Chapter Four: Memory Withheld

Arashi sighed. They were getting somewhere, but not particularly fast. He handed the man opposite him another bottle, which contained yet another memory.

He looked at the one he held in his left hand. It seemed to be of her facing off against some swordsmen, although it seemed she took the back seat in this particular mission. Seeing the scene from her point of view, he watched as she cried over her fallen comrade and the pure outrage of her other team mate. Arashi was intrigued by the sudden increase of chakra the boy seemed to have. The man carefully thought it over, as the memory played the rest of the scene out.

It was unimportant, Arashi decided. He stuck it in with the rest of the 'return' pile. His gaze turned to the 'no-return' pile. It was void of bottles or jars.

The man opposite of him placed a singular jar in the no return section. Arashi raised his eyes to meet the Hokage's in a questioning glance.

The Hokage shook his head, "I don't think it's important, but I'd like my bases covered."

Arashi voiced his still unanswered question, "What is it though?"

"It's just who's the Hokage after me, don't want her to spout it off to someone with suspicious connections or anything. It'd be pretty awful if the next Hokage got knocked off before gaining the title." The Hokage said firmly, "So there's no reason to look, as it'll be revealed in due time anyways." The Sandaime looked to see if his answer was enough for the man.

Arashi was satisfied with it and continued working on his pile of bottles.

The Sandaime congratulated himself on a job well done. The memory was of one Sakura reading from a book all about Arashi. She had full access to the Hokage's library, being an apprentice to her Hokage. It wouldn't do for Arashi to know who he was to become and the manner of his death. Wouldn't do at all…

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Some time after Arashi left, Sarutobi was leaning against the window sill, high above those in the village below. He sometimes wished he could be one of them, scurrying around with no idea of the wars that took place just beyond their borders. He watched as one child tripped, stopping the few people around him. They helped him up, one person taking him in the direction of one of the free clinics. The Hokage smiled at the scene, people helping one another. Who wouldn't want that in their village? It was perfect. Not the tripping of course, but the kindness the villagers had displayed, you could really feel the comradeship between one another.

His mood darkened slightly, what to do about the girl? She would need someone to be with her, make sure she didn't make a run for it or tell anyone who she really is. It sounded exactly like a mission. It'd have to be a jonin, anynin lower than that could be overpowered by her. Female too, it would be uncomfortable for her if she had to live with a male.

Wait, all the female jonins were all on their respective missions… the first one back would be in two months. Sarutobi mentally berated himself for forgetting this fact. The nin would have to be male then. She would get switched to a female room mate with whoever happens to come back first. He'd need a volunteer though; this could very well be turned into a lifelong mission. Perhaps then, not the first female nin then… a volunteer. The mission would have to be given to a volunteer. No other way. The man called for his assistant.

The black haired chunin was quickly at his side, "Yes sir, how may I be of assistance?"

Sarutobi quickly stated that he needed all the available jonin to report to his office in six hours time. The assistant scurried off to delegate other nin of lower status to help him get all the dispatches out.

Sarutobi faced his window; high above the village below… he envied them sometimes. They seemed to crawl about like ants, unaware of just how big an impact his decisions could make. He saw the first messenger bird take flight through the air. He turned, knowing others would soon follow. He glanced at his long overdue paperwork. Having dealt with an angry assistant for unfinished work before, the Hokage thought it would be a nice change to not be yelled at.

He would be waken up exactly twelve minutes and thirty-eight seconds before the meeting by an angry assistant, who later declared the Sandaime 'hopeless' in cases like this. The Sandaime couldn't help but agree.

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Arashi knew this was coming. As he looked around the crammed room, he felt repulsed by the amount of men leering at the picture of the pink haired girl. Didn't they have any dignity?

"Sixteen you say?" Arashi heard one say.

"Stay with you at all times, huh?" another said, with a tinge perverseness.

"Can't go anywhere without permission," a man said with a lecherous grin on his face.

"I don't think that's specific enough, shouldn't we be able to decide what she looks like too? I mean, personal appearance is very, very important, right down to the underpants." Arashi was properly horrified.

Was there anyway he could save the poor unsuspecting girl from these perverted men? Well, this was a volunteer mission, was it not?

"I'd like to volunteer."

Silence.

Did someone actually volunteer? Had they not realized it was very likely this would turn into a lifelong mission? This was a huge commitment. Most importantly, who had volunteered? All eyes swiveled to the back of the room, where the voice had emanated from.

"Arashi," the Hokage said, "are you sure?" The Hokage was extremely pleased that Arashi had volunteered, the way some of the other men were looking at the picture, well, it made him think twice about his so-called perfect village. Arashi was a man you could count on. "Would anyone else like to volunteer?"

No one bothered to put up their hands. What was the point, Arashi had volunteered. It was common knowledge that Arashi was the Konohagakure golden boy. He would be chosen, no doubt. A few men sighed at the lost opportunity.

The Hokage regarded the crowd, "No one?" He faced Arashi once more, "I guess you got the mission then. Report back to me tomorrow, I'll have a dispatch sent for the exact time. Oh, and men, this is classified information. I expect no leaks."

Arashi nodded and left with the others who had begun filing out.

