Hey mina!

What madness made me think that it would be a good idea to have two ongoing stories at the same time? Hahaha I'm so stupid! But I pull through it! This chapter is probably the worst of all, but you can already guess what's going to happen next time. Sorry for the angst. I promise everything will work out!

So, there is going to be pain in this… like syringes and stuff… if that triggers you, I would recommend for you to skip the chapter and wait for the next update. For all those who read on, pls don't murder me! I love you all! And thank you again for all your encouraging words! You are the best!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, the ending would've been quite different *g* All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Warning: 16+ content! Explicit description Violence!

Chapter 25 The Hope in the Despair

Naruto swallowed hard. He'd really done it. He'd taken Konohamaru's place in Orochimaru's perverted little game of experiments for whatever sick course this maniac was following. It hadn't been too difficult really, as if Orochimaru had been waiting for Naruto to pull that kind of stunt all along.

Well, even if he'd just walked into a carefully laid trap, what else was he supposed to do? He couldn't let Konohamaru be used as a human guinea pig. Naruto would gladly endure all the pain coming his way, heck he'd even die if that's what it took to make sure Konohamaru was save.

"Well, if you want to take his place, you better follow me now", Orochimaru said, his thin, pale lips forming into a smile that made Naruto want to lose the contents of his stomach all over again. He wasn't sure he'd survive this, but maybe, if Naruto stalled for enough time, the police would find them soon enough to save at least Konohamaru's life.

But one thing was sure as hell: Uzumaki Naruto wouldn't go down without a fight.

His head still pounding like a drum behind his eyes, Naruto finally rose from the dirty mattress he'd woken up on. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest at his movements.

Naruto had been injured a lot before, as a martial arts fighter, he was used to bruises and broken bones, but this was something else. An injury that didn't come from kicks and punches, but from within his own skull. It made him dizzy and feel as weak as he probably was right at this moment.

His breath burned in his lungs and his knees were so shaky; Naruto half expected himself to fall right back onto the mattress once he'd heaved himself up into an almost standing position. He hated how pathetic he must look.

"Kabuto hit you quite hard, didn't he?", Orochimaru chuckled with wicked amusement, a pale, long fingered hand covering his mouth as if he was trying to be polite. Only that Orochimaru had no reason to be. He had Naruto completely at his mercy, all he needed to do was slit his throat and be done with it.

"Not hard enough though. I'm still breathing. Couldn't even fucking kill me", replied Naruto through gritted teeth. God, he was so fucking mad at this entire situation. But it was his own fault after all and he had no one to blame but himself.

"I already told you there'd be no fun in killing you right away. Kabuto knows me well enough not to kill you on the spot, but rather bring you here so that you can live out your usefulness", Orochimaru explained, half turning towards the door. He was about to leave and didn't seem to question whether Naruto would follow him or not. Also did he see no reason to get a hold on the younger man; sure that he didn't pose a threat to him.

It bugged Naruto that Orochimaru was apparently so calm in his presence, when he himself wished to find a way to make the bastard pay for what he'd already done and was now about to do.

But what could he do really? Weakened and with his hands bound? Nothing. He was just as helpless as any child Orochimaru had held captive in these rooms before.

Naruto threw one last glance back at the still unconscious Konohamaru, wondering for a split second what Orochimaru had done to him and if the same thing would happen to Naruto now, too. The rational part of his mind was very well capable of comprehending what was going on, but some other part of his brain didn't seem to realize how imminent the danger was. It was a strange feeling – somewhere between utter horror and an inhuman calmness.

The room he was led into looked nothing like the one he'd woken up in. The lights in here were too bright and artificial, hurting Naruto's eyes from the second he stepped over the threshold. His head throbbed in pain and his stomach heaved with the need to spill its content on the white tiled floor.

He swayed and found purchase on the metal surface of what looked like a surgical table, his fingers leaving prints on the cold, polished steel. Blue eyes went wide at the sight and Naruto's stomach protested with a new kind of sickness that had nothing to with his concussion and everything with what a table like that implied would happen to him.

I'm going to die here, he thought, swallowing the tight knot that clogged up his throat.

