…
…
...Where... am I?
…My head hurts a little… Ugh.
"Oi! Oi, wake up!"
Huh? That voice... It sounds... familiar...
"Hey! Are you all right!?" Slap. "Ouch! What was that for, Sakura-chan!?"
"You're really loud, Naruto! You can't just go screaming in someone's ear like that!"
What? …Sakura? Naruto? It… It can't be them? Wait... Why do I know them? Huh?
Eyes snapped open, revealing two things he'd never seen before. One was a rabbit-looking creature with cotton ball things on its ears, a half cotton-like body, both in the shade of pink, with small, green-ish eyes. Its nose was a deep brown color and wore a red bow on its head. A familiar red bow...
The other one looked like some fox with a golden tint to its fur. It had six tails, which were an orange-like shade. The fox thing had startling blue eyes, the same color as the sky. Around its head was a headband in a green-ish teal color, but happened to be goggles. Those eyes looked familiar, too...
Shuffling to sit up, the pair of creatures turned to him, both supplied smiles of relief. "Hey, are you all right?" The rabbit thing asked.
Trying to collect thoughts together, he replied, "...Yes. I believe so."
The fox grinned wider and raised one of its paws in the air excitedly. "See? I told you, Sakura-chan! He's fine!" The rabbit creature—now named as Sakura—sighed but didn't bother to reply to the fox creature. "Anyway, you didn't look so good. Sakura-chan and I found you all washed up here by the beach. What were you doing here, anyway?"
He blinked, trying to recall anything of the sort of why he was at a beach. He searched through his memories, trying to find anything relevant. But, it was a failed attempt. Everything seemed foggy, out of reach, or it shut him out. He remembered something—energy, strange energy? What was it called again?—but he didn't know what it was all about. But it appeared familiar to him somehow. That name, Sakura, it was so...familiar. He didn't know why it was, but it was. Like he knew somebody with that name. And that bow that rabbit is wearing looks awfully familiar, too. Why couldn't he place it? The more he tried to search his memories, the more they didn't make sense. Hidden Villages? Sensei? Teams? Explosions? Black cloaks? Red clouds? Lightning in a hand? Curse seals? He didn't know what was going on but he stopped trying to remember. It was hurting his head.
"...I cannot remember anything." He said, frowning.
"Oh," the fox said with a frown of his own. Then he perked up again. "That's okay. You don't need to remember right now! But we'll try to help you remember later! By the way, I'm Naruto!"
Naruto? he thought, the name also very, very familiar to him. He couldn't place it either, but it was important to him.
"What's your name?" Sakura asked, smiling.
Shaking out of his minor thoughts, he looked at the two familiar sets of eyes staring at him and stared back. "I'm..." Name? What is my name? Why can't I remember that? Hm...? Something... Something's coming. I can feel it. He gripped his head, somehow. Yes, it was getting closer. Closer. "...I'm...Sasuke."
"Sasuke?" The other pair repeated, almost in light shock at hearing it. Almost incredulously, as if they weren't believing what they heard. Their minds were reeling, but he couldn't tell. Their eyes widened a little as if they recognized it. But, that was silly. They just met. There's no way they could recognize that name. After all, he didn't really remember it until now, actually. "Wow... for a second there, I thought I knew that name!" Naruto exclaimed, laughing out loud.
"Yeah, same here," Sakura agreed. "Anyway, Sasuke. Since it looks like you don't remember how you got here... do you want to come with us?"
Sasuke's brow rose. Or at least, he felt it rose. "Why?"
This is where Naruto chimed in. "Well! You look lost there, so maybe we can show you around Konoha Town! Maybe you'll remember something or someone there if you can't remember how you got here."
"And it's not often a Purrloin like yourself visits Konoha Town, either. Since all the Liepard clan moved out." Sakura added.
Wait. Konoha Town? That's familiar but what the heck is a "Purrloin"? Sasuke thought. "What is...a Purrloin?" He asked carefully, wondering. Because last time he checked, he was a human being. Not a Purrloin. Or did they mean a purring lion? He wasn't that, either. Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances with one another before turning to Sasuke, perplexed at his question. Why? Why did they look at him that way? "Well? Aren't you going to tell me? Or do the both of you not know?"
The rabbit shook her head. "It's not that we don't know... It's that...well... how could you not know what kind of Pokémon you are?"
"Yeah! Everyone knows what they are. Just like I'm a Pokémon called a Vulpix and Sakura-chan is a Buneary," Naruto said, wiggling his nose in light irritation or something. Sasuke couldn't tell anyway. Now that he noticed, there were two sets of three faint whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks. Now those were familiar, too. Where had he seen those before?
Regardless, Sasuke shook his head. "Ridiculous. I am not this...Purrloin. I'm human."
They gave him weird looks again. That is, until Naruto burst out laughing, rolling in the sand. Sakura glared at him to shut up but the Vulpix didn't let up. "Oh man! That's super funny! Hahah!"
Sasuke shared Sakura's glare and narrowed his eyes at the laughing fox—Vulpix. "What the heck is so funny, you idiot?"
