Author note: I know I'm supposed to be working on Desperate times (and I have been!) but the stories two siblings jumped me and are holding desperate time's chapter 1 hostage until I start them. My exams are almost finished so I will have lots more time to write and will work on all three. But here's the prologue of the first of my two new stories.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sucks really.

Dedicated to Nayru-kleinfee for finishing 'Your wish is my command" (an awesome story…go read it now…ok in 5 min) and pointing me in the direction of a neat yoai site. Thanks.

Prologue:

"Did you know, while it takes less than a pound of pressure to pierce a civilian's skin, we ninja's have been using chakra to enhance ourselves for so long that we've subconscious have infused a layer of chakra into the epidermis making it harder to pierce?"

Iruka let his head drop back to the wood of the table. After so many hours with the noose he knew better then to miss this free moment to rest the torn inner muscle of his neck. His cheast heaved as he fought for deeper breathes, stuggling and lungs squeezing in agony but now that the noose was off he needed to rest it to prevent more damage to the muscles and airway incase something else was done to it in this session. After the deeper carvings today he didn't feel the light cut of the blade as it slide a centimeter under his nipple, the feather thin blade creating a pain as fine and sharp as a paper cut. He almost dismissed the voice, ignored it out of sheer stubborn will but by now knew better. This man didn't like being ignored and it just wasn't worth it anymore, such a small thing.

"What this does is make the carving more difficult. Things become even more complicated when you take into account the fact that as the infusion is generally unconscious, it is uneven and the density and moderation of chakra changes and so one has to be very careful about the force and depths of one's cuts."

He slowly lifted his wrist and the skin pulled up with the blade and gently, tenderly he began to cut away the newest strip. Iruka let out a low breathy groan, it was the only sound he could still make really, he hadn't been able to scream for two days and since he no longer breathed without pain he wasn't sure he would scream even if he still could.

The man sighed, looking over the piece of skin balanced on the tip of the blade, "It truly is an art."

Nausea began to bubble and build in him as the hands that had been cutting – skinning- him for the past hour lay gently over the newest even hole in his fleash and his captor's chakra began to pour into him, healing the flesh over, regrowning the: skin smooth and new. It fealt cold, icy and stung as though waking his body from a long, late sleep and Iruka, a man of warmth and light dispised it all the more.

The coolness of the unwanted hand numbed the wounds for him, soaked along his flesh and gave into the itching burn only moments later. Then followed the now familiar throbbing ache and the pain focused and throbbed all the more for every moment his eyes stayed tight and shut.

The hand came dragging up his neck to stoke his hair away from his face and throught slit opened eyes, water logged with tears, he could make out the bleary waterfall of black he had come to identify with this man with. That and the soft, achingly gentle voice. Sometimes it seemed he could only hear the love in that voice. Near worship even. He wasn't sure yet if that made things worse.

The waterfall of black fell to cloak him, wrap him against the bright, controlled light of the subterranean room he hissed when he felt the soft hair fall loose against his side, feeling like claws to the new skin. Lips touched tenderly on his forehead.

"You were so good today Pet. So very good." The fingers danced around his face, mapping the features as they circled his eyes, "You didn't let any of them fall today, I can't tell you how happy that makes me. I hated making you cry little love."

Iruka squeezed his eyes closed at the words and tried to move away but both pain and restraints stopped him. Another more lingering kiss to his temple came before the feel of the hair lifted and the hand once again ran down his neck and body, skirting over the small cloth that had been laid across his groin for modesty, the touch holding no modesty within those exploring fingers.

"You know, the first time I saw you love the first thing I noticed about you was your skin. You and your gennin friends were playing in a river near the city my mission was based and it just glowed in the sunlight."

The hand rested for only a moment on his ankle before it gave a pat and pulled away.

He sighed, "Isn't it wonderful we could remove all those horrible scars running your beautiful skin my Heart?"

The bell was rung and he could hear the steps of others coming to take him away. "But not to worry pet, tomorrow when you're not so tender I'll start to mark you as mine, and when that has healed we can fix your back."

Iruka opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling and two great tears, made of the build up of his eyes' watering fell down his cheeks into the cups of his ears, the only place for them to go while he was on his back. It helped blunt his hearing a little for a moment but not long enough as he fought through it to hear once again.

He could see the shapes and shadows of the others at the door out the corner of his eyes and as the man approached, no doubt to fit him with the chakra-restraints, he could see the red haired woman move off into the corner of the room to fix his sedative.

"Take Iruka to his room feed him a light broth. He should fall asleep soon so prepare his bed and bathe him in the morning and be careful with him, he should be feeling rather tender right now and I want the nerves to heal properly so he can feel the full affects of tomorrow's celebration."

The cup with the drug was held to his lips and he swallowed greedy for it, knowing the foul taste and hot-cold mix of the liquid would bring him numbness and sleep. The much larger of the two servants, a man named Toshi picked him up with a feather light grip and began carrying him out of the room, he could see the other begin to disrobe and lay herself on the table.

They were stopped at the door and as the medical daze began to settle over his mind he felt a pair of plush lips touch his gently and heard a whisper in his ear, "Sleep well my Heart, and trust your Kiyoshi-sama to take care of you."

They walked out the door and the corridor was colder then the room with the table and the last thing he knew was the feeling of his skin heating as he heard woman's screams begin. And then there was nothing.

End prologue

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