Hello readers, new and old! I know it has been quite some time since my last post. I talk more about it on my bio, so please visit it if you are a fan of my other stories. Anyway, the tl;dr version is that I wanted to create a story that involves a bit more original creation and I really felt that the Sound Village was such a interesting plot point that was never really explored. I want this to be as realistic as possible so be prepared for some adult elements like crime/violence. I will try my best to avoid being graphic, but still keep the story within expectations. My usual writing themes and humor (sometimes perverted) will still be included. Although unrelated, this will also be in the same universe as my story, Love Hinata and my wife's spinoff, The Tale of the Three Maidens. I just wanted to try my hand at a more original story. Please share your thoughts with me!
It was just shy of midnight and, contrary to its name, the Sound Village was eerily silent. The place was filled with traitors and shadowy figures, so it was generally understood that no one would be out wandering around after dark. If the threat of death wasn't enough, there was always the rumor of abandoned, failed experiments running around in the black, chilling hours of the night. It was not unheard of for people to go missing on nights like these: inky, moonless nights where the lonely sky let down a torrent of rain and violent winds. However, it was on one of these nights that a newcomer found her way to the Village Hidden in the Sound.
A few miles outside of town, the rain hammered down from all sides creating a cascade of water at the young girl's feet. Her shoes soggy and barely holding together, the girl treaded on. The path ahead was treacherous, and the girl's legs trembled with each step threatening to give out at any moment. She pressed on despite her body's complaining; there was nothing left for her where she came from. She would rather die alone in the middle of a rained-out ditch than to return to her village.
She pulled her cloak tighter to her chest and continued forward through the forest. The trees there were some of the tallest the girl had ever seen, but they provided no shelter from the torrential rain. The girl was starting to feel her fingers and toes go numb. She stuffed her hands in her armpits and tried to conjure happy thoughts. Something warm… Something bright…
The girl ignored the stabbing pain in her extremities and increased her pace. Years of exposure to the elements had taught her she wasn't going to survive much longer in this weather. She needed to find her destination soon. The icy rain stung against her face, blinding her to the sensation of warm tears streaming down her cheeks. She had no light to use as a guide, only the deep desire to keep moving forward and the faintest indents of a retreating army's tracks.
A short time later, the girl stumbled upon a large hole in the ground. Only, it wasn't just a hole. It was a large paved walkway that angled down into the ground. The girl felt a chill pass down her spine, one that she knew came not from the cold. This was not a place anyone went willingly. Even the rain refused to enter the sloped pathway. The girl steeled herself with a deep breath and stepped down, submerging herself in the blackness.
The pathway was even darker than it had been outside. The girl outstretched her hands to try to find something to visualize, but there was nothing but a pitch-black void before her. She took a single, shaky step and then another. It seemed like it got harder to move with each step. There was an essence to the dark, as if it were a living thing resisting her advance. The sense of foreboding reminded the girl that any step could be her last, but she persisted despite the fear stirred by whatever lurked in the abyss. An eternity seemed to pass by before the walkway finally began to slope into a flat surface. A faint light beckoned at the end of the path and the girl felt a surge of relief. She pulled at the hood of her cloak, making sure her face and body were concealed.
Blue torches flickered dimly from alcoves set within cavernous walls. The girl halted suddenly in her tracks. It was the first time she had stopped in several hours and her feet screamed as the blood pooled in her legs. This agonizing pain went completely unnoticed by the girl as she stared at the spectacle in front of her. The blue torches continued along the walls leading up to a giant stone statue down the hall. A massive serpent lay coiled before the girl, its stone eyes gleaming ominously in the reflection of the blue fire.
It's true, the girl thought to herself. This was the home of the notorious Orochimaru. The girl shuddered as the name entered her mind, as if the thought might accidentally summon him. If she was lucky, she would never have to come face to face with that creature. All the girl had to do was to lay low and live each day as it came. If she could manage to keep her head above water, the girl would consider this venture a success.
She continued past the giant snake, making sure to avoid meeting its gaze. Soon after the statue, the girl came to a large chamber paved in the same stone. The room was massive in size and the girl found it difficult to believe she was still underground. It was almost like an upside-down pyramid with several floors. Each one had many branching hallways similar to the one she had come from. There was a set of stairs that lead to the bottom layer of the chamber. The lowest level had many small buildings of varying shapes and sizes. The pathways were lined with barrels and crates. It almost seemed like a miniature market. There was some faint light coming from the windows which suggested the buildings were inhabited.
