A/N: Day twenty-one. I was really frustrated when I was writing this, so you know. Beware. I struggled real bad.
Well, it hurts. She expected it, of course, since the whole concept of trying to put distance between two souls that are intrinsically tied sounds like a painful affair. It was also a very strange experience, being able to feel Shion from so far away even they couldn't communicate via their mental link. Rather draining too, but she planned for this.
Scouting's never really been Team Yamaneko's thing, but their speciality in both sabotage and assault makes them better suited to deal with it all. Although, they'd never been on such a long mission before and it might be a little jarring for them all.
Especially when they have to be around Shisui for so long. Of course, their captain gets a motel room to himself much to their relief. Though they've slept in his presence before, it's never comfortable and they end up being incredibly tired. It's like trying to sleep when there's a predator in front of you, watching you the entire time. Hard to rest with that on one's mind.
At least they're only a month or two away from completing the mission.
"Are you feeling better?" Sai queries as he settles at the edge of her bed, reaching over to feel the temperature of her forehead. She hums in affirmation, sending him a soft smile.
She's got a terrible headache, but it's much better than before when she was on the verge of fainting just from trying to sit up. "Better than before, yes." she replies with a slight rasp, glancing over to Neji as he enters their current motel room with a deeper frown than usual.
Shion did say that the side effects could go on for a while, but Sakura expected a few hours rather than an entire week. It's rendered her temporarily unable to use her chakra, so Sai and Neji regularly check her brain just in case there's a development of an aneurysm. It's easy ̶ for them, at least ̶ to treat an aneurysm that hasn't ruptured with simple medical ninjutsu, but if it ruptures then she'd need to have surgery and that's not exactly recommended. Not right now, anyway.
Although, the idea of putting herself under a scalpel honestly sounds discomforting, so she hopes that she doesn't have to have someone cut open her head to do surgery on her brain or anything else vital.
"Why did you do it in the first place?" Neji demands as he approaches her, giving her that particular look that implies she's scum for making him worry. It makes her smile, almost every time she sees it. "You don't usually do something so stupid."
She blinks, albeit slowly. "Sometimes we have to take risks if we want to proceed." she murmurs, although she does feel a bit useless at the moment. They're lucky that their targets seem to be lingering around, so she's been able to rest as much as she has.
Shisui's not very pleased with that, but he's also somewhat ecstatic because his former captain is now making a reappearance within the world. She wonders how dangerous it would be for someone to encounter the two of them together.
"You should go to sleep." Sai states, bringing his glowing fingers to her temple. She feels the tension ebb away, if only slightly. "We can continue without you until you recover."
Sakura hums with a smile, closing her eyes. "How nice of my little brothers." she chuckles. It's still amusing to her to know that she's the youngest of them all.
As her dreams are usually rather vivid and created with genjutsu, it's not all that alarming when she notes that she's no longer in her own mindscape. What's more alarming, is the fact that she's in Shion's mindscape and what she sees is both horrifying but beautiful in its destruction.
Surrounding her, are galaxies and the forms of people who've shattered like they've been made from porcelain. The pieces remain afloat but never drift too far, as she would expect from a place without gravity. She finds it a little jarring that she can walk as if there's a ground below her feet, even though there isn't.
She examines the shattered bodies, each of them distinctive and unique but also still and lifeless like shells. Someone even appear to not be human at all, simply humanoid in shape. Some are female, some male and some whom are androgynous or don't even seem to have a sex.
Sakura jolts when some kind of soft melody begins to play in the distance, but she continues to walk even if it seems endless. It's an eerie, broken and melancholic sound, she thinks. Then it changes, switching to different tones and rhythms every so often.
It's lonely here, she muses. Trapped in space, surrounded by the shattered forms of people with inconsistent music in an endless cycle. There doesn't seem to be an end, no matter how far she tries to se into the distance.
Something in the scenery catches her eye, where a galaxy of red stars glow in a rhythmic fashion. The broken form by it is familiar, even if she's never seen them before. Then something sets her on edge, as she sees the form ̶ Shion, she's sure it's Shion ̶ twitch.
The pieces that have splintered off are slowly gravitating towards the main body, and something in her jumps in fright when the sound of grinding glass grates on her mind. It's Shion's neck, twisting to turn and face her like a porcelain doll willing its body to move when it shouldn't be able to.
The eye sockets are empty, but her eyelids are wide open and there's a jagged smile on Shion's cracked face. "Hey there, jelly bean." the familiar voice greets her, although Shion's lips haven't moved. "You shouldn't be here."
