Warning: There is a kind of graphic, violent flash back in this chapter.
The sun peeked through the heavy curtains making my face extremely warm. I groan and cover my face with the pillow, attempting to fall back asleep. However, before I can even close my eyes again the pillow is ripped out of my hands and off my face. I sit up startled and look around tiredly.
Ino is standing next to the bed, fully clothed and ready for the day, one hand on her hip, the other holding my pillow. I try to glare her away but she just shakes her head before throwing the pillow back towards me.
"Wake up and get ready if you want to come to breakfast with us, Choji is throwing a fit." She says, walking into the bathroom and putting her hair up.
Sitting up, I walk over to the dresser and pull out my usual outfit before walking into the bathroom as well, "Choji?" I question.
"Oh, he's one of my teammates; he's a bit obsessed with food. Also, whatever you do, do not call him fat."
"No worries, I'm not one to go throwing out insults." I say as I finish getting dressed by pulling my arms into the sleeves of my leather jacket. Ino turns and gives me a once over, stopping at my hair.
"Can I do your hair today?" She asks; I can see the excitement sparkling in her eyes.
I am a little hesitant, I have never been around another girl really, nor do I usually care about the state of my hair, I usually just wear it down or in a ponytail to get it out of the way. The concept of doing ones hair just for fun confuses me really. I give in though, the excitement in her eyes making me cave, "Sure" I say simply and she practically squeals in excitement, making me flinch slightly.
"Okay, sit on the edge of the bathtub with your feet inside the tub."
I do as told; I can still feel a bit of wetness from what I am guessing was Ino's shower this morning. I feel as she starts to softly brush my hair, she sections a small piece from the side and pushes my bangs forwards. I feel her start to braid my hair before stopping and grabbing all the hair on the other side of my head, twisting a few times before connecting the unbraided part of the other side with the end of the twisted part and tying them together. She brushes my bangs back towards my ear again and letting all the loose hair fan down my back and over my left shoulder.
"There, all done." Seconds after she says that, there is a knock on the door.
"Coming," Ino yells before turning to me, "Let's go." She smiles at me before turning on her heel and heading towards the door.
I walk out to see an older man with a beard and side burns talking with Ino, I notice he is wearing a leaf headband, meaning that Ino is also from the leaf. I scan her over as she turns to me and notice the band around her waist. I feel dumb for not noticing before; I also panic a little, even though they have no idea who I am, I know about their village, I know and worked with some of their biggest rouge ninja. Even though deep down I really wish I could belong to a village, I know that if they knew of my past and where I came from, all that would happen is I would get questioned and interrogated for information, most of which I really don't have and then either kicked out or locked up.
"Ready?" Ino questions, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Oh yeah, I just need to grab my things, since I don't plan on coming back here." I say and they nod.
I grab my bag and put it on the bed before getting on my knees and grabbing the katanas. I stand and strap the holster to my back. Turning, I see both the older man and Ino a little on guard. I sigh, I know we just met, but the complete lack in distrust rather annoys me. I grab the bag and make my way towards them.
"Ready." I say, they nod and I follow them out the door after slipping my shoes on.
"Oh, Kai, this is my sensei, Asuma. Sensei, this is Kai, we ended up sharing a room last night."
Asuma smiles at me, "So Kai, what village are you from." Ino winces.
"I don't belong to any village…" I pause, looking at my feet, "I never have."
"Oh, where did you learn your skills then?" He asks, Ino looks interested in this as well.
I bite my lip, putting on a depressed expression, "It's a long story. One I rather not get into."
"I see." He looks at me out of the corner of his eye. I can't tell if he is suspicious or concerned, but I know it is one of the two.
Once inside the breakfast café, I order broiled fish and Tamagoyaki with an unsweetened green tea. I have to hold my tongue in order not to comment on the large amount of food Choji has ordered, based on Ino's warning not to call him fat. He seems like a really sweet guy though, so I guess that makes up for it. I wonder if his weight gets in the way of his shinobi life.
"Sensei, where is Shikamaru?" Choji asks with a mouth full of food.
Ino glares at him, "Don't talk with your mouth full!"
"He is on his way; he was being a little extra lazy this morning. I think he may be a bit exhausted from the long trip yesterday."
"Isn't being lazy a rather bad quality for a shinobi?" I question before taking a small sip of my green tea.
