"I won't give up on you
These scars won't tear us apart
So don't give up on me
It's not too late for us
And I'll save you from yourself."
-Bring Me The Horizon, The Sadness Will Never End
Disclaimer: Do not own Harry Potter/Naruto.
[CHAPTER 11]
Hogwarts, December 31
Green bottomless eyes snapped open.
A young handsome lad with raven black hair and unusually pale complexion could be seen reading chunky, old books in the hooded corner of the school's library. Tom Marvolo Riddle, most recognized for his outstanding academic achievements, was spending
his 11th birthday alone at Hogwarts secluded from his peers.
'Necromancy,' he neatly scribbled with a quill on the blank parchment of his private diary, and thus immersed himself in the thick volume about the said dark-arts which he had surreptitiously 'borrowed' from Restricted Section of Hogwarts Library.
Tom. Tom Riddle. Previously known as Tom and 'Ivy' from Wool's orphanage had felt expectantly numb when Professor Dumbledore came to guide him into attending the magical institution. The news would have been everything Tom desired for: to be special and
different from the monsters residing in the misleadingly proper looking orphanage. Would be.
Tom cared not more. He felt not a peck of excitement or a shimmer of happiness, his whole being was enveloped by a terrible aching, emptiness lurking in his thoughts, actions-'Ivy.'
'She would have liked it here,' he pondered on in melancholy, the dusty archaic smell filling his nostrils. Closing his eyes, Tom willed his magic again, chanting the unfamiliar Latin words as a powerful magic swirled around his body yet Tom
knew he would fail indubitably, he was still too young, too inexperienced for the ritual to even close to succeeding.
Tom also knew something had gone differently than the other countless times the chap had tried to lead the ritual. Something different, something familiar.
Green bottomless eyes snapped open.
Before him, lie an innocent looking diary with black covers. Gently opening the blank pages, Tom felt itchiness in his gut, something telling him to respond. Respond to what?
'My name is Tom Riddle,' the said lad scrawled with an ink, his mind reeling at the reason why a diary of all had resulted from his dark ritual. Minutes passed by with Tom staring at the parchment, heart thrumming yet a feeling of disappointment
washed over him as nothing happened. 'How very obvious,' however just as he was about to abruptly close the diary with barely concealed disappointment, something began to appear on the blank page.
'How do you do Tom? My name is Ivy.'
"The symbol on the top of the swirl implies the existence of a physical barrier while the connection between the lines suggests a mental, or a soul barrier." Tom glanced at his twin whose eyes observed with sharp intelligence Naruto's seal on his stomach,
she traced along the patterns with her lone finger and Tom 'felt' her deeply engraved fascination with the fuinjutsu art. He twirled Ivy's locks in his fingers as she for once, seemed to be unaware of Tom's presence. His ruby eyes watched
Ivy, and Tom smartly refrained from wrapping Ivy in his clutch and making her look at him. He should not, he knew, Ivy would not be pleased by the interruption no doubt.
"Overall, the seal's purpose is to either make it possible for you to contain a conscious being or to restrain something inside you. From the complex layers of seals though, there is a high probability of it doing both." Naruto listened attentively, aware
of the importance of Ivy's observations yet his eyes could not help but to follow her fingers as they gently glided over his skin; if the blonde could purr, he would be fucking growling.
"Very enlightening Ivy, alas we have to head to the training ground, Kakashi promised to teach how to create poison from limited resources." Tom chuckled in amusement as Ivy suddenly galvanized into collecting her shinobi tools. Noting on Ivy's lack of
attention towards them, Tom turned his head to stare at Naruto with a blank look, observing how the blonde immediately reacted to him as his dazed eyes dissolved into a disappointed yet expectant look. Tom brought his right hand upward and clutched
onto Naruto's back neck, his cold skin contrasting with the other's warmth.
Naruto could not help the flinch, the old feeling of insecurity taking over his emotions again as he blurted, "I'm really sorry, Tom. I promise I won't touch her in any way again." The blonde awaited a bleeding grip or perhaps even a killer intent yet
he experienced none. Braving himself for a look at Tom's direction, Naruto froze in shock as Tom lay his other hand on his chin, tilting his face.
"Whatever are you talking about Naruto? Ivy likes you which makes me like you as well." With that, Tom moved away to Ivy whose crimson pools collided with his own colorful irises for a minute before she mentioned him to follow them into the training ground.
/
"How very cruel of you, Tom. Leading sunshine like that." The said teen only glowered without any feeling, and he forcedly gripped Ivy's hands, making the girl stop. Her intent maroon eyes stared at him with an incomprehensible gaze as she gently caressed
his clutching grip with her fingers.
