Capitulum VII – He had broken her.
"Again!", Zetsu yelled as he pulled the lever of the transformer Sakura was wired to. Another bolt of electricity shot through her body and made all her muscles contract. She couldn't tell how much time passed since Zetsu had dragged her down into his torture chamber, probably only an hour or two, but it felt like she's been in here for days.
Sakura gasped for air when Zetsu broke the circuit again. Don't let him think you're weak. Don't let him get to you. With what little control she still had over her muscles she managed to raise her head and look into his face with a barely visible smirk. "Jesus, Zetsu… If hitting and electrocuting me is all you've got, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to give you a horrible yelp review." She turned her head slightly and spat out the blood she could taste in her mouth, without breaking eye contact. "Aren't you like… good at this?" Zetsu looked visibly baffled. He put his fingers on his chin and pretended to think.
"You're right, Sakura-chan. This is no way to torture you! We all know you can take a little physical pain, you Amazon!" On the last word he patted her shoulder with his hand as if to congratulate her on surviving so far. His eyes widened suddenly and he raised his index finger in the air. "EUREKA!", he screamed and looked at her overjoyed.
Sakura rolled her eyes, he always was one for exaggerated theatrics. A disturbingly wide grin spread across his pale face as he came close to her. "Physical pain won't get us anywhere, right, Sakura-chan? But I finally figured out a way to make you hurt really really bad."
He spun around and walked over to a shelf. He pulled out a box, put it on the table and rummaged through it. When he turned around again, she could see a needle in his hand. He grabbed another chair and sat right in front of Sakura. "I'm going to tell you a little story, Sakura-chan. That story will hurt you, I'm sure of it. But… you see the problem is, it won't give me a lot of satisfaction. I still need to see bruises, I need to smell blood, I need to hear screams. And because torture is always a two-way street, you know, both parties are supposed to get something out of it, I'm going to insert this needle underneath your fingernails, while telling the story." Zetsu raised the needle to Sakura's eyes and grinned at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to praise him for coming up with that idea.
"This way we both get to enjoy this, Sakura-chan. You can experience real pain through words, and I still get to see a little blood and hear a little screaming." He grabbed her right index finger and placed the needle right underneath her nail.
"Now, we all know about that horrible divorce you made Sasuke-kun go through. Ts, ts, ts, baaaaad Sakura-chan. But it seems as if he's gotten over you, you know. Madara-sama has kept a close eye on him and we watched him whenever we got the chance for it, because you know, he's a very guarded man and all. What I'm trying to say here, is…" He slowly started to drive the needle into the skin underneath her nail, while continuing his story. "Sasuke-kun has gotten over you, and gotten into a lot of other girls."Zetsu raised his head to look for any reaction in Sakura's face.
With a sympathetic smile she said, "Aw, Zetsu, that's so sad. I mean I know you're a lowlife, but having to watch other people have sex is a harsh punishment, even for you." Sakura lowered her gaze to look at this lap and asked, "I mean, aren't you like… you know… down there… what's the word, castrated?"
Suddenly she could feel him push the needle deeper into her skin with force. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from screaming, because it hurt like hell. Not just the pain from the needle, but the thought of Sasuke with other women didn't leave her unfazed either. She wasn't naïve, she knew he wouldn't be celibate. Nevertheless, Sakura hated to imagine it. But she wasn't going to show that. Sakura eyes met Zetsu's again and he looked pissed.
"What, did you think I would start crying like a little girl if you told me Sasuke slept with other women? Boo-fucking-hoo." She drew so close to his face, their noses were about to touch. She looked him dead in the eye and whispered, "You gotta do better than that." Zetsu drove the needle even further into her skin and started to move it around. She couldn't help but let a short scream escape her lips.
"Oh, you have no idea, Sakura-chan. He didn't just sleep with other women, he desecrated your entire marriage. He had this one poor little girl whose name was also Sakura, and he almost strangled her to death while he fucked her." Zetsu looked at her face, which was already contorted with pain. Every now and then he could hear a groan, or a scream. He felt aroused and let out a moan of his own, when one particular pain filled scream escaped her lips.
