Stripped Bare

Yes, I am updating. Amazing. Despite what many people have concluded, I have not abandoned this fic. If you look at my updating history, I normally post a chapter about every six weeks, although if I take longer, it’s not because I have forgotten about this story.

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Stripped Bare - Chapter 21

Sakura awoke feeling groggy, disoriented, and slightly nauseous, no doubt from the drug Koudo had injected her with. She opened her eyes to find herself in what looked to be a private car of a train. The shades were drawn over the windows, leaving the interior of the car dim and preventing her from knowing where the train was traveling.

She had no recollection of boarding, or even of leaving Dajaku’s office. She had to wonder if her captor had ordered her to walk calmly to the station and then forget all about it.

She wondered where Kakashi was, and if he’d be able to find her. If only she had known she had been drugged sooner. She could have explained her actions and prevented their fight. Even if he did come save her and she told him the truth, she wondered if anything between them could be salvaged. Her heart sank as she remembered that nothing had existed between them in the first place. There were no feelings, only sex. There was nothing to fix because no relationship existed.

Sakura looked across from her to find Tsurenai on the opposite seat, body leaning against the wall, just as the kunoichi’s had been. It looked like she was still sound asleep.

Sakura knew who sat beside her even before turning to look. She shifted slightly in her seat, trying to draw her strength for an attack on her captor, but it seemed her limbs were still under the command of another.

The man at her side chuckled.

“Awake already?” he mused, his voice smooth and rich as ever. “I expected you to sleep until we reached our destination, but it seems I’ve underestimated you. You’re certainly a remarkable specimen.”

“Bastard,” she croaked, her tongue feeling thick and dry inside her mouth. She longed to spring to her feet and grasp his head in both hands, snapping it until his disturbingly yellow eyes were staring vacantly at the wall behind him, neck broken. However, just twitching a finger currently seemed a difficult task and she could do nothing more than sit obediently. All the hate and rage she possessed were focused in her green gaze that now glittered dangerously like deadly fragments of broken glass.

Koudo only seemed amused by her insult, smirking as he reached out to run fingers through her disheveled pink strands.

Without warning, he hauled her forward into a rough kiss. Sakura complied like a rag doll, unable to stop her body from pressing snugly to his. He suckled at her lips before pushing his tongue past them, violating her mouth while she was unable to push him away. With no other way to defend herself, Sakura did all she could. She summoned her strength and bit him hard.

The bite wasn’t enough to draw blood, but it was enough to make her assailant grunt in pain and pull away, but instead of anger, he only continued to look at her with amusement.

“So much spirit,” he chuckled. “The boss is going to love you. He likes watching the strong ones break down.”

Sakura only continued to glare hatefully, vowing that once they got to wherever they were going, she would be sure to kill this so called ‘boss’ too, even if she had no idea how she would accomplish it while her strength eluded her.

“I’m going to kiss you again,” Koudo murmured, voice full of self confidence that only fueled Sakura’s anger. “And this time, you are going to enjoy it.”

She was powerless to stop him as he leaned in again, keeping his fingers entwined firmly in her hair as he pressed his lips to hers. Despite her disgust and rage and killing intent, she felt a liquid heat began to burn between her legs, and to her horror, as his tongue once more parted soft, pink lips, a lusty moan rose up from within her.

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Kakashi burst through the double doors of the club, destroying the lock that held them shut. The loud sound probably alerted everyone in the building to his presence but he couldn’t care about stealth at the moment. He needed to find Sakura and fast because it had been Dajuku’s name that had been written on that piece of paper.

That meant the club owner was in involved somehow in the kidnapping and slave trade of the very women he had hired ninjas to protect. Even when he put all the pieces together, gaps remained in the puzzle, but he was fairly certain Sakura was next on the list of women to be stolen away.

