Pathways, Chapter 1

It had been about a year since the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. Madara, Obito, and Kaguya had been handily defeated and peace had been returned to the shinobi world. The most threatening war in shinobi history brought all of the continent's five nations and villages together, hopefully ushering in an era of peace never seen before in the history of shinobi.

In the Land Of Snow, the lone survivor of the Uchiha Clan lied in bed in his apartment. Koyuki Kazahana, the now Fuedal Lord of the Land Of Snow, welcomed him into the land after his final battle with Naruto.

After his final fight with Naruto, Sasuke conceded, moved by how far Naruto would go for him. Although Sasuke had conceded, he had no intention of being imprisoned by any of the Hidden Villages, especially not Konoha. After everything that Konoha had done to him and the Uchiha, Sasuke in good conscience couldn't live there. Of course Naruto and Sakura tried their best to convince him but Kakashi managed to get them to stop.

Of course, Sasuke had no intention of fully cutting his friends off, now realizing the value of friendship and companionship, but he couldn't stand the thought of living in that village, at all. Of course Sakura offered to come with him but he refused that as well, not being interested in the companionship of a Konoha-nin besides Naruto. After wandering for 6 months, he eventually found himself in the Land Of Snow and began looking for mercenary work. Once word got out that he was in the country, Koyuki sent out her personal guard to contact Sasuke and bring him in.

Surprisingly, she didn't have any apprehension at the thought of allowing him into her country. Sasuke had tried a few lower level nations on the main continent to lay low in, but none of them were willing to let him in out of fear. Koyuki was still extremely grateful for the work that he and Naruto had done in undoing the plot of Doto Kazahana and restoring her nation to its proper state.

Now, it no longer snowed all year long and all four seasons were present.

Sasuke sat up in the bed after hearing a knock on his door and went to the door to answer.

Sasuke was wondering who could be knocking at his door this early in the morning.

He answered the door to see a teenage girl who must have been shadowing or interning for Koyuki because she handed him a sealed letter, stamped by Koyuki but also sealed and stamped by the 6th Hokage.

"What's this letter?" Sasuke asked, breathing in the cold October air.

"A letter from The Sixth Hokage, I'm not sure what it's about, but Lady Kazahana wanted it sent to you." The girl responded, adjusting her glasses.

Sasuke opened the letter.

It was an invitation, an invitation to the first anniversary celebration of the victory in The Fourth Great Ninja War. Surprisingly it was being hosted in Tanzaku Gai, instead of within the Hidden Leaf. Sasuke sighed. He knew Naruto and the rest were expecting him to skip the event, which made skipping the event even less of an option. It was kind of hard to be lackadaisical and careless when everyone expects that behavior from you.

"Hm, thank you for the letter, I appreciate it. Take care." Sasuke replied before waving her goodbye and closing the door.

So much for social interaction, Sasuke thought.

Sasuke sat down at his dinner table and looked out the window into the autumn season. It was October, and not only would the Great Nations be celebrating the victory of the war, there's also Naruto's birthday which falls on the same day as well.


Sasuke decided he'd go, but only because Naruto's birthday would fall on this day and that's it. He could at least show his face for Naruto's birthday if nothing else. He may hold the biggest grudge in human history against the Leaf, but his friendship with Naruto was something completely outside of that and he would uphold and respect that fact by attending. However, Sasuke had zero intention of fraternizing.


Once it reached the night before the celebration, Sasuke decided to use his spacetime ninjutsu to travel to the Land Of Fire, specifically near the Daimyo's office. The Daimyo originally contacted Sasuke months back, asking for an audience at his palace. Sasuke didn't refuse the request but responded to the Feudal Lord saying that he would show on his own time. The Feudal Lord had no complaints about it and was happy with Sasuke's response.

Sasuke now figured it was time to cash in on that. The hotels near the Daimyo's office were immaculate, Sasuke knew this because he'd visited the Fuedal Lord's office before with his father. Sasuke would get a room in one of the hotels and then from there, travel to Tanzaku Gai for the celebration.

Sasuke left his apartment in the Land Of Snow and then opened a portal with his left eye. Sasuke entered the portal and traveled through space and time, soon arriving in The Land Of Fire.

