Team…Seven?

Sasuke woke to the all-too-familiar feeling of chakra exhaustion. She felt around for hitai-ate, but it was nowhere in her immediate reach. Her muscles were stiff and she was covered in dew—had she lain here all night? As much as she resented Neji's—and now Naruto and Kakashi-sensei's—overprotectiveness, they could have at least brought her back to her apartment. Or woke her up!

With a groan, she pushed herself to her feet. She was going to give all three of them a piece of her mind, selfish bastards!

Then she remembered the mystery Sharingan-user. Had she been attacked? Was she even in Konoha any longer? Was she a prisoner again? What if Kakashi couldn't find her this time? What if he didn't even try?

After a minute, she forced herself to stop panicking. She thought about looking around, but her chakra was so low right now that she didn't want to risk passing out again. And summoning was another chakra-intensive technique, which was why she seldom dismissed her summon.

Very annoying.

She stretched her senses, trying to identify anything familiar. The air was warm and slightly damp, as she would expect during Konoha's rainy season. She was definitely outdoors. She could hear the distant sounds of people, but not clearly enough to make out anything specific. She took a shuffling step forward, then another, waving her arms in front of her face like a, well, a blind person.

Eventually, she encountered a gate. She dropped to her knees and felt the edges carefully. The latticework was familiar—she used to do this all the time as a young child. This was the entrance to the Uchiha compound. And for some reason her teammates had been unwilling or unable to find her. All night. After she was attacked.

Well, standing here by herself wasn't accomplishing anything. She could just follow the sounds of people until she found someone who could direct her to her apartment. She could swallow her pride just this once—to save her energy for lecturing her idiot team, of course.

She trailed a hand along the side of each building she passed, walking slowly and carefully. It was frustrating how such simple tasks could still present such a challenge, even after all her training. And being tired, sore, and hungry was not helping!

"Oi, Sasuke-teme!"

Sasuke froze. "…Naruto?"

"Hey, sorry lady, I'm looking for Sasuke!"

Sasuke barely resisted the urge to open her eyes and confirm that this was Naruto, but really, that chakra signature was unmistakable. Besides, he'd probably changed a bit since she last saw him at eight years old. "…but I'm right here."

"Hey lady, why're you walkin' with your eyes shut?"

"Naruto, this is how I always walk. How could you possibly…actually, never mind, I don't even want to know how your mind works. Could you take me to my apartment?"

"Where's that? Oh hey, you're a ninja? Me too! I'm gonna be the best ninja ever! And someday, I'm gonna be Hokage! What's your name?"

"Umm…" Had Naruto finally hit his head too many times? She was about to ask him just that when an unfamiliar chakra signature approached.

"Dobe. Stop chatting up girls and focus on the mission."

"Shut up, Sasuke-teme!"

Okay, now she just had to know. Sasuke cracked her eyes open.

Sure enough, there was Naruto, looking a little taller than she remembered him but otherwise pretty much the same. Just…oranger. Hopefully that was just her weird vision and Naruto didn't actually wear that. And next to him was a boy who looked remarkably like a smaller version of Itachi but with bad hair.

His eyes widened and shifted to the Sharingan.

Then her chakra ran out and everything went dark again.


The next time she woke up, she was in a hospital bed. People were talking around her.

"…and then she just fainted!" Naruto was saying enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Naruto. Sasuke?" the Hokage said.

"What?" she asked groggily. Wait, was there an echo in here?

"Oh, you're awake!"

"Guess so. And I didn't faint, Naruto, it's called chakra exhaustion! There's a big difference."

"Uh, ok…"

"What's going on?" she demanded, attempting to sit up. There were damp bandages over her eyes, but more importantly, she was apparently tied to the bed. "Why am I being restrained? Am I in trouble for something?"

"I understand that you possess the Sharingan," the Hokage said, not answering any of her questions.

She made a frustrated noise. "Of course. You already know that. Everyone knows that."

"Everyone? I can't say I've ever seen you before."

"What are you talking about? You see me every month and tell me irreverent stories about the Legendary Sannin."

