Chapter 4:

One by one, the young shinobi were removed from the windowless cell and interrogated separately. First, they were placed at a table and asked a series of questions. The questions were repeated in random order with the intent to trip them up and get different answers but the answers the shinobi gave were consistent. When this method didn't yield anything the masked shinobi deemed useful, they tried using jutsu to extract information. Again, they gained nothing but more questions.

The masked men spoke in a private room with Shikamaru to work out a different strategy and go over what they did know.

"Their headbands are the genuine article but their ID cards are obvious fakes. Look at these ones side by side. We don't use this formatting."

"There's no record of these kids in the village, either. They're clearly spies."

"They must have taken the headbands from fallen Leaf shinobi and thought it'd be enough to fool us."

"You'd think they'd put a little more effort into their ID cards. We could tell these were fakes on sight."

"Something troubling you, Shikamaru? What's with the look?"

Shikamaru was trying to wrap his head around the situation but it was difficult to pinpoint the strangers' aims, especially given what they knew, or thought they did. Strategically speaking, it didn't make any sense.

"Something about these kids rubs me the wrong way," he said. "I mean, if they were spies, wouldn't they hold their cards a little closer to the vest? That one kid was shouting in the street about what he knew, trying to convince me we knew each other either though we've never met."

"The kid was poorly trained."

"Yeah, whatever village he's from obviously didn't do a very good job preparing him."

"If that's the case, why send armatures to spy on us?" Shikamaru asked. "That alone doesn't make sense. Such a job should go to someone with some level of skill."

"Must be from a village that's not very bright or thinks we're fools."

"Or this was the best they had."

"They might not be from an enemy ninja village. We have to find out where they're from."

"They're not transformed, we know that."

"Maybe they didn't think we'd suspect children."

Shikamaru spoke again. "What bothers me is the information the kids had. Some was accurate and some wasn't. You'd think if they were spies, they'd do a better job. They'd at least get their facts right."

"They might have been trying to throw you off by giving you false information hoping you'd correct them and thereby feeding them the information they need."

"But it was perfectly generic information that could apply to just about anyone. And I fail to see how historical information anyone can look up in a history book would be worth sending spies in to retrieve." Shikamaru frowned. "And that one boy was trying so hard to convince me that the one kid was my son."

"He's trying to get in your head. Don't let him."

"But what would be the point?" asked Shikamaru. "What would he have to gain by pretending to be my son and trying to convince me that he is when I know he isn't?"

"Probably trying to kindle parental feelings in you for personal gain. Thinking you'd show them around if you thought they were your kid. Grant them special privileges."

"Even if I had a son, I wouldn't do that."

"The kid might have wanted to bleed you dry for cash or something. Or have you teach them special jutsu."

Shikamaru frowned harder. "He already knew my family's jutsu. And I didn't notice anything about him that would indicate cheats, like the Sharigan or some other copycat jutsu. No, he was really doing it on his own. He wasn't carrying anything that would allow him to do it with another source."

"He's trying to get in your head, Shikamaru. Don't let him."

"We don't care about your personal life but if you have been messing around, now's a good time to bring it up."

"He's not my son and I know he isn't," Shikamaru said firmly. "Women can be such a pain."

One of the masked men leaned towards another. "Are we sure he isn't… you know?"

"I heard that," Shikamaru snapped. "I just hate being nagged and women are good at that."

"You're not being interrogated here."

"Then why do I feel like I am?"

"It was just a comment. Sorry, Mr. Sensitive."

Shikamaru tried to return to the subject at hand. "Have we learned anything useful during this time? They've been here for hours."

"They won't change their answers."

"And we tried extracting information using our special jutsu, but nothing. Well…"

"What?"

"Well... all we managed to get was what they've been telling us. We would have been able to tell if they were lying and they didn't seem to be. But the information cannot be true."

Shikamaru snorted. "It's not a lie if you believe it. Isn't that how the saying goes?"

