DISCLAIMER: I do not own the 'Naruto' or 'Naruto: Shippuden' series or characters.
'THE SHARINGAN VISION'
Okay Sakura! Time to see Sasuke again! I said telepathically to Sakura, whose face brightened considerably.
Great! I can't wait! She replied, and as usual – loudly.
Would you please encourage everyone to hug me or something so I can get their chakras?
Sakura grins at me and takes my hand in hers.
Will do!
"Welcome guys and gals!" I called out brightly as I unlocked my front door and stepped back to let everyone through. I received a barrage of hugs or fist bumps as each of my very confused and very curious friends went through the door.
Do you remember back to the mission where I explained to Sakura that for the Sharingan Vision to work, I needed her to touch my hand with her ungloved hand to get some of her chakra?
Well, once again I required the same chakra, and Naruto had again unknowingly given me some of his shortly after a cold wind blew, which caused me to shiver, and I had cursed myself for not doing the smart thing and bringing along a coat. Naruto had seen this and had stopped me by touching my hand, (thus transferring his chakra to me), which stopped me in my tracks and he took off his black and orange leather jacket and draped it around my shoulders. I was remembering this just as Sakura, who was the last to come into my Apartment closed the door and went over to park herself next to Naruto on the couch.
Thank You, Sakura!
I thought appreciatively and peeled off Naruto's jacket, draping it on the arm of the couch as I went past saying:
"Okay, guys! I'll be right back. Bathroom's that way, boys." I indicated to a nearby door with my thumb that everybody eyed immediately as I darted into my room and closed the door. I heard the mad scurry of feet thudding past rushing for the bathroom.
"Ooof!" grunted Kankuro, sounding like somebody had just elbowed him in the ribs.
"Hey! Watch it!" exclaimed Shikamaru, whose voice was the loudest as I finally heard the bathroom door close. There were frustrated groans, all of them male. Then:
"Dibs!" came Naruto, who sounded desperate.
"Shot gun!" yelled Kiba at the same time as Naruto. I stuck my head outside my bedroom door to see both boys glaring at each other with a weird electrical aura hovering around them.
"Sakura? Come in here, please! I need some help." I asked, trying to restrain the giggles threatening to burst from my lips. Sakura nodded and hopped off from her perch, staring distastefully at the group of fighting boys. Closing the door behind her, she looked at me for direction and I waved her over to a bunch of colourful throw pillows.
"You excited?" I asked casually, as I picked up one and hurled it into a random place in the room.
"Absolutely! Where do you want these pillows?" asked Sakura, holding up a bright pink one in her hands.
"Anywhere. They're just there so we can lie on them without being uncomfortable during the Vision." Sakura nodded in understanding, wincing as she remembered how uncomfortable she felt when she had woken up both IN the vision and when she woke up FROM the vision.
"Are you sure you're up to it, Akima?" Sakura asked, indicating my health – considering I had just come from the Hospital only hours before. I nodded, waving my hand dismissively.
"Of course. The only reason why I was so weak the last time was because Orochimaru triggered his stupid curse mark." I replied indicating with my finger the deforming black tattoo-like seal on my neck. Sakura frowned at the seal and came closer.
"Can I look at that?" she asked. I nodded and swept back my hair from my neck and angled it so she could see it better. Sakura instantly paled when she saw it and I felt her fingers gently touching the seal, fearing it would hurt me.
"Does it hurt?" she asked in a whisper, feeling her clammy fingers shaking from revulsion.
"No. Not right now." I replied, pleasantly. "But then again, every person who was unlucky to receive Orochimaru's curse marks experienced it, differently." Sakura moved to look me in the eyes, not understanding. I pointed to my seal again.
"Both Sasuke and Anko-sensai have the exact same one. Did you know that?" I asked her, frowning slightly. Sakura's eyes widened.
"I knew that Anko-sensai had it, but I had no idea Sasuke did." I nodded and continued placing pillows all around the room as I continued with my explanation to Sakura who was looking interested but also grim at the same time.
