Inner opened her eyes and looked around in confusion. She felt.. rejuvenated.. but that couldn't be right. She was sure that she had gone. That she had died in whatever way a being like her did!

A series of memories hit her full force and a shiver ran up and down her spine.

'...' She frowned. 'Well.. this is interesting.'

It appeared that she was no longer in Haruno Sakura's mind. Instead, she was apparently now in the head of some... boy. The male was, according to the flurry of images and voices that had just attacked her, a wizard. It seemed like there were no shinobi in this odd world that consisted of peculiar countries like 'England' and 'America' and 'Japan'. It was as if all shinobi had been replaced by magic users and other creatures. She also noticed that those who wield magic and are a part of the magic society went unknown by regular civilians. In fact, the magic world as a whole seemed to be hidden from the 'regular' world. Inner could see why that was though. This world was a lot more technologically advanced than her own. Magic users would probably be feared and hunted down.

She worried her bottom lip as her frown deepened. She wasn't entirely sure what to do in this situation. Should she make her presence known to this bespectacled male she was now in the head of or should she sit back and observe?

With Outer, she had observed but also voiced her own opinions. She had watched her grow but didn't fail to talk. Inner had made sure Sakura knew of her existence and was always there for her. Now she was in this new mind, in a new world with magic and foreign things that before she would never even have imagined. It was confusing and scary and Inner was lost.

How would her new 'host' react to her existence? How would he feel? Would he even believe her? Would he freak out and think he was insane? Would he think that she was some sort of hallucination?

She had begun making her presence known to Sakura since the pinkette was extremely young but the male she was now in the mind of was fifteen years old! Yes, she had memories of his past (something that happened when one shared a mind) but it wasn't the same as being with him throughout the whole of his life. It was easier to gain Sakura's trust when the pinkette realised she wasn't simply an imaginary friend since she had been with her for pretty much the whole of her life. With this male though, Inner didn't have the same advantage as she did with Sakura. If she popped in out of nowhere who knows what would happen? She most certainly didn't want any magic doctors poking their wands at her new 'host' and examining their mind. If they found her presence and decided that something was going on and determined to turn the bespectacled male into some sort of patient for them to inspect then she would have no problem fighting them off. However, if she did resolve to doing that, she wasn't sure what kind of consequences her actions would bring. It would be unfair for her new 'host' to have to pay for her actions and Inner would much rather not go down that route.

She wasn't even sure how she had gotten transported into someone else's mind- to another world! It was mind-boggling! One moment she was sure she wouldn't ever be sentient again and the next, well, she was in another's mind feeling more alive than she had done in a while.

The male who was now unknowingly housing her in his head was currently on his way to a park. The temperature of the outside world was scorching and Inner couldn't help but feel bad for the bespectacled teenager.

'Hope he doesn't melt. Wait.. no that's witches.. oh! And it's not the heat that they melt from its water.. Odd people in this odd world with their confusing.. words.' She frowned slightly, her lips pursing. 'It's been a while since I've felt like this.. so lost.'

She sighed. Of course, in her last moments in Haruno Sakura's mind she had been pretty much by herself (though technically she had always been alone since Outer was never physically in their mind) but this was different. This time she was in a new world, in a new mind! As soon as she had regained consciousness she had been bombarded with new information about things she had never even heard of before. It was frankly quite overwhelming and Inner was surprised that she and her new headmate weren't suffering a headache.

She shook her head, her eyes following a random thought that was floating around. Her eyebrows furrowed, the ends of her lips pulling down slightly. Her hands rested on her hips as she tapped her foot on whatever ground she stood on repeatedly as she shook her head, her eyes closed.

A tick mark grew on her forehead when a thought ran into her. Inner's facial features scrunched up more and more as more thoughts crowded around her. She yelled in frustration, tossing her arms in the air and waving them around in hopes of getting them all away from her. She pouted and crossed her arms as her eyes followed the many thoughts floating around.

'Right.' She thought. 'First on the agenda: organise mind.'

Inner began shoving away thoughts, beating the more resilient ones with a bat she had created out of thin air. Some disappeared upon coming into contact with her new weapon and others flew around, trying desperately to escape her. She hunted them all down ruthlessly until only one remained. Her eyes narrowed as she settled her gaze on it. She stood across from it, adjusting her grip on her bat.

Without warning she charged at the thought, raising her bat as she leaped into the air. The thought remained still and only when she was about to hit it did it move. It sped off to her left, pausing as she crouched on the ground. Inner felt a tick mark pop into existence somewhere on her head as she glared at the pesky thought.

'Oi!' She yelled. 'Get over here you coward!'

She charged at the thought, swinging her bat at it as a feral grin made its way onto her face. The thought narrowly dodged her attack, stopping behind her. Inner spun around, using her momentum to hit the thought away. It went flying into a net and Inner raised her arms in victory.

'Goal!' She cheered before turning to the side and bowing to an invisible crowd. Her bat along with the net disappeared and Inner stood up straight, pursing her lips as she looked around the dark space that was now her home.

She frowned. Home? This was nothing like the home she knew. Her home was with Outer Sakura. Her home was filled with thoughts of Uchiha Sasuke. Her home was in the Shinobi Nations not.. England! Not the Wizarding World! She was not a magic user, she was a kunoichi! Or at least.. her other half was. She wasn't actually sure whether or not she was one since she was technically a second being who resided in Haruno Sakura's mind... well, not any more. Now she lived in this odd mind that belonged to a teenage boy.

She groaned, why did she have to be put in a teenage boy's mind? Of all the people out there, why was her luck so terrible? Why couldn't she just stay with Sakura? This mind may be a never-ending black void like her old one but it felt very different. It was colder.. more lonely.

She sighed. Hopefully, she would be able to socialise with someone soon, she couldn't keep herself occupied forever and she could only last so long without annoying someone before she turned crazy. Even when her other half couldn't hear her she still made sarcastic comments and said things that she knew would annoy her pink-haired headmate.

