Hi guys, wow it has been a long time. First off, I have a real good explanation as to why I'm late with this chapter. I was abducted by aliens and taken to their home world where I was forced to write bad soap opera scripts...not buying it? *sigh* Where is the trust? Really though, I was trying to finish the whole story before I started putting up the last set of chapters. There should be about four or five for the absolute most. I no longer have a Beta. Wingedmercury, who used to whip my grammar into shape is pretty busy these days. I want to say thank you to her for being awesome and helping me for so long. I apologise for any mistakes in spelling or grammar. Please enjoy.

STORYTIME

After my little accident, I demanded that my clothes be returned and was obliged. Tsunade and the others adjourned their little meeting to the now empty kitchen and I was left alone to change and explore the room. I found a small cramped bathroom through a plain door on the opposite side of the room. It contained many of the items a person would need, including toothpaste, new toothbrushes, soap, sanitary supplies and roll on deodorant. Noticeably missing was a mirror and anything glass. Once I put my clothes on I began to rummage around in the bathroom; there were no scissors, nail clippers, nail files or anything alcoholic including perfume and aftershave.

"Hmm..." That's pretty strange but then again...

"Is everything okay in there, miss?" asked an unfamiliar female voice

"I'm fine." I said as I opened the door but there was no one there "Am I going crazy or is there someone in here? Helloooo...is there anyone in here with me? Or did I just imagine a voice just now?"

"Why? Does that happen often?" I jumped and turned to the door

I felt blood rush to my face as Kakashi entered the room. He's seen my naked ass.

"Uh...well no. I just keep getting the feeling that I'm being followed, that's all."

"Hm...what makes you think that?" He asked coming fully into the room.

"Empty rooms talking to me while I'm rummaging in the bathroom."

"Couldn't find something?"

"Yes actually; no scissors, tweezers, nail clippers at all; nothing that could be used as a weapon, I guess. What's going on here?" There, I'd finally asked.

He shrugged.

I realised that I was still standing in the bathroom. Closing the door behind me I went over to the bed and sat down. "Did I pass out and someone drop me or something?" No answer. "Is anyone ever going to tell me what's going on?"

At that moment Tsunade walked into the bedroom followed by the two Anbu from earlier, Itachi and then everyone else. Itachi climbed back into bed. We made eye contact for a split second before he turned over and pulled the sheet over his head. I was so focused on his strange behaviour that I didn't notice Sam until he snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"Sorry." I said as everyone made themselves comfortable. The Anbu brought chairs from the kitchen for the Hokage to sit on. Sakura took the second chair while Sam sat next to me and Kakashi reclined near the window. While this was happening, I used the time to observe everyone.

Sakura was just as she was portrayed in the anime; though relatively short, she was shapely, lean and muscular. She didn't have much in the way of a chest but she had a nice bottom and very nice legs. Her forehead was, in fact, wider than average but it was in no way freakish or deformed. Her pink hair was more natural than I could have imagined with the majority being a vivid pink hue with slightly darker roots and natural sun streaks.

Tsunade...well, unless one knew she was an old woman, you would never guess. She looked like a twenty five at most with bright blond hair and eyes like a hawk. She was a physically intimidating woman who had an air of pride and authority that was far beyond her apparent age. Her chest looked like it could strangle a grown man and was on the verge of popping out of her blouse.

Kakashi...oh Kakashi...I felt myself flush and tried to convince myself that I wasn't a total fangirl. I knew that liking someone I had never met was silly but damn! Kakashi was tall and extremely well built. Even while fully clothed and mostly masked, he exuded a sense of strength and power. He wasn't the bulky kind of muscular of bodybuilders but seemed more lean muscle, like swimmers and serious martial artists. There wasn't much to see feature-wise except for one dark eye and a lot of silver hair. He appeared relaxed, leaning against the window with his iconic orange book in his hands but at the same time he seemed watchful and alert. I wondered what he looked like without the clothes on... I must have had a pretty perverted expression on my face because he caught me and I saw his eyebrow rise. Blushing shamelessly now, I focused intently on the Hokage who was seated and scribbling things on the chart. Sam, seated next to me, chatted quietly with Sakura.

