Here's the third chapter.

Thanks to nsymina, dimas_vaw, Devil's Darklight, cristifilip372, Keitzuro, grither55, Rain-XIX and Guest(x2) for their reviews and those who are following this as well.

Anyways, Let's get started!

(( Edited version : previous - 5k; current - 7k))

...

Chapter 3: A link to the past

Chaos.

That was the best word to describe what was happening around her. Slaves were getting slaughtered by magicians as a young Erza led a rebellion in the tower of Heaven.

But the situation soon turned out for worse. Sentinels had gathered and had begun to open fire to suppress the ongoing rebellion instead of trying to knock them out. Most of the slaves panicked and started fleeing the frontlines leaving a helpless Erza alone on the battle field.

"Don't! Don't give up now!" She pleaded, her pleas falling on deaf ears. She desperately held her hand to stop the rest but none paid any attention to what she had to say. They all were shit scared for their lives and weren't going to linger in a losing battle.

It was better to lead a miserable life than dying. They all were that desperate.

"You've got to fight!" She desperately tried to reach others, hoping to once again fill courage in them.

"Move!" One of the slave roughly pushed her causing her to fall on her back. They all were scared and they definitely weren't going to follow a little girl to death in that battle. Life was still too precious for them.

"Wait… You've still got to save him…" Erza managed to say, her eyes on the turning back of her comrades. Her friends had also retreated carrying an injured Simon on their back, another one of Erza's friends. Was this the end...?

The flying skeletal magicians that were slaughtering the slaves had reached her.

"Erza!"

"Nee-san!"

Erza looked behind her to see red magic circles appearing in front of the executioners. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the inevitable. But the blast never reached her even after the explosion. She opened her eyes and was shocked to find the oldman from her cell standing in front of her, arms stretched out in a defensive stand.

"Mage-Jiichan!"

"My magical power might have been faded, but I am still capable of protecting my friends!" the old man said. "I won't stand by and watch young lives being taken away." He said bringing his hands in front of him as he reflected the blast back on them. The impact was enough to shake the whole tower.

But the stress put on his body was too much to handle and he was immediately on his knees. A worried Erza moved close to him as she started noticing cracks forming on the kind old man's skin.

"What's wrong?" Her voice quivered as she hesitantly asked.

"My will is strong but I am getting too old for this. For a mage his life energy is the source of his magical power. And once I have used up my magic, I will inevitably die. But Erza, there is no limit to your potential." The old man said, trying to get back on his feet.

"Mage Jiichan..."

The moments with Erza started flashing before his eyes as he continued to protect the little girl behind him, taking damage from the enemy magicians. The smile given by Erza when he explained about magic was frozen in his mind.

"I never thought I would see a smile like that in such a place." He laughed softly despite death that stared at him.

"Ojii-chan!"

"Freedom is inside your heart." He said giving her one final piece of advice as he took the full impact.

"Ojii-chan!" she shouted before she saw his body being completely broken as it reached its limit. The very symbol she was going to carry on her left shoulder in the future, shattered right in front of her eyes.

"Erza! Fall back. Hurry!" one of her friend shouted.

But Erza couldn't hear any of it as she was left in a state of dismay. She kept staring at the body of the old man which turned to dust before she lost control over her emotions. She gave a loud cry of pain as a huge magic circle appeared under her and all the scattered weapons heeded to her command and attacked the guards in front of them, obliterating them in an instant.

"Amazing!"

"All of a sudden… even the magicians…" the crowd said as they gathered around her. The same crowd which was afraid to follow her, was now given a hope in form of her. She filled them courage with display of her raw potential.

She saw her trembling hand, 'So… this is magic?'

She closed her wrist, "I will gain our freedom. Follow me!" she shouted.

After leading a successful attack downstairs, she moved upwards in search of …someone. Someone she held close to her. Someone she had to save no matter what.

She kept panting as she finally reached the door, her thoughts completely about the person opposite. On the other side of the door was supposed to be someone important to her. She brought her hand to the handle and was about to open it.

..

"Erza!" A stern voice called out to her. All the stuff around her suddenly shape shifted into an entirely different setting.

She was no longer blind in one eye. She could see through both her eyes and her eye level had grown all of a sudden. Trees had surrounded her as the night took possession of the clear skies. She was holding a katana in her right hand and several kunai floated around her, pointing outwards ready to strike at a moment's notice. In her left hand was the sheath that covered the katana in her right hand.

