The Interrogation

Summary: How Sasuke deals with an assassination attempt on Sakura's life. Not well.

Rough fingers curled in anticipation as the distinct crack of Sasuke Uchiha's knuckles filled the ominous silence.

A man sat cuffed to the chair before him, spitting blood for the umpteenth time onto the dingy tiled floor at his feet. His spiked brown hair began to matte from the profuse blood and sweat escaping his mangled body.

"I'll ask again..." Sasuke growled impatiently, pacing the dimly lit interrogation room.

Sakura Haruno stood several feet away, watching with increased worry at the slow rise of Sasuke's temper.

The man in question was heavy in build; muscular, dangerous, but not too smart of an assassin.

Sakura had been heading home from the usual late-shift at the Konoha hospital. She knew something was slightly amiss. She had smelt it in the wind, felt the tension at her core. Perhaps a normal person would've slated it to pure paranoia, but her instincts knew better: she was being followed.

It had been well after midnight and the sky's blackness, once soothing, was suddenly deafening as she maintained her composure and walked wistfully away toward her street. She almost rolled her eyes at the amount of time it was taking for this plan, whatever it was, to come to fruition.

No sooner had Sakura walked under a tree-laden path than she felt the defining shift in the air.

Finally, she thought as she grabbed the kunai strapped to her thigh holster and derailed the impact slamming into her from the trees.

The brown-haired man cursed as he was hurled to the ground by one graceful gesture. Quick to recover, he scrambled to his feet immediately, massive form looming over the small kunoichi.

Sakura remained nonplussed. "You're following me," she stated.

He dusted himself off, trying his best to intimidate. "And now I'm going to kill you," the man answered gruffly. He barrelled forward, brandishing a kunai of his own.

Sparks flew as their weapons crashed angrily, but Sakura easily held her own. "Who sent you?" she demanded through gritted teeth.

He responded by swiping the air by her ear as the pink-haired girl dodged the attack.

Sakura flipped backwards to maintain distance. "Who wants me dead?" she tried again.

The man roared his frustration as he relentlessly charged his target. He was clearly not interested in having a conversation. She would admit that he was highly trained as a ninja, but was not openly displaying his forehead protector so she could deduce his origins. He was good, sure, but she was better.

He cursed again as Sakura managed another clean swipe to his shoulder with her blade. It wasn't going well for him; for every cut he managed against the kunoichi, she sliced him back threefold.

They moved back from each other, the man panting heavily. "Bitch. I'm done playing nice."

Sakura assessed the thin lines of blood down her shoulder, choosing to ignore the disparaging remark. Instead, she brushed the small amount of sweat collecting on her brow and sighed. "If you want to live, tell me who sent you."

"'If you want to live'..." the unknown ninja mocked with exaggeration. "I've know all about you, Princess. You're all about saving lives. We can dance around like this all night but we both know you'll be dead before me."

Sakura brilliant green eyes had narrowed at the assumption. "You don't know anything about me..."

He snorted. "C'mon, Dr. Haruno. You're not going to kill me so-!"

"She won't have to," a dark voice interrupted suddenly.

The man's form went ridged and Sakura's eyes widened. She looked around the assassin to find her teammate Sasuke standing nonchalantly behind the other male, Kusanagi blade pressed dangerously into the back of his throat.

And it was that faint glow of her teammate's purple and red eyes promising an eternity of torture that subdued the man into compliance. Physical compliance, anyway. Once Sasuke dragged him to the Konohagakure Intelligence Division where Ibiki Morino conducted his interrogations there was no getting a coherent answer from the man.

"...Who sent you?" Sasuke continued as he rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt.

The man grinned smugly, blood seeping through the cracks of his teeth. His jaw was given another swift hit from the Uchiha's fist.

Reeling, the man winced and spat another round of fresh blood to the floor, the rattle of a tooth tagging along making Sakura internally cringe.

"My boss, you fucker!"

"No shit," Sasuke growled, as he fisted the man's collar. "Who is your boss? Give me a name."

"You keep hitting me I won't be able to talk!"

The kunoichi spoke up softly. "Idiot. If you don't talk then he'll keep hitting you."

Sasuke remained persistent. "Why are they after Sakura?"

Through swollen eyes, the man winked at the pink-haired girl standing across the room. She glared back in return. "Because they'd like to fuck her!" he chuckled mirthlessly.

Sakura rolled her eyes, but missed the immediate glare on the Uchiha's face as he violently yanked at the man's collar.

"Don't look at her, look at me," Sasuke hissed, black eyes on the verge of changing colour. "Why are they after her?" He twisted hard at the fabric, cutting off the man's oxygen. "And don't fuck with us."

