Disclaimers: Naruto is not mine, sadly. This is purely a fanfic using someone else's characters.
Warnings: This story includes strong language, violence, sexual assault, torture, sexual content (yaoi), & angst.
Author Note:
I was listening to 'Cemetery Drive' by My Chemical Romance on repeat as I wrote this chapter and for some reason it just hit. I felt the angst a lot more, maybe too much, but I didn't want it to stop.
If you want the same messed up but oddly addictive feeling, I recommend doing the same as you read this.
It's All In Your Head
Chapter 78: Share
--
Nothing but panicky thoughts ran through Naruto's head. He worried over what Kabuto would let Itachi do to him, why they tied him down, why it was necessary to weaken someone if you just intended to torture them anyways..
What he wanted him to stay awake for.
The list grew longer with each passing moment, but he didn't want to succumb to the fear. Kabuto was already plenty conceited, and it would do no good to play the part of his helpless little victim.
He was definitely fucked as far as having any means of defense or escape, but Sasuke was looking for him. That meant he just needed to buy him some time and stall the snake for as long as possible. And the best way to stall with someone like Kabuto was to use enough casual humor to throw them off their perfect plan. Basically just completely kill the picturesque super villain moment they anticipated. And then, when they were distracted enough, talk. Get the asshole to threaten him, to scream out a long list of frustrations and profanities, and he'll be plenty eager to share more- his thorough plans and meager reasonings, his childhood best and worst, his broken heart sob story, and his need to be understood.
Sure. Overtime Naruto had learned to be more ruthless, a little colder, a hell of a lot stronger, but there were countless times when he didn't need any of that to deal with a sticky situation. Sometimes you just needed to get your opponent to talk. Get them to face their truths, their humanity, and their plans start to crumble around them. It had worked before, best case scenario he could get it to work in his favor again.
And since his and Kurama's power was still being syphoned off with the chakra collar, his body drugged and restrained, and a Mangekyou on standby that's really all he could do.
"I have such wonderful things planned for you, my young jinchuriki."
"Care to share.. with.. the rest of the.. class?" he breathed.
Kabuto looked less than amused.
And uninterested in engaging.
Fuck. This might not work.
Part of the reason this shit ever worked in the first place was because Naruto had an air about him that made him approachable. His voice was booming and difficult to ignore, but he wasn't cruel. He got straight to the point, but always led with kindness. He didn't demonize people- he tried to help them find explanations. But that didn't quite come across when his attempts came out so breathy and fractured.
His voice of reason was pretty easy to ignore when he could only manage a word or two at a time.
Ok, now you really are fucked..
Everything about his situation was horrific.
Two people from his past he had hoped to never see again now had him locked away and tied down. And while whatever Kabuto had injected into him had weakened his body and muddled his now useless words, Naruto's mind was still working at full speed. That alone was torture. Because it meant that he saw everything as it truly was- he just couldn't do anything about it.
He wasn't slow to register Kabuto's hand tightening on his jaw, or the heat coming off of Itachi's otherwise blank stare. He saw it and he couldn't do anything about it. Everything in him was screaming at him to lash out. To fight for an escape- hell, even for just some semblance of his fucking dignity. He was desperate to act and could think of nothing crueler than his own body keeping him from it.
But Kabuto could.
In fact, that was all he was thinking about.
Kabuto slid his golden gaze from his debilitated captive and over to the Uchiha he had managed to ensnare. In a manner of speaking, one could say they both had. Kabuto had worked tirelessly over countless corpses to take hold of Itachi- the best of his clan and Konoha's bloodiest secret. He had only ever dreamed of having a Uchiha in his lab, but to have thee Itachi Uchiha under his control- it was.. well, it had been the most shocking thing he had seen in quite some time. That is, until he saw the interaction between the two of them.
To think that Itachi Uchiha became this infatuated with the Nine Tails jinchuriki. And that his own brother would do the same.
He wondered which came first.
It was ridiculous and highly unlikely that the last of the Uchiha clan, both of them, would fall for the same jinchuriki.
And yet..
He thought about Itachi's reaction the second he saw Naruto. Before Kabuto could make any command, before he took hold of his mind and his body with it, Itachi had simply been running on auto pilot- going off instinct. And his instinct was to confidently approach Naruto. And more than that- the way he reached for him..
Kabuto knew what he saw there. And he was curious to see just how deep that infatuation went.
