CHAPTER 2.
The prince of darkness is a gentleman.
William Shakespeare
They knew that the room where they were in was not the throne room of Morpheus, because the throne room looked like a Gothic church, but without religious images, only with large windows with dark red and white glass, with a throne in the background up some steps. On the other hand, the room in which the two cats were found was smaller. In front of them there was a dark figure sitting in the center, next to it there were two more figures that from where the two felines were couldn't figure out who they were. Even thouth, they got an idea of who the imposing figure in the middle was.
"Go ahead and get closer," said one of the three figures. Naruto and Sai crept towards the three figures. Sai was mentally cursing his companion for having requested such an appearance before Lord Morpheus, but now there was little they could do, there was no point of return. He turned to look at him, and he was calm, relaxed, sometimes his friend was quite naive, the black and white cat thought. As they approached, the figures that seemed small began to get bigger and bigger, until they reached their feet. The three figures were human in appearance. One of the men next to Morpheus was a big man with orange hair, he didn't have the face of a good friend. The other one, he was the complete opposite, scrawny, light gray hair, and a smile appeared on his face, but when he showed his teeth they were not very friendly, pointed and white. On the other hand, the figure in the center instilled respect and imposition. He was relaxed, supporting his cheek with his right hand, staring at the two cats in front of him. He was the figure that stood out the most, with his dark raven-haired, pale skin as if it were marble, dark almond-shaped eyes, perfect fine nose. He had symmetrical features, of inhuman beauty. What he was.
"Welcome. I have been informed that you have asked to meet with me specifically, is that correct?" The voice was firm, and a shiver ran down both cats' spines, from the tip of their tails to their ears.
"So it is my Lord," Naruto replied. Sai didn't want to intervene, since the idea had come from his friend's knucklehead, so let him manage everything, he thought.
"And what is the reason for the presence of two protectors in my realm ?" Morpheus asked, this time leaning his back on the wide chair where he was sitting.
"My Lord, we are the protectors of a young mortal, who is visited every night by one of the incubus of your kingdom..."
"And what is the problem?" ignoring that there was nothing strange about it, because in fact for the Lord of Dreams it was not. The demons of his kingdom were despicable at his eyes, but he could do little because that was the way it was in his world. There were good creatures and bad creatures, so that there was a balance, there were protectors, so the bad ones were under control.
"The problem," the red-haired cat hesitated for a moment, clearing his throat, and continued, "my Lord, is that the same demon visits her every night. Which, we know, is especially peculiar and unusual," he said at last. At this statement, Morpheus remained thoughtful. He was not looking at the felines that were in front of him, but beyond, as if there was something behind them, and said:
"Although it is not usual, I do not see it as extremely urgent to request a meeting with me," he finally told them. Naruto remained silent, Sai looked at him making a face that wanted to convey the thought of, "See? how all this has been for nothing." Naruto rolled his eyes and looked back at Morpheus.
"My Lord, the demon has been visiting our protegée for more than ten years, and we fear that at some point it may materialize and cause physical harm to the young woman," Naruto had not discussed this with Sai, it was more of a personal concern that he had had for a long time, so he turned around looking at him with a question mark, Naruto ignored him.
"This is all assumptions, Protector. So until we see that there is any indicator or reason why we should be concerned, I don't think there is a need to act," the scrawny man spoke this time. Morpheus looked at him, and looked back at Naruto.
"Why are you afraid that this might happen?" Morpheus asked with a curious tone in his voice.
"My Lord, I understand that you are always busy and always has things on your hands, but as protectors since we have been carrying out this task since the young woman was born, she has always had visits from childhood. As child she had visits from little and curious criatures but the visit of the incubus demons began when she reached the youth age, let's say, when she started to be more attractive in appearance…" Naruto explained. Since Sakura was born she grew up with cats, her parents had always had one or two cats, and when Sakura became independent she adopted two more cats. Although she didn't know it, all the cats she had had were the reincarnations of Sai and Naruto.
"I understand," he hesitated for a moment and responded, "Likewise, until there is effective evidence, I'm afraid there is little we can do. We also thank you for coming to show your concern for your protegée, which shows me that you are doing a good job as protectors," Morpheus was very assertive and had the gift of words. Well, he had acquired oratory after his mother had given him the throne of the realm of Dreams. Before his two other brothers, Morpheus was the only one who tangibly inherited said kingdom.