There was no longer the door in front of her. The door that held the secrets of her past. Instead, only a familiar raven haired teen stood in front of her and shouted her name once more, a hint of annoyance clear on his features.

"Erza! Snap out of it!" He once again repeated, his black orb reflecting the image of the burning firewood they had set up in the camp.

She blinked once more before she realized that she had been dreaming about the tower of heaven incident... again. Something related to her memories. Seems like the only ones she could even bring herself to remember were the painful ones in her life. They were surfacing whenever she rested or even closed her eyes. It was unsettling to say the least.

She stood still for few more moments before she let go of the multiple kunai around her, dropping them onto the ground. She then gently sheathed the katana in her hand, moved around slowly without any sudden movements that would set the Uchiha to tackle her.

She sat on the fallen log and set aside the katana against the floor. She sighed as she covered her face with her hand and stared at the fire in front of her through the gaps in her knitted fingers.

"…sorry."

She apologized in a feeble voice, her chest tightening a bit and felt worse that she was about to harm the only person that was helping her. All because of a stupid nightmare she had once again.

Sasuke didn't know how to describe what had just aspired in front of him.

It had been a few days since they had started traveling together, and it was just another ordinary night with Sasuke taking the first watch. A camp had been set aside with Erza was sleeping fast in the tent. It's entrance flapped over and open to allow the heat from the firewood to keep her warm.

A couple hours had passed as he stood away from the camp, perched onto the top of a branch. He mulled over in his thoughts, his gaze fixed on the moon as he briefly wondered how his friend was doing. Naruto was probably out there fighting for their world. Meanwhile, he was in the shadows, cleaning up after his clan's mess.

This wasn't how he had envisioned his journey to undergo but then again he had no specific goal on what he was to do. In a way, having a goal was what he needed here. He had been having too much free time over his hands and it was never a good thing to allow him to wallow over by himself.

As a result, for the past few days, he wasn't alone in his journey anymore. He had gained a companion because of the accidental opening of the forbidden time-space scroll. A woman with a strange bearing on his world. A foreign entity that spoke volumes of life existing on other planes.

When he thought of life existing in other worlds, his mind initially went to Otsusuki Kaguya, a being that could have well arrived here from another world. A woman, even if he didn't want to admit, had so such influence on the shinobi world. After all, she had introduced the concept of chakra upon the populace of this world who revered her as the rabbit goddess. It was only due to fortune and circumstances that he and Naruto were able to seal her, but that final fight could have gone either way if they didn't have the hel they received from the rest.

That was not to say Erza was the same since Kaguya had eaten the chakra fruit that enabled her to gain incredulous amount of power to cause the masses to fear her. If it comes down to it, he felt he should be able to handle her. And, from what he saw of the redhead so far, all he could say was she felt... different.

In the previous town they had passed from, he could tell she was cautious of him, and was very uptight. A calm and collected individual. But there were also moments where she had gone flustered over minuscule things which she had dubbed as 'cute'.

Sasuke was slowly getting used to the peculiar habits and quirks of Erza, and he was actually allowing the redhead more leeways than he thought. Her company wasn't as annoying as she didn't act like one of those fangirls and she wasn't someone who viewed him with caution or fear either.

She was a strange one, he thought as he shot a lazy glance at the redhead. In the glow of the leaping flames, he could see more of her features even from far away; a scarlet hair lock spread across her delicate cheek, slight drool churning down from the corner of her lips and thick eyelashes making him wonder when she had the time to maintain herself.

She kept mumbling something under her breath, her lips thinned and her furrows folded. She was probably having a nightmare. His gaze then shifted to her full lips for a brief moment before he quickly shook his head.

Sasuke shifted his gaze before his thoughts could go further down the treacherous road. Sure, he was used to having Karin travel with him all the time, but she didn't hold a candle to the beauty that Erza was. And, he was always busy obsessed with his goals at one point or another, so he never really had time to think about such things.

He began pondering about reviving his clan, perhaps not with much conviction he had held when he had announced his goals during the introduction of squad seven. It was more of a necessity… out of respect for his brother. Sasuke thought of ending the Uchiha clan's lineage with himself. A poetic end to one of the feared clans in history, he had thought dryly at a point. But he couldn't bring himself to do something like that, he knew.

