Lurking Within
(Part 1 of the trilogy)
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Chapter 02: Woven webs of Reality
Emerald eyes traveled around the room before it stayed on the spot where sunlight shone through the closed shades. "Why am I still here?" Sakura asked. The tone in her voice demanded an answer. It had already been a week and a half since she woke up from her slumber. In her medic's point of view, she has more than recovered. Sakura lifted her wrists slightly, the sound of her metal handcuffs clinking together echoed in the room. The hokage gave no answer, merely sighing before reaching for the door. "I'm sorry Sakura." Closing the door behind her, the hokage looked up into the exposed eye of Kakashi. "Watch her, I will be back with answers soon."
For a second time that day, the door creaked open for another visitor. This time it was her Senpai. "Kakashi-senpai!" Her face lift itself to a soft smile, happy to see one of her close friends. Curiosity quickly set in before the greeting was return. "Senpai, can you tell me what happened? I don't know what's wrong. I've been here for almost two weeks!" Leaning back to the wall, Kakashi continued staring at his favorite kunoichi from across the room.
"What do you remember Sakura?" Kakashi asked.
Sakura paused before she shook her head. "All I remember was getting bit, that's it." She adjusted her metal handcuffs to a more comfortable position."Senpai, you're not answering my question, just like Shishou." His silver hair gleamed briefly in the spilled sunlight from the cracks of the curtain, as he walked closer to her. "You attacked a nurse after you were bitten," Kakashi stated bluntly, "She would have been torn apart if the hokage wasn't there to stop you." Stuttering, Sakura shook her head in denial and confusion. "What? Senpai, you know I would never do that!"
"The hokage is searching for answers, she'll be back." Kakashi said. He turned on his heels and walked out, once more leaving the girl in solitude.
What was perhaps only a few hours felt like months, maybe even years, before she saw Tsunade come through the door with a scroll in her hand. Sakura's smile and greeting faded once she saw a few top jounins flocking around her. They were protecting her sensei, from her? "Sakura!" Snapping her head up to answer, Sakura found Tsunade sighing before showing her a scroll. "Listen to me carefully, Sakura, I'm not sure how reliable these texts are but the cover has this symbol. I've seen it briefly when you were attacking the nurse." Making sure she established eye contact with Sakura, Tsunade said, "It was hidden in the restricted vaults."
Sakura stared at the ornate scroll in surprise. "However, we are unable to open it to fully read its contents." Tsunade stated. "Perhaps you can give it a try."
A nod of Tsunade's head was all it took for the jounin to unlock her handcuffs. Sakura gave her raw wrist a rub before she nodded her head. The scroll was thrown across the room and Sakura caught it with ease. What she didn't expect was for the scroll to unravel on its own. "Well, I guess we found the right one." Tsunade grunted.
To my dearest successor,
if you have come this far and have come to rely on this scroll... then I fear for the worst. You are being hunted and I am already dead, no longer of any help. Listen, my dear one, and know this tale well. Long, long time ago, when time governed nothing and seemed nonexistent, there were only two races in existence. These two races, two clans, dominated the lands. They were known as demons, all things evil and tainted; and angels, all things good and pure. There was a silent rule among the clans: breed among the clans. This was to isolate all secrets of one clan from the other. None disobeyed this law, none until Rased and Meruhesae appeared.
Rased from the angels and Meruhesae from the demons. They were introduced by fate and after some time, Rased and Meruhesae fell for one another. Much to the clans' horror, an infant was born. Half demon and half angel, it was the creation of old magic, love. To the clans, however, this was a product of abomination. As the infant grew, so did the clans' dislike for the young child; she was a danger for both clans. Assassins from each clan were sent to kill the young girl and her parents, only one of those numerous assassins lived to tell the tale. Lilith had survived the slaughter. Though Rased and Meruhesae was dead, they still live on in their child.
Now, before I go much further, dear reader, you must understand the concept of our world. We were blessed by two different Gods whom loved us deeply. They whisper old secrets and ancient magic into our ears, they provide us with wisdom and powers beyond one's imagination. The Gods, Odin and Thor, were as different as night and day. While one gave rise to the demon clan, another founded the angel clan. Odin blessed the demons with the ability to communicate with the wilderness, incredible strength, and powers of destruction. However, there was a draw back; their conscience was split into twos, the holder and a hell demon. With every full moon, their demon was let loose from their confinement and would take over their possessors. Blood was spilled every full moon, painting the moon crimson. This was one reason why the angels resent the demons so much.
For you see, the angels were one that knew of only graciousness, love, and peace. Their God, Thor, gave them wisdom, the gift of healing, and the aid of holy powers; but, as payment, they were to house a fallen angel in their own body. With every new moon, the fallen angel was to rise. A fallen angel was condemn from heaven because it had spilled blood of another angel, thus tainting its soul. With a tainted soul, the fallen angel is easily tempted to continue its 'ritual sacrifice'. That is the curse and blessings of the Gods, Odin and Thor.
My heiress, pay close attention for I feel myself slipping; you are the successor of Rased and Meruhesae's child, Lilith. However, unlike Lilith, you posses only one race, from either the demon clan or the angel clan. Lilith had no direct heiress, the reason is something only Lilith knows. Acquiring the second will take time and will be your purpose in life. Oh my unfortunate successor, beware of those who crave your power; it will be your own destruction. Your life, now, is a pilgrimage; seek for day or find your night.
