Naruto the Last | Sasunaru Version

Chapter 20 - Plans, Past, and Obsession

He cautiously made his way down a mysterious staircase, the once-elegant walls now made of large gray bricks and illuminated only by a few torches as he made his way down. When he reached the bottom, he found multiple wooden doors with locks. He hastily opened each one to see they weren't locked, discovering that most rooms were empty and had a small seat or a white bed. He raised an eyebrow when he found one that was locked. He eyed the door, wondering what Tonari was hiding inside, before attempting to open it again. "Yup, it's definitely locked..." he said aloud.

He quickly and gracefully slipped the scrap metal from his belt before reactivating his Sharingan. He scanned the lock and fiddled with it for a few seconds before finally unlocking it. His eyes widened barely, and a sharp, small exhale escaped his lips as he entered and saw someone lying on a white bed. He cautiously approached the man on the bed. He instantly recognized the man as a Hyuga by his pale skin, delicate features, long brown hair, and the bandages covering his eyes. He would've assumed the Hyuga was dead if his chest wasn't rising and falling ever so steadily.

He knew he couldn't panic now—after all, he had seen worse. He scanned the man with his Sharingan, and it almost seemed like less chakra surrounded his eyes, as if someone had pulled them from their sockets. He remembered hearing that Tonari had stolen the Byakugan from a Hyuga clan member to help build her Tensei-Sharing eye. Sasuke concluded that she must have taken that Hyuga member's eyes.

He spent a few minutes examining the man with his Sharingan before raising his fist to his chest. "I won't let this alien woman do anything to me. I need to find the other hostages quickly. I must save them, the village, and Naruto from ever coming here. I'll come back for this man later," he thought as he swiftly left the room, shutting the door behind him. He searched the stone walls for clues and opened countless doors, only to find them empty inside, and the hallway felt like it stretched on for miles. He was about to give up and turn back until he heard groans and cries ahead.

He picked up speed as the sound continually grew louder and louder as he made his way straight through the hallway. His eyes narrowed as he reached the end and found the hostages trapped behind prison bars laced with a faint yellow chakra glow, contrasting with his purple one. He recognized them from the countless posters given to the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi, and their noble family members who traveled far from the luxurious spots in the Land of Fire to the Leaf village, asking around if anyone had seen their unfortunate family members in a last attempt to find their lost loved ones. The hostages were weak, groaned, and some even cried.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan to assess the situation. Something was slowly draining their chakra from their bodies and through the ground, traveling to some external source. The mechanism was siphoning off an exact amount of chakra, just enough to ensure that their bodies could regenerate slightly faster than they could be drained, allowing the hostages to remain alive for as long as possible. Although it was a corrupt system, whoever invented the mechanism to do this clearly knew what they were doing.

His Sharingan scanned the yellow-glowing bars for a few seconds before hovering his hand over them. He hesitated for a few more seconds before deciding to take the risk and touch them with the back of his hand for good measure. After all, he had to save the village, and how would he do that without taking any risks?

He gasped as he fell into a powerful genjutsu disguised as a flashback. The genjutsu brought his mind back to when he first spoke with Tonari in the cave—when she first asked him to marry her.

Tonari was staring at him with her cold yet beautiful circular heterochromatic eyes. "Sasuke, let us be married,"

"What?!" Sasuke gasped, his tone short and blunt. "Marry you? What the hell are you talking about? Free the hostages!" he demanded, his voice sharp.