AN: Next chapter, finally!
Don't Mind Me- Thanks for the feedback, it means a lot. Feel free to point out anything you think needs work.
AzureFan2- I agree with you 100% on Sasuke's character. It's easy to forget before the Kage Summit arc Sasuke wasn't even a villain yet, he was just a shinobi that wasn't a member of any village. At that point he still kind of is the silent and cool kind of person he was before he left Konoha. It's one of the main reasons I chose Hebi Sasuke for this story instead of a later version.
Danish78- Sasuke did have chakra to spare at the end of his battle with Deidara in this story, but he was still running relatively low. In chapter 1 I had Sasuke first try to summon Garuda to escape the blast because it wouldn't take as much chakra as his larger snakes, but he had to resort to his Great Snake Escape when Deidara revealed Garuda couldn't fly far enough away in time. He didn't run low enough on chakra to allow Orochimaru to escape, but in this story as well as in canon I think he came close to that point. As for using his Curse Mark, you'll have to keep reading!
blankdead- Yeah I wasn't going to have him conveniently speak the same language as the inhabitants of a different world. I do have plans to bring the language difference further into the story later on if you keep reading!
ThE 4SsAsSiN 21- I could tell you, but where's the fun in that? Don't worry, that question will be answered later (maybe a lot later).
LordAzrael1- Preach it! Someone finally gets me! All the Naruto Uzumaki fics have him essentially be a fictional Jesus Christ, fix everyone's problem via clones and/or talk no jutsu, etc. None of that for me, thank you very much. I want some struggle; be it against an external foe or a more personal conflict that isn't solved so easily. Naruto's general Mary-Sue character he is frequently written as is the last thing I want to see. Not to mention it's so difficult to find a story here that he's not in. He's almost like a YouTube or TV ad that seems like a good product or service but pops up so frequently you just want to punch the wall and make it go away because you've already seen it 30 times.
The reviewer FerunaLutelou brought up a good point in their comments that I feel I should address. The whole 'screw the flamers' thing I've written in the previous chapters should be explained a bit so everyone knows exactly who I am and am not referring to. If you personally disagree with anything I've written and leave a review explaining why you are more than welcome to. No problems with that at all.
The people I am pre-emptively insulting are the ones who go into a sushi restaurant to order barbecue, get pissed off the place doesn't serve what they want, and instead of just leaving throw a tantrum trying to wreck everyone else's good time. They can go screw themselves.
If by chance FerunaLutelou does read this, I am grateful for you pointing this out even if we disagree elsewhere. Hope you have a pleasant day.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Naruto and am making no profit from either of these franchises whatsoever.
'thoughts'
Uchiha of Remnant
Chapter 3: Down the Rabbit Hole
Ruby had seen him appear out of nowhere, slaughtering Beowolves without effort with a short sword. She had thought he was a young Hunter, or a student from Beacon at first.
Once the battle ended she couldn't contain what her older sister had called 'fangirl mode'. She couldn't help it, he had just been so cool! The moves, his strikes, and that last kick that had crushed the head of the last Beowolf. And that first attack that had turned his sword into a real lightning blade was one of the most awesome things she had ever seen!
She had been very confused when it became clear that he did not understand her or speak the same language. She couldn't remember exactly when, but hadn't the whole world been speaking Valerian for almost a hundred years?
She didn't consider herself skilled at making friends, certainly not as easily as her sister. But a simple name exchange and handshake was a good idea, right?
Ruby released her grip on Sasuke's hand after she shook it before taking a closer look at him. Now that she had calmed down from her earlier excitement she could see that he was a bit beat up. It didn't look like anything serious, but what had he fought if he handled all those Grimm so easily?
It was then that Ruby let out a gasp and raised her hands to her mouth in concern as she realized another detail.
'What in the world is he wearing!? How did he get out here without a jacket or any winter clothing? Did he lose it in whatever fight he was in before this?'
How Sasuke had gotten out here wasn't important now. She needed to bring him home where he wouldn't get frostbite and have her dad check that his wounds weren't bad.
'Maybe dad will know someone who can understand him and help him get home!'
Ruby grabbed his sleeve and began pulling him with her along the path before it was yanked from her grip. Sasuke had an annoyed look on his face, refusing to be dragged anywhere.
