Chapter 31-Mature Content Warning

I lost track of how many days had passed since our capture after three weeks, at which point I gave up hope that anyone from the outside world was coming to rescue us. Daily, I was strapped to that god forsaken table and tortured the same way I was the first time.

Orochimaru, who insisted on being called "Doctor", would ask me for information he knew I wouldn't give up easily and I'd fight against his orders over and over until I fainted, then I'd wake up back in my cell.

Since he openly explained that his goal was to see how much of a pain tolerance I can build while simultaneously getting information, I hate playing right into his hand, but it's not like I can give him all the sensitive information he asks for! He'll undoubtedly do terrible things with his knowledge, so I have no choice but to keep repeating the both mentally and physically draining process.

To his glee, and my detriment, I started to show a little improvement after each session. My ability to endure became stronger at a steady pace. This development came at the cost of my dignity, but he didn't care.

After tasting my blood that first time, Orochimaru didn't bite me again. At least, he never did it while I was awake and there are never any marks on my body when I wake up in my cell.

He often teased me by hinting that he was doing things to me after I faint, but wouldn't elaborate no matter how hard I begged. The thought of his long, cold fingers touching me while I'm not awake made me want to throw up.

Naruto and I both were never fed anything yet didn't seem to be losing any body mass, so the doctor had to be doing something to us in that regard. Other than that, though, I couldn't begin to think of the terrible things he's likely done without throwing myself into a panic attack.

At first, each time we met, I begged and pleaded for him to simply reassure me that Sasuke and Hinata were alive, if nothing else. He never gave me any serious answers, but I stopped bringing it up when one day he gifted me with one of the prince's sharp fangs.

He'd tied it with a thin piece of twine and placed it around my neck like some sick piece of jewelry. I'd fainted out of disbelief on that day rather than the torture. The book I'd read in Sasuke's room told me that a vampire's teeth will regrow quickly if pulled, but that the act of tearing them out was incredibly painful and degrading.

Since I didn't dare try to get any information from the snakelike man after that day, Naruto and I had to look for other avenues. We always whisper back and forth, trying to come up with scheme after scheme of ways to escape, but none ever came to fruition.

We both tried seducing, begging, and even offered money to the silent masked guards, but it was like they were brainwashed into obeying only Orochimaru and couldn't even fathom being tempted by a bribe.

To my horror, and disgust, when I asked Naruto what they were doing to him when they took him away, he told me with a bright red face that a bunch of the female guards would take advantage of his body or he'd simply be beaten. My best friend, who I knew for a fact was a virgin before our capture, was being sexually assaulted.

The rage that coursed through my veins when I found out was unlike any other. Despite this, he assured me that he was fine and honestly felt lucky that no men had approached him with the same mindset.

According to him, no one has even bothered asking him questions, so I wondered why they haven't killed him by now. I'm incredibly relieved, but it struck me as odd that they'd keep a human around as a plaything when the sole purpose of this building was for Orochimaru and Kabuto's experiments. That's what the doctor told me, anyway.

Regardless, when I think about it, there's no one else that can be blamed for my best friend's capture. He never would've run into Hinata again after the night we rescued her if I hadn't been arrested and his family never would've been targeted as a result.

I thought about Sasuke all the time. Years ago, I gave up praying to God for help or guidance, but my desperation and worry grew with each passing day. Each time I woke, I'd take a few moments to silently beg for his safety to whoever or whatever might be listening with the awful necklace Orochimaru gave me clasped tightly in my hands.

The prince, also, wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. He only came along because I was so sure I could find my mother and he didn't want me to travel alone: a fact that weighs heavily on my mind.

There had to be other hallways like the one we were being held in because there was an almost constant slew of screams echoing through the building at different volumes, meaning the source wasn't a single location. Even so, the cells on either side of Naruto's remained empty and he said the ones on either side of mine were the same.

That is, until one day we woke up to the sound of a struggle. In the dim light, we saw three guards wrestling someone into the cell on Naruto's left. Whoever it was was putting up quite a fight, managing to land a couple hits to her attackers, and had to eventually be shocked with one of the batons they used so they could get the cell door shut and locked.

