Third Person's P.O.V
The numerous Konoha shinobis stared wide-eyed with dread at the newcomer – Sasuke Uchiha – whose eyes filled with such malice. It's as if he was seeing them like some sort of revolting pest. It's like he had forgotten the fact that he had lived in the same village with them. And this disappointed and angered nearly all of them.
The first one to break the grievous silence was Ino Yamanaka who murmured with a gentle frown on her face, "Sasuke..."
"Be on your guard, everyone," warned Kakashi who cautiously lifted his headband up to reveal his blazing Sharingan pupil, "He is not the old Sasuke now. Do not let your emotions get to you."
"Hmph, I am feeling a tad pissed off right now so I might not have any problem pummeling him without mercy," stated Kiba who smirked as he was rubbing his nose.
Silence once again enfolded the area like faint smokes that clouded over the cemetery. Beads of sweat started to build up throughout the Konoha ninjas' skins due to such thick tension. Some of them even began to clench their teeth in rage upon reminiscing what that particular Uchiha had done to their fellow Makino comrade.
"You all haven't changed at all," Sasuke spoke up. Although his voice was moderately quiet, it still shocked the Konoha shinobis as though his voice boomed within their heads. The ravenette continued, "Still annoyingly persistent as always. Keep doing that and you will die sooner or later and I still couldn't care less."
Kiba was about to snap right then and there but before he could, a masculine hand was sharply thrown to the space in front of his face, signaling a warning to shut his mouth. His thin pupils looked to see it was Kazuki who did that whose eyes were intently fixated on the Uchiha.
"Where is Ayuda?" asked Kaito with a deep glower which seemed unnatural to his face because he was someone who rarely got angry.
"Why did you kidnap her?" interrogated Shiori with an unmistakable suspicion in her eyes.
"That does not concern all of you," said the current youngest Uchiha, "Although I am feeling a bit interested in one particular question – where is Reina? Since it is her dearest younger sister who got abducted here, there is no doubt she would also join you all."
Almost every Konoha shinobis – excluding Sasuke – threw their gazes around searching for the said woman. Surprisingly, Reina was not present with them. Other than that, Shiori was more bewildered than the rest of them because she was pretty sure that Reina was standing beside her when they were all waiting for Sasuke to emerge.
The astonishment and surprised look on their faces confirmed Sasuke's suspicion. Suddenly, a blurry figure emerged from above the calm-looking Uchiha. It was Reina who had already swung her giant battle axe which was her current primary weapon.
Without so much as glancing up, Sasuke swiftly unsheathed his katana and blocked the lady's battle axe like it's a piece of cake, and thus producing a reverberating sharp, clanking noise that could make anyone wince. To the Konoha shinobis, this sounded like the noise that signaled the dreadful battle had finally commenced. The Uchiha avenger finally looked up, revealing his pair of glaring Sharingan eyes to Reina whose eyes were equally as menacing as Sasuke's, albeit without the infamous crimson eyes.
Sasuke remarked with a dark voice, "A cheap attack like this is to be expected, of course."
With Reina still steadily hovering in the air in slow motion, she hissed, "You better let her go right now or I will decapitate you this instant!"
The youngest Uchiha pushed his sword away forcefully, ultimately driving the older kunoichi away from him. Once Reina landed on the ground next to her comrades, Sasuke replied with obvious nonchalance in his voice, "Why should I? She looks pretty content right where she is now."
The majority of the Konoha shinobis frowned in perplexity, "Huh?"
Sasuke looked down at them coldly, "I have been taking good care of her so there is nothing to worry about. Unless you want more casualties, you should go back to where you guys came from."
The older sister of the abducted maiden growled darkly, "Define 'taking good care of her'."
A tiny smirk made its way to Sasuke's lips as a particular flashback – that time when he took her to the bathroom and when he took it upon himself to buy her an oversized blouse which he deemed looked nice on her – bounced into his mind, "I wouldn't want to explain it in such specific detail."
What he said may seem innocent in his mind, but to others who were completely clueless to what he was referring to, his words rubbed them the wrong way and, of course, this aroused fury within them.
Two blurry figures zoomed past everyone else, flying straight towards Sasuke who looked unperturbed at everything. The Konoha shinobis' eyes blew wide in shock upon perceiving that they were Kaito and Kazuki who were charging headlong at the ravenette. These two boys were undoubtedly furious upon hearing what the Uchiha articulated.
What bewildered everyone was the lack of movement Sasuke made. In fact, he did not move at all as his onyx eyes were fixed on the two fuming boys who were speeding towards him.
However, just as Kaito and Kazuki were one meter away from Sasuke, more blurry figures emerged from above and they immediately crashed down on both Kaito and Kazuki, ultimately obstructing their attempt to attack the Uchiha.
The newcomers were those of unidentified people with an unpleasant and malignant look on their faces. A huge purple belt was wrapped around their hips, signifying that they were Orochimaru's henchmen and thus Sasuke's allies. The rest of the Konoha shinobis were alarmed and they all thought the same thing, 'Reinforcements?!'
