Disclaimer: I own nothing, damn it all. I don't own Naruto, belongs to Kishimoto-sensei.

Warning: This chapter entails torture (I decided that I was going to use some medieval ways and they are quite . . . gruesome.) Dark theme ahead and not for those with weak stomachs. Other than that, read at your own risk. P.S. I haven't yet warned anyone, but just in case you haven't noticed it by now, warning for the language as well.


I've been looking in the mirror for so long
That I've come to believe
My soul's on the other side
All the pieces falling, shatter
Shards of me too sharp to put back together:
Too small to matter
But big enough to cut me into
So many little pieces

"Breath No More" by Evanescence

Chapter 17

Sasuke woke up feeling sore, unbelievably sore, the bastard had drugged him yet again, knowing that his captive would fight back violently with everything he had. But upon waking up he felt seering, burning, twisting agony in his chest, his stomach, numbness in his arms, both held by iron shackles that bit into his wrists bitterly above his head, his feet inches from reaching the ground. That of course forced his numb arms to hold his body weight and his raw, bloody wrists to be further bitten by the iron shackles holding them above his head attached with only one link in between the shackles.

He groggily let out a hiss when he felt a shock of pain shoot up his spine, he couldn't recall entirely how long he had been suspended like this, but he knew his arms had to be dislocated by now and entirely useless. The constant agony in his chest and stomach merited that his legs were utterly useless as well. He looked to his left upon hearing a distant shuffling of feet and grimaced at knowing it was Madara.

Sure enough moments later Madara stopped in the cave he was currently in to smirk at him. They'd moved yet again when Madara had sensed Naruto entering the lands, making Sasuke curse the adept and experience the ancient Uchiha possessed. He seemed to take to medieval torture methods, having successfully had an effect on Sasuke's mind set and thus toying with his emotions enough to his liking he had taken to using methods of torture he'd come to know throughout his too long of a life.

Only one week ago, before Naruto had come to Iwagakure, Madara had taken to using a method to paralyze his legs temporarily. Sasuke had never known that parchment could be used to torture someone. But he wasn't likely to ever forget that after the fact either. Parchment, at first wet, had been bound to his legs with a thin string that tied them around his thighs and calves. Then he had been forced to remain shackled to the floor close to a fire. If the heat from the constantly burning fire wasn't enough to make him uncomfortably hot, then the parchment added to that discomfort.

It was as the parchment was heated up by the fire that Sasuke found out first hand how very painful it could be. It tore and burned his muscles, sending jolts of agony to burn his blood as though he were being shocked, every breath painful, every move agonizing, it only lasted for four hours, but each and every second of those four hours seemed to last for an eternity. If Sasuke hadn't been a high level ninja with a lot of experience and pain tolerance he was sure he would have lost consciousness due to the pain of it.

His legs were no longer unscarred or taunt with the muscle he'd acquired through strict training anymore than the rest of him. Now he was sickly thin, paler than was customary for him, and his entire body was racked with reddened, irritated, and scarred skin. The jolts of shocking pain up and down his spine was a constant reminder of what had happened in his currently suspended state. A whip, the bastard had gone back to the stone ages and decided that a whip was a nice form of torture.

The forced movements from the blows, the cutting, burning feel as he was struck with the harsh leather whip was painful enough, but then the blow to his pride that he could do nothing to stop it from happening. He thought he'd felt useless and weak before, his time trapped and held prisoner in a damn cave in a country he knew with a psychopath bent on tormenting him that had been stronger than him before was something entirely different.

Sasuke let out a hiss against his better judgment, he was greatly losing control over his reactions throughout all this, as Madara ran a finger across his bloodied, scarred, and horridly cut back. Some of the cuts had struck his sides and ran across the far sides of his chest and stomach further adding to the pain in them.

Madara walked around him once and then came to stand directly in front of Sasuke. He looked at him with a smug expression, Sasuke couldn't fully mask the pain he was in anymore than he could stop the glare that would end up pissing Madara off. Madara only smirked at the cold, hateful glare Sasuke gave him as he looked at him with a smugness in his eyes.

