"You asked me why I hated you being Hokage," Sasuke started, "It's because you put your trust in Danzo, and forced my thirteen-year-old brother to kill his whole clan." Hiruzen went slack-jawed, his expression twisting into one of guilt. It was almost satisfying.
"Why?" Sasuke sighed in response.
"You disrespected them, let the whole village ostracise them. They got angry. You didn't even try to pacify them, and instead forced Itachi to kill the clan. Everyone except me. I was seven." The sad thing was that he wasn't even trying to arouse pity or guilt. It was just the truth.
"Then, the future Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. You let them get abused and ostracised every day since birth. Minato's kid." His anger was almost undetectable. It wasn't just about him, Hiruzen screwed everybody over. The Hokage went silent, unsure what to say. Sasuke rose, bid his goodbyes, and high-tailed the hell out of his office.
He knocked on Kushina's door, straightening his posture just before she answered.
"Hey, Sasuke. Come in," She smiled at him. He caught the wonderful scent of cinnamon rolls, complimenting her on it and making small talk.
Munching on a cinnamon roll, he figured it was time to be upfront.
"Something is happening with my body," he whispered. Kushina refrained from making a dirty joke, sensing his unease.
"I need to talk to the Kyuubi and figure out what's going on," He felt bad for deflating her good mood, but it had to be done.
"Okay," she accepted far easier than he thought she would, "Be careful with him. He's sly and conniving." She grabbed his hand. His vision brightened until everything was white for several seconds, eventually calming into the large, looming figure of the Kyuubi, which glared at him carnivorously.
Kushina's mental landscape was a pretty view. Flat plains of green, innumerable landforms, like something out of a book of fairytales. She had good mental health, he supposed. Except for a towering mountain of ash and obsidian marring the otherwise perfect landscape. Sasuke willed himself there, where the Kyuubi was.
He (it? No, he was too strong to be likened to an 'it') watched Sasuke, lacking all the rage, hunger and frightening demeanor he was famous for. The Kyuubi just examined Sasuke, with part irritation, part fascination, and part like he was an insect. Kushina was there too, but he paid her no mind.
"You're an anomaly of nature," The Kyuubi spoke. So he knew what Sasuke was.
"What is happening to me?" He questioned, hoping for an answer. The Kyuubi looked him over, pondering whether to let the mortal suffer or answer his questions.
"You cannot mature physically, because you are out of place here," Sasuke figured the Kyuubi had some reason to humour him.
"Can I die?" That was the biggest question on his mind. The Kyuubi made a resounding, guttural noise. It was laughter.
"Nature wants you to die. But you will not age, because the universe can not let you." Sasuke tilted his head in confusion.
"You mean that nature wants to kill me." That was probably why the Kyuubi didn't seem to care about him at all.
"Am I the first time traveller?" The Kyuubi rolled his eyes, an action that was almost terrifying.
"No. Now, this isn't an interrogation, so get out." Sasuke felt the air shrink against him, shoving him away. His vision went white, and he was back in Kushina's living room.
She looked absolutely crushed, which caused Sasuke a great deal of worry.
"Hey," he mustered up a relaxed smile, "Cheer up. Let's make some chocolate souffle, okay?" He grabbed the empty tray previously filled with cinnamon rolls and strutted to the kitchen, Kushina weakly trailing after him. They had enough familiarity with each other that Sasuke could grab any ingredients and start whipping up a cheer-up dessert.
"Nature literally wants you to die. What the hell?" Kushina buried her head in her hands.
"I'm not that weak," he said, fully confident in himself. He didn't understand the time-travelling thing perfectly, but he did understand that he wasn't going to die. There was the added bonus that he couldn't age. Clearly, he wasn't supposed to be here, but honestly, who cared? He wasn't going back to a time without his brother, or his clan, or anyone.
What he needed to do was end this war, find and kill Madara and destroy Danzo, along with some other pests, in order to finally find peace. He solved the unageing mystery, found the Rinnegan, killed Nagato and Konan, discovered Tobi, along with some other stuff. In order to end the war easier...Danzo had to die.
"You're zoning out," Kushina's voice brought him back to reality. She stared at him with pensive eyes, then shoved a spoon of souffle into his mouth.
"It's good," he said, complimenting himself and his cooking skills.
Kushina fiddled with her bracelet,
"I meant it when I said I'd help you in your quest to save the world," she looked up at him with conviction.
"Just let me help you. I'll kill or kidnap whoever, hell, I'll kill a whole country if it means this fucking war ends."
Sasuke analysed Kushina's expression. He'd always assumed she was a loyal Konoha ninja, and thereby couldn't be trusted completely, but he already told her so much, and she handled it flawlessly. Most of the unwaveringly blind ninja in Konoha were truly loyal to the entirety of the village, but Kushina didn't seem like one of them. Or maybe the whole 'Will of Fire' babble was just bullshit propaganda.
He was almost certain that she was a person that would burn the whole place down if it meant the people she cared about were safe. Konoha had ostracised and ridiculed her, like it did to the Uchiha and Naruto. This damned village was like an even more judgmental Hell.
"Alright," he made the decision to trust her entirely, and started spilling the details of the future: everything he remembered, every document he read, everything.
She absorbed everything, enraptured by his every word. Sasuke figured that working with someone was more effective than going solo. The biggest surprise was the realisation that Kushina hated Danzo almost as much as he did.
"I'll do it," she muttered, almost inaudibly.
"I'll kill Danzo, if that's alright. You do the other stuff." Sasuke smirked. This was great! He got twice the shit done in half the time. While his revenge-craving mind would've loved to poke Danzo with a hot iron, he forced himself to think rationally. Besides, Danzo hadn't committed the treacherous sin yet.
They discussed, schemed and planned over chocolate souffle and coffee.