Hey This Story Is For All Of Those Who Love SasuNaru, Mystery, Suspense and Twists And Have Run Out Of Fun Stories To Read! I Hope You Will Enjoy But, Before You Do Read The Warning Below! SasuNaru (yaoi) M Content Consider yourselves warned ^^
Contains:
Language
Mystery...to some extent horror
The Switch by Crazii
Prologue
oOo
Sasuke could see the unwavering determination deep within Naruto's bright blue eyes. He knew that with the state he was currently in, having blurred his vision to mere outlines of shapes and smeared colors and also nerely depleted all of his chakra reserves, he was in no shape to battle the blond at that moment, nor was he a match for Kakashi anymore, either. The raven had known all along that it would only be a matter of time before Naruto appeared, unfortunately he'd been too distracted with countering Kakashi and Sakura's relentless attempts to assassinate him to come up with a decent battle strategy.
"Sasuke," the blond spoke.
"What?" the dark-haired teen murmured grufly, having little interest in anything Naruto had to say, but knowing that this was his best opportunity to think of a strategy. Worst case scenario, he would have to take them both on, at once. But did he have enough chakra...?
"I heard the truth about Itachi from a guy named Tobi."
Sasuke started at this, momentarily shocked out of his thoughts. "I don't know for sure if what he said is really true or not, but it doesn't matter because what you've been doing is completely understandable!"
The dark-haired teen's fist clinched as Naruto finished stubbornly.
"Naruto...I told you before..." Sasuke replied coldly, "You have no parents or siblings, so you couldn't possibly understand me. So outsiders can keep their mouths shut!"
He didn't know what pissed him off the most. The fact that Madara had gone spreading the fairytale he'd shared with Sasuke to a complete outsider. Or the fact that Naruto truly believed he understood what Sasuke was going through. Perhaps, he should kill them all. He contemplated whether a chidori would suffice. If he pinpointed his chidori blade accurately enough, he could pierce through all three without too much strain. If only...
Sasuke stared defiantly back into Naruto's silent gaze as Sakura defended the blond. "Do you know what Naruto has gone through for you! Naruto alone tried to rescue you! Even now..."
Sasuke's expression flattened. "Rescue me? From what?" he deadpanned.
Sakura's head lowered, having quickly realized that she couldn't quite look Sasuke in the eye. "Well, from..." she spoke, unsure.
"From revenge," Naruto said in utter seriousness. "I swear I'll save you from the chaos of vengeance."
Sasuke smirked, scoffing, "There's no need for that," he assured, "The stage has already been set for my vengeance to happen!" His three former teammates started in surprise, not exactly sure what Sasuke meant by that.
"Just a while ago...I finally got to take revenge on one of Itachi's enemies," the raven continued while smirking eerily, as if in complete and utter satisfaction with himself. Sakura didn't want to admit, but it made her slightly sick. "I killed a high-ranking elder of the Hidden Leaf. Someone named Danzo." Sasuke raised his arrms to his sides, his eyes crazed as he declared, "I've never felt like this before... I feel the tainted Uchiha name becoming cleansed... I feel the Uchiha getting free from this rotting ninja world...You guys couldn't begin to understand. And besides, isn't what I'm doing exactly what you Leaf ninja wanted all along? You've always snubbed and put down the Uchiha - So I'll help erase the Uchiha from your memories. I'm going to kill each and every one of you...and DESTROY the Hidden Leaf!"
The three looked sadly on as Sasuke spoke, "Severing all bonds to the Hidden Leaf is the Ultimate Purification! And that shall lead to Uchiha's true restoration!"
Naruto formed a shadow clone as Kakashi held an arm out in front of him, blocking the blond from moving any further. "This is my task," he insisted. "Sakura, Naruto, leave."
"But, Kakashi-sensei-"
"If you stay, you'll see things you do not want to see," he warned. "Now go!"
"But-"
"Sakura, the poison-laced kunai Shizune taught you how to use won't kill Sasuke. Orochimaru gave him resistance to poisons," Kakashi tried to reason with the girl, "What's more...you've come to terms with your feelings, haven't you?"
Sakura frowned, but lowered her head, defeated. There was no denying that she hadn't thought this through.
