Early the next morning, training commences for both boys. Day and night, they were pushed to the brink of exhaustion. They will return to their room bloody and slick with sweat. For a whole year neither boy every saw each other. Both were submerged in their training.
It is another day of harsh training, pushing the limits of his physical and mental capacity. In the year's time, Sasuke can tell he has become significantly stronger. Lying in his bed glaring intently at his ceiling as his thoughts drifts to Naruto. For the whole year, never once did he see the other boy. At times, he wonders if it is all a dream and Naruto was never here. Nevertheless, every time he sees the dent and cracks in his wall from his abuse, he is reminded that Naruto is indeed here and it is because of him.
As the days goes by, the longing for the blond boy's cheerful presence increases. He needs his light and his anchor to remind him he is still alive and that the nightmare he is living will someday end. Sometimes during his free time, Sasuke will deliberately wander through out the fortress in attempt to find Naruto's whereabouts, but all his searches are futile.
Sleep is eluding him this night, giving up all attempts at getting any sleep, Sasuke gets up to stroll around the large fortress. The corridors are dark and dreary, chilling him to the bones. Wandering aimlessly, Sasuke comes upon the wing of the fortress he rarely visits unless necessary. Orochimaru's bedchamber and office is in this wing. By all means. Sasuke tries to avoid coming to this wing as much as possible. No matter how many times he has seen the snake like man, he still unsettles him.
Walking pass the corridor, he halts at the sound of a hoarse cry of pain. The scream sounds familiar, as if he knows whom the scream comes from. Turning down the dark hallway sounds of grunts, cries of pain and sobbing echoes through the hallway. Reaching the room in which the sounds seems to be coming from, Sasuke stands frozen before the set of steel doors debating wither he should investigate. A part of him knows what is going on, but he cannot stop himself from wanting to see with his own eyes if his assumptions are correct.
Trembling hands press firmly on the cold steel doors. With a hard push, the doors swing open. Before his eyes is exactly as he feared. Hatred burns in his eyes upon seeing the scene before him.
Naruto awoke in the early morning; the seal on his forehead is still throbbing in pain. Not five minuets after he woke a group of sound Nins files into the room. These four Sound ninjas are to be Naruto's new sensei. For the first month, training was strictly physical conditioning. At the end of that month, Kabuto administers a set of hormone supplements to accelerate his body's maturation rate. Due to the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Naruto's body is slow to develop and mature. In the three years time quota, Naruto's will not have grown enough to fit Orochimaru's liking. It is necessary to accelerate his growth.
After another month of physical conditioning, his chakra restraining cuffs are removed to allow for training in chakra control and manipulation. His physical training regimen increases daily to condition his body to perfection. Every day he is push to use his chakra to its limits, forcing him to dip into the Kyuubi's reserves, to accelerate the merging of the two entities.
By his fourteenth birthday, Naruto has grown exponentially. His hair grown long, due to the fact Orochimaru refuses to let him cut it. The hormone supplements cause his height to increase significantly. Over all, Naruto no longer resembles the clumsy idiotic blond boy he used to be, but a beautiful predator, neither man nor woman can resist.
Earlier that evening, Orochimaru request Naruto to be present at his bedchamber at ten o'clock that night. It is certainly an odd request, but Naruto knows not to question any orders from experiences of the past.
Entering into the dimly lit room, Naruto stands rigidly waiting for Orochimaru to speak. The snake man is dress in a black silk robe; if anything is worn under the silk garment, it could not be seen. He steadily stalks towards Naruto, with an unreadable gleam in his eyes. Orochimaru licks his lips suggestively in anticipation of what he is going to do to taint the boy before him. Leaning up close, thin cold hands cups Naruto's warm tan cheek. "You have grown up beautifully Naruto-kun. I can tell your innocence will be a delicious treat to taste." A long tongue runs up Naruto's jaw line, causing an involuntarily shudder of disgust. Without a warning, the vile man claims his lips in a forceful kiss, shoving his long and disgusting tongue into his mouth exploring the hot cavern. Snapping out of his trance like state, Naruto retaliates by biting down hard on the snake man's tongue. Retracting himself from Naruto, Orochimaru smacks Naruto hard across the face and begins to chant in distinguishable words.
