Amnesia
Chapter 12: Gate 44
Sakura woke up in a cold sweat. She shot up in bed, quickly looking around the room in panic. Her erratic heartbeat began to slow down as she tried to calm her breathing. That was one hell of a nightmare...so much so that she was almost certain it was a memory. It had to be real.
She had been in the Forest of Death but she was a lot younger. Sasuke was there too - he was bitten, by a really creepy snake man. It was the 'Orochimaru' person that Naruto had talked about.
Did she only dream about this because Naruto had mentioned it? That couldn't be the case, a lot more happened. This man was in a woman's skin, he poked his eyeball and she felt so overcome with fear. She saw herself die... But Sasuke saved her, he fought well, only to be bitten and go through severe pain. She then found herself feeling guilty for saying she hated Sasuke. She understood why she wanted him back now... He had been such an innocent child it seemed - until this event. He was her childhood friend and teammate. He had to have cared at one point, right?
This nightmare was so frightening because it was so realistic. It was real, it must have been - it felt like she was living it there and then. All of her senses were working. She could still smell the forest, feel the tree she had been sat on, feel Sasuke as she hugged him close to her as he collapsed, tears rolling down her cheeks. It didn't feel like a dream, it felt like a living memory.
Still trying to calm herself, she smoothed her bed sheets with her fingers, hoping to bring herself back to reality and out of the nightmare world. She sat there for several minutes, staring at her bedroom ceiling, her thoughts reeling.
When she had gone through the early alphabet of her bookshelf, she read a book on dreams. It stated that you couldn't dream of someone and see their face if you hadn't seen them in real life, that it is impossible to dream of strangers. It also went deeper, apparently dreams were the way to her unconscious thoughts. Maybe this was a message?
She had been debating whether to go into the Forest of Death or not. Maybe this dream was telling her to go for it. Maybe she'd find her memories! She had stayed awake for a good few hours last night in inner turmoil. To go or not to go, that was the question. Naruto didn't want her to do this, she knew it would upset him, it could possibly get her killed.
But after this dream, after this nightmare memory, she had to do it, she had to try.
I'm sorry, Naruto.
After a quick shower, Sakura had gotten dressed in a rush. She skipped breakfast. She wasn't hungry. She wanted to go through with her plan right now. The fact that danger could be the key to unlocking her memories excited her to no end.
Feeling ready, she headed for her apartment door. Then she paused. Her common sense and instincts kicked in.
She felt ready to go into a literal forest of death? No she wasn't. She wasn't prepared. What if her abilities didn't come back? How would she fight off man-eating animals with her bare, ordinary, ability-less hands? She couldn't get her memories back at all if she was dead.
Silly Sakura.
Slowing down and thinking it all through, she turned around and headed back into her bedroom. She opened the wardrobe and looked through the part that had only upset her to look at originally. Her ninja gear, her medical equipment. These items made her feel dumb when she studied them. This was her stuff, but she couldn't use it or explain what half of it was.
She thanked her past-self for being so organised. Once again, like the alphabetical bookshelf, her seemingly neat personality had really helped her out. She pulled out a belt and strapped it around her waist. Next, she picked out what she assumed was her medical pouch. Finding a space on her belt, she attached it.
Tentatively looking through all the slots and pockets on her belt, she felt comforted by the weapons and ninja equipment - even if she couldn't use them. Opening her pouch, she spotted black material.
Intrigued, she pulled it out and studied it. Black gloves.
Sakura smirked to herself, before pulling them over her hands, tugging them tight and letting them go. They snapped into place.
Now she was ready.
After her initial confusion and discomfort that she had felt when travelling around Konoha, she now felt less lost. It was more comfortable to find her way around her long-time home. Something about going to these places with Naruto made her remember the way. The memories were happy, she guessed. Everything he said stuck in her mind, probably because it was either funny or silly, or sad and angry. There was no 'normal' middle ground of emotions that came from him, or her, when they were together. Whatever he said, she would listen and she would remember.
She kept her head high as she followed the path - the same path she had been carried along yesterday - she wanted to look confident in case someone questioned her direction. Then again, she wasn't being followed anymore and who exactly heads past the Forest of Death on their morning strolls? With a bit of luck, nobody would know she was here.