Orochimaru shoved him forward unceremoniously, cold hands holding Naruto by the collar of his shirt until he was half laying on top if the table and the cold steel bit into his skin where his dirty, strained shirt had ridden up and now exposed bare skin to metal.

The air was filled with the sickening smell of medical chemicals and cheap detergents, the mixture of both making it hard to breath especially since Naruto's throat was still raw from the bile he'd thrown up earlier.

He could feel Orochimaru press him down on the table as he struggled against his grip, every movement almost too much to bear in the state he was in. Ultimately, there was no escape from his inevitable fate and far too soon Naruto found himself chained up on top of the cold surface, his hands and feet strapped to the table by scrubbing leather ties which left his wrists and ankles sore after mere minutes.

"What are you doing to me, you sick freak?", Naruto rasped, trying to crane his neck as he followed Orochimaru's every move with his eyes. He knew there was nothing he could do, but he wouldn't just give in, wouldn't let Orochimaru break him.

"As I said, you will be my new assistant. You will help me unveil the greatest mystery of life itself – death. And if you're lucky and my experiments finally succeed you'll be gifted with immortality, doesn't that sound like a good deal?", Orochimaru said, turning his back to Naruto to prepare something the younger man couldn't see on the sideboard next to them.

"I would rather die than give you the key to immortality", Naruto replied, fierce and righteous and yet so helpless in his anger that tears slipped from his eyes. He didn't lament his life or his death, not the pain he would feel nor the fear that had long since settled in his chest, coiling and uncoiling like a snake, but his own impuissance.

"You say that as if you could change anything about the outcome of this", Orochimaru said, his voice rich with a strange kind of laughter that made Naruto's blood run cold. No matter what would happen from here on out, this guy could not be reasoned with. By no one.

"Fuck you! I won't make it that easy for you!", Naruto spat, fighting against the shackles around his joints, but to no avail.

"Easy for me?", asked Orochimaru, sounding like he was talking to a particularly stupid child. He turned back to Naruto, his right arm raised and hand holding a syringe with a clear, translucent liquid. The smile stretching across his thin lips, made Naruto shiver in dread. "Don't give me that look. You knew it would be unpleasant. But don't worry; this injection will soon be the least of your problems".

Naruto gulped and closed his eyes, as Orochimaru leaned closer, the sharp tip of the syringe already breaking through the skin in the crook of Naruto's arm. He didn't know what was going to happen to him next, but his last thought before fire caused through his veins was for Sasuke and the years they'd lost and maybe wouldn't even makeup for.

Back at the police headquarter, Sasuke, Itachi and Gaara were still waiting for any kind of news on Naruto and Konohamaru. Hours had ticked by with the three of them sitting in the same position still, each of them deeply sunken into their own thoughts.

Not much had happened since ANBU had decided to search the orphanage, which wasn't really surprising given the late hour and the fact that barely any judge would be willing to sign a warrant this late at night. Every so often one of the officers entered the room, whispering to Kakashi about things Sasuke couldn't make out from his position. Sharp nods and low words were exchanged, but nothing every really led to anything.

It was well past four when Anko walked through the door, face grim but also satisfied, waving a sheet of paper at Kakashi, who'd been typing away on his computer for at least the past hour and looked as if he needed a whole month of sleep after this case was over.

"We got the warrant", Anko announced for everyone to hear, slamming the paper on the desk in front of Kakashi and crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Kakashi ran a hand over his face, rubbing the evidence for his lack of sleep from his eyes, before he took the paper and read what it said, his one visible pupil following the lines in the artificial light of the room. "Good. Gather a CSI group; we meet at the place of abduction in an hour. Tell them to bring bulletproof gear. We don't know what we're up against really".

Anko just nodded and turned without a further word, hastily leaving the room again. Sasuke looked at Kakashi, meeting his gaze as the other man finally got off his chair and walked over to the three waiting men, the signed warrant in hand.

"Seems like we found a judge willing to sign this at four in the morning", he said, his sad smile evident through the fabric of his mask. "My team and I will search Kabuto's old home now. Maybe we'll find leads to where Orochimaru is hiding, there. But, it will take some time to analyse whatever we find in the house. You guys would all do well, to go home and catch up on some sleep. I know it's hard, but depending on what we find, we might need you in the morning with your senses sharp and not over fatigued".

