Chapter 38

"Wake up."

A groan stung my throat as someone's firm voice stirred me from my slumber. It feels like my body's been beaten to a pulp. The cold ground beneath me was actually welcomed. It felt nice against my warm skin. I'm just so tired. I feel like I could sleep for days without waking.

That idea disappeared when extreme pressure suddenly hit my midsection, my ribcage obviously becoming damaged by the hit. My eyes shot open to lock onto Kisame, who was smirking as he straddled my hips.

"You've been a disobedient little dog."

I tried to shove him off, but he grabbed my hands and pinned them to the ground, the shackles around my wrists digging into my skin.

"If you defy me again, I'll bring you the Uchiha prince's head. Do you understand?" I turned my neck to see Yahiko and Hidan standing outside the cell, the king having been the one to speak.

My voice cracked roughly, "Where is he?"

"Close enough to hear your screams," Kisame taunted.

Amegakure's king ignored his subordinate's statement but still addressed him rather than me, "Find Nagato if you kill her."

I hissed, gasping for breath as my injured ribs made it hard, "D-Don't hurt him!"

Kisame roughly grabbed my waist and squeezed, making the injury he'd just given me blaze like I was being branded, "You should worry about yourself."

The king, undoubtedly, instructed him to punish me for not killing Sasuke like I was told. I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. It's just that, until now, they've avoided physically laying a hand on me. I can take being glowed because I'm used to that pain. Broken bones, though…. Not so much.

Hours later, I was finally left alone in my cell. Tiny cuts littered my body, but I was lucky to have only received two significant injuries, that I could tell. My ribs and arm were broken, both on the left side of my body. At least I could lay on one side without disturbing the non-healing damage.

Tears fell slowly to drip on the bloody concrete floor as I spoke as steadily as possible, "Why did you come?"

I was right in assuming Sasuke was in the cell right next to mine. His voice met my ears like the most beautiful song in the world, "Sakura." He only said my name, but I knew he was telling me not to ask stupid questions.

"...How long until Madara…?"

"I wasn't told on purpose in case I'm tortured."

The dungeons fell silent for a long time, solid minutes. Eventually, I tried to choke back sobs as my chest tightened painfully, "I'm so sorry, Sasuke. I tried so hard-" "Stop." My shoulders shook as I cried. As angry as I am that he's here, I'm relieved to hear his voice. I missed him like crazy.

"Eleven."

I sniffled, eyes creeping open to stare at the locked cell door, "Huh?"

Sasuke's voice was tense, "You've died eleven times. Eleven times, I've…." He cut himself off, and I got the sense he was trying not to get emotional for my sake. I thought he'd become quiet after that, but he surprised me by continuing, "I'll get you out of here. We just have to wait for him to arrive."

My eyes closed again as I hummed softly, "I want you to get yourself out when it's time. Don't worry about me. They won't let me die but might not revive you."

Even without a verbal response, I knew my request fell on deaf ears. That man is as stubborn as he is beautiful.

Two days passed, full of us receiving our fair share of torture. Amegakure tried to get information out of us while planning their first attack on Konoha.

I couldn't get a wink of sleep, even if we were left alone. When I close my eyes, if I'm not seeing the horrifying images of blood and gore from the battlefield, I was seeing the twisted, monstrous version of myself that'd done all that damage. Her hair was wild and messy, her eyes glowing bright red, and her teeth as sharp as a wolf's. Most of all, she wanted blood. The lust for violence was all over her face, and that terrified me to no end.

By the time morning came on day three, I was unable to move my body. The entire left side of my body was pretty useless, but it felt like it'd been hit by a train. Kisame and Kakuzu have primarily been in charge of me, Hidan and Nagato being the ones to work with Sasuke because they knew he wouldn't hurt the Amegakure advisor. If he did, he'd hurt me, too, and I might not survive. Sure, I'll be revived, but he still doesn't want to kill me.

I lay on my back, feeling the slow beating of my heart ache against my damaged ribcage.

Hidan came to see me for the first time since I was sent onto the battlefield. He sat beside me, looking down at my bloodied appearance with an irritated frown, "You're such a dumbass. Just do what they tell you, and they'll stop."

My eyes crept open to see him, tears welling as I weakly said his name. I didn't have the energy for anything else. To my disbelief, he sighed defeatedly, bit into his wrist, and pressed it to my mouth. A slight sound of surprise rumbled through my chest. He hastily pulled away, only letting me have one mouthful of blood. I understood he couldn't risk anymore, or it'd be evident to the others what'd happened.

