Another chapter, written much in the same style as the last one. And this time the mystery starts to unravel somewhat. Can you believe this is the 50th chapter? When I started this story, I never thought that I would get this far. And don't worry, I don't intend to abandon this story (seems some people thought so when I made Sakura "die"). I'm having way too much fun writing this.

88888888888

Suspended into darkness, she didn't feel anything. Until she did.

And damn did that hurt. Her whole body felt like an open wound.

A hiss escaped her cracked lips, but then her mouth seemed to close in on itself and she became acutely aware that her whole mouth felt pasty and her throat was so dry that it hurt to breathe.

Where am I? And how did I survive?

-:-

"Ne, aniki…otou-san is making scary faces again…"

Itachi didn't answer, concentrating intently on his kata. He had to get better, no matter what it took.

Used to his brother's silent nature, Sasuke, twirling a blade of grass in his fingers, continued, undeterred, "Can't you write to Sakura-nee-chan to ask her to come? I miss her and when she was here, she always made otou-san calmer…"

It took all Itachi had not to flinch at the naïve words. No one had told Sasuke that his beloved nee-chan had disappeared and had quite possibly died. It would have been unnecessarily cruel. And though the younger boy didn't know it, Sakura's disappearance was once of the things that made their father look so grim recently.

"She's been…very busy recently," replied Itachi, picking up the pace. His movements became faster and more fluid, determination shining through his eyes.

"Eeeh? Then when's she going to come, then?" asked the upset boy.

"When she can, otouto. When she can."

-:-

Once the wave of pain abated somewhat—or she could have simply adjusted to it—she tried to move. And found she couldn't. It wasn't solely that she felt lethargic, that her head was pounding and that her limbs didn't seem to want to respond.

"What the—"

Somewhere to her left, a door rattled—she supposed it was a door, though she couldn't be sure—and someone entered the room she was in. She couldn't sense wind, sunshine or rain, and it smelled damp. And it was cold. But those were just indications that she got from her skin, mostly. What the hell was messing with her sensory jutsu? Why couldn't she sense anything?

"And so you are awake."

That voice. She recognized it. That cold, sardonic voice.

A single hiss fell from her lips angrily.

"Danzo-san…"

-:-

Hidan cursed. His head had been taken, after a long while, by an animal, and he was already missing an ear, dammit! Why was that particular animal not frightened by his foul mouth?

"You fuckin' animal! Get your fuckin' teeth off of me!" he yelled furiously.

The beast was suddenly flung far from him, eliciting a bright, sadistic smile as it yelped upon contact with a tree. But his smile disappeared as feet appeared in front of his eyes and his head was hoisted up by his hair. Roughly, might he add.

He found himself looking at a most unusual face—come on, the man was blue! How much stranger could you get? He even had gills!

"Hello," said the overgrown fish with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Good thing I found you before your head was deprived of a tongue. You and I have a lot to talk about."

"What do we have to talk about?" inquired the Jashinist suspiciously.

"Let's start with a certain acquaintance of mine. I believe you know her. Blind, pink-haired, ten-ish? The little one who beheaded you?"

"Oh shi—"

Kisame's eyes darkened in anger.

"Trust me, this is one time you're gonna regret your immortality," growled the shark man before getting up and taking the head with him.

-:-

"If I were you, I wouldn't take that tone. After all, without me, you'd be dead at the moment."

She snorted loudly. "Yeah, I was kinda wondering about that. But I don't think you would have saved me without a good reason. So what is it?"

The old man approached her, and looked at her intently, though she could not see him back.

"So your mind didn't suffer too much. Well…you are right. I do want something from you. Information. I want to know what exactly it is that you have that hangs over my head and where you've hidden that information."

Her head, which she'd barely managed to get a few inches up her mat, fell back on it tiredly as a chuckle escaped her lips.

"Haaa…So that's why."

She smirked to herself, chuckling until she had to cough wetly.

"I have some people here who are more than adept at torture, sensei," sneered the Elder. "I suggest you tell me what I wish to know before I let them do what they do best. I spent much energy on making sure you stayed alive—after all, who knows what kind of jutsu you could have placed that would activate upon your death? And if one of those revealed my secret…"

"Isn't that more like your people who did it? You crazy old coot," she wheezed with difficulty.

He gripped her shoulder, digging his fingers in the injured flesh, and hissed menacingly, approaching his face to hers as she gasped in pain, "Don't. Tempt me."

"I wouldn't dare," she replied with a bloody smirk.

"We'll see if you sass as much once my men have their way with you. The state you'll be in afterward all depends on how quickly you talk."

His footsteps indicated he went back to the door, at which point someone else entered.

