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Everything was a haze.

From the beginning, everything was a haze. She could barely even remember entering the room.

And now, with warm inviting hands caressing her head anchoring her mind to reality and cool gentle ones ghosting over her burning hands, everything was becoming ever so slightly clearer, and she could barely make out the blond hair of her teammate in her line of vision.

"Hey, you're going to be fine, Sakura-chan—"

"Next finger, Sakura-chan~"

The girl flinched so hard her whole body spasmed.

The cool hands clasped down quickly onto her arms, careful to avoid her hands. "Keep her steady dobe," the Uchiha said sharply. His voice seemed clear and steady to Sakura's ears, making her confused; she thought the pain would have distorted it. Was there something wrong with the pain receptors in her hands? What about the messages in her brain? Were there misfires in her brain—

"Got it," Naruto's warmer voice replied, but it was still thick with anxiety. Sakura doesn't think she's ever heard him sound so...not-Naruto-like. He was always cheerful.

He moved her pink strands gently away from her face with his thumbs, brushing gently over her ears. "You're going to be fine," he said gently, "okay? You're in good hands, don't worry."

Sakura tried to nod — because smiling would be too painful — but her head could barely move. She felt exhausted.

"Stop the p—"

Kakashi's voice cut off as she groaned, waves of agony rolling up from her hands. She twitched, but Sasuke managed to keep them from flailing around too much.

"I know," Sasuke sounded more annoyed than usual, and the Haruno realised she still didn't get to apologise properly for her outburst. It wasn't his fault that she was stupid enough to succumb to whatever it was that took control, but she couldn't get the words out.

Their eyes meet. As if she had some telepathic ability, his gaze seemed to soften ever so slightly. "I know," he repeated, but the girl knew it was for her to hear, no one else.

And her lips pulled upwards, a breath of relief exhaling out.

"Mmm, you know we did a ton lot of chakra meditation today," Naruto said offhandedly, and the girl's green eyes floated to focus on the boy's face. "It was a lot, too. It was so boring! Maa, how do you even survive a whole day of doing that stuff?"

"It's good for you," Sakura offered, voice weak. She coughed, and her throat burned — it felt so raw. Did she really scream that much?

"Naruto," Sasuke's sharp tone said quickly.

The Jinchuriki smiled, but she could see there was a hint of gloom. "I know."

He shifts her higher on his folded knees until she was resting comfortably on his thighs than the edge of his knees, and she tilted her head upwards to see his face better. Naruto gently moved a hand under her neck for more support, before taking away his other hand to rest it over her neck with a soft click of his tongue in concentration.

"You okay?" He asked, concerned.

Sakura's smile lifted even higher, her muscles aching. "Never better," she croaked.

"Imma nurse that throat until it's perfect, m'kay? So let's keep talking to a minimum," the boy gave her one of his bright smiles, and she swore it lit up the cell with an amazing glow. The Haruno nodded in response, closing her eyes when she felt the warm touch of chakra; the soreness was already fading. She didn't realise Naruto was so talented to take up medical ninjutsu so fast.

"Kakashi," she heard Sasuke call, "which ones are the most dangerous ones? There's too many, and I can't fix them fast enough."

"Hotspots? Well, to be honest, I don't know. I'm not a med-nin, but I do know the largest ones aren't necessarily the most important ones. They're usually what the body focuses on too, so I want you to stop healing and sit back to observe. Which ones are healing faster? The ones that don't have a higher chance of being infected, so focus on them. Our healing capability is very slow, so you're going to need to concentrate hard to figure it out."

Sakura could usually take that all in easily, but her mind was spinning at the number of words that seemed too much for her right now.

And did Sasuke just ask for help?

"Alright," the Uchiha said grudgingly. "Dobe, how's the throat?"

"Getting there," Naruto replied cheerfully. "She'll be good as new once I'm done. What happened to her hands? Did he like, cut her fingers?"

The Haruno shuddered, hands twitching.

Despite having her eyes closed, she pulled her lips upwards knowing with her gut feeling that Sasuke shifted his attention to her face. Her nod was barely any movement, but the Uchiha's grp on her hand relaxed at her permission. She's never felt him so, what was the word, respectful? Respectful of her boundaries.