Sasuke looked at Kakashi for the longest moment without saying anything. He really didn't want to leave. Going home to sleep, while Naruto was God knows where, probably being tortured by that maniac just felt so entirely wrong. "You two go and sleep, I'll stay here", he finally said, turning towards Gaara and Itachi.

His older brother however just shook his head. "No, Otouto. We're all going home. Kakashi is right, none of is of any help if we can't think straight".

"But Naruto-"

"Naruto wouldn't want you to mess this up just because you refused to sleep. He needs you now more than ever before and if you really love him, you'll go home with me and make sure you're at your best tomorrow morning. That's the only way we'll find him, understood?", Itachi cut in; the voice of reason as always.

A small sigh escaped Sasuke's parted lips as he lolled his head back against the cool wall and closed his eyes. Every inch of his body screamed for him to go out there and do something, but his hands were tied. What was he to do? Try to lure Kabuto out and get abducted himself? No… that would help no one. "Why are you always so Goddamn right?", he asked in frustration.

"That's what older brothers are for", Itachi said, rising from his chair and extending a hand to Kakashi. "Thank you for everything so far. I'll take them both home. Please call as soon as there's any news".

"I will. You guys get some sleep. This search will take a few hours and analysing the clues will as well. There's no need for you to be here when there's nothing you can do". He knew the words were probably hard, but Kakashi had never been one for sugarcoating the truth and Sasuke had always been mature and strong enough to deal with the ugly reality.

An hour later all three of them had arrived at Sasuke's and Naruto's house. They'd agreed that it wouldn't make sense for Gaara to go home only to be picked up again in a few hours. Neither of them felt like being alone, even if they didn't voice it and with things as tense as they were, giving each other comfort wouldn't be the worst to do.

Once inside and out of his jacket and shoes, Sasuke walked into the living room. He had no intention of sleeping upstairs where everything looked and smelled like Naruto, reminding him painfully of the fact that his husband was missing and probably in grave danger. No, Sasuke couldn't sleep in that room, the couch had to do the deed.

"You two go sleep upstairs", Sasuke said without looking at his brother of whom he knew that he stood leaned against the doorframe and watching over him.

"You sure?"

"Positive. I can't stand it there. But the sofa's comfy, so… don't worry", Sasuke replied, busying himself with getting some blankets and a pillow from a nearby closet. He desperately tried not to think, because everything his mind came up with made him boil with the need to go save Naruto himself.

"Of course I worry. You're my brother and right now you're a mess", Itachi said, stepping into the room, while he heard Gaara walk up the stairs.

Sasuke huffed in dry amusement. Of course he was a mess. He didn't even try to hide that. "No shit, Sherlock", he said, not even bothering to strip out of the clothes he'd worn since he'd left the house some twelve or so hours ago, before getting under the blankets. He really wasn't in the mood to talk right now and wished Itachi would just go away.

"Sasuke", his brother said, sitting down on the armrest, but not looking at him as he spoke. "I know you want to keep to yourself at the moment. But things are not going to get better if you cut yourself off. He's going to be fine".

"I'm going to kill that Orochimaru guy if he isn't", Sasuke growled, turning towards the backrest and telling his brother that he considered this conversation done.

Itachi sighed heavily, but rose from his seat anyway. He knew his brother well enough to tell when talking to him didn't make sense anymore and right now was one of those moments. Sasuke wasn't open to listening to him and for all it was worth Itachi could just talk to brick wall – the outcome would be the same. "Good night, Otouto…", he whispered as he left the room and switched off the lights.

Upstairs, Gaara was already tucked under the covers, but his clear aqua eyes were still sharp with attention as Itachi sat down on the opposite side of the bed, all in darkness. "He's sure he wants us to sleep here?", Gaara asked, voice unimpressed, but somewhat tired.

"Well, I can always go to the guest room I guess", Itachi said, only half answering the question, but making Gaara huff a little.

