"Thank… thank you." She stammered as she walked a step behind Sasuke in an unknown direction. The night air was so thin, especially compared to the building she just left. The tension between her and Sasuke had even thinned. What he had done for her… it just didn't reflect everything he said. He was supposed to be hardened on the inside and out. He wasn't supposed to care. But what he did… and the way he did it revealed everything he tried so desperately to defeat.

Sasuke said nothing, he didn't even turn around. Hinata was not surprised. His moods changed so often, she saw this coming. They would ultimately close the night out with them splitting ways and him showing her no emotion whatsoever. Keeping it traditional.

"Do… um… should I just go home?" Hinata asked then blushed pathetically. Of course, where else would she go? Surely she wouldn't go home with him. What would they do?

He didn't answer. Hinata sighed. She supposed that was it. They would walk together in silence until they came to the fork in the road that divided Sasuke's home from the rest of the world.

She understood this to be true until he faintly collapsed in front of her. He dropped so fast and without any accompanying vocalization. He simply dropped.

Hinata gasped, dropping to his side instinctively. He was lying directly on his face. How did this happen? He was just walking. Was he unconscious the entire time?

Hinata managed to roll him over so that he faced the sky. She pressed her hand against his check and her palm near his nostrils. He was breathing, quite steadily actually. That meant he was just… drunk. Who knew Sasuke Uchiha was so susceptible to alcohol? He was human afterall.

She did all she could, she shook him. How else would he get home? She couldn't carry him and she certainly couldn't call the clinic to take him away. He had to wake up, that was the only way.

"Sasuke." She called his name and shook him vigorously.

After a few moments of desperate fidgeting, Sasuke's eye fluttered open. It wasn't exactly in sync with the other one. Seconds later the other followed and he shook his head gently, sitting up.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"Hm." He grunted, pulling himself up clumsily. He was seconds from falling over again. Hinata jumped up and allowed him to lean on her.

He seemed fine just a moment ago, now he was barely awake. This was a disaster.

"Take me to my house." He managed to murmur. Even in this condition he was making demands. Hinata exhaled, she wasn't in the best place herself to be dealing with this at the moment but what choice did she have?

Well, she didn't have one.

So she stuck it out. She nearly dragged him the entire way. Initially, he was walking with her and it seemed to be a group effort. It was like he was supporting her and she was supporting him. Half way there she realized that he was barely supporting his own weight; he couldn't even hold his head up. When they finally came up on Sasuke's flat, it occurred to her that he was no longer even supporting himself. His head drooped miserably.

Now, Hinata was burning hot and tired – both from the alcohol and from the task of carrying this massive man for an hour. So, panting, she stepped up on Sasuke's doorstep, barely even holding on to the prodigy anymore. "Okay, we're here." She panted heavily, wiping her brow with her shoulder as both hands were focused to the effort of keeping Sasuke's face off the ground.

He looked up at the door and Hinata was utterly shocked and confused just at the condition of his face. He was drenched in sweat; it was visible even in the moonlight. His collar and back were stained with sweat; it dripped from his nose and dampened his hair.

"Oh God!" She exclaimed in fear. She had no idea that being drunk made you sweat profusely. This man was nearly drowning in his sweat.

"That…" He breathed deeply in and out. He couldn't seem to catch his breath although he'd barely exerted any energy for the past mile or so. Each word was said with a great pause between it and the previous word. "That… bitch… poisoned… me."

Hinata frowned. That was preposterous, she thought. He was just speaking out of his condition; he didn't know what he was saying.

He detached from Hinata, leaving Hinata with a cold, damp feeling on one side of her from all of Sasuke's perspiration. He put all of his energy into pulling the door open as it weighed a ton. Hinata imagined his pain and exhaustion as the door wasn't easy to move. Even he struggled to pry it open.

When it was open he flung himself inside, stumbling and barely standing.

Hinata stepped in behind him. This was wrong, it was all wrong. This was not how she was supposed to go about things. This was not how it was supposed to work. Hinata just wanted to go home, back home where she was safe. She wanted to be safe in her bed, talking to Ino on the phone. She wanted to be in the clinic, wrapping up wounds and teaching Sakura how to draw blood. This was not her domain, it was all wrong. She was not supposed to be here with him like this.

He stood there; it was a strange and remarkable sight. He was… bent over. He was bent over slightly with his arms dangling. His hair covered his face so Hinata could not see his expression although she was sure it was either blazingly angry or utterly emotionless.

The night air wafted in, cooling Hinata's back and simultaneously pulling the door shut less gracefully than Hinata would have liked. It actually slammed the door, which turned out to be the loudest thing Hinata had ever heard.

She stared at him. What was going on? What was wrong with this night?

"Don't kill him!" Sasuke shouted through his gritty voice.

