AN: It took a little longer than expected, sorry! But here's the next chapter. :)

WARNING: This chapter contains sexual assault, so please skip ahead if you don't want to read that. For those that read, enjoy the angst!

Chapter 36: The Silence

"Absolute silence...is the image of death."

~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

It was quiet. It was always quiet in here. And dark - pitch black apart from a thin line of light creeping out from under the doorway, like fingers enticing a tantalizing freedom - always out of reach.

Sometimes it was brighter, sometimes dimmer, but always there. If they would just shut the lights off at night, perhaps Naruto could have tracked how long he'd been tied up in this cramped closet. Like it mattered. Nothing mattered anymore. Not in the silence.

Naruto had no idea how long he spent just staring at the crack of light. Time didn't exist anymore. Sometimes an image of Sasuke struggling in the chair and yelling his name would invade his thoughts, but he would quickly blink it away, forcing it down into the blackness that lurked underneath the blank surface of his mind. He didn't need to go there. Those thoughts didn't matter now. None of it mattered now.

He watched and he slept, and all the while the hours passed.

Every one of Sasuke's limbs ached. He squirmed in his restraints, trying to work some feeling back into his feet. Too many hours of yanking at the chains had left raw, red marks on his wrists and ankles. His chest heaved from the effort, and he leaned his head back to loosen the choke chain around his neck, blinking away a droplet of sweat that had trickled onto his eyelashes. He stared up at the ceiling, breathing heavily. It was plain white, stippled with stains and dark spots of damp. The bare ceiling lamp hung above him, waving slightly now and then from some unseen draft. Its unobscured light burned Sasuke's eyes whenever he looked too long, yet he could not resist, his gaze being draw back to it over and over, allowing the light to scorch his vision and fill it with dark spots that danced across the white ceiling. They blocked out the sight of Naruto's deadened stare as he'd left this room in the clutches of that despicable being.

Sasuke screwed his eyes shut. No, he couldn't think about that. He couldn't think about where Naruto was now. He had to think about how to get out of here. He had to get out of here. He had to.

Sasuke jerked at the chain at his left foot. The metallic leg of the chair groaned in protest, and in his mind's eye he could see it coming loose. He gave a grim smile.

He would get out of here.

Footsteps sounded from along the hallway.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The door creaked open with a groan of the old, rusted hinges. The silhouette of a man stood in the doorway, the yellow light creating a sharp edge around him.

Naruto didn't lift his head. He didn't have to. He knew who it was. He had known from the vibration of the first footstep on the floor. He had known from the way the hairs on the back of his neck had stood on end. Every bone in his body was rigid, every muscle on edge tensed in excruciating apprehension.

The man walked over and knelt down in front of him. He put a finger under Naruto's chin, raising his head up. Naruto met Orochimaru's eyes reluctantly. He didn't want to see it, didn't want to see that sickeningly placid expression. It looked almost like contemplation, but Naruto knew what it truly was. Orochimaru licked his lips, and Naruto looked away, dropping his eyes to a corner of unflinching darkness.

Orochimaru said nothing, but took his hand away. He moved closer to Naruto, reaching around behind him. Nauto heard a snip and his hands were freed from the zip tie binding his hands to the pipe. A knife flashed briefly in the light as Orochimaru tucked it back into his belt. Taking hold of Naruto's arm, he hauled him to his feet. Naruto stumbled slightly, his legs unsteady after being still so long, his head light from lack of food and drink for the past however long it had been. Hours? Days?

The journey down the hallway was silent. The wallpaper's hypnotic floral patterns passed in a nauseating stream. Dark brown rot grew in a myriad of cracks on the walls making the flowers look like the garden of the undead welcoming him into its arms. If Naruto could imagine a passageway to hell this would have been it. They all-too-soon arrived at hell's very own gate, an unassuming wooden door with a round, black handle.

It opened.

Orochimaru pressed a hand to his back, guiding him into the room. It had a similar floral pattern to the hallway, only darker, with a 1960s feel. The wallpaper background was the colour that always appeared when mushing crayon colours together – a vomit-coloured mix of browns. The flowers flocked together in chaotic crowds of sharp, orange explosions. On the far side of the room there was a window. It was boarded up like all the rest in this mockery of a home. For a moment, Naruto imagined himself jumping up, yanking the boards off the window and flying off into the night.

Everything in the room screamed of a decade long past. That is, everything but the bed. It stood out starkly in the middle of the room covered in crisp, white sheets – hospital-like in its neatness.