Before the snickering six-tailed creature could continue, Sakura butted in. "Sasuke-kun, there's no way you can be human because all the humans that used to live here were wiped out by some tragic accident. It's said in runes that a powerful Judgment from the Eighteen elements from the skies cleansed the world from all humans' hatred and then Pokémon were created to inhabit the world. Of course, there are still humans around, but they aren't anywhere near here. That and you look like a Purrloin to us, really." She explained as if she read that from a book. Naruto stopped laughing and sat up, rubbing his paws into his eyes to clear them of the tears he cried whilst having his laughing fit.
Hearing all that shocked Sasuke to his core. No more humans? Well, there were some but they weren't anywhere nearby? And...a Purrloin? What the crap was that? He looked around until he spotted the ocean waters close by. Wanting to get an answer, he rushed towards it and stared into the reflective water and gasped at what he saw. A dark, navy blue looking cat was staring back at him. He moved his hand to touch his face but was shocked to see a tiny little paw instead. Dark purple-like something was over both of his dark eyes, turf of fur that looked similar to what could have been his hair fell just around his face. His nose was that cat's nose and it was black. He reflexively tried to move his ears and the cat's ears moved. There was cream colored fur on the cat's face, under the neck and the shoulders. When he moved, it moved too. That wasn't all! He felt an extra limb that wasn't supposed to be there and turned his head slowly to see what it was.
It was a slender tail, the same shade as the blue fur, with an axe-like shape at the end. It wasn't moving because he wasn't moving it.
"...Hey, Sasuke?" Naruto wondered, looking at him pensively. Sasuke's dark eyes found the familiar cerulean's of the Vulpix's and visibly paled. No... No this couldn't be happening... Thoughts similar were running through his mind. How? How did this happen?
"...I-I'm... a freaking cat!" Sasuke stammered out angrily. Sakura frowned as did Naruto.
"Sasuke, you're a Purrloin. They are cat-like Pokémon after all. Right up there with Meowth, Persian, Skitty, Delcatty, Glameow and Purugly. And to a lesser extent, Zangoose." She listed off the names of the Pokémon like if it were second nature. Naruto apparently recognized them, or some of them, and just nodded in agreement. "Naruto is a Fox Pokémon and I'm a Rabbit Pokémon." She finished. Sasuke just looked at her as if she had grown two heads and wings but shook out of his stupor. This...all this information... It seemed to contradict everything he lived for.
What he lived for, he couldn't even remember anyway!
Gripping his head as he growled a little, Sasuke sat flat on his butt in the sand and tried to make sense of everything he was told. The other two warily approached him but kept their space. This... This was really happening to him! He wasn't a human anymore. Somehow, someway, he turned into this cat thing and- and- now what? What could he do? He can't remember anything other than his name. And the other memories of his were too shaken up to try and recover, too. However, one thing was for certain that he could hold onto: the names of these two creatures—er, Pokémon—were familiar to him. He would hold them close and dive off from there. Perhaps, if he stayed close with these two, they would or could lead him to the right direction. The right path to his jumbled and forgotten memories.
Yes, that's what he had to do.
"Soooo... are you just gonna sit there?" Naruto asked.
"Hn, no." Sasuke said, sitting up. "I suppose I will go with you two to this...Konoha Town then. I can't recall anything that happened nor how I got here. Maybe there are others who may recognize me and viceversa."
Sakura beamed happily as did Naruto. "Great, Sasuke! And... well, it may seem strange, but I believe you."
"Huh? Believe me?"
"Yes. When you said you were human. I don't know why, but when you looked so scared and were looking at yourself at the water... for whatever the reason, I believe you. Maybe... Maybe you were human before."
"Yeah, me too!" Naruto chirped up next. "You looked really lost there. Like you were trying to find something but couldn't find it. That's weird. How were you a human before but you got turned into a Pokémon?"
Sasuke frowned. "I don't- how do you expect me to know the answer to that, dobe?" The now-christened Purrloin blinked when he said the name at the end. He didn't know why he said that. It just slipped out. It seemed to have 'fit' the Vulpix very well, he subconsciously thought.
Naruto growled at the insult. He didn't know why, but the name—nickname? He couldn't be sure—was awfully familiar to him. In fact, his growl didn't seem threatening at all. It was a mixture of playfulness and familiarity. "Teme!" He shouted back, and that feeling haunted him again.
"Hey, you two! Knock it off!" Sakura jumped in-between them to stop them from their verbal assault that she seemingly knew would happen. How so, she didn't know. Odd, though. The Buneary used her Pound attack on the both of them to stop them. They grunted in pain, both rubbing their sore spots where bumps comically formed. Again, she didn't know why she did that. But it gave her some satisfaction that she stopped them. "Okay, come on. Konoha Town is this way. Let's go!" And she was back to being cheery just like that.
The two boys grumbled incoherently while following after the skipping Buneary.
