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
Our dog is better now. Thanks for asking. Here is the next chapter.
Chapter 39: Consequences of meddling
Climbing down the ladder revealed by Fukō, Heikō found her surroundings changing bizarrely again. Instead of a small, dark space that would rationally be found below a building, she found herself suddenly climbing down a ladder suspended in a functional void. Nothing could be seen in any direction, besides up or down. Above her was the ceiling made of the same, ever-color-changing tiles that the floor had been above, and below, she could see what looked like pipes, machinery, and large, circular containers that presumably held some kind of liquid, considering that they were all hooked up to the network of pipes spanning the entire subterranean level. Naturally, just because nothing really made sense on this "spiritual" level of their consciousness, despite all taking on a familiar appearance, the network of pipes was ever-shifting, nauseating to look at, and colored in a way that kept Heikō from putting a name to what she was seeing. It wasn't something as simple as lacking any color or being a color that she just didn't know the name of. No, the very concept of color didn't seem to apply at all, and it made her thoughts simply run around in circles when she tried to determine what she was looking at.
Deciding to focus on getting down to the bottom safely, Heikō turned her sight away from the chaos going down below and simply got into the rhythm of climbing down the ladder, while continuing her attempts to pinpoint Fukō's presence. Having moved from the previous room, there had been a moment where Heikō hadn't felt Fukō's presence, suggesting that she was in fact occupying some form of space nearby. It might not mean much, but Heikō knew that she would feel a lot better if she could pinpoint Fukō's location when necessary.
Eventually, Heikō found herself reaching the ground, where she found that the ladder was bolted to the steel floor. She was slightly disgusted by the way that rust and mold seemed to actively move across the floor, but found comfort in knowing that none of it was technically real… At least she hoped so. She really didn't want to deal with spiritual mold stuck to her… soul? Was that how it worked? Heikō didn't know and hoped she'd never have to find out.
"So, what exactly is all this, supposed to be?" Heikō asked out loud, gesturing to the ever-shifting nightmare of pipes surrounding her.
"This, as far as I can tell, is part of Sakura's soul. Or, at the very least a representation of how it functions. As you can tell, very little of it is tangible or constant. If you look towards those big tanks, they're the less mobile parts in this mess. One of them should be labeled fear, it should be easy to find, considering that it hasn't moved once since I found it." Fukō informed Heikō, who shuddered as she felt her body spin without prompting to face one of the tanks she could see amongst the shifting pipes, which indeed seemed to be a landmark amongst the chaos.
"Are you still not going to come out?" Heikō asked as she began walking towards the tank, keeping an eye out for the surrounding pipes as they shifted, leaning out of the way whenever they got too close. It was actually a bit surprising how few of them seemed to get in her way, despite how animated they were. It was also a little creepy that they didn't give off any sound as they moved.
"Are you sure you want me to? My appearance here is a lot less… recognizable. Unlike the form I take on in your thoughts or out there, I can not hide my true self on this level. Are you sure you wish to know what you've created and left to live in your shadow, shackled?" Fukō questioned, making Heikō feel uneasy with the implications behind Fukō's warning, but nodded anyway.
"I should know. If anything else, we… or at least I should take responsibility for you. Besides, I'd feel better if I could face you. I want us to be on good terms, and…" Heikō trailed off as she saw the space in front of her shimmer, change, and take on the shape of a small, hunched-over, pale-skinned and skinny person wearing rags, cuffs, and bandages covered with seals. Unlike the Haruno twin's pink hair, Fukō's hair was stark white, and as she stood up properly to look at Heikō, she revealed her eyes to be empty, or rather, missing completely. Instead of the expected black orbs with irises and pupils, there was nothing but holes where her eyes should be, covered in darkness and concealing anything that might have been otherwise seen there. Curiously enough, Fukō did not have a third eye as Heikō had expected.
"Well? What do you think?" Fukō asked in an amused sounding tone, her voice sounding amused, as well as a little raspy, but the amusement was absent from her face or body language, as she seemed to be hugging herself for comfort, while wearing a poker face, not giving any emotions away. It gave Heikō the impression that Fukō was nervous, perhaps a bit embarrassed and unsure of herself. It was sad to see, especially knowing that this was how Sakura and Heikō had made her to be. Fukō looked frail, malnourished, and thin. The shackles around Fukō's wrists and her young, childish appearance made her look like an abused street rat. If Fukō was an abused street rat, what did that say about her creators? It made Heikō feel guilty and disgusted that Fukō's true form appeared before her like an incomplete and discarded child. It made Heikō feel like Sakura and she had failed Fukō in creating her.
"That's… are you alright?" Heikō asked, unsure of what else she could say.
Finally, Fukō showed some semblance of emotion by smiling shyly at Heikō. "For my unhealthy and incomplete appearance, I'm afraid not. Although, when it comes to these cuffs…" She informed Heikō, holding up her cuffed wrists. "They're mostly a visual representation of the rules applied to me during my creation. If you're willing to hear me out, I can show you some improvements I think would make things easier for all three of us. Completing me, however?" Fukō simply shook her head, still smiling, although now with an amused, yet resigned smirk. "I will never be a true being. No matter what you attempt, I don't think you're gods. You can't make me a soul of my own, and I don't think it would be healthy for you even if you could. I've had some time to think about this, I'll show you later. Before that, however, we should focus back on the issue you two are currently facing." Fukō reminded Heikō, gesturing towards the tank, before knocking against it, resulting in a dull thudding, which sounded as if the tank was full.
