With a sudden inhale of oxygen, my eyes fluttered open. I blinked a few times, my blurred vision remaining slightly impaired. My eyes darted about, panicked.
Where was I?
My half lidded eyes still were heavily laden yet my heart now pounded noisily in my chest. My head and eyes were out of sync, my head spinning each time I jerked about.
My fingers, trapped between my back and the scathing bark of the tree, reached and wriggled towards the weapon holster on my hip. The bark, sharp and inflexible, ripped at the pads of my palm as I came closer to weapons. Biting down on my lip, I suddenly was pulled back to reality by a deep voice.
"Good evening."
RIKA'S POV
Sasuke's arm shook violently under my hand as I aided him to a bench, his own strength failing. Under the glow of the moon, I took in Sasuke's bedraggled appearance and watched as each time his face calmed, it would contort again in pain.
"What happened?" I inquired in a hushed tone, trying to keep my voice from the listening ears of other shinobi. Sasuke only continued as he was, too engrossed in his own pain; He seemed oblivious to the outside world.
With tender fingers, I tugged at the torn pieces of shirt, gently removing them from where they were adhered to Sasuke's skin with warm, ample blood. Gashes, cuts, and bruises fractured his pale skin; whatever had done this damage, it was violent and causing intentional harm. I waited patiently as I healed what I could: a few cuts knitted back together to create light shadows of what used to be.
I asked him again, but still Sasuke ignored me. His expression suddenly grew quite fearful, his eyes distant.
"Where's Kakashi?" he asked, turning to me.
I didn't reply, stalling by tending to a large gash crawling up to the front of his shoulder from his mid-upper arm. Just as the wound began to knit together, Sasuke ripped his arm away from me.
"Where is he, Rika?" he repeated. He was completely distraught, his breathing fast and his eyes anxious.
"I don't know, Sasuke," I replied calmly, beginning to heal his wounds again.
"Stop it!" he hissed, staggering to his feet, "Tell me where he is Rika!" Standing to my full height, I looked down at the young genin as blankly as I could.
"Kakashi can take care of himself, Sasuke. I need you to tell me what was out there, now," I insisted, forcing him back down onto the bench. Glaring up at me with intense fury, he retold his story, never once letting his stare leave mine. Although I hoped I looked solid, I couldn't help but stagger, my breath caught in my throat.
KYOKO'S POV
I stopped struggling, instead holding myself still. A figure stepped out of the darkness into the moonlight, a tall and cloaked figure. His pale face, handsome and terrifying all in the same, seemed to glow in the moonlight. His deep voice was as knowledgeable as his eyes, they're deep scarlet irises reflecting spilt blood and death and destruction.
"I wouldn't say it's a good evening," I managed to sputter. I began moving more feverishly for the weapons at my side, to no avail. The figure remained deprived of emotion as he approached slowly. He was now only inches away from me, his robes close to skimming the outer edge of whatever held me to the tree. His pupils angled down to look at me, he stared at me for a minute or so.
"Do you remember me?" he said slowly, his voice low in volume, almost a whisper. I tried to look as angry as I could, to be unafraid and strong.
"I do remember you, Itachi Uchiha," I replied forcefully, "Why am I here?" The elder Uchiha was silent, as if he was contemplating the answer he wanted to give me.
"I want information that only you possess," he finally replied. I didn't know how to respond. What was so special about what I knew that couldn't be taken from any of the other shinobi?
"What?" I asked, confused. I was puzzled and I hated being kept in this mysterious and confusing darkness. Itachi blinked slowly, just gazing at me for a few moments.
"You are the last child," he replied finally.
I still remained in the dark. The only way I could give him any information, or hide it from him, would be to know what the hell he was talking about. I stared off into the distance, not particularly at anything specific, just staring. My thoughts raced as I racked my brain but I kept coming up with nothing, like trying grip water.
"Tell me all you know about Arashigakure," he stated.
"I don't know anything—," I told him. In a sudden wave of pressure, my head pounded with pain, the name setting off a trigger. Something in my mind moved and wriggled, stretching its unused and sore limbs.
Even with my closed eyes, I could feel Itachi's terrifying stare.
"Do not lie," he stated, his voice even and calm. I struggled even more, movement being the only attempt I could make at soothing my head.
"I'm…not lying!" I cried. I was though somewhat; it was so familiar yet still unknown. My mind slowly settled back in a semi less painful state, yet now sluggish and blurred again.
He didn't say anything, only silently watched, disbelieving and determined.
"I don't know what to tell you," I mumbled, trying to form words, "I don't remember anything."
He sighed. It was low and subtle, but it was enough for me to know it couldn't mean anything good. He was thinking; at least, that's what I assumed he was doing.
"What is your earliest memory?"
It struck me as odd, even in my half state of mind.
"Being in Konoha," I answered.
Itachi sighed, a deep hum in his throat, signaling he was thinking again. He finally muttered one word:
"Tsukuyomi."
I was confused. Before my unfocused eyes, the world around me darkened; the moon turned black, the sky dark red, and the rest of the world a mixture of the two colors. My breathing hastened as my tree turned to a flat board suspended in the air, my arms stretched out to my sides, and all four of my limbs tethered down tightly. Itachi stood before me, staring at me with strained eyes.
"What is this…?" I breathed, turning my head about. My eyes widened even more as Itachi withdrew a gleaming sword. The metal shone with a dark glitter, clean and unscathed and stuck a deep note of fear in my chest. He glanced at the blade for only a moment before approaching me slowly, pressing the sharp tip of the blade to the well of my throat, right at the center of my collar bone.
