A/N: I'm not dead yet. Sorry for taking so long, but I felt rather de-motivated… Hopefully updates will be a bit more frequent, but with AP week on the horizon and a slew of projects after that, I doubt it. Anyway, I'll stop yammering now.

Disclaimer: See chapter 2.

Whether she liked it or not, Sabaki really had to give Tsuimaru and Chinji credit. Back home, whenever the team had an especially grueling training exercise, she would wake up the next morning feeling as though the muscles in her body were mush, and her limbs are made of stone instead of flesh. But on this particular morning, as she sat up on the old mattress and stretched, she realized that there was almost no pain at all. Disregarding the slight twinge in her right wrist, Sabaki felt fine.

As she turned an eye towards the window, she suddenly wished the panes weren't so clouded over with dust and grime; the sun was just rising, and she was certain that the view was something quite breathtaking to witness.

A knock on the door startled her. "What is it?" she asked, still sounding half-asleep.

Tsuimaru's bored voice replied, slightly muffled through the wood. "I brought you a tub of water and some soap. Hurry and wash up. We're starting in an hour."

Starting? ...Ah, right. The training. With Yuumoya. Who probably just narrowly killed her yesterday. Oh, joy.

She didn't want to get up, but what choice did she have? Trying to be as quick as possible (and making sure no one intruded while she was indecent by shoving the tub of water in front of the door to block it), Sabaki cleansed herself. Somehow, the scent of soap and feeling of warm water over her bare skin gave her back her sanity. She got the sense that she was human, not just a prisoner others could kick around, but a person with a capable mind... And the ability to fight back. A frown crossed her face as she remembered the previous day and recalled how Yuumoya and his lackeys had kicked her butt. It shamed her.

Shikeru Sabaki was a proud Genin of the Hidden Cloud, and damn it if she was going to let her kidnappers get the best of her. Yuumoya wanted to see what she could do? Well, fine. She grinned darkly. She'd show him.

Tsuimaru had also brought a set of clean clothes. She was pretty sure they'd been provided by Yuumoya... And to her surprise, the white tank top and black cargo pants included in the set were almost identical to the ones she wore almost every day. Since when did he have time to go shopping? However, her gratitude towards the creepy man for bringing her clean clothes vanished when she got a better look at the back of the tank top: Somebody had traced out the Cloud's insignia with black ink and crossed it out with a single, horizontal line.

He's mocking me. That stupid Yuumoya is mocking me. Her hands tightened around the shirt as Sabaki shook with anger. No doubt this was his way of reminding her, however bluntly, that her former home had labeled her as a criminal and that she now belonged to him.

The urge to rip up the shirt with her kunai boiled over to the point of where she took one of the sharp weapons in her hand and raised it, but another knock interrupted her.

"Yo, you ready? We've been waiting for you forever, you know."

It was Chinji. Holding back a growl, Sabaki got dressed, kicked the tub out of the way (and overturned it, causing the water to drench the floor), and opened the door with such force that the redhead actually took a step back.

"What's with you?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing. Let's go."

But as she shoved past him, Chinji got a look at the back of her shirt. A wide grin spread over his features, and a second later, he was doubled over, laughing uncontrollably. "Hahahaha! Nice! I like your new outfit!"

Grr. She was going to rip Yuumoya limb from limb.

While it had been easy to promise herself that she'd kick Yuumoya's behind while in her room, out here, Sabaki found the situation to be quite different. Currently, she was being stared down by the man in question for being slightly late... It was just twenty seconds, but he still found it reason enough to reprimand her.

And of course, Chinji, the idiot, had claimed innocence by pinning all the blame on her. And you know what? Yuumoya believed him.

As the scary jounin fixed his ever-unceasing glare on her, Sabaki shifted uncomfortably, and marveled at how quickly she'd forgotten her fear of him. Hurt him, Sabaki? You're a fool. You couldn't touch him if he had both hands tied behind his back and an iron ball chained to his leg. On the other hand, for him to kill me would take... a mere thought, probably. It was not a reassuring idea.

"You're late. You don't seem to understand my warnings, Sabaki." Though Yuumoya murmured this in a deathly quiet tone, the lack of volume did not offset the hint of malice. She shivered, feeling very threatened, and cast her eyes towards the ground. Honestly, what was with this guy and his stares? He made her feel like a puppet, and he was pulling all the strings.

"I-I'm sorry, Yuumoya... It won't happen again."

She stiffened when he stepped closer. Very slowly, Sabaki lifted her head and almost pulled back in shock when she found his face to be mere inches from hers. The stalker was way too close...

"Yuumoya what?" he questioned, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"...H-H-Huh?" She swore his chakra aura was rising, along with his killer intent. Oh man, oh man. If this continued, she was going to crumble to pieces. But Sabaki didn't know what he meant.

A gasp escaped her when he cupped her chin, and again, she was rendered helpless as their eyes locked. Kami-sama, those chilling orbs paralyzed her. She couldn't move. Her muscles wouldn't respond. Why?

"Such a terrible memory, Sabaki," he whispered. "I told you yesterday... Remember? You will refer to me as Yuumoya-sensei."