"We have to get you inside and fix your wounds up!" Ruby exclaimed, gesturing to his cuts and bruises. "It's only a few miles this way!"
She had barely finished uttering the last word of her sentence when the boy's eyes morphed into a scarlet hue. It was not dissimilar from what Yang's eyes looked like when she was angry minus the three comma shaped marks surrounding the pupil.
A pulse of slight pressure was felt the next instant across her face and head, followed by a very mild feeling of lightheadedness similar to when someone stood up too quickly from a sitting or squatting position.
'What did he just do?'
Sasuke was clearly confused too, his eyebrow now slightly raised giving him a questioning look as opposed to his earlier look of neutrality.
'He couldn't have just tried to attack me, he would have done that earlier if he had wanted to. And his eyes aren't like Yang's. He's not angry.'
He then gave an almost silent sigh of someone who accepted a less than desirable outcome but didn't want to before simply walking to her side and gesturing for her to lead the way.
"Alright, that was weird…" Ruby muttered to herself awkwardly as they started along the path, not noticing that only one of them was leaving footprints. She was curious what he had just tried to do, but it wasn't like she could ask him.
It was weird not being able to talk to someone, she couldn't imagine what it was like for him.
They arrived at Ruby's house ten minutes later, though only one needed to scrape their feet on the mat to rid their footwear of snow before entering. The girl had noticed that for someone who was wearing a summer-thin shirt and sandals in freezing weather he did not look uncomfortable. There was no redness around his ears or nose, and there was not a shiver or chatter of teeth she could see.
"Dad, I'm back! I need your help with something!"
"I'll be right there sweetie, I just need to put dinner in the oven first."
Ruby gestured for Sasuke to follow her before leading him to the middle of the living room, pausing to wait for her father to finish his work in the kitchen. In seconds Sasuke was assaulted and inspected by the black and white Corgi that dwelled there, the dog trying to determine if this new face that was clearly invited inside could be persuaded to give belly rubs.
Taiyang came through the door before Zwei realized he was wasting his time, the blonde able to tell from his daughter's tone that though she needed assistance it was not an emergency.
"Alright what do- who is that?" the patriarch of the home asked, taking in the worn appearance of the boy.
"His name is Sasuke, he helped me kill some Grimm that attacked me on my way back from visiting Mom. But he doesn't have any winter clothes and he got some injuries from something else before he found me."
"Why on earth are you traveling outside without a jacket kid? Haven't you heard of hypothermia?"
"Oh, and he can't speak Valerian."
"What? That shouldn't be possible. It's been over a century since the last non-Valerian speaking colony was destroyed."
"Dad I'm serious! Look- Sasuke, say something." Ruby said turning toward their guest, miming talking movements with her hands to get her request across.
Sasuke only gave a look of annoyance before he replied "Omai saa maji andaasutando oi."
"…Alright, so he can't. You can call me Taiyang" the blonde said, pointing toward himself so the boy knew he was giving his name. "I'll get the first-aid kit real quick. I don't think there's anything serious but it never hurts to make sure."
Taiyang left the room before Ruby returned her gaze to the raven-haired youth. She sat down haphazardly on the side of the couch next to Zwei's bed, scratching the canine's ears before patting the area next to her to indicate Sasuke could sit down. He accepted the offer, though he did so with a straight back and legs that were positioned such that he could get to his feet at a moment's notice if he needed to. The eyes of the boy in question were darting up, down, and sideways as he observed his surroundings. Speech may have been off the table but even someone as young as Ruby could tell he was giving his full attention to every detail of the room.
Her father returned less than a minute later with the first-aid, confident he would only need some Neosporin and maybe a few band-aids.
Sasuke obviously knew what they were for and removed his shirt without any prompting, but clearly was of the opinion that treatment was not necessary. Taiyang quickly found the worst scrapes and cuts; thankfully none of them were serious. The boy was certainly correct that he did not need any help, but years of cleaning and band-aiding small injuries on his two wild and energetic daughters had brought several habits that were hard to break.
Taiyang took a quick look at the boy's face before starting, trying to make quick eye contact and make sure he was okay with being physically touched by someone who was by all intents and purposes a stranger.