The girl's body moved on its own. Light meant people and people meant food. She had run out of rations days ago on her long trek to this frightful place. Her stomach grumbled at the thought of sustenance and the girl attempted fruitlessly to smother the sound with her hands.
The girl descended the stairs as stealthily as she could. The air around her was deathly still and completely silent. The cloak the girl was wearing ruffled slightly with each step she took. She had spent many years studying the art of moving undetected, but she had recently lost the ability to do so. When she was younger, she could slip in and out of a crowd without anyone being the wiser. Now… She had what she considered physical limitations… or rather, qualities that inhibited her capacity to blend in.
The girl shook the thought from her mind and continued down the stairs opting for speed rather than complete silence. She had been trained to always keep her exit in mind and she was prepared to turn tail and run at the slightest sign of danger. She shook her head again, harder this time. Her instincts were no good here. There was no running away this time. She had nowhere to run away to.
The girl crept along the side of a building. The lights in this one were off, but there was enough ambient light for the girl to make out her surroundings. She searched around the building for some sign of anything she could use to satisfy her hunger. It didn't take long. She spotted several black canisters sitting at the back of one of the lit buildings. The smell of rot and waste immediately identified them as trash cans.
The girl prayed silently. With any luck, there would be food scraps in the cans. The girl pulled off one of the lids and nearly vomited. She could feel bile build in her throat as she tried to swallow back the bitter taste. She didn't need the food to be warm or tasty. She just needed it to be edible. She rummaged though the entire can, pulling each item closer to her face to inspect it. She had gone through two whole cans before she finally found her prize. Her fingers grasped upon an object that felt like cold meat. The girl covered it with her hand and pulled it out from the pile of wet trash. She dusted it off slightly with the one hand that hadn't been submerged in garbage. Definitely some kind of meat. It felt like it still had a bone inside. That would explain why it was in the trash.
The girl held her breath as she brought the meat to her mouth. The smell of the trash was slightly overwhelming, but she was fairly sure the taste of the meat wouldn't be any better. Her teeth bit into the meat and she could instantly tell something was wrong. As she pulled away, her eyes fell upon her garbage prize. Her stomach dropped in horror.
It was a human finger.
The girl retched, the meat dropping from her hand as she gagged and stumbled backward in shock. As she did, her heel knocked into one of the cans and sent it to the ground with a loud clang. Her heart leapt into her throat as the sound echoed off the buildings. Instinct took over and the girl leapt into the shadows. She stayed silent for a moment listening to the sounds around her. She thought she could hear footsteps, but after a moment there was only the sound of her heart beating in her ears. Just as soon as she was about to take off towards the stairs, a hand swiftly covered her mouth. A second hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her around the corner and inside the dark building.
The girl wanted to scream, but the hand remained firmly over her mouth. She wasn't really sure what the scream would do for her anyway. She was going to end up in pieces, another set of fingers in the trash. She looked up at her captor with a sense of futile curiosity.
The hands belonged to a wrinkled woman. She was tall and her body was more burly than feminine. The expression on her face was stern, but not devoid of concern. The girl felt her shoulders relax a little as the woman removed her hand. She took a step back and shone a light in the girl's face.
The girl was quite young. Her hair was dark and stuck to her face in long, wet strands. She was covered in a long cloak that hid most of her body and face. The woman gestured to it and the girl took it off cautiously, never taking her eyes off the woman. The clothes she was wearing underneath were ripped and torn at the sides and midriff. The holes didn't reveal much, but it was clear the girl was very well endowed. Her eyes were puffy and glistened slightly with tears. A small dab of blood hung at the corner of her mouth.
The old woman sighed softly. This wasn't the first young girl she had seen in this condition. Her neighbor was more predator than man. It wasn't uncommon for there to be women's screams heard from his house late at night. The village had rules that required all prisoners to be taken to Orochimaru, but there wasn't exactly anyone around to enforce such rules. The woman felt pity for the young girl. She wasn't the type to stick her neck out for anyone, but as a fellow female, something in her gut twisted when she thought of the horrors this girl must have just experienced.
"You can't go back outside."
