Chapter 2

Sakura was in the darkness again. She always returned to it when she was asleep. The light was further away each time she returned. Sometimes she wondered what that meant. The red-haired boy still hovered above her in the darkness. She was still unable to move.

She had tried saying his name once. "Gaara". She could not speak, but still, something flashed through the pale green eyes. She remembered what Orochimaru-sama and Kabuto-san had told her about the boy, but she couldn't help but feel that there was something off about what they had said.


Gaara's mouth formed the same words that it formed every time she was about to wake. She tried to focus, to make the words out. She couldn't.

There was a wrongness about what they had told her. Something was off. Something didn't make sense, but Sakura could not identify what it was.

Sakura had not left the room in the week that had passed since she had woken up, but everyday Kabuto, Orochimaur, or another person who claimed to be her friend showed up. Something was wrong about each and everyone of them.

None of the invoked any feeling in her. Not the woman claiming to be her sensei. Not the boy who claimed to have saved her on their first mission together. Not the girl who came in claiming to be her best friend since they were young. And so many more.

She didn't feel that powerful surge of raw emotion that came with Orochimaru or Kabuto, with Gaara or Naruto. There was nothing. Why would that be if they were as close as they claimed?

She considered asking Orochimaru or Kabuto, but never did. Whenever she would think to bring up the subject with them in the room, her mind would immediately shout "NO!". And she would listen. And that scared her because the voice denying her the ability to ask the question was not hers. It was a voice that she felt she should know, but in no way did it belong to her. So she decided that she would disobey it. The next time Kabuto or Orochimaru came in, she would tell them about the lack of feeling she had.

The door opened and Kabuto walked in. His face was neutral. Sakura looked at the black-rimmed clock that hung on the opposite of her. It was the same time that he always came in.

"How are you doing Sakura-chan?" he asked. "Are you enjoying the visits from your friends?"

It was the same two questions that he always asked when he came in. Her usual answers to them would be "Fine" and "Yes", but today would be different.

"I don't feel anything," she said quickly before the voice in her head had time to stop her.

She looked up at Kabuto, but quickly looked away as a his lips twisted into a frown. He sat down next to her. "What do you mean?" he asked softly.

"I don't feel anything when they walk in. There's no emotion, good or bad," Sakura said.

"It's just the amnesia. When your memories come back, so will the feelings," he said reassuringly. He patted her shoulder and stood up. He checked some of the machines and turned back to her.

"Orochimaru-sama will be coming later. You're being released into his care," his head tilted and his eyes closed as he smiled at her. "Are you happy?"

Sakura blinked and tried to return the smile, but hers was weak. She gave a weak nod.

Kabuto kissed her forehead and walked out of the room.


True to Kabuto's word, Orochimaru got her later that day. Kabuto was there when the discharge papers were signed. He set up an appointment at the hospital for the next week so he could check how she was doing. Sakura felt that it was overall unnecessary since Kabuto would see her almost every day.

As they approached the entrance to the hospital, a group of ANBU guards appeared. The two were surrounded as they walked out the doors. The masked me were silent as they walked through the village, and it unnerved Sakura. She felt like something was wrong with the situation.

What further worried her was the villagers. Their eyes were guarded as the group passed. Their eyes watched them, tracked them. And they were silent. Not a word was said, in greeting or respect, to the leader of the village, or to her.

When the group finally arrived at Orochimaru's home, Sakura was relieved. It was a two story building surrounded by a guarded wall. It was somewhat separated from the rest of the village.

The eyes of the villagers could no longer watch her, and she could no longer watch them.

As they approached the door, all but one of the ANBU members vanished. The remaining guard followed behind them as they walked into the house.

Orochimaru was silent as he lead the way through the house. Sakura follwed silently behind, afraid to break the uncomfortable silence and say something.

They stopped at two dark wooden doors. The ANBU member opened it and let them enter. Once they were inside, he closed it behind them. He did not enter with the two.

Sakura stared around the office as Orochimaru moved. There was a desk directly across from the door with a high-backed chair behind it. Two other chairs were in front of it.

Orochimaru took the chair behind the desk and waved at Sakura to sit at one of the ones in front of the desk. She did so.

Orochimaru spoke first. "Did anything look familiar? The village? Our home?"

