A/N: Day twenty-six. This may be lacking, in my opinion. But whatever, I don't have the time to fix it.
Kabuto is the name of the bespectacled man with the false smile, ashen hair and dark eyes that indicates how much he functions more on logic than emotion. He's Orochimaru's medical assistant, and apparently he's grown a healthy amount of interest in Shion due to the snake Sannin's influence. It's honestly not all that surprising, but she can't say that she really likes him at the moment.
The man under the genjutsu stands inside the centre of the seal lining the floor, unaware of his impending death. Kakashi stands back with Jiraiya for a moment, handing the Toad Sannin something that she can't see properly.
He meets her eyes for a moment, before he looks away in guilt. Perhaps he thinks that if he looks long enough, Shion's eyes might appear and then he'll get punched in the throat for being a bad dog. Her chest tightens, even as a small and troubled smile forms on her face.
How strange, knowing that she's letting him go when she could probably stop him from doing so. The first one she loses is the one she lets go without a fight, with only a solemn hug of farewell.
The man standing in the centre begins to scream as ash and dust rises from the ground to encase his body. He attempts to move out of the centre, but his feet are rooted and so he's helpless. It must be something, to die within a room of highly dangerous ninja whom don't care for his existence. He doesn't know, so she wonders if that makes it alright?
Oh, she supposes not as she sees his eyes and how they've brightened with panic and desperation, but they soon disappear behind the ash and dust to form into someone else.
She doesn't recognise the girl that's formed, whom looks no older than twelve with rectangular markings of purple lining both of her cheeks and short bobbed hair of pecan. When the girl opens her eyes, Sakura notes the grey sclera that surrounds tawny irises. Cracks mar the girl's skin, which looks jarring but less severe than how Shion looks in their mindscape.
"Rin Rin!" Tobi Tobi exclaims, throwing his arms in the air and running around in circles from his excitement. Rin Rin, apparently, looks over to the eccentric man-child and frowns in bemusement. "Rin Rin's back, Rin Rin's back!"
"What…?" Rin Rin murmurs, perplexed as she looks turns around to survey her surroundings. The girl gasps when her eyes land on Kakashi, whom looks like he's rather uncomfortable with being in her field of view. "Kakashi-kun…?!"
"No!" Tobi Tobi yells, grabbing Rin and pulling her away as Kabuto sighs and works on summoning the next person. "Who cares about Kakashi Bakashi?! No, no! Rin Rin doesn't need to look at him! Just Tobi Tobi! Tobi Tobi will make the world a peaceful place for Rin Rin!"
Kakashi walks into the centre of the seal as it illuminates from Kabuto's machinations. She feels her nails threatening to pierce through the durable fabric covering her palms, and she tries so hard to temper the constricting of her chest.
It's not working out very well, because he gives her one last smile before he too is encased in ash and dust. He doesn't scream, but he falls to his knees and she knows that he's in pain. It's a little odd, since he's always been a puppy who'd whimper if neglected.
Then it's her who screams, she realises as the Byakugou no In forcefully rips itself open and forces her to her knees. Her chakra ̶ Shion's chakra, their chakra ̶ is sucked away and all Sakura can hear is the unbearable ringing and the manic cackling that echoes in her mind.
She starts to convulse, and she's struggling to breathe as it feels like there's a tonne of pressure pushing onto the her ribcage and threatening to shatter it. Something ̶ someone, perhaps ̶ touches her and it burns, so she flinches away. Her nerves must be on fire, some detached part of herself thinks.
Another part of her thinks that she's going to die, what with how her chakra is being siphoned away from her. But she doesn't, she realises as the pulling sensation ceases and she can hear the beats of her pulse. It's disconcerting, she thinks as her heart thunders in her heart and attempts to calm itself.
" ̶ kura! Sakura!" Neji yells, his fingers touching her back and she flinches again as her nerves burn. "What did you do?!" he hisses, to someone she doesn't think is her.
Well, that was horrible. At least, she thinks as she attempts to stand, there's actually a relative amount of her chakra left. Most of it is gone, but what she's left with is by no means too bad. It's because of Shion's heritage that their chakra was so large in the first place. She still feels like a large part of her has just disappeared though, leaving the essentials of her existence behind.
She manages to stand, with Sai and Neji's help. Her head aches and there's still the muted ringing in her ears, unfortunately. Then she smiles, when her heavy-lidded eyes meet indigo irises and grey sclera. A cracked, maniacal grin is given to her in return.