A heavy feeling of melancholy brought Inner Sakura out of her depressing line of thought. She frowned, as she scanned the black abyss she was in. Multiple thoughts popped into existence around her and Inner let out a groan.

'Seriously? I just got rid of all the unnecessary thoughts and now this stupid wizard is giving me more to sort out!' She let out a growl.

It wasn't really that big of a deal, she had yet to venture elsewhere in this new mind and she knew that she had a lot to organise in this bespectacled teen's brain but she was feeling grumpy. She had, after all, been completely at peace with the fact that she was slowly fading away and when she thought that it had happened she woke up in the unfamiliar mind of a person who didn't even live in the Shinobi Nations!

All considered, Inner thought that it was completely reasonable for her to be feeling cranky.

She sighed and shook her head. It wasn't the time for her to be immersed in her own thoughts, her new 'host' was feeling gloomy and since their connection had yet to strengthen she couldn't directly hear his musings. In all honesty, she was slightly surprised that she could feel his emotions so strongly, she would've expected it to take a lot longer.

She reached out to the closest thought and her expression softened. The poor male was missing the parents he had never known. He was watching a mother and son leave the park he was at and his heart clenched. He felt a hint of jealousy, wondering why it was his parents who had to die. Wondering what it was even like to have two loving parents to coddle him and tell him how much they love him.

Inner sighed, her eyebrows furrowing. This guy reminded her of a certain blonde and she couldn't help but feel guilty. She felt bad that people had to suffer so much, that many didn't even know what parental love was. It was truly sad. Her new headmate had had his parents taken away from him when he was an infant and grew up having to pretty much be a servant for the only family he had left.

Inner huffed. In her opinion, they most certainly were not family! They were horrible, selfish people who had no sense of honour. They were cruel and Inner desperately wanted to make them feel the pain they had inflicted on her new 'host'. She wanted to cast a genjutsu over them, make them watch the bespectacled teen's life from the beginning; make them feel the pain and sorrow he was forced to face.

The sound of laughter brought her attention back to what was going on in the outside world and the thoughts focused on parents faded away as her new 'host' directed his attention to the laughter.

Inner Sakura narrowed her eyes. She knew exactly who stood in front of her bespectacled headmate. She didn't have to focus on his thoughts to identify the group of males who stood in front of the wizard she was now sharing a brain with.

Dudley Dursley stood, his eyes fixed on her new 'host', he wore a smug smirk on his round face and the four teen males standing behind him were the cause of the laughter. Inner didn't care that this was technically the first time she was encountering them, she had seen, had experienced, her new headmate's memories and she knew that these boys were nothing but trouble.

"Hey, Big D." The sound of her new 'host's' voice caused the laughter to quieten down as the males turned their attention towards him. "Beat up another ten-year-old?"

"This one deserved it." The males behind the bespectacled teen's cousin spoke up, agreeing with Dudley's statement.

"Five against one, very brave."

"Well, you're one to talk. Moaning in your sleep every night? At least I'm not afraid of my pillow." The boys behind Dudley laughed and Inner let out a growl as the teenage male continued to taunt her 'host'.

She wanted to yell, to scream at them to shut up! They were rude, horrible, despicable people! How dare they say such things? Did they not understand that the boy they were using to wind up the bespectacled teen was dead and that said teen had witnessed it? Didn't they understand just how much pain they were causing? How much they were making her headmate suffer? Didn't they understand how traumatic it was for him, how he could only watch as someone he had grown close to was killed, murdered in front of him whilst he could do nothing? It was terrible enough that he had to watch it happen, the one who ended the poor boy's life was none other than the man who had killed his parents! The amount of fear, hatred and sorrow the previous incidents caused him to have were overwhelming. They had etched themselves into his memories forever and it was terrible that these immature, teenage boys were being so inconsiderate! Mentioning the deceased male's name, picking fun at him for having night terrors and for being more brave than all of them combined? Inner wanted to punch each of them into the ground until they finally understood just what they were doing.

Sakura had been bullied all throughout her childhood and at that time Inner hadn't been able to do much more than try and comfort her other half. Even then the pinkette couldn't hear her, her voice drowned out by the young girl's sobs. The bullying had pretty much ended once they graduated and Inner couldn't be more pleased that they had trained under Tsunade. She knew exactly how to send the gang of males flying and she would take pleasure in their pained screams.

"Shut up."

"He's going to kill me, mum! Where is your mum?" Inner froze. "Where is your mum, Potter? She dead?" The males behind Harry's cousin laughed again and Inner trembled in fury. She knew that whatever chakra her headmate had was running through his system wildly. "Is she dead!"

Inner seethed, her fists clenching tightly, her nails harshly digging into her flesh. Images flashed in front of her and she lost it.

It happened in a flash. She was suddenly a lot more aware of the outside world and of the chakra coursing around the teen's body. The swing violently flung back and the jumper that belonged to her headmate was tossed to the side. She was beyond furious. Never mind beating the gang of boys up, she was going to kill them! The bespectacled teen's body moved towards the group and Inner glared at them, making sure that they felt her promise of death. She knew that her and her new 'host's' mind was in shambles but she would worry about that later, in that moment all she could focus on was Dudley's words repeating in her ears over and over and over again. Her blood was beyond the point of boiling and she was ready to kill.

"Is she dead Pott.." Gasps exited the gang's mouths as a thin piece of wood was held against Dudley's face.

Inner would have chosen a kunai over the piece of wood but she supposed it did its job since the Dursley went silent. Then again, the same couldn't be said for the males standing behind him. They burst into laughter and Inner felt her mood darken. Their chakra spiked, reflecting her mood and a sudden wind picked up.

The weather turned from sunny to grey as thunder bellowed from above. The gang of boys looked around, puzzled by the sudden change of atmosphere. The four boys began to call Dudley's name, hoping to get away from the park as soon as possible.

