A summer's day. Warm and inviting. There, a young Junko, no older than nine, sat beside the pond with bread in her hand for the turtlesducks. In her lap, sat a golden-haired girl of four years named Chika. Chika was helping Junko break up the bread and throw it into the water. The sisters were playing a game to see who could get the turtleducks to come the closest. As she was about to throw a piece into the water, Junko felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey Junko!" A voice said.

Junko turned to see one of her best friends, Zuko, standing behind her. He waved as she stood up.

"Zuko, I'm glad to see you're back!"

"Yeah, Dad made me perform a form for him again."

"Oh no, how did it go?"

"Probably badly." Chika said.

"Chika," Junko chided, "Maybe it went better this time, you don't know"

"No, Chika's right. It was awful. Azula did better, as she always does."

"You just need more practice. We'll work on it later." Junko said as she rested her hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks. But for now, let's meet up with Jin. He's probably almost done with his tutor."

The three made their way to Jin's family's room in the palace, a small room in comparison to the rest, but still had plenty of space for Jin, his four siblings, and his parents. Jin's tutor was just leaving when the two arrived. Jin greeted them.

"Junko! Zuko! Chika! Hi!" Jin said as he waved enthusiastically.

"Hey Jin," Zuko said, "Want to go to the docks?"

"I don't know… I have a lot of homework" Jin said.

"You can do your homework anytime!" Zuko said.

"Come on, Jin. Please!" Chika begged.

Jin smiled, "Ok fine."

So, the four went to the docks, where they played amongst the battle ships as they usually did. All was going well. Then, as they were playing, Zuko bumped into a man. A tall man with bushy muttonchops and a stern look. He looked up to see who it was.

"Sorry, sir." Zuko said.

"Humph." The man responded. Then he saw the two girls Zuko was with. "Junko, Chika!"

"Daddy!" The girls said and they ran up to hug their father. The man picked them up and held them, one on each arm.

"How are my flowers doing today? I hope you helped Mother out with the shopping like she asked you to."

"Oh, yes Daddy we did," Junko assured him, "I helped hold the melons and Chika held on to the basket with all the berries in it."

"Did you Chika?" The man asked.

"It wasn't hard." Chika said.

"Well, it was still appreciated, Chika." Junko said.

"Yes, very much so. Thank you, Chika." The man said.

"Whatever." Chika said.

"Hello, Commander Zhao." Jin said from below.

The man named Zhao put down his daughters and offered the little Jin his hand. "Hello, son. How are you?"

"Well, sir. Thank you for asking. And yourself?"

"Quite well, thank you Jin."

"Uh, The weather is nice today, huh?" Said Zuko, trying to engage with Commander Zhao.

"Very." Zhao said coldly.

"Daddy, can we go on your ship?" Junko asked.

"Yes, Daddy, please!" Chika added.

Zhao thought for a moment, "Very well, but only for a little bit."

"Thank you, Daddy!" The girls said as they hugged their father again. Then the Commander and the children ran to his boat. The children admired everything about the boat, especially the cannons. Junko stood at the helm and looked at the sky. It was a clear, blue color with only a few fluffy, white clouds in the sky. But suddenly, the sky started to change. It turned from blue to grey to black, and rain began to pour, at first lightly, and then it began to torrent down like knitting needles falling from the sky. Junko was suddenly seven years older in her lieutenant's uniform. She was on a boat in the middle of the sea, which was rocking violently in the dangerously high waves.

"Lieutenant Junko!" cried her first mate, Souma, "Look out!"

Suddenly a giant wave crashed upon her. She was swept up in it, thrown back and forth with the force of the water. She couldn't see. She couldn't breathe. The world became dark.

Junko awoke. She was back in her cell. She sat upright. How she missed her childhood days, before her father was gone, before Zuko was banished, before she had become lost. She wondered if she would see her sister, her mother, or her friends ever again.

Just then, Orochimaru and Kabuto arrived at her cell.

"Did you sleep well, Junko?" Orochimaru asked, "You took quite a long rest."

Junko looked at them, but said nothing.

"You are the quiet type, hm? No matter, we know how to get you to talk." Orochimaru grinned an evil smile. "Come, it's time for part two."

