The groan of the cell door opening filled his bones with dread. Sasuke came to know that sound as a warning that agony will soon follow. He had been kept here for days now. Or has it been weeks? Perhaps months? He couldn't be sure. The hours of torture he endured each day and the constant draining of his chakra left him weak, disoriented, and most of all, enraged.

His muscles tensed as he braced himself to be forcibly dragged and tethered to the wooden torture beam. But the feeling of hands gripping painfully at the fabric of his clothes did not come. Instead, he heard the irregular and heavy breathing of another person who was promptly tossed against the wall opposite of him. Sealed blindfolds covering his eyes restricted his ability to see but he could make out the sound of guards chaining someone against the wall of the prison cell he was kept in.

"Please don't do this," the woman—Sasuke identified at the sound of her voice—pleaded. "I promise I'll do better! Please, let me speak to the captain. I just need another chance and I'll do better!" The woman was loudly sobbing now.

"Shut her up," spoke a low and monotone voice and a deafening crack resounded off the walls of the tiny enclosure.

An uncanny silence befell them as the guards finished restraining their newest victim who was out cold from whatever it was they did to "shut her up."

As the cell door creaked shut again, Sasuke began to mull over the words the distressed woman spoke. Who was the captain? Were they punishing their own people? Will this woman suffer the same fate as him?

He racked his brain for answers but produced none. This frustrated him to an unbearable degree. He was a genius, he could always come up with a plan. Hell, he was easily one of the strongest Shinobi in the world. So what in the hell is he doing locked up here by ordinary thugs?

But then he remembered, these people were far from ordinary. The chakra absorption jutsu was a sophisticated technique that Sasuke had barely mastered with the help of the Rinnegan. And yet, they had been able to use it on him regularly to prevent his escape. Coupled with that, their torture weapon of choice—a chakra lined sword—required expertise in medical ninjutsu to create and wield. Whoever his captors were, they were more experienced than he would expect from mere hunters after his head for a bounty.

The thought of medical ninjutsu brought him back to Sakura, though he was desperate to avoid it. A selfish and childish part of him wished for her to come take him from this godforsaken place. She always had a knack of finding him. Somehow, she could always predict his every move. But as soon as the thoughts crossed his mind, he suppressed them and squashed them away until not even remnants remained.

Sasuke was hopelessly trying to solve the puzzle of his situation with the tiny pieces of information he had been given—Headquarters, the captain, a bounty—when a piercing scream rang in his ears. The sound was slightly muffled as it came from another room but the pain in it was indisputable. Whoever they were, Sasuke knew exactly how it felt to be in their place.

With the volume of the noise coming from the nearby torture chamber, Sasuke knew this was his chance to attempt an escape. Any noise he made would be masked by the ongoing commotion. He had no plan but he had to try.

Sasuke pulled painfully at the restraint on his right wrist, the metal digging into his irritated skin. The last time they chained him up, he had tensed his muscles as much as possible in an attempt to have them secure the cuff more loosely. It somewhat worked. With much difficulty and a grunt as he felt tissue tear from his wrist, he wiggled his hand loose.

With his lone hand finally freed, he attempted to claw at the blindfold that restricted his visual dojutsu but to no avail. Next, he tried to channel whatever chakra he had left to break the seal but there simply wasn't enough. Frustrated, he slammed his fist against the wall and immediately regretted it when he felt his knuckles split and bleed.

Taking several breaths, he willed his anger to boil down. He had been temporarily blinded before, back when he overused his Mangekyo Sharingan and while he was healing from the transplant of Itachi's eyes. He was able to figure out how to navigate his surroundings then so he could do it now, though he had to quell the nagging voice telling him that this situation was completely different. Back then, he only needed to make his way around a familiar hideout. Today, he didn't even have enough strength remaining to sense chakra signatures.

With effort, he pushed himself to his feet, struggling to use them after so much time spent being restrained. His muscles protested and wobbled slightly but he pushed through. He began to run his fingers along the wall until he felt ridges that signified he had reached the door. Focusing, he willed himself to listen for breathing or movements—anything that would indicate there were guards at the door.

The scream sounded, but this time coupled with shouts. To Sasuke's relief, he heard the guards standing outside mutter to each other and take off in the direction of the noise. As another scream rang through the hall, Sasuke used it to his advantage and slammed his shoulder against the door. It did not budge. He waited patiently for another opportunity. More commotion began, and he propelled his body into the door again, his strength returning slightly at the prospect of escape. This time, he was rewarded with the sudden rush of cool air that told him he had broken through.