Sasuke'd had enough. He could feel he had enough chakra left to expel at least one more jutsu, perhaps a simple chidori, nothing elaborate, but that was it. He had only one shot at this, and he knew what the outcome would be if he missed. The raven gathered the necessary chakra to perform his basic technique, his teeth clenched as he fought to ignore the pain shooting up and down his arm - further proof that he was pushing far too hard, dangerously so.
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto interjected, "This 'something' I don't want to see... are you going to kill Sasuke?"
"Go! Both of you!" Kakashi ordered, deliberately ignoring Naruto's question. The blond pouted, his mind already made up. He pushed forward before Kakashi could stop him, a rasengan already swirling in his palm. A clone pulled Kakashi back before he could even realize what was happening, as Naruto and Sasuke started charging toward one another, palms outstretched, jutsu flashing and shrieking to life.
"Now's my chance!" Sasuke cried, "I'm not holding back!"
"Naruto!" Kakashi warned.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed.
But it was too late. Their jutsu connected with a bang, electricity and an element seemingly like water flashing all around them. The ground trembled beneath them, the space within their palms shifting as the world swirled out of focus. A bright orb of light suddenly surrounded the two teens, growing smaller as it enclosed them. It grew darker, a deep shade of purple before it turned entirely black. And it grew heavier, the orb consuming everything around it.
Before the two boys suddenly lost consciousness.
oOo
Chapter 1: Confusion
oOo
Naruto gasped for breath as if his lungs had suddenly begun to work again after years of misuse. He coughed aloud, blinking continuously until his vision cleared. His back ached, his whole body ached. Where was he? He could feel the rain falling onto his ripped jacket and exposed skin and hissed, feeling the kyuubi's chakra going to work on the deep wound in his chest.
'Wait, Kyuubi's chakra?' Naruto blinked away the rain caught within his eyelashes and just then noticed a pair of deep black eyes staring down at him. Startled, the blond yelped and attempted lifting into a sitting position, consequently slamming foreheads with the owner.
"Ow, ow, ow!" the blond whined, rubbing his forehead. He could hear hissing beside him and jump up in an attack ready position when he couldn't immediately place his surroundings. He jerked his view to the owner of those dark eyes, freezing instantly when he came face to face with none other than -
"Sasuke?" Naruto wondered, truly confused. "Wh-wh-wh-how-"
Sasuke only continued to blink back at him, eyes wider than Naruto had ever seen, looking just as confused as the blond felt. "Naruto?" the raven asked, as if unsure. Naruto nodded, giving Sasuke the 'no duh' look as he stood. Naruto didn't fair any better in a standing position, immediately feeling an internal pain split through his body. He groaned aloud, holding his torso. The blond lifted his head weakly as he inspected their surroundings. Why was he in so much pain...? Where were they...? And why was Sasuke...?
Sasuke stood as well, too surprised at the sight before him to even speak. He glanced around, recognized the surrounding landmarks instantaneously, and then looked even more frightened back in Naruto's direction. When Sasuke glanced back at the blond he was met an with undeniable fear within Naruto's blue eyes - a look that told Sasuke Naruto had just as much a clue as to what was going on as he did.
"How did we end up..." Sasuke murmured, finding it not easy to finish his sentence.
