"Follow me..."
Tayuya was walking slowly ahead of Kyuseishu and Katsumi on the short grass that lidded the ground beneath the trees of the forest. She turned her head slightly towards them and looked at Kyuseishu across her shoulder with concern.
"... So you have been declared a Rogue Ninja already? I doubted that one day you'd walk the same path as Orochimaru sama."
Kyuseishu was walking while leaning his head down slightly, staring at the ground as if he was distracted with other thoughts.
"..."
He shrugged his shoulders and glanced towards Katsumi through the corner of his vision. She was walking silently alongside him while gazing forward with slightly perturbed look. The three of them were approaching an ancient rocky stronghold set under a huge tree roots. The front side of the stronghold has two distinctive markings of snakes inscribed vertically above the dark entrance of the Hideout...
Tayuya glanced towards Katsumi reassuringly as she noticed the hesitant look over her face. She kinda started to like her after she figured how much she meant to Kyuseishu even though he didn't show it. Once Tayuya walked over the entrance, she stopped and turned around towards them displaying a serious expression on her pale face.
"Well... There is no need to worry .. Orochimaru sama is no longer vicious. I even can't remember when was the last time I've seen him casting a Ninjutsu."
"So he is here..."
Kyuseishu replied as he eyed the red-haired female closely. He realised that the meeting with Orochimaru was indeed inevitable after all unlike he planned.
"To be honest, he rarely steps out from the hideout lately because he's been ill. Maybe it's just the ordinary health issues of at 70 years old man."
Tayuya added waiting for them to step forth. She hoped that what she said was reassuring enough. Kyuseishu looked back at Katsumi and patted her shoulder politely as he took a step forward.
"I already told you that Orochimaru must be in no condition to represent a threat for us."
He said. Katsumi let a soft sigh slip through her swollen lips and nodded her head slightly as she observed the stronghold with narrowed eyes feeling her heart pound hard inside her chest. Tayuya's reassuring words weren't enough to make her comfortable because Orochimaru was the one who killed her grandfather and she kept memorizing that fact since it got told to her in her early childhood. Thus, she decided to avoid Orochimaru and anything that revolves around him no matter what.
"... Let's just go on in."
She whispered faintly feeling that she can't either afford to put down Kyuseishu. She would throw herself off a cliff if he asked.
...
The trio walked across a dark corridor with Tayuya leading the way. Some candles hung on the ceiling were lighting the place but not enough to suppress all the darkness that engulfed the corners of the narrow hall. Katsumi felt a light shudder of cold on her skin or it could be because of fear and other mixed expectations. She rubbed her bare arm sluggishly and rolled her eyes around observing the place as she walked abreast with Kyuseishu and tried to stay as quiet as possible although she was wondering why he's still calm unlike her. She wasn't even able to see her feet because of darkness or even hear their footsteps echoing which made her think that the floor of the corridor was hollow or something.
Tayuya was walking silently with a regular steps ahead of them without looking behind her which gave Katsumi a nasty feeling that she was probably leading them to hell not towards a room to rest.
After few minutes of marching which Katsumi felt like if they were a long hours, the Red head stopped in front of a certain wooden door in the right wall of the corridor. She turned around towards them and pushed the door open with a swift move of her left hand before offering a fainted cheesy smile as she gazed upon them.
"All I can do now is to offer this modest room... I hope you find it comfortable."
She said as her lower lip twitched minimally. Katsumi looked to the side as she stopped few meters behind Kyuseishu. Now she could finally see her feet but she somehow felt more insecure than the moment they entered.
'Shit... I forgot to memorize the path that we crossed to reach this point. I am sure that the corridor we crossed is curvy and interlocks with many other corridors... I noticed that through the cool breezes of air coming from several directions. Well, if something bad happens, we won't be able to get out from her easily because this hideout is a real maze...'
Katsumi muttered to her inner self before looking back towards Tayuya without paying real attention to what she was saying.
"We are thankful, Tayuya san."
She whispered. Tayuya planted her hands on her hips and nodded slightly displaying the same smile as before but this time looked more friendly.
"I shall get going now, Please relax and call for me if you ever need any service..."
She said and turned slowly to walk off before completely getting swallowed by the darkness. Kyuseishu followed her with his eyes until she disappeared from his eyesight then he looked back at Katsumi and sighed faintly.
"I feel super tired, let's walk in."
Katsumi nodded and stepped slowly towards the opened door with unsure expression was obviously adorning on her face.
