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Chapter 23

Suigetsu and I reached the cages in the hallway once more, and I realized that Karin had forgotten to give us the keys. I groaned, and Suigetsu frowned.

"What's up, beautiful?"

I scowled at his name for me, but decided to let it go, seeing as he would probably continue to do it because it got under my skin. I was so easily aggravated, it was embarrassing.

"The red-head forgot to give us the keys…"

"Ugh, and now she's probably too busy seducing Sasuke…"

I shuddered at the thought, and called out to everyone in the cells, trying to sound as calm as possible, shivering at the moans and screams that filled the air.

"Everyone, be quiet, please!" The room went deathly still, and I made my way to the center of the hallway. Suigetsu followed me, hefting his sword in his hands. I smiled weakly, and went on. "Sasuke Uchiha has ordered for your release, and in order to do so we need everyone to stand back. We're going to open the doors."

A young woman with choppy hair and a hollow face asked timidly. "Where will we go?"

"There's a village south of this base, and there you will find water and shelter. From then on, you'll be able to decide where you go. Is that clear?"

I saw only blank faces around me, and some of the prisoners were twitching and muttering madly to themselves, and I let out a shaky sigh at the sound of labored breathing and painful whimpers of pain from a small group of children huddled against the cool wall.

"Okay, stay back." I took out a kunai, and quickly channeled charka to it to enable it to cut through metal, and I hurriedly sliced through the lock and opened the door. The prisoners rushed out, yelling in joy and in restrained fear as they poured out from my side, pushing past us and running towards the entrance. Suigetsu was slicing open the door to the other side, and people were similarly anxious, and I was walking towards Suigetsu when something thin and starved attacked me from behind, scraggly arms locking around my neck and teeth biting into my shoulder. I choked, and Suigetsu's purple eyes flashed to me in surprise as I staggered against the bars of the cage.

The water ninja quickly yanked the teen off of my back, and I gasped for breath as Suigetsu threw the boy against the floor roughly. I stared down at a boy who was crying, his eyes clouded and unseeing as he cowered there, covering his face with his hands a moment later. I held out a hand to stop Suigetsu as he moved forward, and knelt beside the boy. I saw that there were scars slicing through his eyes, and knew that he was blind.

"Hi. I know you're frightened, kid…I know. But you're going to be okay, everything's going to be okay, I promise."

Sobs were all that the boy replied with, and though he flinched when I put my hand on his shoulder, he didn't throw me off. I let my arms support his shoulders as I gently urged him to his feet.

"It's okay, c'mon, let's get you some help."

The boy leaned against me, and I paused to grab the arm of a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She stared at me with scared eyes, and I smiled at her while glancing at the boy.

"Please take care of this boy, he's blind. He needs your help…please…" I whispered, and the woman nodded curtly, taking the boy's arm and heaving it over her shoulder, lifting him and supporting him as they hurried off. I could hear her voice comforting the child as they disappeared, and Suigetsu snorted.

"Should've let me kill him, Hikari."

I turned to glare at him as the last of the prisoners disappeared from the hallway. "What would that do, Suigetsu? These are poor, starving, traumatized people who have been locked up for who knows how long. I will hurt people who deserve it, but doing anything to these prisoners would make me a monster."

And with that, I turned on my heel and made my way back down the hallway, and Suigetsu put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"Hey, you're bleeding."

"Huh?"

I looked down to see that the boy had managed to bite hard enough into my shoulder to draw blood, and his long ragged nails had cut into my shoulder as well. Blood was soaking into the dark fabric of my shirt, and I quickly pressed my hand against the wound, applying steady pressure. It had begun to throb, but the pain wasn't unmanageable.

"Okay, let's try to find a medical room in this place, so I can clean this up."

Suigetsu nodded, and the two of us peeked inside every room that we passed, finding mostly empty rooms with a few rats scurrying across the stone. Finally, a few rooms down, we found a medical station. I rummaged through the box on the table until I found a bottle of cleaning alcohol and a few sterile swabs, along with a roll bandages.

I took off my shirt, ignoring Suigetsu's suggestive whistles, and craned my arm around to try and clean my wound. It was reasonably deep, blood staining my fingers as I released the pressure to grab for the bottle of alcohol. Cool fingers stopped me, and I raised an eyebrow at Suigetsu as he turned me around and doused a swab with alcohol before cleaning the wound for me. He was surprisingly gentle, but still thorough, and I smirked as I glanced back at him.

"Never pegged you as the caring type, Shark-boy."

"Oh don't worry, this doubles as a chance to see you with only some chest wrappings on." I scowled, and his pale purple eyes danced as he dabbed some antiseptic onto the wound, rubbing the cream into it as he went on. "I'm glad that Karin is keeping Sasuke busy, because I have a feeling he'd have my head if he caught me doing this."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He has you around for a reason, beautiful. And you had a point back there, why would he bother saving you if he were already planning on collecting three more team members? You definitely mean something to him, but don't get your hopes up, because it could be from a kunoichi point of view instead of a romantic one."