"That baka, I really thought we had gotten through to him." Sakura said

"So did I but we knew this would be tough on him. It makes him want to do anything other than wait quietly."

"But he should be training. We all know how this is going to end. Sooner or later..."

The Hokage finished her scribbles and closed the folder. The sound quieted them instantly and drew our attention. I glanced at Kakashi who hadn't react and to the covered over figure that was Itachi before looking back to the Hokage. Tsunade caught my gaze and held it.

"How do you feel?" she asked

"Alright, not tired or sick, just a little sore I guess. I feel like I did way too much exercise but like I was rolled down a hill too. I know it doesn't make much sense but..." I said

"That's fine." She said "Sakura..." Sakura got up and walked over to me.

"Hi, my name is Haruno Sakura but I think you already know that. I just want to run a few internal tests to ensure that everything is ok. Don't worry, this won't hurt." She smiled politely and extended her hands.

"Sure." I said and extended my hands. She shook her head. Instead, she reached out and placed her fingers at the skin of my temples.

For a moment I felt nothing, then a tingling warmth began to radiate from her touch. I closed my eyes and focused on the sensation. It was a warm buzz like static honey in my head. The sensation moved to different areas in my head before moving outward to my face and then down to my body. It's probably her chakra I thought. As this thought crossed my mind, I felt for my own chakra. Perhaps it was because of how rested I was or because of Sakura's examination but I had a clearer sense of my energy pooled within me. In my mind, it was a pond that barely vibrated as Sakura's energy skimmed its surface. Curious as to what would happen, I nudged my chakra. It reached out to hers catching on to the tail of it as it moved to examine another area inside of me. It tugged. Sakura inhaled sharply and pulled away. I felt the connection between us stretch and I willed my energy to let go. Her energy rushed into her and I opened my eyes. She frowned at me, her hands limp at her sides.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't supposed to do that, was I? This chakra stuff is pretty new to me and..."

She forced a smile "It's fine. I just didn't expect you to be able to control your chakra like that. Tsunade shishou, she's physically fine, no damage of any kind. And..." she seemed to hesitate as she moved back to her chair "it is just as you suspected."

I tried to follow the silent conversation as Sakura looked intently at Tsunade who glanced at Kakashi who closed his book. Sam moved closer to me and took my hand. I pulled them away and looked at him. He sighed and settled for putting his arm around my waist. I felt myself tense.

"What do you remember about how you got here?" asked the Hokage

I glanced at Sam who wore a fixed expression on his face. I looked back to Tsunade.

Oh no, what's going on here? "Nothing really. I remember being on Kakashi's back and feeling dizzy, kinda nauseous too and then nothing till this morning."

"You don't remember anything? Nothing at all?" Sam asked

"No, why? Did something happen? Did...did I do something?"

"Kakashi." The Hokage said and he leaned a little straighter against the wall

"We were on our way back to Konoha. The day after you lost consciousness we met with Sai not too long after sunset. Sam was almost fully recovered and Sakura had examined you and found nothing physically wrong except for odd fluctuations in your chakra system which she believed was a side-effect of a powerful genjutsu. The prisoner denied having caused this but at the time it seemed the most likely explanation. We stopped for the several miles within the fire country's border and anticipated being back in Konoha the following day. At approximately 1300 hours, during Sam's watch, Erica appeared to awake. She stood, looked around the camp and made her way over to Sam. I was awake at the time but she didn't seem to be aware of that. She stopped within four feet of him and as he became aware of her she struck him silently and knocked him out."

"I did what?"

He cast me a cold glance and I shut up. He continued.

