ZERO / BLEACH / TWIST / REVERSE / DYE (here) / RED

All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together. -Jack Kerouac

She had let her guard down. Her heart thundered so hard against the inside of her chest that it was a wonder that it hadn't cracked right through the bone.

She had forgotten to set a barrier up. A child's mistake. The most fundamental of fundamental errors.

Was it the smell of magic that drew him? Did he sense something? It didn't matter how. But Madara appeared in her open door, a cocky smile on his lips. A sarcastic remark readied on his tongue. Maybe even a compliment or two if he was in the right mood.

Instead, Madara's red eyes were burning as he took in the fine mesh of magic draped across her lap. And even though she wasn't doing anything wrong, she dissipated the spell and rushed to stuff her hands into her pockets.

"Hi, Papa. What's up?" she tried to keep her tone light. But even she could hear her voice quiver.

As Madara's eyes moved to her, a chill ran up Sakura's spine. She was suddenly reminded over the creature she sometimes saw in her dreams. Its open mouth dripping, hollow eyes steaming as it moaned from afar. It was the same Madara. The same face. The same person. But the way he looked at her was the most alien thing she could imagine.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he demanded.

She had blown up dozens of potions. Accidentally set the apartment on fire. Stayed out too late. Come home drunk from a friend's party. Each time, she had expected Madara to throw her out onto the sidewalk with her suitcase.

Most of the time, though, he just laughed. Rubbing his chin as he took in the soot or her hangover.

Well, kid, you fucked up. Did you at least learn something?

It wasn't that Madara didn't get mad. In fact, he was mad over something or the other most of the time. But that anger was always directed at someone else.

So she was wholly unprepared for the look on Madara's face to be focused on her. The rage. The suspicion. The feeling that she was looking at a stranger. How was it possible to ache for her father when he was standing right in front of her?

"Answer me. Where did you learn to do that?" his voice even sharper now. When she fumbled for an answer, the furrow between his eyebrows deepened. He reached his hand out to her.

She panicked.

"No!"

A barrier exploded from her palm. A fine mesh of white magic spiraled out around her. When Madara's hand touched it, it sliced the tips of his fingers. Blood misted across the barrier, sizzling as it evaporated against the humming threads of magic.

"Sakura!"

She shoved past him. Her palm pressed firmly to her heart, feeling it thunder away as she ran down the stairs. The scrying bones in the pocket of her hoodie were hot. They were hissing in a cacophony of angry voices.

Foolish child.

Do not give it away.

Don't look back.

"Sakura!"

She begged the wind to slam the door shut behind her. To please hold him back long enough for her to go somewhere. Anywhere.

It was only when she was a few blocks away from home that she realized that she was barefoot. Not that any of that mattered. As long as she was alive. As long as… as long as what?

She ended up at the dream shop. She had layered barrier upon barrier over the shop. But they all came peeling away, shriveled threads of magic dissolving into nothing as her panicking hands refused to cast the wards correctly. Instead, she curled up in the break room, shivering and wheezing as she tried to listen for approaching footsteps.

Sakura hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep until she opened her eyes.

Her own face was staring down at her. Her hand was pressed to her side. There was still red staining her white dress. How had she never noticed that? That her other self was dressed in a frilly white gown- the kind that grannies wore to bed.

"I'm sorry," her other self said, grimacing.

"What?"

"I never meant to scare you like this. We never meant to hurt anyone," her other self insisted. Her eyes were sunken in. Dark smudges under them made it look like she hadn't rested in a long time. She had never looked tired before.

Sakura felt her breathing turn jagged. She sucked in a long, shaky breath before it turned into a sob. "I don't want to do this anymore," she wailed. "I just want to wake up. I want to go home."

Another thing that had never happened before. She felt warm arms envelop her. The scent of ash and ruin but also something unbearably sweet flooded her nose. Her other self embraced her tightly. Rocking her back and forth the way she had seen mothers do in movies and on TV.

"I'm so sorry. You're almost there," her other self whispered.

