Chapter 5

"Wake up, brat!"

I awoke with a blow to my face. I opened one eye, wishing this was just a nightmare, but it wasn't. A man stood over me, holding a large pole. I noted that on the pole, there were stains of blood.

The man hauled me up to my feet by the back of my neck. "Walk," he commanded. I put one foot in front of me, then the other. No one else was in the hall except for me and the man. This might be the only chance I had. It was reckless but I had to try. Run. That's all I had to do. Run as fast as I could. Instead, I tripped and came crushing to the ground. I looked down at my feet, they were chained together.

The man raised his pole and brought it down on my face. I cried out in surprise. Blood trickled down my face. "Don't you even think about it," the man snarled. "Get up."

I did. But, that was a difficult task too: my hands were also chained. As I walked, with the man behind me berating me faster and faster to move or otherwise he'd beat me, I noticed that I was not outside anymore. I was in a hallway made of stone. If I strained my ears, I could hear crying, children crying. Why were they crying? Could've they been captured like me?

Enough. This wasn't the time to think of others' affairs. I had to figure out what these people wanted and why I'm like this. I needed to get out of here and find Chiyoko and Naruto. Once I finished what I could do, then I could turn around and become a hero. But when I'm like this, there really isn't much I can do.

"Turn left, boy," The man growled.

I began to turn left, but he swiped his pole at my legs. I went down on my face. The man laughed. I growled as I hauled myself back up.

I kept walking, my eyes focused determinedly on the path ahead. Finally, we came to a door. The man shoved me out of the way, but this time, I only stumbled and didn't fall. The man swung the door open. He waited for me to go in. I peered around the corner and looked inside of the room.

The man, growing impatient, grabbed my neck and shoved me inside. He tapped the pole on my ankles. I glared at him, then continued to walk.

The room was a throne room. It was long, and not very wide. A picture was hung on the far side of the room. It was of two demons, a wolf and a tiger fighting. Below the picture was a throne. And in it, sat a woman.

She was beautiful, I would admit that. She had long blonde hair that went down to the floor. Her green eyes were focused on one of the two guards that were standing on either side of her. Her clothes were low cut, but not too revealing, yet gave her authority. And in her left hand, was a long staff. At the tip of it, was a weird symbol. It looked like a star and a moon.

I walked along the red carpet path. Was she the leader? Obviously since she was in a throne room and sitting on a throne while four male servants were at her side. Each servant was dressed in a dark blue kimono with the kanji for strength on their back. They each carried a long pole, just like the man did.

The man grabbed my shoulder and yanked me backward. He leaned in close to my ear. "You will not be within ten feet of Kuremiana-dono," he scowled. "Do not disturb her with your wretched presence."

I was about to open my mouth to lash back, but a voice reached my ears.

"Is this the one?" The voice was smooth, yet seemed strict.

"Yes, Lady."

The woman smiled. "Very good. Yuan was always my best hunter." She turned to the man. "You may leave."

The man bowed and left.

I stood up to the woman. "Who are you?! What am I doing here?!" I spat. I wanted answers, and I wanted answers now.

All of a sudden, one of the servants rushed out towards me and struck me on the back of my neck with his pole, same as the man before. I gasped and landed on the ground.

The woman stood up, taking her staff with her. She began to walk towards me. "We need to teach you some manners, don't we boy?" she said gently, as though she was offering me some treat. She tapped my back lightly with her staff. "Get up."

I did, though it was excruciatingly painful to do so.

"I am Kuremiana, the master of these grounds. This is my house," she answered smugly.

"What do you want with me?" I asked hoarsely.

"People, like me, get bored easily. We don't have anything to do. We have slaves and servants to work for us. We need entertainment so we can pass the time and enjoy ourselves."

Entertainment?

I only blinked up at her, trying to figure out exactly what her motives were.

"Konohagakure is very famous for their pit fights."

"Pit fights?"

Kuremiana went to her throne and sat down on it. "My men and others too, go on hunts every now and then, searching for young children who have wandered or have no home. If they find a young, strong child, they will bring it back to me and get paid greatly for it. The stronger and more audiences it can bring to the matches, the higher they will get paid." She flashed a smile towards me. "Once we find a child, usually a male, we will place a demon within him."

I broke out into a sweat. "Demon?"

She nodded. "When these fighters are placed in a dangerous situation, they quickly let their demon out, hoping it will protect them. It makes them beast-like, letting the matches become more entertaining. Doesn't it sound interesting?" she asked. She actually chuckled.

How dare she? Making profits off of children, then fighting them and torturing them with demons! That's when I did something without thinking again. "You witch!" I snarled.