"I was concerned about her actions but my first priority was to secure the prisoner. I believed at the time that she was acting under his control and was purposefully creating a distraction. Sai was awake as well but Sakura and Naruto were both asleep. I signalled to Sai to approach cautiously. He was within feet of her when she attacked. She moved faster than a civilian should be able to and managed to knock him back. He collided with Naruto who woke instantly if not completely. Erica, at this point seemed completely unaware of her surroundings. She didn't move like someone controlled by a genjutsu, it was closer to the way a sleepwalker moves. Sam regained consciousness and immediately tried to restrain with her but she didn't appear to recognise him. While they struggled, Sai attempted to capture her using his ink but she was quick enough to dodge them both. Sakura had awoken and when Sam was knocked down she attempted to intervene. She tried to punch Erica who caught her fist and snapped her wrist. Sakura fell back as Sai and Sam advanced co-ordinating to allow Sai to capture her while Sam distracted her. Naruto created several clones and they all attacked simultaneously, intending to immobilise her with clones. Just as they reached her, she stopped and looked at the sky...then she fell unconscious again. Unfortunately for her, Naruto couldn't stop his clones in time to avoid all damage. After Sakura healed her own injuries and ensured that Sam wasn't badly hurt, she examined Erica and found bruising but no serious damage. The prisoner denied having caused her strange behaviour but admitted to having witnessed something similar when she was a captive of the Akatsuki."

"I don't remember any of this ..." I began but I looked around a room full of grim faces. I didn't remember but for some reason I knew it was true "Why don't I remember any of this?"

"We've been observing you since you were brought back and we think that the blackouts and the strange behaviour are related to the way your chakra functions. That is, you've been having these episodes because you're unable to control the negative effects of your ability." Tsunade said

"Ok, it's because of my ability, what ability? You keep talking about it like I should know what you mean but I don't. What ability do I have and what does it have to do with me attacking people?"

"Tsunade sama, maybe this isn't the best time to talk about this. I'm sure that Erica's had enough shocks for today already." Sakura suggested

"No, this is something she needs to learn and come to terms with as soon as possible. Erica, do you know how chakra works?" asked the Hokage

I thought for a moment. "Kind of. I know that according to the story...wait, do you guys know..."

"Yeah, they know about where we come from. I'm not sure how much they believe but..." Sam said with a shrug

"We'll assume that what you say is true, for now." Tsunade said

"Ok...according to the anime, all humans have chakra, it's one of the things that define a person as being alive. Chakra comes in different types, like wind and water, and type influences the type of jutsu that a ninja is good at. Hmm... chakra flows through a chakra system made up of coils and uh...chakra centers, I can't remember what they're called. That's about it except for the chakra points thing that the Hyuugas can do."

Tsunade nodded approval as though I wasn't as badly off as she thought I would be. "I believe your story more and more." She said to Sam "Good, then you shouldn't have too much trouble comprehending this; your chakra system has the ability to attract and absorb the chakra of others."

"Attract and absorb ..." I said slowly tasting the words, feeling them sink in

"To make it simpler, you can drain the chakra from another person through physical contact."

"What?" I said

Sam spoke "Erica, she means you can take chakra the way vampires drink blood, they've been running some tests on you since you got here and..."

"Sam," Sakura interrupted, "maybe we should give her a moment to absorb this."

She was right, I needed a moment.

"So...I can steal chakra?" I asked

"Yes," Tsunade confirmed "through physical contact but with training you may be able to use it at a distance. There also seems to be a limit on the amount you can safely take in but that too could change with time and training"

"...at a distance. How do you know? I mean, how do you know this is what I do and not read minds or copy jutsu or something?" I asked

"We've been running tests on you since you got here. We noticed from the start that your system was very different from average, even more so than Sam's. We began with the assumption that your system functioned as his did but it soon became clear that it didn't. When the healers couldn't explain the oddly malleable nature of your chakra system, I examined you myself. Without you meaning to, your chakra attached itself to mine and refused to let go."

"Oh."

"I was eventually able to detach myself but I did all the experimenting after that." She grinned at me in a way that was terrifying "You have the potential to be very useful." She said

"I know this is going to sound incredibly stupid but I just need to make sure. I can absorb chakra?"

She leaned back "Yes."

"Can I just absorb it or can I do things with it too?"

"We can't be 100% certain but the energy integrates completely into your own chakra."

"Ok. Is that how I could fight even though I don't know a thing about fighting?"

"It's possible but we won't know for sure until you can control your ability enough to really see how it works." She was smiling at me

I was silent for a long moment and Sam grew agitated. "Erica, are you ok? I know this is a lot to handle but it gets easier when you start to control it. I promise you, everything is going to be ok."