A searing pain shoots through Naruto's skull, as if his head is being split open from the inside. Screaming from excruciating pain, Naruto falls to the floor withering helplessly. When the chanting stops, the pain ceases. Picking up the boy from the floor, Orochimaru drags him to the bed and drop him on the firm mattress. Pressing against the boy's body, Orochimaru leans in to whisper into his ear. "Remember our deal Naruto; you do everything I tell you to. If you disobey me, our little deal will be off. Remember what will happen to Sasuke-kun." Chocking back a sob Naruto stutters out, "I-I re-remember Oro-Orochimaru-sama."
Orochimaru pets his hair adoringly. "Good, now do not hold anything back and respond. I want to hear you." Shutting his eyes tightly shut, Naruto lies helplessly as Orochimaru defiles his body in the worst possible ways, eliciting forced sounds of passion. The torture session seem to last an eternity before Orochimaru finishes, tainting Naruto from the inside and leaving him dirty and bloody.
Returning from his nightmare, Naruto in a state of disorient catches site of Sasuke standing in the doorway with Sharingan whirling in fury. A pitiful whimper escapes his lips has he falls unconscious from his abuse.
Watching the scene before him, not a single coherent though is formed, only a repeating mantra of "Kill that snake! Kill that snake!" runs through is thoughts. Just as the voices in his head tells him, he rushes towards Orochimaru's naked form with a chidori in his hand, blind with fury. Orochimaru easily counter the blind attack, leaving Sasuke in a rumple heap on the far side of the room. Stalking toward Sasuke, Orochimaru roughly grabs the pale chin. "Naruto is mine to do as I please, remember that. Do not ever interfere ever again, if you do I will guarantee to do something very unpleasant to you. Or would you rather have Naruto take your punishment for you, I would gladly play with the little fox instead." The end of the statement trails off suggestively. Orochimaru returns to the bed and further violates the unconscious body in the bed. "Leave now and return to your room," Orochimaru hisses venomously.
Back in his room, he is plague with haunting images of Naruto screaming in pain under Orochimaru. Anger at Orochimaru quickly shifts to anger at himself, for his weakness. If he is strong enough, he will be able to save Naruto and kill his brother. Sleep eludes Sasuke for the remainder of the night. Lying in bed, Sasuke plots ways to help Naruto escape. He is still too weak to kill his brother, from then on he will double his training. As soon has he kills his brother he will take Naruto with him and escape this place called hell.
Days become Weeks, and weeks become months. Everyday is a hell, where night and day seem to overlap making it hard to distinguish the exact time that has passed. Once a week Naruto is, summon to Orochimaru's chamber as entertainment. For the first few times, Naruto gave some resistance, but each time Orochimaru will activate the seal until Naruto submits. Soon resistance is learned to be ineffective. The intensive daily training continues for Naruto. Eventually Orochimaru grow impatient of the slow merging of the two entities. Using a forbidden jutsu, he force merges the two souls.
Training only becomes more gruesome and torturous everyday. Sasuke pushes his limits further and further getting stronger each day. After his witness of the torture, he saw three years ago, Naruto has been even harder to find. Since that incident, Sasuke has not seen any sign of Naruto at all. His three-years quota is ending soon, time is running out. He must get even stronger to kill his brother and save Naruto.
Sasuke is returning from the training grounds for a hot bath to wash away the sweat, grim and blood crust on his skin. In the corner of his eye, a flash of yellow catches he attention. Turning towards the direction of the burst of color, Sasuke finds a boy about his age sitting a top a cluster of boulders. The boy he can tell is as tall has he is, thin but muscular body, his long blond hair streaked with red highlights is tied in a low pony tail, and a piece of cloth wraps around his forehead. His shirt torn in various places with blood staining them, but no visible cuts can be seen on his skin. Something about the boy seems familiar. The boy turns sensing the approach of an intruder. Blue eyes meet black, upon recognition the Naruto turns to flee. Before he gets the chance to run, Sasuke leaps at his friend he has not seen for almost a year. "Wait Naruto, where the hell do you think you are going? Are you trying to avoid me? Answer me Dobe!"
Naruto's voice is quiet, broken. "Please let me go Sasuke, I am not supposed to see you." Seeing his broken friend before is almost too much to bear. "Dobe, I-I am sorry. Just a little bit longer Dobe. After I kill my brother, we will leave this place and go back to Konoha. I will take you away from this place, away from that disgusting freak." Giving Sasuke an apologetic smile, he places a claw hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Yes, you will get to kill your brother soon and get your revenge, but I can not go with you. I have to stay here I have not other choice. It is part of the deal." This enrages Sasuke to no end. What happen to the spirited Naruto he knows? This is not that same person any more. "What the hell do you mean you are not leaving? Do you actually want to say with that sick bastard?"
