Hello,

I changed up the summary a bit; I want to convey this story is very much about Sakura's struggles in this new ninja landscape. In later (very later) chapters romance will occur. Though my favorite pair is KAKASAKU I have decided to see where the story leads though there will be A LOT of Kakashi and Sakura moments.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, they mean a lot to me! Also a few people had some good guesses about Sakura's relationship with Orochimaru.

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

PLEASE REVIEW!

Chapter 2

- Incinerate -

As they drove up to Konoha, Kakashi was relieved and shaken; glad to be back but confused as to the girl in the back seat. In the past he has had to kill children but it never sat well with him. Especially with the little pinkette, she was talented and her death would be a waste.

No that wasn't completely right. He thought. To get that way, that talented at so young her life must have been hell. Endless training and with Orochimaru at that. The kid has probably broken every bone in her body, has probably gone through trials most Jonin twice her age haven't.

Kakashi just felt bad for her. He was trying not to pity her but he couldn't help it. Sighing he looked out the window to see Old Town Konoha fast approaching, this was the home of the Intelligence agency.

The town of Konohagakure was over 400 years old with a rich history of being a shinobi village; or to the general populous "mythology" of being a Shinobi village. The town was now a business center and hub for Governmental agencies; namely The Intelligence Agency or I.A. for short.

Konohagakure, home to both ninja and civilians alike was split into 2 main parts: Old Town Konoha and New town. Old Town Konoha was where the shinobi lived and worked. It was home to the Hokage Tower, Konoha Academy, Academy dorms, The Shinobi Hospital, ninja housing, Clan housing, and training grounds. Old town was completely blocked off from those in new town by a street known as "The Great Divide."

The Great Divide was a wall formed from 2 story shop/housing lined compactly together blocking off old town. There was only one break within the shops and that was where the only gate into Old Town existed and it was manned 24/7. The shops and housing itself were all occupied by ninjas and monitored with cameras, state of the art sensory equipment, and barrier ninjutsu.

Driving into the large green gates that have stood over 400 years, Kakashi was quick to check in with the guards before driving to the underground garage where Ibiki and the Interrogation department would meet him.

He could feel the shift in her chakra; she was agitated but was attempting to hide it. He just hoped they didn't have him sit through the integration. Kakashi wished to walk away from this situation but knew he wouldn't; hell he would probably insist on being at the integration.

When Sakura exited the car she was already underground; she was surrounded by men in drab grey uniforms. She knew this was her only chance to damage her memory but the Leaf nin left her little options to do so.

Kakashi had gotten her from her seat in the car and as he walked her over to the awaiting men, Sakura decided to trip him and in the tumble procure a senbon; nothing like senbon-labotomy (well different area of the brain but her sarcastic mind liked the way it sounded).

As she went to execute her plan she should have known his reflexes would not allow it. He simply patted her on the back and whispered a "nice try."

The smug bastard. She thought.

He probably thought it was her last ditch effort to escape but she was not that hopeful; not anymore. Now Sakura could do nothing but resign her fate; with no inhibitors to her memories it was theirs for the taking.

It started off, easy; easy for an integration. There were questions thrown at her by the stern man called Ibiki and pain when no answers were forthcoming. By her count it had been close to 12 hours and Ibiki was becoming crueler with each passing second.

Too bad I grew up with Orochimaru; this is a walk in the park. My pain threshold is unbelievable high.

Even with Sakura's vision streaked with blood and her body throbbing she would not break. She looked to the mirror across the room from her, knowing on the other side sat an audience, one of which was probably her capture, the white-haired-ojisan along with a bunch of old self-righteous hags.

She snarled at the mirror. Might as well make this a good show! Those bastards should just kill me

"What is your relationship with Orochimaru?" Ibiki's voice roared.

She spit blood at him barring her red tinted teeth, "Nothing; I am more intrigued on what yours is. You are quite the fan boy of his work." She bit back.

Apparently that was not the answer he was looking for and before she knew it she was in some sort of summons; trapped in some medieval torture device within a metal cage.

The questions continued: Who she was; Her relationship with Orochimaru; Who are her parents; What happened during her time with Orochimaru: What she was doing at the base; What Orochimaru's plans were; etc.

