Blue eyes blinked open in an almost pitch dark room…
Damp, dark and nothing but exposed brick on the walls…
This was where he'd spent the last, month?
His concept of time had left him shortly after he'd entered this dark cell.
Pain racked his entire body from head to toe.
They'd really gone all out on him this time; he could feel burns on his chest, back and neck where they'd tried to make him talk.
He'd survived today's interrogation, he'd passed out but he'd given nothing away.
Slowly he moved each part of his body from his head to his toes just to make sure nothing was broken…
He sighed, he was exhausted and at this stage he had little hope of being rescued.
They'd sealed his and Kyuubi's chakra, taken away his weapons, starved him, deprived him of sleep, beaten him, burned him and at one stage nearly drowned him…
But still he'd held fast and kept his mouth shut.
He sighed rubbing his jaw, making the chains on his wrists clink together.
He was sure his face was at least bruised from the punch he'd taken earlier; it'd knocked him and the chair he was chained to straight to the ground.
His mind wandered to Sasuke.
I wonder what they're doing to him?
His whole body shook with revulsion and anger.
He pulled at the chains as hard as he could, he could hear the faintest sound of laughter from down the hall.
Sasuke…?
Sasuke snapped his face back up from the punch he'd just received.
"Just tell us what we want to know and this will end."
The raven haired teen looked at the masked man, with a disbelieving smirk.
"In fact, tell you what… I'm feeling generous… Tell me everything you know now and I'll let your blonde friend go too."
Sasuke laughed spitting blood in the face of the man who'd spoken.
"Fine… I was being reasonable."
He looked at the two masked guards standing at either side of him.
"You have my permission do whatever you have to do to make him talk."
The man questioning him wiped the blood from his mask before leaving the room but not before saying.
"Maybe your little blonde friend will have some information for me."
One of the guards punched Sasuke in the face splitting his lip and making the chair fall backwards and hit the floor.
Naruto… Be strong.
"So? Do you have anything to say to me now?"
The guard pulled Sasuke's chair back up from the concrete ground setting it on its four legs again.
The dark haired teen caught his breath and nodded.
The men looked pleased with themselves until Sasuke looked up at them and with a voice that sounded like he was bored said.
"You punch like a pussy."
A shadow moved outside Naruto's cell.
"Your dark haired friend can take quite a beating."
The blonde inwardly growled but kept his voice calm.
"Of course he can, he's my rival after all."
The shadow moved closer to the bars of Naruto's cell, he could just about make out details of the mask the man was wearing.
"You know, I heard some of the men around saying that Sasuke was almost… Effeminate in appearance… These men have been stationed here for a long time now… They're beginning to miss a woman's touch."
Naruto flinched inwardly at this statement.
He didn't doubt for a second that there was someone around here fucked up enough to do that and probably enjoy it too.
Stay calm…
The blonde teen licked his lips.
"Yeah, well that sucks…"
The man outside his cell leaned in.
Finally I've found his weakness!
"How come Sasuke gets to have all the fun? You think your men are the only ones who get horny around here?"
The man growled before he stormed away from Naruto's cell.
"This isn't over."
"I'm going to ask you once more to tell me everything you know or else…"
The guard removed a hot metal poker from the wood burning stove in the room, it was white hot and Sasuke knew that this was going to hurt like hell.
But he knew all too well that they had a better chance of rescue the longer they held out, as long as they had information it was unlikely they would kill them.
Sasuke regarded the white hot metal before uttering.
"Fuck you."
An agonised scream echoed down the hall.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto pulled at his chains willing himself to pull even harder.
"Fuck you! You bastards leave Sasuke alone!"
To his surprise some of the stone crumbled from the wall.
He used what little strength he had left and pulled the chain straight out of the wall, it fell to the ground causing a loud noise to echo through the corridor.
Naruto was feeling dizzy from the sheer exertion of it.
The noise attracted the attention of the man who had been outside his cell only moments before.
He sat still in his cell, causing the man to take a step closer.
