Drowning brought about a strange flurry of sensations Sakura had come to discover.
It began with a determination to hang on to precious spurts of oxygen. Her rational mind urged her to embrace a forced calm as she willed her body to make the most of what little breath was lingering in her lungs. Yet, no matter how many times she found herself plunged beneath the surface of troph of water, held firmly in place by the unrelenting grip of her tormentor, her rationality was replaced by an instinct to panic. The will to survive was ingrained into her very core and as oxygen depleted fear would set in and consume her.
Those were the worst moments. Her lungs burned and her body twitched and thrashed involuntarily. She knew they would never allow her to truly die. Merely let her teeter over the edge of the precipice that separated life and death.
Her body would scream for oxygen with every fibre of its being. Every cell begging for air. It was torture. But once the burning in her lungs peaked and she could no longer hold on to consciousness, she was granted a strange moment of bliss.
Perhaps it was just a result of her brains lack of oxygen, but for a small instance she was euphoric. Dangling on the cusp of death she allowed the water to flood her system and revelled in the peaceful numb as everything faded to black.
'Take me.' She yearned with her last vestiges of consciousness. Death offered such a sweet release and just when she felt herself fall into the eternal void she was yanked from the darkness to awaken once more. Her lungs screamed with exertion as they hacked up bouts of water while simultaneously gasping for air.
Her vision constituted of mainly blurred shapes and her ears rang.
"Where are the others?" Were normally the first words she was able to distinguish. It was always the same question. And she always gave the same answer.
"Go to hell." She would sputter between haggard breaths and strenuous coughs as she forced the remaining water from her lungs.
Her reply had become the catalyst that renewed the vicious cycle once more and her head was promptly shoved into the water once more.
This pattern would continue for hours on end before her tormentors would eventually resign themselves seeing her exhausted figure. Her exhausted frame was dragged back to her cell barely coherent. Sakura was only left with a lingering promise that the torture would resume once again the next day.
Drowning was a clear favourite method for the men assigned to interrogate her. Occasionally they would experiment with the temperature of the water. She distinctly remembered an occasion where she was forced under a fridged stream of ice water for hours on end until her lips turned blue and ligaments went entirely numb.
If they felt particularly creative the interrogators would inject her with what she recognized to be a mild toxin. Leaving her alone to suffer through fever and sickening waves of nausea. In the height of her delirium brought on from the illness they would pester her with questions in hopes she may slip and give something away that would be useful to them.
'Fools.' She thought. Even if she felt inclined to cater to their constant barrage of questioning, she knew nothing that would be of value to them. Any knowledge of rebel operations she once possessed, was years old and the rebellion itself had disbanded long ago. She knew nothing of the remaining members. Most she had presumed dead, let alone where they currently resided. But she would be damned if she let them know that.
"What do you know of the rebellion?"
"Go to hell."
Let them waste their time questioning her about things beyond her own knowledge.
Sometimes they would demand for her surrender to subservience beneath their leadership.
"Do you submit yourself to the new new world order?"
She would rather die.
"Fuck your order."
And the torture would resume.
The more sadistic of the guards would sometimes threaten her with unimaginable horrors if she refused to bend to their inclinations. One man in particular was noticeably exuberant in his taunting. He would craft vicious images of gruesome fates to befall her, promising that the next time they met he would bring them to fruition.
However, he had yet to lay a single finger on Sakura despite is clear desire to see her suffer. In fact the interrogators had hardly left her with so much as a single bruise. They never hit her, sliced or maimed her in any form. Their torture mainly operated around methods that left her unblemished for the most part.
She had suspicions that they were not permitted to leave her with any sort of mark. And one day she had decided to test this theory.
Walking towards the interrogation room she began to plot the details of her experiment despite it being a fairly primitive plan.
She was seated at a table located in the centre of the room. Her interrogator seated on the opposing side. A troph of water was visible just over his shoulder and she took a moment to eye the offending basin with disdain.