"Thank you my Lord, you have been very kind to accept to receive us," Naruto replied disappointed, because Morpheus did not pay the attention that Naruto believed he needed to Sakura's issue.
"Thank you my Lord, and forgive us for having taken up your time," this time Sai spoke who had not spoken until now. He bowed and turned around, followed by Naruto doing the same. Both cats left the room. One disappointed and sad, and the other angry with his partner, because he knew that had been stupid.
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"Today is the night!" Ino yelled at Sakura through the phone. "Do you know what you're going to wear?"
"Mmmh, the truth is that I hadn't given it much thought," Sakura responded thoughtfully. She had few party clothes, since she didn't go out much, and all the dresses she had were quite formal.
"This afternoon I'll stop by your house and bring you several dresses, and we'll get ready together, what do you think?" Ino responded enthusiastically.
"Okay, but don't bring me the short pink dress, I don't like it at all,"
"To be a person with pink hair, you don't really like pink clothes, huh," Ino said in a mocking tone.
"It's one thing to wear it in your hair and another on your clothes," she responded rolling her eyes. Even though Sakura had been born with pink hair, she did not like to wear pink clothes. Sakura's natural pink hair attracted people's attention a lot, and especially men. She was like an exotic flower for them. Furthermore, her emerald green eyes stood out much more against such features. She was the girl in the group who attracted the most attention, but she, on the other hand, sought the opposite, to go unnoticed. The same thing happened at the hospital, more than one doctor and nurse had approached her or asked for her phone number, but she was not interested in having any relationship with someone related to work.
"Well, see you this afternoon," her friend said goodbye through the phone and hung up.
Sakura started to think about what she could wear for the night, she prepared to open her closet, and look through the drawers. Naruto and Sai quickly entered the room, for them that room was like an amusement room. Sakura rarely let them in because there was a lot of junk and things that could get hurt if they fell, and that's why whenever she went in to look for clothes or change, they came in with her.
"Naruto, get down from there," Sakura told the orange cat that was on top of one of the closets. Sai had gone inside the closet and settled among the clean clothes. "Sai, you're covering my shirts with hair," she told him as she took him out of the closet.
She took out several dresses, some tops and pants, she started to combine them, but nothing pleased her. Tired of seeing that nothing that she had suited to go out, she gave up and left the room, she sat on the couch and started reading to kill time until Ino came. After thirty minutes of reading she fell asleep.
She was in Konoha's Hospital laboratory taking samples and writing down the results in the record. A task that she was used to do every week like three times a week for the study she was doing with her teacher. She was wearing her white coat, and had some test tubes in her hands when a tall man entered the laboratory. That man had dark hair down to his shoulders, almost pale skin, perfect features, marked cheekbones, he was very attractive. She stayed looking at him as he approached, almost holding her breath. He was dressed elegantly in a dark purple suit vest and black pants, covered with a black coat and boots. His figure stood out among all the sterilizing white of the laboratory and the light colors of her pink hair and white figure in the lab coat. He looked at her curiously as he advanced towards her without saying a word until he stood next to her.
"So you're Sakura," he said as if he knew her.
"Excuse me, and who are you?" Sakura replied.
"You can call me Sasuke," he said as he looked at what she had in her hands. He looked up, fixing his dark and curious gaze. "What are those utensils?" Sakura was stunned, now that she had him closer she could observe his perfect features more closely; he had dark, slanted eyes, his fine and perfect nose that matched his thin lips and sharp jaw. Sakura swallowed, it had been a long time since any man had made her lose her rationality.
"Th-those are test tubes," she explained to the stranger whose name was Sasuke. She noticed her fingers and realizing that she had not removed the polish that was almost non-existent on her nails, feeling exposed watching how he paid attention to her with interest, and he looked her up and down, as if she were his prey. Every second that Sakura stared at him, she had the feeling that he couldn't be real, it was as if that man didn't belong in that world, to which Sakura asked him, "W-why are you here?" She stared into his eyes and a small smile appeared on his lips. That gesture made Sakura's knees tremble. When he was going to answer, suddenly a loud sound was heard as if it came from outside the laboratory, Sakura turned around.