"I hate us," Sakura caught herself mumbling as she opened her eyes.

Shisui was standing in the doorway. He had missed a button on his jacket and the entire thing hung askew. He was whispering to a very unshaven Itachi. It was hard to tell what expression they were making when they realized that she was awake. The tears spilling from her eyes made it hard to focus on those kinds of details. She tried to rub them away.

"What-" she croaked.

"Your friend Ino. Says her tracking spell caught you running like crazy. She called me," Shisui interrupted before she could even finish the question. Itachi's head disappeared for a moment as Sasuke pushed his way into the room. There was a mug in his hand. Sparkling blue smoke rose from it as he knelt beside her.

"Stupid. We're right here. What're you freaking out alone for?" he grumbled as he pushed the mug into her hands. And then he was tugging at the blankets in her lap that hadn't been there before.

"Running around without shoes on in December. Crazy woman," Sasuke went on complaining as he pulled the blankets up to cover her stomach.

Itachi shook his head, almost smiling. "I'll leave you with mother hen. I'm going to be outside keeping watch. Try to get some rest."

Shisui closed the door. He slid down to sit right in front of, leaning all his weight against it. He fold his arms across his chest. Closed his eyes. Making it clear that he intended to sleep right there.

"Drink it. You'll feel better," Sasuke urged. He was still scowling.

"You're not going to ask me what happened?" Sakura inquired.

Sasuke's frown deepened. He sat down beside her, folding his legs to squish into the narrow space with her.

"I mean, do you want me to?" he asked.

Shisui cracked one eye open.

"Not really."

Shisui closed his eye again.

"Okay. Then drink that and go to sleep," Sasuke ordered.

The potion contained some sort of infusion of chamomile and lavender. She fell asleep faster than she thought was possible. It may not have tasted great, but at the very least, Sasuke's potion was effective.

It was one of the rare nights that she didn't remember her dreams at all. Maybe she'd encountered her other self. Maybe not. But when she woke, Sasuke was gone and Itachi and Shisui were sprawled out in the corner by the door. Shisui's heel was up on the wall while Itachi lay twisted with his head crammed against the cabinet door. All it took was for her to move her blankets a little. Itachi jolted upright, his hair sticking up in every possible direction.

"Are you okay?" he demanded.

"Are you?" Sakura asked in return, trying not to laugh.

"She is if she's bullying you," groaned Shisui, still lying on the floor. He stretched his arms and slapped Itachi in the face by accident.

"Ow."

"Sorry."

They left the back room to find Sasuke slumped over the front counter. His eyes were bloodshot but he was awake.

"What's the plan?" he questioned.

They exchanged weary glances. Madara and Sakura's apartment was closest to the shop. But for obvious reasons, no one suggested going there. Instead, Shisui pointed at himself. When no one protested, they all piled out of the shop to take the subway to his place. They didn't really speak until they were in the safety of Shisui's apartment. And only after Sakura had cast a triple layer of barriers over the place. This time, the shields stayed up. Itachi rapped his knuckles against the edge of the shield as he walked past. Shisui let out a whistle as he surveyed the perfect grid of threads holding the spell together.

"What a beauty. This thing could survive a bomb going off, I think," Shisui commented.

"It's perfect. You've really been practicing," Itachi agreed. But Sakura couldn't respond to them because Sasuke was making impatient grabbing motions with his hands.

"Hand it over," Sasuke demanded. Sighing, Sakura pulled her phone out of her jacket and smacked it into his waiting palm.

"Do you want me to read it to you?" Sasuke asked as he swiped in her passcode. Sakura slumped down on the sofa, rubbing her face with her hands. Sasuke sat on the ground, leaning his elbows on the coffee table.

"Yes. Wait, no."

Sasuke's eyes darted back and forth as he flicked through her notifications. Then his eyes and his hands went very still. He exchanged a pointed look with his brother. Itachi ducked into the kitchen to whisper something to Shisui. The rattling and clamor of Shisui setting up the coffee maker suddenly stopped.

"What did Madara do?" Sasuke questioned.

