The Sound Village's headquarters were calm and tranquil. The difference in activity between this Village and the Sand showed the confidence and ability to accomplish their goals.
Outside of the hideout there was nothing more than trees for miles around. The inside of the building was completely different. Even though some rooms were empty there were tens of rooms filled with past ninja, orphans, criminals and animals. People of all kinds. They were staying of their own volition though. They were being tortured in the worst ways possible.
Men stripped naked, hung and beaten by someone. Women, chained to walls, scarred beyond repair. Labs filled with test equipment and tables, bloodied from the many test subjects that had come in and out of this place over the years. Experiments over the years that could be called nothing but disgusting. The howls had calmed for the time being. No torturing or experiments were being conducted today.
The science experiments carried out by a number of people had calmed for the past few days. When times like this had come, when the cages had quieted, meant that an influx in test subjects was coming. This was nothing but the calm before the storm. Hope was given up by every chained and beaten.
One occupant of these rooms was a small girl. Her pale, crusted skin had completely dried up. Her skin had crinkled into sand paper, easy to cut. Her hands were hung with shackles above her head only high enough on the wall to have her arms stretched completely while she was sitting on the floor. Her long, white hair had been dirtied with blood and dirt from banging her head on the wall, making the beautiful white into a darker red and brown. It fell all the way down her back, barely down to the ground.
Her eyes were closed and head fallen due to the blood loss and exhaustion. Her clothes had been confiscated and she had been left with nothing but white ninja tape wrapped around her chest and legs. Her finger and toes had been pulled out, her legs and arms cut and slashed, and patches of her body burned in specific points to cause pain but not disturb any of her movements.
The silence of the hall had been broken by the sound of footsteps. Footsteps so light it could have only been from a ninja. The footsteps drew closer and closer to the girl's door. The sound of a key turning opened the door made the girl raise her head and clench her first.
The owner of the footsteps walked past the door and continued to walk to the middle of the room, turning their head to look down at the girl. She had started to pull on the chains, making them clink and clank, the noise filling the empty room and halls.
"After 10 days of consistent torturing you still have energy to fight." The voice being that of a man, "I would expect nothing else from a child of the Hidden Cloud Village. Do you agree… Harume?!" His voice had gone from calm to loud and booming. The chains continued to move around.
The girl named Harume kept her eyes closed, pushing against the chains ignoring anything that the man had to say. The man continued to look down on her, his face turned into a monstrous smile.
"Stop squirming. No matter what you do you're not breaking the chains. One of the Sound Four has been so gracious to bind their chakra to them. Not even the strongest of shinobi would be able to break free. Especially in the condition that you're in." He said calmly before kneeling down in front of the girl. He reached out to grab her face but before he could reach it she opened her mouth and bit her hand, biting through the skin and forcing blood out of his hand. The man pulled his hand back quickly, irritation basically radiating off of his face.
"YOU STUPID BITCH!"The man screeched as he raised his uninjured hand and slapped the girl. The woman's mouth was slit with the hit, making blood splatter onto the wall. Her mouth didn't make a sound and her eyes were still sealed shut.
The man grumbled harshly, teeth showing as he watched the girl. She stopped rattling the chains but was now just sitting silently.
"I hate kids. I should kill you for that." Reaching into his ninja pouch, a metal clanking sound rattling out of the bag, and a kunai showing itself when he pulled his hand out. He raised it in the air and quickly started his slicing motion. He was going directly in the throat. A swift and painful kill, not deep enough for instant death but enough to slit her throat, death by choking on your own blood.
Before the motion was completed a hand from behind the attacker stopped him by grabbing his wrist. The man's hand was not only stopped but his wrist was now shaking, it was being crushed by the gripping force of the man standing over him.
"Randai. Just what do you think you're doing?" The man asked. Randai's hand's tension eased as he turned only his head to look up at the man.
"Kusai… if you don't want to die you will get your hands off of me right now…" Randai said strongly. The frustration and anger could be heard solely from his voice. His face showed every motion between frustration and hatred.
Kusai's hand's grip tightened. Kusai's face was calm and cold. He watched down at the aggressor, his eyes showing guaranteed death if Randai moved.
"Are you planning to disobey and undermine Lord Orochimaru?" Kusai asked. Randai looked up at him with a look of pure hatred.
"And if I am?"
"Then I will have no choice but to kill you right now and report you afterwards." Kusai retorted. Randai stood up, looked back down at Harume, who's eyes closed and lip bleeding onto her chest bandages, and turned his gaze back to Kusai.
Randai snatched his hand away from Kusai and used to grip his bleeding hand's wrist. He scoffed and began to walk out of the door. He stopped a step before the door, not turning but having one more thing to say before he exited.
"You are a joke. I may not kill the girl but I swear… one day I will kill you and Orochimaru." Randai finished before he walked out of the room.
