Mari Makinami
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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.
List of chapters::
"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!"
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 **** 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.
"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.
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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 **** 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.
