Visual Prowess

Chapters

Entrance
Bed-Ridden
Repairs, Rarity, Rainbow, and Twilight
Public Humilation
Deception, and An Octopus
A Chase and A Hole In Reality
An Angry Dragon, And A Yellow Pegasus
The Tears Of A Kind-Hearted Princess
Confrontation
Temporary Relief
Betrayal
Twilight Sparkle's Experiences In The Elemental Nations- Part One
The Zebra In The Everfree Forest Can Be Quite Wise, You Know
When An Innocent Mind Witnesses The Injustices Of The World
Twilight Sparkle's Experiences In The Elemental Nations- Part Three
When A Black Heart Is Cleansed By Kindness
Twilight Sparkle's Experiences In The Elemental Nations Part Four
See Ya At The Fight
The Fight
Hard Decisions
Epilogue
I need a pre-reader, or a beta.
As a Princess Falls To A Criminal
Twilight Sparkle's Experiences In The Elemental Nations- Part Two

Entrance

Cries of anguish and shouts of fear and anger could be heard all across the battlefield as the Fourth Great Ninja War raged. Bodies laid strewn carelessly across the bloody, dirty ground. Kunai and shuriken were scattered randomly across the ground, often halfway embedded into the ground, or otherwise laying, broken or unused. Both the White Zetsu Army and the ninja of the Allied Shinobi forces battled furiously for dominance.

One man with brown hair and a chuunin vest jumped away as a White Zetsu clone attempted to slash him with a kunai, metal gleaming in the hot sun. He grinned as he thought he’d avoided death, only for his smile to fall into a expression of horrible agony and fright as he was stabbed from behind, the kunai bursting through his back, and going through his lungs, poking out slightly from the chuunin vest, and splattering blood all over the sneering Zetsu clone that clung to his body as they fell to the ground.

A ninja with white, wild hair, and a red, intimidating left eye easily defeated the Zetsu who had killed his comrade. Kakashi stared emotionlessly into the Zetsu’s eyes as his life faded away. He then looked to the dead body, and all the others around him, with sad eyes. So much death. He’d hoped for the War to go better than this. Guy, a shinobi with a green vest and orange leg warmers jumped out, striking many Zetus with a swirling kick as he called out the attack’s name.

“Konaha Whirlwind!” The bodies of the Zetsu flew in all directions from the amazing strength of Guy’s kick. He landed adroitly on the ground, next to his eternal rival. They watched for a moment as the battle between the normal, weaker shinobi and the seemingly endless waves of Zetsu continued. Behind them, three giant beasts battled with furious force that everyone on the battlefield was aware of.

A giant orange fox, with a young man on the top, lashed out with claws as it attempted to somehow wound the giant form in front of it. Similarly, a huge octopus shot several tentacles toward the larger form in front of it. Naruto and Killer Bee, both in their Beast transformations, desperately battled in order to defeat the Jyuubi. The gigantic monster easily dwarfed both Bijuu, even though they were already ridiculously huge.

Kakashi rushed back to the battle to aid Naruto, as did Guy. They’d temporarily left the main fight, only for a few moments, to deal with some approaching Zetsus that were trying to attack Naruto. He and Bee were the only thing holding off the Jyuubi, Obito, and Madara at the moment. Any distraction, at all, could cause the loss of their fight, and if they lost, all was lost. Kakashi watched as the boy commanded the Nine-Tailed Fox to jump, and claw the much larger form in front of it. He shook his head at the scene in front of him.

Pushing a kunai into his hand, he threw them at the Ten-Tails, knowing his efforts were fruitless. Still, he had to try. The giant fox next to him leapt, trying to tear into the Ten-Tails with massive jaws. He shook his head at the scale of the battle, and at how strong Naruto had become. He had been so weak, at first, Kakashi thought, remembering Naruto as a Genin. If they survived this battle, Naruto would surely become Hokage soon after. The Fifth would probably give up the title as soon as all the paperwork was in order.

Naruto deserved that hat anyway. He’d been working for it forever. Kakashi jumped back, narrowly avoiding a gigantic limb as it crashed down, destroying the land all around it. The Ten-Tails advanced, trying to kill Naruto and Bee. Obito and Madara watched in some sort of sick satisfaction from atop the impossibly large beast. Their plan was coming to fruition- soon, they’d control the world with the Eye of The Moon Plan. It was perfect. It couldn’t fail.

“Oi, Naruto,” Obito shouted, his voice somehow carrying over the endless, deafening noise of the battle, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t allow any of your comrades to die? You lied.”

Naruto winced, even as he told Kurama to jump over an attack and try to get the Jyuubi from its side. He couldn’t believe that he’d allowed Neji to die. Despite the fact that it wasn’t Naruto’s fault- deaths were inevitable in a battle like this, especially considering their enemies- he still took the blame for it personally.

“Fool, ya fool! Concentrate, Naruto!” Bee yelled, the voice sounding strange and unfitting from the form of the giant octopus as he struck the side of the Jyuubi, but it seemed like it didn’t even matter. The Jyuubi immediately countered him, turning on him, and looming over him like a dark, chaotic god as it struck him with horrible force. Bee screamed as he was blasted back, the enormous form of the octopus destroying the ground and leaving a giant trench as it was forced back by the blow.

“Octopops!” Naruto shrieked as Bee was wounded.

“Naruto! Don’t let Neji’s death, and everyone else that’s died, be for nothing. Don’t let them win!” Hinata shouted, even as she defended herself, and battled furiously for her life. Kurama also reminded him of his parent’s sacrifice. It restored Naruto’s confidence- it wasn’t easy to put Naruto into depression, but when you managed to, it was hard to pull him out of it.

His face changed from the look of pain it had expressed moments before. Now it showed Naruto’s rage and fury. He began to create two Rasenshuriken. The swirling, blue-white techniques produced a shrill cry that all could hear. He tossed them with incredible accuracy, smirking as the two jutsus smashed into the side of Ten-Tails. This seemed to wound the horrible beast, as it screeched in terrible pain, before turning its focus on Naruto, even as Bee got up from the blow he’d suffered moments before.

He left Beast Transformation Mode for a second, leaping downwards and allowing Bee to deal with it, if only for a moment. Once he reached the ground and was within the needed distance of his comrades, he passed them some of Kurama’s chakra. It filled them incredibly- there was so much of it. Revitalized, they threw themselves back into the fight, attacking the Jyuubi and Madara and Obito on top it furiously.

Madara and Obito easily held off the attacks, letting the Jyuubi do most of the work. One real blow would kill most of Naruto’s friends on the ground- they couldn’t do much but try to damage it, and try to stay out of the way every other moment. To the Ten-Tails, they were like annoying flies that wouldn’t leave him alone. It roared in frustration as it attempted to wipe them out, stomping around on the ground like an angry, out of control child.

Naruto re-entered Tailed Beast Mode, and crashed into the Jyuubi, working with Kurama and Bee, and the rest of his friends as they tried to wound the Ten-Tails. They hit it over and over, with attacks that would leave any other foe struggling to even stay alive-combinations between Naruto and Bee, as well as the other ninja on the ground- Guy, Lee, Hinata, Kakashi, and others- all in an attempt to win that seemed fruitless. Naruto managed to claw it on the side using Kurama’s body, scoring a decent blow.

But, the strength of the Jyuubi was almost impossible to comprehend. Naruto’s smile of victory soon faded as the Ten-Tails easily recovered. It began to charge its chakra, a huge ball of energy forming in front of him. Naruto tensed, preparing to jump high or to the side to dodge, Bee readying himself similarly. They’d seen what that attack could do earlier when the Jyuubi used it effortlessly to destroy an entire village. If they got hit by something like that, it was over.

Bee, however, had other plans. While it attempted to charge its Beast Ball, Bee already had been. The Jyuubi had been too slow. He fired his, watching in glee and satisfaction as the huge demonic chakra beam struck the gigantic beast in the face, ending its attempt to destroy them. It growled, though it sounded more like a roar. Naruto gulped as he watched Obito and Madara on top of it. So far, they had only interfered in the fight slightly, merely defending themselves from the attack from the shinobi on the ground. If they started really fighting, this was going to become incredibly harder. He reared back internally as the Jyuubi turned its gaze on him.

It was incredibly digusting- a huge, humanoid monster. The Ten-Tails was originally every tailed beast together, but after the Sage of Six Paths had split it into nine, its power had been scattered, and its body left in the moon. But, even not fully formed, with only Seven Bijuu worth of power, it was still almost too strong to even consider battling. Naruto smirked as he found himself wishing the Sage of Six Paths were here. Maybe he’d give him some pointers on how to be a god so he could fight one, because right now, he felt like Kami himself was going to need to come down in order for them to win.

Jyuubi’s Ten-Tails whipped wildly behind them. Each gargantuan limb was as thick as fifty or sixty men across, more, and longer than anything Naruto had ever seen before. It had a giant, spiked bulb on its back, and one huge eye planted firmly on its face. The pupil inside it shifted wildly, glaring at everything around it. All the Jyuubi wanted to do was destroy. Destroy everything and anything. The perfect monster for a villain that wanted to take over the world.

Naruto called out to Bee as he fully recovered, with a bit of fear on his face.

“How are we going to beat this thing, Octopops? It’s like nothing we’re doing is even damaging it!” The massive form of the octopus turned towards him, even as the Jyuubi leaped at him, and Naruto and Bee dodged, crashing a quarter of a mile away, leaving huge craters where they landed.

“You don’t have time to talk.” Madara stated calmly as the Jyuubi rushed them again, giving them no time to do anything but defend rapidly, and hope that they weren’t killed. The Eight-Tail’s face contorted, showing effort as he only just blocked a punch that held inhuman force. It tried to hold it off, even as Naruto jumped into the air on the back of Kurama, hundreds of feet off the ground, and then landed behind the Ten-Tails with a huge crash.

“F-fool, ya fool! You knew this fight wasn’t going to be easy, this thing’s cruel!” Bee barely held off the Jyuubi as the giant abomination pressed harder, trying to overwhelm him. Naruto swore, even as he formed another two Rasenshuriken, and launched them at the Jyuubi, only catching him in the side as the Jyuubi twisted, avoiding the jutsu slightly; at least enough to prevent its tails from being cut off.

Naruto had always been determined, and had never given up on anything- his pursuit of Sasuke was proof of that. But, he actually doubted himself, now. This fight was nearly impossible. Naruto was glad they were still alive- they could still win, certainly. But it wasn’t going to be easy. He winced as he realized that more of his friends would probably die before this was over- and that was if they even won.

