Never Forget

Escape

Chapter 27

Sasuke Uchiha glanced down at the unconscious woman lying beside him. Unlike him, she'd been roughly dumped on the stone floor and left there for quite a few days now as he recovered. Unlike him, Madara had continuously been drugging her to keep her asleep as to stop her from calling for help.

He stretched out an arm and flexed it, testing it. Nothing hurt much anymore. He had recovered quickly, thanks both to Madara's innovations and his enhanced body.

"Feeling better every day, are we?" asked Madara, walking over to him. Sasuke just nodded mutely. "It's been six days. Have you made your decision?"

"I'm still thinking about it." He glanced over at the golden-haired woman, who lay perfectly still on the ground. Madara followed his gaze.

"Are you worried? Was she somebody important to you?"

Sasuke didn't miss the usage of the word "was," past tense, but covered up his emotions quickly and easily. "Not at all. I knew her."

"She tried to save you."

"Yes, I'm aware."

"From me."

"Yes."

Since day one, Madara had been constantly playing mind games with Sasuke, trying to get him to spill the beans on who Kira was to him. But Sasuke wasn't that stupid. He simply went along with whatever Madara said, likely annoying the latter but thereby accomplishing his goal of revealing as little as possible.

Madara sighed. "Well, truth be told, Sasuke, it's time for you to make your decision. Will you take revenge on Konohagakure for your brother and your clan, or will you simply run away?" The sneering tone in his voice was meant to rile Sasuke up, but it did quite the opposite. It calmed him down. He thought about how to approach this.

"... I think," he said, eventually, "that I will go to Konohagakure. But I'm still uncertain."

Madara smiled. "I hope that you'll make the right choice in the end," he said, "but you may leave now, if you wish. Your team will be searching for you."

Sasuke got to his feet, noting that for the most part, his wounds had closed. He grabbed his clothes off the back of a nearby chair, Madara watching his every move. "I have one request," he said, as he tied his belt. Madara was silent, encouraging him to continue. "I'm taking her with me."

Madara was clearly surprised by that one. "This woman? Why?"

"Konohagakure will be searching for her, putting this hideout at risk of being discovered. Furthermore, she would be a good ally to me. I have more than enough resources to threaten her and force her to cooperate."

Madara was quiet for a moment. "Fine," he said, "take the woman."

Sasuke nodded to him, grabbed his sword, and then bent down to pick Kira up. She was surprisingly light – then again, she hadn't really eaten for a week now.

"And may we meet again, Sasuke. I'll be waiting for the good news to reach me." Madara waved him off, and Sasuke just nodded to him stoically. He exited the hideout, blinking as the bright sun hit him in the face, and looked around. Madara had told him they were even further out beyond the edges of the map than Itachi's hideout had been, so he judged by the sun and continued in that direction for a long time.