Never Again: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 42: Overdue

"What the fuck is going on?" 

As the sentence leapt off of his tongue, Sasuke instinctively covered his mouth. This voice wasn't his. Or rather, it was, but not how it was supposed to be. It was lighter, younger. He walked over to the bridge, the river was colored white due to its speed, crashing against the sides of the steep cliffs that the bridge above connected. 

"Kannabi Bridge. . ." Sasuke said aloud to himself. He remembered hearing about this bridge from Kakashi a long time ago, back when he was still a Genin. This was where a mission went wrong for Kakashi's team, leading to his teammate's "death" as well as gaining him a Sharingan eye. 

The thought of the Sharingan sprung into his mind like a fox on a rabbit. Immediately, he channeled chakra into his eyes and to his relief the Sharingan came alive. Deactivating it, Sasuke thought of his next course of action. 

If he was right and this was indeed the Kannabi Bridge, then he would be able to find his way back to the Leaf Village. But what would he say? He looked down at himself again, still in disbelief that he was younger once again. 

Had he already betrayed the village? Was he missing? What was this place?  He remembered quite clearly fighting alongside Naruto against Madara, and then sacrificing himself to save his idiotic blond friend. 

"Don't cry too much for me, you big baby." He found himself whispering, reminiscing. Naruto was always more sentimental between the two of them. He had cried for almost a week straight when Sakura had died. 

Not that he didn't feel pain at her death too. He was just too focused on the mission to mourn. He was focused on beating Madara. 

And he had failed. He had died. 

Falling to his knees, Sasuke allowed despair to creep into his body and his face contorted with sorrow. His mouth twitched as he closed his eyes, thinking of all of his lost friends and broken promises. But as he failed to stop Madara, he failed to stop the dam from breaking that was his pain. 

Tears flowed down Sasuke's cheeks silently as he clenched his jaw, falling over on the ground and landing on the elbows as the faces of everyone he cared about flashed in his mind like a curse. He bared his teeth, grinding them against each other before he couldn't take it anymore. 

"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He wailed, tears flying down his face even quicker now. This pain, it was almost unbearable. He had been forced to lose his family not only once, but now twice. Not even learning the truth about Itachi tormented his soul as much as this. 

His fingers curled as he bawled his fists, digging into the earth as his entire body trembled with agony. Why? Why? "WHY?!" He shouted as he brought his fist down upon the ground, his chakra flaring as his emotions violently poured out of his soul. 

Why was he here? What purpose could it have served? Was he in Heaven? Or Hell? This isn't what he had imagined either to be. He was cursed. 

Before he could revel in his agony any longer, Sasuke's thoughts were broken as the sound of clashing metal could be heard in the distance, a sound his ears had become atuned and familiar with hearing: A battle. 

Forcing himself to stand up, Sasuke wiped away the tears from his face and his eyes widened in shock as he pulled his forearm away, seeing blood. Had he reawakened the Mangekyou Sharingan again? He hadn't even thought about it. . . 

With familiarity, Sasuke deactivated his 'new' eyes as tried his best to wipe the blood away from his eyes to little success. Recognizing that this wasn't the time to think about the consequences of his Mangekyou, Sasuke dashed towards the source of the sounds of the battle. 

Dashing across forests and across rocks, Sasuke's face twisted with concentration as he tried to find his balance, still not being used to being in his younger body. "Gch," He grunted as his foot was snagged by a branch he had thought he accounted for. 

The sudden stop in his momentum caused him to fall forward. "Damnit!" He cursed as he tried to maneuver his body in mid-air. However, the technique he had utilised during the war was accumulated for his old body, where he had actual weight to throw around in the way he desired. In his younger body, he hadn't acquired that weight yet, so when he flung his right arm to left side, Sasuke was surprised to find  out he had barely moved. 

His surprise didn't last for long as he hit the ground with a thud, the air escaping his lungs as he winced. He raised his head in the air and saw two smaller figures battling against a larger blurry figure. Blurry? Was he fainting? 

"No, c'mon!" He protested as his vision began getting fuzzier and fuzzier. He saw the smaller, silver-haired figure push the other one out of the way before a bunch of what he thought were boulders crushed the silver-haired man, leaving just two other blurs. 

Then darkness. 

Sasuke's eyes slowly opened and he peered up at the grey sky above. His entire body. . . hurt. For the first time in a very long time, he felt sustaining damage done to his body. This would take a much longer time to heal, the much he knew. 

Then again, he was fighting the only person to ever pose a threat to him or his plans, besides Madara Uchiha of course. In either worlds, Naruto was the one to always stand in his way. And this fake Naruto was standing in his way even now. 

His breathing was rigid, feeling as if he had tiny holes all in his lungs, leaking air each time he breathed. He was really hurt. "You fake," He managed to get out, blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth. "You really did do some damage, huh?"

Sasuke lifted his head ever-so slightly and his eyes widened. They had flattened the entire landscaped with that final attack, and then dug a gigantic crater into the earth that could've two entire arenas in it. Nothing remained. Just. . . him. Sasuke grunted, not daring to emit a hiss as his entire body shouted at him as he stood up. 

Blood poured out of the countless lacerations he sported on his pale body, but that didn't stop him from taking a step forward as he let his lips curl upwards into a smile, his eyes glowing. "I've won." He declared. 

About twenty feet from Sasuke laid Naruto's unconscious body. 

Another step forward. 

Sasuke awoke, his eyes shooting up and seeing a dark, but somehow seeable, cave. He leapt to his feet, stumbling a bit due to his grogginess. He regained his balance as he activated his Mangekyou, instantly being able to see through the cave. He looked around and saw an old man with long white hair sitting on a throne with several tubes going into said throne. He recognized this man from his memories. 

Madara Uchiha. What was he doing here? WHERE WAS HE?! 

He looked to his left and took several steps back as he saw somebody laying on a seperate table next to him with bandages wrapped around his face with the entire left side of his body being covered in a white, gooey substance. The person had silver hair and a mask on their face. 

Sasuke's mouth moved on its own.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Hello. Found a laptop charger finally. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, hm. What can I say? Not much I assume. But still. Chapter 42 is named Overdue for a reason, wink wink. 

How'd you like it? Despite the wait I mean. Good? Bad? Rushed? Eh. Honestly a sequel following Sasuke's journey up till his reveal might be could. Never did a prequel sequel before. Might never. Probably gonna retire once I get this book finished with as well as Unshackled finished. Unshackled isn't going to be finished for a long time from now.

I still have way too much shit planned for that story it's insane. I've been going insane. Anyway

Til next time my lil demons!