There is nothing scarier than having nothing, and out of all the nothings there is nothing scarier than having nothing to remember.

Unfortunately, that was exactly the kind of nothing I was experiencing. So you could imagine the kind of panic I was feeling as I sat hidden from the full moon by deep foliage, and by man's most intrinsic invention- fire. It crackled mockingly, casting deep shadows on the ancient tree trunks and drying leaves around me.

My mind was an endless abyss of nothing. It held not a single shred of memory. I was living the true meaning of lost and terrified.

To add further insult to injury, I wasn't alone in the dense forest that held my empty shell of a person. There was a man. But the way the creature held himself reminded me more of a proud statue, a regal portrait, and he could've easily passed off as one with his striking beauty.

I hadn't seen my reflection since waking up to endless confusion. However, I already doubted that it could compare to the way his thick dark hair gleamed in its tight ponytail past his shoulders; to the way his flawless pale skin peeked in spots his black and red cloak left uncovered; to the way his eyes seemed to hold a smoldering fire of their own; to the way he towered over me with his glorious height.

"Who are you?" My voice, very alien to my ears, was high-pitched.

I was female. I should've already gathered this from the way I responded to his masculine splendor.

Yet, apprehension seemed to suffuse my veins warningly. Was this some kind of defense mechanism or trusty intuition I held? Had I seen this man before? I wouldn't know.

"That is clearly not important." He took a step forward cautiously and I felt myself freeze.

"Did I know you?" I inquired again, crawling closer to the fire as a chilly breeze swept the forest floor.

"Did?" He looked confused, but not even half as confused as I was.

"I can't remember anything." I told him calmly, like I was announcing the weather. It seemed useless to pretend otherwise; if he wanted to, he could've killed me ages ago. No matter how good a warrior I was before…

I took a deep breath to steady my speeding heart. Think positive. I was stuck in the dark with a gorgeous guy, how bad could it be?

His eyes widened in surprise, hopefully from my words and not my thoughts, then they turned calculating. "…amnesia?"

"I believe so." I replied thoughtfully. Ha-ha, thoughtlessly actually.

He just stared, drinking in my face as he slowly advanced until he stood by the fire. "You won't survive if I leave you here."

I gulped. "…probably."

"But then, you wouldn't stand a chance where I'm going." He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. I realized that he would've cut quite an intimidating figure had it not been for the print of his cloak… red clouds, seriously? He could so do better than that- red lightning, maybe?

"Says who?" I demanded, crossing my arms too, albeit more indignantly.

I swear a smile almost made its way onto his sensuous lips. The man was as hard as he was handsome. "…says all the deadly ninjas inhabiting the town."

I stood up, startled. "Ninjas?"

"Oh, yes." He murmured gravely. "You were one once."

I suddenly felt dizzy. I shouldn't have stood up so fast, or maybe it was the swirling red commas in his eyes… how was I supposed to know?

The world started spinning until it was pitch-black. These days I seemed to be making a bad habit of falling into the dark...

"Wake up, honey. You ain't gonna survive in this godfirsaken hole if ya let people catch ya sleepin'." A husky, deeply accented voice drawled, shaking me out of empty sleep. It belonged to a woman I was sure- a fact that was strangely comforting. Finally I had something in common with someone.

"Where am I?" I groaned, stretching my stiff limbs over clean white sheets. I had slept almost too well and getting up seemed such a torture. Slowly did I sit up from the warm, cozy mattress.

The room I was in was circumstance-appropriate. It was unlit and almost bare, like the inner workings of my mind (not to say that I was witless; just hollow, vacant, void of recollection). Only the necessary furnishings were made available to me: a bed and a door opposite it, a mirror stuck to the wall, and an unpretentious cabinet.

There was just one dimmed light bulb stuck in the middle of the ceiling and no windows. Despite the resulting lack of ventilation and light, I felt the cold and I could easily see that the stranger was very attractive.

She had long, dark tresses and bright eyes with a color that was, so far, undistinguishable. Every time I woke up puzzled, I seemed to be surrounded by angels. Did I die or something?

"Ya are in deep shit naw, love." She replied dryly, equally fascinated by my features. That got the curiosity churning. I stood up and walked to the mirror on the right wall with respect to my bed.

It was a plain square, about one square foot in area, and enough to catch a full view of my physiognomy. Pale skin, fair shoulder-length hair, and light eyes stared back at me blankly. I looked much like an albino in the dark. It wasn't a very flattering lighting, but my features were soft and sweet so that was some sort of redemption.

I sighed, turning back to the girl at the foot of the bed. "What now?"

She wrinkled her nose in distaste, scrutinizing my attire. "We have ta get ya out a those clothes first. I think I have sumthin' in those shelves." On her way to the cabinet she looked over her shoulder at me to announce matter-of-factly, "I'm Kari."

I just stared back, incapable of supplying my own title.

