Hey gang, new story. Hope you like it.
Chapter 1
It was a massacre. The kind that would only be found in those unpleasant history books that you are not allowed to read until you are well and truly an adult.
Blood stained every nook and cranny of the great hall of the Uchiha Hideout. The black flames of Amaterasu still burned the back walls presumably where the fight started. A rather unpleasant looking sword was lodged into the chair (some would call it throne) at the base of the hall, shuriken of various sizes were literally littered everywhere. There was enough scattered weapons to arm a battalion of shinobi much less two.
But at the centre of the great hall was the notable thing.
A dead man held in a kneeling position by spears brimming with electricity shocking the corpse to the point of burning it. The whole room smelt of sulphur, rotten meat and burnt flesh.
Three spears were lodged into the left man's thigh, five in the right. The body held upright by a long black metal pole piercing the top of his chest near the collarbone and coming out through the base of his spine between the kidneys penetrating the ground behind it.
The man's face was contorted into an expression, the last thing he ever felt. The face betrayed signs of fatigue and illness but behind that, terror. Sheer and utter terror.
But that hardly matters without context, a body is just a body: who it belonged to is the important part.
"Uchiha Itachi…" Kakashi gasped. "I don't believe it." The greatest threat to ever come out of Konoha since Madara was dead. The fact they were both Uchiha was not lost on the jounin.
"Ugh…" Kiba was not so graceful holding his nose with one hand and Akamaru's in the other, the smell overwhelming their senses.
"Oh Kami," Hinata did her best to maintain the composure, "w-what happened here?"
Itachi's tortured expression and the surrounding environment conveyed a horrific tale. Kakashi knew the man through reputation and fought with the prodigy once. What initially started out as a casual fight escalated quickly out of control. For everything Itachi hit, something hit back twice as hard, then three times, four, five.
Kakashi dared to glimpse the eyes of the prodigy, the iris was worn out and blackened. Small tears in the pupil indicated severe trauma self-induced by the Magenkyo Sharingan. Judging from the layout, Itachi lost ground so quickly he barely had time to react. Itachi's expression of shock came when he realised how soundly he was about to lose.
Kakashi noticed the blood too, there is not enough blood in a human body to cause this kind of catastrophe. Therefore, not all of the blood belonged to the dead man. The grey-haired jounin feared the worst.
"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto glanced hurriedly around the hall looking for his colleague.
"Let's go look." Sakura suggested.
Kakashi stuck his hand out, palm flat. "Stay where you are. No one goes alone." This fight was over very quickly and judging from the blood still fresh on the walls, it ended recently. Which meant Itachi's opponent was still nearby.
"Shino, Hinata, scan the surrounding area." Kakashi's orders with met by nods. The Hyuuga's byakugan and Aburame's kikkai swarmed the great hall and the rest of the hide out.
"I..I can't see anyone." Hinata sounded dejected. "Shino?"
"No." The Aburame responded blandly, but those that knew him well enough could sense his disappointment. "There is no evidence of life here apart from us."
"Hold on." Yamamto placed a hand on Shino's shoulder. "Shino, Hinata, Kiba. Can you please try again? Maybe he left a trail."
Kiba after some prodding reluctantly allowed his nose to sniff the air. He along with the rest of Team 8 shook their heads in the negative. "Sorry, the trail's gone cold."
"No…NO!" Naruto kicked the ground loudly scattering metal into the air. "He disappeared again!"
0o0o0o
Team 7 followed up Sasori's advice, the Tenchi Bridge Mission was a semi-failure. The Kusagakure base was a wash, with little more than novice Oto-nin guarding the facility who surrendered with little prompting. On the one hand, they did indeed confirm Sasuke was in Orochimaru's base and Konoha gained new insights into the Snake Sannin's spy network. On the other, Sai's tracking established that he left some time ago.
The Land of Sky invasion was a disaster in itself. But amongst what, for all intents and purposes, was a political and historical cock-up it could have been eerily worse. Shinno's status as not only alive but a traitor was short lived and only discovered amongst the ruins of Land of Sky that crashed harmlessly into the forest.
