Sasuke stepped into a large open field and drew the knife from his hand. Placing the tip near his thumb, he quickly stabbed the edge of the knife into his thumb as small droplets of blood began to flow from it. Placing the knife back into its sheathe, Sasuke dropped to his knees as he slammed the hand that was cut into the ground with all of his fingers outstretched.
"Summoning jutsu" he invoked.
Sasuke waited for few seconds to see if anything happened, only to retract his hands and get back up once he realized that nothing was happening. It seems he had been stripped of far more power than he originally thought he did.
"It seems the other me has exclusive rights to the summoning contracts" Sasuke remarked, staring at his hands with a frown "and I can't seem to invoke another one either."
"That is quite unfortunate"
Sasuke watched as the Sage of Six Paths manifested from thin air and began floating next to him. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the ancient spirit before he turned his back and made his way towards the shade of a large tree while the Sage followed.
"And you're certain that you're not responsible for this as well?" Sasuke asked, stopping as he reached his destination. The Uchiha sat in the shade of the tree with his legs crossed and folded on top of each other as he picked up the bag that he had placed there.
"I'am quite certain" Hagoromo answered, "in fact, this recent development has pique my curiosity as well."
"Hmph, fine" Sasuke accepted his answer.
The Sage of Six Paths was surprised by how easily the young Uchiha let him off the hook this time around, even if he was telling the truth. This was in stark contrast to their very first time here where he tried to chew him out for suppressing his powers. As he watched the boy rummage through his bag of contents, Hagoromo couldn't help but feel like there had been some changes going on recently with him.
Despite all his talk of wanting to move out soon, the Sage could clearly see that he was somewhat content with living his life here as a hermit, enjoying the peace and quiet that the foothills offered. If he had to guess, he'd wager that this slight change in behavior started once he met that young girl Erza. "It seems things truly worked out for the best" Hagoromo smiled as he watched Sasuke take out a small book from the bag.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing at all"
The young Uchiha chose to not respond to that statement, instead opting to browse through his belongings as he picked up a book. Moving closer to the tree, Sasuke rested his back against its trunk as he brought one of knees closer to his chest while stretching out the other as he opened the book and began flipping through its pages.
He never knew that the church's library had a treasure trove of literary valuables just sitting in their shelves, collecting dust. Ever since that day when he sought out help from Erza, she had been bringing in volumes of new books ever week. Sasuke discovered that not only was she quite well read, she was able to pick out the books that he wanted to read. It seems asking for her help was the best decision he made.
Speaking of books, the ones that Erza gave him contained a wealth of information; the kind that he had been seeking out for a long time and one that the old couple could never provide. Nearly everything that he wanted to know about, at least half of them were contained in these books: politics, religion, history and many more were all in these books, the most important of which was a map of Fiore and its neighbors. Things were initially difficult to read at first, mainly due to the vastly different characters, grammatical structures and their implementation of words, but with Erza's teachings, Sasuke was able to make sense of most of them.
However, the thing that interested both him and Hagoromo the most, was the concept of ethernano and lacrimas. It would seem that on principle, ethernano was nature energy with another name with magic and chakra being the end result, and yet, the inhabitants of this world managed to utilize it in ways beyond what was possible in his world by implanting them in specialized items called lacrimas.
"Are you continuing your research into ethernano and lacrima?" The Sage of the Six Paths asked, looking on curiously.
"Yeah" Sasuke answered.
"That is good to hear" Hagoromo approved, "I hope we can find something fruitful from the knowledge that we have obtained. Especially with regards to its relations with chakra and its compatibility"
Sasuke hummed in response, preferring to read his book in peace and quiet. Knowing that he probably wouldn't get any further response from the boy, Hagoromo vanished into thin air.
…...
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Erza was busy practicing her striking skills against the might of a small tree that Sasuke dubbed 'the wooden dummy'. Taking Sasuke's lessons to heart, the girl memorized the stances that she was taught and struck the tree repeatedly.
"Hiya! Hiya!" she shouted with each punch. Yet, for every strike there was a feeling of dissatisfaction looming over her; it just didn't feel fair for her to be striking a puny tree while Sasuke was punching the living daylights out of a large one with his fists bleeding. "You have to start with this, he says, it's easier for you, he says. Pfft" Erza grumbled.
The young girl continued her training until the midday sun's blazing heat was too much to bear. "I think that's enough for today" she said to herself, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.
Walking over to the edge of the woods, Erza looked over to the large tree and found her friend resting on its shade with his head buried deep on a book. With his focus entirely on reading, Sasuke looked like he either oblivious to Erza's presence or didn't seem to pay much attention to it as she smiled and walked over to him.
"I'm back"
The young Uchiha looked up from his book to see pair of eager eyes looking down on him. "Done with your training?" Sasuke asked.
"Yeah" Erza answered with a sigh as she made her way to the other side of the tree and rested there.
"So how did it go?" Sasuke asked again, flipping through the pages.
Erza fanned herself in an attempt to cool herself as she took the water bottle next to Sasuke and drank from it. "It's going fine, I guess" she answered after taking a sip, "I think I've getting better at it."
"Is that so?" Sasuke said, though the eye patch concealed the fact that he was looking in Erza's direction. "That's good to hear" he remarked.
"Thanks" she answered with a smile.
A short period of silence followed after that initial conversation, though by this point, Erza had gotten used to it. As a matter of fact, she welcomed it at times since it allowed her to enjoy and appreciate the scenery far more often than she normally would have.
"Hey Sasuke" Erza called out, initiating another conversation with him as she looked at the open grassy fields.
Sasuke turned his head sideways to glance at Erza, before going back to staring at the books. "What is it?" he asked.
"How long has it been since we first met?"
Sasuke closed his book and looked up at the sky. That was a question he never thought he would get asked or that he would have to answer something that he barely paid attention to. "More than a month, I think" he answered after a long pause.
"Can't believe it's been that long, huh?" Erza commented.
"Yeah" Sasuke said, going with the flow. Somehow, he knew she was going somewhere with this conversation.