Kusai sighed at the events that had transpired before walking up to the girl. He kneeled down to her. His face was still as cool as ever, but the look of certain death had disappeared. He had turned back into a normal human.
"Harume… you have been chosen by our Lord to complete a task." Kusai told the girl. The girl finally opened her eyes. Hatred burned from the big light blue eyes. The look of life had disappeared only to leave defiance and deep rooted loathing for everything.
Harume looked up at him as he was kneeling so close and spit in his face. Kusai didn't move a muscle, didn't show any sign of anger or frustration. He simply sighed and reached into his pocket and pulled out a key and dangled them in front of her face.
"These are the keys for your chains. They're the only things that can be used to unshackle you from your binds. Would you like to be released?" Kusai asked as he wiped the spit from his face. Harume's eyes stayed glued to his face. Kusai simply stood up and began fondling with the handcuffs.
"You have been given one task. You are to infiltrate the Hidden Sand Village and kidnap three children." Kusai said as the cuffs unlocked. Immediately Harume jumped to her hands and spun her body counter clockwise into a kick aimed for Kusai's middle chest.
Right before contact Kusai grabbed her foot and held not only her foot but her entire body in the same position. Harume winced as his grip strengthened around her ankle. His grip was strong enough to cut off the circulation to her feet. He didn't counter attack, just held her there and watched as she squirmed in pain. The first sound from her mouth came out in the form of a gasp. Kusai watched before letting go of her foot. Harume jumped backwards with her back landing parallel with the wall. Kusai looked at her before sighing and dropping the key to the ground and raising both of his hands into the air, showing submission to her.
"In your condition you're in no shape to fight. You've been beaten and battered for months. There's no way you could defeat me right now. You're weak, I can feel your bones just by grabbing your legs. Come with me." He said pleasantly as he watched the girl. Her body language alone showed no signs of fear. Harume's eyes scattered back and forth in the room, looking for a way to escape the room. Kusai noticed this and chimed in before any movement could be made.
"There is nothing you can do right now. If you persist then I will have no choice but to subdue you, put your chains back on, and then subject you back to torture once again." Kusai said. The look in Harume's eyes broke, even only for a moment. She showed an ever short second of wavering and Kusai caught on to this.
"You haven't eaten anything in a week. If you come obediently then I can have you fed, healed, and cleaned very soon. If you can complete your mission successfully you may even be given a position in Lord Orochimaru's ever growing army." Kusai spoke. Harume's aggression lowered slightly. With this Kusai took this moment to lower his hands and show that he was not a threat. He attempted to take a step forward but this made Harume nearly cawl up the wall. Noticing this he quickly retracted his step. He sighed and closed his eyes, thinking of a way to calm her before turning his back.
"If you are willing to accept the terms then follow me." He said as he started taking steps forward, " But, if you wish to stay, rebel, and attempt to find a way out of here you will not get far. The hallways are equipped with genjutsu you aren't capable of breaking free of. You will run until you tire and then will restrain you once again. You decide."
With that Kusai stepped out of the room.
Harume watched this and thought for seconds as she listened to the steps walking farther and farther away from the room. She continued to think over the proposal before walking out of the room to see that Kusai had only walked a few steps away. She attempted to talk but her voice was raspy and weak after doing nothing but screaming for days.
"If-... if I co-... come with you… will you promise… the children's… safety…" she managed. Harume's breath went in and out, trying to catch breath only from talking. Kusai looked at her and nodded.
"Fine." Harume said, waiting to be led to be habilitated. Kusai said nothing more and began walking toward the end of the hallway, letting the girl walk behind him, showing her his faith in her.
'Before this mission is finished I will kill him, Randai and anyone else to regain my freedom.' Harume thought to herself as she followed him through the corridor.
Hidden Sand
The sun was beaming today as it always did. The thing that was different than other days however was the bustling village. It was usually something reminiscent of a fun loving village void of all conflict. The change had stemmed from the news of the upcoming battle. The word of the upcoming battle had made its way to the townspeople. The fear of what could happen to them had strengthened as the days passed. Ninja and family alike were preparing for the upcoming events.
The only place in the village that was still acting as usual was the Hokage's building. There were ninja and elders running around, trying to prepare for the events that were about to unfold. Coming was something unexpected to anyone. In the counsel war counsel room the influential men had convened once more.
The screaming from before seemed like a thing of the past. Only one man spoke at a time, showing the respect and urgency for decisions at this time. The ninja had the more prominent speaking roles and power in this situation. The men who had been fighting for their clan's fame before knew this wasn't the time for arguing about something as petty as that.