"Nails," the boy said flatly, hesitantly. "He peeled the nails off. One by one, I assume."

Naruto blanched. "What?"

Sasuke didn't reply.

"You're kidding," the Uzumaki continued in disbelief, and Sakura felt a shadow cover her face, was he moving? "I'm going to kick him in the nuts next time I see him — how the hell is this okay?"

"It's not," Sasuke voice was pointed, but he lacked any of the hostility he usually had. "Focus."

Naruto shuffled back into place, and Sakura could imagine his gentle smile. "You're gonna be fine! We're gonna take good care of you like you did with us, right teme?" The Uchiha makes a noncommital 'hn' in response.

I know, Sakura tried to say, I trust you guys. And she did; she would trust them with her life. With what Sojitz-sensei did to them, putting them through 'discipline' and forcing them to isolate themselves from family, she achieved a level of intimacy she never thought would be possible. The boys always seemed so, out of reach. They came from a shinobi background — even Naruto, who was an orphan — but she was the only non-clan girl who passed the genin test.

She let out a soft breath instead, trying to convey as much emotion as she could. Then Sakura laughed at herself. Talking through breaths? This torture really has messed with her mind.

Naruto let out a soft chuckle. "Looks like you're doing okay! Oi teme, what about her left hand? Is she okay there? Have you healed it?"

Sasuke sighed."No. But you don't need to worry, it's bandaged."

Sakura could feel herself being move into a more comfortable position. "Infection?" The Jinchuuriki questioned.

If she could open her eyes she would've, but she was too drained — every part of her body felt like gravity itself, dropping towards the ground. She swore Sasuke was shaking his head when he said, "I dealt with all flesh wounds already. I'm focusing on internal issues now."

"Damn," Naruto whistled, trying to lighten the mood. "Let's all just watch the prodigy do his work, I'm not even needed. How's that fair? Gimme some of those genes."

Sakura let out a breathless laugh, and Sasuke snorted. "Keep on the throat, that's important."

"Yessir!"

Sakura's mouth moved, and a shadow moved in front of her closed eyes. She just managed to make out that Naruto was leaning closer, and she tried again, lips forming shapes, trying to convey her message.

"Aw," Naruto's voice was like a cloud of blankets that hugged her endlessly, "you're very welcome. You don't even need to say thanks! We're teammates, dattebayo!"

Teammates.

Sakura thought back to the time where she thought Naruto would be the worst teammate and that she'd drag the whole team down from not enough hard work, and she let a content smile replace her faint one.

She wouldn't have anyone else, she decided. They were teammates, after all.

.

It wasn't even an hour later when a scream ripped through the peaceful air, and the fatigued Uchiha groggily blinked his eyes opened, hand shooting out for the girl who was letting out the sound.

"Woah, Sakura-chan—"

The Haruno's whole body flinched and her hand crashed against the ground from the movement.

"Hold her," Sasuke said instantly, voice firm. "Dobe, don't call her that from now on. It might trigger some unwanted memories or emotions."

The Jinchuriki nodded in the darkness. Somehow, the torch just outside the cell was burning dimmer than usual, making Sasuke need to squint to make out the other boy's silhouette. He found Sakura shaking on the ground, muttering incoherent words under her breath, and quickly moved to subdue her.

"I need to hold her down, Kakashi?"

No response.

"He's sleeping," Sasuke cursed, debating on his options. Should he wake the nukenin and ask for help, or should he go with what he knew?

"She's hurting herself!" Naruto's voice raised in hysteria. "Teme!"

"Got it, got it," Sasuke made a split-second decision, and slammed a hand down on each of her wrists, keeping her caged. "Can you make sure her head doesn't hit the ground?"

"Yeah," Naruto seemed a little duller than before, "got it, dattebayo. You think she's okay in there?"

The two males watched her thrash around, and the silence dragged on longer than it was supposed to. Sasuke was the one to break it with a dry, "No."

"Can we wake her?"