Blue eyes narrow dangerously, shoving Sasuke away, Naruto unwraps the cloth around his forehead. Upon his forehead are black markings, much like the green ones seen on Hyuuga Neji's forehead. "Do you understand now Sasuke? It is not that I do not want to, it is that I cannot!"
Sasuke raised a tentative hand to touch the black markings on Naruto's forehead. "Is that?" Brushing Sasuke's hand away and replacing the cloth back on his forehead, Naruto answers. "Yes, it is an enslavement curse seal. With one word, Orochimaru can kill me, then the whole deal will be off, you will have to stay here instead." Giving Sasuke a sad look, Naruto disappears leaving a faint "Good-luck" behind.
In exactly two weeks, it will be three years since he arrived at Sound. This day proves to be a milestone in the life of Uchiha Sasuke. Returning from his long awaited battle with his brother, the three years training have proved to be fruitful. Tracking back to Sound as the victor of the intense battle between siblings, Sasuke anticipates the rescue of his friend. Upon arriving back at Sound, he is quickly escorted to Kabuto's medical ward. His severe injuries are wrapped up and treated as he slips into unconsciousness from a heavy dose of sedatives. At the same time, Naruto is also force under with sedatives as Kabuto performs the surgical procedure.
The day after, Naruto is place in a dark cell restrained with chakra restraining cuffs. Unknown to Naruto, his enslavement seal is removed from his forehead. Weak from the constant sedatives given to him, Naruto's blurry vision catch the blurry figure of Orochimaru approaching him. Licking his lips sinisterly, Orochimaru hiss contently, "Pay up my little fox." A searing pain shoots up his spine as darkness surrounds him, never to see the light again. In his last final moment of consciousness, images of happy day of the past play its self before him, during those last fleeting moments a content smile graces Naruto's lips whispering a single name. "Sasuke…"
The immortality jutsu is a success, in his newly acquired body Orochimaru stands. Flexing his claws, Orochimaru breaks into hysterical laughter. He can feel the injuries on his body caused by the jutsu are already healing. Unlike all his previous transfers where the body requires at least a months time to completely heal. In a few more minuets, this body will be in perfect condition again. Taking a key from the limp body he used to occupy, he unlocks the cuffs and exits the cell. Walking back to his room, Orochimaru stands before a full-length mirror to examine him self in his new flesh suit. Long blond hair streaked with red highlights and a pair of advance Sharingan reflects off the looking glass. Orochimaru can feel the clarity of his new eyes and the power coursing through is veins. The over whelming supply of Naruto's chakra rushing through him is incredible. Unlike the implanted Sharingan Kakashi has, Orochimaru's do not tax him at all. The endless supply of chakra provided by Naruto's body ensures that. Cackling, Orochimaru runs his claws through his silky long blond hair. "Naruto you certainly have a beautiful body. I will be sure to put you to good use; we have all of eternity to make sure of that."
Waking up Sasuke finds him self chained to a wall with chakra restraining cuffs. His eyes are bound and throbbing in pain. Occasionally someone will come and feed him a soup like substance. He is positive the food is lace with drugs to keep him sedated but he needs the food to survive if he is to rescue Naruto from this place. An unknown amount of time passes for the young Uchiha in the dark cell. Waking up one day, Sasuke finds he is no longer in the dark cell and the chakra restraining cuffs are off. His vision blurry from the lack of use, he surveys his surrounding. Looking out the window the proud carving of the Konoha Hokage monuments shines in the afternoon sun. He is back in Konoha and grief grips his heart. He did not save Naruto. His attention turns to the door as someone walks in. Tsunade, Kakashi, Jiraya and Sakura stand frozen at the sight of Sasuke's bright blue eyes.
For three years, Konoha has desperately tried to build its forces for a full out war with Sound. Unfortunately, military forces are inadequate. For Sound has been sending out constant attack, keeping Konoha from reaching its full potential. Once or twice a month surprise attacks are lead on Konoha to spoil their attempt to rebuild. Orochimaru sets out prizes for all missing-nins; an amount is given per every Konoha or Suna Nin head brought in. Time is running out for Konoha as the three years quota is coming close.
