Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Past Midnight ❯ Pain ( Chapter 5 )

Warning: Flashback contains violence and some details of rape. Do not read if you can't stomach it. (I don't support rape, just to clear it up. I don't want to get angry e-mails or anything of that sort.)

 

 

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Warm.

 

She was warm, heat radiating from behind her spreading all over her shivering frame. It felt nice, arms tightly wrapped around her protectively, her back crushed against a hard chest that moved steadily with each passing breath. Naruto mumbled in his sleep, warm whispers blowing across her scalp tinkling and soothing her skin. Sakura looked around and noticed Sasuke resting against a tree not far away. His face was scrunched up, brow twitching; his breathing was a little unsteady as if he was having a nightmare. She shrugged it off, but a little part of her couldn't' help but feel bitterness towards him.

 

I hope you dream more than my share of nightmares in your lifetime, bastard…

 

Moving carefully, Sakura untangled Naruto's arms from around her and grimaced when it appeared he was about to wake, quietly she yanked her bag from the ground and stuffed it in his arms for him to hug. It seemed to work because as soon as the bag was in his arms he stopped protesting in his sleep from the lack of her presence.

 

The morning was quite chilly, her hot breath coming out as vapor in the cool air. She wondered how long she had been asleep in Naruto's arms, her sore back aching at the odd angle she'd been hugged. Sakura rubbed her frozen digits to get the blood flowing, then proceeded to find something to eat while Naruto and Sasuke slept.

 

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Somehow the familiar burning sting coming from his neck never felt so much better.

 

“Sasu—”

 

He crushed his lips onto hers, hungrily drowning her pleadings of stopping. He was too busy enjoying the sound of her clothes ripping to listen to her cries. Slowly, his hand would reach up to roughly cup her breast just to see her choke on her cry before ripping off the remainder offending clothing roughly with an amused grin. She was down to her undergarments when he noticed she was still pleading with him to let her go. There was nothing she could say or do to stop him, because tonight he would brand her as his no matter what, whether she liked it or not, although a little part of him insisted he make her like it.

 

“Sasuke-kun?! What are you doing?”

 

Frightened as she was it somehow made him more aroused just to see her struggle beneath him, tears already adorning her pretty face, breath unsteady and labored at trying to overpower her captor who held her tightly in place.

 

“Please Sasuke-kun, don't do this! I'm not ready!”

 

He frowned when it seemed she wouldn't stop squirming out of his grip as if he were the plague, but it didn't matter because within seconds he had already penetrated her swiftly causing a cry of pain to erupt from below then immediately cease her struggles. He didn't hear much from her throughout the whole ordeal, even when he picked up speed, movements becoming jerkier to just to try to make her beg, or even when he released himself within her shivering frame, nothing.

 

He pulled away, realizing he had been holding too tightly onto her wrists and noticed purple bruises scattered across her petite body. He smiled; proud of the work he accomplished on the pink haired beauty, but not as proud as the dark purple bruises standing out against her chest and neck's milk white complexion.

 

He didn't get time to enjoy the moment because of a soft hand quickly shooting up and grabbing his neck, pumping burning chakra into his system, clashing against the tingle that felt so right. His first reaction was to hit her across the face and when she hit the wall, followed by a loud thump did he realize she was crying.

 

He looked down horrified to be greeted with bloodstains on his white bed sheets, Sakura's clothes torn beyond repair and her body naked and beaten.

 

“S-sakura?”

 

She choked on her cry, her face still pressed on the cool surface of the wall. Her body ached everywhere, pain burning between her legs as she tried to lie down on the mattress, feeling disgusted with the sticky substance trailing down her inner thighs.

 

“I…I'm sorry Sakura I…” he gripped his hair tightly, obscuring his dark, charcoal eyes.

 

“I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear…I didn't mean to, it was the seal. I would never hurt you like this…Sakura I'm so sorry...”

 

He couldn't hold his tears any longer when he noticed her bruised back facing him, tangled in his bed sheets as she greedily wrapped herself trying to prevent any more humiliation.

