o-o 2 ½ Years Later o-o
In the heart of a winding cavern, a lone woman sat on a boulder - isolated in darkness. She was seated perfectly upright with graceful posture, her legs crossed and her eyes closed. The only light source came from two dim candles placed in the eyes of a carved, stone snake.
In the distance, the uneven splattering of water droplets falling from stalactites echoed through the chamber. The low hum of the earth and the dragging tone of Tibetan bowls consumed her senses as she chanted 'om'.
o-o-o-o-o-o
Footsteps loudly reverberated, drawing ever closer.
"Aiko."
Your eyes opened and you immediately ceased chanting – your tranquil trance lost.
"…Mmm?" Your questioning tone was murmured dreamily.
Reality came whooshing back. A dark silhouette stood before you – its bright eyes on your form.
"I was going to ask to be healed, but I think I'll join you for the moment." Sasuke's familiar voice was unmistakable.
"If you were going to join me in the first place, don't interrupt." You grumbled. It was going to take a while to get back into the unthinking, blissful state you had achieved.
"Tch, grumpy." Sasuke clicked his tongue, amused, and took a seat beside you.
You closed your eyes and all was silent again. You resumed your chanting, losing yourself to the cave's ambience.
…
….
Multiple footsteps now reverberated down the passageway.
Your chanting ceased once more as your eyes slowly opened, but Sasuke kept his focus - trying to ignore the newcomers.
"Grrr, what now?" You bemoaned.
Though you were irritated for being interrupted again, you focused on the three people arriving out of curiosity. It seemed Orochimaru and Kabuto had someone accompanying them.
You couldn't see clearly in the dismal lair, but the trio stopped a distance away from you. Sasuke's eyes finally snapped open as the person accompanying Orochimaru and Kabuto piped up.
"Greetings, my name is Sai. You must be Uchiha Sasuke-kun—"
"Get lost." Sasuke appeared far more irked than you were, but he was always like this. To everyone he met he was icy, as if they were a waste of his time.
'The only reason he even talks to me is because I'm useful with my Shinajii, I'm sure.' You thought dryly.
"Even when I force myself to smile, it seems I'm the type of person who ends up being hated. Naruto-kun didn't seem to care much for me the whole time either."
"…" Sasuke didn't care enough to deign Sai with a reply.
At the mention of Naruto, you perked up. If Sai was with Naruto, then he's from the Leaf. Actually, his voice sounded familiar...
Orochimaru and Kabuto observed idly as Sai continued to speak, "But you know, in comparison to Naruto-kun, I think I'm going to be able to get along with you better."
Something in Sai's words triggered negativity from Sasuke. The Uchiha agitatedly stirred and activated his Sharingan.
Sai gasped. You witnessed his murky figure stumble before he fell with a plop.
"Sasuke-kun!" Kabuto chided.
"Sasuke, that's a little overboard…" You whispered to him, though he didn't budge or even reply.
"It'd be a good idea not to tease Sasuke-kun too much. You see, he's even harder to deal with than I am." Orochimaru matter-of-factly explained.
Sai stayed silent as he stood up and brushed himself off.
Sasuke abruptly stood as well, "I don't care to deal with trash like him. Orochimaru, it's time for training now." Sasuke was being demanding as always, but Orochimaru constantly went along with his desires. "Aiko, we'll put the healing on pause, but I want you to come along too." He waved you over casually.
"Aren't you injured? I can heal you quickly." You offered.
"It's minor." Sasuke brushed you off.
"Aiko? Your voice is familiar to me, and so is the name. You were previously Root, no?" Sai suddenly spoke up.
Squinting in the darkness, you could barely make out Sai's features. Pale skin, onyx, cropped hair, and he wore a Root-styled uniform that revealed his abdomen. You immediately recognized the Leaf shinobi, though he'd grown a lot and looked much more mature.
"No way, Nil?" You were amazed. What were the chances of meeting him here again like this? There was no mistake, it had to be him.