"...here," Naruto paled, finally able to recognize exactly where it is they were.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes for a second. He had 'woken' minutes before Naruto, already standing and seemingly staring off into space before he'd noticed that something wasn't quite right. For one, no one was present but him and Naruto. Two, Naruto wasn't quite...himself. That is to say, he was much younger. Twelve, by the look of it. Sasuke had stepped back in surprise, startled by the sight but knowing better to believe it to be real until he tried to dispel it. Yet, he hadn't been able to. So the raven couldn't possibly understand how he was seeing a real life young and breathing Naruto Uzumaki before him - unless of course, someone was using a transformation technique. But why-
and then he'd noticed his reflection, in one of the rain puddles. Sasuke watched as his eyes grew wider than he'd ever imagined. He stepped away, afraid to admit what he knew to be true... knowing there was no way it could happen to them both and it notbe a reality! But there he was, his aged 13 self, staring back at him. And he brought a much smaller hand to his face to confirm it. The raven had inched toward Naruto, his shoulder throbbing with a pain he'd long since forgotten. And then a memory came flooding back, of Orochimaru. And the curse seal. And defecting from the village. And his battle with Naruto. And -
Sasuke nearly tripped over his own two feet as he hurried to reach the blond. First the raven had checked to see if Naruto was even breathing. He sighed in relief as a pulse registered through the blond's semi-concave chest, when he'd pressed his ear to it. He lifted and scanned Naruto's face, checking for any indication that Naruto would awaken, soon. He'd only recieved a blank sleeping face, instead. Sasuke sighed and moved to the head of the blond so that he could look down at him again. But, a shock of pain split through his shoulder again, making him topple over and fall to his knees. Resulting in him getting a full view of Naruto's Konoha headband. That was when he'd first started to register the flashbacks. He recalled everything he'd been through in the past three years, all the things he'd said and done. And then one thought occured to him as Naruto had suddenly gasped for breath. That everything...all the revelations about his clan...everything told to him by Itachi...by, by Tobi...
Could it have all been a dream?
"Release!" Naruto called. But to his horror, nothing happened. Sasuke rolled his eyes and collected himself, knowing for sure that this was definitely Naruto and not some elaborate hoax. "I already tried that," he commented dryly. Naruto flicked his gaze to Sasuke with feral, wide-eyed intensity. "Can you blame me for trying?" Naruto nearly shrieked.
Sasuke wanted to tell him to calm down and shut up, a sudden drop in the temperature around them telling him that something wasn't quite right. But, then again, nothing was quite right with this situation so he decided to stick to frowning.
"Where're Sakura? And Kakashi-sensei? And - and -"
"Naruto." Sasuke interrupted.
"Huh?" the blond asked, his tone high and panicked.
"Do you know where we are?" the raven wondered, not for his curiousity but to see whether Naruto was even aware that they were no longer in the place they'd intercepted each other's jutsu.
"Of, course! You think I'm blind?" the blond turned and lifted his arm up, pointing to two statues overlooking a waterfall. "That's where we fought, Sasuke! This!" the blond pointed all around them, "This is the Valley of the End!" and then he pointed a finger directly at the raven. "And you!" Naruto's voice had risen, his finger shaking, "You're like -"
"Thirteen?" Sasuke offered helpfully.
"Thirteen!" Naruto echoed. "What the FUCK is going on?" he was on the brink of insanity now. "How the hell did we get here?"
"Calm down," Sasuke demanded. "We must've flown pretty far from the blast of our jutsu."
"You- you think?" Naruto asked, still looking around distractedly. Sasuke was trying to convince himself more than anything, but Naruto going along with the story was making it easier to accept as reality. Even though he knew better. Naruto turned desperately toward Sasuke, silently asking for him to deny what they both wanted to refuse was the truth, the raven giving him exactly what he wanted. "Yeah," Sasuke murmured.
"But." Naruto's eyebrows curled, his hand going to his chest,"Do you see this?"
Sasuke watched as the blond brought a fist through the gash in his torn jacket. It was undeniably the same spot where Sasuke had once ripped through the fabric with a fist of his own. "My wound...don't you think it's...a coincidence?" Naruto supplied with an odd laugh, "I'm mean, come on, Sasuke, what're the odds that we'd both be wearing the exact same clothing we wore that night?"
Sasuke glared. Obviously, that had been his first question. But why was Naruto contradicting every theory he supplied after already accepting it? Did the blond want the truth? "What exactly do you want me to say, Naruto? That we'd somehow traveled through time when our jutsu connected? That we're both dead and imagining this?"
Naruto's eyes grew worried, his voice uncharacteristically meek. "Of course, not." the blond answered. "But, I don't want you to lie just to protect me. So tell me, Sasuke, what do you think happened. 'Cause right now I'm feeling pretty fucking lost. Think you could help me out?"
The raven frowned. He...he refused to admit so, himself, but he didn't quite know for sure what exactly had happened. It could be any of the things he'd theorized, or a combination thereof! But there was truly only one way to find out.