"Wow Sasuke, you two look really alike," Naruto interrupted. "You could be siblings!"

Sasuke flinched.

"Wow, synchronized flinching," an unknown female voice said. "That's weird."

"Why don't you start by telling us your name," the Hokage said in that overly-patient voice she remembered from the immediate aftermath of That Time.

"You know my name. I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

The silence in the room was almost tangible.

"But…you're a girl," Naruto said finally.

"Of course I'm a girl, idiot! We've only been teammates for six months now! Don't tell me you're only just noticing!"

"That's impossible," the stranger with the Sharingan said, "because I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

"I really don't understand what is going on right now," (girl) Sasuke said, voicing all their thoughts.


The Sandaime called in Yamanaka Inoichi to conduct an examination—then sent him out again to wait until morning when Sasuke kicked up a fuss.

"I'm not submitting to any tests that require eye contact. Look, just ask Kakashi-sensei! He told me I could die or lose the ability to channel chakra if I overuse my Sharingan!"

"Well, he would know, but why don't you just turn it off?"

"I can't! …why, can your Sasuke turn his off?"

"Of course I can."

Sasuke seethed—was she this annoying? And stuck-up? She hoped not.

"We'll have to keep you, er, under guard here until we can confirm your identity," the Hokage said. "I'm sure you can understand, this is all a bit…irregular."

"Fine, whatever."

"Well…ah, Kakashi. Thank you for coming so quickly. We had some questions about overusing the Sharingan."

"…okay. Who is this?"

Sasuke sat up as well as the restraints allowed. "Don't tell me you forgot I was a girl, too!"

"…do I know you?"

Okay, so this wasn't some kind of bizarre and elaborate prank. Kakashi was still twitchy about his recent discovery that she was, in fact, a girl, with all the Girl Problems that came with it—no way he could remain that nonchalant. And it couldn't be genjutsu; it was too elaborate, and Naruto's scent and chakra signature matched her memory exactly, which no one would think to imitate. Even if the mysterious Sharingan user—the first one; it seemed like this 'Last Uchiha' title was seriously exaggerated—had used an advanced genjutsu, her own Sharingan should have kept her safe.

So…

What the hell was going on?


Twelve hours and two sessions with Yamanaka Inoichi later, the working theory was—well, they had no working theory. All they'd established was that she was completely sincere in her belief that she was Uchiha Sasuke, and she remembered an entire Konoha that was almost, but not quite, identical to theirs.

She didn't appear dangerous, so they decided to release her on the condition that she be subjected to frequent and random check-ins by ANBU. An ANBU escorted her to Team Seven's training area—not the same one she remembered—at ten in the morning.

So, well before Kakashi was due to arrive.

That left her to socialize with a bored Team Seven.

"Wow Sasuke, you're kind of hot as a chick."

Sasuke—both of them—barely resisted the urge to beat Naruto into the ground.

The other girl had no such restraint. "Stop saying such stupid things!" she yelled, clobbering him over the head.

"So…who are you exactly?" Sasuke asked the girl.

"Me? Oh, I'm Haruno Sakura. I-I guess since you're a girl, the teams would be different…so it's not really a surprise that we're not close…"

"What are you talkin' about? Sasuke-teme barely notices you either," Naruto—unwisely—pointed out.

Sasuke winced at the sound of a fist colliding with Naruto's skull—again. This Sakura was awfully violent. And apparently this other Sasuke was stalked just as diligently as she was by overeager suitors. Could that word be applied to girls? "I didn't really follow the usual track at the Academy," she said, trying to keep the peace. "Now that you've mentioned it, I think I remember you. You're friends with the Yamanaka girl, right?"

"Well, uh, we used to be," Sakura hedged, effectively ending that line of conversation.

Sasuke searched for something else to talk about. She really, really missed Neji and his comfortable silences right now.

"What happened at the Academy?" the other Sasuke asked, attempting to keep the conversation going. Not that he really cared, but he'd rather Naruto didn't start talking about how hot the new girl was. It was just weird.

