I sat at the table as Kuri demolished the remains of her lunch. She was a hungry little gremlin. I was reading the scrolls left to me by my once grandma. Some of it was techniques I had already known, such as the water bullet and hidden mist jutsu. More were the things I didn't know. There were more intricate puppet designs in here for starters. Unfortunately, it was at a level of skill I didn't currently possess to create, nor had the resources to duplicate. All was not lost on that front though; she had several poisons for those puppets that would be useful. Additionally, there was a sealing array for a storage seal. That alone was worth its weight in gold. Sealing knowledge was very limited. We had a clan that had some capacity for it, but they guarded that knowledge jealously. Buying a storage seal cost an arm and a leg, and had the bad habit of only lasting a year. I was halfway certain that was an intentional design flaw on their part. Good for their wallets I suppose but the dishonesty and purposeful inefficiency rankled at me.
The poison knowledge was a potential goldmine too. Any shinobi could coat their weapons in feces, or poison mushrooms extract, or other poisonous forgeable item. The problems to that were many though. One was concentration. Poisons and venoms just didn't work sometimes unless in high enough doses. Another was fast acting poisons. Something that killed you days later from infection (like bacteria from feces) was nasty, but just not useful in direct battle. Another problem was immunity. Fact of the matter was is that you were going to cut yourself on your weapons. A person used them too much for any other outcome really. Unless you were immune to a poison or had an antidote then you really ran the risk of killing or at least inconveniencing yourself down the line. The old idea of taking small doses to build immunity was sometimes true, but misleading. Sometimes you could do that, but other times all you did was build up damage or toxins in your body that took a toll or killed you later down the line. Basically, the rule of thumb was don't play with poisons unless you really knew what you were doing.
Bringing my mind back to the scroll I grinned internally. She had left knowledge of several poisons and how to make them, including some which I could safety build immunity for. This meant another layer of lethality to my weapons. All good things in my book. I would need to find the right plants but this was something I could start immediately. I would need to help Kuri and Ketsu build immunities too before I used this properly. I looked up to see Kuri staring at me, a piece of lettuce halfway in her mouth.
"You look happy, should I be worried little Kaku?" She said
I internally grimaced at that. She was trying to give me a nickname. Couldn't let it show how annoying some of those were or she'd never stop.
"Poisons." I responded
He eyes narrowed at that; she didn't like poisons. Not after I told her that spicy food was technically a poison.
"You trying a new dish? I refuse to eat it if that's what it is." She said.
I shook my head at her
"Actual poison for battle. I found some notes." I said
"Anything that I would actually be interested in? Like, anything that would make me super-fast or strong? I want to be able to beat dad at least once. He always wins in spars, even against both of us." She asked
"What part of 'poison' didn't you understand? No, no super drugs. Some are made from flowers though." I replied.
"Can't you just by those from the old apothecary woman like you usually do?" she asked.
I did have a small selection of poisons I kept near the spice rack. It was a purposeful location in case I needed to poison an unwelcome guest. But they weren't the type that I would consider quick enough for combat, nor were they some that I could safety build immunities for. The old crone only told us the effects, not what they were actually made of.
"She's expensive, and I want a steady supply of something I can build an immunity too. Plus I like experimenting. Too wasteful and expensive in a finished product." I said.
She grunted in response. She seemed stressed. I think Ketsu's mission was weighing on her mind, she was normally much more talkative. I actually was trying to talk a bit more to fill the silence. I hated to see sad children. We sat in silence for a bit. Finally, she stood up.
"I'll be back later. I'm going to see if the town center has any easy missions."
I nodded at her as she left. There was a post board at the town square, near the big tree. People would sometimes post missions for the youngsters to take. Sort of like the local D ranked missions from canon, except potentially more dangerous. No oversight was really given to them. It was sometimes used to test an orphan to see if they had the strength to be adopted into a ninja clan. They usually weren't too dangerous for anyone with training, but some of the hunting ones could be lethal if you had no chakra.
I continued to study. It was amusing to me that I was so studious in this life. I was always pretty smart, but had some issues sitting still when I was younger. School was always a bore not because I hated learning, but because they way things were taught was so dull. In this life I got plenty of exercise and had to claw for any piece of information I could get. A windfall like this was to be treasured.
As I sat thinking over the scrolls, I heard the door open. I glanced over and to my surprise saw Ketsu. I sighed internally. Did we really need to do this now? I found that instead of panicking I was more annoyed than anything. My fear tolerance had shot up a bit recently. Outwardly, I looked up at him with a big smile.
"Ketsu! I thought you weren't gonna be back for a few weeks!" I ran over and gave him a big hug. "You just missed Kuri. Do you want me to run out and find her?"
The fake Ketsu knelt down with a big smile on his face and returned the hug.
