinobi-san?" her head tilts, but the flower crown atop her head is secured into place. She toys with the thought of offering the one in her hands to him.
The man before her looks quite solemn, and Shion is making some unintelligible sounds. Sakura's sure they know each other, because there's a kind of desperation and strangled hope in his gaze.
"Shion's…" he glances down at the higanbana, crouching down to touch the petals. "Shion's my girlfriend. She died… but you smell like her. Do you know her, Sakura-san…?"
Sakura's brow furrows, because Shion sounds mildly distressed even though she's not saying much. She decides to be honest with the cloud-haired man. "Shion's an… occupant, in my head. She's making some weird sounds, so I don't know exactly how she feels right now."
And his eye lights up, in such a way that makes Sakura's stomach churn. It makes her unsure, because Shion has said it before that the living need to move on from the dead. Shion, though spiritually alive within her, is dead to the rest of the world.
"Fuck me, silver bun!" Shion exclaims, more in exasperation and as a figure of speech than an actual demand. That would be quite awkward. "Bruh, look at him! He's fucking drowning in depression and self-loathing, my fucking god. He's been neglecting his hug therapy again, the fucking nerd. Go give that fucknut a hug, yeah?"
Sakura obeys, standing up and making her way over to the dubbed 'silver bun' without trampling the flowers around her. He twitches, but he remains still until she stands in front of him. There's quite a difference in height, but she rectifies this by reaching up with her arms.
He obliges her after a moment's hesitation, picking her up and holding her steady as she wraps her tiny arms around his neck. He smells like a freshly washed dog and ink, which is a strange mix to her.
"She says you've been neglecting your hug therapy, 'silver bun'." Sakura relays in his ear, staring over his shoulder and into the distance. His grip on her tightens, his shoulders tensing. It takes him nearly half-a-minute to reply.
"Kushina and Minato… aren't around to replace her. They… They died only months after she did, and I don't like hugs from Gai or Genma…" he whispers, readjusting his hands to properly hug her back.
Father's hugs are warm and pleasant, like a cocoon. This hug is… well, solemn. She's comforting a man broken and desperate, and it's a little absurd to know that his dead girlfriend is the voice in her head. It almost makes her want to smile, but maybe that would ruin the mood.
Except Shion laughs anyway, cackling like a mad woman. She feels the absurdity too, surely. "I fucking called it, but apparently me dying nullifies my advice! Whatever, man. Hey, sugar plum, you have a choice here… but would you take in a stray for me? There's this damn itch I can't scratch that will irritate the shit out of me if we leave him on his own. Probably going to die in a gutter like a dog waiting for an owner already dead, yeah."
Sakura thinks about it as she plays with soft, unruly hair of cloud. Shion doesn't ask for much, perhaps a demand for a food she's been craving that makes Sakura crave it. It doesn't really compare to her asking to take in a man more akin to a stray dog than anything else.
"I'm Sakura." she murmurs, leaning back to face the man she's about to claim as her own. He has quite a stare even though only one eye is visible. "Haruno Sakura. Shion wants me to take you in, but I don't want to if you're just going to think I'm Shion with a new face. I'm Sakura. Alright?"
He continues to stare at her and she returns the gesture without hesitation, even when the silence goes on for a full two minutes. Shion remains silent, because though this is for her, it's Sakura who's in control of the situation. Shion respects that.
"I'm…" he starts to say, finally. "Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi. I'm sorry… please take care of me." and he leans forward to rest his forehead against hers, likely so it skews her vision of the expression only a quarter visible.
"Isn't he hopeless?" Shion sighs, but with an exasperated fondness. Sakura smiles.
"Let's go home, then. Tou-chan would like to meet you, first of all."
Father's first words are, "Isn't he a bit old for you, strawberry?" causing Shion to erupt in laughter. That then leads to Sakura laughing, with Father following soon after and Kakashi being the only one left out. He holds her dutifully, though.
"This is Shion's boyfriend." Sakura breathes out after calming down. "She asked me to take him in, so can we?" the matter of asking for permission is more of a formality, as Father is incredibly lenient with her. His only concern would be if Kakashi is capable of keeping the true nature of Father's business a secret.
