Journey Back In Time

Rewind III: You, Who Gave It All (Pt.3)

Her legs were still shaking at his mere presence. Immediately, she shifted herself around so that she was now fully facing him at the front. She took long, staggered breaths, trying hard to keep her composure. She had to remember that this man was ruthless and is capable of anything.

"Itachi." She said his name out loud in a defiant tone, the syllables sounding weird on her tongue now that she was actually matching it to a face. Suddenly, she took a moment and paused. Wait. How does he know my name already?

"How do I know your name?" The elder Uchiha says, startling her by practically reading her mind. He slowly inched his way towards her until he was only a meter away before he slightly leaned into her, causing her to push herself behind. "I always know the name of the person I'm going to kill next."

Sarada let out a brief gasp and took a large step back, allowing her legs to give in as they crashed to the ground. She used her arms to hold her body up as her eyes stared at Itachi as if she were a deer in headlights.

"Kidding." The elder Uchiha suddenly said, his expression still nonchalant. He continued to stare at her, and saw that she had a rather confused look on her face. "I kid. Sometimes, when I'm not running around on a massacre, I attempt humor."

"Is this some kind of joke to you?" Sarada spat out of her gritted teeth. She narrowed her eyes further, studying his face more closely. God, he looked too much like her father.

Come to think of it, the more he spoke, the more he sounded familiar. Has she met him before?

No, it's..

"It's you." She whispered, coming to a realization as she slowly helped herself up from the ground while Itachi's eyes followed her movements meticulously. ".. You're the creep inside that white space. How? What-" Sarada stopped, interrupted by a wave of questions. "You already know me. Are you from the future? You're still alive?"

She earned no response to satisfy her curiosity. A bit frustrated, she continued to press. "You are my uncle, aren't you?"

"We can talk somewhere else, Sarada." Itachi finally said, raising an arm once more and causing the Uchiha heiress to instinctively shut her eyes as he shifted into a different Genjutsu.

--

The Uchiha heiress darted her eyes open, noticing that the two of them were now at a completely different place. Contrary to the previous Genjutsu, this one was much more bright and life-like. They were in a tall, forest area with a large riverbank flowing in front of them. The water was sparkling from the sun's rays hitting the surface, and the fish were swimming rapidly as they moved along with the crashing waters against the rocks.

Sarada paid little attention to the scenery, despite the fact that it was rather beautiful. Her gaze immediately shifted towards her uncle, who was already making himself comfortable by sitting on a large log in front of the river.

"How do you know me already?" She asked again. "Why are you in the white space?"

Before she gave him a chance to reply, she started to observe his features once more. He looked tired, and worn out. Instinctively, she noted the dark circles under his eyes.

".. You look old." She said with no hesitancy.

The elder Uchiha remained nonchalant, but slightly offended. "Sasuke was right. I don't know where your tongue comes from if not from your mother."

"You met with dad?" Sarada pressed, raising her voice at the question. "Did he come find me? Is he here?"

"Stop asking so many things at the same time." Itachi chastised. His eyes wandered and noticed that Sarada was still maintaining a defensive composure. "You can relax. I'm not going to try and hurt my only niece."