Dangerous Lives
Chapter 33
The Impending Storm
Six months later
It had been months, months and Minato didn't know what to do with himself. Naminé was gone, snatched away from them in the middle of the night and at this point neither ANBU from the leaf or the wind village was expecting to find her alive, now it was a search for a body.
The more Minato thought about it though, the more positive he was that she was still alive, because Naminé was valuable. She was a trove of information if they managed to find a way to break her. He had taken Gaara's advice to heart and had been training relentlessly, and only two months ago he'd passed the Jonin exams, his teammates only just making their rank to Chunin.
Lately he'd been training in hand to hand combat with Aya, and he had to admit that although she was younger than he was, he had quite a bit to learn from her. She'd suppressed his chakra and they fought using only taijutsu, it was then that Minato realized just how much he'd depended on his Kekkai Genkai. When he couldn't train with Aya, he trained with his uncle Neji and aunt Hanabi, he had asked Tenten to train but she'd declined saying that she was to be on bed rest for the next few weeks.
He'd gone above and beyond with his training, and at the news of Naminé's disappearance he'd only trained harder and longer, and now as a Jonin, he could request personal missions, and the bluenette knew to be smart about it, he wasn't going to ask his father if he could scour the desert for Naminé, because he knew that request would be denied, but he could do some investigating near the border, the one where they'd first been taken, because he'd caught a glimpse of it when he'd been taken there, there were trees, yet the ground was not entirely dirt or sand but the mixture of gritty clay that lay between them.
There were only several places like that in the land of fire, and a handful in the land of wind, and Minato wanted to scope them out, because if Naminé was taken by the same people as last time, the people who'd been targeting them all for almost two years now, then that's where they could be.
He'd been studying patterns from former enemies of the major nations for weeks, they never stayed in the same location for more than a few weeks, some changing places every few days, but even those who were deemed as conquers of nations, the great snake sannin Orochimaru for example, had moved locations frequently. This was how Minato decided he would find her.
He was nineteen now, his dad had to at least trust him enough to go on a mission by himself like this, he was a successful Jonin, and an adult. He had to give him this. Deciding it was time Minato rolled the scroll shut and took a deep breath as he left the archives room in the lower levels of the Hokage's tower. Climbing the stairs he made it to the highest level and knocked on the door sensing the familiar chakras of his father and Shikamaru.
"Come in." hearing this he opened the door walking into the room, it seemed he was having one of his advising sessions with Shikamaru who was holding a scroll in his hand and reading it. "What are you up to Minato?" Naruto asked tiredly straightening out his desk, he'd been pulling all-nighters all week to keep up on his paperwork, and even with a shadow clone he was still neck deep in it. Minato took a breath.
"I want to request an investigatory mission to the boarder of the land of fire." He said watching as his father's eyes became sharper and more alert.
"Which boarder?"
"Konoha's boarder with Suna through the land of rivers." He watched as his father sighed looking sadly at him.
"Minato…Naminé's gone, the chances of you ever finding her-
"I never said this was about Naminé." Minato said softly making his father blink in shock.
"Is it?"
"I've been doing research about enemies of Konoha and other great nations and I want to prove a theory of mine. I can only do that if I go check out a few areas over there." Now Naruto stared at him curiously.
"What would you be doing?"
"I'll be looking into known hide outs from several of our greatest adversaries, the sannin Orochimaru is one of them, they all had patterns, they all moved during specific times and all I believe, in this general area here." Minato said gesturing to the map on his father's wall. "There are eight different areas I want to look at, two just inside the land of fire, four in the land of rivers, and two just inside the boarders of the land of wind."
"How long do you expect this to take?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Two weeks or less, if I need more time I'll find a way to send you a message." He said as he faced his father.
"What if you happen into some trouble? You said yourself that you would be investigating hideout locations of some of our greatest known enemies."
"But who would be foolish enough to hide out in a well-known hideout area? Only small time bandits things like that. It's nothing I couldn't handle."
"Okay…what happens if you happen to find Naminé?" Naruto asked suddenly watching as his son swallowed blinking quickly.
"I- If I do find her, If I'm not at a disadvantage, then I'll fight to bring her home, but if I am I'll have no choice but to send word to the nearest ally either you or Gaara-sama and wait to see what my instructions should be. Until then I'll watch and wait regardless of what happens." He said softly knowing that of all things this is what his father would want to hear.
"Fine, I'll allow it. When do you wish to leave Minato?" Naruto said surprising the teen.
"Really?"
"Yes. You're an adult, you're a Jonin, and you've shown improvement and maturity in this last year, I feel I can trust you in this.
"I wish to leave tomorrow morning then." Minato said reeling in his surprise.
"Very well, I'll draw up the mission and put it into the catalogue. Have everything you'll need ready Minato, and good luck on your theories." Naruto said waving his son from the room, watching as he bowed quickly leaving.
O0o0o0
She was nothing to them but an untapped wellspring of knowledge, a nut that needed to be cracked to gain the treat that was inside hiding away. Naminé didn't know how she was doing it, how she could live like this, through daily torture, especially in the sensory deprivation tank where she could feel nothing, where she floated every night in the darkness, every time after that it only made the morning sessions more intense, more painful. She'd lost count of how many times she'd been dumped into the tank, but with how much longer her hair had gotten she could only assume it had been not days like she'd thought, but weeks, maybe even more than a month.
Were they still looking for her? Her father and mother? Or perhaps with the babies to deal with they couldn't…they had to be big by now, crawling definitely, maybe even walking, talking…
Naminé knew the standard procedure, after more than a month and a half the search for a missing shinobi became a search for a body, and after three months, the search all together was called off. Death was a common thing in the life of a shinobi, but as the daughter of the Kazekage surely they had pushed the rules, or at least extended the deadlines…and if not Minato was looking for her…wasn't he? She would be looking for him…
The tank opened breaking her train of thought as the red head gasped covering her eyes from the brightness and she was pulled from the tank roughly, though this time instead of being brought down the hall towards the blood scented chamber Naminé was led to another room left in the care of two older women who began pulling the clothes from her body watching as she quickly began covering her modesty as each layer was removed leaving her bare as they began scrubbing her skin with the rough soapy sponges.
