Sakura

Sakura sat up, stretching her limbs and remembering that one of her arms was practically broken. There was a small yelp of pain as she lowered her arms and looked at the one that was causing her so much pain. Great, it's swollen.. she thought, furrowing her brows and leaning back on the bed. How much longer is it going to be before he comes back..? I have to escape tonight..There's no telling what will happen if I stay here.. As if he read her mind from that far away, in walked Kabuto about a second or two after the girl became irritated with her thoughts. She was just about to heal her arm, as she realized her chakra levels were just high enough to do so, but his sudden appearance and statement threw her off guard.

"It's nighttime now, which means you'll probably be on a nocturnal schedule." Sakura glanced up at him and noticed his eyes now looked different once more. He almost seemed like he felt sorry for her in some way, but not only did that thought seem irrational, it was infuriating.

"I am well aware that if it's nighttime that my schedule may change...No need to explain such a simple thing to me..I'm not a child.."

She pulled her knees to her and leaned back against the wall, disliking that he soon came closer and looked at her injured limb.

"How is your arm? I imagine you haven't had the opportunity to heal it."

"Obviously, I was just about to when you showed up..." she mumbled, averting her gaze elsewhere in the room, anywhere but him or his eyes. They were rage inducing to her right now.

[I hated when people gave me that look that said they were feeling sorry for me. I hated when people looked down on me and underestimated me. At that moment, however, I hated that Kabuto Yakushi was so damn close, regardless of him checking over my injured and very much in pain arm, I wanted him out of my face. I knew my chakra levels weren't very high, but they were high enough that I could do what I needed to do. That's when I realized it. He was staring at my arm and his eyes were fixated on the swelling. He wasn't paying attention. He had let his guard down. All too perfect for me. That is when I put my plan into action.].

Sakura noticed almost immediately that the male was too fixated on his thoughts to really notice much of anything in reality at the moment. It was perfect, all so perfect. With quick movements, the kunoichi knocked him over so that 'he' was once again the one on the ground. The door was able to be opened since he'd had to take off the seal in order to enter the room. The young woman bolted out the door, running full speed and making the proper hand signs to break any genjutsu, should there be any, that was still placed anywhere in the surrounding area. Moving around the winding corridors, she hesitated on where to go, mostly because she had no idea where to go. Her heart was racing as she made a split second decision and ran down a hallway that appeared to lead at least towards the exit.

Checking her pack and eventually finding the right hallway, she grinned triumphantly. Still have the book. Good thing I kept it hidden in my shirt until I woke up. This was it, she was going to make it. The exit was in sight and she even put her hand out to it to make sure it wasn't another wall that she was going to run into. Her arm was still aching, but the pain was nothing compared to her adrenaline high right now. Too bad, four eyes. I must say I kind of enjoyed our game, but I'm the winner. Check mate. Wait until Lady Tsunade hears about all of this. But then, something went wrong. Sakura hadn't even been outside of the cave for all of ten seconds until she felt a familiar presence behind her.

[I wasn't sure what it was. I mean, I knew who it felt like, but I've been wrong before. At the time, I was more concerned with getting out of there and back to Konoha then I was about who was behind me. Maybe if I'd not stopped and looked at who it was, or maybe if I'd just kept running like hell and not hesitated. Maybe things would have ended differently. Again, I messed up..].

Sakura stopped for a split second to glance at the source of the powerful chakra behind her. Too bad that it was her former teammate turned rogue. "S-Sasuke kun.." she uttered, barely a whisper as she seemed to lose the ability to talk in front of him in that moment.

"Sakura..Go back inside..Not that I want you here, and not that it wouldn't be fun to kill you and see Naruto's face when he finds out 'I'm' the one that ended you, but the orders were to keep you alive...So, are you going to cooperate or do I have to force you?"

The pink haired girl took a step back, eyes widening at the cruelty and sadistic nature of Sasuke, her Sasuke. "I-I will not go back there...I have to get back to Lady Tsunade.." The two stared each other down.

