Seeing Double

Alternate Mission

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× Chapter Start ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

×愛×▬▬▬×愛× Suna ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Gaara sat on top of the wall that surrounded his home village and meditated. He sat cross legged with his hands folded together in his lap, and his gourd placed away from him to lessen the strain on his back while he relaxed. The wind was blowing lightly around him, carrying the scent of the desert and calming his senses, he was in his element. His mind was deep set in the far stages of meditation he had mastered over the years. Due to his accursed demon, the horrific thoughts and images it could conjure up and make him see kept him from sleeping at night. Dreams of his death would flood his mind, his secret and worst fear would be shown to him. While he was in the unprotected state of sleep his demon would control him and wreak havoc all the while eating away at his sole, making him less and less of person. But when meditating, his mind was at rest along with his body, but he was still alert and aware of the world around him. It had been almost a year sense the last time he had slept, and because of this he was very emotionally unstable, snapping quickly and finding annoyance in the smallest things. From the far corners of his mind he could swear he heard the demon chuckle, finding amusement in his temper. He chose to ignore it. He and his sorry excuse for a family were given a task to take over the Leaf Village during the Chinnine exams, he had to meditate and rest his body as best he could so he could perform his task with absolute perfection; he had a reputation after all.

The wind began to pick up and he felt as though something was a bit off. Cracking open his eyes he tried to quickly shake the deep state of relaxation his body was in. The air grew colder than normal and the wind whistled in a way that was strange to him. Then, from out of nowhere, his sand shot up around him as if someone were attacking, before it froze in place, still as stone. Gaara's eyes shot open and he tried to move his body only to find he was immobile. He tried to move his hands from their place but found it impossible. His senses went on high alert, panicking at the feeling of being unable to move his own body. He was set in stone and could not move or find the strength to speak. His eyes darted around trying to find the cause of this but instead, found something much more interesting, and worse.

Everything started to change as he watched. His world began to adopt a bluish hue, and his body had the strange sensation of floating. The air blew more slowly and the noises of the desert and the life it held began to grow distant and tie together with everything. The buildings edges became fuzzy and moved, like waves in the ocean. Gaara stared at his world as it changed. A part of him wandered if he had been caught in a genjutsu but he still stayed calm. The normal dark sky started to grow lighter and lighter in a white glow before him. Then in a flash there was a creature sitting in front of him. It looked like a mixture of a tiger and a wolf. Its body looked as though it had caught fire and blue and white flames emitted from its body. It had dark blue eyes with what looked to be blue and white fur, and its body was massive. It sat before him and stared down at him, a wise and knowing stare if he had to place it.

Gaara glared at the beast, with its size and the fact that his sand was not working, it could probably do some damage. The fact that his sand wasn't working in and of itself had shaken him. Without any movement from the beast, a voice echoed through the air.

"Gaara Sabaku."

'How does it know my name?' he wondered.

"I welcome you to the spirit world" it said calmly.

'Spirit world?'

"I am a messenger come to tell you something of great importance" the spirit said. "You are the man with the sand spirit sealed inside his body, and because of that, our worlds have collided in a way they were not meant to. You were not meant to be, your existence was not meant to happen in the ways that have taken place. But because of what you are, a bridge between our worlds has been formed and because of this I have been able to come and warn you. You, Gaara Sabaku, have the power to restore order in the chaos that will occur in the near future"

'Dose that thing mean the Exams, why on earth would I do that? I am that chaos.'

