A/n: Before you say anything, yes I suckered onto the idea about that chinese myth you suggested. Yes it was originally your idea, I was not clever enough to come up with it on my own. But I did some half-hearted research on the topic at around oh, say, 1am this morning as I was finishing this up. So ha. Yes, that's what it is. You are a bottomless pool of inspiration for me, HARPGO, oh favored and cherished one. :D

Fate's Garden

Part 1 - Anomalistic

Chapter 3 - Rosie the Robot Maid

Heh…he'd done it. He could feel the first stirrings of power within him. He'd…he'd actually killed him. The raw strength that coursed through his earthly body distracted him at first from the overwhelming tidal wave of feeling he would experience shortly. The other three surrounding him were in as much shock as he. Their eyes wide, their jaws slack…just as limp as the body in my arms…That was it, really. That feeling of him in his arms that made Sasuke shudder and convulse with a feeling he couldn't really understand. Why…why had he just taken the blow? Why didn't he dodge the attack? Sasuke was, for the first time left floundering like a fish out of water gasping for air that would not be given to him so mercifully. He…he'd…dead, he's dead, you killed hi-you killed- you…

His hand loosened around the hilt of his sword which remained impaled in between two ribs. A chill that left him uncomfortably aware of every nerve ending in his body hovered around his heart. His heart seemed to be beating outside and inside of him at the same time. It was fighting its way out and then back in. It couldn't decide which was a better way to torture the body it belonged to. Sasuke felt him slip from his grasp and fall with a torturous THUD to the ground. Then…then, first it was a punch. A well placed force of motion that collided with his jaw and sent him flying through the air. Then it was a wall that caught him roughly and painfully, bruising him, and embracing him with rich, intricate pains. None, however, were as extreme as the enthralling agony that was the dawning comprehension he now found himself buried within. He had really killed him. Naruto…was…dead. He'd, he hadn't dodged. Why hadn't he dodged?! That was there game; (Tag! You're it! Your turn to punch and my turn to dodge!) An eternal fight with neither party winning. It was a rivalry, a joke almost because neither could really best the other. They merely fought because they could, and they wanted to, and they knew that it would most likely never end. They would fight for the rest of their lives, and they were okay with it. But now, now he'd ended the fight. He had gone against the unconscious agreement set up years ago. He had violated it, broken it, and now he was suffering for it.

As he was beaten and sliced open, both by the guilt in his head and the grieving people around him, Sasuke saw it. In an involuntary moment of self-protection Sasuke was somewhere else. He was not in that crater where Sakura was pounding him senselessly with her fists that glowed blue with her finely controlled chakra. Nor was he being sliced to ribbons with Sai's short sword. He wasn't even being constricted by the wood of Kakashi's substitute whom Sasuke did not recognize. Instead he was in a garden, one lit by an ethereal glow as soft and gentle as moonlight. Curious silver orbs danced about him in the air, illuminating this strange place further. A few paces away there was a small pond with an even smaller island in its center. This island was no more than three feet in diameter, large enough for one small red bench, an impossibly old man, a bag swollen with red thread, and one mass of clay. There was also a graceful tree set behind this bench that was tall enough to shade the man while he sat. Its slender, supple branches were white as snow, their feather-like leaves golden yet faded. A wide red bridge of cracked and aged wood crossed the short distance between the shores of the island and the rest of the garden. Sasuke approached it carefully. The closer he came the more he saw, and as the man looked up at him he knew suddenly he was not supposed to be there. This man, old, older than time stared at him with questioning and slightly reprimanding eyes. In his hands were two finely molded clay figures. Sasuke recognized them immediately: they were Naruto and he. Around Naruto's and his ankle a red string was tied. This string was so long that it drooped down to touch the ground in between the man's feet. Carefully, the man set the two figurines down on the shore facing each other, the red string pooled in a tangled mess in between them. Then, he reached down to the clay and grabbed two more blobs of it and began shaping both separately with one hand.

Sasuke's eyes remained on the two, small caricatures of himself and Naruto and noticed the two were smiling at each other. His face scrunched up, twisting into an expression of concentration. Were the two small statues getting closer to each other or was he imagining things?

CRUNCH.

Sasuke stared absently up at the expressionless face of Sai. Something sharp and painful had sliced cleanly into his neck and was now lodged there. He could feel his life drain away. It was a slow, amusing concept. He could see himself now, an outline with a red filling lessening until all that was left was an empty shape. Next to his body there would be robotic words illuminated that read 'Life force at 0 percent'. He would laugh because it was like a cartoon almost until he knew that it was real and that he was, invariably, dead.