"You're saying that this is what they truly believe? But the information is wrong."

"That doesn't matter," said Shikamaru. "Someone could have brainwashed them into believing this which means your interrogation jutsu is useless. They don't think they're lying."

"Which makes our job a lot more complicated."

Shikamaru turned towards the door but didn't move his feet. "I want to talk to them."

"You sure that's wise?"

"Don't let them get under your skin. It's what they want."

"You're supposed to be intelligent. Why play into their hands like this?"

"I just want to see what they know," he told them. "They seem more willing to talk to me anyway. Might make the most sense. They seem to think they know me which might work in our favor."

"I think you're making a mistake. You're in over your head on this one. You're not an interrogator. You're a strategist."

"And does that not require some level of strategy?" Shikamaru asked. "We might need to change up our game in order to get these kids to talk. Your ways aren't working, so let's try mine."

"We could do what Danzo did in the past and torture them into talking."

"A lot of good that did," Shikamaru said with a scoff. "That method got results but a good bunch of them were all false. People will confess to anything to make the pain stop. We got a lot of false confessions using Danzo's way which ended up causing us problems. Personally, I think he enjoyed the screaming."

"We don't have to touch the kids, just make them think we will."

"Idle threats can only take us so far and I don't feel right about breaking bones to get them to talk," said Shikamaru. "Let me talk to them and if I don't get information, we'll regroup and try something else."

"Those kids rattled you up before, Shikamaru. You obviously can't handle it."

"Now I know what I'm in for. They took me by surprise."

"How about we meet you halfway and get the Yamanaka girl in here to try? She was your teammate and does have some interrogation skills. She can use her jutsu to fish around in their minds for something."

"How is that any different from what you've been doing?" Shikamaru argued. "We'll try another way."

The masked men exchanged looks. One decided to speak, sharing his idea with the group.

"How about we send someone in that isn't you but someone they claim to know? Someone who won't get shaken up so easily?"

Back in their shared cell, Boruto and his friends sat against the far wall recovering after their very long and tedious interrogation. No one was convinced the adult shinobi believed them even after having the privacy of their minds invaded. Mitsuki wasn't sure what the men found but knew it couldn't be much, which might have called for some alarm on their part. Mitsuki had no childhood to speak of so he doubted any of them could find anything about his past. He hoped he wouldn't be singled out and separated from Boruto and his friends because of it.

"We should fight our way out of here," Boruto declared.

"Do you know how stupid that is?" Sarada asked. "There's no way we can take on all those Jonin and win."

"This is a secure building, Boruto," Shikadai added. "Getting out won't be easy. And Sarada's right. Those guys can easily stop us."

"We can't just stay here. I don't even know how long it's been. There's no windows or clocks. It could be tomorrow for all we know. We've got to get out of here and fix this."

"The best way we can do that is prove that we're not a threat and get released on good behavior."

"We're not criminals."

"They don't know that."

"I'm with Sarada, Boruto," said Shikadai. "We should keep our heads down and not make things worse. We stand a better chance of escaping if we do as they say."

"What if they decide we're a threat and lock us away?" Mitsuki asked.

"We can't be a threat if we don't do anything."

Mitsuki kept quiet, both agreeing and disagreeing with that statement. He hoped they were right and he wouldn't be dragged away for being different.

He saw the distress on his friends' faces and wanted to help them. He didn't care about how the village had changed in less than a day, but it wasn't the same and that was causing problems for his friends. He was glad to have them, since he had no real family in the village, but the Leaf had become his home. Though flexible, he did prefer the village the way it was before. Not so much for himself but for his friends. Without the people and relationships they were familiar with, this wasn't really their home. That made his friends very unhappy which made him unhappy. He may have been oblivious at times, but he was observant enough to notice that they were suffering more than he was.

He wanted to help them change things back to normal but couldn't risk making things worse either. Though Boruto wanted to fight, Mitsuki decided to do as the majority said and not causing additional problems. Now wasn't the time.

