AN: Zacchaeus the cheater here. This is my first attempt at a fanfiction… wait, scratch that, this is my first attempt at ANYTHING literature related. So I might have mistakes here and there. Hopefully, they're not very noticeable.

-Sasuke Uchiha is my chosen main character in this story, since my nigga Naruto mainly ruled fanfiction land.

-With that said, please be gentle with me. Lol

And without further ado, let's start the story

A Rogue's Resolve

Chapter 1 – An early fated encounter

CLANG!

CLANK!

CLANG!

Steel clashing steel. This was the sound anyone was going to hear if they were close enough. The cacophony emanated in the vast milieu like fierce thunder strikes. As loud and ear-shattering as the constant roars of lightning itself.

Inside a large, deserted castle, which was obviously just a shadow of its former glory. Surrounded by snow, atop a snowy mountain in a place which can only be described as a frozen wasteland. Snow pouring furiously as if it has a deep grudge on the earth below. A world ruled by ice and snow that no life form can possibly survive for more than a day.

This world was one of Kaguya, the rabbit goddess' created worlds. One of her dimensions. One of her playground of the dozens she's created. There stood two young men, Weapons firmly locked in place. Both combatants held their places, never letting each other overpower the other. A medium-sized crater was forcefully created beneath their feet due to the sheer strength and force that their blows had contributed. Sparks flew wildly as their weapons ground.

CLANG!

The two combatants faced each other, fury and irritation apparent on their faces. And with earth-shattering force, struck each other's weapon one last time before jumping away from each other.

"Tch."

Grunted one of the two. The young man in question had a furious scowl on his, once calm and unemotional facial features. Spiky jet-black hair which seemed to defy gravity, settled on the back of the man's head. Chin-length fringe framed his unblemished face and large, also chin-length bangs concealed his left eye. He has somewhat handsome features, with pale, smooth skin which had numerous scratches on it seemingly just received from the battle currently unfolding. He sported a pair of sharp, unyielding black eyes which seems to pear into your very soul. Straight, pointed nose and thin lips held a deep frown.

He wore a simple black-colored high collared, long-sleeved shirt with the Uchiha crest proudly emblazed at the back. Along with a simple black baggy ninja pants. The top part of his outfit was partially hidden under a black-colored waist-length cloak, which also had his clan's crest etched at the back. The left sleeve of his shirt fluttering wildly in the cold wind as it wasn't housing an arm from the elbow down.

His remaining hand clutched his majestic sword, the Sword of Kusanagi, in reverse grip. Ready to block or parry should the enemy strikes.

This was Sasuke Uchiha. The last Uchiha, brother of Itachi Uchiha by blood and of the future seventh Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki by bond. A veteran of the fourth shinobi world war and ultimately an important factor in defeating the goddess Kaguya. Wielder of the legendary doujutsu, the infamous Rinnegan, which oddly enough isn't activated.

"I don't have enough chakra to activate the Sharingan yet, let alone the Rinnegan. Seems travelling to Kaguya's dimensions drained me much more than I initially thought." The ninja muttered to himself in frustration. After mastering it, Sasuke had been repeatedly using his Rinnegan's Time-Space portal for the last two days and had finally stripped him off of most of his chakra and rendered his chakra pool almost empty.

Silently cursing his luck – or lack thereof – as he thought he'd be able to rest for the time being and hopefully gather enough chakra to conjure a portal straight back home. But alas, his abysmal luck was so bad, that his pursuer (which he never knew he had) spotted the place where he was resting and instantly attacked him like a rabid dog as soon as he layed eyes on the Uchiha. Which led to his current predicament.

"I need at least a minute for the Rinnegan's activation" He concluded with certainty. He clutched his aching left eye and closed it in hopes of speeding up the Rinnegan's cool-down process.

He looked ahead to see the lone figure calmly standing there, as if assessing his every move and action. The ninja's pursuer sported a deathly-pale complexion only native to the Otsutsuki clan. Calm and delicate features graced his face. With wide, pupil-less white eyes below the egg-shaped markings which served as the man's eyebrows. The hereditary doujutsu which the elite Hyuuga clan of Konoha possesses, as well as the Rabbit goddess herself, the Byakugan, stared at him blankly. Slicked-back white hair which was tied into a long ponytail that's covered in a see-through cloth akin to the traditional bridal cloth. A white and lavender-colored kimono style clothing was his choice of apparel. And finally, he wore a pair of wooden geta as a substitute for sandals.

How he managed to match his every move while wearing those was beyond him. Sasuke had to admit, he have to give his enemy a credit for that.

But what made his enemy truly fearsome was his seemingly experienced and extremely polished swordsmanship which almost rivaled even his own in terms of pure skill. Coupled with his frightening taijutsu – which apparently can shatter large boulders in one blow – wasn't at all suited for his short stature. But most notable of all, was a pair of Rinnegan eyes which were comfortably placed in both of his palms. It reminded him of danzo and the konoha leader's appendage, only serving to further escalating his ire.

But unlike his own single Rinnegan, or any previous Rinnegan wielders', His pursuer's version was blood red in color. He had manage to sneak a peek whilst clashing swords with him.

But so far, his enemy hadn't used his Rinnegan at all. The other Rinnegan wielder hasn't yet displayed his Rinnegan's true capabilities. Maybe aside from the standard seven paths of the Rinnegan, the enemy's doujutsu were mostly uknown to him. The black-haired ninja wasn't convinced that his Rinnegan was a normal pair or doesn't possess certain abilities, if the Rinnegan's strange placement and color was of any indication.

