I originally wrote this back in 2013. I stumbled upon it again recently and decided it wasn't half bad and I can still take it somewhere. I edited the first chapter, fixing wording and grammar. This will also be published on AO3 under the same pen name.

Sasuke

Chapter One

"Naruto, hurry up! We're already running late and you know how long the lines get!"

The young man rolled his eyes and slung his school bag over his shoulder, increasingly his leisurely pace into a light jog to catch up with his companion. "Alright, alright! I'm coming! Geez, Sakura-chan, I'd say you're more excited for the release than I am. And that's saying something," Naruto teased, bumping her lightly with his elbow, grin flashing.

Sakura attempted to scowl, but a grudging smile won out and slowly brightened her face. "So what if I am? You're only saying that 'cause I'm a woman, aren't you?" Her eyes narrowed in accusation, leaning forward menacingly. "Are you being sexist?"

Naruto gulped, backing away from Sakura. "O-of course not! He squeaked. "Women can like it too! I think it's awesome that you do, Sakura-chan! Honest."

Sakura smirked, resuming her brisk pace out of the university campus and onto the street. It was Friday, and the duo had just finished their classes for the week. Other uni students were also eagerly exiting the school grounds, chatting amiably with friends, making plans for the weekend. Naruto and Sakura were anxious to leave school as well, but for a different reason.

Fifteen minutes, a few more arguments, and much pushing and shoving through the afternoon rush hour crowds later, the two found themselves in the heart of Tokyo. Cars honked in traffic, pedestrians waited at crosswalks for the signal to turn green, and storefronts flashed neon lights in hopes of luring in potential customers.

Despite all the metropolitan glamor, Naruto and Sakura had eye for only one shop.

K-Books Manga. The largest manga store in Tokyo, if not all of Japan. Even from their position across the street, they could see rows upon rows of manga stacked inside the walls. Above the storefront a bright neon decal rested, the kanji reading the establishment's name. Above that hung a twenty foot poster displaying protagonists of the current best-selling mangas in Japan. There was a pink-haired boy wearing a vest that showed off his sculpted abs, a trio of soldiers wielding swords and flying through the air attacking a giant, and another boy with a straw hat and blazing smile donning his visage.

Larger than these characters, however, and taking up the other half of the poster, was a young man with raven hair, chokuto in hand, electricity surrounding the other. Blood red eyes stared down upon the citizens of Tokyo.

"Sasuke," Naruto and Sakura whispered, enraptured by the display.

Without further ado, the duo races across the street. Just as Naruto was about to cross the threshold of K-Books, a hand roughly grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him back. "Where the hell do you think you're going, kid?" A harsh voiced demanded.

An older, middle-aged man with a protruding belly was glaring at him, grasp on his shoulder painfully tight. Naruto blinked, dumbfounded."Uh, inside?" he pointed to the awaiting manga sheepishly. The man laughed. "Yeah, so am I, and so are all the people waiting behind me." The man gestured with his chin over his shoulder. Sakura and Naruto looked past him to see a line of about thirty people trailing down the sidewalk. "Get in line!" He shoved Naruto behind him and turned his attention back to the store.

"Dick," Naruto grumbled as he and Sakura walked to the end of the line, gingerly rubbing his sore arm. Sakura sighed. "I told you there was going to be a line."

"Yeah, whatever," he the incident aside. His eyes wandered back to the poster with Sasuke glaring at every innocent person who walked under him. Naruto's demeanor suddenly changed as he bounced onto the balls of his feet. "Hey, Sakura-chan, what do you think is going to happen in this chapter? Do you think Sasuke is gonna be able to defeat the Juubi and Madara? Or will Obito brainwash him into joining their side?"

"Hmm," Sakura pondered, adjusting the strap of her backpack. One arm crossed her chest to grasp the elbow of the other, her free hand rising up to tap her chin. It was her signature thinking pose. "I don't think he's strong enough to defeat Madara, the Juubi, and Obito. Sure, Sasuke has the Eternal Mangekyo Sharigan and Susano'o, but remember, he's fighting two other Uchihas. They're all extremely powerful.

"Plus," she continued. "The whole shinobi population is out to get him. They still think he's a criminal and missing-nin." Her brows furrowed and she shrugged. "And, well, he still kinda is," Sakura met Naruto's gaze. "He's just following his own whims at the moment, exacting revenge for Itachi."

