Crystalline

Too many times people have tried to look inside of me

Sakura couldn't decide if she was terrified or relieved. She was alive, which was more than she'd hoped for when she'd passed out, but she had a furious Sasuke less than an inch from her face. And he was more or less promising to make her an invalid. The half inch she managed to slide back in an attempt to give herself room was quickly erased by the shinobi who pressed her until they were pressed sealed from chest to hip.

The rough grain of the wall behind her was scraping the tender skin at the base of Sakura's back. Her wrists were throbbing dully at their lack of circulation in Sasuke's tight grip and her eyes were locked onto his. Red insanity swirled back at her and she felt desperate. Desperate to see the boy she knew, not the twisted man he'd made himself. A quick glance at his shoulder told her that the seal was still spreading over his body. Kakashi-sensei's attempt at caging the power had been ineffective. He was as unpredictable as one of Tenten's bombs. Green eyes swam as a cruel smirk bored into her and she wondered if anything would be able to bring him back.

She knew that he still retained a rational side. He was the calm, coolly collected shinobi that she'd spoken to when she'd prepared dinner. The pinkette also knew too well the beast that surfaced when the curse took control. Violence and blood trailed in that creature's wake.

An involuntary shiver ran down her spine as Sasuke trailed his nose along her cheekbone, crooning her name. The sharp bite of a blade at her side made her eyes snap wide.

You think having the upperhand means you gotta keep putting me down

Sasuke's irrational half watched with fascination as the shine drained out of the petite girl's eyes. From his intimate position, eyes staring straight into hers so closely he could hardly focus, he could see every emotion that flitted across her expressive orbs. She was fearful and surprised and something he couldn't describe. The blade in his hand pulsed as more and more energy poured into its malevolent form. He felt the pinkette begin to sag heavily against the wall he was pinning her to and checked her chakra levels. She was almost where he wanted her. After another moment, he reigned in the power of the dagger and tucked the stained blade carelessly into a holster at his back.

As he slowly stepped back and gathered Sakura's boneless body the beast drained away. Onyx eyes darkened when they met the sad, grey-green of the kunoichi's. She was so drained that even her eyes were at half mast. An angry welt was rising steadily on the delicate skin at her hip, though the blood flow was minimal. The stoic line of his mouth tightened as he carefully settled the kunoichi onto his messy bed once more. She looked so painfully small and fragile against the dark backdrop that he couldn't stand to see it any longer. A flash-step and he was on the porch outside the bedroom, hands buried knuckle deep in his hair. He gave a sharp tug to the short locks and slowly exhaled, returning his arms to his sides.

He couldn't handle himself around Sakura. He couldn't control himself when he was apart from her. He felt like he was flying apart at the seams. A faint buzzing in his ears distracted him and an ache bloomed behind his eyes. Anger shadowed his face as he realized what was coming. That snake bastard. The startling whiteness of Orochimaru's favorite torture meathod didn't surprise him as he distantly heard his body fall to the wooden floor of the porch.

Wondering what I think of you

The pale, pale grey of the walls reminded Sakura of stormy skies. As her mind floated aimlessly with exhaustion, she came to another realization. Thunderstorms reminded her of Sasuke. Her brow crumpled at the analogy until she analyzed the random thought. A memory of the day before, when he'd...kissed her floated to the forefront of her mind. He had slivers of grey embedded in his irises. They weren't the void of black that they at first seemed. Instead, they were like a slab of abyssal stone shot though with veins of metal. They fit him perfectly and reminded her of lightening strikes. Absently, she assumed that was why he reminded her of stormy skies. Or maybe it was his turbulent personality.

Her dilated, half-closed eyes fell shut as she laughed to herself. Turbulent? He was borderline insane. Since she'd seen him he'd crushed her wrist, attacked her multiple times and viciously chased her down. Now she was confined to a bed. The soft mattress dredged up still frames of the night she'd spent with Sasuke. His caresses and kisses. A deep breath inflated her chest as her mind wandered back. Bitterness welled on her tongue as she remembered the way the moment had ended. He had walked away from her in a rage over her ring. He'd assumed the worst and punished her for it. A sigh escaped her as she saw the pattern they'd fallen into.