Shion assures her that his sense of loyalty is to his family, all of whom are dead. Her unique continuation of existence and Kakashi's knowledge of it ensures that he will listen to the interests of Sakura and whomever else is positively associated. Shion admits that it was thanks to years of mental conditioning that this happened, as they grew up together and Shion's doesn't like Konoha's education of blind loyalty to the village.
Sakura feels as though Kakashi is becoming less and less of an actual person, which makes her question if Shion actually sees people as people. Shion only hums in acknowledgement instead of confirming or denying.
Father examines Kakashi's form with his typical friendly smile, before gesturing to the unoccupied couch. Kakashi places her down as per her gesture for him to, before listening to Father and sitting down. Sakura makes her way to the kitchen, to prepare her cereal that will drown in sugar and milk. She blames Shion for many of her preferences in food.
"Do you care about him romantically, Shion?" she queries out loud, because whilst she can communicate without speaking, it gives her a headache because there seems to be some sort of separation. It allows for private thoughts, for them both at the least.
"To be real… I don't even know, jelly bean. All I know is that he's important to me and that I may have allowed him the leniency to call me his girlfriend, yeah. So uh, you know, our relationship isn't even official but whatever. I still low-key died for him, the fucker." Shion snorts, though doesn't seem to be particularly angry at having died for Kakashi. "Once… I think he wasn't even real to me. Before I was Shion, I… was someone else, I guess. My memories of that life's fucked though, but there's some gut feelings that have stuck, you could say. My intuition."
Sakura tilts her head as she stirs her cereal. She supposes that it's enough that they care about each other, even if they can't even really define the nature of their relationship. She knows that her and Father's relationship is a little skewed, but definitely a familial one. Shion would demand she kill Father if his feelings were much more disturbing. Then who'd provide the money for living expenses?
"Right! Cupcake, I'm going to go help your new pet with his things! If you're going to cultivate those higanbana in the garden again, make sure to clean up!" Father announces from the lounge room, popping his face into the entrance of the kitchen to confirm that she heard.
"I'm going to go to the library soon." she informs him, glancing to Kakashi as he makes his appearance. The way he looks at her makes her uncomfortable, but she just has to ingrain it into his mind that she is Sakura and Sakura is her own person. She tries to ignore the niggle of doubt that emerges.
"Don't be out too long," Father advises with a smile, "can never be too sure if that weirdo of an old man will try to recruit you into his group of brainwashed children."
Sakura nods, and the two men depart.
It takes a few children she's never met before to realise just how differently she is compared to others of her age group. She's known that her circumstances are absurd, but because she's never really interacted with other children, it hasn't really sunken in.
The leader is a boy, with nondescript features. He sizes her up, and decides that she's not good enough. For what, she doesn't know. Shion groans, already done even though it's barely even begun. Sakura agrees, because she knows this just won't end well. They're blocking her way, and will continue to do so if she tries to walk around them.
She trains, as per Shion's suggestion, but she's not sure if she's ready to take on a group of older children yet.
"Did you paint that thing on your giant forehead?" the leader demands, clearly mocking her. Irritation begins to bubble in her stomach. "I bet you did it because you thought it looks pretty!"
"It doesn't!" his friend exclaims with a cackle, the rest joining in like domino effect. "Ugly like those flowers on your head!" which makes her curious to know what's the point of bullying a girl they've never met before, she wonders? Where is the benefit?
"And who even has pink hair?" another sneers. "Bet mommy dyed it for you so you could be different from everyone, huh?"
"Tell them they're pathetic." Shion states, her voice harsh with aggravation. "Tell them that they're probably like this because their parents beat them down whether emotionally or physically. That they have to put down others just so they can feel like they're something more than a piece of trash, yeah."
Her words are cruel, despite the fact that Sakura is sure Shion understands she could word it nicely and manipulate them to like her more. Then, Shion sighs and begins to rephrase like Sakura expected her to.
"Just my irritation from past experiences, sugar bean. Tell them that others don't react positively to belittling, since that appears to be a confusing subject for them. Bullying people only isolates you from people and creates enemies, which is usually not what the bullies want. They're lonely fucking creatures that wish to be loved, half the time."