Naruto was positively buzzing with excitement, eyes shining. "But that's the thing, Sakura-chan! Itachi is alive! Us readers don't know how yet, but that was the huge plot-twist last chapter," Naruto insisted, gesturing wildly, nearly hitting the two young boys in front of them. "He's gonna go meet Sasuke at the battle field and help him defeat the bad guys! Then he can save Sasuke from his darkness!"

Sakura giggled at Naruto's eagerness. "It makes sense. Kishimoto-sensei hinted at Itachi being alive, anyway, because after Sasuke's battle with him, Sasuke awoke in a cave with Obito. We never found out what happened to Itachi's body," Her eyes misted over. "I can't imagine how Sasuke-kun will react when he finds out the loving brother he thought he killed is actually alive," She sighed dreamily, hands cupping her face. "My poor son," she crooned.

Naruto made a face. "My son? Sasuke-kun?" he scoffed. "He's a fictional character and you act like you're in love with him."

Sakura blushed, flustered at her embarrassing display. "S-shut up" she pelted Naruto with her backpack. "You're just as obsessed with Sasuke as I am, you jerk! Always drawing him on your notes in class and on your assignments - which, might I add, you never complete and turn in!"

"Ow!" Naruto yelped, covering his abused head. Sakura was a lot stronger than she looked, and the textbooks in her bag didn't help. "I'm not obsessed with SAsuke, I'm just practicing my drawing. You know I wanna be a mangaka one day. The best there ever was!"

The blond teen with stranger whisker marking on his cheeks stood tall, flashing a toothy grin. "Naruto Uzumaki, remember that name! It'll be super famous one day, believe it!"

The sight of her childhood best friend's enthusiasm brought a soft smile to Sakura's face, her previous anger and embarrassment forgotten. Her cheeks pinked to match the shade of her hair as she grasped Naruto's hand and tugged him forward. "Come on, loser, we're up next!"

Naruto gasped and sputtered, eyes widening at the sight of Sakura holding his hand. Unable to respond, he allowed her to guide him into the store, goofy smile intact. Sakura weaved her way through the shelves, heading for the center of the store where they usually kept the latest Sasuke volumes and merchandise. After circling the section numerous times and even checking the alphabetical and shounen sections for the manga with no chapter in sight, they approached the counter.

"Um, excuse me," Sakura began. "Do you have any more copies of the latest Sasuke chapter? I wasn't able to find it."

The cashier turned his attention towards her. "What's that? Sasuke? Oh, you must not have heard," he said, tone grievous. Sakura felt her blood run cold. Naruto squeezed her hand in support. "For some unknown reason, Kishimoto-sensei canceled the release of this week's chapter, and the series is on hiatus until further notice."

There was a beat of silence. Then,

"WHAT?"

The cashier jumped at the loud exclamation from the pair. "It's the truth! You can read it on his website. I'm so sorry," The man placated, walking off quickly to avoid their wrath.

"How can this be?" Naruto mourned, releasing Sakura's hand to reach up and pull at his hair. "They can't do this! I need to know what happens next."

Sakura was not in much better spirits, leaning against the nearest wall, arms and head sagging in defeat. "What am I supposed to do now? I lived for the weekly Friday releases, they got me through the week."

Good moods completely killed, the friends left K-Books, dragging their feet the whole way, and headed for the nearest station entrance. Pedestrians they passed by on the streets gave them a wide berth, seeing the dark aura surrounding the devastated pair. No words were spoken between the two until they were seated on the train.

"My life is over," Naruto stated, staring listlessly out the window.

"Mine too," Sakura agreed, leaning her head on Naruto's shoulder. "Do you still want to come over and study? I kind of don't want to be alone right now…" She trailed off, refusing to meet Naruto's questioning gaze.

The young man smiled down at her, then rested his cheek on top of her head. "Of course, Sakura-chan," he chuckled, the rumbled in his chest felt all along Sakura's arm pressing against him. "Besides, I fell asleep in Physics again and need to copy your notes."

"Naruto!" Sakura chastised, kicking his foot.

They go off at their designated stop and spent the walk to Sakura's apartment talking about classes, their friends, and to their chagrin, Sasuke.

"I'm telling you, it's going to be Obito who ends up as the Jinchuuriki for the the Juubi!" Naruto insisted.

Sakura huffed, hands on her hips in defiance. "Oh, and what makes you so sure of that? Madara is the more powerful of the two. He's pulling the strings."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but he's not really alive. He's only in Edo-Tensei form and is at Obito's mercy, waiting for him to use the Rinnegan and bring him back to life."

