A/N: So this idea came to mind... I've read a lot of OCs where they die and end up living as Sakura with Sakura as their inner, but what if the OC replaced Inner Sakura?


Prologue


So, this is how it's going to end, huh?

I let out a pained sigh as I stared up at the cloudy night sky. My hand was pressed into my side, a pointless attempt to stem the blood flow. The wound was too deep. Bastard probably punctured some organ, I thought with a dry smirk. Really, what was I thinking? There was thirteen of them and only one of me. I was so horribly outnumbered it was almost funny. I was a good fighter – a great fighter, but against thirteen?

Now here I was, lying in some dirty alleyway as I bled to death; such a typical way to die for people like me. I wonder if anyone will cry over me. If I could, I would have laughed at that single thought. I had no one. No parents. No family. No friends. No one. I only had leaders and comrades who didn't give a shit about each other. We worked together, sure, but once we stopped being useful… We were done and thrown away.

Such is the life for a criminal.

Black dots filled my vision, and with every second that ticked away, they grew bigger. It wasn't long until I could see nothing – until I could feel nothing. I sighed again, this one tired. I closed my eyes. Did I have any regrets? Did I wish for things to be different? I don't know…probably… I never considered it before. I never needed to. I never wanted to. A few moments away from death wasn't going to change that.

I wonder if I'm going to go to hell?

I gave a bloody grin.

What a stupid question.

That was my last thought before I succumbed into darkness, and then…a blaze of blinding white light.

(o_o) ^(o_o)^ v(o_o)v (o_o)

I opened my eyes, raising a hand to the side of my aching head. Throbbing with pain, it felt like it was going to explode! What did I do last night? Grunting, I sat up, pressing the palm of my left hand down on the hard floor beneath me for support. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered why I was lying on the ground and not in a bed. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time I woke up like this. Endless nights of partying usually had you waking up in some odd situations…

The real question to ask was: whose house was I in this time?

Getting up to my feet, I finally took the time to actually look around. I expected to see some trashed room with flipped furniture, discarded bottles and cups, burned out cigarettes, and other people who had passed out… Imagine my surprise when I saw nothing, absolutely nothing, but darkness. My eyes widened with disbelief.

What the…

I raised my hand to my eyes, intending to rub them and rid myself of this delusion when I actually looked at the appendage.

It was black…the shape of it outlined with white.

…fuck?

My other hand immediately shot up to eye level. It was black and outlined with white too.

My gaze fell to the rest of my body.

It was the same.

My feet.

My legs.

My arms.

My clothes.

What the hell was going on?

"Who the hell are you?"

I jumped at the sudden voice, spinning around to see a little girl. She was the same, being black and outlined with white, and looked to be around twelve or thirteen years old. She wore a short sleeved dress that stopped a bit below her knees with slits on the sides. Her hair was long, settling a few inches below her shoulders. There was some ribbon in it too, probably helping to hold back the bangs that framed her slightly wide forehead. A forehead that had some strange symbols.

The words Inner Sakura appeared in my mind when I looked at the symbols. My brow furrowed at the thought because how would I know that?

Immense pain stabbed at my head, reminding me of my horrible headache. Groaning, my hand flew to my head. Closing it to make a fist, I pressed my knuckles against my forehead. At the same time, different images and scenes began to fly through my mind.

A small girl with pink hair and emerald eyes…

Sakura Haruno.

She was bullied by the other kids…

"Forehead girl! Forehead girl!"

Made a best friend… A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes…

Ino Yamanaka.

She went against her parents' wishes and entered some school to be something…

A kunoichi.

There was some boy she started to crush on…

Sasuke Uchiha.

It ruined her friendship with that Ino-girl…

"We're rivals now…"

There was a boy with sunny blonde hair and sky blue eyes that liked her…

Naruto Uzumaki.

He was annoying though… Always loud, always complaining, always pulling pranks…

Always alone.

Everything came to a screeching halt, and a memory of my own appeared.

(o_o) ^(o_o)^ v(o_o)v (o_o)

"Hey, Ember, have you heard of the show 'Naruto?'"

I raised the bottle of sprite in my hand to my lips, throwing my head back as I took a few big gulps. Enjoying the burning sensation as the drink slid down my throat, I let out a satisfied sigh and set my drink back down on the table.

"No," I answered, turning my attention to the teenage boy sitting across from me. He was a few years younger than me. It was late, almost three in the morning, and we were in some 24-hour café downtown. Just a little while ago, we had finished a job and decided a little celebration was in store. Typically, whenever I celebrated, I would just go home and sleep.

It was three in the morning for crying out loud! But my 'partner' on this particular mission kept badgering me about it until I caved in. The most annoying part of this? I was the one paying when it was his idea.

"What is it? A drama of some kind?"

"No! It's an anime!" he peered at me. "You at least know what that is, right?"

I could feel the corner of my right eye twitching. "Anime? Yea, sure."

"Good!" he grinned, "Well, 'Naruto' is an anime about ninjas! It's really awesome! There's this blonde boy who has this powerful demon sealed inside, and because of it, the village he lives in hates him for it. Despite that, his dream is to be the leader of the village—"

God, I hope I never get partnered with this kid ever again, I thought and pretended to listen as Tyler went on and on about the anime.