It was still daytime which would give him a chance to get ahead of everything. Sasuke first found the hotel he would be staying at and checked in. With his Rinnegan deactivated, it would be impossible for anyone who didn't know him personally to recognize him. He was wearing the Uchiha crest, but with it being under his poncho, no one could readily identify him.

After checking in, Sasuke went up the stairs and entered his room. Putting all his belongings where they needed to be and then exiting his room, and headed for the Daimyo's office.

Sasuke had already been here before, with his father and his mother. The Uchiha and Senju clans were responsible for the formation of the Hidden Leaf, and also responsible for the rule of the current dynasty that occupies the throne of the Daimyo. It was customary for the head of each clan to visit the Daimyo, and during the visits the Daimyo would shower the clan heads in gifts and other forms of appreciation.

It was thanks to these two clans that the Land Of Fire had been stabilized and that the father of the current Daimyo had been installed as the Lord of the Land Of Fire.

When Sasuke approached the tower, the guards outside stopped him.

"We weren't informed of any visitors coming at this time, state your purpose." One guard said.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I'm here on request of the Daimyo." Sasuke replied, activating his Sharingan.

The other guard blinked.

"You said you're Sasuke Uchiha? This is crazy..." The guard muttered.

Sasuke was no stranger to people being fascinated with him, and especially the new found fascination that people had for him and especially Naruto after defeating Kaguya.

"We're not aware of any request that the Daimyo has made to see you. Wait here while I defer to my captain." The first guard said, disappearing into the building.

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and waited for the first guard to return, while the second guard looked around in absolute fear and anxiety. About five minutes of awkward silence passed and the first guard returned, asking Sasuke to follow him.

Sasuke entered the Daimyo's office building. The walls were immaculate and clean, well kept and decorated. Paintings of shinobi, samurai, and even common-folk battles with weapons were sparsely but decoratively placed on the walls, giving the office a sense of class. Clearly the Daimyo had a love for history and warfare, even in art form.

The guard led Sasuke to the office door and Sasuke proceeded to knock before being welcomed in by the guard inside the door. Sasuke then entered and to his right was the Daimyo, sitting at his desk in front of a pretty sizeable load of paper-work.

"Oh hello young Sasuke, it's been so long since I've seen you!" The Daimyo said, fanning himself with a paper fan.

Sasuke rose his right brow in confusion to the Daimyo's upbeat, welcoming attitude. He figured that after killing Danzo and almost triggering the Fourth Great Ninja War after attacking Killer Bee would sour the Daimyo's opinion of him, but apparently not. Best not to push it anyways.

Sasuke bowed before the Daimyo.

"It's an honor to be welcomed and allowed back in here, thank you for the invitation." Sasuke replied.

The Daimyo simply waved his hand.

"Oh no don't thank me, you know as an Uchiha you are always a friend of my household. But there's a reason in particular as to why I summoned you here a few months back, young Sasuke." The Daimyo replied.

"A reason?" Sasuke replied.

The Daimyo narrowed his eyes.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, follow me young Sasuke." The Daimyo said.

Sasuke followed the Daimyo into a second, more secluded room. In this room was just himself and the Daimyo. The Daimyo took a seat at the table and motioned for Sasuke to do the same.

"So, what's the reason you summoned me?" Sasuke asked.

"As you know, you and your friend Naruto Uzumaki have quite possibly ushered in an era of peace unforeseen in the history of shinobi. Whether that peace can last longer than half a decade is entirely up to fate, but just because grand scale conflict has been abated and pushed back, does not mean that minor conflicts have been erased." The Daimyo replied.

"Currently, there are powers that be within the Land Of Fire that want me removed from my throne and are using extremely underhanded tactics in order to make it a reality. Your assassination of Danzo Shimura was very beneficial to me, but he unfortunately was not at the end of my list of enemies. As of now their tactics are not too difficult for me to handle, however the solution I wanted to use required the employment of someone disconnected from a ninja village." The Daimyo said.

'It seems like he's being targeted by shinobi, or by someone who is employing shinobi.' - Sasuke thought.

"I'm assuming you're being targeted by shinobi?" Sasuke asked.

The Daimyo nodded quickly and intensely, even narrowing his eyes.