"The seal that Sasuke, Anko and I have is called the 'Cursed Seal of Heaven'. Anko explained to me when she realised that I had it too, that when she was one of Orochimaru's apprentices, he experimented with this curse mark on her and nine others." Sakura gasped.
"Anko was the only one who survived the process, which indicated that should you be bitten by Orochimaru and had received the 'Cursed Seal of Heaven', you would have a 1 in 10 chance of surviving it. And even then, you will have wished you really had died." Sakura shuddered.
"Oh My God. Sasuke." she whimpered. I placed my hand on Sakura's shoulder.
"Do you remember during the Chunin exam in the Forest of Death when Orochimaru bit Sasuke?" Sakura nodded.
"It was horrible. Naruto was unconscious and Sasuke looked exactly like you did back in that vision." She answered, shaking. "He looked like he was so much pain."
"It is excruciating." I agreed. "But as I said, the aftermath is different for all people."
Sakura frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that when you've seen Sasuke absently rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, it's because the curse mark has flared up and is irritating him. Anko does the same thing."
"What do you do when it's irritating you?"
I got to my feet and stretched, heading for the door.
"Wash my neck with cold water. It soothes the burning pain." Sakura's face reacted in realisation.
"So that's why you did that? We thought you were just dehydrated from feeling sweaty." I chuckled. Then opened the door to reveal Naruto, with his fist in mid-air. He had been just about to knock.
"Uh? Have you finished doing what you've been doing in here? We're getting bored." He indicated all our friends who were either lounging about or yawning. I nodded.
"Yeah. C'mon in!" Everyone got to their feet and filed in. Naruto and Sakura immediately went and sat down on my bed, while everyone else made themselves comfortable on the pillows that were scattered about the room. Nearly all the boys except for Naruto and Gaara had never been in my room before so they were extremely curious.
"Woah. You weren't kidding about Sasuke being your cousin." said Kiba, who had picked up a nearby photo frame and was peering down at it. Ino was looking over his shoulder and was frowning at the picture. "I've never seen Sasuke smile so happily before." Sakura came over and looked at the photo too. It was the same photo I kept with me at all times. The one with my parents, my aunt and uncle and both Itachi and Sasuke.
"That's the 'before' Sasuke." I replied, knowing what photo they were looking at. Kiba and Ino looked at me curiously.
"What do you mean 'before' Sasuke?" asked Ino, walking away from Kiba, who had put down the photo frame and followed Ino to a nearby pillow and sat down side by side next to the pillow.
"That Sasuke in the photo was what his personality had been originally had been before Itachi killed his parents. You all only got to see the 'after' Sasuke. The cold, withdrawn, cruel Sasuke." Tenten was chuckling at a different photograph that she and Neji had picked up.
"Nice expression, Naruto." she giggled. Naruto sat up from his slouch on my bed.
"What? What are you looking at?"
Tenten turned the frame around and revealed a picture of 13 year old Naruto, Sakura and I grinning up from the photo, where we were lying side by side in a grassy meadow we all recognised from one of the Training grounds outside of the village. Naruto was covered in scratches and bruises and his head was still wrapped in bandages, and he looked like he was being crushed by Sakura and I.
"Oh! That day!" Naruto brightened and looked at me, grinning from ear to ear.
"You kept that photo?" I nodded, remembering that day well. It was before the three of us went our separate ways to train privately for two years. Naruto had just been released from Hospital, and Sakura and I decided to celebrate with him and mourn the loss of our team mate.
"Man, that was fun!" agreed Sakura, who bounded over to me and squeezed my shoulders. Ino fidgeted impatiently with Kiba's fingers and bounced on the spot.
"What's your surprise, Akima? We're dying to know." she gushed. Gaara shifted his position on the floor next to my bed, irritatedly.
"Maybe 'dying' is exaggerating a bit." Shikamaru stretched his limbs as he allowed Temari to lean against him.
