2
Trying My Best

The door swung open with nary a sound as I stepped in. "I'm home," I called out. Oh wait, I forgot. I'm not really home. Or… I guess I am. Hah… this was confusing. And disappointing. This totally sucked.

Home… I guess that's what this apartment will be from now on. I took my sandals off using my toes. The motions came to me so naturally. If everything that Sasuke usually did was like second nature to me then what about knowledge and memories.

I ran through some hand seals, and my fingers moved as if they had a mind of their own. With that, I also felt a lurch of something in my abdomen. Probably my chakra. This was going to be difficult to figure out. And tomorrow I had to wake up early as shit for a test. Dammit. I sighed once more, shaking my head and banishing the negative thoughts from my head.

Quickly, I made and ate some light dinner – practiced motions helping me once more – and went to bed after a rigorous workout. It looked like the memories were coming to me piece by piece. As my eyes fell, my last thought was, "I want to go home."

...

I yawned widely as I walked onto the training ground 3 hours later than I was supposed to. "Sorry! I slept in a bit," I called out to my teammates as I saw them waiting in the distance.

"Teme!" Naruto shouted at me angrily. I'll have to get used to that, won't I? "You knew sensei was going to be late, didn't you!?"

"Eh?" Damn, he's smarter than he looks. "Well… I didn't know for sure that he was going to be late," I said, trying to play my word games. That was one of my specialties in my past life. Twisting words. Finding loopholes. Bending truths. Like a true politician.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at me and even Sakura looked a little miffed.

"I had a hunch-,"

"Exactly! Why didn't you tell us!?" Naruto said again, narrowing his eyes.

"Let me speak, you fucking idiot! I'd have told you if you hadn't interrupted me," I shouted back. They both looked surprised. Whether it was because of my swearing, or my shouting, I didn't know. I cleared my throat. "As I was saying before I was very rudely interrupted," I shot a mild glare at Naruto to which he merely pouted. 'No homo, but… KAWAIIIIII' I internally screamed at his expression. "I had a hunch that he was going to be late, so I decided to show up late. I didn't tell you guys this because if I had, and you two had decided to show up late as well, then we all would've probably failed the test today. Better only one fail rather than all of us. Does that make sense?" Bullshit. Horseshit. Absolute fucking Kyuubi-shit. I made this up on the spot. How am I even so damn creative?

"Yeah, I guess…" Naruto said, scratching his cheek.

Wait, what? He bought it!? This guy was going to be the shittiest shinobi ever. He was going to be strong as fuck but as far as a 'shinobi' goes… Nope.

"That makes sense," Sakura also said.

Dammit. If Kakashi doesn't do his job properly, I'd have to teach them both some of this shit. I mean, c'mon! How does someone even become that naïve? This is… Ah, right… This isn't Earth. This isn't a place where everyone is only looking to exploit each other for their own gain. At least not at this age. That's why. Dammit.

I nodded to both of them and we waited for the guy to arrive. Man, this was boring. I needed something to do. 'Ah! Got it!' I thought as I saw a wooden stump nearby.

"Sasuke-kun, what're you doing?" Sakura said as she saw me walk over.

"Just practicing," I replied, pulling a few shuriken out of my pouch.

Once again, the motions came as second nature to me as I threw them. Three thuds sounded for the three shuriken embedding themselves into the wood. I kept practicing as Naruto also joined me and Sakura watched me with starry eyes… Y'know, now I finally understand why Sasuke always felt so uncomfortable around this girl. The only person that was scarier than her was Yuno Gasai from Future Diary. Funny how both have pink hair though. Haha… Ha? Shit. God, why do you punish me as such?

Eventually, Kakashi poofed into the clearing where we were practicing. "Yo!" he said with that eye-smile people mention all the time. Damn, that shit's real, eh?

"Huh?" I spoke with as much genuine confusion as I could act out. I had specifically instructed Naruto and Sakura to have no outbursts about his lateness and to merely play along with my plan. "You're early, sensei." Naruto and Sakura stood there nodding.

Kakashi was quiet for barely a moment, just surveying us with his eye before speaking up. "Ah, am I? Oh well, might as well get started."

