Tortured

Sasuke's bloodcurdling screams were heard throughout the hallways of the Slavers Guild star cruiser. In a torture room, he was strapped to a device that shot him full of electricity. While this was happening, Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata were chained to the wall next to him. They were begging the droids to not hurt him anymore. They were completely oblivious to the dark green toydarian and a large black hooded figure in the room with them.

The toydarian ordered the droids to stop the procedure. The machine stopped, but Sasuke still screamed and groaned in pain. The droids unstrapped him and he collapsed on the floor. The droids left him there as they unchained Naruto. It was his turn.

The girls screamed out in protest, not that it would stop them from hurting Naruto. The droids stripped Naruto of his jacket and shirt. They then strapped him to the device and shocks ran through him. He screamed out in dreadful pain. As he screamed, Hinata and Sakura looked away, not bearing to see him in such pain.

One droid picked Sasuke up off the ground and dragged him to the hooded figure. The toydarian looked up at the figure, whose face was concealed by the shadow of his hood. The toydarian looked up at the figure and nodded. The figure reached out its arm and a boney pale hand reached out of the cloak sleeve and it touched the top of Sasuke's head. Sasuke then tensed up and began to scream again.

The mixture of Naruto and Sasuke's screams made the girls sob out in helplessness. Sakura looked over at Sasuke and immediately noticed something: the mark that Orochimaru left on Sasuke's neck began to fade away. There was something off about that. After the mark vanished completely, the figure let Sasuke go. The toydarian ordered the droids to stop torturing Naruto.

After the droids unstrapped Naruto, they dragged him over to the hooded figure. Though Naruto was catatonic, he heard a voice ring out in his head, "Kit! You got to get free!"

It was the Kyuubi. He sounded desperate. Naruto asked him what was going to happen. The Kyuubi responded, "That man! He just drained the Uchiha of his justu abilities! He won't be able to do any justu ever again!"

Naruto began to panic. Without their justus, they wouldn't be able fully defend themselves.

"That's not all!" The Kyuubi shouted. "I can feel he knows about me! If he drains you, he'll also bury me into your subconscious!" But it was too late: the figure grabbed Naruto and started to drain him of his abilities. Now, he could feel everything he had learned going to waste. He would never be able to make Shadow Clones or perform Rasegan ever again. He also heard the Kyuubi screams as he faded away into his mind. On his stomach, the seal began to fade away.

Naruto fell to the ground, half dead. All that he learned, everything he trained for, was now gone. His teachings in the academy, with Kakashi and Jiraiya, all were gone. It was an almost impossible feat, but it happened, at the touch of this man's hand. Who was he?

Hinata and Sakura both sobbed at the sight of Naruto and Sasuke lying on the ground. They had no idea what just happened to them. However, as the man approached them slowly, they weren't aware that the same thing was going to happen to them.

On the bridge of the ship, the toydarian ordered his droids to make way for Couresant. He turned to the hooded figure and said, "Those four were more trouble than they were worth. I'm tripling their prices when we get back to Couresant." The hooded figure said to him, in a raspy voice, "You will have no problem from them here on out. All their abilities, all their powers will no longer be a hindrance."

The toydarian smiled and asked, "They're down with their powers for good?" The figure said, "Of course. I closed off all their channels that were used for their abilities. They will never be opened again." The toydarian laughed with joy as he flew about the bridge. He turned and said, "Now that that's out of the way and you've been such a big help with it, you will get fifty percent of the profits, my Lord!"

The four nin woke up in a glass room. It was their prison cell. They all groaned as they tried to get up. They looked at each other, collecting their thoughts about what happened. They had an idea, but they weren't completely sure, until Naruto moaned, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Nothing.

Naruto tried again, and again, and again, each time trying to muster up more energy. But each time was a failure. Sasuke tried to perform a clone justu, but he failed too. He also tried to activate his Sharingan. It appeared, but his abilities that came with it weren't. Hinata tried to activate her Byakugan, but she couldn't. It was hopeless.

"How did this happen?" Sakura mumbled. They all stood in sorrow knowing all their ninja techniques were all gone. They all felt useless know.

This whole feeling of uselessness made them feel like they never wanted to go back to Earth. If they did, they wouldn't be real ninjas. They were all promising students, had abilities that separated them from others, but it was all gone. Their thoughts were interrupted by an intercom, "We will be arriving at Couresant in one hour."

They all sat down, contemplating their situation. Not only did they lose their abilities, but they were going to be slaves.

"No." Sasuke growled and stood up. "We did not go through all we've been through, both here and back on Earth, just to give up now!"

"But how are we going to escape, huh?" Naruto asked him in an angry tone. He stood up and asked, "Do you have a plan to get out of this? Last time was sheer luck! This time, they'll be watching our every move!"

"But if we give up, we'll never make it back home!"

"Oh, wake up and smell the coffee, Sasuke! We are never going home! We're probably so far out that we'll never find it!"

"They got us out here, Naruto! There has to be a way home!"