The girl felt her skin tingle as the woman spoke. Her voice was dry and cracked. Combined with her physical appearance, she made an intimidating figure. "I'm sorry?" The girl's voice, soft and meek, was in complete contrast to the elderly woman. This village was supposed to be filled with murderers and villains. The girl had heard stories about this village for all her life. This lady certainly looked like she would fit in with a band of thieves… or rather had been in one in her earlier years.
"Undress."
The woman spoke the word with a soft tone; she was requesting, not demanding. She stood as still as a statue, waiting for the girl to comply.
The girl eyed the door. She wasn't a particularly fast runner, but surely this woman wasn't in chasing condition. She quietly weighed her chances of getting out alive. They weren't high, but any other fate would most likely be better than ending up as someone's personal plaything.
The woman spoke again, clearly tired of waiting. "You are going to catch cold in those wet clothes." Figuring the girl was still shaken after being assaulted, the woman turned around to give the girl a sense of privacy.
The girl stared at the woman for a moment. It didn't seem like the woman meant her any harm. She had already had her in the perfect position if she wanted to hurt her. And the woman had a point. She was already starting to lose feeling in her fingers and toes. The girl laced her fingers under the hem of shirt and pulled it off. Hearing the wet fabric fall to the floor, the woman walked into the other room. She pulled a towel from a cabinet along with an old set of pajamas. They were obviously a size too big, but at least they were warm. She returned to the previous room just as the girl was stepping out of her pants.
The girl was physically a rare specimen. The woman could tell instantly what had attracted her beast of a neighbor. The young girl was nearly buck naked save only her underwear and some cloth bindings to hold her breasts. The girl fiddled with the cloth for a moment until it started to unravel. The girl pulled the bindings away from her body for what seemed like an impossible amount of time. It was clear that she had a large bust, but as the bindings fell it just kept growing. The woman's mouth dropped slightly as the girl's breasts finally fell free. The girl quite possible had one of the largest chests the woman had ever seen.
Not only were her breasts massive in size, but they also seemed to have an unnatural perkiness. She was shorter in stature, but her waist was thin, and her hips were wide. The young girl pulled down her underwear and stepped out of them with a small bounce, then bent over to pick up her wet clothes. The woman got a closer look at the girl's backside. Her rump was large, but was in no way unsightly. It was plump and firm and seemed to idly squeeze together. Her back was also quite muscular, no doubt from having to support those monsters on her chest. The girl must have been some pin up model or something before her capture. She could understand why her neighbor had lusted after the girl and her stomach twisted again at the thought.
The woman wordlessly thrust the towel and a set of cotton pajamas at the naked girl. The clothes were much too big for the girl, but she still accepted them with warm thanks. The woman took the wet clothes and ditched them in her trash. She would have to remember to shred them later so no one would ask questions as to why she had young girl's clothing.
The young girl turned her back to the woman and began dressing. It was clear that she was shy of her body, and the woman understood why. It was no small thing to have your body taken and used like an object. The woman waited for her to fully dress before speaking again.
"The man who… raped you…" The woman drifted off as if trying to find the right words. "He is as determined as he is evil. He will undoubtfully be looking for you."
It was only because of the girl's extensive training that her face did not betray her confusion. What was this lady talking about? Raped? The girl figured she had made some sort of assumption based on her generally haggard appearance. The girl's gut instinct was to correct the misconception, but after a moment of consideration she decided it was best to have the woman feel as sympathetic towards her as possible.
"I can try to make myself disappear. I used to be really good at it…" The girl said with a laugh that was more sad than happy. She brushed some hair out of her face like she was banishing a bad memory.
The woman eyed the girl's body. Even in the larger, baggy clothing her breasts still pressed tightly against the fabric. An impressive feat, considering she wasn't wearing a bra. It was obvious this girl would attract all sorts of attention wherever she went, no matter how hard she tried to conceal herself.
The girl was quiet for a moment. "I guess I should be leaving about now. Thank you so much for the warm clothes…?" The girl trailed off politely leaving a space for the woman to fill in her name.
The woman just shook her head. "No names. I don't want to know yours and I don't want you to know mine. The less I know about you, the better. The men around here leave me to myself for the most part, but they will be looking for someone to take out their frustration on after your escape."
The girl thought about that for a moment. The lady definitely thought she'd escaped some sort of abusive situation. But the only frustration that might have occurred would be in whoever had to clean up the trash she had knocked over. She had to suppress a wave of revulsion at the thought of the contents of the garbage. Afterwards, the girl nodded and continued to go along with the false narrative.
