Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fan fiction. No profit is being made by the author.

Author's Note: I'm glad to finally present you this new story of mine. I've been having this idea on my mind for years (basically, since the time the manga ended), thinking it through slowly and scrupulously, and now I've finally found the source of inspiration to start working on it.

Some of you might know me and my style from my previous work in this setting – whether you do or not, I've got some news for you. The first one is that for the sake of a better plot and also as a tribute to most of my subscribers, I'll keep the main pairing the same. The second one is that I deliberately made certain characters heavily OOC in this story, for it is set in the alternative timeline in which a few crucial things went completely differently from the way they did in canon, most notably: Minato and Kushina are alive, Minato is still the Hokage; the Uchiha clan has not been wiped out; Hinata was placed in Team 7 instead of Sakura; Hinata and Hanabi's mother is alive.

This alternative timeline is partly inspired by the Road to Ninja movie as well as a few anime episodes related to it, so those of you who have watched these probably already get the vague idea of what kind of things will be different. Don't expect it to be a rip off, though, for I merely took some references from them.

I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

Warnings: Crossing Timelines and thus OOC for some characters.

TEMET NOSCE

Prologue

Slowly opening his eyes, he winced at the dim light of the moon that seemed blindingly bright to the ninja, instantly making the flash of searing pain pierce his skull. Coughing quietly and trying to catch a breath, he tried to lift his head a little bit, feeling slightly confused as he tried to remember where he was and what had happened to him.

But then Sasuke gasped reflectively – the horrible feeling in every single cell of his body at the shinobi's attempt to move was a perfect reminder of what had happened to him.

"Awake now, huh…," came the familiar weak voice from the left.

The Uchiha turned his head very slowly, as though he were afraid that a careless motion might kill him. His eyes widened slightly as they stopped on the blond's face.

"Yeah… It's just as you see it… If we move too much, we'll bleed to death," muttered Naruto, staring at the sky thoughtfully with sadness, but also with strange relief in the blue eyes.

For a while, Sasuke kept looking at him, as though expecting the boy to say something else, but Naruto seemed to be either losing his consciousness or just too deep in his thought, so the Uchiha eventually turned away.

"Just look at you… Pitiful," he murmured, frowning. "Why do you insist on getting in my way every time?" he finally asked, gritting his teeth. But Naruto never replied, so he continued,

"I… fell into the darkness, and it gave me the power to do everything my way. It never mattered who it was… I tried to cut all the ties I had with everything around me…," he turned to his friend again. "But you... You never thought of cutting ties with me… No matter what happened… No matter what I did," he tried to clench his fists, but it turned out that he only had one arm remaining, "Why do you care so much about me?!"

"Don't you already know?" Naruto finally glanced at him and the weak yet happy grin appeared on his face. "Heh, look at you, talking so much now just 'cause you can't move…"

"Shut up and just answer me!"

"That's because you're my friend," came the seemingly simple yet actually so complicated reply.

Sasuke frowned again, feeling irritated but also curious. No… not just curious, he needed to know it. He needed to understand it now, at least before he would die. Otherwise, everything would turn out to be pointless… His entire life...

"You already said that once. What does that mean to you?"

Naruto's dreamy gaze returned to the inky blue night sky.

"If you want me to explain it, I'm not really sure how to put it… It's just that when I hear you blabbering about carrying everything on your shoulders… I kinda… feel the pain, too."

The Uchiha stared at him in disbelief, not saying anything.

"It really hurts. There is no way I can just ignore it!" added Naruto.

Sasuke lowered his eyes to the stone surface both of them were lying on, still remaining silent.

"Well, today I'm hurting all over so there isn't much I can do… But at least it's all over now, eh…"

Yes, it was.

The Uchiha's eyes slowly closed as he sunk into his own thoughts and feelings.

He'd always known that Naruto's life was very lonely. Just like him, the last Uchiha, this boy was an outcast since his early childhood. Back when they were still kids, he acted like an idiot on purpose so that people would scold him simply because he wanted them to pay attention to him. To notice him. To recognize him…

At first, Sasuke didn't think he was even worth considering at all. He seemed like just another weakling who was playing and fooling around out of stupidity. However, after seeing him doing foolish things and getting punished every time, the optimistic smile on his face never fading, for some reason the Uchiha started keeping his eyes on this goofy boy. And that time he also realized that Naruto's weakness had started to sink into him, too.

Sasuke couldn't stop paying attention to him. When he saw him doing everything he could to create bonds with other people it reminded the Uchiha of his late family. And for some reason he felt relieved whenever it happened, and this strange happiness he felt also made him think it was a weakness. He trained hard to escape from it and to become stronger than his brother, to take revenge on Itachi. But then the Uzumaki ended up in the same team as Sasuke himself… And so he got reminded of his family once again.

After clearing missions with Naruto, who wanted to become Hokage, he could feel and see clearly that they were both getting stronger. And then he realized that he wanted to fight with his noisy teammate. That's why when he saw him suffering… He would feel pain too. And when he understood Naruto's pain, for the first time he considered the boy his comrade.

But at the same time… He couldn't just let him become stronger. When he saw how powerful the two of them had become… He understood that Naruto also knew and felt it all. He was relieved to see someone else like him and he felt so happy that he wanted to talk to the Uchiha right away…! But he didn't, because he was envious of his skills. And so he decided that Sasuke would become his rival! The Uchiha became his goal. For the first time in Naruto's life, he had a bond. And during their missions as Team Seven he kept going after him because he wanted to get to his level.

But it was actually the opposite. In truth, Sasuke was the one envious of him. He had the kind of strength the Uchiha was missing. And it made a part of Sasuke hate him, for this was another reminder of his past, the one that made him feel so conflicted and torn. Because Naruto always walked ahead of him, much like Itachi used to…

And today, too…

The raven haired boy opened his eyes again, almost closing them again the same second as the golden rays of morning sun hit him mercilessly, feeling almost burning to the ninja.

How much time had passed? A few hours? Or perhaps even days…?

Sasuke couldn't tell, but he was still feeling horrible. Much worse than the previous time he woke up. He now wasn't even sure if he was still alive or perhaps this was the beginning to his way to the afterlife…

However, the rapidly returning pain he still felt made it clear that the shinobi was still present in the realm of the living, so the Uchiha coughed, clearing his throat from gore before turning his head to the left – this time it was significantly harder than before, almost impossibly so.

Naruto's eyes were closed, and his face was unnaturally pale. The wind brushed the strands of his golden hair, and it almost seemed like he was merely enjoying his peaceful sleep, but something was wrong… Sasuke could see it without activating his Sharingan.

The Uchiha gasped then as he finally realized what had drawn his attention. His friend wasn't breathing…!

"Naruto…," he whispered, realizing that he wouldn't be able to help him at such state even if he could move. He turned away and looked at the crimson sky once again, letting the blood stained tears flow down his cheeks freely as the last bits of his pride finally died out. "What have I done…?"

His friend was gone now, and Sasuke knew that he was about to follow him. And with the two of them gone, the entire ninja world would die, too. Simply because nobody would be able to release people from the Infinite Tsukuyomi…

And this was his and only his own fault. He had destroyed everything. Everyone was doomed because of his arrogance… his foolishness...

"If only…," he whispered, beginning to feel delirious. Apparently, the strain was finally hitting him as he felt the familiar fever – just like back when Madara had stabbed him though his heart, "If only I could go back… and change everything… If only…!"

He sobbed, suddenly remembering Itachi's final words to him.

No matter what you do from now on… I will always love you.

The Uchiha gritted his teeth and groaned desperately, feeling even worse now if this was even possible in his situation. Was this what his brother had ever wanted? Was this the outcome of Sasuke's own dreams and ambitions…?

No. But this was the consequence of his actions nonetheless. He had destroyed everything, so he deserved to die here like this, in endless shame and complete solitude. If anything, this was a very easy punishment for he had committed to his world… Frankly, he deserved a much worse ending.

But it was all over now, Sasuke could sense death imminently closing in on him, gripping his throat more tightly with each passing moment. His consciousness was already fading away, he knew it by seeing random pictures from his past even with his eyes closed. Most of them was from his childhood… those rare moments of happiness he could still remember. Back then, he was still a human… Back then, he still knew the feeling of empathy… of happiness... of love...

If only…!

The stone under his back seemed to become softer, almost feeling like a comfortable bed now that the sweet easiness began filling his body, and then Sasuke suddenly found himself falling into the nether. The feeling was nice… it brought something nostalgic he couldn't quite describe or even figure out. Was this the road to the afterlife?

"Is this… the end…?"

"Not necessarily," the coarse grumpy voice broke through the veil of oblivion, forcing him to open his eyes one more time. The Uchiha instantly spotted the familiar wrinkled face right in front of himself, blocking the sun from his sight, which allowed Sasuke to look at him without squinting.

"Hagoromo…?" He gasped, not noticing that the strain and pain were completely gone now – despite still lying next to Naruto's breathless body, it seemed as though he was floating mid air just like the person who was now staring at him gloomily like a parent would look at a child who pulled something remarkably unpleasant.

"You made a wrong choice, my dear Sasuke. And it has lead everything to a horrible disaster."

The Uchiha frowned, astonished by the peaceful and warm tone of the ancient figure's voice.

"I–"

The sage smiled sadly, raising his hand up.

"Do not talk, my boy. I already know what you are about to say... I'm not going to condemn you for what you've done. After all, I was the one who gave you the power and the freedom to cause this tragedy. However, I must say that I am… disappointed."

Sasuke lowered his eyes shamefully, for some reason afraid to meet the gaze of the Rinnegan eyes that peered at him shrewdly as though they could read everything in his heart and mind.

Well… perhaps they actually could?

"I'm… sorry…," he squeezed out, desperately suppressing the urge to cry. Strangely, somehow he still felt too prideful to show any more weakness in front of another person.

Hagoromo's smile widened. How could he still find anything amusing in a situation like this…?

"I know you are. Now, tell me, Sasuke… If you had a chance to erase this tragedy, what would you do?"

The mismatching eyes snapped wide open as he slowly raised them up again, looking at the ghostly figure in disbelief and fear.

"Come... again? Fix... everything…?" He winced. "How the hell… how am I supposed to fix it... when everything is lost? I destroyed it all myself... damn it!" he cried, finally losing his self control and sobbing as his only fist slammed into the ground.

The sage's expression was almost parentally kind as he closed his eyes and uttered softly:

"Kindly correct me if I am wrong, but I was fairly sure that I heard you claiming that you would like to go back and fix everything you'd done."

The Uchiha closed his mouth, blinking a few times as he didn't dare to believe his own ears.

"And... even if I did… So what?" he asked carefully in a very quiet voice.

Hagoromo met his overly defensive gaze, and his smile vanished, leaving the timeless figure with a very serious and focused face.

"I believe I could grant your wish… My mastery and knowledge combined with the power you now possess… It is possible despite being very difficult."

Sasuke froze, even stopping breathing for a moment.

"The power...? My left eye?"

The sage shook his head.

"Take a closer look at your body, child."

The boy did as he was told, almost gasping at the sudden revelation – he was covered with a very weak, barely notable red chakra cloak that was about to disappear, but was still clearly visible to a naked eye.

"Is this…?"

"Yes. Apparently, Naruto gave you the last bits of his chakra and thus sacrificed his life to prolong yours."

"No…!"

Why? Why would this moron do something like that…? Naruto was supposed to live, and Sasuke deserved to die, no the other way around! It was all his fault...!

"Yes. Without a doubt, he did it, and albeit I can only venture to guess what was his reasoning, he made this conversation possible. And thus, I believe, he made it possible for you to save the world. However, we do not have much time left. Listen carefully now if you don't want your friend's sacrifice to go in vain, my boy."

The Uchiha had to put some effort into closing his mouth and focusing his gaze on the old man, expecting him to continue in spite of being torn by the maelstrom of emotions and feelings.

"In order for this to work, you must make a clear choice. You now have two options, Sasuke. Either we attempt to let you save everyone… and you'll have to repeat your way from the beginning, living a different life this time. Or you go to the afterlife, and this world remains dead for all eternity. This is your call now. Voice it."

The Uchiha grimaced, looking away.

"What kind... of question... is this…? As though there is... a choice. What... do I have to do… to make it work? To save… everyone?"

The man paused as his long staff floated in front of him at the light motion of his hand.

"It is essentially very simple. But before we start… Tell me, where do you think we are?"

Sasuke frowned, looking around and to his own surprise seeing nothing but the phantom in front of himself – everything else was dark now.

"I have no idea," he replied honestly.

"Take your time and think about it. This is important for you to understand."

The young man groaned, clenching his only fist but not daring to argue and risk his only chance to fix everything. After a good minute of futile thinking he finally sighed, shaking his head.

"I truly have no idea. Is this a kind of intermission? A place between the afterlife and our world?" He didn't notice that the pain was completely gone now, and so were all the signs of damage his body had suffered.

Hagoromo gave him a long curious look before smiling again, nodding in satisfaction.

"Memorize this moment, my boy. Wherever you end up after this conversation is over, do not ever forget about this place and this moment. Eventually, you will come back to this place. This is the unavoidable price you must pay for your second chance, do not ever forget about it either. And when you come back, you must have already figured it out. You must be aware of the nature of this realm, because I shall not be able to help you get out of here for the second time. This is the last time you see me, from now on you will be completely on your own. Naruto has already fulfilled his part of the prophecy... And he has entrusted the future to you. It is now your turn to become the savior. Everything will depend on your decisions and your resolve. Do you understand?"

He nodded slowly, confused by the sage's words but also feeling too impatient to reflect on their meaning. After all, he was about to be gifted with the time to think about it later, wasn't he? Surely, this could wait.

"Yes… I think I do."

Hagoromo nodded as well.

"Very good. Now, raise both your hands up and come closer…"

He did as he was told, locking his fingers with the old man's and feeling the unfamiliar unpleasant heat beginning to spread through his chakra… and when did his left hand regrow…?

"What… what on earth is this…?" he whispered, feeling more and more weak with each second passing as his flesh, or whatever it was, began to wane right in front of his eyes, turning into pure chakra.

"Your road to redemption… begins here," the unclear voice echoed in his ears as the image of the old man in front of him became dark blurry.

And then everything faded away.

-~X~-

He didn't know how much time had passed before the endless darkness around him parted a little bit, allowing something to break in. The remote distorted sounds reached his ears, making the boy begin to regain his consciousness.

Was that a sound of crying? Yes, someone was definitely sobbing not far away from him… But where? And who...?

Sasuke…

That was his name. Was someone calling for him?

Please, Sasuke… No…!

The voice was definitely familiar. He was certain that he had heard it before, but he couldn't quite remember where… and when. Who was that...?

You cannot die… you cannot, this is unfair! It can't be! Please… Please!

He probably could do that… could he? At least he felt so, just didn't know how to force himself to wake up. But this person… this woman… her desperate plea made him want to comfort her for some reason. This was so unlike him... but he couldn't help it.

Who was she? Who was begging him to wake up…?

Please, come back to me… Please...

It sounded like a weakening whisper, but at the same time it was so strong that it triggered something long forgotten deep inside of him. He now realized that he had to wake up no matter what. He just had to!

The ninja opened his eyes, peering at the white ceiling of some room. Everything was still blurry and he couldn't quite focus his gaze on anything, but it looked… real.

"Am I… alive?" he whispered, blinking a few times as he tried to regain his eyesight.

The oppressive silence that surrounded him almost convinced the boy that he was actually alone in the room, and the voice he had heard was merely a hallucination.

Until…

"ITACHI! Itachi, he's alive! He's awake!" the delightful unbelieving scream echoed in his head like an explosion, making the boy wince at how loud it was… did this person had to be so annoying…?

He then stopped breathing at the belated realization.

Itachi…?  Was he dead, after all?

Sasuke forced his eyes to open fully, moving his gaze to the right, dazed as his eyes met the ones he had almost managed to forget by now. The loving eyes the dead and hollow version of which had been chasing him in his nightmares for many, many years.

"Mother…?"

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews, they were truly inspiring! This chapter should clear up any confusion or misunderstanding you might have had from the prologue. Also, for your information, I'll be using Japanese names of techniques and other specific terms because I'm used to do it this way, so if any of you find it troublesome, I'll be providing all the translations in A/N's at the end of each chapter just in case.

Chapter 1. Welcome Home

"Mother...?"

Unable to look away from her face, Sasuke didn't even notice the terrible pain as he attempted to raise his head up to take a closer look at the woman. His body was also numb and his limbs didn't quite obey his commands so he barely could move at all. But, he didn't care right now. His entire being was focused on this person in front of him, and everything else lost its meaning for the young shinobi instantly and completely.

It had to be a dream. It couldn't be her, could it? Uchiha Mikoto was dead, he knew it better that anyone else. Hell, he'd been having those maddening nightmares about the night of his parents' death for years, over and over and over again! The image of their lifeless empty eyes had been imprinted into his mind forever. Yet still the woman was right there, in flesh, with these deep onyx black eyes full of love and compassion staring at him with a mixture of feelings he had long forgotten by now.

Yes, It was undoubtedly her. Alive and relatively well from what it looked, for some reason appearing to be completely freaked out but also incredibly happy at the same time. Tears of both sorrow and delight were rolling down the woman's face, her hands were terribly shaking, and her long raven hair was unusually messy. If anything, Mikoto looked as though she'd spent a lot of time being unable, or rather not bothering to fix it, hardly caring about her appearance at all. Her face was also so pale that it looked unhealthy, and the dark bags under her eyes said a lot about her condition too, but...

But all these things were unimportant at the moment. It was his mother, and somehow, she was alive. She was gripping his hand tightly in her own warm palms, her entire body trembling like an aspen leaf as she was sobbing and looking at him with such deep love and the unparalleled happiness one could never fake.

In other words, she seemed to be equally as shocked and happy to see her son alive as Sasuke himself was amazed to see her. If anything, she probably looked far more surprised by this encounter than him… But why?

He fought the urge to shake his head to make the mirage go away. None of it made any sense whatsoever. This absolutely couldn't be happening, everything around him was frankly and literally impossible. It had to be someone's trick, perhaps even his own. Yes... Was this a genjutsu? A hallucination, merely a product of his dying brain's agony? A desperate attempt to prolong his existence in such a pitiful manner? By locking himself in an illusionary world?

No… something there wasn't right. All of it seemed way too real to be just a dream or something else of the kind. His feelings, the way air was filling his lungs, the way the light was too uncomfortably bright for him to be able to fully open his eyes and, most importantly, the pain... There would be no reason for this damned pain to be there at all, let alone so intense, if all this were just some bizarre vision.

Was this what they called the afterlife, then? No, it couldn't be, he decided almost the same second. His mother'd said he was alive, there was no mistake. There would be no reason for her to say so if both of them were dead. Then what…? The last thing he could remember of what'd happened before the everlasting darkness'd absorbed him was his final conversation with the Sage. Hagoromo'd promised him a second chance… A new beginning. Was that it, then? Was this a new life? Had he reincarnated? But then again, if this was the case… why was he still himself? And if it was actually working as intended by the Sage, then why was his mother alive and present in the new life? And she'd also mentioned Itachi… No, actually, she'd called for him!

His wild stream of consciousness got interrupted as the door to the room opened with a loud knock, and the tall young man with long black hair wrapped in a ponytail behind his back broke into the ward, coming close to Mikoto and staring at his younger brother blankly for a few seconds before carefully uttering:

"Sasuke… how are you feeling?"

Despite being unable to believe his ears for hearing their voices once again? Probably awful, but that little detail made everything else pale in comparison. Whatever was the nature and the meaning of this place, Sasuke decided that he was more than happy to end up here, to be able to talk to them again… even if this would only last for a short time. Even if this was not real… Although it definitely felt real, he'd got reassured the moment he'd seen his sibling.

"Fine… I guess," he muttered, wincing as he made another futile attempt to get up. "Where am I?"

"The hospital of Konoha," said Itachi, looking at him impassively, "Do you recognize me?"

Sasuke blinked, frowning. What kind of question was that anyway?

"Of course I do, unless you are some prick who used Henge no Jutsu to turn into Itachi."

The face of the other Uchiha softened a bit and he let out an unusually loud sigh of relief, his posture visibly relaxing.

"Very good. The medics said that even should you ever wake up, your brain had suffered serious damage so there could be various complications including full or partial amnesia."

"Shush! Stop moving, sweetheart, it is dangerous in your state!" Mikoto pushed Sasuke lightly on the chest, making him flinch as she forced him to settle down reluctantly.

"What happened to me anyway? Why am I here?" carefully asked her son pretending irritated but, in fact, trying to be careful not to say something that could raise up any additional concerns about himself. Of course, the loss of memories would be a perfect excuse for him no matter what he would say or do. Still, whether all this was real or not, it would be too unlike him to play recklessly and not to think on his moves beforehand in such a delicate situation. Especially considering that he felt blindfolded in this new reality as he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"You don't remember?" Itachi frowned, "This isn't surprising. Like I said, amnesia is a predictable and expected consequence. But… since you have obviously recognized me and mother, I take it you haven't lost your memories completely. What exactly do you remember? About the most recent mission, for instance."

Mikoto gave her older son a slightly condemning glance, grumbling:

"Is is really necessary to interrogate him right now? Son, he needs rest, he—"

"We need to know for sure how serious was the damage his mind received and if my genjutsu worked as intended, mother. I'm sorry, but it is necessary."

His genjutsu…?

Mikoto shook her head disapprovingly and sighed before getting up from her knees and sitting down on Sasuke's couch, bowing down and hugging the boy tightly but not saying a word.

"Well," muttered Sasuke, suddenly feeling very confused and lost, unsure what to do. His mother's gesture of affection wasn't something completely foreign to him, of course, but the ninja had long forgotten by now how it felt to be hugged by her, or by any person for that matter. He had grown to dislike anybody touching him, but this… it felt so nice yet, for some reason, it was embarrassing at the same time.

Forcing himself to toss this storm of feelings and reflections aside, he met Itachi's concerned gaze and said:

"I don't remember a damn thing. That's why I asked you what happened."

His brother nodded as though having expected such response.

"What do you remember about yourself, then? About your life."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I was born and raised in Konohagakure, Land of Fire."

Itachi nodded again, this time more enthusiastically.

"Correct. What was the number of your genin team?"

"Seven," he replied automatically but, apparently, this was the correct answer too seeing as Itachi smiled.

"Right. What was the last mission you remember receiving?"

Sasuke paused, carefully thinking on the answer. He wasn't sure if he remembered what was the last mission he'd executed for Konoha back in his previous life. And here… His body felt more less like the one he was used to, so he presumed that his age was still approximately the same, which in turn made him conclude on a side note that he probably hadn't exactly traveled in time. Therefore, the only logical reply would be…

"I don't remember," he said truthfully but, evidently, his reply wasn't quite satisfying as Itachi's face darkened a little but, he decided not to push.

"I see. How old are you?"

This was far easier to answer. Although he couldn't estimate his exact height, weight or even his shape considering that his entire body was currently bandaged and that he experienced tremendous pain whenever he tried to move, his voice still sounded the same in his head so he was probably…

"Seventeen."

Their reaction was surprising. There was a short pause before Mikoto raised her head up from his chest to meet Itachi's troubled gaze as his expression became even more sullen — he was definitely confused and anxious now.

"No, Sasuke. You are fifteen," said his mother softly, making the young Uchiha frown and grit his teeth, troubled and baffled by her words.

Fifteen... that wasn't far away from his guess, but the difference was actually very weird. He didn't see any logic there at all. Why was he now exactly two years younger? Had this been a jump through time, even to a parallel universe or something like that, wouldn't it be perfectly logical for him to remain… well, himself? And then again...

...you'll have to repeat your way from the beginning, living a different life this time...

He swallowed nervously. It would seem that this was the way the Sage'd chosen to let him start everything from the start as he had claimed… But, in this case, shouldn't he have been an infant now, or at least a child? After all, that was the age when his life had taken the dramatic turn to darkness…

"I see," murmured Sasuke. "It seems like I've forgotten some things, after all. Besides… I feel a bit confused, I can't remember anything clearly, and when I try to focus… It hurts," he winced. This wasn't far from the truth so he almost hadn't lied, "Anyway, you haven't answered my question. Why am I here?" He looked directly into Itachi's eyes, trying to seem as cool and impassive as possible as tried to change the topic in order to stop the interrogation.

"Something happened to you during our last mission," said the man softly, "We were facing an S-class rogue ninja in the Land of Earth. You got caught in a strong explosion caused by his jutsu when we were trying to escape. Although you bought us the vital time by doing so, it was a suicide move on your part, little brother. A very brave, but a foolish move nonetheless. We tried to stop you, but you never listened."

Sasuke snorted, looking away. Now that sounded quite dubious. He found it hard to imagine himself deciding to sacrifice his life to protect his teammate. Why would he…?

He then almost gasped as an image from the distant past appeared in front of his eyes, making him remember something he'd long forgotten. Years ago, he'd jumped in front of Haku's senbon needles to protect Naruto… and almost died by doing so.

"I see," he said again in a quiet voice, not looking at either of them as Mikoto stroked his hair gently, studying his face with her worried piercing gaze. "How come I am here, then? Sounds like running away was the only option for you if I had to get myself killed to buy you guys some time. What went wrong?"

Now both his mother and Itachi seemed to be genuinely surprised by his response for the reason he didn't know. Was this about his words, or rather his tone? It was at this point obvious that whatever this place actually was, Uchiha Sasuke had existed here until this day. They'd made it absolutely clear that they knew someone with this name. Someone with his looks and with an identity very similar to his own. Therefore it was probably some different version of him considering that Sasuke had no memories of his past here in this world.

But, unlike himself, they did have their memories including those about him. They didn't know who he was, but they had known some different Uchiha Sasuke. The question was what kind of person were they expecting to see in him?

"I managed to retrieve your body while the enemy was busy chasing Naruto-kun. You were in a critical condition, and we weren't sure if you'd survive until we'd return to Konoha. We didn't have a medic nin in our team, after all. When we brought you here, they said it's a hopeless case. You remained in coma for a few days while they healed most of the physical damage, but then… you died."

"Oh."

He blinked but, contrary to what they might think at the moment, his reaction had nothing to do with the dramatic announcement of his unfulfilled demise.

What had drawn his attention was the mentioning of Naruto… so he existed here, too. And he was still alive here unlike back in their world. And on top of that he, Sasuke, had died trying to save him. How fucking sweet... Fate definitely didn't lack the sense of irony. Well, at least now he was beginning to see the entire picture more less clearly. Uchiha Sasuke had virtually died here, and he'd also died back in the world he remembered as his home, so whatever'd brought him here to this reality probably had to do with near death experience.

"For how long did I remain dead?"

Mikoto's hand twitched and stopped. She suddenly whimpered at his abrupt question, shaking her head and biting her lip only not to start crying again. Sasuke almost cursed himself then, suddenly feeling guilty to his own surprise. She was probably not used to his cynical and indifferent attitude, and the way he was casually discussing what had happened to him was probably a bit too much for the poor woman to handle. As far as he remembered, his mother had always been quite soft and sensitive, and she'd definitely suffered enough of horror and stress in the last few days. Obviously, his behavior didn't help her at all.

"For almost ten minutes. Basically, more than enough for your brain to pass the point of no return, which makes it especially miraculous that you are actually back," mused Itachi, just like Sasuke sounding so casual that it almost seemed as though he was more entertained by said miracle itself rather than amused by the fact that his brother was back.

"Yeah, I'm glad to see you too," groaned the boy in pretentious annoyance, to which his sibling smiled warmly for the first time throughout their conversation and then sat down on the couch on the side opposite to Mikoto's, tapping his forehead lightly.

"Sorry, Sasuke. You really scared us all. But, at the same time, if not for you, we'd probably all have died there. Good job, little brother."

Sasuke smirked, suddenly feeling a bit sentimental. This all was definitely too good to be true, but he still couldn't help it. Strangely, although he had no idea what exactly was this reality and if it even existed outside some kind of a delirious vision made up by his own fractured mind... It still gave him something wonderful and long forgotten, something he hadn't experienced in years.

He felt home.

"Don't mention it," he muttered then, suppressing the treacherous tears that came to his eyes against his will and then asking, "Where is Naruto anyway? Is he alright?" He truly wanted to see his friend and it also felt a bit weird… no, actually, it was totally unusual for the Uchiha. But he couldn't help it either — the image of the dead blond lying next to him at the Valley of the End made his heart clench in guilt and sorrow whenever he thought about him.

Itachi nodded, looking at the door.

"Yeah… Actually, he was here when you... died. All of us were. But after you'd passed away, Hinata ran out of the room and he followed her. I haven't seen them since then, not sure if they're aware of your return yet."

Hinata…? Who the hell was that? Sasuke didn't remember this name at all, not even from the academy years. But, considering that Itachi had been a part of this mission without being a member of Team Seven, she was probably just another ninja who had been assigned for this task.

"I see. And Hinata…?" he asked carefully, not wanting to reveal the fact that he had no idea who that was.

His brother smiled gently, and something in this smile felt a bit bothersome to Sasuke.

"She is fine, too. Although she's been unusually quiet ever since the moment we escaped. She was probably feeling too stressed which is no wonder. One doesn't lose their old teammate every day. Hopefully, you won't experience it anytime soon."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at his words. Old teammate, huh…? Apparently, things were much different in this reality to say the least. But was this any surprising considering that even his family was alive here? Anyhow, both his intuition and common sense told the boy that he couldn't allow himself to act too suspiciously. He wasn't sure of his capabilities here, so he also didn't know if he'd be able to defend himself should they suddenly decide to lock him up in a jail or something like that. If he was to stay here for some continuous amount of time which, he was now pretty sure, was exactly what Hagoromo had implied, he needed to be very careful while he would be learning everything about the past of his alternative self, which was now his highest priority.

"Well, who cares? She's alive, it's all that should matter," he shrugged neutrally, feeling genuinely indifferent regarding this girl's feelings but also becoming slightly cautious as he noticed Itachi and Mikoto exchanging weird understanding smirks. "What is it?" he asked, frowning.

"Nothing at all, son. However, just for your information, Hinata-chan and Naruto-kun spent countless hours every day and night near your ward since the moment your team'd returned. I'm not even sure if they slept at all through these few days at all, because both of them looked absolutely horrible when I saw them earlier this morning."

For some reason that he couldn't explain, Sasuke found her words a bit disturbing. Clearly, he had formed some bonds with his teammates in this reality, and they seemed to care for him quite a lot according to her words. Considering that Mikoto was alive and Itachi was still in Konoha, it was also clear that the massacre either hadn't happened at all or at least had gone in some completely different way which most likely hadn't affected this version of himself all that much. Therefore, this Sasuke had probably been more than willing to form bonds with others, too…

Just like I should've done it back in his world, he thought with sadness.

"Where is father?" he suddenly asked, looking curiously at Mikoto whose face brightened at his question as she jumped up and put her hand on her chest.

"Oh! How could I have forgotten? Itachi, could you please go after Fugaku? He still doesn't know that Sasuke is back!"

"Uh… of course," the older brother nodded, hesitating for a moment before getting up and disappearing with a Shunshin, leaving the two of them alone in the annoyingly silent room.

"So… he wasn't here?" mused Sasuke, feeling the long forgotten cold bite of something similar to jealousy and hurt. He scolded himself for it mutely the same moment, for this was truly ridiculous on his part to feel this way right now. And very embarrassing, too... he wasn't a child anymore.

But Mikoto merely smiled at him indulgently, shaking her head.

"Fugaku'd gone to the Hokage's office not long before you stopped breathing, dear. He's been here since early morning, but Minato-sama requested your father's presence for some important negotiations," she paused, patting his cheek which made Sasuke snort. "He put a lot of effort into saving you, you know? He even found a way to convince Tsunade-sama to come back to the village to heal you, can you believe it? He's such a good man! And Kushina-chan supported us as always too, of course. As a matter of fact, she—"

He looked away, not listening to his mother's cheerful jabbering and thinking on the essence of what he'd just heard.

The Fourth was still alive and in power here, it seemed. At the same time, the Fifth had obviously never become Hokage in this world. Presumably, Naruto's father was also on good terms with the Uchiha clan, seeing how highly his mother spoke of him and how his own father seemed to willingly cooperate with the man. Could it be the reason why the massacre hadn't happened? Was this the cause that'd made everything take a different turn in this... reality? Timeline? He wasn't sure how to call it yet. But, in this case…!

"Mother," he suddenly interrupted her, making Mikoto close her mouth and give Sasuke an anxious and perplexed look, "What do you know about the Third and Shimura Danzō?"

She blinked, clearly taken by surprise with his question.

"Uh… Sarutobi-sama died during the attack of the Kyūbi fifteen years ago. He was the one who sealed the beast back into Kushina-chan, don't you remember? Ah, you probably don't… Sorry. Well, in short, he resealed a part of it into her. Another half of the beast was put inside Naruto-kun."

"I see…," he frowned, finally managing to lift himself up a little bit and to half sit on the couch. At least the Naruto related part was sort of familiar... "And Danzō?"

She shrugged, looking unsure now.

"I don't know, to be honest. I haven't heard anything about him in years. Why are you interested in that man all of sudden?"

He narrowed his eyes angrily and clenched his fists. So Danzō was probably still alive… But then again, so was his clan. What was this man up to in this version of Konoha…?

"Never mind. I just remembered their names but had forgotten who they were, so I wanted to ask."

Mikoto smiled, patting his hand lightly.

"Don't worry, Sasuke. I'm pretty sure that your memories will return in no time. After everything you've suffered, this should be easy to overcome. Besides, you are a strong boy no matter what they say, son. I know for sure."

Flinching at her last sentence, he gave her an indignant glare, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

"What…?"

"Uh?" she smiled, blinking.

"What did you just say?" he deadpanned.

"Um," she seemed a little baffled by his reaction, "Well… Look, I know that you aren't known for being a great ninja like Itachi or your father, but I still think that you're a splendid boy, son. And I'm sure that you have yet to blossom into an incredibly strong person. Even if they don't, I believe in you," she said softly as his eyes widened in anger and shame.

Now this was truly embarrassing. He honestly didn't know how to react to her words, because they were just as ridiculous as they were frightening. Was he some sort of a dead last here? She made it sound like that was the case, and it was… nasty. He totally wasn't used to be treated like some weakling. Moreover, getting stronger had been his obsession for years. He couldn't imagine himself being weak and being fine with it! Power was the only thing he'd truly valued until recently…

"I guess," he tried his best to swallow his pride and to sound as indifferent as possible, deciding to change to subject as soon as possible before it would make him completely enraged. "When can I go home? I hate hospitals. And I'm also hungry." Aside from that, he suddenly found himself feeling sleepy and very tired, so he decided to lean backwards again and closed his eyes for a moment.

The woman chuckled at her son, shaking her head.

"And here I was beginning to think that you were acting weird. Now I can see that my boy is really back! Don't worry, I think we'll be able to arrange your transfer as soon as Fugaku comes here. I'm not sure if I can cook your favorite meatballs with tomato sauce tonight, though, because you'll probably have to stick to some strict diet for a while. So bear with it, ha-ha!" she giggled, ruffling his hair which made the boy smile, melting into the blanket that was suddenly so soft and comfortable.

Meatballs with tomato sauce, she said… His mother's crown dish. Well, at least his tastes were still the same. And it also made him feel nostalgic, although pretty much everything here in this world did. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to get accustomed to the new life, after all...

"Good," he said quietly, slowly beginning to sink into darkness. His body still felt quite hurt and exhausted, and now that the initial shock was gone after he had come to some kind of understanding of the situation, he could finally relax. In spite of all his attempts to collect his thoughts which were stubbornly slipping away no matter how much he focused on anything, Sasuke was quickly falling asleep.

"Thank you…," he whispered to no one in particular before drifting back into oblivion.

-~X~-

"So… Is he going to be alright?" asked the head of the Uchiha clan, leaning on the wall of his son's spacious yet cozy room and glaring at the legendary medic ninja who was studying the unconscious boy's face carefully.

She hemmed, touching a few points on the skin of his neck and then infusing his tenketsu with her green chakra a few times. The woman then narrowed her eyes at his blanched face and drawled:

"Who knows…," she opened Sasuke's eyelids carefully with her fingertips. After studying his eyes for a while, she nodded contentedly before finally straightening her back and turning to face Fugaku with a very serious expression.

"This is the first time in my practice when someone who had died came back to life by himself. When you deal with miracles, Uchiha, you can expect pretty much anything to happen. I'd done everything in my power to heal him, but he still died. However...," she looked at the boy again, scratching her chin thoughtfully and narrowing her light brown eyes at his tranquil face, "If everything Mikoto and your brat said was true... I'd bet that the probability of him restoring his memories in time as well as completely recovering from this incident is pretty high."

"But?" came another male voice.

Tsunade smirked, meeting Itachi's detached gaze directed at her.

"But, there is no guarantee that he won't suddenly go nuts at some point or something like that, especially if he ever awakens-"

"I see," Fugaku interrupted her roughly, frowning at the kunoichi to which she only smirked mockingly, knowing that she'd hit his nerve. "Any additional recommendations?"

She shrugged uncertainly, glancing at Sasuke again.

"Well, he's almost completely healed at this point. Physically, anyway. His body will keep hurting for a few days and there may be a couple unpleasant side effects to my medicine. Nothing significant, but at least I've made sure that the pain goes away soon. Other than that, the only remaining problem is his mind. You," she looked at Itachi who was still peering at her neutrally, "did a great job by putting him under your genjutsu. I venture to say that this is the only reason why he even remembers something at all. Well done, brat. Anyhow, I'm finished here."

She grabbed her bag from the wooden floor before stepping towards the exit, but then the woman stopped, turning her head to Mikoto and frowning.

"Almost forgot. Make sure that he doesn't go on any missions in the next two weeks at the very least. Should something completely unusual and unexpected happen to him, report to my apprentice as soon as possible. She's more than capable of handling your boy at this point. Also, make sure that he eats only healthy food in the nearest future. Fruits, especially oranges are good and contain a lot of vitamins which he really needs right now. Celery, cabbage, eggplants, and other vegetables and green are a must. Fish, too. Some green tea three times a day would help his nervous system as well. Basically, he is still weakened by the injuries he suffered, so… all the usual stuff. You know the drill, girl."

The Uchiha matriarch smiled jovially in response, bowing her head in respect and gratitude.

"Of course. Thank you very much, Tsunade-sama!"

The blonde waved it off.

"Yeah, no worries. It's all thanks to Jiraiya anyway. I owed him a favor, that's why I agreed to come here... Don't think that looking after your family is becoming my hobby," she gave Itachi a meaningful glare to which he didn't visibly react, but apparently she had expected that as she then barked:

"So long," she waved her hand at them before walking out of the room, followed by Fugaku's grim look and by Mikoto who smiled at the others in the room apologetically.

"I'll make sure that Tsunade-sama finds her way out of our territory," she said before quickly leaving the room as well.

"You two," her husband looked at the two youngest ninjas remaining in the room. They were standing near Sasuke's bed, having been completely silent until now but, without a doubt, paying a lot of attention to everything they heard. Well, at least the girl did for sure. Ever since Tsunade started talking, she'd been focused on writing something down quickly in her notepad while Minato's son was holding his hands in his pockets, distantly looking at the framed picture on the bookshelf and apparently deep in his thought.

"It's time for you to leave. Sasuke needs rest, and I must discuss some important family business with my son," said the elder ninja adamantly.

"Understood, Fugaku-san," immediately replied Naruto. "Shall I tell my father everything about Sasuke's condition? And perhaps there is something else I can help you with?" asked the blond politely to which the older ninja replied:

"Yes, make sure you do. And no, that's enough."

"Roger that. See you later then," said Naruto before turning to the door and leaving the room. Fugaku's features softened a little as his eyes followed the boy's back — no matter what he might truly think about the Fourth Hokage and his son, he did admire the fact that the jinchūriki clearly didn't feel like he was obliged to blindly report to his father everything he saw or heard, ready to keep some things in secret if he felt like it. Basically, for being his own man despite the young age.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Fugaku-san. Goodbye," added the girl politely a few seconds later. She then hid the notepad and the small pencil in the back pocket of her denim shorts, shook her head slightly to fix her long, silky dark hair that was unusually wild today, and walked out as well.

"Shisui, follow these two just in case," said Fugaku quietly, to which the short haired man who was quietly standing near the window responded right away:

"It will be done, Fugaku-sama," having said this, he disappeared with a Shunshin, leaving only two people aside from Sasuke inside the room.

Normally, Itachi was used to keep his face emotionless no matter the circumstances, and this moment was no exception. However, he didn't quite approve the fact that Fugaku still treated everyone who wasn't an Uchiha and came to their territory with such high degree of suspicion. Although to be fair, it was understandable in this particular case, given who were the parents of these two… And the surname of Tsunade was self explanatory, of course. No Senju would probably ever be welcome within these walls.

The clan's head waited for a good minute in complete silence ruined only by Sasuke's quiet breathing, wanting to make sure that nobody would eavesdrop before finally turning to Itachi and clearing his throat.

"This is unacceptable. The situation has gone too far and went out of our control."

The young man lowered his head shamefully without looking at him.

"I understand, father. This is all my fault. I—"

"No, son. I'm afraid you do not," he walked slowly towards the window, locking his hands behind his back and looking at the well lit yard outside. "In fact, I'm the one to blame for this."

Itachi frowned, looking at him curiously for a while without saying anything as the man continued after a short pause:

"Until now, I was pretty sure that his own natural talent alongside your mastery and patronage would be enough to keep Sasuke safe. However, this is definitely not the case."

"Well, perhaps you should finally start training him then. Teach him something worthy instead of letting him waste his life by killing boredom," replied the younger ninja bitterly, regretting his rather abrupt tone the next second but, to his surprise, his father either didn't notice it or didn't care at the moment.

"You are correct," said Fugaku quietly, not looking at him. "Considering that you are the heir to our clan… Until now, I was naive enough to think that we could let him live the life he wanted. No... I wanted to grant him this life as an excuse for not paying enough attention to him."

"And how do you know what he wants?" asked Itachi, "What if it's exactly your attention that he seems the most?"

Fugaku thought for a while, turning his head towards Sasuke before saying:

"Are you implying that I don't know him well enough?"

"Precisely."

"And do you?"

"So I believe."

He frowned, looking into his older son's eyes shrewdly.

"Do you think there is still a chance for him to become a powerful shinobi?"

Itachi shrugged, looking away. No matter how much he loved Sasuke, he didn't want to lie on the matter. In his opinion, being delusional never helped anyone with anything aside from protecting people's feelings and pride, but that wasn't necessary right now.

"I don't think so. He has wasted too much time. Too many years without proper training… He is decent, but he is nowhere his teammates' level. And I honestly don't know what could help him get there. Besides... He totally lacks motivation. I'm afraid that contrary to them, he doesn't consider his life is any relevant. They have their own purposes… ultimate goals. He doesn't. And he has no idea what he lives for."

Fugaku closed his eyes, remaining quiet for a while as he carefully thought on his son's words.

"There are a few ways… But I'd rather try something else if there is still a chance. So… can I count on you in this?"

"What exactly have you planned?" asked his older son, sounding both curious and slightly suspicious at the same time.

"As his older brother and his sensei, I want you to convince him to start taking his training seriously. You are a smart boy, you should be able to find a way to persuade him. After all, he's just a careless child… And he respects you, so he should listen to your advise, I believe. Because he definitely won't listen to me anyway. We are not on the best terms as you well know." He shook his head regretfully, sighing tiredly.

But, seeing this rare genuine expression of his father's true feelings, Itachi suddenly found himself genuinely smiling which seldom happened in Fugaku's presence.

"We are both equally guilty, father. I was always meant to become your heir, and neither of us wanted him to walk the same path as I did. We allowed him to have a cloudless childhood by sparing him from all those hardships we had and still have to bear… And we were too naive to believe that he wouldn't have to pay for it eventually."

Fugaku nodded a few times, closing his eyes.

"Yes… you are right, son, as always. But it's time for this to stop. His childhood is over. No matter how you look at it, we cannot afford losing him. And this situation was the last warning of fate, I believe… He may not consider himself important to the clan and to Konoha, but he is important to me, to you and to your mother… And if we cannot grant him the necessary protection anymore, he has to learn to protect himself." Once again, he turned to face his older son whose face became as emotionless as always the same second. "You watched him die, didn't you?"

Itachi almost flinched, taken by surprise with the unexpected question.

"Yes."

"What did you feel when you saw it?"

"I…," he felt baffled and wary, unsure where this was leading to. "Do I really need to explain? I'm pretty sure that you felt the same way when you received the message about his death, so you should be able to relate."

"No, you misunderstand," Fugaku shook his head quickly, suddenly looking so excited that he almost seemed irritated by Itachi's apparent confusion. "Did you feel something unusual physically? In your eyes, specifically?"

The younger Uchiha frowned and looked away, reflecting on his memories for a while before returning his gaze to his father, nodding slowly.

"Yes… I did."

The strange grin appeared on the man's face, his features becoming a bit frightening.

"Something with your Sharingan?"

"Yes, father. And in my head, too. Was that... it?" he finally realized what was this all about, scolding himself silently for not having figured it out beforehand.

"Most likely. Try activating it now."

Itachi channeled his chakra into the eyes, and a second later Fugaku's expression changed to an awed one as he saw the abnormal pattern that resembled a three-pointed shuriken in his son's irises.

"Indeed…," Fugaku crossed his hands on his chest, leaning on the window sill. "Through the pain caused by losing someone they love, an extraordinary Uchiha has a chance to awaken Mangekyō Sharingan. As I told you once before, this is an incredibly rare power of our clan, especially nowadays when there are no ongoing major wars. Including you, only five members of the clan currently have the access to it. Be proud, but also beware, son," his grin disappeared, replaced with the expression that Itachi found overly serious even for a man like him. "These eyes can grant you a lot but, in the end, they will take everything from you. Think twice before using this power. Always. Don't ever recourse to it if there is another option."

Itachi nodded slowly once again. He didn't know much about Mangekyō Sharingan aside from the rumors and legends, but he knew for a fact that it was always wise to listen to Fugaku whenever their kekkei genkai was concerned.

"I understand."

"Good," said the man a bit nervously, putting his hands in the pockets of his dark gray jacket. "Good. I'm counting on your conscientiousness and intelligence. Besides," he gave Sasuke a quick glance again, "This new circumstance should make things with you brother much easier after I teach you a few secrets about your eyes. Tell me… can I entrust you with a very touchy task?"

Itachi gave him a slightly baffled look but nodded nonetheless. It was very rare for his father to be so hesitant about an assignment for him. Normally, Itachi was supposed to do everything for his clan and to execute any order without questions, so... What on earth was he up to now?

"Of course. What is it?"

Fugaku came closer and put his hand on his son's shoulder, nodding at Sasuke before saying quietly:

"You said he lacks a purpose… An ultimate goal. Well, we shall give him one."

A/N

Henge no Jutsu — also known as Transformation Jutsu, the mean by which ninjas temporarily transform their bodies and other objects into different things including living beings.

Shunshin — also known as Body Flicker Jutsu, the mean by which ninjas pass short distances really fast. It looks similar to teleporting but, in fact, it's just a very quick movement.

Senbon —metal needles with a point at both ends. They often serve a medical purpose, being used to strike acupuncture points. They have little killing power, but can be thrown with great accuracy.

Tenketsu — also known as Chakra Points. These are nodes from which chakra can be released. The human body has 361 tenketsu, each of which is located along the chakra pathway system.

Kekkei Genkai — literally meaning Bloodline Limit, abilities passed down genetically within specific clans.

Chapter Text

Author's Note: I appreciate all of your reviews—I've read all of them and applied some of your feedback which I found quite helpful!

Chapter 2. Hyūga

The tall blond boy let out a lingering yawn, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, lazily studying the rack in front of him that was full of various books and scrolls dedicated to the history of shinobi. Most, if not all of these treatises were written by civilians who weren't allowed to know countless secrets of the ninja life, so the texts were rather controversial. The contents of one book often contradicted those of the others, making it pretty much impossible to figure out what of it was true and what not. Not that he was particularly interested in this scrap paper, of course. He loved reading useful stuff, he definitely did but, he was also very picky when it came to this matter.

Why was he there, then? To be completely honest, there was simply nothing better for the boy to do this dull morning. From what it looked like, the day was doomed to be a complete waste no matter how much he tried to look at it in a positive way. His father was currently very busy at the Gokage Summit held in Konoha, doing the incredibly important job as the Hokage and not having a split second to pay to his family which, unfortunately, had become a usual situation lately. On the other hand, his mother had decided to go and chat with the old hag Tsunade while she was still in Konoha, so staying at home was not an option unless he wanted to die to boredom. Two of the teen's best friends were currently unavailable, for Neji was apparently busy licking his clan's elders' feet, or whatever else he was forced to do as the branch house member. And Sasuke… sadly, he still hadn't awakened.

Training was also a dubious idea right now, because the clouds in the sky outside had only been getting heavier since early morning, and he wasn't desperate enough yet to workout under rain. In other words, he had absolutely nothing to do… and the lack of activity was slowly killing him.

His diffused gaze suddenly stopped on one of the books dedicated to the Uchiha clan. It was just another piece of garbage, of course, he could say so without even opening it. Considering that his sensei was an Uchiha himself, just like one of his teammates who also happened to be one of his best friends, and also like his father's favorite student who often happened to be a guest in their house, Naruto had learned that this clan was especially secretive when it came to their history, their domestic issues and, most importantly, their powers. Therefore anything the jinchūriki would manage to find in this public bookstore about this topic would definitely turn to be a waste of his time, without a doubt, just like pretty much any other book here. Now that he thought about it, it was rather dumb of him to come here to begin with. But then again, what other choice had he had? He still needed to find a way to kill some boredom, after all...

"Ah, Naruto-kun! I knew I would find you here, you lazy bum!" he heard the familiar soft voice to his left, sighing and turning his head towards his other teammate.

"Yo, Hinata. What's up?"

The kunoichi smiled at him brightly as she came close, locking her hands in front of herself, holding a few bags within her grasp.

"Not much, just another boring day off. I was going to pay a visit to Sasuke's place. Would you maybe like to tag along?"

"Nah, I'll pass," he drawled immediately, picking another book and pretending to be genuinely interested in its contents.

The dark haired girl's brow cocked at him skeptically as she snatched the tome out of her friend's hand, making him flinch and look at her in surprise as she glanced at the cover and hemmed.

"Uh-huh… One Hundred Reasons Why Kunoichi Are Better Than Shinobi. Seriously, Naruto-kun? I never imagined you being interested in cheap tabloid crap like this one," she grinned at the boy who blushed, looking slightly ashamed.

"Busted," he sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. Hinata was sure a shrewd person… fooling her was never as easy as it was with Sasuke who usually didn't care enough to pry anyway.

"Now, tell me, why don't you want to come with me? Afraid of the Uchiha, are you?" she smiled teasingly, making him wince at her slightly mocking assumption.

"Afraid? Hardly. Still, one would be a fool not to be aware of them."

She laughed, and then nodded.

"Fair enough. You are right. And yet… I'm curious. Why are you avoiding Sasuke's home so much lately?" she persisted, peering at the ninja searchingly as he lowered his eyes sadly.

"Well... in truth, It kinda sucks to see Sasuke like this. I feel responsible and guilty… After all, I was the one who couldn't save him."

Hinata rolled her eyes and sighed, putting the book back to the shelf and giving the boy a long patient look.

"I thought we've already been though this, weren't we? Listen, Naruto-kun. None of us is at fault here. It was Sasuke's own decision to try to save us by sacrificing himself. And it was also very noble of him, don't you think so?" taken a little aback by his suspicious, skeptical gaze she blushed, looking away. "What? I'm simply stating the obvious. And as much as I, well...," she frowned, biting her lip, choosing her words very carefully, "As much as I'm not fond of his usual attitude and behavior, even I have to admit that it was very brave. I'd never thought he had it in him."

"Meh. On the contrary, I always knew that he was stupid," murmured Naruto, to which she nodded neutrally.

"Yes, it was also foolish but, from my point of view, it showed that deep inside, he's not just some foolish party boy he'd always seemed to be. He has some courage and resolve, after all, just like sensei kept telling us. And I didn't believe him." She smiled reassuringly as Naruto frowned. "Besides, considering how he miraculously came back from the realm of death… Don't you think it would be at the very least quite ungrateful of us, as his teammates and friends, not to thank him for what he did?"

"Yeah, I guess you have a point," he shrugged, still avoiding her gaze. "However, there is one big flaw in your plan. He's still not awake, and we don't know when he'll be back, if ever. Sensei is also not there at the moment, so I honestly don't see a point in coming there. What are you going to do with him anyway? Sing him a lullaby?"

Hinata giggled nervously, lowering her eyes to the bags she was holding.

"No. I wrote down everything Tsunade-same said, and I decided to cook something for him. Mother taught me a lot of good recipes, so… maybe the smell of my food will wake him up?" she sighed timidly, but then quickly realizing that it probably didn't sound very convincing she added swiftly, "A-And if it doesn't, well, it can just wait for him there. Right?"

But, to her relief, Naruto apparently decided not to push anyway despite her unusually awkward attitude, probably being uninterested.

"Yeah, whatever. Good luck explaining yourself to his parents. Fugaku-san can be a toughie, especially if he's not in his best mood. Though...," he looked in the direction of the Hokage's residence, "he's probably there at the summit as well so it should be more less safe."

"O-oh… Aren't we scared, after all?" she giggled at him again, patting Naruto's cheek which made him grimace first, but then he smirked, finally looking directly into the pearl white eyes.

"No. It's just that I don't like wasting my time aimlessly, that's all. If you got nothing better to do, feel free to go there. Don't have high expectations, though. You'll probably end up in a pretty embarrassing situation."

She smiled warmly, stepping backwards.

"What a douche… See you later, then." She waved at him, to which he nodded before turning back to the books and frowning.

In spite of her always being very nice to him, Naruto didn't trust Hinata as much as he trusted his best mates, Neji and Sasuke. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, his father Minato wasn't very fond of the girl's clan, usually preferring to deal with Uchiha instead. And although Naruto disagreed with the Hokage in many aspects, one thing the boy could say for sure — his old man never did anything for no reason. And with Naruto knowing that Hinata'd grown directly under the clan's head's guidance unlike her cousin, something always made the jinchūriki a little bit cautious in her presence, he just couldn't help it. That's why he didn't want her to know the true reason why he disliked to visit the place where Sasuke and Itachi lived. Quite in fact, he wouldn't even mind coming there himself. His tenant, however…

The shinobi touched his abdomen reflectively. Kurama didn't like them to be surrounded by a lot of Uchiha clan's members at the same time. And the uneasiness the fox felt whenever it happened affected Naruto's own mind as well. Although he maybe wouldn't mind coming to see his unconscious friend, especially now that he was struggling to find something interesting to do... Knowing that it would most likely end up being a futile and sad event exactly as it had been before, Naruto didn't want to annoy the tailed beast when it was completely unnecessary. In other words, he was willingly cutting himself from the only way to give this morning some meaning. However…

He smirked. There was at least one good thing in the current situation. Behind her overly defensive and sometimes a little aggressive facade, Hinata was a very soft and kind hearted girl. Well, at least as much as it was possible for someone of her high position, being her clan's heir and all that. She was especially nice to her teammates... well, the two of them. The kunoichi usually found Sasuke annoying enough to get angry at him every now and then, barely able to stand him outside missions. But now, she was clearly inspired by his friend's heroic deed. Her natural kindness made her want to give the lovelace bastard another chance… Perhaps Sasuke's sacrifice would ultimately strengthen the bonds between the members of their team. Something they had definitely lacked so far...

-~X~-

Sasuke opened his eyes, blinking a few times at the familiar ceiling of some dimly lit room. Feeling confused for a moment, he tried to analyze his feelings and memories. This time, he didn't feel any pain, which was already relieving enough. However…

His eyes widened as he came to his senses. The hospital… the encounter with his mother and Itachi. Was that just a dream, after all? Or…

He raised his head up from the soft pillow, looking around himself and feeling quite baffled as he realized what exactly was the place surrounding him. As a matter of fact, he was inside his own room… the very room he'd been living in since his childhood and up to the day he'd left Konoha. But, if everything he remembered about the recent events wasn't real, why on earth would he be here? No, it would make absolutely no sense...

The boy raised his left hand up and almost gasped. His limb was still there, looking and feeling perfectly intact despite being fully bandaged from his forearm to the very fingertips… just like his right arm, which could only mean that he'd never lost it. So, logically... this was a different world.

He threw the blanket off himself, sitting on the bed and then slowly attempting to stand up, gripping the nightstand the next second as his legs began to shake under his weight. He was still pretty weakened, after all… Disgustingly so. But, his physical condition wasn't any of his concern at the moment. Sasuke slowly limped close to the mirror on the wall, rubbing his eyes as everything around was still a bit blurry, and trying to focus.

He then flinched, meeting the gaze of two identically looking obsidian orbs staring at him in fear and awe from the opposite side. His Rinnegan… it was gone! And his height… The teen glanced at the scale to the left from the mirror's edge. He seemed to be a couple inches shorter than he could remember himself. Fifteen years old, huh...? That now seemed plausible. And he was also far too skinny… this was really bad. He almost looked feminine this way...

Sasuke let out a heavy sigh, leaning his hands on the small table in front of him and trying to calm himself. He didn't need any more proof of the fact that everything he could recall about what'd happened in the hospital was real. However, it didn't make anything easier for his mind to accept and proceed. He was completely alone, locked in an alien world where he didn't really know anybody. Even his family members had no idea who he actually was, what kind of person now resided in the body of their beloved Uchiha Sasuke. The body that was ridiculously weak and hadn't experienced anything he had. Speaking of which...

He met his reflection's anxious gaze again, quickly activating the Sharingan.

Just like he had expected, it felt disturbing. No, he didn't have the weak version with just two tomoe, luckily. However, this body definitely had more than poor chakra reserves comparing to his former one. Normally, Sasuke could walk around with his dōjutsu activated for days, if not weeks, without even feeling any impact whatsoever. Now, he could already sense the drawback that made him want to deactivate the Sharingan as soon as possible. The countdown of the energy consumed by his eyes… At this rate, he wouldn't even risk activating Mangekyō, for it would likely make him faint again. Or...

He licked his dry lips nervously. Was there anything to lose, really? Not like he was in a dangerous place or something like that anyway… and the attempt itself wouldn't kill him, would it? The worst what could happen to him would be a few more days spent in bed...

Having convinced himself, Sasuke made more of his chakra stream into his eyes, expecting the familiar six-pointed pattern to replace the three tomoe, but…

Nothing happened. His Sharingan didn't react to his command at all as though not understanding what he wanted.

His eyes then widened at the belated realization. Itachi was still alive here, and so was everyone he'd ever cared about. This version of Uchiha Sasuke had never awakened Mangekyō Sharingan to begin with…! And what made it even worse, he knew that awakening this dōjutsu required receiving a mental trauma of incredible magnitude. Considering that he'd already experienced one in the past, Sasuke wasn't sure if he'd be able to ever feel something strong enough to awaken this power for the second time. Especially in a very questionable reality like this one…

The boy clenched his fists, deactivating the Sharingan and looking across the room. No wonder that they considered him a weakling here. With an untrained body like this and without his eyes' true power, behaving like a careless jerk, he was bound to be mediocre at best regardless of his genes. It had to be fixed soon… No. As soon as possible!

But first…

First of all, he needed to ensure his safety in the new reality. He couldn't allow anybody to get suspicious of him, because the consequences of their reactions were completely unpredictable. Therefore the best possible option right now would be to somehow make everyone stop paying attention to him at all. A lot of people seemed to be expecting for the boy to wake up, especially his fellow clansmen. He needed to settle everything between himself and the others, at least temporarily so that they would give him some time to adapt to these new conditions peacefully and measuredly. And in order to make it possible, before trying anything else he needed to study the past of his alternative self from this world to be able to play this role, at least for a while.

He straightened his back, looking around. To his relief, the room itself didn't look that much different from what he remembered as his own, if only being a bit more messy all in all. And although he didn't expect to see anything downright shocking, Sasuke was still searching for unusual details… some small hints which would help him understand what kind of person everyone here expected him to be.

The first thing that drew his attention was the picture on the bookshelf. The young Uchiha came closer, taking it in his hands carefully and studying the faces of four people printed on the glossy paper. He instantly noticed himself, of course. His approximately twelve years old version was wearing a short sleeved unbuttoned blue shirt with a black T-shirt under it, and his hair was exactly the same as it had been at this age back in his world. There was also a forehead protector with the Leaf's symbol on. Basically, there was nothing interesting or informative… aside from his expression. On the picture, he was standing in the middle, hugging the other two kids' shoulders, grinning happily and winking at the person in front of them…

The shinobi frowned. Of course, he would expect himself to be much more expressive and cheerful should he have grown without experiencing the massacre, but it was still very weird to see himself with a careless and joyful face like this. It didn't suit him at all but, at the same time, it perfectly did...

His eyes then moved to the image of the boy to the left of himself.

Naruto... his expression here was a lot more calm and neutral than usual. He was still smiling warmly as well, but there was no crazy face or a funny grimace… He looked normal, even pleasant to a degree. His hair was also a bit longer, too, kind of reminding that of his father's. And the clothes… This boy was wearing a black jacket with orange cuff strips, and it looked far better than that terrible jumpsuit Naruto'd had at this age in Sasuke's world. Although his taste in colors didn't seem to be much different...

Finally, the Uchiha's attention turned to the girl with short dark blue hair. Her expression was very serious and, perhaps, slightly displeased. She was wearing a half-unzipped beige jacket with a dark-gray T-shirt visible under it. And her white irises… a Hyūga, huh?

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at her image. He was now sure that he remembered this face. Probably from the academy years… And according to his mother and Itachi, her name was Hinata, apparently. Well, he couldn't complain about this little change. Anyone would be better than Sakura, especially at that age when the pink haired girl was especially annoying and overly persistent.

His gaze then slid to Itachi's face. His brother was also smiling softly, towering over the three of them from behind. He hadn't changed at all, looking almost the same as he had back in the hospital, if only a little bit younger. He had to be around eighteen years old there...

And then something suddenly clicked in Sasuke's mind, leaving him completely astonished. Itachi. Why was he even there with them? And where the hell was Kakashi...?

He quickly looked at the back side of the picture and gasped. According to the signature this was, without a doubt, the full lineup of Konoha's Team Seven. Which could only mean that…That his brother was their sensei in this reality! But why? How? Wasn't he too young for this job? Then again...

At the age of seven, his wisdom was already on par with that of a Hokage, Sasuke suddenly remembered the revived Third telling him this about his brother during the war. Now that he thought about it this way, such turn of events made some sense, and yet...

Quickly putting the picture back on the bookshelf, he stepped back, breathing heavily. His heart began to pound faster as the growing feeling of panic was increasing every second. If even such small details were so much different here in this reality… what else was he supposed to expect to find out later? What was the state of Akatsuki here? Of Madara and his Moon's Eye plan? What about Orochimaru…?

Sasuke closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. Analysis required one's mind to be at peace, so he needed to get a hold of himself and to focus. Whatever surprises might expect him there, he needed to get as much information as possible very soon before making any decisions. Wasting any more time was not an option.

The ninja strode back to his bed, and then his nervous gaze stopped on the nightstand while he winced in disgust.

It was full of various postcards, toys, flowers and other trash. All of it looked so sickeningly girlish that he was about to vomit, instantly forgetting about his intention to remain calm. Seriously, though… what the hell is this abomination…?

Sasuke took one of the postcards in his trembling hands, genuinely afraid of whatever he was to find there as he read the calligraphic letters with whimsical curls:

Heeeey!

Please, get better soon, Sasuke-kun! We miss you so much!

Love, Tatsumi & Sagisu-chan.

He tossed the colorful piece of paper aside as though it was about to start burning in his hands, taking another one only to сrumple and throw it into the wall the next moment. It turned out that all these "gifts" were from his fan girls all across Konoha… What a shame. Why had his mother even let these pieces of trash end up inside his room? Unless…

His face blanched as another postcard fell out of his fingers at the frightening realization.

Unless he… no, this Sasuke generally didn't mind such things! Had this version of himself really enjoyed the attention of all these dumb fan girls…? How could he...!

Sasuke rubbed his temples, sitting down on his bed and groaning desperately in frustration.

No way… there was no fucking way that he was such a weak and careless moron no matter the universe. It was no wonder now that his mother had talked to him like… like…

Like to some retarded dead last.

He gritted his teeth as his face twisted in rage. There was absolutely no chance that he would agree to play along with this. Screw his duty, screw the world, screw everything, he wasn't going to pretend to be an utter moron with no sense of pride whatsoever. This was just too much. He needed to find a way to convince them all that the upcoming change in his personality would be logical. No matter how he was supposed to do it, this was his highest priority now!

And, luckily, it matched another task of utmost importance he was currently having at hand. He couldn't allow his new body to remain so ludicrously weak. He needed to start training soon... No, right now!

His thought got interrupted by his stomach as it growled loudly, making the teen sigh.

Well… Perhaps after a hot shower and a quick meal.

-~X~-

Surprisingly enough, there turned to be nobody else aside from Sasuke inside the house. Likely because they hadn't expected him to suddenly awaken, there was no food prepared for him at the kitchen either. Not that it made the boy feel any uncomfortable — after all, he had learned to use this very kitchen to cook for himself, he'd done it for years. And although it was a bit sad that he couldn't talk to his parents or his brother right away but, at the moment, it was probably for the better. This way, he would be able to slip out of the Uchiha district, and to find himself some empty training ground to test his current capabilities… and to meditate, thinking on his next move.

That's why as soon as he finished the omelette with bacon and tomatoes, Sasuke rushed back to his room, wanting to leave the surreal place as soon as possible. He quickly opened the wardrobe and picked a short sleeved gray shirt with his clan's crest on its back, which looked pretty similar to the one he'd worn during the Fourth Great Ninja War. Having zipped it, he put a pair of dark blue pants on before glancing at his reflection in the mirror. He then ruffled his hair so that it would take a more familiar form with a few spiky bangs covering his forehead now. Finally more less satisfied with his appearance, the ninja searched through the room in hopes of finding a sword but, as he'd expected, there was none. This Sasuke probably hadn't learned kenjustu, too…

Feeling even more annoyed and frustrated now, he tried to look for a kind of loose overall so that he would be able to hide his identity from those who could recognize him out there in the village. It took him about ten minutes to find a decent cloth in Itachi's room, and only then did the boy finally storm out of the house, quickly walking towards the gates. Chilly air filled his lungs, and the powerful gust of wind made the boy close his eyes for a moment to appreciate the refreshing, almost dizzy feeling, once again reassuring him. The sensation was just too real for everything around to be a mere dream.

There was barely anybody around as the drops of rain were beginning to fall from the dark gray sky, so he decided not to put his hood on for a while, admiring the place as he was walking down the wide lane. The Uchiha clan's territory had sure grown more beautiful and grand since the supposed time of the massacre. He could see many new buildings here and there; beautiful flower beds were placed across almost the entire main street, and the road under his feet was very clean… so much unlike what it had been when he was the only resident of the dead version of this place back in his world...

As he remembered the creepy picture, the sudden flash of pain that pierced his head made Sasuke wince as he reflectively covered his left eye with his hand. Feeling afraid for a moment he stopped, but then the pain started decreasing rapidly. Everything around became blurry again but, other than that, he felt rather satisfactory. Still, the young ninja decided to keep going, hoping that this was merely an echo of the trauma he had suffered. Too absorbed by his thought and reflections and partly blinded by the nagging pain, the young ninja didn't pay any attention to the dark haired girl who was walking towards him from the gates. Apparently, she didn't appreciate the fact that he hadn't even looked at her as they passed by each other. That's why he flinched when someone gripped his forearm tightly from behind, making the teen turn around abruptly and narrow his eyes crossly at the angry face.

Albeit he couldn't see her face clearly at the moment, she was pretty nice looking, he could admit. Make no mistake, he wasn't particularly interested in her feminine side and neither was he currently caring about any girl for that matter. However, he could say that she was definitely a ninja just by how well toned her open abdomen was. Civilians never cared about their shape so much, especially girls who mostly preferred to simply be as skinny as possible thanks to countless diets. A couple inches shorter than him, she was wearing a light gray top; an unzipped lavender jacket with long white sleeves as well as denim shorts alongside standard ninja sandals. Her straight, dark blue hair was long enough to reach her middle, and her white eyes weren't promising anything good as he met her clearly irritated gaze.

"Sasuke. What's wrong with you? For how long have you been awake? And why on earth did you just ignore me, huh?"

He gritted his teeth, breaking out of her grip and stepping backwards, narrowing his eyes at her. These damned fan girls… he should've known that they wouldn't leave him alone as soon as he would leave his house.

"I don't have any time for you. Leave me alone and don't ever come close to me again," he snapped, turning away a moment later. The shinobi then put his cowl on and continued to walk towards the main gate of the district.

A few more seconds passed as he kept striding down the street. He'd already almost managed to forget about the cocky nuisance when he heard a scowling growl coming from behind. And then something heavy landed loudly on the ground just behind his back, making the boy stop and glance over his shoulder at the item that'd just made so much noise. There were two bags, and he could see that a few bowls rolled out, some of them shattered, with something that looked like stew slowly spilling on the road.

"You—you are the worst person I've ever met, Sasuke! I swear! Damn you, brainless moron!"

He didn't bother looking back at her, resuming to his way the next moment. This girl definitely had a point. In this world, Uchiha Sasuke was an utter moron. But, times change. And he'd just started solving that problem.

As he was walking through the streets and lanes of the village, his vision slowly restored again which allowed him to examine the environment. The Uchiha noticed that everything around was quite different from what he remembered. A lot of new big and small buildings had appeared around, and the interior of the Konoha as well as its infrastructure all on all looked somewhat more expensive and developed, which could only mean that the economy of the country and the hidden village in particular was in a good state. Which meant that the Fourth was probably a decent leader, then… Although, to be fair, anything would look better than the ruins left by the Fifth's reign back in his reality. And he hadn't seen his Konoha for years before his final visit to said ruins with Orochimaru and Team Taka, so he couldn't really compare.

Fortunately, the location of the training grounds hadn't changed. Sasuke managed to reach the place in no time and, to his amusement, there was nobody around to disturb him. The rain intensified, but he didn't really care. Instead he took the black shapeless cloth off his shoulders, tossing it on the grass roughly and starting to form hand seals right away. A second later, the familiar chirping sound echoed over the place, making him smirk as he felt truly emboldened for the first time in ages. At least his signature technique was working… although considering how much energy it had taken for him to use it just a single time, Sasuke wasn't sure if he could perform it more than four more times in a row without resting. Yes, he was truly pitiful… but there was nothing he couldn't eventually fix.

He then bit his finger and slammed his palm into the wet dirt under his feet, using a good half of his remaining chakra in an attempt to perform the summoning jutsu but of course, it didn't work, which could only mean that he hadn't signed a contract yet.

The ninja sighed heavily, closing his eyes. This was bad… He had no Mangekyō, no Kusanagi sword, no affinity with snakes, no chakra reserves, no strength… Nothing. He only had his base Sharingan… and the unbreakable resolve.

Having already started to feel depressed, he suddenly grinned, slowly beginning to laugh.

No, he actually had something far more valuable than any of the things mentioned above. He had knowledge. As it'd just been proven with Chidori, his brain remembered everything he had learned back in his world. He knew how to awaken Mangekyō Sharingan, even if it seemed impossible to do at the moment. He knew how to train himself to get to a decent level in no time. He knew where to find Ryūchi cave to sign a contract with snakes. And finally, he knew his clan's darkest secrets... That alone was priceless in a world where the name of the Uchiha hadn't ceased to exist.