The day before the planned attack on Sound is to take place, the body of Uchiha Sasuke is found unconscious in front of the village gates of Konoha. Accompanying his body is a brief note stating, "Your debt has been paid." The village of Konoha is shock to see the delivery of Uchiha Sasuke to their front door. Confusion racks their minds as to why he is given back. He is immediately taken to the hospital. With the return of the Uchiha, the attack is postponed until he wakes, in hopes that the Uchiha can give them information on the happenings of Sound.
Tsunade, Jiraya, Kakashi and Sakura arrive at the room of the sleeping Uchiha in hope of rousing him from his sleep. They desperately want to question the Uchiha, especially for the wear about of the missing Naruto. Opening the door to Sasuke's room, they are greeted with a pair of bright blue eyes instead of the expected coal black eyes. Everyone stood frozen not knowing what to say. Sasuke stare confusingly at the group wondering why they are staring. Reaching for a small mirror on the bedside, Sasuke stares blankly back at blue eyes. For the first time since his family's death Sasuke wept. Tears pour down his cheeks, not for the loss of his eyes, but for the loss of his friend. His only true friend he ever had. He knows now that he has realized to late the significance of the blond hair boys presence in his life. With out his light to guide him he is lost. With out his anchor he has not stability. His best friend is now forever out of his reach, never to return to him. Naruto is gone and the eventual down fall of Konoha will all be his fault. It is his fault for being blind by hate and hunger for power. How cruel it is of Orochimaru to take his eyes only to replace them with the dazzling blue ones of Naruto, but somehow it is missing its light. The blue like everything else has lost its light with out Naruto. Blue-grey eyes remain to haunt him for the rest of his life as reminder of Naruto's sacrifice for him and as reminder of his mistakes.
Tsunade, Jiraya, Kakashi and Sakura tentatively approach the blue-eyed Sasuke, who is in a state none of them has ever seen him in, muttering to him self repeatedly. "It is my fault, my fault." Kakashi takes a seat in the chair beside the distraught boy, bracing him self for the answers he is about to hear. "Sasuke, tell us what happened during all these years? Where is Naruto?" Sasuke silences as tears continue a steady flow down his cheeks. His fist clenches the sheets around him tightly. "He is gone. That Dobe is gone. When I left, Naruto and me, we fought at border of Fire Country. I won, and then Kabuto appeared to lead me to Sound, taking Naruto's body with him. I did not know why they took him at first. When I woke from exhaustion, I found my way to that Snake bustard's office where he was speaking with Naruto. They made a deal, Orochimaru wanted Naruto to work for him and in return, I will am set free after he helps me kill my brother. Naruto agreed, he agreed for me, for Sakura and because be believed Konoha does not need him as much as they need me." Sasuke chokes back a sob. "After that I trained continuously and I did not see Naruto again for at least a year. When I finally saw him he…" Tsunade grew impatient and snaps. "What, what happened to him?" Sasuke clenches his fist tighter, fingernails digging into his flesh. "I saw them in Orochimaru's room. That disgusting man was forcing himself on him." His voice became hysterical. "He raped him damn it and I couldn't do anything to save him." Everyone in the room growled menacingly, brewing anger towards the vile man increases. "After that incident I trained even harder to kill Itachi as soon as possible so I can take Naruto away from that horrid place. I only saw him one other time after that. When I saw him, he looked so different, nothing like the Naruto I use to know. He had bits of red mixed in his usual blond hair and his hands were claws, but he looked so broken. I told him my plan to take him away from that place soon. He declined, even if he wanted he cannot. Orochimaru placed an enslavement curse seal on him; he would die if he tired to leave. I thought that if I can get him here in time, then the Hyuugas might be able to take it off, since it is so similar to the one they use on the branch house." Sasuke's voice grows quieter, until it is but a whisper. His eyes never looking away from the blue eyes staring back at him in the mirror. "I can never find him, they always kept us separated. When I finally killed Itachi, I went back to Sound to get Naruto and flee from there. Those bustards drugged me. When I woke up I was locked up in a dungeon of sort, my eyes were bandaged up. They kept me drugged at all times. Then I woke finding my self here in Konoha."
Tsunade stands, eyes blazing in suppressed rage. "We will get him back Sasuke. We have a army ready to invade Sound right now. You can help us attack Sound. With your time spend there you know best where the defenses are weakest. We are going to kill that snake basturd and bring Naruto back." With renewed vigor, Sasuke climbs out of his bed ready for war and ready to save his best friend.
