Rikou stepped out of the room, sighing as she shut the door quietly behind her and slid into one of the chairs beside Kirema. All three wore new chuunin vests under their trenchcoats, Kirema earning his easily, but Ken and Rikou having a harder time getting theirs. There had been a large arguement over whether or not Rikou should become a chuunin, part of which she had witnessed before being sent out of the room again, but in the end, the new Hokage had decided to promote her.
The new Hokage was one of the legendary three, as well as the first female Hokage since the creation of Konoha. She was Tsunade, the legenday medical-nin who could summon giant slugs. Ken stood as the door creaked open and a chuunin motioned him inside. This was the eighth time the three of them had been interviewed by the Leaf for information on the Sand and the Akatsuki.
Rikou sat back with a troubled expression on her face as she thought about the Akatsuki and the book. She still hadn't mentioned anything to Ken and Kirema about the old book in her brother's closet. Her eyes twitched to the left as something clicked softly before sliding back to the blank wall in front of her.
"Hey, Kirema, can I show you and Ken something after he's done with the interview? I don't really understand it."
Kirema opened his eyes, rubbing them for a moment. They had been overworked for the last week, each being sent on mission after mission. Poor Kirema had been in high demand, and had spent every moment after his discharge from the hospital working.
"...Sure..."
He yawned, glancing at the door where voices were speaking softly. There was a moment of silence before the door opened again and Ken stepped out, closing the door and leaning back up against it before closing his eyes. When he opened them, his crystal blue eyes showed signs of fatigue and lost sleep like theirs.
"Never again... I never want another interview," he said, his voice quiet and strained as he stepped forwards.
"Can you come to my house with Kirema? I want to show you guys something," repeated Rikou, standing. She had moved her belongings into her brother's apartment instead of keeping it at her father's house, it was too cold and dark there.
"Sure," said Ken, glancing at her ackwardly before helping pull an almost asleep Kirema from his chair, forcing him out the door and towards her house. When they reached the apartment, she fiddled with the lock for a moment before pushing the door open.
The apartment was completely different. She had put up dark curtains to keep out the sun, the bed was darker, the walls had her own weapons hanging along with her brother's and the whole place was well organized. There were three boxes full of her brother's clothing in one corner of the room.
Kirema slumped over to her bed and flopped back, resting his arms over his face as Ken sat on the end of the bed. Rikou rummaged in the closet for a moment before producing the book and tossing it to Ken.
"Read it," she said, moving to the kitchen where she grabbed a glass of water and swallowed a few pills. Ken flipped silently through the book as Kirema sat up and read over his shoulder.
"A sword? Probably the Gurehane, the First's sword. They never did find it," he muttered scanning the pages. Rikou leaned against the counter as she watched their expressions changing from slightly confused to utterly lost.
"I don't get it... Wasn't Kagi that guy from the Akatsuki? This doesn't make sense..."
'I didn't think so," she muttered as he closed the book. He placed on the bed, prodding Kirema to wake up as he had fallen back onto the pillows. Rikou suddenly jolted at the sound of something hitting the covered window once, twice. Then it was followed by scratching and more rattling.
"Huh?" Ken turned towards the window and pulled apart the curtains as Rikou's heart beat faster. But it was only the crow. She sighed and moved over, opening the window and letting the bird in. It flew to her shoulder and prodded her lightly with it's beak.
"What is it?" she muttered, reaching up to stroke the dark bird. It dropped something in her hand. A key on a small length of thin chain.
"What is this...?"
She examined the small key, smaller than a normal key, only about two and a half centimeters, but intricately designed. She turned it slightly, examining it for a few moments. The crow shifted, rustling it's feathers and croaking softly.
"A key...?"
Ken stood and came forwards, looking at the key as well. "Is that from that guy? That Akatsuki guy you told us about? Kagi?"
Could it be? Here? Now? She closed her hand, squeezing the key as she dropped it into the pocket of her trenchcoat. She reached a hand up to the crow, letting it hop onto her fist before stroking it softly.
"...Maybe we should go check it out."
