ZERO / BLEACH / TWIST (here) / REVERSE / DYE / RED
I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil. - J.R.R. Tolkien
Spittle foamed up at the corners of Naruto's mouth as he slashed at the shield again. He swung one more time. A crack appeared at the edge of the shield. When he hit it a third time, the shield shattered under the impact. Sakura barely had enough time to throw up another shield. She twisted her head around to look toward the others.
Thankfully, they were close enough to have been caught in the radius of her shield. Despite what she had told them, they looked shocked. But then again, it was hard for even her to believe that this was the same person they had called their friend for years.
Electricity crackled at Sasuke's fingertips. But his face twisted as he looked from Naruto to Sakura.
"What do we do now, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, his stare settling on Naruto.
"I…" Sakura flinched as Naruto let out a screech. He slashed at the smooth surface of the shield with his nails. Blood dribbled from a dagger buried in his shoulder. The curve of the handle was familiar. For a moment, Sakura remembered seeing that blade elsewhere.
"Sakura!" Sasuke barked, reclaiming her attention.
"I don't know!" she spat in return, wincing as Naruto continued to rain down blows on her shield. Fissures began to form along the surface.
"Hey!"
Sakura twisted her head toward the sound of Madara's voice. Naruto turned too. Just in time to face the jet of fire that Madara blasted at him. Fire gushed from Naruto's mouth, deflecting the attack.
"I thought he was a wind type," Sakura heard Ino say, barely above a whisper.
"How…"
"Sasuke, no!" Sakura screamed as Sasuke lunged to the edge of the shield.
"Sasuke, what the hell are you doing?" Ino shouted too, scrambling to pull him back in by the arm. Sasuke wrenched free from her grip, taking another step toward the edge.
"That's Shisui's attack. How are you doing that?" Sasuke demanded.
Naruto's neck cracked, head swiveling at the wrong angle as he turned his attention to Sasuke. A grin stretched his mouth too wide.
A strange, gravelly voice rumbled up his throat.
"I ate him."
"Oh my god," Ino whispered. Sakura felt her friend's hands grip her shoulder.
"He was crunchy, but tasty. You look tasty too," Naruto croaked.
"Sasuke! No!" Sakura called. It was the same thing all over again. She reached for him a second too late. He barreled through the edge of her shield, screaming. Blue lightning crackled up and down his arms. She squeezed her eyes shut. Ino screamed, clutching at Sakura with both her hands now. It was such a shrill, pained sound that Sakura was glad she had closed her eyes.
There was a grisly tear and a snap. She felt her stomach twist as she listening to the sounds of teeth crunching through flesh and bone. This time, Madara wasn't there to cover her ears. She could hear Sasuke's shrieks of agony. And then the final gurgle as he slumped to the ground.
Sakura opened her eyes in time to see Naruto leaping towards her shield. His face and shirt were painted red.
"Sakura!" Ino screamed, yanking her by the arm. She tucked Sakura behind herself, ignoring Sakura's protests. Ino turned her body towards Naruto just as his elbow shattered the barrier. Like a crystal vase shattering against the ground, raining down on them like bits of glitter.
And then, Ino was flying. Her spine cracked as it slammed against the railing. She didn't get up.
Even as tears streamed down her face, Sakura couldn't help but notice that Naruto made no move to touch Ino's heart. As the thought crossed her mind, her eyes met Naruto's. They were completely black.
"What's going on?" she whispered.
"I'm starving. I've been waiting to eat for so long," Naruto replied. His eyes widened for an instant before he rolled out of the way. Heat blasted over her shoulder.
"Sakura!"
She could hear Madara calling her. In all the chaos, she had nearly forgotten about him. Her stomach dropped when she turned to look at him.
Fire streamed from Madara's hands, just enough to keep Naruto at bay. At Madara's feet lay Gaara. Unmoving. The ornate handle of a knife protruding from his chest. She hadn't even heard him fall.
"Oh Papa, what have you done?"
"I'm sorry," Madara whispered. "I thought I could fix everything."
"You've failed, necromancer. It's time to pay up," cackled Naruto. His eyes swiveled from Madara to Sakura. She could see him calculating his chances. No matter how talented or experienced he was, there was no way Madara could hold the spell forever.
"Naruto," she called.
Naruto leered at her, licking his lips.
"If you eat my heart, what happens?" she demanded.
For a moment, he almost looked surprised. And then he sneered, like she had asked the most obvious question in the world. "This all ends, of course. The contract is fulfilled."
"Sakura, don't listen to him," Madara warned. The flames began to sputter a little. Naruto's gaze sharpened.
"What're the terms of the contract?" Sakura pressed.
Naruto threw his head back to laugh. But he gave no response.
Something in Sakura told her that it was time to stop dragging this out. She glanced over at Madara over her shoulder. Sweat poured down his face from the effort to sustain the fire for so long. And for an instant, it almost felt like her hand wasn't hers as she raised it. Madara's eyes widened.
"No!"
She blasted him with a jet of icy water, disrupting his spell.
And then she was ripping and tearing into little pieces. Madara's sobs echoing in her ears. Repeated over and over again.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
She heard herself sigh: "Impatient."
Or perhaps it wasn't her voice at all.
