I do not own any rights to Naruto (story or characters). Just the characters I make up along the way! I have full love and respect for Masashi Kishimoto!

WARNING
There is a flashback of torture and vague references to sexual assault in this chapter. Nothing graphic but it may be enough to trigger some people. It's towards the beginning just in case you wanted to skip it. This chapter will earn its M rating.

Translation Time:
seishin o hikitsugu no jutsu= Soul Take Over Technique

Kishi= It directly translates into Knight but it's just the name I use for the bad guys. ;)

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

With so many people in Suna for the exams, no one paid him any attention. Many months spent following the rumors of the raven haired man's movements had finally paid off. Having been summoned to the village for the duration of the chunin exams, the Uchiha had made his way to Suna. Omoikane having taken the place of a vendor was able to gain a permit to enter the village with little difficulty. It was only three days until the end of the exams, and if he timed everything correctly, he would have the information he needed before the end of the tournament and be back to base with the location of the Shimon. Of course, the Uchiha would have to die but having accessed their network of spies Omoikane was fairly sure no one would care. More importantly, Lord Erai would be happy and would finally turn his attentions to one of the other Kishi through the throngs of people filling the desert streets he made his way to the center of town. He needed to get the layout of the village as quickly and quietly as possible.

Omoikane observed Suna surrounded by tall mountains noting that it made entering and exiting the village more complicated. He needed to find a weakness in their defense if he wanted to get in and out without being noticed. Civilians were not permitted in certain areas leaving him using his seishin o hikitsugu no jutsu to take control of a couple of the guards. It was laughable how easy it was to break through their defenses. He had been here two days already and was fairly confident with his strategy. Walking through the village was a good way for people to see him backing up his disguise, so he had spent most of the morning working in the market and walking around town. He couldn't afford to screw this up. There was something far worse than death waiting for him if he failed.
Silence drowned out the world around him. A memory of the last time he angered Lord Erai came forward unbidden. He remembered the rough sheets scraping against his skin, the metal of the chains biting into his flesh as he fought against them, freezing hands touching him as they forced his body to give in, and the insanity in Lord Erai's eyes as he broke him over and over and over again. There was no escaping from the pain. With his people's ability to heal the blood never stopped pouring out of him and the wounds just reopened as soon as they closed. Even now he could see the blood coating his skin. He tried to escape, tried to break free, but it only caused his Lord to push harder and harder until-
"Stop!" With a sharp pull, the real world swam into focus once more. Omoikane turned away with just enough time for his stomach empty itself into the nearest bin. He hadn't eaten anything today, so there was nothing to throw up but the bile in his gut. It took a while for the cramping in his abdomen to stop, but when it did, he became aware of the shaking of his body and the blood covering his arms. He almost fell back into the torture of his memories when a voice spoke. "Here let me see what I can do." A warm hand touched the untouched part of his arm. The touch was too gentle, too soft to be touching his tainted skin. In his fear, he went to push the person's hand away, but his body was too weak to move. The green glow of healing chakra lit up the alley as he watched her work, flinching as she brushed against a relatively large wound. "Sorry, I know they must hurt. Just bear with it for a moment."
He was too weary to say anything as he watched her fingers run over the outer edge of each scratch. Her touch was firm and yet soft as she knitted his skin back together. "Alright." She whispered pulling a cloth from her pouch when she was done and wiping the remaining blood from his skin. Throughout the whole thing, he sat almost in shock watching as this human tended to him.
There was nothing about her that could be called unique with her too large brown eyes and thin lips. Her heart-shaped face was tan from years under the sun like all those that lived in Suna, and her hair was the color of chocolate with curls springing free from her pinned-up hair. No, nothing about her was what Omoikane would call beautiful, and yet her smile seemed to captivate him. He found himself staring at that smile even after she had finished and pulled away from him. "It helps if you breathe through it." She offered to him, smile still firmly in place. "My friend has panic attacks. She told me it's like you aren't even there like you're stuck in the past experiencing the pain for the first time all over again." He turned away from her. Her words hit a little too close to home, and he didn't want this human to see his weakness.
Wrapping his cloak around him, Omoikane tried to battle the reaming chill still clinging to his skin. "I don't know what it's like to have a panic attack, but I've seen what it does to other people." He turned to mock her when he saw her smile melt into one of pure rage. "If I could go back and beat the crap out of the person that caused both of you pain I would. So that neither of you would ever have to experience pain like that ever again!" He flinched at the intensity of her words worried for a moment that she was going to attack him. It wasn't him that the pain was directed, however. Seeing her getting angry on his behalf left him frozen in shock. "D-do you always go looking for people to save." He managed to get out without too much of a stutter. "Of course!" Thrown once again by the intensity of her emotions Omoikane flinched away from her. "Why?"
"Why not?" She countered head tilted to the side in confusion. "Why would you waste your time when the lives you save will end up dying eventually?" He all but yelled at her leaning forward as if to force some sense into her. Here he was trying to kill her kind, and she was just sitting there ranting about saving his life as if he mattered. He wanted to laugh, scream, or shake her until she realized how stupid she was being.
"That's true; everyone dies in the end." She looked down at her hands holding the blood stand cloth between her fingers. Seeing that he was finally getting through to her, he continued. "Humans are weak, breakable. Their lives are over in the blink of an eye, and you spend all your life trying to save their fleeting existence. It's illogical." Looking down at his arms where only he could still see the scars that Lord Erai left behind he whispered: "It's better to end their misery now."
Soft fingers wrapped around his wrist once more barely touching his skin but enough contact to chase away the coldness threatening to swallow him whole again. He watched in shock as this human leaned against him. "Sometimes people are scared, or broken, or stained by the past. Sometimes the pain is so intense that you feel like giving up, giving into the darkness that drowns you is the only answer. I've watched so many people die before their time; either by their hands or others." Sadness filled her eyes as she met his gaze, sadness that seemed to knock the breath out of him. "But life is more than just those traumatic moments." She whispered, and that same warmth filled her dark eyes once more.