Sasuke couldn't help but wonder if his enemy restricted the use of his Rinnegan just because he didn't want to use it, or for the sole purpose of showing the Uchiha just how much inferior he is to the Otsutsuki, and that he can easily win the scuffle without the use of its abilities, he didn't know. But regardless, him and his secondary doujutsu is an anomaly altogether.

If there was anything the Uchiha learned in his life as a shinobi, it was to never underestimate an opponent. Sasuke applied that rule in every battle thus far, and it mostly secured him the win. Foolishly underestimating an enemy and letting your guard down could very well lead to your own demise. Hell, Naruto was the living testament to that.

'I need to be careful.' The Uchiha thought while scanning his enemy for any sudden moves.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" The black-haired vagabond questioned his pursuer, irritation made clear in every syllable as he spoke. What has he done to have seemingly attracted the enemy in the first place? He genuinely didn't know. But as far as he's concerned, this was an Otsutsuki. And the last Otsutsuki he met not named Hagoromo wasn't exactly a good guy… or woman.

The white-haired enigma kept his calm and collected persona, only eager on continuing the staring contest between the two. As if contemplating whether or not he answer the human's question. The Uchiha could only wait for him to answer, all the while taking advantage of the momentary pause for chakra recovery.

Suddenly, the white-haired pursuer smirked. This somehow made the black-haired man uneasy. Not because the smirk didn't at all suit his delicate features, which it didn't, but because he had seen that same smirk from his previous adversaries, namely Madara and Kaguya.

It also served to warn the ninja that things will not go swimmingly for him from here on out.

That can't be a good sign.

Then he spoke. "A dead human should not ask questions." He started with surprisingly deep voice, it conflicted to his soft facial features. " But for lasting this long against me, I'll give you the honor of knowing my name." The Otsutsuki continued arrogantly, the same grin still plastered on his fragile-looking face." My name is Momoshiki Otsutsuki. Remember it intruder."

Before Sasuke can even think of anything, the now known as Momoshiki spoke again." As for what I want, your intrusion to our seedbeds is intolerable, a punishment is in order. Surrender now and your death will be swift and painless. I will even reward you, human, by letting me turn you into a chakra fruit to be consumed by me. In that sense, you'll continue to live on as part of me and your abilities in my glorious possession." Momoshiki finished as he shifted in his stance.

'Momoshiki?' The name oddly felt familiar to the former avenger. Maybe he had read it in one of those stone tablets he unraveled in one of Kaguya's dimensions. Sasuke was also in deep contemplation as to what 'seedbed' means.

The Uchiha finally recovered enough chakra to activate the Sharingan and had instantly done so the moment his chakra threshold reached for the activation of his clan's doujutsu. Sasuke's calculating eyes scanned the battlefield for escape routes, red glowing orbs with three tomoes spinning ever so slightly around the pupil darted across the area, subtly searching for his goal.

So far, the Uchiha only found four large windows that were at least a hundred yards away. He can easily cross the distance but immediately dumped that idea. He doubted that the Otsutsuki couldn't be able to keep up with him should he dash towards the windows. His pursuer was easily keeping up and even match his every move, speed and all, the entire time.

If he were to escape and go out into the open, it would allow more breathing room and flexibility for the Uchiha. But remembering where they were only made the idea even more of a bad one. As currently, there's a harsh snowstorm outside, he doubted he'd survive the weather if he was exposed in it in his current condition. And he would rather not risk getting frozen to death in this cold and barren land.

Sasuke cursed slightly under his breath for his ineptitude. Perhaps his battle sense had been dulled throughout the years. After the war, when all the shinobi nations united, when bridges were made, and friendships across the nations were finally possible. After peace had descended across the world, and Naruto was proclaimed the hero of the war, he had decided to travel the world on a journey of repentance. To see the world of what he has been blind to, and also make sure to investigate Kaguya's origin while he's at it.

But so far in his travels, nobody really wanted to fight the Uchiha while knowing who he was and what his deeds were, particularly the negative ones. Lest they suffer a horrible and painful death, for he was after all the former S–Ranked criminal who had slaughtered countless innocent lives. A mass-murdering monster, a vengeful psychopath who would cut down precious lives without a second thought, all for the accomplishments of his goals. The villainous defiant known as Sasuke Uchiha. But he digress, he wasn't that cruel and merciless… at least not anymore.

Sometimes, he would visit a village to rest for the night, or to simply purchase some supplies or eat a decent meal at a decent eatery. Whenever the villagers gets a good look at him, or get a glimpse of the Uchiha crest at the back of his cloak. They'd then realize that this was the rogue S-ranked missing-nin, the Sasuke Uchiha they know and hate. They would then instantly scamper away from the raven-haired former outlaw, hiding behind the safety of their homes and other random establishments that didn't yet locked their doors for fear of him entering it. Parents protectively shielding their sons and daughters and then quickly escaping the Uchiha's peripheral vision, silently thanking the gods that the murderer didn't kill them just from being in his line of sight. And the few who actually had enough guts to be in his presence always kept a considerable distance away from him. His mere presence alone causes the weak-hearted villagers to faint.

It was ridiculous…

But oddly amusing at the same time.

He genuinely thought they were overreacting, but given his past status and wrong doings, it was somewhat understandable.

