It wasn't even a week later that Sakura began regretting her decision to help Sasuke. Although she didn't have any choice in the matter of aiding Konoha and Akatsuki, she didn't have to try to get along with Sasuke. However, when he first touched her as if seeing some sort of goddess, it had made a part of her feel faint. She'd wanted to do anything to make him look at her like that again, and so tried everything she could to make him happy. Everything from walking beside him, talking to him in both an attempt to learn more about him and to discover who she had been before the torture, to practicing jutsus with him was included in her efforts to warm him to her once more.
She was beginning to get tired.
Throughout all of it, he seemed to only become more and more reclusive, focusing more often than not on his brother with a hate filled glare. Like Sakura, his eyes could turn red with the flood of anger. Unlike her, it seemed that while in this condition he lost all senses, in many ways becoming even weaker if only for the madness that overtook him. Sakura took some pride in knowing that, although she sometimes ended up more hurt from her power than her opponent, she at least could speak with the demon residing within her and force it to bend to her will.
She'd had plenty of opportunities to practice. During their search for Naruto, the five-man team earned far more unsavory attention than they'd like. There was nothing to be done about it though, as those loyal to the Sound were everywhere. Although she still had very few memories of how the world should be, the complete surprise she felt at the carnage left in some cities resisting Orochimaru's army led her to believe that there was nothing normal about the invasion. Talking to Sasuke and Kakashi confirmed it – she'd only been around for the very beginning, when the Sound had attacked Konoha and been defeated, though at a heavy cost.
She learned that their Hokage, the Sandaime, had been killed in order to seriously would Orochimaru. It wasn't in vain – intelligence from a man named Jiraiya told them that Orochimaru had been forced to take a different body than the one he had planned. Had his condition not been so critical, he would have waited, taking Sasuke when the time was right. Instead, the snake had had to wait three years – more than enough time for Akatsuki to capture Sasuke in his quest to find Sakura.
That quest, unfortunately, was what troubled the pink-haired genin. Sasuke and Kakashi both agreed that the purpose had been to find Sakura, and that barely two years into it they'd been captured. When Kakashi told it though, he couldn't keep his voice steady, and he refused to tell why they felt the need to risk going up against S-class criminals just for her. Sakura didn't need him to. What Sasuke had said in the caves was answer enough – the teen wanted power, and at some point Sakura had promised it to him. It wasn't hard to decipher what it was he wished to do with said power, either. The dark looks he shot at his brother plainly told what he wanted to do to him – what he would do, were he capable. Sakura had a feeling that finding Naruto and saving Konoha weren't exactly at the top of his priorities.
There wasn't much she could do about it though. She wanted Sasuke to look at her as if she was important for more than just power. She wanted him to stop being so impatient with her for not remembering her promise to give him power.
She wanted him to love her.
It was strange, but it was there. Some part of her that remembered him wanted him to return the feelings that she'd harbored for him before the incident. Even now, as they trudged through the mud, soaking wet from the rainstorm not fifteen minutes ago, images were flashing through her mind. She couldn't tell what they were – only that a boy with white hair was prominent in them, as was Naruto. Pain always accompanied such memories, anything from a dull throbbing headache to sharp pangs racing through her nerves at lightening speed. The only respite from these attacks from her own subconscious seemed to be the high she gained by releasing the demon. As another twinge shot through her, she snarled. If only her mind would stop bothering her for a few minutes, maybe she could think and begin putting things together.
So immersed within her mind was Sakura that she barely noticed the sudden silence of her group. Normally Kaoru would chatter endlessly, making them seem like less of a threat than they might otherwise. Not now. In fact, when Kakashi shook Sakura back to reality, Kaoru was gone. That alone was more than enough to set the other four on edge. Kaoru often disappeared, but almost never out in the open like this. With open land for miles away, she'd used genjutsu to vanish from sight. That could only mean that she thought the risks of letting the enemy know how powerful her genjutsu could be easily outweighed the danger of letting all five be attacked at once.
Sakura grinned. She needed a bit of a rest anyway. It was unlikely that her demon would be needed for the battle – she'd improved plenty on her own – but it would still be fun. Beside her, Sasuke obviously displayed similar sentiments. Only during battle could he see the pretty girl he'd known since he started school become the demon that had promised him strength and ability that no one else could provide him.
Except Orochimaru. With Sakura's memories gone, his chances of getting the power to destroy his brother were slim at best. Every day that passed brought him closer to changing his mind. Even if Sakura could provide him more strength than the old man, Orochimaru at least was a sure bet. Sakura had no clue what she'd meant by her offer of power – he could see it in her eyes. Besides, he often thought that it'd be even better if he were to join Orochimaru and take Sakura with him. That way he could have the best of both worlds – the snake's cursed seal that afforded him power to become like a demon, and Sakura's ability to make him into a demon.
Sakura's blood pounded loudly in her ears, covering up the silence ringing through the air as the others prepared for battle. The demon was rising in her mind, providing her with a rare clarity of thought. She used the opportunity to her advantage, allowing a brief lapse in her control of the demon. It understood well enough that there were better things to kill than the three standing next to it, and wouldn't bother to so much as touch them. Ignoring the demon's delight as the smell of the enemies came closer, the genin focused instead on the nature of the demon. It was the only source of chakra she had access to that Sasuke didn't, so obviously it was the key to her promise to Sasuke. The back of her mind shuddered though, at the thought of handing the demon over. She was certain that she could, but not so certain that she wanted to, or even how she could pass over what seemed like an intrinsic part of her.