"But, I guess that's what happens when we're having so much fun" Erza looked up at the sky as she continued speaking, "I hope things stay like this forever."
"That's wishful thinking" Sasuke thought as he watched the clouds go by. In all the times she visited him, Sasuke couldn't find it in himself to tell her that he was going to leave soon and that he was just prolonging his stay here; mostly out of fear that she might not be able to handle it well but also partly to protect her from any trouble he might attract. Deep down, however, Sasuke found himself becoming a hypocrite for repeating the same mistakes he made years ago when he defected from Konoha. It was this inner conflict that made him stick around longer than he thought he would.
"So what about you?" Erza interrupted his thoughts, "don't you want things to be just like this forever too?"
The young Uchiha kept his eye on the drifting clouds as he pondered that question. Honestly, he himself wasn't sure with regards to how he felt about all of this. Fun was a word that he hadn't used in a long while and most people would probably find him quite dull, especially when it came to matters of things related to enjoyment. That being said, he'd be lying if he said he didn't find the notion of having a friend around to keep him company pleasant.
"Maybe" he said, "but I'm not sure if any of this is going to last forever."
"Huh?" Erza looked towards him, tilting her head in confusion, "what do you mean?"
Sasuke took in a deep breath as he closed his eyes. He sat silently for a few seconds before he spoke "I won't be staying here for long. I'll be moving out soon".
"Moving out!" Erza said with a look of surprise as she crawled over to Sasuke, staring at him "but where?"
"I don't...really know where" Sasuke groaned a little, getting a bit peeved by Erza invading his personal space, "wherever I feel like, I guess."
"I see" Erza said in a soft voice, seemingly heartbroken by the notion. Something the young Uchiha could read all too well just from her face alone.
The girl remained quiet as Sasuke looked at her to see if she would give any further response. A feeling of guilt washed over him as he was now on the receiving end of the silent treatment. Withholding such an important information felt like his hypocrisy was rearing its ugly head once again, since for all his talk of becoming her friend, it seemed like he didn't value their friendship as much to tell her his plans no matter how good his intentions were.
"Erza, listen I..." Sasuke murmured, "I'm sorry for not telling you this sooner."
The girl did not respond to his apology. Now the boy starting to think that he had done something that pissed her off badly. He expected her to run away angry any second now.
"Erz-"
"Let me come with you!" she demanded, startling Sasuke by her sudden actions.
"I'm sorry?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes and shook his head, confused by what he had just heard, "did you say you want to come with me?"
"Uh huh" Erza nodded, " to be honest, I've never been anywhere outside of this village, so this is probably my only chance to see the world outside."
Sasuke grumbled at the notion. "This isn't going to be some fun adventure you know. And what about the people in the village? Don't you think they're going to be worried if you ran away?"
"I know that it's not going to be easy but I don't think the people in the village are going to mind that much."
Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Still naive as ever" he thought as he let out a groan: he really didn't like the idea of someone following him around and becoming a burden to him. And yet, at the same time, he couldn't find it in himself to turn her away ; maybe it's because of the fact that she knew nothing of the things he had done in his past or maybe it's because he promised that he would be her friend and make sure she didn't turn out the way he did. "Fine" he conceded, "but you better not slow me down when we leave. Pull your own weight or I'll leave you behind."
Erza stared at him for a moment with her eyes and mouth wide open. Eventually it turned into a smile as she sat close to him and looked up at the clouds above. "Thank you" she said, turning over her head and smiling for Sasuke.
"You don't have to thank me" Sasuke dryly brushed off her praise.
"Really?" Erza blinked.
"Yes" Sasuke answered.
In response, Erza immediately got up and stood before Sasuke, who looked up to see what she was up to. "Well then, if that's the case, then let's make a promise instead" she addressed.
"A promise?" Sasuke kept staring at his companion, unsure of what to say.
"Yeah" she answered, sticking out her right pinkie towards him, " Let's promise to look out for each other wherever we're going."
"Okay..." Sasuke said as he raised a brow, "but why are you sticking your hand out like that?"
"You mean this?" Erza motioned her head towards her outstretched hand, to which Sasuke nodded. "It's a pinkie promise. It's a special way for people to make sure they don't break any promises" she explained.
"Right" Sasuke noted with a look of dull surprise, "I'm not going to do that"
"You're really not a fun person, are you?" the redhead complained with a frown on her face. It seems like this time, he wasn't going to budge as he simply stayed quiet.
Erza eventually sat down again and faced him as she took a deep breath and conceded with a pout, "fine but let's at least promise to protect each other, no matter what happens."
Sasuke remained quiet as he glanced at her direction for a moment before quickly turning away. He grumbled but reciprocated nonetheless, "sure, that's fine by me."
The two slowly nodded as they both came to an agreement. While Erza was outwardly please by this outcome, Sasuke wasn't as open about it as she was. Yet, deep down, the young Uchiha felt the same sense of satisfaction as his friend did, since the thought of having someone watch his back for him didn't feel all too bad.
It felt like life was starting to turn around for Sasuke again. And for that, he would endure.
Darkness fell upon the land once again as every living being that wasn't nocturnal began searching for shelter to bunker in for the night. Yet, even as night fell, the full moon shone as brightly as it could, with its light entering even the interior of a dingy cabin.
Sasuke laid down on his bed, eyes wide awake and his mind unable to rest as it pondered intensely. There wasn't anything wrong with him at the moment nor was there any sort of nightmare plaguing his mind. Rather, he was simply trying to recollected the memory he had of him agreeing to Erza's request to let her tag along with him. He had forgotten how long it had been since that day; a week? Maybe more?
Since that day he questioned himself constantly on whether he made the right call or not, even if he didn't have any doubts about it on that day itself. On the one hand, should any harm or danger come to her, Sasuke felt like it would be his fault and no one else's, but on the other hand, if he had refused, he would not only be going back on a promise but he would be pushing away a comrade again. Even the Sage of Six Paths commended him for his decision, for his own reasons.
