Arc One, Chapter 6: Mindshattering
The blonde watched the crouching ninjas for a moment, as if they were a new species of some sort. She wiped her tears off of her face.
"Another one. Typical." She said bitterly, balling her fist up on the dress.
The three stared speechless. This was definitely not expected.
"Who are you?" Aoi was the bravest of them all, speaking first.
The girl snapped her head towards them. She leaped out of the chair, standing upright.
The ninja backed up a little. The girl was older than them, but not old enough to be considered past teenage years. She looked at them with an odd mix of horror and confusion. She suddenly grabbed the top of the chair, and slung the furniture at them. Kaito and Aoi rolled to the sides of the room while Hayato backed out of the chair's way.
Shocked, she quickly backed into the window. Tears came again, running down her face. She gasped, covering her mouth with her shaking hand.
"Real people," her voice was barely above a whisper. She silently slid to her knees, her hands covering her face. The girl quietly bawled into her palms; the sound of her rushed sniffles made Kaito feel a pang of sympathy for the stranger. Hayato had finally come back in, cautiously of course, and the two boys regrouped near Aoi.
"What's happening?" Kaito asked his teammates as quietly as he could.
"My guess is as good as yours." Aoi replied.
The person got up, once again wiping her tears.
"Who are you?" Aoi repeated, standing straight. The others, following her lead, did the same.
"It's been so long since someone has asked that of me." she sniffed, shaking her head. She was still wiping her eyes when she muttered something.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."
"My name is Mariko." She said a little louder.
"I'm Aoi. These are my friends Kaito and Hayato. Do you mind telling us why you are here? Or how you got here?" She said it calmly, as if not to scare her.
"Well, that one I can surely remember," she looked up and Kaito's eyes widened; something about her was familiar. The thing was just screaming at him to notice it, but he couldn't seem to put it together. "I am here because I am cursed."
Aoi looked at her confusedly, so Kaito continued the interrogation.
"What do you mean by 'cursed'?"
"That is a good question. I myself do not know how I got cursed, or to how extreme the extent it is. All I know is that I cause misfortune to all who surround me."
"That can't possibly be-"
"It is." She tried to keep her composure as she said it, but Kaito saw her mouth thin as she said the words. "I see things—things that I didn't know at first were the future." No longer were her hands held together in front of her; they were balled up into fists at her sides now.
"No one can see the future." Aoi corrected.
"I beg to differ. I would foresee bad things happening one day, and they would happen next week. When I tried warning the villagers, they thought it was some joke. I wouldn't blame them, either. A girl starting to say she could see the future? It sounds like something a fool would do for attention." She started pacing the room back and forth, her voice remaining calm with a hint of sadness, though it was obvious she were stressed. "Then when things I predicted started coming true, they started to fear me. Again, I can't blame them. I myself would probably do the same if it were any of them. The people I would once call my friends began talking behind my back.
"Soon my family were the only ones I could trust. Even then, I couldn't escape, for they would treat my family badly. So when I heard that they were going to start a riot, I decided to go away. I locked myself in an abandoned house, leaving my family a note. It was only when I ran out of food that I noticed I couldn't find the staircase anymore. Nor could anyone hear me when I screamed for help. At first I thought they simply ignored me, but I soon realized the couldn't even hear me, nor could they see me. The visions only got worse, here. They were so real that even when I were awake they would occur, scaring me out of my right mind when it first happened. I couldn't even escape them in my sleep. There were some peaceful days, where I awaited yet another vision. I don't know what kept me sane, for all this time," she admitted, "It might very well be those simple days." She sighed and stared out the window.
"Of late," she continued, "I had given up all hope, until kids started coming around, trying to get in the house. I would sing, hoping one of the kids would hear my tune and alert their parents for help. None did, apparently. Until you three ninja came." She turned.
The three were left speechless.
"How did you survive? No food, no water?"
"In fact, whenever I got hungry, food would be on the table out there. I assumed it was part of my curse, never being able to die. I sometimes got so hungry that the food's tempt would be too much. Now I realize that someone must have been able to come in. I just thought of that person of a guardian angel of sorts. I guess you really don't tend to think about where it's from when you're starving. Just glad that it's there."
"If they could come in, why didn't they wake you up? Or let you free? No, I don't think someone could come in. I think someone is already in. And they're just living with you. It would make sense, seeing as there was a genjutsu trap set upon the place. Unless you're lying," Aoi added, eyeing her suspiciously, "You could just be a great actress and fooled us all, waiting for a ninja, or ninjas, to come. But why would you do that?"