"This is not something that should be taken as a threat as highly as we are taking it now." Spoke a ninja. This speaker was a woman. She was a brown skinned woman with long blonde hair. She was outfitted in black ninja sandals and black stockings that reached inches above her knees. She wore black spandex shorts, leaving only about 2 inches of leg skin to be shown. Her torso was covered in a loose gray long sleeved top that was cut at the shoulders, only hanging together with thin straps of fabric connecting the arms and the torso. This gray shirt was covered with a white garment that was thicker than a normal shirt but thinner than armor. The top left portion of the garment was cut to show off her shoulder and had a strap on the left side, going across her chest and reaching around the back to connect to itself. Around her neck was her village headband. Her beautiful face was complimented with hanafuda earrings that were colored red and white.
"This is a Hidden Village we've never heard of before. I have been keeping eyes on all villages that are able to feasibly pose a threat to us. The Village Hidden in the Sound has never even been mentioned before." She stated boldly while bowing her head to her Kage. The next ninja to speak was another ninja who hadn't come into play in the last meeting.
"This village… The Village Hidden in the Sound has been enrolled into the Chunin Exams. Their ninja must be formidable if they are strong enough to be included in Konoha's exams. Besides that fact, the chances of their ability isn't the issue. The true problem is the danger they pose to the citizens of the village. If we were to wait for them to come to us then there would be collateral damage to the villagers. This is something that we cannot spare time or caution on. Koemi I believe you should be experienced enough to understand this fact." The man said. He was an older, retired, ninja. He was short and loud. His face was covered in wrinkles and scars from long ago. The most prominent was a huge, deep scar that went over his eye. He was in the robes of a regular wealthy man but his appearance and presence were nothing less than a show of what he could accomplish.
The woman's face showed a sign of irritation but also understanding. There was no room for argument. There had to be action taken, regardless of who or what would arrive.
"Enma is correct. Even though the viability of the threat is questionable, the presence of a looming danger to our villagers isn't. We need to take action." Anari stated as he looked at the Kazekage.
"What should we do, my Lord?" He asked the Kazekage humbly. There was a silence in the room as the Kage had his eyes closed, presumably thinking of a solution to the crisis.
"I think that we should be prepared for the worst possible situation. The Village Hidden in the Sand could be arriving any minute. I think action needs to be taken now." Rasa said calmly. The entire crisis in unison nodded their heads as they listened carefully to what the Kage had to say.
"The question of how viable the information that we've received is can be questioned later but for now the path I advise we take is one of reconnaissance with the added ability of attack if needed. A small and strong group that can gather information on our enemy while also being able to send communication of any issues as soon as possible." Anari spoke swiftly. The group split their views between the Kazekage and Anari. He held his vision on the Kazekage waiting for a response. The leader spared no time to answer.
"I concur. Should we go all out on this Village it would only cause distrust with the Sound Village and thus Konoha as well, who has acknowledged their strength." The Kazekage spoke. The group once again nodded. The plan had been decided. Now the details were to be discussed next.
"Koemi, I want to hear your opinion of the situation. You are the leading expert on this type of mission." Anari stated. Koemi nodded and thought for a few seconds before speaking.
"The group should be no larger than 6 people, 2 Chunin, 3 Jonin and one Anbu. Thaye Anbu will be the expert in information gathering with the two chunin being specialists who are under direct leadership of the Anbu. The Jonin will be split into two and one. There should be two jonin who are specialists in relaying information efficiently while the other being a battle specialist. The two communicators are for redundancy and the fighting specialist will escort the second intel shinobi in case of attack or their discovery." Koemi finished. Anari nodded and thought for a second before speaking his mind once again.
"I think this is a very viable plan. My only question is why not two escorting Jonin instead of one. Wouldn't the prospect of having both be guarded make the most sense?" He questioned. Anari looked at the men around the room as he asked. He could already presume the reason but the real reason he asked the question was to probe the elders and wealthy men.
'Who will be the first to speak? Who will fall for the bait?' Anari questioned in his head, waiting for the answers to come to him.
"The first reason is that I believe that the Jonin will be capable of reaching back to the village swiftly but also because the mission permits that only 6 people be used. Any more than this and a village with their battle preparations already complete will sniff out any more ninja than this. Using another ninja for the purpose of protection would not only take away from the squad's ability of stealth but it would also make the flow of information slower. A ninja with jutsu to communicate at long distances would make the mission much easier but we do not have those ninjas in our ranks right now." Koemi answered, looking directly at Anari while also using her peripherals to catch the strange movements of any of the men in the room.
"That is acceptable reasoning." Anari responded before turning his attention back to the Kazekage.
"Is this acceptable my Lord?" Anari asked. The Kazekage nodded, pleased at the conclusion of the questions and answers her received.
"Very well. Then the next order of discussion will be who will be going on the mission." Anari stated as the group finally nodded at the results the meeting was bearing. Before Koemi could get to the topic there was a voice that chimed in. It was the man known as Sento Maru. He had been silent until now. He raised his hand to halt the conversation while also gaining everyone's attention.
