A haunting dream becomes reality

Lev walked lazily throughout Kumogakure, an aura of indifference seemed to project from him. In reality though, he was lost in his own head, as usual. He was a bit disturbed by THE dream. It was a dream he had been having since he began to learn how to manipulate his chakra and it usually followed the same pattern: Lev awoke underwater, face to face with an enormous shadow. A single crimson eye stared at him, unblinking and with murderous intent. Three long shadows, what Lev assumed to be tails, waved behind the massive form. Bubbles swam from just below the eye, making their way up the water column. Lev stared back, feeling uneasy by both the ominous shadow and the eye. He opened his mouth to speak, but his words were lost in his throat. Almost suddenly, the shadow lurched forward and a massive purple armored hand emerged from the darkness and seized the young boy, dragging him down. He awoke in panic.

Lev didn't understand what was happening, but the dreams became more realistic the more he learned to control his chakra. Lately, they had become too realistic for his own liking and he planned on solving the puzzle. Luckily, he had already started down that path. He looked up, noticing he had finally reached the training grounds. Making his way forward, he noticed a couple of other ninja and students working, but he attempted to avoid their attention. He pulled at the straps of the backpack he was carrying, feeling the weight of the books and scrolls he had collected. He had already read most of them and had an idea of what was going on in his dreams. “Jinchuriki...”

The history books mentioned rare cases to where tailed demons would be sealed into ninja to contain their power. He doubted his own conclusion, but a twist in his gut drove him to the uneasy idea that his intuition was, once again right on target. He reached into the bag and pulled out a ragged scroll. It was labeled “Demonology”. Lev unrolled it along the dusty stone clearing he chose as his training spot. He scanned the scroll passively, looking for specific information on the three shadowy tails revealed in his dream. Nothing. In fact, he found nothing about the tails commonly associated with the... what were they called... Bijuu that inhabited the jinchuriki of before. His brow crumbled in frustration as he rolled the scroll and tossed it into his bag. “Worthless... gah...” He moaned. He looked throughout two other scrolls he brought along. Nothing, again.

He felt defeated as he stood to his feet and stretched his arms into the sky. This was a waste of time, he thought as he gripped his left hand in his right and pushed into the sky. He switched hands and bent at his waist, stretching his legs. Lev planted his hands against the cold rock underneath him and kicked his feet backwards, landing firmly in a plank position. He began to do a round of push ups, feeling the tension in his chest grow with every repetition. As always, Lev was in his own mind. It was his defense against the outside world, especially when he wanted to be alone. 'There has to be some link between my dreams and becoming a ninja... my chakra.' He thought as he pulled his left hand behind his back, transitioning into one armed push ups. 'The dreams are responding to my progress... Maybe feeding on my chakra? Shit... I don't know.' He changed arms, continuing his work out. 'Maybe its trying to communicate with me... Pft... More like threaten my life.'

Lev lowered himself to the ground and spun around to his back. For a moment, he lay flat against the ground, staring at the clouds floating above. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before pulling his feet towards his body and planting them firmly on the ground. He hated crunches more than anything. Well, almost anything. After a hundred reps, he began to alternate his crunch to the left and right, tapping his knees with the opposite elbow. He allowed his consciousness to fade into the repetition, loosing himself in the exercise. Until he was startled by a sickening emotion in his stomach. It wasn't the burn of the crunches... no, it was dark. It felt familiar... threatening. He continued pushing through his workout.

Eventually, Lev stood and shook his arms and legs out. He spread his feet apart, squatting down just below the horizontal. He placed his hands into the tiger seal and closed his eyes. He felt his chakra flowing throughout his muscles and bones and began to fall into a deep meditation. His leg muscles ached with an intense burn, but it fell into the back of his mind. 'You're seeking me...' A voice passed through his consciousness. 'You're mine...' It rang again. Lev ignored it as best he could, but the terror was undeniable. He firmed his muscles and pulled his right leg to the top of the other, shifting his weight to his left side. Suddenly, he found himself immersed in the blackness of an ocean, staring at the shadow's crimson eye. It was his dream, but he wasn't asleep. He was weightless except for the immense pressure of the shadow that was in front of him. Its chakra was dark and pulled his insecurities to the front of his mind. He saw three tails floating behind the shadow. He was disturbed by the vision, of course. But, Lev strengthened his focus. He closed his eyes just as the same armored purple hand from his dream enveloped his vision. 'Seek me...'