"No, don't worry about it. We can surprise her when she returns. What have you been up to Kakazu?"
I grinned sheepishly, "Please don't be mad. I got into some of your old scrolls."
"Which ones?" he asked.
"Oh, just some about the local plant life. I know you like spicy food and I was looking for some peppers." I said.
He sighed dramatically. "We've talked about this before Kakuzu."
"I know, I'm sorry please don't be mad."
"I suppose it's OK this one time. But you better not let me catch you doing it again." He said.
"Do you want me to make you some late lunch?" I asked.
"I would never turn down a meal from the little chef."
I grimaced internally. If he knew that title then he'd probably been spying on the village for at least a day or two. I hoped Ketsu was ok but this whole situation was grim for his survival. I could only hope that I was wrong. I turned to the kitchen and started preparing a meal for him. I decided to go with tacos since I had some flatbread already prepared. As I cooked a little sausage, I made sure to add a few special ingredients. When I first bought those poisons, Kuri thought I was being paranoid. Glad to have vindication. I really hoped he didn't catch on. Luckily, he seemed to buy my act book line and sinker.
He made some small talk as I cooked. I made sure to answer and to continue to feed him lines as if I were myself an innocent child. He asked a few questions about the hero's water, trying to disguise it as innocent remarks. Other questions such as the current heirs of various clans came out. He tried disguising them as quizzes on my knowledge. I just played along. If anyone discovered this I would be killed or banished, but I was hoping he wouldn't leave this house alive.
"I know you like spicy," I said, "but I think I'm gonna skip on it myself this time."
He just nodded as I put the various foods down. I had made quite the little buffet. Only the spicy meat was poisoned though. He seemed to be in no hurry. I expected that he waited till I was alone to approach. I Hoped this would be over before Kuri got back. She would not be as patient as I, and that might get both of us killed.
We ate in a false comfortable silence. He had taken my scrolls that I left on the table and stuffed them into one of his bags. I would have to recover them. We made some small talk. He veered away from more questions. He probably sensed he had reached the limit on my knowledge of the village. I was only nine after all. I suspect he was waiting for Kuri to get back, and would attempt to fool her too. If that failed, he would probably kill us both and leave. We finished, and I washed the dishes.
"Can I go into the backyard and play? I want to beat Kuri's time on the obstacle course!"
"Fine, just stay in sight. I have something to tell the both of you when she returns."
I nodded and went outside. I actually did run the course a few times. It was something Ketsu had whipped up one day when bored. It became a staple of our exercise after we kept trying to outdo each other. I kept a watchful eye on the man through the window. He was occasionally glancing at me, but also seemed to be looking around the house. Probably trying to steal some stuff. When he finally seemed distracted by something, I slipped off into the woods. I went a good ways out, making sure to leave no trace. I found a random hole, and transformed into a bush.
I stayed like that for two hours. At one point I heard the fake Ketsu calling out my name from a distance. Luckily, he didn't seem to poses any special tracking skills or sensing abilities. The poison should really take effect after an hour, but chakra enhanced people could often survive longer. It was an insidious little poison. It took some time but it ate the walls of your stomach and intestines. Basically, it caused them to spill out into the rest of the body. Not sure what combination of things would cause that but it was nasty. Finally, I dropped my henge and approached the house
I took my time to approaching the house. My focus was on stealth, not speed. I took a while to observe it, but found no traces of the man. Finally, I entered. To my non shock the house looked ransacked. Items of various sorts were missing or destroyed. This time I sighed out loud. I was not looking forward to the cleanup. I spotted some blood on the ground, and a trail of it went outside. I hesitated for only a moment, the followed. The smart thing might be to get help, but I suspected whoever 'helped' us would take liberties in whatever goods they recovered. I was not going to lose those scrolls
I followed at a slow pace. I didn't actually want to catch the man when he was still alive. He might have a desperate last second of strength after all. He left a nice trail of blood and broken plants behind him. Tracking wasn't my strongest skill but even a novice could follow this. I guess blinding pain made for poor stealth. It took probably an hour till I caught up to him. I saw him on the ground gasping for air and puking blood. He had dropped his own Henge. He looked like a late teen. Ninja really do have short lives. I decided that I would simply wait out his last few minutes.
It took another twenty minutes for the man to finally go still. I waited another twenty to be sure. Then I threw a knife at him. It sank into his throat without resistance. Surprisingly little blood came out, which was the mark of a corpse. I approached him slowly, still being cautious. I gathered the bags he had. I found my scrolls and some of the stolen property inside. Nothing was in there that wasn't ours to begin with so we were the first house he hit. We were probably his specific mission. I would bet that he was part of the hoard coming our way. Coming to scope out the competition. We were secretive, but you could only hide so much and still sell your services to local villages.