Naruto had left on a mission, this was the only time it was a good thing. She'd just have to entertain herself.
When she came to the tall fence of the forty-forth training grounds, she filled up her lungs with oxygen before letting out a slow, deep breath. I'm prepared, she thought. I'm ready.
Yesterday, she had been intrigued by this place, but now Naruto wasn't with her, all the right alarm bells were ringing.
She shut them off and forced herself forward, hating how nervous she was. She had a sinking feeling deep in her gut. Gate 44... Gate 44... In Japanese culture, the number "44" is considered an especially ominous number because "4" rhymed with the word for death, which was also considered an unlucky number. That thought did not help her calm down right now.
"Aha," she spoke aloud. Gate 44. Then she frowned, the gate, along with the fencing surrounding it, looked just like the rest of the forest's fencing - strong, not broken in the slightest. Although it did look a little abandoned and underused, who'd use the last gate when they had the first 43 to pick from anyway?
Naruto had said, "You wouldn't even know the fence was broken". Hoping no alarm bells would go off, she ran her gloved hand down the fence that joined with the gate. There was no sign of police coming to stop her, but no sign of weakness either... She stood back and looked at the fence, a thoughtful expression crossing her face.
It was an animal that broke through the fence.
Kneeling down, she pushed at the very bottom of the fence and felt it dip in more than further up.
This was it. Her ticket into the Forest of Death. Naruto was right, if you didn't know about this hole, you'd never find it. Silently thanking her friend's slip of the tongue, she outstretched her palm against the metal and pushed, forcing the hole to reopen. She smiled to herself, before lying flat on her stomach and sprawling through the animal-sized gap in the fence.
When she was through, she stood up and dusted herself off before looking back at the little hole she'd pulled herself through - what kind of animal made that? It was only small, but that metal was strong and it had been made weak enough for her to just bend back.
Again, she swallowed down her growing fear and anxiety. Her heart was racing and her brain was screaming at her as she took her first few steps into the Forest of Death, walking parallel to the Gate 44 secret entrance.
This place was a lot bigger than she thought it would be, seeing it from a distance did not do its size justice. This place was big.
Her plan had been to head for the centre tower but that felt like a long way away now. She'd kept to a straight line in the hopes of finding the centre as quickly as possible. However, shrubs and trees forced her path to become crooked every now and again. Her little confidence that she had when coming into here was slipping away fast.
She wished Naruto was here with her, or Ino, or just somebody. But she couldn't turn back now, and it was likely she couldn't find her way out even if she wanted to, this place all looked the same. A slow rising panic filled her.
Come on, Sakura, you can do this. This is for Tsunade, for Naruto, for your friends, you have to unlock your abilities and memories again in whatever way possible.
It didn't matter how much she had enjoyed herself after her brain injury, how much her friends made her forget her troubles, there was still this lingering feeling, deep, deep down - you have to remember, how can you forget everything you've ever learnt? What is left of you now? Nothing worth knowing.
She wasn't blaming Naruto, but this feeling was worse when she was with him. No matter how happy he made her feel, afterwards she felt so angry with herself, like the biggest burden ever, useless and empty. It was going to drive her crazy.
Along with everything else that made her uncomfortable, she swallowed it down and turned her attention elsewhere. She forced Naruto's face from her mind; it only made her feel guilty right now.
Deep in thought, she caught her foot on a tree root and fell face down to the ground. She cursed her lack of concentration, in the Forest of Death of all places.
"Sakura."
She heard her name and her head shot up - that was Sasuke's voice and she was immediately torn. Was this the current Sasuke? Or the Sasuke in her dreams? Her friend? It would be current Sasuke surely, she swallowed and stood up. She backed herself towards the large tree she had tripped over.
"Sasuke."
Her eyes widened in fear. That was the other man from her dream! The creepy snake guy, girl, demon, thing. Whatever he was, he was terrifying. Was he here too? What could she do? Where would she hide? She looked around in panic.
"Naruto! Sasuke's hurt, I need you!" she heard herself shout through sobs and froze.
Why was she hearing her own voice? Was she going crazy? Had this forest pushed her off the edge of insanity? Was she under some kind of jutsu? Maybe from one of these dangerous animals that inhabited the forest. Could animals use genjutsu? She frowned at the silly thought. Speaking of animals...for a forest apparently full of them, she'd seen none.