He'd been testing his limits for about an hour until he heard someone yelling from the distance:

"Hey, Sasuke-kun! Glad to see you awake!"

He snapped his head towards the voice, narrowing his eyes at the teen of his age who was quickly approaching him with a broad smile on his face. He was wearing a simple set of traditional white training uniform as well as dark-hazel kilt; his hair was long, straight and brown, and his eyes…

Another Hyūga...

Already about to tell him to get the hell out of there, Sasuke suddenly stopped at the last moment, frowning. He couldn't be sure of what kind of relationship the two of them shared. What if this person was his friend? Breaking the existing ties would be very unwise considering his quite shaky position so, unfortunately, he had no other option but to try to be nice… as best as he could. At least this one wasn't a stupid fan girl...

"Yeah…," he said quietly as the other ninja came close to him, activating his Byakugan and eyeing him up and down.

"What the hell are you doing here when it's raining so hard, man? Are you alright in the head?" the genuinely concerned expression made Sasuke feel slightly uneasy, but he didn't show any sign of his emotion as he replied calmly,

"Training. My body has suffered significant damage during the latest mission. I need to recover as soon as possible. And also…," he looked away, trying to sound a little dramatic, "I've realized that I need to be much stronger if I don't want something like that to happen again."

"Ah… well, that's understandable," the Hyūga nodded seriously, scratching his chin. "Good news here. Your chakra flow is almost fine, although you seem to have wasted quite a lot of energy recently… other than that, you look alright."

"I'm fine, thanks," said Sasuke, trying to sound neutral only to avoid making the impression of being aggressive. "Why did you come here yourself?"

The boy smirked, looking amused as he said:

"Oh, it's because of Hinata-sama. You see, she came home wet and furious as hell. She called you a lot of names, you know. I have no idea what happened between the two of you, but it definitely made her lose her temper which doesn't happen often to say the least. That's how I learned that you are awake, mate. Then I used my eyes' power to find you. Anyway… what the hell did you say to her?" he asked curiously as the Uchiha frowned and paled a bit.

The girl he met in the Uchiha district... It was Hyūga Hinata. She was his teammate, not just some fan girl. And the food she'd carried… she'd probably been heading to his house, having noticed him being awake via her Byakugan's enhanced vision. Evidently, the girl'd merely wanted to give him some food… and he'd acted like a total jerk.

This was bad. Normally, he wouldn't give a damn. But, one of his intentions in his new life was to form bonds with his teammates. And he'd just done the opposite thing…

"I told her that I don't have time for her and that I wanted to be left alone," he said sincerely, making the other ninja whistle.

"Damn… That's harsh. I know she's not on the best terms with you, but Hinata-sama has spent the entire morning cooking for you. I think you should apologize, Sasuke-kun. You know that I'd take your side normally, but this..." He spread his hands.

Sasuke nodded slowly and uttered, "Yeah… I probably should."

"Anyway, it's so unlike you to be rude with a girl, let alone that rude. Are you really feeling that bad? Or, perhaps, something else happened to spoil your mood that much?"

Sasuke shrugged indefinitely, unsure what to say. He didn't even know this person's name… why was he supposed to excuse himself now?

"A lot of things have happened. I'd rather not talk about it right now, it's mostly about my family and I don't want to discuss it."

"Oh… I see," to the Uchiha's surprise, the other teen didn't try to push, which was a good thing. At least he could mind his own business…, "Training it is, then. To bad Naruto-kun is not here, he could help us quite a lot with his versatile ninjutsu arsenal but, oh well—"

"Naruto?" Sasuke glanced at him with interest. "Do you know where he is?"

"Eh…," the guy raised his head up, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the territory of the village with his dōjutsu, "He's currently heading home. Do you want to catch up with him? Would be cool to hang out again as usual. It's been a while since the three of us last went to chill together." He smirked joyfully, wiping the drops of rain off his forehead protector.

As usual? So they were friends, after all...

"I still need to finish the training," replied Sasuke impassively, activating his Sharingan. "Assist me, will you? I need to test a couple new techniques."

"Of course," replied the brown haired teen and grinned cheerfully, raising his thumb up. "Hyūga Neji, always at your service!"

A/N

Gokage — also known as Five Kage, the collective name of all the Kage (leaders of the major hidden villages.)

Kenjutsu — pertains to techniques that entail the use of swords, whether the users be shinobi, or samurai. Kenjutsu can be used in combination with taijutsu, ninjutsu, fūinjutsu, chakra flow and even genjutsu in order to achieve more devastating techniques.

Chidori — a high concentration of lightning chakra around the user's hand.

Kusanagi — a straight, one-edged Japanese sword (this type of weapon in general is called chokutō) that was Sasuke's personal weapon in part two of the manga.

Chapter Text

Author's Note: I thank you for your reviews — they truly spur me on. I do examine them all closely, and I can say that some of them made me apply an important fix to the previous chapter (namely the reason why Sasuke didn't recognize Hinata when they met), and some of them have also influenced this chapter as well.

Chapter 3. Namikaze

"Hyūga Neji, always at your service!"

Sasuke blinked in surprise, studying the teen's face more carefully this time. The name definitely sounded familiar… Yes, he was sure he now remembered this guy. This person was in the same team with Rock Lee, the weirdo whose specialty was pure taijutsu. Neji used to be known as a genius back in his world... was this the case here as well? Either way, the Uchiha realized that he had very few options at the moment. Apparently, the Hyūga considered himself a rather close friend of Sasuke and Naruto. And right now, it was almost vital to have someone trustworthy around, let alone someone potentially strong who could help him train.

"Right… I want you to attack me in close range. Use your base taijutsu with your highest speed."

Neji frowned, looking a bit displeased by the suggestion.

"Are you sure, Sasuke-kun? You never could match my speed before. And your current condition..."

Scowling at him, the raven haired boy nodded vigorously.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it, just go ahead." Having said this, he activated the Sharingan, beginning to infuse his chakra which was annoyingly uneasy, as though his body had become a very rusty mechanism that refused to work properly.

Neji sighed, shaking his head.

"Alright. I don't like it but, you asked for it!"

Sasuke had to give him a credit — the guy's speed was indeed quite impressive for an average ninja of his age but, of course, it was nothing next to his own prime. Although this new body of the Uchiha was far too weak and dilatory for him to match his opponent in hand-to-hand combat, his eyes still copied Neji's every motion with ease, allowing him to react in time. That's why just as the Hyūga's palm was about to reach Sasuke's chest, the trap slammed shut…

Chidori Nagashi!

A bolt of lightning cut the gloomy the sky in half and, at the same time, a huge wave of chakra burst out of Sasuke's body, almost blinding the Hyūga who cried out rather out of surprise than because of pain, landing a few yards away and groaning.

The victorious grin had already appeared on Sasuke's face but, before he could say anything, another prick of pain made him gasp and fall on one knee, panting. He gripped his trembling leg and groaned, trying to stretch the limb. Clearly, he'd seriously underestimated the problem with his pitiful chakra pool, and his health status too. The jutsu he'd just performed had drained nearly everything remaining from his chakra system, which in addition to his still rather weakened state made him feel the dangerous dizziness as his body began to stiffen.

"What—what the hell was that?" Neji panted, slowly getting up and coming closer to his friend. "Sasuke-kun, your chakra…!"

"Yeah… it seems I've just inadvertently spent everything I had," he hissed, gritting his teeth.

This was horrible. He was a total mess… No, that was actually an understatement. He was beyond pathetic. Without the curse mark, this would've been his limit when he was thirteen… And even so, he was pretty sure that he would've been able to last much longer thanks to his formerly great physical shape.

"You did, yes," the other teen nodded, blinking at his friend. "But... what was that jutsu? When did you learn it? I've never seen anything quite like it. Felt as though a lightning from the sky struck me, but I saw that it wasn't the case."

"Never…?" muttered Sasuke, trying to get up on his still shaking legs. "It's just a modified version of Chidori."

"Chidori?" He now looked even more puzzled. "And what on earth is that? Some secret Uchiha stuff?"

Sasuke froze, slowly beginning to understand the reason of his reaction. Evidently, in his reality, Chidori had been a worldwide known jutsu, and neither was its creator Hatake Kakashi. A ninja of Neji's league would most definitely have known about it otherwise... had it existed in this world. Therefore the only logical conclusion would be that Kakashi had never created it here to begin with. But why? Did it have to do with the fact that the massacre hadn't happened? Or rather… Perhaps, because he had never received the Sharingan from Uchiha Obito? And then again, Obito… was he still on Konoha's side?

There were so many questions… All of them demanded to be answered, but Sasuke realized that it would require a lot of time and patience for him to solve it all.

"No… It's my own technique," he said quietly, realizing that this was almost true. He was the only user of this jutsu in this entire world… All of sudden, he felt very lonely.

"Woah! Yours? You created your own jutsu? That's fantastic, mate! When did you finish it? And how exactly does it work?"

The Uchiha sighed, wiping dirt off his clothes sloppily with his bare hands and then rubbing his palms under the rain.

"Essentially, it's a simple jab… I focus the Raiton chakra in my hand, and then I charge at the target at my highest speed, attempting to land a piercing strike. Although you could say that it's also related to my clan's kekkei genkai, so I guess you could call it…," he paused, realizing that he wasn't sure if he remembered the name of this category of techniques right.

"No matter. Anyhow, because of the required speed, using his jutsu without Sharingan or without incredibly good reflexes is very risky which renders Chidori useless for nearly anyone who is not an Uchiha… or doesn't have a transplanted Sharingan," he explained, still trying to catch his breath.

Neji definitely looked very impressed, if not shocked as he said:

"I see... Wait. Raiton? I think I missed something huge. Since when do you even have it? And damn it, man! Your jutsu seems to be at least A-rank! That's amazing to say the least! What else have you been hiding from us?" Sasuke shrugged, deciding not to answer as Neji proceeded anyway, "Besides, what you've just explained doesn't seem to have anything to do with what you'd performed to throw me away like a kitten," he grinned, not seeming embarrassed at all, which Sasuke found pretty strange considering how arrogant and prideful he remembered this boy to be in his past.

"Yeah…," he nodded slowly, "Like I said, that was a modification. By releasing Chidori in every direction, I can make an electrical discharge flow from my entire body, which allows the jutsu to affect multiple targets. When this attack is being used on numerous enemies at once, it can effectively double as an instant defense, too."

Neji gave him a long amazed and, at the same time, a bit incredulous stare before muttering:

"Honestly, I never knew you were actually that creative. Not bad, not bad at all. It's almost as good as our Kaiten when it comes to its defensive capabilities! Except taking tremendous amounts of chakra, of course." He smirked. "I also felt paralyzed for some time aside from getting repulsed. Was that intentional?"

Sasuke nodded again.

"Yeah. The body of a person touched by this chakra misinterprets the lightning release as electrical signals from the nerves, thus making its muscles contract. This causes the body to involuntarily go stiff, while at the same time receiving damage. This attack can also be channeled through the ground to increase the range of the attack… I reckon it has a lot of tricky uses."

Neji smiled, clapping his hands.

"Fascinating! And yes, it has. For instance, you should also be able to channel this chakra through other items. Have you tried it yet? Some steel arm, for instance. Or any other weapon for that matter. Actually…," Neji wiped the drops of rain off his forehead protector before they would reach his white eyes, "If you found yourself a decent sword, this could become the basis for your own unique fighting style, sort of what samurai use, except much better thanks to your Sharingan."

All of sudden, the Uchiha felt himself a bit lost. Not only because of how surreal everything that was happening seemed to him, but also since Neji turned to be much smarter than he had expected him to be. The Hyūga had just given him a very easy way to explain his "new" style later, by suggesting exactly what he was planning to do soon anyway… This guy was quite useful, something Sasuke could never have expected from a Hyūga. Not that he had anything personal against their brethren but, as far as he could remember, his father had never said anything respectful about any member of this particular clan, seemingly considering them all far inferior to the Uchiha which probably wasn't far from the truth. Well… perhaps, there were some exceptions, after all.

"That's a good idea… I guess I'll do just that," he decided to play along, squeezing out a friendly grin. "I want to spar for a while now that I'm out of chakra."

"Are you sure?" his new friend gave him a slightly anxious gaze. "You're not looking well, Sasuke-kun."

"Yeah, I am sure. Stop asking stupid questions. Fight me!"

Seeing the unfamiliar fire in his friend's eyes, the Hyūga sighed, somehow realizing that he wouldn't be able to talk Sasuke out of it at the moment.

"Fine… But we'll stop as soon as you collapse."

"Enough talk. Bring it on!"

-~X~-

The square near the Hokage's office was unusually crowded despite the frankly nasty weather and there was a very good reason behind it. Even small children there knew that this day was incredibly meaningful for the entire shinobi world, and even more so for Konohagakure. Because this was the day when the five leaders of the greatest hidden villages assembled within the walls of the huge round shaped red building to discuss the future of their countries and the relationships between each other.

This was the second summit to ever be held, and the first one hosted in this particular village, so most people including the motley guests from other countries were pretty excited and couldn't wait to hear about the outcome of the meeting which was promising nothing but good news according to the rumors that had been spreading around for weeks in advance. The atmosphere was all in all quite festive, and the beautiful decorations set on nearly every visible building definitely made it even better for all those who had gathered there this day.

Uchiha Itachi was one of the very few people who weren't in the mood to celebrate the event. A lot of bothersome things were on his mind at the moment, and on the very top of this iceberg of problems was his beloved little brother who unfortunately still hadn't awakened. And although it wasn't like the boy's life was still in danger, the ninja still found it hard to relax before he would know for sure that Sasuke was alright both physically and, more importantly, mentally. Fugaku and Mikoto might underestimate their younger son's condition, but Itachi just knew that something was off with him. From his observations back in the hospital, the amnesia the boy had suffered wasn't typical… as a matter of fact, it was completely abnormal. And although Tsunade had told him that it most likely had to do with the nature of the genjutsu Itachi had used on his brother to preserve his mind from dying along with his brain, he was still highly alarmed and had little to no idea what else to expect.

"What a nice day, isn't it?" asked the relatively tall blue haired woman that was standing a bit ahead on his way, smiling at the man sheepishly. "Your village is sure as great as the legends tell, shinobi-san."

"It's Itachi," he replied, meeting the gaze of her gray eyes. "And I don't think I'm familiar with those legends."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Itachi-san," she bowed at him politely. "My name is Hayumi. I've come with the delegation of the Mist, and I was wondering if you would tell me where I could find a decent place to have a cup of hot tea… Perhaps you wouldn't mind accompanying me there, too? The weather is so cold, I'm afraid I'll freeze to death if I just keep standing here, doing nothing."

He eyed the woman up and down with a neutral face, studying her features carefully. She was wearing a long black coat with red lining, her nails were painted bright orange, and there was a simple ring on her right middle finger, the kanji on it meaning "white." Aside from that, there was also a bizarre origami in her hair, which evidently served her as a hairpin. Her appearance was sure exotic for Land of Fire but, then again, he wasn't too familiar with the customs of Kirigakure either. And the lack of scars on her hands as well as the fact that she had no forehead protector visible anywhere, alongside her delicate face made it clear that she was most likely just a civilian…

Itachi frowned. Strangely, she didn't seem to be any uncomfortable under the rain contrary to what she'd said. And although he usually didn't really mind talking to guests from other villages, especially spending time with attractive women like this one, he had more important things at hand right now...

"It's the middle of Konoha, Hayumi-san. I'm sure that you would find pretty much any place around more than satisfying to your tastes. As for me, I have an important task to do. So—"

"Good afternoon, Itachi-sensei," he heard the familiar soft voice behind the woman's back, which made him cock his head to the left so that his eyes would be able to meet the sad gaze of one of his students who was holding an open umbrella in her hand, her Byakugan activated and focused on him, looking right through the person that was standing in front of her.

"Hinata, huh? What are you doing here?" For all he knew, she disliked crowded places and preferred more quiet and cozy ways to spend her days off.

She looked away and deactivated her dōjutsu, clearly looking depressed and also bit lost.

"Basically, nothing… I was going to find Ino-chan and Sakura, because I wanted to do something to fix my mood. But, they are both busy right now, so here I am… alone and bored."

He smiled with the corners of his mouth, moving his gaze back at Hayumi who'd turned around to look at Hinata with curiosity.

"...So, I'm sorry, Hayumi-san. Maybe next time."

The woman looked at him perplexedly, quickly nodding and smiling then.

"Of course, Itachi-san. I'll take my leave now. See you around!" She bowed again and walked away from them, quickly melting into the crowd. Itachi followed her back with his eyes before turning to the clearly upset girl again and uttering softly:

"So, what happened?"

She sighed, lowering her eyes timidly.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you, sensei."

His eyebrows raised a little. Hesitation wasn't something Hinata displayed very often. Was this some girlish thing? Damn their puberty...

"And why is that?"

She bit her lip, looking even more insecure now which was a truly rare occasion for this kunoichi to say the least, raising his concern even more.

"Well… It's because of Sasuke," she finally mumbled, and his heart skipped a beat at her tone as the man's eyes widened in anticipation of something terrible.

"Sasuke? What happened to him?"

And then as if to deliberately make the situation only more confusing, she suddenly blushed, crossing her hands on her chest and snapping:

"Nothing. Please, forget that I mentioned it, sensei."

He frowned, completely baffled and quite worried by the girl's words and even more so by her strangely childish behavior in general which totally didn't match her usually mature and professional attitude.

"What's the meaning of this? Are you trying to say that he's awake now?"

She looked at him with confusion.

"Well, yes… I thought you were aware of it, weren't you?"

"No…," he muttered perplexedly, putting his hands in his pockets. "Hinata, tell me what exactly happened. It could be very important."

She frowned, looking down at the road and kicking a small piece of gravel with her tiptoe without looking at the Uchiha.

"It's just that he's a stupid cad as usual," murmured Hinata but, knowing that she would have to tell the story to her sensei anyway, she sighed and muttered then, "Um… I was going to bring him some food. I had cooked it for him, that is. So I headed to your house, and I met him on the way."

"Is that so...?" drawled the man incredulously. Why would Sasuke decide to leave the house on his own all of sudden, especially having just awakened? "Was he looking normal? When did it occur? And what happened next?"

"Uh… An hour ago, I suppose. Yes, he was looking perfectly fine as far as I noticed. Well, except his hair, it was a bit different than usual. And his clothes, he was dressed in some over sized rags. It's very unlike him to wear something like that."

"Rags…?" Now this sounded truly strange and even more alarming. "By this, do you mean something inappropriate? Was he wearing... someone else's clothes?"

Looking up at him and blinking a few times in confusion, the girl suddenly blushed even more, quickly shaking her head.

"No, no, nothing like that… it's just that his choice of clothes was really humble and cheap, I guess."

Itachi let out a small sigh of relief. Although Hinata was right and modesty wasn't typical for his brother to say the least, it was still far from being any suspicious. If anything, it sounded more as though he'd been in hurry... but why?

"I see. And what happened next?"

She looked away again, as though afraid to meet his gaze.

"Well," she mumbled, hugging herself more tightly. "We passed by each other, and he didn't even look at me."

"What...?" Now this was really strange. Ever since the day their team'd been formed, Sasuke'd never ever skipped an opportunity to pay Hinata attention in some way. Whereas it was still a mystery for Itachi whether his brother actually liked the girl, or was it merely her invariably emotional reaction (usually irritation) that made him keep pushing her buttons by flirting with the kunoichi and by annoying her in every possible way his creative mind could come up with… But, for him not to even look at her? Especially after the dramatic turn of events during their latest mission…? No, it sounded far too fabulously.

But an honest and straightforward girl like Hinata wouldn't lie, he was sure, especially in a situation like this one. Therefore there could be only one logical explanation. Sasuke simply didn't remember her face! And considering just how much his younger brother usually appreciated the company of the opposite gender, he most likely wasn't feeling well either if he'd just ignored her...

"Yeah…," she muttered after a short pause, making him snap out of his thought. "Then I turned around and caught up with him, and gripped his hand. But he broke out, and then he—he told me to go away and leave him alone!" she raised her voice resentfully a little bit by the end of the sentence, apparently angered by the memory. "How could he be so mean, sensei? I—I just wanted to help... to be nice!"

Now that was a very good question. All of it sounded too unlike Sasuke, which could only mean that he either had really not been himself when the two of them talked, or… or that something had bothered him enough to ignore everything on his way… again, way to where?

"Hinata, activate your Byakugan and trace him. We need to find him as soon as possible, it is very important."

"But, he—!"

"He most likely had forgotten you," he interrupted the girl, making her gasp.

"What? Why? How…?"

"When he woke up back in the hospital, I tested his mental state, and he was suffering partial amnesia. He had forgotten a few important details about his life, and he also tried to hide it for some reason. I'm afraid something bad might happen to him should we not reach him as soon as possible, so hurry up."

"Y—Yes!" She nodded quickly, looking dazed but also somewhat reassured as she activated her dōjutsu. The girl had been scanning the area around for a few seconds before she frowned and muttered:

"Well, apparently, he hasn't forgotten Neji. They are currently on the farthest side of the village, about to enter Hokage-sama's house. Both are looking quite pleased and are talking to each other the way they always do. They are…," Hinata squinted like she always did whenever she was reading someone's lips, "Discussing something about ninjutsu. Raiton, that is."

Itachi nodded, realizing that right now, the only way to understand the situation clearly would be a direct confrontation with his brother.

"Fine. Let's go."

"But—!"

"That's an order." Having said this, he disappeared with a Shunshin. The girl sighed, reluctantly following him.

-~X~-

"No. No, it really sounds too crazy to be true. You can't seriously expect me to believe it. I'm not buying it."

"It is possible," Sasuke insisted.

"No, man! It's not! You can't cause a blast of that scale with just as much chakra as you have at the moment, it's frankly and literally impossible!" argued Neji as they walked towards the end of the narrow street. Nobody was visible around, for most people were in the central part of the village at the moment, and the rest weren't crazy enough to go for a walk under such intense rain.

It was a bit surprising for Sasuke that the Hokage's residence was located in such a quiet and boring place, let alone the fact that the building itself had only two floors and looked more than humble. Had he not known for sure that the Fourth lived there, he would never assume that this place was actually any relevant. However, it probably meant that the Fourth wasn't some power and money hungry prick, and it also allowed the Uchiha to venture to guess that Naruto in this reality wasn't a very spoiled guy. In other words, it was nothing but relieving to the exhausted ninja as he hemmed at his newfound old friend's words and grinned.

"Maybe you will see it yourself one day."

"Yeah, sure thing." Neji rolled his eyes leniently and snorted. But, Sasuke didn't react to his skepticism. Instead he simply smiled mysteriously as they approached the small yet very homely looking yard. It was clear that whoever took care of this place really loved it... Naruto probably had a nice family.

"Seriously, it's impossible!" finally grumbled Neji as they approached the entrance, to which he only shrugged.

"Whatever you say… mate," he added, suppressing the awkward feeling that came from pronouncing the last word.

So far, he had been pretty decent at playing the role of the Hyūga's friend. Whether the guy was just naive, or, perhaps, Sasuke's acting talent was much better than he'd expected of himself but, in any case, his new accomplice hadn't shown any sign of being suspicious, nothing at all. However, the Uchiha realized that Naruto could be a much harder case, especially if everything Neji'd told him about the blond was true; namely, his intelligence and the ability to sense other people's emotions and intentions granted to him by Kyūbi. The latter could easily become the biggest problem there...

"Oi, Naruto-kun! I know you're there, open up!" yelled Neji.

Sasuke straightened his back and quickly put a mask of complete indifference on his face when he heard the hasty steps approaching from the opposite side of the wooden door. He wouldn't dare trying to fool the jinchūriki with a pretentiously friendly expression, of course. That would obviously end up futile anyway, and not only because of Naruto's presumed abilities but also considering how hard it would be for Sasuke to just look into his eyes after everything the Uchiha had done… After literally killing him, even though it had happened in a different world. Even if he was the only one who could remember it at this point, it still made him feel guilty...

The door opened, and Sasuke frowned as he stared into the unfamiliar warm gray eyes of someone he most definitely hadn't met before.

It was a very beautiful woman with dark red hair wrapped in a very long braid that almost reached her knees; an incredibly bright and genuinely happy smile on her delicate face, and the chakra strong enough for him to feel its presence by merely standing next to her without even being a sensory type. She was wearing a simple yet elegant black dress that totally didn't match the white apron that was on her right now as well as well as the expensive looking high-heeled shoes. Besides, she was staring directly at him…

"Sasuke-kun!" she squealed, hugging the Uchiha so tightly that for a brief moment he thought his ribs would break, making him give Neji a glance that was somewhat between pleading and questioning, feeling completely stunned and disoriented. He instantly forgot that he didn't like people touching him, but this could hardly be considered a touch anyway, for she was definitely trying to kill him…! But, the Hyūga only grinned, leaning on the wooden railing behind his back and clearly enjoying his friend's indescribable expression.

"You are finally awake! Dear, we were so worried!" She pulled away from him a bit, studying the downright shocked face carefully and then wiping dirt off his cheek with her slender thumb. "Jeez, where the hell were you two? Playing in a sand box? And the bruises! Tsunade-sama told me that you are not allowed to train, you dumb ass!" her fist slammed into his temple, making the boy gasp as his hand raised up reflectively to rub the hurting spot, but the woman beat him to it, patting his head lightly. "Sorry, sorry… Damn my temper. Seriously, though, what were you two thinking? Neji, how could you be so irresponsible?!"

"Uh… Kushina-san, I tried to tell him that it was a bad idea, but he insisted…," mumbled the Hyūga, making the woman named Kushina narrow her eyes dangerously at Sasuke who swallowed, feeling completely confused and not knowing to expect from this psycho the next second.

"Is that so?" she uttered quietly, letting go of him and putting her hands on her thin waist. "Then you are in trouble, young man. I don't think Mikoto-chan will appreciate your sudden eagerness! Or should I rather say your not-so-sudden idiocy?"

Mikoto… chan? So, she was his mother's friend. Now her actions made some sense, and still…

"Oh, mom, come on. Let them in already, Sasuke looks like he's about to collapse," suddenly came the painfully familiar voice from behind the woman's back, making the Uchiha's heart sank as he glanced over her shoulder.

As he'd expected, Naruto was more than recognizable. His hair was still significantly longer than he remembered, sort of similar to what he had on the picture Sasuke'd seen back in his room, yet still not long enough to be the exact copy of the Fourth's cut. Aside from that, he looked pretty much the same except being a bit less muscled and wearing clothes of normal colors, particularly a white T-shirt and black shorts that reached slightly below his knees.

"Eh? Oh, damn it, you're right! Why are you still standing here anyway? Get in, quickly! I need to dry both of you as soon as possible! And you're probably hungry, too! Am I right? Ugh, you stupid kids!" She pushed the sheepishly smiling Neji and Sasuke who still felt dazed inside the hallway of the house, closing the door behind their backs. "You'll have to wait for a while, though. I've just come home myself, and I still need to finish cooking a lot of stuff! Gah, what a crazy day. Naruto, take care of your friends! I'll be right back," she winked at them cheerfully and stormed back to the kitchen while the blond yawned, scratching his nape.

"Yeah, sure, mom. Guys, come in," he made a welcoming gesture, entering the guest room himself.

Still feeling far too astonished and overwhelmed to say anything, Sasuke decided to try to distract himself and looked around instead, attempting to understand what kind of people lived here in this bizarre place. All in all, the interior of the house was very cozy and warm, although a bit messy which went nicely along with the chaotic atmosphere — totally nothing like one would imagine as the Fourth Hokage's residence. Albeit that was probably no wonder considering what kind of temper the mistress—Naruto's mother, as the blond had just confirmed, had.

"Take your shirts off, or mom will kill you both for smudging the couch," muttered Naruto lazily, flopping into the big armchair near the coffee table, picking some magazine and studying it for a while. "Glad to see you back, Sasuke," he finally said without looking at his friend who was now standing a couple yards away with his dirty wet shirt in his hand, unsure what to do or say. The blond definitely didn't look very happy to see him… and for the first time ever, Sasuke suddenly found it disturbing.

"Yeah. Nice to see you haven't gotten yourself killed either," his mouth blurted out against his will before he would realize what he was saying, making Sasuke curse himself silently. This wasn't how he had planned to say sorry to his friend… But, then again, was this person really his friend? Or rather someone completely different than the person he remembered...?

However in spite of his caution, Naruto smirked in the very familiar manner, looking directly into his eyes.

"Coming from you, that's really funny, I give you this. By the way," his face suddenly became very serious, "Thanks for saving our lives back there. It was dumb and crazy but, it worked, so I guess I can't complain. Besides, you are always all about being dumb and crazy, aren't you?" he grinned, making Sasuke narrow his eyes at him, almost wincing at his friend's words.

"That is about to change," he snapped, to which both Naruto and Neji frowned and peered at him simultaneously.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked the blond, suddenly looking a bit concerned.

Sasuke then realized that this was his best opportunity to make his new life work. Everything was at stake now, and if the beast inside Naruto truly allowed him to sense if he was telling the truth or not, then...

"What you've just said about being dumb and crazy. You are my friend, Naruto… perhaps, my closest friend," he muttered quietly, not looking away from his baffled face. "And you, too," he looked at Neji who nodded at him, listening carefully, "That's why I want the two of you to know it before anyone else…"

It was a gamble, basically. This Naruto had to be much smarter than the one he had once known, and the Hyūga was very far from being a fool as well. Still, if played right, it could very much work on them, sparing the Uchiha from a ton of problems…

"The Uchiha Sasuke both of you once knew is dead," he deadpanned.

The oppressive silence fell upon the room. Nobody had dared to say a word until Kushina came in with a stack of towels and a few shirts on top of it in one hand, and a plate with a porcelain kettle and three cups on her other palm.

"Now, gimme your shirts, I'll wash them quickly. And here, take these," she threw the stack of clothes on the couch before putting the plate on the table next to Neji, "I gotta return to the kitchen now. Drink this tea right away, we don't want you to catch a cold! " she took their clothes and walked outside, leaving the three of them alone again.

"Woah," finally said Naruto, not even looking at the steaming kettle. "I guess it would be stupid to ask what happened, but… what happened?"

Sasuke tried his best to maintain a neutral expression as he was weighing out all the pros and cons of his plan. He knew that in theory, he could fool all the people for some of the time, or some of the people all the time. But he definitely couldn't fool everyone all the time. He needed to play with half truths from now on... It was the only way for him to survive in this new reality. And right now, he needed to reveal a very important half truth to his two "friends"…

"I died, Naruto. That's what happened. When I woke up in the hospital, surrounded by my family I'd been sure I would never ever see again… It was like a revelation," he said genuinely, not looking away from the thoughtful blue eyes. "I realized then that I cannot allow something like that to happen again no matter what. That's why I decided that all the stupid games must end," he then turned away, picking a towel and wiping his wet hair. "As of now, I'm far too weak to keep up with this reality. At this rate, I'm doomed to either die myself soon, or to lead some of you to death. Neither is acceptable," he put the cloth back on the couch and took a random black shirt from the pile. "Therefore you may consider what happened to me a second birth. Do not expect me to be the same as before, it won't happen."

Naruto slowly nodded, putting the magazine away and sighing.

"Well, it's about time, to be honest," he grinned, "I'm glad that you've decided to start taking your life seriously. We are shinobi, Sasuke," he looked at him with the familiar wisdom and grief the Uchiha had once seen in his eyes... back at the Valley of the End, when they were both about to die. "No matter what we believe in or what we want to achieve, our lives are very fragile and can end any second, and you won't even know what hit you. We shouldn't waste it the way we did until now, I always told you."

You always told me…? Sasuke fought the urge to shake his head. At this point, nothing there was really surprising, but it was still absurd enough for him to want to laugh sometimes…

"Yeah… I guess you two have a point," said Neji, "But, we can still rest and have fun sometimes, don't you think so? I mean, we don't have to purposely make our lives harder than they already are. Everything is good in moderation, you know."

Naruto nodded.

"Yep. Agreed. Still, I'm really glad that you finally changed your views, Sasuke. And also…," he smiled and for the first time throughout their conversation his face and his posture seemed completely relaxed, "I'm really glad to see you alive."

The Uchiha couldn't help but grin at him. Everything had gone exactly according to his plan, apparently. They had taken his bait, and now he had far more liberty in his behavior. Well, at least around these two… which was already a very big accomplishment considering that they were supposed to be his best friends. All that remained now was to settle things with his own family… and that Hyūga girl, too.

"Boys, come over here and bring your tea as well! Dinner is ready, and we don't have much time left before they arrive!" yelled Kushina from the kitchen, and the three of them made haste to put themselves in order before coming to the call.

The dinner table was already full of amazingly looking dishes despite the woman still cooking something, which instantly made Sasuke's stomach grumble in anticipation. Even by the delicious smell alone, he could say for sure that Naruto's mother was very good at this. Still inferior to Uchiha Mikoto, of course, but…

"Are these for us?" he asked without a second thought, pointing at the few bottles of drinks in the middle of the table, both light and heavy ones according to the kanji on them.

"Why, of course. I always thought it would be an awesome idea to let Naruto, my best friend's son and their buddy get wasted randomly. Shut up and eat, dummy!" she gave him a light slap on the nape, putting the plate with onigiri in front of Sasuke who winced and took his seat then, beginning to eat right the way as the hunger hit him with its full power.

"Are we expecting a lot of guests, mom? asked Naruto, chewing his home made ramen lazily and giving the woman a curious glance.

"Dunno! Minato said in the message that he will come with somebody, but he didn't clarify how many of them are coming. Very thoughtful of him, eh?" she groaned, stirring something in the saucepan.

"Meh… you don't have to try so hard then, you know."

"Na-mi-ka-ze Na-ru-to! If it's important for your father's job, then it's important for our entire family. Why is it always so hard for you to understand?" she asked irritatedly without looking at them.

Namikaze…? Of course. The Fourth's surname… Uzumaki had to be his mother's clan, hence the red hair and this incredibly potent chakra. Although she was also the jinchūriki of the other half of Kyūbi...

The blond rolled his eyes and snorted contemptuously.

"Yeah… stupid job for losers," he muttered so quietly that the Uchiha could barely hear him but, it was still more than surprising, especially coming from him of all people. Apparently, this version of Naruto wasn't very fond of the idea of being Hokage… It was just too strange but, at the same time, it also made sense. After all, he'd had to change in some way, being raised in a loving family with his own father having that very job, so he probably knew what he was talking about.

"Did you just say something, young man?" Kushina turned her head at her son and narrowed her eyes at him threateningly, making the boy swallow and smile nervously.

"No, nothing at all, mom."

"Good. Now eat and keep your mouth shut, your nagging is distracting me!"

"Fine, fine…"

For some time, they just kept eating silently, enjoying the food prepared by the energetic woman who was now humming some song to herself, keeping making arrangements for her husband's return. Sasuke was still deep in his thought, both amused by how smoothly things were going so far and also still trying to comprehend it all and to get over the nuances of this new world, struggling to accept the fact that almost everyone he had ever known was now different in one way or another. He realized that there was nothing he could do with it, of course, but it was still pretty hard to stop getting surprised by this and that… Especially after everything he'd suffered before which made him constantly expect something nasty to happen anytime and anywhere. The boy just couldn't get along with how impossibly peaceful everything around him seemed now… would he ever learn to?

His thought got interrupted by a knock on the entrance door, causing Kushina to accidentally drop her ladle on the table and rush towards the hall, followed by Naruto and Neji's curious gazes.

The voices Sasuke heard a second later were familiar, both of them. And until one of the ninjas entered the kitchen, he hadn't realized who was the owner of the deeper one. But, he recognized the huge shinobi the very second he saw him and, remembering their very first encounter back in the other world as well as realizing how utterly powerless he was next to this person right now, Sasuke suddenly felt the uprising panic filling his being.

"Yo, brats. How's it going? Still slender like girls, I see," the massive dark skinned ninja barked, waving at them and taking the seat next to Neji. "Been a while, Naruto."

"Hey, uncle Ay," the boy smiled. "Now I can see why there is so much beverage on the table today."

"Ha! Jelly? I guess Kushina won't let you have a drink with us, as always. How old are you anyway? Thirteen?"

"Ten," Naruto smirked sarcastically, making the older shinobi laugh.

"Figured as much, your looks say it all! Get some muscle mass already, little wimp," he then looked at Neji who paled a little bit under the gloomy gaze, clearly unused to being in informal setting with officials of such caliber. "And you are a Hyūga. I don't recall old man Hiashi having a boy of your age. Then you are…"

"I'm from the Branch House, Raikage-sama," the boy smiled politely, to which the older ninja snorted and looked away.

"Atrocity…"

Sasuke looked closely at the man, finally managing to suppress his feelings as the so utterly familiar and comfortable wrath rapidly replaced everything else in his heart. He had never liked this Raikage, and it had been mutual. One shouldn't get his reasoning wrong, for he didn't really care about Neji's feelings at all. But, he still had to play the role of his friend, didn't he? It was also a very nice opportunity to finally let off some steam, on top of that. He needed to get rid of the overwhelming frustration, he desperately needed to become himself, even if only for a brief time. Besides, he had defeated this man once before. Even though he was at a very big disadvantage right now, realizing that he was no match for Ay right now, his pride simply couldn't allow him to fear this man and to let him freely insult anybody around.

"This atrocity is worth a hundred of ninjas from your village, old man," he taunted, looking at Raikage impassively yet not trying to hide his blatantly hostile attitude.

Ay turned to him slowly, eyeing the Uchiha up and down before growling:

"And who the hell are you, boy?"

"His name is Uchiha Sasuke," suddenly said the Hokage who'd just entered the kitchen with Kushina's hand in his own, "He's a promising young man, Ay—"

Sasuke snapped his head in the Fourth's direction and gave him an incredulous look, his eyebrow cocking skeptically. Promising? Me, a dead last? Yeah, sure thing...

"...A very promising one," Minato repeated for some reason, clearly implying something only Raikage would be able to understand, which he apparently did — instead of saying something to counter Sasuke's impudent taunt, he scowled and said:

"Uchiha, huh… Fugaku's brat, then. You resemble him quite a lot now that I think about it, especially by how cocky youare. I heard about your brother, too. Quite some ninja, isn't he? Anyway," his voice slightly softened the tiniest bit, still sounding rather coarsely, "By atrocity, I meant the Branch House of your friend's clan, not himself, kid," he leaned on the back of the wooden stool that cracked dangerously under his mass, "Still, you should watch your tone while talking to your seniors. If you want to live long enough to become someone's senior yourself, that is," his grin was almost friendly, but it was also a little bit threatening which didn't miss Sasuke's eye as he nodded neutrally and said:

"I see. Thanks for the lecture."

Ay laughed loudly while Minato sat next to Naruto and took a pair of chopsticks from the table as Kushina walked toward the stove, and then the Raikage said:

"Anytime, kiddo. I'm always eager to teach an insolent punk a lesson or two."

Before Sasuke would reply, they all heard another sudden knock on the door. Kushina groaned in annoyance, clearly tired of having to constantly meet new guests, unexpected or not, clenching her fists and striding towards the door again.

"How are you feeling, Sasuke-kun? Have you recovered completely yet, after all?" asked Minato compassionately, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Hokage-sama," he replied, receiving an almost fatherly gentle smile.

"No need for formalities here, Sasuke-kun. Minato is fine. Right, Ay?"

"Mhm," Raikage didn't reply, preferring to take a bit of his steak instead.

"Right…," muttered the Uchiha, "Well, like I said, I'm fine. I should be able to get back on duty soon."

"That's very nice to hear," Minato nodded, picking a bottle of rice wine and unwrapping it. "Still, I would insist on you remaining in the village in the next two weeks as your doctor recommended. We don't want something to go wrong considering everything that'd already happened to you, do we?"

"As you wish," he shrugged, not really caring about the Hokage's decision on the matter. His only desire regarding his nearest future was just to train without pause, and any missions could be considered as merely another type of training, so it didn't matter at all.

"Sasuke-kun! Itachi-kun is here," the Uchiha flinched at Kushina's words, jumping up and turning around as he saw the woman enter the kitchen again as she nodded at some point behind her back. "They are waiting at the door. I invited them to join us, but he said he'd like to talk to you in private, so…"

"Alright," he uttered quietly, walking towards the door on his suddenly numb legs.

Itachi… I'm finally going to meet you again. What kind of a person are you in this reality…?

He pushed the door and walked out of the warm house, squinting at the chilly wind and shuddering a little but not because of cold. For the first time in a very long time, he felt the slippery tendrils of fear creeping into his heart as soon as he met his older brother's shrewd, worried gaze. And next to him...

He fought the urge to scowl in irritation as he met the gaze of her anxious and at the same time still slightly angry white eyes.

Well, to be fair, it was impossible for everything he had planned to go perfectly. Something was doomed to screw up and, apparently, the time has come. At least he was pretty sure of it now as he looked at his brother and the girl who was standing right next to him, covering both of them from rain with a black umbrella.

"Sasuke."

"Itachi…"

They stared at each other silently for a while, neither of them realizing what was really going on in the other's head which Sasuke found quite ironical considering that it had always been this way no matter the world.

"It's good to see you alive and well," finally said the older Uchiha.

"Yeah, I'm glad to see you too," replied Sasuke calmly, to which his brother smiled softly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Why?"

"Why? Really?" asked the girl, frowning at him. "That's a silly question even for you, given everything that's happened."

He gave her a short indifferent gaze before looking back at Itachi.

"I'm good, nī-san. There is nothing for you to worry about."

"Is that so?" suddenly asked his sibling, nodding at Hinata, "Sasuke, do you recognize her?"

The younger shinobi frowned at the unexpected question, rapidly thinking on the possible reasons behind it. Was this another amnesia test…? Or… oh, no! He almost cursed, barely able to keep his impassive mask on.

This was a checkmate. Well, not literally, but in a way it definitely was. He had planned to pull the amnesia excuse on the Hyūga but not on his brother! Itachi was far smarter than most, and he also knew him better than anyone else, so could see through his lies with ease, Sasuke was sure… He couldn't allow Itachi to find out that he didn't remember, or rather didn't know a lot of things about their lives and their past. It could lead to absolutely unpredictable, even catastrophic consequences... At the same time, if he now said that he had actually recognized Hinata back when they met for the first time… One didn't have to be very smart to realize that it would absolutely infuriate her, and his chances of repairing this bond would drop to zero...

It was a bit troublesome to make this choice, but he knew that it was unavoidable in any case. After all, feelings of one girl he didn't even care about weren't any important in comparison to everything else that was at stake. The risks were just too high. Therefore…

"Of course I do. This is Hyūga Hinata, our teammate. Are you done with this stupid interrogation already? This is getting annoying."

He had presumed that her reaction would be bad, but he hadn't expected anything like what happened next. In truth, back when they'd clashed a couple hours ago, she'd reminded him of Sakura, particularly of the pink haired girl's explosive and overly expressive personality. Logically, he was now expecting her to insult him, maybe even hit him the way Sakura had always done with Naruto back in his world… In other words, to show the temper he expected her to have.

Instead she just narrowed her eyes at him thoughtfully, remaining mute for a while. But, just as Itachi was about to open his mouth and say something, she uttered quietly and softly:

"At first, I believed that you were nothing but an empty shell... That you were incapable of caring about anything but your own pointless whims. Then, for some reason, I was naive enough to assume that there was something good behind this shell… Something noble and great. But now...," as weird as it was, although it seemed like she was about to start crying, her eyes also told him something else. Something that instantly made the boy realize that what he'd told her back in the Uchiha district, in fact, had very little to do with her true feelings for him, "Now I can see that I was both wrong and right. You are not an empty shell, Sasuke. You're just full of crap, and you make me sick," having said this, she handed the umbrella to Itachi and disappeared with a Shunshin.

The older Uchiha let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head.

"Sasuke… let's go for a walk."

"Alright."

He followed his brother automatically, a little surprised and puzzled by what'd just happened. He'd clearly misinterpreted his new female teammate's personality by comparing her to Sakura. Whereas his former teammate from the other world used to be a lot of things, most notably, she was a rather unpretentious bipolar girl who never knew what she really wanted. What she'd always truly lacked was depth, for all her feelings and desires were just too superficial and so utterly predictable that he'd always known what she would say before she would even open her mouth. Her ambitions came from these quite simple desires, such as not being a burden to anyone and winning his own heart, ready to do anything for this sake no matter how much he repelled her, even falling so low as to humiliate herself by begging him to return after he had tried to kill her. It made her boring and uninteresting to him in spite of the talent she'd admittedly possessed, let alone being quite annoying in general just like most of Konoha's kunoichi.

On the contrary, this girl... After all, she turned to be nothing like Sakura nor like any other female he could remember and for him, that was the most curious part there. He had yet to find out why, but it was now more than clear to the ninja. He couldn't confuse that look she'd given him with anything else. Behind the strong aura of purity and her seemingly soft exterior, he had felt the seed of very familiar corruption that had long ago become his best friend and his greatest ally.

It was hatred.

A/N

Raiton — Lightning Release;

Chidori Nagashi — also known as Chidori Current; a ninjutsu that was developed by Uchiha Sasuke while he was training with Orochimaru, the detailed description can be found in the text of the chapter;

Kaiten — short from "Hakkeshō Kaiten", a secret taijutsu that is orally handed down only within the main house of the Hyūga clan. This technique utilises the chakra control gained through Gentle Fist training to release a huge amount of chakra from all the chakra points on the user's body. It is also a defensive manoeuvre as the released chakra blocks any possible attack on the user. After releasing chakra from every tenketsu in their body, the user then spins rapidly to parry the attack, both creating a rotating shield of chakra around themselves and tossing away any nearby attackers. The user can also actively control the size and power of the sphere to suit the situation. The technique is also capable of reflecting an opponent's chakra against them.

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Here we go—another chapter. Thank you for all the reviews! In response, I'd like to clarify one moment that seems to confuse some of you. This is not exactly the RTN universe. Yes, the idea of this story is based on that concept, and there are similarities as I took some references and stuff but, this is just a different timeline of the canon universe. Simply put, certain events here went differently than they did in canon, and all the further changes (including those in some characters' personalities) are due to just that. There won't be any meaningless or unexplained changes such as turning a character completely upside down for no reason just for fun. And, of course, ultimately I will reveal what exactly is the initiate cause of all the changes in this timeline.

With that said, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Chapter 4. Uchiha

Sasuke was trying really hard to force himself to appear completely impassive and indifferent as they walked across the still crowded streets of Konoha in complete silence. Not only was it so difficult not to stare at his brother after everything that'd happened between them in the other world; the suspense that was only increasing every second as they strode side by side without saying a word was getting on his nerves more and more with each passing moment, and the young Uchiha couldn't do anything to get rid of the maddening sensation. Naturally, when he finally started to feel overwhelmed, he finally glared at Itachi and grumbled:

"So what's the deal?"

The older ninja glanced at him with a note of surprise in the dark eyes before returning his gaze to the road ahead.

"You tell me."

Sasuke sighed quietly. What exactly was he supposed to say now? Would Itachi buy it if he just said that he genuinely found his female teammate annoying, which was true? Would that satisfy his brother's curiosity...? Given that he was now also their sensei and their teammate, the situation between him and the Hyūga was most likely what he viewed as said 'deal'.

He gritted his teeth, gulping down nervously. No, everyone he had encountered so far had clearly found his recent behavior very unusual at the very least in spite of all his attempts at being more cheerful and friendly to them. He needed to come up with something else… something that would make all the possible suspicions Itachi now had concerning him vanish once and for all. The question was, what could make it happen...? Was there a safe way out of this situation at all?

"If this is about her, then I don't want to talk about it," he deadpanned then, carefully watching his brother's reaction with his lateral vision.

To his surprise and relief, the shinobi smiled and hemmed quietly before looking at Sasuke again and uttering:

"I figured that you wouldn't tell me what had happened between the two of you. Don't worry, little brother. I'm not going to push on this matter, the details of your relationship with her are none of my concern. However," he looked away again, "I hope you do realize how this quarrel of yours will inevitably affect our team if you don't settle things between you and Hinata as soon as possible."

Sasuke snorted contemptuously, turning his head away from him as if to study the buildings to his right.

"I wasn't the one who started it," he muttered after a few seconds of silent thinking.

"Uh huh…," Itachi hemmed ambiguously again, not saying anything.

The boy almost cursed at his response. His brother clearly knew something relevant about said relationship. He needed to make him spill this information somehow… At the moment, everyone seemed to be merely uncertain and baffled by his behavior, wondering about his current agenda. He had to learn as much as possible and get prepared before someone would figure out that something was seriously wrong with him...

"Hn…," he frowned, "You weren't there, so you don't know a thing."

"True," agreed Itachi, "However, I was there when you pushed her out of the shock wave and then got hit yourself as you tried to protect us, so you might as well skip whatever you have on your mind to feed me with. I know that you care for her, and this is all that really matters to me as your teammate and as your mentor."

Care for her…? Hardly. Sure, the girl was somewhat interesting compared to most of her peers but, nothing more. Still, it was a valuable piece of information, even if it was just a minor thing... A lot of such pieces could eventually form a complete picture of something major.

"Sasuke… Like I said, I'm not going to meddle into this. Perhaps, it is not the rightest thing for me to do as your sensei but, I don't believe that I have a right to lecture you about the way you want to live your life. Same goes for her, obviously. Still, as your brother," he lowered his voice a bit as the familiar gates that led to their clan's territory loomed on the horizon by the end of the avenue, "I really want you to reconsider more than a few things regarding your attitude."

"Such as?" he asked a bit cockily but, apparently, it was exactly the expected response as Itachi's lips curved into a small smile. "I don't need your advises when it comes to the way I treat the girl," added Sasuke.

"No, it's not about your personal life at all," said Itachi calmly, instantly making his younger sibling blush, for that was definitely not what he had implied, "It's about the way you seem to view people around yourself. I don't think you realize the meaning of it but... you almost died, Sasuke. No… you actually did. And you probably have no idea about how much did it affect all of us… Me, tō-san, kā-san. Naruto-kun and Hinata, too."

Sasuke slowly narrowed his eyes, squinting at him suspiciously. Something in his tone wasn't right… What was he trying to say?

"Look," Itachi stopped then, turning to face Sasuke with a very serious and concerned expression, "Contrary to what you might believe, we all deeply care for you. And not just our clan but Team Seven, too."

"And… the point emerges?" He scowled, making the other ninja sigh patiently.

"The point is that we all thought, even though it was for a brief moment, that we had lost you, Sasuke. And that was absolutely heartbreaking to each of us including Hinata. No matter what had happened between the two of you, I believe that treating her like a nobody is really cruel on your part. Do you honestly think that she deserves it? Had she truly done something absolutely unforgivable to you? Or... perhaps, it's the other way around?"

Sasuke blinked in disbelief. It was really hard not to let out a sigh of relief at his words. Exactly as he had predicted, his conflict with the girl was the thing that was bothering Itachi more than anything everything else in this situation, which was a rather encouraging sign. Clearly, his brother was under the assumption that there was something complicated between him and the Hyūga… Albeit Sasuke had no idea if that was actually true or not, he reckoned that, perhaps, it would be wise to use it as the trump card in this conversation.

"Yeah, I realize that she probably doesn't deserve it. However, it doesn't really matter what she thinks about me at this point," the sudden idea flashed in his head, almost making him grin in triumph as he continued impassively, "She has become an obstacle for me."

Itachi's eyes widened in surprise as he uttered worriedly, sounding cautious:

"Obstacle…? In what way?"

"The last mission showed it clearly that if I remain on this current level any longer, I will die again very soon, and I'm pretty sure that there will be no miraculous return for me this time," Itachi frowned but didn't interrupt him, listening carefully as Sasuke continued, "When I woke up earlier today, I realized that I need to become much stronger, and now it's not about the clan, the pride or satisfying someone's aspirations or about being envious of you, nī-san. It's about me and my own life, the very life you've just said you all value so much. Therefore…," he looked away, resuming to walking towards their home, "I won't let any girls distract me from my ninja way anymore. And by any, I mean Hinata as well."

It took only a couple seconds for Itachi to catch up with him, keeping walking quietly along his way before saying:

"Funny. You always said that you had no ninja way, and you seemed to be quite proud of this idea. I thought you believed that it made you unique."

"Times change," he replied laconically, noticing that Itachi grinned at his words.

"That they do… And what exactly is your ninja way now?"

He scowled. That was a good question. For a very long time, it had been revenge, hatred and destruction. A lot of things had happened before it eventually became the idea of the revolution instead… And then his life had changed dramatically again... no, rather a new one had begun. And what exactly did he want now? Was it redemption...? No… what was done was done, he knew that there was no way he could excuse all of his sins or erase the past.

But... then what? Back at the Valley of the End, Naruto had managed to persuade him that the idea of the artificial peace caused by him uniting the world through fear of his might and terror was just as illusionary as the the peace created by Infinite Tsukuyomi. Did he even have a right to direct the destiny of the world now that his ideology had failed?

Naruto has already fulfilled his part of the prophecy... And he has entrusted the future to you. It is now your turn to become the savior.

Sasuke lowered his head a the memory. The Sage was right. He still wanted to change the world for the better. No... he had to, it was his destiny, there was no doubt lingering. And just as it was with all the power he now lacked and intended to reclaim one day, if he wanted to do make it happen, he needed to start with something smaller first. Perhaps... something he had sworn to protect? To erase the darkness from its heart and to cure it...

In other words, he needed to change Konohagakure. Let it be this version of the village for the lack of another one... And now that Hagoromo and Naruto had entrusted everything to him, without his friend being around to claim that position, there was only one possible way...

"I will become Hokage," he voiced this sudden conclusion that was a big revelation even to himself, making Itachi stare at him in shock.

"Hokage, you say…?"

For a while, they both remained mute, each deep in his thought. Sasuke didn't know what exactly was his sibling thinking now, although he could imagine it roughly. Was it wise for him to had announced his goal aloud like that…? Surely, it was a very good explanation of him suddenly beginning to chase power and willing to get rid of all the distractions, yet still...

"I think you misunderstand, little brother. You don't become Hokage to make everyone acknowledge you. But, becoming acknowledged by everyone can make you Hokage."

Sasuke frowned as they passed through the gate, ignoring a few people on their way who waved and smiled at him happily as they noticed the boy.

"Yeah, I'm aware of that," he muttered.

Was that what his brother thought of him…? That he merely wanted to get someone's attention and respect? The former owner of his body had definitely been more than just pitiful… Strangely, it also reminded him of Naruto from his world a little bit. The huge difference there, however, was that his friend had actually worked like there was no tomorrow to achieve this goal instead of chilling and enjoying the company of fan girls, doing nothing useful and just slowly degrading...

"Then why do you want it now all of sudden? Since your very childhood, you kept trying your best to get acknowledged and praised by everyone you met. What changed?"

Sasuke lowered his head. He couldn't tell him the exact reason. He just couldn't, even had he wanted to, which he did't. It was absolutely impossible to describe everything he had experienced in his previous life... How was he supposed to tell Itachi about all the pain that still burned deep in his heart, slowly incinerating him from the inside? All that darkness that gripped his throat with its slender, icy fingers whenever he closed his eyes...? All that evil he had encountered and eventually joined…? Moreover, both of them had… And both had only failed in the end.

No, revealing it in any way was absolutely not an option. In his past, Itachi had sacrificed everything to protect him from the horrible truth. It was now his turn to repay his debt… He would be the one protecting his brother, his family, and the entire shinobi world this time. This was only his burden to bear.

Then... What else could he come up with? What would sound convincing, coming from someone like the moron he was supposed to pretend to be…?

"Why do you care?" he decided to parry, thus winning himself a bit more time to think on his answer.

Clearly, Itachi didn't like his response as he sighed sadly.

"Sasuke… I remember our previous conversation about your picture of the world. I also remember how you said that you think you are irrelevant, not being the heir to our clan and always ending up being a disappointment to everyone. But you are wrong. You—"

"I don't care what any of you guys thinks about me and my goals anymore. We all know the truth, there is no point to deny it. Until now, I've been horribly weak and absolutely miserable. And I'm long past the point of being the kid who always tried desperately to receive a praise from his father and to get his brother's attention. And the clan… You are the one who is supposed to take care of it, nī-san," he said calmly, lowering his voice a bit as they were approaching a few of their clansmen who were walking in their direction, "Don't get me wrong, I will do whatever I can for the sake of my family. However, I've also chosen my own path, and I will walk it whether you all like it or not. As for my reasons…," for the first time in a long time, he smiled with genuine happiness on his face as well as the long forgotten tranquility in his heart, "Maybe I will tell you one day. It doesn't really matter right now."

Yes, that was it. He had finally found one of the most important answers. He now knew what exactly did he have to do, and this realization felt absolutely astonishing. As if someone had just taken incredibly strong and heavy shackles off him, letting him breathe the fresh air deeply for the first time in a very long time...

Itachi sighed again, smiling uncertainly.

"Suit yourself, Sasuke. Just be careful, this is all I'm asking for. And I still want you to fix your relationship with Hinata no matter what. You don't have to be close to her but, at least be civilized. You may not be friends, yet you are still teammates. We all are, and this is more important than anything else if we want to survive what is to come."

"Yeah. I know," Sasuke nodded seriously, "I'll figure something—"

"Sasuke-onī-chan!" the sudden squeal behind his back made him flinch as someone hugged him tightly from behind, making the boy turn his head to glance over his shoulder at the black haired thin girl with exotic purple markings on her cheeks. "You are back! I'm so happy that you are back!"

"Don't be so noisy, Akame," said Itachi strictly which made the girl instantly let go of his brother, stepping backwards as they both turned to face her.

She wasn't very tall, barely reaching Sasuke's chest. Her clothes were pretty typical for an average Uchiha of her age, with a buttoned white blouse and a long dark gray skirt, as well as simple glasses on her nose. She appeared to be pretty young, probably not older than twelve… and also very, very cheerful which, on the contrary, wasn't very typical for someone who belonged to their clan.

She fixed the wild spiky hair that reached her shoulder blades and then clapped her hands in front of her, bowing her head and blushing.

"Sorry, Itachi-onī-san! It's just that I'm so, so-o-o happy!"

His features softened a little bit as he said:

"I know. We all are, yet it's not a reason to cause a fuss," the older ninja reasoned, looking around and nodding quickly to a small company of shinobi who passed by and greeted him and Sasuke quietly. "Have you prepared for your exam?"

"Yep!" she nodded in excitement. "I hope I end up in a nice team! I like almost everyone in my class! Well, except Tamaki, he—"

"Akame, sweetie, I thought I told you to wash the dishes, didn't I?" the soft voice of a beautiful woman with similar markings on her cheeks made Sasuke turn his head towards the nearest house, examining her appearance carefully.

She wasn't very old, maybe a bit past thirty. Wearing a light yellow attire, all in all she resembled the girl clearly, except her hair was a bit shorter and it was also dark brown instead of black, just like her eyes.

"I know, mom! But, I saw Sasuke-onī-chan through the window, and…!"

"It's still not a good reason to go out without permission. You were in detention, young lady," the woman crossed her hands on her prominent chest, frowning. "Go back to kitchen now and stop bothering Sasuke-kun, he needs rest and silence."

"But—!"

"No buts. Go! Or else I'll tell your dad that you have stolen those sweets from the market."

"Fine, fine…," the girl groaned, winking at Sasuke and Itachi furtively before rushing back towards her house.

"Thanks, Rin," Itachi smiled politely at the woman then, "She can be a bit hyperactive sometimes."

"Well, like father like child," the woman giggled, moving her gaze to his younger brother. "How are you feeling, Sasuke-kun?"

"Decent, thanks," he replied calmly, trying to maintain a neutral and tired expression and afraid to somehow give away the fact that he had no idea who this person was—apparently, she had no Uchiha blood in her veins, because he couldn't remember her face at all.

But, then again… He couldn't remember her daughter either, even though she was just a couple years younger than him! But why...?

"Very good," she nodded, her smile widening. "Please make sure to recover completely soon, will you? Anyway, I will not detain you two anymore, I still need to finish cooking the welcome back dinner for my husband. Besides, we need to celebrate the summit, don't we?"

"Hasn't he returned from his mission yet? I need to discuss a few important things with him," said Itachi, which made the woman look at her watch.

"Not yet, unfortunately… But, he promised to come back tonight, so… we are waiting," she smiled hopefully, looking at Itachi again. "Shall I tell him to pay you a visit, or…?"

"No, please don't bother. He'll most likely be tired and he needs to spend some time with you and Akame. I'll drop by tomorrow if you don't mind."

The woman nodded, the smile never leaving her cheerful face.

"Of course! Please be our guest whenever you like, Itachi-kun. I'll be going now if you don't mind. Have a nice evening!" she waved at them and winked, turning around and disappearing inside her house.

"Akame…," muttered Sasuke then as they continued walking, "Her name. Why is it so… vulgar?" he asked carefully, hoping that he hadn't asked this question before. The girl's name literally meant 'red eyed', which he found a bit lame considering that she was an Uchiha.

"It's because of the way she was right after her birth," said Itachi, opening the wooden wicket that led to the courtyard of their home. "Unlike it usually happens to those who is born into our clan, her Sharingan was already activated when she took her first breath."

Sasuke hemmed, partly relieved that Itachi hadn't found his question any suspicious.

"Interesting. I guess it means that she is naturally talented."

"Not really," said Itachi, "So far, she's been below average when it comes to her combat skills and intelligence, and her Sharingan hasn't evolved at all since the day she was born."

"Hn. So it didn't really mean anything at the end of the day… I see," replied Sasuke thoughtfully as they entered the house.

"I believe that it's just a mutation but, who knows," his brother took his sandals off, "You never know what to expect from dead lasts, sometimes they can surprise you when you least expect it."

Oh, you have no idea…

"Itachi! Is that you? Sasuke is—ah!" Mikoto gasped as she showed up from the wooden stairs, quickly rushing towards her younger son and then hugging him tightly as she pecked his cheek.

"Silly, silly boy! Why did you leave the house alone, son? Do you know how much did it scare us to see your room empty when we came home? This was so reckless and irresponsible of you…!" she almost sobbed, instantly making Sasuke feel really bad which was rare for him. After all, no matter the world, this woman was still the same—his loving and caring mother. He didn't want to make her upset by any means… Never.

"I'm sorry, kā-san. Nobody was here when I woke up, so I decided to…," he glanced cautiously at Itachi who was staying next to them with a deadpan face, "...go for a walk," he finished, smiling awkwardly as the woman shook her head at him and sighed.

"What a knucklehead… Honestly, your friends have influenced you too much, I'll have to talk to Kushina-chan about it later! Ah, what on earth am I thinking… Are you two hungry?" she looked at Itachi who shrugged indifferently. "I'll go and cook something for us. Fugaku! They are home! Sasuke is fine!"

Both brothers looked at the stair simultaneously as their father descended from the second floor with a grim face, eyeing his younger son up and down as he approached them slowly, stopping right in front of them while Mikoto quickly disappeared in the kitchen.

"Sasuke."

"Tō-san…"

They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like a small eternity, both remaining mute and each refusing to be the first one to stop this silent visual duel. Fugaku could see that his child was clearly feeling uncomfortable next to him, looking pretty nervous and lost, although the man, of course, had no idea what was the true reason behind Sasuke's mild reaction to his presence.

And the boy himself… Even without knowing what kind of relationship had he had with his father in this reality, he could already feel that it was most likely nothing good, judging by the greeting that was frankly far too dry even for someone like Uchiha Fugaku, and by the conflicted look the man was giving him at the moment. The look that was promising trouble...

"I'm glad to see you alive."

"Likewise," replied Sasuke instantly, scolding himself silently the next second for being unable to hold back the irony in his tone. Perhaps, it was the fact that this long awaited meeting was totally nothing like he would want it to be… He was feeling angry and tired, and he absolutely needed a break. Having received so much information and new impressions in just one day, all he could dream of right now was to just getting left alone. And all he could do in this situation was to keep trying not to say something that would compromise him any more...

"Son…," Fugaku sighed, putting his heavy hand on his shoulder. "I know that during the last few years, we weren't on very good terms, and I'm not going to deny that I'm partially to blame for it. I admit that I payed too little attention to you and to your life lately… I promise that it is going to change. However," he scowled, gripping the boy's shoulder tighter, "I must insist that you have to start taking your duty in particular and everything in general a lot more seriously. You are a ninja, Sasuke. And, on top of that, you are an Uchiha. More so, you are my son," his features softened a bit as the boy's eyes widened at the last line. He couldn't utter a word at the unexpected gesture of tenderness, something he had never received from this man before. "Contrary to what you probably think, your life is very important. Make sure to preserve it from now on."

"I'll do my best," he replied dryly, receiving a short nod in response as Fugaku took his hand off him.

"I hope so. Go and rest now, there is some time while your mother is preparing food for us. I need to talk to your brother tete-a-tete meanwhile."

"Alright." He walked towards the stairs, feeling dizzy again and rubbing his temple. All this was just too much… He knew that he had deserved far worse, so he wasn't going to complain, not even silently to himself. Yet still, Sasuke realized that he was about to reach his limit. He was far too overwhelmed with emotions, feelings and thoughts… He truly needed to stay alone for a while and to think thoroughly over everything that had happened.

No… Actually, he would prefer to take a nap first.

-~X~-

"So… have you talked to him?" muttered Fugaku, locking his hands in front of his face as he was sitting at his desk and looking at his son gloomily.

"Yes, tō-san."

"And? Your conclusion?" asked the man, sounding a bit impatient.

Itachi frowned. He wasn't sure about anything just yet, for Sasuke's behavior had certainly been far too weird and quaint to allow him to jump to any conclusions so soon. Still, he had a few ideas on his mind, and knowing that Fugaku was adamant in his desire to know everything about his younger son's current status, the ninja uttered:

"He told me that he had decided to change his life. He wants to become stronger now, and… It might be just my impression but, I believe that he also decided to stop paying so much attention to girls and his other passions, focusing on his new goal instead."

"His goal?" His father repeated curiously.

"Yes. He has declared that he wants to become Hokage."

Fugaku's eyes widened as he almost chocked, leaning on the back of his chair and blinking a few times before murmuring:

"Are you sure he wasn't kidding…? This is just ridiculous..."

"I am," Itachi nodded. "In truth, I'd never seen him being so serious prior to this conversation. However, he refused to tell me why exactly does he want it. I decided not to push, for it never leads to any good when it comes to Sasuke as you well know."

The clan's head sighed, shaking his head and closing his eyes.

"I wish it doesn't turn to be another meaningless whim of his… And yet, for Sasuke of all people to aspire to become Hokage… Doesn't he realize that it's just too unrealistic?"

"No… Actually, tō-san… I'm not sure what exactly it was, although I have a hypothesis... But, I'm positive that something has changed him. You have talked to him yourself, didn't you notice it? It's in his eyes… in his expression. In the way he speaks now."

"Yes... I noticed that something was indeed off with him," the man nodded, scratching his chin thoughtfully before looking back at his son. "What do you think it is? A consequence of his trauma?"

"No, I doubt that," Itachi lowered his head. "I don't fully understand how it could happen, but… I believe that he has awakened Mangekyō Sharingan."

"What…?" Fugaku gasped, and then narrowed his eyes at him. "Explain."

"Well…," the younger ninja paused, still not looking directly at his father, "You told me that it's typical for an Uchiha to reconsider their life once they have awakened it. Becoming more cold and harsh for a while is also a known side effect, isn't it?"

The man hemmed.

"True, but it could've happened for a dozen other reasons. What makes you think it's that case, exactly?"

"A few reasons… First of all, I reckon he has, or at least had strong feelings for his teammate, Hyūga Hinata. I told you before—when she received a heavy wound during our last mission, he realized that she won't be able to run away by herself and thus he decided to protect her from our target and also to let the rest of us get away, deliberately sacrificing himself in the process. I believe that it's possible that the idea of her, or, perhaps, all of us, possibly dying caused him to awaken that power."

"Anything else?" Fugaku's brow cocked skeptically. Whereas he was aware of his younger son's passion for his female peers, he honestly doubted that a mere thought of the probable loss of one girl could have affected the boy so much.

"Yes… It's his chakra."

"Hm-m?" Now that seemed to have picked the man's interest.

"The chakra flow in his head… It's similar to ours," said Itachi.

"Uh huh…" Now that changed everything. If it was true (and Fugaku had no reason not to believe Itachi), then it certainly seemed like Sasuke had awakened Mangekyō Sharingan, after all. "Why has he not told us anything about it yet, then?"

"He might not know about it himself. Remember, he has just awakened from coma, I doubt he had any opportunity to test it. Beside that... Sadly, I don't think he trusts us enough," said Itachi bitterly. "You know what he thinks about the clan… and about you, with due respect, tō-san" he added, which made Fugaku let out a long and heavy sigh, covering his face with his hands and rubbing it tiredly.

"I suppose you have a point…"

"What are we going to do about it?" asked his son a bit abruptly.

"Nothing," said Fugaku, looking at the ceiling of his cabinet thoughtfully. "If he doesn't trust us as you say, you won't be able to force him anyway. Watch him carefully and don't push anything in the next few weeks until his mind will return to its normal state. I don't think we should worry about it just yet; cases like Madara's, when someone who has awakened those eyes goes insane permanently without eventually stabilizing... They are just as rare as yours when nothing happens to their psychic at all."

"Understood," Itachi nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yeah… If it is possible and if you find the circumstances fitting, try to test his limits during the next mission you'll get assigned for together. If there is an opportunity to leave him alone against a foe that is notably stronger than him and to watch the fight from the shadows, do so. If he truly has awakened Mangekyō, he is bound to use it in an extreme situation. And if he hasn't… you should be able to save him. I believe in you, son."

He nodded again.

"Fine… I will try to arrange such situation if it's possible," uttered Itachi, clearly disapproving the suggestion. Evidently, he didn't find the idea of making a test subject out of his beloved little brother any appealing…

On the other hand, their father's order made sense despite sounding so harsh. If Sasuke truly had awakened that power, the consequences of letting him explore its capabilities by himself could be far more dramatic and destructive than those of a fight against a single strong opponent...

-~X~-

"Yo, Sasuke. Back to the mortal land, I see," the distantly familiar voice and the sudden light made the boy's eyes snap open as he turned his head towards the doors of his room and frowned.

There was a middle aged short haired Uchiha dressed in casual clothes, standing there and grinning happily at him. And this man… Unlike with Akame and her mother, Sasuke was dead sure that had definitely seen him before, but where? And when...? He couldn't tell right away.

"Yeah," he replied slowly, desperately trying to remember the ninja's name and squinting at the light. "It's good to be back."

"I would imagine so," the man smirked, coming close to his bed and sitting on it almost habitually. "I've watched your training with Hyūga Neji earlier today. Not bad, not bad at all. I gotta admit that your movements have gotten a lot better since the last time we sparred, and the jutsu you have developed is quite interesting despite its simplicity. Great job, buddy!"

"Thanks…," he blinked, staring at the man with his eyes wide open. "I didn't notice you there…," he uttered perplexedly, to what the man smirked smugly.

"Of course you didn't. Let's not forget that I'm pretty good when it comes to genjutsu, so concealing my presence from two chūnin level guys who were pretty inattentive anyway is nothing, really. And even if you or your friend somehow managed to break out of it… well, you know how fast my Shunshin is," he grinned, and just as he mentioned it, Sasuke almost gasped as he finally remembered his face.

It was Shisui! Itachi's best friend, the one whose Mangekyō Sharingan was arguably the strongest in their generation, and definitely the most desired one among kekkei genkai hunters…!

"I see," he uttered quietly, still staring at the man with awe, "I should've known... Why did you watch us anyway, Shisui?" he deliberately called out his name just in case, in order to let the man know that he actually recognized him.

