The suffocating heaviness in the atmosphere began to fade, and Blake regained much of her lost composure. Had it not been for her extremely suggestive and shameful position in the hands of this possibly evil deity, she would have been much more relieved.
In any other situation, she would have been struggling to get away from the hands of danger, but after having almost killed someone who claimed not to be a supernatural entity, Blake merely stared into that strange eye, and after a moment of silence that seemed to last an eternity, Death decided to release her from her restraint.
Although happy, there was the unfortunate little detail of her legs being weak and unable to support themselves right away. So, to make what was bad enough worse, she tried to hold on to something to avoid falling.
Unfortunately, there was nothing but the one in front of her to use as support.
Reaching out her hands, Blake fell into Death's arms and felt her heart sink and soar at the almost gentle touch of two hands on her waist.
"S-sorry!" she was quick to say and tried to get to her feet and failed again as she had to hug him to keep from falling. He's going to kill me! The last thing she wanted was to piss off this walking danger and experience another round of absolute terror, but she could only disrespect him! Wait a minute, he did the same to me just now!
Although Blake wanted to say that this evened things out, the difference was in the intent behind the act. While Death deliberately touched her, the same couldn't be said about her!
"Hn." Sasuke tried and failed miserably not to think about the soft volume pressing against his chest, the generous curves taking shape in his hands, that shy, almost provocative reaction, and the smell of temptation that sharpened certain instincts ignored over the years.
While Sasuke was sure countless men would die to be in his place, he was uncomfortable, not to say... intimidated. He didn't like physical contact, especially when it was capable of shaking his composure.
With that short response and obvious lack of reaction, Blake carefully checked to see if he hadn't become irritated and was surprised again.
His face, she could see it completely now!
Her little fall and attempt to avoid it succeeded in removing the hood worn by Death. If she had found this God beautiful before, now he was in a realm that transcended!
Not only that, even the black strands that covered his left eye fell apart and she could see something as strange and exotic as the bright red eye.
"Your eyes..." Blake whispered, captivated by the combination of blood-red and grayish purple. "They are..."
"Scary?" Sasuke completed, figuring that would be the only possible reaction to be received. However, she didn't show or seem willing to live up to that negative expectation.
"Beautiful." Before, when he exuded fear and the eminent sense of death, Blake would agree with him. Now, given this unexpected development, she wasn't lying.
She had never seen anything like it before and didn't mind continuing to look for a while longer.
Words said that were conflicting to hear.
"Beautiful, you say?" Sasuke tensed his fingers, drawing an involuntary shiver from the girl whose hands were on, and looked away, never imagining he would hear something like that about his family's cursed lineage. "A naive statement." Only someone who was unaware of the danger posed by his eyes would say something foolish like that. "What you call beautiful can easily be used to kill and destroy."
Blake swallowed hard, almost changing her mind about her words as she noticed that she had touched on a sensitive subject and wasn't the least bit tempted to continue questioning, keeping in mind that it could end badly.
"So you're not Death?" she asked to change the subject and felt like hitting herself. Well done, Blake! From one stupid line to another!
She was outdoing herself this day, and not in a good way. Probably a result of the remaining fear and the excessive embarrassment that she was still leaning on this deadly handsome guy.
"Do I look like death?" Sasuke asked a rhetorical question, certain that he only represented the death of those who deserved to die... at least, that became the case after he regained his senses and the control lost by being consumed by hate.
Blake didn't even need to look twice to have an answer. This was the kind of guy who couldn't even walk down the street without being flirted with, even with those strange eyes, and all she could think was that countless women would kill to be in her place, making her even more aware of her current position.
"No," she finally said, gathering the strength to manage to pull herself away and being grateful that he was respectful enough to let her go, "You don't look like it, but definitely feel like it...or had felt."
"I know," Sasuke wouldn't deny that fact, fully aware that his ominous Chakra could cause trouble someday. While he wouldn't apologize for defending himself, Sasuke would try not to get on her bad side. After all, she can give me many answers that I need. "For what it's worth, scaring you wasn't my intention."
I guess that was as close as I'm going to get to an apology. Blake would accept it as such, relieved that her mistake didn't result in someone else's death or her own, considering that he might have actually killed her.
"I suppose now that those misunderstandings have been resolved, I can make use of this library?" Sasuke still had other things to check out and couldn't afford to waste any more time.
"This is not a library..." Blake didn't like the ease with which he wanted to sidestep the issue and pretend that nothing had happened, but she chose to act accordingly. "It's a bookstore."