Frowning, Heikō furrowed her brows. The tank was supposed to represent Sakura's fear, but as far as Heikō could tell, they already had an accurate indicator in the mind, and Sakura had been showing nowhere near these levels of fear. Heikō didn't know what would happen if the tank overflowed, or the pipes burst, but she could imagine that reaching a nearly full tank would normally result in an unhealthy amount of paranoia, something Sakura hadn't been showering. Looking at Fukō, Heikō saw her looking back at her with a serious look.
It was obvious that Sakura wasn't in a bad mental state at the moment. Fukō would have alerted them before something dire happened and helped them resolve it. No, this was that call, but it must have been something different from what Heikō was imagining. Attempting to understand things on her own, Heikō took a step back to compare what she knew of emotions from a different perspective.
Considering that their existence functioned on three different levels, it was reasonable to assume that their emotions did the same. On a physical level, they had their body. On the mental level, they had their mind, and on the spiritual level, they had their soul. Physically, emotions took the form of hormones and chemicals released by the nervous system to convey information between cells in the brain. On a mental level, emotions came in the form of information, feeling, and memories. Emotions on the physical and mental levels could trigger each other, so it stood to reason that the same held true for the spiritual level as well. However, the different levels could be separated from each other, as evident by the discrepancy between the mental and spiritual levels of fear Sakura was showing.
The only example Heikō could think of when something like that might happen would be when a person learned to suppress their emotions. Regardless of the chemical reactions occurring on a physical level, it was possible to learn to control your emotions mentally. To a degree, that was something Sakura had once done using Heikō as a way to safely avoid dangerous levels of buildup, as suppressing emotions always required some kind of release. Comparing the current situation to the given example, Heikō felt that it might be something similar, only that emotions on a mental level had somehow ended up being suppressed, without any way to be safely released on a spiritual level. Out of all things, it was fear.
Looking up at the tank that represented said fear, Heikō frowned as she concluded. Dealing with fear was one of the basic things a Shinobi had to learn. Wielding weapons, hunting living creatures for food, or killing other people were all things Shinobi ended up doing sooner or later. All these things required them to overcome fear. Heikō had been under the impression that they had been dealing with Sakura's, and by extension, her own fears rather well, which begged the question, where was all this spiritual fear coming from? Was Sakura's soul somehow picking up on a danger that was eluding her?
Heikō's thoughts were interrupted by Fukō as she heaved a heavy sigh. "Right, you're taking too long to try and understand this. I don't blame you, I have a variety of advantages over you two in this department, and even I took a while to figure out what was happening. The issue here is what you've been doing with Sakura's dreams." Fukō explained, only for Heikō to look at her blankly in confusion.
"Dreams?" Heikō asked, blinking in surprise, before realizing that Fukō was referring to the nightmares Heikō had denied Sakura.
"Precisely. What you've been doing has been suffering through them on your own, sparing your sister, her soul, and mind from those horrors. However, this has caused an imbalance. While your mind adapts and overcomes the nightmares as it is supposed to, all you do is then copy the resulting psychological changes into Sakura. On a mental level, this is acceptable, but there is still an issue. Sakura doesn't have the memories or experiences you have from these dreams. Each nightmare you've suffered through has an effect on your body. Your minds, both of yours, in turn, react to the body. For you, this process ends cleanly, as no anomalies are detected. For Sakura, on the other hand, there's a discrepancy noted both by the mind and the body, yet there are no mental or physical issues. All this, seeps much deeper, down to a spiritual level where these discrepancies add up into fear. Sakura's soul is aware that something is wrong, yet nothing can be found or done about it. It also doesn't help that not experiencing fear, at all, Sakura is beginning to experience withdrawals, of a kind. The issue here boils down to your intervention, and that is why I brought you here. You need to fix this, and Sakura is the one going to have to deal with the not so pretty results." Fukō informed a now horrified Heikō, as she realized what consequences she had brought down on Sakura by attempting to shield her.
AN: So, I realized I didn't make much sense in my last Author's Note regarding what I meant concerning the spiritual level of consciousness and why this made sense. In canon, a person can "exist" regardless of having either a body or a mind. While there are very few canon examples of this, there are some very glaring ones that come in the form of Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki being the reincarnations of Asura and Indra Ōtsutsuki. While the canon mentions this being a result of them having the brother's chakra inhibiting their bodies after being passed down through their bloodlines, chakra is nothing more than Physical and Mental energy. In my opinion, there would be a spiritual element required to ensure that their will truly lived on like that, which is why I've included a spiritual level as part of the equation when it comes to a person's consciousness.
Kyluxia here. Boruto canon would later support something like this, we are just twisting it in a way that makes more sense here. Until next time!