Regardless, he had made his choice so there was no point thinking about it too much. And more importantly, there were other things that were keeping his mind busy throughout the whole night. The most prominent of which, was trying to make sense of everything that had happened, not just before he came to this world, but also on the things before that. One moment he was battling the likes of Kabuto, Obito, Madara and Kaguya, the next he was settling the score with Naruto only to end up brawling with him for an entire day, culminating in him admitting defeat and unknowingly splitting himself into two halves.
Speaking of his other half, he wondered how he was doing or what he was up to during all this time. Was he locked up for the all the crimes that he did? Perhaps it went a bit further and he was summarily executed for his troubles. Or maybe, by some miracle Naruto and the others who still trusted him vouched for his sake and got him pardoned. He let out a smirk at that thought, finding it rather absurd to believe that all would be forgiven so easily.
"Have you checked inside yet?"
"No, gonna do it now"
Sasuke's entire body went into high alert when he heard voices coming from outside of the cabin. From the sound of it, they didn't seem like the type that would knock on the door and politely as for his permission to enter the room. Not only that, but if there was more than one person, there was a possibility that he could get overwhelmed should they turn out to be a threat, especially in the current state he was in.
But the persistence of paranoia was also his best ally in moments like these. It gave him the presence of mind to discern every possibility and use them to his advantage. And right now, he had the element of surprise as the intruders were about to barge in. Rolling away from his bed to avoid attention, Sasuke quietly disappeared under the cloak of darkness, ready to ambush his would-be intruders.
It was time to be a shinobi.
…...
It was empty.
The intruder broke in through the front door, hoping to capture any unlucky stragglers, only to find the interior of the cabin to be devoid of any sign of human life. As he explored his surroundings, the intruder couldn't help but feel like there was an ominous presence about this place, as if there was someone watching his every move.
He didn't show it, but the darkness was making it difficult, not only for him to not be afraid but in his ability to make sense of the place as well. Little did he realize that his fears were not only warranted but that he was the one being hunted.
"Have you found anything?" a voice called out from the outside.
"Not yet" the man turned around and replied.
Placing his spear on the ground, the intruder took out a large stick with cloth wrapped around its end, opting to light his torch and burn the whole place to the ground. As he ignited the cloth that covered the stick, a bright dusky light illuminated the whole place and everything became clearer.
Relief struck him as his worst fears seemed to have been proven wrong since there was nothing in sight. "Guess it was nothing after al- what the!?"
The man immediately noticed a shadow sticking out from underneath his own that wasn't his. With a gasp, he immediately grabbed his spear and looked up towards the ceiling, only to see a pair of black eyes immediately pounce on him.
There was a scream that was cut off quickly as the flames that illuminated the cabin were snuffed out.
"Hey! Are you alright in there?" the intruder's companion called out in concern but was met with silence.
"Answer me!" he called out again only for it to fall on deaf ears.
The man hissed at the predicament they were in as he held onto his spear as tightly as he could. There was no doubt that someone occupied this cabin and that they had just taken out one of his own.
"Wait here, while I take a look at what's going on there" he commanded his remaining companion, who nodded in response and stood back.
Rushing into the house with a spear on one hand and a torch on the other, the man entered the house and immediately flashed his torch to check up on his partner. What he witnessed was something that horrified him as his partner laid on the ground in a pool of his own blood with his mouth wide open as his throat was punctured.
"N-no way" he gulped. Both of his hands trembled as he slowly made his way towards the corpse of his comrade one step at a time.
As he slowly made his way towards the dead body, his steps were cut off by the sound of another scream, one that came from outside. Realizing the predicament that he was in, the man quickly darted off towards the exit of the house to check up on his teammate.
Much to his horror, he looked on with his mouth wide open in shock as he discovered his other partner was in the same state as the one in the cabin.
"Dammit!" he hissed as he gripped his spear with both of his hands. He looked around everywhere to see where the assailant had gone off too as he stood his ground. "Whoever you are, come on out!" he shouted, "where are you!"
"I'm right here"
A boy emerged from the bushes, slowly walking towards him unflinchingly. With a knife in hand, the boy stared daggers into his eyes.
The man was a little bit more than surprised to see a kid walk towards him without fear. Everyone else that they had taken ran, whimpered and begged for their lives. What was even more absurd was the fact that this kid apparently took down two of his teammates with ease. Gritting his teeth, he growled at the kid, "who do you think you are, you little brat!?"
"Why don't you find out" the boy taunted, pointing his knife at the man.
The man roared and charged forward at full speed as the boy did the same. As the two got closer, the man thrust his spear straight towards the boy's body, seemingly having made contact with it as the kid's eyes widened.
"Got you" he proclaimed, letting out a smirk only for it to disappear instantly the moment the boy's body vanish under a cloud of smoke as a block of wood took its place and jammed the spear in place.
The man yelped as he noticed strange chirping sounds in the distance. He quickly turned around only to find the kid charging at him with lightning coming from his hand. In response, he raised his spear forward to defend himself from the attack, but it was rendered useless as the lighting split it in half and rammed through his body, dragging it all the way to the walls of the cabin and pinning him there.
He tried to yell out in pain but all he could do was gurgle in vain as he began to choke on his own blood. The world around him started to become hazy as he slowly lost feeling in the rest of body before eventually collapsing to the ground as he got one last look at his killer, standing next to him. In the end, it was all over in a flash as everything became dark and his mind went blank.
Sasuke took a deep breath as he looked around at the small carnage that had been made. As his Chidori disappeared, he knelt down and took a good look at the people who tried to break into the house.
"Looks like the three of them wore the same kind of clothing" he noted, rubbing his chin.
"What do you think? Were they here to rob?" Hagoromo emerged from thin air and chimed in.
"I don't know" Sasuke stood up and replied, observing his environment one more time, "but from the looks of it, they don't seem like some random bunch of thieves or bandits."
"Indeed" the Sage nodded, "their robes and masks suggest that they belong to some sort of organization."
Sasuke remained silent rather than respond to the Sage's assessment, though he did agree with what he was saying, something Hagoromo was able to easily pick up on.
