Dream Skirmish

Chapter 4

"How much longer is this going to take?" Hell questions her captor with great irritation. "It's been like three weeks, Kabuto... Nothing is happening."
"There's more happening than you realize, Hell."
"Besides a big waste of time?"
Her sarcasm and attitude are grinding the man's nerves, but he keeps a cool head by constantly reminding himself that he's doing this for Orochimaru. The light haired ninja shifts his glasses with his index finger before lifting up the sheets covering the young woman from the waist down. Even though this process has been repeated many times, Hell can't help but blush every time Kabuto inspects her nearly naked body; some white panties are the only thing keeping her from being completely exposed.
Feeling embarrassed she shifts her hips in a desperate attempt to push her legs together and somehow keep a bit of privacy, but it's all in vain. They both know just how unsettling this is for Hell and while Kabuto first took advantage of that by teasing her, inappropriately touching the inside of her thighs or bringing his face extra close simply to get under her skin, even he has started getting uneasy about this entire situation--not that he would ever admit it.
Using a cold tube like object made of metal, he pokes and prodes around her thighs, sides and feet. Followed by a painful tissue sample, which he extracts by slicing her skin open just enough to carelessly shove a q-tip into the wound and swabbing it around, obviously prolonging the process simply to cause his victim more pain than necessary. A blood sample--something that has always been a difficult task with Hell since one can never seem to get the blood from her veins into the syringe--is also taken with an extra long needle. Kabuto found out it's best shoved into her neck, right into the aorta or else he'll be left with nothing more than a few drops.
He turns to his miniature lab at the other corner of the room, leaving Hell's nearly naked body completely revealed for anyone that might enter the room or pass by the door and peek inside. She rolls her eyes and stares at the wall, chewing the inside of her lip to ignore the strange sensations left behind from the senselessly torturous and sadistic extraction methods.
"Kabuto, would you at least cover me back up? Not everyone needs to see me like this..."The man completely ignores her. "I'm serious, please cover me."
She shudders at a sudden breeze that brushes across her chest and she looks down at herself awkwardly. Hell let's out a sigh and closes her eyes when she sees her nipples hardening from the cold and begins to feel extremely uncomfortable. She hopes that her breasts being so sensitive and painful under the slightest touch isn't a PMS syndrome. The last thing she needs right now is to have her period start while being in such a dirty place where one hasn't even bothered to wash her once. She dreads to find out just how unhygienic a woman's monthly bleeding would be if they'd be forced to lay in their own bloody filth.
Her lids open wearily when she can hear Kabuto chuckling to himself, an evil glint shining in his eyes. "Well, well, well... It's really working. Orochimaru will be pleased for certain."
Quickly, he covers her back up with a malevolent smile on his lips. Before the brown haired woman can ask any questions though, he's already halfway out the room in such a rush that he didn't even bother to lock the door.

"Please remain in bed, miss! You're not ready to get up!"
Blacky scowls at the two nurses holding her down in the hospital bed as she thrashes against their grip. She yells at them to let her go, almost managing to kick one of the staff members straight in the stomach, but her foot is stopped a mere inch away from impact by a strong, gloved hand.
"It's ok, you may leave nurses. I got this."
The young woman's tense muscles instantly relax at the soothing voice of her Sensei, who's giving the medical team a warm expression. His smile remains until they leave the room before shifting into a more serious one as he stares down at his student. Clearly uncomfortable under the intense gaze, Blacky puffs out her cheeks and averts her eyes to the wall to try and ignore Kakashi.
"Don't be like that." He lets go of her foot, sitting down next to her. "Or I'll have to eat the shrimp on my own."
For a moment the teen's eye twitches at the bribing method everyone knows always works on her and takes a deep breath to control her urge to devour the shrimp in one big gulp, that is until her stomach growls loudly. As she slowly turns her head to stare at her teacher, she's greeted by him holding the food carton to her face, almost pushing it into her cheek with a soft laugh.
"Eat, you'll need to strength. And don't even try the silent treatment either, we all know you can't keep your mouth shut for long."
"I hate you sometimes..." With a sigh she crosses her legs and breaks the chopsticks apart after he hands them to her and begins to eat slowly. "Why are you here?"
"I'm not allowed to check on the well-being of my own students? Especially after I hear you've been misbehaving."
"I'm not misbehaving!" She protests, pouting in response. "But I need to get out of here. I need to train and become stronger so... I can..."
Her teacher nods understandingly, folding his arms and leaning back. "Blacky, we all want you to get better and train again, but you're lucky you even survived... Don't throw that away by being stupid, that won't help Hell."
The young girl looks down sadly, her eyes closed as she fights to hold back tears, but fails as wet drops stain the blanket covering part of her legs. Somewhat surprised by her sudden change of tune, the white haired man leans forward, his elbows resting on the top of his thighs.
"There's no need to cry, Blacky"
"Yes there is." She sniffs, clutching the duvet tightly and snapping the chopsticks in her other hand in half. "I failed, Kakashi-Sensei... She was right there a-and I... I couldn't..." The girl shakes her head in denial. "I couldn't help her... I let my best friend get kidnapped even though she was... Right there... Right in front of me... I got too cocky, I should have just... Snagged her and left... O-or called for help..." She lifts her head to stare at the man beside her with tears slowly dripping from her reddish eyes. "I could have saved her, Sensei..."
The man nods slowly, letting it all sink in for a moment before he places a caring hand on the top of her arm. "We often feel that way. We blame ourselves for things we couldn't control. We make excuses , false accusations and guilt trip ourselves into an endless spiral of anger, pain and revenge... Do the world a favor and don't let this consume you." He gives her a closed eye smile, arising from his chair. "I'll get you some new chopsticks."
Kakashi leaves the room, giving her one last worrying glance just before he slides the door shut and leaves the teen alone with her thoughts. Blacky stares at the food in her lap, the white around her green orbs still puffy red and filled with tears, but even after her teacher's meaningful words, she can't help but feel like she's responsible and has to own up for her mistakes.