Wrong Again.
Chapter 3
I don't own Naruto.
He woke up silently much like he had been doing for the past week or so. There was no daylight here in the cells beneath the military police department. Funny that his clan ran the department but he had never seen these cells himself.
He had lost track of the time after eight days. The meals weren't even regular, a method used to keep prisoners disoriented just like now. He recalled attacking and losing. Afterwards he found himself here in this dank cell covered in seals that suppressed his chakra.
His chakra. It was a pitiful amount compared to what he had grown to after all those hellish years with Orochimaru. Seal or no seal, he hadn't even been able to fight back when they came to question him.
The worst was being suspected; that he was an imposter. They had demanded so many times what he had done to the real Sasuke.
Where was he? What did he want? What were his motives? Who hired him?
He had snarled and growled insults at them the first day. After the second day of injections and beatings they had left him alone. He hadn't seen anybody since then. In his haze of pain and truth serums he couldn't be sure what he had told them.
Hell he didn't even remember what they had asked him that second day. His mind recoiled slightly at the pain but mentally he shook himself. He had never really thought that Leaf would be capable of this level of torture. This was nothing compared to what he had endured already though.
Yet, of course Leaf was capable of torture. They had sentenced his clan to death, didn't they? For the sake of the village. Fuck them, his clan was as much a part of the village as were the other ninjas and civilians.
They were very capable.
This brought him back to his current predicament. He knew that Leaf harbored numerous forbidden jutsus, even more than Orochimaru knew maybe. It was still a formidable village despite the countless attempts to bring it down. He had concluded that this most likely wasn't a genjutsu that he was stuck in unless it really was such an elaborate one; one that could go on for days. Even the Mengekyou didn't last that long.
So the only logical thought to follow was that after the final blow with Naruto, he had passed out and had been captured. He was being held prisoner and the interrogation was only meant to dig out information. They were probably debating the date of his execution.
But what was the point in an illusion? And why put him in the past? They could have just as easily gone through with the interrogation without the elaborate jutsu.
So here he was again. This was the kink that just wouldn't iron itself out not matter how he thought about it. The only way that this whole mess would make sense would be if he was in the past. And it would make sense with the first day of questioning; it would also explain the fact of life that he was five or six. Itachi hadn't murdered the clan yet as the police department was still here.
So he was almost six.
Then that would mean he was in the past. For sure. But to accept that would…what? He didn't know. What the hell was he supposed to do? Change everything?
He let out a hallow laugh. How the fuck am I going to change anything if I'm stuck in this body and in a cell no less. When his sour amusement faded, he started to think on that note. What else could he do?
So Uchiha Sasuke began planning his escape. He had a chance to make things right whether this was real or not; it was still a chance.
He remembered that day that he had changed the name of his makeshift team to Hawk. The hurt that made him cry for the first time in a long time rekindled inside, burning him raw. How he wished he had known; had remembered what had really gone on that night. How he wished that he hadn't been an ignorant little brat who could only pester his brother about training.
Even after all that he had tried to reach his brother he had still been too weak. He had always been too weak.
His fist shot out and slammed into the concrete wall. He ignored the flare of pain at the torn skin and the broken bones.
He was a kid, but he wasn't a stupid brat anymore. This time, he'd cover that gap that he never had a chance in the last lifetime.
Carefully he ripped off a piece of his tattered shirt and wrapped his hand. This was the last thing he needed. He needed to reign in his temper. On his bloody hand, Sasuke swore that this was going to be the last stupid thing he did.
His hand primitively bandaged, he sat back against the wall and he waited.
He just had to bid his time until he could escape.
Naruto woke up to the smell of rice and something else. Groggily he sat up and rubbed the sticky residue from his eyes. Opening his eyes he found them to be puffy and swollen. He then remembered that he had been crying at the memorial stone.
He must have fallen asleep. He looked around the room that he was in and found it to be messy and rather lived in. Framed photos lined the walls haphazardly while book shelves as high as the door were stuffed with scrolls and texts that looked like they had seen better days.
He climbed out of the bed, forgetting to adjust for the height difference and ended up stumbling onto his hands and knees. At the commotion the door swung open and a curious head poked in.
"Hey, good morning. Just checking to see that you're still alive," he said good-naturedly. He stepped into the room fully and watched the blond as he picked himself off the floor.