She feels like that's a warning, but she's not sure how she even got in to begin with. "I don't know how I got here." she replies, looking around then returning her attention back to a gradually reforming Shion. It's quite the bizarre visual, with long hair gently billowing around Shion's head. Like a skewed halo, perhaps.
"Must be part of the side effects from experimenting, yeah. Oh, well. Welcome to my mind, sugar bean. Don't touch anything, or you may experience some fragments of forgotten memories among other shit." Shion chuckles, her fingers twitching. The sounds of cracking glass continues. "If you want to go back, just touch this red galaxy here, yeah?"
Sakura frowns, stepping closer to the galaxy mentioned. "This is our world right now?" she queries, wondering why the stars are all red in colour.
"Yes. These other galaxies and broken dolls are worlds and people I previously inhabited, yeah. I can't touch them though, because I can't really move anywhere. They're always out of my reach, you know?" Shion lets out a deranged cackle, although there's nothing really funny about what she says. Something in the distance screeches, then screams.
It sounds like people screaming altogether in chaotic harmony, in agony and terror. She immediately dislikes it.
"Don't mind that, sugar plum. That's just what's left of my humanity, you know, the part that still cares and hurts. It's quite an annoyance, but some part of me wants to reconnect. Another says fuck that, because who wants to feel the horrible devastation from all the terrible shit I've done during my existence?"
The screaming seems to be growing louder ̶ closer ̶ and Sakura turns back to Shion who's jagged smile has turned into a jagged grin. "You should get going, now. Otherwise, I'll inevitably try to devour you and make your mind part of mine." which really sounds unpleasant. "You'll cease to be Sakura, then."
"What happens when I die, Shion?" she questions the cursed soul residing within her, even though her mind is in danger of being devoured. "Do I go with you, on your next life?"
Shion's grin has disappeared, and it's far more unsettling because there's no expression at all. "Maybe. I'm not quite sure if our chakra constitutes as part of our souls, since our minds are still separated. Either we will split apart, I join you in the afterlife or you join me in an eternity of new lives. The latter most likely means that I will eventually absorb your consciousness… or you might absorb mine, even. Now go. Your presence here is starting to piss me off, yeah."
Sakura listens, touching the red galaxy and feeling herself being pulled inside of it.
When she wakes up, she immediately swings a punch at the face invading her space. Her attack is dodged, although barely but she refrains from trying again when she realises that it's Itachi. Some part of her wants to try again though, just because it's him even though she doubts she could get a solid hit in.
He smiles at her, in that perplexing manner of his. "Shisui thought I should come greet you… since the group you are scouting happens to be the organisation that I am currently aligned with." he tilts his head, watching her as she throws the blanket away from her legs. "Strange though… I had thought that Konoha would not bother with a mere mercenary group."
She frowns at him as he leans towards her, as if he's ready to push her back down onto the bed. Her stomach knots, because she'd really rather that not happen. "Your group's method of recruiting S-rank missing nin is rather… flashy. We're just meant to see if you're a threat that we should take heed of, before anything major happens."
Where's Neji and Sai, she wonders? But then she realises that if Shisui orchestrated a meeting, then he'd be making sure they're occupied. How long has she been asleep though?
Itachi, thankfully, sits on the bed beside her rather than pushing her down. "Are you loyal to your village, Sakura-chan?" he murmurs in question, running his fingers up her spine and the nape of her neck. She leans away from his touch in immense discomfort, her face contorting to reflect her feelings as she turns to him.
"I'm loyal to those I care about. If it means defecting, then I will. But at the moment, I don't think that's necessary." she replies, before frowning and wondering if Shikamaru would accept that of her. His clan is loyal to the village and he'd be expected to be as well, going against her if he had to.
She doesn't think she could convince him to leave with her, if that ever happens. Or maybe she could, but it's up to him what he wants to do with his life.
Sakura groans in surprise and perturbation as she's suddenly lifted into his arms. Her heart slams against her chest and she immediately pushes against his chest, even though it's futile. This is not a pleasant position to be in, she thinks, especially with a man like Itachi.
"I'm going tired of you doing what you want with me." she sighs, feeling so very done with life and the absurdity it has to offer.
Itachi simply hums, pushing her back against his chest and petting her like she's said nothing. The bastard. "What would you do… if someone close to you died, Sakura-chan?"
She slumps against him, defeated. "I don't know. I've never actually lost someone before." is her resigned response, a part of her noticing that he smells too nice for a psychotic missing nin. It's offending, almost.
