Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. This is just fan work for other fans and not for profit in any way.
Chronicle One: Shinobi in the Mist (Version 1.93)
Chapter 8
Being a tree didn't sit well with Kane. The confinement, the lack of movement, it was driving him insane. He struggled against the illusion but to no avail.
Suddenly he felt a surge of chakra as somebody tapped him on the shoulder. He immediately found himself back in his own body and in the training hall. Kane staggered before he steadied himself. As he stood up, he was greeted by a pair of cold grey eyes. Taking a step back, he looked at the other man and returned the stare.
"What took you so long?" he demanded of Worabi. "I had to fight her genjutsu for ages."
"I wanted you to get stuck in her illusion," the other Jounin replied smugly. "Teach you a lesson for picking up random girls."
"Well you were at the bar as well and you couldn't tell who she was either." Kane stopped as his eyes located the girl. She was sprawled on the floor, unmoving. He quickly rushed towards her. "You didn't kill her did you?"
"You've got to be shitting me," Worabi swore. "After what happened, you still think you have a chance with her?"
"Not that you idiot," Kane reached the girl and crouched down. "If I do happen to have forgotten the seal sequence, then she's the only one who knows how to open the scroll."
"You forgot?"
"I said if I had forgotten." The mist ninja stood up and held up the scroll that he had taken from Sakura's back pocket.
"She managed to get the scroll?" Worabi looked at the other man incredulously.
"It doesn't matter now does it? We've got the scroll back and everything's fine," Kane replied. "How did you know that she was here anyway?"
"I found Kiara unconscious in an alleyway. Two pressure points on her neck were hit and her pockets were emptied."
The other man nodded. He glanced towards the entrance of the hall. A number of men had entered carrying stretchers. A few headed off to pick up the injured mist ninja while two of the men approached them.
"Master Worabi, master Kane. Where do you want us to take the prisoner?" one of them asked.
"Her attacks can demolish walls," Worabi informed the stretcher bearers, "I want you to find some place to strap her down securely so that she can't move."
"Yes sir," the two men grabbed the unconscious girl. They placed her on the stretcher and carried her away.
Kane hefted the scroll. "Let's go some place private so we can take a look at the plans."
Worabi nodded in agreement and the two Jounin walked off to find a secure room.
The trees whispered to each other as a cold breeze drifted through the park. Perched on a branch, Lee ignored the chill as he continued to wait. The park was near the outskirts of town and he and Sakura had agreed to rendezvous here. He was worried; his pink haired colleague should have turned up an hour ago. After changing back to his normal outfit, he had come to the park to wait for her but she still hasn't arrived. In addition, he had seen silhouettes, jumping from building to building during the night. The mist ninjas were about, and in numbers too. Something must have gone wrong. Lee knew Sakura was completely capable of taking care of herself yet she was terribly late. This was most unlike her.
A movement caught his eye. Four mist ninja had appeared on top of a building opposite him. Lee watched them closely; they seemed to be searching for someone. The silhouettes then jumped off the building and fanned out into the park. The leaf Jounin held himself closer to the tree, trying to avoid detection. Suddenly, a fifth ninja arrived. The squad of four converged upon the newcomer. Lee swiftly and silently jumped off the branch and crept closer to the mist ninjas. As he snuck behind a tree close by, he managed to hear their voices.
"…still at least one out there so we keep looking."
"Did they get a meeting point from the prisoner?"
"It's not their highest priority right now. So you just follow orders and keep looking, understood?"
"Yes sir," came a chorus of replies.
The fifth ninja then left.
Lee's heart began beating rapidly; Sakura had been caught. She had been taken prisoner. This wasn't good. He needed to do something. The four mist shinobi resumed searching the park, looking for an enemy ninja, looking for him. Lee quickly came to a decision. Taking a deep breath, Lee centred himself and melded back into the shadows.
The young genin muttered under his breath as he searched the park with his squad. For all they knew, the other leaf ninja could be long gone and their search was an exercise in futility. And even if they did find the enemy ninja, what can he alone do against an experienced enemy ninja? He can get himself killed, that's what. A chill suddenly went through the young ninja's body. Maybe he should stick close to the rest of his squad. Think of something else he told himself, think of something else.
Suddenly, an ear splitting scream rang out through the park. There was the sound of a kunai being drawn followed by more screaming. The screams then abruptly stopped.
"Leanne?" their chuunin sensei called out into the darkness. "You two stay here; I'm going to go check on her."
Their sensei drew his throwing knife and disappeared into the darkness. The trees were thick and the silver moonlight revealed very little. A deadly silence began to permeate through the air. Suddenly there was another scream, a man's voice this time. There was the sound of a blow landing and then a loud thud. A sickening crunching noise came from the darkness and one of trees in the park began to creak ominously. Suddenly, the ground quaked as it fell in a crash of twigs and branches.
The petrified genin looked to his last team member but he was already running away, screaming as he went. A dark form shot past him and the young ninja's heart froze in his chest. There was another frantic scream and then silence.