"That wouldn't be a good idea," the Uchiha spoke darkly, "because you might startle her too much for what she can currently hold."

"But she's having a nightmare!" The Uzumaki frowned, worry etched into his facial features.

"If we jar her too much she could think we were enemies and not only harm us, but herself."

Naruto looked at Sasuke in surprise. "You know that?"

The Uchiha snorted. "It's basic stuff. You should learn how to deal with traumatised people; it's a skill shinobi need."

"Traumatised?" The blond boy blinked, looking down at his teammate whose movements slowed into twitches. He rubbed soothing circles into her shoulders, her head resting in his lap. "She's traumatised?" Naruto looked at him, trying to gauge his expression. "Are we traumatised?"

Sasuke snorted, dismissing the thought. He wasn't traumatised. If he was, he'd know. He hated being told that he was 'in shock' and 'frightened' — because what did they know? They didn't know, unless they dug around in his brain and they didn't — especially after the experience of the Uchiha massacre. And frankly, he didn't care. They were all dead, and all these people cared about was how he was, not how to deal with the bastard who got away with it. Pathetic. He would be better than that.

Sakura cried out.

Without realising, the boy's grip on her wrists tightened, and the shrill sound sent a shock through his body. He released her instantly, and her whole body relaxed. Sasuke cursed, retracting his hands quickly. He was hurting her, damn it.

"Hey, teme," Naruto's voice was cautious, "you alright? You traumatised too?"

The dark-haired heir scoffed a little too harshly. "Traumatised from what? Healing a twelve-year-old girl?"

Naruto doesn't say anything. Sasuke realised that he had just answered his own question, and the boy let out a 'tch' when he fell back against the bars with a soft clang. Before his teammate could speak, he cut in, "No, I'm not traumatised."

The look his teammate gave him screamed disbelief.

"Shut up," Sasuke looked away.

"I didn't even say anything! You're so rude," he huffed.

Sakura hummed, twisting to her side. Sasuke's instincts reacted faster than his thoughts could, and he was quick to make sure she didn't slam onto the ground. His arms shot out, releasing her wrists to gently hold her shoulders as she moved, and Naruto followed his actions by making sure she wasn't going to slip off his lap and keeping a gentle hand by her head in case.

Naruto grinned at him. "So you do care."

"I'm not heartless," Sasuke grumbled.

It was Naruto's shit-eating grin that had the Uchiha elbowing him painfully in the stomach.

"Hey! I thought you were injured!"

"It's better, no thanks to you," Sasuke rolled his eyes. He would never admit it, but the emergency med-ninjutsu Naruto did probably saved his shoulder's flexibility and mobility so he wouldn't be impaired permanently, and Sakura's quick uptake on the skill easily made his recovery much faster than it would've been normally.

He half-expected Naruto to jab back, but was surprised when the Jinchuriki said sincerely, "that's great. You're feeling better."

Sasuke cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah. I guess."

They shared a moment of awkward silence, but it eased into a sense of comfort. The two of them kept a close eye on their female teammate, who was still twitching underneath their grasp.

Sakura stirred. "Mmm...get away...no..."

"She's having a bad dream," Naruto murmured, grin replaced with a look too mature to fit the boy's normal personality.

Sasuke tracked all the movements on the girl's face, despite having to strain his eyesight to even make out the distinct lines. Naruto's face was barely in the dim light, but Sakura was hiding under the shadows of the cell. What was she seeing? Was she seeing the replay of the thing that scared her so bad, like he did with the massacre? Was it going to haunt her forever like it was going to haunt him?

"Sasuke!" She screeched, shooting up into a sitting position. The boy startled at the sound of his name, and he flinched when her arms swung around, hitting him.

He growled, catching her arm in his hand. "What was that for?"

"You're safe?" She asked it like it was a question that held the weight of his life, and he sighed.

"Yes. I'm alive. Evidently, since you're talking to me."

"Oh," the girl's voice shrunk in embarrassment, "sorry. Wait, are you sure you're alive?"

The Uchiha was not impressed, and squeezed her arm tighter. "Do I sound dead?"