"Shion Nion's back!" Tobi Tobi exclaims once more, throwing his arms in the air and dancing around a rather disturbed and fearful Rin Rin. "Kakashi Bakashi's dead! It's all right now! Now Tobi Tobi can fix the entire world without guilt!"
Shion doesn't look that much different, what with the cracks and all, but as least she appears to be whole this time. The woman looks down at her hands, opening and closing them before looking over to Pein.
Pein steps forward as Kabuto removes the reincarnation seal from the floor, packing up to stand with the snake Sannin who looks to be rather excited in a fatigued manner.
"It is time." he intones, and she feels herself giggle in a somewhat hysterical manner because of how dramatic he is. Pein goes through two handsigns, though she's not exactly sure what ones specifically since her eyesight is a little blurry and he's at the far end of the room. "Gedou — Rinne Tensei no Jutsu."
Steam surrounds and bursts from the two reincarnated females, surrounding the entire room in it and temporarily blinding them all.
"What the hell's going on now?" Neji growls, still holding onto her and using one arm to shield his eyes. Sai makes a sound in his throat, adjusting his hold on her for a moment.
When the steam clears, Shion's standing beside Jiraiya and covering her left eye with a sneer on her lips. Sakura feels a tug on her chest, as she realises that the cracks and grey sclera have disappeared to reveal smooth skin and wide, white sclera instead. Her chakra seems to pulsate, from having her chakra now split into two bodies. Or at least, that's her assumption.
Rin Rin appears to have undergone the same thing, but she seems doubly more confused than Shion who's grinning like a maniac. "What is going on…?"
Pein's shoulders slump a little, and Konan murmurs indecipherable words to him as she offers her shoulder. He seems to obey, draping an arm around her shoulders and leaning against her. Sakura's a little surprised and mostly impressed that he can apparently bring people to life without dying himself.
That seems rather out of whack, and so Sakura laughs again. She's probably a little delirious.
Tobi Tobi lifts the revived child into a suffocating hug, eliciting a startled scream from said revived child. "Rin Rin's alive! Rin Rin's back! Tobi Tobi and Rin Rin can live their forever ever after now!" he giggles, bouncing around as Sakura sees Itachi and Shion exchange a glance.
Then Shion drops her hand from her eye, blinking it a few times and revealing Kakashi's Sharingan. "This is fucking gross and trippy, yeah!" the woman laughs, slapping Jiraiya on the shoulder as he slaps her back. "Oh, lord Jesus! Fuck me, this is going to take some getting used to."
"I think Kakashi would gush if he saw you wearing his eye, hey!" Jiraiya guffaws with her, and Sakura thinks that's kind of strange but whatever. She feels her stomach fall when their laughs abruptly stop, because that's just unsettling.
Shion cracks her neck, then her fingers as she then pulls on the elastic of her bra ̶̶ Sakura's assuming ̶ to probably stop it from being an annoyance. Maybe. "'Kay, let's get this shit started!" she exclaims.
And then Sakura has no idea what happens next.
Shion rips out Tobi Tobi's eyes, in such a savage way that Sakura might've heard a muscle or two literally snap apart. The revived Uzumaki is laughing, which is really rather disturbing to hear in reality and not in the confines of her mind.
"Tobi Tobi brought Shion Nion back!" Tobi Tobi cries, in confusion and terror as Shion holds him down. He sobs, like a terrified child an it's almost conflicting to watch. "Why is Shion Nion mad?!"
The woman herself coos in a mocking manner, holding Tobi Tobi's mutated and bleeding face in her hands even though he can't see or really move. "Tobi Tobi tried to kill my favourite pet because of something his little girlfriend did to silver bun. He killed me instead, but I made sure that he'd want to revive me and his girlfriend before that because I have plans." she clicks her tongue, dropping the man's face and standing. "Should've known that one of my other pets would get jealous and go against me like that, yeah."
Shion sighs, then stomps on his right arm with enough force to snap it. Tobi Tobi yells and squirms. "Please! Tobi Tobi just wanted to fix the mistake! It's been fixed, it's been fixed!"
