Selfish Desire [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 08: Never Set You Free

[The next day]

Sasuke's P.O.V

"That should be enough for now. We will have a one-hour break before we resume our progress. You have done well, Sasuke-kun."

I uttered not a single word to him as I sheathed my katana in one smooth movement. I couldn't care less if he saw me as one rude man for ignoring him. He had also gotten used to my attitude, after all. Plus, I came here to achieve power, not to achieve his affection and approval.

I was about to take my leave when the fallen Sannin called me, "Sasuke-kun."

I stopped dead in my tracks and flitted my eyes to his, awaiting his next words with a blank expression.

"Have you brought that girl to take a fresh air?" asked the dark-haired Sannin with a tiny smirk tugging at his pale lips.

My eyebrows deepened in a scowl. I was starting to get fed up that he kept talking about Ayuda. I did not know why he constantly brought her up whenever I was with him and that slowly irked me. Couldn't he just mind his own business and just let me take care of her in peace? It would be really puzzling if he said that he was worried about her which was very unlikely.

I responded with an obvious warning look, "No, now stop mentioning about her already."

Orochimaru was completely unaffected by the menacing look I sent him, probably because he had grown used to it, as he spoke, "Well, you should, Sasuke. Someone who is imprisoned in the dark for a long time will grow mentally insane and I know you don't want that to happen to her."

"You said that as if you haven't done that," I countered, "You have kept a lot of people in the prison and let them live there in the dark without giving them the chance to see the sun. You only take them out when it is their turn to be experimented on. Don't talk to me like you are a saint, Orochimaru."

"I am fully aware of my behavior, Sasuke, and that is why I am giving you... an advice," a dark chuckle escaped his mouth, "Those people I have imprisoned are nothing more than guinea pigs so I do not care if they've grown insane because I could simply ask Kabuto to eradicate them and find new ones. But right now, I am talking about the girl you are obsessed with. I am very certain that you care about her, so of course, you wouldn't want her to go insane. So that's why I am telling you to take her out for a while. Let her see the nature for a few minutes and then take her back in."

I considered the idea for a while. A part of me believed it was a good idea, but then another thought hit me like a slap in the face. I arched a suspicious eyebrow and replied, "How generous of you, Orochimaru. Or could it be that you want her to escape? Granting her the opportunity to see the outside world will give her more chance to flee. Is that what you want?"

A small sigh was released from the villainous Sannin's mouth, "It's up to you if that's what you want to believe because, in the end, you can do whatever you want and simply refuse to take her out. But if you remain this bitter, then there is a good chance she will lose her mind."

Orochimaru moved and walked past me, still with a smirk on his lips, and he added, "Just think about it, Sasuke."

I went back into the hideout, heading straight for my room where I knew there was Ayuda, all chained up and weak due to having only little chakra. My right hand moved to the key that was dangling on my purple belt, making sure that that tiny, important item was still with me. If the key somehow vanished out of the blue, then I would, without a doubt, fly straight to my room and check whether Ayuda had already fled or not. The fact that the key was still glued to me gave me a sense of reassurance that the maiden was still locked up on the same spot. The key had no duplicate and if the key was within my hand, then there was no other way to unlock those handcuffs unless you have a ridiculous strength and rip them open with your bare hand.