Selfish Desire [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 25: The Wings To Fly

Ayuda's P.O.V

"Welcome back, all of you."

Tsunade and Shizune were the ones who welcomed us at the gate of Konoha with the former greeting us. She then turned to me, scanned my figure up and down and smiled, "I'm so glad to see you all safe and sound, Ayuda."

I responded back with a warm smile and nodded my head to her in response. Tsunade glanced at Reina afterward who went rigid in an instant. In spite of how tensed she became, the crow on her right shoulder remained unmoving. She then averted her gaze and said, "I apologize for running out of the village without telling you, Hokage-sama..."

Tsunade heaved a tiny sigh with a smile, "Take as much rest as you can, Reina. You look so tired. For the time being, I will decide on what punishment is suitable for your action."

Reina firmly nodded her head with resolve, "I will gladly take whatever punishment you have for me."

I frowned, feeling so guilty for being the primary reason why she had to receive punishment.

"Ayuda, we should head to the hospital in an instant," Sakura said to me, "Even if you are perfectly fine now, a medical checkup is still an essential precaution."

"Oh... sure," I replied and that granted the pinkette the permission to gently hold my arm and pull me towards the hospital, leaving the others behind except Reina, Shiori, Kazuki, and Kaito who wished to not part with me yet.

As I was walking across the streets of Konoha which was bustling with easygoing villagers, a smile was etched upon my face for I dearly missed all of this while I was being held captive by Sasuke. There was no location that was as relaxed as your hometown when you were away at another foreign place, after all.

"Hey, Ayuda," asked Shiori, "I've been wondering about this. Where did Sasuke lock you at?"

I replied, "It's in one of Orochimaru's underground hideouts in the middle of the jungle. There is supposed to be a huge mountain near it where you could see the plain view of the sunset."

"Oh, sounds like you'd watched the sunset from there," remarked Kaito.

I smiled, "Sasuke and I had our training on top of that mountain and once we finished, I got to see it."

"You and him had training together?" repeated Sakura in confusion and mild disbelief.

A displeased frown materialized upon Kaito's face, "Seriously?"

I sent them a perplexed look as the pace of my walk slowed down, "Hm? What's the matter?"

The rest of them also followed the speed of my tracks when Kazuki bluntly told me, "Um... It's just... it seems like you were... having some good times with Sasuke while you were kept as a hostage. Had training with Sasuke together and then got to watch the sunset afterward? It's like you were pretty content there."

My facial expression fell once I got the message of what they all felt once they heard few parts of my brief life locked in Sasuke's cage. I immediately turned serious and replied, "It's not what you guys think it is. Although I have to admit that there very few moments I had pleasant times there, there were also quite a lot of awful ones."

"Awful ones?" asked Kaito worriedly, "What are they? Tell us about them."

I began, "Well, first and foremost, getting kidnapped and chained to the bed are the worst ones."

"Chained to the bed?!" chorused the rest of them in complete shock and slight disgust, followed by a shocked caw from the crow that was still settling itself on Reina's shoulder.