When Mina woke up, she found her hands bound behind her back. She could feel her chakra siphoning off into a seal on her upper back, it was so weak she could barely feel it at all. Rolling onto her knees, she looked around at the small wooden room. It smelled of sweat and kunai polish. There was soft chatter just beyond the curtain that cordoned off the space. A weapons closet lay open on the opposite side, beckoning to her. Heavy footsteps creaked along the hardwood floor.
"Well, well. The traitor has awoken," a man said. His ceramic mask gave a mocking impression of an owl. He hoisted her up by the front of her shirt until her feet lifted off the floor. "Uchiha-taichou was far too gentle when he left you in our care. Personally, if I was TI I would expect you to look more…used."
He threw her against the wall, her vision blurred at the impact. Plaster rained from the ceiling. He picked her up by her throat and she kicked out at his solar plexus. Locking onto his arm with her thighs, she twisted. She kicked again, putting all of her weight into smashing the ceramic mask on his face. More Konoha ANBU rushed into the room. Rough hands pushed her into the floor. Their heavy feet pinned her legs leaving deep bruises against the backs of her knees. One of them kicked hard into her abdomen, winding her.
"Fucking nuke-nin scum," the man said, wiping his mouth and pulling shards of ceramic out of his lip. "My brother died in that war and you ran off with the enemy."
"Hold her still," he ordered, as blood ran down his chin. Someone yanked her hair at the roots, forcing her head back to face him.
Mina spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor. "That looks like it hurts," she goaded. "Too bad the only medic in the room is tied up at the moment."
"Bitch," he yelled before pulling his fist back and bringing it down onto her cheek. More fists rained down on her before she lost consciousness once more.
Cold metal, disinfectant, floor wax, faint traces of blood, fear. The scent of fear was thickest in the air as Mina came to. There was no sense in keeping her eyes closed and feigning sleep. They already knew she was conscious. Bright lights assaulted her when she dared open her eyes. Her feet were soaking in a bucket of ice water.
A groan escaped her lips before she could stop it. Her hands were tightly bound on the arms of an aluminum chair with copper cuffs. Seals crossed over the bonds, preventing her from reaching her chakra while steadily draining it. Metal scraped across the floor, its screech ringing in her ears. A man sat down, his menacing aura made her shrink in on herself. He positively reeked of blood and fear. Not his own fear—he smelled almost pleased that she was across from him.
"Mina of Kumogakure. Shinobi Registration CL5599," she whispered without prompting. Her slate eyes finally adjusted to the light.
The man raised an eyebrow and nodded. His trench coat collar dipped as he tilted his head towards an assistant behind him.
"My jounin says you are our missing-nin," he said, his deep voice breaking through the screeching of metal just outside. "A Kaminari Hatake of Konohagakure no Sato."
"Mina of Kumogakure. Shinobi Registration CL5599," she repeated dully, staring at him with a blank face.
He sighed, waving a finger toward the door. A cart was rolled in, its wheels squeaking noisily. The left-back wheel was out of place, rolling wildly underneath with no sense of purpose. There was a large object on top covered in black cloth. Her heart raced as they took the cover off and she fought to maintain her aloof face.
"Kumo-nin are always so good with physics. I'm sure you understand what happens when I plug this in. Even with your lightning chakra, there will be nothing you can do to stop the current. And with copper restraints, well, you know more about electrical conductivity than I do, I'm sure."
Stiffening when he walked closer, putting the battery on the table, he plugged in the negative and positive charge to each of the restraints on her wrist.
"Mina of Kumogakure. Shinobi Registration CL5599," she repeated with an unimpressed glare.
Inside, she was terrified. The moment that they turned the battery on, the electricity would pulse through her body from the copper cuffs. The circuit would complete itself in the basin of ice water, returning the unused electrical energy coursing back through her body a second time. This would all happen in a matter of nanoseconds. Her chakra pathways bred for and accustomed to the voltage would accept it as her own. In turn, the artificial electricity would fry her chakra pathways, rendering them unusable.
"All you need to do is tell me who you really are and why you tried to seduce my shinobi."
