Sasuke visibly cringed at the filth and mildew that lined the walls of the abandoned Akatsuki hideout. Rubble and debris crinkled beneath his sandals as he tread through the decaying building, the sound echoing eerily throughout the empty space. It was difficult for him to picture Itachi, disciplined and methodical, in such a filthy place.

Stopping before a pile of scrolls on the ground, Sasuke opened each one only to find that none were legible, the ink blurred from rain damage. He knew that the chances of him finding anything still intact was slim, but he wasn't ready to give up just yet. He was desperate for a glimpse into Itachi's life, no matter how small it was.

Deeper into the hideout was more of the same, to his dismay. Disappointed but still persistent, he continued his trek through the building, running his fingers along the wall as he moved. Just then, an abrupt change in the wall's texture made him halt his steps.

Moving closer to inspect it, Sasuke continued to run his fingers across the surface of the wall, finding that the change in texture was localized to a single spot. As he prodded the wall, he noted that the area was barely shoulder width apart, its borders distinct. A hidden door, he realized. And suddenly, with a push, it opened.

As he peered into the darkness, a piercing scream resounded in his ears. Caught off guard, he couldn't dodge quick enough when a body crashed into his and tackled him to the ground. As he got his bearings, he couldn't help but think that he's heard that scream before.

But before he could continue that train of thought, a fist flying towards his face demanded his attention. As he blocked the assault, he quickly pushed himself out from under the assailant's body and up to his feet. Waiting there to meet him was a woman clad in an ANBU mask and a black cloak.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and summoned electricity to his hand. He took aim at the woman as the familiar high-pitched sound filled the room. But before his chidori could make contact with the attacker's body, a blade pierced his shoulder blade from behind. Seeing him pause, the woman jumped out of the way and disappeared into the darkness.

Whipping around, he found himself in the midst of five masked assailants, each one stood poised for attack. Kunai and shuriken flew towards him but his visual prowess allowed him to dodge each one with ease.

With a rough shove, his chidori pierced the chest of a man to his right. At the same time, he crouched to avoid a jutsu cast by another ninja, sending a wave of water blasting towards him at full force. Cringing slightly at the feeling in his hands, he ripped his arm out from where it impaled his opponent and darted to the far side of the building.

At a standstill, he could feel the enemy size him up. Four attackers remained now: two men and two women who quickly spread out to surround him. Drawing his sword from where it rested at his waist in its sheath, he wasted no time in charging at the man who stood directly in front of him. He could sense the others chase closely behind him.

At the last minute, seconds before his blade would have hit the man, Sasuke abruptly turned and swung his sword behind him, slashing the body of an unsuspecting attacker. A scream echoed in the hideout as the woman collapsed, blood pouring from the mortal wound on throat.

Spinning on his heels again, he dragged his blade across where he sensed another attacker. However, this time, his weapon was blocked by another. A metallic ring sounded as the two metals met, with the man's sword held vertically merely inches away from Sasuke's face. The only thing stopping Sasuke from being slashed was his own sword held perpendicular against the assaulting weapon.

Swiftly, he moved his sword and ducked before the man could swing it further down onto his face. Moving quicker than the naked eye could see, Sasuke kicked the man's legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground on his back. After channeling chakra into his sword, enough to audibly hear the crackle of lightning, he plunged the blade deep into the man's chest. Sasuke did not plan on showing mercy today.

Three down, two to go. The remaining assailants stood in front of him now, several feet away. Sasuke made a mental note to keep at least one alive for interrogation. Although he was pretty sure this attack had something to do with that bounty on his head.

He was poised, ready to be on the offensive again, when the scream he heard earlier rang throughout the room. Hearing it a second time, he was sure that he knew it. His suspicions were only confirmed when the voice shrieked his name, causing his chest to lurched painfully at the sound. Blood running cold, he froze in place and couldn't force himself to move or even think. His body, now moving on its own, started to run towards the direction of the scream as he tried and failed miserably to stop the panic rising in his stomach.

The scream got louder and louder as he neared its location and he could only pray that he got there in time. He had no idea what they were doing, but he'd heard screams like that before during his time with Orochimaru; screams of excruciating pain that could only mean one thing: torture.

Finally, he reached another wall that seemed to be equipped with the same hidden door mechanism he had stumbled upon earlier. But this time, nothing he did would open it. Pressing his ear against the door, his heart dropped when he realized that the screams were now replaced with hysterical sobbing, begging for the torture to end.

Before Sasuke could continue his desperate attempts to break down the entryway, a hard object smashed against the side of his head, hard enough that he could almost feel his brain reverberate against the inside of his skull. Very rarely could he ever be caught off guard by such an attack, but his thoughts were still racing a mile a minute and his movements were fueled solely by autopilot.

His vision blurred from the force of the impact on his head and he could feel his Sharingan deactivate. Reaching up to touch where he was struck, he was unsurprised to find warm, red liquid spewing from the wound. But he couldn't give up just yet.

Pulling himself to his feet, he surveyed his surroundings, finding that the attackers have activated some sort of smoke bomb. As haze filled the room, he realized that this was no ordinary smoke. The substance burned his nostrils and rendered his eyes completely useless. He recognized this smoke bomb as one specially formulated to combat dojutsu. He had only ever seen this weapon once before, back when it was being developed in Konoha, and it had no reason to be in the hands of some ordinary bounty hunters.

