Note: Thank you for your review Suzuya107, and the idea. I've actually thought about uploading it on other sites, but it takes a while to transport all the chapters. It might be something I do in the summer when I have more time since a few people have mentioned it now. Thank you for the suggestion!

Warning: Kinda gore? I wrote it as gore, but I'm bad at writing violence, so it probably isn't actually all that bad?

TKTKKTKTKTKTKTKTKKTKTKTKTKTKKTKTK

Sasuke charged through the forest, his arms paralleling his narrowed body in hopes of pushing himself further than he could normally go. There wasn't a single part of him that didn't hurt. After his refusal to give the two any more information, things had got bloody. Sasuke knew they were most likely hurting him out of the pain of losing their father, but Itachi's psychology lectures weren't doing him much good right now. He was injured-- badly.

With very little knowledge of medical ninjutsu, he couldn't heal more than little scrapes or cuts. The academy had prepared him for a lot, but not holes being torn through his arms and legs. Not kunai being plunged into him at every angle until it hurt to breathe. The lack of food and water he had been provided didn't help his situation much either. He had just barely been able to use what little chakra he had left to get out of there.

He had been running towards the south-east for about a day now. He knew the rain village had to be close. They had gone north-west to get to Suna, so it had to be this way. He knew he looked like a mess. He knew his guards were lowered no matter how to tried to raise them. He also knew even he needed to stop for a rest when he got the chance.

Sasuke parked himself in a small village between the borders of the villages. He gave a quick look around in the area. It seemed to be a run-down village-- mostly poor farmers and shady shop owners by the looks of them. It would be easy enough to snatch a bit of food. He didn't feel bad about tricking them-- he had grown up with the Akatsuki after all.

First, though, he should probably deal with the bleeding out of the situation. He had his Amegakure headband wrapped around his arm tightly to restrict the blood flow from a particularly large wound, but that wouldn't help forever. He would need to take it off soon or risk losing an arm.

The young Uchiha moved low, blending into the bland streets without a problem. He had specialized in stealth lessons, after all. He snuck around a corner, easily snatching some cloth from a merchant when his back was turned. They would work well to press on his wounds. He noticed some honey being sold at another stall and snatched it next. Kakuzu had always told them to use that instead of alcohol since it was cheaper, and Hidan had always followed up with annoyed yelling about how it was too painless. He always said they'd never learn to handle any pain if they used honey, but Sasuke wasn't in the mood for any more pain right now.

He snatched it, and there was only one thing left for dressing his wounds. He returned to the tailor's booth from before, now that he was gone and busy looking for the cloth. He seemed to assume it was the wind, so that worked to Sasuke's advantage. He snatched his needle and made his way towards the exit. He snatched a tomato and a raw beef slab from a food stand. It didn't seem the most sanitary to have the meat out in this heat, nor sitting side by side with veggies and fruit, but he supposed he would take what he could get.

Sasuke made his way to the woods, in the direction he assumed was the rain village. He figured it wouldn't hurt to take it-- if it was okay for Sasori to take people's dead bodies as puppets, why couldn't he have food and supplies to survive? He sat down about halfway through the forest, making himself a little fire with loose wood and stones. He settled a thin piece of wood over the fire and slung the meat chunk onto it to cook. It had a bit of a yellowish-brown color, but he could eat around those parts. It was a wonder that nasty village was still around.

He removed his shirt and took a breath. The many wholes and cuts scattering his body began to feel much more real now that the excitement had worn off. He laid straight on his back, stripping to his shorts with a huff of effort. Sasuke dipped his fingers in the raw honey, rubbing it gently into his wounds. When he got home, he would have to ask Hinata to show him some medical ninjutsu.

He let them sit for a bit, wiping his blood away with the shirt he had stolen. Soon enough the easy part was done. Now for the hard part. He tied the bloody shirt around his mouth after removing the thread, gagging himself to hide any screams of pain. He didn't want to reveal his spot to any sand ninja on the hunt for him.