Kurama jumped high into the air; furry orange tails whipping proudly as he again avoided another attack of the Jyuubi. On top of him, Naruto watched as Bee backed off, putting a small amount of distance between the Ten-Tails and him, if only to catch his breath. Bee wasn’t normally pushed by anyone- as a Jinchuriki, he had ridiculous natural strength. This was the first real fight since he’d fought Team Taka, and before that, it had been a long time since he’d ever went full out on anyone- or even had to, for that matter.

Naruto breathed heavily. Using Beast Mode was taxing, especially considering he’d barely had any time at all to even gain any experience in it- he’d had to immediately, because the war had broke out, even before his training was finished. He hadn’t even been there for the start of it- when forty thousand shinobi died on the first day. The orange, amazing chakra pulsed and burned around and off of Naruto as Kurama landed onto the ground, shaking the earth with his large size and tremendous weight.

Naruto was a blond, older teenager, with a black headband that had a swirling leaf implanted in the middle of a grey, steel forehead protector. His spiky blond hair was just like his father’s, the Yondaime- the Fourth Hokage of The Hidden Leaf Village. He was wearing his normal jumpsuit, under the chakra- but when he was using the Fox’s chakra like this, it changed his form.

Instead, his entire form was orange- a burning, glowing chakra cloak that surrounded his entire being. Markings were all over his body- a swirling circle on his stomach to represent the seal, as well as lines that went down each of limbs, and his hands and his feet. There were miniature swirling circles on his feet, and tomoes under his neck, at the top of chest. All of these markings were in a dark black that contrasted strikingly with the bright, almost garish orange.

He winced as Bee was hit again, by a limb of the Jyuubi. Naruto hoped they’d be able to win. With a cry, he leapt forward on Kurama’s back to attack the Jyuubi once more.

______________________________________

Sasuke Uchiha scowled at the scene in front of him. Orochimaru had managed to summon all four dead Hokages back from the grave- and what was even more incredible was that he'd released them from the Death God's stomach. Even after hearing all the stories from the First- about him and Madara, about the history of the Uchiha clan, it still hadn’t mattered to Sasuke. He’d still been betrayed by The Leaf- and he was still an avenger.

He could care less about the world. All that mattered to him was his vengeance.

Although he didn’t show it, inside, Sasuke was seething with anger and hatred. He hated The Leaf so much- he would do anything to destroy them, wipe them off the map, forever. Then, afterwards, he would revive the Uchiha clan himself. With his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, it was all possible.

I will destroy the Hidden Leaf, Sasuke thought, furious, even as Orochimaru and the rest of Team Taka turned towards him, waiting for orders. Orochimaru, a disgusting excuse of a human, with pale, white skin, and snake-like features, let his tongue slide out and lick his own cheek as he gazed over at Sasuke, who stood a few feet away from him. Juugo and Suigetsu waited behind obediently, watching as Orochimaru began to speak.

“So, Sasuke-kun. You’ve heard it all, now. What will you do? Will you help Naruto and the Allied Shinobi forces save the world? Or, will you achieve your vengeance?” Inquired Orochimaru, who smiled at Sasuke. Sasuke didn’t respond for a moment, the cold mask slipping over his face as it always did. Lately, Sasuke didn’t show any emotions, besides rage and hatred- nothing else. A small question flickered in the back of his mind for an instant, but was just as quickly snuffed out by a much greater force in Sasuke’s mind, his Hatred.

Should I help them? That was what the question had been. Immediately, though, his Hatred wiped out any kind of notion of mercy or kindness, crushed out the embers of weakness and Sasuke smiled coldly and evilly as he made his decision. Finally, he’d have his full revenge- after years of seeking to kill Itachi, and then finding out that it wasn’t even his fault, he’d been even more desperate to destroy the Hidden Leaf. And now, it was finally going to happen.

Perhaps a long time ago, when he was younger, Sasuke could’ve been described as ‘cute’ or ‘innocent.’ He was no longer. Sasuke Uchiha had long, chin length black hair, and onyx eyes, when he wasn’t using his Sharingan. He had fair skin throughout, though, before he revived Orochimaru, some of it was a pale white due to absorbing the Sannin inside of him. He had a normal sized nose and mouth, and ears, everything proportionate. He was often thought of by women as handsome, something that had annoyed him to no end throughout his life, considering that he had no time for them. He’d have a few to bear his children later, when he was reviving the clan.

He wore a gray jacket that had a high collar, although, unlike an Aburame, it didn’t cover his face. Also, unlike an Aburame, his back bore the Uchiha crest, something he presented to all with pride. He wore black wristbands, and blue pants, and another piece of fabric that was tied to his waist by a purple segmented sash/belt, which was something that he’d picked up from Orochimaru. Sasuke’s ensemble ended with sandals that left his ankles and toes exposed.

Where his clothing ensemble ended, anyway. On his back, attached firmly and twisted sideways slightly, was his sword- a shorter sword, a chokuto. It wasn’t particularly long, but it was dangerous. It had a black hilt and a steel-gray blade, that was often enveloped in electric chakra, whenever Sasuke was using Chidori through his sword. Over time, Sasuke had become a skilled swordsman, able to stand up to other masters of the blade without too much effort. Admittedly, though, a lot of this was due to the Sharingan, which would cover any weaknesses Sasuke had in his form or sword strikes, though they only appeared very rarely.

Though all of these things were items and descriptions that would identify Sasuke, his eyes were certainly the most distinctive- showing how he’d changed over the years. Eight or nine years ago, he’d been a happy boy, son of a clan leader. Not as strong as Itachi, but still, a valued member of his clan community. Sasuke, in a reverie of cold satisfaction, thought back sadly to what his father had told him one day, after he’d trained to learn the clan jutsu- one of the only times his father had ever been proud of him.

______________________________

Sasuke breathed heavily as he trained. Every Uchiha was expected to be able to use the Great Fireball Jutsu- and then, when they could, they were considered an adult. Sasuke scowled as his fireball only lasted a few moments- and withered out. It hadn’t even been that huge, either. Breathing in again, he quickly formed the required seals, having memorized and performed them so many times before. His chakra was running low, but even standing here on the dock at sunset, he wasn’t ready to give up yet. He’d prove to his father that he was as good as Itachi- no, better than Itachi. He would be the clan genius.

Horse. Tiger. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger.

With a loud cry, he breathed in and held the chakra within his lungs as long as possible. Sasuke’s lungs burned- he was holding fire inside of them- and then he released it when he could hold it no longer.

“Fire Release! Great Fireball Technique!”

A gigantic ball of flame, orange and red in color, exploded and rushed outwards, over the surface of the lake. He held it as long as possible, blowing the flames out of mouth, before stopping and watching as the flames dissipated over the lake. Sasuke grinned, proud of his progress. Tomorrow, he’d be ready to show his father, and prove himself.

The next day, Fugaku watched as his son prepared to use the clan technique. He dragged himself out here lazily, expecting a small, weak fireball that wouldn’t last long at all. He was then surprised as the small Sasuke used the clan technique, and held it ridiculously long, almost as long as Itachi. And it was enourmous too. He began walking away from the dock, proud of Sasuke.

Sasuke watched his father’s back expectantly as he walked away. He lit up when he heard five simple words that he’d wanted to hear all this time.

“As expected of my son.”

_____________________________

Sasuke had a blank face as he thought of the memory. Those times were over, now. The Leaf had assured that. Sasuke clenched his fists as he thought of how helpless he used to feel- and then, how much he’d been lied to, throughout his entire life. He thought of the face of the Third Hokage, who was standing right in front of him. How had he felt every day, lying to Sasuke? Sasuke could only imagine what the Third really thought.

Foolish little Uchiha. You have no idea of your situation.

“I’m going to kill them all,” Sasuke announced coldly, answering Orochimaru’s question. The four Hokages only glared at Sasuke, while the Third seemed to be trying to reason with the boy who’d been consumed by hatred. Sasuke eyed him strangely, like he was looking at garbage that was able to talk, but still shouldn’t be opening its mouth.

“Sasuke! Please, do not destroy The Leaf Village! I was wrong to have Itachi kill the Uchiha clan! I was wrong to not tell you the truth, and lie about it! But please, don’t go through with what you’re about to do. You’ll regret-“

With a furious roar, Sasuke shot Chidori Nagashi at the Third, his anger slowly leaving as he watched the Third’s head explode into numerous pieces of paper, before they reformed. The Third seemed surprised, but looked even more downtrodden and morose as he heard what Sasuke said next.

“You know nothing, old man,” Sasuke spat icily, glaring at everyone in front of him. Inside, his Hatred and Anger raged, fueling him and making the desire for revenge even greater.

“I will destroy what you hold dear. Just as you have done to me. Everything I once loved is gone- my mother, my father, by brother- All because of what you decided had to be done! Remember it, Hiruzen! Remember that you were the one that caused the downfall of The Leaf!”

Seeing that Sasuke seemed finished with his vengeance speech, Orochimaru turned to him again, asking quickly, “So, Sasuke-kun, what first? Do we destroy the village here, or go to the war, and then come back?” Sasuke only grinned maliciously, thinking of what was happening. What was finally happening!

At last! His REVENGE.

“The second option. If we were to destroy the village before leaving, the vermin would rebuild it if they were to somehow win the war. So, we wipe them out first.”

Juugo and Suigetsu only nodded in obedience, though, they both seemed off-put by how much hate Sasuke was showing. It seemed that he really was going to go through with it- destroying all of his old comrades, his old village, his old friends and people he knew- Suigetsu wasn’t sure if he could do it if he were in the same position.

Turning, Sasuke faced away from The Leaf Village, back towards where he knew all the important battles of the war were raging. His normally black eyes shifted, before becoming a horrible crimson, as an intricate design formed within his eyeballs. His Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan spun rapidly and wildly as he tensed himself, and then leapt into the air, leaving everyone behind to follow them.

He wasn’t going to wait.

Orochimaru didn’t cancel the Edo Tensei- instead, bringing the four Hokages with him, to ensure the victory at the Fourth Great Ninja War. All four Hokages followed him, jumping after Orochimaru immediately- none of them offering any words or cries of protest, as he had, by now, killed their free will. Juugo and Suigetsu followed, and the Leaf Village was left behind, intact. At least for now.

