Author's Note: I am so sorry about the wait! I have been working a lot, doing other stories and just dealing with life in general that I haven't really had the time or inspiration to write for this story. I am so sorry! I do love hearing everything yall have to say, you are all so kind! I'm a little iffy on this chapter, but I'm sniffing a bit of a plot starting to form, which is always nice. Anyway, I would love to hear all that you have to say! I'm going to bed now, goodnight!
Warnings: Language, OOCness, unbeta'd.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. The idea was brought to me by RedGoddessEclipse and asked me to write it for her. :3
Word Count: 5,094
"We're going back to Konoha for a little bit," Minato says, pulling Sasuke from his thoughts. He was staring out over the camp from the tree branch that has sort of become his sleeping place whenever he was in this camp. It's been a little over a month since Kakashi lost his eye and a lot of time was dedicated to teaching Kakashi how to deal with his handicap.
Sasuke even had a little bit to do with it. Sasuke was able to get used to his own handicap. Yes, he still had his eye, but didn't use it often anymore so it was a form of selective handicap. He was able to relate, though, so that's what matters. Or at least, it mattered enough to Minato to keep pestering him until he gave in. Damn, the man was worse than Naruto! There was just no winning against the Yellow Flash.
He was able to be annoying as all hell like Naruto, but he didn't have the same short fuse that Naruto did. So even though Sasuke was certain he was being a pain in the ass back to the older blond, the man usually didn't bat an eyelash at him. The most annoyed Sasuke has ever seen Minato express was a sigh, a rub of the shoulders and a droll look at the person who annoyed him; which was Obito. But he never got mad. He never raised his voice. He never got stressed out or lost his head.
This man was infuriating in how perfect he was.
The worst about all of it wasn't because he was Naruto's father, and annoying as hell like the younger blond. He wasn't loud and obnoxious and fidgety like Naruto was. He was in fact, the complete opposite. He was quiet and even after being denied, he would just stare at Sasuke with this impossibly keen blue eyes, like he was trying to persuade the blue haired boy with his mind. He was definitely stubborn and persistent like Naruto, though. He didn't give up until Sasuke had begrudgingly agreed to train Kakashi. At least in the sense of his handicap. Even then, Sasuke didn't know what to really teach him.
Sasuke could handle his handicap. His eyes were fast and keen enough for it. So he just taught young Kakashi what he learned his own sensei did when he kept the Sharingan hidden. He used his other senses. He became very strong in that ability. It became second nature to be able to focus a good portion of his hearing to that one side to make up for not using his eye.
Sasuke thought that he was fucking with Might Guy when he always asked if Guy had said something, after the man spent the better part of two minutes blabbering on about one thing or another (and most of the time, Sasuke feels it's safe to assume he was) but some of the time, he really couldn't hear him that well. Kakashi usually has his hearing focused on his non-dominant side.
After joining Orochimaru's side, Sasuke had plenty of time to reflect on things of the past and think about trivial things like that. He was able to analyze why his sensei was the way he was. He began to realized that when someone was more positioned toward his dominant side, where his ear was exposed, he would glance over at them while they were talking - reading their lips - whereas he usually didn't when they were on the other side because he could hear them perfectly fine. It was something odd that Sasuke had pondered in his spare time when he was meditating, it kept his mind keen and focused.
So Sasuke taught him to do that. He taught him to divert his sense of hearing to that ear, primarily. Use it to manipulate his handicap. Just because he didn't have an eye over there, didn't mean that he was completely helpless.
Kakashi took to the training immediately, picking up the trait like a genius would. It would have been a little odd otherwise, had the young boy been unable to pick up this form of training, since the Kakashi that taught Sasuke was the one who used it. After Sasuke had explained to Kakashi - and Minato who oversaw their training - his idea, both seemed pleased. Which was... good, Sasuke supposed.
"So are you really an Uchiha?" Obito had asked what feels like that thousandth time since Sasuke met him.
"No," Sasuke said flatly, dodging a strike by the white haired genius.
"Really?" Obito asked from the sidelines.
Sasuke caught Kakashi's foot and tossed him away, looking over at Obito blandly. "Ask me one more time."
Obito's face lit up. "Oh! Are you an Uchiha?"
"No," Sasuke said, looking away again. Obito pouted while Rin giggled softly and Minato smiled, amused.
"Sasuke?" Minato says softly, pulling Sasuke from his thoughts and the small, strange memory of Obito while Sasuke was training Kakashi to use this new ability but in battle.