Rikou looked towards where Kirema was sitting, now wide awake and looking at her.
"If it is, we'll be killed," she said simply.
"If we find him before he finds us, then we might be able to gather more information," argued Kirema, standing and placing a hand on Ken's shoulder. "Right, Ken?"
Ken glanced between the two nervously. "I...Umm... I guess we should take a quick look..."
Rikou glared at the two other chuunin, still holding up the crow. "Fine," she said, moving the crow to her shoulder. "But if anything bad happens, were running."
Kirema grinned at the prospect of another mission, his usual energy returning as he pulled Ken out the door, Rikou following behind slowly. She found Ken and Kirema waiting patiently outside when she finally reached the bottom of the stairwell, and she paused. Lifting the crow off her shoulder, she let it fly off again, circling once before heading east over the city.
"Let's go!" Barked Kirema, jumping to the rooftops and chasing after the crow.
"Geez, wait up Kirema," mumbled Ken, jumping up after him along with Rikou.
I don't think this is a good idea, she thought, jumping towards the outskirts of town after the dark bird. The bird landed on top of a tall tree in the middle of a groove of trees where a single house, abandoned and boarded up, stood concealed.
The crow glided down to the earth, hopping along the ground before gliding again, past the house where it stopped. There were voices.
"If they already know what we look like, then what's the point of entering the city again? They'll just recognize us, and we'll find ourselves in the same position as Itachi and Kisame."
Rikou hid in the bushes, across from Kirema and with Ken to her left in the trees, almost completely hidden. She poked her head out slightly, looking upon two figures lazing in the sunlight, speaking in hushed tones. They both wore black and red Akatsuki robes.
"So what? It'll make things more interesting."
"If we're found out, He's gonna snap. Remember what happened last time? Even you couldn't laugh at that."
"Hn... But we still need to go in sometime to get this Gekkou kid, whats-her-face."
The other man groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Why me? Why am I stuck with you? Can you remember anything? You of all people should remember who we were sent out to get! At least try, Kagi!"
Kagi stood, facing away and looking up at the sun. He opened an umbrella which he pulled from across his back, opening it and twirling it. Something jingled as he did this, but Rikou was too far away to see anything clearly.
"Lighten up, dragon boy."
The other growled dangerously, but flopped back and sighed, folding his arms behind his head.
"And anyways, we aren't supposed to make our move until next week, so just relax, Tatsu."
Tatsu sighed. "Then what are you going to do about these rats?"
Rikou froze in her hiding place, her blood running cold.
"Well... We can chat them up if you want. Or play with them for awhile."
Tatsu stood, moving over to where Kirema was hiding. "Oi, come out of there."
There was no reply. Tatsu stepped forwards more. Something was strange about him, but Rikou couldn't quite place it. She couldn't see cleary from this far away.
"Oi...I said come OUT!"
Blue flame exploded from the bushes, blasting Kirema forwards where he hit the ground hard, landing at tatsu's feet before disappearing in a puff of smoke, replaced by a log.
"Ugh... Kawarimi. That jutsu really gets on my nerves, but luckily..."
Tatsu made a few seals, and the log in front of him turned back into an astonished Kirema.
"...How!?"
Tatsu laughed quietly. "Kagi, you deal with the brats. I'm no good with kids, they always end up dead after I'm done with them."
Rikou felt a jerking sensation, causing her head to spin. A moment later, she found herself on the ground beside Ken and Kirema, staring up at a retreating Tatsu.
She gasped when she caught a glimpse of his face. His eyes were what scared her the most. They were completely black with no white, like a wild animal's, and they were unnaturally large. His hair, which was short and windswept, was olive greenish-brown. He had a Grass forehead protector, a slash through it, tied around his forehead, and the metal plate had two metal horns protruding from it. As he turned away, she also noticed he had no ears, instead a small hole in the side of his head, almost lizrd-like.
Rikou shifted, trying to run, but her legs were frozen. When she looked down, she found a chain binding her to the ground, a large lock holding it together. She jerked again, but it was no use.
