Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter I: Make a Wish
"Sakura...? Naruto...?"
Sasuke looked around. He was alone. Everything around him was dark. In front of him stood a girl with emerald eyes and pink hair, dressed in a red dress, and a blonde boy with blue eyes, dressed in an orange overall.
They looked, confused, at him. Then they exchanged glances.
"Excuse me," Sakura began carefully, "Do I... know you?"
Sasuke woke up. He could feel his heart pound in his chest, yet he didn't look bothered at all. He thought of the dream twice, then he shrugged and decided to leave it to be; Naruto, let alone Sakura, would never forget him. Never.
Despite having cut off their bonds, Sasuke kept dreaming over and over again that his ex-friends and ex-teammates forgot him. Not only forgot him, but the mere memory of his existence being erased from their minds.
"I'm not afraid of it," he tried to reassure himself. "I've cut off our bonds. I don't care anymore. All I want... is revenge."
But he still had that weird feeling in the chest...
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Sasuke-kun..."
Sakura looked at the starry sky and sighed, remembering all those nights the team had shared together, sleeping under the bright night sky... surrounded by fireflies, lit up by the full moon and the twinkling stars... just like in some romantic fairy tale... or movie...
"Sasuke-kun... come back..."
Her emerald eyes reflected only sadness. Once, they had been alive and happy, now they seemed sad. How come that no matter how hard she tried, every time her strength couldn't be matched with Naruto's or Sasuke's? Why... why was she so weak?
"Sasuke-kun..."
Was it that way he had felt when he left the village? Weak? He couldn't have! He was so strong... but Sakura was just...
"I..."
... a good-for-nothing kunoichi with abnormal strength and medical abilities.
"... love you..."
Suddenly, a couple of kunais flew towards her. Hearing the sound they caused at the speed of them practically cutting through the air, she jumped away and dodged them.
"Dare da?" she asked, holding up a kunai defensively as she looked around. No sign of the enemy.
"Humph, seems like someone spoiled our little surprise," a male's voice snorted. Three shadows appeared behind her, and she quickly twirled around, still holding the kunai in a defensive position.
"Well, excuse me, but I was just so tempted to do it. Like you've never spoiled surprises, Hazumi," a female's voice responded, accompanied by a snort.
"So this is Gondaime's apprentice...", another female's voice said unemotionally. Sakura shivered at the voice; it seemed so cold... so emotionless...
"What do you want with me?" Sakura demanded to know.
"Oh, she asks us what we want with her," the first female laughed scornfully. "Do tell her, Hazumi, and for once, never mind spoiling surprises."
"Fine," the boy – or man? – named Hazumi snarled, and turned to Sakura. He had shoulder-long, pale blonde hair, turquoise eyes, and was wearing the ANBU uniform (excluding the mask), and on his forehead was a forehead protector... with the Sound symbol! Sakura raised her kunai, gritting her teeth aggressively.
"Ooh, someone's getting a bit crabby, ne?" the first woman sneered. "I'm so scared. Tell her now, Hazumi, I'm losing my patience."
"Fine, Hana," Hazumi snapped. "Well, we're here to kidnap you. The end."
"Tough luck, but it's not for nothing I'm the Gondaime Hokage's apprentice. I'd like to see you try kidnapping me," Sakura smirked.
"Are you underestimating us, miss?" the girl named Hana said, her voice now sounding threatening.
"I am. How so?" Sakura replied with scorn.
"You little...!" Hana charged towards her, and doing a quick hand seal, five Kage Bunshins appeared, attacking Sakura. Missing the attack without some problems, Sakura landed gracefully on the ground and performed 'Ninpou: Haruno no Sakura!' making a wind of sakura petals fly straight towards Hana, the flower petals being, astonishingly, sharp. (A/N: Yup, I made up that attack, but I didn't really know much about what ninjutsu Sakura could, so I decided to make some special 'Haruno' jutsu, you know, a secret ninjutsu that only the Haruno family knows, just like Shikamaru's Kage Mane jutsu or Ino's Shin Tenshin no jutsu.)