Sasuke looks over at the blond man, perched at the end of the branch that Sasuke basically claimed as his home in this camp. He takes a moment to really shake the memory away before turning his attention to the blond man. "What?" Sasuke sighs, pursing his lips a bit. "What did you say to me?"
Minato tilts his head slightly, the moonlight cast flattering shadows across his handsome face, through the branches of the trees. He blinks slowly, long lashes casting even longer shadows against his cheeks. "Are you tired, Sasuke?" Minato asks softly.
Sasuke frowns at that, wanting to tell the older man to mind his own business, but at the thought of it makes Sasuke yawn, betraying the snide comment that he was going to throw at the blond. Sasuke blushes and looks away, mouth snapping shut, reaching up and scratching his throat, annoyed.
Minato smiles kindly. "Perhaps you should sleep in a tent tonight?"
"I'm fine," Sasuke says dismissively. "Was that what you wanted?"
Minato shakes his head. "No, I said that we are going to need to head back to Konoha for a little bit. We'll be heading out late tomorrow morning, since we just got back into camp."
"We?" Sasuke asks. "Are we taking the brats?"
Minato smiles. "I told you, stuck to me like glue." Minato laughs at that. "Just like I am to you."
Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Annoying."
"They aren't so bad," Minato says kindly. "You intrigue them, that's all."
Sasuke gives him a bland stare. "I wasn't talking about them. I was talking about you."
Minato grins broadly, obviously amused, blue eyes twinkling in the dim light. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were referring to the kids. I apologize. What have I done that annoys you?"
"What haven't you done?" Sasuke says blandly.
Minato stares at him with the lightest shade of blue that Sasuke has ever seen. Naruto's eyes were blue, and so was Ino's, but neither had been as light as Minato's. His were almost more white than blue anyway. They were such a pretty color, and while Sasuke has never been one to care for physical appearances, he has come to admit to himself that the future Fourth is quite the handsome man.
It's a shame that Naruto was born with a foot for a face, seeing as his father was as handsome as he was.
In the near two months since he met the Fourth Hokage - er, future Fourth Hokage... Maybe - Sasuke has come to find traits about the man that aren't as annoying as he maybe previously thought or after having seen them for the first time, at all. Minato is very level headed. Nothing seems to break through his calm. The only person who seems to draw any sort of negative reaction from Minato is Obito, and that's with the Uchiha boy's lateness. He's not angry, just exasperated.
Sasuke had no idea what the black haired boy was always doing that made him so late all the time, but he had to suspect that not only was it the same thing that Kakashi used to do when he was late to everything, but he suspected that Minato knew what he was doing and while it annoyed him that the boy was late, he didn't ever call him out on whatever it was that he was doing. Sasuke is slightly curious as to what the boy does, but ultimately, if they are going to be spending a lot of time together through Minato, then he's sure he'll figure it out.
Minato isn't like Naruto. Not really. His mannerisms are a lot more mature than Naruto, even when only about ten years separated them. Maybe ten years is really a lot. Sasuke didn't know.
"Sasuke?" Minato calls out, tilting his head a little bit more.
Sasuke adjusts a bit against the trunk of the tree, the hard bark pressing into his back a bit. Minato stands, perfectly perched on the same branch Sasuke's sitting on. When the blond appeared there to talk to him, Sasuke had to straddle the tree, a leg dangling over both sides of the branch to make room.
"What?" Sasuke says, letting out a deep breath, staring at Minato with both eyes. He's since grown tired of staring at Minato with one eye. The man already knows about his Rinnegan, when it's just them, it doesn't really matter if he relaxes a bit.
Minato shrugs his shoulders a bit. "I'm not sure. You seem like you want to ask me something."
Sasuke stares at him for a moment before saying, slowly, "How do you do that?"
Minato blinks. "Do what?"
"Read me like an open book?" Sasuke asks. "It's really annoying."
Minato, from his crouched position, slowly lowers down to the branch, sitting on his right foot while his left dangles over the side. "Do you think that I can read you easily?"
Sasuke scowls at the older boy. "Don't you?"
Minato smiles. "Perhaps it seems that way and while I get feelings, I'm still learning about you as you are learning about me," he says sagely. "To be honest, I love interacting with people like you." He smiles.
Sasuke frowns. "What does that mean? 'People like me'."
Minato holds up his hands to show he meant no harm. "No need to get mad. I'll tell you what I meant." Sasuke glares at him to continue. "I just like talking to people who are introverted. I believe that they are the most forward thinkers. I like people who speak their mind and don't let others dictate who they are. Independent people, I think, are my favorite." He smiles more.
Sasuke's annoyance subsides. "Okay..."