It was to this bed that the hand guided him, and Naruto sat down under the pressure of another on his shoulder.

A carved cuckoo clock faced him from the wall opposite, comforting and homely. Naruto wondered if there had been people living here when Orochimaru's people first came – a farmer and his wife perhaps. If anyone had, they were long since 6 feet under by now. The gears clicked and whirred softly as hands made their slow rounds on the clock face.

The mattress sank as the man sat down beside him, and Naruto flinched as a hand ghosted across the side of his neck, brushing back hair at the nape. The hand settled on his shoulder. Orochimaru leaned in, and Naruto felt the warm, wetness of lips on his throat. His breathing quickened as he was pushed gently onto his back, his legs still hanging over the side of the bed.

The silence in his own head was deafening, taking him over. The man leaned over him still slurping and slicking his mouth against Naruto's skin, on his collarbone, up his neck, along his jaw. Naruto automatically moved his head away when the man's lips neared his own, but he was brought back to face him by a firm, cool hand. His eyes met the yellow ones above him. They seemed to looked right through him, yet he couldn't help feeling more exposed than he ever had in his life. Orochimaru leaned down and massaged his lips with his own, snaking the tongue out and pushing the hot slickness into his mouth.

He tried not to think about it, tried not to concentrate on the sickening sensations. Instead, he stared up at the ceiling. It was a deep, dark brown abyss. And still he could hear the incessant whirring and grinding of that cuckoo clock.

It's like it's mocking me, he thought as the man began unbuttoning his shirt slowly, taking all the time in the world.

He realized then that every moment was going to take more time than he could bear.

Naruto was jolted to awareness for a moment as the man pulled away. His breath caught in his throat as Orochimaru half-lifted him, shifting his body vertically onto the bed, hauling his legs up. His head was now touching the soft, white pillow and the man also shifted his position, climbing on top of Naruto, fitting their bodies together. The lips went back onto his neck, the fingers back to his clothing, pushing up his t-shirt and brushing over his bare skin.

He could smell the man's scent, a deep, musky cologne. Naruto hated it. It was pungent and strong, and it made his stomach turn. He turned his head away trying to hold down the nausea circling in his gut, and stared at the clock. There was no second hand, only the minutes moving slower than his eyes could comprehend.

Please. Please, He thought as large hands began to work at the top button of his pants, Please make time stop. Or fast forward, I don't care, just please don't make me live through this again.

The clock didn't answer, ticking on in a relentless beat. The wooden pendulum below it swayed in hypnotic rhythm. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the clock face, and realized it was almost midnight.

His zip was pulled down, and a pair of hands began working at the waistband.

"Wait." He blurted out, taken aback by his own daring. He put his hands on the man's shoulders.

Orochimaru's face showed mild surprise and he allowed himself to be pushed back a few inches. It was the first time either of them had spoken a single word.

"Just wait." said Naruto in a breathless voice. "You h-have to, th-there must be something else that you want."

Orochimaru reached a hand up and wiped away a streak of wet tears that Naruto hadn't even realized had trailed down his cheek. The man's mouth stretched into a smile.

"This is exactly what I want."

He leaned down, pushing against Naruto's weak resistance and planted lips firmly on his mouth, snaking his tongue in and raking it around every inner crevice.

Naruto let out a muffled cry and tried to push him off, but the motion was useless against the stronger man. Orochimaru simply gripped his wrists and forced them down, pressing them into the pillow on either side of Naruto's head as he continued his assault.

A prickling sensation spread out from some hollow hole within Naruto's chest as terror drove through him, shooting along his every nerve. This man. No, he didn't even deserve the title of man. This demon. He would not stop, would never stop until Naruto was utterly broken in body, mind and soul.

The cuckoo clock ticked its monotonous beat, and Orochimaru pulled away, his hands reaching again for Naruto's waistband.

Then the moment came. The clock whirred and clicked. The tiny door snapped open and out burst a miniature wooden bird, its mouth clicking opening in mechanical song.

Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!

The clock struck a deep chime at the same time as the high-pitched chirps.

Orochmaru looked up, just briefly, distracted by the clock, and Naruto took his chance. He swung. He swung with every ounce of strength he had in his left hook, and caught Orochimaru a hard blow to the cheek. It knocked him off-balance and Naruto followed it with a finger to the man's right eye, pushing as hard as he could.