His nefarious actions were without a doubt already widely known throughout the Elemental nations even before that horrid war started. And Sasuke guessed it isn't just going to be forgotten that easily anytime soon even with his major contributions in the war. Several years from now, maybe. But he doubted that he would truly be forgiven though. Not that he cares of course.

Barring a few ignorant thug groups, and that Dark Thunder group who was ruining his already terrible image because of their pompous leader and her doujutsu. Though he had dealt with them fairly easily, and was even kind enough to pardon what the Chinoike heiress had done.

Not once after that had he fought anyone at all. He guessed years of no fighting, strategizing and assassinating slightly (keyword being slightly) mellowed his fighting instincts and senses. Though he did train occasionally if not everyday, so at the very least he wasn't as rusty as his rival.

But if there were actually people who'd willingly *foolishly* fight him, even then they'd never even be a warm-up for him.

Such was his life.

He was snapped from his musings when he saw Momoshiki get into a ready position, probably to attack him once more. He raised his weapon for the clash that's about to happen.

Then the albino Otsutsuki's smirk stretched wider, Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that. 'He's planning something.' The dark-haired man carefully deduced. Someone with half a brain could conclude as such. Sasuke raised his guard even further, anticipating for even the slightest twitch of motion from his enemy using the Sharingan.

Sasuke reminded himself that he was very close in solving the mystery that's shrouding the Rabbit goddess and of the Otsutsuki clan, that he can't afford to die here. He must relay the scrolls he'd found to Konoha at all cost. The shinobi world depends on it.

He was tired, very tired. But he wasn't about to succumb to the exhaustion just yet, although it was probably marred on his face. But on the other hand, appearing to be tired can make the enemy drop his guard in most cases.

But regardless if he's tired or not, however; he was on a mission, and he wasn't about to fail.

Sasuke had gathered enough chakra for the Rinnegan now, but its ocular abilities was not charged yet. 'thirty seconds to go.' Thought the Uchiha impatiently, as he carefully counted the remaining time that's hindering the ninja from using his supreme doujutsu, waiting for it to be available once more.

'!'

Out of nowhere, Sasuke felt a presence other than the Otsutsuki that's in front of him. The ninja instinctively looked at the ground and saw a shadow looming overhead, a shadow that's rapidly growing in size the more he looked at it.

'Above!' Sasuke mentally exclaimed, realizing what the shadow was.

With extreme speed, Sasuke jumped away to dodge from what he thought was his impending doom. Turns out, he was right after all, as a split-second after he had jumped away, a large, red poleaxe seemingly made of pure concentrated chakra was swung with immense strength and blinding speed that would've been impossible to dodge even for Kage-level shinobi.

BOOM!

The massive axe impacted the ground where he was previously standing and resulted in an explosion of dust and rubble.

The resulting shockwave and some rubbles still hit him though, further flinging him outwards and disrupting his maneuverability and effort to straighten himself. 'Shit, I forgot about the other one!' Sasuke cursed mentally. He was too preoccupied in fighting the Otsutsuki that he forgot about his subordinate. The fact that he forgot about his enemy's ally in a dire situation like this was something completely unacceptable in his standards. Sasuke berated himself for his incautiousness.

Sasuke steadied himself in mid-air and landed a distance away from the duo. When the dust cloud finally clears, Sasuke saw the one who had escaped his notice. He was a large, hulking man. Currently towering over the shorter of the two. He was very tall. Sasuke extrapolated that the newcomer easily dwarfs even Ei , the fourth Raikage, who was arguably one of the largest shinobi in the Elemental nations.

Sasuke once again berated himself for having forgotten the very palpable man.

He wore a white cloak over his head, partially covering his face, only showing his left byakugan eye and his large singular horn that's protruding towards the left side of his head. The cloak extended to his shoulders also covering it. Like Momoshiki, he also wore a white and lavender-colored kimono style battle outfit over his overly large torso. Only it was much more larger in size than Momoshiki's. Abnormally huge hands that can easily grip an average human's body and crush it just as easily. Over his back was a red, circular arc of pure chakra which acted as the burly man's weapon generator.

"Heh, you really have gotten slow, Kinshiki." The white-haired Rinnegan wielder casually mocked, commenting on the hulking man's failed attempt at a sneak attack. Oddly enough, the smaller of the two wasn't even close to being disappointed. Momoshiki's grin stretched further at this development.

The Human just dodged a sneak attack from Kinshiki, who was praised among the Otsutsuki clan for his sheer speed and agility. Despite his size, The large Otsutsuki was actually one of the fastest fighters in the clan. And to have dodged an attack, let alone an actual sneak attack was extremely impressive in his standards. No one has ever dodged a blow from him, not until the dark-haired Uchiha.

Looks like he was going to enjoy this after all.

'10 seconds.' Sasuke subconsciously counted, anticipating the return of his Rinnegan's ocular prowess.

"Forgive me, Momoshiki-sama. It will not happen again." Spoke the Large one, Kinshiki, in a deep, raspy voice. Kinshiki was just as surprised as Momoshiki though. He hadn't expected this intruder to last this long against his master, and he's even fast enough to dodge his attack. That plan: to let Momoshiki-sama engage the human in battle and attack where the enemy least expect it was impeccable. And his speed – which surpasses lightning speed by a large margin – was supposed to be more than enough to ensure its success.

This human was fast. Extremely so.

