I woke up in a very uncomfortable position. The muscles in my arms were screaming for relief as they held up my suspended body. Most of my clothing and weapons had been stripped from me and were lying in a bloody pile on the floor. The air was dank and musty, clogging up my lungs and making me choke.
"Ah, so you're awake." A voice greeted me. I squinted my eyes almost shut and tried to roll my head back. All I got for my trouble was a hollow thunk on the board I was hung against. Without it I was sure that it would be more than just my arms that were distressed. Charming.
A familiar figure came towards me making my heart pause.
Kabuto with a scalpel was not a particularly comforting sight to see when you were chained with no escape. I recalled a little too much about him from the exams and the rumors floating around.
Deciding staring at my tormentor with a slack look was useless, I glared around the room I was in. It was a stereotypical madman's laboratory basically. The light was low and inadequate giving a claustrophobic feel. Chemicals lined shelves neatly labeled and ready for use. Dangerous blades and needles glinted from neat little lines on trays and an icebox was nestled in the corner.
Unless there were hidden passageways, there was only one obvious exit. It was ajar, as if not expected to actually hold anyone in, and rather practical, if flimsy.
Kabuto noticed my looking and smirked, "You should not be thinking of leaving us so soon. We have so much to talk about. Sorry, no tea, but I am sure repairing your spine should be enough, you agree?"
There was only one reason I could think of why he would heal me: to torment me later. I doubt they would bother to offer me a place in Orochimaru's ranks. Not because they thought I would refuse, but simply because I would be of no use to them. By now I would have been declared missing, possibly even dead by the village. When they found the carnage and missing headbands I would be written off as one of those who died serving my village. Ghosts did not infiltrate very well. And even if I managed to infiltrate, I would be under heavy servaliance and restriction. I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to put a returned missing nin back in the middle of it all. There were many controlling jutsus, and when that failed, there was always torture.
So, logically, the only use I had was information.
"I am afraid this will hurt slightly." The silver haired young man told me with a smile on his face. Needles infused with chakra were pounded into various points of my body making me instinctively writhe and grit my teeth at the intrusion. The foreign chakra devoured my cells like a firestorm leaving ashes in its wake.
He gave an apologetic head bow, "Although your jutsus are quite impressive, I am afraid they would not be well-tolerated during your stay. I simply neutralized them by blocking off the nerves that control your chakra. It is still there, you simply will not be allowed to access it."
Bastard.
"Heh, now sit still. Resetting vertebrae is a tricky thing to do. Actually, I have never done it myself, but I have heard of fairly successful cases done by master surgeons. Unfortunately for you, I do not quite have the patience of such great men, even if I do have the skill. I suggest praying or pleading to your choice deity."
How reassuring, I thought to myself dryly, feeling apathy steal up on me. The black void expanded around me, caressing with velvet silence and blissful darkness. Even though I couldn't see the clouds, I closed my eyes to imagine them. They floated innocently behind my lids as Kabuto played with my broken doll body.
He was so close that I could feel his navy clothing brush against the sensitive skin on my stomach and navel. The sour smell of death and torture clung to him like an identity. This was mixed with more curious scents of various chemicals and places he frequented.
Even in a half-meditative state, the scream that tore out of me left my throat raw. It didn't stop me from refilling my lungs and screaming again and again as Kabuto slammed the bones together. The nerves connecting my lower back to my brain were howling in agony, sending flaming messages of unbearable pain on an overload. I couldn't stop screaming. I couldn't even think of stopping my screaming because my mind was filled to the brim with pain. It was almost numb from the barrage of abuse. There was just pain and more pain.
Suddenly something warm pressed over my open mouth blocking the noise belting out from my voice box. The hot air puffed out my cheeks and burned at my raw throat as it was held in.
"You said you could heal him." A dark voice grated with accusation.
Happy for some relief, I mindless sank my teeth into whatever held my screams in. I could feel the bones crunch and slide beneath my jaw's power. My head snapped from the force of the blow to the side of my jaw. Reluctantly, I loosened my grip but didn't let go. This time I could feel the individual knuckles grinding into my cheek. Determined, with a little bit of motivation for the first time in my short life, I locked my jaw.