"These shinobi are utilizing a form of genjutsu that's affecting my judgement and decision making. I didn't notice what was taking place until I had some members of the Hyuga Clan guarding me while I visited some of the cities and towns in The Land Of Fire. They noticed the genjutsu and stopped it, but couldn't find the source." The Daimyo replied.

Sasuke had to assume that the Hyuga assigned to him were members of the branch family, and absolute trash in terms of visual prowess as well. If anyone should be able to locate the source of anything it'd be a Hyuga, right?

"What kind of genjutsu was it and why was it so hard to find the source?" Sasuke replied.

The Daimyo sighed.

"I mean no offense young Sasuke, but the reality is that with this new peace you and Naruto have brought, shinobi jobs have been slowly drying up and money is slowly starting to become limited. Without conflicts breaking out, the money flowing into ninja villages has become limited. Shinobi, like everyone else, have families to feed and their Hidden Villages to take care of and seems as though these particular ninja are using a genjutsu to influence my decision making and get me to declare war on one of the other lands or even start a conflict within my own realm." The Daimyo replied.

Sasuke thought back to Shisui's Kotoamatsukami. His older brother's friend was foolishly going to use Kotoamatsukami on his own clan head during the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha. Seems as though these ninja harassing the Daimyo are using a much weaker type of brainwashing-genjutsu, so weak that the Daimyo is aware of what's taking place. However, a genjutsu that is capable of changing your decision making or even brainwashing you is still a concern no matter how weak it might seem at the beginning.

"Well if that's the case what would you have me do?" Sasuke asked.

"I would have you be in my personal detail for the next few months. I requested that the Hyuga Clan be sent on a mission to protect me as well. These times may now be peaceful for the average rank-and-file shinobi or civilian, but for those like myself who wield the power to plunge the Great Nations into another bloody conflict, these times for me are far from peaceful." The Daimyo replied.

'So he's firing on all cylinders. With my Sharingan I can break any and all genjutsu that the Hyuga's can't sense or see, and the Hyuga can maybe or possibly figure out where these shinobi are hiding and what their MO is. It also wouldn't hurt having someone with my brute strength to scare them away and give the Daimyo some breathing room.' Sasuke thought

"I can accept this job, especially since there's not much else to do." Sasuke replied.

The Daimyo gave out a deep sigh of relief. He originally thought it'd be impossible for the Uchiha to show up here, but not only has he shown up but he's also offered his services. The Daimyo simply assumed that some things never changed. His family had hired the Uchiha Clan to participate in battles or act as security for over three centuries, and now the last of both their families are working together one last time.

"Perfect! I will have my men create an identification card for you from the Daimyo's office, it's simply the law. Also, please let my men know exactly where it is you're staying, that way we can properly coordinate. I'm of course going to be attending the upcoming event at Tanzaku Gai and would of course require your services there. If there's anything else you need young Sasuke, give the word." The Daimyo replied.

Sasuke needed nothing else, so both he and the Daimyo shook hands and parted ways, for now.


OCTOBER 10TH - DAY OF THE FESTIVAL- NARUTO UZUMAKI'S BIRTHDAY

Sasuke woke up from his sleep and prepared himself for the day. The Hyuga Clan's security team would have already arrived and been in touch with the Feudal Lord by now, so it was time for Sasuke to rendezvous with the rest of the security team and prepare to head toward Tanzaku Gai, which was only about twenty to thirty minutes away from the Feudal Lord's office.

Once Sasuke arrived at the office, he saw multiple carriages, about five or six and could just tell based on where all the Hyuga were standing, the one that housed the Daimyo. Sasuke then approached the convoy, asking for the Daimyo.

The Daimyo opened the curtains to his carriage and greeted Sasuke happily.

"Young Sasuke, it's good that you're here. We head off in the next twenty minutes. Feel free to fall in rank with the Hyuga's and discuss the security planning with them, they'll be sure to brief you on all that is required to take place." The Daimyo said.

"Understood" Replied Sasuke.

It was clear to Sasuke that just based on how the convoy was set up, it was obvious which carriage was the Daimyo's. He was sure that since the threat hadn't become too severe, the Daimyo wasn't too keen on changing the outer appearance of his carriage for a less obvious one, but the most obvious change that absolutely needed to be made was the organization of the Hyuga ranks.

