Chapter 11: Interrogation
Rain came to, and once again, a world of blackness greeted him. "Curses. Still can't see" grumbled Rain to himself. Rain turned to the right and heard someone shuffling away. Rain guessed it might have been a guard alerting the rest that he has awakened. By the musty smell and humid air, not to mention the slight putrid smell, Rain guessed he was in a prison cell. Rain felt his way around the cell and knocked over a metallic plate of some sorts. Rain bent down and found some meager food rations. Rain wolfed them down. They tasted plain but it was okay. Rain sat in a corner and held his head down. It wasn't long before Rain heard heavier steps headed his way. He lifted his head when a deep, commanding voice called out to him. "What is your name Mist Ninja" Rain looked ahead with lazy eyes. "Rain" was the short answer the guard was given. "Are you going to give me trouble Rain?" asked the proctor again. "No" said Rain softly. "My name is Ibuki and this is Hayate over here. Do you know where you are?" "I'm in the village of Konoha." "Good, now what are you doing here. You look terrible. I'm sure you are not here on accident. What does the Mist Village have to do with us?" "Nothing" replied Rain without emotion. "Lying are you? You realize that several Mist ninja corpses floated downstream shortly after you did?" argued Ibuki back. Rain gasped. Were those the tracker ninja that Haku told him about? Could Saito have been the one who killed them? If that was so, he may have already known he was here. "Saito!" cried Rain as he rushed forward and started pulling on the bars. Rain's hands were struck with a wooden club and Rain withdrew. "Calm down. Who's Saito?" "Wait! Saito? Rain?" said the other voice. "Ibuki, I think we are dealing with the Ermaki clan here!" said the other voice. "The super-sensed ninjas from Mist? I thought they were all dead?" asked Ibuki. "We better tell this to the Hokage" replied Hayate. Both men ran off, ignoring Rain's pleadings to listen to him. Hayate and Ibuki chatted for a bit on their way to report to the Kage. "Did you see his eyes?" asked Hayate. "Yeah, I recognize that condition. He has been inflicted with the Veil of Darkness. A technique developed and made famous by Saito Ermaki. "So do you think his babblings about Saito coming here as we left might be legit?" "Not sure. The Mist Village has no dealings or quarrels with our village and I can't think of many reasons why they would be interested in us." "Could it be a trap of some kind? Think that the veil was put on him to gain sympathy perhaps?" asked Hayate. "Not likely. That blindness inflicted by that technique is permanent. To an Ermaki, losing any sense is disastrous. Even for spying, doing that to a member of their own clan is cruel and stupid." "Well, let's see what the leader says" said Hayate as both men approached the Kage's quarters.
Frustrated, Rain retreated to his corner again and wept. He felt his headband. He was so proud when he finally got one. It was meaningless now. There was no point in fighting the Leaf Ninja. There was no hope for survival. There was no chance of reuniting with Kin. Rain untied his headband and put it over his eyes like a blindfold. This was the second time in a month that he had been captured. The first time, he made a friend. This time however, he wouldn't be so lucky, nor did it matter to him. It seemed like days before he received contact again. "Rain Ermaki, the Kage wants to see you. Don't try anything dumb. You are being escorted by Six Anbu's as well as me. Behave and things may go well for you. Rain didn't reply or move, even when his cell was opened. He was bound and taken on either arm and was led away. Throughout the trip, he didn't utter a word. He was told to sit and felt hot lights on him. He guessed he was in the Kage's quarters. He could sense many people around him. He endured hours of questioning. They were rough with him. He was even struck a couple of times. After it was over, no progress was made. To Rain's surprise though, the Kage decided not to send him back to his cell. Instead he would be given a room (guarded of course). Rain was guessing that even the Kage could see that Rain had no intention of doing anything. He told him everything that had happened to him over the last month. He was told that the village of Mist would be notified of him and he would be turned over to them. In the mean time, he was going to be put under constant surveillance. The village had no intentions of doing anything to cross the Mizukage. Most likely, it would take a week or two for all this to come to pass. Personally, Rain figured that he would be treated as a failure and maybe even put in prison for the mission. The Mist village wasn't very kind to ninja who failed assignments.