She shrugged. "After my…accident…" she gestured toward her eyes, "they put me in a different class. I actually graduated a year earlier than I was supposed to, but then I failed the chuunin exam so here I am again. And it looks like I'm going to miss the exam again and spend yet another year on these stupid D-rank missions."

"Hnn."

Sasuke was kicking herself for getting nostalgic over monosyllabic non-answers when a thought occurred to her. "Wait…if this is Konoha, but a slightly different Konoha, does that mean…my family?"

No one said anything.

"Sasuke just shook his head," Sakura said finally.

Sasuke's shoulders slumped.

With his usual impeccable timing, Kakashi chose that moment to appear and start the training session.


Sasuke sat and listened to the training session—if anything, this Kakashi was even less helpful than her Kakashi-sensei, and this Team Seven was way less independent—then trailed along as they walked dogs and weeded a flowerbed.

Sakura and Naruto were very solicitous of her "disability" and the other two simply assumed that she couldn't do anything useful and ignored her. Never mind that she'd said she was a genin. Though without Neji's subtle support or her summon, she was a little less capable than usual. But only a little!

It was a relief to finally escape, pleading tiredness when Naruto invited her to get some of that dreadful ramen he was obsessed with. At least some things were the same.

It took her until the other Team Seven had already disappeared to realize that her apartment wasn't hers in this place, and no one had said anything about living arrangements.

Well, she thought, slightly hysterically, she could always sleep in the kitchen off the main Hyuuga household.

She wasn't that desperate, though, so she asked directions from a passing civilian to a dango shop she remembered going to as a child. It was less than a block from the Uchiha compound.

After a few false turns and one barked shin, she found her way to her own front door. Sasuke's front door. Whatever.

Once again, she was left behind. No one here knew her. She had no idea how she'd gotten here. She had no idea how to get back. They all might as well be dead. Again.

She sniffled.

Steadfastly refusing to cry—she hadn't cried since That Time—she found a musty but serviceable futon in the hall closet and laid it out in an equally musty room. Curling up in a ball, she willed herself to sleep.


The Sandaime Hokage had an ominous feeling—and not just because his loudest former student had decided the latest news from his spy network was worth a personal visit.

"I'm hearing some very strange things about that new settlement claiming to be the next Hidden Village," Jiraiya was saying. "I think they're calling themselves 'The Hidden Sound.' Coupled with increased activity from—sensei, are you listening?"

"Hmm? Yes, yes, of course. It's just—there've been some strange occurrences here, too."

"Oh?"

"You're not going to believe this—I'm not sure I believe it, but Inoichi swears—"

There was a knock at the door.

"I said I wasn't to be disturbed!" the Sandaime called, irritated at the interruption.

"My apologies, Hokage-sama," an unfortunate chuunin yelled through the door, "but, um—I really think you should see this."

Sensei and (ex-)student had a furious, silent conversation. After a moment, Jiraiya abandoned his attempts to escape through the window and slumped in a chair, pouting.

"This had better be good," the Sandaime called ominously.

The chuunin's nervous swallow was audible even through the closed door.

After a moment, Kakashi pushed open the door and entered, a peculiar expression on his face. Right on his heels, another Kakashi followed with an identical expression—as much of an expression as one can have with three-quarters of their face covered, anyway.

"Speaking of strange happenings," the Hokage managed, gesturing to the newcomers. "I see we have another extra-dimensional visitor."

"There isn't enough alcohol in the world for this," Jiraiya said, once he recovered the ability to speak.

Both Kakashis made an identical, amused sound, then glanced at each other warily. It was almost like watching a bizarre mirror act, though without the mirror. Obviously.

The Sandaime wondered if all these bizarre happenings had damaged his mind somehow.

One of the Kakashis stepped out of the doorway to allow Naruto and Hyuuga Neji, of all people, to enter. The Hyuuga boy quietly closed the door behind him and dragged Naruto off to a corner where they wouldn't be in the way.

"Can I interpret your lack of surprise to mean that my other student is already here somewhere?" a Kakashi asked neutrally.

