Selfish Desire [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 48: "Goodbye, Sasuke."

He heard the slight creak of footsteps outside his cell. He didn't care. Soon enough, a pair of feet stopped right in front of his cell door. It was Ibiki Morino, a Tokubetsu Jounin who was also in charge of the Leaf Prison.

"Get up," greeted Ibiki, "You have visitors, as usual."

Sasuke slowly lowered his eyelids. He was sure it must be Naruto and Sakura who had come to see him the most during his days imprisoned. Kakashi, Sasuke's teacher, would follow them as the third most faithful visitor. In actual fact, no one but his team members and instructor had bothered to come, though he didn't care. He felt so numb inside that nothing could surprise him anymore.

He got up from the bed and approached the cell door. Soon enough, he was walking in the prison hallway, going past many cells which harbored other prisoners, including Madara and Obito. Ibiki grasped his only forearm and led him from behind.

He was escorted to the private visiting room. It's a small version of the typical prison visiting room and it's occupied only by one prisoner and their visitor(s) at a time. The said space consisted of another wall dividing the room into two - one section where a chair for visitors to sit, and the other section where the prisoner would occupy their seat. In the middle of them, attached to the divider, was a glass that allowed the visitor and prisoner to see one another. Tiny holes clustered together in a circle were made on the glass for the prisoner and the visitor to hear one another.

Once he walked through the door, he entered the prisoner's section of the said private visiting room. Without glancing at his visitors, because he was so sure they were Naruto and Sakura only, he headed directly towards his chair and plopped down, facing the table and glass partition before him. He plopped down unceremoniously, leaning against the backrest and spreading his legs out carelessly.

He glanced upward and was taken aback by what he saw; Ayuda looked intently at him through the window, her bright amethyst eyes steady and unwavering. His skin jumped in surprise, his own startled gaze widening in shock.

He was so thunderstruck that he sat up straight in his chair. His mouth literally fell open. His skin, pale as always, grew paler at the sight of her. He was as rigid as a ceremonial post, awed and frozen by her presence and stare, which was firm and steady.

His eyes darted around and he noticed Ayuda, flanked by her companions Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Kazuki, and Kaito. On top of the gray-haired Jounin's shoulder was a crow which added to the scene. All those behind Ayuda took their places while she was the only one who sat facing him through the glass.

He was so stupefied at Ayuda's unexpected presence there that he went speechless. He felt his skin grow cold, his heart ached and fluttered a bit, and he felt his mind go blank and his body froze in shock.

All of a sudden, he shot up from his seat and began to walk speedily toward the door he had used. All of the visitors' eyes blew wide at his uncanny behavior. For Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi, they were all the more nonplussed to see this man - who behaved so cold, unresponsive, and emotionally dead to them whenever they visited - acting so erratically.

As Sasuke approached the door posthaste, Ibiki managed to grab him by the shoulder and stop him from exiting. Ibiki had always been there behind him in the room, guarding the prisoner like a hawk. But he had never expected that he had to stop Sasuke from escaping. The latter had always behaved decently throughout his time in the prison so everyone, including Ibiki, was staggered to see him behave oddly.

Ibiki had already gripped the Uchiha's shoulder and spoke, "What are you doing?"

Sasuke kept his back facing the visitors, his head bowed down, as he responded to Ibiki, "I'm not feeling good right now-"