I can't believe I'm updating twice today (check out my PWP "Play With Me" if you haven't already). Though, to be fair, I finished this one yesterday. I had planned to write more for it, but decided to split it up. Therefore, this chapter doesn't have much drama.

There are a couple of things I want to clarify. Let's see if I can remember them all. Well. Sasuke isn't going blind, so no need to worry about that. But you'll see after reading this chapter, I think. Also, this story doesn't follow canon when it comes to Naruto and Sasuke's fight, so basically, that didn't happen, and it's not like the details of what happened a year ago matter that much anyway. Whatever's relevant will be brought up, but feel free to ask questions. And with that I mean that Naruto never made Sasuke promise to stay alive for his sake, so that's why Sasuke is kinda lost at the moment and has just been staying in Konoha while trying to figure out what it is he wants to do. I will delve more deeply into that later, I suppose.

Then there's the fact that I'm giving myself a lot of freedom with this world, for example, bringing in characters that are very much dead in canon. Let's just make everyone happy, you know? And you're free to make requests about characters, too. But there are many more coming up that I haven't written in yet. There are seriously too many characters in this damn manga... sigh.

For those of you who haven't watched the movie: a small reminder that Sakura's dad was the fourth Hokage and died a hero in order to save the village. I'll make up my own reasons for that, probably.

Alright then, let's get this started!

Chapter 13: What now?

xxx

It was later the same day, and they'd gathered in the living room. Fugaku had joined them, both he and Obito occupying armchairs while Sasuke sat on the couch. To his left was Mikoto, still of the firm belief that he needed rest and not a meeting, but relenting at Obito's request. To his right sat Naruto, a frown marring his face ever since he'd woken up.

He stared at Obito. As a child, he never got to hear much about him. All he knew was that he'd been one of Kakashi's important people, and there was some crap with a girl. But Obito had given Kakashi his eye, and he wondered if the same thing had happened here. As it was, he settled for staring instead of asking. He'd taken off his robe, but his forehead protector was still secured around his forehead in stark contrast to the broken man he'd encountered during the war. Kakashi hadn't told them much afterwards, either, but at least it seemed they'd been able to resolve a few things between them.

Obito was staring back, dark eyes contemplating him, expression calm and almost… reassuring. This person at least seemed a lot more aware of the harshness of reality than many of the others he'd met so far.

"So," Obito started, glancing briefly at Naruto's narrowed eyes. "Why don't you tell us how you came to develop the Rinnegan?"

Sasuke thinned his lips.

"Is it necessary?"

"Well," Obito said, the corner of his lips twitching slightly in humor. "You've appeared in a different dimension and so far, you collapsing seem to have been the only strange thing to have happened. At this point, I'd say anything related to it is important."

He could feel Naruto fidget beside him, but Sasuke couldn't ignore that Obito had a point.

"It was during a war last year. I got it from the Sage of the Six Paths."

Silence fell for a minute, and he could feel all eyes on him. Sasuke, however, kept his gaze locked with Obito's. There had been recognition flickering through his eyes, and it raised more questions than he could be bothered to address right now. Especially since his parents shared a look but stayed silent after receiving an additional one from Obito.

"I see. I was wondering why you seemed relatively sane."

Naruto snorted at that, but Sasuke kept his face impassive. They weren't here to talk about some of the less rational decisions of his life.

"And the sage had a specific reason for choosing you?"

He shrugged, gesturing towards Naruto.

"It was mostly for Naruto."

When Obito turned his gaze to the only blond person in the room, Naruto flushed slightly and fumbled for words.

"Um, it was kind of a, mutual thing."

"But you received powers as well?" Obito urged, and Naruto nodded. "Good. Then we can conduct a small experience. Why don't you try to call forth that power, now?"

Sasuke immediately felt uncomfortable. He could see what Obito was getting to, and he wasn't particularly pleased about Naruto having to suffer just to test the theory. On the other hand, it was the easiest way to know.

"Alright…" Naruto trailed off, but got up and headed over to an empty spot in the room.