Kari winked as if she knew what was really going on and went right back to the task of obtaining a suitable set of clothes for pitiful me. "Don't worry; he knows what ya're called."

"How appeasing..." I muttered, thinking of my mysterious savior and hugging myself as she pulled garment after garment out of several unsuspecting drawers. It was then that I noticed how daringly clothed she was in a tiny black dress and knee-high boots. It made me nervous that she be the one to dress me.

"Here ya are." Kari exclaimed gleefully, pulling out a long, sleeveless dress. I almost sighed in relief at its modesty until I saw dangerously high slits on both its sides.

"You can't expect me to…" She smiled slyly before approaching me swiftly. Riiiip…The witch managed to tear a huge gash into my homely top. "Hey!"

"Now I can."

For a split-second I stared down at the smooth pale skin of my chest, subsequently holding up my shirt to shield it from view. Yep, definitely female.

"Relax, love, we're all girls here." She claimed, hurling the offensive piece of clothing at me. I took it numbly and quickly undressed myself.

"…in the whole building?" I inquired, feeling so much better at the thought. I pulled the material over my head and onto my body. It was soft and flexible.

"Nah; just in this room." She clarified with a long meaningful look. "But ya better get used ta it. Ya might hear some bedsprings screechin' from the rooms beside ya, if ya know what I mean…"

I felt myself going green. Judging from her skimpy clothes and her suggestive statement alone, I guessed that we were in a brothel. I shuddered, thinking of what might have happened on the bed I had occupied just minutes ago. I fervently hoped I was wrong about this place. Did tall mysterious man honestly believe I was going to get myself into this kind of work? Screw him. Not literally, I mean.

I must've been horribly transparent because she sighed tiredly. "It's alright darlin', we ain't gonna expect ya ta do any a the dirty work around here. Ya look too much like a lady fir that."

"No?" I pressed, despite the reassurance supplied. Whatever I had to do couldn't be any kind of glamorous if I was in a brothel…

"Yah, yir gonna manage the ills." Kari sniffed as if she felt- as well as I did- that I had no clue how to cure.

"How am I going to-" My question was lost as the door to the room swung open. Light rushed in and it seemed blinding prior to my eyes' adjustment.

Before long I saw our intruder. She was perspiring and, of course, scantily clad in an oversized button-down t-shirt, staring at us suspiciously as if we'd been the ones doing something erotic.

"Uchiha wants the girl." She growled, evidently not as amicable as Kari. Possibly because she wasn't as becoming as Kari either, with dry auburn locks and brown eyes too close together.

"Is he the…?" I started reluctantly. My eyes looked beyond her to the sparsely illuminated corridors, searching for my handsome stranger. Simple wooden doors exactly like the one of my current room peeked out from the white walls innocently, much unlike their room's inhabitants.

"…guy who found you? Yes, indeed." The redhead continued in a patronizing tone. "And now he's asking for you again for some unimaginable reason."

"Oh, lay off a her Akane." Kari snapped, getting up from the bed to lay a warm hand on my shoulder. "She's with me."

Akane raised a precariously plucked brow but didn't comment as Kari led me out of the darkness and into the harsh fluorescent light of my future workplace.

The corridors were better called 'tunnels' for their lack of windows or any kind of decoration. Kari didn't seem to mind, though, as we maneuvered out of the labyrinthine path into a foyer. Well, something that could pass off as one. It was as stark as the rest of the place with signature white walls and minimal dark wood furniture.

A crowd of men (with questionable morals) were lining up in front of a reception desk opposite the supposed entrance of the building- double doors flung wide open. I hadn't realized (from the lack of humans circulating the system of corridors) how popular the place was.

A few males turned to stare as we walk passed them on our way to the entrance. One of them pointed at me and whispered to his companions. I looked away and quickened my pace. No can do, boys.

Kari, who had seen the whole spectacle, guffawed and elbowed me teasingly. "Pity ya can't work here, love. Business woulda been bangin'." I don't know if the pun was intended or not, but I didn't care to find out.

I marched out of the doors eagerly only to stop in my tracks, to stare at the man making his way up the stars to where I was.

It was him again, my rescuer or my captor depending on how you looked at it, looking as handsome as ever as he walked lithely up the stone steps.

His dark eyes (didn't they have red commas before?) glowing up at me in the moonlight. His dark hair was down today, framing his pale skin and making him look younger, maybe just a few years older than me. Then I remembered that I didn't know my exact age so how could I know whether or not I was too old for him? Okay, maybe I could sometimes be witless.

"It seems you're too caught up staring at me to realize it is freezing cold out here." He remarked with a slight twitch of his lip. I knew now that it was his way of smiling.

It was, in fact, unbelievably cold and I knew I was reddening at the realization. I scrambled for a good explanation. Then I saw his familiar cloak swinging in the strong breeze. "I was just wondering why you always wear that same cloak."

