If she hadn't seen Kisame back in the Land of Tea, Sakura wouldn't have followed him out of curiosity. If Kisame hadn't ditched her, she wouldn't have run into Mei Terumi. If Kisame hadn't assassinated the Fourth Mizukage, she wouldn't have been discovered by Hozuki Mangetsu. If Mangetsu hadn't found her, Mei wouldn't have ended up suffering oxygen deprivation and falling into a coma. If Mei hadn't been in a coma, she wouldn't have amnesia. And if Mei didn't have amnesia, Sakura might have already settled things with her one way or another.
Therefore, Sakura concluded internally, this entire mess was unequivocally Kisame's fault. Looking at Mei, who was still persistently asking who she was, Sakura felt a genuine impulse to just die. Why did she have to latch onto me like this? She'd never planned on bringing Mei back to the shinobi continent proper; the idea was always to dump her somewhere in the Land of the Sea or the Land of Tea.
But looking at Mei's current state, just abandoning her now seemed likely to cause more problems. Setting aside Mei's own safety, if Kirigakure found her like this – amnesiac – and got some embellished, twisted version of events, even if Sakura somehow managed to coach Mei into speaking favorably of her beforehand, would Kiri even believe the amnesia story?
Maybe… maybe I should just finish her off right now? The dark thought surfaced in Sakura's mind.
Do it secretly, without gods or ghosts knowing. They were far from the Land of Water now, and thanks to her disguise, no one had witnessed her departure. Then, just toss the body into the vast, boundless sea… Kirigakure would have absolutely no evidence connecting Sakura to Mei's disappearance. Even Edo Tensei wouldn't be able to retrieve a body lost like that.
The more Sakura considered it, the more feasible the grim option seemed. Her expression darkened, turning cold and grim as she stared at Mei. Seeing the sudden, hideous transformation on the younger girl's face, Mei instinctively stopped her incessant questions, her small mouth clamping shut. She scooted backward fearfully, her large eyes wide and watery, looking utterly wronged and pitiful. She retreated until her back hit the cabin wall, where she curled her legs up defensively.
Seeing Mei looking so helpless and evoking such pity, Sakura's dark resolve instantly evaporated, vanishing into thin air. She had to admit, if Mei had pushed her too far during their fight, driven her into a corner, she wouldn't have hesitated to strike ruthlessly. But attacking someone like this – utterly powerless, defenseless, looking so utterly… lovable in her fear? Sakura looked at her again and found she simply couldn't bring herself to do it. She wasn't some psychopathic killer; she only retaliated with lethal force when her own life was directly threatened.
Mei dodging that initial killing blow back then was lucky for her. In truth, if Sakura had simply left her injured in the wilderness, Mei probably would have died before anyone found her. So, in a way, saving Mei later was simply returning the life Mei had almost lost. The real reason she'd intervened was purely to avoid further trouble for herself… yet somehow, things had only gotten progressively more complicated and serious.
"Don't be afraid," Sakura said, consciously softening her voice, trying to sound amiable. "Come here, sit closer! Let me check you over. I'm a doctor, remember?"
Mei looked timidly at Sakura, then shook her head vigorously, remaining silent.
Seeing this reaction, Sakura felt another headache coming on. If this wasn't Mei's usual personality shining through, then the amnesia really might be severe. While significant personality shifts could occur with memory loss, it usually only happened in extreme cases. Typical amnesia generally didn't cause such drastic changes. Even if there were changes, they were usually subtle, barely noticeable. Mei's current fearful timidity suggested a severe form of amnesia. But how could that be? Sakura mused. It was just hypoxic amnesia… probably. Though she hadn't done a proper examination, it seemed the most obvious cause.
"Don't be scared, Sister," Sakura tried again, switching tactics and using the aliases from their earlier encounter. "I'm your younger sister. Your name is Yuan, and I'm Misaka Mikoto. Don't you remember?" The fight they'd had likely left a deep impression on Mei; maybe these names would trigger something.
"My name is… Yuan?" Mei murmured, frowning in concentration. "And you're Misaka Mikoto?" She looked up at Sakura's face, which now appeared much kinder and less threatening. Mei seemed slightly less afraid.
"Yes, yes! That's right, Sister!" Sakura pressed eagerly. "Do you remember anything else?"
Mei silently mouthed the names, her brow furrowed tightly. Suddenly, she gasped, clutching her head again, breathing heavily through her teeth with pained, "Heh… heh…" sounds.
"Did you remember something?" Sakura asked, leaning forward anxiously.
After a long moment, Mei's breathing evened out. Fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead. She shook her head weakly. "I… I only remember eating with you," she whispered. "Anything else… I just can't recall."