"I agree."
Gaara glowered at Shikamaru.
"Stop trying to get on my good side." He threatened, fixing Shikamaru with a death stare. Temari immediately sat up and glared at her younger brother, gesturing furiously at him with threats of dismemberment.
"Quit fighting with my boyfriend, Gaara!"
My eyes instantly flashed and everybody went into a calm state. Shaking their heads they all looked at each other in amazement.
"Woah! What was that?" gasped Kiba, trying to sit up, but failing miserably.
"A calming jutsu. My Aunt used to use it all the time on Sasuke, Itachi and I." Tenten and Neji both sat up together and leaned on each other for support.
"Don't worry, it'll wear off in a minute." I assured them.
Tenten looked up at me. "That was kinda intense."
"Yeah. I do feel kinda calm." added Hinata, who was lying her head on my guest table and breathing slowly. I smiled triumphantly.
"I'm glad you like it." Then I cracked a sly, sneaky grin on my face. "Wanna see some more?"
Everyone nodded. I wrapped both my arms around Naruto and Sakura's shoulders as I started my explanation.
"I used this particular jutsu on our retrieval mission for Sasuke. Sakura and Naruto already know about it."
Everybody murmured in wonder.
"That's so cool! What was it like, Sakura?" said Ino. Sakura wrinkled her forehead when she remembered the experience.
"Really weird! And I felt kinda weak for about 5 minutes afterwards."
"Yeah, I got that too!" Naruto agreed, scratching his head.
I smiled at them both.
"That's normal. Sasuke and I were weak for a couple of hours when we first learned it."
"What's this technique called?" asked Neji.
"It's called 'The Sharingan Vision'. It takes your essence to a specific place of interest. You cannot be killed or seriously injured in it." I saw smiles blossom everywhere.
"And you cannot leave the area under any circumstances." I added.
Naruto frowned at this.
"But we left the village loads of times, Akima." He pointed out. I shook my head firmly.
"We only moved where our memories took us, Naruto. Plus we weren't physically there, we were really unconscious on the corridor floor and our 'essences' were doing the walking around." I explained, patiently.
"Are we going to try it?" Gaara asked, not looking me in the face.
"That was the plan. But there is a catch." I warned. Everybody looked at me suspiciously.
"What's the catch?" asked Kankuro. I sighed before answering, knowing that everybody was going to agree excitedly, but were definitely not going to be happy to see my cousin enter my apartment and walk through my bedroom door.
"When we go under, we will be visited by someone. But you may not like that person." Like I expected I was greeted with enthusiasm.
"I'm game! Let's go!" shouted Kiba. Temari punched the air and grinned at me.
"Yeah, sounds like fun!"
I nodded.
"Okay. Now the pillows that you're either sitting on or beside, are for you to lie on." I explained the significance of the pillows that had been scattered all around the room. Everybody immediately pulled a pillow out from under them or from beside them.
"Why?" asked Hinata, timidly.
"Because part of the vision is to go into a deep sleep-like trance, even though when it actually happens it feels like we're being pulled towards something."
"Quit stalling her, guys! Let's go, Akima!" shouts Temari, from where she sitting with Shikamaru by her side. Everybody takes their pillows and lies down on them in pairs. Except for Hinata – Sai had bailed early because he had to do something early in the morning so she took her pillow and sat with Gaara and Kankuro. I sat down on my bed between Naruto, who was leaning against the headboard and Sakura, who decided to lie on my chest.
"Everybody join hands with each other." I requested. One by one, everyone took hands so that we all made a large human chain. It would've been awkward if somebody off the street happened to walk in unannounced and saw us like this.
"Everyone ready?" I asked.
"YES!" the entire room shouts. My eyes flashed again and then one by one, we fell into a 'deep sleep' trance.
The sounds of someone's snoring woke me up and I opened my eyes to a really funny scene. All around the room, couples sprawled out in random places.