Kakashi noticed a light on in Dajaku’s office, the door cracked open, and Kakashi wasted no time in moving in close to peek inside. He sensed no other presence but Dajaku’s, confirming he was alone in the room, his back was partially turned away, remaining oblivious to the fact he was being watched as he gleefully thumbed through a rather large stack of bills.

That meant Dajaku had probably just made a sale, and a knot tightened in Kakashi’s stomach as he realized Sakura had probably been the goods.

Anger overcame him, overlaying a red film across his vision until everything appeared in shades of crimson. How dare he sell the woman he loved as if she were no better than a sack of rice or dispensable livestock. All the women he had sold in the past were now suffering unspeakable horrors, becoming sex toys for those who could afford them. Dajaku had just sentenced Sakura to the same fate just so he could stuff his pockets.

Forgoing stealth and protocol, forgetting he was undercover, Kakashi burst through the door and slammed the balding man against the wall. His hand was around Dajaku’s thick throat before his victim could do so much as gasp in surprise. Paper bills fluttered from grimy fingers to scatter across the floor but Kakashi didn’t even spare them a glance.

“You fucking scum,” the shinobi seethed, uncovered eye ablaze with black fire. “Where is she?”

“W-w-who? I d-don’t know what—”

Kakashi’s hand tightened around the club owner’s windpipe as his dark eye narrowed.

“Don’t fuck around with me,” he growled. “I know what you’ve been up to you sick freak. You aren’t giving these girls a safe haven to live. You’re just exploiting them at your dirty little club until you can sell them off to the slave trade.”

Dajaku’s silver eyes widened, clearly shocked to have his carefully crafted plan flung back in his face.

“Selling normal girls wasn’t enough for you so you had to go and hire a kunoichi, claiming her job was to save the very girls you were selling.” Kakashi spat. “And judging by that money you were holding, I’d guess you just made a sale. So I’m going to ask you again. Where. Is. She.”

Dajaku was trembling, a greasy film of sweat developing on his face.

“Let me go,” he sniveled. “You have no right to interfere with my business operations.
What I do with my employees is my business.”

Kakashi growled in rage, hauling the smaller man forward only to slam him back against the wall.

“Sakura was not your employee,” he snarled, his voice low and dark with anger. “If you don’t tell me where she is I will personally tear out your heart and let you watch me cut it into tiny pieces in your last moments.

“All right!” Dajaku screamed, resolve crumbling as fear consumed him. “Yeah, Sakura is gone, but it wasn’t my fault. It was him! He made me do it! I didn’t have a choice so you shouldn’t be punishing me.”

“Who’s ‘he?’” Kakashi demanded.

“Koudo. He’s a highly skilled freelance shinobi, one of the best. Right now he’s working for a big shot politician up in Northern Rock Country because he pays well. The politician is heading up the operation with the girls, starting a personal collection I guess you could say. Eventually he realized there was a market for programmable women and started a business.”

“And you provide the women,” Kakashi spat, disgusted with the whole prospect.

“Well, not at first, but now I do. They turn a higher profit as slaves than they do dancers. This place takes a lot of money to run, so you can see the position I’m in.”

Kakashi took in the silk shirt, designer slacks, the copious rings filled with precious stones and the stench of expensive cologne. He made the girls he exploited buy their own food, and most of their own clothes. As far as Kakashi could see, he put just enough money into his establishment to keep it from falling down, and let his dancers only keep a fraction of what they made. Dajaku didn’t need this money, although even if he did, it still wouldn’t justify his actions. The fact he kept the girls in poverty while he reaped the benefits, only to turn around and sell them to a crueler fate made Kakashi want to hurt this man…hurt him very badly.

“You son of a bitch.”

The voice was full and feminine, but currently held such a cold hard edge, that it sliced through the air like a knife.

Both male heads turned to find the remaining four girls standing in the doorway with various expressions of shock and rage. Kakashi didn’t know how long they had been standing there but apparently it had been long enough to hear what Dajaku had planned for them.