Itachi already had enough weight on his shoulders and would only add more if the Uchiha clan permanently ceased to exist in elemental nations. It would forever bear a mark against his brother's name and he refused for something like that to happen.

Was it because he was admiring her beauty, or was it because he had too much sake to drink in the earlier town, Sasuke didn't know. Either way, his thoughts shifted as to how he was going to accomplish his final goal if he was really dead set on accomplishing it.

Sakura would probably want him back. She had been and has always been attracted to him. He didn't think of it as love, because he himself didn't know what it was. It was so long ago that he had felt such familiar but distant feelings. It felt like a life time ago. No matter what might have transpired between him and his teammate, he was still grateful that she cared for someone like him.

But, then again, he did know that Naruto liked her. That idiot has always been terrible at hiding his feelings, but he didn't care during their genin days on what that idiot thought or who he liked for that cause. Now was a different matter. Perhaps, it would be better for everyone if they hooked up together.

Then, there was Ino. But, he wasn't sure about her. They hadn't conversed with each other in five years and any sensible person would remember that little fact. She probably wasn't an option either.

He still had the option of Karin. He hadn't been fair to her either, just like he neglected Sakura's feelings. But, that would be his last resort. He still had other missions to take care of now, and taking care of a child when he was on a journey of redemption might not be the ideal way to go.

Sasuke was deep in thought and stared off into the distance when it happened.

His sword was suddenly snatched away from him by an invisible force, more like a powerful magnetic pull. He immediately got down from the tree and his senses went alert when the multiple kunai they had been carrying around also vanished. He swiftly turned around towards the tent and blinked at the sight in front of him.

Erza was standing in front of her tent and his katana in her hand, pointed at him. Multiple kunai also floated around her. In that moment, she had displayed a rare ability. He never saw anyone that could freely control weapons like she did at the moment.

She excelled at the art even more than Tenten. No, it was something more than just mere sealing of weapons and their usage. But it looked like she was under some illusion as her eyes lacked any light.

He called out her name a couple of times but to no avail. He had to shout in a loud voice for her to regain her consciousness.

Thankfully, she had awoken.

Sasuke was glad he didn't have to take any other action which he would regret later on. He made a mental note to himself to put her under a genjutsu the next time she starts acting up like that. This wasn't the first time either. There were other times like there was this instance where she kept shouting 'Jellal' and wouldn't shut up for sage's sake.

However, that doesn't seem be all that disturbed the night.

He narrowed his eyes, eyes darting at the trees surrounding. "Erza. Can you return my katana?"

She also seemed to have taken notice of what he sensed as she stood up and threw his sword at him.

"We know that you are here. You can come out now," The redhead said in a stern voice.

The bushes surrounding them were rustled as many ninja appeared in front of them. There were about twenty Shinobi and all of them held the mist village symbol on their headband but it was crossed horizontally like Sasuke's headband, indicating one's rejection of their village branding them as Rogue ninja.

"Good job in detecting us, woman," A ninja stepped forward, a cut on his right cheek. He grinned, teeth flashing slyly at Erza. "No wonder the boss was interested in you. Come with us quietly without any resistance. We don't have much time ourselves, you see. We should also find the boss before he finishes finding the scroll."

Sasuke deduced that the cocky one might be the one leading the enemy party.

The last Uchiha slowly unsheathed his katana and a scowl crossed his features at the mention of boss. "Are you referring to the one having the Uchiha forbidden scroll?"

It had to be the person he encountered at the cave. But what did he mean by the other one? There was only one scroll left in this world, right?

"Like we will just tell you who our boss is, moron!"

"I see you are flapping your mouth so carelessly because of your allies. But if you were really planning to attack me head on with these numbers, I am not sure who the moron here is." Sasuke responded cooly, as Erza glanced to look at him.

"Tch, cocky bastard. You are going to regret provoking us! We are going to kill you, but at least not before you see your friend taken away by us right in front of your eyes!" the supposed leader of their group shouted.

It seemed like no one had told them about who they were facing, otherwise they wouldn't have just flapped their mouths so carelessly.

They all laughed as Sasuke rested his right hand against the hilt of his katana. He began to channel chakra to his feet and was about to dash towards them but movement behind him caught his attention.

The redhaired knight stepped forward, an angry look on her face.

"Enough!"

Erza ordered, a strange red circle appearing mid air in front of her arm. A sword appeared in her right hand as the circle disappeared and she held the blade in front of her, pointing it at her enemies.