Once the guards headed back in the direction they'd come, I was shocked to see a wild looking Hinata breathing heavily and holding her ribcage on the floor. A dangerous look was on her usually bashful face, like she was ready to kill at any moment.

I shot up in shock, "H-Hinata! You're alive!"

Naruto jumped to his feet, eyes wide, "Hinata?"

The heiress's head shot in my direction like a wild animal hearing prey and her eyes widened when they landed on me, "Sakura! Is that you?"

Her soft and flowery voice was hoarse and her pretty hair was tangled and messy. Cuts and bruises dusted her pale skin and dry blood was under her eyes as if they'd been bleeding. Worry filled me. She'd obviously been tortured and by the looks of it, her mental state was on thin ice just like mine.

I hated seeing her run down like this and felt tears rise up as I nodded and hesitated to ask her what I had to know, "...Sasuke?"

She shook her head, tears rising in her own pearly eyes, "I-I haven't seen him in weeks."

A sharp pain stabbed into my chest and my breath left my body. That was around the time I'd been given his tooth. What if they'd taken it from his dead body? Unsure of how to handle the intense grief that came over me, I just nodded and slid to the ground in defeat with heavy tears falling quickly from my wide eyes.

Naruto looked at me with a sad expression, "He could still be alive, Saku. That bastard's not gonna die easily, y'know?"

I nodded, unfocused eyes slowly falling down to the concrete floor.

Hinata spoke again, her voice reassuring, "It's very hard to kill a vampire."

My eyes raised back up to meet hers as a glint of hope rose in my chest. I never got to finish that book, so I didn't get to the section that talks about killing vampires. If it's hard to do, then I'll just have to hold onto my belief that he was in this building somewhere, fighting to survive just like us, until I see proof of otherwise.

"Vampire? What the hell are you talking about?"

My eyes widened and Hinata mirrored my panicked expression. We just spilled the Uchiha family secret.

Naruto stuck his arm out of the cell and waved it around like crazy, "Hey, answer me you guys! What are you talking about? Vampires?"

Hinata let out a sigh and I saw tears well up in her eyes once more, "Vampires are real, Naruto."

His blue eyes searched mine for a moment and I could tell the exact moment when everything clicked, "They're vampires? All of them?"

He pointed at me accusingly, his voice rising as he became more upset, "How could you not tell me! Wait, Hinata, are you a vampire, too?" He seemed incapable of controlling the distrustful tone of his voice and looked genuinely hurt that the Hyuga girl and I had kept the truth from him.

Hinata reached out of her own cell and their arms were just long enough to interlock fingers, "I'm not a vampire, Naruto."

I stared at her as she raised her pearly eyes from their hands to lock onto my own, "My family and I are called Syreni."

My eyes widened in shock and I couldn't stop myself from bursting out, "Mermaids?!"

Naruto looked over at me with his mouth hanging open in shock and pulled his hand away from Hinata's, "What does that mean?"

Hinata pulled her arm back into her cell with a sad look on her elegant features, "We don't have fins or anything like the fairytales say, but we can breathe underwater and possess various types of unique powers. For example, I can see through walls and objects."

Suddenly, a lot of things made much more sense to me. Of course the Hyuga family would be close with the Uchihas since both have a big secret. Also, it made sense that Hinata would have studied medicine and healing since she can probably see inside people's bodies.

Naruto remained oddly silent and Hinata stared at the wall that separated their cells, "I-I'm so sorry for not telling you, Naruto. Please try and understand!"

I, too, felt a bit hurt that she hadn't confided in me, but couldn't bring myself to blame her. A thought passed through my mind and right out of my mouth, "Do Syreni also live a longer life than humans?"

Naruto's stare on my face blanked and it seemed he was officially overstimulated with all of this unbelievable information.

Hinata winced as she held herself around the ribs once more before looking down at her hand to check for blood, "No, our life expectancy is the same as a human's."

I thought about her words and processed the confession of her bloodline, wondering if maybe she knew anything about my supposed family, "Have you heard the name "Tanaka" before?"