"Mizu, or Aiko. What a surprise. Although our meeting is not so shocking seeing as how you were kidnapped by Orochimaru."
"No thanks to you." You uttered darkly.
You knew it wasn't Nil's – or Sai's fault – but it still irked you the way all your peers left you to get kidnapped that fateful day. If there was more manpower, perhaps Hiromi wouldn't have suffered so much.
'No… it was no one's fault but your own that Hiromi sacrificed himself…' You reminded yourself internally.
"Sorry, forget what I said. It's in the past." You quickly corrected.
On the subject of Hiromi, you grew excited. Surely Sai would know what happened to your beloved friend. Perhaps later you'd get the chance to ask.
Sai was quiet as he stared at you with an unreadable expression.
"You're crazy for joining Orochimaru willingly." You suddenly stated.
"I do what I must…" Sai emotionlessly mumbled.
"Let's get going, Orochimaru, Aiko." Sasuke impatiently cut in.
"Naruto-kun told me quite a bit about you, Sasuke-kun." Despite any earlier mishaps, Sai had the guts to address Sasuke again.
The Uchiha shifted, narrowing his dark eyes.
"It seems he's been looking for you all this time for the last three years." Sai informed the aloof man.
'Naruto's been doing all that? What a dedicated friend…' You thought warmly.
"I haven't heard that name in so long… I guess I do remember someone like that." Sasuke was unnecessarily taciturn. Perhaps the subject was having an effect on him.
Sai stared unwaveringly at Sasuke.
"I'm not going to say it again. We're going, Orochimaru, Aiko." The Uchiha brusquely commanded, but Sai didn't drop the topic.
"Naruto-kun regards you… He regards you like you're his own brother. That's what I heard from Sakura-san."
"…" The atmosphere around Sasuke grew heavier. It was obvious that the topic of his old teammates was a touchy subject. After all, they were the friends he left behind. "My brother, huh? I only have one - a certain man I want to kill."
Sai had no reply for that. He stood listlessly.
Sasuke turned to you slightly, his intense mood startling you. "Come on."
Making no sound whatsoever, Sasuke disappeared. Due to the speed in which he left, a tuft of smoke twirled around the area his figure once was.
"Anyhow, I'll be leaving too. Kabuto, use these to compile a 'bingo book'." Orochimaru handed Kabuto a manila folder.
Orochimaru began to trot out, and you took this as your chance to leave too, following Sasuke and darting out of the room to train.
You wondered what Nil - or Sai - wanted. He mentioned Naruto, but surely that's not why he was here. His appearance was worrying. Danzo must've had motives for sending an operative here. Giving Nil a new codename meant 'Sai' was on a mission and you were positive it wasn't anything good. You'd have to be cautious. Assassination/spying was one of the primary reasons for sending a lone agent.
o-o After Training o-o
Sasuke laid upon his shabby, disheveled bed. His clothes were tattered at the edges and his condition was ragged. Your condition wasn't so bad, but training had been tough on you as well.
Your waters hovered over Sasuke's wounds and after the healing session was over, they dispersed. "I'm done. You should feel better after sleeping."
" …thanks." Sasuke remained on his back and stared up at the ceiling. His eyes gently closed as he nodded off.
Rather than leaving immediately like you normally did. You hovered around, Sai on your mind.
You didn't exactly want to leave Sasuke alone when Sai's intentions were unclear. Who knows what Danzo was plotting?
"What's wrong?" Sasuke queried.
You froze mid-pace and skittishly looked away. What you were about to ask was somehow embarrassing. "I'm worried about Sai's presence here… He mentioned other Leaf nin and they might be around too…"
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow and chuckled, brushing your words off. "They're nothing to worry about."
"Danzo is not someone to take lightly. I'm sure he has some nefarious plot he's making Sai enact. Therefore…" You hesitated.
"Yes?" Sasuke urged you on.
"I… um, I want to stick around to keep guard as you rest. After all, you've expended a lot of energy today since you were both training on your own and training with Orochimaru and I."