Two of these henchmen were firmly pinning down Kaito and Kazuki on the ground as the two victims struggled vehemently. They could hear some of their comrades calling out for them in concern and shock. When they tried to rescue the two seething boys, they were impeded by other Sasuke's minions whose weapons glistened threateningly under the sun.
"Just this one time, I am using reinforcements," admitted Sasuke impassively, "I have no time in dealing with all of you all by myself. I need to go and buy some meals for Ayuda at this moment and feed her her medicine."
"What?! She is sick?!" bellowed Kaito.
"You have been taking good care of her, my ass!" yelled Kazuki.
Sasuke was totally undeterred by their hollers but instead, he sent his fellow henchmen a glance that flitted like a bird and that was all it took for the minions to jump and charge at the Konoha shinobis without reluctance. The ninjas that hailed from the said peaceful village instantly braced themselves for what was to come. They knew that their journey to save Ayuda would not be too easy. They knew beforehand that a harsh battle would transpire in the midst of this adventure. But they still couldn't wipe off the uneasiness inside them as they waited for their enemies to reach them.
***
Ayuda's P.O.V
Knock, knock, knock.
I heavily opened my eyes to tiredly glance at the door. I was still lying in Sasuke's bed, warmly covered by the blanket which reached up to my neck. Every inch of my body was too warm for a healthy person to have which was an obvious sign that I was ill. My attention returned back to the door. Now, who could it be to knock at this time?
I brought my eyes back to the ceiling before I closed them. Whoever it is, it is definitely not Sasuke. He has the key so knocking the door would be pretty ridiculous to do. And if it's not him, then I'd rather not answer the door. It would be too troublesome to converse with a stranger especially when it's an enemy and when I am this sick.
It was quiet for a short while before another round of gentle knocks occurred. But this time, it was followed by the voice of a female saying, "Sasuke?"
And that did it. My eyes snapped wide open upon hearing the feminine voice that sounded a bit fake. It's like the voice of a girl who wanted to act cute to seduce men. But in this case, it's certain that whoever that girl was outside the door wanted to meet Sasuke and also probably had a crush on him and his looks like those fangirls of his back in the village.
It seems like some things have not changed yet.
Then I felt something boiled within me. Saying that I did not know what that negative emotion would make me a liar because I, in fact, did recognize this feeling. It's that feeling you got when you saw your supposed 'BFF' spend more time with his/her other friend rather than spending more time with you. It's jealousy. But I refused to acknowledge that. I kept on thinking that I was just puzzled and curious to know who that girl was and what the relationship between Sasuke and this girl was.
And while I was trying to convince myself with that petty lie, another voice that came from the hallway entered, "Hm? Karin, what are you doing here? I thought you are already leaving to that jail hideout."
"W-what?! Suigetsu, what the hell are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be in that fish tank?!" the same lady that spoke oh so softly just a few seconds ago now shrieked like a banshee. Is she a typical tsundere?
"Huh? What are you doing here, standing in front of Sasuke's door specifically?" countered the other person who I assumed Suigetsu.
"I...! I... Err..." replied the woman who was called Karin, "I-I just came here to... I have something important to tell him and that's none of your business! Now scram!"
"Hmmm..." Suigetsu hummed in a way that revealed he was unconvinced, "Anyway, have you heard that Sasuke has recently kidnapped someone from the Leaf Village?"
Karin answered arrogantly, "No, I haven't, but what of it? He's probably doing his job for Orochimaru."
Suigetsu chuckled, "Well, the thing is that Orochimaru never told him to abduct someone. Sasuke did this on his own will. On top of it all, I heard from other henchmen that Sasuke kidnapped a rather beautiful girl, you know."
"A girl?!" shrieked Karin in deep shock which made me wince in pain, "A girl?! Pah! Maybe he has some unfinished business with her or something! He will release her as soon as that finish... right?"
Suigetsu sounded amused at this Karin lady's reaction, "Hmm... I'm not sure about that but I overheard from Kabuto that Sasuke refused to let go of her for some weird reason. What do you think, Karin?"
"T-that's ridiculous! S-Sasuke should let go of that lady because... y-yeah, kidnapping someone is bad, right?!" the Karin woman began to spout nonsense, "And on top of that, why would Sasuke want to keep her here? He should have a very good reason to-"
"My, my, Karin, it seems like you want him to get rid of that woman quickly. Are you perhaps jealous?" Suigetsu was, without a doubt, grinning mockingly.
"No, I'm not!" Karin hollered loudly that her voice echoed throughout the hallway, "Anyway, I'm outta here! And don't tell a single soul that I came here, okay?! Or I will rip your innards, you got that?!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, now go back to wherever you came from," Suigetsu responded with an obvious nonchalance and uncaringness which must've irritated Karin who growled before she finally left. A few seconds after that, another set of footsteps resounded and they were getting farther and smaller in volume until they completely disappeared into silence.
Comprehending that I was left alone now, I brought my eyes back to the ceiling and I could not help but furrow my eyebrows in discontentment. Who was that girl and what kind of relationship does she have with Sasuke?
***
A/N: .......hi?