Chapter 2
A smell of moisture was filling the narrow corridors of the underground. The secured cell was located in the lowest level of the castle, away from the prying eyes of both the visitors and the residents. The director explained that only a handful of people knew the identity of its resident and they were sworn into secrecy. Because the Mizukage hadn't given a clear sentence, some were dreading that the situation would be left on hold indefinitely. The new ideology was against death penalty, but the prisoner's past let everybody think the opposite. And yet... "Mh, I forgot to mention something. Since we had to put the prisoner under anxiolytic, he may have moments of absence. I would kindly ask you to not push him too much as his mind is very fragile at the moment." He stopped in front of a metal door guarded by two people. "So, here we are. As I said before, moving him inside the castle would be difficult without getting some unwanted attention, but you'll see the cell is very spacious and it's not as gloomy as the rest of the underground quarters. These two guards will stay here. Whenever you think you are done, push the green button on the left side of the door. We arranged a table right next to it. Uh, I think that's it."He turned to the guards and said "Please, open the doors". One of the guards took a big metal key from the set of keys that was hanging on his belt, then he opened the three deadbolts of the door, starting from the top. The metal door opened to another one than had a coded device in the center. Seeing how many controls and reserved areas they had to pass to reach the highly secured cell, Atsuko thought the double door was unnecessary, put she kept the critic to herself as the second door was finally unlocked.
A huge white room appeared in front of them. The blurring light was even more dazzling for those for those standing in the dark corridor. It took her a couple of seconds to adjust her sight, and finally see the reason that brought her so far from home. Hoshigaki Kisame was sitting in the opposite side of the desk, hands seemingly resting on his laps. His head was hanging low,complètent obnoxious of his surroundings. The bluish skin looked even more livid in the dim white light, but it was nothing compared to his face and arms emptied of their flesh making look like a skeleton in disguise.
The director was the first to step in, motioning to Atsuko to enter and sit on the chair. He went towards Kisame and put a hand on the table as he started speaking in a low voice, carefully separating each word he pronounced. "Hoshigaki-san, you have a visit. Do you remember? I told yesterday and this morning too. She is Sorai Atsuko. She used to do evening classes in the village for the shinobi clans who lived on the outskirts." Kisame kept staring to a distant point in front of him. "Okay... I'll leave you alone then. See you later Dr. Sorai. Hoshigaki-san." The director left the room, closing the rusted metal door behind him with the same loud noise. Now that she was in front of him, all her ideals and motivations that pushed her to organize this meeting flew away. For an instant, she asked herself what she was doing there. The Five Great Lands and their allies were working hard to make peace finally reign on that cursed shinobi world who had suffered centuries of unreasonable violence. Perhaps it was time to move forward, and forget the past. Moreover, in his current state he wouldn't be able to answer any question, and she doubted he would have answered even if he had been conscious. She closed her eyes to ponder over her choice, when an image appeared before her eyes. The Hoshigaki compound, 26 years ago.
Back at that time, the gap between social classes in the Land of Water wider than it was even wider than in the recent years. While the country was known for its violent shinobi system, it had been concerning only a tiny part of the population, and more specifically the outcasts. When Kirigakure was founded, it had been decided that the clans that used to belong to the countries defeated by the Land of Water and integrated in its territory were to send a given number of their children to train in order to become shinobis at the service of the higher cast or the more prestigious units that could be accessed only by the other casts. Those who entered the Kirigakure Academy were given a special treatment for graduation: a fight to death, which was a way of shaping them into mindless killing-machines for the sake of their Land.
These families had been thrown in the outskirts of the village and ostracized from the rest of the population. The impossibility of climbing the social ladder and the violent environment in which the youth was growing up trapped those people in a net of poverty and criminality. Atsuko and two of her colleagues had wanted to fight that twisted system and they thought that education was the key to the problem. If one day they would be able to stand and sit at the same table than the upper class and change the destiny of the following generation. So, with the agreement of the head of clans, among which the Hoshigaki, they had been allowed to do evening classes three times a week in an emptied warehouse that had been arranged in to give classes.
At first, the courses had been about history, literature, culture and science. They were mostly children from 7 to 10 years old. Teenagers were a rare sight and the females were always outnumbering. Boys were expected to train and become valuable shinobis – it was the only way for the clan to make itself a name and a reputation that would allow them to improve their conditions. Atsuko had a vivid memory of these classes. The kids were all active and alert, never staying in one place more than 10 minutes, and jumping up and down the chairs and the desks. The first times she had wanted to give up, but one of the other teachers said that perhaps they were the ones in the wrong and that they needed to change strategy. Desks and chairs were pushed aside, everybody would sit on the floor: a topic would be chosen on a given subject, one to which they felt concerned with, then they would debate – the classes took another turn, and with time they became more and more popular.
However, as the year was going on, the number of students would diminish. Each two or three months, the classes would count at least one death – kill, accident, disease... A year passed, and as younger ones joined the courses, the older ones would leave an empty seat. There was only one that kept coming even after graduating from the Academy in the rare occasions between two missions. The pale blue skinned boy used to sit at the bottom, as he had always done, and he would stay there until the very end. Then he would leave as silently as he had come in. Eventually, the courses ended three years after. Her team felt powerless and sickened by the constant loss of these young souls. After that, she had never seen Kisame again, only heard about his achievements. The prodigy of the Hoshigaki clan. The apprentice of Fuguki Suikazan, one the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. The No-tailed beast of the village of Kirigakure. A killing machine at the service of his country. He had sacrificed so much for it, but for some reasons he quit everything to join the Akatsuki. She pressed her lips. Was the slaughter of the Cypher Division worth it? She smiled inwardly at the absurdity of the situation: it wasn't for her that she wanted to ask this question. Her daughter Miru was alive thanks to what he did – or what he was supposed to do –, but it was for him.
"Kisame-kun, do you remember who is Miru Sorai? That petty girl of the Cypher Division. Well, she's my daughter. You were assigned to protect the information the team was carrying, but you had been surrounded by Ibiki Mourino's squad and so you killed them... Or at least that's what you were supposed to do but you did quite a poor job... Three of them survived. Miru did too. Konoha released them eight years ago." The man didn't even flinch when she mentioned her name. Being so direct might have been a bad idea but the old lady didn't how to be other than her sarcastic self, so she kept talking. "You know, things changed a lot in Kirigakure. There are still issues that are hard to overcome but Mei-chan is doing her best, even if sometimes it's not enough. Okay, let's talk about something else, what do you do in your free-time? Have a book or something? I can ask if the director to give you one. Well, maybe you don't like reading but I don't know much about a young man's liking so..."
The man before her let out a small grunt. It was the only sound that came out of his lungs so far, but for Atsuko it was a huge victory. She wasn't sure he understood everything he said, but at least he was reacting.
"I think you should get some sun and fresh air, you look pale my boy."
This time, he let out a long and annoyed sigh. Perhaps it was time to leave.
"Sorry, I've been a bit invasive. I should have asked your opinion first. I'll go strait to the point: I want the other version of what happened. I want to hear what the other side has to say, and you're the only one left that knows all that. I just want to know the truth. Please" She stood up and turned to push on the green button that was right where she was told. "I won't push you further, but I won't lie to you. I am planning on coming back again. Stay well, my boy" The door opened and one of the guards asked her if everything was okay. She nodded and turned one last time to Kisame. He was in the same position, just the shoulders where having a faint movement of up and down from the breathing.
Yes, she would definitively come back.