Sasuke's eyes finally left the ceiling and now slid over to you. "Oh, so you want to stay in the same room as a sleeping man?"
"W-what?" You didn't expect that response. You just thought he'd laugh at you and say he didn't need your help.
You could feel yourself getting flustered by his insinuation as you crossed your arms adamantly. "Shut up. I merely want to keep watch, like I said."
Sasuke let out a short, entertained breath, "…You can do as you please."
"Uhm… good…" You didn't think he'd give in so easily.
At that, he rolled over onto his side, facing away from you. Soon after, you heard a light snore.
'What a fast sleeper…' You didn't know if you should feel insulted or complimented that he was able to fall asleep so quickly in your presence.
Either he didn't see you as a woman, he felt so comfortable in your presence that he allowed himself to be vulnerable, or he thought nothing much about you at all. No matter, you pulled up a chair and sat near the doorway - as far away from Sasuke as possible since he teased you about the situation.
You started to work on mending your own light scrapes and cuts. You didn't know how long Sasuke would be asleep, but with nothing to do, you leaned back in the chair and waited. You knew you could probably follow Sai to try to see what he's up to, but if his mission dealt with taking out Orochimaru or spying on him, you didn't want to interfere. Sasuke was the only one you cared enough about to aid.
…
… …
Time dragged on slowly.
You had slept well last night, but even so, with nothing to do you found yourself dozing off. The wooden chair you reclined in was uncomfortable, but you couldn't fight your drowsiness. You forced your eyes open, trying to keep them alert, but nothing was working.
Your eyelids drooped. 'It… wouldn't hurt if I napped for a second, huh?'
You allowed your heavy eyelids do what they wanted and close.
As you knocked out, your head resting against the dingy wall, a mouse squeezed under the door.
It squeaked a few times, but you were out cold.
The slow creak of the door is what finally roused you.
'Ah! A noise?' Your eyes snapped open to confirm that the door was indeed ajar when previously it was completely closed.
A hiss arose, followed by slithering.
You hopped up in surprise, trying to reboot your sleepy mind as lively, pure black snakes sprung from the ajar entrance.
They traveled so quickly, you were only able to pin one of them with your kunai. The other two slithered up to Sasuke, wrapping around his sleeping form.
"Coward, show yourself." You demanded.
"…who's there?" Sasuke serenely awoke.
"Caught me red-handed. Still… I've already acquired the upper hand here." Sai's unmistakable voice emanated from behind the door.
"Don't underestimate me, Sai." You had activated Shinajii and little did Sai know, you had already created wind-sharpened water spikes that floated behind him – ready to strike.
"What is it you want?" Sasuke asked.
"…I intend to… take you back to Konoha!" Sai announced.
Sasuke was quiet.
"N-no way…" Due to Sai's stunning words, you dispersed your waiting spikes, hearing him out.
"Although, I did originally come here in order to kill you…" Sai trailed off.
"You were here for assassination, like I thought, but… why disobey Danzo?" It was unbelievable that somebody as loyal to Root, like Sai, would disobey his leader.
"…I want to see if I can protect the bonds between Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun clings strongly to them." Sai clarified.
You were in doubt. Sai was disregarding orders for Naruto? Perhaps he'd changed from the willing servant you once knew. "If you're not here to kill Sasuke, you're not my enemy…"
You dropped your fighting stance.
Sasuke didn't sound pleased at all, however. "Bonds?" He mocked. "You woke me up to talk about bonds…?"
The air in the room turned sour and malevolent. Sasuke was about to counterattack. After all, he didn't want to go to Konoha… He wanted to gain more power and then track down Itachi to have his much sought after revenge.
"Quickly come closer, Aiko." Sasuke lowly ordered.
You didn't know what was going to happen, but over the years you'd learned to trust your partner. Thus, you appeared beside him in a split second.
"Argh!" You winced as a deafening roar assaulted your ears.
The dank lair above and around you crumbled. You felt your waist become encompassed, crushed, and then harshly tugged. As you grimaced, you were hoisted up before landing on solid rock.
