SasuNaru, yaoi, OOC, M-preg, OCs and unbeta-read

Standard disclaimer applies

Warning: Torture

Chapter 57: When his world shatters...

The blowing damp and cold air, the echoing sounds of the water dropping to the ground and the resonating silence in the darkness. He was far from his place… from his home.

That was what his mind registered before he slipped away from consciousness again.

-SasuNaru is love-

Complementary, compensation and compatibility.

Those were the things the council, the hokage, the Root leader, the top liaison officers and teachers had in mind every time they had to come up with teams among the genin, chuunin, jounin and ANBU members.

Each cell was made up of shinobi whose skills complement and compensate and whose personalities were compatible with each other's. Coming up with teams that met these standard was always difficult and tiring but the result- a well-balanced and efficient teams was satisfying.

Considering that shinobis spent a lot of their time with their teams as well as do things together it was natural that their bonds would go as deep as that of friends, lovers or families. Because of this, it was not uncommon news for shinobi's to risk their life to save their comrades.

It was also the reason why Sasuke had been captured.

He and his team had been on a three-month mission. And most of those months were spent fighting and having little rest so when they were just few kilometers away from the Fire Country border on their way home, they had been ambushed. Their low chakra could only allow them to fight pathetically. In the end, Sasuke had created a diversion plan with an absolute order of 'get the hell out from here' issued to his team.

That was it before the only thing his subordinates saw was tear-inducing black smoke as they weakly followed the order. The three, after covering few meters decided to hide behind thick bushes. In there, they lay down trying to catch their breaths.

They hated the fact that they left their captain but it had been an order and their staying with him while still in a weak condition didn't mean anything. They had a good guess that their leader had been captured, a more reason to quickly take care of their wounds and restore their chakra.

From the corner of his eyes, Ken noticed how pale Yanagi had become. His sudden movement as he hovered above the kunoichi's form alerted Hiko who sat up.

"Yanagi, what did you do?" Hiko asked in worry as he realized that she was closer to death.

The kunoichi smiled, "I performed a tracker jutsu on captain just so we'll know where he'd be taken." It had been a spur of a moment; a desperate attempt to make things easier for them when they'd save their captain but it seemed it won't happen anytime soon.

Ken wanted to hit Yanagi for her impulsiveness. The woman was never reckless and now she'd just had to be when the situation was spiraling out of their control. Like theirs, her chakra had been low and yet she performed a technique that required a good amount of chakra thus putting her life in danger. They were sure that some of her internal organs were now slowly malfunctioning.

"Do you realize that the technique only functions when the practitioner is alive?" Ken snarled at the almost unconscious form of his dear friend.

"I know that's why I'm trying to apologize here, asshole," she responded with as much annoyance as her situation could.

Hiko pressed a finger against her pale lips, "Don't talk. Save it for yourself." Yanagi smirked and closed her eyes when she heard the man continued, "Just stay with us. Stay with us, okay?"

"Of course. Captain still owes me few rounds…"

Ken and Hiko looked at each other before the latter nodded.

-SasuNaru is love-

Naruto let out an irritated sigh as the pencil he was using in correcting a particular report broke into two. He tossed them into the trash bin and before he could pull out a new one, he noticed a bird had just landed the window. He swirled his chair, opened the window and let the winged animal in.

He gave it few bread crumbs as he took the rolled paper slip from of its feet. The paper was empty but Naruto knew better. He performed one hand seal and feed the paper with the right amount of chakra to display the message. He felt his heart picking up speed as the text started appearing. He took a deep breath before he let his eyes land on the text written in a code.

1010-0723

Growth had stopped due to pests attacking. Pesticide wasn't enough as the supply was low. Twigs got separated from branch which was taken to the pest's lair.

3:1 R:r C4:c3

His mind registered everything at the same time decoding it.

1010-0723 meant that the letter came from Sasuke's team. At this, his hands started trembling.

Mission was interrupted as we had been attacked. Our chakra wasn't enough to win the fight. We are separated from our captain who had been captured by the enemies.