 

I'm so sorry…

 

Sasuke woke from his nightmare sensing something wasn't right. The air seemed a bit lonelier than this morning when they found Sakura. She was so frightened when she saw him, scared beyond her wits, but at least she was safe now and almost on her way home. He should be happy that she was alive, but a little part of him wanted to cry for her sudden reaction at seeing him.

 

He looked over to Naruto to check on her, to make sure she wasn't hurting, although in reality he wanted to make sure she wasn't having the same nightmare he had. It was the same dream every night, her pleading voice as he took her innocence, her blood on his bed sheets, the feeling of emptying inside of her without any struggles, it haunted him every night for the past eight years, her pain, the pain he caused her.

 

Sakura?!

 

The place where Sakura had fallen asleep within Naruto's arms was being occupied by her dark blue bag. Trusting his voice a little this time he called out for her, but was greeted by silence and Naruto's sleepy murmurs. His heart began to hammer against his chest, guilt washing all over him once again. He should have been awake to keep watch, but he was so exhausted from the trip and now he was paying the price again. She was gone.

 

“Sakura?!”

 

Naruto immediately woke from his deep sleep when he heard Sakura's name being screamed worriedly. He roughly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, thankful to know that he wasn't wearing any hand protectors or else he would have poked his eyes out with the metal guard. He glanced at Sasuke who was hurriedly putting on his gear, tying his katana hastily on his back.

 

“Sasuke, where's Sakura-chan?”

 

He turned to glare accusingly at the clueless blond who didn't seem one bit worried about Sakura, “How the fuck should I know?!”

 

“What the hell is your problem?!” Naruto spat back, obviously upset by Sasuke's sudden hostility.

 

Sasuke rushed towards Naruto grabbed him by the shoulders and was tempted to gauge his innocent sky blue eyes out of his thick skull with a blunt kunai, but instead he shook him like a rag doll. Naruto let Sasuke take his anger out on him thinking it would do him some good to release his frustration. He had noticed earlier in the morning how Sasuke nervously fidgeted around Sakura especially when she was screaming at him; he could only conclude that Sakura was affecting him to act violently, something must have happened between them.

 

“I'm gone for ten minutes and you two are already at each other's throat.”

 

Sasuke immediately stopped shaking Naruto to whip his head towards the indifferent voice that trailed smoothly across the air. There she was, standing proudly in her black and pink kimono, pink silky hair tied in an elegant bun although a few rebellious strands of hair hugged the sides of her face. She was breathtaking.

 

“Sakura-chan! You've come to save me from this monster!!” Naruto happily cheered at her.

 

She shook her head, clearly not amused at his yelling at such an ungodly hour. He must have driven everyone at their camp crazy with his rowdy voice. She walked towards the pair, quite aware of Sasuke's burning gaze on her and Naruto constant `Sakura-chan's. She walked right past Naruto and Sasuke, picked her bag from the ground and leaned against a tree while neatly straightening her kimono.

 

“Sakura-chan?”

 

Not stopping her task at fixing her clothes she simply replied coolly, “Are you ready to leave?”

 

“Yeah…just let me get my things,” he was taken back by her nonchalant behavior, he assumed she would have been a nervous wreck after what happened, but she seemed too calm, too composed as if she was masking away her inner turmoil.

 

A façade.

 

They were walking at a slow pace back home, mindful to let Sakura rest every hour since they weren't sure what she had gone through. She stood a safe distance away from them throughout the day, even when stopping to eat or rest. She never looked at them directly in the eyes, frightened that they would discover her deep secret and she always made sure she was covered; “skin is to be kept hidden underneath layers of clothing in front of other men,” Itachi once said. The talks were kept to a minimal, Naruto always leading the conversations, trying his best to lighten the mood, but failing miserably each time.

 

“Are we there yet?”

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, “No.”

 

“How about now?”

 

“No,” grunted Sasuke, “We'll be there in about two or three hours at this pace.”

 

Naruto wistfully sighed, glanced at Sakura and then at a frowning Sasuke, “Are we there yet?”

 

Sasuke muttered darkly under his breath and Sakura giggled quietly behind her hand, glancing at her Naruto noticed she went back to her calm self, her smile leaving her face as quickly as the giggle came. They stopped to eat dinner after many complaints from a whining Naruto; he realized that was the only way to get any reaction from Sakura, to act like he was twelve again. Sasuke seemed to notice as well so when Naruto kept his bantering he simply played along.

