The door to Sasuke's hut opened with a resounding jerk, "Sasuke-!"
Sasuke looked up to Kakashi who panted in panic. He was still sitting on bed, his hands holding the fabric of what remained of his wife. He was not expecting his mentor who often disappeared, only to return once in a while.
"Sasuke-" Kakashi panted, "we have to get out of here-The imperial guards-" he exhaled, "they're coming-"
"Kakashi, what are you talking abo-"
Imperial guards? Who are coming?
Sasuke could not make out what was happening. But looking at the ghastly sheen on Kakashi's face, he could tell that there was reason to panic.
Kakashi roared, "Shut up and listen!"
"Shit-shit-shit-shit"
Kakashi uttered blasphemy like a chant as he stared at the procession of the royal infantry gliding across the woodlands towards the direction of Sasuke's hut.
He was hiding on top of a oak tree, staring at the procession from a distance.
How in hell did they find this place? This mountain village was so barricaded from the rest of Cretes to the extent that it did not even know the great civil war fifty years ago!
Thankfully, he knew the faster route to get to the hut before the soldiers could reach them.
He jumped off the oak and raced through the grass, jumping over the embedded roots, the branches threatening to hold him back.
When Sasuke fell silent, he went on rambling, "We are getting out of here- We are boarding the first ship out of Cretes- and we're gone- no, maybe they barricaded the port- fuck, we have to get out of here-"
When Kakashi grabbed his arm, Sasuke stood his ground, "Kakashi, I'm not leaving."
He looked at him in utter disbelief, "What?"
"She's missing."
He looked at him as if he had grown two heads. "Who's missing?"
"Hinata."
"Ah-" Kakashi took a breath in, as if he was barely holding back, "Sasuke, this is very serious."
"I'm serious. I don't know what is going on. But I am not leaving without my wife."
Kakashi landed a gut wrenching blow to his stomach. Sasuke stumbled back, but he braced himself for more to come.
"Sasuke, listen- If you do not leave this instant, I will kill you. And then I will kill myself." He drew out his blade from his hilt.
Sasuke's eyes widened, as he stared at him, stunned. But Kakashi continued.
"Do you want your little wife to find you as a bloody corpse? If you don't leave with me this instant, that will be what she finds- your bloody corpse- one way or the other-I kill you or the soldiers come and kill you."
What he really feared was imagining Hinata's immediate reaction to seeing his dead body when she finds her way home.
What was going on? He was just not aware of what was happening at this moment. It all seemed just a dreadful nightmare.
"But if you just listen to me, you just once, just this once, I swear-" Kakashi's eye softened, but he still clutched his weapon, "I will do everything in my power to track your wife once we get out of here. We will find her. And we will all be safe. You will be with your wife, and I will finally have my years of work paid back."
"Kakashi, put that knife down."
"Listen to me, and leave with me, or here, you die."
He decided it was best to placate him, "Okay, Kakashi, just calm down. I'll follow you. But you have to keep your word. If I follow you, Hinata is also coming."
They raced through the forest. Day and Night. A few days passed until they finally arrived at the northern region of Cretes, one of the nearest ports.
But right when they saw their destination, they were arrested.
The one who seemed to be the leader stepped forward, a menacing smile on his face, his pale eyes cold. "Finally, we caught you."
Sasuke and Kakashi were surrounded.
The leader tapped his foot, a charged rhythm coursing through his veins, "Eleven years. All that seemed fruitless. But now we got you."
"Sasuke Uchiha, the missing prince of Mycenae."
Kakashi and Sasuke were locked together in the cell. That was when Kakashi explained his past-their past to Sasuke.
"You were in shock," Kakashi explained, "You were barely ten. When you woke up from a short coma...you forgot everything."
It all seemed to be some bad dream.
Sasuke wondered in a daze, What was going on?
The hissing sound of the vapor smoking between the contact between heated iron and raw flesh caused Sasuke to almost let out a blood curdling scream but he stubbornly bit down on his bleeding, chapped bottom lip in his pride.
Hiroha, known as the "red hands" for his particular methods of torture, swiped the perspiration from his brow, "Seven years of this work, I have yet to see such a stubborn prisoner."
"Uchiha, I'll repeat again. We found a marriage document from your guardian's belongings. Your guardian had that document sealed and notarized by none other than the oracle of Delphi, herself. Now," he bent on a single knee next to Sasuke who slouched over on the mortar ground, "who is this Leuke?"
Sasuke spat on his face.
Gingerly, Hiroha wiped his hand across his face.
Ike merely gazed at this occurrence with deceiving cool eyes, but internally, he shook his head in frustration. This was going to be another long torture session. They have been going at it, with no palpable results.
Barely stifled rage prompted Hiroha to quietly utter, "Ike, iron number tria (three)."
Impassively, Ike passed the freshly heated metal from the glowing orange coals to Hiroha's gloved hand, as if he was passing a piece of snack.
"We need to find the prisoner's wife," he clucked his tongue in annoyance, "The she wolf might be carrying the bastard's cub."
Sasuke's breath hitched.
"Stop-" he dragged his knees on the ground. He rasped, "she did nothing wrong. She's just a slave that escaped the abuse of her master."
He bowed his head low, his dark hair falling across his face. He rasped, "Please."
Deaf to his pleas, Hiroha casually turned to his partner, "So, it seems the woman was a runaway slave. No political affiliations. Nobody of significance. This might make it trickier."
A/N: I am so sorry for the short chapter TT TT But being a Ph.D who is about to be eligible for dissertation is hard...
So I anticipate some people who are unhappy with the word count and how the story is progressing. I just ask that you trust me on this one, and just enjoy the ride. I am the only one who literally knows how the story is going to unfold, so you really should give me some credit.
As always, thank you for reading my fanfic and hope you guys have a good one.
