Ok, it's Sasuke's time now. I hope I kept him in character, though I took some liberties with him.

Good reading!

The Man with All the Answers

すべての回答を持つ男 (Subete no kaitō o motsu otoko)

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke opened his black eyes and stared at the bars of his cell. A black haired man from the ANBU opened the door and entered his cell.

"Who are you?" the young Uchiha asked, glaring as the ANBU placed a chakra suppression seal on his chest and released his sore hands from the chains in the wall.

"You can call me Sai" the ANBU said with a smile. "I'm here to take you to the Uchiha Compound."

"It's just you?" Sasuke asked surprised that the Hokage thought he was so weak that just one ANBU would be sufficient to take him.

"Just me will be enough" the ANBU answered.

As soon as Sasuke's hands were free, he attacked the man with Taijutsu. Much to his horror, he found Sai's tantō pointed to his chest and stepped back.

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you" Sai said, still smiling. "The Hokage told me not to kill you, but I can hurt you if you try to escape or attack me. If you don't mind, I'd like to make this nasty trip as smoothly as possible."

Sasuke stared back at the smiling man. He couldn't use chakra for now; he also couldn't use Taijutsu against this man… The only option left would be stealing one of his weapons and kill him quickly.

Sai grabbed the bag with Sasuke's clothes and threw it at the raven.

"Please get dressed so we can leave" the ANBU said.

Sasuke removed his clothes from the bag and waited a few seconds to see if this Sai guy was gonna give him some privacy.

"Apparently not" the raven thought bitterly, as he undressed his prison clothes under the ANBU's stare and, apparently, perpetual smile. Damn, that was annoying!

"Are you done?" he asked, as Sasuke put on his sandals. "Very well then… Chōjū Giga!"

Black snakes slithered from a paper and quickly wrapped around Sasuke's writs and arms.

"What the hell? Let go of me!" the raven cried, trying to break free.

"I'm sorry but that's out of the question" Sai answered. "I know you would try to escape even though it's hopeless."

"Hopeless? Don't you underestimate me" the raven haired boy growled. "I am more powerful than you imagine."

Sai chuckled and wrapped a rope around Sasuke's writs as a precaution and pulled him out of the underground prison.

Under the sunset, as they walked through the practically deserted streets of the village, Sasuke started to notice something odd. None of the houses were familiar, even though he knew the village like the back of his hand. The Hokage's Mansion looked completely different, same for the Ninja Academy and even the Hospital. When the pre-teen looked at the Hokage Mountain he finally noticed Tsunade's head, which he was pretty damn sure it wasn't there when he left the village. There was no way they could have built that in a few days!

"What is going on?" Sasuke asked, glaring when the smiling ANBU didn't even turn around to face him. "Why is Konoha so different?"

"Oh… You've noticed, huh?" Sai answered. "Sakura and Naruto always said how perceptive you were, I guess they were right."

Sasuke blinked. He didn't like being confused and he had the feeling that man was toying with him.

"How do you know Naruto and Sakura?" Sasuke asked, he didn't recall any of his teammates having been in contact with the ANBU.

"They are my comrades" Sai said.

"Comrades? Is that some kind of joke?"

"Of course not" the man said. "They're my precious friends. We used to be teammates in Team 7… or Team Kakashi a bit later."

"What?" Sasuke cried, completely taken aback. "What the fuck are you talking about? You don't belong in Team 7!"

"Really? How do you know that?"

"Because I'm… I used to be part of Team 7" the raven cried. "Don't think you can deceive me with those ridiculous lies!"

"I'm not lying, Sasuke" Sai started pulling the boy into the outskirts of the village. "I was your replacement after you left Konoha to go to Orochimaru. I guess I should thank you, if it weren't for you, I'd never find such amazing friends."

"Don't joke with me!" Sasuke yelled. "You're obviously lying! I haven't even left to Orochimaru yet."

Sai stopped and forced Sasuke to look around.

"Take a good look, Uchiha Sasuke. This isn't a joke, a lie or an illusion… This is reality. Twenty years ago, you left Konoha to join Orochimaru. Three years later, the Akatsuki came here and razed the village to the ground… all that was left was a huge crater. That's why everything had to be rebuilt."

"What the fuck? I told you to stop lying!" Sasuke growled. "Why are you making this up? What's your point? Are you saying that I was sent to the future?"

Sasuke said it as a joke, but Sai nodded and his smile was replaced by a dead serious expression.

"I'm afraid a jutsu has gone wrong" the ANBU continued. "One of the village's researchers was trying an old jutsu that could bend time and space. She wasn't supposed to bring anyone from the past, but she caught you and Naruto by mistake. So here you are."