That's it you bastard come closer.
The blonde teen was still as if sleeping, or dead.
The tell tale click of his cell being unlocked rang through the cell…
Naruto stayed deathly still until he was sure the man was leaning over him then quick as lightning he wrapped the chain around his neck pulling it tightly, the mans hands struggled to make hand signs but the blonde sank his teeth into one of his hands in desperation and used his weight to try and hold him down until he fell unconscious.
After about a minute of movement the masked man finally stopped struggling.
Naruto quickly searched him for the keys to his restraints, he had no trouble finding the keys but he had no idea which one would unlock his restraints.
Another agonising scream was heard echoing down the hall.
He needed to be fast.
"All you have to do is tell us what we want to know and this will all be over… Just like that."
Sasuke's chest and legs were covered in large burn marks, his will was faltering fast.
He could take beatings, even having his head shoved underwater until he was forced to breathe in and choke was better than this.
He could feel himself swaying if they kept this up, he'd pass out soon.
"Well? Are you going to tell us what you know?"
The dark haired man pulled his head up to look at them, his breathing was heavy but he forced a laugh out.
"How about… You go… Fuck yourselves?"
A punch met his stomach.
"Clearly you're not going to learn…"
The metal poker was removed from the wood burning stove again.
"Tell us what we want to know now… Or this is going onto that filthy tongue of yours."
Sasuke braced himself as he stayed silent while one of the guards tried to force his mouth open.
Suddenly out of nowhere the guard holding the poker fell to the ground.
The second one let go of his mouth before he fell to the ground too.
Sasuke looked down at the guards confused.
Kunai?
Naruto ran in front of Sasuke.
"Teme! You okay?"
The dark haired teen smirked at Naruto secretly impressed but not willing to admit it.
"Yeah… Nothing I couldn't handle."
The blonde quickly searched for the key to unlock Sasuke's restraints.
"Why are there so many god damn keys?"
His hands were beginning to shake, he was obviously on edge, if they fucked this up they'd never get out of here.
The dark haired teen bit his lower lip.
"Go."
Naruto looked shocked.
"What?"
"Dobe! Go! You can always send help for me later."
The blonde continued to try various keys in the locks that kept Sasuke at bay, finally one of them clinked open and Naruto sighed with relief.
"Okay… Your chest is free, now your hands…"
Sasuke grit his teeth.
"Idiot! They're going to find us soon! Run!"
"No! I'm not leaving you here!"
The dark haired teen shook his head.
"You can send help… I'll be okay."
Naruto simply shook his head before finding the right key for the hand restraints.
"See? We're half way done… This'll take no time at all!"
The blonde tried to shoot Sasuke his usual carefree smile while trying more keys as quickly as possible but it was obvious he was scared, another lock sprang free and Naruto sighed with relief.
"Just one more and we're out of here!"
He was moving even faster now trying each key at speed.
"It'll be okay, we'll get out of this…"
Sasuke was unsure if he was saying this to reassure him or if he was saying it to reassure himself.
Finally the last lock sprang open and Naruto helped Sasuke to his feet, he also ripped the kunai lodged in the throats of the guards out of their dead flesh.
"We'll probably need these…"
Naruto looped Sasuke's arm around his shoulders, the large burns on his legs made it harder to walk and he needed support.
"I'm only going to slow you down… Drop me and run for it."
The blonde simply shook his head and walked out of the room supporting Sasuke's weight.
"At least promise me one thing dobe."
Naruto looked at Sasuke.
"What?"
"If it comes to a point where you need to run and you have to leave me. Promise me you will."
Naruto's eyes hardened when he heard noise from down the hall.
"We need to move."
They silently lurked and hid in dark winding corridors for what seemed like hours.
Fear heightening at every twist and turn.
The blonde had stealthily snapped masked guards necks without even thinking about it.
He wondered for a moment about their families, wanting to see the faces underneath the masks, but shook the thought away.