"—there's this girl on his team that he likes. She has pink hair and emerald eyes. She's weak and annoying, and has this split personality called 'Inner Sakura.' She's also always going after Sasuke, but later on in the series, she—"

I inwardly groaned.

We didn't leave until four-thirty, and the entire time, he managed to just talk about 'Naruto.'

(o_o) ^(o_o)^ v(o_o)v (o_o)

A sharp gasp fell from my lips and my head shot up – when the hell did I fall to my knees? – to stare at Inner Sakura. The same Inner Sakura that came from 'Naruto.' She was staring at me, her brow furrowed in confusion and disturbance. I blinked. She raised a brow. I fell to my side, bursting into a fit of loud and uncontrollable laughter.

"What is wrong with this girl?" I heard her whisper, but I ignored her.

What a ludicrous thought.

How could I be in some show?

Maybe I actually survived and am having this weird ass dream, I thought, but then reconsidered my theory just as fast. No…I know I died. There was no one there, and if someone did find me, I had lost too much blood… I'm definitely dead.

"So then…where am I?" I muttered, finally calming down.

"You're somewhere where you shouldn't be lady."

I blinked.

Looking up from where I laid, I saw Inner Sakura standing over me. She was cracking her knuckles and trying to look menacing.

Keyword: trying.

She was only what? Twelve years old? Well, somewhere in her preteen years. Me? I was eighteen, nearing nineteen. No way in hell can a little girl like her threaten me.

"You better get out of here," she warned darkly.

I couldn't help myself.

I burst into another bout of laughter. This one more controlled and lighter however. She glared harshly at me. A few more chuckles slipped from my lips before I stopped altogether and returned to my feet.

"Sorry, sorry," I said, putting my hands up in the air as if I was surrendering. "Didn't mean to offend you."

"Get. Out," she growled.

I frowned, all humor now gone.

"Err…I would…if I knew how."

Inner Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Listen, lady! If you don't get out, I'll make you get out!"

I raised a brow.

"I'd like to see you try," I taunted. "By the way…the name is 'Ember' not 'lady.'"

"Doesn't matter! I'm going to kick your butt!"

She charged forward with a fist pulled back.

(o_o) ^(o_o)^ v(o_o)v (o_o)

"You should learn to respect your elders," I commented, crouching down beside the little girl. She was sprawled on the black ground, panting heavily. There wasn't an injury in sight on her dark form. Not even a scratch, but she was very much in pain. I sure as hell was from the punches she managed to land. How can a small girl have that much strength?

She threw a venomous glare at me, though the tired look in her eyes took a bite out of its edge.

"Do you…do you know what you have done?" she heaved angrily.

"Sure I do. I beat up a kid," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck. "Look, it's not like I'm proud of it or anything. I don't like hitting kids, but you attacked me."

She snorted. "Don't underestimate me, lady."

"Ember."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and sighed wearily. "Who cares? The point is…you won."

"Yeah…?"

"I lost."

"Obviously…"

"And I'm disappearing."

"OK…wait, what?" I stared at her, horrified when I realized that she was right. The white outline of her body was beginning to fade. "Why are you disappearing?!"

"I lost," Inner Sakura deadpanned.

"Yeah, I get that, but it's not like I tried killing you!" I snapped.

She shook her head and gave me a stern look. I felt like a child getting scolded by a teacher…even if the teacher herself was a child.

"Look, I don't know why you came here…but this place," she struggled to raise a hand, waving around to our empty surroundings. "…isn't big enough for us."

"Looks like its plenty big," I muttered under my breath.

"One of us had to go," she went on, her voice getting softer. "When you appeared, I don't know how, but something told me that if I didn't do anything…I would have just vanished… At least, with this way… I could…say…I…tried…"

"What? I don't understand!" I shouted, frustrated, and reached out to grasp her shoulders. They seemed to go through her though, and I found myself grabbing at nothing but air. I clenched my jaw. "You're not making any sense!"

"Take care…of Sakura…" she muttered, a soft smile forming on her white lined lips. "It's…up…to…y…ou…now…"

Before my very eyes, Inner Sakura vanished, a small white ball of light taking her place. I fell back on my bottom, trying to comprehend what was going on. I had just met some character from show…and she had… Well, she had basically just died if anything else. I ran a hand through my hair, tugging at its roots. Nothing was making sense! This was all just crazy!

Where am I?!

I groaned, placing my right hand on top of my forehead. So lost in my confusion, I didn't notice the ball of light left in Inner Sakura's wake shoot at me. Not until it hit my hand, causing it to explode in pain. I would have screamed…had I suddenly not lost consciousness.

As I did, the symbols for Inner Sakura appeared on my black hand in white.


A/N: And that takes care of Inner Sakura... Wow, that sounded messed up, but you know what I mean.

A more detailed explanation of why she disappeared will be revealed in later chapters - maybe.

So, what do you think of the idea?

Also, any readers of my other stories... I am working on them. Especially "I'm a Real Boy!" Unfortunately, I have terrible writer's block for that story at the moment. For "Haruno, Listen!" there will be a double or triple update in due time!

Hm...I think that's all I wanted to say. Ta-ta for now~

K.G