From the depths of a certain Haruno Sakura's mind, an entity watched as her life played out. The being watched as the pinkette took her first steps, they watched as she began to talk. They watched as the young child who's mind they existed in was bullied and made fun of. They had tried to make themselves known to Sakura, however, when the pinkette did hear them she thought she had created an imaginary friend. Eventually, after a while of communicating the entity was given a name: Inner Sakura.

Inner Sakura looked exactly like her original except for the fact that in their mindscape her body was outlined in white and she had no colour. The only other clear difference between her and her original were the kanji that read 'Inner Sakura' branded on her forehead, the kanji had appeared soon after her existence was made clear to Sakura. Their mind was an interesting place, a black void that seemed to stretch on forever.

Inner (as she was called for short) knew that she probably hadn't been with Sakura for as long as she thought she had. She didn't know why but that's just how she felt. Sakura's infant years were clear to her however it was as if she was watching things from a first-person perspective through Sakura's eyes- which wasn't unusual but normally she would see things in a slightly different way. Up until Sakura began getting bullied it almost felt as if she was more connected to the pinkette and whenever Inner thought back on those times she would see it more from Sakura's point of view rather than her own. Sakura's mind was her domain and so everything was open to her: memories, emotions, secrets, all of it! She was in charge of their mind and Inner would make sure that she didn't fail at the job she had given herself! She would protect everything in their brain whilst Outer Sakura protected and looked after their body.

During the early stages of the academy, Sakura had befriended a girl named Yamanaka Ino. Their friendship had started when the blonde haired-blue eyed heiress found Sakura crying her eyes out after being bullied. Inner had been trying to calm the pinkette down however her voice had always been rather quiet to Sakura and so the girl couldn't hear her other half clearly. Ino had wandered up to the weeping girl and after an interesting introduction had said that her forehead was quite large- Inner raged at this- however covering it up only made it more noticeable. The blonde told the pinkette to come back the next day for she had something to give her. Sakura met with the Yamanaka heiress the next day as promised and when she went to bed that night she had gained a friend along with a red ribbon.

After the Yamanaka and Sakura became friends, Inner noticed herself becoming less and less.. aware. It wasn't only her who was feeling this though for Sakura was as well. The small pinkette had nearly forgotten about the voice in her head of which sounded so very much like her own. The voice -who she for some reason knew was called Inner- had been quiet ever since she and Ino had become friends. It was odd.. with Ino came along more friends however she couldn't help but feel lonely without the company of the voice.

Inner watched as time passed and new drama arose, this time it was perfectly reasonable drama- or- well the cause of it was (that was her opinion anyway). Uchiha Sasuke, survivor of the Uchiha massacre, the boy every girl in the academy had a crush on. He was the definition of mysterious, the cold demeanor he used to drive away people only made the female population feel more attracted to him. Inner and Outer Sakura were no exception and their love was so strong that when Ino- who also had a crush on the ravenette- found out about their feelings towards the Uchiha they had ignored each other for a whole week! Eventually Sakura broke off their friendship, handing the red ribbon back to Ino. Both girls had known then and there that this was it. This was the end of their friendship. The ribbon Sakura had received from the blonde years earlier was like the sticky substance that kept them glued to each other's side. The pinkette would never return it to Ino if she wasn't serious and they turned their backs on each other, one with a hard look on her face and the other with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Both Inner and Outer had noticed how after Sakura ended her friendship with Ino, Inner's presence seemed stronger. They both fawned over Sasuke, much like the other females, every girl tried their best to look stunning every single day in hopes of catching their 'Sasuke-kun's' attention. Unfortunately, this meant that they were spending their time working on their vanity and going out shopping when really they should have been training.

Inner had noticed that there was one girl in their class who didn't go crazy over the Uchiha. There was one girl with short, dark hair and pale skin. There was one girl who had the light coloured eyes of her kin. Hyuga Hinata was the only female who didn't fawn over Sasuke-kun. She instead, silently crushed on the class clown: Uzumaki Naruto.

Inner had told Outer Sakura about the girl, trying to tell her other half to become friends with her. Unfortunately, Sakura didn't hear her and they continued the academy friendless. Their academic scores were outstanding however their physical scores were pitiful. They had poor stamina and whilst the rest of the class got winded after the fifteenth lap around the field they were exhausted after five.

They managed to slip through and graduated as a proud member of Team7. They had both cheered loudly when they found out they were on the same team as Sasuke-kun. If Ino was in their place they would simply die!

After waiting a few hours for their late Sensei their blonde haired teammate decided it would be a good idea to give their Sensei a little 'punishment'. It turned out their Sensei couldn't even dodge the simple prank, it was bad enough that they had the number one knucklehead ninja on their team, they didn't need a teacher who couldn't dodge a simple blackboard eraser.

