Chapter 66: Forest; Nightmares

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Kokoro's PoV will be... disturbing, so just be aware of that...

Again, this is a realistic version of the Narutoverse, which means what happened to her... wasn't uncommon...

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Cameia PoV

My left arm hurt, and I was currently...

Stranded in the middle of a dark, foggy forest.

Looking down at myself, I noticed that my left arm was pale as snow with a slight blue tinge.

Ah, I got hit with some of the Basan's soul fire didn't I?

Why did I push Kokoro out of the way?

It was almost... instinctive, how fast my body moved to protect the woman.

Sighing, I sat down next to a tree, holding my left arm close as I looked around.

Was this... my soulscape? A dark, gloomy forest?

I guess it fits me...

Sighing, I watched as figures moved around in the mist, speaking my name.

"Cameia..."

One of them was a former hunting partner of mine.

Exiting the fog, a tall, thin woman stumbled towards me, a large hole in her stomach bleeding profusely as she got closer.

"Bathyia, you're dead; you've been dead for years now."

The woman in question just stared at me, her sunken eyes trying to meet my own.

Turning to look at her, I observed her slowly turn to dust, blown away on the gentle breeze.

Leaning my head against the tree, I tuned out the groans of my name from the fog, uncaring of the people I had killed or watched die.

Currently, there was only one person on my mind who mattered; Kokoro Kanei.

Remembering that new heat that had flushed my body when she was close, I looked down at my hands, marveling at the memory of her soft body in my arms.

Wait...

Tilting my head, I looked lower, wondering why I was reacting so much to that memory.

"Frustrating..."

Lowering my hands, I sighed again as I looked up towards the pitch black canopy, trying desperately to sort through my thoughts.

Before she had arrived, each day was monotonous; wake up, eat, hunt, return home, sleep.

I felt... nothing, day to day. No joy, no sadness, no anger...

Nothing.

And yet, many different women in the village, both the warriors and the normal villagers, vied for my attention, offering themselves to me with no hesitation despite my... lack of humanity.

Some fought for my attention, others tried to cling to me, to use their bodies to sway me.

And yet, I still felt nothing when they tried so desperately tried to catch my eye.

However, with Kokoro, she never seemed to try and do anything like that.

Instead, she just... acted like herself, content with where she was.

I let out a slight chuckle as I remembered how she reacted to my skill with the bow, before frowning.

Did I just...

Chuckle?

Raising a hand to my lips, I furrowed my brow slightly, my eyes widening when I caught myself wondering what her lips would feel like...

Getting to my feet, I moved towards the edge of the clearing, observing how the figures rushed towards my side, various different women screaming at me.

"Why didn't you save me!?"

"Was I not enough?"

"CAMEIA!"

Raising my right hand, I flicked a finger forwards, a spike of darkness chakra shooting forwards into one of the women foreheads, making her drop to the floor before turning to dust.

"Annoying."

Raising my other hand, I sent a pulse of chakra around me, severing everyone around me.

Silence fell back onto the forest, and I looked down at my left arm, nodding when I could feel something again.

Clenching my fist, I watched as the pale flesh of my left arm gradually regained its color, the blue glow leaking out of my arm before evaporating.

Shaking the now healed arm, I nodded again before continuing deeper into my soulscape, wondering when I would wake up.

I wanted to see her; to understand why she made me...