The 3:1 was the team ratio meaning one of cell member –Sasuke was separated from them. R:r was the chakra condition and the format followed according to the team ratio. The R and r meant the same thing - chakra condition had been critical except that r meant the condition was taken from the last time they had seen their captain. C4 and c3 meant their health condition. It meant that Sasuke's subordinates had more wounds compared to Sasuke. Again the c meant that the condition was taken before their captain was taken to captivity.

Naruto sucked in a deep breath. In a steady voice that belied the raging storm within him, he called two chuunins.

"I want you to tell Sakura to assemble her medic team and report here within one minute," he told one of them. "I want you to look for Kakashi and have him here within a minute also."

In 39 seconds flat, Sakura, her medic team and Kakashi 'poof' in front of a very tensed Naruto.

Sakura arched an eyebrow when she noticed that the blonde was wearing his ANBU uniform minus the mask, his hokage robe draping over his chair and his hat on the table.

"An ANBU team needs a medical attention," he said tartly, "and the captain has been captured."

With that, Sakura and Kakashi understood why Naruto was in those clothes. They also knew it was pointless to tell and convince the blonde to send a team to save the captain instead of going himself.

Kakashi caught the small paper slip thrown at him. "At the border of the Fire country, I want your dogs to track the smell of that sheet," he heard their leader say before the latter addressed all of them, "Let's get to the border as fast as we can."

They all nodded and moved like in a blur.

I would be nothing with you gone, bastard, so hold on. I'll find and save you. I'll bring you back to your home.

-SasuNaru is love-

The sound of water dripping… It came back to him again. He would have been unconsciousness once more if not for the ice-cold water that was splashed on him the next second. He opened his eyes and saw five men surrounding him.

His shoulders ached and realized why. His hands were being held up by a chain deeply lodge into a damped stone wall. The almost loud sounds of the water cascading told him that he was in a cavern hidden by a waterfall which explained the coldness of the air and the dripping sounds.

The three fire torches – its fire maintained by chakra, chased the darkness of the place and displayed what Sasuke hated the most – torture materials.

Being a shinobi, the prospect of being tortured was always there that was why, every year Konoha made it a point to have their shinobis underwent torture simulation. But Sasuke knew the reality was so different from simulation.

He swallowed back the pain when one man whipped his back to get rid of his upper clothes. He knew it had begun and he intended to keep all information within him as well as his dignity.

One question after another was being asked and for each moment he remained silent and defiant his back was being whipped until he felt like it was burning.

Annoyed at his silence and defiance, the man made a nod and the ordinary whip was replaced with something that had thorn attached to them. This time Sasuke couldn't stop the sound of pain coming from the back of his throat. Although it hadn't yet been five minutes, to him it felt like few hours had passed. For every hit he received, he saw a white flash at the corner of his eyes.

When he was close to fainting, another man would splash him ice-cold water that snapped him back to reality where endless pain hounded him.

Another few minutes passed and he was already shouting in pain. Especially when one man plucked one of his nails. A string of colorful words had flown from his mouth. He would collapsed out of pain if not for that ice-cold water again.

But despite the pain, he couldn't help but smirk when he noticed that the inquirer's tone had now been laced with frustration and annoyance because of silence. Sasuke knew that once they would get hold of the information they wanted, he'd be killed so he preferred to be disposed with him carrying the information to his grave.

He arched his back and screamed when the man who had been whipping him sprinkled salt on his already beaten-up back. It was pain beyond imagination and very different from the whip because the former after few seconds of contact would leave his body while the salt would remain until it would melt and be dissolved by his blood and sweat.

And he thought that things wouldn't get as painful as that until another man pressed the torched against his skin. His eyes rolled back to his head and his nerves went numb. His whole central nervous system shut down and Sasuke managed to distance his awareness from his body.

As his body continued being tortured in ways those men could think of, Sasuke watched like a calm, apathetic observer. He watched almost in trance as blood covered the ground beneath the pale body. He would have continued watching calmly until their statements echoed throughout his entire being.

