A Glass Of Crimson Souls

28) wills and wants

Sasuke rested in another one of Madara's caverns, his eyes bandaged and his head throbbing. Nevertheless, he could feel the power surging through his body. The implantation of Itachi's eyes had resulted in a heavy but somehow comforting pressure in his head, as if this was where Itachi's eyes belonged.

With Sasuke, the last Uchiha.

The title almost made Sasuke smile. He was the last surviving member of the greatest clan to ever walk the face of the earth. Konoha had massacred the Uchiha clan. Now, with these eyes of his, the last Uchiha would annihilate Konoha.

The fact that Sasuke had lost his entire team did not perturb him. Karin was dead or captured, and Juugo and Suigetsu were nowhere nearby. But Sasuke had no need for teammates. Not when one was too scared of death to even die properly. Miho was such a coward. All that talk about dying because Itachi was no longer alive…only to beg Sasuke to stop at the last second. Why had his brother chosen such a spineless woman to live with him for the last three years?

Miho had been so still after she'd begged him to stop. Sasuke was right about to go ahead and slice her jugular when more familiar faces appeared. Kakashi, weaker than Sasuke was now…the sight of Kakashi's Mangekyou had infuriated him. Kakashi was not a true Uchiha—he did not deserve to reap the rewards of the Sharingan. But Sasuke had not gotten the chance to rip that eye out of its socket. Naruto had interfered…and he had the gall to say that the next time they clashed, both would die. What nonsense. Madara would not let Sasuke retaliate, and Sasuke's blindness forced him to comply. Now, though, he was restless. Naruto would be his next victim. Sasuke would not die—he was the last Uchiha, and he had a goal to fulfill. Naruto's threat that they would both die was pathetically empty.

Sasuke was not frightened of death or power. He had his eyes and he had his hatred.

They were the only weapons the last Uchiha needed.

"We'll stop here for tonight."

The rest of the team looked relieved with the order. They had been traveling nonstop since Madara had disappeared with Sasuke. Kakashi had sent Kiba and Rock Lee ahead of them to alert the rest of the Konoha council about what had happened, along with the report that they had captured one of Sasuke's old teammates and Chiaki Miho.

Miho sat down against a tree, gingerly lifting her handcuffed wrists and placing them on her knees. The unfriendly steel was heavy and cut into her skin, but what bothered her the most was that they prevented any exertion of her chakra. Not only was she blind to her surroundings, she could also no longer feel the comforting beat inside her stomach. Now that she could not sense it, she could not tell if she had imagined it or not. Maybe she had, and she had just passed on a glorious opportunity for Sasuke to kill her.

But she knew she was deluding herself—she had forced Sasuke to stay still for over thirty seconds as she made sure that she wasn't imagining things. In that time, Kakashi had arrived, followed swiftly by Naruto. There had been an exchange of blows and declarations, but Miho could only focus on herself. She was fairly certain.

The decision to go with the Konoha shinobi had been an easy one. There was no way in hell she would have entrusted herself to Madara.

She did not tell anyone why she had suddenly changed her mind. Sasuke thought she was a coward—he had minced no words with his final parting. Kakashi seemed bemused, but oddly enough was glad to see that she was not raging to kill them or herself. Instead, he had put her in chains quite apologetically and had ordered Naruto to guard her.

Miho stared off into space, unwilling to talk to anyone. Kakashi had been carrying Karin, and after Sakura's emergency treatment, the girl had been sullen and quiet the entire journey. Miho did not blame her; being stabbed always left some kind of shock. She knew from personal experience.