Under My Mask (a Kakashi love story)

Chapter 17: Captive

Claire POV

Loss of blood and intense pain had made me loose consciousness, but before I was consumed by darkness, I caught a glimpse of my baby boy and the name "Igato" softly escaped my lips.

[...]

I awoke on a stone bed, with bandages wrapped tightly around my abdomen, a few bandages on my arms and legs, an IV needle in my right arm and chains restraining my arms and legs. My vision slowly began to adjusts to the faintly candle lit room and I let out a sigh. Then it hit me.

"Igato!!" I choked out before coughing from the dryness of my throat.

"I-Igato..."

Orochimaru then walked in. "Oh, so you're finally awake?"

"...Where is my son?"

"He's safe in another room."

I sighed in relief. "Let me see him...please..."

"Hmm, I can't do that."

"!...H-Huh..?!"

"You see, I don't only want to test your blood, how long you can withstand physical torture and testing..."

"What..?"

"I also want to test how long you can withstand psychological torture and maternal deprivation. I wanted to go easy on you today. So your son is safe, for now. Ku ku ku ku ku..."

I tried to sit up but I was thrown back down by the restraints. "Don't you DARE hurt him...! P-please...I'll do anything..."

"Anything?"

I nodded.

"Then let's make a deal."

"Go on..."

"I won't hurt your son... IF, you cooperate with my testing. Deal?"

"...Deal..."

"Good, this will be fun... ku ku ku..."

I looked away. "...yay..."

[...]

The man grinned and walked out, leaving the door wide open as the light shone in again, blinding me momentarily. He walked back in a few minutes later.

"Are you hungry?"

"..." I shrugged before I heard my stomach growl and I sighed.

He unbounded my arms and set a tray of soft food down in front of me.

"Eat." he ordered.

I rolled my eyes as I brought a spoonful of food to my mouth with a shaky hand. "Thanks..."

He shrugged and walked out again.

I suddenly heard a cry from another room and I felt my heart sink in my chest.

My poor baby...

[...]

A few days have gone by and the worry I've felt has been sickening. So this is the psychological torture he spoke of. He's put me in a genjutsu where I heard my son crying, screaming, suffering. For a parent, it's the worse thing you could hear...

He's fine....he's okay...he's fine.....please...?

Orochimaru walked into the room.

"I do hope you intend to keep your word."

"...Yes."

"Good."

"What are you going to do to me. I know it's testing...but what kind...?" I asked hesitantly, it wasn't like I had anything to loose.

"Well... as I've mentioned before, it's mostly phisical and psychological endurance. There's also your bloodline, and your abilities. For example, woodstyle and the incredible healing speed inherited from the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju. I'd like to have those powers too, I'm sure you can undersand that. Also, when the time comes, I plan on using your body as a vessil. But that's more likely to happen if I fail to transmit your abilities into this body of mine. You would make powerful vessil, Claire Senju."

He started walking towards me and injected a fluid into my neck. Then slowly, little by little, everything went dark, and I was dragged out of the room.

"Testing time~" Orochimaru sang with a large grin on his face.

********************************************************

Kakashi POV

It was an illusion. The damn snake mislead us!

One of the ANBU approached me. "Let's keep searching, getting depressed only wastes time."

I nodded. "I know."

We split up into two groups and we continued our search.

"Orochimaru is not someone who would have a base hidden in plain sight. Perhaps it's hidden underground?" one of the ANBU suggested.

"Seems quite likely." another replied.

"Yeah, there's probably a passageway that opens underneath the large stones to the ouest from here." I continued.

"Only one way to find out."

I nodded.

I pulled out my walkey talkey and sent a message to the other group. "We have an idea where the base might be, we'll let you know when we find out."

"Roger." was their brief reply.

We kept searching and searching, and I was getting more and more anxious as we approached the stones.

I ran ahead a bit and attempted to calm myself down, taking a few deep breaths. 'There's still hope, don't give up, Kakashi. Don't give up...'

As I continued towards the stones, I listened for unusual sounds. Like the sound of a pebble falling underground, or perhaps the creak of a door under my feet. Any sign giving away the presence of the base. Anything at all.

I stayed where I was as the others caught up to me and surrounded the area, doing the same as I.

I crouched down after a bit and I layed my ear against the ground, listening, waiting, hoping.

Then suddenly, I heard the faint crying of a baby.

A/N: Hello mina-san! Let me start off my saying how sorry I am for taking so flipping long to update. I've been going through a lot lately, which added to my already present writer's block. I've also had a lot of exams and stuff so I haven't had much time to update either. Thank you all for your patience, and thank you for understanding. Did you like the chapter? Please let me know by voting and commenting. I really means a lot and makes me grin like an idiot.

Also, I'm sorry if there are a lot of mistakes, I wrote this chapter on my tablet. ;~;

Until next time mina, peace!

Testing, searching and crying babies. ~Sonia