Chapter Text
“We fear that which we cannot see."
- Tite Kubo
--
Naruto pulled his knees close to his chest and laid his cheek against them, curled up as much for warmth as for protection. The aggressive way these guys handled him, the shock of having hands on you that you didn’t expect and the callousness they showed him, already put him on edge. But Kabuto.. he was a whole other story.
Naruto couldn’t fathom why the snake was suddenly interested in him, but he clearly meant it. He could still feel his tongue on his neck..
The thought made him shiver with revulsion.
Is Kabuto really going to.. is he going to try to..
He couldn’t put words to those fears- not even in his mind. It was horrific enough without it. He needed to think about this, to find a way to stop him, but he couldn’t get past his growing terror and all the reasons he had to be afraid. I’m blind. I’m blind, I have no chakra, I can’t reach Kurama, I have no weapons, I’m outnumbered, and Sasuke..
He swallowed hard.
No. He’s ok.
Sasuke’s ok.
I know he is.
He figured the best chance he had of surviving this, unscathed, was by buying time. Sasuke would be looking for him, and now that they were stopped he would be able to catch up to them.
He’ll make it in time, he told himself.
He has to.
--
Sasuke stumbled and dropped to his knees on the thick extending limb of an old oak. Kakashi grabbed him by the elbow and got him to his feet, holding on until he seemed steady enough to manage without him.
“I’m fine” he snapped, wrenching his arm away from the concerned jonin. “Let’s just go.”
“Sasuke..”
“I can’t leave him alone with Kabuto and his f*cking followers” the raven growled. “We have to keep moving.”
Kakashi nodded. “I know.”
Sasuke jerked his head to the side to glare at him. “Don’t ask me not to go.”
“I’m not.”
Sasuke studied him for a moment longer, trying to read him, but it was always next to impossible to get a solid read on the man. And his mind was far too scattered to be good at it now. “Just say what you want to say” he said, irritated with the cryptic sh*t.
“You haven’t fully recovered yet.”
“I know that.”
“And you’ll need your strength to rescue Naruto.”
Sasuke gritted his teeth together. “I know.”
“So why don’t I carry you. For a little while.”
That.. was not what he had been expecting.
“You’re serious?”
The jonin nodded and dropped to a knee in front of the winded, yet reluctant, raven. He glanced over his shoulder and gave an encouraging smile. “Hop on.”
“Yeah, pass.”
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Time for some tough love. “You’ll just slow us down like this. Can Naruto really afford for you to keep your pride? Is it worth his life?”
Ok, might have gone a little too far..
Sasuke turned away, letting long ebony strands hide his face, but Kakashi had seen the tears before he managed to blink them back. He opened his mouth to apologize for his harshness, but Sasuke shocked him into silence as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms securely around the jonin. Kakashi rose to his feet and Sasuke latched on tight to his back.
“Don’t breathe a word of this” he mumbled.
Kakashi smiled over his shoulder and couldn’t resist bouncing him up higher on his back. Before Sasuke could second guess his choice, Kakashi tightened his hold on him and took off- leaping through the trees faster than he had been able to do before.
The last piece in convincing the ever-stubborn Uchiha that this was the right call. He had been slowing them down- and Kakashi was right to call him on it.
He could have just left me behind, he thought. It would have been easier on him if he did. But he made sure I could still be there for him..
“Kakashi?”
The jonin quirked a brow. “Sasuke?”
“Umm, thank you. For.. for helping me. For helping Naruto.” He was uncomfortable saying it but figured he owed him that.
“You don’t need to thank me, Sasuke.” He paused before adding, “though.. it was fun to hear it.”
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
Kakashi ignored it. “You’re sure this is the way?” he asked. Sasuke had already described the hideout, but Kakashi had been out this way before and he had never seen anything of the kind. Though, he hadn’t been looking for it before either.
“I’m sure” Sasuke replied. “Now let’s just hope they stop to make camp.”
Kakashi agreed.
Sasuke’s near-death experience had put them at quite the disadvantage. And while he knew they would have their hands full when they actually did confront the enemy, at least then they stood a chance of rescuing Naruto.
Before anything worse happened.
--
Naruto bristled at the sound of approaching steps like a cornered animal- defenseless but hackles raised, still unwilling to go down without a fight. He clenched his teeth together, begging for those steps to go anywhere else, but they didn’t stop. Not until they were right in front of him.
Naruro’s head shot up, his eyes staring into the darkness above him, wary of whatever gazed back.
“You look cold, Naruto” Kabuto said slyly. “Why don’t you come warm up.”
A hand grabbed hold of his elbow, but Naruto quickly wrenched it away and jerked back- further out of reach. “Don’t touch me!” he snarled.
“It’s fascinating how much fight you still have left in you” Kabuto purred. “It makes me curious to see what it would take to break you of it.”
His voice lowered, darker than the slimy taunt it was before. It made Naruto miss the sickeningly sweet version. Because this.. this was far crueler. And it worried him that he was no longer trying to hide it.
Naruto bit the inside of his cheek, waiting with bated breath to see what this version of Kabuto would do. What he was capable of.
Another step towards him sent Naruto shuffling back once more, but he had a feeling that’s exactly what Kabuto wanted. He was toying with him. And Naruto could sense the excitement he felt every time he reacted to it. He didn’t want to fall into the snake’s trap, but what else was he supposed to do?