The few Sora-nin that did not die in the crash were interviewed, and they told stories of a man wearing an Uchiha crest causing wanton destruction in their city all for the purpose of getting to Shinno as quickly as possible. The fight with Shinno caused a massive explosion crippling the flying city. There was evidence of a so-called Zero-Tailed beast but that disappeared along with the man who caused the Land of Sky's downfall.
Upon Orochimaru's death, his entire network seemed to collapse in on itself. The Land of Sound more than willing to share information. Locations were discovered in places that were considered impossible. It was one of the few times all Five Nations agreed to work together in what would be a humanitarian mission.
All the bases contained evidence of experimentation on a level that sickened even the more hardened veterans such as Ibiki. A shinobi Hōzuki Suigetsu was more than willing to share the tale of Uchiha Sasuke murdering both Orochimaru and Kabuto and how the prick left him to rot in his cell.
Then the stories began to leak out. Stories of Sasuke's cruelty and malice to prisoners and allies alike, stories of experiments and torture. Suigetsu was particular descriptive of how Sasuke was extracting bone marrow out of a 10 year old boy without aesthetic and kept doing so until the boy passed out from shock. That was not even the worst story. Naruto was about ready to murder the strange shinobi, then the stories were corroborated, not by one or two but dozens of trapped prisoners. Naruto found himself backed into a corner and Sakura's faith in Sasuke diminished to almost nothing. Kakashi himself fell into a pit of depression not seen since Rin's death.
The only notable point was that the description Suigetsu gave about Sasuke was distinctly unique; giving different skin colour, hair and eye colour. While incredibly odd, it was not unusual the last time Kakashi saw his student was a little over two and half years ago. All imprisoned shinobi were released back to their villages, those that took part in Orochimaru's schemes such as Karin were handed to Kusagakure for their trial and eventual execution.
Konoha eventually got the idea to capture Itachi first. Sasuke's hate for his brother would compel him to seek out his sibling regardless of where he was. So they sent an eight man team to capture the Konoha rogue.
Diedera's body was found with his head ripped off just outside of Taro-mura in the north of the Land of Fire, his two large packs of exploding clay all but used. Judging by the impact craters, he was attacking in all directions. It was not something they came across by accident, they could see the explosions for miles. The death of the Akatsuki was horrendous but what stood out what the gaping hole in his chest that matched the wounds caused by Chidori. Only one other person besides Kakashi knew that attack.
Now here they were, several days later in the Uchiha Hideout. But they were lucky, Sasuke left a trail, one that Team 8 latched onto with renewed vigour.
They made a beeline to where they were now, the Uchiha Hideout.
0o0o0o
"Again!" Naruto cursed. "The bastard escaped again!"
"Naruto," Kakashi sighed, "keep your cool."
"But he disappeared…" Sakura sounded dejected. "This blood…he could be hurt."
"Unlikely." Kakashi mulled on the thought. "This is a lot of blood, even for two people. I don't understand it." Was someone else here? Kakashi glanced to Shino who, taking his meaning, shook his head again. Guess not.
"He could be dying! Kakashi-sensei we have to help him!" Naruto's inevitable charge was halted as Kakashi pulled him back. Partially because he didn't want Naruto to get dirty, partially because if Sasuke is not here chances are he is long gone.
"He's not some ghost! I am not imagining him!" Naruto growled through grinding teeth. "Everyone has seen him except us!"
Kakashi empathised he truly did, they have been chasing Sasuke for a long time now, but they have had little to track and even less to show for it. It was like trying to catch air or chase a cloud. It's hard to muster up energy to find someone if he have not even seen them.
"Maybe you should be grateful Naruto." Sai responded politely. "Everyone who sees him tends to end up dead." The death glare he received could have melted reinforced steel, the assassin got the hint quickly. "….sorry."
