Sakura screamed. She had never been electrocuted before. It was like the harsh flecks of purple light were searing her very skin from the inside out. In other words it hurt like Hell. The sensation finally stopped and she face planted on the ground heaving in pain. She had underestimated Fae. She moved her head so she could look above her. She spotted Fae with her hands on the wire where she had sent the lightning through. Sakura quickly sprang to her feet, kunai drawn, ready for a fight. She was surprised when Fae just stood there. She was the one who had challenged Sakura after all.

Sakura coughed up blood. She painfully moved her hand trying to heal enough damage to fight. Why Fae wasn't finishing her off yet Sakura didn't know, but stalling might be enough to keep her alive. After a long time of them staring each other down Fae was the first to speak. "You ran after me." She stated plainly. "I was hoping you wouldn't." Sakura grimaced. "You tried to kill me." She managed to say through her shaky breaths. Fae frowned. Sakura glared through the pain. Why did she keep having déjà vu when she looked at her face? "Believe me Sakura," Fae said simply. "If I wanted to kill you you'd be dead."

Sakura grimaced as more pain shot through her. Her skin had been significantly charred from the lightning so she had patches of red sported all over her. She gripped her kunai for extra protection. She was still too weak at the moment to put any chakra in her fist. She took note that the girl's arm was unwrapped. "What is that anyway, a gang tattoo?" she asked eyeing the black dragon wrapped around the girl's arm. "It's my birthmark." Fae said simply.

Sakura blinked. Birthmark? Fae tipped her head and frowned again. "I know you're just stalling me so you can get the information you need before I kill you Sakura. I also want some information from you though. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Sakura smiled. She had kept her talking long enough to repair the important damage. "Funny," she said. "Those were my thoughts exactly."

She flipped landing on her feet and lifted her fist feeding the green chakra in them like Tsunade had taught her to do. She wasted no time banging her fist into the ground making the rocks fly. Fae looked surprised and lost her footing on the branch. Sakura smirked triumphantly and tried to rush the girl. Her fist shot out and she hit air. Sakura froze in shock as the figure she had been planning to put a fist into blurred and disappeared. She recovered just in time to find Fae's leg in her face. She was still in shock at the sheer speed she showed when she was slammed into a tree. Sakura stared at the girl incredulously.

The girl smiled at her surprised expression. "You didn't actually think it would be easy to beat me did you?" Sakura stated coldly, "Y'know there were a lot of bleary headed guards at all those facilities. Does Genjutsu happen to be in your forte?" Fae smirked. Before Sakura could blink she was in front of her with two Sai* in her hands. One of the Sai was pointed directly at her throat. "You really are smart. I bet they tell lots of stories about you back in Konoha." Sakura recovered and used the medical jutsu she knew to mess up some of the nerves in the hand holding the Sai to her throat. The girl dropped it in surprise as her wrist started twitching uncontrollably. She jumped back from Sakura frowning. Sakura grinned.

She had damaged the girl's wrist enough where it was difficult for the girl to dodge her punches and kicks. Sakura refused to let up striking out at all available places she knew would put the girl out long enough for her to gain the upper hand. Fae was better than she thought though. She just kept dodging around the punches and kicks refusing to get caught. Finally, Sakura saw an opening next to her left ear. If she hit it with enough force she could make Fae disoriented long enough to capture her, or so she thought. As she shot out her hand to deliver the blow Fae blocked her fist with her forearm. With a cold sense of dread Sakura realized that the girl had purposefully left herself open and she had just taken the bait. Fae shoved her fist to the side and quickly straightened her forearm delivering a flat blow to Sakura's sternum. The force sent Sakura staggering back onto the ground. "Now just stay there and this'll be over a lot faster." Fae told her.

"You wish!" Sakura yelled pulling herself upright. Before she could even move to attack Fae started making a series of hand signs. She gasped as some kind of purple seal appeared under her feet. She tried to move, but couldn't. Chains shot from the ground pulling her to her knees and making her screech in pain. "What is this!?" Fae crouched in front of her with an unreadable expression. "It's an alchemy designed to keep you still and sap up your chakra if you try to move." Fae said settling in a crouching position in front of the girl. "In other words try not to move. You'll just make it harder for yourself." Sakura struggled trying to get free of the chains. They tightened around her body restraining her and squeezing hard where she was pretty sure the girl had broken two of her ribs. Fae winced. "What…is…alkaymay?" Sakura gasped out.

