Chapter 3:

Finder77: And now the continuation!

It was a while before the young woman in the Sound infirmary woke up. Sasuke sat by her bed, waiting for her to regain consciousness. After not too long, Kabuto left the infirmary to tend to someone else in another section of the Sound compound.

Now Sasuke was alone with the girl while the minutes ticked away. The strange young woman's sudden appearance intrigued Sasuke, and he wanted to know where she had come from and what that flash of red light had been. If it was the outcome of a jutsu, it didn't seem to have worked well. Perhaps she had been exiled from her village…?

Even more puzzling was the 愛 brand on her forehead. Sasuke wondered if Gaara had a harem or something. That might explain the brand, and she was pretty enough to be in a harem…

So on and so forth, these were the thoughts of Uchiha Sasuke, wondering what the story behind the young woman was.

After an hour or two, the dark-haired woman began to stir and opened her eyes. Looking around, she soon realized that she was not only in a medical environment but also hooked up to a half dozen monitors. The electric box that monitored her pulse quickened its beeps along with her heart rate.

"You don't have to be afraid."

It was then that the young woman noticed the man who sat next to her bed. He was handsome, with black hair that fell like the brushstrokes of an artist. His eyes were dark and guarded. His manner of dress was conspicuous. The shirt he wore was white and open, showing a large portion of his fair, sculpted chest.

The young man cleared his throat, causing the woman to look away in embarrassment. She had been staring.

"Good to see you're awake," the young man said to her.

"Can you tell me what happened?" the brunette girl asked as she tried to sit up. She was still too weak from whatever had happened. Biting her lip, she tried to remember. An old man had called to her. He'd had a cane with beautiful carvings on it. He'd asked her if she wanted to know where it came from and then… She ended up here?

"I found you unconscious in a crater not far from here," Sasuke responded. "I brought you here in order to better treat you."

That answered a few of her questions. "Thank you," she said. She was grateful that this man had saved her life, but there was still so much she didn't know. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha," the young man said. His dark eyes seemed to be testing her. "Only 'Sasuke' is necessary."

The young woman gave a tiny smile. "Pleased to meet you, Sasuke," she said. "What… is this place?" It smelled of dense earth. That wasn't usual for a hospital.

"You are in Sound," Sasuke informed her. "It is the village founded by Orochimaru."

"Who's that?"

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of him." Sasuke shifted in his seat. "He's quite well known. One of the three legendary sannin?"

The dark haired girl gave him a puzzled glance.

Sasuke shrugged again. "You'll meet him soon enough," he assured. "He's in charge here, so he'll probably realize you've arrived soon. Sooner rather than later." His look was dark, giving the appearance that this Orochimaru was someone to be reckoned with. Then Sasuke changed the subject altogether. "You never said what your name was…"

"Oh!" The dark-haired girl looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, I'm…" The girl scoured her mind but could find no trace of a name. She surrendered to the inevitable. "I can't remember who I am. I can't remember anything. Except…"

Sasuke leaned forward. "Except what?"

But before she could even begin to answer him, dark laughter filled the room. "Oh, Sasuke, you've been very rebellious." The speaker materialized into vision as if through a dense fog. He appeared ill, he was so white, and his hair was long and dark.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Sasuke stood to greet his master while the nameless girl watched. "Orochimaru, where have you been?"

The sick-looking man grinned wide. "Tone, Sasuke. Watch it." He then answered, "I had an appointment to attend to. Important business to the south I had almost forgotten." Orochimaru's eyes glittered with ill intent. "Now Sasuke, what is this girl doing here?"

"New recruit from the Sand Village." Sasuke spoke quickly and without emotion. "She travelled a long way after facing poverty and starvation in her home village. I found her unconscious outside of Sound a couple of hours ago and brought her back so Kabuto could treat her."

"How tragic." Orochimaru smiled. There had been no hesitance in Sasuke's voice that the young woman could hear, but this legendary sannin seemed to think differently. "Tsk, tsk, Sasuke," he said. "You can't lie to your master."

Sasuke didn't respond. The girl on the hospital bed looked from Sasuke to Orochimaru. How had he known Sasuke was lying?

"So," Orochimaru hissed. "Were you planning on telling me about this anytime soon?"

"Kabuto said that you'd find out eventually," replied Sasuke, passing the buck. "I assumed when he said that, he meant he was going to tell you."

Orochimaru looked surprised. Just then, Kabuto walked through the door into the room, saw Orochimaru, and turned on his heel to walk out.

"Kabuto, get your scrawny ass in here!" commanded Orochimaru. Kabuto walked back in slowly but stayed a few feet away from his master, probably to avoid getting his head smacked. Orochimaru asked in a faux pleasant voice, "Sasuke says you knew about this?"

Kabuto gave Sasuke an anxious glare.

"I thought you told him," defended Sasuke.

"Yes, I knew about it," Kabuto answered, "But no, I hadn't told him."

"Why don't you people tell me these things?" hissed Orochimaru as he let out an exasperated sigh. He turned on the girl, "Who are you, then? Where are you from?"

"I… I don't know," she answered. Standing before her and demanding answers like this, Orochimaru put off a very menacing aura. She was frightened of him, but she didn't look away.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed at her response. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"She didn't have a village headband on her," Sasuke informed.

"Interesting. Do you mind if I take a look at her?" Orochimaru asked Kabuto.

The girl's eyes went wide. "Why are you asking him?"

The woman had barely finished speaking when the sannin brought her chin up in his hand and looked her straight in the eye. The girl felt defiled as Orochimaru smiled cruelly down upon her. If she hadn't been so weak, she would've done everything in her power to get away from him. He examined every possible feature of her face, during what felt like an eternity, before letting go.

Orochimaru had a far-off gaze in his eyes. "I think we will have use for you," he told the young woman as he turned to leave. "Kabuto, Sasuke! Find her a place to sleep and keep her under lock and key." He turned back to the girl one last time before leaving the room, "Welcome to Sound."

Finder77: Well there's your chapter! Review please. Be sure to keep this story on your story alerts list so you know when new chapters are added! Have a good day!