Orochimaru rolled off the bed and onto the floor with a cry. Naruto leapt off the other side and wrenched the cuckoo clock off the wall. It whined in protest, the mechanics stuttering.

Orochmaru was on his feet in a flash.

"That wasn't smart, Naruto." He said touching a hand to his tender eye and glaring at him. He shot around the bed towards him as Naruto grabbed the door handle and yanked open the door.

"Fuck you." said Naruto in a shaky voice, and threw the cuckoo clock as hard as he could at Orochimaru's head. Orochimaru caught the brunt of the hit with a raised arm, and the clock exploded into pieces in a strangled cacophony of chimes. Gears and splinters of wood littered the ground, but it barely gave the man pause.

Naruto was too slow and in a flash Orochimaru was upon him, barreling him into the door which slammed shut with a bang under their combined weight. The breath shot out of Naruto as he was crushed against the wood. Orochimaru spun him round and smacked him hard across the face causing dark stars to explode in front of his eyes.

"You. Will. Obey. Me." he said, emphasizing each word with another blow to the face.

Naruto felt a crack as one of his molars split, and the tangy taste of blood bubbled up in his mouth.

Orochimaru grabbed at Naruto's pants, trying to shove them down.

"No!" yelled Naruto, struggling in the man's grip. He choked on the blood in his mouth.

Naruto grabbed at the arm holding him, steadying himself as the world spun around him, and he brought up his knee as hard as he could into the man's groin.

Orochimaru choked, his usually pale face tinging red as he stumbled back. He snarled. His lips pulled back from his teeth like a wild beast, spittle frothing at the corners of his mouth. Naruto's eyes widened. He had never seen him so angry, and in that moment he realized what a huge mistake he had made

Orochimaru socked him so hard in the stomach that he doubled up in pain. A crack to his back sent him hurtling to the ground with a crash. The broken chunks of wood and gears dug into his palms. The man yanked Naruto's pants off his legs, dragging Naruto with them, scraping him across the wooden floor until the fabric came free. Naruto cried out, scrabbling for purchase on the splintering planks, blood oozing from under his fingernails.

"Wait." He shouted even though he knew it was useless. He tried to crawl away on shaking knees, but a swift kick followed, sending him sprawling onto his back.

"Don't!" he choked out as the man got on top of him, pinning his arms down. "Please, don't. No!"

The last word came out as a desperate scream.

He couldn't help it, couldn't stop himself begging. The words flowed out over and over in a panicked mantra. Tears were streaming freely down his face now, sobs choking up his throat. He didn't care anymore.

He fought, only because he couldn't think of what else to do. His mind was a mindless buzzing mess with only one thought blaring through the silent noise. Survive. He struggled to push the man's hands away which had moved down to his boxers only to have his own hands jerked roughly away.

"Ple-!" he cried out. A swift smack to the face was his reply, cutting his words short.

And then…there was a knock at the door.

Both of them fell silent, staring at each other, breathing heavily. Naruto sucked in the sobs, trying to regulate his breaths. Blackness threatened the edges of his vision, and he struggled to blink it away with heavy lids.

"I requested not to be disturbed." said Orochimaru at last, not moving from position. Naruto lay beneath him, one wrist pinned to the floor in Orochimaru's grip, the other holding Orochimaru's own wrist while the man's hand gripped his waistband.

"This is important, sir," came the muffled voice of Kabuto from behind the door.

"It can wait," replied Orochimaru.

"With all due respect, now would be better."

Orochimaru sighed. He glared at Naruto still panting, but he stood up with a grunt and straightened his shirt before opening the door.

"What's so important?"

"It's ready," said Kabuto in a quiet voice.

Naruto rolled over onto his side with a groan, the broken pieces of clock cracking as he crushed them beneath his weight.

Kabuto's gaze strayed towards him, taking in the small patches of rapidly-drying blood staining the wooden floor.

"We uh," He hesitated, "We do need Uzumaki in somewhat good health, sir. Otherwise it could compromise the testing."

Orochimaru cast a disdainful look in the boy's direction.

"You're lucky we need you alive." He said, before grabbing him by his hair and hauling him to his feet.

AN: Thank you for the reviews as always. :) I might not be able to update for a couple weeks since life is kicking my ass right now, but I'll get to it as soon as I can. Not too sure if the first 2 paragraphs were necessary in this chapter. Feel free to let me know if you think they added or took away from the whole angsty flow. I wanted this to be a very dark chapter. The boys are at a freaking low point as I'm sure you noticed.