"If I may ask, why did you take me in if it could get you into trouble?" The girl asked, genuinely confused. She would not have expected anyone in the Sound Village to risk their own neck to help a stranger.
The old woman laughed a deep hearty laugh. "You could say its less about helping you than it is sticking it to my neighbor. I really hate that man. The screaming keeps me up all night."
The girl's stomach dropped. Her heart sped up a bit as she realized this was to be her new home. She wondered if she would have a better chance in the dark woods. She shook her head. Her death was assured in those harsh conditions. At least this place could offer her food and, according to what she had heard, pay. That is, as long as she could avoid becoming someone's plaything.
The sound of grumbling brought the girl out of her thoughts. It took several moments and an odd stare from the woman before the girl finally realized the sound had come from her stomach. The woman sighed and went into one of the nearby rooms. She returned with a large grapefruit in hand. The woman pulled out a long, silver knife from the small of her back and cut the large fruit in half. She offered the young girl one of the halves. The girl snatched it and, wasting no time, bit into the pink flesh of the fruit.
The woman laughed again and bit into her fruit, rind and all. The girl winced as the woman chewed audibly and swallowed the chunk of grapefruit. She looked down at her own empty grapefruit rind and shook her head. She wasn't quite hungry enough to consider eating that.
"Do you have any family? Anyone who would be looking for you?" The woman asked as she finished her grapefruit.
The girl shook her head and handed her rind to the woman. "I have no one. I had hoped to find some way to make enough money to support myself."
The woman thought for a moment. "A batch of new bloods came into town yesterday. It's just a band of deserters and thieves, but you should be able to find your way in with them. Then you can earn yourself a real position along with the recruits. Maybe find some decent work and then get the hell out of here."
The girl nodded. She was thankful for any advice she could get, but she did not intend to take the woman's suggestion to get out of the village. She had no home to return to… or rather she couldn't return home. "When do they gather the recruits?"
The woman shook her head. "They will be gather the 'potentials' tomorrow. There is always a selection process, however. You see, this village does not tolerate weakness."
The girl raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
The woman laughed. "Look at me! I'm a weak, old woman, but here I am, living amongst murderers and kidnappers. You know how I do it?" The woman asked with a chuckle.
The girl nodded and the woman leaned forward. "Every once in a while, you just gotta slit someone's throat."
Chills crept like icy fingers down the girl's spine as the woman laughed again. "Some of these 'tough guys' lose all their composure when their friend's blood is spraying all over them!"
The girl visibly winced and the woman stopped laughing. "Now, now, little one. These are men who have no place in the normal world. Strong men who cut, kill, and steal. Men who could bend you in half like you were a twig. Men who wouldn't think twice about ending your life with a single blow."
The girl gulped as the woman stepped closer to her.
"As soon as they lay hands on you, it's over. You could never hope to overpower them. But…" The woman trailed off and pulled out her long knife. She placed one finger on the sharp end and twirled it with her other hand. Her voice went soft almost as if she were talking to a baby. "It takes less than five pounds for the edge of a knife to penetrate human skin…" The woman pulled the knife away from her finger and a small droplet of blood slide down the length of her finger. "It only takes 30 pounds to crush someone's windpipe. A child could do these things!"
The girl looked away. She didn't want to picture the children here being forced to kill people. Suddenly, the shine of the blade was under her throat. The girl could feel the cold metal at the bottom of her chin. She looked up at the woman with desperation and confusion in her eyes.
The woman was stoic for a moment, as if making a long decision silently in her mind. Finally, she stepped back and pulled the knife away. "Even the women here are dangerous. We have survived and lived with men like that our whole lives. Deception is like a second skin. It's how we live, it's how we hunt."
The girl's heartbeat hammered in her ears. This was the world she had entered. There was no avoiding it. She had to find a way to survive this hell.
The woman flipped the knife deftly through her fingers until it was pointed grip-first towards the girl. "Take this." The girl reached for it, but the woman immediately pulled it away. "You must understand, this is not to be used as a threat. This is not for anyone living to see. If you draw this knife, it must be to end someone's life. Promise me that, little one."