He looked around him only to find the same scene he'd acknowledged before his eyes moved. Two of his comrades tied tightly together with some type of harsh, heavy wire devise. They stared at Sasuke in horror.

Two men were lying on the floor, dead. One man's head had been cracked open, exposing his skull which fluid, blood and chunks of tissue seeped from endlessly. The enormous pool of blood had spread across the floor so that Sasuke was sitting in it. He felt selfish in the fact that when he saw the man killed, he only hoped that he wouldn't have to come in contact with the blood. Now he was sitting in it. There was no way out from this.

The other man had a large hole in the center of his torso, large enough for Sasuke to stick his head through. The flesh and fabric around the hole was charred. The man's organs frayed and protruded over the severed flesh. Stray pieces of his large intestine and liver were scattered about the floor. Sasuke had a piece of the man's aortal artery just above his eyebrow. Unfortunately, his head was turned up which made him resemble a dead deer. His eyes were wide open.

Currently another member of Sasuke's unit was met with the barrel of a gun between his eyes. Sasuke could do nothing about it as he'd been restrained with some type of metal apparatus that kept him pinned to the floor. He was left to watch in terror.

The man holding the gun was a member of Orochimaru's sinister terror group. Something comprised of brainwashed and tortured individuals fighting to hold all the raw power available to human beings. Sasuke had met with Orochimaru once before. He had given Orochimaru many years of his life. He thought he was rid of him up until this point. Now he was literally staring into the face of that man's entity as one of his drones held a double barrel to his comrade's head.

"Don't kill him!" Sasuke cried out desperately. It was the first time in his life he was sincerely begging for something, he was genuinely desperate. Now his fate was left to his voice and his voice was meaningless in this hell.

"You will belong to Orochimaru or this insignificant piece of shit will get his head blown off." The drone said humorously, poking the man's head with the gun playfully.

"Fuck!" Sasuke cried out.

He would not surrender to Orochimaru. He wouldn't. No, he couldn't. He couldn't go back there. He was already too close.

"You miserable bastard!" Sasuke's comrade barked viciously, drooling and crying as he felt the cold pressure of the gun against his forehead. "What kind of man are you?!" The man cried hysterically, he was already beaten all over.

They were all bruised and bloody. Most of their skin was split in places. They're suffered just two days in this dark place, which they assumed was some type of death camp. It seemed like since they got there, they lost each man one by one. Someone life was taken left and right. It didn't only come down to them. They watched the persecution and beating of several prisoners from other villages. The torture methods were cruel and inhumane. Sasuke hadn't seen anything like this before.

Every moment was filled with screams that reached nothing and no one beyond the steel walls of this confine. He'd seen women – small girls even, brutally and violently defiled then killed ruthlessly. He'd seen men ripped apart by boars and wolves, men electrocuted by some terrible torture device, children beaten and forced into slavery, men screaming and begging to be killed. That seemed to amuse them further; it just gave them all the more reason to string their lives along until that peak of utter misery where they could happily and contently slay them just like the rest. Their bodies rotted and decomposed right in front of the other prisoners. They were not cleaned up, not moved, not buried properly. Wherever they fell, that was their grave. He himself was filthy, starving and nearing insanity. Any man would be. His companions – well, they were long gone into insanity – those who remained alive that is.

"Make a choice, Sasuke!" The drone cackled, swinging around the gun and teasing the person it was pointed towards.

"Just fucking kill me!" The man cried out, breaking his voice in the act. "Please. God, I just want to die!" He cried, his tears falling onto the floor and mixing with the blood of the two others in their unit.

"Make your choice!" The drone smiled slowly, moving the gun towards the ninja's eye and twirling it about different areas of his face.

Sasuke said nothing. He always said nothing. He hated himself for it. He hated his selfishness. The selfishness he called devotion.

That was it. There was no countdown or concession. The gun went off. It startled Sasuke, it stopped his heart. Since he'd gotten there he'd been more jumpy and nervous than ever before and he had every reason to be. He was constantly faced with the prospect of being killed or being forced to watch the brutal murder of other people. He'd soon be next.

The man screamed brazenly. The drone had shot him in the spine. The angle he shot him from caused the wound to spray blood but it also caused him to retain consciousness.

After a few seconds the drone emptied his gun into the man, shooting him first in the neck, then turning around to shoot him in the face, then in the chest. Blood sprayed and splattered in every direction. The drone's face was covered in blood and tiny shards of skull.

"Sasuke, you have to do something." Said one of the two other ninja who remained alive but tied together.

It hurt Sasuke just to look at them, even more so than it hurt to see the execution of the noble man in front of him. They were hopeless. He was sure that they would die. They had to. He would not surrender. He would not sell his soul to that monster, not again, even if it meant the slaughter of every nin in Konoha. He would not walk into Orochimaru's arms.

They would all have to die for that sake.

