"We just want to ask you a few questions, if you wouldn't mind coming with us." Kioko exited the house and closed the door behind her. She followed the squad of Anbu wondering if this is what Sasuke meant when he said he would get Kakashi to help her out. 'But what could the Anbu do to help me, this whole thing is strange but I know Kakashi, if he thinks it will help then I'm sure this is what will reveal the answers to me.'
The group of Anbu along with Kioko walked through the village. The whole time she was trying to figure out what they could do for her. In no time at all they arrived at an abandoned building which looked like it hasn't been used in several years. Kioko recognized it as one of the buildings her clan used for intelligence. The Anbu opened the door and they walked into the dark room. Unknown to Kioko, Kakashi was standing in the shadows of the room, listening in on the conversation like the Hokage requested. In the center of the room a single chair was present. One of the ninja took a match and lights some of the candles in front of the chair.
While this was going on Kioko was looking around at her current surroundings. There was absolutely nothing in the room. The Anbu that was closer to her gestured to her to sit down on the chair. Kioko sat down in the chair without any hesitation. The three Anbu ninja stood in front of her and it began to make her feel uncomfortable. Noticing this one of the Anbu began to take off her mask, and as she did so her fellow squad members appeared to object.
As she removed the animal mask from her face she revealed a comforting expression. She gave her head a good shake and as a result her long blond hair lay back against her body. The Anbu member looked at Kioko with her pale blue eyes. Kioko looked at her for some time before coming up with the conclusion that she was a part of the Hyuuga clan. A comforting smile appeared across her face and she slowly approached Kioko. "Don't be afraid Kioko; we are just going to help you regain your memories."
An expression of confusion came over her face as she looked at the Hyuuga Anbu. The look that appeared on her face seemed to question how she and the other Anbu could do that. "What will you do to me?" She questioned with hint of concern in her voice.
The female Anbu rejoined her squad and looked at her. "We are going to use a reverse hypnosis on you." Before she could continue she noticed that Kioko was already confused about what she was talking about. "Let me explain. We will put you into an unconscious state and then you will travel back into your memories. Then you will be able to tell us what you are witnessing as you remember the events of the past."
After hearing about the process she immediately began to relax and decided that this was indeed the right direction to go in to regain the memories that have locked inside of her. The other Anbu nodded as to understand that all parties were ready and they began their search to find Kioko's memories. "Jigyaku no Jutsu (1)," the ninja called out as he began to put Kioko into an unconscious state.
(1) Time reversal Technique
As the jutsu begins to take affect Kioko's body becomes completely limp. Her hands drop down to the sides of the chair and her head falls down to her chest. The light of the candles reflect on her body, with a brilliant glow. "You are traveling back in your memories… one day ago, two days ago, three days ago… where are you?"
"I'm in the woods… traveling down a long road. There is a building ahead of me that leads underground."
"Who were you going to see?" The third Anbu questioned.
"The person who I believe can help me forget my past."
"And this person was Orochimaru?" The female ninja asked. Kioko nodded her head a bit in response to their question. As time went on Kioko continued to describe what happened after she had arrived at Orochimaru's hideout.
"As I walked toward the building I was beginning to have my doubts but I was still determined to rid myself of these memories. I walked down the stairs, which took me to an underground place. As I wandered the halls I saw, many cages, containing other ninja, from different villages. I continued on my way and soon I entered a large room. The room could possibility fight a whole village inside and still have plenty of room. On the other side of the room, I saw a door and in front of the door I could barely make out a figure. We weren't formally introduced but I remember seeing him when I was younger. He later asked me a question, was there anything I wish I could forget and that's when it all played out. He decided to grant my desire and suppressed my memories."
The Anbu listened to her tale about the events that led up to the encounter with Orochimaru. "Where was this hideout?"
"Far away." She responded, "It had to be a long journey away from Konoha, close to the known location of the Sound village." The female Anbu whispered something into the third ninja's ear and he nodded in response and vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Alright Kioko we are going to go back even farther now. One year ago, two years ago, five years ago… you are a young child, around the age of five years old. Where are you?"
Kioko seemed to be struggling with this a lot more then before. "I'm in the woods, training. However, I can't find my brother anywhere. I begin to search for him, I wonder through the woods and then in seconds I end up in the village with Itachi walking beside me."
The Anbu looked at each other, they both realized that there were things missing from those events and they began to look for more answers. No matter what question they through at her it seemed that Kioko couldn't come up with an answer. As a result of their findings they undo the jutsu and allow her to leave.
