Chapter 14: Unwanted Torture

"Are you sure Kichiro? I mean it's been 13 years since her mother died. Surely you would have seen her change by this time." Ichiro said as he and his brother walked towards the room where the Uchiha, Uzumaki and girl were in.

"That's the thing, Ichiro. That girl is just like her mother, and not just in looks. In everything. Down from looks to abilities and personality." Answered Kichiro. "I know that girl can change, just like her poor excuse for a mother. If I never got the truth out of her mother, I'll never get it out of her. The brats trust her too much, even if she's nice to them. The brats must know, she must have told them about it."

Ichiro sighed. He knew how his brother got when he had an idea in his head and there was no talking him out of it. He just hoped that his brother was right about his own daughter, because if he was, the girl just might be useful in their plans.

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-Dream-

A one year Mari looked at her mother, who was lying on the bed of her room. Her mother looked exactly like her, but at the moment her mother was at death's door and Mari knew it.

"Mari, cub you know full well of our family's secret, correct?" Her mother asked. Mari nodded, having changed into a wolf-dog the day before for the first time under her mother's watchful eyes.

"Good. Cub as a human you are known as Mari. In your hybrid form you are know as Mar, understood?"

Mari nodded, "Understood."

Her mother smiled, "Then I can rest easy. Remember pup, your father must never know of our secret. You are never to tell anyone, the only exception to this rule is if you are going to help someone and you know that you must use your hybrid form to help. That's it, and you must make sure that person is to be trusted, understood?"

Mari nodded for the third time and replied, "Understood." That was the last thing her mother heard before she died, leaving her daughter with unsafe guardians.

-End Dream-

Mari stirred slightly, not fully awake, but jumped when she heard the bang of a door being slammed open. Mari and the boys jumped to their feet but did not have enough to 

react. Sasuke was pulled by the arm, and Mari was grabbed by the hair, while Naruto was shoved onto the floor and he felt someone grabbed his wrists.

He looked up and noticed that the person who had tied his wrists and another were wrestling Mari and Sasuke, who seemed to be putting up a good fight.

"Get-off!" Mari shouted. There was the unmistakable sound of knuckles hitting flesh, Mari grunted in pain and fell on her knees as Naruto and Sasuke started screaming, "Leave her alone, leave us alone!"

"The bitch's going to get worse done to her once I figure out the truth." Said the first man who Mari knew was Ichiro. He bonded them back to back and walked away. Kichiro hesitated for a moment, thinking, and then addressed Ichiro.

"Take theses prisoners down to the cellar. Except the Uchiha." Mari growled.

"No!" shouted Naruto."Leave him alone!" Kichiro hit him across the face, the blow echoing around the room.

"If he dies under questioning, I'll take you next," he said. "Take them downstairs, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them –yet."

He took a short silver knife from the pocket in his pants. He cut Sasuke free from the other two, and then dragged him by the hair into the middle of the room, while Ichiro forced Mari and Naruto to shuffle across to another door, into a dark passageway.

Mari could feel Naruto shaking. They were forced down a steep flight of stairs, still tied back to back, and in danger of slipping and breaking their necks. At the bottom was a heavy door, which Ichiro unlocked and then forced them into a dank and musty room and left them in total darkness. The echoing bang of the slammed door had not died away before there was a terrible, drawn-out scream from directly above them.

"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled, and he started to struggle against the ropes tying them together, causing Mari to stagger. "SASUKE!"

"Be quiet!" Mari said. "Shut up, Naruto, we need to work out a way-"

"SASUKE!"

"We need to make a plan, stop yelling- we need to get these ropes off- oh for heaven's sake, SHUT UP!"

Naruto stopped shouting, while Mari ranked her brain for ideas.

"Okay, there's a kunai I used to use when I need to break something. I think I left it beside the water jug. . . "



Sasuke screamed again over head, Kichiro was yelling too, but his words were unheard since Naruto had started shouting again. Mari growled at Naruto as she dragged the kunai towards her using her feet. She pushed it behind her as far as she could, then tried grabbing it with her tied hands. Mari grabbed it and tried to cut the ropes since Naruto had stopped struggling as they heard what was happing upstairs.

"Is she or is she not? Answer me you brat!"

"I don't know! I don't know anything about her!"

"I don't think the kid really knows anything!"

"Yes he does. He's just a filthy little liar!"