"That's not what I meant", he said, closing his eyes. Itachi had to admit that ever since he'd been grouped with Gaara during their search for Konohamaru, the man had woken his interest, but maybe now was not the time to act on it. Gaara was after all Naruto's best friend and had his mind occupied by a lot of things other than romance.

"I know. Just saying". Getting out of his daywear, Itachi got under the duvet and closed his eyes. He was exhausted beyond sanity, but he also knew that sleep probably wouldn't come to him tonight. However, resting might help a little as well. After seeing Naruto grow up for so many years, the thought of maybe losing him pained Itachi just as much as losing Sasuke would.

"Stay", was Gaara's only reply, a short acknowledgement of their relationship that was nothing yet but promised to become everything if they both wanted it.

Naruto woke to his lunges burning in desperation, his eyes going wide the instant he opened them and his throat coughing up a torrent of water that spilled over his face as he lay on his back feeling exhausted in a way that it sunk into the marrow of his bones and left him with an unknown kind of chill that seemed to rise from his toes to his head.

He turned to the side, coughing and simultaneously gasping for air only to have more water flood back into his windpipe and leave him with white lights dancing in front of his eyes. There was no way for him to comprehend how long it took him to finally get rid of the bone shaking feeling that he was drowning on bare land, his lungs protesting and against every necessary cough.

The concussion had been bad, but this was worse. This was torture… but what had he expected? A few fingers being pressed into the right places and the question "Does this hurt?"? Probably not…

"What have you done to me, you fucker?", Naruto groaned through gritted teeth. His head was swimming and the strange chill wouldn't go away. His hair, face and shoulders were dripping wet, the shirt he'd worn long gone. He knew however that Orochimaru was close by, because he could hear him rustling around, feet dragging over the concrete floor.

"Ah, you're awake. Finally. For a moment I though even our first experiment was too much for you. But here you are, happily alive", Orochimaru said good-humouredly as he stepped into Naruto's field of vision.

"What the fuck did you do to me?", demanded Naruto again, rolling on his back and raising a hand to his head to shield his burning eyes from the artificial light. God… if he made it through this, he would go on a month's long vacation.

"Oh I gave you a remedy that prolongs the process of dying", Orochimaru explained nonchalantly, his creepy white hands slowly reaching for Naruto's face. "Afterwards I brought you to near death by drowning you, but as you can see, you're still alive. Maybe you'll even be the one. The one little laboratory rat that won't die, but stay alive and alive and alive no matter what I do to you. That would get me a lot closer to immortality, wouldn't it?".

Naruto decided not to reply. Instead he kept quiet, waiting for Orochimaru to do his examination with bright light testing the reaction of Naruto's pupils and creepy hands feeling his pulse and heartbeat. Was there any point in fighting this? He wasn't shackled anymore but that didn't really make any difference. All strength seemed to have drained from his body, leaving him weak and shaking on the ice cold surface of the surgery table.

It was so easy to just give in and let himself be swept away, by his exhaustion, the drugs and his burning body, but as he closed his eyes a face came to his mind, blurred at first but rapidly gaining shape. Those delicate cheekbones, sharp features, onyx eyes and pale lips all framed by soft black hair.

Sasuke….

The only one who'd ever really mattered. The only person Naruto wanted to spend eternity, or at least the rest of his life with. But if he died here today, there would be no rest of his life, no future for them to share. If Naruto wanted to be with Sasuke, he had to fight. Orochimaru wanted him to give in and die, but Naruto wouldn't give him that pleasure. He would fight for his life no matter what it took and he would show Orochimaru that he was not yet broken.

"It's time get to the next phase, my dear", Orochimaru said, returning to Naruto with another dose of his remedy.

"Get away from me, you sick fuck", Naruto growled, his voice too weak to be anything but pathetic. But he hadn't given up yet and he wanted Orochimaru to know that. Wanted him to acknowledge the fact that he hadn't shattered his will to live.

"Tsk, tsk. I knew you were an orphan once, but your utter lack of manners is disturbing", Orochimaru chirped, holding Naruto down with one hand and piercing his skin again with the syringe. This time the injection felt like melted ice causing through Naruto's veins, setting his body on a cold fire and making him writhe in pain. "Water couldn't kill you. Let's see if electricity can…".