He wanted to laugh at her, mock everything she was saying, but he found himself mute. All he could do was sit there and listen as she continued to speak. "Life is about the little things that leave you feeling alive. It's about the feeling of accomplishing something that no one else thought you would, of staring down at the world around you and feeling free for the first time. It's about the warmth of a touch and the embrace of someone that you love with all your heart, or the moments where you feel like it's all too much, but someone is there to take you in their arms and tell you it's all going to be ok." Her arms wrapped around him once more and he was helpless as she pulled him into her embrace. "It's all going to be ok."

It was too much, and he fell into her embrace with a painful sob. He was a perfect weapon, a device crafted to serve his lord. And yet, here he was breaking down in front of one of the very creatures he was meant to hate. He was a stranger that she had never met before and she was holding him like he was the most precious thing in the world; this fragile little human.
It wasn't until his tears had dried up that she released him. She didn't say anything, just wiped away his tears and pulled him to his feet. "You should come to dinner!" She happily proclaimed switching gears so fast he was left reeling. Reaching to grab his hand she started to drag him back into the street. "Wait!" He forced out stopping her from pulling him any further. "Who are you?" He asked earning a blush from the dark-haired woman. "Sorry," she said whispered as she bit her lip in embarrassment. "My name is…"

"Kaiyo," before she could finish a voice called to her from the street. Her smile seemed to get even brighter as she turned to wave. "Yuu-chan! Kankuro-kun!" The warmth of her smile seemed to grow even more bright, and Omoikane took a step back into the shadows.

Kaiyo wrapped her arms around the man who approached hugging him tightly. He looked annoyed at her actions but something softened in his hard eyes, and he returned the embrace just as firmly. The woman was next to be hugged with almost the same expression on her face as the man. These were the loved ones of this strange little human. You could see it practically radiating off Kaiyo as she spoke to each of them. It made his chest ache in envy. How lucky they were to have such love directed towards Kaiyo turned around to introduce him, Omoikane was already gone, melting into the shadows once more.

Letting his fingers rub against his wrist he chased the warmth of her touch as he made his way back to his room. Love. He knew nothing about love. Emotions were only there to weaken lesser man; and yet, he could feel nothing but strength from Kaiyo's touch. It pushed aside even the darkness of his Lord, something he thought was impossible. Could this fragile woman's love be stronger than Lord Erai's hate? Could these weak human's stand a chance against their plans? More importantly, how was he going to carry out his mission when all he could think about was feeling Kaiyo's touch once more?