Fae gazed at her curiously. "You're trapped and you want to know what alchemy is? I think you have other things to worry about." Sakura struggled some more. "What… are you… thieves planning?" she gasped out. "And what… do you know about my village?" Fae looked surprised by her question. "I know a lot of things about Konoha." she said. "It'd be sad if I didn't considering I lived there." Sakura was shocked. She knew all the thieves might not be from the Suna, but she didn't think any of them were from Konoha. Fae cocked her head curiously. "You really don't recognize me huh? I guess I have been away for awhile. I know Uzumaki Naruto is the container of the Kyuubi. I know Uchiha Itachi was at large until Uchiha Sasuke killed him three months ago. I know the fifth Hokage is in a coma, and Danzo is using every chance he can get to start a fourth Ninja War. Any other questions?" Sakura's blood had gone cold. How did she know all of that? Why did she think Sakura would've recognized her? "Who are you?" she asked in dread.

Fae had gained control back in her wrist now, and suddenly grabbed Sakura's face with the Sai pointed at her throat again. "Who I am and who the rest of my team is doesn't matter." Sakura growled at her. Fae considered her gaze thoughtfully. She surprised Sakura when she started speaking again. "I've been stationed at the archives for about three months. I was in charge of one of the scroll rooms in the East wing. I was outside first though. I cloaked my partner, Riyu, in the North West hall with my Genjutsu. I had to do this outside so I didn't accidently trigger any of Al's bombs. I'd placed the bombs in the walls when they sent me on an inspection round a week earlier. The bombs were a precaution in case anything went wrong. In this case, something did go wrong. I exhausted my chakra and my genjutsu broke revealing Riyu to the guards. I pretended to rush with the others to aid the guards with everyone else, but what I really did was send my chakra to the bombs through the communications network in the walls. The other explosions were delayed because the chakra wasn't flowing fast enough. Al, who was waiting in the woods, took Riyu the rest of the way back to the hideout. The rest is history. "

Sakura gaped at her. "Why did you tell me that?" Fae smirked. "Call it insurance for later. You can't say I didn't give anything for all your trouble." Sakura wrinkled her brow confused. She flashed back to the part of the girl's story that stood out to her. "You exhausted your chakra?" Fae flashed her a smile. "I think even I'm entitled to take some secrets to my grave." Sakura glared at the girl. She sighed. "To be fair I gave you two of my teammate's names, and told you that we've been here for more than just a month. I believe I've been more than helpful." Sakura tensed as the girl stood up straight dusting the dirt off her pants. So this was it. She was going to die a heaping, pathetic mess not even able to defend herself properly. "Are you going to kill me now?" She had expected a sneer, a jab, even silence. What she hadn't expected was Fae's calm response. "No." "What?" She questioned. Fae looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm not going to kill you."

Sakura blinked in disbelief and confusion. She had just been threatening death to her only a few minutes ago. Sakura stared at her confused. "If you're not going to kill me then what are you planning to do? You can't tell me you're just going to walk away and leave me out here knowing all of this." Fae stared at her. "You're right. I think you're familiar with the Yamanaka clan's talents?" Sakura didn't like where the conversation was going. "I don't share that talent," she explained carefully. "But I do have other means I can pull from to create the desired effect."

Sakura was startled as the girl was suddenly in front of her again moving a hand toward her head. Her eyes glowed a threatening red. "What are you doing?" She asked in fear. The girl looked at her. "Just so you know," she said. "This isn't something I enjoy." Fae placed her hand on the girl's forehead and her voice seemed miles away. "You won't remember for a while, but for what it's worth I'm sorry." That was the last thing Sakura was aware of before she was overcome by a blinding, shrieking pain and lost consciousness.

Fae just stared at Sakura's now unconscious form. She hadn't had to do that in awhile, and it wasn't something she liked doing now. She didn't like feeling as though she was ripping out a part of a person even though she was only just suppressing the memory temporarily. She just hoped the effects would last long enough to give them time to get the other pieces. They were so close. They only needed three more, and she needed them before Yore managed to find her. She started as she felt another chakra signature get close to her location. However, she relaxed almost immediately as she recognized it. She stood up, releasing the jutsu that was still holding Sakura. The chains that had been restricting her and the strange symbol disappeared. Airi's form stepped out from the trees. "I was hoping to warn you before something like this happened." She said glancing at Sakura. "I guess I was a little late." Fae looked wary.