He raised a brow, doubting my explanation or incredulous at my choice of question, I didn't know but I hoped it was the latter.

"I remain loyal to a band of murderers I joined years ago." He saw me shivering and hesitantly took the said cloak off to hand it to me. He had a black long-sleeved shirt underneath- unintentionally providing a good view of his lean athletic physique, I noted- over black pants.

I put it on and glanced back at the brothel. Surprise, surprise, it had white walls and no windows even on the outside. Kari and Akane hadn't followed me out. I wondered why. I also wondered whether or not I'd be seeing them again, whether I would truly be working there.

I turned back to 'Uchiha' and followed swiftly until I was right by him as our heels crashed on the pavement. "You can't be serious about that murderer thing."

He didn't reply and I chose to force my attention on the street we covered. It was craftily paved and desolate. The buildings it bordered were, in comparison, very shabby, irregularly shaped, and busting with people. This must be the darker side of town with the brothels and slums and people who hung their laundry where anyone could see. At least it was beautifully paved.

Uchiha looked up and I then noticed that we weren't in the moonlight, not at all. There were openings in the 'sky'. Why "openings"? They provided the light and had ladders (as if they led to another world) and pipelines hanging down from them. A good way to describe them is to say they resembled larger stars that didn't twinkle at all.

I rubbed my eyes and looked back at them in astonishment. They remained as they were, like portals to a more lighted dimension, possibly one with an available sun.

"What…?" I whispered, only to have him cut me off.

"We're underground. Those are the ways back to the surface, where we shared pipelines with those from above." He explained wearily. Uchiha didn't seem to be worried about me taking it all in at once. We were miles under the surface, under where I can assume I spent all of my life until now.

"So you kidnapped me." I teased, getting a glare in return.

"Nothing's stopping you from getting back up there." He informed me coldly, like he loathed being thought of as a captor. Or maybe he was embarrassed that he had kidnapped someone as useless as me. "However, I would advise against it. Not only are you completely vulnerable without your memories, you will also find that you are quite sought after in that world."

We had rounded a corner and the streetlights shone upon the better part of town. Here the buildings were lit up, easily contesting the sun, maybe because the said heavenly body wasn't accessible.

There were more people out on the streets; most of them looked like they had spent the night partying in their shiny fancy clothes. Their eyes were bloodshot and dazed staring back at me as they stumbled through the stone sidewalks. Such are the spoiled, rich elite.

"Who was I?" I queried softly, looking up at his brooding face. Did the guy ever smile?

He turned to look back at me emotionlessly. "You were the best medic ninja in the world, Sakura Haruno."

"Sakura…" I smiled. I liked it. Likewise it was such a relief that I had done good things in my past. I worried that I had been just like Kari and Akane once upon a time. "You can call me that. What about you?"

He looked away swiftly. "I'm not someone you'd like to remember."

"Okay, Mr. Not-someone-you'd-like-to-remember, do you have a nickname?"

He snorted, taking my arm and leading me past a crowd of suspicious-looking males. A gang? It didn't matter- they saw my guide and made a break for it.

I looked back at their retreating silhouettes and considered doing the same. If a group of about twenty men evacuated when Uchiha passed then he was probably highly dangerous, or a cop. He didn't look like the law-enforcing type. My stomach suddenly felt queasy.

He must have sensed my apprehension because he suddenly let go of my arm and accelerated. Before us was a huge, dark mansion looking out of a high gate.

I noticed just now that there were no plants in the underground (no gardens, just gates) they couldn't survive in the meager sunlight. I was starting to believe him about it all.

As we neared the looming stone gate, I noticed a figure perched high up on it, gazing down at us. Before I could catch a good glimpse of him, he took off, landing with a thud on the other side of the gate, presumably heading to the mansion.

"Who…?" I caught myself, seeing my companion frown almost imperceptibly.

I was getting handy at reading the furtively flickering emotions on his face. Was it a natural talent of mine to translate peoples' emotions? Boy, having amnesia was damn frustrating, like walking in circles searching for guiding marks on the trees around and finding none whatsoever.

"It might be wise to note that I despise questions, particularly foolish ones." He drawled, as massive steel gates swiveled back in welcome without another person in sight.

I felt my fists curl up as my temper rose from its deep sleep. That definitely felt familiar. I was fiery, all right. "Well I despise you, Uchiha, but you can't just drop dead, now can you?"

He stared at me frostily, before proceeding into the darkness surrounding his mansion, surrounding anything far enough in the distance. I refused to put up with his despicable attitude and remained on the outside until the huge steel gates closed with a clang.

I then fell to my knees unceremoniously and broke down, choking back tears. I was doomed to no memory, caught in a crazy world with no sunshine, no rain… brought by one so cold and dark, like a cellar. That's what he is, a cellar, an old rusty stinky cellar. The reality of it all was crushing- I had every right to cry.

"I need my cloak back."

"Go to hell!"