Warning: Scenes of violent rape and torture in this chapter. You need to be either 16 or older, or be prepared for very heavy adult subject matter. I give my apologies if it does offend you.
Pain and darkness greeted Sakura as she opened her eyes. She lay still, not sure if she could move, and knowing that if she did, it would hurt like Hell. The ground beneath her was hard and cold against her bare skin. Her hand moved slightly to pull the sheet around her, but only grabbed air. Holding back a sob, she rolled over on her back, one of the only places that was not bruised yet. Kabuto had pretty much thrown her in the stone cell, kicking her as she rolled down the steps. It was only by luck that she managed to avoid hurting her back, and skill that she now began to heal herself. A sudden pain in her stomach caused her to cry out and stop the healing process.
"Now now, we can't have you healing yourself. Especially not when Lord Orochimaru begins his work. That would make the whole process completely useless," Kabuto walked in, holding a thin thread in his hand. Sakura watched the light travel down it, leading from his hand, into her stomach.
"What have you done?" she asked, angry at how weak her voice sounded.
"Simple. I attached a string through your stomach, sewing it on your back, and tied it on the wall. This way you don't go anywhere, and I can keep you from doing anything I don't want you to do," his grin froze Sakura's blood, but she forced herself to keep her eyes on him.
"What do you want?" sheer determination kept her voice from fading away to nothing.
"Lord Orochimaru has been looking for a way to punish both Uchiha brothers for rejecting him, and he finally found a way. By torturing you, and eventually killing you, we are getting rid of something they both care about. Oh yes, they both do care," he had seen the slight look off disbelief in Sakura's eyes. "Sasuke proved it by secretly helping you and Naruto. For instance, have you wondered why Akatsuki has not bothered Naruto in nearly four years? That was not because of us, or the fact that they were building up after Sasuke and Itachi's fight. Sasuke was keeping you out of trouble while he built his own strength up to fight his brother,"
Sakura just looked up at him, not saying a word. His grin stayed in place as he let the words sink in.
"We found out about Itachi's new-found feelings because of my spying, and the little conversation I had with one of the members two days ago. I'm telling you all of this because you won't be alive to tell anyone. After we spend about two weeks torturing you, we will kill you, hopefully in front of both brothers. That is our plan anyway. Depending on the movements of the brothers, it could change," He tugged on the string slightly, and though Sakura winced, she did not make sound this time. Kabuto's grin faded slightly. "I see you're building up your resistance. No matter, we have more in store for you that you will not be able to resist. Now, I want you to get up and come over here," he tugged on the string again, harder so that Sakura was pulled across the floor about a foot.
Deciding it was best to get up and obey, she struggled to her feet, every muscle in her body screaming in pain and protest. Once she was standing up, she shakily made her way over to him, then stood in front of him, covering herself as best possible. His eyes traveled down her body, fueling her urge to deck him in the face. He then turned his back and began walking out, leading her by the string. She tried hard not to notice the feel of the string in her stomach, pulling against her back. Fear began to poison her blood as she followed Kabuto through the dark hallway. Though he hadn't told her anything, she had a pretty good idea of where they were going, and no good memories were going to come from it. More than anything, she wanted to be back home, in the Leaf Village, but…she wanted to be with Itachi.
The mission had been too easy. It was like it had been all set up for him. Itachi did not like it when things came too easily. He had a nagging feeling that there had been a reason he had been sent on that mission, and the timing. As he got to the hideout, the nagging feeling only grew, until it morphed into dread. Something was wrong, and he had a sinking feeling that he knew what it was. The instant he walked in the door, his suspicion was confirmed.
"They took her. You had just left, and she was already gone," Hidan didn't waste any time in coming up to Itachi, his whole persona radiating, "I'm pissed. Back off or you die." Itachi nodded his head, knowing that he could not plausibly blame Hidan. But he wanted to blame someone. However, he could only act slightly infuriated that she had gotten away. If he showed how anxious he really was, he would be in deep shit. So, he kept his face completely blank, and walked up to Pein.
"What are we going to do?" he asked, keeping his voice nonchalant, his eyes cold.