"Exactly!" Sakura interjected, finger pointed in his face. "He can't die, because he's already dead! He's invincible."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue, when suddenly there was a resounding crash not ten feet from them. Sakura let out a high-pitched "Eep!" and jumped. Naruto flinched, instantly on alert. The noise came from their right, where there was a group of dumpsters in a dark alley. The street lights cast the area in shadow. He reached out and pushed Sakura behind him. "Stay back, Sakura, it could be dangerous."

Sakura scowled. "Excuse me! You know very well that I am fully capable of defend-"

"What's that?" Naruto interrupted, pointing to a figure emerging from the shadows.

Slowly stumbling out from behind the dumpsters was the silhouette of what appeared to be a young man around their age. He seemed to be limping in his steps, and his hand covered his face, as if in pain. He walked further, coming to a stop under the light of the streetlamp. He was pale, with hair dark as night. Some object was attached to his hip.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. Was that… a sword?

"Hey!" He called out. "Are you okay?"

At the sound of his voice, the stranger quickly snapped to attention, raising his head to see who had spoken. When they finally got a glimpse of his face, Sakura and Naruto gasped in unison.

He had sculpted, aristocratic features with long bangs framing his face. His eyes were red, red like -

"Sharigan," Naruto whispered in disbelief.

"Sasuke," Sakura echoed.

They stood rooted in place. Surely they were mistaken. A trick in the lighting, perhaps, because there was no way a fictional manga character was here, in the flesh, standing before them.

Right?

Within the next second, the stranger - who happened to look like the spitting image of the main character from the most popular manga in the country - collapsed in the street.

The sight snapped them back to their senses. "Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, rushing forward to help the man. "Naruto, wait! It could be dangerous! We don't know who that guy is" Sakura called after him.

He ignored her, kneeling next to the unconscious stranger. Reaching out tentatively, Naruto pushed his body to roll him onto his back, exposing his face. Up close, the uncanny resemblance was mind-blowing. The young man looked like he had literally walked right out the pages of the manga.

Sakura approached warily, crouching next to Naruto. "Is he alright?" She questioned. Her eyes took in his appearance. He was wearing the signature garb of Sasuke in the manga - black nin trousers, a short sleeved shirt with a wide collar surrounding his neck, black coat, and shinobi sandals. He even had the wrist protectors on his forearms and his weapon of choice, a chokuto.

His exposed skin was dirty with dried sweat, dirt, and what looked to be blood. There were many cuts and garish bruises littering his body. "Oh my god," Sakura worried. "Was he attacked?"

"I don't think so," Naruto answered, eyes intense. "At least… not here."

"What do you mean?"

"Sakura-chan," he began, tone serious for once. "I think this guy… is Sasuke. The real Sasuke."

Green eyes widened. "What do you mean? How is that even possible? What if he is just some cosplayer, with a really good costume?"

"Then how do you explain this?" Naruto pushed aside the wrist bands to reveal markings on the boy's arms. They weren't drawn on with some kind of marker, so they either had to be tattooed on, or they were real. "Seal markings," Sakura breathed out. "Just like in the manga."

Naruto nodded. "Look," he gestured to a pouch hidden in the folds of clothing. "Kunai and shurikan pouches. I bet you anything there's real weapons in there."

"But, but-" Sakura stammered, at a loss. She was having trouble wrapping her mind around the idea that a fictional character was real. Much less lying unconscious in front of her. Without speaking, she reached out and rolled the man over again.

Displayed proudly on his back was the red and white fan of the Uchiha clan.

"Oh my god," She whispered, handing covering her mouth.

"Yeah, I know," Naruto shook his head and blinked rapidly, as if the sight before him would disappear.

"What do we do with him? With - Sasuke?" Sakura asked, saying his name slowly. It was weird to use it when referring to an actual, tangible human being. "We can't leave him lying out here."

Naruto thought for a second, then looked her in the eye. "You're still living by yourself, right? No roommate?"

"Yes," she answered, not liking where he was heading.

"Well, we can't take him to my dorm, cause the Senpais will definitely notice some random dude suddenly hanging around. And for some reason, I get the feeling that we shouldn't call the police. I don't think he'd appreciate that." He said, gesturing to the unconscious body.

Sakura gaped. "You want me to take a complete stranger to my apartment?!"

"He's not a stranger, Sakura-chan! Not really. It's Sasuke Uchiha!"