"Is everyone okay?" I groaned, sitting up from where Naruto had me cradled in his arms. Naruto stirred and yawned loudly, disturbing Sakura who frowned in her sleep.
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura mumbled and shifted herself to a comfortably position on my chest.
"Ow!" I winced. Sakura looked up at my pained expression. "Oh. Sorry, Akima!" she said.
Temari moaned and sat up rubbing her eyes as Shikamaru also sat up but looked around and yawned loudly, showing everybody his tonsils.
"That was not fun." Temari looked around the room like her boyfriend and frowned, thinking this was all a hoax.
"Hey, we haven't moved!" she exclaimed. I gently nudged Sakura off my chest, sat up, swinging my legs off the bed and stood up, stretching.
"Yeah, we have. Try to leave the Apartment." I instructed, smirking a bit.
Temari immediately got to her feet and strode determinedly towards the bedroom door, wrenched it open and headed for the front door and got it opened, but found that she couldn't step through the threshold and into the village, as cool night air blew straight in. Frowning, Temari closed the door and returned to my bedroom.
"Okay. I'm convinced." Temari closed the bedroom door and returned to Shikamaru's side and slumped down onto his shoulder, not quite over the fatigue. Gaara sat up unsteadily and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Remind me never to do this again." he complained. Hinata sat up onto her knees and paled instantly.
"I don't feel so good." she announced. Gaara immediately scooted away from Hinata.
"If you're going to hurl, don't aim this way." he urged, wrinkling his nose. Tenten rested her back against my wardrobe door.
"Woah. Head rush!" she said, grinning excitedly. Neji nodded dejectedly. "Me too."
Kiba stared at the door, rubbing away the fabric pattern on his cheek.
"Glad that I left Akamaru at home. Poor mutt wouldn't have coped." He realised. Ino snuggled up to him.
"At least you still have me." she reminded Kiba. He smiled at her. "Yeah, I know."
"Feels like the worst hangover in the world." complained Kankuro, fighting to keep his eyes open. Shikamaru was shaking his head disapprovingly at everybody and had sprung to his feet easily like he had springs for feet, as though he had just woken up from a refreshing nap.
"I don't feel any different." Kiba rolled his eyes at Shikamaru's comment.
"That's because you're naturally lazy."
Naruto yawned and saw that Sakura struggling worse than the last time they had gone under the vision.
"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. Sakura nodded weakly.
"I will be in a minute." Sakura assured him. Hinata got up and perched on the bed beside Sakura and grinned from ear to ear.
"I can't believe Sai missed out on this! Once you get over the drowsiness, this is actually kinda cool!"
There is quiet mumbling as people try to regain their bearings when there is an unexpected (to some) knock at the bedroom door. Everybody looks up at the door and then looks at me. I looked up from my iPod player and smiled knowing who it is and look over at Sakura and winked, which causes her to blush with nervousness.
"Come in!" I call out, causing everyone (except for Sakura) to stare at me like I was nuts. Ino got to her feet and rushed over to me, grabbing my wrist in a frantic grip that made me wince.
"But you don't know who that is! It could be some weirdo who broke into your Apartment!" she shrieked into my ear. I broke the hold on my wrist and circled it to regain circulation.
"Relax. And take a chill pill." Ino scowled at my suggestion. I ignored the look.
"It's our mystery guest." I grinned, excitedly.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah? But who is this 'mystery guest'?" he asked, sternly. His question was answered when the doorknob turned and the door opened slightly as a hand with black painted fingernails snaked around the door. I practically heard everybody breathe in at the same time as the door swung open completely, revealing:
"Hey guys! Missed me?" drawled Sasuke, who stood in the doorway, dressed head to toe in civilian street wear: a pair of tight blue grey skinny jeans with a black belt, loose fitting T-shirt - half tucked in in the front, a white hoodie – over which was a short black denim jacket with two Uchiha fan symbols on the top of both sleeves.
"Sasuke!" I yelled, happy to see him again.