After their grey haired teacher announced what his 'Ultimate' first impression of them was, they went up to the roof to introduce themselves. The next day they had the bell test and Inner died when she heard Hatake Kakashi- their Sensei- say that they should quit being ninja. Luckily, she was revived when he said they had passed.

They went on multiple D-rank missions until they had had enough and Uzumaki Naruto demanded the Hokage for a more interesting mission. The Hokage relented after Iruka berated the blonde for making such a request and the Bridge Builder entered the room.

Inner had to admit the mission certainly was a lot more interesting than their past ones. However, the 'interesting' was because of the multiple life or death situations they were put in. In fact, she had made a list!

One: Attacked by creepy looking ninja who sliced Kakabaka so fast she had no time to blink. Sasuke-kun fought them off and after a while Bakashi returned and tied them up (he revealed that he had used kawarimi earlier, pointing to the pile of guts which was now an innocent looking log laying harmlessly on the ground).

Two: A big guy with a sword- The Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi- appeared and started yapping about how he was going to kill the Bridge Builder- Inner wasn't really paying attention at this point. Anyways, a Hunter nin arrived after Bakashi defeated Zabuza and they ran off, carrying Zabuza in their arms. Kakabaka passed out and then they found out when he woke up that Zabuza was still alive.

Three: .. Inner didn't want to count the training Kakabaka made them do since it wasn't dangerous.. at least not for her and Outer. The reason why it is on this list though is because Naruto repeatedly fell on his head whilst trying to complete the exercise. Then again it might do him some good- if he was already an idiot maybe if he hit his head hard enough he would start acting more mature. Anyway, the training was focused on chakra control, they had to direct chakra to their feet and walk up a tree.. well, it was something along those lines anyway.

Four: They faced off against The Demon of the Mist once again and this time the 'Hunter nin' was by his side. They had been waiting for them on the unfinished bridge their client was building and the rest of the workers were unconscious. Haku- Zabuza's partner- had taken a hit for the man with bandages wrapped round his face and he died as a result. Outer Sakura was trembling the whole of the fight and Inner could feel the shock and disgust the girl held within her when her sensei killed Haku. Basically, they won in the end thanks to the arrival of Gato, the rich business man Zabuza and his assistant had been hired by. It turned out he never planned on paying them and The Demon of the Mist started killing the other people Gato hired and eventually Gato met his demise by Zabuza's hands or well- kunai. Actually, it was Naruto's kunai but that wasn't the point. Zabuza also died but he got to say one last goodbye to the boy who had stayed loyal to him. The rest of the men hired by Gato were chased away by the village's people and in the end, it was a happy ending.

She probably missed things but she was tired and gave up on the list making sense. So after the successful Waves mission Team7 made their way back to Konoha after recovering.

The next event was something Inner would never forget: The Chunin Exams. Before even knowing about the event they ran into a trio from Suna. The three were siblings and the two older siblings seemed to be terrified of their younger brother. She assumed it had something to do with how he seemed to radiate killing intent. Inner felt Sakura freeze as soon as the red head revealed himself and honestly, she couldn't blame her other half. It was too bad that the boy, Gaara, wasn't the end of the long line of dangers Team7 came across. The chunin exams held many surprises. Long story short: Sasuke got bit by a snake man and both her teammates passed out, leaving Outer to take care of them. Then three older kids came, demanding the pinkette to wake up her dark haired teammate. Just as they began to initiate in combat Rock Lee, a boy dressed in a hideously green jumpsuit, appeared in the clearing. He battled against the three kids from the Sound village and Sakura and Inner watched him in awe.

The boy who had confessed his love to Sakura at the start of the exams was fighting to protect them and all Inner and Outer could do was watch. The boy who had promised to always protect her was eventually knocked down and that was when both Inner and Outer knew. They knew it was their time to shine. They fought back against the three and in the end their long, luscious, pink locks had been raggedly cut with their kunai. It was surprising that they hadn't been more aware of their new haircut but Inner knew that they had done the right thing by cutting their hair to escape from the female sound ninja. It was too bad that in the end they still needed to be rescued.

Too much happened during the course of the Chunin exams and by the time the whole ordeal had passed Inner was still confused as to what had happened. The third Hokage had died at the hands of the snake man though, so Konohagakure required a new Hokage. She was pretty sure it was going to be that old man who had taken Naruto as his student but in the end the title went to Senju Tsunade, the granddaughter of the first Hokage. The busty blonde was one of the Sannin- along with the snake man and the old man who had taken Naruto under his wing. She's apparently the strongest kunoichi in the whole of the Shinobi Nations and is the greatest medic nin in all the land.

Just when everything was starting to repair something happened. Something that left both halves of Haruno Sakura traumatised. The betrayal of Uchiha Sasuke.