"I'm fine Sam. I just can't believe this is actually happening. It's weird enough that this place exists and that you people really exist but to believe that I have some weird ability is just too unbelievable. Shit like this just doesn't happen." I said "I think I can believe everything else but this is too much. I was probably electrocuted by that damn machine of yours and I'm lying in a coma at the hospital or...maybe I never made it to the lab. Maybe I was hit by a bus or Jack ran me over with his car for breaking up with him or..."

"You broke up with Jack?" Sam interjected

"Yeah," I replied hotly "but that's not the point."

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asked

"Why are you asking me stupid questions when I'm clearly going insane?" and with that inane statement I felt the tears well up. "Oh crap." I muttered and hopping off the bed I scrambled away from them all and into the bathroom. I put the toilet seat down and sat. I could hear them talking but couldn't hear what they said. I put my head between my knees and took deep breaths till I felt calm.

It has to be real. If this was a dream, I would never act like such a dork in front of Kakashi. Plus, it really does explain more than it doesn't. I could absorb chakra. That's how I was able to weaken Hidan and make him let go of me. That was probably what I did to Konan that freaked her out and...that must have been what I'd done to Imari... I replayed the entire incident in my head and tried to understand how absorbing chakra could have anything to do with the surreal conversation that we had had in a place that existed only in her head. I had learned too many real things from her to believe that it was a dream or a hallucination or something so it must mean... Had I absorbed her memories with her chakra? But then why did it see like I had met? Shouldn't I have just seen the memories themselves? I'm missing something. I realised that the talking had died down and I realised that they were probably outside waiting for me. I sighed.

I wiped the last tears off my face and with a deep breath I re-entered the room. I turned to face the Hokage.

"I'm sorry, that won't happen again." I said but didn't sit again.

I leaned against the bed and ignored my aching legs. Sakura looked at Sam in a way that implied that he should say something. I glanced at the window and realised that Kakashi had left at some point. The lump that was Itachi hadn't visibly moved but was rising and falling regularly.

"It's fine. You took this a lot better than I actually expected." Tsunade said gruffly

"Thanks." I said

"Oh, don't thank me yet." She said turning mischievous "You're going to have to learn how to control your ability and you're about 16 years behind."

"Oh." I said with a distinct lack of surprise. "That's going to start soon, then?" I asked

She just nodded. "Yes but I have something I want you to do for me first. Sam, you'll bring her to MedLab2 tomorrow afternoon. Don't look so worried, kid, I'm not sending you to Ibiki..." I frowned even more "ah, so you know who he is too, then." She snickered "I will see you tomorrow." With a regal nod, she turned and walked out with her guards following close behind.

Sam got to his feet. "Before you ask, I have no idea what she wants you to do. To be honest, this is the longest time I've spent with her and I don't mind that one bit."

"She is kinda scary, well, scarier that I would have guessed actually." I said

Sakura, who had stayed behind responded, "She can be pretty scary but she not bad. And before you ask, I do know what she what she wants but I can't tell you because it's classified. And again, before you ask, everything to do with you and Sam is classified. As for the prisoner," she glanced his way "Everything about him is classified too."

Sam and Sakura got up and walked to the door. Sam opened the door for her and she smiled at him before leaving. They were leaving. It was so sudden that I felt a little lost. Sam turned back to me.

"Are you coming or do I have to hold this door open all day?"

"I can leave?" I asked

"I forgot to tell you didn't I? I'm sorry there's been a lot going on. Yes, you're coming with Sakura and I for now."

"Yay!" I said and all but skipped to the door before stopping. "Wait, what about him?" I asked indicating Itachi.

"What about him?" he asked in response

I wasn't sure how to phrase what I wanted to ask. Were they going to hurt him? Was he going to be left here forever? Once they got Sasuke back, would they really kill him? In the end, I shook my head. "Never mind, let's go."

He closed the door behind us and started telling me about all the amazing places he had to show me before we got back Home. I half listened while my mind tried to decide how to broach the topic of the Uchiha massacre with the Hokage while worrying about how Itachi must feel alone in that small white room.

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