A wry smile danced across her lips. If you'd asked her a few years earlier, she would've been ecstatic to be involved with Sasuke-kun, no matter how toxic the situation may be. She found now that the full force of his attention on her was almost stifling, blinding. Like staring into the raw power of the thunderstorms that reminded her of him. Even as the disadvantages stacked in her mind, she knew she still cared for him. She had what she always wanted, now she just wondered if she would be able to save the man she still reluctantly loved.

Low humming filtered into her ears and she thought for a moment that she was drifting to sleep. However, the white oblivion that met her was nothing like anything she'd ever dreamt.

It was a nightmare.

I've had too many standoffs with you

Something was different about the room. Sasuke knew the moment he opened his eyes to the white insanity he expected. Running dark eyes critically over his surroundings, the shinobi pinpointed the anomaly. One of the walls seemed strange. The Uchiha stood and made his way toward it, trying to decide just what made him so sure that this was the source of the strange, muted aura he was detecting.

Everything was still a sterile, maddening white...it was as if there were a suggestion of color. Or perhaps his mind was projecting something. Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke pondered what the occurrence could be. He blinked slowly, trying to cleanse his vision. But there was still a faint, almost invisible chakra reading behind the wall he was staring at. An emerald green glow winked back at him, he was sure of it.

Rather than waiting any longer, he pressed a palm against the barrier and retracted the other, ready to blow the wall away. Before he could release a blast, he paused. He had no idea where Sakura, if it were her, was on the other side. The flying debris would do massive damage if she wasn't prepared. A frown fell over his face. He wasn't sure there was another way to combat this sort of genjutsu, aside from brute force. Allowing his clenched, prepared fist to fall to his side, he instead pressed his ear to the stark surface under his opposite palm. He could hear a quiet, distant pattern of breathing in the otherwise oppressive silence of the cell.

Drawing his head away, he pounded on the wall and called, "Sakura." When there was no change in the breathing, he battered the barrier again, still refusing to raise his voice. His hands were red and sore when he finally heard a hitch followed by a faint, "Sasuke?"

A smirk danced over his features as he intoned, "Sakura, stand back." The white wall was obliterated a moment later, leaving behind only pale smoke and chunks of stone and other material. Striding into the extended space, the shinobi easily locked on to the crouched form of Sakura.

Bright green eyes in a plaster-dusted face were still imprinted on his eyes when a wave of memories knocked him from his feet.

It's about as much as I can stand

Sakura woke to a blindingly white room. Even as she sat up, surprised at how energized she felt so soon after being drained, pieces began to fall into place in her mind. Genjutsu. The facts of what had happened recently to her and her current environment and condition didn't line up. That was a typical calling card for an illusion. Green eyes creased a little as she recalled something had pulled her from--

Before she could even complete the thought, a muffled pounding came again from the wall behind her. Climbing to her feet, the pinkette began to lay her head against it in an attempt to find out what the sound was when a voice startled her. She blinked and replayed the noise in her mind. It sounded like her name. Only one person whom she was on a first-name basis with was nearby. A bit hesitantly, she shouted, "Sasuke?"

She could only faintly hear an order to stand back. Instinct took over when she saw the barrier between herself and the shinobi bow outward almost whimsically before it shattered. By the time the remains began to rain down, she was crouched against the far wall, her arms braced over her head and neck. Sakura glanced up just in time to see Sasuke step into the room before his eyes rolled back and he dropped suddenly to his knees.