"What's going on?" The Dursley asked, staring straight at Inner's headmate. "What are you doing?"

Inner frowned as she fell back onto the floor of their mindscape, a sudden wave of fatigue washing over her. Their mind calmed down slightly, Dudley's earlier taunts getting quieter and quieter and quieter until they stopped. The images that had flashed in front of her eyes before were now nowhere to be seen but Inner was still fuming. She clenched her fists as tight as she could, squeezing her eyes closed.

It wasn't long until she felt the wild rush of her new host's emotions and she took deep breaths, trying to reign in her anger. Once she deemed herself calm enough not to toss one of those odd metal boxes on wheels at her headmate's cousin she allowed herself to watch what was happening in the outside world through her new 'host's' eyes.

She frowned almost immediately. Something was most definitely wrong. The lights in the tunnel that her headmate and the Dursley were in were flashing on and off, releasing a most irritating buzzing noise. Sure they looked old but something was putting Inner on edge and her senses were going wild. Alarms rang in her mind and she narrowed her eyes when she noticed frost cover the yellow lights.

The puffs of air that left the teenage boys' mouths turned visible as the atmosphere suddenly turned freezingly cold. Inner Sakura felt a presence behind her 'host' and yelled out in warning trying everything she could think of to alert the male.

By some stroke of luck, he looked over his shoulder and Inner blinked at the presence she had picked up on.

'Which grave did he come out of?'

The skeleton-like figure picked her headmate up by the neck and pushed him against the wall. The bespectacled teen's legs dangled in the air, the creature holding him against the wall was floating and he was well above the ground.

"Dudley, run!"

Inner felt a spark of annoyance flare up inside her when she looked towards her 'host's' cousin who was stood with his back against the wall opposite the one her headmate was being held against. The boy was just staring at the scene, not bothering to help at all.

'Quit staring and make yourself useful! Throw that silly chain at the dead thing or something!'

The boy simply listened to the wizard's words, cautiously making a run for it. He began sprinting but slipped on the wet floor, flying into the air and landing on his back. He groaned as he slipped towards the exit of the tunnel, another of those undead-looking beings flying above him.

'Good grief.'

The skeleton thing began doing something and Inner blinked at the sudden sensation. It was like their mind was being embraced by death. There really was no other way of explaining it. She closed her eyes, trying her best to focus on the whole of the mind, spreading her awareness through it. What she discovered almost made her lose her concentration.

'This thing is sucking out all our positive emotions! It's trying to eat our souls!'

She gritted her teeth as she tried to stop it, reaching out to grab ahold of the things that were slowly being whisked away by the skeleton.

'No way am I going to let this happen! Shannaro!' She yelled.

Inner knew that what she was doing wasn't working but what else could she do? The mind and soul were delicate, she couldn't just knock them out of the way of this thing's grasp!

She could feel her 'host's' heartbeat and could easily tell he was panicking. In such a situation there was only one thing she could do but she wasn't even sure it would work. She had only been in this mind for a short period of time, there was no telling what might happen should she successfully do it. What if she accidentally killed the wizard? What if she gives him brain damage or renders him paralysed? She didn't want any of that to happen but then at the same time, she didn't want them to become a shell of their former selves either. What if they do and it affects her? What if she loses all the memories of her time in Haruno Sakura's mind? She couldn't bear the thought of forgetting about Outer Sakura!

Her bottom lip trembled. She knew she couldn't hesitate any longer. She had to make this work.

She focused on the wizard's left arm. Her headmate's eyes were closed as he groaned so Inner couldn't see exactly what she was doing but she didn't let this bother her. She reached for the wand she knew he had put in his right pocket and sent a sudden burst of chakra into the object as she held it up to the skeleton being's featureless face. It created a spark and the creature let her 'host' go. She released her control over his left arm as the boy fell. Unfortunately, he landed awkwardly which caused him to let go of his wand.

Inner couldn't clearly focus on what happened next, for she was too busy dealing with the dizziness that, she guessed, was caused by what she had just done.

When she had recovered she immediately zoned in on what was happening in the outside world, her eyes widening as she watched her headmate send the second skeleton flying out of the tunnel with a magnificent light. She reminded herself to study the short fight at a later date.

The bespectacled teen whom she now shared a mind with rushed over to his cousin who was groaning as he lay in a daze on the ground. Her 'host' was panting and she could see how distressed he was, wondering what to do with the male and what had happened. He began shaking the boy, trying to snap him out of whatever daze he was in.

She sensed someone approaching and her eyebrows furrowed as her 'host' turned to see an old woman. 'Mrs Figg' popped up in their mind and Inner Sakura realised that this was the woman who looked after her headmate every now and again in his youth when the Derpy- Dursleys left. She was their neighbour, one of those crazy cat ladies who carried around multiple photo albums filled to the brim with pictures of the cats she had had over the years. One of those old people who always had a distinct smell of cat food and the one who children with asthma learned to stay away from, lest they inhale the cat hair that clung to her clothes.

In all honesty, Inner was pretty sure she was much more than an old lady who lived with a bunch of cats but she was naturally paranoid so maybe it was just her ninja instincts talking.

'Then again we were taught to never doubt our instincts..'

Her poor headmate was startled by Mrs Figg's sudden appearance and was internally panicking as he tried to keep his wand out of her view. He tucked it into his trousers, covering it with his shirt.

"Mrs Figg."

The woman stopped walking and looked at the male. Her expression turned sour when she noticed Dudley lying on the ground.

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

Inner grinned at the woman's words, immediately deciding that she liked the female. She knew the cat-obsessed woman wasn't all that she seemed and she appeared to be correct! Mrs Figg was cautious and smart, Inner could already tell, she had lived many years without anyone becoming suspicious of her and that made Inner Sakura admire her. The female would make a fabulous ninja.