Sasuke's pale skin being marred with scars and burns and accompanied by dried blood from the scars he'd received made his usually perfect, porcelain like skin very different. Madara sighed and walked across the cave to his pack lying on the other side of the fire, Sasuke felt dread pass through him, but his self control was still strong enough for that expression to not pass over his features or his eyes.

Madara returned to stand before him with a iron key in his right hand, then he said in a tone that angered Sasuke to no end, a tone filled with fake mercy and pity; "Do you wish to be set free Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke smirked and then he spit at the ground in front of Madara's feet earning him a harsh backhand and then his chin was gripped painfully and he was forced to look down at Madara.

"Boy," Madara's voice was calm but with a promise of more pain in his eyes; "I doubt you can take much more. If you continue to fight me then I assure you I can come up with plenty of things to torment you with."

Sasuke pulled his head back and spat venomously, "Go ahead, I'm not giving you shit."

Madara shook his head and sighed, then he pocketed the key in his hand and took from his other pocket a vile with clear liquid and a disposable needle. Sasuke didn't bother to try and do anything, he could hardly move as it was and frankly, if he was let down from here he would welcome the sedative he knew Madara was injecting into his arm, his head dropped as his eyes closed his long hair, however ragged and tangled curtained his face.

Sasuke awoke once more, his mind hazed and having to blink a few times to figure out his surroundings, which were next to nothing. All he could see was complete darkness, nothing, he doubted that his eyes were open and panic set in. Did he take my eyes?

Sasuke's hand raised, sharp, piercing pain shooting through him from the movement, and the iron shackles and chain clinging against the ground below him. But his hand did make it to his face and he could feel that his eyes were still there, no blood, no pain in his eyes indicating they had been gouged out.

He was sitting on the floor, his knees to his chest, his back against the wall and his toes touching another wall. He moved his hands in front of him, he could touch the walls around him, even the one above his head. There was barely enough air in this cold, hard, iron box he was in. His breaths came shallowly and his heart pounded in his chest in fear.

That bastard putting me in a mother fucking box. He knew he couldn't work out the cramps in his legs, in any part of him at all in the box he was in. The silence was defeaning, the complete darkness was slowly getting to him, and the true feeling of being alone. This was all worse to the loneliness he'd felt after his clan had been killed, from the time he spent away from Naruto. His mind raced, all the morbid thoughts he had slowly rising to the surface, he was going to go insane in such silence and darkness. How could he breath when he couldn't hear anything other than his breathing.

His heart racing, pounding in his burning chest, the burning in his chest from the quick breaths the only sound he could hear. He closed his eyes, but it made no difference, the darkness was still suffocating, it still existed. He found it harder and harder to shove down the panic he felt from not being able to move, to hear, to see, it was starting to make him feel numb, but sleep was not something he would be granted as suffocated and claustrophobic as he felt at the moment.

Twenty-four hours later . . .

Madara smirked as he dropped a water canteen down the pipeline he'd constructed to run into the small iron box he'd built to contain Sasuke in. He only planned to use the box for three days, three days with only water and only enough to keep him alive and never fully quench his thirst. Once the three days were up he would present his prisoner with a more roomy version of solitary confinement. He sighed and got to his feet walking over to sit by the fire.

He'd created the small prison using earth jutsu, but he'd come across it from some twisted Englishmen a long time ago. Torture used during a time of confusion and misunderstandings, but effective regardless of how inhuman and gruesome they could be. He had a method in mind that would be devastating to the once very skilled shinobi, The Arrow.

He took from his pocket a chiseled arrowhead he'd made himself, it was sharp, ragged of course, and made of granite, it would serve it's purpose well. The stone to make it was strong enough to be very agonizing for the young Uchiha once the method was set in motion. But if the solitary confinement didn't prove to break him or drive him insane, then he would use the fail proof method of stripping him of his livelihood, that was not above him.

Vengeance after all can be a very cruel thing and it was hereditary truthfully with the Uchiha clan. He would teach the once sworn Avenger the true meaning of vengeance, but he wouldn't kill him until he willingly surrendered to his demand, he needed the once named sacrifice to hand over the power of the sharigan willingly for it to truly be at it's full power. That, and only that, was the reason Sasuke was still alive.

Being physically alive was enough to him, if he shattered his mind and crushed his soul and heart, then so be it. That was what he deserved for crossing the first of the Uchiha clan.

