Shisui couldn't fight off that grin that seemed to be stuck on his or rather Sakura's face, he forgot what it was like to have a physical body and despite Sakura's body not being the ideal body to takeover he relished at the feeling of the breeze going through Sakura's pink locks as he walked on the streets of his precious village. Even though he hadn't been dead for long it felt like an eternity since he breathed in the fresh air of the leaf village. That was another something he loved about his village, unlike any other village the air was fresh and relaxing. It was probably because the village was surrounded by forests.

He knew his village wasn't exactly perfect or anything -take a look at the council for example- but to him? It was good enough, it just needed some improvement. Someone to correct certain things.

Seeing the street starting to get crowded Shisui performed his signature move, the body flicker jutsu to get himself at the top of a building and was once again awed at Sakura's chakra control that ensured he didn't have to use too much of Sakura's chakra. "If only she would realize her potential..." he muttered to himself no longer surprised by his current high pitched voice

Now as most would have gathered by now Shisui wasn't nice to Sakura just because she could see him, he actually had a soft spot for the girl. By now most would probably be wondering why exactly he had a soft spot for Sakura. It's because, now don't be surprised, Sakura reminded him of Sasuke in a way. Now how exactly could someone like Sakura remind him of Sasuke of all people?

Well to answer that question you'll have to remember how Sasuke was like back before the Uchiha massacre. The way Sasuke unconditionally adored Itachi like Sakura would unconditionally adore Sasuke, the way Sasuke was so self deprecating of his own talents compared to Itachi like Sakura was so self deprecating of herself compared to everyone else, the way Sasuke would try to act older than he was just like Sakura and the way Sasuke just wanted his father's approval while Sakura just wanted Sasuke's. Not to mention how Sakura could be as bratty, kind and prideful as Sasuke was. The similarities were shocking, no? So do you really blame Shisui for having a soft spot for Sakura who reminded him of how Sasuke once was?

His or rather Sakura's stomach growled making him chuckle, it was definitely Sakura like to skip eating just to come and apologize to him. Well this did give him an excuse to visit his and Itachi's favorite dango shop. Without a second of hesitation he laced Sakura's feet with chakra once again proud of the girl's envy worthy chakra control as he leaped towards another building. He relished the feeling of wind whipping against Sakura's face as he used the most commonly used means as fast travelling for shinobi which was roof hopping. He'd rather call the whole thing the ninja highway, it had a nice ring to it, no?

He waved politely to a few shinobi who sent him odd looks probably due to Sakura's pink hair and petite features before coming to a halt as he reached his destination. Pausing briefly to check if Sakura really had money, which she did he entered the shop and immediately took a seat by the window so he could get a clear view for observing his surroundings and a means of escape, old habits died hard.

Besides himself there were only three other customers which he paid no mind to, no sir he was going to eat every sort of dango they had, he was sure Sakura wouldn't mind. Taking a look at Sakura's scrawny appearance he decided that she would be grateful to him instead, he had to wonder what the girl does to her body. Starve it? If so then he has to give her a lecture.

The waitress gave him an odd look, probably not thinking he could finish off that much dango but didn't say anything before coming with the various dango he had ordered. Hanami, anko, chadango, kinako, nikudango and other variations lay in front of him and he could feel drool rolling off Sakura's mouth. Yeah, even Sakura's body agreed with him on eating like there was no tomorrow.

"Itadakimasu!" he chirped using Sakura's high pitched voice before digging in

He could feel the shocked yet awed look the waitress that served him sent him, heck he could feel any Akimichi giving him a proud look by the way he was scarfing down the dango while moaning in pleasure. If Sakura asks, he was going to memorize her reaction to what he was doing in her body. It wasn't like she could hurt him or anything.