The man was supposed to pluck another nail – his third when he noticed the wedding ring on the pale left hand.

"So you're married, eh?" he stated. "Think what would happen if we'd grab hold of your family?"

"We could sell your children to slavery," another one said.

"Or we could just kill them after violating them," another interjected.

"And your wife…" the man chuckled. "A handsome man like you would have a very beautiful wife." A lewd grin appeared on his sadistic face, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we help ourselves."

"She'd probably taste delicious and she'd be tight. She'd cry as we violated her upper and lower mouths over and over again until she'd no longer be tight. If you're lucky, we'll let you watch as we gang rape her. It would be a good show. After that, we'll let our followers have her."

They all chuckled.

"Think about it… Your wife-"

The man never finished his sentence as Sasuke chidori-ed him. The four looked surprised. When did their prisoner managed to lodge the chain from wall? When did he break the chain? Where did his chakra come from when he had been weak?

Fear raced through their spine when they heard a malicious laughter rumbling from the pale ninja's chest. And when Sasuke looked at them, his sharingan was spinning wildly and his eyes held no recognition or any emotions. Worse, his chakra was different. It was almost purplish black and was crackling with ominous strength. Even his aura was maleficent. How did this human become a demon?

Do you have a precious person to protect?

The remaining men screamed as Sasuke ripped their comrade's throat easily as if it was just a piece of paper. They ran out from the cave, alerting their comrades to fight.

To Sasuke, everything was just a blur or snakes, fires and different ninjutsu he had mastered. Once in a while, he'd hear a maniacal laughter rising out from the screams of terror and it didn't register to him that it was him who was laughing his heart away as he killed one man after another. Nothing matters except that he needed to protect his precious persons; that he had to kill anyone who was a threat to his bonds.

And on that area, it was raining with blood and guts. And the current of the waterfall wasn't enough to wash down the blood or the guts that beautifully colored the river instantly.

When it was over, Sasuke slumped against a rock and stared at the blue sky. His vision was getting blurry and yet he continued staring at the sun, wishing it was his wife's face he was staring at.

"Naruto… I…"

He never managed to say goodbye as he slipped into the arms of oblivion.

-SasuNaru is love­-

It wasn't long for Kakashi's dogs to find the rest of Sasuke's team. They were immediately attended by Sakura and her team.

"Kakashi, stay with them," Naruto said as he continued moving forwards.

Kakashi looked at Pakkun, "Help him look for his other half."

The loyal dog nodded and started chasing after the blonde. The dog couldn't help but snort at a thought came that they were somehow reliving what happened when the boys were still a mere genin.

Naruto froze when his surrounding fell silent. No, it wasn't his surrounding. It was his heart. It had grown eerily silent as if already mourning and he clenched his fists to stop himself from thinking that Sasuke was already gone. What right did his husband have to leave like that?

"SASUKE" he shouted at the top of his lungs just like he did long way back when they were still genins. He listened for any sounds. He even expected to hear the evil chuckles that came from Sasuke when he was single-mindedly continuing his journey towards Orochimaru while ignoring his friend that had been chasing him. But there was none. There was nothing.

Don't you dare… Don't you even dare… bastard!

Naruto continued moving forward. His tearful eyes failed to see a branch causing him to trip. In his desperation, frustration and annoyance, he destroyed the tree limb before continuing.

The strong copper scent of blood that flooded his nose led him to the enemy's lair. And nothing had prepared him for the grotesque scene that welcomed him.

His left hand shot out to cover his mouth when bile rose up inside him. Even Pakkun went pale and looked sick as he regarded the view.

He saw Sasuke's body and before he could move, he felt presence. Blue eyes scanned the vicinity and saw figures moving away from bushes and trees and advancing towards his spouse's body like vultures. In a way, these men were vultures because they always seize the spoils of battles and to them a ninja's corpse was always the best. They could sell it to the black market for big amount of money or to any hidden villages that wanted to learn the secrets from the village the ninja was working for. And Naruto knew that Sasuke with his sharingan would give them a lot of money.