Sasuke gaped, unsure on how to react to that information. Time-travel jutsu? He and Naruto were sent twenty years into the future? Seriously?

"You don't really expect me to believe that this is the future" Sasuke said with a disdainful grin. "I told you to stop underestimating me. I'm not as easy to fool as Naruto. You can't trick me."

Sai smiled once more, but his black eyes were filled with anger. Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit nervous, after all his life was currently in this man's hands.

"Use your Sharingan then" Sai said. "Those eyes of yours can tell if this is a genjutsu or not. Go head! Dispel it!"

"Hmph" Sasuke did exactly that and activated his Sharingan for a few seconds before the chakra seal drained all his power. But he could tell that the man was speaking the truth, the village was real! It wasn't a genjutsu!

Content, Sai pushed Sasuke towards an old path, getting further away from the village. Soon, they were surrounded by nothing more than trees and bushes.

"Where are you taking me?" Sasuke asked, feeling as if he was a dog on a leash.

"I'm taking you to see Naruto" the ANBU said, smiling once more.

Sasuke widened his onyx eyes.

"Wha…? Why the hell are you taking me to him?" the young Uchiha growled.

"Because he is the one who will decide your fate" Sai answered.

"My fate? What do mean by that? Why would Naruto decide anything about me?"

Despite Sasuke's questions, Sai remained silent and the raven gave up. Sasuke's mind was racing; he still couldn't believe that he was in the future. How could that be? Sure the village was different… but that didn't mean that he was in the future. Maybe this was some sort of very complex dream… but then… how could he feel pain?

Suddenly, the ANBU stopped and Sasuke frowned.

"Why did you stop?" the boy asked brusquely.

"We're here."

Sasuke looked at the setting sun behind the trees and saw him. A man was sitting in a rock, casually looking at the sun. He was wearing a white coat and the Hokage's hat was in his back, stuck around his neck. The man's shoulder length blond hair waved in the breeze.

"Naruto" Sai called. "I brought him here."

"Naruto?" Sasuke eyes became impossibly wide as the blond man stood up and turned around to face them.

The raven expected to see his dumb teammate, the annoying dead-last who came after him actually believing that he could convince him to come back and forget his revenge with a few pretty words about friendship and half a dozen punches. Instead, Sasuke saw before him a blond adult who towered over him, staring at him with his solemn blue eyes.

"It's been a while… Sasuke" the Naruto look-alike said, shocking the raven with his deep and mature voice.

"Are you saying… that you're Naruto?" Sasuke said, frowning in suspicion.

"Hmph…" the blond chuckled. "You don't believe this, do you? Well… I guess it's kinda hard to believe that we were sent into the future."

"Of course I don't believe any of this" Sasuke answered back. "I don't know what kind of trick you're all trying to pull, but I won't fall for it."

Naruto just stared at his former teammate before turning to Sai.

"Sai… You can untie him. I can take it from here."

"Are you sure, Naruto?" the ANBU asked, glaring at Sasuke. "This guy is…"

"It's okay, Sai. It will be alright."

Although he was reluctant, Sai obeyed his Hokage and the snakes around the Uchiha's wrists and arms disappeared with a blast of ink, leaving only the rope that Naruto grabbed.

"See you later, Naruto" Sai said, jumping towards a tree and disappearing into the foliage.

The moment Naruto untied Sasuke's ropes, the boy kicked him in the gut and jumped away from the blond, keeping a safe distance. Before the Hokage looked up, Sasuke had already made the hand seals and his Chidori shone in his hand.

"This is it!" the raven yelled as he tried to pierce the blond man.

Sasuke didn't even have time to react. Suddenly, Naruto's body was surrounded by light, like he was on fire or something, and a yellow chakra hand moved from the man's body and grabbed Sasuke's neck, pinning him against the trunk of a tree.

"What?" the bewildered raven boy thought, as his Chidori vanished. "What the hell happened? I couldn't even see him attack me… It didn't even take a second! What is this power? This chakra? Who is this person?"

"Sasuke… I'm telling you this for your own good" the man said unperturbedly, but with his orange eyes deadly serious. "Don't try to kill me again. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be. During our fight at the Valley of the End, I only used a little bit of this power and I still was a mach to your curse seal. Right now, you have no chance in defeating me."

The boy's black eyes widened in both bewilderment and distress. How did this man know that? How did he know about his fight against Naruto and the curse seal? He wasn't even there! Unless…

Unless he really was Naruto.