They scrubbed everywhere and soon dumped a hot bucket of water over her rinsing off the soap. Her hair was roughly scrubbed and rinsed and to Naminé's confusion she was wrapped in a very soft towel and led from the bathing chambers by the two women, her long hair dripping water from her red tresses.
She was brought to a room, though this time the women did nothing but dry her hair with another towel before leaving her alone. Keeping herself covered with the towel Naminé looked around warily, she didn't put it past this monster to send men in one after another to have their way with her, to try and break her like this.
In the room there was a bed, a small dresser and even a window. Looking past the window Naminé spotted a mirror, and walking over she'd wanted to cry. Her arms were more scarred than ever, with some new and quite obvious additions to her neck and shoulders, others riddled her stomach and hips and all down her legs.
The sound of the door shutting earned her attention as she covered herself with the towel whirling around and spotting the man at the door.
"This is your new room Princess, you have free reign of this floor only. Any attempts to leave will be met with severe punishment." He said softly. His hair was dark, and his eyes were darker as he stared intently at her.
"W-who are you?" she asked softly, her voice scratchy from disuse.
"My name is Gekido, I'll be your guard. Is there anything I can do for you Princess?" he asked, his voice sincere.
"Why are you here?" she asked nervously.
"I'm here to tend to your needs Princess-
"Stop calling me that." Naminé said quickly.
"My apologies, what do you wish for me to call you?"
"I- I don't…just my name, just call me by my name."
"Very well Miss Naminé." He said with a small bow.
"Okay…why…what are you doing here now?" Naminé asked still not letting her guard down.
"My being here is to let you get settled, there are clothes in these drawers, health and beauty aids in the top drawer including a brush and some items for your hair. I will be outside your door to allow you to dress and groom yourself. You will be expected to be ready for dinner at 6, at 5:30 you will be checked for appropriateness, and at 5:45 I will collect you and bring you to the dining room." He said simply as he walked from the room closing the door.
Naminé walked over to the dresser and found the clothes as he stated and quickly dressed herself, the underclothes fitting comfortably. Digging through the drawers she removed a dress with disgust, that's all there were, dresses and skirts. She picked a black dress and put it on, much to her relief it stopped at her knees, and the sleeves stopped half way down her forearm.
Opening the top drawer Naminé found make up, brushes, perfume, special feminine products, and even much to her shock hair needles to pin her hair up. She could use those to get out of here, and with this thought she slipped the pin into her sleeve feeling the cold metal against her forearm and removed the other one and the brush.
Slowly the red head brushed out her hair, leaving it down she pinned her much longer bangs out of her eyes with the remaining hair stick, and sat on the edge of the bed just waiting. At 5:30 right on the dot as Gekido said the door opened and two women, the same from before entered scrutinizing the girl before them.
"Such beauty the girl has yet she allows herself to be so plain, this won't do." The older of the two said opening the top drawer and removing a handful of make-up and tilting the red head's face upwards. Naminé flinched at the touch leaning away but was held in place as the woman applied the make-up: mascara, eye liner and shadow, and even a gloss to her lips. Once finished she stepped back.
"Beautiful. Gekido she's ready for dinner." The younger of the two said as they walked from the room, the man, whom was much younger than them, but older than she had returned.
"Come." He said motioning for her to follow and leading the redhead from the room. Slowly Naminé followed after him and after only a moment she began to lag back preparing to take off when his voice caught her attention.
"I was instructed to tell you Naminé…" he said stopping and watching as she focused on him warily approaching. "Should you attempt to escape on our trek to the dining room, you'll be made to dine with the lower level workers, more specifically the kind whom you had dealt with in your previous experiences with us." He said watching as the color drained from her face as he continued. "More importantly than that, you'll not be allowed to wear the clothing provided to you, and since you no longer have anything that you've originally arrived with, that would force you to dine with them wearing nothing at all. Trust me when I say that this is the lesser of two evils." He said turning and continuing to walk down the hall, Naminé quickly following after him, feeling very much put in her place as she hugged her arms tightly feeling reassured by the metal hair pin under her sleeve.
The dining room was large and sitting at the head of the table was the man who'd brought her here, and had been torturing her for what felt like years now. Seeing Itami sent a shiver down her spine and almost immediately Naminé could feel the tremor in her hands as she swallowed thickly before looking down. She'd been seated on his right hand side, and as Gekido stepped back Naminé felt that very small aura of protection vanish feeling only the sadistic intent from the man before her. The redhead stared steadfast into her lap, though after a moment she felt his cold fingers on her chin tilting her head up until she was forced to look into his eyes.
"What do you think of your new accommodations? I felt that the daughter of a Kage, the princess of the desert should be treated as such." He said with a smirk as Naminé glared at him jerking her chin free of his grip.
"You and your accommodations can go to hell, throw me back in the tub." She snapped. Crossing her arms across her chest Naminé looked away from him scowling angrily. Moments after that several people walked into the room holding trays of food, and the smell made Naminé's stomach growl in hunger. She'd been fed minimal amounts every few days, but the plate placed in front of her had a large portion of roasted meat and vegetables, and there was even salad and rolls. A glass was placed in front of her and poured inside of it was a deep red liquid.
Naminé didn't trust any of it, despite her stomach's wishes Naminé shoved the plate away with enough force to knock over the glass. She watched as what appeared to be wine stained the most likely very expensive white cloth.
The servers stared in shock as Naminé glared defiantly at the man before her who simply looked unphased. In the blink of an eye she felt a searing pain across her cheek as her head snapped to the side. Despite the hit Naminé turned her head back to face the man who'd struck her glowering at him. Itami sat back in his seat before motioning to one of the servants who'd immediately rushed over bowing.
"Set our desert princess up with bedding in the worker's quarters." He said watching as Naminé's eyes widened. "That's to be where she beds tonight, none are to remove her from there until tomorrow morning when roll call of the workers is being done. If she wishes to act like an animal, she'll be treated by one." He said simply almost as if he could be talking about the weather.
