Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto
A/N: Cookies for those who review As a warning, this may be a little gory. Hehe.
Ten Ten awoke in an empty room. The walls were made of stone, which did not help to relieve the pain in her aching head. Propping herself up on her elbows, she examined her new surroundings. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, Ten Ten realized that the room was not as empty as she first thought. There were chains with hooks hanging from the ceiling, and a rack of odd-looking metal tools in the far corner.
Ten Ten tried to stand up, but her throbbing head wouldn't allow her. Ten Ten was trained well. She knew what to do in these situations. How to escape, to make herself disappear in a crowd, how to best withstand torture. But she knew that she was too weak to escape. For now. Ten Ten knew exactly what to do in this situation. She took off her vest and used it as a pillow. There was no sense running around with a pounding headache. The best she could do was sleep and let herself heal. Besides, what would be the point in torturing an unconscious prisoner?
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Sakura was floating, but she did not know where. The water was cold, the coldness freezing the marrow in her bones. She was tired. Oh so very tired. Too tired to struggle against the current. She resigned herself to the will of the water, letting it take her where it will.
Whether it had been ten seconds or ten years she did not know, but eventually she floated up to a rocky shore. She could feel the Death God all around her, but could see nothing but grey mist and water. Hands grabbed at her shoulders, her arms, her clothes and lugged her out of the River.
She could see faces all around her. Some were pale with a faint purplish color. Some were bleeding. Some were too mangled to be recognized. But she knew none of them. She had floated down the River and was dumped in a random corner of Death. It was crowded. Oh so crowded. And cold.
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A door burst open, the clamor awakening Ten Ten from her slumber. A man walked through the heavy wooden door to her cell, carrying a metal container. He dropped it on the floor, walked over to the rack in the far corner, and selected several of the bizarre tools.
He dropped the tools next to the metal container and sat down, leaning his back against the wall by which Ten Ten lay. She sat up, the pain in her head having lessened with sleep.
Ten Ten knew the drill. This man would sit by her and informally engage her in conversation. Then, when she had dropped her guard slightly, he would attack, subjecting her to unimaginable pain in the hopes that she would talk. She knew it all. She had done it herself to several prisoners back in Konoha.
The man beside her sighed and rubbed his temples. He had long blond hair and wore a patch-like object over one eye. She could tell by his cloak that he was Akatsuki. He sighed again and turned to face her.
"My name is Deidara. Don't bother introducing yourself, your's is Ten Ten. A very nice name, I think" Deidara extended his hand, but when Ten Ten refused to shake it he continued talking.
"Poor girl, it seems that you're now the last member of your team. Your comrade Jiro died in torture a couple minutes ago." Deidara paused, waiting for a response, but Ten Ten's placid face revealed nothing. However calm she may have seemed, her mind swirled in torment. Dead? Really, could they all be dead? How? How could anything kill the legendary Haruno Sakura, or Jiro of the Earth, or Taro the genjutsu master?
"Don't worry, your friend died honorably," continued Deidara, "he revealed nothing to us. It's such a pity, really, that we have to do such things to such promising young warriors." He sighed again. The expression on his face truly seemed sad, remorseful, as if he actually cared about Ten Ten and her teammates. He was indeed a fantastic actor.
"How is your head?" he asked. Ten Ten gave him no response. "Does it still hurt?" No response. Deidara tried several more times to engage her in conversation, but her face remained tranquil and unmoving.
The Akatsuki sighed again, and stood up, making his way towards the tools on the floor.
"Such a shame, I'd really rather not do this," he said, selecting a tool with a broad, flat blade and the metal container. "Actually, I lied. I love doing this shit!"
He walked back over to Ten Ten and struck her over the head with the metal container. She fell to the floor, the pain in he head unbearable. She felt as though her skull would crack, and the ringing in her head would cause her ears to burst. Ten Ten tried to stand, managing to get to all fours, but Deidara kicked her in the stomach and caused her to collapse again.
He then grabbed her left wrist and plunged to broad blade of the tool into the flesh in her upper arm.
"Now tell me, where is Uzumaki Naruto?" Ten Ten said nothing. Deidara pressed a button on the handle and the blade split into two, forcing the wound open like opening the blades of a pair of scissors. Blood gushed from the open wound, flowing freely onto the floor. He flicked open the cap of the metal container and poured a liquid into her wound; it was lemon juice. Ten Ten screamed as the acidic liquid burned the inside of her flesh, the sound of the scream echoing off the walls.
"Where is Uzumaki Naruto?" Deidara asked again but, yet again, he received no response. He grabbed her right thigh with both hands and, using his leg, broke her femur. Ten Ten screamed again, and the pain swam around in her head making her dizzy.
"Where is Uzumaki Naruto?" When he received no answer a third time, he dragged her to where the chains hung from the wall. He pierced the calf of her good leg with the hook on the end of a chain and hoisted her up so that she was hanging, upside-down, her face level with his. He grabbed the metal container again and poured the lemon juice over her calf. The pain was the same, but this time she expected it and managed to hold in her scream.
"I'll ask you again. WHERE IS UZUMAKI NARUTO?" He shouted, anger flooding his voice. Ten Ten spat in his face. Deidara's face contorted with rage. In blind fury, he struck Ten Ten across the face and yanked her off the chain, leaving a good-sized chunk of flesh on the hook. Ten Ten looked down at her leg to find half of her left calf missing. She screamed louder than ever, and louder still when Deidara poured more lemon juice on her leg.
She couldn't move. Her body was broken. Deidara selected a new tool from the pile and approached her crumple form. He was about to make an incision when the door of the cell opened, revealing another Akatsuki member with a blue face, Kisame.
"Deidara, Jiro in cell nine has just talked. He has revealed the location of the jinchuuriki and the Leader has ordered an emergency meeting."
Relief flowed into Ten Ten as she heard news that Jiro was still alive. Then, another emotion. Resentment. How could he speak? How dare he dishonor the village?
Deidara dropped his weapon and walked over to Kisame. They talked in hushed tones, then left the room, locking the door behind them. Ten Ten felt a great relief at the temporary postponement of her torture and let a few tears fall down her cheeks in pain. She lay there, in a growing puddle of blood, and drifted to sleep.