Okay, next chapter :) This is where the really main part of the story will start, and it's going to get much darker from here on out :P Yay for darkness! Uhh... I don't have much else to say apart from that, so enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto :)
Aya cowered in the corner of the room, trying to hide herself from Shinji's wrath. She couldn't understand what was going on. He had never been this cruel before. She had gotten back after spending an hour or so with Sakura, and he had immediately started attacking her. As far as she could tell, he was angry with her for being… Happy.
She watched with battered breath as Shinji advanced, his yellow ochre eyes watching her like a predator's.
"Shinji, please," Aya gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I don't understand, what do you want?" She shuffled back, trying to get away.
Shinji pounced on her, his hands grasping around her throat. "Why have you been so happy? What has come over you?" He growled, murder in his eyes.
Aya struggled for air. "N… Nothing, Sir." She choked.
He smashed her head against the wall, almost knocking her unconscious. "Nothing my arse. Tell me!" He ordered.
"Nothing, sir!" Aya repeated, but unconvincingly. She knew that he wouldn't stop his assault on her until she told him. But her friendship with Sakura was at stake!
Shinji punched the side of her face and Aya saw stars. "TELL ME!" He shouted at her, and Aya's courage broke.
"I… I have a friend…" She sobbed.
Shinji stopped for a moment, his fist raised. "Who?" He asked, malice dripping from his voice.
"Her… Her name…" Aya lost her voice and Shinji punched her again.
"TELL ME HER FUCKING NAME!" he screeched at the quivering girl.
"Sakura! Her… Her name is Sakura… Please… Please don't hurt her, Shinji. I'll do anything. Please…" Aya begged. I'm so sorry, Sakura. Please forgive me… She thought.
"Shut up, you little whore." Shinji said, before knocking her unconscious. He had a plan for this Sakura, to teach her to keep away from people she shouldn't get involved with.
Sakura sighed as she woke up. Sasuke would be coming back tonight. That week had been great. Very peaceful. There wasn't much housework to be done, so Sakura finished it quickly. She prepared her own lunch and ate it thoughtfully. She wondered what Aya was up to. The two had organised to meet that day at about three in the afternoon, so at that time, Sakura set out.
She turned the corner in the passage where they usually met and saw an outline.
"Aya!" She exclaimed, running towards her friend. The person stood up and Sakura slowed her pace, realising that this was not Aya. "Gomen, sir. I mistook you for someone I know." Sakura said apologetically.
The figure walked towards her. "So," they began, "you are Sakura. Aya has told me all about you." He pounced on her and slammed her into the wall.
"What are you doing, you freak?" Sakura demanded, shocked by the irrational behaviour. The man dragged her to the end of the hall and Sakura could vaguely see Aya, tied up and struggling against her bonds. "Aya…" Sakura breathed. "Are you alright?" She went to go and help her friend, but before she could get there –
"No you don't," and she felt a gag being shoved roughly into her mouth, before she was thrown against the wall again. She smelt a putrid breath in her face as the man held her to the wall.
"Shinji…" Sakura heard Aya's weak voice, "please, don't…"
"Who asked you to speak?" Shinji hissed at her and Aya whimpered.
"Now," Shinji said, "I am going to teach you a lesson for messing with Aya. Because of your influence she has become rude and arrogant. It's time she learnt her lesson." He kneed Sakura in the stomach, which brought her to all fours, coughing blood into her gag. Shinji started raining punches and kicks down on Sakura's body without mercy.
The worst part about all of this, Sakura thought, is that if I had access to my chakra, this guy would be a bloody pulp right now. Ugh! I feel so weak and defenceless! That was the last thing she could think as Shinji's assault on her grew more and more vicious.
Shinji continued to beat Sakura's body black and blue. Sakura felt a crack as one of her ribs broke, and a few minutes after that felt another break. Sakura refused to cry in front of him. She refused to show him any weakness whatsoever. He kicked her in the face, sending her sprawling onto her back, before he punched her in the gut, winding her.
He stepped back and Sakura hoped that he would finish there. Oh how wrong she was.
"Jutsu o chōkyō maindo*!" Shinji cried, and placed his palm on Sakura's temple. Sakura immediately felt thousands of invisible needles slowly pierce her skin, like the fangs of monsters, ripping and tearing through the flesh of the kill. Before she realised what she was doing, she screamed, but it was muffled by the gag.
Sakura barely heard the words that Shinji said to her. "Yes, Sakura. Scream for me. And know that this is what will await you if you ever try to be friends with Aya again." Then he started cackling.
Every so often, the pain would change. Get worse. After the needles, it felt as though screws were being driven through her skull, through her eyes, all into her body. Sakura felt all of her bones being smashed into tiny shards, then immediately being put back together. As if her skeleton were a puzzle and it was being constantly smashed and re made. It felt like a thousand knives had sliced all over her body, and molten lead was being poured into the gaping wounds. Then her whole body was submerged into a vat of acid, and all of her muscles, all of her cells, were slowly dissolved. Sakura could feel her body implode, then explode, before reforming and starting the process all over again. Over and over again.
And yet, Sakura's body remained completely intact, on the ground of that dimly lit corridor. Muffled screams fell from her mouth in a never ending stream.
After what could easily have been hours, the pain subsided. Sakura lay there panting and hearing Aya crying. Shinji crouched before her and held her up by the hair. "If you ever come near Aya again, I'll kill you." He hissed. He twisted her head brutally to look at Aya. "Get a good look, Sakura. This is the last you'll ever see of her." Sakura had stopped listening and tried to communicate with Aya.
'Sakura, I am so sorry. Please forgive me.'
'There is nothing to forgive, Aya. I understand why you did it.'
'We will see each other again, right?'