The door unlocked and opened slowly. Someone stepped inside and closed the door. The young shinobi stood with their backs to the wall, not knowing what to expect. The newcomer but both hands on their hips and turned.

Sarada gave a stifled gasp.

"So," said Sasuke, "who are you really?"

"Sasuke?" Boruto asked. Even he looked different. The most apparent being the fact that Sasuke had both his arms in this reality. He had a similar hairstyle to his regular self but he didn't keep one eye covered as he usually did. His clothes were different and he didn't carry a short blade or cloak.

Sasuke frowned at Boruto. "I see you are familiar with me. Whoever you work for must have given you some accurate information."

"We don't work for anyone. Listen, if you just let us explain…"

Sasuke drew a kunai from his belt. "I don't care for your explanation. I care about getting to the real reason you're here. Those other shinobi have been nice to you so far. Don't expect the same treatment from me."

"You're going to torture us?" Mitsuki asked. "Isn't that barbaric for the Leaf? Naruto didn't seem to believe in it."

"I have no idea who that is but if you don't start talking, you're going to learn what torture's all about."

Boruto knew what he was doing and stood up to Sasuke, thinking he could handle this in his own way. "You're just trying to scare us into talking. You're using a weapon to threaten us and saying these things so we think you already know the situation so we'll confess to something. Well, it's not going to work. We've been telling the truth. It's your fault if you don't believe us."

"Boruto," Sarada hissed. "Don't make things worse." She turned to Sasuke, knowing he wouldn't recognize her in this world. "I'm so sorry about him. He's an idiot. We're willing to cooperate. Just please…"

Sasuke gave her a scornful look which made Sarada's heart leap in her cold chest.

"Tch. You remind me of someone I knew years ago. Pathetic."

Sarada gulped and raised her hands to her chest protectively. She looked exactly like Sakura as a Genin.

Sasuke looked back at Boruto. "You seem eager to talk. You even seem to know what's going on. Familiar with the drill because someone prepared you for this or because you've been on this side of things before?"

"Neither," he answered. "I just know these things. We're not spies."

"Then who are you?"

"I'm Boruto Uzumaki. My dad's the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf."

Sasuke's contemptuous expression never changed.

"You were teammates with him and her mother. Kakashi was your sensei."

Sasuke looked offended. "I touched that bell on his belt but he was never my teacher."

"Why not?" Boruto asked him, changing his strategy slightly.

"Because he didn't."

"That's not an answer."

"You're trying to get information out of me and it's not going to work."

"You're doing it to us."

"Because the information you're giving me is false." Sasuke pointed the tip of the blade at Boruto. "Start talking or the walls are going to be colored red with your blood."

Changing tactics again, Boruto did what he felt was the right move. If Sasuke refused to listen, then he was going to make his point with fists.

Boruto lunged at Sasuke who blocked his fist with his left hand and bent Boruto's wrist back. Boruto spun his body to kick Sasuke in the face but Sasuke blocked that as well. Boruto tried using his other leg and Sasuke effortlessly threw him into the wall.

"Boruto, stop!" Sarada yelled.

Not listening, Boruto shot up and summoned his clones. They circled Sasuke and attacked from all sides. Sasuke easily defeated them in an instant. Again, Boruto used his clones and immediately performed the same attack.

"The same trick again is nonsense," said Sasuke as he popped the clone on his right. "Poor excuse for a ninja."

Suddenly, Sasuke felt something hit the side of his head. Boruto had gotten in a hit. Sasuke countered and was struck again, this time in the stomach. Boruto had performed to same attack to fool him into expecting the same attack pattern all the way through. He braced for impact, drawing a second kunai from his belt to strike Boruto when he delivered the blow.

Boruto suddenly vanished and reappeared above him. Sasuke quickly focused his attention on the ceiling as Boruto dropped straight down on top of him.

"Rasengan!"

