Saved From Stoning

Chapter Fourteen: Isolated From Society

From the moment he was isolated from his boss and superior, Sasuke felt like he was being humiliated: relegated to a lowly man who had been at the top of the world, and now here he was, being treated like a common criminal. Before he could think any more thoughts, he heard a sound at the door to his prison cell the night after Doctor Benjiro Sakai had testified at the trial.

"Your Majesty," said the guards standing outside Sasuke's prison cell and then, the door opened to reveal Emperor Asahi on the other side, his face scowling with anger as he walked into the prison cell.

"Close the door and do not enter until I say so," he ordered and doing as they were told, the guards shut the door, leaving Asahi alone with Sasuke. "Do you understand why you are here and not with your comrades?"

"Let me ask you," hissed Sasuke, clearly not showing any respect for the emperor of Azura. "Why are you doing this to me? You annul my marriage, you strip me and my superior of our ranks and treat me like a schoolboy. What else can you do to humiliate me, you decrepit dictator?"

Asahi did not take this lightly at all and in a fit of rage, raised his hand and smacked Sasuke across the face, knocking him down to the floor. The former Deputy Mayor of Konohagakure growled as he rose to his feet, with his eyes still locked on Asahi.

"How dare you strike me, Your Majesty?" remarked Sasuke, rubbing the spot where Asahi had struck him.

"Well then you should watch what you say in my presence," barked Asahi as Sasuke sat on the prison cell bed. "I've separated you from Danzo and Police Sergeant Otsutsuki so as to not allow you to talk of any escape. I've said it before and I will say it again, Sasuke Uchiha. You are a monster of pure evil."

"No," whispered Sasuke. "I am not a monster of pure evil. You are a monster of pure evil, Yoshida. You and your wife! We are the future of Azura, and once we are acquitted of the outrageous charges you have accused us..."

"Silence!" snapped Asahi, with the sound of his angry voice causing Sasuke to fall flat on his back. "The reign of Danzo Shimura is over, Sasuke Uchiha! You are stripped of your rank and yet, you deny that you have your position! I gave you your ranks and I took them away!"

Sasuke spat in Asahi's face, only making Asahi angrier and angrier. To Asahi, this was nothing but disrespect and part of him wanted to administer justice right then and there. However, he maintained his composure and took a deep breath, taking the disgusting act against him with a grain of salt.

"I'm not going to fight with you, Uchiha," he said after a brief silence, with his anger popping out at certain points. "I don't have the time, nor do I have the patience to do so. To put it simply, Sakura doesn't deserve to be married to you and what you tried to do to her wasn't justice, it was attempted murder! Just be thankful you are possibly being given the chance to live the rest of your life on the Isle of the Lost and not be put to death in the center of Kimon City!"

Asahi then turned to knock on the door and have the guards escort him out. However, Sasuke rose up and stopped him, laughing like an amused man who had just heard a funny joke. Upon hearing this, Asahi turned to glare at him.

"You find this amusing?" he rebutted, raising an eyebrow. "Would you like me to pass judgment on you now, Sasuke Uchiha? Is that what you want?"

"No. I think I find your threats amusing," he laughed. "Almost as amusing as the whole sham of a trial you are putting us through. No matter what you say or do, you will lose and we will win. And once we win, you and your wife will be put on trial and we will execute you for false imprisonment."

Intimidated, Asahi had enough of the false threats that Sasuke was making and knocked on the door of the prison cell, causing the guards to open the door and allow him to pass out of the cell.

The walk away from Sasuke's prison cell seemed like forever for Asahi. Even as he walked, the sound of Sasuke taunting him continued to be heard. No sooner did he walk farther and farther away did the threats start to creep in.

"Increase the security throughout the castle," he said to a guard as he neared his quarters. "No threat made by the prisoners will be carried out and if there is anyone making threats against Kimon City, do what you must do to stop them. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," answered the guard and entered his quarters. As he entered his quarters, Asahi was feeling fear for the first time since the trial began. The spine in his back was chilled with fear and there was that lingering fear in the back of his mind of perhaps, just perhaps, that Sasuke's threats against him and Honoka would be carried out.

'I cannot let the fears get to me,' he thought to himself. 'A rescue attempt will never be carried out. Justice will be served and the nightmare in Konohagakure will be over. But there is only one person for allowing these monsters to assume their positions, and that somebody is me.'

Exhausted, Asahi removed his royal accessories and put on his pajamas, and climbed into his large bed, eager to start falling asleep as soon as possible after another exhausting day of testimony. Then suddenly, a loud noise was heard...

[BANG!]

[BANG!]

The sounds of the explosions woke Asahi up and he ran over to his bedroom as fast as his body would let him. Looking out the window, he was horrified to see that a building had been blown up and flames were sprouting out. Before he could make another move, he saw Honoka race over to the scene.

"What happened here?" demanded Honoka as several of Honoka's guards began evacuating the entire area. "Who did this?"

"We are not sure, Your Majesty," said a guard.

"Find whoever is responsible for this. You hear me?" ordered Honoka, glaring down her guard. "Find the person responsible for this and bring him to me!"

The guard gathered several comrades and they immediately began scouring the streets of Kimon City. From his room, Asahi watched and there was no doubt in his mind of the horror that his kingdom was experiencing.

Meanwhile, from their guestroom, Sakura was awakened by the blasts and darted over to the window.

"What was that!?" cried Kazuya, with the pain in his body being felt.

"A message," answered Sakura nervously. "A message that Danzo, Sasuke, and Police Sergeant Otsutsuki will be rescued and those guarding them will be killed."

The blast was clearly a warning sign to everyone from Danzo's supporters that this whole trial was far from over and that revenge would come in full force...

...at least in their minds.