She was in hell.
She was currently curled up in a ball on her bed, trying to go to sleep. It was an impossible task with the sounds of torture going on next door though. Her master was a scary man, but at least he was focused on someone else. She gagged at the word master, she hated that word more than anything else. Her name was Tayuya of the North Gate, though that surname, if you could call it that, was given by her captor. That was more fitting than calling him master.
Tayuya had long red hair, ending about halfway down her back. Her hair was as straight as can be and as red as a tomato. Her eyes were a striking green, similar to that of a pair of emeralds. She was wearing the standard brown prison rags her captor gave everyone. While she had her own 'surname' and her own room, she still hadn't proven herself for better clothes. She had been living in this facility as long as she could remember, struggling to make it through day by day. She was a very sweet girl, but considering the type of people she interacted with it didn't matter. It usually made her more of a target. Still though, she had made it where many others had broken from the weight of the situation, her willpower was all that was keeping her sane.
At this point, Tayuya felt her willpower was even lower than usual, and she gave up on any chance of falling to sleep. She let out a loud sigh as she covered her face with her pillow. It took her awhile before she noticed the distinct lack of tortured screams from next door. Either the psychotic man who held her captive was bored of his most recent play thing, or the play thing had died. She didn't care either way, as she closed her eyes. Though she would feel a little bad if the play thing was dead, at least she could get some sleep.
Then her door opened. Sleep would have to wait. She immediately moved the pillow from her face, sped out of bed, and stood at attention. The scars she already had on her back were reminder enough for not being quick to attention. Though, her captor usually found something else that was wrong, which meant she still got punished anyway. She internally shuddered, not wanting to show anything in her body language, at the thought of the last punishment.
"Well done Tayuya, we might make a fine shinobi out of you yet." the voice was cold, calculating, and hissed out like a snake. The voice was bad, the eyes were worse. Tayuya did her best to not look directly at them, while still staring at the face of her captor. His eyes were a sickly yellow, with black slits in the center, very similar to a snakes. His face was pale, to the point where one might say sickly pale. He had purple marks running from the top of his eyes, going down either side of his nose. His smile rested beneath that. Smile or grin, fake or real. It honestly didn't matter, the point of it was to strike fear which it did very well. Tayuya was doing everything she could to keep from shaking like a leaf, but as an 8 year old kid that was quite difficult when staring down a monster. He wore a brown over shirt that hung off him almost like a dress. He had on a black undershirt which covered his arms. His pants were gray. The whole outfit was tied together, literally, with the giant purple belt, tied like a bow behind his back. He continued, "Come with me Tayuya, we have another test to run." He turned and walked out the door not even giving her another glance. She knew he didn't need to, as she immediately fell in behind him, making sure not to walk to close or too far. Another lesson painfully learned.
This would be the fifth "test" he had run on her. After making it through the first test she had been given her own cell. He called it a room, but it was a cell to Tayuya. On the second successful test, she had been allowed 1 hour outside, under strict supervision of course. The third test had gotten her the surname "of the North Gate". The last test she did, had gotten her one more meal a day. While she wasn't looking forward to another one of the tests, she did wonder curiously what the prize for winning would be.
She continued to follow her captor down the hallways, already lost and not sure where she was. Everything looked the same, the walls were covered in these almost half circles, all turned slightly different. Staring at the patterns always made Tayuya's head hurt. The torches on the walls lit up the passages, providing adequate light yet also casting long shadows when people walked past them. They took a few turns, went through a few doors and rooms she had never seen before, until they finally made it to the test chamber. Every time they came here, the path they took was always different. It was a large square room, pillars full of snake motifs were spread around, acting as supports. Across from her stood another version of her captor, with a young boy. The boy looked to be around the same age as Tayuya and seemed normal enough, probably just a bit taller than her. Then she saw his arms, all 6 of them. Once both pairs were in position, the two versions of her captor shook and collapsed into a bundle of snakes each. The snakes slithered to a stone throne where a figure was sitting. Her true captor, those two had just been clones of his. The snakes slithered up his pants and sleeves, disappearing from view. Tayuya suppressed another shiver at the thought of the snakes. She hated snakes.
"Now, I want a good fight between you both. The stakes are high, whoever wins gets to live and train under my teachings. The loser will not." His voiced hissed out across the testing area. Tayuya knew what would happen to the loser, it was the same thing that happened to each one so far. They would die. Direct training under him though, that's one hell of a prize. She thought.
"You may begin."
Both children tensed, staring the other down. The 6 armed boy gave her a cocky smile. "So I just have to beat a little bitch and then I'm in the clear huh? And here I thought this last test would be a challenge." With that he charged at Tayuya, as she only narrowly dodged out of the way, sliding across the ground. She grimaced in pain as she felt the stone graze her knees, smearing some of her blood on the floor. She quickly got up just in time to see a flash of steel fly her way. With a thud, it landed right in front of her feet.
"Pick it up, you'll need it to defend yourself." her captor hissed at her.