'Smart woman.' Her grin morphed into a smirk.

Her headmate jumped, looking around the tunnel as if he had heard something but wasn't quite sure where it had come from. Her eyes widened slightly, her previous expression dropping. Inner narrowed her eyes as thoughts popped up around her. It was clear that he had heard her but how? She was sure that he wouldn't be able to for a while since a new entity getting transported so suddenly into someone's mind would surely mean that the brain needed time to adjust before the two entities became aware of one another. Obviously, she was aware of their situation but that was only because she had shared a mind before. Maybe that was why the male had heard her so quickly? Inner really wished that this whole 'Mind Hopping' thing came with an information booklet.

'But he didn't hear me before? Maybe that was a one-time thing? Or perhaps he heard something else?' Inner's eyebrows drew together as she worried her bottom lip. His thoughts were all directed at the 'mystery voice' and so she knew that the likelihood of him having heard anything other than her was almost nonexistent.

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

"Did- did you hear that?" Inner's new headmate asked, his eyes darting around wildly.

'Ok.. so he definitely heard me.' Inner cursed internally, she had really hoped she would have longer to prepare to reveal her presence to him but it was clear it wouldn't be long until he started hearing her more clearly and grew aware of her existence.

"Maybe I should walk you home. I don't think he needs to catch a cold on top of what has just happened." The woman was obviously talking about the derpy-Dursley behind Inner's headmate when she said the last part.

When her 'host' turned back to look at the male, she evaluated his state and winced when she finally processed what had happened.

'That undead creature sucked out his happiness!' She blinked. 'Sure he was a nasty dude but... really? I mean seriously, why would you want this oaf's positivity?'

Inner knew that if her new headmate hadn't reacted in time then the male would have lost his soul but she felt disgusted that the skeleton even wanted his spirit. In her opinion, he was a despicable teenager who had no manners whatsoever. She felt like vomiting at the idea of touching him, let alone basically kissing him and sucking out his soul!

She grimaced, her tongue escaping her mouth. 'Yuck!'

~{*.*}~

The bespectacled teen she now shared a mind with was lugging his cousin towards the building they lived in, the old cat lady talking as they walked. The house was in view and Inner yawned as she listened to Mrs Figg with half an ear. In all honesty, she wasn't overly bothered about what she was saying- she was mainly complaining about how there were Dementors in Little Whinging. Dementors were the odd skeleton beings who had previously attacked her new 'host' and his cousin, she had already been aware of what they were called before but she preferred to call them 'undead thingy' or 'dead thing' or 'skeleton', you get the gist.

"I don't understand." Her headmate said, looking at Mrs Figg. "How do you know-"

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

"Dumbledore asked you? You know Dumbledore?" Inner massaged her temples, the teenage boy sure did ask a lot of questions.

The lady hummed an affirmative. "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." Inner sniggered. "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 the male on his way.

Her giggles echoed in their mindscape as the bespectacled teen lugged his cousin towards the front door.

'Hah! She basically called you a dumb-dumb!' She collapsed onto the ground, holding her abdomen as she laughed. Her stomach began to hurt and in between her laughter, she struggled to inhale.

What the woman had said was obviously not hilarious enough to cause such a reaction but it had been a long while since Inner had had a source of entertainment. She missed it and being able to laugh freely was something she had been yearning for. She had laughed before but as Outer Sakura slowly forgot about her presence, laughing had become lonely. She wasn't able to joke around with her Outer and make unnecessary comments- which her other half would berate her for. She wasn't able to have an actual conversation with someone and in the last weeks of her being with Outer Sakura she hadn't had the energy to laugh. All she could do was sit in misery and reflect on the past. The only job she had as her energy slowly drained was helping Outer store chakra into their slowly developing seal and after a while, even that job was taken from her.

She had been truly lonely and being able to laugh again- even if it was an overreaction- was a wonderful thing.

Her pleasant mood was interrupted by a storm of thoughts and her mood immediately soured. The boy had heard her. He had recognised her as the same voice he had heard earlier. He had dismissed his thoughts however Inner knew that it was only a matter of time before her new headmate discovered her presence.

'Dang it! How can he hear me? Shouldn't it be a while longer until he starts hearing inklings?' She gritted her teeth as she felt panic flare up within her.

She had thought she had a lot longer before the teenager noticed her. She thought she would be able to plan it out. She had assumed that it would take time for the brain to adjust, she hadn't ever been in this situation before and she hated it! She felt anxious and scared, the fact that she couldn't come up with a solution and a way to delay the development made butterflies arise within her stomach and fly around her insides, making her feel ill.

She rubbed her eyes harshly, blinking away the tears that blurred her vision. It was silly to cry over such things. She would just have to adapt and plan ahead.

She knew that with the way things were going, it was most likely that the male would find out about her sooner rather than later. She knew she would prefer to reveal herself than wait for him to learn of her, so that meant she would have to expose herself. She had to figure out when he could hear her clearly because she didn't want to announce her presence and then leave him sputtering without an explanation. She didn't want her 'host' to have a heart attack after all.

Inner nibbled on her bottom lip and decided that she would give herself a small while to think through what she was going to say and the next time the boy heard her she would give explaining to him about her existence a go. Obviously whatever explanation she gave him would be.. confusing to say the least but even she didn't completely understand how she got in this predicament, so it would probably be decently accurate.

The sudden anxiety her new headmate was feeling broke her out of her own worries and Inner zoned in on the outside world, her brows furrowing slightly. His emotions were rushing around his head and Inner felt dizzy just watching. She soon recovered when she processed what was going on and all the previous feelings she had turned to anger.

Her headmate had somehow managed to lug his cousin into the house, which was actually quite impressive considering the boy was much taller and of a heavier build than him. He made it to the living room where a certain female sat, her face turning into one of despair as her eyes examined her son's form. She called for her husband and the two then checked over the pale boy.