"Do you have history books here?" Sasuke ignored her remark and scanned the shelves with his eyes.
"Yes." Blake wondered how Tukson would have handled this if he didn't have to leave early to help other faunus. She wished she had gone along, except that at the moment she was basically a fugitive in the faunus community and couldn't risk being seen. Either way, she decided not to go against this dangerous guy and cooperate. "Right over there."
Sasuke gave a silent nod and pulled out the first book that told the local history. The world, apparently, was called Remnant. Strange, but he was sure he would learn why soon enough.
With the help of the Sharingan's dynamic vision, learning was facilitated to ridiculous levels. In a matter of seconds, he went through the book with a generous amount of pages and memorized its contents.
Blake crossed her arms, wondering what he was doing flipping through the pages like that. Obviously, no one could read at such an absurd speed. Unless those eyes of his could be used that way, most likely his Semblance.
If that turns out to be true, Blake would envy such an ability.
Grimm and Dust, Huntsman and Huntresses, Aura and Semblances... Sasuke went over the most important points learned and defined once and for all that he was no longer in his world.
What were the chances?
There really was a whole world existing outside of the Elemental Nations and probably wasn't the only one. Kaguya alone was from another world and Sasuke doubted very much that she was from Remnant. There was no Chakra in these people and although he wasn't the sensory type, Sasuke couldn't sense even one entity of power. At this point, considering the amount of Chakra he used to defend himself when he arrived in Remnant, capable of making each and every one of those faunus in the proximity flee, it would be impossible for an Otsutsuki not to notice his arrival and consequently come at him.
In any case, this was the kind of discovery that would leave Orochimaru and many questionable people out of their minds.
Definitely an untapped treasure trove of knowledge and resources to be discovered.
Thirsting to know more, Sasuke picked up the next book on the same subject and so on until he got more answers than he would have liked.
The book fell out of his hands at the end of the last page, the faunus girl decided to approach him to check him out and Sasuke could think of nothing but the discouraging discovery made just now.
My revolution is flawed... His eyes opened in contemplative realization and narrowed with the clenching of his fists. This world contradicts my answer.
Similar to the Elemental Nations, this world had creatures whose existence couldn't be explained by most, called Grimm. Unlike the Bijuus, these creatures of darkness had the sole purpose of hunting and destroying all humans and faunus.
These dark existences differed in shape, size, and power. While most were representations of mere animals, there were those the size of mountains that were more than capable of destroying a village on their own. This eternal war had been pressuring the sentient beings of this world to the point that there were only four kingdoms remaining, hence the name of this world. According to these books, these kingdoms were on the level of a shinobi village equivalent to Konoha, not counting a few settlements here and there being extinguished too frequently to be worth mentioning.
Still, they have time to war with each other. Sasuke couldn't believe how stupid humans and faunus could be. Instead of coming together to face their common enemy, they continue to be consumed by greed and the quest for superiority while their existence is threatened.
This irritated him.
The entire history of this world was practically screaming that his plans wouldn't work.
If it did work, it would be temporary.
Sasuke could claim that this was the case because these Grimm were not a powerful enough threat or the lack of a mastermind behind these things... but it would be no different than an excuse to deny the truth presented to him.
Mutual understanding is nothing but idealism and illusion. Utopia doesn't exist, Sasuke knew it, his life taught him that Naruto's dreams were just dreams and couldn't work. The sage of the six paths tried, his son tried and so did many others after him, including the first Hokage. They all failed in trying to live only in the light and ignore the shadows. The only thing that remotely worked so far was having a real threat to force union amidst discord.
However, even though Remnant has a common enemy, this world has experienced major wars and extreme racial division.
All this while the possible extinction of life was knocking on their doors day and night.
"Damn it!" Sasuke let Chakra run with his emotions to make the worried girl beside him pale and flinch in fear again. Taking a deep breath, he remembered that he wasn't alone and did his best to contain the malice being released by him. What should I do, then?
True peace was impossible, and this fact was becoming more and more an unquestionable truth.
No... there must be something. Sasuke needed to be rational at this moment and not let emotions cloud his judgment, as he had done countless times before. I need more information. Just as he did when questioning the former Kages. Yes, I need to understand this world better from the heart of the matter and then, perhaps, I can be sure of my decision.
It wouldn't be smart to come to a conclusion based on some books whose author's opinion could be somehow biased, changing facts to benefit the point of view of one of the two races and the reasons for all these conflicts and instability.