“No need to be frightened, Naruto” Kabuto said, his voice suggesting anything but. “I’m just trying to get you out of the cold. Wouldn’t you prefer having some shelter to wait out the night?”
“Stay away from me” he shot back, trying his best to keep his voice steady.
Kabuto paused. “You do understand, don’t you? Resisting will only make things harder for you.”
Naruto bit his lip, holding back a whimper as he shook his head. He didn’t want to hear this, but more than that- he didn’t want it to be true.
Kabuto shifted out of sight and suddenly appeared directly in front of him. Before Naruto had time to react, he grabbed his bound legs and yanked them towards him. Naruro flew back and crashed to the ground. He gasped in pain as Kabuto jerked him closer, a cruel sneer pulling at his features as he eyed his prey.
“Do you understand your position now?” he murmured. He dropped a hand down by his face and leaned in. Naruto tried to push him away, and Kabuto saw another opportunity to prove just how much control he had over him. He released his ankle and grabbed his bound wrists instead.
“Let go!” Naruto tried to yank them back, but Kabuto wasn’t done. He threw a leg over the blonde, then brought his hands over his head and pinned them to the ground.
“You see, I can do whatever I want with you Naruto. I can pin you down like this in front of a camp full of people and no one will help you.”
“St-stop..”
“I can force you into my tent-”
Naruto flinched.
“And no one will come to your aid.”
“No.. don’t-”
“Or I could..” he tore a kunai free and forced it against the blonde’s throat, “slit your throat, right here. Right now. I could watch you slowly bleed out and no one here would blink an eye.”
“Nnhhn..” Naruto held his breath as cold iron pressed firmly against his carotid artery.
Kabuto was right. With sightless eyes, his arms bound and pinned down, and a blade at his throat, there was nothing he could do. He furrowed his brows over pained eyes at that realization, but stayed silent. He was afraid that even the slightest movement would force the blade’s edge into his skin, and he didn’t want to do anything that would make him even more vulnerable than he already was.
Kabuto saw the fight slip from his prey, and he didn’t like it. He wasn’t done with their little game, and it was far less exciting when his toy stopped. It was clear he needed a new strategy, and he was more than willing to try another to rekindle that fire- the spark of rebellion that was so exhilarating to snuff out.
Kabuto pocketed his kunai and grabbed a fistful of blonde hair, roughly jerking his head back. Naruto groaned, bringing new light to his warden’s watchful gaze. Kabuto clenched his fist as he studied those unseeing eyes, searching for a reaction to his next threat.
“Or..” he said slowly, his excitement already growing, “I could give you to my men. Let them have a taste first.”
Huge hazy blues stared up into the darkness, widening with terror. “Kabuto.. please” he choked, “you- you don’t need to do this..”
“Need to? Of course I don’t.” He laughed at the thought. “Oh, my dear jinchurki, you weren’t even part of the plan. Everything I do to you now is simply because I want to.”
Kabuto slowly untangled his fingers from his hair and dragged them along the side of his face, down his throat, and gradually moved lower. He could feel the blonde’s breath stop as he slid his hand under his shirt.
“So, what will it be Naruto? My tent..” he grinned as his fingers grazed the top of his waistband. “.. or their’s?”
The fight in him returned full force. Naruto bucked wildly beneath him, his legs kicking out with fervor as he pulled frantically at his arms. He threw his head back and screamed, drawing in the attention of the rest of the camp.
It didn’t faze Kabuto in the least.
They knew his cruelty, just as many of them had known Orochimaru’s. This did not surprise them.
“So.. you choose them.”
Naruto turned his face away. “Please, don’t-“
“Will you come to my tent willingly then?” he said around a taut smile. “Or should I have a few friends help you get there?”
Naruto swallowed hard. “He’ll kill you if you do this.”
“He’s dead, Naruto. He isn’t killing anyone.”
Tears filled those cloudy eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Just as he refused to believe that. “That’s not true.”
“Then let’s test it, shall we? How about this- I’ll stop when Sasuke shows up.”
Kabuto nodded to several of his cultists and they immediately appeared by his side, eager to carry out his orders. By far my best experiment, he thought to himself. “Bring Uzumaki to my tent.”
“No.. NO!!”
Naruto screamed as several hands grabbed him and dragged him off. He fought hard, driving an elbow back into one, and bruising several shinbones along the way, but nothing was stopping them. He leaned forward and bit down hard on one man’s hand, clenching down when he tried to tear away from him. The man shrieked as Naruto’s mouth filled with blood, but he just bore down harder. It didn’t last long. Someone punched him and pulled the man free as Naruto fought to catch his breath. He spat out blood and screamed into the cold and cruel night- for the snake bastard to die a painful death, for his minions to go to hell, and for Sasuke..
To stay alive.
But no one answered. The men just silently dragged him away, and Kabuto quietly followed their lead.
Naruto could hear a zipper being pulled, the rustle of plastic, and then they threw him down- just as ordered- into Kabuto’s tent.
“N-no..” he breathed, his opaque eyes pleading through the darkness, “don’t, please!”
“No matter what you hear” Kabuto said, his words for his men but his eyes locked on the desperate blonde at his feet, “don’t come in.”
Tears finally broke free as Kabuto stepped inside to join his prisoner. “Oh, it’s much too early for that, Naruto.”
He glanced over his shoulder and nodded to his men. One took hold of the zipper without a word and slowly dragged it along the opening, locking the two inside.
“I haven’t even started yet.”