"I didn't want to bother you, because you seemed to want to stay away from the clan for a while. Still, I couldn't let you walk away freely without watching you, considering your condition and all that. I'm sorry if it bothers you now but, it was only for your own sake," he smiled apologetically.

"No matter…," Sasuke murmured, rising up from his pillow and sitting on the mattress in the lotus pose, "I just wanted to let off some steam, that's all."

"Yeah, I saw it," Shisui grinned at him. "Actually, there is a reason why I came here aside from just wanting to say hello. I understand you decided to become stronger, didn't you?" Sasuke nodded slowly, to which the man smiled even wider than before, "Splendid. I wanted to offer you my help at that. I know that you are too prideful to accept any aid from a member of your family but, if you would like me to teach you a few secrets about your eyes and also to spar with you on a regular basis, I promise that I'll keep this secret. If you want it to stay between just the two of us, that is. And I definitely won't tell Fugaku-sama either way."

"Sure, sounds good," Sasuke shrugged. He didn't really care about keeping it secret, and refusing to use such an amazing opportunity would be plain stupid, likely something his alternative self would've done in this situation. Fortunately, he was a completely different person. Besides, genjutsu had always been his weakest side considering the potential of his eyes in this aspect, especially compared to the mastery of Itachi and Shisui himself who had grown to become a legend thanks to his visual prowess. Besides, training with someone from his clan was exactly what he needed in the nearest future…

"Perfect. I'm gonna go downstairs now if you don't mind, Mikoto-san has almost finished cooking the dinner and I'm hungry as hell. I highly advise you to come as well if you can, the smells are absolutely amazing!" He winked at the boy and got up, walking towards the door.

"No, I'll pass," muttered Sasuke. "I'm not feeling well and I'm not hungry anyway."

It was true. Although he would love to taste something cooked by his mother, he had absolutely no energy to get dressed and to spend the evening in the oppressive situation where he would have to stay on alert every second in fear of saying something suspicious. Besides, he had eaten at Naruto's home.

"Eh, suit yourself. Good night, then!" Shisui switched off the light and walked out then, closing the door behind his back and leaving the boy in silence that was ruined only by the muffled happy voices coming from the first floor.

Sasuke pulled the blanket on his face, closing his eyes again and beginning to melt into his bed.

In spite of feeling incredibly exhausted and still quite lost, he had to admit that things were going pretty smoothly so far. Surely, he had made some of the people baffled and perhaps even slightly aware of him but, he hadn't screwed up anything significant, and his plan was slowly getting set in motion. All that remained now was not to fail at anything else subsequently... And to keep exploring his new life as subtly as possible.

A/N

Otō-sama, otō-san, tō-san, tō-chan — ways for a person to call their father, the degree of formality depending on the exact honorific and presented in descending order here;

Okā-sama, okā-san, kā-san, kā-chan — ways for a person to call their mother, the degree of formality depending on the exact honorific and presented in descending order here;

Onī-sama, onī-san, nī-san, nī-chan — ways for a person to call their brother, the degree of formality depending on the exact honorific and presented in descending order here;

Onē-sama, onē-san, nē-san, nē-chan — ways for a person to call their sister, the degree of formality depending on the exact honorific and presented in descending order here.

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Now then, the introduction part of the story is finally over. The reader in me realizes that seeing Sasuke still camped in Konoha may be frustrating to some of you, but I can assure you that the action is about to begin. I'd also like to mention that although some of you seem to have concerns regarding the probability of me bashing certain characters—you may rest assured, that's not going to happen. The only reason why I dislike certain canon characters is because they are poorly written and underdeveloped in my opinion, and I intend to fix it here in this story, not the other way around.

Chapter 5. To Break His Heart

"Hmpf! What's up with you and these blows? Honestly, you're hitting weaker than Hanabi!" Hinata certainly sounded very displeased as she blocked a few of his attacks with her Jūken effortlessly, aiming at Neji's head the next second as he made a somersault backwards, dodging her strike with equal easiness.

"Oi! I'm not that weak!" blurted out the girl who was sitting on the broad porch not far away from them, leaning her chin on her hands and watching the two of them lazily.

"No, you're not. You're merely too young yet, Hanabi-sama. That will change," replied Neji, winking at her as the child groaned, and then turning back to her older sister. "I'm not in the best shape this morning, Hinata-sama," he grinned smugly, taking the standard battle stance again. "Or, perhaps, you're just too good yourself, for I find it a bit hard to match you right now."

"Bull crap. I can see it clearly that you're just trying to subterfuge. What's the deal? Tell me." She scowled, putting her hands on her waist.

"Oh, it's nothing… Well, almost." He lowered his eyes in pretentious shyness, suppressing his smile at her obviously uprising irritation.

"Say it now! I'm not Ino-chan, don't play these games with me," she demanded, to which he raised his hands in an accommodating spirit. Truly, unlike the Yamanaka girl, Hinata hated it whenever he tried to tease her.

"Fine, fine. It's just that, Hinata-sama... I wanted to ask you to do me a favor. Let's say… as a birthday present, how about that?"

Her dark blue eyebrow raised a bit.

"Your birthday is still three weeks away."

"Yeah, well... in advance, then," he chuckled as the girl rolled her eyes.

"Whatever… so what's the deal? Spill it already."

"I wanted to ask you to join us at the party we're hosting tonight."

"A party?" she blinked in surprise. "In honor of what? And who are these we?"

"Naruto-kun and I," said Neji honestly, wiping nonexistent dust off his white sleeve. "We just wanted to celebrate Sasuke's return, that's all. Besides, it's been a while since the last time we all gathered to chill somewhere together, and everyone else has already promised to come," he reasoned as the kunoichi sighed skeptically.

"I see. And what does this party have to do with you not wanting to spar as usual right now?"

He smirked at her and said:

"Well… Assuming that you would agree, I didn't want to damage your pretty face by any chance right before this event. That would be so unfortunate if you had to come there with a bruise or something like that, don't you think so?"

Hinata growled, narrowing her eyes at her cousin.

"You're playing with fire, Neji…!" But, of course, her seemingly angered expression didn't scare him at all.

"Playing with fire…? That's something I can do. So is that a 'yes'?"

She snorted, taking her duel stance again.

"If you manage to defeat me now, I guess I might consider that," said the girl defiantly, charging at him.

"Oh, sounds like we have a deal!" He grinned, realizing that she would come anyway. Had she not wanted to, the answer would've been clear, fair and square.

"Right…," she gave him a barely visible smile, accepting the rules of the game. "However, if something happens to my face because of you, I won't go anywhere!"

"Thought as much... hime-sama." She growled, making him laugh. He knew that Hinata hated it whenever he, of all people, called her that.

"Oh, you better brace yourself…!"

He took out a kunai, throwing it directly at her head the next moment, but the girl didn't even bother to try to change its direction or to dodge it; instead, she made an elegant swirl around herself, easily blocking the attack with Kaiten. However, before she noticed his next motion, her vis-a-vis was already up in the air, forming the familiar hand seals as he took a very deep breath.

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! A huge fireball flew toward Hinata from above, making her gasp perplexedly as she started the rotation again the same second.

The signature technique of the Uchiha clan always worked quite effectively against Hinata and, thanks to his friends, Neji knew it for sure. Whereas the jutsu itself wasn't any dangerous to her as the kunoichi could easily repel it with Kaiten, it still blocked her field of vision for a split second when the fire consumed the cocoon created by the swirl—the flame consisted of chakra, after all, so it gave him a moment to create a diversion this way.

As soon as the fire had dispersed and the girl stopped again, she frowned, not seeing her older cousin anywhere around. Clearly, it confused her enough to lower her hands for a moment, which was exactly what he'd been waiting for. A small boulder that lay a couple meters away from Hinata's left foot turned into a cloud of smoke with a poof and, before the young kunoichi could react, Neji's kunai was already at her throat while he was standing right behind her, making the girl groan in frustration as she realized that she was defeated.

"Can't you fight like a real Hyūga for once? Always relying on childish tricks and on other clan's techniques… This is so unfair," she complained as he lowered his weapon, smirking at her reaction.

"I guess I could. Or, perhaps, you could try to pick my style instead of blindly criticizing it. It was quite effective in this particular situation, don't you think so? And with due respect, Hinata-sama, I reckon you've already mastered all of our clan's common techniques. Whereas you obviously wouldn't fight me seriously in a friendly spar like this, I still believe that you could achieve far more if you…," he squinted cautiously at Hanabi who was listening to them carefully with a very curious expression, "Tried to explore other areas of ninjutsu, if you know what I mean," he almost whispered, clearly implying the unofficially forbidden idea of learning techniques that weren't traditional for their orthodox clan.

"You might have a point, but…," she turned around, meeting his playful gaze with her very serious one, "Generations of our ancestors have been studying ninjutsu and taijutsu, perfecting our style for centuries. Which is why I believe that working on it should have the priority above everything else. Besides, I don't really want to rely on other clan's techniques…," said Hinata slightly contemptuously, striding towards the doors of the mansion, but then stopping for a second and glancing at him over her shoulder. "I will come. What's the time? And place?"

"8:00 P.M, at Sakura's. Her parents traveled to some southern town for their vacation and they won't return until Sunday," he smiled happily as she turned away silently and disappeared inside the huge wooden building that looked just as old and traditional as everything else was within the domain of the Hyūga clan.

"Neji-nī-san…," drawled Hanabi, getting up and slowly approaching the teen as he deactivated his dōjutsu. "That fire technique you've just used… Where did you learn it? I want to master it too!"

"Uh… Hanabi-sama, I'm afraid I can't teach you that." He gave her a slightly sorry smile.

"Huh? But why?" she whimpered as her face instantly grew very sad.

The ninja lowered on his knee, patting the girl's head lightly and smiling at her reassuringly.

"Because you are still only eleven. You have yet to graduate from the academy, to become a kunoichi and to join your team. Eventually, I'm sure, you'll be able to learn every single ninjutsu in the world, whatever you would want. But right now, you should instead focus on what your guardian and Hiashi-sama teach you. Surely, they know better than I what is best for you. Besides, I don't think Hiashi-sama would appreciate me using this technique, let alone teaching you how to use it..."

"That...," suddenly came the deep voice from the balcony of the second floor, instantly making Neji snap his head up, suppressing the desire to curse aloud as he met the grim gaze of the only person he could say he truly hated, "...Is correct. I understand you adopted this move from your Uchiha friend… Is that how it is, my boy?"

"Yes, Hiashi-sama," he replied impassively, bowing his head as he quickly regained control over his emotions."

"You've always been just as shrewd as your late father, Neji…," the teen's eyelids twitched but that was the only sign giving away the anger that filled his heart at the mention of Hyūga Hizashi, "And this time is no exception. Albeit I find it rather courageous and smart on your part to search new ways to get more power, I don't want you to use that jutsu ever again. And as your punishment, you shall go and help Hitomi in the library. She's looking for some important scrolls which we need to present to Hokage-sama as soon as possible. You are not allowed to leave our estate until you are finished there, so you might as well forget about the event you have planned for the evening. You are dismissed."

Neji tried his best not to move nor to show his fury in any way as the man slowly walked back inside his room, leaving the boy and his younger cousin alone at the broad training ground.

"Uh… Neji-nī-san," mumbled Hanabi timidly, receiving a gloomy glance which, she knew, wasn't really meant for her, "I could do the work instead of you. You don't have to—"

She paused as he chuckled at her quietly, putting his finger on her lips and getting up from his knee as his features softened.

"Forget about it… I was ordered to do it, so I will. Go and play with other kids, Hanabi-sama. Don't worry about me."

"B-But…! You need to—!" the girl whimpered, yet the door behind his back had already closed, making the child lower her head in defeat and sob as she was left alone in the quiet, sunny yard.

-~X~-

"No, you're doing it wrong. You must use even less chakra than that if you want the jutsu to work properly. Always remember the golden rule: the smaller amount of chakra you spend on a genjutsu, the more subtle and hence more effective it is," said the short haired tall Uchiha, looking at his young cousin attentively.

"I'm trying," Sasuke panted, covering his aching left eye with his hand, "It's just that… as though my chakra control became worse after that... injury."

It was only partly true, of course. He simply wasn't used to be saving chakra during a fight, let alone when it was about such a trivial and simple thing as Sharingan genjutsu. However, now that his chakra reserves were a few times smaller than they had been in his previous life, using even slightly more energy than it was necessary could become a real problem for him… Something he needed to solve permanently as soon as possible.

"Really? I think your control was always shitty, to be honest," Shisui shrugged, smirking as Sasuke winced at his words. "Don't worry. We're gonna fix that in no time, all you need here are patience and practice."

"I understand," grumbled Sasuke, straightening his back and activating his Sharingan again. "Shisui…"

"Yes?"

"You've awakened your Mangekyō, have you not?" suddenly asked the boy, carefully watching the older man's reaction to his words.

Contrary to his expectations, Shisui didn't seem to be taken by surprise with his question at all. The corners of his mouth twitched in a semblance of smile as he sat on the wooden bench, peering at Sasuke searchingly for a while before uttering quietly:

"Yes. Why?"

"And your eyes… Your special abilities are all about genjutsu, am I right?"

Shisui squinted at him slightly suspiciously but then his smile widened a little bit.

"I wonder what kind of logic led you to such assumption."

"Well…," Sasuke frowned, picking his words very wisely, "I've been studying the history of our clan lately, particularly all the known members who'd ever awakened those eyes, and I noticed the common pattern. I was wondering if it's just my impression, or there is actually something real behind it."

"And what pattern is that?" Now Shisui appeared to be genuinely curious, fortunately having believed in Sasuke's little lie about him studying something on the matter, or rather deciding not to pry. That was actually the thing Sasuke liked about this man—he never asked unnecessary questions.

"It seems that the abilities of a pair of eyes depend on the preferred fighting style of the ninja. Since you are proficient in genjutsu, I assumed that yours would have to do with that area as well. Hypothetically, if I awakened those eyes… I would likely have some offensive ninjutsu related abilities, wouldn't I?"

"That's if your logic isn't false," stressed Shisui, keeping smiling mysteriously which was making Sasuke feel uneasy for some reason.

"And… is it?"

"Yes and no," the man sighed, getting up and coming closer to him. "It is unknown what determines the potential abilities of an Uchiha's eyes. There are many theories, plausible and not so much… The most authoritative ones of us believe that it strongly depends on the conditions in which they awaken Mangekyō Sharingan," he crossed his hands on his chest, looking at the bright cerulean sky thoughtfully. "I like your hypothesis more, though. And it doesn't contradict what I've seen so far," he mused.

"But… No one knows for sure, then?" muttered Sasuke, feeling a bit disappointed. He hadn't needed to even start this conversation if this was the case, for he'd already come to such conclusions by himself anyway.

"So I believe," Shisui nodded, shrugging. "I think our ancestor Madara knew more than anybody else. After all, he's believed to be the only person to have ever truly mastered Sharingan's full potential… Anyhow, our lesson is over for today. You've spent enough chakra and I can see that it's getting harder for you to focus. Now, for your home work…," he narrowed his eyes as stared at Sasuke's face as if studying something for a while, "I want you to meditate every morning once you wake up and evening right before you fall asleep, for at least half an hour each time. Also make sure to calm yourself as much as possible prior to every training or spar you'll be going through."

"Understood," said Sasuke, receiving an approving nod. This was going to be awful. He hated meditations...

"I'm assigned for a mission starting tomorrow. It shouldn't take more than two weeks at worst. In the meantime, I want you to find someone who wouldn't mind to be your test subject for training genjutsu. Also, if you get sent on a mission by any chance before I return, make sure to use it as an opportunity to train as well."

Sasuke nodded. It's been almost two weeks since the day he'd agreed to accept this man's help, and so far he'd been so dedicated that he hadn't left the territory of their clan a single time, spending every day on either working out or mastering his eye prowess. He realized that the time of his 'vacation' was almost over now and, to be completely honest, the Uchiha craved for a chance to leave the village for a while and to fight somebody for real. Even if it would be just a C-rank mission, he'd already be more than happy…

"Will do. Anything else?"

"Yeah," Shisui lowered his voice, moving a bit closer to him and uttering very quietly, "If you don't want any unnecessary attention from our clansmen, don't talk about Mangekyō to anyone else."

Sasuke paled a little bit as his heart began to pound faster. Why would he think that he didn't want their attention? Did Shisui find him suspicious now, after all? Had this man noticed something in the depths of his mind during their training? Had he got exposed…? If so, when? And how…?

"I—"

"It's just that very few people have awakened those eyes, Sasuke. So, if you are one of us… You don't have to tell me anything," he added quickly as the boy had already opened his mouth to say something as his face visibly blanched. "You don't have to tell anything to anybody else either. If anything, it would be very wise of you to keep it secret."

Shisui looked around the training ground and, with nobody to be seen around, he deactivated his Sharingan, looking a bit more relaxed now as he continued in a still very serious tone,

"Remember, a demonstration of power can be a good method of achieving your goals sometimes, for it can certainly scare your enemies. And fear is a very strong tool of control. However, a scared but not killed enemy is far more dangerous than an ignorant one who underestimates your capabilities, because such enemy would always come more prepared when you least expect it to happen. So… you better keep pretending to be an incompetent lazy moron as you did until now." He grinned, to which Sasuke nodded uncertainly.

"I understand. Thank you, Shisui."

"Anytime. Make sure to tell Mikoto-san that I'm looking forward to the dinner tonight. I can't afford missing her amazing spinache pie!"

"Alright. See you."

"So long!"

Sasuke strode towards the wicket that led out to the street as Shisui went back into his house. Whether this man really suspected something or not, it didn't seem like he was going to reveal it to anybody… at least for now. That was surely relieving, but it also made the young Uchiha realize that he needed to focus more on retrieving the information about his past in this world. Should it ever come to a serious interrogation, he needed to be prepared…

"Hey! Sasuke!"

He stopped and turned around, frowning as he noticed the familiar blond ninja who was waving at him from the farthest end of the street. Naruto was walking in his direction alongside some Uchiha woman who was telling him something quietly, smiling sheepishly and blushing as she clearly found herself a bit shy next to the Hokage's son despite being a few years older than him.

The friend of the jinchūriki sighed. He'd expected that one of them would eventually come after him, for hiding from his friends forever was hardly possible. Still, he was definitely not in the mood to talk to either of them right now…

However, there was no choice, so he put his hands in his pockets and started walking towards the Namikaze, eventually stopping in front of him and the kunoichi who bowed at him then.

"Good evening, Sasuke-kun!"

"Evening," he muttered, nodding at her and then turning to Naruto who was smiling at him cheerfully.

"What's up with that face? Had a bad day?" asked the blond curiously.

"Yeah… kinda," replied the raven haired boy vaguely, glancing at the woman. "Could you leave us alone for a while?" Although he more less remembered her face, Sasuke definitely didn't feel like letting her listen to their conversation no matter what they would discuss. One could never know what she might find suspicious enough to report to his father...

"Of course. See you around, Naruto-san!"

"Yeah!" the boy winked at her, making the kunoichi blush a bit more as she quickly retired, leaving the two of them alone. The Namikaze followed her back with his eyes before moving his gaze at his friend and scowling, looking at him a bit anxiously.

"Something the matter? I can feel some uneasiness in you, what happened?" asked Naruto bluntly.

"Nothing at all," snapped Sasuke, not looking away from his eyes. "I'm just tired after training and I want some rest."

"Rest, you say?" the blond smirked, "Well, I came here just for that reason."

"Huh…?"

"We're hosting a party in an hour. You coming?"

Sasuke didn't reply right away, weighting out all the risks and possibilities. As far as he had managed to learn until now, refusing to go to some party would be too unlike him, and he definitely didn't have any more excuses to stay here in his clan's district any longer. Yet still, he so didn't want to go there…

"I guess… Who else will be there?" he asked neutrally, imagining that the previous owner of this body could very well have asked the same question.

"Eh… Well, pretty much everyone from our class plus Neji and his teammates. We wanted to celebrate your miraculous return, but you seemed to want to have some time to recover. Are you feeling alright at this point?"

"As good as ever," Sasuke shrugged, though it obviously wasn't true. He was still far too weak, and he hadn't gotten fully accustomed to this reality either, yet the boy realized that he had no choice in this situation.

"Glad to hear that," Naruto patted his shoulder reassuringly, beginning to stride towards Sasuke's home. "Let's go."

Sasuke frowned, following him.

"You never mentioned that the party will be hosted at my place," said the dark haired ninja, looking a bit baffled and annoyed as Naruto glanced at him over his shoulder and blinked.

"Actually, we're assembling at Sakura's house."

"Then why are we going in the opposite direction?"

"You're not going to go there in your training clothes, are you?" The blond smirked at him indulgently, turning away.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration. Things were getting more and more complicated…

-~X~-

"No… It's no use," sighed Hitomi, one of Neji's relatives from the Branch House as she lowered the ancient tome on the dusty wooden surface of the table, rubbing her temples. "At this rate, we might spend the whole week digging through this garbage and the result would still be the same."

"Yeah…," the teen sighed as well, glancing at the old, annoyingly ticking mechanic clock on the wall. It was already 7:40 PM, and the party was about to begin but, an order was an order—not following it would be dishonorable, and he wasn't going to give the old man the pleasure of punishing him even more afterwards. "This is such idiocy…," he mused, "Why would they protect all the scrolls from Byakugan if the only people who'd ever be allowed to access them are all Byakugan users?"

"Probably defending the secrets from the Branch House members like us," Hitomi smiled sadly, shrugging. "Are you hungry? I'd kill for a sandwich right now..."

"Nah," he lied, although his grumbling stomach said the opposite. He'd skipped lunch earlier because of the upcoming party in hopes to get something tasty there and, well, who could've known that he would end up stuck here in this gods forgotten dungeon instead of eating whatever the girls would cook over there…? "Have you browsed through that part of the hall?"

"Yes, there is nothing there either," replied the kunoichi, dropping her head on the table with a thud. "I'm done. Any more ideas?"

"Not really…"

They both flinched at the sound of knocking, turning their heads simultaneously towards the entrance.

"Hitomi-chan? Are you there?" asked someone in a very soft voice, approaching them from behind the endless bookshelves.

"Y-Yes, Hikari-sama!"

A very aristocratic looking woman appeared in front of them in a few seconds, holding a plate with a teapot and a few bowls with steaming dishes.

"I decided to bring you some food, if you don't mind," said Hikari as she placed it on the table right next to the Hitomi, to which she clapped her hands, jumped up and bowed in appreciation and respect.

"Thank you so much, Hikari-sama…!"

The woman smiled, and Neji tried his best to pretend not to be there at all as he heard her sweet and compassionate voice again:

"It's nothing, child. In your condition, you need to rest more instead of working so hard… I'll talk to Hiashi about it."

"Uh… well, I don't really mind working here at all. Please, don't bother, Hikari-sama," Hitomi blushed, patting her belly gently as Neji frowned, opening various old books one after another. He'd forgotten that she was pregnant, for it wasn't showing yet…

The boy clenched the book in his hands, suppressing the wave or anger. This was humiliating… barbaric. They were treated like slaves, and there was nothing he could do about it…

"No. Consider that an order. Go and rest right now, and don't forget to take the food." The woman smiled at the girl, to which she sighed and bowed again.

"Thank you so much…! Neji, you want some?"

"No," he replied as stoically as possible, careful not to look at either of them.

"Are you sure…?"

"Yes, I am."

"Hm-m... ," the kunoichi looked at him sadly before grabbing the plate and walking towards the exit.

Good, now go away as well, Hikari… Just leave me alone, I don't want to talk to you, he prayed silently, though already knowing that this wasn't going to happen. Hinata's mother was a very nice woman and he could admit that he even liked her to an extent, just like her daughters. Yet still, she was far too naive and way too kind to realize just how dreadful was the person she called her husband…

"Neji-kun," the woman frowned at him, and the teen closed his eyes patiently, pursing his lips.

"Yes, Hikari-sama? How may I serve you?"

She frowned at him, coming closer and touching his hand, which made him flinch and look into her eyes the next second.

"What are you doing here? Hinata told me that you were supposed to go to some party with her…"

"That's an order of Hiashi-sama. I was sent to work here, so I had to change my plans," he deadpanned, lowering his head again.

Just get the hell out of here… I don't need your pity.

"How irresponsible of him…!" She suddenly raised her voice a bit which was so unusual for Hikari that it made Neji's eyes widen slightly as he glanced at her inquiringly, "And what if something happens to her over there? Our daughter is not supposed to go to shady places without someone loyal to protect her!"

"With due respect, Hikari-sama, I'm fairly sure that Hinata-sama is more than capable of protecting herself."

"No," she shook her head, making him scowl. Just what the hell was wrong with her…? He couldn't remember their clan's matriarch ever being so persistent and serious before. "No, I don't think so! Here is an order from me: go and follow Hinata, and make sure to bring her home safely."

She patted his cheek which made the ninja want to back off at first, but then he noticed the small mischievous flames dancing in her eyes as the woman smiled at him with the corners of her mouth, instantly reminding him of his older cousin—her daughter. Right now, she was looking exactly like an older version of Hinata, except her hair was a bit different…

"If you insist…," he was unable to hold back a smile, to which she giggled as she sat on the table.

"That I do. Now go, Neji… and make sure to have fun. I'll handle this job somehow."

He smirked.

"Thank you, Hikari-sama."

-~X~-

"Naruto, hold on…"

"What is it?" His friend groaned, glancing at Sasuke who stopped again to eye himself critically, trying to get used to the idea of wearing something as preposterous as the clothes that were currently on him.

Thanks to those few pictures he'd found inside his desk back at home, the Uchiha had managed to replicate the most typical casual outfit his alternate self had usually worn. And it was totally not to his taste to say the least. Normally, Sasuke would prefer to wear something suitable for combat even during a festival or some other completely tranquil occurrence, simply because his very nature was all about fighting, not peace. And now that he was wearing a bit narrow hazel pants, a black T-shirt with an unbuttoned dark purple short sleeved shirt over it, he already felt awkward and uncomfortable enough to be displeased.

Yet on top of everything else, just in case, he'd decided to put the accessories on as well so that the image would be complete. Namely, the pendant with the symbol of his clan on his neck and also silver bracers on his wrists, which he constantly tried to readjust. And now that he looked like that spoiled, stylish lover boy he totally wasn't, Sasuke felt like he was about to break the point of what he would call extremely uncomfortable, fighting the urge to turn around and to storm back home, as far away as possible from his imminent torture that was about to start.

Had he really deserved all this…? Perhaps, it would've been more merciful on the Sage's part to just let him die…

"Never mind. Let's go." He followed the jinchūriki up the small wooden stairs that led to the white door of what was supposed to be Sakura's house. He couldn't recognize the place, of course, for he'd never been to the girl's place in either reality before but, the building appeared to be more than humble despite having pretty sweet exterior. Not that he cared about any of it, of course—Sasuke was merely looking for a subject to distract himself from what was about to come…

The sound of some annoyingly heavy music became a few times louder as Naruto opened the door and walked inside.

"Hey, guys, look who I brought here!" yelled the ninja, waving at somebody in the hall and then letting Sasuke come in as the Uchiha took a deep breath, finally resigning. There was no way out anymore…

"Sasuke...!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

"SASUKE-TEME!"

"Hey, my man! Get over here!"

He almost cringed at the chorus of cheerful and welcoming voices, both male and female, as he entered the spacious room full of people of approximately his age. Some of them, he recognized instantly: Hyūga Hinata was sitting next to Sakura and to some blonde girl he'd forgotten the name of (Yamanaka something), giving him a deadpanned look. The other two kunoichi waved at him with the expressions so happy that he'd probably assume that it was the birthday of the both of them if he didn't know the real reason. Hinata, however, wasn't looking as merry as them, yet still she saluted him dryly and reluctantly by raising the glass with orange juice before turning back to the girls who began to whisper something to each other, giggling without pause and shooting curious glances at him.

Then there was the guy with the pet he, apparently, was never apart from—an Inuzuka, sitting on another couch and talking to his teammate who was wearing dark glasses, mostly listening to his friend's jabbering quietly and barely replying. Next to them was the ninja with the hair that resembled a pineapple; he was playing shōgi with his teammate who was sitting on the floor from the opposite side of the small table, chewing a burger and completely focused on the game. The guy was quite massive, with long, sand colored hair certainly seeming familiar as well. Was his name Chōji...?

Sasuke then moved his gaze at Neji was standing near the window, hugging the middle of a brown eyed girl with two short pigtails who was wearing the clothes that weren't quite typical for the Land of Fire. She seemed a bit exotic but, compared to the other females in the room, she was looking pretty modestly and behaving quietly to Sasuke's relief. At least not all of them had to be as annoying...

And, finally, there was Rock Lee. Of all the others, he was probably the easiest to recognize—wearing his awful unfailing green jumpsuit as usual, he was standing at the bar, serving drinks and now waving at the Uchiha with a slightly creepy yet, of course, genuinely happy smile.

Sasuke sighed, forcing himself to smile as well. Yes, this was awful, without a doubt. Too noisy, too chaotic, too useless and uninteresting for a way to spend his time this evening. Yet still, it probably wasn't as bad as he had initially presumed… He could make it without killing anybody. Yes, he definitely could...

"Hey, guys," he waved briefly at no one in particular, walking towards Neji as Naruto strode to Lee to assist the pop-eyed weirdo.

"Glad to see here, mate," the Hyūga smiled at Sasuke and, surprisingly enough, it was rather easy for the Uchiha to return the gesture this time.

"Yeah. I was tired after training and I didn't really want to come, but Naruto was quite persistent."

"That's Naruto-kun for you," Neji chuckled, and so did the girl he was hugging, "Right, Tenten?"

"Yup," she smiled at Sasuke politely, and there was nothing but friendliness in her expression as Tenten looked at him. "The guys were trying really hard to arrange all this, we should be grateful!" She pecked Neji's cheek which made him blush a bit and lower his eyes timidly.

"It wasn't really hard, you know… Anyway, how's it going? Your training and all that?"

"Satisfactory" Sasuke shrugged, not really wanting to elaborate, especially with so many unwanted ears around. "What about you guys?" He asked, not really interested in whatever they would tell but knowing that this question was something they would expect to hear from him now.

"We're good, thank you," replied the girl, "Our team has just returned from a mission. It was boring and easy yet it still took us four days to complete. Embarrassing, isn't it?"

"I suppose," said Sasuke, looking carefully at Neji. For some reason, his 'friend' seemed to be very concerned with something behind the mask of joy and carelessness. What was he up to?

"Yeah… I guess it's a lucky coincidence that everyone has come here tonight, considering how many missions we receive lately," muttered Neji. "Are you back on duty yet?"

"Should be," the Uchiha shrugged, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants. "It's about time for me to get a mission. I'm sick and tired of sitting inside the village."

"Really?" Tenten's eyes widened slightly at his words. "Since when are you so willing to work instead of chilling?"

"Since the day I died," he replied grimly but, apparently, both Neji and the girl took it for a mere bad joke, smirking at his reply awkwardly after exchanging short glances.

"Fair enough," said the kunoichi then. "Anyway, glad to see you alive and well. We—"

"Sasuke-kun!" he turned his head towards the other end of the room, seeing the familiar pink haired girl approaching him and not noticing the rather hostile look of Hinata's white eyes following her back. "Would you mind to share a word? In private, that is."

"I'm busy. Can it wait?" he replied a bit more bitterly than he'd planned, barely holding back the irritation he felt as he heard her overly sweet, almost seductive voice—something that reminded him of those wild years when she always followed him like a lost puppy back in his world.

"It's just for a minute… Please?" Sakura smiled at him, putting her hands together pleadingly in front of her.

"Fine…," he sighed, walking towards the stairs that led to the second floor of the house as he decided that it would be easier to just get rid of it as soon as possible instead of delaying the conversation.

"Thank you!" she smiled happily, following him quickly.

It didn't take them longer than half a minute to reach the relatively quiet room—a bedroom, to be precise. Once they entered, Sakura closed the door behind her back and locked it before turning towards the boy with a very nervous face, as though afraid to look into his eyes for some reason.

"Sasuke-kun… I'm so glad to see your back—"

"Is that what you were planning to tell me here? Spare me from the cheap chat," he replied impassively, making the girl look away sheepishly and swallow heavily, opening and closing her mouth a few times before finally licking her dry lips and uttering in a slightly husky voice:

"I see… so you already know."

He narrowed his eyes at her, rapidly thinking. What was he supposed to know, exactly? And, more importantly, what kind of relationship was he supposed to have with her in this life? Clearly, there was something big… Unfortunately, most likely something more than mere friendship considering his reputation. Well, it would have been too good to be true if she were simply a fan girl...

"Know what?" he finally asked after a few seconds of silence, and the girl sighed, hugging herself as she clearly felt uncomfortable under his piercing gaze.

"Sasuke-kun, I… I'm so sorry, it's just that… He—well..."

This was seriously getting on his nerves. He'd never liked the Sakura from his previous life, and he certainly didn't like this one either.

"You're not making any sense," he said a bit roughly, to which the girl sobbed whimpered:

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. I'll be honest, I—I cheated on you."

He blinked. For a brief moment, he felt as though someone had just hit his head with something very, very heavy. Had he heard her right…? No… it couldn't be... Seriously?

"You… what?" he mumbled, unsure how to react.

No… actually, he had to focus all his willpower not to start laughing hysterically at this theater of absurd. He was done. This was just too much… what a fucking joke!

"I cheated on you with Kiba-kun! I'm sorry…! But… I like him! And you… I know I had to be honest with you since the very beginning considering our relationship and that me and you started dating and all that, but I—"

"Sakura…," she stopped, her tear stained eyes blinking at him guiltily a few times.

"Sasuke-kun…?"

"Shut the fuck up," he got up from the bed, smirking at her almost maniacally.

He honestly couldn't believe his luck. At first, when she'd implied when the two of them were somehow romantically involved, Sasuke'd felt absolutely horrible, because that was one of the things he'd feared the most. To have to date a girl he really disliked out of necessity, just in order to keep his mask on and not to give himself away. And now… this was a gift of fate, no less.

"S-Sasuke-k—"

"We're breaking up. Whatever was between us, forget about it. From now on, we are to pretend that nothing happened. Deal?" said the ninja, making her eyes open even more widely as she stared at him in utter shock. He wondered what had she expected? For him to beat her up? The idea was a bit tempting, but he wasn't that cruel. And not like she had tried to assassinate him again this time like...

"I… uh… fine, but—"

"No buts. Let me go now," said the boy, coming to the locked door.

"Are you leaving the party…?" asked Sakura perplexedly, which made him stop and eye the girl up and down, from the straps of her light turquoise dress and to her expensive looking sandals.

No, why would he? Now that he thought about it, the sole fact that he was now free from this little nuisance made this party totally worth coming. If anything, he now actually had a legitimate reason to celebrate something…

"No. I just want to get a drink. Besides, you are the host of the party. Isn't it impolite to leave your guests for so long?" he didn't smile but, apparently, his voice sounded friendly enough for the girl to find it convincing—she nodded slowly, smiling at him and unlocking the door the next moment.

"I'm sorry..."

"I told you to forget about it. Don't mention it again."

As they walked back into the hall, Sasuke noticed that a few things had changed. Most of the guests were now dancing; only Rock Lee, Tenten and the chubby guy were sitting on the couch, eating, discussing something and laughing. He couldn't see Naruto and Neji anywhere around, but it didn't bother the Uchiha at the moment. Instead of looking for them, he came close to the table and flopped into the huge chair, grabbing a drink from the broad plate and tasting it.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun… Are you alright?" asked Tenten as she glanced at him, to which he genuinely smiled for the first time in a while and nodded.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it."

"Alright," she smiled, returning her attention to her teammate.

Sasuke leaned on the comfortable and soft back of his seat, looking across the room and enjoying the light beverage that tasted somewhat like ginger ale. For a moment, he met Hinata's gaze as she was dancing with the Inuzuka. The Uchiha cocked his brow slightly as he they looked at each other, making the girl roll her eyes and turn away from him the next moment.

No, girl. Not even you will be able to spoil my mood this evening, he thought with satisfaction, suddenly finding everything around himself a bit amusing.

For the first time in this world, he felt relaxed and safe. This new life was a joke, without a doubt. But, then again, it was a hilarious joke, so why not to laugh at it instead of constantly being paranoid and pitying himself? Whatever was going to happen next, he was sure he would overcome it, and the rest didn't really matter.

It was his destiny, after all.

-~X~-

Naruto yawned sweetly, looking at the moon behind the open window of the unfamiliar room as he was slowly melting into the soft bed that didn't belong to him. The party was long over by now—all the guests had left the house an hour ago, and now it was, apparently, the time to finally call it a night, even though he totally didn't feel like sleeping with the soft, yielding breasts pressed against his chest, the hot breath of his girlfriend tickling his cheek as she was panting heavily, lying on top of him under the blanket.

"That… was amazing, Naruto-kun," she whispered huskily, still unable to catch her breath. Even though it was still new to both of them, apparently, he wasn't that bad for a beginner which made him feel a bit proud of himself.

"Yeah," he replied quietly, moving his gaze at her blissful, wet face, "You're amazing."

She giggled, lifting her head up a bit and readjusting a wild strand of her hair before placing her elbows on his chest and then lowering her chin on her hands.

"And what about my acting skills?"

He smirked, staring right into her mischievous eyes.

"That was perfect, too. Everything went exactly as we'd planned. Although… it also makes everything even more confusing," his face suddenly darkened slightly.

"You don't say. I almost freaked out when he… well… you heard it," she looked away, frowning.

"Yeah… me and Neji were just as shocked. It seems that we were right, though. Sasuke'd lost a huge part of his memories and, for some reason, he doesn't want anybody to know about it."

"Are you sure that he's not under a genjutsu or something like that?"

"Yeah," he scowled as he looked through the window again. "His chakra is fine, although a bit darker than before, but Itachi-sensei said it's normal for an Uchiha. All in all, I'm absolutely sure he's not an imposer."

"Weird…," the girl sighed, biting her lip but then chuckling quietly at the sudden idea. "I hope you don't seriously think that I dated Sasuke behind your back."

He gave her a slightly skeptical glance before looking away again.

"Nah. I know you never really liked him that way."

She giggled again, slipping off the teen and hugging Naruto tightly as she lay next to him.

"What are you going to do about it? Will you tell Hinata-chan?"

"No," he frowned at the mention of his female teammate, remaining silent for a couple seconds before continuing, "Teammates are important, but not as important as friends. If he wants to keep it secret, we'll do it as well. For the time, we'll pretend that we don't know anything. I'm going to help him with whatever he needs… Hopefully, he'll eventually decide to tell us everything by himself. Or, well," he smiled, turning to the side and hugging the girl as well, "Maybe his memories will just return one day and it will become unnecessary. I'm pretty sure that's what he's counting on anyway," he muttered, closing his eyes.

"If you say so…," she kissed him softly on the lips, burying her face in his chest. "Good night."

"Good night, Sakura."

A/N

Jūken — also known as the Gentle Fist, it's a form of hand-to-hand combat used by members of the Hyūga clan. It inflicts internal damage through attacking the body's Chakra Pathway System, subsequently injuring organs which are closely intertwined with the area of the network which has been struck.

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu — also known as Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, a jutsu where chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire and expelled from the mouth either as a massive orb of roaring flame or as a continuous flame-thrower. The Uchiha clan uses this technique as a "coming of age" rite, and as such, is a common and favoured technique amongst them.

Shōgi — also known as Japanese chess or the Generals' Game, is a two-player strategy board game in the same family as Western (international) chess, chaturanga, makruk, shatranj, janggi and xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan. Shōgi means general's (shō) board game (gi).

Chapter Text

Author's Note: I understand that many of you probably crave for more romantic moments between your favourite heroes as soon as possible, but I'd like to ask you to be patient. This isn't going to be a boring cliche romance story where main heroes fall in love in a matter of days for no reason. However, you may rest assured that from now on, there will be a lot more interactions between Sasuke and Hinata (as it was intended to be due to the plot since day one, not because I decided to change something just to make it more romantic.)

Chapter 6. Between Fire & Ice

Standing in the middle of her desolate room, appearing to be lost in her thoughts and as though a bit dumbfounded, she knew that they'd have to talk soon. Was she looking forward to meeting him again? No, she had stopped long ago. Had she ever wanted to talk to him at all? Yes, many times in the past... But it wasn't her thing to chase someone. And right now, she wasn't walking back and forth impatiently and neither was she constantly glancing at the clock in anticipation. She wasn't pursing her lips nervously and neither was she picking up words for the upcoming conversation.

All she could want right now was for this mission to end as soon as possible, for whatever had caused the recent drastic change in him, it seemed like he would never talk to her willingly again, and she knew that she wouldn't reach out to him either. Not only would her pride not allow her to do that, but she also knew that it would be ultimately pointless...

The kunoichi slowly came close to the huge ornamented mirror on the wall, staring at her reflection indifferently. What was she seeing there? As always, the familiar aristocratic features with the icy eyes overshadowing everything else—the eyes that were almost the same as his, except hers were pearl white instead of onyx black. Pale, yet expressive. Cold, full of despise towards everything around. Why does he have the same eyes now...? she thought distantly again before returning her attention to the image in front of her. She thought that there was nothing else worthy of mentioning on her face, even though many, many people kept telling her that she was beautiful.

Beauty... What could she possibly need it for? Even in this irreproachable loveliness that had been bestowed upon her by her parents, there was nothing but glacial indifference and humility secretly hiding a silent sneer at everything that surrounded her...

Her father'd said many times that she should've been born a boy. What a nice man, her father... Yes, Hyūga Hiashi was totally unlucky when it came to making heirs, but she'd never offered him a chance to give her any special treatment just because she was a girl. At the same time, she'd never tried to be someone she wasn't either... Even though she hated it. This life. This clan. And more than anything else, herself...

She refused to think about it, but her biggest weakness was that she was a fundamentally kind person. Ever since her early childhood had she hated conflicts. She'd always refused to do anything dishonorable unless it was a direct order from her superiors—in this case, her loyalty overpowered all the rest. She'd never ever attacked anybody first... Yelled? Oh, yes. Insulted? Most definitely. But harming someone who wasn't an enemy... A mere thought about it felt completely unnatural and disgusting to her. Moreover, the young Hyūga always cared deeply for those who had formed bonds with her: her mother, her younger sister, Neji and her friends. Her team... Itachi, Naruto. Sasuke...

This kindness was irrational, she realized. It contradicted everything she believed in, and this inner paradox constantly tortured her. It was driving her crazy, because she didn't think that any of them deserved kindness. Because they were all the same in one sense. Just like all those she cared for, she was merely a tool of Konoha. They were killers, their lives were dedicated to spilling blood of others and of each other. Nobody else seemed to view things this way, preferring to stay ignorant and oblivious to the first and only reality of shinobi, but she most definitely wasn't of their kind. She knew what their world truly looked like. Even now, she couldn't force herself to look at her family through the veil of this glamorous pink haze everyone else seemed to observe and cherish instead of accepting reality. And she hated this reality, too...

The life of a princess, the treatment even royalty in some countries couldn't afford. It was rightfully hers, but she knew that such life wasn't for her at all. It was for those who believed in those fairy tales about glorious princes on white steeds; believed in everlasting love without any limits and problems. She'd never believed in these fables and false ideals; she'd never wanted to meet her own 'perfect prince'. Partly because she was absolutely certain that it would end up with one of them committing suicide after a couple days around each other: she – out of boredom, he – because of her cold and indifferent behavior...

At some point, she'd come to conclude that she was incapable of loving. She simply couldn't love a person the way the rules of this miserable glamorous world of fantasies demanded. It wasn't her thing either – she'd realized it a couple years ago the moment when she'd slapped and then spit right into the face of some plebeian boy who'd claimed to be in love with her and who'd dared kiss her. Love was disgusting.

She blinked at her reflection, not really seeing anything in front of herself at the moment.

This ugly world... What good was in there? Romantic walks under the moon? So vulgar. Flowers? They were already dead and rotting. Wasn't it a fascinating idea to present a girl a bouquet of corpses...? And what else? Poetry? Love confessions? Foolish, hollow words, because what had been said once was already just as dead as the flowers.

Was all this what they called love? If so, the concept of love was stupid and empty, meaningless. She'd never dreamed about it. Passion, however... That was something worthy of everything in her opinion. It wasn't pink or glamorous; it was red and burning, just like the flames of hatred that were incinerating her from within whenever she reflected on her life. The passion of battle, of fury, of the drive to prove herself to others, of overcoming more and more obstacles on her way; of defeating herself and destroying her own weak sides... burying that faint flutter of kindness that still remained in her soul in hopes of getting rid of it for good one day.

This passion was what she viewed as the true love. When the entire world was fragile and fugitive like a flash, like breath on a mirror. Very similar the lives of ninja... Like those flames that could get extinguished any moment, only to start burning again later even stronger than before... or to die out forever. The strive, the pain, the arguments, narrowed eyes and rage – and then the explosion caused by passion, the true goddess of love.

Sadly, none of it was present in her life, which was why she was forced to live in this ugly, alien world without any hope for salvation. Flowers, poetry, confessions – she never considered any of those worthy of her attention. Perhaps, that was why most other girls hated her whereas most boys grew even more willing to chase her. Naive, ignorant fools...

She was only fifteen; she'd just become a jōnin, and she was already beyond disappointed in her life, seeing no future for herself. For the daughter of Hyūga Hiashi, for that person that would one day lead their clan—yes. For the kunoichi of Konohagakure, a weapon of Hokage—definitely. But there was no future other what her duty demanded, and she had accepted it for a fact. For as long as she could remember, she had been fighting for survival in this disgusting reality where everyone always tried desperately to fool themselves. Was she that much better than them? After all, she still tried to fight for herself and for those few who had seemed to be different, not like everyone else... For Naruto. For Itachi. For Neji. And finally, for him...

The kunoichi took a deep breath and then grabbed the simple black backpack from the bed, putting it on her shoulder and walking out of the room the next moment. It was still too early in the morning, and the mansion was completely quiet and tranquil, but the girl knew that nobody would come to wish her good luck even had they all been awake. Well, except for her mother and Neji maybe, but she absolutely didn't want to see either of them right now... Not like this, not when she was so vulnerable. She wouldn't allow anybody to see her in this state again. Not after him... not after what he'd done to her.

He was the only person she knew who admired passion and never cared for love, just like her. Except it was reversed in his case; his passion had always been icy cold, contrary to his rather warm and cheerful persona. He'd never loved anyone despite always enjoying girls' attention and constantly chasing them for fun, she knew it for sure. And now, apparently, he'd grown tired of his pretentiously merry exterior, of this little game he'd been using until now as a mean to kill boredom, so he'd gotten rid of it as well. He'd never cared about anything but his own desires... his own whims. That's why he'd always made her feel so conflicted inside, so horribly torn apart.

Because in truth, she was envious of him.

In their team that was expected by everyone to become a legend which would one day surpass that of the sannin, he was the only person who had no artificial limitations. The only one who was completely free. He could decide what to do with his life, and he did just that, always.

Naruto, the jinchūriki (which already made his fate sealed) and, apparently, the future Hokage...

She, the heir to the Hyūga clan, and its future head, doomed to live the life she hated, eventually married to someone she would feel nothing for...

Itachi, the future leader of the Uchiha, the strongest clan to exist. So much similar to herself, except far more wise and powerful...

And then there was Sasuke. The boy without predetermined destiny. The most special one of all them...

Had he finally chosen his path, after all? She knew he wouldn't tell her. Neither him nor Naruto really trusted her despite all her efforts to help them in every way she could, neither of them considered her a true friend. But she was fine with it. She didn't need them, for there was nothing they could do to change her unenviable and inevitable destiny. All that remained for her was to do whatever she could while being with them, for it was still her duty... and because of the kindness that still dwelt in her heart. Deep inside, she'd never wanted to be strong and independent, always secretly dreaming about being a nobody. Nobodies were allowed to be weak... They could do whatever they wanted, they could feel whatever they wanted.

But she knew what she had to do. There was simply no other choice. That was the price one had to pay for being born into this cursed clan...

As she approached the gates of the village, her eyes met with his obsidian ones. It was still unusual and weird to see him without his goofy mask. Strangely, she now almost regretted that he'd decided to stop wearing it. Because now she had even less reasons to hate him... If anything, the abyssal dark ice of his eyes made something unfamiliar and new twitch inside of her, letting the small flames of those smoldering cinders in her soul conflagrate and become an even hotter black fire.

And she didn't like this feeling at all.

-~X~-

An hour earlier...

"Thank you for being so quick to come here. Itachi-kun, kindly take a look at this."

Sasuke rubbed his eyes and yawned as his brother walked close to Minato's desk, glancing at the scroll the man was holding in his hands and frowning the next moment as he read its contents.

"This doesn't make any sense, Hokage-sama. Are you sure it's not fake? Someone's prank, perhaps?"

The Fourth grinned, although there was no sign of amusement in his rather concerned expression as he said:

"Yes, I'm positive that it's real. I've already received a confirmation from the Land of Iron's ambassador."

Sasuke flinched. Land of Iron... That northern country of ice and snow. He could still remember it quite well.

"Is that so…? This is honestly very hard to believe... " Itachi looked at him incredulously, to which Minato nodded.

"That it is. However, this is what we'll have to deal with, and we need to decide what to do about it as soon as possible," he frowned, looking quite puzzled.

"What are your thoughts?" asked Itachi.

Sasuke watched them discussing whatever was written in that paper and yawned again, inadvertently making Hinata who, he noticed, looked quite untidy herself, do the same. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who hadn't gone to sleep after the party… He wondered what had she been doing at night. Somehow, he found it hard to believe that she was training just like him.

"With due respect, Hokage-sama, I don't think it would be wise to accept this request. If this is not a joke, it most definitely looks like a trap of some sort."

"With due respect, will you both tell us what's the deal already? Otherwise I'd rather go back to sleep," muttered Naruto who actually looked far more rested and fresh than his other two teammates. Clearly, he didn't really want to sleep, but rather felt irritated by the fact that the adults were ignoring their presence.

Minato smiled indulgently, moving the gaze of the sky blue eyes at his son.

"The Iron has requested us, Land of Fire, to send a team to be mediators during the wedding of their country's daimyō and the daughter of the ruler of Land of Earth. In the message, they specifically mentioned that they want Team Itachi with its official full lineup."

"Do they require our dōjutsu, then?" asked Hinata.

"I'm afraid it's more than just your dōjutsu… or Kyūbi for that matter. As you all well know, Land of Iron is famous for having remained neutral in every conflict throughout centuries, and there is a good reason behind that. Their military force is strong enough to repel any potential attack, if not eliminate most of them with a backlash," said Minato.

"There are also no shinobi institutions in their country. It is only natural for them to request help from another nation if they need a ninja unit for some reason, isn't it?" reasoned Naruto.

"Yes, but here is the thing… They don't need just any unit, they specifically requested the group that consists of two heirs of very influential clans and the jinchūriki of the most feared bijū."

"Do you think it's a trap meant to just capture us?" asked Hinata, looking at their sensei worriedly.

"No, that would be very foolish of them to try to pull something like that, given that I could easily release you all with my Hiraishin. It certainly seems like some trick and, I'm afraid, it's much more complicated than we realize," replied Minato, scratching his chin and looking thoughtfully at the scroll.

"Surely, Land of Earth and Iwagakure hold a grudge against Konoha, considering that Hokage-sama had single handedly defeated their army long ago. That is common knowledge. And now, apparently, Iwa intends to forge an alliance with Land of Iron. It doesn't take to be a genius to figure out against who it will be directed. Allying with Iron is not something unheard of, even though it has only been done for defensive purposes until now, yet it's still pretty rare," added Itachi, "And now they want us to bring Naruto-kun, the son of their nemesis, right into their hands."

Quietly listening to them, Sasuke narrowed his eyes, thinking over their words.

Land of Iron… Yes, the memories about that cold and unwelcoming place from the time when he tried to assassinate Gokage were still quite fresh. If things with that country weren't very different in this world (and judging by the Hokage's words, they weren't), the probability of them trying to capture Naruto so bluntly was little to nonexistent. Both Minato and Itachi seemed to realize this, and this realization was the exact reason behind their confusion, evidently. The question was, why would they need two Sharingan users, a Byakugan user, and a jinchūriki? Now that the boy thought about it, their unit possessed immense threat to anyone they could possibly encounter, especially in a country where there were little to no shinobi at all. Naruto alone could probably demolish their capital on his own… Capturing him would hardly be possible for them, especially with the three of them guarding him.

No, they probably wanted their presence for a not so obvious reason. Yes, they definitely needed Naruto as a tool… a mean by which they could achieve certain goals of theirs. And the rest of their team… Inviting them was likely a gesture of trust. It was as though they were implying that their intentions weren't hostile, so that Konoha wouldn't mind the jinchūriki coming along with teammates. On top of that, they definitely knew that Minato, being the legendary master of teleportation, wouldn't allow anything to happen to his son, so Naruto was, contrary to what it could seem at the first approach, absolutely safe. And that's what they wanted to stress by inviting them.

He looked at the Hokage and his brother. Were they thinking the same? Was he wrong in his conclusions…? And if he wasn't, then the only logical explanation of the situation would be that...

"I don't think they want this marriage to happen," suddenly said Sasuke, making everyone in the room turn their heads towards him, staring at the boy.

"And why do you think so, Sasuke-kun?" asked Minato curiously, putting the scroll on the table and locking his fingers in front of his face.

"Naruto… He is your son. Their daimyō's fiancée is the daughter of the leader of the nation that hates you and Konoha. Naruto's presence at the wedding would be taken as an insult at the very least," he mused, to which Minato slowly nodded and turned to Itachi who remained silent, looking at his brother with interest.

Sasuke realized that none of them had expected him to be so shrewd in this situation, but he didn't care if they found it suspicious. He'd put more than ample effort into ensuring the legitimacy of his new attitude, and although it would be natural for Itachi to still find it surprising, it wasn't completely out of character no matter how the boy looked at it.

Hinata pursed her lips thoughtfully and muttered:

"So they are trying to use us to provoke Iwa. Are they intending to start a war by our hands?"

"Or, perhaps, they are trying to avoid it instead," replied Minato, "Obviously, the offer came from the Earth's daimyō. The fact that its subtle purpose is, in a way, to blackmail the Iron into siding with them is also apparent. Knowing their history, I'm more than certain that the Iron's leader doesn't want that alliance, but refusing it would also be troublesome as it would be considered an insult which could, in turn, lead the two countries to breaking economical ties, or even to a war—something the Iron absolutely wouldn't want considering their financial state. However, by showing the Earth's delegation that they have our jinchūriki as well as the future heads of Uchiha and Hyūga clans—"

"They want Iwagakure to think that they are already in an unofficial alliance with Konoha," Itachi summed up, finally realizing what was the real point behind the request.

"Precisely." Minato smirked, leaning on the back of his seat. "Which is why I don't see a reason to deny their request. If anything, we're going to use it in our favour. Hinata, I want you to use your Byakugan in combination with Sharingan as you did before to copy all the secret documents you'll be able to spot there. Do not write anything down, just let Itachi-kun or Sasuke-kun memorize it all—they'll most likely be searching through your bags and pockets, so you won't be able to take anything with you anyway."

"It will be done, Hokage-sama," replied the girl.

"Good. Now, Naruto… Do not use your Kyūbi Chakra Mode unless it becomes absolutely unavoidable. However, should the situation turn to be really nasty, feel free to use the full extent of your destructive capabilities. Officially, this is a C-rank mission but, everything we've deduced makes it A-rank with the potential to reach S-rank at some point. Your highest priority is to prevent any losses in your team. Try to avoid casualties as well if it's possible. And no matter what happens, do not attack anyone first."

"Yeah, right," the blond nodded, looking a bit annoyed.

"Itachi, you are the squad's leader for this mission, as usual. I'm leaving the rest to you. Make sure to depart as soon as possible. You are dismissed."

"Understood, Hokage-sama," the ninja bowed, and so did Hinata while Naruto merely nodded, turning away and striding towards the door.

Sasuke made a half bow reluctantly, realizing that it would be unwise to show his unruly nature at the moment. And, apparently, it didn't miss Minato's eye as his voice reached the boy just when he was about to leave the room:

"Sasuke-kun, please stay for a while. I'd like to ask you a couple questions regarding your condition."

Hinata and Naruto glanced at him inquiringly, stopping in the middle of the corridor that led towards the stairs. The boy merely shrugged and waved at them dismissively, returning back to the room as the door closed behind his back.

"Please, sit down," said the Hokage, peering at him searchingly as the Uchiha slowly approached his desk, lowering on the stool right in front of the man and looking at him calmly.

Sasuke didn't say anything, and for a few seconds they just kept staring into each other's eyes—Minato with curiosity, and the Uchiha without any sign of emotion at all. He wasn't going to let this man pass through his defenses and see the truth. Not when he'd already gone so far…

"A word reached me that you aspire to become Hokage one day," finally said the Fourth, taking Sasuke by surprise as his eyes widened and his face paled a bit.

"I wonder who could've told you that," replied the boy grimly after a few seconds of silence. Damn you, Itachi…

Minato smiled at him warmly, and no matter how much Sasuke wanted to see something dire behind his expression, there was nothing but friendliness and… approval?

"You announced it yourself, and you did it in a public place when you talked to your brother."

ANBU, then… Itachi and himself, was either of them being watched by the black ops? Or had it been a mere coincidence?

"I did," admitted Sasuke, still managing to maintain a neutral face.

"Whereas I admire your desire to reach this position one day, I'd like to know how serious are you in this intention," said Minato softly, still looking at him very curiously.

"As serious as possible," he deadpanned. There was no reason to say anything else, really. It wasn't like he was going to hide his goal from anyone at this point.

"And what is your reasoning? Why do you want to become Hokage?"

That was a good question, the one Sasuke really didn't want to answer. Now that the two of them were alone… should he try to gamble and to be sincere? Or rather to come up with some pathetic cliche line that would instantly reassure the man in the boy's idiocy…?

No, that wasn't an option, Sasuke suddenly realized. This person in front of him was his best opportunity to claim the mantle one day. And surely, a man like Namikaze Minato wouldn't want a moron to be his successor, especially someone widely known to be a lazy prick…

On the other hand, telling him everything in detail wasn't an option either. Therefore, ambiguity was the only way to go…

"In spite of my dubious reputation in this village, I'm not a fool. And I see a lot of things other people prefer to overlook," he muttered carefully.

"Such as?" The Hokage seemed to be even more interested now.

"The imperfection of the system that is currently in place. The corruption inside the village that makes it slowly decay from within. The tensions between clans and within them. Something needs to be done with all this, otherwise our world will one day burst like a soap bubble. I want to prevent that."

"And you believe that you know how to do it?"

"I believe that I will find a way," he replied after a moment of thought. He needn't seem to be overly confident—after all, Minato must have viewed him merely as an ignorant mediocre boy.

"Mayhap you will…," drawled Minato, narrowing the blue eyes at the teen who met his gaze with his stubbornly emotionless one, "You sound genuine, Sasuke-kun, and I believe that your intentions are pure. And knowing everything I know about you, I wouldn't mind you eventually taking this duty. However, there are two main obstacles on your way, ones you definitely need to overcome before we make any moves in that direction."

We…? As weird and surprising as it was, for some reason, Minato seemed to really approve him as his possible successor.

"The first one is your power level, obviously."

"I'm working on it," replied Sasuke, slightly irritated. He still couldn't simply get along with the fact that everyone treated him like a weakling… No, rather that he was a weakling. It was beyond annoying and it definitely hit his pride like nothing else.

"You'll have to be able to match me and Naruto-kun in the next few years. Do you realize this?" asked Minato suavely. "Simply put, you shall need to be able to outfight any other possible candidate. That goes for your clansmen as well."

"I'll handle that," he replied laconically, to which the Hokage gave him a slightly skeptical glance but continued without commenting his response,

"The second issue is your rank. You are still a chūnin, and judging by the merits you currently have, you're not about to receive a promotion anytime soon. If you want to become Hokage, you need to fix that as soon as possible as well. Do you have any idea how to do it?"

Now he'd caught him off guard for sure. Sasuke had no idea how to earn the rank of jōnin, let alone to go higher up the career ladder as it'd never been any of his concern before. And although his alternative self most likely wouldn't have known it either, it was still unpleasant to admit it as he uttered:

"No, I don't."

Minato smiled then, locking his hands on the desk.

"I might help you with that if you're not afraid of difficulties… maybe even extreme ones."

Now the man had Sasuke's full attention. Finally, something interesting was going to happen…

"I'm not afraid of anything," he snapped, which made the Fourth's smile widen.

"Very good. Then I have an offer for you," he glanced at the door briefly, as though making sure that it was closed tightly before lowering his voice and uttering, "The mission you've just received. You won't have much to do there, for most of the hard work is supposed to be handled by your teammates. Would you like to accept a personal mission… to kill some time, if you prefer?"

There was something really sly in the man's grin, Sasuke noticed. He could see now from whom Naruto'd inherited some of his traits. However, he wasn't going to show any sign of irresolution or, even worse, cowardice right now.

"What exactly needs to be done?" he asked casually, pretending to be completely relaxed.

"This is a top secret mission, Sasuke-kun. An S-rank one. Nobody is supposed to know about it aside from you and me, not even Fugaku. If you succeed, I'll promote you to jōnin as soon as you return."

"I'm listening," he said a bit impatiently which, apparently, surprised Minato as he blinked, pausing for a moment before smirking at him and muttering:

"I want you to find a way to assassinate the fiancée. The daughter of the Earth's daimyō, that is. Do it subtly, nobody must catch you nor to be able to trace you. Preferably, this has to look like an accident."

"Is that all?" He blinked. Was that it, really? To kill a mere civilian, even though a heavily guarded one? Piece of cake.

"Indeed. Do you accept it? Remember, not even your teammates are to find out about you being involved. Nobody aside from you and me. Any witnesses are to be neutralized as well."

"Yes. I do."

Minato smiled, nodding.

"We have a deal, then."

-~X~-

If somebody asked him right now what did he dislike the most about Konoha, that would be its noisiness. Yes, he absolutely couldn't stand it, especially in such deliriously serene mornings when the sun was unusually hot and cheerful, the sky above them was bright cerulean without a single cloud visible anywhere on its endless smooth surface, and those birds… Those damned birds chirping so loud that it almost seemed as though a couple of them were sitting right on his shoulders…

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his face and glancing lazily at his female teammate who was standing just a few yards away from him, leaning against the wooden pillar with her hands crossed on her chest and her face probably just as gloomy as his own. He realized that it was his fault that he was feeling so nasty right now. Perhaps, spending the entire night before departing on training wasn't the most prudent decision on his part. In his defense, he could only say that he totally hadn't expected for the Fourth to summon them so early, just before sunrise an hour ago, and to assign them for such a… complex mission.

He leaned on the wall of the currently closed apothecary subtly and closed his eyes, trying to take a small nap but failing as the thoughts about the recent conversation with the Hokage didn't allow him calm his mind even for a split second.

A top secret assassination mission… Had he retained at least a tenth part of his former might, it would've been a walk in a park, without a doubt. But, would he be able to do it now, so shortly after his recovery? It had been three weeks since the day when he arrived to this world, and although he had managed to boost his physical capabilities a little bit, it was still nothing next to what he had once been.

Still, power wasn't his main concern right now. The Uchiha had no doubt that he'd manage to kill some harmless civilian as well as her guards. His skill alone was more than enough to do that. And if there was anything to worry about, that would be...

He half opened his eyes, glancing at the girl that was standing in front of him and gazing thoughtfully at the horizon. He didn't know why, but she seemed to be very troubled by something, for he surely recognized that type of expression. He often was like that himself...

"Hinata," he said slowly then, as though tasting the sound of her name for the first time.

The girl shifted her head a bit and gave him a long, expecting glance, remaining silent.

"Since Naruto and Itachi are still not here, I want to make something clear," he said quietly, apparently catching her curiosity as the Hyūga now turned fully to face him, albeit still not saying a word.

"I realize that it wasn't right for me to treat you the way I did in the last few weeks. And, yeah... I'm sorry." Surprisingly enough, it turned out to be a very easy thing to say contrary to his expectations. Was it because he was genuine right now? After all, he truly regretted his lack of attentiveness back when he hadn't recognized her at the Uchiha district. That was very rash of him.

"Is that all?" she asked neutrally in a surprisingly soft, almost pleasant voice, still peering at him with an unreadable expression.

"No," he replied, making her frown a little bit. "I'm sure that we both realize that this mission has the potential to turn out as a catastrophe even worse than the previous one."

"And?" clearly, she expected to hear something specific from him, although the boy had no idea what exactly, so he simply said what he'd planned to say:

"If we want to make sure that none of us dies, we'll have to cooperate. And cooperation is impossible in circumstances like these, so let us spare each other from unnecessary headache."

She looked at him silently again for a while, with the boy staring back through his half closed eyelids impassively before she said:

"Since when do you care about teamwork? Or any work, for that matter?"

"If you don't want to hear stupid replies, do not ask stupid questions."

Hinata bit her lip, narrowing her eyes at him and not replying for a while. But then all of sudden, she smiled with the corners of her mouth and uttered:

"Everyone says that you've changed. But, I don't think so. I believe that you've always been like this behind the facade of a friendly moron. You don't really care about anything but your own interests, do you?"

His eyebrow raised slightly at her question.

"Is that a bad thing in your opinion?"

She lowered her eyes.

"No... not at all. However, I will not forgive you for what you've done to me."

He had to put some effort into maintaining a deadpan expression at her last line. What exactly had he done to her, he wondered...? Surely, asking it bluntly right now wasn't an option but, apparently, there was some dire history between his alternative self and this girl. What a nuisance...

"Yeah. That's fine. I don't really need your forgiveness in any case," to his surprise, she smirked bitterly without looking at him. "I've already told this to Naruto, but I never had a chance to tell you as well..."

She raised her eyes to look at him perplexedly, her smirk dying out the same moment.

"Whatever happened in the past, be it with you, me, us, or anyone else—it doesn't concern me anymore. The moment I came back from dead made me realize a lot of things. From now on, I will not waste any more time aimlessly like before. And reflecting on the past is what I consider just that. Therefore, you might as well consider the Uchiha Sasuke you knew dead."

There was a long, oppressive pause as they simply stared at each other without saying a word. But then, Hinata uttered quietly:

"So... you expect me to treat you like a different person? To just forget everything you did before?"

He shrugged impassively.

"That would be the wisest thing you could do in this situation. Because that Sasuke is not coming back. And you don't really know me no matter what you might have believed until now."

Honestly, at this point he was already merely testing her patience, expecting her to explode any second at his words. But, to his further surprise, the girl suddenly smiled, and said:

"If you say so. I don't have any intention to keep fighting you, and I also believe that for the sake of the mission, it would be better for us to cooperate. So I agree to do it... when we have to work together. I have one condition, though."

"Name it," said Sasuke lazily, not really interested for he really doubted that it would be something difficult for him.

"From now on, we'll pretend that nothing ever happened between us. No good things, no bad things. Nothing. And nothing will happen either."

His face remained emotionless, but he felt a bit puzzled as he wondered what exactly was she implying by the last line.

"Fine by me." He shrugged, deciding not to ask unnecessary questions, for he had no desire to be very close with her at any rate.

"Very good," she smirked, visibly relaxing and turning her head towards the street before waving at someone.

"Oi! Itachi-sensei! Naruto-kun! What took you so long?"

The other two teammates approached them without any rush, both appearing quite relaxed and calm. It was only then that Sasuke noticed that Itachi seemed to be even more sleepy than himself. What had he been up to at night...? He wasn't an ANBU anymore, so...

"Some important business," snapped his brother, eyeing all the three of his subordinates and adding, "Everyone's ready for department?"

"Yeah, let's go already," drawled Naruto, his fingers slipping through his wild blond hair as he scratched his nape.

They ran away from the gates, quickly gaining speed as the wind of freedom was finally caressing Sasuke's face gently like an old friend he'd missed so much. And then he smiled at the shining sun, feeling the semblance of happiness as well as the long forgotten excitement filling him as they jumped from one tree to another.

To him, this was what they call a new beginning. And this time, he wouldn't fail no matter what.

A/N

Daimyō — literally meaning a Feudal Lord, the political leader of a country. A daimyō is responsible for all decisions concerning their country, from alliances to the annual budget to the privileges allowed to the country's hidden village. Daimyō are therefore one of the single most important individuals in the entire country and hold the highest degree of political power.

Hiraishin no Jutsu — also known as the Flying Thunder God Technique, is a Space–Time Ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, which allows the user to instantaneously transport themselves to a previously marked location.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7. You Are Not Alone

With Team Itachi moving through the deep forest at a rather relaxed pace, it took the four of them almost the entire day to reach the border between Land of Fire and Land of Waves. The small isle they were approaching wasn't anywhere near their final destination, of course. But, it was on the shortest possible route they could take to reach the sea in order to board a ship that would then take them to the other continent where Land of Iron was located.

Sasuke realized that it was probably quite juvenile and totally unlike him at all, yet still he couldn't help but feel nostalgic as they were closing in on the distantly familiar place. Years ago, he'd executed his very first mission here in this small country… and had almost died back then, attempting to save Naruto from the Mist's nukenin they'd fought together. Haku was his name, wasn't it…? He couldn't be sure as didn't remember it clearly at this point, and not that it really mattered to him.

The last time Sasuke'd visited this country was just a couple months ago, back in his world, of course, when he'd helped Suigetsu retrieve the sword of Zabuza. The memory should have still felt fresh, Sasuke thought; however, now that he was all alone in this new reality, without anything tying the ninja to his past, with these completely foreign and yet so familiar people around... It seemed as though it'd happened ages ago, no less. As though these memories didn't even belong to him at all...

It was beginning to scare him a tiny bit. The more time he spent here, the more distant his old memories seemed to become. The young Uchiha wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing, so he tried not to think about it whenever this idea came to his mind. Needless to say that he absolutely failed at avoiding it; this uncomfortable realization kept hitting him from time to time when he least expected it, and now it made the boy feel especially uneasy as they were moving in the shadows of the ancient trees, the last golden rays of the almost set sun caressing their backs gently like a mother would do in an attempt to comfort her troubled child and to make it finally fall asleep.

In Sasuke's case, it didn't help at all despite how sleepy and tired he was.

To put it simply, the ninja was afraid of the idea that he was beginning lose the touch with his reality. With his home world—timeline—or whatever one would prefer to call it. No, it wasn't as if he were about to forget something important from his past. He couldn't, it would be simply impossible given just how much had happened to him... how much pain had it caused to him.

And yet, the sense of those events… He could feel that it was slowly losing its influence on his mind; somehow, its emotional relevance was waning with each passing day. He noticed that he thought about his previous life more and more seldom...

And this realization was disturbing.

One could compare it to a nightmare, in a way. The moment a person wakes up in cold sweat, sometimes even with an anguished fearful cry, the memories about the nightmare are still fresh. At first, whatever happened in their sleep feels very real, almost palpable despite the so clear and the absolutely rational understanding of the fact that it was all just a dream. And then, once the terrified mind has calmed down, the memories begin to faint very rapidly. It is mostly thanks to the natural feeling of relief one experiences at these moments. When you know that the danger wasn't real, it becomes meaningless. The only remaining echo of it are your impressions and sometimes, a slight embarrassment. With time, even that disappears without a trace...

And now, moving farther and farther away from Konoha, he was feeling exactly like that. Without him having a physical reminder about his past, it was slowly vanishing from his mind, replaced with boring everyday routine and the problems of his new life. Constant training, his new goals, his relationships with other people… All of sudden, Sasuke realized that he stopped being so defensive around them, too. No longer was he paranoid about the possibility of someone suspecting him not being himself. But, most importantly, he stopped always reflecting on his deeds… stopped constantly thinking about the world he'd ruined. And considering that he had no way to go back to fix it and neither did he even have any testimony to its existence aside from his own memories...