He froze and had to suppress a shiver of fear when he saw the look Sasuke was giving him. His face had taken a neutral expression with no anger, no sign of anxiety or nervousness, and no threatening signals at all. But the focus, the intensity of his gaze was beyond words. Onyx eyes so black in shade it was impossible to tell the boundary between pupil and iris stared into his very soul. Taiyang had no doubt at that moment that he could not move a muscle the smallest distance without the boy noticing.
Predator. That was the label the primitive portion of his mind had given Sasuke. Not a mindless creature of destruction like a Grimm, but something far more cunning and unpredictable. A snake before a lethal strike, a cat before pouncing, a bird of prey before diving on its victim. That was what the boy was right now. Camouflaging his intentions in a non-threatening manner, waiting for just the right trigger to strike.
If he did anything Sasuke didn't like, he would have a fight on his hands.
Taiyang began applying the ointment in a slow and deliberate manner after that first pause, the conscious part of his brain reminding him that he should not be so quick to judge and that treating a guest who had helped his daughter and had not displayed any hostility in such a suspicious manner was quite rude.
Calloused fingers gently dabbed the scraped and cut portions of skin, the owner of said fingers making a conscious effort to not tremble his hands or breathe unevenly. Ruby was young and a bit naïve; enough so that she did not pick up on the tension.
Her father wanted to keep it that way. Ruby was clearly worried about the young man and was grateful for his earlier help even if she hadn't needed it. Burdening her mind with such knowledge was not something he wanted for her.
"So do you know anyone who can help him find his way home, or wherever he came from?"
"I can try calling Ozpin tomorrow. If anyone has got the connections to figure this out it's him." Taiyang replied, trying not to let his relief of having a credible diversion of his attention be noticed.
"Oh! Oh! That means it will be like a sleepover tonight! He can stay in the guest room! And he can meet Yang when she gets back!"
"Well that will have to wait until tomorrow." Taiyang had replied matter-of-factly, but inside he realized that his innocent youngest daughter had picked the best possible time to bring home a strange boy with a questionable history.
Yang was at a slumber party with some of her many friends, which was a good thing right now in his opinion. She had blossomed into both a social butterfly and a prime target for teenage boys, a combination that would have given any father a lot to worry about. She did have standards though, he still remembered falling to the ground with laughter after hearing from Ruby how she knocked out a guy from college who had called her a bimbo in his pick-up line. There was no shortage of similar stories regarding guys she had rejected, and he had no doubt she could handle herself and beat the crap out of any boy who did anything she didn't approve.
The problem that was thankfully avoided for now was that there were a lot of things about Sasuke she would approve of. The unknown language he used gave an exotic quality to him, something all women liked. Straight or otherwise, it was painfully obvious to him that the boy was incredibly good looking, definitely heartbreaker material. The calm and indifferent look on his face that seemed to be his normal expression certainly gave off an "I know I'm better than everyone" vibe that he had seen Qrow use to great effect with local women when they were on missions. It was probably more to hide his thoughts and emotions than assert his superiority over others if Taiyang was judging his response to physical contact correctly, but it was what it looked like that mattered.
As if he needed anything to add to that he had demonstrated for Ruby he was a capable fighter. His shirtless form revealed a toned and incredibly lean body that was clearly the result of extreme physical training by someone who did not want to obtain sheer bodybuilding power at the expense of speed and agility. To top it off, he had several small wounds from another unknown battle before that as well as what appeared to be several tattoos on his arms and left shoulder. A bad boy through and through if one were to go off his appearance, something Yang's rebellious teenage phase would no doubt love.
"I need to get back to getting dinner ready, I'll need to turn the chicken in a few minutes." Taiyang remarked, finishing treating Sasuke's wounds none too soon in his opinion. "I'll heat a few leftovers up to account for our guest too. You want to watch some TV while you're waiting? Your friend might recognize something on the news."
Ruby proved herself a proper teenager and jumped at the chance to watch TV, even if was something as boring as the local news. "Good idea! Hey dad, do you think…?"
"We're eating at the table sweetheart."
A pout that went unseen by her father made its way to her mouth, but she still wasted no time in grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. She would have preferred watching cartoons but trying to find some kind of clue to help Sasuke was more important.
