Chapter 34: Old Friends, New Enemies
A/N: I do not own the Naruto Franchise!
I do however own Mari Kaede and any other OCs mentioned.
Warnings: Contains dark themes, such as depression, murder, experimentation, emotional, mental and physical torture, possible attempted suicide and mentions of sexual activities!
At this point, I also want to point out that the relationship between these two characters is actually toxic if you are in a similar situation please seek help, it is not healthy and it won't end the same way this story will end.
I do not condone these kinds of relationships, despite writing this story.
Hey guys, I'm on a roll now! Thanks to Antex_TLZ, as they asked me to call them! It's odd to think just a few small words of encouragement would be enough to bring forth the writer in me and make me work harder than ever to bring you guys good content.
Honestly this chapter is shorter than I would have liked, but it has a lot of emotional impact, so hopefully, it's worth it.
Enjoy!
"Y'think they'd update their patrol units, wouldn't you?"
Night had fallen over the sandy civilization known as Sungakure, where the traitorous redhead was hidden deep in the shadows past the large border wall that covered the city, protecting it from sandstorms. She had easily slipped past some of the Jounin guarding the wall, as she had memorized the layout and patrol cycles long before she was kidnapped, and now she was crouched in the shadows of a chimney on a tiled roof near the edge of the village, her little snake friend looking around and flicking its tongue, on alert for any 'surprises.'
Kaede scanned the many high roofs in the village with her eyes, searching for any scouts that could potentially spot her shock of red hair from a distance. When she was sure no-one had spotted her, she snuck out from behind the chimney and began her stealthy advance towards the center, where the information was being held.
It was past midnight, and honestly, she could have started her mission hours ago, but she had frozen up outside behind a rock, and because of that, she spent several hours psyching herself up so she could go through with her decisions. Seeing her home again brought a wave of sad nostalgia over her, and she choked up just thinking about her time there.
'Stop it, y'senile old fool!' The older woman scolded herself silently, jumping down onto the dirt path within the city, hiding behind a building wall as a shinobi walked around the corner, paused, looked in her direction, then walked away. 'Y'ain't got time t'worry 'bout the past now! Get that information torched and get the hell out of here!'
But as she thought that, looking at the familiar streets she carefully traversed, her mind wandered down memory lane. She recalled the times she had walked down these same paths with her friends or family, or even her former lover, chatting and oblivious to the evil that was to come. How many days had she spent taking her cushy, happy life for granted? And how long would it be before she could find another one?
Would she die before she made a new life for herself?
The redhead clicked her tongue as she ducked behind some tarps at a street market she used to visit often as a child, surprised it was still there. However she shook the thought from her mind, knowing if she continued to get distracted, she would fall victim to the kunai of a former ally. No way in hell would she die now after living through so much.
If it took every breath in her body, she would do something with her life, whether it be good or bad.
Another shinobi's footsteps were heard and she crouched behind a wooden box, hidden in the dark as she looked over her shoulder and listened as the person on patrol trudged past her without being alerted to her position. If she remembered correctly, her mother once told her that those who remained faithful to the village would be rewarded, and she had to bite her tongue not to spit out a venomous laugh in retaliation.
If that was the case, why was her reward to suffer so greatly for a village that accused her of cold-blooded murder?
The snake hissed softly and Kaede hummed, looking down at the curious reptile before she glanced from behind the crate to see a clear opening towards a dark alley that lead straight to the center building where Sunagakure stored their information. "Heh, good boy~!" She whispered with a grin before she ducked out from behind it and quickly formed seals with her hands so she could Shunshin into the dark pathway without being seen.
'I sacrificed so much for this village, and what did I get? A one-way ticket t'prison with no chance of a nice life on the other side!' She sneered. 'What kind of fool gives their life for a place that doesn't even care?'
"K-Kaede...?"
Oh, God no...!
