Chapter 5:

Usually it is said that sunlight kisses a woman's skin but she felt like it was spitting on hers, well sunlight was warm and nice but the reality that brought along was nauseous, it felt like it was mocking her.

Her injuries, she tried to lift her hand but it was tied to the tree, she had one of her blankets over her. She moved her sprained ankle out of it, it had been bandaged. She assumed her neck had been parched up as well. They wanted her alive, which was good. The blankets were a weird add, why would they give her any commodities?

They had already realized she was awake and they began moving, once they were all around her they spoke to her, it didn't even seem like a question, she wasn't going to answer anyways.

It was very strange, it probably wasn't as suspicious as her mind made it to be, she was just paranoid. After that everyone went their way, she didn't care much.

Her mind… it was a mess. Time passed but she didn't feel it properly, without her drive, accepting her fate left her feeling like an empty shell.

She just gave up too easily. What a loser. What would her parents think of her now?

She flinched when she felt someone sitting next to her. Mask man was on her right, she noted that it was her most injured side. He had food with him and he was holding chopsticks. She remembered her family using them on strictly on family diners. He was laughing at her again but it wasn't really working, she thought he looked stupid with his mask on and food on his hand. He had to take off his mask if he wanted to eat, but if his intention were to make her hungry it was working. He picked a piece of meat up and looked at her, but she was busy pretending there was no one by her side. He held it closer to her mouth, and she turned her head away from his hand, she discarded it being poison, there were easier ways to attack her. He held it away from her face and didn't move his hand for a second.

She turned her head and opened her mouth, well she was hungry she'd better take the chance. He fed it to her silently and with his eye closed, she considered it to be the closest to a smile you could see with his mask. He was saying we don't want to hurt you. See, we'll feed you. She might even consider it an apology.

Then while he fed the second piece to her he said something with a mocking tone and she registered it as an open up, here comes the train equivalent so she bit on his chopsticks and didn't let go. She knew that what he said wasn't an apology but she took it as such, she was still hungry and he couldn't feed her if he couldn't move his chopsticks.

She let an indignant sound come up her throat to let him know she didn't like that. She looked at Mask man and shot her eyebrows up, demanding another piece. He took a second to comply and when he did he held the food far from her face so she had to bite an edge before being able to fit it in her mouth. Petty. She could hear some of the others laughing so she shot them the hardest look she could do, that made them stop laughing. He looked slightly pleased and she thought that she could distinguish a smile under his mask for a second.

She ate until his plate was empty. He petted her hair and then he walked away leaving her behind. What. The. Fuck. What an awkward thing to do, why would he even do that. Oh he was totally treating her like a stray cat he found in the street…Ok she could work with it.

Well, it seems like that depressive episode was over. Huh, she should have some time to meditate the feelings excess off. Seen thing with perspective, she was going to start feeling the Stockholm effect soon, being grateful to her kidnappers. She already was, kind of, for not letting her die. Kill herself, whatever. Damn how embarrassing, and she was still tied to a tree.

She could probably just wait some days to escape, damn she was really dramatic. And kind of suicidal…Ooops.

At least she had her sass back, ah, she missed it.

Some time passed before they started collecting their stuff again. She looked up and checked the position of the sun. Past noon, huh, they seemed to have stopped for more than 12 hours. At least they were thoughtful with her injuries.

She got carried like a princess again which took away the little dignity she had left, looking decent in front of her kidnappers certainly wasn't a priority, but she didn't have much anything else to do.

As calm as a girl who had been kidnapped, injured and will probably be enslaved could be she closed her eyes and meditated on his arms.

In her mind there wasn't any pain, it got breathed away whenever it tried to cloud her vision. In her mind she was calm. In her mind she could do anything, she could dive into her memories or swim away from the profound waters of her insecurities; immersing in her thoughts has always been useful after her feelings got carried away. Knowing her feeling as an observer calmed her anxiety, looking from afar eased her anger.

…

…

…

Meditating could be easily compared to hibernation; she was defenseless, unaware of her surroundings and had poor time conception. Hours or seconds, she could only tell after she's woken and just by how stiff her muscles are.

Hours, this time at least. She was still dizzy; her blurry eyes had to adjust to the light. It was past 5 pm and night would come soon. Mask man was surprised to see her wake. Her eyes itched and she had the urge to rub them. But her hands were tied together so she just rubbed her face against his jacket. He tensed up immediately, so she did it again with a sly smile on her lips.

She shouldn't tease him at all, they could still do whatever they wanted to her but this little moments of defiance, of fun, she could have… she'll take them.