In a way, it felt like a mere nightmare. And he'd already been long awake...

"Itachi-sensei, when are we going to make a stop?" asked Hinata who was moving alongside the boy to his left, breaking the silence for the first time in a while and looking at his brother who was leading the group.

"Soon enough. We're almost there, I reckon we should get on a boat until midnight, so there won't be any stops until then."

"Damn it…," the girl murmured, yawning loudly yet not complaining any more.

Sasuke glanced at her furtively, wincing a bit. He was very tired and sleepy himself, so he could relate to the girl's displeasure. After all, his endurance was still quite pitiful... The ninja missed those times when he'd been able to keep fighting for a few days straight without any rest, feeling perfectly fine.

"Why not just stop in the Wave's town? It's not like we're in rush, you said so yourself," he reasoned, looking at Itachi's back discontentedly.

The older ninja glanced at him over his shoulder, not slowing down as they were jumping from one think branch to another.

"I'd rather not. The place is not the most suitable for resting. Besides, upon spending the night abroad, we'd be able to reach our destination already by tomorrow's evening. And if we don't come to the pier in time, we'll have to wait until morning. That would be a waste of time," replied the man.

"Yeah. The sooner we get there, the more time we'll have to spend in the Iron's capital. I'm pretty sure there are much more entertaining things than in that shitty place we're currently heading to," added Naruto.

Sasuke frowned, not replying anything. Shitty place? As far as he could remember, the town that lay ahead wasn't luxurious for sure, but it was also far from being as bad as the blond portrayed it. Maybe Namikaze Naruto was a bit spoiled by his background, after all…

"Oh, come on, Naruto-kun. A place without a ramen store is automatically crappy?" Hinata smirked at him teasingly.

"It's not about ramen, I don't think it's any good in Land of Iron anyway," he said a bit sadly.

"Oh, really?" drawled the girl, "So by your logic, that place must be bad as well then. What are you, ten?" she scoffed lightly.

"There are interesting places for adults as well if you're so interested," the blond deadpanned. "Jiraiya-sensei told me a lot about their baths… Imagine hot springs located in a winter garden. Must be so beautiful! Also, I recall him mentioning that the special treatment there is pretty cheap, for both boys and girls, if you know what I mean." He grinned slyly without looking at her.

The kunoichi instantly blushed terribly as her eyes widened at the jinchūriki.

"N-Naruto-kun…! That's… inappropriate! You—you stupid pervert!"

"Nah, you confused me with Sasuke. I'm not stupid." Namikaze winked at his friend, to which the dark haired shinobi grinned and hemmed automatically, not really listening to their conversation. He'd learned to respond this way to anything that didn't require him saying something back and, apparently, it'd just worked as usual, seeing as his friend turned away the next second, returning his attention to the Hyūga.

Ignoring the jabbering of Naruto and Hinata, Sasuke had been trying to focus on his thought while they kept jumping from one tree to another in the next half an hour until Itachi finally announced:

"Careful. We're almost there." The man stopped before jumping down, landing on something that resembled a road... Except it appeared to be completely abandoned, as though nobody had used it at all in a couple years at least.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Something there wasn't right...

"Where exactly are we?" muttered the boy, looking around. It was already pretty dark, and he couldn't see anything clearly without his Sharingan activated. Besides, there were no lights to be seen anywhere…

"The town is right ahead. Hinata, activate your Byakugan just in case," said Itachi, walking forward as the rest of them landed right next to him, the girl already scanning the area with her white eyes.

"The town…?" almost whispered Sasuke. It was even more confusing now. Was he under a genjutsu, perhaps? Because he totally couldn't see a damn thing in the pitch darkness that surrounded them...

And then after a very long minute of unsettling walking, he finally realized what exactly was wrong.

"This place…," he whispered as his gaze stopped on the broken wooden gate right in front of him, "Is not what I expected to see."

"And what exactly did you expect from some forsaken ruins?" asked Hinata quietly, as though trying to pay her respect to the lifeless place despite her rather indifferent comment.

"Well, some eatery would be nice, I'm hungry as hell." Naruto shrugged casually, readjusting his backpack and then walking through the almost completely destroyed entrance.

"These ruins…," muttered Sasuke, following his teammate and then coming close to one of the small rickety huts. He touched the burned surface of its door and then lowered his head to look at the thin grass sprouting in between the dusty, ash covered tiles under his feet, "They don't seem to be very old. What happened here?" he turned towards Itachi who stopped as well.

"This town was destroyed by the Mist's mafia a couple years ago. Rumors say it was a horrible massacre."

"Why didn't we prevent it? Konoha, I mean," asked Sasuke, feeling the strange anger rising up in him. No… not exactly anger, but rather some strange disappointment, and a note of... despair? Where did it come from...?

"This country wasn't under our protection at the time when it happened, so it was none of our business unless they would've payed, which they hadn't," Itachi shrugged indifferently before looking away and striding forward. "Let's go. I'd rather not stay here for too long, especially when you guys are so tired."

"We're not tired!" blurted Hinata, to which Itachi didn't react, and Naruto smirked indulgently.

"Would you mind carrying my stuff, then?" He quickly took his backpack off, offering it to the kunoichi who pushed it away the same moment and snorted angrily.

"I said we, not I!"

"Tough luck… Welp, at least I tried," he whined jokingly.

Sasuke jumped away from the small building's remnants, quickly catching up with his teammates and frowning at the rather gloomy thoughts and feelings that absorbed him completely now.

So this world wasn't that much better than his, after all… Tragedies and wars were still a usual thing, just like they had back there. His initial positive impression was based on Konoha's decent state alone, but he hadn't given much thought to the rest… to other villages, towns and countries. What was going on there?

He clenched his teeth and shook his head, trying to get a hold of himself and fighting the oppressive atmosphere of death surrounding them. Whereas it wouldn't be anything extraordinary for a ninja to stay here for the night, now that he had embraced the spirit of this place himself, the raven haired boy could understand why Naruto and Itachi didn't want to do that. He was almost glad that he hadn't argued with them back there—although Sasuke normally wasn't very emotional or sensitive but, seeing this place in such a sorrowful state made him feel even worse than back in the forest. Not because he felt pity for this settlement or its former inhabitants, make no mistake—he'd never had any real ties with this small, insignificant town. Still, this sight had risen more than a couple bothersome questions in his mind… And it also made him realize one thing clearly.

This world wasn't much better than his own. There was just as much pain, death and tragedy; just as many broken lives and dreams… Back when he'd awakened here for the very first time, everything had appeared to be exaggeratedly good. The village, the people… His clan… He'd been enchanted by having all this back, and in comparison to the world he'd left behind, where he'd had nothing left… At the time, it'd seemed like a paradise. He'd been blinded by happiness and relief, Sasuke now realized.

And now, this illusion got shattered in an instant...

His face remained perfectly impassive as they walked by the only house in the town he could still remember—the one that'd once belonged to Tazuna, the guy who'd ordered that mission back when he was twelve. Of course, it was as lifeless and abandoned as everything else around. As Sasuke looked at its hollow, shattered windows, he also realized that if there could be such drastic differences between the two realities, he could as well expect pretty much any surprises incoming. And most of them probably weren't going to be pleasant…

As they kept striding through the ghost town's streets and lanes in silence, the young Uchiha shortly felt as the grip of pain, frustration and despair was slowly weakening the farther they walked away from the downtown area. He turned around to check on his teammates—Naruto looked absolutely fine and calm, apparently deep in his own thought that most likely had nothing in common with Sasuke's reflections, and the Hyūga...

"Oi, Hinata…," he murmured quietly, making the girl gasp and snap her head to look at him just a moment before she tripped, almost falling on the cobblestone road but somehow managing to maintain balance, "Don't sleep."

"I'm good, thank you. You better watch yourself!" She snorted, slightly blushing and looking away.

Sasuke sighed. Does she really have to be so edgy…? he thought melancholically. He'd merely tried to show some compassion and friendliness for the first time in ages… Silly girl. For a moment, he wondered why did she hate him so much. Not that he was really dying to know—considering how much of a jerk the previous owner of his body had been, the reason was probably ridiculously stupid and nothing but embarrassing anyway.

"Oh! Finally, damn it! There it is!" yelled Naruto amusingly, pointing at something far ahead of them.

The raven haired boy turned his head in that direction and instantly noticed the dim lights down the road at the foot of the hill they were currently on. It looked like a very small port with only three boats visible from their point, but even this little bastion of civilization gave the Uchiha the feeling of incredible relief, especially after that long and gloomy trip through the forest... and through the ruins of his own past.

"Yes. Apparently, we aren't late yet," said Itachi, gaining speed but not switching to running yet.

"What a surprise…," murmured the girl, rubbing her eyes and starting walking faster as well.

In a matter of just a couple minutes, they stepped into the port's unsightly territory. Apparently, the owners didn't have many visitors nowadays, for nobody made haste to meet them—if not for the light coming from multiple torches around, Sasuke would've assumed that the place is just as abandoned as everything else on this isle.

Itachi came close to the nearest door, knocking up loudly and then lowering his hand, stepping back. Surprisingly, the door opened very shortly, revealing the face of…

Tazuna…! Sasuke almost gasped, recognizing the gray haired old man he'd been recalling just a few minutes ago. Apparently, the massacre he'd survived hadn't gone unnoticed: his right leg was cut off slightly above his knee, replaced with a roughly made wooden prosthesis; his skin was covered with numerous scars and the traces of multiple burns. Apparently, the man was also pretty drunk as he hiccuped, trying to focus his gaze on the ninja in front of him.

"Konoha's brethren, huh…?" he drawled louringly, eyeing the four of them up and down before his gaze stopped on Naruto's forehead protector. "And to what do I owe the honor, pray tell?"

"We need to reach Land of Iron overnight," deadpanned Itachi, remaining perfectly calm despite the rather venomous greeting they'd received.

"And I need my leg back, fam! Doesn't mean I'm gettin' it," the old man growled irritatedly, leaning on the doorjamb. "Wait until the morning, we're already closed."

"We've come in time. You should've received the letter from Hokage-sama," replied the shinobi, ignoring the downright unfriendly attitude.

"Nah, haven't seen any letters. Now get the hell outta here, kids, or I'll call for muh boys and they'll beat some shit out of y'all!" he groaned, trying to close the door, but then lowering his head curiously as he noticed, to his surprise, that something was blocking it—namely, Sasuke's foot.

"Prepare your best ship for us. Now," said the younger Uchiha softly, peering straight into the man's glassy eyes.

"Will do," came the muffled response, and Tazuna disappeared inside the building, forgetting about the door the same second.

"That wasn't very polite, little brother," said Itachi quietly, meeting the gaze of Sasuke's crimson eyes.

"He wasn't polite either. At least it worked," he shrugged, making the other Uchiha smirk.

"Still, he has his reasons to be angry with Konoha. It's just as you said, we never helped them out, so—"

"I understand," Sasuke interrupted him, noticing the tiny glimpse of surprise in his brother's eyes. "Still, a mission is a mission. There is no place for sentiments, and we're not here to babysit anyone," he snapped, turning around and walking away from the door, ignoring the slightly shocked stare Hinata gave him.

"I agree." Naruto shrugged, following his friend with his hands locked on his nape. "It's not like we are responsible for what happened to them."

The two of them proceeded toward the pier, stopping right on its edge and eyeing the nearest vessel. It was pretty old and it didn't look quite presentable, but neither of them really cared—if it was capable of taking them to the other continent safely, they could live with a possible discomfort.

"That genjutsu… it was pretty badass," suddenly remarked Naruto.

Sasuke gave him a skeptical glance before lowering onto the rough surface of the wooden pier, dangling his legs down and staring at the perfectly calm water, or rather at the breathtakingly beautiful reflection of the full moon and thousands stars surrounding it.

"That's a base level Sharingan technique," replied the Uchiha reluctantly.

"That's not what I mean," Naruto grinned, standing beside him. "The way you did it, that was badass. Knowing you, I would imagine you starting a noisy argument with the old man, but you did the opposite. It's good to see you acting so professional."

He didn't reply. What could he say anyway? He'd warned the blond that his old friend was gone for good.

"Sasuke… there probably won't be a more suitable opportunity, so…," the jinchūriki lowered his voice, glancing cautiously towards Itachi and Hinata who remained at the building, apparently waiting for Tazuna and discussing something as well. "I know that you've lost some memories."

The Uchiha had to admit it to himself, it was hard not to flinch at his sudden words. Still, he somehow managed not to react visibly, waiting silently for whatever Naruto might add.

"I can imagine how you feel about it—probably pretty damn bad, but… I just wanted to tell you that you're not alone in this."

Slightly turning his head to the right, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto's feet.

"Who else knows? And, more importantly, how did you find out?" he asked, hearing a quiet smirk behind his back.

"Don't worry, Hinata doesn't know." Apparently, the lack of a reply made the Namikaze realize that his friend wasn't in the mood for jokes at the moment, so he quickly added, "Just kidding, relax. Nobody knows aside from me, Neji and Sakura-chan. As for how, well… It's mostly thanks to Sakura-chan, although, I admit, it was initially my idea. I came up with it as soon as Neji told me that something seemed off with you and with the way you reacted to common things, that's why I decided to check just in case. And Sakura-chan, well… You've never really dated her, you know."

With his last line, it all started to make sense. Evidently, they'd fooled him back at the party… something he totally hadn't seen coming. Apparently, underestimating his new friends wasn't very wise of him. This Naruto was much more smart, shrewd and attentive than the one he remembered...

"I see," said Sasuke just as calmly as before, suppressing the slight nervousness and quickly pulling himself together. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because we're friends," Naruto shrugged as though it was self-explanatory. "I figured that you didn't want anyone to know about this, but I also realized that it probably makes you feel lonely. So don't worry about anything, we got your back. None of us will spill a word."

"...Thank you," uttered Sasuke after a short pause, feeling as relief and gratitude suddenly replaced fear and loneliness in his heart. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he was glad that he had a friend.

"No problem, mate," Naruto smirked again, taking a few steps towards the coast. "They're coming, so let's change the topic. Tell me, what the hell happened between you and Hinata? She seems especially furious around you lately."

Sasuke almost groaned. This was going to be a very long trip…

-~X~-

"So how's the situation between you and your father? You wanted to tell me about something about it the other day, but I didn't have any time to talk until now. Sorry about that," said Itachi softly, lying on the couch in one of the ship's small cabins and looking at Hinata who was delving into her backpack in search for something.

"Don't worry about it, sensei. I know you are always very busy," she smiled timidly, finally taking a simple woolen blanket out. She then got up to put it on the couch, adding, "It's just that I don't have any friends to share it with, so—"

"You do. No matter what you think about them, you have Naruto-kun and Sasuke," replied the man.

"I suppose…," drawled the girl doubtfully, taking her jacket off and putting it on the rusty hanger, only the light top and shorts remaining on her as she lay down, yawning sweetly. "You could say that I have Sakura and Ino-chan as well. Still, you are the only person I could call a real friend," she uttered sadly.

"I disagree… But, no matter. So what did you want to tell me?" replied Itachi, looking at her expectantly.

"It's about Neji-nī-san," she said quietly, putting her hands under her nape and staring at the dirty ceiling of the cabin. "I hate the way tō-san treats him, and I can't do anything about it. It makes me sick..."

The Uchiha lowered his eyes, not saying anything for a while, so she decided to continue.

"You know, sensei… If he didn't have Naruto-kun and Sasuke as friends, I think he would have long gone insane."

"Isn't that how everyone in the Branch House is treated normally?" asked her master carefully, clearly not wanting to sound any rough even despite her having told him many times that she herself detested this barbaric system in her clan.

"It is… But, nī-san—he—he doesn't deserve it! He's so kind… and so strong. He's a much better ninja than I, and—"

"That is debatable. I'm well aware of your level and of his capabilities as well, and I don't think you are any inferior."

"That's not what I mean," she muttered slightly irritatedly, "He is capable of withstanding such horrible things with ease… He takes everything tō-san throws at him, yet manages to remain strong and cheerful despite living in hell. And I… even though it should be much easier for me as the heir, with everyone including him treating me like a damned priceless porcelain doll, I—," Hinata didn't finish the sentence, feeling the treacherous tears coming to her eyes. She then turned away, closing her eyelids stubbornly and gritting her teeth.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," said Itachi softly, "None of it is your fault."

"B-But—I'm not strong enough…," she almost sobbed, clenching her fists only to suppress the sudden burst of emotions. She wouldn't embarrass herself like that. She couldn't...

"You are who you are. You may keep your mask up around the others if it makes you feel comfortable, we all do that. But, do not try to lie to yourself. We are ninja, Hinata… We were born to endure," he took the same pose as her, looking up thoughtfully. "Even though we cannot choose our destiny, we're still allowed to seek happiness and to be honest with ourselves," he uttered pointedly.

"Are you talking about what Sasuke did? The way he took his own mask off recently?" she turned her head towards him, looking at the Uchiha curiously.

"I suppose you could say so," he replied vaguely, and although his face remained completely impassive, something in his tone made her assume that, perhaps, not everything with his sibling was as simple as it could seem to her.

"But, I don't wear any mask," the girl said then, turning away as she decided not to push on this matter—she knew that her doing so would, in a way, give him a permission to ask her some private questions about her relationship with his brother, and she didn't want that. "Unlike him, I've never tried to pretend someone I'm not. It's just that—I value my private space, so I don't allow the others see and know some things about myself. Don't you think it is only natural, sensei?"

"Perhaps, you overestimate the significance of privacy," he mused, closing his eyes and sighing patiently. "You are a good girl, Hinata. And as you well know, I'm in the exact same position as you, so I can relate to your feelings."

She stared at the metal wall shamefully. For a brief moment, she'd forgotten that just like her, Itachi was forced to bear the burden of being the heir to his clan, something neither of them had ever wanted.

"I know, but—"

"We weren't born to do great things, it is a whim of fate that we have to. That's why I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the bonds I have. It might be hard for the likes of us to forge them, but this is the only way to survive through all this… That's what I believe," said the shinobi, turning away from her and lying on his side. "Get some rest now. I have the feeling that this mission isn't going to be as easy as we imagine."

She smiled at his back, almost chuckling at her own reaction to his words. Itachi was the only person who could turn her mood upside down, from bad to good, in a matter of seconds… Well, aside from Sasuke, but he usually did the reverse thing.

"Thank you, sensei. Good night."

He didn't reply, but she didn't care, almost appreciating the lack of response. For the first time in a while, she felt completely free from the annoying formalities… and, apparently, so did her friend.

-~X~-

At first, there were the nightmares. Those old ones he'd been having since his childhood… since the day of the massacre. The corpses of his clansmen, his dead parents. His brother towering over them like an unshakable monument with a merciless, stone expression...

Then, the sight of himself standing near the lifeless body of Itachi under the strong rain. One of his biggest mistakes and regrets… even though he wasn't the one at fault there, he still felt guilty even now. Just another one of his countless mistakes…

The Great War. Madara piercing his heart with his own sword… and, for the first time in his life, the feeling of utter horror as he'd believed that his path was over. That he'd failed… that everything until then had been futile, and that along with him, the name of Uchiha would have ceased to exist.

And finally, his last moments in the old world. Naruto's final words… and the sage's deep voice ripping him out of his own dying body...

Right now, all these visions of the past were welcomed by him like some old friends he'd already begun to miss. It was quite bizarre and, perhaps, even a bit creepy, but he was glad to see all of it once again. It helped him come to his senses, to wash away all the doubts and fears that had breached his heart back in the Land of Waves. As he was viewing the normally frightening pictures one by one, Sasuke finally managed to calm down completely.

And then…

The sight changed once again. He was in the middle of a very vast meadow, looking at the bright blue sky, as though trying to spot something up there…

Instantly realizing that it wasn't a memory, he tried to move his hand, but he couldn't; in fact, he couldn't do anything at all aside from watching something with the eyes that didn't belong to him.

"Sasuke! Let's go, we must leave! Now!" the slightly deafened voice behind his back seemed awfully familiar, but he couldn't turn around to see who was calling for him.

"No. I'm staying." To his surprise, these words came out of his own mouth, in his voice.

"You idiot! At this rate, we all will die here!" His eyes slid from the spindrift clouds to the blinding sun, noticing the unclear shadow bathing in its light.

"Don't worry, darling, you won't," he said calmly, taking a few steps backwards. "He's coming here..."

"We must run! NOW, Sasuke!"

"No, we won't make it," he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

"We have to try… Otherwise, we're all dead!"

He didn't reply this time; instead, his hands quickly formed a few seals as he took a very deep breath…

"Sasuke, no…!"

A huge orb of fire shot up in the sky, and then he finally turned around, looking at Hinata who was staring at him in utter horror, holding her bleeding hip with her hand and panting heavily.

"Now that I've drawn his attention, Naruto and Itachi should be able to escape safely."

Her features softened—apparently, the girl finally understood his plan.

"I-I see…," she swallowed, lowering her eyes sadly. "I guess… this is it for us, then."

"Hn. Who knows," he shrugged, coming closer to her. "Well," he turned around and looked up at the sun again, feeling as his lips twisted in a dry, almost venomous grin—he noticed that something huge and massive was quickly falling right on them down from the sky. "Maybe not exactly."

"What…?" she murmured in confusion as he looked at her again.

"I'll miss you, princess."

"What are you—gah!" she gasped as he jumped at her, grabbing the girl's thin waist and pulling her over the edge of the cliff they were standing on, quickly rolling down into the ravine. The last thing he felt was his arms hugging the kunoichi's frame as tight as possible, pressing her head against his chest and covering it with his hands before he heard a tremendous explosion.

And then everything went dark.

With a loud gasp, he sat on his couch, panting and trying to understand where he was, quickly realizing that, apparently, it was just a dream…

Yeah, probably not quite. He wasn't an idiot; he understood what exactly had he just seen.

It was a memory of his alternate self… the moment he'd died.

"Sasuke… did you just yell? Are you alright?" mumbled Naruto sleepily from the other side of the cabin without opening his eyes.

"Yeah… Just a nightmare. I'll be right back," said Sasuke quickly, getting up and walking outside.

-~X~-

Slightly cringing at the cold northern air, Hinata slowly walked up the stairs that led to the upper deck of the ship, instantly noticing him standing near the rusty old rim, staring down overboard without moving at all. The girl frowned, hugging herself tightly and regretting that she hadn't put more clothes on—her old jacked totally wasn't enough to warm her up now that they'd arrived into these cold waters.

"Sasuke…," she called out, approaching the boy who turned his head just a little bit towards her, not even bothering to look at the kunoichi.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was just as cold as the wind that pierced her to the bone as she came close to the Uchiha, stopping a yard away.

"You woke me up. I heard you screaming."

"Yeah… sorry about that."

"That's not about it," she shook her head in annoyance. "I decided to check on you, and Naruto-kun told me that you went out. I was worried about you."

"Worried?" she couldn't see his face clearly, but Hinata was sure that he sneered at her words. "Interesting."

She sighed patiently, closing her eyes for a moment before giving him a vigorous gaze and saying:

"Look, Sasuke… No matter what I might think about you, and no matter who I am to you, you're still my teammate. And I also consider you… a friend," she added hesitantly, remembering Itachi's earlier words. "So yes… I do worry about you."

He didn't reply at first, keeping studying the unruly waves down below.

"I thought you hated me… Isn't that so?" he asked, sounding so casual that it could seem as though he was replying merely out of politeness, not really interested in this conversation at all.

Was that another mask of his?

"I don't hate you… I just can't figure you out," she replied honestly and scowled, stepping a bit closer, to which he never reacted either.

"You're not the first."

For some reason, these words really hurt her, and she couldn't quite explain why. Still, the girl decided to swallow her pride for once, replying impassively:

"Tell me, Sasuke… Why did you save me back there?"

She noticed that this question triggered something deep inside of him—it was barely visible, but the boy straightened his back, gripping the rim a bit tighter.

"I wonder about that…," he muttered.

Hinata's eyes narrowed at him, and she pursed her lips, feeling that she was beginning to lose her patience with the boy. Still, she realized that she couldn't force herself to be as cocky as she normally was around him. Whenever the two of them were left completely alone, she felt awkward... weak. Another bothersome thing she failed understand about herself.

"Tell me, will you?"

"I would do that again," he suddenly replied, sounding louder and clearer than before, as though under a sudden tide of confidence... In a way, it sounded like he'd just made a certain decision, but she couldn't tell what it was.

"Huh…?"

"I would save you again," Sasuke turned to face her. His expression was dead serious, and his eyes… These eyes that looked alien to her...

They didn't know fear.

"Why?" was all she could utter, completely enchanted by his adamant gaze. The gaze she'd never seen before…

"Because that's what I decided to do. I will protect you, and everyone else. This is the path I've chosen."

All of sudden, she felt very warm, almost hot as she looked at his emotionless face perplexedly. The way he peered at her now… It felt uncomfortable. Almost scary... in a good way.

"Sasuke… what happened to you?"

"I died," he snapped, just like he had back in Konoha.

She frowned, biting her lip.

"Yes, you already told me that. But, I don't understand…"

The boy sighed, closing his eyes as the gust of wind whipped his hair.

"It's just as they say… As a ninja, you either die a hero, or live long enough to become a villain. I have died..." He seemed to want to say something else, but then he stopped, clenching his fists slightly.

"And?" she asked after a few seconds of silence, still unable to grasp what exactly was he trying to tell her.

"My fate got sealed the moment I made that choice… The moment I died. This is the reason why I received this second chance. To atone for my sins here… and to save this world." It was odd, but somehow it felt as though he was actually talking to himself now, not to her. As if he was simply thinking aloud… and it made no sense.

"Save this world…? What are you talking about?"

He opened his eyes, looking at Hinata as though he was seeing her for the first time in his life.

"I will become Hokage," he said simply then, looking right into her eyes. The girl felt the strange chill going down her spine, which had absolutely nothing to do with the weather.

"You…? Hokage…?" she mumbled in disbelief. He had to be joking... He just had to. But he wasn't...

"Yes. I won't let any of you die no matter what. And, Hyūga," he stepped closer, almost pressing against her body now. "Whatever happened in the past is irrelevant to me now. My life doesn't belong to me anymore," he said quietly, her eyes widening at the cryptic words. "You are my teammate and, I suppose, my friend as well. I don't mind you by my side, however…," he lowered his head toward her, almost whispering into her ear which made the girl suppress a tremble as his hot breath tickled her skin, "If you ever attempt to stand in my way, I'll destroy you just like I'll do to anyone else, whoever might dare try to stop me."

She stepped backwards reflectively, narrowing her eyes at his perfectly calm face and clenching her fists.

"I'm not afraid of you!" she blurted out.

"I don't care," he snapped, and from the way he was looking at her, the girl realized that he was being sincere with her, perhaps, for the very first time in their lives.

It was completely unexpected… and a bit frightening, she had to admit. But, what made everything everything even stranger was that for some reason she couldn't explain herself, she believed him. She believed in him. She knew that he meant every single world he'd just told her, and it almost seemed like nothing would be able to stop him from achieving his goal...

The boy without destiny had finally chosen his path.

"There is no way a weakling like you could become Hokage," she deadpanned then, realizing that she didn't really think so, but rather merely trying to get under his skin. To hurt him with words, somehow… Seeing him so self assured, showing the absolutely unbreakable will to achieve his goal... it was painful to her. It made her feel another stab of jealousy which made her want to repay him for the pain he'd caused to her before and was causing now. To make him angry again, to force him to show the passion she missed to much...

But, to Hinata's utter shock, he merely smirked at her words, turning away again.

"Times change… and so must I," he said, and the way it sounded had shocked her probably more than everything he'd told her until now. The humility, the wisdom in his voice that went far beyond his age… All of sudden, she realized that he had truly changed. It wasn't just a mask nor a personality he might had concealed until now.

This person in front of her wasn't the Uchiha Sasuke she knew.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8. Ninja Creed

"Woah… That's quite impressive, isn't it?" muttered Naruto, staring at the colossal gates looming on the horizon as the four of them strode down the wide road, squinting and covering their faces with their hands from time to time as the blizzard was making their way really uncomfortable despite everything they'd prudently equipped back on the ship in the morning.

Each of the team's members was now wearing a heavy white coat warmed with fur from the inside; the sandals which were a common footwear for Konoha's ninja had been replaced with leather boots. They also had long woolen scarfs wrapped around their necks—Naruto's was bright blue, Hinata's—bloody red; Sasuke's was snowy white, and Itachi's was light gray. Aside from that, they were wearing standard ninja uniforms except for Konoha's green vests. Itachi also had a simple short sword hidden behind his back, but it was barely visible at all. In other words, they'd made sure to appear as inconspicuous as possible, realizing that even like this, they would still probably look very unusual to Iron's people.

"I wonder why did they have to make the walls so huge. They are at least three times as taller than those in Konoha!" exclaimed Hinata, studying the fortifications surrounding the city in awe with her Byakugan activated. "I mean, they don't ever fight anyone… what's the point?"

"These walls in particular and their country's incredible defensive capacity in general are one of the big reasons why they managed to remain peaceful until now," remarked Itachi who was walking a bit ahead of them all.

"And this weather must be the main reason then… ugh! It sucks that we can't even use some jutsu to warm up. Honestly, is such secrecy really necessary?" Naruto groaned, having to infuse his feet with chakra in order not to fall down by a chance—the path they were walking was very icy and slippery, as though nobody actually used it at all aside from rare travelers like them. Except that would be false as the people that passed them by from time to time were there, and they were clearly used to such conditions, likely having trained to walk on such surfaces rather comfortably—after all, it was winter almost the whole year in this northern region of Land of Iron.

Itachi turned around and smirked at his former students indulgently.

"Don't worry, we've almost arrived. We should be able to get some rest, food and warmth soon enough. Sasuke," he glanced at his younger brother who was striding a little behind the three of them, although not displaying any sign of discomfort at all, "Do you have any hidden steel arms with you?"

The boy flinched as he snapped out of his though, meeting the attentive gaze of his sibling's dark eyes.

"No," he replied quietly. "I haven't recharged the seals since this is a diplomatic mission anyway." In truth, the teen'd simply realized that getting caught with any weapon in his arsenal after he would assassinate the bride could make the situation very complicated, so he'd purposefully left everything he'd had back in Konoha.

"Good," nodded Itachi. "They will likely take everything from us at the city's entrance anyway. Everyone, make sure not to hide anything. An international scandal is not something we want to cause here for sure."

"Understood," replied Naruto who usually didn't use any weapons aside from a couple kunai of some unusual design anyway, so it didn't bother him at all.

"Weird… With such great defense, why is that even necessary? Are they so afraid of us?" said Hinata in slight displeasure—not that she ever used ninja tools in combat at all, of course, but evidently the idea of somebody searching through her pockets still made her feel a little uncomfortable for some reason.

Itachi shrugged.

"Who knows? In any case, we are the guests here, so let us all be nice. I don't want anything to get messed up as usual," he glanced meaningfully at his brother as he said that, making the boy grit his teeth in annoyance, but then Sasuke had to suppress the sudden desire to laugh at the irony—as a matter of fact, he had pretty high chances to mess something up thanks to the Fourth even though it was by no means his intention.

"Fine by me," he said in an accommodating spirit.

"I can't wait to get in some comfy place," said Naruto, rubbing his numb hands. "I'm totally freezing here! We should go to their hot springs as soon as possible. Do you think it's possible, Itachi-sensei? Hopefully, Jiraiya-sensei didn't exaggerate it too much when he told me about their greatness..."

"I think you're forgetting that we'll have to report to their leader first," hissed Hinata, trying to hide the fact that her teeth were chattering from the cold.

"Ah, that… Well, surely, you three could do that without me. I so would enjoy some gentle and beautiful hands massaging my tired back right now…," drawled Naruto dreamily, closing his eyes in joy of anticipation.

"Ha! Too bad, silly," the girl sneered, eyeing him with a note of pretentious disgust. "But, as the son of Hokage, it is your job to show your pretty face up at every important meeting, and not to lazy around or, even worse, to hang out with some sluts or whatever nasty ideas you're drooling at."

"Really?" drawled the boy doubtfully, "I don't remember agreeing to something like that when I became Konoha's ninja…"

"That's because you don't read anything beside those lewd books written by Jiraiya-sama," parried the kunoichi.

"Ah, but they are so good..."

"Ha! I knew it. You stupid pervert!"

"We've already been through this, haven't we…?"

Sasuke sighed, quickly passing by the two of them and now walking right next to Itachi. He was on the verge of asking his brother if their teammates always were so loud and chatty, but that much had become quite obvious by now anyway—whenever either of them got bored, they began to throw jokes at each other, although never really being serious from what it seemed so far. And although at first the Uchiha had sometimes found it funny and, perhaps, even somewhat cute (although he'd never admit this aloud), for it was something the Team Seven from his world had always missed… It quickly became a bit maddening to him.

Still, remembering Naruto and Sakura from his previous life as well as the relationships between each other within their old team, with pretty much every one of them hating at least one of the other two teammates, and Kakashi never giving a damn in general, what he was seeing now was almost relieving; it was showing that there were some decent, healthy bonds between them no matter all the problems that existed in their relationships—for one, although Sasuke knew that Naruto refused to consider Hinata his friend, he and the Hyūga still seemed like ones for sure, always getting along very nicely.

But even so, the Uchiha was totally not used to these noisy and pointless conversations following him everywhere like the annoying buzz. And right now he was beginning to feel irritated too…

"What's on your mind, little brother?" suddenly asked Itachi, making him blink in surprise and turn his head towards the man, peering at his compassionate face searchingly for a while.

"Nothing at all," he replied laconically then, turning away the next second. Obviously, there was no way he could explain it… just like many other things that concerned him these days. It was unfair… he was supposed to be honest and genuine in order to strengthen his bonds, wasn't he? But he simply wasn't allowed to...

"You seem to be troubled. Is this because of your conversation with Hinata back on the ship?" asked his brother so quietly that it almost seemed like a whisper, making sure that the other two of their teammates wouldn't hear him.

Sasuke scowled, glancing at him again. In truth, he'd almost forgotten about that conversation by now. To him, it'd been over the moment he'd managed to break through the girl's exterior barriers and scare her away by saying that he might kill her should she ever become an obstacle on his way...

"Yeah. Partly," he lied, not seeing any other option to hide the truth that lay behind his concern.

Frankly, Sasuke wasn't sure himself why exactly did he want so much for her to stay away from him and his plans—no matter who she'd once been to the other Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata was no one special to him; he neither liked nor hated her. However, she seemed to believe that it was justified for her to meddle into his personal business, and he didn't want that to keep happening. Not that he had any particular dislike towards this girl—if anything, he even found her curious to an extent, and definitely far better than Sakura both in terms of her personality and looks. Still, she clearly expected to see someone in him… Someone he wasn't, and would never become. In these circumstances, the only thing she could cause to him would be unnecessary interference… as well as annoying noisiness, and he was already having more of that than he would prefer.

"She was unusually quiet in the morning, and she seemed very baffled. Had something bad happened between you and her?" asked Itachi shrewdly, wiping snowflakes off his forehead with his sleeve.

"Not that I know of," the boy shrugged as casually as he could, "She approached me asked why had I saved her from the explosion, that's all."

"And…?"

"And I told her about my ultimate goal; that as future Hokage, I want to protect everyone in Konoha including her"

"I see…," replied Itachi after a short pause, turning away. "No wonder that she looked so shocked then. By the way, how is your training with Shisui going?" he asked curiously, apparently deciding to change the subject to his younger brother's relief.

"Well…," Sasuke paused before replying, narrowing his eyes at the heavy clouds as the snow storm was intensifying, "If we are unlucky enough, you'll see yourself soon. Didn't he tell you about it? I thought you two were close friends," said the boy jauntily.

"We are. But that's Shisui for you, he never reveals any secrets one asks him to keep," the small grin played on Itachi's lips as they approached the immense gates, seeing the heavily armored guardians moving towards them. "He only told me that you're surprisingly dedicated to train hard and to study more about Sharingan. I was glad to hear that."

"Yeah… They're coming, by the way," said the younger Uchiha, nodding at the soldiers that were running in their direction and remembering the last time he'd encountered, or rather butchered samurai like these ones. Whereas they definitely weren't a threat to an average jōnin level ninja, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to counter them as easily as before should something go wrong this time. After all, he didn't have a sword, nor his Mangekyō Sharingan, and his body was still very far from its prime...

"Freeze!" shouted out the leader of the group, pulling his blade out of its scabbard.

"You must be kidding me…," muttered Hinata, hugging herself but stopping nonetheless as she and Naruto came close to Sasuke and Itachi, the girl shaking slightly under gusts icy wind.

"Silence!" the warrior barked from under his helmet, coming closer toward Itachi. "Name yourselves now!"

"My name is Uchiha Itachi. I've come along with Uchiha Sasuke, Namikaze Naruto, and Hyūga Hinata. Our presence was requested by the daimyō of Land of Iron, we are to attend—"

"Understood," the samurai interrupted him roughly, sounding more relaxed and quiet now. "I'm sorry, Itachi-san, but we were ordered not to let anyone into the city until the scheduled day… aside from your team, of course. Security matters, that is," he explained, hiding his weapon.

"That's perfectly fine," replied the oldest ninja neutrally, stepping closer toward the vanguard, followed by his team. "Feel free to perform the rummage if it's necessary."

"Thank you," the leader nodded gratefully. "Waragi! Tetsui! Do your job now!"

"Yes, sir!" The two faceless samurai rushed towards them, clearly feeling uneasy under the intimidating gaze of Hinata's white eyes which were clearly quite exotic here in this faraway country. At the same time, Naruto didn't seem care about the expected routine procedure at all, and Sasuke…

The boy's attention was focused on the weapons each of the warriors was wearing on their waists as he recognized the familiar design—exactly the type of sword he preferred to use in combat himself. Perhaps it would be wise to buy one here… No, that would probably be impossible; they clearly didn't let foreigners wear any type of armament within the city's territory. Should he maybe steal one, then…?

"Looks like everything is clear. Sorry for the disturbance, Itachi-san. But, an order is an order." He spread his iron plates covered hands apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," replied the ninja, taking his backpack from one of the guardians. "Are we free to pass now?"

"Uh... yes, of course. Mifune-taishō is waiting for you at his office. Here is the map, it should be easy for you to get there. Though, I guess it won't be necessary—as far as I know, you shinobi are really good at orienting in foreign places, especially with this girl's eyes," the man nodded at Hinata pointedly before handing a piece of old parchment to the older Uchiha. "Welcome to the City of a Thousand Blades, and have a nice day."

"Thank you," with Itachi having said this, the group entered the settlement, looking around themselves with curiosity and amazement.

The first thing that instantly drew their attention was that every single building there was made out of stone, most of them in a pretty rough and rather unsightly, overly simplified design. Unlike in Konoha, there was not a single wooden construction to be seen, and as far as they could notice, every house had at least two floors. The streets, despite being notably more spacious, were actually far less crowded—perhaps due to the weather, Sasuke assumed, for although the walls protected the city from the storm to an extent, it certainly wasn't enough to make it completely comfortable. And the people themselves… they looked a lot less welcoming than the those of the Leaf. Most of the civilians had very sullen faces, barely smiling or talking at all… As though they absolutely didn't care about each other as well as about whoever came to visit their city.

The Uchiha smirked. He was already beginning to like this place—nobody seemed to give a damn about his presence, they didn't even look at him. Sadly, he realized that he had very high chances to get banished from entering the city again very soon. Otherwise, the teen would like to visit it in the future on some other occasion… maybe even as a tourist? The idea of him traveling causally seemed a bit ridiculous but also quite amusing now that he thought about it...

All of sudden, his mood became far better in spite of the the unwelcoming, cold atmosphere. He was unsure why exactly did he feel this way now—maybe his earlier conversation with the Hyūga had truly helped him to put his struggling soul at ease in some way. After all, by telling all those things to the girl, not only had he reassured himself in the righteousness of his newfound goal, but he'd also finally made it absolutely clear to her that the person she'd known was dead, so perhaps now she would stop being such a pain. He could still remember her downright shocked face, and her frightened eyes when she'd turned away from him and quickly went back to her cabin…

He almost grinned at the memory from the previous night. Those notes of fear she'd failed to conceal... What a delightful sight. To some extent, he was going to miss his old methods and habits. Not that he was any cruel or bloodthirsty—the times of his madness caused by Mangekyō Sharingan's awakening had long gone. Yet still, he missed being able not to care about anyone and more so about their feelings. Now that he'd realized the true meaning of bonds, the value of a single life, everything had become so complicated…

Of course, he wasn't afraid of difficulties by any means, but the necessity of being compassionate and polite was something he still found uneasy to get accustomed with. His usual way of doing things was straightforward, uncaring and hence effective. His goals always justified the means… Or rather, they had until now. There were some decisions off limits for him at the moment, and this was weird, unpleasant… almost frustrating. Because just a couple months ago, what he'd told Hinata a few hours ago would have been absolutely true—he would crush her and everyone foolish enough to stand on his way. But now, he knew that it was just a hollow bluff on his part…

Sasuke sighed, breathing the chilly air as they entered the fortress located very close to the middle of the city, welcomed reservedly by its guardians as well. That was almost shameful—he wasn't afraid, but rather was even eager to face any challenging opponent out there, yet he struggled fighting himself of all people…

"Greetings, Itachi-san. Thank you for having arrived so fast, we are a little short on time here," the distantly familiar grumpy voice made Sasuke flinch, narrowing his eyes at the long haired thin man with bandaged head who was standing near the window right beside his broad wooden desk.

Sasuke was sure he knew him, or at least he could remember his face... This samurai had been present at the Gokage summit, he'd tried to fight him when the Uchiha was chasing Danzō… had he killed him back there or not? He couldn't tell by now.

"Thank you, Mifune-sama. We didn't want to make you wait longer than necessary. Besides, it's a big pleasure to be here," replied Itachi, bowing his head politely. After all, this person was roughly equal to a Kage in terms of international ranks, so they were supposed to show some respect…

But Sasuke couldn't bring himself to do that at the moment. In fact, he just stared at the weapon the man was wearing on his waist, almost mesmerized by the familiar warm and a bit nostalgic feeling it gave him. Oh yes, he would recognize this blade in any world and time…

"I hoped that Hokage-sama would realize the subtext of our message. Seeing as he sent your team here after all, I understand he got it right… didn't he?" asked Mifune carefully, clearly feeling uneasy as he mentioned the touchy subject of their mission.

"Yes, he did. Otherwise we wouldn't be here as you have just stressed yourself," Itachi's face remained impassive. "I'd like to discuss a few matters regarding the specifics of our task. But first, I'd like you to provide my wards with a place to rest. Our trip was exhausting, and they are pretty tired."

"Ah… of course, of course. Excuse me, I should have foreseen this myself. Arisa, kindly show our guests their rooms and provide them accordingly with everything they might need," said Mifune, looking at the white haired girl who was apparently his secretary, sitting at the small desk near the hall's entrance. She wasn't older than seventeen, and her tiny, thin figure looked a bit out of place as they were surrounded by so many strong and massive soldiers...

"It will be done, Mifune-sama," she got up, making a welcoming gesture before walking out of the room, followed by Naruto who looked quite excited by the new place (or, perhaps, rather by the girl herself), but pretty bored otherwise.

"Sasuke… Sasuke, let's go! What are you waiting for?" he heard the hiss behind his back as the ninja felt someone's soft fingers wrapping around his wrist and slightly pulling his hand from behind. The ninja shook his head and frowned before turning around as Hinata dragged him out of the room, following Naruto and Arisa in quick footsteps.

Normally, he would certainly resist and pull out of her grasp, but right now, the Uchiha was too absorbed by the sudden idea that seemed just as frightening as exciting it was to him. Because as soon as he'd seen the weapon Mifune had with him, he'd felt that even despite his genuine intention to make everything go smoothly, his mission would absolutely have to go wrong; it was probably just doomed to. There was just no other explanation for such coincidence, really...

Because the leader of samurai possessed the very Kusanagi sword Orochimaru had given Sasuke in the other reality many years ago. And now the boy wanted it back.

Badly.

-~X~-

"And here is the entrance to our famous winter gardens! We're very proud to have collected thousands of plant species here. Down underground, there are also artificial fields with various types of vegetables. Our scientists have done some incredible job, don't you think so?" Arisa smiled at them brightly as Naruto pulled a forced polite grin himself, nodding.

"Yeah… I guess. This is truly outstanding, Arisa-san."

"That's very impressive indeed! For such a cold country as yours, this achievement must mean so much," Hinata smiled at the girl, seeming genuinely interested in everything she showed the three of them during the tour across the city—as Itachi was busy discussing something in private with Mifune, and the rest of the team not feeling like sitting in the boring rooms of the hotel in the daytime, Arisa'd been kind enough to offer them her guidance.

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged understanding glances—the boredom was literally killing them, for neither of the boys was really interested in learning about flowers and vegetables, let alone to listen to the uninteresting and unnecessary historical facts Mifune's secretary was spilling on them without pause. However, they realized that politeness was the key to their mission's success, so they preferred to stay silent for the most part of it while Hinata took the leadership, and quite eagerly at that. Sasuke had no clue if the Hyūga was really interested in all that garbage, but it almost seemed to him as though she were trying to torture them by prolonging this excursion as much a she could… What a clever way to get revenge. She was really cruel, this girl...

"Uh… Excuse me, Arisa-san, but are we going to pass by some eatery anytime soon by a chance? I'm dying to hunger." Naruto gave the girl a charming grin which made her blush the same second. She lowered her eyes timidly, stuttering a little as she replied:

"Of c-course, shinobi-sama. If you want, I could show you and your friends a few good places right now, and—"

"That was mean, Naruto! Arisa-san is trying hard to show us the culture of her people, and interrupting her like that is very disrespectful," said Hinata, turning back to the blue eyed girl who smiled sheepishly at her tirade. "Actually, I think we should finish the tour first. Please go right ahead, food won't run away," added the kunoichi, shooting an angry glance at her blond teammate and then scowling reflectively as her eyes slid to Sasuke—but, apparently, it surprised her quite a lot as she noticed that his expression at the moment was completely emotionless and unreadable.

The girl then turned away, murmuring something to Arisa while Naruto sighed, scratching his nape and squinting at his friend.

"I guess we're screwed, aren't we? I'm really hungry, man… Damn it."

"So am I," Sasuke shrugged, following the girls obediently.

"Shit… I thought you'd support me," muttered Naruto, sounding slightly offended, to which the Uchiha glanced at him with an arched brow.

"I could, but it would lead us to another conflict within the team and nothing else."

Naruto snorted, rolling his eyes as they maneuvered between the people surrounding them—unlike at the city's gates, this square was pretty filled up.

"You're really becoming a drag, you know that, right?"

Sasuke smirked at him without a sign of joy.

"No, I just don't want to listen to her angry wails the whole evening. Besides, I think she's doing it intentionally. Trying to get on our nerves, that is," said the Uchiha calmly, to which the jinchūriki sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I thought as much. But why? Somehow, I doubt it's because of my earlier jokes," he gave Sasuke a pointed look, as though asking him a certain question silently which wasn't missed by his attentive eyes.

"Could be because of me," admitted the dark haired ninja, putting his hands in the pockets of the coat—it was still quite cold around, and since the environment was pretty much relaxed and peaceful this time, there was no anticipation of a fight and hence no adrenaline rush to make him forget about the nasty weather.

"Huh? What the hell did you do to her again? And more importantly, when?" Naruto chuckled, shaking his head.

"Back on the boat. She tried to annoy me again, so I told her to leave me alone. Maybe I was a bit too rude," he mused, narrowing his onyx black eyes at the nape of Hinata who was walking a few yards ahead of them, absorbed by the conversation with Arisa. "I also told her about my goal," he added after a short pause.

Naruto's grin instantly disappeared, replaced with concern mixed in with curiosity.

"Woah… Damn it. And she...?"

Sasuke blinked at him, frowning.

"What?"

"What did she say to that?!"

The Uchiha looked away, lowering his eyes before uttering:

"She said that a weakling like me could never hope to become Hokage," replied he truthfully, strangling his pride for a moment.

"Ouch… Still, it doesn't explain why she's so bitchy today," said Naruto, peering at Hinata as well.

"Who knows… Women are weird," replied Sasuke, to which his friend smirked jovially.

"True that, true that. Especially hot tempered ones like her. Anyway, what is it over there?" He squinted at the huge marble monument in the middle of the square - Hinata and Arisa had just stopped nearby, with the Hyūga eyeing the statue thoughtfully as their guide was explaining something to her quietly.

"Looks like some old geezer, eh…?" drawled Naruto, coming close to them.

Arisa scowled at him while Hinata gave the boy a light slap on the back.

"This isn't just an old man, Naruto-kun! Stop being so rude, will you?" she turned back to the white haired girl, giving her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for my teammate, he can be a little unnerving sometimes, especially when he's hungry. Would you please repeat it for him and Sasuke here? What you told me about this place, I mean."

"Of course," the girl replied dryly, clearly looking very displeased and maybe even offended by Naruto's comment as she returned her gaze to the statue. "This is one of the most sacred places of our people. This monument is the oldest known testimony to Ninshū, our ancient religion. This man would indeed be very old by now, but as far as we know, he died more than a millennia ago. You shinobi know him as the Sage of the Six Paths."

Surprised by the mention of Ninshū, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the statue's face, studying its features. Of course, it barely resembled the real Hagoromo in any way aside from the ripple pattern of Rinnegan in its eyes and the small horns growing up from its forehead… And his staff resting at his feet, with the tips that resembled the Sun and the Moon.

"Centuries ago, our people decided to separate themselves from the ninja world. It is believed that shinobi betrayed the ideals of Ninshū, substituting it with Ninjutsu instead. That's why we prefer to isolation even up to these days, always staying true to our beliefs and philosophy," said the girl proudly, giving a challenging glare to Naruto who suppressed a yawn at her words—most likely pretentiously.

Clearly, none of them expected the Uchiha to suddenly say then:

"Why do you blame the entire population of shinobi for betraying your religion? Surely, there were certain people who gave the beginning to ninjutsu, just like the Sage had founded Ninshū," he reasoned, looking impassively into the eyes of the girl who now seemed a little baffled, almost lost as she clearly had been taken by surprise with him joining the conversation all of sudden.

"B-But why would it matter? Look at the damage ninjutsu caused throughout the history. That, and shinobi... So many pointless wars, and for what?" her face was now somewhat more confident, but Sasuke decided to press—he wasn't sure why, perhaps just to kill some boredom... or maybe there was some deeper reason behind that, one he refused to acknowledge yet.

"And what have you guys achieved? Sitting here in this frozen hell, working endlessly to ensure your protection and survival... And for what is that? What's the point?"

The girl's eyes widened indignantly while Hinata and Naruto just stared at the Uchiha, the jinchūriki frowning at his friend thoughtfully.

"It proves that our religion is superior! We've managed to stay independent, and—"

"Please," Sasuke lowered his head, closed his eyes and smirked. "Nobody has conquered this country yet only because it's located in these forsaken lifeless lands nobody cares about. Had you guys been any relevant, it would've belonged to one of the Five Great Nations by now."

"T-That's false! Nobody could possibly defeat us...!"

"You are delusional. Even this guy alone could single-handedly wipe out this entire city if he wanted to," he nodded at the Namikaze who looked away but didn't try to argue with him. "And the fact that the entire world chose Ninjutsu over Ninshū actually proves that your religion is nothing but rudimentary. Its teachings have failed long ago, just like this old man you all praise so much," he gave the barely recognizable face of Hagoromo a gloomy glance before turning around and beginning to walk away. "Let's go, Naruto. I'm starving."

The blond sighed, following the Uchiha without saying anything while the girls remained standing at the monument, following their backs with their equally shocked eyes.

-~X~-

"To be honest, I think you kinda went a bit overboard with all the philosophical crap," muttered Naruto, chewing his spicy noodles as they were sitting at the table on the first floor of some cafe located not far away from the ill-fated monument. "I mean, come on. Clearly, she's just a stupid brainwashed girl, she's not even a samurai herself, nor a cleric."

"Yeah, maybe," replied Sasuke indifferently, sipping the hot green tea and looking through the window lazily, watching countless people passing them by.

"When did you become such a smart ass anyway? Honestly, knowing you, I'd never expect you to be interested in history, let alone in some cult of stupid bigots," he added quietly, peering at his friend searchingly. "So, what's up with that?"

"I don't know," the Uchiha shrugged, still not looking at him. "I guess, I just got too irritated by that bullshit she was preaching there. If Hinata is interested in listening to that-fine by me, but I'm out."

Naruto sighed, putting the bowl aside and picking his own cup with tea from the table, smelling the steaming liquid with a quiet moan of delight.

"Well, at least these weirdos make splendid tea, I can give them that... But, yeah, I guess that's understandable. You know me, I was never into mysticism and religion myself, and I dislike bigots just as much as you do. But, I can see Hinata being interested in all that."

"Really?" Sasuke finally moved his gaze at the jinchūriki, looking at him with a small note of curiosity.

"Yeah... well, you know how her clan works. They're also huge fans of everything ancient and mysterious. Traditions, the history of their clan including lots of quite embellished fables. I wouldn't be surprised if they believed themselves to be related to this Sage of the Six paths, knowing how arrogant and cocky they are," he grinned, to which the Uchiha hemmed and looked away again.

Unlike this version of Naruto, Sasuke knew for sure that it was actually true. All the three of them were descendants of Ōtsutsuki... With him and the blond directly related to the Sage himself. However, he also realized that this world's version of him couldn't possibly know any of that, so he preferred to pretend oblivious.

"Yeah. Sounds exactly like Hinata and her clan of morons," he snorted contemptuously, to which Naruto nodded with enthusiasm.

"I know right. Sometimes I wonder how the hell has she managed to remain decent so far with everything they throw at her."

The obsidian eyes blinked in confusion, sliding to the cerulean ones again.

"What do you mean?"

"Eh, well... Basically, what Neji told us. Have you forgotten?"

Sasuke nodded quickly, making Naruto frown as he uttered:

"The way they treat her, especially her father. It's inhumane, if you ask me... Old man Hiashi—her father—he doesn't let her breath freely at all. When she's not on a mission, he forces her to train. When she's not training, he forces her to study their clan's stuff—traditions and all that shit. She's never even dated anyone yet, can you imagine that?" Oh, I could imagine that with ease..., thought Sasuke, but didn't say anything. "Besides, they just don't consider her a human, it seems. They view her as a tool... Well, you know," he winced, scratching his nape as though he felt disgusted by what he was about to say. "Neji says that Hiashi views her as a mean to produce a kid which would become the true heir to their clan or something like that. In other words, he treats her like an item... a very precious one, but an item nonetheless," said Naruto sadly, lowering his eyes.

The Uchiha scowled as the pieces of one more puzzle began to form a more less clear picture in his mind. So that's why he felt it inside of her... The hatred. The question was...

"Does she know about it? What they expect her to be?"

The Namikaze shrugged, taking another sip.

"I'm not sure. Neji thinks she does realize it, or suspects it at the very least."

Of course she did. This girl didn't seem like an utter idiot, so naturally, she would figure it out by now... Finally, he somewhat understood what drove his female teammate. Whereas he'd barely known a thing about her clan back in his world, it was absolutely hideous here in this reality. If anything, Uchiha and Senju were almost saint in comparison—no matter how many sins both the sides of the everlasting feud had caused, at least neither of them treated their own members in such atrocious way, nor had enslaved their relatives...

"Is this why you prefer to keep distance between her and yourself?" suddenly asked Sasuke, realizing that Naruto didn't really dislike the girl—he simply couldn't trust her, knowing that she was merely a tool that belonged to her clan and thus had no free will.

"Yeah... Kinda. I advise you to do the same. Well, I always did, but you never listened."

The Uchiha's lips curved into a small grin. Perhaps for the first time, he actually could relate to his alternative self. No matter what that Sasuke's reasoning was, he knew that he wouldn't have listened either. Why would he be afraid of the Hyūga clan, of all people? They were just some scum he intended to put in their rightful place as soon as he would become Hokage...

His eyes then narrowed at the pot that was standing in front of him as he realized something that made him feel uneasy... conflicted. Why did he care about that cursed clan at all to begin with? Could it be that he wanted to avenge his new friend Neji? And his teammate Hinata, too...? Was it because of the bonds he'd managed to form, whatever their nature was? And if so... According to what he was supposed to believe, bonds were the solution that led to peace and understanding. Why were they pushing him toward the path of vengeance once again?

He closed his eyes. No, this was wrong. Long ago, he'd already been too short sighted to allow these feelings to consume him. Instead of unleashing his anger on the Hyūga, he needed to find a way to fix the very root of the problem. Perhaps, upon becoming Hokage... could he possibly make it happen? Apparently, in this reality, Namikaze Minato had managed to fix the Uchiha somehow, seeing as they felt perfectly fine in Konoha nowadays. Could he do the same for the other clan now...? Or rather...

Would he?

"Ah, there you are!" the familiar voice to the right made the boys flinch and snap their heads in its direction simultaneously. "It was a bit hard to find you two with so many people at the square," Hinata sat down at their table next to Sasuke, grabbing the menu and beginning to study it carefully.

"Yeah, took you long enough...," mumbled Naruto, blinking at her in slight confusion. Apparently, not only Sasuke had expected the kunoichi to be furious because of the accident at the monument... But here she was, looking perfectly calm as though nothing had happened at all. "Where did Arisa go?" asked the blond.

"No idea," Hinata shrugged indifferently, keeping looking through the few pages of the rather humble list of dishes.

"What do you mean? Didn't you stay there to say how rude and stupid we were, and how sorry you are?" the jinchūriki said in a mocking manner.

The girl gave him a slightly perplexed glance before putting the paper back on the table and frowning at him.

"Well, you two were indeed very mean... But, what Sasuke said there, he had a point, admittedly. I tried to explain it to her—that she shouldn't get so upset about someone having a different point of view, but she never listened. But then again, it's none of my business, don't you think so?" she winked at the blond before raising her hand up to call for the waiter.

Sasuke looked through the window, suppressing a relieved smile. Maybe this team wasn't all that hopeless, after all.

A/N

Samurai — a military power similar to shinobi, though not nearly as widespread. Samurai and shinobi are noted to have first diverged in how they received the teachings of ninshū: samurai are more spiritual and idealistic, while shinobi focus on using their chakra to keep people's bonds alive. Only the Land of Iron continues to use samurai, with all other countries having since opted to use ninja. There are also retired and rogue samurai spread worldwide, although there are pretty rare and usually cannot be found easily.

Taishō — a military tittle, leterally meaning General.

Ninshū — also known as Ninja Creed, is the religion and the peaceful precursor of modern ninjutsu created by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the first one to understand and teach the mystery of chakra. The teachings of ninshū were meant to give people a better understanding of themselves, as well as others, and lead the world into an era of peace. Ninshū would eventually come to be known as ninjutsu, a more weaponized and twisted version of the Sage's teachings.

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Excuse me for the unexpectedly long break. Sadly, I fell sick a couple weeks ago, and I spent quite a lot of time in bed totally incapable of writing or doing anything productive at all. I once again thank you for all your reviews—if anything, they have helped me recover faster and return with this update sooner than I had thought I would. From now on, the rate of updating should be the same as before with the possible exception for the next weekend as I have a very important exam (Ph.D related stuff) to prepare for, so I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to finish it in time. Thank you for patience and understanding! You guys are the best.

Chapter 9. Innocent Seduction

"And thus, ladies and gentlemen, I hereby present you her highness Princess of the Land of Earth, Tanaka Miso-hime!"

The entire hall burst into applause as the skinny girl not older than fifteen stepped onto the huge marble pedestal, standing next to her betrothed (who was at least thirty years older than her) and eyeing the audience with her pale lavender eyes without any interest. Her skin was paper white, as expected from royalty; her straight dirty-blonde hair was long enough to reach her hips, with a delicate golden diadem placed on her head to fixate it. She was wearing a lot of various shiny jewelry as well as a very rich looking white kimono with silver ornamentation on its sleeves; her gaze was cold and indifferent which was understandable to many guests—after all, she was getting into an arranged marriage, something a girl of her age just couldn't like, let alone the idea of being bound to someone so much older than her.

"Miso, huh…? So she was named after bean soup? Her parents don't lack a sense of humour," murmured Hinata sarcastically, "I wonder if anybody ever bullied her for being named after food," she added after a second, sounding a bit jokingly as she was leaning on the back of her seat and eyeing the scene skeptically.

"I can relate," deadpanned Naruto, making Sasuke smirk quietly against his will. Of course, he didn't find it all that funny, but this was better than nothing at all—the ceremony they were attending was just way too horribly boring, especially given that it wasn't even the wedding itself yet. Still, a mission is a mission, so he couldn't really complain—they all did what they had to do, no more, no less.

The four of them were sitting at the right end of the long and broad table meant for very important guests, just a dozen yards away from the main "scene". And although it was supposed to be an incredibly pompous event, the atmosphere around was surprisingly loose—pretty much everyone in the hall felt free to chat quietly, with most of the guests just whispering little things to each other, but that was enough to allow Team Seven to talk almost freely, though lowering their voices considerably..

"Her daddy looks like he's just become the ruler of the world. How cute," remarked Naruto and snorted as the Uchiha moved his eyes to the old man who looked absolutely nothing like his daughter. Although the man definitely was just as fashionably dressed, he was rather hideous in comparison to the bride, with the huge black eyes under the heavy thick eyebrows (which reminded Sasuke of Rock Lee and his sensei) peering directly at the Namikaze with something between displeasure and arrogance in the expression of his chubby face that definitely lacked sun tan as well.

"He's actually staring at you," said Sasuke, looking away from the daimyō the next second, only to meet the indifferent gaze of the man's daughter. She lowered her eyes timidly the same moment for some reason, to which his eyebrow arched in surprise, but then the boy's attention switched to his friend as the blond grinned slyly and said:

"Yeah, I know. Probably wants to ask me out, seeing that he has no woman around. I heard he and his brethren have strong feelings for me and especially for my old man."

"Would you be so nice to accompany him, then? As Konoha's ambassador, you should be polite and complaisant, Naruto-kun. Don't forget about it." Hinata giggled, covering her lips with her palm.

"Nah, I pass. Actually, I'd rather go for the princess, but she's clearly already... excited about someone else in this hall," he drawled mysteriously without looking away from the pedestal, focusing his gaze on nobody in particular.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked the kunoichi, her head reaching a bit forward as she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Nothing at all, forget about it. Hey, Sasuke," Naruto turned to his raven haired teammate, grinning playfully. "What do you think about our bride? Pretty hot, isn't she?"

The Uchiha frowned, looking away from her and leaning back, mirroring Hinata's posture.

"I think it would be wise of us not to discuss her openly, especially here with so many ears around. Unless we want to sabotage all this right off the bat, of course," he murmured, lowering his voice.

"We'll see about that," uttered Itachi with emotionless expression, his mouth covered with his hands as he'd put his elbows on the table and locked his fingers in front of himself. "That might actually be a good idea for the future."

Sasuke gulped, looking a bit nervously at the wooden surface of the table in front of him. Whether the wedding was to be sabotaged or not, he knew that this girl—the bride—had to die, and it would be him who would finish her off. It was truly unfortunate that someone as innocent had to be his target, but the boy didn't really feel any pity—to him, it was just a simple mission he needed to complete in order to move further with his plans. But, he wasn't worried about the assassination per se; in fact, he now had a far more difficult goal to achieve, and he had absolutely no idea how to even approach this one…

He glanced at Mifune, who was standing just next to the ruler of the Iron and his fiance, and almost winced. The sword… it was rightfully his weapon. He knew that there was no better option for him to regain his former shape now but to reclaim it as soon as possible; moreover, it almost felt as though fate itself had driven him here… but for what exactly? How was he supposed to get the sword? It was so teasingly close, yet absolutely unreachable in these current circumstances… The Uchiha doubted that he could take the best of samurai by himself right now. Or could he…? Furthermore, doing that would definitely put him in the position of a rogue ninja once again… And that would absolutely ruin all his plans, which was not an option no matter what.

The Uchiha sighed. Clearly, there was no apparent way to put his hands on the weapon, so he thought that, perhaps, it would be wiser to postpone this idea for now as much as he disliked it.

"Hmpf, just look at her highness. That attitude… as though we're all some plebeians here. What an arrogant little skunk," hissed Hinata, narrowing her white eyes at the princess who suddenly got up from her place and walked towards the balustrade of a very broad balcony on the left side of the hall providing a perfect view on the distant snowy mountains surrounding the country from every direction.

"Yeah, but that's to be expected from nobility. I mean, you should be able to relate to her, being a Hyūga and all that," reasoned Naruto, watching the blonde's back lazily and hissing quietly as he received a light poke on the ribs.

"I might be from a noble clan, but at least I don't treat everyone around myself like dirt!" she exclaimed indignantly, folding her arms on her chest. "And neither does Itachi-sensei for that matter!"

"That's typical for civilian royalty," said the older ninja, sipping rice wine from his glass, unlike his subordinates not even looking in the direction of the gargantuan arch that led to the balcony, "They are generally quite ignorant and tend to think very highly of themselves, believing that they are the center of the universe. This girl is probably no different from the rest, so you shouldn't worry about her all that much. Instead, I want the three of you to spread up and try to find some information regarding the true reasons behind this farce. Any rumors would do; we'll discuss it afterwards, as well as choose the most suitable course of actions."

"Hasn't this Mifune told you anything relevant, sensei?" asked Naruto, getting up from the table and stretching his back with a yawn.

"Let's save this conversation for the later as well. For now, all you need to know is that things might be even more uncertain and complicated than we initially assumed. Now, dismissed."

"Roger that!" Naruto smirked and quickly walked away.

"It will be done, sensei," Hinata bowed her head obediently and headed in the direction opposite to Naruto's, followed by Sasuke's thoughtful gaze that suddenly stopped slightly below the back of her dark blue kimono which was just a little bit too tight for the traditional dressing… or, perhaps, simply not entirely fitting her figure, though that probably only worked in the kunoichi's favour.

"Sasuke, what are you waiting for?" asked Itachi, sounding curious rather than impatient or irritated.

"Can any of them detect a shadow clone's presence?" suddenly asked the boy, shaking his head and quickly looking away from his female teammate.

The older ninja narrowed his warm, dark gray eyes at his brother, eyeing him silently for a few seconds before slowly replying,

"According to Hinata, there are no shinobi aside from the four of us anywhere around, so nobody should be able to see a difference between one of us and the clone unless the ninja and the clone show up at the same location simultaneously."

"So if we use it in combination with Henge, it should be safe… is that right?"

"I would say so. Why are you asking, though? What's on your mind, Sasuke?"

The boy scowled. Of course, he couldn't tell Itachi that his intention was to slay the princess as soon as possible, which it definitely was for he didn't really like unnecessary delays. Still, he had to say something that would make sense, because Itachi wasn't someone to just swallow some ridiculous excuse…

"I was merely thinking of possible ways to make all this go faster. I don't really like this place," Sasuke shrugged as casually as he could, getting up and striding towards the balcony—apparently, Itachi found his reply convincing enough as none questions followed.

As he walked outside the hall and breathed in some chilly winter air, the boy even closed his eyes in joy from the refreshing feeling. Such social events definitely weren't his thing at all… He hated being surrounded by so many people, especially by those clueless civilian fools who only cared about the insignificant problems of their imaginary world, not really knowing a damn thing about the sacrifices shinobi made every day to ensure their pitiful existence… not understanding reality at all.

"Yes… A bunch of ignorant, arrogant fools, that is who they essentially are," a quiet voice made him snap out of his thought, slowly opening his eyes and looking at the back of the princess who leaned on the stone balustrade, looking down into the black abyss under the walls of the palace.

"Did I say it aloud?" he asked, a bit baffled for a moment.

Her light, ringing chuckle made him feel uncomfortable.

"No, you did not. It is all written on your face, shinobi-san."

"I didn't know you had eyes on your nape," he parried, slowly coming closer. Would it be wise to kill her now…? No, there were too many witnesses… Not possible.

"I have not," she admitted, "But, I have been watching you for some time. Back in the hall, that is."

"Why?" he asked, genuinely interested as he stopped right next to her without directly looking at the girl. Had he somehow given away his intention towards her…? Or was she just that shrewd?

"That should not be hard to figure out, shinobi-san," she replied, sounding a bit sad as she kept staring down into the impenetrable dark of the night down below.

"I'm not too keen when it comes to solving puzzles, especially the ones produced by women's logic," he said sincerely, although probably putting it a bit more politely than he would say in a less risky situation, knowing that to gain her trust would definitely be very beneficial to him.

But, apparently, it was polite enough for her not to seem offended at all as she said in the almost friendly manner:

"Well, you could try to imagine yourself getting forced to marry an old hag who would use you as her toy for the rest of your rather miserable life, and perhaps then you would understand my feelings… partly," she uttered bitterly, turning her head slightly towards him but still not looking directly at the Uchiha.

"I guess an old hag would be better than an old man," he reasoned impassively in a slightly awkward attempt to joke, which made the princess giggle quietly as she shook her head, the golden earrings shining in the moon's silver light.

"Ah, you are so funny… What is your name, shinobi-san?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," he replied right away, reasonably deciding that there would be no point in lying—she probably knew it already anyway considering how much plotting there was behind her upcoming wedding.

"An Uchiha…? That is a great honour!" she said, sounding impressed as her eyes widened at him.

He frowned, glancing at the princess in slight surprise.

"I'd never imagine someone like you knowing a thing about my clan," he replied honestly, not even trying not to sound arrogant now that he saw that she had an idea of what exactly his name implied.

"Your clan is widely known and highly respected in my country, Sasuke-san. Legends say that even our Tsuchikage has once been defeated by one of your clansmen. Uchiha Madara was his name, I believe. Do you happen to be closely related to him by any chance?" She smiled, looking quite excited which he found odd.

"Who knows," he muttered evasively, unsure what to say. In a way, he was probably the person most closely related to Madara than everyone else had ever been, being Indra's incarnation just like the legendary man… At the same time, Sasuke truly had no idea if the two of them shared any close blood relation or not.

"I see… I venture to guess that you are very strong yourself, Sasuke-san," she said, blushing a bit as their eyes met.

"What makes you think so?" asked the Uchiha neutrally.

She looked away and shrugged, hugging herself as though she were freezing.

"W-Well… You just seem to be. I can sense great power within you, and I am never wrong about such things."

"Hn." He looked away, leaning on the balustrade as well and deciding to change the topic. "I've never been to your country, so I don't know much about it. Is it a nice place?" he asked a bit awkwardly, silently cursing as he suddenly felt overly ridiculous. Why was she even trying to talk to this stupid girl? She was his target, a mere piece of flesh he needed to eliminate and forget about. He totally didn't need to know a damn thing about her country and herself… But then again, what choice had he at the moment?

"Oh, it is nice… But, not as nice as Land of Fire, I would say," he looked away as well, sighing patiently.

"I understand you've been to my homeland, then," said Sasuke affirmatively.

"Ah, yes! I have. It is truly a wonderful place. I am absolutely in love with the nature, especially in your forests...! And also—"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and squinted. This was beginning to be almost painful. He couldn't stand her stupid jabbering any longer… What if he used Sharingan on her now? Would anybody notice her being under his control? No, that was too risky… She could have some sort of protection, or there could be someone or something capable of detecting the chakra disruption caused by a genjutsu. What a nuisance…

"...and then your daimyō was kind enough to present me those beads! He told me that this way, Will of Fire would protect me from evil spirits! Do you think that is true, Sasuke-san?"

