AN: I know it is an intolerably short chapter! Please bear with me!

Chapter 2: Sentenced

A red thread.

That was all Sasuke could see in the complete darkness of the corridor. There was darkness ahead of him and darkness behind him. To the sides, he could feel the rough mud walls against his calloused hands when he reached out to get his bearings in the black that surrounded him. Instinctively he knew he was within Orochimaru's underground lair and panic bubbled from within him. Wasn't that bastard dead? He couldn't touch him now. He was dead and Sasuke was in Konoha.

Right?

The blood red thread trembled against the dark. It was suspended in the air, bisecting whatever hallway he was in. Sasuke looked behind him and peered into the endlessness where the thread continued on, attached to nothing that he could see.

It trembled again, pulsing, urging him to move forward. With trembling fingers he gently grasped it, and began to walk forward and into the dark. The thread felt smooth, warm and fragile between his fingers. He made sure not to let go, afraid it would drift away into the dark and he would be left without it's guidance.

It seemed he walked onward forever. Occasionally he would pass burning sconces on the wall. The sudden light would display the patterned walls and rough floors, further solidifying the knowledge that he was within the labyrinth of Orochimaru's. He managed to restrain the anxiety that plagued him at the affirmation with a well practiced mask of aloofness. Suddenly he saw a light at the end of the never ending tunnel, and he quickened his step eager to feel the sun against his skin and find what the red thread was attached to.

As he drew nearer he noticed the silhouette of a person standing between him and the light. At first he thought it was Orochimaru or even Kabuto and fear grappled with his quickly beating heart. But slowly the features became known and Sasuke recognized Naruto standing before him, his expression blank. The red thread spanned the distance between them and was wound tightly around Naruto's hands and fingers, binding his wrists together and cutting his circulation off.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, anything, like call him a dobe for getting tangled up in the thread, but his lips would not move. He couldn't move his body at all. Naruto stood what seemed like miles away from him and, in slow motion, he started to turn away from Sasuke and into the light that still shone behind him. Sasuke's motionless hand was still holding the red thread, and he felt it tug as Naruto struggled to move. The whole time, that usually expressive face was blank and empty.

The thread that bound Naruto's hands began to bite deeper and deeper into his tanned skin until it drew blood, but there was no flicker of pain on his scarred face. With a sharp and vicious tug, the thread finally broke. It made a loud snapping noise that Sasuke could feel in his body. It echoed down the long corridor. Still he could not move. The thread fell from Naruto's mangled hands and drifted like a ghost to the ground. Without a word or even a glance, Naruto turned away and walked into the sunshine leaving Sasuke immobile and cold within the dark tunnel.

The thread fell slack in his hands and began to unwind itself until it was nothing but bloody fibers on the ground, the remnants of a bond he had hoped would never die.

Sasuke shot up into a sitting position, panic bubbling in his chest. He felt unattached; as if he were floating away and nothing would ever bring him back. His fingernails bit so hard into the palm of his hands that blood smeared onto the white sheet covering his body. He bit his lip to keep the scared screams at bay.

Calming his breath enough to keep from hyperventilating, he tried to take stock of where he was and what the situation was, but before he could fully register what was happening, he felt the usual bile rise up in his throat. He struggled with himself, trying to figure out where he was or at least find a bathroom.

It appeared he was in a hospital room, so that probably meant that Tsunade had checked him out. Realizing that the sedative Sakura must have given him was the cause of that terribly realistic dream, he shot out of the bed and pulled open the first door he came to which luckily lead into the adjoining bathroom.

He threw up until he saw pink in his bile, and even then he didn't stop. His body pushed and heaved, trying to purge all of the feelings he didn't want out of him. Sasuke knew that he should stop but he couldn't. He felt so hot and his head was pounding but he didn't quit.

He wasn't sure how long he had been there hunched over the toilette. It could have been hours or minutes, when he felt hands grip his shoulders. Someone brushed the sweaty hair back out of his face with hot fingertips as Sasuke continued to gag up rust into the toilette.

"Sasuke your safe, stop now."

He tried to pull himself together and pull away from whomever's arms but they only pulled him closer. He was shaking so hard that his teeth clicked together, and his head swam so that he couldn't focus on anything. He couldn't believe he was conducting himself in such a way in front of someone.

"Leggo." He rasped out, pain clawing up his throat.

"No." Came the stubborn reply.

Sasuke shook harder.

