Sasuke had already predicted what was coming, and he spent the whole previous night preparing himself for it. Yet, it was still unsettling to let himself be caught in the esteemed Uchiha clan leader's blood-red gaze. He tensed and froze as the similar feeling of his chakra flow was captured by what Sasuke assumed to be Tajima's Mangekyou Sharingan and in an instant, Tajima and Sasuke were both floating in a blank alternate space; Sasuke's mindscape.
"Do not be alarmed, young one. I have been hearing many stories about the one-armed Uchiha found by my sons. Listening to what my sons have told me, I find it intriguing and dubious to believe that I, as the leader of this clan, have never heard of a 'Sasuke' among our warrior ranks. As per precautionary measures, I am afraid I must perform my duties and investigate into your background to ensure that you are truly an Uchiha and not an enemy spy."
Sasuke nodded, gazing back at the elder with a steely look.
"I have nothing to hide."
Tajima raised an eyebrow but said nothing as his Sharingan began to spin once more.
The previous night, Sasuke had used the reflection in his cup of tea to cast a genjutsu onto himself. Using his Sharingan, Sasuke was able to alter and implant false memories of a childhood that he never experienced into his own mind, while allowing himself to be consciously aware that these experiences were false. He spent a better part of the night meditating to lock away his true memories from anyone who could access his mind by using a Mangekyou Sharingan.
Needless to say, Tajima began to unravel Sasuke's "memories," which played out before them in flashes of scenes.
There was a man and a woman, who resembled Sasuke's real parents from his actual childhood, smiling down at his baby form. The long, black-haired woman was drenched in sweat as she sat up in her futon, caressing her newborn baby gently in their wooden Uchiha home.
There was his three-year-old self, excitedly showing his "father" how he could aim and throw a kunai at a wooden target board.
There was a group of nameless, generic Uchiha children running with seven-year-old Sasuke in the clearing of a forest, joking as they trained and sparred together.
Suddenly, the scene shifted and the night sky was blazing red as the little Uchiha settlement burned and countless Senju warriors raided the land, senselessly murdering anyone and everyone who bore the Uchiha clan crest on their backs.
Little Sasuke and the other Uchiha children of his generation were cornered by much larger Senju adults. They drove the children through the forests away from the burning land toward an ominous cliff. With nowhere else to run, the children had no choice but to try and fight these warriors with triple their lifetime experiences.
Alas, the Senju inevitably and mercilessly slaughtered them one by one, taunting and mocking the young Uchiha as they did so. Sasuke could do nothing but scream in horror and despair. Soon, Sasuke and one other Uchiha boy were the only two left standing.
One Senju jeered at them, "Fight each other to the death, and the winner will be the one to make it out of here alive."
With no other choice and without missing a beat, the other Uchiha boy, whose eyes flashed wildly with red in utter confusion and lunacy, turned to Sasuke and lunged at him, kunai slashing his left eye. Sasuke fell back onto his bottom in surprise and shrieking in pain as his hand flew up to staunch the gushing liquid dripping from his eye. Without even thinking, Sasuke fearfully jerked in reaction and brought his leg up with a strong, adrenaline-fueled kick, crushing the other boy's throat.
Sasuke's remaining right eye was wide and wild, spinning with a one comma Sharingan and tears streaming down from it. He had awoken his Sharingan for the first time.
Realizing what he had just done to his kin, Sasuke lost it. Immediately, the pattern in his eyes transformed into a six-pointed star, and all he knew in his mind was to kill. The Senju standing in front of him had no chance. He summoned the power in his eyes and burned the Senju alive using black flames that manifested from his psychotic gaze. They rolled in the grass, begged, pleaded to stop the flames, but Sasuke could not forgive. He screamed along with them, as their crying voices died out and only ashes remained where they used to stand while the black flames continued to burn.
Sasuke let the flames burn for days, and he simply sat, limp in his spot unmoving for that duration of time.
When he finally willed himself to move, he was so overcome with malnutrition and dehydration. Sasuke decided he would live in self-exile for what he did to his clan member. He mustered up the strength to clamber back into the forest, where he would wander aimlessly and rogue for the next decade of his life.
The scene changed again, and now Sasuke was seventeen, overlooking burning land far away from atop of a hill. Uchiha flags could be identified in the distance. While in his travels, he happened upon another conflict between the Uchiha and Senju.
Deciding to help his bloodline once more, Sasuke ran toward the shouts and battlecries.
The scene shifted one final time. Sasuke woke up in the aftermath of the conflict. His left arm had been blown off at the elbow, and he really couldn't remember anything of how that came to be. As he drifted out of consciousness once more, He could faintly see a blurry outline of one Izuna Uchiha coming to his side.