He glanced up at the stoic raven. Those infamous sharingan eyes had retracted, now nothing but faded black pools- the unfocused gaze of a puppet. An empty doll. An obedient vessel waiting to follow his master's orders. And yet a pale hand still managed to break free of that mindless cage. The rogue appendage reached out for the bound blonde and slid down his arm. It envoked a chill that vibrated through Naruto's entire body, and something akin to a whimper escaped before he could stop it.
Kabuto licked his lips with his long serpentine tongue, tasting the fear emanating from his prey and the desire blooming in his resurrected test subject.
It was a delicious combination.
His hand still firmly gripping the blonde's chin, Kabuto leaned down, waiting for their eyes to meet before he spoke.
"You know, Naruto, I'm feeling a bit generous today. Perhaps I should give you two some space to get.. reacquainted."
Naruto's listless body failed to show his panic, but the snake could still see it in his eyes- in the sudden clarity of those cloudy orbs, and the flash of fear that skimmed across the surface. The way his pupils tightened, curling in on itself as his adrenaline spiked. It was fascinating. Kabuto was eager to add his newest observations to his notes, and to see what other responses he could pull from a body forced to contain the majority of them.
"W-wait" Naruto breathed. "Ple-please.. don't.. I-."
"I insist" Kabuto cut in with a sharp smile. "With all of the humanity that failed to come back to him, who am I to deny Itachi's remaining desire?"
As if to solidify his words, Itachi intertwined his fingers with Naruto's unresponsive ones.
Naruto opened his mouth, but his tongue floundered over the words. In the end whatever he wanted to say beached itself and died on the spot. Ocean eyes dropped to his captured hand and filled with pain- unspoken, unexplained. The kind one cannot see. The kind that breaks a test subject better than most.
It was why Kabuto wanted a Mangekyou wielder by his side in the first place. He just hadn't expected it to work in his favor in multiple ways.
Kabuto finally released Naruto's face and wasn't all that surprised to find his blank-eyed doll moving in to take his place. Naruto's head fell back to the side for only a moment when Itachi sank his free hand in his hair and claimed it. He tightened his hold and turned Naruto back to face him
Naruto averted his gaze, afraid of what he'd see if he didn't, but he could feel Itachi's. The hand in his hair, the other wrapped around his fingers- it was clearly just the beginning. Because for some reason it didn't bother the snake to share his experiment. The thought sent another wave of fear through him.
"W-why..?" he managed, his voice barely audible.
One word, three simple letters, but it conveyed much to his captor. Kabuto was fully aware that the question was heavily focused on Itachi's overbearing presence and his casual acceptance of it, but there were others that surely pulsed through the blonde's mind inbetween. He would want to know why he was in this cellar to begin with. Why he was forced to be his experiment again. Why he had been drugged this time. The whys were likely endless, but in the end the word alone would become his biggest one. The question that every victim inevitably wore it all down to. The only one they had left in their final moments.
"Why" Kabuto repeated, enjoying the taste but preferring to hear it from the mouths of his subjects. "I suppose I can answer all of your whys at once."
He paused for dramatic effect, watched a shiver course through the blonde as Itachi tangled his fingers in his hair. As his other hand slipped lower.
"Nnhn-no.."
Itachi's hand paused on his thigh, and Kabuto ignored it as he leaned in. He brought his lips close to the blonde's ear, leaving his terrified gaze locked on Itachi instead. "I want to watch you break, jinchuriki. Just like the others."
Naruto noticed something flicker in Itachi's faded eyes, a spark of something real. But when he tried to take a second look it was already gone.
Did I imagine it..?
"I told you what truly destroys a person, didn't I?" Kabuto purred, too caught up in himself to notice anything else. "Betrayal and pain. But there's more to that, isn't there!"
He sat up fast, a maniacal smile stretched wide across his face and reaching his gleaming gaze. He moved away from the cot and found himself pacing before the blonde, his excitement growing with every step. After all this time, his painstaking efforts had finally come to fruition. The Mangekyou wielder was his to control and the Nine Tails was helpless in his grasp. And finally, finally, nothing was in his way. There was no one to stop him.