"You must choose if you think you have the will to defeat an enemy most powerful. I am but a messenger sent to warn you, and tell you that the world you once know, is about to change. Forever." The spirit got up from its sitting position and moved fluently toward him. He was still unable to move and his sand was still frozen in place. The spirit was standing directly in front of him and it lowered its head to his. Gaara's forehead bumped against the beasts and he felt a deep pulse surge through his body before he felt himself falling in a long plunge. Gaara then was blinded by a flash of white before he saw something, himself. Only it wasn't him. He looked sickly, his skin was a clammy pale, the veins in his neck were a pale blue and slightly visible, and his eyes were bloodshot and full of lust for carnage. His hair wasn't the vibrant crimson red it normally was, it was the color of dried blood, sickly looking and messier than normal. His face was contorted into a feral grin that showed teeth with elongated canines. He looked psychotic. It was him, but not him. Then he saw someone else. He saw her. She was shorter then he and they stood side by side. His body twitched with anticipation and hers was heaving with her deep, breathy snarls. Her eyes looked like his, only less demonic. Her lips were curved into a savage grin and her skin matched the appearance of his. Her veins were visible in her throat as well, along with her small wrists and ankles. Her hair was a sickly dark pink color, bordering on the edge of a shade of red, and her eyes were a deadly vibrant green. They had dark, shadowy borders around them and they looked bloodshot as well. He had never seen her before her. There was blood all around them, dripping off of his hands and staining her clothes. The picture horrified some part of him, but it excited the other parts. The ones that over the years had become dominant.

'What is this?' he thought, shocked at the vision that was displayed before him. Mainly because the girl was there, and he seemed to not care that she was killing his kills and the fact that she was still alive.

The spirit pulled its head away from his and Gaara was forced back into reality with a huff. Well, what was supposed to be reality at least. The spirit started to burn in front of him, flames consuming its body, deteriorating it into nothing.

"It is your job to decide whether or not you will prevent that future from becoming reality. Find the one who will stand by your side, and show the world how they were wrong about you." With that, the spirit left. The flames flickering into nothing, his world losing its bluish hue, and the little waves on the buildings dying into nothing, until he was once more in the world of man. The sudden need to move came over him and he shot from his sitting position, his sand flying at the spot where the spirit had been, finishing what it had been trying to do before being frozen in place. Looking around frantically he panted heavily, surveying the area. The spirit was gone, there was no evidence of it ever being there in the first place, and the air was still. Gaara was alone again, left to think about its words and the vision it had shared with him.

'What the hell was that?'

'Don't you know what it means to get visited by a spirit?' his inner demon whispered.

Gaara waited before he replied. 'What?'

The demon quietly chuckled. 'They only visit this world when things go wrong' he whispered slowly. 'When the balance is thrown off. It was right you know, only because you meditate can you see into that world. And only because of me'

'If it means being with you I wish I couldn't' he thought bitterly. The demon only snickered. 'What did it mean by that anyway? And what was up with that vision?' he demanded.

'All in good time, the answers will come when you find her,' he said with desire just dripping from his voice.

'Find who?' he demanded once more, his patience wearing thin.

'The one who will stand beside you of course. And until then, tell no one of what you have seen,' the last words of his voice echoed in his head as the demon retreated back to the dark corners of his mind.

The image of the girl was burned into his mind. He stood and looked out toward the desert in the direction he knew would be the Leaf Village. He would find her and get this annoying feeling of dread to leave him once and for all. The girl looked fierce and feral, just like him. But something about that look didn't fit her, but he just couldn't place it. He smirked to himself and quietly chuckled in his dark and sadistic way, maybe this could prove to be entertaining.

×愛×▬▬▬×愛× Konaha ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

Sakura laid in her bed tossing and turning. The Chunnine Exams were only a few days away and she didn't know if she was ready to take them. She had the best chakra control in her squad and the best in a lot of her friends and what was now being called 'The Rookie Nine', she was smart and knew a lot of things that grown men and woman wouldn't, and she had been trying to tell herself that she was brave and strong. She knew that Sasuke and Naruto really wanted to though. She knew they wanted to move on and become stronger. She did too, but she wasn't as skilled as they were. They were her team, she didn't want to disappoint anyone, especially Sasuke. She wanted him to think the best of her. Not that she was weak and annoying. She curled up into a ball and tried not to think of the harsh words he was capable to saying to her. Like 'your annoying', 'your too weak', and 'why can't you keep up?'. They all hurt so much to hear from him, but in order to seem stronger she tried not to make it seem like they got to her. She put on a face and tried to be cool about it. Why she was so in love with him even after all he did was still beyond her.