As he munched on his plate of hanami dango he began humming a song he once heard on a mission "Dango~ dango~ dango~ dango~ dango~ daikazoku~~"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

He jumped a bit in surprise as he snapped up Sakura's head to stare at the person across from him mentally scoffing at himself for not noticing the woman. Really, a once powerful ninja like him not being able to sense someone sitting across from him? He blamed Sakura's senses noting to subtly inspire Sakura to become hypersensitive by dropping in something about Sasuke liking girls who are aware. Yeah, he was definitely going to do that. But for now...

"Was I interrupting you miss?" he asked

The woman waved him off easily "Nah, in fact I was just interested in meeting a brat who seems to like dango almost as much as I do and color me surprised when the brat actually sings a song about dango. You'll have to teach me that song" Shisui could see that the woman was rather friendly and a bit blunt

"Oh, sure thing." he easily agreed, no need to antagonize nor arouse suspicion. He ignored how the woman blatantly stole a plate of his dango as he observed her, she was a kunoichi judging by her forehead protector. She had brown pupil-less eyes and violet hair. Shisui had a hunch on who the woman was "What's your name miss?"

"Anko Mitarashi's the name!" the woman chirped confirming his suspicions

He knew who Anko was, the woman was after all infamous for being Orochimaru's former student. In fact back when he was alive the Uchiha police would sometimes trail Anko due to their suspicions on her working for her former teacher. It was hardly believable to Shisui who could see her blatant loathing for the snake. Besides that Anko was also renowned for her blood lust and sadistic tendencies. Her tittle in the bingo book being "Sadistic Snake Mistress" and she had a high bounty

"N-nice to meet you Mitarashi-san" Shisui hesitantly spoke, he knew that Anko was someone who you'd rather not anger.

"Don't call me that! Call me the great Anko-sama!" Anko lightly demanded as she munched on his dango.

He sighed, "Alright Anko-sama..." no way was he calling her the great anything.

"Hmm, so you go to the academy kid?" Anko asked

Shisui raised an eyebrow wondering why Anko would ask that before nodding "Un, I want to become a great shinobi one day" it was a lie, but he wouldn't say something like 'Yeah, then one day Imma marry Sasuke Uchiha!' even if that was something Sakura would say he couldn't. Not only because of his pride but it would just be too wrong on so many different levels

"That's not very ambitious of you" Anko noted

Shisui shrugged "I just want to protect my precious village" it was an honest reply, he was sure that even Sakura would agree that she would do anything for her village.

"What do you think being a ninja means anyways kid?" she seemed serious about knowing the answer

A thoughtful look crossed Sakura's face as Shisui contemplated whether or not to answer the question. "Being a ninja means self-sacrifice and protecting you village withing its own shadow" another honest answer and the last he was giving.

Anko seemed pleased as she leaned back after grabbing another one of Shisui's plates. "I like you kid, you're interesting." she declared

A slight smile appeared as Shisui began fiddling around with the dango sticks discreetly hiding some in Skaura's pockets, he liked having some means of protection considering Sakura didn't have any weapons "You're interesting too Anko-san"

"Of course I am! I'm the great, super Anko Mitarashi-sama!" Anko boasted before eyeing Shisui/Sakura again "Hey kid, what's your na-"

"Here's your bill little girl" the waitress appeared cutting Anko off

Feeling mischievous Shisui gave the waitress a polite smile pointing at Anko "She's paying" he informed standing up and heading towards the bathroom ignoring Anko's cry of outrage.

Anko

"I'm going to maim that punk!" Anko grumbled as she made her way to the stalls

How dare that pink haired menace push the bills on her? She selectively avoided the fact that she also ate some of the girl's order. She was going to teach that kid a lesson and she didn't care if the kid was only a child, no one pulls a move like that on Anko Mitarashi and expects to get away with it!

As she entered the stalls she immediately noticed that every one of the bathroom stalls were unlocked. Eyeing every door she rested her gaze on one particular door that had a strand of pink hair in front of it. There was only one person Anko knew who had pink hair...