The act did almost nothing to heal my many injuries, but it took the sting from my throat when I talked and offered at least a little energy.

"...I've been thinking, and don't you fucking taunt me, or I'll take that blood right back." I studied his unfamiliar expression as he looked away, leaning against the stone wall, "You should make a deal with Yahiko. Do what he wants, so long as you don't have to kill anyone you know, and then, when it's over…."

My eyes widened in surprise. He's not asking me to run away with him, is he? Surely not. Hidan glanced at my face and appeared annoyed.

He is.

"Bitch, I warned you-" "What changed?"

His mouth clamped shut, and he appeared stunned momentarily before averting his gaze again, "I don't fucking know, okay? I just…. Ugh, this is so damn obnoxious." I watched in silent disbelief as he tried, Hidan tried, to explain, "I don't like what I'm looking at. It makes me want to slaughter a village."

I know I should've gone with his idea if only to fool him into getting me out of this cell, but I couldn't. The only thing separating us from Sasuke is a stone wall. He can hear every word being said, and I just can't say the words whether I mean them or not.

Hidan appeared to understand without me saying a word because he seemed angry, coming to squat beside me rather than sitting, "I should've known. Once an Uchiha slut, always one."

I frowned, "Hidan…."

He hissed through his teeth, "That pouting shit isn't gonna work on me anymore." My brow furrowed as he appeared to only get more mad.

Hidan looked over my body before meeting my eye again, "You-"

Whatever he was going to say didn't come out because a massive rumbling shook the entire castle, followed by a deafening sound like an explosion. Hidan got to his feet, eyes aglow as he looked around at the shaking walls. With one last glance at me, he turned to hurry out of the cell to escape the dungeon before the ceiling collapses on us all.

"H-Hidan, wait!"

The silver-haired man froze with a hand on the door, turning back to glare at me. With such a hateful expression, I was sure he'd ignore me, but I was surprised when he tossed a set of keys at me.

I met his eye, and he was still shooting a hateful look my way, "Fuck you, Sakura," and then he was gone.

Hissing, I blindly reached over to feel the ground until the cold metal of the keys met my fingers. As I cursed under my breath in pain, I forced my broken arm to lift so I could fumble to find the correct one to unlock my shackles.

"Sakura, I'm coming. Just hold on!" Sasuke wasn't calm anymore. I looked around and realized why. Cracks were running down the walls and across the ceiling.

More frantically, I freed my other wrist and cried in pain as I sat up, my midsection aflame with agony. A loud thump sounded behind me, against the wall separating our cells. "What was that? Are you alright?" Finding the correct key for the ankle shackles was hard because my fingers were shaking so badly.

The thump came again, making me jump in shock. I turned my torso to look behind me, "Sasuke?" Before my eyes, a third thump came, and the wall crumbled.

I gaped at his appearance as he hurried in front of me and took the keys from my hand. His fists were coated in blood, likely from hitting the stone wall. Blood painted almost every inch of his clothing, probably from being tortured and healing repeatedly. He wasn't in nearly bad a state as me, to my relief.

Tears falling heavily, I tried to stop him as the ceiling groaned above us, "Go, Sasuke, please! I'll be fine!" The man slapped my hands away without sparing me a glance. Finally, he found the correct one and freed one of my ankles. Before he could do the other one, we sensed something at the same time, meeting one another's gaze simultaneously.

I yelled at him to leave again, but he tackled me to the floor, hugging my head in his arms to protect me from the falling ceiling.

For a moment, everything was black, but then I regained consciousness. The scent of Sasuke's blood overpowered all of my other senses. My ear was to his chest, and I could hear his heart beating slowly, weakly. It was fading steadily. His heart must've been damaged.

I'm suffocating. Immense pressure surrounded me entirely. The prince could only protect my head and torso, so my legs and arms were crushed by debris.

Somehow, I managed to speak, though my voice was ragged and raw, "...Sas…Sasuke…?" There was no response. He's going to die if I don't do something, but what can I possibly do? I can't move. My chest pressed against his stomach as I panicked, trying with all my might to move even a finger and failing.

Could I possibly heal him without touching my palm to his body? I have to try. Like Tsunade taught me, I envisioned myself healing him wherever our bodies were in contact. My eyes were open, and in the pitch black, a dull green light began to emit from my forehead.