I stood up with the bags, and started to make my way back to the house. I froze for a split second when I spotted three men staring at me. I hadn't detected them at all. One opened his mouth to say something but I had already tossed my knife at him and launched into the trees. I pushed my speed to the absolute max as I abandoned the bag and fled. That lasted for about ten seconds before a body crashed into mine.
I brought out my second knife and stabbed the man in the thigh. He cursed and let me go to apply pressure to the wound. I was up again, and immediately leapt back into thew trees. This time I reached for my chakra and formed a hand sign. Mist collected around me. Hopefully it would mask my escape. I dodged another attempt to grab me by the wounded guy and started running again. For a brief moment I thought I could escape. Of course, that was when it all went wrong.
A surge of wind exploded out and threw my mist away. I had to stop for a second and grab onto a tree to resist being blown away myself. That was a mistake on my part because a second gust of wind flew out and drove me to the ground. The air was driven from my lungs as I slammed down. I looked up to see a man in the air gently floating down, the force of his jutsu resisting gravity a bit. I tried to force myself up but the pressure was to great and I could barely breath. I cursed my child's body. I had no strength or even mass to resist.
The man landed next to me, and quickly bound and gagged me with several ropes. I tried to resist but it's hard when someone with three times your mass and strength had you pinned. He put my face into the ground as his comrades came over
"Damn brat got me good. Knife missed my big vein thankfully. Should heal in a couple days" Mr. stab wound said.
"Kids good. Did something nasty to Jin. Never seen a corpse that messed up internally before. Some kind of poison. I mean the bastard deserved it, but still a shitty way to go." another said
"Not just any brat. Look at his eyes. Solid sea green. This brat must be related to that Isu bastard." The guy pinning me said.
I found myself hoisted into the air as they all got a look at me
"Shit your right!" Stab guy said. "Well, isn't this our lucky day! Looks like you get to live a bit longer kid. We were just going to torture you for information then kill you. Now you get to talk to the boss!"
Shit. Today was going so well too.207BossjutJun 3, 2025View discussionThreadmarks Chapter 10 View contentBossjutJun 8, 2025#165Chapter 10
I was slung over the shoulder of one of the men as they made their way to what I presumed was their camp. We had been traveling for what had been over an hour at this point. I suspected that the camp was actually a few days away, anything closer would have been discovered by scouts or civilians. Being carried in this position was also very uncomfortable. I almost wished I was unconscious for the trip, but if I were then I would have no chance to escape. I hoped they would have to camp a few times before we reached our destination. That would present an opportunity to listen on their plans and find more chances to escape.
I was under no illusions. My chances of survival were slim at best. I could not take even one of them in a straight fight if they took me seriously. Unfortunately, I don't think they were going to underestimate me. I had killed one of their comrades (even if they didn't like him) and stabbed another. I also show cased that I had access to chakra and jutsu. It was unlikely they would leave me unattended. I had a couple options, but if those failed I would be bound tighter than before or just killed. I would need to succeed first try.
So, what do I want? I wanted to survive this without death or major injury. I also wanted to have a place to call home at the end of this as a secondary objective. I would prefer to get back to the village, but escaping to the surrounding villages or just fleeing to another country was a possibility. I was working against three shinobi or ronin that were stronger than me and on high alert. I would watch them to see if they dropped their guard, but I doubted that would happen.
What did I have that would allow me to escape? My hands were bound but fingers were free. I could use chakra strings then. Weakness? Not terribly strong strings at my level. I could move things, maybe draw a knife against a still targets throat. I couldn't strangle one directly, but maybe if they all decided to sleep at the same time I could steal a knife and cut my bonds. I don't think they were that foolish though. At least one would always be on watch and as spies they probably had sharp eyes and ears. My chances of getting something by them were slim.
Poison? If I got lucky then I could find some when we camped for the night. A mushroom or something. I don't think I could sneak some in a soup though. They weren't unaware bandits, but trained shinobi. Luck didn't seem to favor me in this life either, things seemed to have a habit of turning for the worst. Could I alert someone? Maybe, but I had nothing like a flare or firework that would actually work for that. Rescue would take too long as well. They would simply slit my throat and run if they thought I had alerted someone.
Or maybe they wouldn't. They actually mentioned Isu by name, in such a way that it actually meant something to them. But he had been gone for years now. Was this the result of extensive spying? Or could it be an old enemy of his. Even worse perhaps we had someone who defected from the village and had an axe to grind. They were bringing me in alive, and that only happened after they recognized my eyes. Eyes that I shared from my father's side and thus Isu. What did they know? About the village, about Isu, and about me? Too many questions, not enough intel.
