Part 9
They moved quickly past some small towns, and minor forests. Orochimaru forced them to move extremely fast, so they hardly spent more than 2 hours in each town they went through. When night came, they'd rest for a couple of hours and then continue on their journey. Everytime they stopped traveling, Orochimaru would pull Sasuke aside to teach him new jutsus that he felt Sasuke would be ready for. Kana, on the other hand, would always find a small body of water to meditate and train in alone. Whenever she stood on the crystal clear surface of the water and focused her chakra to flow through every vein, the feeling felt extremely familiar. It was like she had done this before.
Kabuto would venture out to tell her that they were on the move again, and Kana would quickly step onto the steady land and follow him to where they had camped.
After 3 long tiring days, they had finally arrived at the base Orochimaru wanted to stay at. It was a large base, bigger than the one they had been living in and they could see many of Orochimaru's "subordinates" mope around with heavy burden. Sasuke breathed out in relief, but quietly so no one could here. He glanced at the pale porcelain girl standing beside her and felt a pang of jealousy when he saw that she wasn't panting, although she was sweating a little bit from some chakra depletion.
As they neared, a red-headed girl with glasses appeared and bowed before Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-sama. Welcome. It's good to see you again." She raised her head from the bow, with a slight frown puckered at his forehead.
Orochimaru, however, smiled, and said, "I'm not surprised that you came out to meet us. How goes your honing of your skills?" Karin bowed her head again slightly and said, "They are getting along." Orochimaru ordered Karin to direct Kana and Sasuke to the rooms where they would be staying in. Without complaining they followed her lead into the East Wing of the building, and Orochimaru and Kabuto preceded on their own.
Karin walked with a proud kind of character of where she held a high chin and a stubborn line on her brow. When she spoke she spoke very haughtily, "Ne, what is your name?" At first, Kana didn't answer (not knowing the question was being directed at her), and Sasuke wasn't even listening any way. "Oi! Bich! I'm talking to you!"
The pale girl realized that the other loud girl was really talking to her. But she pretended not to be surprised. Still looking straight foreword, and never looking anywhere else, she said, "This bich is called Kana." Karin never expected this comeback and was infuriated by the guts of this new girl. Sasuke hid an amused smirk and snicker. Even though Kana hardly showed any emotion, she could be funny and stunning at the same time. He could see the effects of that "funny and stunning" on Karin as she began to boil.
Her mouth opened to bark something back, but Kana spoke first. "But then if this bich is Kana, then Karin-san must be something, am I correct?" Sasuke covered his mouth and turned his head to hold back his laugh. Karin's face was priceless.
Karin's fury and fist lashed it, but Kana caught it easily and said, "If you could just direct me to my room, I can find it on my own."
Taking her hand from Kana's grip, she forced herself to calm down and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, a forced fake smile replaced the gritted frown she had a moment before. She shook her head, declining Kana's suggestion. "I can't. I have to explain some forbidden places around here anyway." So they continued their way, and Kana named the purposes of some sections of the building. She stopped walking, and so did Kana and Sasuke. "The most important rule, though, is to never go into the North Wing. And you have no reason to know why." She shot a glare at Kana and escorted her to her room.
Sasuke's room was next. As they walked, Karin couldn't restrain her wandering eyes, and found her entranced by this beautiful figure before her. Discreetly, she edged her way closer to Sasuke, him not noticing at all. She opened the door to his room, and gave him a seductive smile. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he had a feeling that he hadn't escaped his fangirls yet.
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The next morning, Kana awoke early before the sun had even peeked from behind the night's cloak. Throwing her covers aside, she sat beside the tiny window in her room. She stared at the night sky and found nothing: no stars, no moon, no light. She stood and fumbled for a candle but when she couldn't find a match, she found that she had been sucked into darkness. She couldn't see the light. Then Kana was standing in a strange heavy liquid. It smelled like metal…then something jerked in her mind, and she dipped her hand in the liquid. When she raised it, she saw that it was blood. Faces began rising and the first one she saw was…
Kana snapped awake in her bed and found her panting. Unconsciously, a hand found it's way up to her face and her panting seized, and she calmed. She turned her head and stared out the window and saw that the sun was slowly rising, bleeding its colors into the black sky. She had never had a nightmare before, but what confused her most was why it scared her so much to see Sasuke's face in that pool of blood.
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Orochimaru couldn't train with Sasuke because he had some experiments to catch up on that he could only do in this base. As always then, he turned to Kana to help him. So Sasuke, with his sword at his side, was on his way to Kana's room to ask her to help him train, when a familiar red head appeared before him when he was about to knock on her door.
"Oh, ohayo, Sasuke! What are you doing?"
"Hn." Sasuke turned his head away. The way this girl was all over him disgusted him.
A frown covered her face, and for a moment she seemed to revert to her normal proud stuck up self. But then she forced it away and forced on a "loving cute" face, if that were possible. "Come on, Sasuke!" She wrapped an arm arund his arm and went all clingy.
Wrenching his arm free of her, he turned to continue knocking on Kana's door, when he found it open with the lost Hyuuga standing in the doorway with a surprised face. Usually, Sasuke liked seeing emotion on her face, since it made her seemed more equal to him, more human, but he didn't like the purpose to why she was so surprised.
Karin also saw Kana staring at the two of them, and she glared and snapped, "Oi! Bi-"
But Kana had stepped beside her and there was a wash towel in Karin's mouth. Kana had stuffed it there. "Go wash your mouth," Kana's cold voice hissed. It was Karin's turn to be surprised, and all she could do was stand there. Sasuke, also surprised but hiding it, followed Kana to ask her to train.