Follow the voice, and hear my calling.
"None of this makes sense," Sakura yelled, "this might not even be true Shishou!" Her eyes flashed with denial. "I am no demon nor an angel. I am Sakura, Haruno Sakura! I should not be caged like some wild animal based on some scroll whose origins are unknown. There has to be a medical explanation for my behavior. Shishou, please!"
Tsunade sighed and nodded, accepting her explanation. "I do question the scroll's content but we cannot just overlook it. Since it opened to only you, keep the scroll. Sakura, I do trust you but you must alert me if there is any new information." Sakura nodded quickly and took a hesitant step off her bed. "Take a few days off, Sakura. Go home and rest."
Breathing in a deep intake of the crisp air, Sakura smiled contently as she stretched. Freedom, oh how sweet it taste. Lowering her arms from above her head, Sakura's smile grew as she heard Naruto's voice. It still surprised her how she always hear his voice before actually seeing him.
"Sakura-channnnnnnn!"
Allowing herself to be thrown into his arms for an immense and crushing hug, Sakura gave a content sigh. That contentment was short lived when she began to have trouble breathing from the lack of air. "Let's get some ramen and you can tell me what happened to you. That old hag wouldn't let me know anything!" With a smile stuck on her face, Sakura nodded and followed Naruto's demolishing path to Ichiraku Ramen. Her shriek at the way Naruto plowed everyone out of his way ended in a laughter. As she stared at the zig-zaging blur of the blonde, Sakura sighed.
It's been 2 years since Sasuke left and everything, everyone, changed. Last she heard of a wisp of him, was through a chain of stories claiming that Sasuke was becoming a name that sprouted terror under Orochimaru's tutelage. Naruto is well on his way to fulfilling his life's dream, though he still is under Jiraiya's care. Occasionally, he would spar or train with Kakashi and her. After several unsuccessful retrieval attempts, she made a decision to bury her feelings for the young Uchiha and stop the foolish chases. He will return once he was ready. Naruto had reluctantly agreed after a long debate.
Life at Konoha soon settled down to a routine.
Kakashi would continue to train them, mostly just her, and if they were lucky, an A-ranked mission. He was still the same Kakashi, never missing the newest volume of Ichi Ichi Paradise and always arriving late. As for herself, well, she was under intensive training from Tsunade and Kakashi. After months and months of such training, she finally became the well-rounded medic and jounin she had dreamed to be.
"Sakura? Are you okay?"
Snapping awake from her reminisce, the girl nodded and took a seat in the booth. The Ichiraku Ramen had expanded since their childhood days, mostly due to Naruto's contributions. It was beautifully furnished while still holding its simplicity. The wood were red oak and the seats were clothed in black. Though the restaurant had changed, along with its interior, one thing didn't; the owner Arata. At the moment, Arata was positively beaming at the sight of his regular customer. "Naruto! The usual I assume?" Nodding, the Kyuubi-holder looked at Sakura, expecting her to order. "I'm not hungry," Sakura replied, shaking her head. Before he could even reply to such a 'nonsense' answer, another girl captured his attention as soon she entered. "Hinata-chan!" His excitement and the giddiness in his voice wasn't lost between the two girls. Sakura smirked. Hinata blushed. It was time for Naruto to love someone, and be loved in return; it is what he deserved.
"Sakura-san, Naruto-kun," the Hyuuga heiress smiled and took a seat next to Naruto, "I hope I'm not intruding?"
Sakura shook her head and snickered at the glances the two in front of her threw at each other. Leaning back and placing her hands on the table, the pink-hair kunoichi remembered the scroll in her hand. It was wrapped in a beautiful snow-colored silk with intricate Celtic designs in black. True to Tsunade's words, there was a weird symbol on the cover though it resembled more of a crest. It had a circle with a cross. The sides went further than the circle boundaries and between the top half of the cross was a curved line on each side pointing upwards. On the bottom half was also two curved lines, but they pointed downwards. The opposite poles were ivory and there was a midnight-black ribbon tying the scroll together. As if her hands had its own mind, it made swift work of the knot and freed the scroll. Scanning the long passage that she had already read, Sakura unraveled the scroll further to see three lines of rune symbols. Seeing that there was still some space left to unroll, she opened all the way and saw what looked like a map - though it resembled nothing like the other maps she seen of Konoha or the other countries.
"Lemuria... den of the tainted souls"
A scream tore from her throat and she found herself staring at the location, where for a moment, glowed. The scroll fell to the floor as she threw it away in haste. "Sakura!" Calming her speeding heart, Sakura uttered, "I- I'm sorry, I'm going home. I don't feel so well." Picking up the scroll from the floor, she ran with the unraveled scroll trailing behind her. Her blossom hair whipped in her eyes as she ran blindly towards her secluded home, ignoring the amount of people she pushed as she went.
"Lemuria, find home"
This only caused Sakura panic even more. So she didn't just imagine it! She slammed the door open and dropped to the floor of her home. The scroll, gripped tightly in her hands, joined her huddled position as voices kept talking in her head.
"I'm home, this is my home. I'm home." Sakura quietly muttered to herself.
Her hands went up to cover her ears in an attempt to block out the intruding sounds. Her eyes scrunched close as she tried to ignore the voice in her head commanding her to find her home.
This was her home, not some place the voice kept screaming for, and she was safe; right?