First Naruto fic, other than cross-overs. Got inspired to write it when I read a certain book. I couldn't help but characterize the hero in that book with Sasuke. So, here is Sasuke's version. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto or the image.

Prologue: Sasuke was sent on a mission to Mist village by Kakashi to investigate the strange activities in that area. However, he did not expect meeting up with his friend's long lost sister and bringing her back to his brother for a possible reunion. But, is that all he is going to do?

The line connecting the earth and the trees was a deep green, and the roots of mossy trees and vines coiled around thick trucks in circles. The tree in the sunlight growing towards the heavens was likely hundreds of years old, and yet, its tips were sprouting new buds. White Mist began gathering as sun began to set.

A person looked down upon the tree from above it. From behind long bangs peeked his left eye's supreme Rinnegan. The right pupil's ordinary glance carried the Uchiha's bloodline limit, sharingan.

This person was Uchiha Sasuke.

"….."

From the top of the large tree Sasuke gazed at the vast landscape stretched in all directions before him. After the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Sasuke had returned home again to Konoha, but left shortly after for a second time. He was travelling the world.

Sasuke's family and clan had been painfully stolen away from him. He was left alone to try to endure through the strong poison of hatred. But he was led astray, searching through a path of darkness. He lost sight of the important things. Only after a very long time did Sasuke finally realize this.

He also sensed the world slowly changing. The Fifth Hokage sought action to extinguish the war, and public order gradually had utilized their powers to defend their own countries and invade foreign lands, and now, with the development of machinery that could convey information in a matter of seconds, improved medical institutions and technology, and good relations with other countries, chakra could be utilized for growth in various fields. The world was facing a time of new growth. For this reason, the problem could not be ignored.

–Otsutsuki Kaguya.

When the fighting was supposed to be finished in the world, why was it necessary that people be placed under the Infinite Tsukiyomi to fight again?

Those who hold power brutally seek to dominate those controlled by fear is one possibility that comes to mind, but there were no clear answers. To clear away the doubt, Sasuke was following Kaguya's footsteps. But she was the mother of chakra, and even with his sharingan, her footsteps were not easy to follow.

"…hn?"

He blinked as he sensed a person approaching from the north east direction. He crouched and hid in a thicket into the side of a steep slope, letting the white mist from the land of mist do its part. He blinked when a girl emerged from the roots.

He hid here silently, listening to the din of her clumsy approach and watched her stumble and limp before she snapped her head in a direction towards what swept towards them. A hollowed out screech. Probably some creatures or ninja hounds used to track scent and flesh.

She was delicately built, probably no older than he was judging by the way her eyes scanned the area. He would have thought her to be barely past her first bleed were it not for the huge bulge in the chest area underneath her jacket.

Her hair was the one that caught his interest immediately. That color of shade, that blonde hair was uncanny. It was the same color as his friend, Uzumaki Naruto, the hero of the forth ninja war.

Her blue eyes turned towards his direction like she was able to tell someone was watching her. Interesting. Her pale face was dirty and she might have been out here for a while, struggling to escape whatever that hunted her.

And the knife she carried shook enough to suggest him that she likely had no idea what to do with it. Definitely not a shinobi.

But, that girl was somehow able to sense him. Maybe, she had the potential of a sensory ninja. She continued scanning the area, before a soft sigh escaped from her lips, and continued limping. Away from him.

He had entered this mist area because Kakashi informed him of some rogue ninjas banding together, probably for something evil and it was definitely bad news. Some likely experimentation by them. And, they were hunting this girl for whatever reason.

Wasn't this convenient. If he trailed her long enough, he would probably come into contact with this rogue shinobi. He leaped from his position, not even a twig rustling at his passing. The female version of his friend limped up to a stream, that knife set aside as she leaned forward to quench her thirst.

That knife probably won't help her anyway.

..

..

Uzumaki Naruko had been running for the past few hours. Mist covered the entire area, making it difficult for her to judge the direction to run.

It had been days since a kind old man had rescued her and offered her to head west towards the land of fire. That old man was weird, as he seemed to use rubber for his jutsu and stated something about knowing her brother. He ordered her to find her brother, Uzumaki Naruto who remained alive after all these years.

