Chapter Twenty Five: Simple and Clean Part I
A/N: I'm so tired about writing about fight scenes from the last chapter that I'm skipping the fight scenes in this one… You guys all know what happened anyway. I'm just going to focus more on Sachiko anyway. It's her story.
Sachiko: Thank you! Finally Author-sama!
Author-sama: What do you mean finally?
Sachiko: It just took you long enough… that's all.
Author-sama: -Sigh- That's what I get for writing a 22 page long chapter last time…
Sachiko: Sorry Author-sama… It's just that I'm excited to know what happens as are all your readers, I'm sure.
Author-sama: Whatever… I'm still tired from the last chapter… So here it goes… on and PS. This is inspired by the Utada Hikaru's song Simple and Clean… If you have it to listen to it would probably be fun to listen to as you read. I'm listening to it as I write… now here it goes, for real. Lol.
PS. THANK YOU SO MUCH to NeferNeferi. And yes your review was long enough! Thank you very much. I really appreciate you reviewing every chapter! It keeps me writing. XD Also thanks to: Naturally Morbid, alyssavlm, Your Demon, SilverEyes-chan for reviewing on the last chapter. XD
Two siblings raced to their brother's side. A blue haired girl already sat at Gaara's side, stroking his red hair from his face and cleaning up his bloodied forehead. They stared at their rivals; a pink haired girl and a black haired boy. Three against two were good odds if they had intentions of fighting. "Should we fight," asked the blonde girl to her fallen younger brother.
"N…no," he said slowly, "It's over…"
"Naruto-kun," said Sachiko to her friend, "Forgive me?"
Naruto nodded to her as his teammates helped him up. They would have been ready to fight the Sand Village ninja if they had felt threatened but since they were going home to Suna it no longer mattered. Naruto smiled at Sachiko and Gaara. "You two… remember you're not the only ones with demons… help each other… as friends…" The blonde went unconscious soon after these words. Temari was about to prop one of Gaara's arms around her shoulders but Sachiko stopped her.
"Temari-san," said Sachiko, "Let me… It's my turn to help him."
Temari nodded and let Sachiko and Kankuro carry Gaara. Gaara tried to speak but was hushed by his sister.
"Save your energy," said Temari to her brother.
"Wait," Gaara said, causing them to pause on a tree branch. He gathered up his remaining energy and said, "I'm sorry Temari… Kankuro… Sachiko…" They all looked to each other, surprised.
"Don't worry about it Gaara," said Kankuro.
The four ninja left to go back to Sunakagure; their home.
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Sachiko felt incredibly nostalgic since she had gotten back to Suna but not for Cloud. She had been recovering in Suna for less than a month but she was to return home to Cloud although she hardly called it her home. Konoha and Suna had been more of a home to her. Her friends were there and the people who actually cared for her. She packed up the last of her things and set out for Suna's gates. Kankuro and Temari would be there waiting there for her. They had offered to escort her home but she refused. It was too much of Sachiko to ask them after having lost their father.
As Sachiko walked toward the gate she saw the two Sand Siblings waiting for her. She walked a bit faster, more than ready to leave Suna. She had enjoyed her stay at Suna and she had memories there that would last her forever. A mysterious smile formed on her face as she said goodbye to Temari and Kankuro and had set out in the desert.
"I'm not going home," she whispered to herself happily as she climbed up a tall sand dune.
"Where are you going," asked a voice she knew too well.
"Gaara-sama… I'm going home," she fibbed although she knew she had been caught.
"Where are you going," he repeated, ignoring the lie.
"I'm not sure yet… Any way the wind blows," said Sachiko with a distant look.
"And if Cloud sends word for you," asked Gaara gently.
"Tell them… I was killed," Sachiko said calmly, "They won't miss me… They'll be glad to hear it." Gaara nodded and turned around to walk back to Sand. "Gaara-sama… matte," Sachiko murmured almost inaudibly but he heard her plea anyway. He looked back at her expectantly. "Goodbye…"
"Goodbye," he said to her stoically. They locked eyes instantly. "You're welcome in Suna… if you want to come back," Gaara added quietly.
Sachiko nodded, trying to fight back the tears. This would be one of the hardest choices in her life. "Arigato Gaara-sama." She couldn't face him any longer and so she turned around to the direction the wind seemed to be blowing; the direction of Konoha. Gaara did the same but turned to face Suna.
