All In The Name Of A One-Sided Love
"So, this is the memories that Orochimaru sealed away?" Saku asked, staring at the large, bolted vault in awe.
"Yeah… I think so…" Ra agreed, wondering how on earth they were to get the large door unlocked. Ra gently knocked on the door, just to see how solid it was, and sighed as she realized that it was rock-hard—no one would be getting through that anytime soon.
"Well, my theory is that the only thing that can possibly help is to get Sakura around Kabuto…" Ra said with a sigh.
----
It became blatantly obvious to both of them that they were pregnant when they began having morning sickness two weeks after their respective incidents, and the pregnancy test Kabuto had them take confirmed their worst fears—they were indeed pregnant. This was much more emotionally damaging to Ino than Sakura, for the only one Ino had had sex with was Itachi, and that was rape instead of consensual like the cause of Sakura's pregnancy.
'What am I going to do? I mean, I can't possibly take care of a baby on my own! I haven't seen Sasuke in forever, and it's like since he found out I'm pregnant, he doesn't want to see me anymore! Will I have to raise a baby on my own? I barely make enough money for myself, but I definitely won't have the time or the money to feed a baby!' thoughts such as these were fed into Sakura's head by Saku and Ra—this was harder to do than it sounds, for the only way for them to feed thoughts into Sakura's memory was to think or say the same thing at the same time.
"Well, you don't have to worry, because…" Kabuto had come into Sakura's room in order to tell her that Orochimaru would give her all the things she would need for the baby, but halfway through delivering his message, Sakura began to cry uncontrollably.
"Perfect! Now he won't be able to resist comforting her!" Saku exclaimed happily in excitement.
"Uh, Sakura… Should I just come back…?" Kabuto asked, unnerved by the crying woman.
"Damn it! No!" Saku and Ra thought simultaneously.
"No! I… uh, well…" Sakura muttered, surprised by her own thoughts. Why did it matter that Kabuto stayed?
"Oh, um, okay…" Kabuto replied nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"We need to keep her crying! He'll comfort eventually! Depressing thought again!" Ra commanded Saku. They repeated thinking the same thoughts from beginning, sending Sakura into another spiral of despair and self-doubt. She began sobbing even harder, sinking to her knees once again.
"Sakura!" Kabuto called out, leaning over her and gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?"
"I… You don't know what I'm going through! Sasuke's gone and abandoned me, and I don't have any way to take care of the baby…" Sakura was rambling now.
"Well, Sasuke is… busy, even if he is a pretentious anal bastard," the last three words being muttered to the point where only Sakura could hear him, "And Orochimaru said that he would fund you and your baby," Kabuto finished comfortingly.
Sakura had chuckled at the comment towards Sasuke, and she paused. He was right—Sasuke was conceited and he was actually a very cruel person. All he had to redeem him were looks and skills—how did she ever come to even like someone like Sasuke? Oh, right—the looks part had her smitten.
'But Kabuto looks better…' Sakura found herself thinking. She blushed lightly, and Kabuto stood to leave.
"Here, Saku, say this!" Saku commanded.
'Sasuke was never so nice to me…' Sakura thought, and her blush deepened.
"Hey, Ra, look! The door… There are less bolts in it!" Saku pointed out, and Ra smirked.
"Looks like my theory is working… We just have to keep Sakura around Kabuto, and soon, the door will simply fall down…"
----
Getting Sakura around Kabuto was harder than Saku and Ra had imagined. After all, Kabuto was a very busy underling—he was the one getting the body change ready, and he was the one providing care for Ino and Sakura. The only times they really saw Kabuto was when Kabuto was bringing Sakura prenatal pills, medicine for their morning sickness, water, and their meals. Every time he would have to bring anything for Sakura, however, Ra and Saku dealt as much damage to the vault as they could. Even after nearly a month's worth of work, they weren't making much progress.
So, they had to feed thoughts into Sakura's head. Of course, they felt terrible about doing such things—they were basically manipulating her, in a similar way that Orochimaru altered her memories. But, what had to be done had to be done. Once Ra wrote down exactly what the two of them should think/say, so that they could both think/say it at once, they began, even before Kabuto was anywhere near the cell.
'I'm tired of waiting around in this cell. Can't they have me doing something productive? I mean, I'm only in my first month—I'm now even showing yet! Sure, I have morning sickness, and fatigue, but that doesn't mean I can't do simple work to keep myself busy, like making potions… Hey, making my own morning sickness, fatigue, and prenatal medicines wouldn't be a bad idea. Kabuto should let me do that much, at the very least! I mean, I have nothing to do in here! It's driving me nuts!'
'And, besides, I should also at least get to talk to Sasuke before… the ritual. I mean, he's the father of my child, and he won't even stay alive—well, sort of—until the baby is born! He is the one who told me that it was okay to not use protection, and he should be the one taking responsibility, not Orochimaru!'
When Kabuto walked in with her dinner later that night, Sakura made her demands. Kabuto simply nodded and ran a hand through a messy ponytail of silver hair. "I'll ask Orochimaru about it," he muttered, before leaving Sakura, as if nothing at all had happened.
"He's not going to ask, is he?" Sakura muttered to herself.
----
"Very well. You may allow her to continue making medicines—but don't let her near anything potentially damaging to the child," Orochimaru said with a small wave. "And… well, if Sasuke feels like it, he may talk to the girl as well."