"What… What are you?" the Uchiha asked, trying to free himself from the chakra arm. "What the hell is this power?"

Naruto grinned.

"This is the power of a jinchūriki" the blond Hokage answered. "A human vessel who has a tailed beast sealed within them."

"Tailed… beast?"

"The Kyuubi. I have the Nine Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside me. That's where this power comes from."

Sasuke gaped, completely taken aback. The Kyuubi? The demon that had tried to destroy Konoha was sealed inside this man?

"That's also the reason why the Akatsuki came after me" the blond continued, watching impassively as Sasuke's eyes grew wider. "Yes… that's the reason why Itachi came after me that day. This is the power they wanted."

Sasuke remembered the day his brother came back and tried to capture Naruto.

"Of course your target is Naruto" Jiraiya said.

"The order to bring back Naruto-kun was given to us by our superiors of our organization, Akatsuki" Itachi had answered.

"So… you really are Naruto" the raven said, as his adult teammate grinned.

"You finally accepted the truth, huh teme? Took you long enough… my younger self was a bit easier to convince."

Sasuke tried to free himself again, but it was of no use. He was about to use the power of the curse seal, when Naruto's grip became stronger.

"Don't use that power" the Hokage ordered. "You still can't control it fully and it will eat you away. Besides, even if you advance to the second stage, I'm still stronger than you."

"Don't joke with me!" Sasuke cried, activating his curse seal and moving on immediately to the second stage.

However, Naruto was too fast and more arms grabbed the Uchiha boy in an indomitable hold. The more Sasuke tried to free himself, the stronger the grip became. The boy was having trouble breathing and his ribs and arms cracked. Naruto was going to crush him to death.

Unable to keep the curse seal any longer, Sasuke turned to normal. Naruto closed his eyes and threw the Uchiha to ground, where he started coughing and fighting for breath.

Was this the man that complete loser would grow up into? Was Naruto going to become this powerful? How was that possible? How could someone like him become this strong?

"Do you understand now, Sasuke? Fighting me now will be hopeless. You can't win" Sasuke rose from the ground, glaring at Naruto in hatred, shame and fear. "Besides… killing me won't give you the Mangekyō."

"How… What do you know about that?" Sasuke growled.

The blond chuckled.

"I know a lot of things, Sasuke-teme" Naruto said, almost cordially. Then, he moved away so Sasuke could see an open path. "If you want to leave the village, you can take this road. No one will stop you."

Sasuke blinked, unsure he heard him right.

"What? You are… letting me go?"

"Sure. Why would I keep you here?" the blond said. "You definitely don't want to stay in the village, so why stop you? You can go. I promise I won't go after you again."

The boy started walking towards the path and Naruto, looking at the latter suspiciously. That had to be some kind of trick. The Naruto he knew would never let him leave.

"What are you plotting, Naruto?" the raven asked. "What is your objective?"

The blond man shrugged.

"Nothing. I'm the Hokage now and my first concern is the village's safety. If I tried to keep you here against your will, you could hurt or kill someone. Why would I want you there? So just go Sasuke… you're not worth it."

Sasuke felt something painful in his heart. He wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't pleasant to hear Naruto say those things even though the raven thought he was right.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked. "Why aren't you leaving? I told you, I won't go after you."

Sasuke glared at the blond man. He wasn't sure why he was angry… was it because Naruto was ordering him around like some dumb little kid or was it because he seemed completely unaffected that Sasuke was leaving?

"If what you're saying is true, then I am twenty years in the future" Sasuke answered. "Where would I go now? I don't know anything about this timeline."

Naruto nodded.

"Yes… I guess you're right. You don't know what happened, huh?" the blond looked at the setting sun, crossing his arms behind his head like he used to in his youth. "If you left, you would still try to find Orochimaru to join him, right? I mean… that was your objective."

Sasuke nodded, feeling increasingly anxious. He had the feeling that Naruto knew a lot more than he was telling him.

"Man… I guess joining Orochimaru is completely pointless now. Since he's dead and everything" the Hokage continued, completely relaxed.

Sasuke almost choked.

"What? Orochimaru is dead?"

"Yeah" the Hokage said impassively. "You killed him when you were sixteen. By the time he tried to take over your body, you were stronger than him. Besides, you never had the intention of letting him take over your body, am I right? All you wanted was to learn what could from him to defeat Itachi."

Sasuke was dumbfounded to say the least. Orochimaru was dead? He had killed him? Sure… he never had the real intention to let that bastard take over his body, but he was willing to take that risk if it meant becoming strong enough to kill his brother. And now he was dead?

Naruto started walking towards his left, away from the path that showed Sasuke.