__________________________

Naruto and Bee still battled for their lives as the Jyuubi, though weakened, didn’t seem like it ever wanted to die. Both Bee and Naruto panted heavily, chakra stores beginning to grow low, even with their (literally) monstrous reserves. It didn’t seem possible that they could ever run out of stamina with how they seemed to be able to use any jutsu to any extent with no backlash to their endurance, but the Ten Tails was even more monster than them when it came to that, apparently.

The Five Kages had somehow managed to defeat Madara’s clones, which had luckily not been using Susano, and were now helping Bee and Naruto fight the gigantic, colossal Ten Tails as it still rampaged like it had when it was first released. The size had been originally surprising to even the Kages, as it was to everyone else, but they quickly grew serious and began support Naruto and Bee, though, at the moment, the fight seemed at a stalemate.

Multiple, amazing assaults clashed from both sides as techniques and attacks were thrown out like the shinobi from either side were holding jutsu machine guns, but it didn’t seem to do anything. By now, even with the Jyuubi’s inconceivable endurance, Madara and Obito had finally been worn down, and both were significantly fatigued. Unfortunately, the same was true for Naruto and all the others fighting the Jyuubi. Meanwhile, the Ten Tails roared with hate and lashed out at everything around it, showing off its boundless energy at every opportunity.

Naruto and the rest of them seemed to be barely holding on, when the worst possible thing happened.

A young man with malevolent red eyes leapt onto the battlefield, attacking Naruto as he desperately tried to fend off the Jyuubi, Madara, Obito, and Sasuke at the same time. In Sasuke’s hands was his chokuto, drawn rapidly as he rushed at Naruto, at the same time charging Chidori Nagashi and running it along the length of his blade, piercing Naruto in the shoulder with the electric attack.

Nartuo staggered, screaming, “SASUKE!” even as he stumbled and struggled to stay alive against all of the deadly foes that were bearing down upon him. Bee rushed forwards in his Tailed Beast Form, attempting to help Naruto, but was blocked by the Jyuubi, who slapped him aside with one massive tail that Bee didn’t notice in his worried haste.

Sasuke’s eyes bore complete abhorrence as he stared into Naruto’s kind blue orbs. He stood on top of Kurama as Naruto did, but jumped off momentarily, avoiding a quickly formed Odama Rasengan. Sasuke dropped through the air like a rock, momentarily, before rapidly performing the hand seals for the Summoning Technique. Biting his thumb and smearing blood on his palm, he slammed it downwards in mid-air, and stopped abruptly as smoke blocked everything, before, as it cleared, it was revealed that he rode on a giant brown hawk.

Turning, Sasuke aimed his glare back at Naruto, even as Madara and Obito attacked once more, with Bee out of sight, though Sasuke knew he was planning something. Still, with hate swirling in his eyes, he rushed at Naruto once again, anger and animosity clouding his judgment as he failed to realize what was going on. Orochimaru stayed back, handling the Hokages as they attacked the current five Kages and the other shinobi supporting Naruto and Bee, who were barely holding them off. Rock Lee, Hinata, Kakashi, Guy, and everyone else seemed to be preoccupied with the Fourth and The First, as well as Juugo and Suigetsu, while the Third and the Second attacked the tired, weakened Kages.

“NARUTO!” Sasuke shouted, rushing at Naruto with a Chidori shrieking in his hands, blue-white electricity crackling violently as he rushed forward to attack Naruto.

It was at that moment that everyone turned to witness the most massive explosion that they’d ever seen in their lives.

All Three Tailed Beasts- that is, Kurama, The Eight Tails, and The Jyuubi, all fired The Tailed Beast Ball at the same time.

The Tailed Beasts are a mostly mysterious subject- they were incredibly old, originally formed from the chakra of the Jyuubi, as many know. But not many truly understand the power a Tailed Beast commands- and not just the incredible strength, stature, or amazing levels of chakra, though those are unbelievable, already.

No. Tailed Beasts, whether they understood it or not- because space-time was ridiculously complicated- had the power to puncture holes in reality, when using Beast Ball as a group. This could only be accomplished by The Tailed Beast Ball, and by using it incorrectly in the presence of other Tailed Beasts. The chakra required was massive though- probably close to all nine Beasts firing at the same time, with at least one miss-performing the jutsu, and causing a hole to rip open reality due to the mistake.

There was just enough chakra for this with the Jyuubi, along with the Kyuubi and the Gyuki. Not many know this- only Jinchuriki, basically, and a few others- but the Beast Ball is used by an exact ratio of 8:2 black and white chakra- black and white energy- or it won’t work. Now, normally, this would be fine. If only one Tailed Beast is firing this, and they make a mistake, it would simply backfire, hurting them, and that would be the end of it.

But, the entire universe is made up of black and white energy-chakra, call it what you want, because in some realms it’s called other things- ki, reishi- but every realm, dimension, plane- everything is made up of black and white energy. So, when there was a slight mistake in Naruto’s Beast Ball due to his inexperience, and the three beams managed to collide in the center… something unexpected happened.

First, the largest explosion most had ever seen in their lives. This part was the expected part- Tailed Beasts were battling; this wasn’t an ordinary day in the ninja world, anyway- and most turned to watch the light show, and the huge area that it encompassed. Still, that wasn’t the end of it. Unfortunately, Sasuke had been caught in the middle of it- and while the second he was caught he managed to activate Susano, it wasn’t enough to defend against three Tailed Beast Balls, coming from different directions.

Once his endurance ran out- which happened instantly- the explosion rushed past the purple skeletal guardian that was Sasuke’s Susano and battered his body, juggling him around like a ball. He was bounced and hit and struck back and forth, and Sasuke couldn’t see anything. He could feel himself losing consciousness, and struggled to stay awake, but, even with how strong Sasuke was, he failed. Black nothingness claimed him but a few moments later.

Naruto screamed as he watched Sasuke be caught, but even during the explosion, Naruto glared intensely into the blinding light- was that- could he see- what was that? It looked like a… hole… in the middle of the air-

And then it was gone, and the explosion ended. Naruto was confused, trying to figure out what had just happened, even as he battled harder against the Jyuubi and the Kages, and Orochimaru, just to stay alive.

Did he imagine what he just saw?

________________________________________________

Sasuke came to an indeterminable amount of time later. He was on a bed- thought it seemed to be too small for him, he could tell that much, he was cramped- and his eyes seemed to be aching. No doubt a side effect from overusing Susano. Good thing he had Itachi’s eyes, or he could go blind from using his clan’s pride.

He opened his eyelids- though it felt like he was tearing them open- and glanced around the room where he was in. What was this, some kind of cottage? It looked strange. There were… mice and squirrels playing with each other, and he saw a bear sleeping on the other side of the room. And there was this weird horse thing, with pink hair and a yellow body that seemed to be looking at him, though it looked timid.

Sasuke tried to get up, but snarled when he felt he was restrained by his body. It screamed out in pain, and he reluctantly lay back down on the bed.

“Are you okay…?” What was that? Did it just speak? Maybe it knew where he was.

Turning to the horse thing, he sneered, and asked, “Hey, horse. Where am I?”

Bed-Ridden

“You… you probably shouldn’t move.”

Fluttershy managed, speaking quietly, nearly squeaking as the strange creature looked at her. She’d found it near death in the forest, outside of her cottage, and, the second she’d seen it, was overwhelmed with pity for the animal and decided to bring it inside. It wore clothes, so she had been sure that it was civilized, but she was surprised to hear that it spoke Equestrian. She’d been expecting something more… barbaric, with how it was dressed- blood and dirt everywhere on its clothes- and the thing that it had had strapped to its back. It looked like a weapon. Fluttershy had been scared to touch it, first poking it with a hoof, and then had moved it with the creature, and placed it next to the bed, mostly because she assumed it was a valued possession.

Sasuke frowned as he looked around the cottage. Everything seemed so… playful… and happy. He knew not to move because of the pain he’d just felt all throughout his body- even Susano couldn’t block multiple Tailed Beast Ball blasts, as much as he wished it could- but he didn’t like not knowing where he was. He hated being pitied and cared for like he was weak even more. For now though, he was forced.

Just to make sure, he activated his Sharingan and gazed at everything around him, to make certain that he was under no kind of genjutsu, and that no deceit or trickery was being performed. His eyes ached, and began to bleed slightly, but he ignored it, staring at everything with a stark glare until he was sure nothing he was seeing had been somehow fabricated. Everything here was real.

Fluttershy squeaked again as she saw his eyes beginning to bleed.

“Oh no, you poor thing! What’s wrong with you!?” She said, a worried tone easy to hear in her voice. Sasuke turned to her and, while not giving her a true glare of hatred, still managed to make her shiver with the pure distaste that he looked at her with. He didn’t speak for a moment, before repeating his previous question.

“Horse, where am I?” Fluttershy poked at the floor with her hoof, looking nervous, and seeming scared to answer his question. Sasuke grunted, becoming annoyed. He’d ask her again, use a little intimidation, this time. If she didn’t answer that time, he’d use genjutsu.

“Horse,” Sasuke said, turning to her, and staring her in the eyes. His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly as he simply gazed at her.

Fluttershy squeaked and closed her eyes, and began shaking. His crimson eyes were horrible. It was some sort of… red-filled hatred. Not to mention the thing had the weirdest and scariest pupils and irises that she’d ever seen. She’d never seen someone look at her with such coldness before. Fluttershy managed to get through her fright and answered, though she was barely hearable.

“My cottage.”

“And where is your cottage?”

“W-Well, it’s on t-the outside of Ponyville, which is-“

“What country am I in?”

“E-Equestria.”

Sasuke scowled. Where was Equestria? He’d passed with flying colors at the geographic portion of the class back in The Leaf Shinobi Academy- he remembered every country and village, minor or major. From the Land of Fire to the Land of Iron, to the Land of Tea, he knew all of them. Equestria was certainly not from The Elemental Nations. There were other continents in the world, but they were not well known, nor well explored by the ninja or peoples of The Elemental Nations. Perhaps he was on one of them, although he couldn’t understand how he’d been blasted that far away and was still somehow alive.

Deciding not to question it for the moment, he turned back to the shivering horse-thing. It had its eyes closed and was shaking like the last leaf of a dead tree in the wind. He noticed the wings on its back. Winged-horses? Perhaps he was in a realm of some unknown summon. He decided not to count out that possibility. He moved slightly, slowly at first, noting the amount of pain that came with each movement. The agony was bearable, though it was clear his body was wrecked. He was confined to this bed for the time being, it seemed.