"I made breakfast. I bet you're starving; looks like you hadn't eaten in a while," he spoke up once Naruto was up.
"Bathroom's that way. When you're done, you can eat," he pointed out cheerfully when the kid still didn't say anything. Naruto nodded slightly to show that he heard and then turn and headed toward the bathroom.
Obito scratched his head and just shrugged; the kid would talk when he was ready.
Fifteen minutes later a tired Naruto walked out from the bedroom door. He sat himself down across from the stranger. Obito, that's what he had called himself. But he had also given Kakashi's last name as his own which Naruto knew wasn't possible. Kakashi was an only child.
Not to mention this guy didn't look a thing like his teacher. No crazy silver hair despite the cheerful attitude. Well, even he was too cheerful; Kakashi's cheerful hid a sharp calculating gaze but this guy didn't seem to have that.
"You gonna eat or something?" he asked the kid who hadn't touched his food yet. He had put up with the open staring for as long as he could.
"You said your last name was Hatake," Naruto started off. He couldn't outright accuse the guy of not being related. He didn't know Kakashi yet. I never will.
His chest ached at that but he pushed it away.
"Yeah," the man answered in a slightly lilting tone as if to see what Naruto had against it. From that it seemed like being questioned was a rather common thing then. He didn't look a thing like Kakashi. As matter of fact, he looked more like Sasuke than the infamous jounin.
"You look like an Uchiha," he said straight up. Naruto noted the slight tensing of the jaw muscle and the defensive look that came into his eyes. This was a sore subject for the man.
"I'm not an Uchiha," he said evenly as he stared down the annoyingly perceptive brat in front of him, "And how would you know? You don't even know who he was or whether or not we look alike." As soon as he said it, he realized that he was getting his hackles all raised up by a kid. He let out a sigh at the silent boy.
"Look kid, I didn't mean to snap at you. Just drop it okay?" he offered a slight apology.
"Why?" Naruto asked. He had to know. Kakashi had never talked about his team but Naruto had found a photo Kakashi and his team with the Fourth. This man looked like he was a teammate; a teammate that hadn't survived back in his time.
"Why what?" the man asked although he had a feeling what the kid was asking. Naruto just looked at him and asked again.
"Why did you take on his name?" he stared into those dark eyes, so much like another stubborn Uchiha that he knew. He still had to find Sasuke but for now he just needed to know this one thing. No one ever stood against his will for long when he wanted something except for one person. Uchiha or not, this wasn't the person who wouldn't cave to him.
"We were teammates," he started off slowly after a few minutes of silence, "There was a mission to destroy a vital bridge that would cripple Rock. I hated him but I wouldn't let him die. Apparently he thought the same as he chose me over the mission. He shoved me out of the way of the avalanche.
"I owe him my life," he finished almost inaudibly. Naruto exhaled sharply. No wonder Kakashi never talked about him. It must have been the other way around; that's how he had gotten the Sharingan. Now he knew the real reason that Kakashi was so adamant about teamwork.
"I'm sorry," Naruto apologized sincerely. The man looked at him startled, like he had forgotten the blond was there.
"Yeah," he mumbled then his eyes surveyed Naruto critically, "You sound like you knew him." Naruto could only smile slightly at that, slightly nostalgic.
"You could say that I knew someone like him," he answered quietly and the man left it at that.
"Okay, eat up! Then scram, I have a mission later today that I have to get done," he stood up and hesitated. He knew people didn't like the kid. Personally he had never talked to him and only saw him every once in a while. Even then though he saw the way he was treated. It reminded him all too much of himself back in his younger days with no one to defend him. He had stuck out like a sore thumb among his elite cousins and was ridiculed merciless for it.
"Ah, you can come back later whenever you want when I'm done with my mission which should be in a couple of days," he rambled quickly before he threw in a joke, "You can survive for that long right?"
The boy didn't smile at first as he regarded the man to see if he was serious. Then his entire face did a one-eighty and he beamed at the man.
"Of course I can survive for two days by myself! How do you think I'm still here?" he boasted and while Obito grinned back, inside he really did wonder how the kid could still smile like that.
A/N:
Chapter lengths are going to be like this until more starts happening then they'll increase in length; nothing much else to say about this chapter. Thanks for reading! XD