"Mina of Kumogakure. Shinobi Registration CL5599."
"Have it your way. Ten watts," he commanded to the man next to the battery. The head interrogator sat back coolly in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest.
Mina screamed in pain as the voltage went through her body, amplified by the water at her feet, and sent back through her chakra pathways.
He nodded to the man behind her, and the electricity was turned off. Her entire body shook with spasms. Burn marks appeared on her wrists and feet where the electrocution had been worse.
"Let's try an easier one. Who was your partner?"
"Mina of Kumogakure. Shinobi Registration CL5599."
Another nod, another volt, another shock of pain as her spine went rigid against the seat. A tear rolled from her eye when the spasms stopped.
Kakashi threw his mission pack in the closet before collapsing face down on his bed. It had been a long week. His young genin team had failed the small test he set for them. That meant more training time spent in the field and off it. He seriously wondered about the competence of the academy teachers. How could three supposedly 'cream of the crop' genin not realize that two foreign shinobi had stolen one of the scrolls they were supposed to protect?
Not only that, the kunoichi had thoroughly hosed the two boys. At times like these, he was grateful he had no interest in women. Kakashi had watched from a nearby park bench with his book in hand while the pair of shinobi talked to his team. He almost laughed at the memory.
The kunoichi was average height, maybe four inches shorter than himself with curly brunette hair and bright blue eyes. Her henge suggested a woman in her thirties with more than ample cleavage. The shinobi was tall, with carefully concealed muscles underneath a baggy shirt. The padded shirt and slouched posture gave him the appearance of a pot belly. He had tawny skin and jet-black hair that hung limply on his head.
"Oh darling, look at them, they're so adorable," the kunoichi cooed.
"Sweetling, they're working," the shinobi replied.
"Yeah, we're working!" Naruto said to the couple. "We're escorting that trunk to the capital!"
"Are you really? My, that does sound like quite the adventure," the kunoichi said.
"Shut up, dobe!" Sasuke said, hitting Naruto on the back of the head.
"Oh dear, you don't really want to hit your friend do you?" she simpered. "I can see how serious you are about this job. It's so nice to see how industrious young people are today."
"Indeed," the man replied. "You are doing a fine job. I'm curious, can you tell us what's in the trunk?"
"Just some antique scrolls," Sakura said while Naruto hit Sasuke back.
"I would be very interested in seeing them," the kunoichi said. "I'm sure they're absolutely intriguing! I love reading."
Kakashi covered his face with his palm when Sakura, of all his students, opened the trunk for the two strangers. He waited carefully to see if Sakura would realize that anything had changed. Even without seeing the shinobi take the scroll, he knew what had happened.
"Thank you so much, dear. That was very fascinating and quite educational." The kunoichi patted Sakura on the head. She hugged each of the boys, leaving two blushing messes behind her before walking off.
It was then Kakashi told his team to count the scrolls. While they counted, he sent Pakkun to the nearest ANBU outpost with a request for reconnaissance on the foreigners. The scrolls weren't truly valuable; not to him. The lesson Team Seven learned in missing their mission pay, however, was a valuable lesson learned.
Luckily, Itachi and Shisui were passing through the outpost and intercepted the message. Shisui owed him a favor for covering a mishap he had with the Daimyo's niece a few months ago, anyway. (The mishap of his cock finding its way into her bed.) Checking out what two foreign jounin were doing was a small way to return it.
There was a loud knock at Kakashi's door and he groaned. Whoever was on the other side had the worst timing. He pulled it open, blinking against the bright sunlight.
"Shisui?" he asked, moving aside to let him in.
Shisui stumbled over his words as he rushed to get them all out. "Kakashi, Mina is alive. Mina is alive and I found her on that mission. I had to report her. Itachi made me report. Oh gods. Oh, I fucked up. I really fucked up," He scrubbed his hands over his face before continuing. "Itachi signed her over to the ANBU. Then that weasel knocked me out so I couldn't track them. Fuck. I need help."
Kakashi blinked, his hand still on the door before he closed it with a quiet click.
"Kakashi! Did you hear me? Kaminari is alive!"