So without any further thought she slammed the door open to reveal no one? Instead there on the closed toilet stood some money. Anko walked towards the toilet ignoring the soft sound the door made as it closed as she grabbed the money and began counting. Color her surprised when she found the exact same amount of money she had just paid.

But, she reminded herself, the girl didn't even glance at the bill. Yet how come did the girl know exactly how much money she had to pay? Anko knew the girl wasn't a frequent customer, so how? One thing she knew was that the girl was interesting enough to just escape her without a trace.

And Anko had to wonder who exactly the girl was. Because frankly? She hadn't seen so much potential in an academy student in the last three years. So she decided to ask the Hokage or Iruka or maybe even Mizuki for the academy student list. She suspected that the girl might be from a clan or something, but her suspicions were denied when she turned around facing the closed door.

She eyed the dango sticks which together formed a few kanji in amusement "Sakura Haruno, huh?" she muttered aloud, she had never heard of a Haruno clan, but more importantly "The brat stole my trick!" she yelled and she couldn't figure out whether to laugh or be angry.

She'll have to ask Genma or Ibiki over a drink or at the T&I.

Sakura

"Shisui, you jerk!" Sakura yelled as she felt herself being pushed into her own subconscious, as soon as she gets out she's going to punch that ghost even if it's the last thing she does.

Before she knew it she was falling from the grey sky, she closed her eyes tightly letting out a ear splitting shriek as she braced herself for the impact. It never came, because before she knew it she was standing upright on a dessert. She blinked in surprise before letting out a sigh of relief. But now what?

"Travel your mind and resolve the conflict, he said and then left me alone to go do who knows what with my body!" Sakura grumbled but nonetheless started walking forward, she wanted to get to her body as soon as possible before Shisui does something she wouldn't want him to do. She also mentally noted to exorcise Shisui the next time he so much as touches her and possess her body.

"But where exactly am I?" she found herself asking out loud

You're in your mindscape. A familiar voice resounded, Sakura knew she heard the voice before but from where?

"My midscape is a dessert and grey sky?" Sakura asked in a sort of deadpan way, how could her mind be so glum?

A chuckle escaped the familiar voice Yes, a mindscape represents your psychological state which currently is like this. The dessert represents your need for recognition and the sky represents your anger towards those who are better than you.

Sakura frowned, it didn't make sense to her but she wasn't going to question the voice on that aspect, "Where are you?" she chose to ask instead

I'm at the end of the dessert, by the way you're going the run way. Turn back and head straight.

Sakura felt embarrassed as she did as the voice instructed and turned around. Before she could take a step a bolt of lightning flashed in front of her causing her to jump back in surprise.

You better start running before it starts raining. In this world when it rains rather unpleasant things happens.

Sakura didn't need to be told twice as she started running with her eyes closed to ignore the lightning bolts, it was her mind so she knew she wouldn't get hurt but she had a mild fear of lightning now. After what seemed like forever she bumped into something, an autumn tree.

"You made it"

Wearily Sakura opened her eyes glancing to her left where a black and white version of herself sat with an open umbrella. But now Sakura knew from where she knew the voice "It's you!" she yelled in annoyance

"It's me" the black and white Sakura nodded, "Now before you start yelling why don't you come here under the umbrella? Unpleasant things do happen when it starts to rain"

Sakura was about to protest before another lightning bolt flashed right next to her making her leap towards the other version of herself.

"Alright then Outer, why are you here?" Inner asked raising an eyebrow

"I think you know perfectly well why I'm here" Sakura shot back with a glare

"Ah, you caught me." Inner chuckled turning back to the sky just as it started raining "Tell me Outer, do you enjoy the rain?"

Sakura's glare didn't falter but she answered anyways "No, my hair gets all frizzy after it gets wet from the rain"

"So you're one of those people who just get wet instead of feeling the rain. That's too bad, I quite enjoy the rain" Inner wistfully said

"Why?" Sakura asked in confusion

"The sound of rain soothes me"

"How?"