Tora stood at the front, cobalt eyes blazing. She had been the one to speak, and from the look of it, both she and Kitsune looked about ready to relieve Kakashi of the job of killing their boss and do it themselves.

“Girls!” Dajaku cried, eyes going so wide that the whites could be seen around the entire silver iris. “It’s not what you think! Believe me, I want nothing but what’s best for you.”

“Shut up,” Tora roared. “I ought to slit your throat with your gold plated letter opener, you greedy, shameless, pathetic excuse for a man. You’re disgusting! How could you pretend to worry about us like that when you were the one we should be afraid of all along?”

“Yeah,” Kitsune chimed in, violet eyes flashing dangerously as she shouldered her way into the room, looking incredibly intimidating despite her slender stature. “All those times you assured us the missing girls would be found…Aya, Miyabi, and now Hana too. You were the one that sold them out in the first place! How do you sleep at night?”

“B-but, you see, you’re getting it wrong. I didn’t, I mean…” Dajaku whimpered, realizing his club could very well fall apart if all his dancers left him.

“Shut up,” Kakashi ordered, shaking him hard. “Now, you’re going to tell me where this politician is so I can go there and get back what you unlawfully sold, and you better hope to god it’s not too late. If it is, not even your mother will be able to identify your body after I’m done with you.”

Dajaku shrank further into the wall as if he hoped he could sink through it and escape the scathing stares fixed upon him.

“I can’t tell you who he is,” he whimpered. “I swore to keep it a secret. If word gets out that he’s involved in a scandal like this, it will ruin him and he’ll come looking for me to return the favor.”

Kakashi drew back his fist in preparation to knock some information out of the club owner, but Tora stopped him.

“Let me,” she said.

Still holding the human worm in place, Kakashi allowed the enraged brunette to draw close, her hands balled tightly into fists. She glared at her employer before delivering, not the open-palmed slap that Kakashi had expected from her, but a punch powerful enough to snap Dajaku’s head back as it connected with his jaw.

“Tell him what he wants to know,” Tora seethed. “Because if you don’t, I promise nothing your politician boss can come up with will be worse than what we are going to do with you, honey.”

If he hadn’t been so angry, Kakashi might have smirked at her remark. She had enough fire and spirit to make a great kunoichi, and apparently she packed a mean right hook as well.

Instead of showing amusement, he lifted his eye patch, exposing his Sharingan to all present. The girls gasped, shocked by the strange red and black orb and Tora took a step backwards, looking at Kakashi with a mixture of awe and fear. However, Dajaku knew that whatever ability this strange eye allowed the shinobi to do was bound to be bad news for him and he didn’t want to wait and see what the Konoha ninja had planned.

“Alright!” the club owner sniveled, futilely trying to twist out of Kakashi’s grip. “I’ll tell you. His name is Iyashii. He’s a prevalent figure in the North Western part of Rock where towns actually vote for their officials. He’s kept order in an otherwise chaotic region and brought great prosperity to the area so he’s popular with the public, but if word of this gets out…”

“He can kiss his position good bye,” Kitsune finished, comprehending the situation but not giving a damn what happened to such a slimy political figure.”

“Well, now that you know, does that mean we can kill him now?” Tora asked, looking like she wouldn’t mind being the one to put a knife through his heart.

Misaki, blue eyes wide, covered her mouth with a trembling hand and Jitsu looked away, neither of them able to stomach the sight of death even after all Dajaku had forced them to endure.

“Wait,” Kakashi said, holding up a warning hand. “I still need him. He’s coming with me to Rock.”

“What?” Dajaku gasped, focus snapping towards Kakashi. “But why? I’ve only been to Iyashii’s estate once years ago.”

“That’s more times than I have. You’ll guide me there and if you mislead me, I swear I will kill you on the spot,” the shinobi growled.

“You can’t take me all the way there,” Dajaku pleaded, hands grasping weakly at the fingers squeezing his neck. “You have no right to—”

“Shut up.”