"Since she didn't learn anything of great importance," he looked at Itachi with hard eyes. Itachi shook his head, and Pein continued, "we can just forget about her. She wasn't any help to you, and we normally killed the other medics that couldn't help you. This just makes it easier for us. We don't have to worry about killing her, then getting rid of the body, or explaining to Tobi what happened," his voice hardened as he spoke about Tobi, sighing slightly. "We know for a fact that Orochimaru will only use her, and then kill her,"
"Do we really know that for a fact? Orochimaru has surprised many people,"
Pein stared at Itachi for a moment, his expression hard and questioning. "Well, going by what he has normally done, and what Kabuto told Tobi,"
"What did he tell Tobi?" Itachi's voice went hard, angry, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Pein seemed to understand that he was in deep shit.
"He ran into Tobi on the way out, and explained to Tobi what was happening, threatening him if he tried to stop him,"
Itachi nodded, but the dangerous aura remained around him. He excused himself, and then walked away from Pein, anger coursing through his veins. He knew exactly what had happened, and who had planned the whole kidnapping out. As he walked upstairs, he tried to calm himself down, knowing that Madara would sense it and use it against him. When he got to his door, he found Hidan standing beside it, leaning against the wall.
"Someone set this up," he said, his voice still absolutely flaming with anger. Itachi nodded, unlocking his door, and walking in, leaving it open for Hidan to follow. He turned when he heard more than one person enter. Kisame and Deidara had also followed. Itachi's brow rose, but he didn't say anything, leaving the question open for them to answer.
"We aren't really all that eaten up about her being taken, though she did bring some amusement to this place, we just want to know what the Hell's going on," Deidara started out, closing the door behind him. They all watched in silence as Itachi performed his normal ritual of putting barriers on the door and windows.
"We know for a fact that Leader didn't plan this whole thing on his own, though we know that he did do some of it. There's someone else behind it who wanted her gone for a reason, and we think you know who and why," Kisame walked up to Itachi, not afraid to look him in the eye and bluntly state what was going on. Itachi just continued too watch them, not saying anything. Then he sighed slightly, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get away with keeping it from them.
"I will tell you exactly what is going on, but I need to know something first. Why do you care? What reason do you have for wanting to know?"
"I just don't like the fact that I'm being used for something by someone who doesn't really seem to be in charge, but I don't even know who's in charge. I don't like being lied to and treated like some sort of child," Deidara ranted. He leaned back against the door, his posture showing his impatience. Itachi looked to Kisame, who shrugged.
"Pretty much the same as blondie. Also, the girl kinda grew on me. I think she grew on all of us," he looked around, and Deidara nodded while Hidan remained still.
"You know why, and I think that's enough," he said to Itachi, completely ignoring the other two. They both looked at him, quizzical, and slightly miffed at not being told what Itachi obviously knew. Itachi merely nodded, then turned to the others.
"You were right; Pein is not the actual leader of Akatsuki, just a puppet like the rest of us. The true leader is Tobi,"
"What!" All three of the other men nearly fell to the ground in shock.
"Yes. He has another side to him, my ancestor, Madara Uchiha," Itachi waited a moment for any expression of shock, but they just remained silent, watching him. "Madara has achieved all that an Uchiha can by his eyes, making him immortal. At least, he thinks so. He's old, and becoming rapidly weaker. He put together Akatsuki a long time ago as a cover for himself, and put Pein in charge," he paused again, letting the information sink in.
"So why did he have Kabuto kidnap Sakura?" Deidara seemed to be the first to recover as he lifted his head and spoke. Now Itachi paused, seeming reluctant to tell them.
"Because I slept with her," he said, eyes turning towards Hidan. Kisame and Deidara's jaws dropped. Hidan just smirked.
"Well, I guess we all pretty much saw that one coming. At least, we did if we thought you were capable of that, which Kisame and I didn't," Deidara shrugged.
"No. I knew he was capable of it, and I did see it coming," Kisame said, glaring at Deidara.
"Oh bullshit," Hidan joined in, turning to Kisame. "You were the one who kept saying that Itachi would never do that, and there was no way in fucking Hell they would ever screw each other," Kisame opened his mouth to make a retort, but Itachi cleared his throat, making it clear that the conversation was over. Composing themselves, the other three looked over at him.