Sasuke beside her evaluated her stance, his eye focused on the sword in her hand. A summoning technique?

"We have our fair share of swords too!"

One of them stated before rushing in. The rest drew their katana and rushed at towards them as well.

"I cannot ignore the threat you just passed onto my comrade. If you continue to insult us, I cannot guarantee that you will see tomorrow," She warned as she dashed forward, meeting their charge head on.

"Nothing new here!"

Someone from the enemy group exclaimed as Erza collided against their group but they could not stack much against her. She cut through the enemies defenses as if they were cardboard boxes, knocking few of them out right in the beginning. Some stray shuriken were targeted at her back but Sasuke simply countered them with his own.

Erza glanced behind her shoulder and nodded gratefully at Sasuke, before she jumped towards the enemies to her front like a tiger, this time summoning a lance in place of her sword.

Sasuke watched the ongoing battle with some interest.

So, she can summon any weapon from her pocket dimension. He thought, deducing from what he had seen so far. Nothing extra ordinary but the speed of her exchanging of weapons was certainly impressive. It was like an instant, and it seemed as easy as breathing air to her.

Even the enemy shinobi seemed to have realised that Erza's techniques were not ordinary as few of them leapt back, forming hand seals.

"How about this?" They finished their seals. "Water style: Water Cannon!"

A powerful beam of boiling water was launched at her. She was quick on her feet and nimbly dodged the attack before summoning dual swords in the place of lance. As soon as she was near them, she dashed forward quickly and finished them with a single blow.

Dual swords this time, huh? Sasuke's lip quirked up a bit as he was impressed with the speed of her summoning. Being a sword user himself, he knew the difficulty of mastering a given weapon and so far she seemed to have near mastery of all the weapons she had summoned.

Erza grunted in irritation as she halted and surveyed her enemies. There were still around half of them remaining. A magic circle appeared under her feet, surprising the others including Sasuke. White aura covered her entire form, the dress she had been wearing stripped away under the bright light.

Sasuke twitched in irritation at the perverse shinobi in front of him who were getting nose bleeds, clearly caught off-guard. A shinobi was meant never to show his emotions though. It was looking like it was no longer the case around here now-a-days.

Still, she was full of surprises according to Sasuke. He had a feeling that ability was also a rare one even back in her world.

After the light had died down, most of the enemy shinobi had hearts in their eyes as they watched her, or more specifically her armor. Erza currently ex-quipped into one of her stronger armor, her Heaven's wheel armor that had metallic casing over her chest doing little to hide her skin and a battle skirt to cover her legs as a dozen swords flew around her.

Sasuke had a passive look, failing to see how that was an armor. Armors were meant to cover up the vital parts in the body, to prevent direct damage to the area. Just like the ones Madara and the first Hokage wore.

That thing or armor, whatever she was wearing was revealing too much skin to his liking, in contrary to his definition of an armor. Plus, the perverted and blissful cheering they sent to her despite being her opponents also did not help his argument. It was more like she was cosplaying someone.

Maybe she just pulled a Naruto. And by Naruto, he meant the loser's trademark jutsu – The sexy jutsu.

Erza narrowed her eyes, oblivious to the enemy shinobi and Sasuke's dry look.

"Dance, my swords!" she said as she flew in the air and multiple swords started spinning around her. "Circle Sword!" The swords spinning around her were directed towards the remaining enemies as all of them were knocked unconscious with a single volley of her strikes.

Seeing as no combatant was left to fight her after the smoke cleared, she landed and reequipped into her Kimono.

The leader, who stayed back during the fight, had underestimated her and it paid him the mission. He turned around to flee seeing as he was the only one left, but was met with a lone red eye that disrupted his chakra flow in an instant.

'So, she just wasn't cosplaying someone… her armor seemed to have enhanced her abilities. A rare ability indeed,' Sasuke thought, picking up the unconscious leader.

The ability Erza just displayed could be easily seen as performed by someone who was well versed with seals. Basically, the forte of the Uzumaki clan. And, yet hers was different. Witnessing this reminded him that she was still a threat to this world, an unknown variable and he wouldn't drop his guard around her yet, though he had promised to help her. That was just an excuse mostly on his part.

He intended to keep a close eye on her until he was absolutely sure that she was no threat. Once she would pass in his papers, he planned to send her to Konoha for protection, but only after he was absolutely sure.

