Back To The Past

Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

With the Chunin Exams on their way, and the days looming, counting down, citizens of Konoha busied themselves for the day the final exam would come.

Genin participating in the exams trained until their young hearts fluttered and their exhausted bodies could not continue anymore.

But somewhere in the country, there were a couple of genins that weren't participating in this years exams—in fact, they shouldn't have been in this year at all—and yet, here they were.

They came into the Earth's atmosphere like beckons from God. Harsh, hot, white lightning bolts shot from the sunny sky—that quickly went dark. Harsh winds took up the village, lifting up objects into the air. Citizens scrambled to hold on to their things, less they fly away somewhere else.

It felt like an attack. It had people screaming. It had people on guard. It had people running for their lives, or clinging onto each other because the winds were too rapid; they would sweep them away.

Ninjas sent chakra to their feet to keep them ground level.

No one knew what was going on.

But they glanced up in search of an enemy.

Little did they know that this erratic change of weather was not an attack, but rather the entrance of new arrivals.

And just beyond the Hokage Mountain, the biggest flash of thunder struck the hard crust of the earth and brought forth with it three people.

Boruto coughed alongside Sarada. His body feeling heavy and exhausted from the trip he had taken. His muscles ached, like thousand little cuts marred his skin, and his head was like a coconut being crushed open. He felt awfully weird; like he had just gone through a difficult procedure, where his body had been torn apart, rearranged, and re-glued back together all over again. A horrible experience—and he strangely had a craving for pudding.

He groaned, clutching his head, sitting on his knees. He was inside a crater, along with two others that came with him. Steam rolling off his back.

Sarada, who had come back with him, was also groaning. Most likely, she was feeling the exact same thing Boruto had. A feeling that could only be described as exhausting, like all the chakra had been drained out of her, leaving her there to tremble and cling to reality, panting like she reached her limit.

"Sarada... are you okay...?"

The girl, who had been crouched down in a fetal position, now sprung on her two feet. "Mom!" she yelled, and instantly regretted standing up, when she felt bile building up in the back of her throat. She covered her mouth, feeling whiplash from the extreme ride she had taken getting here to this time, and had nothing to cling onto, as she stumbled forward. She thought she would fall face-first, since she hardly had any strength to keep herself up, when her papa suddenly showed up and supported her.

Sasuke—the man that once was said to have been an avenger, who had left his home, abandoned his friends, killed his brother, all for the sake of gaining more power. Naruto's one and only equal—seemed to be the only one with energy after going through a ride like that. Of course, how could he not? With the power he had, he could overpower even a God.

With barely enough strength to keep her eyes open, Sarada glanced up at him. The ebony hairs on her head stuck to her scalp, moist with sweat. "Papa... mama?" Her words were cut and incoherent, but she could register on his face that he got what she meant.

They weren't the only ones that came back here.

So where was her mother?

For an instant, she saw the distress passing through his expression. It was quick, like a blink. One minute it was there, the next Sasuke had his steel mask back on. His guard was up, but deep down, he was worried. She could tell.

What had happened back at their time was, perhaps, what they could have called the next big war. An enemy unlike the one the villages had ever faced before showed up, and nearly succeeded in his mission to eradicate what was once their future by rewriting it, and creating a new one, by entering a portal that would bring him to the past. But lucky for those that want to protect the future, four had followed after him.

Unfortunately, he was not here, nor was the fourth person that entered this coexisting world with them.

The last thing Sarada remembered was her mother throwing herself in after the enemy, and her and Boruto and her father following after her into this world before the portal could close behind them. They didn't even know what world they landed on, or what time period—to be precise.

"I don't know," Sasuke answered. "But we're going to find her. But first, we need to get away from here, before—"

A kunai shot in his and Sarada's direction, which caused Sasuke to deflect it with his tantō. Jumping back, he landed right in front of Boruto's still fallen form, with Sarada beside him.

Surrounding the crater were six Anbu Black Ops—ninjas from Konoha. Their fingers moving rapidly, as they made signs for a jutsu.

"We have to stop them!" Boruto tried to stand up.

"No, don't do anything," Sasuke opposed the idea, reading their signs.

"Ninja arts..." He read their lips, just as they finished their last incantation, and a blue barrier wall enclosed the space around Sasuke, Sarada, and Boruto, like a giant bubble.

Sarada and Boruto stared up at the creation, troubled, wondering how they were going to get out of this one? When a stranger approached them from outside the barrier.

"Talk. What's your reason for invading Konoha?" It was a woman, with black hair pulled up in a ponytail shaped like a fan, with brown eyes, and a tan overcoat.