None of this was what caused her to grit her teeth and set her narrowed eyes in a glare though. No, that was caused by the events that took place next. The plump male who was unfortunately her host's uncle had asked the sickly-looking boy who the cause of.. whatever had happened to him was and the blasted male had the audacity to raise his chubby arm and point it straight at them!

Her poor headmate then had to endure a lecture whilst a silver spoon was waved around in the air. As if the situation wasn't bad enough, an owl arrived dropping a letter on the couch. The letter, which was actually an envelope, rose into the air and began to talk, a face somehow creating itself out of the features of the object.

Inner had to admit that somewhere under her anger she was blown away by one: how an object that was not supposed to be sentient was somehow speaking and moving (and not to mention levitating). Two: that its facts were shockingly accurate (this was actually quite creepy); and three: that it had the guts to say such things to her new host!

Just the feeling of heartbreak and disbelief that emanated from the poor teenager was enough to send her spiralling out of control. How dare they- whoever they were- expel him! Didn't they realise that the only reason he had unleashed his almighty wizardy powers was because if he hadn't he would've been kissed by some undead being? Not to mention the fact that he had literally saved that ungrateful cousin of his! She was fuming that he had the nerve to out the poor boy even after he saved him.

Inner was also annoyed by how her headmate's inner thoughts made sense. For a moment he had been as spellbound as she was but then he brought up a good point about how they probably knew every little bit about what happened since they already knew the exact time and spell he had used during the event. The reasoning of her host made her settle down- only slightly but it did all the same.

She soon reverted back, however, when the oldest male of the stupid Dursleys grinned with that annoying pink face of his and spoke one word which in Inner's opinion was the last word in the dictionary that she would use to describe the situation. She decided that she couldn't wait to reveal herself to this new world and that one of the first things on her to-do list would be to give the Dursleys a good punch to their face. Who knows? Maybe they'll lose a few teeth!

~{*.*}~

A loud screech tore through an owl's throat as her owner banged his fists against the wall of his bedroom. The teenager took a step back when he noticed a familiar object lying on the ground, he picked it up, examining it closely.

"Sorry, Hedwig." The boy apologised to his owl who let out a soft noise in response.

The teenager placed the object down on his side table, his blue eyes staring at the moving image through the lenses of his circular glasses. He then faced the wall that stood opposite him from his place on his bed.

'Jeeze you're so boring! What are you going to do? Stare at that wall for the whole night?' The boy jumped, his body tensing as he stood up, wand in hand. In his mindscape, a certain entity let out a silent cackle, amused by his reaction.

She had come to the decision that now was better than later and as a result, had used his intense emotions to her advantage. The boy was naturally adapting to her presence at a rapid rate so once she got over the initial shock she found it was quite handy. As much as she hated to use such raw emotions that had been created from a negative situation, Inner decided that it would be best to take control of the matter whilst the boy was alone and in his own territory. The room they were in wasn't the most ideal example of his territory but it was the best she could do in their current surroundings. He had been brought up rather harshly in this building and only once he grew too big for the small space under the stairs was he allowed to move into a proper bedroom. Usually, a bedroom would be the owner's safe space but to the male, his school was actually where he felt most secure. After the earlier events, Inner decided that they most likely would not be returning to the castle where he and his friends resided for the majority of the year and so found that ultimately this was probably the closest thing to a secure space the teenage boy now had. Being in a place he was familiar with would hopefully make him more calm, unfortunately, the room was quite small and the thought that something unknown had possibly gained entry to his safe place probably had the opposite effect to what Inner was trying to achieve.

Anyway, she hoped to utilise his fragile state by explaining her presence to him. Since his emotions were everywhere and she currently resided in his mind and was partly able to manipulate his thoughts and feelings as well as other things she hoped that it would mean that they could communicate reasonably clearly. As he appeared to have heard what she had just said it seemed like it was working (then again that might just be one of the random times he happens to hear her).

"Who are you?" She found it cute how he was looking around the dimly lit room, hoping to catch a glance at the one who owned the voice he had just heard.

'Oh, no one important!' She hummed, an innocent closed-eyed smile on her face. 'Actually, that's a lie..'

She put a finger to her chin, internally chuckling as she felt confusion bubble up inside him.

'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.' Inner truly was impressed that she was able to hold up such a clear line of communication with him. It felt exciting to finally be able to talk to someone other than herself.

She heard the familiar rumble of the male's voice but her concentration was captured by a thought that had popped into existence not too far from her. It was moving up and down at a slow pace but not moving in any other way. Frowning, Inner Sakura made her way over to it, holding out her right hand as her trusty baseball bat materialised out of nowhere. She gripped it tightly and swung it back before releasing the force of her strike onto the thought, a wide grin on her face.

She focused back in on what her headmate was saying once her bat disappeared.

"Who are you?"

'Hm? Oh sorry! I got distracted by a stray thought. You have quite the unorganised mind.' She pouted as she glanced off to her right, a crowd of thoughts making themselves known.

"My mind?" She turned her attention away from the crowd, a grin once again appearing on her face.

'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, it was obvious that the word was foreign to him and Inner choked on her laughter at his poor attempt at pronouncing the title.

Her laughter immediately ended, however, when a new wave of thoughts hit her.

'Is it some sort of title?' She could hear him wonder and her face immediately lit up again as she nodded as if the male could somehow see her.

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

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

Inner frowned at his words, cherry blossom pink filling her mind as a blurry image of the back of someone's head invaded her senses. Long pink locks got blown around by the wind, the distant view of an all too familiar village filling her with a deep sense of longing.

'Oh right.. I'm Inner..' She swallowed, hating how weak her voice sounded to her own ears. 'It's nice to meet ya!'

'Inner? Who would name their child that?' She frowned.