That way, Sasuke set a temporary goal. While there was time, he would learn more about this world and its reality without forgetting to prepare for his imminent fight with Kaguya... and later Naruto.
"I-is everything okay?" Blake had to muster up a lot of courage to ask that question. Just when she thought she would never feel such horror again, this guy almost freaked out while reading a history book! What on earth could he have seen that bothered him so much?
If she got out of this alive, she would read those books herself, and it wasn't long before his attention fell on her and she got instinctive chills from the fact that those eyes were actually glowing. While she would keep her initial opinion about what she thought of those two unique gems, she would accept his opinion as well.
They were beautiful and scary, just like the one with such eyes.
Sasuke turned to the faunus girl, almost causing her to have another nervous collapse with the tension caused by his eyes.
"Which one is the biggest library in this kingdom?" he asked, accepting that he would have to resign the use of Genjutsu, as again it had no effect at all when he tried to use it on this girl just now.
Sasuke determined that the people in Remnant possessed an incomplete form of Chakra called Aura, which was really nothing more than pure spiritual energy and this hindered his base Sharingan illusion techniques. Reluctantly, he refrained from trying a more powerful version of his eyes. Illusions using Mangekyou, or above, infiltrated the opponent's body with his own Chakra. There was no telling how this Aura would react in contact with foreign energy, and Sasuke didn't want to test it on random civilians, let alone this girl who was helping him.
"I'm not sure." Blake didn't expect a question of the sort, but she considered carefully before deciding what her answer would be. "I believe Beacon Academy has the largest literary collection in Vale, if not the world."
"Beacon?" Sasuke didn't know much about this world beyond what he learned in those few books, but he understood that these Academies were no different from where he came from.
Their purpose in this world was also to train soldiers to die in meaningless wars.
Although these Grimm are a threat, they should never be able to corner a civilization to such an extent... unless he was wrong and there was something else out there influencing this balance against humanity.
That or these Aura users are too weak.
Whatever the reason, Sasuke would be sure to check later.
As for Beacon, this particular academy was mentioned in the books and must be one of the most well-known places in the world, so it made sense to have a large collection of books.
"Is this academy open to the public or does it only provide access for its students? If so, what are the requirements to join?" Sasuke had been in one before and as much as it had been a waste of time for the most part it was undeniable that there was a lot to be gained when one was unaware of the world around them. If it was that big it should have training areas and even living quarters to settle in, something that would go down well in his current situation. As well people with the knowledge and experience to answer some of my questions.
The doubts that Sasuke had were not few and often only someone else might be able to help him, just as the former Kages had done.
"You want to join Beacon?" Blake swallowed what she didn't have in her throat, wondering what it would be like to have to spend four years having this incarnation of death as a classmate, maybe a teammate, and... a... roommate. The hug from before came back to haunt her and her face heated up. This is not good! Not only for her but for the entire female population of the school! This guy is a walking disaster!
Literally!
"I can't?" Maybe the academy only accepted children? Even if that was the case, he could change into his younger version and everything would work out fine. "Well, just know that I'm getting in anyway. Meeting the standard requirement would only make this approach... less problematic."
Damn it! Blake was sure this guy would break into the school and get into trouble, possibly for her, since they sort of knew each other now. So it was like he said, that registering legally would be the best solution.
In terms of skill, she was sure he would do just fine. The proof of that was still present in the walls marked with her redirected shots and the frightening speed he displayed. I have to fix this before Tukson returns.
"You'll need documentation in order, be seventeen years old, know how to fight, and have your Aura unlocked," Blake listed everything she knew and could only hope her fears didn't come true. "In addition, there is also an initiation test."
"Hmm," Sasuke reflected briefly. He knew how to fight, of that he was sure. The age was a convenient coincidence, but of little importance. So it must be some sort of post-graduation, sort of like the promotions to Jounin and Anbu. As for Aura, Sasuke had something much better than that.
The only thing he lacked was documentation.
"When does this initiation start?" Sasuke needed to consider many things and depending on the time until then, he would have to break into the school.
"In two days," Blake knew the date backward and didn't even need to think much about it, but her listener seemed as suspicious as he was surprised. ''Hmm, a friend of mine is joining and she told me all this stuff."
Sasuke doubted that very much, but he didn't care. Two days wasn't that bad. He still had to calculate his time left in this world before Naruto was killed and Kaguya came after him, but he was sure it would be at least a week.