But the bigger question still remained: Who were they? Which organization did they belong to? And what were they after? From the looks of things, it seems that whatever they wanted, it wasn't in his or anyone else's best interest, considering that they had no problem breaking into someone's house and trying to kill a kid.
"Sasuke, look" Hagoromo pointed towards the sky.
The young Uchiha looked at where the Sage of Six Paths pointed towards and saw large fumes of smoke coming from that direction. "That's where the village is" Sasuke gasped as he looked at the dead bodies once again. Putting two and two together, along with his own experience, he now knew exactly what was going. "These were just scouts" he snarled, clenching his fists.
The boy's eye widened in shock as the revelation on what might've been happening in the village dawned on him. Wasting no time, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, as if his life depended on it.
"Do you think it's too late, Sasuke?" Hagoromo asked. His face had an equal look of concern.
"It doesn't matter. Erza, the old man and his wife are still out there. I have to make sure they're safe" he quickly replied.
But deep down, he shared the same concern as the Sage. He really hoped he wasn't too late.
…...
Sasuke panted heavily from exhaustion as he took a short break to collect himself for the moment. He stared at the village forward with a horrified look on his face as his worst fears had come true: it was a burning, smoldering mess as the cries and screams of people echoed in his ear throughout every vicinity.
He shook his head and tried to dispel any negative thoughts that he might be having. This was no time to be having any sort doubts and moping about wasn't going to help either. Letting out one last breath, Sasuke pressed on, hoping to save at least three people from this mess.
Walking quickly towards the edge of the village, Sasuke realized that the situation was more complicated than he initially believed. The same masked men that he had seen back in the foothills had filled the entire streets like swarms of flies, killing or dragging people away.
Sneaking past the border, the young Uchiha hid himself away in one of alleyways and began to observe the invaders by peeking through the walls while following them from a relatively safe distance.
As he continued observing them, he noticed that while some of them held spears like the ones he had encountered, others held long staffs and were conjuring up some sort of strange energy to bind the captives. "So this is magic" he thought to himself as he kept observing these strange people. From the looks of it, Sasuke deduced that they were a bigger threat than the spear welders not only due to the fact that their full abilities were still unknown to him but also because of the fact that they also seemed to be of higher rank as he witnessed them barking orders at the other masked men.
Making things worse was the fact that they seemed to be supplemented by hellish looking creatures that resembled skinless dogs and large humanoid beings with long limbs.
Tailing the these mysterious figures as they made their rounds, Sasuke combed through the captives with his remaining eye, hoping to find the people he was looking for. For such a small village, there was quite a large number of residents as there seemed to be no end in sight to the number of heads he had to count.
Just as he was about to give up hope, he caught a familiar face through the corner of his eye: the old wood carver Wells was bound by the hands and feet, arguing with one of captors.
Quickly retreating back to the safety of the alleys, Sasuke closed his eyes and began to analyze the situation at hand. While he was glad that the old geezer was still alive, the same could not be said for his wife, who was nowhere to be found and neither was Erza. He had to assume the worst case scenario for the both of them, even if he really didn't want to. But at the same time, it allowed him to focus clearly on who he could still save at the moment, and that was the old man, who as usual, was biting off way more than he could chew.
"That old man!" he cursed internally, "picking another fight he can't win against. But at least, he knows how to stand out."
From the current state that he was in and lacking any of the powers he once had, it was clear to Sasuke that he was outnumbered and outmatched, which meant that if he were to succeed, he'd have to do this quickly and in one go.
"Can you do it Sasuke?" Hagoromo questioned.
In response, Sasuke began unwrapping the cloth that had been covering his left eye. "This body can only handle three jutsus so far, and I've already used up one" he explained, slowly wrapping the cloth around his left hand, "but there's no other way, I have to do this."
"Very well" the Sage acknowledged, "be careful."
With those parting words, the Sage of Six Paths remained quiet once again as Sasuke finished up his preparations by completing the hand wrap with a tight knot. An extra eye and padding for his left arm might not seem like much, but he needed everything he had available to perform this rescue operation. It was do or die.
…...
From his analysis, Sasuke deduced that the staff wielders were the more dangerous foes that he had to contend with, and thus warranted his attention the most. He ran at full speed and weaved the sighs midway through as he caught the invaders by surprise and took one of them out in a blitz. Before they could even react, he threw his knife at the second staff wielder, striking him in his head as he fell to the ground. That took care of those who might be capable of this 'magic', leaving only the foot soldiers to handle.
"S-Sasuke!?" the old man called out with a look of disbelief. He was the last person he had ever expected to be anywhere near this disaster. And he wasn't the only one who shared that sentiment either, as other captives began to notice of the boy.
"Hey...isn't that the kid with the cursed eye?"
"Y-yeah! What's he doing here?"
As the captured villagers began to murmur amongst themselves, Wells immediately ran towards the boy with hands shackled, fuming over the boy's decision. "What the hell are you doing here!? Why did you even come here!?" he angrily hollered.
"There's no time. Just run!" Sasuke argued back as he dashed forward, grabbing the knife that had been stuck in one of the corpses and stood between the captives and the spear wielders backed by those strange creatures.
Weaving another sign, Sasuke sucked in the air and enlarged his chest before expelling an endless stream of fire from his mouth, burning everything in front of him. Screams of pain were heard in the distance, the sounds of both human and those that weren't. After a few more seconds, the young Uchiha stopped his barraged as he fell to his knees, having pushed his weak body to its limits and used up all the chakra that was available.
Sadly, his rescue attempt seemed to have taken a detour as the captives stood and watched his performance with awe and fear, rather than take the opportunity to flee. Even the old man seemed to have been overcome by the moment and chose to stand still.
"It's ove-"
Suddenly, one of dog like creatures leapt through the wall of flames and pounced on Sasuke, seemingly having survived his fire attack through sheer luck. Brandishing its teeth for the boy to see, the creature began chomping at the bits, trying to get a bite at the Uchiha's head as he was desperately holding it back.