Minato's smile crests his eyes, surrounding them and his nose with crinkles. "So I meant no offense. I just prefer to surround myself with those types of people. Which is probably why I have a bit more inkling toward what you are thinking but trust me, I am no expert. I don't know all that you are thinking, but I do enjoy watching you." He laughs when Sasuke glares at him again.
Sasuke shakes his head. "You are so annoying."
Minato laughs. "I'm sorry." He didn't sound all that apologetic.
Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Whatever. So why are we going back to Konoha?"
Minato's face falls neutral. "Well, thankfully it's nothing bad. We actually are offered leave for about a week for all of our hard work before we are deployed again, so that we can go see family."
Sasuke blinks in surprise. Family? Of course. Naruto's mom - whoever she is - must be waiting back in Konoha for Minato. Not that she couldn't be a shinobi...
Sasuke didn't know. On one hand, he could see a powerful man like Minato taking a wife that was the stay-at-home mom that wasn't a shinobi but maybe a merchant, or perhaps she just stayed home to care for the kids without having another job on top of that. He can envision her being dainty and soft spoken. Motherly and nurturing.
But on the other hand, he can also envision that she's a shinobi. That a powerful man like him needs an equally powerful woman at his side to balance out. She could still be motherly and nurturing, but also be ferocious and deadly on the battlefield.
Sasuke wasn't sure, though. He barely believes that Minato was Naruto's father. He's not sure what to expect from Naruto's mother. Unlike Minato, Sasuke could meet Naruto's mom and have no idea it's her until Minato says.
It's just so strange to think.
But besides all of that, on to more personal issues; Sasuke going to Konoha. While he's sure he can survive a week long reprieve from war, because it is starting to wear him down as the days go on, he's not sure what he's going to do. He has thankfully been accumulating some money now that he's under Konoha's payroll once more, but he's not sure where he's going to go or what he's going to do back there.
"I don't need the reprieve," Sasuke says slowly.
Minato stares back at him, an unreadable look on his face. "Are you worried about what you are going to do back in Konoha?" Minato asks.
Can't read him like an open book, bullshit! Sasuke stares back at him, frowning.
Sasuke doesn't respond, just stares back at the blond haired man. Minato blinks a few times, tilting his head to the side a bit. After thinking about it for a moment, a playful smile spreads across Minato's face. "I'm sorry," he says, sheepishly. "Don't worry about that. If you need a place to stay, you can stay with me while we are back in Konoha." He shrugs his shoulders, nonchalantly.
Sasuke gives him a droll look. He couldn't stand the mandatory time he has to spend with the blond, he's not about to volunteer his free time to being with the man. While there are worst people he could be forced to spend his time with, Sasuke's sure he'll be able to survive for a week on his own, even if he has to do a few D-rank missions to pay for a inn for a few days.
Especially now that he knows that time will be his own. He won't have to be with Minato for this week. While he's sure the man will have a way of getting to him quickly, it's nice to know that he is going to have that little bit of freedom that he has been pathetically clawing at for the last month and a half. In a very minute way, he is thankful for the offer, but the prospect of finally getting a bit of alone time to do whatever the fuck he wants is just a little too enticing to simply pass on because of something as simple as a place to stay.
"Don't worry about me," Sasuke says. "Any time away from you is cherished."
Minato puts a hand on his chest, his small smile never leaving his lips. "You wound me."
Sasuke shakes his head. "Oh how I wish that was true."
Minato laughs, soft and breathy. Nothing about this man was loud other than his shock of blond hair. His entire personality is quiet, respectful and calm, whereas his bright, messy blond hair is all like "Look at me!"
At least he doesn't wear the kill-me-orange that Naruto is famous for. Now that would be a real shame. How Naruto could through seventeen years of his life - or his entire life, that is - wearing that horrible orange color, he will never know.
Because he will never be able to ask.
Sasuke quickly forces that thought away, not wanting to explore it once again. Thoughts of his timeline and the people in it have been the center of many of his thoughts since he met the Fourth Hokage and is slowly, but surely, being forced to face where he came from and how he's never going to be able to return - if there is anything to return to anyway.
He hasn't come to full terms with what he's gone through and what he's lost. He is, sort of. It's slow going, but he is thinking about his life thoroughly. While it's bleak and lacks any direction, unlike what he can say for everyone else in his timeline, at least he is alive. And while that leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Just being alive is it's own version of peace.
Even though he doesn't have much to live for, no matter what he may think on his off moments or what he says, Sasuke wants to live. He wants to be alive even though he doesn't know what he's living for.
For now, himself, will just have to do.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Minato asks, finally sombering up.
Sasuke closes his eyes and lets out a low sigh. "Shut up."