"I'm not lying. Please, you have to believe me." She began pleading suddenly, her eyes wide and begging.
Aoi stared at her for a moment. She then shook her head, "I can't—"
"Well I can," Kaito interrupted, already knowing what she was about to say.
"What?" Aoi was shocked, "What reason do we possibly have to believe her? She attacked us when we first got in here, remember?"
The blonde flinched and looked down at that.
"Yeah, well..."
"Don't even bother. We're leaving. If she really wants to get out of here, she'll find a way. Either you stop faking all of this, or you find that guy. Regardless, we can't help you. I'm sorry." With that, Aoi dragged Kaito and Hayato out of the house, closing the door after her. They spoke when they snuck back in the house; it had taken them quite longer than they had expected, so now it was the middle of the night. Luckily Kaito had left his window unlocked, though Aoi still scolded him about it.
"That was completely reckless!" She whispered/screamed.
"Which one? Trusting the innocent girl or leaving a window unlocked?" He matched her whispered voice.
"Both!"
"Is everything I do wrong then, Ms. Perfect? Is trusting people wrong?"
"She was lying! She gave us no proof whatsoever! And what if the bandits came while these guys were sleeping? They would've robbed them blind, or worse!"
"How do you know she was lying? Do you have any proof?"
"No, but—"
"That's all I needed to hear. Goodnight Ms. Know-it-all!" He snapped, ending the conversation and storming into his room.
"Ugh, Kaito. You can be so.. UGH!" She slammed her door and buried her face into the pillows.
"Where were you three last night?" Sora asked at breakfast.
"Kaito forgot something, so we had to go back." Aoi shot a look at the snow-haired Shinobi.
"Yeah, well Aoi thought she knew everything, so we got lost on the way there and back. Blame her for us not finding out where to go."
"We, again, had no directions, thus I couldn't very well lead us to the path a stranger told us."
"If we had trusted the stranger," Kaito's voice rose, "We could've easily had found out the the suggested path was reliable."
"Oh, well sor-ry that I use reason for my decisions, unlike someone apparently! I'm done with my breakfast." She stood up abruptly and went up the stairs.
Kaito mumbled little impolite things to himself.
Sora turned to Hayato.
"All this over directions?" He asked incredulously.
Hayato shrugged and continued eating.
. . .
"Sora, I'm going out for some fresh air." Kaito had said, and left to go back to the building. He probably knew sooner or later his team would follow, but at the moment he didn't care; he was frustrated at Aoi for being so heartless, and wanted to prove her wrong.
It had been his second day visiting Mariko alone. The house was pretty empty, other than small things like toothpaste and a toothbrush in the bathroom, a polished wooden round table in the kitchen with a golden chandelier over it. In fact, the only thing in Mariko's room was a bed, a window, and a closet. Everything else in the room was bare.
"Mariko?" Kaito crept into the room.
The girl turned and beamed brightly.
"Hello! Are your friends here?" She sat up on her bed, smiling a bright grin. She wore a red shirt with streaks of yellow and a matching skirt. She was barefoot, Kaito noticed oddly, and didn't hesitate to touch the cold floor.
"Nope. Only me."
"Oh, well that's okay. How's your day been?"
"Bad." Kaito looked down.
"Because you got into that fight with your girlfriend because of me?"
Kaito blinked.
"Girlfriend? Who?"
"That girl who introduced you and your friend. Aoi was her name?"
"Wh-what? Gross! Not her. Anyone but her!"
"I'm sorry," she chuckled, "You two just seemed like one. It was just an assumption."
"Yeah, wanna know what my sensei said about most 'assumptions'? They make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'."
"Isn't that when you 'assume'?"
"Ah...Uh...Whatever!"
Mariko smiled and started laughing.
"It's been a while since I've laughed like this." She wiped tears from her eyes.
"It must not take a lot."
"I guess not," she admitted, "But I'm just honestly glad to have a nice chat. What brings you and your friends to this village?"
"Well, you know," Kaito began flexing, "Just doing my ninja thing, saving the world from catastrophes and all that."
Mariko covered her mouth to contain her stifled laugher.
"Oh really?" She smiled at him.
"Yup," he made another flexing pose. The poor ninja didn't know he had nothing to show off. "In fact, when they asked the Hokage himself for the best ninja they had, he instantly thought of me. He was just forced to put me in a group with them. I'm the real star of the show." he grinned.
"Oh, I believe it." she sighed. She then looked over at the window. "You know I'm stuck on this floor, right? Even if I wanted to look for the person, I can't. But that's okay now; I finally have company," she turned back at Kaito with a sincere smile, "Even if he's the top, scariest ninja."