Ruby's obsession with watching the images on the screen meant she did not see the look of surprise, then shock and confusion as he saw television images being projected not from a flat screen, but from a small device that seemed to 'beam', for lack of a better word, the two-dimensional images into thin air.
"-ayor Wyck is still performing well in recent polls in his bid for re-election despite multiple criticisms of the steady rise in crime rate and dust robbery that have been seen in the past several weeks. Some have argued that…"
Ruby turned her head and saw her new friend's ebony eyes glued to the screen. Not with a mindless gaze that her sister would have had, but a sharp and focused look that left no doubt in her mind that he was analyzing everything he saw and heard as thoroughly as he had the living room earlier.
Unfortunately, there were no images or words that Sasuke showed any reaction to before Taiyang called them in to the dining room/kitchen with the smell of chicken and excessively buttered mashed potatoes greeting their nostrils. The blonde gestured to the seat to his right that was opposite Ruby to indicate where Sasuke would sit.
Sasuke did so wordlessly, Taiyang pleasantly surprised that he immediately placed his napkin on his lap and sat with a straight posture that Yang and Ruby would do well to emulate.
'Look at that, a teenager that doesn't slouch and has no elbows on the table. I never thought I would see the day. And without any verbal reminder to not touch his plate until the host starts the meal. Whoever his parents are did a good job teaching him basic manners.'
These new positive impressions were not enough to erased Taiyang's suspicions and questions about the boy's origins as they began their dinner. Ruby was trusting and did not have the experience or the heart to ask some of the serious questions he would have asked the youth before allowing him to enter his home if they had spoken the same tongue.
'The same language has been spoken across Remnant by all of its recorded population without exception for over a century. For him to not know it he must have come from a settlement that has been completely cut off from the outside world for at least that length of time. And to get to Patch he had to have travelled across the ocean teeming with hostile Grimm with what must have been primitive technology. That is a difficult task by itself, but to do it with a vessel small enough for one person to crew it? I don't see how it's possible. And what about his injuries? Some of his wounds had small scorch marks on them, something no Grimm could have given him. Who was he fighting? And on Patch of all places? This is about the most peaceful area of Remnant there is.'
Outside of his mind the mood and conversations of the Xiao Long-Rose dinner table was unchanged from the norm, albeit less noisy and boisterous due to the absence of a second blonde. All the while their guest watched with rapt attention, closely paying attention to the body language, voice tone, and syllables being exchanged in front of him. About ten minutes in he had picked up enough to utter the phrase "Please pass pepper", enough to temporarily drop the jaws of father and daughter. The head of the family was certainly grateful for Sasuke aiding his youngest daughter, but the analytical nature and apparently ridiculous learning curve he possessed was unnerving.
Sasuke still did not know enough vocabulary to understand much of anything else being said, and the rest of dinner passed uneventfully. Taiyang was again impressed by the boy's etiquette as he began cleaning dishes when they were all finished.
His opinion may have been different if he had noticed his guest discreetly unlocking the window in front of the sink when he wasn't looking.
Despite Ruby's wishes to continue watching TV with Sasuke, Taiyang insisted the two of them go to sleep despite it only being 8:30. It was earlier than he normally would have made her turn in, but Sasuke needed to recover from whatever experience had brought him here. And they would have to get up early to make a few calls and potentially take him to the nearest Immigration Office. At least, that was what he told Ruby.
Privately he wanted his guest to begin his slumber well before he did. Taiyang knew it was unlikely that Sasuke would try anything hostile- he was essentially an illegal alien with no friends or contacts that had no way of communicating with the people here and he knew it. Still, his years as a Huntsman had left him with several more cautious habits. Even if Sasuke didn't want attack or ransom them he could still steal their valuables.
Taiyang set up a simple tripwire outside of the guestroom door after he sent Sasuke in to retire for the night. He probably wouldn't need it, but it was better safe than sorry.
Unfortunately for Taiyang he was a Huntsman, not a Shinobi. And for a shinobi of Sasuke's caliber the thought of escaping his room through the door never even crossed his mind.
'Leaving through the most obvious entrance and exit point and going straight into a hallway that both of my hosts can observe by merely poking their heads out of their own rooms? What kind of idiot does he take me for?' Sasuke thought to himself as he clearly heard his host set up some kind of trap or alarm outside.