"Ummm..."
She hummed and reached her hand backwards pushing the door closed with her palm after both of them got in the room. She then looked downwards towards the floor as she stood facing Kyuseishu.
"I don't feel alright.. I think I am a bit fatigued as well."
A tiny candle was placed upon a small cubic, rocky desk set in the centre of the room and it was lighted the chamber which was large enough to contain two benches inside of it. The ceiling was 4 meters elevated from the floor.
Kyuseishu laid down with his back onto one of the benches and stretched his arms out like a cat trying to relax from the mental and physical stress that he was suffering. He let his both feet droop from the edge of the bench and closed his eyes trying to give his brain some repose but he realised that Katsumi was still standing motionless in one spot. He looked up at her and rose his eyebrows confusedly.
"...Why don't you give if a rest? Don't you feel comfortable or are you worried about something?"
He questioned. Katsumi shook her head and walked over the other bench slowly before sitting down on the edge, joining her knees together.
"Indeed, I am not comfortable."
She whispered as she extended her arms backwards and laid her hands on the white sheets that covered the bench.
"... Just how much can you trust that lady?"
She murmured and darted her eyes that suddenly acquired a tough look towards him.
"You know even if you completely trust her, we shouldn't lay back and relax knowing that someone like Orochimaru might intend to kill us anytime... After all, Tayuya is one of his pawns and she can't disobey him."
She added bluntly and sighed as her middle finger twitched. Kyuseishu looked in her direction with dull expression as he interlocked his fingers behind the back of his neck.
"Tayuya san is not that type of woman to bite her word so if she said we're safe that means we are safe... But... it's ok if you distrust me."
Katsumi's eyes widened a fraction as she kept eying him closely trying to peek into his thoughts but she let him continue.
"It's a sort of a bond between us her and I had developed since the first time we encountered so I have faith on her word."
He said leaving no room for her to complain any further but Katsumi narrowed her eyes and glanced upon him sharply.
"That doesn't necessary make her an ally to us. She's mischievous, can't you see the way she smile? I realised that when my eyes first encountered hers."
Kyuseishu sighed and looked away curving his lips into a minimal pout.
"..."
He rolled his eye balls back to the center of their sockets and stared at her blankly before murmuring with roughly audible voice."Katsumi..."
"Hm?"
"What makes me think of you as my ally at this point?"
Katsumi blinked two times slowly not expecting that kind of reply. Her gaze shifted downwards as she loosened her etched expression a bit.
"Well I am different than her... I just can't completely afford to relax right now..."
She murmured realising that she has no other arguments to use. She stared at her feet for an extended moment before placing her left hand on her bare knee.
"Okay, since you trust her, I'll try to relax a bit..."
She whispered and leaned back her upper half slightly allowing her untamed long hair strands to fall down unto the middle of her back. Kyuseishu nodded as he watched her stretch her arms backwards sluggishly onto the sheets and clutching into them gently with her tiny fingers.
"I hope it won't be a long night as I expected..."
Katsumi uttered with a long exhale exited her lips while staring up at the ceiling of the room but her eyes soon darted towards Kyuseishu noticing that he was staring at her breasts with a colourless eyes like if he had fell in a coma.
"!?"
She blinked and glared at him accusingly. She didn't mind him doing that but she figured out that he was staring intentionally while thinking deeply about something else. He suddenly sat up and crawled with his rear to the edge of his bench as he started to observe the corners of the room suspiciously.
"Why it is so silent... I am starting to feel anxious about something strange..."
Kyuseishu murmured and got up quickly on his feet then turned to look at the door firmly.
"... I always wanted to investigate Orochimaru's secret labs and it looks like my opportunity now to do it..."
He said and Katsumi's eyebrows twitched up slightly. his sudden decision shocked her and made her shiver from head to toe. She Shifted her head up in his direction and glared at him with dumbfounded look.
"Say what!? Are you insane or something? If he captures you, he won't show you any mercy."
She complained but Kyuseishu looked back at her calmly for a while as he stepped slowly towards the door.
"... I'll be right back... I will make sure that nobody notices me so stay here until I return, okay?"
Katsumi sighed and pouted the corner of her lips trying to hide her perturbed expression as she continued to eye him closely. You're really insane, she thought.
"... Just be careful... Don't forget you're playing with fire..."
