283Chapter 1 - Restart
"Sakura..." an unknown voice was calling out for her. She gulped nervously, this particular situation... it seemed to be happening again, albeit she felt like this time something was off, something about this dream was indeed different.
These dreams plagued her. Sometimes they happened often, sometimes not, but what she knew for sure is that she was barely able to recall the contents of them. All they left in her was a feeling, and if she could describe it on word it was – darkness.
To say she was confused was an understatement, she was frightened. These nightmares of hers were always full of darkness, so pitch black she couldn't see anything even if she wanted to, even if she tried opening her eyes and peering harder. Forest green eyes were just drowning in the emptiness around her, the sudden feel of chill that ran down her spine made her more alert, more suspicious of her surroundings.
"Your time has come; we can't afford to wait any longer." The unfamiliar voice gently whispered, the sound reaching the tips of her ears like a soft wind. She shuddered.
Something was definitely off, and she knew it, felt it, and honestly… she panicked. Panic slowly rose in her body, carefully, it radiated through her system into the darkness that was bordering her very own being, blackness that was possibly a part of her own being, one that she just refused to acknowledge.
"W-what?" she became even more confused, her words nothing but a stutter, a pathetic response that reeked with the absence of confidence. Something was not right; this was so very different from the last times she encountered this very particular nightmare in her head. It was almost too real.
"The awakening." she caught another whisper like a wave that was coming straight at her without stopping. The young kunoichi felt herself becoming more and more confused, the frustration on her face was written clearly, given the way her eyebrows drew together as if trying to analyze the situation further. Just what kind of an awakening? What was this voice anyways? Her head was pounding and full of questions similar to these ones. Questions that for the most part were left unanswered.
"You will come to face your true self...your true emotions and desires..." The voice gave her an answer as if sensing her growing confusion and frustration, an answer that left her even more baffled than before. Her breath hitched for a second, she nearly lost the ability to speak clearly. However, she did manage to express her shackled thoughts.
"What do you mean by that? I-I don't understand!" The frustration rang through her voice like a lullaby, dedicated to the pitch darkness surrounding her; an echo full of her angry, pathetic screams and pants.
"You are indeed blessed with our spirit... but your lack of desire to reach your full potential is truly... astonishing. as if unknowingly the voice became bolder...darker more twisted with each word that reached her ears.
"We are here to guide you, little girl." She felt as if she heard another voice interrupting or maybe that was just her growing paranoia that had her overthinking each and every detail over and over again.
"Don't be afraid of us, you were the chosen one after all. An heiress that will lead our clan into prosperity." The same voice from before echoed proudly into the nothingness. The pink haired woman flinched at those words. Heiress? Clan? She had none of that.
"W-what are you talking about?" Sakura's voice nearly broke as her jade eyes glazed with tears, confusion and fear finally overtaking her in one swift motion. She felt like a lost puppy that was left in an unknown area all by itself.
"You are a dense child, aren't you? You will come to know everything in time, when we feel like it." The voice from before seemed to be mocking her, almost mercilessly so, she couldn't find a single grain of compassion in it even if she tried to. Whatever this was, it was clear they weren't human. Sakura liked to think that these beings could only be some horrible demons residing in the depths of her mind, nothing else. After all she had a lot of demons to deal with, but then again, everyone had their own demons, their own illusions that were filled with delusions.
"Why can't you just leave me alone!" She screamed again; her voice laced with anger her own mentor the Godaime Hokage would be proud of, her patience nowhere to be found as her temper took over. She had no time to deal with these nightmares, she just wanted a goodnights sleep after her dreadful hospital shift. However, she was left to deal with whatever this was, some stupid dream that manifested due to her exhaustion.
"I'm afraid that's not something I can do; you are the heir to Haruno clan after all. You have to awaken your power soon enough." She heard a disappointed sigh, as if the voice barely held onto the last straw of patience it had left.
"Just what power are you talking about? My family does not possess any kind of kekkei genkai!" Her temper once again was in full force now, her fierceness coming straight through her highly pitched voice, as if pleading for the unknown voice to leave her alone. But it wasn't pleading, no, she was just trying to face her own demons no matter how distraught they were.
Thoughts raced one after another as her head filled with more questions than answers. Maybe it was a type of genjutsu someone had cast on her? She didn't know, but she had to act accordingly. She was a respected shinobi of the Leaf after all, one that didn't back away without putting up a fight first. And to be truthful, as far as she knew, there were no outstanding techniques in her family that could be considered as a kekkei genkai. Her family is consisted of a bunch of civilians! A clan? That had to be a joke. These voices were definitely up to some rather strange bullshit.
All she heard was a soft laugh, she wasn't sure if she was being mocked again or if it was genuine. She cursed the darkness surrounding her, but then again, it's not like she would be able to see something even if she was surrounded by light. One's eyesight could sometimes be deceiving.
"To receive such a gift and be as ungrateful as you are, you are truly something...Sakura" A deep sigh followed next.
"You are the only one who can save whatever that is left of our clan, the only one who will be able to gift this power to the upcoming generations." The voice turned into a whisper again, something akin to sadness reverberated through the dark, empty space as waves of black fog rolled around Sakura's feet.
"My fa-" she was interrupted, the unfamiliar voice leaving her with no room to talk.
