Disclaimers: Naruto is not mine, sadly. This is purely a fanfic using someone else's characters.

Warnings: This story includes rape, strong language, violence, & obviously a lot of angst.

Naruto's Path of Pain

Chapter 4: A New Naruto

--

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked up. He was laying on his back in bed. A soft blanket was tossed over him. It felt nice, at first. But as he blinked himself more and more awake, he became aware of the horrific pain pulsing through his body. Then he froze, and his eyes shot wide open.

Where the hell am I?

He jolted up with a harsh gasp and immediately fell back on the bed, groaning in pain. Fuck..

Well, whereever I am, looks like I won't be leaving any time soon.

"Naruto?"

He glanced over to the side and was surprised to find Sasuke stepping towards him. "Sasuke? How..? Where am I?" His brows furrowed as the questions fell from his lips, completely confused. Of course, he was happy to see Sasuke again, but he was also alarmed that he had no idea what was going on.

"A hideout of mine. You don't need to worry- no one else knows where it is." He lowered himself into a chair that had been pulled close to the bedside and looked at him, charcoal eyes burning with intensity.

"Naruto, what happened to you..?"

Images flashed through his mind- things he didn't want to think about, didn't want to remember. It didn't stop the horrible memories from replaying- of steel chakra rods stabbing through his hands, pinning him down. The Akatsuki cloak dropping to the ground in front of him. Pain ripping his clothes away. The feel of him pushing against him.. into him.

Sasuke watched as cerulean eyes filled with horror, and then he was puzzled when Naruto turned his face away in disgust.

"I.." he started, not really knowing what to say.

I can't tell anyone what happened, but especially not Sasuke.

He'll think I'm weak, repulsive.. ruined.

He already wants nothing to do with me, he thought sadly. I can't handle seeing him look at me with pity.. and disgust.

"It- it was just an ambush." He dropped his gaze down to his bandaged hands. Sasuke must have done that while I was unconscious. "I'll be fine."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You're lying."

Naruto flinched.

"I want to know what actually happened to you."

The blonde raised his head at that. "Just leave it alone, Sasuke" he grated out, his tone icy as he regarded his long-lost friend.

The raven opened his mouth to argue, but Naruto cut him off. "Besides, you don't really care. I know you're just after information."

Sasuke clenched his jaw tight. "I don't care? Really. I suppose that's why I carried you back here and treated your wounds."

"You should have just left me there.."

It was barely a whisper, but Sasuke heard him, and it pissed him off to hear it. He grabbed Naruto's chin and forced him to face him. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" he snapped. "That I should have left you there to die? Is that what you wanted?"

The dejected blonde was silent, but his eyes gave him away. They always had.

"This isn't you" Sasuke muttered, "Naruto.. what happened to you out there?"

He shook his head, but Sasuke tightened his grip. "Tell me!"

"NO!!" Naruto slapped his hand away.

"I can force you to tell me." Sasuke's eyes turned blood red, spinning as he activated his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Naruto started shaking with fear. "Ple-please, Sasuke.. please don't.." A tear slid down his cheek and he bit his lip hard, wincing as he fought to hold back the rest.

Crimson eyes slipped back to darkness and filled with new concern. "Naruto.."

The blonde threw an arm over his eyes, not wanting Sasuke to see him like this. Not wanting to see the Uchiha's judgement or be swept away into his illusions, forced to relive the worst moment of his life.

"Please.." he choked out, "please just leave me alone."

Sasuke stared at him for another moment and, not knowing what else to do, he stood and walked away. On his way out the door he could hear Naruto's heart-wrenching sobs, and everything in him told him to stop. To turn around and comfort him, to just be there. But he didn't- he maintained his usual Uchiha apathy and left him to cry alone.

And he hated himself for it.

--

Sasuke came back a few hours later with fresh water he had collected from a nearby stream. He wanted to give the blonde space but was careful not to go too far. It was unlikely anyone had ever found this place, but if they had he would be there to stop them from interfering. No one was going near Naruto.

At least, not until I know what the fuck is going on.

When he stepped inside, he found that Naruto was still where he left him- on the bed. The only bed.

Ughh, don't make it awkward.

He paused just outside the door and looked over at the blonde for a moment, watching his chest steadily rise and fall. Satisfied that he was using the time to rest, Sasuke made his way to the other side of the small cabin and dropped down on the couch with a heavy sigh.

What do I do now? I can't get him to talk to me, and I don't know how to change that. I could make him talk to me, but-

He thought about Naruto's reaction when he activated his sharingan. He couldn't remember a time when Naruto was ever afraid of him. He was either over-confident, determined to prove him wrong, or upset that Sasuke wouldn't come back to the Leaf. But afraid..? Never. Whatever's going on with him, it's bad.

"Nnn.."

Sasuke raised his head. "Naruto?"

"N-no..."

He got to his feet, activating his sharingan. "You ok?"

"Nnn.. st- stop. No.. No!!"

Sasuke raced to the bedroom, adrenaline coursing through his veins. "Naruto!" He slid to a stop in front of the blonde. He was thrashing around on the bed, clearly in the grips of a nightmare.

Sasuke gave a long exhale. Fuck.. I really thought-

Naruto screamed again, snapping him back to reality. Sasuke grabbed him and tried to shake him awake. "Na-" before he could even finish saying his name, blue eyes shot open, and Naruto pulled out a kunai, shoving it towards him.

Sasuke grabbed his wrist, holding it still- the kunai an inch away from his throat. "Naruto!" he shouted, his tone stern and demanding.

Awareness slipped back into hazy blue eyes, which quickly widened when he saw dark ones looking back at him. He tried to pull his wrist back, but the hand around it only tightened. He blinked again and realized the person holding onto him was-

"Sasuke..?"

"So, I wasn't the one you were intent on killing."

"Wha-?" He looked down at the kunai. "Oh.." He loosened his grip on the weapon, and Sasuke loosened his grip on his wrist.

"That's new." Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, "I don't remember you waking up with a kunai at someone's throat before."

Naruto tucked the weapon back under his pillow. "People change" he murmured.

"Hmm.." Sasuke regarded his emotionless demeanor. "I suppose that's true. I just didn't expect it to be true with you."

Naruto pushed himself up, wincing as he pressed his back against the wall. "Makes sense" he breathed out through the pain, "there's a lot about me you don't know." He looked up.

"You've been gone a long time, Sasuke".

The Uchiha studied him- this new Naruto.

He's right.. he realized. I really don't know this Naruto at all.

"Did you change because I left?"

Naruto's jaw tightened as he met his gaze.

"I changed because of a lot of things."

Author Note:

I know- the chapters are pretty short for this story. In my defense, this isn't meant to be a long one. This is one of my rare shorter stories. I have many lengthy ones if you prefer a larger narrative, so hopefully it doesn't bother you too much that this one is 'fun-sized'. :)