In the shadows of the Sand (Solo)

The sun was already high in the sky, a hot hot day, as if that was unusual here in Sunagakure, village hidden in the sand. At least that was what Kaori thought looking out the window, as she herself did not feel hot at all. Actually indoors was a bit chilly. The girl was in the ninja academy, it was her last lesson before the Genin exams and she did not plan to fail it. Many things were at stake here, but the most troubling would be proving her weakness and inability to show her power. Vex did not need weaklings, failing the exam would cause her even more suffering from the clan. Turning her head back at the teacher, the girl continued to listen, actually she did not stop doing that while looking outside. They were being told some garbage organization info about the exam. The girl already knew they will need to perform 3 random academy techniques. At least that's the usual test. They were being told the time and room and other useless crap, their examiner's name did not sound familiar and her group were morons. Nothing unusual. As the last lesson ended and the class was dismissed, Kaori would get up and walk towards the exit only to be stopped by the teacher. "Kaori-chan,-" "One more -chan and I swear I'll gut you like a fish!" The following being only her thoughts, I'm afraid. "Your uncle told me to send you to him after today's lesson was over. I believe they want to talk to you about the upcoming exam." "Thank you, sensei" "Moron." After saying and thinking that, she left the class. So, now the clan wanted her. It was already bad, but she felt even more pressure now, not knowing what kind of surprise they might have prepared for her this time.

The girl left the academy building, entering the sandy streets of Sunagakure. She would head home, but after walking just a few hundred meters away from the academy her silence would be interrupted. "Kaori!" The voice was that of her brother. He was not her biological brother, but they were raised in the same family. In their clan it was fairly usual as many of them would die, some in combat, some to experimentions. The young man was already Chuunin ranked, his figure standing on a rock nearby, above her. When the girl tries to look at him she is blinded by the sun, covering her eyes with her right hand to see her brother's silhouette. "The uncle is expecting you. Follow me." Her brother's name was Kanaye and he was always treated better then her, probably because of his superior strength. Everyone said he was very talented ninja, just one year older than Kaori the boy had already reached Chuunin rank. He was also very cocky, one of the reasons the girl deeply disliked him. And the special treatment did not help it. Having to do his work and suffer in his place at the clan's hands, those things were fueling Kaori's hate for some time now. Without a further explanation Kanaye turned around and pushed off the rock. The girl followed. As usual he did not let this chance to tease her slide, making sure he was going faster than she was, making her exhaust herself in order to keep up. Cursing him, she kept on leaping through the village until their arrived, entering the shadows in the Sunagakure.

They were now walking in a dark corridor, Kaori taking this chance to catch her breath and Kanaye not paying any attention to her heavy breathing, although she was sure it he felt satisfied he could bring her such discomfort. The building they were now in was sort of a Vex hideout inside the village. Here they would do all the major clan business and stuff, it was a place Kaori did not like, for she suffered many horrors in here. She was afraid, even if she did not want to admit that. There were many doors here and from behind them she could hear silent moaning, weeping and even screaming from time to time. Unfortunately this place was hidden so well that nobody from the outside would ever find it, unless somebody from the Vex led them in. Kaori knew what kind of things were being done here, she knew the nature of the experiments performed as well as their ultimate goal. She was actually smarter than they thought she was. Maybe she should not have kept it to herself. Finally her brother brought her to the chamber meant for her and they entered. Her uncle and two others were already inside. "Ah, Kaori, we have been waiting for you." He would say with a hearty smile, though she knew it meant sinister thoughts. The smile was no for her, but for what she might bring - progress, even if it costed her life. After all she knew with what they were experimenting here - with life and its forces inside men. And she was they today's subject it would seem. It was pointless to try to run, as it was pointless to call or look for help. Her best chances of surviving came with them succeeding in whatever they tried to do. However the girl did not know the experiment before her would be the most dangerous she had experienced so far, as well as it had a steady 0% survival rate so far. They partially stripped her and chained her to a wall, which was engraved with various seals and marking, most of them she did not understand. And then it began, the most excruciating experience in her life as a hole was torn in her life force itself allowing for parasitic seal to enter her body. And as she screamed she watched the faces, those interested faces around her, her uncle delighted to see his procedure work, only Kanaye seemed a bit bored, which did not help his case. As red lightning of chakra struck her body, some of her skin started to peel off, leaving bloody markings behind, the seal covering half of her body from her legs to her neck even extending onto her face. The faces around her gave away that same interest, maybe at a different level, this had probably never happened before in their tests or something like that. She cursed them all, hated them, she swore she would kill them all if she survived this, which she knew was unlikely. And then, very suddenly, another wave shook her and before she could feel the pain, her vision blurred, her mind fell into darkness and her thoughts disappeared, last thing to go was her hatred.