Sasuke's head swiveled to look back behind him, realizing the attack from above was a distraction. He couldn't turn in time and took the full force of Boruto's attack in the back which sent him into the wall.

Boruto landed confidently on the ground. "You gonna start listening to us or-"

Sasuke appeared behind him and forced Boruto to the ground using a jutsu he hadn't seen Sasuke use before. A second later, Sasuke had his knee on Boruto's stomach, a hand around his neck and a kunai held above him in the other. He was pinned.

"Boruto, you reckless idiot! What was the point in all that?" Sarada lectured.

"You've got some moves, I'll give you that," said Sasuke. "I'm actually impressed. "It's like you knew what I was going to do."

"Well, I did train with you a bit."

Sasuke tightened his hold on Boruto's neck. "I've never trained you, boy."

"Yeah, you have. But I have to say, that last technique was new. Usually it's lightning with you."

"I don't use lightning jutsu. I never learned."

Boruto chuckled. "Because Old Man Kakashi never taught it to you, you know."

Sasuke snarled at him, annoyed. "Why do you insist on saying such things? We know they're not true."

"Not to you."

"Is that your angle?" Sasuke asked. "You plan to repeat such nonsense until we come to take it as fact? Convince us using brainwashing techniques. Well, I'm not some simpleminded fool."

Sasuke jammed the tip of the kunai into Boruto's shoulder. Boruto let out a scream that startled his friends and had them lurching forward in an attempt to help him.

"Stay where you are unless you want it to be his neck next time," Sasuke warned.

The trio stayed rooted to their current spot, but protested Sasuke's methods.

"He can't fight back."

"This isn't right."

"You really plan to torture him?"

Sasuke pulled the blade free. "Start talking, boy. Who sent you? Where are you from? What is your goal? Why are you here? What plans have you for the Leaf?"

Through a clenched jaw, Boruto said, "No one sent us. We're Leaf shinobi. We're telling the truth."

Sasuke stabbed him again.

"Stop!" Sarada cried. She couldn't believe her father could be so cruel. "This is no interrogation."

"You wouldn't answer before, so this is what you have to look forward to." Sasuke removed the kunai. "Tell me. Who sent you?"

"No one."

He stabbed Boruto's shoulder and the blond boy twisted away, screaming. "Where are you from?"

"We're Leaf shinobi!"

He twisted the blade, forcing blood to the floor. Boruto screamed again.

"Please stop!" Sarada yelled.

"What is your goal?" Sasuke asked again.

"I told you already!"

Sasuke again twisted the kunai in Boruto's shoulder. "Tell me what I want to know. And I better believe it."

"We're Leaf shinobi! This is our home! We- Ahh!" Boruto squirmed under Sasuke's weight, unable to escape the pain.

"Answer me."

"I told you! Ow! Stop! I told you! Ahh!"

Sasuke calmly drove the kunai deeper, twisting as he pressed it in.

Unable to take Boruto's screaming anymore, Mitsuki ignored Sasuke's warning and jumped on top of him to force Sasuke off his friend. Sasuke turned the blade on him but Mitsuki was unusually flexible, twisting away from the point and working his arms around Sasuke's neck. His arms were like snakes. Sasuke was having a hard time breathing and he couldn't get Mitsuki off his back.

With no other choice, Sasuke got off Boruto and grappled with Mitsuki instead. There was no safe way to use the knife on Mitsuki without risking stabbing himself from this position, so Sasuke used other means to force Mitsuki off his back.

Sarada bent down to examine Boruto's wounds but they weren't too severe. To be sure, she fashioned a bandage from a cloth she kept in her pocket and wrapped it around Boruto's shoulder.

"Snake Lightning."

Sasuke's entire body tensed up as electricity coursed through his body. This boy was strong. He had strange abilities and a willingness to kill. He would have done well in ANBU.