Sasuke turned his thoughts back to The Fourth Great Ninja War. His side probably had won. It wasn’t for sure, but Naruto and the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces had been in bad shape when he blacked out. Not to mention that the Jyuubi was rampaging and Orochimaru had brought back the four Hokages to fight on their side. The Leaf. He unconsciously began to grit his teeth and tense up the second he thought of them. He’d have his revenge yet.

“Do you… do you want something to eat?” Fluttershy asked, hesitantly. She was still afraid of the thing, but it was clear that it had no intention to hurt her- at least, not yet. The glare she’d received, while it had frightened her, after thinking about it, she realized it was the same look that she received from an injured animal. He was just hurt and angry, and lashing out emotionally, even if he didn’t mean to. Maybe food would make him feel better.

“Hn.” Sasuke replied. It wasn’t really an answer, but Fluttershy took it as a yes, and flew off slowly to go prepare his meal. Floating through the air, gradually making her way into her kitchen, she began to boil water in preparation for making tea. At the same time, once the water was set to heat up and boil, she turned and began to search for hay to make a hay and flower sandwich. She hummed, nearly silently, as she worked.

Sasuke sat up in bed slowly, ignoring the rippling, exploding pain throughout his body. His back burned, his sides and chest felt like they were ripped apart, and his neck and shoulders felt like they had been pounded with a sledgehammer. The throbbing pain beginning to grow too much, Sasuke bit out a grunt and settled back into the bed face up and back down, waiting for the agony to go away. Pain was nothing new to him- going blind before he’d received Itachi’s eyes had been much more painful than this. Compared to that, this was nothing.

He reached up and touched his face, feeling the still wet streaks of blood that slowly ran down his cheeks. It had stopped just short of his chin, almost dripping off and staining the bedsheets red. His eyes would never go blind again- permanently, the pride and rightly valued ability of the Uchiha clan- which was his by right, anyway- would stay. But they would still bleed and he would feel incredible pain if he overused them or if he used Amaterasu, which he was skilled in.

He wiped the blood away, looking at the smeared red liquid on his hand. Sasuke didn’t even bother cleaning his hand- he wasn’t going to bother dirtying his clothes any more than they already were, considering that his grey coat, which proudly displayed the Uchiha crest- a fan with a red top and a white bottom- was already tattered and had holes in it. It was dirty in some places, covered and stained with what looked to be soot- most likely from the explosion- though, other areas looked suspiciously clean.

Sasuke figured that the- Pegasus, is what winged-horses were called, wasn’t it? - That the Pegasus had tried to clean it. His bottom half fared no better- his sandals were barely holding together, the straps were ripped. It was amazing they still clung to his feet at all. The blue cloth that he wore around his waist was similarly destroyed- torn apart, looking like rags a peasant would wear. He was fairly sure there was no part of his clothing that was clean.

Sasuke felt around his person- slowly, still feeling pain in his muscles and bones. He had probably fractured several bones and pulled or torn muscles all throughout his body, not to mention various bruises, and just a battered, sore body in general. Yes. His kunai, shuriken, smoke bombs, and summoning scrolls, mostly used for summoning the giant shuriken, as well as his other various ninja tools, were all still there.

He next felt around the bed with one hand, ignoring the pain as he checked to make sure his sword was in good shape. After a few seconds, he felt it propped up against the bed. Sasuke snatched it up and held it in front of him, right above his face as he pulled it out of the scabbard a bit. The quiet screech of steel and glint of light off of the immaculate grey steel told him all he needed to know. Satisfied, he pushed the sword all the way back into its scabbard and put it back where it had been before.

Fluttershy flew back into the room, with two plates, one on each hoof. On one was a cup of piping hot tea and in the other was a plate with a sandwich on it. It looked plain enough for Sasuke. She gently set both down on the oak table next to Sasuke, and watched as he reached to feed himself, even with his body wrecked like it was. She gasped and reached towards his hand, stopping its progress by blocking it with her hoof.

“I can feed myself,” he said, looking at her like she was stupid. “I don’t need you to baby me. I’m not like your animals.” Sasuke seemed surprised that she was surprised. It was fairly easy to tell that she was an animal caretaker. It was right there, out in the open- he didn’t know anyone else that would let a bear sleep in their house, so Sasuke assumed, and assumed rightly, that she had no fear of the bear- it most likely trusted her as well.

Fluttershy slowly removed her hoof, even though she didn’t want to, and watched him reach slowly for the sandwich, grabbing it greedily and not bothering to thank her as he took a bite. It tasted terrible. He spit it out back on the plate immediately as he opened up the sandwich inside, and glared at what he saw. Hay and flowers? As much as he wanted to snap at her, she was a horse. It was fairly expected.

“I can’t eat hay and flowers. Do you have any fruits… or vegetables?” Sasuke said, as he placed the sandwich back on the plate, and instead reached for the tea, sipping the hot liquid carefully, and then once he was sure of its taste and drinkability, he drank the tea in no time at, used to the hot temperature of the drink, as it was similar to using Fire jutsu. He placed the cup of tea back on the table, and lay back down in bed.

“Yes, yes I do.” Fluttershy said quietly, offering a smile to Sasuke as she flew past him, but getting nothing but a blank look in return. It’s better than that other look, earlier… Even as Fluttershy flew, she shivered, remembering the complete coldness inside of his eyes when he’d looked at her like that- and even later, when he had glared at her in distaste.

Sasuke lay in the bed and waited for the Pegasus to come back. He had nothing else to do. While she was certainly incredibly innocent- this much he could tell, just from seeing how scared she was of everything around her- it seemed that he was going to be able to use her for his own purposes. He then began planning to leave as soon as he got better- he didn’t like staying like this, almost being fed by something else, something as pathetic as that Pegasus. It would’ve been a blow to Sasuke’s pride.

As Sasuke thought more, he realized that she could most likely tell him more about wherever he was, and he could most likely use the information to get back to The Elemental Nations, and he could restart his plan of vengeance against The Leaf from there.

Sasuke watched in some sort of dulled interest as mice, squirrels, and birds flew throughout the house frequently, ducking out of this hole or that hole, and climbing into every nook and cranny. While he watched, he mused further on the subject of where he was. I’ve gotten very lucky… I probably could’ve ended up in a worse place. He supposed that he would’ve been dead if not for the creature.

Sasuke frowned. He didn’t like being in debt to anyone, much less to a peaceful, naive, innocent weakling who most likely had no idea about the ongoing events of the world around her. Even if he was in one of the other countries, Sasuke figured he would’ve seen another person by now, or, at the very least, a shinobi. Even a pony one, as ridiculous as it would be. He was sure that it was a worldwide practice, and not just in The Elemental Nations. How else would people solve their problems? By talking?

Sasuke scoffed at the thought and instantly put it away, ears perking up when he heard the humming. She was coming back, he supposed. It was humiliating, in a way, to have everything brought to him like this while he lay in the bed like an invalid, but for now, he’d have to bear through with it. Fluttershy carried in several fruits and vegetables from her garden and the kitchen, and put them on the table, letting him feed himself again. She would’ve done it, but it seemed the creature had something about letting someone else take care of him.

She had some lettuce, some pears… ah, a tomato, his favorite. Sasuke grabbed up the tomato instantly, biting into it savagely as he ate. He’d be lying, even to himself, if he said he wasn’t hungry. Blood-red juice ran down his lips, cheek, and chin as he ate the tomato rather messily, caring not for any table manners. After a while under Orochimaru, he’d lost most respect for other people anyway. Not that he’d had much to begin with.

Fluttershy was a little off-put with how much the tomato juice looked like blood when the creature was eating it, but she still smiled, nonetheless. She was the Element of Kindness, and she enjoyed helping everypony. Sasuke reached for the pears next, and truly began his feast. He gobbled up the pears in no time at all, and, ignoring the lettuce, and carrots, and other various fruits and vegetables that were on the table, he grabbed a shiny red apple and bit into it, all the way to the core.

Sasuke was surprised by how good the apple was. He’d never tasted an apple like this back in The Elemental Nations. He ate the apple, and the other one she had also placed on the table. When he was finished, he merely turned over and lay back down. Sasuke didn’t offer any thanks- but did tell her that he had to stay.

“Horse. I’m going to have to stay here, for now. I can barely move.” With that said, not even bothering to hear Fluttershy’s answer, Sasuke turned over and began to drift off into a deep sleep, trying to regain his strength back. Even as he was fading off into unconsciousness, he pondered about how long it would take him to heal. Certainly longer than before, because he no longer had Orochimaru inside of his body, speeding up his healing factor. Still, he’d recover faster than most people- he’d always been very fast at recovery after a battle, even without Orochimaru.

Fluttershy watched with a bright smile on her face as Sasuke finally seemed to fall asleep. But she still noticed how he slept- rigidly, like he expected to be attacked at any moment. She noticed how tense he was all the way through. Why did he act like he carried so much weight around with him- and seemed just as timid as herself, if only in a different way? Fluttershy wondered if the thing was paranoid.

You’re making judgments. You don’t know him yet.

It’s not nice to judge, she reminded herself, even as she watched over Sasuke while he slept. Eventually, she walked off and went to prepare food for her other animal friends, leaving Sasuke sleeping.

A little while later, there was a knocking on her door. Fluttershy flew past a few rooms and Sasuke’s room, which was really the injured animal bedroom of the house, which was connected to the main room of Fluttershy’s house. The door was mostly closed, but was opened just a crack. Fluttershy thought about closing it even as she flew to the door, but decided it wouldn’t matter.

The second she opened the door, even a crack, Pinkie Pie raced inside the tree-home, bouncing up and down excitedly. She was a pink Earth pony with a light pink coat and a poofy, out of control mane that looked like she’d never brushed it since the day she’d been born. On her flank were three party balloons. Her tail was just as poofy as her mane, and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she made senseless noise.

She was wildly babbling and shouting so frantically that Fluttershy had no idea what she was saying. But, she was being very loud, and Fluttershy wouldn’t be surprised if she was waking up the creature in the room next to her.

“Pinkie Pie!” Fluttershy said firmly, and watched as Pinkie Pie slowly calmed down, though it was more like watching some wind down gradually than anything else. She was still bouncing, just more quietly and more controlled than before.

“What happened?” Fluttershy said, with a bright smile on her face. It must be incredibly good news for Pinkie Pie to be so excited. While Pinkie was easy to rile up, even she didn’t act like this all the time. Pinkie Pie’s smile split her face even harder, if it was possible, before she gushed, and began to speak at almost the same speed she had before.

