Chapter 1. A Snake and her fangs.
Another fist flew through the air to connect with Anko's face as she remained strapped to the chair. A yell of pain escaped her lips as blood and sweat sprayed from her mouth and face in an arc from the impact that snapped her head to the left. Exhausted she let her head slump forward before coughing roughly. Blood dribbled from her mouth. Her unswollen right eye landed upon the increasingly growing pool of her own blood on the ground in front of her.
The man who punched her pulled back his arm to strike her again. "That's enough." At the command the man stepped back from the small cone of light cast by the lamp hanging over her head. Though she couldn't observe him too well now, Anko didn't need to observe the man much at all to know why his job consisted of beating the shit out of prisoners.
The man was a giant. Seven feet tall and bulging with muscle the man was a ninja only because he was a literal powerhouse. Anybody on the receiving end of his attacks was sure to be hurting. The first few times he had struck her Anko had put up a valiant effort of resisting. Now, after being struck by the tree trunks he called arms, she was sure she wouldn't last much longer. Not that she'd let him know that.
But that wasn't her main problem at the moment. It was the other man in the room that was the problem. The one in charge. The one interrogating her. A man no taller than her stepped into the light. Anko could remember every detail of his face not that she could see much of it now. Being an interrogator meant you needed an eye for detail. And she knew the moment she saw him that he knew how to play the game. He was an interrogator too. And a good one at that.
For what she was assuming was two days, at least that was the amount of time she thought had passed, Anko had been subjected to multiple forms of interrogation and torture in an effort to make her crack. Being who she was meant she had a better fortitude for such things, however even she had a limit.
Grabbing her hair roughly he yanked her head back so that she was forced to shut her eyes from the light directly shining down on her, an action which hurt even more because of the stinging pain coming from her swollen left eye.
"Now Anko, I think it's about time you start answering some questions, hmmm?" The smooth pleasant tone of the interrogator's voice pissed her off, much like every other time she was forced to listen to him. "It's not like I'm asking you an awful lot is it?"
The man let go of her hair and took a step back. Bringing her head forward she kept her lone open eye focused on the eyes of the man in front of her. They stared at each other briefly before he sighed in exasperation.
"Really Anko, must we do this the hard way?" The smile on his face pissed her off even more. She could tell he was purposely acting this way to annoy her. To get under her skin and make her snap. It was one of the many ways she herself had gotten information out of people. And now it was being used on her. Anko knew that anything she said right now would only lead to more pain. It was the way the game was played. And while she knew the best way to fight back was to give up nothing she couldn't really think too well at the moment.
"You know Anko, if you don't want to answer questions I can always have my friend here continue with his conversation." Though she couldn't see him too well in the darkness surrounding her Anko could still make out the other man who had been hitting her flexing his hands in response to what her interrogator had said. Anko jerked involuntarily, despite herself, at the mention of another beating.
"Would you like that Anko?" Her interrogator turned around to face the other man in the room but stopped as he heard Anko murmur something. Turning back around he took a step forward and placed a hand under Anko's chin to tilt her face toward him. "Would you care to repeat that Anko?"
The smirk on the man's face was all the motivation Anko needed. Spitting as much blood as she could in his face she watched as he reeled back with a yell at the attack. He wiped the blood from around his eyes and glared back at Anko. She didn't miss a beat and ground out in the most defiant voice she could manage while coughing in pain. "I said… fuck you… cocksucker!"
Her interrogator lost control at that. "You… bitch! You think that's funny!?" The man stepped forward and backhanded Anko hard enough that she toppled over on her right–hand side, a grunt of pain escaping her lips. However he wasn't done. Stepping over in front of her he then started kicking her in the stomach as she remained strapped to the chair.
"How do you like this bitch!?" He kicked her and this time the Anko screamed out louder from the impact. "You think this is funny!? That this is some game for your amusement" He kicked her again and she screamed again. "Let's see how funny it is when I've kicked the shit out of you, huh!?" He kicked her one more time and instead of a scream Anko groaned loud in pain as she started to lose consciousness.
"No, no, no, no." Stopping his attack he leaned forward so that he could cup her face in his hand and turn it towards him. "You're not passing out on me know bitch. You wanted to do this the hard way and now you're going to enjoy every moment of this." Anko groaned again and tried to twist her head out of his grip. "Shhhhhh." Lowering his voice to a whisper he bent down closer to her. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm going to enjoy every moment of this too. We're going to continue doing this now whether you tell me what I want to know or not."
Though she couldn't see his face, because her eyes were shut in pain, Anko could hear the viciousness in his voice. Her mind was foggy from her current state however a small part of her was happy that she had gotten to him. It didn't last long though.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Everyone in the room stopped at the interruption. Anko could feel the man interrogating her motion in some way to the other man who then reached over and opened the door. Light flooded the room from the action and revealed another ninja.
The man interrogating her turned his head to the door but didn't bother to stand up from his position over her. "What is it?" For several seconds there was silence. Not hearing anything Anko tried to open her right eye to see what was happening.
Though her vision was slightly blurry Anko could see a man standing outside the room not moving. She could only assume he was staring in shock at her and the man above her. And though she was in pain a small part of her brain registered that it was odd.
The man interrogating wasn't in the mood for shock though. "I asked. What. Is. IT!?" The harshness of his voice shocked the messenger out of his stupor.
The ninja saluted. "Sir, I'm here to inform you the commander needs to talk to you immediately in his office."
Anko's interrogator sighed loudly in resignation. "Fine. I'll be there in five minutes. You're dismissed."
"Understood Sir." Saluting again the ninja turned and left.
The interrogator turned his attention back onto Anko "It's your lucky day. I have to go now." Slapping her face lightly he stood up. "But don't think this means we're done here." To emphasise his point he kicked her hard in the stomach again.
Anko cried out in pain again and began to cough up some blood. Her interrogator was already in the doorway by the time she was able to control herself.
Making a quick motion with his hand he had a towel offered to him by the other man in the room. As he attempted to wipe his hands clean he looked back over his left shoulder at Anko. "Don't worry Anko I'll be back real soon. And then we can continue right where we left off." Finished with the towel he flicked it over his shoulder where it landed on her left arm. "Why don't you clean yourself up. Wouldn't want you looking dirty for our next date."
The smugness in his voice had Anko ready to throw another insult at him, but another coughing fit interrupted her. Her interrogator turned to the other man in the room before he left. "You stay here and guard her. Don't move her from that position."
The other man saluted. "Yes sir."
Watching the two men salute each other Anko struggled against her bindings briefly before stopping as the guard turned towards her after closing the door. Darkness covered the room except for the lamp still shining above her head, yet her eyes never left the other man's face as he resumed silently watching her.