All heads turned to the one that had spoken, and Jitsu, showing a strength that none had seen her exhibit before.

“Don’t talk about rights Dajaku, not when you sold away ours. You sold my best friend, Aya. You made me kill my unborn child. You made me undress in front of strangers every night, claiming you knew what was best for me and I obeyed…but not anymore. Take that dirty money on the floor and get out, and if you manage to save at least Hana’s life, it will be the least you can do to make up for all that you’ve done.”

For a moment, nobody said a word, too shocked by the petite woman’s outburst.

“Jitsu,” Dajaku said at last. “You…you ungrateful little bitch!”

If he could have lunged at her, he would have, but Kakashi activated his Sharingan, dark teardrops spinning in a sea of crimson. One look into them had Dajaku falling unconscious.

Kakashi slung his limp body over one shoulder as the girls looked on, the dancers unsure whether they should feel grateful or frightened.

“Is there a train in town that runs to Rock?” he asked, knowing that carrying an uncooperative, or even unconscious Dajaku would slow him down greatly.

“Yes, the train station is across town. I don’t know the schedule but I know a train runs in that direction.”

Kakashi nodded and turned to go when Misaki stopped him.

“So…you’re not really Hana’s boyfriend…are you?”

The shinobi shook his head.

“No. And her name isn’t Hana. It’s Sakura. I’m her mission partner. I’m a shinobi…we both are.”

A collective gasp went through the group at the news. Apparently Sakura had hid her true identity well.

“We were on assignment to find who was kidnapping the girls here, but I guess we know the answer to that now.”

“Bring her back,” Kitsune said, her voice soft but pleading. “I don’t care who she is or what her name is. She’s my friend… my sister…no matter what.”

Three other heads nodded in agreement and Kakashi admired Sakura’s ability to make such friendships in a short amount of time.

“I’ll bring her back,” he promised, turning towards the front door. He was surprised how much he really meant it. He would face hell and all of its demons if that’s what it took to save the woman he loved. He only hoped it didn’t come to that.

With an unconscious Dajaku still over his shoulder, he emerged into the gray light of dawn and leapt to the rooftops, running full speed in the direction of the train station.

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Dull pain greeted Sakura as she slipped back into wakefulness. A quick look around told her that she was no longer on a train, but inside a large and rather posh looking house. Perhaps a castle would have been a better description of her location, for the vaulted ceiling of the circular room was dozens of feet overhead, and the windows alternated between crystal clear panes and intricate, abstract designs in a rainbow of stained glass.
The crimson carpet beneath her was thick and plush, though it had done little to cushion the harsh fall that had undoubtedly woke her up. Koudo was sneering above her, daring her to do something about the way he had roughly dropped, but her limbs were still heavy and sluggish, proving she was still under the influence of the mysterious drug.

The kunoichi had no recollection of traveling from the train to her current location, and she could only assume she had fallen asleep again upon her captor’s orders. Tsurenai lay beside her, still sound asleep and oblivious to her predicament. Sakura guessed that the woman’s unconditioned body could not metabolize the drug as fast as herself, although the sight that greeted her made her wish she was still unconscious.

Sitting in a single gilded chair, so ornate and intricately carved that it looked like a throne, was a man that could only be described as repulsive. He would have been unattractive enough at a normal weight, dull brown eyes sitting above a piggish nose while large ears framed his oddly round head, but the man had to be at least two hundred pounds overweight.

His neck was practically obscured by numerous chins, and jowls hung on either side of his mouth, making him look more like an overfed bulldog than a person. His amorphous form was squeezed into a stately jacket, adding to the illusion of a king on his throne, although Sakura couldn’t help but wonder if garments were actually made in such a tremendous size or if all his clothes were custom made to fit his incredible girth.