Below you was a newly formed cliff. Sasuke stood next to you, scornfully looking down at Sai. When you wrapped your mind around what had happened, you realized Sasuke had broken through solid rock to put distance between himself and Sai – and he'd taken you along for the ride.
"You live up to your reputation. To be able to overpower my jutsu is quite something." Sai returned Sasuke's gaze fiercely.
Though the situation was tense, you couldn't help but notice the arm twining around your waist. Sasuke had kept is arm wound around you, so that your hip was bumping into his. Aghast, you frantically struggled, pushing Sasuke away.
He turned to you, smirking for the briefest of moments, before turning back and looking down at Sai with a serious expression. Sasuke always was good at fluctuating emotions so easily…
Furious footsteps flew down the broken hallway and a blur of pink soared straight for Sai. The moment you saw Sakura, you slunk away. For some reason you naturally shied away from the Konoha nin.
Perhaps you didn't want to be associated with Orochimaru, or maybe you didn't want to confront them. Either way, you hid away, listening.
"You! What the hell are you after?! How many times do you plan to stab us in the back before you're ha—" Sakura's enraged voice echoed off of stone.
"…Sakura, you've appeared as well." Sasuke impassively observed.
Sakura let out a tiny gasp. The scuffling below quieted as Sakura spoke in a small voice, "Sasuke…-kun…"
Another pair of frantic footsteps thundered down the hallway.
"…Sasuke…" The new voice was unforgettable, it seems Naruto had arrived.
"Naruto…? So you came too."
Naruto was speechless, probably because he hadn't seen his friend in so long.
"Does that mean Kakashi's here as well?" Sasuke curiously inquired.
Another pair of footsteps echoed down the destroyed hallway. "Unfortunately Kakashi-san couldn't be here, so I'm filling in. We, Team Kakashi, are going to take you back to Konoha."
Some unfamiliar voice joined in the conversation. Though you wondered who it was, you kept your distance, waiting patiently for Sasuke's reunion to be over. Eventually you would return to Konoha, but not now. You were sure that Orochimaru's watchful eye was still on you.
"Team Kakashi, huh…?" Sasuke mused.
Some movement ensued and Sakura's accusatory voice rang out, "Sai! I knew it!"
"So he's my replacement then, is he?" Sasuke inhospitably motioned to Sai, "He was spouting some kind of nonsense about protecting the bonds between Naruto and me. One more pansy for the group. Quite the fit, I'm sure."
"…huh?" Sakura was baffled.
"…It is true, my top-secret mission was indeed the assassination of Sasuke." Sai explained to his teammates, "But those orders don't matter anymore. Now I want to think and act for myself. Because of Naruto-kun, I feel like I might be able to remember something. Remember how I used to feel… I'm sure those old feelings were very important to me…"
'Wow… Sai isn't the same person from before, I misjudged him.' You thought happily.
You wished everyone in Root could have the same epiphany. They were all much too cold, too inhuman.
"I may not know you all that well, Sasuke-kun, but there's a reason why Naruto-kun and Sakura-san chase after you with so much passion. In order to prevent their bonds with you from breaking. To keep them intact they're doing everything they can. I still don't have a very good understanding of it myself, but you should know why." Sai confidently proclaimed.
The only thing you could hear for a moment was the moaning of wind sweeping over the desolate landscape.
"Sure, I do know why…" Sasuke darkly murmured, "That's why I severed them."
You nearly flinched at Sasuke's hostile tone. These people were laying bare their emotions, yet he spat in their faces.
"I have other bonds I carry…" The Uchiha avenger elaborated, "Fraternal bonds, forged through hate. Having too many bonds causes one to lose focus, weakening their strongest wish, their greatest desire."
Sasuke's words must have been shocking to his old companions, because nobody spoke for a long while.
Finally, Naruto's strained voice rose up. "If that's true… If that's true, then why…"
Sasuke tilted his head ever so slightly as he listened.