"Your task is to achieve full control of the long-forgotten clan dojutsu, before he comes after you that is." The voice said, still whispering, although it felt a bit rushed, a bit... urgent.
Sakura's eyes widened; the pink haired woman just couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her family had a kekkai genkai that she was not aware of? Her family was a clan? It had to be some kind of a sick joke. Who was coming after her, just what was going on? This surely had to be a genjutsu or some type of nightmare induced by someone who specializes in it, an illusion to withdraw some type of information that involved the village. She focused, trying to dispel a genjutsu that was invading her very own head but found herself greatly surprised when nothing happened. She was still stuck in the darkness that was as thick and heavy as the mist that would sometimes grace the Land of Fire during the night or in the early mornings.
"We don't have much time." The urgency she heard only increased in desperation. "I'm afraid I'll have to do this right now. Please try to understand the meaning behind our actions. We are here to help you and don't mean any harm."
"We watched over you for a long time and we concluded that you lack desire Sakura, you need love." She shuddered at the words unwillingly. "Be it either love, sexual desire or lust, one of these feelings has to corrupt you to the point where you don't care about this world and it's future anymore. Only then will you awaken your true power and potential." Sakura was speechless, she found her soft lips parting at the last few words that she managed to catch with her own ears. Even if she tried to come up with some kind of an answer, nothing would come out; she stood there like a fish, gaping into the wild waters.
"After this happens, I hope for you to find your way back and regain complete control of yourself all over again." The last sentence she heard, somehow it felt heartwarming and she didn't know why. Questions rushed into her head but suddenly she felt too tired to even think clearly, her knees sunk into the darkness.
A light breeze of wind caressed her body, she felt as light as a feather, her long, pale pink hair swished around her in waves effortlessly. She felt this deep calmness and she couldn't understand why. It felt like her own spirit suddenly wasn't hers. It felt like it stretched beyond her comprehension.
"I will leave you with a starting point." She heard another whisper as she turned her head to the side automatically, easing into the voice that spoke to her very own being. She stayed silent; she felt no words were needed.
"You will experience what a deep feeling of love has to offer. You are of that age after all, Heiress. Find someone to willingly help you experience it, find someone who will fulfil your desires like no one else." The feeling of lightness slowly came down, crushing her as she felt a dozen arms crawl through her skin, wrapping themselves around her limbs. They pierced her through until she felt numb and exhausted to the point of breaking. It was as if those hands were sucking her very own lifeforce. They held her in place before another one rushed out form the depths of the darkness. Inky fingers caressed her forehead gently, and then everything around her dissipated with a soft breeze.
What followed next were her own screams full of agony and ragged pants alongside with her inability to breathe properly. The pain was otherworldly, something worse than a feeling of getting stabbed dozens of times on the battlefield. It was a type of pain she never felt before, a type of pain she didn't know was possible. It hurt both physically and emotionally and she didn't know what she had done to deserve something like this. Her very own soul hurt and ached, fueled by a feeling she couldn't recognize. If someone were to ask her, she would probably reply that the closest thing to that emotion was the feeling of deep sorrow.
Sweat lingered on her body as she slowly but surely regained consciousness, long pink strands of hair were stuck to her face as her green eyes slowly opened, full of tears that threatened to spill. She found herself heavily panting, her breaths uneven and deep as she reached for her face with her slender fingers, trying to get rid of the stuck pieces of hair that clung to her sweaty face. A realization hit her when a wave of images that were part of her nightmare, the one she had just a mere few minutes ago.
She quickly stood from her bed; her movements uncoordinated as she sluggishly walked up to the mirror that stood in the corner of her bedroom. She felt a pang of panic rush through her veins as she tilted her hand near her face, long fingers brushing away the stray pieces of hair that clung onto her forehead, semi wet from the cold sweat.
The greenness of her eyes showed nothing but pure unfiltered shock. A seal reminding her of something akin to a small triangle in a shape of a diamond was plastered straight in the middle of her forehead. It was almost unnoticeable; she could barely make out the outlines of the rhombus that was just a shade darker than her own pale skin. A figure that seemed nearly transparent, but it was still there, nonetheless. It almost looked like a faint birthmark.
"Something... really did happen, it seems..." she whispered to herself. She really hoped it was only a dream, a nightmare, fuck she would've been happy if it was just but a genjutsu that was set to extract the information from her, but no, it certainly seemed to be something more. By the looks of it, perhaps Sakura could even call it a prophecy, one that she couldn't take lightly.
At this point Sakura was questioning her own sanity and her purpose of existence. Surely this whole ordeal wasn't just a fruit of her imagination as she assumed just minutes ago. No, the seal at the top of her face spoke volumes, proving her that something indeed did happened.
She had millions of questions in her head but unfortunately, she also knew that there were no answers to any of them. For some reason she felt as if she was about to take face an unknown burden. For once it seemed that fate had its own way of doing things, because time never stood still, it only went forward.
That night she lost the consciousness for the second time, the second one caused by her unexplained fatigue.
Author's note
Thank you for reading, I hope this is somewhat appeared interesting. I kinda wanted to use this idea for my other fic, but thought it would be just too much in one place, so here I am giving a shot to another fanfiction with a different ship (not gonna lie recently I've been shipping Shisui and Sakura real hard, and I think we need more fanfictions based on those two.) Anyways let me know what you think by leaving a review or following my story, big thanks!