On the bright side, at least now they knew where they could find Orochimaru. The trouble was they had no idea what to do with Kioko now. Even the Anbu couldn't break through the jutsu the Ex-Sannin placed on her. Kakashi emerged from the shadows of the room and the Anbu could only shake there heads in disappointment. He let out a deep sigh, "It looks like we will just have to go to the source of this problem. I'm grateful for all the help." Kakashi then took off to inform the Hokage of all their findings.
Kioko walked the streets of the village, feeling a sense of helplessness. She couldn't imagine this is what she desired for herself. Soon she approached the place she was now calling home. She entered the front door and slipped off her shoes and called out, "I'm home." She didn't hear anything at first but soon she head three different voices, all of which belonged to children. She walked through her house and soon found the source of all the noise. It was her little brother along with two of his friends. "Sasuke, are these friends of yours?"
Naruto and Sakura snapped their heads in the direction they heard the older ninja's voice. Sakura was slightly stunned when her eyes fixed on the older Uchiha ninja. Naruto was also very surprised when he saw her, instantly trying to imagine how strong she was.
Sasuke looked up from the photo album and made eye contact with his sister. As he gazed on her he was hoping that he would see some change in her but he was disheartened when he saw the depressed expression that was in her eyes. Despite this he tried to maintain his own calm expression. "These are the other members of my squad, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno."
Kioko smiled at the both of them, "It's very nice to meet the two of you. I'm Sasuke's older sister Kioko." Before the others could say another word her gaze fell upon the photos on the floor. She approached the group and knelt down to take a look. "Taking a look at old memories, I see Sasuke." Sasuke could only nod as he continued to flip through the pages. The more and more he looked through them, the more upset he began to get. Kioko's look changed from one of disappointment to one of concern. "What's wrong, Sasuke? You seem disturbed by something."
Sasuke's eyes snapped wider as his sister asked the question. Sakura also found it quit add for her to ask that particular question. "Kioko-san, don't you remember what happened to your clan", She questioned out of curiosity.
Kioko raised a single eyebrow and turned her attention toward Sasuke, looking for answers. Sakura could tell that it was hard for him and that he was in a way trying to prevent himself from revealing what happened. "Our clan… they were all killed except for three of us."
Kioko's eyes widened as she heard the news. Her head began to throb as she tried to process the information. She shook her head, "No, that's not possible… how could something like that happen?!" Kioko fought hard to control her emotions, holding back the flow of tears. "Why, why is all this happening?"
Kakashi approached the Hokage's mansion once more and stood in front of the old man's desk. The old Hokage was looking out his window at the village and sighed as he saw the younger ninja approach. "How are things progressing with Kioko?"
The silver haired ninja simply shook his head in response. "It's no good, even the Anbu can't uncover those memories that Orochimaru suppressed. However, if there is one thing of good news, is we now know where his hideout is."
The Hokage blew out a cloud of smoke and walked back to his desk to think. After a few moments the old man looked up at Kakashi with his hands folded. "That is indeed unfortunate that our Anbu were unable to awaken the memories locked inside Kioko. I must however agree that discovering the whereabouts of Orochimaru is good news. For your next mission, take all the ninja you think are required and go after him. We must not forget that he is a threat to our village and must be taken care of at once. Our village can not afford to act with such information open to us. While you are on this mission also try to find the answer to unlocking Kioko's memories. I'm putting my trust in you Kakashi, don't fail."
Kakashi nodded in response. "You can count on me Lord Hokage." With that in a flash of smoke Kakashi left the Hokage's office and set off to Kioko's home. At the same time Sakura tended to Kioko on the couch. Sasuke and the others began to think that trying to reawaken Kioko's memories might cause her to react in this fashion. Kakashi walked through the door and saw that his squad was already assembled. "Well at least this makes my job a bit easier, seeing as all of you are here."
"Kakashi-sensei, where have you been? We have been waiting for you this whole time!" Naruto shouted as he looked upon his sensei. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and simply let out a laugh. "I'm sorry for being late, but I had some business to take care of."
Naruto had a doubtful look on his face that seemed to be saying, 'yeah right, he was just staring at the stone again or looking at more stuff from that pervert hermit.' Kakashi sighed as he looked at them all again, "Well in fact I just have received word that we will be going on another mission, a mission of a ranking of A." Shock ran through the minds of the Genin gathered in the room but underneath all that surprise was excitement.
Naruto smiled as he looked at Sasuke and began to think, 'alright, an A ranked mission. Now I can show them all what I am capable of. You just watch Sasuke, and see how much better I have become.'
Kakashi noticed this excitement coming from his squad and underneath his mask a smile appeared. He then peered over at Kioko and looked at her with a look of determination. 'Don't worry, we will recover your memories and make sure you get the life you truly deserve. Just have faith in our abilities.'
To be continued.