The pinkette was at his side in an instant. It was as if an electric current flowed through him when her hand contacted the plane of his cheek. Red eyes snapped open and she was tossed viciously from his fallen form. A low snarl reverberated through the room as he stood, prowling toward her with a predator's intent. Sakura rose to her feet slowly, her back pressed tightly to the wall behind her. Fear and sadness gripped her as she watched the curse flood over his skin. This was the fastest she'd ever seen it spread. Frantically, she studied his features. She couldn't see any traces of sanity in his feral eyes as he stalked toward her.

Tears were wetting her flushed face, making her voice watery as she warbled, "Sasuke? Please, I--" She was silenced as he crushed his hard body against her trembling one. Hot breath moistened the junction of her neck and shoulder as he craned down to press his face there. Sharp canines skimmed her pulse point before he spoke. "You distract me." A wet kiss was pressed behind her ear before he continued in a guttural whisper, "Those eyes. Your body. That tiny little waist. From your pretty little neck to your long, silky legs..." Rough hands roamed over the areas as they were named. When one bunched in the hair at the nape of her neck as another strayed up her inner thigh, she broke. A sob tore from the trapped kunoichi's throat as she repeated "No, Sasuke-kun, NO!" in an endless mantra. A dark, mad chuckle fell from the beast's lips. "I'm not your Sasuke-kun."

So I'm waiting until the upperhand is mine

"Otokage?"

A slither of scales and, "Yes?"

Pushing his glasses a little further up his nose, Kabuto reported, "The Uchiha has returned from his mission, which was successful. However, rather than reporting here, he headed straight to his home in the Village." A strange smile spread across his face as he asked, "Should disciplinary action be taken against the girl as well?"

A thin, pale hand tapped against the arm of his chair as Orochimaru weighed his options. At last, "Yes." When Kabuto made to turn and leave, he called to the medic-nin, "But...wait until he isn't present. Oh, and Kabuto? Make sure you send someone subtle. I don't want to loose a nin every time she's punished." Nodding, the white-haired man continued out the door of the Otokage's office.

Five minutes later, Kabuto had reached the dojo and another moment later, he'd located the man he wanted to assign. Striding forward, he addressed the man. "You have a mission." He passed the sinister-looking, gaunt man a thin scroll. "This is the genjutsu you're to use. It's Otokage-sama's personal favorite for the targets." As the shinobi nodded and made to depart, Kabuto called, "If you're caught, don't expect to survive." There was a slight stiffening of the Jounin's spine before he nodded and departed, en route to his assignment. To the Uchiha's residence.

Surrounding shinobi and kunoichi alike parted to let the medical ninja pass by unhindered. The tone the med-nin used was kind enough, but the small chuckle he uttered at the other man's response that conveyed his delight. It was obvious that the white haired man was genuinely pleased by the other ninja's fear. Even the most elite of Hidden Sound's ranks knew better than to cross the Otokage's right hand.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses again and made his way back toward the Otokage's office. His work was done.

One minute you're on top

Sakura could hardly breathe. A hard chest was pressing her so hard to the wall behind her that she could hardly get air to her lungs. Even when she managed to gasp in oxygen, it was pulled from her by a heavy sob. Her face felt strangely numb with the force of her tears and fright and she just couldn't process what was happening. A thickly calloused palm pressed insistently at the top of her inner thigh and she thought she would be sick. Sasuke was...She couldn't finish her thought. I'm not your Sasuke-kun. I'm not your Sasuke-kun. I'm not your Sasuke-kun!

The words echoed in her head, spinning and whirling until her eyes squeezed shut with the gravity of the whole situation. The man she'd loved was gone, obliterated by a curse. A new gale of tears crested in her chest at the realization. Glassy green eyes flickered open and bored into bloody red ones. She was sure that there was nothing left. So sure.

A long, slender finger found the elastic band of her panties and she whimpered. The proud kunoichi couldn't even draw enough breath for a scream. Her eyes were still locked on his when it happened and she saw a flicker of black at the sound. Shock and hope made her large eyes round. With the remainder of her strength, she raised one hand and pressed it to his seal.

