My Puppet Master: A Kankuro Love Story

Chapter 22: Agothkakological

Kankuro's POV:

I sat up slowly, and groaned in pain as I recovered from the fall. That was when I heard a familiar voice.

Akuma: "Try all you want to escape, but it will only end in failure. You got away once, I won't let you get away again."

That voice, I stood up and ran forward.... only to run straight into the iron bars of a cage. I hit it with such force that I fell backwards, my head ringing. Getting up I ran in every direction of the cage possible with my arms out in front of me to avoid hitting my head again, but no matter what way I ran I was quickly met with iron bars. Yet this wasn't what was most disturbing. Whatever way I went, I never ran into someone. Even though I couldn't see in this intense darkness, I knew. In the fall we must have fallen through different chutes rather than one big one like I thought and funneled into different cages. Which meant...

Kankuro: "Akuma! Don't  you dare hurt them! Let us go!"

Then right beside me through the cage I heard a cold voice.

Akuma: "You don't seem to understand the gravity of your situation, let alone just who holds power over you. You should have left well enough alone and let me complete my work, but now you will simply become collateral damage. Tell me. How does it feel to have everything you love, everything you once dreamed of taken away from you? How does it feel to know that it is all your fault?"

I stammered but I couldn't come up with an argument. What he said was true, Gaara made me team leader and he trusted me. When I learned the identity of the man behind all of this and his relationship with Reiko, I should have sent her back to the village. Even if I didn't send her home at that time, I should have when I learned that his plan revolved around her and Temari. I should have sent them home for their own protection and regrouped with a different team, but I didn't. I was going to remain silent, then a short way away from me I heard the sound of clanging metal. The girls hadn't given up, they weren't cowering or listening to his manipulation. They were trying to escape no matter how impossible it seemed. This gave me the courage I needed.

Kankuro: "You're a weak man Akuma, who feeds off the fear of others. You manipulate those who you think are weaker than yourself and run from direct conflict, relying on cheap tricks and traps to stop anyone who comes your way. I will get out of this cage and when I do, I will make you regret every decision that led to my imprisonment."

I tried infusing my chakra to make strings for my puppets, but I couldn't get it to work. It felt like anytime I tried to infuse chakra, it was drained but if I wasn't then it wasn't taken. No wonder the girls were struggling somewhere in the darkness.Then heard his snide laughter.

Akuma: "Your'e right, I am a weak man. That's the difference between us. You were born powerful, born to a well off family and never wanting for anything. Unlike you I had to scrimp and scrape to barely get by, life wasn't handed to me. I earned what I wanted out of life by doing the dirty work you people turn your nose up at. I had to cheat, lie and steal to become the man I am today. I took  what little life gave to me and made my "weakness" into my strength. I couldn't get out of life what I wanted following society's rules, so I made my own."