"Uh, thanks? But honestly, I never had my hopes up in the first place. I mean, sure, he's a freaking super model, but once you get past that…he's so lonely and dark. I got to know him a bit better than I should have back in Sound, and…I don't know…"

Suigetsu smirked, wrapping up my shoulder and patting it to make sure it was in place before handing me my shirt. I managed to wash the blood out of it in a sink, and put it on, ignoring the wetness of the shoulder where the blood had been.

"Whatever you say, Hikari. But just to let you know…I've heard a lot about Sasuke Uchiha from down in the labs. Awful stories about people who have tried to insult him and get under his skin by daring to mention his brother's name…just know that he's got quite a violent reputation. Sure, he has a tendency to not kill when necessary, but other than that…he'll make you bleed for crossing the line with him."

"As enlightening as that little speech was, what's your point?"

"My point is that Sasuke's got a different set of rules with you. He lets you mouth off to him, he lets you touch him without so much as glaring at you or trying to push you off. You can tell that he's comfortable around you, and that he wouldn't hesitate to kill someone who was threatening you."

I tried to hold it back, but a snort of laughter escaped me as we made our way back to the hallway, me stretching my arms above my head as a huge yawn stretched my jaws apart.

"Oh jeez, that's funny! The only reason I get to mouth off is because he's too lazy to shut me up, and about the whole touching thing…we've been practically living together for my time in Sound, so of course we'd get to that stage in familiarity. But actually caring for my safety? Ha! I'm just a kunoichi who's skilled enough to help him in his cause…nothing more. It's sweet that you think that, even if it is totally off."

Suigetsu shook his head and didn't answer, both of us walking in silence back to the room where Karin and Sasuke were still talking – hopefully. I wasn't kidding about my mind being scarred; I could barely imagine Sasuke smiling at a girl, much less doing…uh…things with her.

I tried to handle, only to find that it was locked. I laughed as I tried again, and Suigetsu raised an eyebrow in silent shock.

"Wow, she actually felt the need to lock the door…things must be getting pretty serious in there…"

"Oh yeah right…she's probably just hoping we don't burst in just as she goes in for the kill. Unfortunately for her, bursting in at the worst possible moment is something at which I excel, whether the door is locked or not. Watch out."

Suigetsu pouted, but backed up a step. "Aw, but I wanted to break down the door!"

I grinned, gathering chakra to my foot, and slamming it into the door, sending it flying inward, and it shattered into pieces as it collapsed. I slapped high fives with Suigetsu, and smirked at the sight of Karin leaning forward closer to Sasuke, and Suigetsu laughed.

I waved innocently at them, and Sasuke quickly stood. I assume that inwardly, he was jumping for joy that Karin's move had been interrupted, and Suigetsu glanced at the red head quizzically.

"So, is she coming or not?"

Sasuke nodded curtly, and strode out into the hall without so much as a glance at Karin. "Yes."

Karin sputtered. "I'm just going in that same direction, that's all. It's convenient."

Suigetsu and I exchanged exasperated looks, and I snorted. "Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense. But whatever, Sasuke seems to be interested in you coming along, so I guess I can't complain."

Karin perked up at that, and gave the said Uchiha a glowing look of adoration. Sasuke sighed, and Suigetsu and I shared a glance, and wicked grins crossed our faces as we both started humming the tune that is often played when the bride is processing down the aisle.

Karin growled, and her eyes flared. "Don't you two ever shut up?"

"Nope, sorry. I'm on all the channels…" Suigetsu quipped, and Karin shrieked in irritation. I laughed, and Sasuke cut our banter off with a glare.

"We're heading to the western containment base, where I'm assuming Juugo is." He glanced at Karin, who had paused in her glaring at me and Suigetsu to gape at the Uchiha.

"Juugo? Are you crazy? He'll tear you all to pieces!"

"Uh, I doubt that one guy can pose a threat to me, you, Suigetsu, and Sasuke. No one's that strong…right?"

Sasuke glared at me to be quiet, and I listened to him as Karin shook her head. "He's unstable, and he's on permanent isolation to keep him from escaping. One minute he's sweet as a lamb, the next he's a raging, terrifying…monster…" She shuddered, and I frowned.

"A split personality? Was this caused by him being experimented on?"

"Yeah, he was forcibly given a seal, and it gave him the power to transform into a powerful monster that possesses enormous strength and agility. You don't want to underestimate him…if you turn your back on him, he'll kill you in one of his rages."

I nodded, and glanced at Sasuke, who didn't seem fazed by this new information. I glanced at Suigetsu, who was also looking towards Sasuke for the next move. Sasuke nodded, and began walking towards the entrance doors.

The prisoners were long gone, and as we stepped into the sweltering desert exterior of the base, there was no one in sight. I looked around, and saw that there were several bodies lying motionless a few hundred feet to my left, and they weren't moving. I automatically made to move towards them, but Sasuke's hand was hard on my wrist, and I found myself staring into his depthless onyx eyes.

"Leave them."

"But Sasuke, I can still–"

"They're dead, Hikari. Leave them." Sasuke spoke softly, and I let out a breath of sorrow as I turned to stare back at the bodies. I gasped as I recognized one of them to be the blind boy from before. His eyes were open and unseeing, and his mouth was slightly open in death. I tore my eyes away, and found myself wrapping my arms around my stomach as if to hold myself together.