In a desperate bid to survive, Sasuke reached for his knife from its sheathe and rammed the blade right into the creature's head, piercing its skull. The skinless monstrosity let out a final scream as it toppled over and came right down on Sasuke.
As he struggled to get out from underneath the creature by pushing its massive body away, a large group of armed men came rushing in from the other side of the street as they began routing out the captives once more.
"Dammit" he grunted in frustration as he continued struggling to free himself from the lumbering creature. To see all of his sacrifice be for nothing seriously put a damper on his already foul mood. It felt like he had needlessly wasted his life and limb, just so they could stand around gawking like idiots and let themselves be recaptured again. Though from the looks of it, the old man wasn't anywhere in sight, so not all of it was in vain.
Just as he had finally managed to free himself from the creature, things took a turn for the worse for Sasuke as one of the spearmen began to walk towards him with ill intentions. His frail body was exhausted from the over usage of his chakra, leaving him weak and defenseless as he struggled just to get back to his feet.
Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist, Sasuke eyes focused on the sick and twisted smile that was coming from the man as he forced his body to defend himself with whatever strength he still had left; he wasn't going to let his end come so early.
The man answered his defiance in kind and raised his spear before bringing it down as it tried to plunge its tip straight through the boys skull.
But at the last moment, something happened that shocked not only the assailant but also Sasuke as well. The young Uchiha's eyes were wide open as he looked in shock at the sight of Wells standing between him and his demise. The spear ran through his back and out his torso, nearly missing Sasuke's face by a few inches.
"You stupid old man. Why would you do that?" Sasuke struggled to find the proper words to convey his feelings at the moment. The sight of someone giving their life for him was incomprehensible to say the least.
'Sorry, I... guess I just didn't like the idea of... leaving my wife all alone" he explained as the life began to fade from him.
Sasuke gasped as he understood the context behind those words: It meant that the old lady didn't make it and the old fool sought out death as a means to reunite with her.
"L-listen" he continued, blood pouring from his mouth, " do me... a favor sunny and try... not... to die." With those final words, the old man departed from this world, bloodied and beaten but with a smile on his face, leaving Sasuke in stunned silence.
As the old man's lifeless body fell to the ground, Sasuke sat still as the world around him began to burn away and crumble into ash. The noise was blocked out as he could no longer hear anything anymore and everything seemed to move slower than usual. It was like his mind and body had shut down and could no longer move on command.
Unfortunately, a moment of respite was never going to come as his thoughts were interrupted by strong currents of electricity zapping through his body. But these were not ones that he generated from the Chidori, rather, it was one of men with the staff that did the deed as Sasuke screamed in pain momentarily before passing out.
As the masked men walked over to his unconscious body, the spear wielder raised his weapon once again, ready to plunge his weapon on Sasuke and deliver the coup de grace.
"Wait" the staff wielder interrupted, to which the spearman complied. "Old prisoners die out quickly, so it was pointless to take that old man. Young laborers are better suited to completing the R-System. Take this boy with the others and tie him to the ship before he's conscious again" he ordered.
The spear man nodded and flung Sasuke's lifeless body over his shoulders and began making his way towards the other captives as they were being routed out towards their new destination, their cries falling on deaf ears while they were now forced to leave their once former homes in a burning, smoldering ruin.
Sasuke laid down in a pool of cold water as the light around him illuminated with a dark purplish hue. Even inside of his own mind, he could not muster up the strength to get up to his feet. It was not due to a lack of energy, however, as he simply chose to remain prone and motionless as the ripples of the water touched his back.
He couldn't stop remembering the last moments of that old man's life. The smile on his face as the spear went through his body, the spear that was meant for him. If what he said was true and that his wife was truly dead, then was his sacrifice just another desperate attempt to rejoin with the old lady while playing the hero once again?
Whatever the case, it seems like it was his last swan song, his own way of going out in a blaze of glory. Not that the Uchiha was pleased by the notion of it, especially with the idea of a person throwing their life away for someone like him.
"You needn't blame yourself" Hagoromo tried to console him, "the man gave his life to protect you of his own volition. We should honor and respect his sacrifice."
"I didn't ask for him to throw his life away for me" Sasuke argued.
"That may be, but he is the reason you are still alive"Hagoromo said, "what's done is done."
Sasuke rolled his eyes and scoffed at the Sage's remark, annoyed by the fact that the Sage had this remarkable way with words. However, instead of arguing back, Sasuke chose to remain quiet as part of him agreed with what Hagoromo was saying: What's done was done, there was nothing he could do about it.
"All this talk of sacrifice is getting on my nerves" a voice called out from the other side of the cage, "you're starting to remind me of Danzo, Sage of Six Paths."
Sasuke got up to his feet and turned towards the source of the voice, which emanated from the other side of the cage where his dark chakra resided. Slowly walking towards it, he was surprised to find the place devoid of the monstrous creature that once used to rattle like a caged animal wanting to get out. Instead, the figure that stood in its place looked small and rather feeble, much like he was at the moment. As he inched closer and closer, Sasuke was able to discern the features of this figure, from its hair to the clothes it wore, until he stopped and realized what it actually was.
He was looking at a mirror image of himself.
"So that's what you really look like" Sasuke said.
"In a way" his doppelganger replied, "what? Surprised I'm not some giant monster rampaging around anymore?"
"Not really" Sasuke shrugged, "I'm more surprised that you finally decided to start talking."
"Do you really think I'm going to start acting like a tailed beast and lash out at everything around me?" the other Sasuke asked before stopping himself as he saw his other half look at him with a brow raised. "Fine, I did do something like that when we first met, so it's a fair point I guess" he sighed.
"In your absence, the dark chakra has stabilized and taken a more, relatable form" Hagoromo informed Sasuke.
"As a reflection of my image?" Sasuke asked.
"It was a part of you" the Sage explained, " so I believe it was only natural that it would take a form that resembled you."
"And it let's me talk" the other Sasuke added, "but that's the extent to which I'll agree with the Sage. After all, he's the reason why you and everyone else is stuck in this mess right now."