Sakura sighed even harder. "I… I mean, I think I fucked it up. I was freaking out and I hurt him. And he has to know now that something is up. I just…"

She heard footsteps creak over to her. When she moved her hands, Shisui was standing behind her.

"Why don't you start at the start and we'll try to keep up?" he suggested.

So she did. And they did. Itachi only interrupted a few times to ask for clarification on certain details. Shisui had his back to her as he stared at the window.

"Well, that's…" Sasuke was the first to try to speak once her story was done. He glanced down at her phone again. Tapping a few times. And then he held it out to her. When she hesitated, he said, "It's okay."

Madara had called her once. And when she hadn't answered, he had sent a series of texts instead.

I overreacted.

Didn't mean to scare you.

Come home when you're ready.

And then an hour later, he had sent one last text:

Sorry

Sakura felt a touch on her shoulder. Shisui leaned over the back of the sofa to read the messages too. His eyes narrowed.

"I've never even heard that old man apologize before," Shisui grumbled.

"What do you want to do, Sakura?" Itachi queried. He folded his arms across his chest.

She didn't know how to answer. Instead, she turned around to look at Shisui. He leaned over to wrap his arms around her, rocking her from side to side as he rested his chin on top of her head.

"Let's give her some time to think. You can stay here for as long as you need," Shisui assured her.

And words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. Something she had said not too long ago. In another time. Another loop with people who were now gone or maybe never had been.

"Why're you doing all this for me? I'm just some orphan kid. I'm not even part of your fa-"

She jumped. And she felt Shisui jolt too when Sasuke's hand slapped down on the coffee table.

Sasuke had his face turned away. But she knew he was holding back tears.

"Don't fucking say that. I… you… I'll never fucking forgive you if you say that shit again," Sasuke hissed. And then he whipped his head away, scrubbing his face with the back of his sleeve. Sniffling.

"Sakura."

Her head turned toward Itachi. He offered her a strained smile. "I would have said it without the profanity, but I agree with Sasuke. You should lean on us more, Sakura. We're here for you." His hand clenched into a fist too.

Shisui squeezed her a little harder. "We've got your back," he promised her.

And it echoed of another promise from a dream. Accompanied by a sharp little smile and bright eyes.

Doesn't matter. I've got your back. You've got mine. We don't need anyone else.

She suddenly recalled the drawn face of the woman lurking beneath the dream. Her hand pressed to her red-stained side. The exhaustion darkening her eyes as she stared back at her.

You are loved terribly.

Her forehead wrinkled.

"Maybe… the woman beneath the dream is… the same as the scrying bones?" Sakura wondered out loud.

Her other self gave a little wave. In her dreams, the scrying bones began to glow. When Sakura looked down, the rib that she favored was shining the most. She picked it up, listening to a chorus of hissing whispers pour from the bone. She felt a sharp pain in her side as blood began oozing out of the cracks.

That was the first night she had woken bleeding from a dream.

In the end, she decided to go to the Senju Institute again. This time, Itachi trailed after her. Sasuke and Shisui had agreed to go open the shop.

"What if Pa- Madara comes looking for me?" She had wondered.

"I'll punch him," Sasuke replied without hesitation as he examined his nails. Normally, one of her other cousins would protest such an idea by flicking him in the back of the head. But Shisui just nodded and Itachi didn't protest.

As they entered the administrative building, Sakura felt a hand grasp hers. The pattern of callouses on Itachi's palm was familiar. He used a special knife during his more dangerous cases to paralyze demons. It was a huge, heavy thing made of silver and warding spells. Training to wield it had taken him years of sore muscles and acupuncture appointments. Even then, carrying it had left four rough patches across his right palm- one under each finger.

Itachi's thoughts were sharp as he reached across with a linking spell. When she connected, a rush of anxiety spilled across the bond before Itachi reined it in.

Why do you trust them?

They walked past the bulletin boards filled with flyers for school events. Sakura released his hand and hooked her arm through his instead.

Trial and error, she thought. They haven't betrayed me. Yet.