"I said I would try. They are not the same thing, Sasuke." Kabuto teased, "And now I am going to have to treat your hand as well. That is what gags are for… unless you wanted to be bitten?"
"So is he fixed yet?" Sasuke growled impatiently and I wished I had bitten him harder. Of course, the fact that I still had the side of his hand wedged in my mouth occurred to me but I was focused on what Kabuto was doing now. His touch was making my skin crawl as it ghosted down towards my buttocks.
"Do not pretend that fixing a human body is as simply as smashing one. Humans are fragile creatures with very complex bodies. I have put the bone back in place and connected a few of the nerves, but I will not know how successful my probes are until tomorrow. The muscle tissues are in fairly good condition and…" His palm brushed across my thigh making me arch away from him, "He can quite obviously feel some things. Right Shikamaru?"
My pride flared up enough for me to glare, but that was it.
"If you do not mind my curiosity, why do you want him healed? Is he not a shinobi from your former village, therefore our enemy? Torture is effective even if you simply have the upper body to use. For example, peeling off fingernails can be extremely painful, especially if you place hot wax on the bleeding beds and reseal them. You must know this after the time you have spent in Orochimaru's company. Yet you wish him to walk?"
"I'm not going to let him escape, if that is your fear." Sasuke cut him off curtly. He leaned against the table with a suspicious look in his dark eyes. Anger was written in his frown, "And what I use him for is none of your concern."
"If you need a release, may I suggest safer bedmates? Ones that do not bite in any case." Kabuto purred maliciously. He went to rinse his blood soaked hands and wiped them dry on a towel.
"What I use him for is none of your concern." Sasuke repeated. If the jab bothered him any, he didn't show it.
Just what did he want me for?
"As long as it is not out of some misplaced sense of guilt." Kabuto continued, methodically tidying up his tools. I could feel the chakra needles digging into my muscles, restoring blood flow to the damaged areas.
"When will you be done?" The prodigy demanded coldly. He glared with black eyes at the older man, forcing the answer he wanted. If anything, he had grown more spoilt.
Kabuto gave a mock sigh, "The youth of today are so impatient. Did I not already tell you not until tomorrow? His body is going to finish my work for me with my chakra needles guiding and directing it. After that, if you truly want him to move his lower body proficiently, he will have to relearn how to direct it. The nerves have lost all their "memory" so to speak. Prepare to deal with an adult infant."
"Fine. Leave."
"As you wish." Kabuto said with a mock bow. The two locked eyes before the older man retreated from the room. He didn't bother to shut the door behind him, as if to prove he wasn't eavesdropping.
"Hey," I managed to drawl lazily. I didn't bother to mask my utter hatred for the fact I was tussled up like a piece of meat, stripped of any dignity I had, and running bloody streams down the back of my naked legs. Oh, and for the one I blamed for putting me here.
"You haven't changed." Sasuke remarked.
"You haven't changed much either." I replied lightly, "You're as brooding as ever."
"You aren't going to ask."
"Why should I care? This whole mess is just troublesome." I retorted, physically exhausted from the pain and screaming. My body slumped down even further and I didn't have the energy to pull myself up. If my arms ripped from their sockets, well, they could just heal those too.
He leaned in close to me until our noses were almost touching. His dark eyes bore into mine with a feverish determination. I'd have looked away if I had enough strength to turn my head. Whatever selfish desire, whatever feel-good he was looking for, he wouldn't find it in my eyes. Because I intended to either escape or die trying. I had no pity or sympathy or gratitude for a traitor such as him. The only things I could offer were resentment and contempt.
"You're smarter than him; I'm sure you can figure out any possible reason why I would keep someone so worthless around." Sasuke told me silkily with underlying threat.
