The Last

11

~The Next Day~

After having breakfast with Toneri, I utilized the rest of my time to wander and explore the inside and outside of the castle.

A few puppets guarded the outside of wherever we were and I have come to learn that they can create an entrance when they're entering or leaving this gloomy place.

'I could always beat one of them up and force them to create an opening.'

The right time to do it would be whenever Toneri was resting his eyes and that was something that he was currently doing.

But I wasn't sure whether to take action now or wait until tomorrow to be sure.

And as if on cue, an explosive went off and made the ground rumble for a second. I placed my hand against the wall and looked upward and saw numerous puppets flying over the castle. I ran in the direction they were going and saw an opening as they proceeded to exit this place.

My eyes lit up when I saw a blue sky on the other side and ran back inside the castle and dashed towards Hanabi's room.

"Hanabi!" I stormed into her room and startled her from her slumber. "I need to get you out of here, now!"

"There's an opening?" She asked.

"Yes, but we need to move quick." I rushed on over to her side and helped her slip out of bed. I placed her arm over my neck and helped her walk outside the door, but slightly pushed her back when I was two puppets run past the hall.

"Hop on my back. It'll be quicker," I said to her as I crouched down and guided her behind me where she hopped on and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I ran through the halls and avoided any puppets that were nearby and made our escape to where I saw the opening and spotted someone that I instantly recognized.

"Shikamaru!" I yelled as loud as I could and saw his head turn in my direction and he smiled at me. He looked over at Sai and pointed at Hanabi and I.

Sai created another bird and as it drew closer, I heard Toneri angrily call out, "(Y/n)!"

I looked over my shoulder with wide eyes as he stomped his way towards me and glared at me with his icy blue eyes that held pain and a burning rage.

I glanced between the bird and him and gripped onto Hanabi's legs as I hoisted her up and contemplated evening jumping with her or letting her escape on her own.

I was making a risky choice if I went and I'm afraid that he'll hurt them, but... it's clear that he has something planned and will most likely go forward with trying to destroy Earth.

"We're gonna jump," I said with my voice wavering for a second.

"I'm ready," breathed out Hanabi.

I slightly bent my knees and jumped off with her with the air hitting our faces until we landed on top of the bird that took us towards Sai and Shikamaru.

"Perfect timing," grinned Shikamaru.

"It almost feels like we planned this, but we didn't and it worked out," I chucked.

"Well there is someone who does think it was planned," responded Sai who pointed behind us and saw a hundred puppets after us and Toneri standing on top of a platform with his eyes glued to me.

"I'm gonna get us killed!" I cried out as I pulled at my hair.

"I think you should go on ahead while we try to distract them," said Shikamaru.

"You really think that will work?"

"You never know until you try," he casually answered with a shrug of his shoulders and I deadpanned but agreed with his plan.

Hanabi and I went on ahead while Sai and Shikamaru stayed behind, but they all the puppets went past them and chased after us.

"They're all following us?!" I shouted with Hanabi tightly clutching onto me.

"Yeah we're gonna die," stated Hanabi with no hope whatsoever. "It was nice knowing you (Y/n)."

"Don't say that! We might have a chance, but I might lose my eyesight a lot sooner because of this," I nervously responded. I activated my Mangekyo Sharingan and looked over my right shoulder and numerous puppets erupted in flames with each one falling one by one to the ground.

"At least you have eyes," shot back Hanabi.

"Sorry about that," I apologized with guilt laced in my voice. "We'll find a way to get your eyes back."

"I sure hope so."

More puppets appeared and were on our tail, but I closed my eyes for a second and opened them and the entire army of puppets exploded in flames and I could feel a warm liquid running down my eyes.

I groaned and clutched my eyes as I waited for the burning sensation to disappear and remained unaware that Toneri had appeared right next to us.

I felt someone roughly grab my arm and pulled me to the left before being thrown on a wooden surface.

"You betrayed me!" Shouted Toneri.

I scrambled to my feet and showcased my bleeding eyes as I stared him down and wiped away the traces of blood that remained on my face.

"Me? You lied!" I retorted.

"What have I lied about?"

"You're still planning to destroy Earth! I'm not going to stay with you nor let that happen!"

"Because you still love that blonde?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes! But not only that, I want everyone I care about to live!"

"Forget about them! You have me and only me now!"

I scoffed and slightly laughed, "Yeah right. Like I would stay with a crazed bastard like you!"

"Would you think the same way if it meant everyone's blood is on your hands?" He smirked and motioned behind me and when I turned around, I saw Hanabi, Sai and Shikamaru pinned on their bird by five puppets with each of them holding a yellow orb next to their heads.

"I'm giving you one last chance. You have three seconds to obey me or I will blow all their heads off!"

I saw Shikamaru and Sai worriedly staring at me and shake their head.

'How stupid of me to think I could even escape when their lives are at stake. I can't make the same mistake again.'

I bit the inside of my cheek and I turned away from them and gave in to Toneri. "Okay, I will. I'm sorry... now please let them go," I sadly said as my head hung low.

"That's more like it." Toneri walked up to me and pulled me into an embrace. "I'll forgive you just this once. Now, let's go back to the castle and spend time with each other."

I watched as the puppets tore themselves away from my friends who sadly gazed at me.

"Okay," I forlornly whispered with clenched fists that slightly trembled not because of fear, but resentment and rage for the one who held me in his arms.

'I hate this.'