The next thing Sasuke knew, Naruto was lying on a bed behind him with his arms around his waist. The last thing he remembered was having the shit beat out of him by his replacement, Kakashi's, and Sakura. All three of them had made sure he died a very painful death. The funny thing was that he'd endured it and hadn't fought back. Then he remembered the other pain, the feeling that had rocketed through him and told him what he'd done. He tensed. He didn't want to think about that. That feeling was contagious and all consuming and worse than pain and…whatever. He'd ignore it. That's what he did, he ignored things. But what he wouldn't ignore was Naruto cuddling him like he was some kind of stuffed animal, or security blanket. He forced Naruto's arms off of him and kicked him across the room.

"What the fuck are you doing, dobe?!" He demanded shrilly. Why was his voice so high? He forced the blush away from his face to…maybe his arms or his back or…or, never mind. Dobe, stay on track.

His gaze drifted lazily across the room until it reached a large, easily distinguishable fox with nine tails. Sasuke couldn't repress his shock, and admittedly his eyes widened a great deal. Kyuubi…outside of Naruto? That was one thing he'd found out before killing the dobe…killing…you KIL- NEVER MIND. Sasuke shook his head, summoning a chidori easily but he never managed to finish because Naruto tackled him to the bed. He'd forgotten to activate his sharingan, but at the force of being taken down onto the bed it appeared on its own through habit.

"Sasuke, what's the last thing you remember?!" Naruto questioned desperately.

Honestly? The last thing he remembered was thinking about how feeling the life drain out of him and the sword in his neck was kind of like a cartoon, until he noticed that everything was real and he was dead. Haha, how funny. No, he couldn't say that. Despite his vast reserves of will power ready and waiting to be called forth, a shiver escaped and rattled through his frame. Naruto was eyeing him intently, almost pleadingly, and Sasuke knew he needed to answer him. At least the look on Naruto's face informed him that the blond hadn't noticed his brief shudder.

"Being killed by that stupid ANBU friend of yours, that you replaced me with…" Sasuke trailed off, if only because the manic grin that spread across Naruto's face was sort of like the most horrifying thing he'd ever seen. It sort of reminded him of Orochimaru's when he was about to go experiment on some poor undeserving soul. Only…this one was related to entirely different circumstances that were far less diabolical, or so he hoped.

"Thank god it's you!" Naruto breathed.

Sasuke was coated instantly in a feeling he couldn't quite place. Naruto was happy that it was him. Though the question now was why wouldn't it be. Just who had Naruto thought he was spooning exactly? If they looked like him, then why would Naruto ever imagine embracing them in such an undignified and intimate way? He would find out. But, the most involuntarily appreciated part of this was that the relief in Naruto's expression was so immense. It was nice to know that, emotionless façade and rivalry aside, Naruto was grateful, relieved, and possibly euphoric to see him. Sasuke forced the threatening tone into his voice as he became more aware of Naruto's hands on his shoulders, pinning him to the bed.

"Why wouldn't it be me, dobe? If you try to spoon me again I'm going to punch you in the balls with a Chidori…" Sasuke started, but once again he was forced to leave his sentence incomplete.

Naruto was no longer gazing at him with heartfelt joy and was instead suddenly with an immeasurable depth of confusion. Sasuke arched a brow at him. A voice that was neither Sasuke's nor Naruto's filled the room, and for a moment he panicked. But then Naruto gripped him firmly by the shoulders and gave him a warning glare. He kept still and listened as the voice he knew could only belong to the fox near the door began speaking casually with Naruto.

"Kit, there is no need to worry. The dark furred one followed you to this reality because your soul is also here." Kyuubi intoned dispassionately, "I also know why exactly this is so relevant. Do not fear, it is not anything that requires your concern or curiosity."

"So…the other Sasuke is…?"

"Gone forever? Punted out of his body so that the two of you may remain together? Unnecessarily separated from his body and replaced with another soul for your subconsciously self-"

"Fine, fine! Shut up, I get it already!" Naruto growled.