Coughing quickly became a gasp for air. With the last of his energy, he summoned Chidori again, readying himself to break down the door. But before he could move, arms reached from all around him to trap his body in place. Another hand reached to cup the back of his head as a sudden nausea overcame him. Someone was absorbing his chakra.

Black spots danced across his vision and he knew he wouldn't be able to hold on any longer. As he lost consciousness, he could only think of the scream from behind the door that was begging him to save her. It was a voice he knew so well, one that he had to physically suppress his memories of when he left the village. It was the voice of Sakura Haruno.

When he woke, Sasuke almost didn't believe he was actually conscious but the pain radiating from the side of his head convinced him otherwise. His vision was completely black, covered by a blindfold tied across his eyes. His lone arm was shackled against a pipe as the metal restraints dug uncomfortably into his wrist.

Before he went unconscious, he could remember the feeling of someone draining every last drop of his chakra. His suspicions were confirmed when he tried to activate his eyes only to realize that it was nearly impossible. Sasuke cursed to himself when he realized that his lack of chakra also made it extremely difficult for him to sense his surroundings. He was completely blinded and defenseless.

At this realization, his mind wandered back to the sound of Sakura's screams. He had to fight back the guilt that bubbled in his chest, when he grasped the fact that she was probably here because of her connection to him. The image of her bleeding and battered body lying on the ground of the Kusakagure forest flashed across his mind. Even after so many years, he still consistently endangered her and the thought of that brought along an uncomfortable feeling he wasn't yet ready to face.

As Sasuke grappled with his plethora of emotions and his current captive situation, the creaking of a metal door snapped him from his thoughts. Heavy footsteps accompanied the sound, getting louder as they drew closer to him. He counted the steps as they occurred, estimating the distance between him and a potential escape route. Because he probably wouldn't have enough chakra to summon his Susanoo or cast a space-time ninjutsu, he needed to plan an escape without them and he needed to plan one fast if he wanted to save Sakura.

Fuck, he thought as a foot kicked him roughly in the face. Unable to sense the attack coming, he took the hit with full force. The kick knocked him down from the sitting position he was in with his back against the wall and he landed harshly, with his face slamming against the floor. His wrist burned with pain as it was tugged against the handcuff and he could taste metal where his teeth cut into the insides of his cheeks.

Pushing himself up as best as he could using the stump of his left arm, he was only met again with another kick directly into his ribs. The impact briefly knocked the air from his lungs, leaving him to gasp for oxygen as blood dripped from his open mouth.

"The great Sasuke Uchiha, you don't seem to live up to your reputation," sounded a deep and gruff voice as the person speaking loomed above him.

Sasuke did not reply and another kick was delivered to his stomach, forcing him to fight desperately against the urge to vomit. Without his chakra, he was defenseless and fatigued, even the act of lifting his head seemed to send fire coursing through his veins.

"You should have rotted in jail years ago," there was a second person speaking now whom Sasuke missed the presence of while he was recovering from his assault. "Any other criminal would have but I guess it pays to know that useless Hokage."

The words rang in Sasuke's ear as they have been things that he repeated to himself over and over the past several years. He knew that he shouldn't have been released from the jail cell he was in after the war. It was only with Kakashi's help and the rest of the Konoha Eleven's testimonials that allowed him to walk as a free man.

"What? Nothing to say?" The first man spat as he grabbed hair from the back of Sasuke's head and lifted his face.

With a grimace, Sasuke growled, "Where is she?"

At his question, the two men released booming laughs that resounded against the empty walls of the room.

"Where is she?" Sasuke repeated, putting as much venom as he could into his voice.

The laughter only continued.

"I knew you were weak, but I didn't realize you were so weak that you couldn't spot genjutsu," one of the men taunted.

Sasuke scolded himself silently. He was so engrossed in the thought of Sakura being captured and tortured that he didn't even notice the miniscule discrepancies in the auditory genjutsu. He should have figured; the Sakura he knew who fought in the war would have never begged for him to save her that way. She would have been able to hold her own.

"Fucking pathetic," one of the men spat.

The grip on his hair was released as the man slammed Sasuke's head against the wall. Unable to keep his head lifted up, he let it hang limply forward, his chin pressing into his chest. His head spun and the muscles on his neck strained from the tension. It took all his energy not to groan; he wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

Hands suddenly grabbed him and he could feel the shackle on his wrist release. He was dragged across the room and towards another before being strapped in a vertical position against a cross. His arms were pulled horizontally and strapped against either arm of the cross, leaving him to hang there painfully, held upright only by the restraints on his right wrist and what remained of his left arm.

"You're going to pay for everything your brother did and you're going to feel every sin you Uchiha scum committed." the man spoke in a low, menacing voice. "You are going to endure the torture my brother did when Itachi put him under genjutsu—all 72 fucking hours of it and more."

The realization hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks. He recalled the way Kakashi described his experience under Itachi's genjutsu. How he was stabbed repeatedly for what felt like days when in reality, only mere minutes had passed.

The man brandished a sword, summoning chakra to the blade. With this technique, he could do as much damage as he wanted while the chakra immediately cauterized the wound and healed any punctured organs. It was the perfect weapon to recreate Itachi's genjutsu.

With unadulterated force, he plunged the weapon deep into Sasuke's stomach, twisting it painfully against his insides. Unable to hold it back any longer, Sasuke screamed.

A/N

Things are going to start getting a bit more fast-paced from now on so stay tuned! As always, thank you for your support! Any and all feedback is appreciated.