Sasuke started yelling again, and Naruto struggled more than ever which resulted in the kunai slipping into Mari's wrist.. Mari hissed as she yanked it out and finally managed to cut the ropes. Naruto ran up to the door and started to bang his fists on it. Mari felt around for the box of explosive tags she had left in the room the last time she had entered the room. She found them next to the water jug and shoved them and the extra three kunai she had found into her pants pocket as she ran up to Naruto.

"Move." Was the only warning the Uzumaki got before Mari kicked the door open. "Moron forgot to lock it." She muttered.

Naruto ran into the opening only to be pulled back by Mari. "If you want to get yourself and your friend killed by all means go right in. If not listen to me." Mari waited until Naruto nodded to continue.

"Can you use a kunai?" Naruto nodded and Mari handed him one of the kunai she had. "If you have to, use it to fight your way out, but I doubt it'll come to that." Once Mari had explained the plan, she motioned Naruto to follow her. They ran up the flight of stairs as quietly as they could and walked down the dark passageway. Mari motioned Naruto to stay behind her, as she peeked into the room.

Sasuke was unconscious at Kichiro's feet and Ichiro stood in front of them. "I think we can get rid of the Uchiha-"

"Nooo!"

Naruto had burst into the room. Kichiro looked up, stunned, as Naruto elbowed him in the stomach, causing him to fall back. Ichiro threw kunai at Mari, who rolled behind a sofa to avoid them, though one kunai managed to catch her in the ankle.

"STOP OR HE DIES!"



Hissing in pain, Mari peered around the edge of the sofa. Kichiro was supporting Sasuke and holding his short sliver knife to Sasuke's throat.

"Drop your weapons," he whispered. "Drop them or we'll see just how pure an Uchiha's blood really is!"

Naruto stood frozen; clutching the kunai Mari had given him, remembering what she had said. '"One of them might tell us to drop our weapons. If they do, drop it when I say so, I have extra."' Mari straighten up after she had yanked the kunai out of her ankle and making sure she had the other 3 with the explosive tags wrapped around them in her pocket.

"I said, drop them!" Kichiro yelled, pressing the blade into Sasuke's throat. Mari saw beads of blood appear.

"Alright!" she shouted and she dropped the kunai onto the floor at her feet as Naruto did the same. Both raised their hands to shoulder height. Ichiro thought he saw something disappear into Mari's long sleeve but figured it was a trick of the light. He grabbed the kunai and turned to his brother. As Kichiro turned his attention from the kids and on to Ichiro, Mari took the kunai she had hid in her sleeve and tossed it at them, as she handed Naruto the other one. Kichiro dropped Sasuke and jumped out of Mari's aim as Ichiro did the same. The kunai hit the wall and exploded as Mari ran up, grabbed the unconscious Uchiha and jumped back.

Ichiro grabbed Kichiro's knife and looked at his niece. "You filthy bitch! How dare you defy your masters!"

Mari bit back the colorful language and turned to Naruto, "Do it! Let's go!"

Naruto tossed the kunai at the ceiling. As the tag around the kunai exploded which caused the ceiling to give in, Ichiro tossed the knife at Mari, who had already grabbed Naruto by the arm and ran out of the rooms towards the exit. She felt a sharp pain in her side but ignored it. The only thing she had on her mind was getting the boys away from the place and to their families.

XXXXXX

"Are you sure you can trust this wolf-dog?" Pakkun asked. Kakashi frowned. "What do you mean?"

Itachi was confused. The hybrid, Mar was her name, he had to remember that, had not hurt him in anyway nor had it sensed anything strange about her, so he was unsure as to what Pakkun was getting at.



"What I mean is," Pakkun said looked straight ahead, wondering how they would take the information. "Is there is something human about this Mar."

Kushina blinked, "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Are you saying that Mar is human?" Minato asked, ignoring the look his wife was giving him.

"Sort of. What I mean is that Mar is not fully a wolf-dog, but she's not exactly human." Pakkun answered.

"In other words, a shape-shifter?" Itachi asked. Pakkun nodded.

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And that's the end of Chapter 14. I have no idea as to what I should call the next chapter. I'm stuck between the following:

Never Too Late?

Too Little Too Late? and

Freedom?

If you guys like one then tell me in your review or it you have an idea as to what you want to call the next chapter then send that in your review!

A little background for what's going to happen in the next chapter is that Kichiro and Ichiro catch up to Mar and the boys, and Mari runs into Itachi and the rest of the team. That chapter should be up by next week's Friday or Saturday maybe, I'm not sure. Review!!