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His clear blue eyes gazed steadily at the man in front of him. He watched how his lips moved, rubbing against his yellowed teeth, the way his tongue danced in the man's mouth and his sour breath seemed to affect everyone except himself… so engrossed in his observations, Arashi failed to hear what the man was saying.

"Hey, you going to have that?" the man said, nodding his head at the bottle of sake Arashi held.

Brought out of his reverie, Arashi muttered to himself and handed the alcohol over to the man.

"Thanks man, much appreciated," the somewhat drunken man stated before taking a swig from the bottle.

"Your welcome," Arashi paid for the sake and left the bar. He walked along the street. His mind wandered to the kids. They'd find out sooner or later that he was living with a female. Obito would probably laugh his head off. Rin would want to know the details of the wedding, then be shocked to find out there wouldn't be one. Kakashi… Kakashi would realize the mission for what it was, and wisely say nothing, even though he would want to know what danger the girl possessed. Arashi almost laughed at how predictable his students were. He turned down an alley and soon found himself on the familiar road that went by his home.

The steps to his small house were slick from the light rainfall two hours earlier. Arashi turned the rusty doorknob and entered his apartment. As he walked in, he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, twenty minutes past midnight. He walked down the hallway to his bedroom. He undressed and prepared for bed. He was brushing his teeth when the dispatch arrived.

It was a messenger pigeon. How old-fashioned Arashi thought as he opened the window for the bird, they usually use hawks for messages now. The bird hopped on his bed before sticking out his leg with the message tied on. Arashi untied the blackened string and removed the scroll. The dusty gray pigeon took off again, flying out the window. Arashi followed its flight until it was too far away to see anymore.

He unrolled the tightly furled paper. He scanned its contents and rolled it up once more. In seven hours time, he would have to be waiting outside the Hokage's office. Arashi set his alarm and went to bed.

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"Enter," the voice intoned.

Arashi pushed the two wooden doors and enter went into the Sandaime's office. His eyes immediately went to the shock of pink sitting to one side of the room. He quickly brought his eyes back to straight ahead of him, at the Hokage himself.

"Arashi, I do believe you're early today. Normally you're barely on time." Sarutobi smiled.

"I set my alarm clock an hour too early. I would've preferred to sleep that extra hour," Arashi stifled a yawn.

"Right, well, we all know why we're here, let's make some introductions." The Sandaime gestured at the two. "Arashi, this is Haruno Sakura"-

"But you already knew that, didn't you?" the girl said accusingly, "Rummaging through my memories."

Arashi was stunned. He hadn't given back any memories, how had she known who she was? And wait just a second; it wasn't like he had wanted to rummage through her memories. He had no choice in the matter; it was an order from the Hokage. That's not an order you can just blow off whenever you want to.

"Arashi, relax. I gave back a few memories, just a few basics." The Hokage said quickly. "Anyways, Sakura, this is Uzumaki Arashi, he'll be your, for lack of better terms, room mate. He will be giving back your memories on a regular basis."

Arashi looked at her, she seemed pleased.

"Now," Sarutobi continued, "we all know that we can't have you" - he motioned toward Sakura – "roaming the streets with your real name. The Haruno clan would get suspicious, they know their members."

The girl nodded. Arashi almost felt bad for her; having to live her life in the past, without anyone she knew. And if she did know them, she would probably be older than them. He thought about it. One thought bothered him, what would happen when she was born, would the world explode? Could two Haruno Sakuras exist at the same time?

"Do you like it?" the Hokage asked.

"It's not the same as my real name, but I can live with it. I'm sure I'll get used to it, kind of rolls of the tongue, doesn't it? Nakamura Sakura," the girl softly repeated the name to herself.

"Is that her new name then, Nakamura instead of Haruno?" Arashi asked realizing he needed to get back into the conversation.

The Sandaime turned to face him, "Yes, no one else has that name in the village and it will not draw suspicion. We decided to not change her given name, as it will be hard enough to adjust without having to learn an entirely new name."

Arashi saw the girl nod her head in agreement. He wanted to ask her a few questions. When was her birthday? How'd she get here? Did she miss her old life?

"Sakura…" Arashi began.

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Arashi was sleeping in his office that night, except he couldn't sleep. He hadn't had anyone sleep in the same house as him since he left the orphanage. All he could think about was the fact that there was another person asleep in his bed.

He pushed a pile of paper out of the way. He'd clean it out in the morning so she could move in… properly. He would throw out what he didn't need and incorporate the rest into his own bedroom. He sighed. This was to protect her from the perverts that were his fellow shinobi.

Arashi was just about to fall asleep when he heard something that brought down his already low spirits. The girl was snoring.

○○○

Sarutobi slept soundly. He knew now that he shouldn't use the information he had gained from the Nakamura Sakura's memories. Some of the memories had troubled him, but he understood that they had already come to pass, there could be no changing the future if it was already the past. He had then decided to take comfort in the fact that he only had to wait another sixteen years before returning to the arms of his beloved wife. He would count the days.

Hooray for reviewers. You guys rock.
I spent the last week reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I thought it was good.
Right. Disclaimer. Naruto Not Mine
You'll all be happy to know that I have an outline for the fifth chapter. So maybe it won't take so long for the next update. Who am I kidding? It'll be no more than a week. I promise.