She was impulsive, always doing what pleased her the most the moment she wanted to, she really couldn't deny herself in any way, what a stupid, imprudent girl.

Living in the woods hadn't done her any good, she changes shelter whenever she feels like it, hunt at day or night, helps any animal she deems cute or just not overly rude… just does whatever she wants.

Well, until now.

She was dropped against a tree and tried once again. She could barely repress a sigh as the ropes tightened around her. This situation was a pain. She didn't want to be there, they didn't really care for her except for Mask man who seemed to be her personal caretaker. She still hated him with passion. He had kidnapped her, took her from her home…shelter, whatever, attacked her, he wouldn't let her leave, or die. She just wanted to get away, couldn't he let her do just that… She wasn't bothering anyone in her sad little cave, she had just been about to leave. But nooo, they wouldn't even kill her for mercy after she'd received those ugly injuries. What a terrible business they'll do with a girl with such scars…

Night was coming once again. She couldn't see the sun as the trees were on the way, how terrible, she liked looking at the sunset on sad days. Thinking that this could be the last day she'd be able to was…sad. And nostalgic.

These men didn't learn a thing from the bear encounter, it seems, they had lit a fire just after they finished putting up their tents. She felt slightly amused as they started cooking in the middle of camp again. The moment the food starting cooking, small animals started gathering around.

"Old Jakiho, look, humans. Food! We should steal it, I say!"

" They are feeding themselves. It's our chance!"

"Stay where you are fools! The red light will kill you if you don't approach it properly. When you are as old as I am you have seen what humans are able to do." The fattest bid she's ever seen stated as he puffed his chest proudly

Three loud birds were chirping in the branch above her head. Careless birds, screaming their plan in front of their enemies, they wouldn't understand them, but still a careless and stupid move. They were going to get killed. "Don't. You'll be their breakfast."

That's all she could do to warn them. More words from her mouth would be too suspicious and draw the men's attention. She nodded slightly when they asked if she was speaking to her. Terrible decision as they continued to speak to her. Who are you, why are you with them, don't underestimate us! She's not paying attention!, Why is she tied, so rude! She's ignoring us after threatening us. Old Jakiho, who had been silent, spoke once again.

"Fools! She's warned us. She is a hostage. Thank you girl, tell me how can you understand us." She stayed silent once again, unable to answer. If she drew the attention of the men and they thought she was trying to escape again there was no telling what they'd do next. They pitied her now, it was alright.

"We'll let you out of imprisonment, boys, break the ropes." She shook her head. "Don't…" She whispered as they flew to the ground. She could feel their eyes on her; those fucking birds are going to ruin her. "We can't leave you like this! We'll free you!"

"I want to be with them." She lied shamelessly. "I don't want to be free"

"You've forgotten how freedom feels like; you're just like those caged birds, unable to fly away from humans. You'll understand once you're free again!"

What could she do to drive them away, they seemed to be eager to help her. They wouldn't want to help someone rude. "I don't want to be freed by some ugly birds, how can I stand with pride again if I let that happen?"

"You! Ungrateful child! Humans never change, hideous creatures…Let's go, boys"

She's driven them away. Manipulating animals was just as easy as manipulating humans. She signed then. Good, she'd get to keep their thin trust and she only had to give up an opportunity to escape. An impossible, stupid and risky opportunity, but it still itched.

She could barely notice how ready to jump those men were, they weren't looking at her but she was being watched. It was obvious, they had already finished eating but were still sitting around they fire in a light conversation that sounded forced. She felt slightly proud of being taken seriously by these men, who were more capable than her.

After a few minutes, (around half an hour) they decided she wasn't going to do anything and decided to feed her, it was Mask man who did it. He used chopsticks again.

After she was done eating, she wondered what do next. She wouldn't be able to sleep for hours, and they would be watching her until she slept. Keeping them awake would make them tired and would slow down their reflexes, but she'd be tired too and they'd be warier of her.

Mask man was sitting on her right side, his eyes focused on a book. He didn't let her see what was inside. Whatever, she wasn't that interested, she only wanted to check the language but she doubted that, if she couldn't recognize the words verbally, seeing them written wouldn't make a difference.

Bored out of her head and unable to reason logically she had only one option left: doing what she wanted. Right now, she wanted to run, but since she was tied she did the second best thing to do: meditating.

Her body dropped once again.

.

When she woke up it was the middle of the night, everyone around her was asleep, even Mask Man. She looked around searching for some animal. Damn I should have told the birds to wait until they were asleep instead of offending them and losing her opportunity. No animals of use. And she doubted she could draw some animal's attention without waking them up.