The memories faded away and Tajima and Sasuke were left alone again in the blank white mindscape.
"Witnessing your memories, I have no reason to doubt that you are not an Uchiha. You wield a proper Sharingan and have shown me that you have obtained even the Mangekyou Sharingan. However, how is it that I cannot recall any of these specific battles, especially the most recent one in your memories? We have not had a battle with the Senju in five months." Tajima's eyes narrowed. He was still suspicious.
Sasuke chose in that moment to break Tajima's genjutsu. As a wielder of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and the Rinnegan, breaking out of another Sharingan user's genjutsu was an easy feat for Sasuke. In a brief second, Sasuke closed his eyes and snapped them open when a rush of chakra flew through his optical veins.
Instantly, when Tajima was able to get his bearings again, they were in his tatami-floored room and he looked to Sasuke.
"Wha-"
Sasuke's star-patterned Mangekyou, along with his opened left eye met Tajima's gaze.
Tajima froze, entranced. He had never seen this eye before. However, he knew of the legends passed down his clan for generations about Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and the dōjutsu that he wielded long ago. A purple, ringed eye with six commas glowered down at him. The Rinnegan-!
"The memories that you have viewed from inside of me are the truth. I was removed from the Uchiha clan registry along with those who have perished in one of the previous battles with the Senju. You will put my name back once I leave the room, claiming the 'Lost Uchiha' has been found. You will believe my left eye to be blind once I release you from this jutsu."
Tajima nodded and Sasuke smirked.
"Glad we could have this talk."
After Sasuke left the main compound, Tajima had called a clan meeting with the heads of each household. In this meeting, he explained the memories he saw when using his Sharingan on the newcomer and that in fact, he is an Uchiha. Through this, Sasuke's moniker as the one-eyed, one-armed "Lost Uchiha" quickly spread throughout the Uchiha settlement. Every time Sasuke walked through the small village, the people could not help but stare at him in awe. Although the people were mainly afraid to approach or talk to Sasuke, Sasuke would often find generous amounts of rice, clothing, bandages, firewood, and other resources at the door of the small cabin he was staying in.
Ever since he was a child, Sasuke hated attention but would always find himself be the center of it. That seemed to be the case even now.
Through the generosity of the Uchiha people, Sasuke could sustain himself comfortably. However, there was one issue he had been facing since his arrival to this place.
His left arm.
The pain in his arm had become more severe. Every day, Sasuke diligently changed the bandages on the stump of his arm for a clean one. When he removed the old bandages, the swelling and discoloration of the stump seemed to be getting worse. Sasuke could only hope that time would heal the wound that was haphazardly stitched together by the healer.
So, often ignoring the pain, Sasuke would go out everyday into the forest to train by himself. He changed the location of his self-training every so often, as Madara and Izuna liked to seek him out on their free time. Madara, especially, liked to challenge Sasuke to spars as he deemed Sasuke as worthy opponent on his level. Sasuke typically refused to fight him, but sometimes Madara would charge at him first and Sasuke would entertain the young adult for a little while before swiftly ending the spar.
Today was one of the days Sasuke sought a new training location. He especially felt like training alone, so he opted to run a couple hours out east this time rather than going into the forest. Sasuke ran while marking his trail until there was nothing but grassland around him and the Uchiha settlement gradually disappeared.
Sasuke checked his surroundings for any presences. When he confirmed that he was alone, he began warming up by thoroughly going through the basics step-by-step. Little by little, Sasuke picked up his pace and closed his eyes, imagining a taijutsu battle with a non-existent opponent. He punched and kicked the air, twisting this way and that with impeccable speed. Going at this pace for a good thirty minutes, Sasuke stopped to take a break. He sat down, chest heaving lightly.
He decided this was not the ideal place to practice ninjutsu, as his arsenal mainly comprised of fire and lightning jutsu. He did not want to draw attention by creating wildfires. So, Sasuke continued on, this time taking out his sword that had been sealed into a scroll.
For the better part the day, Sasuke trained until his mind and body were numb. The sun had begun to set, and the sky was dusted with pink and red. The breeze was getting cooler as well, so Sasuke decided to take a swig from his canteen and call it quits.
Although Sasuke thought he hadn't exerted that much energy, sweat drenched his face and he found it a little difficult to breathe.
I should head back, he thought. He moved to stand up, but fell back down onto his bottom. Did he spend too much energy? As he fell down, a wave of dizziness passed through him. Something was wrong.
As Sasuke sat for a few minutes trying to gather himself, his body began to involuntarily shudder as he suddenly felt very cold. Suddenly, he gasped as a sharp pain coursed throughout his left arm. Rolling up his sleeve, Sasuke's visible eye widened as he found the green and black discoloration creeping up past the bandages on his stump.