Anko, Sasuke thought.

She looked nothing like her future self; she looked a lot skinnier for one thing. That meant they had to have been in some time where either the Fifth Hokage was in charge, or the Third. But either way, being around any period where he was involved wasn't good when you come from the future, and essentially, you know what will happen.

They needed to go back right away.

"We didn't come here to invade Konoha," Sasuke rebuked. "We fell here. We don't mean any harm." He kept his eyes on the ninjas, in case they tried to do anything.

"Well that's rich, coming from you, because your other comrades that came with you didn't view it the same way when they destroyed parts of our village after getting here, and then leaving."

Other comrades? Sasuke's visible eye narrowed. "Where?" he asked.

"Oh no, no. You want answers? Well, so do we."

Boruto was restless. "We already told you we're not the enemy! The enemy is out there, and we're trying to get to him before he does anymore damage!"

"Well then, if that's the case, then cooperating with us will be beneficial for the both of us, if we're searching for the same person."

Boruto grit his teeth. They didn't have time for this. Sasuke could tell his student was becoming impatient by the why his stance changed. He was going to charge at the barrier, not knowing what kind of barrier it is, but before he could, Sasuke prevented him from doing anything.

"Boruto, calm yourself. We'll find him eventually," the former avenger said to his pupil. Then turned his attention back to Anko. "We'll cooperate with you, but only in one condition."

"I don't think you have any say in making any demands." Anko crossed her arms.

"I do, if you don't want to make your job anymore difficult," Sasuke threatened. "You don't have the manpower to hold me back." His visible eye flashed red, and within it three black commas swirled like a fan before coming to a standstill.

Anko gasped. "That eye..."

Mixed confusion came from the other ninjas with her, since they all knew that there was only one last living Uchiha-clan member in this whole country. So, to see another still alive...

Anko's poker face came back, ridding the surprise off her face. "That kekkei genkai, where did you obtain it?"

"Get me Hatake Kakashi and whatever Hokage you have in this time, and only then will I speak." Sasuke wasn't giving any more information to these people. He made himself very clear of that.

Anko made a defeated sound, as her annoyance showed by the way she ordered her men to do as he said.

KAKASHI

When the news came to him that the village was attacked, and he was being summoned by the attacker, Kakashi found it strange that they were asking for him. But when he learned they had a Sharingan, the ninja warrior quickly packed up his things and finished his lesson with his pupil, while making sure Sasuke didn't become aware of what he'd just learned.

The first thought coming to him was that it was Itachi.

"We're finishing early? That's unusual of you. You usually continue it a little longer than this," Sasuke pointed out. "I can still keep going. Did something happen?" Sasuke had succeeded in getting past the first two rounds in the chunin exams, and he was now working with Kakashi to learn one of Kakashi's strongest attacks: the chidori.

"You can say that. Konoha had been in a state of emergency, and now they're calling us back home sooner than we planned."

Sasuke was surprised to hear the news. "Was the village under attack? Was anyone hurt?"

"I don't know all the details of the matter, but the threat has been cleared out."

Sasuke was relieved when Kakashi told him that. But in seconds his expression turned dour, masked away by that emptiness he liked to hide behind so well. "Let's go back," he agreed. Going back sounded like a good idea. He didn't want to make it obvious, but he was actually concerned about his friends. He didn't want anything bad happening to them, especially Naruto or Sakura—the two people he has become closest to the most.

Under his mask, Kakashi smiles. "Yeah." He could see right through Sasuke's tough facade.

He led the way back to the village, and when they got there, Sasuke and he separated; Sasuke going his own way, and Kakashi going another.

Kakashi went straight towards the Konohagakure Intelligence Devision's building, jumping roof after roof like they were easy hurdles he could leap over with no effort.

When he made it to the tall building, he entered like he was entering any other regular store, only this one had heavy security with guards and sensors and heavy machinery and weaponry. The guards up front quickly let him pass without a breeze, since they were already expecting him. One guard guided him down their dungeon area, where they kept prisoners they wished to interrogate. Only this section was lonelier than the others Kakashi has been to before.

Down the hall, he spotted the Hokage, Ibiki, and Anko already waiting for him.

"Kakashi," the Third Hokage said his name at the sight of him.

"Hokage-same," Kakashi formally greeted in return.

"Good. You're here," Anko cut in before anymore formalities could be said. "We've been waiting for you."

"Yeah. I heard. What's all this about? Something about an attack on the village, and a Sharingan?" On the outside, Kakashi sounded as listless as a feather, but on the inside, he was alarmed. "Is it..."

