The Wanderer

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Disclaimer: I do not own any characters used in this story and is in no way associated with the original story of Sasuke's journey: Sauske Shinden. Please enjoy!

Indra's Resolve:

The letter to Sakura had been brief for he wasn't much of a writer. It had some important things however: what he was doing, where he'd be traveling, and who'd he be traveling with, but he left the most important question unanswered: when he would be back. He had decided that he didn't belong in the village, not after what he did. But maybe if he were to repent, atone for his actions, he would be able to bear the guilt and move passed it. Of course Naruto had objected this journey but he wouldn't stop Sasuke from being alone, not this time.

It was dawn when he left his home. The letter he had wrote the night before had been placed on Sakura's nightstand and the flowers in her vase had been changed from white daisies to purple tulips. A small bag of ryo had been left along with a small paper the Uchiha seal drawn on it where the flowers had been earlier that morning. Finally he goes to Naruto who was already awake, waiting for his departure as the sun began to rise. A gentle breeze falls over the village as he spots Naruto sitting on the roof of his house, his hands hugging his knees in a leisure position.

"So you're still going huh?" says Naruto, a small goofy smile forming on his lips. Sasuke had known that Naruto would have some last minute effort prepared to make him stay in the village, but Sasuke had made up his mind, and his friend would allow him to travel the world in search of himself.

Sasuke nods to Naruto's assumption and the wind picks up causing his black cloak to waver around. His dark blue headband with no ninja plaque keeps his hair dark hair in place. "I need to take this journey. It is the only way I can truly apologize for my sins. When I return I will lend you my full support." Sasuke finishes. He doesn't know how Naruto will take this but at least he tried.

A mix of emotions rushes through Naruto's face. "Boy Sasuke! You really know how to dampen the mood." he laughs. Naruto knows that Sasuke won't be coming home for a long time. It might be months, years even before he gets to see his friend again. But he knows in his heart that Sasuke is trying to do the right thing and that it's not his decision to make.

Sasuke looks to Naruto's fake arm and then to the left of himself where his arm used to be. He had opted not to have it replaced as reminder that he was still human; that even though he possessed the both the eternal mangekyo sharigan and the rinnegan, he could never surpass the power of a world of united shinobi. Now he would use his powers to aid others, anyone who needed it. He would be the one to resolve Indra's mistakes and make things right, ending the cycle of separated brotherhood.

"Farewell…loser." Sauske, gives Naruto a small but meaningful smirk before he disappears with the aid of his amenotejikara, his favorite rinnegan justsu.

Sasuke hops through the trees letting the wind be his guide for a moment. If it changes directions he would change his direction. In doing so he came across the old battle grounds. The ruins of the sound ninja four and the Sasuke recovery mission still remained after all these years. The scared earth from Choji's death blow to Jirobo, the swirls in the grass and needles from Neji's rotations,

The scared trees from ghost giants and the eerie whistles from a broken flute, and finally the Valley of bones as it had come to be known as. It was the place in which Lee and Gaara had fought Kimimaro and won. Seeing all of this ruble only made the whole in Sasuke's chest widen.

"Amaterasu," The bones light with black flames turning them into nothing, leaving only dirt and fragments. The valley would regrow, and no one would of the battle that took place here for him.

Next Sasuke traveled to the ground in which he fought his final battle with Naruto. The land was cracked and disassembled, rocks spiking up from the ground, tress chopped clean in half, water from the previous waterfall spilling into a dysfunctional river, the sight was horrifying.

"Planetary Devastation!" Sasuke had no intent of devastating the land however. It just happened to be the name of the juttsu that controls gravity. Rocks placed themselves accordingly and the water lifted into the air until both the statue of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had been reassembled successfully. He reforms the canyons around him and plants seeds for new trees disposing of the dead ones, wishing he could use wood style which still remained a mystery to him. When his work is done, he holds his left eye from the aching feeling it gets whenever he has pushed it to its limit. The pain makes him realize how much damage he and Naruto did to this place only causing the guilt in the pit of his stomach to grow even more. He needed to find a place where he could help people personally, somewhere that his actions would ensure the wellbeing of a place less fortunate.

Sasuke hops to the top of the newly constructed statue of Madara and meditates on his Sharigan and his connection to the sage of six paths. He can feel life around him strengthen through his steady breaths.

"You're my friend Sasuske! I don't want to kill you!" a familiar voice screams at him. Sasuke opens his eyes to see Naruto standing on the head of Hashirama Senju. "I won't let you kill me!" Naruto jumps at him with a charged rasengan. Sasuke looks up in fear as he watches Naruto attack him with all the fury and rage that he did during their last fight. He's not prepared to counter him, not prepared to risk the slight chance that his eyes are not deceiving him. Naruto, not letting up his attack pushes the rasengan into Sasuke's chest making him wheeze before sending him plundering down the side of the waterfall in shock. Naruto stands at the top of Madara now, tears in his eyes as he watches his friend fall into the abyss. Sasuke tries to regain control of his visual prowess but realizes his eyes are not his own. He can see them in the water, the bright light blue and the weight of the world they carry. His head is full of yellow like that of the yellow flash, yet he wears orange from the combination of his parents' symbolic colors. The force from the blast changes to that of electricity and he watches as the boy ontop of Madara repulsively morphs into his former self.

