Chapter L

Tortured Alive

TW: Gore, Blood, Torture

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I scream, struggling harder and harder to free myself from those unbreakable shackles.

I try, again and again, until I feel my blood slide down my arms, but I cannot free my wrists bound by these metal rings and firmly fixed above my head. My similarly tied ankles keep my feet from lifting off the floor stained with years of torture. In the helplessness and pain inflicted by my own despair, my eye paralyzed with fear witnesses the abuse they're inflicting on Naruto.

Chained to this stone surface as cold as a winter night, the teenager struggles more fiercely than me, screaming in agony, and his cries break my heart. I am unable to see what they're doing to him since their backs block my vision, which is hampered by the paradoxically lit half-light.

The light on this hell table dazzles me even though it's dim. In light and dark, I watch them exchange tools of death that have become Chinese shadows. These instruments soiled with freshly taken carmine fluid butcher the skin without pity; sheaves of blood fly, staining the stone walls cracked with horrors and my whole immobilized being. His still hot blood warms my icy body, mingles with mine which escapes from my open wounds, from my flesh raw and mutilated by my own sadly vain efforts.

I try to scream, but only pitiful whispers leave my lips; my trachea crushed by this lump in my throat no longer allows me to vibrate my vocal cords or produce the slightest sound. My unstable, useless breathing prevents the air from sneaking into my atrophied lungs. My organ of love is tormented, squeezed, stabbed, and burns my whole chest, as if sadistic flames were licking it with their orange glow.

The smell of blood lingers in my nose. A sharp pain tortures me. My red eye is doomed and unusable; my chakra reserves are dry. In this infernal tumult, my ears hear everything and I am unable to cover them and therefore escape this reality in which I am imprisoned, without any hope of liberation. The echo amplifies this shambles of cruel sounds which I have no choice but to listen to…

Then silence.

No more noise.

Nothingness.

Naruto has stopped screaming and no longer fidgets. These vile beings exchange muted whispers as the worst possible scenario bombards my head; I feel my own heart stop and crumble bit by bit. Without realizing it, without saying it in words, Naruto just took his last breath. In shock, I am frozen, paralyzed, petrified. I try to convince myself in vain that I am misguided with malice and madness.

"...Na… Naruto..."

Slowly, their heads turn and they gaze coldly at me. My eye shrouded by despair darkens and no longer derogates from the tortured body that I contemplate with dread. I know it's him, but I don't recognize him.

His skin, which had turned cadaverous white, was flayed. His arms were severed along their entire length and then opened, exposing the shattered bones and simmering in a mass of black and red flesh contaminated with gangrene; his legs and tail suffered the same punishment. The entrails were removed from his carcass, including the carefully removed organs which now rest in metal dishes among surgical utensils of all kinds.

His face, bloody and marked with countless cuts, is unrecognizable. He no longer has lips; his teeth have been pulled out, though the oversized fangs are still there. His protruding, empty eyes froze in horror and pain; a tear of blood leaves one of the swollen and half-punctured orifices.

All that's left is a butchery adorned with red hair that was once blond.

In this forbidden trance, I get back in touch with reality when they're in front of me, looking at me with their scarlet irises and possessed by a diabolical entity. Surgical masks cover their faces, but I can see their wicked grins driven by the pure pleasure of inflicting indescribable evils.

"We may have failed, but this one will live up to our expectations," one of the torturers declares in a chilling voice.

"Time to create a new seraphim," another one whispers, bringing his face close to mine that is horrified.

Their cruel hands rest on my body which takes too long to react. Each of their palms pierces me like white-hot blades, and only when freed from my shackles do I struggle to push them away. I became weak, too weak to resist them; I kick my legs and my arms, although these movements are pathetic and useless.

Against my will, I am taken to another table of inevitable torments. I panic when I see the bloody leather belts just waiting to grip my skin in their vice. Fear engulfs me when I notice sharp spikes inside that will dig into my flesh.

They forcibly lay me down on this ice surface and securely tie my wrists and ankles. These pointed and sharp knives dig into my delicate skin pierced on all sides. I moan in pain, and I'm only at the beginning of my ordeal.