"I told him everything would be okay…I promised him that he'd be okay. So much for my promises…" I whispered, and stared at my feet, trying to hold back tears. I was supposed to be strong; I was supposed to be able to protect people. I should've gone out to make sure that no one was left behind. But I was stupid, and I assumed that these prisoners would want to help each other.

Karin scoffed. "So what? He was just another slave…no one important."

I jumped at her with a growl, but Sasuke was too quick, and wrapped his arm around my waist, effectively pinning my arms to my side and rendering me unable to attack her. I struggled, but Sasuke held firm. I yelled at the smirking redhead, kicking dust in her direction as I struggled to reach her.

"That boy was not expendable! Just because you're a heartless bitch who cares only about herself doesn't mean that you have the right to treat these people like this, and I don't care what someone told you to do. Yeah, someone might tell you to kill a man or woman, but you ultimately have the choice whether to kill them or not. You have the choice whether to be honorable, or to sink to the level of a murderer. So in choosing to lock these people up like this, in choosing to treat them like chopped liver, you chose the cruelest path possible. I hope you're happy." I hissed, and stared into her wide eyes. Her mouth was slightly open, and she kept glancing around as if hoping that someone would tell me how wrong I was. But there was only silence.

Sasuke was still restraining me, and after a few moments I spoke without looking at him. "Let me go, Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't respond, but he slowly loosened his grip – he should've known better than to let me go, he knew me better than that – stepping away when I remained still. I took advantage of his stepping away to leap at her again, but this time Sasuke stepped in front of me, so fast that I didn't have to blink, and I growled before feinting to the right before dashing around him, ducking to avoid a hand that reached to grab my arm.

Karin shrieked as I reached her, but something solid and hard slammed into my stomach, and I was down before I could gasp with surprise. I couldn't get enough air into my chest, and I tried to get up, only to find Sasuke crouched behind me, pinning my arms behind my back.

"Get off you mother fucking bastard!" I yelled, trying to kick him, but he only moved out of my range, his face expressionless as he kept my arms behind my back.

'Stop."

"I can't let her get away with it! She let those people live there in pain, she let them go crazy!"

"Hikari–"

"How can you just sit there and pretend that nothing happened? How can you openly accept her even when knowing what she's done?"

"Hikari–"

"Dammit, stop saying my name unless you're actually going to say something!" I snarled, trying to bite his arm angrily. Sasuke sighed, and remained silent for the next five minutes, even though I yelled so many obscenities that even Suigetsu started to cringe in horror at my boldness.

Probably wondering why Sasuke didn't kill me already. To be honest, I was wondering that myself.

…I've heard a lot about Sasuke Uchiha from down in the labs. Awful stories about people who have tried to insult him and get under his skin by daring to mention his brother's name…just know that he's got quite a violent reputation. Sure, he has a tendency to not kill when necessary, but other than that…he'll make you bleed for crossing the line with him.

Then why wasn't he making me bleed for all the things I was saying? I lost count a few minutes ago of how many names I called him, and I long I struggled against his iron hands. But all he did was shift his position every few minutes and remain silent.

Sasuke's got a different set of rules with you. He lets you mouth off to him, he lets you touch him without so much as glaring at you or trying to push you off. You can tell that he's comfortable around you, and that he wouldn't hesitate to kill someone who was threatening you.

No…that couldn't be it. My life was expendable, and that's why he wasn't bothering using any high level taijutsu to keep me motionless. He just didn't want to waste energy…it wasn't because he actually cared about me.

That had to be it.

Finally, I went silent, and closed my eyes, leaning my head against the hot ground, breathing heavily from my continuous struggle and my constant yelling. I coughed at the dryness of my throat, and took deep breaths.

Sasuke spoke clearly and slowly. "Are you finished?"

"Yes." I croaked, swallowing hard to ease the scratchiness of my throat.

"If I let you up, will you attack Karin?"

"No."

Sasuke got up off of me quickly and without comment, brushing off his pants and striding off before I could begin to rise from the ground. Karin ran after him, latching onto his arm and gushing over him. Sasuke allowed it for a moment, but then coldly moved his arm away, stepping away. Karin was undaunted, and continued to chatter as she walked beside him.

I muttered curses under my breath as I shook the sandy grit from my hair, and coughed as I got to my feet. Suigetsu handed me his bottle of water, and I took long gulps, thanking him in between draughts. We followed Sasuke and Karin, though not close enough to overhear Karin's chatter.

"Definitely a soft spot…"

"I hardly call pinning me to the ground with my face in the dirt being in any way soft…"

"If it had been me, I would at least have a few bruises, maybe a broken bone. All he did was grab you a few times and hold you down."

"Ugh…give it a rest, Shark-boy."

"Yes ma'am."

I laughed as he punched my arm playfully, and I handed him his water bottle.

"I'd hit you, but I'm too lazy."

"You're just afraid that any physical contact would make you realize how attracted you are to me…"

I groaned, and Suigetsu cackled at my expression, and the two of us continued to banter as we made our way towards the western containment base.