Something was very wrong.
Then, she could hear crows. Their calls pierced her ears, but when she looked up she could see no birds. She heard herself sobbing again...
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do..."
She span around, hearing bushes rustle behind her, but saw no movement. Her heart began to beat so loudly it vibrated her ribcage and it was all she could hear, but voices up in front of her rang louder throughout her ears. She ran straight towards the insanity at top speed, hoping she'd find actual people.
Sakura kept running and running, but all she found were trees upon trees. She didn't understand - the voices she could clearly hear were so close, yet no matter how fast and far she ran she couldn't find anyone.
"Some lookout you are, you're half asleep."
"Wake Sasuke up, we want to fight him..."
"What do you want here? I mean, what do you really want?"
"I can't stay quiet after hearing you talk to us like that. First I'm going to kill this girl and then I'm going to kill Sasuke..."
"Now we kill her!"
She shut her eyes tightly and covered her ears, trying to drown out the voices, but she could still hear them. They were clearer than ever. Slowly sinking to the floor, her hands came up to her head. She gripped her hair tightly and her breath came out in short, uneven pants.
"Clearly you have no talent as a ninja."
"Leaf Hurricane!"
"I will always appear, anytime and anywhere you are in trouble, Sakura."
"I will protect you until I die."
"Now watch, we're going to show you something called 'The Wall'."
"Lee! What's wrong?"
When she knew it wouldn't just go away, she sat up slowly and let her hands fall to the forest floor. She opened her eyes and they went wide. She could see herself, three Sound ninja surrounded her. Lee was in front of her younger self, holding his ear.
"Stop it!" She watched herself call out.
The vision warped and she watched herself get pulled up by her hair by the female Sound ninja, the girl version of herself in front of her was crying.
"Hey, Zaku! I know what would be fun, let's make Miss. Beauty Queen watch whilst you finish off that Sasuke guy?"
She shut her eyes again. She didn't want to see this. It was like her nightmare all over again, but the fact that she was awake and seeing this freaked her out even more. Maybe it was a dream. She would wake up in her bed like she did this morning. All would be well.
"It's not meant for you."
She listened to the sounds of battle, the sound of weapons thrown and deflected, jutsus being cast, smoke, logs and jeers. Then it was silent. She opened her eyes again to see herself, her teeth lodged firmly into her opponent's arm. The man raised his fist and she flinched as it hit her younger self on the head...again and again. Her own head began to pound as she watched the scene helplessly. She felt the pain and her fists tightened. She checked her head to see if it was bleeding, but only felt a thin layer of sweat.
"Please, no more," she whispered and turned around altogether, trying to block out the images.
"...Sakura-san?"
Her eyes widened and she looked back to see Rock Lee, a lot older than the boy she'd just seen. She hoped to God he was real and not some realistic memory because she couldn't take anymore past drama.
"Are you alright, Sakura-san?" He looked at her in concern.
"Lee... You really do come whenever I'm in trouble don't you?" She said in relief.
"I will always appear, anytime and anywhere you are in trouble, Sakura." He stood taller and saluted.
Sakura smiled. This guy was a little weird, but he reminded her of Naruto and with that thought she felt safe again – she knew he was her friend and from that vision, memory, whatever it was, she knew he was a good friend.
Lee held out his hand to her. "May I ask what you're doing in the Forest of Death?"
She accepted the offer and he pulled her to her feet. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and smiled. "It's a bit silly really. I was looking for danger because I thought it would help me learn to use chakra again."
"That's my Sakura!" he shouted enthusiastically. "Always pushing yourself to the limits through training! Your level of effort is a true inspiration!"
She was surprised. She expected him to be angry at her. She just admitted she was seeking out danger. Everyone else would surely scold her for that.
"Are you training too?" she asked.
"No, I was merely here to ensure your safety," he admitted.
She was even more surprised. She frowned slightly. "How did you know I was here?"
"Lady Tsunade ordered me to come and protect you, but stay back until I was needed."
Her frown increased. "How did she know I was here? She told me she wouldn't have me followed anymore."
"Naruto-san requested it."
So Naruto did know... He was protecting her even when he physically wasn't there. She shook her head. She wasn't surprised. Still, she wished he was here right now, just to convince her that she wasn't going crazy.