"So…is there any other reason? I'm sure he wouldn't be too threatened by you just sleeping with her," Deidara spoke again, but this time Hidan answered.
"He loves her. I know it doesn't seem possible, fuck, even I have a hard time believing it. However it's true. She also loves him," Itachi glared at him, but Hidan shrugged. "What? It's true. You would never admit to it, but I see it plain as day,"
Itachi continued to glare, but turned his attention on the other two, who cringed slightly under his oppressive gaze. "He was afraid that she was making me weak, and that I wouldn't be able to complete any of my missions," he didn't mention the one mission that was really important to Madara.
"Is she?" Kisame was the only bold enough to ask what everyone else was thinking.
"No," Itachi's voice was cold and firm. Everyone believed him. By finally caring about someone, Itachi had found out why people like Sakura and Naruto were so strong. Sakura had explained it perfectly before when he had asked her, but he was now able to see it for himself. If someone you love is in danger, all you think about is how to get them out. Luckily for Itachi, he had been raised to lock away all emotions, so now, they didn't get the better of him. He as able to think calmly and rationally. However, he could feel all his power coursing through his veins ten times stronger than he could ever remember. His anger and feelings for Sakura were causing his power to grow, and he felt almost as if he were on fire.
"Ok. So what the fuck are we going to do about this?" Hidan said with a huff, falling down on Itachi's bed.
"Well, we already went and looked for her with Leader, but he was probably leading us in the opposite direction we should have gone," Kisame leaned against the bedpost, watching Itachi.
"You all have missions tomorrow, correct?" Itachi asked, looking at each of them in turn. They all nodded, brows furrowing curiously. "Then, we all have missions at the same times, and should be gone for a while," he didn't even have to finish his sentence for the others to get the general idea.
"Brilliant. And Pein won't even suspect a thing," Deidara grinned. They all nodded, and got to work planning where exactly they were going to look, and what they were going to do. None of them really seemed to notice how they now called Pein by his name, and no longer referred to Tobi as "Tobi." Any formality, respect or illusion they had was now gone.
Her body hurt. The ground was cold; a relief on Sakura's flaming body. However, her relief did not last long. Kabuto dragged her back up by her hair, and only let go of her once Orochimaru's whip had once again slashed across her skin, but instead of her back, he brought the braided hair across her stomach. She felt the welt begin to form, but was thankful the whip hadn't broken the skin. The cold ground was welcomed, and she was also proud that as of yet, she hadn't made one whimper, cry, or yell of pain. That was probably why her beating hadn't stopped yet, but she wasn't going to give Kabuto or Orochimaru the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain.
A few moments passed and Sakura was still on the floor. Opening her eyes slightly, Sakura looked up and saw Orochimaru just looking at her, a frown on his face. He looked up at Kabuto, but since Sakura couldn't see his face, she didn't know what passed between them. After another moment, Orochimaru looked back down to Sakura, an evil grin on his face.
"Kabuto told me about the run-in you had with a few rogue ninja two years ago. Strange how you seemed to keep your innocence, even through a horrific event like that. However, you probably still have nightmares, and have picked up some habits to keep yourself from getting hurt again," his grin grew, making him look manic. Sakura's heart began to pound as he got up and began to walk toward her. "I also hear that you killed them. How very interesting that the innocent little flower was actually capable of such an act. Then again, something like that can change a person," he finally came up to her, kneeling down in front of her, his hand passing over her hair. She repressed a shudder, and managed to remain still, eyes glaring up into his.
"What do you think Kabuto? Should we have her relive her nightmares?" Orochimaru kept his gaze on Sakura, his hand still caressing her hair. Her gaze grew angrier, and put as much hate as she could into it.
"It might not be as much fun as with Sasuke, but she might actually give more of a response,"
"I agree," Orochimaru's grin grew some more, and his eyes widened manically. The hair on the back of Sakura's neck stood on end. There was another moment of stillness, then Sakura was suddenly raised up again by her hair and held her there. Sakura struggled as hard as she could, but Kabuto's grip was too strong, and he managed to keep her in place as Orochimaru walked toward her.