"It's not Itachi, if that's what you're thinking," Anko replied. "But that makes it all the more mysterious."

"I thought the Uchihas were all instinct," Kakashi said, recalling the day of the massacre vividly.

"They were. But apparently not all of them that only one or two remained..." Anko wasn't sure if she should be disappointed or happy about that news.

"And there's more," Ibiki filled in, and pulled out a pair of headbands from his thick coat pocket. "The children—"

"There are children?"

"—were wearing these." Ibiki showed Kakashi a pair of headbands, each were engraved with the Land of Fire's insignia.

"Those are..."

"Exactly what we thought," Anko verbalized, without having to listen to Kakashi's whole sentence to agree with him.

"Are they fakes?"

"No. We've already checked them, and they're as real as anybody's here," Anko said.

"So that means they're citizens?"

Anko shook her head, invalidating that. "No. We haven't found them anywhere in our records. Believe me, we've looked. It's as if they do not exist."

"But they know you though." Ibiki's intimidating figure was colossal under all that black he wore. The scars on his face making him look ugly and horrifying to look at. Like he had gone through a series of tortures to have gotten those battle scars.

"The older one asked for you and the Hokage. I don't know what he plans to do the moment he sees you two, but we've restrained him with our toughest security equipment. He won't be getting out of there even if he tried." But that didn't really matter when he was going up against the Third and Kakashi.

He'd be a fool if he thought he'd win, thought Anko.

"So, he wants an audience with me and the Hokage. Okay. We'll give him that, and find out what he wants, while still getting information of our own," Kakashi said.

"He made himself clear that it was only you two he wants to meet with. So, whenever you're ready." Anko gestured for them to go inside to meet this man, a stranger to all of them.

Giving one glance at the Hokage, to see if he was ready to go inside, Kakashi walked forward first, opening the door to go down the hall.

The dungeon was cold, bleak and wet; made out of thick gray stone. Each cell had bars as thick as a person's arm, made of the toughest steel, it'd take more than one super punch to throw it down.

Within one cell, sitting in a corner, strapped down with a straight jacket, like he was some psychopath from the asylum, was Sasuke. The straight jacket had chains wrapped around it with glowing runes. Chakra restraints, Kakashi guessed.

But there were so many. How many did one man need?

He supposed Anko and Ibiki could never be too careful.

The stranger glances up when he sees them come into view, and without an expression of amity towards the man, Kakashi stared back. He looked familiar, but Kakashi didn't know him. Not this man... did he?

At the sight of them, Sasuke smiles. It's very, very small, but Kakashi and the Third could clearly see it, even with bad lighting.

"I never thought I'd see this version of you two like this again," Sasuke said, standing up with no effort, even though both his hands were tied around his middle.

"Do we know you?" The Third asked.

"You seem to know us," Kakashi said, watching him suspiciously. "Why did you ask for only us?"

"Oh, come on, Kakashi. I may have aged a little, but that doesn't mean I've changed all that much from the face. After all... I am your student." The man came closer. Closer. Closer. Until he was inches from the bars, and he was meeting eye to eye with Kakashi. They were the same height, with the other man maybe a couple inches taller.

Kakashi stared back at him, puzzled at first, wondering what this man was talking about.

His appearance didn't strike him right away, because most Uchihas looked the same. Black hair. Black eyes. Mostly pale skin tone. Looked like they always had a stick up their ass. But giving the details more thought, something just... clicked.

He didn't know how the thought came to mind, but seeing how the resemblance was so uncanny, Kakashi couldn't help but assume.

He had to give it to that black eye, so dark it fit so well in the core of the devil's heart. It was what really gave it away to Kakashi, and he blurted out, "Sasuke?"

"What?" The Third looked appalled.

Yes. Sasuke. Kakashi didn't take it back. He thought he sounded as crazy as he felt for coming up with the idea, but he was almost certain of it—that it was him.

This seemed to satisfy the other man. "I knew—if anyone were to find out first—it would be you."

"What are you doing here? And looking like that?" Kakashi had just split ways with Sasuke, when he had first entered the village. So, to say this was the same kid was ridiculous.

"That is a long story that I can't give all the details to, but what I can say is I didn't attack the village, deliberately. I've come from the future, and I couldn't exactly navigate to a safer location when I fell here."

The truth was out. And he didn't know how Kakashi or the Third would take it, but he figured if there was anyone that could handle this news, it would be these two.

"I've come here after someone who had come back to the past to change everything," Sasuke continued to explain. "He's a dangerous foe, and I need to bring him back as soon as possible, before he alters everything, permanently."