Escape [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 25: Black Abyss

"I see..."

I closed the door behind me with my purple eyes locked on Sasuke's sleeping figure. I stepped forward; my footsteps reverberated across the room until I reached his bed.

The white blanket had covered all of his body, except for his head and half of his neck. His closed eyes weren't tense and his lips parted mildly, showing only his white pearly teeth. The serene look on his face told me that he was having a good sleep without a nightmare, unlike that one time when he passed out after being ambushed by Orochimaru.

I mused, "Hmm... he is still asleep. I guess I have to leave then since there is nothing for me to do here when he is sleeping."

I whipped around and walked away. I had just taken one step forward when I felt something long and firm grasping my left hand so quickly. This thingy pulled me back forcefully, bringing me closer to the bed where the Uchiha's sleeping figure lied down. The force was so strong that I tumbled over his bed.

The next thing I knew, I was staring deep into this shiny black abyss. The weird thing was... this black abyss had a perfect reflection of my face. It's like I was staring back into a black mirror. That's when I felt warm, soothing air fanned my entire face. I backed away from it and I finally realized that my face was so close to Sasuke's which had his onyx eyes wide opened. The tips of our noses were barely touching. My chest was pressed against his firm, muscular chest since my body tripped over his.

So... the black abyss just now... was his eye?! And that warm air... was his breath?!

I yanked away and took a few steps backward until I had a good distance from the boy who shifted his body into sedentary position. Heat bloomed across my cheeks as I pointed an accusing finger at him and raised my voice, "W-w-why did you do that?!"

Sasuke gave me an annoyed look, "You're too loud."

I ignored his statement, "And I thought you were sleeping!"

"I was faking it," he elucidated, "I woke up when a nurse analyzed my condition and informed me I have a visitor. I thought it was Naruto or Sakura, and I'm not in the mood to listen to them so I pretended to sleep. I would have never expected it was you."

"That won't explain why you made me trip over you!" I pointed out. The red glow on my face could be on par with fresh tomato, judging from the strong heat I felt on my face.

Sasuke remained indifferent as if the stunt he pulled just now was not a problem to him.

"Sorry," he simply said. I could discern from the tone of his voice that he was not sorry at all. He changed the subject with a serious expression, "Now that you're here, tell me. What happened after I left the preliminary match?"

I dropped my arm to my side and blinked my eyes at him in confusion, "Kakashi didn't tell you?"

"No. You're the first person to visit me after he sealed this mark."

So that's why Kakashi took him out of the room. He wanted to seal that sinister-looking mark. And that could be the reason why Sasuke passed out and here he is.

"I'm going to tell you as quickly as possible," I responded as I pulled a chair and brought it to his bed's side. I plumped myself down in the seat and added, "The nurse gave me only five minutes to be with you."

"Then tell me now."

It took around two minutes to explain to him about everything – from who versus who, who won, what their abilities are, and who will be fighting who in the Third Exam. A satisfied smirk quirked his lips when I told him he will be fighting Gaara in the next exam.