Sakura jolted awake in her bed. Her eyes darted all around the room. Sucking in deep breaths, she ran her hands over her shoulders, down her arms and legs. Searching for chunks of missing skin and bone. She pressed her palm to her chest to feel for the frantic thud of her heart. She could still feel Naruto's teeth gouging into it.
For a moment, she was certain that she was dead. That there would be silence.
And then she felt the reassuring rhythm.
It was still there.
It was still there.
She was hot and cold all at once. Sweat made her skin and clothes feel sticky. Her legs were twisted into the sheets and comforter.
Burying her face in her hands, Sakura sobbed.
She flinched when she heard a soft knock. The door creaked open. Madara's face appeared, illuminated in a weak light spell that radiated from his shoulder.
"You okay?" he murmured.
"I'm fine," she sniffed.
"You don't sound fine."
"I'm said I'm fine. I'd like some space," Sakura snapped. She regretted her tone a little. Despite what she'd just witnessed. Because she saw the hurt in Madara's face. Saw how exhausted he was.
"Alright. I'll be right across the hall if you need me," he said, even more quietly. The door creaked shut.
And Sakura sobbed even harder. Until she had to get up to run down the hall to vomit. Head half-hanging in the toilet, hands braced against the seat, she tried to gather the scrambled thoughts inside her head.
Things were blurring together. Becoming one, then two. Which iteration did that happen? Who could she trust? Who was to be avoided?
After she flushed the toilet, Sakura forced her body to sit up. She leaned against the tub, trying her best to calm the storm raging inside both her gut and her skull.
Itachi and Shisui were trustworthy. But they were also the first to die.
Sasuke and Ino were trustworthy. But they were the next to die.
Naruto was definitely dangerous.
Gaara.
She hesitated.
Gaara was unreliable at best.
And Madara.
Sakura had to duck her head to vomit again when she thought of him. She heaved until tears were streaming from her eyes. She hated him and loved him. Feared him and adored him. She didn't know what he had done to set these events into motion, but she did know that this was somehow his fault.
She recalled his final apology ringing in her ears.
Hand shaking, she raised it to drag down her face. She tried to push her hair out of her eyes but it was tangled and snagged her fingers.
By the time she stumbled back into her room to check the time, it was just before 1 am. Even earlier than the last time.
Shutting the door behind her, she plucked a couple of tissues from the nightstand to blow her nose and dab at her eyes. She could hear the floorboards creak in Madara's room. She froze. But then remembered that he was probably up worrying about her. She could imagine him with his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose as he looked up something in one of his many books.
She reached behind her and touched the back of her neck. The skin tingled just a little. The sign of the contract would be appearing soon. Probably within the next few hours or so. That meant that the first thing she had to do was prevent anyone from seeing it. Especially Madara. Luckily, the weather was cold enough that scarves and turtlenecks wouldn't stand out to anyone.
She sat on her bed and slumped to the side, tissues crumpling in her hand.
She had to warn Shisui not to leave on his trip. She had to stop him and Itachi from disappearing. There were too many things she had to do. But those two thing had to be the first.
Her eyes drifted shut. Despite her fear, despite her anxiety, she sank deep into a dream without realizing.
She stood at the entrance to the dream world. The door seemed to loom much taller than she remembered. And there seemed to be more vines covering the outside. She brushed her fingers against the vines. They were warm.
When her fingers brushed the lock, she thought she heard a whisper from somewhere nearby.
Before she could walk ahead, she felt the world tilt sideways. And then it flipped upside down. She blinked.
Now she was standing on the ceiling of her room in the dream world. Her hair dangled down, but the perfect crystals on her shelves sat there, as if untouched by this strange, reversed gravity. When she looked down (up?), she saw herself sitting.
Slowly, her other self raised her chin to stare right back at her. And it was with a sinking feeling in her gut that Sakura realized that that face was familiar, but the look in her eyes was not hers.
"There was a time when you would have known what to ask here," her other self said.
Her other self tilted her head before saying "You're afraid of him."
For the first time, Sakura found her voice. "Yeah. He's the reason I keep dying."
Her other self laughed a little, hands grasping her calves. "No. You're confusing things."
Sakura frowned. "I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about. It's whatever weird demon contract he made."
Her other self shook her head. "You're dying because you're not listening to the bones. Pity the child. Protect the child. Do not fear him," she listed, counting on her fingers. And then she smiled.
"You'll be alright," her other self assured her.
"How do you know?" Sakura demanded.
"I've got you. Just listen to the bones, kid."
Sakura opened her eyes.
It took her a minute to realize that she had fallen asleep. And then another minute to realize that she had woken up again.
It took her a few tries to get her mind to focus on anything. She found the tissue still clutched in her hand and used it to blow her nose. Out of habit, she disconnected her phone from the charger and lifted the screen up to eye level.
Friday, Nov 3.
A notification popped up on the screen to remind her that she had a date tonight.
She stared at the notification for a long time. And then she scrolled through her contacts to call Shisui.
He picked up after several rings.
"Yeah?" he greeted her in a voice scratchy with sleep.
"Stay put. I need to talk to you," she ordered.
"Sakura?" He yawned. "It's so early. What're you talking about?"
"You'll die if you don't listen to me. Just shut up and wait for me to get there," she insisted in a flat voice.
There was a long pause.
And then Shisui replied.
"Okay, bring breakfast, I guess."