"Yup!" He stuck a thumb out, "With me here, all evil-doers will scream like a little girl and pee their pants, because I am Kaito, the best ninja of man!'
She stared at him for a moment.
"Did you make that up on the spot?" She asked curiously.
"What? No applause?"
She laughed and began clapping. "Bravo, then, bravo!"
Then and there, Kaito promised he'd visit her every day until they had to leave. And even sooner would he find the person responsible for keeping her in here.
. . .
"Where's Kaito?" Aoi looked around. Sora and Hayato were yet again playing Shogi in the jounin's room.
"Ah, looks like Lockful Beauty has finally come out of her castle. Tell me, did the sunlight burn, or scorch you when you come out?"
"Shut up!" She threw her pillow at him.
He let the fabric hit his face and shook it off.
"If you must know, he said that-"
"Back!" Kaito came upstairs.
"-he'd be back soon." Sora finished, shaking his head. "Can a man finish a sentence around here?"
"Kaito," Aoi said, ignoring Sora, "I'm sorry that I didn't follow those... Directions. It's just that I couldn't trust a stranger whom we've never met before."
"You can cut the act," Sora cut in, lying down near the board, "Hayato already told me where you were last night. I'm very disappointed in you all."
Kaito and Aoi glared at their teammate.
"Oh, don't blame him. I beat it out of him. In Shogi. In fact, this game was meant for me to keep it to myself if he won. But guess who didn't?" He pointed at Hayato.
"Ugh. Well, we're busted," Kaito came clean reluctantly, "So what now?"
"Nothing. I understand that you three agreed not to go there anymore, so I don't have anything to say. Except that you're not getting any reward when this mission is done."
"What!?" Aoi screamed. Kaito nearly fainted.
"But we earned this–"
"Shoulda thought of that before you went somewhere you shouldn't have been. As soon as you realized there was a genjutsu on the place, you should've came to me. That's that, and don't try to fight it." He finalized.
"And that's what happened." Kaito had told Mariko everything. He had brought her a new chair to sit in, along with a rocking chair for him. They both could fit in the closet, so when Kaito was gone, she would just put it away.
"Oh dear. Is it all because of me?"
"No, no. It's our fault." He assured her. Sora had a good point, Kaito admitted; they could've encountered a horde of bandits in the house. No way could they have escaped that. "We should've just told Sora about it in the first place. Well, really Aoi should have, but we're not pointing fingers."
"Either way, I'm sorry I'm bringing trouble to your group. What made you believe me, anyway?" She suddenly asked. She said it care-freely, but Kaito saw in her eyes that she wanted an honest answer.
"Well," he scratched the back of his head, "I just, could tell, ya know? 'No one could have faked that', I thought. Doesn't it make sense?" He looked at her.
She considered this.
"I don't know. If it makes sense to you, then I guess it makes sense to me. I'll believe you, just like you believed me." She nodded.
He nodded back, smiling to himself. "Thanks Mariko-chan."
She stared at the window. "No problem, Kaito-san."
. . .
Kaito had decided to sneak back in the place at night, while everyone was asleep, just to check on his friend. He snuck up the stairs ever so quietly, the urge to scare Mariko taking control over him.
Little did Kaito know, that he would be in for a fright that night.
He tiptoed up the stairs and could already hear the creaking of a rocking chair. How dare she use his chair! He was thinking of using it to scare her, so now he would have to improvise.
Over the past three-to-four days, they had grown somewhat close. She taught him how to play cards, and in return Kaito got her favorite desert: Chocolate. They laughed and joked together, and Kaito almost let out a snicker as he remembered one of their jokes. He finally reached her room. As quietly as he could, he turned his head to peek a look inside her room—and froze. She rocked in her chair, wearing a blue sundress that matched her eyes; except they were closed, and it looked like she were asleep. But it was in the window that made Kaito look in horror.
For there was a man in a purple mask that resembled that of a leaf burning. He had a black robe with a hood over his head. He had his hands hovering around the side of her head, transmitting some purple energy inside of it. Behind the masked man was a copy of him, making a hand seal and what looked to be transmitting chakra to the other man.
Kaito's body moved on his own; suddenly his lungs burned and the villain looked up in shock. Three shuriken sailed towards him, all three embedding themselves into his clone's mask. He cursed, and stopped the technique, bringing out a sharp knife that gleamed in the moonlight. The man used the tips of his toes to push himself off the ground, charging at amazing speeds towards Kaito. Before he could strike, two figures were in front of Kaito. One figure was in mid-flip motion, grabbing both of his hands. The other figure threw a hard punch in the stranger's stomach, causing a muffled gasp of shock and pain. He sailed back and Aoi and Hayato landed a foot in front of Kaito.