Have I?

Only by dying. Which I'd be super grateful if you didn't, this time around.

She had meant for that to sound funny. Instead, the thoughts in his head grew tangled. He worried for her, which was an ongoing thing. He was angry, but he wasn't sure whether he had the right to be and who that anger should really be directed towards. She imagined that her head was just as confusing.

They didn't say anything else to each other as they made their way into the main office. The secretary greeted them warmly, as she always did. And then she informed them that Professor Tobirama was currently in the middle of a class.

By the time they made it across the campus to the lecture hall, Tobirama was wrapping up his lecture.

He sat on top of the desk in the front of the large classroom. There was a few dozen students scattered throughout the rows. Some were taking notes. Others were looking through the textbook, either to search up references or to hide the fact that they were dozing off.

When Sakura leaned in through the open door in the back, it took Tobirama a few moments to notice her. They made eye contact. He raised an eyebrow. Sakura shook her head as she slid into the seats in the back of the room. Itachi followed, his eyes taking in the impossibly tall ceilings at the stained glass windows.

I haven't been here in forever. I think I had a couple classes in here, Itachi thought as he sat beside her on the wooden bench.

Sakura's gaze lingered on the middle row to the left side. Where she had sat with Ino, Sasuke, and Naruto as a college student. Ino was always leaning over to double-check their notes to make sure she hadn't missed anything. Sasuke started the lecture by taking notes and always ended up sharing memes with Naruto.

Her sadness bled through their bond. She could tell, because sadness welled up inside him too. Dark and heavy.

The students filed out of the lecture hall, chattering about what to get to eat. Tobirama gathered his things and began heading up the stairs too. He stopped just in front of them.

"How can I help you two?" he greeted them.

They crossed the campus, away from the lecture halls and back to the administrative building. They could have just as easily teleported, but Tobirama huffed about how his doctor had told him he needed more exercise.

When they entered his office, Sakura gathered energy to her fingertips. She made a twisting motion just above the door handle. A ring of glowing green runes appeared. Each part of the circle shifted and rotated like the parts inside of a lock. Tobirama tossed his things on top of his desk. Then he backtracked to scrutinize the spell that she was layering over the door.

"The outer ring is a silencing spell. But the inside…" Tobirama murmured as he squinted at the shining runes. "Oh. A locking spell but it only locks from one side. That's smart."

He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. They all sat. Sakura rummaged in her pocket to set a few of the scrying bones on the desk. A rib (Not the one she always favored. She knew. But how? she felt Itachi ask. She shrugged the shoulder closest to him.), the jaw, and a tiny one that she couldn't identify. She nudged the last one, squinting at it.

Tobirama answered her unspoken question as he conjured glasses into his hand. "That's part of a finger," he told her as he perched his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "A phalange, I think."

Tobirama took his time examining the scrying bones. He pushed them with the wrong end of his pen to turn them over. He muttered to himself with a frown.

"These are high quality bones. A bit damaged, but that's normal. Do you have the certificate?" Tobirama asked as he glanced up at her.

Sakura shook her head.

Tobirama made a noise of disapproval.

"These bones… I think…" Tobirama trailed off. He scooped them up in his hand and cast them across his desk. Like rolling dice for a game.

The bones should have thrummed with magic. The blackened cracks turning gold. Whispers hissing up from the fissures as they revealed a morsel of truth to the caster.

Instead, the sound of a ticking clock seeped out from the three scrying bones.

Tobirama's eyebrows knit together as he channeled more energy to the spell. There was a buzz and then a snap. Tobirama's hand jerked back as he yelped a swear. But rather than look alarmed, Tobirama stared thoughtfully at the bones as he rubbed his reddened hand.

"That felt like… a slap," he mused. He gave the notebook on his desk a pointed look. It rose into the air. A pen appeared and began scribbling observations down on the page.

"Your scrying bones are alive," Tobirama then announced.

"That's impossible," Sakura protested. At the same time, Itachi said, "That's illegal." They exchanged looks.