It was probably worse that they were the ones who had last seen Sasuke before he exited the village. In fact, Inner probably wouldn't have been present during the scene if it wasn't for the wild rush of Sakura's emotions. She had been taking a nap when Outer's emotions started to grow stronger and stronger, causing her to wake up. It even got to the point where Inner could barely register their thought process. When she finally realised what was happening their mind became a mess as she lost control of herself and Outer Sakura was left panicked, afraid, miserable and heartbroken. In a last attempt to keep the boy she loved most close to her, the poor pinkette confessed her feelings. She even went as far as to say she would go with him and leave Konoha, her parents at the back of her mind.

In the end the raven haired male disappeared from his spot and appeared behind Sakura. 'Thank you' was the last thing she heard before he knocked her out.

Sakura was found in the morning by two older shinobi and they immediately went to tell the Hokage about Sasuke's betrayal. A group was assembled and Nara Shikamaru, being the only one who was promoted to chunin, was the leader. Before they left, Naruto promised Sakura that he'd retrieve Sasuke, Inner hoped that the sunny boy would also knock some sense into him.

She watched as the group set off with tears in her eyes. It was too bad that when they came back, they were without Sasuke and were injured. Both Inner and Outer felt inexplicably guilty. Maybe it was because they might have been able to stop the Uchiha the night he left or maybe it was because of Naruto's promise. She knew that the blonde wouldn't stop hunting down the Uchiha and her promise was probably the reason why. Even in the hospital when they visited him, he kept yapping about how he'd bring back Sasuke and how she shouldn't worry. Honestly, the boy was more of an idiot then they had thought. How could she not worry when he was in hospital? How could she not worry when her friends had all been hurt trying to bring back the boy she loved? How could she not worry when she knew that Sasuke could be in danger? How could she not worry when the only boy she had ever had a crush on was.. a traitor?

It hadn't been officially announced to the public or anything but she knew that he had betrayed the village, her home- their home. She knew that he had gone willingly and that he was hungry for power and revenge. She wasn't certain who the mysterious someone he had mentioned in his introduction was but the stuff about restoring his clan or whatever made her feel as if this someone was the person who had massacred his family. If that was the case, then she really couldn't blame him. She wasn't a part of a big family; her mother and father were all the family Sakura knew about.

Both Inner and Outer felt miserable after their teammate's betrayal. Inner tried to keep their mood up just like how Outer tried to be positive. Inner knew that her other half was likely not hearing her much anymore but she did know that Outer Sakura remembered her and that was enough for her.

The light that was her existence was fading and this fact became even more prominent when Sakura began her training under Lady Tsunade, the fifth Hokage. They had finally decided to seek out a teacher since it was clear that Kakashi wasn't much of an expert at being a mentor. Sakura gathered her courage and asked the legendary blonde if she could be her apprentice and nearly burst into tears when the woman accepted. Inner was yelling in triumph, cheering that they finally had a chance to catch up to the rest of their team.

The training with the fifth Hokage was long and tough but it was most certainly worth it. They learnt how to use medical chakra and studied human anatomy until they could recite each and every word from all the scrolls and books Tsunade allowed them access to. The busty blonde helped them develop their fighting style, teaching them multiple different kinds of attacks and ways to dodge and evade. Their first priority was to heal not fight since they were training to be a medic nin, as a result they had to be able to dodge any attack effortlessly. Of course, as you'd expect the training they went through to get to that level of skill was basically torture. Many times, Tsunade would get a man with brown hair, who was called Shiranui Genma, to launch countless senbon needles at them and it took all Sakura's energy to move around the projectiles without one of them taking her eye out. It wasn't until the blonde haired woman decided she was 'good enough' that she was handed a kunai to knock away any projectiles she couldn't dodge. Both Inner and Outer had to admit the training they were going through was definitely helping them. Even a blind man could tell that their muscles were more developed. They had a healthy diet, one that Tsunade had assigned them almost immediately after she found out that they were almost starving themselves to keep up a slim figure. The blonde had almost blown a fuse when she became aware of this fact and they had to sit through a long lecture about how it was important to keep up a healthy diet. The new amount of food that they were consuming was probably helping their body get through the hellish training and was most likely responsible for powering their muscles to grow stronger.

As Outer Sakura worked through all the training exercises she had been given, Inner was acting as the pinkette's own personal cheerleader and motivational speaker. Sakura's other half was constantly supporting her, doing little dances in their mindscape and shouting words of encouragement that didn't always reach the other but were appreciated all the same. Sometimes Inner would join in, doing the same workouts that Outer was doing and creating a sort of dummy in their mind that she could fight against, some unknown entity powering that dummy to fight back.

They had been so proud when Sakura managed to successfully heal a fish and keep it alive out of water. Inner had, for once, made sure to be quiet so as to not distract or break her Outer's concentration. Instead, she tried to not think about anything in particular and unconsciously focused on the medical chakra pouring steadily out of their hands. The healing chakra glowed a soft, emerald green that was a similar shade to Sakura's eyes. The feeling of the energy was calming and Inner decided that it wasn't all that different from water. It was as if their hands were surrounded by a patch of calmly flowing water except that it wasn't wet and it defied gravity. Despite the fact that it radiated the cooling sense of calm, if someone were to reach out to touch the chakra, they would be met with nothing but air.

