Chapter 4 - How it All Began
A/N: I do not own Naruto
I do however own Mari Kaede and any other OCs involved in this story.
Please ask permission before using them!
Warning: Contains Murder, Violence, Gore; Mental, Emotional and Physical Torture, Experimentation, Depression, Revenge and mentions of Sexual Activities.
Please read responsibly.
Hey guys, here's the rereleased Chapter 4!
Enjoy!
She was exhausted.
With a heaved sigh in the dark moonlit night, Kaede trudged through the two stone walls of Sunagakure with a heavy backpack slung over one shoulder and bags under her brown eyes. "God, that mission took a long time..." She said softly, slowing her footing as she held the back of her neck and moved it around until it cracked. "I ain't doing that again for a while..."
The thirty-eight-year-old kunoichi started walking down the path to her home with her head held high. She was looking forward to just sitting there on her sofa with a tasty meal with peace and quiet as her company.
Though it was only a smaller mission, she had to go with a team of medical specialists to a dark forest and guard them as they collected herb samples for their research in various cures. She didn't expect them to take so long, but those specialists were stubborn.
Kaede let out a soft laugh when she remembered one of them confronting her, demanding she understand the importance of medicine. Of course, she yelled back in defense but they made up in the end when the specialist found a rare plant and forgot she was even there to begin with. Just looking back to that moment made her laugh.
Suddenly the Jounin froze, an unsettling sensation weighing down her chest as she looked both left and right with caution. Was someone watching her? Deep in the pit of her stomach, she felt as if she was being followed like a destructive shadow was waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Knowing she had stayed still for too long, she took a deep breath and continued. Kaede was finding it hard to believe she imagined it after all another war was looming, and every ninja in her village was on edge.
She was no exception.
As time passed, the feeling slowly melted away and Kaede relaxed, a comfortable smirk replaced her tense frown. Stretching out her arms, she linked them behind her head and stared up at the moon. It was full and large, beaming down rays of white, dim light onto the world they stood upon.
It was very calming.
Before long, Kaede stood outside her apartment, feeling around her flak jacket and trouser pockets for the keys to her front door. "Ah, where did I put them?" She mumbled, only to let out a noise of triumph when she found them. Unlocking the door, Kaede stepped over the threshold and kicked the wooden barrier closed behind her.
The older kunoichi grinned excitedly at the thought of relaxing after so long and tossed her bag onto the ground by her dresser, she'd sort it out later. Within minutes she had her flak jacket, forehead protector and shuriken case tossed half-hazardly on her bedsheets and was making her way into the kitchen with her beloved Icha-Icha Paradise in hand.
"Should I have homemade curry or ready-made curry?" She asked herself as she stopped at the kitchen counters and reached up into the cupboard, shrugging. "Heh, there's no contest! I'll take ready-made curry over homemade curry any day!"
However just as Kaede's fingers brushed the box with her favorite meal tucked inside, she felt that unease come back suddenly and heard a noise in the corner of her kitchen. Before anyone could even blink, she dove from the cupboard to the corner of the room and pinned the intruder against the wall, her arm pressed against the stranger's neck to hold them.
With a mental curse, she remembered that she left her shuriken holder on the bed and she knew even so much as shifting the weight from her arm could be dangerous in her situation. Hell, she couldn't even use Ninjutsu without torching her house or cutting it to shreds. "Who're you?" She started her tone and expression the opposite of what it was a moment ago. Cold, dangerous eyes kept their gaze on the shadowed figure with a deep frown set upon her lips. "What're y'doing in my house?"
The person did not answer, not for a moment anyway, instead what filled the air was dark, sinister laughter that held nothing but sickening amusement. "Interesting, despite being unarmed, you willingly approach an enemy..." Kaede's eyes narrowed, that voice, though painfully hoarse, was indeed male.
She had many questions for this intruder before she would choose the appropriate actions in dealing with him. Who was he, what was he doing here and which village did he work for? Along with several others of equal importance.
However, Kaede made one fatal mistake in her both her interrogation and restraining methods...Her mind had wandered, only for a second, but this man, though pinned, was far quicker than she was.
Suddenly Kaede coughed hard and bent at the waist, staggering back while blood filled her vision. The stranger had moved so quickly, landing a blow to her right abdomen. However, the pain was too unbearable to have been a weaponless blow.
