It was just before dawn when I returned to the Elemental Nations. I popped up in the Nara compound, silently appearing out of a shadow.
Purely for cosmetic purposes, really, the fact that the shadow was there was entirely irrelevant, save that when I emerged from it I was damn near invisible in the before-sunrise darkness.
And, consequently, it looked really cool when two points of light appeared in deep shadow, right before the shadow itself seemed to come alive; extending unnaturally and seeming to reach outwards.
I'd given more than a few people a scare that way, both Nara and otherwise.
Of course, the entire thing was utterly wasted now, as there was no one around to scare, and no one around to admire it. Still, it was a fun thing I liked to indulge in.
I walked over to the counter, seeing that the note I left was still there.
Well, in hindsight, that note was a waste, but... Oh well. It had been prudent at the time.
I crunched it up into a ball and promptly flicked it into the trash.
Further away, in the village proper, I felt a surge of hate and rage.
My vision flickered- and yep, Sasuke is awake.
I took a moment to grab a glass and fill it with cold water, and then I dipped into a Corridor of Darkness not a second later.
I emerged outside of his room, waving to the ANBU guarding his door before gently knocking on his door.
A slight flicker in his emotions, and a slightly larger flicker in his Chakra, told me that unlike last night, this morning he was actually aware of his surroundings.
I considered that a step in the right direction.
It was a step in a direction, at any rate.
I slid the door open just enough to slip through, the morning light now bright enough to illuminate my form, and bathe the room itself in a soft light.
I shut the door behind me, giving us some measure of privacy- only a little, though, there was an ANBU on the inside of the room as well. Neko, actually. Huh. It had been a while since I last saw her. I refrained from looking at her, since Sasuke himself was completely unable to sense her presence.
"Good morning, Sasuke." His head shot up, surprised at 'hearing' me speak.
Neko herself was just as surprised as he, her leg twitching slightly as she fought down an instinctive reaction.
God damn it was fun to mess with the ANBU.
"You can talk?" The boy asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Figured it out an hour ago." I shrugged. "You're looking better than you were last night."
The boy stared for a second, before shaking his head and deciding to ignore it, in a gesture that was surprisingly similar to Shikaku.
"I... I still don't know your name."
My head cocked to the side. "Drich." I said, softly. Or as softly as I could, anyway. Which wasn't much, since it was impossible for me to put an inflection on those words. They were just that; words, words without sound, words without voice. Just words. "Though most of the Nara call me 'little guy' or 'little one'. But enough about me," I said, drawing the glass of cold water out of the Corridor of Darkness and handing it to him.
'Little guy' was just so completely wrong, but whatever.
What I said next was said only to him. "It's you they're going to be talking to very soon."
"They?" He asked, and at the very same time, somebody knocked on his door.
Timing: Impeccable.
I shifted to the other side of his bed, opposite the side of the door, which slid open to reveal a doctor- and the Hokage.
Neko straightened up a little as Hiruzen walked pass her, and, unconsciously, so did Sasuke. However much he could, anyway, sitting up in the bed as he was.
Hiruzen gave a slight smile, before greeting me with a nod, and greeting Sasuke with a "Good morning, Sasuke-san."
The slightest, tiniest pulse of Chakra quickly had Neko leave the room, vanishing instantly with a smoke-less, sound-less shunshin.
I'd long since picked up that doing so was actually pretty hard, requiring a great degree of control over Chakra. Shikaku could do it, though he was normally so lazy that he didn't bother with it. Most of the Nara clan could manage it, actually, but again, most of those that could were stricken with a severe case of 'lazy as all hell'.
"You've been asleep for quite some time. 6 days, to be exact."
"Itachi..."
"Murdered most of the Uchiha clan."
Well, him and Tobi. That particular piece of knowledge, however, was being kept suppressed on Hiruzen's orders, until they managed to figure out more about Tobi.
He'd probably tell Sasuke later, but that could come later, when he wasn't an emotional wreck from having most of his family murdered by his big brother that he all but worshipped, who also tortured him with images of killing his entire family, over and over and over again.
It was kind of a dick move, to say the least.
Sasuke's hands clenched, and his hatred flared.
I nudged him on the shoulder, slightly.
Sasuke breathed in, and then out, his hands unclenching. His hate cooled off again, which I took as a victory.
His eyes closed, and he softly asked. "What happens next?"
Hiruzen was surprised, however slightly, but not even an iota of it showed on his face.
"After the doctors have deemed you to have recovered sufficiently enough to be removed from the Genjutsu ward, you will then be moved to the Physical Trauma ward; placed in the same room as the remainder of your family. Kuroko Uchiha will take over managing your clan, in both internal and external politics. Itachi Uchiha" I can see the sadness in the old man's Heart, though, much like his surprise, it wasn't present on his face or in his body language. "will be branded a missing-nin and a bounty placed on him. He'll be hunted by other missing-nins, Hunters, and ninja after his bounty. As for you, once you have healed, you will have the choice of either continuing the academy curriculum, or dropping out to pursue a civilian life."
"I'm becoming a ninja." He said. And he would, because he'd stop at absolutely nothing to achieve that goal.
He was utterly determined to become one, and simply wouldn't let anything stand in his way.
It was determination I'd seen before.
In Naruto Uzumaki.
But where Sasuke was determined to become a ninja, Naruto was determined to become Hokage.
It was a determination that would take him very, very far.
This... could turn out very, very bad.
Or, it could turn out very, very good.
I only hoped for his sake that it was the latter.