Overcoming the Odds.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Welcome to Prison

After Karin revealed everything she knew about Sasuke and Orochimaru, his hideouts, experiments, forbidden scrolls and techniques, plans for the future, everything she knew, she was released and escorted through the village by two jōnin. By now it was dark outside with few people out on the streets, so her journey to the Konoha prison was met with no stares or scowls this time.

Once inside, she was forced to ditch her old clothes and put on a black prison jumpsuit, and she was given an extra pair of the same black clothing as well including two pairs of socks. After that they did the essentials for instating a new prisoner, meaning her picture was taken and she was given an identification number.

With the necessities all done, Karin was guided through a long stairwell that went underground. After traveling down the stairwell they entered a small room that had nothing but a metal door. One of the jōnin that accompanied her placed his thumb on a seal that was on the door, and shortly afterward the door made a clicking noise and was ultimately unlocked. They passed through the door, and now a complex maze of corridors and passageways came into view. Any wrong turn could make someone get lost if they didn't know the layout of the place.

As she was guided through the halls of the underground prison, she looked at the grim atmosphere that surrounded her: dark stone walls, dimly lit hallways, people screaming... Mixed in with the uncertainty, it all served to make her more nervous and scared. She didn't even know how long she was going to stay there, no one told her anything about that yet.

She noticed they had walked far enough to get away from the screaming, and she was thankful that she wasn't getting placed anywhere near those yelling madmen. Instead, they walked further into the labyrinth and came unto a more quiet setting, so quiet the only things she could hear were the jōnin's sandals and the pitter-patter of her bare feet hitting the cold stone floor. They turned one last time and were met with a more clean looking hallway with better lighting and metal doors along each of the walls.

Karin was taken to the end of the hall and arrived at the last metal door, where one of the jōnin then proceeded to open it by once again placing his thumb on a seal that was fixed to the door. A series of loud groans and mechanical ticks that came from the door made her jump in surprise. It was now unlocked, and so one jōnin opened it to reveal her new home.

She stepped inside, and could see that it was unlike the cells that she saw earlier; this cell was closed off by a metal door and was in a small room. It was strange to see, as it was a cell within a room, something she's never seen before. The two men shoved her inside the room and followed after her. Once they were inside, one jōnin went up to the metal bars and again placed his thumb on a seal resulting in the cell's door clicking open. He opened it for her to go through, then the other male brought her inside.

The man brought a kunai out from his holster and cut the rope that restrained her. He pocketed the cut remains, then he walked out of the cell and closed the door and proceeded to press his thumb against the seal, locking the cell door. He turned towards his partner.

"I take it you'll do the rest?" He asked. His partner nodded once, which made the man walk towards the entrance of the room and promptly leave.

"OK, listen here." The lone man spoke in an authoritative voice. Karin looked at him. "Regarding food: breakfast and dinner is served every day. Regarding hygiene: toilet paper and soap is brought by a guard every 3 weeks. There is a sink over there so at least clean yourself, you better not even think of stinking up the damn place, we have enough filth and stench problems as it is." He pointed at the clock that hung directly over the room's entrance. "Sink water is on from 1 PM to 7 PM. Someone will come every week to take and wash one pair of clothing. Your toothbrush is replaced every 6 months. Lights turn on at 7 AM and turn off at 11 PM. Oh, and anybody who visits you will be closely monitored, so don't even get any bright ideas."

The man made his way to the room's exit. Karin saw this and immediately called for his attention.

"W-wait!" She said as she went up to the bars. The man turned around and looked at her confused. "How long am I staying here for? No one's told me anything yet."

He dawned a surprised face, then he reached into his pocket and brought out a simple looking scroll.

"Damn, how do I always forget about that?" She heard him mutter. He threw the scroll through the bars and it landed somewhere on the floor. He reached into his pocket once more and brought out a feather as well as an enclosed inkwell. He walked up to the metal bars and hinted at her to take the items, which she did.

"You will write to your home village if you are a missing or rogue-nin, and plead your case to have a trial there if desired. If you aren't a missing-nin or rogue-nin... Then too bad I guess. This is your only chance to be taken home in the event of you not wanting your trial here." He started walking away from her. "Once you've written your request just give it any guard who comes in here."

Karin looked at him with a worried expression. The scroll didn't help her at all, and he didn't even answer her question. What was the point of even doing something like that anyway?

The guard left the room and closed the heavy metal door. After it closed, she heard the same groaning and clicks from before and knew it must have locked into place.

She looked around her cell and noticed a ringing in her ears. It had gone gravely silent.

She stood there in the cell. Nothing but stillness and quiet met her ears, and it had yet to click in her mind that this type of atmosphere was where she would be staying for who knows how long. The ringing was driving her mad, and she hadn't even been there for 5 minutes!

She walked to the small bed and sat down on it. "What do I do now?" She asked herself out loud to battle the quietness, and in the back of her mind, a voice told her the obvious truth of her situation: there was nothing she could do. This was her life now, nothing but gross food, cold air, and terrible ringing in her ears. Her bottom lip trembled at the sad thought, and the tears that soon fell from her ruby red eyes were met with no protests.

She laid down on her bed and threw the covers over her body, then rest her head on the pillow they were kind enough to give. Her tears and breathing increased abnormally, which spawned a series of hiccups that she couldn't seem to control. She cried for as long as she could until fatigue got the best of her, where only then could she rest peacefully and embrace the solace found in her dreams.

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Naruto lay on his bed wearing nothing but a white T-shirt and boxers on. He had yet to fall asleep, as thoughts about his day bugged him to no end. That girl was all he could think about ever since the ordeal, and it worried him how much he spent thinking about her.

He surely felt sorry for her and knew she was in an undesired position, yet he couldn't shake this weird feeling from him. It was the exact same feeling from before when he was training and when he was staring at her.

This feeling... He couldn't even describe it other than a 'feeling'. It asked, no, told him to go to her, and for some strange reason he wanted to desperately give into the command.

He pulled at his hair and groaned, knowing full well that seeing her would be weird and stupid, and that she would want no business with him... But that weird feeling told him otherwise.

He began to get irritated; he needed his sleep and he was tired after this crazy day. He grabbed the blanket that was at his feet and covered himself with it and got comfortable. He closed his eyes and made a mental note that he would look for her tomorrow, oddly enough the feeling went away and he was able to quickly drift off into much-needed sleep. He slipped into a dream about his wildest fantasies, and you could bet there was ramen somewhere mixed in there.

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Vote and comment, if you like it.

The story's developing quite well.

Sincerely,
~うずまき ナルト