Pearl-colored eyes widened, "I don't know a lot, but I once overheard my father say that Tanaka blood is sought after by vampires for some reason."

She hesitated for a few moments, with a look that told me being a Tanaka was likely not a good thing, "Are you…?"

I nodded, anxiety making me cut her off, "Orochimaru says I am, but won't tell me what it means."

She frowned, "I think only the older vampires know about the Tanakas. You'll have to-"

"Sorry to interrupt, Sakura, but your presence has been requested."

We all looked over to see Kabuto standing before us in a lab coat with one of those damned neck clasping baton's in-hand. Anger bristled my very being as I lay eyes on the traitor that'd led us all here. This was the first time he dared to show his face since our capture.

His name slid past my lips with malice, "Kabuto."

He unlocked the cell door and gave me a warning look, "Don't make me hurt you. You know I don't want to."

I lunged at him, intent on ripping his head off, but he was obviously expecting this and quickly had me wrestled to the ground with my hands behind my back as he clasped the baton around my neck before pushing its trigger and making my body seize up in pain as electricity shot through it for a moment.

My eyes locked onto Hinata's as I tried to ignore the heat tingling out of my fingers and toes. I noticed that odd, little veins were pushing through the skin surrounding her eyes as she moved her gaze over to where Kabuto was standing over me.

Hesitantly, she motioned down to her upper thigh and tried to mouth some words at me, but my brain was still too frazzled to understand. I held her gaze until Kabuto forced me to my feet and pushed me forward and I couldn't turn my neck any further.

Once we were past the rest of the cells, Kabuto spoke up, "I'm told you fight every time. Why is that? The outcome's going to stay the same regardless of what you do."

I tried to turn to look at him, but the clasp around my neck was too tight so I growled, my throat scratchy from being electrocuted, "One of these days, something's gonna change."

I'd unconsciously memorized the way to Orochimaru's little laboratory and to my surprise, we passed the hallway that led to it, instead continuing forward before taking multiple unfamiliar turns.

Fear stiffened my limbs and my survival instincts told me to get the hell out of there, "Where are we going?"

Kabuto let out a small laugh that would've sounded normal if I didn't know how evil he was, "You're somewhat right. What you said before, about something changing. We're not heading to meet the doctor."

We turned down another hall and it was filled with cells on the left and right that were similar to the one I've been held in all this time, but the bars and walls were much thicker. Odd growls and other animalistic sounds met my ears as we passed cell after cell, but the lights were too dim for me to get a good look at anyone inside of them and we soon turned once more into a lab very similar to Orochimaru's.

I was strapped to the table once more, but this one was slanted slightly, so I was upright instead of laying flat.

Kabuto released the clasp around my neck once the leather bindings were firmly buckled, grinning at me casually, "I'm sure I don't need to make introductions."

I looked around and noticed the familiar glare of none other than Karin. She rose from her seat across the room and crossed it to stand in front of me with her hands on her hips and a grin on her bright red lips.

"We owe her a favor, you see, for sending you all to us," he turned to her and handed over the baton, "Don't do anything irreversible or-"

She rolled her eyes, waving a dismissing hand at the assistant as she cut off his words of warning, "Fuck off already."

He did as told with a frown and disappeared through the door we'd come in.

Once we were alone, my glare hardened on the redhead, "How could you do this?!"

She clasped the baton around my neck once more, immediately pushing the trigger and causing waves of electricity to run through my body and a pained scream to slip past my lips. The prisoners in the hall outside cheered in reaction to the sound of my torture.

The redhead responded without waiting for me to recover, "Oh, please. I could care less about any of you but Sasuke and he needed to be punished for how he's been treating me lately."

Hope rose in my chest at her words. So he's still alive, then?

Her dark eyes hardened on mine and she came close to me, gripping my chin firmly as she leaned in. I thought she was going to try and kiss me by the way she was nearing and clenched my eyes shut.

She let out a chuckle, "I don't know what he sees in you. Your blood must taste special or something."

They shot back open and I feared that maybe she was a vampire, too, "N-No, it doesn't!"