Despite his gruesome obesity, the thing that disgusted her most was the way he was currently looking at her. Many a man had looked at her the exact same way as she had danced in the club, hungrily, lustfully, shamelessly. No man had previously had such repugnant features on which to display such blatant desire, and the sight of him all but raping her with his gaze while she remained unable to slap the look off his disgusting face was both infuriating and a little frightening.

Koudo dropped to one knee, bowing his head respectfully as the large man struggled out of his chair with a grunt, needing tremendous effort to hoist himself from his seated position.

“I’ve brought you both girls as requested, Iyashii-sama” the yellow eyed shinobi declared, gesturing toward the two women he had just previously dumped so unceremoniously on the floor.

“Excellent,” the large man wheezed, tottering forward to examine Sakura more closely. “Is the pinkie my new bodyguard?”

“Yes,” Koudo replied, straightening to join his master in staring down at their prisoner. “She’s the one Konoha sent. Even prettier than a Hyuuga isn’t she?”

“Beautiful,” Iyashii chuckled thickly, greedy eyes roving her form as if trying to see underneath the clothes she wore. “I can’t wait to break her in once she’s undergone the procedure.”

Though Sakura’s head was still fogged, she remembered hearing of a politician in Rock Country with the same name. She had only seen pictures in a newspaper she had glimpsed while in Fuzen Machi, but she knew that if this man before her had been featured she would have remembered. She remembered the man she saw being younger, handsomer, and certainly a great deal slimmer. Perhaps it was just a coincidence? Yet the thought of someone as wealthy as a popular politician financing such an operation made sense. It could also explain why both Kakashi and she had had such a hard time finding the culprit. The real leader was hours away from Fuzen, and was likely using a false name in his criminal dealings as well as sending men to do his dirty work for him.

Turning to his shinobi servant Iyashii asked, “She’s awake now. I though the drug ensured she’d be unconscious during her trip here. Does the injection not work well on kunoichi?”

Koudo smiled knowingly.

“Well, our little Sakura here is very special. Not only is she a high level kunoichi, but she’s also one of the best medics in Fire Country, taught by the Hokage herself. Her body can break down the drug faster so she needs a higher dosage. The procedure may take a little longer than usual, but I assure you that even she is not resistant to the effects of the drug.”

“Are you certain?” Iyashii asked warily, eyeing the woman gazing hatefully at him with suspicion. “I can’t have her turning on me. Her loyalty must be absolute. She must respond to me and me alone.”

“I tested her myself, and let me assure you that everything went perfectly. She was quite obedient.”

Koudo’s smile widened as he gave Sakura a wink, a gesture that only made Sakura angrier as he spoke again.

“She’s also quite responsive and has the dirtiest little mouth I’ve ever heard. She’s incredibly flexible, has incredible stamina, and if you warm her up enough, she’s quite the screamer when she comes.”

Despite the rage boiling through her veins, Sakura could do little more than twitch, although she managed to curl her lip into a vicious snarl even if she couldn’t form a seething insult to accompany the expression. She was even weaker than she had felt on the train and she wondered if Koudo had given her another injection while she was asleep.

Hearing of what Sakura had in store, Iyashii’s gaze returned to her, his expression even lustier than before as he imagined trying out Sakura’s nubile body himself.

“So much spirit,” he mused, seeing her hateful expression. “I do hope the good doctor can break her quickly. I want to play with my new toy as soon as possible.”

He licked his thick lips in a way that made Sakura want to shudder, but she was too weak and her body too unresponsive to oblige her.

“The other one is Dajaku’s old poster girl. She’s the one that was specially ordered?”

“Yes,” the large man replied, finally dragging his gaze from Sakura to the purple haired woman next to her. “I have a friend who saw her picture and immediately offered to pay anything for her. Once the procedure is finished, I’ll have her delivered. The price she’ll fetch will practically pay for my next campaign entirely.”

Sakura heard the sound of a door opening and shifted her eyes to the side to see a striking brunette enter the room. The maid uniform she wore was quite short and almost indecently low cut, but she didn’t seem self conscious at all. Despite her distance, Sakura noticed at once that there was something peculiar about her eyes. Their tawny depths seemed dull, lifeless, like the glass eyes of a doll or stuffed bear.