She whispered with shivering lips and narrowed her eyes watching him leave the room but she couldn't feel comfortable with his decision or just the fact that he left her alone on a dismal place like this. She bounced off the bench and pushed the door close with the heel of her bare foot hysterically as she grunted silently. She hoped that he is not doing that only to test her patience for the sake of his personal purposes.
Once he stepped out from the room into the corridor, Kyuseishu started to observe the place closely despite the darkness that engulfed everything. He stepped forward slowly towards the opposite side wall of the corridor feeling weird chills of enthusiasm and fear rolling within his body... Getting his hand on Orochimaru's secret labs was his true ambition regardless of the fact that he could be risking his life to fulfill it. He shifted his head to the left side as he stood beside the wall and stared calmly at the thick steam of darkness before him.
'It's easy for anyone to lose the sense of directions in a maze like this but this darkness might be helpful for me...'
He whispered to his inner self and leaned with his back against the stony wall behind him as he he moved his head back sluggishly pressing it onto the wall. He simultaneously lifted his both hands up to the level of his torso and placed his both opened palms on the wall sluggishly like if he was searching for a secret door embedded within the wall but the back of his neck, the back of his waist and his both ankles suddenly started to dive into the solid wall like if it was made out of loose mud instead of hard stone, his both arms as well started to dive into the wall slowly before he merged his entire body into it without any sound or vibrations.
'... Even Orochimaru himself...'
He whispered out from the wall like if the wall had finally decided to slip out from it's long silence and utter.
'... Won't be able to find me while I am one with everything...'
A wooden door opened a crack as a bare feminine foot stepped forth on the floor of a faintly lighted room. The female took another step towards a large bed set alongside the side wall where a tall man with straight long hair laid onto it with his back silently. Their face was hidden with their thick hair strands that fell fluently unto their shoulders. They were staring down at their lifted knees and their lower half was covered by a white blanket similar to the colour of their pale skin.
"..."
The person's left leg twitched a bit under the blanket as they realised the presence of the female red head but they continued to stare calmly at their knees before finally uttering with hollow voice.
"... We have guests, eh?"
Tayuya's dark eyelashes twitched slightly but she brought her right hand up and pushed the door close behind her as she walked more steps towards the bed without removing his hues from the person laying upon iy.
"How did you you know? I mean you're still not able to walk because of your legs..."
She whispered lowly as she stood in front of them. She was wearing nothing but her small underwears.
"Heh. Do you still think I am a helpless old senile? Tayuya, you should never forget that physical handicaps don't bother me."
It was a male who whispered without lifting his eyes off his knees. Tayuya couldn't distinguish from his words if he's being sarcastic like usual but a smirk curled up the corner of her pale lips as she murmured submissively.
"It's an old friend... You don't know him. Well, He is not going to settle here for long though..."
She had already untied the laces of her panties so she let them slip down slowly across her legs before falling around her bare feet.
"Please,Forget about them. You have to rest now..."
She threw herself to him. but for some reason she's still finding it difficult to get used to being a sex slave especially for a nasty creature like him. He has been using her just like a tool so she had no choice other than acting like a tool to satisfy his needs until the end of her days...
Kyuseishu's eye balls emerged slightly from a stony wall of a certain room of the hideout. He didn't expect that travelling through walls would be as painful as ripping his skin off his bones. As he began to emerge his head with sluggish motion out from the wall, he found himself inside another room which was floating in thick darkness. The room was relatively smaller than the previous rooms that he had infiltrated.
'This room is also empty...'
He murmured silently to himself as he landed one foot on the floor before emerging the rest parts of his body with a low whimper of pain.
'Is it a trap...?'
He blinked taking a mental note and looked around the room cautiously before starting to walk forward with confident steps, observing the surrounding walls and corners of the room with calm expression.
'Damn it... This room doesn't seem to have any door or I am just being hypnotized...?'
He whispered and squinted his eyebrows. Before he could take any step further, his eyes fell on a medium sized stony pillar in the centre of the room. Some sort of mysterious writings, geometric forms and drawings were engraved on the edges of the pillar but Kyuseishu didn't have the room to be interested on those stuff. He sought for something much more greater than mere carvings.
"..."
He resumed walking with the same slow steps towards the centre of the room while feeling weird chills running down his spine. It wasn't the darkness that prevented him from discovering a doorway out from the room but the feel that he was trapped in a cage like a bird. With his narrowed eyes, he eyed the ceiling closely as he stood by the pillar.