"Well I didn't succeed, Lee, I can't use chakra." She lowered her head.
"I cannot use ninjutsu or genjutsu, I purely use taijutsu," Lee replied.
Her eyes widened and she looked back up at him. "But you're a great ninja."
Extending out his arm, he gave her a thumbs up and grinned. "And so are you, Sakura-san. I have no doubt that you will learn to use chakra again."
"You really think so?" she mumbled. "What about remembering what I've forgotten after my amnesia?"
"You will remember!" He shouted with enthusiasm that made her think he truly believed it.
She hoped he was right.
"Sometimes I find that not wanting something that you want helps you get it!" he told her.
She looked at him, confused, before smiling. "As much as I'd loved to forget about trying to be a ninja and medic again, I wouldn't want to risk waiting on just waking up one morning and remembering everything. I want to get back my abilities more than anything."
"I understand." He nodded politely.
"Really?" she asked, surprised.
"During the Chunin exams, my arm and leg were completely crushed. I was told I would never be a ninja again," Lee told her.
"I'm so sorry." Her eyes widened.
"No need to be sorry, my friend!" He grinned. "Lady Tsunade performed an operation to repair my injuries. Even with the high chance of death, I knew I wanted to take the risk and it was successful."
That was very inspiring. She wished she had that option... Have some operation to just remember what she had lost, even if it could possibly kill her. She was very glad Lee was here, more than anyone, right now he understood her – that deep sadness and need that she felt, the longing to be a ninja again more than anything. It wasn't just memories she had lost, it was a big part of her life.
"You certainly cheered me up after the surgery, Sakura-san!" he added.
And she'd also lost even more memories that she couldn't remember, that Kakashi or Sasuke couldn't show her through some kind of genjutsu... Lee and all of these other people that came to see her in the hospital, what memories had she shared with them that she could no longer remember? Did they miss her?
"Do you think I'm different, Lee? To how I was before my injury?" She dreaded the answer.
"You are still the most beautiful kunoichi there is to see! You are incredible!" Lee answered with wild hand gestures.
"Umm...thanks." She smiled awkwardly.
There was a small silence where she felt slightly uneasy, but Lee didn't look put off by it - he stood there, like he was reading to spring into action at any second.
"Can I ask a favour?" Sakura asked, trying to sound polite.
"Of course! I will do anything for you!" Lee grinned.
"Can you take me to the centre of the forest?"
Lee looked confused before he questioned, "Do you not want to leave?"
"I really want to leave, but I came all this way to try something. I may as well still give it a go." She shrugged, hoping he wouldn't change his mind when she still planned to put herself in danger.
"Let's go!" Lee announced, pointing in the air before beginning to run deeper into the forest.
Sakura stood there, watching as he disappeared in seconds.
Then he came back. "Are we not running?"
"Umm, no, I can't really... Can we walk?" she asked awkwardly.
"Walking..." Lee repeated, as if testing the word like it was unusual to him. "Very well! We shall walk!"
Sakura smiled. This time she walked with him as they headed towards the centre tower together.
Lee agreed to walk with her, but she found it amusing, he looked like he was itching to run – she bet he never travelled so slowly anywhere. She was sure if she requested, he'd carry her, but she felt uncomfortable asking something like that. He seemed to really like her but she wondered if he acted like this towards everyone, he was a nice guy.
When she saw the tower in sight, she wasted no time, she sprinted towards it and Lee kept up with ease.
The tower in the centre was huge. She originally thought that she wouldn't get to her destination - that she would find danger before that and be forced to scale a tree or something... Walking up buildings would require the same use of chakra as walking up trees. She walked forward and felt the wall underneath her hand. "Can you get to the top through the inside?" she asked.
Lee nodded. "Yes, although we technically should not be entering the tower."
"You said you'd do anything for me?" She gave him a teasing smile.
Lee nodded again.
"Want to go inside and climb to the top with me?" she asked.
"What do you plan to do at the top, Sakura-san?"
"Jump off," she admitted. "Force myself to have to use chakra to hold onto the walls and stop myself from falling."
Lee looked at her thoughtfully. "You currently cannot use chakra at all? What if it does not come back to you at that moment?"
