Starring:
Date: April 15, 2012
Summary:
Kagami’s alterior motive for taking Hitoshi is revealed. Hitoshi finds himself trapped, sequestered in a strange place.
Poster's note: Profanity filtered in obvious places.
"Shattered Memories - Kagami and Little Hito"
An abandoned home near Kirigakure, in the Land of Water
After the battle, Kagami had dragged the weakened and bleeding Hitoshi to an empty house! … Said house was the house of her old parents before they died due to her plotting, but that's beside the point! She actually… treated his wounds after she got him there, though (purposefully) over-wrapped him with bandages, effectively mummifying him from the neck down, for the most part. It's somewhat loose, but tight enough that movement isn't going to be easily possible for him.
And she has him layed down in a relatively comfortable bed, where ropes have been tied around and along the bottom of the bed so that it wouldn't be terribly easy for him to move at the moment. Due to the necessity to get him healed, she had paid off one of those medinin who will do anything for the right amount of money — no questions asked — to heal the worst of his his internal wounds. You know, so he didn't die. Yet.
And thus that leaves things where they are right now. With Kagami sitting, dressed in a rather beautiful kimono. The chair she is sitting on is also rather comfortable. She quietly watches Hitoshi. And has been for several hours as he likely was sleeping off his injuries.
She, on the other hand, hasn't been sleeping the whole time. Just watching him, her hands folded together on her lap as she does. Waiting for him to wake up.
Nngh. It had been a bad, bad dream. No, worse. A nightmare. When he wakes up, he may be in the hospital… but he won't be anywhere else. Berii'll be there. She'll be waiting for him to wake up. Atsuro'll be there to rustle his hair. Taiki, everyone else… they'd be there, just glad he's okay. Right? That's just exactly what's going to happen when he wakes up…
No.
As Hitoshi opens his eyes slowly, he -does- see the blurry outline of a kimono-clad girl nearby. Is the hair pink?… "… Berii-ku—"
The contrast is suddenly so sharp that it sends a pain right through his heart and into his stomach. That's not Berii. That's…
"Kazue?"
His voice is weak, like his body has become from the wounds. He'll need time to heal properly. Slowly, though… he begins to struggle. Struggle against some of the bandages. Some of the bindings. They're loose… he could use an escape technique to get free. But would he get far, being so hurt?
In his mind, the calculation is far too fast to say 'no.'
… "K-kazue…" He struggles still…
Yes. That was totally a nightmare! That entire battle, and now he's waking up into another one! The kimono-clad big sister smiles slightly as his eyes open. And then he says 'Berii'. Hm. A name. Someone she'll have to eliminate. She'll do it like she did her 'sister'. Cut her down and leave her to die. It worked once. "Kazue? Hm." She frowns slightly, watching Hitoshi. Kazue. Kazue. That name… why was it familiar?
Hm. Maybe it was her name from before she was given away. That might explain it. Barely a memory. "Don't struggle, little Hito." She murmurs softly, frowning ever-so-slightly as she watches him. "Some medi-nin looked at your wounds. I treated the worst of the outside ones, but the inside ones will need a little while to heal." She gives a slow nod, leaning forward.
Slowly, she reaches a hand out to stroke his cheek. Luckily, unlike the touches she did so far, this one isn't charged with electricity. Nor is it with intent to stab. "My~. Look how you've grown… you've thrived, haven't you." She chuckles softly. "Made friends… like this 'Berii' person…" She gives a slightly twisted smile, her eyes having a dangerous edge in them.
"Did you miss your sister? Did you even remember her~?"
She licks her lips, though she'd been up for hours, she didn't show too many signs of fatigue at the moment. She had too much of a high from having caught the thing she would take everything from. "I've thrived too… though I think your parents were probably much nicer~." She leans in close to Hitoshi, so that her lips are right by his ear. "My parents weren't. They put me through hellish training. They treated me like trash." Her fingers would begin to grip at the opposite side of his face, fingernails likely beginning to dig in. "They got what they deserved. And that little 'sister' of mine, too."
Come to think of it, this building has been eerily silent. It wouldn't be that hard to guess why now. Sure, for now all Hitoshi could probably remember was that one bedroom he was kept in, but it was obvious other rooms were around it from the various doorways. She straightens up again, drawing her fingers away from him. "So… little Hito. What do you have to say to your sister?"
This isn't happening. Kazue was never like this. She… was never this…
Murderous.
"Taniguchi Hitoshi. Konoha Team Ten. K-zero-zero-two-six-one-nine."
The default response when taken hostage. His face is now impassive even as she leans down and touches him… almost tenderly. It would be a lie to say that it doesn't cause his skin to crawl in an odd way… Whether or not she was related to him was, at this point, irrelevant. She was the enemy. She was from Kiri. He couldn't let himself become so weak, so easily. Oh, but…
How easy it's probably going to be.
"I refuse to devulge further information," he tells her softly. "You will have to kill me first, before I give you anything else to use against my village." That impassive gaze is defiant. He just stares on toward her.
Kagami's face falls at the Hitoshi's response. That wasn't what she'd expected. She gives a soft sigh. "Not like you expected, am I. The years changed me." She lifts her hand again and runs a finger over that shoulder she had stabbed, "Your /village/. Uhuhuhu." She licks her lips. "I do suppose that's something you would say when faced with a Chuunin that just almost killed you." She pulls her finger away from his shoulder.
"K-zero-zero-two-six-one-nine… team ten. I suppose that tells me who to look for information of." She smiles softly, nodding to herself. "Thank you, little Hito~. You do know that you're … probably listed as dead by now. Almost lethally injured after a fight like that… the chances of a Genin still being alive at this point. You might as well be dead to your village." She stands up, brushing off her rear end afterwards. "I'll be back in a moment, Little Hito~."