"Close your eyes and listen to the rhythm of the rain" Sakura didn't like the knowing smile but she closed her eyes and did what Inner told her to do

The rhythm of the rain was something Sakura couldn't quite describe, but it was..."Soothing..." she murmured repeating what Inner had just said

"Now you're like me, you feel it" Inner said with a proud smile, "When you feel it how do you feel?" she then asked

"Like the rain is washing away my frustration and doubts" Sakua answered with a small smile of her own

"Hmm, now how about we talk about why you're here?" Inner asked and Sakura snapped her eyes open to look at Inner "Shisui said something about me having to solve my inner conflicts?"

"And that would be the relationship between the two of us" Inner stated with a convinced nod, "You see Outer you're the Yang and I'm the Yin. The two of us together should form one perfectly balanced entity, namely Yang and Yin. Do you understand so far?"

"Of course, I'm not an idiot" Sakura huffed

"Good, now what would happen if the two aren't balanced?"

"They form two separate entity" Sakura answered

"Exactly, now imagine what would happen if another source of Yin delves in the space between the two separate entities"

"It would form an even greater deration on the balance?"

"Yes. Now how would you go about removing that deration?"

"By rationing the two entities back together in perfect balance and thus forcing the deration out"

A smile lit up Inner's face as she nodded in agreement "That deration is Shisui, him being in our body is causing the rift between the two of us to widen. In order for you to gain back control of your body we'll have to close the rift between us"

Here Sakura frowned "It's kind of hard considering I thought you were just an imaginary friend about an hour ago"

"Well I blame our parents for that one" Inner grumbled crossing her arms, "I mean we were best friends before you met Ino-chan and started to forget about me"

Sakura's eyes widened in realization, because that did in fact happen. Ino came along and she wasn't lonely anymore so she thought she didn't need Inner anymore. Realizing that Inner has been with her all along even after she basically pretended she didn't exist made Sakura very guilty "Listen Inner, I am so sorry. I-"

"Don't worry about it, I already forgive you. I would have done the same thing" Inner cut her off with a wave

"No, it still doesn't mean anything. I promise I'll make it up to you" Sakura said in determination "I'll do anything you want me to do, just name it"

Inner had a thoughtful look before she nodded in agreement "Then be my friend again" she murmured softly

"Inner..." Sakura said taking Inner's hand in her own "Of course I'll be your friend again, I...but...do you really want someone like me as your friend?"

"Yeah, as long as you need me I'll be your friend and vice-versa, alright?" Inner proposed with a grin

Sakura flashed her a smile as she nodded in agreement "Of course, cha!"

And suddenly it stopped raining making both girls turn towards the now blue sky "This is the first time I've seen the blue sky in forever" Inner muttered with a small smile "Now I don't know if I prefer the rain or this..."

"It'll rain when it rains" Sakura grumbled standing up to stretch

"Looks like I was wrong, the sky didn't represent what I mentioned earlier..it represented the rift between us" Inner said as she too stood up, she closed the umbrella and then placed it on her shoulder lazily

"Now how do I get back in my body?" Sakura asked

"Just close your eyes and wish hard" Inner instructed, she held Sakura's hand before Sakura closed it wanting to ask one last thing "Outer do you by any chance-

Man, Sakura's stomach doesn't feel too good...I have to go to the bathroom...

"GET OUT OF MY BODY GHOST BOY, SHANNARO!" Sakura yelled

"Remember meeting Shisui a long time ago?" Inner finished just after Sakura disappeared

She sighed shaking her head at Outer, "I guess she doesn't remember the first time we met Shisui..."