Ninja were supposed to emotionless, feeling remorse now could get them both killed.
Thoughts were flashing through his mind.
We're only teenagers… Why are we here? How do we get out? What if we don't? We could die here…
That last thought seemed to sting the most.
He looked at Sasuke, he was close to his limit.
The blonde whispered.
"You stay hidden here… I'll scout on ahead."
The dark haired teen nodded, he was in far too much pain to argue.
The blonde ran to the end of the corridor and around a corner a sudden blast of sunlight blinded him.
We're almost out…
He ran back for Sasuke and helped him up off the ground, his voice was a barely audible whisper.
"We're almost out Sasuke."
They crept around the corner, elation getting the better of them as they saw blinding sunlight…
Fresh air blew through the long stone corridor; Sasuke seemed to find new strength as they crept towards the gate.
Naruto tried key after key in the gate.
The dark haired mans face was beginning to fall…
They were running out of keys and the gate was still firmly locked.
Blue eyes looked desperately at Sasuke as he tried the final key in the lock.
The click that followed made them both breathe sighs of relief they were unaware they'd been holding in.
The blonde pushed the gate open offering Sasuke the support of his shoulder which the raven haired teen gladly took.
The blonde stepped out into the sunshine, just letting it soak in for a moment that they were outside again, the air was fresh and the sky was blue.
A forceful push sent him falling over into the grass; Sasuke had a dart sticking out of his shoulder.
He fell to his knees.
"Run… Naruto…"
His eyes seemed to roll back into his head as he fell onto the grass.
"Sasuke!"
He picked up his fallen comrade thinking if he could just make it to the trees… Surely they'd escape.
Darts seemed to fly around him as he ran…
I can keep running… I can get us to safety…
He grit his teeth down hard exhaustion threatening to overwhelm him completely as he ran with Sasuke on his back.
Just a few more meters…
But a pinch into the back of his leg let him know it was all over.
The poison flooded through his veins and before he knew what was happening, his limbs were going limp and his eyes were closing against his will.
Naruto's eyes opened groggily, his head was pounding and his vision was blurred from the sedative.
"Naruto?"
The blonde blinked several times in the direction of Sasuke's voice trying to clear his vision.
"Sasuke… Where are we?"
The dark haired man was silent for a moment.
"I don't know… But wherever we are this isn't good."
Naruto tried to move his legs, only to find they and his chest were shackled to his chair, which it seemed was firmly welded to the floor.
He started to struggle.
"Don't waste your energy dobe. We're not leaving here unless they want us to."
Blue eyes finally cleared from the sedatives haze, his hands were free and there were a series of thin wires in front of him along with a dull kunai.
"What the hell is this?"
They stared across the table at each other only fully noticing the extent of the others injuries now.
Sasuke's eyes took in the usually energetic and enthusiastic blonde.
Naruto's jaw was swollen, he had angry looking red marks across his neck and what was visible of his chest through his torn up black tank top.
The marks looked like they were blistering.
His arms were covered in cuts and bruises from the daily torture he'd had to endure.
Blue eyes stared across the table at his rival and best friend.
The same angry marks could be seen on Sasuke's arms and bare chest, there was a nasty cut above his right eye.
He was also littered in cuts across his chest and stomach.
"Hn… You look like crap dobe."
Naruto laughed humourlessly.
"When did you last see a mirror teme?"
Sasuke smirked across the table at the blonde when a voice that seemed to come from nowhere grabbed their attention.
"Comfortable?"
Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Like being in my own personal heaven."
Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at the blondes' lax response.
"Well now that you're sitting comfortably… Let me explain the situation. In front of you there are a total of 50 wires.
You will each cut 25 of them with the kunai in front of you.
For every wire you cut the device you see to your right will click, then switch to the person across the way from you.
One of the strings is randomly set up so that a kunai will be loaded into the device, whoever cuts that string will have the kunai shot at them at high speed resulting in a quick death.
The one left will take their dead comrades torture until they tell us what we want to know or until they die… I really didn't want to do this… But you left me no choice."
