Amanda slipped on the black ceremonial robe. She pulled her hair back into a high bun, held by a amber and red ponytail holder. There was a small knock on her room. "Come in." She said, as she put the finishing touches on her long black hair. Sasuke entered. He bowed, then kneeled on one knee.
"Amanda-sama, they are all waiting for you as promised."
Amanda nodded. "Thank you Sasuke, you may join them." He bowed again, before exiting the room. Amanda stood regally, before gliding out of the door, into the meeting room. The other people in the room stood and bowed, before taking their seats once again. Amanda strode towards the head of the room, and took her seat. Around her, there was a crescent shaped table. On the far right sat Sasuke. Next to him sat Neji, and then Shino. Next to Shino Dru sat, and then an empty seat. That was for when Rachel one day joined the coven.
Amanda made the tiger hand seal slowly and calmly. Shino and Neji flinched involuntarily. The torches in the room lit up. "Thank you for joining me here today. We have a few matters of business to be settled that could not wait for our monthly official meeting. Everyone is here? Good."
The group watched attentively as Amanda spoke. None of them would ever admit it, but in a way each of them were scared of her. They respected her immensely, but that could not stop the nagging fear. She did not mind pain, and she talked about it like it was a friend. Death did not bother her, and the shadows accompanied her everywhere she went. They had more loyalty to her then the kage though, and that was a feat. They all had some sort of story that went with why they were part of the group. Sasuke was an orphan, the only living survivor of his clan's massacre. He dreamed of killing his brother, and he believed that Amanda could help get him the power to do just that. Shino was an outcast, not being very social at all. He wanted to impress his parents, and his only friends were the bugs that dwelled inside him. With Amanda as a leader, it gave him human interaction. He could relate with the other members of the group. Dru was an orphan, living on the streets at one time. One night, Amanda found her, and picked her up off the streets. She agreed to take her as an apprentice. She honestly believes that if she has any chance in life, it is with Amanda. Neji wanted to prove that a branch family member could beat a main member of the Hyuuga clan. He thought the best way to do this, is by gaining power. He had heard the rumors of the powerful Amanda and her group, and set out to find them. It had taken him four months of hunting to find them. He wouldn't had ever found them though, if they did not want to be found. No, instead Amanda revealed her existence to him, and asked him why he was hunting her down. That was the one moment in his life he felt more scared than any other moment. He still had haunting nightmares about her appearing in front of him, like a shadow. No, Amanda would never be found by anyone if she did not want to be found.
Amanda continued. "Would Neji Hyuuga stand up?" Neji felt his heart almost stop. He got intensely nervous. His heart started to pound in his chest and he felt sick. He nervously did as she said. Amanda continued once more "Mr. Hyuuga, you have asked to join the fold, and I have considered. I will allow you to join, if you wish it. There is no backing out after you have joined, and so choose carefully. Do you wish to join?"
His throat got dry, and it felt like his heart was beating so fast that it was going to break his chest. He swallowed. Was this a good as idea as he had originally thought? He saw the others loyalty to Amanda, following her without question. Was he ready to follow her as they did? He swallowed once more, and summoned up the courage to speak.
"Yes, I wish to join the fold."
Amanda stood up. "Please come forward."
Neji felt faint as he started to walk to the head of the room. He was the newest addition, so he had never seen an initiation. He did not know what was going to happen next. He felt sick, and he was almost scared to death. What was wrong with him? He was never scared , that wasn't him. But, her. She made him scared, terrified out of his mind. He approached her. She spoke.
"Neji of the Hyugga clan, I give you my blessing, and the blessing of the fold. May Jashin protect you, and the gods follow you. May you see with clarity, may you hear with perfection, may you sense with lucidness..." She touched his eyes, nose, and mouth every time she said the sense. Her finger had a bit of her blood on it. He realized she was drawing a cross on his face in blood. She continued to speak, but gradually drifted into another language. He felt it then. Every sense of his boomed with feeling. He could see the small intricate criss-cross patterns sown into her robe, the tiny hairline cracks on the wall. He was almost blown back with the barrage of smells that washed over him. The earthy smell of the room, the burning fire in the torches. Amanda herself smelled naturally sweet, floral like herbs. But, with her scent there was also blood and despair, two things he thought did not have a scent before. He could feel the chakra of the people in the room, like he was using his byakkugan. The chakra that Amanda had was awesome, scary even. He could hear the crackling fire, the breathing of people in the room, the deep morbid chanting of Amanda in some unknown language. All of his senses heightened extremely, to the point where it hurt. He forced his eyes open to see Amanda's eyes. They were blood red. Not her normal coal black, but shimmering red. She brought a single finger down the side of his cheek. It might once have tickled, but it scared him more than anything else. Her touch caused an involuntary shiver, and the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. He wanted to run, he wanted to scream, but he stood memorized by Amanda's eyes. She was beautiful, he knew that from the start, but this was insane. Her long black hair brought out her flawless skin. The robe looked good on her, and it made her eyes shine out like two fiery orbs. He felt Amanda's touch brush his eyebrow, and he suddenly realized where he was. Something was wrong, he could feel it. He thought he wanted to run before, but that was nothing compared to this. He felt like he needed to get as far away as possible, hide in a corner until he was sure that Amanda was gone. He felt goosebumps on his body, like tiny pinpricks. It tickled him, the one touch to his eyebrow. But, it was more like the feeling something bad was going to happen. He looked into Amanda's eyes in pure terror. Her hand moved up to his bare forehead. Three fingers touched his forehead gently. He could sense chakra. "Welcome to the fold." She said softly in his ear so no one could hear, and then the pain came. He crumpled to the ground screaming as the agonizing pain came. It felt like he was being washed in fire, it came to every inch of his body. A green mark appeared on his forehead, glowing slightly. It looked like a X . On both sides of the mark were a line, with hooked ends facing the X. Neji clutched his head and screamed again, before his screams eventually subsided, and he was left unconscious.
Amanda paid no attention to the boy in pain, and did not blink at his screams. "Alright, the second order of business."