"I don't know," he muttered, trying desperately not to sound irritated. "Miso-hime, it was a great pleasure to talk to you, but I need to check on my teammates right now. We must ensure the security of this place, and I've already slacked for longer than I should have. So, if you excuse me—"

"Ah, of course, of course! But first, kindly let me give you a proper goodbye, Sasuke-san. It is a custom of my people so, if you would be kind enough to accept it…" She gave him an almost pleading smile, cocking her head slightly putting her palms together in front of herself.

The boy sighed. He truly wanted to cut off her head now… Oh, just how much did he wanted to do that.

"Of course, your highness."

"Thank you!" She giggled and came close to him, hugging the boy's neck and slowly putting her warm lips to his forehead before hugging him tightly… and whispering huskily right into his right ear:

"My bedroom is located on the third floor of the palace, eastern wing, the fifth room from the stairs. The guardians' shift ends exactly at midnight." Having said this which made the Uchiha's eyes widen as he felt completely astonished by the sudden change in her attitude, the princess let go of him and stepped backwards, giving the ninja a very polite and neutral smile. "It was a pleasure talking to you, Sasuke-san. I hope we meet again one day, albeit it probably shall not happen, sadly."

"Yeah…" He blinked, unable to believe his sudden luck. Basically, his target had just invited him to pay her a private visit for some strange reason… Was she…?

He blushed at the realization as he walked back to the hall. For the very first time in his life, his attractiveness had actually happened to be a useful tool, apparently. The princess was clearly very unhappy with her upcoming marriage, and thus was more than ready to use him as a way to do something relieving and rebellious the day before her actual wedding… As pitiful as it was in his eyes, it was also partly understandable, he could give the girl that at least, but only that. Of course, he wasn't going to sleep with her… Even had he wanted to, this would probably leave some unnecessary evidence which was something he needed to avoid. Yet still, he would probably at least thank her… For this wonderful opportunity to put her out of her misery without any witnesses.

"Hey, Sasuke. What did the princess want from you?" asked the familiar soft female voice to his left, making the boy smirk jovially which surprised even himself. But then again, after all, could he feel and behave happy at least for a while, having basically just won a jackpot?

"She asked me out," he said impassively, meeting the gaze of Hinata which instantly changed from a curious one to displeased at his words.

The girl snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, right. Very funny, you dummy. Tell me what really happened, will you? It could be important for our mission."

"I wouldn't lie to you about this; in fact, she asked me to pay her a private visit tonight," he said quietly, enjoying the light flush that suddenly covered the Hyūga's cheeks.

"And you…?" she mumbled.

"She's so annoying that I can barely stand her presence at all. What do you think?" he asked as carelessly as he could, looking away as though trying to find Naruto among the people surrounding the two of them, but in reality just feeling a little bit uncomfortable under her piercing gaze.

"What do I think? Well, I think that you would never pass an opportunity to do something nasty to a girl, especially to a noble one like the princess. Would be a splendid addition to your collection, wouldn't she?" she asked in a deadly calm voice, making the Uchiha give her a slightly surprised glance—all of sudden, her usual expression was replaced with a very cold one, almost on the brink of being hostile. But why?

"My collection…?" he muttered, slowly realizing what exactly she was referring to. Apparently, Hinata wasn't very pleased with his alternate self's reputation of a disgusting womanizer… Neither was Sasuke himself, really, but he wasn't about to try to excuse himself for something he'd never done to begin with. "No matter. Why do you care?"

"Because I don't want you to hurt anyone else, you've already caused plenty of damage in Konoha," she deadpanned, sounding and looking as serious as she probably could.

One would likely find her expression and tone a bit scary—perhaps, even the former owner of his body would have, but definitely not him. Aside from being just a slightly annoying girl and nothing more to him, Hinata had absolutely no right to meddle into his personal life whether it actually existed or not. Sasuke assumed that the damage the Hyūga was referring to most likely had something to do with one (or a few) of her friends—otherwise, she really had no reason to be so aggressively defensive when it came to this matter.

"Hurting anyone is not my intention," he said diplomatically, deciding to demonstrate patience and not to be rude just yet.

"Oh, really? Somehow, I find it hard to believe." She put her hands on her waist, peering at him a bit angrily.

Sasuke sighed heavily. Why did women have to be so especially unnerving this evening…? But, then again, he probably shouldn't complain—so far, everything had gone far too smoothly to ask for more. And since when am I so kind and meek? The boy wondered silently, partly dissatisfied by his own inner condition.

"You are free to believe whatever you want," he said then. "The truth is that I've had enough of toys in the past, and I'm not interested in it anymore. I have more important goals now, I told you about them," he said indifferently, imagining that the Sasuke she knew possibly could pull something like that in this situation… well, hypothetically.

But, apparently, he was wrong. Hinata's face suddenly blanched, and she appeared to be shocked and almost... hurt? Why...?

"I see," she uttered after a short pause, quickly putting up an emotionless mask. "I'm glad to hear that you have finally grown up, Sasuke. I'm sorry for not trusting you at this. Let us return to our task now, if you don't mind; I still need to find a way to activate my Byakugan to read the conversation between the leaders of Earth and Iron, but I cannot do that with so many people watching me. It would raise up suspicions."

"Fine. I'll create a diversion. Let's go."

-~X~-

Surprisingly, the hardest part about slipping out of his room to go for his late night rendezvous with the princess turned to be Itachi. As though to deliberately play on Sasuke's nerves, his brother refused to go to sleep, keeping reading some book in the guestroom that blocked the way that led from their bedrooms to the stairs. However, much to the boy's relief, the ninja finally put the tome aside and, with a long and sweet yawn, he headed to his room when it was about five minutes to midnight.

The boy let out a loud sigh of relief as he quickly yet absolutely silently stormed out of his own room, dashing toward the nearest staircase. He didn't have any kind of weapon with him—Sasuke was pretty sure that he wouldn't need anything once he would get into the girl's room. To cast Sharingan genjutsu right away in order to ensure her keeping her mouth shut; then to command her to commit suicide—that was his current plan. Simple, yet effective. According to his calculations, nothing could possibly go wrong... After all, considering all the precautionary measures the Iron had made, they could hardly expect somebody to assassinate their precious guest, let alone in such a tricky way. And given how much the princess seemed to loathe the idea of getting married to Iron's ruler, the girl killing herself could make perfect sense to everyone in the city. At the same time, that would definitely put an end to the whole wedding deal, so both his missions would be accomplished...

The Uchiha smirked as he jumped up to the ceiling of one of countless spacious and long corridors of the palace, keeping walking forward soundlessly, turned upside down. Miso hadn't lied—the guardians walked away from her room exactly when the arrow of his watch moved to twelve, a deafened sound of the bell reaching his ears from the lower levels of the colossal building. Without hesitation, he jumped down and walked inside the room before the new shift would show up, closing the massive doors behind his back and frowning the next moment.

The interior of the room was just too cliche to be true. Everything was decorated in such a tastelessly luxurious way that it almost made the boy want to set the entire place on fire. In a way, it showed just how primitive this country's people really were compared to those of Land of Fire; instead of making the palace better by improving its internal infrastructure, they preferred to simply put more gold and gems everywhere they could. If this was where Ninshū led a civilization that decided to follow this philosophy, Sasuke was definitely glad to be in opposition...

"So you have come," came the soft voice from the bed.

The boy narrowed his eyes, activating his Sharingan to see through the canopy. The princess was there, almost completely naked—frankly, her underwear was far too revealing for a person with such a sheepish personality... Or was that just a mask she had shown the Uchiha to deceive him? He wondered about that.

"Yeah," he replied, not really knowing why did he even bother talking to her. "I figured that I couldn't ignore this opportunity."

"Oh...," she smirked, and there was something strange in her expression, although he couldn't say what exactly make him feel the slight disturbance, "I like your straightforward attitude. So how were you planning to do this?"

"Do what?" he asked, coming close to the huge bed and looking directly into her eyes. There was definitely something wrong with the small and merry flames dancing in her purple irises... The look she was giving him had nothing to do with the cold and distant one he remembered from earlier.

"Kill me, of course. Isn't this why you are here, after all?"

It was hard not to visibly react, he had to admit. She had definitely managed to make an impact on him by catching the young ninja by surprise, without a doubt; he had expected anything but this kind of reaction coming from her. Still, he clearly had the upper hand at the moment—his genjutsu was instantaneous, and she had absolutely no proof to her claim despite it being completely true, of course.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Didn't you invite me to... have some fun together?" he asked, pretending to be baffled, surprised and even slightly hurt by her accusation.

To his further surprise, the girl giggled at him, clearly not feeling intimidated in any way at all. Instead of answering his question, she cocked her head slightly, giving him a long studying look before uttering softly:

"There is nobody to overhear us, I promise. Tell me, what exactly was your plan? It is very important for me to know for the sake of your mission."

His bloody red eyes squinted at her dangerously, prepared to send her into oblivion the instant she would make a move.

"What mission are you talking about?"

She smiled at him, not moving at all, as though reading his intentions with ease and realizing that he was more than ready—willing to strike.

"The mission Hokage-sama gave you. He ordered you to kill me without leaving any evidence," she stated.

He didn't react to this either, keeping gazing at her impassively without uttering a word.

"May I show you something? You can read my movements with your dōjutsu, and I'll do it slowly, so you'd be able to tell if I'm about to do something dangerous," she asked then, receiving a nod.

The girl then reached toward her pillow, taking out the small sealed scroll of paper and then handing it to the Uchiha who took it after a moment of hesitation, breaking the seal and unrolling it with his thumb.

His eyes widened then as he saw the unfamiliar accurate, almost calligraphic handwriting:

Congratulations, Sasuke. If you're reading this, it means that Miso is still alive and that you have accomplished this part of your mission which was meant to be your trial. Once you have returned to Konoha, you will be promoted to jōnin according to our earlier agreement. Your work with the princess isn't over yet, though. She is supposed to give you the necessary briefing regarding your next move—you may trust everything she's going to tell you. I'm looking forward to see you having finished this mission successfully. Take care!

Best regards, Namikaze Minato, Fourth Hokage.

Right below the signature he could also see the Hiraishin seal—the undeniable proof that the message wasn't fake.

Sasuke then met the almost laughing gaze of the princess, crumpling the paper in his fist angrily.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked patiently, although feeling quite lost deep inside. The simple mission was turning into something far more complicated and intricate... He didn't like it at all. Once again, his superiors were manipulating him...

"I'm Konoha's double agent. My mother was from Yamanaka clan; which is why I can read your emotions and even some of your thoughts if I try really hard," she smiled at him, bowing her head. "Years ago, Minato-sama ordered me to steal some invaluable information from my father and our country's government. Basically, to spy for Konohagakure, which I did. But now that the situation has grown to be especially delicate with this whole betrothal issue, I had to resort to blackmailing. I made a demand for Mifune to call for your team, because I needed a way to get out of this."

"And you thought that upon seeing Naruto and the rest of us on Iron's side, your father would break the agreement?" said Sasuke as the pieces of the puzzle finally formed the full picture.

"Precisely," she nodded, smiling at him again. "I was wrong, though. Which is why I have to ask you to help me out, although it's probably going to be very dangerous. You don't really have to agree, for you might very well get killed as we try to pull it. If we make it, though, I promise that I'll give Hokage-sama best recommendations about you... Isn't that exactly what you need?" she asked suavely, almost making him wince. He now wanted to punch her badly as the boy realized that she was attempting to read his mind once again.

"What is it you want me to do?" he asked, deciding not to waste any more time. It was no wonder that this "princess" annoyed him that much—he could remember her cousin Ino who had once been his classmate being absolutely maddening in the past. Apparently, it was their family trait...

"I want to escape the palace as soon as possible. If we make it past the city's walls, I'll be able to leave the country on my own, so this is as far as you need to escort me to. The wedding is supposed to take part in the morning, meaning that we should move out as soon as possible if you want to return without getting noticed."

"I see," said Sasuke, rapidly thinking on his options but sadly seeing no good ones. "How are we supposed to get out?"

"Isn't one of your teammates a Hyūga? With her Byakugan, she should be able to find some secret passage we could use to get away."

"No," he deadpanned, narrowing his eyes at her perplexed face—she definitely hadn't expected such out-and-out response.

"Huh? But, I asked your team to come partly because of her. And besides—"

"I said no. We're not going to use her for it, there has to be another way."

She suddenly smirked at him slyly, giving the ninja a very amused peer.

"I didn't know you had some special feelings for her. Uchiha and Hyūga... how ironic and beautiful, isn't it?"

"Shut up. It has nothing to do with feelings," he snapped, stepping towards the door. "It's just that one noisy annoyance is enough to put the mission at high risk; the two of you would be just too much."

"Huh? I'm a professional kunoichi, you know! Pretty sure that I have a far better record of missions than you, boy—!"

"I told you to shut up. Get dressed, we're leaving as soon as possible."

"But, your teammate—"

"For the last time, leave Hinata alone."

"I mean—"

"If you don't shut up now, I'll put you in a genjutsu."

She pursed her lips offendedly, crossing her hands on her chest.

"Fine. But, for your information, she's standing right behind the door."

Sasuke could feel stomach dropping at her words. He sighed, rubbing his face tiredly.

"Hinata, come in," he said loudly.

The heavy doors opened without a sound, the angry looking girl dressed in long black coat walking in with a righteously furious expression.

"And here I thought that you had told me that you would stay away from her...!"

"Stop fooling around. Surely, you've read our conversation," he muttered, looking at the Hyūga grimly.

"Ha! As though I had nothing better to do. I was just afraid that you might compromise our team by coming here, and it seems like I did a right thing by following you—"

Sasuke interrupted her with a frustrated groan, gripping his temples.

"Can you both just stay quiet at least for a moment? Here, read this," he threw the dark blue haired girl the crumpled message from Minato, turning towards Miso as Hinata was reading it with a frown. "You have one minute to get prepared. I want it all to end already, so don't waste any more of my time."

"Hmpf. What a douche!" the girl exclaimed, although quickly getting up from the bed and walking towards her wardrobe.

"So... You received a secret mission, Sasuke?" asked Hinata, looking at him perplexedly and appearing to be completely astonished, clearly hadn't expected anything of the sort.

"Yeah."

"And what are we supposed to do now?"

"We need to help her leave the city. Can you find a way with your Byakugan?"

She activated the dōjutsu, staying silent for a few seconds as she scanned through the city and its web of dungeons.

"Yes... But, there is only one way out, and the nearest entrance is located directly under Mifune's headquarters. I'm not sure if we'll be able to slip in with so many samurai guarding it..."

"We'll hate to try. Anything else?"

"Yes," she nodded slowly, biting her lip. "There are a few thick layers of some strange ore in the soil across the city and around it, and one of them is right under the headquarters, between its lower level and the secret passage. I cannot see through it."

"So if we get down there, you won't be able to watch what's going on above is... correct?"

The girl nodded silently, looking anxious.

Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes and thinking for a few seconds.

"It's not like we have a better choice," he finally said then, turning toward Miso. "Let's go."

"You haven't answered my question yet," snapped the princess.

"Really?"

"Yes. How did you plan to kill me, exactly?"

"By using my Sharingan to force you to kill yourself."

Both the girls remained silent for a few seconds before Miso whistled and grinned.

"Brutal and elegant at the same time. I like it."

Without a single ninja within the city aside from Team Seven and the two-faced princess, it was fairly easy for them to reach Mifune's castle unnoticed. Thanks to Hinata's Jūken, they also managed to knock out every samurai on their way, making it safely into the broad underground passage. It was completely dark in there, but at least him and the Hyūga didn't need any light to see everything around them clearly. It turned out that there were quite a few dozens of smaller ways spreading in every direction, each of them ultimately leading to this one from every corner of the city, the system of tunnels and corridors reminding Sasuke of a massive tree trunk with a lot of smaller branches.

"Can you see anything around?" asked Sasuke, his voice echoing in the rather spacious tunnel as they kept striding toward its farthest end.

"Nothing at all. I think it's all clear," replied Hinata, although not sounding very convincing as she clearly felt pretty nervous.

"Good...," replied the boy quietly, not very sure himself.

They kept walking for about ten minutes before he suddenly felt danger. No... actually, he felt someone's strong chakra right head of them, but he still couldn't see anyone with his eyes.

"Hinata—"

"Yes, I can feel it too," she said worriedly, gulping and licking her dry lips.

It was bad. None of them was a sensory type, and for them to feel someone's chakra, let alone someone they couldn't see... It had to be someone at least Kage level of power and skill. And this person was close, whoever it could be...

Sasuke stopped, suddenly pulling Miso toward himself and locking his hands around her thin neck before looking around himself and then saying loud and clear:

"Show yourself right now, or I will kill the princess."

Before Miso could yelp resentfully, a few people appeared right in front of them out of nowhere. A few samurai wearing some bizarre chakra empowered armor the Uchiha had never seen before, and at the head of the squad was no one else but...

"Mifune." He almost smirked in amusement. Things were becoming better and better with each passing moment.

"Uchiha Sasuke...," grumbled the man, looking at him gloomily. "What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself right now."

"We're doing exactly what you wanted us to do—preventing the wedding from happening. Any objections?"

The old samurai narrowed his big eyes at the boy, beginning to infuse his chakra which was, Sasuke had to admit, incredibly potent—far stronger than he could remember from his home world.

"I'm afraid I do, young man. I will not let you pass. Takeshi, seize them!"

"Yes, sir!" One of the samurai rushed towards them, drawing out one of his two blades.

But, before he could raise the weapon to strike, with one quick and deadly accurate motion Sasuke rushed forward, took the man's second sword out of the scabbard on the samurai's belt, and then swirled around himself, slicing through the warrior's armor—the Raiton chakra infused blade cut through the metal plates like a hot knife would cut through butter, a few drops of blood falling on the Uchiha's gray shirt.

Both the girls watched him an awe as the boy lowered the katana, watching as the man's corpse fell on the ground with a loud rumble of his armor.

"Hinata, take the princess away. Find another way to leave the city. After that, find Naruto and Itachi and get out of here as well. I'll handle these."

"I'm not leaving you alone—!"

"I said go!" he growled, turning his head around to glance at her angrily with his shining crimson eye.

Apparently, something in his expression had convinced the kunoichi that it was better not to argue with Sasuke right now—she nodded, gripping Miso's hand and pulling her towards one of the side ways the next moment.

"I can see that you are more skillful than the bingo book says, Uchiha...," drawled Mifune, drawing the Kusanagi blade out and taking a battle stance.

"Shall I get rid of your men now? It's either them or you will die first, doesn't really matter to me," taunted Sasuke, smirking at the old man and taking his own stance as well, holding the stolen sword the reversed way according to his own favourite style.

"How cocky for a brat," the samurai snorted, though not daring to make the first move.

"Surely, you wouldn't be afraid of dueling a brat like me," said Sasuke, grinning devilishly in anticipation. "If I defeat you, I'll be taking your weapon as a trophy, Mifune. And I promise that I will spare the lives of your men in this case. Unless they try to stop me, of course."

The old man hemmed, stepping forward.

"Your arrogance will be your doom, shinobi."

Sasuke smirked.

"We'll see about that."

And then their blades clashed with a bright shear of sparks.

A/N

This chapter hasn't been beta'd yet, so there might be a bit more typos and stuff than usual. Sorry about that.

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Thank you all for your patience and understanding. Sadly, I haven't managed to finish this chapter in time—I'm sorry about that, but from now on the update rate should be as steady as it was before (although small delays may still happen from time to time, for the summer is over and I'm back to work now, so please be prepared.) Also, I'd like to thank you all for your reviews! You people are the best, and I definitely wouldn't work as hard as I do without your support!

Chapter 10. The Only Path

Hinata was heavily panting as they ran across countless tunnels, passages and ancient stairs, constantly taking unpredictable directions to get rid of the tail that was steadily and remorselessly following them since the moment they'd left Sasuke and Mifune's squad. With her Byakugan activated, the kunoichi could tell that they were begin slowly surrounded, captured into ring of samurai—they were filling the underground web of dungeons more and more with every passing moment, slowly locking the ring around the two of them more and more tightly.

"What are we going to do now, hm?" asked Miso, looking at Hinata curiously as they stopped near the half closed wooden door with a rusty handle. The princess itself seemed to be perfectly fine with the downright nasty situation, as though she weren't feeling nervous at all, but the Hyūga could see that it was just a very good mask—naturally, someone who had spent years playing the role of double agent would have learned how to conceal their emotions, but it was still quite impressive and almost flawless, she had to admit.

"We need to reach Naruto-kun… That alone would be enough," murmured Hinata, opening the door and walking through it.

"Is he anywhere close? It's becoming a bit bothersome, you know. I'm beginning to think you don't know what you're doing, heiress."

Hinata flinched and stopped for a moment, turning her head and glancing at the girl, squinting and eyeing her up and down then.

"I can see you know more about Konoha than a civilian princess like you is supposed to know."

"Ha! Naturally, I do. After all, I had been a part of the grand plan of Konoha's highest echelons even before I was conceived. You could say the only purpose of my whole life is serving your village, Hyūga-san."

Hinata frowned, turning away and striding forward again. The long tunnel in front of them was empty at the moment which made them more less safe for now, but they still had to find a way to reach the jinchūriki who was still inside his room inside the palace which made about one mile from their current position.

One mile that was full of very wary samurai looking for them specifically. What was the probability of them not getting caught? The girl wasn't going to go down without a fight... which meant that she was likely to get killed soon.

"My village? Are you implying that you've never been to Konoha?" she asked then, trying to distract herself from the frankly grim thoughts.

Miso giggled softly.

"I haven't. The only place I visited in your country was the capital, and a couple polygons where I was trained"

"Trained? So you are a kunoichi, after all," muttered Hinata.

"Yes, but not a good one. Being a civilian princess, I cannot spend much time training, being constantly watched and so on," the blonde sighed with a small note of sadness. "Still, I know enough to be considered genin level, and I also know a few secret techniques of my clan. Not completely useless, after all, don't you think so?" she smirked, though not sounding very secure.

"Yamanaka, huh…?" Hinata glanced at her again. "Well, it makes sense, you definitely look like one. But, what can you possibly have to do with that clan? And what was the grand plan you were jabbering there about?"

Another door opened—thankfully, they still didn't even have to lower their voices as there was nobody around the two of them.

"My birth was planned by the head of Root," said the girl simply, making the Hyūga's eyes widen in realization.

All of sudden, it all started making sense to her. She didn't know much about Root aside from the fact that the organization was ruled by Shimura Danzō—her father's old accomplice, and that it was the most secret and elite corps among ANBU, uncontrolled by Hokage unlike the rest of them.

"It was your mother… Wasn't it? She was a part of Root, then," said the girl.

"Indeed," the princess nodded, smiling.

"And Root's command made her go for your father… Then what? Marry him under a fake name of some civilian, and train you in secret as you were growing up?"

"Something among these lines. I can't tell you any exact details, this is top secret information."

"I understand," the dark haired girl licked her lips nervously as they started walking up the clearly long abandoned stairs that led to the street which was going directly to the entrance of the palace, "And the purpose of this whole operation… is it to start a war between Land of Fire and Land of Earth?"

"You know, you're actually smarter than you seemed at first, especially with that jealous outrage. It was hilarious."

"Oh, shut up," hissed Hinata, rolling her eyes yet focusing her gaze on the other kunoichi, following her every motion with great attention. "Now that I've figured this out, you're supposed to kill me, aren't you?" she asked, prepared to block a possible attack with Kaiten.

"Eh... Well, I guess," Miso shrugged, although not showing any signs of hostile intent. "I don't think there is any point, though. We're both just pawns in some big game, nobody would pay attention to whatever we say."

"Are you sure about that?" whispered Hinata, slowly coming close to the final door and then pressing her back against the cold wall next to it, scanning the area around them.

"Well, think about it. Let's imagine that we've made it out of this country alive—all of us, and successfully came to Konoha. By that time, my father will definitely declare war, for either abducting or murdering his daughter, it doesn't really matter. Then you tell Hokage-sama that it was all because of Root… Do you seriously think he's not aware of the reason why the daughter of one of his sworn enemies works for him?" her smile was almost lenient to Hinata's further irritation, but she had to admit that the girl had a point. The Fourth definitely knew about Root being somehow involved with this operation, which meant that the whole plan had probably been approved by him…

Had they all been manipulated since the beginning of this mission? Even Hokage's own son…?

"But what's the point? Why would they need to start a war now?"

Miso shrugged again.

"I don't know."

Hinata blinked, giving her an incredulous glare.

"You don't know?"

"I told you, I'm just a pawn. The likes of us are not supposed to know everything... or rather, to know more than necessary to serve our purpose. By the way, for how long are we going to stay here? It's so cold…" The princess shivered, hugging herself.

Fighting the temptation to outrage, Hinata took her black jacket—a part of Konoha's standard ninja uniform—and handed it to Miso, remaining only in her light top now.

"Here, take it and stop whining, don't be so annoying."

"Oh, how nice of you! You're not the bitch I thought you were, after all." She smiled innocently, putting the jacket on while Hinata gritted her teeth in irritation. The Hyūga managed to ignore her comment, stopping breathing the next moment as she noticed that the patrol outside turned away from them, creating a perfect window of opportunity.

"Let's go!" Hinata slid outside, quickly running up the wall and landing on the roof of some massive building that was six floors high, taller than most of others around them.

Miso followed her shortly—fortunately, unnoticed, ducking next to the Hyūga and looking at her in a silent question then.

"I am thinking," murmured Hinata, rubbing her palms—it was truly a bit cold outside, especially now that she was almost half naked, and the small snowflakes which were lazily falling off the sky only made the overall impression worse, the deceivingly tranquil atmosphere lulling the girl's vigilance against her will. "Now that we've reached the high ground, it should be easier to move around. I don't see them having any stealthed sharpshooters aiming at roofs... Not that it would be very likely considering that they don't even know you're a ninja. That's why we're probably more here than back underground… Most of their forces are looking for us in the dungeons at the moment anyway."

"So what? It doesn't help us very much given that there are no buildings between here and the palace! We'll just freeze to death, smart ass!"

"No, we won't," uttered Hinata, coming close to the girl, "This is the time for you to do something useful for once. You said you can use Yamanaka clan's jutsu... is that really so?"

"Hn." The princess gave her a slightly offended peer. "Of course. Why are you asking?"

"I want you to synchronize your jutsu with my Byakugan. I already did it a few times before with one of your clan's members. She told me it's pretty easy, so I'm sure that even someone like you can do it. I will aim your jutsu at one of the servants there; make him go to Itachi-sensei's room and tell him that we need his help here… both him and Naruto-kun's. Can you do this?"

Miso paled a bit, but then nodded quickly a few times.

"Y-Yes! I can!"

The Hyūga smiled, putting her palm on the girl's shoulder.

"Let's see if you're really worth anything."

-~X~-

One vicious clash of blades after another, one kick followed by another jab—they kept fighting fiercely, not stopping for a second as the rest of the samurai were watching their leader and the young ninja's deadly dance silently without moving, towering over the two of them like some ancient stone monuments—despite being the most powerful of them all, Mifune wasn't the tallest one for sure, and neither was the teen he was fighting, obviously. Although that didn't matter at all in this particular case—everyone around had quickly realized that the fighters were in a completely different league from their own, so nobody dared try to do anything, enchanted and astonished by the spectacular duel of the kind none of them had ever hoped to witness in their lives.

Sasuke had to give the old man a credit—his prowess with sword was far more impressive than the boy had anticipated. From what he could remember, this samurai had once been no match for him in the other world—probably because back there Sasuke was far more powerful in general, so the fact that he was inferior in this aspect alone had been completely insignificant back when they had encountered.

However, now it was a different thing. Oddly enough, Sharingan genjutsu didn't work on the warrior no matter how much Sasuke tried to use it, doing as subtly as possible just like Shisui had taught him; apparently, there was some sort of protection on the man, preventing any alien chakra from altering his perception. The boy had deduced that it was probably this bizarre armor—he could see that it was filled with some tremendously potent unfamiliar chakra that, apparently, was exactly what the ninja and Hinata had felt a while ago. Needless to say, in addition to the Kusanagi blade, it was putting the Uchiha in a very tough position…

"Give up, young one. I will show mercy if you stop fighting now, but I will have to kill you if you keep persisting. You cannot win this fight," said Mifune calmly, sending Sasuke on the ground with another tricky swipe of the blade, only miraculously not ripping the ninja's chest apart.

"It's… this armor of yours… isn't it?" growled Sasuke, panting and narrowing his crimson eyes at the piece of plate that was covering Mifune's chest. "You're using its chakra to charge the sword. There is no way someone like you could possess as much energy by yourself."

"This…," Mifune frowned, hesitating as he was clearly unsure if it would be wise to answer the question, "Doesn't change anything for you, child. You are done for, accept it; even if you manage to beat me now—which is impossible to happen, clearly—my soldiers would finish you off without a doubt. Just stop; I promise that your lives will be spared. Yours and your teammates', too."

"Doesn't sound very inspiring," Sasuke grinned, wiping blood off his chin and getting up on his shaking legs. "I have a better idea. I'll take your sword, and you as a hostage. Then I'll kill the rest of your people. Or… if you let me go and withdraw the weapon now, I might spare you guys, after all. It's up to you, both these options are fine by me. You are a decent company."

Mifune's eyes narrowed at him in slight anger.

"Boy… I admit that you are a courageous one, but this is truly enough. You're barely able to stand at this point, let alone to keep fighting. I—"

He blinked, hardly managing to block Sasuke's blade the next moment, the tip of which stopped just an inch away from his throat.

"Never underestimate an Uchiha," growled the boy, disappearing from Mifune's sight right away.

This time the old man didn't manage to react in time; Sasuke's Chidori pierced his armor from behind, the young ninja's fingertips burning the skin of his back under the clothes, but not going any further.

"Impressive… You are correct, I underestimated you. It shall not happen again!" The samurai turned around, delivering an uprising strike with his sword—fortunately to Sasuke, his Sharingan helped him to predict this movement, so dodging it wasn't a problem…

Unlike the remaining amount of his chakra that was quickly leaving his body with every next jutsu he performed.

"I could've killed you twice by now, old man," Sasuke smirked, hiding his real, rather pitiful condition behind the mask of self assurance.

"Is that so...?" drawled Mifune, looking quite skeptical.

"Have you not figured it out yet?"

"What do you mean?" The barely notable flash of momentary fear and insecurity made Sasuke's grin widen.

"I'm merely holding you and your people here. The strongest units of my team are still out there, and one of them is currently taking the princess out of the city. Do you seriously believe that your brethren can beat a jinchūriki, for instance? I wonder about that," he said in a mocking tone, noticing with amusement that Mifune's face was slowly blanching at his words.

"Are you trying to tell me that your friend would risk starting an international conflict... just to protect you? You, some silly child who has been fooled by another kid into playing the role of her knight?"

"One of them has just done just that. Would you go as far as to test it out?"

Mifune gulped, gripping his weapon more tightly.

"Your brother sure isn't the type of person to support something as foolish and reckless, unless it is..."

His eyes widened while Sasuke nodded.

"Unless this was the mission we had all along. Not the brightest one, are you?"

"Takeshi! You and the rest, go and—"

"If they try to leave this place now, they will die," said Sasuke calmly, making Mifune grit his teeth. Clearly, the samurai's leader hadn't expected the situation to suddenly turn upside down, with them virtually being hostages in the grip of Konoha's Team Seven…

Or rather, a victim of Sasuke's bluff, for the ninja had no idea if Naruto and Itachi were even aware of the current situation yet.

"What do you want?" finally asked Mifune, slightly lowering his weapon.

"A fair outcome of this duel, on my conditions. If I defeat you, I'm taking your blade and leaving the place, and you're giving me enough time to get away."

"Why do you want this weapon so much?" asked Mifune, sounding genuinely curious this time. "I realize that it's designed for shinobi, not for samurai. But what is so special about it? You seem to know more than me..."

"It belonged to me in the past," said Sasuke impassively, channeling the last remains of his chakra into his left hand.

"What…?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "But, this is impossible. This weapon is my trophy. And you... You are just a child!"

"Oh?" Sasuke's brow arched as he ignored the man's last sentence. "And where did you get it?"

The wrinkled face instantly twisted in rage.

"From one of the chakra abominations…," muttered Mifune vehemently.

"Huh…?" Sasuke blinked.

"A monster created by one of your kind, Orochimaru the Sannin! It was his creature! A desecrated atrocity!" There was such sincere wrath in his voice that it made Sasuke wince. These people were bigoted to no end, after all... Although he wasn't a big fan of Orochimaru's creatures, but to get so emotional over some scientific experiments...

However, their bigotry could also be used in his favour right now, seeing as Mifune had finally been distracted.

"I guess I'll have to pay him a visit… as soon I get out of here." He smirked, charging forward and hitting the chest plate of the samurai's armor with Chidori.

With a loud cracking sound the armor exploded, both the fighters getting sent away from each other by the shock wave and landing on the cold floor of the tunnel.

For a brief moment Sasuke was sure he had died. But then his vision began restoring and the noise in his ears started to weaken, and the boy managed to raise his head up a little bit before gasping. Mifune was already approaching him, slowly yet imminently. Although the samurai was clearly wounded and bleeding, and his armor was just a piece of broken metal now, he was still holding the Kusanagi tightly in his hand…

While the Uchiha's own weapon was nowhere to be seen…!

"We never agreed on the conditions in case of my victory…," said Mifune in a husky voice full of pain and anger. "I'm going to take your life now. This will be the price for you shinobi defiling our sacred city with ninjutsu and your despicable plot! Prepare to die now!" He cried, raising the sword that shined in his hand, overcharged with the old man's own chakra.

Sasuke's eyes widened in panic. He didn't have any energy left, not even to activate his Sharingan to dodge the incoming attack… Was that it? Was it over… again? No... It couldn't be!

Time seemed to be slowing down as he watched his old weapon's edge approaching his face. And then…

When he was already about to accept the inevitable, his hands moved by themselves without the boy's command. Of course, it wasn't very surprising, for his reflexes were good enough to react to it even without his eyes, but he caught the blade with his palms, stopping it midair just a few inches away from his head…!

And then something completely unexpected happened. Pain pierced through the left side of his skull, and the chakra from the blade quickly streamed into his system, immediately changing its pattern and turning into the boy's own chakra as it entered his body…

He was draining Mifune's chakra with his bare hands! Was that…? But, he didn't have that eye anymore…!

The samurai's face twisted in shock as he noticed the two burning red eyes looking at him triumphantly, the shining of the blade quickly dying out.

"For the best of samurai, you have a ridiculous habit of underestimating your opponent, Mifune." With a heavy kick of Sasuke's foot the man fell back, reflectively letting go of the sword and heavily landing on the floor with a loud gasp of pain.

He didn't even manage to open his eyes before the tip of his—now Sasuke's sword stopped right at his throat, the pair of Sharingan eyes looking calmly into his own frightened ones.

"It's over."

Sasuke smirked devilishly as the old man quickly nodded, not trying to resist anymore. The ninja glanced at his free palm, clenching his fist a few times. He had completely forgotten about that, but now that he thought about it, what had just happened made perfect sense. Back when Madara had just been revived he didn't have his Rinnegan either, but he could still use one of its abilities. One single path that was, perhaps, the most useful and versatile out of them all… The ability to drain foreign chakra and assimilate it, making it his own—Gakidō!

The Uchiha suppressed the urge to laugh in joy. Now that he had discovered it, not only did he have an outstanding ability which would help him get his power back a lot faster than he had hoped to. He also had a testimony to his past's existence—something the lack of which had been slowly driving him insane until now.

But now everything was going to change.

-~X~-

"Are you sure they are coming...?" whispered Miso, trembling in cold as they were sitting on the metal surface of the roof, back to back.

"Yes... They will be here soon, don't worry," replied Hinata, rubbing her eyes tiredly and putting some effort into preventing her teeth from chattering.

She'd had to deactivate her Byakugan to conserve some chakra as soon as she'd noticed Itachi and Naruto leaving the palace—her plan had worked just fine to the girl's relief, but now she was beginning for feel worried—it was taking them too long to arrive. Had something happened to them...?

"Hey...," whispered the princess, slightly turning her head to the left, "I wanted to say that I'm sorry... for making fun of you back there..."

"Huh?" Hinata frowned, turning her head a bit as well. "What's the meaning of this... your highness?" she almost hissed. She just didn't like this arrogant spoiled girl, it couldn't be helped...

"It's just that—I really liked your teammate—I mean, that boy, Sasuke... I didn't know he was in a relationship with you..."

"He's not," snapped the Hyūga, sounding a bit louder than she would prefer and silently cursing herself for that as she heard a snicker coming from behind her back.

"Whatever... I know you have some feelings for him, and he obviously cares about you as well. I apologize for getting in the way."

"Stop saying nonsense...," almost whispered the dark haired kunoichi, hugging her knees. "You didn't get in the way, it's just that he's a prick who doesn't care about anything but himself. I didn't want him to use you, this is all there is to it."

Miso hemmed, looking up at the night sky and frowning.

"I think you're wrong... He didn't seem like the type to play with women's hearts."

Hinata snorted, shaking her head and rolling her eyes."

"Trust me, you don't know a thing about him... Appearances can be deceiving, and you know that better than anyone else, don't you?"

Miso lowered her head then, looking at her feet and biting her lip before slowly uttering:

"No... I'm sure about this one." She suddenly flinched at the quiet sound of incoming footsteps. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes..." Hinata got up, activating her Byakugan and then frowning.

There were at least ten samurai unhurriedly coming up to the roof, one of them already about to open the final door that led to them from the stairs.

"They are here... Stay behind my back now," ordered the Hyūga, taking the standard Juken stance.

The door opened with an unpleasant squeaking sound, and a warrior showed up, looking around himself. Of course, although he clearly hadn't expected to see anyone there, the man quickly noticed the two of them and then shouted something to the rest of his squad, so it took them just a few seconds to surround the two girls, leaving them no chance to escape.

"Surrender, ninja! Let the princess go, and nobody will get hurt!"

Hinata smirked, giving the masked man a long, estimating look.

"Are you that afraid of getting hurt? Quite some man you are, samurai-san. Disappointing."

He probably didn't realize that she could see his expression through the helmet, the kunoichi realized, so the warrior didn't hide the indignation her taunt had caused as he took his blade out of the scabbard and stepped toward her.

"We don't fear your ninja tricks, girl!"

"Really...?" She narrowed her eyes at him jovially. "What if I tell you that your beard doesn't hide this ugly scar on your chin as good as you probably think?" she smiled slyly, amused by the apparent shock in his eyes.

"How are you—?"

"I can see through things, didn't you know that? Tsk, apparently, some of my tricks can scare you, after all."

He roared angrily, taking another step toward her and the princess.

"Enough, you little witch! I'm going to seize you here, and then I'll punish you for using your sorcery within the walls of our city...!"

"Punish me?" she opened her eyes a bit wider, pretending to be very excited. "Oh, now that sounds interesting! Too bad you're not manly enough to punish me in the proper way..."

He blushed behind the mask and flinched as a few of his comrades laughed at him behind his back.

"You—! I'll show you just how much of the man I am as soon as I send you to jail, girl!" He roared, raising his sword up.

And just as he did so, Hinata noticed the yellow flash approaching them from the side of the palace.

"Woah... Now, that I like! So passionate... Someone needs to make you chill, scary samurai." She lowered her hands which made Miso squeal in fear behind her back.

"What are you—"

"Hyōton: Rasengan!" The orb of freezing chakra slammed into the man's back, immediately sending him down on the surface of the roof and making his grayish metal armor cover with steaming ice.

"N-Naruto-san—!" yelped Miso as the jinchūriki landed next to the motionless body of the man the next second.

"Hey, Hinata, princess! Are you alright?"

"Yes! Where is sensei?" asked the Hyūga.

"Creating us a way to escape the city. Sorry it took us so long, but we had to break through quite a few samurai on the way to you guys. Where is Sasuke?" he frowned, completely ignoring the presence of the entire squad of warriors standing behind his back.

"He told me to take the princess away! We parted down in the dungeons, he's currently facing Mifune!"

"What...?" Naruto's eyes widened in fear as he stepped to the edge of the roof. "I'm going after him."

"No!" she cried, making him stop and glance at her in surprise. "You and sensei need to take the princess out of the country, this is our mission's priority! I'll help Sasuke!"

"Are you sure about that?" asked the boy in a dubious tone, to which the Hyūga quickly nodded.

"Yes. You and Itachi-sensei are the strongest out of the four of us, so you must take care of her, and I'll find him meanwhile, don't worry! It's easier to do with my Byakugan anyway, and you'll be able to distract them so we'll manage to escape."

"Fine..." The boy sighed, looking at the princess. "Is she wounded? And what about you?"

"No, we're alright," Hinata shook her head. "Can you create a diversion now? We can't afford wasting more time!"

"Of course." He nodded. Two additional arms formed out of chakra appeared from of his shoulders, forming a big blue orb between their palms. "Hey, guys!" he turned to the samurai who stepped backwards in fear, raising their weapons up. "Whoever catches it wins!" With him having said this, the orb launched at the squad, causing a loud explosion as well as a very bright flash of chakra which made Hinata deactivate her Byakugan reflectively and turn away together with Miso who covered her face with her hands.

"Welp... they should all be here in a couple minutes," the Namikaze grinned, deactivating the Kyūbi Chakra mode and giving his female teammate a very serious and worried look. "Make sure to get out of this alive... and save him, too. I don't want that to happen again..." He lowered his eyes, not finishing his sentence, but she understood what he wanted to say.

The girl nodded, looking dead serious as well.

"I will. I promise."

"Alright. I trust you." He gave her a small, weak smile, and then Hinata jumped down the roof, disappearing in the darkness of the night.

Naruto stepped towards Miso, eyeing her up and down.

"So you are the spy we're supposed to protect... Who could've imagined that we'd have to risk our lives for such a stupid reason again?" he drawled sarcastically, clearly sounding displeased which the girl, apparently, hadn't expected—after all, both Sasuke and Hinata had been pretty much eager to help her in one way or another, but this guy... He was definitely something else, she quickly realized.

"Uh-well, I'm sorry?" she spread her hands apologetically, though afraid to do something to piss the jinchūriki any more. "What's our plan, Naruto-san? If I may ask."

"I'm waiting for the signal," he said simply, coming to the edge of the roof and sitting down, looking at the mountain somewhere behind the palace.

"The signal...?" she mumbled, shyly coming closer to him. "What kind of a signal, exactly?"

"Hm-m... Ah, that one!" He pointed at the huge fireball that darted up into the sky far away. "Now we just have to wait for more of them to arrive, and then we can depart."

"Huh...? B-But why?"

"Too many questions, your highness. Would you please shut up?" His face was impassive as he glanced at her, but something deep in his blue eyes told the girl that it would be unwise to argue with him.

Namikaze Naruto clearly didn't like her, and he wasn't someone she could afford playing with.

-~X~-

Hinata was running through the already familiar tunnels as fast as she could, not stopping for a second as she was trying to spot Sasuke with her enhanced vision but failing at that. There was already nobody at the place where she'd left him half an hour ago—all she could see there were a few puddles of drying blood and a broken piece of armor, but neither samurai nor the Uchiha were visible anywhere around, to her frustration and fear.

Had they captured him? Or even killed, perhaps...? No, she refused to believe that. He had to be alive... He absolutely had to...!

The girl stopped, trying to catch her breath and fighting the desperation that was slowly crawling into her heart.

In truth, she had no idea what to do now; where to look for Sasuke, and how to save him if he was still alive. Of course, she was a powerful kunoichi, but her only chances to free him from a prison would be while Naruto and Itachi were distracting the main forces up there, which made her time very limited. And she didn't even know where to look for considering how big and spacious was the city...

"Damn it!" she cried, slamming her palm into the wall and wincing both in pain and frustration.

She had promised Naruto to save Sasuke. She couldn't break her promise, could she...? If so, then she needed to stop reflecting and start looking for him as soon as possible...

"What's the matter?"

The sound of his calm voice sent shivers down her spine, making the girl flinch and slowly turn around to meet those both familiar and, at the same time, oddly completely foreign burning red eyes.

"S-Sasuke...?"

"Yeah. Why were you yelling? You could draw unnecessary attention to us," he pointed out critically, coming close to her, looking quite relaxed and almost... amused?

"What—why couldn't I see you with my Byakugan?" she whispered, staring at him as though the boy were a ghost.

"You were under my genjutsu," he said calmly, deactivating his dōjutsu and looking at her impassively. "I'm putting it on every passage I enter just in case; its purpose is to make me completely invisible. That's why you most likely couldn't see me even while you were up there."

"Huh...? How is that even possible? You don't have even remotely enough chakra to do something like that!" she exclaimed incredulously, frowning at the boy. Something in his face and his posture was different now... But she couldn't say what exactly.

"That's a long story," he said evasively. "Is the princess safe?"

"Yes. Naruto-kun and Itachi-sensei will take care of her. I decided to come back to find you...," she uttered, sounding a bit perplexed and lost.

"I see. So, basically, the two of us need to find our own way to escape now. Any ideas?" he asked a bit abruptly, walking casually past her towards the farthest end of the tunnel.

"Uh—no, but I'm sure I can find a way. Say, Sasuke... How did you manage to escape?"

He glanced at her over his shoulder, his expression still emotionless.

"Escape...?"

"You were facing the strongest samurai... and his soldiers, too. So, yes, I'm asking you... how did you manage to get away from them?"

"You're not very attentive, are you?" he smirked, putting his hand on the sword that was now resting on the back of his waist.

Her white eyes widened then as she realized what exactly was the weapon he now possessed.

"This is... It's Mifune's blade, isn't it?" she yelped.

"No. It is mine."

"But... how...?" she whispered in awe, staring at his back in disbelief and shock.

He paused for a second, not stopping walking.

"Samurai are nothing next to the power of my eyes."

Hinata swallowed nervously, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable for some reason.

"Did you kill them?"

"No."

"Huh...? Then what—"

"I won in a duel against Mifune. I could've killed them, but decided to spare them in the end. I'm not some monster who would kill anyone in his way, am I?"

There was something frightening in his smirk. Something very, very dark.

And completely unfamiliar, too.

A/N

Gakidō—also known as Preta Path, one of the six main Rinnegan's abilities which allows the user to absorb any chakra that doesn't belong to them through a physical contact, and to change its nature, turning it into their own energy. This is the only Path out of six that doesn't require the user to have Rinnegan at the moment of usage, being always available to them once it has been unlocked no matter what happens to their eyes.

Hyōton—literally meaning is "Ice Release"; it's the extremely rare nature transformation kekkei genkai that comes from the ability to combine Water Release and Wind Release. It allows the user to freely create and manipulate ice by simultaneously combining wind and water-based chakra. When the user releases their chakra, the surrounding vicinity becomes cold enough to cause snow to fall. The only clan known to possess this kekkei genkai is Yuki; however, legends say that some people outside the clan had awakened it throughout the history of shinobi, most of these rumors revolving around the Senju clan.

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Long time no see! I'm back to bring you guys some quality content. Speaking of what took me so long — as I've already explained in my other story named More Than Words, in short — a lot of nasty stuff happened to me back in August—September, some really painful and traumatizing events included, so I was pretty much unable to write anything at all due to the state of heavy depression. I'm happy to announce that I've finally overcome it, though, so here I am! I promise to work hard on making updates stable and frequent from now on, although it is also worth mentioning that haven't written anything related to this story in over six months, so kindly bear with me being slow for now. It would also be nice if you point out some mistakes, provided that you find any, too!

Chapter 11. Hinata's Heart

"These… damned… stairs… are… just… endless… aren't they…?"

"You tell me. You're the one with Byakugan here. Speaking of which, report the situation around us."

Hinata groaned, raising up her head to see countless identical levels of the dark vertical shaft shaped in something that resembled a spiral staircase. Apparently abandoned and forgotten at the very least many decades ago, it was carved deep within the rock of one of the gargantuan mountains hiding the city from South; it turned out that this was the only way that allowed the two of them to leave the settlement without engaging another fight. Of course, as soon as the Hyūga had noticed that the tunnel they had met in was actually leading here to this place, Sasuke decided to take this route, which at the time seemed like a good idea to his teammate as well…

"Since when you're so bossy…? Prick..."

"Since today," he snapped. "Don't get distracted and do your work," replied the boy in a detached way.

"I'm almost out of chakra," she pointed out patiently, just to keep the boy informed.

"I know. A quick overview would be enough."

She snorted, looking away from his nape. Hinata refused to admit it even to herself that she was feeling quite intimidated by his tone, so the girl decided that it was because of how professional she was that she decided not to start a pointless argument, focusing on her duty instead and activating her dōjutsu the next second.

"All clear so far. I can't spot the second group instantly from this distance, but at least nobody seems to be chasing us right now. The samurai have left the tunnel, and there is nobody on the top at the exit. Strangely, I can't see whatever is there down below… It's as if there is no bottom at all. Actually… I think this place was built long before the age of shinobi," she mused, as though offering a topic to discuss — in truth, Hinata was ready to talk about absolutely anything only to somehow loosen the atmosphere.

He didn't reply, which wasn't any surprising at this point, but it still made Hinata grit her teeth in annoyance. Just who on earth did he think he was…? She would have to beat some crap out of his moron as soon as they would return to Konoha. But, right now...

Now they kept walking up the countless ancient steps, covered by impenetrable darkness and silence that was only broken by the echoes of their footsteps and the rare sentences they exchanged. It was beginning to slowly drive the girl insane, much like Sasuke's unusually strange behavior. Of course, she knew that there was no other choice but to keep going; they absolutely had to reach the exit on the very top of this damned mountain. That would let them hide in the snows of the massive peaks where the samurai wouldn't be able to find them. And then, after some time would pass, they would be able to find a road to Itachi, Naruto and Miso and join them on the way back to Konoha… Hopefully.

At least that was the current plan. It was really pointless to somehow estimate or criticize it now, for it was their only possible option anyway, and yet the Hyūga heiress was feeling worse and worse with each passing moment they spent inside this shaft — it almost seemed to her like she was on the brink of a panic attack, no less. The girl realized that her state was absolutely irrational; so far everything had gone pretty much smooth. Every member of their team was still alive; their mission hadn't failed; they had bought themselves some time to get away upon sealing the entrance to the inner part of this mountain with an explosion; Sasuke's chakra supply was, by some miracle, full at the moment, and his few minor injuries after the duel against Mifune didn't seem to bother the boy at all.

Quite unlike the Hyūga herself. She simply couldn't understand what was going on with him!

"Sasuke…," she began, unsure how exactly to put her question.

"Yeah?"

She frowned, biting her lower lip and looking away timidly which was very much unlike her, but Hinata didn't think about it right now. Because aside from this strange confusion the Uchiha was causing to her, the girl was also feeling some unfamiliar and creepy uneasiness — the image of his burning red eyes as well as his suddenly incredibly self-assured posture just didn't make any sense to her. For all she knew, even had he awakened Mangekyō Sharingan, she knew for a fact that this wasn't a typical behavior for someone who had just acquired this ability. Not to mention that nothing could have possibly triggered the awakening in those circumstances… Well, as far as she was aware thanks to Itachi.

In other words, it had to be something different. And for some reason she wouldn't be able to explain, it also seemed much more sinister than the initial idea...

"I think there is something wrong with this place," she suddenly said, deciding not to touch the other topic just yet.

"Yeah." He kept walking monotonously, almost as if he didn't listen to her, staying deep in his thought.

"Can you see anything with your Sharingan?" she asked patiently, suppressing her irritation for the sake of teamwork.

He didn't reply for a while before finally uttering quietly:

"The walls are all covered with wards, very strong ones. I've never seen something like this before."

Her eyes widened a bit as the girl bit her lip, gulping nervously.

"Does it mean that the seals are deactivated? They don't work on us, so—"

"No, they are active, simply not meant to get triggered by humans."

Hinata almost gasped as the true meaning of his words finally hit her a few seconds later.

"What…? What are they supposed to subdue then?"

He shrugged indefinitely.

"Who knows? Probably something really nasty that lives down below. If I didn't know better, I'd say it's probably a bijū. Can't you sense this chakra?"

So it wasn't just her imagination…! There was indeed something very dark in this mountain's depths. But, the girl still felt astonished by the fact that Sasuke had figured it out first.

Just what on earth happened to him…? And also...!

"What do you mean 'if you didn't know better'? How can you possibly know the location of all the tailed beasts, pray tell? If that's what you're implying, of course." She frowned, looking at his back. Surprisingly, he replied almost instantly this time, although he honestly better didn't, for it instantly made her want to slap him hard:

"How is that possibly any of your business?"

Collecting the last bits of her self control, the girl let out a heavy breath, shaking her head and lowering her eyes.

"You know what? Screw you, douchebag. I'm really trying to be nice to you, but you're just… absolutely impossible!"

He suddenly stopped and turned around, making the girl bump into him and almost fall backwards with a surprised yelp, barely managing to maintain the balance… At the cost of the dislocation of her right ankle when she accidentally stepped on a fractured stone she couldn't see in the dark. It was quite painful, but Hinata ignored the searing feeling nonetheless, not letting out a single sound as she stared into his eyes stubbornly.

The Uchiha didn't try to catch her; instead he simply looked at her from above, her face being on the level of his chest now. The Sharingan in his eyes was still activated, but now there was no aggression unlike before, nor the immense power she had felt in him back in the city's catacombs. He was merely staring at her with a neutral, if only slightly curious and arrogant expression, and also… Hinata decided that she absolutely hated it when she had to look at him from below.

"Instead of trying to be someone you're not, why not just be yourself?"

His unusually soft voice caught her completely off guard. The girl just stared at him and blinked a few times, unsure how to react and feeling absolutely dumbfounded. Naturally the only thing she was able to mutter in response was a quiet…

"What?"

He snorted.

"Hn. Don't pretend that you don't understand, I can see it in your eyes that you very much do. For as long as I remember, you've always been trying to be nice, to be polite, to be professional, to be loyal, to be strong, to be courageous, to be skillful, to be a perfect heiress, to be a nice friend to everyone you know. Clearly you are very dissatisfied with your life and basically everyone around yourself. My question is, why bother trying so hard to pretend to be what you really are not? Why do you care what others think about you?"

Hinata honestly didn't know what to say. It was so unlike Uchiha Sasuke to speak this way, to be able to hit her so deep and so mercilessly that for a few seconds she almost felt like falling on her knees and sobbing in front of him, feeling completely demolished by his cynical words. The girl was unsure if he realized just how accurate were all his verbal strikes, yet somehow she suspected that it was exactly his intention...

"I—you—!" She tried to catch a breath as both anger and resentment filled her heart, clenching her fists powerlessly as he kept looking into her eyes impassively, her voice lowering to a whisper, "You—"

"This isn't about me. Unlike you, I stopped wearing my mask quite some time ago. You, on the other hand, are weak. If you want to get rid of your weakness, you have to do the same. Otherwise you're going to spend your whole life groveling in front of everyone for the sake of them thinking better of you while in reality they don't even know the true you at all. Is that what you want?"

His voice cut her feelings like the sharpest razor blade, but Hinata was simply unable to respond now matter how much did she really want to retaliate at least somehow, as though hypnotized by his words and eyes. She kept opening and closing her mouth and breathing heavily, remaining completely mute as he continued:

"This is exactly the reason why you've always been inferior even to the past me; why Naruto doesn't trust you, and why you have no real friends. This is also why nobody in your clan aside from Neji really accepts you — only he is wise enough to bother to look behind the facade. Everyone else either just doesn't want to deal with a liar, or they simply don't care about you."

That was it. With a few simple and short sentences he had just ripped her entire being apart. Sasuke had pointed out every reason why she hated herself and her life, and he was completely right about every single thing, she realized… How ironic. She had always despised hollow words, pretentious expressions of nonexistent love, people lying to each other for the sake of creating illusions… Always putting herself above those naive fools, yet never noticing that she was actually a prime example of their kind. But, Sasuke himself…!

"You are—!"

"I told you, it's not about me right now. Focus on your own feelings for once. Decide it for yourself who you really are; who you want to be. Then and only then I will talk to you again. I'm not interested in someone who can't deal with her own demons and who is unable to figure out her true nature." His eyes narrowed at her, a shade of disgust flashing somewhere deep inside the red irises. "Like I said, you are weak. And there is nothing more ugly than a weakling who can't accept their own flaws." He turned away and began to walk up the stairs again.

It didn't take Hinata more than a few seconds to follow him automatically without thinking, still sunken deep in her reflection on the Uchiha's words…

And then she yelled horribly, falling clumsily on the stone steps and gripping her right leg.

"S-Sasuke…!"

He stopped and walked down to her, frowning at the girl whose face expressed nothing but fear and pure agony.

"What is it?"

"My—my ankle… I forgot that it got dislocated, and now… I think it's—," she didn't finish the sentence, too afraid of the possible truth — she just couldn't afford being unable to run when they needed to escape the country as soon as possible! Not to mention that they were still wanted and most likely chased right now — after all, she didn't have enough chakra to check everything around the mountain thoroughly, and the lack of a visible chase didn't necessarily mean there was none at all...

Sasuke ducked next to the Hyūga, rolling the fabric of her black pants up and then carefully putting his hand on the lower part of her leg and lightly palpating it.

"It's broken." His hand got covered with jade green chakra for a moment, but then he canceled the jutsu a couple seconds later, uttering quietly, "No, I'm not skilled enough to heal such injure for someone who isn't me…," the boy sighed patiently, putting his palm back on her soft skin and looking up the shaft, narrowing his eyes. "This isn't good."

A quiet sob took him out of his thought, making the ninja flinch and stare at his teammate in disbelief. Hinata covered her face with her hands, but there was definitely no mistake — the girl was crying, and her body was trembling in both pain and misery she was absorbed by.

Hinata was simply done. Everything that had happened to her today was just too much, and now she was going to die too. Because Sasuke would absolutely never...

"Wrap your hands around my neck."

The kunoichi flinched, slowly opening her eyes — he was still on the steps right next to her, turned away and glancing at the girl over his shoulder. "Come on, we don't have much time."

Hesitating for a few seconds, she did as he told her, hugging his neck tightly and locking her hands somewhere on his chest.

The boy then got up, grabbing her hips roughly (which would normally earn him a good punch in his arrogant face) and putting her legs on his sides before doing a final readjustment to find a perfect position and continuing walking up.

To say that Hinata was completely shocked by everything that had happened throughout the last few minutes would mean to say nothing. She was unable to meet his eyes in their current position, but the girl was partly grateful that she couldn't — what was going on right now was both incredibly shameful and… oddly pleasant, too, even though she was reluctant to admit it even to herself. Perhaps for the first time in her life she felt like someone was actually caring for her. And… it was warm. And nice.

And yet… The silent question remained there.

"W-Why…?" she whispered huskily, cursing herself mutely for how pathetic her voice sounded right now.

"Why what?" he asked casually, keeping walking the way he had before — although she wasn't heavy by any means, being in a perfect shape and having rather thin bone, it was still impressive how he didn't even seem to notice the additional weight he was having to carry.

"Why are you doing this for me…?" she murmured, looking away from him and frowning. "According to the rules you are supposed to—"

"Those who break the rules are scum. Is that what they taught you in your clan?" he asked, not stopping for a second.

She didn't answer, biting her lip thoughtfully instead as he continued,

"Naturally they did. They are partly right. However... those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."

Hinata lowered her eyes. That was… deep. And it sounded right. Besides, it seemed like he was speaking from his heart. The young Hyūga honestly didn't know what to think about her teammate anymore. What he had just said indeed matched the way he had saved her from Deidara, but… It really seemed like she had never really known this boy to begin with. What was she to expect of him from now on…?

She had no idea, for at this point he was a complete mystery to her. A really intriguing one...

"Get ready, I can see the light showing up. We're close," he said.

The girl raised her head and squinted — Sasuke was right, she hadn't noticed how they almost finished their way out of this nasty place. And now that the fresh yet incredibly chilly air was already making her tremble in cold, Hinata already wasn't sure if she was happy about it…

Apparently the samurai had no way to reach this point fast enough to catch them, which was sure relieving. Having handed his only jacket to her before they left the shaft, Sasuke then took her on his back again and, after a few seconds of watching the night sky in order to find the right direction, he stormed towards South-East through the snow, using his chakra not to sink into it — similarly to how ninjas did when they wanted to walk on water, though it was fairly easier to do and it didn't require as much chakra either.

For a long while did both of them remain silent, each deep in their own thought. Sasuke's body, in addition to his jacket Hinata was now wearing, was warm enough to prevent her from freezing, so the girl, feeling rather comfortable and almost cozy on his back, totally missed the moment when they came close to some tiny hole in the rock right next to them. It was barely wide enough for either of them to slip through it at one time, but the Uchiha seemed to know what he was doing as he let the girl get off himself and broke in the next moment.

"Get in here now, can you?" his voice echoed from the inside.

She winced — the snow felt burning cold, but then the girl quickly got a hang of herself. She was an elite kunoichi, for gods' sake! And this was merely some snow…! What the hell was wrong with her today...?

As she crawled forward to follow him, the girl's eyes widened — there turned out to be a huge mainsail that was spacious enough for them to rest comfortably for a while!

"That was quick," she commented a few moments later, seeing as Sasuke unsealed a few pieces of wood and lit them up, creating a campfire with his fireball jutsu.

Of course, he wouldn't reply. The girl sighed, crawling closer to him.

"You—you may rest if you want. I can cook us something, you've worked hard enough…"

His eyebrow arched a bit mockingly as he glanced at her for a second before returning his gaze to the contents of his pockets and seals.

The girl lowered her eyes shamefully and sighed. She was honestly just being ridiculous and stupid at this point. Naturally she couldn't cook anything — they were high in frozen lifeless mountains, and there was absolutely nothing either of them could collect or hunt to eat.

"Fine… I'm going to sleep," she snapped, getting closer to the fire. The girl then lay next to it, hugging herself and half closing her eyes, continuing to watch him and think.

Yes… Right now she needed to think about a lot of stuff, and reconsider many things in her life. Not to mention that Sasuke clearly wasn't going to share a conversation with her...

Of course, she didn't notice how she fell asleep in less than a minute, too exhausted and pained to stay awake anymore.

-~X~-

As soon as he heard Hinata's uneasy intermittent breathing change to peaceful sniffing, Sasuke could finally relax himself as he needn't be careful not to act suspiciously in front of her anymore. The ninja let out a heavy sigh of relief before he got up and left the cave, enjoying the cold breeze that ruffled his unruly raven hair, and closing his eyes, amused by the long awaited tranquility.

He wasn't sure if it was a wise decision to crush Hinata's inner barriers like that, or was it even his right to do so, but what was done was done anyway, so he had no regrets. Still, the way the girl had broken down in front of him... The Uchiha found it quite curious. Apparently his analyses of her nature turned out to be correct — behind the multiple hard shells she had been surrounding herself with all through her life, deep inside she was a very soft hearted person who just wanted for her genuine good feelings to be returned by someone... Unfortunately for her, it never happened, which caused her to become what she was right now.

He winced as he remembered how he had treated her in the past, ignorant to her nature as well as the nature of their relationship. Welp, that was unfortunate... But, then again, he couldn't possibly have known, could he? And he definitely wasn't responsible for whatever his alternate self had done in the past, even though he kind of felt guilty for it, as irrational as it was...

The boy slowly opened his eyes and frowned. It was peculiar how things have gotten much better and much worse at the same time this day. On one hand, he finally had found a way to return his lost powers, and on the other...

He had formed a new bond, one he wasn't sure he wanted to have.

Yet still, it was already there, Sasuke suddenly realized; there was nothing he could do about it anymore. After all, he had already tried to cut such ties back in his world, and the outcome wasn't any good — these memories only got refreshed with the piece of his former power he had unlocked earlier today. Therefore this girl... Hyūga Hinata was now his burden to bear, and there was no other choice but to simply accept it and move on.

He wasn't going to run away from himself anymore.

And yet... The main question remained there — what exactly was he supposed to do now?

Clearly the two of them had some complicated history in this world. He had no idea precisely what had happened, but he got the vague idea by observing how bitter she was to him in particular, especially in comparison to the way she treated everyone else.

I don't want you to hurt anyone else, you've already caused plenty of damage in Konoha.

The boy sighed as he remembered her words, staring at the horizon thoughtfully.

It was probably safe to assume that she was one of the other Sasuke's... victims, for the lack of a better word. And although he had nothing to do with the sins of this world's Uchiha Sasuke, the shinobi still couldn't help the feeling of shame whenever he imagined — even though only very ambigously, but even that was more than enough — what exactly could the other 'he' could have done to this girl.

So... what was she to him now?

A teammate? Yes, and a far better one than Sakura, he had to admit, from a practical point of view.

A friend? Barely, for he didn't trust her one bit.

A love interest? Please...

He smirked, shaking his head. In truth, Sasuke wasn't sure if he would ever have one...

But, what else was there for them? The bond they now had, it felt different than it would for mere teammates. Maybe it was this mutual understanding... Somewhat similar to what he and Uzumaki Naruto had felt for each other before. He could see some things in her heart and soul others apparently failed to notice, and she... She was clearly way more suspicious of him than everyone else, considering the questions she had asked him, and especially the amount of said questions that was almost unnerving. But, when he tried to look at this from a different angle, being more supicious than everyone else also meant thinking about him more than everyone else...

Did it mean that she also, in fact, cared for him as much...?

And then he flinched, slowly turning around and looking at the cave's entrance with his eyes open wide as the long belated realization hit him at last.

The way she had tried to bring food for him when he had just awakened in this world for the first time... The way she spoke about the other him playing with girls' hearts... The obvious pain and incomprehension he could see whenever their eyes met... And finally, her constant changes of mood whenever he was around...

That had to be it! Hyūga Hinata was most likely in love with him...! No, he corrected himself. With the other him... And as strange as it was, it felt a bit unpleasant to realize it — the fact that, for once, he wasn't a girl's interest, but rather someone she confused him for... Funny, but that's probably how Naruto felt when he had substituted himself into him, Sasuke, years ago in order to kiss Sakura... It definitely rustled his pride a little bit, and this fact made the Uchiha feel disgusted with himself. He definitely needed not some silly girl's feelings and attention. Love wasn't something he had ever been interested in, and it wasn't about to change now. One could take it for denial, but Sasuke knew for a fact that he wasn't really attempting to convince himself in something — it was simply the truth. Confusion and pride was all this displeasure was really about, which meant that he merely needed to figure this situation out as soon as possible so that it would stop distracting the ninja on his way to his destiny...

Which brought him back to the question that still lingered there. What was he supposed to do with this new bond?

Would they be able to become friends? Hardly. He had no idea how to explain it to her that her bitterness was misplaced; that he wasn't the person who had hurt her in the past. And he definitely didn't trust her nearly as enough as he would need to be able to tell her the truth.

Lovers? A mere thought of it was beyond ridiculous, so he just brushed it away.

Teammates? That could work as he clearly had found a way to subdue the girl and make her follow his orders. But... somehow it felt wrong for some reason, considering the background each of them had both separately and together...

He gritted his teeth, rubbing his tired wrists and taking a deep breath. Why did it have to be so complicated...? Was this what the Sage wanted him to do? To solve this kind of puzzles and to learn to interact with other people in the way they considered common...? What a boring mission...

But, then again, a mission was a mission. If that was what he needed to do here, he would find a way without a doubt. All he needed to do right now was to figure out where to look for it... But, one thing he knew for sure — standing still and reflecting wouldn't sovle anything at this point. After all, he had found a way to reclaim his power. Something like maintaining a few relationships was nothing in comparison...

Sasuke smirked to himself, finally feeling reassured. Maybe he didn't really have to think about it that far ahead, unnecessarily complicating things. Yes... He would let it all flow naturally, and come what may.

He blinked, as though he had just awakened from a long dream, squinting at the first rays of morning sun appearing on the sky. It seemed like he had spent quite some time standing here and thinking aobut all those troublesome things, and now his stomach was grumbling angrily, clearly very displeased with his owner's disrespectful behaviour — the Uchiha actually couldn't remember the last time when he had eaten something.

Undoing the last couple of seals on his wrists, he frowned again, staring at the small box with standard emergency ration. Dried fish, a really hard toast seasoned with herbs, a few pressed bouillon cubes and fresh water... Not much, but it would be enough to keep him — no, the two of them from dying to hunger.

He returned to the cave, coming close to the fire and putting a small iron pot on it. Time to make some stew...

As the boy was preparing food, his gaze occasionally stopped on the ankle of Hinata who was still deep asleep just a couple yards away from him. The skin on her leg took an unhealthy blueish shade, which meant that the fracture in her bone wasn't an easy one, unfortunately...

Sasuke got up and walked close to the exit of the mainsail, grabbing a bit of snow and forming a pastil out of it. He then came close to the girl and sat on the now warmed up floor, lightly touching her leg which made her flinch and open her sleepy white eyes, frowning at him.

"What are you doing...?" she murmured, blinking in confusion.

"Trying to prevent you from losing your limg. Don't scream now."

"Wha—OW-W! C-COLD!"

"I told you not to scream." He sighed, pressing the pastil to her skin and then wrapping a piece of bandage around it. "There you go. Feel free to return to sleeping now."

"I'm hungry," she suddenly said, sniffing as she felt the smell of food. "What do we have for breakfast?"

He glanced at her and deadpanned,

"A nice steak with rosemary and thyme; mashed potatoes, magnificent salad and a strawberry cake for dessert."

She blinked at him a few times, looking baffled and almost shocked.

"Woah... Really? That sounds amazing!"

"Yeah. Enjoy your meal." He handed her a half of his toast together with a piece of fish, which the girl accepted before finally chuckling.

"And the cake?"

"I ate yours."

They both smirked as their eyes met for a moment.

Maybe it's not that hard after all..., thought the boy, turning away and walking back to the pot.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12. A Glance Into Their Past…

"Fine… I'm going to sleep," she snapped, hugging herself and closing her eyes, feeling more than a bit irritated, but not knowing why — she wanted to believe that it was due to Sasuke's behavior, but the girl couldn't fight the quiet voice telling her that it was because she was ashamed of her own.

Slowly absorbed by the overwhelming amount of uneasy thoughts she had been ignoring until now, Hinata didn't notice how the oblivion of the long awaited rest embraced her consciousness in a matter of seconds, sending her mind deep into its own world…

The girl blinked a few times, trying to see through the viscous white mist surrounding her. It was so dense that she was unable to see a thing through it, so the kunoichi decided to simply stride forward for the lack of a better option. Truly, she didn't know for how long was she walking — or did time even exist anymore, here in this strange space? — but then at some point she stopped, recognizing the familiar playground lit by the noon sunshine.

The Hyūga smiled against her own will as she looked around. The Academy… It still hasn't changed after all these years, has it? The handmade swing on the tree, the rusty old slide…

The blond boy with whisker marks on his cheeks, dressing in black shorts and white t-shirt, running around and trying to catch the raven haired boy of his age who was wearing a long sleeved black short, both not older than ten…

She blinked again, this time feeling confused as she began to suspect that something was off with the picture. Why were they… so young?

Hinata turned her head to the left, instantly spotting her own smaller version.

She was standing there, leaning on the wooden fence, her tiny hands locked in front of herself, the white eyes staring blankly at the dewy grass under her feet. Her almost formal white kimono was perfectly clean; the bluish dark hair was barely reaching her shoulders, and her expression gave away nothing at all…

The older Hinata frowned, reflectively taking a step closer to her past self. Unlike everyone else around did she know for sure what was going on in the little girl's head and heart right now… The feelings of immense sorrow, grief and envy; the pain she felt because of not being allowed to play with them just because they were from the not so friendly clans…

"Hey, Hyūga! Come and join us, why are you standing there like a pole?" drawled someone with the slightly annoyed, yet incredibly familiar charming voice from behind her back.