Sasuke was a bit taken aback by what his dark counterpart was telling him. He flinched a little before regaining his composure as he put some thought over what was being said. To be honest, while he couldn't help but agree with what was being told, he was still wary of this other Sasuke, since despite its apathetic demeanor, he still exuded a dark and malicious aura.
"Not convinced? Think about it: with the Sharingan and the Rinnegan, you would've been able to crush those idiots without a scratch and save the whole village" the other Sasuke explained, "but thanks to the Sage meddling with our powers, you were left to deal with this problem as a pathetic, weak, shell of your former self. And look where it got you; the village is burned to the ground, the old man is dead and so is his wife along with half the villagers, the other half are captured and Erza is nowhere to be found."
Sasuke stepped forward and fell to his knees when he heard that particular name. Among the captives, there were a lot more children than adults, almost to the point where it felt like a brutal child hunt. And even though he couldn't see her amongst the crowd, it took every fiber of his being to not assume the worst had happened to her.
"Erza" he murmured to himself.
The dark manifestation of Sasuke's hatred looked on as his counterpart remained still without ushering a word. Slowly, he too moved forward and knelt down to face him. "If you need someone to pin the blame on, place it on him for making you weaker" he pointed at the Sage.
"While it's true that I have withheld your true power, the attack on the village would have happened regardless along with the deaths of many innocents. There are things that you simply cannot change, no matter how much you posess" Hagoromo argued back, "moreover, if you had taken back your powers, it would've cost you your body and your sanity. In fact, I believe a worse calamity might have occurred if you had let him take control."
Sasuke got up again, as he turned around and faced the Sage of Six Paths. "So was I just supposed to hang back and let the inevitable happen then?" Sasuke said scathingly.
"Certainly not" Hagoromo said, " you did what you could with the strength you possessed. It was the right thing to do."
His face filled with contempt, Sasuke found it difficult to accept the praise given to him by the Sage of Six Paths, finding it to be more condescending than anything else.
"Listen" the other Sasuke called, earning the former's attention. "You and I are two pieces of one being. You possess the body and will while I have all the power but without the means to use them. So I know your heart better than anyone else, even the Sage."
"Is that so? Then what is it that my heart desires now" the young Uchiha asked while glaring at his counterpart.
"Power. You and I know full well just how much the gap between you and everyone else has widened. If such measly weaklings were able to overcome and defeat you, just what chance do you think you'll have against people who might possibly be far stronger than them?" the other Sasuke answered as he reached his hand out through the cage, "You need the power of your eyes once again. The power that I possess and one that I can restore to its rightful place. With it, you'll be able to protect those precious to us and avenge them if need be."
"Us?" Sasuke asked with narrow eyes.
"Yes, 'us'. Like I said, we're one and the same. What you see, I see and what you feel, I feel as well. That is our gift and our curse" the doppelganger answered.
The young Uchiha stood still and pondered for a bit on what he was being told as he tried exploring all possible venues and options. While his other half might seem affable and reasonable, his intuition and experience dealing with manipulative and persuasive people like Kabuto and Orochimaru warned him to be wary.
"Sasuke" Hagoromo chimed in, interrupting his thoughts, "if you accept the power of the dark chakra that once resided within you, the darkness that you fought so hard to contain will be free to corrupt your heart once more."
"Why do you care about what happens to me?" Sasuke asked, before turning his back on the Sage, "just stop treating me like I'm your son."
For a moment, as Hagoromo looked on with eager eyes, it almost seemed like Sasuke was about to reach out his own hand and make contact with the other one across the cage, ready to receive the powerful chakra. Yet, halfway through the process, the young Uchiha stopped, surprising both the second Sasuke and Hagoromo, almost as if he was having second thoughts regarding the whole offer.
Seeing this, the other Sasuke decided to simply retract his hands and back away from the cage. "Looks like you're still not sure about the whole thing" he sighed in disappointment, "if that's the case, think things over and try again another time. But then again, it's not like you have any choice on the matter. Let's hope you don't get too attached to anyone here, would be pretty bad for your eyes if it did."
Sasuke looked on as his doppelganger walked away, slinking back into the dark oblivion of his subconscious. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, frustration boiling over the predicament that he was in.
The room felt empty once again as the two figures stood quietly. After everything that he had just gone through in a span of a single night, Hagoromo decided to remain quiet and give the boy some space.
However, that piece and quiet was short lived as a strange yet familiar voice began calling out the boy's name, its echo reverberating all through the room's time space.
"Sasuke. It seems someone is calling out to you" Hagoromo stated.
"I know" Sasuke answered, "looks like I'll be waking up soon."
The Sage of Six Paths nodded. "It would seem so" he said, "whatever happens, you must be firm and vigilant."
With one last look at the world around him, Sasuke lied on his back and closed his eyes, preparing himself for the worst, the moment he wakes up in the real world.
"Sasuke!"
The sensation of someone gently shaking him slowly brought the Uchiha back to his senses as the voice continuously called out to him.
He slowly opened his eyes before immediately jolting out of his prone position as all five senses of his were bombarded by new sensations, which was quite an uncomfortable experience. Sasuke groaned as he slowly shook his head before everything returned to normal.
"You're awake!" the voice exclaimed.
The young Uchiha looked to his side, only to find out that it was none other than Erza. A revelation that both shocked and relieved him. As he moved past her face, he could see that he was in some sort cell alongside the other captives, many of whom were grouped into particular cells. Each of them had some sort of shackles fashioned to their hands and feet, something that he discovered was also attached to him as well. The walls and floor were wooden as a rocky sensation swept from underneath him.
"E-Erza?" he said weakly, "where are we?"
The girl's hand trembled as tears fell down from her face and into the wooden floor. "They... t-took us from the village and put us on these ships" she said tearfully, "I don't know where they're taking us."
"I see" he noted calmly as he watched the adults from the village look at him with suspicion and contempt, no doubt pinning all of their misfortunes on him and his left eye, feeding into their superstition in order to find a scapegoat to make themselves feel better. Not that he blamed them for feeling that way, especially after everything they had just gone through with their whole world turning upside down in a span of a single day. However, in the end it really didn't matter to him one bit how they felt.
