That night, Sakura led Mei silently to the deserted stern of the ship. She had decided to test whether Mei was truly amnesiac or just playing games with her. If it was an act, then Mei's performance was Oscar-worthy.
Mei's physical injuries were mostly healed by now. Sakura brought her to the stern ostensibly to help her practice ninjutsu, figuring Mei needed at least some basic self-defense capability.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" Sakura demonstrated, spewing a powerful torrent like a waterfall from her mouth into the dark sea below. Turning to Mei, she instructed, "Did you see that clearly? Now you try."
"So this is ninjutsu?" Mei murmured, watching Sakura, an unreadable, complex emotion flickering in her eyes. "It feels… somehow familiar."
Of course it feels familiar, duh! Sakura scoffed inwardly. Teaching basic Water Release was about all she could do right now. Mei seemed to have completely forgotten all her ninjutsu. As for her Kekkei Genkai, like Lava Release, Sakura assumed those would require full memory recovery to access – and Sakura certainly couldn't use Lava Release herself.
Mei carefully mimicked the hand seals Sakura had shown her. "Water Release… Wild Water Wave!" She opened her mouth, but nothing emerged.
Sakura stroked her chin thoughtfully, puzzled. That shouldn't happen. Mei was, fundamentally, a Jonin-level ninja. Even with amnesia, relearning such a basic jutsu from scratch should have been instantaneous. What was wrong?
She watched Mei try and fail several more times. Finally, Sakura let out a conspicuous yawn. "Right, well, I'm getting sleepy," she announced. "You just keep practicing here. It's a very simple jutsu; you'll get it after a few more tries. I'm going back to sleep."
"I'm sorry, Sister Mikoto," Mei murmured apologetically, looking ashamed. "I've caused you so much trouble."
"Ah, it's fine, it's fine," Sakura waved dismissively, turning away. "You keep practicing, but don't stay out too late. I'm heading back." With a quick flash step, she vanished.
Watching Sakura disappear, Mei's eyes flickered thoughtfully for a moment before she turned back to the railing and diligently resumed her attempts at the jutsu.
Sakura hadn't actually left. She had activated her Strength of a Hundred Seal and concealed herself nearby, observing Mei. Enhanced by Sage Art chakra, she was confident even someone of Itachi's caliber couldn't detect her, let alone Mei, who was likely on a similar tier at best.
She watched Mei practice tirelessly, making no attempts to escape. After another hour or two of observation, Sakura felt reasonably convinced that Mei's amnesia was genuine. Leaving a Shadow Clone hidden to continue monitoring, Sakura slipped away to actually get some sleep. If anything happens, the clone will dispel, and I'll know immediately. Besides, she reasoned, on this vast, open sea, how far could she possibly run?
An unknown amount of time later, Sakura felt someone gently shaking her awake. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw Mei standing over her, looking utterly exhausted but with a distinct glimmer of pleased excitement in her eyes. Sakura sat up, rubbing the sleep from her own eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asked groggily.
"I learned it, Mikoto!" Mei announced happily.
"Learned what?" Sakura stifled a massive yawn. "Yaaaawn…" She turned her head towards the cabin window. Sunlight was streaming through the curtain. Pulling it aside, she squinted against the bright glare and could vaguely make out the docks approaching.
"The ninjutsu you taught me last night! I learned it!" Mei repeated, her face beaming with accomplishment.
"Ah, you learned it! Good, good," Sakura replied, looking at Mei's excited but clearly drained state. "Don't tell me you stayed up all night practicing?"
Mei looked downcast again. "I just… I didn't want to be a burden to you, Sister, so…"
Sakura stared at her, surprised once more. If this is all an act, then I completely deserve to be fooled. She glanced around. Wait, where's my Shadow Clone? She quickly formed the seal to dispel it, but received no feedback, no returning memories or chakra. Annoyance surged through her. That useless clone watched for a bit and then probably fell asleep too! Are you kidding me?! Just like its creator… She couldn't even punch the clone for its dereliction of duty. The frustration left a sour taste in her mouth, like having eaten a fly.