The girl was silent for a moment before nodding. The woman outstretched the knife once again and let the girl take it. The metal grip felt cold in her hand. It was a rather small knife with a long, but thin blade. It had a dark, rough-hewn grip, but the blade was pure silver. There wasn't a single scratch or blemish on it.
"You must never hesitate. If you do… it will be the last thing you ever do." The woman turned away from the girl and started walking towards an adjacent room. "I will come fetch you in the early morning when it is time to join the new bloods."
"Wait!" The girl cried out as the woman turned to leave the room. "Why are you doing all this for me?"
The woman remained still for a moment that seemed to draw out for eternity. "I was first brought to this village by a man. This man took my family from me, he took my home from me, and he took my body from me."
The girl winced. It made a lot more sense now why the woman had assumed what she did and had taken her in.
"But…" The woman began. "This man was also my first kill… I watched until him bleed until he went limp inside me. I was made into the person I am today. I'm only giving you the choice I wish I had had."
The woman nodded at the girl and then disappeared into the next room. The girl laid down along one of the walls. There was apparently no second bed nor blanket. The girl wrapped her arms around herself and stilled her breathing, waiting to hear the woman's faint telltale of slumber, but it never came. The house remained completely silent. The woman had not made a single sound getting into bed nor did she make any while sleeping. The girl felt her skin crawl. The silence made it feel like the woman was still watching her, her face inches beyond the darkness of the other room.
The girl remained motionless for quite some time, but as she did, the day's activities caught up to her and her entire body screamed in fatigue. Even if someone were to attack her right this instance, she doubted she could manage the will to stand up. The girl soon gave in to her exhaustion and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. The soft sounds of her rhythmic breathing filled the room.
A white toothed grin emerged from the darkness and the woman's face peered out from the adjacent room. She had truly expected the girl to leave as soon as she was alone. This girl was far more trusting than she had thought. The woman glided across the room to where the girl laid. The girl's hair was still slightly wet and her skin was a sickly pale. The woman lifted a large wool blanket and draped it over the girl's unconscious body. The girl had zero chance of being hired if she looked to be ill. Even if it was a simple cold, the recruiter took no risks.
The woman backed up to the other side of the room and sat down. Her house only had one chair and it was in her kitchen. She did not spend much of her time at home and so she had never found a reason to fill it with comfortable things like furniture. The woman stole a glance at her front door, ensuring that the dead bolt was secured in place. The night had been quiet, but if her neighbor dared to try to sneak into her house, she would be ready. She knew the man did not let go of his toys easily…
The woman remained still for several hours before the bright lamps flickered on overhead, pouring "morning" light through her window. The woman heaved a sigh and stood to wake the young girl. She laid a single hand on her shoulder and the girl's eyes burst open.
"You're a light sleeper." The woman said with a hushed voice.
The girl nodded, taking the woman's cue to stay quiet. She couldn't help noticing there were large black bags underneath the woman's eyes. She was surprised she had not noticed them last night, but it had been dark.
The girl stood up and the woman thrust a set of what looked like baggy men's clothes. The girl disrobed for the second time, this time not caring that the woman did not avert her eyes.
She was now completely nude, but the girl had picked up so much travel grime it felt like an extra layer of skin. She really would have liked to take a shower. The girl sighed. That was a convenience she could only pray for. The girl bent over and picked up the two long cloth wraps she had been wearing previously. She wrapped one around the bottom heft of her breasts and pulled it up around her back at an angle. After a few rounds, her breasts were secured at an even horizontal level. She then fastened the second wrap around the entirety of her breasts so that they were tightly pressed together and to her chest. It was a movement her hands had gotten used to over the past few years. She gave them one last look over before pulling her shirt over her head.
She really didn't get all the fuss over big breasts. The only thing her breasts had brought her was misery and the loss of her career. The woman had given her a pair of small boxers to wear under the baggy pants. It was chilly so the girl didn't mind the extra length of fabric under her pants to warm her legs. Lastly, the girl pulled on the baggy pants and slung her tattered cloak over her shoulders. As an added precaution, she pulled up the hood.
Content with the girl's appearance, the woman nodded and walked towards the front door. She waited for just a moment for the girl to catch up behind her before opening the door and stepping out. The woman kept her eyes forward and quickened her pace with every step.
