Honestly, I'm not going to say much about this mainly because I barely remember it. I wrote it before I finished the 50 Sentences actually. The prompt "hell" was the inspiration for this. I've had so many laptop problems that I completely forgot that I even had this. Basically, it's what I described in the sentence before. Kiba and Shino were exploring enemy territory and got caught. Kiba's the one getting tortured while Shino has to watch. Not fun for either side. It's a bit darker and more graphic than usual so if that upsets you, turn back now. Turn back while you still have the chance! :arms flail about frantically: And if you've decided to stay, enjoy the fic and drop a line with what you thought!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the clothes on my back, which were technically paid for by my mom so I can't really say I fully own them, but yeah. I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. I just like to borrow them.

Once again, not betaed.

Static crackled from the communicator around Kiba's neck. He attempted adjusting the channel, hoping to hear a reply from his teammates. He growled when there was still no reply. The mission was supposed to be a simple one. They were to infiltrate the enemy base, rescue the prisoner, and return home. Kiba was to stand guard outside while Hinata and Shino went inside to retrieve the prisoner; however, shortly after they went in, Kiba heard a scream over the communicator and then nothing but static.

"Damnit, they should have been out of there by now." Kiba growled out. He jumped out of the tree he was hiding in and headed into the base. Call it intuition, but he knew instinctively knew that his teammates were in danger. Years of being teammates had bonded them together and Kiba could always tell when something was wrong. And at the moment, something was definitely wrong. No sooner had Kiba entered the base, he realized what had happened. His eyes widened in panic and he sniffed the air cautiously. There was a poison in the air. Kiba's vision began to swim before him and he was unconscious before his body even hit the ground.

Kiba woke up groggily in another room, tied to one of the support beams. He pulled at the bonds around his wrists in vain. One of the men laughed and finished tying off the shinobi's feet with the same threads.

"Good luck with that. These bonds are made from my chakra. You'll need my touch to deactivate them." The man continued laughing humorlessly and walked around Kiba with a predatory glint in his eyes. Kiba snarled in response, taking a quick glance around the room. Hinata was crumpled in a heap on the floor, blood seeping from her head, and Shino was lying motionlessly. His glasses had been knocked off and were lying somewhere off in the shadows.

"What the hell do you want?" Kiba snapped, still trying to pull his arms free. The man twisted Kiba's face toward him, observing him. Kiba spit in the man's face and earned a backhanded slap in return.

"You're going to learn some respect dog." The man growled. Kiba laughed.

"Like you scare me…" Kiba smirked cockily. Shinobi Rule 1: Never show fear. The man laughed humorlessly again as a second man stepped out of the shadows. Kiba took in the man's appearance. He was an imposing man, but his stature wasn't what disturbed Kiba. The man's eyes held no light; it was as if the man had no soul. Kiba knew that this man would be the one that they would use to get what they wanted. His eyes held the same hardness that Konoha's torture and interrogation expert Morino Ibiki had.

"What are you supposed to be? Their pet gorilla?" Kiba remarked impudently. One of the dog-nin's worst traits was his attitude. To keep himself from telling any potentially useful information, he gave off a cocky attitude that made his situation worse more often than not. The man simply turned around toward the fire in the middle of the room and held a kunai to the flames. There was no mirthless laughter from this man, just a cold, blank stare.

"Your insolence will cost you here. I do not tolerate cocky children who think they're better than they are." The man held the heated kunai to Kiba's skin. Kiba attempted to press his back as far against the pole as he could.

"Bite me." Kiba retorted. He screamed half from pain and half from surprise as the heated weapon entered his shoulder blade. The man yanked the blade out abruptly and dropped it to the floor.

"As I stated before, I will not tolerate your insolence. I am not here for your amusement. I'm here to get information out of you about the Kyuubi." Flashes of the hyperactive blonde ninja Naruto ran through Kiba's mind. Shinobi Rule 2: Never reveal any information.

