Chapter 13

The mind link between Naruto and I was immediately chaotic.

I didn't have enough time to steel my nerves before we were forced into the M.A.T. chairs, and he got a crystal clear look into the trauma I'd endured over the past twenty-four hours.

His whole being was in a panic that matched mine as I unintentionally shared the torture Madara had put me through with him. The psychological wounds were too fresh for me to shut them out midthought, so we were abused for who knows how long until our vision finally went blank.

If I could feel my body, I knew my chest would be heaving in a frenzy. Naruto was so shocked by the experience that he couldn't even try to communicate with me. He was too busy trying to convince himself that it wasn't really happening and that we were only looking at memories.

Words swam across our minds, our prompt for the day: "If you had to fight one another to the death, what would you do to win?"

His kind and concerned face came to mind, and I'm sure he could tell where my thoughts were headed. My hypothetical breath caught in my throat when he suddenly appeared before me. That hadn't happened before! Was he always able to do that, or is this a new feature of our training? He looked upset, maybe even angry.

"Don't lay down and give up. That's exactly what they want." His words were harsh but true.

It'd be no surprise to the Uchiha doctor if I let The Program get the best of me. He probably sees his relationship with me as a game and would undoubtedly consider himself the winner if I died.

Naruto stepped back and raised his fists as though ready to begin fighting with me, an apologetic frown on his lips, "Let's just do this. We aren't really hurting each other anyway."

My unsteady emotions sank away, and I allowed myself to be distracted by our task. I mirrored my partner's posture, and soon we were fighting, albeit in our minds. We exchanged hit after hit, and the blows hurt when they landed. It didn't worry either of us because none of it was real. We'd wake up at the end of our training, and the pain would just be another harsh memory.

Naruto was noticeably stronger, but I was faster. Added to the training we've been receiving, these facts made our fight nearly even.

I narrowly dodged when he lunged at me, trying to tackle me to the ground. Before he could turn back around, I jumped onto his back and locked my legs around him in a sturdy hold. He thrashed and swung around, trying to toss me off, but I held on for dear life. I wrapped my arms around his neck in a chokehold.

My eyes widened when he made a choking sound at the pressure I was putting on him, and I loosened my arms, realizing how ruthless I'd unintentionally gotten.

He froze as he undoubtedly felt the guilt oozing into my body, "No, keep going, Hinata." His hands came up and gripped my shoulders before he flipped me over his body and onto the ground, climbing on top of me to straddle my waist.

His blue eyes glared harshly at my stunned ones, "I don't mind, especially if this somehow helps you." He was referring to the unbearable terror we'd both felt before our fight started.

My eyebrows furrowed, and his frown deepened.

His grip on my shoulders tightened, giving me a rough shake, "You have to, or it'll be bad. I know you well enough by now. Hit me! Fight back!"

I gasped as he started shoving memories of Madara into my head until I became enraged enough to push him off me.

We went back to fighting for what felt like hours, but neither of us grew tired because our bodies weren't actually moving. A pressure of some sort was building in my body, and it was probably me breathing hard and not being conscious enough to control it.

Eventually, I was able to pin him down and felt my angry resolve begin fading away. I hit my fists weakly against his chest, and his focused expression fell. I cried weakly as I yelled at him. I'd finally reached my limit.

"I don't wanna do this anymore!"

He stared at me in awe as I pressed my fists against his chest, "I-I-I don't-" My words trailed off as my sobs became too intense for me to speak.

His arms wrapped around my body, pulling me down against his chest. It vibrated as he spoke in a much calmer voice, "It's okay. Go ahead and let it out."

I was too distressed to be embarrassed and let myself do as he said, crying for a long time.

My tears eventually dried up. We stayed on the ground like that for a moment before Naruto spoke again, "Better?" I nodded against his chest, the humiliation finally starting to creep up my spine now that I'd calmed down.

He moved to sit up, and I climbed off him, rubbing my eyes. An intense heat burned my entire being as I moved to get onto my feet. Pained sounds came from us both, and we looked at one another with wide eyes as words once again scrolled across our vision.

"Five minutes remain to complete the assignment."

We made eye contact before gingerly returning to our fight. Unsurprisingly, Naruto quickly pinned me down but hesitated to deal a final blow.