“Well Twilight got two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala- which is like the most incredible tremendous super-fun wonderful terrifically humongous party in ALL OF EQUESTRIA- and she said she was going to give someone else the extra ticket and at first it was just Applejack and Rainbow Dash but then everypony found out and I decided to come tell you about it because I was so excited about maybe being the one to get it and I just had to tell someone! And now that you know, you might ask… Twilight… too.”

Pinkie Pie frowned momentarily, and stomped a hoof on the floor, a loud clop sound echoing throughout the tree-home.

“Ooooooh, sugar! Why do I always get so excited!? I can’t ever keep my mouth shut! Now Twilight might give the ticket to you instead of me!” However, in true Pinkie Pie fashion, she got over it fairly quickly, instead moving onto something else, the reason that she’d had to come here.

“Why weren’t you in town today!? You always come to buy fruits, and groceries, and things for your animals!” said Pinkie Pie, still as giddy as ever.

Fluttershy gasped, and her eyes widened as she imagined Pinkie Pie jumping in there, screaming at the top of her lungs about a party for the thing, and said creature staring how he had at Pinkie Pie instead of herself. She didn’t want to draw attention to the thing.

“Oh, no reason…” Fluttershy said timidly; and suddenly the floor became very interesting for the pink haired Pegasus, poking and scraping a hoof against it, even as Pinkie Pie leaned in with both eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“No reason?” Pinkie Pie asked, looking more and more doubtful every second, until she fully leaned in and pressed her forehead against Fluttershy’s, and stared into Fluttershy’s blue, trembling eyes with her own. They were eye-to-eye, literally.

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy nodded rapidly.

“Oh, okay then!” Pinkie Pie chirped cheerily, and then began to bounce her way back to the door when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a door open a crack. Bouncing over quickly, even as Fluttershy gasped, she began to close the door, but again noticed something. There was a sleeping grey form inside of the room. Opening the door wider, her eyes widened as did the door entrance- in sync, at the same time.

“Who is that…?” Pinkie Pie, uncharacteristically stumped for a moment as she gazed upon the strangest being she’d ever seen in her life. It definitely wasn’t any kind of animal, pony, dragon, Manticore, griffin, zebra, or anything else that she’d ever seen in her life. The confusion and awe only lasted for a moment before glee exploded inside of her heart.

Pinkie Pie smiled wider than most would’ve thought possible as happy thoughts ran through her head. She could be the first one to make friends with this species! She began bouncing over to it, her pink tail and mane going up and down in joy along with her body as she made her way to the mysterious being.

She soon reached the bed, just as Fluttershy starting to glide through the doorway, pushing it all the way open so that she could fly the rest of the way through more easily. As soon as she saw Pinkie Pie reaching a curious hoof towards Sasuke, she cried out, though it was more of a loud whisper, just to make sure that he didn’t wake up.

“Pinkie Pie, don’t! He’s resting! And I don’t even know if he’s dangerous or not yet!”

But her warning fell on deaf ears, and Pinkie Pie succeeded in touching the seared, torn, dirty clothing that was Sasuke’s grey jacket with her hoof. She’d actually poked right on the spot that the dirty, but otherwise unblemished Uchiha crest still resided, right on his back.

Sasuke normally would awake instantly the second anyone ever got near him, probably before they even entered the same room as him; like a true shinobi, his guard was normally never fully down. But, he was so tired and weakened still from the damage he’d suffered from the three-prong Beast Ball attack that he’d been in a deep sleep, and he only awakened when he felt a miniscule pressure on his back, and only momentarily, but it was enough to set him off, considering he was already very on edge.

In a speed that neither Pinkie nor Fluttershy could even see, Sasuke had reached over to the side of the cramped, small bed, retrieved his sword, and in two swift, deft movements, he had unsheathed the sword, metal screeching, and held it to Pinkie Pie’s neck, and at the same time, begun to use Susano to protect himself. Blue-white electricity sparked and curled in miniature bolts by the dangerous grey steel that was held levelly at Pinkie’s neck, and his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun dangerously in his eyes as the giant, purple cloaked figure surrounded Sasuke and protected him from any possible harm.

“Don’t ever touch me,” Sasuke spat, with hate and anger in his voice.

Pinkie Pie had always said to laugh at her fears. She laughed and giggled at the horribly evil, scary trees that had frightened everypony else. She chuckled and guffawed and was completely unaffected by Nightmare Moon’s attempts to dissuade them from coming by intimidation and terror tactics. And she was rarely, if ever, depressed or scared.

This was different.

The thing’s eyes bore hatred into her body. He looked so… alone… inside of those eyes. Like the only thing he had to keep him company was his hatred, and nothing else. And what was this purple stuff around him? It felt so cold. She had been trying to make friends. Did this thing not want friends? And how could it talk? She had so many questions, but voiced none of them. She still shook and shivered in fear, her mane and tail falling limp and turning into straight heaps that hung down as Sasuke’s dominating spirit took away her joy.

The truth was that Sasuke had used a fairly large amount of killing intent when he’d awoken- he’d momentarily forgotten where he was, and lashed out instantly, stopping his sword only for a second to make sure he wasn’t slashing someone like Suigetsu. His memories came back to him immediately, and Sasuke scowled, grunting in pain as he re-sheathed his sword and tossed it back into its place. This horse couldn’t harm him. He even felt slightly ashamed that he’d even been startled by such a thing.

Right after that, he willed Susano to disappear, and the purple, cloaked being vanished, its aura going with it. His eyes still ached, but didn’t bleed. They were probably still healing, but were better, by now. His Eternal Mangekyo remained, though, and he turned his head away, and stopped releasing killing intent. The second he did, Pinkie Pie collapsed, and her eyes seemed distanced and lifeless as she fell to the floor, hooves sliding uselessly as she rested on her belly.

Pinkie began gagging. Then, she started to puke. Vomit splattered repeatedly on the floor as she emptied her stomach all over the wooden surface she had collapsed on, laying on and in her own throw up. She was easily incapacitated for a few minutes, as was Fluttershy, who had felt the terrible hatred and coldness from a distance, and indirectly, as it was not aimed at her, but she still was shocked by what she had seen. Eventually, though, shock turned to anger, and everypony has a breaking point. For the pink Pegasus, it was her friends. Fluttershy began shouting angrily at the thing that she’d been taking care of until now.

“I can’t believe you! Why did you do that to her! What did you even do to her!?”

“I only intimidated her, using killing intent.” Sasuke stated, voice void of any detectable emotion or guilt.

“What is… killing intent?” Fluttershy said, warily. She was the kindest pony her friends knew, or so she’d been told, but she was hesitant to get close to the thing now. That had scared her. What else could it do? I’m not sure I want to know, Fluttershy thought, terrified as several terrible scenarios ran through her mind.

“What it sounds like,” Sasuke said, as if explaining to a child. “Intent to kill.”

“That’s horrible! Why would you ever want to do that?” Fluttershy screamed, surprised by what she was hearing. She was hoping, even with his bad attitude, that the thing would be good.

“Well, obviously, to scare weaklings,” he said, indicating to Pinkie Pie, “And of course Killing Intent is used when a shinobi is trying to kill another.”

Fluttershy was angered by him calling Pinkie a weakling, and she shivered at the words “kill another,” but managed not to say anything about it. Instead, she decided to ask more questions, and try to learn more. Maybe there was a reason that he was this way.

“Is that what you are? A shee-no-bee?” Fluttershy said, trying to sound the word out
.

“Shinobi, and yes, I am.”

Sasuke eased himself back down into the bed, laying down and allowing the pain to slowly dribble away. He could force himself to move extremely quickly like that, but his body was suffering for it. He needed to stop moving- it only halted and stunted his recovery. He felt like he’d ripped open all the skin across his back, and his muscles in his arms screamed in pain as they voiced their want to stop being used.

“What do shinobi do?”

“Anything for who they are allied to. Kill, steal, deceit and lies. Anything and everything.” After this, Sasuke fell silent, hoping her questions would come to an end.

Fluttershy was now very disturbed by the creature in front of her. He talked about killing like it was nothing! And, since he was a shinobi, didn’t that mean… he had killed, too? Fluttershy shook a little, but managed to stop, though she was too afraid to ask him the question. She resolved herself to ask him later. But, it was so horrible, how could anypony-

“Hey, horse. Shouldn’t you help your friend?”

Fluttershy gasped. Of course, she’d almost forgotten. The shinobi’s question broke her out of her shock somewhat, though she was still afraid of both him, and the group of beings he belonged to. How could anyone be like that? It still wasn’t possible in her mind- it went against everything she thought was right and just.

Fluttershy’s heart broke when she saw Pinkie Pie’s state on the floor. She still was shivering, laying in her own body fluids. Pinkie Pie sniffled and snorted miserably, trying to clear her nose, which still dripped left-over vomit. Part of her tail was covered in the light pink substance that coated the natural wood floors- most of the mush was half-digested cupcakes and some sugary drink that wasn’t recognizable.

“Did you have to do this? Look at her! Don’t you feel the least bit sorry?” Fluttershy shouted, still wondering about how anyone could be so impossibly cruel.

“It’s not my fault. I’m a trained shinobi. She woke me up and my first thought was to defend myself. It’s a reaction. Because of my injuries, I barely stopped my arm in time from chopping her head off.” He stated the words coolly, as if reading facts off a sheet of paper.

Sasuke didn’t know why he was even bothering to explain himself to her, but regardless, he was done speaking on the subject now. The dumb horse had aggravated him, and she was lucky that she hadn’t gotten worse.

Fluttershy froze, realizing how close to death her friend had become. She then realized what he’d said, and, even in this situation, smiled. He’d stopped himself from killing her, right? So that meant that he didn’t need to kill! It was all a misunderstanding!

“So, so that means,” Fluttershy started, turning to Sasuke with a bright grin on her face, even as he stared at her boredly, “That you didn’t want to kill her? You didn’t mean to slash at her?” Her voice was full of hope for goodness in the shinobi’s heart.

As much as Sasuke felt like telling her how wrong she was to be happy about that- as in, how little he cared for the other horse’s life, he didn’t know what kind of retribution could be brought down upon him in this land. For now, he’d lie.

“It was an accident. I didn’t mean it.” Even that was hard to say because of his pride, but Sasuke managed it.

“I knew it!”Fluttershy gleefully said, before growing serious again once more as she tended to Pinkie. She seemed to be coming to; coming out of her incapacitation. Pinkie blinked slowly a few times as she shook her head, droplets of her own filth flinging off of her face and her mane.

