I awoke with a dull pulsing throb in my head. After a few seconds, my vision cleared just enough for me to realize that I was in prison cell. A very small prison cell. Taking in my surroundings, I noticed the puddles of yellow water, iron bacteria most likely the reason for the odd discoloration. I tried not to gag, as the smell of sweat and disinfectant invaded my nostrils. My back was beginning to ache from lying on the cold, hard cement floor so I attempted to sit up, but the heavy rusted shackles on my wrists, neck, and legs prevented me from doing so. Maneuvering my body, I settled on my stomach using my elbows for support to get a better glimpse of the cell.
"Where am I?" I said to no one in particular, my voice hoarse from lack of moisture.
"Very good question, Kin." A familiar voice said.
"L-lord Orochimaru! I-I uh I..." Unable to form words I stared at his silhouette standing just beyond the steel bars. My candle lit cell prevented me from seeing his features clearly.
Orochimaru never paid personal visits to his underlings unless the end of their lives were near. Therefore, I prepared for the inevitable. Or, maybe he was her to say "hi?" No.. who am I trying to kid. Of course Orochimaru was here to kill me. I failed him. Those Konoha ninja proved to be a lot more powerful than they let on and I let myself get too cocky because of it. And now, I have to pay the ultimate price.
Orochimaru took his sweet time unlocking my door. I panicked thinking of all of the possible ways he could kill me. Will he torture me first? Kill me quickly? Or, kill me in a slow agonizing way? Yeah, that way sounded more like him, he wanted to make me suffer for as long as he could. Well which ever way he chose to end my life, I was going to prepare myself. I wasn't going to show him any fear.
The deafening screech of the unoiled hinges startled me from my thoughts. I watched as Orochimaru appeared to obtain an oil lamp out of nowhere at the entrance, he turned it on as bright as it could get and walked into my cell, brightly illuminating the room and causing me to squint my eyes.
I took note of his wardrobe. A silk white kimono with lavender accents hugged his skinny body nicely, whereas, I remained in the same clothes I participated in the Chuunin Exams in. Suddenly feeling self conscious, I redirected my eyes to the vine like cracks in the wall to my left.
"My dear girl," he said as he crouched in front of me. "Please enlighten me as to how you failed the simple mission I entrusted you with."
I gulped feeling uncharacteristically nervous. What was I supposed to say? That those Konoha freaks were too much for us? We went through years of torturous training, were physically enhanced, and we had more experience as shinobi than they did. And if those rumors I heard were true, those guys were fresh out of the academy, which made everything much worse. All things considered, there's nothing I can say to redeem myself for my failure.
"I have nothing to say Lord Orochimaru. I do not wish to waste anymore of your time by making excuses. I apologize for failing you, my lord." Giving up on any hope of survival, I bowed my head in shame. There is nothing I can do now. My time was up.
Wordlessly unlocking the shackles that bonded my body, Orochimaru elegantly stood up. "Come." He said.
With slight hesitation I did what I was told, walking only a few feet behind him. We walked for what it seemed like hours in silence past cells identical to my own. By this point, my nervousness was eating every bit of my insides. Where was he taking me? To his secret torture chamber perhaps? Or did he have a room full of hungry snakes to eat me alive? "No no. I change my mind, I don't what to die. There's still so much I haven't done yet" I thought to myself. Maybe just maybe I could make a run for it? Yeah. When he least expects it... But where will I go? I wouldn't be able to find the exit because everything looks exactly the same. Oh yeah, and he's some sort of powerful legendary ninja. There's no way in hell I could get away. Shit!
Without warning, Orochimaru came to a sudden stop. Thankfully I managed not run into his backside in my distracted state.
"Here is where you will stay for the night." He said holding the lamp to illuminate the closed door. "Expect my presence early tomorrow morning, we will discuss your punishment then."
"M-my punishment?" I asked, though I didn't mean to.
"Exactly, I no longer have any use for you" he smiled, "Kabuto will be here shortly to get things started for me. Until then, reflect on your failures. I'm certain there are a lot for you to think about."
Feeling my heart drop to the pit of my stomach I mindlessly walked passed the door Orochimaru held open for me. After he closed and locked the steel door, I couldn't help but stare at it. He really was going to kill me. A part of me, even if it was small, hoped that he would at least forgive me and spare my life. Now I was certain of my imminent demise. Tears began forming in my eyes as I thought about how he could so easily take my life without the slightest feeling of remorse. How could he after all we've been through? How could he do something like this to me?