If it was so possible, the fox smirked. This appeared as a mere hefting at one corner of the fox's lips and a narrowing of his eyes. Sasuke glared. It was his default. If in doubt, act angry. He used to do it as a way of protecting himself from unwanted conversations. But after a while it became the expected reaction so he was now forced to act that way even if sometimes (rarely) he didn't want to. For example, at the moment he was extremely confused. But could he show that on his face? No, he couldn't. Instead he had to show this with words that sounded angry. It was pointless, he knew, but it was what was expected and so he must live up to it. Naruto would understand the real meaning anyways. He could always read him flawlessly. Well, almost flawlessly. But still, that was better than anyone else he could try and name. Not even his family had been able to…

"Other Sasuke? Do you mean that even before I was here you were still technically cuddling me in some shape or form?" Sasuke prodded. The words were irritated, and just to shake things up a little he threw in a cocky smirk. He had to live a little, add something extra every now and then to spice up the boring, bland anger that coated his entire existence. That was what arrogance was for.

"Shut up teme!" Naruto retorted automatically. Ah, everything was normal. So why was Sasuke consistently seeing a lifeless face instead of one so full of well rehearsed aggravation every few minutes?

Sasuke forced himself to turn his face away, cheek pressed against the warm wrinkled sheets. He noted that Naruto was still kneeling over him, hands pressed firmly against his shoulders. Why hadn't he moved exactly? Not that he'd really ordered the dobe to remove himself from this obnoxious proximity. But he should have just known…instinctively. Right? He grumbled, a sneer alighting his face. There it was. Naruto crawled off of him; now lying on his back to Sasuke's left. Both of them were breathing slowly, deeply, as if to fend off some approaching swell of emotion that was neither welcome nor appreciated. As if this was a scene they acted out frequently Kyuubi approached the bed and climbed up easily. He maneuvered behind them, sprawling out languidly and acting as a pillow under their heads. Sasuke's cheek was then propped up on a healthy layer of muscle covering what he could slightly feel as ribs. The back of Naruto's head must be farther down on the cushier, yet still firm stomach. Warm paws rested softly against the wrist of his right arm. Every few minutes a feeling of panic would pass through him erratically, eventually smoothing out and disappearing like ripples in a pond. Red string. Sasuke blinked. The image was brief and confusing. He shook his head gently to bring himself back to the present.

"Sasuke."

"Hn." A simple show of acknowledgement. Well practiced, expected, understood.

"I'm going to explain to you now where we are, what's going on, and what you're going to have to do. No interrupting, even though it's going to sound crazy and weird."

"Hn." Sasuke couldn't turn his head. He was afraid that if he moved to face him…him he would see a corpse ragged, bleeding and staring hollowly at him. Worse, he was afraid (afraid, weak enough to feel fear now are you?); he was afraid he would see nothing. He would be laying on his back in that crater with no one, lifeless, powerless, goals unfulfilled. He would be alone, with no one, left to never accept completely what he'd done and that he was-

"We're in another reality parallel to the one we left behind." Naruto's voice was a balm on his agitated, festering wound. "The divergence point is when Kyuubi was bound to me."

Tiny, spindly fingertips of healing spreading across an open sore, fresh, bloody and-

"The yondaime sealed Kyuubi outside my body, obviously, but we're still connected. Kind of as if he tied us together by the ankles."

An old man with clay, string, and moonlight. Injury, self inflicted really. You kill-

"And, the yondaime lived through it…and…and he's my…dad." Naruto paused, "Anyways. That's when our realities began to change and separate from each other I guess."

Then Naruto explained to him everything that was different. In this world Itachi was already dead. Naruto and he were…brothers? He'd been taken in and raised by Naruto's parents, whom were both alive here, one of them being the yondaime. The legendary fourth, Konoha's yellow flash. And he was dobe's father? Would wonders never cease…? They were both back to the day they'd received their jounin sensei, who was thankfully still Kakashi. Sasuke would never admit to having any amount of affection for the man. He was glad there was at least some constant in this strange parody of their lives. At least they had each other. They would know that despite all the strangeness, the mockery of their grievances, their sufferings, that they would know the truth. They would find a way through this. Then, Naruto explained how the Sasuke of this world acted and instantly he saw the problem they would have to face.

"I…I don't think I could learn to talk that fast if I tried." Sasuke began, still facing away from the only person he really knew in this world. "And…to talk that much might be painful."

"Hey, not just for you, for everyone around you! I swear it's like…like, word vomit." Sasuke could practically feel the cringe on Naruto's face.

"Don't get angry at me, it wasn't really me that was doing that."

"I know but you're gonna have to if you wanna fool the 'rents." Naruto implored.

"Hn."