“Wha… What happened?” When Pinkie Pie looked up and saw Sasuke’s face, who only stared back blankly, her eyes widened, and she froze up, before jumping up and bolting out of the room.

“You! You, you stay away from me!”

Fluttershy only watched in a dull shocked horror as Pinkie sprinted from the room and then left the house, slamming the door shut on her way out. Her face fell as she watched her friend run in terror from the strange, dangerous being that rested only a few feet away from her on the bed.

Fluttershy didn’t say a word, merely leaving the room and coming back with a bucket and a rag, cleaning up Pinkie’s puke. Then, afterwards, she returned to the room and found Sasuke awake, though he seemed to be staring listlessly off into some direction for no reason.

“You will apologize to her.”

Sasuke whipped his head around. Did the Pegasus actually think she could order him around? Even disabled currently, and unable to leave the bed for long periods of time, it was clear that he was incredibly dangerous.

Fluttershy began to use The Stare. It was the only thing she was sure of that would work. “You will go to the place where she works- Sugarcube Corner- and apologize there.”

She focused an intense glare into Sasuke’s eyes, trying to intimidate him into going.

Sasuke felt her genjutsu- she had somehow cast a small genjutsu over him, with the intension of making him feel shame for himself, and his actions, and fear of her. He easily activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, red doujutsu spinning rapidly as it formed completely.

“Your genjutsu won’t work on me. I’m surprised, though. Even if weak, you have some form of visual prowess.” She fell down onto her bottom as she stared up at the eyes that seemed to always leave her with a feeling of dread- it was a disgusting fear that permeated and stayed a while after she stopped looking at them.

“My eyes are stronger.”

With that, Sasuke turned over, sure that she would stop in her attempts to control him. That little genjutsu of hers had amused him, though it was clear that it held no real power. Even someone with horrible chakra control like Naruto would be able to easily dispel it without trying. The only thing it had going for it was it was subtle, at least visually, but any decent ninja would detect it in a heartbeat. Sasuke having Sharingan was only an even more unfair matchup.

“Do you… do you at least feel sorry for what you did?”

Sasuke tensed up. He hated lying about having ‘feelings’, like he was a weakling. Still, there were too many unknown variables. For now, he’d have to use deception and lies. It’s not like it was hard, though- even after what he’d told her about shinobi, she seemed to trust his next response.

“Yes.” Sasuke put as much emotion as he could into his voice, and that was almost nothing, but it was apparently good enough for Fluttershy, who nodded meekly and went to leave the room. As she left though, she only said three more words.

“You can stay.”

Sasuke grunted in response, and she closed the door, leaving him to his recovery.

Repairs, Rarity, Rainbow, and Twilight

Over the next few days after the incident with Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy had been extra careful around the creature. She still hadn’t grown the courage to ask him what his name was- he surely had a name, but it hadn’t chosen to reveal its name, or it didn’t want to, as it hadn’t said it yet. She now knew it belonged to the race of ‘shinobi,’ though she desperately hoped not all were like him. Though it seemed he was sorry for what he’d done to Pinkie, he still refused to apologize, even when she’d brought it up again later. Fluttershy was conflicted about the true nature of the creature.

He seemed reluctant about it, but he let her do mostly everything for him. The only thing he refused to let her help with is using the bathroom. He would rather get up on his sore, destroyed, and most likely sprained legs, which he could somehow still walk on, and stumble out of the cottage, and go into the woods nearby, and come back a decent amount of time later. Fluttershy would’ve followed him to make sure he was okay, but after what he’d done to Pinkie, she was sure that he could take care of himself. She doubted anything, even a manticore, would be able to hurt him.

She’d gotten little to no information from him over the course of his stay, so far. Even though she’d told him some things about herself- that her name was Fluttershy, and she was a pony, not a horse. The only things she knew about him that he had a sword, he was a ‘shinobi,’ and how irritable he was, as well. Besides that, though, she knew little to nothing about him. Even now, he was sleeping in the bed, and usually ignored her as much as he could. Fluttershy didn’t know why he did these things, but she decided to just take care of him, for now. She hoped that eventually he would open up, and tell her what was really bothering him.

Fluttershy had been happy, though, when Twilight came to her cottage in the middle of the day, later, after Pinkie had visited, and gave her a ticket. She had asked what was wrong with Pinkie, who had been sad that day, and Fluttershy, for the first time, had to lie to Twilight. She didn’t feel good about doing it, either, and it weighed on her conscious heavily for the rest of the day. She kept the door to Sasuke’s room closed at all times, so that no one would see him, only opening it when she had to give him food, or when he got up to go use the bathroom, outside.

He’d gotten less jumpy, now, and now that he remembered where he was, even when she poked him with a hoof and woke him up, he didn’t try to slice her to bits. He was healing, rather quickly, even faster than a pony would, and Fluttershy figured that, in a day or two more, he would be ready to leave. Fluttershy would never say this to anypony, but for once, she was glad to have an animal or an injured thing she was caring for leave that bed. Even nasty, ill-tempered bears that she had cared for before weren’t as mean as he was.

It was a few days after the incident with Pinkie that she was bringing him some food. It was around noon. She walked into the room and left some tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables- more pears, and apples. She was walking out to leave him alone as she always did, when the question came to mind again. Figuring that she had done a decent amount for him this entire time, and assuming, hopefully, that he wouldn’t chop her head off, she decided to ask it.

“H-hey, shi-no-bee… what’s your real name?”

This seemed to surprise Sasuke, who, with widened eyes, had just taken a bite of tomato. He narrowed them momentarily before he swallowed his bite, and slowly set the tomato back on the table next to his bed, with the bitten side facing up. He stared at her, though only blankly, with no distaste. Very slowly, he answered.

“Uchiha… Sasuke.”

“Uchiha is your surname, and Sasuke is your first name?”

Sasuke simply grunted as form of an answer, as he went back to eating his tomato. She wanted to bounce up and down gleefully like Pinkie, but contained herself. This was only a small step forward to what she wanted to go to.

“So, your race is called shinobi?”

Sasuke looked amused for a split second, staring down with what she could’ve sworn was a ghost of a smile. Instantly, though, it disappeared from his face. He ate some more of his tomato before he swallowed again, and answered, still holding his half-eaten red food.

“No. I am what is called a human. Shinobi is a profession in my world.”

Figuring that would be the end to her questions, he continued to eat his lunch, only for Fluttershy to be even more surprised, and now, more confused than ever. So, where he came from, not all ‘humans’ were shinobi? It wasn’t what she was expecting.

“So, is that purple thing you do something only Shinobi can do?”

Sasuke sighed, finishing his tomato, not bothering to reach for an apple. She was going to keep asking questions. Sasuke figured he’d indulge her little curiosity. He didn’t know why he was doing it, but he decided she deserved some form of answer, after all that she’d done for him. Reluctantly, he continued their little game of twenty questions.

“No, it’s something that only I can do.”

“Why is it only exclusive to you?”

“Because I am an Uchiha. It is in my blood.”

“What do you mean by that? In your blood?”

Sasuke sighed again. Answering all these questions was annoying. Hopefully after revealing some information about himself, he’d be able to ask her for a favor.

“In my world, there are clans. Uchiha is a clan. People of the Uchiha blood can use the Sharingan, which is what can use Susanoo, or as you call it, the ‘purple thing,’”

“Oh, a clan! Like a family! Are there more of you?”

Instantly, the room went silent, as Sasuke glared at her with much more coldness than he ever had before. She’d hit a nerve, or a touchy subject, or something, and knew that she’d overstayed her welcome. Turning away, she flew slowly out of the door and closed it, leaving him to eating. She shuddered as she walked away. Those eyes.

Later that night, at dinner time, she had brought him more food, noticing that, by now, he was able to walk around, albeit hobbling. She brought more food in just as he was returning from relieving himself. He staggered a bit, but managed to crash into the bed, falling into the pillow. He made the softest of groans, and then, he began eating again, as always. She looked at the sorry state of his clothes- singed, with holes, and tears and rips all over them.

“I-if you want to, I know where we can repair your c-clothing.”

Sasuke looked up to her with the slightest hint of interest in his eyes as he continued eating, although, with more grace. The first time he’d eaten here, he’d had no manners. It was mostly because he’d been starving. Now, though, he ate cleanly, without making any kind of a mess. He had been the son of a clan head- unlike someone like Naruto, he’d learned manners in his youth, even if his family was only there so long to teach it to him.

“M-my friend Rarity would probably be able to fix it. She’s the best seamstress I know.”

Sasuke briefly considered this in his mind as he continued to eat his food. It would be nice to be able to wear clothes that didn’t have the Uchiha crest blemished- he wore it with pride, and it had to be presented correctly. And it wasn’t just his jacket that needed fixing- as mentioned before, the rest of his clothes were ruined as well. He quietly accepted the offer as he ate.

“It would be useful.” Sasuke said, as he finished his last piece of fruit. Fluttershy often brought him tea as well, and he drank that quickly after he’d finished his food, and then lay back in the bed. He had recovered and healed a lot in the past few days, but it wasn’t time to be pushing his body. Fluttershy flapped her wings as she picked up the plate and the tea, and began to slowly fly out of the door, even as she made one last point clear.

“You’re different than any other customer she’s had before, probably.”

Sasuke scowled. So, he was going to have to come with. He didn’t want to take the chance of her ruining his clothes even more than they already were.

Well, Sasuke thought, thinking about what would happen when he went into what Fluttershy had mentioned as ‘Ponyville,’ I couldn’t hide myself forever. I suppose I could conceal myself in the forest, but I’m going to need to find a way back to The Elemental Nations- and that means conversing with the locals. Unfortunately.

The next day, Sasuke ate breakfast after Fluttershy gave it to him, and then they set out. Sasuke was rather slow as he hobbled, even after having to bring his sword, which he leaned on as a cane. Fluttershy walked calmly in front of Sasuke, leading the way, even though, inside, she was terrified of what could happen in town.

What if Pinkie Pie sees him again?

Will she react the same way?

Not to mention all of her other friends. If Pinkie had been enough to set him off last time, what would endless questions from Twilight bring? Fluttershy didn’t want to think about it. She forced herself to show a smile on her face, even though it was fake.

They walked the road for a long while until they came up to the crest of a hill. Climbing over it, Sasuke could see Ponyville in the distance- not far off, at all. Grunting in pain, he continued on, while Fluttershy walked slowly in front of him, showing the way.

Luckily for Fluttershy, it was early morning, and so not many ponies were out. Sasuke hadn’t been sighted yet, but he would eventually- it was just a matter of time, really. They eventually reached Ponyville after a little more walking.