But as he watched Erza continue crying, Sasuke found himself helpless as he was now in a situation that he was not accustomed to; a situation which people like Naruto or Kakashi or even Sakura would be better suited for. Even then, there was a strong desire in him to do something to stop the sobbing.
He moved in closer as he reached out his hand touched her shoulder. "Erz-" the girl interrupted his attempt at consoling and immediately clutched to his shirt and began bawling her eyes out even more. Sasuke eyes were open wide as he choked mid sentence, frozen in place by the awkward feeling of being in situation where he was one the receiving end of an act of physical affection.
Unsure as to what to do, Sasuke decided to remain still and let the girl cry it out. From the looks of it, the other prisoners shared the same sentiment as many of them were sobbing as well, some of whom were grown adults, so at the very least, he didn't stick out, which was a small comfort.
"S-Sasuke" Erza choked out through her cries as she looked at him with pleading eyes, "what ..do we do now?"
The Uchiha pondered on the situation they were in: kidnapped from their homes, taken as captives for possibly nefarious purposes, against forces stronger than their own and with no one to turn to but each other. It was truly a hopeless situation.
But it's in the darkest of times, that the strongest of wills are forged; a fact he knew better than anyone else. It also made him remember something, a promise that the both of them made not too long ago.
"Let's promise to look out for each other wherever we're going."
Grabbing her arms, Sasuke slowly pushed her away from him as he looked at her. " I'll figure something out" he said, "but you need to stop crying first".
The bluntness in his voice and gaze of his black eyes were as cold as ever and yet, for some reason, Erza found warmth from it. Perhaps it was the calm confidence that he exuded or the unshakable resolve amidst such a hopeless. For whatever reason, this apathetic attitude just made him look more fearless and gave her hope.
"Okay" she answered, rubbing the remaining tears from her eyes.
"Good" he nodded, " you need to stay strong,"
Sasuke looked back at the world around him, unsure of what horrors were waiting for him.
But whatever happens, he was going to be ready for it..
AN: So I just finished watching the Battle of Fairy Tail, Nirvana and the Edolas Arc and I gotta say, I enjoyed all three of them. The Nirvana Arc is definitely my favorite so far: the battles were intense, the side characters and villains were all interesting and the victory felt hard fought and earned.
The Edolas arc was pretty good too and I love how the characters in Edolas switch personalities. If anyone's seen the Road to Ninja move, I think we'd all know what an Edolas Sasuke would be like. Though, I have to wonder what an Edolas Hagoromo would be.
As for the characters, I have to say, Cobra, Laxus, Mystogan and Gildarts have caught my eye and are definitely my favorite so far. Mytogan's entire persona feels so eerily similar to post Shippuden Sasuke and I just found out that not only do their theme songs sound similar but they have the same composer as well. Gildarts is just the coolest and an absolute badass simply for the fact that he turned a boneheaded shonen protagonist like Natsu into a sobbing, weeping mess who kneels down and admits defeat.
Also, while I deeply enjoy all this talk of who would understand Sasuke the most, I wanted to add my two cents in and say it right now, that I feel that the one who person who would get Sasuke the most is not Erza or Mirajane …..but Gray!
To Dxhologram : I think the Fairy Tail guild seems to follow its' own version of the Will of Fire. Everyone there treats each other like family and go to great lengths to protect one of their own while working towards the betterment of the guild. As for Itachi, I don't think he fully understood how a Hokage thinks and it's for a simple reason: While he did everything for the sake of the village, he relied too much on himself and carried all of the burden. By trying to do everything by himself instead of trusting others, his plans for Sasuke turned out disastrous and it was only when he came back from the dead did he realize how much he screwed up. In a way, no matter how much he despised his clan's arrogance, he carried his own version of it.
To Kensei – 1085 : I'm of the opinion that Sasuke knows from experience that when two people stand as equals, they have a better understanding of each other than when one is stronger than the other. As for the story of Indra and Asura, I think he understands from his own experience with Itachi, that when you try to solve everyone's problems by yourself, you kinda end up alienating everyone and become lonely at the top.
To The Loud Person : I know a few Mass Effect fanfictions where the authors characters instantly fall in love with Tali and vice versa. Also, about what you said on Naruto acting nothing like Naruto at all, I once saw a fic where he forced himself on a girl (kissing) and it was treated as fine.
To Stand Up Be Strong: To my knowledge, I don't think anyone besides Natsu actually causes needless property damage. Yeah, they brawl in the guild a lot but every scene of complaint seems to come from Natsu or anyone who's with him. Erza and Gray don't seem to get any complaints when they're not with Natsu, same with Lucy.
To Pride of the Quincy : I think Sasuke would have a very roundabout way of revealing his past. He doesn't strike me as the type to bare his soul to anyone so easily.
To Cassandra : I read up on Ethernano and it seems quite similar to nature energy. So I'll see where that goes.
To Love-to-peace : To be honest, it feels less like a tragedy between brothers and more like Indra's self inflicted problems. From the filler, Asura was nothing but amicable to his brother, and constantly tried to reach out to him even when he went mad with jealousy and tried to murder him and everyone else. As for Sasuke's goals, I think he'll figure it out as he goes. Since he's no longer in his world and he doesn't have any attachments to Fiore yet, I think his goals will be smaller in scale.
To Gen2324 : I can expect characters from Naruto to say such things, but I can't imagine characters from Fairy Tail using Japanese honorifics or idioms, it just feels weird.
To Protector for All : I think he'll get a sword at a certain point in the story. It's pretty much one of his signature weapons at this point.
To Tina : You're assessment of Sasuke's tragedy and his behavior towards adults is something I'm very much interested in exploring.
To Iskandar hero : Until you pointed it out to me, I never even realized that Levy from AOT is also a neat freak. The comparison is completely accidental since I didn't even know who Trafalgar Law was. To be honest, the idea of him being meticulous came from a filler backstory where Kakashi visited the rooms of his students and found Sasuke's to be incredibly neat and tidy, especially in contrast to Naruto, whose room looked like a Tornado swept through. As for your suggestion on romance, it sounds interesting, since I've always liked love triangles over harems.
