Author's Note: I decided to start working on a second project...just to keep me occupied. Enjoy!
Prologue: All Around Me
"Sakura? Sakura?" Naruto's voice rang out through the cavern, projected through a red phone on speaker mode. If one had dared to walk further into the cavern, they would've spotted a girl beaten half to death on the ground, her hair pink as a cherry blossom. Sakura attempted to move towards the phone, desperate to ask for Naruto's help out of this morbid place. She was in one of the hidden passageways beside the subway, where she'd originally gotten into this mess.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The person's shoe ground her phone into the stone flooring, and a few little sparks were emitted from the phone as it was completely crushed under the sole of her predator's shoe. Sakura grunted, staring up at the black-clothed figure.
"Who the hell are you?" she seethed.
"Someone who cares enough to end your pathetic existence." Sakura blanched. He was going to kill her. He was going to kill her. Her fingers clawed into the rocky ground, attempting to pull her back to her feet. He was coming closer, his threatening footsteps sounding throughout the vast tunnel. She stood shakily, attempting to escape from the scene, limping as she ran. She was breathing heavily, tears creating a pathway through the grime on her face. He caught her by her collar. It was too late. She felt pressure on the back of her head, presumably a gun.
She took a deep breath. This was the moment that would decide whether she lived or she died. She spun, kicking him in the face, wincing from the sudden, sharp movement her leg made. She caught the gun, advancing towards him quickly as he shuffled across the ground, still lying on it. He looked so damn pathetic, it almost made her want to laugh. She pinned him to the ground with her foot on his abdomen, pointing the gun at his heart, the part of the body he'd shattered within her when he'd killed her little sister after raping her violently. Sakura's hand trembled, the gun shaking. Her finger was closing on the trigger-and BANG!
Blood was everywhere. All she could hear was her heart hammering away in her ears, the coppery-scented liquid of her enemy tainting her pure-white skin and her white blouse. The gun dropped from her hand, and all she could do was stare at the corpse with wide eyes, shaking. She had killed him. She'd finally done it. When it registered, she knelt on the ground, digging her hands into her hair, screaming up at the ceiling and sobbing as the train passed, its sound drowning out her tears.
Sakura walked home afterwards, rubbing her arms and repeating to herself that he deserved it. He did deserve it after all he'd done. But killing him was another matter altogether. I did that, she thought to herself, and there's no turning back.
"I know you did this to me, you bitch!" shouted the man's voice. Sakura whirled around, frightened by the voice of the man she'd killed. He was there, standing behind her. She noticed that he had no shadow.
"You're not real," she sneered.
"I'm as real as you are." Days passed, and Sakura was haunted by visions of the man's ghost. Soon, he wasn't the only one visiting her. She was sitting on the couch, her parents both eating dinner casually as if they didn't see their daughter crouched, hugging her knees, eyes darting about, seeing things they could never dream of seeing. Faces injured and uninjured, old faces and young faces, all surrounding her, moaning her name. Sakura ran to the bathroom to throw up soon afterwards.
When she returned to school the next day, her friends were concerned in their own way.
"Sakura, you look like shit," Ino told her blandly. Sakura blinked. Guilt began to rise in her gut, before she eased it away. She'd gotten quite good at it in the week that she'd had to cope from killing the man, known as Kabuto. She had seen his name on the news when they'd found his body. Luckily, Sakura hadn't been stupid enough to leave the gun, something with fingerprints behind. In fact, the gun was on her person at that very moment. She had also taken the remains of her phone and chucked it into the sewer.
"Thanks," deadpanned Sakura, shifting her books in her arms.
"She's right, Sakura-chan. You've gotten a lot thinner," observed Naruto with a worried expression.
"Sakura, y-y-you should t-treat yourself better," stammered Hinata, scolding her.
"It's nothing," Sakura assured them, smiling her best fake smile.
"Even I can tell something's wrong, Ugly," input Sai, "tell us soon, because we deserve to know." They began to notice the dark circles under her eyes, her bloodshot eyes, the bruises on her arms, her pale complexion, her loss of weight. They voiced their concerns throughout the week, hoping that maybe, somehow, the old Sakura would reemerge. It was only when Sakura shut herself up in a bathroom stall, curling up into a ball, when she realized that she was really losing her mind.
When she emerged from the bathroom, her eyes flicked about, searching for any sign of a murderous aura or expression. One to her left. One in front of her. One behind her. One to her right. She shivered involuntarily, a bead of sweat trickling down to her jaw. They were all around her. All of them morphed into her sister's killer, laughing at her. She felt gut-wrenching fear, and in that short timespan, her heart's thudding quickened, her stomach doing flip-flops, her muscles clenching, readied to tense. Sakura's books slipped from her bony, pale hands. Her pupils were dilated, and the school hallway became the subway tunnel, the students' voices became the sound of Kabuto's voice, locker slams became the passing train, a girl's giggle became her sister's screams. A door shutting became the sound of a gunshot. Sakura panicked. She hurried to reach for her gun, aiming at Kabuto, sneering at her.
"SAKURA! STOP!" She shot. The bullet passed straight through an arrogant Kabuto, hitting a student right between the eyes. Sakura's eyes widened when her vision cleared and she reentered reality. The gun was in her hands. And a student was lying on the ground, dead. Horrified, the students backed away from her. Terrified of the consequences, Sakura took the gun, fleeing the scene, shoving past the crowd of students.
A figure lurking around the corner watched her pass him, and he smirked. Finally, it begins. Naruto passed him, nodding in acknowledgement.
"You look pretty damn excited, teme."
"Well, aren't you, Naruto? She's finally joining our ranks," he said. "And we've finally got a Necromancer." Naruto frowned.
"I just wish it didn't have to be her."