She looked at me curiously for a moment before laughing again, "I'm not a vampire, you idiot," she released my chin roughly and flipped her hair over her shoulder before inspecting her nails on one hand, "I'm a succubus, so you're useless to me."

Just like with Hinata earlier, things sort of clicked.

She knelt down and looked up at me with an amused expression, "Wanna know a secret?"

I tugged at my bindings, teeth grit angrily, but she ignored me.

"I've been feeding on that blonde boytoy of yours."

My body froze and I stared down at her in shock.

She smirked before coming closer and whispering in a sensual voice, "He's delicious."

A growl rumbled from my chest as I lost my temper and my vision was placed under a veil of angry red, "I'll kill you!"

She rose to her feet, laughing loudly, "You should be thanking me for giving Orochimaru a reason to keep him alive, you whore."

I spat in her direction, disgusted, "If I get outta here, you're gonna wish you killed me."

She appeared to become bored of the topic and changed it, her lips turning up into a cocky smirk, "You know, once you're out of the picture, I'll finally be able to lock Sasuke down."

My face fell, "He didn't want to marry you before. What makes you think things will change once I'm gone?"

She inspected her nails once more, "You're right about before, of course, but things will be different this time around. Orochimaru's going to fix him for me."

My brows furrowed worriedly, "He's not broken. What are you talking about?"

To my surprise, she hit the trigger on the baton and electricity ran through my body relentlessly for what felt like forever. By the time she let up on it, my vision was cloudy and my chest felt tight and raw from trying to inhale. Tears slid down my cheeks, but I refused to beg the woman for mercy, instead glaring at her with all the hate I could muster.

She laughed loudly as the sound of the prisoners reacting out in the hall rang through the room, the ringing in my ears muffling their yells into blurry audio. "They love you!"

Her eyebrow quirked as she seemed to come up with an idea and put up a finger, "Wait here!" and then headed out the door I'd arrived through whilst laughing at her own stupid joke.

I heard the growls and hollers pick up further and frantically tried to free a wrist so I could get away while I was alone, but she returned before I could manage it. I was shocked to see a familiar face following her into the room.

Almost looking like twins, Karin and Tayuya stood before me. I've never spoken to the woman since she was only Sasuke's date to the ball and the night had ended the way it had. The woman grinned widely at me, her canines unusually sharp.

Karin gestured to her with pride, "You remember her, right? I had her captured and fixed after she tried to steal Sasuke from me. She follows my every command. Isn't that right?"

Tayuya's grin widened to the point of her looking mentally unhinged as she nodded.

My heartbeat quickened at her words. So this is what they're trying to do to Sasuke? Make him no more than a slave? He managed to not kill me when Madara ordered him to and we're even closer now, so surely he'd be able to fight against them.

"It seems a shame to simply torture you, so I figure I should kill two birds with one stone and feed my new pet."

I tugged and pulled at my bindings as my instincts told me to get out of there.

Karin grinned at my struggling, pointing energetically as she commanded Tayuya, "Enjoy your meal!"

My eyes widened as her slave's eyes began glowing brightly as she lunged forward. Sharp teeth drilled into my shoulder first and a beastly growl rumbled from the woman's throat as she drank the blood seeping from the wound. It felt like knives were piercing down to the bone.

"S-Stop!"

She let go of my shoulder and latched onto my neck. Karin pulled herself up to sit on one of the counters, crossing one leg atop the other with an amused grin as Tayuya bit me over and over again, wherever she could latch onto.

The more blood that dripped from my wounds, the louder the prisoners out in their cells got and the more my energy faded. My voice got weaker and weaker as I tried to talk Tayuya out of her trance, to no avail, and after what felt like hours of torture, Kabuto finally reappeared.

His eyes landed on my bloodied form as teeth tore into my skin once more, this time on my wrist. They widened slightly and he took in a deep breath before seeming to hold it.

Karin let out a dramatic sigh, snapping her fingers, which had Tayuya releasing her hold on my wrist and racing over to her side, "It was fun, Sakura. 'Til next time!" She flirtily ran a hand across Kabuto's chest as she headed out of the room, her slave following her like a puppy.