Think Kakuzu! What do you have that can get you out of this mess. Water bullet? Too weak without hand signs. Chakra strings? Not strong enough and not reliable with observant opponents. Mist jutsu? Too much chakra to use over a wide area, and no good way to navigate it myself. Maybe good enough to run, but they would chase me down quickly if they had any skills in tracking. If it were one guy I could maybe take him out through tricks, but there were three of them.
Another option was that I could simply go along with it. It was just as risky though. I could face potential torture and death, possibly by someone who had a grudge against my grandfather. There was however a slim possibility that I could 'join' them. It would depend almost entirely on the people at the other end of this though. I had no love for bandits, but I could fake it for a while. So do I risk it? Which had the higher chance of success? So far, I had found no way to escape without making my situation worse. I think for the time being I would play the part of a good hostage. At least until a clear chance presented itself.
We did not make camp that night. Chakra could let a man go much further than he normally could. Sleep was something a high-level shinobi could do without for a week. Granted a paranoid, insane, sleep deprived shinobi was not safe to everyone around him, but he could do it semi-regularly. These guys seemed to decide that our proximity to the village was not worth the risk.
More frustratingly was that they decided to be quiet. Considering their initial chattiness, I thought they would be talking up a storm. I was half right. They did talk… entirely in hand signs. That was a very bad sign for me. Both because I couldn't listen in, and because sign language was indicative of more coordinated effort and training. It spelled bad things for me and waterfall as a whole. This was more than a random shinobi bandit camp.
We traveled for the rest of the day like this. Me slung over this guy's shoulder, and my kidnappers talking only in hand signals. Occasionally one would let out a laugh, grunt, or single word response, but never more than that. Nothing that could be useful. We only ever stopped for a few minutes at a time. Just enough to eat something (which was never offered to me) and continued on our way. If I weren't gagged then I could attempt to ask questions like a scared child, but they never ungagged me.
I was beginning to get really hungry, and my back was killing me from being held so awkwardly. My wrists were beginning to swell, and I felt my strength begin to drop. Even If I managed to escape this guy's grasp, I would only be flung to the ground still bound. Nowhere to go from there. The only bright spot was that the guy I stabbed was clearly flagging. I unfortunately missed anything vital, but a stab to the leg was nothing to scoff at. Especially when you ran on it for days at a time.
Still, we didn't stop. We skipped the second night with no camping as well. I was starting to feel myself nod off, but every time I did I found myself dumped in a river or punched in the gut with a laugh and a promise of more pain if it happened again. I now considered it a curse being unable to sleep. It was difficult to stay focused when so tired, and any information I might have gotten was not worth it if I didn't have the strength to flee. They wanted me weak, hungry and scared. That cemented that I was probably going to be interrogated and tortured. Unfortunately, I was too weak at this point to attempt any real escape.
It was during the third day that we arrived at our destination. A large encampment, but not something that was quite the size for the reported army we were facing. A forward scouting group then. There must have been thirty men in this group. A few women dressed for battle too. Female bandits were not unheard of but rarer. Looking how they were dressed in decent armor though; it was far more likely they were shinobi or ronin. A few of them called out greetings and the trio was met by a higher ranked individual. He had a nice sword as well as polished armor.
"Haro-san, Ken-san, Yukzo-san. Your back early. Confirm Identities and report." The man said.
"Commander Aoi. Confirmation Koi fish, dancing fox, sleeping turtle. Recon mission a partial success, risk of discovery high. Jin was confirmed dead. This brat here is thought to be the related to target Isu and is the one who killed Jin through poison. Body destroyed as protocol demanded, but a trail of blood was left behind. Deemed too time consuming to destroy the trail. Deemed more important to withdraw with target. The kid was kept hungry, dehydrated, and awake during retreat to keep him weak and ready for interrogation. Yukzo-san injured by the brat trying to capture him. Adept with knives, enhanced physical abilities, and mist jutsu, possibly more. Trained as a shinobi, dangerous if left unsupervised. The other details of our operations are in this scroll." The front guy said handing a scroll to the man. He turned to Mr. Stabbed.
"Little bastard doesn't hesitate at all." The now identified Yukzo said. "He is definitely a killer. Going to need our medic to check this out. Nothing major, but I ran on it for almost three days. Lucky it wasn't poisoned considering what happened to Jin." He nodded to the last man
The last guy simply shook his head. "Nothing more than what these two have said. End report."
Aoi nodded and looked at my limp body. I stared back at him, unable to hide the exhaustion in my body. He reached out and pulled me up to his face.
"You definitely have his eyes, though your skin is a bit darker. Your Taki heritage no doubt. We have someone very interested in meeting you child. Behave and you may just make it out of this alive. You may not wish you did though. She has a cruel since of irony like that."
It was with those ominous words that he grabbed a bit of cloth and some liquid. He poured it on the cloth, covered my mouth, and I knew no more.
