The Mark of Love

•The Torture of Lies

Sakura's POV

'They're gonna kill Sasuke...?' I thought as I ran to the Hokage's building. That's where they kept the entrance to the interrogation room, that has to be where Sasuke is. He's a rogue ninja.. They wouldn't bring him anywhere else, especially if he was dying.

I pushed my way through the doors, passed security and straight down to the room. I'd snatched the keys for this door long ago when Sasuke was first put in the bingo book, in case something like this ever happened.. So grateful I was prepared.

I frantically opened the door and saw a shirtless Sasuke, chained to the wall by his wrists and hanging there. No one else was inside.

I quickly shut and locked the door, stuffing the key in my bra as I ran to Sasuke's side. He looked so much older.. And more muscular than I'd last seen him before our meet a week ago.

He was covered in bruises and his own blood... What the hell were they doing to him here?

"Sasuke...?" I asked, touching his chest gently to wake him.

His bloodshot eye burst open as he flinched, jerking around weakly. One of his eyes swollen shut and the other bloodshot. "Get away--" He tried to yell with a hoarse voice, choking and coughing afterwards. His voice was more hoarse than Naruto's and he could- obviously- barely see.

I flinched, then pressing my palm against his chest, focusing on my jutsu and starting to heal him. "You're gonna be alright Sasuke. It's me, Sakura."

"You.. Let this happen...." He choked out weakly, coughing up his own blood as it trailed down both sides of his mouth.

My eyes widened and I felt a crushing pain in my heart, shaking my head no as I started to cry. "No! No I didn't know this happened! I thought you were okay-" I choked out, working on undoing his restraints.

Once he was on the floor I held back my tears, trying to be quiet and focus all of my energy into healing Sasuke. It was going to take everything I had in his state.

"Naruto... Where... Where is he..?" He groaned, some of his bruises clearing up as I formed his ribs back together as most of them had been crushed, fractured, or broken.

I sniffed as I assessed the full damage in his body. I couldn't heal him completely, but I could get him well enough to escape at the least. "He's waiting for you.. Just outside of the village." I sniffed again. "Just stay quiet. I'm gonna fix you, okay?"

~~~~~

A few hours had already passed, and no one had bothered the room. I'm assuming they left him here to die and planned on coming back in the morning.. Bastards....

I'd healed Sasuke as much as I could for the moment. He needed to regain more of his own chakra, and so did I.

Sasuke looked up at me weakly, his one eye still partially swollen while the other was fine. He was still covered in his own blood but no longer had any external or internal punctures of the tissue.

"Sakura.... Thank you.." He groaned, leaning forward, placing his hands on the ground and trying to stand up.

"Kh-" I stood up, helping him stand so he didn't fall. "Sasuke you need to recover your chakra first. Give me time to recover too and I can heal you more."