Out of the Ashes

Chapter 4

When I Woke Up

Disclaimer: Guess what? I'm a fanfiction writer. No, I don't own Naruto. I own Fushicho though. She's mine.

Plan Don't Get Murdered By Itachi was all about me becoming one of his favorite people in the world. We went to get dango almost every day after the academy unless he had a mission and he helped me with reading, writing, and training. Most importantly though was he was actually a huge help with chakra.

Itachi, after that one day in my fifth year of living where he found me reading about nature chakra, had kept a close eye on me. So close that whenever I trained my chakra he was there with his sharingan activated and an intense look of concentration. I wasn't knowledgeable on what the sharingan could pick up so I had no idea if Itachi was aware I was pulling nature chakra from thin air.

It was my sixth year of living that I finally stopped setting every leaf I tried to stick to my forehead on fire. It was also this event where Itachi learned one of the reasons why I was hypersensitive to chakra.

"Yessssss!" I was dancing around while the leaf stuck to my forehead, "I did it!"

Itachi was watching with his sharingan activated. I continued to revel in my joy that I finally could use chakra by dancing in childish glee. Finally Itachi stopped me from dancing and asked me to stand still. Itachi staring at me with those creepy sharingan eyes was terrifying. The sharingan was not a pretty sight if you didn't know. It was unnatural and unnerving especially when it stared at you; it felt like it could stare right through you into your soul.

Itachi frowned, "Shicho-chan, do you feel odd when you pull on your chakra?"

I shook my head. Pulling on chakra was just pulling at the burning although I suppose the fact it burned was unusual.

"Your chakra looks like it's different. Like... you have more spiritual than physical. It should be the opposite at your age, you couldn't have meditated enough to have the amount of spiritual chakra you have." Itachi frowned, "It's like you have the spiritual chakra of two people."

Ooooooooh. I get it.

That's ironic actually. What if this body already had a soul? It already had it's average even chakra. But then my soul, one entirely unused to chakra and already mature, hopped into this body. Bam, now there's too much soul and too much spirit. Hence I now suddenly have too much spiritual chakra.

I shrugged at Itachi and attempted to play it off, "Does it matter? I can stick a leaf to my forehead now! Look!" I poured the best act of innocence I could into my features as I stuck another leaf to my forehead.

Itachi didn't continue but there was a crease between his eyebrows and his face was stuck in an inquisitive thinking expression. I needed to change the subject.

"Your sharingan is so cool, I can't wait to get mine!" I squeaked desperately.

Itachi paused and deactivated his sharingan, "I'm sorry, Shicho-chan. It's unlikely you'll get the sharingan. With your eyes like that..."

Wait.

Wait a minute.

What the shit. That is so unfair.

I want a sharingan. The sharingan is like so overpowered it's not even funny. But, I supposed an unlikely isn't an absolute answer. Besides, I was an abnormally. Anything could happen.

With a few moments of silence between us, as if to mourn my lost sharingan, we went to get dango. While sitting on the bench outside the shop with Itachi was the first time I saw Itachi drop his guard. For a split second Itachi's eyes were suddenly watching at me with a fierce look and he looked vulnerable and naive. The naivety was gone and replaced by what could only be described as love.

It was this moment I knew I succeeded in becoming one of Itachi's precious people.

But this success would later come with a price.

Itachi stopped supervising my training as harshly as he did before I could stick a leaf to my forehead. Time passed by and I continued to not make friends and antagonize Bu whenever Momma set us up together. Bu would be the closest thing I had to a friend other than Naruto but Bu would deny that as hard as he could.

"Shicho-chan," Itachi asked me one day as we were eating dango. It was raining heavily and Momma had made the dango herself for us since our tradition of going was ruined by the downpour, "What are your plans for the future?"

I swallowed the dango I had been chewing happily, "Plans for the future..."

That was a good question. I couldn't tell him my actual plans. But I figured a bland answer would be good enough, "Huh, I guess be strong enough to live."

Itachi looked at me a bit oddly. Not as bland as I intended I suppose. It could have done without the live part. Although that was true. I did want to live and I would have to become strong to do so in this world. So Itachi couldn't really find anything wrong with it other than finding it a bit weird for someone my age to say.

"What do you want for the future, Ita?" I asked. Mostly to change subject but I actually was curious.

