This is going to be darker than my usual fair... But I decided to try something different from what I normally do. Also, while this story is about Tayuya and Shikamaru, it's not really a romance... Though, things might change later on the story goes on.

This takes place after the start of Part II, between Naruto's return and the advent of the Akatsuki. Age wise, Shikamaru is 17 and Tayuya is 19. I'll try and explain things better as the story goes on.

THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
PART I

.o.o.o.

Shikamaru was sitting quietly in a simply metal chair while Tayuya lay on her side on the nearby cot. The two of them were inside a Konoha Prison Cell and Shikamaru had (ironically) been assigned to perform the sound ninja's debriefing.

As expected, she'd been foul-mouthed and defiant at first. However, more recently, her harsh and flippant attitude had degraded into what might be described as a sort of 'lifeless stupor'. And now, the dark pink-haired teen was lying listlessly on her side while the (younger) dark-haired youth was quietly jotting down notes in a booklet.

With the loss of her flute, she could no longer cast her Genjutsu or summon anything. In addition to this loss, her curse mark had been sealed to prevent her from using its powers. At the moment, she had been effectively reduced to the level a normal person with no powers.

Shikamaru suddenly perked up when he thought he'd heard something. He rotated the chair around and looked directly at her. "What was that?"

She gave a feeble 'hmph' in response. "...there's nothing for me now... course it's not like you Leaf Ninjas would know anything about my people..." She said in a tired voice.

"Care to explain that last statement?" He asked. He wasn't sure what to make of her current behavior, so he decided to see how it played out.

"Otokagure... it's nothing like this place." She began. "Unlike you guys, all we can be are ninjas in Orochimaru's army... Even those of us who were picked out for 'special training' are still just glorified minions."

Still facing the wall, she continued. "But calling us ninjas isn't really accurate… In truth, we were more like tools. Even me the other four were really just taking orders." She explained, rolling onto her back to look up at the ceiling.

The shadow-nin listened as she continued. "...yeah, I'm no saint... I went along with it... But when you're a Sound Ninja... you have no choice..." She paused. "All you can do follow that damned Snake's orders." She added grimly.

Shikamaru leaned forward in his chair. "It almost sounds like you resent him..."

"Of course I resent him!" She replied, anger returning to her words. "You might not know about this, but the success rate of the curse marks is 1 in 10... So for every 'success', there's nine dead Sound Ninjas."

The young woman continued. "Everything Orochimaru did… all the experiments, all the planning, all the political crap- in the end it was part of his shitty vendetta." She explained bitterly. "There was never any logical reason for invading Konoha... well, aside from doing it out of fucking spite." She seethed. "Not that we got a reason- all we did was take orders."

Shikamaru set his notebook down and looked at her. "When you put it like that... it sounds like you were just following orders- like any Shinobi." He offered.

Tayuya slowly sat up in her bunk. "You make it sound so simple..." She paused. "But I know it's not... I'm finished, and I know it." She added grimly. "I'm a captured enemy agent... and I'll be spending the rest of my life inside a cold, dark prison cell... I've got nothing to gain or loose."

She suddenly looked up at him with an odd expression. "No… no, that's not true either, is it?" She asked uneasily. The dark-haired young man noted her tremble slightly at her own words. "Still... I guess I'd better cooperate with you guys... otherwise, I'll be tortured..." She paused, pulling up her knees and wrapping her arms around herself.

She looked away as tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm sure you must find this real funny... the Bitch from Sound crying in front of you... b-b-but I'm fed up with this nightmare- all the nightmares!" She exclaimed, rocking herself back and forth. "...I j-just don't want to be tortured!" She cried out.

Shikamaru got to his feet and reached towards her. "Hey now... come on, we're not monsters!" He began in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. "Just-"

Tayuya knocked his hand aside and retreated back from him. "No, don't- get away from me!" She cried out with a panicked expression. "Don't touch me! Please- I don't want to feel any more pain!" She exclaimed.

Shikamaru grabbed hold of her wrists in an attempt to restrain her. "Tayuya, stop it!" He exclaimed as he struggled with her. "Damnit! I'm not going to hurt you, I just-"

She looked away as tears streamed down her face. "No, please don't! Stop, it hurts- you're hurting me!" She cried out, tears running down her cheeks.

"Just calm down dammit!" He exclaimed. In the chaos, they fell back and Shikamaru ended up hovering over her as he held onto her down.

Her eyes were shut tightly as she continued. "I don't want to! Please don't do this, I'm begging you!" She pleaded, her eyes still tightly shut. "Why are you doing this to me, it hurts!" She cried out.

Shikamaru suddenly felt a chill as he looked down at the struggling girl. And then, something clicked in his head. In Tayuya's mind, she wasn't struggling with him, but someone else, and it wasn't the threat of physical violence that was scaring her...

"She's scared shitless… Something was 'done' to her." He thought grimly to himself as he tried to restrain her. The door to the cell suddenly opened and another ninja (probably an ANBU) stepped inside.

The sight of the masked figure caused the frightened girl to panic even more. Shikamaru looked over his shoulder and glared angrily at him. "GET OUT! NOW!" He screamed, causing the other ninja to sink back and close the door.

He looked back down at the struggling girl. "Listen to me Tayuya… This isn't Otokagure- you're Konoha! W-whatever you think is happening right now… I'm not going to hurt you… Do you hear me? Tayuya?"

Just as he pulled her back up into a sitting position, her eyes opened and she looked at him. She calmed down, quickly growing silent. Then, to his shock, she wrapped her arms around him and clung tightly to him as she wept.

After a few moments of this, she looked up at him. "...you promise, y-you're not g-going to hurt me?" She asked him in a timid voice.

He sighed and shook his head. "No, I'm not going to hurt you..." He replied in a low tone as she continued to hold onto him. And then for reason that he really couldn't explain, he put his arms around her soothingly. "No one is going to hurt you…"

Shikamaru took note of how small and frail she suddenly sounded as she clung to him. It had never been his intention to dredge up anything like this, but from the sound of things, whatever trauma had been inflicted on her had left unhealed wounds...

Things had just gotten a lot more complicated...

(To Be Continued)

This is certainly a far cry from my usual work. Despite the dark subject matter, I did enjoy writing this, so I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. And as always, feedback is welcome. Please let me know what you thought.