Kakashi was still and silent. Shisui put his hands on Kakashi's shoulders and shook him.
"You have a sick sense of humor sometimes, kouhai," Kakashi finally said.
"She's in TI right now. Look, I knew you wouldn't believe me, here's a copy of the mission report. Itachi corroborated it. The ANBU captain on duty signed for custody of Mina."
Kakashi read Shisui's official mission report with shaky hands.
"Mina?" he whispered before pocketing the paperwork and disappearing.
"Why did you abandon Konoha for Kumo, Mina?" Ibiki asked, softly this time, with gentle eyes. She thought it may have been three hours since he started this interrogation. Her skin had burst open on her wrists, she could no longer feel her feet.
Mina panted in pain. "Mina of Kumogakure. Shinobi Registration CL5599," she bit out, unable to hold her head up. Silver curls formed a protective curtain, blocking her face from their view.
Her muscles tensed in anticipation. She could feel the chakra network in her body fry under the electrical current. There was a knock on the window, and the interrogator nodded to an assistant.
Another man walked in, tall, lanky with the jounin uniform that Konoha was so proud of. He blurred, his coloring swimming in the haze of the interrogation room.
"Kami," he whispered shakily under his breath. Ozone and dog fur surrounded him like the fog from a distant dream.
Her fists clenched underneath the restraints and she pulled back experimentally, testing its strength. The assistant held a kunai against her throat, the sharp blade cutting a thin scratch into her skin.
'If I'm going to die here, it best be on my own terms,' Mina thought before reeling her head back suddenly and slamming it back down where the kunai had been. To her dismay, the newcomer had knocked it out of the assistant's hand with a kunai of his own. It spun against the wall, neatly caught by the eye of the handle.
"Pull her out," he commanded with so much authority she thought he had to rank higher than the interrogator.
"No," the interrogator refused, sitting back down on the metal chair. She winced as it scraped loudly across the floor.
The newcomer snarled, pushing her chair back himself. The bucket tipped. He dropped to his knees in front of her, not caring about the puddle on the floor. It was an odd sensation to be sure, to see her hair color match his as he moved the tangled ringlets from her face. She pulled back away from his gloved hands when he touched her broken cheekbone.
Sorrow and grief flit through the single grey eye that was visible. The Konoha hitai-ate on his forehead mocked her as his face softened in genuine concern. A black mask covered half his face, and she wondered briefly what defect he was hiding underneath it. She felt as though she almost recognized him. A flee on sight order, do not approach? A memory pulled at the back of her mind.
He grabbed her hands in his and she flinched, trying to pull away from his touch. "Kaminari?" He pointed to himself, "It's nii-san. Kakashi."
"Mina of Kumogakure. Shinobi Registration CL5599," she spat as venomously as she could muster.
Kicking out with her now free leg, she gasped when he caught her raw ankle in his hand. He gently put it back down on the floor before taking her hand again. A tear fell from his own eye as he rubbed small circles against her skin, carefully tracing the calluses and scars she had earned from a lifetime of training.
"Do you want to know why your name is Mina?" he asked gently, continuing to rub soothing circles. She stiffened when he rubbed the fresh electrical burn on her wrist, gasping out in pain. Anger briefly passed through his gaze before it was concealed again.
"Kaminari, goddess of thunder. When you were born, maybe a few hours old, you electrocuted tou-san. It happens with Hatake clan children, occasionally."
"You and your interrogator can take your cheap emotional tricks and shove it up your ass. The only thing you will get from me is this: Mina of Kumogakure. Shinobi Registration CL5599."
The pressure on her hands increased. "I'm sorry, Mina. I really am. I'm sorry that I wasn't a better brother."
Mina stayed silent, gingerly reaching for her vanishing chakra. She finally let loose a scream of pain when a fresh wave of electricity ran through her.
"Ibiki. If you touch her one more time, I will kill you." Kakashi turned a dark gaze to the man in the chair.
"She's a nuke-nin. What do you expect me to do? Let her go?"
Kakashi scrubbed a hand over his face and closed his eye.
"I need five minutes," he said, releasing her hand and walking out of the room.