"And that makes it okay?" She shook her head. Sakura could feel a headache coming on. "You know what, forget it. Fine. Whatever. We'll take him to my apartment, but just until he wakes up!"

Naruto beamed. "But if he tries any funny business, we're calling the cops!" Sakura insisted. Naruto chuckled, stooping down to pick up the supposed manga character. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan! But I doubt any of our lame police would be able to take on Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura collapsed on a recliner, utterly exhausted. After a full day of classes, rushing to K-Books, then hearing her favorite manga was on indefinite hiatus and encountering the main character from said manga was enough to make anyone tired. And confused as hell.

Naruto finished placing Sasuke on the couch in Sakura's tiny living room. "What now?"

Sakura ran a hand over her face, contemplating, then stood. "I'll go get my first aid supplies and see if I can do anything about those injuries. He looks really beat up." Though her voice was neutral, the pucker on between her brows betrayed her concern.

"Alright, I'll whip something up for us to eat!" Naruto departed for the kitchen. She snorted. Leave it to him to think about food in a situation like this.

Sakura retrieved the first aid kid from the bathroom cabinet, then returned to the living room. Sasuke was in the same position that Naruto had deposited him in, sprawled on her couch.

Sasuke Uchiha. Missing-nin from Konoha. The avenger. On her couch.

"This is so bizarre," Sakura mumbled as she set to work.

She was currently enrolled in the medical program at her uni, and had taken a few internships at hospitals in high school shadowing doctors. Sakura had always aspired to be a great surgeon someday, finding her passion in helping others and learning all about the human anatomy.

Sakura placed her index and middle fingers along Sasuke's throat, checking his pulse. His BPM was normal. That was a good sign. She reached into the kit and pulled out a small flashlight. Clicking the device on, she pulled up one of Sasuke's eyelids and focused the light into his eye. The pupil dilated. Another good sign.

Grabbing a gauze pad and a bottle of disinfectant, she went about cleaning up his minor wounds. Naruto returned from the kitchen, the aroma of freshly cooked ramen reaching her across the room. Of course. He sat next to Sakura on the floor, placing her bowl of noodles on the coffe table behind them. "Is he okay?" He asked as he readied his chopsticks.

"His breathing and heart rate are regular, and he doesn't appear to have a concussion."

"That's a good thing, right?" Naruto inquired around a mouth full of ramen.

Sakura made a face at his lack of table manners. "Yes, it is. He probably passed out from exhaustion."

Naruto nodded and set down his already halfway finished food. "How do you think he got here, Sakura-chan?"

A frown adorned her lips. She had been wondering the same thing. Say this really was Sasuke Uchiha, a character from a comic book. How did he come to life? How did he get to Tokyo, Japan? Why was he beat up? Was he lost? What were they going to do with him? There were so many questions.

"I don't know, Naruto," she replied softly, pausing in her ministrations to reach up and brush Sasuke's bangs away from his face. "He's not even supposed to exist."

Right before her fingers made contact with raven hair, a hand shot up and grasped her wrist in a steel grip. Sakura gasped, following the line of the arm to the person connected to it, who was supposed to be unconscious.

Sasuke Uchiha was very much awake now, dark eyes blazing with unrestrained fury and suspicion. Sakura barely had time to take in her next breath when, with incredible speed and agility, Sasuke jumped to his feet and away from the couch, hauling Sakura towards him and pinning her back to his chest. In the same movement he used his free hand to release his sword from its sheath, and with deadly precision and grace he brought the cold steel to rest upon her neck.

No one moved. The only sound was the clatter of bowls tipping over when Naruto had backed up into the table in shock. He sat on the floor, wide eyed and unmoving.

Then, true to his nature, Naruto was the first to speak.

"What the hell, you bastard! Let Sakura-chan go! She wasn't hurting you!" Naruto stood, intent on saving his best friend.

"Make one more move and I'll slit her throat."

Naruto froze, glaring at Sasuke.

"Who are you? Where have you taken me?" Sasuke questioned, seething eyes set on Naruto. He met it head on, unwavering.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and that girl whose life you're threatening is Sakura Haruno. We're in her apartment."

"Why did you kidnap me? Who are you working for?" Sasuke continued.

Naruto tsked. "We didn't kidnap you, jerk! We found you unconscious and took you here so you wouldn't have to lie defenseless in the middle of the street!"

He took a step forward. "Listen, Sasuke -"

"Don't move." The ninja threatened, tightening his hold on Sakura. She whimpered in response, and Naruto saw a little drop of red trickle down her throat from where sword met skin.