Smartening up, the man did not miss the murderous intent saturating his captor's eyes. "Because...!" he choked, "...because she's the new head of the Antidote Research Centre. Thought that'd be pretty damn obvious! A-Aren't you suppose to be some kind of genius!? "

Sakura sighed angrily, rubbing her fingers tiredly between her eyes. "Okay... Sasuke-kun-"

"Don't interrupt," Sasuke ordered, tone steady for her sake.

Indignant, Sakura exhaled shortly. But there something about the tension in Sasuke's broad shoulders that kept her from arguing. She had meant to say that they were going nowhere for now. It was pretty damn obvious that every gang leader, warlord or even village leader with the hope of gaining leverage through deadly toxins would want her out of the picture. Unless they were aligned with Konoha, literally any other corrupt party could come after her. This was only the beginning. And she knew that. And she was just fine with that. But clearly Sasuke was still hellbent on getting the specifics...

"I want the name," the Uchiha continued on.

"And people in Suna want ice water," laughed the other ninja.

A quick fist to the gut, followed by the sickening sound of ribs breaking, sent the brown-haired ninja doubling over for air. "Fuck... you..." the man gasped.

"The name."

"What the fuck does it matter? The word's out that Konoha's secret little super brain can render all poisons useless! My boss is only one of fucking hundreds that want her dead!"

"Of course..." Sakura murmured sadly.

Sasuke scowled, unimpressed. "And I'll handle it," he concluded, as he gripped the man's handcuffed wrist. "But I'll handle yours first."

The brown-haired ninja's eyes went wide as if unable to register what was happening. "What are you-!" but he was cut off by his own scream of pain as Sasuke's grip slowly broke the bones in his wrist.

Sakura knew then that the simple interrogation was quickly getting the better of her teammate. She had been watching nervously with a clenched fist to her heart and decided it was time to intervene. "Sasuke-kun..." she called, but her objecting voice was drowned out by the scream ripping from the captured ninja's throat.

"Give. Me. The name." Sasuke demanded again through clenched teeth, bones snapping like twigs under his grip.

"It's Saburou!" the ninja finally shrieked. "He's a—he's the newest crime lord in Amegakure, okay!?"

The black-haired prodigy seemed to consider the information, making mental notes whilst pulverizing the limb in his grip to dust.

"Sasuke-kun, that's enough!" Sakura ordered sharply as she gripped the Uchiha's shoulder.

"I told you everything!" the man begged through anguish. His pleading brown eyes shot to Sakura. "Call off your dog!"

"What did I tell you?" Sasuke reprimanded darkly, snapping the ninja's attention back to him. Once the man's wrist vaguely resembled crushed rocks under his fingers, the Uchiha slowly became aware of the slender hand touching his arm.

His glare slid over his shoulder to his petite pink-haired teammate standing beside him. Her expressive green eyes burned into his with disapproval.

"That's enough, okay?" Sakura said calmly.

He held her gaze for a brief moment before he released the ninja's useless limb with a smirk. "It's your lucky day," he drawled, eyes bleeding to two deadly shades of red and purple. The captured ninja instantly went limp as the power of Sasuke's eyes knocked him out cold, a merciful gesture given the amount of pain he was due for.

There was another brief pause before the Uchiha cracked his knuckles reflexively and rolled back the muscles in his shoulder unperturbed.

Sakura couldn't help the baffled, humourless laugh that escaped her. "What was that really necessary?"

Annoyed, the arrogant prodigy merely shrugged. "We got who sent him."

"Yes," she agreed, "but you still shattered his hand!"

His meaningful stare unnerved her as he approached steadily with purpose. This impossible man, Sakura thought warily. She expected a snide remark, a condescending smirk... but he stopped a foot away, eyes wandering down the several cuts that marred her arm and shoulder. The look in his eyes told her he felt more than justified.

"He tried to kill you."

Memory of the attack left Sakura unsettled, but unconcerned. "I know, Sasuke-kun. It won't be the first time."

"I told you to lay low," he lectured. "I could've looked out for you."

"You did," Sakura reminded, "but you didn't have to. I can take care of myself. I knew what would happen when I made those discoveries in the lab. And I'm not afraid of the consequences."

Her response vaguely disturbed him. Sasuke was far from done telling her to be more careful, but at the same time, he couldn't help feeling impressed by her hardened resolve. Of course, he knew she would've been fine, with or without his help. But he always insisted on providing a small measure of assistance. This was his loyalty to her, as her teammate, as a means to earn her respect after years of letting her down. And this was the reason he repeated in his head when his actions regarding Sakura inexplicably overreacted.

"Just be careful, alright?" Sasuke conceded begrudgingly. "Keep me informed."

She smiled warmly at him, a sight that never failed to throw the stoic Uchiha off guard. "I promise. C'mon, let's go report to Kakashi-sensei."

He nodded, throwing one last glare at the unconscious captive before opening the heavy iron door for Sakura to proceed.

Author's Note: Something quick. Inspired by my need for a tough Sasuke ;)