'Of course, Aya. Don't ever doubt that. I'll get away us both away from here.'
'You'll be in my thoughts.'
'Thank you for everything, Aya. I promise I'll get you out.'
'Arigato, Sakura Chan.'
Shinji smashed her face back onto the ground and hauled Aya away.
Sakura stared after them before darkness consumed her world.
Sasuke returned to his room at about midnight. He had seen Orochimaru and told him that there were no suspicions about Shio Island being a base.
Now he was looking forward to some food and a sleep. He walked quietly into the room, knowing that Sakura would be asleep. When he got to the kitchen, he was surprised to find that there was no evidence of food… Or freshly cleaned dishes. He listened intently to the adjacent room. He couldn't hear her breathing.
Shit. He thought. Just what I need. Sasuke went to the living room and bit his thumb, slamming his hand to the ground "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He said, and in a puff of white smoke, four small white snakes appeared.
"How may we ssserve you, Ssassuke?" They hissed in unison.
"A kunoichi, Sakura, is missing. Find her." He ordered them.
"Hai." They slithered out of the door and Sasuke sat on the lounge. He'd hardly sat there for five minutes when one of his snakes reappeared in the doorway.
"Sukeru, have you found her?" He asked the snake.
"Hai." Sukeru answered.
"Take me to her." He followed the snake from the room.
Sukeru led Sasuke through a few winding passages, before the sound of laboured breathing met his ears.
"Arigato, Sukeru. I can take it from here." The snake disappeared as Sasuke ran around the final corner.
He saw her, lying there like a broken doll, bruised and bloody, but thankfully alive.
"Sakura," he breathed, kneeling before her. "What happened to you?"
Sakura groaned, her eyes opening slightly. "Sasuke?" She muttered, and Sasuke cringed internally at the pain evident in her voice.
"Who did this to you?" He demanded softly, but she had already fainted again.
He lifted her into his arms gently and carried her back to his room, laying her softly on his bed.
He didn't leave her side until she woke the next afternoon.
When she woke up, it was with hesitation, as if she was afraid of opening her eyes. She turned her head and saw Sasuke sitting beside her, his eyes not leaving her face.
"Sasuke?" She asked in confusion.
"Sakura," Sasuke said quietly. "Who attacked you?"
Sakura's eyes went wide and she lay back down, turning away from him. "Nothing happened." She mumbled.
"Don't lie to me, Sakura. Who did that to you?" He asked, more sternly this time.
Sakura could feel tears welling up, but quickly tried to brush them away. She didn't want to remember last night. Yeah, the torture was bad enough, but it was nothing in comparison to losing Aya as a friend. "No one."
Sasuke gently turned her over so that she faced him. "Who did that to you?"
Sakura stared at him, pain and confusion in her eyes. "Why? Why do you care?" She asked him.
Sasuke blanched, before he started to question himself that exact same thing. Why did he care? He shouldn't. It's not like he entirely cared for Sakura… did he? Now that he thought about it, he wasn't entirely sure of that himself. But that was impossible! He couldn't care about her! He wouldn't! It was Sakura! Fan Girl Sakura! She was always the one who was being protected, no real threat, only an average kunoichi. And yet, why did he feel such an overwhelming anger at the thought that she had been hurt? He shrugged it off, deciding to leave it until later.
"I don't care. Who did that to you?" He repeated angrily.
Sakura was tempted to tell him that he had just contradicted himself, but decided against it. "I told you: Nobody!" She felt her own anger rise up. Why wouldn't he leave her alone?
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "I will not have this argument with you Sakura. Who did that to you?" He started to raise his voice.
"Sasuke, I'd just rather be left alone right now. Please." She turned back over, not wanting to look at him.
Sasuke let out a long breath. "Sakura, if you don't tell me who he is, they could hurt someone else." He hoped that by guilt tripping her it would make her talk.
It worked. Sakura was sure that Shinji would still be hurting Aya. That was something she couldn't allow. "His name is Shinji."
Sasuke nodded. "Hm." He turned and walked from the room.
Sasuke couldn't explain the anger that was rising up inside of him. He didn't want to think about why it was there. All he knew was that Sakura had been hurt, and he wanted to destroy the bastard who had done it. He knew of Shinji vaguely, and he knew that Orochimaru wouldn't be happy with him for killing Shinji, but Sasuke could have cared less. He just wanted Sakura to be safe.
Ever since… That… had happened on his mission for Shio Island, Sasuke knew that he had made a terrible mistake with how he had been treating Sakura. He'd come to realise that, if nothing else, he cared for her. Unfortunately it had taken a stupid mistake on his part to realise it.
But that didn't matter now. All he knew, all he cared about, was that Sakura had been broken by this man, by this… abomination, and Sasuke wasn't going to stand for it. He would make Shinji pay dearly for what he had done.
*Jutsu o chōkyō maindo - Yeah, another made up jutsu. I'm so lazy :P This one (I think) translates into "Mind torture Jutsu", or something along those lines...
So what do you think? Good? Bad? Meh? Oh well, I'm getting there. Hey, just a random question, (like, seriously random) but did anyone like the name of the last chapter? I thought it sounded pretty snazzy :P I'll be quiet now. Preview time!
Chapter 11 - Healing
..."I have to put these away, Sasuke." She tried to shrug around him, but Sasuke blocked her way.
"I didn't like seeing you hurt." He told her, his eyes glued to the ground. Sakura realised, with a hint of amusement, that he seemed nervous. Oh what she would give to catch this on tape; the great Sasuke Uchiha: Nervous!
... He looked at her so quickly, Sakura was surprised he didn't crick his neck. "I don't want to see you hurt again. Not by anyone... Especially not by me."...
Hmm... I hope that I don't end up putting Sasuke too OOC. Oh well :P
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