Tobirama stared off into the distance. And then he gestured toward Itachi. "You try," he ordered.

Itachi frowned. "Divination isn't my strong suit."

"Even a basic spell will do," Tobirama urged.

Itachi raised his hand. He kept it further away than Tobirama had. As he channeled magic into the bones, a subtle glow rose around the edges of the rib. The finger bone stirred a little too. And then the glow died down.

"I'm out of practice," Itachi remarked. But Tobirama was scowling, his arms folded his across his chest as he scrutinized the bones. He lowered his head until his eyes were level with the scrying bones.

"No. That should have been enough," Tobirama replied. And then his eyes flickered over to Sakura. He gestured for her to try next.

Sakura waved her hand over the bones. They immediately began to glow gold. A dozen whispering voices hissed up through the cracks. Her fingertips tingled. And then a voice that only she could hear spoke.

Dreams linger.

Do not give your heart away.

Keyless locks for pitiful children.

Slightly different from what she remembered. Tobirama sighed.

"There's someone in there who obviously has favorites," he declared, sounding more confident than he had throughout the whole conversation.

"But all scrying bones should have been processed to sever… Hang on. So…" Sakura trailed off. Her thoughts were too tangled.

Necromancy? Itachi wondered across their bond. They ping-ponged a few ideas back and forth to each other until Sakura grasped the end of a coherent thought.

"If the person the bones came from is dead, then how can they just be… hanging out in there?" Sakura wondered. "Dead people can't have favorites."

Tobirama's eyes narrowed. "Which is why they aren't dead. I don't know how this is possible, but they do seem like they're alive. And… thinking." His stare returned to the scrying bones.

Sakura thought back to the times the bones had grown hot. Or the few times they'd spoken without her asking anything. It was true that they had a personality in a way that scrying bones normally didn't.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked the bones.

A single thread of magic rose from the jawbone. It whispered, "A lingering dream."

They all sat in silence. Staring. Tobirama was the first to move. He pushed back from his desk and turned in his chair to begin scanning the bookshelves behind him.

What did they say? Itachi asked across their link.

Sakura hesitated. And then she passed the words along to him. Itachi's end went fuzzy as he did some thinking.

Tobirama threw some of the books up into the air where they began turning pages themselves. The sounds of the old paper rustling filled the office as he continued browsing. Sakura craned her neck to watch the books. She opened her mouth.

"I actually came here to ask if it was possible that the woman beneath the dream is somehow connected to these scrying bones," she said.

Tobirama turned to face her.

It took a long time to explain everything to Tobirama. So long that his notepad ran out of pages and he had to conjure a new one. She recounted waking up bleeding. The cryptic warnings.

"Also, a clock tower. I don't know how it's related. But… it is," Sakura added.

Everyone's eyes fell on the scrying bones lying silently on top of the desk. They'd all heard the ticking noises.

"I don't suppose you'd leave these here for me to study," Tobirama proposed. But it was a half-hearted proposal.

The word "no" burst from Sakura's lips more harshly than she'd intended. And a flash of heat in her pocket from the rest of the bones echoed her panic. For some reason, she knew that the bones had to be close to her at all times.

Tobirama didn't look surprised. He leaned back in his seat with a sigh.

"Then I'm going to need you to stop by now and again so I can do some research. And this might take a while," Tobirama proposed.

Sakura clenched her hands together in her lap. She stared down at them. "We don't have a while," she said. It was already December. They only had a couple of weeks left.

"…Then…I'll do my best for you," Tobirama amended. He pushed the three scrying bones over to her. Sakura dropped them into her pocket. Maybe she was just imagining it, but she felt a little better. Like she could breathe a little easier.

As they got up to leave, Itachi paused by the door. He turned to face Tobirama. "What's going on with Naruto? Any progress there?"

Tobirama's face twisted.

"He's deteriorating. The lucidity comes and goes now." Tobirama's fingers wove together. His knuckles turned white.

"Has the demon said anything?" Sakura demanded.