The Ninjutsu expert skidded to a halt in the middle of the road, her hands shaking as she dropped them to her sides, eyes widen in realization. She knew that voice so well, please let her be wrong, please let it be the hallucinations of a lunatic, she would rather go crazy than see who stood behind her right now. Slowly, she swallowed the fearful lump in her throat and turned, her expression filled with horror when she was faced with one of her precious friends.
Takeshi stood there, eyes equally as wide, but instead of being struck with the same emotion, he was shocked, confused and possibly...Relieved? Why was he relieved to see her, she was the enemy?!
"Kaede?! It is you! I followed an intruder into the village from the border, I never thought it would be you!" He lowered the kunai in his hand slightly, unable to truly believe what he was seeing at first.
"...Hey, Takeshi." Kaede managed to choke out, giving him a small, painful smirk as she cursed her luck for running into someone she knew so well. He had aged, his face was no longer as sharp and youthful as she remembered, instead he looked worn, stressed and lacking that spark.
Of course, she probably looked the same to him.
"Why...?" Takeshi shook his head and watched her cautiously. "Why have you come back to the village, knowing full well you'll be put on trail for the murder of Kiyoshi-san?!"
Those words brought forth a wave of resentment and anger, Kaede's bandaged fist clenching under her sleeve as her eyes turned cold to the man who she once viewed as her rival and best friend. "What...Y'mean the murder I had nothing t'do with?" She turned to face him fully, the snake on her arm hiding beneath the fabric of her sleeve. "Y'mean the one I wasn't even conscious for? Is that the murder y'mean?!"
Takeshi's expression softened with confusion and he knitted his brows after a second of mulling over her words. "What are you talking about Kaede, we found your forehead protector...You ran from the village in the dead of night!"
"Oh yeah? Did y'find the blood on my kitchen floor too, my blood, just so y'know?!" Her teeth ground together as tears flooded the corners of her eyes and she did everything in her power to push them back. "The same blood that probably trailed out of the village?!"
"Yes...We assumed Kiyoshi had acted in self-defense and you had been injured-"
"Y'assumed?! Figures, that's all y'can do ain't it?!" She scoffed and combed her fingers through her fringe, before gripping it so tight, she felt the pain of some of her hair follicles tearing out of her scalp. "I was attacked Takeshi! I was stabbed, knocked out, and then taken away to a horrible place where I was experimented on! But none of y'assumed that, did you?!"
Kaede's voice cracked as she choked on her emotions, stepping forward slightly, while Takeshi stepped back, her eyes alight with pain and rage, finally venting her emotions out to one of the people she wanted to share them with the most. "I was suffering Takeshi! I was lost, alone and suffering! But none of y'tried t'find me, y'left me, abandoned me like I was no-one important!" She dropped her hand from her hair to her eyes, then ran both of them down her face before dropping them at her sides, wiping away her tears and leaving ugly stains behind. "And 'cause of that, I'm stuck doing things I never thought I'd do just to survive! I've had to kill people I never wanted t'kill!"
With another step forward, Takeshi lifted the kunai again. "Stand down, Kaede! I don't want to use force...!"
An almost crazed laugh left her throat as she flexed her hand and a kunai dropped into it, which she caught with ease. "What, like my mother did when she saw me again? Like y'all did when y'chased me out of Suna over a year ago?!" She swallowed and lifted the blade so he could see it. "No, I can't 'stand down!' I can't go back t'being locked up again...I just...I just can't!"
Her expression finally waned, eyes wet with tears as she pleaded silently, begging him to understand her pain, her suffering. "Y'can get out of this, Takeshi...Just pretend y'never saw me...I don't want t'kill you, but...I will if I have to." She hardened her eyes and got into a fighting stance with the kunai poised for battle.
Takeshi then shared the same horrified look she had given him when he had addressed her. "Threatening your best friend...? What happened to you Kaede?!"
"I went through hell and back! I did what I had t'do t'survive! I learned just what a village does to a ninja, and how little they matter in the long run! I ain't some tool for the Kazekage t'use, and I'll be damned if I'll be punished for something I never did! I told myself I'd never rely on anyone ever again, that I'd think about myself and do things for me and me alone! I'll never let anyone take me for an idiot, no matter what I have t'do t'prove that I ain't going t'be messed with again!"
