Haku hadn't expected much of anything after being sealed away, and it was nearly all that she'd expected. There was black... black... and for a little splash of difference, black. But there was no pain, no hunger, no pleasure, in fact no movement at all. She was bound against any action she could take, in an almost smothering syrupy blackness.
She couldn't feel them, but she could hear and smell the binds. The sounds of the creaking leather, squeaking vinyl, clinking chains, and the whisper quiet squeaks of latex all told her that she was bound in layers upon layers gear, and a spider web of chains suspending her. She could even smell the treated leather, the teasing scent of vinyl, and the cool metallic scent of the chains and clamps.
If she had to pick something that annoyed her the most, it was the removal of her sense of touch. She knew what she should be feeling, could almost feel the echoes of the sensory input she should be feeling. But it was denied to her.
That self-same lack of feelings made her wonder what had happened. Waiting in that web of leather, chains, and various other materials, she felt no changes, no sensation of moving scrolls, no sudden increase in feelings... Nothing... just... nothing...
She'd been in here for several days, hadn't she? That was more than long enough for the Judgenatrix to arrive and take her in for the charges levied against her. So why hadn't she moved scrolls yet?
Instead of focusing on the lack of feelings and the worrisome lack of transfer, she focused on the last time she failed. It had been one week before she was supposed to have graduated with honors from the Justicar program back home. She had fought free of the initial sweeps of the enforcers to the Grand Master's new law banning Mistresses. Her self-appointed mission was to find the resistance and turn her services over to them.
She'd even escaped two attempts to ensnare her by false representatives, but the third one had been the charm it seemed. The Master had been a skilled actor, even had slaves acting as mistresses over other slaves, both male and female to ensure her capture.
One minute she was going to meet up with the Head of the Mistress's resistance, the next she was on her stomach with Master Curry smirking right into her face. "Foolish girl, did you really think anyone would want someone as weak and gullible as you?"
The next couple days were a blend of shame and horror as she was stripped, whipped, beaten, physically degraded and violated in every way save the one that would lower her selling price in front of eager crowds, that just cheered on her captors. By the end of the few days she was held, she doubted anyone would ever see anything of worth in her. And that's when she had first met the man that found something redeeming in her. He talked to her as an equal, restored her since of worth to her, and gave her hope. One day, he came, killed the guards and many of the clients, and unchained her and the rest of the slaves, even providing them access to the room that housed simple clothing.
On that day she had been dressed up as a Pony girl, feeling painfully full as with the tail plug in her ass, being bid upon by three cruel masters in particular. One had already collected five others similarly dressed slaves, looking to finish up a carriage team. The rumors about him were bad, and the crying slaves behind him showed Haku that she wasn't the only one that knew it.
Another one had been a horse rancher, and was looking for a girl to aide in the collection of viable seminal fluids for him to sell. She knew that if she'd gone to him, she would have been broken in under a week, and still used until she died. She might last a month with him...
But that was still better than the third and final man, he was a vile pig of a man, that had been sanctioned against by the guild for many years for his use of girls as... meat. The two plumper girls behind him, she knew would end up in ovens by the end of the day, but he proclaimed he still needed a girl for the spit.
It was during the bidding on her that Master Zabuza showed up, decapitating the three men that had been holding a bidding war over her. And then the bloodbath started. Not even five minutes after it started, it was over, and all the slave girls were freed. He turned on the fire sprinklers to hose them off, and slashed open the door barring them access to clothes. Everyone but Haku surged in to grab anything they could, before disappearing towards the Hi no Kuni borders.
Haku hadn't been forced to go with the others as Master Zabuza provided her with an outfit chosen specifically for her. The instant she saw the latex and leather belts, she knew what it was. He was giving her a chance at being a Justicar, and she more than gladly took up her mask in his service.
But she'd failed again, and here she was... floating in an endless sea of blackness, unable to move, unable to feel... only able to think.
Naruto woke about as suddenly as he'd fallen asleep, still laid out in the middle of the clearing where he'd won his first Master's Duel. A look at the sun alerted to the fact that he'd passed out for about two hours, and the flipping of a page told him EXACTLY what Kakashi'd been doing. "Maa... sleep well?"
"Yeah... wonderful... had a dream about a Judgenatrix saying she was impressed by my fight with a real Justicar that slipped in while I was training..." Naruto stated calmly while debating force feeding Kakashi that book up his backside. "But other than that, it was good... and how's your novel?"
"A bit dry, but it's getting to a good part..." Kakashi stated while marking his place in the book. "I believe that a debriefing is in order... Especially about the unexpected real duel..."
Naruto sighed heavily as he realized just how completely nuts this was going to sound. Swallowing the pride he had in the public opinion of his sanity, Naruto began to give as complete of a tale of his actions as he could. Throughout it all, Kakashi only watched him with a bored look. At the end, Kakashi sighed heavily as the blond finished and held up the scroll holding his capture. "Well that... is pretty much insane... but I believe you."