"In case you're wondering, the jutsu that brought you two to the future isn't permanent" the Hokage said. "You'll go back to your own time, so don't worry. Well… bye Sasuke."

"Wait!" as Naruto walked away, Sasuke grabbed his coat, surprising them both. "Is my brother… is Itachi dead?"

Naruto turned around and looked sadly at the boy he used to love like a brother.

"Yes… Itachi is dead."

Sasuke gaped. He just… couldn't believe it. Itachi was dead. Dead! His revenge had been carried out.

Naruto watched as the raven seemed lost in his own thoughts. After the shock of hearing about Itachi's death, Sasuke had smiled for a few seconds before his expression became blank. Slowly, Naruto released the Uchiha's finger from his coat, waking him up from his trance.

"If want a place to stay until you go back to your time, you can follow me" the Hokage said. "Or you can leave on your own… the choice is yours alone, Sasuke."

Sasuke stared back at Naruto. It would be pointless to leave to somewhere unknown now; there was nothing there for him. On the other hand, if he went with thisNaruto he could find some answers. How had Itachi died? How strong did Sasuke become? Where was his future self? Was he still alive or had he died battling against his brother?

"Naruto knows" the raven thought. "I have to convince him to tell me what he knows."

Naruto didn't wait, he just started walking. Sasuke looked once again to the path that would take him away from Konoha, turned around and ran after the man who had all the answers.

The two walked in silence through the trees. Sasuke stood right beside his teammate, still surprised on how much he had grown and changed. The blond didn't say a word to him, unlike his younger counterpart would have done in this situation.

Sasuke sort of enjoyed the man that Dobe would turn into. He was quiet and peaceful and made the raven feel somewhat at ease in his presence. Despite everything, Naruto was the one person he trusted the most and if he was trapped in an unknown moment in time, the blond would be the only person he would believe in.

Naruto could be a lot of things, but he wasn't manipulative or a liar. Sasuke seriously doubted that his teammate had changed that in his later life.

All of a sudden, the trees became widely spaced and Sasuke recognized ruins of buildings. With dismay, he noticed his clan's symbol in some walls. That was the Uchiha's Compound… or what was left of it.

"Right… that guy said that the village had been destroyed" Sasuke thought, feeling a bit depressed. "With no Uchiha's here, of course no one would bother to rebuild this place."

"We're here" Naruto stopped and Sasuke slammed against his back.

"Here? What do you…?" Sasuke looked up and gasped. His house had been completely rebuilt; it looked new and odd in the middle of all those ruins. "My house…"

Naruto smiled and opened the door.

"I hope you like it" the blond said. "I tried to rebuild it with my clones last night, but I still needed a little help so I asked Yamato-taichou, one of my former captains, to give me a hand."

"You… did this?" Sasuke asked. "Why?"

Naruto turned on lights, pleased that they had turned on the electricity in the house again.

"I wasn't sure if you were leaving or not but, if you stayed, I wasn't going to let you sleep on the street" the man said. "Well… I have to go now. You are still free to go where you please… just don't go to Konoha, okay? I don't want to worry that you'll kill someone."

Sasuke glared at him.

"I won't go to Konoha! Why would I want to go there anyway?"

"Exactly. You have no reason to go" Naruto answered. "There's food your fridge and hot water too, okay? Goodbye, Sasuke."

Naruto started walking away towards the village, leaving Sasuke staring at his doorstep. Was that it? Was Naruto just going to dump him here and go back to his life? Did Sasuke really mean that little to him in the future?

Of course, if Sasuke had left the village, Naruto would have gone on with his life and forgot him like he should. Besides, the blond had become Hokage and had most likely thousands of new friends. Why would he care for an old one who had betrayed him and tried to kill him? It was only reasonable…

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, with his back to the raven. "Do you think you'll still be here tomorrow?"

"I don't have anywhere else to go" Sasuke said, confused. "Why are you asking?"

"Then I might check up on you tomorrow" the Rokudaime said. "After all, you're my responsibility."

"Huh? What are talking about, usuratonkachi? You're not my fucking nanny!"

Naruto smirked.

"I'll see you tomorrow, teme!"

Naruto jumped and disappeared into the woods. Sasuke wasn't sure if he was pissed or relieved. Adult Naruto was still a pain in the neck! But… he was the one who could tell Sasuke what he needed to know about his future.

It wouldn't be so bad to see him tomorrow.

Sasuke is pragmatic, the only way he would stay near Konoha was if he thought we could gain something with it, even if it's information. Naruto knows that and used it to his advantage. Manipulative or just smart?

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.