Sasuke drank from the canteen willingly, but he was quick enough to realize that he would most likely need to drink from it sparingly. It was barely one third of the way full and it would most likely barely be enough to last him thirty-six hours. That gave him an idea of how long he would be stuck in the iron box of a prison. He just hoped to himself that he wouldn't drive himself insane in the meantime.

Sleep was a luxury he was given only when drugged, he hardly slept at all anymore, the torture and being a shinobi for so long merited him no amount of true sleep. He'd only been granted that privilege when he was with Naruto or when he'd been a carefree little boy that loved his parents and his clan blindly.

So even though his eyes were closed, he wasn't asleep, his mind running rampant with negative thoughts and trying to think of a way to end the torment of his solitary. He thought of Naruto, he thought of all those that had died, of how much he had proven to be completely useless and weak against Madara because of the damn chakra repressor on his wrist. It was coated and rusted from his own blood, but that didn't diminish it's ability to completely render him no stronger than a non shinobi.

Then, of course, the fact that he was greatly malnourished, tortured endlessly, scarred, burned, and sore, weak, and half way conscience constantly, he was no stronger than a seven year old. That in itself was maddening, he wasn't any better than he had been back when Itachi had murdered their clan. But the torment he was going through now paled in comparison to anything that Itachi had put him through.

Sasuke was no stranger to loneliness, to silence, to darkness, but the kind he was currently in and feeling was on another level, it was suffocating and he felt it closing in around him in a vice that captured him so well it effected him physically and mentally. He couldn't process emotions more than panic and intense frustration, but his mind made him think thoughts he'd tried to keep at bay.

Naruto isn't coming for me, the village is more important to him. He wouldn't come for me now, look at how weak I am, how pathetic. I dwell in self-pity, allowed myself to be captured, and am reduced to the strength of a child. Why would he want to save me anyway? The village, they probably don't even care, anymore than they ever did. The clan and my brothers must be watching this in complete disgust that I allowed this all to happen to me.

Even though his hands were shackled he could still wrap his arms around legs, hugging them to his chest and resting his forehead on his knees. He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep but he kept feeling weaker and weaker with every passing moment he spent in this iron box.

Why in the hell can't I do anything to stop this shit, some Uchiha I am, slowly going mad from this and I've only been here for a few months. This box is really what's driving me mad. Why a goddamn box anyway? I was already weakened and sore before and this will only make it worse. Plus these fucking shakles are close to crushing my wrists as well as rubbing them raw.

Sasuke sighed, the sound ragged and rough from lack of water and food as well as not really talking all that much. He leaned his head back against the wall his back was already against, there wasn't even enough room to curl up on the floor. His head was pounding and combined with the agonizing soreness in his chest, stomach, and his arms, he really couldn't get comfortable if he tried. He knew that if he had enough room to stand his legs were too sore and weak for it to really matter.

Some shinobi I am, I can't even think to stand and I'm too sore to do much of shit even if I wanted to. When that bastard does let me out I will want to lash out and beat the hell out of him, but the truth is that I'm in no fucking shape to do so.

Forty-eight hours later . . .

Sasuke jumped when he felt the box he was in give a jerk and he braced his hands against the wall. Then his arms tensed as the bottom suddenly caved in and fell out from under him. He strained to hold himself with his hands against the walls even as his legs dangled beneath him. He could feel a chilling breeze wash over them and before he could react or look up at all he felt a shudder run through the walls around him and then a heavy weight of the ground above him started to cave in. His hands slipped and he fell into the dark abyss below with a angry yell.

He luckily landed in water, however cold, it was refreshing after going so very long without a means to wash any dirt and grime from himself. The shackles around his wrists made it difficult to rise above the water but he did and noticed something, he was in the same cave as before. They had only moved between two different damn caves. Madara had to be kidding, if they only moved through two caves Naruto was likely to find them.

Maybe that's what he wants, maybe Madara thinks he can kill Naruto and he plans to do so in front of me as another way to get to me. Fuck that, there's no way I would let that happen, unless Naruto can kill the bastard I'll just bite out my tongue and choke myself with my own blood before I'll watch Naruto be killed by him. If I'm dead he can't get the power of the sharigan anyway.

