Chapter 10

Sasuke paced restlessly at the hallway. It was two minutes to eight-thirty and Naruto would be arriving any minute. He constantly passed by the mirror by the bathroom entrance and adjusted his collar again and again and again. His classic black-and-white Converse All-Stars were brushed and polished to perfection and his simple shirt and rugged jeans were practically devoid of any trace of wrinkles. The raven hair on his head was left untouched because to him, it seemed to look better that way. Aw, let him be. He's just a bit nervous for his first date, that's all!

He nearly jumped out of his skin as a car came honking from his driveway, followed by a "Sasuke! Come on!"

Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep, calming breath(1) he padded out of the house and into Naruto's dark orange Porsche Carrera GT. He settled himself at the backseat beside the blonde, wondering why he wasn't driving.

"Ahehehehe..." he replied sheepishly, "Well...I bought the car but I had no idea how to run the damn thing so..." he pointed to the one at the driver's seat, "my friend's driving us."

Sasuke nodded absently as he marveled at the sheer awesome-lookingness of the vehicle. Then something hit him.

"Wait--" he turned to face Naruto, "you bought this thing?!"

"Bought, customized and excellentized by yours truly, ahehe."

Sasuke blinked. Naruto laughed, "You're wondering why I have such a bad-ass car while I don't even have a place to live, aren't you?"

"Uh...yeah?"

Naruto just laughed and ruffled the raven's hair.

-

-

"We're here," the driver said as they pulled over in front of a fancy-looking restaurant. The Red Shrimp(2). At the entrance stood two guards clad in identical tuxedoes. One was letting customers inside while the other stood idly. All the customers wore tuxedoes, gowns, coat-and-ties and other fancy stuff that it made Sasuke feel very under-dressed. A simple shirt, rugged jeans and high-cut sneakers didn't exactly fall in the same category as formal wear after all.

Before stepping out of the car, Sasuke couldn't help but say out loud, "Are you fucking serious?! A glass of water in this place already costs a hundred dollars! Naruto, who the hell will pay for it?!"

He turned around to face Naruto, who didn't seem to make any move to get out of the car.

"We will," said the driver darkly. Even before Sasuke understood what the driver meant, a shaggy haired man and a foul-mouthed woman leisurely entered the car and nodded. The car sped up again, abandoning the Red Shrimp. Sasuke looked around in confusion. He was made all the more confused as Naruto just sat there, twiddling his fingers.

"N-naruto, what's going on?! Who are these people?"

"Shut the hell up," said the woman in the front seat. He felt something very heavy and very solid collide with his head, and he heard the sound of Naruto calling his name.

Then everything went dark.

-

-

He heard a sound. A strange pounding sound. It was then followed by a garbled voice. Followed by the pounding sound again. Sasuke wondered over and over what it was. In his ears it sounded as though the sounds were coming from another room. But the strange thing was...it seemed to grow louder and louder after each pounding sound. Finally, he heard a strangled groan.

And he realized that he was the one who groaned in pain as another blow hit him squarely on the face. He remembered being thrown into unconciousness a while ago. Now he was concious and wished that he was unconcious again.

"STOP!! YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T HURT HIM!" he heard Naruto roar. Laughter erupted from what he assumed was from the people who suddenly entered the car who-knows how long ago. Another pain shot up from his stomach as a bat whacked forcefully, causing him to cough up blood. He wriggled and tried to fight back, but it was all in vain as his entire upper body was tied to a post. Opening his eyes a little, he saw that they were in a sort of warehouse.

"You actually think we would keep what we say to a piece of shit like you?" said a calm male voice.

Sasuke heard Naruto make a distressed grunt. He wanted so badly to escape and be in the blonde's arms now. But he was in too much pain to even breathe freely. What's going on? was the only thing in his mind.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out to him. The raven mustered all the strength he had left to look at Naruto, whose hands were handcuffed to a metal pipeline.

"PAY UP OR SHUT UP, ASSHOLE!" said a female voice as she beat various parts of Sasuke's almost broken body with a bat.

Pay what? I don't owe anyone anything! Sasuke meant to say, but the words were stuck in his bloody mouth.

"I SAID I'LL PAY! JUST GIVE ME MORE TIME!" replied Naruto almost tearfully.

So she was talking to Naruto...but...what does he owe them? AND WHY AM I HERE?!

From the corner of his bloody eye he saw the shaggy-haired man stand up and walk toward him. He felt a hand firmly tug his head upwards that the lights momentarily blinded him. After regaining focus, he saw the man looking at him calmly.

"Naruto," the man turned to the blonde, "do you know what I'm doing to Sasuke right now?"

Sasuke heard Naruto whimper and say something like a 'please, no...' then he felt the hand clamped to his hair let go. He massaged his painful scalp by rubbing it lightly on the post. Then he turned to look at Naruto. The blonde was fiercely trying to get his hands free from the handcuffs.

"No, no, no, Naruto," the man said soothingly as he approached the blonde, "you'll hurt yourself..."

Naruto stopped for a moment and took a shaky breath.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke instinctively bellowed as he saw the man punch the blonde not at all gently in the face. He struggled against his restraints, ignoring the searing pain shooting up from wherever his bones were cracked. The man and his companions laughed menacingly as they watched the two suffer.

"WHERE'S THE FUCKING MONEY?!" the foul-mouthed woman shrieked at Naruto.

"I SAID I'LL PAY IT BACK!" the now bleeding blonde shot back.

"That's it," the shaggy-haired man said, "Jiroubo, Tayuya...why don't we take him to Torture Land(3) now, eh?"

Sasuke was left to see the horrible things they did to Naruto. He was left to hear the blonde's strangled cries of pain. He was left to occasionally feel Naruto's blood sprinkle lightly on his own skin. He was left to watch the torture while he sat there, bound and unable to protect the one he loved.

The one he loved. Yes, at that moment, Sasuke realized that he didn't like Naruto. He loved him.

I love you, Naruto. I can't do anything to help you... Just hold on was the last thing on his mind before he slipped into shock due to loss of blood and extreme blunt force trauma.

"Sasuke..."

(1)lol I got that phrase from a yoga lesson. I find it funny when Sasuke does it. XD

(2)The Red Shrimp. Well technically, I based it on the five-star restaurant: The Red Lobster. hehehehe...

(3)Refer to Chapter 8 if you forgot what Sakon meant by Torture Land. Well...it doesn't actually mean anything. It's just an expression he used.

TCD: Yosh! The first double-digit chapter! Hope ya liked it! You'll have to wait a wee bit longer for the next chapter, though. School sucks. Seriously. Oh well. Please review!!:D

You guys rock,
-TCD-