Being back in Konoha - or being back for the second time? - is a bit... strange. It's not necessary a bad feeling, like he originally thought that it would. It's just... odd. He's not sure how else to explain it other than there is a mutual sense of longing for his home - his real home - and a sense of relief that this was the new beginning that he had been hoping for.
Sasuke has a desire that has been building up in him since he began thinking about his life again. More specifically, he's been thinking about his big brother. Itachi, who sacrificed everything in order to save him - from Danzo, from the Uchiha, from any number of things - was so very different from him. He saw the world in a way that Sasuke could not. Or did not. And he's been curious about it. He has wanted to continue his time wondering the world to try and find a way to understand how his brother became who he was, and what more the world has to offer.
While that is still what he ultimately wants to do; travel the world, but he's been entertaining the idea of being able to go to the Konoha of this time, and see if he can see it in the way that Itachi saw the Konoha that he and Sasuke were born in. If it was something that he had to see from an entirely different angle - or in this case, timeline - to be able to tell what it was that made his brother love Konoha so.
Sasuke is aware that he will ultimately never know, but it makes him feel better and more justified in returning with Minato and his team. While he's not sure he will be able to ever feel at home in Konoha, especially this one, he is interested in being able to see it from an entire different angle than before. With an entirely different mindset.
It's strange to think, just months ago, if he had walked through the gates to Konohagakure no Sato, it would be to destroy it. Not like how he was going into Konoha yesterday afternoon. Obito, of course, was the most outwardly vocal about his pleasure upon finally returning home. Rin was equally pleased, but much more subdue about it, while Kakashi seemed indifferent to it. Sasuke was mildly curious, but figured he could guess why Konoha had very little to offer Kakashi. The death of his father. Without Sakumo, there was no one for Kakashi to return home to. And, as usual, Minato seems completely impassive, his true thoughts well hidden behind his handsome, impassive face.
Sasuke splits away from Minato and his team as soon as he possibly can, waving his hand around dismissively when the blond called out to him. It was easy to find an open inn that was willing to book him for the week. Sasuke drops his meager belongings, a simple pack with his storage scrolls, onto the floor along with his cloak next to his bed and drops down onto the bed, groaning aloud when his back melts into the mattress. It has been way too long since he's last slept in the bed and he's paying for it.
He hadn't realized how bad his back was hurting until the moment he relaxed into the mattress.
Sasuke enjoys the entire day in his inn room, looking through his scrolls, taking a shower - a real shower not just a dip in the lake to wash away the sweat of the day - and then lounging around until nighttime, then going to bed and actually sleeping after he sealed up the room to keep everyone out. He felt Minato's seal on the back of his neck burn as if to remind him that Minato could break through the seals easily. Sasuke didn't care and it wasn't so much to keep Minato out, but anyone else, and the burning only lasted for a few seconds before subsiding.
Sasuke is relieved the next morning. His mood is significantly higher than it usually is. It's definitely contributed to his first good night sleep since long before even coming to this timeline. Perhaps he really could have been so crabby because of his lack of adequate sleep. While it didn't really affect his performance on the field or in every day conversation, it was affecting his mood and temper.
After showering again, because after not having it for months, its not surprising that he missed it so much, he finally leaves his room and goes to a little shop to sit down and eat, and then he walks around Konoha, keeping his presence low so that he blends into the bustling crowd and doesn't really draw the attention of the ninja that was patrolling the village. He wasn't hiding from them, and he knew that some were keen enough to spot him, and daring enough to follow him, but he didn't want to have them affect his good mood.
He wanted to see the Leaf Village in a new light. So traveling through it like a stranger, because he was here in this Konoha, and while everything looks pretty similar, he wasn't alive at this time so he can't accurately say whether it is the exact same or not. It's still a few years before he's even born, he thinks.
"Sasuke."
Sasuke raises his eyes from watching the dirt path in front of him to see an ANBU standing in front of him. The flow of people going from shop to shop through the market district skirt around him, giving the man a wide berth, but cast him curious looks as to why he had stepped out of the shadows.
Sasuke stops walking a few feet in front of him. "What?" Sasuke asks, blankly.
"The Hokage has requested your presence," the ANBU says, voice completely devoid of all emotion. Like a true dog to the Leaf government. No, Sasuke wasn't going to let this ruin the good mood that he's in for the first time in forever. He's just going to have to bend knee to the will of the old man and go see him. Request, was a nice word for him to use, but Sasuke knew that wasn't the case. If Sasuke refused to go, there would be a lot louder a situation on his hands.