The most they got out of her was what Kakashi had managed in the fight with her. They knew her name was Sakura and her skills. To relinquish some pain she did go over the events after her capture but made sure to reveal nothing new. Sakura was a vault and Ibiki knew it.

Despite her resistance she did falter on one particular topic; her presence at the lab in Iwa where she was captured. The flashes of memories were too much for her and it showed on her face. Ibiki broke into the most malicious smile rivaling that of Orochimaru's when he saw her hesitation.

That was short lived, Sakura quickly regained herself and the torture continued. She was not going to relive her time there and she was definitely not going to share it with that sadist bastard Ibiki. Sakura's inability to respond ended with 4 broken ribs and acid to the bottom of her feet followed by a salt rub. The man was good but she was better.

He left her around the 30th hour; she had lost consciences and he needed a new strategy. He entered the connecting room on the other side of the 2way glass where some council members, the Hokage, and to Ibiki's shock Kakashi were. Ibiki turned to the Hokage

"She won't be able to take much more; it would be a waste of perfectly good information if we continue and she dies. Her pain threshold is too great but her body is giving out. From the time spent with her, I can see some weakness involving her time at the lab in Iwa but besides that she has not faltered. I have broken seasoned Shinobi in half the time and effort that I have put into her."

"hmm.." The Hokage responded, taking a puff from his pipe pondering "We shall call Inoichi in to sort through her mind."

Ibiki figured he would decide upon this "But the risks; if she has a fail-safe placed in her mind it could shut down her whole brain or just kill her. Or if Inoichi is able to access her memories it will most likely cause irreparable damage; leaving us without another chance at her information."

"This is a risk we must take." Sarutobi-sama stated. He did not like to cause a child this much damage but it was necessary; Orochimaru had been planning something for years and the old Hokage feared he would enact it soon. He must protect his village and nation no matter the costs, though it still hurt him to have the little girl caught in the crossfire.

"Understood I will get Inoichi." Ibiki stated as he bowed and made his exit.

Kakashi watched listlessly at the conversation between Ibiki and the Hokage, it had been a long 30 hours but he could not leave.

"Hokage-sama" Kakashi interjected

The Hokage looked upon his tired and worn Jonin; knowing that the man would not back down, that he felt the girl was worth saving. "Speak Kakashi, for I am as weary as you."

"Yes sir. I have my mission report." This shocked the Hokage much as Kakashi was known to be extremely late on writing these. "I also want to express my opinion on the matter of Sakura-san if that is alright."

"You may continue." The Hokage had respect for his student's student's student; he was a strategic and well thought man.

"Sakura displays great proficiency in the Ninja arts as displayed in my report. I believe she could be a great ally for the village. From my time spent with her it is easy to tell she was raised if not spent the majority of her life under Orochimaru and is suffering for it but she is still young, she can still be molded."

"I agree with your observations, Kakashi but that is not enough to sway me from going further with this integration; Inoichi Yamanaka will be called in."

"I understand that and though I do not fully agree, I cannot deter it. I am asking you, Hokage-sama to consider after the information is gained to allow Sakura her life." Kakashi finished

"I see." The Hokage took another long drag allowing him to think. "I will take it under advisement and if the situation allows it I will put forth my effort for her to have it. BUT the decision will ultimately come down to a council vote." Kakashi only nods; that is the best he could do for her and he hoped it would help.

When Inoichi finally entered the girl has been fixed up enough to regain consciousness and hopefully survive the next phase of the integration. Sakura is weary of the man before her, she senses that he will be invading her mind before he even says a word. When he does speak he tells her to relax and not to fight it or it will cause damage.

It began; Inoichi used his clan signature jutsu to enter her mind and was soon met with a wall. He had expected as much, Orochimaru would have strengthen her mind against penetration. Inoichi began the process of breaking down the wall and after some time it did crumble.

Inoichi was rewarded with a clip of a memory of a very young pinkette next to a teenage girl with red hair and piercing purple eyes.

"Who is this?" He asked the subconscious to direct the thoughts for him. He was soon met with another snippet of memory; it was in a lab with tubes and larger containers and cages. Yet the girl was not focusing on any of that she was looking at a figure across the room.

As she got closer to the figure it turned to reveal Orochimaru. The memory continued, Orochimaru spoke then, "Girl come here we must sort out another part of your training."