So she did the second best thing. She turned her head towards Mask man and blowed a little air towards his face. As soon as his eye opened she dropped into the meditation world again.

…

The thing about being in her head was that there is no correlation with real-life's time, a second in there could be hours and hours could be just minutes. There is no way to control it. Or way to wake up if she didn't decide to. It didn't matter how much they decided to shake, touch or scream at her, she would only wake up when she decided to in her head.

So it wasn't a surprise when she woke up and they were all around her. The ropes had been cut off and they seemed concerned. She didn't care. She opened her eyes and stretched like a cat after a nap, ignoring them. She breathed in and puckered up some courage and looked the one in front of her in the face, with innocent but challenging eyes.

They all shared a look and tied her hands again in silence. They had been trying to wake her up but couldn't and assumed she had died. Maybe she should have pretended to, but if a predator found her while she was defenseless she was done.

She got carried once again as they jumped between branches. But at some point they stopped in a road. Mask man placed her carefully on the ground and urged her to walk. She pouted but walked anyways. She had accepted being carried, now they're making her walk? She wanted to talk to their manager. Surly, she had a right to be carried instead of walking specially if she was injured. Outrageous.

She hobbled slowly as the men walked around her covering her escape routes. She wanted to be carried again. Mask man was walking in front of her, she dragged her feet so that sand hit his ankles his every step. She of course stopped every time he turned his head around, just enough so that his eye could meet hers. She felt tempted to raise her arms and make a childish gesture pick me up, pick me up but decided against it. Too much.

She saw why she was walking now, an enormous door by castle like walls stood in front of the group. Damn, they had reached their destination. Couldn't they extend the trip a little more?

Log Man offered her his vest she only raised her tied wrist to instruct she couldn't put it on. They all stopped. Log Man used his knife to cut the rope and gave her his vest. She put it on without hesitation. Her shirt was soaked with blood from her neck injury.

She sure was going to be a show, bandages on her neck a guy's vest on (it was a uniform), a hole on her groin and pants soaked in blood. At least they were dark so it only looked like she had pissed herself. The vest wasn't ideal either. It was too big for her, it didn't fully cover her t- shirt and it covered her torso until the hole. Lousy cover but it would have to do.

They continued walking towards the gates, slowly. She didn't drag her feet this time, she continued limping though, she couldn't really control that. They shouted something at the men on top of the wall and the gates opened, leaving them in a sea of dust. A soft push on her back instructed her to keep moving, she hadn't realized she had stopped moving. Maybe, perhaps, could be, she was a little intimidated. Who wouldn't? She didn't have any ropes on but she felt chained.

They walked slowly through the doors, a humiliating parade that kept people's eyes glued to her. The wind blew their whispers to her ears. She didn't understand them but that didn't mean it wouldn't affect her. She held her head high and imagined herself spitting in their faces. That did the trick.

She didn't hide her interest to their houses and shops, she realized then that she had no idea what language they spoke. She hadn't seen a sign with letters; all of them had a strange drawing. Not even the way the syllables rolled off their tongues was the same.

She watched the walls of the room pass as they walked in line. They had entered a five stories building, the biggest one she had seen in the town. They stopped in front of a pair of solid doors. One of the men entered entered the room and they all waited. When he came out he said something and they started walking again, exiting the building.

In the ground they met a group of men. They were tall, most had visible scars. She was looked at with cold, uncaring eyes. She could see an aura of cruelty that followed them were they stood. She had thought that they would take more time before selling her. She was wrong.

The men around her broke their formation and she felt their gazes up and down her body as their eyes visited her body. Her heart had been beating nonstop since they entered the village, but now its rhythm was unbelievable, a sweet reminder of her torment: she was still alive. Her head throbbed painfully as a panic headache made its way through her nerves, still she kept her face as impassive as possible, knowing she wasn't really doing a good work by the tears in her eyes.

The man in front of her instructed her to move and she did leaving the group and joining the new men. She could watch two of them share a devilish look and twisted smirk making the way though one of their mouths. The man grabbed her arm with a little bit too much force and dragged her, forcing her to walk faster. She turned her shaky hand to fists and let herself be pulled, being passive. But still held her head high.

She didn't look back, they weren't her friends. She and they had known that she was going straight to prostitution once they reached their destination but she had hoped they would feel a little bit of remorse at least. The men took her to a shady looking building away from the center of the town. They threw her to an empty room, and closed the door. As she sat on the floor and looked for possible exits she wondered if she was supposed to take her first client there. There was no bed or confortable surface to lie down. She hadn't showered in days and her bandages and clothes were blooded. There were two doors, the one she came in and another one that was locked, the room didn't have windows.