"Fine," Sasuke says blandly. He kind of hopes that this doesn't mean that he's going to be working for the Hokage his entire leave in Konoha. It almost seems unfair, to say the least.
Sasuke body flickers away. He doesn't even bother to knock on the door to the Hokage's office, which only aggravates the ANBU at the door. Hiruzen isn't alone in his office, Minato is there with him, and he waves his hand dismissively to the two ANBU for them to leave. They hesitate for a moment before closing the door softly behind them when they exit.
"Thank you for coming," the Third says, interlacing his fingers on his desk. "How have you been, Sasuke?"
Sasuke stares at him blankly. "Peachy," he says after almost a full minute of silence. Minato smiles, as if amused. Sasuke glares at him. "Shut the hell up."
Minato looks surprised, but still amused. "I didn't say anything, Sasuke!"
Sasuke shakes his head slowly. "You don't have to say anything, Minato. Your smug look says it all."
Minato laughs. "I'm not smug! When am I ever smug?" Sasuke stares at him before shaking his head.
"I'm not going to dignify that blatant lie with a response," Sasuke says, a touch of humor to his voice - he really is in a good mood - and turns to the Hokage. "I'm fine, I suppose. What do you need?"
Hiruzen, who watched the exchange with narrow, calculating eyes, finally says, slowly, "You two seem to be getting along well."
"Sorry," Sasuke mutters, "it won't happen again." Minato smiles, but says nothing.
"Minato has been sending me frequent reports about your time together, but I wanted to speak to you in person. Do you mind?" Hiruzen asks.
Did it really matter even if he did? The man was the Hokage. It wasn't like he could say, "fuck off" and leave. Well, he could, but he images the rest of his day would be a hell od a lot less pleasant than his morning was.
"What do you want to know?" Sasuke asks instead, figuring it was the safer route.
"I hear there is a bit of friction between yourself and the Leaf shinobi," Hiruzen says simply.
"Yeah," Sasuke says, voice flat. "They are a bunch of ignorant twats. No offense, but I would much sooner trust a ravenous dog to watch my back then people who force their own into suicide because he decided that human life meant more than a fucking mission."
"Even if by failing the mission more people died as a result?" the Third asks smoothly, not as all visibly ruffled by his words. Which Sasuke is thankfully for, since he's being his callous self without fail.
"If the decision ends up being wrong, then that is something that one must live with," Sasuke says simply. "If you believe one thing, sacrifice everything for someone you care about, die, even for that cause. Only those involved in the direct action of the tragedy has any right to judge him for his actions. He did what he had to, there was no other choice. Death shouldn't have been his only option. He was a fucking hero and this village, those people treated him like a monster. Said and did things that he never blamed them for. He died with a smile on his face for a bunch of monsters," Sasuke hisses, surprised by his own rage.
Minato and the Third Hokage both stare at him without speaking, as if letting him get his rage out. It's at that moment that Sasuke realized how much he said, how much he gave away. He was speaking about Sakumo - to a degree - but he was also speaking about someone else. Someone more near and dear to his heart. Someone he didn't know what to think about anymore. Other than thinking that he is the only decent human being - kami, more like a damned hero - in the entire world.
Itachi.
After learning the truth and being back in Konoha, he never really got to process what happened there either. Which isn't a surprise. That seems to be the common theme with everything that's going on.
Sasuke went right to the battleground after he learned about Madara and Hashirama's past, but this went back in time a bit, to when Obito told him his biased version of the truth. While the events seem to be on point in both stories, Itachi, while probably forced to kill their clan, also did it because that was what he believed was right. He didn't trust anyone else to kill their family because it was theirs. As sick and twisted as it is, if someone was going to kill the Uchiha, it's only right that it is one. Anyone else and it would have been insulting.
Sasuke doesn't believe that his clan should have to die, but it is his brother's choice what happens to the family because he was the heir at the time and one day would be the leader. If Itachi wanted to destroy the Uchiha clan, as it's one day leader, it is his sick right to.
The parallels between Sakumo Hatake and Itachi Uchiha is a little... concerning. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, even though Minato and Hiruzen were the only ones in the room with Sasuke and there was a bunch of ANBU in the ceiling, no doubt waiting for Sasuke to slip and make a mistake so that they can take him down.
Sasuke feels it, at that moment. At first, it made sense being in the situation that he was. But then, he couldn't help the feeling that he was being watched. Not by Hiruzen or Minato, or the ANBU in the ceiling. He was being watched by someone or someones else. Their eyes burning through him intensely. It made his skin crawl and the feeling that he was very much in grave danger claws at the back of his mind.
Something is wrong. Something is very wrong.