The young pinkette followed orders and the Sannin bent down bringing his eyes to hers. Inoichi stepped back within the mindscape; the Sannin eyes evoking a primal unease within him. The Sannin spoke again "This will hurt, cringe and I will make it worse."

Then the mind was filled with searing pain. Inoichi was surrounded by it and the Sakura of the mind was screaming. Then, a little too late, Inoichi realized what was happening, he had set off a seal. The girl's mind was sealing itself off from him; he would not be able to view her memories and neither would she. If he didn't exit now the seal would kill him, in fact if anyone else had entered her mind it probably would already but Inoichi was no novice and had a few tricks up his sleeve for handling situations like this.

He quickly released the jutsu with an amendment so the seal would not follow him out to his own mind and kill him there. He had to remain calm but Inochi could feel his anger growing; they would get nothing from her. The seal was of the highest caliber and till death or the one who put the seal there released it, the seal would never be broken. She would never be able to reveal anything even if she wanted to.

Inoichi returned to his body and by the time he did recover his senses it was to a scene of chaos. Medic-nin had rushed the girl. The enacting of the seal had flooded the area with a great amount of Orochimaru's chakra as well as a few of his summons that were released from a set of connecting seals on the girl's body.

Medic-nins were trying to revive her while ANBU fought off snakes and a fire. Once the girl regained a heart beat the Medic-nins rushed her to the hospital and within a few more minutes the rest of the threats were neutralized leaving a shocked looking Inoichi.

"Inoichi, what else have you learned before the seal was enacted?" The Hokage asked. He had taken Inoichi as well as the council members back to his office to go over next steps.

Inoichi then explained the two memories he was able to view before the mind sealed. He stated that the first was an emotional one that had accidently slipped through; he conjectured the seal was supposed to enact right as he destroyed the wall and would have gone straight to Orochimaru's memory trap.

The old men and women of the room pondered this as Inoichi continued. The seal, though advanced, was not unknown to Inoichi since he made sure he was familiar with all those of the mind, even this forbidden technique that originated from Sunagakure.

The seal should allow the girl to remember skills, personality, likes, dislikes, and knowledge. Though it would be edited, it would be as if she was watching a movie and would have no emotional attachments or explanation as to why she liked something or knew something.

Furthermore all knowledge contained around Orochimaru would be gone, if he played a part in her training then she would know the skills but the memory would not be of him but a false one. The seal was a force to reckoned with. Inoichi stated that this is what he believed to have happened but would have to test further when she awoke as there still might be a small chance her original memories still existed; though this was very unlikely.

Expecting to be dismissed by the the Hokage, Inoichi looked to the door but it seemed the Hokage felt the need for his presence as he continued to address the council of 7 elders.

"We must decide what to do with the girl." The Hokage announced as he turned to his council. "If what Inoichi says is true then the girl will never be able to reveal information to us."

Homura Mitokado, Sarutobi-sama's old teammate and council member spoke, "The girl is in a coma and preliminary medical reports are unfavorable if she will ever wake, this problem may just solve itself."

"True." The Hokage shot back. "But Homura if that is not to be we must agree upon what to do with Sakura. From the sentiment expressed I believe you wish for her extermination?"

"Yes" Homura responed not hiding his sneer, "She is of no use to us without her memories and is one of Orochimaru's. She is a threat and could have been placed here as a sleeper spy for him. We must extinguish this fire before it gets out of control."

"Homaru, I understand your hatred for Orochimaru, he has been a cancer to this country for the last 10 years." The Hokage paused and was about to continue when Homaru interjected.

"Hiruzen, you have always had a soft spot for Orochimaru, since he was your former student. He was able to originally get away due to your love of him. I will not have this sentimentality put the village in anymore danger then it already has."

"Homaru!" roared the Hokage, not liking the lack of respect he was getting from his council member. "I shall always live with my shame of the past but I am not a fool to repeat it. Orochimaru will be dealt with, I hold no love for that wayward man anymore.

"To go over your other objections to the girl." Sarutobi- sama continued in a less harsh tone, "She is without her memories but not her skills, Kakashi has written and spoken to me about it. She could be turned into a great asset for the village."

