Origin of the Never Seen

Chapter 2


The next thing she realized was horrible thirst. Only after the thirst other sensations made themselves recognizable – dizziness, feeling of lying flat, pain in her wrists… And, the now-familiar, feeling of getting out of a genjutsu.

Ignoring physical discomfort Sakura carefully opened her eyes and looked around. She was back to the square one - same room, same tatami. Chakra disturbing shackles seemed the same as well. Chains were there again and the cuffs seemed heavier when she tried moving her hand. But that couldn't be all of it - they would have been stupid not to change something more. Sakura examined the cuffs – indeed, the seals were no longer painted on the metal. Now they were engraved. And engraved a good centimeter deep – that's why the cuffs had to be so massive.

Sakura couldn't contain a moan. Now it was really hopeless to remove this.

That she must have made such a rookie's mistake. She should have kept her eyes closed as long as they wouldn't force them open. She did break the chain; of that she was sure. She still could remember the sensation of her right arm flying upwards, suddenly freed from restrain. Couple of seconds more and maybe she could have freed her second hand and then it would have been a fair game.

That she had blown her chance like that! But how could she had foreseen that they would want to feed her again on that day? Who'd heard about feeding prisoners that often?!

Thinking about food made Sakura realize how hungry she was. She wanted to swallow, but her mouth was completely dry. Dehydration, for sure.

No wonder – she must have been under genjutsu for quite some time until the Uchiha had managed to fabricate such craftsmanship's masterpiece as these cuffs… Etching such precise design, so deep into the metal – it must have taken days, or someone there had mastery over Fire element of a level Sakura couldn't even start to imagine.


As she feared, the new seals were irremovable. So, the next escape attempt Sakura approached with more prudence. She learned the routine of the guards. It was quite busy, much busier than she would expect. Every morning, after she woke up, they were putting her under genjutsu (a shallow one, she suspected judging from the lack of aftereffects) and moving her from her sleeping mat to the place where she was sitting. She was fed three times a day and given pot whenever she called. In the evening, they were moving her back onto her bed and waking her up to allow her to fall into a natural sleep.

On the fourth evening, after recovering from the genjutsu she felt more dizzy and confused than usual. After examining her status, Sakura came to conclusion that she had been washed when knocked out. That made her profoundly uncomfortable. She didn't even want to imagine that they've been handling her unconscious body in such a way. Not that she didn't appreciated it on some level, but she just couldn't understand why would they go to such lengths? And she sure hoped that the male guards hadn't been present for the procedure.

The weakest point of her binds seemed to be the chains. Sakura took many hours examining them – not that she had much else to do. Finally, in both of the chains she identified a link that looked less robust than the rest.

Figuring out that the greatest freedom of action she had during the night, she strove to change her day-rhythm first. She learned to sleep sitting, during the day, and to remain awake in the night.

Finally, she decided to act. Immediately when the door closed behind the guards, she put her plan into action.

Sakura was flexible enough to reach with her foot to her head if she had to. Reaching to the chain at the height of her waist was no problem whatsoever. Fine manipulation of leg movements, so that the edge of the manacle fell exactly into the closure of the weakest link, was far bigger of a challenge. Still, with one candle lit throughout the night Sakura could control and fine-tune the procedure. The point was to force the link open using the pressure from sharp edge of the cuff. But, of course, even the weakest link was still relatively strong and 'sharp edge' wasn't exactly sharp either. It took entire night to produce a millimeter of an opening. Nevertheless, it was a beginning and Sakura expected that the work will get progressively easier as the opening gets wider.

Throughout the next night she worked on the other chain. And either the chosen link was stronger, or her ability to maneuver with her left foot worse than with her right, but in the morning the opening was barely visible.

The third and fourth night she spent on the second chain as well. On the fifth night, she felt she really had to change the sides because the cramps and tendon strain from the strange position she was working in started to be unbearable. That night she managed to widened the gap in the first chain to good three millimeters.

When she woke up from the usual morning-genjutsu, both her legs were chained to the floor.

Sakura wanted to howl and bang her head against the wall.


Next weeks were boring. Thankfully, despite her two escape attempt they were treating her well. Sakura imagined that not many captives listed boredom as their main complaint.

She was kept in good condition, fed regularly… Actually, she was fed with meat. It wasn't even game that they were giving to her. It was mostly chicken. Meaning – someone out there was slaughtering chickens to feed a prisoner. As far as Sakura knew Uchiha weren't particularly rich. Senju clan was by far more prosperous, and still Sakura had never eaten so much meat in her entire life. They also gave her fresh fruits – mashed into pulp, mixed with milk and sweetened with honey. It was actually really good.

