Lurking Within
(Part 1 of the trilogy)
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Chapter 01: Shadows of a Dream
All she saw, all she felt, was darkness. It surrounded her and it consumed her. Lithe fingers reached out in hopes of grasping something, anything that would give light to this field of shadows. With her efforts in vain, she retracted her hands and huddled into a ball. Here, seconds felt like minutes, then minutes became hours, and hours slowly ticked into days. She had lost count in the amount of days she sat, huddled. In the vast darkness of nothing, Sakura was beginning to question her own sanity.
Was she slowly dying?
Or was she dead?
Is this what death felt like?
It was definitely different from what she had in mind. Her curtain of bubble gum pink hair wrapped around her trying, in vain, to protect her from the darkness that was slowly seeping into cracks of her mind.
"Haruno..."
The said girl raised her head slowly. Emerald eyes groped the shadows for something, or someone.
"Who's there?"
Her own voice bounced back at her, reminding her of the void emptiness. Her own voice contrasted with the whispering voice she could have sworn she heard; that voice was full of dark intent. Ignoring what she heard as a figment of her deteriorating sanity, she resumed her mindless sleep. Acting out of pure instinct, Sakura leaped into the air. The spot she once sat hibernating was claimed by daggers. Her Jounin training gave a jump-start and she quietly waited. Plucking the lingering dagger on the floor, Sakura flung it at a sound to her right.
"Haruno, Sakura..."
Sakura furrowed her brow, it knew her name. Her emerald eyes gave a flash before she once more threw a dagger to her left. "Come out and face me, coward!" The voice gave a shrill laugh and a wave of chakra came at her, knocking her off her feet. "Coward? I was right in front of you, coward." She took a step back as soon as she got to her feet and threw a punch, only to meet thin air. "My dearest child, you cannot harm me. I am now a part of you." Cold amber eyes appeared from the darkness and a body slowly followed. "W-what are you?" Sakura stuttered. Her eyes widen as the figure walked closer.
"I am you."
The figure stood tall on its four legs. Looming over her by a good three or four feet, the figure was quite a frightening sight to behold.
"My name is Itzal. I am part of your soul. Without me, you will not survive."
The pink-hair girl continued to stare at the being in front of her and uttered a squeak. "What are you!" The demon lay down with his gigantic paws overlapping one another and his hind legs settling on either side of him. "I told you, I'm Itzal."
'Itzal' paused and grinned, fangs and all. "Oh, you mean WHAT I am? I'm a demon, a wolf demon." He licked his lips and grin madly at her. His light amber eyes flashed and he bared his fangs threateningly. "Any questions?"
Sakura took a glance at his sleek black coat. Seven tails unraveled from behind him and Sakura noted that the one in the middle had a thin white line running through it. Taking a step back from the monstrous figure, Sakura was unsure how to handle this unique situation "Come closer Sakura, I don't bite," He smiled his toothy smile and chuckled at his own joke,"much." Hesitantly, Sakura closed the distance between her and the wolf. His tails instinctively curled around her waist and she tensed a little.
"Question?"
"Why are you here? Where am I?" Sakura asked. This question had been nagging her since she woke up here.
"Like I told you, I'm Itzal the Shadow Wolf. I now share a part of your soul. This is my home for eternity. To be more precise, this is the inner confinement of your mind. I am not exactly sure how I got here but I know that by obtaining me, you have become Mitsuko's successor."
"Mitsuko? I have never heard of her, much less become her successor?"
Itzal smirked, "Of course you don't know her, no successor knows her predecessors. Ah, it's been a long line of mistresses that I have served."
Turning to his current mistress, Itzal wrapped a paw around her. "Now listen, my dear child, the time is drawing near for you to leave. We will meet again in your mind and dreams. Be thankful that you did not get Eurydice, that woman packs a vicious swing." Shoving her up and away from him, Itzal turned away from her. "Remember, I am YOU!"
She opened her eyes and jolted up with a big gasp, as if she hadn't breathed for a while. Her eyes darted around the blinding white surrounding in desperation for any familiarity. Giving in to the discomfort that caused, she quickly closed her eyes. It was too bright. "Easy there, Sakura." Turning to the voice, she found the 5th Hokage with a slight smile on her face.
"Welcome back to us, Sakura."