"Tom," Ivy leaned in to hug her twin, her eyes still detached yet so very bright it seemed to glow with blood.
"Are you perhaps afraid I'll leave you?" Tom did not respond, only inhaling the minty auroma the twins were born with.
"I will never let you leave Ivy, you're mine."
"I know." Tom glanced at his twin from the corner of his eyes only to find her eyes closed, a small smile blooming on her thin, pale face.
"What's happening Ivy? I feel very unsettled, something is lurking in the shadows, waiting to steal us of our lives."
"It has only ever been us Tom. Only the two of us. Yet, our world is expanding and we're not alone anymore. With so many people coming in, we were bound to be unsettled." Her voice slight yet the deep understanding heaved itself into the male twin.
"Alone? But we've never been alone, Ivy. We have each other." Tom's confusion was not feigned, he attempted to decipher the look in Ivy's eyes as she smiled again. emptyemptyempty
"We don't have each other dear brother, it's impossible. I am you", she gently removed herself from Tom's tight embrace,
"..and you are me. You and I are echoes of the same voice, we are one entirely. Two halves in two separate bodies."
"So you see, even if we are together, we're still alone. Because we are one, together. We have never been the two of us, only 'us.' "
Tom pushed Ivy as if struck, his eyes hooded, enraged and he turned away from his twin abruptly. 'Walk away, walk away,' Tom did not know what to think, what to think. If he did not go now, Tom felt he would cry.
'Alone? Alone?'
'All the times Tom had embraced her into his chest in the cold harsh winter night, freezing.'
'Tom protected her when hurt, he had never left her alone like everyone else.'
'Alone?'
"Tom." Ivy's voice only a quiet murmur, asking him to come back.
'Don't look back,' he pleaded himself. His mind still shocked from the- betrayal.
'How dare she?'
'How could she?'
"Tom!"
"What do you want Ivy?" So cold, so cold his voice. So harsh.
'How dare she?'
"We're alone even if together because we're only two halves, one same identities, not two individuals."
"Shut up," he could not comprehend her words. Did not want to. Fucking shut up.
'What would he do now? Now that Ivy has turned her back on him.'
'What if she were to leave him? Abondoning him, like, like everyone else. They were twins, twins, together even before their birth, living together, dying together and she wanted to tell him he was not enough?'
'How could she?'
"But being alone does not mean lonely." Tom stopped on his track, hating himself for the glimmer of hope and relief washing over his chest like a storm erupting.
"We're not lonely together, not empty. We're just alone." Tom turned back. His bloody eyes arresting his twin, does she feel what he feels?
"I know... We have always been alone our whole life, haven't we? Just the two of us." His voice tinted with a long buried sadness. Understanding finally claiming him, calming him.
Two children crying in a closet. Bloody hands, and purple skin.
Momma, daddy, where are you?
Why are we alone?
Why do they hurt us so?
Just the two of us.
All alone.
"We're alone. But we're alone together", Ivy took her twin's bigger arms and placed it on her cheeks.
"...and that's what makes the whole difference."
"Team 7 has completed a total of 43 D-rank missions and 23 C-rank missions throughout the period of three months since the formation of the team Hokage-sama." A voice from the shadows monotonously dictated, the mysterious presence hidden from all expect
the ruler of Hidden Leaf Village.
Hiruzen puffed a smoke as he read the papers, his eyes wary yet prepared.
"Alright. Crow, summon Kakashi to me."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." The ANBU guard disappeared into the shadows, Hiruzen looked outside his windows, weary from the decision he had just made.
"Team, gather up. We will have a mission discussion prior to separating to prepare ourselves for the task." Kakashi's usually patronizing voice had turned sullen, making the four genins tense. They watched as he pulled out a thin white scroll from his
right pocket and opened it with a single hand seal.
"We have been assigned a mission of gathering information from an illegal group activity that has been spreading alarm through the Land of Fire. The task is initially B-rank however it can turn to A-rank at any time."
"What kind of illegal activities are we talking about?" Kakashi frowned at that, reminded of the slightly disturbing rumors he had spied from his fellow ANBU guards.
"Valid question, Sasuke", Kakashi nodded his head in approval, "the activities range from kidnapping women and children to murder in extreme cases. It highly suggests of human trafficking. " Naruto scowled in distaste as he growled under his breathe,
hands clenched, and the malicious glint in his eyes usually pushed far away inside, seemed to resurface.
"Pack few shinobi attires because we will be purchasing civilian outfits for the purpose of blending in. Put your weapons in a separate bag, I'll teach you how to seal them before we leave the village. Any other questions?" Kakashi eyes rested on Tom
whose flaming red eyes thoughtfully glanced at his.