She picked it up and felt the weight of the kunai in her hand. This was not her first time holding one, she had gotten one each time she came into the test. Looking back at her opponent, she saw he had two objects in two of his hands. While similar to her kunai, they were a bit more crude, and a gross yellow color, only a few shades off from the brown of the walls. He charged at her again swinging wildly with his improvised weapons. For her part, Tayuya was blocking each blow he made at her. She had gotten a lot faster since the first test, the boy she had fought there had been uncharacteristically fast given his larger build. She could feel phantom pain from where he had punched her.
Tayuya was fast, but this other boy was faster. Her focus was brought back to her current fight when she felt something sharp jab into her shoulder. She looked down and saw one of those improvised weapons. Looking back, he know had 4 in his hands. Where is he getting all of these things? Her question was immediately answered as the boy raised his last two empty hands to his mouth and spit out gunk that seemed to be the same material as the knives. He took them in his hands and molded it into two more knives. Tayuya suddenly felt very under armed with only her one knife, so she reached up and pulled the one out of her shoulder, so she also had one in each of her hands.
The boy threw 4 of the knives straight at her, she managed to dodge or block all 4 of them. She didn't notice the fifth until it stabbed through her thigh. She was losing blood out of two wounds now. The boy just grinned maniacally at her. Tayuya knew she would not be able to keep up with his speed anymore, if it kept going at this rate she would die.
The boy charged at her, having created 5 more weapons to replace the ones he had thrown. Their fight kicked up again, with Tayuya still managing to block the more lethal attacks, however she was getting scratches all over as she fought, her body weakening from blood loss. The number of arms she had to deal with was too much. The other boy still looked fresh as can be with no worry in the world. All this time and Tayuya hadn't managed to hit him once, she had been forced on the defensive this whole time. Her left arm, the one holding the yellow knife, was shaking and she could feel her grip loosening. The boy noticed this as well and immediately threw a roundhouse kick into that arm with as much power as he could. Tayuya flew through the air from the force of the kick, landing about 6 feet away. The yellow knife had flown out of her grip, and she swore she had heard cracking sounds from her arm. She skid across the ground, before quickly getting back on her feet in an impressive acrobatic maneuver, launching herself with her working hand off the ground and landing on her feet. She fell to her knees from the impact of landing, as pain shot up her left leg, where the other yellow knife used to be. Must have fallen out during that last attack. She was losing more blood now that the knife wasn't blocking the flow, and her vision was starting to blur. The boy charged at her again, all six knives aimed at her chest. If she didn't think of something, she was going to die.
Suddenly, she felt something building up inside of her, almost like it was begging to be released. This was the first time she had felt something like this, and had no idea what to do. It was warm, soft, giving her an almost comforting feeling. It was familiar, yet alien all at the same time. Her eyes narrowed as she started down the charging 6 armed freak. In her mind, she suddenly had a picture of what her body was trying to release, of what she was attempting to do to save herself.
"Well, if we can bring our own fucking weapons, then take this!" She yelled out, cursing for the first time, remembering the amount of people she had heard say the same word while they were being tortured. As she yelled out, she let the built up force explode from her body. 6 golden ethereal chains shot out from her back and wrapped around each of the boys arms, holding him in place. She didn't have much time, darkness was clouding her vision faster and faster. With a thought that made her sick, the chains twisted and pulled, breaking his arms. At that point, the chains disappeared and the boy fell to the ground. Tayuya fell to her knees, gasping at the raw power that had coursed through her body. It had taken a toll, and combined with the blood loss she fell to the floor, passing out.
†††
When Tayuya woke up, she was in a room she hadn't seen before. It was still very similar to her old one, but a bit more space around, and what looked like it's own bathroom. Everything else was the same though. As she moved to sit up she felt the pain run through her body, and she remembered the last things that happened before she passed out. The blood loss, the boy with 6 arms, the golden chains. She remembered what she did and was sick to her stomach.
The chains were not something she'd had control over, it had felt like the chains had minds of their own. It was her thought that had caused them to act, but it hadn't felt like her. She tried to recall the emotions she had felt during that moment, the rage, the hatred, the loss, the... love? Why had she felt love when using those chains? Her pondering was interrupted by the door opening and her captor walking in. The way he always carried himself, like there was nothing to be concerned about. He had a grin on his face, one that hadn't left since he had confirmed Tayuya had survived the ordeal. It was a grin that spoke of success. Once he reached Tayuya, he touched her wound on her shoulder, a sickeningly green energy sprung from his hand coating the wound.
"You put on quite the show Tayuya, you had me worried for a moment that you might actually lose to Kidomaru. Thankfully, you pulled through and reminded me why I put my faith in you. I particularly enjoyed the chains and what you did with them. Simply marvelous." His voice was full of "praise", his face twisted into a mockery of joy. Tayuya hissed as the energy invaded her body. "It would appear as if your wounds are all healed, no risk of infection. You will be sore for the next week, but it shouldn't impact training. But before that, and before you receive the gifts you have earned, you have some unfinished business." He met her eyes as he finished speaking. He stood up, not once taking his eyes off of her. Tayuya felt her blood run cold, not just from the gaze, but from the thoughts she had about what the unfinished business was.