She could feel the snarl that ruptured in his chest, felt it haze over the bridge of her nose. As the finger traced the muscle that linked her thigh to her pelvis, she bit her lip and gasped reedily, "Sasu..ke-kun?"

Red melted away so quickly she could hardly tell it had been there at all. Shocked black stared back at her for an instant before she felt herself falling. As her bottom contacted the ground, she slumped to the white, white floor and purged every tear in her body.

The next you're not

Her face was red and raw from crying when she finally calmed herself enough to wonder where he'd gone. Pressing her forearms against the harsh, tear-soaked floor and finally raising her head from her arms, Sakura cautiously scanned the room. Her heart stopped when she found him. Sasuke was sitting in the opposite room, against the far wall and watching her with something akin to morbid fascination. Her involuntary flinch made his eyes narrow. The fact that she scrambled back when he stood made him growl a little to himself. The sound made her bury her face in her arms again.

A steady hand on her shoulder blade made her jump. The squeak that escaped her throat inspired a deeper frown on the shinobi's otherwise tight expression. When the hand shifted, pulling at her wrist until her face was revealed, Sakura gasped, "Please!" The tugging ceased and she attempted to pull her limb away as she whispered shakily, "Don't...don't touch-"

The grip tightened exponentially. A raspy voice, loaded with an emotion she couldn't pin down sounded. "Sakura." When she didn't respond, he pulled at her wrist. "Look at me." A hiss of sliding fabric on fabric and another hand caught her chin. Flickering open her darkened green eyes, the kunoichi asked simply, "Why?"

Sasuke's features blanked and his hands fell away. After a moment of silence, she asked again. This time, he spoke slowly at first, "What do you want to hear, Sakura? Why did I take you away from Konoha? Why can't I go back? What am I doing in Sound? Why this genjutsu?" At the mention of the illusion, he rocked back on his heels and chuckled cynically. "He really likes to use this one." He made a show of studying the stark walls. "Usually he locks me in that tiny little white room till my sanity is fucking non-existent. Or until the curse breaks free and I-" He must have noticed her shaking her head. At this, he swooped forward, and hissed, "You want to know why I...touched you the way I just did?"

Watch it drop

Tears began to course down the pinkette's face once more. Sasuke pressed his pointer finger to one of the wet-slicked lines. Gazing at the moisture at his finger with something indescribable, he began in a low tone, "Every time I see you die. In a million different fucking ways!" He ended in a snarl and pounded his fist into the wall next to Sakura's ear. Her shaking was painfully visible as he railed, "But you don't want to hear that shit, Sakura! You don't! You just want to hear that I regret leaving Leaf!" He sprung away from the terrified girl, standing and pacing a ways before her crumpled form. At length, he growled, "And I do! I do so much that I hate myself! I hate that I'm STILL so FUCKING weak!"

Her sobs rang in his ears as he pulled at his dark hair, his muscles were tensing with the sound. He didn't want to scream at her, he didn't. There was just a pressure in his head, driving him, pushing him towards the brink. He was breaking. Cracking. And her sobs were only expediting things. He had to get himself under control. He'd already said too much.

He was striding toward her once more, ready to demand she stop crying when he saw the first scarlet bloom of blood begin to pour from her forearm. Sasuke froze in his tracks. She didn't have any weapons. He hadn't touched her. The long gash had simply appeared. Memories of more violent punishments flooded into his head. Ones geared at breaking down the mind through torture of the body. A seething curse erupted from him as he sped to Sakura's side.

Orochimaru's originally mentally abusive genjutsu had just taken a very violent turn.

Making your heart stop.

WOO! IT'S DONE! THIS CHAPTER WAS NEARLY THE DEATH OF ME. :3 Next chapter is projected for Thursday.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THE KIND PMS AND MESSAGES ABOUT THE PLAGIARISM INCIDENT, THEY WERE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! THANKFULLY THE ISSUE WAS RESOLVED PROMPTLY.

Lyrics: Hit the Floor by Linkin Park (NOT MINE)

Thank you for reading and please review!