They compress my torso with another sturdy belt stained with vital fluid. My respiration is hampered and my absent breath turns to wheezing. The light above me blinds me like a midday sun at its peak.

I try to move my imprisoned limbs with ferocity, but there is nothing to be done. I am bound to this work table which makes me shiver with cold and fear. I will suffer the same fate as Naruto. It's my turn… I'm next…

To my dismay and my misfortune, they tear and cut my clothes, thus exposing my body and the smallest patch of skin without shame. My face is also naked in front of these lustful eyes; their perverse gaze wanders greedily over me, without embarrassment or remorse.

As I mutter inaudible pleas, I glimpse a nightmare tool rushing to slice the flesh off my arm. I let out a first scream of pain, then another and another, while all my limbs suffered the same abuse. They're opening my arms and legs to the bone.

The suffering is unbearable, agonizing… I want to sink into darkness forever for this to end. I sincerely want to die when an acid is poured into me and spreads through my veins and chakra network. I feel myself melting and boiling inside. I scream, I scream until I tear my vocal cords to shreds.

I am inflamed by nothing but pain. My sight is blurred and turns red; blood mingles with my tears that drown my dull eyes veiled in unfathomable darkness. There is no more hope and there never was. The moment Naruto succumbed to this torture that I wish on no one, I gave up on surviving. Unnecessarily, I still aspire to a gentle and quick death that will free me from all my torments…

With difficulty, I raise my head to see my own self that I don't recognize. I am bitten with anguish, I panic and my eyelid no longer blinks when I notice this black mark on my chest or my skinned hands armed with deadly claws. A lick and I discover the existence of fangs much too big for my mouth space.

As the world all around me crumbles on itself, I release a final scream and then disappear into the abyss where the silence of death reigns.

- XxX -

I wake up violently with a jump while letting out a cry straight from the catacombs. Sitting and shaking like a leaf, I am completely covered in my sweat that is soaking my whole being. My chaotic breathing is close to hyperventilating, to the point of feeling as if I'm suffocating under my own breath. I shiver with cold and my body is horribly frozen to the core.

With anguish, I watch my sweaty palms. My already pale skin now seems whiter than snow, even translucent. Mechanically, I examine my mouth with my tongue. Incapable to separate the fake from the real, I glance down at my chest as I lift my tank top.

There is nothing. Nothing at all.

Everything is normal.

I'm still normal.

I bring one hand to my heart, hoping it calms its hurtful race as I hold my head with the other. I am in shock. I still feel the sharp, agonizing pains on my skin, as if those wounds were still there. Nevertheless, the pain disappears as I reconnect with reality. This nightmare was worthy of violence similar to those in which I killed Rin night after night. I haven't dreamed since I was pierced by the monstrous fangs of my student… His venom is supposed to chase away all dreams, including nightmares…

Why did I start dreaming this night? Is it because Naruto bit me a second time? Or is it something else?

It still pitch dark; it's late. My eye gradually adjusts to the obscurity and I notice that Naruto isn't in my bed beside me. Only now do I hear a breath as panicked as mine.

A few steps in front of me, the completely distraught teenager stares at me with his eyes wide open; at this, his blond and ebony fur are ruffled to their climax and are just beginning to return to a normal appearance. Slowly, but surely, his breathing calms down.

My brutal awakening must have caused a real fright in him; in the peaceful, silent night, he mustn't have expected my voice to tear this peace with its din of distress. However, Naruto fiercely keeps his hands behind his back, as if hiding something. If I associate his posture with that of the time of his captivity, I am convinced of it.

I take several seconds to pull myself together before frowning.

"Naruto, what are you hiding behind your back?" I ask between two breaths.

In response, the feral, angst-bitten boy arches his back and takes a step back. He avoids meeting my gaze at all costs. He's definitely hiding something from me and obviously, he doesn't want me to know.

"Naruto, show me what you're hiding," I order as he steps back once more.

His refusal forces me to get out of bed to approach him. Naruto maintains the distance until his back is against the wall and that he's only at an arm's length away from me. He holds his breath and tries in vain to escape me; the wall behind him prevents him from doing so.