Sasuke then turned to the Hyuga squad.

"Which of you is the commanding officer?" Sasuke asked.

A Hyuga with black hair and three scars running down his face rose his hand.

"That would be me, Ro Hyuga." Ro replied.

"I think it would be wiser if we stretched the squad a bit more. If anyone's watching us it'll be obvious as to which carriage belongs to the Daimyo. Since there's nine of you, it's probably best if three occupy the front half, three in the middle, and three in the back." Sasuke said.

Although not entirely trusting Sasuke, Ro Hyuga agreed, seeing as though the plan was entirely sensible and reasonable. There were no flaws in it, and it also allowed them flexibility if there was an attack and one of them were killed or wounded.

"Alright, agreed." Ro replied, nodding his head.

The security team reorganized and then moved forward Tanzaku Gai.

As they approached the large gambling, sex-obsessed city, Sasuke could see fireworks going off and long lines of people trying to get food, souvenirs, and play games. Shinobi from every single village were here, even small ones like the Village Hidden In The Rain, and also The Hidden Grass Village. He was one hundred percent confident that Naruto and the rest of the gang were deeper into the city and would be very difficult for the average person to access.

The convoy stopped and three of the Hyuga guards stayed behind. They'd be there for about an hour and then be relieved by some of the other Hyuga's that went into the town with the Daimyo, and then that group would also then be relieved by the third and final group of three that is also heading into town. That way, all the guards can both complete their tasks while also getting the chance to socialize and enjoy the celebrations.

Sasuke realized that he hadn't even responded to the message sent to him by Kakashi to The Land Of Snow at all, and that his appearance at this celebration would be largely unexpected.

As the team of Sasuke and six other Hyuga's moved with the Daimyo, they made their way through the large crowd with people moving out of the way for the Daimyo to get through. Eventually, they made it to the center of the town to find the more "popular" and well-established people that participated in the war. The Hokage, Mizukage, Tsuchikage, Raikage, and Kazekage were all there, alongside their respective Daimyo's. The Konoha 11, alongside all of the Kage's usual entourages were present as well.

'I guess The Land Of Fire's Daimyo likes to be fashionably late.' Sasuke thought.

Hinata Hyuga was amongst the crowd and spotted some of her clansmen with the Daimyo, also recognizing someone she hadn't seen in some time and wasn't expecting either.

"Is that Sasuke!?" Hinata asked outloud, pointing in his direction.

Everyone turned in the direction of the Fire Daimyo. Literally everyone.

Naruto's eyes lit up, and Sakura's mouth was gaping.

Naruto and Sakura jumped over to the security team and ran over to Sasuke.

'I guess I should have expected this.' Sasuke thought.

The former Team 7 began to catch up and talk, while the Daimyo started socializing with the other Feudal Lord's and the Kage. Other members of the Konoha 11 joined the fray and got in on the conversation as well. Sasuke could feel the lack of trust coming from some of the people in the vicinity, which he assumed was to be expected. Shikamaru was watching him like he was a bomb waiting to explode, and Kiba looked as if he was disgusted with his presence.

Everyone else for the most part amicably socialized with Sasuke, with Ino asking the utmost amount of questions.

"Where have you been this whole time Sasuke?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, where and what've you been up to this whole time?" Naruto asked.

"The Land Of Snow.." Sasuke cooly replied.

"T-The Land Of S-Snow? Why go there?" Hinata asked. Sasuke noticed she was flanked by another Hyuga girl with brown hair. Sasuke surmised that was her younger sister, Hanabi. He'd seen Hanabi and Hinata around the village many times when Sasuke and Hinata were genin.

"Well, I tried some of the more low-key villages. Ones that probably wouldn't make too much of a fuss with me being there but I guess that was too much to ask. They all turned me away, so I tried my luck with The Land Of Snow, since Team 7 saved the Feudal Lord's life and her reign over her lands." Sasuke replied.

Sasuke then remembered something important. He place his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"The main reason I came here was to tell you Happy Birthday, Naruto." Sasuke said.

Naruto's chuckled and began rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah thanks Sasuke, I didn't know you even know about my birthday, really!" Naruto nervously laughed.