All the bunshins were destroyed, leaving only Hazumi and the final girl on the field. Sakura looked around, trying to calm down herself. Don't panic... don't panic...
"Hello, dear," a voice murmured evilly behind her. Shit! She's behind me...!
Before Sakura had time to react, she felt her entire body stop listening to her commands. Totally paralyzed, she panted heavily to catch her breath. I can't move... a genjutsu...?
"Yes, love, it's a genjutsu," Hana laughed. "Have fun."
Then everything went black.
And a horrible, bloodcurdling shriek began in the darkness. In Sakura's mind.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Ah, Tsunade no obaa-san! Why can't we eat ramen!" Naruto exclaimed as he strolled down the streets of some unknown village they had arrived to, together with Tsunade, whose head was filled with popping veins.
"Naruto...," she hissed dangerously. "If you don't shut up about ramen..."
"Tsunade no obaa-san, what else should we eat?"
"And stop with the obaa-san thing!" Tsunade yelled at him. "God, I don't know how Sakura can stand you at times..."
"Che! Not everyone is as impatient as you, Tsunade no obaa-san. But maybe it's because you're getting old."
Now Tsunade was fuming.
"You said I was what?"
"I said –"
POW.
"OUCH!"
"Now let's buy that be-damned dinner before I pass out of hunger! And Sakura too!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Sakura's eyelids slowly opened. Koko... wa? (A/N: "Koko wa" means "Where am I".)
"Ah. So she has awakened. Welcome, Hokage's apprentice dear. I hope you enjoyed the genjutsu?"
That voice...! Sakura attempted to jump up with a kunai, but she failed. Or rather, her body failed to. She felt her entire body ache out of pain, and she uttered a moan as she struggled to even stand up.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you, Sakura. That's your name, isn't it? Haruno Sakura."
"Beautiful name. Just like the owner of the name," Hazumi said softly.
Hana groaned. "Damn you, Hazumi. We're here to fulfill Orochimaru-sama's orders. Not to do some flirting."
Sakura looked around. She was in a damp cellar of some sort, half-alit by some lantern in the middle of the room... right in front of her stood a girl about her own height with pitch-black hair, and red eyes... Sharingan...
"... You... who...?" she began, but cried out of pain. Her left shoulder hurt.
"I'm Uchiha Suzume," came the cold answer. So the cold voice had belonged to her...
"You... but all the Uchihas..."
"... were killed in a massacre by Uchiha Itachi, yeah," Hana finished the sentence for her, who stood on the left side of Suzume. She had golden hair and hazel eyes, dressed in a baby-blue top and a pair of white pants. "But Suzume was brought away right after her birth."
"You look like..." Sakura inspected Suzume's features. The same cold glance. The same eyes. The same hair. She was even dressed a bit like him... black... and with the Uchiha crest on her clothes... "... Sasuke... kun..."
"Doesn't she? She's his lost twin sister. Nice, huh? The two of the three last survivors of the Uchiha clan have joined Orochimaru-sama, and the third, who's the cause of the entire demise of the clan, is against him and was Orochimaru-sama's ex-partner," Hana sighed.
"Hana...," Suzume growled.
"Fine, onee-chan," Hana sighed. "Hazumi, you tell her."
"Why is it always me?" Hazumi complained.
"Because... you're the in-between."
"I'm the what?"
"I talk too much, onee-chan talks too less. You talk in-between."
"What lame excuse wasn't that –"
"Hazumi, you tell her now. Did you hear me?" Suzume interrupted him with a chilly, yet murderous, glare. Sakura shuddered. It brought memories to her mind...
"Sakura... who did that to you?"
Back then, he had still been their friend. But now...
"We need you. For a test," Hazumi explained with a serious voice. "For Sasuke-sama."
Sakura looked at him in surprise. "Nanda?"
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to inform her anyway." Hana shrugged. "We're going to perform a kinjutsu, the unnamed jutsu that can fulfill wishes for a high price. Either your life or the wish."