Sachiko wasn't sure if she'd be exactly welcome in Konoha since the attack but Suna and Konoha had patched things up. The two villages had become allies again. Suna had been helping in the reconstruction of Konoha for the past few weeks and had even helped in mission 'Rescue Sasuke', and Konoha had taken them back as allies. Konoha also said they would finish the reconstruction on their own to allow Sand to mourn over their dead Kazekage. Konoha had lost their Hokage on August 11th as well but Sachiko had heard from Gaara that Konoha inaugurated a new Hokage named Tsunade. Sachiko was ready to leave Cloud behind and begin a new life in what she hoped would be Konoha.
"Today is August twenty fifth and it is the day I begin my new life," Sachiko said aloud as she trudged through the sand, "I'll be simple and clean." Sachiko was thirteen years old now. She had done a lot of growing and now her life would finally be looking up from this point on. She was sure of it.
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Two days later Sachiko found herself in the forest surrounding the village of Konoha. She had gotten herself lost a bit in the desert and so she was a few hours behind schedule. She wasn't sure how to go about going into Konoha. Her first hope had been that she would find Naruto and talk to him about. But Naruto obviously wasn't out wandering the forest and Sachiko was all alone to wander aimlessly. She jumped behind a bush when she heard someone approaching, in fact, two some ones approaching.
"Itachi," said a voice, "We better hope that we find another vessel… No one knows where the demon cat's vessel is. Back in Cloud they had said they sent her on a death mission and she never returned so she's marked as dead. It's no good if we're missing one of the demons."
"Demons and their vessels don't give up on life that easily… She's still alive but she's hiding," said a separate voice; a worse voice filled with hatred, "Shh… I think we're about to get lucky."
"Lucky," asked the first voice.
"Shh."
"Chihoko what do I do? If I move they'll know where I am… If I stay they'll find me," whimpered Sachiko to her demon.
"You stupid child… You always forget about your kekkai genkai! Use it to your advantage you fool!"
"Oh right! That's a good plan," though Sachiko back to her inner demon. But before she could form any hand seals someone had grabbed her by the hair and was holding her up by it. She cried out in agony but it didn't help her.
"Well… I guess you were right Itachi," said a blue faced man that looked like a fish or better yet, a shark, "We just got lucky." When he said the last part he breathed it right into Sachiko's face, causing her to scowl from his fish breath. "What's the matter," asked fish face, "Cat got your tongue?" He began to laugh at his own joke.
"That's the girl we were just talking about," the man called Itachi said, "How fortunate… you fell right into our path…" The neckband of his cloak covered most of his face but his eyes and hair strongly resembled Sasuke's. She gasped for a moment when it finally clicked in her head who the man was.
"W-what are you going to do with me," stammered Sachiko in fear. She could feel herself shaking.
"Trust me," Itachi hissed at her, "You don't want to know."
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A/N: I hate the idea of injecting an author's note right in the middle of the chapter but I have to explain what's going to happen so you guys, as the reader, understand. Itachi and Kisame are part of the Akatsuki (evil organization). The current goal of the Akatsuki right now is to obtain all of the tailed demons by extracting them from their vessels. This is an agonizing procedure for the vessel and usually the result is death but I can't just kill off my main character and so of course, she is going to live but at a price. Sachiko will lose all memory of her identity, where she came from, her bloodline trait, the people she knew, and all of that…
PS. This would be easier written from Sachiko's point of view. Sachiko you can write this next part.
Sachiko: Aye, aye Captain!
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I stirred in the hospitable bed. I was tossing and turning erratically from the bed, so much so that I had to be restrained by five nurses. I was having a nightmare.
Last night I dreamt myself being held prisoner by two scary looking men. In the dream I would feel agonizing pain and then a voice would speak to me. I thought this voice was my sister or perhaps it was my best friend because the voice had said to me, "I have to willingly let you go… If I don't, you'll be killed in the process… You and I can be rejoined one day perhaps… Seek me out… remember who I am… I am Chihoko…"
Then I woke up screaming at three in the morning. I had no idea who I was and the nurses that helped had desperately been trying to figure out my identity but I wasn't in the system, is what they had said to me after I woke up. They had said to me, "You must be from another village… not this village…" I would snap in and out of reality. The nurses begged me to try to remember something but all I had was that nightmare to go off of. The voice that spoke to me in the dream was Chihoko. It had to be my friend or some relative of mine. I mentioned the name to the nurses but they said that the name wasn't in their system either. Every person had an identity, so who was I?