Sasuke slumped onto his back on the cool grass, sweat dripping down his face and clutching his stump. His lips twisted into a small ironic smile.
So this is how it was going to end for him. Be sent back to the past to interact with his history and the evil mastermind of the future and then die of an infected arm. If the higher beings, if they even existed, were going to kill him off anyway, it would have saved them trouble if they just killed him after his fight with Naruto. He scoffed and closed his eyes and waited a few moments before beginning to drift out of consciousness from the unbearable pain.
Then he heard the light patter of footsteps on the grass becoming louder as someone neared him. He gathered the strength to lift his right eye.
A child—a boy, with messy brown hair peered down at him in worry. The child set down his bulging crossbody pack and put his small hand to Sasuke's forehead.
"Oh my! Mister, you have a terribly high fever!" The child grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and wet it with water from his canteen. He folded it neatly and set it on Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke could only watch the boy while gritting his teeth in pain. The boy's eyes slid to the arm that Sasuke was clutching.
"Woah! That is quite the infection you have there." Immediately, the child unwrapped Sasuke's arm and put hovered both of his hands over the discolored skin. Slowly, a soothing green glow emitted from his hands and Sasuke felt a small wave of nostalgia pass through his body. Finally, someone who can use medical ninjutsu around here...
However, it was clear that the boy was still a newbie to the practice. He could only hold the jutsu for a couple of minutes before the green light of the chakra flickered out and he fell back, heaving heavily and wiping his sweaty forehead.
"S-Sorry, I've been practicing this technique for a while, but I still haven't gotten the hang of it..."
Sasuke averted his eyes and spoke out, "You don't need to waste your chakra. Leave me."
"I can't do that!" The boy suddenly blurted. Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "I mean, that's what my shishou taught me. My shishou told me that if there is somebody in need and you can help them, you should help them. And no matter who or what you are, since I can do something to help you, I will try to help!" His eyes set with resolve and determination, and he began to rummage through the bag he set down on the ground. Taking out a small mortar and pestle, the boy rustled through his bag and pulled out various plants, tossing them into the bowl. He meticulously ground all of his ingredients into a paste and lifted up Sasuke's left arm to inspect it.
"This mixture contains antibiotic properties. It should help fight the infection and stop it from spreading, but it won't cure it and you will probably need to get this dead tissue removed... Argh, if my shishou were here she could probably cure this within an hour... she probably wouldn't even need to cut off the dead tissue." The boy grumbled while gently applying the salve onto Sasuke's stump.
"Shi...shou?" Sasuke questioned, half out of curiosity and half out of delirium.
"Yeah!" The boy grinned, "Shishou is an amazing healer. She can heal almost any affliction and find a cure to almost any disease! At least, from what I've seen so far. But, she's not here at the moment. She went traveling a few weeks ago south to the land surrounded by the world's most dangerous whirlpools. It seems like there is a disease spreading among the people there that nobody knows how to deal with. My shishou was specifically requested to help. And of course, being the kind person that she is, she accepted the request. It's been a while though, so hopefully she'll be back soon."
"..." Sasuke listened quietly. The boy blabbered on about the seemingly amazing feats his shishou has accomplished, and many of the things he had learned under her teachings.
"Well, this should do it for now. Say, where do you live? I'll help you back to your home."
"It's fine. I live quite far away."
"Then, let me help you stand up!" The boy held Sasuke's right hand and helped to hoist him up into an upright sitting position. After he stepped back, he gasped as he contorted into shock and all color drained from his face.
He had seen the Uchiha symbol on Sasuke's back.
"Wh-wh-what is an Uchiha doing in these lands?" The boy stuttered, stepping back a little in fright. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"I was training. What do you mean by these lands?"
"This is close to the borders of the lands under Senju control."
"You are a... Senju?"
The boy's lips quivered but he truthfully answered. "Y-yes.."
"Leave. At once."
"No! This place, it's dangerous for you here. Young Master Tobirama has his seals marked near here and he patrols the border every morning now. If he finds you, you're a goner, especially if you're in this state! So please, come with me!"
The Senju boy helped Sasuke up and offered his shoulder for Sasuke to lean on as support, somewhat like a cane. They limped together for a while, until a few buildings came into sight, signifying the outskirts to some kind of settlement. The boy opened the door to a stable and hastily put together a makeshift bed out of a pile of hay for Sasuke to lay down on in a secluded part of the barn. The snorting and neighing of horses filled the air.
"This is my family's stable. You should be safe here. Let me get you something to eat and a new shirt. It won't be good if you're found here with the Uchiha crest on your back..." The child stood up and turned toward the exit. Before he could leave, Sasuke called out to him.
"What... what is your name?"
The boy grinned, "I'm Kenta!"
A/N: Review please :)