Okay, so I went and did some editing after my sister told me I shouldn't drag on in my chapters and leave the actual plot to unravel a few chapters in.
The plot will start to reveal itself from the end of this chapter onwards.
The reason I made the first few chapters unrevealing is because it was to get to understand the relationship between Sasuke and Kaiya first, and reveal certain hints along the way that will relate to the major plot.
I didn't want it to be like:
"Oh first he's guiding this girl (that he dislikes) home, and now he suddenly loves her?"
"When did this happen?"
"That part doesn't make any sense; nothing related to that was revealed earlier!"
"Since when did that happen?"
And so on and so forth.
So you see my point.
So I'm sorry if you feel that it's dragging on, but bear with me, because this story will be a great one.
P.S – 116 hits! Thank you all so much!
Enjoy.
Episode Four – FLASHBACK:
Having all parts of your body under someone else's control was a sickening feeling. How had she done it? It definitely wasn't puppetmastery, nor was it a shadow-possession jutsu. And it certainly wasn't genjutsu either. So many unanswered questions plagued Sasuke's thoughts. Sasuke definitely did not want to get on Kaiya's bad side; that jutsu's incredible power was scary enough. What more could she do if she was blind with fury?
The thought of this made Sasuke shudder a little as he and Kaiya sat around a dimly lit fire.
It was a cool night. The trees rustled softly in the cool breeze and caused the dim flames to bounce upon their faces warmly.
Kaiya sat cross-legged and fiddled with her locket as stared blankly into the fire. Sasuke had opened his rucksack and tucked into a rice bun. After finally learning what her name was, Sasuke offered her some but she rejected.
The light breeze fluttered Kaiya's hair. Her hand left her locket to brush it out of her eyes and immediately returned to the locket. She stared at the fire, deep in thought. Sasuke stared at her intently. Kaiya definitely seemed interesting to him. She was beautiful and potentially deadly; a combination that sparked his interest in her, but he just couldn't figure her out. One of the many ninja skills that are taught is to be able to figure out an encountered individual prior to the battle commencing so one would have the advantage over the other.
But, with Kaiya, he couldn't do that.
She was much herder to decipher.
"Where did you learn such a powerful jutsu?" Sasuke blurted out.
Kaiya's gaze shot back up to Sasuke's, who was still staring at her intently.
"Well, when you've been alone on the road from a young age, you…pick up a few things," she smiled, still fiddling with her locket.
Alone and on the road from a young age…?
Sasuke definitely knew that feeling all too well.
(FLASHBACK) in the form of a dream:
The sky outside was a dirty blood-red. Explosions went off all around her. Outside, she could hear the helpless screams of innocent people being captured by the army and brutally murdered. Explosion after explosion shook the house, and the tiny closet in the back of the house that she was hidden in.
"Stay hidden, sweetheart, or they'll find you!" her mother whispered as she shoved Kaiya in the tiny closet and locked the door. Kaiya protested and suggested that they run away before they could be found, but her mother wouldn't hear of it.
From the little closet, she could hear her mother sobbing loudly in the front of the shack. Another deafening explosion caused Kaiya to squeal and cup her tiny hands over her ears.
Suddenly, she heard a loud crash from the front of the house.
Kaiya wanted to spring free from the closet and help her mother, but she was forbidden to leave the closet.
Little Kaiya continued to hold her hands over her ears, shut her eyes beyond tight and silently prayed to herself that they wouldn't come into the house.
But her prayers went unanswered.
Angry, booming voices entered Kaiya's ears as the front door was bashed in. She heard the heavy footsteps of the army enter and come to a halt. She heard dark, booming voices and one small, frail, sobbing voice pleading in desperation to be spared.
"P-please… Spare us…!" the muffled, frail voice, that Kaiya knew to be her mother's, cry out. A few crashes and thumps came next. The booming voices grew louder and angrier.
"WHERE IS SHE?" one of the male voices barked. More sobbing could be heard coming from her mother. Another crash, followed by a high pitched scream caused Kaiya to cry. She was shaking violently in her little closet.
Kaiya continued to pray to a God she didn't believe in.
Another horrifying scream ripped from her mother's throat, followed by a loud thud. Then, silence. Even though she was stuck in the tiny closet, her mother's scream was crystal clear. But Kaiya knew what it meant.
Her mother was dead.
The footsteps grew fainter and fainter as they left the property.
Tears continued to pour down Kaiya's cheeks. She didn't know what to do.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps grew heavier and heavier, closer and closer. Kaiya's little heart began to race.