It was barely fast ten in the morning, when Sasuke got out his car in front of the ANBU headquarters again, after maybe three hours of sleep at most. He'd been too restless and too worried to calm down and drift off. Whenever he closed his eyes, Naruto's face would come to him mind, reminding him of what was at stake.

Itachi and Gaara looked like they hadn't had a better night or rather early morning than him, but Sasuke couldn't make himself care. All he wanted was to get into this building and hear what news Kakashi had.

An hour ago Sasuke had woken to his phone ringing on the coffee table and an exhausted sounding Kakashi who'd asked them to come to the police station if they wanted to get filled in on the latest news. It had Sasuke taken only ten minutes to get ready. Itachi and Gaara though, hadn't been as quick.

Sasuke stiffly walked into the office, not bothering to greet anyone as he went and only stopped when he came face to face with Kakashi in front of one of the boards at the wall. "You found something?", he asked, coming right to the point and not even waiting for his brother and Gaara to catch up to him.

Kakashi glanced over Sasuke's shoulder to where the other two men were just entering the room and waited for them to join the conversation, exchanging brief courtesies before getting to the point. It angered Sasuke, but he knew better than to say something about it. Now was not the time to waste valuable time by starting a fight.

"We searched the orphanage this morning and we found a lead to Orochimaru's hideout. It's in code however. Meaning we can't just go there and say 'hi' because we still don't know where 'there' is", he explained, pointing to a map of Konoha pinned to the board. "But we think it's somewhere around he here". Kakashi made an expansive gesture towards what Sasuke identified as an old industrial park at the outskirts of the city, long since abandoned as Konoha had moved from manufacturing to developing.

"So? What do we do? Search the whole area?", he asked, looking at the rather huge area Kakashi had just pointed to. It would take them days and probably send Orochimaru right into a new hideout.

"No, we wait until Yamato has the documents we found decoded. Problem is, it won't take long for Kabuto to realize that we found his little stash of information. Once he knows we're on his tracks, he'll tell his master and they'll disappear again. If they do, I fear we won't stand a chance of finding either Naruto or Konohamaru alive", Kakashi explained with a deep sigh spilling from his lips.

"How long?"

"Twenty-four hours at most. Kabuto has never been away for longer than that".

"So, what do we do?", asked Itachi, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his right hand; something he only did when suffering from a headache.

"I will assemble a team ready to strike any second. Yamato is confident that he'll have everything decoded in the next six hours. Once he's done, we go in. That should be fast enough to get them before they can run again. If we fail however, your husband and your ward may die", Kakashi said, the last sentence directed at Sasuke again. He looked ten years older than yesterday and like he needed a week worth of sleep, but Sasuke trusted him anyway.

"Good. I will accompany you", he stated, the topic absolutely not open for discussion. He wouldn't just sit idly by and wait for Kakashi to return with news of whether Naruto had survived or not. Sasuke would be there, ready to see his husband the second they freed him from the clutches of this maniac.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him, pursing his lips under his mask. "I don't think that's a good idea. We don't take civilians on cases. Sharing this much information with you is unusual already and I only do it, because I know you since you were a teenager. But I can't have you go in there. We don't know what Orochimaru is capable of".

"We wouldn't come inside. We'd just wait in a police car outside the building while you strike. All we want, is to see Naruto once he's freed", Gaara said, for the first time breaking his silence. He wanted to be there just as much as Sasuke did and even if the two of them were never going to be friends, they could work together in this.

Rubbing his temples and taking a sip from the mug on the desk next to them, Kakashi sighed again. He did understand why they wanted to come along. Hell, he'd been the first to storm out of the car when he'd heard of Obito. But he also remembered the pain, the all-consuming pain as he realized that he was too late and there was nothing he could do. Seeing it with his own eyes hadn't made things easier and ever since, he wished he could have kept the old Obito in his memory instead of the broken doll he'd become that day.

"It's not a good idea. Really. If anything goes wrong…", Kakashi tried to reason, but he already knew that he was fighting a lost case when he looked into the faces of the three men in front of him. Such determination. It was obvious that they wouldn't back down, no matter what he told them. "All of you stay in the car. No matter what happens. Even if the whole place blows up, you will stay put, are we understood?".