Sasuke…

"Yeah, Hinata, why are you always so dull? Come on and join us for once!" exclaimed Sakura cheerfully, jumping off the nearest tree and taking a step closer to the girl.

"Guys, just leave her alone, really," murmured Naruto, instantly making both the versions of the girl feel the note of gratitude.

The Namikaze had always been the most shrewd out of them all. Even back at the age this young, Naruto had already realized how things worked between the Hyūga clan and the rest…

"Meh. You're right. I guess she's just too cowardly to play with us cool kids." Sasuke smirked teasingly, clearly expecting some kind of reaction from her.

And now that she looked at his soft and completely relaxed face, she couldn't help but find his smile cute...

Of course, she knew what would come next.

The ten years old Hinata raised her head, narrowing her eyes at the Uchiha and lowering her hands, although not clenching the small fists — after all she had always been taught to use her palms instead.

"I'm no coward!" she exclaimed loudly. Her voice sounded so squeaky that it almost seemed pitiful even to her older self.

"Oh yeah? Then why not join us and prove it right now?" The raven haired boy kept grinning at her, which angered the little Hyūga even more.

"Hmpf! As if any of you is worthy of my time, idiots!" She turned away and ran toward the wicket, accompanied by a chorus of laughters fading in the milky mist...

The scene then changed, making Hinata hug herself uncomfortably as she remembered what happened next. Even up to this day the memories of that conversation made her feel uncomfortable...

The little girl was standing on her knees in front of her father, sobbing and completely frightened by his furious expression as he was walking back and forth, his hands locked behind his back in a very bossy manner.

"This is unacceptable. You must learn it once and for all that you are the heir to our glorious clan. The heir to myself. You are destined to be above all those plebeians whom you allowed to humiliate yourself today; it is your duty to meet our highest expectations, daughter."

The girl whimpered quietly, stuttering:

"B-But, otō-sama, I—"

"Silence!" he barked, making her let out a horrified squeak and cover her head with her pale thin hands, as though expecting him to hit her.

Of course, her father would never have attack her physically her; by now she had learned it first hand that he had much more twisted ways of disciplining his subordinates including his own children…

"I shall not tolerate any more damage caused to the reputation of the Hyūga. Because of this damned Namikaze brat and his friendship with the bastard Fugaku, we were forced into disfavor of Konoha and the Daimyo. We cannot afford being humiliated even more, do you get it, my daughter? Whatever we do, we must remain the best among the best in the eyes of everyone. No matter how much would they try to isolate us, we are the most noble and ancient clan in Konoha, surpassing even the founders of this hidden village. We will keep our heads high and ignore whatever they do to us, and you must be the best example for the rest of your clan to follow. Do you understand it, Hinata?"

She whimpered again, slowly nodding her head.

"I—I do, otō-sama…"

Hiashi's features softened a little bit, but the little girl didn't pay attention to that as he started walking threateningly back and forth yet again.

"Very good. Give me a promise that today was the last time when you allowed yourself to be soft and weak in the presence of another person."

The girl hugged herself, nodding again and whispering,

"I promise—I will never be soft and weak again… I—I will be a good leader to our clan… I swear!" She exclaimed vigorously, suddenly raising her head and looking stubbornly right into Hiashi's eyes.

He met her gaze impassively, and they kept staring at each other for some time before he finally nodded as well.

"Fine. And yet, you still have much to learn. You need not my pity; right now you need training and discipline. Go change and wash your tears away; I expect this to be the last time I was seeing them."

The scene shifted again, and this time the older Hinata followed her young self into her room, already knowing who was inside.

"Hinata, darling! What happened to you? Why were you crying?" The beautiful woman with long and silky hair just like her own gasped at the child, lowering to hug her daughter and to take a closer look at the girl.

"I am perfectly fine, okā-san," said the girl monotonously, refusing to look into her mother's eyes that were full of worry and compassion — the things the girl had just promised herself to erase from her heart.

"No, you are clearly not. Please, tell me, what happened to you? Was it your father…?"

The older Hinata frowned a bit. Of course it wasn't… What else could she possibly say in a situation like that?

"No, it was not. I got hurt during training, that's all," she gave her mother a fake smile which the woman clearly didn't find very convincing. And yet after a long suspicious stare the Hyūga matriarch let go of her, getting up and patting her temple lightly.

"Fine then, I believe you. Get dressed into something less formal please, the dinner is just a few minutes away now. And also, please make sure to clean your room properly from now on; if your father finds out how messy you keep it—"

"He won't find out, because it won't happen again!" The girl winked cheerfully at Hikari, and she smiled happily in return, now seeming to be fully convinced in her child's lie…

The scene shifted again. This time they were sitting in the class full of genin rookies. Hinata was able to recognize the place and the situation instantly. Oddly enough, although it had only been two years since the day she had promised herself never to show her weaknesses to anyone ever again, she still recalled it feeling like forever back on the day of sorting, and it still did feel that way… Frankly, it was almost like two completely different lives, her time before and her life after…

"Team Seven! Hyūga Hinata…!"

The twelve years old girl flinched, looking at Iruka-sensei who was standing at the pulpit and holding the scroll with everyone's name and team on it.

"Namikaze Naruto…!"

It was a bit curious now to look at, or rather to remember the reactions of their younger selves — both her and Naruto seemed to be indifferent but, of course, Hinata knew for a fact that her younger version had felt strong relief at that moment, maybe even a slight note of happiness. After all, Naruto had always been the only peer she could sympathize with, and it had always seemed to be mutual… Until…

She bit her lip. Right now she didn't want to remember Sasuke's recent words about Naruto never really trusting her, nor considering Hinata his friend. Although…

She then focused on the blue eyed boy's face. Naturally it was impossible to read anything on it, as per usual whenever the situation demanded him to be concentrated and serious. No… Trying to interpret his expression now was completely pointless, she realized.

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

Oh, this concoction of feelings burning deep in her heart as she heard this name… She had always considered this boy a rival, and he was the only one who had ever managed to get under her skin deep enough to truly anger her.

Yet still, now that she thought about it, her ill feelings were probably not quite justified. It's just that she had never truly understood him, this boy without a predetermined destiny…

He had probably never meant to offend her at all. Now that she thought about it, reflecting on the memories of their past interactions, he had simply treated her the same way like he treated everyone else, refusing to acknowledge her as his equal, or at least as someone special. All that childish teasing, the phantom rivalry he had never considered himself a part of… And finally what happened between them a few weeks ago…

To him it was simply not the same as it was to her. It could never really be the same, she now realized; despite the amount of similarities between the two of them, they were off completely different worlds. He had a loving clan, a family that adored him; he had the future full of endless possibilities where he could become whoever he really wanted, be it Hokage, a nukenin, or even Uchiha clan's heir instead of Itachi…

And she had none of it. Since her early childhood had Hinata been doomed to be unhappy, to serve the clan she had grown to hate, and the village that treated all of them like dirt. Yes… That was probably it. Sasuke was completely right; she refused to admit the existence of the impossibly huge gap between him and her; she refused to just be herself and accept her own unenviable destiny.

And he…

The surroundings changed again, and this time they were standing on top of the roof of some huge building — she had already forgotten what exactly had it served for. The sky was gray and heavy; the rain was about to start, but none of them seemed to care as they were far too excited — each in their own fashion, but still — about what was to come.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi, I'll be your sensei and the leader of our team from now on. Since this is the introduction session, I'll start first by telling a few things about myself. I admire peace, loyalty and determination when it comes to people; I also like spending some nice time in a cafe, especially where they serve good sweets. I dislike traitors and those who cannot accept their true nature, and I also hate steaks. My dream is a world without war."

Her eyes widened a little bit. Those who cannot accept their true nature… As much as she hated it, the girl felt the upcoming treacherous tears filling her eyes.

Sensei…

"My name is Namikaze Naruto. I like playing with my friends, reading and sleeping. What else... I don't particularly dislike anything. My dream is to find myself a dream, and, eh… I guess you could actually say that I kinda dislike people who don't believe in themselves." He shrugged and smiled timidly.

The realization of the meaning of his words made Hinata's heart beat faster.

Those who cannot accept their true nature… people who don't believe in themselves…

"The name's Sasuke…," drawled the other boy lazily, not looking at any of them. "I like a lot of things, dislike some stuff. My dream is none of your concern, next please," he waved at them dismissively, which made both Naruto and Itachi chuckle and shake their heads at him.

The female member of the team ignored him, however, and said:

"My name is Hyūga Hinata. I like training and becoming better, and I also love a good challenge. I dislike arrogant people and those who think very high of themselves without a good reason. My dream is to become a perfect heir to my clan and to make the Hyūga name greater than ever before." The girl was dressed in beige light leather jacket and dark blue shorts reaching her knees. Her hair was now a bit longer than two years ago, but still quite short compared to that of her future self… "I also hate annoying little morons who like to get everyone's attention and waste their time aimlessly all the time," she added a bit venomously, to which Naruto frowned, and Sasuke turned his head to eye her up and down leniently before replying calmly,

"Yeah, those can be quite annoying, you better stay away from them," he winked at her and turned away again, making the girl groan quietly in annoyance.

At the same time her older version bit her lip, lowering her eyes thoughtfully.

Now with all these memories rewinded, she could see that Sasuke was right. Both Itachi and Naruto disliked her — or at least they initially had, maybe to an extent, but they did nonetheless — for never really being herself around them. They were smart enough to realize that the girl hid her real self from them behind the hardened facade of an unbreakable kunoichi which she really wasn't. Naturally, all the three of them couldn't have missed the glimpses of her true nature showing up from time to time as they spent days and weeks together, doing missions, training and so on…

Hell, she wasn't even that careful to hide it from them now that she thought about it, especially when any of them got hurt…!

The girl blushed, covering her face with her palms as the mist was slowly surrounding her again.

He was right. He was always right. And at the same time, Sasuke had never intentionally tried to hurt her… It's just that he was always honest, she now also realized. He had never hidden his real feelings for her, always being very straightforward and blunt whenever it came to his attitude — another luxury she could never afford herself… And it also had made Hinata hate him even more among many other things.

"S-Sasuke…!"

She flinched, opening her eyes and almost gasping at the sight.

The Uchiha pushed her to the wooden wall of the old inn, his left hand sliding under her top as his lips pressed against the soft skin of her neck.

"W-What are you doing…?" She tried to push him away, which he obviously ignored, slowly removing her jacket off her shoulders with a sly grin. His face was quite bruised, and his lower lip was bleeding — oh, he had definitely deserved the trashing he had just received from her for peeking. But, apparently it had only aroused him...

...Just as it did to her.

"What does it look like?" He whispered huskily, kissing her so passionately that made the kunoichi blush. The slightly salty taste of his blood on her lips… She had to stop it right now…!

But, of course, she hadn't stopped anything, and probably wouldn't have no matter what…

"We—wait—we can't… Please—just stop, it's—"

"I think we can. You want me, I want you. If it helps us loosen the tension, and if it makes you stop lashing out on me all the time, then what's the problem?" She wanted to respond, to retort somehow, but he only shut her up with another torrid kiss. Hinata's hands wrapped helplessly around his neck as she was rapidly losing the last bits of self control under his unbearable pressure...

Another shift, and Hinata found the two of them lying on the roughly made wooden bed in the same room.

Her right hand was draped over his naked chest, and there was a barely notable happy smile on her lips as she was sniffing peacefully in her sleep. Her now wild long hair seemed to be covering everything around them...

His face, however, wasn't happy at all. He looked conflicted, if not torn; his eyes were full of some strange anxiety alongside the depth she had failed to ever notice before, and although his own hand was resting on top of hers as he clenched the kunoichi's wrist lightly, he was clearly somewhere very far away in his thought…

No. That wasn't it, the real Hinata realized. He actually looked… Lost! Yes, he was clearly lost and his eyes were also completely hopeless… But, why?

She already knew that she wouldn't have found him next to her once she would wake up. Afterwards he would tell her that what had happened between them was nothing serious, and she should just forget about it…

Had he realized just how much would it hurt her? Most likely not. After all, he was clearly too preoccupied with something that bothered him very much, and she… She was just a small time for him, apparently.

Or… At least she had been sure about that… Until that day would come and change everything…

Another shift, and now the two of them were standing in the painfully familiar meadow.

The sun was shining so brightly that it made her narrow her eyes as she stared at him and yelled:

"Sasuke! Let's go, we must leave! Now!" She knew that the target was quickly approaching, and that their chances to escape were very small, and yet they had to at least try...

"No. I'm staying." His voice was unusually full of resolve, as though silently telling her that it was pointless to argue but, of course, she tried to anyway.

"You idiot! At this rate we all will die here!"

Back then she had thought he was suddenly being suicidal, but now… Now she knew what had really driven him back then.

"Don't worry, darling, you won't," he said calmly, taking a few steps back to her. "He's coming here..."

"We must run! NOW, Sasuke!" she screamed, grabbing his sleeve.

"No, we won't make it," he muttered, raising his head up to look at the blond man high in the sky.

"We have to try… Otherwise, we're all dead!" She repeated, but he didn't reply this time; instead he quickly formed a few familiar seals of his clan's signature technique as he took a very deep breath…

"Sasuke, no…!"

But, it was too late. A huge orb of fire shot up in the sky, and then he finally turned around, looking at Hinata who was staring at him in utter horror, covering her bleeding hip with her hand and panting heavily.

"Now that I've drawn his attention, Naruto and Itachi should be able to escape safely."

That was it. He had decided to sacrifice himself to save their teammates… Uchiha Sasuke was truly noble above all his numerous flaws — something she had always refused to admit yet, at the same time, it was the very thing that attracted her so much… The strange mixture of good and bad that were constantly fighting deep in his soul, making him the peculiar person he was...

"I—I see…," she gulped loudly, lowering her eyes sadly. "I guess… this is it for us, then."

"Hn. Who knows," he shrugged, coming closer to her. "Well," he turned around and looked up at the sun again, his lips curving in a mysterious grin — both of them noticed that something huge and massive was quickly falling right on them down from the sky. "Maybe not exactly."

"What…?" she murmured in confusion as he looked at her again.

"I'll miss you, princess."

"What are you—gah!" she gasped as he jumped at her, grabbing the girl's thin waist and pulling her over the edge of the cliff they were standing on, quickly rolling down into the ravine. His arms were hugging the kunoichi as tight as possible, pressing her head to his chest and covering it with his hands before they heard a tremendously strong explosion.

And then the white mist consumed everything again, the other small fragments of her memories surrounding Hinata and swirling around her chaotically. The only thing she could now see clearly were two burning red eyes staring at her from the dark as she fell on her knees, unable to look away. It was exactly the same way as it had happened back in the shaft… His gaze was completely different than it had ever been before, but at the same time it was still oddly familiar...

Uchiha Sasuke…

He had decided to become Hokage. Was this the goal he had always lacked which in turn had bothered him so much that he hadn't wanted to even keep living at some point? And was this, in turn, why he had decided to sacrifice himself in order to try to save them? Or rather, maybe this was the dream he had never told anybody about? But, in this case…

Why had he changed so much of late...?

None of it made any sense to her. It was true that Sasuke had never been the most open and welcoming person despite always being seemingly friendly to everyone including her, for it was impossibly seldom that he was serious and revealed some of his true feelings for anyone or anything.

But, nowadays… Clearly he had decided to finally take the mask of a goofy playboy off for good.

And yet, the question was still there. Why? What had made him become so different…?

That was what she desperately needed to find out. She had to figure him out, this was the only way she would be able to find her own way to deal with her inner problems. Apparently something had happened to him shortly after he got out of the hospital back then… Hinata merely had to find out what exactly was that.

And until then…

She smiled softly at another fragment of her past in which she was sitting in her room, completely crushed and emptied by the news about his demise, having yet to find out that he hadn't really died. Back then she had realized just how much did this boy really mean to her, and now she also knew why she felt that way. All that remained to do for her was to find the keystone, the last missing link...

Until then she would try to follow his latest advice and to just be herself… at least around him. Or maybe around Itachi and Naruto as well... Sasuke was right after all. He had always understood her better than anyone else, better than even she understood herself. Besides, now Hinata had realized that there was nothing to blame him for; it was due to her own stupidity that she had misinterpreted his intentions, and she had payed for it already. They didn't owe anything to each other…

Which opened a perfect opportunity for a fresh start.

She half-opened her left eye right in time to see Sasuke getting up and coming somewhere behind her back. A few seconds later Hinata could hear him closing in on her as she pretended to still be asleep, just out of curiosity wanting to see what he would do. For a few moments there was not a single sound reaching her ears, so eventually she grew impatient and decided to finally open her sleepy white eyes, frowning at him the instant she saw him — the boy was sitting right in front of her.

"What are you doing...?" she murmured, blinking in confusion as her eyes were still adjusting to the dim light of the campfire.

"Trying to prevent you from losing your limb. Don't scream now."

"Wha—OW-W! C-COLD!" she yelped.

"I told you not to scream." He sighed, pressing something icy to her skin and then wrapping a piece of bandage around the girl's leg. "There you go. Feel free to return to sleeping now."

"I'm hungry," she decided to ignore his slightly annoyed tone, sniffing as she felt the smell of some food. "What do we have for breakfast?" It was probably a bit awkward on her part to try and be joking and friendly now, but Hinata wasn't about to make a drama out of their previous conversation back in the shaft; no matter her inner weaknesses, she was still a very strong girl, and the fact that she had realized that he was right about everything didn't mean that she was going to openly admit it. At least not on words for sure. Instead she would make him see that she could overcome it… And see her true self as well.

He glanced at her a bit skeptically and deadpanned,

"A nice steak with rosemary and thyme; mashed potatoes, magnificent salad and a strawberry cake for dessert."

Huh…? She blinked at him a few times, a tad confused by his words but then quickly realizing that he was kidding, and deciding to play along,

"Woah... Really? That sounds amazing!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands quietly as she was still lying on her side.

"Yeah. Enjoy your meal." He handed her a half of his toast with a piece of dried fish on it, which the girl accepted without a complain before chuckling at him.

"And the cake?" She looked at the Uchiha a bit playfully, as if trying to taunt him.

"I ate yours," he deadpanned again. They both smirked as their eyes met for a brief moment.

Yes… She definitely could make everything right from now on. If her father's hard way of disciplining had ever given Hinata anything good, it was her unbreakable will and determination when it came to her goals and desires, as well as the ability to stay strong no matter what happened to her. If not for everything she had endured under Hiashi's guidance, she probably would simply back off now, much like a silly spineless girl would do in hopes for her crush to miraculously notice her one day, spending weeks, months and years in waiting without any guarantee that her happiness would find her by itself... Truly, she had learned to be better than that.

Her eyes stopped on Sasuke's back as he went back to the pot, and then she smiled to herself, quietly hemming as the plan was beginning to shape in her head.

It was true that, having seen the small glimpse of the Uchiha's raw potential back in the city, the young kunoichi had also realized that she most likely wouldn't last long as a match for him in power now that he had started taking his training seriously. Who knows, one day he might even surpass Naruto at this rate, as impossible as it sounded... But, Hinata at this point had realized that there were ways to make him acknowledge her other than the most straightforward one. And fortunately she now knew for sure what she had to do for that sake. Until now, the girl had been held back by her father, her clan and her own inner issues like the idea that it was both impossible and pointless for her to do what she really wanted, but... Come to think about it, the Hyūga hardly had anything to lose; the girl was absolutely sick and tired of constantly trying to please her father and the elders of her clan. Which is why now she was, for once, going to do what she wanted herself, even if it would piss a lot of people at the end of the day...

Besides, she was the strongest in their clan beside Hiashi himself. They couldn't afford getting rid of her even if they would want to, which mean that she could use this as a mean to manipulate them into getting more freedom for herself. Things definitely weren't as bad as they had always seemed before...

You just wait, Sasuke. I'll show you what I truly am behind all the masks. And you…, she thought, lowering her eyes to the food she was holding in her hand before taking a bite, Shall be mine.

-~X~-

"How much time have we spent here already?" asked Hinata sounding almost suspiciously polite. Not that Sasuke really minded it — right now he would prefer anything that wouldn't irritate him, so he was almost grateful that she wasn't about to make a fuss over what had happened back in the shaft.

"A few hours," he replied vaguely, sipping the soup from the small plastic cup. "Can you activate your Byakugan yet?"

She frowned a bit, analyzing her body's condition for a few moments before shaking her head sadly.

"I can, but not for long enough to scan everything around us. My chakra supply hasn't restored yet."

He hemmed. The girl was relatively strong for all he knew, or at least she was much stronger than most of their peers, yet her chakra limit…

"You need to workout more," he said, not looking at her though suspecting that her reaction wouldn't be very friendly.

Surprisingly, he turned out to be wrong, for she merely uttered:

"Yes, I think so too."

He raised his head to look at the girl, slightly baffled by her sudden pliability. She noticed his stare and grinned in return, adding,

"I have noticed the results of your own recent training, and I don't want to be left behind you and Naruto-kun. I'm not handing you the position of the second strongest in the team, you dimwit," she stuck her tongue out and showed him a middle finger, to which he sighed, barely holding back the desire to roll his eyes at her ridiculously weak taunt.

"Fine, you can have it for yourself. Pretty sure Naruto wouldn't mind being the dead last," he said impassively, looking away then.

Her eyes widened and the girl coughed on the sudden laughter.

"Really? Aiming pretty high nowadays, aren't we?" Hinata giggled but, unexpedly to her, he didn't react at all, which made her frown the next moment. "What happened to you?" She asked bluntly then, looking at him without a sign of the previous playful mood.

He glanced at her briefly, unsure what he was supposed to say now. Was this just another silly girlish question without any meaning behind it? Or maybe she was implying something deeper…?

"What are you talking about?" He asked carefully, his face remaining completely blank.

"Everything. You've changed, and I'd like to know why."

Apparently she wasn't that short sighted after all. Or maybe it was simply that she paid extra attention to him all the time… Sasuke wasn't quite sure, but he realized that he had to be very cautious around this girl from now on. For whatever reason was she attempting to pry into his secret more than anyone else, so there were only two ways of getting rid of this little nuisance: either to tell her the truth, or to just keep avoiding her as much as possible.

Naturally, he wasn't about to tell her a damn thing.

"People do change, Hyūga. Only idiots remain the same throughout years."

Hinata nodded, crawling closer to him and taking a cup of stew for herself.

"You have a point," she admitted, enjoying the fragrant hot liquid, "But, I can see that you are hiding something. Not just from me, even from Itachi-sensei and Naruto-kun. It is in your non-verbal signals; you know I was taught to read those," He flinched, instantly angered by his own reaction — he already knew she got him, and he had just given himself away, the boy realized in silent lament.

Of course, Hinata's triumphant grin only confirmed that as she continued,

"I'm not going to ask you to entrust me with your secrets. Albeit you are, without a doubt, a moron, I know that sometimes you know what you're doing, and if you're hiding it so carefully, you wouldn't tell me anyway. But...," she leaned closer to him, reached out and touched his cheek gently with her palm before adding quietly in the unusually soft voice that sent a pleasant shiver down his spine, "I'd like to let you know that you can trust me… If you ever want to. No matter what happens, I am your friend, and your teammate. If you ever decide to reveal something to me, I assure you that it will stay between the two of us and no one else."

For a few seconds he couldn't look away from her discerning eyes that were, despite her dōjutsu being deactivated, looking somewhere very deep into him; somewhere he wouldn't want anybody to ever come. It suddenly made him feel so uncomfortable that he wanted to push her hand away and tell Hinata to leave him alone, but… He couldn't. The Uchiha felt mesmerized by what was going on, it was like a heavy genjutsu… Had he not known any better, he would've believed that it was exactly that.

Yet it clearly wasn't, and he now felt even more uncomfortable as he failed to understand what exactly was happening to him. His mouth opened as he muttered, fighting off the strange stupor that gripped him through her soft touch,

"I appreciate it. You can trust me too, although something tells me that you never would… Anymore," he said carefully, realizing that he was stepping onto the dangerous field of playing the role of someone who possessed the memories he didn't have — about whatever had happened between the two of them in the past.

But, much to his relief, it worked, even though not exactly as intended — her face darkened a tad, and she took her hand away, lowering her head.

"Thank you. I… will try my best."

He was about to let out an unsure awkward smile, but their conversation got interrupted by incredibly strong rumble coming from outside the cave. Hinata flinched, looking at the exit cauciously while Sasuke was already standing up, his sword drawn out.

"W-What is that…?" asked the girl, for once sounding almost scared at the increasing volume of the sounds coming from the outside.

"I don't know, but it's something huge… Check it out, the situation might be critical now, and you can't fight right now anyway, so you won't need your chakra anytime soon."

She nodded and activated her Byakugan, but it deactivated the next moment; still it was enough for her to recognize the source of the threat as the girl paled, stuttering:

"S-Sasuke, there is… A reptile…!" her voice cracked as she added in a whisper, "It's coming our way."

"A reptile?" He frowned, coming closer to the entrance of the grot. "A snake?" The boy asked almost hopefully. He just couldn't be that lucky today, could he…? First the sword, and now a pet to tame…

"No," came the quiet answer as she shook her head, biting her lip and looking at him in horror. "I wasn't able to get a clear picture, but... It looked more like a dragon."

"What?" He blinked, frowning. Considering what Orochimaru had told him back in his world, dragons were very rare creatures related to snakes — both came from Ryūchi cave the location of which he had yet to find, but the problem was that…

"Sharingan doesn't work on dragons. This is bad," he uttered, coming close to her and grabbing the girl by her waist which made her yelp in surprise. "We're leaving."

"What? Where? How…?"

"I don't know," he replied impatiently, jumping out of the cave and almost gasping as he saw the massive creature. It was almost as big as Manda used to be, although thanks to its broad wings it probably seemed even more grand than the King of Snakes. Its scales were shining brightly under the sun, almost blinding him with hundreds of bluish glimpses. And, most importantly, the creature's red eyes were staring…

Directly at them.

"Is it huge?" asked Hinata almost casually with uncovered curiosity in her voice as she was unable to see anything from behind his back. "I didn't have enough time to get the full image when I looked at it."

"What exactly are you asking me about?" The words came off his mouth before he knew, instantly making the boy want to slap himself for such a vulgar and misplaced joke — apparently, some reflexes of the previous owner of his body were still there, or at least so he wanted to believe.

"Prat… Are we going to die?" asked the girl clearly suppressing a chuckle.

"No. I'll get us out of this somehow… Let's go!" He jumped to the top of the nearest rock, hearing the dragon's loud and angry roar as well as the cracking sound — the ice broke under the creature's sharp tails while it raised up to the air with a single swing of the massive wings.

"Woah… It is beautiful…!" The girl gasped in awe, finally being able to see the reptile with her own eyes as Sasuke was quickly jumping away from their former hideout. "Hey, Sasuke... I'd like to ride it one day! Can you imagine how great would it feel? Aw-w!" She smirked, raising her eyes to look at his nape.

"What…?" He winced, glancing at her toned bottom as he gripped her hips more tightly.

"What? Wouldn't you like to fly high up in the sky sitting on its neck? I wish I could summon a dragon like this one!" She whistled, and he almost bought the pretentious innocence in her voice.

Almost.

"Touché. Now stop fucking with me, I'm actually trying to save us here," he murmured, jumping off another cliff and landing down into the nearest ravine.

"Well... It's getting closer. I think you're not exactly managing it."

He gritted his teeth, groaning in annoyance as he kept jumping forward.

"You know… For someone who is about to die, you're being surprisingly merry." He heard her giggle behind his back before the girl replied,

"Not the worst possible way to die, to be honest. Although I'd prefer a better company, but oh well…" She sighed artificially, which made him smirk in response.

"Likewise… Here!" He jumped into the narrow abyss that turned out to be not as deep as it would initially seem from the outside — only about ten feet, not deeper than that.

They landed on the snowy ground, the darkness around them broken only by the few rays of light coming from above. He took the kunoichi off his shoulder, putting her down and staring upwards. The dragon's eye glanced at him through the crack in the ice, a loud roar almost deafening them the next second, the gust of wind caused by its breath ruffling their hairs.

"So what now? The plan is to freeze here to death, isn't it?" asked Hinata, looking up as well.

"Not if you have a better option," he muttered through his teeth, trying to figure out a way to escape. He looked around — there was no sign of an underground passage they could use to flee from the deadly creature…

"Yeah... we're trapped, it seems," she finally summed up, letting out a loud tired sigh. "I guess this is it for us…"

"Shut up for once, will you? I'm trying to think," he barked angrily, scanning the place with his Sharingan.

"Okay, okay, genius. Feel free to go on." She rolled her eyes and shook her head, hugging her knees.

"If I manage to melt this…," he came close to the wall of ice, putting his palm on it as the dragon roared once again, almost making everything around them shake, "There might be a way we could use—"

He flinched as Hinata let out a happy squeal which made him turn around and grip his sword again, taking it out of the scabbard and covering the girl with his back, now feeling truly frightened possibly for the first time in this world.

Because the person who was standing in front of them now, having appeared out of nowhere, was painfully familiar to him. He wouldn't confuse this man with anybody else in any universe. His face was still the same scarred one; the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes still had the same pattern he remembered, and even his hair was still the same short black one this ninja'd had in Sasuke's past.

"Stay away!" Sasuke exclaimed, taking the battle stance as he was ready to attack the shinobi.

"Huh?" The person blinked in surprise, seeming confused by the rather defensive reaction of his younger clansman. "Not exactly the warmest welcome, Sasuke… Especially considering this," he pointed at the dragon's face above, to which the creature let out the loudest roar so far, making all the three of them wince a bit.

"It's you…!" Sasuke growled before stopping for a moment, thinking rapidly and eyeing the man up and down. He was wearing the long black loose overall similar to the ones Akatsuki had worn back in his world, but there were no red cloud pattern on it…

"Obito-san! You're right in time!" exclaimed Hinata cheerfully from behind Sasuke's back, making the boy turn around and blink at her in surprise before he finally, though belatedly realized what was going on.

Uchiha Obito had never left Konoha in this reality. He was still a member of the his clan, and a ninja of his village…!

"Hokage-sama ordered me to retrieve the two of you," said the man, still looking at the sharp tip of Sasuke's sword in slight confusion. "Naruto-kun gave me the approximate coordinates of your location. Took me some time to find you, but at least you guys are alive… Now, shall we go home?" He offered them his hand, smiling unsurely at Sasuke who now looked lost as he lowered his weapon hesitantly.

"Yeah… I guess," he murmured, striding closer to the man, still a little shocked by just how much did Obito visually resemble himself from the other world. And yet something was clearly different about this version of this man — it was in his expression and his eyes… There was no sign of the darkness Sasuke had seen before! How could it be possible...?

"Hey, didn't you forget anything? I can't walk, you know!" said Hinata indignantly, making Obito smirk and come close to her.

"I guess you'll tell me the full story later, eh? Let's move out." He gripped their wrists and the world around them disappeared in the dimensional swirl, accompanied by another helpless cry of the dragon.

A/N: This is it for today. I'm finally back to working on this story to the full extent, though it took me some extra time to get back into the necessary shape. Not much has happened in this chapter, which was exactly why it wasn't easy to write it as I prefer writing dialogues above everything else, followed tightly by action scenes, but I hope you guys do realize this chapter's real value to the plot. And for those who don't, here is a little hint:

See you in Chapter 12: ...To See His Future!

Chapter Text

Author's Note: I'd like to thank each and every one of you once again for your incredible support. Only thanks to your reviews (which always please me quite a lot even if it's just a couple words), did I manage to finish this chapter in just a bit longer than one week after the last one. And here I am to present you the climax of the current arc as well as the moment many of you have been waiting for so long. Get hyped, because things are about to get real here!

I'd like to know what y'all think about this chapter, because this was my favourite one to write so far. Although the next one, which will be the epilogue of this arc and the beginning of the next one at the same time, will be even more pleasant for me to create. But, all in due time. Also, I'll be making another F.A.Q. in the end of the next chapter, so make sure to answer whatever questions you have, I promise to answer them all!

Enjoy!

Chapter 13. ...To See His Future!

The morning sun was only barely touching the very top of the Hokage monument as the lonely figure was quickly moving through the lanes of the village, carefully avoiding anyone who could recognize her. Trying to ignore her increasing heartbeat as the girl felt more and more excited with each passing moment, Hinata stopped on the nearest crossroads, unsure if she was walking the right direction and trying to find the house she needed. The last time she had visited this woman's place was about ten years ago… Would it even be appropriate to come to her with such a delicate request now that they hadn't talked in ages? Besides, the Hyūga couldn't say that she was close friends with her students either… How would she explain her sudden choice, especially considering that her own master's skill was commonly known to be unparallelled in this particular ninja art?

Then again this was a thousand time better than approaching Itachi on this touchy matter. The man was smart enough to get suspicious right away, and he would definitely instantly figure it out when she would have done what she was going to do. Kurenai, however… Despite being a strong and experienced kunoichi, she wasn't known for being very intelligent or shrewd. Which was why she was the best possible option to assist Hinata in what the girl was going to do…

The Hyūga smiled, noticing the small but rather nicely looking two-storied building near the farthest end of the street. Readjusting the thick black hood on her head and activating her Byakugan to get a better view of her surroundings just in case, Hinata felt thankful that there wasn't many people outside this early in the morning. The last thing she needed right now would be someone tailing her…

She then shook her head, snorting contemptuously at her own thoughts. She was probably being ridiculously paranoid, but… Wasn't it really justified considering that she was about to commit a double crime which could, if gone wrong, permanently label her a nukenin? Or worse, to get her imprisoned…

Yet somehow it still felt more exciting rather than frightening as she knocked on the white wooden door, trying to calm herself down and putting a nice polite smile on her face. The woman would probably not be very happy with Hinata coming this early, but there was no other choice… It had to be done today, and she only had so much time to get prepared.

The door opened in a few seconds, revealing the face of the tall kunoichi with long bushy dark hair and quite sleepy bloody red eyes which oddly resembled Sharingan quite a lot, often making people confuse her with an Uchiha which, as Hinata had heard before, annoyed her quite a lot.

"Hinata, huh…?" She blinked, obviously quite surprised to see her.

"Kurenai-sensei, I'm sorry for coming here this early, but I have an urgent request for you. And…," she looked around, putting the best mask of sheepishness she had in her arsenal, "If you don't mind… Could it please stay just between the two of us?"

The older ninja now seemed to be even more confused than before. Still, she was known for her kind nature and her especially warm attitude towards younger generations, so her answer was quite predictable as she said,

"Uh—sure, Hinata-chan. What is it you need my help with?" She smiled warmly before yawning sweetly and rubbing her face.

"Oh, it's nothing special, really," the Hyūga smiled timidly in return, lowering her eyes and staring at the mat under her sandals. "Could you please teach me to use a hypnotic genjutsu that would work similarly to Sharingan? I really need it for my next mission, and it isn't something they would teach me in my clan. I also don't want to ask Itachi-sensei, because—," she bit her lip and blushed, letting out a silly giggle. Frankly she didn't care what Kurenai would think about her — it wouldn't be the first time when a kunoichi had a crush on her sensei, and right now this idea was a perfect cover for her fake story.

Yūhi blinked a few times and then frowned, which almost made Hinata flinch —did she get suspicious after all? — but, apparently, that wasn't the case, for Kurenai only scratched her chin and hemmed.

"Well… That's unexpected, but… There is a rather simple genjutsu like that, although it would only work on really weak ninjas and civilians. I doubt that's what you're looking for, but unfortunately everything else of this type is far too complicated and would take you years to learn since you have no affinity for genjutsu. Sorry if I disappointed you, but…"

Hinata suppressed a happy smirk as she raised her head to meet the woman's genuinely sad eyes and uttered:

"Oh, that would be more than enough, Kurenai-sensei. Can you teach me this technique today? Please!" She clapped her hands in front of herself, trying to look as cute as possible.

Baffled by the girl's reaction, Kurenai smiled unsurely, nodding and making a welcoming gesture.

"Sure… Come in, please. It shouldn't take much time, but kindly be quiet — Asuma is still asleep."

I win…! Hinata screamed in her mind, biting her lower lip and almost chuckling. All that remained to do now was not to get caught…

Or, should the worst happen, to make sure to escape fast enough.

-~X~-

Two hours ago...

"Rin! We're home!" announced Obito loudly, catching Hinata right in time to make sure that she wouldn't fall on the floor, not noticing how Sasuke broke out of his grip roughly and stepped backwards, leaning on the wall as his hand was still resting on his sword's hilt.

"Is everything alright?" They heard the woman's worried voice as she came into the room, dressed in a light green nightgown and apparently having just awakened.

"Almost… Could you please heal Hinata-chan's leg?" The man nodded at the Hyūga and smiled warmly.

Rin instantly came close to the younger kunoichi, helping her settle down on the couch and looking at her limb critically before the jade green chakra lit the semi dark room the next moment.

"Is Akame home?" asked Obito then, still not paying attention to Sasuke whose eyes suddenly widened at the mention of the girl's name.

"Yes, but she's long asleep and I'd rather you not wake her up until morning. She worked really hard on her training yesterday," Rin smiled, and so did the man as he came close to her and pecked her temple before hugging the woman tightly.

"I missed you two," he whispered loud enough for Sasuke to hear, and while Hinata only rolled her eyes and looked away with a grimace, the boy's heart was racing as he was finally grasping what was going on.

Obito! He was Akame's father…! That's why Sasuke hadn't seen her back in his reality — the girl simply hadn't existed there…! Did it mean that this Obito truly wasn't the psychopath he had been in the other world? Could he possibly work on Madara in a more subtle way…? Or was it not the case at all?

"We missed you too, honey," Rin smiled as she finished healing Hinata's leg and got up, kissing the man's cheek and blushing a bit as their eyes met. "With this new martial law it's a bit scary without you around. The atmosphere in the village is really dull."

"You guys have nothing to worry about," the man smirked reassuringly, winking at Hinata who frowned at Rin's last line. "With me and Minato-sensei protecting the village, everyone here is perfectly safe!"

"What is going on?" asked the Hyūga then, looking at both the adult ninjas suspiciously. "Martial law? Why?"

"The outcome of your mission is going on," Obito grinned, sitting on the couch next to the girl. "Iwagakure declared war on us. We're expecting them to cause a diversion and attack us indirectly in the next few days in order to retrieve their princess. Yeah, good luck to them."

"The princess…?" Hinata's eyes widened as she remembered something important. "By the way, how is Naruto-kun and Itachi-sensei? Are they alright?"

"Yeah. Minato-sensei helped them get out of Land of Iron. The princess is alive and well too, she's currently held in Root's underground prison."

"In prison? But why? What has she done to get jailed?" asked the Hyūga a bit indignantly. It wasn't that she liked the girl enough to stand up to her — actually, quite the opposite, but the possibility of someone ending up in Root's hands for no reason seemed quite bothering to her.

"Oh, she did nothing, don't worry. It's just that she's more safe there than anywhere else, although personally I don't think so, knowing Danzo and his dubious contacts he thinks we're not aware of…"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. Danzo… Another nuisance he had yet to get rid of.

"So what next?" suddenly asked the boy abruptly, removing his hand off the sword as Obito looked at him in surprise. "If a war is going to happen, what's our role in it?"

To his further irritation, the older Uchiha only smiled at him, shaking his head.

"Your role? Sasuke, your role was to help the princess escape for all I know. As for the rest, you will discuss it with Hokage-sama, for I believe it's a secret agreement between the two of you. Although I doubt that you'll be assigned to do anything serious anytime soon. Just let us do our job and feel free to rest now." He winked and looked away, clearly believing that to be enough to convince his younger clansman.

Needless to say, he was wrong.

"You started a war with our hands, without us knowing anything. Konoha manipulated me, and now I want to know what goals does the village pursue in this conflict, and what is going to happen next. If you think you'll manage to keep me in the dark, I'll prove you wrong," he snapped, leaving the room in complete silence.

Everyone was watching him carefully now. Rin seemed to be more than a bit worried as she took a step back from him, sensing the downright hostile intent radiating from the boy; Obito only stared at Sasuke in shock, unsure what to say yet not looking a even bit scared as Hinata whispered,

"Sasuke, what are you—"

"Shut up. I wasn't talking to you," he shot an evil glare at her, making the girl close her mouth and gulp nervously. Clearly none of them had ever seen him like this before… But, he didn't think about it right now, blinded by the sudden wave of rage.

Because it was happening again. Just like back in the other world, he was being a toy in Konoha's hands…!

"Calm down, Sasuke. I understand that it can be unpleasant sometimes, but this is a part of being a shinobi attached to his village. Sometimes you have to follow orders of your superiors without knowing what do they intend to achieve ultimately."

The boy's eyes narrowed at him angrily, turning into Sharingan and shining brightly in the dimly lit room.

"This is war you're talking about. Konoha manipulated me into starting something that will lead thousands people to their deaths. Do you seriously expect me to just swallow it as if it's a normal thing?"

For a few seconds they were silent again. Sasuke didn't look at her, but Hinata was clearly feeling very uncomfortable right now, much like Rin who appeared like she was about to run away. But, contrary to the older woman, the Hyūga seemed rather mesmerized than scared by what Sasuke was saying; she was listening to him very carefully, catching the boy's every word and unable not to agree with what he was saying.

"I assure you, the situation is under our control, Sasuke," Obito's voice was now firm and serious, just like his expression that wasn't friendly at all anymore — his face was absolutely neutral right now, but one needed not be a sensory type to realize that the man was quite displeased by the boy's reaction. "I assure you that what we're doing is for the greater good. The rest is none of your concern, as sorry as I am to say it."

Sasuke's head raised a bit as if he was subconsciously looking at the other Uchiha from above, his eyes burning with uncovered arrogance and disdain. On top of that, Hinata could see that he was barely controlling his anger...

"Sasuke…," she uttered, sounding almost pleading now, "Please, just calm down, we—"

"I told you to shut up," he snapped again without looking at Hinata, nor removing his eyes off Obito who didn't activate his own Sharingan unlike the boy. "We've already been through this. You won't manipulate me into causing a massacre, directly or not. If this ever goes down to a real war, I swear that I'll do my best to wipe out as many of you as I can."

It was only then that Sasuke finally realized that he had just lost control over his emotions and possibly said more than he should have. With a quick glance across the room did he notice with relief that Obito didn't seem to have gotten suspicious, and his wife appeared to be frightened by their conversation enough not to care about the true meaning of the boy's words.

At the same time Hinata was deadly pale, staring at the floor under her feet and not daring to raise her head while Rin was moving her gaze between him and Obito, not really taking Sasuke as a serious threat but still quite worried about whatever he could pull the next moment…

The young Uchiha cursed himself silently. He had completely forgotten that he was a part of their family… This wasn't just an ideological conflict from their point of view! He had no attachment to these people, but they were attached to him...

Obito kept looking at the boy impassively for some time that felt to him like forever before finally sighing and lowering his chin on his hand, looking disappointed by the boy's reaction.

"You really need to go and have some rest now, Sasuke. I understand that the mission was stressful and exhausting, and the news about the war are not the most pleasant thing to hear after all you've been through. But, what you're saying here makes absolutely no sense. I won't tell Hokage-sama about this conversation, and I hope your teammate here will support me," he glanced at Hinata who met his eyes for a short moment and nodded briefly before looking away again, sunken deep in her thought, "However, I'd like to ask you to watch your mouth from now on, especially when you're talking to your superiors. It isn't just the reputation of our clan that you're putting at stake with such stunts; it's your own life. Some of us who don't know you as good as I, they might consider you a traitor to both the Uchiha and the village if they hear you saying things like that."

So they didn't take his words seriously after all. It was probably good despite feeling quite humiliating, but right now the boy couldn't complain — he needed some solitude at long last, and also some time to reconsider everything that had happened as well as to decide on his next move. Which was why he had no other choice but to do what his brother had once done many years ago in a different world…

He fell on his knees, his forehead touching the soft carpet on the floor of the guestroom, and uttered softly:

"I am not a traitor, but for the words I have said, I deeply apologize."

Obito and Rin's features softened as he was talking while Hinata stared at the boy in utter shock, her mouth opening a little bit as the girl was completely speechless. He had definitely done too many things the Sasuke all of them knew would never have done…

This was getting troublesome, the boy realized without even seeing their reactions.

"Apology accepted. Now please go to your home and rest. We'll talk about everything tomorrow, I promise," the man said softly, offering his hand to Sasuke which he surprisingly accepted, getting up and squeezing out the best polite smile he possibly could.

"Fine. I really need some time alone, my head is aching," he murmured, proceeding toward Rin who gave him a slightly cautious smile and offered the boy a cup of green tea which he accepted before disappearing behind the door alongside Akame's mother.

After all, he hadn't slept in almost two days. Rest was indeed necessary if he wanted to be able to think straight, and this was mandatory for Sasuke right now.

-~X~-

As the two of them were left alone, Hinata felt so overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours, and especially the last few minutes, that she didn't notice how Obito turned to her shortly after Sasuke and Rin had left, patting the girl's shoulder lightly which made her flinch and look at him, confused and lost.

"Hinata-chan… Are you alright?" he asked gently, to which the girl slowly nodded as she blinked a few times, trying to get a hang of herself.

"Y-Yes, I think so," she muttered quietly, still trying to comprehend a lot of things simultaneously.

"Good. I—well, I'd like to ask you a few things, if you don't mind. It is really important for us to know the truth, I hope you understand it and share my concern… He is your teammate after all."

She almost gasped as Hinata finally realized what was going on, and this realization instantly ripped her out of her thought, returning the girl in a highly alarmed and collected state. She was going to be interrogated now…!

"Uh… Sure, Obito-sama," she replied neutrally, trying her best not to give away her nervousness. The man smiled at her, nodding and saying,

"Perfect. First of all, please tell me… In the last few weeks, was there something you would interpret as very unusual or weird when it comes to Sasuke? I'm talking about his behavior; his attitude, his habits… Anything at all?"

Her heart was racing now. Clearly she wasn't the only one to have noticed all the changes in her teammate, it would be way too naive to think that his family didn't see it as well… But, what was she supposed to say now…?

"Hm-m… I'm not sure," she drawled slowly, desperately trying to buy herself some extra time to think, which Obito obviously realized as he sighed and shook his head.

"Please, Hinata-chan. I'm begging you to be honest here. This might be really important, and I assure you that I want nothing but good for him. However, if he's being possessed, or controlled—"

"With due respect, Obito-sama," she interrupted the man to her own surprise, sounding a bit sharp as she spoke in Sasuke's defense, "I think it is clear that none of these is the case. Tsunade-sama has examined him, and so did Fugaku-sama, and they don't share your concerns. Haven't you talked to either them already? Seeing that you're so interested, I think it would be the best idea."

Obito frowned a bit, though not looking away from her suddenly piercing shrewd gaze.

"I have, yes," he muttered, pursing his lips and making a small pause before continuing, "However… Look, Hinata, what I'm about to say to you is top secret information. Nobody aside from me and Hokage-sama knows about it, and I must warn you that spilling any of it to somebody including your teammates would lead you to death sentence. Do you want me to continue?"

She nodded almost instantly. After all, this was a standard wording when it came to military secrets, and she had accepted more than a few of them in the past from her father. This wasn't something to scare her for sure.

"Yes, please go on," she offered politely.

The man nodded as well, locking his hands in front of himself and not looking away from her eyes, seeming very worried by whatever was on his mind.

"It has been confirmed that there is something shady is going on in Uchiha clan. There is a traitor among us… Possibly more than one. Their goals are currently unknown, but rumors reached me that they are followers of the ideas of our ancestor… of Madara."

Uchiha Madara…?

"One of Konoha's founders…?" she muttered thoughtfully, to which Obito nodded. "And you think Sasuke is one of these… followers?"

He shook his head but then frowned, scratching his chin.

"Actually, considering everything Sasuke had just said… No, never mind. I don't think he's one of them. He's too weak and careless for them to dare make him join them. However… I believe he could be manipulated by some of them. Possibly through a genjutsu," he mused, sounding genuinely concerned.

"But…," the girl frowned. What Obito was saying partly made sense — Sasuke had truly changed dramatically, nobody could deny it at this point. On top of that, what the boy had just said… It sounded like some delirious jabbering for anyone who didn't know what he was talking about, for sure. And yet...

We've already been through this. You won't manipulate me into causing a massacre, directly or not.

We've already been through this…

However, Sasuke seemed to be aware of what he was talking about! And although none of it made sense to her, to Obito, to their teammates… It clearly did make sense to the boy himself, and the way he apologized… He seemed to have realized that he had said something he wasn't supposed to say. Was that a sign of him belonging in this secret cult of Madara's followers…? Or something else? But… what?

Hinata licked her dried lips, clenching her fists. One thing, the girl knew for sure — she wasn't going to give Sasuke away now that she had so many doubts and questions lingering. She was going to find out the truth herself… And then she would decide what to do with it.

"Itachi-sensei thinks that Sasuke behaves so oddly due to awakening Mangekyō Sharingan," she finally said, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

And apparently it worked as intended — Obito appeared to be stunned by her words as his eyes widened in shock, and then his expression softened the next second.

"Mangekyō…? Woah. This is… unexpected, but not unheard of." He scratched his nape thoughtfully, looking away from her for the first time throughout their conversation.

Hinata smiled at him, secretly happy that she had managed to distract him with this little lie.

"Of course. You have awakened it yourself after all, haven't you?" She smirked as he blushed a bit, looking at her a bit shamefully.

"Hey! It's a secret of our clan, you're not supposed to know about it…! Damn you, Itachi…" The girl giggled quietly, which made the man chuckle in return.

"So you think that's why he's being so unstable recently?" he asked then, and the Hyūga couldn't help but notice the barely covered hope she could hear in his voice. The man was truly worried about Sasuke… He wanted the boy to turn out to be innocent. It seemed like he really wanted to help him, and it made Hinata feel somewhat bad for her earlier lie, but she realized there was no way back now.

"Yep. He has also become much more powerful, though I have not seen him using any unusual techniques just yet. Albeit I guess it is worth mentioning that he somehow managed to beat Mifune and all his samurai, so I reckon he definitely has something hidden up his sleeve, just not wanting to show us yet for whatever reason. Then again that's Sasuke for you," she smirked apologetically and shrugged carelessly, happily noticing that Obito bought this one as well.

"Yeah. I guess you have a point." He let out a loud sigh, leaning on the soft back of the leather couch. "I'm really sorry for this interrogation, but I am quite worried, you know."

The girl smiled at him, waving off dismissively.

"It's perfectly fine, I understand. Obito-sama, can I please go home now? I'd like to change and rest if there is nothing else you want me to do now."

The man blinked, slapping his forehead.

"Ah! Yes, of course, damn it. I completely forgot that you've just come back from a mission. Although there is one more thing, yes." He took something out of a pocket of his shirt and handed it to the Hyūga. It was a small scroll with Hokage's seal on it, locked with Minato's potent chakra. "This is the permission you'll have to use later this day. Hokage-sama wants you to escort the princess from her prison to one of the houses in the outskirts of the village."

"The outskirts?" Hinata blinked in confusion, slowly accepting the scroll. "But why? And why me, exactly?"

"Because you are a Hyūga," replied Obito as if it was self-explanatory. She then belatedly realized what exactly was he implying. As a Hyūga, she was a bearer of the secret of the Root's headquarters' location and infrastructure. All of them had to accept the seal of secrecy on this matter in their early years due to Byakugan allowing them to see everything deep underground, so it was a must for every single member of her clan to protect this information. Naturally their commanders took the best out of it — whenever there was a need for a regular ninja to do something with this secret formation, Hyūgas were typically chosen for any kind of such job.

"Besides, for some reason Minato-sensei believes that she would trust you enough to follow you without questions or causing any fuss. You know, the girl's got some temper," he smirked, seeing how the Hyūga rolled her eyes at his words. "As to the second question… We believe she would be safer there, pretending to be just another irrelevant civilian. Right now she's the primary target of anyone who would want to attack the village or infiltrate it, so they'll be looking for her."

"Understood," replied Hinata. It was a really smart move on Hokage's part — instead of hiding Miso in the most secure place, they would put her in the most obvious one…

"Very good. Feel free to go now, I won't be holding you back anymore."

"Alright. Good night, Obito-sama."

"See ya!"

As she left the house, proceeding to the gate that left out of the Uchiha clan's territory, Hinata's head was being torn apart by countless thoughts, ideas and emotions she was feeling right now. Because right now, probably for the first time in her life, she knew what she wanted to do, and more importantly, she had a plan. A risky one, if not to call it worse… But, everything so far was simply leading her toward it, as if fate itself was holding her hand!

There was only one way to find out what was really going on with Sasuke — to find a way to forcibly peek into his mind and find the answers there. And while she had no ability to do it herself, there was a whole clan in their village, consisting of the ninja who specialized on reading minds and memories. Yes, to ask Ino or any other member of that clan would be way too risky — whatever they would see in his head could be dangerous, and they would definitely not keep their mouths shut…

The only way to do it safely would be putting a Yamanaka under control through a genjutsu. And considering how careful all of them were about checking their members on the possibility of having been manipulated or controlled… That would be a suicide move, no doubt about that.

However, she had just been given a perfect opportunity Hinata simply couldn't refuse. Tanaka Miso… The princess of Land of Earth who also happened to be a Yamanaka by blood, and to also know how to use their clan's ninjutsu… And on top of everything, the Hyūga now had an official permission to come in close contact with her...

The girl smirked at the rather crazy idea she was totally going to execute. All that remained for her to do was to find a way to put Miso under her control and make the little bitch follow her orders…

And she would find that way.

-~X~-

Present time...

"Is this the place where I'm supposed to live from now on?" Miso whined, almost making Hinata shake in annoyance as they were walking up the stairs of an abandoned watch tower that was soon to be reconstructed near the great wall surrounding Konoha from the west side.

"No, stupid. I'm just making sure that nobody sees us going to your new place; now could you please be quiet at least for a while?" she glanced at the girl over her shoulder, trying to be as polite as possible while feeling incredibly nervous deep inside.

"Fine… And here I was already about to believe that you wanted to leave your fellow princess in some dirty abandoned facility. I guess you're not as nefarious as you seem, Hyūga!"

Hinata hemmed to herself. Oh, you have no idea…

Once again did the kunoichi feel completely astonished by herself and by how far she was ready to go in order to achieve her goals. She didn't feel bad at all for what she was about to do no matter how low it really was; the only thing that concerned her right now was whatever she was going to see…

And not getting caught in the process, of course. But, everything had gone accordingly so far, so there was nothing to be afraid of…

"Damn it, wait at least a little bit, please! I'm not used to walk so much…!" Miso whined again as Hinata finally got to the top of the tower, enjoying the gust of the fresh morning wind ruffling her hair.

"Just come here already and we will rest, I promise," she replied patiently, looking at the village resting down below and instantly finding Sasuke's house not far away from them.

"Alright, alright! Here I am…," the girl showed up from the stairs, panting and sitting on the floor the next moment. "Was it really necessary to go all the way up here…?"

"Yeah. Some workout won't hurt you," replied Hinata, standing with her back to the girl. She slowly raised her hands, beginning to form seals in front of her while Miso was busy drinking water from her flask.

Tatsu… Mi… Ushi...

"So what's our next destination then?" mumbled the girl, lowering the flask and curiously looking at Hinata who then glanced at her again, narrowing her white eyes.

"There is something I need you to do…," said the Hyūga slowly, making the girl blink in surprise.

"Oh? What is it? Do some push-ups now? As if I'm not tired yet!"

"Almost," Hinata turned to her, releasing the jutsu on the princess — her eyes instantly became completely empty, and her expression was now perfectly blank. "I want you to synchronize with me exactly as we did before… And then let me see everything you'll be able to see in the mind of the person I'll aim your jutsu at."

"As you wish," came the emotionless answer as the girl got up, coming closer to Hinata and weaving her own seals in preparation of the Yamanaka jutsu. "Whenever you're ready," she added, looking at the Hyūga impassively.

It's all or nothing now… Hinata activated her Byakugan and locked her hands with Miso's. Here I go, Sasuke…

-~X~-

A swirl of various pictures, images and fragments of foreign memories surrounded her, but Hinata was prepared for that — Sasuke was asleep after all, so the girl realized that she would see something similar to what she had seen the previous night in her own dream…

This vision, however, was a lot more fractured, so it wasn't easy for the girl to find a way to something distinct. Because she lacked the feeling of time in this bizarre chaotic mindscape of his, the Hyūga couldn't say for sure how much time had it taken for her to finally step through the already familiar white mist…

Only to see the most unexpected thing possible.

He was standing on top of a high pillar as he took his hood off and looked around the village impassively. The shinobi appeared to be around eighteen years old, and his outfit was different from what Konoha's ninjas typically wore despite his clan's crest being present on his shirt's back.

And the village itself, it was… different from its glorious past: not only was it now located in a huge and rather deep crater, but also every single building was newly built… Most of them were even still under construction, and the streets… The net of streets and lanes was now nothing like what Sasuke could remember.

"This place…," he uttered, looking at the Hokage monument and stopping at Tsunade's face, "Has changed a lot."

Apparently Miso's jutsu wasn't very stable — the mist covered everything around them again in a matter of seconds, but it was enough for Hinata to feel absolutely and completely dumbfounded by what she had just seen. It was Sasuke's memory, without a doubt… But the village - Konoha, it was… in ruins! And yet, the boy was clearly older than he was nowadays… And the monument… Tsunade as the Fifth Hokage…? But, everyone believed that Obito was about to become the Fourth's successor…! Then how on earth…?

The white mist then suddenly got a bit more thin again, allowing the girl to see the next fragment of his memory…

They were standing in some dark grim cave, and Sasuke was staring at the familiar figure dressed in dark brown robe, looking completely hypnotized as it was slowly approaching him, beginning to shine with creepy white light that was breaking through its shattering skin that actually looked more like parchment…

"There is nothing more to say," uttered Itachi, or rather some undead thing said in his voice, approaching Sasuke in very slow, heavy steps. "I have told you the whole truth, I won't have to ever again…"

She could see nothing but shock in Sasuke's eyes as Itachi kept coming closer.

"I always lied to you and asked you to believe me… Deliberately keeping you at a distance by my own hand…", said hand raised up, reaching toward the younger Uchiha, "All because I didn't want you to get caught up in any of this. But now, I believe… that perhaps you could have changed father, mother, and the rest of the Uchiha. If I had been open with you from the very start and looked you straight in the eyes and told you the truth, then I wouldn't have had to stand before you as a failure, telling you all this. So this time, I want to impart this truth to you…"

The hand touched Sasuke's nape, hugging the teen softly.

"You don't ever have to forgive me… And no matter what you do from now on…," Their foreheads touched, and Sasuke's eyes widened even more as Itachi smiled at him and said, "I will always love you."

As confusing as the scene seemed to her, Hinata suddenly felt like crying, which she did as the bitter tears streamed down her cheeks. She didn't understand what was going on; she had no idea how any of it was even possible, nor how could Sasuke remember it if it clearly hadn't happened yet, but the scene itself made something deep inside her heart tremble in the distant pain she couldn't remember herself, but it was there nonetheless…

The image changed again, allowing her to see a few small fragments at once.

Sasuke sliced a weird white creature through its abdomen with the very sword he had received in their last mission before the dark, cold purple chakra surrounded his body, shaping into a giant humanoid ghostly creature.

She then saw his eyes — it didn't take her longer than a second to figure out that it was his Mangekyō Sharingan since the pattern now resembled a hexahedral kaleidoscope with a black three-pointed star in the middle of it…

Then there was an image of him standing on the head of a giant snake, the chakra construct around his body now looking even more grand and covered with heavy armor, its burning yellow eyes staring into the distance…

Another image — Sasuke was trying to hit a half-naked man with waist-long wild black hair with his sword, but his enemy — whoever it was — managed to dodge every single swipe of the weapon before the image changed again, allowing Hinata to see Sasuke lying on the ground with a bleeding hole in his chest right above his heart — the ninja was dying…! He shouted something at the long haired man, but he only thrust Sasuke's blade into the ground and turned around, walking away from them…

One more fragment, and this time Sasuke was charging at Ay, the current Raikage, with his hand covered with lightning nature chakra, and his eyes — a slightly different pattern this time, but still looking similar to what she had just seen — were completely mad and furious…!

The mist surrounded her again, throwing the girl roughly into some unfamiliar forest. She could see half-naked Sasuke facing Deidara, the man who had almost killed the two of them a couple weeks ago. He now looked like he was about to die… And this time Sasuke looked almost identical to his current self unlike in the previous images where he was notably older...! Did it mean that Sasuke was eventually going to have revenge on him—!

Yet another image, and now the Uchiha was standing on the beach of a sea, wearing the already familiar gray shirt and sobbing, listening to something a masked figure dressed in the long black coat with red cloud pattern on it was telling him… Why was he talking to a member of that mysterious organization the highest echelons of Konoha and her clan referred to as Akatsuki…?

Hinata could feel that her head was beginning to hurt, and she also felt the blood beginning to flow out of her nose and ears back in the real world, but she knew she had to keep watching. It was her only chance! She needed as much information as possible, because the only explanation she could come up with for what she had just seen was simply way too impossible to be true…!

One more fragment, and now Sasuke was standing next to Naruto who was in his Kyūbi Chakra mode, except this chakra was a lot stronger than what Hinata had ever seen before. Next moment, it began to stream out of his body in every direction, eventually taking the shape of a giant fox; at the same time Sasuke's purple chakra began to cover the creature from its very temple, forming immense armor plates all across its body…

But, if Naruto can do this now, it means that Kushina-san—! The girl's thought got interrupted by another swirl of memories consuming her. She could see Naruto sitting on his knees as Sakura was healing him. His hair was cut rather short comparing to what it was nowadays, but otherwise he was pretty much the same.

The boy smirked as someone landed a few yards ahead of him, making every person around them gasp while the jinchūriki uttered quietly:

"You sure took your time getting here, Sasuke."

"S-Sasuke…kun?" Sakura muttered, looking at the Uchiha's back in disbelief.

He glanced at her over his shoulder and said impassively,

"Sakura, huh?"

She shook her head and yelped as her green eyes widened at him:

"Sasuke-kun, why?!"

Ino then landed next to them, running towards the raven haired ninja.

"S-Sasuke-kun—!" Whatever she was going to say got interrupted by Shikamaru and Chōji landing right in front of her, covering the girl with their backs.

"No, Ino, stop! He's an enemy!" said Shikamaru.

"Ino, you better keep your distance!" added Chōji.

Hinata just stared at their slightly older versions, completely speechless and lost. Enemy… They considered Sasuke a dangerous enemy! What could he possibly have done for this to happen…?

The Uchiha looked away and uttered after a short pause:

"You guys are still as noisy as ever."

The Hyūga almost gasped as she saw herself landing on the ground a few yards away from Sasuke. She wasn't wearing any makeup now, and her hair was a bit different, but otherwise she looked pretty much the same; she wasn't saying anything and just kept looking at the boy silently while Kiba and Shino approached him, the Inuzuka barking angrily:

"Why are you here, you bastard?"

"Indeed, why, Sasuke?" asked Sakura sadly, looking more confused rather than hostile, unlike most of the others.

The Uchiha glanced at her over his shoulder again and said casually:

"A lot of things have happened. I've decided to protect Konoha. And then, I'll… become Hokage."

The picture in front of her eyes shifted once again, and now Hinata could see a ghost of an ancient looking old man floating just above the already ground. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and a gray haired man she wasn't familiar with were standing there, surrounded by the…

Tailed Beasts…?! Yes, it was without a doubt all the nine of these legendary creatures...! Just what was going on…?

"...What about you?" Asked the ghost in a creaky deep voice that seemed to be full of untold wisdom, looking at Sasuke's back. "The answer you gave me back then…"

"I don't mind if you free them," replied the Uchiha casually, yet at the same time his tone was somehow on the brink of being rude.

Hinata found it especially weird considering that Sasuke had always been such a silver-tongue…

"But first… I will put the Gokage out of their misery."

"Huh?! What are you saying, Sasuke?" The gray haired man in Konoha's standard uniform gasped, appearing to be stunned by the boy's statement. "Are you still planning on revenge?!"

"It is true that until now destruction and revenge have been my only goals. However, it's different now. I will destroy… And then rebuild. I'm going to create a world… A village without darkness. In other words, what I wish for is… A revolution!" Sasuke clasped his hands and shouted out,

"Chibaku Tensei!"

The earth under their feet began to shake, and the image shattered again. Hinata felt the increasing pain piercing through her skull, but she just couldn't stop watching… She needed to see more… Just one more thing…!

And so she did. She could see Sasuke and Naruto, each lacking one hand, lying on the fractured stone in the middle of nowhere. Sasuke was staring blankly at the night sky, and the blond boy…

He was... dead!

With a flash of horrible pain she could barely withstand, Hinata screamed and opened her eyes, instantly falling on the floor of the tower and panting heavily.

She didn't know what to think, to do, or to say. What she had just seen… There was only one explanation that would make at least some sense to her in spite of sounding absolutely crazy.

The reason why Sasuke had changed so much… it could only be because he had somehow acquired memories about the future! Or...

We've already been through this…, she remembered him blurting out back at Obito's place.

Perhaps… He could even be a time traveler himself! But, if this was the case, then…

Hinata coughed, slowly getting up on her shaking legs and wiping blood off her face and neck.

Now she had to finish her mission with escorting Miso as soon as possible. She needed to confront Sasuke directly and ask him about everything herself.

The play time was over.

-~X~-

Sasuke woke up only the next evening, still feeling quite nasty after the last mission and especially remembering the conversation with Obito, Rin and Hinata where he had totally lost his cool. But, now he was at least able to think straight which was already relieving. The boy knew that had a lot of delicate work to do soon, and he couldn't postpone it anymore… There was still a briefing with the Hokage at hand, and then he would have to approach Obito and his family once again in order to somehow excuse his previous behavior for real this time.

The boy winced, rubbing his face tiredly. He still felt rather nasty, as if he hadn't slept at all. Sasuke secretly wished he could handle all those things the old way, by simply assassinating someone, or by running away from his problems… It was quite unfortunate that he couldn't do it anymore. Not that he really regretted it, but at the moments like this, when he felt so moody, the idea was just too tempting…

He flinched at the sudden knock on his window, snapping his head to look at the possible source of the sound. There was a small bird sitting on the windowsill, and the Uchiha instantly noticed a tiny scroll wrapped around its leg.

The ninja frowned, jumping off the bed and coming close to the window to retrieve the message. It was probably an order from the Hokage — naturally the man would want to summon him as soon as possible, considering all the circumstances…

As he was unwrapping the paper, he couldn't help but feel a bit irritated as he noticed the heavy clouds gathering up in the sky above Konohagakure, indicating the incoming thunderstorm. As if he hadn't suffered enough of bad weather of late...

He then lowered his eyes to the note the bird had brought and hemmed. To his surprise, there were only a few lines written in a calligraphic handwriting:

Sasuke, we need to talk as soon as possible, it's a matter of utmost importance. 
Please come to the abandoned training ground #7, I'll be waiting for you. 
As a proof that it's not a trap — I took your advice regarding being myself very seriously, if you know what I mean.

Hinata, huh…? But, what could she possibly want from him all of sudden?

"Well then, time to go, I guess," he muttered to himself, putting on his shirt and grabbing his sword a moment later before heading out of the room.

He could only wish that it was something really important; otherwise the girl totally wouldn't like his reaction…

A/N:

Tatsu — a hand seal in ninja arts, also known as 'dragon';

Mi — a hand seal in ninja arts, also known as 'snake';

Ushi — hand seal in ninja arts, also known as 'ox'.

See you guys in Chapter 14: A Girlfriend!

Don't forget about the F.A.Q. ;)

Chapter Text

Chapter 14. A Girlfriend

As the distant roar of thunder reached his ears, Sasuke looked up at the inky evening sky and wiped a lonely drop of rain off his forehead and scowled. The boy was walking unhurriedly through the streets of Konoha towards the old training grounds, slightly baffled by how poor was the amount of people he could see everywhere around. Naturally, the curfew was not something new to him. It had happened a few times in the other world back when he was a child, and yet it was still somewhat uncomfortable to see that only ninjas were to be seen around at this time of the day. By that moment, the deceiving illusion of utopianism he had initially taken for the entity of this new world had already completely vanished, and now the Uchiha realized it to the full extent that this reality was not much different than the other one. Sure, this world didn't seem to be about to get destroyed by a madman and his lapdog, both of which had eventually turned out to be puppets of an ancient goddess, and yet…

He still couldn't help the disturbing feeling in the back of his mind, constantly whispering to him that this world was also corrupted down to its very core. Except here Sasuke was but a small and almost completely irrelevant cog in this monumental clockwork he had yet to study thoroughly. And right now there was nothing he could do; the boy was pretty much powerless for what he needed to do, and he knew it for sure. On top of that, he was virtually caged by his fake persona and the necessity of maintaining the perfect image all the time…

As shocking as it was, for the first time in this world did the shinobi feel the immense, almost burning desire to leave this place. To find a way to go back home, to his version of the world no matter how flawed and damaged it was. To go back in time and do something to prevent it from dying, to prevent Naruto from dying. To make everything right there instead of trying to fix it here where everything was so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time…

Did he really belong in here? Could he even fit into this reality in which he still felt so... misplaced…?

The Uchiha was becoming more and more sullen at these bleak thoughts that were slowly, almost reluctantly, revolving inside his head as he crossed the bridge that led towards the Forest of Death. Now that he thought about it, the boy wasn't so sure about his own feelings on the matter. Yes, he did realize that there was absolutely no way back for him; he knew that it was both his gift and his curse, this second chance Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo had given him. And yet… Sometimes when he bothered to reflect on it, Sasuke also realized — with great annoyance — that this whole new life was very taxing. He was forced to be constantly on guard; he couldn't afford relaxing even for a split second, not even when he was alone, and sadly it wasn't about fighting at all. Instead of overcoming his obstacles in the manner he was used to, by confronting anything that threatening him in a battle. Now he had to watch his tongue, his demeanor, and he also had to keep so many different things in mind simultaneously... And even so, he was also risking getting discovered every day. Every second…

Was this dubious semblance of peace really worth such torture…?

He didn't want to think about it any further. Yet still the boy simply couldn't help feeling nasty about it all. He tried to convince himself that it was just the depressive state of the village as well as the curst weather that was making him feel so weak and lost this evening — anything but not admitting the truth, not even silently, not even just to himself.

And this secret truth was that he actually felt terribly lonely.

It had never occurred to him until now that despite all the pain and loss he had suffered in his previous life, there had always been someone around who could at least try to understand him. Someone who wanted to relate with him. Someone he could be honest with. Cruel and ungrateful as well, yes, but at least sincerely so. It was true that Sasuke had never asked them to be there; he had never wanted anybody to share his pain, nor to comfort him in any way, but the people had been there nonetheless, and this subconscious realization was something he was, surprisingly, horribly lacking right now.

Naruto. Kakashi. Sakura. Suigetsu, Karin, Jugo… Even Orochimaru. And there could have been more… and so many more! Had he only been more open and less stubborn to admit his needs...! Back when all those people were still there for him, he didn't appreciate them, and apparently, this strangling feeling right now was his reckoning. Yes, he knew it and accepted it without complaining. But, that's not really the point. The problem he now saw there was so simple, yet so... lethal, as shameful and embarrassing as it was for him to admit it.

The biggest problem was the absolute solitude. He was completely and utterly alone in this new world that — until now — had been nothing but hostile to him. And despite the onyx-eyed ninja technically knowing so many people here, the world itself still felt so... empty. And because of that, much to his deep frustration and uprising anger, Sasuke was beginning to feel like he might not make it through this trial. Make no mistake, he wasn't going to ever give up; he had always believed himself to be better than that, and he still did. Besides, the Uchiha also realized that this world's fate was in his hands, and he simply couldn't afford to doom another one.