"One moment please. There is something that I would like to propose… should the Kazekage allow it?" Sento Maru asked bravely. The entire group turned their attention to him, astonished that he would speak in a situation such as this.
"What proposal would be so important that would make you speak out in this situation?" The Kazekage asked. Sento Maru nodded and continued.
"In the event that there are going to be two Chunin who will be assisting in this mission I would like to recommend that one of the chunin be switched with a single genin." The man said bravely. This tension was raised higher than ever before. An expert had just given their opinion on the situation and he had butted in with the hope of involving his clan into this for glory alone.
'And he rears his head. Sento Maru is the traitor. He's working with this opposing village. It was reported to me that it was one of his spies who had leaked the information on an impending attack on the village but I didn't think he would betray us. But… why?' Anari asked himself, 'what could one of the richest men in the village have to gain through cooperating with another, smaller village?'
"And why are you suggesting a genin to a mission that could be classified as an A ranked, even S ranked mission?" Anari asked plainly as to not give off a suspicious air to him.
"As all of you know, the death of the hero ninja Pakura has left the village in dire need of a new ninja, someone to take the mantle. Of course, we have our lord, The Fifth, but with tensions between countries rising and the potential of another war between villages becoming more prominent I think it is time to start pressing for something more. The next generation of Ninja," he continued,"We have the Kazekage's children and many legends like Lady Chiyo and our own Anari, but it is time for someone to rise into the ranks. I propose someone who has the blood of a legend running through them. I propose that the genin Riku Natsume be included in this mission." The room's tension turned its way into confusion.
"Why would you select him specifically? Even if you're looking into creating a new legend then there are multiple Chunin and Jonin who are capable of filling that role. So why use the Natsume clan, who is almost completely extinct?" Koemi questioned. Sento finally dropped his hand. He formed his usual smile.
"It is because they are nearly wiped out that they must be used. If their clan were to die out, that kekkei genkai would be lost to time as well. Not only that but the experience of a mission like this, the life and death experience that he will come to know, will help him grow." Sento Maru finished. Anari raised an eyebrow.
"Why him and not his brother or sister? They are both not only ninja but they are both Chunin. They are more capable than him. That child is nothing more than a child who is still learning how to use his abilities. I've been keeping my eyes on them as well. I was planning on recruiting the child but he is not capable of a mission as important as this. He has trouble not only using his kekkei genkai but mustering and controlling chakra." Komei stated as she looked at him with a dangerous look.
"If you know that much then you should know that it is also known that he has chakra comparable to that beast that is being sealed inside of the Gaara." Sento Maru said. Before any more of the back and forth could go on the Kazekage chimed in and responded to the entire mess.
"You shall leave the child out of this. I already verified that the team's squad would already be split into the teams Koemi mentioned. There is no need to place a genin under any unnecessary danger, especially one of the Scorch Release kekkei genkai." The Kazekage responded before moving from that egregious proposal on to the next option.
"I appreciate the foresight you have to want to see the next generation flourish, but to endanger children is not something I'm keen on. But, now we need to sort out the rest of this mission." Ordered the Kazekage. Sento Maru simply nodded with his devilish smile growing only slightly.
The meeting continued for only 15 more minutes before the decisions were made and the ninja walked out first, signifying that they had the most important positions in this meeting. Anari walked out first, followed by Koemi, then followed the rest of the group.
As they were walking down the hall to their respective groups Koemi and Anari had a silent conversation. The hallways were filled with people scurrying, trying to sort things out, but the two managed to keep their voices down. An attempt to not be overheard.
"Sento Maru is the traitor." Anari stated as he continued walk, his head down, watching every movement in the corridor. Koemi simply nodded at this fact.
"I came to the same conclusion. I thought it was weird when an entire village had let their plans of attack slip so easily. No indication of when or if it would certainly happen is also not the intelligence that a ninja certified in gathering intel would come back with." Anari stated.
"Yes. It strikes me that they would do something so negligent in detail. It makes me think that the information wasn't reliable at all. His real goal has to be the Natsume child." Komei responded.
"That's what I'm most worried about. To mention it in a situation like that shows that there is an underlying reasoning. Regardless, we can't take the intel too lightly. I will put two of my men to watch after each child."
"Very well. I will leave one guard for each child as well." Koemi finished before they came to an intersection in the hallway. They both stopped walking for only a moment.
"What is this about you wanting to take the kid for yourself? A child that young being recruited by the Anbu Black Ops." Anari questioned. Koemi simply chuckled and turned down her hallway.
"I only said that I wanted to recruit him. I never said that I was molding him to be an Anbu." Komei said before disappearing down the hallway.
"Yeah well… I was watching him as well." Anari said before continuing to walk straight.