“Iyashii-sma, your ride is here to take you to your conference,” she said with a bow, her voice monotone and equally lifeless.

“Already?” the large man sighed, seeming reluctant to take his eyes away from Sakura. “Very well.”

The kunoichi watched in astonishment as the man’s thick fingers came together in the familiar hand seals for a henge jutsu. With a puff of smoke, Iyashii’s obese visage was gone, replaced with a man slimmer, taller, and the spitting image of the man she had seen in the newspaper photograph.

“Koudo,” he spoke, his voice smoother, richer, pleasant. “Take these two to the facility and have Midari start on them immediately.”

“Of course,” the shinobi said with a bow as his master turned to follow the scantily clad maid out the door.

Sakura couldn’t make sense of what she had just seen, tongue still too thick and heavy to form words as her mind reeled. Was Iyashii a shinobi posing as a civilian? He lacked the musculature to be a ninja, his obese frame making it hard for him to simply walk without immense effort, and yet he undoubtedly had the ability to manipulate chakra.

Koudo returned to her side, yellow-green eyes glinting as he took in her motionless form. As if able to read her frantic thoughts, he spoke.

“You want to know how he can form hand seals when he’s not a shinobi, don’t you?”

The kunoichi couldn’t answer, but she didn’t have to as Koudo continued on his own.

“He never would have gained the political power he has now if he appeared in his real form. Iyashii-sama is a smart man and was aware of this. He hired a shinobi to teach him how to cultivate his chakra enough to perform henges for an extended period of time. It also allows him to bind women to him that have had the procedure. Only chakra can be used to make the subject fully obedient to a single person.

He watched her as the information sunk in, although she was too paralyzed to give much of a reaction.

“As for the procedure, you’ll find out all about that very shortly,” he sneered, once again hoisting Sakura over one shoulder, and the still sleeping Tsurenai over the other.

He exited the room which led out into another larger room with the same crimson carpet and lavish furnishings in what appeared to be an immense mansion.

Still helpless and unable to fight back, Sakura could only hope that some how, some way, Kakashi would find her.

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After seven long hours, the train finally pulled into the station Dajaku had pointed out. The backstabber had awoken an hour or so into the trip but threats of severe bodily harm had kept him quiet and cooperative. He managed to get the city’s name out of him; Houseki. He recalled hearing of it once or twice but had never been there before.

Warning him to stay close, Kakashi stepped off the train to find himself in a rich and prosperous city. Storefronts offered fine silks and satins in a rainbow of colors, and Kakashi would have been skeptical of anyone paying such high prices if the people around him hadn’t been dressed in those very fashions. Colored bits of glass were embedded in the paved walkways, making them glitter and sparkle in the afternoon sunlight. Such a place made Konoha look modest in comparison, and Kakashi couldn’t believe that Rock of all places, a country usually associated with rogue ninjas and dangerous bandits, had a city like this.

Noticing how Kakashi was taking in his surroundings, Dajaku spoke.

“This is Houseki, Rock’s sparkling jewel. It was a rich city that has grown richer under Iyashii’s rule. However, fifty miles in every direction lays barren country full of bandits, so few people travel by anything but train.”

Kakashi surmised that if a man were to set up a slave trade, this would be the place. People here were too wrapped up in their own pompous lives to pay much attention to their surroundings. Few people milling among the busy streets seemed to notice him and those who did shot disapproving glances at his ratty clothes. Rich business men with money to burn could buy themselves a personal sex toy and the populous would be oblivious to the crime happening under their noses.

“Where is Iyashii’s estate?” Kakashi asked, pulling Dajaku in close so as not to be overheard.

The club owner turned, scanning the rolling hills that surrounded the city.