Almost at once, I felt the poles beat at my back again, numerous times. I screamed aloud. This was too much to endure in a five year old body. I collapsed onto the ground, coughing up blood.

The men who had beat me backed away a few feet. All was silent, except me coughing, trying to regain my breath back. I looked up at the woman. She seemed to have an amused look on her face. "You're perfect," she said gleefully.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I growled. "There's no way in h-"

She ignored me and motioned to one of her servants. A servant came to her. She whispered quietly in his ear. The servant nodded and came towards me. He grabbed the chain linking my hands and pulled them upward, making my toes just barely touch the ground. "Let go!" I yelled. I began to kick.

The man ignored me and carried me out of the room. He closed the door behind him and took me down the damp halls. "Hey! Did you hear me?!" I yelled. The man didn't even acknowledge me. I tried to turn around and bite him, but I couldn't twist around. But, I continued to kick.

A minute later, the man threw open a door and threw me inside. I crashed down on the concrete and skid into the wall. Before I could pick myself up and run out the door, the man closed it, leaving the whole room in darkness, except for a little window that was carved into the door that was barred. But that still didn't produce enough light.

I heard a shuffle of material beside me. I turned towards the sound. "Who's there?!" I yelled angrily. Almost hysterically.

"You have a loud mouth kid," the voice growled angrily in the darkness. "I should be asking you that question."

"Tell me!" I yelled, trying to scurry away, fearing that it could be another enemy.

"I am called Gaara," the voice said quietly. "But my demon name is Shukaku." The voice went silent for a moment in quiet curiosity. "And yours? What is your real name?"

I was starting to be able to collect my thoughts. This was another child. A demon-child. Like Naruto was. Like I was soon to become. "Sieto."

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"I guess you could say that," I began to let my guard down a little. The voice sounded as though it was a boy around the age of seven. "Are you from here?"

"No."

"Then, how did you come to be here?"

"They found me wandering on the streets in my village."

"How long ago?"

"Not even a year. I'm one of the lucky ones."

"Lucky?" I asked. This sounded interesting.

"The life expectancy of a pit fighter is less than a year. Usually they consider the ones that have lived longer than three months lucky," Gaara explained.

"Three months?" A chill went up my spine.

"The only one that has lived longer than me is Kyuubi."

I began to tremble. "Kyuubi?" The fox demon?

"Nobody knows when he came here, but he's never lost a battle before. He is terrifying."

"What does he look like?" I asked shakily.

"I've never battled with him before. That's the reason why I've lived for so long."

A tremor seemed to run over me. "What?"

Gaara chuckled. "I've heard things. That kid, the Kyuubi, he doesn't let his opponents live. If you are thrown into the pit with him, you are automatically dead."

Could it be Naruto? No, it couldn't be. My child would have pity. He wouldn't kill off other people just like that.

But then, I haven't been alive to see him grow and develop. But, Chiyoko wouldn't allow Naruto to turn into a heartless killer. Would she? No, this was not possible.

But, what if it was true? Did I really damage everything by putting the Kyuubi inside him and turn him into a monster? I tried to hide the idea in the back of my thoughts.

"Wha-what are the fights like? How do you win them?" I asked shakily. If I was going to be caught up in this then I might as well learn how to keep myself alive.

"They're fights," Gaara put it simply. "You just fight. To win, it doesn't really matter. Usually it's only if you're hurt enough to do anything or if you're killed."

My eyes widened a little. "That's it?"

"That's it," Gaara confirmed. "Why? Are you surprised?" he asked with a little amusement.

"No," I replied bluntly. "I just think the idea of it is stupid."

We were silent for a moment, not speaking to one another.

"I'm going to rest," Gaara announced.

I made no reply. Instead, I lay down on the concrete. I put my arms under my chin to make a sort of a pillow. It hurt, because the chains attached to my wrists were still attached. I sighed. I had no other choice but to sleep too. I would need my strength tomorrow so I could find a way to get out of this place.

I closed my eyes. Well, this certainly wasn't the thing I expected when I asked to be brought back to life.

I guess it really is true…be careful of what you wish for.

A/N: I had actually written this a day or two after I had posted chapter 4. If you have been reading this fanfic since I started writing it, then you'll know the reasons why I didn't post this. I want to see if I still have loyal readers. If so, then I'll post the rest of the chapters I have written so long ago and continue to post new ones. If not, then I will terminate my FF account, I think. Anyways, enjoy. Constructive criticism is deeply appreciated. Please tell me honestly if I should continue on with this. And you have to let me know, otherwise how will I know how many people want me to continue on with this?