I awoke sometime later. I was in a tent of some kind. Flickering fire light appeared from the bottom tent telling me it was night time. I was bound to a chair. I was tired and exhausted, but thankfully alone. Looks like they didn't take the warning to heart of leaving me unsupervised. I would take every chance I would get here. The way those men spoke to each other, It was sharp and professional. These men sounded more like soldiers than a random gathering of mercenaries, bandits, and shinobi. Maybe their leader simply liked order, but the far more likely option were these guys were an organized experienced force. It would have been easier if they had been just a rabble. Much more likely to make mistakes. In any case, I wasn't going to stick around to meet whoever 'she' was.
Chakra strings extended from my hand to the room around me. Like my ground sensing jutsu I could feel everything they touch. It was almost felt like my fingers ghosting about the room. I couldn't feel any weapons around me, but could feel the ropes that bound me. I slowly felt them out, then started to undo them. It was slow going, I was weak and chakra strings were a bit limited in strength. Eventually though they fell away and I had a brief feeling of relief and success.
I stood, and immediately fell to the ground. I managed to hold in my groan. My ankles were swollen and I was desperately hungry and thirsty. Most of my chakra was dedicated to keeping me going at this point. I really needed to learn medical jutsu. I could only hope that infection wouldn't set in the open wounds. I managed to get myself upright and over to the edge of the tent. Lucky for me it wasn't actually one solid piece and I could pull up an edge. Cheap tents for the win.
I picked a side that didn't have light, hoping it would lead to the edge to a forest. I was correct. I saw the tree line, maybe a hundred feet from my prison. This would be tough, but I think I could get to the end. I henged to make myself look like part of the tent. I peeked around the sides and confirmed the layout of the camp. I saw no sentries looking this way. I changed the henge to make me look like a baby deer, and scampered quietly over to the forest.
I burst through the tree line. I was free! I wasn't sure if I could keep that freedom, but I would rather die on my feet then bound and gagged like a pig to slaughter. I ran forward, never dropping the henge. I ran until I heard the sound of water. I followed it until I finally came across a River. I gleefully knelt down to get a drink. I drew in a long swallow, and immediately spit it back out. It tasted like old boots. I stared at it for a second. A slow realization came upon me. I reached inward and grabbed my chakra, freezing it for a moment, then pushed it froward in a surge. I desperately whispered a word, praying I was wrong.
"Kai."
The forest around me dissolved, and I found myself back in a tent hunched over a trough of what looked like old dish water. I was unbound, but noticed that there was woman watching over me. A tall, maybe thirty-year old woman who's stare met my eyes. Her red, slightly spinning eyes. An Uchiha, one that wanted to meet me personally. One that might have had a grudge against my grandfather, who had fought Uchiha at least once in his life. I had been played. Shit.
"I can see by your face that you realize just how much trouble you are in young man. I must say though that I am impressed. Your skills and thinking are quite impressive. I find it is much easier to get to know a someone when he or she thinks they are alone. Much more likely to reveal their true self. It's good to finally meet you child. Do you know who I am?" She said in a calm soothing voice.
I was not deceived. This woman would destroy me the first chance she got. I studied her face for a moment. I do not think my acting was up to par to trick the Sharingan. Interestingly though she only had two tomoe in her eyes. I would have thought at her age she would have mastered it. Still, I was unlikely to slip anything past it. She was just waiting for me to answer. After a moment of hesitation, I did.
"Uchiha. Maybe thirty. Non fully masted Sharingan. May have a grudge against my grandfather. Did she plan this whole thing as some revenge against him? Escape unlikely, considering cooperation. Low loy- KAI!"
I panted on the ground as I forced my chakra into another surge. She got me again! A different type of Genjutsu, maybe something like hypnosis? I was too battered and hungry to think straight, and I suspect my sleep was not as long as I initially assumed. I could see light through the tent flap. And I doubt they let me sleep a whole day away.
She kept a small serene smile at me. "Observant too. Your only real flaw is that you seem to be unfamiliar with this level of Genjutsu. Don't feel so bad, the Sharingan is more than most can handle." She reached out and grabbed a pitcher that I hadn't noticed before. She poured a cup of water and handed it to me. I slowly grabbed it, avoiding her eyes. I made another chakra surge before I took a sip. This only seemed to delight her.
"My my, What an astute young man. Your mind is focused, all possibilities considered. Maybe a bit rude, but that can be taught. Honestly rudeness is a bit expected from a boy your age too. Your chakra control is excellent, and jutsu use phenomenal. You quickly considered the correct option too. cooperation is definitely in your best interest. None of that stubborn pride I find so distasteful in most men and women. Just a quick understanding of your place. I do believe we will get along just fine little Kakuzu."