Sakura let out a nervous laugh, and she tugged at her long pink hair with her free arm. "Sorry. Did I hit you hard?"

Sasuke replied flatly, "yes."

"Oh, Kami I'm so sorry—"

"It doesn't hurt," the boy continued, over her voice. "So just lie back down."

Sakura paused, blinking. "Huh?"

"Lie down." He released her arm and tilted his head sideways to look behind her, finding Naruto's silhouette. "You're not dead, right dobe?"

"Alive as alive a breathing functioning human can be," the boy gave him thumbs up. "That did surprise me though."

Sakura groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry boys, I thought the two of you were—"

"It's fine, Sakura-c—" Naruto quickly corrected himself. "—Sakura, we're both fine. Just a little, uhm, caught off-guard. Did you rest well?"

Sakura turned to him. "Yes, I did." That was a lie, and all of them in the cell knew it. "Thank you, Naruto, Sasuke. You both saved my life."

"Overstatement," the Uchiha muttered.

"Thank you," she emphasised.

"You're welcome," Naruto said. "As long as you're feeling better."

"Yeah." Sakura smiled, rubbing her arm sheepishly. "You sure I didn't hit you too hard—"

"Lie down," Sasuke grumbled lowly.

The girl paused, before deciding — smartly — to slowly lie back down on the ground, awkwardly setting her head on the cold concrete. There was an inaudible spark of communication between the two boys, and Sasuke nodded pointedly to his teammate. The blond boy quickly shuffled over, picking her head up tenderly and placing it back down on his lap.

Sakura shifted quietly. "Thanks, Naruto."

"As long as you're comfy," the boy replied cheerfully.

Sasuke suddenly felt detached. He watched as Naruto rested his head against the bars behind him, just as tired as the Uchiha was feeling right now. Both of them spent a load of chakra and double the amount of concentration trying to patch Sakura up, but that didn't even count the immense pressure Sasuke felt when he first saw the girl's hands.

When he watched the two of them settle perfectly together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, he felt like a square piece with no place to click.

"Cm'here teme," Naruto's voice was drowsy, "I need a pillow."

Sasuke snorted. "No."

"Please?" The Jinchuuriki's head lulled to the side. "If I'm comfy, then I can help make Sakura comfy and you want to help the patient, right?"

The Uchiha tried to find a fault in the boy's logic, but found himself too tired to do so. "Fine," he grunted, moving over to sit next to his teammate, "this is only because Sakura's in recovery."

This time it wasn't the Uzumaki's chuckle, but their female teammate.

"You should be sleeping," both boys said in unison.

"Kakashi-san?" Sakura said instead, ignoring the two. Naruto made a sound in his throat, and it sounded like he was offended.

There was a distinct clatter of metal, followed by the man's voice murky with sleep. "Ah, you're awake?"

"Sorry, were you sleeping?" The girl smiled sheepishly, craning her neck backwards to look in his direction.

"Barely," the nukenin said dismissively. "Are you feeling better?"

The girl smiled, and Sasuke realised he's never seen her smile so genuinely before. "Yeah. Thank you."

"Good," Kakashi sounded like was smiling too, but it was hard to tell. He was always hidden in the darkest side of the cell, and the Uchiha distantly wondered how long the man had been tied up in this cell. It was definitely longer than their team, but could it have already been months...years?

Sakura shivered, but her smile didn't disappear. "Kakashi-san," she said quietly, "you've travelled the world, right?"

Sasuke's eyebrows raised at the sudden change of topic. Naruto blinked as well, the two of them turning to face their female teammate better. They sat to the left of the cell — facing into the cell, with Sakura's legs in the direction of the door and Sasuke the closest to Kakashi. Naruto sat between them, the pink-haired girl's head softly resting on his lap, and his head tilting to rest on the Uchiha's shoulder.

Kakashi hummed, voice low and soothing. "Mmm, depends on what you define as travelling. I've roamed all the countries before, yes."

"That sounds really nice." She trailed off, as if imaging the man wearing proper clothes and walking through the trees of Konoha. That was what Sasuke currently had in his mind, and to his surprise, it fit quite well with the man.