Sakura's eyebrow perked up. "What do you mean? Why do I've to make a wish?"
"Because we tell you to. Anyhow, we perform the jutsu and you make the wish. Then you lose all your memories. In two months' time you must regain them, if you have not regained all of them until then, then you die. If you, however, regain all of the memories just in time, your wish will come true."
"So it's a fifty-fifty chance?" Sakura asked.
"No." Hana smirked. "It's a ninety-nine-one chance."
Sakura fell in silence.
"So if we now perform the jutsu you can just make any wish."
"What will you do with me after I've lost my memories? How do I know that you don't just kill me?"
"If we wanted to kill you," Suzume's icy voice rang through the room, "We'd have killed you long ago. I loathe wasting time."
Silence once again.
"And why would I let you do this to me?" Sakura said through clenched teeth as she struggled to stand up.
"Because you're unable to fight, and if you even tried to escape we'd knock you out and perform the jutsu anyway. But since you need consciousness to make a wish, we'd rather have you conscious. Otherwise we'd have to wait for you to wake up while we're doing the jutsu and that's a waste of chakra," Hazumi explained.
"And what'll happen to me after my memories have gone?" Sakura demanded to know.
"You'll go to Orochimaru-sama's lair. And you'll become Sasuke-sama's servant."
Silence once more. Sakura pondered the idea hard. After the jutsu was fulfilled, they'd probably let her rest. And once she had rested, she'd get away. Even with lost memories, she must've some kind of sense that Orochimaru's lair was the wrong place, right? Or she could do something while they were performing the jutsu to stop herself from losing memories.
"Fine," she said at last. "I accept the offer."
"The offer?" Hana laughed scornfully. "Like it was an offer anyway. It was a threat."
"Fine, I accept your threat then."
Hana, Hazumi and Suzume swiftly positioned themselves around her so that they made a 'triangle' around her, with her exactly in the middle. Then they did a couple of handseals Sakura had never seen before and exclaimed, 'Ninpou: Aku no Hikari!', touching the ground with the palms of their hands. Three bright yellow lines immediately formed themselves so that they now showed the triangle around Sakura, the peak pointing downwards.
"Genjutsu: Kage no Memorii!" Hana shouted. Sakura felt a dizziness flow through her mind. She suddenly felt that all her memories were a blur. She couldn't picture Tsunade, Naruto or even Sasuke properly... their faces seemed so distant... so strange... then she noticed one memory that was totally clear. My wish. My desire.
"Kekkei genkai: Tsubasa no Taimu!" Hazumi burst out. Now Sakura felt as though wings had spread themselves from her back and she was soaring through the sky... through time... she felt old and young at the same time... No, Sakura! Your memories are fading away! Struggle! Perform a jutsu that will stop it... my body... it can't move... and what's the counter-jutsu now again?
"Kekkei genkai: Mangekyou Sharingan," said Suzume, and her eyelids, which had been closed when the others had uttered their jutsus, now flipped open and revealed two red orbs with a bizarre black thing in it; the Mangekyou Sharingan.
Sakura felt the wings disappear immediately. Now she felt even dizzier... and everything was so unclear... what was she doing here?
"Now say the wish," Hana sneered. "Say it aloud. Or just think of it, concentrate on it."
"I wish..." Sakura felt a sudden desire to puke without knowing why. All the dizziness... the mental fog that seemed to make her memories unclear... everything frustrated her... "... that Sasuke-kun... that he... that he..." But she was unable to say more, and fell down on the floor, unconscious. But the wish remained in her mind. And she thought it once last time before it was forced into a locked room of now forbidden memories.
Tsukiko: This wasn't the best first chapter ever, was it? -.-; But I promise the following chapters will be better soon! So please leave a review and tell me what you think... and if you've read my other fanfics, which one I should be concentrating the most on. ;) Arigatou gozaimasu!
(And by the way, for you who're curious... no, Hana and Suzume are not related by blood. They're adoptive sisters. And also, more about the three henchmen's fighting abilities will be revealed in later chapters, when there're going to be fights. :D)