'Why can't he just say he can tolerate me?' she thought sadly. 'All I want is for him to at least like me, is that too much to ask?'

She sighed and tried to keep the tears out of her eyes as best she could. Burying her face in the pillow she tried her best to sleep. She had only two days until the rest of the villages arrived to take the exams, she had to decide whether or not to go before then. She felt everything get fuzzy as she concentrated on deep thought and relaxing her body. Soon enough, she fell asleep.

Her dreams were filled with the things they usually were. Her team on missions, school work and tests that she had aced, and other various things that normal people wouldn't really dream about. She was at peace for once and her body was relaxed and unaware of anything around her. She was sitting at the training grounds with her team and watching in content as Sasuke and Naruto argued over something totally ludicrous. She sat next to her teacher as he read his normal book and ate her lunch. She noticed the wind picking up and looked around. It had an ominous feel to it. Looking back at her team they seemed unaware and kept on doing what they were doing. The sky started to darken from its usual light blue and turn a grayish color. Sakura felt very uneasy and paranoid all of the sudden. She watched the sky change color and watched the once white and fluffy clouds turn into a curtain of black swirling ones. Frantically looking at her team once more she found that they were gone, and the last remnants of their voices was echoing away. Then everything changed, and she looked on shock, and new found fear.

She was no longer in the training fields with her team just enjoying their presence, no, now she was in what looked like a battle field. The ground looked burned and the trees looked dead, there was smoke in the air and blood splattered on everything. The wind whipped around Sakura wildly and she looked on in confusion and horror. Everything seemed fuzzy, as if seeing it from an out of body experience. The bodies that littered the ground were soaked in blood, some twitching, moaning in pain and begging for death that would not come to them, while others were cold, still, and lifeless. Sakura took a step back from the scene and took a shaky breath. She tried to scream, but couldn't find the voice, like she was unable to. Backing away, trying to get away from this madness, she tripped over something behind her and fell to the ground in a huff. She looked frantically at what it was that tripped and finally found her voice. A bloodcurdling shriek echoed through the dark night. Sakura looked on in udder horror and unspeakable fear at what she had fallen over. It was herself. Her body was covered in blood, her clothes were torn and her hair was matted. Her body shook as she tried to weakly crawl away from the carnage. Her eyes looked almost dead and she was emitting weak and quiet sobs and please as she slowly crawled and slowly started to die. Just then, the sobs stopped and were replaced by quiet, broken, screaming and please for life. There was person standing next to her. Sakura looked up at who it was and couldn't believe her eyes. It was her, again. Sakura was having an out of body experience and was watching herself being killed by another her. Only the other her, looked very different. Her hair was wild and darker, her body was covered in her victims' blood, and it heaved with heavy breaths and quiet chuckling. Her eyes were psychotic and had dark coloring around them, full of what she could only place as lust, for death and blood. Her skin was pale and clammy looking and the veins in her throat and wrists were visible. She looked like she should almost be, dead. A psychotic grin formed on her face and a dark chuckle escaped her lips as she moved her foot to rest on top of the others head. At the same the Sakura lying on the ground let out a shriek. Sakura saw in shock as pressure was added to the foot against her head. A cry was heard as the other her begged for life, but the sadistic thing that was causing the pain only laughed and pressed her foot against her head with more force. Sakura looked away covered her ears while she shook. She heard the last echoes of a scream before she felt herself being splattered with wet, warm blood.