They both were silent after that. There were so many problems that came to mind for Sasuke. Both of them were far more powerful then this world's Sasuke and Naruto currently. With time they might have grown to the current level of strength but it might have taken longer due to their not having the same motivations. But how were they going to be able to hold back? It was going to be quite difficult for even Sasuke to keep control over his abilities and not pick things up too fast when taught. Naruto had never been one for subtlety. He was quite like a baby elephant stampeding through an echo prone space with bells around his neck. That was when he was trying to be stealthy. In his world it was widely know that by the time they took the infamous 'bell test' he knew Kage Bunshin, had mastered it even. But that wasn't so in this world. Naruto couldn't very well leap out of a bush with a hundred clones of himself and say 'HAH, I gotcha!' It would go over about as well as him announcing an allegiance to Orochimaru, or Sasuke's for that matter. How was Sasuke supposed to act like his other when they were so immeasurably different? There was no way he could talk as continuously as Naruto had described. Nor could he be so openly affectionate, especially with two people that were like strangers to him. Naruto had illustrated for him what was for him the singularly most impossible task he could have imagined.

"So…" Naruto drawled indolently, "How long do you think we can stay up here before they come to get us? I mean, do you think we could just stay up here for the rest of our lives or…?"

Sasuke snorted, "I don't think so, but you're the one with the experience at the moment so I couldn't say, even if I was seriously considering it."

The fact was, he was seriously considering it. There was no way Sasuke was going down there and talking to those strangers, those people he didn't know whom were supposedly his parents. He knew though, they both knew, eventually they would have to leave the room. They would have to face this strange, surreal caricature of their world. All these people they both knew and didn't, they would have to interact with them. They would live out events to come that they'd already experienced and yet hadn't before…because this place was not theirs. Why exactly were they here? Really? Why couldn't they have just passed on into their respective afterlives? Why did they come to this other reality and take over the lives of two people that were probably completely undeserving of such a fate? There was also the potentially endless debate over whether or not the 'other Sasuke' and 'other Naruto' were really separate from them and different people. Then, if they were different people why…the discussion and the possibilities it contained were limitless. He would go crazy if he considered all the aspects of it. So he ignored it. Just like what you-

"So they're downstairs right now?" Sasuke broke the silence abruptly. A continuous stream of blather was beginning to sound comforting.

"Well, mom might be. But I think dad went back to work."

"Oh yeah, he is the hokage after all."

"But mom is a ninja too, and I saw her packing up her weapon pouches so maybe she has a mission?"

"Who knows?"

"Well, do we have to leave the room?"

"Might be more interesting." Sasuke offered, if only to find a way to distract himself from his own thoughts. They kept jeering at him, attempting to divert his attention back to his actions from earlier.

"I guess. You know the bell test is tomorrow, but we're not supposed to know the real reason why we're not supposed to eat…"

"So we sneak down early and eat breakfast anyways."

"Right."

Funny how they both immediately came to an agreement. Though Sasuke would never admit in any great detail just how hungry he was that day (out loud), he could think that the lack of breakfast had shortened his attention span during the test. It was a great motivator, but at the same time a huge distraction. By the time he'd snagged his own bell and sat down to his lunch prize he could barely see his stomach was making such a fuss. Any slight injury he may have received that day was nigh impossible to compare to the all-encompassing pain of his stomach gnawing on itself.

"Boys!"

Both Naruto and Sasuke shot into a sitting position, backs stiff. Sasuke stared fixedly at the bedroom door as footsteps approached. This was it, he would see her, the woman he would soon be calling 'mom' and chatting animatedly with. Treat it like a mission, he thought determinedly. If this was an undercover mission with possibly fatal consequences then he would perform as required. That was the best, and really only way, to think of it if he were to survive this. When the door opened Naruto relaxed more than Sasuke allowed himself. Apparently dealing with the woman for most of the day had immunized him to any shock of her appearance. This woman looked nothing like Naruto…except for that signature smile and those jovial blue eyes. Her thick red hair cascaded over her shoulder like a waterfall. Her face was round and cheeks naturally rosy. She cocked her head to the side, and her hands on her wide child-bearing hips. She was short in stature and in her waist. Sasuke guessed there to be perhaps a few inches between the top of her hip bone and the bottom of her rib cage. The effect was of a short and stocky husky with lots of muscle and no fat. Yet still because of her bone structure she looked heftier than women of her height with a longer waist. This was only further accentuated by her green jounin flak vest. This probably bothered her to no end, as women tended to be so concerned over such trivial things. Her thighs were thick under her blue capris; and her toned calves bulged against the confines of the wraps she'd administered. Her sandals revealed toes that were far less than glamorous, but who paid attention to those sorts of things anyways? Sasuke tried to ignore the strange whiteness that covered most of the woman's toenails but seemed incapable of looking away. It was like a train wreck, filled with dead babies. Horrifying, yet captivating.