Feel something.

~~~

Kokoro PoV

"...koro!"

Someone was shaking my shoulders, making me groggily open my eyes.

Standing above me was...

"J-Jilyo?"

He was a handsome teen, his completely white eyes displaying his heritage as a Hyuga.

"Yes, it's me! Come on, we need to get going!"

He stood up, and I jumped to my feet.

Standing off to the side was Hiansha, her slightly feral features being the norm of the Inuzaka Clan.

Behind her was Hakan Sensei, his hand on his young lovers shoulder as they nodded to me.

"We need to get moving; Kumo is making its move tonight."

Hakan Sensei's gruff voice entered my ears, making me purse my lips slightly.

What...

This felt... wrong.

"Come on Kokoro!"

Jilyo grabbed my hand, leading me towards the gathering area.

Standing in the center was an idol of mine...

"Lord Fourth!"

Everyone saluted the Yellow Flash, who just nodded at us.

Naruto really did look like hi-

Wait... Who was Naruto?

I groaned slightly, grabbing my aching head.

"Are you okay?"

Jilyo laid his hand on my shoulder, and for a split second I wanted to push him off.

However, I just sighed, nodding to him as I leaned closer.

"J-Just tired..."

He nodded, saying "We all are... the quicker this war is over with, the better."

"Shinobi of the Leaf! Hear me!"

We turned to look at the proud figure of our Hokage, who was staring down at us with pride.

"We have pushed the Kumo Shinobi back to our border, but the still wish to fight! The battle will be fierce, and many will die..."

He hung his head, and we all nodded, remembering those that had already fallen.

"However, it is for them that we must reclaim our land! For a better tomorrow!"

I joined the chorus of cheers, before the scene in front of me spiraled.

With a jolt I found myself waiting in a tree, months past that event.

Tensions were high; even with Lord Fourth keeping the Raikage and Killer B occupied, the Kumo Shinobi fought with tooth and nail, desperately trying to keep the land they claimed.

Drawing my bow, I nocked an arrow and sent it hurtling towards three stationary Kumo Shinobi, watching with a cold grin as the arrow sunk deep into ones skull.

Hakan Sensei flickered beside the remaining two, using his chokuto to decapitate one while Hiansha snapped the neck of the other.

I looked over at Jilyo with a challenging grin, making the arrogant Hyuga sneer at me.

Our relationship had fallen through after he tried to claim me as his bride; it irked me how easily he said those words when we both knew that we were in bed just for the stress relief.

Hopping out of the tree, I flickered over to Hakan Sensei, only to watch in horror as a bolt of lightning collided with the tree beside him, searing his arm.

We all instinctively jumped away, retreating deeper into the Land of Fire.

However, as I peered over my shoulder, I saw the snarling features of a blonde haired olive skinned woman, the chakra pulsating off of her denoting her status as either a high Chunin or Jonin.

My eyes went wide, before...

The trees spiraled, and I found myself in a cave, my arm bleeding as I held a shattered kunai in my hands, the woman grinning at me from the entrance of the cave.

My bow was behind her, my kunai pouch empty, no senbons...

Holding the small spike of metal in my hands, I grunted as I tried to deflect the womans longsword, only to have the kunai flung from my hands.

Panting, I looked at her warily, only to shout in surprise when she disappeared.

Sliding her arm over my neck, I felt her warm breath on my cheek as she growled "You're that damn Konoha bitch who killed my lover..."

Feeling something hard pressing against me from below, I tried to scream, only to have her cover my mouth.

Tossing me onto the ground, I was quickly bound by ropes, the woman looming over me with a grin.

Struggling against them, I could only watch in horror as she stripped me, before...

Flipping me over, I cried out in pain as she took me, her hands digging into my flesh as she grunted, using me.

I have no idea how long it lasted, but I was...

Broken.

Hours or days had passed, and yet the woman abused me to her hearts content, never quiet as she bragged about what she was doing; how it was my punishment for being a Konoha Shinobi.

I had lost my will to fight back, to cry out...

My right arm throbbed fiercely, both glacially cold and prodded with the various rocks scattered around the cave.

"Kokoro..."

"My love..."

I heard two voices, both so familiar and yet... so distant and foreign.

They slowly echoed around the cave, and I breathed a sigh of relief when the scene fell away.

Finding myself in a brick tunnel, various sewage pipes lining the walls, I shivered at the cold breeze, turning.

Looking behind me, I could see the familiar feral grin of the Kumo Shinobi, making my eyes go wide again.

Even here..?!

She cackled, rushing towards me as she extended her arms, trying to catch me.

I ran, towards the two voices that echoed around me.

"A-ANKO!"

I shouted, finally remembering one of the voices.

Her voice got closer, before the other clicked as well.

"KURENAI!"

I could hear the Kumo Shinobi running behind me, her raspy voice closing as she shrieked "YOU WON'T ESCAPE ME, YOU DAMN BITCH!"

I shivered again, only to widen my eyes as another voice joined Anko and Kurenai.

It was still and emotionless, but somehow managed to convey so many different feelings to me.

"C-Cameia..?"

Rounding a corner, I looked down the dark hall, seeing three women standing together.

Rushing towards them, I heard the Kumo Shinobi screech behind me, and as I glanced over my shoulder I saw her eyes go slack, a snake wrap around her neck, and a spike of pure darkness pierce her.

Looking back at the three women, I collapsed as they came into view.

Anko stood in the center, her cocky smile on her face as she stepped forwards, kneeling in front of me.

Her brown eyes met mine as her purple hair fell onto my face, and she cupped my cheek, saying "It's alright, my love..."

Kurenai nodded, smiling down at me, her crimson eyes alight with love as she chuckled "You always have to worry us don't you, Kokoro?"

The last woman hesitantly stepped forwards, her golden eyes looking me over as she nodded, saying "It's... It's good that you found your inner strength to heal..."

Cameia pointed at my right arm, and I looked down at the paper white flesh with a translucent blue glow, watching in interest as the glow wafted off my arm slightly, allowing my skin to turn from paper white to pale.

It still hurt, and it still felt cold, but it was bearable now.

Darkness enshrouded me again, but unlike before, this was...

Comforting.

Warm.

Loving.

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Next chapter will be a mix of the others PoV's of Kokoro's nightmare, with the one after that being some more backstory on our MC...

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