"The herbs take longer than you thought?"

Airi shook her head and glanced at Sakura. "I was a little more concerned with Naruto to tell you the truth, but he was sleeping so I decided to help Al steal back our dud bomb instead."

Fae smiled wryly. "You could've been caught you know."

Airi dismissed her statement with a wave of her hand. "We were fine. On the other hand don't you think your means were a little extreme?"

Fae sweat dropped. "Yeah, but I couldn't think of a better way that doesn't involve half the ninja envoys after us."

Airi looked at her for a few seconds. "…What are you going to do with her? We can't leave her here."

Fae nodded straightening out and stretching. "Can you take her back to her hotel without getting caught? I stirred up the market just a little bit."

Airi's expression grew serious. "You're going to have to stop avoiding Naruto you know. You're also going to have to stop avoiding Riyu. He's well enough to at least confront you."

Fae frowned. "Don't remind me. I'm already dreading it."

Airi scoffed. "He's one of your best friends. At least give him some form of an answer. He already knows about everything. The least you can do is telling him what the price is if Naruto can't remember."

Airi then dropped her serious demeener. "By the way," she said jokingly. "Rin Fae? I thought you hated that nickname." Fae pouted at her best friend. "It was all I could come up with for a temporary name." she retorted. Airi smiled and lifted the unconscious Sakura on her back with no effort whatsoever. She faced Fae.

"I'll be back in a little while. Tell Riyu to keep puking."

Fae raised an eyebrow. "Um. Ew." She said making Airi laugh.

Fae shook her head turning to head off in the opposite direction she had been leading Sakura. "Anyway," She said. "Don't get caught."

"Hey."She stopped not turning around to face the girl. "You did the right thing. It was a stupid thing," Airi scolded her. "But it was right all the same."

Fae's form relaxed and she nodded her head. As she leaped through the trees towards where they lived she turned Airi's words over in her head. After contemplating them for a while she sighed. She wasn't sure she knew what the right thing was anymore.

Naruto was in the living area of the hotel room trying to figure out what had happened in the dream. His head still hurt from how much chakra the maze had drained from him. He was surprised to find, however, there didn't seem to be anything draining his chakra anymore. Maybe the seals had been draining him all along. He was contemplating this when there was a knock at his door.

Naruto looked at his clock. It was almost 5:00. He hadn't realized how long he had slept. It was probably Kankuro coming to inform him and Sakura about how they were going to conduct the interrogations. He opened the door and was surprised to see a worried looking Temari. "Temari," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Some troubling matters have arisen." She replied. "The Kazekage wants you and Sakura in his office immediately."

Troubling matters? What did that mean? "We'll be there as soon as Sakura gets back." He replied.

Temari's gaze narrowed. "She's not back yet?"

Naruto shrugged. "I guess she hasn't been back since I left her." He examined her troubled gaze and began to worry himself. "You don't think something's happened to her do you?" Temari looked away thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. I'll go look for her. I suggest you head toward Gaara's office." Naruto nodded and Temari disappeared. He closed the door and stared at the floor for a moment. He hadn't thought about Sakura being so late coming back until Temari had mentioned it. He remembered her and Kankuro attacking the chakra signature at the Archives that morning. He was about to go look for her himself despite what Temari had said when he heard a crash from the back. He whipped his head around and rushed to the bedroom. He froze on the other side of the doorway.

A girl was perched on the window to the bedroom. She was crouched on it looking down at the vase she had just knocked onto the floor. Her expression clearly indicated she hadn't known it was there. It would've been almost comical if the girl hadn't been holding an unconscious Sakura over her shoulder. "What the hell are you doing with Sakura!" he yelled at her baring his Kunai to attack. The girl looked up startled. "Aw man." She said. "I thought you left already." Naruto lunged at the girl. She wasn't in a position to move outside of the window so she dodged to the left inside of the room. He missed her by a couple of inches. He was about to attack again when the girl stopped him. She held her free hand up in a back off gesture. "Hey, I didn't come to fight you. You'd lose anyway with your chakra that spent."