"What's a Kyuubi?" Kiba asked, feigning innocence.

"Don't play dumb. It is common knowledge that the Kyuubi's host resides in Konoha. What do you know about it?" The man asked, pulling out a box of senbon.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…" Kiba shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "I'm just a kid. We don't know about things like that." Kiba gasped when one of the senbon entered the crook of his arm. He bit his lip to keep from crying out in pain as his arm began to feel a burning sensation.

"These senbon are laced with a chemical which when in injected into the bloodstream gives off the illusion that the appendage is burning." The man explained coldly. He twisted another senbon between his fingers. "I will ask you once again, what do you know about the Kyuubi?"

"Thanks for the chemistry lesson Professor, but how many times do I have to tell you that I don't know? I'm just a kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Kiba gave the man a pleading look. "Please, just let me go. I'm just a kid." The man ripped off Kiba's forehead protector and held it in front of Kiba's face.

"Lying will also not be tolerated, especially when said lies are not believable…" The man tossed Kiba's forehead protector into the fire. It was a subtle hint of psychological warfare; he was destroying the very symbol of being a ninja. "We know the host is young. Surely you must have met him at some point…"

"Even if I did meet this supposed host, how would I even know who he is?" Kiba asked. The man grabbed Kiba's other arm and thrust the weapon into the limb. Kiba glared defiantly at the man, refusing to show any pain. He wouldn't give the other man the satisfaction of seeing his pain. He turned his head toward his teammates, wondering what had happened to them and if it was worse than what he was enduring.

"You're the first." The first man quipped. Kiba had honestly forgotten he was there. "The girl has been unconscious the entire time and the other boy was injected with a paralyzing serum. It won't wear off for hours and if he even attempts to help you, he'll have it even worse than you." Kiba noticed the tortured look in Shino's eyes. Enduring torture was something all ninjas were taught to do; watching someone you care about endure torture was a completely different experience.

"I don't even know them so I don't see a point in keeping them here." Kiba said impassively. Shinobi rule 3: Never show emotion in the face of the enemy. The man punched Kiba's stomach, knocking the wind out of the boy.

"Stop lying to me." The interrogator grumbled and punched Kiba again. Kiba winced, feeling a couple of his ribs break. "Just tell me what you know about the Kyuubi and we'll let you go."

"I obviously don't know what you're talking about." Kiba stared imploringly at the man. The man pulled out a third senbon and shoved it into Kiba's chest. The dog-nin gasped breathlessly as the serum began spreading throughout his entire bloodstream. It felt like he was burning from the inside out. The man set the box aside and walked back over to the door.

"I'll let that work through your system. When I come back, I'm expecting you to give us what we want." The interrogator exited silently with the first man standing guard at the door. Kiba let the pain engulf him, eventually passing out from the sheer agony.

Kiba awoke to a stinging slap across his face. The face of his tormentor was the first sight to greet him. The shinobi had no idea how long he was out for and he hoped that it was long enough that a search party would have been sent out for them. He looked over at his teammates who had not changed their position at all. A loud crack and a sharp pain shooting through his leg brought Kiba's attention back to his captor.

"What the hell was that for?" Kiba asked incredulously, staring at his now broken kneecap.

"Encouragement. I'll do the same to the other if you don't tell me what you know about the Kyuubi." The man's hands hovered threateningly over Kiba's other leg. The dog-nin retaliated in the only physical way he could by spitting in the other man's face. The same sharp pain shot through Kiba's other leg in response.

"Look, dog, it doesn't matter to me whether you live or die. You're worthless. The only reason you're still breathing is because you have information about the Kyuubi. If you die, your village isn't going to care. Your name will be added to a list of the fallen and you'll be forgotten. You'll be just another forgotten name on the list. No one is going to give a damn whether you live or die. Just tell me what you know." The man stared callously at Kiba, who glared defiantly in return. He refused to let the man know that his words affected him. It was psychological warfare; that was it. Despite how much Kiba tried to convince himself of that, he couldn't help but feel that it was true to an extent. He was expendable to these men, just a pawn in their game. If they killed him, all that would be left of him would be a name on a stone.