She ended up here due to an Uchiha scroll and thus, she was his responsibility. Any trouble she ended up causing would also fall under his name.

No matter how pretty she was. Admittedly physical nuances never swayed Sasuke but he had to admit. She was the prettiest he had seen so far in his journeys since abandoning the leaf in quest for power. She put most of the woman here to shame. She might have been a real beauty and worked as a model back in her world.

Or, just a beautiful warrior, Sasuke supposed after witnessing her skills.

The red head hopped across the unconscious bodies to reach him, "So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?" she asked as she clasped her hands behind her back.

Sasuke could tell that she expected him to praise or at least commend her for her skills as he could literally see sparkles surrounding her childlike proud expression. Or, maybe she wanted to check his response. After all, he was the only person she practically knew in this world. Using all her innate skills probably surprised her too.

Well, at least she could somehow use her abilities and could protect herself if needed.

He resisted the urge to smirk, "I'd say not bad at all."

Erza looked away as she huffed and folded her hands, "You are a terrible liar, you know that."

They had formed a comradeship during their travels because of their mutual goals aligning. She stuck close to him, not leaving him out of her sight for long. She was always eager to show off, or prove herself to him whenever she had the chance to do so. Perhaps it was because he was her only ticket to her home world and possibly the only one she knew in this world, but the way she acted around him at times reminded him of his younger self when he was around Itachi.

"Are you going to teach me the new shuriken jutsu you promised?"

"I am sorry, Sasuke. I have a bit of an important mission tomorrow, so I need to prepare for it."

"You are a terrible liar, big brother..."

"Forgive me, Sasuke. Maybe next time."

The former avenger's eyes glinted with slight nostalgia as one of the few good memories he had with his brother surfaced to his mind. Sasuke always was eager to please and spend time with his brother whenever he got the chance as a kid. He would go to great lengths and no matter what his mood was, his face always lit up at the sight of his older brother's face.

Sasuke didn't know what took over him in that moment, but before he knew it, he had already performed the signature of his dear late brother. Flicking her forehead with the middle and index finger of his right hand, he spoke with a small smile,

"Better luck next time, Erza."

When the Uchiha realized what he had done, he hastily turned around to save himself the explanation of his actions, partly because he himself didn't know. He leaned forward and adjusted the unconscious shinobi on his back.

"Let's hurry to the village hidden in mist and hand him over to the officials. It is no longer safe to camp here." He stated in a blank tone as if the previous conversation never happened and started to walk forward without waiting for her, leaving a confused Erza behind.

..

She was stunned as she touched the spot on her forehead where he had flicked. It wasn't an act of violence. She could tell it was a gesture for something gentle and kind based on the nostalgic smile the Uchiha held.

"Let's hurry to the village hidden in mist and hand him over to the officials. It is no longer safe to camp here." The man in front of her said, and walked forward with the shinobi on his shoulders, leaving her behind. It took her some time to come to her senses before she sprinted to catch up with him.

"What about the other shinobi back there?"

Sasuke kept his gaze fixed to his front, "I doubt that they will wake up any time soon, courtesy of you. It should be enough time for the officials to reach here and capture them. As for this one, I would like to question him after we reach the hidden mist village."

"How long until we reach the mist village?" she asked, catching a black cloak handed to her. She observed a frowning curve around Uchiha's lips as she wrapped it around her body given the cold nights of the country they were in. Maybe Sasuke wasn't as cold as he tries to prove. His actions were far more considerate which spoke differently than the emotion he was showing currently.

"It shouldn't be far away. We will reach there by mid night." He answered.

The rest of the journey was suffocating for Erza due to the awkward silence. It wasn't that she was not used to her partner's quietness. She learnt that on the first day that he didn't like to speak much. But due the earlier incidents, she expected at least some sort of reaction from him but he was all reticent.

The silence continued until they finally reached their destination. Sasuke handed over the fallen shinobi to the guards at the gate. He also told them about the missing Shinobi who were unconscious at their camp site. One of the guards asked them to go into the city while he went and informed the Mizukage.

The duo of swordsmen continued walking through the busy streets of the Mist village. The village was rather beautiful under the lamps according to Erza, though the visibility was still an issue. Apparently it wasn't named village hidden in Mist just for name's sake.

The busy crowd fell silent as they entered the market area. A lot of murmurings and curious glances were sent towards them. Upon careful inspection, she noticed that they weren't towards them but rather him.