The constant sound of the doorbell ringing woke Sakura from the nap she was taking. When she woke up she was a little taken aback by what she had just dreamed, it had seemed so real. But now she understood why that man had seemed so unreal to her. Although she was surprised that she had dreamed about someone so clearly, would she have ever seen that man to have dreamed about him? She doubted it because she knew she would remember such perfect features, Sakura sighed at the memory of the man from her dream. The doorbell kept ringing desperately, and Sakura, dazed by the dream she had just had, got up to answer the constant annoying sound of the doorbell.
"Who is it?" Sakura said in a sleepy voice.
"Sakuraaa, I've been calling you on the phone and at the house for about ten minutes, open it up!" It was her friend Ino who came to help her with her clothes and get ready together. Sakura huffed, and opened up to her friend. She waited until she went up to the third floor, and opened the door for her.
"I'm sorry Ino, I was sleeping, I didn't hear you, you woke me up by ringing my doorbell," Sakura excused herself.
"It's okay, don't worry," her friend responded as she entered the apartment. "Well, let's get to work!" Ino loved going out to party, and getting ready, but, above all, being able to dress her friend and do whatever she wanted with her. In the end they opted for a tight black dress, short above the knees, which revealed her entire back. It highlighted each of her curves, and highlighted her pink hair and green eyes.
"Perfect," Ino said when she finished doing her makeup. She didn't wear much makeup, since Sakura didn't like to wear so much makeup, so she wore eyeliner (Ino used it perfectly, but Sakura had never been good at doing it on her own), a little blush, and brown lips almost pink. Her hair was short with a bob above her shoulders, she didn't like to wear long hair, shorter was more comfortable for her, especially for work. Ino was wearing a blue dress, equally tight and lower cut than Sakura's, with a small slit on the side. The two were ready for girls' night.
When they arrived at the bar, Hinata, Tenten and Lee were already there. Ino carried a bag with accessories to put on Tenten to signal to the others that it was her bachelorette party.
"Oh no. I'm not going to wear that," Ino brought for Tenten a headband that wore like a small bridal veil and in the middle of it had a toy penis.
"Come on Tenten! If you don't wear this, no one will know that this is a bachelorette party!" She was trying to persuade her friend "Besides, I also brought you this," she took out a sash from the bag where it said "I'M MARRYING!" "And I also brought this for all of us," she said and turned to Lee. "I'm sorry Lee, but it's the same for everyone," she said as she took out some containers that were glasses and had a straw also in the shape of a penis. As she gave it to Lee all the girls laughed, even Lee. "You're one of us now," Ino said as she laughed uncontrollably, and Tenten put on the sash and headband.
The night was fun, they were chatting, laughing, dancing. Ino couldn't stop looking at the waiter, her goal of the night was to take him to bed. And it was basically the theme of the night. On Sakura's part, several guys invited her for drinks, some sat next to her, asked her about her Instagram, others more classic her number phone, and Sakura rejected each of them.
"Oh come on Sakura, have some fun!" Ino exclaimed, already clearly under the influence of alcohol. "If I can't fuck, at least you can do it for me," Sakura was having more success with strangers than her friend was with her prey of the night.
"Ino, the boy is working, it's normal that he doesn't pay much attention to you, wait until he finishes his shift and maybe he'll agree to talk to you," she tried to encourage her friend.
"I doubt it, he hasn't looked at me all night," she said grumpily.
"Indeed, he has looked at you several times," Hinata replied and Ino quickly turned to look at her friend.
"Really?" she asked excitedly.
"Yes, I just think you impose on him a little," Hinata explained. "Sometimes you are too direct, and some guys may like that, but others don't, right Lee?" she asked the male member of the group, he was busy drinking from his straw.
"mmh?" Lee responded, oblivious to the conversation.
"I was telling Ino that she is very direct with men and that might be scary," Hinata repeated again.
"It's possible, it depends on taste," he said simply. And Hinata rolled her eyes at such a vague response.
"I'm just saying, Ino, be patient and go slow," she advised.
Hinata's advice worked, and at the end of the night Ino went home with the waiter. Tenten to her house accompanied by Lee, they both lived in the same neighborhood. And Hinata lived near the bar so she invited Sakura, who was also a little impaired by alcohol, to which Sakura accepted. She was tired and didn't feel like taking a taxi to her house, tomorrow would be another day.