I shuddered a bit at her words. She was viewing me as some sort of play thing. I fear this woman was either insane, or that she had a specific plan for me.
"Don't worry little one. I will take care of everything. All you have to do is cooperate. Just tell me what you know. Tell me everything about the village, and that butcher you call a grandfather."
Her hand reached out and grabbed my face. She held me almost painfully with one hand, but gently stroked me with the other. She forced my face toward hers. I closed my eyes to avoid her Sharingan.
"Now now, none of that dear. You should never be afraid of looking into my eyes. You should never fear me if you are being a good boy. I will always protect what is mine. You will learn quickly I think."
Her fingers forced one of my eyelids open. I tried to jerk away, but the other hand forced my head still. As soon as I saw her eyes, my vision went dark and I was left in a dreamless sleep.
I awoke again. This was becoming a pattern I quickly was beginning to dislike. My hands were bound in a new contraption. It was like a glove, but it was completely immobile and forced my fingers straight. My legs however were free. I looked up and I saw the woman again in front of me. She was smiling that same small gentle smile. Before her was a table with food and water. I couldn't stop the growl of my stomach at the smells coming from the table. I could smell the warm soup emanating from a bowl. My mouth would have been salivating if it weren't so dry.
"Welcome back Kakuzu-chan. I'm sorry I had to cut our last meeting short, but I have so many responsibilities here. I took the liberty of preparing some food for you."
She pushed the bowl forward, and I tentatively took a step forward. I couldn't use my hands, and suspected I couldn't use my strings either. The weird glove things had some markings which I assume where seals. I was unwilling to test them in front of the woman though. The Sharingan could see chakra. Normally chakra was invisible unless concentrated, but I could hide nothing from those eyes.
"Now then, this is how it's going to work. You will answer a question that I have, and I will give you a bite of stew. You will call me mother at the end of each response, or you will receive no food. Be a good boy and eventually you may be free to follow me home. Do you understand?"
I was silent for a moment, unsure of how to respond. I would have considered it under normal circumstances. My only real loyalty was to Ketsu and Kuri. I didn't particularly care for the rest of the village. Sure, there were people I would rather not see die, and would even protect if I had the chance, but I wouldn't just die for them. This woman though, something was seriously wrong with her. I suspected she was either crazy from birth, or it had something to do with my grandfather.
I had taken to long to answer, because she frowned and reached out to me. Her hand slapped me across the face. Damn that hurt.
"To stay silent when I ask you a question is deserving of punishment Kakuzu-chan. Please tell me you understand dear."
"Yes, mother." I muttered.
"Very good dear. Now I am going to ask you a few questions. Be good and you'll get some dinner. Now what is your name?" She asked
I knew what she was doing, she was trying to condition me to answer. Damn it I was hungry though.
"It's Kakuzu, mother" I said
She smiled and grabbed a spoon. She scooped some soup and lifted it to my mouth
"Good, now say aww."
Some of the soup poured in my mouth, but some 'missed' and spilled onto my face and clothes. She tisked and grabbed a towel. Gently she scrubbed me down. This whole mothering role was beyond weird to me. My eyes met hers for a moment, and I felt a surge of affection flow through me. I resisted the urge to flinch, but she noticed my slight twitch anyway.
"Is something wrong dear? You look like you are having unpleasant thoughts. Do you feel capable of continuing?"
My stomach growling was answer enough. She wanted to break my mind. Make me see here as some twisted version of a mother. She was quite clearly aware of the conditioning process, and was using her Sharingan to enhance and implant emotions. I could see why so many people hated the thing. Still, what choices did I have? She knew that I knew what she was doing, but as a child I would probably have fallen for it anyway. As an adult I might still fall for it when it was backed by mystic powers and carried on long enough. This was both better and worse than just physical torture. No matter what, I was on a timer. I doubted I could resist forever.
"Now dear, what was the name the bastard you call a grandfather?"
This continued for some time, she asked mild questions at first. Things easy to answer. There were some disturbing questions though. Some of them were, 'who is your mother' and other clear lies that she tried to force me to say. Obvious manipulation, but I played along. At the end my stomach was full and my thirst quenched. I was still a mess, but much better off. I think I resisted her hypnosis technique, but such things were always tricky. The one time I tried to cast a Kai when she was lost in thought, I was quickly slammed into the ground and forced to apologize over and over until she was satisfied. Once we were finished, she forced me to sleep again.
When I awoke for a third time, she was there again. The process repeated itself. The questions got more invasive; the surges of pleasure stronger. More questions about the village, more questions about Isu. I was forced to keep calling her mother, and forced to do more humiliating and embarrassing things.
She forced me to undress, and had a few underlings of hers create a makeshift bath. She washed me as I squirmed uncomfortably. Everything about this was wrong. Thankfully she didn't take it any further, but it was another tactic to strip away at my sense of boundaries and self. She kept calling me good boy and praising me, but I never felt so humiliated in my life. She knew it to. At the end of it she put me back to sleep.