"Are you two alright?" She questioned in less of a concerned voice, as a 'you look really weird' voice.

"Yeah, we're fine…mom. What's up?" Naruto started.

"I was just about to head out to the market and I know you two always write a list for me, but you know I forget it's in my pocket all the time. It really would just be best for you to come along." She replied.

"Okay." Sasuke told her.

The woman appeared surprised; as if she'd prepared a whole list of arguments to use against them should they refuse. Now finding them useless she shrugged and motioned for them to follow. Sasuke numbly pushed himself off the bed, finding reassurance in Naruto following him. They trailed after their 'mother' down the stairs and out of the house. Sasuke recognized this as the more respectable district of town that was near the hokage tower, and a modest distance away from the hustle and bustle of the market. This was near the clans' districts…including my own. Sasuke gulped but did so in a way that was not obvious to anyone that wasn't their mother or Naruto. The woman glanced back at him over her shoulder and Sasuke wondered at the sixth sense of a mother. He looked away from her and instead surveyed the world around him.

It was amazing how this town was both the one he knew and yet not his. It belonged to the other Sasuke. The one who's life I'm unfairly living, he thought. After a walk of modest length they reached the outdoor market. Their mother had picked up a fairly large basket on her way out that she now handed to Sasuke to hold. He accepted it without a word and watched as she placed various items within it and paid the respective merchants for them. Sasuke looked frantically to Naruto hoping he would offer up some topic for him to babble about. He could tell already that his mother was concerned about his lack of 'word vomit' as Naruto had so kindly dubbed it.

"Hey mom," Sasuke started. He noticed how much easier the word came out for him than for Naruto. When he gazed upon this woman he saw one with raven black hair and a more oval shaped face. He focused on the image, no matter the pain it dredged up. It would make this easier.

"Yes sweetie?"

He cringed inwardly, "When is dad getting home tonight?"

"I'm not sure, you know how weird is schedule can get. Though he should be home earlier next week, you know I have that mission coming up in the Wave country."

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"Oh, I don't know, they'll probably want me there for a week at the least, but I'm guessing it could stretch onto three." 'Mom' gave him an apologetic look as she thanked a merchant for the milk she'd purchased. She handed Sasuke four large glass bottles which he placed in the basket and covered with the blanket at the bottom of it.

"Try to shoot for the one; I hate it when you take long missions." Sasuke offered up a grumble that was strangely genuine.

"I know, honey. But just because I'm a mommy now doesn't mean I'm not a ninja anymore." She cooed with a small smile lighting up her face, "I love both parts of my life and though you know I would choose you in a heartbeat, I also have a responsibility to my village."

"I knoooow." Sasuke sighed. This was far easier than he expected it to be. It was reassuring, and at the same time frightening. The situation was a disturbing parallel of shopping trips with his real mother when he was much younger.

"Besides, I think Hatake-san will keep you fairly busy while I'm gone. You two are official ninja now. You'll be working."

"That's if we pass our test. There's a 66 percent fail rate, you know."

His 'mother' reassured him that he'd pass, that they both would. He maintained a casual, genuine conversation with the woman all the way back to the house, and while they put away groceries. Naruto remained silent at his side, helping out with the placing of items with an instinctive knowledge. Sasuke knew it wasn't the only one bothered by the fact that their hand seemed to just know where things went. Naruto, despite his silence and neutral face, was clearly disquieted. Well, to Sasuke anyways. His movements were stiff as if his muscles were cramping, and his eyebrows were knit together in a subtle way so as to not draw attention. Wait, dobe, and subtle…in the same sentence? Sasuke shook his head. Eventually after everything had been settled their mother went out to do some more errands that didn't require they tag along. Naruto and Sasuke ventured into the living room and turned on the TV. Both of them may have had their eyes locked onto the screen and the images that moved within it, but they weren't really paying attention. They were thinking about the day to come, about dinner with their 'parents'. They were thinking, though unaware of the similar trends of thoughts, about how lucky they were that they at least had each other, and how in the end, it might not help them one bit.

TBC…