Orochimaru's assistant looked over my body once she was gone, "She really did a number on you, huh?" He feigned concern as he unbuckled my wrists.

When he undid my ankles, I fell forward, unable to hold myself up with the amount of blood I'd lost. I was honestly shocked I hadn't fainted by this point and did all I could to cling to my consciousness.

To my surprise, he didn't let me fall to the ground and caught me in his arms, my head resting against his chest as he released the clasp of the baton around my neck. "You're not so feisty now, are you?" His voice was teasing as he pulled me into his arms bridal style and rose to his feet to carry me, I assume, back to my cell.

As we passed the doorway into the hall with the cells, the amount of noise the prisoners were creating surprised me. Something screamed at me to open my eyes and I did.

When I looked around in a half-conscious lull, I was pulled back to the Earth by a battered and seething Sasuke trying to rip past the bars of a cell with vibrant red eyes. There wasn't enough energy in my body to do anything but slightly lift an arm in his direction.

Sasuke's eyebrows rose up into a look of concern as our eyes finally locked and the glow in them faded to their usual black as we passed him. He reached past the bars, but I was too weak to move quickly enough and we were soon past another corner. He was gone once more.

I looked up at Kabuto, who continued to easily ignore me as though he were carrying a doll and not a person. Desperation grew in me and I gathered the courage to try something I never thought I'd consider in my life.

Tears rose to my eyes once more as I clenched them closed and willed my body to do what I needed it to. I reached up with my arm and gripped a handful of his shirt, causing him to look down at me curiously.

Despite being absolutely disgusted, I prayed that I appeared docile and innocent, "Please heal me. I don't wanna die."

His dark brown eyes studied mine for a moment before his lips turned up into a small smile and he let out an exaggerated sigh of defeat, "How could I ignore a damsel in distress?"

He took a few unfamiliar turns and I was suddenly being laid on a hospital-style bed. The room was so dark that I couldn't see even a foot in front of me. He probably took me to a place like this on purpose so I wouldn't be able to study my surroundings.

Before I could react, a small sting came into my thigh. He'd injected me with something.

My eyes widened in panic, but he let out a small laugh, "It'll speed up your body's regeneration so you don't die of blood loss." I relaxed ever so slightly, but not so much that I let myself trust him.

Red eyes suddenly started to glow directly in front of me and I sensed that he was on the bed as well. With every bit of willpower I could muster, I made myself stay completely still when he leaned over me to run his tongue against one of the bites on my neck. His breath was cold and made bile rise in my throat.

I swallowed nervously and he let out an almost sexual sounding groan before speaking in a raspy whisper, "Mmm...you're delectable."

My eyes clenched closed as he moved on to the next bite. Moans and other sounds of pleasure dusted the air as his tongue ran over more of my wounds. I felt a cold sweat forming on my chest as his hands danced around the hem of my shirt before he lifted it up over my head and tossed it away into the dark, revealing my damaged chest and torso.

My face burnt as I knew he had no problem seeing my bare breasts in the dark room. He wordlessly continued, pulling one of my legs toward him and making me fall back to lay against the pillow as he climbed on top of me. There wasn't an ounce of hesitation or gentleness in the way he touched me.

His tongue danced over a bite on my chest before I felt the sickening sensation of his mouth enveloping one of my breasts. One of his hands pulled my shorts down and off of my body.

When I'd desperately convinced him to heal me, adrenaline had been running through my veins at finally getting confirmation that Sasuke was alive, but I hadn't really thought about what to do afterwards. Of course, the plan was to somehow incapacitate Kabuto, but as I lay naked beneath him I was too terrified to think straight enough to figure something out.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I looked up at the ceiling as I tried to ignore his wandering hands. The haze in my head from blood loss was fading, undoubtedly a result of the injection he'd given me.

He moved his mouth from my breast and moved down to suddenly start healing the bites on my legs. I couldn't help but try to look down and see what he was doing to me. His glowing eyes locked onto mine and I made myself hold his gaze despite wanting to be sick in response to what he was doing to me.