"Where are the remaining rebels?" The man asked in a bland tone, already expecting her biting response as was customary to the twisted routine they had established over the course of her captivity. However he was momentarily jarred, as she proceeded to break their familiar cycle by forgoing her usual venomous retort in favour of letting a strange smile wash over her features.
The two stared at one another for a moment. Confusion furrowing his brow as he watched her lips twist into a sickeningly sweet smile that had no rational reason for gracing her expression. The sugary expression unnerved him as it was accompanied by a blazoning fire that dwelled in her jade green eyes.
In an instant her smile seemed to stretch further, blooming into a full blown grin before she unleashed chaos.
Without an ounce of hesitation she reared back before proceeding to slam her face against the solid steel table of the table top. The impact creating a wicked crack that made her see stars.
The occupants of the room were wracked with paralysis by the sheer shock over what she had done.
Their astonishment allowed her another opportunity to once more throw her head back before hurling it against the metal furniture again. Through the haze of pain she heard a satisfying crack signalling her efforts had reached bone.
The guards sprang into action as she fought through her concussed state to attempt another blow. Some hollered for her to stop while others hissed profanity as they fought to restrain her. But Sakura was hardly finished and began to struggle in their grip. She violently twisted her limbs against their hold until she heard deep pop followed instantly by searing pain as she dislocated her joints. Her jagged nails were unkempt and proved to be highly effective tools for ripping through the layers of the skin she was able to reach.
"STOP HER! Grab her arms men!" One of them shouted to another man struggling to get a proper hold on her violent wriggling form.
"Knock her out!" Another cried before she felt a sharp jab to her neck that propelled her into unconsciousness. In the last vestiges of her lucidity she was able to make out the panicked tone of one of her detainers.
"Shit! What do we do?! He's going to kill us!"
"Calm down!" The commanding officer barked. Though he too held a shaky tone. "G-get her back to the cell and then we can call for a medic. They'll have her fixed up within the hour and then we can decide on how to proceed."
"He'll want to know about this..." One of the soldiers muttered, his tone tinged with anxiousness.
"Send one of the messengers to deliver a report after she's been cleaned up. We'll have someone posted by her cell for when she comes to incase she acts out again." The officer mumbled, crafting a rough plan of action as he rambled along. "Get a guard to stand watch in case she comes to and decides to pull this again. If need be have her transferred to a padded cell in the psyche ward and fitted with a straight jacket."
"He's not going to be happy about this.." The anxious guard blubbered as he began to work himself into the beginnings of a panic.
"Stop your snivelling and get it done!" The officer barked at the mans simpering. "Tell the medics to bring that red-headed gal with them." He added as an after thought before storming out of the room while his lackeys scampered at his heels, dragging the unconscious girl in tow.
When Sakura awoke it was to the familiar shrill tone of Karin. Chewing out some poor medic as they scrambled about to follow the orders being barked out by the red head.
"Let the bandages soak in the salve before changing them and get me some fresh water! I don't know what you expect me to do with a dirt bowl of-" The fiery woman halted her tangent as she noticed her charge begin to stir. Mercifully sparing the medic from any further verbal battery, as they swiftly ceased the opportunity to fumble out of the room to fetch the requested provisions.
Pale lashes began to flutter as Sakura slowly began to come out of her forcibly induced state of rest.
"Oh good. You're awake." Karin said flatly, tone dripping with sarcasm. The red head shot the groggy prisoner an unimpressed sneer before she resumed prodding at the rosette's injuries. A particularly sharp jab caused her to grunt in pain. However any sympathy was lost on Karin as she jabbed the same spot once again in a fit of pettiness. Causing the injured girl to give a heavy groan.
"That was a very stupid thing you did." Karin spat out as she continued to exam the wounds non too gently. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"Just... testing a... theory." Came the raspy grumbled reply, followed by a hiss of pain as Karin began to exam the swelling around her face.
"Well I hope your little experiment was worth it. They're going to make your life hell after that stunt you pulled."
