Disclaimer: NO RIGHTS TO NARUTO
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Yue shrieked loudly in pain as the two guards continued to whip her with iron chains that had been laid over a pot of coals.
She was bound against the wall with metal shackles; no way to defend herself from the torture.
A cruel looking woman dressed in high ranking official uniform stood in front of Yue and gestured for the guards to stop the torture. "Are you ready to tell the truth Kamiya Yue of Kumogakure?"
The two shinobi guards stood aside as Yue gasped in small breaths, "I…I am telling the truth. I didn't steal the ruby and I didn't try to kill Shikamaru…"
Blood started to show in her numerous wounds from the iron whips. It seeped through her prison rag attire but that didn't stop the lady official, "Continue! Beat her until she speaks the truth!"
"No! NO! Please, I didn't do it!" Yue was slipping, she could feel it.
The Lady Official, whose name was Mifune, stalked dangerously close to Yue and leaned in to glare at her, "If you can't take it than confess the truth!"
"No matter how much you beat me, I will tell you the same thing! I didn't do anything wrong!" The poor girl shouted in frustration.
Mifune glowered at her more and clutched at Yue's jaw, "You're that stubborn eh. We'll just see how stubborn you really are!"
Her screams of pain increased horrifically with each landing whip. "Stop! I didn't do it!" She didn't have much to hold on.
It had been three days of non-stop torture and yet Yue still told the same tale.
The first night, they beat her with a long lead pipe on her back until they heard a small crack and the night after consisted of laying coal on her arms until they could smell her burning flesh.
Food and water would be delivered to her cell but she couldn't find the appetite to eat and she sensed that someone probably spiked the food with something foul.
"SAY IT, SAY YOU TRIED TO KILL NARA SHIKAMARU! TELL US WHERE YOU HID THE RUBY! TELL US!"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Yue bit down hard to withstand the pain as the sounds of whipping continued.
It was almost like her skin was being split open and salt was being poured into the fresh wound. "You can't do this! You can't torture me like this! The Kazekage will have your head! Stop please!"
Mifune laughed sinisterly, "Lord Kazekage can care less about you! You honestly think that he would defend a trader like you! In fact it was him who told us to do whatever means necessary to get the truth out of you!"
Yue snapped her face up to the evil official in disbelief, "You're a liar. Gaara hasn't come back yet, and if he did, he wouldn't do that!"
She motioned to the guards again to stop so she could speak, "Lord Kazekage rushed to Sunagakure after he heard what you have done! Why do you think he hasn't come see you? It's because he knows you are guilty and wants you dead but not before telling truth!"
"You lie!
"BEAT HER UNTIL SHE'S AN INCH FROM DEATH!"
"AHHHH please stop! I DIDN'T DO IT!"
"Wow, this storm is still going…? It's been three days already." A certain spiky blonde ninja commented as he and his friends walked out of the Hokage building after a meeting with Lady Tsunade.
Kankuro agreed, "I know, I can hardly sleep at night because of the loud thunder."
Gaara didn't say anything to that. He didn't seem to be even paying attention. His mind had been so distracted lately that he barely even paid attention to the meeting that he just had with Lady Tsunade.
Naruto and Kankuro glanced at each other and then at The Kazekage. "Hey Gaara, you all right?" His brother asked even though he knew what was bothering his little brother.
Gaara tried to give his older brother and Naruto his attention. "Yes. I'm sorry for not being attentive."
"What's wrong Gaara? Something on your mind?" Naruto asked curiously.
The puppet master answered for Gaara in a chuckle, "He has been wanting to go home because he misses his wife." He nudged at his brother's side with his elbow, "Right Gaara?"
"No, that's not it." Gaara tried to argue and gave another explanation, "I just find it rather strange that there have been no reports or mail from Sunagakure. I even sent a letter two days ago and I have yet to hear from Temari or Yue."
Kankuro sighed like the numerous times he had done it from the past few days, "Everyone is just probably busy Gaara."
The three men opened their umbrellas and started to walk in the rain. The Kazekage thought deeply bothered, "Is that really it…? I don't know… Something's just not right."
"Like what?" Naruto questioned.
Gaara replied still feeling bothered inside, "It's just a feeling that has been haunting me since I left Sunagakure."
Kankuro furrowed his eyebrow, "What kind of feeling."
The Sand Jinchūriki ceased walking which made his older brother and his friend stopped too, "It's an uncomfortable frightening feeling. Something tells me that I should return home immediately."
"You just probably miss Yue, that's all Gaara." The Blonde shinobi said to ease him.
They continued to walk along the street when Gaara confessed uncomfortably, "This is the first time that I've been away from her since we've been married. She is so used to being with me all the time. I don't think she'll be able to adapt."
"Gaara, you're going to have to get use to it and trust your people. They wouldn't do anything stupid like hurt her." Kankuro argued with reason.