"How do you know my name? Where is this place? You two certainly aren't ninja, your chakra reserves are at civilian levels."

"In a country called Japan. We're about a mile outside of the capital city, Tokyo. And -" Naruto paused in his explanation, hesitant.

"And?" Sasuke prompted him to continue.

Naruto took a deep breath. "And I know your name because - well, here, in this country, in this universe, you're… Sasuke, you're not real."

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"He means that to us, you're a character from a story. A fictional character." This had come from the pink-haired girl he held captive in his arms. Her body trembled slightly in fright.

Sasuke snorted. "That's ridiculous."

"It's true!" Naruto, forgetting Sasuke's death threat, grasped a book lying on the coffee table. "Look!" He shoved it in front of the shinobi's face.

At the sight of his face on a book cover, Sasuke gradually loosened his hold on Sakura, forgetting his anger. Taking advantage of her release, Sakura moved away from Sasuke and stood by Naruto on the other side of the table. Her hand rested over the cut on her neck.

"What is this?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. It was a white cover, and at the top in Sharigan red was his name, Sasuke, in large letters. Depicted on the cover was a shot of him sitting against a wall, one knee propped up, arm resting lightly atop it. He was staring off into the sky, expression pensive.

Wordlessly, Sasuke opened the book and flipped madly through the pages. It was full of pictures - pictures of him, of his life. The pictures were showing the period of time when he had just killed Orochimaru, and was traveling to his different bases, recruiting members for Team Hebi. It was eerie, the way the drawings capture every moment of his life, as if taken right from his memory. The conversations, every word, were spot on.

Sasuke dropped the book as if it had burned him. "What is the meaning of this? Who was been spying on me? Do you work for Madara?" He pointed his sword threateningly at the two strangers, eyes flashing red.

"No one is spying on you, Sasuke!" Naruto defended, not the least but affected by the sword. "What we said is true, you're a comic book character! You're not supposed to be real! We're just as confused as you are."

The shinobi scoffed and stepped forward. The two backed up in response. "This is bullshit. I don't have time to deal with this. I need to find Itachi. You will let me leave." He commanded, tone leaving no room for disagreement.

Blond eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But Itachi is-" Sakura elbowed Naruto roughly. He huffed in pain and turned to his friend. "What was that for?"

"We can prove it to you, Sasuke," Sakura ignored Naruto's question and whipped around, heading for the television and switched it on. Immediately on the screen Sasuke's name appeared, an exact replica on the title on the book. It faded off screen, and in its place appear a cartoon version of his face. His eyes were closed, head bowed. They opened the next instant, Sharigan activated. Loud music began playing, a female voice singing a haunting tune.

A myriad of images flashed by, images of him, running, fighting, staring off into the distance, wind sending leave and his hair askew. The menacing smile of Orochimaru appeared for a heartbeat, then was eclipsed by a huge fireball. From the corner of the screen Sasuke appeared, having finished his Katon. Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo were shown, looking demure, mischievous, and mournful respectively.

Sasuke lowered his sword, tentatively approaching the TV, eyes wide and unblinking. He fell to his knees. The ninja forgot about the two strangers in the room. He forgot about waking up in a foreign place, feeling worse for wear, chakra levels so low they were almost nonexistent. HE could only stare at the screen and watch as an animated version of himself paraded on screen, looking every bit as vicious and vengeful as he did in real life.

The music was reaching its climax, the singer reaching high notes orchestrated to stir feelings of remorse and loss within the listener. Itachi was on screen, Mangekyou peering omnisciently at the viewer. He and Sasuke fought, and the last scene showed them leaping towards one another, Itachi with a kunai in hand, Sasuke holding his chokuto. Right before their weapons clashes, the screen faded to white.

The music ended. An advertisement for some kind of food came on. Sasuke remained kneeling, not seeing the images in front of him. Sakura and Naruto were silent, but he could feel their pitying gazes on him, hear the unspoken sympathy in the air. He hated it. He hated this - this place. He couldn't stay here. He needed answers.

"Sasuke," Naruto prompted, voice low, trying to be reassuring. To Sasuke is sounded mocking.

Without warning, Sasuke rose and jumped, crashing through a window to the right of the TV. He landed on a fire escape, a few stories above ground. He lept off the stairs and onto the roof of the next building, his landing rougher than usual. Gritting his teeth he continue on, vanishing into the night. The last he heard from inside the apartment were two voices calling out his name.