Itachi had to think about it for a few moments and his answer surprised me, "I'd like to have a family when the world is full of peace." At my expression Itachi added, "But for now, I'd like to make ANBU." Don't worry, ANBU is next for you, Itachi. This upcoming year you would make it. And the following year, massacre the clan after becoming an ANBU captain.

We finished our dango in silence and from then on, the days became a countdown to the massacre. I was anti-social in school and didn't make any friends. Momma continued to set me up with Bu and my sixth year went by quickly. Itachi became an ANBU as he was supposed to and I found my seventh year beginning.

Let me say now, fuck those academy Jutsu.

Jutsu were obnoxious. Each one required a different thought process for me to break down to the point I could use it. Again, I was near the bottom of the class regarding these Jutsu. But unlike my younger years I was determined to pull my grades up. I needed to learn Jutsu to become strong.

Oh, and then Shisui ended up dead at the end of our seventh year. Boy, that started ringing alarm bells in my mind.

I knew the massacre was coming but I didn't exactly know when. The anxiety that pushed me was overbearing and I nearly developed the same bags that Itachi had under his eyes recently. Both of us looked like we were the walking dead and for entirely similar reasons. Itachi was already beginning his seperation from the clan with his different ideals. Sasuke didn't notice the new tensions arising but I certainly did. Father started to train Sasuke more and prefer him to Itachi. Certainly we were getting close to the massacre.

With death and destruction on my doorstep I worked as hard as I could to try and survive the impending doom.

The ending of my seventh year and beginning of my eighth was filled with even more anxiety. But eventually I got a jittery schedule down. Seventh year we learned the basics of the academy Jutsu and the beginning of eighth year we started to apply them in mock situations. There were quizzes on henges, drills on replacements and games we could play with the illusion clones if we were good enough.

I had the clone Jutsu down pretty well except I couldn't get my eyes right for some reason. My eyes were always light with a dark pupil instead of dark with a light pupil. I had the same problem with my henging. Really my eyes looked like my eyes in my previous life but only I would ever know that. Unlike the other kids I didn't require the mantra of speaking the Jutsu out loud but I suffered where I couldn't move with my henge yet and my clones couldn't do much other than stand there. And my replacement Jutsu was an absolute mess. I could barely control the general area I switched to and I couldn't replace myself with anything smaller than a dummy my size.

But finally, after months of worrying and planning, the day came. The academy let out that day at normal time and Sasuke and I started our walk home. As we passed by the library I paused, "Ne, Sasu, I wanna grab a scroll on the replacement Jutsu we're learning. Want to wait?"

"No, I need mom to help me with homework. I'll see you in a bit." Sasuke waved to me and I took my time getting the scrolls that looked useful and heading home. The librarian at this point knew me from me researching everything that gave me trouble.

When I reached our clan district I knew something was off when the atmosphere was tense and I couldn't feel anyone else. There were dull reminescents of people but as I walked further into the compound I couldn't really sense anything.

Then I realized.

I dropped my scrolls and backpack to sprint and locate Sasuke or Itachi's chakra. I found Sasuke's first and standing by it was a new taste. This taste was... off. It tasted like pollution and gasoline with a slight sensation of what I call the perfume smell. But it wasn't the perfume smell that you would smell here in the Naruto world. Here the smell of perfumes were much nicer and gentler, smelling like actual scents of nature. The perfume smell that I was tasting in this chakra was that average perfume smell from the old world that you would smell. One that your mother or aunt or grandmother would wear.

I turned the corner and it felt like I was ripping in two.

Standing above the bright cherry tasting light that was Sasuke stood the pollution. I had never seen her before. She had what I would describe as a shovel face with a pronounced jaw. But as horrible as that sounds on a woman she was actually beautiful, with short layered off white hair and piss colored eyes behind sharp glasses. Several hitai-ate were wrapped around her waist, right thigh and forehead. Each one had a scratch through the village symbol and carved into it the word for kill. The only one that didn't have kill on it was the one across her forehead that had the symbol for Kiri. A long jagged sword was gripped in her hand and she tilted her head when she saw me.

"Itachi didn't kill everyone?" she murmured. She stepped towards me and my mind was whirling.

Who was this?! Where was Itachi? What was this? This wasn't right! She didn't belong! What had me being here done!?

I gripped at my head and she started to walk towards me while dragging the sword through the dirt. I saw Sasuke. I registered his taste was a bit faded.