"She's waking up!" "Magnificent! We've never got it this far, it seems we've made a breakthrough today." "We should see if her mind is undamaged, we will never know the extent of stress her body went through." "I suppose you are right, it's wonderful enough that the girl actually survived, but how long she would last is an entirely different question. We should look into some ways of controlling it now." "Yes, let's get down to it. Kanaye, get the chains off her and put her in the other room." Kaori heard foot steps and felt the chains let her go, her numb body starting to fall. She was aware of her surroundings, but completely unable to move even the slightest muscle, not even lift a finger. However her body would not fall on the cold ground, it would be caught, probably by Kanaye as he carried out his orders, taking her out of the monstrous room. She was on his shoulder, but could not see where he was taking her, as he eyes would remain shut, no matter how much she wanted to open them. His steps would echo for a bit and the sounds the others were making would go away, Kaori would assume they were now back in the corridor. She would hear the doors close behind them, before realizing her head was extremely silent and there was no pain. Actually she could hardly feel anything, except hearing and whatever her skin touched. Soon, another door would open and Kanaye would lay her down on what she assumed was a table, considering it was higher than a bed and even more so than the floor. Then he would whisper. "You know, you surprised me back there. I thought you would not live after this, though, I guess, it wasn't really your doing. The procedure got better. I'm curious as to how you feel about it, that you had absolutely no power, no chance to change your fate. It was just dumb luck they perfected it to the point that let you survive... And again, nothing is certain. I'm not even sure if you can hear this, or know what is speaking to you. Well, I guess we'll find out and we'll see how long you'll last." With that he turned away and his foot steps left the room closing the door behind him. She would linger for a moment on what he had said and then fall asleep.

The next time she woke up it was all different. She could already move, though it caused real pain to do so. Slowly she opened her eyes. The ceiling was made of stone, just like the other room and the light came from a few candles on the walls, which seemed dumb because there were lamps. Maybe not using those were part of keeping this place hidden, this Kaori did not know. She was indeed laying on a table, other than that the room seemed quite empty. Her body was covered with a blanket, but she felt cold anyway. As she heard the doors open, her head would turn in that direction, meeting with Kanaye's and her uncle's faces. Her brother remained at the doors, while her uncle approached her. "I see you're awake. How do you feel?" She thought of a moment. Telling him to go f*ck himself was on her mind, but she knew she had to play along. Now was not the time. She would kill them when she gets the chance, survival was her first priority. And so she gave a straight answer. "Exhausted. And my whole body is in pain." "I see." He did not sound or look surprised. Her uncle's hand briefly raised the blanket to see the markings that remained on her body after whatever it was they did to her. Her hatred received even more fuel as she recognized that same look of interest on his face, as she had seen during the nightmare. "...Well, I'm happy to see you're fine. Rest for today, when you can move you are free to go home, we want you to pass your tomorrow's test, after all." She suppressed a smirk as she did not recall saying she was fine, in fact she was far from fine - she almost died and he knew it. But she would not fail this easily. She would do her best to survive this bunch of monsters and then she will destroy them, every single one of them. Her eyes followed the uncle leaving the room. Before he walked out the door he told her brother "I leave the rest to you, Kanaye." who in response made a nod. He however did not restrain his thoughts and feelings, making an obvious smirk as soon as he left. "Well then, it seems you might actually live. I'm so happy." She did not reply, returning to her own thoughts. In less than an hour her body would rest enough for her to move. With the marking still on her body, she wondered if they would ever disappear with if she will carry them all her life. With Kanaye's help she returned home where she would fall into her bed and sleep for the rest of the day. Tomorrow's test did not seem all that big now. Not after this.

2010 w.
[+10 stats, +20 JP]

Approved!