The Anachronism

Chapter 7

Once reaching the river Tatsu made himself comfortable by taking a seat next to it, Inoichi doing the same. They waited in silence for several minutes, neither of them wanting to speak when the other was.

"I'll go first," Tatsu said breaking the silence.

"Okay," Inoichi replied.

"When I came back to the village, more specifically when I came back to the Uchiha district, I kept getting this nagging feeling that something was wrong and that I was wrong."

"You are, you're not supposed to be here."

"Wow, you're so helpful Inoichi."

"No Tatsu, you literally aren't supposed to be here. When you came to me on Naruto's birthday, I looked into your memories and attempted to erase the ones you requested. I couldn't erase them so I locked them away, but I have to unlock them now."

"Wait what-" Tatsu said being cut off by Inoichi prying into his mind.

When Tatsu woke up he was still in the forest next to the river, the only difference was that instead of Inoichi, Shisui was there watching over him. When he tried to stand he quickly came to the conclusion that it was a bad idea to attempt, given that Shisui had to catch him. No words were exchanged, Shisui just picked him up and carried him home.

As they approached the home of the main family Tatsu realized many things: It was was late in the afternoon, Itachi and Sasuke were already home, and there were only supposed to be three remaining Uchihas. The last realization frightened him, the one carrying him wasn't supposed to be alive, many of the ones he held dear to his heart weren't supposed to be alive, and Itachi has a respiratory disease that he can cure. But that also means that the only Uchiha that were supposed to be alive were: Sasuke, Itachi, and Obito.

Obito. He was alive, alive and possibly not well, but alive, he could work with that.

"Shisui, please tell me this, why is it me?" Tatsu asked breaking his silence.

"You're different, not just because you're not born an Uchiha, but you're different overall." He answered looking over his shoulder at the teen he was carrying.

"What would you do if I left again?"

"I'd probably come looking for you, you may hold my heart, but I can't allow a rouge-nin to run free."

Tatsu chuckled at that, even if it wasn't a good joke, he could still laugh with him. As they reached his home, Tatsu grew warier. He knew what he shouldn't know, he knew he shouldn't exist, not yet at least, but the issue was whether he speaks out about this newfound revelation or not.

When entering the home, Tatsu was handed off to his two brothers who helped him into his bedroom and bed.

"Nii-chan, you're a doctor, how long are you going to be bedridden?" Sasuke asked as Tatsu laid his head on his pillow.

"I don't know, it's probably just a side-effect of having Inoichi inside my mind," Tatsu explained.

"I'll stay home and take care of you until you can walk again." Itachi prompted.

"I don't think it'll last too long, it's probably just my mind being too tired to control my legs, and no Sasuke, I'm not breaking my seal for this. I saw that look in your eye."

"Okay, get some rest nii-chan, we'll see if you can walk tomorrow, if not we'll get you checked out."

With that, they left Tatsu alone. Alone with his thoughts, alone with his fears, alone with a realization. Then it dawned on him.

"Minato-sensei." He muttered quickly summoning a messenger hawk.

Writing a direct missive to his teacher, he called for a private meeting with him at their secret location within the forest of death. Once having the letter written he attached it to the hawk and sent it to the Yondaime.

"And now we wait."

If he played everything right he could do everything he needed to do with minimal casualties, and once he's done he could start working on a way to leave. Apparently, he's seen it done before, at least in the memories he has.

Tatsu simply sat there for the rest of the night contemplating how he was going to manage and pull off everything he needed to do. He wanted advice, but there was no one he could talk about this with other than himself.

"Tobirama Senju, I thank you so much for inventing the Kage Bunshin."

In a puff of smoke, another Tatsu appeared before the original's eyes, causing the young teen to smirk.

"I really am beautiful aren't I?" The original asked the clone.

"I'm beautiful, you look tired and worn out." The clone answered.

"I am tired and worn out, but anyway, what should I do?"

"The way we see it, you have two options, you could A: Go out and fix what you see fit then leave, or B: Leave everything alone and live life normally."

"I know, but it feels wrong to know that I know something and I'm not doing anything about it."

"You're not wrong, but you're talking about leaving everyone behind just because this isn't your original time."

"Well, you know what nevermind that's off-topic, but I could save Obito, I could save a lot of people just like I did on Naruto's birthday."

"Tatsu, I'm going to say this because we are the same person and I will always choose your preservation over anything else, be selfish and enjoy your life. If you find a way to save Obito without exposing yourself then go for it, but do not put yourself at risk."

"You're a clone, but you're also me, the very part of me that was telling me what I needed to hear. Thank you."

At those words, the clone dissipated, leaving Tatsu once more, but with a clear mind. He had his decision made by a simple conversation with himself.

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A/N: I said I'd slow down, but I have to find out when so until then we'll just enjoy the ride. As usual, correct me where I'm wrong and help me improve.