Nevertheless… this intoxicating feeling was there anyway, somewhere very deep down in his soul, and it was slowly making his resolve decay from the inside.

A lightning flashed high in the sky, making the ninja raise his head to appreciate the grand sight as he entered the forest. Sasuke suddenly felt absolutely disgusted by himself for this moment of weakness. Shaking his head and gritting his teeth in irritation, he narrowed his eyes at the space in front of him, trying to focus as he kept walking among countless ancient trees. It was already pretty dark, and the intensifying rain wasn't making his vision any better. Still, he didn't bother activating Sharingan just for the sake of navigation — his chakra reserves weren't huge enough for him to afford it yet.

And it was another sign of his weakness. Truly, all of it was making him sick…

Sasuke almost growled then, clenching his fists. What exactly was he thinking now? After all, he had craved to be left alone, didn't he? Back when the plan of revolution had first formed in his head, this very state was his most desired thing! To have nobody who could relate with him, just like it was right now. Yes, he wasn't powerful enough to be comfortable with it just yet. But, that was merely a matter of time given that he could easily acquire the information concerning locations of all the tailed beasts, if that would even be necessary once he would awaken Rinnegan again. Everything had been going pretty much perfectly so far… Hadn't it? Besides, this time said revolution wasn't even necessary, for he could simply become the legitimate ruler of Land of Fire, and hence the entire ninja world, because there would be nobody to question his power in this reality… With all the knowledge he possessed, they all would have no choice but to become his allies. Of course, Sasuke had learned the lessons from his past mistakes; he knew that Uzumaki Naruto was right about a lot of things he had previously always overlooked; but, the Uchiha also realized that he still needed power to prove himself to everyone in this world. Especially considering that as of now, they all treated him like some silly clown and would never take him seriously at this rate. Once that would be settled, however, the rest was but a matter of making everyone cooperate the way his deceased friend had done during the Fourth Great Ninja War. Just like him, Sasuke intended to become their symbol of hope, not of hatred like he had once planned. Yes… He would be their hero. Their saviour. And although he wasn't very fond the idea of becoming something like that, he knew that it was necessary no matter how to look at it. Because he could already see that Namikaze Naruto could never play this role. He was just too... different.

But, then... why the hell did he feel so uncomfortable about everything now…?

Sasuke just couldn't understand himself at the moment, so he did the very thing he was a master of — the boy simply tossed these bothersome thoughts aside and focused on the task he was having at hand. Trying to spot his female teammate among the overgrown bushes that were covering the abandoned, barely lit training ground that lied ahead, he frowned a little as he noticed the girl a few moments later. She was leaning on the tall, mighty-looking ash-tree, the branches of which were more less hiding her from the rain. She was wearing a short, light biege coat above a thin black jumper, as well as tight blue jeans. Her arms were crossed under her bust and her head was lowered as if the Hyūga was very deep in thought.

"Was it really necessary to make this forsaken place the rendezvous point?" he asked instead of a greeting, coming close to her and stopping just a few yards away.

The girl didn't move, breathing slowly as he narrowed his eyes at her, studying the kunoichi's features attentively. He could see it right off the bat that something was seriously off with her, it was all in the way she was holding herself as well as her unusually dark expression; the traces of gore on her neck and clothes only confirmed his conclusion…

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked again, frowning and feeling more and more uneasy with each passing moment.

"Say, Sasuke…," finally muttered Hinata in a few seconds later, so quietly that he could barely hear her surprisingly very soft, almost lulling voice, "This revolution of yours… What exactly were you planning to do? How did you want to build a world without darkness?"

And so did his heart stop in an instant. Everything around became completely mute for Sasuke; the young shinobi couldn't even hear his own breath — if anything, he wasn't sure if he was still breathing at all as his brain was slowly comprehending what his teammate had just said.

The Uchiha didn't know how much time had passed before he found himself an inch away from Hinata, his unsheathed blade almost touching her throat as their eyes met. Remarkably, there was not a sign of fear in her white irises — only curiosity and… triumph?

"Easy, easy," she said quickly, her lips curving into a small, almost sly grin he would rather expect to see on his own face in a similar situation. "Before doing anything rash, activate your Sharingan and check the place around us very carefully."

Hesitating for a second, he still did as she told him, almost groaning the next moment, although his anger was first and foremost directed at his own recklessness and naivety, of course. He should have seen something like this coming… Yet he had definitely underestimated this girl's intelligence.

Because everything around was covered with carefully hidden explosive tags.

"Yes, I made some preparations," her self assured smile was only empowering his throbbing desire to cut her head off, but the Uchiha knew that he had no choice but to try to calm down and think — right now he was at a huge disadvantage, even though Hinata herself probably viewed this situation as a stalemate. Because unknown to her, there was absolutely no way for him to let her get out of this place in one peace; whatever she had managed to find out, it was already far too dangerous to leave her alive. "If you harm me in any way, both of us will to die, so keep that in mind no matter what you decide to do from now on. Will you answer my question now?" the girl asked almost casually, looking at her neat dark red coloured nails.

"What exactly do you know?" growled Sasuke, trying desperately to bridle his fury.

"How about one question at a time, by rotation? Answer mine first, and I'll tell you then. One condition, though — let us both be completely honest. Deal?"

You must be fucking kidding me, he thought almost idly, realizing that he really had no other choice but to accept her terms right now, and to play by the rules she was setting.

"Fine. Here is my answer: I have no idea what you're talking about. Elaborate now, and consider this my question," he said evenly, still not moving his sword away.

Hinata took a deep breath, frowning a tad and pursing her lips as she was studying his face with a calculating expression.

"Fair enough. I saw it when I probed your mind while you were asleep. My turn. Why do you remember things that never happened?"

He remained silent for a while, rapidly analyzing the situation and trying to come up with a solution. Could she possibly be bluffing right now? As far as he was aware, the Hyūga clan wasn't known for being able to do things like telepathy. Then again, it would be way too arrogant to believe that Byakugan couldn't have its own secrets the same way Sharingan did…

"You are wrong, remembering things that never happened is impossible," he finally replied, choosing words very cautiously. "Why did you decide to intrude my mind?" the boy asked just to be sure, because he already could pretty much imagine her response.

"Because you've been acting weird since the day you came back from the dead. It's like you're a… slightly different person. I… don't know how to explain it just yet," she said, sounding very honest this time. He could see that she was indeed very confused, but even more so excited. "Now, do you remember the first time we kissed? Back in Sunagakure, two years ago."

He blinked at the change of topic that came out of the blue, slightly taken aback by the randomness of the question.

"Yeah, of course I do. How exactly did you—" He stopped, noticing that her face instantly paled and the white eyes widened at him. If the girl had seemed nervous and baffled until this moment, now she was absolutely flurried, and even a bit scared. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally whispered,

"You… you don't remember anything…!" She gasped, looking at him as though the boy was an alien.

And then he realized that she had just gotten him. The last question of hers wasn't random at all; it was actually a test… She wanted to see if he possessed the memories of this world's Sasuke, and he had gladly jumped into this primitive verbal trap…!

"How—how is this possible...?" Her voice was cracking, and he could see that her body was beginning to shiver. "Sasuke… What on earth happened to you?" whispered the girl. Surprisingly, Hinata didn't seem to be afraid of him per say; rather, she appeared to be scared because of him. Because she thought that something was very wrong with the person that was supposed to be her old teammate...

All of sudden, it made the Uchiha feel embarrassed, because he couldn't help but sense something warm and pleasant growing deep inside of him when he realized that somebody cared about him so much.

No, not about me. About the other me, he corrected himself a bit angrily in his mind, gripping the sword's hilt tighter and frowning.

"It was my turn to ask a question," he replied calmly, trying to keep his raging emotions at bay. "What exactly did you see?"

She gulped. It was clear that the Hyūga was hesitating quite a lot, but still after a small pause, she decided to open her mouth and, stuttering a little from time to time, she told him everything she could remember seeing in his dream.

After a couple minutes of the slightly inconsistent narration Hinata finally stopped talking, but Sasuke already wasn't listening to her by that moment. The boy was staring blankly at the dirty grass under their feet, desperately trying to figure out a way to talk himself out of this fishy situation, though already realizing that it would most likely be impossible. Killing Hinata was also not really an option — aside from the fact that he was unlikely to survive an attempt to get rid of the girl, her death would definitely be investigated on the highest levels, and it would be only a matter of time for him to get caught. He could run away, but becoming a nukenin here would ruin all his plans...

Not to mention that deep inside he didn't really want her to die. It was also new to him, but the idea of hurting the Hyūga was making him feel bad for some reason. Perhaps, it was because he couldn't sense any hostile intent towards him in her; in fact, it was quite the opposite. And he was long done hurting people who cared for him...

"Please, say something," she finally whispered, making him slowly raise his head and look into her deeply concerned eyes.

"Something," he sighed, lowering his sword and sitting down to the ground in the lotus pose right in front of her. "You have put both of us in a very difficult situation, Hyūga."

"Oh, unnecessary curiosity will do that," she squeezed out an insecure smile, lowering on her knees to face him. "But, what's done is done. Say… You are not a time traveler, are you?"

He almost coughed, meeting her eyes again, dumbfounded by her assumption.

"What…?"

"Well, you were older in the memories I saw, I can tell for sure. At the same time, though, you don't seem to remember many things that happened to you prior to the day you miraculously revived. At first I thought it would be logical to assume that you, by some miracle, came back from the future for whatever reason, but… In this case you would have remembered everything. And this is the most confusing part that breaks the whole theory completely," she bit her lip, studying his face as though this was the first time she was ever seeing him. "You—you are Uchiha Sasuke, is that correct?"

"Yeah," he replied tiredly, looking away.

"B-But… You truly don't remember anything that happened to you prior to that day, do you?"

"Yeah," he repeated quietly.

"Then… What do you remember? I—I saw you killing Deidara in your memories… You really did that?"

"Yeah."

"Then... When did you lose your memories? Can you tell?"

"I did not."

"Huh…?" She blinked in confusion. The boy then met her eyes again, repeating more firmly,

"I haven't lost any memories. I've never had them in the first place."

The girl frowned, leaning backwards and not moving her eyes off his face.

"Would you care to explain what the hell is this supposed to mean?"

Sasuke eyed her up and down before closing his eyelids and taking a deep breath. It seemed that there was no other way but to tell her the entire truth after all…

"I am not the person you used to know. I never was the sloppy weak fool all of you see in me now."

Hinata's expression was becoming more and more frightened as she muttered,

"T-Then… what exactly are you? Are you… insane? Have you gone bananas after all? B-But, I thought Tsunade-sama had examined you, and she said you were fine, and also—"

He gave her a deadpan glare which made the kunoichi close her mouth as he said,

"I am Uchiha Sasuke. However, I grew up in another world. A similar one, but… Some things here, they are not the same. In my reality, the Fourth Hokage died shortly after the day I was born. My entire clan was wiped out when I was seven, and I—I grew up under completely different circumstances than the Sasuke you know."

And so he began telling her the story of his world from scratch, starting with the day Uchiha Madara had left the Konoha. It took him about an hour to explain everything up to the day Minato died, and the girl kept listening to him, silently for the most part, asking rare questions just to clarify a few moments here and there, attempting analyze and narrow the differences in various chains of events, yet all in all she was, of course, absolutely astonished by his tale. At some point the rain intensified, but neither of them really cared about it right now. Hinata was too captivated by the perfectly logical story some part of her refused to believe, yet she could not find a single reason not to; at the same time Sasuke, despite not fully realizing it yet, was secretly happy to finally have someone to share at least a part of his burden with.

"So," Hinata sighed then, shaking her head and ignoring the unruly wet hair that by this moment had become a complete mess. "It would seem that the moment where your world — and this one — basically, where history here, or there, went a different way, was the day when Uchiha Obito, manipulated by Madara, attacked Konoha in your timeline."

"Timeline…?" His eyebrow arched a bit. He found it a little intriguing how Hinata approached the subject that was supposed to completely blow her mind in calm, almost scientific way. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Obviously, I am right. The question is, why exactly did this particular event not happen here? This is what we need to figure out first of all," she stated, putting her palms on the grass and leaning towards him, looking into his eyes vigorously as her irises were shining pertly as the moon's light that reflected in them.

"We?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed at her as he peered at her critically with a note of haughtiness. "I don't recall inviting you to become my ally in this."

"And it would be very stupid of you not to do that as soon as possible," Hinata instantly parried, making him clench his jaw and scowl as she continued, "Clearly, you have only told me a very small part of what you know all in all, but you did it nonetheless. If all of it is real and not some drivel crafted by your damaged brain, right now I'm the sole person in this world who can do something to assist you. Provided that you can prove your story to be true, of course," mused the kunoichi, not moving her curious eyes off him.

"Prove it?" He almost chuckled. This girl sure had the nerve to make demands now, having seen what she had seen... "How exactly am I supposed to prove it even if I wanted to?"

"Oh, that's easy. Just do something Sasuke from our world never be able to do. A jutsu he couldn't know. I've seen a glimpse of your power back in Land of Iron, but I want — I need to be sure. Because…," she bit her lip again and looked away, for the first time throughout their conversation looking slightly embarrassed, "Let us just say that the other you was known for his skills of deception and lying to people for stupid reasons."

"Yeah, I've already figured that he was quite a moron," replied the ninja casually, standing up and looking at the sky, squinting as another lightning pierced the heavy clouds. "Fine, I will show you a proof. However, I want something in return." Sasuke glanced at the girl who simply kept gazing at him, waiting for the shinobi to continue. "When I have convinced you, you will stop questioning me about my previous life. Although you might have a different opinion, whatever happened to me before is none of your concern. If I ever feel like you need to know something, I will tell you myself."

"Agreed," she instantly replied, now staring at him with uncovered eagerness. "So… what is it going to be? If you even can do it, of course," she added teasingly, though it was clear that she already almost believed him and just wanted to take some precautions just in case.

The Uchiha raised his head up to the sky again, suppressing a smug grin. It had been a while since the last time he used this particular jutsu…

"The other me… He never used Raiton based techniques, did he?"

"Eh…," she put her pointer to her lips, "Not really, but if you're planning to impress me with that chirping jutsu I've seen before—"

"Stay quiet then," he raised his hand, channeling his chakra into his palm and forming Chidori.

Hinata's eyebrow raised skeptically as she crossed her hands on her chest.

"Yep, that's just what I was—"

"Shut up and listen. Normally, this jutsu would require me heating up the sky with Katon based techniques in order to create a cyclone to be able to use it, because it works through utilizing the energy of nature itself," he explained, interrupting her, "Fortunately, the weather tonight spares me of that part. Now, activate your Byakugan and take a careful look at the mountain that is located three miles away, nine o'clock."

"Eh… Fine," she nodded, still looking a bit skeptical but curious as the veins around her eyes thickened.

Without any warning, he lowered his hand. The Hyūga gasped then, looking both startled and energized as she witnessed the mountain's top cracking and collapsing when the huge dragon formed out of multiple lightnings and lowered onto the rock, vaporizing a huge part of it in an instant.

"This brings back memories," he smirked before returning his gaze to the dark blue haired girl. "I invented this technique a couple years ago. The name is Kirin," he said a few seconds later, making the girl snap out of her awed state and look at him perplexedly again. "Its main advantage, aside from its great destructive capabilities, is that it can be used even when I'm almost out of chakra. The power of the blast roughly equals an average Tailed Beast Bomb. Its negative side, though, is that it usually takes a lot of time for preparation and can only be used once in a while, which is why I seldom use it in combat. As a matter of fact, I've only used it twice so far in a real battle."

They kept gazing at each other for a few seconds before Hinata finally opened her mouth and uttered quietly,

"Yes… The other you could never have invented something as powerful. You—you may consider me convinced."

"Good, I guess," he shrugged indifferently before putting the sword behind his back, wiping small pieces of wet soil off his pants and adding, "What next?"

"N-Next…?" she stuttered, still amazed by the show the boy had just performed for her. "Um… Well, you still haven't answered my very first question. Do it, and I'll share something interesting with you also."

"The question… which is…?" He now was a little tensed, unsure what exactly was she talking about.

"The revolution. A world without darkness. How did you plan to achieve it?" asked Hinata, sounding very serious this time.

His face darkened a tad as he turned around and started walking away.

"This is none of your concern."

"Wait…! Sasuke, please," she cried, and he stopped, glancing over his shoulder at the girl who was still sitting on the ground. He was quite surprised by the sudden change in her tone which was now almost pleading, "This is very important to me... Please, tell me about it!"

The ninja kept eyeing Hinata for a while, unsure what was safe to tell her on this matter and what not. He had already revealed more than enough to endanger his very existence… Would telling her about the darkest aspect of his past make the situation any worse? Hardly, of course. And yet he so didn't want to… maybe he was simply ashamed to tell anybody about the flawed plan he had already thrown to the trashcan…?

"I wanted to become a symbol of hatred for everyone in that world. I would rule all the countries single-handedly through tyranny and fear, and my dictatorship was supposed to unite them all against me," he uttered at last.

She then lowered her eyes, thinking over what he had said. All of sudden Sasuke felt the tiniest bit of curiousity as he was studying her expression. He didn't really know why — perhaps it was just him willing for someone to confirm his earlier plan being a big and horrible mistake, but regardless of the reason behind this wish, he definitely wanted to see her reaction now, to know her opinion about it. That's why he didn't move, giving Hinata some time to weight it out before replying.

"Have you changed your mind?" she asked after some time, looking at him blankly — or so it seemed to him, because the Uchiha absolutely couldn't tell what was she thinking right now by just looking at her.

"Yes and no." He sighed, fully turning around face her this time. "I have already seen one world dying in front of my eyes, and it was partly because of my stubborness as well as far too extreme views. I won't let that happen here no matter what. However, instead of uniting people through fear, this time I'm planning to go by a different route. I will become Hokage… And thus I will obtain enough power and influence to be able to control every other Kage's decisions. I will make people view me as a symbol of hope, not hatred. This is my mission here, and I will have accomplished it no matter what."

"I see," said Hinata, licking her lips nervously and then suddenly smiling at him, and he had never seen her smile this way before. Her expression wasn't any venomous, sarcastic or arrogant; it was actually almost cheerful and happy, and so was her voice as she added, "I want to become your ally in this."

"What?" He blinked at the totally unexpected suggestion, frowning the next moment. "I don't recall saying that I needed allies"

"It is true that you didn't. But, I want to become one nonetheless. I have my own reasons... Maybe I will tell you one day. But, think about it, Sasuke," she got up, coming closer to him, "I am the only person in this whole damned world who knows your secret. And you may rest assured that I would rather die than give it away, I'm ready to give a vow. And you clearly cannot keep going just by yourself; if I managed to figure this out so fast, it is only a matter of time before someone else would do the same. You are very lucky that Naruto-kun and Itachi-sensei haven't done that yet; if I don't help you maintaining your image, you are doomed to fail. As your… yes, your teammate, I know enough about the life you don't remember to come up with the way you should behave in order to decrease any possible suspicions, or to even negate them completely if we are lucky. I could tell you things you are supposed to know about yourself, and also teach you how to behave as well as help you out whenever you don't even realize that something is going wrong."

"Oh? And to what do I owe such generousity?" he asked sarcastically, though realizing that the girl definitely had a point. Now that he thought about it, he had to reluctantly admit that having her by his side would certainly make his life a lot easier… And it wasn't like she could make the situation any worse than it already was now that there was somebody who knew the truth about him. Hinata was right; if she had managed to figure it out, at this rate others would do as well.

And it would destroy everything he was fighting for.

"It is…," she bit her lip, smiling at him a bit slyly, "Personal. Which means that it's none of your concern. Like I said, I have my reasons, and you don't need to know them." She smirked, clearly enjoying this little opportunity to mock him by mirroring his own previous condition.

"Fine, fine," he grunted, turning away and striding away from the training ground, "Not like I care anyway."

"You know, Sasuke…," she quickly followed the boy, catching up with him in no time so that they were walking side by side, "You sure have changed, but not as much as you probably think."

"Insulting me already? Quite some ally you are," he snorted.

Hinata chuckled at his reaction, covering her lips with her palm.

"No, it's not that… What I mean is, I can still see that it's you. Just… a little different you. It's like… You are the same person, but having grown to be strong enough to walk your own way."

"You're not making any sense," he muttered, once again exasperated by her jabbering. Right now he needed a plan, not another portion of pointless reflecting...

"What I'm trying to say is that I can imagine him becoming you, having gone through everything you've been through. I—I saw some things…," she mumbled, glancing at the Uchiha cautiously, unsure on how he would react to her words. "From your past, that is. I'm not going to ask you any questions on this matter, for that was your condition, I remember and respect that. But, I saw what I saw, and I can only guess how it all had affected you. Still," she smiled, looking at the road ahead, "Your story made me realize some things about you… Or rather about the way you had been before. And in the end… Although you probably feel like a different person, you are still Uchiha Sasuke. Not his twin, nor a clone. You are still him, just lacking some memories and having some experiences he lacked. And, most importantly…," she paused, suddenly blushing a little and lowering her eyes timidly.

"What?" he asked in a few seconds, glancing at her.

"You don't lack purpose anymore. Now you have a goal, one I can only admire. The person you used to be hadn't anything of the sort, and that was what was always preventing him from becoming you, I believe. You… or rather, him… The person we knew as Uchiha Sasuke, despite having great potential everyone apparently failed to see in him, only wasted his life on meaningless things like stupid girls, endless parties and abusing people's trust — that's what you — what he called mere innocent pranks."

"Yeah. He also had a clan, a family, and a bunch of friends he could waste his time with," he mused contemptuously, though realizing that Hinata, once again, was right. Evidently, she knew the other him pretty well… as well as had already studied the actual him good enough to make correct conclusions. He could definitely use this in the future... "I had none of it. Now, you wanted to reveal something important. What was it?" he decided to change topic, not looking at her.

"O-Oh! I've almost forgotten!" The girl slapped her forehead, groaning. "It's about the Uchiha clan. Uchiha Obito in particular!"

"What?" Sasuke stopped, gripping her sleeve and thus making her stop as well as she almost slipped on the wet ground and yelped. "What of him?" demanded the Uchiha.

"He—well, when you left his house, he asked me to stay for a while, and, uh…," Hinata pursed her lips, frowning as she tried to remember every single detail of that conversation. "He told me that there are rumors on a future notice and they believe them to be true… That there is some sort of a cult within the Uchiha clan. They reckon that there are members of your clan who follow Madara's ideals… And now that I think about it... Could it be that your story — about Obito being Madara's subordinate — that it has something to do with that? I mean, if Madara was still alive fifteen years ago in your world—"

"It means the he probably was alive at that time here as well," Sasuke nodded, feeling his heartbeat increasing at the sudden adrenaline rush. "And if this was the case…" He paused, quickly analyzing the possible options. It seemed like either Madara had chosen another successor instead of Obito… Or that Obito himself had gone for a different, probably more complex plan in order to initiate the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

"You're still suspecting him, aren't you?" asked Hinata then, looking quite anxious now.

And that was a very good question. So far he had absolutely no evidence to say so aside from the memories from another life. However, it seemed that Obito himself was the very key to this world's history going a different way where he seemingly was on Konoha's side…

"It's not impossible that all of it is a part of his plan. In my past, he had already manipulated other people to take control over me. He could be trying to use you to get closer to me here now, but…," he winced, looking away and resuming to walking, "Back then I was the last Uchiha in the world aside from him and my brother, and I was known as a powerful ninja even when I was still a kid. Here, though… There is no reason for him to be interested in me."

"True," she agreed, striding right next to the boy. "You should also keep in mind that he's Hokage's right hand, and Minato-sama is by no means a fool. I doubt that Obito is smart and talented enough to pull something as huge as a net of lies of such grand scale."

"You have a point," he admitted, unsure how to react to the fact that the Hyūga was actually turning to be a lot more useful and smart than he had initially thought she would. "These cultists, whatever they are, though… There is a strong possibility that Madara is indeed behind them. If we assume that he failed to get Obito under his control, he would definitely find other ways to set his plans in motion. We must find out who is being manipulated by him this time, and get rid of them for good."

"We?" She grinned. "I thought you didn't want us to be allies, Sa-su-ke." The kunoichi smirked teasingly, which made him throw her a scathing glance.

"Don't push it. I hate girls who talk too much."

"And I hate jerks who think very highly of themselves for no reason."

"You better don't make me show you what reasons I have."

"Ow-w, how scary! You may have been almighty in your world, but here I would easily wipe the floor with your cute face, boy."

"Gosh, just shut the fuck up…"

Keeping up this fervent, yet at the same time somehow almost friendly verbal duel, they eventually left the forest, coming back to the now completely empty streets of Konoha.

"Look, Sasuke… There is one more thing we need to settle," muttered Hinata, suddenly sounding unusually sheepish.

"What is it?" he replied tiredly without looking at her as they were walking towards the Hyūga clan's territory.

"You see, me and you… We hadn't been exactly on friendly turns before you — before Deidara almost killed you. As a matter of fact, we were quite hostile towards each other."

"Yeah, I can see why is that," he mused, but the kunoichi ignored this line, continuing stoically,

"The thing is that people, especially our friends and teammates, will find it extremely suspicious if we get closer all of sudden, which is kind of necessary considering that we're accomplices now. That's why I have a suggestion."

"Go on," he replied patiently, realizing it with great sadness that she, once again, was right.

"Let us start dating." He almost choked, looking at Hinata as though she had just suddenly turned into a demon.

"Come again...?"

"I'll become your girlfriend, you'll become my boyfriend. It's easy, really. Haven't you dated anyone before?" she asked, the tiniest note of interest remaining unnoticed by the shinobi.

"None of your business," he snapped, making her lips slowly curve into a lenient smile.

"Aw-w, now this is really cute! The other life has definitely made you a lot nicer."

"Shut up. How the hell would dating help us?" He almost groaned, for the first time sincerely regretting not having killed her back in the forest.

As well as not dying along with this impossible girl when he still had a chance to avoid this conversation...

"Like I said, it's easy," she shrugged, looking away. "If we begin dating, it would make perfect sense to everyone that we would start spending more time together, and it would also give us a legitimate reason to be secretive about whatever business we would share."

At first he didn't reply, weighting out all the pros and cons of her suggestion. Clearly, this idea didn't lack some logic behind it, and still something in him defied it so much… But, then again, what would he lose if he agreed…?

The Uchiha glanced at Hinata askance, eyeing the kunoichi up and down. She was definitely pleasant to look at now that he thought about it, and as hard as it was to admit, he could imagine finding her acceptable as his potential sexual partner in another life… But, I am already living another life, he corrected himself, narrowing his eyes at Hinata's face. The girl still wasn't looking at him, and the only thing that made her face give away a bit of her feelings was the tiniest mysterious smile playing on her full red lips…

He shook his head, turning away and frowning. Yes, when it came to looks, she was probably his type. Her personality, however… Frankly, he could barely stand her! She was just far too loud, annoying and cocky, as well as absolutely unnerving. He could still feel the burning desire to punch her, to strangle her, to rip her clothes off and…

The young man's cheeks reddened as he shook his head again, clenching his fists. Just what the heck am I thinking…?

"Dating it is then," he finally murmured, staring at the ground in front of him. "But, always keep in mind that it's only a cover."

"Naturally. I hope you approach this professionally as well," said the Hyūga, winking at him.

"Hey, you two!" The familiar voice that echoed across the street made them stop, raising their heads and looking towards the roof of the nearest grocery store.

"Neji!" Hinata's eyes widened as she threw a short cautious glace at Sasuke who was simply looking at her cousin with a blank expression.

"What are you doing here? And where the hell have you been? The Fourth has been waiting for you for hours! And also Hiashi-sama is looking for you, Hinata-sama!"

"W-What? But, what for?" The kunoichi paled.

"I wish I knew," the brown haired teen shrugged, jumping off the roof and coming closer to them. "Jeez, what happened to you two? Hinata-sama... is that blood?!"

"Eh, it's nothing, really," mumbled the girl, blushing and lowering her eyes shamefully. "Everything's fine, Neji, don't worry about it."

"Whatever you say," replied the boy incredulously, moving his gaze to Sasuke. "Dude, I'm glad to see you back and alive from that mission. Tell me later about how it all went, will you?"

"Yeah," said Sasuke, feeling slightly nervous all of sudden. He realized that Neji would be especially difficult to feed with their lie, but it was just as troublesome as necessary it was to convince him, of all people…

That's why the Uchiha then did something he would otherwise never have done. He wrapped his right hand around Hinata's thin waist and grinned at his friend, trying to look as confident as possible in this awkward position before saying,

"Don't tell Hiashi that you found us together. We were… a bit busy, discussing the consequences of the latest mission."

As serious as the situation was, Sasuke couldn't help but smirk inwardly at Neji's expression that was simply priceless. The teen kept staring at them for a while with his eyes open so wide that it seemed like they could just pop out any moment, and then he slowly opened his mouth, stuttering,

"Um… eh-woah… I understand," he nodded, still looking quite dumbfounded. "Sure, I won't tell him. It's—well—nice to see that you guys are not fighting anymore."

"For now anyway. Only until he does something stupid again," snapped Hinata in a very serious tone, though leaning on Sasuke comfortably which made the boy feel even more awkward before he realized that she was actually trembling a little bit, and it was probably just an attempt to use him to get warmed up since both of them were completely wet. "We should go to Hokage's office before it's too late."

"Yeah, you guys better do," nodded his friend. "He was pretty angry when I saw him an hour ago," said the older Hyūga and grinned. "Surprisingly, he was mainly asking me about Hinata-sama and barely mentioned your name, so maybe it's not as bad."

"Yeah. Let us not waste any more time. Later, Neji," said Sasuke, receiving a court nod in return.

"Yea. Good luck, man."

They both disappeared using body flicker technique simultaneously, landing next to the entrance of the Fourth's residence just a few seconds later. Trying to collect his thoughts for the upcoming conversation with Naruto's father, Sasuke entered the office first, followed by the Hyūga who, unknown to him, was feeling very nervous, and not without a good reason.

As they walked into the room, Minato met both of them with a rather cold glare, eyeing the pair silently for a few seconds before quietly uttering,

"It is good to finally have you here. Next time, however, I would appreciate it if I don't have to wait for hours before you would bother to come when I'm summoning you."

"I deeply apologize, Hokage-sama, but, uh... We were sparring, and — I gues we got a little carried away," muttered Hinata in an unusually high voice, glancing at Sasuke whose face right now was absolutely blank as per usual whenever he was extremely collected.

"I see," said the blond man dryly, leaning on the back of his seat. "Hinata, I believe you have something to explain here."

"O-Oh…? I do?" she mumbled, afraid to look into the piercing blue eyes of the older ninja.

"Yes, you most certainly do. You were ordered to escort an important witness to a safe house. I do not recall giving you permission to use genjutsu on them. Kindly explain your actions now."

A genjutsu? Sasuke frowned, though not looking at Hinata who was now swiftly paling, too nervous to utter a word. What could she possibly use a genjutsu for? And the witness… Who are they talking about?

"It wasn't her. I used my Sharingan on the witness, Hokage-sama," he decided to interject, watching impassively as Minato's eyes widened a bit.

"You…?" Hokage hemmed, giving the boy a long, estimating look. "You weren't supposed to be there while Hinata was escorting the witness."

"Yeah, we… had a date scheduled for that time, so I went to find her and decided to make the procedure of escorting faster. Said witness was resisting and refused to go the way we suggested," he said in a perfectly neutral tone, not breaking the eye contact with his commander for a split second.

"I see…," muttered Minato, frowning at the boy and pausing for a moment. "Still, I would appreciate it if you don't do something like that again. You must realize that it is very important for us to ensure the subject's safety, and we cannot predict their reaction if we treat them disrespectfully, especially considering the background and temper."

The background…? No way… He's talking about Miso…! The Uchiha finally realized, having a hard time controlling his expression as he turned his head to look at Hinata who met his gaze with a clearly readable glimpse in her eyes. But, what was she afraid of...? He had to find out.

"Understood, Hokage-sama. It will not happen again," he looked at Minato again, bowing his head politely.

"Perfect. Now, regarding your latest mission," the blond grabbed a thin pile of papers and checked a few of them briefly, frowning before looking at the teens again. "I've already discussed it with Naruto and Itachi-kun, because I needed to deploy Naruto for another mission as soon as possible, but I guess you need to hear this as well… All in all your mission was a success. However, I would like to mention that the way you chose to execute it was very far from perfect. Both of you risked your lives on multiple occasions there, whereas it was not unavoidable. Still, in the end you have accomplished every single thing you were tasked with, so, Sasuke… You have passed your test according to our agreement," Minato gave the boy a meaningful look to which the Uchiha gave a quick nod, unsure if he was allowed to discuss the details of it in Hinata's presence. "We will discuss the rest in a few days when I have the papers ready. For now, you two are free to rest. Keep in mind, though, that we are in a state of war, and although the situation is currently under our control, something unpredictable can happen any moment now."

"Understood, Hokage-sama," they replied simultaneously before bowing to the Fourth.

"Fine. You are dismissed."

They left the office in complete silence, and none of them uttered a word until they had gone a good hundred yards away from the building. That was when Sasuke glanced at Hinata and asked,

"It was Miso he was talking about, wasn't it?"

Hinata almost flinched, giving him a short cautious glance.

"Y-Yes…"

"Why did you use genjutsu on her?" asked the boy out of pure curiousity, totally not expecting what she was about to say.

"I—I, well," the white eyed kunoichi bit her lip, looking away. "She is a Yamanaka. I controlled her… to get into your head."

He stopped, and so did she after making a couple more steps reflectively, turning around to face Sasuke and yet still unwilling to meet his furious gaze.

"You did what?" He almost gasped, unable to believe what he had just heard. "Are you out of your mind...? And you expect her to stay quiet about what you guys saw?!"

"I'm not an idiot, okay?!" blurted out Hinata, clenching her fists and looking at her teammate crossly. "I made sure to order her to wipe her memories on the matter! And don't you dare talking to me like this, Uchiha!"

He let out a small sigh of relief, closing his eyes in an attempt to calm down. This woman… He was beginning to think that she would become his doom one day.

"Fine, I admit that you are not as stupid as I thought," he deadpanned, striding down the shady night lane they were currently in.

"Yea, how freaking generous," she muttered grimly, following him a second later. "Thank you," she added a bit more quietly.

"It was not a compliment."

"I know, you dimwit! I was talking about what happened back in the Fourth's office. It was… really nice of you," she muttered under her breath, but it was loud enough for Sasuke to hear it perfectly.

"Don't mention it. I merely saved my hapless girlfriend from her punishment, not a big deal," replied the boy impassively.

"Very funny, douchebag," she groaned, but then her features softened as she stopped at the nearest crossroads. "See you tomorrow, Sasuke."

"Yeah… so long," he waved at her without stopping or looking back.

Hearing her retiring footsteps, the ninja finally relaxed a bit, breathing in the fresh night air with the amazing flavour of deliverance. Now he could finally go and train in complete silence and solitude, and there would be nobody to annoy him at least until morning.

And why had he ever thought that loneliness was a bad thing…? Ridiculous. It was just the bad weather after all... Yes, without a doubt.

-~X~-

Sitting in the huge and comfortable-looking leather chair that actually appeared like a quite expensive old throne rather than just a piece of furniture, a thin, tall and deadly pale figure was studying the encrypted message with Konoha's Root signature on it. The person was dressed in long, cozy looking white kimono that resembled a bathrobe, and the small ornamented pot with green tea on the table lit by the flames of multiple candles completed the almost perfect image of a nice homely atmosphere he was clearly enjoying quite a lot.

It took the recipient a few minutes to finish reading the accurately written symbols that could look like random pointless scribbles to anyone else, but not to him. No, to him this was more than just a message. It was the greatest opportunity he had received in years… And now he could at long last start setting one of his grand plans in motion.

"Kabuto."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama?"

The pale figure grinned devilishly, licking its thin lips with its inhumanely long tongue.

"Old man Danzō brought us some good news for once."

"Oh? Will he finally allow you to get an Uchiha?" asked the gray haired boy eagerly, agitated by the possibilities his master was presented with.

"Unfortunately, no. As we expected, the Uchiha clan is out of our reach for now. Fugaku-kun has grown to be extremely powerful and influential, not to mention that the brat Minato is his close friend. Still, we have a possibly even more interesting option." He readjusted the ring on his left little finger, looking thougtfully at the kanji "void" engraved on it.

"Which is?" Kabuto frowned. He knew that his master had been looking forward to obtaining Sharingan, and seeing him giving up on that idea was quite unexpected as well as confusing.

"Byakugan," hissed Orochimaru, rsmirking to himself and sounding more than a little amused as he put the paper back on his table. "I guess it's about time to get myself a new body too."

Chapter Text

Interlude I. From the Abyss

The impenetrable darkness that was filling every corner of the space around her was mute, cold, engrossing, and also incredibly patient. As she entered the sizeless and shapeless room, the obscure shade of a formerly unfaltering, brave kunoichi instantly felt it beginning to consume her entire being with quiet, yet almost palpable delight, much like a horrible monster would be claiming its long awaited prey. Its razor sharp invisible claws were gladly ripping her apart from the inside, but in truth, she didn't mind it at all. Moreover, she didn't even pay any attention to it.

Because on top of everything else, the darkness was generous. It gave her exactly what she wanted, let alone for such an insignificant price… Merely in exchange for her time that was at this point completely worthless anyway.

It granted her the so vital oblivion she craved with great desperation. Now that it was impossible to see or hear anything around, she was finally feeling the deathly, lifeless peace once again, completely isolated from this bleeding, wretched world she secretly didn't want to stay in. The tremendous everlasting pain she normally experienced every second while she was awake was now reluctantly retreating, allowing her to breathe freely for once. Its habitual place was now being rapidly claimed by this strange and almost unhealthy tranquility that filled her whenever she came in here. To her great relief and shame, it made her feel disconnected as the door behind her back slammed shut dumbly. Every single thing that had bothered her just a minute ago was left beyond this ambiguous and seemingly borderless reality, where nothing irrelevant existed. It seemed as though the silence place was nothing but a lullaby of her most horrible nightmares...

Ironically, it didn't scare her at all - probably because nothing really could anymore. As her eyes stopped on the barely recognizable figure at the other end of the room, the shade realized that there were only the two of them now and right now, nobody and nothing else mattered. Yes... nothing but herself and this other ghost of the age that was now forever gone. Except… this being was something even more fragile and damaged than herself. He, who was the former infamous embodiment of the burning hatred that had taken everything from her, only to have later been reduced to a dim cinder she was now having to cherish. Caring about him like a mother would for her only child...

At first - a few weeks, or were they months? - ago, when she had just returned to this settlement that had once been her home, this… This duty, for the lack of a better word... had seemed so terribly wrong that her initial desire was to just run away without ever looking back - something she would never have done under any different circumstances. Because she was supposed to feel anything by relief in his presence! How could she not hate this person that was now lying right in front of her? Just like everyone else thought she did, the shade wanted to loathe him with great passion! She was supposed to aspire to end his life, to get revenge for everything he had done…!

And yet... She failed to understand why, but she simply couldn't. It wasn't that she was incapable of such dire feelings, she realized that it wasn't the case. This idea had crossed her mind on a few occasions before. Rather, she was curious, or perhaps even obsessed with her intention of finding out the truth above anything else. Her feelings, her thoughts of him, or anyone else for that matter, as well as her emotions… None of it mattered anymore, because none of the things that had happened to them could now be erased. Vengeance wouldn't get her anywhere, she knew it. It wouldn't bring him back. Nor would it undo the deaths of others neither… And that was the main reason why she kept coming here every night, despite realizing all these things clearly. Even knowing that, had he been conscious and healthy, this person would never answer any of her questions, she no doubt about that.

Because he was a heartless monster, the very essence of everything she considered evil. But, she had nothing else left to live for anyways...

As the shade came closer, she began bracing herself so that her now oversized coat would warm up her unhealthily slender body. When was the last time I ate something? At least a bit, she thought to herself absently, before her pale fingers clenched on the red fabric of the woolen scarf that was carefully wrapped around her thin neck. She didn't realize that it was already winter out there as she had long lost the track of time. And even though she was dressed accordingly, the shade was still feeling just too cold in this room that had long turned into another dimension for her. A dimension of icy, lifeless silence... The realm of death.

Her eyes focused on the other shade's emotionless face, and she frowned. Was that how he felt too?

Another small step toward him, and another, and another… And here it is. Barely visible, as there was - naturally - not a single source of light anywhere around. Lying on the simplest old couch that had probably been crafted in the age before the previous one. The damaged, partly destroyed left side of his body was wrapped in countless bandages soaked with dried blood; his right hand was connected to the dropper that was probably the only thing that prevented him from passing away…

She slowly lowered on her knees, gently removing the bangs of the unruly raven hair off his forehead and touching his dry, pale skin that resembled her own with her fingertips, suddenly frozen by the feeling of his weak breath tickling her hand.

"Why…?" she whispered, unsure what exactly was the question referring to as there were just too many things she needed to ask him about. Leaning closer so that his face was now just a foot away from hers, she bit her dry and cracked lip as her fingers slid down to his sunken cheek. "I need to talk to you… I need you... Please..." Oh yes, indeed she did. It had truly become an obsession already; but, there was nothing that could be done about it anymore, she realized. He was the sole reason why she still existed… Why she still hadn't lost the will to keep going.

But, as expected, there was no response as always. He was barely breathing, though steadily, and there was nothing else. However, his silence didn't anger her at all. She distantly thought that it was strange… Outside of here, whenever she was away from this room, she felt and thought about so many different things concerning this mysterious and damnable person who had doomed her and everything she loved. But, whenever they were left alone like this, all of it was miraculously completely gone, forgotten and briefly forgiven... As if some bizarre mirage hypnotized her whenever she looked at his damaged frame, instantly making her calm down and just keep waiting for him to return.

Yes… the darkness was sure generous, and it was very patient. But, more importantly, it was already a big part of her. It had already inhabited her heart, carefully, methodically removing everything else that distracted her from her last remaining goal… Eventually, she thought, it will devour me… But, before that, I-!

The shade gulped, narrowing her eyes at his face. Yes! She would wait for him! She would never give up while there was still something she had to do! And once he would awaken, she would, first of all, ask him the question that had mattered to her for so long...

But, for the time being…

Her hand slid into the hidden pocket of her coat, and she took out a tiny package, carefully unwrapping the parchment with her slightly trembling fingers, revealing a small shard of an oddly looking crystal covered with countless little scratches and cracks all across its formerly smooth surface. The shade looked at it for a few seconds, frowning and pursing her lips hesitantly. Could this really work...? Yes, she had been told not to do this before she would receive the sign, and still... The temptation to try it was just too strong to resist.

That's why she channeled some of her chakra into it before placing the shard on the comatose man's forehead. The foreign symbols on the crystal's surface shined brightly with purple light, mirroring in her irises with the suddenly suitable colour. And then, although nobody could possibly see it, for just a split second, a glimpse of carefully hidden hatred and resolve flashed in her empty white eyes.

She would wait for as long as necessary... But, there was no reason not to try to speed up the process.

Chapter Text

Chapter 15. The Masked Man

The next couple of weeks passed like a single uneventful blur. Having deliberately abstracted himself completely from the outside world, Sasuke kept training within his clan's territory, not leaving it at all aside from the brief ceremony of promotion to jōnin. Which, frankly, had seemed more like a pure formality to him. Apparently, the highest echelons of the village were overly busy preparing for the upcoming war, and whatever plans Minato was having for him had to be postponed for the time being. Not that the young Uchiha minded that at all, of course. With Hinata seemingly being preoccupied with something too as she, thankfully, hadn't bothered him a single time since that night, there were no distractions anymore, so he could finally focus on his main problem, which was him being...

"Weak," murmured Sasuke to himself darkly, studying the shaky wooden dummy in front of him, not caring to lower his leg as he was estimating the results of his last blow. He then wiped a few drops of sweat off his forehead, breathing heavily as it was already pretty hot around despite early morning. Summer was nearing quickly as he noticed absently to himself, looking around and taking a deep breath.

He had been training here in this empty training ground for hours by now, trying not to think about everything that had been overwhelming his mind in the last few days. His earlier conversation with Hinata had made him realize one important thing, one he had miraculously managed to keep to himself back then despite how irritating, or rather evn humiliating it felt to him when she had said it.

As painful as it was to admit even just to himself, even though the girl was obviously only kidding after she had shown Kirin... When she said that she could wipe the floor with the current him, though... Unknown to herself, she was not very far from the truth. Because his only trump card right now was Preta Path, and he hadn't even fully mastered it yet. Therefore, because the offsprings of the Hyūga clan mostly avoided using ninjutsu, it was next to useless against an opponent like his female teammate… He was essentially powerless against those who specialized on hand-to-hand combat.

Naturally, he found this situation absolutely unacceptable. And albeit it was a fact that he'd barely had any time to train before the latest mission… Still, that was no excuse in his opinion. He was still ridiculously rusty, and it was something he needed to deal with before anything else.

And so he clenched his teeth and continued. Another blow. And another. And another…

The dummy finally cracked, and with the final swing of his leg it broke into flinders, making the Uchiha let out a sigh of relief before he turned to the trees nearby and started walking towards them in order to get himself a new target. He sure had a lot of work lying ahead…

"Hey, kid! Long time no see!" suddenly came the unfamiliar rumbling voice that sounded almost suspiciously cheerful. And the greeting was, without a doubt, addressed to him as there was nobody else around...

Sasuke stopped, slowly raising his head to face the person who was sitting on top of a huge pine, his eyes staring at him jovially as the boy frowned. That man had long, spiky silver hair, and was dressed unlike any other ninja in Konoha, wearing a bright red vest above the dark gray kimono. There was also a heavy scroll behind his back, and his forehead protector lacked the Leaf's symbol on it, with the kanji saying 'Myōbokuzan' instead of it. On top of that, he was wearing he lamest mask Sasuke had ever seen as it was bright green, made of cheap plastic, and the stupid face drawn on it resembled an ugly frog.

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the older ninja, feeling more confused than intimidated by the presence of someone who clearly knew him, and whom he, unsurprisingly, couldn't remember. However, Sasuke was sure he had seen him before at least once, back in his world... He just needed to figure out where and when.

"Yeah," he replied meekly, coming closer to the tree. "It's about time you showed up. I was just looking for a punch bag. Care to serve me as one?" He deadpanned, slightly amused by the fact that he suddenly found himself not feeling nervous at all despite the potentially troublesome situation. Maybe it was because he had finally revealed his secret to another person before, or perhaps the reason was something else… Still, he had also realized that it wouldn't hurt for him to try to be more himself from now on, especially around the people who weren't supposed to know him very well. Because no matter how different the other him had once been, people did change. Even Sasuke himself had changed multiple times throughout his rather short life… That's why doing it here too seemed quite reasonable to him.

Besides, not everyone was as corrosive and attentive as Hyūga Hinata. Most of them wouldn't even pay attention anyway.

"Oh?" The man blinked a few times in surprise, sounding slightly excited. "So the rumors were true, eh? You really decided to stop being a loser and do something useful for once. Curious, ha!"

"Rumors?" Sasuke's brow arched. "Am I a celebrity now?"

"Meh! Keep dreaming, kid. There is only one celebrity in Konoha, and he's right in front of you." The man jumped down, landing heavily a couple yards away from the Uchiha. "Minato told me about your success at the recent mission, so I felt like finding you and seeing if you were alright. I actually saw you a week ago with Hinata-chan, when you'd just returned, but you two seemed to be enjoying your time together, so I didn't want to interfere. Though, apparently, there was nothing to interfere, huh? How disappointing!" Sasuke almost rolled his eyes at the downright mocking tone of the man, feeling more and more annoyed with each passing moment. This man certainly reminded him someone from his past… Just who the hell was he to talk to him like this…?

"That's none of your concern," he snapped, putting his hand on his sword's scabbard. "Though it's an interesting habit you have, spying on others in hopes of getting to see something cheesy. I wonder if Hokage knows about it."

The other ninja grunted, crossing his arms on his broad chest.

"How lame… Just what on earth happened to you, brat? Did a ceertain Hyūga accidentally bite you in the wrong place or something? Because I can certainly feel their clan's dullness venom in you right now. If you were a bit older, I'd take you for a healing session to some bar, but oh well..." He spread his hands apologetically, beginning to laugh.

Sasuke sighed patiently, still trying to remember this person's identity but, to his further displeasure, keeping failing at that.

"Whatever. What do you want?"

The man snorted, lowering down to sit on the grass.

"Itachi-kun told me that you want to become Hokage," he said, finally sounding serious.

There were a few seconds of silence between them before Sasuke carefully, yet firmly replied,

"Yeah. What of it?"

The older ninja sighed, shaking his head with uncovered disappointment.

"Why would someone like you aspire for this shitty job, kiddo? Did you hit your head too hard back then or something? And here I thought Tsunade-hime had healed you."

Sasuke frowned. He certainly had not seen this route of conversation coming from this clown...

"I have my reasons," he snapped, not looking away from the man's face.

"Care to enlighten me?" insisted the white haired shinobi, making the Uchiha feel even more baffled by the sudden pressure.

"Not really," replied the boy stubbornly, not moving at all, as though he was preparing for an incoming attack. Although his gutual feeling was quietly telling him that there was no hostile intent in this person. Furthermore, instead there was… genuine concern in his voice...? What...?

"I figured as much. Look, Sasuke," he took the mask off, revealing the certainly familiar face with red markings on its cheeks, "I don't know what subverted your paradigm this much, and it's fine if you don't want to talk about it. All I want from you in this situation is to take into consideration a couple things you most likely don't fully understand, so you better listen to me now." They looked into each other's eyes mutely for some time before Sasuke slowly uttered:

"Go on."

"Being Hokage is not just about responsibilities and rights. It is also about devoting your whole life, without any other option, to the safety of this country and its people. Whoever takes the mantle, it makes them unable to ever be themselves anymore. They become a symbol, an icon even; but, it also strips a ninja from any choice when it comes to their own life. Did you ever question why so many kids dream to become Hokage, yet almost no adults want that?"

Sasuke didn't reply immediately, taking a moment to think over the man's words.

"I'm not a kid. Like I said, I have my reasons."

"Of course you aren't, and naturally, you do. And even so, are those reasons really worthy of sacrificing your life for the sake of becoming a tool controlled by people's wishes? Worthy of becoming unable to make any decisions by yourself, of having countless limitations and of having others watching and controlling your every single step? While at the same time, you would be forced to always sit at the office and constantly do useless paperwork most of your time. Is that what you really want?"

The Uchiha looked away. No. Of course it's not. But, I have my own view on what being Hokage means … And I will change this world for the better…!

"Probably not," he said reservedly. "I take it you consider whatever you do for the village a lot more important," added the boy, not bothering to hide the apparent note of sarcasm in his tone.

"Well, that depends on one's perspective," replied the man philosophically and shrugged. "If you prefer to be a political puppet with little to no real ability to get things done, then you probably would disagree. However, while Minato always sits here in the village, doing mostly routine formal stuff and nurturing bureaucracy, I pretend to make my moves stealthily, doing what is necessary to maintain peace and to get rid of our foes—"

Sasuke's eyes widened at his words, and his heart began to pound faster as the man kept talking,

"...Sure, I'm not as famous as a Kage, but I'm still Jiraiya the Sannin! A living legend, no less!" He winked at the boy, raising up his thumb and smirking reassuringly.

Jiraiya…! This man was Naruto's mentor, and Orochimaru's rival! I knew I'd seen him before…!

"Of course, such path doesn't suit just anyone. Sometimes you would have to dirty your hands, and to do some really nasty things, but without somebody doing all that, no Hokage would be able to keep the village from getting conquered or even destroyed from the inside. So… yeah. I just wanted you to think about it, that's all."

Sasuke lowered his head, staring at the ground. This old man… He was exactly like Itachi! He was the Hokage he had wanted to be…! Protecting the village from the shadows, and doing whatever was necessary to ensure its survival…

The boy frowned. Now that he thought about it, he could totally imagine himself deciding to do just that had his world not been destroyed. Had he been given a chance to return to his Konoha… Traveling across all the countries, getting rid of the enemies of the village and investigating possible threats. Yes, that suddenly sounded very appealing...

Perhaps, Jiraiya was right, and he truly had a lot more to learn about the ways their hidden village functioned before becoming its head. Because it was most certainly far from being as simple and clear as it had seemed to him before...

"I see. Thanks," he murmured quietly, his initial enmity toward this person having completely vanished. "I will think about it."

"Good!" A broad happy smile appeared on Jiraiya's face as he stood up and clapped his hands. "Don't get so sullen because of what I said, though, brat. No matter which path you choose at the end of the day, you still need to be hella strong either way, so you're definitely doing the right thing here."

The Uchiha slowly nodded, still a bit troubled by what the sannin had just told him. He was right… Merely taking the position of the Fourth would definitely not be enough to satisfy Sasuke. However… It seemed like it was possible to become just the Hokage he wanted to be, without any unnecessary blood spilling, nor changing the village forcibly. This Jiraiya was the living testimony to that possibility…! He merely needed to find a way to combine both those duties...

And, more importantly…

The boy met the ninja's gaze, a sudden idea flashing in his head. Clearly, blindly sticking to his old ideas and plans was not enough to achieve his goals. He had to learn and study more. Perhaps, it would be wise not to just restore the powers he'd had in the other world too… He hadn't thought about it before, but now Sasuke realized that he could and should learn some new things meanwhile! And would there be a better opportunity than now that he was facing the person who had made Uzumaki Naruto his — Sasuke's — equal?

"Say, old man… Can you teach me a couple moves?" he finally asked, meeting his gaze again.

Jiraiya blinked at him a few times, his eyes slowly widening in anticipation.

"Oh?" He grinned, eyeing the Uchiha up and down as though estimating him. "I definitely can, the question is what you wanna learn."

Sasuke paused, recalling Naruto's former abilities. The most impressive thing there was probably…

"Nature chakra manipulation… How can I master it?"

To his unpleasant surprise, Jiraiya clucked his tongue, shaking his head.

"It isn't something you can just go and exercise, brat. There are special conditions you must take care of before you may start learning that."

"What conditions?" asked Sasuke casually. It wasn't like he was ever afraid of any difficulties or obstacles...

"First of all, you would need a summoning contract. Depending on which one you got, you must talk them into letting you into their realm. That's where you can safely train nature chakra manipulation; otherwise, there is a huge risk to inadvertently get yourself killed. I presume you haven't signed a contract yet?"

Now that was a good question. Had he? Most likely not, knowing how careless and unmotivated the previous owner of his body was all in all…

"No."

"There you go then. That is your goal for now, if you want to master that thing. I would offer you to side with frogs like I did, but they don't exactly like your clan… Sorry," he smiled softly, spreading his hands to which Sasuke just nodded courtly.

"It's fine. I don't like toads either. Where is—" He stopped, holding back the question he was about to ask. There was no doubt that Jiraiya knew where Orochimaru could be found, but the other sannin most likely was still considered an enemy of Konoha as well as an international criminal here. Asking about his whereabouts would raise unnecessary suspicion for sure… And a person like Jiraiya wasn't a factor he could simply neglect.

"Where is what?"

"Nothing. Forget it. I'll find you when I've signed a contract."

"Fine by me," Jiraiya smirked, ruffling the boy's hair which almost made him punch the old man in response. "Well, I can still teach you a couple things aside from that. But, I need to see what you've got before we get to that part. Let's spar!"

Sasuke only smirked at the offer, activating his Sharingan.

-~X~-

As his eyelids slowly opened, and Itachi blinked a few times, staring blankly at the ceiling of the dark room he still hadn't gotten used to yet. The lack of sunshine breaking through the light curtain covering the window indicated that it was still very early in the morning. It was relieving, but only a little bit so — the upcoming day did not bode well, and he already felt disgusted by everything he was going to do in the next few hours. In spite of having a reputation of a perfect shinobi, deep inside he loathed his duty for sure...

The ninja stretched his body, yawning quietly and then rubbing his face tiredly. Albeit for a rather amusing reason, he had barely slept at all this night. And even though it wasn't something unusual, nor even at least a little troublesome for a shinobi of his level, the young man still couldn't help but feel the unnerving apathy that was making him want to stay in this comfortable bed, that did not even belong to him, the whole day, or even longer than that.

He turned his head to the right, looking at the back of the astonishingly beautiful blue haired woman who was lying there next to him, completely naked, breathing steadily and peacefully. She didn't even notice in her deep sleep that the simple white blanked almost slipped off her down to the floor, revealing a toned curvy body to his sight.

Itachi sighed quietly, closing his eyes. Yes, he definitely didn't want this to end…

But then he turned away, looking at the closed window. On the other hand, he realized it clearly that it actually had to end, one way or another. This woman was very smart and cunning, he could give her that, and besides, she was a perfect actress. Yet even so, she was nowhere near his level of intelligence. Apparently, his lover was absolutely sure that she was the one controlling the situation… That she controlled him through the most primitive and, without a doubt, classic way of manipulation — her charms and attractiveness and, subsequently, sex. Unfortunately for her, he had already long figured out what exactly she was aiming for; he had known it since the moment he had seen her in Konoha a few weeks ago…

He hemmed thoughtfully to himself, putting his arms under his nape and feeling rather satisfied with the outcome of this game so far. One could call it amoral, but he believed that the sole fact that he could see through her mask didn't mean that he couldn't reap the fruits of her lie. After all, it was only fair; she was using him, and he was using her. The only difference was that she believed him to be delusional, while in fact the situation was completely reversed…

The ninja got up, taking his pants on and making a few soundless steps towards the door that led to the small wooden balcony. As he walked outside, the Uchiha breathed in the fresh morning air that was filled with countless wonderful smells of the savage forest where the house was located. A peaceful idyll, no less…

He put his hands on the railing, looking at the horizon where the sun was only beginning to show, and sighing sadly. He wasn't about to complain about anything even to himself, but it was plain impossible to just ignore the difficulty of the current peculiar circumstances Itachi found himself in. Needless to say that this woman back in the room was the least of his problems…

First of all, there was this war the Fourth had carefully planned out, and that was now about to begin. Of course, there was almost nothing to worry about; according to their calculations, it would end within just a few weeks, with Land of Fire receiving some huge benefits including new strategically important territories. Still, they were planning to bait the enemy forces to attack Konohagakure directly at some point, and no matter how self assured Namikaze Minato was when it came to his tactics, Itachi still feared the possible casualties that could, and most likely would be there after Hokage's ambitious plan would have been executed…

Aside from that, there was this mysterious cult Obito had told him about. Of course, his father and the elders were working hard on the ongoing investigation, but it still was already causing havoc and mistrust within the Uchiha clan. And that was something that made every single one of them feel execrable, because love, trust and unquestionable loyalty were the things their clan was traditionally built on. And now… all of them felt almost desecrated. Considering the beginning war and other problems the village would soon be facing, the timing just couldn't be worse…

And then there was his little brother Sasuke. His biggest concern, even though there was seemingly nothing to worry about for now. However, the recent changes in him… They were just too blatant to ignore, and Itachi realized that something was seriously off with the boy. Not only had he distanced himself from his friends, his teammates and even his family, but most importantly, his personality… It had also changed, and quite significantly so. Although their parents seemingly failed to notice it, or rather were too busy to pay attention, Itachi could see it clearly.

At first, he had believed that it had to be Mangekyō Sharingan. However, considering everything Hinata had reported to him after the mission, and the way the two of them got out of Land of Iron… It was still not impossible that Sasuke had awakened those eyes, yet Itachi found it highly unlikely considering everything he knew. Because despite having been in mortal danger multiple times during that mission, Sasuke had shown no signs of being able to use any extraordinary visual techniques. And even if the boy, for whatever strange reason, wanted to conceal his new abilities — for which there was no apparent reason, not to mention that it would be very out of character for him to do so — there was no way he wouldn't do everything possible to save himself and Hinata considering his hidden feelings for the girl.

So they ended up in a situation where Itachi had absolutely nothing to cling on. In truth, it made him feel like this was a dead end. Because aside from Mangekyō Sharingan, he saw no possible reason for his brother to become so grim, aloof and, most importantly, determined. There had to be something else… Something Sasuke obviously didn't want to share with anybody including his family. And it was making his brother worry very much for the boy.

However, Itachi wasn't going to pry, at least not yet. Whatever was there, he trusted his brother's judgement, and he wouldn't lower himself to spying on him in hopes of discovering a secret he wasn't allowed to know. If the boy would ever ask for his help, or would want to share something with him, Itachi would make everything in his power to be there for his beloved sibling. And for now, the rest was none of his business…

After all, Sasuke needed to be exercised by his own mistakes; he needed to learn to deal with the consequences of his decisions.

It was his and only his own path to walk.

The ninja almost flinched as the door behind his back creaked, and then two soft arms wrapped around his waist, the warm lips pressing to his bare shoulder.

"Good morning." Her silky voice was sure a music to his ears… For a brief moment, it made Itachi regret what was about to happen, though he realized that it was inevitable in any case. "It felt lonely without you when I woke up."

"Yeah," he replied musingly without looking at her, keeping gazing at the distance and collecting his thoughts for the upcoming sequence.

Because she, despite not being as significant as the other ones, was the cherry on his cake of problems, without a doubt. He knew what exactly she wanted from him; he also realized that he would never willingly agree to do that. Unless…

"What do you want for breakfast?" she almost purred, her chest pressing nicely to his back which instantly brought back memories of the previous night, making him frown.

He disliked lying to her. Not that he ever enjoyed it in general, but it was especially unpleasant for him to keep pretending clueless.

Which was why he decided to finally stop.

"Konan… We need to talk."

"Oh?" He could feel her body tense the slightest bit, but it didn't matter. Even if she was to attack him now, the outcome of that was already predetermined.

"I know what you want from me. I don't want to join Akatsuki."

There were a few seconds of grave silence before countless pieces of sharp paper thrust into his body from every direction… Only to pierce through air as a dozen of crowns flew out of Konan's grasp.

"Don't waste your chakra. Everything you have is useless next to these eyes," he said calmly as the crows shaped into his image floating mid air a couple yards away from the woman.

"This is—!" She gasped, meeting the three-pronged shuriken pattern in his bloody red eyes.

"You're already under my genjutsu. Do not fight it, and you will not get hurt."

Her face quickly paled, and she pursed her lips, gulping nervously.

"How do you know about it?" She finally asked.

"It doesn't matter how. I'm not your enemy, and I don't intend to kill you. I merely want you to hear me out."

She remained silent, peering at him vigorously, but not daring to move.

"Like I said, I don't want to join your organization. I know that you were ordered to recruit me, but your plan has failed. However, there is something I want to offer you. Provided that you are interested in negotiations, of course."

"Why would I be interested?" she asked calmly, although it was fairly evident that the woman fully understood that he had the upper hand.

"Because it is not just your own life that depends on your decision, but the existence of Akatsuki as well."

Konan's eyes narrowed at him angrily as she uttered,

"You're a fool if you believe that you can stop Akatsuki."

"No. But, you can."

"What…?" she frowned, staring at him incredulously.

"Right now, you are under my control, and there is nothing you can do to break out. It is within my power to make you do absolutely anything for me, be it revealing all of your secrets, becoming my slave, or assassinating the leader of Akatsuki. Do you understand it?"

The increasing degree of fear was clearly readable in her blue eyes as he paused. She still didn't reply, probably trying to figure out a way to escape, yet already realizing that it was indeed impossible.

"If this is not a bluff, then why are you still talking to me?"

"Because I like you," he said simply.

Her eyes widened in shock at his sudden confession, and the woman's expression was so perplexed that Itachi almost chuckled.

"You… like me…?" stuttered Konan in disbelief, looking at him as though he had just turned into an alien right in front of her. "Knowing that I — knowing what I am…? Is that your reason…?"

"Yes. Like I said, I don't want to join Akatsuki. But… I can still do it if you give me something in return."

He truly hated lying to her, but there was hardly any other option. This opportunity was just too perfect to ignore; not only could he become a spy for the village, and eventually get rid of those lunatics from Amegakure, but he also would be able to finally keep a nice company for himself — something he had always struggled with until now.

"And what is that?" she asked after a short pause, still looking at him searchingly, as though trying to figure out what game was he trying to play.

"Yourself. I enjoy the time I spend with you, and I want it to stay this way." Yes, it was a simple, yet effective tactic. Because in spite of being one of the most dangerous ninjas alive, she was a woman, and a very lonely one. He had already figured out that she hadn't been with anybody in years, if ever. Much like any other woman, she craved for someone who would appreciate her, who would believe in her, who would be there for her. And he was going to give her just that… Except he wasn't going to reveal his true goal when it came to Akatsuki and her fellows.

And to Konan herself.

"And if I agree… You would join us?" she asked cautiously, as though struggling to believe that it would be this simple.

"Yes. Konoha is about to enter a massive war soon enough; it would be a perfect opportunity for me to leave the village."

She suddenly lowered her eyes, biting her lip, which instantly got him wary as he hadn't expected that to bemse her in any way.

"Itachi… Please, I want you to understand me correctly. I do like you as well, and… If you're sincere about this… And if you forgive me for lying to you… I would love to be with you. But… What I was ordered to ask you to do is not just about joining Akatsuki."

His eyes widened a little bit, but he managed to remain calm.

"What is it then?" he asked quietly, trying to sound as gentle as possible.

"It is the jinchūriki of your village… Your subordinate, Namikaze Naruto. I was ordered to team up with you in order to become a kunoichi of Konoha with your help… And eventually capture him when the time is right."

"Capture Naruto?" he repeated to himself, his heart beginning to beat faster. So it was just as Jiraiya had told him… "You want the Kyūbi then?"

"No," she shook her head, meeting his gaze. "As a perfect jinchūriki, we want the boy himself."

-~X~-

"Well, though you're still quite sloppy, gotta say you're not half as bad as I thought you were, kid! That's some nice progress you made there!" said Jiraiya cheerfully, slapping him on the back which almost made Sasuke trip as he was limping slowly next to the tall man.

"Yeah… thanks," he mumbled under his nose, feeling dizzy as he was almost out of chakra, and his body was hurting as though he had got hit by a Tailed Beast Bomb, no less.

"We can repeat this tomorrow and the day after if you want. Then I'll have to depart — got some important business to do."

"Fine by me," replied the boy, trying to focus his gaze on the road ahead. "Where are we going to, again?"

"Just to get some drinks. You worked hard, so coffee's on me!" The sannin winked at him before smiling brightly at some beautiful civilian woman passing by.

"How fucking generous of you…," muttered the Uchiha quietly.

"Eh? What did ya say?"

"Nothing at all…"

"Sasuke! Jiraiya-sama!"

Oh, no… Please, not now…, the young ninja almost cried in his mind. She just couldn't have picked a worse time to pop up...

They stopped, turning to the left from where the voice was calling them.

"Ah! Hinata-chan! It's been a while, hasn't it? I can see you grew up quite a bit, he-he!" The sannin's broad smile was shining ever so brightly, which made Sasuke roll his eyes contemptuously while Hinata smiled cheerfully in response.

"Ha-ha, I guess! It's always a pleasure to see you in Konoha, especially in such anxious times," replied the girl, coming close to them.

"Well, yeah, I gotta do some things here and there," replied the man vaguely, locking his hands on his nape. "Speaking of which, I just remembered that I gotta meet Minato soon. Actually, I should've met him an hour ago…," he murmured, looking a tad embarrassed as he glanced at the clock above the nearest store. "See ya, Sasuke! Hinata-chan!"

"And my coffee…?" muttered Sasuke sarcastically, watching as the man disappeared in a shunshin.

"Don't worry, I brought you some," the girl smiled at him, handing one of two paper cups she'd been holding to the Uchiha. "So, how have you been?"

"Fine," he barked, taking the cup and sipping the hot liquid with pleasure before striding towards the nearest cafe. "I'm hungry."

"Oh? Is that a way to invite your girlfriend for a dinner?" She smirked at Sasuke, quickly catching up and walking next to him now.

"Piss off. I'm not in the mood for that bullshit," he snapped, suddenly feeling the increasing headache and strongly suspecting that it was the Hyūga's annoying presence that made him feel this way.

"Fine by me," she shrugged indifferently, her face instantly becoming neutral. "What have you been up to anyway?"

"Training."

"Interesting..."

"Not really."

"Do you have to always be such a douchebag?"

"No, only with you around."

"Sasuke…"

"Damn it… What?!" he stopped, covering the left side of his face with his palm as the pain was becoming unbearable, but then realizing that something was wrong - instead of a perturbed expression, Hinata appeared to be quite worried, her activated Byakugan visibly scanning through his system.

"You're almost completely out of chakra! This is dangerous!"

He sighed, closing his eyes and wincing in pain. She was right… He definitely wasn't feeling well.

"Yeah. I went a bit overboard back in the training grounds," he admitted reluctantly, trying to get a hold of himself.

"You need to restore some of your energy as soon as possible, otherwise you might end up in a hospital!" She grabbed his wrist, pulling him somewhere. "Come on, let's get you something to eat first of all."

"Wait—!" He broke out of her grip, which made her look around and frown at him disapprovingly, putting her hands on her waist.

"Sasuke, this isn't the best time to be stubborn!"

"Have you trained today?"

"What does this have to—"

"Just answer."

"No," she replied in a moment, pursing her lips. "Why?"

"Give me your hand." Hesitating for a second, she then did as he told her.

Sasuke's fingers locked on her forearm, and he tried to focus. She was right, having such a low level of chakra was indeed dangerous; which was why he thought that it wouldn't hurt anybody if he borrowed some of hers with Preta Path…

Which he almost instantly regretted. The pain in his head became insanely strong as her energy streamed into his system, and he fell on his knees with a loud cry, hearing the strange increasing ringing tearing his ears apart.

"Sasuke…? Sasuke, what's wrong?!" he heard her yelling, but it was barely discernible to him, as though they were separated by a very thick wall.

And then…

Everything around disappeared, and he couldn't see anything but complete darkness surrounding him for a few seconds. Through the horrible pain did he manage to raise his head and look around, only to see Hinata staring at him from above.

But… something wasn't right. Instead of compassion and worry he had seen in her eyes just a moment ago, now there was only hatred, desperation and… fear?

He tried to let go of her, and he could see that she attempted to break out of his grip too, but it seemed to be impossible — their hands were now locked tightly together, and he kept draining her chakra out, unable to control his power. He wanted to yell something to her, but there was nothing but helpless rale coming out of his throat.

The boy then wanted to push her away with his left hand, but…

It was gone! Cut off slightly above the elbow, the remains of his limb were wrapped in some dirty bandages…!

His downright shocked gaze returned to Hinata, and only then did he notice that she was also different. She looked a couple years older, and her face appeared to be extremely exhausted. But, most importantly, her eyes…

Cold, empty and almost suicidal, they certainly didn't belong to the girl he knew as Hyūga Hinata!

And then, as the pain grew to be almost impossible to withstand, he could see her fainting, the connection between them breaking just before everything around faded.

He opened his eyes, blinking a few times before his gaze focused on Hinata who was sitting on her knees next to him as he lay on the ground of the street, a few onlookers already having gathered around them to watch the scene.

"Sasuke…! Sasuke, are you okay?" she stuttered, putting her palm on his forehead and trying to estimate his condition.

But, he couldn't say anything to her right now. Because he was completely and utterly crushed by the most unexpected realization that was changing absolutely everything.

He was still alive back there.

It wasn't over yet.

A/N

Myōbokuzan — also known as the "Mountain of Bewilderment" and the "Land of Toads" (Gama no Kuni), is one of the big three unexplored sage regions, a legendary place that is equally famous as the other two, Shikkotsu Forest and Ryūchi Cave. It's the land of toads, the place where all the toads that Naruto, Minato, and Jiraiya have summoned live.

