"Is this entrance supposed to intimidate us? Cause I can tell you, I have seen watermelons that have scared me more." Tenten looked at Sinbad, unimpressed. "I mean, seriously, either be intimidating or be a flirt, both is not working for you. Very few people can pull off the stoic, love me because I'm me though I still treat you like crap air, but you really shouldn't. It's not working for you. Right, Sakura?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What are you asking me for?"

"Well, the most obvious reason is that you fell in love with a stoic man with the emotional warmth of a block of ice."

"Again, are you ever going to let that drop?"

"No, not really."

"Ugh." Sakura rolled her eyes, even though Tenten couldn't see it. She looked at Sinbad. He looked confused, and surprised. She looked closer. Mostly surprised.

In the cell next to her, Tenten grinned at the King and his generals. "So what have you come to ask us today? Must be important if you brought all of your generals with you. Or are you unsure of what to do with us?" She yawned and shifted, the chains around her wrists and ankles clinking with her movement. "If you've come to kill us, can I request a last meal? Or can you just do it quickly? The suspense is boring me to tears, and I'm not so fond of being in chains again."

That caught theirs attention. "Again?" Sharkkan asked

"You were a slave?" Sinbad asked, his eyes hard.

Tenten shrugged. "Yeah, twice, plus brainwashed, beaten, tortured, and starved. But, watcha gunna do?" She grinned, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "The past is the past, and at least being here is like being on house arrest. I'm fed, I'm warm and you haven't deprived me of too much. At least some of the guards here are cute. But I do miss the sky. I really didn't have time to enjoy it when I was attacking your country. Oh, and privacy to use the bathroom." She laughed at their blushes.

The generals just looked at her with a mixture of awe, shock and exasperation. She had stated her near devastating attack on them as if she was commenting of the weather. Ja'far was the first to recover.

"And why did you attack us?"

Tenten leaned back against the cell wall. "Because I didn't have a choice? I was not in control of my actions and I apologize if I caused you any grief." Her voice was monotone, as if she just going through the motions of an apology.

"You don't sound very sorry." Yamuraiha said, her voice light, though her gaze was like stone.

"What do you want me to say? Sorry that I was captured and tortured and locked away in a dark room for months, hell it could have been years, I was down there so long! And sorry that I could not control my actions until I was knocked back to my senses." She raised an eyebrow at Sinbad. "Do you also want me to apologize for being kidnaped from my home and forced into slavery the first time or for the second time? Or are you really waiting to hear me apologize for not being attracted to you?"

Sinbad started. "None of that; no one is to blame for being sold into slavery except for the people who sold and bought you."

"Then why am I being held here?"

Ja'far narrowed his eyes. "It is because you attacked our country-"

"Against my will."

"-and caused massive damage to not only people's homes, but also to their person."

"And I said I was sorry. But from what Sakura told me, you people have a habit of forgiving all past wrongs and allowing people to start anew. Or is that only for the people who are in awe of you?"

Ja'far ignored her last comments. "That is another thing, miss, you-"

"Tenten."

"What?"

"My name is Tenten, not you, and not Miss, not Lady anything, not mistress, and not my dear. I'm not your dear anything. And I haven't been a miss in years, I'm a grown woman and I can take care of myself."

"Tenten, then. Miss Tenten," He ignored her huff of indignation. "How exactly do you know Ana?"

"Ana?"

"The woman in the cell next to you."

"Well, as she told you last few dozen times you came down here, her name is actually Sakura, and I don't think that that is any of your business."

"It is our business since she infiltrated our country, entering under false pretenses and under an assumed identity!"

"Then I guess she exposed a serious flaw in your security, didn't she?" They stared at the brown haired woman. Was she really that flippant? "Besides," Tenten continued, as if she didn't realize all of their attention was on her. "If you really want to know, why don't you ask her directly? She knows more than I do."

"Who is the woman named Yayaba!? Where is she?!" Ja'far's hold on his temper was starting to fray, anyone could see it.

Tenten stared at him, one eyebrow raised. "I swear that I have never met anyone named Yayaba in my life. Hey, Sakura," She raised her voice. "Do you know a woman named Yayaba?"

"Yes." Sakura answered, clear amusement in her voice.

Tenten looked pointedly at the ex-assassin. "There you go, she knows. Now can you release me? I'm getting bored down here and my arms are starting to cramp."

Spartos shook his head. "Unfortunately, we cannot. Despite whether or not you meant to, you did attack us and injure nearly four dozen of our soldiers and and almost a hundred civilians."

"Well, I guess I can't persuade you then. You can leave now. Come back when you are either going to kill me or you have become more interesting. Either will do." And as if to give power to her dismissal, she leaned against the wall, and proceeded to stare right through them.

"So Sinbad, are you going to ask me any questions? Or is this just going to be another waste of time?" Sakura asked, "Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on the children. You did send them into a dungeon with no backup."

"Why do you care so much about them?" Ja'far asked. "What are they to you?"

Sakura shrugged. "Nothing at all, I guess. And as to why I care about their wellbeing, well, wouldn't anyone want to protect a child, especially those children, who attract trouble like a magnet. And if you do recall, I did try and go with them."

"And why is that?" Sinbad asked. "Was it so that you could gain the dungeon's power for yourself?"