And, then she wanted to stay in Konoha, hoping to meet the hero of the forth ninja war and offer her services to him and his village, whichever that was. She did not care.

All her life, she was imprisoned in some dungeons of some town that didn't have any connection what-so-ever with the outer world. Her final moments there played in her head, where the rubber pops as she called him, released her and urged her to head west towards Land of fire.

She could only hope he still remained alive, which he probably was as he looked strong enough to tackle on five shinobi. Even with mist everywhere, she learnt that her precious commodity water was not so easily found.

She learnt it the hard way when she attempted to drink some stagnated water from a pond, fever climbing in few hours and shivering due to the cold nights. She wept silently during those days, thinking that she would die alone in this endless forest, and no one, not even her brother would know.

But, surprisingly, she recovered from the fever. Her bloodline might have played a part as she heard that the Uzumaki's were tenacious beings. Wondered if it was a gift or a curse to prevent her from dying all these years.

She swung her back pack and picked up the canteen. She had run out of food days ago and had to scavenge whatever berries she could find. She still wasn't desperate enough to hunt anything that moved. She ate her food in much earnest, licking every last part of it.

She did not trust herself to go to a nearby village with the money that the rubber pops trusted her with, or towards any travelers' fire she spotted this past week.

No. She had seen enough mercy of the men. She would never forget how those rogue shinobi leered at her naked self, why her self-proclaimed uncle sold her to this town for money.

As she made her way out the roots of a bush, two steps to the forward, she heard a loud screech fill the air. Probably the experiments that haunted her days and nights in that town. If she lingered here for too long, they would probably find her. She took out a knife as she tried to remember the person who gave it to her. Some mysterious guy dressed in a black cloak with red cloud patterns was gracious enough to gift her.

But, she had no idea on how to use it. Nor, that dark haired guy had advised her. What was she supposed to do with it when her opponents were some highly skilled shinobi and probably few experimented animals.

As she strode forward, dragging her injured leg with her wrenching at her ankles, she sensed someone else watching her. Like all her senses seemed to go off.

Not those weird animals. Not those rogue shinobi. But, someone else was watching her.

Someone was following her. She walked forward through the uneven land, and moved forward until she heard water fluttering. Probably a stream was near.

She moved towards the area, and her eyes shone at her findings. She knew that it was impossible to shake whatever that was hunting her, as she herself was lost.

With no track of the sun in the dense forest and the mist making it difficult, she had no choice but to continue along the path she was going. She dropped the knife in the grass beside, and leaned forward to quench her thirst, drinking quickly and swiftly. The water filler her belly with the gaps of berries and root.

Then, she opened her canteen and refilled it. Her fingers were shaking uncontrollably, making her drop the cap into the stream.

As soon as she leaned forward to pat the rocks and the slender weeds in the stream, a cold object brushed past her skin. She blinked, immediately yanking to the side as she closed the cap hurriedly.

That was a kunai. Had they already found her?

She blindly clenched her canteen as she ran towards a tree. She stood with her back against the bark, her canteen position in front of her stomach.

Weapon. She needed some sort of weapon –

How foolish of her to have dropped it in the grass! The knife lay few feet away from her. As she looked around her surroundings once more, debating whether to make a run for the sword, a masked figure landed before her.

Her face paled as she remembered that mask. He was her guard, her warden to be exact and she knew he was probably grinning wickedly underneath that mask. That sick, cruel smile.

"It was a good decision to leave the group behind, ~ don't you think so?" He said, taking a step forward. "Those dogs were making us slow, so I thought as your warden, I should be the one to end your life for escaping from me."

She found herself hard against the trunk of the tree behind her. She tried moving to her side, only for kunai to be impaled into the stem cutting of her escape. Her eyes went back to shaking head of the man who looked amused.

"This will be the last face that you are ever going to see." He removed his mask to show his ever the same wicked expression. Just as she had thought. She wanted to scream, but no one would probably come anyway.

As his breath hissed against her skin, she shut her eyes tightly when he drew back the sword. But, the pain never came.

Maybe death was supposed to be painless. Then, why was her face dripping of something warm and sludgy. She slowly peeked at her hands to see them drenched in bright scarlet red. She screamed at the sight, thinking it to be her blood.