The boy's body shook in fear, causing his teeth to chatter. His rapid breaths misted in front of him in the cold night air. All of a sudden, a presence made itself felt behind him. He tried to utter a scream but a linen wrapped fist grabbed his neck and slammed him into a nearby tree. Thoughts of mummified bodies and the undead flashed through the genin's mind. Through the darkness, he saw a blood stained kunai being waved under his nose. A set of creepy round eyes materialized in front of him. He turned away in horror, his eyes tightly shut.
"Where is your hidden base?" a calm unsettling voice asked.
The petrified genin couldn't make his mouth move to answer. The sharp edge of the throwing knife suddenly made contact with his belly.
"If you don't tell me, this blade will do to you what it did to your teammates."
"DOWNTOWN, DOWNTOWN!" the boy blurted in fear. "THIRTY THREE MARKET STREET, LOWEST DOOR ON THE RIGHT."
There was a slight pause before the voice spoke again. "Is the door locked?" it asked.
"OUR SENSEI HAD A KEY."
"If you have lied to me…" the steady voice threatened.
"I SWEAR I'M TELLING THE TRUTH." The young genin was in hysterics. "PLEASE I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
"We shall see," and then a fist hit him in the stomach and all went black.
Sakura was awoken by the touch of someone's hand on her leg. She groggily opened her eyes a fraction. She found herself shackled tightly to a rack except for her right foot. Someone was holding her leg and undoing her boot. After the heeled boot was taken off, it was handed to someone else. The person's hands then slowly ran up her legs towards her thighs. Instinctively she lashed out and was rewarded with the sound of her foot connecting with someone's head. Looking down, she saw a mist ninja collapse against a wall. The kunoichi who was holding her boot dropped it and tried to grab her leg but had to step back as a second kick nearly floored her as well. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a door slamming open just before someone's hand landed on her chest. There was a build up of chakra in the hand and then electricity coursed through her body. Sakura screamed as her already exhausted muscles convulsed in pain. Her body arched as far as it could in the tight restraints. It felt like her chest was being jabbed with a thousand needles while her skin was being burnt in liquid fire.
The electricity stopped as abruptly as it had started. Sakura's body remained arched for a brief second before collapsing limply onto the table. Through the lingering haze of agony, the leaf Jounin felt someone grabbing her ankle. She made no move to resist as her stocking was removed and her leg was reshackled. Her entire body ached and parts of her were still racked by painful jolts.
"Have you searched her completely?" asked a voice she recognized as Kane's.
"Yes sir," someone replied. "We found these pieces of paper in her left boot."
"Take your friend to the infirmary and leave us," another voice commanded
"Yes master Worabi."
Recovering slightly, Sakura blinked her eyes clear before taking a weary look at her surroundings. She was in a small room with cement walls and a single steel door. There was an open cabinet with an assortment of torture instruments arrayed upon it. She herself was stretched tightly to a rack in the centre of the room.
The door creaked to a close as the kunoichi from before dragged her companion out of the room. There was a rustle of sheets as Kane looked through the papers found in her boot. The man turned to his companion.
"These are just the stuff that she took from Kiara."
Suddenly, a fist grabbed her hair and pulled her face up. Sakura winced from the pain. The eyes of the cold eyed mist Jounin stared maliciously at her.
"Where's the seal sequence that you stole?" Worabi asked menacingly.
Her eyes glanced to Kane who was standing at the back of the room. Suddenly, the situation became apparent to her and a cold laugh ensued from Sakura's lips. "He actually forgot the sequence?"
"I didn't forget," Kane replied. "The sequence they gave me must've been wrong."
"Then why are you asking me for it?" the captured girl asked. "After all, I stole it from you."
"Kane might think it's wrong but I'm more willing to suspect that he lost the information when you gave him that blow to the head." Worabi looked at her with a sadistic grin, "you're going to tell us what we want to know or else we'll be forced to cause you a whole world of pain."
Sakura returned his stare. Drawing back a bit, she let loose and spat at him. Worabi recoiled as her spittle hit him below his eye. He released her hair and backhanded her across the face. The mist ninja stepped back and began performing hand seals. A large blast of ice cold water suddenly hit Sakura. She tried to resist the chill as the cold water soaked her clean through. The deluge continued, splashing water everywhere. Sakura managed to take quick short breaths through her nose without inhaling any water. Just as her chest began to get numb from the cold, the water stopped. Shivering, she heard the sounds of another ninjutsu being performed.
The slight crackle of static was her only warning before a surge of electricity slammed into her body. Aided by the conduction of the water, the current blasted into her every nerve. Sakura's water soaked body convulsed in pain, her mouth open in a silent scream.
Worabi maintained the technique, seemingly drawing sadistic pleasure from her pain. The girl struggled desperately against her restraints, her lithe body pulling against the shackles that held her. However, she was stretched too tight and all she could do was writhe under the torture.
After what seemed an eternity, the electricity finally stopped. The ninja girl collapsed, utterly spent.
"Tell us where you hid that piece of paper."
Sakura began to laugh hysterically. "I destroyed it," she told the mist ninja.
"Then what was the sequence of hand seals that was written on it?!" he shouted at her.
She continued to laugh, trying valiantly to show that she was unaffected by her ordeal. "I never looked inside. I guess now, you'll never open that scroll." Sakura's laugh became an agonized scream as Worabi blasted her again with electricity. Her cries of pain echoed within the room as the mist ninja continued to torture the girl.