Sakura was talking with her friends in a café, it was afternoon, there were still a few hours before nightfall. They talked about coworker gossip, many times there were many affairs between nurses and doctors, even between married people and what happened on the night shifts, stayed in the hospital. It was like an unwritten rule. She was laughing and having a good time, until a dark figure grabbed her from behind her, and lifted her up. The landscape quickly changed, she was no longer in the café with her friends, now she was in a kind of forest, it was dark, like night. She couldn't see the figure that had caught her and she noticed that she had him behind her. She wanted to turn, she wanted to run, scream, and she couldn't do anything.
"I got you," he whispered in her ear. That voice made her tremble, it was harsh, like something from beyond the grave. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her breathing was labored, she wanted to cry, but she couldn't either, she felt helpless. She noticed how the figure began to touch her from her sides, she noticed his strong breathing on the back of her neck. The intentions of the figure that didn't show its face were not good. When Sakura realized the intentions of that creature, tears began to fall from her eyes, it was the only thing she could do. She couldn't even let out a sob, it seemed as if she had no voice. She suddenly noticed how the figure moved away from her as if something had collided with it.
She woke up with a start, her heart like a fist in her chest, it had seemed so real. She was afraid, she curled up on the sofa bed in Hinata's dining room and tried to fall asleep again. But she couldn't, she couldn't stop spinning and thinking about the strange and real feeling she had just had. At that moment she missed her two cats, she would have liked to be in her house and have Naruto and Sai next to her sleeping on her, because when she had nightmares and woke up in the middle of the night, having them close to her calmed her.
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"Morpheus, since when do you defend defenseless girls now?" the demon spoke.
"What do you want from her?" Morpheus asked angrily. When he received a visit from those protectors, he was curious to know who this mortal was that was arousing so much interest in the creatures of his kingdom, and that is why he decided to visit her. But since he had met Sakura, the young woman whom those two protectors protected and were worried about what could happen to her, he noticed as if she had dug into his skin. He couldn't get that pink hair out of his head. He felt a supernatural attraction, as if there was an unreal compatibility, as if the separate universes that shared and collapsed in the dream had decided to connect and be one. He didn't understand anything, but he couldn't get the emerald eyes of that human out of his head. Morpheus knew that throughout history gods and other creatures of his world had fallen in love and obsessed with mortals. But he would never have expected that he would be a victim of that. Until now.
"You notice that, right?" He asked with a smile that Morpheus found disgusting. He had sharp, dark teeth. "You notice the essence of her, what's inside her, and you want to corrupt it," he said as he licked his lips.
"You are disgusting, leave the girl alone or I will punish you to Keres" he responded agitatedly, he could not contain his rage. Thinking that despicable creature wanted to touch and possess Sakura made him sick.
"If it's not me, another incubus will find her and become obsessed with her," he said, and Morpheus knew that was most likely true. If he noticed her attraction to her, the same would happen to others if they found her.
"If I hear any other complaints from the protectors again, I won't think twice, I will send you directly to Keres," he replied and vanished.
Morpheus felt frustrated, that sensation was new for him, he had never felt attracted to anyone, much less a mortal. He who could be whatever he wanted, in the world of Dreams there was room for all kinds of creatures and beings, and never even the most beautiful nymph, nor the purest grace, nor the most beautiful goddess had made him feel what he felt for that human. He sat on the throne while he clenched his fists tightly in frustration, and couldn't get the pink-haired girl out of his mind.
"My Lord," he heard a voice coming from the entrance to the throne room. "Your brother Lord Phobetor has come to visit you, but you were not present to receive him," explained Suigetsu, the scrawny man and one of the subjects of Morpheus.
"Is my brother still here?" Morpheus asked curiously, he was wondering what his brother could possibly want.
"Yes, he is. Shall I tell him to come in?" he asked.
"Of course, tell him to come in," he responded, stopped for a moment and said "Thank you Suigetsu," despite being the Lord of the realm of Dreams, being the most powerful Somnia, and considered a god by some, Morpheus maintained good manners that his mother taught him well as a child. Maybe that's why she gave him the power and the realm of Dreams, because she saw that he had potential.
Suddenly a large and majestic raven, with feathers as dark as Morpheus's hair, settled in front of the throne.
"Welcome, brother," Morpheus greeted, and suddenly the raven turned into the figure of a man, with features similar to those of Morpheus, but more marked and mature. He looked a little older, his hair was just as dark as Morpheus', but longer. The features of the Somnia brothers were the same for all; dark eyes, dark hair, and indescribable beauty.