Eating? That must be from when we first met. Sakura deduced. The fight afterward was probably such a traumatic memory that trying to access anything beyond that first, neutral encounter causes her pain.
"Come here," Sakura said gently. "Let me examine you."
"Okay," Mei replied obediently, shuffling closer to Sakura.
Sakura couldn't help but feel amused by Mei's sudden compliance. The contrast was stark – the fierce wild horse from before had somehow transformed into a meek little lamb.
A faint green glow emanated from Sakura's hand as she activated the Mystic Palm Technique. Seeing the light, Mei flinched back again, startled.
"Wh-what is that?" she asked fearfully, staring at Sakura's glowing hand.
"This is the Mystic Palm Technique. It's medical ninjutsu," Sakura explained patiently, though inwardly exasperated. Seriously? Did she even forget she's a ninja?
"Ninjutsu? Ninjutsu?" Mei whispered the word, frowning again in concentration.
"Okay, okay, don't think about it too hard right now," Sakura soothed. "Here, let me treat you for a bit. Maybe it'll help you remember something."
Mei obediently moved closer again. Sakura placed her glowing palm on Mei's head, channeling the healing chakra. After a considerable time, Sakura removed her hand. "How about now? Did anything come back to you?"
Mei lowered her head, remaining silent for a moment before shaking it sadly. "I still don't remember anything."
Sakura scratched her head, feeling stifled with frustration. With her current limited resources, this "examination" was little more than guesswork; she couldn't truly diagnose anything specific. Using the Mystic Palm was just a supplementary measure, hoping to repair any potential lingering brain cell damage from the hypoxia. She'd hoped accelerating the healing process might jog Mei's memory, but apparently, it was useless.
Master Tsunade, for all her renowned medical expertise, primarily focused on treatments relevant to the shinobi world – combat injuries, poisons, etc. Sakura couldn't recall her Master ever teaching much about treating amnesia. Maybe Master thought I didn't need to learn it, Sakura mused wryly, given how single-mindedly focused I was on pure training back then.
Sakura stared blankly at Mei for a moment, lost in thought. Should I… should I go back to the village? She remembered the hospital in Konoha had an MRI machine; that could potentially reveal what was wrong with Mei's brain. But returning to Konoha now would almost certainly mean facing conflict, perhaps even arrest.
"What's wrong?" Mei asked tentatively, noticing Sakura zoning out. "Are you really my sister? But… why do we have different surnames?"
"Cousins!" Sakura snapped back to reality, rolling her eyes. Still so wary, even with amnesia.
"Oh," Mei accepted meekly. Then, hesitantly, "Can you… tell me what happened? What are we doing now?"
"Er…" Sakura paused, momentarily stumped. Then, an idea sparked in her eyes. "Actually," she began, weaving a story, "we're both bounty hunters. You were defeated in a big fight, Sister. I barely managed to risk my life and save you. But who could have known you'd end up losing your memory?"
"Bounty hunter?" Mei repeated the term, mulling it over. "What do they do?"
"Kill people and collect the reward money!" Sakura stated flatly, watching Mei closely for her reaction.
"Kill… people?" Mei blinked, then surprisingly nodded. "But… I don't remember any of it!"
Okay, good, Sakura thought, relieved. At least she doesn't have an aversion to killing. That's the ninja mindset. It would be best to avoid mentioning their ninja identities for now. Low profile, low profile. Her thoughts inevitably drifted back to Danzo, and she felt her teeth itch with resentment. Just you wait, old geezer. After I sort out this Junko business, you're next. You won't be smug for much longer.
"If you can't remember, don't force it," Sakura said reassuringly to Mei. "I'm also a doctor, remember? Since your awareness of your surroundings seems intact, it means recovery is still possible. The memory loss was probably caused by the trauma from that fight. Don't worry, I'll take care of you for the time being."
As Sakura finished speaking, Mei suddenly reached out and grasped both of Sakura's hands. Sakura instinctively tensed, wanting to pull away, but stopped when she saw the pure, flawless sincerity in Mei's eyes.
"Thank you," Mei said, her voice thick with emotion. "Sister Mikoto… I… As the older sister, I should have been the one taking care of you… I… thank you so, so much!"
Sakura listened to Mei's heartfelt words, feeling completely bewildered, as if lost in a dense fog. What kind of bizarre maneuver is this? She believed that story so easily? Aren't you supposed to be a highly skilled ninja? The woman destined to become the Mizukage? You just accept whatever I tell you? And where did all this sudden, intense gratitude come from?!
A final, nagging suspicion surfaced in Sakura's mind. Could it be… could this naive, foolish woman actually be faking the amnesia to trick me?!