In the dojo of their new living place, Sasuke felt as if Kana was distracted since she kept leaving openings and didn't guard herself properly. After a few moves, Sasuket sent her crashing into the wall. But she didn't get up, and just sat there, staring into space. Her lips moved and Sasuke heard her say, "You won." Sasuke strode toward her, and struck her with his fist. "What's wrong with you?" he spat. "I didn't win. You didn't give your all. What's with you?"
He watched as the placid girl stood up, a little bit unsteadily, and wiped the trailing blood on the corner of her mouth with a swipe of her thumb. Her eyes pierced him, dangerously at first, but then they seemed to fade, replaced with an empty srange one. But he didn't look closely and had enough of those lost pained looks. His hand reached out and snatched her by the collar. Sasuke's other hand struck out and hit her again. She still didn't fight back, so he kept hitting her growling, "I'm sick of those annoying looks you give! I don't care about who you were in the past! I don't care what you are!"
He thrust her into the wall again, with so much power, it blew a whole in the wall, and smoke floated about. When the smoke subsided, Kana stood as if she had felt none of that pain, but the same look still remained in her eyes. Now he could see it clearly. It wasn't the same look she had. This one was different. It was a new emotion. They were clouded with darkness and shadows. "I never asked you to care. I never asked anyone to care. Nobody cared," her voice rasped out.
Sasuke immediately regretted what he said. He never felt regret and pity to such an extent to anyone until this girl came along. His brain slowly realized that this girl was softening him.
He didn't want that.
Kana had carried herself out of the dojo, leaving Sasuke in panic with his thoughts. He was going to go after her and apologize, but then decided against it. She could take care of herself. But it was still a mystery of her eyes. He had never seen so much darkness in such pure white eyes.
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Kana didn't know where she was going. She didn't care where she was going. What Sasuke said hadn't really hurt her. And what she said was strikingly true. But what had hurt her so much? Kana found herself in an unfamiliar area and there were caged rooms on every side of the hallway she was walking through. Moans and cries echoed the place in a haunting manner and finally she came to a dead end of the corridor: an iron door with titanium bars.
When she neared, a hand snatched out and grabbed her wrist tightly. Kana hid her wince when she heard the bones in her snap. "Kill…I must…KILL!!" a hoarse broken voice said. Instead of feeling fear like most did, she felt something different. It was sad…and almost like…what they'd call…pity?
"Why do you want to kill?" her soft voice silenced his hungry voice. Then she could see his face: blond hair and a berserk expression with a crooked grin. "I will enjoy killing you." he said. But she made no hint of escape, and with her free, unbroken hand, she reached out and touched one of his cheeks. "Does-" her voice broke and her eyes threatened to cry. But she forced herself to continue, "Does it hurt? Do you…do you want to die?"
The prisoner widened his eyes and surprised, and the mad expression he had disappeared, replaced with one of grief and pain. "How would you know my pain?" Tears had begun to stream down his face. Kana smiled and wiped her own tears with her sleeve. "Because…I, too, am lost."
The blond cried freely, and didn't hold back. She said nothing to soothe him. Her silence alone was good enough for him. Kana felt strange, but better. She felt that it was more of her nature to be there for others, to see them relieved, than to end their lives in such a cruel painful way. Her proof was right before her.
"I am Juugo," the blond said when he had stopped crying. Kana smiled again and said, "I am Kana. What are you doing here?"
"I'm an experiment of Orochimaru. This bloodlust of mine. I want to get rid of it. I hate killing people, and he said that he would help me find a cure. But I would have to become an experiment for him first." Juugo explained how Orochimaru used him to develop the curse mark jutsu. "But then…what are you doing here? I've never seen you before."
She told him how she had lost her memory and how she hardly had emotions, but slowly, she unlocked new emotions. Kana didn't say how she felt torn apart of who she might be and who she was. Kana felt comfortable around this boy. And vice versa. (A/N: Kana and Juugo aren't going to be a couple in this story, just letting you guys know.) She had a feeling that they were going to be good friends.
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Where is Kana? Man, if she ran away…Sasuke thought worriedly. He denied the fact that he felt guilt for hurting the girl's feelings (although he didn't realize that he didn't) and well….he couldn't help but worry about her. He had heard that Orochimaru was going to make Kana "more useful" but how? When she had no memory? Did Orochimaru know who Kana was in the past?
He was so confused. Sasuke felt as if that Kana had a link with him, a link he didn't know existed. She had recognized Itachi and Naruto. Was she slowly regaining her memory? What happened if she did? Would they still be friends? Wait…Are they friends? But then didn't he promise himself to not attach himself to others?
As if to add more to his troubles, Karin appeared beside him blushing red and removed her glasses. She leaned in toward him seductively, and was about to move a hand to his chest when Sasuke snatched her hand and glared at her. But she still didn't back down. When Sasuke tried to move away, he felt lips forced over his own. Then a small cough at the door. He pushed Karin harshly away and sent her a death glare, but then turned his attention to whoever stood at the door so he could kill-
Kana.
She stood there in surprise again. And again, he didn't like the purpose to why she was surprised. Without a word, she swept out of the room, like an apparition. Sasuke found his own feet moving on their own, and his own voice calling, "Kana! Wait! Kana!" He felt as if he didn't have control over his body. He saw her stop running and caught up with her, standing before her. A forced smile. "Sorry…I didn't mean to interrupt anything." She attempted to move away, but Sasuke grabbed her by the shoulders, and forced him in front of him again.
"Why in the world would I like Karin?! You think I wanted that?" Sasuke hissed. Kana remained silent but then looked up at him with another forced smile. "You're right. Why would you want love? You want to be inhuman."
This girl angered him a lot. She didn't think he could love!! Instinctively, he grabbed her wrists, without noticing her wince, and swept her into a tight hug.
