Author's Note: Gasp! An update!! OMG! Yeah, so the semester's almost over, and I've been super busy catching up and studying… I'm really sorry I haven't posted lately! Christmas was chaotic, and everything in between was only slightly less so… I've also been working on sewing projects and other art stuff, so… Really busy! FYI, the next few chapters may take awhile, and they will probably have torture/gore again, so please remember that I warned you! Well, let's get on with the story:D

Naruto had only been sitting awake for about three-quarters of an hour when he came to a realization. 'Agh, this is so boring!! Just when I thought I was going to be up and moving around again, that bastard puts me back in the hospital!' He jumped slightly when he heard the doorknob turning, his head snapping toward the door. He moaned when the sudden movement made most, if not all, of his injuries ache. Bari walked in with a smirk on his face and closed the door behind him. Naruto mentally groaned when he saw that smirk. 'It's never a good thing when he's smirking like that...', Naruto thought.

"I've decided that your training can wait.", Bari said, smirking even more than before. 'What...?', Naruto thought as he stared at Bari.

"...Huh?", Naruto said. Bari chuckled.

"I'm giving you a week to recover, and two weeks after that to train on your own. Then you will resume your training with me.", Bari said, his eyes giving off an evil glint when he mentioned training with Naruto.

'This... Really doesn't seem like one of his ideas... It's too... generous...', Naruto wondered, truly confused as to why the man would allow him to regain his strength. 'Whether I like it or not, though, that's the way it's gonna be, I guess... I wonder what he's hiding...?'

Once the three weeks had passed, Naruto was close to being at his full original strength. He had practically trained himself into the ground doing it, pushing himself even harder than when he was learning the Rasengan. His muscles still hadn't recovered from all the inactivity, but had long since surpassed the amount of muscle he had when he first trained with Bari.

At the crack of dawn the next morning, Naruto was jolted awake by a bucket of cold water being dumped over his head. "Wake up. It's time to train.", Bari said with an evil smirk. Gasping and coughing, all Naruto could do was nod his head. As Naruto started to climb out of bed, shaking his head to get some of the water off, Bari threw a heap of cloth onto the bed next to him.

"Your old clothes are pretty close to falling apart. The others are tired of trying to mend them. Wear that instead.", Bari stated. "But-!", Naruto tried to argue. Bari shook his head. "Do not argue with me!", Bari demanded, "You will wear those willingly and throw your other clothes away, or I will shred your clothing and your skin at the same time and you can go without clothing. Pick one." Naruto started to argue again, but Bari cut him off with a glare. Naruto sighed as Bari left the room and started to get dressed.

'Well, at least that explains why my clothes always looked like new after practically being pulverized...', Naruto thought, unfolding the heap of black fabric that was his outfit. He found that the heap was made up of a loose pair of pants, a few rolls of black bandages, a pair of slip-on shoes, and a loose sleeveless kimono-style shirt with a black belt. Growling, he started to put on the outfit. He almost got tangled in the bandages while trying to wrap his forearms and shins. 'Wrapping these bandages is such a pain! How the hell am I supposed to move without getting any of this caught on anything, anyway?!' Scowling even more than before, Naruto finished getting dressed and headed out the door to his room.

He quickly found the area that he had been using for his training, and walked inside. Looking around, he saw Bari smirking and standing next to another man, who was shaking with fear. Puzzled, he walked toward the two.

"Good morning, Naruto!," Bari greeted cheerfully. 'This doesn't feel right... Since when has he ever acted like this?!,' Naruto thought nervously. "Uh.. Good morning...," Naruto replied. Bari's grin became even wider.

"I have good news for you, Naruto. If you can defeat me, I may consider removing that seal I placed on the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra... But if you lose, you must swear your allegiance to me forever.," Bari said, flashing his teeth like a predator. Naruto's eyes opened wide, and terror coursed through him, "Hell no! Why would I ever agree to anything like that?!"

Bari chuckled softly, "My dearest Naruto, when did I ever offer you a choice in the matter? You will agree to my conditions and fight, or you will forfeit by not fighting, which would make me the victor and you my slave." Naruto growled in frustration, but managed to keep a hold on his temper. 'I... Even if I did lose- which I won't!- I could still run away the first chance I get! I am not staying here with this bastard!,' Naruto thought as his hands clenched into fists.

"Now, onto our training. Today, you'll be fighting against Kosuta here", Bari gestured toward the frightened man, "Of course, I'll be controlling his movements, but he will take my place in our battle."

"Please don't hurt me!," Kosuta screamed. "Silence!," Bari said sternly. Kosuta closed his mouth but continued to quiver. Naruto glared at Bari, "You can't do that! It's not fair!!" Bari just giggled.

"But it's only fair, Naruto, that I can use any of my techniques. After all, I have allowed you to recover, and it is such a bother to be wounded myself...," Bari said casually. "You bastard!", Naruto growled and charged full-speed at Bari. Kosuta suddenly jumped between Naruto and Bari, crying out in fear as he moved. Naruto couldn't stop his attack in time, and hit Kosuta on the jaw forcefully, making Kosuta scream in pain. Naruto was sure he had heard a crack. The shock of Kosuta stepping in front of his punch made Naruto drop his guard, and he winced as Kosuta knocked the wind out of him with a kick.

'How the hell did he react so fast?! I just broke his jaw- he should be laying on the ground in pain!,' Naruto thought. Then it hit him. It was not Kosuta he was fighting- it was Bari, who was controlling Kosuta's every movement. And Bari could not feel that pain.

Naruto continued his attempts to hit Bari, but with every try he was countered by Kosuta. He soon realized that if he were to ever land a hit on Bari, he'd have to get Kosuta out of the way. With no ninja tools and his chakra levels still not at the high amounts he was used to, there was no way he could stop Kosuta without hurting him.

The fight wore on, and Naruto was exhausted. He refused to give up, but there was little chance of him winning. His chakra reserves were all but exhausted, and he was injured enough to slow him down. 'I- I won't give up! There has to be a way!', Naruto thought as he dodged another attack, 'I can't lose! I just can't!' Suddenly, Naruto felt a quick hit to the back of his neck. His whole body went limp, and slumped to the ground face-first. Naruto could hear Bari chuckling behind him.

"That was getting boring. You're obviously too tired to go on right now- you should've just given up! Since I knew you wouldn't, I saved you the embarrassment of total defeat. Still, I must count this as a loss for you... I'm so sorry that you must stay here with me, Naruto. I know you wanted to go home so badly...", Bari said, his words dripping in disdain and sarcasm at the same time. In the background, Naruto heard a loud thud and a scream from Kosuta, who was surely unable to move from his injuries.

"I can't wait until we train together again, Naruto. There are so many things you must learn before you can become one of our ninja.", Bari taunted. Naruto's eyes welled up with tears, but he managed to keep himself from crying.

"Good night, my dearest pupil!," Bari called cheerfully over his shoulder as he left Naruto and Kosuta both immobilized in the training room by themselves.

End note: Please read and review:D