Sasuke Uchiha stood less than a finger's width from Naruto Uzumaki's forehead. Under the pounding rain, his expression looked a little blank and sluggish.
He had just gone through an intense battle, and somewhere deep down, he had already acknowledged Naruto as his most important companion. He vaguely heard someone speaking in front of him, but with the rain crashing down, he couldn't make out a single word.
The voice was unfamiliar, too. His first instinct was that Orochimaru had sent someone to come get him.
However…
The moment Obito Uchiha said that line, Naruto, Sasuke, and their teacher Kakashi, who had arrived alongside him, nearly all stumbled.
Naruto in particular almost slipped outright. The rain made the ground slick, and if he hadn't grabbed Sasuke beside him in time, he probably would have gone down flat on his face, limbs in the air, landing right in front of the Sasuke and Naruto of this world.
"What kissing?! What are you even talking about, dattebayo?!" Naruto shouted.
"Yeah! Like I'd ever kiss this dead last! That was an accident!!!" Sasuke snapped.
Meanwhile, in the pouring rain, the Sasuke of this world stood there dazed, while Naruto lay unconscious. The suddenly arrived Sasuke and Naruto from another time were completely set off by Obito's joke of "any closer and you'd be kissing," and both of them exploded as they yelled at Obito.
Obito was startled by their reaction. He'd just wanted to ease the tension a bit. Was that really necessary?
Wait a second…
What did Sasuke mean by "accident"?
Sakura and Adult Kakashi had almost forgotten about it, but Obito's remark made the memory surface again, all at once.
They suddenly remembered…
Sasuke and Naruto really had kissed.
And it was mouth to mouth.
Thinking back on that scene now, Sakura and Kakashi could only describe their feelings as indescribable.
By comparison, Sasuke and Naruto's reactions were much simpler.
After cursing Obito at the same time, the two of them looked at each other, then immediately turned away and started dry heaving.
"I'm going to kill you someday, Naruto!"
"The hell?! I'm the one who almost got sick to death, alright?! Bastard, Sasuke!"
The members of Team Minato were at a complete loss. Apparently, Sasuke and Naruto's relationship had already reached a level they couldn't understand.
Obito was completely stunned. "Two guys kissing? What kind of experience is that?"
Sasuke answered while still retching, "You want to try it? Go grab Kakashi next to you and try it while he's reading Icha Icha Paradise!"
This time, Young Kakashi froze solid, then viciously kicked Obito.
"Why'd you kick me?! Sasuke's the one who said it!"
"Because you brought up something you shouldn't have!"
"..."
Rin glanced sideways at Kakashi and Obito beside her.
Then she looked at Naruto and Sasuke.
Hmm…
Up ahead, completely unaware of what had just happened, Minato Namikaze had the distinct feeling that he'd missed something very important. He desperately reassured himself that, as a responsible adult, his priority was to deal with this world's Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha first.
Everything else could wait.
Yes. It could wait.
"No matter what," Minato Namikaze said, "for two twelve-year-olds, a fight on this scale is already well beyond what should go without adult intervention."
Only then did Sasuke Uchiha realize how many people were standing in front of him. He looked up, saw eight pairs of standard Konoha ninja sandals, and despite his exhaustion and pain, immediately leapt back several steps.
"Who are you people?!"
He shouted as he raised his head.
"!!!"
Standing across from him was Kakashi?! Sakura, and…
Himself and Naruto?!!!
And four other people he didn't recognize. One adult, and three young ninja about his age.
"Is it a Transformation Technique?!"
He instinctively activated his Sharingan.
Sakura watched anxiously, worried about both him and Naruto.
Rin had already finished treating Naruto's injuries. "The wound on your shoulder has healed, but the number of times human cells can divide is limited. It's better not to rely on that ability too often." As she spoke, she deliberately reminded the Naruto beside her, "You absolutely can't go wild just because you have Kurama's power."
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto nodded vigorously. "As long as the guy next to me doesn't do anything stupid, I definitely won't either! Hmph!"
Sasuke immediately felt targeted. "Who are you calling stupid?! You dead last!"
"Alright, alright. This isn't the time for you two to argue," Adult Kakashi said, stepping in to stop them.
Both of them turned to look at the guarded boy standing opposite them…
This was Sasuke Uchiha of this world.
"You're being affected by Orochimaru's cursed seal," Naruto said. "Is following him really what you want?"
"It's not just the cursed seal," Sasuke replied calmly. "There's also the Sharingan, and my impatience for revenge."
Sasuke Uchiha stared at the people who had suddenly appeared. His Sharingan told him clearly that none of them showed any signs of using a Transformation Technique.
"Is this your trick, Kakashi?!"
Naturally, Sasuke didn't think that he or Naruto Uzumaki were fake. Among everyone present, the only people he recognized were Kakashi and Sakura. His reflexive suspicion that Kakashi had chased him down was only natural.