"You okay?" Aoi, along with Hayato, was in a defensive stance.
"Yeah," Kaito quickly recovered, looping his fingers through three more shuriken. In a swift motion he pulled them out, glaring at their enemy in fury. Kaito and Hayato broke into a dash at the man, while Aoi stayed back. Kaito made three consecutive hand seals. "Water Style," Hayato jumped in front of Kaito, and turned mid-air, adjusting himself as Kaito yelled, "Wild Water Waves!" Water shot out of his mouth and propelled Hayato forward. He gladly let the water push him, landing a solid kick into the man's rib cage. With a satisfying crack, he flew through the window, the shattering glass still not waking up Mariko. As he sailed in the air, he became a puffy white cloud.
"A clone!" Aoi yelled. And if Aoi was right—that meant Hayato was standing right next to the real one. The masked man reached for Hayato's face, but suddenly he wretched his hand away, a kunai sticking through his palm. He backed into the windowsill, giving a quick glance to Aoi, who had thrown the kunai with marksman accuracy.
Hayato jumped back to where Kaito was standing, carrying a limp Mariko in his arms.
"Tch." The man said, before jumping out the window, free-falling backwards.
Kaito ran after him.
"Hayato, stay with her. I'm going with Kaito."
He nodded and put her on the bed as Aoi and Kaito jumped out of the window.
. . .
They were pursuing the masked man, who had suddenly gotten on the roof. He jumped from roof to roof, and where he went, the two genin followed.
"Kaito," Aoi yelled over the rushing wind, "Get Sora! Just get Sora! I'll get him!"
"No way!" He yelled back, "I'm not letting him escape!"
"That won't be necessary." They heard Sora's voice somewhere in front of them. The man jumped from another roof, but never made it to the other one. Suddenly a bright glint shone in the night sky, and he was yanked to the side and sent flying. Kaito and Aoi turned and followed where he had landed.
What they didn't expect, however, was to find a crater.
A huge crater sat near the gates of the village. At the bottom was a lump of wood, a coin buried deep in the middle of it, sending steam flowing in the air. Sora had appeared next to them.
"Wh-what did you do?" Kaito was awestricken for a moment.
"A sensei's got his secrets." Sora smiled. He quickly became serious.
"The guy used substitution. He probably got away."
"Sensei, we can still go after him, right?"
"No, we should go back to that girl. This mystery girl might have some answers."
. . .
"What happened?" She looked around crazily.
"Mariko, is it?" Sora began, "I think we've just about solved your case. There was a man who was, we assume, using genjutsu on you at night. That's why you could swear you were going crazy."
"But when they happened—"
"He probably just made them happen so it would make you think you could see the future."
"It also explains the food and the clothes. He'd put you to sleep, and you'd wake up with food on the kitchen table." Aoi agreed.
"How long have these illusions been occurring? Since you were a kid? When you became a teenager?"
"W-wait, wait—"
"Answer me." Sora said sternly. This was a side of their sensei they had never seen. Sora had looked at the kids' expressions and blinked. He rubbed his forehead impatiently.
"Can you three please get out? This needs to be private." He asked kindly, but there was something in his voice that said that this wasn't up for discussion. "Just go back home and go to sleep. It'll all be settled by tomorrow morning." He sighed, and when they were out, slammed the door shut.
The three stayed there as the investigation went on, Aoi and Hayato leaving soon.
"B-but why? Why would he do this to me?" Kaito could hear her voice crack.
"I don't know. You might have to stay here until this all settles. I'm not sure what would happen if you were to go out—"
"No!" Kaito burst in the door. Sora glared at the genin, but he didn't back down.
"She can stay with us!" he defended, "I'm sure Rika and Mamoru wouldn't mind!"
"...How do you know them?" Mariko suddenly asked. Finally, Kaito saw what was painfully familiar about her. He saw what he should've seen the moment he stepped into the room and saw her crying her heart out: Her eyes.
They were the same eyes as Mamoru's.
AN: And that's a rap! We haven't heard all from Kaito and his pals yet. I guess no one could guess. Even after I said blonde hair? Meh. I probably purposefully gave you a bad hint, secretly because I didn't want you guys to get it right. Hehehe... Sorry :3
Any idea on who it is now? R&R!