This was not going well for the Uchiha at all. The smaller Otsutsuki, who was inferior in overall physical stats than the larger Otsutsuki, was already keeping him occupied. The addition of this newcomer will further raise the difficulty level of the Uchiha's task:

to escape this situation with his life.

Sasuke's battle-trained mind already whirled on how to make this dire situation to his advantage, no matter how impossible it is. Predicting every possible outcome in every possible scenario.

And with the duo's speed, 9 seconds is too large a timeframe.

The Uchiha stared dispassionately at his opponents, taking note on Kinshiki casually reaching to his back for another set of blades. He watched the duo's short interaction and the smaller Otsutsuki striding ahead of the large, albino Otsutsuki. Then became wary, as he saw Momoshiki nodding to Kinshiki, seemingly giving him a silent command.

'5 seconds.'

Kinshiki flickered in a form of pink lightning, disappearing from his previous position and appearing directly above the Uchiha. Raising his blades in an attempt to slash his target in a downwards stroke. Sasuke already anticipated this though and proceeded to block the larger Otsutsuki's powerful blow.

CLANG!

'Ghk!' Sasuke grunted as the entire force of the blow fell on his sword, towards his hand and unto his body like a strong shock of electricity. Feeling his bones creak under the pressure. A crater started forming underneath the ninja's buried feet.

The dark-haired man quickly dislodged his feet and flickered away from the aggressive giant, narrowly avoiding the second swipe.

'4 seconds.'

The last Uchiha didn't have enough time to rest even for a moment as the smaller of the two appeared behind him. Preparing to thrust a chakra-disrupting rod in the ravenette's back, intending to impale him with it.

Sasuke twisted his body, parrying the smaller albino's attack. "Guha!" Unfortunately, he wasn't expecting a swift roundhouse kick that hit him square in the jaw. The ninja was sent flying away, briefly blacking out before focusing his mind again and shaking the concussion away, ignoring the pain as he landed and immediately shifted into a stance.

'3 seconds.'

Sasuke grimaced as he panted tiredly, raising his sword in a defensive stance. By now, he was doing his best just keeping himself from losing consciousness. His Rinnegan's powers is almost ready, he just needed to hold them off a little longer.

Sasuke's single hand went for a series of one-handed seals for his most familiar jutsu. The jutsu which he learned when he was seven years of age. The primary jutsu for every Uchiha clan member.

"Fire release: Grand Fireball technique!" Shouted Sasuke as he spat out a giant fireball thereafter. It moved at great speeds that the normal variant of this jutsu performed by regular shinobi will move so slow in comparison, it's also very large that it easily engulfed the area.

'2 seconds.'

Sasuke didn't use this jutsu to defeat his enemies, no. He doubted the duo would be defeated by a giant flaming ball. He used it in hopes that it would distract the Otsutsukis long enough for his Rinnegan to get charged.

The raging inferno spanned far and wide, melting the piles of ice and snow. Quickly changing the atmosphere from freezing cold to blistering heat. Incinerating everything in its path with heat strong enough to melt steel and iron. Concrete floor instantly melted under the power of the jutsu.

To his surprise, Momoshiki merely raised his right hand, which housed a Rinnegan and proceeded to absorb the gigantic ball of fire the moment it connected to his palm. Instantly nullifying its effects.

"Preta path." The last Uchiha said with certainty, observing the other Rinnegan wielder finish the last bits of the lingering flames.

'1 second.'

The Otsutsuki then lowered his right arm and raised his left one. "Here, I'll return it to you tenfold." Momoshiki said smugly as his blood red Rinnegan started glowing. Sasuke readied himself for any incoming attack.

Suddenly, flames burst out from the Otsutsuki's left Rinnegan and shot towards him. It was identical to his own technique, the only difference was that this one was far larger and packed more power compared to his own. It was also much more destructive that it melted the city-block sized pillars easily, rendering the upper floors unsupported and start collapsing unto the battlefield. Moreover, it moved at even greater speeds that it surprised Sasuke even with his Sharingan active.

The Uchiha didn't have time to think, he immediately summoned the only ability that's currently available in his repertoire that can possibly defend against an attack of this magnitude with his meager amount of chakra.

With a grunted effort, Sasuke raised his defense mechanism and successfully blocked the massive hellish heat and the giant fiery explosion afterwards. Avoiding an untimely death via incineration. It left the entire surroundings charred and unrecognizable. Liquefied concrete was scattered everywhere. Flames still ablaze all around the place and a giant fiery crater was created from the explosion of intense heat.

Momoshiki looked on with anticipation as the smoke started disappearing, and saw purple flames. "Hm?" The smaller albino man murmured quizzically. Mainly because he hasn't seen this technique before.

Susano'o's ethereal ribcage remained unscathed as though it never had just tanked a blast of extremely powerful flames. The last Uchiha stood inside the safety of his giant, flame covered ribs. Panting and very tired, but completely safe and sound nonetheless.

"He can absorb jutsu in his right palm, and then release the same jutsu in his left palm. Greatly amplifying its effectiveness and firepower." Sasuke carefully deduced, recalling what the enemy did moments ago. So chakra based attacks are out of the question. Not that he was going to use any had he not figured out his pursuer's ability though, he still has a portal to make after all.