"Sure!" I chirped. His eye twitched! I saw it! ON MY LIFE IT WAS THERE, DATTEBAYO! Oh, wait, wrong character. BUT IT WAS THERE!

Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulled out an alarm clock that he set down on another tree stump. Then, he pulled out two bells which dangled in front of us. "You have one hour to get these from me," he explained.

"Buuuut?" I prompted.

He smiled. "The one who doesn't get it will be sent back to the academy. Oh, and make sure to come at me with the intent to kill," Naruto immediately started shouting and Sakura looked nervous.

"Shh," was all I said to make him quiet. Everyone immediately looked at me. I calmly replied. "Let's work together to get the bell first. We'll decide who gets them later. Cool?"

Naruto and Sakura looked at me weirdly once more. "I thought you'd say something like, 'don't get in my way,' or something."

"If this was the Academy, I probably would," I lied smoothly. "But as I explained yesterday, we're a team now. At least, for the next hour or so." Sakura immediately nodded in agreement while Naruto said a small 'okay' after thinking about it.

"The test starts now," Kakashi said suddenly and hit the clock which started ticking.

Immediately, Sakura disappeared into the foliage and Naruto got into a fighting stance. I facepalmed. Idiots. Both of them. "Naruto, stop! Sakura, get your ass back out here!" I shouted out. Everyone stilled for a second.

"Huh?" said Naruto as he turned to me.

"What?" came Sakura's voice as her head popped out of the bushes.

"First of all, our sensei is a jonin, not to mention an ex-ANBU captain. You really think you can hide from him?" I asked. In my peripheral, I saw Kakashi's eye narrowed just a bit and my teammates looked a bit thoughtful.

Sakura's mouth formed an 'o' as she nodded meekly and came out.

"And Naruto?" I said commandingly.

"What?"

"You really think you can take him on?"

"… I… guess not," he said reluctantly.

I nodded. "Now, first of all," I said as I turned to Kakashi. "Sensei, can we have the bells?"

"Good try, but no," Kakashi answered without missing a beat.

"Alright," I said as I thought about the situation. "Are you going to attack us?"

"I might. If I get bored."

"Got it. Naruto, Sakura, come with me," I said, as I led them into the woods.

"I thought we can't hide from him, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"We can't. But what we can do is at least plan for something. I'm sure he can't hear us at this distance. At least, unless he sends a Kage Bunshin after us."

"I can make Kage Bunshin!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

"Wait, seriously!?" I asked acting amazed. "That's cool. You really do have a lot of chakra. Awesome!"

Naruto beamed as he was praised, and Sakura also looked at him with raised eyebrows. Her opinion of him wasn't the best at the moment but I decided to actively work on changing that. Alright, now let's plan on how we're going to do this…

"Naruto, can you send a clone or two to keep sensei busy? Don't fight him seriously. Just keep him a bit distracted," I asked. Naruto nodded and sent five clones out. All of a sudden, he stopped and glared lightly at me.

"Hey! Who said you're the leader?" Naruto asked heatedly.

"Naruto-baka-," Sakura started but I quickly interrupted her.

"Sakura!" I said in a strong voice which immediately shut her up. I placed my hand on her back and rubbed it. She instantly calmed down. "Naruto does have a point, y'know. No one named me the leader. In fact, would you like to be the leader, Naruto?" I asked with a smile.

"Huh?" Naruto said, probably surprised that I wasn't arguing back.

"If you or Sakura want to be the leader, I don't really mind. But remember, the leader takes all responsibility. If we fail, it's on you. If we die, it's on you. Can you handle that?" I asked with a serious voice. Even thought my hand was still on Sakura, she was paying attention to my words.

"W-Well…" Naruto started as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Actually, you know what," I said with a thoughtful look on my face. "You want to be Hokage, right?" Naruto nodded vigorously. "Then this will be good leadership training for you. You will be our squad leader. At least for now."

"R-Really?" Naruto asked suspiciously. It was then that I remembered. He didn't exactly have the best life. It was probably alien to him to have someone trust him like this. You can control someone best, when you give them something to lose. Especially, if that something is unique.

