Song: It has begun
By: Starset
"Did you hear, Chika-sama? A woman managed it. The woman named Endo Minori."
"Ah yes, I remember her. She had so much potential, I can't say I'm surprised… I suppose I can thank Lady for taking her in after her downfall. But I'm afraid we're too late. The war hawk got to the child first. But don't lose faith; after all, chances are the child's father will be careless once more."
"Yes, I'll prioritise him in the notices across all nations..."
"Good."
Darkness, followed by the slow filtering of dim light as your eyes struggled to open.
Next came the panic, caused by the sudden realisation that your body was immobile, that your groggy mind functioned enough to inform you of the inevitable.
Your limbs restrained, ankles and wrists straining against rough material, heedless of the skin being rubbed off leaving them raw and painful.
Cold.
Your old thin clothes were doing nothing to stave off the natural frigidity of the bland room, and your small thin, verging on skinny, body helped you none.
Terrified.
You took in your surroundings breathlessly, chest heaving.
A sparse grey room, cube-shaped with nothing visible but a mirror reflecting your sorry state. There you sat, in a metal chair just as dull as the rest of the room, the only discrepancy being the malicious nature of the rope cuffing you to the armrests and chair-legs.
Your eyes, a grey so dark they would better be referred to as black, displayed the true nature of your emotions for all to see.
The mirror spanned the width of the whole wall opposite you, and reflected on the middle of the wall behind you was a single wooden door.
That was how I woke on that fateful day.
I'd watched enough detective movies to know anyone could be watching me from the other side of the obscure window.
Hopelessness washed through me. I had a feeling I knew where I was
As time went on and no one appeared, I began to calm down enough to think things through.
As far as my theories went, I had been taken in by Danzo's minions because I had gotten slightly too close to Naruto. Though why they cared about who Naruto interacted with, I wasn't sure, but I could take a guess:
Because they didn't want someone to control the kyuubi, emotionally or physically, or they didn't want him killed and the 'weapon' lost.
That led to Naruto having only verified friends, like academy teachers and old Konoha-born civilians. It didn't include random kids that appeared out of nowhere that attempted to befriend him, civilian or no. I probably had no record on file either, no birth certificate, no identity.
I could only hope no mind reading techniques would be involved, otherwise my past life would be revealed. I paled further as I realised how stupid I had been.
Not that your average person would jump to the conclusion that Naruto was being watched.
Well, too late now, I thought, dryly.
If I hadn't been tied to the chair, I would have jumped a foot in the air when the door behind me slammed open. The small amount of calm I had managed to retain shattered instantly as I heard footsteps and the suspicious sound of a cane hitting the ground approached me. I didn't dare look in the mirror, my eyes squeezing shut, hoping that not seeing would somehow make it not real.
But it did nothing, it did not even delay the inevitable.
A man came to a stop in front of me, a mere foot away from where I was bound.
And I forced my eyes open, raising my head slowly and torturously up the length of the man before me. From the black material pooling around his feet, trailing up the plain wooden cane in his hand and past his purple sash-belt. Next, a lump vaguely resembling a bent arm was hidden beneath his clothes (almost like it was broken), and finally I found myself staring into a single, emotionless eye.
His head was bandaged on one side and across his forehead, a scar created an X-shape on his chin and the wrinkles creasing his face took nothing from his intimidating appearance.
Sweat beaded on my brow as a root member appeared next to me, and I felt my teeth begin to chatter. I tried to force them to stop, but I couldn't. I was pretty sure he was leaking killing intent, but I couldn't identify it as I had never experienced it before.
I knew I should be more in control of myself, but how could I counter killing intent with no training?
I shrank into my chair as Danzo stood there motionlessly, seemingly surveying me. Sweat began pouring down my brow and my eyes became unfocussed as fear gripped me.
Stop it! I tried to tell myself, but even though I had no reason to be scared I couldn't help it. I started picturing my death, a kunai through my throat, a chidori through my chest, even a ledge and a long drop. Anything my mind could think of. I shook, and tried to scream for him to stop, my mouth moving up and down, but the words wouldn't come.
It felt like an eternity, but was probably no more than a few seconds.
They're not going to hurt me, they're not going to hurt me… I repeated to myself. Unless they tortured me for information and then wiped my memories.
Well, shit.