"Yes sir, the female's quarters yes?" She asked giving the teen before her a worried glance. Naminé quickly looked back and forth between the two, her heart pounding as she deeply began regretting her outburst at dinner.
"No, the men's quarters." He said watching as Naminé paled significantly in color. "Set her area up and I will bring her there myself." He said watching as the woman scurried away now turning to Naminé who continued to stare into her lap.
"Please…please don't make me go in there." She said softly.
"Look at you being so contrite after that nasty little outburst of yours." Itami said taking his glass of wine and taking a drink. "Perhaps you can appeal to my better nature? Information gained in exchange for an excuse for your poor behavior perhaps?" Naminé simply stared at him waiting for him to continue. Honestly if it was a question that would not cause much harm to her family or village, the redhead would answer it, she watched as he spoke.
"Which side of the village has the weakest defense during an attack?"
It was the northern section of the village, closest to the Kazekage's home. The strongest family in the village had always lived there so the need for increased defense was pointless, but she would never tell him that. Not with her baby siblings there, not when she'd already given herself to them to keep them safe.
"I have nothing to say on the matter." Naminé said softly resigning herself to her fate as she hung her head, her eyes burning with tears.
"Very well." Standing he gripped her arm, and feeling the metal rod under her sleeve he squeezed it tight as he ripped her from her chair. The moment he'd pulled the rod from her sleeve Naminé had the one from her hair pressed against his neck just as he did to her. Now Itami smiled at her.
"It seems we've reached an impasse, any suggestions to resolving this little issue Naminé?" Now the teen just stared at him, though to her shock she was grabbed from behind with her arms held behind her back. Turning the red head spotted Gekido holding her arms tightly, his strength overwhelming.
"If you'll allow me sir…" Gekido said easily prying the hair stick from Naminé's grip as he pushed her forward walking the teen from the room as she struggled against him.
"Let go of me!" The teenager growled tugging at her arms trying to free them until she was forced against the wall her arms still held tightly, her face pressed against the wall as he leaned close to her, his harsh voice little more than a whisper.
"You don't seem to understand just how screwed you are here Princess-
"Naminé-
"Whatever!" The dark haired male snapped in a low voice near her ear. "They're trying to break you, and the only way they can figure to do so is this. So they're trying a new angle, to make you think they've given up, that they're just going to house you all while they figure out a new way to possibility bleed information from you just like how he tried to do now. If you give him no reason to punish you, you won't be put into these predicaments. As I wasn't here for your last visit with us I can only speculate that when you were here and tossed to the mercy of our men it didn't work out well for you." He growled as she let out an involuntary whimper.
"The only thing keeping you safe is me. So do yourself a favor and try to bear in mind that there're only so many times I can keep your ass out of trouble, so for your sake, take what I'm about to do with a reminder that it's for your sake and not my want." He said releasing the redhead and grabbing her wrist before pulling her down the hall and into a crowded bed chamber.
The moment they entered the entire room went silent and Naminé felt as her heart pounded violently in her chest as he continued dragging her past a dozen of men who all stared lewdly at her, practically undressing the girl with their eyes then and there. Naminé could feel their eyes on her and flinched jerking away when one of the men they'd passed reached out groping her bottom.
Not having expected her to jump so suddenly Gekido lost his grip on the girl's wrist and in moments it was practically a free for all for the red head as she screamed being pulled at from multiple directions. He'd broken through the mass of men easily and snatched her from another's grip tucking her under his arm.
"She. Is. Mine." He growled radiating a deadly aura watching as they quickly backed away from the pair as Naminé clung to him, her mind racing desperately wondering if she could trust him or not…right now he was the only thing keeping them away from her, the only thing keeping her safe. Could she trust him? Of course she couldn't, he was one of them. But would he keep her safe? Only time would tell for her.
Gekido led her to a small sectioned off corner of the room that was blocked by a sheet. Mere seconds later Naminé was pushed onto the bed as she let out a panicked shriek and pushed at him as he climbed on top of her pinning her arms to the side before nodding his head towards the sheet that blocked them from view of the other men. Glancing from him to the sheet blocking them from view Naminé blinked in shock, their shadows could be seen perfectly from the light of the lantern in the corner broadcasting their every movement. Slowly he leaned down by her ear.
"You have to be really convincing, I want you to scream, and cry, and moan, and gasp, and I want you to fight me until I stop you, and if you're not convincing enough I'll make you convincing enough and I'd rather not do that." He said peeling the shoulder of her dress down enough so it looked as if he was pulling it off through the shadows actions.
Even though she knew that he was supposed to be faking, feeling him pull the top of her dress down made Naminé let out a tearful whimper as she shoved him away from her feeling real panic. He moved his hand along the bed, the shadow looking as if it had been moving down her body. She watched as he mouthed the word 'sorry', his hand darted under her dress as he easily pulled her panties down her legs and listened as she screamed in a panic once again as she fought violently against him, the sounds of the men's cheering ringing in her ears as they watched the shadows on the sheet.
O0o0o0
Naminé put on a very believable show with the man deemed as her guard, because of all the noise she'd made. After the fake assault she curled up on herself crying very real tears as Gekido stood from the bed shutting off the light.
"Lights out!" he snapped watching as the room dimmed as he sat on the edge of the bed where the red head lay. Naminé flinched away from him when he placed what he hoped would be a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Despite the fact that nothing had happened, that he'd done nothing to her but terrify her to no end, Naminé still felt as if she'd been violated. She knew that at any time he could over power her and have his wicked way like how all the others had wanted to do, and she was afraid because there was nothing stopping him from doing so. Eventually she'd cried herself into a restless sleep.
O0o0o0
The trip to the boarder hadn't taken long and with his pack filled with supplies finding the hideouts used by many of their enemies was child's play. Minato marked them on his map, because if he was to convince his father of this false pretense he actually had to do what he claimed to do. He'd made it to three sites, all which were well known to the hidden leaf, and eventually stopped coming to rest at the very familiar foot of the river. Minato remembered it like it was yesterday, it was here he'd found Kaya unconscious and bleeding, and it was here that he'd been knocked out and taken.
