"Tell us where old man Bocchon is, and everything you know about the missing workers," said Itachi with a commanding tone.

The girl's face stiffened. Her expression became unreadable.

"Granpa is no more. I told you didn't I, he is sleeping, forever.."

"I think you forgot the forever part, kid.." Kisame replied. "Besides, you're one cruel kid, saying that like it's nothing."

"That's rude of you, i'm not a kid. Besides, it's not like we're really a family. He used me and i used him, that's how it had always been for us."

The girl paused for a while after finishing her sentences. Hearing no response from the others, she continued talking.

"10 years ago, he found me on the riverside of the forest. I had no idea who i was or why i was even here. All i knew was that my stomach was hungry, so i followed him here."

"Heh, what are you? Animal? Why would you follow strangers just like that. Besides why would a small kid wander alone in the forest? You would be like, what? Two years old? Four years old at most?"

"Didn't i told you i have no idea?" the girl pouted. "Besides, i never remember myself being that small, even when i first arrived here. That's why i told you that I'm not a kid."

The girl sighed as Kisame put on disbelieved face, and continued, "So anyway, he decided to took me in, as long as I would do things for him in return. Then he taught me some basic stuffs so i could help him hunt and do business, like how to move efficiently, and how to use this form of mine to advantage."

"Form?"

"People are less cautious around woman and child, they tend to soften up around them, especially the cute, fragile, and innocent looking ones. And I am all of them, so he often taught me things about how to take advantage of it for bargaining and stuffs. To manage my expressions, to smile, to pretend and hide my intentions, to read people, and capture people's heart, so i can get them to open up and lower their guard around me. That way people will be kinder towards us and less likely to take advantage of us, he said. Especially in bargaining, he said I'd be a big help to get people to lower their prices, give discount or bonus stuffs, and such. Basically, i was his negotiation tool, and in return, he'd give me a place to sleep and nice food to eat. That was our relationship. We are nothing like those family down the mountain, never have and would never be," the girl looked down as she finished her sentence. A glimpse of sadness and jealousy could be seen on her expression even as she tried to hide it.

"Geh, now i'm getting more confused about what kind of old man he is," Kisame let out a bitter laugh. "So then, what, you killed him? And what about the workers who went missing?"

The girl looked up. She looked onto Kisame and Itachi's expression, wondering if it would be better to lie out of it. But any other way, her life was already on their grasp and she got the feeling that lying would never work anymore. So, she sighed as she continued.

"Promise me you won't kill me if i tell you the truth? Since i'm guessing lying won't work anymore, right? That brother over there seems like the type that would be able to see if i'm lying, or so granpa taught me about.. And he have been staring intensely at me for a while now. Trying to catch any sign of lie i guess?"

"Well, can't promise you anything. But yes, you'd die if you don't speak, and yes, he'd know if you lie. Right? Itachi-san?"

Itachi didn't respond. He kept her eye on the girl, signaling her to continue talking with his head.

"Tch, right. So here it goes. One day those workers came here. At first they were just building and doing their stuff. As granpa instructed, i kept interacting with them naturally over time, so they wouldn't bear ill will to us and disturbed our daily peace, or so he said. But then one day, some of them came to us."

The girl's face darken as she continued, "They say, that we needed to pay them to continue living in the area, or else they would kick us out. Granpa figured out that it was a lie, for no such thing had been spoken of ever since the construction had started. The construction was not that near to our place anyway so we would never bothered each other. We didn't have any money, since granpa never deemed it necessary to grab a hold into such thing and he always prefered to trade for stuffs directly instead. He tried to convince them that we didn't have any. But then, we realized that it wasn't the actual thing they were after."

The girls word stopped for a while, as if she was selecting her words. As she continued, she looked unsure, and slightly disgusted. "They told granpa that they wanted to "play" with me. I didn't have the clear idea about what they meant, but from the nasty look in their eyes and granpa's expression, i noticed that it would be something bizarre."

Hearing the words, Itachi and Kisame caught onto what was going on. That kind of practice was quite common, and it wasn't strange either especially in the dark world they had known. Still, it was sickening to be heard from a girl of such tiny stature. However as the girl looked down, her expression became harder to read. After a while, she continued.

"Hey, do you guys know? Everything in this world has some sort of energy inside it. Even on the seemingly static and weightless air, or the silently growing woods, or earth, or even light.. I've always been able to read them easily, allowing me to detect things with ease. I can even manipulate them to some extend to help me. Well not into such extreme like shinobi's jutsu, but it has helped me a lot on hunting. Granpa thought that it might be some shinobi skill that i had in me, but seeing those shinobis and you guys, i could tell that it isn't. In fact, i don't even have that thing in you and other creatures that allows you to use your ninjutsu and such."