"Why were we assigned this mission? It is quite uncommon for genins to have high ranking tasks." The only jonin of the group seemed to carefully ponder on his answer, Ivy narrowed her eyes as she skimmed through his thoughts, before admitting. "These
past few months, chunins and jonins have been in high demand." All the genins felt an uneasiness at their sensei's foreshadowing tone.
Just before he disappeared, Kakashi looked at each of them in the eyes and, "Remember, Team 7's mission is to gather information, not interfere or participate in any way."
Further away from his teammates, Sasuke smirked inside, his thoughts ravenous and selfish.
'This mission is opt to make me stronger.'
'Kill him,' the voices submerged loudly from within.
'Kill him.' Sasuke agreed.
Shikimaru
"Asuma-sensei, you're late!"
'What a drag,' Shikimaru sighed in irritation as his ears itched from Ino's high-pitched screeching.
He watched, leaning against a tree bark with Choji sitting beside him, munching snacks as Asuma-sensei sweat-dropped and apologized sincerely.
"Gomen, gomen. I was held back in the tower."
"Stop making ex-," Shikimaru tuned out his teammates as he closed his eyes in hopes of getting even a minute worth rest. However, something Asuma-sensei mentioned seemed to linger on, tempting him to dwell further on the mystery.
'Held back in the tower? Hokage tower for sure. Was it related to a mission? No, he would have disclosed it to us immediately. Hmm.' Shikimaru narrowed his eyes in frustration and groaned internally for being unable to fucking keep his mind shut.
'Whatever.'
"Why were you held back in the Hokage-sama's tower, sensei?" His two fellow genin friends, too, seemed to be interested in the answer.
Asuma looked at them for a moment before sighing in defeat.
"I suppose there is no fault in informing you guys a bit. Team 7 has been tasked with a B-rank mission today, some of the jonin instructors were conflicted with Hokage-sama's decision seeing as Team 7 students are only genins like you guys. While I don't
know why they received high ranking missions so soon, Hokage-sama seemed to be confident in their skill." Ino and Choji shifted uncomfortably making Asuma glance at them from the corner of his eyes.
"Heh, no surprise there," Shikamaru murmured, his expression bored yet his mind would not just fucking shut.
'Uchiha Sasuke, ambitious considering how many times I have caught him training at ungodly hours. One of the best students at the academy. If it were not for his anti-social tendencies, I would say he would be a very reliable teammate. Uzumaki Naruto... contradicting character. He would seem like a naive brat at first glance however I know better than to be tricked by his duplicity. Naruto had easily taken Kiba down during practice, and Kiba was naturally quite skilled at taijutsu due to his upbringing as a clan heir-' Shikamaru's
thoughts were interrupted as Asuma sensei cleared his throat to gain their attention.
"What do you guys say about Team 7's ability? It would seem all of you have attended the same class." Their sensei's voice was lax and curious, yet it still succeeded in causing a shiver run through the genins.
"Ano, Sasuke-kun is amazing of course! He is so prefect! He is always correct when answering Iruka-sensei's questions-" Ino proceeded to gush about her crush for nearly five minutes non-stop as the males of Team 10 watched her with a sweat-drop. 'How does she know Sasuke bathes only at night?'
"I see, how about the rest of the Team 7?" Ino finally quieted down, uncertainty coloring her face as she nervously glanced at her two friends. Choji looked down at the ground, unable to answer his sensei's inquiry. Asuma, now quite alarmed, turned to
glance at Shikimaru, trusting him to give him a logical answer.
"Troublesome...Naruto and the twins-"
"What are the twins' names?" Asuma interrupted before he could stop himself. He chuckled awkwardly at Shikamaru's annoyed stare.
"Ivy and Tom," Ino decided to answer this time. Her face determined for reasons incomprehensible.
"I mean, those three are usually always together, never really talk with anyone else, you know? I have never seen the twins participating in class but they are always at the top of the class when it comes to scores. I don't really know much about them,
no one does, expect Naruto gets kind of weird when someone tries to get close to the twins."
Shikamaru glimpsed at his blonde teammate in silent astonishment, thinking he was the only one who recognized Naruto's 'weird' behavior.
"Hmm, I see. While I would love to continue ourconversation, we have some training to do." Asuma-sensei's cheery voice made his genins groan as he smiled at them positively.
However, in the back of his mind, a sprout of suspicion bloomed, Asuma would be meeting Kakashi when he returns from his mission for sure.
'Kakashi, what have you gotten yourself into this time?'