Fate Wheel | Naruto

𝟖𝟖| "Graveyard of bones"

CHAPTER 88- GRAVEYARD OF BONES
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SEVEN MONTHS AGO

The bar was bustling with liveliness and vitality, its interior tightly-snug with a wavering fire in the hearth and dimly lit lanterns hovering above the counter tops and compact, round tables. Laughter chilled her bones as her eyes swiped the tavern clean. Drunkards latching onto each other gaily- exchanging light hearted secrets and stories, Shinobi lined closely to the rack of bottles near the front or blending into the shadows of the outskirts— either to wallow in despair or drink their burdens away until daybreak where the harsh reality of the world returned.

Dawn stared at her cup, full to the brim, with a burgundy substance that could easily unhinge the tension in her body and make her forget- even if it was for a blissful moment, reality would be forgotten and she'd emerge to the surface before dreadfully sinking back into the cold, lone waters.

It was worth it, she constantly told herself. It wasn't worth showing her vulnerabilities to the lurking eyes and shadows, revealing what exactly she had been hiding before the repercussion of her actions chased her like vicious, snapping jaws.

Time stilled and for a moment she wondered what she was doing in a bar filled with strangers. She once despised the company of strangers, she hated busy places and preferred the sweet, sound calm of nature. She once admired the colours of the sunset and now her vision blurred with the mud-brown flare of the light bulb above her with flies circling around it.

A sigh escaped her lips; the longing that filled her chest, the yearn for all that she had once cherished locked away in the darkest depths of her mind before she forced herself to remember the present. This was her last chance. Dawn needed the guidance, she needed to be shown what to do and there was one person she knew she could trust that would give her the straightforward response she desperately wanted.

It has been five months since you've become Anbu and resigned from your duties in the office. There's no going back. In one month, you'll leave and by the time you return... Her palms started to sweat as she gripped the cup tightly. Everything will be different.

It's inevitable and you know that. Sora emerged from the jumbled crowd of her thoughts. Dawn tensed, feeling the weight of her presence enfold her body with a veil of coldness. Everything is in your hands. You've trained and mastered your abilities, I'm at your disposal, they're yours to control and use to your advantage... so what's stopping you?

Dawn didn't respond, she didn't need to as the noise in the background flushed away and suddenly— she wasn't in the bar. She stood in a large room, its centre illuminated with a white light and standing adjacent to a throne made of skeletal bones on the dais was Sora. It no longer fazed her that she'd dissociate subliminally into a place created by her own shared presence, what did interest Dawn was the way Sora appeared different each time she'd see her. Her features submerged with dredges of darkness and something extraterrestrial. Or in more accurate terms, something not of the world they lived in.

She knew who, or what, accompanied her body and mind, interfering with her inner balances and tampering with the bolt of the cage that locked up her darker side; the side that craved chaos and destruction. The side she tried so hard to forget. And as a result of this new revelation, Dawn found it hard to hate what cannot be helped.