"So she knows," Itachi thought to himself. Her words reminded him of something he learned about long ago. Nature energy, which was the basic of senjutsu. However he also learned that senjutsu also requires chakra, and the absence of chakra inside her actually intrigued him. Since Itachi was always the curious type ever since he was a child, he was expecting to find an answer to his curiosity in their dialogue. That's why even though the talk seemingly started slipping out of the actual topic, he didn't let out a word of protest.

However, Kisame who didn't see any purpose in such talk, slightly moved his sword to graze on the girl's neck, trying to remind her about her situation.

"Was that a bluff? Don't forget the situation you are in, kid. Now start talking or…"

"That's why when they pulled my hand suddenly, i decided that i wouldn't just let them do whatever they wanted with me. However using force won't work, and i couldn't do offensive stuffs with my power. So far i could only use it to boost my movement but it wouldn't give me extra force. So instead, i tried to take in their energy, from where they touched me. I didn't know if i could, or if it would help at all. However, it worked, their energy flowed naturally towards me in a flash, and as i took everything they had, they died."

"Well, that scared granpa so bad, he started locking me up and ignoring me." The girl slightly smiled as she looked into Itachi's eyes. The smile was a mix of mockery and bitterness.

"With my newly learned ability, i could survive. I took in the energy from my surroundings, trying to keep myself alive, day by day. The amount of energy is infinite you know. It was always give and take, and energy always changes form while keeping its amount. I took some, and the energy i spent away always changed back to something else which i could take. However, staying alive was not enough.. Taking in energy kept me alive, but it didn't drive out my hunger or my thirst. My agony was increasing day by day, and he still wouldn't let me out or even talk or listen to me. Actually, I've always hoped that deep down he cared for me as family, like those families down there that i've been so jealous of. However seeing how he treated me, my hope was crushed, and my agony turned my sadness into anger."

Silence came. Itachi and Kisame didn't let out a word as the girl turned silent. They were familiar with the feelings, especially in the world they were in. In fact, such feeling was often the start of every conflict there were in the shinobi world. With the girl's sigh, the silence was broken.

"I didn't know how i did it, but as i let my anger took over, i could feel the energy started to swirl around me. Instinctively, i guided them and let them burst towards the door in front of me. It broke the door, the lock, and a part of the wall with it. I ran as fast as i could out of the hut, and found myself some fruits and water. As i calmed down after filling myself, i decided to come back and settle things directly with granpa, seeing how it would be hard for us to be like how we used to be. He never actually taught me that much hunting skill, so i couldn't survive as a hunter on my own, and eating fruits and herb every day seemed like an agonizing thing to do. I can't just run down to the village and asked for other villagers to take me in. Besides, i've killed people, and if that made such a heartless person like granpa became scared so bad, i don't know what others would think of me. However as i went back, he was there, below the rubles that came from the broken part of the wall, covered in blood."

Another pause. Seeing as there was no comment from the other party, the girl looked up into their eyes, trying to read their expression. Surprisingly, she didn't find fear that she was looking for. They looked as calm as ever, as if what she had just told them was a fairy tale. The girl bit her lips. Some part of her was, relieved? She asked herself what was that feeling she had. Then, she continued her story.

"So, i thought to myself countless time. How do i get out of this. What should i do to continue living, not just staying alive. That time, it occurred to me. I decided to lie about granpa's condition, saying he was sick, and i should do that while hiding about what happened before. No one will know since they never come up here. Besides, lying, hiding, and manipulating was everything that i was taught to be good at. That way, i could obtain some food as a donation from the villager. However, the other workers and the shinobis with them suddenly started looking for the guys from before. I tried to lie my way out of it, but apparently some of them shinobis had the ability to find stuffs even without looking at them directly. They noticed that granpa was lying dead inside, and that apparently, granpa buried the workers body behind our hut. So i had no choice but to shut them up. It was easy, since they had no idea about what i could do, and they let down their guard too much. Repeat, and repeat, till you guys finally come here after me. That's it," she finished her story calmly. Silence covered the air for a while.

The girl let out a loud sigh as she raised her head and looked up to the sky, "Aaaaaah, here it is, i'm so done for, and i thought i've survived long enough to continue surviving this way. You guys are gonna kill me right? Can you please do it painlessly anyway? Not that fire or this scary sword please, nah, nope."

Kisame looked behind him, staring at his partner's face, questioning.

"What to do, Itachi-san? Should we kill her, or.."

Itachi seemed to be considering their options.

—-

Author's note:

I haven't proof read this +_+ i'm sort of too tired now for proofreading.. I'll correct the grammar mistakes later. I hope this story satisfy you guys anyway, i received advices on how should i write this chapter from my friend, he helped me a lot :3

So, cya next chapter!