Itachi lay awake in his bed, looking up at the ceiling. For the past two hours, he had felt some restlessness inside him, like he needed to be somewhere else. He knew exactly what it was, and he was about ready to go crazy because of it. Orochimaru had had her for about two days, and he knew that he and Kabuto would waste no time in torturing her. However, she would not give them the pleasure of hearing her cry out. She was too strong a person to let them get to her. Unfortunately, he still worried. They could do enough to her to change her for the rest of her life. He only hoped that he and the others could get to her in time.
It had taken a few hours, but he, Hidan, Deidara, and Kisame had managed to put a plan together, though it was incredibly risky. Pein had no idea what was going on, but "Tobi" had seemed remarkably suspicious about Deidara's behavior. Luckily, he had backed off, and was just watching them carefully. It wouldn't be too hard to get rid of him though. All Itachi had to do was say that they were all just getting ready for their missions, and then start talking about their plan to get Sasuke, and he would become less suspicious. Too bad for them that Madara was too smart to completely fall for it. But they could only work with what they had. The thought that was truly driving Itachi crazy though, was the thought that he had finally found someone to care for, and he couldn't even help her when he was in trouble.
Darkness was starting to cloud the edge of her vision. Her eyelids had become so heavy that she hadn't been able to keep them open anymore. She breathed as quietly as she could even though her breath was coming out in gasps. They had run her ragged. Because of the fact that they didn't get a response from her, they had continued as long as their own bodies would let them. Now Sakura was back on the ground, waiting for whatever punishment awaited her. Orochimaru and Kabuto's breathing was just as labored as hers, but they didn't even bother hiding it.
"She's just as strong as Sasuke," Kabuto's voice came from behind her, breaking the silence. She assumed Orochimaru nodded, because the sound of his breathing changed slightly. Silent time passed again, when the sound of someone getting up broke the silence. Kabuto had gotten up, and was walking away.
"Well. You seem to have a very strong resilience. I'm impressed. You always struck me as the weak vulnerable type, but I guess you finally grew up. No matter, your last punishment for today is coming with Kabuto," more sound came as Orochimaru got up and footsteps echoed through the hall as he went to a nearby wall, and Kabuto came back.
Sakura's body was all numb by this time. All the whipping had caused her body to burn, but then with the closeness of the both men's sweaty bodies, the pain had just passed onto complete numbness. Her eyes opened slightly as she heard the opening of some sort of case, and then a laugh from Kabuto.
"This will get something out of you for sure. It always got Sasuke to scream," Sakura didn't even have the time to worry about what was in store for her before a white-hot pain flashed across her back. Not even thinking about dignity or pride, Sakura screamed. All numbness that had been protecting her before was gone. An obscene amount of pain was all she felt now, and all thinking process had long since left her. She knew, however, that Kabuto was now rubbing salt into her wounds. The more he wiped on, the more she screamed. After what seemed like hours, he stopped, and walked away. His and Orochimaru's laughter rang throughout the hall.
As darkness began to take over her vision, Sakura thought of Sasuke. If what they said was true, then everything she had just experienced was exactly what happened to Sasuke. She felt sick, but her body was too weak to throw anything up. So she lay on the floor, and tried to regain her thought. However, her eyes finally closed, and she fell unconscious.
A.N. I am so sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time. I have been obscenely busy, and I'm so incredibly tired. My chamber choir went on tour this past weekend to Disneyland, and I have had three performances since we got back on Sunday (we left Thursday). I also got to see "Wicked," which made me remarkably excited, and I got a shirt! It's this bright green that says "Defying Gravity." I absolutely love it. Anywho…for Sam, you said that you thought the whole sex scene and everything was a bit rushed…I agree with you. I read it after I wrote it, and was slightly disappointed by how it turned out. I believe that I should have spent more time on character development, like I used to. So, hopefully the next couple of chapters will be better. Thank you all for your reviews (though I would love a lot more), and constructive criticism. I take all of it and try to work with it. As you can tell at the beginning of this chapter, I did say that there would be a rape scene, but I lost the guts. I just couldn't do it. If you want me to do anything like that, tell me, and I will do it. Anyway…it's really late where I am, and I'm exhausted. Slant agat! --Kat