"Even a bastard's black heart needs some salve?" I commented darkly, not caring anymore. Maybe I could goad him into killing me, although I wasn't particularly good at name-calling. Sometimes, the truth was more effective than names. "Your need for revenge has turned you unfeeling and focused. You have alienated your former friends and allies and taken the hand of a devil, solely for your own gain. Even knowing the price of your decision and the price of your failure, you offer up your body like some eager, sacrificial virgin to a satanic god. Trying to retrieve you from your own stupidity almost cost Neji, Lee, Chouji, and Naruto their precious lives. You murdered Ino and Chouji in a cold-blooded trap that one wouldn't even butcher animals in. Why should I even ask why you want me? Your guilty conscious must be screaming in an isolated hell of white noise. So, keep me as your boy-toy, I don't care."
He went from shocked to grim to smug, "That Devil is one hell of a teacher." His face hovered closer to mine, teasing, and his longer strands of black hair brushed against my eyelashes and cheeks. His lips ghosted across mine and a tongue flicked out for good measure, leaving a tingling sensation behind. Sasuke rested his chest snuggly against mine so I could feel his breaths and heartbeat while his knee pushed insistently between my inner thigh, "Would you like a demonstration, whore?"
I gave him a look of deep apathy, as if he weren't affecting me at all with his seduction. I'm sure my body called my bluff.
He reached down and pinched.
Purely out of reflex, my left knee shot up and just happened to nail him right where he deserved it. Luckily for him and disappointing for me, my leg muscles obviously needed to go back to kindergarten to learn to kick harder.
"'Ey, Sasuke, we've got a mis—woah." I glanced up to see one the Sasuke's murderer companions. It was the one who had been laughing at Chouji. His crew cut made his hair look sparse and almost greasy, and judging by the expression on his face, violence and gore weren't the only things that turned him on. "Sweet. Where'd you pick him up? Uh, unless he's one of Kabuto's playthings." The man gestured to the surrounding room and the pool that had crusted at my feet from the "surgery."
"Get out." Sasuke snarled, turning on him.
"Just don't get pussy-whipped man, because then I would have to think less of you." The lackey sneered crudely, raping me with his eyes. "And don't pamper him too much; it makes them whores soft where it counts."
"Get out." This time Sasuke punctuated his command with a well-aimed kunai throw. The metal knife flew straight and stuck into the door by the man's head. He still threw out a lopsided grin and scuttled off laughing manically.
"Oh yeah, much better than Naruto."
Sasuke turned and lashed out. I tumbled down with the chains still latched firmly around my wrists. The heavy manacles pulled down my sore arms so that they hung down loosely. Training dictated that I automatically landed in a semi-operable crouch. A feat that would have worked much better if I actually had legs to support it. Instead I crumpled into a heap.
I didn't protest when he jarred the charka needles in order to sloppily cover me up or when he dragged me into a more comfortable position on the floor.
I was tired. I was cranky. And this was beyond merely troublesome.
"Listen," Sasuke hissed at me urgently, "Either you can behave or I can give you to my subordinate there. Koji would enjoy having a young man to share his bed."
"I'm sure he would." I sighed back. "As long as it's not me."
The other boy quickly shoved two fingers in my mouth. He must have forgotten what happened to his hand earlier. The bitter taste of pills hit my tongue making me gag and choke until they were down. The aftertaste made me want to drink something alcoholic. Very intoxicating and very potent. It would help my situation anyhow.
Sitting up, I tried to shove him away and draw my protection closer around me. The world spun and I found myself blinking profusely. The world swum and colored up in ways I knew it shouldn't have.
"Wha… wha… you give me?" I forced out with a thick, fuzzy tongue. All my aches and pains melted together into one giant warm-fuzzy.
"Relax. It was a painkiller and a sedative." Sasuke informed me dryly. "I don't plan on poisoning you, and I don't want you kicking around when I put you to bed." Before I could protest, he scooped me up easily. "After all, I'm not done with you yet."
A/N: I forgot to mention there are slight spoilers for the manga. This is running parallel to current events (ie Naruto and Sakura are busy right now X.X;;).