Chapter Text
The door yawned open with a deafening creak, the sound dragging across the concrete like nails on bone. Neji winced, the noise slicing through his nerves like a blade. Sasuke, however, remained utterly unbothered. He merely arched a brow, gaze snapping to the empty doorway, waiting — expecting — the familiar descent into darkness.
That did not happen, however.
Instead, the light held. And through it stepped that hulking brute again — Koji, as Neji had so helpfully informed him. As if the name mattered. As if Sasuke had any intention of remembering it beyond the moment he slit the man's throat.
Koji moved leisurely, confidently, as if he were taking a walk in a park. He opened the cell with a huff, clearly aware of both sets of eyes trained on him, but entirely unfazed by it. Sasuke at this point still couldn't tell if the man was simply blind or if he just appeared to be.
Every muscle in Sasuke's body tensed as the figure entered the cell, heavy boots thudding against the floor. He didn't pause. Didn't glance at Neji. Didn't speak.
He came for Sasuke.
The chains groaned as Koji reached up and began to unfasten them. Sasuke's shoulders screamed with relief first — then pain. A deep, searing ache that radiated down his spine and into his ribs, so sharp he had to bite down on a groan. The sudden release of tension was almost worse than the restraint.
He barely had time to process it before Koji grabbed the chains and yanked them upward, forcing Sasuke to stand.
Except he couldn't.
His legs buckled immediately, numb from disuse, trembling under the weight of his own body. He staggered, knees threatening to collapse, and Koji didn't so much as flinch. The man simply hauled him upright like dead weight, one hand gripping the chains, the other pressing against Sasuke's shoulder with enough force to bruise.
Sasuke's breath hitched, his pride burning hotter than the pain. He clenched his jaw, forcing his legs to lock, to hold. He would not fall. Not in front of the poodle. And most certainly not in front of this brute.
Koji tilted his head slightly, as if assessing whether Sasuke would stay upright on his own. Then, without a word, he turned and began to drag him toward the door.
Sasuke's eyes flitted to the Hyūga, who never took his gaze off them. He watched as the boy drew his bottom lip beneath his teeth, biting down hard enough to draw blood.
Then, their eyes locked. In that brief moment, something passed between them; understanding. They hadn't planned for it, but if they were to act, it had to be now.
Because neither of them could know, not with any certainty that if Sasuke were to be dragged out of here now, he'd ever be taken back down here again. Koji's grip on those chains was firm, dragging him toward the door with the indifference of a man who simply expected no threat from his prisoners. The sheer audacity to underestimate him so lit a fire in Sasuke, its heat ferocious enough to breathe some life back into his worn body. He leaned into the pain and shifted his weight just enough to test the tension in the chains. He didn't have much slack, but it was enough.
Neji moved. It had made more noise than either of them would've liked and so, Sasuke purposely dropped like dead weight.
"What is wrong with you?" Koji groaned, irritated, impatient as Sasuke fell to the floor, arms and legs limp, like a ragdoll.
He turned away from the Hyūga completely. Sasuke never took his eyes off Neji, even if they seemed to be staring at nothing in particular.
Neji's fingers curled around the bars above, his knees pressed into the floor, muscles coiling like a spring. Then, in one fluid motion, the Konoha-nin pulled himself upward, using the bars to anchor his weight, and swung his leg out with surgical precision.
Squarely between Koji's legs.
A sound between a laugh and a gasp caught in Sasuke's throat. The impact was brutal. The goliath let out a strangled, guttural sound as his massive frame jolted backward, unbalanced by the pain. His grip on the chains faltered first, then broke entirely. The Uchiha rose to one knee, eyes wide with something dangerously close to glee. Satisfaction.
The pain in his shoulders flared, but really, he barely registered it as he snatched up the loosened chains, wrapping them around his wrists. He hardly noticed them biting into his skin. Whilst the brute was still reeling, one hand clutching a metal bar to hold himself upright and recover from the assault, Sasuke surged forward. He clenched his teeth and swung the chain around the man's neck, legs wrapping around his waist as he twisted the chain tight, using his full body weight to pull backward. His arms strained, his muscles screamed for mercy but oh, mercy was the last thing on Sasuke's mind.
Koji writhed, his hands clawing at the metal, but his fingers never found purchase. His knees gave way, but Sasuke didn't let up. With every second passing that he held on, that days of pent-up fury slowly began to trickle out, like a pressure valve finally turning. Steam finally releasing.
Then — it was over. The man landed in the dirt with a heavy thud, yanking Sasuke along with him, but he broke his fall, planting his bare feet firmly against the concrete. For a moment he stood there, hunched over, each leg on either side of the brute, wheezing, panting. He almost wished this bastard struggled longer, but ultimately, he wasn't the real target of his rage. No. This lump of bone and muscle was a casualty at best.
"The keys."
Sasuke winced, the voice slicing through his moment of triumph like a pebble tossed into still water. Soft, urgent, and unmistakably Hyūga. He'd almost forgotten about the poodle. His eyes instinctively drifted to Koji's belt; and the comically large circlet with a set of keys on it.
Oh, yes. The keys.
He dislodged the chain from under the corpse and reached for the circlet. The damn keys were old, mismatched, some rusted to the point of uselessness. He tried them one by one, jaw clenched, breath shallow. His hands trembled — not from fear, but from strain, from the lingering ache in his shoulders and wrists.
Finally, the last one clicked.
The shackle snapped open with a metallic clunk, rolling onto the floor like a discarded collar. That was it. He was free. And in his hand, he held the keychain that could offer Neji the same release.
