Title: The Wishing Weed

Author: Fenikkusu Ai

Rating: T

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Kabuto, Orochimaru, Sasuke, Ibiki, OC

Words: 2,101

Genre: Suspense/Hurt/Comfort

Summary: What had Misaki done to be locked away? The man with the glasses wouldn't tell her, the sullen youth doesn't want to get involved, and the man with the sweep of dark hair sent chills down her spine. Amnesia. Kabuto x OC x Orochimaru.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: "Kioku Metsu" means memory destruction or memory execution. It is the jutsu I created that caused Misaki to lose her memories. It is not canon. The scene in the forest is also the first scene in the story. :)

"Wakey wakey, sleepy head," one of guards sang out to her.

She got the impression that he didn't like her. Then again, it was nature law for the strong picked on the weak.

She reluctantly ground the sleep out of her eyes. Like a plant, she had just collapsed without any sunlight. There were no windows in her cell after all.

It was just like how it was in Otogakure. She had grown just as weak. Or perhaps she had always been this couldn't have just killed her to put her out of her misery.

Within moments, the door of her cell opened again. An interrogator and her uncle greeted her. Misaki searched Ibiki's face, but he said nothing to her. His lip curled in disgust as if he had just eaten rotten fish. Disgusted. By her.

"Come with us, miss, or you'll be dragged out of there," the rather short interrogator ordered.

Without a word. Misaki rose to her feet. She just wanted to get this over with.

As she walked, her heartbeat trembled like leaves in a thunderstorm. Soon, lightning would strike her.

The two men led to her to a vast antechamber. There, she found a man dressed in the same garb as Ibiki. He had long blond hair that was tied back in a flowing ponytail. Misaki realized that she was looking at Ino's father. The resemblance was prominent except that his eyes were greener than Misaki's own. Ino's eyes were blue.

"Hi there, Misaki." Inoichi's smile was sad.

He was going to hurt her. They all were.

Still, she suspected that Inoichi was gentler than Ibiki. She wondered why he couldn't have been her uncle. Then, Misaki would be a Yamanaka. Ino would be her cousin.

Misaki felt the weight of the cuffs around her wrists. She couldn't do a thing even without the restraints. Was she that dangerous?

"You go in there," Ibiki sneered.

He gestured to a grouping of flat platforms encased in a circle of rings. Behind them were three interrogators that stood over a stone desk. It was complicated device of sorts.

The mind scanning device.

Misaki didn't want to go inside it.

But, she lived a criminal's life now. Refusal wasn't an option because they would just throw her inside it anyway.

It was such a tight fit inside that only her head was sticking out. She knew that she looked ridiculous. In truth, it reminded her of being buried in sand. Misaki hadn't seen much sand and probably wouldn't ever get to now. The Sunagakure would probably be too hot for her anyway. She would just shrivel up.

"Relax,"Inoichi advised her. "I have to map your psyche and search for hidden jutsus. It would help if you close your eyes."

Misaki felt his hand on her head. Darkness filled her vision.

Her memories gradually filled with light as she remembered...

Misaki was at peace. The day was fresh and clean and the sunlight was growing stronger. It burned through her clean clothes and smelled sweet.

She smiled at the sun. The sun was lucky. Misaki had thought so ever since she had been a child.

Misaki had stretched out on the grass. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. it was a perfect day. The Kusagakure had a lot of them unlike the Amegakure where it always rained.

Indulgently, Misaki plucked the dandelion puff that was near her cheek.

She held it to her lips and blew. Misaki remembered how she had laughed when they all blew away in the wind never to be seen again. Now, she wondered where they landed.

I wish...

Yet, Misaki had no concept of what to wish for. Everything was seemingly perfect. Why wish for more?

Yet, she admitted that she felt an emptiness inside her. The emptiness was deep, and it pulled her down. Misaki would always find solace in nature until it went away, but she could never discover the source. In the forest. She was of the forest. Morino.

"Misaki!" her mother screamed.

Misaki dropped the bare stem that remained and ran for her life.

"Where are you going?" someone asked her. Someone she did not know.

Things were moving too fast. Something had happened. Something bad. And she was too late

Her mother was silent now. The air was eerily still.

Misaki panted in exertion and fear. She had no idea where to go. Danger fluttered around her and she didn't know what to do.

Misaki could hardly be considered to be a kunoichi. Just in the barest form. Her family had left the fighting to others and enjoyed their placid life of simplicity amongst the grass of the Kusagakure. Ironically, It had just been their undoing.

Misaki was caught by her wrist by a wild-eyed stranger. She was a moth caught in a spider web. She couldn't defend herself if she wanted to. She had no weapon.

"Blonde hair," he sneered at her. "How rare. You'll be a real catch at the market. Though, I wish you would have been a little bit younger..."

Another man approached her from behind. Misaki hadn't even seen him.

The two wore red and brown leather armor. Their headbands marked them as members of the Iwagakure, the Hidden Stone Village.

Misaki soon realized that she wasn't capable of speech or thought. She choked on her fear as she hopelessly as she concentrated on a single scar that marked the man's chin. It was all she could do to keep herself together.

As she stared at him, she noticed that it seemed like his gaze wanted to disappear under her skirt. Misaki trembled to the roots of her hair. She was aware that she was of age. She was...developed. However, talk of a husband was just that. Talk. Her father wouldn't dream of forcing her to marry.

"But first..."

