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They left the village.
The three of them.
They came back to the village.
The two of them.
She transferred him into his eye. And he carried the boy's memory in his vision.
"There's something inside that boy."
"The eye!"
"Sharingan stealer."
"Uchiha killer."
"Unworthy of the power."
"Scum."
Whispers in the village surrounded his brain, bolstering the charged guilt flaring through his neurons. Striking him like lightning, leaving cracks in his skull.
Cracks that he allowed to stay.
There was something inside him.
A gift he felt he didn't deserve.
From an innocent, young boy who wanted to be a hero.
Delivered to him through the hands of a gentle girl who wanted both to live.
But, he couldn't do it. Couldn't do it for him. Couldn't do it for her.
Because of me, you're gone…
In the nights, he'd stand in darkness. Sinking into the pool of black that was his thoughts, his emotions, his own whispers that reflected that of those around him. Self-inflicting what he believed to be the truth. The nights were long.
There were nights, however, where he did not stand alone.
"I'm different." He'd say. He'd whisper, staring at his reflection. He'd pull his mask down. Staring at his scar.
A reminder of his mistakes.
Of his shortcomings.
Of his failure.
But she'd stand behind him, walking forward until her shoulder was pressed against his.
Until he'd turn his head to her.
Until her bruised hands would caress his scar.
Until her rough palms would caress his exposed cheeks.
"Maybe." She'd whisper.
He'd lean into her touch, closing his eyes. "It's bad. I don't deserve the thing inside me. What they say is correct. They're right about me."
"They're right only about one thing."
"What's that?"
"There's something inside you." Her finger would swipe over the smooth skin zigzagging from his gray, worn eyebrow to his wary cheekbone. She'd lean further, her mouth near his ear. "A gift."
He'd bite his quivering lip. "That gift is the only thing good thing in me."
Her finger would trail down, leaving a warm line down his cheek, down his neck, over his collarbones. And she'd stop, her hand turning until her knuckles stroked his chest. "This. This is the other good thing inside of you."
His skin against her knuckles thrummed, the beat underneath quickening. "This has always been inside you." She continued, feeling the drumming beat only quicken more under her hand. Feeling how he'd lean his head further into her, burying himself into the crook of her neck. Until they were chest to chest.
And she could feel the rhythm reverberating from him enter her own body. "It's always been good."
"They're talking about you."
Saying you're different.
"But you're still the same." She whispered.
He said nothing, only his arms could say the words for him as they wrapped around her and tightened.
Tightened until the both of them could barely breathe.
They were in the village.
The two of them.
Until one disappeared.
And well, by now, where one went, the other followed.
Both left.
Then, they returned.
The two of them.
This time, Kakashi didn't let the other die on him.
With Kushina's and Minato's help, they removed the ticking time bomb of a sensor-timer from her, allowing the monster to stay caged within the prison that was her bones. That was her own body.
Her own body.
Held a monster.
"There's something inside her!"
"The three-tails!"
"Monster."
"A danger."
"Beastly girl."
"Prone to murder."
"Stay away from her."
Whispers from the village whirled around her, blowing across her hair like wind and entering her ears like a hurricane. It bolstered the fear and paranoia, hammering them into her skull.
A hammer she beat herself with every day.
There was something inside her.
A beast that made it hard to heal others.
Forced into her by a group of enemies.
Rendering her useless and dangerous, in her own eyes.
So useless and dangerous that she desperately attempted to use someone else to rid the earth of her.
Someone she knew she must have scared.
But, she couldn't do it. She couldn't do it for him. She couldn't do it for the village.
Because of me, everyone's so scared…
In the nights, she'd stand in darkness. Sinking into the pool of black that was her thoughts, her emotions, her own whispers that reflected that of those around her. Self-inflicting what she believed to be the truth. The nights were long.
There were nights, however, where she did not stand alone.
"I'm different." She'd say. She'd whisper, staring at her reflection. She was still having trouble controlling the beast, his appearance taking over her features every now and then. She'd poke her cheeks, finger the silver points along the crown of her head, and fiddle with the spikes protruding from her neck. Staring at the blood-red eyes in the mirror.
A reminder of everything she had become.
An inconvenience.
A problem.
A danger.
I shouldn't have been saved.
But he'd stand behind her, walking forward until his shoulder pressed against hers.
Until she'd turn her head to him.
Until he'd lower his own mask in front of her.
Until she'd realize that she could lower hers with him too.
"Maybe." He'd whisper.
She'd inhale, squeezing her eyes shut. "It's bad. I'm a monster. I shouldn't have been saved. What they say is correct. They're right about me."
"They're wrong. They're stupid." His arrogance always applied to others. "There's only one thing those brainless fools are right about." But his arrogance never applied to her.
"What's that?"
"There's something inside you." his voice was quiet. His being went silent. So silent. So in awe of how well she holds the power in her. He'd get lost in the thought of it, not realizing how his hand reached out to stroke the spikes on her neck. "Strength…"
She'd bite her quivering lip. "I'm not strong…" Only the beast is. Not me.
His fingers against her neck would rise up, stopping against the soft skin of her face. They'd stroke up and down the purple stripes-the purple stripes that have always been hers-, leaving streaks along her face. "You've always been." He'd simply whisper.
Only a strong person could carry the burdens you've carried.
Still in awe, still in a daze, his hands would move without thinking. Moving up along the planes of her face, entering into the crown of her head, passing over the gray horn-like spires, passing through her golden-brown tresses, moving down along her scalp, and stopping at the back of her neck, where a few spikes stuck out.
His fingers clutched the area, feeling a strong pulse thrumming through it. He could only think of the sensation as his arm pulled her, pulled her towards him.
Closer and closer until they were chest to chest.
The pulse only quickened.
So close he could feel her rhythm reverberating into him. Into his bones.
"They're talking about you."
Saying you're different.
"But you're still the same." He whispered.
She said nothing, only opening her eyes to look at him. Staring with blood-red voids that matched one of his own. Their arms tightened. Tightened until both could barely breathe.
The same.
They are...
The same.