Not at all patient and somewhat upset by this horrible nightmare, I coldly hold out my palm to him. With a stern, piercing gaze, I shake it to let him know that I'm not in the mood to argue and that he'd better comply with my order.

Naruto swallows, staring at my hand. After painful seconds, his cheeks take on a redder complexion and with a timid movement, he reluctantly shows me what he was hiding.

I miss a heartbeat when I recognize the second volume of Make-Out Paradise. My cheekbones are overheating and I start trembling again. I sincerely wonder if I'm still dreaming.

"... You… You're not … really reading … that?" I stammer in a whisper.

To my dismay, Naruto lifts the book with which he camouflages half of his face; he's as embarrassed as I am. His eyes finally deign to connect with mine. This is his way of confirming it to me.

A silence.

"… You… How… How many pages have you … have you read…?"

The blond opens the book and turns the pages, until he stops on a certain page, which he then shows me with embarrassment. I see with horror that he'll soon be finished…

Engulfed in this stupor that paralyzes me, I want to roll into a ball, cover myself with the blanket to disappear forever. Naruto didn't display the slightest interest in reading—rather, he preferred to be bored and do nothing with his time. In addition to not being able to sleep, he waits for me to fall into slumber to cross what's prohibited for him. After all, I had forbidden him during his time in the cage.

The very obvious strikes me.

Naruto is interested in what interests me…

I had forgotten his tendency to imitate me. I am the worst imbecile there is. I didn't think about the possibility that he was taking advantage of my swoon to do whatever he wanted. In addition to his claws which lacerate and destroy my room more and more, Naruto rummages through my belongings… At least I don't have anything … "intimate" that he could get his hands on. And thus, put me the worst embarrassment of my life…

I'm beginning to believe that breaking his nightlife routine may be impossible, given that he's busy at night as opposed to the day when he prefers to sleep. With his feral temper, probably … especially if he doesn't have the slightest desire to do so.

Until it comes from him, Naruto will refuse to embark on my daytime routine.

- XxX -

After snatching the book from my student's hands while scolding him to never stick his nose in it again, I went to bed to get some sleep… Unfortunately, despite my exhaustion, I couldn't sink anymore. I turned around in my sheets until dawn broke on the horizon, gradually lighting up my room.

Besides biting me twice, Naruto obviously didn't inject me with enough venom the second time. As a result, I was the victim of this nightmarish dream much more terrible than this illusion in which I was dying; this drowning had disconcerted me for several days, and that is a euphemism.

As for Naruto, he hasn't left my room. He was pacing, sometimes standing or on all fours. I heard the unbearable scratching of his fingernails under my bunk that forced me to cover my head with my pillow, grumbling. His piercing gaze stared at me way too long per moment. I believe that at one point, he started licking something for minutes on end… I didn't have the courage to take a look; I was too irritated and eager to sleep.

Naruto bounced into my bed several times, startling me way too often. Sometimes he brought his face close to mine, sometimes he touched me with his hands and his tail, as if asking me to get up. Annoyed and uttering muffled growls, I completely covered myself with the blanket as I crawled away until I stuck myself to the wall; a silent request that he finally leave me alone.

I'm plagued by insomnia and to add to my ordeal, Naruto irritates me and makes my hair stand on end. He's wide awake and far too active. I almost regret not having left him the book… Although it's intended for adults, I hesitate to give it back to him, in hope that he will leave me alone. I also hesitate to claim his fangs again in my tortured flesh, to ask for his venom to numb my body, my mind and therefore, to be freed from my misery…

With daybreak, the sapphire-eyed boy's activity subsided, plunging the room into a much-craved calm. Very quickly, even though I was tightly curled up in my blanket, he sought and found an opening through which he slipped to embrace me with all his limbs…

At the end of my tether, frustrated by this catastrophic night and his sickly closeness, I savagely push the blanket away and try to get out of Naruto's clinging embrace. Unfortunately, my student refuses to let me go. He pins himself to me, digs his claws through my tank top which pierces my skin with a sweet pain.