Sakura puts on a smile, though she feels its effect is more unnerving than comforting if she takes her cues from their bemused and discomforted expression.
"Do you want people to hate you?" she asks them, looking over all their faces. Only five. "Because that's what you're going to do, by trying to put them down and making them feel insecure like you."
The leader scowls at her, stepping forward and puffing out his chest. "What would you know, pinky?" he demands, and the nickname is insufferably old even though it's the first time she's ever been called that.
"You direct your negativity onto others to make yourself feel better, or maybe it's because you want to be seen as something 'cool'. I'm not entirely sure, but all you're doing is purposefully hurting people and making sure that they'll be less likely to care about you. You create enemies by doing what you're doing, and they'll be the ones to stab you in the back. Who'll care about some bully getting hurt? No one, because they'd be happy you're finally feeling what you made them feel."
She feels distinctly uncomfortable, because she doesn't usually talk so much in one go. One reason is because her tongue goes against her the longer she speaks. Nevertheless, she continues to stare them down as they look amongst each other with confliction marring their expression. The leader's fists tremble, and he looks like he's ready to lash out at her. Her main concern is that they understood what she was saying.
"Do you really want to live like that? Because if you continue to antagonise me, I'm going to make you hurt and I won't have any sympathy for you. I'm not the only one who's willing to do that. Right now, you have the option to continue with your attempts to bully me and the other option to just leave me be. I have nothing against you right now, but I will if you choose to continue wasting my time." her eyes narrow at them, because she knows that her words are true. "It's up to you, you know."
"You think you can hurt us?" one of them tries to mock, but it's weak and uncertain. He stands behind his friend, who looks back at him with a chiding expression.
Her response is to smile once more, a little softer because forcing a smile is a pain. "Everyone bleeds. It doesn't take much to stab someone and make a part of them stop functioning." though, she wants to be a little more delicate than that. If she can, which is why she's studying about human bodies. She might have to start reading about animals as well, because of clans like the Inuzuka.
"What's…" the leader frowns, looking like he's in pain. Or constipated, but it's the same thing. "What's your name?" and he chokes, one of his friends patting him on the back. Shion snorts, muttering about how pitiful they are.
"Sakura." she informs him, tilting her head.
The leader's face is red, much to Shion's amusement. His eyes look off to the side. "I'm Arata…"
"What are you doing?" one asks, clearly confused. "Why are you telling her your name?" as if there needs to be more conflict. Sakura just wants this to be done.
"Shut up!" Arata retorts, snapping his head back at his friend before returning his eyes to somewhere above her. "Look, Sa… Just look, 'kay! We're sorry! You're only going to hear that once, so don't ask again!" even though an apology is something she's never asked for.
"Yeah," the one beside Arata nods, "sorry. I guess it's been silly of us to pick on a little girl." he rubs the back of his neck, sheepish. "Even if she doesn't act like one..." he adds with a mutter. She's curious to know if he meant for her to hear.
"This is dragging on, like yay, good for them but let's get the hell out, yeah. Some bullshit with bullying that's a waste of time, my god I feel so old that I shouldn't have to bother with this shit anymore." Shion continues to mutter to herself, though it's inconsequential.
Sakura cuts their group argument about whether or not to listen to her short. "Well, if that's all." she nods her head in acknowledgement before resuming her walk to her destination. "Bye."
The leaves of the trees nearby bristle, though there's no wind. She can't be bothered to remain around for any longer.
Chapter Word Count: 4,033
Total Word Count: 4,033
Targeted Word Count: 1,667
A/N: I hope you enjoy what you see so far and decide to join along with the journey. I really hope to be able to complete this challenge, but if not, at least I tried.
When and/or if I finish, I might come back to edit some things to make things more coherent and smooth or something. Since, right now, I'm just writing things up as I go and hoping it makes some sort of sense as a whole.
18/11/16 Edit: In case some of you might be confused, I'd like to point out a thing or two. Shion herself was born in an AU before she died, so the changes you see are not all because of her. As well, if it's not obvious to some... this Shion is an OC. I seriously had someone confused about that.
Reviews are love. Reviews are life. It's never ogre.