The girl struggled to keep up. The woman's legs were much longer and her quick stride was practically a jog for the girl. She tried her best to keep pace with the woman without making it seem like she was rushing. It was early enough in the morning that the surrounding area was almost empty. The girl could see a few people here and there, but they all were attending to their own affairs without sparing a glance at them.
The girl noted her surroundings as they moved through several long corridors. They were dark, straight hallways much like the one she had entered though. There was an occasional doorway along the way, but the woman kept a straight course the entire way. It was just a few minutes later when the woman stopped. The girl nearly bumped into the backside of the woman, but she managed to catch herself in time.
"The recruiter is there." The woman said under her breath.
The girl peered around the woman. There was another large snake stature in a small foyer at the end of the corridor. It was a different snake statue than the one she had seen, but it had the same menacing stare. There was a tall silver-haired boy standing underneath the statue. He seemed slightly older than her and he was wearing a reflective pair of glasses. He was alone, but he kept glancing around like he was expecting company.
"That is the man you must convince. You must show him you are capable of handling work." The woman said as she turned around and stepped past the young girl.
"What kind of work?" The girl asked.
The woman looked deep into the girl's eyes. She spoke slowly and clearly so the girl would understand the full weight of her words. "ANY kind of work. Whatever you can do to serve this village and its leader, Lord Orochimaru." The woman's figure recoiled visibly as she said the name. "If you can't find a use for yourself, someone will find a use for your corpse."
The girl shuddered. She had heard rumors about human experimentation in the Sound. Clearly, they were not just rumors. The girl looked back for the woman, but she was already gone. Only the vast darkness of the hallway loomed behind her. The girl felt her composure drain from her body. She slipped her hand into the small of her back and felt the metal grip of her new blade. The weight of it gave her a small measure of confidence and she stepped forward into the foyer.
…
Kabuto sighed to himself. He hated having to be the one to bring in the new recruits. It was an extremely boring process and it pulled him away from much more interesting work. Even worse, their army had suffered a major defeat in the Leaf Village and Orochimaru was in a foul mood. This batch of recruits was just a bunch of people who defected from the Sand Village following their recent betrayal. He doubted any of them would be worth the time it would take to dig their grave.
Kabuto's eyes caught a glimpse of movement. Or rather, his eyes caught a suspicious lack of movement. There was a figure across the foyer leaning against a wall. The figure had not moved for some time. Kabuto smiled to himself. Wait and watch. The basics of any shinobi's training. At least there would be proper shinobi in today's batch.
A short time later, a small gathering of people had crowded around the snake statue. There was only a handful and most of them seemed to be big, brutish men. Typical of the Sand Village. There was one small girl that had caught Kabuto's eyes. She was petite with short hair and a serious air about her. Kabuto had always liked hiring girls. They almost always had a unique skill set and for them to have survived thus far, they had to be quite adept. A large man willing to bash some skulls in could make it quite far in this world. Sadly, those skills rarely matched up to actual shinobi training. Girls, however, had to be special. They had to be quick witted and crafty to survive.
The hooded figure had remained perched against the wall. Kabuto couldn't help noticing that they had one hand clutched behind their back. A possible threat? Kabuto's gut told him no. Someone looking to do damage wouldn't stand so obviously in the open. Kabuto let out a soft sigh and approached the crowd. Time to get to work.
"Hello, everyone." Kabuto greeted them with a wide smile. He paused for a moment allowing the group to face him and for the quiet figure in the back to join the others. "You are all here for the same reason: no one else will accept you." He looked among the recruits and there was a general murmur of agreement.
Kabuto continued to hold his grin. Both his demeanor and tone of voice were completely polite. His arms and hands spread wide as he spoke as if he were inviting them all into his arms.
"Lucky for you, we will accept you here in the Sound. Lord Orochimaru is happy to welcome each and every one of you into this Village."
The girl frowned to herself. This was nothing like how she had expected. It seemed more like she was joining a religious cult than a band of ruthless killers.
"But…" Kabuto begin slowly. "Lord Orochimaru does not do this for free. There are no handouts in this village." Kabuto's face grew stern. "Everything here is earned. Respect, money, food, and work. You must earn them all with the sweat from your brow. Who you were before this does not matter. You are no longer that person. You are a cog in the wheel of the Sound and as long as you keep spinning, your place here is assured. But…" Kabuto trailed off. "If a cog doesn't spin, it may need to be bent or molded to the proper shape. If it still won't spin, then it is discarded. No one needs a cog that won't spin." Kabuto peered around at the faces of the recruits. "Am I making myself clear?"
