Peering Into The Water

(Naruto Fanfic)

Pairing: OC x ?

p - r - i - s - o - n

A servant who was tasked to stay within the princess' room found herself dumbfounded upon the sudden arrival of the princess herself. There was a large puff of smoke and then she was there. It was something that her mind couldn't comprehend so the only thing she could do was call for the head servant instead. There was a short commotion but it was diffused once the village head appeared.

His name was Sakakibara Toyoshige.

Toyoshige was considered a kind and understanding leader. However, underneath his façade, he was actually a cold and cruel man. Indeed, he treated his villagers and his village councilmen equally but that was not the case for the poor Houzuki princess. He believed that her sole purpose in this world was simply to be a decorative object for the village so that his fellow villagers were united with him and not against him.

He knew his councilmen agreed with this fact so they treated her as such.

They provided her a home, enough amount of food for each day, plenty of clothes, some education, and more than enough servants that could last her a lifetime. However, he knew that if she was raised as a spoiled brat, their plan of keeping her mostly isolated from the rest of the outside world would become futile. So, they decided to give her the bare minimum.

A home, but she was restricted to only her quarters; enough food, but only to keep her healthy appearance intact; plenty of clothes, however, only to be used when necessary; and plenty of servants who would do their job but would not indulge her with anything she wanted. There was also the fact of her education but Toyoshige decided that it was better for her to be able to at least know how to read and write and also act appropriately at times lest the villagers would think of their precious ohime-sama to be a dumb fool.

Her all-seeing powers was also another matter. It would be a dumb choice to give her a method of learning more about the outside world and therefore try to escape with what she would learn. So she was given only enough water to sustain her.

Although there was a time when she was five that she was punished severely for breaking a rule.

This time she had broken another one. He huffed in anger as he thought how he would punish her for breaking another rule.

Ah yes, there was that one.

ooo

Yuuko woke up feeling strained. Her arms were being held up by something cool but restraining. Her eyes opened and she had to blink for a bit until her eyes got used to the darkness. She tried to move but failed miserably, it was then that she realized that there were metal shackles around her wrists and legs. Her face suddenly paled considerably.

Oh no.

Her fear was not unprecedented. It had only been once but the fear struck true through both her mind and her heart. Her eyes began to tear up as she thought of what she would have to go through again. Regret and fear circled deep around her mind as she waited for him to show up.

S-She shouldn't have done it at all!

I don't want to go through that again!

Clack Clack

He was already here! She tried to curl up in order to make her form look smaller but her ankles were tied down as well. It was a useless move.

Clack Clack Clack

The sound of his geta coming closer made her heart start pumping very fast. She began to sweat and felt an overwhelming terror slowly engulf her.

"Yuuko." He purred in delight.

Her breath hitched once she heard his voice. His tone made her reel in disgust but it was all too late. Her eyes noticed an all-too familiar shape of a whip in his hand. His sharp golden eyes glowed in the dark.

"Oh, Yuuko. You have been a very bad little princess. Hasn't your first punishment taught you anything at all?" He asked.

She remained silent.

That's all it took for him to pull out the whip and hit her with it, creating a large gash on her back.

"Answer me, object!" He nearly-roared in anger.

"I-I'm sorry!" She answered immediately.

"Don't say it that way!" He snarled as he whipped her again. "Apologize in a way befitting of your status as a princess!"

"I-I apologize, Sakakibara-sama!"

"Tch. Don't say my name like that, you trash." He whipped her again just for the fun of it.

As he fingered the length of the whip, he spoke up in annoyed tone. "You little bitch, do you know how much of a ruckus you caused just because of your sudden disappearance?" He paused, waiting for an answer.

"N-No, I do not." It was a miracle she wasn't full-out stuttering due to her new wounds.

"It was a good thing that we managed to keep the news of your disappearance from reaching outside the shrine. Otherwise, mass panic would ensue, the villagers would grow wild with worry if they knew we had lost you."

His eyes glinted in the dark as he stared at her hand. "You used your ability, didn't you? That's why you disappeared...you used a technique to escape!" He grinned, coming up with a nearly correct conclusion. Only thing that was wrong with his conclusion was that she did not mean to disappear, at all.

"Ha!" He laughed as he mocked her. "But you failed miserably!" He raised the whip. "Now pay for the consequences!"

He whipped her for nearly more than an hour. Her wounds were very severe. Her breathing was ragged as she tried to catch her breath. He stopped as he looked at her body. Her clothing was already torn to shreds, fresh whipping wounds littered across her whole body with exception to her arms and her legs. He sneered as he saw her.

"You should be grateful with your life, peasant. Not many people are as fortunate as you."

It's a lie. You still treat me poorly.

"The only thing you're good at is acting as an important piece of decoration for the village. Your powers of clairvoyance are no longer needed yet the village still needs you because of a long-standing tradition. Tradition! Bah!" He removed the chains surrounding her wrists. She fell down to the ground, close to losing consciousness.

The last words she heard from him were:

"I'll get someone to heal you but for the rest of the month, you will be held in this cave. Within this very darkness you so fear. Sweet dreams, Yuuko."