"I hear you recently made friends with a boy named Naruto. Is this correct?" Danzo started, and suddenly the fear lifted slightly.
"Ye.. ye.. yes," I managed, throat dry. "What d-do you w-want from me, who are y-you?" I squeaked embarrassingly.
Even in my state, I knew I needed to keep my clueless-self up. Perhaps it was simply survival instincts kicking in, but I was thankful none-the-less.
Danzo lent down until we were face to face and gave me a grandfatherly smile, and I might have fallen for it if I didn't know who he really is. Although he would have a hard time getting any kid to trust him with this killing intent.
Almost in conjunction with my thoughts, the killing intent fell away in an instant.
And suddenly I could breathe.
Funny, for at that moment I couldn't be sure it was a curse in disguise. Wretchedly, I gasped for the air withheld from me by sheer fear.
"We are simply protecting the boy. You shouldn't get close to him unless you want to stay safe."
For some reason, those two sentences didn't seem to go together.
"What is your name? I can see you have no chakra training. I am sorry to have scared you, but since we couldn't find any records of you, you may have been a spy. So I'm just going to ask a few questions to make sure."
Should I tell him? Should I lie? He would probably be able to tell if I lied anyway, so I couldn't chance it.
"My name… is Sasayaki."
Danzo hand blurred as he made a hand-sign to the root member that I might have missed had I not expected such a thing. He was probably verifying with the silent root member if I was telling the truth.
"Good boy. So who are your family? Where do they live?"
Good… boy?
I really shouldn't have been surprised to be mixed up for a boy; street girls who haven't hit puberty often are. Short dirty hair and old, gender-neutral clothes hardly help. But it often worked in our favour anyway.
That being said, I decided not to enlighten him. The thought somehow centred me; there was something I knew that Danzo didn't. I wasn't totally hopeless, despite the circumstances.
I would get out of this.
But still, he called me a fucking boy! I'm a girl, you retarded old man!
Ahem, back to the situation at hand…
"I'm an orphan. I live at a prostitute house in the red light district." I didn't expand on that.
No point giving away too much information if I could.
"What were you doing following the demon boy, away from there?"
"I was…" Shit. I couldn't tell the truth, so I had to settle on a half-truth.
"I… I was talking with some people and they told me about a boy that everyone avoided, and I was curious. I wanted to get away from the prostitute house so I decided to find him. He must be lonely, after all." There. That was true, just not in that order.
Another flash of hand signs and then Danzo rose to his full height.
"It is rare that we find someone who actively seeks out someone that is avoided. I have a proposal for you. I'll let you be friends with the boy if you report directly to me, and you train with some of my other disciples."
I couldn't help my mouth dropping open.
Danzo was recruiting me? How had I possibly fallen into this mess? I supposed it made sense as he would get a close look out on Naruto, but why the training?
There was no way I wanted to turn into another emotionless killer Sai. I was about to attempt to politely turn him down when his next words stopped me short.
"If you accept, I can even place you in the academy and get you on a team with him when you graduate." He must have heard about me wanting to enter the academy. No doubt someone had been listening in on the conversation between myself and Naruto the moment it began.
I thought about it for a moment.
On one hand, Danzo's training would probably be one hell of an undertaking. But on the other hand, a 100% guarantee to be on Naruto's team would take a lot of stress off of my shoulders, along with not raising the hokage's suspicions if I had to get Naruto to ask for my permission to enter the academy.
And maybe I'd learn some kick-ass jutsu on the way.
No way will I let him make me into a robot. No amount of torture will change that.
This was my first step to saving the future. I could use the training for my own benefit, I was one step ahead. It would all work out in my favour. Danzo wouldn't even know what hit him.
"I accept."
Following the meeting with Danzo, I found myself back in the red-light district outside of my prostitute house, the glowing letters of the 'Mischievous Maidens' above the entrance outlined in the darkness. The stars twinkled above.
Well, Danzo had done his homework. Lucky I hadn't lied, he'd probably known who I was before I even told him, or had found out while I had my chat with him.
I picked myself up off the ground and made my way inside the brothel, and found Lady in the kitchen at the back of the establishment (past the small bar and various rooms arrayed at the front), and two of the maidens chatted with each other as Lady prepared dinner. The smell of slightly burnt rice and seaweed wafted towards me.