'It's ready.' Sasuke mentally said. He deactivated the ribcage so as not to risk any chakra shortages. The once purple, ripple-patterned eye now sported 6 spinning tomoes, indicating that his Rinnegan is now fully charged and completely operational. 'I need to get out of here.' The Uchiha thought in mild desperation. He won't last long if he stays here, and he barely had enough chakra for a portal and one Amenotejikara usage.

The single Rinnegan wielder quickly conjured a portal, instantly feeling the enormous amount of chakra drained from his body. He smiled in satisfaction after seeing the dark spiraling rift in space. It wasn't a gateway to his home world though, he had just mentally selected a random coordinate and created the portal in his haste to escape from his pursuers. It didn't matter where it'll send him, and he didn't care if he'll spend another month or two recovering his chakra again. Right now, his main priority was to get away with his life as soon as possible.

Momoshiki saw the spiraling rip in space, as did Kinshiki. So this intruder was planning on running away, he won't have that though. As a follower of lady Kaguya, this intruder shall not escape alive. Not once have they failed in apprehending even the most troublesome of creatures. Never giving them even the slightest chance of escaping. And this one's no different. They will capture this human at all cost, dead or alive.

Their pride is at stake here.

Both flickered with extreme speeds again, intent only on capturing or more preferably kill the Uchiha. Both weapons ready to smite, approaching the intruder in a rush of pink lightning that would make the 4th Raikage's version two lightning armor move like a snail in comparison.

With his Rinnegan perception, Sasuke saw them coming. They reached the Uchiha's position a microsecond later, preparing to strike the ravenette's kneeling form. As they raised their respective weapons and struck with blinding speed at Sasuke's direction, time seems to slow down to the Uchiha. He stared as both of their weapons mere inches from his face, about to smash him like a watermelon.

Then their weapons three inches from him and his certain death.

Two inches.

One inch.

"Amenotejikara." The smaller Otsutsuki heard his soon-to-be victim utter something along those lines, just mere moments before their weapons collided with him, or so they thought.

CRASH!

An ear-shattering sound of explosion later, a massive blast of dust and debris erupted, both blades having successfully smashed the intruder. The smaller of the two expected there to be a horribly mangled corpse. He couldn't have survived both of their combined strength after all.

The duo waited for the dust to disperse. Both not moving an inch, eager to see where they had struck the human. But when it finally did, instead of finding the Uchiha's bloody, lifeless form, there buried beneath Kinshiki's massive halberd and Momoshiki's chakra-disrupting rod was… nothing. What greeted their eyes instead were only the shattered bits of the floor and some rock debris. No severed limbs, no smashed flesh, no dead intruder.

'How!?' Momoshiki thought in bewilderment. One split second he was there, the next he was gone. As if he was never there in the first place. Even his presence has completely disappeared, as though his very existence just ceased to exist. Then the white-haired man realized: The technique the human had used earlier must have been the activation of a space-time jutsu, a teleportation technique to be exact.

He saw Kinshiki sporting furrowed eyebrows, still clutching at his weapon. Clearly just as confused as he was. He turned to his left to find the dark, spiraling portal rapidly closing and vanishing as soon as they saw it. 'He must have deliberately conjured the portal just so he can jump to the other side using a teleportation ability!'

The smaller albino's face morphed from that of bewilderment to rage, pure unadulterated rage. "He has escaped." Momoshiki calmly said, but Kinshiki could tell that he was barely suppressing his anger.

The intruder had escaped. He actually escaped their grasp. After thousands upon thousands of easily apprehended victims, someone had finally escaped their onslaught. He hadn't expected his supposed victim to have held such abilities. He already knew he had a Space-time technique to have crossed dimensions somehow, but he never could have guessed he possessed a teleportation technique on top of it up his sleeve.

"Forgive me, Momoshiki-sama. It was I who ha-" Kinshiki apologized, but was cut off by his master.

"No matter, we will find him again. And the next time we meet, the outcome will not be the same." Momoshiki said with a malicious grin. He may have gotten away for now, but he will find the intruder. No matter where he is in the universe, or out the universe for that matter, as long as he isn't yet bleeding beneath his feet, he'll find him no matter what. Nobody escapes him. Never has, never will.

2 years ago

A nineteen-years old Sasuke finally returned from his journey around the elemental nations. He wore a black, high collared long-sleeved shirt under the midriff-exposing, gray-colored flak jacket that displayed the Uchiha clan's proud crest and light blue tattered pants. Most of this was unseen though, as he wore a brown, also tattered poncho covering his entire outfit except for the black ninja sandals over his bandaged ankles and feet. He also wore a dark blue sash around his head. Kusanagi proudly swinging in its sheath.

It's been two years since he left the Hidden Leaf village. His journey of repentance has been going great so far. He had gone and saved villages from raiders and plunderers. He had vanquished countless criminal organizations that threatened the peace that they finally acquired through blood, tears and sweat. He had saved countless lives and has been recognized as a hero at a few villages where he briefly stayed.

He chuckled at that notion. Him, a hero?

And so he thought it would be a good idea to visit his old home. The village that he swore destruction upon, the village that wronged him when he was but a child. The village that housed the fondest memories of his precious family and friends.

And now, here he was. Standing there just outside the village gates. Contemplating whether to go inside or not. Sasuke cursed, it was his decision to visit the village and now he was here. Why was he being a coward now?

His two black orbs stared at the giant village gate in front of him with hesitation. His mind in a war of conflict, should he go in or not.