"Hold on a minute," Mikoto interrupted. "If the result could be the same as with Sasuke, shouldn't he be doing this under supervision of a medic?"

"Yes, we should wait until Tsunade has time," Fugaku agreed, and Obito looked ready to change his mind when Naruto assured them that it was fine.

Of course he'd say it was fine. That reckless dobe. Grinding his teeth, he watched as Naruto concentrated, right hand put in front of his face with index and middle finger pointing upwards. Soon the familiar feeling of Kyuubi chakra filled the room, Naruto glowing yellow, but barely a second later he flashed a lighter yellow before falling to his knees, groaning and clutching his right wrist.

"Shit," he hissed, and Sasuke was kneeling next to him before the idea to move registered in his mind.

"Idiot," he said, inspecting his hand but seeing no obvious damage, though of course the bandage was in the way.

"Says you," Naruto countered, and they glared at each other for a couple of seconds.

"Are you hurt?" Fugaku sounded mildly worried, but Naruto stood up with a slight grimace.

"Just my wrist," he assured them, trying to roll it slightly and making another grimace. "Kinda lame compared to losing my eyesight."

Sasuke sighed, because it really wasn't that bad. He just had to focus extra hard in order to see details at a long distance. Alright so maybe those details were still a bit blurred, but he could see perfectly fine. It was nothing compared to the time his own eyes had started losing sight because of the Mangekyo Sharingan. He was certain that Naruto wasn't going to let him off easy for trying a second time, though.

"You should probably have someone look it over today, anyway," Obito commented, and Naruto nodded reluctantly.

"You should go immediately," Mikoto argued. "Sasuke needs to rest."

"What? No!"

Letting his knuckles rap lightly across the top of Naruto's head, Sasuke gave him a stern look.

"Half an hour," he said, Naruto crossing his arms with a pout.

"I'm totally fine," the idiot muttered, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Considering he himself was still on painkillers for the throbbing in his left eye, he was under no illusion that Naruto's wrist – and probably hand as well – wasn't hurting a lot. He was lucky to get away with just that.

"Well, I've been called to a meeting with the Hokage, so I should probably be on my way. Let's have a proper talk tomorrow? Try to see if you can think of anything that could be relevant."

Nodding towards Obito as he stood up, Sasuke had to admit he was thankful there wouldn't be any follow-up questions at the moment. He and Naruto would have time to sort out the new development first.

"Fugaku, Mikoto, I'll see you again later," Obito added with a small smile. "Naruto, make sure you visit the hospital."

With that he left, and Sasuke uncertainly turned his attention back to his mother.

"Why don't you go up to your room for now, and I'll fix you something to eat," she said, sighing lightly. "And that will be exactly thirty minutes from now," she told Naruto, who made an annoyed sound but didn't dare disagree.

Walking to his room, he could feel Naruto's gaze boring into his skull. He really didn't know how to explain himself even if Naruto asked. But they had more important things to discuss than Sasuke blurting out a random apology. He just hated the fact that he'd been expecting himself to easily be able to bring them home after figuring out just where home was, and now he was little more than useless. Not that he personally felt much need to go back, but Naruto… Naruto had an entire village waiting for him, and he'd missed the celebration on his birthday. Of course, Sasuke wasn't agreeing one hundred percent with the suspicious change of heart the villagers had gone through simply because Naruto was a hero now, but Naruto still deserved the recognition.

Though, if Naruto was happy as long as Sasuke was there, he wouldn't complain.

He sat down in the chair by the desk, hanging his chuunin vest over the back and rolling up his sleeves. It wasn't as hot as the previous days, but still warm enough that he was starting to wonder if they had a different climate here. Naruto plopped down on his bed, crossing his legs and leaning his left elbow on his thigh, resting his chin in his hand. The right one he gingerly placed over his crossed shins, and Sasuke pulled out the small package with painkillers he'd received from Orochimaru earlier. He threw it to Naruto, who merely glanced at it as it landed in his lap.

"I'm totally fine," he said, but Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What, you can say you're fine but I can't?"

"Obviously."

Naruto threw the package back at his face, but he caught it with an amused look.