"Words don't have the power to hurt you, unless the one who said them means a lot to you"

Shisui blinked as he felt himself being forcefully shoved out of Sakura's body landing on the ground with a groan. He looked up to see Sakura panting heavily yet still managing to glare at him "I feel mentally exhausted, like I've run like a marathon or something and like I ate like a cow!" she managed to spit out at him ignoring how some people sent her odd looks

Despite her complaining he could see a small smile blooming on her face and flashed her his own signature closed eye grin "Welcome back Blossoms!" he greeted

Sakura blushed making her glare disappear, "Y-yeah, yeah, I'm back..." she murmured back before leveling him with another icy stare "My name's Sakura not Blossoms!" she snapped at him and turned to walk away without waiting for his reply, The nerve of him... Shannaro,..

"Oh, come on! Don't you like your special nickname that I came up with?" Shisui asked walking besides her

"No" both Sakura and Inner answered bluntly

Shisui blinked at the two different tones before clutching his chest in mock hurt "Your words pierce my beating heart!" he dramatically exclaimed

"Your heart can't beat, Bakashi" Sakura shot back crossing her arms in triumph pointedly ignoring the weird looks she was getting.

"Bakashi?" Shisui echoed "Yeah, baka-shi. Get it?" Sakura questioned in amusement as Shisui's jaws dropped "I'm not an idiot!" he denied, "Then what are you?" Sakura asked "I'm a super awesome charming dashing and intelligent teen!" Shisui announced puffing his chest out

Sakura rolled her eyes at him "If you stop calling me Blossoms I'll stop calling you Bakashi, deal?" she proposed

"Deal" Shisui agreed with a nod "So did you solve your inner conflicts?" he asked raising an eyebrow and Sakura spent three seconds staring at his unique eyelashes before nodding "Yeah, turns out I have a mental disorder, I think it's called schizophrenia" she answered in a deadpan before wincing for seemingly no reason "Alright, sorry! Can't you take a joke...?" she questioned

Shisui eyed her as if she was crazy for a moment "Uhh, Sakura-chan, are you, uh, okay?" he nervously asked inching a bit away from her. Various missions made him learn that you should keep a distance from crazy people because you'll never know what they'll do next

"Yeah, Inner is just being a bit loud" Sakura answered waving him off

"Inner?" Shisui echoed

"She's like a split personality of sorts? My deepest feelings? The opposite of me? Take your pick" Sakura shrugged

"Ah. Okay. So where are we going?" he decided to change the topic

"You still have to show me Sasuke-kun's place so I can get him those notes, right?"

"Oh, right..."

Sakura's POV

As Sakura walked down the streets of the Leaf Village with Sasuke-kun's notes hugged tightly against herself she couldn't help that grin on her face. After all she was the only girl from the academy who knew where Sasuke-kun was staying and would be the first one that Sasuke-kun ever accepts a gift from.

Shannaro! We'll top everyone else in our conquest for Sasuke~kun! Inner piped in with a grin and Sakura mentally agreed with her And then we'll be Sasuke-kun's wife and have three kids. Two boys to pass on our skills and one girl to dot on we'll be the happiest family ever. And then Sasuke-kun will become Hokage and we'll be his right-hand woman. So perfect. Because believe it or not Sakura did plan things through, she wanted an ideal family when she grows up. And who better to give her the ideal family than the ideal boy?

Shisui coughed "Sakura-chan, you have a creepy smile..."

Sakura blushed like no tomorrow as she sped up "A right at the next corner, right?" she asked Shisui

"Yeah, then we keep going straight and we'll reach the apartment complex" Shisui answered with a nod

The two walked in a rather comfortable silence before they reached an apartment complex, it seemed like a middle-class sort of complex and like it costs a lot. Gulping slightly Sakura trudged towards the stairs

"Room number twenty three" Shisui reminded her making her come to a halt in front of the door

"I know.." she said biting back a snappy comment as she nervously brought up her hand to knock on the door

Knock! Knock! Knock!

