Sorry this has taken a while to put up! I've had to work the last three days for longer than my usual four hour shifts. Thanks for being patient! I hope you like this chapter; I tried but it was sort of hard to get right, so I don't know how it turned out...
"You were the only one to have really seen the full extent of his injuries," Sakura said to Neji, "do you know how he's doing?"
"He wouldn't admit it, but I know that it hurts him to move around," Neji replied, "he's not in good condition, and he could barely manage to make it here. I had to support him the whole time, and he still nearly collapsed before we had even made it half way here."
"He's waking up!" Naruto shouted to the other shinobi.
Sasuke slowly let his eyelids drift open. For the first time in several days, the scene he saw while waking was not horrifying.
He turned his head to the left, letting his eyes fall onto four people. Two of which were sitting on the edge of the adjacent bed, leaning over to watch him.
"Stop staring at me like that." Sasuke said to Naruto and Sakura, who relaxed a bit after hearing him speak.
"Now that Sasuke's awake," Kakashi noted, "I'd like the three of you to go get some clothes for him." Though the boy did need clothes, the jonin's primary reason for sending the others away was to examine Sasuke's injuries; it was clear that the group needed to take him back to the village for treatment, but he didn't want to strain the boy. He really needed to see Sasuke to decide what to do next.
"But, Kakashi Sensei..." Sakura started; both she and Naruto wanted to stay and hear Sasuke's story. Neither of them were really sure what happened to him, and they wanted to find out exactly what he went through, even though they had a basic understanding.
"We should get going now," Neji said to the curious two; he could see why Kakashi was attempting to send them away, "the sooner we do, the sooner Sasuke will be able to get to the Leaf's hospital."
Naruto grumbled a response, but followed Neji and Sakura out the door, leaving the jonin and the Uchiha in the room.
Even though Sasuke knew that Kakashi would never do anything harmful to him, he felt a bit nervous being alone in the room with an older male due to his previous endeavors.
"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm fine," Sasuke lied. He didn't want to talk with Kakashi about what he went through, but the jonin needed to assess his health.
"It's pretty clear that you're lying..." The man replied. "Would you mind removing that sheet?" Kakashi was by no means a medical ninja, but he could at least get a basic idea of Sasuke's condition by viewing his external injuries.
The Uchiha wanted to say no, but his time as a captive removed that word from his vocabulary. "Why?" He settled to ask that question rather than deny the man.
"I just want to see how badly you've been hurt," Kakashi said, trying to comfort the boy, "I only want to get an idea of the medical treatment you will need."
"I'll be fine," Sasuke reiterated, not wanting anyone to see the marks that temporarily scarred his body.
"You will be, but you aren't at the moment," the boy's hesitation was clear and understandable, but Kakashi had to learn of his physical state, "I'm not going to hurt you."
The Uchiha gave into his persistent teacher; the man only wanted the best for his pupil, after all. He moved his arms in attempt to take the fabric off, but moving his hands caused intense pain which kept him from removing the rag from his body.
Kakashi took notice of how Sasuke was unable to utilize his hands while trying to expose himself, which seemed rather odd.
"What happened to your hands?"
Sasuke looked at his swollen joints, recollecting the horrid feeling when Kazaki cruelly crushed them. "... He broke my wrists..."
"I'll bandage them up," Kakashi said, "it will be a temporary fix until we go back to the Leaf, but it's better than trying to force them to heal without any support."
The jonin pulled some gauze from his sack and reached for Sasuke's left arm. The contact on his bruised flesh made the Uchiha flinch, but Kakashi proceeded to hold onto him in order to keep the wrists properly in line.
When the elder male started to wrap the broken bones, pain shot down Sasuke's arm, making him inwardly scream. Seeing the extreme discomfort on his face, Kakashi was compelled to speak.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke," he said as he finished up the first, "I just need to do the right one now..."
With white bandages wrapped securely around his wrists, the boy would begin to heal, but that was only one small portion of his body. It was obvious that Sasuke was banged up, but he was still mostly covered by the dirty fabric over his petite figure.
"Can you take off that sheet?" Kakashi asked; he really needed to see how badly Sasuke needed medical care. If he wasn't terribly hurt, they could afford for him to rest up for a few days before going back. Hiwever, it might be possible that he was in need of serious treatment, and they would have to depart for the Leaf immediately. If that was the case, it would be difficult to take him back, but the jonin would find a way to transport his precious student should he need immediate attention; though, he would really like to give his pupil the chance to rest up for a little longer.
Sasuke silently agreed and sat up on the bed, which caused a wave of pain to shoot up his spine. His lower area was throbbing, but other than the cuts and bruises, the Uchiha's upper body was in relatively good shape, allowing him to push the fabric away.
"When Neji brought you back, you probably strained your already injured body," Kakashi mused as he saw the boy cringe while he adjusted his weight, "it's not surprising that you would be in pain when you move."
The sight of Sasuke's exposed flesh was shocking; Kakashi knew that the boy had been tormented, but he wasn't expecting his whole body to be so cut up and bruised; it seemed the only part of the Uchiha that was not marked in some way was his face, and that was only so the clients would still be interested.
Kakashi had originally planned on allowing Sasuke to rest, but it was clear that they had to get home. He could have numerous infections from both the open wounds and sexual abuse.
"When Naruto and the others get back, we are going to return home," Kakashi told Sasuke, "you need to be treated by the medical core."
"We found some clothes for-" the door opened and Naruto began to speak, but the sight of Sasuke's damaged body quickly silenced him. Neji was the only one in the room who had seen him like that, besides Kakashi, so the other two were surprised at just how poor of a state the Uchiha was in.
Sasuke jerked the cover back onto the majority of his figure; it caused his body to ache at the sudden motion, but he didn't want Naruto and Sakura gawking at his cuts and bruises.
"Sasuke..." Sakura stared at him. "I'm so sorry..."
"Stop." He stated the word bluntly. Pity would only make him feel like more of a victim, and he didn't want that at all.
"We are going to go back to the village," Kakashi caught their attention, dragging it away from the Uchiha, "give Sasuke the clothes you got for him and pack your things."
Naruto put a plain t-shirt and sweat pants down on the bed next to Sasuke. The outfit was nearly the same as the one Sasuke wore when he was in the hospital at various points throughout his life.
••••••
Unable to properly move his hands, Sasuke needed help getting dressed. His arms and upper body were sensitive due to injuries, but he could still move that part of himself without excruciating pain. Unfortunately, however, that did not help him grip the clothing to pull over his figure.
Naruto was the first to notice his struggle, as he was the only one who had finished packing. "Do you need help?" He asked his number one rival and closest friend.
"No!" Sasuke replied vehemently, causing the other three to turn towards him but quickly returned to their packing.
"You just look like you're having a hard time with that..." The blond replied, and with two out of commission hands, it would be.
Sasuke stared blankly at his wrapped up hands for a moment. "... I am having a hard time with it," he admitted.
"I'll help you out, then." Naruto smiled. He walked a few feet to the other boy and slid the shirt over his head. He looked at the pants and that would be awkward, especially since Sakura was in the room.
He decided to try to put them on his friend quickly, but ended up moving Sasuke the wrong way.
"Sorry..." Naruto gave an apology when the other boy grunted from being hurt.
"Watch what you're doing," Sasuke replied coldly, shifting in order to let the bottoms slide on.
"I didn't mean to," the blond said back, "I'm just trying to help you out."
The other shinobi in the room ignored them out of consideration for Sasuke. It must be embarrassing having someone else dress you, especially after they knew some of the things you went through, but the true realization of that endurance would not be revealed to them until they got to the hospital...
