Sacrifice

Believe

Ok, well, not the response to her dramatic revelation she was hoping for. He held up her headband.

"But why are you here? To spy? Or do you just have a death wish?"

She clenched her fists and took a stabilizing breath.

"I woke up in this forest, on the other side of the country, and literally stumbled upon this cave. All I remember is going to sleep after the new moon festival and waking up there."

"But the new moon was five days ago!" Tobi exclaimed suddenly.

Pain shot him a glare, silencing him. If he looked at her like that, her knees might have given out.

"And why should we trust you?" He continued.

"You shouldn't," she answered immediately. "But it'd be foolish not to believe me, considering all the evidence you have so far."

He pondered this for a moment.

"Tell me about your village," he demanded in a slightly softer, more curious tone as he waved Itachi over.

"It's located in the Fyushoji Mountain range that lies between the Country of Fire and Country of Wind. It's covered in the shadow of the tallest peaks all but three weeks of the year, so everyone has see-in-the-dark eyes."

She gestured to her own eyes, which glimmered a green-blue when the light hit them in a certain way.

"And everyone can manipulate shadows. Our leader- the Yorukage- is chosen by the previous Yorukage and trained specifically. All children undergo training: shadow manipulation training, sensory training, torture resistance training, poison resistance training, and basic defense/offense training. Almost every parent bears twins and it became a rite-of-passage for the children to kill their parents at a certain age. The main reason was to control the population and it turned into a tradition.

Those who fail a mission or are deemed failures- whether by failing their training, betraying, or running away from the village- are forced onto a ledge that was always in the sunlight, one that soaks up the heat, and left to be literally fried to death. I've seen someone who has died from it and their eyeballs and internal organs were all melted and they had severe burns and blisters on every part of their body. The skin that touches the stone is ripped off if they try to move. Those who don't die from dehydration or injuries are then plunged into a vat of salt and then die from the sheer pain of it.

Everyone has black hair, other than the direct descendants of the first Yorukage who inherit his abilities. That person has silvery-white hair and is usually the strongest person in the village. They have the first Yorukage's abilities, their own, and all of the training from childhood. Some of you may know the rumors of the land. It being cursed or whatever. That anyone who steps into the shadow of the mountain succumbs to the darkness and never returns, but I can assure you we just kill them."

She finally finished, flicking her long silvery hair out of her face. Everyone listened patiently and started whispering among themselves. Itachi nodded in response to Pain's questioning glance. He was silent for a long moment before turning to the girl with purple hair.

"Konan, what do you think?"

The cave grew quiet once more.

"I think we should assess her skills. She could be a valuable asset."

Yasuna's heart leapt in a faint spark of hope.

"Wait," the guy named Hidan interjected. "Doesn't that mean you have a brother?"

"Had," she corrected, turning her gaze to meet his. "He failed his training."

"So he was burned to death?"