"Hey, hey, please calm down, you're safe now. Whatever dream you had, it wasn't real, I promise."

Whomever sounded worried, almost fearful, which Sasuke was surprised at. He was pretty sure no one really liked him much these days. If he just focused he knew he could figure out who it was, but he couldn't think through the painful fog in his head.

Whomever just held him harder, crushing him against their chest as if they were trying to stop the tremors that rocked through him.

"Baby, please." It was a whisper, and all Sasuke could get out of it was the s at the end of the please. It dragged itself out into a snake's hiss in his clouded mind, and he shuddered.

Slowly, Sasuke ordered himself to quit shaking. He let his body go limp, slumping back into Whomever's arms where it was warm and he felt safe from the nightmare.

"There you go. See, you're safe."

Distantly Sasuke felt himself being carried and placed back into the hospital bed. He thought that perhaps he saw a smudge of black and a glimpse of blue before his eyes slipped closed.

The next time Sasuke woke, it was to the murmur of voices.

"—worse than you thought. I would even go so far as to say that some of his medical symtoms could be the cause of Major Depressive Disorder or something of the like. We can't just leave him by himself again, not until we can be sure he's okay on his own!"

"I know, but who the hell can I have watch him? He would eat my nurses alive!"

Sasuke blinked his eyes open and groggily turned toward Sakura and Tsunade who stood over by the window on the far side of the room. Realizing their conversation was no longer private, Sakura turned and smiled.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, you're awake! I'm so happy, how do you feel?" She brushed a length of her hair back from her face, and continued to smile that nauseatingly fake smile.

Sasuke could only blink, a bit confused. Sakura had never been one to hide her true emotions like that, but he decided he didn't care enough to break his asshole persona and ask what was wrong.

"I would probably feel a whole lot better if you hadn't sedated me." He mumbled, still too groggy to really get mad about it.

Sakura pretended she hadn't heard.

"Sasuke, you have not been doing an adequate job of taking care of yourself. You're underweight and you were dehydrated to the point of serious repercussions. Luckily we intervened when we did, because your blood pressure couldn't have afforded to drop any lower than it already was.

"You've overworked yourself, and that mingled with the fact that you haven't been eating correctly has caused your body to begin to eat the glucose stored in your muscles. I don't think you know how serious this is. With the amount of physical exertion we, as ninjas, undertake causes enough stress on the body as it is. You could have fallen into a coma!"

By the end of her tirade, Sakura's face had grown slightly flushed. Her hands were twisted in the fabric of her pants.

All the while, Tsunade had remained by the window. She evaluated the lack of emotion on Sasuke's face, but couldn't really determine if it meant he might have a mental disorder such as depression. The brat never showed emotion anyway!

"Me and Sakura have discussed what we think must be done, and we have come to a conclusion. Until I decide differently you will be—"

Just then the hospital door slid open with a clack and Naruto bustled into the room. He looked a little disheveled. His orange jumper was unzipped and hanging off one of his shoulders to reveal a holy black t-shirt beneath and he wasn't wearing his headband so that blonde hair fell into his eyes.

Sakura gave him a disapproving look. "Naruto, we are in a hospital. Please try to be quiet."

He had enough sense to look abashed. "Sorry, I know I should have been here earlier. I ended up falling asleep and—"

"It's okay gaki," Tsunade said," I was just in the middle of letting Sasuke know the decision I had come to as to what was to be done."

Naruto closed his mouth with a click at the irritated tone and ruffled the back of his head in his usual manner.

"Yeah, sorry ba-san."

Shooting a halfhearted glare his way, Tsunade continued on. "As I was saying, Sasuke, until further notice, you will be placed under house arrest."

This caused a bit of incredulity to flicker across Sasuke's face. "With all due respect Hokage-sama, but I don't think that will help matters any." Panic was beginning to snap in his chest. He couldn't be left alone in that house by himself. He would be driven to madness!

"I am truly sorry Uchiha, but this is the best I can do. Until I am sure you are capable of taking care of yourself, I cannot allow you to carry out missions. "Tsunade moved to stand beside Sakura at Sasuke's bedside. "Now, I have given it some thought, and I will also be placing you under someone's care while this lasts."

Sasuke grit his teeth. He was not a child; he did not need to be treated like one. He did not need a fucking baby sitter. He held his tongue, knowing it would get him nowhere.

There was a sly glint in Tsunade's amber eyes. "Naruto, I will leave that task to you."