Memories in Time
Chapter Two: Ice Princess

Disclaimer:
Me no own, you no sue; simple enough? Good.

A/N:
Alright, here's the second chapter to my second story. I don't see my candy. -Pouts-
Anyway, I hope you guys like this. It was tough, trying to picture what a cold-hearted female would be like.

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-x-

Complete, utter, inconceivably dark blackness surrounded her.

Where was she?

How did she get here?

Why was she here?

To the darkness, she asked these questions.

And from the darkness, she received no answer.

Then, slowly, it started as a whisper that gradually grew louder.

-

"How do you determine the winners and the losers?"

A voice; who was talking to her, and where did it come from? It sounded male, and there was a definite note of iron in that tone.

"If you have the power to make a difference, why not put it to good use?"

"Everyone's fighting desperately to protect the things that are so important to us; what about you?!"

"But you're already a traitor to your hometown, are you not? You chose to run away, to Ice, and never to return to Konoha."

"What gives you the right to sound so superior?!"

"You are the dream of humanity, Haruno Sakura. You are the epitome of perfection; every girl wants to be you, and every guy wants you."

"There would be no wars in this world if things could be resolved through discussion."

"So you want to be a coward and run away, huh?!"

"It really makes you wonder if the only option is for one of us to destroy each other."

"We know the reason why you're kind. It's because you are you, Sakura-chan, and nobody can change that."

"I love you, Sakura-chan. And that will never ever change; remember that."

-

Emotions that she didn't understand the reasons behind were attached to those voices, and they flooded through her with all the force and power of a tsunami.

Confusion, fear, anger, helplessness, joy, regret, affection, the list was nearly endless.

But the voices…so many voices saying so many things all at once.

It hurts to know what was said, yet completely not understand at all.

Eventually, the voices softened to a dull noise. Then, at some point, they stopped altogether, leaving her emotionally numb as she continued to float aimlessly through the darkness that she happily surrendered herself to.

-

After what felt like an eternity to the young lady, the world of darkness from which she'd been encompassed in for as long as she could remember began to shimmer slightly. A feeling of weariness and complete disorientation washed over her; the world seemed to be spinning at tremendous velocity and her body was sluggishly attempting to follow it in a futile attempt.

"She's waking up." a nearby voice said, seeming to have come from somewhere beyond the darkness.

Oh no, were those voices back?! She really didn't want to have to deal them now! She was still emotionally exhausted, and she felt like she couldn't cope with more of those right now. However, her body disagreed: it was time to wake up; they had slept long enough.

Blearily fluttering her eyes open, she became aware of a light. It seemed to be shrouded over by something, dimming it partially. However, the longer she focused on it, the brighter it became. Yet the brighter it became, the more it began to hurt her eyes. Letting out a small whimper of pain, she tried turning her head away from the light, and to her immense relief, it did help a bit.

"Welcome back among the living, Sakura-sama." the voice from earlier piped up, much clearer than before. As it echoed in her drowsy head, a hand grabbed her jaw and turned it back straight as another hand gently cracked open her jade green one at a time.

"I…I…don't feel well," she managed to mutter out, barely above a whisper, as the world suddenly started spinning again. Oh, to hell with this.

"That doesn't surprise me one bit." Sai said quietly. He finally released the poor, fragile human after helping her to sit up. "Given what your body had gone through before the rest of us found you, I'm honestly surprised that you'd even survived for as long as you did, Captain."

"What…are you talking…about?"

"You were engaged in combat with one of the Akatsuki, remember? When we got there, he was already dead, and you were barely breathing."

She shook her head as a sudden blast of memory hit her head, and it caused a sharp, sudden bout of nausea swept through her and forced her to retreat back to the position that her body had just vacated. She had only just managed to settle herself through sheer force of will, and this had to happen. So lost in her determination of suppressing her sudden need to throw up, she didn't even notice Sai sigh and inject her arm with a syringe.

"Try not to move too much just yet." Sai ordered as he gently withdrew the needle. "Your body still needs to readjust to consciousness and you're still too weak to fight. You need some more rest. Those sedatives I just gave you should help you with that."

"Where am I?" she asked, staggering up on her feet and bonking her head against hard wood, causing her to fall back down to a sitting position on her rear.

"Currently riding in a carriage; you've been out cold for 4 days straight." Sai answered, his voice filled with practiced ease.

"Four days?" she repeated, listening to her echo rebound all about the tiny vehicle, not at all surprised. "I guess that's why…"

Sai raised an eyebrow, curious to know what she was talking about, and she simply shook her head. "So I'm considered a nobody now, since I can't even fight, huh?"

Sai sighed and shook his head, reaching out to ruffle her hair in an affectionate manner. "The only person who's a nobody is someone who's completely and utterly given up their will to live life to its fullest capacity, Sakura-sama. Tell me, do you lack the willpower to survive?"

Pure steel glinted in her jade green eyes as her small smile was momentarily overridden by a frown. "Fuck off, Sai."

A small smirk graced his lips as he nodded in approval.

"Now that's the right attitude for an ANBU captain and the famed 'Princess' of our village."

A/N:

Man, I feel so inadequate, typing out such a SHORT chapter like that. -Groans-

I promise I'll get better, though!