Pakkun put a distance between him and Naruto when he felt red chakra flaring from that lithe body. Not long after, the blonde had confronted the man closest to Sasuke's body. "Don't you dare touch him," he snarled belatedly as he had already chopped the man's head off with his sword. He didn't cringes as the man's blood gushed out and sprinkled on him. But he was addressing all the vultures at the same time implicitly ordering them to leave.

In his anger, Naruto had become unreasonable and when he turned around and saw the scavengers were still standing he growled. To him, five minutes had passed after he had told them not to touch Sasuke. Without warning, he attacked them heatedly, decapitating them quickly and cold-heartedly.

When it was over, he dropped his sword and kneeled beside Sasuke who was now lying on his stomach. Naruto gingerly rolled him over and a cry involuntarily came out from his lips as he noticed how hideously burned Sasuke's chest was. His hands trembled as he hovered above the said chest, totally lost on what to do. He let his hands roamed his blood-covered arms before he placed his head on his thighs.

"Sasuke?" he called out softly. He could have check Sasuke's pulse but he was afraid to find out so he just cried. His tears fell on his love's face and he used it as a make-shift water to clean his husband's handsome face from the gore, dirt and blood.

Why do we have to end like this?

"You can't just leave me, you idiot," he murmured. '"I'm too young to be a widower, bastard." He gently shook Sasuke. "I'm not going to cry for you," he warned although he was already crying, "because I don't know how to so wake up and start teaching me, asshole!"

And he thought the world was back again when he felt a hand against his cheek, awkwardly cradling his face.

"Save your tears during my funeral, usuratonkachi," Sasuke said weakly and painfully. His throat burned. Everything burned. But it was okay. It was going to be okay because Naruto was there with him. He could say good-bye. There would be no regrets.

"You're here," Naruto said and he wanted to embrace the other man but stopped himself because of the man's wounds.

"Of course, where else would I be? I'm not going to leave you."

"Then open your eyes," Naruto said.

Sasuke just grunted.

"Open your eyes," the blonde insisted while gently shaking his spouse.

There was so much worry and fear in that longed voice- the same voice that called out to him when he was in the edge of that cliff that he forced his eyes open even when his eyelids were heavy as lead.

Fresh tears filled blue eyes as Naruto saw how empty those obsidian orbs had become. Sasuke was going to die. He was going to die without him. He'd leave him.

The feeling of emptiness and loneliness… I don't want to feel them anymore.

"… sun doesn't shed tears," Sasuke said as he felt teardrops falling on his face.

"Because it always has the moon until now," Naruto answered as he leaned into his gentle touch.

What kind of life would I have in the future without you? What love would there be?

Sasuke coughed. "The moon isn't going anywhere because that is one of the universal rules." And yet he knew he was slipping away. He never wanted to die but if it was the price of protecting the love he found with Naruto then he didn't mind at all. Dying for Naruto was worth it. He had existed to protect the blonde.　He had loved him with all his heart and being. There were no regrets.

"Naruto..." he took a deep shuddering breath. His chest felt heavy and it was constricting painfully and he knew it wasn't from the injuries he had. "I-"

Naruto kissed him right there and then because he knew what words would flow from those lips. He didn't want to hear it. "I love you, Sasuke," he murmured as if those words could keep death at bay… as if it could erase the fact that his beloved wanted to bid him goodbye.

For a second, the ANBU captain had been irritated for being interrupted but when he heard those words his heart felt light. It was a nice send off that it didn't matter if he couldn't say goodbye.

Naruto watched in horror as Sasuke closed his eyes and his hand that had been touching the tanned cheek limply fell to the ground.

What lies beyond your death for me?

"Sasuke " Naruto cried out his anguish to the heavens. The trees rustled and ripples appeared on the river as he started weeping, his chakra leaking out.

"Naruto?" a worried Sakura said as she joined them. There was so much in Naruto's silence that it scared Sakura.