"Pain in itself is fascinating" he went on. "It is subjective, and yet measureable. Its effects can be short-term and long-term simultaneously. The body can physically recover and be emotionally beyond any means of repair, and the same can be true of the opposite. And jinchurikis- they are especially fascinating when it comes to pain. Even without your tailed beasts' power, your threshold for pain is stronger than the average human's. It has to be for you to be a host to begin with. Jinchuriki's pain receptors alter drastically as the subject ages, and it is wholly on their own power. Symbiotic relationships are possible because of shared and separate strength, and an equally heightened ability to tolerate pain. When you really think about it-"
Naruto tried to listen to the snake's rant, mostly in hopes of hearing something in relation to getting the fuck away from him, but the words seemed to be caught in a current and he couldn't keep up. Waves of them crashed against him, pummeling his mind and invading his senses. Then just as suddenly they would be swept away, pulled into the background, their meaning lost in the vastness of everything else. And Itachi.. Itachi was like a lighthouse- constantly beckoning his fear to shallow waters.
Because it didn't take much to drown.
And as much as Naruto wanted to look away, to pretend that he didn't see him, he was helplessly pulled back in. He kept hoping he would see his humanity again. That something would snap back into place. That he would be more than an empty shell filled with pent-up desire and blind obedience.
He had yet to find it.
"-and I wonder which form of pain will have the strongest effect on the Nine Tails' host" Kabuto said, seemingly unaware of his distracted audience. "The techniques I used with you last time seemed to be effective, but is physical pain enough to break you?"
Naruto's eyes shot back over to the snake as memories of his 'techniques' flooded his thoughts. "Ka..buto" he choked, "ple-"
Kabuto ignored his fearful eyes and breathy pleas as he continued.
"The mental torment only a Mangekyou can achieve- will that prove to be more effective? These questions I have already pondered over, but there was one form of pain that I had not considered. One that truly encompasses both. Equal parts mentally devastating and physically excruciating- when done correctly of course. A pain that is a little more.."
He grinned down at his prey.
"intimate."
Naruto's huge blue eyes shot open, and he flinched violently against his restraints.
"NO!"
He somehow managed to gather enough strength to push himself up, but it didn't last long. The room spun and Naruto collapsed back against the cot. Darkness nearly consumed him, but he managed to breathe past it and his vision cleared. And as it did, he wondered if he had made the wrong call trying to stay conscious.
"You have some fight in you, jinchuriki" Kabuto said, giving him an appraising look. "I guess we'll see just how much fight is really in there."
Naruto stared at him in horror. He watched Kabuto sink his hand into his pocket, that same malicious grin still oozing across his reptilian face as he looked over at his lifeless drone. "Itachi."
The Uchiha blinked and raised his chin to meet his master's stare.
"Do whatever you want to him." His eyes flashed as he added, "and don't bother holding back."
All of the blood drained from Naruto's face. "No.." He jerked against his restraints, willing his body to fight back, to fucking do something!!
"N-no.." he gasped, summoning all the strength he had left. "Ka..buto. Don't.. ple-please!"
Completely unaffected by his broken cries, the snake stepped away from his experiments and towards the hidden tunnel at the far side of the room. Naruto tried to tilt his head back to follow his exit, but Itachi's hand kept it locked in place and he was once again blind to it.
"St-stop.." he gasped, pushing past the tears lodged in his throat. "Pl..ease.. y-you.. can't.."
"I'd save your strength, Naruto" Kabuto called over his shoulder. "I have a feeling you're going to need it."
Then rock slammed against rock and the sound of dwindling footsteps soon turned to none.
And he was alone.
Drugged, chakraless, Kyuubi-less, and strapped down with whatever was left of Itachi hovering over him.
He wanted to believe his conscience was in there. That the good Naruto saw in him two years ago had returned with the mind full of memories and the same wandering hands. That those familiar dark eyes were still capable of looking at him with the softness he found so surprising and so.. alluring the last time they were together.
But when Naruto looked up, he didn't see any of that.
He saw a puppet in Uchiha skin..
prepared to follow orders.
--
You have got to be kidding me.
Sasuke flashed out of sight and reappeared just behind a familiar figure. He gripped a fistful of dark hair and roughly jerked his head back as he pressed a kunai close to a pale throat.
"I have a hard time trusting coincidences" he growled against his ear. He pulled the kunai close, letting the edge bite. A thin trail of blood slipped down smooth otherwise unresponsive skin. "You're either a fool for using the same replacement jutsu twice, or a traitor looking for his master."
He pressed the kunai a little deeper to make his point clear. "So Sai, which one is it?"