The raven attempted to activate his Chidori blade of Kusanagi to no avail. He attempted for the second time, still no such luck. Sasuke sighed and looked up, directly into Naruto's surprisingly mild gaze. "What'do you know," the raven commented dryly. "I have no recollection how to reform my technique, even after every memory stored into my brain and every hour I spent training to perfect it."
"But what does that mean?" Naruto wondered,"Shouldn't you be able to, ya'know, if you remember creating it?"
"If time travel were an option, essentially, yes," Sasuke murmured distractedly as he glanced around them. "So, this must mean we're dealing with something else. Another force."
Naruto looked to be starting to calm down, as if finally getting a grasp on reality and what had happened to them even if he didn't have a single clue as to how or why. Sasuke appreciated the fact that the blond was no longer shouting for the whole world to hear, though he didn't comment. "A force? Like what?" Naruto wondered. He wasn't good with this stuff. Maybe Sasuke knew more than him, seeing as he is a genius and all.
Sasuke shrugged. "All we know is that...whatever the case...we both experienced it, right?" Naruto nodded, as if confirming the obvious, though Sasuke had meant that question to be retorical. "So, I suppose it could be a reality within our own..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"That somehow, we created a seperate reality when our jutsu connected, creating a plane, or portal, that brought us back to the last time we'd used the same technique on each other."
Naruto frowned. "I'm confused. So does that mean...this," he gestured all around them," is fake?"
"Could be," Sasuke answered, "But I doubt it."
"Why?" the blond sat cross-legged on the ground, staring up at Sasuke as the raven explained. The rain was finally subsiding, allowing the clouds to clear. A thin strip of light emerged from the sky, shining down on the rock laid between the two boys.
"Because, if this were fake...then, it's highly probable that we're both dead. And, considering the state you were in when we connected, I'm fairly certain that isn't the case."
Naruto gulped, still not quite sure what Sasuke was telling him. "What? But how-"
"Basically, Naruto," Sasuke interrupted with narrowed eyes, looking highly annoyed for the blond's confusion, "it means we're stuck."
"Stuck?"
Sasuke scoffed, his glare piercing sharper. "Can you get anymore thick?" he asked. Naruto pouted, insulted, but didn't comment, instead waiting until Sasuke clarified. "As in...we have to stay here. At least, until we can find a trigger..."
"You mean, like a way to get back?"
"Yeah..." Sasuke commented with a sigh, "Though, I haven't the slightest idea what that might be..."
Naruto had no clue, either. He was surprised Sasuke knew this much. And thankful, too. Who knows what he would've done, had Sasuke not been here to explain it. The situation made a lot more sense they was Sasuke had theorized, though Naruto was still unsure about some things. But one thing was definite. Whatever this was, was real.
"Naruto! Sasuke!"
The two boys turned and glanced up a cliff to see their sensei jumping down with Pakkun by his side. Kakashi made it quickly two them, as they continued to sit, seemingly unaffected by the sudden arrival of their sensei as they remained silent. After all, they both knew what day they had suddenly appeared in. It only made sense to Naruto that Kakashi would show up eventually, since he'd done it that night, too. Sasuke knew this would happen simply because he'd watched in the trees the first time. Having waited until Kakashi arrived to return Naruto to Konoha before he ventured off to Orochimaru on his own. But no one needed to know that, except himself.
"I see you two worked out your differences?" Kakashi asked, looking more than a little surprised to find them both sitting, calm and not in each other's faces. Naruto shrugged, Sasuke didn't reply at all. He still wasn't sure whether what they'd experienced was...a dream...or otherwise, but that didn't change the fact that he still hated Kakashi's guts. "Let's go, you two. Back to Konoha, where you belong." He'd seemed to especially stress that last word as he sent a prolonged glance toward Sasuke's direction. Sasuke pretended not to notice.
Naruto glanced at Sasuke, unsure, before Sasuke matched his gaze with a glare, 'He can't know anything', the raven wanted to burn into Naruto's mind with his eyes. It appeared to have the desired effect, too, because Naruto's eyes widened minutely before his face turned serious and he did a quick nod in agreement. The raven smirked victoriously. It wasn't so bad that he ended up returning to Konoha, after all, because, considering all the knowledge he now possessed...
...the council would be dead within the week.