Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Broken, Inside and Out ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Niara: Hi…I think…

 

Disclaimer: Don't own `em

 

-----

 

Broken, Inside and Out: Chapter 2

 

Tsunade walked out of the hospital room tired and exhausted, her shoulders slumped, head bowed as she made her way to the waiting group of ninja. Sakura was on her feet, pacing back and forth, wringing her slender hands in worry. Ino Yamanaka, one of the youngest of the Yamanaka Clan, sat beside Shikamaru Nara, the Nara Genius, nibbling on her thumbnail in agitation.

 

Chouji Akimichi, the long-time teammate of Shikamaru and Ino, was leaning against the wall beside them, his eyes on her, his usual bag of chips or some other such snack absent. Hinata and Neji Hyuuga sat together, Neji stiff and formal, Hinata with her knees drawn up to her chest, white eyes wide and far too large in her pixy face. Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame were leaning against the wall on either side of the Hyuuga heiress and her cousin, the dog ninja growling softly while Shino emitted a peculiar yet soothing buzzing noise.

 

Rock Lee and TenTen, Neji's teammates, were sitting opposite all of the others, Lee biting his lip while TenTen tried to look like she really didn't care what was happening. Their instructor, Gai Maito, looked like an older version of Lee, biting his lip in agitation. Kurenai Yuuhi, the instructor for the once Team 8 of the Rookie Nine, sat on Gai's other side, watching Tsunade expectantly, her beautiful face clouded with worry and apprehension. Her boyfriend, Asuma Sarutobi, had removed his normal cigarette, preferring to chew on the end of a toothpick while in the hospital, a peculiar mimicry of Genma. Iruka Umino, the chuunin ranked Academy instructor, was shifting nervously, his expression already showing that he was catastrophying the entire affair inside of his own mind.

 

The last man in the group was Kakashi Hatake, the jounin instructor for the old Team 7. His silver hair showed signs of his fingers having been run through it several times, his one visible eye haunted. He was paler than normal, his entire body far too lax, a contrast to how tense his former student was at that moment. Of the group gathered, it was the Copying Ninja and Sakura that worried Tsunade most, the two people here that had been closest to the teen that Sasuke Uchiha had once been.

 

Sakura walked straight up to her, her pale eyes so much more alive than they had been in the last six years. “Well? Is he okay?”

 

The Hokage's shoulders slumped more as she sat down in the chair that TenTen quickly vacated. “I honestly don't know. I will ask Inoichi Yamanaka to come in to see if he can discern any problems with Sasuke's mind, but, in the meantime, I'm going to order a guard be placed on him at all times. One of you will be placed in each shift rotation, all save Sakura and Kakashi.” She looked up and saw both ANBU nod, understanding why she was making it so, even if all both of them wanted to do was rant at the older woman for the unfairness of the descision. “Neji, Kiba, Ino, and Shikamaru will be first on guard. Ino will stay on for another hour or so after the rest of you are relieved, however. I want a Yamanaka near him at all times and Ino and her father are the only ones I think Sasuke will have any trust in. Any questions?”

 

“Do we know what happened to him?” Hinata asked softly, her eyes still far too wide in her tiny face. Tsunade shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck to loosen up a forming kink.

 

“We know he was tortured at some point during his absence; the scarring is too consistent to be anything less. And, if you look at his chakra system, it's a total mess. He's been under the influence of some type of chakra-disrupting seal for years, possibly ever sense we lost track of him. How or why the seal was removed, I can't be sure, but I do know that the damage to his keirakukei is extensive and may never completely heal. As things stand, Sasuke Uchiha may never serve as a shinobi again.”

 

Several of the jounin in the room looked rather ill, all of them imaging just what could have happened to force that kind of development in someone as strong as Sasuke had always been. None of them liked the thoughts they were coming up with.

 

-----

 

“I wonder what would happen if I were to leave you tied up like this, all helpless and bleeding?” he whispered, his voice pitched low, the sound like a cold wind, the words freezing his body more fully than anything the older man could ever do. Heels clicked loudly on the bare stone floor before his head was jerked up roughly, forcing him to meet the Sharingan possessed eyes of his older brother, unable to look away. A cruel grin crossed Itachi's lips, a grin that never lightened the insanity in his eyes. “Would you scream when I came back for you? Would you come to me, seeking the warmth I would be able to bring? Or would you rather stay here, suspended from these rusty chains, your blood slowly leaking from your body, growing ever weaker?”