"Well, that'd be the case for anyone else really, but you'd be surprise at what Shikamaru can do with how lazy that boy is."
"Oh well—"
I'm interrupted by Choji, once again talking with a full mouth, "Speaking of the devil; Hey, Shikamaru, over here!"
I look up to see him, and I feel as if my heart has shot up into my throat, my stomach flips and I feel panicked. His posture is atrocious, it's like he is leaning against an invisible wall and he yaws so big I slightly fear his jaw will dislocate, he also poorly covers his mouth. However, it suits him perfectly. He seems so calm and collected, and just so comfortable in his own skin.
He sits down next to Choji and looks me straight in the eyes, raising one eyebrow in confusion. He looks at Asuma, points at me and asks, "Who's this?"
Ino rolls her eyes, "Way to come off as rude Shikamaru."
"This is Kaiko, though she likes to be called Kai. Ino shared a room with her last night and invited her to have breakfast with us." Asuma says before sticking a cigarette in his mouth and lighting the end with a Zippo.
"Oh, nice to meet you." He smiles lazily at me, I freeze and end up just staring at him for a minute straight before finally Ino clears her throat and gives me a questioning look.
"O-oh, sorry, I…erm, I kind of spaced out. I a-apologize, nicetomeetyoutoo." I finish talking a little too fast and laugh nervously, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly.
He gives an awkward laugh in return and waves his hand back and fourth in front of his face, "That's alright."
He starts to order something and I attempt to avoid any further eye contact as I fiddle with my tea cup silently. Finally Choji puts down the food for a few minutes in order to talk seriously.
"So, sensei, when do we start with the mission?" He asks, his entire outer appearance seeming to change, making him look a bit more mature than the Choji I saw just a few seconds ago.
Asuma looks at me quickly with a cautioned look in his eyes, obviously still weary about talking about such matters in front of me. I give him an innocent smile in attempt to calm his nerves, really what use would I have in ruining their mission? He looks away, looking less cautious but not entirely trusting.
"Pretty soon, we are supposed to meet with the person who hired us in about two hours." He says, taking a short puff of the cigarette between his teeth.
A little curious I let the question slip out before I can even stop myself, "Ino said you were on an undercover mission, is it really okay for you to talk about this in front of me?" They all seem a bit surprised by my question but Asuma laughs lightly.
"Well, not unless you're secretly the enemy."
"Oh, no, I'm not your enemy, it's just that… I thought you guys would be a bit more secretive than this."
"I wouldn't say anything of importance in front of you, no offence; we just don't know you well enough. That said, I really don't feel as though you are a threat to us or our mission." Asuma smiles again, his smile is contagious and I can't help but very lightly smile in return.
"Well, you know… I know this area well, for all you know I could really be helpful to you." I fake a laugh but quickly stop when I notice that they all seem oddly serious.
"Are you joking? Because in all honesty, this area is completely new to us and it would help us immensely to have a guide." Asuma leans in a little closer towards me.
"No, I'm not joking. I know this area like the back of my hand, I grew up here."
"Would you be willing to help us?" Shikamaru cuts in.
I blush and avoid eye contact with him but I nod, "Yeah, but I'll have to know more details."
"Right, we are to infiltrate one of the many layers of Orochimaru, he's a rouge—"
My facial features harden a bit, I look down at the table as I interrupt him, "I know who he is…" I say, not wanting to hear about him.
Asuma hesitates before clearing his throat, "Alright, so our mission objective is to locate his current hideout and recover a precious jewel that he stole from our client, it is a very valuable stone that has many minerals in it that Orochimaru could use for some of his experiments. I guess this time around he is attempting to make some sort of chemical that will assist in chakra growth in children so that they can survive his cruel experiments longer."
I think that they are waiting for me to respond, but my voice is stuck in my throat. I know where I am but all I can see is the worst experiment I ever lived there, making my skin crawl as I recall the memory.
Its dark here, and the table I am tied to is so cold against my bare skin that it burns slightly, making small parts of my skin feel numb. The restraints are so tight that the tips of my fingers are tingling and I'm starting to not be able to feel them. The door creeks open and light floods in, stinging my eyes.