Many hostile stares were sent towards the man in front of her. They were mostly from the men and old women present in the crowded market.

Resentment and fear. They were the best words to describe what they were feeling. It made her wonder if something had happened in the past between him and this village. The previous village wasn't all that hostile towards him if she remembered correctly.

"It's him, isn't it?" she heard an old lady whisper to her fellow vendor.

"Shh! What if he heard you? He'll kill us for causing trouble!"

'What in the world are they saying!? That's not true at all. He isn't that cruel… though he may act arrogant person, he isn't that bad…

She thought about voicing her opinion, but then again she knew nothing about him and his past except that he was on a journey of Redemption. She believed in her heart that he wasn't all that cruel but she couldn't speak anything as her mind told something else. Naturally, she was now interested in his past and what kind of a person he was then and now.

"Come on, don't be like that. He was helpful in ending the war, right?" a youthful customer said to the old lady.

"It maybe true. But, his clan itself is the issue. If you remember, it was his clan that had started the war in the first place. His clan has caused us so much trouble in the last war and even manipulated our dear fourth Mizukage." The old lady said. "What's to say he won't be the cause for another great ninja war down the line?"

Erza's hand unconsciously clenched at her words, but the man in front of her didn't look like he heard them at all.

"It would have been better if he would have died along with his clan. As well as you know, the Uchiha clan is a cursed clan."

The other lady seethed before they became silent under the glare sent their way by the requip knight. She walked up to them, "How can you judge a person merely based on his heritage?" she questioned. Even though she thought it was a bad idea, she just couldn't control the anger in her. It was bad no matter how you look at it; to judge a person just because of his lineage.

"Dear, are you new to this place?" the old lady asked, her eyes glued to Erza's scarlet hair. "Don't you know about the Uchiha clan and what it did to the mist village?"

"What if I don't? That still doesn't give you the right to judge a person just because of his clan," Erza narrowed her eyes, as the old lady sneered. A small crowd was beginning to gather around them.

"I take that as a no then. So, you don't know anything about the Uchiha clan. If you know what we knew about that clan, you wouldn't say the same thing. The Uchiha-"

The old lady stopped mid-sentence and suddenly started trembling as a figure shadowed them.

"I am sorry for the commotion. My comrade can be quite open in her opinions sometimes. You'll have to excuse her." Sasuke appeared behind Erza. He took hold of Erza's hand after bowing down to the trembling old woman and walked away silently.

He then took her to an empty alley way, far away from the market place.

"You should learn to mind your own business."

Sasuke pointed as he released her hand once he noticed that they were alone.

"Didn't you hear them? They were bad mouthing you, so I had to talk to them. I-" she opened her mouth again, but was cut-off by his sharp gaze.

"What if they did? Why do you even care what they say about me or my clan?" Sasuke's voice was cold. Unlike how he had spoken to her so far.

Those words hurt Erza for some reason. Why did she care anyway? She should have just let them talk all they want about him. But she just couldn't think that way. Why was he getting mad at her, when he should be thanking her?

"Saying and acting on things you have little idea about will only cause you regrets in the future. People have their own perceptions, and fantasies. You can't go acting on words of each and every person."

"..."

His words held some meaning but she wasn't in a state to pay heed to his words. What was he trying to communicate and why was he reprimanding her when it should be the other way around? Perhaps he really was only helping her due to the deal between them...

"Besides, aren't you hiding things as well? Everyone has things they are bitter about and wouldn't want to linger on the subject."

He had been respectful so far regarding her past and hadn't demanded her about revealing her memories; maybe he was waiting for her to open up on her own. But his voice now sounded like he was accusing her for withholding the information she promised to share. Even though the said information she was able to remember so far was only the dark past she desperately wished to forget. Maybe this was how he really felt deep inside.

"Fine. Yeah, you are right," Erza said, looking back at the Uchiha. "I was hiding some stuff as well. You can use your eye to look at into my past as agreed."

The Uchiha looked surprised by her sudden suggestion and turned to actually look at her. "I thought you weren't able to handle looking at the sharingan."

"Doesn't matter. That was part of our deal, so I am not going to stop you," She said, striding to stand in front of him. She was sure she looked like she was glaring at him right now. He was right. They were neither friends nor comrades. Just accomplices travelling together towards a common goal.

Maybe she was the only one who thought of him as a comrade.

"You don't have to-"

"Just do it."