"Is Hatake Kakashi someone whom you deeply care for?" Itachi questions her next, but there's a dark and vicious undertone to his soft query. Sakura pushes against his chest once more, and this time he lets her at least see his face. It's uncomfortably close.
Something's wrong, she realises as she sees the thinly veiled irritation crackling in his eyes. "Why are you asking, Itachi-san?" she inquires instead, feeling her stomach clench as her suspicions rises.
The smile that forms only strengthens the ominous feeling in her chest. With one hand still pressed against the curve of her back, he uses his other to tuck her hair behind her ear. She twitches in annoyance. "Would you hate me if I murdered your brothers?"
Sakura immediately sneers at him, her fingers curling against his chest. His eyes only gleam with something akin to fascination. "Are you going to murder those I care about?" she almost hisses.
He blinks, before shaking his head with his bothersome smile still present. "Only one… perhaps two at the most, but they will not your brothers." he answers, but it doesn't reassure her that match. It doesn't really reassure her at all because she's not sure if she can fight against him and those whom he's collaborating with. "Well… I am not the one who is going to murder them, but I will have a part in it. It is almost as bad as killing myself, I have learned."
The only relief she has when he finally leaves her with that warning, is that it's not her brothers. It's not enough, but it's all she has at the moment.
She's content to wait for him to gather the pieces that he wants to talk about in his mind. His brow is furrowed from his inner turmoil, but she understands. Shion's… well, rather memorable and perhaps not in the greatest way.
Sai and Neji have been kind enough to give them space, deciding to go and see where Kakashi's gone off to since she's been expressing some subtle concern. It's Itachi's fault, but luckily it was near the end of the mission so she didn't have to worry about it for the entirety of the mission.
"It must've been hard…" Shikamaru mutters, finally. She blinks at him, tilting her head in silent question. He glances at her. "You really do resemble her. I just thought that it'd be hard for people who knew her to see you as… you. Even though, it's pretty obvious that you're less… intense and inhuman."
She smiles, because she's gotten used to it over the years. It's not bad now, since there are people who know her for who she is rather than who she looks like. Like her family, like Shikamaru and… maybe Naruto and Sasuke among others.
"It's not too bad. She's had a large influence on my tastes on many things, but I know that I'm not her and she's not me." they could be, though, she remembers. "Most of the time, she just lets me do what I want whilst she either commentates or sleeps."
Shikamaru nods, before making a discomforted expression. "Was she… Was she there when, we ah, confessed?" he queries, and she can't curb the grin that immediately forms on her face at the question.
"Yes." she answers, laughing when his face blows up in red and he attempts to hide his face in his arms. "She thought it was disgustingly adorable."
"That's great." he grumbles, before glancing at her again. "Is she here right now?"
Sakura shades her head, adjusting her position on the couch. "She's asleep, but she can wake up at any time." her amusement soon fades as concern begins to niggle at her chest again. "Do you mind being careful in the future? I… well, I've come to learn that the people I care about are in danger because of my connection to her."
He straightens, turning to face her fully with a bemused but serious expression. "Her enemies have found you?" he asks, trying to solve the puzzle already.
She shakes her head again. "Not her enemies… but not her allies. Not entirely." she scrunches her face, trying to make sense without revealing too much. Her association to Itachi isn't really known even amongst her family. "It's complicated, but they want her back. I don't really know how they plan to achieve it."
Shikamaru looks down, in contemplation. "I did hear that she had some shady associates when she was alive, especially since she was tied to the Uchiha clan." he blinks, as if in realisation. "When Sasuke was that his brother would have her… did he mean Shion?"
Sakura stares at him for a moment, both pleased and conflicted to know that he's so intelligent. "Yeah…"
He tilts his head. "But how? She's dead, unless they think that her being inside of you means she's alive. I don't think that's how it works." Shikamaru scratches his head in frustration. "Although you never know what people are thinking these days."
She sighs. "I heard that there were techniques able to bring back the dead in exchange for another life." but the ones she's thinking of requires the deceased body. Kakashi had said that he doesn't know what happened to Shion's body, since he was forced to leave her behind on that particular mission.
It's all so very complicated. Sakura thinks it's a good idea wanting to sleep forever, if there are no genjutsu-laced nightmares involved.
Chapter Word Count: 2,838
Total Word Count: 68,823
Targeted Word Count: 0
A/N: Every day so far, I've been wondering if I should just give up trying to write and upload a chapter each day. At least this is an actual challenge, even if I'm dying inside. I have no idea how I'm going to end this, oh, god. I shall now play Pokemon Sun and resume my task from trying to catch a female eevee.
Reviews are love. Reviews are life. It's never ogre.