Of course Sasuke knew, it was a topic that came up in battle against Obito in his Jinchuriki form and when The Fourth Hokage's soul was released from the Edo-Tensei.

Sasuke supposed Naruto wasn't wrong for assuming such though, He hadn't really shown his former teammates or classmates the attitude of a guy who gave a shit about anyone or anything outside of vengeance for the Uchiha, so he supposed Naruto's sheepish response was sensible.

"But why are you moving around with the Feudal Lord? What's that all about." Shikamaru asked, narrowing his eyes.

If Sasuke just came here to tell Naruto Happy Birthday, why walk in here accompanied by the most powerful man in The Land Of Fire, completely unexpected.

Hanabi Hyuga herself was curious about this as well. This was the first time she had ever come this close to interacting with Sasuke Uchiha. She had seen him many times growing up and was always curious about him, since he was a constant name in her household. Her sister, being the heiress of the Hyuga Clan, was expected to be number-one in her class, especially since she already had the Byakugan from a young age. Instead, she was constantly outdone by Sasuke Uchiha, with him ranking #1 in the class year after year.

This in terms of business didn't affect the Hyuga Clan. With the Uchiha all but extinct, the Hyuga clan no longer had any competition for high-paying jobs from Feudal-Lords and other clients, but the fact that the sole surviving seven-year-old Uchiha without a Sharingan was still superior to a Byakugan wielding Hyuga heiress was a stickler in the pride of the Hyuga clan's more prideful and supremacist-like members.

This was the beginning of the rift between Hinata and Hiashi. When the Uchiha massacre occurred, Hiashi expected Hinata to surely surpass the Uchiha considering there was no one left to teach him anything about being a ninja outside of the academy and yet her sister still couldn't rank #1 in her class. Hiashi became disillusioned about his daughter's talents and abilities, considering that his daughter couldn't out-compete a child with no parents and no clan. It was the beginning of the narrative in her household that Hinata wasn't fit to be the heiress of the clan.

Not to mention the constant comparisons between herself and Hinata.

Now, here he was. The boy that her father would always compare Hinata to, day in and day out. She'd seen him before, but her sister was always afraid to socialize with him and Hanabi herself had no reason to interact with him. He was handsome, beautiful even. The stereotype about the Uchiha Clan being disproportionately good-looking seemed true. Sasuke was tall, taller than all of his classmates, standing about six-feet. She'd always wondered about the Uchiha Clan and what they were like, considering they had been wiped out when she was an infant and they were considered the strongest clan in existence at the time. They were also the only other clan in the village with Kekkei Genkai, specifically a dojutsu at that.

She'd never really bought into the idea that they were the strongest clan, considering the fact that they'd been wiped out in one night, apparently by Sasuke's older brother. But then, the Fourth Great War happened and two Uchiha brought the entire world to it's knees. Not to mention the fact that Sasuke himself had attacked the Five Kage Summit and survived. Rumor even had it the Raikage lost his arm in combat battling Sasuke Uchiha.

Slowly, over time, it became clear to Hanabi that the Uchiha Clan were something out of the ordinary.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Sasuke's reply to Shikamaru.

"I was summoned here by the Feudal Lord months ago. I had no intentions of arriving this soon but considering Naruto's birthday was coming up, I figured I'd show up." Sasuke replied.

Hanabi thought that it was odd that Sasuke was also being used as security alongside her clan members. She knew that her father Hiashi would take it as an insult, even if he personally never says anything about it to the Daimyo, which she assumed and hoped he wouldn't. Even if Sasuke was stronger than the entire Hyuga Clan combined, he's only one man, and the Hyuga Clan would have many more missions rolling through anyways.

"You of all people were summoned by the Feudal Lord..?" Shikamaru asked, genuinely curious.

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" Sasuke replied, clearly having taken offense.

There was a tension in the air that didn't need to be there. Everyone was here to enjoy a good time, not fan the flames of a new conflict. Naruto knew that Sasuke despised Konoha and that any more tension between himself and Konoha shinobi would just drive the wedge between Team 7 and Sasuke even deeper.

The tension was sliced by the unexpected interruption of Kakashi.