Kabuto unlocked her cell, and approached her. Junko stepped back into a fighting stance. She sent a fireball in Kabuto's direction, who dodged the attack. He ran behind Junko and wrapped his arm around her throat. Junko burnt his arm with her hand, and he let her go. She tried to run out of the cell, but Orochimaru stepped in front of her. She tried to strike him with a fire blast, but he pushed her arm out of the way. He punched her in the stomach. The blow left her completely winded and she gasped for air. Before she could recover, Orochimaru kicked her in the face. She went flying into the wall. She crumpled on the floor. Orochimaru walked over to her and grabbed her hair. He pulled her up by her hair and leaned down to look her in her eyes.

"Now, are we going to behave?" He asked coyly

Junko glared at Orochimaru. She turned her body, breaking Orochimaru's grasp and tried to send a fire blast from her foot out to him. Orochimaru dodged the attack. Junko rose to her feet and charged at Orochimaru, ready to strike him with another blast of fire. Before she could, Kabuto slammed her into the wall, and jammed a syringe into her. He pushed the contents of the syringe into her. She tried to resist, but it was too late. She began to wobble. She began to see double. She tried to aim at Orochimaru, but her vision was too blurry to make out a target. Her vision started to darken. Her world went black, and she collapsed.

Before she hit the floor, Orochimaru grabbed her, holding her by the waist. He pulled her up, noticing how her fine hair rose with her.

"She's a pain," Kabuto remarked, "Wouldn't it be easier to kill her now? She doesn't need to be alive for this part."

"Kabuto," Orochimaru said, "When you have a specimen this rare, you don't kill it. You preserve it. Her power, being able to bend. It's useful. I might try to find a way to utilize it in the future. As for her being difficult, what would be the fun if she just obeyed quietly? Come, let us begin."

"Yes, sir." Kabuto said as he went to carry Junko.

"Actually, Kabuto, I think I'll take this one."

Kabuto gave him a questioning look, "Are you sure sir?"

Orochimaru looked at Junko, "Yes."

With that, Orochimaru picked her up and carried her like a man carries his bride over the threshold. Kabuto thought that was unusual for Orochimaru, but he made no comment. He was too new to Orochimaru's service to question anything openly. The two men walked out of the cells, and into the laboratory.

When Junko awoke, she was lying on metal bed. She felt a breeze, and realized she was completely naked. She tried to cover herself, but her arms would not budge. She was not strapped down, but yet she could not move.

"What have you done to me?" She asked. At least she could still talk, she thought.

"Undressed you dear." Orochimaru said, "And it's not a bad sight either."

Both Junko and Kabuto blushed.

"Sir, I think she means why she can't move." Kabuto explained.

"Oh, yes, of course." Orochimaru said, "We gave you a paralytic. You won't be going anywhere for a while. Now, Kabuto, pass me the scalpel please."

"Yes sir," Kabuto said as he did so. Junko saw the shining blade pass over her body.

"What is that?" She asked, but received no response.

Orochimaru held her arm, and placed the scalpel on her bare skin.

"What are you doing?" She cried.

Then, he pressed it into her skin, creating the first incision.

"Ow, that hurts!"

Orochimaru began to glide the blade across her arm, vertically.

"Stop! Please stop!"

He smiled. He pushed the blade in deeper and pulled it across her arm. Junko began screaming, begging Orochimaru to stop. But he continued. Out of the corner of her tear-filled eyes, she saw what he was doing. He was opening her arm up. She began to scream ever louder, wanting to break free but unable to do so. Orochimaru took another instrument from Kabuto which helped to keep her newly slashed arm open. He examined her arm.

"Kabuto, look at this." Orochimaru said.

Kabuto walked over to him to look. A look of astonishment came across his face.

"She has an extra set of veins?" Kabuto asked.

"That's right. I'll bet you anything that's where her bending comes from. Let's see where these things go."

Orochimaru turned his attention to her stomach. Carefully, he cut into her, only deep enough to penetrate her skin, but not to damage any of her organs. The pain was excruciating and Junko's sight began to go blurry. He cut her vertically. Things began to go dark for her. As he was cutting her horizontally, she passed out.

"Aw," Orochimaru said, "I was rather enjoying myself."

"This'll make it easier," Kabuto commented, "She was giving me a headache."