Eventually, he finally came to a conclusion. He should go in, he had the trouble of coming here after all. With strengthened resolve, he buried his fears and hesitations under the weight of his unflinching willpower and took a step forward. Sweat graced his face as he nervously strode inside the gigantic gates of his home.

Yes, Sasuke Uchiha was actually nervous.

If the blond idiot knew about this, he'd never live this down. And knowing the dobe, he'd probably laugh at his face. And he'd be forced to assassinate the dobe, ignoring the impossibility of the task.

As he strode inside the village, he gave the guards, which he remembered to be Izomu and Kotetsu a nod. Indicating that the Uchiha acknowledged their existence. Both skeptically looked at each other before nodding back to him a second later.

Sasuke wondered out of curiosity how the villagers would react to his return. Would they run and hide? Do they still fear him despite his efforts in the war known to them? Would they be furious? Or would they accept him, and let a former missing-nin roam around their beloved village? Now don't get the wrong idea, he doesn't really give a single damn of what the villagers think of him. He had gone and helped in preventing an event that would have been the cause of human extinction, ultimately saving their puny, insignificant lives. As far as he's concerned, they had no right to judge him, let alone drive him away from the village.

And he need not worry of how his peers – barring Team 7 – would react to seeing him again. They at least came in good terms before he left for his journey. With Kiba being the only hesitant one.

Crushing the last bits of his uncertainty, he walked with more confidence now. As he was inside the village, Sasuke noted that some of it still hasn't changed. He saw the same buildings and structures he remembered he had seen the last time he was here. The village in general hasn't really changed that much, only the addition of a few new large buildings and skyscrapers were unfamiliar to him.

He walked into the familiar road with side shops that he used to buy some packed bentos and rice balls with in his time with Team 7, noting that some people still occasionally glares at him from time to time.

He visited the Yamanaka flower shop and bought some flowers, only stopping for a short interaction with Ino, slightly impressed that her infatuation for him has ceased. Several flirtatious quips here and there, which he ignored of course. He then visited his family's graves after that. Placing the flowers in their grave stones, muttering a simple good bye and left.

As he was walking around the village, taking in the sights that greeted his eyes. He suddenly sensed a familiar chakra. 'Naruto.' He strode towards the source of the familiar beacon of energy. There he saw him, his brother in all but blood, his rival, the one who freed him from his family's curse of hatred. The future seventh Hokage Naruto Uzumaki.

Sasuke noted that Naruto drastically changed his looks. Now with black long-sleeved shirt which can be zipped up in the middle, a red sash tied around his right sleeve. Still the same orange pants and a bandaged prosthetic arm made from Hashirama's cells. His hair now noticeably shorter, having short tuft of blond hair compared to his longer blond spikes two years ago. He also wore a pair of black ninja sandals.

The last Uchiha was satisfied that his rival was alive and well just as he expected ( although his worry for the blond idiot was misplaced, as nothing could probably kill him at this point.) and that he finally dumped his ugly orange jumpsuit. Not that he would voice it in front of his best-friend though. He wouldn't want to suffer hours upon hours of the blond's unbearable, headache-inducing preach about how the orange color is the "color of the gods" just as how ramen is the " food of the gods".

"Still as exuberant as ever." Sasuke muttered to himself with a smile, observing the dobe jumping around excitedly, chanting 'ramen' continuously as his company finally caved in on them dining at Ichiraku's

"Yatta! Thanks a bunch, Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke observed the other figure. Sakura certainly have grown over the couple of years. She wore a pink jacket over her red battledress, probably to keep herself warm from the climate. It was almost winter time in these parts of the continent. Her still short and rosette-colored hair now with parted bangs in the middle, fully revealing the diamond-shaped thousand healing technique yin seal on her forehead. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he thought Sakura became much more prettier than before.

Sakura sighed. "Geez, Naruto, you should just take Hinata home and let her cook real food for you everyday from now on." She teasingly said with a sly grin. The blond uncharacteristically spluttered and blushed at that. Embarrassed from the pink-haired kunoichi's bold suggestion.

Sasuke smiled at their antics. It's like they never changed at all. Like no war had ever occurred. Happily indulging in their now peaceful lives. Smiling and laughing about like they are free from problems and burdens. Like children ignorant to the evils and conflicts of the world.

But he wouldn't complain. They fought the greatest war in the history of shinobi after all. And had finally created and spread peace throughout the shinobi nations. They deserved to be carefree for once.

Naruto and Sakura walked closer to where he's hiding. He mentally noted that Sakura and even Naruto, who were undoubtedly the best sensors in the leaf, failed to detect his presence despite their close proximity. Slightly proud at the fact that his skills in suppressing his chakra as well as his stealth has greatly improved. Or maybe they had already sensed him but was playing dumb. Or they've dulled to the point where they can't even sense a familiar chakra such as his own.

Sasuke snapped from his thoughts when he heard his teammates' voices getting louder and louder as they got closer to where he was. The last Uchiha finally decided to let his presence known to his closest friends.

"You haven't changed at all, Naruto, Sakura." His deep and smooth voice said in a nonchalant tone, cutting from the loud murmurs of the myriads of people that were there. His excitement of finally being able to interact with his two friends after two years carefully hidden under a mask of disinterest, only allowing to show the slightest of smirks.

Naruto and Sakura's heads suddenly snapped at his direction so quickly that the Uchiha could swear he heard the bones of their necks snap from the sudden movement. Blue and green pair of orbs wide in astonishment while they stared at the direction of the familiar voice.

