Disclaimer: The beginning monologue is transcribed from manga chapter 699.
Naruto… I remember now the words you once said to me. That when you were with me, you understood what it was like to have a brother. And when I think of it that way... that feeling...
I finally get it now.
I'd been traveling around the world, and I seem to recall those memories often. We were alone and starved of love; kids who lived in a world filled with hate. From that point on, we went our separate ways and fought. But time has passed, and now I think... could it be that just like how the hope and pain from my father, mother, and beloved brother Itachi flowed into me, I would understand your hopes and pains too, Naruto?
You never abandoned me. You never gave up on me, coming closer even when I pulled away.
It wouldn't have surprised me if you hated me, but you didn't, and you kept insisting that we were friends. And I nearly destroyed even that.
You fought to stop me, to the point where you even lost an arm. All because you were my friend.
You saved me.
The us who fought over the smallest of things are now able to share the pain in each others' hearts.
On my journey around the world, I realized that all of these feelings weren't just about us, and I'm sure it's the same for everything else. But, there aren't a lot of people like you, and things won't always go as planned; just look at us. It'll be especially true when it comes to greater things.
I think it's the same as praying. And until I can do it, I'll stay strong. The beings who have been entrusted with hope... that's us.
That's what makes us ninjas.
Sasuke awoke with a start without opening either of his eyes. His immediate thoughts concerned the throbbing and blinding pain in his left arm—or what was left of it. Gritting his teeth and wincing, he clutched at the offending injury as if tightly holding onto it would somehow recede the pain. The stump was bound tightly in white linen bandages, so tight that the area around the stump of his arm was numb.
Naruto. Their last battle. These memories vividly rushed through his mind and evoked him to force his right eye open and take in his surroundings. On the other hand, his left eye's Rinnegan was too drained of energy to even twitch, much less open. It remained shut, involuntarily.
The first thing he saw was a wooden ceiling. The only light available came in from the windows—it seemed to be midday. Turning his head, he noticed that he was in a one-roomed wooden cabin of sorts, with the futon that he was lying on top of and a small fire pit the sole items in the room.
He was shirtless, save for the fresh bandages wrapped diagonally across his torso and around his midriff. He was still wearing his dark pants.
Where was he? Where was Naruto? Kakashi? Was he dead?
Sasuke's upper body shook uncontrollably as he struggled up into a sitting position. This action alone caused him to pant heavily, and he paused to catch his breath. He rested his arm in his lap and stared down, feeling the bead of sweat roll down the side of his face.
His Rinnegan eye dully pulsated. His obliterated left arm hurt.
Shit, he was just in so much physical pain.
"I would lie back down if I were you," a low velvety voice remarked while sliding open the door to the small abode Sasuke rested in. He slowly craned his neck toward the voice and was completely unprepared for what—who—he saw.
It as as if he was looking into a mirror or was facing a clone of himself.
Blinking a couple of times, Sasuke's open eye narrowed in confusion and apprehension. If he could move, he would already be gripping this person by the throat and demanding answers.
"Yeah, I was shocked when I found you too. We really do look alike, don't we?" The stranger set down the tray he was holding on the floor, hot steam from the bowl and teacup lazily flickering into the air. He smiled slightly. Shuffling forward lightly, he outstretched a hand, stopping in front of Sasuke's face. Sasuke made no move to take it.
The other male drew his hand back somewhat sheepishly and turned around to grab the tray again. It was then that Sasuke saw the uchiwa symbol emblazoned on the back of the man's high-collared shirt. Sasuke's eye widened and his body shook with rage. How dare this person wear the symbol of his clan so blatantly?!
"You were out for three days. My name is Izuna," Swiveling back around on his knees and tray in hand, Izuna raised his head to look at Sasuke, "what's yo—woah!"
In place of Sasuke's obsidian was crimson red, three commas dangerously swirling in the iris. Sasuke was glaring with absolute suspicion and full force at Izuna.
"I guess that answers my question if you're an Uchiha or not," Izuna joked, "calm down. You're back on Uchiha grounds. You're safe here."
"Uchiha grounds...?" Sasuke echoed, speaking for the first time. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but he had heard the name 'Izuna' somewhere before...
"Don't tell me you hit your head and lost your memories too? Although I'd believe it considering how beat up you were when I found you and how you don't seem to know who I am." Izuna set the tray down at Sasuke's side, and folded his hands in his lap as he sat in perfect seiza.
