AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.
Proofread by: Author and Kyluxia
Is it just me, or have I unintentionally begun adding a lot more humor into this story? It was my intention, but I didn't realize how entertaining, rewarding, and easy it would be. Am I jinxing myself? Well, either way, I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter 12: With a flash
Being forced out of their own mindscape was a new, and unpleasant experience for the Haruno twins. The feeling of being forced out was comparable to being thrown through an open door, only to land on hard, wood flooring on the other side and discovering that the door had been shut behind you.
The entire situation was unsettling, and only became more so, as upon awakening and looking around in confusion and mild panic, they discovered themselves not in the comfort or safety of their bed, but standing in the kitchen again, with a note laying in front of them. "When you're out, Fukō is in." was all it read, but considering where they were, and where they had been, the simple message implied a lot, despite how short it was.
"You have got to be kidding me," Heikō stated, sighing as she realized that as the first to act, she had taken control of their body, and was, therefore, the one hit the worst by the sudden headache they were feeling. "Oh god, what did she do with our body?" She questioned next, realizing they felt sore and there was an odd, disgusting aftertaste lingering in their mouth. Heikō groaned as she grabbed a close-by chair and sat down. She then began massaging their temples, while Sakura, being in a slightly better state than her at the moment, took the opportunity to look for any memories Fukō would have left behind while using their body.
A sudden shudder overtook their body, as Sakura returned from their library of memories with startling news. "I couldn't find anything." She revealed, sounding distressed.
"Shit, that means she can either mess with our memories, or doesn't process any to be stored, to begin with. In retrospect, that makes sense, she's not a true consciousness, merely piggy-backing on our own minds. Can you feel her right now?" Heikō asked, having shared her conclusion.
"No, it's like she isn't even there. There's something, but it doesn't feel anything like you do." Sakura informed Heikō, who nodded as she allowed Sakura to feel that she agreed, as she had felt the same.
"She's inactive until required, at least that part works as intended. I knew she'd be close to alive, or at least appear so with how we made her, but I didn't expect this. It's a shame that she's hostile towards us, but at least it lets us know that our precautions work, and she can't actually harm us intentionally. Although, the loophole she pointed out is a bit worrying." Heikō decided, sighing as she felt the headache worsen.
"Fuck, what were we even thinking? I think our chakra messes with our head more than we thought." Heikō concluded, realizing in hindsight just how risky and stupid their decision was. While there was no question that making an avatar for part of their mind to inhabit and use to protect their mind was a genius idea; the fact that they had done it so spontaneously, without any experience, or prior knowledge, baffled Heikō. They knew better than that, especially after the promise they made to Naruto.
"I think I understand why this happened. The idea was mine, but I think our chakra pushed it up my priority list and convinced us it was a good idea. I think it's because if it hadn't we'd never get around to it otherwise." Sakura speculated, and Heikō considered it for a few moments.
"If that's true, then we need to be careful. I doubt our chakra would push us to do anything intentionally dangerous, and I suspect there's more to it than we know, but if it acts as a guiding force like this, what will become of us? We can't just live to the whims of our own chakra, can we?" Heikō questioned, feeling her mood plummeting as she became angry at the thought of becoming a slave to their own chakra.
"That won't happen. Remember, the few times our chakra has done anything without us directing it, it has been following our own initiative. It acts based on our will, so something must have triggered it to push us down this path." Sakura argued, only to be cut off by Heikō groaning in annoyance.
"Dammit, I hate this. Let's figure this out later, our head is killing me, and I think we'd prefer to be well-rested for the morning. Jiraiya and Naruto are bound to grill us for details on what happened tomorrow, and we'll have to tell them about Fukō, just in case." Heikō told Sakura as she stood up and filled herself a glass of water, cringing as the water washing over their tongue reminded her of the lingering taste. "Ugh, and next time we see Fukō, we find out what the fuck she had us consume, provided she can even remember it herself," Heikō promised, scowling, before swallowing and thankfully feeling their headache receding slightly. With a sigh of relief, she headed back to their room.
Feeling Sakura falling asleep, leaving Heikō with a sense of agreement before she disappeared, Heikō got an evil idea and decided to enjoy herself with Sakura none-the-wiser. Not paying the sleeping Naruto any mind as she entered the room, she went over to their bed and stripped herself clean.
With Sakura already asleep, she couldn't stop Heikō from getting comfortable underneath the sheets in the nude. Besides, even if she had still been there, Heikō would still have argued for it, no way she'd be able to fall asleep with a headache otherwise. Not to mention, that maybe it would help in desensitizing Sakura to the topic of sex. They were teenagers after all. How Sakura could be such a prude, while Heikō felt their hormones boiling, was a mystery to her.
Waking up the next morning was certainly eventful. Both Sakura and Heikō were suddenly brought out of their dreams and found themselves awake, with only the vague understanding that they had been awoken by a loud noise.
Alarmed, and slightly paranoid due to the events of the night prior, they immediately jumped out of bed and looked around, scanning for a threat, divvying the task up between themselves as Heikō took control of the body, and Sakura looked at their memory to figure out exactly what had woken them up. All they found in the room was a spooked Naruto, staring at them, wide-eyed.
"What is it?" Heikō asked Naruto, having noticed him staring at them, while something told her she was forgetting something.