The way back to the town seemed long. It crossed through a tunnel of sorts and the sounds of the beach's waves could be heard until the end of said tunnel was reached. After that, they reached a crossroad. One path led outside the town, Sasuke noticed. One path led up to what seemed like a huge mountain with four carved faces of what looked like Pokémon. Well, more of them that is. The first one was the face of a Sceptile. The next was the face of a Samurott. The third face was of an Infernape and the fourth face was of a Lucario. Of course, Sasuke didn't know any of those Pokémon nor what they represented of this town, but it did spark his curiosity.
"Interested?" Sakura's voice broke the Purrloin's thoughts and he responded with a short nod. "Okay. The heads on that large mountain there are Konoha Town's strongest ninja Pokémon. They protect the town from evil ninja Pokémon like thieves and kidnappers and ranked missing-nin outlaws, too." She pointed the the Sceptile's head, "That head there is Hashirama the Sceptile. He, along with his brother, Tobirama the Samurott founded Konoha Town with Madara the Houndoom a very long time ago. But Madara left the town and went missing a couple years after the town's founding and became a missing-nin Pokémon. Hashirama-sama became Konoha's first leader. He eventually passed down the leadership to his brother. They both trained Konoha's third leader, Hiruzen the Infernape, when he was just a Chimchar back then.
"Hiruzen-sama appointed a Lucario named Minato as his successor. That's why there's four heads up there." Sakura explained, taking pride in her memory for remembering it.
"Ya! Minato-dono is called the Yellow Flash because he's super fast with his ExtremeSpeed move! And he's a shiny Pokémon, too!" Naruto piped in, reveling in his hero-worship mode. Sasuke sponged in all the information before asking:
"A shiny Pokémon? What are those?"
Naruto grinned wide at this. "Shiny Pokémon are Pokémon that are different colored than the rest of their kind!" He beamed excitedly. "So like for my kind, Vulpix normally have orange and red fur. But mine is golden colored. That's because I was born an alternate color." He grinned a foxy smile, which seemed to suit him due to his species. Sasuke simply raised an eyebrow—at least he thought he did, again—and stared at the smiling Vulpix with confusion in his dark eyes. Sakura noticed this and took up the reigns this time.
"I think what Naruto's trying to say is the Minato-sama is a shiny Pokémon. Lucario are normally blue-furred in color, but he has golden fur instead. And due to his skills in utilizing the power of his ExtremeSpeed move, he is called the Yellow Flash."
"...I see." Sasuke said. He really couldn't see, but he would believe them. After all, some things they said was making sense for whatever reason. It was like he knew that, but at the same time, didn't know. It was at the back of his mind, trying to spring forward; like an itch he couldn't reach but knew it was there.
"I'm also a shiny Pokémon," the Buneary informed, "and so are you, Sasuke-kun." Okay, he wasn't expecting that. He was a shiny, too? Did that make him...special of sorts? As if reading his mind, Sakura went on, "Shiny born Pokémon are considered of rare value here in Konoha Town. In fact, our town's the only one to produce shiny Pokémon for the last hundred and fifty years. The other towns are kind of envious of ours because we had better chances of producing them. Not sure why. Probably because of the... ah!" She blushed deeply when she realized what she was about to say. Naruto looked at her in confusion before shrugging.
"Besides that... All the leaders of Konoha Town were really strong ninjas, too! Aside from Pokémon techniques, they use ninja moves. It's really cool! There's a guild in town that will allow three Pokémon at a time to join and train to become ninjas! When accepted, the newly formed team of three get to go on missions. They become Ninja Explorers first. Finding stuff like treasure and rescuing other Pokémon and catching bad guys!" Naruto rambled on, grinning wide. "One day, I'll become Guildmaster of the guild and then become the leader of Konoha, just like the Fourth! It'll be super cool! Anyway! Let's show Sasuke around! And then let's stop by Teuchi-san's Drink Shop! I can't wait to get some Ramen-flavored Cheri berry drink!" Naruto popped in before scurrying down the right-hand path, heading for the main town. "Come on Sakura-chan, Sasuke!"
"Hey, wait for us, Naruto!" Sakura yelled before turning to the Purrloin. "Come on, Sasuke. Let's not keep him waiting!"
Nodding, the Purrloin followed after them. He wasn't sure, but what Naruto the Vulpix said reminded him of someone he knew with strangely the same name. And Sakura the Buneary reminded him of someone he knew with that name as well. He couldn't put any faces to them but... But...
One day, I'll become the Hokage!
I… I love you with all my heart!
Huh?
Sasuke stared at the backs of the two Pokémon ahead of him. For some reason, he thought he saw the image of two people running off—one clad in a ridiculous orange jumpsuit with spiky, yellow hair, and another in a red dress-like outfit with short, pink hair. He shook his head and the strange image was gone. What was that all about? Well, he didn't know it, but it was still familiar and it strangely brought a smile to his face. Perhaps, even if he would never recover his memories, he could make new ones here. Naruto and Sakura turned around, waiting for him with grins on their faces. They were...waiting for him. Still with the small smile on his face, Sasuke stepped forward and ran after them to join them.
To become friends.
Subconsciously, once again.
Thought it would be cool to do a Mystery Dungeon-ish like reincarnation story with Team 7.
This won't continue, by the way. Just something I had on my mind and thought to type it out. Hope you all liked it!