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"In this unforgiving and unknown world where there is nothing but the brightest white light, is it too much to ask for a little bit of darkness?"

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Prologue

All I could remember was the color white. It's the color that filled my vision day in and day out; the walls, the floor, the ceilings, my clothes. Everything was this stark white. Even my skin was the fairest of whites, which had come to disgust me at a point because I felt like I was blending into the rest of my surrounding. It was like my body was coming to the realization that I belonged here in this world of colorless inhumanity.

I don't belong here. I was forced to be here. Taken from wherever I was before, now I can't even remember. I was turned into a science experiment by a man who created the classification of being psychotically disturbed. My body was no longer a temple, but instead it was a test subject, a lab rat, an incubus for a virus that altered the very thing that made me human. I could only assume the worst. I knew my genetic make-up had been altered, but I no longer knew to what extent. I was a scientific pet; a toy that had been abused to the point of breaking to fulfill the methodical needs of a man who sought after nothing more than to cruelly experiment on me.

I didn't cry anymore. I couldn't cry anymore. Not only because there was no more pity left in the form that I called my body, but I was filled with so many drugs to moderate my previously unpredictable and fiery personality that I lost all ability to do anything besides blankly stare at the color white. The color that was supposed to symbolize purity and hope, but now only showed madness and the blank slate that was my spirit. My soul was imprisoned in my own body, subjected to the nothingness that followed. I didn't know who I was anymore. Being under the influence of drugs that held back my true nature, I didn't really know how to live anymore. My mind new exactly what I wanted to be, but my body wouldn't allow it.

The only interactions I was left with were with my own mind, a lab rat named Kabuto, and the man who made me what I am; Orochimaru. I only had the pleasure of seeing Orochimaru every so often, but Kabuto I unfortunately saw on a daily basis.

He would come in each morning and greet me with a sickening smile as he stuck the syringe full of body numbing drugs into my system. He would continue to smile as he spoke sweet nothings into my ear and stroked my cheek, or my arm, sometimes if he was feeling daring he would run his fingers down the pale skin of my legs. He was infatuated with me, or at least with the idea of something to enjoy, that much was obvious. And just hearing his voice or simply looking at him disgusted me. He knew that without the drugs running through my veins, I would have sent a bruising punch to his gut rendering him to his knees and then I would do who knows what to survive. But I couldn't, and he took advantage of that.

Each day when Kabuto would come in, he would run tests. On my blood, on my heart, on my muscles, anything he felt that would be of viable importance. He would stick needles in me, send shock waves through my system, attach wires to my head, and all the while, I lay in utter silence but on the inside, the pain is making me scream.

"I know it hurts, Sakura-chan," Kabuto would say. Always referring to me in such a revoltingly familiar fashion, when he never earned that right, "But I am only looking out for your best interest at heart."

I always want to scream at him, punch him, and spit in his face; anything to tell him otherwise. But I can't. So I lay there in silence, my eyes holding nothing but defiance as my body is abused as a test subject by the lowest people I believe to exist in this world.

On the off days in which I am to be seen by Orochimaru, I am transported elsewhere. And since I cannot be trusted in my moving state, I am rolled down in my bed to his laboratory. When I am met with his form, taking in his sickening pale skin, lanky black hair, and unimaginably pointed grin, he greets me like I'm a princess; asking me how I've been, how I'm feeling. Not that I can respond, so he simply plays with a lock of my pink hair and tells me how important I am to him. He says that I am one of his most prized possessions, which makes me think that there are more people just like me here in this facility of never ending white.

Most days, Orochimaru runs similar tests like the ones that Kabuto runs, but then there are days where he is more adventurous. He will pump enough antidotes into my veins to outweigh some of the toxins that Kabuto has become so fond of injecting me with over time. I am truly surprised that I have not overdosed on the amount of drugs in my system. I am given enough control over my body to sit up and display basic motor skills although my voice is still given no power. Orochimaru will then do a variety of different things; electrocute me, burn me, cut open my skin, anything that would cause damage to my being. You may find this absolutely cruel and sadistic, which is partially true. It is. And I do feel the pain, but not for very long. Because the gift, as Orochimaru refers to it as, that he has neither rewarded me with or condemned me with, saves me from the pain.

Along the way in this asylum of nothing but white, I have been given the power of healing. No matter what that man does to me, my body will only continue to be resilient. I will heal myself and silently ask with my newly untarnished skin for another lashing. Because I can't help it and I must serve the purpose that has been forced upon me.

"I have truly outdone myself with you, Sakura-chan," Orochimaru will hiss with pure delight as he watches my wounds heal with ease and any sign of pain I held leaves my normally void features. He strokes my cheek with no intended emotion as he stares into my once fierce emerald eyes. His stomach-turning molten gold irises alert me that he knows of the emotional volcanic eruption oozing from the very pores of my being. He smiles his familiar wide grin as he sweeps his thumb over my lower lip. "I wonder how far you can truly push your gift."