This continued, waking up, food, questions, activities. She cleaned my rope wounds, and started to tell me bed time stories before putting back to sleep. Time started to lose meaning. The repeated emotional blasts from her eyes started to take their toll. If I had some time to think and dispel the chakra, I might have resisted it indefinitely, but I never was alone. I could feel my mind twist and bend under the pressure. Even in my mind I began to call her mother. I tried to counter that by repeating the term Uchiha bitch in my mind over and over.
I suspected that time was passing slower than it felt. I think she never put me under for more than an hour or two except at the end of the day. My wounds were my measure for this. I knew how fast I healed due to training and Isu's abuse, and It seemed slow for the amount of 'sleeping' I was doing. I bet If she had the time, she would be doing this slower, but there was an invasion to plan. However, despite all this I detected a weakness. That was my grandfather. She just was obsessed with both getting information and forcing me to bad mouth him. I didn't exactly need encouragement on that last one. It was also the only time she accepted 'bad' language from me.
"How strong exactly is Isu? What jutsu does he know?" she asked
"The bastard is better at taijutsu than anything else mother. He knows water, earth, and some fire jutsu, but will always engage physically if it's an option." I said. I tried not to let the warmth that enveloped me sweep me away.
"Hmm… what are his favorite techniques? Or any jutsu he keeps in store?" she asked, smiled just a bit strained from talking about Isu.
"I know of two special jutsu he has. The first is some sort of speed technique. I don't know if it's a jutsu or just a strong body but he once speed blitzed an Inuzuka in a straight line. I would not want to fight him in a taijutsu battle mother."
"And the second ability?" she asked
I hesitated for a second. Then answered
"My family has a special technique." I whispered. I turned my head slightly to look at the ground. "It's a form of thread manipulation. He is able to use it to attack and separate his arms and legs from his body. He can use it underground for surprise attacks, and it gives him extra strength. There are a few other abilities, but that's what he mainly uses it for."
"Oh? And do you have these threads yourself? I've never seen any ability like that from you. Have you been keeping secrets from me?"
"Of course not mother! I don't have them yet, too young. We keep them in a secret location. I won't get them until I'm a teenager." I said. It was hard to handle the surge of panic that I had started to get at displeasing her. I hated it, and I hated her. "Would you like me to take you there?"
Please say yes. I don't think I can take much more of this.
"I'm afraid that would be a bad idea right now. Too people would be suspicious if you showed back up at home right now." She said.
I resisted the urge to panic. Instead, I shook my head.
"It's not in the village proper. In fact, it's about a two-day run for me to get there from our old shack." I bit my lip "Just one thing. If I show you this you have to promise me something."
"What is that dear?"
"There is a girl named Kuri. Please promise she'll stay safe. I can't lose her too. I've lost too many people. Please mother."
She hemmed and hawed for a few moments, then finally nodded her consent.
"Very well, I will put in a word for her to be spared. Thank me for my generosity." She said.
"Thank you, mother."
"Can anyone get this power or are there requirements?"
"The only requirement that I know of is that the location is sealed and to be at least and adolescent. We will need my blood, both to open the initial seal and to open another one at the end of the path. It will take a bit of time for the seals to react and to travel the path. Once inside no one should be able to enter behind us."
Take the bait. It's tempting, isn't it? You want revenge on Isu for whatever he did to you or someone you knew. Here his grandson is, giving his abilities away on a platter. I even begged for a deal to keep Kuri safe. Take the deal, investigate now. The village will be hard to invade, especially with the hero's water, but you don't need that. You just need something to take him down and torture him. Take the bait.
I could almost see the wheels turning on her face. For all her manipulations she thought me a child. A smarter one than usual, but I've been under her influence for at least a week. How could I trick or manipulate her? Finally, she made a decision.
"You will take us tomorrow. I will need get a few things in order first, so why don't you sleep for now Kakuzu-chan."
My eyes met her, and all went black again.
When I awoke next it was to a clean set of clothes and two other men and a child. Of course, I was forced to dress in front of everyone. I did recognize the men at least. It was Haro and Ken, though I still wasn't sure which was which. I suppose the last one was healing still. The child was a couple years older than me, and was looking toward mother…No! The Uchiha bitch! That was her name! He was looking toward the Uchiha bitch in obvious uncertainty. The Uchiha bitch was paying him little attention though. She stepped forward and knelt down to me.
"Kakuzu-chan. These nice men are going to accompany us to the secret spot you told us about. I also brought one of your new brothers! His name is Kenchiro-kun. He will keep us company during this. My little man was so insistent on guarding his mother that I just couldn't refuse him!"