"Sasuke." He heard Naruto say, still staring at him wide-eyed, as did Sakura.

Were they really that surprised of him coming home after just a couple of years?

"Sasuke!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed loudly, realizing that his long-time best friend and rival has finally returned. The blonde lunged at the vagabond and gave him a bone crushing hug. Sakura followed suit.

"Sasuke-kun! Youre finally here. Welcome back!" Sakura announced, delighted that her childhood and current love interest was finally back home after two years.

Sasuke nodded to her in response. Noticing the sickeningly sweet smile that Sakura sported. Of course he was still aware that the kunoichi's affection for him hasn't at all diminished. And to be honest, he actually thought of marrying her once or twice. But right now, he had no interest in love whatsoever. Hell, he hadn't even began understanding the emotion yet. Besides, he still have to go and search for clues about threats more powerful than Kaguya herself. And he doesn't want to have a girlfriend while he's out of the village most of the time.

"Stop hugging me, dobe." He commanded the blond teen, feeling the pain finally cease from his body as the blond ninja put him down and stopped hugging him.

"Sorry, sorry. I got a little overexcited… hehehe" said the knucklehead ninja, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. 'The dobe will always be the dobe.' He mentally remarked, Naruto haven't changed one bit.

"By the way, teme. What's with the outfit? Are you tryna be a hobo or something?" Naruto said, inspecting the Uchiha from head to toe with a hand on his chin. "…" Sasuke kept quiet, slightly irked. Naruto kept looking and him and then laughed. "Hahaha! You really don't have a sense of fashion, huh."

Sasuke's eye twitched in irritation at his friend's remark. 'look who's talking.' Sasuke inwardly retorted, he didn't really want to hear that from someone who spent his entire life wearing a hideous, god-forsaken jumpsuit. Well, at least he didn't remark on his sash. "Hn, the Poncho is for warming purposes."

Sakura giggled at their interaction. "You haven't eaten yet, right, Sasuke-kun? How about coming along with us. We were just going to the Ichiraku's."

"That is acceptable." Ramen would do for now. He hasn't eaten anything in a day.

"Alright then, let's go."

"Wait!" both Sasuke and Sakura paused and turned to look at the blond. "Now that you're here my ever youthful eternal rival, we shall have our battle. This battle shall be more intense than the last! A bout between two youthful shinobi will surely shine throughout the village!" The blond teen buoyantly said with a thumbs up and a wide grin spread across his face. His teeth sparkled, completing the exuberant blonde's pose.

Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped at Naruto's poor attempt at mimicking Guy-sensei and Lee's youthful personality.

"Naruto, what about ramen?" Sakura tried to remind him.

"The ramen can wait, Sakura-chan. Right now, the teme and I are gonna do battle." Stated Naruto with determination.

Sakura, surprised at the fact that Naruto just denied ramen, stared at her blond friend before sighing exasperatedly. Men.

"Fine." Sasuke accepted the blonde's challenge without a word. He wanted to find out how much Naruto had grown anyway. And what better way to find out than to duke it out. Sasuke smiled in anticipation. Surely he must have grown more powerful within two years.

"Alright, follow me!" The blonde chirped at the Uchiha, and he followed. Ready to show Naruto just how much powerful he had become.

Sasuke stood at the village gates, getting ready to embark on his journey once more. Naruto and Sakura looked on solemnly behind him, saddened that their friend was leaving so soon. Apparently, Kakashi was on a mission, so he wasn't in the village currently.

The traveler thought that his stay in the village, no matter how brief it was, had been fun. Although he was pretty disappointed that their supposed-to-be intense battle turned out to be an eating contest. AN EATING CONTEST!

Sasuke prevented himself from facepalming at the memory of the blonde's ridiculous challenge.

Earlier during their contest, he was trying his best the whole time in keeping his gobsmacked face from bursting out of his impassive mask from the sheer amount of audience this pathetic contest has garnered. Almost all of the village came to watch their intense "battle". Laughing, placing bets and cheering them on. It was completely ridiculous.

The eating contest had been called "Taste your fears" in which the contestants have to eat a hundred pieces of their most despised food. The winner was decided by whoever eats more pieces. And the one who'll throw up first would be the loser.

In the end, he won their "battle". With him eating 67 pieces of chocolate bars, and Naruto eating 63 tomatoes before promptly throwing his guts out, declaring Sasuke the winner. He threw up five seconds later. But still, the winner was the winner.

The vagabond looked at his two teammates, nodding to them before walking away. He didn't need to have emotional goodbyes with his friends. They knew he would come back sooner or later. A nod is all he needs to express his goodbyes and sincere gratitude towards them.

"Sasuke." The ravenette paused in his tracks and turned his head to look at the source of the voice, which was his blonde best-friend. "No matter what you do, no matter where you are, remember that you'll always have a place to come back to. A place you can always call home. Me, Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei and even our friends, we'll all be waiting for you." Naruto sincerely said with a warm smile. A gentle breeze caressed their faces as they stood in the sunset.

Sasuke, wide-eyed, pondered on the blonde's words, before smiling back. He had understood what his best-friend was trying to tell him, of course. Although he accepted Konoha as his home and felt like Naruto's speech was unnecessary, it still felt nice to be comforted.

'The dobe will always be the dobe.'