The mere thought of the memory made him clench his fists, but closing his eyes he let out a breath. Pulling out a scroll he checked it. Ambushes were almost always 5 or more miles away from their base, so activating his Byakugan the bluenette did a quick scan of the area making a small mark on his map that almost looked like a smudge right where he was located. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, and knowing in which direction the clay like dirt was in Minato began traveling towards it, cutting through the land of rivers scanning the area from time to time with his all-seeing eyes.
Four miles in he spotted something unusual on the ground, it was a hollowed out tree covering a well camouflaged door. Stopping he checked his map, there was no sign of this place on it. Marking it with a star Minato hid the scroll away in his bag and decided to investigate. His Byakugan could see no sign of life down below, only the small chakras from rodents and insects, and deciding the area was safe enough he pulled open the hidden door hopping down landing in a crouch after a twenty foot drop or so.
Minato moved silently down the hall and after almost ten minutes he started to smell a familiar copperish scent and recognized it as blood. That alone made him more cautious as he hurried along and into a chamber. Almost instantly he recognized the underground labyrinth, he'd passed through it multiple times when they would bring him before the man they called Itami.
With his Byakugan still activated Minato spread his sight out focusing for any sign of human life, and after ten minutes of searching, he allowed the chakra in his eyes to settle, deactivating his bloodline trait.
Pulling the scroll prom his bag he began a quick sketch of the area marking off places like torture rooms, prison cells, possible holding areas and what appeared to be a laboratory. He recognized this place all too wall and was shocked that all this time he'd been less than twenty miles from home hidden in the land of rivers.
Papers were scattered and reading them Minato tossed them aside when they revealed nothing of value. He was looking for possible locations in any form be it maps, geography, letters or even soil samples, after all, he'd discovered this much just by the dirt surrounding them, so the possibility of doing it again was just as good if not better. Minato scoured the area finally happening upon a room with a hand drawn map on a crumpled piece of paper. The drawing was familiar, it depicted two mountains, and below that was one word: possibility.
Thinking hard Minato tried placing where those mountains were located, and then it hit him like a ton of bricks, there was a mountain range in wind country just past the boarder of the land of rivers, but it would take more than a week to get there, it was on the opposite end of where he'd currently been. Storing the drawing in his bag Minato continued to dig finding several other papers all hand drawn with indications of possible hiding places, and the blue haired teen recognized most of them, and luckily for him they all followed the route he'd been planning to take. This was a true discovery, one that could possibly save Naminé's life. He would find her, he would find her, he promised her that she wouldn't have any reason to be afraid anymore, that she wouldn't lose what she loved, at least not while it was in his power to prevent it, so he was going to bring her back, and give her everything she wanted to keep…because he promised her.
O0o0o0o0
It was like a walk of humiliating shame. All the men stared at her, all wishing that it had been them with the red haired beauty instead of the man leading her from the room, the makeup she'd been forced to wear was smudged around her eyes, her hair was a mess and her clothes were appropriately disheveled. She stared at the ground the entire time feeling their eyes on her back. Her dress had torn in their struggle, but she didn't care. Naminé wanted to be back in the room they had originally brought her, hell she'd prefer the isolation tank to this, but the room was preferable for the one reason that she wanted to look out the window to get a gist of where she was.
Just as they had stopped in front of her door, Gekido held it open allowing Naminé to enter alone as it shut behind her. She searched immediately for new clothes, and more importantly new panties to replace the ones that had been tossed to the men in response to their cheering, the thought made her shudder in disgust.
She dressed in a pair of pajamas she'd found, they were the only pants in the dresser and Naminé wanted them on now as she tied them tightly around her hips. She pulled on a plain black shirt and took the time to brush out her hair and tie it back, and even to wash the make-up from her face with the wipes on the dresser.
Standing Naminé walked towards the window, feeling the warmth of sunlight for the first time in a long time as she closed her eyes. Blinking them open Naminé looked around seeing only jagged rocks, and past them was some desert like terrain, though none of it seemed to recognizable. She checked the window for any kind of alarm and opened it. She'd swung her leg out and in moments she was pulled back.
"You'll fall to your death before you can escape." Gekido said simply forcing the red head to take a step back.
"How did you even know I was trying to leave?"
"It's my job to keep an eye on you."
"You said that the only thing keeping me safe was you…if you truly wanted me safe you'd let me go home." Naminé said softly looking longingly out the window feeling as her heart ached in home sickness.
"If I could go home I would. I'm stuck here just like you are." This earned Naminé's attention.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I have a little sister, and a mother, and a father who are all wondering where I am. I have a fiancée who I can only hope would have waited for me, would still be waiting for me. I don't want to be here anymore than you do. I was taken at twenty and forced to serve Itami. I did it to keep my family safe, you see my family is very high up in the land of rivers. We're no hidden village, but my father ranks like a kage to the smaller villages around us, do you understand?" He watched as the red head nodded.
"My sister, she was only ten when she was taken, but I found her and I offered to change places, I knew more secrets, I was more valuable…I offered my life in exchange for hers."
"That's what I did." Naminé said softly. "I did that for Kira, he was going to hurt my baby sister more than he had, and I couldn't let that happen."
"It's funny how our circumstances are so similar." He said looking out the window.
"Why do you stay then? He obviously trusts you." Naminé pointed out watching as the man before her sighed.
"As long as I'm here, they're safe." Gekido said softly "That's all that matters isn't it?"
"I would think…But I still want to go home." She said softly, barely loud enough for him to hear her. "I don't want to be here anymore, I want my parents! I don't even know how long I've been here!"
"Do you remember what month it was when you arrived?" he asked softly.
"It was April. What is it? June? July?" Naminé watched as the man before her just stared at her as if wondering if he should speak.
"October." He watched as her face fell in shock.
"Six months? I've been here six…six months…no." she whispered backing away from both him and the window until the back of her knees hit the bed making her sit. "No, no, no, no, NO!" she screamed burying her face in her hands.