Sakura gave a bitter chuckle, although regretted it almost immediately afterwards as the dry laughter only tweaked the aches and pains littered through out her body.
She gave a wheezy gasp before grimacing up at her involuntary healer.
"They can't lay a finger on me. We both know it."
Karin gave her a scowl, mildly irked by the unspoken truth in her words. After Sakura's little display of chaos they were both undoubtably aware of Sakura's designated immunity.
"Maybe they can't hurt you physically but they're a spiteful bunch. Don't think their aren't other ways they can make you suffer."
"Let them try." Sakura scoffed.
Rolling her eyes at the girls guff Karin gave a sharp click of her tongue before carrying on in a casual tone almost as if they were discussing the weather rather than a foreboding torture sentence.
"I hear they are thinking about throwing you in the looney bin. Tell me, what size do you take in straight jackets?" She said acerbically,letting some of her pettier side shine through to provoke her brazen patient.
"Why would it even matter? Whether they hit me or they don't I won't tell them anything." Sakura seemed to ponder dreamily, flinching every odd moment or so as a particularly tender wound was inspected. "They've only given me an advantage. Now that I know that, the second I'm able to I'll just do it all over again."
"Personally I think you could do with a good smack to that forehead of yours, but clearly it still hasn't done you much good." Karin grumbled as she focused on her task of bandaging the girl. "They won't give you the chance to do it again, you have to know that don't you?"
"I know."
And it was true. She would more than likely be under strict surveillance in a stark white room with cushioned walls. If Sasuke had ordered that she was to remain unscathed, every precaution would be implemented for her to remain as such. But now she knew something she hadn't before.
For whatever reason Sasuke wanted her to remain alive and unharmed. And what Sasuke wanted, Sakura wanted to ensure he didn't get it. Then and there she vowed to do everything in her power to oppose his will no matter the cost.
"After you're all fixed up it's padded walls for you from here on out," Karin continued. "The sharpest thing you're ever going to see is a spoo-"
A loud screech followed a sharp crack as Sakura swiftly forced her injured body upwards and slammed her forehead into the bridge of Karins nose.
The collision sent blood rushing down the womans face and the glasses flew from her nose and shattered as they impacted the floor.
"YOU CRAZY BITCH!" Karin hollered clutching her hands to her nose, stinging tear welled up in the corner of her eyes. Her face went rouge as blood rushed beneath her skin to quell the injured area and was ignited by her sheer anger.
Clutching her face she scampered away from the volatile woman who remained strangely silent, a bruise forming on her forehead, though she paid it no mind.
Coincidently the unlucky medic had made a timely return after fetching the requested items only to be met with the rather peculiar scene of two injured parties. One stoically silent, the other livid and hurling profanities. Though the slurs sounded garbled and nasally from the gushing blood and almost assuredly broken nasal passages.
"Miss Karin I've brought the- W-what happened here?!"
"The bitch is crazy! That's what happened!" Karin screeched at the medic finding a new outlet for her rage at being assaulted.
"Should I get m-more bandages?" The bewildered medic blurted as they attempted to make sense of the chaos they had stumbled into.
"No! I'm done with this psycho bitch! I'm leaving! You deal with this! I'm not putting up with this shit! I'm done!" The redhead bellowed in her angry tirade as she launched herself away from Sakura and out of the room slamming the door behind her with as much force as she could.
The thunderous bang of the door closing caused the perplexed medic to jump and an eery silence settled over the room in the redheads hostile wake. Had Sakura been of a more forgiving nature she would feel sympathy for the medic who looked positively petrified at the thought of approaching her. Although it seemed failing to do as Karin asked was an equally terrifying prospect that eventually won out after some consideration and the medic cautiously began to approach.
Sakura remind docile as the medic skittishly tended to her wounds, not making a sound the entire time.
In Karins furious exit she had failed to notice the bits of glass that littered the floor from her broken spectacle frames. They had of course been promptly cleared away by the medic, who had failed to notice the piece of glass hidden Sakura currently had pressed to the roof of her mouth.