That's it for today. See you in Chapter 16: Cursed!

Chapter Text

Chapter 16. Cursed

"Easy, easy… Here, take it," Hinata handed him a glass with some liquid a few seconds after they had entered an empty room. Sasuke wasn't sure where the place was located, for he hadn't paid any attention to where exactly she had pulled him to.

"Just leave me alone," he murmured absently. His eyes were still open wide, and the expression was completely shocked, the face having taken a deathly grayish shade.

"Please, drink it, Sasuke! I promise, you'll feel better!" she exclaimed compassionately, making the boy lower his eyes to the glass and belink a few times before he finally took a reluctant sip. The light taste of mint with some other strange herbs was barely recognizable, and frankly, he didn't really care about it. And neither did he care about pretty much everything else in this world right now, because...

Yes, it was the only explanation to what had happened earlier that made any sense whatsoever. He was actually alive. Back in his world, in the one he had until now thought had perished… And what else could it possibly mean? Was Naruto alive too? Someone must have taken Sasuke out of the Valley of the End, there was no mistake about it. The location he had just seen was different, his other body was somewhere indoors. But, who could have possibly done that? The only person he had seen there was, without a doubt, Hyūga Hinata… One different from the person who was now standing in front of him. The one from his world, apparently. A person he had never known at all… And yet there already was that kind of a look she had given him without even knowing the Uchiha either. The passion, the unbridled fury in her gaze as their eyes met ever so briefly…! Was she among those whose lives he had ruined on his road to revenge…? Or was it something else?

No. It didn't matter. What was done, was already done...

He blinked again, feeling himself unable to move as his mind was horribly racing, causing the ninja to wince at the echo of the headage he had felt back in the streat.

The sage… Hagoromo. Had he lied to him then? Was this some sort of a trick? This 'second chance'... Was it even worth anything, knowing that his bleeding world was still not over? That it could need him and his power right now in order to be rebuilt from the ashes of the Great War…?

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. No. Nothing ever happened without a long chain of reasons behind it, the tragedy of the Uchiha Massacre had taught him that much. There had to be a purpose given to him in this world. There had to be a reason why he was here despite the fact that there was evidently still a chance to fix things there…

He suddenly almost flinched, recalling the last words of the ancient ghost of the Six Paths:

Memorize this moment, my boy. Wherever you end up after this conversation is over, do not ever forget about this place and this moment. Eventually, you will come back to this place. This is the unavoidable price you must pay for your second chance, do not ever forget about it either. And when you come back, you must have already figured it out. You must be aware of the nature of this realm, because I shall not be able to help you get out of here for the second time. This is the last time you see me, from now on you will be completely on your own. Naruto has already fulfilled his part of the prophecy... And he has entrusted the future to you. It is now your turn to become the savior. Everything will depend on your decisions and your resolve. Do you understand?

Back then, he was way too thrilled and confused to even think on it… But now, it made perfect sense. He should have long figured it out, and it was his mistake that he hadn't… Apparently, Hagoromo had placed him in this world only temporarily. Presumably, to reach a certain goal… before he would get be allowed to get out. Before he would be able to return to the hell he still, for some unfathomable reason, deep in his heart considered his home rather than this heaven where he had everything he had always wanted. Yet, at the same time...

All of sudden, the idea of returning almost made him shudder. He had indeed felt waves of nostalgic feelings disturbing him just a few days ago. And now, ironically, when he had just found out that he was bound to return at some point, it made him feel… No, the Uchiha wasn't ready to admit that he was afraid of facing the consequences of his past actions and decisions. Yet still, he did realize that he definitely wasn't looking forward to that moment right now… He absolutely wasn't ready yet.

Sasuke then slightly lowered his head, once again remembering the hateful stare the Hinata from his world had given him. The girl itself didn't matter, of course; however, it instantly made the shinobi remember who he was back there… who he was to all of them. A rogue ninja. A traitor. Someone who had challenged their most cherished hero…

And ultimately killed him.

"Sasuke… How are you? Please, say something…"

He ignored the pleading whisper of the girl who came close to him, instead keeping staring at the wooden floor of the small room. Hinata… Why did it come down to her? Why did she stay so close to him in both the worlds simultaneously? And why did he...

The heart of the Uchiha skipped a beat as another important realization struck him. He had drained her chakra... And not just that; he had done this it in both worlds! He had been holding her hand while the accident was happening both here and there... And if he drained some chakra on both ends, and then it ended up inside his body both here and there too, then there was a possibility that...!

"Hinata!" he barked, snapping out of his shocked state and gripping the girl's shoulders as she yelped in surprise, staring at him anxiously.

"W-What…?"

"Are you feeling anything unusual?" he blurted out impatiently, nearly shaking her as his heart was racing now even more than before.

"Um-yes!"

"What is it? Tell me now!" he demanded abruptly.

"I—I don't know! You're being weird, and you're hurting me!"

He frowned, slowly letting go of her and taking a deep breath. Analyses required a cold head… He needed to calm down right now. Clearly, there was no way to permanently get out of this world, at least for now — that was pretty much obvious. The mere inadvertent attempt had almost killed him earlier. In other words, there was also no way he could affect anything that was currently happening back in his world, including his own body. The only thing he could do was to stick to his plan here… And right now he had all the necessary cards in his hands. More less, anyway.

"That's not what I'm asking you about. Something happened when I took your chakra—"

"You did what?!"

"Stay quiet," he deadpanned, looking at her coldly. "That's an ability of my left eye, but it is irrelevant at the moment. I took some of your chakra in order to refill my own supply, but something went wrong. Now tell me, are you really feeling normal? Anything strange at all?"

She frowned, embracing herself reflectively before activating her Byakugan and eyeing her body up and down.

"I think I'm feeling better than ever… It doesn't seem like I'm lacking any chakra, though," she murmured thoughtfully. "Actually, I'm full," she added firmly, sounding a bit puzzled.

He silently activated his Sharingan, scanning through her system also. The Hyūga wasn't wrong — she looked as though she had just awakened from a very long and healthy sleep, being fully restored and well.

Except it was absolutely not possible. When he had lost control over his power back in the street, Sasuke had been draining her chakra out for long enough to take a good half of her resources. And there was no mistake that some of it was now in his own system, assimilated and transformed into his own energy thanks to Preta Path…

But, it just couldn't be! Energy doesn't come out of nowhere. If he took roughly fifty percents of her chakra when she was full, and he was nearly empty himself, they would both be half full. And now he clearly was, if not full, then at the very least definitely charged enough to call it a decent state suitable for a fight — not that his exhausted state would allow it, but this wasn't the point. For some miraculous reason, Hinata was still not missing a tiniest bit of energy, just as though nothing had happened…!

His eyes slowly widened, and so did hers as she was carefully watching his expression, although the Hyūga had absolutely no clue of what exactly he was thinking right now — rather, she felt scared for him, and he…

As unbelievable as it was to the boy himself, the always cold hearted and indifferent Uchiha Sasuke... He felt scared for her at the moment.

Because there could be only one logical explanation to the current circumstances. The 'impossible' additional chakra — one that wasn't supposed to even exist in this world, and that now resided in either him, or her… Or even in both of them… It had to originally belong to the other Hinata.

The one from his world!

"Sasuke… You're scaring me…," she almost whimpered.

"I told you to stay quiet."

"But—"

"I'm trying to think, Hyūga. You have no idea—"

"Then tell me at least something, damn you!" she finally exploded, stomping on the floor of the room and clenching her fists angrily. "What the hell is going on? What happened to you back there? Why did you blackout? And since when can you do something as complicated as chakra extraction, let alone with bare hands?!"

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and lowering down to sit in the floor, feeling exhausted as the consequences of the previous stress, as well as the strain due to the hard training with Jiraiya the Sannin finally hit his body.

"Too many questions…," he muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I'm not sure what exactly is going on. No… actually, I think I understand it; I just don't know how to explain this to you."

"Try words, maybe? I'm not an idiot, in case if you haven't noticed yet." She crossed her hands on her chest and looked at him gloomily.

"I really haven't…"

"Sasuke—!"

"Fine, fine…," he looked up at the Hyūga who then put her hands on her sides, looking at him indignantly. "My world… It seems that I am still alive. The real I."

Hinata remained mute for a few seconds, comprehending what he had just told her before she paled, and then her eyes widened.

"But—but if this is true… Does it mean that our Sasuke — the one who grew up in our timeline, I mean — is currently in your body? Could it be that—that you just switched with him?"

He frowned, looking away. That was an interesting question. If he was still alive, there was a reason to assume that his counterpart hadn't quite died either… However, his body was seemingly incapacitated in the other world. Even if the other Uchiha Sasuke possessed it now, he was unable to make any moves…

"I don't know," he finally answered honestly. "I saw you — the other you — standing next to my body in some very dark room, and then I noticed that I was absorbing her chakra at the same time as I was doing it to you here. I couldn't control my body there, though. Only watch."

Hinata licked her lips, slightly narrowing her eyes calculatively.

"Could it be that the other Sasuke was doing that to the other me? Stealing her chakra, I mean."

He slowly shook his head.

"Unlikely. No… Not even possible. He can't know how to use this ability, even though potentially he could have done that if he knew, provided that he could also control my body at all."

The girl sighed, the slightest note of disappointment missing Sasuke's attention as she uttered,

"How can you do this anyway? Absorbing chakra, I mean."

He gave her a long estimating look. Would it be wise to tell her? This ability was his only trump card, one he could easily lie about, for she clearly couldn't know much about Rinnegan and the abilities it gave to its owner's body… Yes, he had long decided that he should avoid telling her any unnecessary details. Sasuke still didn't fully trust this kunoichi, and although they were technically accomplices, even in spite of him sometimes finding her somewhat amusing, the Uchiha still viewed her more as a nuisance rather than an asset. He disliked dealing with women in general; they were just too unpredictable, and way too affected by their emotions and feelings.

Besides, he had already revealed a lot more than necessary to her.

"Like I said, it's an ability of my left eye. You need not know more about it."

She hemmed knowingly and then grinned a moment later.

"Mangekyō Sharingan then? So you have awakened it after all."

He didn't say anything for a while, once again taking a pause to think. She probably knew something about it from Itachi, considering that his brother was their sensei… However, it was unlikely that she knew about the secrets of these dōjutsu in-depth, so he simply lied:

"Yeah. That's one of my abilities. I can absorb any chakra and turn it into my own. Of course, it goes for any types of ninjutsu as well, which renders it useless against me." It wasn't completely true either, for he had yet to fully master it, but Sasuke had seen what Madara had done with it, so he knew for a fact that he would eventually get there too.

Hinata's eyes widened in awe, and she looked quite impressed by his words.

"That… is big. What about senjutsu, though?"

He smirked. Trustworthy or not, she definitely wasn't an idiot, as unpleasant as it was to admit…

"I'm working on it now."

She grinned as well.

"I see. So you really decided to surpass Naruto-kun, huh?"

Sasuke shrugged indifferently, looking away.

"I already did that before, in my world," he said vaguely.

"Uh huh. He was probably a weak loser then, just like your copy here," she rolled her eyes and snorted. "Anyway, I can see that you're really tired. Would you like something to eat?"

His eyebrow arched in surprise at the sudden offer.

"Are you trying to nurse me? To what do I owe this honour?"

She shrugged casually, studying her nails disapprovingly as she noticed that one of them was cracked.

"Well, you're the guest. It's only polite, don't you think so?"

He frowned, looking around and belatedly realizing where they were.

"Is this… your home?"

"Yup. Welcome to the Hyūga estate. You look like you've never been here before, huh?"

"No… I haven't." He slowly got up, feeling as his legs were shaking due to fatigue, much to his annoyance. "I'm going home."

"There is no need to leave now. Really, trust me," she put her hand on his shoulder as he had already stepped towards the door, making the boy frown and meet her suddenly soft gaze. "Just get undressed and lie down on my bed. I'll bring you some food and a drink. What would you like to have?"

"Nothing. You don't have to—"

"Oh, shush. You're barely able to stand still!" Hinata smiled and giggled as she noticed his cheeks reddening the tiniest bit. "Just take a nap here and let me show some care for my teammate, will you?"

He sighed in defeat, though murmuring,

"I am not your teammate, and you know it…"

"Oh, but you are," he looked at her with slight confusion, to which she smiled even more widely than before. "We've done a mission together, and you saved my life there. I think that will count as us being teammates. Besides, I told you. You are not that different from the Sasuke I know."

He sighed.

"You won't just give up, will you?"

She chuckled.

"Not a chance!"

-~X~-

Jumping steadily and unhurriedly from one branch to another, Neji was quickly nearing Konoha as the village itself showed on the horizon. The quiet serenity of the forest was felt almost surreal as there was absolutely nobody around, although for him, it was almost annoying. And despite the pretty nice sunny weather as well as the rather enjoyable fresh air of the noon, the ninja was currently very far from his best mood to say the least, and not without a few very good reasons to it.

Something wicked was happening both in his village and his clan nowadays. The Fourth Hokage, the person he had long idolized and in whose every word Neji had until now blindly believed, had recently started a war with another nation for no apparent reason. Yes, formally, it wasn't Konoha that had declared it first, but the Hyūga knew for a fact who was pulling the strings there, and it made him feel especially bad for being a part of it by wearing the Leaf's headband. For the first part in his life he was ashamed of being associated with this formerly glorious symbol... Because whatever secret reason could possibly lie behind it, a war meant bloodshed, endless tragedy and countless deaths. And these things definitely weren't among the ones this young man considered worthy of a noble person like their Hokage… Because in the end, no matter how exactly it would go, any victims would be ultimately the Fourth's fault. Their blood would be on his hands. And Neji just couldn't understand why they still did it, because they, without a doubt, realized this too… And he probably never would understand what drove them.

From his point of view, there was nothing more important than a human life.

The ninja winced, squinting and gritting his teeth angrily. If only this was the only problem in his current life… What was bothering him even more at the moment were his best friends, Namikaze Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Something bad was going on with both of them too… The former had recently been sent to Kumogakure as the ambassador of Konoha in order to negotiate the conditions of their participation in war. Of course, Raikage was a close friend of the Fourth; there was no reason to think that Naruto was in any danger, and yet… Was it any wise to dispatch a jinchūriki when it was common knowledge that there was an open hunt for him? Couldn't he have found a better candidate for the job…?

Neji frowned, already knowing the answer to his own question. Of course, he could have. Namikaze Minato was an exceptionally smart and strategic person; that's exactly why there had to be a reason why he sent his son out right after the war had just been declared. In truth, it could mean only one thing — he was using Naruto as a bait. He was probably deliberately presenting Tsuchikage's troops an opportunity to capture him... What was the Hokage counting on, if this was — and Neji was now sure it was inded — true? That Naruto would let them take himself to their village, and then cause a carnage there all by himself? Was there any guarantee that they wouldn't find a way to suppress Kyūbi's power...?

All of it made Minato's actions even more questionable in the Hyūga's eyes. As painful as it was to admit, he was beginning to lose his trust in their leader. Because no matter what goals he persued in the end, risking his own child's life like that was just too heartless on his part...

And then there was his other best friend. Ever since the day he had 'died', the Uchiha had never been the same. Yes, he sure was still Sasuke, but it was... as though a slightly different Sasuke. Neji didn't know what exactly he was hiding, but he could tell for sure that there was clearly a lot of things the youngest son of Fugaku didn't let any of them know for whatever reason. The Hyūga could only presume that it had something to do with their clan's domestic issues, because Itachi had been acting strangely of late as well... Still, he was glad that his friend found at least some sort deliverance in his sister Hinata. From what Neji had seen, the two of them had finally clicked and were now together. He knew for a fact that Sasuke had liked her for years, and Hinata... He had never seen her as happy and inspired as she was in the last couple of weeks. And if the two of them gave each other something they needed in these grim days, Hinata's cousin could only be happy for them too. At least now they seemed to have their small island of relief they found in each other...

And finally, the most bothersome thing of all them was his own clan. Although Neji was usually quiet and rather submissive to his superiors, he was still very far from being a fool whom they — or rather, Hyūga Hiashi himself — could simply manipulate without the teen analyzing their intentions. Of course, Hiashi was already aware of Hinata's affair, having numerous spies all across the village. And the fact that he, despite holding the deep grude against the Uchiha clan, was allowing his daughter to do this — to be with Sasuke — and didn't even react to it in any way even now, could mean one of only two things.

Either Hiashi was planning to get rid of his friend in one way or another, or he was going to get rid of his beloved daughter as his heir — which was very unlikely, knowing just how much did the man cherish and adore her. In other words, Sasuke was already a dead man in the eyes of the Hyūga clan's head — that's why he was so calm in regards to his relationship with Hinata. And considering just how much of an escapade would be an attempt to kill the son of Uchiha Fugaku, it could, in turn, drive one to a perfectly logical, yet absolutely terrifying conclusion Neji had the other day come to.

Being long sick and tired of Konoha's way of treating their clan (which most Hyūgas, having historically grown used to being treated like royalty, considered humiliating), Hiashi was most likely planning to overthrow Minato by using the havoc caused by the upcoming war, and get rid of his enemies within the Uchiha clan in the process.

It was true that, being close friends with Fugaku and his wife, Minato gave Sasuke's clan a certain liberty other clan's didn't have. However, some people seemed to forget that it was partly justified by the history of their village. It was merely a way for the village to apologize for the fact that, despite Konoha having been founded by the two biggest clans — Uchiha and Senju — the former had never had a Hokage chosen from their lines. Besides, Hiashi had never really made an attempt to get along with their current Hokage; being as arrogant as he was, the head of the Hyūga only kept plotting against the man who had always seen through Hiashi's schemes no matter how clever they were. Naturally, he wouldn't want a Hyūga close to him in these circumstances; it was only common sense. Which is why ultimately, it was Hiashi's fault caused by his arrogance that they ended up in the current situation.

And now all of it made Neji feel like he was between a hammer and an anvil. He couldn't support the seemingly upcoming coup because of his personal beliefs; he had sworn his fidelity to the village after all. Besides, it was just another way to spill unnecessary blood, and he didn't want to be a part of it. On the other hand, he was, in a way, being forced to do all this — the cursed seal on his forehead made him but a slave to Hiashi. He had absolutely no choice, in fact; should he turn against the clan, or even try to stay neutral, his life would be over. He would just die in an instant, by Hiashi's hand.

So what could he do now? His only options were to either accept his inevitable death, or to fight against everything he loved. His village, his friends...

Peace...

Yes, his life was definitely not enviable to say the least. He was doomed to either die, or live the rest of his days in grief, silently hating himself for the unwilling betrayal...

"Pretty troublesome situation you ended up in, isn't it? Neji-kun," came the almost mocking hiss from his right, instantly making the ninja stop and raise his hands, taking a battle stance for Jūken.

"Who are you?" asked Neji, eyeing the very pale woman with long and dirty black hair. She was dressed in strange clothes which were not common in Land of Fire to say the least; the biege robe with strange symbols on it was somewhat familiar, though, as well as the thick purple belt she was wearing on her waist. And the symbol on her forehead protector... "Otogakure?" he added, feeling a bit dumbfounded. That was a small village somewhere in the Land of Rice Fields; until now they had always been neutral and quiet, and Neji hadn't seen a ninja from there ever since his chūnin exam.

"Someone who wants to help you, make no mistake. I'm not your enemy." She smiled creepily, licking her lips with an unnaturally long tongue before jumping closer towards him, landing on the same branch he was standing on. "You are willing to die, aren't you?"

"What are you talking about?" he deadpanned, not lowering his hands, but already feeling the chills going down his spine. Something wasn't right... This person wasn't an ordinary ninja for sure.

"My, my... Please, do not pretend to be an imbicele, we both know you are far more intelligent than that. I'm obviously talking about the fact that you're about to be forced to fight against your comrades in favour of your clan of which, as far as I'm aware, you are not quite fond."

"How could you know any of it...?" Neji's eyes widened slightly as the person chuckled, amused by his reaction.

"This isn't something that really concerns your interests, Neji-kun. What truly matters is that I came to offer you a third option."

The young shinobi remained silent, staring neutrally at the woman and awaiting for her to continue. He realized that it wouldn't be wise to say anything at all; any reaction other than an impassive one would probably allow her to confirm whatever intel she might have on him and the situation within the Hyūga clan.

As though having read his thoughts, she smirked, beginning to giggle in a grim, almost frightening manner.

"As expected from a prodigy... You are truly a good ninja, my boy. Trust me, I wouldn't want your life to be wasted, nor for you to remain a tool in Hiashi-kun's disposal. He's a fine example too, just a bit too... short sighted for my taste."

"Just who on earth are you?" asked Neji again, feeling more and more confused and anxious with each passing moment. The person was definitely very dangerous; having activated his Byakugan, he could instantly tell that her chakra was incredibly potent, and also very dark. However, the possibility of her having a solution for him mesmerized the teen for a moment, so he decided to stay and listen for a while instead of just running away like he probably should have...

"My name is Orochimaru. I'm a former ninja of Konoha, and I have a way to help you with this little problem on your forehead," she — or rather, he, as Neji now finally realized who this person really was behind the fake exterior — pointed at Konoha's symbol on his head, under which was hidden the Hyūga's Cursed Seal.

"Orochimaru the Sannin...? It's an honour for sure, but...," Neji frowned, slightly lowering his hands. For all he knew, this shinobi had been exiled from the village a decade ago by the Third, but he couldn't remember any significant criminal record known to be associated with his name... "Why are you interested in helping me all of sudden?"

"Oh, not out of charity, that's for sure. I have my own reasons to want to help you out. In any case, here is my gift for you..." Neji's gasped as the woman's head flew off her shoulders, her neck rapidly expanding towards him before two sharp fangs piereced through the skin of his own neck.

"Gah!" He fell on his knees, gripping the place of the bite and feeling the burning foreign chakra streaming into his body like a deadly venom, instantly making his vision blurry. "W-What have you done to me...?" he gasped, cringing in horrible pain.

"Gave you something unique that might eventually save you from your misery. When you have tested it out, leave me a note by scratching out the kanji 'egg' on the second tree to the right from the eatern gates of the village. My underlings will come after you shortly. For now, you may enjoy the anticipation of what is to come, as well as the brief taste of your new power." Orochimaru smirked and disappeared with a Shunshin, and a second later, Neji finally lost his consciousness, falling down to the grass under the branch.

A/N:

Otogakure —Literally meaning: Village Hidden by Sound; is the personal hidden village of Orochimaru, which was founded for the express purpose of collecting ninja for his experiments and his quest to learn all techniques.

That's it for today. See you guys in Chapter 17: Transference!

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews. As I promised, here is the weekly update. Hopefully, I'll manage to release the next chapter in 7 days as well! For now, I hope you enjoy this one.

Chapter 17. Transference

As the tenderly golden evening sun was about to hide beyond the treetops of the forest surrounding Konoha, he was quickly walking towards the gates of his clan's territory, shaking in anger and refusing to look around as she called him,

"Hey, Sasuke! Wait! Please!"

"Leave me alone!" he shouted back without looking around, clenching his fists and almost growling in rage.

"Come on! Listen, please, just stop for a second! You got it all wrong, he's simply—"

"He's simply what?!" He finally turned around and eyed his mother, who was swiftly approaching him, grimly. "You heard what he said, don't try to excuse him now!"

"But, he didn't really mean it. He only—" She lowered her eyes sadly, seemingly unsure what to say.

He lowered his head, feeling the wave of unwanted tears coming to his eyes.

Was this yet another memory of the other him…? He was beginning to see these more and more often of late...

"Just forget about it, kā-san," he muttered quietly and surprisingly softly before looking away. "If even my own father, as well as the whole clan, considers me trash… Than trash is what I really am. I get it now. It's fine."

"Please, sweetheart," the woman almost pleaded, coming close to him and patting his cheek gently. "Your father was just angry about some things that have nothing to do with you. I promise, he didn't really mean any of that."

"He's right, though," he mused, still not looking directly into her eyes…

...Which annoyed Sasuke quite a lot, because he really wanted to see her expression right now. His mother… The immense love, compassion and care he could still remember from his childhood. He hadn't realized until now just how much had he always missed this long forgotten feeling from the life that had ended even prior to his previous one. The distant, peaceful times full of serenity and kindness…

"...Everyone thinks that I'm a shame to the clan and the family. I can't do anything right, and my whole life is pointless… Isn't that so, huh?!"

He could hear Mikoto whimper as she hugged him tightly, whispering,

"Your life is not pointless. Please, don't ever say things like that… You have no idea just how much me, your father, and Itachi — all of us — love you!"

He gritted his teeth and suddenly broke out, pushing the woman away.

"I don't need this love! I don't need any of you! Be damned, your clan and the whole ninja world!" He yelled desperately before turning around and running away, passing through the gate.

The boy's hidden consciousness wanted to scream in rage, to punch his other self, to rip him to shreds with his bare hands as he heard him saying those horrible things, but he could do nothing but watch and listen.

Eventually, he stopped as soon as he had run far enough, panting and gripping his knees in an attempt to catch a breath.

Clearly, his shape was absolutely pathetic at this moment of time... What a shame.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

He flinched as he heard the distantly familiar voice to the left. It sounded like…

As the other he turned to face the person who had just called out his name, Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he felt disoriented for a few seconds. Still too shocked by the scene he had just witnessed — or rather, by the unpardonable ignorance of his alternate self who had no idea just how valuable his family and his clan really were — he looked around, trying to figure out where he was.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He slowly turned his head to the left, frowning at the woman who stared at him with her eyes open wide as she was clearly bemused by his presence.

She appeared not much older than thirty, her long and silky hair instantly reminding the Uchiha of his female teammate. The woman's eyes were also the same as Hinata's, which made the resemblance even more clear. Frankly, the only notable difference between them, aside from the age, was the haircut, as well as the overly formal kimono she was wearing, and maybe also the fact that this Hyūga was a couple inches taller than Hinata herself. Otherwise, they looked pretty much the same, which most likely meant that she was her mother…

"Yeah," he replied dumbly and somewhat melancholically, unsure what else to say in this awkward situation. He didn't even know the woman's name; besides, he was still too overwhelmed by the raging storm of emotions after witnessing yet another piece of his alter ego's past…

"I—I've come to tell you that Hinata had been deployed for an urgent mission by her father, so she couldn't come to see you herself. She asked me to bring you some food, so…" He then noticed that she was holding a plate with some accurately made onigiri and fresh orange juice — not his favourite one, but then again, he wasn't generally picky when it came to food and drinks anyway.

"Thanks," he uttered quietly as she came close to put the plate on Hinata's nightstand near the bed.

"You're welcome, dear." She smiled brightly before, to his great discomfort, sitting down on the corner of the bed and looking at him thoughtfully. "You, uh… seem to be troubled by something. Would you care to tell me what it is? If you don't mind, of course." Now her smile was somewhat encouraging, and although Sasuke really didn't want to buy it, he just couldn't help it for a moment — the sincerity and kindness were almost radiating from this person. That made it hard to reject her offer, especially now that he was truly feeling quite uneasy because of her. A brief conversation with a stranger could be a nice distraction, but he needed to establish them being strangers first...

"Yeah. There is something I'd like to make clear," he suddenly said firmly, and apparently, it was his tone that made the woman look at him with uncovered curiosity. "A couple months ago I—"

"Lost your memories? I know, Hinata told me," she almost giggled and nodded quickly. "She also told me that you might not remember me at all. There is nothing for you to worry about, child. My name is Hyūga Hikari, I'm Hinata's mother."

Sasuke almost hemmed, suddenly feeling surprised in a good way for once. So the girl could be useful sometimes, after all… At least she had spared him from the trouble of pretending in front of the members of her family.

"Yeah… Nice to meet you," he replied neutrally.

"Likewise, although I have known you since your childhood, actually," she smiled leniently, and he felt a bit of irritation as he realized once again that she viewed him as that brainless ignorant piece of trash who'd had his name in this world.

"Is there something you wanted to discuss with me?" he asked calmly, probably sounding a bit too straightforward yet unable to help it in any way, for such manner was in his own very nature — one this woman, of course, wasn't any familiar with. Which was most likely why she frowned a bit, her cheerful smile disappearing before she sighed heavily and shook her head.

"No, not really. I only wanted to see if you were well. Hinata told us that she brought you here after some accident that had happened to you during your training and that you needed rest."

"I'm fine, thanks. I should go now." He got up and grabbed his shirt, silently thanking his teammate for not having taken his pants off back when he had just fallen asleep.

"Wouldn't you want to wait for Hinata's return?" asked Hikari a bit perplexedly, clearly baffled by his somewhat abrupt behaviour.

"Isn't she on a mission?" he asked absently, not really interested in the answer.

"She is, but she will be back soon, I believe. She went to retrieve Neji, you see. He has been attacked."

The Uchiha flinched, freezing midway as he was zipping his black shirt.

"Attacked?" He turned his head to look at the woman as she had finally drawn his attention. "By who?"

"We don't know yet, but… W-Well," she looked away and bit her lip, clasping her hands on her knees nervously. "C-Considering the current circumstances — I mean, the relationship you share with my eldest daughter, and the upcoming agreement between our clans — I suppose I can tell you…"

"Tell me what?" He frowned, grabbing his sword that had been carefully placed right next to the bed, not paying any attention to the rest of her sentence he had taken for pointless jabbering.

"Well—Neji has been ambushed by Orochimaru the Sannin who left him incapacitated. That's what our watch has reported to my husband. Hinata, as well as a few members of our clan under her command, were sent to retrieve him, and—"

"Is Orochimaru still there?" asked Sasuke way too quickly than he would want to in any other situation, but it really didn't matter to him right now. If the snake sannin was indeed somewhere near Konoha, it was likely the best possible opportunity to reach him without any unnecessary delays…

"N-No, he left the area the best of our eyes can cover about an hour ago. Hinata's team should be returning soon, I believe," said the woman after quickly glancing at the clock on the wall. "So, if you want to wait here—"

"I'll pass. There is something important I must do. Thank you for the food, but I'm not really hungry. I have to go."

"Uh… of course," the woman pursed her lips, giving him a worried look as Sasuke strode towards the door. "Is there anything you would like me to tell to Hinata and Neji as soon as they return?"

He stopped for a moment, glancing at her over his shoulder and eyeing Hikari briefly one last time.

"Tell her to come to my house tomorrow morning. She might be in danger, and I doubt she realizes this."

"In danger? What do you mean…?" asked the Hyūga, looking a bit frightened.

"I'm not sure yet. That's why I need her to come and see me as soon as she's free."

"Um—sure. I will definitely tell her. Please, take care, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn." He walked out of the room, only to quickly find himself lost in the completely unfamiliar mansion. From what he had seen behind the window, he was currently on the second floor, so he needed to find the stairs first of all...

As he walked across the mostly empty passages of the surprisingly huge wooden building, Sasuke completely ignored a few Hyūgas he encountered on the way to the exit, thinking about everything that had happened recently.

The fact that Orochimaru had attacked Neji was weird but at the same time hardly any surprising. Knowing the man's passion for various peculiar experiments that were often on the brink of sanity, the Uchiha could easily imagine that this version of the sannin might want to tinker with a Hyūga clan's member for whatever reason, be it something pragmatic or just out of sheer curiosity. However, the timing was strange… Almost too perfect, actually, considering that Sasuke had recently decided to look for his old teacher. Was this a sign that he had chosen the right direction? Or, perhaps, it was just a coincidence; something completely not related to him…?

"There you are," the deep voice ahead of the Uchiha made him stop, focusing his aloof gaze on the long-haired man in front of him. He could actually remember this person from his childhood to Sasuke's own surprise; this was the head of Hinata's clan…

"Hyūga Hiashi," said the boy, stopping and meeting the cold white eyes that were studying him without any sign of emotion.

"Your brother Itachi has been looking for you, child," said Hiashi, still not removing his gaze from Sasuke's face. "There is something important Fugaku-dono wants to discuss with you."

"Oh?" The younger ninja frowned, slightly confused by the unexpected news. His father in this timeline didn't think very high if him — Sasuke had understood this much so far… What could he possibly need to discuss with him now all of sudden?

"You should hurry up and leave our territory, Sasuke-kun. We're going to have to deal with some difficult matters as soon as my daughter returns, and with all due respect, I wouldn't want any outsiders within our territory while we are resolving our domestic issues."

"I was on my way home anyway." Sasuke shrugged, passing by the man and turning to the stairs as the voice of Hinata's father reached his back,

"Kindly come and see me tomorrow in the evening. It is imperative that we discuss the terms of your relationship with my daughter as soon as possible. I expect you to be fully aware of the conditions by that time, so the conversation should not take long."

Sasuke almost rolled his eyes, gritting his teeth in irritation. As if he didn't have enough problems at hand even without this overprotective daddy trying to be intimidating in a futile attempt to scare him away from his daughter the Uchiha didn't even really want… Well, maybe he sometimes did, but only in a certain way, though he would rather die than admit it even just to himself, of course.

As he walked out to the evening streets of the village, the ninja rushed towards his clan's district. Something told him that he shouldn't make his father wait, especially after the memory he had seen earlier in his sleep…

-~X~-

"Hinata, are you certain that there isn't anyone hostile around? They could've hidden somewhere; you never know how things are with Orochimaru and his followers, so my opinion is—"

"I'm not really interested in your opinion right now, Kō." Hinata scowled, ignoring her former caretaker's numerous worried gestures and sighs as they were moving through the forest towards their destination

She didn't know much about this Orochimaru and his thugs; however, the girl realized that her cousin wasn't someone who could be taken down easily. Hence she also realized, of course, that they most likely had no chance against a foe like the legendary rogue sannin if he was truly somewhere around. For someone as vile and clever as that man, to use Neji as a bait to lure her out of the village was not impossible at all — that's what Kō and the rest of her squad were probably thinking right now, and she knew it as well, understanding their feelings perfectly.

At the same time, understanding them didn't mean agreeing with them at all. If this was all a part of some complex plan, Orochimaru must have realized that there would be absolutely no guarantee that it would be her who would volunteer to go and find Neji. Moreover, knowing that Neji was a part of the Branch House, it would be much more likely if her father deployed a random chūnin team for that task…

No, she doubted that the sannin was after her. However, her inner premonition was telling her that something was far from alright in this situation. No, of course, even the ambush itself couldn't even remotely be considered an ordinary thing; and yet, she could already sense something very dark looming around as their squad was quickly approaching the place where Neji was lying on the ground. Fortunately, he was breathing steadily as she could see with her Byakugan; his chakra, however…

"Everyone, stop right here," she commanded to the four Hyūgas escorting her, which they did right away, looking at her expectantly. "There are only three hundred yards between us and the target. I'll be going alone from here," she stated firmly, which made Kō's eyes widen indignantly.

"But, Hinata—!"

"This is an order. Do as I said," she snapped, jumping forward but then stopping as the feminine voice of one of her cousins reached her ears:

"But, why, Hinata-sama? If this is a trap—"

"Then we would have no chance to get out of it if everyone just walks into this trap. But now that you are here, by keeping this distance, you'd be able to get away in the event of something going wrong. No matter what happens, do not approach the target's location. If someone captures me, or if anything generally urgent happens, make sure to immediately head back to Konoha and warn father and Hokage-sama."

She could see Kō frowning at her disapprovingly while the rest of them kept staring at the kunoichi with worry and confusion in their eyes. But then the man slowly nodded, apparently realizing that she had a point.

"Understood. Please, be careful."

"Worry for yourselves. I'm stronger than any of you," she smirked before turning around and jumping forward in the direction of the place where Neji was currently resting.

Her smile disappeared, however, just a few seconds later, replaced with a rather troubled expression. The chakra she could sense was very, very dark and cold. Hinata wasn't sure if she had ever felt anything quite like it… But what made it even worse, she couldn't figure out the source from where it was coming. One thing was pretty much clear — it was closing in on her… Or rather, she was getting closer to it herself!

A few seconds later she stepped on the ground next to the unconscious Neji, carefully lowering next to the teen in order to turn him on his back and to check his heartbeat.

That was when she gasped as soon as her fingers touched the skin on his neck; the girl instantly noticed the three black tomoe pattern that partly resembled Sharingan, shaping into a seal that was radiating the exact dire chakra she had felt before…

"H-Hinata-sama…?" Neji slowly opened his eyes, trying to focus his slightly dazed look on her face before wincing in pain and covering the seal with his palm. "Gah! This is—it hurts so much—!"

"Calm down! I'll help you out," she narrowed her eyes, trying to locate all the tenketsu leading to the seal on his heck in order to block the chakra flow and prevent the dark energy from expanding. There was no mistake about it — this was Orochimaru's work. She had seen the exact same seal on Mitarashi Anko's neck before, and that woman was known to be the sannin's latest student in Konoha…

Much to Hinata astonishment, Neji suddenly blocked her hand and pushed the kunoichi away, making her fall on her butt clumsily, and then roll back reflectively the next second. She then got up, looking at him with irritation and confusion from above.

"What was that, Neji?" she asked him calmly, watching as the teen slowly stood up on his slightly shaking legs, removing his hands off his neck and staring blankly in the space right in front of him, seemingly lost for a moment. The seal then took a burning red shade, the tomoe pattern slowly spreading out and covering the entire right half of his body...

"Why did you come here, Hinata-sama?" he asked slowly, still not looking at her. "Did Hiashi-sama order you to take me to prison?"

"To prison…?" she frowned, hesitating to take a battle stance even though her intuition was screaming that it would be the wisest thing to do right now — Neji clearly wasn't alright, and it was yet to be discovered whether it was the chakra affecting his mind, or possibly something else. "What are you talking about?"

"Please… Do not pretend to be ignorant. You know that your father wants to force me to do. He wants me to kill Sasuke-kun! Is that what you want as well? Pretty sure it's not. Then let me go!" he growled as the pattern of the seal kept spreading over his skin.

She gulped, slowly raising her hands in preparation for either attack or defence — she wasn't sure herself just yet.

"Kill Sasuke…? Neji, have you gone insane?" she asked calmly, though realizing that it would likely only provoke him even more — at least her cousin had just made it clear that he wasn't himself at the moment, which liberated her from the fear of accidentally hurting him should they actually clash. It was inevitable anyway, it seemed...

"Oh? So you don't know?" He chuckled in the gloomy amusement that was so much unlike the always kind and loyal Neji that the mere sound of it sent shivers down Hinata's spine. And yet she remained silent, deciding to hear him out. "Why do you think he lets you date Sasuke-kun?! Do you think he'd just let something like that slide if he weren't going to get rid of him at some point? Use your head, Hinata-sama! We need to leave the clan and the village, Hiashi-sama is the one who is insane…! He—"

His expression darkened as he saw her let out a sigh of relief, and then Hinata smiled, suppressing a laughter of relief.

"Oh, Neji… You got it all wrong! Father is not going to kill Sasuke because of that; his plan is to—"

"So he brainwashed you too! No… I'm not going to let that monster kill my sister and my best friend! I'll save both of you on my own!" Neji growled angrily, charging towards Hinata.

She gasped — he was moving a lot faster than usual. However, she wasn't the heir to their clan for nothing; as he was just a few inches away from her, she swirled around in Kaiten, sending the shinobi into the air. His back slammed into the thick bark of the nearest tree and he grunted, stretching his neck with a loud cracking sound.

"I guess you won't go down easily then… However, this new power…," he murmured, looking at his palm before clenching it into a fist and grinning devilishly, "With this, I'll be able to save you!"

She frowned, gritting her teeth.

"I don't need to be saved, Neji! Just listen to me, please…!" But of course, he wasn't going to listen; instead, he quickly weaved a few hand seals, and the next second Hinata saw a huge fireball rapidly approaching her. Except the fire wasn't quite usual; it had barely notable violet shade which instantly made the kunoichi realize that, perhaps, blocking it with Kaiten could be risky. That's why she jumped up to the nearest tree to dodge it… only to gasp the next moment as he was already there, launching his palm in the direction of her head.

"How—how can you move so fast?!" She panted, barely managing to block one vicious attack after another; there was absolutely no chance for her to do a counterattack yet, and his onslaught only kept intensifying with each new blow Neji delivered…

"You've always underestimated me, huh? Although, I guess this power also helps quite a bit." He laughed, as the edge of his palm finally reached its target, instantly breaking her collarbone and making Hinata yelp in pain.

"You're coming with me, whether you like it or not." He said calmly then, raising his hands. "Hakke Hyaku Nijūhasshō!"  With the brutal barrage of one hundred and twenty-eight gentle strikes, she could feel him quickly disabling all her tenketsu, which made Hinata's vision become blurry for a moment. She then fell on the branch of the tree, unable to move.

"I'm sorry, Hinata-sama… I didn't want to hurt you…" He suddenly winced, as though there was some sort of ongoing inner fight within him. "But, this is the only way…" He whispered and bowed down to grab her motionless body.

But then he gasped as a heavy invisible blow sent him flying off the tree, making him land heavily on the grass a few yards away. The ninja then jumped up, raising his head to look at Hinata who was slowly getting up, tottering a little, as though she was finding it hard to stand still.

"What the—" He closed his mouth, narrowing his eyes and quickly scanning her chakra system. And then he stared at his cousin in disbelief, taking a step back, and then another just in case as she slowly raised her head and looked directly at him. But, for her eyes… They didn't belong to the girl he had always known! Shining with bright purple light, much like the chakra that suddenly engulfed her palms, her normally white irises focused on his face, and then her features softened for a moment.

"Neji-nī-san…" He frowned. She had never used the suffix when addressing to him…! And the tone of her voice...

But then her expression changed again, and Hinata shook her head, looking at her hands, for the incredibly potent mysterious purple chakra hadn't gone anywhere. It was nothing like the chakra of Orochimaru's Cursed Seal; on the contrary, it felt calm, ancient and... almsot alien...!

"What is this…?" She murmured, eyeing herself up and down before returning her gaze to the ninja. "No matter… I'll ask Sasuke about it later. It's time to go home, Neji."

The only thing his reflexes allowed him to catch was Hinata's face that suddenly appeared right in front of him before her palm hit him in the chest really hard.

And then everything vanished.

-~X~-

He slowly entered the dimly lit room, hesitating for a second before coming further and approaching the desk of his father. This reality or the other one, Sasuke knew that Uchiha Fugaku hated it whenever someone interrupted his work. And it was clear that right now the man was very busy, seeing as he was quickly reading one scroll after another, sometimes signing them, and sometimes throwing them into the trashcan that was standing right next to him. For a brief moment, his son wondered absently if he was even allowed to enter this room without knocking; however, he realized that keeping his head that low was pretty much pointless now that a lot of people had already noticed that he had changed.

"Tō-san. I was told you'd been looking for me," he said simply, stopping right in front of the man who quickly put the scroll he was holding aside, eyeing his youngest son up and down critically.

"Yes... Sasuke. Take a seat, we need to talk."

"I'll stand, thanks."

Fugaku peered at him gloomily for a few seconds, to which Sasuke responded with a deadpan look, but then the man yielded, slowly nodding.

"Suit yourself. I've received reports concerning your recent feats, and... I must say that your progress is quite impressive. It made me feel very proud of you, my son."

Sasuke's eyebrow cocked sceptically. That certainly wasn't something he would expect to hear from Fugaku, especially considering what he now remembered from his counterpart's past...

"I'm glad to serve the clan." He lowered his head in a humble manner, sincerely unsure what to think right now, and thus feeling a bit confused as well as unusually sentimental. Even in his own childhood, he had always aspired to receive a commendation from his father... And although that life felt more like a very distant dream at this point, it still made him feel the strange kind of closure he had always lacked until now. Strangely, it made him feel the long-forgotten warmth and happiness.

And why did he even care...? This wasn't his life anyway.

"The way you have advanced in all senses is indeed very noticeable!" said Fugaku, sounding reassured and happy as well now, which made Sasuke look at him with a bit of curiosity. "Which is why I've summoned you today, son. There is something important you can do for our clan... And although normally, I could simply order you to do this... As a sign of appreciation for your effort, I will ask you to do this."

"To do what?" said the teen, finally feeling excited. Back in his childhood, he had always dreamed of eventually receiving very important missions from his father himself... Dreamed of serving the Uchiha by dispatching its foes and protecting its allies. And right now, such mission would also come very handy, for he needed an official permission to get away from the village which was almost impossible to get in the state of preparation for the upcoming war...

"You see, me and Itachi... Right after you had almost died, we discussed your possible future. He told me that until then, you had always lacked a purpose... I weighted out his words, and I figured that he was right. More so, it was mostly my fault. I've never paid you enough attention, and I've never let you prove yourself worthy to be my son either. This is going to change now."

"I'm ready to serve," instantly said Sasuke, trying not to sound too excited.

"Good," Fugaku nodded, suddenly looking nervous which was very unlike him, so it gave the younger ninja the slightest note of suspicion of something not being entirely right. But, he preferred to ignore it for now. "Good," repeated his father, locking his fingers in front of him. "You see, years ago, back when our clan was still oppressed by Konoha, we were seriously considering arranging a revolution. We... The people of our clan wanted me to overthrow the Third, and to take over the village. And although I've never really chased power per say, I'm afraid that, had Minato not become Hokage, I would've been forced to do this for the sake of our clan."

Sasuke remained silent, listening to him with a completely impassive expression, although his heart was actually insanely racing. He was finally hearing their side of the story...

"Eventually, because of my friendship with Minato, things have gotten settled, and the Uchiha name accended both in this village and worldwide too. Nowadays people know about us not only because of our great ancestor Madara, but also because of what we are today. However... There is another side of the coin, I'm afraid." He sighed and got up, slowly walking towards the window and locking his hands behind his back. "Not long ago — a few weeks prior to that mission that almost killed you — we received secret intel from our spies in the other clan... The Hyūga. Because of how stubborn Hiashi is, they're facing exactly the same situation nowadays as we faced back in the years. And although he believes himself to be way too loyal, proud and noble to pull a coup the way we wanted to, Minato has his doubts on this part."

Sasuke frowned, still not saying anything. So Hinata's clan was ostracised in this reality... That was unexpected, but not very surprising considering that the Uchiha were in Hokage's favour here, and Hyūgas couldn't possibly like this fact.

"In short, Hiashi chose a completely different way to solve this problem. He approached me about it earlier the other day, and I took some time to think it through, and now... Basically, we need your help."

"My help?" The boy blinked, slightly baffled by his father's words. How on earth could he, of all people, help this situation...?

"Yes... You see, Hiashi told me that he wants to prove their loyalty to Konoha at all costs. He wants to earn Minato's trust, and he is ready to go very far for that sake; so far that he would even accept our dominance in the village and support the name of Uchiha from now on."

"In exchange for what?" asked Sasuke sharply, which made Fugaku smirk.

"You've become shrewd, my boy. That is a good thing. You're right, of course; there is a catch for him in this, and I think I can see what he's aiming for. He intends to use us to get close to Minato and to reclaim their power and influence within the village. However, I won't let him do this. And in order to prevent him from outplaying everyone, I need you to do us all a favour.

"He... basically, he offered his daughter — your teammate Hinata, the heir to their clan — as a bride for any member of our clan. By arranging this marriage, he clearly expects us to choose Itachi as a match for her, so that the union of two heirs would serve as a symbol of the new alliance between our clans. However, he didn't specify a name... And that's why I want you to be the one to take the girl."

"Me...?" Sasuke paled, swallowing hard. This was... an unexpected turn of events to say the least. Not only he would have to play the role of her boyfriend, but also marrying her... Wouldn't that be just too far, though?

But then he realized that there was no reason to object right away. Aside from his personal disdain for the idea of letting any annoying girl permanently and legitimately getting under his feet, he saw no reason why he couldn't do this for the sake of his clan. Besides, if played right, it would earn him the trust of the Fourth also... And ultimately let him become Hokage much sooner than he had originally planned.

That's why he decided not refuse right away; instead, he slowly asked:

"What exactly are you planning to achieve by setting us together?"

Fugaku smirked.

"Oh, quite a lot of things at the same time. Not only we would put the Hyūga clan into their place for good by labelling their heir unworthy of marrying ours; but also, through your hands, we'll obtain a significant influence within their clan, and thus render them powerless in terms of a possible coup if they ever decide to start one. Because this union would give the Uchiha a legitimate right to watch and control them at any time. Not to mention that you'd be able to spy for our sake. Besides... As far as I know, you're pretty close with this girl anyway, aren't you? It's about time you stop wasting your time on silly parties and affairs and do something for the sake of yourself and your family, wouldn't you agree?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger and looked away. As if he had ever wasted his time on things like that...

"Do you think you'd be able to control the girl if she becomes your wife?"

He looked into Fugaku's eyes stubbornly and nodded, barely maintaining a calm and emotionless expression.

"She's just a girl. An heir or not, she's nothing special."

The older man smirked again and nodded approvingly.

"So... I take it you agree?"

As if I have anything to lose... Eventually, I'll leave this world anyway, thought the boy darkly before nodding once again.

"Yeah. I agree."

A/N

Hakke Hyaku Nijūhasshō — also known as the Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms is a technique of the Gentle Fist fighting style. It is essentially a doubled version of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms performed at twice the speed. This technique is used to close off the flow of chakra through one hundred and twenty-eight chakra points of an opponent's Chakra Pathway System. This eliminates their ability to use chakra for quite some time and makes it difficult for them to move. Alternatively, it can be used to hit a great number of targets very quickly.

Chapter Text

Chapter 18. Behind the Mirror

"A new member has arrived," the deep voice announced, and everyone's gaze was now focused on him.

Without the slightest sign of hesitation or fear, Itachi entered the barely lit underground hall, followed tightly by Konan who appeared to be equally as calm. In truth, it actually amazed him how she was able to conceal her fear, because he knew for a fact that she dreaded at the mere thought of their leader possibly finding out about the connection the two of them now shared. He would regret killing her if it would ever come to that. This woman was indeed a great kunoichi…

Much like the rest of them, he instantly realized as he eyed the half-circle of motley, colourful ninjas who had apparently gathered to welcome him.

The closest to Itachi, standing to the left of him was, without a doubt, Deidara from Iwagakure. The young shinobi who had almost killed his brother back in spring… The blond smirked at him arrogantly as their eyes met for a second, Itachi's crimson irises not giving away anything at all, naturally. However, If only he could act freely right now... this fool would already be dead by now.

Next to Deidara was standing someone he couldn't recognize - the red-haired man, although, by the sign on his forehead protector, his origins definitely lay in Sunagakure.

And then there was another one the Uchiha was quite familiar with. The paper-white, unnaturally, almost ill-looking skin; the long, dirty black hair, and finally the greedy, bright-yellow eyes resembling those of a viper, and were now peering at him curiously. Orochimaru the Sannin… It wasn't surprising to Itachi that this man had ended in Akatsuki. Genius or not, he was quite a scoundrel...

The fourth member was, again, someone unfamiliar, and also rather creepy-looking. His body appeared to be split in half, one being white as snow, just like Orochimaru's, and the face looking relatively normal. The other half, however, was abyssal black, and its part of the face lacked a nose, a mouth, and pretty much everything else except for the round-shaped golden-coloured eye that didn't have a pupil.

In the middle part of the half-circle, the leader of the organization himself was standing. His messy bright-orange hair could instantly draw anyone's attention, somehow reminding Itachi of his blond student; however, the man's eyes were what made everyone and everything else pale in his presence, at least to those who knew what exactly they were. And Itachi was aware of the ancient legend behind this mythic dōjustu. Thanks to Konan, he had also already known that this man possessed these eyes, so the Uchiha managed to remain calm, pretending not to have recognized it. Still, it was still quite shocking to see it in person… The Rinnegan. Was Sharingan any match for it...?

His eyes then slid do the next person, and for the first time there Itachi frowned the tiniest bit. As far as he was aware, this woman's name was Yugito; she was one of two jinchūriki of Kumogakure. And now that she was clearly a member of Akatsuki, this was probably the most disturbing news. His blue-haired lover had also told him that this organization intended to gather every jinchūriki in order to claim the power of the tailed beasts they possessed. The highest priority of Akatsuki was to talk the perfect ones - the hosts who controlled the power of their beasts - into joining the organization if possible. Those who disagreed, or didn't have such ability, were to be killed, and the bijū were to be extracted and captured.

According to the intel both Konoha and Akatsuki possessed, there were only four perfect hosts in their world at the moment, the most famous one being Namikaze Naruto. Then there was some person named Utakata who was the keeper of the six-tailed beast and was also rumoured to be incredibly powerful. The next one was Killer Bee, the jinchūriki of Hachibi from Kumogakure - the current Raigake's younger brother. And finally… Nii Yugito, the woman who was now looking at him grimly, as though suspecting what exactly he was thinking right now.

And she would be definitely correct, because to say that this was bad would be a huge understatement. Whatever had caused her to join this organization was already irrelevant, but the possible consequences of this could be catastrophic… Even a single Tailed Beast was enough to destroy any hidden village that didn't have their own jinchūriki. And considering that these people were also some of the strongest ninjas alive… They already possessed enough power to obliterate a good half of the shinobi world!

This was an impossibly serious threat that could not be ignored any further. They had all strongly underestimated this mysterious group of terrorists until now. And Itachi knew that he totally had to take care of it as soon as possible... for the sake of the entire world.

"My, isn't that the little Uchiha from Konoha? I remember you as a helpless toddler… Itachi. You sure have grown up." Orochimaru chuckled, narrowing his eyes at him as though he was attempting to see through the Uchiha's impassive mask.

"It's an honour, Orochimaru-san," replied the man courtly and neutrally, not looking directly at him.

"Leave the sentiments for the later, you two. Now that we finally have enough members, even though we have yet to recruit a few more, I reckon it's about time to step out of shadows and make our first major move. Itachi, Konan," the metallic-purple eyes stared met the bloody red ones, "Your task is to capture Ichibi. His host is vastly known to be quite unstable, and according to the information Sasori provided us with, the village is not very secure. Infiltrating it shouldn't be a problem for the two of you considering your abilities that suit for diversions perfectly. Capture the boy as soon as possible, and make sure to avoid getting seen by anybody if it can be helped. The further we can delay any public attention from the Five Great Countries, the better."

"Understood," said Itachi, wrapping the new coat around himself more tightly.

"One more thing," said the leader, his eyes remaining just as lifeless and indifferent as before, "Originally I expected you to bring us Namikaze Naruto from your home village. However, we've received a message from one of our spies, and apparently, Kyūbi had recently been taken by Iwagakure. While it, unfortunately, breaks the course of our initial plan by preventing us from claiming him for an uncertain period of time, you're still expected to bring him here with the first opportunity you get. I hope this is clear - he is your responsibility."

"Of course." The Uchiha nodded humbly while almost smirking inwardly. Whether the Fourth had somehow miraculously seen through their plan or not, the timing of making Naruto a bait for the upcoming war just couldn't have been more perfect. Now it also gave him a lot of time to prove his loyalty to Akatsuki without having to bring his student in front of these people. And by the time Naruto would be set free, Akatsuki, as well as the rest of the world, would already have found out the forbidden secret truth about Kyubi only a few in their world knew for now…

In other words, Naruto was perfectly safe. And nothing could be more satisfying to Itachi in this situation. He totally had the upper hand, and none of them even realized this yet.

"Then you should move out at once. The meeting is over; everyone has their orders. Dismissed."

A few minutes later, as he and Konan went out of the hideout and walked into the glade that surrounded the deep ravine, the woman uttered quietly from behind his back:

"You knew about it."

He didn't turn around and neither did he say anything in return, keeping striding forward soundlessly.

"You knew that Naruto was going to be taken by Iwa," she continued. "That's why you agreed to join… isn't that so?"

"If you're implying that I lied to you about this, then you are wrong. Whether I knew it or not has nothing to do with my reasons for joining Akatsuki. Everything I told you on this matter was true."

"And yet you fooled me…"

"You don't know that," he reasoned calmly, still not turning around, even though he could hear that she stopped. Was she going to attack him now...? That would be quite disappointing because he had already grown to admire her calm temper.

"Are you going to try to stop us? Are you trying to... use me?"

He finally stopped as well, slowly shifting his head to the left and glancing at her over his shoulder. She was right, of course. This was exactly what he was doing...

"No. I will not try to prevent you from taking Naruto when the time comes and if you still want him by that moment. You may consider that an oath. However, I also have my own plans for him, which is why I don't mind this opportunity to buy myself some time in order to use the boy when I need him."

"Then what do you need him for?" She frowned, peering at him searchingly. He could see that she really wanted to believe him and that she was currently desperately trying to persuade herself in his good intentions. To be fair, he hadn't lied; there would be no reason to protect Naruto from them as soon as everyone would find out the truth about the boy. And that was going to happen soon enough anyway… maybe even sooner than he thought.

"Naruto would not agree to join Akatsuki willingly, and a jinchūriki has to die in order for their tailed beast to be freed," he explained coldly, "His life is very valuable to my younger brother. If he dies right now, Sasuke would most likely awaken Mangekyō Sharingan, and it is too early yet for that to happen. I will need his eyes later… when mine eventually lose their light." He turned away, striding forward again. "Let's go. Getting to Suna will take some time, we should hurry up."

To his slight relief, a few moments later, his ears caught the barely notable sound of her footsteps as Konan followed him, apparently having bought his story after all.

Itachi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Please, be safe, little brother. I will protect you no matter what…

-~X~-

"Kyūbi."

Reluctantly waking up from his peaceful nape and opening his blue eyes, Naruto slowly raised his head, meeting the gaze of the young black-haired woman who was standing at the entrance of his cell, eyeing him jovially. There was almost no ill feelings in her expression... almost.

"Are you talking to me, mam?" He asked politely, deciding not to provoke her for now. He had yet to figure out how much time has passed since the moment he had been captured by Iwa's troops on his way to Kumogakure... A week, maybe?

His eyes slid do the clock on the wall of the passage of the underground prison, and he quickly searched for the number that would tell him what was the date today. Ah, there it is...

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really. Though I'm kinda thirsty," he murmured, quickly making calculations in his head. Was it the right time yet, or not...?

"Eh… I guess I can give you some water." She reached out to her pocket and took out a small flask.

"Nah, that's not what I mean."

She blinked at him a few times, and the Namikaze grinned mockingly in return, suppressing the desire to wince as the tight handcuffs that were covered with various seals were roughly tearing the skin on his wrists with every slightest movement he made. They sure enjoyed torturing him even when it came to such small things...

"I hope you do realize that I can break every single bone in your body right now, and no one would blame me for it," the kunoichi smirked at him darkly, taking a step towards the teen.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Though I'm not really into that stuff, to be honest. You know, to be dominated and all that. Still, if the lady wants it, who am I to disagree?"

She suddenly laughed, shaking her head.

"You're such a moron. You father must be very ashamed of you, Namikaze Naruto."

He looked into her eyes and his lips curved into a tiny smile.

"Well, now that you mention it, I suppose your daddy is quite proud of you, whoever the hell he is…"

"He was killed by the Fourth Hokage when I was five," she replied coldly, the previous note of amusement instantly disappearing from her voice.

"Ow-w," Naruto frowned, lowering his eyes. "What an awkward situation… I don't know what to say. I'm still thirsty, though. Will you take care of that?"

"Why are you being so cocky?" she frowned at him, beginning to slowly circle around the boy while at the same time unhurriedly approaching the captive ninja. "If you're trying to taunt me so that I would put you out of your misery, that's a weak attempt. Everyone who has the access to your cell is aware that as a jinchūriki, your death could lead to a disaster caused by your bijū."

"Well, if you say so." He shrugged indifferently, smiling to himself without looking at her. Yes, the time was definitely right. Now all he had to do was to anger her a little more, and then he would tell her...

The woman gritted her teeth, suddenly rushing to him and gripping his neck tightly, forcing the Namikaze to meet her burning gaze.

"Stop fucking with me, you little shit! I hate you! I so wish I could actually be the one to kill you in the end…!" Her face was now just an inch away from his as she hissed venomously, "We all hate you and your goddamn father so much that you can't even imagine...! And I can see that you're just as arrogant and damnable as him…! How does it feel, huh? How does it feel, knowing that your home is going to be destroyed soon? That everyone you love will die?!" She punched him in the face, breaking his nose and sending him on the cold floor of the cell.

Naruto gasped in pain, barely managing to open his left eye and look at the raging kunoichi, this time rather compassionately than mockingly, and muttered:

"I… well, I guess it would be pointless… to say that I'm sorry for whatever losses you have suffered… because of my dad and my village. But... I'll have you know there is one thing you're definitely wrong about."

She narrowed her eyes at him, visibly trying to calm down yet also clearly failing at that.

"Oh? And what is that, pray tell?"

He then smiled, more to himself than to her.

"You guys will lose. My dad will never choose me over the village, and there is no way you can beat him, not to mention the Uchiha clan. I'm not even gonna mention the Hyūga, Senju, Uzumaki and the rest."

She smirked at his words, though he noticed the slight nervousness appearing in her gaze as she blurted out,

"Right now our army is already a day of walking away from Konoha, and they don't have a way to detect their presence! Without their jinchūriki, they won't be able to stand against an army as huge as we sent there without too many casualties, and do you think your fucking white knight of a daddy would allow this to happen? We'll take the entire village hostage, and combined with you, little piece of shit, also being in our hands, he won't have any other choice but to agree to our terms…! You people will become our rightful slaves, and this is how it ends!"

The boy shrugged, changing his position very slowly, almost lazily leaning his back on the wall of the tiny room. And then he said something that very predictably made her eyes widen in horror, much to his amusement as he had been waiting for this moment for days:

"Well, Kurotsuchi-chan…," he gave her a dead serious glare, showing her that he had finally decided to stop playing with her. "I hate to break it down on you, but if you guys planned this all based on the assumption that there is no jinchūriki in the village right now… I'm afraid you're all deep in shit, especially if they are really that far away from here already. Because that would mean that it's too late by now to send them a message about what I've just said, isn't it?"

Kurotsuchi paled and stuttered:

"Y-You-you're bluffing…!" she almost screamed, quickly getting up and stepping backwards.

Naruto chuckled, shaking his head.

"Eh, you think so? Then let's hope you're right, because, you know, mothers can be really scary, especially when they find out that someone has hurt their only son. Knowing her, I don't envy your army, that's for sure."

-~X~-

"Sasuke!" Hinata quickly ran down the stairs the moment she had noticed the raven-haired ninja who walked in the estate with the typical displeased expression he had whenever he was surrounded by the people of her clan. Surprisingly, this trait was another one both his counterpart and this version of the Uchiha shared. "You've come just in time! Come on, I need you to see something!" she blurted out, grabbing his hand and pulling the boy upstairs.

"See what, exactly?" muttered the Uchiha grimly, frowning at the girl's back, though not breaking out of her grip - most probably because he was too absorbed by his thought on the most recent events rather than due to not minding her doing this to him.

"It's Neji! We believe he's been attacked by Orochimaru the Sannin. Do you know anything about him? That man has put some strange seal on Neji's neck; have you ever… uh, you know… read or heard about it?" she asked a bit lamely, apparently too nervous and thrilled to be able to come up with a better way to ask him about his past experience from the other world now that there were too many eager ears around.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked away while they were walking across the long corridor on the second floor of the massive building. Of course, if that seal was exactly what he thought it was, then Sasuke was most likely more than just familiar with that seal. Well, at least if Orochimaru of this world was anything like his counterpart from his memories. However, the big question there was why had he done this to Neji, and not to an Uchiha. Was he after Byakugan now? But if so, then... why, all of sudden? The Sannin he had once known had never shown any interest in the Hyūga clan and its dōjutsu...

"No, never heard of it. I can check him up with my Sharingan if you want. Maybe I'd see something you guys can't."

"Yes, that's exactly what I want you to do!" she replied impatiently as they came to the door she opened abruptly the next second, revealing a room full of her clansmen standing around the simple wooden bed.

"Hinata… Why did you bring him here?" asked Hiashi, eyeing the Uchiha with a slightly scornful expression.

"Because Neji is his friend! He deserves to know what's going on!" snapped the man's daughter, pulling Sasuke toward her cousin's bed stubbornly.

Ignoring the clearly displeased, and in some cases almost hateful gazes directed at him, Sasuke slowly stepped closer to the unconscious half-naked teen. The seal was indeed there, covering a good half of his body already, and just as the Uchiha had suspected, this was exactly the same one he had once possessed himself. It was still fresh, and Neji's body had yet to grow accustomed to the dire chakra that was fighting his own right now. He knew for a fact that it was hurting him badly, forcing his body to rapidly adapt to its aggressive presence. The Uchiha could still remember this pain... It was nothing special to him, especially comparing to everything he had later been through, but to this Hyuūga… it was probably almost unbearable at the moment, to the point that he had even blacked out.

However, there was one thing Sasuke could do to help him. The same thing Kakashi had done to him long ago, on the arena in the Forest of Death during the chūnin exam… Yes. The seal had to be suppressed with another seal as soon as possible.

He activated his Sharingan, quickly scanning through the Hyūga's chakra system. All in all, the reaction was similar to how his own body had been poisoned by this intoxicating power for the very first time. Luckily, Neji and his brethren had nothing to worry about… at least for now.

"Hinata," he said quietly, but somewhat abruptly. "Make everyone leave this room."

"What did you say?!" the tall man with short black hair who was standing next to his now betrothed gasped. "Who do you think you are, Uchiha? You are-"

"Do as he said, Kō," said Hinata firmly, interrupting him to the man's further indignation. "Everyone out, now!" She looked around the room and frowned, noticing that some of them were hesitating.

"You have your orders. Leave. I shall stay," said Hiashi, instantly making the rest of their clansmen storm out of the room, and thus showing who had the real authority among them. The man then came close to the bed at the same time as Hinata did, and looked at his daughter and Sasuke very attentively.

The boy gritted his teeth in annoyance, although realizing that getting rid of the old man would probably prove to be impossible in this situation. It was truly unfortunate… His initial plan to simply use Preta Path to remove the seal and take Orochimaru's chakra all for himself now seemed unreal to execute, and the perfect opportunity to do this while Neji wouldn't see or feel anything was now ruined. He would probably have to do it later anyway, but then again… Would it even be possible without telling his friend the truth about himself and his abilities...?

He glanced at Hiashi and almost goaned. What a nuisance...

Besides, now that he was going to watch them, he had to choose words very carefully… and hope that Hinata would be able to improvise good enough to come up with something to wash Hiashi's possible suspicion away. And also that the rest of them were obedient enough not to peek, because what he absolutely didn't need right now was for someone to start spreading rumours concerning his mastery with techniques he wasn't even supposed to know in the first place!

"What's going on with him, Sasuke? Can you tell?" asked the girl carefully, touching his hand with her fingers briefly, as if wanting to take his hand, but this time he didn't allow her to keep the physical contact as he stretched his hands and fingers, preparing to use the complex jutsu.

"This Cursed Mark is the container of Inton based natural chakra. Its original owner, be it Orochimaru or not, is not the reason why Neji's body is going through so much stress. As someone who has never adapted to natural energy to begin with, he's doing his best not to let it consume him. It can be helped, though…" He raised his hands and quickly weaved a long series of seemingly countless seals.

Hare - Snake - Horse - Ram - Bird - Tiger…

"Fūja Hōin!"

The bizarre black pattern covering Neji's body began to diminish, slowly crawling back into the round-shaped seal Sasuke had just applied on top of the Curse Mark exactly the same way his former teacher had done for him many years ago. And as the seal's activity finally stopped, the Hyūga's body also visibly relaxed, and he began breathing steadily and calmly, almost looking normally asleep.

"He'll stay unconscious for some time, but he's out of danger… for now anyway. Orochimaru will definitely come after him, it's a matter of time," said Sasuke thoughtfully more to himself than to Hinata and her father.

"You seem to know quite a lot about Orochimaru and his jutsu…, " murmured Hiashi, instantly making the boy snap out of his thought and throw the man a pretentiously cocky glance of the red eyes.

"Never underestimate the Uchiha," he said, not even trying to sound arrogant and prideful as it came by naturally. After all, he truly considered them all far inferior to himself and to the rest of his clan…

"I shall make sure not to," Hiashi nodded peacefully, not reacting to Sasuke's behaviour at all. "Now, back to our business... I believe Fugaku-dono has informed you about the conditions of our… agreement."

Sasuke frowned, noticing the confused expression on Hinata's face with the corner of his eye. So she didn't know…? That was... unexpected.

"Yeah," replied the boy casually, meeting Hiashi's cold, emotionless gaze.

"Have you agreed?"

"Yeah. A marriage is not a problem for me," echoed Sasuke, looking at him equally as impassively.

"W-What the hell?!" Hinata gasped, her eyes widening as she stared at Sasuke in disbelief. "Marriage…? With who? Otō-sama, what is going on?!"

Hiashi sighed, closing his eyes.

"Calm down, daughter. Do not ashame us in front of our guest. This is a mutual agreement between the Hyūga and the Uchiha. You and Sasuke-kun here are now betrothed, for we have decided that it would benefit both our clans significantly. Besides, are you going to tell me that you are against this scenario? Knowing that you two are already romantically involved, I never expected this to be a problem for you."

She opened and closed her mouth mutely a few times, taking a step backwards, and then another. The girl just kept staring at both of them, looking completely dumbfounded and shocked… but, there was something else.

It was very hard to notice, which is why neither Sasuke nor Hiashi paid any attention to it, but her eyes suddenly flashed with purple ever so slightly, and then she fainted, falling with a deaf thud on the carpet under her feet.

-~X~-

Hinata slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times in a futile attempt to see anything as there was not a single source of light around. At first, it even seemed to her as though she had lost her eyesight, which scared her quite a lot. But then the girl let out a sigh of relief. She clearly recognized the silhouette of her hand as she raised it up and clenched her fingers a few times, making sure that she wasn't blind after all.

The kunoichi then raised her head, looking around herself. The place was so dark… But the darkness was pleasant, almost welcoming, as though she had just returned to her room after a very long absence, and had yet to lit it up.

Where am I...?

She then noticed a strange glitter in the dark just a few yards ahead of her.

What was that...?

The girl squinted, slowly striding forward. And then she noticed it again a second later, this time a lot more distinct...!

She raised her hand, trying to touch it with her fingers, suddenly realizing that there was a cold, invisible barrier in front of her. It actually resembled a glass... A cracked glass that was preventing her from going any farther. She could even see the phantom reflection of herself, standing there in the same posture...

Except her eyes were not the same as hers! And also, her expression... She was scared! But, Hinata didn't feel scared at all...! Just what was happening to her?

Her reflection suddenly stepped back, embracing itself and falling on its knees, panting heavily. Was she in pain...? No, she certainly felt normal...! Almost good...

But then the phantom suddenly let out a mute cry, as if gathering all the strength it had remaining, and hit the glass with her palm from the other side, sending the already familiar purple chakra through the breach in the surface of the invisible glass. As the incredible energy was about to reach her body, Hinata closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands defensively...

And then she woke up.

A/N

Fūja Hōin - also known as Evil Sealing Method; this technique is used to suppress technique-induced marks on a person. Marks of weaker power can be completely suppressed by this technique alone, but for marks of higher power, like Sasuke Uchiha's Cursed Seal of Heaven, it will cause the seal's power to become dependent on the recipient's own willpower to some extent, especially if the sealer is not experienced enough to strengthen the seal with his own power. It is also capable of holding back certain kekkei genkai, such as that of the Kurama clan as seen when Kurenai tried to do this.

There is also counter-technique to this, named Kaija Hōin - it is used to release technique-induced seals on a person rather than sealing it. Compared to the Evil Sealing Method, the Evil Releasing Method requires far less preparation. Sasuke Uchiha used this technique to revive Orochimaru, mixing a piece of Kabuto Yakushi's modified flesh to create a body for the consciousness of Orochimaru that was left in Anko Mitarashi's Cursed Seal of Heaven.