He looked at sakura, she looked at him with so much emotion that it was almost unbearable to see. No doubt trying to come up with words to convince him to stay, but didn't voice it anyway. Tears threatening to fall from her eyes." Come back soon, ne?" The pinkette looked at him with watery eyes and a forced smile.

Sasuke nodded to them once more and left the village.

The last Uchiha recalled Naruto's speech in his memory. Every word of it resounded in his mind as he walked farther away from the village.

That's right, he wasn't alone anymore. He has friends, friends that he can truly call his family, his precious people. He has friends that's waiting for him at home. Friends he can vow to protect.

Friends

Family

Unknown location

The Uchiha groggily opened his eyes as he woke up from his slumber, still slightly dazed and tired from his previous battle. "How long have I been asleep." He asked, mostly to himself as there was no one there to answer his question.

Feeling the warm rays of the sun and the cool breeze on his face, he had noticed that he was lying in a grassy field. And by the sound of the loud rustling of trees and leaves by the supreme subjugation of the prairie wind, he assumed he was in a forest of some sort.

Sasuke sat up and quickly clutched his head in pain, feeling a brain-splitting headache. A headache was the human body's primary form of retaliation for overusing chakra. He has had numerous headaches due to almost depleting his chakra before, but none comparable to the pain he's feeling now. It feels as though several truth-seeker rods were forcefully shoved in his skull. No, it wasn't a metaphor… it wasn't hyperbole either.

Finally feeling the accursed headache receding and the dizziness falter after ten minutes of excruciating pain, he slowly stood up in defiance to the gravity's omnipresent might. He still felt tired though, but he felt that his chakra reserves was slightly replenished now and he wasn't as chakra deprived as he was before. Noticing that his potent chakra was already on the process of healing his wounds and scratches.

Flicking away the pieces of grass that stuck to his clothes and stood at full height, fully observing the surroundings. One visible black orb assessed the terrain and saw that he was indeed in the middle of a grassy field surrounded by large trees. He probably was in the middle of a forest.

"I should find civilization." If there were any. Running should get him out of the forest quickly.

The dimension-travelling ninja slowly walked towards the trees, intent on finding a river, or a pond, a lake, somewhere he can drink fresh water from to wet his dry throat and quench his thirst. He remarked that this world definitely wasn't the Elemental nations, as he cannot at all feel any chakra signature. Back in his world, everything including trees, rivers, plants, the wind, and even the air and atmosphere itself had tangible chakra signatures. But this world has none, not even an ounce of it.

He also concluded that this world could not be one of Kaguya's dimensions. Since the Rabbit goddess creates worlds with her incredibly vast amounts of chakra using the Expansive truth-seeker orb, each and every one of those worlds created by her emitted large amounts of chakra or has properties of said energy. As proven by him in his inter-dimensional travels.

Unless Kaguya learned how to conjure worlds without the use of chakra, which is highly unlikely.

But rather than chakra, Sasuke could feel a foreign energy. This energy seems very similar yet vastly different at the same time than his own energy. Very similar in the sense that it has ethereal presence akin to chakra. Vastly different that both energies are completely distinguishable from each other. This unknown energy seems to have large amounts of it in the atmosphere. It was very wild and bulky, but less potent and powerful as its counterpart.

'Odd.'

The shinobi activated his sharingan and saw that while chakra was seen as blue in front of his doujutsu, this new energy was seen as green, sparkling with a lighter hue of the color. It was floating independently in the air, like water moving freely on its current. He could also see the same energy inside living organisms, somewhat similar to chakra.

He deactivated his clan's doujutsu and ran towards the forest. He would find out about this foreign energy soon enough.

Sasuke observed that these trees weren't native in his world. They're much bigger and seem very old, ancient looking even. He also saw fauna that were unfamiliar to him. Winged boars, giant squirrels, armored lizards and legged snakes were just the few of these weird creatures the ninja had seen. Strange, talking animals were the norm back there, so seeing this wasn't really that much of a shocker.

Sasuke prevented himself from derailing his thoughts any further as he hopped from tree to tree. For now he was hungry and thirsty. And carelessly hunting in the wild would prove to be a very dangerous idea. Since he doesn't know the biology of these animals. They may or may not be edible, or maybe they contain harmful poisons and bacteria that was fatal when ingested. While he was immune to most poison known in the Elemental Nations, he wasn't sure if his immunity would apply here. Especially since these animals… just seems too strange-looking for him to eat. So he concluded that eating meat from the wildlife wasn't the wisest decision for the moment.

'I need to find a town, get some food and then ga-'

"NOOOOO!"

He was cut off from his train of thought when he heard a scream, at least there were humans in this world. It was of a woman and likely located slightly farther towards were he's heading. 'Perfect.' He thought, pleased at this development. A person could lead him to a town and provide him with substantial information about this world. With that in mind, Sasuke traveled faster.

Looks like he wasn't as unlucky as he thought.

This ends chapter 1

AN: As you've probably noticed, this is Sasuke after the events of the Sasuke shinden novels. He is twenty one years old.

-The Fairy tail plot starts after the time-skip, because I thought the events after that were far more interesting than before the time-skip. Which I think all of us can agree on.

-Sasuke will not bust out the big guns easily. He'll be nerfing himself most of the time, in order for the Fairy tail cast/villains to at least keep up with him. Because frankly, I don't think there's anyone in FTverse that can actually tango with him... Maybe.

-Some changes from the plot may occur in later chapters.

-Constructive criticism is much needed.

Thank you and have a good day.

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