It was a small town, though that didn’t make it bad or uninteresting in any way. There were several buildings all surrounding a decently sized town square area, that housed the town hall, in the center. Sasuke could see some strangely designed buildings- a tree-house thing, that seemed an important structure, and a building that looked like it was made out of cake and candy, as well as what looked like a hospital, a schoolhouse, that wasn’t open yet, and other buildings, along with houses grouped tightly all around the town square.

The marketplace wasn’t far off, though it wasn’t too busy this time of day, and looking around, Sasuke thought he could see rows and rows of apple trees far off in the distance. There was also a café and a store that seemed to only sell Quills and Sofas, although Sasuke didn’t understand the stupidity behind that business decision. Why only quills and sofas?

Ponies yawned and rubbed their eyes as they moved slowly along in the morning- it was fairly early. Fluttershy continued to lead him, along a street. The second the first pony saw him, it jumped up with widened eyes, and, after a few moments of staring, would whisper to the pony next to him or her, and tell them to look too. Within a few minutes the entire population of the town square- at least twenty or thirty ponies, at this time of day- were staring at Sasuke and Fluttershy as they strode across the town square, bee lining for another strange building that Sasuke noticed. It looked like an overly excited girl designed it.

I wonder whether they’re staring because of how beat up I am, and how torn and ruined my clothing is, or because I’m something never seen before, Sasuke thought. Probably a mix of both, he decided.

Shapes of horses hung outside of the store, and the entire thing was colored in purple, pink, and blue, with large windows that were symmetrically placed along the store. There was a small amount of yellow in the store’s building design- gold bands circled certain parts of the building, and, also, a small red flag flew at the top of the building. There were even little pink hearts across some part of the building. And then, to top it all off, a female pony walked out, wearing a pretty, frilly dress.

Sasuke was already regretting the decision to come here.

Sasuke leaned on his chokuto heavily as he watched the pony in the dress leave. With Fluttershy walking ahead of him to the door of the building, he grunted, and then hobbled and limped on, though it wasn’t easy for Sasuke. It would most likely be a few more days before he was back to full strength, at the very least.

The store bell rang as Fluttershy entered, and Sasuke, right after her. Sasuke scowled as he looked at the inside of the building. Everything was so feminine in here. He’d have to make his point clear that he wanted nothing frilly, nothing attached. Simply to have his clothes sewn and repaired.

An adorable white unicorn filly with a pink and purple mane walked down the stairs yawning. When she saw Fluttershy she smiled cutely, but when she Sasuke standing there, breathing heavily, she seemed surprised. Her mouth hung open for a few seconds as she scrambled for words.

“Sweetie Belle, could you get Rarity for me?” Fluttershy asked quietly, with a small smile. Sweetie Belle, though visibly shocked, still managed to nod and walk back upstairs, hooves making audible clops as they hit each stair individually. Fluttershy waited patiently in the front of the store with Sasuke as Sweetie Belle went to retrieve her sister.

“She’s the best, you’ll see. You’ll have your clothes back in no time.”

Sasuke only grunted in response as the cute unicorn filly came down the stairs, with a much taller and larger pony in tow behind her. This unicorn had a similar pristine white coat, with purple curled mane, and a purple tail that was also curled, with three blue gems on her side. Sasuke didn’t understand how most ponies had different tattoos- he didn’t expect that kind of cultural practice with how soft these ponies were.

“Why do you all have tattoos on your sides?” Sasuke asked, barely interested, as Sweetie Belle and Rarity walked up to them, with Rarity growing excited as she saw the creature. She wrinkled her nose at the creature’s smell, and his destroyed clothes, but she suppressed her disgust as she reached the front of her store.

“Flanks, not sides. Oh, it’s just our cutie marks. They tell you what you’re best at- your talent.”

Cutie marks? Ridiculous. This place really is innocent.

“Hello, sir. You’ve come to have your clothes repaired, I assume?”

Sasuke only looked blankly at her as she asked this. Well, at least, even if this place is incredibly naïve, there are still individuals who will just get to business.

“Yes. I need all of my clothing to be sewn back together, but I have specific instructions. First, though, do you have somewhere I can sit down?”At Rarity’s nod, who began to lead him throughout the store, he followed without another word.

“You will look simply fabulous when I’m done with your clothing, dear. I promise you this. Why, I believe that I’ll be able to improve on it. The design is rather…”

Sasuke simply ignored the white prissy unicorn as she babbled on and on. She’s much more annoying than she appeared at first glance, he thought. At what looked to be a couch, Rarity moved aside, and let him sit down, putting his sword down against the bed, and resting for a moment, breathing heavily. It was hard to walk still, and it required effort.

Rarity left Sasuke there on the couch, and practically dragged Fluttershy in a empty room not far away. The second they were both in there, and closed the door, Rarity immediately turned to Fluttershy, who seemed a little nervous at Rarity’s demanding stare.

“What is that thing? Where does it come from?”

“I-I don’t know, but you see how wounded he is?” An understanding nod came from Rarity, who flipped her curls and bounced them up and down with her hoof.

“So, darling, you’ve been taking care of him, I assume?”

“Yes. But he’s a little… eccentric. I wouldn’t let Sweetie Belle near him, if I was you.”

“Eccentric how?” Rarity asked, narrowing her eyes at Fluttershy, who slid her hoof along the ground, and didn’t seem to want to answer.

“How, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked more demandingly, taking one step closer towards the yellow Pegasus.

“He… he made Pinkie Pie throw up.”

“What!? What do you mean made her throw up? What did he do, stuff food down her throat? What a ruffian!”

“No, no. Nothing like that. He stared at her… you don’t understand, Rarity. If you ever see his eyes turn red… it’s horrible. It’s like you feel his hatred and coldness, although that wasn’t what made Pinkie Pie throw up. I don't think he's all bad, though.”

“Then what was it, if it wasn’t his hatred and coldness?”

“He said it was… killing intent. I don’t know what he meant by that, but-“

“Killing intent!? So I have a murderer in my store?”

“I think so… he said shinobi used it when they were trying to kill each other. You should’ve seen how fast he was… I couldn’t even see it. One second he was sleeping, and the next second he had a sword at Pinkie’s throat.”

“Well… let’s just not get on his bad side, shall we?” Rarity forced a nervous grin on her face and walked out, with a slightly worried Fluttershy right behind her.

When Rarity and Fluttershy walked out, they saw Sasuke, still with his grey jacket on. He seemed to be calming down- the breathing was more normal, now. Rarity walked up to him, trying not to think about what she’d just learned. Don’t get on his bad side… don’t do it!

“So, darling,” Rarity gushed, looking at his clothing as if she admired it, “are you ready to let me take the measurements, and to repair your clothes?”

“No. Give me a moment.”

Sasuke took his arms out of his sleeves, and let his jacket fall, still attached to him around his waist, but falling down over the blue cloth he always had attached to his middle. Reaching into his sleeves, he drew out several kunai and shuriken, and slowly set them down on the ground. Rarity’s eyes widened as she watched him continue to take out weapons that he no doubt used for killing.

More shuriken, kunai, and what looked like rolls of wire came out of his clothes, too, and then he deposited a load of what looked like scrolls on the floor, too. It seemed like he was done, and then he took off his jacket, and set it on the couch. He also took off his purple sash and his wristbands, and his sandals, and his pants, sitting on the couch in a pair of simple blue boxers, that seemed mostly undamaged. He had various small bruises and cuts all over his body, that were still healing. Sighing, and turning to Rarity, he allowed her to take his clothes.

“Alright… Rarity,” he said, with an obvious forced tone, “You can sew my clothes, now. Make sure to have all the hidden compartments as they were before. Change nothing else.”

Rarity forced her jaw shut and smiled edgily, nodding, before using her magic to pick up his clothes in her magical grasp, blue aura forming around them, and took them with her to fix them, as Sasuke watched her walk away blankly. As he did, Sweetie Belle walked down, looking much more awake, and saw Sasuke sitting bare-chested on the couch, waiting for his clothes be repaired. Sweetie Belle walked over to him, and looked at all the weapons on the ground.

“Wow Mister,” she said, eyes wide as she looked at all the equipment on the ground. “what is all that stuff?” Sasuke looked at her, more than annoyed, wondering if he should even respond or not. At Fluttershy’s obviously forced smile, he decided that the stupid pony would probably hurt herself with his shinobi tools, and then he’d surely get blamed for it.

“Nothing you should concern yourself with. Get lost, pony.” Sasuke said, watching as she angrily turned to him, seeming mad that he’d told her to leave, in what was technically her own house. Her horn began to light up as she picked through the tools.

“I live here! How can you tell me to get lost?” Sasuke only watched her with bored eyes as she lifted normal sized shuriken and kunai with her magical grasp, which was obviously tiring as Sweetie Belle showed visible physical strain. Still, she picked through the tools, with Sasuke not bothering to stop her. It was only when she picked up a small bracelet with a seal on it that Sasuke grew angry, both for how he might be blamed if she was hurt, and at how stupid she was. He glared a little, but his eyes stayed onyx black.

“Put that down, now.” Sasuke ordered, but Sweetie Belle shook her head stubbornly as she lifted the bracelet with the seal right above her head. Sasuke sighed and got up, wincing even as he did so. With precise, forceful motions, he grabbed it out of the her magical grasp, and set it back on the floor. The tiniest drop of blood dropped on the seal, from one of his wounds, and Sasuke didn’t notice it. Sweetie Belle stomped her hooves on the floor childishly.

Sweetie Belle was too stubborn, and she then grabbed it up in her magical grasp again as soon as Sasuke sat down. Now, this was the first time Sasuke discovered that unicorn magic was very similar to chakra. As Sweetie Belle floated the scroll above her head, it unsealed and immediately, a large Fuma shuriken was released above her head. It began to fall.

Sasuke cursed under his breath at her stupidity, even as he rushed forwards and shoved her away, catching the shuriken, and holding it in his hands, saving her from being impaled. Sweetie Belle didn’t have words to say. But she did have tears to cry, and the sobbing began almost immediately. Sasuke only scowled at the stupid crying pony, even as he resealed the Fuma shuriken in the bracelet.

“I told you they were something you should’ve left alone. You would’ve killed yourself.”

Sweetie Belle didn’t respond though, the fear still too paralyzing to do anything but sob, the tears coming down like two waterfalls. Sasuke only stared and glared at Fluttershy, who nodded and flew over to Sweetie Belle, and began to comfort her, as Sweetie Belle leaned into Fluttershy’s chest. Rarity came back when she heard crying.