She could hear footsteps approaching making her heart beat faster and faster, the door went open to reveal the prince charming of her school who was wearing casual clothing. His hair was in a perfect bed hair style and he had bags under his eyes, on his face stood a scowl as he regarded Sakura whose brain just melted as a blush she tried not to have made its way to her face. DOKI! DOKI! Ky~aaah, I just want to kidnap him and make sure he stays mine! Inner gushed

"What?" Sasuke asked with a glare

"H-huh?" Sakura asked with a flinch being brought back to reality, Shisui slapped his head with his hand as he said "The notes Sakura..." that made the girl nod in realization "Right" she said extending her hands out towards Sasuke "A-ano, t-these are f-for you." she explained briefly

Sasuke eyed the notes before looking back at her "What is it?"

"U-um you haven't b-been to school t-these days s-so I w-wrote down a c-copy of my notes f-for you..." Sakura explained cursing herself for stuttering And maybe you can write down your autograph for us?! Inner piped in

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked raising an eyebrow

"Eh?" Sakura blinked at the question, she didn't understand what Sasuke-kun was trying to say.

"You brought me these," Sasuke pointed at the notes "What do you want in return?" he asked, mistrust was laced in voice.

"I d-d-don't n-need a-anything!" Sakura tried to assure "Please just t-take them!" anymore and she'll have a heart attack with how fast her heart was beating for Sasuke.

Sasuke looked baffled, well as baffled as he could as he uttered "What?"

"Sasuke-chan's the type to repay his debts so he won't back down, just tell him you want to be his friend" Shisui helpfully chimed in earning a grateful look from Sakura

"I-I...if y-you really w-want to r-repay me y-you can b-become my f-"

Before she could finish her sentence Sasuke slammed the notebook down with an angered face "You're just like all those other girls thinking you can come here and give me a pitying gift and think that I'll go out with you! Well guess what? I'll never go out with someone like you nor any of those other girls. You're all annoying, weak, loud and self-serving! If you have time to bother me why don't you go train? Frankly, you'll never make it as a ninja with your attitude" he didn't even yell, yet it felt as if he spoke through a boombox

The worse part was that his words were so harsh that Sakura felt as if he just used her heart and good intentions as a target practice for his shurikenjutsu. Sure Sakura wanted to get closer to Sasuke by bringing him the notes, but she didn't mean to let him think that she had any ulterior motives such as asking him to go out with her. No, she wanted Sasuke to one day ask her out himself. She didn't want to force someone to like her or anything like that because then it wouldn't be true love.

"I..t-that's n-not-" she tried to clear up the misunderstanding reaching to to grab a hold of Sasuke but was cut off again as he shoved her away making her fall down on the ground with a thud

She immediately looked up to see Sasuke stepping back into his apartment "W-wait!" she tried again and this time she was cut off with a door to her face "Leave me alone!" and this time the Uchiha did yell

"Sakura-chan..." Shisui murmured at her shocked look but she didn't hear him

Her eyes were watering up but she refused to cry like some kicked puppy in front of the door, no need for Sasuke to think even less of her. Instead she bolted away in a run ignoring the pain of her strained ankle which she forgot about, in fact that pain was dull compared to what she was feeling.

Shisui

He stared down at the fallen notebook with an unreadable look

"Everyone likes Sasuke-kun"

"No one's better compared to Sasuke-kun!"

"Ambition, huh? I suppose right now my ambition is to get into the same class as Sasuke-kun, graduate, land in the same team as Sasuke-kun and eventually marry Sasuke-kun"

"A life filled with love throughout!"

"Besides it's like a opposites attract, a match made in heaven...it gives me hope, you know?"

A humorless chuckle escaped Shisui's lips "Sakubaka, I told you Sasuke-chan won't be the one..." he murmured before snapping his head up to the door of Sasuke's apartment, he walked to the door and phased through into the room to see Sasuke reading a scroll.