Misaki's vision grew fuzzy and out of focus. She was desperate to suck in any air she could. If she fainted, it was over.

I wish...

I wish someone would save me.

The young man looked at her dead in her eyes.

"Kioku Metsu no Jutsu."

Misaki's vision sparkled. The world bent this way and that...

Who was she? Where was she?

She shook her head. Something was wrong.

"Aw. Why did you have to take her memory, Akira?" the other man complained.

"It's better like this," Akira assured his partner. "They're easier to handle."

The other man scoffed. "Heh. Whatev-"

Snap.

Something crashed out of the wood with devastating speed like a tornado. The Kusagakure was prone to tornadoes because if its flat plains, especially in the spring and summer, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

There was so much shouting and chaos around her. Misaki wanted to get away from it.

So much screaming. So much confusion...

She ran through the trees and knelt under the trees in the tall grass. She ducked her head in the hopes that she wouldn't be seen. All she could smell were the sweet leaves as they caressed her cheek.

Misaki ducked her head so that she could breathe in the peaceful day. It soothed her, but she knew that she needed to be rescued.

But, it seemed that she couldn't be alone forever. Someone was nearing towards her. Someone who had been watching. Someone who had been watching for a long time.

She blinked at him. "Who are you?"

The man chuckled. "My name is Orochimaru. It seems that it was fate our paths crossed when they did, wouldn't you agree?"

Misaki stood and the two circled around each other. She studied him as sure as he studied her. He was beautiful.

"Now, tell me, where is your home, child? It can't be here in this forest."

But it was home. It felt like home to her.

Misaki wasn't sure where she lived, or where she even was.

He studied her with interest. The white rose man. The pale man. He was so white and clean.

Orochimaru was perfect. As perfect as death.

"I don't know, sir."

From the way he was watching her, he wondered if he could read her thoughts.

His smile widened; Misaki could see the fangs that lurked within.

"Are you alone, child?"

Orochimaru was close. Too close.

Misaki felt a bit shy. "Maybe."

"It's a hard world, child. What is your name?"

Had it been Saki? Hana? She couldn't remember at the moment.

"I don't know," she whispered.

She noticed that he was as white as an anemone. Sincere. Or a slender white rose that promised silent devotion. Subtle, but it was there.

Wouldn't he? All she had was hope. A vague hope.

Everything was jumbled in her head. For the life of her, Misaki couldn't remember a thing.

"Until you remember, my dear girl, maybe you should come with me. I'll take care of you."

The pale man's words were hypnotizing. They calmed her. She knew that he was no threat to her.

Misaki didn't want to see the corpses of the bad men or the twin trails of red that lurked behind the bushes. It was the color red not blood, she told herself. Red was what left of her parents. Red as holly berries. Red as spider lilies.

The grass cradled her bare feet. The grass was good. It was her home. It would lead her to a new home with the white rose man and his daffodil bright eyes.

Orochimaru wrapped her in his arms as led her away from the splashes of red that announced the field of carnage. Misaki looked ahead. She didn't want to look behind.

Indeed, Orochimaru had saved her from an awful fate.

Misaki knew the truth now.

A fire burst inside Misaki, and the sleepy wilderness that surrounded her thoughts would surely burn to cinders.

Her parents were gone. Everything was gone. Her home. Herself.

Why was she still alive?

Her world shifted and collapsed inside her. Apparently, flowers were not meant to last.

The device opened and Inoichi removed her. Misaki immediately fought him with all of her strength while Inoichi gaped at her in surprise.

"Let me go!"

"Restrain her," an interrogator from behind her ordered.

Two others happily obliged. Their combined grip on her was rough and it hurt. The pain radiated through her arms as her uncle looked on.

She had just wanted to go home to where her flowers were. Misaki realized that her parents had been her flowers. Misaki had been their "little flower" as well. Now, they were gone. Ashes.

Misaki just wanted to float up to the sky where nothing could hurt her. Like a dandelion puff.

And Ibiki. She hated him too. He hadn't even liked her father and didn't even search for her or bothered to know who she was. He hadn't cared about her existence.

She glared at Ibiki. Toxins of rage raced through her. She was poisonous.

"Let go of me, you bastards!" she screeched.

Her uncle smiled almost in pity at her and stepped forward to squeezed a spot between her neck and shoulder.

Later, Misaki woke up in her cell.

It took her only a few moments to sort herself out. She scowled and pressed against the wall for support. For a bright effervescent moment, she wanted vengeance.

Misaki felt that she could at last understand Sasuke. Misaki never knew who had hurt him, but she knew who hurt her. Yet, Orochimaru had already killed them. She would have to thank him if she ever saw him again.

Misaki slumped against the wall. She wanted to cry, but there were no tears left.

She needed to get out. Back to the Kusagakure. Misaki didn't even know where her parents were buried.

She still wanted to return to the Otogakure, but of course, that was out of the question. Misaki had an inkling that Kabuto would put her out of her misery with a ready kunai.

First, she had to get out of this prison, but the cell was solid stone. No jutsu could help her. Kabuto and his lock picking jutsu would be helpful right now.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of furtive delicate footsteps. A woman in a beige trench coat and wild hair approached her on he other side of the bars was Misaki noticed that her body was sheathed in fishnet netting for maximum movement underneath it.

The woman closed her smoky brown eyes like a contented cat and flashed her a too broad grin. Her teeth gleamed like a predator's.

"Are you giving these guys a rough time, Misaki?"