Obedience
-Chapter Thirteen-
Memories can be erased from
the mind but not
the heart
_______________________________________________
~*~
Every boom of thunder marked each second that has gone by without truth. Sasuke sighed heavily as he watched Emiko from afar. He was buried in the corner of the window seat left to come to terms with what he'd done. He watched as she slept so innocently. Which was what he'd done best lately. He simply watched as Kabuto took her for experimentation. The most terrible part was that neither of them had a clue what Kabuto had actually done to her. Being familiar with his tactics, if there was one thing he learned it is that Kabuto was not one to trust, period.
Who was to say he hadn't put in memories to replace those that were erased?
Sasuke measured his best friend, acknowledging how much she had grown up without him. "Now is the time" Madara came into the room and leaned against the wall.
"What?" Sasuke barked. "Now is your time to mend what's happened." Madara stared him down with dangerous eyes, "We need her on our side."
"What he means is I have replaced her memories with new ones. She is now more valuable to us than ever."
"I would have never guessed." Sasuke crossed his arms and stood to his feet. "Out" he ordered the two. Kabuto just scoffed, leaving the room while Madara followed after. "Remember who you're speaking to" Sasuke stared down his relative boldly, all the way until he clicked the door shut.
"Sas...uke?" A weak voice called out. His onyx orbs flashed over to Emiko, who was now struggling to take in her surroundings. "What happened? I-I can't...I can't remember"
And then a series of images filled her mind like a flash flood.
"I fell, didn't I?" She let out a small laugh as she had remembered. "Yes" Sasuke broke eye contact, "You fell..." he whispered under his breath. "Those sand nin..." She trailed, "they lost us, right?"
"Naturally." He smirked over to her as he took a seat beside her bed. "Good." the edges of her lips tugged upwards.
"So when do we start?" Whatever remnants of a smirk on his face faded to a frown, "Start what?" he asked as he was unsure how to respond. "Team Taka" She replied. Sasuke sunk into his chair, relieved he hadn't ruined the plan. "As soon as you're healed, dobe."
"You know" she narrowed her eyes at him, "I had conditions" Somehow, Sasuke knew exactly what she meant. "I should have found you sooner." He looked down to her, apologetically, "I just didn't want to involve you. The leaf was on my tail and I didn't want to risk you being taken again."
"I'm sorry, Emiko"
"Even though you know I could have taken care of myself..." Emiko gazed over to him with a cheeky grin. "You're difficult" Sasuke folded his arms. "Knock, Knock!" a voice sounded from outside the room. Before invitation was given, Suigetsu entered the room along Juugo.
"Hey" Juugo trailed, as he walked up to the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay" Emiko smiled up to the red head, "I just fell, Juugo" she laughed. Juugo however, tensed, flashing Suigetsu a look.
"Emiko" Suigetsu gazed down at her, "Nice to see you're up but we're going to have to steal Sasuke from you, kay?"
"Sure" Suigetsu flashed her a simple grin and directed the two out the door. "What did you let him do to her?" Juugo bellowed, throwing the Uchiha into a wall.
"Woah! Calm down big guy, I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks." Suigetsu set a hand on his shoulder blade. "...Right, Sasuke?"
"Her most recent memories were erased and replaced with new ones." Sasuke looked into Juugo's eyes. Juugo glared into his endless orbs of black, finally releasing him, though his eyes hadn't left him. "I won't forgive you If this changed her."
***
Meanwhile, Gaara had returned to his workplace only to find that it wasn't exactly how he'd left it. Distant yelling was heard from his office and his employees were feverishly scrambling about. And then his heart plummeted into his stomach: something was terribly wrong. Dashing into his office, he slammed open the door.
"Kankuro!" He broke up the yelling, "What is the meaning of this?" Kankuro's face paled and Temari who was standing beside the desk let out a deep sigh. "Damnit" Kankuro pounded on the desk, "I'm too late"
"Gaara, its Emiko..." Temari avoided eye contact, "She's gone missing."
"We don't think it was voluntary this time"
And he thought his mission was a disaster.
"Have you gotten Black ops on this?" He sighed, plopping down to a chair. "They're searching as we speak."
"And you've contacted Tsunade?" Kankuro sighed, "The leaf doesn't have her in their custody. This time we believe it's the Akatsuki."
"Wonderful" Gaara muttered beneath his breath. "On the bright side" Temari cleared her throat, "The leaf is being very cooperative. They'll help search for Emiko, if we help them search for Sasuke"
"Then let's get going"
Silence engulfed the room as his siblings gawked at him. "Gaara, you can't be serious." Temari protested. "It's far too dangerous"
"Of course it's too dangerous" he folded his arms nonchalantly. With a glare to both of his siblings, he fled his office.
***
Recovery was far too slow for Emiko. With a light sigh, she turned onto her side and tried to shake her thoughts away. But there was something constantly nagging at her like an itch meant to be scratched. She was missing someone, but who?