 

Naruto scampered off to the river for fish leaving Sakura and Sasuke behind. Alone. She stayed quiet as she watched him work to start a fire and each time he turned to look at her longingly she would quickly turn her head to look to the side shamefully.

 

Her eyes are different…

 

He felt obligated to somehow apologize not really knowing what for, although his mind insisted it was because he was feeling guilty for leaving her behind after deeply hurting her, and he would have done so if it weren't for Naruto's sudden entrance. They sat around the warmth of the fire not really knowing what to say, Naruto kept mulling over things to say in his head to the quiet group, but each thought kept falling back to Sakura and her odd disappearance. It was irking him that she was being so secretive.

 

The fish sizzled against the flames of the fire, sweet smell invading the groups' senses as it was made much clearer how hungry they were as their stomach grumbled impatiently. Naruto handed Sakura a cooked fish, the top part of her sleeve crawled up her wrist as she reached across for her food. Horrified, Naruto was greeted with scares on her once smooth and delicate hands. Sakura noticed his uncomfortable stare and immediately dropped her fish to pull at her sleeve to cover her heavy scarred flesh.

 

“Sakura-chan? What happened to your—”

 

“Nothing!” she interrupted.

 

“But—”

 

“It's non of your goddamn business,” she hissed fiercely as to emphasis her point.

 

Sasuke watched from afar, confused at what was happening, but not entirely surprised. There was no doubt in his mind that she was probably a prisoner of war, her actions all spoke of aftershock at being tortured. They way she kept her gaze away from them, her unsteadiness at their close proximity, wanting to be kept hidden underneath clothes, she was scared.

 

Sakura meanwhile tugged on the sleeves of her kimono, wanting nothing more than to hide from them. Naruto was too nosy and she hated it when he kept asking her questions for answers that were meant to be kept locked inside the dark depths of her mind. And having Sasuke around wasn't helping either, he kept looking at her and it was infuriating because he looked so much like his damn brother with his emotionless face.

 

No matter what she would not break down, especially not in front of Sasuke or Naruto. No, she was too old to cry. She wasn't a child anymore.

 

“How do you like it Sakura-san?”

 

The dagger pierced through her skin, claiming her hands onto the surface of the cold floor. She screamed, the pain rattled from her hands up her arms as the white haired man grabbed another knife to cut her flesh neatly across her bare chest. It hurt to move, but she felt so glad at finally putting the snake to his grave even when the last of his followers was cutting her open.

 

“You didn't answer my question,” he brought his hand up to his face as his forefinger pushed the glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose.

 

She struggled to answer, but she managed to wheeze a cold respond to a smiling Kabuto, “Go. To. Hell.”

 

“Oh, my. Didn't know you had such a naughty mouth Sakura-san, too bad I'll have to cut it off it's rather beautiful just like your eyes…”

 

She closed her eyes tightly waiting for the blow to come, her heart pounded violently against her chest working twice as hard to keep her living and make more blood to replace the one that was quickly seeping out of her fresh cut wounds. Sakura heard a loud thump beside her, followed by man's deep husky voice.

 

“Are you all right?”

 

She whimpered when the stranger pulled her clothes over her bare chest carefully, inspecting her wounds he noticed her eyes were slowly creaking open.

 

He frowned. Swiftly, he carefully pulled the dagger from her hands that kept her pinned to the floor and quickly picked her up not bothering to answer his companion's questions about the beaten girl as blood soaked through his clothes.

 

“Sakura?”

 

Blinking out her reverie, Sakura noticed Naruto and Sasuke staring at her worryingly. She turned around, gathered her belongings and quietly stood up. The other two followed in suit without any questions, Sasuke putting the fire out and Naruto gathering his belongings. They hadn't even spent ten minutes resting and they were already walking off the hunger and exhaustion.

 

Not long after their last stop were they able to see the village ahead and its grand gates greeting them.

 

 

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A/N: One or two more chapters before this baby is put to sleep. Next chapter Sakura will confront Tsunade and Neji. Dun, dun, dun!! * cracks evilly*

 

Thanks so much to all the kind people who have been reviewing this story. I love y'all!!