She lifted her head to glare at the murderer, but froze as soon as she did. That cunning smile looked like it remained plastered forever on his face, his eyes looked glassy. Her eyes then darted to the hand that was emerging from his chest.

Maybe due to her fear and exhaustion, she didn't notice. But, now that her senses came back to her, she could hear distinct birds chirping sound. The hand was retracted from the chest, and the warden, her ex-guard's body fell down with a thud like a stringed doll being cut off from the source.

Her eyes then met strange twisted red eyes that would probably scare the shit out of any children. His lone eye seemed to devour her, as his face looked flawless, his hair equally black. His voice was cold and raspy as he spoke, "I suggest you to come with me, unless you want to die like him."

Her tenses tingled as the wind whispered into her ear, saying that she found her tracker.

..

..

Uchiha Sasuke had already sensed a shinobi approach their location. He heard the snarls in a distance and waited to see how things folded between the girl and him.

Were those two allies? Enemies? Conspiring?

A shinobi was known to be deceptive and it was his duty to read underneath the underneath. He simply could not jump in to save her as saving a damsel in distress, so he chose not to act even when the masked man appeared in front of her.

He might have suspected that this was all an act, a front to lure him out as the girl already seemed to sense him, were it not for the fear emanating from her. And for the fact that the missing nin was emitting pure killing intent was enough to warrant his suspicions.

As he discharged lightning from his hand, he pushed the victim's body aside and spoke to her. Her clothes and face was sprayed with the masked man's blood, probably because of him shoving a chidori from behind.

Her blue eyes, which again reminded him of Naruto, scanned him as she finally opened her mouth. "Who are you?"

Her voice was not what he expected. Low, cold and steady. And, he wasn't one to gloat, but didn't she know what a sharingan was?

"Hn, if you are so intent on dying," He said, turning in the direction towards the mist village. "Then keep asking more questions, for all I care."

And a second set of howls echoed through the thick bushes, closing in fast.

"Which direction?" He asked, not taking his eyes of the bushes. Those weren't normal howls. Probably, these beasts were mutated using forbidden techniques. He placed his hands on hilt of his kusanagi, waiting for her reply.

"West." She looked around, probably not knowing which direction west was. "I was told to go west. These summons… you know that shinobi contract with -"

"I know what a summon is."

Temper snapped in her face at his tone, but fear and anxiety washed it away. Then the howl was heard, a lot closer than intended. A hunting prey, screeching. God only knows what kind of stunted experiments those idiots carried.

"Run." He ordered.

She obeyed. Sasuke had to give her some credit. Despite being a non-shinobi, despite her exhaustion and injured leg, she ran like swiftly through the leaves. Sasuke ran a bit behind, assessing his surroundings and each time covering how much ever distance she covered in a single leap. He was one of the fastest shinobi around, so that was to be expected.

Bushes rustled behind them from either direction. Two to three maybe. Braches seemed to be snapped violently, and heavy thud noises could be heard. Sasuke eyed the blonde who had reached the top of the hill, still keeping an eye on that leg.

They would have to treat it sooner and wash all the blood of her after they get out of this. But, for now, he needed her to escape. He frowned a bit as she stammered against a rock, wobbling her way for some meters. She was still nowhere fast enough.

The creatures seemed to be of either side to him now. "Keep running!" He shouted, and she sprinted without as much looking backwards. He halted to a stop, spinning around his position to face these summons.

He let his chakra flow, dance in his coils as he activated his sharingan. The sharingan that destroyed many lives, started a great ninja war and capable of many feats. He did not think the summons or whatever they were would fare any better.

Those creatures halted to a stop around him, sizing their predator up. As they made their way from the dark patches of the trees, Sasuke found no words.

Some weird pale looking creatures emerged from the shadows, resembling a lot of werewolves. Face looked a lot like human, yet familiar to the one he had already slain before. The beast resembled a cross-over of white Zetsu and some summon if the piercings all over its body were any indication. It had large claws that promised nothing but sweet pain.

After the war, many Zetsu bodies were left wasted on the battle field. It was possible for few scoundrels to take away its dead bodies and conduct few experiments on them. The shape of its body was not what mesmerized him. It was the grin these creatures had.