Sasuke, however, was trained in ANBU and no longer saw reason to hold back against a child. His tactics were a mix of old and new from Boruto's perspective. It was clear that Sasuke's history was different from the one he was familiar with and therefore a different Sasuke.

After weakening Mitsuki, Sasuke threw him to the floor and proceeded to pummel him mercilessly. He didn't stop, no matter how much Sarada begged.

She didn't know what to do. This was her father, but he was beating up her friend. Was Sasuke actually trying to kill him? Was he making an example out of Mitsuki to get the others to fall in line out of fear? Was he just doing this because Mitsuki pissed him off?

Sasuke's assault on Mitsuki came to a sudden stop when he felt a strong pair of hands on his wrist. Sarada was restraining him with all her might. "I said stop! Please, leave him alone!"

He turned to glare at her but found himself gaping at her instead.

Sarada's Sharingan was activated.

He forgot all about the other children in the room, focusing on her and those eyes.

"How do you have the Sharingan?" he asked, getting to his feet. "Well? Tell me."

Tiny tears came to Sarada's eyes, overwhelmed with emotion. She had cried months ago at the mere thought of meeting her father in person. Back then, he hardly recognized her. This time, she was meeting a different version of her father. A version of which she knew would not recognize her at all.

It was a difficult thing to grapple with. A father who was hardly a part of her life now not having her in his life at all because he never became a father. He was different, but he was still Sasuke. She knew this wasn't the father she knew, yet she knew he was her father. It was so painful to realize he did not know her.

"How do you have the Sharingan? Who are you?"

He didn't know her. He couldn't know her because she didn't exist in this reality. But she knew him. Even if this wasn't him, it was to her.

"I'm… I'm Sarada Uchiha," she choked out, a lump in her throat.

He looked her over, scrutinizing. She had the hair, the eyes, even the mark on the back of her clothing. She even wore similar arm warmers to what he wore as a young ninja.

"Impossible," he said with a snarl. "The Uchiha clan was wiped out long ago. I am the last surviving Uchiha."

Sarada couldn't help herself. "I'm your daughter," she whimpered.

That sent Sasuke into a rage which slowly and steadily grew. "You… liar." He stepped closer, threateningly. "I never… But those eyes are undeniable. You cannot be an Uchiha. They're all… Unless… Are you his?"

"Huh?"

"Are you his child? My brother? Are you Itachi's?"

She shook her head from side to side. "I… I don't…"

"You're his? Are you his? You're Itachi's, aren't you? There's no other explanation. You're Itachi's daughter, aren't you?!"

"I'm yours! Daddy, I'm your daughter! I don't-"

"Liar!" Sasuke struck Sarada hard.

Her father hit her so hard, she fell to the ground. Her father looked upon her with such hatred. He wasn't her father yet he was at the same time. It was too much for her to handle.

"Is that why you're here? To avenge Itachi?"

"No," Sarada sobbed. She couldn't stand her father looking at her like this. Treating her like this. It wasn't him. But that face, that voice- it was him, but it wasn't.

Sasuke stood over her, seething with rage.

Unbeknownst to the others, Sasuke's history with Itachi was different from their reality. It started out the same, with Itachi wiping out the Uchiha clan and sparing Sasuke. Eventually they had their fight, but it was later than the one they had in the normal timeline, and Sasuke never did learn the truth about why Itachi did what he did.

Because of this change, Sasuke was filled with hate for the brother who betrayed him. The idea of having a product of that horrid brother of his in the same room was enough to rekindle that rage and felt he had to wipe out everything linked to Itachi, even his supposed child.

"She is your daughter, idiot," Boruto said from the floor, still holding his wounded shoulder. "Sakura's her mother. And your wife."

Sasuke didn't look at him as he spoke, denouncing everything Boruto just told him. "Everything about that's a lie. That girl was so annoying and she never got any less so. I would never find someone that annoying attractive. She's useless and a pain in the ass. Always has been."