Chips of ice began to dance in his eyes, laughing at her in amusement. Oh, she wanted to hit him, kick him, dig her kunai into his ears, but her body wouldn't obey her commands. Sabaki felt herself going limp in his grasp, and with a sensation of panic, realized that she was losing control. She was going numb all over. A hundred snakes were crawling up her arms and legs, encircling them, squeezing, and she couldn't move. She couldn't move...

As if in a trance, her mouth felt open slightly, and she said, "...Yes, Sensei." Sabaki's voice sounded hollow, even to her.

Yuumoya only nodded once in approval and finally released her, turning to walk back into the clearing. He seemed not to notice as Sabaki exhaled and pitched forward as if to fall, but just in time, warmth shot back through her body and she was able to stop herself from actually hitting the ground.

She noticed that she was shaking. Why? That had felt so strange... As if somebody had tinkered with her mind and set her on autopilot without permission. Was that a jutsu? Sabaki had no idea, but more than ever, she feared those eyes. Stupid, creepy Yuumoya.

"I hope you're all ready to begin," the Jounin said matter-of-factly. He nodded at Tsuimaru and Chinji, who had been standing silent and watching while she was being mentally tortured. The two boys moved into the clearing, occupying opposite sides, then turned to look expectantly at Sabaki.

"What?" She was clearly annoyed, and though she was still shaken by Yuumoya's weird trick, certainly wasn't ready to show any signs of surrender. She even sneered at the trio of missing-nin standing before her. Did they think they could dominate her? Hell no. Sabaki was not that easily intimidated-

"Come here."

Amazing what two little words could do to a person. Like shedding a second skin, her confidence vanished, and a frightened Sabaki shuffled towards the clearing like a recently kicked dog to its master. She heard Chinji chuckle, and when she looked at Tsuimaru, he was smirking, but could not for the life of her figure out why she couldn't retaliate.

"Stand in the center."

Ah, right. Because Yuumoya was here. Because the man who had killed her previous sensei was standing here, only three feet away, and if she disobeyed him again, he probably use that strange... mind trick again or worse, hurt her. Who knew, if she tried to sneeze without his go-ahead, he'd probably cut off her hand.

She felt so very powerless, but positioned herself as he instructed. Right then, she realized the purpose of this setup; Tsuimaru and Chinji were standing on opposite sides of her, herself in the center, and as she watched, Yuumoya stepped back until he was at the edge of the clearing. He... he didn't really mean to make her fight these two by herself, did he? She'd barely been able to hold her own the night she was taken...

"A two versus one match will be today's exercise," Yuumoya announced coldly, and her heart sank into her stomach. "My only rule is that you don't kill each other. It would be most bothersome if I had to replace one of you."

"Hai, sensei." Chinji grinned widely, revealing his gleaming canines.

"..." Tsuimaru crossed his arms, focusing his gaze on the poor ex-Cloud Genin.

"Uh..." Sabaki whimpered.

And of course, Yuumoya ignored her. "Excellent. You may begin."

If that horrible, stormy night in the forest had taught Sabaki anything, it was that Tsuimaru and Chinji, for a couple of low-level ninja, had sharp reflexes and no objections to hurting a girl. As soon as the last syllable left the Jounin's lips, she leapt backwards and pulled out a kunai. Almost immediately, Tsuimaru closed in, a kunai in each hand.

He was fast, really fast... Was he this fast before, on that night? She couldn't recall exactly, and lifted her kunai to block both of his, arching back with the strain of trying to hold him off. As they were locked in a brief stalemate, he lashed out with a low kick, and she broke away to avoid it, rolling to the side before jumping quickly to her feet. The two projectiles came at her, which she knocked away-

Pain exploded in the side of her head as his foot collided with it. With a quiet noise of pain, Sabaki fell to the side, but planted a hand on the ground and steadied herself. Trying to focus as her head throbbed, she swung both legs around in a semi-circle in front of her. Surprisingly, Tsuimaru was caught off-guard by her unexpected counter, and joined her on the dirt.

Shiiink.

Oh, hell. She'd recognize that sound anywhere. Panicking, Sabaki sent chakra to her palms and shoved off the ground, flipping away to relative safety. With wide eyes, she watched as the kunai chain came crashing down where she had been lying only a second ago. Close call.

A swift glance over at Chinji confirmed that it was indeed him who was manipulating it... A scroll was on the ground beside him. A summoning scroll? Holy shit, this is bad news... But she didn't have any idea how bad it was about to get. Not yet, anyway. But she'd find out soon.

Tsuimaru rose, swiped the dirt from his cheek with the back of a hand, and slammed his hands together in a seal position. At the same time, Chinji's grip on the handle of his whip tightened, and with a gleeful smile, raised his free hand in a half-tiger and chanted, "Kinzokusei Daija no Jutsu."

A slightly blue glow enveloped the length of his kunai whip, causing it to shudder, and to her horror, rose from the ground without any help from Chinji, not even a flick of the wrist. The little weapons that comprised it jingled dangerously as it hung in midair, almost as if it possessed a life all its own.

Sabaki had had enough trouble against that accursed whip when the laws of physics applied. Now, with this thing defying gravity and gods knew what else... What was she supposed to do?

Kinzokusei Daija no Jutsu (Metal Snake Technique) – saturates a kunai chain with chakra, allowing the user to control it with his mind instead of his hands.