Sakura shook her head and Orochimaru frowned. He folded his hands on the tabled and stared at the girl with his cold snake-like eyes.

"Have you remembered anything since you woke up?" Orochimaru said it like a question, but Sakura knew that he already knew the answer to it.

"No, sir," she replied, shaking her head.

"That poses a problem, especially because you are my heir," he paused. "Do you remember your sensei or your teammates?"

"No, sir,"

"You kept a diary before you were stolen from me. Perhaps reading it will help you to remember," his face softened, but his eyes did not change from their usual coldness. "Whether or that fails, I have a plan of action to reintroduce you into our village. The villagers remember you, but since you do not remember them, I want you to learn about them again.

"You will train under Kabuto and myself for the next two years. After the first 6 months, you will complete missions with your old team. If, after the two years are up, Kabuto and I feel that you are ready, you will rejoin your team as a jounin of Otogakure.

"Do you understand this?"

Sakura nodded. She was somewhat curious about how she would learn about the village and it inhabitants, but she assumed that Orochimaru has ideas for that as well.

"You will be directly under my protection and you will have an ANBU guard. You are allowed to wander the village so you can reacquaint yourself with its structure and people, but by no means are you allowed to go beyond its boundaries without my permission."

Orochimaru's eyes changed. They showed madness and pleasure as he said his next words. "I would hate for anything to happen to you."

Sakura felt a shiver go up her spine.

Orochimaru was suddenly in front of her. His hand rested on her shoulder.

"Please be careful," since the first time he had visited her in the hospital, Orochimaru's eyes matched his words.

"I will, Orochimaru-sama," Sakura replied looking down. She couldn't look into those eyes, even if they, for once, showed genuine concern.

Lips were on the top of her head for only a moment, but it was long enough to Sakura's mind to process the action. It was long enough for her to think that this snake-like man who had caused her so much confusion was showing genuine affection for her.

Sakura's eyes shut for a moment and she just felt the action.

For the ANBU watching from the corner of the room, the action had different meaning. Unlike Sakura, he could see Orochimaru's face. He could see his leader's yellow eyes flash with maniacal glee.


Sakura was wandering the village with the single ANBU guard trailing silently behind her. He was far enough back to give her space, but close enough to defend her if something happened.

Sakura wondered why Orochimaru had assigned her a guard. Did he expect something to happen to her? If so, what?

Sakura looked around at the villagers. They watched her, but they did not approach her or say anything to her. It worried her. Here they afraid of the ANBU? Of Orochimaru? Or had she been so terrible before she had disappeared and they were afraid of her?

As that thought ran through her head, so did another. If that was the case, why did some of them look at her as if she was new? Why did some of them watch her like they had never seen her before?

These observations added to her sense of "wrongness" about her current position. She was going to dwell on it more, but was interrupted by the appearance of her "team".

"Sakura! You're out of the hospital!" one of her teammates yelled happily.

For a moment, Sakura felt like she was in two places. She was looking at her "teammate", but she could also see another figure in her mind. The two people were eerily similar in personality to one another.

"Sakura? Sakura? Are you okay?"

Sakura shook her head and looked up. Her sensei was in front of her, looking down on her in concern.

"I-I'm fine..." Sakura grasped for the name of the woman and after a few moments it came to her, "Katsumi-sensei."

The woman smiled. "We were going to eat, would you like to join us?"

"I don't want to impose," Sakura protested.

The boy, Yasushi, jumped at her. "We're a team! You have to come with us!"

Sakura gave them a wary smiled and accepted.


Sakura was back "home". The room that had been set up for her was a pale green and it was mostly bare. There was a bed that was pushed into the far corner, a desk that's drawers were filled with scrolls was against the wall opposite to the bed, and a dresser that was next to the bed.

Sakura was lying on the bed with her "diary" lying open next her her. The girl's eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly parted.

Her training would begin tomorrow, before she had a chance to remember anything.


~End Chapter 2~

Words: 1837

[A/N]: So I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. I would've had it up sooner, but the day that I wrote most of it, I ended up at the doctors office so I could upload it. I'll talk more about Sakura's team in later chapters, probably the next one, and if not that, then definitely the one after. And don't worry, I'll be getting some scenes of Gaara and Naruto in.