"Naruto," I said seriously. He looked at me intently. I gripped Sakura's shoulder. "We will trust you."

Naruto eyes widened as he looked at me. His eyes moved to look at Sakura. She looked reluctantly for a bit before she also nodded with a small smile. Damn… that was cute. I've always believed that Naruto and Sakura should be together but that was because Sasuke was a fucking asshole who didn't give a shit about her till the very end. Now, though… I mean… Shit, man. Why this all gotta be so complicated? I guess I'll just go for someone else.

"Got it!" Naruto exclaimed loudly as he nodded with determination to not disappoint us. "I'll do my best."

...

(A/N: I suck at fight scenes so imagine this shit yourselves.)

...

The three of us lay panting on the ground we had finally gotten the bells… no… we had been allowed to get the bells. "Good job," Kakashi said flatly. "You got the bells. Now, who stays and who goes?"

"Naruto and Sakura stay. I go," I said immediately as I threw the bell I had to Naruto – Sakura had the other one – and started to walk away.

"Wait, what!?" Naruto shouted as he jumped to his feet.

"It was a pleasure working with you guys," I answered without looking back and kept walking.

"Teme, wait! What the hell happened to 'we're a team'!?" Naruto shouted as he ran after me.

I came to a stop and turned around, only to come face to face with the blond.

"I don't deny that. We were a team. Keyword, were."

"So what? You don't care about us anymore?" Naruto asked heatedly.

"Of course, I care! I'm doing this because I care!" I said heatedly. Damn, this guy is seriously going to have to learn how to think logically.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Naruto replied back with just as much anger.

I took a deep breath to calm down. "Listen, Naruto," I said. "I know you didn't pass your exam and you're only a genin now because of special circumstances. I'm not going to ask how because that's probably personal to you. Not to mention you failed three times. Do you really think you can go through another year?"

Naruto's face went from anger to sadness. He was actually worried about me! AWW!

"And Sakura? You come from a civilian family, don't you? What do you think your parents will say when they find out you were sent back to the Academy?" I asked her.

"But… Sasuke-kun, what about you?" she asked worriedly. Sniff sniff, I really do have such kindhearted teammates.

"I literally passed at the top of our class. What makes you think I can't do it again?" I asked as I flashed a winning smirk. My hand fell on Naruto's shoulder. "Listen bro," I said as I squeezed. "I believe in you. I trusted you, now just trust me, okay?" Naruto stared for a moment before he looked away.

YES! He was starting to cave.

He looked conflicted for a second before turning to Kakashi with a glare. He threw the bell down. "Fuck you and fuck your test! If we all don't pass, then neither of us pass!"

SHIT! I was wrong.

"Yeah!" Sakura reciprocated. "We're all with Sasuke-kun!"

I sighed and facepalmed as I saw Kakashi looking at us amusedly. "I am surrounded by IDIOTS!"

"Hmm," Kakashi hummed as he eyed us for a second. "You pass." Alright, now I have to act.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"I said, 'you pass'. As in, you all pass the test. The real test was never about the bells. It was the teamwork. Follow me."

We followed in silence. As I suspected, he led us to the dead people name thing monument. Forgot what it's called, but I'm sure Kakashi will tell us in a bit.

Kakashi stopped in front of it and spoke in a low voice. "This is Konoha's Memorial Stone."

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It means that this is the stone on which all the names of Konoha's heroes are carved," Kakashi explained solemnly.

"Cool! I'll become super strong and make sure my name is also on it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"That's a nice goal to have. Just one thing…" Kakashi said. "They're all dead."

Naruto stilled. Even Sakura's smile dropped; it was instantly replaced with a serious look.

"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke… I want you all to remember one thing now that you're on my team," Kakashi spoke as he turned around to look at us. "In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are absolute scum. But… those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." Silence descended upon us like a heavy blanket. I looked on with emotionless eyes.

A few seconds passed and I finally decided to do something. I walked up to the stone and rubbed my thumb over one name. 'Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze'. I knew Kakashi was watching me closely. "I'll make sure my name is on here," I said with a small smile.

I heard a gasp with a small "Hm?" behind me.