"Um…" Was all Naruto managed dumbly as he first blushed, before rapidly paling. "Igottagotrainnowby!" He shouted as he rushed out of the room in a hurry, still only dressed in his sleepwear, which reminded Heikō of their own state of dress.
"Oh." Heikō managed in realization, she had just flashed Naruto unintentionally. Personally, she didn't mind, although she was certain that Sakura and Hinata would. Speaking of, it seemed Sakura had located her memories of last night and realized exactly what had just happened.
"Heikō! What the hell! You went to bed naked, in the same room as someone else! Now Naruto has seen us naked! Oh god, this is so embarrassing!" Sakura complained while Heikō couldn't help but smirk.
"Oh, relax. He already had a crush on us, you know. So I doubt he'll blackmail us, besides, he's too nice to do that anyways. At worst, we'll be his fap material for the next few years." Heikō tried to assure Sakura, while simultaneously teasing her about it.
"Heikō!" Sakura exclaimed in horrified outrage at both the mental picture and the fact that Heikō had been the one responsible for it.
"What? Is it really a big deal? We're a Shinobi, aren't we? What's there to be embarrassed about? Things like this happen from time to time. Think positive, now we're technically more experienced than Ino. Think of her reaction when she finds out." Heikō suggested although it seemed to have the opposite effect, as Sakura grew even more appalled and began planning to kill the only witness to prevent the knowledge of what had happened from ever spreading.
Sighing at Sakura's behavior, Heikō began ignoring Sakura as she went to the bathroom, had a much-needed shower, got dressed, brushed their hair, and remade the braid they usually kept their hair in. Having made themselves presentable, she set course for the kitchen, starving and ready for breakfast. Although, Sakura insisted that they could never go out in public again and wanted to remain in their room. Heikō merely rolled her eyes at her sister's drama and pointed out that it was apparently now a room shared between them and Naruto, so hiding from him there wouldn't really work in the long run. While Sakura despaired, Heikō went to the kitchen and greeted both Naruto and Jiraiya with a smile as she saw them at the dinner table, having breakfast.
"Good Morning." Heikō greeted them, before smirking at Naruto who looked nervous and avoided looking at them with a blush, confusing Jiraiya.
"Ah, good morning… Heikō, right?" Jiraiya asked, still having trouble remembering if Heikō wore the braid on the right or the left.
"Yeah, it's me. Sakura is currently wishing for death, and taking Naruto with her." Heikō informed them with a snicker, while Sakura grew even more horrified, nearly taking control of their body, only for her embarrassment to get the better of her. Heikō was a little disappointed that her teasing had failed to bring Sakura out of her funk again.
Jiraiya blinked dumbly, looking between the smirking Heikō and embarrassed Naruto, trying to figure out what was going on and what Heikō had meant. "Am I missing something here?" He asked, hoping for an answer.
"Oh, nothing much. Just that when you decided to let Naruto sleep in our room, it might have been a good idea to check with us first. I don't mind, but Sakura and I don't agree on a few points, and I was the last one up last night after we woke up." Heiko informed Jiraiya, whose expression showed that her explanation hadn't cleared anything up.
Turning to Naruto, he hoped the boy would have an answer instead. "Naruto, you seem to know what this is about. What happened?" He asked, only for Naruto to blush harder and avoid looking at either of them. Heikō's chuckling brought Jiraya back to look at her.
"Well, let's just say that I prefer to sleep in my birthday suit, and Naruto was the one to wake us up this morning, realizing we weren't unconscious anymore, by ripping away the covers," Heikō informed Jiraiya with an amused smile.
For a moment, Jiraya seemed struck with awe, then horror, before a trail of crimson began running from both his nostrils and he instead began giggling while smiling perversely. Sakura immediately grew angry, while Heikō frowned. Although, she was merely annoyed, unlike Sakura, as she realized Jiraiya wasn't thinking about them, considering his eyes weren't looking their way but had instead gone unfocused. As if remembering something, possibly imagining himself and another woman in the same situation.
"Okay, I think Ero-sennin is going to be busy for a while. What do you say about training, Naruto?" Heikō asked, turning her attention to Naruto, who choked on the glass of milk he had been drinking before looking at her and blushed, even as he coughed.
"H-Heikō? I-" Naruto began, only to cough a few more times. Heikō couldn't help but smirk, knowing perfectly well what had caused that reaction. Sakura's feelings of shame and anger proved that she did as well.
"Oh, still thinking about me? Tell me, did you like what you saw?" She asked, only for Naruto to suddenly become as red as a tomato all over, before his nose burst with blood and he fell over backward, out of the chair, sprawled unconscious on the ground. Heikō blinked in surprise, before realizing that maybe she had gone a bit too far with her teasing. Sakura refused to even talk to her now.
AN: So, yeah. Not entirely how I first intended this chapter to go, but a comment from Kyluxia had me reconsider and change the plan I had slightly. So, behold, the first obstacle and push along for Sakura and Naruto I suppose. I will point out that you're free to ship them, but I have yet to decide on any final pairings. I've already hinted that something has pushed Hinata to go down a path different from canon, and so now Naruto, who would otherwise have jumped at the opportunity to make something out of this incident in hopes of getting with Sakura and Heikō, is instead conflicted, due to Hinata's farewell. This is as much a journey of discovery for Naruto, as it is Sakura and Heikō. So you better believe it I am going to have a lot of fun with this cluster of relationships I've cultivated.