Chapter Three: Penny for Your Thoughts

Arashi walked inside the room, while a guard shut the door behind him. Arashi tool the moment to scan the room for its occupants.

There was the Sandaime, looking like he could use a nice long vacation, three guards that had all been trained in prisoner retention and interrogation and then, there was the girl.

She had soft pink hair that came just above her shoulders; her emerald eyes were watching him watch her, Arashi found this slightly uncomfortable but kept looking. She was a thin person, but fit. He quickly looked at her arms, and the power that they possessed. Almost, if not stronger than Tsunade… She wore a red zip-up shirt with white accents. She had skin tight black shorts underneath what appeared to be a skirt of some sorts. Perhaps a medicnin's tool-belt. No, she couldn't be a medicnin, she looked too young to be one, or at least, not a very good one.

When his gaze returned to his face, he could see her looking him over too. Her eyes came to a rest on his face. They stared.

Arashi broke the moment and sat down across from her. The table was situated in the middle of the room. He noticed she was chained down.

She smiled at him.

Arashi resisted the urge to smile back. She had a pretty smile…

He began with his name, it's hard to hold a pleasant conversation when you don't know a person's name, "Hello, my name is Uzumaki Arashi; you may call me, Arashi-san."

He noticed that the girl's eyes had widened before she glanced down when he said his name. Was she afraid of him? He knew he that had a 'flee on site' designation…but did she know?

"What's your name?" he probed.

The girl looked up, she seemed to hesitate before replying, in a clear voice, "My name is Haruno Sakura, my friend's call me Sakura-chan, you may call me Haruno-san."

Haruno. Konohagakure had a clan of that same name. She couldn't possibly be from the Haruno clan though, they had few members left, and numbers had been steadily declining over the years. Even more, not a single member for as long as one could remember had ever been a ninja. Ever. He had noticed her hitai-ate on her head that kept her hair back. He looked at her fore head protector turned head band. It was a red ribbon, with a metal plate attached…He wondered what village she came from. He took in the village symbol… no way.

Konoha?

"Alright, Haruno-san, your fore head protector tells me that you come from around here. I don't know how this is possible, seeing how there's never been a Haruno ninja before. Care to explain?" Arashi knew the girl would have to lie.

She surprised him. The girl looked straight into his eyes, "I come from Konohagakure, and I am the first Haruno ninja in my family." There was no lie in her voice, and her eyes… they betrayed nothing.

She couldn't possibly be telling the truth. Simply inconceivable.

"You're how old, Haruno-san?" Arashi wanted to know.

"I am sixteen years old." She replied.

"And the current kage is?" he asked. A simple question. She could answer in a number of ways.

"The current Hokage is named Tsunade. She is the fifth person to claim this title. She took the place of the Sandaime. The Yondaime died sixteen years previously." She looked at him. "But that's not the answer you want. You want me to say the Sandaime. You want me to say that the third Hokage is that man over there." She pointed at Hokage-sama.

So she knew who the Hokage was. But what was she talking about before? Tsunade was not Hokage...

"Haruno-san, I'm finding this hard to believe… as far as I know, there has only been three hokages since Konoha was created. Are you trying to tell me that there have been five?" Arashi was tired, he wanted to go home. But this… girl, she had some pull over him, he needed more.

"I'm pretty sure, Arashi-san. I should know I am, after all, the Hokage's apprentice." She said it almost resignedly.

"What year do you think it is? 'Cause I'm thinking it's not 1254, by the nin's reckoning for you." Arashi scowled.

"Twelve-fifty-four… is that the year?" She looked confused. "This is messed, I'm sorry, it's 1274, not whatever year you just said. I know this is all just some weird messed up genjutsu Kurenai-san has put me in. So if you don't mind…"

Her face scrunched up as she concentrated.

"What is she doing?" whispered a guard to Arashi.

"I think she's trying to break the imaginary genjutsu over herself…" Arashi whispered back.

She opened her eyes.

"Oh no…" Arashi heard her say, in a barely audible voice. She looked panicked.

"Welcome back to the year 1254," Arashi said.