Both teens stared across the table at each other silently, seemingly both having the same idea and picking up their kunai preparing to throw it at their best friend and rivals throat.
"Oh I should warn you, those kunai have been blunted and treated with a slow acting poison so the most damage you will do is a minor cut and believe me they'll suffer…"
Naruto looked around trying to locate where the voice was coming from.
"And if we refuse to play?"
"Refuse to take your turn and the room will fill with a gas that will not only kill you but it will make you feel like you're burning from the inside out very, very slowly. Are we clear?"
Both teens were silent.
"I'm giving you one last chance to save yourselves, tell me everything now and you can both go free."
Both teens knew they were going to die regardless of if they told or not, it was just a matter of when and how it was going to happen.
They held each others gaze across the table.
Both remained silent knowing it was all lies and that they weren't going to be set free no matter what they did.
The voice was silent for a minute, but when he realised neither of them were talking he spoke up again.
"Very well… Sasuke, you may begin."
The raven haired teen looked at Naruto then picked up his Kunai and quickly slashed one of the thin wires with the tip of his kunai.
*click*
The device turned to Naruto.
Naruto took a deep breath and cut one of the wires.
*click*
Wire after wire was cut while Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other across the table.
Empty clicks echoing throughout the room, each hoping the other would get the painless death.
*click*
*click*
*click*
Naruto wasn't even looking at the wires he was cutting anymore his eyes were fixated on his best friend.
*One of us will never leave this room.*
Sasuke seemed slightly more concentrated as if weighing up his odds of getting it wrong every time.
*We're going to die here.*
His eyes looked up from the table to see Naruto staring at him, determination and something that he wasn't quite sure of in his stare.
It was almost like the dobe was saying what he'd heard him say so many times before.
'I won't lose to you.'
His kunai cut another wire.
*click*
*click*
*click*
Naruto looked at the table…
They were more than half way through…
He swallowed and licked his lips before cutting another wire.
*click*
He felt like vomiting.
*click*
Sasuke's dark eyes met his across the table.
*click*
Naruto was wide eyed, there were less than ten wires left, he wondered how Sasuke could be so calm.
The blonde shook his head.
The dark haired teen stared over at him, his voice uncharacteristically soft.
"Don't let them get inside your head dobe, we've been trained for this. Just do it…"
Naruto nodded and cut another wire without even thinking about it.
*click*
The device moved over to Sasuke he looked at the wires in front of him carefully.
Naruto needs to die… If they're messing with him now, there's no way he'll be able to take twice as much interrogation.
He moved his kunai quickly snapping another wire.
*click*
The device moved up towards Naruto.
Shit… I can't be the one to get this… Sasuke's already in bad shape… I need to be the one who lives…
*click*
Sasuke stared across the table now pausing for a moment.
"Hey dobe?"
Naruto seemed to snap out of his thoughts.
"Yeah teme?"
"Thanks for being my rival."
*click*
Naruto bit his lip before choosing another wire.
"We're not dead yet teme."
He forced a grin to his face before looking over at Sasuke and cutting the wire.
*click*
Sasuke laughed despite himself and chose his wire carefully…
Slowly he slipped the kunai underneath the wire and cut upwards harshly.
There was a moment of silence, Sasuke gazed over at Naruto aware of what was about to happen.
A bang filled the room and smoke obscured Naruto's view.
"Sasuke!"
The smoke cleared quickly and something was sticking out of Sasuke's stomach, a hissing sound escaped his mouth.
The blonde tried to examine the item.
A dart?
Sasuke growled at the pain increasing inside him, his hands clutched at his stomach.
The blonde was wide eyed.
"Sa… Sasuke?"
Dark eyes closed tightly as pain coursed its way though the raven haired teens body.
Naruto fought against his restraints.
"You bastard!"
Sasuke's body was slumped over the table; his nails were biting into his skin so hard they were drawing blood, his muscles spasmed from the extreme pain he was in.