"Shut the hell up." Kiba growled out.

"Then again, maybe it's better that you get your name on that list after all. At least then your life will have amounted to something." The man retorted with a punch to Kiba's torso.

"You don't know what you're talking about…" Kiba yelled out, letting his anger overcome him. "Go ahead and kill me! You'll never get any information out of me, dead or alive!" Shinobi Rule 4: Death is an acceptable and noble alternative.

"Kiba, don't be a fool." Shino said softly. He stood up shakily, still feeling the effects of the paralyzing serum. Kiba whipped his head around fearfully.

"Shino, get the hell back down!" The dog-nin cried out hoarsely. "This is my fight, not yours. I'll never forgive you if you get involved!" Kiba gave Shino a panicked look. He refused to let Shino get hurt on his behalf.

"Maybe your tongue will get looser if I get Shino involved…" The man sneered. Kiba struggled against his bonds furiously.

"Leave him alone! He doesn't know anything! Do whatever the hell you want to me; just please leave him alone…" Kiba whispered roughly. He gasped breathlessly as a katana entered his chest. Kiba slumped against the pole, held up only by the bonds around his wrists and ankles. The last sight he saw before the world went black was a swarm of kikaichu attacking his tormentor.

Kiba woke up to pristine white walls surrounding him. His first thought was to panic for fear that he died in the hands of the enemy. He attempted to sit up and collapsed against the bed in pain. Kiba crossed dead off the list; there was no way he could be dead and still be in that much pain. The dog-nin took in the familiar surroundings; he was in the Konoha Hospital. With great effort, he sat up in the bed and looked over at the chair next to his bed; Shino was sitting there silently.

"Hey, how long have I been out?" Kiba whispered hoarsely. Shino poured the other male a glass of water and handed it to him.

"A while." Shino replied simply. Kiba knew it must have been a long time if Shino wasn't telling him. He took a sip of the water, wincing as it went down his raw throat.

"Damn, my throat is sore…" Kiba complained croakily.

"You did a lot of screaming. It makes sense that your throat would be sore." Shino took off his sunglasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked and felt like he had aged a few years within the last twenty-four hours.

"I don't remember screaming that much…" Kiba mused.

"There are a lot of things you don't remember." Shino said cryptically. His expression was darker than usual and his appearance more haggard. For however how Kiba was sleeping, Shino was not.

"Like?" Kiba tilted his head curiously.

"After you passed out, I sent the kikaichu after their interrogation specialist." Shino began quietly. The tension in the room grew thicker and Kiba wasn't sure if he wanted to know how this story ended. "I let my anger take control of me and I killed him. I can't say, however, that I wouldn't do it again if I had the chance." Kiba simply stared back at Shino, at a loss for words. There wasn't much for him to say; Shino didn't need to be reassured or reprimanded for his actions.

"So…any reason why I haven't seen a medical ninja yet?" Kiba asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"They were waiting for you to wake up. They were afraid to start healing in case the chemical agents were still in your system. I'll tell them you're awake." Shino began to stand up when Kiba grabbed onto his wrist.

"Please don't go." Kiba whispered imploringly. "Don't leave me alone. Just…stay with me." The dog-nin's pleading was different than back at the enemy base; his eyes showed genuine fear this time. Shino acquiesced immediately; after watching Kiba endure torture, he was willing to give the other boy anything. Kiba pulled the bug-nin onto the bed and curled in toward Shino's warmth.

"Go back to sleep." Shino stroked Kiba's hair gently. Enduring hell was something all ninjas had to experience at one point; watching someone you love endure that same pain was an entirely different kind of hell, one that Shino wasn't sure he would be able to handle again.