At the sound of the door closing I slowly open my eyes again. I see Kabuto lighting the last candle of ten before turning to me. He smirks at me evilly, letting his eyes trail up and down my half naked body. His voice is low when he speaks and it drips with venom.
"Such beautiful skin you have Kaiko-Chan, it's such a shame I'm going to have to cut it up, but no worries, you won't feel a thing." He laughs; it feels like it is aimed towards me. His laugh his pure evil.
I panic when he walks closer, his hands glowing green, he touches me and runs his hands all over my body. I go completely numb from the neck down when he is done.
"Sorry to do this to you Kaiko-Chan, but seems Sasuke is being a bit impatient today, so I won't have anytime to ease you into the procedure. Try not to go into shock, okay?" I can tell he isn't sorry at all.
My heart is racing and all I can do is watch as he grabs a small surgical knife from the small silver table next to the metal exam table I lay on. I want to look away as he digs into my skin but my eyes are glued to the scene. My breathing quickens and I start to sob, though I can't really feel the pain, my brain knows what's happening and somehow I can still feel it, like some sort of phantom pain.
"Please stop, please. Oh god, I'm scared." I cry out as I start to struggle.
He slaps me and yells, "STOP FUCKING MOVING…or it'll only get worse." He ends in a cheery tone, smiling at me.
I sob still but stop struggling as I lay helpless watching as my blood pours out of me into a round container labeled with my name and subject number. Kabuto seals the container and sets it on a shelf next to some other person's body parts. He grabs a small bottle full of purple liquid and walks back to me.
"Now this one may hurt a little." His smile grows and it creeps me out, "We know that because of your special skills, you can't receive blood transfusions, this is a little something I've been working on that makes it so when your blood is running low, your body will quickly make more blood to make up for its loss."
He opens the bottle after prying my skin apart with a clip, holding the gaping wound open. He pours the liquid into me and it burns. It burns like a chemical burn and I can't help but scream, my vision turns white before fading to black and I pass out.
I shake myself out of the flashback at the sound of Ino's voice, "Kai? Kai, are you okay?" she asks.
I smile at her and nod, "Sorry, I was just remembering something, I'm fine." I touch my side where the scar of that incident lay hidden under my clothing, "Anyways, I have a pretty good idea as to where his hideout is, and once we find it, I am pretty confident that I can get you in, but I can't promise I can get you out."
"You don't have to help us past finding the hideout, it would be unnecessary, and there is no point in getting yourself hurt, this isn't your mission." Asuma says.
"Please! Please, let me help…" I can feel tears threaten to spill from my eyes but I force them back, "It's not my mission, but I have my own personal reasons for wanting to help you. I can't stomach the idea of Orochimaru being able to do those disgusting experiments, if I can at all help hinder his work, I want to. I don't want to see others suffer the way…" I stop myself before I end up telling them my entire life story.
"I just hate Orochimaru, and I want to help you stop him, so please, let me." I finish, biting my bottom lip.
Asuma's eyes soften when he looks at me, I can tell he suspects I have some personal grudge against Orochimaru, he just can't tell what exactly. Though, I think he wants to allow me to somehow vent my hate, so he agrees with a smile, "Sure."
"Thank you." I catch Shikamaru smirking towards Asuma out of the corner of my eye. He seems amused by his kindness, but also he looks as though he admires him for it. My stomach flips as I take in his facial features and I can feel my face grow warm. I force myself to look away and towards the table again.
I don't know why I am reacting this way; I have never felt so nervous around a single person. I really can't put a name to this feeling, but somehow it feels good. Being around Shikamaru makes me feel warm.
And I find myself never wanting to part with him, not just him either. I can't help but feel a sort of safety around all of these people, and this is a feeling I think that I could get used to.
I grit my teeth and shake the thought away, I don't truly belong with these people and I after this mission I will probably never see them again. That thought makes me heart hurt and I try to shove that pain deep down inside, somewhere I can't tell it is there, but I can't and I hate it.
I hate how weak I am.
Well, I am going to end this chapter here.
Next chapter will be out next Saturday. "The Mission Begins."
Special thank you to Corta for being my first reviewer! Your review made me super happy and thank you for letting me know that you've been waiting for this chapter. It really inspired me to hurry up and write it so I could post it for you. Knowing someone is enjoying my work really helps! Please keep reading, it means a lot ^-^!