"My God!" she couldn't help but exclaimed as she saw Sasuke. She felt for his pulse. She released a breath she didn't she was holding when she felt it. It was faint and slow but still there.

"Naruto, he's still alive."

That had stopped the man in his grief. His eyes held so much relief that it reminded the kunoichi with their battle against Zabuza and Haku.

She looked at the ANBU captain once more and concluded she couldn't heal him in one sitting. She couldn't even start healing him.

"We need to get him to Konoha as quickly as possible," she started explaining the situation. "To avoid infection we have to bandage his wounds but I only have an ordinary bandage which isn't good with his burns."

The blonde understood what Sakura was trying to tell him. His friend needed her chakra to quickly move towards Konoha so whatever she was planning her chakra was inadequate. She needed his chakra.

"Use mine."

I'll give up anything just to save you. I'll kill all men and even destroy the universe if it meant saving you.

Sakura took Naruto's hands in her left one while she hovered her other over Sasuke's chest. At Sakura's instruction, the blonde channeled his chakra to his hands. Sakura's right glowed green as she started encasing Sasuke's body with the blonde's chakra.

Because he had so much chakra, Naruto had learned to calculate how much he needed for the day and restrained the rest. But when his allotted chakra was being drained almost completely he started letting the restraints go but made sure that he won't tap Kyuubi's power because he knew that Sakura couldn't handle the demon's chakra.

Sakura, knowing how huge the blonde's chakra reserve, took that advantage to thicken the chakra around the ANBU captain. It will not only cover his wounds but stabilize his condition as well.

It had been the longest five minutes of their lives so when it was over they let out a deep breath before moving once more.

"I already sent the others ahead of us," Sakura informed as she helped steady Sasuke on Naruto's back. The blonde felt a comfortable heat as his skin came in contact with his chakra. He nodded to the kunoichi and together they raced to catch up with the rest of the group.

Hold on, Sasuke.

-SasuNaru is love-

The sounds of her hurried footsteps on linoleum floor, her labored breathing and her loud heartbeat mingled together to create a strange music as Miki ran along the hallway. She took the second right turn then the third left turn before she skidded to a halt.

"Chichiue?" she called out to her blond father who was sitting forlornly on the bench across Operating Room Five. His body was hunched forward and his hands hanging limply from his legs.

Two identical pairs of eyes met. One was seeking and the other in despair.

"Miki," Naruto whispered hoarsely. As if that was a cue, the girl flung herself towards her father.

"How is otousan?" she asked brokenly. She had just finished a simple operation on a chuunin when one of her seniors told her about her otousan.

"Sakura and I haven't talked yet but I'm sure he'll be fine."

The lack of conviction in her parent's voice made her cry harder. She buried her face deeper against his hard chest disregarding that his shirt smelled of blood and sweat.

The only light in operation room five was the dull green light highlighting the double circles which were littered with text. Outside the circle were four medic-nins who were sitting on the floor forming a square. In the corner of the room were two more medic-nins who would watch the operation.

"Pressure and temperature within the circle stabilized," one of the monitors said.

"Energy stabilized," another one added. "Waiting for your signal, leader."

Sakura who could only lead because her current chakra level didn't allow her, nodded in acknowledgement. "Listen up!" she told the practitioners in her stringent voice. "Duty shift occurs when forty-five of your chakra is consumed. Please inform the monitors few minutes before that happens. Commence the operation."

She stayed few seconds longer to watch the proceedings. They had cut Sasuke's nails to replace the three ones he lost and also his hair to replace his burnt skin. His hair and nails must be melted to cellular level before they'd be able to use it. The interval between melting and implanting it must not be longer than five seconds as not to kill the cells. The melted hair would be distributed to different areas of his chest and back and the medic-nin would use the cell-regeneration to let the skin patches extend and close any gap. Although the whole operation sounded simple, it required a very good concentration and impressive chakra control. Satisfied with how the operation started, Sakura stepped into the hallway.