Somewhere down the line I had gone back to sleep; this time it was peaceful. But I was awakened by a perky nurse at around 11 in the morning.
"Ohayo," said the nurse that had brought me sleep medicine the night before.
"Ohayo," I mumbled to her, "What is today?"
"September seventh… Today we will figure out who you are," said the nurse cheerily, "I told you that you were found by three people, correct?"
I just nodded back to her.
"Yes, you were found by the Legendary Sanin Jiraiya, the soon to be next Hokage, and a cute genin ninja," said the nurse in such a happy little voice, "The little boy ninja says he's pretty sure he knows you. He wasn't sure when they found you because you were all scratched up, bruised up, and torn up… but while you were sleeping the superior medical ninjas were working on you and your face is recognizable, all your minor scratches and wounds are healed too! You had a nasty looking scar on your forehead. Be glad they got rid of that! Not to mention those nasty black eyes you had. All gone! Oh and they say your heart is a bit weak but if you rest in this hospital for a few months you will be back in tip top shape. Which is good because you had been comatose in the forest is what Tsunade-sama said. Oh! I got off topic! Silly me! The three that found you are coming to the hospitable later to see if they know who you are! Isn't that great?"
I cringed as the nurse spoke; she was a talkative one and I wasn't sure if I liked talkative, given the situation at hand.
"When are they coming," I asked, blinking a bit as the nurse's immense smile began to enlarge.
"In the afternoon," replied the nurse, "It's about an hour until then… So I came to keep you company."
"Oh great," I mumbled my hospital bed as I tried to sit up.
"Isn't it?!" The nurse was so excited for some reason. "Since you just woke up right now I will bring you something to eat. You have a specific liquid diet since you have major abdominal injuries… Did I mention that too? It must have slipped my mind! I believe they said you had head injuries too…"
"No kidding," I said as I tried to sit up again but my stomach hurt me too much for me to move. I groaned and fell back into the hospital bed's sheets. At least those were soft.
"Oh cranky, aren't we?" The nurse just smiled and then left the room to get my breakfast.
"Who am I," I asked out loud, "Who am I?" My heart began to race and it hurt my chest greatly like a kunai was being shoved in there. "WHO AM I," I screamed as I pounded the sides of my bed in frustration. Hot tears began to roll down my cheeks like a waterfall. I couldn't make them stop. The tears just kept rolling.
When the nurse came back in and saw me in hysterics she quickly placed my food at a table and rushed to hug me. "It's okay," said the nurse in a soothing voice, "We'll find out who you are… just think of it as a nice vacation… we'll find out… don't cry." It had taken the nurse a whole 45 minutes to calm me down. "It's okay to cry about it," said the nurse as she fed me some strong herbal tea, "You're under a great deal of stress not knowing who you are… It's terrifying… But you'll be fine… life will get better for you… I promise."
I looked up to the nurse with a smile. 45 minutes ago and I would have called the nurse very annoying but at the moment the nurse was all I had. At least the nurse seemed to care about me and was trying very hard to take care of me. There was a knock on the door and the nurse gave me a small kiss on the head and said, "Someone's at the door… It must be your visitors." The nurse got up to open the door.
The first person to come into the room was a blue eyed boy with spiky blonde hair and whiskers. He was arguing with the other two people that hadn't yet come into the room. One of them pushed the boy in the room and walked in saying, "You're supposed to let ladies enter a room first you rude brat!" It was a beautiful woman with blonde hair placed into two pigtails. She had very pretty honey colored eyes and obscenely large breasts. I reminded myself to not look at them because it was rude. A white haired man came into my room next. He wore a funny outfit but he seemed to be nice. I wasn't sure whether I should wave at them or greet them so I stayed silent and only watched the strangers.
"Do you know her," asked the pretty woman to the blonde boy.
He walked toward the hospital bed to stare at me. He seemed to have examined my face for quite a while before speaking. "I know her," he said, "She is Sachiko-chan."
Sachiko. So that was my name! I felt I could almost burst into pure joy at the fact that I had a name and it was Sachiko. He also called me 'Sachiko-chan." Chan was good. He was fond of me! Perhaps a good friend of mine, even.
"Sachiko, huh," said the woman with large breasts, "Well then I guess we should introduce ourselves… You go first kid, since you know her."