What? A soldier? But I thought they all left…
They came closer and closer; just on the other side of the door, then stopped.
Kaiya opened her eyes.
CRASH!
The little wooden door was bashed open and shards of piercing wood showered over her, and a big, burly hand grabbed Kaiya by the scruff of the neck and dragged her out, kicking and screaming. The soldier dragged her past the living room, and finally past the kitchen to the front of the house.
The soldier stopped, scrunched Kaiya's hair and held it up so she was staring upon her dead mother's body.
She was lying on her stomach, her body was covered in deep, dripping wounds. A pool of dark, rich red blood spooled out from underneath and continued to expand. Her mother's eyes were open, and a glassy expression was forever plastered on, but couldn't be seen as it was covered in dirt, bruises, cuts and blood. Her mother's locket was covered in blood, and had been ripped off and tossed aside.
A shriek ripped from Kaiya's tiny throat, and she began to thrash and howl in terror and sadness. She tried to break free, but the monster gripped her hair and neck tighter and tighter until she could no longer breathe.
"That's what you ugly vermin deserve!" the soldier growled, then uttered an evil, sickening laugh, as if he was getting some sort of enjoyment out of seeing a little girl, of the age of seven, being forced to look upon her mother's corpse and suffer.
The guard threw Kaiya to the floor. She scrambled to her dead mother's side and threw herself on the body, and wept.
"Mother… mother…!" she wept. Her hot tears dampened her mother's bloodied blouse. The scent of blood was piercing her nostrils.
Kaiya gasped and shot up into a sitting position, her hair flowing wildly about her face. She was surrounded by a light pinkish sky and chirping wildlife.
Her heart was beating uncontrollably. She closed her eyes, held her breath and took a few deep ones to slow her heart rate down. Her whole body was shaking like a little chihuahua.
"Nightmares…" she muttered distastefully under her breath. She raised her hand to her neck and rested her fingers on her locket. Her mother's locket.
"Hey, you okay?" a familiar voice entered broke her thoughts.
She looked up and saw Sasuke crouched beside her, his belongings already packed up.
Kaiya hated her nightmares. They were constant reminders of what she would like to forget. They filled her with sorrow and hatred; a burning hatred for what happened to her, her mother and her village all those years ago. After that day, she packed what was left of her life and left. She never returned; it was too painful; on the exception that every year on from that day, Kaiya would muster up the courage, return to her home and place flowers on the floor in the front of the house. But she had not been there for years. She missed her mother so much.
The weather had been good for most of the trip. Today was a warm day, although overcast and threatening rain. The two did not fear the rain, as they would reach their next resting place before it would pour.
Although the sun was hidden in the clouds, that didn't stop the heat from coming in. What made it worse was that there was no wind, so it was sticky and the air was extremely moist.
"You were muttering in your sleep last night," Sasuke pointed out as they strode casually on the dirt path.
Kaiya's heart skipped a beat.
"Muttering? In my sleep?" she questioned and turned to look as Sasuke as they walked.
Sasuke nodded.
"Let me guess: it was something about my mother?" Kaiya asked.
Sasuke nodded again.
"Ah, I was afraid it might've been something like that…" Kaiya responded sadly. She reached up and softly touched her locket. Her emerald eyes dimmed in sadness as her gaze shifted away from Sasuke's, her black hair falling to shroud her expression from Sasuke's view.
"What happened to her?" Sasuke asked cautiously, hoping not to hit a raw nerve.
"She was murdered," Kaiya responded flatly.
"Ah… I understand."
"Understand? How could you possibly understand any of it?" Kaiya snapped.
The images of his dead parents flooded back into Sasuke's mind like a horrifying slideshow. There, on the hardwood floor they lay, dead; killed by his only brother, Itachi. His hatred began to simmer within him as he remembered his brother's menacing words of raw truth. Then, the sadness flowed back like waves on the beach. How he, too, missed his parents so much.
"Both of my parents were murdered," he snapped back.
Kaiya immediately looked up at Sasuke, who was glaring at her.
"Oh shit, Sasuke… I'm so sorry! I had no idea…"
He held up his hand to silence her. "Don't worry about it."
"Well, at least we have one thing in common," Kaiya said, half-heartedly.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Throughout the trip, Sasuke had grown very fond of Kaiya. He liked her smile, and saw joy in her when he made her laugh. He loved watching her eyes light up and sparkle all the time. They could chat easily, and had a lot more in common they each realized.