"But there is always a threat of her being returned to Orochimaru's influence since he can break the seal." Koharu Utatane, Hiruzen's other old teammate and councilwoman stated, "Hormaru is correct in thinking she is a sleeper agent for Orochimaru."

The Hokage let out a tired sigh, "Yes this is correct but not certain. I believe there is more to this girl that meets the eye but I do not believe she is a spy. I believe she is of great importance to Orochimaru and he will be distressed at loosing her; this sentiment was also expressed by Kakashi."

"So are we to then prohibit him a resource." Koharu dryly stated, "To taunt him with her existence being under our control now?"

"In a way yes. Even without her memories she still has her skills and thus if we know her range we can glean what Orochimaru used her for. Furthermore if she is truly important then Orochimaru will come for her." The Hokage finished with a drag of his pipe. He did not like to state the situation like this but he must be heartless with his council to get them to agree; he did not want to kill this child.

"Hmm this has potential." Homaru said a hardness to his eyes, "we have been chasing Orochimaru for years but now he will come to us for this girl and then we can finally bring him down on our own terms instead of a surprise attack by him."

"I see that Homaru" Koharu interjected, "but this will bringing unknown threats now on the village. It is also based on the assumption that Orochimaru will come for her. What if she is of no importance to him? Then all this planning will be for naught and we could still be harboring a sleeper agent."

"Then her skill alone should be enough for us to spare her. We could mold her to be a Konoha shinobi." The Hokage answered.

Koharu answered back, "I still agree with Homaru's original sentiments; we should extinguish this flame before it grows into an uncontrollable fire."

The Hokage chuckled, "Koharu, we are fire. We are its will. I believe she could share in this will."

"So you plan to make her loyal to the village then?" Koharu responded in a disbelieving tone.

"Yes." The Hokage easily answered. "This is all conjecture till she awakens and we asses her memory. Till then we are in agreeance then; the girl will live and be trained as a Konoha shinobi."

The council was unenthused but did see the logical into keep her alive and thus agreed. The only dissenting vote was Koharu; the motion passed 6 to 1. Sarutobi-sama noted that Danzo Shimura had stayed uncharacteristically quiet the whole discussion and had voted to keep her alive.

Odd very odd. Danzo should have wanted to kill any threats to the village, he would usually have sided with Koharu. What could this mean? The old Hokage would have to ponder this later.

"Fine" stated Koharu "Then how do you suggest we have her become loyal to Konoha?"

A small smirk tugged at the Hokage's lips. "Enroll her in Konoha Academy."

After the council had left the Hokage turned to Inoichi, who had stayed quiet the whole time knowing it was not his place to talk. "Go home to your family; you will be called if and when she wakes up."

With a nod Inoichi then left. Sighing loudly the old Hokage messaged his temples. "Kakashi you can come in now."

The man silently entered through the window where he had perched listening the entire time.

"Are you in aggreeance with me, Kakashi?"

Kakashi, though his pasture exuding a lazy and apathetic vibe did not match his lone eye that shone with intent "Yes Hokage-sama. Though do you think it wise to tempt the snake?"

"I may be old but I am no fool; Orochimaru will be handled. We are increasing security as we speak; as well as gearing up the tactical unit to plan the perfect trap for the snake." The Hokage spoke with an edge of tiredness. He made his way to his desk before continuing. "There is something more to this girl; Kakashi I want you to watch her. I sense she will not be in this coma for long." The Hokage took another drag.

"Is that wise sir? She holds some animosity towards me."

"Then watch from the shadows if you must. You are dismissed; get cleaned up and rested you will relieve her anbu guard tomorrow."

The village is strong, we will preserver past Orochimaru. Sakura is strong, I can see the will within her. The Hokage thought as he sat behind his desk to handle the paperwork that built over the last 2 days.

The Hokage would have to alert the Fire president and congress to these new threats but that could wait till morning. Even if the president did not agree, this was a Shinobi matter and fell under the Hokage's domain, thus the president had no say in the fate of the girl. Though knowing the president, he would try to force his agenda on the Hokage as well as not be pleased about the news of Orochimaru.

I am getting way too old for this job. The Hokage thought as he poured over the stacks of paper littering his desk. He knew the headache was just beginning; that the future would hold much strife now that they decided to keep the girl.