Silence passed for a moment. "Kaede...The only reason we suspected you...Was because Kiyoshi went to visit you that night."
Kaede's eyes widened in surprise.
"He went to your house to reconcile, he had finally gotten over his work addiction and wanted to apologize in person for how he treated you! He wanted to ask you to take him back so you could start a family, the family you always wanted! And then, the next thing we knew...He was dead."
The kunai in her tanned hand shook with the force of her grip and the emotions bubbling beneath the surface that she did her best to hold back. "Takeshi...D'you really think I'm capable of something like that...?"
"Honestly?" He let out a sigh. "I don't know anymore, Kaede...You changed so much over the years, you weren't the same person that aspired to be a ninja for the village anymore, it was like...There were two sides to you. And eventually, everyone who knew you thought you were losing your mind, me included..."
The cold shiver she had felt when Orochimaru sprung the mission on her returned and she dropped the kunai as disgust and sorrow passed across her warped features, her tears pooling over and spilling down her cheeks. They had not trusted her...Because they thought she had a split personality disorder?!
Not only that, but they chose not to help her, no, instead they kept it from her and prayed she would be able to cope by herself, without any knowledge of it, without any support?!
They chose to hide an important detail like that, turn her into an outsider, and then prosecute her for a crime she didn't commit based on that fact alone?!
A broken huff of laughter echoed in the air and her fist clenched tightly around the handle of the blade. "Thanks, Takeshi..." She stated seriously, wiping her eyes with her other hand as a cold, empty smirk curled over her lips. "Now I know just how much y'really cared 'bout me...How much any of y'really cared 'bout me."
Takeshi stepped forward, it was his turn to beg. "Wait, Kaede! If you let me take you into custody, we could find a way around this, we can get you your status back!"
"No..."
Takeshi stared at her in confusion, and blinked, however when he opened his eyes again, all that remained was a cloud of smoke before him. "Wh-" Suddenly he felt a searing hot pain in his lower back and let out a sharp cry, turning his head to see the real Kaede stood behind him, kunai buried in his soft flesh while her eyes were hidden behind a mask of emptiness and the shadows of her fringe. "K-Kaede...!"
His voice turned to gurgles as blood pooled in his mouth. Kaede kept her eyes shut as Takeshi's eyes rolled back and he dropped to his knees, before slamming down on his front, face-first in the dirt. She stood at his feet, taking sharp, painful breaths as she forced back her sobs, shaking with every strained cry she felt trying to leave her chest.
She had just killed her best friend...One of the few people in the world she had valued more than anyone else...And now, he was dead.
The traumatized kunoichi looked at the blood covered kunai in her hand and let out a sharp hiss, tossing it away with a loud clatter, wanting to put as much distance between her and the offending item as physically possible. However that act alerted the other ninja in the area of a possible intruder, and Kaede was only pulled from her own horror when the snake hissed and rattled its tail in panic.
"...You're right." She ground out, looking at the small serpent for a moment before she formed seals with her bloody hands. "We've got t'get out of here before reinforcements arrive." Then she vanished in a cloud of smoke, appearing again behind a chimney near the area where the incident occurred.
She watched as several Jounin, plus her own father, ran to the scene of the crime, and how horrified he was at the sight of his daughter's best friend laying there, nothing but a lifeless corpse. She stared for a moment before she took a deep breath and hardened her expression, turning and vanishing into the shadows of the buildings, weaving her way towards the central tower that housed the information she needed to destroy.
The longer she stayed, the more she risked being caught.
However because of the death of Takeshi, the entire village was quickly put on high alert, and it took every skill she held to avoid behind caught. Eventually, though, she managed to stop on the window frame leading down the corridor to the information center.
Once inside, she killed any guards that may have spotted her, silently, ensuring none of them had time to call for help, before she finally slipped into the once tightly guarded room filled with thousands of scrolls, each harboring important information. "Okay, got t'find what I'm looking for..."