“There,” he said, pointing to an incredibly large house on the highest hill. It was miles away and looked quite small, but Kakashi could tell Iyashii’s humble home was nothing less than a small castle.

“All right, let’s get going,” the shinobi said, knowing it would take a while to climb all the way to the top, especially if they met with resistance. He was sick with worry about Sakura’s safety and hoped he wasn’t too late. Dajaku had said that he didn’t know much about the procedure used to drain the will from the victimized women, but he guessed it was a somewhat lengthy process. Kakashi could only hope he was right.

He pulled Dakaku after him but the club owner was reluctant.

“Why do you still need me with you?” he whined. “I showed you where his house is. Just let me go!”

Kakashi’s visible eye narrowed dangerously.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be making requests,” he growled. “You’re coming.”

With that, the shinobi hauled Dajaku in the direction of the tall hill, ignoring passer by’s curious stares as his captive whimpered with self pity and fear.

Dark clouds hung on the horizon, pushed towards the city by a chilling wind. It was as if the weather itself was warning the travelers to turn back from the dangers that awaited them, and Kakashi guessed that the clouds would soon blot out the sunny sky he had missed for so long.

“Come on,” he growled, urging Dajaku to move faster, struck with an even greater sense of urgency to find the woman he loved.

XXXXX

Sakura was unable to turn her head to get a better look at her surroundings, her body still limp as a rag doll as Kudou carried her down a darkened stairway. The stairs seemed to be spiraling steeply downward so she assumed this portion of Iyashii’s mansion was underground but she couldn’t be sure.

There was little evidence of the rich luxury that had been prevalent in the previous room. The floor and walls were stone, and the narrow passageway was lit dimly by overhead lights, making it look more like medieval catacombs than a wealthy politician’s home.

Sakura assumed that few people had seen the place she was being taken to, or Iyashii would never have risen to be the popular figure he currently was.

The stairs ended at a heavy wooden door which Kudou easily pushed aside, and Sakura suddenly found herself in a room that looked like some nightmarish hybrid of a science laboratory and a medical clinic.

Cloudy liquids bubbled over Bunsen burners while several beakers partially full of unknown chemicals sat close by. Another table held a full set of surgical instruments, all sparkling clean and gleaming malevolently under the harsh fluorescent lighting. The far side of the surprisingly large room housed dual rows of foldable cots, two of which were occupied, and Sakura managed to gather the strength to gasp aloud when she saw that Miyabi was on the nearest cot. She was hooked up to an IV and seemed to either be comatose or in an incredibly deep sleep.

Hovering over the brunette was a man in a white lab coat, and though he was small in stature, Sakura could immediately see the confidence in his movements, the grandiose of his presence as he moved about in his natural environment. His nose was sharp, almost birdlike, and his dark eyes magnified behind a pair of steel-rimmed bifocals. His black hair was neatly plaited into a braid that reached the center of his back and as soon as he finished his task with the IV, he looked up to fix his cool, clinical stare on Sakura first, and then the unconscious Tsurenai slung over Kudou’s other shoulder.

“I have two new ones for you Doctor,” the yellow eyed shinobi announced, carrying them over to the beds.

“Very good,” he replied. “Which one is the shinobi?”

“Pinkie here,” Kodou grinned as two women appeared to help maneuver an unconscious Tsurenai onto the bed while Sakura was arranged on the cot next to here. “She’s also a medic. One of the best, I’ve heard, so she can metabolize your drug a lot faster than usual.”

“She will require extra care then,” the doctor said, fixing her with his magnified stare. “I’ve never performed the procedure on a kunoichi. The data collected here will be useful.”

The women who had materialized were both slender and brunette, and were both dressed in ridiculously short nurse’s uniforms, complete with white thigh high stockings trimmed with white lace and garter belts. The tops of their uniforms were cut absurdly low, showing ample amounts of cleavage that could only be produced with a push-up bra, and on their feet were white stilettos. Sakura had never seen a more impractical outfit and wondered how they could wear them all day. Their hair was immaculately styled and their makeup perfect, kohl rimmed eyes and glossed lips making them look like they were ready for a pin-up photo shoot at any moment.