"Yes, she arrived yesterday. We—"

The Hokage was interrupted yet again when the door slammed open, heralding the arrival of Uzumaki Naruto. Again. "Old man, old man! I was coming to see you about joining the chuunin exam, but those guys all said I was already here! What's goin' on?"

Naruto finally noticed that there were other people in the room, and with his usual tact he poked both Kakashis—hard. "Wow, sensei! I didn't know you could make shadow clones!"

The other Naruto escaped Neji's attempts to contain him and bounced over to regard his counterpart. "Whoa, cool!"

The Sandaime felt a headache coming on. "Have we made any progress determining what exactly is going on?"

One Kakashi came to attention. "Yesterday my team and I discovered that Sasuke had disappeared. When we retraced her steps, we found that she had apparently vanished into thin air. After subjecting the area to every investigatory jutsu we could think of, we triggered…something…and found ourselves here. We didn't seem to have moved physically, but once we entered the village it was obvious that this was…somehow…a different Konoha. If it is a genjutsu, it's certainly the most elaborate one I've ever seen, and fully immune to the Sharingan."

Abandoning his attempts at dignity, the Sandaime let his head drop to the desk with a loud thunk. "There, that's much better," he said. "Everything makes so much more sense now."

Everyone gave him weird looks.

"Determining what exactly has happened here is now the number one priority for all unoccupied ninja in the village," the Sandaime said. He turned to the nearest ANBU. "I want teams mobilized to investigate the compound, the newcomers, and the archives. If anything even remotely similar has ever happened, anywhere, I want to know about it, yesterday. Our visitors will be assigned temporary housing and guards." The ANBU nodded sharply and prepared to depart. "But first, I'm making a new law. Everyone who thinks they are from somewhere else will be required to wear a band around their arm, or I will be very displeased."

Into the silence following that pronouncement, Sasuke and Sakura peered through the doorframe.

"You guys are so slow!" Naruto—one of them—declared loudly.

"You're not supposed to just barge into the Hokage's office, Naruto," Sakura lectured. "And why are you messing around with clones?"

Neji, who had remained unobtrusively in the corner until now, went to join the general ruckus. "The hell did you do to your hair, Sasuke?"

Naruto—both of them this time—burst into giggles.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke demanded.

"In this Konoha, Sasuke is a boy," the Sandaime supplied, in a futile effort to regain some control of the situation. "Now—"

Neji activated his bloodline limit. "Huh. So you are."

Kakashi choked.

"What I wouldn't give for a jutsu like that," Jiraiya said wistfully.

"Don't be a pervert," Neji shot back immediately. "I was just looking at his chakra signature. Where is Sasuke?"

Fortunately, an ANBU chose just that moment to drop in through the window.

"Please, no one bother asking permission," the Sandaime mumbled, "it's just the Hokage's office…"

"Hokage-sama," the ANBU reported, "the girl calling herself Uchiha Sasuke is not in her assigned apartment. No one remembers seeing her enter or leave."

Now the Sandaime really had a headache. "Please tell me that someone told her where she would be staying?"

Judging by the slightly embarrassed silence, the answer to that was probably no.

"So we have a user of the rare and coveted Sharingan wandering around Konoha, alone, blind, and completely helpless," the Sandaime summarized.

The ANBU cringed.

"Sasuke's not helpless," Naruto said immediately. "It's practically impossible to sneak up on her."

Several faces showed surprise at Naruto's defense of someone who, in this Konoha, was a bitter rival.

"Well she did faint yesterday," Sasuke muttered. "Twice."

"I'm sure that was chakra exhaustion," Neji corrected.

"That's what she said—"

"Boys, please," Kakashi interrupted. "This is not helping Sasuke. Girl-Sasuke. Boy-Sasuke, shut up. Neji—of the people in this room, I expect you know her best. Where would Sasuke go?"

"She's probably feeling upset," the Sandaime added. "Alone. Possibly afraid. Where does, er, Girl-Sasuke feel safe?"

"I know exactly where she is."

"Fine then," the Sandaime said. "But no one is leaving this room until three of you are wearing colored bands."

"Ooh, can mine be orange?" Naruto asked.