He looked up upon hearing a whistle to his left and scowled, Madara was standing in the opening towards the top of the cave, the same one Sasuke had first fallen into this endless cave through. Sasuke raised his shackled hands and flipped him off, he didn't trust his voice to say the words.

Madara laughed and then said, his voice echoing in the cave; "Suit yourself Sasuke-kun. I can wait until you lose consciousnesses."

Sasuke watched Madara turn and disappear into the path and then he moved, regardless of how sore he was, he did find that he could still move. Other than a very slight amount of light from the open pathway and the hole where his previous prison had been, it was dark. It was also freezing cold, but that compared to the suffocating darkness and silence was of little consequence, for now. He knew he'd probably end up sick in this freezing water, but he didn't care, it was better than being in a cramped space, with no sound or light, and anything was better than being in Madara's pressence.

Sasuke was feeling more than exhausted, and the numbing water wasn't helping much at all to keeping him conscience. He forced his arms and legs to move in the water, swimming the best he could, he needed to find a edge to the water to at least lie down and get some sleep. He moved to his right carefully and managed to finally touch some ground in the water, continuing that way led to him being only half way under the water.

As soon as the weightlessness of being under the water left his legs his hands shot out on the ground as his knees buckled. He sighed and rolled over to lie on his back on the rocky ground along the edge of the water, his legs still halfway in the water. His eyes closed and he no longer cared about anything, giving himself over to sleep at being able to lie down.

When Sasuke woke again he found himself not on the rough ground, but on a thin mattress, even a pillow under his head. He felt groggy and it took several moments for him to take in his predicament. His legs were shackled apart and he tried to move them only to find that they were shackled to the end of the bed. He sat up abruptly, his hands cupping his head from the wave of dizziness that passed through him from the sudden movement.

His wrists were still shackled, but they weren't chained to the bed thankfully, granting him some freedom. His eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly and he took in the small cave he was in, it was a cell, fit with an iron door only five paces from where he currently was. He also noticed that he was wearing a pair of black pants and a white, long sleeved shirt, both of them clean and more than the rags he'd had on earlier.

He could feel some of the soreness in his body had gotten better, but he was still feeling weak and exhausted as well as hungry, which left him feeling light headed. He flinched when he heard a click at the iron door and closed his eyes when light poured into the room. It was only the dim lighting of a fire, but it still hurt his eyes.

He heard the footsteps and then felt a tray on his lap. Sasuke opened his eyes and glared at Madara who stood at the foot of his bed with a smirk on his face. "Sasuke-kun, be sure you eat, can't have you starving to death."

Sasuke scoffed and Madara turned and exited the cell closing and re-locking the door behind him. Sasuke looked down at the tray on his lap, Fucking ramen, go figure he would give me ramen. He was already used to the shackles enough where they didn't really hinder his ability to eat, that in itself was enough to piss him off.

His stomach growled at him and he picked up the chopsticks and broke them apart and with his other hand picked up the bowl and managed to eat without much trouble. He doubted that he would be able to keep it down for that long, going days without food tended to make it difficult to keep any down when you did eat next. But he finished off the bowl and shoved down the nausea he felt then drank the water, not caring how mucky the water looked. He saw the ration bar, they were most likely stale, but he took them from the tray and put them in his pocket, he would save them for later.

The cup for the water was glass and he held it in his hand for a moment then chunked it at the door. It hit the door with a gratifying crash and the glass shattered and fell to the ground. He then did the same with the bowl and tray and laid back down on the bed. He stared up at the ceiling with his hands folded over his stomach and let out a sigh.

Childish to do that, but I frankly could care less. There was a very dim light in the cell, enough for him to be able to see the ceiling above him, it came from a window in the iron door. He couldn't help but let his mind drift to things and people he'd had on his mind all the time he'd been here. He knew Neji and Kiba had been killed, that in itself was enough to make him feel guilty, and he didn't know if Kakashi was alive or anyone else for that matter. Hinata and Sakura had definitely been caught in one of the buildings and he didn't know if they were alive. He closed his eyes, not only did he not know of the deaths in the village, he remembered that the shinobi from Kumogakure had taken advantage of Madara's invasion and had been attacking the village as well. He had sensed them, but fighting Madara had taken his attention, as he was the greater threat. The list could be endless and the damages to the village were both concerns because he knew how much it would hurt Naruto.