"Okay," Kabuto replied with a small nod. He walked away, somewhat surprised that Orochimaru had actually agreed—after all, there was no direct benefit to him, and it may also be turned into a liability.
----
"So, I need this root extract…" Sakura muttered, pointing to a strange plant. Kabuto was staring at her, wondering why this felt so familiar—he didn't remember actually teaching her potions and medicines, only giving her the materials to do so. It felt oddly… right, somehow. As if he had done it thousands of times before, or something like that. Sakura was feeling similar, except her feelings were stronger.
"The vault is halfway gone…" Ra muttered to Saku.
"Yeah… I wonder… Do you think we can speed this up?"
"How?"
"Well, Sakura already feels nostalgic… Maybe Kabuto feels the same. Maybe… we can have them have an old conversation, or something. After all, it might just work…"
"Alright. Think about fustigation," Ra replied with a small smirk, interested in her other half's ideas.
"Hey, do you know the word 'fustigation'?" Sakura asked with a small smirk while working.
Kabuto nearly jumped, but he paused. "Yeah… I don't remember where I got it, but it means to beat someone up with a club or a cudgel, right?"
"Right!" Sakura seemed impressed, and nearly dropped the jar she had been holding. Kabuto quickly lunged for it, grabbing it just before it hit the ground.
"Be more careful. Those ingredients are hard to find," Kabuto muttered, setting it back on the table gently.
Sakura rolled her eyes and nodded. "Whatever you say, 'Buto," she muttered sarcastically. She froze after having called him "'Buto". Where in the world had that come from? She wasn't nearly close enough to him to come up with such a strange, and somewhat embarrassing nickname.
"They're flying off fast!" Saku crowed in excitement. Bolts were shooting everywhere, and the door was even beginning to lean open on one side. Soon, the huge metallic door would be falling down…
"Yeah, let's get out of here before it collapses on us," Ra ordered before jumping away from the quickly disintegrating door.
Sakura felt like something was coming to her, as if she was remembering a distant memory. Her head was stinging, and she could feel the beginnings of a sudden migraine. She pushed against her temples with her forefingers, trying to suppress the pain, but it was futile. The migraine only intensified to the point where she felt like she wanted… needed to throw up to relieve it.
"Sakura? Sakura?" Kabuto asked gently, leaning over her after she fell to the ground, the sudden rush of information clouding her thoughts and, somehow, her vision. She passed out, the last visible thing being Kabuto calling out her name, his voice distorted by her lessening consciousness.
----
'Which memories are real? I mean, the ones with Kabuto… I can remember feelings; I can remember smells, touch, and taste… But the ones with Sasuke in them make more sense. How else would I come to be pregnant with his child? But… the new ones… they explain more. They make more sense. They show why I don't have my other side anymore, how I ended up here, and so much more besides. But… but the ones with Sasuke in them… They seem like the ones that should be right. I mean, they should have happened for me to get here! Right?'
Saku and Ra were listening to Sakura's thoughts like they were on a radio. They locked gazes and sighed. Their plan had worked—but not as well as they had hoped. They hadn't thought of the contingency that Sakura wouldn't exactly believe her memories. It made sense that she'd be confused, but really, they hadn't expected Orochimaru's altered and added memories to stick, either.
"What do we do?" Saku demanded. Ra had her knees against her chest, and her arms wrapped around them.
"I… I don't know…" she muttered weakly back, her head digging further against her legs.
"What do you mean, you don't know? You have to know!" Saku screamed, stomping her foot.
"I… I just don't. I mean, even if she believes the right memories… It doesn't change what Kabuto believes happened, or what Ino and Takara believe is real. They'll still think that… that… well, that all that fake stuff happened…"
"Stop being so weak! Damn, you're the smart side! If the smart side is going to be so weak, what help is there for us?" Saku demanded, causing Ra to whimper again. Saku sighed and ran a hand through her now messy hair—this wasn't going anywhere, and wouldn't go anywhere until she comforted Ra at least a little bit.
"Look, we have no chance if Sakura believes the fake memories. At least, if she believes the right memories, at least we have a chance that she'll be able to come up with something. Now, we have to convince her that the right memories are real, and that the others are fabricated," Saku said gently, wrapping her arms around Ra tentatively. After all, she didn't really know what to say to convince someone like Ra to think.
After a few moments of silence, Ra straightened up and conjured a piece of paper. "Say this," Ra commanded.
'But, then again, Kabuto… he cares more than Sasuke does… And in the memories I have, I only wanted Sasuke for his looks… But Kabuto… We had a deeper connection. He's as smart as I am, he's into the same things, and he actually has a brain along with looks! I guess… I think the ones without Sasuke in them are the real ones…'
"The ones… With Kabuto are real…" Sakura murmured against her blanket, only half-conscious.
"Huh?" Kabuto asked, doing a double take.
'He doesn't know, does he? His memories were altered, too…'
"Nothing… Strange dream," Sakura explained, coming up with an excuse on the spot. Kabuto bought it, however, and continued to check her vitals.
"Oh, I see… The problem is that your prenatal pills are too concentrated. We'll need to add a little less of each ingredient to a certain proportion.
"Right…" Sakura muttered, somewhat perturbed. She was most definitely in love with Kabuto—and whether or not he had been, at one point, was unknown to her. But, even if he did, at one point, he didn't remember it.
Being confused and unsure would be a massive understatement.