"Ummm..." She glanced around the tower, coming up with a plan on the spot and hoping she could convincingly sell it. "Well then I'd fall in the river..."
She'd very likely hit parts of the tower on the way down and if she didn't land right... She could die.
Lee frowned up at the tower, as if figuring that out himself.
"Will you at least accompany me to the top?" she pleaded. "It'll be a challenge."
"A challenge! A race to the top!" Lee shouted enthusiastically before running into the tower, pushing open the front doors with force.
She ran after him, knowing she'd lose him in seconds if she didn't keep up. If that happened, she wouldn't know the 'easy' way to the top of the tower.
She was surprised at how little the climb wore her out, she was fairly fit regardless of the small amount of exercise she'd done since the onset of her amnesia. There were a lot of stairs to run up.
When she reached the top, she walked through an open door, immediately feeling the breeze of the open air. She smiled and walked closer to the edge, looking out across the top of the trees – for a Forest of Death, from here, it was kind of pretty, a sea of green trees and a river extending both sides of the tower.
"Do you want to race again?" Lee grinned.
"No thanks." She laughed.
Then she looked down and swallowed. From how the tower was shaped in a cone-like manner, she'd hit lower roofs several times if she jumped off, which looked pretty painful. Did she have to be in life threatening danger to unlock her abilities? She sighed.
This wouldn't work. She'd just hurt herself trying.
"We may as well go home now, Lee." She turned around and smiled, but then her eyes widened as she misplaced her foot. She slipped backwards off the side of the slanted roof and she found herself falling. She desperately made a grab for the edge but missed with both hands. She was going to hit the next part of the sticking out tower and fall down to the next level for sure. She closed her eyes tightly.
Lee caught her shortly before she hit the building. He then expertly jumped down the different levels of the infrastructure until they were back on the forest floor. He placed her down on her feet again.
"Thanks," she mumbled. "Sorry about that."
"No problem, Sakura-san!" Lee grinned. "Do you want to head back to see Lady Tsunade now?"
Sakura swallowed. "Do we have to see her?"
"Those were my orders." Lee nodded before adding, "You've also scratched your arms during your fall."
She looked at her wrists and frowned. He was right. Still, she didn't fancy seeing her mentor after she'd broken into the Forest of Death without permission. She was also covered in dirt, probably from lying on the floor earlier on.
Frustration filled her again. She knew no more than when she entered the forest. But what about that freaky vision thing? She could tell Tsunade about that, justify her means for entering the forest – and anyway! Tsunade already knew what she was up to and didn't try and stop her altogether, so what was that about?
"Well thanks for helping me out anyway, Lee-san." She smiled. "I don't know what I would have done without you."
"It was my pleasure, Sakura-san! We must train together again sometime!"
"Sure. I'd love to do something with you."
His eyes widened and he asked, "Like a date?"
"Uhh..."
Lee turned away from her and she paused, confused.
"I can't believe it!" he spoke to himself.
Was he...crying? She carefully placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, Lee, I didn't mean to offend you. No I didn't mean like a date."
He turned back around to face her, confirming he had been crying...tears of joy? Did he really think she was asking him on date just then?
"You don't want to go on a date with me?" he asked.
"Ummm." She smiled weakly. "I was thinking more of a training session together... Naruto has sort of been like a teacher to me after this amnesia thing."
"I see." Lee nodded before announcing, "I can teach you, Sakura-san! Let us run to the end of the forest!"
When Lee ran off again, Sakura laughed and shook her head. This guy certainly bounced back quickly... Did he ever run out of energy? She was going to guess 'no'.
When they reached the Hokage Tower, Sakura self-consciously slowed down, already anticipating a repeat of her last meeting with the sannin. She did not fancy going through another wall, venting her anger wasn't worth it.
"Are you sure she requested me?" she asked nervously.
Lee nodded.
Crap. She wasn't feeling as brave as the last time she faced the Hokage, so she took a deep breath before knocking and entering her mentor's office. She gave Tsunade a big smile. "Afternoon, Tsunade-shishou."
"Sakura." Tsunade looked up, but kept a very blank face.
Sakura swallowed.
"Mission complete, Tsunade-sama!" Lee saluted.
"Yeah, the mission went great..." Sakura added awkwardly.