"Have you ever been to a waterfall?"

The Uchiha looked at her. What was the sudden interest in natural phenomena?

"Yes," Kakashi replied. "There's a good range of them in the Land of Rivers. A great isolated place for a vacation."

"Then, could you draw us a map once we get out? I think, I think it would be a good idea to find someplace peaceful to visit afterwards."

She rolled onto her side, facing away from Naruto. Sasuke couldn't quite make it out, but he thought that Sakura had an arm outstretched, making figures in the shadows.

Kakashi's head moved slightly, and now that Sasuke's eyes had gotten used to the darkness, he could see the faint silver hair nodding slowly. "That's a good idea," the nukenin replied gently, "and I'll definitely draw you a map once you get out of here."

It didn't go unnoticed from the dark-haired boy that the man said 'you' and not 'we', and for some unknown reason, the genin felt a certain weight fall onto his shoulders, making his posture sag down lower. Naruto's head went down along with it, and the blond shot him a concerned glance.

"Thanks a lot, Kakashi-san." Sakura didn't seem to notice.

"Why waterfall?" Naruto asked, nesting his head back into his teammate's shoulder. "What about, cliffs? How cool are those?"

Sakura let out a tired chuckle, and it suddenly reminded Sasuke powerfully of his mother. "Yeah. Cliffs too. We'll go anywhere you want to. Where do you want to go, Sasuke?"

And he realised, surprisingly, she didn't add the honorific he hated so much. He let a small sigh through his lips, and replied, "waterfalls, cliffs, whatever. But I want to go back to Konoha."

"Me too," Sakura agreed.

Naruto hesitated, but quietly muttered, "yeah."

They elapsed into a silence that was neither uncomfortable nor comfortable; it was simply there. And Sasuke felt his eyes close, but sleep, for once, didn't come to take him. He sat there, the warmth from Naruto leaking into his cold body, and he thought about nothing. Nothing came to mind, and he just sat there, listening to his teammate's even breathing and eventually tried to match it.

Sakura shifted awkwardly to one side before shifting back, and even though Naruto sat between them, Sasuke could sense her unease.

Apparently, Kakashi could too, because when the girl moved for the fourth time, the nukenin's clear but gentle voice cut through the air. "Once, there was this child, who hailed from a no-name clan. And this child was determined to be the strongest shinobi that existed in the world."

Sasuke cringed at the cliche beginning, but found himself listening closer to the man's words.

"This boy's father was famous for being called the 'Eternal Genin' because he could never be promoted nor pass the Chunin Exams, but this child was determined not to give up. He was born with a defect — one where he couldn't use chakra like normal people. He struggled to perform even the lowest of ninjutsu, and was soon scorned by everyone else in the village."

"Scorned?"

"Nobody liked him," Kakashi explained for Naruto. "They acted as if he didn't exist. And when they did, it was all about his stupid inability."

"Oh," the boy looked away.

"And..."

Despite being told a bedtime story like a child, Sasuke was lulled to sleep with the rhythmic sound of Kakashi's voice. It didn't matter, he mused to himself, that he was stuck here for Kami-knows-how-long. Because he was going to get out soon and take care of that sorry excuse of a sensei before gaining revenge on his brother. He would take a chance at Sorocho if he could too. That bastard. All three of those bastards.

And just before he fell into the realm of sleep, Sasuke remembered thinking that Kakashi could've been a good sensei if he stayed in Konoha.

.

Naruto felt a quiet whisper in his ear, and his eyes open slowly.

"Naruto," the voice repeated softly.

The Jinchuriki shifted, but he realised Sakura's head was on his shoulder and stopped his unnecessary movement. "Kakashi-san?" He tried to talk instead.

"Naruto, now's the time." Kakashi's voice sounded near, but Naruto knew that the man was on the wall, hands stuck to the concrete slab in the most painful way the boy thought was possible. There was no way the nukenin was right next to him.

"Huh?"

"Summon five kage bunshin," the ex-nin instructed, clear and concise. "I want them henged as rats, and when the next person walks out of here they're going to follow."