Though she knew what she had to find, she was given no information on what said item looked like, and if the shouting coming from outside was any indication, she had no time to check every single scroll until she found it.
"Heh, no wonder he sent me," Kaede mumbled softly, forming the signs she needed for her beloved fire jutsu. She took a deep breath, and spat the torrent of flames onto a nearby piece of parchment, then used an air bullet to expand the flame enough to make it spread. With the speed her embers moved, it would not be long before the entire room was engulfed and rendered destroyed.
With an empty smirk, triumphant in her mission, she ducked out of the room and hissed aggressively when she turned to leave, only to see her father and the other shinobi stood behind him. "K-Kaede?!"
"No, no, no!" She snapped angrily, quickly forming seals with her hands. "Not you too! I ain't having your blood on my hands too!"
"You...You killed Takeshi?!"
Kaede was quick to spit a fireball at them, surprising them and forcing them to fight back with Suiton based jutsu. However by the time the flames and smoke cleared, Kaede was long gone, and the fire in the information center was reaching critical levels. Though Kaede's father wanted to make chase, to capture his daughter and have her explain everything, the information took priority. He let out a harsh curse and turned his attention to the blaze, instructing the Suiton and Doton users to extinguish the inferno.
While he did this, Kaede finally escaped the village, killing any ninja that followed her with a quick flick of the wrist, sending kunai, with explosive tags attached, their way. Her entire body felt numb and she could not quite push any emotion to rise to the surface like she had forgotten how to be human after venting out everything she felt only to kill her best friend immediately after.
When Kaede was sure she was not being followed anymore, she hid behind a large body of stone and sat down to catch her breath, looking at the stars above with tired eyes. With that action, she had severed any ties she had left with Sungakure, now she was everything they had thought her to be, a cold-blooded murderer who thought of herself over everyone else.
Some part of her ached for Takeshi, but the sick, cynical side she had developed over ten years of torture, whispered deep in her ear. 'This is their fault...If they'd listened t'me and actually tried t'help me, then I wouldn't have killed Takeshi, I wouldn't have even been put in this situation t'begin with! Instead, they treat me like a psychopath, and didn't even tell me I was going crazy! Goes t'show what ninja will do t'keep the reputation of their precious village at a high...'
Her stomach knotted and she gagged from the sudden wave of sickness she felt, covering her mouth with her bloody hand, only to see the blood and have that tip her over the edge. She dove forward and vomited on the sand, sickened by her own actions and the actions of those around her.
Once the vomiting calmed, she stared down at the sand as her tears melded with the contents of her stomach, vowing to herself that she would never rely on anyone ever again, that she would put her own happiness above everything else.
Always.
~BHBL~
Meanwhile, back at the hideout, Orochimaru was watching everything through the eyes of the little snake she had taken with her, and after seeing just what she did to ensure the mission was a success, he felt a sick sense of glee rise in his chest, eyes wide as he licked his white, dry lips. 'Wonderful.' He thought pleasantly, as Sasuke stood below the statue of the snake he observed from, training under his command.
He had expected her to cut ties and do as he said, but not to the extent that she did, not to the point where she openly killed one of the closest people to her just to ensure she regained the freedom she had lost, rather than wallow in a cell for the rest of her short life. The mere thought of this brought him more joy than when she had bowed to him and called him 'Orochimaru-sama' for the first time.
Not only was she a tamed beast, but she was an obedient, tamed beast. Never again would her flames be used to scorn him, instead he would use them to scorn others and make any and all ambitions he had or will ever have a reality. Perhaps now, she would be the ally he once thought she was capable of becoming.
Perhaps now...The wind was under his control.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please review, each comment helps me improve as a writer and motivates me to keep going! I also appreciate every single like, review or follow you guys give me!
Japanese = English
Doton = Earth Release
Suiton = Water Release
Shunshin no Jutsu = Body Flicker Technique
Sungakure = Hidden Sand Village
-Sama = Lord (A.K.A Lord Orochimaru.)
