Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Hopes and Dreams ❯ Chapter 10 - Hope and Despair ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10 - Hope and Despair

 

The sky became a dark orange and red like a fire waiting as it burns out. The sun began to rise, extinguishing all the shadow from the forest. It was greeted by a single kunoichi, who found no rest in the darkness of the night.

 

Every time she closed her eyes to find the sweetness of solitude, she saw him in pain. There wasn't much of a difference while she was awake. She knew he was in pain, she could feel it. The worst part of it was she didn't know what was going on. This was not the only reason that Sakura stayed awake however. She was searching for any sign of the Kazekage's recon kunoichi so they could finally rescue Naruto.

 

`Naruto, I won't let them kill you.' she thought. `You'll be in my arms again soon.'

 

It was around 6:00 am; the sun had almost fully risen from its slumber and there was still no sign of the kunoichi in the distance of the forest. Sakura was now standing. Her pack slung around one of her shoulders. Her train of thought was broken when she heard footsteps come from behind her.

 

“Are you ready?” Gaara asked, keeping his promise he made to her the night before. Sakura turned to Gaara and nodded. As they were about to leave the campsite, a voice caught their ears from a distance.

 

“Kazekage-sama!” yelled the voice in the distance. Gaara looked around and saw the kunoichi far in the distance, jumping from branch to branch. He waited for her to get a little closer before calling back to her.

 

“Kimiko,” he shouted. “Report!”

 

Kimiko jumped off the branches and landed, knelt at the Kazekage's feet. She took of her mask to reveal her deep blue eyes. “I followed them to their layer undetected. Naruto-kun was still unconscious when we first got there, however after tying him up in charka bonds, he regained consciousness. The Akatsuki have run into a small problem. From what I've heard, they need Naruto-kun unconscious in order to extract the Bijuu.”

 

Sakura felt a little relieved by Kimiko initial report, but it wouldn't last as Kimiko's eyes began to fill with tears as she went into more detail. “They began to taunt him into using up more of his chakra,” she continued, trying to dissolve her own emotion. “It didn't work, so they began to beat and torture him until he was out cold.” She paused in-between her tears. “No should have to go through that for saving some precious to them. I couldn't watch it any longer and ran back here.”

 

“Was He Unconscious When You Left!?!” shouted Sakura, her eyes starting to well up with tears as she shook the kunoichi. “WAS HE!?!?!”

 

“No(sniff).”

 

By now everyone else was up due to Sakura's yelling. “How long ago was that?” interrupted Kakashi. His arm was still in a sling from the last battle.

 

“It was about two hours ago.”

 

“Then we have to leave as soon as possible. There's no telling how much longer Naruto can hold out.”

 

“Kakashi, you and Guy are in no condition to fight,” said Yamato. “Guy can barely walk and you can't move your right arm.”

 

Kakashi looked at Yamato. He didn't offer a reply of words. Instead, he slowly moved his right arm out of the sling, cringing with pain after every movement. With one quick motion, he snatched a kunai from Yamato's pouch and held it up to his neck. Everyone now looked over, surprised by his actions. “The pain from injuries can heal in time,” he said. “The pain of losing a comrade, usually never heals.”

 

Sakura stared at her sensei, aw stricken by his words. Kakashi looked over to her. “Especially if that comrade is precious to you,” he continued.

 

Sakura's eyes began to swell up with tears again. `Kakashi-sensei,' she thought. She ran to her sensei and wrapped her arms around him in gratitude, burying her face into his chest. “Thank you Kakashi-sensei!” she sobbed.

 

Kakashi was taken back by his student's reaction, but he understood her pain. He himself had never fully gotten over his own teammate, Obito Uchiha, who sacrificed his own life to save Kakashi's all those years ago. He gently pulled Sakura out of her hug and looked straight into her tear-filled eyes. “We will get him back Sakura,” he reassured her. “safe and sound, I promise.” He then turned to the rest of the ninja in the campsite. “Pack up whatever you need and travel light. We're moving out.”

 

 

*Akatsuki Layer*

 

Another fist came crashing down on Naruto's face causing him to spit up more blood which gathered into a small puddle on the floor. He lasted through the night without losing consciousness. He was bleeding internally and his face was a bloody mess. One of the punches was so strong that it knock his headband halfway across the cave. He had taken shot after shot, bone crushing blow after bone crushing blow, each time smiling at his punishers as if to ask them for another.

 

`Impossible,' thought Pain, amazed by the boys' stamina. `He lasted through the entire night and he's still smiling.'

 

“God,” said an exhausted Kisame. “I've done…everything I can think of… besides kill this brat…and yet he's still fucking conscious!?!”

 

“Is that…all you've got?” heaved Naruto, spitting up more blood and smiling. “Sakura punches harder then you! She makes you guys look like sissies!”

 

“Why you little runt!” shouted Kisame. With that he delivered a punch so hard that it almost broke Naruto's sternum, causing him to spit up more blood, and his head to fall limp.

 

Kisame's fist left Naruto chest. He snickered at the limp head he began to walk away. He couldn't believe what he heard next. He turned around to confirm that the sound was actually coming from the young jinchuuriki. Laughter came from the boy as he mocked one of the seven swordsmen of the mist.