Sasuke wasn't moving.

Oh my Jashin.

My world was violently ripping. Everything was falling apart. And suddenly, my mind seemed to be filled with clarity. It was almost as if my mind went into autopilot and told me "Don't worry, I got chu". That smoke that came from my nose so many times in my childhood suddenly wasn't just smoke anymore. Suddenly, I was so very hot and smoke was billowing from my nose while there was an intense heat just crawling up through me.

Everything was burning and I was so aware of that burning. It was moving inside of me. It was alive and ready to burst out of me. The burning around me was mine and it was angry. How could burning be angry?

I didn't register that my mouth was open with the beginnings of small flames ready to sneak out and that my hands were moving in hand signs for a replacement followed by a clone to take my place. Around me there was smoke and I felt like I was once again locked in my room with flames surrounding me and smoke choking me. The woman was faster than me for sure. As soon as my body began making hand signs she was at me, her sword ready to cleave through me. I was going to die here. I was going to fail.

Itachi wasn't having that bullshit.

Suddenly I was on the sidelines and Itachi was at the woman's throat. She let out a shriek of surprise and absolute terror before she evaporated into water and was gone. Very anti-climatic but as soon as she saw Itachi she must have known that she was outmatched. Her taste was spreading throughout the air and I couldn't pinpoint an exact location but just on the edge of my senses I could taste dirt, plastic and an inferno. That was definitely Tobito.

I crawled to Sasuke with my body starting to not respond. My vision was shaking-no my entire body was rattled. Everything about me was quaking like I was experiencing an earthquake. Perhaps this reality bitch slap was an earthquake.

Itachi knelt beside Sasuke to examine him. But Sasuke was horrible. My cheerful loving adorable brother... the needed avenger... Sasuke was...

Broken.

His eyes were closed with blood dribbling from them. Chunks were taken out of his face-his body from the jagged sword and he didn't have a right leg anymore.

This was my fault. I grabbed at my hair and pulled, suddenly screaming my throat raw and crying.

I KILLED SASUKE.

I FUCKED IT UP. THIS WORLD WAS DONE FOR.

One look into Itachi's eyes should have landed me in the Tsukuyomi but Itachi had just as many tears dribbling from his Mangekyō as I had dribbling from my own dark eyes.

"Th-is was-n't suppo-sed to happ-en!" I wailed with my crying and lisp making it nearly incomprehensible, "I ki-ll-ed Sasu-ke! I ki-ll-ed him!"

Our eyes connected and reflecting in Itachi's Mangekyō were a pair of one tomoe sharingan in each of my eyes. But those tomoe weren't black. They were light grey, just like my pupils.

Itachi with his blood stained hands pulled me to him by the sides of my head and whispered, "I'm sorry, Shicho-chan."

And then I was stuck. I watched Itachi kill everyone and it felt worse than i expected. I knew those people who were being cleaved down like nothing. But it was nothing compared to the pain I was still feeling regarding Sasuke. When it ended I had one last look at Itachi before I knew nothing more.

Or I shouldn't have known anymore. But of course when one thing goes wrong it becomes a domino effect of everything going wrong.

I was standing in prison with dark cement brick walls and heavy iron bars. There was a single torch for light on the side of one cell and I walked into the light. Inside the cell it illuminated a pair of dark eyes staring at me from the darkness.

"Hello, Veronica." a voice in English greeted me. I hardly registered it was in English and didn't say anything. I was beyond mentally exhausted and hearing my previous name obviously spelled trouble. I read fanfiction. I knew something was up. But everything was already so fucked over whatever happened next wouldn't matter.

Sasuke was dead.

Everyone would be dead eventually.

"What, don't like English? Alright." the voice-it was a female-demurred, "Japanese then. I prefer Japanese too."

"Who are you?" I managed to ask.

The voice laughed, "Uchiha Fushicho. Or is that you? Look down at yourself."

I wish I didn't. But I did. Oh, I wasn't Uchiha Fushicho anymore. My body was heavier and I was kind of chubby. My skin though wasn't how I remembered. It was burned beyond recognition and honestly looked a bit like beef jerky. Putting my destroyed hands to my face didn't help. There wasn't any feeling left in them.