 

He wanted to answer; he had to answer before Itachi decided his answer for him, decided how he would think, like he was already doing. Before he could find his voice, he dropped to the ground, his entire body limp, his muscles unable to support him, the floor suddenly covered in blood and what felt like straw. “Get up, little brother. I want you presentable when the elders come by to see how the two of you are progressing.”

 

Then he left, taking that chilling winter with him, that eternal hell. Who was it, he wondered as he stumbled to his feet, staggering heavily, who was it that had decided Hell would be made of fire? To him, Hell was here, here in this uncaring place, in the presence of that freezing man.

 

He stumbled into a door, not remembering making the short journey from his prison to his “room.” He would have fallen into it if it hadn't been jerked open, revealing a smaller, thinner blond. The other's once brilliant blue eyes widened and he dragged him into the room, mindful of the numerous injuries that covered the dark haired teen's weakened body. He sat him down on one of the small futons before he grabbed the medical kit on his bed. It was already open, meaning he had been expecting the wounds. The blonde's wounds never stayed long enough for bandaging to matter.

 

“Are you alright? He didn't do anything, did he?” The once loud and boisterous voice was quiet now, subdued even. Sasuke nodded his head, wincing when he moved his head just the wrong way.

 

“I'm fine. Just weak.” It was humiliating that he had been reduced to this, incapable of hiding his state from this one person, but he knew, from several past experiences, that it wouldn't matter. “He said that the elders were coming to see our progress.”

 

The blond nearly dropped the bandage he had been using on the raven-haired man's arm, his pupils changing shape for just an instant. He immediately leapt away from Sasuke and threw him his shirt, knowing just what their “masters” would say if they walked thru the door to see him helping the elder teen. Sasuke took the hint and hastily yanked the thin mesh over his head, knowing that it did nothing to hide his numerous torture marks.

 

Not a minute later the door to their room was slammed open and the elders paid them their visit.

 

That night, neither he nor his companion could take comfort in each other's presence, their bodies trapped by those who played with their lives like a child a new toy, always eager to see what new things they could do to it before it broke. In his mind, Sasuke could already see where it was he would shatter first.

 

-----

 

Inoichi Yamanaka had about twenty seconds from the time he entered Sasuke's mind to the time he left it before the Uchiha's eyes snapped open. At twenty-one seconds, the Yamanaka head found himself crashing into the wall, staring at the room from his now upside-down and swimming perspective. He blinked up at the wide-eyed Uchiha, the teen staring at him like he was a monster.

 

The young man was looking around the room, gaze darting rapidly as he searched, never seeming to really stop his observation of the mind reader. Inoichi climbed slowly, staggered to his feet, lightly touching his head, wincing when he felt a tender spot. He met the Uchiha's eyes, his hands where the man could see him.

 

“Sasuke,” he said softly, spreading his arms so that the other ninja could see that he wasn't going to hurt him. “Sasuke, it's Inoichi Yamanaka, Ino's father. I'm not going to hurt you.”

 

The dark haired man met his gaze completely, staring at the older man, his eyes a little wild. “Where…where's Tsu…Tsunade?”

 

The Yamanaka frowned. Sasuke's voice was so weak, almost unintelligible.

 

Inoichi took a step towards Sasuke but froze when the younger grabbed the far side of his bed in a firm grip, his body tensing to leap away. The Yamanaka sighed and let his hands fall to his sides, staying almost six feet away from Sasuke. “She's on her way over, Sasuke. She has a few questions for you; we all do. Could you just calm down, now? The others have been waiting ever since Sakura found you and I can't allow any of them in here until I make sure you don't have anything in your mind that will make you attack us; not even the Hokage can enter.”

 

Sasuke tightened his grip but nodded, his eyes flashing red as he looked at the closed door of his room. Inoichi smiled as he saw the look, knowing what had to be running thru the man's mind. “It's Hinata, Kiba, and Asuma out there. Gaara is on his way and should be here tonight. The rest of the Konoha 12 that are still in the village are all in the lobby with Kakashi, Iruka, Gai, and Kurenai. If we hurry, I can be in and out in a few minutes and you can go say hello, let them tell you how the village has been since you left while you wait for Tsunade. What do you say?”

 

A thoughtful look crossed the pale face as Sasuke thought, his eyes growing distant for just an instant. Then he nodded again. “Alright.” He lay back down on the bed, forcing his body to relax. “Just hurry, please, Yamanaka-sama.”