Unfortunately, learning how to rapidly build up chakra and concentrating it into her fists or feet was on a whole other level to learning how to keep up a steady flow of medical chakra and keep a fish breathing out of water. Most times when she went in to attack she either failed to go through with it out of pure exhaustion or something went wrong and instead of the earth trembling hits Tsunade was able to pull off seemingly effortlessly all she managed to land on her opponents was an admittedly weak punch that at most times would be easy to dodge or block.

In a way Sakura's extra fatigue could be due to the fact that she had started storing most of her chakra in her forehead in order to accomplish the byakugo. The fifth Hokage had taken her out to the training ground where the elder trained the younger whenever she had time. The blonde explained to her about the technique and Inner made sure to listen closely to what the woman was saying. It was hard to believe that such a powerful jutsu even existed, the strength of a hundred jutsu could basically allow the user to be almost immortal in the heat of battle. Not to mention that it quite literally equipped whoever was using it the strength of a hundred. Sakura's face paled however, when Tsunade told her that in order to achieve the powerful technique, she would have to constantly direct her chakra towards her forehead for three years. It required almost perfect chakra control and Sakura had to get used to doing so in order to store chakra in her sleep.

Her chakra reserves were already pitiful so now that she was directing the majority of her chakra to where the byakugo would hopefully form in a few years, her reserves were even tinier then before. It got to the point where Tsunade forbade her from performing any surgery or going onto the battlefield. Sakura accepted this fact with nothing more than a frown and a pout. Inner, meanwhile, was screaming in their mindscape, hands tugging harshly on her short strands -Sakura had decided to keep her hair short until she felt like she had proved herself- and frustrated tears pouring down her face as she cursed their meagre reserves.

In hopes of being able to return to her duties as a shinobi and medic nin as soon as possible, the pinkette was determined to come up with a solution. She diverted a small portion of built-up chakra back into her normal reserves in order for her to be able to have enough available to perform her duties.

Inner Sakura all the while screaming in their mind about how great they were. Outer Sakura though, heard none of her other half's cheers and words of encouragement and support and Inner slowly started to have less and less energy. The entity in Haruno Sakura's mind had noticed that since her Outer's confidence grew she was becoming less and less.. herself. Yes, she always made sure to shout her opinions and encourage her other half but her occasional job of expressing their inner thoughts and/or actions was becoming less and less frequent. Sakura was learning to accept herself and grow comfortable with showing others who she truly was and Inner's presence became less and less clear. It was as if she was growing weak. She had less energy then usual and was only awake when Sakura felt particularly strong emotions or when something was preventing her from falling unconscious.

Even Outer Sakura must have realised something was wrong. Inner felt her other half pause occasionally and a rush of thoughts and emotions hit her full force.

Sakura was confused by the odd feeling that something was out of place. She felt as if something- someone was missing. Sometimes she chalked it up to Sasuke being the one she unconsciously missed but other times she tended to think deeper in on the matter. She knew she missed the male but the feeling she was getting was almost as if part of her was lost. A cheesy part of her wanted to say that that was Sasuke too, for he was the one she loved with all her heart but somehow the more logical, more reasonable part of her couldn't help but think that that wasn't it at all. After a while of deep contemplating she would clear her thoughts and put more focus into directing her chakra to her newly developing technique, occasionally letting a few drops leak into her normal reserves.

Having more time on her hands, Inner decided to walk aimlessly around their mind. Naturally, she knew each and every inch of their brain from their seemingly endless mindscape down to a single cell. The pool of chakra that would eventually grow into the byakugo was always somewhere in their mind. Not necessarily the chakra but since Sakura was having to constantly direct chakra to her forehead their brain was always buzzing with the small reminder to concentrate on the task. Since the developing technique was being formed at their forehead that meant Inner was also sensitive to the hum of chakra being stored there.

She had travelled to where the chakra was being stored as one does whenever they get bored. She was hesitant to enter whatever chamber the start of the byakugo was in since Outer was still getting used to constantly directing a large portion of her chakra towards the slowly developing seal and Inner didn't want to somehow hinder any progress that Sakura had made so far or accidentally distract her other half or mess up something in some other way.

The chamber of which the byakugo was slowly evolving in was a dark space that was only illuminated by the soft glow that emanated from the stored-up chakra. There was a small stream that connected her chakra pools, the chakra flowed steadily into her normal reserves as well as the still developing seal that would hopefully grow into a sea of energy.