"I'm back!" I shouted cheerfully.
"Sasayaki!" Ko cheered as she and Ran rushed over to me. Lady turned around and gave me a once over, checking I was ok, then turned back to her cooking with a snort.
Well, I was better than ok. I was great. I had achieved so much in the span of several days.
"Lady has been really worried about you. And tonight we had absolutely no customers! I think she feels stressed," Ran whispered as we made our way onto the cushions in the 'dining' room.
I frowned. No customers? That was rare.
"So where are the others?" I asked, referring to the other Maidens.
"They're out the back playing cards. You wanna join them?" Ko asked.
"Sure, let's go play!" I grinned and dragged them to go outside with me. We reached the window and stared out into the small yard, lit by a single lamp. I could make out their silhouettes, Chou and Eiko as they sat across from each other. I stopped the girls from jumping out to join them as I felt my veins turn to ice.
Something wasn't right. Not a sound was uttered from the two girls outside, and I couldn't see a single movement. Yūrei was missing, too.
Ko and Ran picked up on my unease.
"Why are they so-" Ran never finished her sentence. A kunai flashed past my face and embedded into her throat.
For a moment my mind didn't register it. Then, almost in unison, Ko and I screamed.
Death can be such a sudden thing. A single moment, a split second.
I would know.
Ko stumbled away from the window and from the corpse that crumbled beside me.
But I was frozen solid, transfixed by the unmoving figures of my childhood, my friends that had helped raise me, lived side by side with me for six years.
And my mind finally picked up the missing piece. The blood that pooled under their crossed legs, trickling down their sides and shirts and necks. Six years seemed to blur in my memory, as if muddled by the scene before, uncomprehending of what reality presented.
They…
They were…
(Gone)
Taken away from me in the dark of night.
(In the dead of night)
"Lady! Lady, help us! Ran is dead!" I could hear Ko sobbing hysterically, in the background and Lady shouting for her to calm down and explain.
As I stared at the work of a ninja for the first time, my numb mind supplied an answer.
Danzo.
I knew what was coming next. I knew, but my feet were rooted to the ground in fear. I couldn't move to save Ko and Lady, panic caused my brain to shut down and my head to pound.
Move! I screamed to myself and finally rationality took over.
Or perhaps it wasn't rationality, but it was all I had short of outright fleeing.
I raced to the kitchen in time for Ko's screams to cut off as she slumped to the floor.
Right next to Ko's lifeless body a root member stood with Lady in a chokehold, a knife to her throat.
Her eyes full of seeming comprehension as she struggled for a breath. But maybe I was mistaken; situations like this could often skewer one's perspective.
"This is your initiation to Root. Your strongest ties will be erased from the red-light district and your new identity will be established," the Root member's lifeless voice intoned.
Time seemed to slow down as I lunged forwards, tears already sliding down my cheeks.
I reached my hand out, to do something, anything, to stop the inevitable. I knew it was in vain, but try I did.
My mouth opened and an eerie scream pierced the night, along with a spray of blood, thick in the air and then across the floor.
The last thing I saw was Lady's eyes, wide with a strange glint of horrified realisation in them.
"Shi… no… sasayaki." She fell to the floor.
Dead.
My third consecutive awakening proved to be disastrous, just like the last two.
Funny how I had thought everything was going so well. This time, I knew better.
For I woke up to a large underground cavern, propped against a wall while a group of Root members were training in front of me.
Children, my age, I noted numbly. It took a moment when everything that had happened crashed down on me.
And I screamed tears falling thick and fast from my cheeks.
The children and their instructor stopped what they were doing and all turned and stared at me silently.
Emotionlessly.
Though how could I know, for they all wore masks. But I did, because I had the knowledge.
The cursed knowledge, cursed only because I didn't know how to use it right.
I couldn't help it. I clutched my head in my hands, looking around wildly for an escape.
I didn't want this! I never should have chosen this. I need to get out of here!
All those years of making a life for myself, a family even, were lost.
Suddenly a Root another member appeared in front of me. A fist planted itself in my cheek. Then another to my stomach, and to my ribs. I pulled my arms down to defend myself as I was pummelled into the wall. I coughed blood and keeled over on my hands and knees.
"Root members do not show emotion. When you have learned this, you may stand up and join the session."