"Hahaha, it's no use, little rats," said Kagi, still facing away and twirling his umbrella. It jingled again, and as Rikou examined it closely, she found several small chains hanging from it, each with a miniature key dangling from the end.
Kagi suddenly folded up his umbrella, replacing it across his back and turning to face them. Rikou stared in amazement at his body.
He was incredibly handsome, which was her first thought before she remembered her situation. He had a pouty face, almost childish, which was partially covered by his raven black bangs. His eyes were the exact same colour as hers, striking green orbs, and because of his face, he looked to be only around sixteen years old. But what struck her the most was his clothing and his body.
His body was covered in chains, criss-crossing his chest, wrapping around his arms, over his stomach and around his legs loosely, over the trenchcoat. Every once and awhile, the chain was connected to another with a lock, ranging in size from the ones on his arms which were only an inch long, to the giant one around his neck that seemed to weigh him down. At the bottom of each loop in the chains hung several keys, these larger than the ones on the umbrella, normal-sized. He had keychains for earings, about six or seven on each ear, lining the rim and reaching all the way up.
"Hmmm... This one looks familiar," said Kagi quietly. His handsome face broke into a grin, revealing stunningly white teeth. "The rat herself walked into the snakes mouth, hehehe..."
Rikou stared up into his face, frozen with fear. He reached forwards as the chains around her legs vanished, binding her arms instead and tightening as he pulled her off the ground, leaning close.
"Remember me?"
His wide, green eyes bored deep into her, his smooth, silky voice echoing through her head as he breathed into her face.
"No? Let's refresh your memory."
His eyes narrowed as he placed a hand over her right shoulder momentarily before removing it. Pain suddenly swallowed her up, tearing through her body, her mind, ripping at her nerves, burning her skin. She tried to scream, but a chain wrapped around her neck, cutting off any sound as she gagged. She remembered.
He had been one of those who had tortured her for endless hours as she hung from a cave wall in the dark, supported by wires that had run through her wrists. She remembered his falsely sweet voice, how he had managed to unlock her deepest and most dark secrets, but it hadn't been enough. She had failed to tell them what they were looking for, and had ended up making her own stories to avoid punishment.
Her body went limp as she was overcome with dizzyness, her shoulder burning still as the pain vanished. Kagi laughed softly, childlike. He brushed her black hair from her face, leaning even closer.
"Now you remember, don't you? We used to have so much fun... Hey, Tatsu, we should kill the other two, they know too much if they're with her."
Tatsu glanced at him from where he lay before standing and shuffling back over to Kagi. He grinned as well, revealing sharp, pointed fangs.
"Sure," he growled, brushing past Kagi and moving in front of the two other chuunin. He raised a hand, the sleeve of the trenchcoat slipping away to reveal scaled fingers and black claws. Blue fire erupted inches from Ken's face as he tried to move or call out, but the chains and locks held him to the ground.
Kagi laughed again as Tatsu let loose more blue flame, this time directly beside Kirema's foot. He repeated this over and over, nearing them inch by inch until Rikou couldn't stand to watch anymore.
"Ugh...Stop it!" she growled, noticing the chain had left her neck. Tatsu turned slightly.
"Don't worry, brat, you'll get to have some fun later. But for now, just watch your little friends suffer... huh-!?"
Tatsu suddenly jumped back along with Kagi, who dropped Rikou. She glanced over to where Ken and Kirema sat on the ground, still bound by chains, but in front of them stood two Anbu squads. Kagi and Tatsu backed away slightly.
"Geez, you play around too much, Kagi," muttered Tatsu, his claws covered back up as his black, beady eyes glared at his partner. Kagi raised an eyebrow before pulling out his umbrella and opening it.
"Dpn't blame me, dragon boy. Let's go, two squads is a bit too much attention for me," he said quietly, turning away and vanishing along with Tatsu. The chains around Rikou vanished as an Anbu moved forwards to help her back up.
"...Where did you come from?" she breathed, her head throbbing and her shoulder still burning.