Sakura had been unconscious for a week already and Kakashi was becoming irritable; he hated hospitals. He avoided them at tall costs even when he was at death's door. Now he was forced to watch a sleeping pinkette in one.

Kakashi was rarely in the actual room, he spent most of his time outside in a tree looking in on her. Even though he was not in the building just the proximity to that death reeking structure gave him a would have pawned off this babysitting task to one of his 4 member anbu squad he was a captain of if the Hokage had not specified that only he was to watch the girl.

If only I could have Tenzo do this instead of me. He can never say no. Just the thought of his Kohai's resigned face brought a smile to the copy-nin. Sighing he flipped another page in Icha Icha Violence; at least he could catch up on his reading.

Kakashi had entered the room earlier after the nurse left to look over the girl and her charts; she was doing better and showed almost normal brain activity but they were still uncertain if she should ever wake.

Kakashi was going to give it another week before he would request to be reassigned. This job was newbie anbu grunt work not long standing anbu captain's mission. Kakashi had been an anbu captain at age 16; it was unheard of especially since the average age to join anbu was 24 and 28 for captains. Kakashi had made captain after only a year in anbu; he was a bit of a prodigy if he listened to any of the rumors.

Looking up from his page he felt a spike in chakra, the girl on the bed opened her eyes for the first time in a week. Wasting no time he summoned Pakkun to alert the Hokage and grab Inoichi. Though Kakashi could just call he was a bit old fashioned in his ways, plus the Hokage was terrible with working phones.

Sakura's head was pounding; like someone had set off C4 in her mind. Everything was disorienting she was confused to where she was. Doing a quick sweep of the room through her half closed eyes, she noted it was obviously a hospital room, though she couldn't recall why she knew that. Her hands and feet were restrained to the bed with chakra cuffs but she surprisingly had a little chakra coursing through her.

Must have let me have some to speed up the healing. But who? And Where? And What? Ughh my head.

Calm down! A voice in her head yelled back.

What?! Sakura responded back. What is going on? Am I going completely mad? Why am I talking to myself!

Look I am going to make this short seeing as you are pretty slow on the uptake currently. I am your inner. The voice in her head apparently her "inner" responded impatiently.

My inner?

Let me finish! Your inner you. You had a seal placed in your mind and I was awaken to help with the damage it caused. To help you sort through and organize things since you technically have no memories.

Okay… So a seal? I don't remember anything… but wait ouch…. Why is it..?

Then something happened she was flooded with memories. She saw her capture, from what? Who knew, her detainment and torture. A white haired man, a yellow one with blue eyes and a stern looking one. Everything from her capture up was coming back to her but it was like watching something on TV, it did not feel like that was truly her.

I don't understand

Just let the memories flow in, don't fight it. The seal was only for everything up to your capture but everything past it is free game.

Sakura watched as the abstract horror of her torture befell the memory of her. The questions asked gave her clues as to where she was and why she was here and what fate would quickly be delivered.

Since I have no memories of what they want they will probably kill me, right?.

Probably. But I am not going to let that happen. If you die, I die and I am sure as hell not in the mood after I finally get a chance after such a long time of being forced dormant. So we are breaking out of this dump!

Wait before we escape; what do you mean dormant? Aren't you a product from this seal Orochimaru gave me? As she spoke his name, even internally her whole body was overcome with a painful shock.

Don't, even if you think his name it was aggravate the seal. To answer your question; no I have always been with you. Sadist snake man sealed me when you were a little kid once he realized I resided in you but this new seal broke my old one so thus now I am here and thankfully so. This new one is quite powerful if I wasn't here to negate some of its affects you would probably be in a coma till your death. Just avoid anything that will aggravate it; like snake man.

This is a lot to process. I will leave that till later. First and foremost we need to get out.

CHA! That's what I like to hear, let's go!

As Sakura moved to try to break the restraints the door opened revealing a yellow hair man; the one that had previously invaded her mind.

"I see some recognition in your eyes but I will reintroduce myself for you. I am Inoichi Yamanaka and I am here to assess your new seal." Inoichi stated in a kindly voice, hoping to sooth a shocked looking pinkette.

"I see and what is my fate if my memories are to be still sealed?" Sakura shot back not wanting to play this little game of cat and mouse.