 

`Unbelievable,' Kisame thought, shocked at the boys' laughter. `I put almost everything I had left into that punch, yet all he can do is smile and mock me.'

As Naruto's mocking angered the remaining Akatsuki members, Pain was relieved when he felt a familiar source of chakra enter the layer. “What kept you Tobi?”

 

“I was unable to find my target,” cracked Tobi. “It seems one of the three ninja is very sensitive at sensing chakra.”

 

“Forget the Uchiha for a moment,” said Pain. “We have a chance to move one step closer in our plans and get rid of a pain in the Akatsuki's side. I need your clan's famous eyes to shut this boy up for good.”

 

“I assume you are asking me to use Tsukuyomi on this boy? Who is he might I ask?”

 

“You should know him very well. He was the solution to one of your failed plans. This would be Naruto Uzumaki.”

 

Tobi looked at the boy in shock and then in pleasure. “Aw, so this is the Nine Tailed Fox?”

 

Naruto had stopped his laughing and looked at the masked man with more anger, and more hate then he had ever had in his entire life upon hearing the exchange in words. “So you're Madera Uchiha?” Naruto said gritting his teeth.

 

“Well, I was getting sick of the name Tobi,” he replied. “It's nice to know that people still know my real name.”

 

“How did you survive?” demanded Naruto. “The First Hokage killed you all those years ago at the Valley of the End.”

 

“I didn't. I was resurrected inside of another dead boy. He was freshly killed, and luckily for me, he was an Uchiha. I think Orochimaru told me his name was Obito. Instead of keeping my real name, I decided to give myself a new name to conceal my identity from the world.”

 

“Why did you send the Kyuubi to the Leaf Village?”

 

The man laughed at this question. “Why else would anyone try to wipe out their former village. I wanted revenge. I wanted to be the one to destroy the `precious' village that was built by the man who cast my body along the mountain side. Thanks to you and your father, my plans were thwarted. At least I got the satisfaction of taking down the legendary Fourth Hokage as a consolation.”

 

Naruto was now filled with anger and rage, but he didn't have the strength to muster the demons chakra. He looked at the man, determined nonetheless. “Madera Uchiha, you will pay for your crimes. That is my promise to you.”

 

“Pretty strong words from a boy who is about to be tortured by Tsukuyomi.” With that, the single eyehole of the mask began to glow a dark red. With room began to spin in a swirl of black and red until it finally slowed down into a dark glow of red, leaving only Naruto and Madera left in the cave. Naruto was chained up to two a crucifix. He saw Madera walk toward him with a katana in hand.

 

“You will be stabbed continuously for the next four days.” In that moment, Naruto was stabbed in the heart by the katana. He gave a shape cry of pain and then his world went black. He awoke again in this dimension, this time to see two Madera's, each with a katana. They both did as their predecessor had and stabbed Naruto until his world went black again. The process continued over and over, each time Madera double himself, each time stabbing the katana deeper into the boys' flesh; However, Madera noticed something he didn't expect.

 

By the time he noticed, there were five hundred and eleven clones finishing there stabbing of the boy. He looked up at the boy, mockingly behind the mask hiding his deformed face, but the expression changed to fear as the boy looked back at him, smiling at the pain that he was receiving.

 

At that point, Madera broke the overpowering genjustu, frozen in place as he heard the boy heaving. `Im-im-possible,' he thought. `How could he have been smiling after all of that?'

 

Pain looked at the now extremely tense Uchiha. “Tobi,” he said. “How is he still conscious.

 

Madera looked at his comrade and leader, still shell shocked. “He-he was smiling. After all the pain I put him through…he was smiling.”

 

Pain looked at his comrade in utter disbelief. He then looked at the heaving boy. `How?' he thought. `How is he that strong?' He couldn't wrap his mind around the idea. `There has to be a way. There has to be a way to break his will.' For the first time, Pain showed signs of frustration, clenching his fist, the anger on his face, trying to think of some way to break him. His brain hatched a sinister thought. `Don't' attack the man himself, attack his heart.'

 

He moved in close to Madera's ear and whispered. “Probe his thoughts,” he said. “And then attack his heart.”

 

Madera snapped out of the trance that he was in, and nodded in affirmation to Pain's request. He then locked eyes with the boy again, using his sharingan to probe Naruto's mind, finding what made his will so strong. “Aw,” he said as he found what he was looking for. He unleashed Tsukuyomi on Naruto without braking his gaze.

 

In the new dimension, Naruto was again chained to the crucifix, but something was different. He lifted his head and was shocked at what he saw. There, chained to a crucifix across from him, the cherry blossom kunoichi that he loved. He looked down and saw Madera with the same katana as before. Seconds later, he plunged the katana into Sakura's heart, causing her to scream and writhe in pain. Naruto was beyond tears as the Madera repeated the action over and over, each time doubling his numbers.

 

Back outside of the genjustu, Naruto screamed and whined in horror as his mind was tormented and tortured. Until his mind and spirit finally gave out on him, his head and body finally fell limp as he let out one final scream. Then there was silence.

 

As Kisame and Zetsu checked Naruto before they began to release him from his bonds. Pain looked on, and when he saw his comrades begin to release him from his bond, he let out a rare smile of satisfaction. “Prepare him for the extraction.”