He slowly turned to the Hyūga, almost taking advantage of his range of movement now that he had it back. Still strung up, bloodied wrists caught in those rusty chains, though he seemed to have shifted himself in a more comfortable position that allowed him to breathe. Lavender eyes followed Sasuke's movements, gaze locked in on the keys in his hand. Not a word, though. Not a plea.
I suppose I could just leave him here.
Such a tempting thought. But reality was colder than pride. He still needed Neji. As irritating as that was to admit. Sasuke had been trapped longer, worn thinner. And the Hyūga had fight left in him — enough to pull off a move that had dropped a man twice his size with one well-placed kick.
He stepped forward, lowering himself to be at eye-level with him. Then, he jingled the keychain in front of Neji's face. His own expression remained cold, not even a smirk adorning his lips.
"Want this?"
"If you intend to leave me here, do it without preening like a peacock, will you?" the other hissed through his clenched jaw.
Sasuke so eagerly wished he could, especially after such a retort. Pompous poodle.
"Don't get used to this," he whispered under his breath as he rose to stand.
The key clicked into place with a reluctant groan, and the shackles snapped open. Neji's arms dropped, heavy and trembling, the blood rushing back into his limbs with a painful sting. He didn't speak. Didn't thank him. Just exhaled slowly, adjusting his posture with quiet dignity.
Sasuke stepped back, tossing the keyring onto the floor between them.
"Now get up," he spat, voice flat. "We're not done yet."
Neji flexed his fingers as the cuffs fell to the floor, then slowly, steadily rose to his feet. It wasn't as graceful as he probably intended. His legs trembled, knees stiff from hours of pressure and immobility. And yet he still clung to his dignity with the way he squared his shoulders — that must've hurt like a bitch — and lifted his chin.
Sasuke watched him, with faint amusement. There was something deeply entertaining about a Hyūga trying so desperately to clutch his pride.
"Nice aim," he commented in the end.
"I thought you… might enjoy that, yes," Neji admitted with a slow nod.
Sasuke's lips twitched. "So you kicked him all for me, did you?"
Neji's gaze flicked toward him, once again with the same unimpressed expression. "…Could we go?"
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
The hallway beyond the cell was narrow and dim, the concrete walls slick with condensation, and in some places, mould. Sasuke led the way, his steps cautious, heavy with pain, but he pushed on, simply for the fact that he had to. Neji followed close behind, and despite the fact that Sasuke didn't particularly care whether he lived or died, he peered over his shoulder every now and again. He still needed him to get out of here, after all.
They reached a stairwell, a spiral of rusted metal descending into darkness and climbing toward a faint artificial light. Sasuke glanced upward, then started to climb, the steps creaking under his weight with every move he made. At the top, a heavy door, haphazardly screwed and nailed together with thick wooden boards and metal. Sasuke pressed his ear to it — a primitive method, but with his own chakra sealed, he had no other option.
Nothing.
The air was still.
He glanced back to Neji, then vaguely, expectantly gestured at his own eyes.
Neji shook his head. His byakugan was still dormant.
So, without any clue of what awaited them past that door, Sasuke pushed it open.
The room was cold, filthy, lit by a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling by a wire, casting harsh shadows across the floor. Part laboratory, part office. Metal cabinets lined the walls, filled with vials and various tools. A desk sat in the corner, cluttered with books, papers, dossiers.
And in the centre, beneath the lamp, stood an examination table.
He practically heard Neji's breath hitch behind him.
The table was pristine. Polished metal. Waiting for a subject. Straps hung from the sides, buckles scratched and worn. A tray of surgical instruments sat by the side — scalpels, syringes, clamps. Pliers.
No occupant, though. The faceless one — as Neji called him — was nowhere to be seen. Sasuke stepped further into the room, the cold concrete harsh against his bare feet. They couldn't linger for long, but the sight that welcomed them had both of them stunned. Neither of them had any idea just how close Sasuke came to ending up on that table.
Of getting his eyes yanked out with those tools.
His eyes lingered on the straps. His wrists ached just by looking. He then moved toward the desk. Escape should have been his priority, but part of him screamed for answers.
Diagrams. Anatomical sketches, studies of seals. Chakra flow charts. Notes scribbled in a tight, angular hand that reeked of deranged obsession. His name appeared more than one, as did Neji's. There were others, names he didn't recognise. His gaze caught a word which brought his blood to a boil. Uchiha viability.
"He was going to cut me open," he hissed under his breath. The sheer audacity of it made him wish that son of a bitch was still there, just so he could suffer the same fate he intended for Sasuke.
A touch on his arm made him flinch.
It was too gentle. Too human. Too small to belong to their captor.
He turned his head sharply.
Neji stood beside him — when did he get here? — one hand already withdrawing from his forearm. His expression was blank, cold, yet it carried something Sasuke recognised as urgency. He didn't speak, for he likely didn't want to risk being discovered.
Sasuke stared at him for a moment, then nodded once, the tension in his jaw easing just slightly.
He's right. We gotta get out of here.
He wanted to find that asshole. He wanted to make him bleed. Still, he understood the words Neji never spoke. They simply couldn't, in their current condition. Both of them have been beaten, their kekkei-genkai sealed, their chakra flow restricted.
It all felt too easy, though. Where was the faceless one?
If he had been so obsessed to get his hands on them both, if he wanted the sharingan so desperately, why didn't he stop them?
There was no time to ask such asinine questions.
They had to move.