Even though Sasuke couldn't see him nor hear him he was going to give the boy a piece of his mind

"That wasn't nice of you Sasuke, how could you make a girl cry? She didn't do anything to you, she was just trying to be nice and you just had to yell at her and make her depreciate herself more than she already does, didn't you? What would aunt Mikoto think of you? Your father would be disappointed in you. In fact the whole clan would be disappointed" he lectured

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Shisui paused his lecture as Sasuke stood up again "If it's her again..." he heard Sasuke mutter as the boy walked through him making him clutch his chest in discomfort

"Ah, Sasuke-san. I found this laying outside your door" and before Sasuke could open his mouth to protest that it wasn't his the ninja was already gone

Sasuke sighed closing the door

"She worked hard on that, you know?" Shisui asked, his eyes softening as Sasuke gave the notebook a contemplating look.

Then his cousin walked towards him and this time he side-stepped out of the way. "She sees you the same way you used to see Itachi, you know? And what you just did was kind of the same thing Itachi did to you by betraying your trust..." he continued despite knowing he couldn't hear

"I don't need anyone..." he heard Sasuke say as Sasuke threw away the notebook in the trash bin

Shisui had a remorseful look, This is all my fault. If I had succeeded in stopping the coup then... "I was right, the two of you really weren't meant to be because she doesn't deserve this" was the last thing he said to the boy who couldn't hear him before he phased away towards the only one who can and the only one who will accept his tries at comforting.

She was in her mindscape again resting her back on Inner's back, both lost in their own thoughts. Both had the same person in mind, but were thinking different things as they sat in silence silently comforting the other in the dessert of Sakura's mind.

After what seemed to be a long while Sakura finally spoke "It hurts so bad," she clutched her chest "Is this how it felt for you when I called you annoying?" the question was obviously directed at Inner filled with both sadness and guilt

"It felt worse" Inner stated neutrally

"How?" Sakura questioned furrowing her eyebrows

"You don't know what it's like to have others dismiss your presence, your existence. Whether in a negative light or a positive one you have people all around you validating your existence while you dismissed mine. It felt like you wished I wasn't born, that I'm useless and just a hassle" Inner softly explained with a tinge of resentment

Sakura winced, she could practically feel Inner's emotions as she explained "I don't think I can live like that"

"I wouldn't even wish that on Ami" Inner snorted in agreement

"Why don't you hate me?" she asked chancing a glance at Inner who smiled

"You're the only one who can validate my existence"

"I.."

"Save it, we're here not here to talk about me"

Sakura nodded still feeling guilty "I wonder...is this how Shisui feels?" it was a stray thought that entered her head for no reason

"Probably, I mean he probably saw Itachi kill his clan right in front of his eyes and wasn't able to stop Itachi. Because no one is able to validate his spiritual existence, he wasn't able to stop the massacre. Now that I think about it, his situation is far worse compared to mine" Inner answered with a frown

"If only I met him sooner..." Sakura mumbled, Shisui did after all grow on her a little bit, not that she would admit it out loud or anything. She'd rather choke on her own spit and die.

"Then what? A little girl like us wouldn't have been able to do anything and if we had told the Hokage who's to say he wouldn't start using us labeling our ability to see Shisui as a bloodline limit?" Inner snorted at her, "You're a bit naive, Outer"

"You're cynical..." Sakura retorted weakly

"Having your existence dismissed does that" Inner shrugged

"How can I see Shisui anyways? I mean he explained it to me, but-"

"We just happen to be more spiritually aware than most." Inner cut off

When put like that it made a lot more sense to Sakura "Is validating your existence that important?"

A sigh escaped Inner "Let me ask you a question Outer, what are you?"

"Human..." Sakura answered a bit hesitantly

"Exactly, we might be training to become shinobi who can utilize chakra to accomplish surreal feats like defying gravity but when it comes down to it we're still human. One day we're going to die and then gradually anyone who can validate our existence dies as well, it will be like we never existed. We're not special like the first Hokage nor the Fourth one, we're just us. Our existence is meaningless compared to others who come from great clans and whatnot. When we die, it'll be like we never existed. I don't know about you, but I'm scared of that even more than I'm afraid of death" Inner's voice was so fragile that it took Sakura off guard

"That sounds scary.." Sakura commented

Inner nodded in agreement "That's why I want to be special, I want our existence to be validated centuries from now"

"Then let's become special" Sakura proposed in a determined tone making Inner snap her head towards her "We'll start off small with Shisui, Ino-chan, Sasuke, mom, dad, our teachers and then we'll become stronger than the legendary Sannin that we'll have our own tittle"

Inner's eyes were filled in awe with the idea "Really...?"