"Uzumaki Naruto," said the boy as he pointed to himself, "I'm gonna be the best Hokage! Much better than baa-chan behind me! Believe it!"
Then the large breasted woman gave the boy called Naruto a punch on the head. She began to yell at him about him not calling her an old lady and such.
"Nice to meet you," I said to Naruto, "But you should have more respect for your elders… You shouldn't call that pretty lady a grandma."
Naruto seemed to scowl at what I said, "You changed a lot Sachiko-chan."
The woman gave him another conk on the head when he said this, "I thought I told you outside not to say things like that!"
"Gomen," he cried as he tried to protect himself from her, "Just don't hit me again 'ttebayo!"
The woman rolled her eyes and the introduced herself. "I am Tsunade… Apparently I'm the Hokage of this village."
"It is my honor to meet you," I said to her, unsure of what to say. I never heard of a Hokage but it sure sounded important and she seemed to smile after I told her that.
"I am Jiraiya… beware young lady, for I am known to stop women's hearts," he said after striking a pose. I could feel myself literally sweat drop at his words.
"Nice to meet you too," I said, unsure of what else to say. This was all very new to me.
I was totally and completely awkward so naturally, an awkward silence crept over. That's when the nurse stepped in, "I think it would be a great idea for the new Hokage to evaluate her since she is a medical expert."
Tsunade blinked a few times and then said, "I guess I could."
Tsunade came over to the side of my bed and placed a hand on my head. Her hand began to glow brightly and I could feel some sort of strange energy coming out of it. She kept her hand hovering over my face for about ten minutes and then withdrew it. "Her memory is lost deep… I can't pull it up… It has to surface on its own if she finds something or someone that can trigger it… otherwise she'll never remember who she is."
"Never remember," I repeated. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes all over again.
Tsunade gave me a stern look and said, "You could find someone or something that triggers it… since Naruto over here knows you he can take you around town and see if anything comes up… but only after you're healed enough to walk around."
I nodded and asked her, "Will you visit me again?"
She gave me a funny look as if to say she didn't know why I would ask her such a thing but then she agreed. "I'll visit you as much as I can… At least once a week until you're better."
"Thank you," I told her and then looked to Naruto. He was the only person who seemed to know me and have any inclination to who I was. "You'll visit me often too, right?"
He gave me a thumbs up and a huge grin. "Every single day Sachiko-chan! And I will bring everyone else you know to visit you! You're bound to remember something! Believe it!" He chuckled at his good idea. His cheeks were turning a pinkish color and his whiskers were so adorable like a little boy's.
After they left I had time to myself to think but thinking was lonely. Every time I thought something to myself I expected someone to answer back but no one did. It was the strangest feeling. I guessed maybe it was because I was missing the person from my dream named Chihoko. But I could be wrong. I had no idea who I was. All I knew was that my name was Sachiko. It was a nice start to know my name. As for everything else, it could come to me or it would stay locked up forever. For that moment I had a clean slate for a life. I was Simple and Clean.
The nurse came back to keep me company and that's when I remembered something she had said earlier. "Nurse," I called to her.
"Yes sweetie," she asked me, ready to take care of my every whim.
"You said I had a scar on my forehead?" I began to feel around my forehead, trying to see if there was any part left of it.
"Yes," the nurse said to me, taking a seat on the side of my bed, "About that… You had a hideous scar on the left corner of your forehead." Again, I felt my forehead, trying to look for it. "You won't find," she said to keep me from wasting my precious energy, "It's completely gone now."
"Wouldn't they be able to identify me by it," I asked, a little disappointed that the medical ninjas had so conveniently removed something that could help me figure out who I was. Maybe it wasn't me that was hopeless, maybe it was them.
"No," said the nurse suddenly, "Hokage-sama said to remove it. We looked your scar up in our database and found nothing on it. We found someone similar but it was a boy and his was the opposite of yours."
"What do you mean the opposite? It was a symbol or a kanji or something," I asked, trying to get somewhere with all this.
"Your scar was the kanji for hate. What a horrible thing to have on such a pretty face," cried the nurse, slapping her legs to emphasize her point, "Also you had some nasty circles around your eyes. At first glance, the medical ninja thought they were black eyes but apparently whoever you were before the accident didn't like to get much sleep. But no worries honey, the black circles are gone and now everyone can see your pretty eyes. You even have a cute little freckle under your right eye! We haven't even given you a mirror yet, have we?"