"You seem upset, Sasuke."
The raven clenched his jaw. "Answer me."
Sai pulled Sasuke's wrist away just enough to talk without being cut further, but he didn't attempt to disarm him. "I can't really answer if I'm only allowed those two options" he said. "Since neither of them are correct."
Sasuke twisted his fist in his hair and jerked him close. "Don't piss me off."
"I'm not really sure how to avoid doing that."
Sasuke pocketed his knife and with an impatient growl he spun Sai around to face him, his fist still buried in his hair.
"Mangekyou."
Sai blinked in surprise as an entirely fabricated world formed around him. It was fascinating. Like the opposite of his Ninja Art. Sasuke did not lend life to his art - he emersed you in it. Sai was swept away by the thought.
Sasuke used his ocular powers to clap the man in irons and force him to his knees. He knelt before him and met his eyes. "Tell me" he growled.
"I am impressed, Sasuke" he admitted. "I have never been in a sharingan illusion before. Your creations are so realistic."
Sasuke's hand shot out and grabbed his jaw hard. "Are you mocking me?!" he snapped, eyes burning with rage.
Sai scanned his face, noting his furrowed brow and bared teeth. "You're angry."
"No shit!" He squeezed down harder and pulled his face closer. "Enough. Tell me where he is."
"Where who is, Sasuke?"
"I'm not buying your act, Sai. Now tell me! Where the fuck is Naruto?!"
Those hollow pits widened with what appeared to be genuine surprise. Sasuke's fury faltered at the sight of it.
"Naruto is missing?"
"He wouldn't have used you as a replacement jutsu if he hadn't.." Sasuke shook his head, forcing back his doubt. "No. It was you or you're working with him. Naruto saw you! He fucking told me!"
"He what? Wait- Sasuke, wait, what happened? Where is Naruto?"
Sasuke screamed and threw Sai down hard. His head slammed against the stone floor with a sickening crack, and Sai was surprised to find that he really did feel pain. Blood slipped down his face, heavier than what slid down his neck. He was forced to keep one eye closed to avoid being blinded by it, and his teeth ached from the jarring impact. He sat up slowly and pressed the heel of his hand against the sticky gash on his temple.
"Fascinating.."
Sasuke wasted no time hoisting him back to his feet to face him. "Don't lie to me!! You led Kabuto straight to him! I fucking know you did! Now tell me- where is he?!!"
Sai furrowed his brows, honest confusion filling his midnight eyes. "Kabuto? Weren't you the one who killed Kabuto?"
"You think this is funny?"
"Not at all. I'm actually very concerned."
The illusion changed and the two were now in a lab that Sai had never known, but one that Sasuke could not forget. Sai sat on a large wooden chair, facing a wall of levers and tables covered in instruments of cruelty. A wide leather band forced his neck back against the chair, keeping a thin metal contraption fixed to his now bloodless temples. His wrists and ankles were strapped down, forcing his hands and feet flat against metal panels.
And Sasuke held the remote that would force them to open.
"Do you know what he did to Naruto last time?" he said, remembering all of it for him. Wishing he couldn't. "Do you have any idea how painful it was for him?"
"Sasuke, I-"
His eyes flashed. "Do you have any idea what you just sent Naruto back to?!"
He slammed his thumb down on the button and Sai felt the cool steel slid back, and a rush of fear at what might be waiting for him beneath it. He flinched as sharp metal points pressed lightly against his palms and the soles of his feet- a warning.
He held his breath and looked up.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Naruto didn't get a chance like this. Those spikes tore through him over and over and over, and I will make it far worse for you if you don't fucking tell me where he is!!"
Tears filled wide onyx eyes, a feeling that was relatively new for Sai. And something Sasuke had never seen from him before. It was enough to make him pause. To make him listen.
"Please, Sasuke. Naruto is my friend. Please tell me what happened to him."
Not 'let me go', Sasuke thought.
Not 'don't hurt me'.
Not 'please don't do this'.
Sai wasn't looking for mercy, in fact he wasn't thinking about himself at all. Those tears were because he had heard that Naruto was in danger. That he could be facing a pain like this all over again. And now that Sasuke had actually thought past his anger long enough, he could see that it was genuine.
"Sai.. I-"
"How long has Naruto been missing?" he asked hurriedly, not hearing him. Not able to think of anything else.
"Sai, will you just listen to-"
"Is it really Kabuto?"