My face burnt as he finished up with the bites on my lower legs and moved up to those on my thighs. He left my feet over his shoulders as he moved closer and closer to my womanhood until his tongue finally danced over my entrance and his eyes closed. I shivered, still not used to the sensation as Sasuke and I had yet to do anything again since the night of Ino's wedding.

To my dismay, a terrified whimper managed to escape from my lips and his eyes shot back open to lock onto mine. "Did you think you could seduce me?"

My eyes widened and I shook my head frantically, "N-No! I just-"

He let go of his hold of me and I was suddenly pulled up onto my knees on the thin mattress, "I'm not so easily distracted."

I heard the familiar sound of a zipper and he pulled my hands up against his hips so I could feel what was in front of me since I was blind in the dark room, "Hurry up."

Tears welled up in my ears as I felt what was undoubtedly his manhood swiftly pushed into my hands.

I shook my head, "P-P-Please don't-"

His glowing eyes locked onto mine and he cocked his head to the side, "Do it."

A familiar pain ran through my spine and I quickly took him in my mouth before it could get more intense. Tears ran heavily down my cheeks and my chest ached as I tried to choke back my sobs. His eyes remained locked onto mine as he moved in and out of my mouth.

He still had his pants on and I suddenly felt that what was undeniably a small set of keys was inside his pocket. It was as though a lightbulb had lit up above my head. That had to be what Hinata was trying to tell me.

Horrified at what I was doing, I gingerly started actually putting an effort into the actions I was being forced to do until Kabuto eventually threw his head back in pleasure, no longer looking at me. My expression morphed into one of vengefulness before I did one of the most disgusting things I've ever even thought of and bit down as hard as I could on what was in my mouth while simultaneously slipping the keys out of his pocket.

Immediately, I blindly booked it out of the room with his pained hollers echoing in the halls behind me. Pain was enveloping my very being as I fought against his orders, but I fought past it as I sprinted back through the halls the way we'd come. I only knew how to get back to Sasuke and didn't know how to get back to Naruto and Hinata from where I was.

His pained yells soon faded and I knew that he was undoubtedly chasing after me so I forced myself to push past my burning lungs until the familiar sound of the prisoners hollering met my ears. I heard heavy footsteps in the distance behind me and quickly found the cell that Sasuke was in.

He accepted the keys from my hands with wide eyes, "Sakura! What's going-"

A heavy weight threw me to the ground and my head bounced off the concrete as a heaving and raged out Kabuto straddled my waist and hit me hard across the face, his eyes glowing brightly, "You slut!" His voice was a deep growl and both of his hands clasped around my throat and squeezed until I couldn't get any air.

My breath was knocked out of me from being tackled to begin with, so I was seeing stars almost instantly. I could hear Sasuke struggling to break past the bars of his cell. I clawed at Kabuto's arms and tried to buck him off of my naked body, but he didn't move as he glared down at me with a murderous expression. The other prisoners around us were screaming with excitement.

Just as I was reaching my limit, I heard a thud and the air returned to my lungs. I coughed roughly, hands gripping my abused neck.

"My apologies, Sakura. It seems Kabuto has forgotten your importance."

My vision slowly returned to normal as I caught my breath. Orochimaru looked down at me with his yellow eyes glowing in excitement. I felt blood pooling on the ground beneath my hair from my fresh head wound.

The doctor took off his lab coat and tossed it on top of me, "It's terribly unladylike to expose yourself in front of everyone like this." His voice was playful as though he was role-playing as a parent reprimanding their child.

I struggled to put it on, head spinning dizzily as I struggled to reach Sasuke's cell once more. The doctor watched with an amused expression, but I didn't care.

The Uchiha prince knelt down with wide eyes and his hands wrapped around the bars. The helpless look on his face didn't suit him at all and made me feel like my heart was breaking in my chest.

His hands shakily cupped my face once I was within his reach and I placed mine weakly on top of them. Relieved tears fell down my cheeks freely, "Thank God you're ali-" His expression darkened as I felt Orochimaru pull me away from him and to my feet.

I fought against the elder vampire for a few moments until I felt the stab of an injection in my neck and immediately passed out.