"I suppose."
Just as The Kazekage was about to push away his irritating thoughts, a female voice came from behind them, "Naruto! Kankuro! Lord Kazekage!"
Sakura was running in the rain without an umbrella to catch up to them. The three men turned around right when she actually caught up.
It took her a moment to catch her breath. She looked bothered and worried as she looked straight to Gaara and said, "Lord Kazekage, I don't know if this is true but there has been a rumor just very recently going around the village about Lady Yue being arrested to The Sunagakure Correctional Facility!"
Immediately, the words sank in as Gaara's eyes spread, "WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY? YUE HAS BEEN ARRESTED?"
The medical ninja apprentice nodded seriously, "I don't know the exact details but I was just with Lady Tsunade when she received the report about the rumors.
Without any big or small delay, Gaara dropped his umbrella and ran toward the direction of the Inn to get his gourd and some items. Kankuro followed in pursuit without asking any redundant questions.
Naruto was very much worried too but he managed to think and turned to Sakura, "Sakura, let's go see Grandma Tsunade so she can organize a squad to go along with Gaara. I'm sensing that he might need to some help in order to save Yue."
Sakura looked at him in a moment of astonishment. Naruto was never that precise and strategized before. But that look vanished into a serious one, "You're right, let's go."
The door to The Sand Brothers' hotel room slammed open by Gaara as he entered in like lightening.
He caught sight of his gourd in the corner of the room and quickly took it and slung it on his back while his older brother packed on his own weapon of puppets.
I knew something was wrong, I should have never left… Gaara thought as he tied the sashes that held his gourd securely on his back.
"We'll head straight for Sunagakure, without stopping. We'll be there by next morning Gaara. Don't worry, we'll get there soon." Kankuro said as he strapped on his puppets.
"No, we're heading straight for Sunagakure Correctional Facility to get Yue." Gaara demanded rather than suggesting or telling it.
Kankuro saw a fault in that plan, "No Gaara, you have to be reasonable. We have to head home first and see what happened. Maybe it was Yue's fault for whatever reason or maybe it wasn't but we have to know exactly what happened first. You have to think logically."
"No, we're going straight to the prison." The Kazekage argued and almost ran for the door but his big brother clutched on his arms and stopped him abruptly.
"Gaara listen to me. Your actions are being clouded by your thoughts and feelings. Think like the Kazekage!"
The younger sibling yanked his arm away, "You know the torturous techniques they use on prisoners at that prison. Yue wouldn't even last another day."
"She's your wife; I doubt they would torture a Lady Kazekage. Now listen to me little brother, think about your village first. If you were to go running to Sunagakure Correctional facility instead of checking in with the village first, how would that look in front of the villagers!"
Gaara calmed himself and took in Kankuro's words, "You're right… Come then, let us hurry home. The faster we get there, the faster we know what is happening."
Together the two brothers rushed out of there without even the thought of officially checking out. They seem to be like the speed of light as they sprinted past the bewildered Konohagakure villagers.
When they got near the gate, Gaara and Kankuro could see Naruto, Sakura, Neji, and Kiba with Akamaru waiting for them with packed backpacks ready to go. They were drenched in the heavy rain.
The Kazekage and his brother stopped in front of them abruptly, almost completely out of breath.
Naruto quickly asked so not to waste time, "Gaara what's the plan? Are we going to go the Sunagakure Correctional Facility first?"
"I think we should. I think Yue is in real danger. That prison is notorious for torment" Sakura gasped out loud.
In an almost breathless tone, Gaara replied, "That's…That's what I wanted to do first but Kankuro suggested we must return home first to know the basis of the situation and he's right."
"But that would take at least the night to get to Sunagakure. If there is a sandstorm, that would take more than a day. Would Lady Yue be all right for that time being?" Neji brought up when he thought of the situation.
Sakura anxiously commented, "She might be in danger now. Sure she is The Kazekage's wife but the people of Sunagakure hate her!"
Upon Hearing that statement, Gaara started to think of the painful ordeal that Yue might being going through and it was already been at least a little over three days.
He turned to Naruto, "Naruto, you and your comrades will head first to the Correctional Facility and Kankuro and I will return to Sunagakure first. You all will try to get her out of there by whatever means possible."
"B-But Gaara wouldn't you want to come along with us?" Kiba asked, confused.
Kankuro clarified, "Believe me, that's what he wants to do but he is the Kazekage and Yue is from Kumogakure. We don't even know what the situation is exactly. If Gaara were to go rescue Yue without knowing if she was guilty or not guilty, it would be looked down by our entire village. Do you all understand now?"
Gaara looked strictly and seriously to his Konohagakure friends, "I know I am not your Kage but I'm giving you all in order to get Yue out of that place no matter what. I will meet you all there soon."