Yamato sighed unpleasantly. "I hate to be the stickler here but we have a Konoha missing-nin. We'll need to take him back to Konoha. Maybe we kind learn more about Akatsuki."
Kakashi sighed, unpleasant though it was this was technically their mission: bring back Itachi. Though now he was dead there seemed to be little point. It was time to settle for what they can get.
"C'mon, let's head home." Kakashi towed the ground approaching the body, the electricity still crackling from the spears.
"God dammit." Naruto growled. "GOD DAMMIT SASUKE! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"Not so loud." A voice replied. "You'll wake the dead."
The Eight-Man Team froze in their tracks. That was not one of their own, and it was coming from behind them.
That voice… Seconds past in eternal silence before Naruto dared turn to face the source. A young man stood behind them watching with mild disinterest.
"Sasuke…" Naruto gasped.
0o0o0o
The words came out with a variety of emotion, but Kakashi did not expect confusion, nor…fear. They were all exposed and vulnerable to attack. As an attack did not occur Kakashi allowed himself to relax slightly. It was then did he turn around.
…
Naruto's confusion and fear was justified. While the voice was the same as the boy who left the village many years ago, Kakashi's eyes could not even confirm if it was Sasuke.
The jounin realised just how dry his throat was. "Sasuke…?"
"Yes, it's me." He smiled, it seemed strained and painful.
Sasuke had indeed changed, he was taller and sleeker almost at Kakashi's height. His body fat was lost in favour of defined cheekbones and a skinny body. His clothes or what was left of them seemed blasted, burned, cut and shredded. A grey tunic was torn exposing his right side and his pants thankfully preserved modesty. He was missing shoes and an empty sheath was hanging limply behind his waist.
His skin had a distinctly pale grey tone almost translucent. The team blinked several times when they thought they could see traces of muscle through the skin. Kakashi saw more of Orochimaru than he did his former student.
His veins and arteries were absent of any form of identifiable blue or red, but instead pulsed with a green aura. The lines tracing along his arterial and circulatory system regrouping to his heart which seemed to emanate with a feint but distinguishable green glow.
Whether it was a trick of light or shock, Kakashi could swear Sasuke's hair is more blue than black. The Uchiha's hair lost its spikiness instead it seemed greased and combed back which reminded Naruto unpleasantly of Hidan. The most disturbing thing were the eyes, they were vastly different from what the team remembered. They were not jet black, nor were they blood red.
They were sparkling silver in colour. Hoo boy. Kakashi mentally frowned. I don't think I'm ready to explain this to Konoha.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered. Kakashi suppressed a smile, it felt good knowing he was not alone in this matter.
"Yes." Sasuke glanced at her, his silver eyes made her shiver unpleasantly.
"Shino, Hinata, Kiba…Akamaru." Sasuke greeted Team 8 in turn, settling his eyes on Yamato. "I recall you being on the Tenchi Bridge Mission."
"You were there?" Yamato's eyes narrowed.
"No. But I recognise your description." Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly, his muscles phased in and out of sight as if his skin turned invisible as he moved. Sakura's medical training was whirring through the possibilities, none of them good.
"God Sasuke, your hurt." Sakura rushed forward despite her logic urging caution. She gently held his arm with one and placing another along his shoulder, using her chakra she tried to initiate a deep scan. Only then did she realise that she couldn't, her charka scan made it through the skin, but once there it skimmed harmlessly across the surface. Like her chakra was being shielded.
That's never happened before. Sakura's brow furrowed, glancing into the eerie silver eyes which seemed to shift like liquid. Sasuke looked at her as if it was the first time they ever met. "Sakura, you've grown."
Sakura would have blushed, if not for the alien experience she was undergoing right now. Sasuke looked nothing like what she imagined; she doubted he looked like anything anyone would have imagined.
"Sasuke, whatever defence you have you can disable it." Sakura pleaded. "You're hurt, we're here to help."
"I don't need medical help Sakura." Sasuke's wrist slithered from out of her grasp. "But thanks all the same." His foreign eyes moved to Naruto who stared back with a mixture of confusion, relief and horror.