A sudden cry broke her out of her thoughts. Four heads whipped towards the source of the sound just in time to see Kaoru smash into the ground, reappearing as her head snapped back with a crack. Sakura glanced down in surprise as the cuffs surrounding her wrists shattered. The source of chakra that's kept them on her was gone. The kunoichi's eyes narrowed as she searched for the attackers. Although Kaoru had been the one to chain her and was the reason she was in this situation to begin with, the woman had never been any crueler than her position dictated she be. The demon seemed to agree, though it was most likely because the angrier Sakura was, the more likely it was that it'd get to spill blood.
Sasuke was the first to see their enemy. His breath stopped short for a moment, seeing what he'd long passed off as the exaggerations of a mind addled by near-death: Naruto. The other boy no longer even remotely resembled the sunny, bouncy annoyance that Sasuke had sparred with so long ago. This was an evolution of the thing he'd fought at that place three years ago. His lip curled in distaste. Naruto was also a demon, but of a different sort. Naruto's demon couldn't be controlled like Sakura's, and its power couldn't be released without changing Naruto into what looked more like an animal.
It did seem that he had managed to get somewhat better at that though.
Sakura's sharp intake of breath broke the spell, and Sasuke returned to real time. Before them, Naruto studied his handiwork, the corner of his mouth twitching upward into a smirk. Then, as if noticing that Kaoru had been traveling with others, the demon sauntered forward. A long braid cracked back and forth like a whip with every step he took. The end of it was a deep red, much like Sakura's hair was when she allowed the demon control. The blonde grinned as he spotted the other demon. "Ne, Sakura-chan, long time, no see, huh?"
Sakura hissed, bristling as he stopped just a few steps from her. "Naruto."
Her head snapped back, not from Naruto's fist, but from Hinata's. The girl appeared next to Naruto without even the usual smoke that most people left when they transported themselves. Sakura stood, taking in Hinata without so much as a flicker of recognition. The girl had black hair just barely reaching her chin, with two much longer pieces in front trailing down to her stomach. That wasn't so important as the eyes. They were pale violet – almost white – with raised veins radiating out from them. Sakura gritted her teeth against the onslaught of images of another, much younger girl looking much the same, only without the look of cool contempt that filled this Hinata's face. The pink-haired genin shook the image away, filing it in her mind as something to look at later. That memory was complete, without the haziness of most of her other memories so far, but this wasn't the time to be studying it.
Hinata was also appraising the girl before her. Sakura didn't have the same feel to her now, and her chakra was more confusing than her partner's. At least his was easy to see, radiating out from him in spirals. On Sakura though, even the chakra coil system was partially hidden by a dim green glow. Hinata glared at the girl, sneering. "Don't address Naruto-kun so familiarly. He's not the boy you used to know."
"I wouldn't know anything about that, Hinata," Sakura retorted, voice even. "I don't remember him at all. If anything, his new position with me gives me even more of a right to address him as such – he means absolutely nothing."
For a brief second, Naruto's eyes turned blue, his expression full of hurt. Sakura noticed, gaze locking with his. For that moment he seemed like someone she should know – far more than even Sasuke did. Her eyes must have reflected this, for he smiled quickly and winked before wincing in pain. Sakura watched in fascination as the red chakra surrounding him intensified, much to Hinata's amusement.
Sakura's attention focused on the girl, aware that it was up to her to keep the pair distracted as Sasuke, Itachi, and Kakashi wove a barrier to trap them. She sighed, touching her forehead gently. "I wish I could remember him. He at least seems worth knowing."
The red chakra wavered slightly, causing Hinata to glower at her. "Don't think you can change our path. We've joined with Orochimaru now. We'll get revenge on all of you that hurt us in the past."
Tilting her head, Sakura grinned. "Whoever said I wanted to bring you back? You seem like a right botch to me. Even worse than Ino-pig." Ignoring the unfamiliar name that had just rolled off her tongue from her subconscious, she continued, images flashing through her mind. "Really, I don't remember much about you at all, but I think I liked you better as you were. As you are now, I think I'd rather marry Neji-sama rather than talk to you all day."
That was it – Sakura knew it the moment she said Neji's name. Though she was only dimly aware of who the boy was, mention of him transformed the dark-haired girl's countenance from disdain to murderous. That was just fine with Sakura. Now that she knew what button to press, it would be easy to make the girl loose control. She smirked. "Do you hate him? I thought it was the other way around – he did try to kill you – but maybe I was wrong." She shook her head, keeping her face impassive with only a hint of amusement on it. It wouldn't be any good to let Hinata know that she had no idea what she was talking about. All she had to go on was the image of her standing, ready for battle followed by her laying on the floor almost dead, Neji standing above her looking ready to kill.
Sasuke watched with a slight feeling of awe as Sakura pressed the issue, drawing as much as she could from a mixture of whatever few memories she had and Hinata's reaction. Once he even saw Naruto signal to her with a shake of his head that she was going in the wrong direction and needed to get back on track. The black-haired boy smirked. This was why Sakura was useful – she was smart, and that intelligence could be used to drive their opponents into a blind rage. It was no problem to deal with people in that state of mind.
Yes, he decided, raising the barriers, Sakura was definitely useful. He'd take her with him when he went to Orochimaru. She had to remember how to help him someday, and when she did, he wanted to be there with her. Then they could go together and both kill his brother and rebuild the Uchiha clan as was his duty. He grinned, completing the hand seals with only a slight flicker of the seal on his neck appearing. It was almost time.
Author's Note: I ask again for a beta, and point to the above for example. However, I do smirk as I realize that I have begun with the parts that will make your eyes burn, although you won't realize that they should be burning until much later, if ever. I now laugh evilly, ignoring how annoying it is that I must write things this way as I cannot trust this site to keep my stars when I write action. Now I shall continue laughing. Evilly. Bwahahahahahahahahaha!