"We were ordered to follow you in case the Akatsuki found you again. Looks like we stepped in just in time," said the Anbu. Ken and Kirema also stood, dusting themselves off.
"You three have to report to the Hokage-sama. We only arrived moments ago, so we do not know the whole story."
Ken coughed a few times. "Great," he muttered. "More interviewing.."
Rikou coughed a few more times before moving forwards along with the Anbu and Ken and Kirema, but something suddenly wrapped around her legs and up her arms. Chains and locks.
"Oops, almost forgot something," came Kagi's voice. He appeared behind her, grabbing her roughly before taking off just as Kirema turned to see if she was following.
"Rikou!"
The Anbu dashed after her in a flash, but it was too late. Kagi was too fast. He took to the trees, carrying her roughly under one arm as he dashed at a blinding pace through the forest, loosing the Anbu quickly.
Chains crawled up her throat, silencing her, and cutting off her breathing. Her body was in shock, she couldn't move her muscles at all as Kagi joined up with Tatsu further on, dashing alongside him further into the forest.
"Hurry up and get over here," rasped Tatsu. He had stopped at the edge of a large, boarded up well. Kagi landed next to him and glanced at the well.
"What's this for?"
"Argh!! Idiot!! Just get in!"
He pulled the board off the well and Kagi hopped over the edge, falling into the darkness before landing at in about an inch of water. Tatsu landed next to him, sending water spraying onto Rikou, and he twitched a finger, causing the board to slide back over the well's mouth. The world was suddenly swallowed up in a familiar darkness, the cold air wrapping around her body and freezing her heart.
The chains around her neck loosened slightly, allowing her to breath easier, but somehow still preventing her from calling out. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness as Kagi carried her further through the well, entering some kind of tunnel.
"What is this for?"
She heard Tatsu sigh in frustration again. "Idiot! We still have two more weeks before we have to meet with Itachi and Kisame and head back! And in that time, we need to find out where she's hidden the Gurehane and don't you want your keys back?"
"Oh, right. I forgot about those, but I still need them..."
Rikou was roughly lifted up and thrown onto the ground, skidding to a halt in the shallow water. She made out the shapes of Kagi and Tatsu a few feet away, looking down on her,
"Are we going to start now? Or should we wait for more orders?"
"If we wait, then we'll waste precious time. We have only two weeks left."
"Hah! Time means nothing to me," laughed Kagi in his falsely sweet voice.
"Yeah,yeah.But I'm not gonna live forever like you, so let's get going."
Kagi shifted, pulling a case from inside his trenchcoat, Tatsu doing the same. They opened the cases, pulling out something Rikou couldn't make out in the darkness.
"But... This time, we should secure it well. Last time, those other brats got her off too easily," muttered Tatsu, pulling more of whatever he was holding from the case and moving forwards.
"Get her up, Kagi," he barked roughly. Kagi mumbled something, tossing what he was holding to Tatsu before grabbing her roughly by the wrists. He ripped off her trenchcoat and her chuunin vest, leaving her in her black tanktop. He lifted her with amazing strength, pinning her against the wall as more chains slithered over her legs.
Tatsu stepped forwards, moving his hands forwards, but pausing. He laughed lightly, dropping them fully.
"Oi, brat, I'm going to warn you again in case you've forgotten. The more you scream, the more you'll pay."
Rikou's breath caught as several things happened in quick succession. Tatsu's hands darted forwards, slamming into hers as something sharp peirced her skin. She felt the cold metal burn clear through her palms and into the stone wall behind her, and she cried out in pain and shock.
"Ah, ah, ah... Remember what I said," said Tatsu, flashing his white fangs in the darkness as he dropped his hand and brought them up again. This time, she felt familiar wired weaving in and out of her flesh, wrapping tightly around her arms and wrists and securing her tigtly to the wall. She cried out again, and it died away to a faint whimper in the darkness.
"Takes you a long time to get the idea, huh?" said Kagi, releasing her. Her body fell a few inches before the wires and metal spikes stopped her roughly, straining her hands and causing great pain. She closed her eyes as she felt a warm liquid running down her arms.