Still, this incident seemed to further confirm Mei's amnesia was real. Sakura felt a mix of relief and apprehension. Seeing Mei's somewhat pitiful, pleading expression, Sakura sighed. "Alright, first, go take a bath. Then get ready, we need to disembark soon. The ship is about to dock."
"Okay," Mei agreed obediently, without another word.
Sakura let out another quiet sigh. In the two weeks she'd spent with Mei before the amnesia, Mei had projected an aura of being wild, strong-willed, fiercely independent, and undeniably feminine. This sudden transformation into a pure, innocent, almost childlike obedient girl felt… deeply unsettling and uncomfortable.
Okay, new plan, Sakura resolved internally. I'll keep her with me until she at least regains some ability to protect herself, or until my own reputation is cleared back in Konoha. Then I'll figure out how to ditch her. After all, she felt at least partially responsible for Mei ending up like this.
She took out two rice balls, handing one to Mei. They ate their simple breakfast in silence as the ship maneuvered into its berth.
"Let's go," Sakura said, shouldering her backpack.
"Okay!" Mei replied readily. Having no luggage of her own, she looked at Sakura's pack. "Here, let me carry that for you."
"No, no need. I've got it," Sakura said casually.
"I'm sorry," Mei murmured, her voice low and subdued. "It's all my fault… I've dragged you down…"
Sakura, already heading for the cabin door, felt involuntary goosebumps rise at Mei's mournful, guilt-ridden tone. "Okay, okay! Fine, you can carry it! Seriously, there's no need to feel so guilty," she relented, handing the backpack over. Mei took it, looking genuinely happy.
Watching Mei – her expressions, her movements, her tone – Sakura couldn't shake the feeling of dissonance. It just didn't fit the capable, mature woman Mei should be. Must be the amnesia, she reasoned again. It must have lowered her mental age significantly. She refused to believe this was Mei's true underlying nature.
They reached the main deck, which was already bustling with passengers preparing to disembark. Sakura immediately felt a prickle of unease, a bad premonition solidifying in her gut. Telling Mei to stay close and not wander off, she pushed her way through the crowd towards the railing overlooking the gangplank. Her eyes widened. Stationed at the bottom of the gangplank were two Kirigakure ninja, holding a small booklet and carefully comparing the faces of each disembarking passenger against it.
Th-this is… what's going on? Seeing the Kiri forehead protectors confirmed her fears. Her anxiety spiked sharply.
"They're catching fugitives," an old man standing nearby commented, having overheard Sakura muttering to herself. "Heard someone killed an important figure back in Kirigakure."
"Important figure?" Sakura froze. Could he mean… the Fourth Mizukage? Are they looking for Itachi and Kisame?
"That's right," the old man continued, shaking his head. "The boatman was saying Kiri ninja arrived here overnight. Don't know what's gotten into the world lately. That sea monster is still causing trouble, and now we have fugitives showing up in the Land of Sea… Such a disaster-prone country."
"Sea monster?" Sakura blinked, stunned by the non-sequitur. "What sea monster?"
"You don't know?" The old man looked at her curiously. "You're not from the Land of Sea, are you?"
"No, I'm not," Sakura shook her head. "What's this about a sea monster?"
"Ah, well, that's a long story," the old man sighed. "But you don't need to worry too much about it now. The monster only attacks ships going from the Land of Sea to the Land of Water. Ships coming from the Land of Water, like this one, aren't targeted. If you were planning on returning to the Land of Water, your safest bet is to take a ship from the Land of Tea instead. It's a longer route, but you avoid the monster that way."
Okay, sea monster, not the immediate problem. Sakura refocused on the checkpoint. How are we going to get past this? She didn't think her own wanted poster would be circulating yet, but her mind remained deeply unsettled. Reviewing the situation, she couldn't see why she would be their primary target. She hadn't killed any Kiri ninja; she'd even provided extensive medical care to this one beside her! But… Mangetsu had thought she was allied with Akatsuki. That complicated things.