Frowning, Sasuke said nothing in retaliation. Upon observing Sasuke's expression, Izuna's face also fell, "Oh. I was half kidding, but are you serious..."
Of course, Sasuke hadn't actually lost his memories per say, he just thought the smartest thing to do would be to wait until he figured out wherever the hell he landed in before divulging anything about himself, lest he was in some kind of enemy territory who was playing a sick joke on him. The red faded from his eye as a dull black came into place once more as he spared himself the expenditure of already depleted chakra reserves. He would let this 'Izuna' go for today.
"Well, do you remember your name and age, at least?" Izuna inquired, curiously peering at Sasuke's tired face.
"..." Contemplating for a moment, Sasuke decided to nod his head once in affirmation.
"At least we have something to go off of. Funny, I don't remember seeing you anywhere though. I would remember, seeing as you and I look so similar and you seem to be around the same age as me... I find it hard to believe that we haven't run into each other our whole entire lives no matter how big our clan is."
Sasuke scoffed, "I wouldn't know." And really, he wouldn't.
"Do you remember how you got those injuries? They were really serious. You nearly died, and you would have had I and Nii-san not been the ones to find you. Nii-san was pretty sure that a Senju had gotten you."
Although Sasuke was annoyed that these people thought that he was that easy to take out, he simply muttered, "I remember fighting." After all, only Naruto was strong enough to drive him to the brink of death.
"Ah, it was probably a Senju then, like Nii-san said. Our last battle with them was just a few days ago, so it makes sense."
Sasuke processed Izuna's words carefully. Battle? With the Senju? The last time Sasuke checked, there weren't even any Senju alive in Konoha, besides Tsunade. There was also still the issue of this copycat bearing his clan's symbol so... so obnoxiously.
Two knocks. Sasuke's eye shifted to the door, where the sound came from.
"Ah, come in," Izuna called, and the door slid open, revealing another dark-haired figure, "Nii-san!"
Not for the first time that day, Sasuke saw red as his eye settled onto the countenance of the presence at the door.
"Madara," Sasuke seethed.
Madara Uchiha was standing at the entranceway, but this Madara was different from the one Sasuke encountered before. This Madara had slightly shorter hair, albeit still unkempt as ever. His eyes weren't crazy, his sclerae were normal and he was just overall much younger... and much more alive. There were no cracks definitive of the Edo Tensei marring his body either.
Madara raised a brow in question, and Sasuke froze. He suddenly knew why he had heard of Izuna's name before, why Izuna and Madara were both wearing the Uchiha crest, and why the Senju were mentioned.
Sasuke was definitely in the past.
"Excuse me?" Madara intoned, amused and confused at Sasuke's sudden anger all the same.
No, this wasn't the same Madara who was the root of all of Sasuke's problems. This Madara looked barely older than twenty and probably hadn't taken over leadership of the clan yet. This Madara wasn't yet responsible for the total annihilation of the Uchiha Clan. This Madara didn't wish to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, thus rendering everything that Itachi had fought for useless.
Even though it was very difficult to look at the same face of the same enemy Sasuke once fought without any contempt, Sasuke swallowed his pride and rage, and impassiveness washed over his features once more.
"Aa. Future leader of the clan," Sasuke all but recited. Or at least he assumed. "Sudden headache," he lied in explanation of his demeanor.
"Hmm..."
Sasuke couldn't tell if Madara bought his excuse or not.
"How come you remember Nii-san, but not me," Izuna grumbled.
"Of course he knows who I am, Izuna. I will be taking over leadership of the clan in a few years' time, after all," Madara chided. He looked back at Sasuke, "it seems as though you are saved from death, at least."
Sasuke made no move to respond.
"Tch, bad manners, this one. Answer your future leader, boy."
"I think he's still fatigued. Let's let him rest, Nii-san," Izuna mediated, as he knew how bad of a temper his older brother possessed. Madara flicked an annoyed glance at Izuna, but Sasuke could see the softening of his eyes when looking at his sibling. It almost reminded him of how Itachi used to look at him...
"You never did tell us your name, though," Izuna addressed him, as he and Madara stood up to leave. Sasuke sighed.
"Uchiha... Sasuke."