Sakura shook, and tried to get up and run away. She stumbled and almost fell over bodies and branches of trees. Then she fell. She hit the ground hard and looked at her ankle. There was a man, a bloody man holding on to her ankle and pulling her towards him. He was moaning in pain and looked terrified. She screamed and tried to shake her ankle from his grip but he held on tighter. He dragged her closer to him but looked as though he was using her to drag himself away from the stop he was in. Sakura sat up and gripped his and with her smaller, shaking one and tried her best to loosen his grip. The man's eyes widened and he yelled and screamed. Sakura was scared and confused as the man clawed at her legs, trying to pull himself away from whatever it was he was afraid of. Sakura looked beyond the man while she tried to kick him and saw what looked like sand coming out of the trees. It wrapped around the man's foot and pulled him toward the trees as he dragged her with. Sakura kicked violently trying to get the man to let go. Finally with a kick to face the man's grip loosened and she quickly recovered her foot. She scooted back and came to stop against the trunk of a bloody tree. She looked at the man terror as he was dragged away into the shadows of the trees, where there was an audible crunch, then the man fell silent. Sakura felt as though she was going to be sick.

There was death all around her. She had watched herself being killed by herself if it was even possible. And now she had a man she didn't know try and cling to her for life, only to be crushed in the shadow of the trees. She saw the cause of the man's death walk from the trees. Hair the color of dried blood, skin and visible veins that matched hers, a demonic look in his eyes and a terrifying grin on his face. His hands dripped in blood and his clothing was stained in it. He walked toward her and she cringed, sure he was coming for her next. But he just walked past her, as if he didn't even know she was there. Looking around the tree she found him walking toward the other her, and she was walking toward him. They met and looked around at all the blood and bodies. They looked satisfied and fired up, sadistically happy with what they had done. Then Sakura's eyes met hers, she felt her fear rising to a whole new height as she grabbed the redheads hand and pointed in the direction of the tree she was behind. Sakura whipped around to cover herself from view and closed her eyes tight, sure that this was going to be the end of her. She heard a soft rustling sound and her snapped open. The man was right in front of her, kneeling with his arms resting on his knees. He was close, too close. She could feel his breath on her skin and plainly see the smirk on his face. With a rush, sand shot up from behind him and headed toward her. She cover her head with her hands, curled into a ball, and screamed.

Sakura shot up in bed and gasped. Looking around her room she sprung out of bed and frantically examined her body. There was no blood. Her eyes darted around her room and she found there was nothing there. Looking out the window she found her village at peace, just like every night. Sakura breathed heavily and her body still shook. She had never had a nightmare like that in her life. Who was the guy? Why did she kill herself? Why was that even happening? The thing that was supposed to be her looked nothing like her normal self. And the guy she was with, they looked as though they were working together to kill all of those people. Suddenly the visions of the dream and all that blood and dead bodies flooded her mind. She ran to her bathroom quickly and leaned over the toilet. She had never seen so much blood I her life. It was sickening to think that even though it was only a dream she had a part in causing it. The bodies were horrendous and she knew the smell of blood and rotting bodies would be almost toxic to breathe in. with one last heave she finished emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. And being that she hadn't eaten since dinner there wasn't much. She was basically dry heaving half the time, which left her a sick feeling in the back of her throat and a headache.

'It's alright Sakura just calm down, it was only a dream' she thought trying to calm her body.

'Yeah, a dream. The scariest fucking dream you've ever head!' her inner countered.

Sakura silently agreed. Sakura still felt the sickly feeling in her stomach and decided to wait it out on the floor of her bathroom. She pulled the rug that was in front of the sick to be in front of the toilet. It was a little fluffy so she could lay on it and be a least slightly comfortable. She curled into a ball but didn't dare going back to sleep and risk falling to the dream again. She laid there and tried not to think of the dream, and think instead of her friends and how they would never let anything like that happen. It was only three in the morning, and was going to be a long wait till dawn.

'I'll just have to wait it out I guess' she thought as she tried to make herself more comfortable. But the image of the redheaded man still stayed in her mind and refused to leave. Who he was she didn't know, but she felt some part of her recognized him. But a large part of her didn't want to. With the way she felt now, she welcomed the Chinnine Exams if it meant a distraction from the images that were burning themselves in her mind.

×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛× Chapter End ×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×

This is the revised version of the original story. Sorry for the long wait.