"Why didn't you kill me back then!? Is that what you call severing bonds!? Sasuke!" Naruto wailed out in despair, rage, and desperation. Pity surged through you at his heartfelt voice.
"Naruto…" Sakura sounded tiny and sad, but Sasuke didn't waver.
"The reason is simple, and it isn't that I wasn't able to sever my bonds with you. I simply didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing me attain power by submitting to his plans."
Was Sasuke talking about Itachi? Who else's plans could he mean?
Naruto let out a tiny growl, "What do you mean by that!?"
"There's no need for me to tell you." Sasuke's lips twitched down in a barely perceivable frown, "Still, the one thing I can say to you is that back then… I chose to spare your life at nothing more than a whim of mine…"
Faster than you'd ever seen him move, Sasuke flit down, presumably to where his former comrades were.
'W-what is he going to do…?' Dread started to build in the pit of your stomach since he wasn't going down there to make up with his friends…
"…Come to think of it, isn't becoming Hokage a dream of yours? If you had the time to go around looking for me, you would have been better off training. Don't you think, Naruto?" Sasuke's tone was morbidly tickled.
"S-Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screeched.
"And that's why this time…" Sasuke drawled as you heard the unmistakable sound of metal being unsheathed, "You're going to end up losing your life, all at a whim of mine."
At the turn of events, you dashed to the edge of the cliff for a full view of the scenario. You didn't care anymore about being seen. It was instinct to run away, but more than anything you wanted to save your Konoha brethren. You couldn't let Sasuke kill any Leaf nin.
"…Like there's any chance someone who can't save a friend could become Hokage. Don't you think, Sasuke?" Naruto inquired with a mix of disappointment and motivation.
"Pff…" Sasuke scoffed as he fully drew his sword.
You watched with wide eyes, but you were unable to get down fast enough to do anything productive.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screeched again as everyone else witnessed the scene in vexation.
Sasuke swung his blade down mercilessly, and Naruto made no movement to stop the swift attack. Luckily Sai blocked by grabbing the Uchiha's wrist, halting all motion.
"Your choice of defense… quite correct." Sasuke praised him, though the situation wasn't good. Sasuke was surrounded.
Naruto wasn't remaining an easy target any longer, he flipped over Sasuke's arm, trying to escape his grasp.
"Great!" The extra team member was a man you'd never seen before with brown hair and metal framing his face. He praised Naruto as he extended a plank of wood from his hand in Sasuke's direction. You'd never seen a wood user before.
Sasuke easily evaded the situation by releasing Chidori Nagashi. Electricity emerged from his body and electrocuted Naruto and Sai, effectively stalling the wood user from attacking and Sakura from interfering.
"Guah!" Naruto groaned.
"Guh!" Sai grunted.
Naruto and Sai landed harshly on the ground, while Sasuke reigned in his lightning.
Sakura's eyes hardened as she steeled herself to attack and rushed in. "Sasuke-kun, I'm going to stop you with my own power!"
"N-no!" You tried to warn her.
She was running in too recklessly. Sasuke imbued his blade with electricity, awaiting the attack.
However, the brunette shinobi stepped in instead, defending Sakura with a kunai. He tried to block Sasuke's sword only to have the electric blade cut through his small kunai. Sasuke stabbed the man between his shoulder and heart. From what you could tell it wasn't a fatal blow, but it could be if he bled out. And you were sure it was painful.
"Sasuke, stop!" You yelped, and jumped in without further thought.
Sasuke rammed the wood element user against a rock, pinning him with his sword. "Your choice of defense, quite the mistake."
You landed behind Sasuke and boldly tugged on his long white sleeve. "Please stop, this whim of yours is senseless."
"Yamato taichou!" Sakura screamed.
Sasuke didn't pay any heed to you as he continued to talk down to Yamato. "You see, this sword of Kusanagi I'm holding is a little special. It's the kind that can't be blocked."
"Hey, who're you? Wait… you're familiar…" Sakura's emerald eyes locked on you.