Sasuke stayed silent for a moment before he shifted on his feet to completely face her. He closed his eyes before the demon eye flared to life in his right eye. "Clear your mind. This will be over quick."

Erza involuntarily looked away at the sight of the familiar blood shot eye. Those eyes had the exact same symbol, the three tomoe which were imprinted in her mind due to the endless void she was trapped in. The three tomoe which were responsible for erasing her past memories.

Willing herself, she looked into his eyes again, or rather eye since his other eye was hidden under the bangs. A flash of red was all she saw. Images floated around her head like reels played on a very fast projector, and her entire childhood flashed before her eyes again. Rob Ji-chan, Jellal, Milliana, Simon.. and her betrayal of her comrades, escaping to a beach alone.

Her head started to hurt due to the traumatic experiences. She felt like she was drowning in an endless abyss ever so slowly and started to recluse herself but a strange sensation clouded those memories, providing her with warmth and shielded her from them.

And then suddenly she was whirled back to the world as if she had been underwater for a long time before somebody forcibly jolted her to the surface.

..

"Are you alright?"

His voice whispered over her head. Maybe she was imagining it but it sounded like he was worried. He was cold earlier and now he was concerned. Why was he so confusing?

Erza attempted to shake her head. That was when she realized that her body was very close to the Uchiha's own and she was clutching onto his vest for her dear life as she gasped repeatedly for air. He was supporting her balance by holding an arm around her shoulder and the other hand was gripping her forearm.

"Idiot. You should have not asked me for that if you were not ready."

Erza did not raise her head to meet his eyes as she continued to take deep breaths. "..That.. that is the only thing you are after right? The reason why you are helping me... It's only fair that I hold my end of the bargain as well. I am after all still your partner and it would reflect poorly on our alliance going forward."

He was right though as she had calmed down and thought about it. She realized she wouldn't have appreciated people poking their noses into topics sensitive to her. Now that the Uchiha was aware of her past, she could whole heartedly agree on that as she felt exposed in front of him now. An uncomfortable feeling. Maybe the Uchiha was also sensitive regarding the subject of his clan.

She looked up at him finally, meeting his eyes which had reverted back to charcoal ones. "I... I was out of line earlier. I apologize for that."

The redhead heard his footsteps beside her move away slightly as she regained her balance. She was able to tell that he was still looking at her silently.

"... what the old lady was talking about in the market earlier... You don't need to apologize for that, Erza. You were simply standing up for me," Her eyes widened slightly as she turned to look at him. He ran his right hand through his hair, his face turned away from her gaze for a moment before glancing at her, his facial features softened. "You are too kind. However, I must ask you not to worry yourself about other's opinions on me."

Up to that point, he had never been rude to her. Distant, yeah. Annoyed, at times. But rude, never. It was her first time seeing Sasuke that way. She was glad to see that the earlier atmosphere got dissolved and Sasuke was acting like how he normally did in front of her.

Erza shook her head, "I can't promise on not interfering if someone is saying something bad about you. I'll try to control myself though."

She expected her honest response would earn his ire again but his lips curled up faintly at her answer for some reason. Like he had been expecting it. Or perhaps... he was already used to responses like this.

"I guess it's only fair for you to know about why the old lady was upset earlier. Normally, people aren't aware of this information but she was aware of this for some reason. I guess it has to do with her being from the older generation," He said.

The redhead was surprised that he was willing to talk about a topic sensitive to him as well. Was it because he was feeling guilty for peering into her memories? Or was he feeling sorry for her after seeing her past?

She furrowed her eyebrows, paying attention to each of his words. "Does it have to do with her calling the Uchiha clan a cursed clan?"

"That's just her petty wording. But she isn't far off from the truth," Sasuke said. "In this world, there are shinobi comprising of many clans. Of those, there are few clans with unique bloodline traits. For example, the name you are using right now; the Uzumaki. The Uzumaki clan are notorious for massive energy reserves and their tenaciousness."

"Do they have any identification trait as well?" Erza asked, her curiosity peaking since she was not aware of much of this world's information other than few basic concepts.

"You can say red hair like yours is one of their clan's features. I guess you could say as Scarlet as yours."

Erza had a sheepish smile. "You found out?"

"Erza Scarlet. That's your name, right?"

"I guess." Was it just her or did he just say it much better? Maybe it was because of his deep voice.