"Last question." He ignored the contentment appearing in the girl's eyes, almost annoyed. Normally, most women would beg for the chance to breathe the same air as him, and this one was eager to get rid of him. Hmph, if she saw my face she would change her mind in two seconds. All women did. "How do I get documents to participate in this initiation? The method is irrelevant, even if it is by illegal means."
Again, Blake didn't expect this one.
Why am I surprised? After all she had been through at his hands, it was obvious that this guy was someone troublesome. "If you have no documents, that means you are from outside the kingdoms, right?"
"I assume it's normal for someone from outside to have no documentation?" Sasuke answered with another question and received a reluctant, almost uncertain nod. She is starting to notice that there is something wrong with me and my situation.
Even more, he wanted to say.
"Well, yes." This so was strange. Blake never imagined she would meet someone so clueless as this. "There are many settlements outside the kingdoms and their inhabitants rarely have an official record. Besides, there are always more people arriving... after having their homes destroyed," she was careful with her words, watching to see if she would get any reaction from him, but nothing was shown. Which means he is probably not a survivor of a Grimm attack, so what happened to get him in this state?
Hardly anyone would be so calm when reminded of the destruction of their home. There was also the detail of him being quite haggard, almost as if he had just come out of a life and death fight. Although curious for the reason, she wouldn't question it. Just as she didn't like the idea of having someone else snooping on her and her past, she would have the decency to do the same.
"Just like these people, if you're not someone in trouble with the authorities, just go to a police station and you'll have your paperwork ready before you know it," Blake finished explaining what little she knew from her own experience with the White Fang. "About attending the initiation, you'll need a recommendation and that's something I can't help you get even if I wanted to."
Although displeased about this recommendation, Sasuke couldn't hide his surprise at having his expectations exceeded with the ease of getting documentation legally and authentically.
"That will be helpful." So much so that he would grant her wish to get rid of him, but not before he approached the counter and left a certain amount of money to confuse the girl. "For the damage...that you caused." She cringed and he almost smiled a little, "And for helping me."
"I..." What was Blake supposed to say about that? He was being nice and generous. Refusing didn't seem to be an option. "I appreciate it."
"Hn." Sasuke nodded casually and approached the door to leave and felt his heart skip a beat when he saw his reflection in the pane. My hood... I'm not wearing my hood. He remembered when he had prevented the girl from falling. It must have happened right then. His eyes fell on the girl in question and what he had just considered about her lack of change in her attitude toward him. "You saw my face."
Blake froze again, wondering what this insinuation meant.
"Y-you're not going to be angry with me about that, right?" she asked this question fearfully, fearing the worst which included the possibility of him wanting to touch her ears again, and that made her heart palpitate.
"You saw my face and didn't fall for me?" Sasuke rephrased his words and watched her growing expression of concern become unreadable. Too arrogant of me?
Maybe he was, but his life and virtually every woman he crossed paths with proved that he was basically the embodiment of female desire in human form.
As for the question asked, Blake thought it was a joke, but he seemed pretty serious about it. As she thought about what to say, she admitted that this guy was... from another world. That kind of perfection was supposed to be fictional, and even those eyes couldn't ruin it. In fact, it made him even more attractive; almost exotic.
"Honestly, if you hadn't scared me and had we met under other circumstances, I might have," she blushed a little, finding that harder to admit than expected. "However, it would probably be nothing but something superficial; mere physical attraction. I don't know you, and I don't even know if I want to."
Just like Sakura... and every other woman I've ever met in my life. Sasuke only had the confirmation of something he had been considering as true for a long time.
Not one of these girls really loved him, but rather desired him, possibly as some sort of prize.
After all, he was the last Uchiha. A descendant of a thousand-year-old clan with a vast heritage that included not only financial assets but also the bloodline that made them feared and respected all over the world.
During his childhood, while there were those classmates lacking the necessary intelligence to reach this conclusion on their own, but definitely influenced by their parents to get closer to him, there was Sakura. The girl had loved him since... always? Still, he couldn't stand her. She didn't seem to be motivated by greed or influenced by her parents to want the same as most, but she definitely did it for futile reasons. Not only did Sakura have that competitive rivalry with Ino over him, but Sakura had a certain inferiority complex provided by her large forehead and the fact that she didn't belong to a clan.
Then, how true were those feelings?
To conquer Sasuke was only a means to an end.
Nowadays, this so-called love had grown into an obsession, not to say commodity.
Sakura was so focused on obtaining him that she ignored the fact that there were other people who could do what Sasuke would never do under normal circumstances and correspond to these feelings to feed her fragile self-esteem.