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

She felt the male freeze and sighed. She knew what was coming next and right on queue another onslaught of thoughts fired straight at her. It was only to be expected, after all, it was but a matter of time before he found out that she was in his mind and that nothing of his was private anymore. She knew pretty much everything he did after all and she was sure that that wouldn't at all be easy to process. It was only because of her that the male wasn't totally freaking out, she was keeping his emotions mostly under control, firing small amounts of melatonin and serotonin through his system to keep him relatively calm.

'Did- did you just-'

'Read your mind?' The boy was left speechless and the pinkette sighed. '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-" Inner gave him a moment to get the words out of his mouth. "Is this some kind of spell?"

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

"But then how-"

'How can I tell what you're thinking?' Her smile widened.

The male, unable to speak resorted to nodding and the rosette chuckled quietly to herself. She was rather looking forward to seeing what his reaction would be.

'Well, to put it simply, I am in your mind.' She figured it was better to just get straight to the point, there was no point beating around the bush, right?

Her headmate blinked and she could tell he was struggling to comprehend what she had said. "What?"

'Neither me nor 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.' A wide grin lit up her face as her eyes crinkled.

"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."

It was clear he was suspicious, thoughts racing around his mind.

'Hm, suppose that's smart.' She muttered. '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' happens. 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.'

Inner supposed that having access to the boy's memories paid off, though the headache she had gotten when she first woke up in the boy's head after getting the army of past events attack her was most certainly not appreciated.

Multiple thoughts popped up around her and she sighed. She had been expecting this kind of reaction but it was still slightly overwhelming and didn't fail to annoy her. Since she had been with Outer for as long as she could remember (except recently) their mind had always been reasonably organised. This male's however, was the opposite of organised, thoughts were scattered around the place, emotions whirling around uncontrollably and his memories were a complete mess. She honestly wouldn't be surprised if he had suffered a migraine every day before her arrival.

"Are you stalking me?"

It took a moment for her to process those words and when she did her expression morphed into one of disbelief and outrage.

'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.

Inner paused. She wasn't completely sure how to answer that. She knew she had come from Konohagakure which was in the Fire Country that resided in the Shinobi Nations but England? Before she had woken up in the young wizard's mind she hadn't even heard of such a place. She didn't feel fully comfortable explaining her whole history to the male. She understood that they were headmates now and that she knew pretty much everything about the male but none of that was her choice. She didn't choose to be thrown out of her world into one that was foreign to her. She understood that it might seem unfair that she wasn't willing to share her past with him since she knew about his but even with all his memories this was the first proper conversation she was having with the male. Some might argue that she knew him better than most, what with being in his mind and in some ways that was true. The way Inner saw it though was she had only just met the guy and had his whole life imported in her head. She was still struggling to get over the fact she was no longer home. She knew that it was important to be open with one she shared a mind with because they were two entities having to share a life and she would share her past with him but only when she was ready.

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

"Like what?" She smirked at the boy's question.

'Like your name.'

"What's wrong with my name?"

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

A familiar grin lit Inner's face up. Her signature catchphrase caused a flame of excitement to ignite inside her. She always got a feeling of euphoria firing through her system when the word left her mouth, it made her feel excited and energetic. It was amazing how so many different feelings could be created from such a thing. It was familiar, one of the things that she still had that reminded her of home.

"Wait a second.. Wh-What did you just call me?" Her new headmate stammered.

'Barry Otter, what else would I call you?' She blinked innocently.

"T-that's not my name.. I'm not called Barry Otter, I'm Harry Potter!" His expression was one of a disbelieving frown, his stuttering thoughts indicating to Inner what he was feeling without her even needing to check his emotions. "If you're really in my mind then how come you don't even know something as simple as my name?"

'Gosh, you're troublesome.. Gah! Now I sound like Shikamaru!'

"Shika-who now?" Her confused headmate muttered, his frown deepening.

'Gosh, don't you listen! Stop frowning!' She threw her hands up into the air. 'And don't worry about Shikamaru, he's just a pineapple-head who is as lazy as he is smart.'

"Ok?" The male shook his head. "Wait a minute, don't change the topic! How can you know so much about me and still not know my name?"

The entity sighed. 'That is complicated.' She took a deep breath before continuing. 'Anyway, can you explain to me why you're keeping your animal familiar in a cage?'

"Hedwig? The Dursleys don't like it when I let her out so she usually stays in there unless I'm at school or if I need to send a letter to someone. Also, what do you mean by it's complicated? How can my name be complicated?"

'To me, it looks like animal cruelty, let 'im free!' Inner yelled, arms above her head and multiple birds flying around above her.

Harry winced, a sudden headache starting to form, his head was vibrating from the booming voice of whatever entity had invaded his mind.

'I did not invade your mind! At least not on purpose..' Inner frowned, adopting a thoughtful pose.

Technically she had come to be in his mind without his permission but at the same time, she hadn't exactly had a choice in the matter either. If it were up to her she would be back in Sakura's mind in the Shinobi Nations, watching as her other half grew up. Never had she wished to be in some teenage boy's head, in a land that was unfamiliar to her. She especially hadn't wanted to share a mind with someone who had a name like Barry Otter, talk about embarrassing!

She was quickly growing annoyed by all the thoughts that continued to pester her with their presence. Her new headmate didn't trust her, he seemed hesitant about what she had said, even when she had summed up his past. She could feel his uncertainty just as she could his curiosity.

She had caught his interest but hadn't earned his trust. The male was smart to not let down his guard but it did make it harder for her to reason with him and explain to him their current situation which she herself couldn't fully grasp. She could, in a very minor way, manipulate his emotions and thoughts but there were no words to describe how badly she didn't want to do that. She only ever sent small bursts of different hormones through her host's body in order to calm them down, make them feel energised or ignite some other kind of emotion in them. Very rarely did she do anything with their thoughts, mainly just trying to keep them under control in hopes of helping her headmate keep a clear mind - it also provided her more peace and when they had a tidy mind she was able to relax and watch the outside world without thoughts and memories barging into her.