He flattened himself against the wall and began moving silently away from the noise. He focused his hearing on his surroundings, almost certain that he would at least be able to detect a person. How he would conceal himself if he did have a run-in, he had no idea. He was operating purely on impulse and relied only on luck.

Voices around the corner caught his attention and he froze in place, concentrating to make out the words. He recognized the voices, he realized. Against his will, a chill ran down his spine as his muscles tensed. While he himself feared no one, his body reacted in the only way it could to the signal that pain was to come. The voices belonged to the men who tortured him almost daily.

"I don't get why we can't just turn him in now and get the bounty," one of the men whined. Sasuke leaned further towards the source of the conversation, his ears perking up now as a sneaking suspicion settled in that they were referring to him.

"I'm not done with him yet," the voice that spoke was deep, belonging to the man Sasuke had deduced was their leader—the one who commandeered his torture sessions.

"If Headquarters finds out we've been hiding him—you and me?—we're done for," his voice rose slightly.

Sasuke furrowed his brows—as much as the tight blindfold on his head allowed, at least—when the sound of a body slamming against a wall reached him. He could only imagine that the man with the deep voice had his comrade by the collar with a vice grip. What the man said next was so low, Sasuke had to strain to hear it.

"Don't you dare question my methods," the man growled, "do as I say or you'll be—"

Distant sounds of marching feet and voices interrupted the men. Sasuke could only make out one voice above the rest and while he couldn't discern the words, he knew from the curt tone that it was barking orders to the others. Curiosity struck when he realized he had heard it before, but in his daze, he couldn't quite place it. As if the men also recognized the voice, Sasuke heard them curse under their breath.

"That sounds like—fuck. Go get the Uchiha and move him to the cell on level three. Now," the deep-voiced man commanded.

"No way, we can't hide from him. He's one of Root's best and if he's here, he may have already caught word that we have him"

Another deafening sound of a skull slamming against a solid wall resounded and Sasuke could hear a whimper escape the lips of one of the men.

"I said now or being caught by Headquarters will be the least of your worries."

As the commanding voice continued to near, Sasuke turned away from the men and moved quickly in the opposite direction, keeping his body as close to the wall as possible. He didn't have time to think of the voice now. He needed to concentrate on getting out undetected, a nearly impossible feat when his most reliable sense was hindered. As he continued his blind trek, Sasuke could feel his legs wobble beneath his weight.

With this being the most his body has moved on its own since he was brought to this place, his head began to spin and a dense fatigue overwhelmed him. He was forced to slow his pace when nausea washed over him, causing him to almost double over in pain. The time he has spent here has worn out his body and left him feeling as if he'd just aged thirty years.

Sasuke wasn't sure how he managed it, but he had somehow wandered the hideout for at least 15 minutes now undetected. His senses finally kicking in, he did his best to navigate the winding hallways. With the last bit of his chakra, he could sense that he was underground so his goal was to head towards higher elevation, guided only by what remained of his chakra. He was sure he'd find an exit somewhere.

To his dismay, his luck soon ran out as voices began to near him in all directions. He was trapped. As a last resort, he concentrated the last of his chakra onto his feet and attempted to climb the wall and hide himself on the ceiling. But alas, the chakra dissipated before he even made it a couple feet off the floor.

The sudden loss of grip caused his body to crash to the ground, sending the voices rushing quickly in his direction. He cursed under his breath as he pushed himself to his feet. If he was going down again, he would at least go down fighting. He refused to let himself be captured so easily.

As the voices came near him, he braced himself for combat. But before he could even attempt a maneuver, some sort of vine sprouted from the ground and twisted around his arms and legs, holding him motionless where he stood. As he was restrained, he started to realize: these weren't vines at all.

"Sorry Sasuke, leaving isn't an option for you. Nice try though," came that familiar, male voice again. He concentrated deeply on the sound as he racked his brain. A name, he knew it, it was on the tip of his tongue.

As the man drew closer and more vine-like things tightened around his body, it dawned on Sasuke. He knew this man after all and the realization made his blood run cold. This man was a Leaf Shinobi.

A/N

Hi all! Hope you all have enjoyed celebrating SasuSaku Month! Sorry for the delay in updates but I've finally been able to write a few chapters.

For anyone interested, I'm running a free art commission giveaway on my Twitter! Find me on Twitter ArtfullyPoetic and see the pinned post on my profile for details and rules!

As always, thank you for all your kind words and support. Comments/reviews on what you think of this chapter are appreciated!