And for a moment, it occurred to her that it was a little cruel not to ask a little more about Naruto's health first. He was her friend. From the looks on Tobirama and Itachi's faces, maybe they had thought the same thing. But the moment passed and neither man pointed this out. Maybe they were trying to be kind.

"He mostly talks about hunger. Since he's figured out that we won't free him, he's been quieter," Tobirama reported. And then he added, "We've strengthened the wards around him. Your research has been helpful in layering the containment spells."

Sakura thanked Tobirama for his help. She dispelled her silencing spell. It was already quiet on this side of the administrative building, so it wasn't like sound rushed back in. Faint voices from the floor below floated up. There was the bang of one of the heavy doors opening and closing from somewhere far away.

They made it a few paces down the hall before Sakura stopped.

"I don't think we'll figure it out in this loop," sighed Sakura.

She was thankful that Itachi didn't lie to try to cheer her up. He took her hand. Squeezed it.

Maybe Shisui or Sasuke would have said something to comfort her too. But Itachi was no good with his words like that.

That night, she slept on Shisui's couch. Wrapped up in old blankets and swaddled in a few protective charms courtesy of her cousins.

She didn't end up beneath the dream again. As she pushed open the wooden door, she stepped into the familiar corridor. Winding and endless. Her bare feet slapping against the cool tile.

Shisui's door glowed bright. Sparks and swirls of light and shadow punctuated each sweep of cosmic dust. Madara's door was illuminated too. There was no motion through the window, but she could feel his deep breaths. Her fingers skimmed over the doorknob, but she didn't dare go inside.

Instead, Sakura entered her own room. The crystals lining the shelves let out a sweet chorus of tinkling noises as she stepped inside.

Shisui came to join her a little while later. Glittering bits of stardust flaked off him as he took a seat on the cushion in the corner.

"Sakura."

"Yeah?" Sakura responded as she popped the cork off a glass jar. The sounds of string instruments warming up and tuning spilled from the container. She tilted it, letting the sounds tumble onto her desk. The sounds replayed over and over as they condensed in shining blue smoke.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

She opened up another container. This one held the sounds of a busy restaurant. Dishes clattering together in the background. The hum of conversations leaking over from other tables. The smoke was gold with little flecks of green. She gathered the fragments into her hands. Applied even pressure. Squeezing. Joining the threads of the dreams together until they grew hot between her palms.

"You look tired. I feel like we haven't been doing a good enough job of protecting you," Shisui stated.

Sakura hesitated. And then she finished applying pressure to the fragments of the dream. The dream cooled and hardened into a lump of calcite. Like a piece of ice that had exploded out into the shape of a particularly jagged flower. She brought it close to her face and blew. The faint echo of an orchestra resonated from the facets.

"You have all died for me a dozen times over. That's not really fair… to say that," she answered.

Shisui's expression crumpled.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

Sakura held the crystal up. If she angled it just right, she could see Shisui reflected a dozen times on the faces of the calcite.

"I am too," she told him.

The dream shifted. Shisui dissolved mid-conversation.

She was back in that hut. The smell of herbs and flowers were all jumbled together. It was light out this time. The fire burned low in the corner. Snow was piled up on the lumpy window panes.

The shape by the fireplace moved. It was covered by tattered fabric that was stained dark in some places. Mud? Maybe something else she didn't want to think about.

The bright yellow eyes opened. They found her too quickly again.

"You're back," the creature rasped.

"Did you keep them? Like I asked?" she heard herself ask.

"I can't believe you asked me to do that. You can't…" The creature trailed off. It closed its eyes, turning its face away from her. It sank low into the rags surrounding its body.

"I'm still here," she said.

"No, you're not," the creature retorted. The edges of each word were sharp. Brittle.

She was almost sorry. But not enough to apologize. There was a reason for all this. A reason that she almost understood.

In the morning, when she awoke, she knew that she wouldn't remember any of this. This creature paralyzed by its sorrow. And the heaviness of the guilt that sat in her chest as she spoke. The poor thing who had given everything away only to be left alone.

"Pitiful child," she whispered before she jolted awake.