"The hell are you crying for, that's not going to help anything?"
I turned and looked up through my watery eyes and saw Zaku sitting in a corner, arms still wrapped in bandages.
"I'm not crying asshole!" I yelled even though I was very happy to see him. Zaku and I haven't had the greatest relationship in the world. We argued worse than a married couple and we would get into physical altercations over the smallest things. Even so, I still consider Zaku as a brother no matter the ill feelings he has towards me.
"Yelling at her isn't going to help things either." A different voice spoke up.
"Dosu?" I could barely contain my joy seeing the both of them alive, though I managed to keep a straight face. I was sure they were already dead. "Well, at least I have a chance at survival now." I thought glady.
"We must find a way to get out of here before Orochimaru's henchman comes." Dosu has always been the mediator of the group. He was also, admittedly, the smartest one of our group, he always found a way to get us out of a sticky situation.
"Fuck off, Dosu! There's nothing we can do, were gonna fucking die here!" My eyes shifted from Dosu and landed on Zaku. Why the hell was he acting this way? Didn't he want to live?
"What the hell is wrong with you, Zaku?" I yelled. "Don't you want to get out of here?!"
No response came from him. What the hell was going on?
"...Zaku, I-" Before I had a chance to finish, Zaku interrupted me.
"Look at me, My arms are fucked up," Zaku turned to look at me with sullen eyes. "I overheard the doctors talking. I'm fucked! I'll never be of use to anyone anymore! What's the point of living now that I'm so useless again?"
Again? My heart ached upon hearing his words. Never have I seen Zaku so broken, he was always so strong willed and very confident. But now...
"I don't care whether I die or not."
I turned to Dosu for help. Was he really going to just stand there and listen to Zaku speak such nonsense?
Taking a deep breath, Dosu took a quick glance in my direction and turned his attention to Zaku.
"Zaku listen to me" Dosu said with a soft voice. I've never heard him speak so kindly to anyone before, "I realize that your condition had rendered you unable to perform even the simplest of tasks. And yes, perhaps you may no longer be able to be a shinobi, but is that a justifiable reason to abandon all hope on life?"
"For me it is..." Zaku answered barely audible
"Have you forgotten the reason why you became a shinobi?"
Zaku slowly turned his head towards Dosu but didn't answer, so Dosu decided to answer for him. "You became a shinobi because you were alone and weak. You had no one. No one to love you and no one to care for you. When Orochimaru approached you, you felt as if someone finally saw you as more than a failure. But now I am certain that you realize that Orochimaru never saw any sort of potential in you. He saw you as nothing more than a pawn." Dosu said, without so much as missing a beat.
"Gee, thanks." Zaku said, turning his head away.
"I'm not finished. Orochimaru may not care for you..." Dosu paused and got into Zaku's line of vision. "But Kin and I certainly do. Whether you like it or not. You are our friend, and you will always be of use to us."
Zaku stared at Dosu. Not moving, not saying anything. After a few moments of silence tears began forming in Zaku's eyes. Just then a smack echoed in the closed room.
"Save it for later Zaku. We have to find a way out of here."
"Did you.. did you just fucking slap me you asshole?" Zaku yelled, returning to his normal self. "When we get out of here, you're gonna pay for that." Zaku smiled as he struggled to stand up. Striding over to him, I held his waist and I helped him stand up, giving him a smile of my own.
"Crippled much?" I asked knowing it'll get on his nerves
"Shut up Kin!" He yelled snatching himself away from my arms. Zaku staggered over to Dosu. His arms probably still caused him a great deal of pain.
"So.. how're we gettin' outta here?"
I hoped you all liked the first chapter. I worked pret-ty darn hard on it, so if I left any errors behind, I would appreciate it if they were brought to my attention. So criticism is welcome. Also, if you haven't already noticed, I am making history by making this the first KibaXKin ever! They're my favorite male and female characters, so why not?! Oh, and it's rated M so hopefully you know what that means ;). And finally, depending upon this fic's popularity I plan on making this fic go from the Sasuke retrieval arc aalll the way to the war. So yeah, this is going to be long. Thanks for reading and/or reviewing!
-Floral Summit