All four Leaf Village Shinobi nodded their heads. "Don't worry Gaara, count on us!" Naruto exclaimed with clear determination.
In the dark of the night; two shadows of two females lurked in a secret alley way. One of the shadows was the Lady Official Mifune and the other evil gray shade was that of Matsuri.
They could barely see each other's faces because of it being so dark. The moon only gave some light but only to let them see each other's silhouette.
"What do you want? Why have you requested to see me and in this way?" Mifune questioned in an almost defensive tone.
Matsuri replied in a low whisper, "I hear that you can't get Yue to confess to her crimes. How much have you tortured her?"
"To a pretty high extent and yet she is still alive. Perhaps she is not guilty at all."
"NO! She is surely guilty and she should be put to death. She is Kumogakure trash and will bring the entire Sand Village down." Matsuri snapped at her but managed to calm down. "Look, I came here to help you is all, not to argue."
"How can you help me Matsuri? She will not confess to you nor anyone for that matter."
Matsuri pulled out a vile filled with some sort of serum from her pocket, "Inject her with this so she may die slowly."
Mifune stepped back in shock, "Y-You want me to kill her? She is a prisoner but is not ordered to be sentenced to death. I would be put in the facility myself if I were to go through with what you're suggesting. You're absolutely mad!"
She turned away to leave but Matsuri took a guess in the dark and reached for her arm to stop her, "No one will find out. This serum gives a slow death, it will simply weaken her body until there is no more left to weaken and in her present state now, it will take twice as fast. It will strictly take ten days so don't be a coward and besides… I hear you're in debt with gambling Mifune."
The lady official slowly turned around, "How do you know that? NO ONE KNOWS THAT. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT?"
Matsuri snickered devilishly, "I have my ways. Now stay your place and listen to me. You will inject that harlot with this serum and I will pay off your immense debt."
Mifune gasped, "This is an evil bribe! You expect me to murder someone for the sake of settling a debt? I may be a torturous woman but that is all in favor of getting information from someone guilty. This is sheer heartless murder. She is Lady Kazekage, Lord Gaara will kill me!"
"I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LADY KAZEKAGE! She is nothing more than trash. Kamiya Yue is guilty anyways, killing her will benefit everyone and it will certainly benefit you. You will be doing a good deed while settling your debt. Think about how your reputation would be if your news of your large gambling debt was to be leaked out."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Why wouldn't I? Unless you do what I say." The Kazekage's apprentice pried open Mifune's hands and pushed the bottle into them, "WILL YOU DO AS I SAY?"
It was dark but Matsuri could make out that the lady official nodded her head.
Lord Kazekage can care less about you! You honestly think that he would defend a trader like you! In fact it was him who told us to do whatever means necessary to get the truth out of you
No that's not true… Gaara wouldn't do that… Yue thought as she shivered in the freezing dark cell.
She was still chained tightly and still in tremendous pain.
She felt so weak that it was almost difficult for her to breathe properly. There wasn't a place on her body that didn't hurt.
YOU'RE NOT MY FAMILY ANYMORE! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU WILL NEVER BE APART OF THIS FAMILY EVER AGAIN. I WAS A FOOL TO TRUST YOU, TO ACCEPT YOU INTO OUR FAMILY!
Temari's voice echoed into her mind and started to make her think differently. What if he really does hate me now… Maybe he is doing this to me…
All the heavy thinking started to make her head hurt more than it already did. Yue was about to close her eyes and rest for as long as she could but the bolts on the door could be heard moving.
Instant fear came upon Yue for whenever anyone came for her, it would be nothing but torture. Her body shook violently as she scooted back against the wall.
Mifune entered with a lantern in one hand. Her mind wasn't any more stable than that of Yue's.
Her mind started to second think the situation and her heart started feeling guilty but she continued to get close to Yue.
The frightened weak girl tried to tell her bravely, "Y-You might as well kill me now because I can't tell you anything different."
How ironic that Yue said that…
The Lady official knelt on one knee in front of Yue while setting down the lamp close for light. "You're getting your wish." She pulled out the syringe that had been already filled with the poison.
"W-WHAT, WHAT ARE YOU-" Yue asked in horror since she didn't think that the official would take her seriously but Mifune clutched at Yue's neck tightly, practically throttling her.
She shakily stabbed the needle into Yue's arms and pushed the dangerous liquid into her, "YOU ASKED TO DIE… YOU HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF."
Rapidly, Yue felt weaker by seconds passing. Her head slumped to the sides with dazed and faint eyes. She looked dead but if one was to look real close one could see her slightly still breathing.
Mifune let go of her neck and grasped onto her chin to bring Yue's face upright. Yue didn't seem to have any life in her for she was barely breathing.
Satisfied with the thoughts that she would die soon, Mifune picked up the lamp and left the girl to her slow death.