It all stroke her as odd. It was too comfortable. No one was interrogating her. No one was forcing her to reveal the secrets of medical jutsu either.

All the facts combined led her to think that they were planning to ransom her. She was the daughter of clan leader's sister and, as Butsuma had only sons, her value as potential political bride was really high. But Sakura had never heard about any respectable ninja clan kidnapping other clan's members for money. And certainly, it didn't fit with what she knew about the Uchiha.

But maybe it wasn't about the money. Was it something political? A truce? Maybe even an armistice? Or maybe the Senju had captured an Uchiha and now she was supposed to be a part of hostage-exchange? She didn't hear about any high-rank prisoners, but it was not that she was ever informed about the politics of her uncle. Even her mother was aware of Butsuma's dealings only to a limited degree. Sakura suspected that it was because Butsuma was anticipating her opposition to most of his plans. As for sure was the case now - if Sakura was a part of some political bargain, her mother was kept in the dark. Otherwise she would have already been here – crushing the walls of this prison.

Those musings led Sakura to thinking about home. About her mother, about Ino, about Naruto. But the longing and the visions of them mourning her death almost broke her heart.

So instead of brooding on real life, she thought about imaginary scenarios. Alternative timelines in which she was in the village and all was well.

In her stories, as in real life, Ino's main focus were the guys. To have it more entertaining, Sakura made Ino's love interest a brooding, awkward, socially inapt boy. He was an orphan and was adopted into Senju clan at the age of ten or so. He was often acting weird because of some abuse that he went through during his early life. Sai was his name. Sakura chose him as a gag, but the longer she was thinking about it, the more convinced she was that Ino might actually like him if she would give him a chance. She made a promise to herself to point Sai to Ino once she gets out. Currently, in her story, Ino was deliberating how to catch Sai's attention. She tried spreading her charm in front of him several times already, but he was surprisingly resistant. Or dense. Imagining a frustrated, flustered Ino was making Sakura's days brighter.

She had harder time deciding about the story theme for Naruto. He was all into challenges and adventures, but Sakura understood now that all what they considered 'adventure' could end really badly. She learned it on her own skin. So, in the end she opted for a love story for her foster brother as well. Naruto was also grateful as a character – he was clumsy and over-enthusiastic and not particularly bright when it was coming to girls. Now Sakura was thinking about what kind of girl would be a good match for him.


It was probably some two weeks into her captivity when instead of her usual guards that were responsible for putting her into genjutsu, three unknown Uchiha shinobi came into her cell.

Sakura braced herself – it seemed that finally something was going to happen. The men were silent and Sakura was trying to figure out which one of the two it would be: was she going home? Or was she going to an interrogation?

They approached her and for the first time during her imprisonment Sakura felt fear. They looked so cold. They knelt next to her and one of them unceremoniously yanked her shift up, almost to her chest.

That was the last thing Sakura expected so in shock she forgot even to scream. She only just scrambled to close her leg together but, of course, it was on vain.

But the men seemed not to have come here for entertainment as they paid no heed to her naked body. As in slow-motion Sakura watched the man to her left unsheathe a kunai and it was then when it dawned on her – they were going to torture her. And then she screamed. The prospect of having the integrity of her body breached brought out an uncontrollable shriek.

She shouldn't scream, she knew she shouldn't - they didn't do anything yet, but she just couldn't stop.

The man to her right performed a quick sequence of hand seals and produced a jet of flames out of his mouth. The man holding a kunai lowered it into the fire and held there until it glowed.

Burning. They were going to burn her – it was the last lucid thought that crossed Sakura's mind before she became nothing more than animal instincts. She struggled and tried crawling away but the third man pinned her down by the waist blocking her view.

She only heard the jet of fire stop and felt two hands gripping at her tights. And then the pain. The scorching, white pain in the middle of her abdomen. In bout of pointless instinct Sakura pressed herself into the mattress, as if, if she would press hard enough, the solid surface underneath would budge and she could sink into it away from the hot blade.

The hot blade that lifted and moved to burn the next spot. Sakura sucked in the air and only then, when sudden silence hit her ears, she realized she had been screaming all the time. The blade moved again.

She was ready to tell them everything, reveal every secret she knew. And to make up several new ones if need be. Another patch of her skin.

And then, when she thought she wouldn't stand it anymore, they let her go. The man to her left sheathed his kunai back, the oldest of them considered the inflicted damaged with his Sharingan and then they simply left.

When the door closed behind them Sakura broke into a sob. She was shaking whole, more out of fear and shock than from the pain. It took her long minutes to come down, to convince herself that they were really gone and not coming back.