He awoke with a gasp and he fell backwards out of his squat. Somehow, he had switched legs, even as the vision took his mind. Lev's breathing was panicked and heavy, like he had been struggling to reach the surface of the water after swimming too far down. Sweat beaded on his brow and soaked his shirt. “What the hell?” He asked himself aloud as he found his voice amidst the panic. He sat up and placed a hand against his chest, feeling his heart pounding rapidly. His face was flush, but his eyes remained determined.'Seek me, huh?' He sat motionless for minutes before regaining his composure. Lev pulled himself to his feet. He tugged at the collar of his cut off jacket and pulled it off of his body, tossing it to the side. He then removed the damp shirt, noticing it felt much heavier than normal before dropping it on top of the jacket.

Lev turned towards an upright log that was fastened securely into the stone. It was marked with the signs of countless punches and kicks, the punctures of kunai and shuriken. Lev intended on adding to the damage. He cracked his knuckles and stared at the log, but his mind was lingering on the vision mimicking his dreams. He shifted his stance to a basic fighting pose, his feet spread apart under bent knees. He began kicking into the wood, feeling it give slightly after every strike. The wrappings on his shins shred slightly under the force of impact. With every kick, he channeled more chakra into his legs. Splinters of wood began to fly from the log. 'Let me out...' He stopped at the sound of the echoing voice in his head as it returned. A chill fell down his spine.

He turned his body to face the log and pulled his fists to his waist. He grinned at the thought of hearing voices in his head. He wasn't crazy, he was sure. 'Why would I let you out... why would I seek you... if I don't know what you are? In my dreams... just now... you threaten me and attack me. I'm not an idiot...' He laughed to himself as he realized he was having a conversation with the voice in his head. Maybe he was going crazy. He began to punch the log, concentrating his chakra into his fists. The shock of impact shot up his bones and into his shoulders with every hit. He began to retreat into his mind to ease the pain. 'fifty three.... fifty eight... sixty four...' Again, his vision faded to black.

He appeared mid tumble under the black sea that characterized the dreams... visions... that had tormented him for months. As he caught his bearings, he found the crimson eye yet again. It was moving towards him... lurching forward in the darkness. Lev pushed forward with his feet, towards the shadow. He felt the demonic pressure of the shadow growing stronger. He pulled his fists back and yelled... He yelled. That was different from the dreams. “What are you?!” He pushed against the water with his chakra, shooting himself ahead quicker. As he approached the shadow, its face came into view. It was horrendous. An armored, one eyed purple... turtle? Its mouth opened wide, showing the long spikes serving as its teeth. Lev was swept from his path by the large hand as it grasped his body. It brought him in front of the eye as it stared into his soul. Fear overtook the young ninja. 'This is the end...' He thought. The turtle demon stared for what seemed like an eternity before pulling his hand towards the immense black opening of its mouth. Lev yelled as he was tossed inside, eaten whole.

He awoke back at the training grounds, still punching the log. The white flesh of the tree was stained with the blood from his knuckles. How long had he been out? His knuckles were shredded. What just happened to him? He thought back at the vision, at the fear of being eaten alive. At the armored face of the turtle. At the crimson eye that violated his person. 'What are you?' He sought for the voice that haunted him before. 'Let me out...' The voice responded. 'Set me free!” The voice grew louder. The chakra surrounding his body began to weaken as exhaustion set over him. His muscles ached, every nerve in his body began to shout. 'You're nothing...' It taunted 'Without me...'

Lev began to shout as a new chakra burst from inside of him. It felt familiar... haunting. It was the same pressure he felt in his visions. It felt dark crimson and it swallowed his body, giving him energy he never knew he had. The next punch he threw at the log sent splinters flying away from the impact and left a crater a little larger than his fist behind. He shifted his stance and delivered a kick to the side of the log. He temporarily lost his balance as his leg pushed halfway through the log. He dropped his upper body to the ground and pushed away from the ground, sending his chakra through his palms and launching himself 3 meters away. As he landed, he shot the new chakra forward with control he never knew he had, colliding it with the log. The top half erupted in wooden shrapnel, snapping at the point his kick had weakened it. 'You see... You're nothing without me...' The voice echoed before he collapsed under his own weight and felt his vision fade to black.

Lev awoke some time later. How long it had been, he had no idea. He was propped against the nearly destroyed log and couldn't feel most of his body. He was surrounded by other ninja who were training at the grounds, their faces giving away their surprise. “Are... you okay? What just happened?!” A young boy asked. “That was amazing!” Another boy said in awe. Lev recognized him from his academy classes. He was annoyed at the attention and the questions all of a sudden.

“How long was I out?” Lev asked. He shifted his weight forward and caught himself with his arms. They gave slightly underneath his weight. He then pulled himself to his feet with a wobble.


“You sure you should be moving around? You were out for atleast 5 minutes... You look like hell!” A kunoichi responded to his question, half impressed and half worried. She smirked whenever he fell back to the ground with a grunt.

--end--

Tail one of Version One Cloak and 10 stat points, I believe. 2,037 words.

Approved