It was then that Naruto took the time to really examine the girl. She was fairly dark skinned with her brown hair in a braid that cascaded down to her hip. The hue matched her skin so well it was unnerving. She was wearing a dirty light brown skirt that looked a lot like Sakura's pink one over dark brown leggings that stopped a few inches above her knee. She wore a dark gray tank top with a dirty, patched up pull over t-shirt that looked like it had once been a light pink, but was now severally faded with a couple of maroon patches where it had ripped. It stopped mid-torso with the tank top covering the rest. Her eyes were a bright blue. He could also see a black dragon tattoo faintly on her shoulder where Sakura's weight had pulled her sleeve down. His eyes widened in recognition. "You!" he yelled suddenly making the girl raise her eyebrow. "You're Airi! You're the one who broke out of jail with Tia!"

Airi gave an exasperated sigh. "I was really hoping to avoid this."

"What did you do to Sakura?" Naruto practically growled.

"Look, Naruto, I didn't do anything to her. All I did was bring her here."

Naruto froze. "How do you know my name?"

She smiled. "You didn't really think you and Sakura were the only ones gathering intel did you? Besides, I met you 2 years ago."

"What?" Naruto said confused. He met her when he was 12?

Airi waved at him. "As much as I would love to stay and chat I'd rather get out before anyone else catches me. It was nice seeing you again."

Before Naruto could say anything else she had laid Sakura down in front of her and disappeared out the window. Dumbfounded he scooped up Sakura and put her in the bed. She would need a hospital, but he had to go see Gaara first. He clenched his fist at his side. Airi had known his name. She said she had met him before just like Alien. What was their connection to him? More than ever he wanted to know just exactly what she and the other thieves were really after, and what his missing memories had to do with them.

"They what?!" Naruto yelled. The Kazekage winced at the blonde's pitch. Naruto had informed him what had transpired in the hotel room. Kankuro was in the other corner of the room looking troubled. Temari had rushed Sakura to a hospital and had yet to return. Gaara tried to regard him with a calm gaze. "Exactly what I said Naruto. Kankuro went to check on Terumi and Carl to ask if they could use the chakra signature in the bomb during investigations, and they were knocked out. The bomb was nowhere to be found. Naruto shook with anger. "So you're telling me we just lost our only lead to finding one or possibly all of the thieves?!" Gaara shook his head. "Obviously not. Sakura was onto something when she was attacked. Airi's appearance in the hotel proved as much. Sakura could have valuable information when she wakes up."

Kankuro spoke up. "That's not the only reason we brought you here Naruto." Naruto stopped shaking and looked to Gaara for an explanation. Gaara, regretfully, held up a paper off his desk. "Shizune has requested you and Sakura return immediately to the village. I've already made arrangements for Sakura to be transferred safely out of our care." "Why?" Naruto asked him. Gaara sighed knowing the news would pain his friend even more than it pained him. "As the sixth Hokage, Danzo has called a Kage meeting to order in the Land of Iron. Also…" he paused as if unsure whether to continue or not. Naruto tensed. "What is it?" he asked. Gaara sighed. "He has ordered that Sasuke be declared a traitor for his crimes with the Akatsuki and hunted down and killed for them." Naruto's face fell. Gaara felt nothing, but pity. "Kankuro will escort you back to the hotel." Naruto nodded dumbly letting his brother lead him from the room. "He's going to do something reckless." Temari noted. Gaara said nothing. After all, his sister was probably right. Something else was bothering him though.

"Penny for your thoughts?" his sister questioned. "I'm beginning to think our little thieves have nothing to do with Danzo or Madara's petty advances towards war." Gaara told her. "The attack on Sakura has made it clear that they don't want to be found nor do they want their intentions known by anyone, let alone the Kages." Temari nodded. "I see what you mean, but we still don't know what it is they're after." Gaara was trying to think of this very answer when an idea struck him. "Temari," he said. "Do you think Kankuro would recognize the chakra he felt this afternoon?" Temari looked confused then her gaze dawned with understanding. "You want him to search through the employment regards for the archives don't you?" Gaara nodded. The archives were high security facilities. You were required to give a piece of your chakra as proof of employment before working at any of the five facilities. "Also," he said pulling out the sketch of the boy the guard had seen. "Make a copy for our records, and send this to one of our allies in Iwagakure to show around the Shimari refugee camp. This boy's physical description fits that of the survivors of the Hikari Civil War. Have him show the villagers and see if they recognize him." Temari nodded. Gaara dismissed her and wrote Kankuro a note to search through the chakra of all the guards that had been hired in the past five months. They were going to get to the bottom of these thefts declaration of war or not.