"You know, Shikamaru. The Uchiha Clan has a far reaching relationship with the Daimyo, very far reaching. It's no surprise to me that he and Sasuke eventually crossed paths. Their families have been working together for a very long time, even before the founding of the Hidden Leaf Village." Kakashi interrupted, holding one of Jiraiya's Make Out Novels in hand.

"Now that I think about it...yeah that's true, in the academy Iruka-sensei said that the Senju and Uchiha Clan's were the ones who helped the Daimyo's dynasty take control of the Land Of Fire." Sakura interjected, having been a book-worm back in the academy.

Now Hanabi's interests were sort of peaked. The Uchiha Clan and it's former status clearly wasn't being done proper justice by outlaw-cowboy's like Sasuke or psychotic killers like Obito, Madara, and Itachi. There's clearly more to the story of this clan and she was interested in learning about them.

Tensions began to lower amongst the Konoha 11, Sasuke and Team 7 went back to the Feudal Lord's side and everyone else went back to their activities. Fireworks began to go off later into the night and people began gathering around a large stage as veterans of the war gave speeches about their service, the losses they suffered, and the joy they felt at having saved the world from the clutches of Madara Uchiha. Shinobi were decorated with awards for their service by their Kage, after higher-ranking shinobi gave short dissertations on their actions in combat. As the night went on, celebrations, eating, and drinking continued up until the final honors service.

It had been a year after the war, and the commanders within the war saw fit to finally award the participating shinobi with medals and plaques for their service. Something to remind the current and future generations of how pivotal and important this war truly was, and the impact that winning it had on them and our future generations.

Naruto's unit in the war was summoned to the stage.

Hanabi watched from the crowd, as the ultimate hero, Naruto Uzumaki made his way to the stage. She remembered years back when he fought and defeated Neji, the most promising prospect of the Hyuga Clan. He inadvertently improved the relationship between Neji and Hiashi with that fight. Naruto defeated Pain in combat, and Naruto went from the most hated person in the village for possessing the Nine-Tailed-Fox to becoming the most renowned hero in the shinobi world.

Sakura Haruno made her way to the stage, she was Tsunade's student and and the most skilled ninja-medic in history beside Tsunade and the First Hokage. With her slug-summonin jutsu, she was able to significantly reduced the immense casualty-rate that the allied forces were suffering at the beginning of the war, while simultaneously participating in a combat capacity against Madara Uchiha himself.

Hanabi felt chills at how strong Sakura would have to be in order to be effective in combat against Madara Uchiha despite not having Sharingan Or Tailed-Beast Power.

Kakashi Hatake made his way to the stage. The man who copied over a thousand jutsu and a former wielder of the Sharingan. A veteran of two shinobi world wars, the man who helped defeat Obito in combat, and was the sensei of Team 7.

The lethality of a shinobi like Kakashi had to be unreal.

Then..Sasuke Uchiha was called to the stage. The silence in the crowd was palpable. With his Uchiha crest proudly emblazoned on his back, Sasuke made his way to the stage, stoic as ever. Sasuke killed Itachi, Deidara, Orochimaru, and Danzo in combat. Participated in subduing Kabuto Yakushi, who summoned the edo-tensei and aided in efforts to defeat Obito, and Madara in battle.

Might Guy and Killer Bee were also summoned to the stage as well, both having participated in the most pivotal battles in the war.

Dubbed "Team Naruto" the unit received a citation from every single seated Kage and were awarded the highest awards that any village could give.

Hanabi stood in awe of the team in front of her. She'd always been fascinated by the Great Ninja Wars, and shinobi combat in general. She'd never seen combat before in her life, besides training with other members of her clan. When she asked her older sister Hinata about the war, Hinata just didn't want to talk about it. She was clearly psychologically scarred by what she'd seen in combat, not to mention Neji dying directly infront of her.

Hiashi himself did not wish to speak about it. Which shook Hanabi on some level. If Hiashi, the proud clan head of the Hyuga, refused to speak on the things he had seen, then the Fourth Great Ninja War had clearly dished out a level of destruction the likes of which most shinobi could not handle.

She wondered what kind of horrors the others saw, especially people like Might Guy and Kakashi, who had survived two shinobi world wars in their lifetime.

Little did she know, war was far from over.