"Look in the puddle. It's at the edge of my prison." the voice told me. I stepped forward and there was a puddle collected in an indent where the cell's door would open. I was a thing. By thing, I mean thing.

My face-the thing's face was conflicted. Half of it was my face-Veronica's face. Veronica's face was burnt to a crisp with a single light colored eye staring out. But on the right side of the things face there was Uchiha Fushicho's eight year old face. But the burn scar wasn't there. Fushicho's pale skin ran down in the same place as the burn scar as real skin. The skin was a scar over the burns. Veronica's light brunette hair was burned short while Fushicho's dark blue mane was pulled back behind her ear.

"What are you, you're wondering." the voice hummed, "Well, I suppose you're an it. You are Veronica, but you are Uchiha Fushicho."

I looked at the darkness and felt ready to cry, "Just tell me what's going on. Please."

A short laugh, "You're stupid, aren't you? You've read the fanfiction. You know exactly what I am. I am the Uchiha Fushicho you kicked out of that body. I am that extra spiritual chakra and the reason you aren't dead from nature chakra. I'm the reason that woman didn't kill you and I am stuck in you until you die. But if you die, I die too."

"But there wasn't supposed to be an Uchiha Fushicho." I stressed, or was I stressed? At that point I was so done with everything, "Why are you sentient? And why now to appear?"

"I'm like a tailed beast in that I am sentient chakra. That's what a soul is, or so I assume. As for Uchiha Fushicho, she was supposed to be absorbed into Sasuke. You know, twin eating twin in the womb or whatever. But for some reason Sasuke didn't absorb her. I was supposed to be born. And yet, I got shoved out of control and locked inside a very interesting mind." she was polite in answering but sounded bitter and practical. I took her chance to live.

I felt like I was being hit by a truck and she leaned a bit into the light. I saw skin and muscle tissue. She wasn't a human. Not quite, "You, Veronica, are going to be thrown into something you didn't want. Sasuke won't be the avenger if he's dead. You have to be. You will be Sasuke."

No.

It was an immediate response on my head. I didn't want to be Sasuke. I didn't want to be a whiny asshole who Orochimaru lusted after and who had to go through so much pain, trouble, and effort to become undefeatable. I didn't want anything to do with being the avenger. I was supposed to be a side character that influenced Sasuke to stay. I was going to be safe.

"You are in the perfect position. Why wouldn't you want to be the avenger?" mused, I didn't want to call her Fushicho but what could I call her? Not like she would help in giving herself a name, "Your mind can't be tampered with by anyone. I'm here and I can boot them out or torture them in your mind. You can naturally use nature chakra and convert it into fire. You are basically immune to most Genjutsu because I can spike my presence and knock you out of it. Because you weren't used to chakra from your previous life you are hypersensitive and can notice Genjutsu without me as well as chakra signatures. You already have a sharingan and you are a motherfucking Uchiha. You know the future-"

"No, I don't know this future." I shook my head.

"But you do. If you become Sasuke then everything will be fine." she tried to convince me.

But no. I knew nothing would be fine, "You lie. Already things are wrong. That woman cleaved down Sasu. I don't know who she is."

"Just because things are changing doesn't mean that you can't adapt. Besides, you're already on your way to becoming an overpowered main character. You won't be Naruto of course but you can become Sasuke. You can surpass Sasuke." she giggled to herself, "Why won't you accept this? It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

I scowled, "My brother is dead. My family is dead. I have died once and I don't want to die young again."

"Well tough luck. You're going to die young if you don't make yourself Sasuke." she paused and relaxed back into her darkness, "Open my cell doors while you're here. I exhausted myself taking control back there and keeping you alive. While your soul is sensitive mine isn't. If it's open I can take control much easier and keep us alive when you're too busy being conflicted by change and shock."

Tempting but I didn't want her anywhere near taking control of me. I didn't want this thing to be in power. Before I could say anything through, her eyes widened and she sighed.

"Ah, we're out of time. You're waking up. But remember this, Veronica. I am always here and whenever you need me, I will keep us alive."

And then I woke up.

AN

The plot is mine now. Also, you should go to my profile and vote for the distant future pairing since that will eventually be a thing. I'm a fanfiction writer. Romance is a thing.

Fun Fact- I actually hate this chapter but can't make it any better.

Thanks to the following for reviewing:

Thomas Drovin (I love your reviews, you must spend time on them. I appreciate it)
time-twilight