"And what would that mission be Sakura?" The Hokage hummed.
"Fetching me to come and see you..."
"If you put yourself in life threatening danger," Tsunade finished.
Sakura didn't answer.
"Thank you, Lee, you can leave," Tsunade ordered.
"Right away, Tsunade-sama." Lee bowed respectfully before looking at her.
"I'll see you later, Lee, thanks again." Sakura smiled.
"See you soon, Sakura-san." Lee grinned back, before exiting the room, still with an enthusiastic spring in his step.
"That guy does not stop moving." Sakura shook her head.
Tsunade smirked before asking, "Cheating on Naruto?"
Not sure what her mentor was implying, Sakura's eyes widened. "Huh?"
"Replacing him as a teacher," the sannin elaborated.
"Oh..." Sakura coughed.
Tsunade's smirk widened. "You two are friendly towards each other."
Sakura raised an eyebrow."He's a nice guy, a little weird but...he saved my life twice. I have no reason to disrespect him."
Tsunade frowned. "He's had to save your life twice today?"
"No, once today," Sakura took a deep breath, prepared to explain her horrible nightmare and... vision thing. "You see..."
Tsunade listened very carefully as her apprentice explained the events that had taken place recently, watching how Sakura's facial expressions changed, as well as the tone of her voice.
"Am I going crazy?" Sakura asked. "It was practically a hallucination..."
"It sounds like a memory to me, Sakura, but I cannot be sure. I did not see these events take place." Tsunade hummed.
"The snake guy sent his henchmen after Sasuke in the Chunin exams?" Sakura asked. "Surely you'd know that?"
"Orochimaru did infiltrate your Chunin exams, yes."
"He was a real creep." Sakura frowned.
"He was my teammate," Tsunade admitted.
"Oh...sorry," Sakura smiled apologetically. "How unfortunate."
Tsunade hummed before adding, "He's dead now anyway."
"Sorry," Sakura repeated.
Tsunade was silent, and then she smiled. "He was evil in the end."
"But he was still your teammate. Sasuke's currently evil and I still care."
"Really? Has seeing Sasuke in this 'memory' changed your feelings towards him?" she questioned.
"Yes, he was my friend."
"Just a friend?" The Hokage questioned curiously.
Sakura frowned. "Yes, but I'm still confused about the cause of this memory thing. At first I thought it was danger, but was this situational remembering? Remembering about the Forest of Death whilst in it? Or was it still danger?"
"I don't think it's danger or affected by the situation you are in," Tsunade replied.
Sakura sighed.
"Look, Sakura, I'm not going to scold you for entering the Forest of Death-"
"Because you let me in?" Sakura questioned. "Naruto warned you. He knew I knew about the fence. You could have popped out and scared me to death, heck that would have been just as dangerous."
Tsunade frowned.
"I'm not trying to anger you," Sakura added before pointing at the wall behind her. "That looks exactly like it did before I went through it."
Tsunade smiled. "The plasterer has had lots of practice."
"I'm sure." Sakura hummed.
"Either way," Tsunade sat up a little straighter, "I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to go through the wall... Seeking out danger, how reckless and desperate can you get?"
"I'm very desperate," Sakura replied seriously. "I want nothing more than to be my old self."
Tsunade smiled sympathetically. "You certainly look the part."
Sakura looked down at her gloves hands before clenching her fist and looking back up. "I don't feel the part and I highly doubt I act it either."
"When you came stomping up the corridor yesterday, I almost thought you'd got your memories back... Your personality is still there, Sakura. Saying that, you were never quite so confident, you know when to be respectful and you know when to run, especially when we're in this office and not on the training fields." Tsunade smirked. "But without your memories I guess you don't know just how scary I could be."
"Well I hope those scary memories don't come back like the Forest of Death ones, now that's scary," Sakura mumbled.
"If you could get your memories back or you abilities, which would it be?"
Sakura was silent for a moment before she replied, "My abilities. I want to help people. Besides, if my memories come back like the last ones, so realistic... I don't think I could take it."
"Even if they were happy memories?"
Sakura frowned in thought.
"If instead of fear and pain, you were filled with happiness?" Tsunade asked.
"How can I be happy if I remember healing someone and that I can never do that again?"