"Sasuke's condition is now stable and his operation is underway," she informed Naruto and Miki. "Why don't you guys go home and get some rest, hmm? At best, the operation would last for seven hours." And just to prevent them for protesting and insisting to stay, she promised, "I'll send someone to you the second the operation ends."

Naruto nodded tiredly and taking his daughter's hand, the two went home.

-SasuNaru is love-

When Akemi came home he found Miki staring at the family portraits with fear etched on her face.

"Hey!" he called out quietly. There was just something about the vibes she emanated that made him do it. He was alarmed when Miki looked at him like a scared and helpless girl rather than her usual confident self. "W-what's wrong?"

"Otousan's critically wounded. He probably won't-" Miki trailed off in a sob.

"W-what?" he asked just to make sure he heard it wrong. He took his sister's silence as a confirmation. He felt cold and he heard buzzing noises and the sounds of waves crashing. "B-but how? It can't be." Like a bolt of lightning he was reminded of something- a particular distant past he and his otousan shared.

Akemi, do you love chichiue?

Yes, as much as I love otousan.

Then will you protect him from anything even from himself?

Of course.

"Chichiue?"

"He's taking a bath."

That wasn't good. "For how long?"

The inquiry made in a strangled tone had stopped the girl from her sobbing. "Now that you mention it, it has been more than forty-five-"

Akemi fled to their parents' bedroom and burst into it just as a robe-clad Naruto stepped outside the bathroom. Akemi skidded to a halt so did Miki who almost bumped into him.

The boy blushed feeling guilty for thinking that his blond father had committed suicide yet at the same time relieved.

"Welcome home, Akemi."

"I- I'm home, chichiue." And both of them sent each other a strained smile.

-SasuNaru is love-

"Don't forget to bring the scroll tomorrow," Shigure shouted at the top of his lungs from the street corner.

Kisho just waved in acknowledgement before he pushed the wooden gates. All his happiness was blown the moment he stepped inside and noticed the heavy and tensed atmosphere hanging over the place. He frowned when he saw Naruto sleeping on the couch with the latter's face upturned. To him, his father looked twenty years older than his age. He walked to the kitchen where he found his two older siblings taking a light snack.

"What's going on?" he asked.

While Miki was telling the youngest Uchiha, Akemi stood up to prepare his brother's favorite chocolate drink.

Miki cried when she saw her blond brother crying. The latter cried harder when he saw the former crying. Akemi looked at then. How he just wanted to sit and cry with them but he knew better. Yuuzuki's absence meant he had to play Yuuzuki's role. He had to comfort them. Besides it had been a family rule that they mustn't go down together. Somebody had to be strong while the rest go weak.

"It's going to be alright," he said while hoping that his voice was as convincing and confident as he wanted it to be. "He'll be back because it's him."

But you'll always be with chichiue, ne, otousan?

Of course.

Then, there's no need for me to watch over him.

But the future is always full of uncertainties and surprises.

What do you mean?

It means we're late now and chichiue will probably scold us.

That night Kisho slept with Naruto while the other two children preferred their room.

After knocking softly on Akemi's door, Miki let herself in. She found her oniisan sitting on the window ledge. Both rolled and unrolled scrolls were carelessly left at his feet. Papers which should have been filled by notes at that moment were stark empty.

"Hey," she said.

The boy shifted his gaze outside to look at his sister's reflection on the window glass. He stiffened a bit when she embraced him from behind.

"I'll take it from here," she said softly.

"It's okay. I-"

Miki tightened her hold. Her brother had played the role so well earlier that he deserved to be given a good comforting. It was now his turn to cry and be weak.

Akemi's shoulders started to wrack with sobs. The next second, he turned around and clutched his sister as he cried.

Miki smiled affectionately. "Good boy," she murmured as she started rubbing his back in soothing comfort.

TBC

I know there's something I should tell you but right now, a lot of things are in my mind that I can't remember what it is.

It's too bad that Yuuzuki isn't with them to share their pains but he had nothing to worry because he trusts Akemi to play his role during his absence.