The Uchiha rolled his eyes- the fool could set up his little trap if he wanted to. He had already planned for such a scenario anyway.
Sasuke's time with Ruby and her father had been both incredibly disturbing and a rather pointless use of his time. The language barrier was an annoyance he had attempted to eliminate immediately after meeting Ruby by placing her under a genjutsu and speaking to her mind directly, learning where he was as well as whatever tongue they spoke here. He had been shocked when his genjutsu attempt did not just fail, it didn't even work. Genjutsu was a subtle art that worked by manipulating chakra in the target's brain to manipulate their senses. Specifically, it manipulated the Yin chakra of a target. It was obvious to the Uchiha then that Ruby's lack of Yin chakra in her chakra cloak was not just skin-deep but applied to her entire body. If that was the case, then her and any other locals who had a similar Yin-exclusive chakra network would be completely immune by default to any genjutsu attempt.
Why he had never heard of such people with radically different chakra networks he had no idea, but it had forced him to change his plans. Without knowing the spoken or written language here he would have to find a visual map or atlas by himself and then pick the best route home he could find.
With that in mind he had taken the girl up on her offer to take him to what he had presumed would be her home. The girl's father had borne a far greater resemblance to Naruto than he would have cared to see; if he had served any variation of Ramen for dinner he would have left the house and never looked back. Fortunately he did not seem to share any of Naruto's more annoying habits and had been willing to apply some sort of healing cream to his wounds.
He had thought Taiyang and Ruby were both shinobi or whatever equivalent this country had considering he could clearly sense chakra from both of them far too high for a civilian, but their behavior spoke otherwise. No shinobi of any rank would consider taking in a complete stranger who could not speak the language who had been in an unknown conflict into their personal home. If the same thing had happened in Konoha the person in question would have been taken straight to the Torture and Interrogation Department with no questions asked.
The Uchiha had been rather miffed that they had thought he needed treatment- it was obvious none of his injuries were even remotely serious. He had seen fit to glare at the father of the house as a warning to not try anything. He was not about to let a complete stranger in an unknown land physically contact him without a clear warning regardless of his kindness.
He had been subjected to another unwelcome surprise before dinner when Ruby had picked up a small remoted control for what he had assumed was a TV. He didn't see the characteristic rectangular device anywhere, but was proven wrong when she pointed it at a short table in front of them and activated a television screen from seemingly nowhere. The images were projected into thin air- something he had never heard about. He activated his Sharingan for a brief moment to see if chakra or something else was being used to create the image, but found nothing. It was legitimately just light that had somehow been projected into empty space.
At that point he became genuinely concerned. This was an invention that was clearly being used by civilians and had no reason to be kept a national secret. That being the case he should have heard about such a technological innovation no matter how far away from home he was.
Seeing as he was going to be forced to stay in whatever this land was for at least several days, good impressions and manners were called for to stay in their good graces. He didn't need their help but being a guest in a home with heating was a superior alternative to staying outside in the snow. So, he pulled out all of his knowledge of proper guest and dining room etiquette that both of his parents had hammered into his psyche. Coming from an older and more traditional clan meant that proper manners were taken very seriously and were taught early.
Fortunately whatever cultural differences existed between him and his hosts did not extend to table habits, and the Naruto look-alike had obviously been pleased with him.
Dinner had been a dynamic experience for him; he had made a clear attempt to follow their conversation and try to find out which words meant what. It was classical code-breaking, one of his personal favorite academic subjects at the academy that had been taught to them in their third year. He made careful observations of syllables, pronunciations and various tones; memorizing and filing them away with dozens of others. When he heard any memorized phrase again he simply compared both occasions it was used. The posture, body language, the direction the speaker's eyes were facing, and the preceding and following actions of his hosts were recalled and analyzed in his brain to determine the meaning of what was being spoken in front of him.
He had managed to gleam some of the new vocabulary as his attempt to ask for what he recognized as pepper had been successful. The words 'salt', 'fork', 'knife', 'napkin', 'chair', 'your', 'I', 'dad', and 'amazing' had been decoded by the end of the meal.