"Gurgh…" You looked from Sakura to Naruto, who seemed to be in tremendous pain on the floor. His canines were growing longer and the whiskers on his face were getting fuzzier. Distracted by Naruto, you didn't pay much attention to the pink haired kunoichi.
This chakra that was coming out of Naruto, you'd felt the same thing at the chūnin exams briefly when he was summoning a giant toad. You also felt it coming from him at the Valley of the End. It was a red chakra full of hatred. It must have been the Kyuubi's chakra. If that was so, the facial transformations made sense.
Sasuke stared at Naruto without blinking, charcoal and blue clashing ferociously.
Soon, the welling red chakra dispersed and the evil surrounding Naruto disappeared along with it.
"Guh…" Naruto moaned.
"Hah, you were right all along, Aiko. There is a fox inside of him. I almost didn't believe you all those years ago." Sasuke snagged your attention as he peered at you over his shoulder, amused by his findings.
"How did you confirm that?" You questioned.
"I saw it housed in him just now." Sasuke shrugged.
'Saw it in him?' Your eyebrows furrowed.
Before you knew it, Yamato was moving again. With shaky limbs, he clasped his hands together and pushed Sasuke's sword out of his body with a narrow piece of wood. Simultaneously, multiple chunks of larger wood pieces erupted from the ground, attempting to entrap you and Sasuke in a wooden cocoon.
You felt a chilly hand grasp your wrist while Sasuke easily sliced a hole through the large planks. He yanked on you and you followed him out of harm's way, jumping onto the cliff's edge alongside him.
"Guagh…" Sai gazed up at you and Sasuke while he lay in pain on the floor.
Sakura was in disbelief. This reunion wasn't going very well…
"Sasuke… Why don't you get it?! Your body's going to be stolen by Orochimaru anytime now!" Naruto switched tactics and tried to reason with the former Leaf nin.
"If that happens, then it happens…" Sasuke unconcernedly remarked.
Everyone was surprised at his unruffled demeanor.
"Ehh? You don't care…?" You whispered so lowly Sasuke was probably unable to make out your words.
You couldn't believe the Uchiha didn't care about something like having his body stolen. It's not like you ever talked about this with him, but for some reason you were always under the assumption that he was too prideful to let that happen. You thought he'd have some sort of secret plan against it.
Either way, if he wanted your aid to avoid such an event, you'd help him in any way possible – even if it meant killing the Sannin. Nobody should have their body stolen by another, after all.
"You're still quite the kid, Naruto. Revenge means everything to me. As long as I can have my revenge, I couldn't care less what happens to me or the whole world for that matter."
Sasuke's behavior and logic chilled you to the bone.
"Let me make it clear for you. For both me and Orochimaru, right now, killing Itachi would be impossible. But if I am to accomplish my goals through nothing more than offering Orochimaru this body of mine… Then he can have my life and my afterlife for that matter."
Naruto gasped, unable to accept Sasuke's words.
"Sasuke…" You mumbled, disheartened.
'He truly is dead serious about his revenge…' You had witnessed an inkling of his ambitions, but now you knew how strongly he felt about the matter and it gave you shivers.
The injured Yamato stood up slowly, firmly regarding Sasuke. "That's enough talk. Naruto and Sakura, with you two here I had hoped that I wouldn't have to resort to any of my cruder methods. Unfortunately, it's time I get serious."
"Yamato taichou!" Sakura seemed displeased at the development.
"Indeed. Konoha shinobi, I'm through with you. Now things end." Sasuke jerked his hands together to form the tiger seal, raising his left hand in the air.
You couldn't remain motionless any longer, with Shinajii activated, you raised waters to tie down the remorseless avenger's hands - stalling his jutsu.
As you acted, someone else was intent on stopping Sasuke's jutsu as well. You never thought you'd be happy to see Orochimaru, but right now you were ecstatic.
The sallow man had appeared from nowhere to catch Sasuke's wrist.