Six months, a search lasting six months was absurd. They'd stopped looking for her. They had to have called it off by now. The very thought of it had put her into shock. Nobody was coming for her no one was looking for her, not anymore. At this point they would have announced her MIA.
It was impossible, it was ridiculous, how had she been here this long?! The babies surely would have forgotten about her by now, Yahiko, Kaze, and Kira, she was probably nothing more than a stranger passing through, once so loved and now they probably didn't even know she ever existed. Naminé was trying desperately to catch her breath knowing she was having some kind of panic attack.
"I'm sorry, but have to go stand guard, if Itami gets the slightest inclination that we're buddy buddying it he'll have me swapped with someone less willing to keep you out of trouble." He said simply as he waked towards the door. "Don't try to escape again." he said softly watching as she tried and failed to hold back her tears. Naminé watched as he walked from the room shutting the door behind him. She looked staring longingly at the window before flopping on the bed as her heart ached, and in the blink of an eye she passed out.
O0o0o0
Voices woke her, and Naminé could tell that a substantial amount of time had passed, but what had unnerved her was not that the voices were in her room, but because she just couldn't will her body to move.
"And she hasn't woken?" Itami asked sounding skeptical.
"No sir, she got no sleep last night, the men were quite busy with her. She came in here, changed and collapsed on the bed." She felt as he tugged on her pajama pants and immediately she curled up.
"No." she whined sleepily.
"It seems as if she's hoping to avoid another situation like last night by keeping her clothes bound so tightly to her." The older man said with a hint of humor in his voice. "Very well, let the girl sleep, no doubt she'll be in pain so I'll have one of the room keepers bring up some medicine, as you were Gekido." Itami said walking from the room.
The moment her door shut Naminé struggled, forcing her eyes open and she pushed herself up sure that they were gone. Feeling nothing but relief the redhead sighed and wondered if maybe she could fashion a rope from the bed sheets and climb out of the window…maybe that could work…
Standing Naminé walked over to the window opening it up as she leaned out of it, unfortunately it was too dark to see the ground, but from what she could see the building had either been built on or in the mountainside. Feeling the walls inside her room Naminé determined that they must have built their newest lair inside the mountain.
Sitting near the window she tried manipulating her chakra wondering if the seal had deteriorated enough to be broken. She hadn't expected the counter measures of the seal suddenly feeling a searing pain bloom from her stomach and branch out into her body making her gasp sharply as she held her stomach trying so hard not to scream.
It was as if there was molten lava going through her chakras pathways. The redhead tried desperately to manage the sudden pain but nothing was helping, it felt like one of those things where you just needed to scream it out, and unable to hold it back anymore she did hearing as the door to her room was pulled open.
"What happened? What did you do!?"
"My chakras- I tried to- to- the redhead doubled over once again, but the moment he pushed her up, his other hand came into contact with her stomach as the pain slowly but surely began to fade.
"It was the type of seal to lock your chakra. Any attempts to use it will cause an excessive amount of pain." He said softly watching as Naminé panted heavily. "Are you okay?" She blinked several times before blacking out again.
O0o0oo0o0
Her eyes blinked open once again, but instead of darkness coming from the window, this time Naminé could see light, daylight. Scrambling off the bed the red head hit the floor with a thump not caring at the pain in her hip. She wrenched the window open immediately looking down, the drop was long, and Gekido was probably right, the drop most likely would kill her. With a sigh of disappointment Naminé turned and jumped spotting the older man in her room he was holding a tray and some papers. Immediately she could smell the food and her mouth watered.
"I made it myself, so if you trust me you'll have no problem eating today." He said placing the tray on the dresser. "And I brought you some paper and a few pencils, I figure you wouldn't want to go walking around the building so it's just something to do." The dark haired man said as he headed towards the door. "Sometimes I like to make origami, paper planes too, the air currents can bring them long distances you know."
"Thank you." He nodded closing the door behind him. Naminé walked over inspecting the food, they were things that would be obviously noticeable had they been tampered with. There were hard boiled eggs, whole fruits with the skins intact, a roll and a sealed bottle of water. Cracking the shells on the eggs Naminé was about to toss them onto the tray when an idea came to her turning she walked towards the window feeling a gust of wind, and reaching her arm out she dropped the shells watching them fall with a sharp eye as she bit into the egg savoring the taste counting silently in her head.
14 seconds before it hit the sandy rocks below, a drop like that really would kill her. Walking back over she grabbed a piece of paper, and tearing it in half she crumpled it up and dropped it out counting as it fell once again, again it was 14 seconds. Taking a bite of the apple she dropped the chunk out the window still counting. Again it was 14 seconds. That meant she was high enough for everything to reach terminal velocity, heck that meant that even if she could throw the bed out of the window it would take 14 seconds to reach the bottom.
Keeping this information in the forefront of her mind Naminé went back to the food and the thick stack of paper. Taking another piece and this time a bite of the roll she began folding it smiling as it soon turned into a paper crane, Minato had taught her how to make that. She made another, and another, and soon began making other things as well, she made a pinwheel, and a flower, and even a paper shuriken which she flung out the window watching as it flew off into the distance lilting up every now and then from the air currents….
"Air currents." She breathed now remembering what Gekido had told her quickly folding a new piece of paper into a plane and tossing it out the window watching as it flew for a great distance, the air currents from the wind on the mountain keeping it afloat. She even tossed out a crane watching as the currents took it, though it was quickly swept away by a gust of wind. Looking over at the pencils she grabbed one and quickly scrawled out a message on a piece of paper before folding it into another plane and tossing it out the window watching as it continued to soar into the horizon.
O0o0o0
It had taken him five days, Minato shaved off two days off by traveling late into the night and leaving early sleeping only a few hours in between. He'd finally made it to the mountain range after sending a letter to his father claiming that he'd gotten held up in his investigations and it would take him a bit longer to return than expected. The mountain range was vast and expanded from the grassy hills to the sandy plains of the desert and spanned well in between.
