Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Rated R for: Graphic violence, adult language, adult situations, and sexual content.
* * * * * *
The rain fell heavily on the wooden tile roof, clamoring noisily as it traveled its path down the carved grooves and dripped off the edges of the roof. Golden brown leaves flew haphazardly in the violent winds, tossing and turning in their vicious path. Thunder rolled through the deep gray clouds, and shards of lightning littered the sky, illuminating the wreckage of the poor village.
As Tora had said, the heavy rain had forced the flames to diminish to smoldering embers and ash. Skeletons of once-tall buildings stood weakly against the wind, flying branches and gusts of wind having knocked down most of the remaining wreckage. The village-square was now just a pile of wet, ugly ash.
Tora sat on her bed, her legs crossed in front of her in a complex position and her hands held on her lap, her fingers falling into a perfect meditation formation. Her eyelids had long since slid down over her emerald pupils, the lashes gently tickling the top of her cheekbones. Her hair had dried into thick fiery waves that cascaded down her back like a molten waterfall, the ends of the strands pooling around the base of her back and over the thin sheets of the bed. Her breaths fell in perfect, silent spaces as she poised herself perfectly, her mind in the deep recesses of meditation. None of nature's violent cries and attacks seemed to reach her.
"Tora," Itachi announced as silently slipped into Tora's room and closed the door behind him. "Kisame is-"
"Kisame-sama has left the house, going out to search for anything valuable amongst the village remnants," Tora interjected quietly, her soft husky voice finishing Itachi's statement. "I will tell you of my past now, as no one else if here to interrupt me."
Itachi scowled at her cleverness and ability to see through his intentions, and leaned against her dresser, his arms folded beneath his cloak.
"First, Itachi-sama, I have two questions for you," Tora stated, not faltering in her perfect meditation. "I would prefer it if you did not berate me for my curiosity, either. As a fellow sage-nin, I would very much appreciate it if you treated my with a shred of respect, and not injure me at a whim." Itachi was silent for several seconds.
"Very well," he hissed icily. "I will answer your questions, but you are still mine. As long as that cut on your neck still bleeds, Tora, know that you are mine." In the space of a second, Itachi had swept down and run his fingers down the symbol for 'puppet', carved on Tora's throat, and opened the wound once again. Thick blood dripped down his fingers as he gently caressed the mark, and only when his fingers left the injury did Tora's eyelids flicker in the slightest.
"As you wish, Itachi-sama. I will tell you of my past now." Tora silently slid her eyes open, unfolding her legs and letting them dangle over the edge of the bed. She let her body flop backwards on the bed, resting her hands over her stomach as she began to recall her past again.
"As I had said, I was engaged to the son of a local lord. Once my mother died, I moved into his home. My fiancé's name was Toshio, and my sister's fiancé was Taro. Their house was big, but lonely, as the master of the house was on frequent business trips.
"Toshio was a great, tall man, with spiky blonde hair and dark brown eyes. He had a terrible temper and an evil personality, and was constantly getting into trouble with local authorities.
"At one point, he had offended the cook to the pint of having the cook quit, so I was put to the job of cooking. I was all right with that, though I was only eight, and I had hoped that maybe I could get close to Toshio so that he would be kinder to me. I was wrong. One days when he came home from work in a bad temper, he would take his anger out on me if I even did the slightest thing wrong. He would swear at me, throw things at me, and hit me. Since I was not raised like a ninja cadet would be, as you were," Tora said, pausing to motion to Itachi, "I could not defend myself. I would only plead for him to stop.
"Ren was in the same boat as I. Taro was a cruel and sadistic man as well, though on a more perverse plane than my Toshio. She would sit in the garden all day, either reading a book or just staring at the flowers. She was not the sister I used to have, her spirit had died inside.
"One night, Taro came home in the foulest mood Ren and I had ever seen. Consequently, he hit Ren and hurt her very badly. He would not let me take her to a doctor, though she was bleeding a sever amount from her nose and leg, where she had landed on a glass table where he had thrown her."
"Tora, what is the point of this? I didn't come here to listen about your fiancé and his habits, or your sister's," Itachi growled moodily.
"Itachi-sama, please excuse me for my longwinded story, but there are psychological issues being inflicted here that are essential to my story," Tora replied apologetically.
"That night, Ren was raped and beaten continuously. Toshio wouldn't let me try to help her, every time I even looked towards Ren's room he would hit me. I had no choice. The next day, when Taro and Toshio had left, I went to see Ren. She hadn't left her room since the previous night.
"She was in terrible shape. Taro had sliced her lovely long hair to a plain shoulder length. The forsaken strands littered the room. Ren was lying in her bed, covered only by her sheets, not even bothering to move. She just stared out of her window.
"I tried talking to her, but she wouldn't look at me or speak. She moved her lips, but no sound came out. So I left her there when I went to make her some food and get her clean clothes.
"When I came back, she was dead. She was still lying in the same position as when I had left, but now she didn't breathe or see as she looked out the window.
"That was when a lesson that my mother had taught me clicked in my mind. At the time, I thought that the strange words and hand formations she had taught me were just a game, but in truth it was a powerful jutsu that can summon one's soul into a mirror.
"Itachi-sama, that angel you saw was my sister, the angel I had summoned," Tora said with a sad little smile. Itachi's eyes widened slightly in wonderment and apprehension at the continuation of the story. This was getting interesting.