Sasuke bit his bottom lip. He hated doing nothing, but he also didn't want to risk being left here in the headquarters to wait for news. It took him a while, but in the end he nodded and muttered a low "If you insist".

"Yes I do. We'll get you some bulletproof gear just in case, but all three of you will stay in the car until I come and fetch you. If I see you outside I'll sue your ass", Kakashi replied, his visible eye boring into Sasuke's. "Good. Now go grab a bite somewhere. I have work to do. I'll see you in a few hours".

Being drowned had been bad, but having electricity run through your veins was excruciating. It was pure agony. As if his nerves were on fire, buzzing with too much of everything. Hot and cold and sharp and cutting into his very being.

Naruto couldn't remember if he'd tried to scream while Orochimaru had held his head under water, but he sure as hell was screaming now as his body burned with the sheer agony of this treatment. He arched his back and felt his muscles cramp while shockwave after shockwave ran through his body, leaving him no time to come down from one peek of suffering before the next one hit.

He didn't know how long he'd be able to stand this, but it wouldn't be very long now. Part of him wanted to fall into blissful unconsciousness and drown out all the pain, but another part, the one that clung not only to life but also to Sasuke, was too afraid that falling asleep would mean never waking up again.

And if he were to die, he would never see him again. Sasuke.

Naruto didn't want that. He wanted to go home to the man he loved and see him smile. Everything about him was suddenly so precious, his annoying 'hn's as much as his teasing and the way those dark eyes glossed over when they met Naruto's gaze. It was all there, in his mind. Every little detail about them. Naruto remembered the day of his fourteenth or fifteenth birthday, when Sasuke had taken him to the aquarium. Maybe it had been even then that Naruto had fallen for him. Those days felt like a lifetime ago. But if he wanted to get his times of happiness back, he had to make it through this.

He mustn't give in.

And then, after what felt like forever, the shockwaves suddenly stopped. It didn't stop the pain all at once, but even the slight fading away of agony was enough to make Naruto breathe again.

"It seems you're a hard one to kill. Two levels on just one day and you're still conscious. Your little friend in the other room still hasn't woken from just being drowned and he's been here longer than you have", Orochimaru hummed ecstatically, leaning over Naruto to examine him again.

Having this manic even mention Konohamaru made Naruto burn with the wish to teach the fucker a lesson. How likely was it that anyone would find them in this god forsaken place before Naruto's heart finally gave in? No, he wouldn't make this easy at all! If he had to die, he would do it with his strength unbroken.

Finally, when Orochimaru decided to take a look at Naruto's trachea, mumbling away about the after effects of the drowning and shoved two of his rubber gloved hands into Naruto's mouth, Naruto shut his eyes and bit down as hard as he could.

He knew it wouldn't help him in any way at all, but this wasn't about escaping, it was about making a point. His teeth cut deep through rubber and skin, especially since Orochimaru tried to yank his fingers free, only to have them stopped by the force of the bite, skin breaking and blood oozing from a new wound.

There wasn't much strength left in Naruto and he soon had to let go, but not without a glimmer of defiance in his eyes, hissing "Payback's a bitch".

Orochimaru looked at him as if he'd just grown a second head, holding his bleeding fingers close to his body, shaking with anger. "You little… You'll wish you'd never done that", he promised, his undamaged hand reaching out for something on the sideboard.

"Let's see if you'll still be this loudmouthed after I teach you a lesson", he said chuckling like a madman and holding out for Naruto to see what he'd just fetched to play with. A scalpel.

Naruto swallowed hard. He didn't regret what he'd done, but he knew he had to brace himself for pain. A lot of it.

To be continued…

Soooo… that was one hell of a ride… v.v wow… I'm exhausted. So happy when the next chapter is finally over, even though that means there're only very few chapters left T_T I'm soooo gonna miss this fic! With the end of it coming for us, is there anything you guys want to see mentioned? The Fugaku and Karin topic will of course come up, as will Naruto's parents. But if there's anything else you want to read, just tell me!