Taking in his experience of the first two hide outs he'd found Minato bet that they would be either in the desert or close to the land of rivers. They were always in close proximity to a major village, always with in 20 or so miles. Gaara had told his father that they hadn't gotten out of the desert before nightfall, so the most logical thought was that Naminé had been taken between the hidden sand village and the land of rivers, so heading towards the desert was his best shot at finding her.
The heat was as harsh as usual, and Minato was never happier when he'd found a small caved in oasis near the base of the mountain. He filled his canteens and once that was done he stuck his head under the water taking large gulps of the thirst quenching liquid, and pulling himself out of the water he ran his hand through his hair leaving it sticking up in odd places and not really caring that it did. Minato decided to use this break wisely and pulled out the rolled up map of the desert in his bag and opened it easily finding the mountainous area and scrutinizing it's every detail using the large outcropping of rocks he'd passed a mile back as a land marker for where he was.
Ahead of him seemed to be a small valley and another large section of rocks that went on for miles and miles, and after that it began to get lower and turn into desert completely. He studied the map intricately from where he was and where the mountains ended and marked roughly where the oasis was before rolling the map shut. Stowing it away back in his bag Minato pulled out some food as he leaned against the cool stone wall. Reaching into his pocket Minato pulled out a photograph and stared at it sadly.
"I will find you, I promise." He said softly closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall thinking only of the redheaded girl in the photo, the love of his life.
O0o0o0o0
It had been a week since the airplane, and Naminé's train of logic was simple, if there was a window in her room, the same room she'd been in for more than a week now without leaving, there would be more windows possibly and she might be able to better figure out exactly where she was, so despite her trepidation Naminé decided to leave her room.
The floor of this place was huge, she'd passed dozens of doors, but it seemed that only windows were in the rooms not in the halls, because the hall ways were lit with torches. It had taken her an hour to make the lap of the large area, and upon her return to her room Naminé was startled to find Itami standing by the window.
"Did you think it would be this simple Naminé? To toss a message out a window to get help?" he said holding up one of her many paper planes in his hand. "You are going to be punished, and it's going to start sooner than you think." He said simply staring at her watching as the red head warily looked around before looking at him in confusion, she didn't understand, was it the nervous anticipation? Or was he planning something down right horrible? Standing he walked from the room.
"You will be presentable and in the dining hall at 6." He said simply closing the door behind him. Naminé was more than confused, yes, she expected punishment for the attempt at sending out a message, but the punishment? What was it going to be?
Naminé took the time to brush and make her hair presentable before dressing and putting on enough make up to make the women leave her be, as usual at 5:30 they arrived to check her appearance. Her hair was pulled back in a braid, and Naminé wasn't even entertaining the thought of using the hair sticks once again. Because of her hot headedness, that had earned her a heap of trouble. The only thing that had kept her safe had been Gekido, and he was right, there were only so many times he could keep her out of hot water before she screwed herself.
The door opened and the two women entered once again scrutinizing her until with a shared nod they left the room calling for her guard to collect her. Gekido opened the door motioning for the red head to follow which she did.
"What the hell did you do?" he asked under his breath but loud enough for Naminé to hear.
"I sent a paper airplane out the window."
"It was more than that Naminé, tell me what you did."
"There was a message on it. That's all I'm telling you." She said entering the room ahead of him glancing back and seeing his look of shock before turning away from him making her way to the spot designated as hers. Once again she stared at her lap as though it held the secrets of the universe. Dinner went by quickly, Naminé was silent as Itami spoke of the many punishments that were completely gruesome, yet apparently far less worse than what he was going to do to her, and when the meal finally ended Itami stood.
"Bring her downstairs, bound by the arms from the rafters. I want her standing." He said walking from the room. Naminé felt as someone roughly grabbed her arm yanking her from the chair. It was a man she didn't recognize, but to her relief Gekido was close by following them down the stairs and into a blood scented chamber. Her arms were held above her head, and behind her, her wrists were bound tightly in the shackles as she stood in the center of the room, Itami standing by a table until it seemed that he'd found what he'd been looking for.
As Itami approached, Naminé spotted something in his hand and flinched feeling the pointed double ends of the metal sticking into the base of her throat and under her chin as he strapped it around her neck.
"This is called the heretic's fork, it's a handy little thing and it's going to be the main tool in your punishment." He said strapping it snug enough so the sharp points dug into her skin.
"I'll see you in a few days." He said with a smile as he turned to face the men before him. None are to enter the room except to keep the fire going. Gekido check on her every few hours, update me when you do. Now everybody get out." He said watching as the men left the room and closing the door behind him.
Naminé shifted uncomfortably as her arms grew sore. The fire in the warm room was making her sleepy, and as her head drooped the metal on both ends stabbed sharply into her skin making the redhead gasp in pain as her eyes snapped open. So that's what the punishment was, the heat was to make her sleepy, being bound the way she was, was so she couldn't lie down, and the metal currently digging into her skin was to keep her from falling asleep. Closing her eyes Naminé began focusing on various things in the room to keep her from falling asleep. Hours had passed, and the only reason she knew was because the fire had dimmed greatly, and currently was nothing more than ash and embers.
Zoning out Naminé snapped back to reality when the door opened up, and after a moment Gekido stood before her.
"Is it still today?" she asked tiredly. What had remained of the fire, the embers and ash had diminished leaving the room cold.
"No, I'm sure you're asking if it's still the same day you were strapped to this thing right?" he asked tilting her chin up just far enough to make her sigh in relief as the two prongs were moved from her neck just enough to get a bit of relief.
"Yeah, that."
"That was yesterday evening, it's almost three o'clock right now." He said quietly.
"How long is he going to keep me like this?"
"I don't know, until you break? Until you give some form of information? I don't know." The door opened once again, but this time a young woman entered and began tending to the long dead fire filling the place with kindling and wood and setting it ablaze as the chamber began heating up once again. They watched as she left as quietly as she entered the room.
