"That went a little different than I had expected" Captain Kiku barked as he rested his feet upon a chair. "So, what are our losses?"
"Ryuu is dead and Inari is MIA, presumed dead" Katsuo replied back to his superior. "Bahh, she deserved what she got, that damn bitch." Kiku drunkenly replied "She ran away and got what a coward deserves, death. What are our spoils from that raid?" "Several hundred gold coins, couple rolls of silk cloth and numerous other little trinkets like jewelry etc. etc."
"Sounds worth it to me. Hey servant! More sake!" Kiku yelled at one of his many servants and slaves. He was the son of a very wealthy man in this town and commanded a lot of power. His family ruled the town they lived in permitting only what they agreed with. Nothing happened here without their approval. Kiku and his squad divvied up their loot and prepared for a nice night out on the town. It was then that the door to their lounge was slid open and a strange man with a girl in his arms walked on in.
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The walk had only taken about 2 hours but when you're carrying a girl for that whole time, it gets to you. He was just glad to know that this whole thing would be over and he wouldn't have to carry this girl anymore. As he strolled into town he noticed that a lot of people seemed moving around, talking to each other.
"Did you hear?" "Yeah, Kiku came back with a whole chest of treasure" "Not that they need anymore" "Bet he's just going to waste it away" "That's a surprise"
He decided that this Kiku fellow was the one who stole all of the merchant stuff and would be the most likely one to know who this girl is. As he approached one of the gossiping citizens, they shut up immediately as soon as they noticed him. They stared at himall the way until he asked them "Where can I find Kiku?"
The two citizens looked at each other in disbelief for a second then answered "What, you're kidding right?" The stranger just shook his head. "Man, where are you from. Kiku lives in the middle of town in the huge ass mansion, you can't miss it."
The stranger thanked the two and left them to their gossip. He followed what he figured to be the main road into the heart of town. It seemed that gossip traveled faster than he did. It seemed that the more he walked, the more people just stood outside of their homes and stores just to stare and him and whisper to each other. He reached the center of town and looked around. Store, store, fountain, store, mansion, store……Jackpot! The most lavish entrance he had every seen was right off to his left. He could see above the lavish walls was a mansion four stories tall. After making sure that there was no other huge ass mansion around him, he headed toward the gates. Not wanting to bring up any alarms, the strange man decided to just bypass the whole thing and jump the wall directly into a 2nd story window. Now all he had to do was find where this "Kiku" fellow was at. So he picked a hallway and a direction and started to search room by room.
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The first thing that Inari was aware of was the warmth and the comfort she was in. The rhythmic bobbing and warmth of the blanket wrapped around her had a very sedative effect on her. She barely even realized that she was being carried by someone. All that she cared about was staying this comfy forever so she snuggled in closer. She fell asleep for who knows how long but that brief moment of heaven would end soon. The bobbling stopped and then there was a very brief period of silence. She immediately came to her senses as she heard a familiar voice yelling "Who the fuck are you!'
Inari snapped her eyes open only to see the black clothing of the man carrying her. She looked up and stiffened as she saw it was those same dead eyes that she saw before she passed out. Then everything came back to her. The attack, the pain, the fear, and then…………the eyes. Inari's fear came back and she started wiggling to get free. Her captor noticed this and set her upright upon her feet. Inari unwrapped herself from the blanket and dashed into the farthest corner only then turning around to look. He was tall, maybe six foot, with messy brown hair. From what she could tell, he was a quite handsome man maybe a year older than her. The only thing that disturbed her was his eyes.
His eyes were white with a scar running diagonally through the left one. They had no feeling to them, just a dead stare that never seemed to lose its intensity. Inari then took the time to focus on the other features of his face. He didn't just have one scar on his face but many. What the hell happened to this guy? Inari wondered but was cut off by the inquiry of her captain.
"I said, who, the fuck, are YOU!" Kiku demanded as he stood up from his resting place and reached for a kunai. The stranger looked around for a moment with a slight look of confusion finally replying "She's yours, right? Thought you might want her back" "Maybe, but you didn't answer my fucking question, asshole! Who are you?!" Kiku was getting frustrated and impatient. People were known to disappear when Kiku got this way.
The man with dead eyes just looked at Kiku with a blank stare and answered, "No one. Goodbye." and turned around to exit. At this point Kiku lost it and gave a small signal and 6 kunai lodged themselves into the strangers back. He coughed up some blood as he turned around slowly. Inari watched in silent horror as her savior's eyes glazed over and went out of focus. He fell forward and never moved as a pool of blood formed around him.
'Dispose of the body Katsuo. I don't care how just as long as I never see him again." Kiku told one of his cronies as he walked toward Inari. "So bitch, finally decided to show your face here again?" Inari tried to reply but all she got was silence and a sharp pain in her throat. "I asked you a question whore! Answer me!" Kiku said as he approached her getting angrier by the second. Inari tried to plead with him, trying to tell him that she couldn't speak but that was the last chance she got. Kiku was tired of waiting and had decided her fate. He slapped her hard across the face as he told her "You're the lowest piece of scum I know. Not only do you desert us but you even refuse to answer my questions!"
Tears were forming in Inari's eyes as her rank was stripped away from her. "Take her to the servants quarters and teach her everything she's going to have to know" Kiku told one of his servants. As Inari was being escorted away, all of her ninja gear was removed. By now, Inari was in shock as she was led away by the servants looking at her former squad mates with pleas in her eyes. They all just ignored her as the door was shut behind her and was led toward her new duties as a servant.