"We get you, boy." One of the larger, muscular men stepped forward. Kabuto smiled widely, but the keenest of eyes would have seen the faint twitch at the corner of his mouth. "I am here to see Orochimaru about this." The man gestured to the 3-pronged scar on his neck. It was immediately identifiable as Orochimaru's Curse Mark.
"Please address him as Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto said politely, again with a twitch, this one more apparent than the last. It was a surprise to see the Curse Mark on one of the recruits. Somehow, this mad had earned Orochimaru's interest. Plus… it was no small feat to survive the Curse Mark.
Kabuto eyed the other recruits. Most of them shied away from meeting his gaze, but there were a few who stared back at him. One of those few was the hooded figure from earlier. Kabuto sighed. He really didn't want to do this, but it was an order from Orochimaru.
"We normally have a small 'selection' process to ensue only the best make it through. However, as some of you may know, we recently underwent a large war effort. Things were, for the most part, successful." Kabuto bite his tongue saying the last word. The operation was a horrible failure and had cost them nearly everything. Still, that kind of information was not to be shared with the peons. "Regardless, the invasion cost us a massive amount of man power and so, we are in great need of new recruits. Making it to this point is evidence enough of your tenacity. You can all consider yourselves members of the Hidden Sound."
There was a slight murmuring between a few people in the group. Kabuto had noticed them walk up together as well. They clearly knew each other and based on appearances they were Sand shinobi. He really didn't like Sand shinobi. They were always so crass. "We will need to get you all down on our medical records. We like to keep… tabs… on all our members. Just to make sure you stay healthy. Then, we can organize you into groups. You can call it a 'buddy system' of sorts. Just because you are a member doesn't mean you have earned my trust. Any misconduct will fall on your group as a whole, so make sure to keep an eye on each other!" Kabuto said with a gleam of excitement that was slightly unnerving.
The recruits looked around at each other. Kabuto liked the look of anxiety on their faces. "The lot of you can head to the Medical Wing and ask the examiner to admit you."
Kabuto nodded his head towards a man in the distance. The man was wearing a full set of scrubs and had his face hidden behind a surgical mask. "Follow me to the Medical Wing." The man said in a monotone voice.
The group followed the man as he headed down one of the nearby halls. However, one man stayed behind. Kabuto raised an eyebrow. It was the man with the Curse Mark.
"Listen here, boy. I already said I'm here to see Orochimaru. Don't act like I'm on the same level as those weaklings. Orochimaru has already chosen me."
Kabuto sighed. This was why he hated giving second chances.
The man's legs ran cold and he fell to his knees. He looked down in shock at the growing red pile of flesh on the ground. His eyes went blurry as he realized the contents had come from a long gash in his abdomen. He looked up at Kabuto with rage, his Curse Mark activating and turning his skin grey. Kabuto stared back at the man for a moment, his eyes cold with contempt. He didn't say a word as he raised his arm and focused his chakra at his hands. The first strike had been so fast, the man didn't even see it coming. The second was just as quick; darkness crept in on the man as he felt a thick wet warmth slide down his collarbone.
Kabuto flicked his wrist, slinging the blood off his hand as he adjusted his glasses. "I told you to call him Lord Orochimaru." He calmly stepped over the man's corpse and headed for the corridor the recruits had just taken. He had more than a few things to report to Orochimaru.
…
The medical tech leading the recruits down the hallway had a low, monotonous voice the girl had trouble keeping track of. It didn't help that the other recruits, the ones that seemed to know each other, had fallen into friendly chatter. Part of it was nerves, but the girl's infiltration background put a heavy emphasis on information gathering. The tech was describing the facilities, explaining where different pathways led, and other notable points of interest. It was driving her mad that she couldn't hear what he was saying. She had kept a few feet behind the group to keep from drawing attention. The girl was weighing whether she should close the distance to gain better audibility when she heard a scream. It was a shrill, bloodcurdling thing that immediately raised the hairs on her neck and arms. It was terrible, like an animal in the throes of death. The girl paused at the entrance of the long dark hallway it had come from. The girl reached into her hood and rubbed her temples. Had she imagined that horrifying sound?