A woman. I realised from the tone of her voice. But that was of no consequence; in the end, she was just a machine.
I coughed some more and flopped to the floor in pain, clutching my stomach and face.
I shouldn't be alive. It's my fault they all died, but also Danzo's. I'm going to kill him, I thought bitterly.
I didn't get up for a long time. I lay there, silently crying. My throat hurt from holding back my sobs but I didn't want to get hit again. Hours passed, and the training session left for the night, and another one came in, this time more experienced members. No one gave me a second glance. I wondered vaguely if it was a common occurrence, or if they just didn't care. Maybe a bit of both.
I watched distantly the gruelling training they went through, running circuits and sparring. They were so fast I could barely make it out as they ran at each other, hands flashing through hand seals as jutsu went everywhere in deadly precision.
I wish I was that strong.
After I had calmed down enough to have some semblance of coherent thought I knew I had to come up with a plan.
It was with a calmness wrought from eventual but fleeting numbness that I managed to gather myself enough to plan.
For now I should just go along with what they want me to. I need to get strong otherwise I'll just be killed. I can still make things right, I can change the future, save everyone. I'm the only one that knows how. I'll learn that reanimation jutsu from Orochimaru or Kabuto… If I can get strong enough.
Now that an unhealthy train of thought. I knew, but I didn't care. I would do it, damn the consequences.
And with that I stood on shaky legs, plastering on a blank façade. It was a weak one, but better than my outright crying. I stood and the same lady appeared in front of me, her white mask looming over me.
White, the colour suited for protectors, heroes and angels. It was wrong, oh so wrong.
"Good, you are learning quickly. You may now start your training. Follow me."
She turned on her heels, and I was but a step behind.
I would do this, I would save everyone. I would save Sasuke, and Naruto, and Itachi and everyone affected.
And then I would force Orochimaru or Kabuto to teach me the reanimation jutsu, and bring Lady and the Maidens back.
No one would stop me.
Song: It has begun
By: Starset
Adventures of the Gang
Pt. 2 Cards (1)
By: Shinda Shikai
Edited by: Dragondancer81
It was late morning, the sun strong and stifling. Yurei raised a hand to fan his face, before wiping off a bead of sweat.
I s'pose they call it the 'Land of Fire' for a reason…
Eri and Emi had decided to set up near Junko and Akemi's charity stall, on the main strip where most people came to visit the various popular clubs.
"Ok, so we're going to start with some conning then we'll do some showy stuff later. What you two can do is pretend to play us every now and then and we'll let you win, then people will think it's possible." Emi paused to let it sink in. "Got it?"
"Yea, can I go first?" Yurei asked excitedly.
It was about an hour in; they'd made a few hundred ryo, which was a pretty good catch. Eri and Emi had decided to change tactics and had started doing simple card tricks instead of conning, because a small group had formed and were getting agitated trying to figure out why someone only occasionally won the games.
Which meant they might begin demanding answers soon and that was never a good thing.
Takeshi and Yurei had inconspicuously joined the small crowd, making it appear larger as Eri and Emi began a well-practiced routine of tricks.
Fortunately or unfortunately, a large portion of the crowd had already left since the games had obviously ended, grumbling about the ryo they had lost to two little girls. Well it was their fault in the first place for trying to cheat some poor innocent children.
Only three kids remained to watch.
Two boys, one maybe a year older than Yurei had dark red hair tied up in a ponytail. His eyes were slanted and a startling grey colour, with a single red teardrop shape painted on each cheek. He appeared disinterested as he watched Emi and Eri work, but his eyes remained fixed on the spectacle.
Next to him the other boy with shaggy blond hair and deep blue eyes, probably about Yurei's age, was watching the cards flow about from Emi to Eri intently, appearing deep in thought despite his young appearance.
Finally, beside the blond one was a girl about the same age with the same blue eyes, but she had long black hair and was extremely pretty. She wasn't even paying much attention to the spectacle, if her bored expression and fidgeting were any indication.
Yurei didn't trust them.
After Eri and Emi completed their routine, they bowed and smiled at the kids, obviously not expecting any donations. Unless their parents were wandering around nearby, though who would willingly bring their children to a place like this was a mystery.
Takeshi and Yurei made a show of clapping enthusiastically and cheering, the blond one following suit. The red haired one clapped politely, while the girl just sneered disdainfully.