After eating, they unrolled their sleeping bags and prepared for sleep.
The fire was dim, but it lit up the cave-mouth nicely. It provided a warm glow in the cool night.
Kaiya had receded into her sleeping bag in a sitting position. Sasuke just stared at her.
"Sasuke, why are you staring at me?"
He must not have realized he was staring, so he quickly shifted his gaze to the fire, his cheeks turning a light pink; good for Sasuke, she didn't see him blush.
She giggled and began to fiddle with her necklace, staring into the fire too.
Sasuke had noticed this habit of hers a lot, and questioned her about it.
"Oh, this? It was my mothers," she said, smiling warmly to herself. Sasuke knew that she was reminiscing about her.
"But it's the only thing I have left of her," she said, her smile fading, her eyes meeting Sasuke's eyes.
Again, Sasuke could relate to her. Although, Sasuke had nothing to remind him of his parents; no tiny object representing love and care, no specific item of. He envied her for that.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Sasuke, HELLLLP!"
Sasuke jolted from his slumber and leapt to his feet, his eyes wide in panic. Again, Kaiya shrieked in terror.
Where is she?
Again, another sickening shriek pierced the air. Sasuke grabbed his sword and followed Kaiya's howls of terror, leaving everything behind.
Sasuke arrived at a clearing where he heard her screams to be at their loudest. Suddenly, they stopped. The atmosphere became eerily silent. Her screams had ceased. Sasuke became worried.
"Kaiya! Where are you?" he shouted into the air.
No response, except for a flock of birds fleeing the treetops in fear from Sasuke's loud call.
Sasuke drew his sword.
"KAIYA?"
Still nothing.
A faint scream, like a bomb dropping to the earth's surface, grew louder as Kaiya came shooting down from the sky like a skydiver with no parachute. Her body pierced the air, and her scream cut short as she hit the ground. Hard.
She didn't move.
"Kaiya!" Sasuke rushed to her side. She was beaten and bloody. Her eyes were closed. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.
Sasuke slid his hands under her and lifted her up slightly. She was slipping in and out of consciousness. He ran his eyes up and down her body, his panic rising with every passing second.
Who could have done this?
Sasuke picked her up and leapt to a huge tree limb a few feet up and rested her against the massive trunk. Before he could administer help, a huge beastlike creature crashed into the tree and shattered the tree, as if it were a mere stick.
Kaiya and Sasuke were blown apart from each other. Kaiya landed on the ground several hundred meters away, while Sasuke had managed to catch a look at the monster.
His heart sank.
He recognized this beast.
He recognized its familiar scales.
Its familiar purple scales.
Its long, winding body.
Its piercing, yellow eyes.
Its gleaming fangs.
But… how can that be? Why is he here?
Suddenly remembering the beast was still there, it jumped at Sasuke and bared its long, ivory fangs in attack.
Sasuke grabbed and swung his sword at the snake again and again. He missed. He hit. He hit. He missed.
With no further avail, Sasuke slid his sword into its case and conjured his most favourite handsigns.
"Fire Style, Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Sudden bursts of hot, orange fireballs covered the huge beast. It hissed angrily and flicked its giant, thick, muscly tail to Sasuke's left. He leapt into the air and repeated the jutsu.
But before Sasuke could fully execute his jutsu, the snake backed off, turned and slithered away.
Dumbfounded, and stubborn as usual, Sasuke chased after the beast, determined as to either why it had found its way here from wherever Orochimaru was, or, why Orochimaru himself was here.
Something wasn't right.
The beast didn't travel far. It exploded into a puff of white smoke near where Kaiya had landed.
As the cloud of smoke faded, a figure stood in its place.
Staring back at Sasuke were those piercing yellow eyes and pale purple skin, surrounded by all that long, greyish-black hair, and that creepy smirk.
Sasuke's eyes widened in horror, and his mouth gaped slightly.
"Sasuke, my dear boy," that deep, crackly voice hissed. "I'm afraid that your time is up."
First off, I apologize if this chapter was too long, but as I mentioned earlier, I was advised to not let this drag on another minute longer, and to get straight to the point.
So, as you should already know, it was you-know-who that appeared infront of Sasuke.
Getting interesting, huh?
It better be…
So read on and find out why he is here, why Sasuke's time is 'up', and what he is after…
PLEASE NOTE: Kaiya's flashback/dream was only supposed to last for no more than 30 seconds, as if you were actually watching this as a Naruto Episode.
Oh, and please review. I need at least one to post the next chapter :)
Peace, xx