"Arashigakure," he stated again. The festering demon within my mind began moving and it took all my will to hold my head still against the pointed blade. In my mind, I was screaming and I held my tongue back; I wasn't about to give Itachi the satisfaction of knowing he'd put me in that much pain with mere words. He smoothly pulled away the blade, stepping away and retracting the blade.
Suddenly, the blade was in my side. Itachi drove the blade, the point piercing my torso painfully and he pressed it deeper. The pain was unbearable; or so I thought until he withdrew the blade, tugging on my torn flesh and allowing warm blood to flow freely down my side. The sword struck again and again; once barely missing my spine, another time through my ribcage, and yet another creating a fracture over my skin.
I figured this was a genjutsu but every part of it was incredibly and horrifyingly real. I don't know how much time had passed, it could have been long days or mere hours, when Itachi finally halted his attacks. My heart pounded in my ears as my breathing became harsh. Itachi wiped the gleaming ruby blade off before approaching me, once again pressing the tip of the blade against my throat. Even after this long time of genjutsu and attacking, he appeared to have lost none of his composure or strength yet.
"I…I don't…know!" I screeched, leaning my head against the board behind me. I closed my eyes as I felt the point forced with more pressure against my skin, blood beading up under it.
" Ryouchi Temple. Hotaru School," he placed the words before me, presenting them evenly. The pounding in my head was a hammering between my eyes and a high pitched squeal as the names struck my ears. "Kouden Pass. Danae Valley. The Kenji Massacre."
The demon went ballistic. There was a crack, a rip, a break. It was like my mind was being ripped in half, split into pieces by these simple words.
Now, I screamed.
Screamed bloody murder in agony and pure, unbearable pain. The blade, whether purposefully or not on Itachi's part, pierced my throat as I lurched forward, trying to soothe the agony somehow.
Memories suddenly filled my mind in a massive tidal wave, replaying in front of my eyes. They just kept replaying over and over and over again, stripping away my sanity piece by piece. The physical pain was now forgotten. Tears swelled from my eyes, their salty trails never ceasing. The torture continued for who knows how long, the physical and emotion pain slowly deteriorating my stability of mind until I was numb.
My eyes drifted upward, finally falling on the close pupil's of Itachi. In those eyes, I viewed my own death, agonizing and lethargic. I viewed torture, unending and unbearable. I saw hopelessness.
My heart dropped. I let my muscles fall limp in complete and utter defeat; the deafening pound of being conquered constant in my ears. I just stared blankly into the deep crimson eyes, exhausted beyond any type of exhaustion I had ever felt. My body hurt; I was bleeding still, my voice had disappeared, and every cell of my essence screamed in pain. I was defeated.
Itachi was thinking again; he had taken and given me every bit of memory and information I had stored in my mind but now he was thinking about his family. I didn't know how I knew but all of a sudden I was sent somewhere else, to a home, a home that was filled with death, watching a memory of Itachi's.
I couldn't take it; I wanted death to descend upon me like a dark cloud, comforting me into an eternal peace. My state of mind, body, and soul all felt weak and unstable.
My bindings loosened until they didn't not support my weight at all and gravity dropped my body from its earlier confinement. Expecting to hit the ground and not having the energy to stop the fall, I was surprised when my face was placed against fabric that was covering a shoulder. My head slumped to the side and my whole body was limp in Itachi's hold.
I didn't try to lift my arms to push him away as I wanted to.
Then, the natural color of wildlife returned, their hues exactly the same as they had been before the Tsukuyomi had been activated. But it had felt like days I had been tortured. My body ached and was in agony as the fabric of his cloak touched the real open wounds.
As I stayed exhausted in his grasp, I felt as though I was alertly unconscious. My muscles were all relaxed and few thoughts passed through my head but I was aware of what had happened, what had returned, and what was too soon to come. I could feel Itachi's emotionless gaze fixated on me as my head turned to the side so I wouldn't face him. His arms were loose about my small frame as he held me like a broken doll.
"Why?" was all I could manage to ask.
"Why what?" Itachi's voice was cold but it barely scathed my fractured psyche.
"Why everything." Anger gripped my throat as I spoke, now with a fiery passion that was only slightly dulled by the pieces of my mind, "Why me? Why all of this? Why your past and mine?"
Itachi's only reply was a few weak coughs and my anger quickly died away like a fire put out with ice water. I forced myself to push away from him. His cold Sharingan eyes were like blood stones as I stumbled to my feet, weak and in pain.
For some reason, I was different. Itachi's thoughts continued to echo in my head, loud and reverberating off the walls of my mind and sometimes blending with other voices from memories in my head. I stumbled step after step, holding my head in my hands, trying to get rid of his thoughts.
Itachi just watched me, confused at my behavior. I didn't know how to fix it; everything was flooding my fractured mind at once.
I finally just collapsed on the ground, trying to press the thoughts out of my head. Itachi crouched next to me, observing my movements.
"Look at me," he stated, his voice close. I cracked open my eyes the tiniest bit and my surroundings almost shocked me. The sky was a dark onyx and the moon was covered by clouds. The moment I noticed this, the clouds, billowing like they contained a raging storm, realigned themselves to show the moon. Surprise flitted through Itachi's expression, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.
"I have underestimated your potential. You could be a very useful Akatsuki one day with the power you have yet to obtain," he stated, brushing a piece of bloodied hair from my face. His voice seemed softer, gentler now. Or that could have just been the blood loss.
"Goodbye for now."
And with that, Itachi was gone.