"Hey that was really good you two!" Blond boy chirped, the thoughtful expression long since disappeared. "Can you teach us?"
"Sorry, trade secret," Emi said with a small laugh.
"I'll teach you a few tricks if you teach us some of yours," the red-haired one drawled.
That made Emi pause, and she and Eri traded a glance.
"What can you do?" Eri asked carefully.
Red-haired boy whipped out a deck of cards from seemingly nowhere.
"Just a thing or two," he grinned, eyeing the twins. "Have you two learnt about chakra?"
"Uh, no…" Emi said uncomfortably. The ninja round these streets weren't interested in teaching a couple a brats and it's not like they trusted any ninja to teach them anyway.
"Hm, that's a shame. Oh well, for civvies you two are pretty good, especially to some places we've been. I have some civilian tricks you might like…"
Ninja? Yurei wondered. But surely not, they were much too young. Unless they were in disguise or something, but that was unlikely. There was something slightly off here but it wasn't causing any alarm so Yurei just played it off as the fact that those biscuits he ate earlier were a little old.
The grinning grey-eyed boy opened the deck, spread his hands apart and Yurei and Takeshi watched in awe as, with a flick of his wrist, the whole deck flew, card by card like a long train, to his other palm.
Emi and Eri looked like Christmas had come early.
"Deal!" Eri said. "Which trick were you thinking from us?"
"Actually, I wanted you to show me how that game you were playing earlier works," he said.
"Papa alert!" the girl suddenly hissed, loud enough for them all to hear.
Immediately, the red-haired one went rigid, and the blond boy sucked in a breath.
"Thank you, we gotta go!" the blond one said, and the three spun around only for a man to suddenly appear in their path.
Yurei and Takeshi, being close and having very little knowledge of ninja, jumped. Takeshi let out an instinctual scream.
The man was tall and slim, appearing in his mid-twenties, with the same shaggy, faded blond hair as the blond boy yet his eyes were the grey of the red-haired boy.
What was truly striking, however, were his clothes. On his head sat a black and yellow jester hat. He wore a trench coat with coattails and beneath that were yellow and black striped tights. To top it off, he had elf-like black shoes that even had small heels on them.
"Hi there!" he said cheerily, but Yurei felt an uneasy feeling wash over him at the man's smile. There was something… off about it. This time he knew it wasn't the cookies, there was something wrong here. This whole situation was making him edgy.
And plus, the man was obviously a ninja. Everyone in the red-light district knows not to trust ninja.
His eyes roved first over Takeshi and then Yurei, before looking Emi and Eri up and down and finally coming to rest on the three tense kids before him.
"Have you made some friends?"
"No, in fact we were just leaving," the red-haired boy said coolly.
"Nonsense! Considering you three have been here for the last twenty minutes, you must have found something… impressive."
Emi and Eri flinched simultaneously as the man stepped past the three supposed siblings and stood before the small table expectantly.
"Oh, cards are they?" the man murmured, grey eyes gleaming with interest. "I'd like to play. I saw the crowd here earlier; why don't you try me?"
"Papa, they were useless and boring, it was just funny watching them fail. Why don't we just leave?" the red-haired boy drawled.
"Really? Well, let me judge for myself," the man purred, his voice like honey.
Takeshi and Yurei exchanged worried glances as Emi and Eri nervously faced the man, obviously realising something was up with this. They didn't even react to being called useless and boring.
"Uh, that'll be 30 ryo, for one round," Eri stated, straightening herself up so as to appear confident. "If you win, you'll get a return of 45 ryo."
The man smiled in acceptance, paid and sat down, crossing his legs.
"Who is he?" Yurei couldn't help but whisper to the blond boy.
"Someone you don't want to know. Are you with them?" the blond one whispered, indicating Emi and Eri.
He hesitated in revealing that yes, he and Takeshi were with them but the boy seemed to be trustable.
"Yea," he said finally.
The game started, Eri being the moderator while Emi and the man began to play.
"You better hope you don't catch his attention," the boy uttered.
A/N~
I was planning on spending a bit more time on building up the characters from the Mischievous Maidens but I figured since they were going to die, that would have been a little mean of me...
Plus, as my old readers would know, I'm a lazy little shit xD
Question:
Who is your favourite Naruto character(s)?