"Kagi, you do this. I hate seeing alot of blood, it makes me sick," said Tatsu, turning away and leaving. Rikou's breaths slowed, her heart freezing with fear and her eyes opening wide to accomodate the pain.
"Now," said Kagi after Tatsu had left. "Let's start with some simple questions. What's your name?"
Rikou swallowed hard, knowing what was coming. But in training, she had been told to never give in, no matter what they asked. "...Why do you want to know?"
She felt pain burn into her side as a needle was inserted into her stomach. She moaned in pain, the familiar feeling of torture returning.
"Still the same as before... Too bad... What's your name?"
She said nothing, and another needle found it's way into her stomach. Kagi laughed.
"Don't worry, I'll avoid hitting any important internal organs. But if you don't start talking, then I'll raise the stakes."
There was a jingling as he moved sligtly, producing a kunai in his left hand. Rikou's eyes widened at the thought of what he was about to do, but she had no time to answer his question before he was dragging the knife down he arm, stopping at her elbow and twisting it. She gasped as the sharp pain erupted from her arm, sending jolts of pain through her chest and shoulder as more blood leaked down, hitting the water below her. Drip, drip...
"What's your name?"
"Rikou..." she choked out. "Gekkou Rikou..."
"Good," he said in his smooth voice. He removed one of the needles in her stomach. "Now, how old are you?"
Rikou gritted her teeth, not anwering.
"Oh? Well then..."
The needle went back into her side and she sighed in pain.
"How old are you?"
"Thirteen..."
The needle was pulled back out. "Okay... Now, let's try something harder..."
He stepped back and pulled out a long, curved knife from his cloak before stepping back forwards.
"Where is the Gurehane? The First's sword?"
"I...I don't know what you're talking about..."
The knife glowed deep red as he pressed it into her stomach, the metal heating to an incredibly high temperature and searing her skin as the tip slid into her body. She groaned lowly, her stomach muscles clenching and causing more pain to erupt.
"I really don't know," she forced out, her voice strained.
"Sure you do, think harder. I know you're smart."
He held the knife poised over her chest this time, and she raked her mind for an answer. But the knife found flesh again, sliding into her left shoulder and burning the wound it had just made shut with it's own heat.
"Ugh..." she searched harder, filtering through every bit of information. Then she remembered the book.
"Wait..." she rasped. He paused, holding the knife close enough to her stomach for the heat to be felt on the surface.
"...There's a book..."
He paused, flicking hair from his smooth-skinned face as he pulled the knife further back. "What kind of book?"
"I dunno... I has information in it about this sword thing..."
"Oh? Tell me."
Rikou paused, wondering if there was going to be a consequence for what she was about to tell him. When she found none, she went on. "There was something about a curse on the Gekkou clan... Some guy named Yami Kagi put it on a girl after she stole a sword and a key for him...
"Something about a disease... and crows, crow summons... Yami Kagi gave them a summoning scroll and some kind of chakra or something because they stole three of his keys..."
Kagi frowned slightly. "And?"
"I don't remember any more..."
"Was there anything else written? Perhaps in the back? About the location of the sword or the keys??"
Rikou grunted again, searching the back of her mind. "No..."
"Well, you'd better start thinking soon..."
The knife slid into her stomach againm burning her as it did this over and over. Kagi's soft voice echoing through the darkness for hours, asking the same things over and over. Her body soon surpassed the pain, going numb. Drip, drip, drip, drip...
"I'm tired..." muttered Kagi, yawning casually. There were tens of needles sticking out from her stomach, and her arms were bleeding freely. He lifted the curved knife, running the flat side down her arms and burning the cuts closed, stopping the bleeding. Drip...
"Uhh... You can just hang around here until I feel like playiing again... And please try to remember any other things about this book. 'Night!"
He disappeared, leaving her in the suffocating darkness and silence, hanging from her wrists against the cold, moist stone wall.
So cold... so much pain... Not again... I don't want to... I don't want to go back into the darkness... so cold... Someone, come get me!! Kankuro!! Anyone! Ugh... My body...
Drip...