Hey everyone! So this is not the most light hearted story, but I am really enjoying writing it and, as always, it will have a happy ending if I actually finish it. Please note the rating, as this is really not a mild story and will eventually contain very graphic sexual situations of both a homo and hetero erotic nature. This is the story of a threesome and that means boy/girl love and boy/boy love, but more importantly it is a story about the way that love can help people to heal and find acceptance. This chapter especially is going to have some graphic torture so if that kind of darkness bothers you, PLEASE do not read on! Thank you to the person who wrote a review, it made my world. Please review this story if you want to see it continue because I would really love to know what people think and I don't want to work on a story no one likes when so many people are waiting for updates on some of my other works. Thanks! Enjoy!
The cold water flung in his face forced Sasuke into consciousness once again. He was awake, though his mind had long ago ceased to comprehend exactly what was happening to him. The searing pain came roaring back into his awareness as soon as he opened his eyes. How long had it been? Days, hours...minutes? The Uchiha didn't know, if not for the agony scorching his body Sasuke would not have even been sure that he was still alive. There was no light in the tiny room in which he had been brought for interrogation, no light and only the sound was his own blood dripping to the floor. The long pin inserted into his shoulder, beside the sensitive bundle of nerves bringing sensation to his arm, was the only clear part of his awareness, like it had become part of him somehow. The cold metal was twisted and he fought not to scream as the pain radiated down his arm once again. Even as the nerves sang their last awful note, a spark of electricity was touched behind his left ear until the pain filled his head and vibrated through his jaw.
One pain blended into another, hot and cold, sharp and dull. He was silent through it all, not even giving his interrogators the satisfaction of hearing him scream. His body was a symphony of pain and he could not help but admire the virtuosity of his torturers. Had he been anyone else, he would have been broken into a sobbing heap hours ago, but he wasn't just anyone. He was powerful, special and nothing ANBU did could ever change the simple truth of that. Sasuke spat the bloody water from his mouth and schooled his features back into frigid indifference. Neither of the men, he assumed they were men, performing his interrogation said anything. They were professionals, far above any petty gibes or threats unless they truly thought words would work when simple pain did not. Still the pain, perhaps eventually it would be enough... The Uchiha retreated deep into his own mind and, as always when he was too exhausted to meditate…he thought of Naruto.
The deep warmth of fondness for his old classmate filled him and Sasuke was simply too tired to tamp the feeling back down. Instead, in a moment of terrible weakness, he embraced the warmth and let it soothe him. He remembered the blond idiot as he had been as a child, instead of the wily and sharp young man he had become. Love was weakness and even the fondness of a friend gave his enemies an advantage, but he could not manage turn the feeling into hate. He needed anger to hate Naruto and the pain had sapped his anger away as surely as the torture sapped his blood. There was too much pain and hate was an exhausting emotion. There had been a time when things were brighter, simpler and Sasuke had belonged somewhere other than in hell. He floated, lost in memories of guileless blond sunshine and deep acceptance, never false and always available. The pain seemed to fade away, lost amongst the warmth, and Sasuke fought not to sob. His mind was slipping, his control totally gone…
"The pain is fading, isn't it?" the voice was cold, full of metal.
The Uchiha couldn't respond, but he heard himself choke out a moan as if from very far away. The warmth was slipping, leaving him in icy darkness once again, but there was no pain. It was true, there was no pain. He felt cold, almost numb, his precious walls broken and his consciousness uncertain. Sasuke smiled a little. He was dying, dying without uttering a single word, and it was beautiful…
"They always think it means the end when the pain goes away…sad thing." The voice said again, almost wistfully.
"W…What?" Sasuke whispered. He couldn't help it, the man had his attention.
"Oh, when the pain fades it doesn't mean that you are dying. No. It is just that your body begins to slow down, freeze up to conserve energy. A kind of waking hibernation designed to help you survive the damage. Ninja can keep it up for hours, days, even weeks sometimes. This is the point when we can really get started, but people are always so disappointed…" The voice sounded truly regretful.
"No…" Sasuke breathed. It was a lie, it had to be.
"You'll see for yourself, unless you want to tell us where Orochimaru's caches are now…"
"No." Sasuke tried to sound firm, but his response sounded more like a plea.
"Well then, best not waste any time. A week really isn't much time. Don't forget that you can always change your mind." The interrogator said with a tired sigh.
Sasuke never had the chance to respond before the pain began again, shredding the numbness away, catching him by surprise. He screamed and tried to stop, but the command from his brain did not seem to penetrate the blazing shell of agony in his flesh. He screamed until his throat was raw and kept screaming anyway. Even Sasuke's many years of control and training could not save him from the shame. The Uchiha never even realized that, after awhile, he was shrieking Naruto's name.
OoOoOoO
Naruto paced, sometimes pausing to tap his foot softly on the dull looking green tile. The hospital was cold and he dug his hands deeper into the pockets of his pants. Sakura had said once that it was intentional, keeping the hospital colder to help slow bleeding in surgery or something. Naruto gnawed his lip and hoped that it was cold enough to help her. Some of the nurses paused to stare as he paced and he smiled at them, but did not pause. The last thing these poor people needed was someone making them nervous and Naruto almost went back to the bathroom to wash his hands again. He had tried washing his hands before, but the awful crimson of Sakura's blood seemed fixed to his skin, stuck deep under his nails. Birthdays were usually lonely affairs, but Naruto could not recall one being quite this bad.