Of course, Sakura knew that prisoners were tortured. How would one otherwise extract the information? In the Senju clan there were special people designated to such tasks. But it was only theoretical knowledge for her so far. Now Sakura was learning how it felt to lie splayed on the floor, helpless and on mercy of others. And she didn't even know what they wanted so the only defense of a prisoner - trading intel for integrity – wasn't available to her.

Why did they leave without asking a single question? Was it some kind of interrogation technique? Maybe they didn't believe in testimonies given during torture? Maybe they just left her alone with her pain and fear to have it ferment inside her?

Right, the pain. It was loudly demanding Sakura's attention. She had to admit it – Uchiha knew what they were doing. Burns were one of the most painful injuries. Sakura forced herself to look at her mangled body through cool eyes of a professional. It wasn't simple as each time she was realizing it was her body, she had to fight a gag reflex.

It was a broad burn, size of a palm maybe, in the very center of her lower stomach. But it was a second-degree only, from the look of it. "Of course, the most painful one, what else would it be?" thought Sakura bitterly. But it was nothing that wouldn't heal. If it doesn't get infected, that is…

The pain was throbbing. It was radiating from the burn, vibrating through her entire body. Soon it was the only sensation she could feel. Sakura bit down a moan. On some level she knew it was only a signal her tissues were sending. A hijacked signal because pain was supposed to be a 'don't touch that, run!' alert and now the stimulus was long gone. Nevertheless, the damaged tissues kept sending the message - an error in design if she was asked. Ugh, a damn trying error… Sakura bit her bottom lip to hold the sounds in.

There was no damage ongoing, the injury wasn't life-threatening. There was nothing she could do – Sakura tried calming herself down. And it wasn't that she could convince the guards to get her a medic or to unbound her. But logical arguments weren't exactly working. Pain knew its ways into her mind.

And worse than pain – the feeling of hopelessness.

But wait, maybe there was something she could do? The seal was disturbing the chakra in her body between the manacles. But her palms were technically 'out'. So maybe she could produce some chakra, if even the smallest amount of it. Sakura concentrated. A tiny glow appeared at the tip of her middle finger. She bent her wrist – she needed to reach her belly. Sakura focused her energy and made the glow longer. It was now the as long as her finger but that seemed to be the limit.

Well, if she couldn't reach with her hand to the wound, she would need to move the wound to her hand. Sakura twisted her body to the side until was bent into an arch. She strained her wrist against the manacle. And then, thank all the gods, it was enough.

Cell by cell, Sakura started mending the burnt flesh. It took excruciatingly long. She needed two breaks until she reached the middle of her stomach and then she started again from the other side. The end result was the crudest work she did since the practice on dead fish when she was six.

But the wound was healed. Absolutely exhausted, Sakura fell into a deep slumber.

Next evening Sakura was torn out of genjutsu by a horrible pain. Even though all she saw in front of her was the back in dark-blue garment with Uchiha crest, it was immediately obvious to her what was happening. She was being burnt again.

But knowing she would heal soon Sakura held on. Sure, she screamed but the fear was far smaller.

When they left Sakura didn't panic as the last time. At first. Until she realized that her arms were spread so far from her body that there was no way for her to reach the wound, no matter how she tried.

Someone must have seen her healing herself yesterday. In retrospect, she remembered that she had heard steps on the corridor. Preoccupated with the jutsu she ignored it of course.

Pain flooded her mind, bright and clear. And Sakura had no way to stop it.

"What do you want?" she screamed towards the closed door. "What the hell do you want?! Do you want to know something?! Then ask me! Fucking ask me!"

Only silence answered her.

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!" sobbed Sakura.

The pain kept stable for next hours. Sakura didn't sleep even for a second. Even if the pain was constant, her perception of it wasn't. The longer it lasted the more unbearable it was getting. Sakura thought she would go crazy.

Somewhere in the middle of the night she was reduced to begging. "Please, call a healer, give me something against pain, please! Please!" Sakura kept shouting through the door. "Or put me under genjutsu!" Sakura couldn't believe what she was asking for – she hated that blackness of genjutsu, this feeling of non-existing, of her mind leaving her body completely vulnerable. But now it would be a blessing to lose consciousness even for a while.

"If you're in pain, then heal it," answered one of the guards through the door.

Sakura jerked her head in surprise. "You want me to heal it? That's why you did it? Then untie me. Just one hand, please… I won't try anything, I swear!"

Were they after the medical jutsu in the end? But she did heal her leg, in front of everyone. Maybe they didn't see it correctly? Maybe because she was clothed? Or maybe a specific person needed to see it, someone with enough medical knowledge?

Maybe it was her chance. "Hey! If you want to see the healing, call those who are supposed to watch! I'll do it, I'll show them!"