 

Inoichi frowned as he registered what his daughter's one-time crush had called him, even as he advanced, forming the signs for his clan's trademark jutsu. Yamanaka-sama? Just what had happened to Sasuke while he was gone?

 

-----

 

“I'm going to put you with him.”

 

“Isn't that just lovely? He looks just like you, Itachi.”

 

“Get up, boy. You will never be able to kill your brother like this.”

 

“We're not going to die, Sasuke. You still have to tell Konoha what happened to the Sound.”

 

“And, now that you've seen me kill him, I think I'll keep you around. I'll make you strong.”

 

Then, he was out of it, his mind taking a more physical form as he stood in the swirling void of Sasuke's memories. No two thoughts were connected, as if his mind had been broken, his soul shattered into a thousand pieces. Inoichi shuddered as he gazed at the swirling black around him, knowing that this was nothing like the mind of the boy he had once known. But, it was Sasuke's mind. Up until the point where he ended up in the hands of the Akatsuki, approximately six years ago, the man's memories were in perfect order, flowing cleanly.

 

After that, it was like an Abyss, an endless swirl of chaos.

 

Inoichi formed his signs, his hands trembling as he did.

 

-----

 

Inoichi fell to his knees, chest heaving as he struggled to draw in enough air to his stressed lungs. He pushed himself up, shaking and trembling, pupils dilated, eyes wider than they normally could be. The Yamanaka stepped back and left the room, staggering as he walked. Hinata caught him as he almost ran out of the room, still unable to control his shaking.

 

“Get…Tsunade, now,” he gasped, his voice weak, a stronger counter to Sasuke's. “She needs to be here. Sasuke has a message for her from who I think may be Itachi. And, I think he has Naruto as well.”

 

The other two ANBU stiffened and left, their chakra lingering for almost a full minute after they disappeared. Hinata gestured to the Shinobi who had been waiting for Inoichi, his old friend Shikaku Nara, and the shadow manipulator pulled the blond up, supporting him as they limped down the hall to where the others were waiting.

 

Five minutes later, Tsunade and Gaara, the Kazekage of Sunagakure no Sato, ran into the room, Kiba and Asuma behind them. The two Kages went to where Inoichi was sitting immediately, both ready to commit violence to gain whatever information he could offer.

 

“Well?” the Hokage demanded. “What did you find?”

 

Inoichi hung his head, running a hand thru his hair as he sighed. “Up until six years ago, Sasuke's memories are crystal clear, organized, and meticulous in their content and layout. After that point, his memories become broken and disjointed. He has no clear, distinct memories of being in the hands of the Akatsuki.” He held up his hand to halt Tsunade's coming comments. “But he does have memories of Itachi, Kisame, Sasori, Deidara, and at least twenty other members and affiliates of the Akatsuki that we don't even have names for. Those people litter his disjointed memories. I'm pretty sure Sasuke can make sense of his mind, but it looks as if some one took his memories and scrambled them all up. None of the pertinent ones are in any sort of coherent order. If he was in the hands of the Akatsuki, he's the only one that can tell us for certain, because I doubt even Ino can sort thru them.”

 

He sighed again and leaned back in his chair, head lolling back limply. “Honestly, my personal opinion is that Sasuke was tortured and enslaved, physically and mentally. He called me `Yamanaka-sama.' He's never referred to anyone as sama in the time that I have always known him. I caught a couple of vague impressions of touch and feeling, most often associated with pain or subservience. We're going to need to be very careful when dealing with Sasuke for a while; his mind is fragile in this state and the wrong word or action could break him completely. He wants to tell Tsunade something and I think the message may be from Itachi himself.”

 

“You said something about Naruto,” Kiba spoke up, his dog mask resting on top of his head as he spoke, a frown on his lips. “Why?”

 

“That was rather vague too,” the mind-digger muttered, his head coming back to its normal position. “I only caught it because the person who was speaking said something about the Sound and Sasuke being the one to tell us about it. The face that accompanied the words could have been Naruto, he had the scars, but he seemed so…lifeless. His eyes were dead and he was so pale and thin. Sasuke had some pretty strong feelings attached to the image that seemed similar to the ones he attached to Naruto, but I can't be sure. That same person showed up in one of his other memories, but the name attached to the image wasn't Naruto, it was Kazuki Namikaze, but that can't be possible.”

 

Tsunade grew pale and ran towards Sasuke's room, not even bothering to stay for the rest of whatever Inoichi had to say.

 

-----

 

Niara: Well, that works for now. Way longer than normal. Bye.