Adult Kakashi had been unfairly dragged into this, but in truth, they were intentionally buying time for this world's Kakashi anyway.
"Either way, shouldn't we deal with the cursed seal on him first, Minato-sensei?" Young Kakashi analyzed calmly. "Unless someone else can use Edo Tensei to summon you or the First Hokage of this world, the cursed seal on this Sasuke Uchiha isn't something that can be sealed easily."
Minato agreed. "But if he doesn't cooperate, even high-level sealing techniques will be difficult to use."
He turned to look at the Sasuke beside him. "Why don't you try talking to him? Since you're the same person, you should understand best how to persuade yourself."
Sasuke's expression stiffened slightly.
Asking him to use talk-no-jutsu like the idiot next to him…
That really didn't suit him.
"Uh…"
He tugged at the corner of his mouth and looked at the version of himself across the way, the one steeped in bitterness and hatred.
From what Minato Namikaze had brought back from the future of another world, if the Sasuke standing there continued to cling to hatred, he really would end up killing Itachi. And judging by the fact that he himself never returned and instead joined Akatsuki…
After learning the truth, all he would feel was regret. Regret that he hadn't listened to Naruto back then, hadn't returned to the village to think things through, to uncover the truth before taking action.
Sasuke understood his own personality all too well. Even if he later realized he'd been deceived and killed Itachi according to his script, he would still turn that regret, resentment, and self-blame into hatred toward Konoha and toward those who had known the truth.
"Don't rush into revenge just yet. First, you should—"
He wanted to say that Sasuke should first figure out the root of his hatred, and who his real enemy truly was, so he wouldn't regret it later.
But talk-no-jutsu required timing and rhythm.
Lacking both, Sasuke didn't expect his words to be cut off before he could finish by the other him.
"Whatever the hell you are! Do you think looking like me means you understand my hatred?! What if your brother slaughtered your entire family?! Or do you need me to kill everyone important to you first?!"
He had once said these exact words to Kakashi. Kakashi's response back then had been a forced smile that looked worse than crying.
[The people most important to me… have already been killed.]
Now, perhaps because he was being lectured by someone who looked exactly like himself, Sasuke Uchiha once again hurled out the same words he had thrown at Kakashi before.
Everyone present knew that those words had hit Sasuke squarely on a landmine.
Young Kakashi, Obito, and the others all turned their eyes toward Sasuke.
As expected, they saw the Sasuke on their side snap his three-tomoe Sharingan open in an instant.
"You think I don't understand hatred?!"
At that moment, Sasuke's eyes were filled with the same revulsion he had felt when he saw that photograph.
On Danzō Shimura's right arm was the face of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, suppressing eleven Sharingan. That act of trampling on the dead souls of the Uchiha Clan was the true direction of his vengeance now.
What Itachi had done back then was still unclear, but Sasuke knew without a doubt that Danzō Shimura had been deeply involved. During the Nine-Tails incident, Danzō had ordered the Uchiha Clan to stay off the front lines, then colluded with external forces to frame them. That alone was proof of his wolfish, treacherous heart.
The crimson three-tomoe Sharingan burned with violent hatred as Sasuke locked his gaze onto the version of himself from this world.
"Heh. Compared to you, who still knows absolutely nothing even now, you say I don't understand hatred? How ridiculous. You're just someone placed neatly into the script Itachi wrote, your entire life arranged for you step by step. One day, you'll learn the truth, regret it beyond measure, and become the next Madara Uchiha used by Black Zetsu!"
Having just gone through a brutal battle and forcibly activated the second stage of cursed seal transformation, Sasuke Uchiha couldn't even hear the rest. His body gave out, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsing onto the rain-soaked ground as he coughed violently.
Sakura hurried over, worry written all over her face, and began treating him with medical ninjutsu.
After saying everything he needed to say, everything he wanted to warn himself about, Sasuke turned away and walked to the side, unwilling to continue the conversation.
He was him. I am me.
Sasuke accepted that they existed in different parallel worlds. He had said all he could. Whether this world's Sasuke listened or not was his own choice. There was no need for him to think about that Sasuke's future, much less interfere with his decisions. Even if he ended up drowning in regret, even if he came to hate the entire world, that too would be his own path.
Naruto looked at the Sasuke on his side, then at the other Sasuke, gravely injured and marked by Orochimaru's cursed seal.
The heavy rain soaked their hair.
"Sasuke…"
He was clearly calling out to the Sasuke standing across from him, the one receiving treatment from Sakura.
"You said we can't understand your hatred and your pain."
Naruto's voice was low and rough, carrying a lonely, desolate edge beneath the downpour.
"I'm sorry. I really can't understand."
Everyone froze.
That didn't sound like Naruto at all.
Sasuke, who like Naruto had come from the mission scroll world, turned around and looked at Naruto beside him, waiting to hear what he would say next.