Just as she tentatively took a step to catch up to the group, the girl heard the scream again. This time, she picked out a few distinct, speech like sounds. The girl shuddered. The source of the scream was a human, and it sounded like it was in terrible shape. Despite the horrors the girl knew lurked within these walls, she was compelled by an overwhelming curiosity to investigate. Her innate sense of self-preservation turned her feet to iron so it took a monumental effort for her to take the first step towards the sound. The girl was about to cross from the well-lit path into the dark hallway beyond when a hand wrapped around her waist and propelled her back onto her original path.
"I wouldn't recommend wandering," It was the boy from the recruitment ceremony. He gave the girl a knowing smile and a friendly squeeze around the waist before releasing her. "Curiosity kills more than the cat around here."
The sudden contact as well as the intimate nature of it caused the girl to reflexively jump away from the silver haired boy.
Kabuto could tell from the contact that the hooded figure was a girl. That instantly put him on the defensive. He had learned to be wary of women. Especially women with long metal shapes hidden on their backsides.
"I'm sorry!" The girl blurted out and Kabuto couldn't help but relax his guard in surprise. The girl clapped her hands to her thighs and bowed deeply. The hood fell back as the girl raised her head. She had a pretty face with bright green eyes. Her hair was a mess, but it was long dark with a rich purplish tint to it. It was reminiscent of a cascading waterfall of wine.
Kabuto was taken aback. Cute, clumsy girls in this line of work were never a good thing. They either lived short, foolish lives or survived long enough to become dangerously cunning. Still… the girl's profuse apologies seemed genuine.
The girl tried to maintain eye contact with the spectacled boy. He seemed to be truly polite, but she couldn't shake a sense of déjà vu. She had seen this before in novels, where a character wandered a little too far alone and encountered their demise hiding behind a friendly face. She knew she should have just stayed with the group. The boy smiled at her again. His smile was warm almost like the way an adult would smile at a child. The girl felt herself relax a little. "You scared me. I almost thought you were a monster!"
Kabuto burst out in sincere laughter. "Oh, don't be so sure, now. You never know a person until you're alone with them in the dark."
The girl laughed awkwardly. From his mannerisms, the boy was clearly trying to make a joke to ease the tension. But considering the group had long since moved on without them, his words were too spot on for the girl to find them comforting.
Kabuto picked up on the girl's unease. "So, I could tell from the way you move that you've had some stealth training." He said trying to probe for more information. The knife she was carrying was slightly concerning, but hardly uncommon.
The girl smiled for the first time. There was a small part of her that was proud of her background and that it was evident in her behavior. "Yeah, I specialized in infiltration."
Kabuto stared at the girl for a long moment. The girl, clearly oblivious to her comment, just looked back at him with a shy grin.
Kabuto shook his head with a small chuckle. "You mean to tell me, your specialty is getting inside foreign villages and learning all of their deep, dark secrets?" This girl was painfully trusting. She seemed destined to lead the short, foolish kind of life.
The girl's smile drained from her face. She had not realized the implication of her words. "I mean, I was!" The girl let out a breath to recover herself and, in an effort to assure her innocence, revealed a bit of herself that she had not shared with anyone. "Actually, I was somewhat of a prodigy. My sensei always told me that I would be an unknown legend. But then I hit puberty. Over the course of a year I went from the best in my field to the worst. Now, no matter how hard I try, everyone notices me. My sensei was furious. He acted like I wanted to look like this!" The girl gestured to her body with a frustrated fervor.
Kabuto eye's widened as he looked down at the girl's frame. She wasn't kidding. She had a damn near perfect hourglass figure with a large bust to boot. She was wearing baggy clothing, but it did little to hide the shapely size of her posterior. Looking at her was giving Kabuto a strange nagging sensation. There was something extremely familiar about this girl and her story. That would explain the weird feeling he got whenever he looked at her.
"Hey, girl. What's your name?"
The girl looked up at the boy. She had started to think no one in this village used names. She felt a small rush of relief. It would really make this place less horrible if she could make just one friend. The girl's face lit up with a wide smile.
"My name is Miki Nomura!"
I really hope you all enjoyed the story and are curious to see more. I wanted this chapter to have a lot of mystique and themes involving identity. I plan to keep up with this story on a very frequent upload schedule so please continue to read and review! Also, please let me know if you still want more from my other titles as I'm not sure if they are still relevant. Thanks as always!