"I'm going to the hospital anyway," Naruto muttered, rubbing his cheek against his left shoulder absentmindedly.

Sasuke waited for him to continue, but nothing came. Those blue eyes simply stared into his for several minutes, barely blinking. In the end, it was Sasuke who averted his eyes, looking out the window instead.

"What's bothering you?"

Naruto's voice was quiet, and Sasuke took a moment to marvel over the moron's growth.

"What makes you think there is something bothering me?"

Letting out a groan, the blond fell backwards to sit slumped against the wall.

"Things would be so much easier if you could just admit what it is. But fine, wanna know what's bothering me? The fact that no one reacted when you mentioned the Sage."

"Mm. Did you notice how both my parents apparently follow Obito's orders?"

Naruto nodded, running a hand through his hair, only managing to mess it up more than it already was. Sasuke felt a strange urge to fix it, the way Naruto had done to him earlier at the hospital.

"But Sasuke… if we can't use the Sage's powers…"

"It could mean someone's blocking it on purpose, that is, the same person that brought us here. Assuming it wasn't simply a fluke."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think it wasn't. I mean, when I tried using the sage chakra, man it hurt. Maybe we just-"

Naruto paused, eyes widening a fraction as he straightened up.

"Hey, Sasuke… Do you think the sage chakra is something different here? Like, it has the opposite effect or something? I mean, think about it. Almost everyone has a different personality, the wars never happened, and Obito knew about the Sage."

Contemplating Naruto's idea, Sasuke subconsciously lifted a hand to brush across his left eye.

"But don't you think they would have told us if it was something harmful? Maybe they simply resolved the conflict between Ashura and Indra earlier on in history."

"Yeah…" Naruto gnawed on a thumb, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Even now, after a year spent together with him, Sasuke sometimes forgot how much Naruto thought before acting nowadays. Then his best friend shrugged, placing his hands behind his neck but wincing, lowering them again with a scowl at his right wrist.

"Well, whatever. If someone wants to fight, like some kind of alternate Kaguya or whatever, we'll just beat them up."

Sasuke felt his heart sink. That was the problem though, and Naruto picked up on it judging by the way his eyes narrowed as he leaned forwards to observe Sasuke.

"What?"

"It's nothing," he replied, shaking his head, but Naruto was in a persistent mood.

"Bastard, don't be stupid. We might be stuck here, but we don't know what will happen or when, so you probably won't have time for explaining later. So spill it."

Giving Naruto an annoyed look, Sasuke pursed his lips and remained silent much to Naruto's displeasure. When he shifted, still refusing to talk, Naruto huffed and got on his feet to stalk over to him. Stopping in front of him, Naruto grabbed his shoulders with both hands, apparently ignoring the pain in his right one.

"Come on," he urged, squeezing him slightly. "I keep telling you that you can talk to me, and that means sometimes, you have to talk to me."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, giving him a mocking stare. Naruto didn't let it bother him.

"You're the smart one," he continued, surprisingly calm. "Something I'm not. So, if there's a problem, I'm not gonna figure it out on my own. So tell me."

He took a deep breath to continue, but Sasuke sighed and relaxed in his seat before he could say anything else. He knew that, logically, he needed to tell him. He also knew that he had a bit of a problem when it came to pride. Logic, however, didn't always prevail over emotion. Still, Naruto was forcing him to meet his eyes, holding him in place, so he might as well get it over with.

"If I can't use the power we got from the Sage, then I can't use my Sharingan either," he confessed, keeping his face as blank as possible while Naruto frowned heavily.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that I can't separate them anymore. It's an automatic thing. If I try to use the Sharingan…"

"It's the Rinnegan that appears?"

He nodded.

"So? We'll just beat them anyway."

Naruto just didn't understand.

"Dobe, I haven't fought without using it since before the Land of Waves!" Some of the frustration must have leaked into his voice, because Naruto lifted his left hand to flick his cheek.

"You're being stupid. Sasuke, you're strong."

"Easy for you to say," he shot back. "You can still use the Kyuubi's power, and the toad sage power as well. What do I have? Basically nothing."