"Shit... I am lost... This room should be a bait for those who have the ability to merge through solid walls like me and I fell for it stupidly... Damn it! I won't be able to find my way out from here without a door even with my ability of walking through walls... In this case I have to watch out for any traps while moving..."
He grumbled nervously as he blinked a couple of times without moving his gaze away from the ceiling. Soon his sharp eyes detected a very thin slit on the ceiling close from the crown of the pillar.
"There!"
He smirked confidently placing his palm on the pillar then he slowly started to dive with his body into it.
"Ahhhhhhh..."
It took him mere seconds to fully merge his body into the stony pillar before he began to travel upwards smoothly within it feeling a strange twitches in his body by approaching the ceiling more and more. After a few minutes, he started to emerge his trembling arm out from the upper floor sluggishly before quickly emerging the rest parts of his body with a fainted whimper slipped out from his dry lips. He felt withered from the extreme effort he put to cast that skill...
He finally found himself inside another dark room but it was larger than the former rooms that he had visited. A malicious grin floated on his lips as he raised his head up and scanned the room corners with his piercing eyevision.
"..."
The room seemed empty to him from the first glance as he stood upright on his feet like a wedge. Bringing his right hand up to the level of his waist, he started to walk forward patiently seeing nothing but darkness engulfing him.
"...!?"
His eyes suddenly went wide a fraction as he stopped walking in front of a large artificial wooden cabinet. He blinked noticing several glassy containers with different sizes arranged inside the cabinet's racks.
"Hmmm... Experimental snakes... I see..."
Kyuseishu felt his arms tingle as he observed the alive snakes inside those bottles but he couldn't find out any other special experiment subjects that he was expecting to find here. Not even a single scientific formula... He sighed faintly and took two steps back but his eyelashes suddenly twitched up as he casually glanced to the right side seeing a low wooden desk set few meters away from the cabinet. Some folded scrolls were placed here and there upon it.
"Heh, finally..."
He whispered and turned to walk towards the desk with cautious steps deciding to continue investigating the cabinet later on. As he approached the desk more, he narrowed his eyes with concern mixed with slight anxiety.
"What in the world is this..!?"
A chopped human forearm was planted in the centre of the desk which stunned Kyuseishu for a while as he stood there blinking constantly while staring with wide eyes at the mysterious arm. He realised that it was probably chopped with a sharp tool or something but he couldn't figure out the essence of leaving a half forearm in a place like this. Maybe it was just a warning for those nosy people who dare to step on this forbidden territory like him. All the fingernails of the hand were painted with dark crimson colour but it was certainly a male arm. The pinkie finger was holding a blue ring with a distinctive Kanji inscribed on it's lobe which Kyuseishu found it impossible to read because of the darkness.
"..."
He continued staring at the hand feeling the mixed enthusiastic chills and expectations returning to him which made horrible thoughts creep into his brain prompting him to visualise brutal killing scenes right in front of him.
"!"
He shuddered from inside out feeling like if his viscera has been yanked out his stomach but he quickly shook his head repeatedly and looked away from the arm to blow off those thoughts that conquered his mind for a while.
'Damn it... The owner of this arm must have witnessed so much brutality... Some of his hidden memories were probably still haunting this arm...'
He whispered to himself tilting his head down as he finally managed to recover his inner calmness but he couldn't stop panting. Something was bugging him to leave the room as quick as possible. He placed a step back to walk away from the desk slowly, planting his left hand on his hip but his body suddenly froze on the same place as his both ears picked up a monstrous hiss coming from behind him which made him tense up as he shockingly widened his eyes.
"Who's there!?"
A sweat drop fell off the side of his head to the floor between his feet as he slowly lifted his chin up and darted his eyes to the side without turning around but he could spot a tall person standing right behind him and eying him with intense glare. Kyuseishu narrowed his eyes anxiously once his glance fell on the mysterious person. He analysed his appearance in an eye blink and instantly realised that he should run. The person which was seemingly a male had black, long hair and he was taller than Kyuseishu with mere inches as he stood three feets behind him. A sarcastic expression was adorning his long, pale face which was covered almost completely with his straight hair strands but that couldn't hide his golden, monstrous eyes which were encircled with thin purple linings intensifying the intimidating look on them. He was wearing an ankle-length white, sleeved robe strapped with thin dark lines on the edges of the both sleeves. He grinned maliciously showing his fang-like teeth as he slowly licked his bottom lip with his slippery tongue.
"Kuku..."
|| To be continued...