Rated R for: Graphic violence, adult language, adult situations, and sexual content.
* * * * * *
The rain fell heavily on the wooden tile roof, clamoring noisily as it traveled its path down the carved grooves and dripped off the edges of the roof. Golden brown leaves flew haphazardly in the violent winds, tossing and turning in their vicious path. Thunder rolled through the deep gray clouds, and shards of lightning littered the sky, illuminating the wreckage of the poor village.
As Tora had said, the heavy rain had forced the flames to diminish to smoldering embers and ash. Skeletons of once-tall buildings stood weakly against the wind, flying branches and gusts of wind having knocked down most of the remaining wreckage. The village-square was now just a pile of wet, ugly ash.
Tora sat on her bed, her legs crossed in front of her in a complex position and her hands held on her lap, her fingers falling into a perfect meditation formation. Her eyelids had long since slid down over her emerald pupils, the lashes gently tickling the top of her cheekbones. Her hair had dried into thick fiery waves that cascaded down her back like a molten waterfall, the ends of the strands pooling around the base of her back and over the thin sheets of the bed. Her breaths fell in perfect, silent spaces as she poised herself perfectly, her mind in the deep recesses of meditation. None of nature's violent cries and attacks seemed to reach her.
"Tora," Itachi announced as silently slipped into Tora's room and closed the door behind him. "Kisame is-"
"Kisame-sama has left the house, going out to search for anything valuable amongst the village remnants," Tora interjected quietly, her soft husky voice finishing Itachi's statement. "I will tell you of my past now, as no one else if here to interrupt me."
Itachi scowled at her cleverness and ability to see through his intentions, and leaned against her dresser, his arms folded beneath his cloak.
"First, Itachi-sama, I have two questions for you," Tora stated, not faltering in her perfect meditation. "I would prefer it if you did not berate me for my curiosity, either. As a fellow sage-nin, I would very much appreciate it if you treated my with a shred of respect, and not injure me at a whim." Itachi was silent for several seconds.
"Very well," he hissed icily. "I will answer your questions, but you are still mine. As long as that cut on your neck still bleeds, Tora, know that you are mine." In the space of a second, Itachi had swept down and run his fingers down the symbol for 'puppet', carved on Tora's throat, and opened the wound once again. Thick blood dripped down his fingers as he gently caressed the mark, and only when his fingers left the injury did Tora's eyelids flicker in the slightest.
"As you wish, Itachi-sama. I will tell you of my past now." Tora silently slid her eyes open, unfolding her legs and letting them dangle over the edge of the bed. She let her body flop backwards on the bed, resting her hands over her stomach as she began to recall her past again.
"As I had said, I was engaged to the son of a local lord. Once my mother died, I moved into his home. My fiancé's name was Toshio, and my sister's fiancé was Taro. Their house was big, but lonely, as the master of the house was on frequent business trips.
"Toshio was a great, tall man, with spiky blonde hair and dark brown eyes. He had a terrible temper and an evil personality, and was constantly getting into trouble with local authorities.
"At one point, he had offended the cook to the pint of having the cook quit, so I was put to the job of cooking. I was all right with that, though I was only eight, and I had hoped that maybe I could get close to Toshio so that he would be kinder to me. I was wrong. One days when he came home from work in a bad temper, he would take his anger out on me if I even did the slightest thing wrong. He would swear at me, throw things at me, and hit me. Since I was not raised like a ninja cadet would be, as you were," Tora said, pausing to motion to Itachi, "I could not defend myself. I would only plead for him to stop.
"Ren was in the same boat as I. Taro was a cruel and sadistic man as well, though on a more perverse plane than my Toshio. She would sit in the garden all day, either reading a book or just staring at the flowers. She was not the sister I used to have, her spirit had died inside.
"One night, Taro came home in the foulest mood Ren and I had ever seen. Consequently, he hit Ren and hurt her very badly. He would not let me take her to a doctor, though she was bleeding a sever amount from her nose and leg, where she had landed on a glass table where he had thrown her."
"Tora, what is the point of this? I didn't come here to listen about your fiancé and his habits, or your sister's," Itachi growled moodily.
"Itachi-sama, please excuse me for my longwinded story, but there are psychological issues being inflicted here that are essential to my story," Tora replied apologetically.
"That night, Ren was raped and beaten continuously. Toshio wouldn't let me try to help her, every time I even looked towards Ren's room he would hit me. I had no choice. The next day, when Taro and Toshio had left, I went to see Ren. She hadn't left her room since the previous night.
"She was in terrible shape. Taro had sliced her lovely long hair to a plain shoulder length. The forsaken strands littered the room. Ren was lying in her bed, covered only by her sheets, not even bothering to move. She just stared out of her window.
"I tried talking to her, but she wouldn't look at me or speak. She moved her lips, but no sound came out. So I left her there when I went to make her some food and get her clean clothes.
"When I came back, she was dead. She was still lying in the same position as when I had left, but now she didn't breathe or see as she looked out the window.
"That was when a lesson that my mother had taught me clicked in my mind. At the time, I thought that the strange words and hand formations she had taught me were just a game, but in truth it was a powerful jutsu that can summon one's soul into a mirror.
"Itachi-sama, that angel you saw was my sister, the angel I had summoned," Tora said with a sad little smile. Itachi's eyes widened slightly in wonderment and apprehension at the continuation of the story. This was getting interesting.