Tsunade had sent Naruto to a diplomatic meeting disguised as an escort mission, meaning she still fought the council to make Naruto the next Hokage after Kakashi. But now, Sasuke knew Naruto would be listed as a rogue, a defected ninja because he was coming after him. At least he still allowed himself to believe he was, sometimes he felt doubtful, but Naruto was stubborn as hell and persistent. Not to mention, he had felt Naruto's familiar chakra only days ago, he had felt it, at least he hoped he did.

Why the hell am I depending on him anyway, it's not like he's ever been very good at tracking. If he was then it wouldn't have taken him so long to find me before. It could very well be two damn years or longer. Another inner voice came to him, in his own voice, but arguing with his current thoughts.

Even so, you know he loves you and would go to the ends of the earth searching for you just like he did before. So suck it up and survive until then.

Sasuke scoffed, Right, survive until then, easier said than done.

What, are you an Uchiha or not, you can survive whatever that twisted bastard decides to throw at you. You're still a damn ninja.

A ninja that is shackled to a bed, has a chakra repressor, has little to no strength anymore, and regardless is . . .

Little to nothing, correct, that's what he wants you to think. How about you stop with your damn pity party and figure out something.

Figure out something, yeah right, I am sitting here arguing with myself, how in the hell am I supposed to be in the right frame of mind to figure out shit?

The curse mark is still active, you never did find a way to deactivate it, if you tried you could alert your fox to your location.

Yeah, that would work, leave me completely exhausted, and then Madara would end up dragging me off to the other fucking caves in these damn mountains.

Maybe, but the curse mark could prove to be enough to break the chakra repressor and you could use the natural energy to make up for your lack in physical strength. You are a master of taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjustu Uchiha.

Sasuke huffed, Damn your sarcasm, either way it doesnt really matter. It would only last for a small amount of time . . .

That is all it would take if the fox is still in this country. And you know Madara won't kill you, he needs you alive.

Sasuke sat up and his shackled hands moved up to the curse mark still on his neck. He closed his eyes and dug his nails into the skin there and bit his lip when the burning pain shot throughout his entire body. He heard the the door being unlocked and then slammed open, but the curse mark was spreading across his body in a torrent of flames, the pain and the strength of the curse mark hadn't diminished over the years of keeping it inactive and dormant.

Madara lunged towards him, but Sasuke cut through the shackles around his ankles as soon as the chakra repressor shattered around his right wrist. Then Sasuke jumped from the bed and headed towards the door, he knew he couldn't summon the natural energy unless he remained perfectly still, but the pain from the curse mark along with the momentary strength it granted him and shattered the chakra repressor was enough for now.

He wasn't near as strong right now as he'd ever been, even when he was twelve. But he let the curse mark spread, focusing all the anger and frustration he felt from being at someone else's whim into himself, fueling the curse mark. Without the chakra repressor he could feel the familiar chakra of Naruto, it was fused with the fox demon's but it filled him with hope. That chakra was familiar, real, and it was spiking, calling and searching for him.

Sasuke made his way through the turning, twisting and slippery pathway, this time making sure to go left at the split in the path. He felt the pathway steepen and fell to his knees, but he still kept moving. He dug his nails into the ground when he felt Madara grab hold of his ankle and flip him over. Sasuke kicked at the face looking up at him angrily.

His back arched in pain when he was violently pulled down towards Madara. Sasuke latched onto Madara's throat, but he was quickly kicked to the side and forced to let go. He collided with the wall and slid down the pathway.

Then he felt another kick to his midriff that knocked the air out of him, before he could recover he was kicked in the face and forced on his back. He could taste blood in his mouth and he brought his hands up defensively to block the kick to his face again. He pushed Madara's foot back and rolled out of the way managing to jump to his feet with the instincts of a being a ninja for his entire life.

He backed up, the curse mark was fading with the twisting fear he hated to feel in his gut. But he was feeling hope as Naruto's chakra was getting stronger and closer. He was brought from those thoughts abruptly when he was slammed against the jagged cave wall behind him. He tried to look away, but it was too late, he was trapped in Madara's sharigan before he could think otherwise.