I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head to the side, "J-Just do it quickly, or we'll be punished." My brow furrowed when I felt him slowly wrap his hands around my neck and start squeezing. I kept my eyes closed for both his and my sake. I don't want to see him in such a terrible way, and surely it'd traumatize him if I looked him in the eye while he killed me.

Something that sounded like a sob came from him, but I stayed still underneath him. His fingers were shaking.

Even if our actions were only taking place in our minds, I could feel myself struggling to gather a breath. The pressure got tighter and tighter until it felt like I couldn't hold on anymore. Then, a sharp sting shot across my neck, and my eyes shot open. A loud gasp shook my body as I desperately tried to breathe. My eyes shot open, and my hands rose to my neck as I coughed.

"Hinata!"

Naruto lay a hand on my shoulder as he'd undoubtedly jumped right out of his M.A.T. chair to help me, but I blindly swatted him away, doubling over to put my head in between my knees.

After a few moments, I finally accepted a raw breath. My throat stung. I tore the helmet off and threw it angrily on the chair, leaving our room quickly so the man couldn't see my bright red face.

I was surprised at dinner when Kabuto served a few participants solely a hot bowl of chicken broth, me included. It seemed I wasn't the only one who'd experienced death by strangulation. Matsuri, Kiba, and Temari did, too, or at least had to have suffered some type of injury to their throat.

How did they figure out what happened? I know Madara said they review each training session, but I assumed they meant our brain waves were being recorded. Are they somehow able to see what happens between every set of partners? If that's the case, how do they do it?

As I sipped, the broth burnt my tongue, but I ignored the pain.

This particular training session proved to be one of the worst yet. Everyone looked like they just saw ghosts.

Naruto ate silently beside me, and I felt grateful he hadn't tried to talk to me yet. I'd seriously lost control of my emotions, and he witnessed every second. The thought of how I must've looked made me sick with regret.

That said, I was extremely thankful he'd given me an outlet to release my pent-up frustration. When I thought about the terrible things Madara made me experience, I was still afraid, but it was like the edge had been removed, so it was bearable.

Loud laughter erupted suddenly from another table, and I glanced over to see Hidan, Kisame, and a few others joking around as they ate. It can't be that they're being treated to the same horrendous experiences as our group, or they wouldn't seem so carefree.

I tore my attention away from them and glanced at Sakura. Ever since her sister was killed yesterday, she hadn't stopped crying. She sat across from me as usual and finally seemed to have control over her tears. Instead, she looked empty. A shell of a person.

Her usually glittering green eyes were dull and blank as she stared at her plate in a daze. Ino kept looking over at her with a concerned expression. As a habit, I glanced to the pink-haired girl's other side to see her big sister, only to see an empty seat.

That's right.

Karin's dead.

After lights out, I was nearly asleep until a noise roused me.

"Psst! Hinata!"

My eyes shot open, and I sat up with my arms raised defensively, only to see Tenten kneeling by my bed with a guilty look. My arms lowered, and I gave her a confused look. She motioned for me to follow her out of the bunking room, and I did, albeit hesitantly.

She sat on the bottom of the staircase and gave me a sheepish grin as she whispered, "Sorry for scaring you; I just wanted to ask something in private."

I nervously sat down as I waited for her to continue.

"Do you have any siblings?"

My eyes widened, "Why?" To my surprise, when I met her gaze, she seemed studious, as though looking for a specific reaction. I could count on my fingers the number of sentences the two of us have exchanged, but she's suddenly taking an interest in my personal life?

"I'm just curious about you, is all. It was really brave to stand up for Sakura like that."

Obviously, she was lying. Even if she was telling the truth about wanting to know more about me, why would her first question be about siblings?

I answered honestly but still felt uncomfortable, "I have a younger sister."

Her eyebrows rose, "That's all? Just a little sister?"

I nodded and had to have looked increasingly confused, "Were you expecting a different answer?"

A look of realization crossed her face, and she waved her hands dismissively as she tried to lie again, "You're such a good fighter. I was sure you'd grown up with at least one brother. I guess I was wrong!" As she spoke, she got to her feet and started inching toward the bedroom again, "Thanks for chatting with me! Good night!"

I watched her dash away with a bewildered expression. I couldn't recall if she'd been this weird the whole time or if her actions were out of character.

With a sigh, I got up and went back to bed.