He glared at Naruto when his cheek was pinched instead of flicked, swatting his hand away. Naruto, on the other hand, was staring at him with a look he couldn't quite place. He wasn't annoyed, but he certainly didn't look pleased.

"I don't even have my katana," he added for emphasis.

"You're really being stupid now. But fine, you think you're weak now? So train and get stronger, then. Don't sit here whining like a little baby."

Anger flashed through him, he could feel the heat of it filling his chest, but something held him back from lashing out at Naruto. Because Naruto was right. Obviously. It didn't mean Sasuke had to be happy about it, especially not now that the moron started grinning at him.

Then came the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs, and the grin disappeared off Naruto's face.

"There's no way it's been half an hour!"

"Sure felt like it though," Sasuke mumbled, wincing when Naruto kicked at his toes.

"I'll come back later. We've got loads to talk about!"

"Don't."

"But Sasuke we do ha-"

"I said rest," Mikoto hissed as she pushed the door open with one foot.

"Sasuke's totally resting! See, he's in a chair! Super relaxing!"

"Oh, and you hovering like that over him is supposed to be relaxing? No arguments when you're both hurt."

She walked past him to place a tray of food on the desk, then turned to Naruto with an expression that left no room for disagreement.

"We have stuff to talk about," Naruto tried, but was helpless when Mikoto started ushering him out of the room.

"You can talk tomorrow. Now go see a doctor or I will make sure it needs surgery."

"That's really not fair," Naruto protested, their voices growing distant as the door closed behind them, leaving Sasuke on his own.

He sat for a while listening to their continued arguing, knowing Naruto was too much of a knuckle-headed idiot to stop even when he'd already lost. When the front door slammed shut he let out a sigh, turning to the food and figuring that he might as well eat and try to get some sleep.

He should have known better than to think Naruto would give up.

A blond tuft of hair appeared outside his window, followed by a tan face with the mouth forming a demand to let him in. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, merely picking up his chopsticks and deciding to try one of the fried vegetables on the plate. He could feel Naruto's annoyance at his actions, and tried his best not to smirk.

Then Mikoto opened the door again and yelled at Naruto to leave, and he finally did but only after mouthing at Sasuke that he'd be back later.

Sasuke pretended not to see it.

xxx

Tsunade put down the mission report with a heavy sigh, much to the amusement of the room's second occupant.

"Keep sighing like that and soon not even your Hyakugou seal will be able to hide the wrinkles."

She sent an unimpressed look at the man lounging against a window, his green-grey eyes twinkling in amusement due to his overused joke.

"Nawaki, don't you have anything better to do?"

He grinned, shrugging lightly, looking perfectly comfortable where he stood dressed in casual clothing.

"Probably," he agreed in a lighthearted voice, "But I seem to recall a certain Hokage requesting my presence. On my day off, too."

"You're here as a representative of the council, that doesn't count as off duty."

Her little brother snorted, though she supposed he could hardly be called little. People tended to believe he was the older sibling if they didn't know better, but she couldn't really blame them for that.

"And here I thought you missed my company," he mocked, but the easy grin never left his face.

Reaching for another mission report, Tsunade rolled her eyes. She would agree if she didn't think it would go straight to his head.

"You know," Nawaki continued, "Every time I see you at work like this, I thank myself for never joining in any Hokage election."

"You're assuming someone would vote for you," she shot back, pleased when he let out an indignant sound.

For a mature ninja with a respectable teacher job, he sure was easy to pick on.

"Fine, I'll let you have that one. And it's not like I can avoid paper work, either."

Tsunade hummed, tapping her pencil against her cheek. She couldn't help feeling a little restless. Naruto and Sasuke had picked a bad time to arrive, considering she was so busy with the elections that were only two months off. Though, to be honest, she couldn't wait for another Hokage to relieve some of the paperwork from her.

"I just hope Obito won't give up halfway through and decide he's better off travelling…"

"Oh ho ho, playing favorites, are we?"