"This can't be happening." She stated in a firm voice. "It's all in my head; I just never woke up last night. It's all just a dream. This isn't real." She continued to mumble to herself.

Arashi listened with interest before saying, "Look, I don't know why you're here, ok, but you're not in a genjutsu or any other form of illusion. So, what I need you to do, first of all is to stop talking so we can figure this out."

The girl looked up, eyes narrowed. Defiance shone in those eyes. "I was born in the year 1258, I am a medic apprentice to the fifth Hokage, Tsunade-sama, I am a chunin, I live alone." She stopped for a breath. "I work with three team mates, Uzumaki Naruto, Sai, of the group Root, and Hatake Kakashi-sensei." A look of realization shone in her face. "It has been three years since the Sandaime's death, due to his former student, Orochimaru."

Naruto? Who was he? Arashi turned to face his Hokage, the man had paled considerably.

"That is quite enough. Arashi, meet me in the hallway, now." The Hokage stared at the girl as he made for the door.

○○○

Arashi was shocked. It had been years since he was last told to use it. Even then, it wasn't even on a human… He had performed it only once, for the Hokage, to show he was capable.

However, the look in the Hokage's desperate eyes would not be denied. He did not have to plead.

For once in his life, Arashi despised the power the Hokage held over everyone.

○○○

The girl eyed the jar with distrust. "You're going to what?" She asked for the umpteenth time.

Arashi faced her, "I," he said slowly, "am going to remove all memories that you have. They will be placed in the jar you see before you. The Hokage will search them for the truth that you have refused to reveal to us. If you are, in fact, from the future, we will return your memories to you and help you back. If that's impossible to return you to your own time, we will make a new place for you within our society." He turned from her, "If you are lying though… you'll never know."

The girl looked worried. "You're going to take my memories? How will I function? Will I remember how to go to the bathroom, how to take care of myself…speak? Understand others?"

"Look, if you're lying and you want to remember having a life, tell me now. This is your last chance." Arashi stood arms at his side. "Well, do you have something to say?"

The girl took one last look at the jar before returning Arashi's gaze, "My only fear is that you are incapable of giving back my memories."

○○○

Arashi found didn't sleep after he got home. The screaming had got to him. The fear in her eyes as the swirling blue mass surrounded her stayed with him.

All he could think about was how it must feel. A yawning abyss of nothing, merely a void… blank. What was it like? Having nothing. Know nothing about you, unable to remember, to recall life.

Arashi's thoughts turned to the Hokage. He had taken the jar with him, to investigate her memories. To search her mind of all she knew. Arashi wondered what the man would find. Had she told the truth? If she was, would the Hokage dare give back her memories? Could he give them back? What would he do with the information… the Hokage could use her memories as a weapon, use her knowledge to win battles that they were to lose, gain an advantage, take the upper hand.

And if she hadn't told the truth, what then, what we become of this mysterious girl?

She would be slaughtered. She would be killed for taking up time that was too precious to be wasted on liars. The only question would be how...

This was how Konohagakure worked. Arashi knew, he was on the council that decided prisoner's fates on a regular basis. He wasn't particularly proud of his role in the death of the defenseless, but it was required of him to be there, to confirm.

The girl's frightened face floated back up into his vision. Her wide green eyes, the mouth barely ajar in a small 'oh' before the brunt of the jutsu came crashing down. He had watched, while he chanted, how her hands had clenched, how she refused to show pain until it was too much. He remembered how she had curled into herself in an effort to stop the jutsu, to prevent him from knowing the truth.

Arashi turned over in his bed, closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep. He decided to speak with the Hokage in the morning. The thought eased his mind and Arashi soon fell asleep.

Hello! Sorry for taking forever... had a bit of a brainfart. I just noticed that uploading documents gets rid of indents... 'Nyhoo, I'm not sure if I like the title of this particular chapter. Yeah for reviewers! They've all been positive so far, which is nice.. thank-you so much! woohoo... disclaimer! (should prob'ly go at the begining...meh) Naruto Not Mine.

eeek! I read Harry Potter. It was awesome. Stayed up all night... that was tiring, but definately worth it! Doesn't your heart just go out to Snape?