No words needed to be understood for him to know that the head of the family did not trust him despite his politeness. Not that Sasuke could blame him; if he had a stranger that didn't speak the language with a young teenage daughter in his house he wouldn't trust them either. It posed a minor problem since he still needed to find some kind of map he could read, and he could see none on any of the walls. He would have to search after the family went to sleep, probably avoiding whatever safeguards Taiyang put in place to prevent him from sneaking out.
With that in mind he started washing dishes next to a window large enough to crawl through before unlocking the latch when neither of his hosts were looking to leave himself a suitable entrance if he had to sneak into the house from the outside.
'Glad I thought ahead' the Uchiha remarked to himself as he jumped to the ground from the second-story guest room window. Less than a minute later he re-entered the abode with no sound to betray his presence. As long as he left the lights off he would not be discovered. Ruby and Taiyang had gone to their respective bedrooms three hours ago, and Sasuke had just now heard the sounds of steady, slow breathing from both of them that indicated they were asleep.
Ruby had found slumber almost immediately, but her father had clearly decided to stay awake for longer to make sure Sasuke wasn't going to try exactly what he was now doing.
Quickly adjusting his eyes to the darkness was a simple enough feat. Even without the Sharingan most shinobi could still focus some chakra to their eyes to improve their sight in a similar manner chakra could be used to reinforce hearing or muscle strength.
And it wasn't like he was going to stoop so low as to resort to his clan's prized bloodline to find his way in the dark.
He made a beeline for the bookshelf he had seen in the living room before glancing at his options. He could not read the titles, but it stood to reason a book showing a map of the world would be rather tall and skinny compared to shorter thicker ones that were likely works of fiction.
Sasuke went through several gardening, home improvement, and cookbooks before he finally found what he was looking for.
Or at least he thought he had until he flipped through the first several pages and found himself looking at both a world map as well as smaller regional maps that did not match any of the elemental nations. Actually, they didn't match anything he was familiar with.
His first thought was he had stumbled across an atlas of some fictional world, but the blood started to freeze in his veins when he realized the entire book he was holding contained nothing but unfamiliar maps. Why would anyone print an entire book with nothing but atlases of a fictional world without any background text or supporting chapters and stories? It made no sense.
The fundamentally different nature of chakra, the unknown technology, and now a map of a world that was not his own. Sasuke's eyes began to widen at the logical conclusion he was coming to.
Fortunately at the very back of the book was a rather convenient way he could test such a finding. He could not understand any of the words, but the pictures of a shattered moon in different phases spoke for itself. He couldn't look at the earth to see the shape of its landmasses for himself to verify the book's authenticity, but he could look outside and see if the moon was accurately represented in the atlas before him.
'The moon is full right now, I remember seeing it before I fought those wolves with Ruby, so I won't be able to see any shattered pieces now anyway. But if the illustrations here are accurate it is still different from the moon I'm familiar with. The craters and lunar mare are still arranged differently, so I should still be able to tell the two apart.'
Desperately hoping he was wrong, Sasuke went back outside through the kitchen window before turning his gaze upward.
The moon he saw matched the book perfectly- down to the last crater. Activating his Sharingan in a last-ditch attempt to dispel any genjutsu or illusion only further confirmed what was right in front of him. His bloodline was able to make out small pieces of the moon breaking off and start floating away to begin the lunar cycle of this world again.
He wasn't in another part of the world, he was in a different world altogether.
Sasuke was once again fighting the urge to panic, his brain working furiously to make sense of what had happened and to figure out his next course of action.
'Calm down, think this through. Deidara interfered with the reverse summoning somehow, that's what brought me here. If I can travel from the elemental countries to this world through that…place, it stands to reason I can get back as well. But how? I don't even know what exactly happened to shift our destination to begin with!'
It was then that Sasuke remembered his two summons that had been along with him for his unplanned journey.
'Garuda and Aoda were both able to de-summon, so they should have made it back to the Elemental Nations. If that's the case, then all I have to do is summon Aoda again and perform another reverse summoning with no interference this time.'
The Uchiha quickly made his way several hundred yards from the home of his hosts, making sure he was far enough away from it and any other residences that Aoda wouldn't smash them by accident when he was summoned.
Wasting no more time, he bit his thumb and successfully summoned the massive serpent.