'Now, I understand your hesitancy but don't you think you have other, more important things to worry about?' She realised she had used the same words to divert the boy's attention earlier but she already had a migraine from the many thoughts and emotions rushing around. 'You did just get expelled from your school, shouldn't you be trying to come up with something in order to regain entry?'

A wave of negative feelings washed over the mind and Inner sighed. It appeared her words had reminded the male about his current predicament.

"So I shouldn't bother concerning myself with the voice that suddenly popped up in my head?"

'What? Oh, you mean the voice you've been conversing with for the last... how long has it been?' She smirked.

His reaction along with the many emotions and thoughts that came to exist from her words made a laugh escape her throat. Her giggles echoed through the head of the young wizard who only grew more annoyed, his face growing warm.

"Will you shut up? Why are you here? Stop taunting me!" He exclaimed a string of demands.

Inner smirked. 'Getting so worked up over a few words uttered by little young me? My, we really are off to a good start in this relationship!'

A wide grin lit up her face and confusion along with anger created ripples through the mindscape.

"Relationship? What do you mean by that? Answer me!" The boy yelled and Inner was surprised that none of the neighbours had knocked on the door yet, what with the level of volume her headmate's voice was reaching.

'Gosh, no need to yell, I can hear you just fine. Do all people in this world ask as many questions as you do?' More thoughts appeared and Inner rolled her eyes, waving a hand around in the air in order to dismiss them. 'I know, I know but you really need to be more patient, I will get to answering all your inquiries in time but first you need to allow me to say what I need to. As I mentioned earlier, I find it a mix of bewildering and impressive how your mind seems to be adapting to housing not one but two entities but I do not know for how long we'll be able to communicate on this level of clarity.'

Her new headmate paused, expression morphing into a frown. The female tried to range in her annoyance at all the assumptions that filled the void around her, with the teenage male finally silent -at least externally- Inner Sakura knew that it was time that she explained a bit of what she knew of their current situation to him.

'I'll try and explain this as quick and as simple as I can. I am Inner and you are Barry. You are a wizard and I'm a..' She hesitated. Could she even call herself a ninja? Technically it was Outer Sakura who had earned that title but did it carry on to her by default? She knew everything her other half did and knew how to utilise all their skills but she hadn't gone through any of the exams, hadn't done any real fieldwork. Was it wrong of her to say that she was a shinobi? A proud kunoichi of Konohagakure? She swallowed before continuing, ignoring the stuttering thoughts and claims moving around her about the boy's name not really being Barry. 'I am a girl like you're a boy. Now, I have no idea why or how I came to be in your mind so stop asking. I don't know how long I will be here, could be forever or it could be for a couple of hours. I am not an enemy and do not wish you any harm.'

She decided not to mention the strong urge she felt to hit him over the head, determining that it probably wouldn't be very helpful in her current predicament. As she talked, she tried her very best not to let the thoughts popping up around her bother or distract her, she wasn't sure how long she had to explain the situation to the boy and didn't want to risk getting distracted again.

'I understand that this is all quite alarming and I assure you that if it were up to me I would not be here. I'm afraid that as far as I know we don't have a choice in the matter so we'll just have to make do. Having someone you don't know suddenly pop up in your mind is scary, I understand. You are in the middle of a mess that is already spiralling out of control and having me here is probably the last thing you need and this is easier said than done but this will be less challenging if we trust each other. Trusting someone is tough, I know and you don't have to do so right away, just believing that I hold no ill will towards you is enough.'

She could tell by his unclear thoughts that he was confused and unsure as to what was going on so she sent another wave of serotonin through his system in hopes of calming him. She was careful to not overload him with the hormone, her only target was to help him keep a cool head, she didn't want to be the cause of anything negative at the moment. It would be terrible if she lost all she had worked up to in this moment, she wouldn't be able to bear another speech so soon. She was truly beginning to mirror Naruto and that thought alone was exhausting.

'I need to get to Hogwarts.. maybe Dumbledore will be able to get this voice out of my head.'

Her mood hit an all-time low and she didn't have the energy to retaliate. She was aware that the boy had forgotten that she could hear his thoughts, how, she didn't know. You would think that that would be at the front of his mind considering that most would probably find it an uncomfortable invasion of privacy but he was an exception, apparently.

"Fine, whatever."

She knew he was anything but genuine however, she decided not to push the matter any further, satisfied that he would hopefully learn that no spell the headmaster of his former school would cast could banish her from his mind. Although she was, by far, no expert on magic, she knew enough to be certain that unless whatever brought her to his mind undid whatever had caused the unideal transition, there was little to no chance of her being separated from the male. She was from another world after all; a simple spell wouldn't be enough to banish her from the young wizard's mind. She sensed that the discovery of their current predicament hadn't fully registered to him and that when he finally comprehended the graveness of their situation, he would more than likely have some kind of breakdown. Inner knew how hormonal and over-dramatic teenagers could be, especially ones his age.

The female wasn't even sure if the bespectacled teen had realised that getting to his old headmaster would be quite the challenge considering he was now expelled from his wizarding school. Although she didn't want to face an outburst from her new headmate- especially since he still didn't trust her- Inner felt it important to jog his memory.

'So, now that you've gotten expelled from that school of yours where do you think you'll be attending; I presume those idiot relatives of yours will be the ones to decide your fate?'

A groan resonated through their shared mind and in the outside world, the male ran his hands down his face, rubbing his eyes behind the lenses of his circular glasses.