I shook my head no. I had no clue what I looked like.
The nurse scurried out of the room and didn't come back for what I thought was around five or six minutes. She had something behind her back like she was hiding it and had huge smile plastered to her face. She seemed to be humming some weird theme song she made up for the object behind her back and then ended it with a "TA-DAH!" and revealed a nice, little mirror. "Take a good look," the nurse said, "Tsunade-sama told me not to let you see yourself until next week but I don't agree with that… I think you need to know what you look like I mean for Goodness sake!"
She handed me the mirror. I hesitantly accepted it. I hadn't felt nervous but now my hands were shaking and I could feel my heart pumping faster. I positioned the mirror directly in front of my face. My eyes had been closed and I couldn't remember closing them but I forced them open. I gazed into the mirror to see myself for the first time. I had dark blue hair. It was almost black in some places but gave off hints of dark blue all around it. I had arched eyebrows that made me think I may have been some villain or something. I laughed a bit as I held the mirror. I could feel my hand rising to touch my feature, to help me see them. My hand wanted to see if my face was tangible and real. I stared next into my own eyes. It was weird to see the reflection staring back but I tried to ignore the unnerving feeling. My eyes were kind of pretty. They were big and round eyes with a bit of a slant at their ends. They also had long, curly eyelashes. My eyes were a strange color like a mixture of purple and blue. The purple and blue hues seemed to be fighting one another for dominance. The thing I liked best about my eyes was that they made me look so innocent. For some reason, I felt that it was something I needed. And the nurse was right; I did have a round, little freckle under my eye. Next was my nose. It was as cute as a button! At least, that's what the nurse told me. It seemed like a regular nose to me so I moved on to my cheeks. I had somewhat high cheekbones but they made me look more grown up. The nurse said I was fourteen years old and Naruto had clarified it. Next was my mouth. My lips, I felt, were too big. They looked pouty and fluffy. The nurse said my full lips went with my big eyes. I think she would have said anything went with everything if I had complaints about it. My chin was small and dainty. I was glad that I seemed to be a dainty and innocent girl.
I put the mirror and my hand down. I had seen enough of myself. I sat there staring at nothing for a while. I was just thinking and wondering about what kind of person I was before my memory-losing-accident. Was it really my kind of luck to lose my memory?
"Thank you," I told the nurse as I handed her back the mirror. I didn't know I was crying until a few tears fell on my wrist. They washed down onto my hands and I caught one on my finger. I let the tear drop onto the hospital bed, forever staining it. The sheets of the bed could be washed but that tear drop would forever be there; a stain from my heart.
"I just wanted you to see yourself," said the nurse, "I'm sorry I made you upset."
"No," I told her, "You made me very happy… Arigato." She smiled sweetly and gave me time to myself. She could tell I wanted to be alone for a bit. I tried to sleep but my mind wouldn't settle down. It wouldn't stop wondering why I had 'Hate' carved into my forehead. Why would someone put that on my forehead? Or was it my own doing?
A/N: Phew… Glad to get that done. Btw, Sachiko is thirteen in this chapter. If I wrote another age elsewhere, ignore it. She's turned thirteen during the Chunin Exams. I like having this section in first person because I wanted you guys to understand her confusion. Sweet, sweet confusion! Confucius says be CONFUSED! Bwuahahahahh!
Sachiko: I like talking in first person. It's fun… but uh… since you're the author I guess do you mind telling me who I am?
Author-sama: You will learn on your own… be quiet.
Sachiko: No offense Author-sama but you're kind of mean.
Author-sama: You try writing a 22 page chapter and then writing this 7 page chapter directly after. I was confused for a long time… You're lucky I didn't get writer's block otherwise you wouldn't know what had happened to you.
Sachiko: Happened to me? I don't even know who I am and you want me to know what happened to me? You're crazy.
Author-sama: Don't get snippy with Author-sama! Just tell the readers to review like you always do!
Sachiko: I always do?
Author-sama: Yes, you do. Now do it!
Sachiko: Okay! Okay! Geez… Uh… Author-sama says to review?
Author-sama: No, no, no! With emotion and persuasion! You silly girl!
Sachiko: Fine, just leave me alone after this! REEEE VIIIEEWWW!!
Author-sama: That was kind of over doing it… but whatever.
Sachiko: -falls over- ACK!