Inner studied the chakra flow and sat down by the slowly growing byakugo. She closed her eyes and focused on the calming feeling of the chakra next to her. Maybe if she worked on the flow of their chakra, Outer would be able to pay more attention to other things; her other half had been suffering ever since Sasuke left the village. The both of them had but since Outer Sakura was the one who wasn't always stuck inside their mind and instead was having to deal with actually living in the outside world and having a social life, Inner wanted to at least try and do something to help her Outer. They were both feeling more exhausted than usual; Inner was feeling drained, as if she didn't have the energy to do anything anymore and Outer's wild rush of emotions caused her to be more on edge than usual. Since their connection was also a lot weaker than before Inner Sakura was unable to communicate clearly with her other half. Their communication had already been pretty obscure but now it was like Outer Sakura had forgotten all about Inner's existence. Outer's training was tiring and adding the anxiety she felt on top of that as well as the fact she was constantly having to make sure she was directing chakra to the Byakugo as well as her normal reserves was only serving to make her feel even worse.

Inner wanted to punch Sasuke in the face for all the pain he was causing them. The reason why Outer was worrying so much was because of him! If the duckbutt haired boy hadn't run off to that snake creep then Sakura wouldn't be up all night wondering if he was ok, or even if he was still alive!

She huffed and slowly worked on easing some of the control over their chakra from Outer to her. She started off by only allowing herself access to a trickle of the energy and gradually spread her conscience over more of their chakra. Inner made sure that she only had the power to guide the chakra to where they needed it to be stored and let her other half have access to it in order to train and do whatever she did with their chakra these days. Inner was honestly lost in what Outer Sakura did since she mostly slept and was too lazy to go through each one of her other half's memories when combined with her fatigue all she would receive was a headache. Normally she would have her other half's memories automatically but for some reason since their... connection of sorts had grown weaker she's found that in order to catch up with what her other half had been doing she had to go to where their memories were stored and shuffle through them to be able to know what had happened. The last time she did this though, the memories had given both her and Outer Sakura a terrible migraine and Inner didn't want them to have to go through that again.

She decided to take control of their chakra flow at night, leaving Sakura with one less thing to keep her up. This allowed Inner to have something to do and as a result she managed to stay awake in order to guide the chakra whilst her other half was asleep.

For a small while it looked as if she would start growing stronger but as Outer Sakura trained and mastered more techniques, learnt new things and slowly became more and more confident, Inner began to feel her essence ebb away.

Her other half was able to make a wall crumble to pieces with a single punch. She was able to heal wounds and cure the sick. Her fighting style was more developed than it had been before and her aim had never been so precise! Becoming Tsunade's apprentice had really paid off but Inner had the feeling she wouldn't be sticking around much longer. She had the horrible hunch that she wouldn't be able to watch Sakura bloom even further than she had already.

Inner wasn't sure what would happen once she.. disappeared (because she knew that at this point it was inevitable). Maybe she would drift to unconsciousness one day and never wake up or perhaps she would begin to slowly merge with Outer Sakura until they became one. Inner doubted that she would pass on to whatever afterlife awaited her alone. She was part of Haruno Sakura and as a result she was pretty sure she wouldn't part with her other half. Maybe it was just her wishful thinking but she hoped she would at least remain somewhat aware, if only just to watch through her Outer's eyes. She didn't care for her mobility, nor did she mind if she couldn't talk or think, she simply wished to be able to watch the rest of Haruno Sakura's life play out.

She grew less and less aware until one day, she was gone.

~{*.*}~

Harry Potter sat alone on a swing in a park. He watched as a mother told her son it was time to go home. He watched as they left the park, hand in hand. He always wondered what it was like to have parents. He wished his had lived instead of dying when he was a baby.

The red roundabout the boy had been playing on previously slowly spun to a stop and Harry heard the distant sound of laughter. He looked up to see Dudley and his gang. They were standing in front of him, laughing about something. His cousin was staring at him and Harry decided to speak up.

"Hey, Big D." The laughter faded as the group turned their attention to him. "Beat up another ten year old?"

"This one deserved it." Dudley spoke and the males behind him voiced their agreement.

"Five against one, very brave." Harry remarked sarcastically.

"Well, you're one to talk. Moaning in your sleep every night? At least I'm not afraid of my pillow." Remarked Dudley as the boys behind him laughed. "'Don't kill Cedric!' Who's Cedric, your boyfriend?"

Harry heard a low growl resonate in his head and a sharp pain filled his forehead. The laughter of the males in his cousin's gang got quieter as they seemed to fade into the background.

"Shut up."

"He's going to kill me, mum! Where is your mum?" Dudley taunted. "Where is your mum, Potter? She dead?" The males behind Harry's cousin laughed again. "Is she dead!"

They all started laughing and the pain in Harry's head only worsened as images from the past seemed to appear in his mind. The harsh words his cousin had said made his stomach boil in anger as his head pounded.

His body leaped out of the swing and he tossed his jumper to the side, storming up to his cousin and his' gang. Harry wasn't quite sure what he was doing. His body was moving on its own and his mind was a mess and all he could feel was the pain in his head, drilling into his skull and piercing his brain. Dudley's words repeated on loop in his mind and the agony raging on in his head only worsened.