Of course, she had been right.
The woman's eyes fell to the kunai embedded into her abdomen she knew she had been right. She could see the blood dripping from the blade and her hands trembled near the handle of the dagger. "A-agh!" She ground out, coughing up blood before gritting her stained teeth tightly due to the intense sting that made it's way through her body like electricity across water.
Seeing no immediate threat, the man slowly walked forward towards the weak rays of moonlight coming through her closed curtains. He stopped just as his body began to become visible in this soft illumination, showing his entire upper torso and the lower half of his face, a smirk on his lips against his deathly white skin. Kaede felt as if she had seen this person before, but with the injury and threat stood before her she didn't have time to recall where.
However she was able to distinguish the green Konohagakure flak jacket the man wore, she felt nothing but discomfort at the sight. Why would they send a Jounin to attack her, what use was she? Right now Konoha and Suna had an alliance, wasn't this a step in the wrong direction?
The pain was flooding through her mind, confusing her, making her dizzy as the world began to darken around the edges. This attack had been well executed, he had stabbed her in such a way that she would be unable to move immediately or die suddenly. Therefore his intention wasn't to kill but to keep her alive.
This caused even more questions to flood her dull mind as she tried her hardest to keep conscious before the threat she faced.
"What a foolish decision that was for someone of your rank." The man sneered, taunting her with her mistakes. Grinding her teeth in anger at his obvious mockery, she yanked the kunai from her stomach despite the pain and coughed up a little more blood from the internal damage. Then, despite knowing her own weaknesses, kicked off towards the man, lunging at him with the bloody weapon in hand.
Of course, Kaede had once again underestimated the man she faced as he moved ever so quickly, appearing behind her. Gasping with wide eyes, Kaede didn't have time to turn before the man's hand slammed into the back of her neck, making her freeze in place and drop her weapon.
The shocked expression that had overtaken the Ninjutsu expert's features melted into daze and weakness as the world tilted and swayed around her. She was only just aware that she had fallen to her knees by the dull thump in her ears and the tingling sensation in her numb joints. Kaede barely heard the man's dark laughter as she careened forward and landed hard on her stomach, eyes blank, staring at the door before her.
Slowly those eyes began to slip shut as if she was settling into a deep slumber, and the world darkened until her vision finally shut down. The laughter that had filled the air moments ago began to melt away into muted silence as the strong Jounin lost consciousness.
Staring at her as the intruder moved a little closer and crouched down, looking over her form to ensure she was truly inert. When he was certain that she would be unable to resist he grinned maliciously, with her unconscious, it would be far easier to remove her from the village. He didn't waist a moment as he gathered her up in his arms and tossed her over his shoulder, holding her thigh to keep her in place.
'I need to be quick...If I stay too long, this simple task will become far more difficult...' The stranger thought to himself, making haste and stepping towards the door to the next room. However, he stopped with a hum when he stepped on something that was slightly too high to be the floor.
Curious eyes tilted down and focused on a book under his foot, holding a name he was very familiar with. A frown set deep on the shadow's features as he stared at it in thought. 'This woman had it on her person, even during the fight...' Crouching down, he lifted Icha-Icha Paradise and turned it at different angles for inspection. 'judging by the state of the book alone I can tell that this is a valuable possession to her...Perhaps it will prove useful later."
The sinister man stood and pocketed the book in the pouch at the back of his pants, before quickly leaving the building without any more delays.
...Or so he thought, just moments after leaving the village and entering the harsh terrain of the desert, he crossed a small difficulty that needed to be resolved fairly quickly before it became a big problem.
"Kae-chan!"
Looking back, the man saw a Sunagakure Jounin with spiked bleach blonde hair and fuchsia eyes. "Stop right there! I won't let you take her!" Kiyoshi yelled to him, pulling out several shurikens from his holder in case the intruder fought back.
The stranger's lips twisted into a sickening grin and he stopped, keeping a firm grip on the unconscious Kaede as he looked Kiyoshi in the eye. "Hmhm...I could do with some exercise..." He said, licking his lips with an unnaturally long tongue, his eyes alone scaring Kaede's former lover, however the unnerving action the shadowed figure made only added to the feeling, causing him to step back.
Without hesitation, Orochimaru lunged forward with a dangerous hiss.
There would be no witnesses.
A/N: Well look at that, no translations needed!
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