And then she leaves the room, closing the door behind her and locking it with a loud *CLICK*, followed by the CLANG of a bar being lowered into place. Maybe this wasn't a bedroom, after all. Or it was her bedroom and her parents didn't like her very much. She's only gone for maybe three minutes, before the sound of the door being unlocked again announces her arrival. And… she's carrying a small tray.
"It's good that you're awake, since it's hard to feed someone who is unconscious from blood loss." She murmurs, setting the tray on the bedside table. It's just some simple porridge, though there are a few raspberries arranged into a heart on it's surface. "You didn't have too many nightmares, I hope?" She murmurs, pulling out a small dagger which she beguns to cut the ropes with. "Don't worry. It's not poisoned. I'm not cruel enough to *kill* my brother."
Someone meant to keep whoever was in this room before him in here, it'd seem. A small wince accompanies the click, and the clang, and he frowns a little bit. For a moment, he struggles with the bindings. He can't get his hands together… or this would be a lot simpler to perform the escape technique with. Of course, this kunoichi knows that… hence, he's bound like this. Clever. She at least knows what she's doing.
It doesn't stop him from struggling, nontheless. At least, until she returns… and he just quietly glares at her, even as she snaps the ropes binding him with a kunai. Given what she said… he knew she was probably right. The mission was accomplished. The majority escaped and the loss of life, though sad, was minimal. With any luck, the Princess had been rescued.
Even if he was 'dead,' the mission was still a success.
"Even if I'm considered dead, it doesn't matter as long as my comrades completed the mission. That's what is important." His voice has a cold bite to it. His eyes lie on him, of course, as does his face, as he quietly turns his head to look to the porridge. And the little arrangement in it.
He then looks back to the kunoichi. "… Why are you doing this?" he asks slowly.
"… If you went through all this trouble, Kazue… why are you doing this?"
<M-HELP> Aoitsuki has disconnected.
<Chat> Ren has connected.
<M-HELP> Ren has connected.
"They retreated after the fat one did his … rolling … ball… technique… thing." Kagami didn't like those things. She couldn't examine them and even begin to copy them. But some of the other abilities used she could keep track of. "I've not the faintest idea what your mission was, myself. I grabbed you and ran when you comrades did." Which is probably for the best. He was almost dead, and they seemed to all be very interested in getting the heck out of dodge.
"Why?" She murmurs, reaching to prop Hitoshi up carefully. She grabs a spoon from the tray and scoops up a small bit of the porridge, which she lifts up to Hitoshi's mouth. "Hm. What is this, specifically? Feeding you? Keeping you here? Being a Chuunin of Kirigakure?" She shakes her head slightly.
"What *did* mother and father 'dearest' tell you about me?" She asks, her eyes hardening with a quiet fury bubbling beneath the otherwise calm surface, as she sets the spoon down beside the bowl on the tray. The dagger from earlier is slipped back into her kimono. In fact, the entire room seems to have been stripped of any possible weaponry. Except that spoon, of course. It seems she's not taking any chances.
"Keeping me here. Keeping me -alive,-" Hitoshi remarks softly, frowning a little bit and tilting his head. He looks to the porridge again, and keeps his lips sealed when she offers the spoonful. He takes it, tenatively, and then hands her the spoon back for her to put aside. It's better than -nothing.-
"Keeping me here doesn't benefit Kiri. It doesn't even benefit anything that you were probably doing on that island…" He squints at her quietly, watching her and tilting his head. "All you've done is made it inconvenient for yourself, keeping a prisoner here. What'll happen if your superiors find out? You not only nursed a Konoha shinobi back to health… but you fed him and showed him some kind of compassion."
As for her question, his eyes narrow. "They didn't want to let you go," he remarks quietly. "Not even for a second… but they didn't want us -all- to die, either," he remarks quietly. He frowns still, tilting his head…
"It doesn't benefit Kirigakure, no." Kagami murmurs, watching Hitoshi carefully. And then she gives another slightly… disturbed giggle. "Uhuhuhu. Really… it doesn't benefit anyone. Well, maybe you, since you didn't bleed to death on the battlefield." She gives a smirk, folding her hands on her lap again. "If my superiors found out, yes, I would probably get in trouble. For a lot of things, really." She doesn't think in Kiri's best interest though. She does her missions. That's all they need from her. They have her loyalty, or at least something close enough to it. They didn't need more.
"Is THAT what they told you?!" She begins to laugh wildly in response to that, before she looks directly into Hitoshi's eyes. "No. I remember it like it was yesterday. They were going to kill us all, yes… but no. They thought with their merchant's ways. The moment they thought that it would work they offered me in trade for your lives. They gave up their daughter into a hell of training, borderline-poison, and contempt."
Her hand lifts up to caress along Hitoshi's cheek again. "Taniguchi Kazue may as well have died that day, because what she went through was worse. Forced to give up her name. Everything she knew. Everything she loved. Day in and day out training harshly. She wanted her "parents" to be proud of her, but she never got a congratulations. All the while, she thought of her family. She LONGED to see them again. But they never came. They never tried to save her. Never. Not even a single missing poster — OR A MISSION. They were merchants! They had money!"
That caress turns into something more akin to a clawing across his face, not cutting the flesh, but probably stinging a bit. "And she decided to embrace who she is. Touketsu Kagami. You should remember that name, little Hito. Because… I am going to strip… every… last… thing… from you. Like mother and father 'dearest' did to me." She leans in to attempt to place a kiss on Hitoshi's forehead. Before standing and beginning to walk towards the door again. "You should eat. You'll need your strength. Otherwise you might die."
Click. CLANG. The door is locked, the room sealed.
~Hitoshi's Living Nightmare~