Sakura's widened emerald irises saw into the depths of Sasuke's onyx ones and he wasn't kidding. He really does mean to harm me if I don't do as he says.. she thought, sadness overtaking her eyes and showing all of her weaknesses. "S-Sasuke kun.."

"Hmph. Wrong answer."

With that, the young Uchiha was behind his former frightened teammate and took advantage of her fear and confusion to grab her obviously wounded arm. Sakura bit her lip to keep from yelping in pain again. She didn't want Sasuke to see that and think it a weakness.

"You could have avoided this.." Sasuke said darkly, twisting her arm until he heard it snap. This time, there was a cry of pain and the young woman fell to her knees, clutching at her arm.

"S-Sasuke..kun.."

"Still haven't stopped calling me that, ne, Sakura? You're so annoying.."

The young man simply picked up the limp and in pain woman, threw her over his shoulder, and walked back inside. Sakura was not only in too much pain to fight him, but she lacked the will because someone she cared for so deeply had just proven once again that he could care less. I'll get out of here...but maybe that wasn't the best move...Kami, my arm hurts..I'd be surprised if I can use it again before a month is over..even with my healing chakra...

Sasuke

[She'll never know that I actually felt bad about doing what I did to her. Not at the time, of course, but later on in life, I regretted it. There aren't many things I regret, as most of my life has consisted of revenge and being a true avenger. Still, as I carried the limp Sakura on my shoulder, I started to think of way back when. I remembered that she used to be an annoying little pink haired girl that I was forced to work with. I remembered watching her grow up and take responsibility. I even remembered that at one point in time, I'd have killed someone who dared lay a hand on her. Ironic that I myself was the one to cause her such pain. I knew she cared for me, and truth be told, I used that to my advantage all of the time. Even then, I had a plan in my deranged mind to keep her in the Sound with me. Part of me enjoyed watching her be manipulated so easily by her feelings. Even though the smallest part of me said to stop it and leave her alone, I ignored it. I wanted to see her writhing and hear her screams almost as badly as I wanted to end Naruto..Tch, I know, I was twisted.].

Sasuke walked back into the hideout carrying the young woman over his shoulder. He headed back to where she'd previously been and was surprised that she'd not said anything. He dared not to say a word, however, because if he did, she might think that he wanted her to say something, when truth be told, he really just didn't like the awkward feeling of his former friend on his shoulder and the heir of silence around them. "Here. Try to keep a better eye on her, Kabuto..Or else Orochimaru might put her into better hands.." The Uchiha shoved the girl at the gray haired male, causing her to cringe and squeak from the pain of her broken arm being so roughly handled, and walked off back into the darkness, soon disappearing from sight.

Kabuto

Although the pink haired kunoichi assured Kabuto that she was not a child, he begged to differ. Sakura was still young and naive, and often quite fragile. He wondered what drove her on the course her life was headed right now, but assumed it was her teammates. It was slightly amusing, actually, to imagine. He definitely didn't understand it, which was probably why it caught his interest. He didn't like finding something he couldn't understand. Would he be willing to die for Orochimaru-sama? As much as he respected the man, he couldn't see he would unless it was to his advantage. He wouldn't be willing to die needlessly just to keep someone else alive, unless it gave him power. So, he wondered for a moment if she would. Would she die for someone? He imagined she would die for her Konaha friends. What about Sasuke? If she would die for someone like him, than she truly was an idiot.

He, however, was not. She was refusing to look into his eyes, and he knew it was either because she was angry or sad, or a bit of both. If anything, she should be grateful to him. If she was going to get pissed and ignore him, he was going to ignore her. He looked away, refusing to pity her any longer. She didn't deserve any emotion from him if she was going to be ungrateful. On the outside, he looked completely neutral. On the inside, he was raging. If she was going to continue to disrespect him, he would just ignore her.

Okay, ignoring a prisoner to the point where you're not paying attention wasn't a good idea.

Especially when you left the door unlocked.