The two men continued the dissection. They found an organ, just below the heart, that seemed to house her chakra, very similar to the ones ninjas had, where the veins led to. They concluded this must be where her bending abilities came from, as the chakra she stored was transmitted to her hands and feet when she bended fire. After their exploration, they closed her back up, with large scars on her torso and arm resulting from their incisions.

Junko was in the Air Nation. In the forest, there was a giant, white impression on the ground. Like someone had taken a piece of paper and laid it upon the earth. But it seemed to have depth, an unbelievable depth. Deeper than any ocean, yet, that was impossible. A great wind blew, as if this crack in the earth was swallowing it up whole. Junko tried to hold on for dear life, but the branch she was holding broke and she was sent flying into it. Then, all was white. There was no up, no down. No left, no right. Only whiteness. Then, Junko saw blues and greens. Her vision focused and she realized she was back in the forest. No, not back. The trees, they were different. And the grass, the blades were too thick to be from the Air Nation. Junko was not where she was before.

Junko awoke in the middle of an empty room. She was getting weary of waking up in strange places. As she stood up, she heard Orochimaru's voice.

"Junko, welcome back." He said.

Junko looked around to see where the sound was coming from, but she was alone.

"I hope you're well-rested." He said again.

Junko then saw where it came from. There was a small box in the room in which the sound was emitting from. She looked at it curiously.

"Ah, I see you figured how the microphone works. One less thing to have to explain to you. Now, shall we begin?"

As he said this, a wall opened up. Behind it, were five vicious looking men, all dressed in rags. They stared and Junko.

"Gentlemen, if you can kill this girl, I'll let you and your families go free. If you fail, I shall kill them all. Your choice."

The men looked at Junko. Then they looked at each other. They slowly began to walk towards Junko. Junko stepped back.

"Wait, we don't have to do this." She said, but it was too late. The men were already charging at her. She blasted the one in the center with a fire ball, and he fell down. The men stopped for a second. They gawked at Junko's abilities. They had never seen a person who used jutsu without the hand symbols before. But that didn't matter to them. They had to free their families, through any means necessary. They charged at Junko again.

One by one, Junko picked them off. Ducking one attack, while kicking someone else. Blasting one person in the chest with fire from her hands. Using her fire to create temporary shield around her, burning the men in the process. Eventually, she defeated them all, each lying on the ground.

"You … bitch!" One stuttered, "You've killed our families. You've killed them all!"

Junko stared at him. Surely Orochimaru wouldn't kill these men's families. But, after everything he had done, she knew deep down she couldn't put it against him.

"Remarkable," Orochimaru said, "Such power in such a small body."

He was in the room now. He stepped over the men's bodies towards Junko. Junko took a step away from him, but Orochimaru grabbed her arm and pulled her close.

"Yes, I think you will do nicely." He said. With that, his neck began to extend. Junko was too shocked to run. He reached his head to her neck, still holding on to her arm. He gently licked her neck before biting into it. Junko grabbed his head, trying to pull it off of her. She felt pain shooting from her neck from where he was biting her, like the spreading of venom from a snake bite. He finished his bite and let her go. She immediately fell to her knees as she grasped her neck.

Orochimaru laughed, "It's quite all right my dear. The pain will subside. Eventually."

But Junko did not hear him. She was seeing stars. Suddenly she was on the ground, convulsing. Foam spouted from her mouth. Surprised, Orochimaru bent over her.

"Kabuto, bring a stretcher. She's having a seizure."

Kabuto came in with the stretcher, "A seizure? It's unusual for that to happen when receiving the Curse Mark. But then again, I guess these are unusual circumstances."

"She's full of surprises, this one." Orochimaru commented.

Kabuto picked her up, and placed her on the stretcher, taking care place her sideways so she wouldn't choke on her tongue. She continued to convulse.

"I have a feeling we're going to be having fun with this one for a long time," Orochimaru said as he laughed. "Kabuto, after you finish with her, be sure to eliminate these wastes of space and their families."

"Yes sir." Kabuto said, as he wheeled her out.

Orochimaru remained behind. What fun he was having! First, he finds a real, life bending girl, a thing of myth and legend now suddenly real. Then he was able to extract information from her about her world and about her biology. Now, when he tried to give her the curse mark, she had a violently negative reaction to it. She was inherently interesting to Orochimaru, and he was excited to see where she would take him next. He exited the room, leaving the doomed men alone to think about their fate and the fate of their loved ones.