"Sasuke-sama, thank goodness! I appeared in the middle of the ocean when I de-summoned myself instead of Ryuchi Cave, I can't sense it anywhere!" Aoda explained, flawlessly crushing Sasuke's earlier optimism. "The nature energy of this place is so rare, I could barely feel any in the sea I was in. And I was attacked by some black whale that was made entirely of Yin chakra, almost like a Tailed Beast! Have you found any information as to where we are? Do you know if Garuda had something similar happen to him?"
Sasuke immediately pressed his hand to the earth again, summoning Garuda in a puff of smoke to answer Aoda's question. A quick genjutsu conversation revealed the Hawk had faced a similar problem returning home that Aoda had, though he had ended up in an outdoor market in a small village somewhere instead. After appearing from thin air and scaring the vendors and customers half to death he had flown off to search for his nest that he should have returned to automatically when he was de-summoned. His search had been in vain and he had observed many of the black chakra creatures that Aoda and Sasuke had also seen.
"We're not in our world anymore, that reverse summoning somehow pulled all of us into a parallel earth of some kind. The map of the world is completely different and the moon breaks and reforms itself during its lunar cycle here. And since neither of you made it back to your homes it's safe to assume we cannot get back with normal means."
The eyes of both summons widened at his words, quickly comprehending the seriousness of the situation they were in.
"There has to be a way back Sasuke-sama! You need to return to your team and Garuda and I have families waiting for us. Would it be possible to attempt another reverse summoning if we modify the sealing for it to compensate for Deidara's interference?"
"It is possible in theory" Sasuke asserted, having gone through this line of thought a bit already. "Unfortunately, it will take time. We will have to create the additional seals from scratch, and none of us can be considered Fuinjutsu masters, so it will take a while before it will be ready."
His previous statement did not do true justice to the problem they faced. Fuinjutsu was notorious for being extremely temperamental and picky. Hard to get right, easy to get wrong. None of his summons had any real experience with sealing other than the ones that they used for summoning themselves and would not be able to help with the extensive modifications that would no doubt be needed.
Sasuke was much better off than they were. While Fuinjutsu was hardly his preferred shinobi art and he had spent a comparatively short time learning it, he had learned enough to be considered reasonably competent. Orochimaru had made sure that he had learned the basics for all shinobi arts even if his natural skills with sealing were not as impressive as his ninjutsu and genjutsu talents.
Unfortunately, what he was going to be attempting was as far from basic as it could get. The delicate nature of space-time jutsu in general meant there was no room for error. The smallest slip or unforeseen factor could render the jutsu useless, transport them to another dimension altogether, turn their bodies inside-out, or anything in between. It was also going to take far more chakra to use than a standard summoning to make up for the extra energy needed to break dimensions instead of just space-time. Deidara's explosion had provided the extra boost before but Sasuke, Aoda, and Garuda would have to supply the extra energy this time.
Getting the formula, the markings, and the design exactly right from his relatively mediocre knowledge of seals was going to take weeks of blueprints, rough drafts, and second-guessing.
'We're going to be here for a while,' Sasuke thought to himself, clenching his teeth in frustration. 'And in that case Garuda and Aoda are going to have to find somewhere to hide until we leave. They likely don't represent any native fauna, so anyone who sees them is going to either try to kill or capture them.'
Not that they couldn't take care of themselves, but it was a hassle he would rather avoid. He had no idea what kind of threats this world held. Nothing so far had impressed him, but it was extremely unlikely the creatures and two people he had met were the most powerful beings here. Sasuke, Aoda, and Garuda could be the strongest living things on this planet, weaker than this world's equivalent of Chunin, or anything in between. There was simply no way of knowing right now.
A brief shriek from Garuda caught the Uchiha's attention; the bird making deliberate eye contact in a clear request to speak to him via genjutsu.
"If we're going to be here for long it would be prudent for Aoda and I to find respective dwellings away from prying eyes until we can leave" Garuda began, having come to the same conclusion his summoner had. He then continued "And you need to learn the language and customs of this place before starting work on the seal. You have a fundamentally different chakra network than anyone else here from what I have seen and are an illegal alien. If the authorities catch you with no identification you'll be either arrested or detained, maybe on an operating table if they realize your chakra is different."