To frutispunchsamurai – 987 : I think love and attraction go beyond just having similar circumstances, even with different goals and views on life. I think Naruto and Hinata described that perfectly. Of course, I understand if you feel that a certain pairing has been overused.
To Raven : Sasuke and Obito's pain and reason for going nuts is something I can understand since those were circumstances beyond their control. To an extent, I can also understand Madara's pain, at least until he becomes the head of the Clan and helped create Konoha. I feel like his problems from then on are all self inflicted and he looks more like a sore loser who didn't get what he wanted and so decided to make everyone else's life miserable. Especially since Hashirama was so lenient with him and fought for him to be given a chance. He even wanted Madara to be the next Hokage.
To Isao : He's probably got gonna tell everyone in the guild about his life story and even if he did, he'd probably explain it in a very roundabout way or leave many things vague. The Uchihas are the masters of misunderstanding and poor communication.
To Shiroyasha Rises : So far, I haven't seen anyone who could possible be a match for adult Sasuke in Boruto. Maybe Jellal, Makarov and Gildarts? Or someone with fancy gimmicks like Evergreen, Fried and Bickslow? I haven't got far yet, but is there some villains in FT who might be able to go toe to toe with prime Sasuke? As for what you said, I don't plan on giving too much focus on romance, if I even write it that is. Sasuke's story will be focused on his personal journey as he tries to come to terms with who he is and learning to forgive himself while making sure others don't make the same mistakes that he did.
To ConnorMoore : I'm glad you liked my portrayal of him. I'm trying my best to make him feel stoic but kind while not being too friendly either. It's a bit difficult to balance him between being too much of a jerk or being too nice, so I took personalities of characters like Zero fro Mega Man and Cloud Strife along with his Boruto version to base him off of. That being said your feedback is also much appreciated.
To Doortolight 47 : Now that you mention it, I looked at Cloud's behavior in final fantasy 7 and took some ideas from it to write Sasuke here. So that would make Sasuke the Cloud and Mira the Aerith, which means Erza would be the Tifa, lol!
To Sentient Glasses : Your assessment of Sasuke is something I wholeheartedly agree with.
To Shiyutsuki : I'm glad you love the story and yeah, I have seen some fics where they turn Sasuke into an unlikable jerk who abuses his power and gets away with it. And don't worry, English isn't my first language either.
To Meito : Strictly speaking from a platonic viewpoint, I don't think two people need to have an exact backstory or tragedy to understand each other. Naruto and Sasuke had different tragedies yet were able to related to each other's loneliness. I think I can see the same for Sasuke and Erza, or anyone else like Gray and Natsu for that matter. Of course, Sasuke and Mira would share a different type of bond as well, from what I've seen so far.
To Nearsighted : I think the hatred for Sasuke is a bit too much in my opinion. Also, don't worry about the whole requests thing. While I enjoy seeing them, I still have plans of my own that I've made in advance for the story.
To NoodleBoss : After reading your review, I actually thought long and hard about what you wrote, regarding what the significance of a love interest would have to bring to a story? To answer that, I looked into the Curse of Hatred and the strong love that comes from it, as well as idea of the fear of losing such a love and going insane again. I'm still pondering on that issue, but I think you've given me some more ideas to run with, so thank you.
To Emn93 : A rivalry between Erza and Mira for Sasuke's affection? That does sound like something fun to write since I've always loved reading love triangles. And didn't Erza and Mirajane have a rivalry of their own before Lisanna's 'death'? The funny thing is, when you mention Jellal, the whole love triangle idea can be gender reversed with Erza as the centerpiece alongside Sasuke and Jellal.
To Fantasia: When you mention the final fantasy VII remake, not only did I took some of Cloud's personalities to write Sasuke, I also listened to Tifa's theme song while writing certain scenes here to set the mood. Also, if Sasuke's Cloud and Mira's Aerith, then that would make Erza Tifa, which begs the question: Who's gonna be the Jessie?
To Sora : Yes, I have watched both those movies and I love them. Naruto and Sasuke's costume are also amazing in the last and I'm glad that Naruto finally got rid of that ridiculous jumpsuit.
To The Real Dragon God Slayer : I heard Gajeel and Levy are a couple. Seriously?! It's like Sasuke and Sakura on the samurai bridge but 10x worse since Gajeel actually goes through with it, beats the crap out of her and crucifies her on a tree. Do they get married and have kids or something? Because I think I would lose my mind then. Don't get me wrong, I like Gajeel now but when he was first introduced, he was probably the most hateable dick I've seen in FT so far.
To GamerLooter : Hey, put some respect for my man, Ichiya. The Ace of Blue Pegasus. Who knows, he might be the one person who could charm Sasuke with his Parfum, Lol! But seriously, imagine Blue Pegasus trying to recruit Sasuke into their pretty boy club.
To Yevon : Don't worry, this story's mainly focused on Sasuke's journey in Fiore and less to do with romance.
To Zeno : Thanks to you, I now discovered a new word that I had never even heard of : Brocon. As for their relationship, I think I'll keep the whole mentor thing to a minimum actually, especially as the story gets further in.
To Gera : So far, the shipping war is pretty tame compared to what I've seen in RWBY. Maybe I'll just take a third option and make it a threeway instead. Mabye even add Gray and Jellal into the mix just for fun. Lol, just kidding. As for the story, romance is not the forefront of it and it won't will be for the forseeable future.
To Kaleidoscope's Beauty : I don't think I'm going to be making him learn anything new that he already hasn't at least in terms of his swordsmanship but rather, I want him to make do with what he has and use it to the best of his ability. That is to say, that I want things to be balanced, so even if he gets stronger and recovers some of his powers again, there's still going to be character above his weight class in his current strength. Of course, I'm still going to try and make sure he uses his skills more creatively like in Ultimate Ninja Storm.