Naruto groggily looked towards the man. "What?"

Kakashi offered an inclination of his head, his grey hair shifting in the low light. "I'm planning your escape, Naruto. The kage bunshin will act as our recon team; get them to run all over this place and trying to remember all the turns and staircases."

"Our escape," the boy murmured, sleep still in his voice. He quickly shook his head as violently as he could without disturbing his teammates, and made the sign for clones before five versions of him appeared with a puff of smoke. They all share the same drowsy qualities as he does, but they quickly henge, falling to the ground as grimy and small dark rats.

Kakashi smiled when he noticed they had dark fur and scuttled away into the corners of the cell with little sound, staying quiet. He would have thought the twelve-year-old's clones would've charged out of the cell door without a second thought. It was a smart choice, waiting until the door opened. Okubo was blind; she wouldn't know there were rats. If another escort had appeared, it would raise alarms because regardless of Sorocho's insanity, this place was clean.

The boy had done it half-asleep; imagine the limits of his quick thinking being applied to real-time strategy. He could become an astounding asset. Or Kakashi could be reading too much into this, but he had a hunch that Naruto had an innate sense for strategy.

Naruto let out a soft breath. "Kakashi-san, our escape."

The man only hummed in response, before the boy was pulled under the spell of fatigue.

.

Izumo was currently on duty, funnily enough, without Kotetsu. He was on duty with the Team Three from last year, since their jounin sensei — Gai-san — went on a quick A-rank with ANBU, and the three of them were anything but compatible with task of guard duty. The Gai-look-alike child was too energetic and eager for nukenin to come in sight — who on earth would want nukenin? Izumo only volunteered to go on duty because it was so peaceful — and the other two were starting to bore after the first hour.

"I win," the Hyuuga said, boredom obvious in his voice.

The girl cringed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "How can you win chopsticks so easily? It doesn't even use any shinobi technique and you're just smashing me!"

"Mathematics," the boy seemed a little smug, "simple mathematics."

The girl glared at him.

"There!" Gai-look-alike beamed, his former depressed attitude suddenly thrown out the window. "I see someone!"

Izumo glanced up from where he was watching the Hyuuga and the girl walk with chakra up and down the sides of the large protective walls that enclosed around Konoha. "Hmm?"

The Hyuuga quickly jumped up to the top and activated his dojutsu. "Where?"

The bowl-cut-haired boy pointed vigorously towards a random spot in the vast field of trees.

The girl climbed up, but sat down casually and dangled her feet off the edge. "Mmm, I dunno Lee, it might be a bird or something."

"No, I see chakra," the Hyuuga muttered, eyes narrowing. "Human chakra. Developed, so shinobi, but not too much. Seems to be at least a B-rank nin, or even A-rank. Not S-rank though."

"Injured?" Izumo's hands ghosted towards the large sword on his back.

"No, I don't think so," the boy replied. "The flow seems to be natural, just a little exhausted. Ran all the way here, perhaps. Or came from a long while away."

The girl swung her bo staff with practised ease. "So friendly?"

"Unknown."

"Moving towards Konoha?" Izumo asked.

"Yes."

"How far away?"

"About forty metres away and approaching."

"Alright," Izumo turned to the three preteens, lips stretching out in a smile. "Your first task today. Once the unknown reaches the thirty metre mark, you're going to engage. Figure out who it is, what their intentions are. If it's a Konoha-nin, escort this way and flare your chakra in the neutralised pattern."

"Neutralised pattern?" Lee squinted at him.

"Short-short-short-long-short," the Hyuuga sounded like a recording of an Academy textbook.

Izumo nodded, grinning at the trio. "Exactly. Have fun!"

"What happens if they're hostile?" The girl asked, standing up and stretching sideways. "Do we like, fight them?"

"Disengage," Izumo gave her a firm look, "and send at least one person to alert the person on duty. Which is me. I'll then give the signal to the watchtower somewhere that way" — he jerked a thumb behind his shoulder where a large checkpoint stood alongside the wall — "and they'll alert nearby shinobi while I go engage and help you."