Hearing her father talk about her mother that way was like an icepick to her chest. Sarada felt such a strange mix of anger, sorrow and pity.

"But she-"

Sasuke ignored Boruto and picked Sarada off the ground. "If Itachi left a piece of himself behind, I have to erase it. The very sight of you sickens me."

Sarada's Sharingan was no longer active, her eyes the ones she inherited from her father staring into his. It sent a chill down Sasuke's spine. It was like looking into a reflection of himself. Sarada removed her glasses to let him see her face.

Those eyes were his but that pitiful look was Sakura. That annoying sad pout that made him want to grind his teeth. Even the girl's outfit resembled the one Sakura wore when she was young. Similar color, too. He hated it.

He had no connection to this child. If she was Itachi's, he had to be rid of her. If she wasn't then she was no one. He had never been with a woman, so he knew there was no chance of what she claimed to be true.

Then why did he feel this strange sensation? Something was telling him this was wrong. Was it because he wanted to rebuild his clan and knew getting rid of her would hinder that? Or was it because when he looked into her eyes, he saw himself? Those were his eyes. The same shape and color.

More than the Sharingan was connecting them.

It couldn't be.

But this feeling… What was this? Instinct? What instinct? It was as if part of him knew. But it defied logic. It couldn't be true. Yet this feeling was urging him to accept that it could have been.

He dropped Sarada, backing away.

"You're already getting in my head," he muttered. "You made me let my guard down. You're better than I thought."

Sarada didn't say anything. She knew some paternal instinct existed within Sasuke, telling him they were related, but it wasn't enough for him to accept what they were telling him. He might have felt a connection with her but it wasn't the one she wanted him to feel.

"Why can't you accept that we're telling the truth?" Boruto asked.

"Because it's not true," Sasuke told him. He wasn't willing to fight them right now, shaken up from Sarada, but he still had a job to do.

With Shikadai's help, Mitsuki sat up. He had nothing to say but knew Boruto would handle most of the conversation.

"We can tell you what we do know," said Shikadai. "Whether you believe it or not is your choice."

"Who would believe the nonsense you've been spouting? You don't have any proof."

"But we know you," said Boruto insistently. "You're Sasuke Uchiha."

"Tell me something you can't read from my file," he told him.

"You were on the same team as my dad and Sakura. Kakashi was your sensei. You left the village but came back. You worked with Orochimaru. You married Sakura and had Sarada. Sakura works in the hospital as a medical ninja."

"All lies," said Sasuke, tired of going over this. "I never left the village except for missions. I studied under Danzo for a couple years then trained in ANBU. I never worked for or with Orochimaru. He was killed years ago anyway by yours truly. He tempted me with power but I already had what I wanted. And it's like I told you. I never passed Kakashi's bell test so he never became my sensei. Sakura isn't a medical ninja. No matter where I went, she was always following after me like a puppy. She was book smart, I'll give her that, but spent most of her time trying to flirt with me than getting stronger."

Sarada looked at the ground. Sakura had told her that after Sasuke had left the village for some reason, she needed something to do to feel useful and trained under Tsunade to become a medical ninja so she could help people. She admitted that she was able to focus without Sasuke or Naruto distracting her and her goal helped push her beyond her limits and finally became a useful shinobi.

If Tsunade never came to the Leaf, Sakura never got trained by her. If Sasuke never left the village, Sakura couldn't bring herself to focus on anything other than impressing him.

Sarada wasn't sure how her parents fell in love, but she knew in this reality, they never had a chance. Sakura never got stronger so Sasuke never considered her worthy of him. His one-track mind prevented him from seeing anyone or anything other than revenge.

"Where are you getting your information from anyway?" Sasuke asked them. "You purposely spouting false information to get people to tell you what's real?"

"If so, then you just revealed a lot to us," said Mitsuki.

"What I gave you is public record. Anyone can look it up. It's nothing important."

Boruto sighed. There seemed to be no way to get anyone to believe them.