"Is she dead Pott.." Gasps exited the gang's mouths as Harry approached Dudley and whipped out what appeared to be a stick. He held it against his cousin's cheek and Dudley fell silent.

The boys standing behind Dudley burst into another fit of laughter, not believing that Harry was threatening their leader with something as weak as a stick. It was only too bad that the boys didn't realise that it wasn't just a simple stick, that it was more dangerous then any gun or knife. That what Harry Potter held in his hand was not in fact a stick but a wand.

Dudley panted, the heat from the sun as well as his current predicament most likely causing him to work up a sweat. He realised what was going on. He knew just how dangerous the position he was in was. He knew that the stick wasn't what it seemed and he knew that Harry Potter was not just a simple boy. No, he knew that his cousin was a wizard.

The previous blue sky turned into an ugly grey and the newspapers stranded on the ground blew back into a fence as a sudden wind picked up. The white clouds turned dark and spread across the sky, covering the sun and blocking any warmth that came from it. The warning of thunder sounded as the temperature dropped from the mid-thirty degrees Celsius to something that felt much colder.

The boys stopped laughing and looked around in confusion.

"Dudley. Dudley. Dudley, let's go. Come on. Let's go." They said.

"What's going on?" Said boy asked Harry. "What are you doing?"

Harry blinked, becoming more aware of his own actions as the pain in his head and the repeating of his cousin's earlier words came to a stop. His mind seemed to clear slightly and his eyebrows drew together into a small frown.

"I'm not doing anything!" Harry denied.

"We're getting out of here, Dudley!" The boy's who were a part of Dudley's gang exclaimed, spooked by the sudden change in weather. "Come on, Dudley, hurry up!" They shouted.

Both Harry and Dudley let the boys' voices fade into the background as they looked up at the cloud covered sky. Their hair blew in the wind, Harry's parting to reveal the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

The two males started sprinting away from the park, panting loudly as they ran. They occasionally turned their head to look behind them but neither one of them slowed down.

The previously hot day had turned into one that was preparing to rain in a matter of seconds. They were no longer sweating and if they were then it was from overexertion.

As rain started to pour the two boys managed to reach a tunnel that was dimly lit. The two slowed to a walk and stared at the end of the tunnel where they could see that it was raining heavily outside.

The lights in the tunnel began flickering, creating a quiet but horrible noise. The atmosphere around them suddenly turned freezingly cold and as Harry exhaled his breath was visible.

He wasn't sure what it was but something made him look over his shoulder and he yelled when he saw a dark figure that looked almost like a skeleton floating behind him. It picked him up by the neck and pushed him against the wall, holding him well above the ground. Harry struggled to breath as the petrifying being before him gripped his throat tightly.

"Dudley, run!" The boy managed to say to his cousin who was watching the scene with wide eyes.

His cousin did exactly what he had said, keeping an eye on the creature that was gripping Harry's neck as he slowly started to inch towards the exit. Then Dudley began sprinting but slipped on the wet floor, landing harshly on his back.

"Agh!" He groaned as he slid towards the exit. He looked up just to see another one of the terrifying creatures swoop into the tunnel.

Harry watched his cousin as he choked, turning his head away from the creature with no eyes. It forced him to look at it though and its deformed mouth seemed to suck in something and Harry felt a bone-chilling cold pass over him. He felt drained of all happiness and felt almost dead.

Nearer to the exit, Dudley was lying on the ground, the second eyeless creature looming over him and sucking out whatever it was out of him too.

Harry felt his vision blur and his arm felt numb as his hand reached across to grab his wand out of his pocket. He hit the dark creature away, landing awkwardly on the ground. The scarred male felt his arm again and his mind cleared, he didn't have the horrible feeling of gloom washing over him anymore which he was very much relieved about. Unfortunately, he had dropped his wand and was now staring, eyes wide, at the creature floating before him.

The mysterious skeleton-like figure began to approach him and Harry hurriedly shuffled backwards, not taking his eyes off the skeleton as he felt around for his wand. Just as the sinister being reached out for him, Harry felt his wand and grabbed it, pointing it up at the horrid creature.

"Expecto patronum!" He yelled and a dazzling light appeared from the end of his wand. The brilliant light chased the foul entity out of the tunnel and Harry panted as beads of sweat rolled down his face.

The glasses wearing boy stood up and looked towards where the skeleton-like creature was hovering over his cousin. Harry shot the bright light at the second unnerving being and sent him flying out of the tunnel as well. The dark haired boy hurriedly approached his dazed cousin and kneeled down to get a better look at him. He heard someone and turned around to see his neighbour, Mrs Figg, approaching.

"Mrs Figg."

The woman stopped walking and looked at the dark haired boy. She frowned slightly when she noticed Dudley lying on the ground behind Harry but quickly moved her gaze back up.

"Don't put away your wand, Harry. They might come back." She said.

'Smart woman.' Harry jumped, looking around the tunnel for the owner of the voice. He frowned when he found no one and looked back at Mrs Figg.