'Also since we're pretty much stuck with each other, I feel it important to set some ground rules.' She cleared her throat, a pair of glasses appearing on the bridge of her nose. Her eyes peered through the lenses at the long piece of parchment that she held in her hands. 'Respect me and everything I say. If you do not follow this rule do not blame me if you wake up the next day with a migraine. Do not invade my privacy, if I do not wish to answer a question that you have then I am not required to. Do not make me do any of your work, I don't care if you think I should because we share a mind; I already sat through it all and magic school sounds ridiculous. Don't give me attitude and for the sake of my sanity and this world's safety do not make me deal with any of your teenage nonsense. I haven't had too much time to think about this so I may add some things later on. Your name is horrible so we'll have to change it and we need to discuss animal rights, also when I ask you to do something, say.. punch that derpy cousin of yours square in the face with all your might, don't question it and do as I say. Sound good? Good.'

The boy had no time to properly voice his befuddlement, the piece of paper she had been reading off of disappearing alongside the glasses that had magically appeared. Inner, albeit grumpy about her new surroundings, hadn't felt quite so energised in a long while and having someone who finally heard her allowed her to release all the pent-up energy she now carried.

'I hope you know that your mind is not a fun place to be in, one would think a torpedo ran through here.' She crossed her arms, eyes following an imaginary missile as it shot past her. 'And now because of your mess of a mind, I'm sounding like a neat freak!'

Her hands shot up as she waved them around in an act of exasperation. She truly was not that bothered about a bit of mess but when it came to someone's thoughts running around with a wild flurry of emotions that were tangled with a few memories, that in her eyes was unacceptable. Not to mention it gave her and her headmate a nasty headache. She hated to think what state his mind would be in, in ten years if not for her abrupt arrival.

"Could've fooled me.." Her headmate mumbled.

Inner's eyes widened, jaw becoming unhinged as feelings of incredulity hit her like a ton of bricks. The nerve of this guy! Did he not realise what she could do to him? Just how much power she possessed!

The young male's face scrunched up, a sudden migraine ringing through his mind. He held back a groan, hands gripping his pounding head.

'I'll have you know that I also don't take kindly to such remarks. Don't talk back to me.' She crossed her arms over her chest.

She could hear his echoing thoughts, how he was questioning the sudden blossoming of pain. Inner winced slightly, she hadn't expected such a reaction, aiming to only give him a small headache, she hadn't considered that he was more sensitive, it did make sense and she found it reasonable to assume the mind, although accepting her presence extraordinarily quickly, was probably having to keep up with a lot more then it was used to. It was probable that any action she took affected their tender brain in some way, meaning she would have to be more careful. She would probably need to start figuring out ways to help it with the adjustment, the strain of keeping up with multiple entities, especially when one was forced into it, could cause unpleasant side effects.

"I thought you said you didn't wish me any harm!" He hissed.

'I did warn you that any disrespect would not be tolerated.' She purposely failed to mention what she had just discovered, coming to the conclusion that the male either wouldn't believe her or would do something foolish like accusing her of making up lies or being the cause of the problem. Even if he was aware of the situation, Inner doubted there was anything he could do about it.

"Isn't it disrespectful of you to suddenly pop into my mind and begin deciding rules and dishing out punishments?"

The male had a point but she wasn't going to live for however long she was doomed to occupy his mind without setting some boundaries. Normally she was all for breaking the rules - unless it led to something foolish but then it was always Naruto who did that- however, she was previously an occupant of a world full of shinobi; where the world lived by a kill or be killed law. They ran five-year-olds through rule books and had them memorise every word in them, teaching them that they were to have no emotions; that they were nothing more than disposable tools. Even while in the depths of Sakura's mind her life still contained these regulations and whether or not the rules in the Shinobi Nations were deemed immoral in this new land she deemed it mandatory to have some set in place; she despised the thought of this new mind failing because they were a wreck.

'Excuse me for being responsible!' She huffed. 'Now, how about we figure out how to get you back to school.. or better yet we brainstorm ways of getting revenge on the derpy Dursleys!'

Although she was concerned about overloading his mind, especially in the boy's current state, Inner had waited longer than she could even think back upon for someone to hear her, for someone to have a proper conversation with her and while this wizarding teen was probably the last person she had ever imagined being the one to set her free from her solitary entrapment, where voices and happenings of the outside world haunted her knowledge but the only connection she had to it all was slowly beginning to fade away as unknown forces drained her of all she had once had, he could hear her. How long had it actually been since she had last felt such relief? She was an extrovert, someone who was extremely loud and social, she thrived when the centre of attention but the only attention she had ever had was her counterparts. Now though, she had a new headmate and two new worlds to take by storm. Inner Sakura was determined not to face the same fate she had whilst in the mind of Haruno Sakura, she wasn't going to allow anyone to make her fall silent ever again. Such a punishment was too cruel, especially for one who already beard shackles and was confined to a void of never-ending darkness.


A/N: Hey everybody, sorry for the long wait. While writing this I went through multiple series of writer's block and was still trying to keep up with my other stories. I also had to wait a while before editing because I was sick and couldn't find it in myself to go through ten thousand words.

I am planning to update this story less frequently compared to my others but the chapters will be a lot longer (as you may be able to tell). I also apologise that this chapter repeated a lot of what happened in the first; I wanted this to be told more from Inner's point of view and to hold a bit more of an explanation as to how Harry isn't totally freaking out- plus it also features more of their conversation. This is likely the only chapter that will repeat the one before it (at least for a while) as Inner and Harry are now more aware of each other and the former isn't having to keep herself a secret.

By the way, am I writing Harry correctly? This is the first time I have properly tried and I've put a lot of thought into his personality, please let me know!

I know I keep apologising but I am truly sorry for not publishing more, as I have started making my chapters longer, it has become more challenging to keep up with a steady schedule and although you have all been so patient and understanding I can't help but feel bad. I am in the middle of the next chapters of The Haruno Clan's Blossom and Sakura Haruno (Child Prodigy) and will start writing the next chapter of Out of Place soon- I've been holding off because I know it's an important one.

I think this is all I wanted to say, if not I may add whatever else in at a later date.

Sorry for any mistakes!

Hope you enjoyed!