Sakura gave her an assuring smile "Really"

A chime made both of them whip their heads around to see the dessert becoming grass "Wow..." both murmured in awe seeing various flowers that oddly looked like the ones from the book that Ino lent them

"Our mindscape is weird" Sakura stated with a small smile

Inner smiled like an idiot earning a quirked eyebrow from Sakura "You said 'our', so you're truly validating my existence now"

Sakura blinked, "I guess you're right"

"Hey, Outer?"

"Yeah, Inner?"

"When was the first time you met Shisui?"

Sakura tilted her head at the weird question before answering "Last Friday"

Inner's smile dropped a bit, but Sakura didn't notice "You should go check on him, maybe he feels like he can't talk to you after Sasuke-ku...Sasuke's outburst"

"Oh, right. I'll see you then"

"If not, you'll hear from me" Inner winked as Sakura disappeared, when Sakura left she was bitterly amused "It looks like neither Sakura nor Shisui-sama remembers one another."

Shisui's POV

He had expected to see a sobbing mess, he was prepared to make the sobbing mess give a weak smile or laugh. All of that went down the drain when he saw Sakura cutting some vegetables.

"Sakura-chan?" his voice was a bit hesitant

Sakura glanced at him "Oh, hey Bakashi" she greeted with a small wave, her hand still holding the knife

Shisui's eyebrow twitched at the nickname "Don't call me that Sakubaka"

"Sakubaka? How original. I see you used your sharingan to copy my nickname. Copycat" Sakura sniped at him

Shisui was momentarily reminded of his Anbu captain who at this time was in front of a memorial stone and had just sneezed for no reason. He shook his head before eyeing Sakura worriedly "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sakura nodded before eyeing him in confusion "Why shouldn't I be?"

"When I last saw you, you looked ready to fill a river with your tears" Shisui said suspiciously

"Aa," Sakura said in realization "Yeah, a bit before you came I felt like crap. I'm sure my pillow is still soaked from my tears, but now? I feel refreshed"

"Refreshed?" Shisui echoed

Sakura nodded with a smile "After Sasuke-kun called me annoying, weak, self-serving and told me that I'd never make it as a ninja I thought about it with Inner and we had this heart to heart moment. In the end we decided that I'm going to become stronger than the legendary Sannin themselves"

Well aside from this randomly timed almost impossible goal she seems okay. That's good. He thought in relief before giving out a low whistle "That's a pretty big goal for a shrimp like you" he noted

Sakura glared at him throwing her knife at him. It was out of instinct that Shisui ducked out of the way before yelling "Hey! You could have killed me!" prompting Sakura to roll her eyes before reminding him that he wouldn't have felt it if it had hit

"How do you plan on becoming strong anyways?" Shisui asked prompting Sakura to mumble something he couldn't catch "What?" he asked

"I was hoping you'd help..." Sakura spoke up

"Why should I?" it wasn't meant to be offensive, just curious.

"If you help me I'll do anything you ask of me. I think it's a fair exchange, no?" Sakura asked looking him in the eyes

In his head Shisui thought that it wasn't a fair exchange, Sakura didn't have the ability to fulfill his desires nor did he have the heart to drag Sakura into his business. But..."Then let me take control of your body whenever I ask, within reasons of course"

Sakura gave him a closed eye smile missing the apologizing look he sent her "Deal!" and that was the second deal they made. The last one ended up badly, how will this one end up? Only time will tell...

Now here we are