The girl nodded slowly. "Ah, that's really organised."

"Konoha," the adult shrugged, "what can you say?"

"Thirty metres," the Hyuuga said lowly. "Do we depart now?"

The chunin spread his arms out. "Go wild. Not too wild though."

And he watched with a whistle of appreciation at their formation as the three dropped down from the wall, landing lightly outside Konohagakure soil and disappearing into the large trees. He hummed to himself, following their movements as far as he could before they blended in with the swaying trees.

Three genin. That was okay, right? He doubted that it would be too little, especially when this was already their second year of being a team together. They should have good chemistry and understand how to do combined attacks, so if they did run into someone dangerous they could at least hold their own. Plus, the Hyuuga looked like a kid who would follow the rules to the letter, meaning that he knew when to call a retreat.

Izumo glanced behind himself, eyes darting around to find the Academy. Kotetsu was currently injured from their last joint mission, so he was spending his time recovering by helping Iruka teach.

Hopefully, he made the right call.

"Kamizuki-san!"

Sighing, he turned back around, about to yell back to use his first name. It was the girl's voice, but it was the Hyuuga who appeared first, and she burst out from the trees right behind her male teammate. Izumo's eyes widened at the man who followed behind the duo, and the Gai-look-alike took up the rear.

"Oi, Lee-kun," the chunin winced internally, hoping he got the kid's name right, "I heard you were fast. I need you to get to the Hokage, right now."

The boy blinked at him, nodding. The four of them climb up the side of the wall with no issues, but the newest addition looked to be a little out of breath.

"And tell him that Team Seven has returned," Izumo's voice was uncertain, because he certainly didn't hear the sound of his name being butchered by that small Uzumaki, nor the sound of the Uchiha scoffing. He didn't see pink hair either.

Hotaru shook his head, hunched over slightly, panting. "No." He looked up, and Izumo felt unease settle on the bottom of his spine. "Just me. We need to call for a rescue team."

To the chunin's surprise, Gai-look-alike was quick to take in the information and he sped off at the speed of lightning into the village. The girl's face — who he realised was named Tenten when she introduced herself to the jounin — was grim but she still tried to lighten the mood, but Izumo knew the news of Team Seven's jounin sensei returning without the team would put a damper on Konoha's mood.

"What happened?" Tenten asked, voice quiet.

The man winced. "I'll say once we're in front of the Hokage. I don't want to repeat myself over and over."

The girl nodded, expression thoughtful. "I did hear Sandaime-sama was putting together a rescue team. Thank Kami he was thinking ahead."

Izumo missed the man's look of surprise. "Alright, Tenten-kun, please escort Sojitz-san to the Hokage, and Hyuuga-kun will stay on duty with me."

The genin nodded. "Hai, Kamizuki-san."

The Hyuuga doesn't show any external emotion and watched silently as his teammate ran alongside the jounin towards the Hokage Tower. He turned to the chunin, opening his mouth to speak, but then he hesitated.

"Yes?" Izumo looked at him.

"Did you," the Hyuuga seemed to try to search for the right words, "did you sense something off about Sojitz-san?"

Izumo shrugged, taking a seat on the ledge of the wall. "Jounin usually come back feeling off. Especially a newer one with Sojitz-san; they always realise it's really different going on their first S-rank mission or," he nodded gently, "running their genin team."

"Team Seven hasn't returned."

"True," Izumo closed his eyes, inhaling in the fresh air to quell his unease. "But we can't dwell on that now. We can only hope they're not in a horrible situation."

"Mmm," the so-called genius was too uptight to sit down. He stood on the wall, white robes rustling in the small evening breeze, and his white eyes staring off into the distance. "Not a horrible situation, hmm?"

.

"All you two have to do," Sorocho gestured widely to the two boys, flinging his arms around madly, "is scream. Who screams loudest gets a prize. Easy rules, right?"

Naruto grinned weakly. "Don't cry, teme."

