Sasuke sat chained to the chair quietly. The cuffs sapped his chakra, but he tried not to mind. He also tried not to mind the fact that the two Anbu just outside the room were deciding whether to kill him or not. Despite his efforts not to let this bother him, it was quite unnerving. The plan of letting the Anbu kill him if they found him guilty seemed smart and honorable at first, but now, facing it, he felt much different.
Fear.
It was a feeling Sasuke hated, yet embraced. Orochimaru had offered to help remove from Sasuke's body, but Sasuke had refused. He swore that through fear people survived and got stronger.
Oh, how he wished he hadn't said that. Yes, Sasuke knew he grew stronger through fear, but he still hated the feeling.
The door opened, and a shinobi Sasuke recognized as Ino's dad walked through the door flanked by the two Anbu. One looked nervous, and Sasuke realized it was the Anbu who asked him about the men. And Sasuke felt a shiver run down his spine as he realized why Ino's dad was here.
His mind was being searched.
He began to strain against the shackles, forgetting where he was and why he was there. The fear overpowered him; he couldn't think straight. It was as if the very fabric of his being was unraveling. A small voice in the back of his head kept screaming for him to get control; that a little dose of fear was good. But then Sasuke felt the presence of the shinobi enter his mind, all rational thought went out the window, and Sasuke was thrown into a world of darkness.
He was still aware of his body struggling against his bindings, the shackles cutting into his wrists. His head was pounding, unused to having two presences inside it. But Sasuke was only aware of it, not feeling it. It was almost as if he was reading a book about himself. It was all too confusing, so Sasuke turned his attention to his setting.
It was merely a room that appeared much like a crumbling tomb. Several stone pillars stretched upward towards a ceiling that Sasuke couldn't see. On one wall Sasuke's Mangekou Sharingan stared at him unseeing. On the other wall Itachi's Sharingan met the gaze. And all Sasuke could think about was how the heck he got here.
And suddenly he wasn't alone.
Inoichi dropped into the room next to him and rubbed his head. "What the hell just happened? I was looking through your mind, and discovered you were innocent, but then when I tried to leave, something pulled me here."
"Not me!" Sasuke said while raising his hands in defense. "I got pulled here too!"
"I know it's not you. This must be your mind's inner bowels. But then, where's the spirit…" Inoichi mused.
"Right here." A light glowed on the seemingly nonexistent ceiling. It writhed and twisted until it settled on a form Sasuke was all too familiar with. The cursed seal.
"That's not…" Inoichi whispered.
"It is! Try to figure out how to get out of here while I keep it busy!" Sasuke shouted while running forward an activating a Chidori in his palm. He doubted he could win a fight with his own mind, but he hoped to be wrong. In a matter of seconds, he had been proved completely and utterly right. Multiple hands of lightning reached out of the darkness, smashing into his skin and leaving it raw.
Man, for something that wasn't real, it sure hurt.
Suddenly the hands stopped beating Sasuke and held him in place. They rotated Sasuke so he could see Inoichi was being similarly held. They both looked like they had gone through a blunt wood chipper.
"Enjoying my hospitality, humans?" Sasuke and Inoichi turned to see a Sasuke in a tuxedo walking out from the darkness. The only other difference was that this Sasuke wore his hair in a ponytail.
"About as much as I enjoyed being with Orochimaru." Sasuke muttered under his breath.
"No one likes someone in denial." The Sasuke lookalike said with a joking tone. The three could have been friends except that Sasuke and Inoichi were bound and tortured.
"Who are you, you freak!" Sasuke shouted. He was seriously fed up with being imprisoned in his own mind.
"It's not your mind anymore, boy."
"What?" Sasuke cried out, forgetting his composure. "Prove it."
"Gladly." The Sasuke doppelganger began to transform into a long haired, grey skinned, winged form. "This is my true form. I have full power over your curse mark, which means I have some power over you. And soon, it will be complete."
"You bas-"
"You're being bad boy, Sasuke. Didn't anyone ever teach you to respect ones in authority over you?" The demon really seemed to be enjoying this.
"I honestly don't care if you can turn into a stupid curse demon. The curse mark is most definitely NOT part of me and neither are you!" Sasuke had snapped, and he proceeded to unleash a torrent of lightning and fire upon the hands holding him. The cyclone of power raged around Sasuke and eventually formed angel's wings on his back. His Sharingan activated and a shining sword formed in his hand. It solidified, and proved it was there to stay. "Curse seal three." He smirked "I purified it. The power belongs to me and me only now." He threw himself at the curse demon.
After getting over his momentary shock, the curse demon's expression turned to one of disproval. He waggled a finger at Sasuke and he involuntarily froze with his blade an inch from the demons throat.
"Now, now," The demon chided as if he was a parent scolding a naughty child. "Obviously you need more proof that I am the one in control here." He snapped his fingers and Sasuke fell to the floor, unconscious.
Even further inside Sasuke's head, a collage of images flew past until one slowed down long enough for Sasuke to see it. It was an image of Squad 7 joking and laughing at Tazuna's table. It flew away and was replaced with an image of Sasuke walking away from the village and Sakura crying behind him. Then he was with Orochimaru. Next he saw himself, Jugo, Karin, and his fishy friend invading the Land of Iron. Then he left them for dead with Madara. Finally, him and his current gang laughed as they walked through the desert.
"Who will you leave them for?" The demon said gleefully in Sasuke's head.
Wowzas! The story itself is exactly 1,100 words long! Took me a while to type! They'll get out of Sasuke's head next chapter, don't worry. By the way, Kiki fights with Sakura, Shikumaru invents something and Sanosuke is happy about it. Can't wait!