"I have to go report to Itami now, but I'll try to come back. I can't take you out of those though." He said looking at the shackles that kept her standing. "I'm sorry." With that he walked from the room closing it quietly behind him. Time passed and Naminé felt her head drop again, and yelped in pain. All she wanted was to sleep, to be able to move her arms and sleep.
O0o0o0
Blinking open his eyes the first thing Minato noticed was that the shadows had shifted and realizing that he'd fallen asleep he quickly scooped up his bag stowing the scrolls away, and with a final glance at the photo of Naminé he put it into his pocket stepping out into the harsh sunlight heading east along the mountain range heading towards the valley. The wind was harsh and he hadn't gone more than a mile when he felt the familiar sting of sand, and heard whipping winds, looking in the direction of the sound he spotted the large dark cloud of the impending sand storm and headed right towards him.
Quickly he hurried towards the rocky mountain wall running alongside of it until he found a gap big enough for him to squeeze into, and forcing his bag into the gap first, Minato was about to squeeze into it as well when he spotted something fluttering in the wind passing right by him, and reaching out Minato snatched it from the breeze, it was a paper crane and the bluenette could do nothing but stare at it. Then he spotted another crane, and even a flower. A paper plane tumbling in the whipping winds had flown by and running over he snatched it up opening it shielding his eyes from the sand. There was nothing on it and crumpling it up Minato tossed it aside watching as other paper debris rolled past him.
Ducking into the crevasse and out of the stinging sand Minato huddled down sitting near his bag as he decided to wait out the storm. He watched as the sand flew by in great gusts and jumped when another piece of paper smacked onto the corner of the crevasse wall flapping loudly in the wind. Minato blinked at it staring curiously, and with a gasp he lunged for the paper just before it could be blown away.
Leaning back with the paper in his hands Minato could only stare as he laughed letting out a sob, he'd been right, he was absolutely right, and holding the paper to his chest the blue haired teen just sat there laughing hysterically as tears poured down his face.
On the paper, written in Naminé's familiar handwriting was a note scrawled quickly that read:
My name is Naminé,
I was told it's October, I'm in the mountains, INSIDE the mountains.
Bring this to my father the Kazekage of Sunagakure, bring this to the Hokage in Konoha, or bring this to any hidden village! Please help, please!
"She's alive, she's ALIVE! Thank you kami she's alive!" The bluenette shouted at the top of his lungs, the sound masked by the raging winds of the desert. Minato knew what he had to do, he couldn't get her by himself, and the nearest place was the hidden sand village which was a day's journey from here. The moment the sand storm stopped, that's where he would go, and pulling out his map he marked the area near the valley knowing he was close to it.
He waited hours for the storm to pass, and by the time it did, the sun had set and the colder autumn temperatures of the desert began setting in, and despite this Minato took off heading towards Suna refusing to let the freezing cold of the desert wasteland get to him. Naminé was alive, he knew she was alive, and this was the proof of it!
He ran through the sand panting heavily as the white misty puffs of his heated breath passed through his lips. He'd been running well into the daylight hours, and just as the sun began to peak in the sky he could see the walls of Sunagakure before him. This only spurred Minato on as he raced towards the gates of the hidden sand village stumbling slightly as the guards stopped him.
"State your name and business." The guard asked.
"Minato…*pant*…Uzumaki…of Konoha, I have to see Gaara-sama, it's urgent!"
"The Kazekage is seeing nobody today but you're welcome to rent a room and wait until tomorrow. Lodging is located on the eastern side of the village." The guard said waving the teen through who despite their looks continued to race through the village heading towards the Kazekage's tower. Bursting through the doors he startled the secretary who jumped with a gasp.
"Where is Gaara-sama, is he in?"
"No, I'm sorry he's at home- Minato didn't let her finish before he ran out the door heading to the Kazekage's mansion. By the time he'd arrived at the front door he was wiped, that however didn't stop him from pounding on the door like his life depended on it as he panted heavily. Minato could hear the wailing of a small child, and moments later the door whipped open revealing the Kazekage with a crying child in his arms.
"You'd better have a good excuse for- Minato? Come in your father said you'd be near the border, I didn't think you'd stop by…" Gaara said moving out of the way as the bluenette stumbled in to the much cooler house.
"I have to talk to you." Minato said still panting for breath as he earned Gaara's full attention. "She's still alive, Naminé, these…I found them in the storm…the sand storm." Minato said pulling out the paper crane and the note and forcing them into the red headed man's hand as he leaned heavily against the wall. If anyone would recognize Naminé's handwriting, it would be her father. Minato stared at the man who looked at him with a skeptical sadness holding his daughter in his arms.
"Minato, I know what you want to believe, I want to believe that too." He said softly looking at the folded paper crane in his hand as he began unfolding the paper in his hand. "But it's been six months and-
Minato watched as his eyes grew wide, and it seemed that the child in his arms took his silence as an okay to grab the paper crane.
"Bird. Birdy, Dadee birdy."
"Yes Kira…it's a bird." The red head said softly looking from the page in his hand to Minato in shock. "Where did you find this?" he breathed now staring intently at the bluenette.
"Near the mountains, a day and a half away, I ran the whole time." Minato said finally catching his breath, and stumbling over to the couch he flopped on it. "I didn't stop, crap I can't breathe. Holy cow I'm seeing spots, like seriously, the rooms spinning I can't- It won't-
Gaara watched as the teen passed out on the couch and hurried through the house to get his wife. He didn't show her the note, but instead simply brought her right to the teen in the living room after putting their daughter in the crib.
"Is he okay?" The red head asked looking at the teen in concern.
"He'll be fine he's just suffering heat exhaustion. Minato just needs some rest and some liquids. You said he'd been traveling all day?" The brunette asked as she finished checking him over and walked to the kitchen wetting a rag in the sink.
"Yes, that's what he told me, he came from the mountain ranges. Can you stay with him? I have to bring something to the investigatory office." Gaara said watching as Nia wiped the teens flushed face with the rag before placing it on his forehead.
"Did Minato find something?"
"Yes. I'll tell you everything when they confirm what exactly this is, okay?"
"Okay." Nia said watching as her husband went up the stairs returning with a small book and leaving the house.