"No, fuck you it has." the redhead sneers, turning around to see Kabuto holding onto a restrained Rin Rin with a smile. Itachi went off somewhere, after a member that Shion had called a parasite. "I'm going to give you new eyes, yeah? Normal eyes, of course. Then, you'll get to witness Rin Rin getting fucked up as you sit and remain unable to help her, yeah. It'll be like in the movies and shit, you know?"
Neji flinches back, appalled. Sakura puts a hand on his shoulder and he frowns at her. "I don't…" he struggles with his words, not sure how to explain it since they've done quite a lot of immoral things on missions. But this isn't a mission she supposes, more so of a revenge plot and perhaps that's what's wrong with it all in his opinion. They don't enjoy killing and hurting others, as it's just part of the job. Shion's a little different, it would seem.
"Don't go against her." she advises with a slight wince from her headache and burning nerves, her eyes following her former mental resident as the deranged woman drags a screaming Tobi Tobi to the other members of the Akatsuki. Well, there's also the Sannin and Kabuto. "There's not much point in doing that, and it won't work out well for us."
Sai nods in agreement, with a deep frown marring his expression. "I do not think she will hesitate all that much if she deems us a nuisance and decides to get rid of us." he states, watching as Konan disappears after nodding at whatever Shion said. "How did she manage to get Akatsuki's help?"
"Itachi-san seems to be the most likely answer." she replies, watching Shion give a struggling Tobi Tobi to Orochimaru. Both the snake Sannin and his assistant walk off with Pein, who appears to be escorting them somewhere.
Shion turns, meeting her eyes. When Sakura blinks, the woman is much closer than a second ago and it's really rather perturbing. It's like they're in a horror movie and Shion's the evil spirit.
"Hey, my shitcakes!" Sakura's former mental resident greets, then she blinks few times when her left eye twitches. Shion hisses in annoyance. "Fuck this thing, I swear! Fucking overrated piece of shit Whatever, you should go let sugar bean here rest. I'll be busy crushing someone's hopes and dreams, whilst also being busy actually crushing someone, yeah. I also have to deal with Itachi once he gets back with Zetsu, but that's for later and whatnot."
Neji tenses. "What's the point of all this?" he demands, stepping forward and having only his fingers twitch when the woman in question turns to face him.
Shion squints at him. "The point of fucking with a guy who's trying to like, summon some ugly ass beast and put some weird shit onto the moon to brainwash everyone in the world?" she frowns to the side, unsure of her own words. "I think that's what he was up to, my memory's fucking horrible but I do know that there's some shit with peace. Yeah anyway, I'm actually more interested in just breaking him both for revenge and for the sake of it. Shame for Rin though, since she's going to be suffering quite a lot. Never liked her anyway, so it's not much of a loss."
Sakura doesn't think she actually cares about what Shion does to whomever at this time, since Rin Rin and Tobi Tobi are strangers. One of those strangers also had one of the largest parts in Kakashi's death, with Itachi included and that's bothers her quite a bit.
"Will I be fine?" she queries, just in case. Shion reaches forward, pressing a finger or two against her forehead. She feels the Byakugou no In resonating with the contact, then something clicks even though she's not sure what.
"Yeah, basically." the other woman responds with a shrug, and Sakura realises how they're actually the same height. "Look, I'm not actually planning on staying very long, yeah. I just sort of wanted to fuck with Tobi by having him work so hard to revive both myself and Rin, then make it all crash and fucking burn. Because it sounded like fun."
"You do this for fun?" Sai queries, sounding less unsettled than their brother but still a little dubious.
"Well, yeah. Doesn't having a convoluted plan about revenge and poetic justice and whatever sound fun?" Shion grins, then glances at her gloved hands. "I suppose it's just as well that it was silver bun, yeah. Wouldn't be as dramatic, I guess. Still fucked off that Itachi purposefully went against my words though, the fucker."
"You are the most horrendous person I have ever had the displeasure to meet." Neji states, squaring his shoulders and apparently getting ready to fight if needed.
Shion, instead, laughs and pats him a little too hard on the shoulder. "Yeah, I know man. But hey, think about what would have happened if I wasn't chilling in your sister's cranium." she leans close, her crazed eyes probably disconcerting Neji a little more than their close proximity. "I had a hand in her development, and I'm fucking proud in some kind of way. How different would shit have been, then? You wonder about that, luscious liquorice?"
"Alright," Sakura murmurs, "I think we all should go rest and let the others do whatever." she'd really like to sleep and just ignore the world for a little bit. It's still somewhere in the middle of the night, she thinks.