His screams echoed through the cave, and then after only a few minutes he was left shaking, drenched in a cold sweat, pale as a ghost and his eyes glazed in tears he would never shed. Madara released him and he slumped to the ground sitting on his knees, bent over to lean on his hands as he tried to catch his breath.

He hissed when Madara grabbed his wrists and released the shackles, then Sasuke tried to pull back, the curse mark throbbed, but it had receded instantly when he'd been trapped in the alternate world through the sharigan. The iron shackles fell to the ground and Sasuke felt his left held tightly, his fingers tied together painfully.

He was still shaking too violently to do much to prevent it, Madara took out the arrowhead from his pocket and looked at Sasuke with a smug expression, his crimson eyes promising pain. Sasuke tried again to pull back, but his legs felt like jelly, his mind still in shock from what Madara had forced him to live through, the darkest nightmares in his mind still so vivid that he couldn't focus, couldn't think about anything else.

Watching the nightmares of his clan being killed, watching himself kill Itachi, watching Kuro, Juugo, and the Konoha nin being slaughtered over and over again. Then throwing in him watching Naruto being killed, first his own close call at killing him, even though he knew it wouldn't actually kill his best friend, he still felt his blood run cold at the memory, to relive it all over again . . . Then again, watching Naruto die, but this time due to Madara, forcing him to believe Madara had killed Naruto . . . He couldn't stop his shaking, twenty days in a matter of only minutes, twenty days of replaying their deaths over and over again.

He forgot that he'd felt Naruto's strong chakra, couldn't sense it anymore in his shocked state of mind. All he could feel was the leather tying his fingers together and the painful grasp on his left wrist forcing it to remain still even as he violently shook, but even that was like he was standing on the outside, as though he wasn't really there. His mind felt trapped in that damn alternate world, he couldn't shake the visions, the heart wrenching, blood chilling feeling that had consumed him there.

That was until he felt a groan of pain rise in his throat as the arrowhead was brought across his bound fingers. Back and forth, over and over again, cutting into his skin in a jagged way that sent jolts of pain all the way to his shoulder. He bit into his lip harshly, refusing to scream, refusing to let himself give in to the pain, to the horror that Madara was ruining his hand, taking his livelihood from him. The arrowhead cut through to the bone, slicing through his fingers and cracking some of the bones in them from the pressure.

When Madara released his hand and tossed what was left of the arrowhead over his shoulder his arm slumped to his side, he wanted to cradle his mangled hand, but his right wrist was held firmly in front of him. He let out a sharp breath when Madara bent back his pinky finger, breaking it at the first knuckle, then snapping back the other two.

He couldn't keep the cries of pain from escaping his mouth when the next three fingers were treated the same way. Sasuke slumped back against the wall, both of his arms lax at his side regardless of how much he wanted to move them, to cradle his hands. But even the thought to do so sent jolts of agony right through him.

Madara had a smug smile on his face as he looked down at Sasuke leaned back against the wall, his breaths coming in short, ragged gasps, the pain evident on his face. His smile turned sinister as he felt Naruto enter the cave, he was coming towards them from the path Sasuke had tried to use to escape.

Madara knelt down in front of Sasuke and with only one finger, lightly touched his right knee, Sasuke let out a hoarse cry as he felt fire pour through him, igniting his blood, burning him from the inside. Madara smiled and pulled away leaving Sasuke to gasp for air in painful ragged breaths, knowing his heart was racing, that his insides burned painfully with every breath and heartbeat. He stood up and turned around just as Naruto stopped in the cave to glare dangerously at him.

His eyes slit, a fiery red, the Kyuubi's chakra burning and coursing around him. Naruto's blond hair was highlighted with red streaks, his canines sharp, his nails closer to claws, his pressence sending waves of power and a promise of pain that would make most shinobi quiver in fear. But Madara only met those eyes with a smug smile, not truly worried in the least.

He felt his captive behind him slump to the ground, lying down on his side, his consciencouness gone, lost to the mental, emotional, and physical torment Madara had put him through. Madara's smile only deepened and the scowl on Naruto's face deepened as well, but he held his ground, a wave of self control passing through him, that control was what made Madara's smug smile fade.