"NARUTO! LET GO OF ME!" I yell, at the end of my patience, pushing him away even more with my aching arms.

With my sad chakra reserves almost nil and the exhaustion caused by this sleepless night, I cannot compete with the raw strength of Naruto who persists in holding me hostage in his embrace. Suddenly, his tail twists around my legs, tying them up so tightly that I cannot move them anymore; at that, the teenager straddles me to force me onto my back. In response, my heart races as does my breathing.

While looking at me with his emotionless face, he releases my torso to grab my wrists with a quick gesture; he squeezes them so hard that I feel like he's going to break my bones. Before I can react, he crosses them behind my back and then holds them with one hand; in doing so, he scratches my skin.

I try to free myself. I fidget miserably and unnecessarily, but there is nothing to do. I am firmly tied up, and I am crushed by the weight of his body on my pelvis. Trapped in this precarious situation, panic seizes me. My voice is silent and refuses to speak; I've become as mute as Naruto. I can only dive my iris into his as I continue to struggle … in vain. I resolve to use my Sharingan, although I don't have enough chakra…

However, before I can open my eyelid, Naruto puts his hand over my eyes to blind me. In response, I shake my head to remove his palm … without success; it's stuck to my face. I am too weak to resist him and I realize that I am at his mercy.

A sincere fear shakes me whole; I'm afraid of what Naruto is going to do with me. His intentions, whatever they are, give me goosebumps. Drained of my chakra, immobilized, helpless, unable to use my Sharingan, I dread in the worst possible way what will soon happen. I'm shaking like a leaf.

The sapphire-eyed boy lays his full weight on top of me before laying his head on my neck.

"Shuuuuu, suuuuuu," Naruto whispers softly, his lips mere millimetres from my innocent ear.

Listening to these weird sounds, I understand that he's asking me to calm down, that everything will be fine and that I don't have to worry. I feel as if he's trying to say something and that he cannot pronounce the syllables correctly. I cannot know; I'm too panicked to think.

I stop struggling since this fight is lost in advance. I'm too weak to break free from his grip, after all. Faced with my surrender, Naruto releases my vision and strokes my silver hair. When I open my eyelids, he hastens to cover them again, muttering his incomprehensible sounds.

I finally understand what he wants from me.

Naruto wants me to fall asleep with him.

To the point of leaving me no other choice.

It takes me a long time, yes, but I manage to regain some semblance of calm, although the stress and anxiety are plaguing me. Naruto's intentions aren't going in the worst possible direction. Unable to think rationally, my exhausted brain had imagined … scenarios in which Naruto was… Whatever. I breathe a sigh of relief.

"…Na…Naruto. I get it… Please release me," I mumble once my respiration stabilizes.

However, I don't get any feedback from the blond. I hear long breaths of a regular and peaceful pace, implying that Naruto is sinking into Morpheus's arms.

I gently shake my head to remove this hand that has become terribly motionless from my face… Unfortunately, the tips of his sharp nails claw me. My face is marked by three benign scratches up to the bridge of the nose, one of which crosses my left eyelid; an unworrisome bleeding is followed by insignificant pain.

I let out an unnecessary groan and see that Naruto has indeed fallen asleep. However, if I try to free my wrists, the grip gradually tightens like the embrace of death the other day.

"Naruto! Release me!" I order dryly.

Frustrated, I continue to call out to him in a loop until I scream in his eardrums, but nothing helps. My voice cannot reach him nor bother him since he doesn't even react. No small movement of discomfort, no complaints. Nothing at all. He sleeps as if nothing had happened … to believe that my cries are a lullaby in his ears…

Aware that any struggle will put my life in danger, I breathe the longest sigh of my life while rolling my eyes. I am forced to lie in this excruciatingly uncomfortable position with my student lying on top of me; at this, my limbs strangled in these vices made of flesh go numb, all accompanied by unpleasant tingling.

In this endless wait, I have to wait for Naruto to deeply fall asleep or release me on his own. My arms and legs are suffocating; the blood fails to feed them well and little by little, I lose all feeling. I tolerate this real torture which is painfully prolonged over time.

I'm living the longest minutes of my life.