He moved towards the door, and she got out of bed and moved to follow him. Her body was still stiff and sore from the fight, and she winced every time she had to put weight on her left leg. She did her best to keep quite though, as to not ruin her captors good mood. They walked down the hallway for a bit then turned to a door on their right. The man opened the door and walked in with Tayuya right behind. As her eyes adjusted to the light in the room, she gasped at what she saw.
Here was the boy she had fought, Kidomaru, lying on an operating table. Based on the rise and fall of his chest, she could tell he was alive, but then she saw his arms. They were mangled and twisted beyond repair, bones were sticking out in a few spots and dried blood caked all six of his arms. Why had he kept him alive? What was the purpose? She looked up at him and saw his eye glint with evil intent. Suddenly, the worst thought just ran through her head.
"Oh, did you put the pieces together? You are a smart girl after all. Go on, ask the question." His voice was positively dripping with excitement.
"Why is he still alive?" her voice came out, quiet.
"Well, because the fight isn't finished yet. He may be unable to fight, but you never finished the battle. You still need to prove you're the winner." He held his hand out to her, the same kunai she had held in the fight resting there. The unspoken message was clear. Take it. So she she did.
In all her previous fights, her captor had finished off the loser right then and there, but now she was being forced to do it. She gulped, looking down at the kunai in her hands. She knew if she didn't do this, he would probably just kill them both. Or worse, keep them alive for some weird experiment he wanted. Kidomaru was already on the operating table, his only salvation was the blade in Tayuya's hand. Killing him would be a blessing really, right? Right? She walked over to the table, where the boy was groaning from the pain. His eyes met hers, he knew what was going to happen, her hand that held the kunai wouldn't stop trembling.
At this point something broke in Tayuya's mind. Perhaps it was the stress of the situation getting to her, for needing to make her first kill. Perhaps it was her finally coming to terms with what she was about to do. Perhaps it was the weight of everything she had experienced in this compound since she could remember. Most likely though, it was a defense mechanism, a way for her mind to protect her from what she was going to do, what she was going to become. Something snapped, changing Tayuya completely. The change did not go unnoticed by anyone in the room. The whimpering face immediately turned into a scowl, the eyes on the verge of tears turning into a sharp gaze. The trembling stopped. Her willpower, which had kept her from breaking for so long, had finally broken, replaced by a new personality. A stronger personality, a crueler personality. In that fraction of a second, Tayuya from before was no more, now she was truly Tayuya of the North Gate. She would do what she needed to survive, even if it meant becoming a different person.
"Guess you're the little bitch in the end, huh?" A cruel grin going across her face. In a flash of red, as her hair flew around her from her sudden movement, she brought the kunai down into his throat. Blood sprayed up from the wound, covering her face. She watched as the boy struggled to fill his lungs, blood pooling beneath him, before his body went still. A slow clap came from behind, as she turned to face her master.
"Perfect, absolutely perfect. You will fit well into the team I have planned Tayuya."
"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru." her voice was hollow, but her face remained unchanged. She was not the same little girl anymore. Orochimaru merely grinned in delight, he had broken her down, now he could mold her into a perfect weapon, bodyguard, and potential vessel.
"Excellent. Now as for your, gifts. Here is the first." he reached behind his back and pulled out a silver object. Tayuya eyes focused on it, and recalled what it was almost immediately. It was a flute. She had heard it's tune before when her master had played it. She had dreams about learning how to play the flute and create the most amazing melodies. That was the past Tayuya's dreams, the current Tayuya wanted to know what kind of power it would bring her, what secrets it held, that made her master keep it around. Master now fit the man in front of her much more than it had before. She needed to accept him as her master, after all, she was going to be trained by him now.
She accepted it graciously, dropping the bloodied kunai to the floor, moving to hold the flute in her hands instead. It was a slender instrument, made of sliver with very fine detail over it. There were some patterns on it, but she couldn't tell what they were. The shapes almost looked like creatures, but she couldn't recognize them.
"And here is the second." Quicker than she could react, he leaned down, his neck stretching out a little to cover the distance between them, and bit into her neck. She let out a yell of pain, as it felt like her entire body was on fire from the inside. She fell to the ground curling into a fetal position, as she grabbed the spot where her neck was bitten. Orochimaru looked down, seeing a circular pattern of three hooks, similar to a triskelion, appear where he had bit. At this point, the young girl passed out, succumbing to the pain of the mark. He checked to make sure she still had a pulse, and upon getting that confirmation, he picked her up and took her back to her room. If she was alive when he checked on her again, then her training would begin. He already had four others good to go, a fifth would just be the cherry on top. Though what a cherry it would be. The organ and blood transfusion seemed to have worked wonders if she was able to call upon the Adamantine Chains. I wonder what other gifts she will get from her parents heritage. He closed the door his thoughts running wild with the possibilities, laughing softly to himself as he walked down the hallways, leaving Tayuya to the mercy of the Cursed Seal.