Whatever experiments they were doing could not be done with good intentions. Crawling up, a beast came forward towering him. "If it isn't Uchiha Sasuke."

Maybe the Zetsu still retained their memories. He took out his sword. "Some of you were still crawling, I see."

A flash of panic crossed the Zetsu's face at his cold tone, before it disappeared as quickly. "What are you doing out here?!"

"I passed through few towns on my way here. But, they were deserted." He let lightning crackle into his sword. "I thought something wasn't quite right but figures that you were responsible for it."

"We won't let you leave," Those four beasts surrounded him. It grinned maniacally. "After all, you were the one who killed our original."

Sasuke let a smirk fall on his lips. "I hope it's more of a challenge now that you underwent some intensive modifications. Especially since your peers died very easily last time."

That taunt seemed to do the trick as they dashed towards him. Sasuke immediately stabbed his sword into the ground, letting the lightning flow through the surface. "Chidori Nagashi!"

The electricity hit them, stunning it. Then, he moved faster than they could comprehend. He got to the one closest to him and cut its head off, before swinging his sword to block the second ones attack.

He let his sharingan do the trick, as he got onto the second's back easily. He stabbed through its back gripping his sword in a reverse grip. He noted the other two charging at him from the opposite directions.

So, he took out a huge shuriken and threw it in a smooth motion towards one. As the other watched in horror, he flickered behind it, slashed diagonally across its body. It all happened in a few seconds that by the time the first body dropped, the others were on the ground too.

He released a sigh, before straightening again when he noticed some twitching behind him. Two of those beasts got up again. They looked like healing –

No. It was reviving. Like how an edo tensei works. It was completely plausible that Orochimaru wasn't the only one interested in the Edo Tensei technique. But, these bodies were completely made of flesh. As his brother, Itachi liked to say, everything has a weakness.

He looked around at the other two, who had blood flowing out near the neck. Those two didn't get up. Beheading it is then.

The Zetsu before him, smiled in delight.

"Why are you after her?" Sasuke asked.

They were not after him. They just stumbled across him and got side tracked. Their real target was the girl. Crouching a bit, he wondered how far the female dobe got by now.

"It's none of your concern."

"Wrong answer," His sharingan morphed into ocular version. Purple flames coated around him at that moment without warning, and an ethereal being surrounded him, starting from skeleton. As its arms seemed to form, the adjacent trees were all uprooted. "Susanoo!"

The one at the back screeched in pain from the black flames that were emerging from the Susanoo. Behead it… he didn't care. Amaterasu worked just fine. He stabbed the other with a purple sword when it tried to flee.

These skeleton arms brought the last withering Zetsu near him. He could see the flesh that tried to regenerate clash hard against the Susanoo sword, preventing it from healing that hole. He forced the Zetsu to look into his eyes.

Panic eyes were met with cold ones as conscious was forcibly robbed of him.

"Sharingan." Sasuke had used a genjutsu on it. "Now tell me, why are you after that girl?"

The pain it seemed to be having was forgotten at the moment due to the effects of the sharingan. "Preparations for the war… capture the girl. She is important to our leader."

"Preparations does look thorough," Sasuke mumbled. "Why is she important?"

"She is a thief and a murderer. She must be taken to our leader for justice."

Sasuke gave out a low chuckle at the strange words he just heard from Zetsu. "You'll bring her to justice? That can't be it. What else do you require her for?"

"She is an important asset for us. A negotiation."

Maybe, there was more to that girl than Sasuke thought. "With whom?"

"With the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."

Sasuke blinked. Now, why was Naruto's name taken out in this? "Why would he want her?"

"The leader was specific not to give any info to us. Only he and a select few know of the information you seek."

Sasuke tsk'ed under his breath. Looks like this was all the information he was going to get at the moment. "Amaterasu."

He let that infernal flames burn it to crisp as the Susanoo dispelled. His eyes reverted back to its obsidian state as he sighed. It seemed this girl was important for whatever reasons. It didn't matter. He would find out.

And, so he ran in the direction the girl escaped. She probably couldn't have gone far with that injured leg, which he suspected that Zetsu had something to do with.