Naruto started hyperventilating…
"Sasuke!"
He pulled as hard as he could at his restraints, he felt that his ribs might crack he was pushing so hard.
Naruto roared as he threw everything he had into trying to break his restraints, he felt like he was going to lose it…
His heartbeat seemed to triple in pace...
Another animal like roar left his mouth and a burst of red chakra flowed through his body like fire, he burst out of his restraints.
A gas started to flow out through hidden pipes into the room; Naruto pulled the dart from Sasuke's stomach before grabbing him and bursting out through the door.
His eyes were the colour of blood, the lines on his face were thick, the nails on his hands and feet were elongated like claws and the chakra around him wasn't only red and visible but it was in the shape of a fox.
Tearing through the door he spotted the masked guards and tore through their skin and muscle with his claws and teeth.
He had lost control; his rage was leading him by the hand, tearing apart anyone who got in his way.
Blood spattered the walls, waves of guards were sent to take him down…
But all to no avail, he seemed to revelling in all of the bloodshed tearing the guards painfully limb from limb.
He stalked through empty corridors looking for more guards to brutally tear apart while he carried Sasuke on his back.
The teenager was bolt still, Naruto took him off his back and placed him gently on the ground, his face mere millimetres from Sasuke's.
He pulled away and stood up growling.
He started tearing doors off their hinges searching for the masked man who'd sealed Sasuke's fate.
Animalistic roars shook the very foundations of the building as he ran through the corridors.
Growling he exposed sharp elongated canines as he ran towards a door with two guards stationed outside.
He pounced on one of them silencing his screams with the horrible sound of tearing flesh, before using teeth and claws to tear the second ones throat out.
The sound of splitting wood echoed through the empty bloodstained corridor.
His last victim to be, the man who had caused all of this stood up from where he sat and smirked.
"So you escaped again…"
He stopped mid sentence seeing Naruto's appearance.
"Your, your chakra was sealed!"
A growl escaped his lips before Naruto set upon the masked man, the sheer force of the clawed hand on his face caused the mask to smash, splintering glass into both of their skin.
Naruto didn't even flinch as he used his elongated nails to claw out the eyes of the man who killed Sasuke…
Dark eyes opened groggily in a dark hallway.
He looked down to his stomach and ran his hands over it, the dart had been removed and the burning sensation was still present but slowly becoming less and less.
"Naruto?"
Slowly he stood up; pain was still racking his exhausted body.
The smell of blood hung heavily in the air, he used the walls to guide himself along the nearly pitch black corridors.
There were pools of blood everywhere…
It seemed everywhere he stepped or put his hand, more blood was there to greet it.
A low growl and an agonised scream ripped through the corridors.
"Naruto!"
He started to run through the darkness using the walls and his hands to guide him quickly along.
Naruto grinned as he pulled his claws down the stomach of his prey; he was enjoying his agony and misery.
Every bit of pain he could bestow upon this man, he would for himself and for Sasuke.
He growled and tore into his preys' throat just as Sasuke entered the room; he took in the scene with surprise.
A red chakra surrounded Naruto; it seemed to have ears and a tail...
His head suddenly snapped around to take in Sasuke.
"Sasuke…"
Red eyes faded back to blue and the thick marks on his cheeks thinned until they were only small whiskers again, the red chakra subsided and Naruto fell to his knees, a huge stupid grin plastered on his face.
"You're okay…"
With that he fell unconscious, Sasuke moved quickly to catch him.
The raven haired teen looked down into Naruto's unconscious but still smiling face.
Dobe…
He picked the unconscious blonde up and carried him on his back, through blood soaked corridors until they came to the gate they'd attempted an escape from earlier.
Luckily, it was still unlocked…
He stepped out into the sunshine again looking around him for anyone before darting straight towards the forest.
Once they were well in among the trees Sasuke put Naruto down and sat down beside him panting, he had no idea how long he'd run for or even where they were…
But they were out of there, they were alive and that was good enough for now.