"...Still, you want your memories back?"
"More than anything." Sakura shrugged. "But without my abilities, I'd just feel useless... Why? Can you perform some kind of surgery to get my memories back?"
Tsunade smirked. "No. Why do you think that?"
"You performed surgery on Lee... Even with a high chance of death," Sakura replied.
Tsunade nodded. "But it's not possible for your condition, it's completely different."
"Can you punch me off a cliff or something?" Sakura asked.
"You're still danger hunting?" Tsunade frowned.
Sakura nodded. "Yes. Although today I'm beginning to question whether I was in danger at all until I fell off that roof. Even then, Lee was there to save me and I may have got lucky from that fall... But Naruto said the forest was full of man-eating animals, I saw none."
"I'm sure Lee had fun moving them." Tsunade smiled. "Anything dangerous en-route from Gate 44 to the tower was moved or suppressed if it could be."
"No wonder I didn't get any of my abilities back," Sakura grumbled.
"What were you thinking about before you got this flashback? Both today and last night?" She questioned.
Sakura thought about it before answering, "The pros and the cons of entering the forest... Then I guess when I was in there, I was thinking about how I felt not remembering, all the people I was letting down."
Tsunade sighed. "First things first... You have a nightmare about going into the Forest of Death, where you knew it only held bad memories, yet did not see it as a warning?"
"I thought that by getting a memory back, it meant go there and I'd remember more," Sakura mumbled.
Tsunade smiled and shook her head. "Well, you weren't in danger in your sleep were you?"
Sakura frowned. "But it's like you said... I was dreaming about going into the Forest of Death, which would be dangerous..."
Tsunade got up and sighed. "I'll prove it's not danger."
The pair headed down to what looked like research labs. Sakura followed her mentor, very interested in what the sannin was going to do.
Prove it's not danger? That sounded dangerous.
She watched as the older medic got out herbs and equipment with practiced efficiency.
Sakura raised an eyebrow as Tsunade then filled a syringe with a liquid before holding it out to her and ordering, "Inject this."
She slowly took the syringe, she studied it before doing what she was told and asking, "What is it?"
"Poison," Tsunade replied blankly. "In front of you is a mixture of herbs, as well as samples of the poison you were just injected with. A combination of these herbs will create a perfect antidote to cure it. It's a fast working poison but it has a simple antidote. This is only simple if you have knowledge of the poison though, but you have this knowledge. You have ten minutes at most to find the antidote."
"Or what?" Sakura asked in slight shock.
"You'll die."
Sakura's eyes widened. What? Tsunade wouldn't do that to her surely? Let her die.
"Anyone knows who my apprentice is when they see her countering poisons. You had a natural talent for it," Tsunade added sadly.
Sakura looked at the herbs and equipment on the table in front of her before looking at her mentor, panic in her eyes. "But you said I lose the skills I'm most talented at. I've never seen any of these plants before. I have no idea what I do."
Tsunade turned away. "Well then you had better hope danger is the key to bringing back your memories. You're different, Sakura, you're not the same girl that is my apprentice anymore; I want her back, not you. If this is the only way to succeed, I will try. You have ten minutes before you lose consciousness."
As the Hokage left the room, Sakura's panic increased. So nobody was going to save her if she failed? She could be dead in less than ten minutes.
She really hoped danger was the key to unlocking her memories, or she'd never find out what was.
Author Notes:
When I was first writing this, my mood seemed to be pushing this towards a sort of horror/dark chapter. I seem to be writing that a lot more recently - the last thing I uploaded was a second chapter to 'Forehead Girl' and a part of that felt like I was writing some kind of horror XD I don't usually write things like that, but it was interesting :D.
I actually spent hours writing this chapter – for some reason, I found it hard to write, perhaps because the memory scene is actual quotes from the Forest of Death episodes. I think Lee is easier to write in a non-serious scene, so he has a small part in the next chapter that is much more light-hearted. I wasn't really happy with how this turned out, but in the end, decided not to change it.
Sorry for the slightly later update and cliff hanger sort of ending but the next chapter will be up tomorrow :). I've enjoyed reading and discussing with some of you about your predictions for what is going to happen, so that's been interesting and enjoyable :D thanks for all the feedback you've given me so far.
Thanks for reading!