Kakashi leaned his head back against the mast and squinted against the sun. They'd been sailing for three days and he was sore, hungry, thirsty, hot, and itchy from the salt that had dried on him from his dip in the ocean. Glancing over at his 'companions' Kakashi smirked. At least they looked almost as uncomfortable as he was. After his last escape attempt a day ago, they hadn't let him up from his spot at the base of the mast, and they had two people guarding him day and night. A lot of wasted man power to guard a drained and chained shinobi in Kakashi's opinion, but at least he had some entertainment, watching his guards try to stay awake. Throw in his added verbal barbs and this was practically a pleasure cruise. If you squinted. And used your imagination. A lot.
The boat bumped against a dock and Kakashi craned his neck around to see where they'd arrived. The light off the water nearly blinded him but he managed to make out the shape of docks and a large hill, almost a mountain, rising out of the sea. Dark shapes, he assumed to be people, milled busily around the docks, but there were no other ships or boats in sight.
Yeykl strode onto the deck and stretched, grinning. "Ah, here we are. Home sweet home." He looked at Kakashi and smirked, the pale, rarely exposed skin of his face had turned a bright red in the sun and would probably be painful soon, if it wasn't now. The young ninja looked properly pathetic, unscarred eye squinting in the light, sun burned skin and silver hair matted with sea salt and sweat.
"You," he poked Kakashi's forehead and as the young man glared up at him, Yeykl had the passing notion that Kakashi might bite him. He shook his head and continued on his rant. "You will go straight to the boss. All the people here know who you are so there's no escape for you without the boss's permission and with all the work we went through to get you, I doubt he'll give it." Anansi came onto the deck and Yeykl smiled. "Get the guest ready, we're leaving as soon as the boat is secure."
Grumpy from being cramped on a boat for three days with an annoying team leader and obstinate prisoner, Anansi glared at Yeykl's back as the traitor went to supervise the securing of the boat. He turned his glare to Kakashi and it intensified as the ninja smirked at him.
"Got guard duty again." The young man drawled. "And here I thought you two had worked out your lover's quarrel. Guess I was wrong. You're really at the bottom of the totem pole here aren't you? Acting scary must not be enough, having the use of both your arms must be important too." As soon as the spider ninja took a step towards him, Kakashi knew he'd said too much. Oops, guess being dehydrated makes you pretty stupid Kakashi. You're really in for it now.
Grabbing Kakashi by the front of the shirt, Anansi lifted the young ninja into the air and stared darkly into his squinting grey one. He sneered and reached out, grabbing Kakashi's left arm and snapping it. His eye widened and Kakashi shouted in pain, kicking out. The spider ninja just laughed and slammed Kakashi against the mast. His head thunked and the young ninja moaned in pain. Anansi kept hitting him against the mast until Yeykl stormed back over.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He screamed and pulled him off of Kakashi and the ninja crumpled to the deck with a moan. "He needs to be in good condition or the boss will be very upset."
"I am sick of that boy." Anansi growled and shoved Yeykl away, stalking onto the deck. "You deal with the brat. I'm done."
A soft snicker drifted up from the boards of the deck and Yeykl looked down. Kakashi lay on boards, cradling his broken left arm to his chest and smirking. "Too bad I didn't push him that far earlier. Woulda made my life a whole lot easier."
"Shut up." Yeykl growled and directed two more of his group to haul Kakashi to his feet and onto the dock.
The world spun and went blurry at the edges as the full effects of having heat stroke and getting your head bounced off a mast hit Kakashi. His legs went wobbly and would have failed him completely if the two ninja hadn't been holding him up. The pain in his arm battled the pain in his head for attention and Kakashi tried to ignore both. It was difficult.
The trek up the mountain was uneventful. Consisting mostly of Kakashi stumbling and Yeykl cursing. The kid really needed to learn some new words, would make his rants a lot more interesting to listen to. Eventually they came to a large mansion at the top, basically a palace, and were made to wait in a large lobby. Everyone around stared at the injured and shackled ninja being supported and Kakashi blushed as they looked, sunburned face turning a deeper shade of red. Really want my mask back… I don't think I've ever been sunburned on my face like this before. He frowned and felt the skin stretch painfully. Don't like it. I'll have to keep in mind never to let this happen again if I can help it. Nice place though, the person who lives here must be a lord or something. Funny thing, I can't think of any lords I pissed off that I didn't have to kill in the end. I really don't like not knowing who wants me.
Looking around, Kakashi straightened his thinking and studied the room. Just because you can't see straight is no reason to not use your brain 'genius copy ninja'. Acting like an idiot more than a genius. Guards stationed at every window a door, armed with swords. Samurai? Ninja posted on the roof I saw as we came in. None of them wearing a village symbol not even a scratched out one. Independent group? Who could gather so many warriors from different factions and villages and actually get them to work together? Large ornate doors at one end of the hall opened up and their little entourage, consisting of Yeykl, Kakashi and the rest of the team that had been sent to capture him, moved forward. Guess I'll find out pretty soon then.