Naruto was a good example of this.
Obviously, Sasuke considered himself superior to the idiot in everything and it was natural for girls to look only at him. Still, he had reluctantly admitted that Naruto had grown over the years and was on the same level as him, at least in terms of power.
To Sasuke, Naruto would always be a loser with a stupid face.
Should the one to come out of our upcoming fight alive when this is all over be Naruto, he too will experience what it feels like to be treated as nothing but a trophy to be obtained by women with empty hearts. An extremely unlikely situation, since Sasuke had so many cards up his sleeve and time to get even more before this predestined confrontation, but the point remained.
Nobody really loved Sasuke.
Except for Naruto... and that was kind of disturbing. However, he was referring to the female public. Each one of them loved or desired only the Uchiha Sasuke, his power, heritage, and lineage...
The real Sasuke, that broken and lost young man with a thirst for change; for revolution... no one in their right mind would even want to try to pick up the pieces of him and support him in his ideals, let alone truly love him.
Such confirmation hit him with the desire to laugh uncontrollably, just like when he heard Kakashi's nonsense, especially that joke about killing him... as if the ninja with the worst Chakra reserve in the village could do it when much more powerful people had tried and failed. No, this time he wanted to laugh at himself, at the naivety of remotely having this kind of futile desire in his heart; this one of wanting to be loved again.
Pathetic. Sasuke cracked a smile, looking straight into the eyes of the girl who suddenly felt like a helpless kitten before a wolf dripping with insanity. Truly pathetic, Uchiha Sasuke. He took a step forward and the girl whose sincere logic helped to break the illusion that kept the darkness from completely taking over his heart recoiled in fear and something more. What did you expect? Her nervousness grew with each step he took until it peaked when her back was against a wall; a dead end. Turning hate into love? Coming face to face with this girl, he could see the fear dancing in her amber eyes; dancing with the excitement that showed in her flushed skin. No. He leaned closer and closer. Only hate can be born out of love. Passing a pair of lips that seemed to be as soft as the sighs filled with frightened desire, he paused to finally let his voice ring out to chill her even more. "A pity that's the case," words spoken in the form of a teasing whisper; an answer for both himself and her. "Because," his face touched hers to get closer to her ears and the heat exhaled was hot as boiling iron. "I really like cats."
Blake opened her mouth to try to say something, but nothing but a gasp came out; a representation of her current state, where she didn't even have the strength to fight the madness that possessed her completely.
Tempted to present her with carnal satisfaction for having helped him in more than she could imagine, Sasuke turned away to get a glimpse of what his brief stay would bring to any girl who crossed his path and thought she could have him like a damn trophy.
Sasuke would be the one to use them to facilitate the achievement of his goals, not the other way around.
Suddenly, the ominous heat source of the embodiment of fear, beauty, and desire that covered her disappeared without a trace; only as an illusion, and Blake came back to her senses to shudder with heavy breathing accompanied by the racing beat of her heart, and her legs gave way for the second time.
Not even the cold ground could calm her, and there she remained until she regained her ability to think logically.
"W-who in the world was that guy?" she asked no one in particular, just pondering the absurdity of everything that had happened at the last minute; trying to make sure it was all real or a delusion of her dirty creative mind. The endless sweating and heat of her body seemed to counteract such an attempt to escape from reality. Unconsciously, her hands touched the ears that used to be the target of hatred and psychological torture, and her heart fluttered again with the appearance of a shallow smile." He scared me, touched me, and still managed to make me..." she hugged herself, trying not to think about what her body was wanting, and bit her lips. "Dangerous, definitely dangerous."
So much so that when she walked into Beacon and he ended up getting in too, Blake would have to keep her eyes on him... Yes, just to make sure he didn't play with her classmates.
It's been a while, hasn't it? I was planning on putting everything related to writing aside until next year because of my current situation where I have to work from dawn to dusk, but a friend of mine put some ideas in my head that might help me in my current situation.
This story is no longer quite a rewrite, and from the next chapter onwards it is new content that is not present in the original version and the title will also be changed later.
Finally, I want to let you know that I created a P tr & on . (slash)Bertoti, where I will post chapters ahead and keep biweekly updates for now. Creating a page there is not just for monetary support, but to have a sense of obligation and motivate me to keep writing; the classic whip and carrot that, hopefully, won't kill me.
That's all I have to say, so don't forget to give me your opinion and I'll see you all again in two weeks.
Until then.