The newly formed boy smiles with the solidarity Sasuke once sought. "Finally I will be alone!" The boy charges his susanoo with breathtaking power. "Indra's arrow…currently the most powerful just in my arsenal…So just die!" the boy fires the arrow and Sasuke is helpless to defend himself against it. It pierces him causing Sasuke to scream in pain. He is back where he stared, alone.

Sauske breaths heavily as he realizes his encounter was only dream, yet tears still form in his eyes and no one is there to tell him to be strong.

"Itachi…I-I've failed you again." he mutters through his sobs.

"It's never too late to- " the voice of his brother is muted by the screams of a small girl somewhere in the forest. Sasuke rubs his face and is hesitant to use his eyes, but he knows he'll have to. He takes a deep breath and open his left eye revealing a fully charged rinnegan.

"You can make a difference Sasuke, you still can…"

Sasuke appears in the midst of a village raid. A group of nameless ninja ungoverned by any Kage set fire to a stable. k

"Amaterasu!" Sauske looks at the orange flames and consumes them with his more adept black ones, then disables his own by canceling his jutsu, as affective as water.

The rouge ninjas look at him for an explanation. "What are you?" one of them asks him.

Sasuke turns his head in their direction. "Aid," he responds briefly. Then, without hesitating he teleports behind them and hits both of them with the hilt of his sword, knocking them both to the ground unconscious. He had resolved not to kill anyone unless absolutely necessary.

"Go to hell!" the girl whos scream had blurred Itachi's words stands nearby, a kunai in hand. She yells at another bandit ninja she has tied to a tree. The terrified ninja pleads in defense but the girl is determined. She begins to move her hand to stab him but Sasuke grabs the girls arm before she can.

"Show him mercy." Sasuke says maintaining his solid grip. The girl struggles to break it but gives up when she realizes she is no match. Sasuke then pushes her arm forcing the kunai into the rope keeping the bandit pinned. The knife cuts into the tree stuck in its fibers. The bandit falls to his knees, tears in his eyes.

"Thank you…" he whimpers. Then he scurries off into the forest like a startled mouse. Sasuke lets go of the girl's arm and walks over to the old poor farmer who has fallen to the ground. He helps him back on his feet.

"Thank you stranger. The guards will return soon to get the two crooks taken care of, " Sasuke nods. Meanwhile the girl finally rips the kunai from the tree with a huff.

"I don't have much in terms of ryo but you are welcome to stay and rest if that'll satisfy you, young man," says the farmer.

Sausage puts on hand up. "There is no need to repay me. I will be going now. Farewell," even after all these years he still isn't adept at social skills. He begins to travel down dirt pathway leading to more villages in the west when he notices the girl next to him.

Sasuke stops walking. "Go back to your father." he tells her.

"What? That old guy's not my father! I don't even know him. I don't live in any village anymore. I'm traveling alone as a genin rogue ninja!" she says proudly. Sasuke is reminded of how both Naruto and he are still technically genin, neither one having a chance to complete the chunin exams.

"Why did you leave your village?" asks Sasuke hoping it's not for the same reasons he did.

"I left because it was too boring. Ever since Naruto defeated Kaguya and Sasuke Uchiha, no one's been in much danger except for just petty thieves and criminals."

"Is that so?" asks Sasuke looking away from her.

"Hey wait a second!" she girl shouts, a glare forming on her face. Sasuke fears what's about to come next. If a small girl couldn't be deceived by his disguise who would be? He starts to think of ways he can fool her once again. He could cast a genjutsu on her, make her think her encounter with Sasuke was just a dream and flee while she is distraught. But he didn't want to use his sharigan unless the situation was imperative. If he fled now no one would believe this girl. Before he can, however the girl completes her thought.

"You're-you're a cripple!" she bursts out.

"What?" Sasuke questions set on the thought that she had figured out his real secret.

"Your arm, what happened to it?"

Sasuke sighs of relief before answering. "I lost it in a foolish battle. It was the first part of my atonement,"

"Atonement for what?"

Sasuke won't answer that one. Into he takes a sharp breath and continues walking.

"Hey, wait! Aren't you going to ask what my name is or why I'm out here alone?"

"No."

"Fine then I'll tell you," she responds running up to her new friend. "My name is Koko and I alone will fight off all the bandits that try raid our village since everyone else is too weak to do it theirselves!" she tells him. "I want to start my own village and enforce peace on everyone so no one will end up like me. I'll call it the Village Hidden in the Heavens!" she exclaims.

Sasuke stops once more and closes his eyes. "Your motives are admirable, but you will accomplish nothing."

"What?"

"It is the help of your comrades that enables you to win a true battle or accomplish great things. You must not fight alone or ever be alone." Sasuke turns and begins to walk down the path.

"Well, you're alone right now," Koko shouts at him.

Sasuke stops and turns around. "That is because my situation is different. I am atoning for the sins of my past." The Uchiha clan, unknowingly had brought havoc on the village and being the last of the name, Sasuke would not taint it any further. Instead he would atone for his sins in the oldest way as the first sage had done. His atonement would resolve Indra and his troubles leading a village to salvation as Asura had done. He wouldn't let anyone know who he was, nor fight or use chakra unless needed to defend those less fortunate. That was his plan. This argument however was not part of it. Sasuke didn't have time to lecture children, especially this girl who acted like the world revolved around her. The way that she wanted to create her own village and rule over it alone, how she would strike fear and hatred in to people's hearts for peace...she was starting to sound like someone else he knew.

The more he thinks about it the more he knows he can't let her go on with her clouded dream.

"Come with me if you have nowhere to go,"