"Start by breaking every bone in her hands. She may have chakra suppressors on, but she's very stubborn and I don't want to take any chance. And she's already proven she could fight with damaged hands. I want her to know for sure she can't escape."

"Hai, Danzo-sama."

And so she prepared to get into a world of pain.

-:-

Kakashi sighed, tempted to take a page out of the Nara Clan's book and say that it was troublesome. Next to him, Inuzuka Hana didn't fare any better. And she looked ready to growl in annoyance.

"Back when she was abducted, I didn't think of going after the man," repeated Hana for the umpteenth time—really, how many times had she had to repeat that? "My team and I went to her home, found she was not there, then wondered where she could have been taken. Doubts emerged in Uchiha Itachi's mind and we went back to the clearing where she was taken down. I tried to track the man down, but after a few miles, all traces of his existence—or Sakura-sensei's—disappeared."

"Hokage-sama, when I went there, I couldn't find any trace either," concurred Kakashi. "My nin-dogs said it was as though they just vanished into thin air."

"So we're no closer to knowing who snatched her than before…" murmured the Sandaime.

-:-

"You do cling to life. Are you still conscious?"

Sakura barely managed to twitch, blood dribbling down her chin.

"So you are. Have you changed your mind?"

A warbled groan escaped her throat, but by the way she averted her head away from him, he took that as a no.

"Since your kidnapping, the world has been in turmoil. It should abate before long, once people realize they can't find you. Did you know the youngest son of the Kazekage went berserk once he learned of your disappearance? I actually thought there would be more bloodshed, but it seems he's concentrated on finding you, so less people were hurt. What a shame. If only he could have made a dent in Suna's ninja forces…"

So he restrained himself, huh? How surprising…Never thought he would put his effort in finding me…

A wry smile appeared on her face.

Heh…

-:-

Nara Shikaku contemplated his shoji set and sighed.

"How troublesome…"

His son, looking at the clouds next to him, sighed in turn, understanding his feelings.

Despite his numerous theories, which he'd shared with the Hokage, it seemed people were no closer no finding the whereabouts of the child medic. And it irked him.

Especially when he wanted to play a good game of shoji with the girl.

My intellect will not lose to that of her kidnappers.

-:-

"The fact that your information hasn't come to light yet makes me think that it will stay hidden until you die. So as long as you survive, my secrets remain safe."

Sakura didn't answer.

"Since you've managed to keep your mouth shut despite everything my people have done to you, it appears you are of those people who take their secrets to their grave. So I won't lose any more time and energy to make you spill your secrets."

It took some time for Sakura's brain to process the words, but then she wondered exactly what the old bastard could possibly have in mind for her now.

"So instead, I will make you work for me."

Eh?

-:-

The room felt dark and the air felt heavy with worry. Across from each other, Sakura and Inner Sakura, sitting Indian style, frowned at each other.

"Our future is bleak," said Inner.

"Yeah," agreed Sakura. "Danzo plans to erase our memories so that he can make a ROOT member out of us."

"That crazy old coot…" growled Inner angrily.

"Without any way to use our chakra and the state we are in, we can't escape. We couldn't even move, let alone attempt to escape."

"Damn him," said Inner, crossing her arms across her chest as she nodded resolutely.

"But we can see this as a chance. Once he erases all that made us "us", he will let us heal and will take off those chakra suppressors."

"Maybe. Though I doubt he will try to transplant new eyes into our head and change our hair colour that soon in order to make us look tremendously different."

Sakura nodded. She knew Danzo would alter her appearance so that she didn't look anything like herself, but he would wait until he was certain any trace of her personality was erased completely.

"Let's do it, then," she said resolutely.

Across from her, Inner Sakura nodded, a grim look on her face.

"Let's. Even though we don't know whether that will work or not."

"Not like we have a choice."

"Not like we have a choice. If we want to ever see our loved ones again."

-:-

And so it was that Sakura let Inner seal her in her mind, hoping Inner would manage to resist any attempt at erasing her and act like a blank slate. If Inner disappeared…she would stay sealed in the corner of her mind that was most protected forever. And Danzo would get his emotionless doll.

888888888888888

Alright. A note to explain a few things. Here is the theory on which I based Sakura's defense: a person who has amnesia can still function, only this person would have to get a complete new set of memories starting from the point when they got erased. So this person becomes very vulnerable to any mind control and outside influence. To prevent herself from being totally vulnerable, she allowed Inner to seal her instead of allowing Danzo to do it or erase her, leaving Inner in charge of her body. As a double personality, Inner can't disappear unless Sakura does, as she is dependent on the latter. So she can guard Sakura's mind and choose to show herself or not, as the case may be. I hope this clears things up.