After a few minutes a woman entered the room. She frisked her, looking for weapons. She had none. The woman then instructed her to do something she didn't understand. The vest was immediately pushed over her head. She let her. She removed her pants and shirt by herself, when her hands reached her bra, she snuck a glance to the woman. She nodded to her with a bored expression and she let it slide to the floor along with her panties.

She was shaking as she turned to face her, feeling pathetic. She turned her head away from the woman and tried to cover how shaken up she was, boy she had already expected to be forced into prostitution, but thinking was different from living through it.

The woman instructed her to remove her vends, and she did with the closest thing to an arrogant smile she could make right now. She seemed shocked and left the room without a word. She didn't bother with putting her clothes on again, someone will remove them again in no time. Five minutes after the woman returned with someone else, another woman who blushed in her presence.

She thought herself to be lucky, she wasn't hideous or looked violent, she could do worse for a first time. The new woman hesitantly made her way towards her, she held her hand towards her face. She made sure not to flinch when her hand reached her neck. Her fingertips traced the injury with firm pulse before emiting a green glow. The weirdest sensation followed if she was asked to describe it she would have just said minty and fresh and a little pinch. When her hand left her neck she didn't need to touch it to know that the wound was gone, but she did anyway.

The woman's hands cured then her thigh cut with crimson cheeks and, accompanied with a nervous laugh, she lowered herself to treat her ankle. Her private parts were just in front of the woman and she noticed her sneaking a glance before looking away and reviving the color on her cheeks.

Either this doctor was new or they weren't a very good organization. Her hopes were regaining space in her mind again as she realized she had stopped shaking. This people were magic. She was glad to know that not all of it was being used to mean ends.

The doctor exited the room immediately while she and the woman stayed inside, she smirked at her before leaving the room as well. Her mind discarded the idea or attacking her the next time she opened the door, there was no way she could escape the building by her own.

So she stayed were she was until she came back. Around an hour or two, she couldn't tell. The woman smirked to her again and pointed to her clothes, she picked them from the floor and sending her a questioning look she put on her panties. When she wasn't stopped she got dressed again. The woman instructed her to follow, she did, listening to the rythim of their steps against the tiles on the ground. She leaded her to another room.

She expected it to have a bed and maybe a shower, but there was only a table and two chairs. She entered the room and sat on the chair, it had cuffs on her hands and feet that the woman put on her expertly, she turned around and left her. She knew she was probably being watched now so she didn't even move a finger, she wanted to be as unharmed as possible. The fact that they healed her meant nothing, her injuries could be inflicted back in a second.

She waited for pair of hours at least before a man entered the room, it was one of the ones that accompanied her to the building. He looked at her and his lips threatened to curb in a cruel smirk, she gave him the control by looking at him and moving her eyes away immediately without tuning her head. He spoke to her mocking words, she was glad she couldn't understand her they didn't sound very nice. He kept talking to her so she kept her head towards him and her eyes in his general direction, showing that she was paying attention but never showing defiance.

He was starting to get angry at her silence, she didn't understand him, not her fault. His hands connected to the table making a loud noise that startled her. He used his right hand lo lift her chin up so she was looking up at him, her eyes drifted to his ready to move away if he was displeased, but his lips curbed slightly and she knew she had made the right decision. His face got closer to hers, with arrogant eyes he stared at her lips and spoke once more, tightening the grip on her chin and pulling her higher.

She looked at his eyes pleading I don't know, I don't understand, I don't know, I don't know. She could tell he's gotten nothing as he grunted before releasing her and leaving the room in an angry fit.

She sat in the chair for about two more hours. Is it day or night? I forgot. A different man entered the room and stared at her for a second, she met his eyes wondering what he'll do next. She wasn't sure why would an interrogation be necessary but she had a couple theories: an important person was going to be her client, she was going to have multiple chances to rat them and they were trying to avoid that or a third option she couldn't yet grasp.

The man asked her something and waited, silence filled the room and he asked the same thing louder this time, same words same tone. She continued to stare at him dumbly, she turned her head to him. He repeated himself loudly again, but this time pointing to his ear.

Oh, oh, oh, she pointed to her ear and gave a thumbs up. "I'm not deaf, I just have no finger-fucking idea what you are saying."

He looked shocked, even though he probably couldn't understand her. She signed and leaned back on her chair. The man left her in the room and she waited. And waited. Half an Hour. One, Two, three and four hours until a different man entered the room. He was the first blond person she saw, weirdly that shocked more than the woman's purple or Mask man's white hair.