Lifting the needle and sending it through his skin, he was glad he had a gag. He surely would have summoned the attention of every ninja in a fifty-mile radius if not. Sasuke could feel his eyes watering, but he blinked the tears away. It was a lot harder to stick it through his own skin than to be stabbed. He groaned quietly as he sent it through once more. He focused on the tomato, and eventually his arm numbed from the pain. He tried to comfort himself with the idea that he would soon get to eat some nice roasted tomato and some meat. The beef would help slow the blood flow, and tomatoes were his favorite. He just had to get through this.

It took maybe two hours, the teen having to stand to move the chicken off as it finished and leave it to the side. He had it laying on his jacket so he didn't get it infested with bugs. Sasuke had never stitched a wound-- he had only ever practiced in class on dummies. It was a lot harder than it seemed when it was his own flesh being jabbed into and torn through.

Because of his lack of experience, his stitches were wild and messy. He had many short but deep cuts along his body, now stitched together with a musty red thread from the earlier shirt. Six, from what he could count. One on each of his shoulders, one on each of his thighs, and a pair running across his stomach. He assumed they were meant to immobilize him-- which it was doing its job. He found it hard to move with these slices.

There were a few scattered across the rest of his body-- those would heal. So would the ones he threatened together if cared for properly. He didn't know about the one on his face, though. Just over his lips, three identical slashes had been cut. They ran from about a centimeter above his lips to a centimeter below it. One about two centimeters in on each side of his mouth and one straight down the middle. They were the hardest to do since he couldn't see his face. Based on the amount of blood loss and the pain he felt as he barely curled his lips away from the food as he ate, though, he had a feeling they were bad.

Sasuke sat at his small camp, barely choking down the food after he redressed when he felt the lean arms of an older ninja grab him. Sasuke spun around, trying his best to break free by kicking the older ninja in the face, and dropping the remainder of his tomato in the process. Another arm grabbed his leg, however, making him practically crumble to the floor with his wounds. The older ninja dropped him, seemingly startled by how easily he crumbled. Sasuke was no fool-- he knew to take the chance.

The young Uchiha darted off in the same area he had been running to previously, abandoning his food and resources. If he could just push a little more-- if he could just go a bit further-- all he had to do was make it to rain village territory and the gatekeepers would let him in. He couldn't be that far, right?

Unfortunately for him, this wasn't the case. The forest only went on. There was no sign of his village, and the unfamiliar ninja grabbed onto his sides before he could run too far. Sasuke groaned with pain, body reflexively twisting in the painful hold. His teeth clenched, head lowering as he refused to look at this stranger. "Let go of me! I" he barely hissed with his broken lips, assuming this was a sand ninja preparing to drag him back to that hellish torture. He kicked and flailed, his training doing no good against the man.

Sasuke gave a shuttered breath as he felt the ninja press him to the ground. The man's voice seemed almost bored as he spoke. "You don't look like the description. I had heard the ones to kill Lord Hokage were both elderly looking." twisting Sasuke's arm down in a way that wouldn't hurt him unless he struggled. The ninja hummed out a sigh, "I don't think someone so young could kill him anyway. Come, it's dangerous out here. Who knows if they're still here." acting as though he hadn't seen the terrible markings across Sasuke's face.

Twisting his head to look at the ninja, Sasuke was met with a single bored-looking black eye. The rest of his face was covered by a mask and headband. The hidden leaf headband. A slight pain welled in his chest. His old home. It would be a lie if he said he didn't think about returning to the village someday, but he didn't want to return as a prisoner with this silver-haired man. Instead, he focused on what he had said. An elderly couple? It had to be Hidan and Kakuzu! If Tobi was in charge of the sand village, they must have gone after the leaf. Maybe they were near?

Sasuke's pushed against the man, yelling at the top of his lungs and with as much volume as his torn lips would allow. "Kakuzu!" he shouted, knowing the elder man didn't mind being associated with crime. He prided himself. "It's me! I need your help-" his words falling short as the elder ninja pushed something against his neck. Sasuke grimaced, all his pride and pain tolerance gone after stitching himself. He felt the dark taking over-- was this how he was going to die?