"Well seeing as you can recognize me it seems they are not sealed." Inoichi stated dryly staring down the pink girl in front of him with a crucial eye. Doing a 180 of his attitude from his entrance.

"Ah, I see. I hate to break it to you but the last thing I remember was your face so lucky you." The pinkette spat back, meeting his eyes in a staring competition

"And what is the first thing you remember?" Inoichi shot back nonplussed.

"Aw that would be an Oji-san with a bad attitude and one eye that had a condescending tone. I was by some mountains and he had just pinned me…" The girl trailed off forgetting her combativeness as she focused on the memory. Her inner was staying quiet and assessing the situation.

"I believe you mean Hatake-san" Inoichi offered. Outside of the room and up a tree Kakashi wore an incredulous look at how the girl described him.

"Sure whatever one-eyed Oji-san is called. Anyways I don't think I have what you want." Sakura had decided that she would rather die than go through more torture though her inner was telling her by saying the opposite it bought them more time to escape.

"I will be the judge of that. I am going to access your mind like before so sit back." Inoichi moved over and went through the correct seals placing his hands on her temple. The two anbu that had entered with him watched on cautiously.

When he entered into her mind this time it was a lot easier and the wall was no longer there but as he suspected what he told the Hokage of what the seal could possible do was correct. Inoichi saw doors labeled skills, concept, knowledge, and memories but the memories started with Kakashi.

Sakura's inner kept herself hidden, noting her presence would probably get Sakura killed for sure; there still may be a slight chance they spare Sakura and her inner did not want to ruin it for her. Though she did make use of herself and hid away all the memories that pertained to the inner's existence as well as a few skills the inner did not want Konoha to know about just in case they needed it as a trump card to get away.

Inoichi accessed Sakura's skills and found what he feared. All her memories of training had been moved to the abstract; meaning it looked like she was fighting a faceless dark figure in a white room full of nothingness; the seal was competent in its eradication of Orochimaru.

Letting out a sigh Inoichi went through her skills and whatever she had left in her brain to be thorough. The only thing he did find interesting was her medical ninjutusu skills were tucked away in an obscure place and she looked decently competent. The inner cursed at that, she thought she hid them better.

Inoichi tested out her mind by trying to lead it to Orochimaru only to be met with sharp pain by the seal. He could hear the girl letting out a scream. The girl was completely clean and well protected. Exiting her mind he saw a pinkette withering in pain under his hands.

"Sorry about that, had to check the seal's strength. It seems even the mere mention of the Sannin's name will bring about an immense pain from the seal; it is quite impressive."

"Glad it is so impressive." The girl said in a strained voice, trying to fight the waves of pain. Her inner was hard at work helping.

"Well now that we have confirmed that you have no memories". Inoichi began.

Great now it's time for the 'we are going to kill you segway'. Sakura thought darkly.

"Welcome to Konoha. I would like to introduce you to the person that will help get you settled." Inochi finished pointing to the door but Sakura was not paying attention. She was still caught on what he said.

They aren't going to kill me? I am not going to be tortured? WHAT. THE. HELL. What are they playing at? Am I now a prisoner or what..?

Shut up and pay attention to what the old blondie is saying. We will analyze later. FOCUS!

At that moment Sakura looked up to find a man in his early to mid- twenties twirling a senbon between his teeth. He looked unhappy to be in the room and to be in charge of settling the pinkette.

"Sakura this is Shiranui Genma and he will help you get settled and show you around the village. You will start in Konoha academy next week." Inoichi stated with a serious but light voice.

Sakura stared hard at Genma, "Pleasure to meet you Genam-san. What was this about academy?" Her voice lacked all kindness and bordered on threatening.

What the hell is happening?!

PLEASE REVIEW!

I decided to instead of a long drawn out explanation about the new shinobi society that this chapter was originally I would sprinkle it over the next few and focus more on the story.

NEXT Chapter: The Reveal- Who are you to me?- who is Sakura really and why was she living with Orochimaru?

Review and tell me your guess! I want to see what everyone thinks.

Feelings towards Genma? I wanted him in the story but I want to see how others feel towards him.

Also- I have more fun writing this story so I think I can start updating every 2 weeks (hopefully)