Shion grins. "Yeah, going to fuck some bitches right in the fucking ear!" then she gasps at something. "Maybe Hidan the fucker should play with Rin!"
"Fuck yeah!" Hidan exclaims from somewhere in the distance. "Hell bitch is best bitch!"
Her dream is a little strange, since it's less nightmarish and desolate. When she looks up to the skies, there are only normal stars and the bones of animals don't crunch under her feet when she walks. The fireflies are green now, and the water a clear sapphire similar to the river in the Nara forest.
There are fields of shions scattered about, and she thinks it strange when she crouches down to touch one of them. They look so innocent, like the kind of flowers a child would pick for their mother from the side of the street.
When she picks one, it bleeds red and then rapidly wilts until it inevitably crumbles to dust. There's something melancholic about the flowers… Perhaps because of the person whom is named after them. Or perhaps they're just melancholic flowers in general, as they do mean remembrance in the flower language.
It's strange, feeling and knowing that Shion's not exactly connected with her anymore. Their chakra may not have been undiluted when their chakra was split, but it doesn't change the fact that Shion's consciousness is in another body that used to be Kakashi's.
She wonders how she feels about that. How will Father react when he learns that Kakashi's gone? Will he be angry, or will he move on with relative ease?
"I hope you're happier in your next life, Kakashi." she murmurs, standing and watching as a scarecrow grows in the middle of the flowers. "I also hope you're less like a dog, because it almost makes people feel guilty for treating you like a pet."
She imagines the scarecrow laughs with the wind of the dream as she wakes up.
Orochimaru is braiding Shion's hair as she lounges on the couch, devouring sugar-covered cereal with her legs up on the coffee table. Jiraiya's chilling on the other end of the same couch, reading another porn book as Kabuto sits across from them and just… smiles.
"You're fucking weird, toffee ash." the redheaded mastermind of psychotic plans remarks. "Are you usually into revived twelve-year-old girls screaming and moaning in pain, yeah? Because your face was all messed up when Hidan was getting off on his fucked religion, you know?"
"You'd do fucking awesome as a Jashinist, you crazy slut!" Hidan exclaims, once again from somewhere in the distance. Where is he, Sakura wonders?
Kabuto's smile widens, just the slightest. "Not usually, but it was certainly a spectacle. I don't know what exactly it is that you did inside of Tobi Tobi's mind, but it was quite interesting to witness nonetheless. Would you mind terribly if I were to take a few samples of his flesh, since that white compound appears to be quite intriguing? I wish to study it."
Shion shrugs. "If you want, I don't really give a shit. He's a vegetable now, so it's not like he has much use for it, yeah." she replies, then glances over to Sakura and her brothers. "Hey there, jelly bean. You're looking better, you know."
Sakura nods with a slight smile. "You fixed the seal, and my chakra's mostly replenished." she responds. It's not as much as before, but she thinks that it's alright.
Shion waves a hand in dismissal, placing the empty on the coffee table and forcing Orochimaru to bend over the couch to accommodate. "You may not have as much as you did, but it's more than what most people have and you're considered a Uzumaki because of it. Uzumaki were the shit, yeah, until they all died because apparently their awesome ass fuuinjutsu couldn't do fucking shit."
"Are you done with your plans?" Sai inquires, glancing to a sulking Neji who just doesn't want to be in Shion's presence. It's understandable, one has to be rather skewed themselves to get along with the monstrous woman.
"Eh, sort of. Itachi's still got to come back with that plant fucker sealed, but I wouldn't be surprised if he realised what's waiting for him when or if he returns." she hums, glancing to the ceiling in thought. "Maybe we should go find him… thank him for all he's done."
Sakura feels something tug at her gut, and soon she realises that it's muted fury. Not entirely brought to the surface, but she knows it's there.
"We should." she replies, and Shion directs her a knowing and feral grin. "We definitely should."
Chapter Word Count: 3,354
Total Word Count: 84,331
Targeted Word Count: 0
A/N: I had to really rush again, since I have family over and I was awake for twenty-four hours before I could take a nap. Hopefully it made some semblance of sense, but whatever. I feel drained, so it may not have the emotion I wanted to put in it. I was dead inside whilst writing this. The segments are so uneven, but there are four segments at least. Also canon is fucked and it fucked me today, so there you go.
Reviews are love. Reviews are life. It's never ogre.