The Uchiha doesn't respond, but his face turns dark when he watched his teammate being tied down to the metal table. The boy almost watched in contempt as the Jinchuriki doesn't even try to resist. He knew — he knew — that the blond boy put up a fight whenever he was tied down; the harsh marks around the boy's wrists and ankles that he had to heal every time proved it. Naruto...was he complying so he wouldn't get Sasuke in 'trouble' by accident?

"Both of you know the gist of what's going to happen to you," Sorocho continued as if briefing them on some sort of important mission. "But this will be the first time watching each other! Isn't this amazing?"

Naruto's eyes widened when he sees Sasuke sit in the chair from the first day. "The drill—"

"No." Sasuke cut him off quickly, eyes darting to the left where the man stood. "Not the drill."

"He's right," Sorocho chimed like a civilian high school girl with her best friends, "it's not the drill this time! It's something completely new! My favourite," the man licks his lips, "the boot!"

Naruto felt a bell ring distantly in his mind. Has he heard this before? "The boot?"

"No details," Sasuke snapped.

"No details then," Sorocho pouted, ruffling the Uchiha's hair. "Alright! Firstly, blondie needs to get reacquainted with his bestest of friends, Egao, Warau and Sakebi!"

The two boys knew that the sick man was much more elated than he usually was, meaning that he was equally more dangerous. If anything in the past week or so, they learnt that the more the man smiled, the more pain they were going to receive. It was almost as if he was venting his happiness onto them.

Sasuke felt bile rise up in his throat. "What the fuck—"

"Egao," Sorocho picked up a rat from the box Okubo had humbly given him and placed it on Naruto's chest. It was obviously dirty, its fur marred together with dried blood and some other disgusting substances that looked like liquids that had dried. "Say hi to blondie!"

Naruto flinched when the rat made a squeak.

"Rats?" Sasuke's eyes searched for Naruto's blue ones, but the Jinchuriki refused eye contact.

"It's not that bad," Naruto protested weakly. "I mean, it's probably better than the boot or whatever."

Sorocho watched the interacting with interest overflowing at his limits. His whole expression was bright and like it was Christmas day, with all of the gifts that he's wanted right before his eyes. "Oh, looks like Warau wants to say hi too!"

An even larger rat — Sasuke didn't even realise those pests could grow to such a size — fought its way out of the box and into Sorocho's waiting hand, and the man all too gleefully moved it over to the blond boy's chest.

The two rats squeaked at each other, and Naruto squirmed slightly when they moved back and forth on his torso.

"And Sakebi," Sorocho moved the last rat from the box. It was no doubt the dirtiest rat out of the three, with its original fur colour lost with all the blood and what looked like to be...mucus?

"Well, we should start soon," the man's smile widened to inhumane lengths, "I think it's best to cut blondie open first. Then press the button. What do you think, Okubo-chan?"

The girl shrunk under his gaze. "Anything you say, Sorocho-sama."

"Then cut it is!"

Sasuke watched him with a barely veiled horror as the man produced a kunai out of nowhere and sliced open the Uzumaki's stomach with little hesitance, and the boy let out a gurgled cough that sounded like a scream caught in his throat.

Naruto's head lulled to his side when he heard a clank of metal, and he shakes it ever so slightly at his teammate, who sat beside him. "Don't."

"He's gonna put fucking rats inside of you why the fuck aren't you retaliating—"

Naruto's face contorted in pain. It twisted so bad that Sasuke thought that he was dead, and all his muscles had suddenly fallen out of strength. Those blue eyes that always held mirth shattered before the Uchiha's own hooded eyes, and a scream broke free from the boy's throat.

"Dobe — Naruto — Naruto—"

"It's your turn!" Sorocho whirled around. "Where's the button? Ah, there it is."

Sasuke didn't know where to look — at his teammate who was shaking and crying and trying so badly to hold back screeches or the twisted face of the man he wanted nothing more to than rip apart or the fire to the side that taunted him with its freedom — and spikes enclosed over his left foot, pressing slowly and crushing bones.

He closed his eyes and screamed instead.

This was my first time trying so many different scene changes, and I'm not sure but I feel like it's a little disconnected? Any thoughts? Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed reading so far and I can't wait to get started on the next chapter.