Sasuke spent the next month and a half recuperating in the same dreary wooden room, devoid of life and color. Izuna or Madara would stop by every so often, leaving him trays of food to eat and tea to drink. If they were busy, a random Uchiha or Uchiha servant would come in their stead. The Uchihas' healer, a middle-aged male of nondescript general Uchiha features, checked up on Sasuke's arm and changed dirty bandages for clean ones once every few days. At first, Sasuke didn't have much of an appetite, much to everyone's chagrin. He somehow felt as if eating food of this world would tie him down to it. However, he eventually gave in to his stomach and had to at least eat something in order to survive and regain strength.
His arm wouldn't stop hurting like hell, either. The wound at his elbow had been closed rather amateurishly, with rough stitches sewn together being the only thing holding his skin closed over the stump. Sasuke had always known his clan wasn't notorious for its medical abilities, but he cursed that this was also the case for his ancestors as well.
But Sasuke also thought that maybe the pain in his arm was fitting as punishment, for all of his misdeeds as a missing nin and as an enemy of Konoha. He used that very arm to hurt, nearly kill his most precious people; the people who considered him as their most precious friend. Redemption plagued his mind, as all he thought about was how he could ever redeem himself to Naruto, how he could ever redeem himself to Sakura who died for his sake, and how he could ever redeem himself to the entirety of the shinobi nations if he could even return back to his own time. The pain in his left arm served as a reminder, and once the pain went away (if it ever did), the missing forearm would continue to symbolize his thrown away past.
Over his convalescence, Sasuke adapted to life in this time period. Fire was never a problem for the Uchiha clan, so Sasuke had access to hot baths and slept beside warm contained fires during chilly evenings. Oftentimes, he would simply think and postulate about how he got here and if he would be able to get back.
Tonight was one of those nights, and Sasuke reviewed everything in his head once more as he sat with his good arm resting on his right knee next to the fire pit in his room.
Sasuke remembered the clash of the Chidori and Rasengan, but he also remembered how pitifully low he and Naruto both were on chakra. There was no way their final jutsu could have been strong enough to rip open the space-time continuum and send Sasuke to the past like this. Unless some higher force or being was at play? If so, was Naruto also here?
Sasuke wasn't dumb, either. He wasn't Shikamaru by any means in terms of brains, but he was a very intelligent individual. He knew there were ramifications of changing the course of history—the butterfly effect, he recalled from an Academy lecture from what felt like eons ago. So what was he supposed to do? Just sit around here like a rock until he rotted of old age?
While Sasuke really didn't want to do that, he at least decided that it would be best to never show his Rinnegan and wrapped bandages over his left eye. If anybody from this time saw his Rinnegan, that would definitely set up for many unwanted questions and difficult explanations. He was disappointed, though. He hadn't really gotten the chance to explore the limits or potential of his newly acquired eye and probably wouldn't be able to unless he was completely alone. His left eye hadn't healed yet either and was still recharging its powers.
If he didn't know how he came here in the first place, Sasuke grimly knew there wasn't much he could do to get back. He also realized that without his powers, Naruto and Kakashi wouldn't be able to undo the effects of the Infinite Tsukuyomi either.
Sasuke slammed his fist on the floor by his side. "Shit!"
Would he really have no choice but to relive history? Rewrite history? What would happen when the time came for him to be born in the future? Could two Uchiha Sasukes even exist at once? Or would his mere presence now affect the future so much that the future Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't even be born?
Sasuke closed his visible eye.
Whatever I do, I better make it count.
The next morning, Sasuke finally felt strong enough to venture out of his lodging. After being in bedrest for nearly two months, it never felt so good to... walk. Izuna had given him some spare clothes: standard dark navy shirt and pants.
Sasuke never realized how huge his clan had been in the past. Flags adorned with the Uchiha crest decorated acres of lush, green land, nearly sparkling with the sunshine. Each wooden house in the collective was home to an Uchiha. Sasuke breathed in a little, with wonder.
So this was his heritage... this was his past.
He drank in the sight, of a community comprised solely of Uchiha—something he hadn't really seen since he was a child. Except that this was... this was much bigger. Uchiha-owned vegetable stands and grocers, Uchiha-owned weaponry, Uchiha-owned tailors, Uchiha-owned everything.
Sasuke was once dubbed "The Last Uchiha," but that moniker was no more.
He led himself into the forest, intending to find a secluded area.
He had been sedentary for too long.
It was time to train.
Author's Note: Merry Christmas! In the spirit of giving, here is my present to you faithful readers :)
I tried making Izuna a teensy bit more amicable as a foil to Sasuke. We can't have three uptight, angsty, butthead characters walking around, now can we? Lmao, the Sasu-Izu-Mada trio I can't