But no further answer came from behind the door.

She didn't sleep the entire night. During the day she couldn't eat. The next night she fell into some form of half-sleep where reality was mixing with feverish dreams.

On the third day the pain lessened somewhat and she managed to sleep somewhat between lunch and supper.


On the fourth day the door opened with a thud and instead of already familiar guards Sakura saw an old woman. One of her female guards helped into the cell, supporting her by the elbow when she crossed the doorstep. The other hurried behind carrying a large pack and a sitting pillow.

The old lady waited until her seat was prepared next to Sakura's mat and only after everything was laid out, she sat down. Her hair was completely white, loose, long and unruly, as if she wasn't paying much attention to her looks. She was ancient, but one could see the hints of past beauty on her face even now. But of a beauty that was never paired with kindness.

"Undress," she waved her hand at Sakura but clearly, she was addressing her guards. Both women scrambled to untie the ribbons binding her shift. Sakura suspected that it was constructed the way it was - from two separate squares of fabric held together only by the strings at her sides - in exact purpose of removing it easily when the guards were manipulating her unconscious body to wash and tend to her.

Sakura was aware that she must have been naked and on display in front of those people many times before, but it was the first time that she it wasn't under the genjutsu. Even given her medic's approach to human body she couldn't help but to be self-conscious.

The old lady in meantime was taxing her body up and down. She seemed to focus her attention mostly on the wound on Sakura's belly.

"It's safe to touch her Miyako-sama," offered the younger guard in hushed, polite tone. "She cannot produce those chakra spikes out of her body. We were so scared at first.." She broke off under a sharp scrutinizing glance of the older guard. "Uhm... I apologize for my forwardness."

The old woman shot her a scornful look, "I don't recall asking for your advice," she said and started poking around Sakura's wound, obviously checking for inflammation. Sakura hissed as she found an affected spot. The old woman clicked her tongue.

"Burnt you alright, haven't they? But I've seen much worse; two, three months and you'll be fine," said the old woman in a brusque manner and took a jar of ointment from her pack. She rubbed some of it into the wound and handed the jar to one of her guards. "Apply as often as possible. And when you wash her, don't wet the wound."

With visible effort she shifted closer to Sakura. "Now, let's see the rest…" she said and unceremoniously palmed at her lower and upper abdomen, ribcage, armpits and finally her neck. Then she slipped her hand under Sakura's body and was feeling the skin on her shoulder blades on her behind. "No bedsores." For the first time her tone was something else than condescending.

Both female guards exchanged relieved glances.

"Better keep it like this." The disdainful tone was back. "Rub this in," the old lady handed over another jar, "for prevention, every day before you put her to sleep."

"All fine. The girl is healthy. So far." The old lady sniffed at air and dug again in her pack. "Here, burn these herbs here from time to time. If she gets a lung infection from the molds she will be done for." The old woman turned to her. "I've heard you know that Senju's new body-stitching jutsu? You don't imagine how I would wish I could learn it from you. Even now, at the very end of my life, I still crave to learn it if it's as marvelous as they say… I would give up half of my remaining days for a chance to learn it." she broke off and propped herself on her hand to get up.

There was such zeal and yearning on her face that Sakura for the first time thought that maybe she would want to pass her knowledge on. That it wouldn't be a jutsu-stealing but sharing it. That maybe keeping it secret within the clan was a wrong thing to do.

But the moment passed and usual strictness returned to old lady's face. "But what's done that's done and it serves no purpose to deliberate on 'what ifs'," she said and stood up.

"Uhm, Miyako-sama…" interrupted older of the female guards with her head and eyes respectfully down. "About the timing… Could you possibly doublecheck for us?"

Without a word the old lady activated her Sharingan. Sakura never saw the Sharingan in a woman before, and in this woman, with her already piercing and pitiless eyes, it looked doubly frightening. Red gaze felt penetrating as it was scanning her body, no doubt examining now her chakra flow.

"You utter imbeciles!" spat the old lady out. "How stupid can you be! Can't you even count to fourteen?!"

The younger guard's hands flew towards her mouth in obvious fright. The older one bent even lower stuttering a string of apologies and explanations. "We're so sorry Miyako-sama. So sorry. But she healed the first burns and they insisted on repeating the test, and afterwards we needed to wait couple of days, and…"

"And now it is too late." Old lady took a deeper breath and continue. "I had half a mind not to tell you at all, so he would have to be bothered twice and you'd face the consequences of your negligence. Have in mind that I'm telling you only for the sake of the girl," the old woman announced in a tone cutting all the discussion and turned to leave.


AN: Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think! Any good guesses about what is going on?