"I'm entitled to an opinion, aren't I?" She flicked her hair irritably, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "I'm not the one who decides anyway. And it's about time we get an Uchiha as Hokage, don't you think? They've got the worst track record of declining, seriously."

"Well, it isn't that surprising. Mixing the justice system with the village leader can cause troubles."

Sighing again, Tsunade twirled the pencil in her hand and leaned back in her chair. That had to be enough paper signing for a week.

"And me meddling in the hospital's affairs isn't? I know it's a delicate balance, but dammit Nawaki, the Uchiha co-founded this village and so far, all the leaders have been connected to the Senju clan in some way."

Nawaki nodded thoughtfully, not that they hadn't been over the same thing several times already. The candidates had been decided months ago, after an initial process weeding out the unsuitable ones. It would have been a lot easier if the Third hadn't announced his retirement so suddenly a year and a half ago. It sort of felt like ever since she got lone charge of the village there had been strange things happening. Well, two strange things happening, both of them connected to a certain orange-clad ninja.

"You're forgetting the fourth," Nawaki calmly reminded her, but she waved a hand at him to dismiss it.

"Yes, and he died a hero ages ago barely three years after getting the position. I can't believe how the old man managed to be on his own until I joined him. A year and a half of this stress and I'm ready to throw a chair at the next person arriving with a stack of papers to go through."

"I'll be sure to warn Shizune," her brother muttered under his breath, finding her irritation much too amusing for her taste. "But you'll have to give Sarutobi some credit though, he knew how to run a village."

"Yes, bless him. If it weren't for his guidance I wouldn't be nearly as appreciated as I am. Still, why he'd go and bury himself in those old books instead is beyond me…"

Laughing , Nawaki pushed off the window and walked over to pat her shoulder.

"I take it you're not planning on following in his footsteps?"

She sent him a scathing look.

"Don't even bother, I know what you want to say," she warned him, shoving him away when he gave her the fakest look of innocence she'd ever encountered.

A polite knock on the door interrupted their bickering, and the Anbu guard outside poked her head inside to announce that Obito had arrived. At once both she and Nawaki became serious, observing the younger ninja as he thanked the guard before nodding at them.

"Hokage-sama," he greeted her with, stopping a few steps away from her desk.

"You're very early," she remarked. "Not that I mind. But a month is a little extreme even for you."

He smiled, showing a bit of teeth when Nawaki signed something behind her back. She'd punish him for it later, though her brother knew where to draw the line of his teasing. Most of the time, at least.

"Well, I had a little run-in with a certain couple of ninjas. I did expect some emotional drama between my assistant and his cousin, but I have to admit the dimensional travelers were a little surprising."

"Yes, Orochimaru informed me of what happened. Any clues?"

"Actually, yes. I do think we should keep this to ourselves at the moment, however."

"Ah, hiding things from the others in the council, my favorite activity," Nawaki joked, causing Tsunade to roll her eyes.

"Ignore him," she told Obito. "So, what did you find out?"

"Well, I expect to drag a few more details out of them tomorrow, but Sasuke admitted he'd received his powers from the sage of the six paths. Fugaku and Mikoto heard him, too. And, it seems, the same thing applies to Naruto. When he tried to use it, he collapsed as well. He didn't fall unconscious, but he only tried once while Sasuke tried twice. It caused damage in his right wrist, the one that's bandaged."

Silence filled the room for a moment, all three of them processing the information.

"This would make things entirely different compared to last time, then," Nawaki mused eventually, wondering in passing if Obito had been told yet that the masked man had been his alternate version.

"I'm expecting Itachi to report in as well, as soon as he arrives," Tsunade said. "Obito, pick them both up tomorrow morning. It seems they have some explaining to do."

The dark-haired man nodded once before turning and leaving again. Placing her hands in front of her, Tsunade recalled a certain memory, sure that Nawaki was thinking the same. It was the memory of her grandfather, proudly holding up his right hand after retelling the story of how he and Madara saved the world in their youth…

Next chapter we'll get more ItaShi, as well as some emotional Naruto POV... look forward to it! And it took me longer than expected to write this part, but Menma and Charasuke will be arriving soon;)