Sakura would have wondered why the hell they were helping fellow females to such a horrible fate if she had not seen their eyes. One set brown, one blue, were both glassy and vacant, just as the servant in Iyashii’s chamber had been. These women were but shells of what they had once been, now just porcelain dolls with pretty faces, doing any task they were ordered to do in any outfit they were ordered to wear.

Despite her weakness, Sakura felt bile rise at the back of her throat. Had these women been dancers at a club too or did they have homes and families that they would never see again? The thought was too much and she managed to turn her head to the side as she was sick, unable to stomach the sight of what these woman had become, what she would become.

The blue eyed brunette immediately turned to clean up the mess at a snap of the doctors fingers while the other cleansed the crook of Tsurenai’s elbow with an antiseptic swab before piercing her skin with the IV needle.

“How long do you think the kunoichi will need?” Kudou asked, stepping away from the mess Sakura had left at the side of her bed, giving her a disgusted glance.

“I’m not sure. She will definitely need longer than the others but I can’t be sure. Tell Iyashii-sama that his newest acquisition should be ready in a few days and the escapee we caught has another week at the most.”

“Good, he’ll be pleased,” Kudou said.

Glancing at Sakura once more, the shinobi smirked and blew her a kiss before leaving the room.

The doctor, whose name she assumed was Midari, bent over her form as the nurse cleaned up the last of Sakura’s mess. The kunoichi noticed that when she bent over, the uniform rode up, exposing indecent amounts of thigh and even a flash of lacy white panties.

The doctor turned her face back towards him before she could look any more, brushing rose colored strands from her eyes as he examined her.

“Well aren’t you a pretty one,” he remarked with a cruel smirk. “And able to regain consciousness even after a double dosage of the drug. Incredible. I suppose it’s only natural for a medic nin though.”

Sakura felt nausea and rage and fear all at once, but couldn’t vocalize any of it, couldn’t act, couldn’t move. All she could do was stare back with angry green eyes and wait for him to make his move.

The doctor’s gloved hand fell to her breast, running over it softly before traveling down her stomach to the waistband of her sweats and to her horror, he pulled them and her panties down on one side until her sex was revealed.

“Well, well,” the doctor mused, staring at the small tuft of hair crowning her mound. “You are a natural pinkie. Interesting.”

He pulled her clothes back in place and grabbed an antiseptic swab, cleaning the skin on her arm in preparation for the IV.

She couldn’t struggle, couldn’t fight, couldn’t call out for help as the needle pierced her skin, and she was afraid that this would be the last time she would view the world as Sakura Haruno, for when she awoke, she would be nothing more than robot, a soulless creature uncaring of what anyone did to her.

Kakashi hadn’t come to her rescue and the thought of him made her heart ache. She wished she could see him one more time, see that beautiful face he never showed to others, kiss those sweet lips and feel his strong arms around her. The thought of never seeing him again scared her more than even the loss of her self. Why was he being taken away from her when she had just found in him feelings she thought she would never know? Not just the feelings of lust, pleasure and desire, but of longing and comfort and incredible happiness…and love? Was it love? Did she really love Kakashi Hatake? She supposed she truly did, but then the needle pierced her vein and something cold and numbing began to flow into her bloodstream.

Her shinobi senses immediately picked up on the chakra that was being flushed into her system along with the countless other substances in the chemical cocktail and she supposed it was Iyashii’s, the man whom she would forever obey upon her awakening.

Her eyes drifted shut as she lost consciousness, her last thoughts being of Kakashi as tears escaped from beneath her eyelashes, cutting wet trails down her cheeks as she succumbed entirely to the darkness.

XXXXX

That’s all for now. I’ll be going to an anime convention so that will delay the next chapter. Expect an update sometime in August or September.