It was the diamond crest, I realized. I was warned of the danger breaking it would cause, but when I think about it, I don't care if it kills me. Somehow, I know it'll save him if I keep going.

As though mentally confirming my decision made it so, a loud cracking sound met my ears, followed by the worst pain I've felt in my life. It was so bad that even if I could scream, it'd have been loud enough to tear my vocal cords. All I could do was lay there in agony as my body warmed from a low heat to the temperature of the hottest lava.

The dull green light turned white and became brighter the worse the pain got. The concrete around us shifted a little at first, but when another loud crack filled the air, it felt like my bones were slowly being ground to dust, starting at the tips of my toes and fingers.

Then the weight around us began to lessen quickly. One moment, the debris was being lifted, and the next, everything around us was gone, thrown far away. A metallic, low-pitched sound hummed so loudly that I wondered if anyone else could hear it.

Sasuke's chest vibrated, but I couldn't hear if he groaned or spoke. He shakily released his hold around me and came up to his hands and knees. A trembling hand moved my face, so I looked up at him, and I realized everything around us was simply white. Sasuke looked terrified and angry, yelling something at me, but I couldn't comprehend it.

The bones in my arms and legs began to feel as though they, too, were shattering. I could only see white reflecting in his eyes. With everything I could, I held on and kept healing him. His wounds closed, but then I couldn't stop it. I realized I'd lost control. This must've been what Tsunade was talking about.

Sasuke tried to bite into his wrist, which made me angry. He was thrown off of me. I panicked, gritting my teeth as the pain in my arms climbed to my chest and neck. I didn't mean to hurt him! Please be okay!

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang through my skull, one I hadn't heard in a while, "Get him away from you, or he'll die, Sakura! You'll kill him!" Screams finally poured from my mouth unfiltered, sounding every bit like a beast rather than a person. It was Tsunade.

Somehow, I don't know how I managed to sit up so I could locate Sasuke. He was a few yards away, trying to fight the blonde woman herself to get back to me. His skin was spiderwebbing with black veins where he was closer to me. Madara was approaching in the distance behind them. My eyes darted around to see that the remaining debris around me was being disintegrated, like dust blowing away in the wind.

"Sakura, do it now!" Tsunade's voice came again, and I lifted my gaze to meet hers. Suddenly, I understood what she meant.

My body was screaming, but I made it to my feet. When I lifted my arms in their direction, I realized my skin was both glowing, and the same dark veins were running over it as what I could see on Sasuke and Tsunade. With the very last bit of energy I could muster, I shoved everyone and everything as far as possible from me.

Then, I couldn't hold on any longer and fell to my knees to grasp at my head. The worst torture in the world didn't compare to this. The pain and light became so intense that it was all I knew for a split second. A high-pitched whine, almost mechanical sounding, overtook my hearing to the point that I could feel it vibrating my body.

As quickly as it lit up, the bright white light faded. The bone-crumbling sensation took over my skull, the only thing left, and I felt myself falling backward. When my back hit the ground, the light disappeared completely.

I was left to stare at the night sky as the last of my energy left. As terrifying as the numb feeling in my body was, I could only feel relief that Sasuke hadn't died. The moon was full and gorgeous in the dark sky, with stars shining brightly all around. It's beautiful.

"Blood! She needs blood, or she'll die! Hurry!" I couldn't tear my eyes from the moon, even when I heard quickly approaching footsteps.

I'm dying. Every atom that makes up my body knows it. The crystal clear picture distorted and blurred as I faded.

Then my body was pulled upright. Shock defined my eyesight again when blood met my lips. Long, dark hair. Madara. I couldn't bite his skin, but firm hands held me against him.

"-kura, please say something; do something. Anything!" A panicked, desperate voice was muffled, but I understood it.

"...Mada…ra…" I managed to say his name, trying to reassure him. The cut he'd given himself on his neck had healed because I was too weak to bite him.

He moved me in his arms to look down at my face. I watched hazily as he bit into his wrist and pressed it to my mouth. Tears dripped down the sides of my face as I watched him trying not to cry.

After a moment, I had enough energy to at least speak and did so, causing him to pull his wrist away slightly, "I can't move."

Madara's teeth grit momentarily, but he sighed softly, his gaze softening from its glare, "It's alright. I'll carry you." He maneuvered me in his arms so I could bite into his neck since I was capable now, and then we were moving.

I don't know how long it was before I passed out, but I recalled many voices sounding around me at the time.