She reached over and rubbed his hair. It didn't lessen my unease about this whole thing. I wasn't sure why she had brought him, but it wasn't for anything good.
"It will take around four days to travel there. We will also be meeting up with a few friends of mine, clans-men from the Uchiha clan. You better be on your best behavior!"
Oh. Oh no. That was bad.
"Let's go everyone!"
We made our way out of the tent, and I was blinded slightly by the morning sun. First time I had seen it in a while. We stopped briefly to talk to the commander, and started running.
We ran, and ran, and ran. It was actually a bit of a brutal pace. We only stopped briefly for a few moments to eat and drink, and kept running. I wish I could say I could keep up, but I was weakened by my treatment at these guys hands. I had recovered somewhat, but I was definitely weaker than I should be. It was only a half a day in when I finally lost my balance due to exhaustion. The Uchiha bitch stooped down and picked me up.
"Oops. Looks like you are a bit tired, let Mother carry you for a while dear."
I got a glare from Kenshiro for that. Dude had an issue with the attention I was getting
The days more or less progressed like this. I would be carried for a time, then set down to run again. Soon I would start to tire, and be picked back up. I missed the days when Isu would force me to run anyway. It was more brutal, but he didn't treat me as an infant. He was honest in his cruelty, unlike this woman who tried to bend my mind with a smile.
Despite this we made good time. We traveled around any little villages we came across, and never allowed anyone to see us. Almost no one anyway. We did run into a random traveler who spotted us from below. He was quickly killed and dragged into the forest for the beasts and buzzards.
During all of this we were relatively quiet. Kenshiro had definitely taken the stance of hating me, but never did anything while mother… Uchiha bitch was watching. As she never let me out of her site we never really ran into issues. I did catch her once or twice smirking at the boy when his back was turned though. She knew exactly what was going through his mind. It was just another of her games.
I just tried to ignore everything and everyone except for her. She continued to play the mind games with me whenever we camped, and seemed to shower me with praise right in front of the other child. I honestly felt bad for him. She was trying to pit him against me for some reason, but I wasn't sure why. Simple amusement? Or was there a deeper plan?
Either way I was never far from the Uchiha bitch, and she made sure to feed, wash, and clothe me. She always put me to sleep and told me a story. I couldn't help but have a small part of me yearn for the attention, and tried to squash the feeling. I would not succumb to this, and she would be dead by the end of our trip.
On the fourth day we ran across the two escorts she had mentioned. Two tall and stern face men. They had black hair and coal eyes. The Uchiha lady and the men all flashed their eyes at each other. I assumed it was some kind of visual genjutsu code. Smart, and nearly impossible to duplicate for a non-Uchiha. One of the men glanced at me.
"Is this the one?" he asked.
"Yes, little Kakuzu-chan is the grandson of the butcher. He also knows the location of that thread technique he uses. It is apparently something more akin to a summoning contract than a standard technique. Some powerful summon gives them the ability. You apparently need the right blood for it."
I hadn't told her that. How did she know that? I desperately hoped she didn't know more. Did she get that from someone else? Or worse, did she somehow hypnotize it out of me?
"Little Kenshiro-kun here should have a similar blood to Kakuzu. They have a similar heritage after all. We can work out how to duplicate it from there. I don't fully trust Kakuzu-chan not to try to betray us, so we are going to give it to Little Ken first as a test."
There was a pang of guilt at her lack of trust, but I crushed it down. Just a result of the conditioning. Kenshiro looked over at me with a smug smile. I ignored him with a practiced ease. She knew far too much. Hopefully her source, which I suspect was me, didn't share everything. Too much of all of this relied on luck.
The other Uchiha nodded.
"We are more concerned with the Hero water, but this would make a nice little bonus. Proceed, but be careful. Summons can be temperamental at the best of times."
She smiled and that was that. We continued on our way to the stump. It was only a few hours until we arrived there. The old stump sat toward the edge of a clearing. I forced down the hope and dread of seeing it again. The time for hesitation was gone. I looked over to the Uchiha bitch, she nodded at me.
"Go ahead little one. Open the path."
She handed me a knife, and I drew some blood. I let it drop onto the stump below me. The we waited.
After ten minutes the Uchiha escorts started to get bored and started talking among themselves. Haro and Ken started to play a game of dice, and kenshiro was sending me looks of disdain. The Uchiha bitch and I simply watched the stump. Another twenty minutes passed, and finally the it lit up, and the path appeared again. I stepped back instinctively. Despite my situation I was not eager to step back into that oppressive darkness. A hand landed on my shoulder, and the woman was looking down at me sweetly.
"After you Kakuzu-chan. And do try not to break my heart. You wouldn't want something bad to happen to your mother, right little one?"
"Of course not mother." You will die bitch.