"I can't save you." Sasuke whispered tightly to himself.

Hinata stood there in confusion. What did he just say?

"What do you mean you can't-"

"I gave you my soul yet you took more and I knew that you might!" He whispered to himself painfully as his head swarmed with memories of the past. It wasn't yet gone from him. "And you – you, you were the one I let slip. I was the one who was strong enough to save you but I didn't. Where was I?"

Hinata took a step back as his faint voice grew louder, stronger, and angrier. He was talking to himself. Tonight seemed to reveal parts of him Hinata never imagined existed, surely he didn't either. This was just bizarre.

"Every fucking time." Sasuke cried out to no one. It was then that Hinata could see that his eyes were red. He was no longer in his usual state; he was battle ready with sharingan engaged. His face was even red, he was boiling with rage. His body shook unsteadily and he seemed to smirk, even now he was smirking. He chuckled distantly. "But it's all gone now." He said weakly.

"Isn't it?!" He shouted rigidly, throwing his fist through the nearest wall. It went through roughly, creating a loud noise all over. Dust and plaster particles flew through the air space and cleared to reveal an image of someone who once was Sasuke. His hair dangled limply with sweat, he panted persistently and his hand was crammed through a jagged hole in the wall.

It wasn't exactly a thin wall either. The edges of the hole were uneven and cracked. Hinata's eyes widened in suspense. This was terrifying yet she couldn't walk away or close her eyes. She could only assume he'd soon come for her and she'd suffer the same fate. Either way, she was paralyzed.

After a few seconds of painful and laborious silence, Sasuke pulled his hand half-heartedly from the wall. Hinata could see that he'd disarmed his sharingan, his head now hanging low. His hand dripped blood onto the dusty wooden floor; it was the only sound between them. Sasuke's body swayed uneasily as he brought his panting breath to calmness.

There was nothing.

There was nothing Hinata could say or do, and now that her mind was working her only instinct was to unstick herself and make a run for the door behind her. She was more inclined to cater to her elementary feelings. She wanted to help him, afterall it was her job. He was her friend, or atleast becoming her friend or atleast… He was suffering. She doubted anyone else had ever seen him suffer this way, she doubted anyone else knew. They'd think he was insane, a maniac. But no, he was… helpless.

She approached slowly, unsure of what Sasuke may throw at her as a result. Earlier he stunned her when she tried to use her Byakugan to see his injuries. What would he do now? Nonetheless she stepped closer cautiously. He didn't seem to budge at all, it looked safe.

"Get out." He whispered weakly.

Hinata halted. His voice sounded like… it sounded like he was hurt. It sounded like he was in some distress. How could she know what to do? His demands were the opposite of his needs. So Hinata stood there. She figured even her company loaned a source of comfort – maybe.

"Get out now." He whispered more sternly, covering his face. "Just get the fuck out."

"S-Sasuke… I-"

"Go home!" He shouted crudely.

Hinata jumped, that was all the convincing she needed. She made a turn and pulled on the door. It was less heavy now. Now that she was desperate to escape, now that her life was in jeopardy, now that she was confused and scared. She needed no invitation, no help to depart. She was gone before she caught another glimpse of that man.

She literally ran out, not turning back especially for the fact that in the background all she could hear was the bloody, awful cries of a broken man. He was so furious. No one deserved to meet his path tonight. Hinata was just thankful that she was getting away. She'd gotten too bold lately, she wouldn't take no for an answer. She had to learn when it was a good time to turn away, or else it would be her on the other end of Sasuke's fist and not the wall.

So his anger was not poignantly directed at Hinata, that didn't mean it wouldn't cross her path. It was plain to see that Sasuke was angry at some other entity whether it be himself or… How could she think about it? It didn't belong to her. Those thoughts were not hers to think. She wasn't supposed to see that. She was supposed to be at home. At home safe with her things, with her family, with her friends. She was not supposed to be running wildly into the night with her head pounding and her heart racing.

I'd just like to thank my readers for all the reviews. They are so very encouraging. I read and appreciate every single one so thank you so so so so much. I was so inspired I've been writing nonstop!

*gets on soapbox*

Now I need to warn that in the next few chapters something is going to happen that will piss some people off most likely haha. I'm not going to spoil it but I will say that it's sort of an unexpected/expected mid-story twist - the important thing to take from this warning is: the "twist" seems sort of caustic but it doesn't affect the outcome (ending) of the story. It just sort of makes things a little more exciting. I've had this story mapped out for quite a while before I started writing it and I think this part adds a bit of controversy/excitement. It won't be the next chapter but the chapter after that - so by chapter 12 you will be completely thrown off/furious but I urge you to please continue reading despite the fact that you might not like the things that happen. Be patient with me and you won't be disappointed, I promise.

That is all for now.

*steps down from soapbox*