"Now, now. There's no need to use that jutsu, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru tsk-ed.
"Yes, please stop." You requested.
"Remove your hand and these restraining waters." Sasuke calmly stated.
"…" Orochimaru remained quiet, but didn't budge.
"…Not unless you stop…" You were resolute.
"You still love Konoha too much, baka." Sasuke sighed at your words when Kabuto came up from behind you.
"There you go again, forgetting exactly who it is you're talking to. You can't command your superior to remove his hand or anything of the sort."
Of course, Kabuto disliked Sasuke's tone with Orochimaru. As always, Kabuto was Orochimaru's rabid, dedicated lapdog.
"I have no reason to stop." Sasuke fought back.
"You know well what Akatsuki is up to. We want to have our guests here from Konoha take care of as many of them as possible. Even just one would be fine. If the other Akatsuki members get in your way, your plans for revenge could hit a snag, right?" Kabuto reasoned.
"That's quite the pathetic excuse." Sasuke scorned.
"But surely you'd allow it if it meant increasing the chance of your revenge succeeding by even 1%, right?"
Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed. Kabuto obviously won this argument with some well-placed logic. Relieved, you dropped your waters with a splash and Orochimaru released Sasuke.
"Let's go." Orochimaru beckoned the group.
"Wait, Sai!" You addressed the Root member clearly.
All eyes turned towards you inquisitively.
"Kasai… where is he now? Does he live?" The question you'd been burning to ask had finally left your quivering lips.
Kabuto chuckled evilly, but you ignored him.
Sakura, Naruto, and Yamato seemed confused, but nonetheless watched as Sai's face contorted.
"Kasai… that's a name I haven't heard in a while." Sai started off slowly. You inched closer in suspense.
"As for where he is now, I haven't a clue. Does he live? I haven't a clue of that either… However, I can tell you that there is no operative in Root with the code name Kasai."
"So, he's not dead?" You nearly squealed with happiness, your heart soaring with joy.
"Like I said, I can't confirm that. What I can tell you is that if Kasai died, Konoha never discovered his body. After the day you were kidnapped, he disappeared without a trace."
Sai's news perturbed you and you didn't know what to make of it.
You didn't know whether to feel glad or sad about Hiromi since his status was as vague as ever. However, you concluded that you had to move on. If Hiromi's body was never found, you were 100% sure he was alive somewhere and you hoped that he was happy and healthy. If Hiromi disappeared, he must've had his reasons and you respected that.
While you were contemplating all of this, Sasuke and Naruto stared each other down.
The pain on Naruto's face was apparent when you felt Orochimaru begin to teleport you, Sasuke, and Kabuto away. Your bodies turned to smoke, starting at the feet and traveling up.
This whole situation was unpleasant, and you were content to be leaving it behind. However, you had mixed feelings about the confrontation.
You considered Sasuke a friend, but what were you to him? Seeing what he did to Naruto was heartbreaking… so you knew you shouldn't have any expectations to form a genuine friendship with him. If that was the case, why were you still helping him?
Previously it was because you felt inclined to aid Sasuke when he was driven mad by Itachi. Even now, in a way, he was still tormented by thoughts of his older brother. After all, he lived to kill the man.
Currently though, what kept you here? Is it because you knew Sasuke briefly in the Academy and talked to him a few times after? Maybe you simply enjoyed the feeling of being needed? Or maybe despite Sasuke trying to break all bonds he had, you were ever the optimist and still wanted to befriend him.
You weren't sure…
By now you had enough knowledge to escape from your captor without trouble. And since you knew Hiromi was nowhere to be found, Orochimaru couldn't use your friend's death as leverage against you. You also knew that killing Root members would be difficult for the Sannin at this time. The worst Orochimaru could do was hunt you down and punish you for your 'insolence'.
Perhaps escaping is what you should do, soon… Though the action felt a bit empty, because who would be there in Konoha waiting for you? Not your parents, not Hiromi. Loneliness settled upon you like a thick, suffocating blanket.