"And what about you?" Sakura snapped back, her playful gaze now cold. "You sent those children into the dungeon under the pretense of ridding you of your curse. But it was really to gain the power of the dungeon Zagan, wasn't it?" Her smile was cruel without a hint of warmth or compassion. "Your curse marks are gone, and you are obviously still alive, which means that the curse that you stated could only be cured with Zagan's power is gone. And yet we still have no djinn. So a cure was not your real motivation." Her gaze ran over him, as if appraising him. "You can't enter the dungeons anymore; the djinn themselves won't allow it. They also won't allow anyone of your household to enter them either. Yamuraiha would be the only one who could make it through the door, but then what good would that do? Magicians and djinns don't mix, so her obtaining the djinn for you wouldn't work either. Your only choice was to send in a proxy, a puppet, who you would be able to control and who had earned your respect and who was in such awe of you that you would be able to have a say in what happens next, all without seeming like you are pulling the strings. You didn't need Zagan to rid you of your curse, but you sent them anyway. Tell me this, Sinbad, is there any length you won't go to to get what you want? Or are you just that greedy?"

Sinbad shook his head, as if he was scolding a small child. "You don't understand the injustices of this world. I did not send them to the dungeon to gain its power, that was just an excuse. It was a way to further their growth in magic and teamwork, to help them survive and grow into the very best they could be."

"As long as they don't go against you." Sakura countered. "Besides, you must not care as much as you say, seeing as you basically led them into the man-eating dungeon. Are they even alive? Or did they disappoint you and you stopped caring after their deaths?"

Sinbad, Yamuraiha, Ja'far, any of them were about to retort when Masrur's deep, clear voice rang out. "They returned yesterday."

"Masrur!" Ja'far scolded.

Sakura just looked at the stoic man for a long moment. Then she gave a small grin. "Well, at least they are alive, and you don't have to add the deaths of four more children to your ledger, King Sinbad. But I can promise you this, you are not as in control of people's lives as you think you are, and you would do well to remember that." She yawned. "Now ask your questions. It would be no fun if your interrogation was so short."

It was over an hour later when they left the dungeons. Just like every time before, they all asked questions, threatened and cast spells, And every time, without fail, they got no reliable or useful information. Hell, they couldn't even tell if what information they did obtain was viable or true. Those two definitely knew each other, and from their conversations the generals could deduce that they were from the same country, if not the same village. But other than that, nothing useful. They knew the name of at least one of their friends or family, Neji, but with just a name and no other information, such as where they came from, it was a moot point.

"They are toying with us." Drakon commented. "Every piece of information that they give us is not useful to us, and it is hard to tell what is true and what is false." He turned to the two guards that were always stationed at the entrance to the interrogation rooms. "What have you heard?"

The guard on the left straightened. "They often talk to each other about home, but neither mention where it is. They also talk about others, men named Neji, Sasuke, Naruto, Lee and Guy, and women named Ino, Hinata, and Temari, but first names are mentioned only. No village names, locations, and any information that we hear, we are skeptical about. It is hard to tell if the information is true, or if it is something that they are just making up to mislead us."

"What else have you heard?" Ja'far asked.

The guard on the right scratched his head. "Well, last night they said something strange."

"Strange?"

He nodded. "Yeah, the pink one, Sakura, said that while she had stayed here, she tried to honor an old man's memory. It seemed strange to me that after that, they were quiet for a long time. Usually when they talk of other people, they talk for a long while on the subject. But this one, almost nothing."

"But they could have been whispering." The other guard jumped in. "If they talk soft enough, we can't hear but a murmur, and whenever we get close, they suddenly talk loudly or not at all. And when we separated them, they were as silent as the grave."

"Taking away their food and water didn't seem to make a difference, other than they slept more." The right guard added.

Sinbad frowned. "You tried to starve them? And who gave you permission to do so?"

Ja'far sighed. "I did." When Sinbad looked at him, he continued. "Those two are no ordinary women. They obviously have had at least a little bit of training for resisting interrogation and keeping secrets. None of what we have done has been life threatening."

"What about Yamuraiha's magic? Surely she can use some sort of truth spell to determine what is true and what is false."

Yamuraiha shook her head. "I tried. But for some reason, the spell doesn't work correctly. Every time I tried to check their claims, the spell wouldn't activate, or it would give me a result that is inconclusive or that I have never seen before." She shifted her staff from hand to hand. "I think we might have to consider the fact that they may have been magically experimented on, either with or without their permission. That is the only reason that I can think of for my spells not working. They must have powerful spells placed on their bodies and minds to render mine basically useless."

"Can't you undo the spells?" Hinahoho asked.

Yamuraiha shook her head. "Not unless I knew the commands for the spells or if I had some idea of what kind of spell was in play." She sighed. "And I know neither of these things. Until I know more, the best that I can do is place a number of general spells that cut off a person's connection to the rukh. The spells I placed are strong, and I place them on the floors, walls, ceilings, bars, chains, even on their clothes and in their food. They will not be able to break out with magic."

"Good." Spartos nodded his approval. "It would be trouble if they could access their magic, especially since we know nothing of their aim here."

Sharrkan scratched the back of his head. "And if they are not using any magic, then we are in big trouble. I mean, that Sakura girl had to have been working her transformation magic continuously since she arrived here months ago."

Yamuraiha shook her head. "I believe that that was something gifted to her by a magic artifact. If I had to guess, I would say that it was her necklace. It broke when the other woman, Tenten, attacked her, and immediately after, her magical disguise vanished. But what I am more concerned about is what they can do. I have never seen magical commands like it, but it is possible that it is a type of regional magic, or formula magic passed down through specific families or villages." She sighed again, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. "I just don't know enough about it."

Hinahoho rubbed his chin. "And if they are not using magic? What do they want? What is their aim? Who do they work for? What do we even know about them or what they can do?"

Sinbad crossed his arms, deep in thought. "That is what bothers me. They know much about us, and we know next to nothing about them. And as for their goal here, I don't know, I cannot guess, as to what their aim is. We are basically blind."

"And that is dangerous." Drakon added.

Spartos shut his eyes and looked skywards. "Then may the gods help us all."