"Uzumaki?" The voice was gentle, but Naruto practically leapt out of his skin at the sound of it.
"Yes!" He answered, a bit too loudly.
"The doctor has finished with Haruno Sakura, I thought you might want to know. You can see her now if you like. Please do not worry, your little training accident was really much more minor than it looked." The nurse said with a warm smile that reached all the way up to her eyes. Naruto twitched back a smile in return.
"Training accident?"
"Well, yes. Sakura said you were trying a new technique?"
"Ne, yes we were...I guess." Naruto said nervously.
"Well, it bled quite a bit, but the wounds were shallow and the doctor doesn't think that they will even scar." The nurse said, gesturing towards the room where Sakura waited.
"Oh, thank Kami!" Naruto sighed, one hand to his forehead and the other over his heart. The nurse chuckled.
"Well, the business of ninja can be dangerous..."
"He, believe it!" Naruto replied with a grin and followed her back into the hall filled with exam rooms.
The nurse paused at one of the doors and knocked softly, there was a soft "come in" from inside and the nurse held the door open. Naruto could hardly hear over the thundering of his heart. Would she even want to see him? Could they even still be friends after this? He swallowed heavily and walked closer.
"Naruto? Have you been here this entire time?" Sakura peeked from behind the nurse's rather considerable girth, blushing hotly.
"Believe it." He said again, much more quietly.
Sakura sat perched on the exam table just inside the little room that was still mostly hidden by a green hospital curtain. She held her shirt over her chest even though she was still wearing an open-backed hospital gown. Naruto gasped. Despite the gown and the shirt held against her chest, the supple curve of her back and muscular belly were still fully exposed to his eyes. The elegant curve filled his mind with rather detailed depictions of what it would look like if he could just see the flesh all the way down. He swallowed hard and tried not to stare. Despite all their time together, he had never actually seen her body this way. Sakura was tremendously self-conscious and had always insisted in having the lights turned off any time they were romantic together.
"You...you are so beautiful." Naruto whispered. The nurse chuckled again and left shaking her head.
Sakura smiled a little, but blushed even more deeply. Ever so slowly, as if it cost her a great effort, the girl lowered her tattered tunic and placed it beside her on the exam bed. Naruto swallowed as the hint of her breasts showed through the thin fabric.
"Not 'are you okay'? Naruto..." Sakura said, but smiled so he knew she wasn't angry.
"Ah! I...I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking! Are you okay?" He asked blushing himself.
"Yes, fine. I told you that it couldn't be bad..." Sakura said, pushing her hair out of the way.
"It LOOKED bad! I was so scared! What if, what if..." Naruto suddenly shouted.
He could not help it. Once the shock of her almost-naked-but-not-really body wore away, all that was left was the terrible fear that she had been hurt and worse that HE had hurt her. He wanted to shake her, tell her that it had been SERIOUS damn it! He wanted to cry or scream or just run away so that he could never hurt her that way ever, ever again! Sakura must have seen the panic rising in his eyes because she leapt from the table and wrapped him in her arms. Naruto tried to move away, but he was shaking too badly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I am so sorry!" He said it again and again, terrified even to hold her.
"I'm ok! Really! Shhh, it's ok!" Sakura whispered trying to calm him.
"You're not! You are NOT ok! You...you were bleeding!" Naruto wailed.
"Ninja bleed sometimes."
"Not...not like THAT!" He snarled.
"Naruto please...please...does this mean I'm too weak?" Sakura said, tears gathering in her lovely green eyes.
"Weak? What?"
"You said...kitsune...you said kitsune told you that you could never be with anyone too weak. Are you, are you going to leave me?" She asked, trying not to sob.
"I...I feel like maybe I should." Naruto replied, the words like rocks in his stomach.
"No! Please! It was just an accident! I am not even hurt that badly, the scratches are all closed. You don't have to worry! I can do it!" Sakura wailed.
"Sakura..."
"No! You can't leave me this way!"
"I love you too much to hurt you..."
"You hurt me like this! This hurts worse! Naruto, you IDIOT!" She roared.
Her chest was heaving with rage, eyes red from crying and teeth clenched. Naruto's eyes widened. Sakura clenched her fists hard, dropping her gaze to the floor, struggling for control. With a sigh, Naruto moved to lay a hand on her shoulder. He did not even see her hand as the girl switched her stance and struck him hard across the jaw. Sakura had not meant it as a light slap, her nails raked his face, drawing blood, and the force of the blow threw him from his feet.
"I am NOT weak!" She snarled, face flushed and hair wild.
Naruto stared up at her from the ground and could not help but agree. She looked like some kind of avenging demon, even Sasuke would have been intimidated. He gingerly touched his face where the deep slashes were only just closing. She had hit him hard.
"Naruto Uzumaki, will you marry me?" She hissed, moving her foot menacingly against his chest.
"Y...Yes." He whispered as a scarlet haze fell over his vision. By the gods she was beautiful, so beautiful!
"Yes, beautiful." The kitsune agreed with utter sincerity.