Sigh. She had hoped to slip away before Kirigakure fully reacted, maybe "re-educate" Mei a bit more, negotiate her release under specific terms, and then cleanly sever ties with Kiri. But clearly, they had moved much faster than she anticipated. They must have dispatched people to the Land of Sea almost immediately after the fight with Mangetsu.
Okay, take it one step at a time. Worst-case scenario, she could use Mei as a hostage. Given Mei's current compliant, amnesiac state, Sakura could probably even manipulate her into cooperating willingly. It wasn't that Sakura couldn't fight her way out, but she wasn't yet powerful enough to disregard overwhelming numbers, especially while isolated and without support. Better to be cautious when possible; a transmigrator's pride was ultimately meaningless compared to survival.
Sakura retreated from the railing, found Mei, and pulled her quickly back into a nearby ship cabin. "Listen carefully," she said urgently. "I'm going to teach you another ninjutsu right now. The Transformation Technique. You need to learn it immediately, understand?"
"What? Why? What's happening?" Mei asked, bewildered.
"Don't ask so many questions! Hurry! Follow my hand seals exactly, then focus on the image you want to transform into, got it?" Sakura instructed sternly.
"Okay," Mei nodded obediently, asking no further questions, and began mimicking Sakura's hand movements.
Poof! Poof! Two clouds of smoke cleared. Sakura stared at the result, several black lines appearing metaphorically on her forehead. Mei had succeeded… perhaps too well. Standing before Sakura was an undeniably kawaii girl, dressed in a frilly, Western-style dress, her hair done up in cute twin tails. The image utterly destroyed Sakura's original impression of the formidable kunoichi. Even if she recovers her memory, Sakura thought despairingly, I'm never going to be able to unsee this.
"Wow! This is amazing!" Mei exclaimed, looking down at herself, then turning this way and that, clearly delighted with her new appearance.
Her current childlike actions and expressions certainly matched the transformed image, Sakura conceded. But the entire situation felt profoundly bizarre. I wonder if she'll have the impulse to die of embarrassment when she eventually remembers this episode, Sakura mused with a touch of dark amusement. Just as long as she doesn't blame me for it later.
Taking Mei – who now looked remarkably like a large, animate doll – by the hand, Sakura rejoined the queue of disembarking passengers. As their turn approached, Sakura's heart pounded violently in her chest. The nervous tension reminded her vividly of the thrill of cheating on exams or skipping class to go to the internet cafe back in her previous life. She hadn't felt anything quite like it since graduating… until now.
"You seem very nervous?" Mei asked, looking up at her curiously.
"I'm fine. Just be quiet. It's almost our turn," Sakura whispered back. "Listen, you go through first, then I'll follow right after, understand?"
"Okay," Mei nodded agreeably.
"Next!" called one of the Kiri ninja guarding the gangplank.
The guard scrutinized Mei – currently appearing as a cute girl in a frilly dress – closely, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Why have you come to the Land of the Sea?" he asked.
Huh? Sakura's breath caught. Why is he questioning her? He just glanced at the people before her!
"I… I came here with my sister," Mei replied, hesitating slightly under the guard's focused gaze.
"Your sister? Which one?" the Kiri ninja pressed immediately.
"That's me!" Sakura quickly stepped forward, inserting herself into the conversation. "She's my older sister. We came to the Land of Sea to visit our uncle."
The Kiri ninja narrowed his eyes, looking Sakura up and down deliberately, then glancing back at the doll-like Mei. "Are you two… from the Land of Water?" he asked slowly.
Damn it! What gave us away? Where did I mess up? Sakura's mind raced, panic flaring. He's definitely fixated on us for some reason. He barely spoke to anyone else! What is it? If I can't figure it out fast, we might really have to fight our way off this pier.