- S -

Weight pulled down on every muscle in her body – or so it felt. In reality, she found her hands shackled above her head to hold her suspended in air. Chakra controlling cuffs dug into her wrists hard enough to slice the skin raw and she was unable to even dull the sting with her healing chakra.

There was no need to panic, thought she still felt an edge of anxiety creep into her consciousness, because she was still able to recall the events before she was taken. Sweeping the room with her eyes rewarded her a shot of relief – she knew where she was. No war-involved shinobi would have been foolish enough to bring her here, so at least she knew they were not village affiliated or at least hadn't been fighters in the war.

Creaking of her cell door brought her focus back to the situation at hand. A large man with dark red hair stood in the doorway, dressed in nondescript clothing. He didn't show any signs of village association, but his chakra was stronger than most of his comrades, so she was unsure if he was just hiding his village ties.

"Hello, Miss Haruno. Would it be impolite for me to call you Sakura? I do know a lot about you anyways," he told her casually as he approached her. A calloused hand reached up to grip her chin in a bruising hold. Sakura shifted in his hold to force her chin down so she could look him dead in the eye, refusing to show any form of weakness. "Just as much of a bitch as I was told."

Shock spread through her being at the comment and the slap that followed it. An imprint of his hand was already beginning to bruise her skin across where he'd burst the blood vessels from the strength of his hit. Clearly this wasn't just a random attack. He knew exactly who she was, and he seemed to take issue with her.

Even before the war she'd made plenty of enemies, but this was the first time she'd had to look in the eyes of someone who hated her. Not the village, not one of her friends, not her master – just her.

"Your wrists look a little raw, I'd offer to have them looked at but you're the only medic around here. It was so nice of you to help those poor, ailing people. Too bad they knew better than to let you get away. A price was put on your head before you even knocked at that first door," he snarled darkly. As much as she was growing concerned at the personal vendetta he was revealing, she was grateful for how big of a mouth the asshole had.

His hand returned to her chin which he held in place as he leaned in closer to brush his lips against the curve of her ear. "You really did me a favor playing into my trap so nicely."

In a foolish moment of rebellion, Sakura swung out a leg aimed directly for the man's balls. Gloating about his stupid trap was making him seem more and more amateur in her eyes. That didn't mean she was any less annoyed at having to hear him build himself up so highly after ambushing her in a weakened state with staggering numbers. Real impressive, asshole.

Catching her knee, he pressed his fingers into the grooves of the joint and she held back a wince of pain at how the bones ground against one another. "Every time you pull something like that, you're only going to make me enjoy this more," he whispered. A fist buried itself in her abdomen and she couldn't help the strangled noise that escaped her stomach followed by several empty heaves. "Let's get to know each other, ne?"

Getting to know each other wasn't an accurate term since their entire relationship as capturer and captured was based on finding out things about her. Not a lot of give and take there.

Training with Anko and Ibiki served her well and no amount of senbon, kunai, punches, kicks, or shuiken could draw a word from her mouth. The man seemed to be tested by her silence, as if he expected quick compliance despite his original bragging about knowing so much about her. Their intel must be pretty weak.

Finally, after hours of injuries ranging from simple stab wounds to broken ribs, the man stepped back and took a deep breath. "Now, this will be the fun part." A sadistic grin began to spread across his face as he produced a vial from his pocket. Twisting off the cap, he attached a syringe to the liquid container.

Sakura was powerless to stop him when he stabbed the needle into her neck. While she managed to deny him the satisfaction of screaming, the burning pain the liquid produced was searing her from the inside out. Her vision tunneled and began to spin leaving her dry heaving the nothingness left in her stomach. Darkness crept towards the center of her moving focus as the man left her with a closing comment. "Remember well what you see in there."

- S -

There was no stopping the scream that tore its way from her throat when she awoke next in the basement of the old war base. Her initial comfort of knowing her surrounding became meaningless as she combed the area for a threat that didn't exist. Not in the status quo at least.

When the door to her cell opened, there was a new man blocking the light from reaching her. "Welcome back, sweetheart. Just in time to start the day!"

Cheer radiated in his tone, but the collection of weapons in his hands told of a not-so cheery day ahead. Before she could open her mouth, he was upon her stabbing a senbon into a sensitive chakra point in her shoulder. Sakura clenched her jaw tightly as the sadistic man wriggled the object within the wound. Flesh tore when he yanked the senbon back and blood began to ooze from the hole at an alarming rate. He repeated the activity several more times before he seemed to get bored and moved onto kunai that he slashed her with.

He slashed at her skin and clothes alike, leaving her in only her bindings and spandex shorts. "Did you enjoy your dream?" Sakura only growled in response to the threat and reminder. "Ah, it seems it wasn't pleasant. Good thing, I'd hate to be disappointed if it didn't work.

"This time, I'll really set the scene for you. We know more than you think," he told her in a creepily excited voice.

One hand produced another vial with liquid matching the color of the precious vile while his other hand came to wrap itself tightly around her throat. Calming her breathing, Sakura carefully controlled her inhales and exhales. Gasping for air would only force out the air already in her lungs that she would likely need. The man's eyes met hers and she began to hurtle into darkness.

When her eyelids lifted again, her mind was muddled, and she couldn't recall where she was or how she got there. She lay on dark, hard wood slats in a house that lacked any furniture. The room was dark with the only window being covered by curtains.

Footsteps began to echo from the hallway outside the door and she felt the hair on her arms rise in anticipation. Rooted to the spot by an unknown force, she was unable to move as the threat moved closer. While she didn't know what the hell was going on, the sense of danger and building urge to fight told her that she wasn't safe. That whoever was coming was not a friend.

The paper door slide open and she couldn't control the sharp gasp that exited her mouth before hours of torment began.