She assumed that he presented himself, but she couldn't tell what was his name was. He walked towards her and put his hand on her forehead, she dropped.

…

Inoichi retracted his hand and processed what he just saw: an ocean of fire and screams, sound so loud it made his ears ring and sorrow rooted deep in his heart. Memories weren't facts; he wasn't watching a film, he was reviving their experiences in their body, saw what they saw, felt what they felt. And this kid, this child had seen just enough. She was malnourished, pale and scared. She started shaking in her seat, when he got closer he could tell she was hyperventilating, she was having a panic attack. "Quick, somebody call a medic!"

Ibiki walked through the door "I have to inform the Hokage, I'll leave this to you. Take her to the hospital." Ibiki nodded and he took off.

Moving expertly through the rooftops he reached the tower in seconds. The doors were open and he slipped through them without hesitance, they were waiting for him. "Hokage-sama"

"Inoichi-dono, report."

"The girl is being taken to hospital right now. Her memories don't show any sign of manipulation, but some of them were locked by natural means, when I forced them free I triggered a panic attack. She doesn't present a threat. She is a civilian from a town that got attacked by rogue ninja. The people, all of them were murdered and their houses burned. She escaped and ran away to the forest where she established contact with animals, she seems to communicate with them but she hasn't met a person in a long time." The Third assimilated his words for a few moments before inquiring again: "How long?"

"Hard to estimate, I'd say around 6 or 7 months but it might be imprecise"

Hokage-sama took a drag from his pipe "we should send her back to her people, where she belongs."

"That won't do, her memories hint that her entire country was destroyed and all the people killed."

"Very well, I'll have to take different measures." Sarutobi turned to the team that had found her. "What are your thoughts on this?"

"She wasn't violent towards us" Kakashi coughed, "she attacked you in self-defense, if that, and that only resulted in injuries on her part" Kakashi coughed again" Self-inflicted injuries".Hyuga Iroha was clearly annoyed by Hatake, Inoichi understood him, no matter how good of a ninja he was he shouldn't be allowed to be so disrespectful with his superiors. Hokage-sama paid no mind, he had always favored him.

"She should be put in custody, if she doesn't know how to speak our tongue it could be a problem. It's safe to assume she doesn't know how to write either. Hmm" Third took a second drag of his pipe.

"Hokage-sama" Kakashi called, " She should have someone following her, she seemed to be reckless during her attempted escapes, she could easily kill herself. Besides, there still is a chance that she could be a spy, she was found very close to a critical spot for the mercenaries we were tracking."

"If she is a spy, she has had the most meticulous memory lock I've seen in the 26 years of my career" Inoichi said easily, if he was going to question his work he better know what he was talking about, and the Yamanaka knew the jonin didn't.

"I apologize, I meant no disrespect." Inoichi just nodded and let it pass. "But if she happened to be she has information to compromise our relationship with the four nations, we should take precautions." Inoichi turned his hands to fists but didn't respond." While she was compliant whenever we had an eye on her, she tried to escape on the minimal opening. She didn't become overly violent because she was intimidated by our presence, but she might if left unsupervised."

"Very well, I've taken a decision. She shall be in your custody Kakashi, then you'll be assured by your own experience whether she is or not a spy." The third calmly declared and took a third drag of his pipe.

"Is it really necessary? I'd be assured if a Nara decided she was clean. Now that I've taken a genin team I won't be able to watch her and an ANBU team will be needed regardless. An orphanage would provide the same I can, Hokage-sama."

"Kakashi, the team will be ready tomorrow, for today you should be with her. In your first report you said she was especially wary around you, that way she'll avoid any doing sort of escape plan. Having a familiar face should do better than assigning a new one to her case, for security you'll be assigned a spare house so your location won't be compromised. I won't object if you decide to take her to the Nara compound for a second opinion, just to be sure."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The jonin answered visibly uncomfortable with the decision. Inoichi wasn't that kind of person but he wouldn't deny feeling some sort of satisfaction by it. The golden boy hadn't gotten his way so a terrible report was to come their way, he felt bad for the desk chunin.

"You'll report every day for a week, then every two days until she is no longer suspicious. I expect a detailed report by the end of the week for the rest."

"Hai"

"Kotetsu, Izumo retake your duties as gate wards tomorrow morning, Kakashi, stay behind. The rest: dismissed."

Inoichi decided he wasn't having a terrible day anymore and walked tranquilly to the IT headquarters.