"Don't worry Harry. I expect they won't come back just yet. It's better to be prepared though." His neighbour said.

"Did- did you hear that?" Harry asked her, his eyes darting around the tunnel.

Mrs Figg frowned, "Maybe I should walk you home. I don't think he needs to catch a cold on top of what has just happened." She gestured to Dudley.

Harry looked back, towards his cousin before glancing back at the woman.

~{*.*}~

"Dementors in Little Whinging. What next? The whole world's gone topsy-turvy." Mrs Figg said. She and Harry were near to the Dursley's house now and Harry was supporting his cousin who still seemed quite out of it.

"I don't understand." Harry said, looking at Mrs Figg from around Dudley's arm. "How do you know-"

"Dumbledore asked me to keep an eye on you."

"Dumbledore asked you? You know Dumbledore?" Harry questioned.

"Uh-huh." The woman turned her head to look at the fifteen year old. "After You-Know-Who killed that poor Diggory boy last year, did you expect him to let you go wandering on your own? Good Lord, boy! They told me you were intelligent. Now get inside and stay there. Expect someone will be in touch soon. Whatever happens, don't leave the house." She whispered the last part and sent Harry on his way.

The poor teenager struggled as he lugged his cousin over to the front door of their house.

'Hah! She basically called you a dumb-dumb!'

Harry paused. Was he hearing things? It was the same voice that he had heard in the tunnel. It sounded far away but then also loud and internal in a way.. He shook his head, dismissing his line of thought, he was probably just spooked from the day's events.

"Go on, boy!" Mrs Figg exclaimed from behind him, no doubt waiting until he got inside to leave.

The woman looked up at the dark, cloudy sky once the male had started walking again and sighed.

~{*.*}~

The television was on the news and the screen showed a man wearing a blue striped tie talking in front of a map of England that showed the boiling temperatures. Listening to the TV was a woman with dark hair holding a battery-powered fan. She was sitting on the sofa, sweat glossing her skin as she stared at the ceiling of the room she was in.

The woman heard the front door shut and smiled, "Diddykins, is that you?" She called out.

She turned to face the door when it opened and her expression immediately fell when she saw a heavily panting Harry lugging a spaced-out Dudley.

"Duddy. Vernon, come quick." Her voice was shaking slightly as she spoke.

Minutes later and she was sat on the arm of the armchair, next to her son who was still in some sort of daze. Her husband was standing on the other side of Dudley looking down at the boy's pale face.

"We're going to have to take him to hospital." The woman said as she wrapped her arms around her son.

"Who did this to you, boy?" Vernon, Dudley's father, asked him.

Slowly the dark haired boy raised one of his hands to point at Harry. Dudley's parents looked at the boy with the scar.

"Happy, are we, now? Eh? You've finally done it. You've finally driven him loopy!" He gestured to his son.

"Vernon, don't say that!" His wife hissed.

"Well, just look at him, Petunia! Our boy has gone yumpy!" Vernon began walking towards Harry, waving around the spoon in his hand. "I've reached my limit, do you hear? This is the last I'm gonna take of you and your nonsense!"

Just as the man finished speaking an owl entered the room, holding a letter in its beak. It dropped the letter and let out a screech as it landed on the couch. The owl fell to the ground behind the piece of furniture and both Petunia and Vernon took a step back as the letter began to move. It flew into the air, by where the owl was now perched on top of the couch. The animal let out another screech before taking its leave. The letter formed two eyes and a mouth and began to speak.

"Dear Mr Potter." It spoke in a rather posh accent.

"What?" Vernon whispered quietly in the background.

"The Ministry has received intelligence that at six twenty three this evening you performed the Patronus charm in the presence of a Muggle. As a clear violation of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hoping you are well, Mafalda Hopkirk." The eyes and mouth disappeared and the letter fell to the ground.

Harry was left trying to process the fact that he had just been expelled from school. His mind was racing as he internally panicked. He wanted to go to the Ministry and explain exactly what had happened, tell them that he had only used the spell in self-defense and to protect his cousin. Tell them that Dudley already knew about magic, he was sure they already knew all this though. If they knew the exact time of which he had cast the spell they probably knew the reasons why he had done it.

Harry's uncle walked closer to him, waving around the spoon once again. He had an odd expression on his face, his eyes looked to be closed and his lips were separated, showcasing his teeth.

"Justice." Vernon laughed.

After that whole ordeal, Vernon, Petunia and Dudley made their way to the car. They needed to go to the hospital and get some help for Dudley since he could hardly stand on his own. Petunia was whimpering as she opened the car door and Vernon helped his son into the vehicle. As he was doing so he spotted Mrs Figg staring at them from inside her house. She waved at him with a smile and he smiled back, mouthing 'He's not very well.' before getting into the car himself.

Meanwhile, Harry Potter banged his fists against his bedroom wall causing his owl to screech. Something fell of his cabinet and he picked it up.