Naruto slapped Sasuke across the face, trying to knock some sense into him. That was a mistake. Sasuke swiftly threw his fist across Naruto's jaw. The two began to engage in a fist fight. The girls got up and tried to separate them.

"Stop it, Naruto!" Sakura cried out as she pulled him back. Hinata tried to stop Sasuke, begging, "Please! This isn't helping!" The two boys separated and Sasuke screamed at Sakura and Naruto, "You two are both pathetic! Why I even wasted my time with you two I'll never know!" He then grabbed Hinata's hand and shouted at Sakura, "You wasted your time fawning over me when Hinata's worth more than you ever were!" He then turned to Naruto and shouted, "And you're too caught up in that stupid dream of yours and clinging to her like a lost mutt to see Hinata's feelings for you!"

Hinata tried to calm him down, "Sasuke! Please stop this! They're your friends!" Sasuke turned to her and said, "I can fix this! Orochimaru offered me a chance to become stronger! When we get back to Earth, he can help us! Come with me!"

All three of them were taken back by Sasuke's words. Not only did he hurtfully be little Naruto and Sakura, he also expressed his concerns for Hinata, something not any of them were aware of. They never thought Sasuke gave her a second thought, but apparently they were wrong. The only one who could say anything was Hinata herself, "Sasuke, what's gotten into you?"

Sasuke said to her, "Don't you get it? Last night, you asked me what kind of girl I wanted. I want you. I want you to be the one to help me restore my clan."

Hinata pulled away from him, much to his shock. She glared up at him, telling him, "You're insane. Last night, I thought you were different than what I always thought about you, but after what you just did to your friends, I never want to speak to you again." She walked away from him, leaving him speechless. She went over to Naruto and Sakura. Sakura and Hinata walked to the corner of the room and sat down on the ground, leaving Naruto and Sasuke standing in the middle of the room. Sasuke, looking over at Hinata, wasn't aware Naruto was glaring daggers into him.

"You were going to Orochimaru, weren't you?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke finally looked up at him. Naruto grabbed him by his shirt and forced him against the wall. He growled at Sasuke, "You listen to me, you ingrate! You may think everything we've been through was a waste of time, but I don't! I use to think I hated you, but you became a brother to me! You, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Pervy Sage, and Granny, you all became a family to me! I loved you! And if you were to go to that snake, I would have gone to hell and back to get you back! But now, I would have let him cut you into pieces!"

Naruto then punched him in the stomach and let him slid to the ground, groaning in pain. He left Sasuke there and joined Sakura and Hinata. He knelt down next to Hinata and asked her, "Is it true?"

Hinata knew what he meant. He was asking about what Sasuke said about her feelings for him. Hinata softly nodded, and said as tears rolled down her face, "But, I know you have feelings for Sakura. I wouldn't dare get in your way." Hinata felt something wrap around her hand. She looked down and saw Sakura held her hand. Sakura smiled at her and said, "I'm sorry, Hinata. But-"

Hinata shushed her and looked over at Naruto. She grabbed his hand and held it up. She brought both Naruto and Sakura's hands up and held them together. They looked at her for a moment, and then looked at each other. As Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes, she felt that tingle again, but it was stronger this time. She smiled as she realized what it was. Naruto smiled back at her.

There moment was interrupted by sobbing. They looked over at where it was coming from. It was coming from Sasuke. He sat against the wall Naruto left him at, holding his head and twitching with every hiccup. He slowly looked up at them, tears flowing in his eyes.

"Naruto, Sakura." He sobbed. "I am so sorry. I swear I didn't mean it." He slowly got up, shaking as he stood. The other three stood up as well. Sasuke supported himself against the wall as he wiped his eyes. The other three cautiously walked up to him. He looked back at them and said, "I've always tried to be strong, the strongest. How can I be if we can't perform our justus?"

He stood up from the wall and took deep breaths to calm himself. Once he was calm, he continued, "The truth is, for the first time in a long time, I'm afraid." He rushed over and hugged both Naruto and Sakura. He said to them, "I lost my family, and I'm losing them again."

Naruto and Sakura held him. They began to tear up too. He let them go and said to Naruto, "Thank you for beating it into me, Naruto." He turned to Sakura, "I'm sorry, Sakura. I never should have been the way I was to you." He then looked in between the two of them to Hinata, who was standing behind them. He walked passed them and stood before her.

"And Hinata, I know you hate me now. But I just want you to know that I meant what I said to you. If there was anyone I'd choose to spend my life with, it would be you. You changed me last night. My biggest regret is that I didn't meet you before." Sasuke was about to walk away from her, thinking she wouldn't want to talk to him, but he rushed him and wrapped her arms around him. Surprised, but he still held her. Naruto and Sakura wrapped their arms around them. They stood in the middle of their cell, holding each other.

They broke the group hug as Naruto continued to hold Sakura and Sasuke held Hinata. Hinata looked up at Sasuke and said, "I forgive you." Sasuke held her tighter. Naruto realized and said, "I hope the Eds are okay." Sasuke mentioned they were probably on their way back to Earth. Sakura didn't think they would but wouldn't blame them if they were.

Naruto said to them, "I'd rather die than be a slave."