Before he knew it, he was knocked down on the floor again.At least this time he hadn't lost his glasses. He sighed. Dealing with this was beginning to get tiresome. And now, he was extremely pissed. How dare she? He had been sokind to their guest. He quickly rose from his position on the cold, uncomfortable ground and ran a hand through his bangs. Oh Sakura, you will regret this. I might just decide to operate on you in your sleep, switch your big toes, maybe even carve out one of your eyeballshe considered the possibilities while using his chakra to numb the pain where he had been hit. Although he wouldn't admit it, that had hurt.

He hurried after her, but his rib was still sore. He wasn't used to being in pain for so long, usually his medical chakra would have easily gotten rid of it by now. How much chakra did you manage to put in that? You barely had enough for medical jutsu.he wondered, healing his side as he ran. When he sensed, by her chakra, that he had suddenly stopped moving, he was confused. However, he quickly sensed the second chakra source and realized Sasuke had stopped her.

He couldn't help but chuckle. At least he knew what her punishment was going to be. This was much worse than switching her toes around. This was going to hurt emotionally, and no doubt very physically considering who her opponent was. He watched them from the shadows inside of the cave. Although he could not hear them, he knew she was afraid. It was clear. She was also immensely sad, and he could only hope she wouldn't start crying. He didn't want to stick around to see that.

He stayed until the very end, when that crack of her bone made even him cringe slightly. Sasuke had twisted her arm in a very unnatural way, and for a second he actually thought about interrupting and saying that was enough.

Of course, if she's going to be punished, it would be more fun if I did it.

However, he shook his head and walked away, back to her room. Why should he save her from Sasuke? He wasn't some hero and it didn't matter to him that she was in pain. He would get his chance at payback later, whenever Sasuke decided to return her.

But what if he doesn't? Orochimaru-sama will be furious with me if I do not keep her alive.he questioned, not putting it past Sasuke to kill anyone, even old friends. However, he doubted it would be a major setback if she was dead. It didn't appear that she was needed for anything specific. He told himself he didn't care if she died, because if she did she was a useless pawn anyways. Even though strategically, no pawn is useless if you use them the right way.

Kabuto sat on her bed, waiting in the room. Soon enough the Uchiha returned with Sakura still alive, but clearly in pain, and on his shoulders. She was roughly thrown at him, and landed half on him in her bed. Her arm bent the wrong way again, this time against his chest, and she could not stop a weak, painful noise from escaping her lips. He didn't make eye contact with her, but instead focused on the rude boy in front of him.

"Here. Try to keep a better eye on her, Kabuto..Or else Orochimaru might put her into better hands" he threatened, annoying Kabuto.

Funny that Sasuke was always calling Sakura annoying, when in fact he saw it the other way. Sakura was troublesome, but the Uchiha dug deep into his skin. His eyes narrowed, and he couldn't help but retort. "I would have stopped her, you shouldn't have interfered. She's mine." There was a possessiveness in his tone that even he hadn't expected, but it was true. She was his prisoner, his responsibility, his right to torture. Not anyone else's.

When Sasuke left, he let out a sigh. He slid over to give her room on the bed., however he wasn't about to get up. She could deal with the room she had. "I told you, you're not going to escape. You were rather unlucky that Sasuke got to you before I did, although you deserved your punishment. I was planning on switching your big toes, but I suppose a horribly broken arm will do. "He said, with sarcasm in his voice. However, looking at her arm again, he realized it was actually in horrible, horrible shape right now. Without using his chakra to inspect the injury, he could only assume it was shattered in several places. He was curious as to what exactly Sasuke had done.

"Let me see your arm"he demanded harshly. However, seeing how fragile she could be, and considering what had happened to her, he imagined she was just going to be stubborn and ignore his request. So he decided to say something that he rarely ever said.

"Please."

He still believed she deserved her punishment. Her suffering would probably teach her a lesson. Still, he had the urge to at least inspect it. Yep..definitely troublesome..