| [Oct. 1st, 2010|11:45 pm] |
Genma's next words came more haltingly, low enough that Sugimoto and Aki both leaned closer to hear. "They told Kakashi I was dead. Told him he'd killed me, they'd killed me. Told him I was dead and it was his fault. And they drugged him and wore him down with genjutsu and psychology. Genjutsu and drugs. I couldn't see what the genjutsu was, but..." Kakashi's haunted, terrorized face after the torturer snapped the illusion was almost easier to see than the elegant Uchiha woman in front of him. The dark of the cell on that video screen more present than the warm autumn sunlight around them. Genma hunched over his knees, shaking and sweating despite the chill in the air.
"Kakashi finally started talking. But he didn't tell them anything. Told 'em a lot of nonsense. Babbled and babbled at them until they stopped... Someone stopped it. Someone cut off the feed, so I don't know. But I know Kakashi didn't break." He looked Sugimoto in the eye, then Aki. "Kakashi didn't break. He told them a thousand and one lies, but he never told them a single thing that was true."
Aki exchanged a long look with Sugimoto.
"Listen to me!" Genma rasped.
"We believe you, Shiranui-san," Sugimoto said quietly. "We just need to know the details so that we can secure Hatake-san's release."
Genma let out an exhausted breath and slumped back against the blanket.
Aki only let him rest for a moment. "And you, Genma-san? How were you interrogated?"
Tension fused Genma's spine into an icy rod. "I... I wasn't. Not really. I... I don't know what they were doing. They mostly made me watch. Only... They only asked me how I got away from them before. They were really interested in... That. In..." He could feel Sugimoto's and Aki's eyes flick to his swollen fingers. "And they wanted to know how Ito-sensei... They knew about Ito-sensei." His hands twisted into the fabric of the too-big shirt, aching knots of scar. He swallowed and felt a sticky block forming in his throat. "Can I have some water?"
Sugimoto uncapped a water bottle and held it out to him, and he managed three long swallows before he dropped the bottle and gagged back up the last mouthful over his knees. The medic, who hadn't gone far, came back in a hurry. "I think, Genma-san, you will feel better if you lie down," he said gently. Far too gently. |
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