The group stopped and everyone bowed, Kakashi's escorts forcing him to his knees. At the end of the room was a large chair and a young man lounged on it. Kakashi stared until someone pushed his head down. He looks familiar somehow… have I seen him in a Bingo book? A meeting somewhere? A picture in some other lord's house? He ran the possibilities through his mind as Yeykl spoke.
"We've fulfilled your wishes my lord. We've brought you the ninja Kakashi."
The boy on the throne sat up and frowned. "He's hurt."
"He resisted our… acquisition."
"I'm not happy Yeykl." The young man said coolly. "Not happy at all."
"But… You wanted him at any cost."
"Not like this!" He shouted and stood angrily starting to pace. "He'll need to be healed right away. And you," The young lord pointed at Yeykl, "will be punished!"
Yeykl opened his mouth to protest and the young man interrupted him with a shout.
"NO! No more talk from you! Report to the enforcers as soon as you have filed your mission report." He muttered and Kakashi looked up again, the bearing and planes of the young man's face tugging at memory. Suddenly it dawned on him and Kakashi felt like a complete idiot for not putting it together before. The insistent tone of the letters, the secluded island, even the sticky threads guy.
"Ishi?" He asked to confirm his suspicions, a frown creasing his forehead. The young lord looked at Kakashi and all the previous anger at Yeykl was instantly replaced with a happy smile.
"Well of course! I'm so happy you recognize me!"
Yeykl glared at Kakashi for speaking out of turn and moved to backhand the shinobi, but a hard look from Ishi, now Lord Ishi, Kakashi supposed, stopped him.
"Leave us." Ishi commanded and the throne room emptied of everyone but the guards. Still frowning, Kakashi got unsteadily to his feet, the room spun a little but he clamped down on the sensation, getting control of it so he could focus on the young man in front of him.
"What is the meaning of this?" Kakashi asked in a low voice, a hint of anger tingeing his tone.
Ishi cocked his head in confusion. "Isn't it obvious? I rescued you."
"Rescued me?" Kakashi fought to keep his voice even. "From what?"
"Your evil and controlling village. They wouldn't let you come visit!"
"No. Like I said in my letters, I would come when I had the chance. I have responsibilities to my village that come first."
Ishi's face clouded with anger. "No! I know what you were really saying in your letters! They wouldn't let you come! You needed to be rescued! You wanted to join my cause! You just needed someone to come help you escape."
"Escape? Rescue?" Kakashi's voice went hard with anger. "You don't put people you rescue in chains. You don't cut off the chakra of people you help escape. This," He gestured to his battered self, "is what we in the business like to call capturing. It's what you do to an enemy you want to get information from or use as a bargaining chip."
Blinking at Kakashi's tone, Ishi shook his head. "No, no. You're confused. Your evil village has brainwashed you. We had to do that for your protection. Had to put on a good show for your village. This is the best place to be. Anyone can come and won't be turned away. Just like I planned, remember? This is my perfect place where everyone can do what they want. It's paradise."
The kid is insane. Kakashi shook his head, still frowning. He became so obsessed with his plan that he's lost it. He won't accept or listen to anything I say. So now what genius? Kid from a village you saved back in the day that you humoured has gone loopy and thinks that he's your savior and that you're the unstable one. He has his own ninja who obey him, his own island and is the lord of it. Power trip that's gone to his head. I'd bet a month's pay that his next suggestion is that he have some of his people 'help' me overcome the 'brainwashing' my 'evil village' has put me under. Yay. Won't that be fun.
Ishi smiled gently at Kakashi. His poor friend was so confused by the lies his village had forced him to accept. It wasn't his fault that he was angry. It was a reaction against the truth that had been programmed into him. "Don't worry." He soothed as Kakashi frowned deeper and shook his head. "We can help you here. Lots of people who think like you come here and we help them realize the truth. You're safe here. Your evil village can't get you. We'll get you healed and feeling better and then we'll start helping you realize the truth."
Kakashi almost smirked. Called it. He gave Ishi a level stare. "I'm warning you Ishi. Let me go now or it'll be harder for you in the end. This is the only warning I'm giving you because I used to know you. Ignore it and it will go bad for you."
Face clouding with anger, Ishi reminded himself that Kakashi was disturbed. Brainwashed. He didn't know what he was saying. Ishi was the lord of this land. Kakashi should have more respect!
Snapping his fingers, Ishi ignored Kakashi's last impudent remark and directed his attendants to take the ninja away to be healed. He'd realize soon enough what was real and what wasn't.
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Hello gracious readers! I apologize that my chapter lengths don't reflect the time you've had to wait for the next chapter to come out, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Thank you for reading and please review to tell me what you think and any constructive criticism you might have.
Have a great day everybody! Or evening, or night, ya know, for whenever you're reading this :)