A black tunnel appeared in her periphery, and spots danced in front of her eyes as she fought to remain conscious. Pain blossomed along her arms and legs, and she was sure her chakra pathways were fried. The open wounds from the electrical burns had only multiplied in the last hours, running up her arms. Blood dripped from her nose onto her pants.
'Pants? When did I put these on?' she vaguely thought before closing her eyes. 'I'm sorry, Darui. You probably feel like this is your fault too. It's not. Please forgive me. I'm the one who is sorry this time.'
There was a loud bang on the metal table. Her head shot up, she looked blearily over to the one they called Ibiki. A small smirk appeared on his face underneath the scars.
"Run in with Kiri?" she asked sarcastically, continuing to fight for breath. "They were always better at torture than you ever were. No wonder they put you behind a desk. You're not man enough for active duty anymore."
If there was a reaction from him, she didn't see it. The cell door was opened. Kakashi walked in and placed a photo album on the table in front of her. She turned her face toward the wall, refusing to look as he opened the book. The door opened again, and the jounin she failed to seduce leaned against the wall, angrily running a hand through his short curls.
"You really were a terrible lay," she lied, glaring at him.
Kakashi stiffened, slowly turning around. Shisui held his hands up, keeping his back to the wall.
"You knew the details of how she got here. I didn't lie to you," Shisui appeased, keeping careful eye contact with Kakashi. "You read my mission report."
A growl ripped through Kakashi's throat before he quelled his growing anger.
She opened her mouth to speak again but was stopped by Ibiki.
"She's manipulating you, Hatake. Look at her. She's a Kumo jounin, a nuke-nin. That is not your little sister anymore."
Kakashi slammed his fist on the table, silencing the other two men in the room. The black tunnel appeared in her vision again, and she shook her head, feeling strangely dizzy as she did so, only lightly tethered to consciousness. He pulled a picture from the photo album. There were three children with hitai-ate, two boys on either side of a young girl. The taller boy had violet eyes, brown hair, and a mischievous look. The other was surely the one they called Shisui, with short curly brown hair, and sparkling eyes. The girl could have been herself, but she wasn't sure. They looked similar, but it could have been anyone. It could have been doctored.
"This one is your genin team. You were a prodigy and graduated when you were seven—"
"Six," Shisui interrupted. "We were six."
"Fine. Six."
Mina fixed them with a careful blank stare. The Konoha shinobi were so pathetic that they couldn't even keep their own story straight. He flipped to the next page where three photographs were placed into plastic protectors.
"Photography is kind of a hobby of mine," Kakashi said, shrugging. He pointed to the picture at the top of the page. The young girl with silver hair, this time held completely up with static, was grinning while a small cube of lightning was in front of her.
Mina shook her head. That was her jutsu. Her own invention—lightning prison. Pain cascaded through her brain. Her eyes clenched shut. She could taste the blood in her mouth from biting her lip.
To her chagrin, he continued to speak. His thumb rubbed soothing circles on hers. Dog fur and ozone surrounded her like a heavy blanket. Cloying, weighing on her skin and mind, ready to pull her into the depths.
"This one is tou-san and kaa-san," he said, his voice softer this time. She shook her head, refusing to look at the photo. The unfortunate thing about an eidetic memory, however, is that she was already able to see it. She could see the brunette woman with curly hair and soft green eyes smiling happily in the arms of a shinobi with long silver hair. The toddler in the third picture with cake smeared on her face was stuck in her mind forever.
A gasp of pain escaped her lips as she felt her mind begin to fragment. She could hear him turn the page. Daring to peek, she saw the girl, roughly seven years old in the midst of spinning a kunai in her hand. Mina shook her head frantically, recognizing the pattern of kunai embedded in the tree in her kanji.
"What is this?" she cried out, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "What did you do to me? What the hell kind of torture is this?"
She kicked out frantically. A desperate attempt at escape or suicide, she wasn't sure. Either way, she wouldn't be able to withstand one more of his pictures. They were seals, some sort of special jutsu to melt her mind. Another crack, this time resounding throughout her entire mindscape.