"Sorry, Hedwig." He apologised to his owl before looking back at the moving picture he grasped in his hands. He sat on his bed, placing the picture down on his side table. It was of his mother and father holding hands. He tore his gaze away from the object and instead fixed his sight on the wall in front of him.

'Jeeze you're so boring! What are you going to do? Stare at that wall for the whole night?' Harry tensed and stood up. He instinctively grabbed his wand, swallowing nervously.

"Who are you?" He narrowed his eyes, looking around the room.

'Oh, no one important!' The mysterious voice spoke. 'Actually, that's a lie..'

Harry's eyebrows furrowed.

'Y'know, I'm kind of surprised I'm able to communicate with you this well.. It took Outer years to tell me apart from herself.'

"Who are you?" The male asked again but all he received was silence. "Who are you?" He tried again.

'Hm? Oh sorry! I got distracted by a stray thought. You have quite the unorganised mind.'

"My mind?" Harry whispered as his frown deepened.

'Yup! By the way, you shouldn't frown so much, it'll give you wrinkles. Wouldn't want to turn out like the third Hokage now would ya?'

"H-hokaga?" He stuttered unsurely. He had never heard that word before, perhaps it was some sort of odd name? The voice had said 'the third' though so that probably wasn't the case. 'Is it some sort of title?' He wondered.

'That's correct! However, it's actually pronounced Ho-ka-ge.'

"You still haven't answered my question." He said.

'Oh right.. I'm Inner..' The voice said, though they sounded a lot less positive then before. 'It's nice to meet ya!'

'Inner? Who would name their child that?' Harry frowned, puzzled by this mysterious being's name.

'Hey! That's rude y'know!'

The blue eyed boy blinked.

'Did- did you just-'

'Read your mind?' The boy was left speechless. 'Goodness, why are you so shocked? You can use magic and summon up a unicorn so why are you surprised that someone can 'read your mind'?'

"But, you just-" It took a moment for Harry's mind to work. "Is this some kind of spell?"

'Nope! And I'm technically not reading your mind either!'

"But then how-"

'How can I tell what you're thinking?'

Harry nodded in response.

'Well, to put it simply, I am in your mind.'

Harry Potter blinked. "What?"

'Neither me or Outer really understand the whole 'Inner in mind' thing and we never really looked into it so I suppose my answer to your one-word question is: I don't know.'

"How do I know what you're saying is true?" The dark haired boy asked carefully. "As far as I know you could be tricking me."

'Hm, suppose that's smart.' The voice continued, "You were born on the thirty first of July in nineteen-eighty. You were born somewhere called Godric's Hollow in England. Your mother is called Lily Potter, maiden name: Lily Evans. Your father is James Potter and your parents died on the thirty first of October, nineteen-eighty-one, they were killed by this Voldemort guy who gave you the scar on your forehead. Ever since your parents' death you've been in the care of your Aunt Petunia and her husband, Vernon. Your cousin is called Dudley. As the Dursleys are unable to use magic they are what is referred to in the magic world as 'Muggles'. They know about the existence of magic but refuse to associate with witches and wizards. They lied to you about your parents' death, telling you that they died in a car accident. They also said that the scar on your forehead came from the accident. Whenever you try and remember it all you can recall is a high and cold laugh. Petunia and Vernon forbid you from asking questions, particularly ones about your parents and in addition refuse to have pictures of Lily and James. They even went as far as to avoid the subject of your parents altogether. They resent you for your magic and neglect you, verbally and emotionally abusing you. They inflict cruel punishments like depriving you of meals and locking you into the cupboard under the stairs whenever something 'unusual' happened. Though you've grown out of the cupboard now so instead you get locked in here. Is that enough? I can continue if you want, you have quite the interesting past.'

Harry's lips were parted in silent shock as he tried to process all that information.

"Are you stalking me?"

'What? No!' Inner screamed. 'I told you before, I'm in your mind. As a result, I have access to your memories and thoughts and well, a lot.'

"But.. where did you come from?" The fifteen year old asked.

'.. Has anyone ever told you that you ask a lot of questions?' Harry frowned. 'Anyway, there are many more important matters to attend to.'

"Like what?" The blue eyed boy asked curiously as he laid down on his bed.

'Like your name.'

"What's wrong with my name?"

'Barry Otter? Shannaro! What kind of name is that?'


A/N: The first chapter of 'Barry Otter? Shannaro!' is finally here!

This took me ages so I really hope you guys like it! I'll go through it all in the future and also, I didn't edit this or write this Author Note on my computer so erm yeah.

The next chapter will feature more of Harry and Inner's conversation but from Inner's point of view (it will also explain more about how he isn't totally freaking out).

I may also add a bit more to this A/N at a later date but this is it for now!

Hope those of you who celebrated Christmas had an amazing time!

Sorry for any mistakes!

Hope you all enjoyed!