"The name Scarlet, though understandable still stands a bit foreign. It might be acceptable in Cloud village but it might raise suspicion in other places," Sasuke advised.

Erza nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Anyway, continuing on, as you might have guessed, the sharingan is the Uchiha's bloodline limit. It enables us to great number of things and is highly useful in battles."

"I see." Erza said, nodding once again.

She saw Sasuke grow silent for a few moments as he turned to look at the crowd flowing in the busy market place in distance. "However, not everyone who belongs to my clan is able to activate these eyes. And even if someone held the potential, the sharingan can be only be achieved under a special condition."

"A special condition?" The redhead raised her eyebrows.

"It's a condition similar to how you first awakened your abilities," He glanced at her.

Erza understood what he meant. She had awakened her magic when Rob ji-chan had sacrificed himself to protect her. It probably awakened at that time after her cry of admonishment at her helplessness to protect her comrades. She was powerless to protect her friends.

"The Uchiha clan is also similar," Sasuke said, as if he read her mind. "My clan feels emotions on an extreme level compared to others. When we come to know of love and then loose that very same love, that changes us. When an Uchiha, who has known love looses that deep love, it is replaced by an even stronger hate that changes them, leading to a special condition. A unique chakra is released in our brain, and our eyes naturally respond to it, emerging as the 'Sharingan', eyes that reflect the heart."

Eyes that reflect the heart... awakened only when there is great sense of helplessness and grief at loosing bonds close to them. In that moment, Erza felt like she truly understood what having the sharingan truly signified.

To think the only way they could progress was to lose something dear to them... The old lady was right. They really were cursed...but in a different way. A fate that shouldn't have been bestowed upon anyone.

"You also have the sharingan... Does that mean you have also lost someone dear to you?" she asked, but immediately regretted asking him that question. She had already guessed the answer. His silence was more than an enough answer.

He was the last of his kin. Now, she could somewhat under the old lady's rants earlier in the market.

It made sense to her why Bee had immediately recognized the Uchiha name as Sasuke seeing that he was the only one left alive. Now that she thought about it, maybe their pasts weren't that different after all. She remembered being taken away from her village and made a slave. Then, she lost all her friends when she tried to escape the tower. She was actually surprised a little when he was rather willing to talk about his past and his clan to her. Maybe he did really consider her as his comrade.

"Don't put your face like that. I do have a friend so don't worry yourself for someone like me. So, it doesn't really matter to me what anyone else thinks of me," Sasuke closed his eyes after reading her facial expressions.

"You are forgetting one thing. I also consider you a friend. That makes it what two people's thoughts that matter to you."

She joked and laughed softly at him. She dared to remain hopeful and was pleasantly surprised by his response.

"You consider me to be a friend, huh?" Sasuke stared at her for a few silent moments, before he closed his eyes. He peeked his right eye at her and smirked slightly, "I must warn you, Erza. I can be quite troublesome sometimes."

"So can I," she matched his smirk with a grin of her own.

"What are you two doing over there?" a voice interrupted their conversation. "Not something lewd I hope.~"

They turned to see a brunette walking towards them with long hair reaching up to her waist. Half of her face was covered by her front bangs and was wearing a long blue dress that complimented her perfect tepid shape. "Just kidding!"

Sasuke scowled, "Mizukage."

"I see you still haven't done anything about your attitude, eh Sasuke-kun? Always a pleasure to see your handsome face," she walked in as a guy accompanied her having a huge sword strapped to his back. He had light blue hair and a simple pair of spectacles framed his face.

"Who is she?" Erza whispered to the raven beside her. The way Sasuke and Mizukage spoke to each other showed that they probably had some sort of history. But, knowing Sasuke, it was probably not the one she was thinking.

"Erza, meet Tarumi Mei, the fifth Mizukage of this village and her bodyguard, Chojuro…" He pointed towards them. "And Mizukage, meet Uzumaki Erza, my fiancée."

The last declaration shocked everyone present there including Erza who just flapped her head in his direction.

Well, we see Sasuke learning about Erza's past and saw the way she fought against the rogue shinobi. It also got him thinking about his other goal. In turn, Erza also learned something about Sasuke and his clan. And, we also see Mizukage and Sasuke pulling some crazy shit again in the end.

Keep reviewing and following this fic. If you have any suggestions or other queries, you are welcome to PM me or leave a review.

Next chapter: Reunion with Team Taka

Until then, later.