I sit ideally and wait for more damage to be done to my skin, or for Kabuto to deem it the opportune moment to re-inject my veins with his all too familiar poison, but Orochimaru continues to stare into my eyes leaving me nothing to do but return his stare with my glazed over orbs. "I wish you weren't so hostile, Sakura-chan," he finally retorts as he backed away from me and crossed his arms over his chest, creasing his white lab coat as he inspects me. "For someone who has the warm and enticing gift of rejuvenation, you have so much pent up rage."

If I could scream, punch, kick, or even glare at him, I would have in that moment. And he knew it. So he smiles at me once more just to irk me further. "Your emotions have always been breathtaking, but your hate prevents your gift the room it requires to grow into something more powerful," he tells me as he signals to Kabuto who brings over a newly filled syringe. I inwardly whimper at the minuscule freedom I have as it will soon be extinguished from the liquid forcing its way through my limbs. He pushes the needle into my arm which is now bruising from the onslaught of medications. I can't even release the gasp of pain that echoes in my head. My body loses its equilibrium as I begin to fall back. Kabuto catches me effortlessly and cradles my head as he lays me down gently onto my lab table.

I hate the feeling of his offending limbs on my body. They linger as they caress my hair. I hate it.

"I hope that we can get past this soon, Sakura-chan," Orochimaru speaks up again. I can't look toward him but I know he is lingering near the doorway. "How shameful would it be for you to hit a wall in your usefulness? I would hate to be wasteful of something so beautiful."

I hear his retreating footsteps echo off the walls in the outside hallway. I know that the underlying threat in the air is serious, but I don't know which is more important; my life, or my sanity?

"You know he's right, Sakura-chan," Kabuto finally tells me as his pale hands brush through my obnoxiously colored locks. "I could give your body back to you if you only would control yourself. I don't like treating you like a rabid animal."

I inwardly scoff at the man's comment. He enjoys having control over me and he knows it. As if he can read my thoughts, he replies, "I prefer you when you have that familiar fire in your eyes. Please don't make me extinguish it."

More threats. Not surprising at all. They want me to control myself only to see how far they can push me with the power they have forced into my soul. But they can't do this when I am under so many drugs that a corpse is livelier than I am.

"We will try again, Sakura-chan," he tells me simply as his nimble fingers sensitize over the contours of my face. "I hope that you will look past your hatred and towards how remarkable you could be if you let us help you."

I tune him out and let him continue caressing me. He knows I harbor no feelings that one would consider positive towards the likes of him. In my comatose state, he deludes that I do hold these feelings so he continues to whisper sweet words and promises of happiness when I know that his words are nothing but lies covered in the sweetest sugar. Their crystallized edges would cut my tongue if I accepted them, so I don't. Because I'm more intelligent than that.

But I can't help but wonder; is my only purpose to be used a science experiment, or is there more to this life than what I have been led to believe?

Are there others like me here? Or am I forced to be alone in this world of white with only Kabuto, Orochimaru, and my thoughts for company?

If I do decide to cooperate, am I condemning myself further?

I didn't have the answers to these questions now, but I would if I allowed myself to control the hate that wanted nothing more than to stab Kabuto with one of his own numbing concoctions, or burn Orochimaru and see how much he enjoys the searing pain of his skin withering away from the rest of his body. Or I could continue to fight back and let them end my life. At least I would be at peace and away from the many walls of white.

"Tomorrow, Sakura-chan," Kabuto whispers into my ear as he daringly places his cold lips against my temple in one of his demented signs of affection. "We will try again tomorrow. Please work with us. The last thing I want for you to is to be your own demise."

With one last soft stroke down the side of my thin face, he leaves and locks the door behind him. Not that I'd be able to escape if I tried. I am now left with my thoughts and the only other thing I can see in the room; the color white.

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Author's Note: So a new multi-chapter story coming into the world of FanFiction from yours truly! I am very excited about this story. This first chapter was very dark and it was meant to be that way. I mean consider that she is one of Orochimaru's lab rats. Would you enjoy that? I wouldn't think so. This will be a SakuraxMulti story just like the majority of my stories, because I don't like having to pick just one guy when there are so many great choices out there. The next chapter will introduce more characters so try not to be too upset with what you got in this little intro. This is going to be a slightly dark story with inner character struggles, violence, possible gore, etc. But there will also be a large variety of characters and of course, there will be romance. Duh. It's what I do. I hope you all enjoyed this enough to want to read more in the near future.

Side note: The title of this story, Impavidus, translates from Latin to mean fearless.

Please review and tell me what you think!