"There is no time to waste integrating here" Sasuke argued, "I can just hide out in a forest somewhere, make a shelter, and get all the food I need while working on our way home."
"It won't be that simple" Garuda countered. "When I was flying around I saw several flying vehicles of some kind make several passovers of outlying wilderness around three separate settlements as well as armed patrols on foot venturing out miles from their villages. If you are found by these people in the middle of nowhere and can't speak the language it is going to lead to some difficult questions that you will not be able to answer. And if civilization here is anything like shinobi villages, where do you think they will put you then? It will be easier for you to hide by finding a populated area and blending in."
Garuda had a point. If he was captured now, he would be locked in a lab like Suigetsu was or shoved into an underground cell in isolation until they could figure out what to do with him. There was no way he would let that happen, but then remembered his lack of knowledge about this world.
'There could be fighters here that are stronger than me. And even if there aren't the technology I saw earlier in Ruby's house is far more advanced than anything back home. It stands to reason advanced weaponry that could kill me may be commonplace here.'
Sasuke deactivated the genjutsu on Garuda, the avian's point having been made.
"I'll try to find the local library and start learning the language here" Sasuke informed his two companions. "After that I'll go to the nearest large village I can find and stay there until I create the seal to get us home. You two need to find a remote area to stay until it's ready. I'll summon you if I need help, so you might want to create a new den or nest respectively until we leave. We can't have you two being teleported to random locations every time you two are de-summoned here."
"Understood Sasuke-sama. If you need any help don't hesitate to summon us" Aoda said before burrowing underneath the frozen ground, the earth rezipping itself up after his tail disappeared. Garuda then took flight, cawing what was probably a 'good luck' to Sasuke before disappearing into the night sky.
The problem with staying in this land for the long haul was that until he created a fake identity for himself, he could not be interacting with anyone here lest they turn him in to whatever authorities handled unknown individuals. And that meant he could not stay with Ruby and Taiyang- people representing some department or another would arrive to take him somewhere in a day or two.
Normally he would have just left; probably 'borrowing' a few of his hosts' clothing or food before doing so. The only possessions he had were the clothes on his back, his sword, and his kunai pouch, so he needed to obtain more supplies.
The thought had crossed the Uchiha's mind however that resorting to thievery now might not turn out well in the long term. If for some reason he was captured and Ruby or Taiyang came forward and identified him, it would be better if he didn't give them any reason to speak negatively of him.
It was for that potential scenario that Sasuke was now placing a single kunai on the kitchen counter before he made his way out. It was a primitive barter payment, but it was all he could do. Hopefully they would get the message that he was grateful for their hospitality. And it wasn't like he was giving them anything too valuable, he had plenty of kunai to spare.
With that Sasuke exited the Xiao Long-Rose home without a sound, running across the snow toward what he assumed was the center of whatever village he was in.
It was around midnight or so, but Sasuke's body was still operating in Land of Fire time and thought it was sometime around five in the afternoon.
It was just as well; he had to find extra clothing, a suitable place for shelter, a reliable food source, and a library where he could start learning the tongue spoken here. And he had to do it without anyone noticing him.
'Definitely a few all-nighters ahead of me.'
AN: So, there's chapter 3.
Who thought I would have Sasuke go straight to Beacon after meeting Ruby in the last chapter? For anyone who said yes, too bad for you! I don't feel like going down a road that predictable.
I never considered it before I started writing this chapter, but my God it's next to impossible to write any dialogue for Ruby without adding an exclamation at the end. Between her natural high-pitch voice and general excitement it was hard to find an occasion to end any of her sentences with a normal period.
Also, if anyone thinks Ruby seems out of character here feel free to rip me for it. It was really difficult for me to stay 'in character' when writing things in her perspective for me because her personality is much further from mine than Sasuke's, so it wouldn't surprise me if she's a bit OOC here from someone else's perspective.
As for the translation for what Sasuke says to Taiyang when Ruby tells him to speak, I'm not giving it to you. First reason for doing so is that I'm not sure if my translation is exactly correct, so what I wrote down is probably wrong to one degree or another anyway. The other reason is to give the reader a more first-person perspective. Ruby and Tai don't know what Sasuke is saying here, and neither do you!
Read and review, let me know what you think!