"Then there were the twins. He flew them to that secret location you two would always go to on Valentine's day, very special wasn't it? Meant a lot to you, Sakura-chan, didn't it? Probably still does. Oh, the things he did to them on that bed only you used to lay in." – "Stop it." – "He had cherry blossoms spread all over the sheets and fucked them both senseless on them." – "Shut up!" – "He seemed to enjoy it, more than he did with you. Oh, and the stripper he had last Christmas, she's my favourite. She also had pink hair like you, but hers was dyed you see. While your beloved ex-husband fucked her from behind, he was gripping her hair so hard he tore out a few strands."
"Shut the fuck up or I'll-"
Sakura couldn't finish her sentence, because Zetsu had just driven the needle all the way in and she let out a ear piercing scream. "He seemed to hate her hair colour, though, because when she fell asleep he braided her hair, cut it off and set it on fire. That's how much he hates you, Sakura-chan. He hates you so much he has to disfigure and hurt other women that remind him of you."
Sakura could feel tears streaming down her cheeks. Her mind went blank. The pain from the needle and the hurt she felt at listening to Zetsu's words made her so sick she could vomit. She could no longer move. She gave up.
He had broken her. And Zetsu seemed to know it.
"Good. I figured Sasuke-kun is still your weak spot. I must say I'm very satisfied with what I've achieved here. But we're far from done, Sakura-chan. Madara-sama has something magnificent planned for your last act. And I'll prepare you for it now. See you at the docks." He punched her one last time, and everything went black.
He kept listening. Nothing. Just sounds of her body being moved. Never mind, he pondered, I got a location. He grabbed the radio and pressed down the button to open the communication line with his team. "The docks." He could hear the sound of crackling for a few seconds preceding the voice of the squad leader. "Roger that."
When she woke up again, she found her feet dangling just above the ground. It took her a moment to get a hold of herself. Every limb of her body felt like it had been crushed by a truck. Every muscle, every nerve felt like it was on fire. It took all the strength she could muster to raise her head and inspect her surroundings. She was at the docks, just like Zetsu said. Sakura looked up to see her hands tied in chains. She was hanging from a crane, she realised.
"Rise and shine, Sakura-chan." Zetsu's loud voice tore her gaze from the crane above her to her torturer. He was standing about 50 metres in front of her, a black jeep next to him. Her vision was blurred, but she could make out something akin to a big remote control in his hands. Something kids would use to navigate their toy cars.
"I told you Madara-sama still had great plans for you. You know that bomb he implanted in your arm? The one you rudely warned Sasuke-kun about, so as not to kill him? Well, seeing as to how you escaped your fate in Tokyo, you're gonna have to live through it now, I'm afraid." Zetsu pointed to the jeep next to him with a triumphant grin and explained, "We had one of those tracking chips built into this baby right here. You see what I'm getting at, right?" Yes, you bastard, you're going to blow me to pieces. In any other situation, Sakura might have tried to get out somehow. But she had made her peace with death ever since she thought she was going to kill Sasuke in that airport lounge. At least it will all be over, she mused. I'll be free from Madara's clutches. And I can finally let go of Sasuke.
She was torn from her thoughts when she heard the engine rev up. The jeep's headlights blinded her and she had to close her eyes. "Bye bye, Haruno Sakura." Zetsu's screeching voice was the last thing she heard before the boisterous droning of the jeep racing towards her drowned it out.
"Bye bye you motherfucker." Sakura whispered to herself, bracing for her end.
But it never came.
Sudden noise of gunshots could be heard. As she looked up, she could see a chopper floating above the crane. She didn't have time to inspect who it belonged to, because the jeep suddenly exploded and drew her attention to the flames engulfing the wreckage. It seemed her rescuers used the safe distance of the chopper to shoot the tank, so as to prevent the jeep from coming any closer to Sakura. As some of them hit the ground and formed a protective circle around her, pointing their rifles in all directions and checking for any hostiles, she could feel two of them fumbling with the chains and releasing her. One of the men placed an arm around her and held her tight, while he secured a rope around the both of them. She could feel a sudden tug and looked up to the chopper to realise she was being pulled up.
As soon as Sakura was safely inside, one of the men picked up a radio and said, "Target acquired. Retreat." He leaned out of the chopper and barked something to the squad on the ground, probably ordering them to grab the ropes and get back up. Sakura couldn't make it out anymore, she felt herself grow tired.
The last thing she remembered was one of them pulling out a syringe and approaching her with it, before she closed her eyes.
Please, let them be Sasuke's men.