"Really? Cause I fought it, and I'm kinda doubting my sanity on it..." Naruto answered while trying to figure out everything that happened in the fight. He was pretty sure that some supernatural force had to be playing with luck to keep it in his favor, or something.
"Let's just go back to the house, you talk to Haku, and get my summoned Justicar back..." Kakashi stated while dusting himself off. As Naruto joined him in walking back to the house, he chuckled and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Remind me to tell you sometime about a few of my duels, yours is actually fairly mild. I must commend you on your use of the whip... so I think you should keep it for now..."
"For now? But it's a Justicar's whip..." Naruto asked while looking at the red leather whip in his hands.
"From what you've told me... you'll have the rare honor of presenting it to a Justicar herself soon enough..." Kakashi replied with a soft chuckle to his voice. "But for now, just keep it in good condition, and if the situation comes for you to use it, go for it. Remember, a Master's tools are what he can use. These are more than a fight for your freedom, and now that of your little slave, Zabuza doesn't duel to capture his opponent."
"Yeah... just so long as that Judgenatrix doesn't take it out on me for using it..." Naruto grumbled hotly while looking around nervously. "Seriously though... what's with a Judgenatrix getting here that fast? It took us two days to get to those Masters in the forest... and another two or three to get here..."
"They have special routes to use in case of emergency, I've only seen them once... and they make The Stone Monolith look like a child's tea house. If you ever see the inside of there, I will pray for your soul..." Kakashi stated calmly while they walked, and Naruto had to wonder just how scary the insides of the Judgenatrix's domain could be... and what Kakashi had done to wind up inside there.
"I... I see... so... I get your training Justicar back, she goes to that training school... does she need her mask back?" Naruto asked, changing the subject quickly, not wanting to see where his mind might lead to if given enough free reign.
"Well... yeah, I think that'd be the right thing to do... If she doesn't have her mask on, don't look at her face, okay? There's some law that says that if anyone sees their face, there's grave penalties or something... I'd have to look it up..." Kakashi stated after they arrived at the backdoor to the house. "Zabuza will likely be down for a bit longer without his companion to aide his healing, but I think I want you to focus on your chains a bit more... try out some new things. I'll keep tabs on you, but I think you will learn best if I give you free reign..."
"Yes sir," Naruto answered, holding the door for the higher ranked Master. Once inside he went up to the bedroom they'd been given and locked the door and windows, leaving one unlocked on an idea he had. Clearing a small spot in the middle of the room, he unfurled the scroll, and let Haku tumble out. "Welcome back to the waking world, did you enjoy your stay at casa de la scroll?"
Haku glared at the man that had trapped her. She'd just lost everything she'd ever prided herself on, and here he was making jokes! But she was weaponless, and most likely would be defeated by him if she fought him while enraged. Sighing, she decided to counter his humor with her own. "Yes I did thank you... though you must get a new pool boy..."
To her surprise he just chuckled and shook his head. "You're different than I was expecting... A fake justicar, due to one man's illegal ruling, forced to live on the run with a man that couldn't truly appreciate your beauty, skills, and grace. I dare say when I get back to Konoha, I'll have to beat the Justicar corps off with a stick to keep you as my slave..."
Haku had a steady blush burning on her cheeks, up until he mentioned that last word. "S...Slave? I... I'm a... a..."
"A slave... that's right. You challenged me in an officially sanctioned Master's Duel, and since no wager was placed... the Judgenatrix decided to let me keep you, as your case is under review," Naruto stated calmly while he knelt next to the shell-shocked brunette. "Look, I know you don't want to betray Zabuza, but he and Gato are both going to have to pay... If... if you stay with me I can protect you as best I can..."
"W...why would you do that for me?"
"I read your file... it wasn't right what happened, and I think you got a raw deal there... but I'll leave the choice to you..." Naruto answered while setting a collar at her knees, turning so his emblem is pointed towards her. "I have to take Kakashi back his Justicar, if you'd give her back... and her mask..."
Haku produced the two things, holding them out on the flats of her palms, hiding the fact that she was looking down at the collar with wide, terrified eyes. Scooping them up, Naruto turned to leave. At the door, he turned his head back slightly to talk to Haku. "If it gets too stuffy in here, go ahead and open that window over there. The tree blocks most of the sun, but there should be a nice breeze... they should trim back the branches though, they almost touch the window..."
And with that, he was out of the room, leaving Haku with two clear, if unspoken choices. Become Naruto's slave, and be protected... maybe even become a full fledged Justicar herself. Or... or go back to Zabuza and keep playing pretend?
But Zabuza loved her, had saved her from the slave lines, and couldn't just abandon him like that. Could she? Was Naruto just lying to get her to leave him, and would then leave her trapped in a scroll for the rest of her life?