"Sai."
"Do you know your last location?"
"Sai!"
Sai finally paused and turned his wide-eyed stare on the raven.
"It really wasn't you..?"
Despite how emotionless Sai could often seem, there was definitely something that flickered in his eyes at the accusation. If Sasuke didn't know any better, he'd think he just pissed the guy off.
"Naruto is my friend. I would never hurt him. And I have never betrayed him."
Crimson eyes narrowed at that. "Seems like you are capable of anger."
"I feel a lot of emotions when it comes to Naruto."
"Fantastic."
Sasuke let the illusion slip away and removed his hand from Sai's hair before taking a step back. "So then why are you out here?"
"Tsunade sent me to scout the area."
"Why?"
Sai blinked. "Well, three Hidden Leaf shinobi went missing in the same month."
Ah. Right.
"Were you all together?" he asked, wondering why Kakashi wasn't with him now.
"Technically speaking."
Sai stared blankly at him. "Is that a yes?"
Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I have no intention of working with Kakashi right now. You want to find him, go for it. But don't expect me to join you."
Sai shook his head immediately. "Naruto comes first."
Sasuke nodded. He couldn't agree more.
Sai nodded back. "Alright. Let's go find him."
The raven quirked a brow. "When did I say you could come with?"
"You have no reason to be jealous of me like you were before" Sai pointed out calmly. "And I care about Naruto too. You know I will do everything I can to find him. Doesn't it make sense to do that together?"
Sasuke gritted his teeth. Logically speaking he was right, but Sasuke never did have the patience for Sai. And he couldn't seem to shake the jealousy, no matter how unfounded and irrational it was. But Sasuke was once again in the same situation he was in before. He was desperate to find his lost blonde, and obviously struggling to do so on his own.
"Fine. But I will leave you behind if I think you're getting in the way."
Sai scooted to the side, putting some space between them. "There's plenty of room" he said. "I don't think I'll be in the way at all."
Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh. "Christ.."
"Who?"
"Let's just focus, ok? Kabuto took Naruto. He put some kind of chakra block on him and now Kyuubi is out of reach too. So we won't be able to track him by his chakra at all. And I haven't been able to pick up Kabuto's."
Sai considered this for a moment, then thought back to the Mangekyou. "That place in your illusion- that was one of Kabuto's labs?"
Sasuke nodded. He felt a twinge of guilt for nearly torturing Sai over an assumption that proved to be wrong, but not enough to actually apologize for it. At least, not yet.
"Do all of Orochimaru's hideouts come with a lab?"
Sasuke's eyes widened, understanding where he was going with this. "No. They don't."
"But he would need one that did" Sai finished for him.
Another thought occurred to him. "I never heard any word of Kabuto."
"Neither did I" Sasuke said, slowly connecting the dots with him. "Meaning he must have been in hiding this whole time. Then the location would be one that someone wasn't likely to stumble across."
"Does that remind you of any hideouts around here?" Sai asked. "Maybe something underground?"
Sasuke appreciated that he chose not to bring up the time he had spent with Orochimaru. He wasn't sure if Sai was consciously doing it, but it was nice to not have that mistake thrown in his face all the same.
"A few" he answered.
The two exchanged a look and took to the trees, leaping across branches at full speed. Sai drew out a few animals to scout ahead of them, and one monstrous art piece to fly low and scan from the treetops. He chose to stay by Sasuke's side, with some space between them of course, hoping to find out more about what happened to his most cherished friend.
"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked.
Silence greeted him and he wondered if Sasuke was purposely ignoring him or if he should say it louder for him to hear. Before he could decide between the two, the raven finally spoke.
"It's.. kind of a long story."
Sai didn't know what happened with Kakashi and Obito, let alone what brought them here. Sasuke would have to go back quite a bit if he was going to understand the whole story, and he wasn't sure how much he wanted to disclose with the guy. No matter what he said or did, Sai still felt like a rival to him. Shouldn't he be maintaining some boundaries here?
"I am a good listener" Sai said.
He believed it to be true because Naruto told him he was. When the blonde finally started to warm up to the idea of having a friendship with him, he went to Sai for advice or just a safe space to vent. And he often thanked him for hearing him out, for really listening.
He was surprised when Sasuke moved closer to him, and even more so when he started talking. And just as Sai promised, he listened.
Because, according to his most important person, he was good at it.