On the one hand, his friend whom he had spent years searching for was right before him. On the other, part of him mind was consistently denying it, there is no way it could be him. "Sasuke…."
"You said that before." Sasuke mused.
"Sasuke," Naruto blinked, "Sasuke, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!"
Sasuke winced in pain delicately rubbing his ears. "So you still have no volume control."
"I'm not playing!" Naruto gestured to his friend. "You look so..."
"Different?" Sasuke offered. "I know."
"Why are you here?" Sai interrupted the awkward reunion.
"Ah, my replacement speaks…" Sasuke glanced at the assassin in mild interest, "everyone has got to be somewhere."
How philosophical, Kakashi blinked.
"Maybe, but why are you here?" Sai continued. "Why didn't you run?"
"And why didn't we detect you?" Shino continued, the kikkai buzzing wildly inside him.
"In answer to your questions in order, I am here because I just killed Itachi." Sasuke's frown grew pronounced upon mentioning his brother. "I have not left because I have nowhere else to be. And as for not detecting me, you probably can't."
Hinata blinked and tried as subtly as she could to activate the byakugan. "I can't see him. He doesn't show up on the byakugan." Astonishment crossed her face before disabling her clan's ability. The way Kiba sniffed in disdain and the uncontrollable buzzing from inside Shino told them this issue was spread throughout Team 8. Something inside Kakashi twitched uncomfortably, half way tempted to lift his hitai-te to observe Sasuke with his Sharingan.
"Like I said, you probably can't." Sasuke shrugged.
"Sasuke, what happened to you?" Kakashi shifted uncomfortably. "What happened here?"
"That is a very long story."
"I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say 'we would love to hear it'." Kakashi stepped forward.
"It is none of your business Kakashi-sensei." Sasuke's eyes narrowed which made Sakura step away involuntarily. "What happened here was between me and him." Sasuke nodded to his brother's corpse.
"Regardless," Kakashi reached for a kunai in his rear pouch, "we were tasked with capturing Itachi."
"Smart move." Sasuke complimented.
"Thanks." Kakashi returned the nod. "But now that Itachi's dead and you are here, we have to bring you in." On cue, the eight man team entered into formation, with the jounin getting into a ready stance kunai in hand. Shino, Naruto and Hinata stood in the back while Kiba and Sai flanked their opponent. Kakashi was flanked by Yamato and Sakura. Their plan was to neutralise Itachi, but it should be adaptable to Sasuke.
In theory, Kakashi reminded himself, if Sasuke has changed technique wise as he has in appearance this might not work. Team 8 tracking ability was effectively crippled, their opponent is for all intents and purposes unknown and got the jump on them. This is not even considering the fact that Sasuke just killed the Itachi, the pride of that generation.
Could he take him alone? Maybe. Could his whole team take him? Absolutely. Could his whole team take him without anyone getting mortally wounded? The jounin did not even want to think about that.
Sasuke remained neutral. Not dismissive as Kakashi had anticipated, but rather indifferent as if the outcome of this fight meant little to him; as if he didn't care if he was captured. "Your methods are logical, but unnecessary." Sasuke stepped closer to Kakashi, his hands gripping the kunai tightly. "You never bothered to ask if I would come with you."
"Is that a joke?" Kakashi tilted his head.
"Kakashi…." Yamato's eyes glanced around searching for some kind of trap, the fact he could not see one made him more nervous.
"Ask me." Sasuke requested. Kakashi's stomach turned, Sasuke was a missing-nin, a violent criminal and powerful killer. But deep down the jounin hoped…
"Would you come with us back to Konoha, Sasuke?" Kakashi felt stupid for asking, even more so when he just noticed he dropped his guard to face Sasuke casually. If Sasuke wanted to kill him, now would be the time.
Sasuke smiled as he held out his open wrists. "I surrender."
0o0o0o
A/N- hey gang that's the first chapter. Let me know what you think. For the record, this story as you might have guessed will depart heavily from canon.