O0o0o0o0
The pain was excruciating, but it was the only way to stay awake, it had come to the point where Naminé was intentionally stabbing herself in the neck in order to stay awake. Every time the pain was a zap to her system that startled her awake. She felt like she'd been here forever, Gekido had come in to check on her more than nine times already that she'd counted. Naminé didn't know if she could take it anymore, she wanted to sleep, she wanted so desperately to sleep. She wanted the pain in her shoulders and legs to go away, and she wanted the sharp metal digging into her skin to just go away.
Naminé was starting to see things, the shadows had a mind of their own, and she could feel as her heart raced as they slowly crept towards her, feeling them crawling up her legs as she screamed. Closing her eyes tightly shut Naminé tried controlling her shaky panicked breaths when the door behind her opened. Itami walked in watching as the redhead was pulling on the chains that held her in place panicking as she did so.
"Get them off me, get them off!" She screamed kicking at the air in front of her, and in the process gouging her neck more with the two pronged spikes of metal under her chin. Moments later she was doused with cold water startling her from her hallucination. She stared straight ahead struggling to focus on the man in front of her, her vision hazy, and the shadows were still creeping around her as the man leaned close.
"It looks like lack of sleep isn't agreeing well with you is it princess?" Itami asked as he tilted her head slightly so she was forced to look him in the eyes. "Would you like me to make them go away? Or I can make them come back."
"No, no, make them go away, make them go away!" The redhead said in a panic.
"Where are you from?" Itami asked nonchalantly.
"Suna."
"What's your main export?"
"Hand crafted things, rugs, jewelry."
"How old is your father?"
"38 I think? Maybe?"
"What's your father's greatest weakness?"
"He- it's- wa-wait-I- I won't…tell you that…"
"Where's the most easily accessible area in the village?"
"I's- NO! I won't…say." She said stubbornly.
"Hmmm, you're coming along well enough, a few more days and I'll have my answers, but until then…" he said walking away from the red head and over to a crank on the wall. Slowly he began turning it, and Naminé felt as her arms pulled up higher, leaving her on her toes instead of flatfooted as she had been. Pain radiated through her shoulders as she shrieked in pain.
"Oh gods kill me already!" She sobbed as pain continued to shoot through her shoulders until finally he stopped leaving her in the newer much more painful position and leaving the room. Her legs began burning more than they had before. Naminé knew that there would only be so long she'd be able to stay the way she had been.
The shadows were creeping back, and the creatures from the shadows were reappearing, crawling up her legs and on her skin. In a panic she took a step back, most of her weight on her back foot, and immediately the redhead heard a loud pop as an immense pain radiated through her shoulder as she gasped in pain before she screamed.
O0o0o0
It had been two days, two days and they were still here still analyzing the paper, comparing it to the red headed teen's diary her father had brought as a comparison, and Minato was more than frustrated.
"Why are we waiting, why aren't we looking for her?" The bluenette asked the red headed Kage who sat at his desk waiting for the results of the examination.
"Minato it could be a trap, we need to rule out that possibility in its entirety. Believe me when I say that I want to be out there right now looking for my daughter because I do. I know you want to be out there too, but we need to be safe rather than sorry." He said watching as a messenger quickly entered his office.
"Lord Kazekage, this message is from the investigatory office, they said that it's a match, a complete irrefutable match and that there's so secret messages encrypted in the paper you've brought them."
"Thank you, you're dismissed." He said looking from the messenger who quickly exited the room to Minato who immediately spoke up.
"Put me in the group Kazekage-Sama. Please, put me in this rescue party."
"Minato, as much of a help as you are, you're a risk, a liability. You're the son of the Hokage, you could be killed or taken as you were last time."
"I am not a child. I'm nineteen, I'm a Jonin, and regardless of what you think, I didn't take your words as a joke. You told me to get stronger so the next time something like this happens I'd be able to save who was suffering. Naminé is suffering and she will be until we bring her home, so don't you dare say that I'm a risk, because I'm the only person you could put in a group aside from yourself who would die for her. Besides, this time around, I have my chakra, I wasn't starved for eleven days straight, and I'm not beaten to a bloody pulp.
I'm the only person whose found, been in, and examined two of their formerly unknown hideouts. I have a rough Idea on where she might be held, and the faster we get in and out of there the faster we can decimate it and put an end to them. And even more than that, I have my Byakugan, I could find her and have her out in under ten minutes."
"And if after all that what do you do if I still refuse to assign you to this mission?" Gaara asked staring at the young man before him who did not back down and stared back just as intently.
"Then I'll go anyways. I'm formidable, much more so than many think and I've only gotten better. I love her, and nothing will stop me from getting her back. Not even you Kazekage-Sama." Minato said standing tall in front of the desk.
Now Gaara stood staring at the teen who didn't even flinch. He'd changed, grown, he was more of a man now than the child who had once feared him as he did, and the Kazekage could see it.
"Very well Minato. Be at the gate in three hours, my brother will be the leader of this mission, but you're to bring this." Gaara said opening the drawer and pulling out a cloth handing it to the bluenette who opened it and stared. It was Naminé's 'Love' necklace.
"What would you like me to do with this?" Minato asked knowing that the man before him had ulterior motives for the necklace's use.
"When you find the leader of that group, I want you to imbue the necklace with your chakra. It'll have a reaction to the bracelet on my wrist and heat up. That is how I'll get to you. You focus on bringing Naminé back, but when you run into the man responsible, you leave him for me. Is that understood?" Gaara said seriously.
"Yes, understood."
"Good. Prepare whatever you'll need, I'll assemble the team. Plan to arrive just before dawn." He said waving the bluenette away.
The time passed quickly and it seemed that before he could blink, Minato was with a group of Suna Shinobi racing towards the mountains.
I'm quite excited about the amount of reviews I've gotten from the last chapter. I felt like nobody read my story so I put it on the back burner for a while until I realized that it wasn't fair to do so. It's awesome that people still read my stories, and the reviews make me so happy, so to those who did review, thanks so much for making my day I already have the next chapter in the works.