"I don't mind dying for the village," I answered the unasked questions. Before I left, I let my finger brush another name. Almost imperceptible, but I know for sure Kakashi spotted it. 'Kushina Uzumaki'. Naruto and Sakura stared at me with wide eyes. I replied with a smile.

"We'll meet in training ground 7 at 8 am tomorrow. Naruto, Sakura, dismissed. Sasuke, you stay," Kakashi ordered coolly.

"Hai," the two said and walked away in silence. Interesting. I was actually expecting Naruto to say something. Oh well. I wonder how just this much has affected canon.

"Sasuke?"

Oh, right. Kakashi wanted to talk to me. "Hmm?"

"Is something wrong?" Kakashi asked.

"What?" I questioned back. "There's a ton of things wrong. What are you referring to exactly?" Man, I love playing with words. This is my kind of battle.

"The way you've been acting."

"What about it?"

"It's not exactly normal."

"That depends on your definition of 'normal'."

Kakashi stood up straighter and looked me in the eye. A sign that he was getting serious. "Your attitude is the exact opposite of what I read in your file."

"Who wrote my file?"

"… The Academy sensei."

"Exactly. You trust them?"

"Is there a reason why I shouldn't."

I stared at him. This guy… Was he serious? Let's see how sarcasm work. I mock gasped. "Oh no! There no reason at all why you shouldn't trust them. Of course, you can trust the people who showed blatant favoritism. That same people who put clan heirs together and set civilians in teams to fail. The same people who saw Naruto was struggling but didn't help. The same people who saw I was making mistakes but still praised me. OF COURSE," I spoke loudly. "THERE'S NO REASON AT ALL TO NOT TRUST PEOPLE WHO HATE A KID FOR SOMETHING THAT'S NOT HIS FAULT."

"Watch your tone," Kakashi said silently and blasted me with his killing intent. The pressure in the air increased, but that just made it easier for me breath.

"Save it, Kakashi. Killing intent doesn't work on me," I said nonchalantly. His eye widened for a second before the pressure vanished. I was kinda hoping he'd keep it tho. It was easier to breath with it on. Oh well, whatever.

"Why did you rub the Yondaime's name?"

"Finally, you get to the point. I did it because Naruto looks similar to him, and he's one of the greatest heroes of Konoha."

"And what about the other one?"

"What other one?"

"…" he glared at me. Jheez, I've really made him mad, eh? "Kushina Uzumaki," Kakashi ground out.

"Oh, that's cuz she has the same last name as Naruto, and I was wondering if it's his family. Maybe his mom or something. I'll tell him later though," I said nonchalantly.

"No, you won't," Kakashi replied instantly.

"And why won't I?" I asked challengingly.

"Because that's an order from your jonin sensei," he said with a hard look.

Well… I couldn't do anything here. I might like finding loopholes in the law, but I won't outright break one.

"Fine…" I said with a smirk. He said I couldn't tell Naruto, but not anyone else.

"You will not tell anyone else either." Wha… this man can read minds, can't he? Fine… I'll find another loophole.

The smirk stayed on my face. "Fine…"

We stood there for a full minute looking at each other. Finally, he nodded and disappeared. Well… that was interesting. Let's see… what will be my plan for the future. I walked back and sat down at the Memorial Stone, leaning against it.

I tilted my head up, looking at the sky. I had no doubt Kakashi was watching me. I'll have to develop a sense of paranoia now that I'm in this world. This world… full of lying, killing, cheating, backstabbing, and just death in general. I'm definitely going to have fun here. Let's see now… Next big event is the Wave Arc. I don't want to go there. Mainly because I'm scared shitless. I'm not the real Sasuke and I won't overestimate myself by saying I am. I'll have to change that somehow. I'll try to get Naruto to teach me the Kage Bunshin. What else… I guess I'll spread the rumor saying that I forgive Itachi. OH SHIT! I forgot about Orochimaru. A shiver ran through my spine as his face came to my mind. I DO NOT want to get bit by him this time. I am genuinely scared of the guy. Anyone who can cheat death multiple times is someone to be wary of.

Hah… too much to do. A whole war to prevent… or enjoy, depending on which way I look at it.

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