She saw Sweetie Belle sobbing and Sasuke standing up, and put two and two together, in what was a good assumption, but not what actually happened. Glaring with all the anger and hatred she could muster, which was barely any, she walked up to Sasuke.

“How dare you hurt my little sister, you brute! Get out of my store!”

Sasuke sucked his teeth, annoyed, and turned to Fluttershy for support, who had seen the whole incident. She nodded and flew over to Rarity and began explaining the incident.

“N-no, Rarity. It wasn’t his fault. Sweetie Belle was trying to play with those… things he has, and he tried to make her leave, but she wouldn’t listen, and she almost killed herself with a big… star thing. He saved her, though.” Rarity now looked embarrassed at having made a wrong assumption.

“O-oh… well, thank you for protecting my sister from her own curiosity, I guess. You can stay, sir. Do forgive me for my words.” Sasuke only grunted and sat back down on the couch, and didn’t say anything else. Before Rarity left, though, she had a question to ask.

“About the red and white marking on the grey jacket, do you want that taken off?”

“NO!” Sasuke shouted, and Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle, and Rarity all took a few steps back, scared of how angry he seemed to be. Almost like he was emotionally unstable.

“No. That marking has… meaning to me. Just clean it. Make sure it looks good.”

“Oh, I can do that, darling. Well, back to work!”

Rarity trotted away, back to work on Sasuke’s clothing, and Sasuke sat silently on the couch as Sweetie Belle cried in the corner of the room. Fluttershy comforted her, and she left to go to school a few moments later. Fluttershy flew over to the couch and sat next to him.

“Thank you for saving Sweetie Belle. That filly is too curious for own good sometimes.”

“Hn. I just didn’t want to get blamed for her death. Dumb pony.”

Fluttershy only put on a bright smile as a response, knowing that was his way of accepting the thanks. She was surprised that he had even bothered to save her. Maybe he’s changing, she thought. They waited there silently for a while until Rarity came back with Sasuke’s clothes fully repaired. Sasuke accepted them without a word or thanks, and began to check them immediately, looking for any mistakes made.

Hm. She actually didn’t mess it up. Good enough, I guess.

Turning, he mechanically put his clothing on, and afterwards, once he was dressed, he put all his weapons back inside of his clothes, and in the end, got his sword back from the side of the couch, and began to hobble on it, and made a beeline for the door. Rarity watched him go, still a little disturbed by the strange individual. Fluttershy hurriedly flew after him, and caught up with him as he exited the store, with many more ponies out in the later morning.

“I expected that tailor pony to charge me.”

“Oh, she’d never do that for a friend of mine. She’s the Element of Generosity, after all.”

“The Element of Generosity? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“She’s a very generous and nice pony who can use one of the Elements of Harmony.”

Elements of Harmony? I’m just going to stop asking questions.

“Now that we’re in town, would you like to visit someone else?”

“No.”

“But, but, she might be able to help you get home!”

This peaked Sasuke’s interest. His only goals currently were not getting into too much trouble, as he was still fairly weak, and figuring out some way to get back to the Elemental Nations. He still had unfinished business there- specifically, killing Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, and the rest of Konoha. He’d burn the village to the ground and kill every last person.

Only then would his revenge be complete.

“How do you know she’ll be able to help? You don’t even know where I come from.”

“S-She’s good with magic. Where do you come from?”

“The Elemental Nations.”

“That sounds like a strange place.”

“Hn.” Sasuke didn’t say much else. He figured he’d follow the pony, though he didn’t really want to meet more annoying horses, he was even more bored back at the cottage. He figured anything that could provide even the slightest entertainment would be better than sitting in a cottage all day. Besides that, there was the fact that he had to start really pushing his body again. The longer he laid still and did nothing inside the cottage, the longer it took to get moving again. There was a point where you just had to get up and start using your body again, no matter how much it hurt you. He had to start using his muscles again; he couldn’t let them or his strength atrophy.

Fluttershy lead Sasuke through the center of the town, and compared to last time, earlier in the morning, there was at least three or four times as many ponies as before. Most, if not all eyes were on Sasuke, watching with undisguised interest as he calmly hobbled forward on his cane. He was used to having a lot of eyes on him- it had happened enough in the academy, and the days where he’d still been back with The Leaf. For some reason though, this bothered him, and he found it more annoying than he thought it was going to be.

Still, though, they managed to ignore everypony, and were slowly trekking through Ponyville and making their way to what looked like a giant tree right in the middle of the town. From far away, it just looked like a tree, but as they got closer, it became clear that it was some sort of home. Sasuke could see windows, and even doors built into the place.

Sasuke and Fluttershy walked at a slow and steady pace, and they were nearly there when they was a whoosh of air and nasally voice addressed them.

“Fluttershy, who’s this?”

Fluttershy turned around, as did Sasuke. What he saw surprised him.

So far, even as ridiculous as this place was, at least everyone looked normal. Everyone had coats and manes that went well together. She looked an oddity- a weird all-color mane, with the same for a tail, and then a sort of lightning bolt as a… cutie mark. The boastful way that she fluttered and flew through the air made Sasuke decide one thing- he already didn’t like her. She flew around them in circles as she continued speaking.

“I’ve never seen this kind of thing before… it’s not a dragon, or a pony, or a griffin, or anything. Fluttershy, who is this? Did you just meet him?”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash. This is Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke, meet Rainbow Dash.”

“Hn.”

“So, what are you guys doing right now?”

“We’re going to visit Twilight. I’m hoping to find a way to get Sasuke home.”

“Oh, not from around here, huh?”

“No.”

Rainbow Dash flew around Sasuke, repeatedly circling him, annoying him extremely. She floated down a bit, noticing the sword he was leaning on. Sasuke continued walking as Fluttershy lead the way, with Rainbow following them and annoying Sasuke the entire time.

“So, where do you come from?”

“The Elemental Nations.”

“Where were you born?”

“The Hidden Leaf Village.”

“Sounds like a cool place!”

“It is not cool. It’s a place of injustice and treachery.” Sasuke snarled.

“Woah, guy. Calm down.”

“Hn.”

They walked for a while more, and Rainbow quieted some for the next few minutes as they slowly made their way to Twilight’s home. Rainbow just had to ask another question, though. She poked his sword with a hoof as he walked forward on it, and he glared at her. She didn’t notice it though, not paying attention, as she asked her question.

“Cool sword. You ever kill anypony with it?”

Of course, Rainbow meant it as a joke. The answer given wasn’t what she was expecting.

“Plenty of people.”

Rainbow went a bit pale, as did Fluttershy, and then both decided not to say anything else as they approached the tree house. When they arrived, they knocked on the large, red door and waited. It wasn’t long before a voice could be heard calling someone else.

“Spike! Get the door!”

“Yes, Twilight!”

A few more seconds of silence went by, and then a shuffling of feet and a creaking were heard as the door was opened and entry was allowed. A small purple lizard thing stood there, looking up at Sasuke in surprise, and maybe a bit of fear.

He walked past the thing without a word- he could care less about it- and walked inside of the tree-library thing. Looking around, he could see shelves upon shelves of books, and a lavender unicorn sitting in one corner on a desk, reading a book. She was completely absorbed, and didn’t even seem to notice Sasuke, who began walking around the library, looking at the contents, still leaning on his sword.

He took one book out of a shelf, and flipped it open to the middle.

Thus, it can be said of magical theory, that when magic is combined with will, you get….

So, a scholar, Sasuke thought.

“Egghead! Look up from your book and look behind you.” Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight closed her book, annoyed.

“What?” She asked moodily, turning around.

“Who… are you?” Twilight asked, already growing excited.

“Uchiha… Sasuke.”

Public Humilation

Twilight Sparkle could only stare up in curious awe at the strange being that stood powerfully and prideful, before her. Even wounded as he seemed to be, this ‘Sasuke’ seemed to lose none of his influence, even leaning on an improvised cane- that looked to actually be a sword. Sasuke looked down at Twilight with unimpressed eyes as he’d expected something that was a little… more. Twilight jumped up and got onto her hooves, walking over to Sasuke, who leaned on his sword more and more as time went by.

“I need somewhere to sit.”

Sasuke pushed past her, and took her chair, soon relieving himself by resting in the small, but large enough, furniture. Twilight could only stare at him, still, her mind flowing with unasked questions that were screaming to be released from her throat. Her eyes were as round and as big as suns, and they gleamed like a kid’s who had just woken up on a good Christmas day. Trembling with excitement, she nearly wanted to start bouncing like Pinkie.

A new race of beings! What kind of things would they know? What kind of things could she learn from them? The adorable lavender unicorn barely restrained herself and attempted to act something that could pass as professional.

“So, Sas-kay? Is that how you pronounce your name?”

“Close enough,” Sasuke grunted.

“Where… do you come from?”

“I really hate repeating myself. The Elemental Nations.”

“Oh. Where’s that? It’s not on any of our maps. I would know, I got an A in Advanced Placement Equus Geograhy.”

“I’m beginning to believe it’s in a different realm.”

This drew a shocked gasp from the audience of the room as Twilight looked on in what was now unrestrained glee. A being from another world! What could’ve been simply an undiscovered species (as unlikely as it was) was now something on a whole other level. Twilight struggled for words as Sasuke looked on boredly, waiting for what would be inevitable questions.

“How do you know that?”

“Simple. My nations that I knew are not on any map here as you have confirmed, everyone here is a pony or a dragon or a griffin- I saw one flying yesterday- and there are no other humans, there are no shinobi, which is the strangest of all, and there is no news of the war.”

“The war?”

“The Fourth World Shinobi War. It was a conflict I was a part of while I was in my world. I got caught in the middle of an attack, and I’m assuming I was transported here. It’s not entirely impossible- the attack I was caught in the middle of was launched by what some consider gods, or beings that had god-like power. Stranger things could’ve happened.”

Twilight was silent as her brilliant mind raced; trying to cobble together something from the information she’d been given. It was possible- this completely proved the multiverse theory- but it wasn’t very probable. Although she was admittedly rather scared and intimidated by the idea of war- a topic which was looked on with disgust and fear by everypony in Equestria. Equestria hadn’t seen war in a long time, and even when it had, very few ponies had died. Even other races- Griffins and Dragons, while infinitely more aggressive, still hadn’t ever been to war much, much less with ponies.

“This war… how many people were involved in it? And how many died?”

“Easily over eighty thousand. As for the death toll, I’m not sure. In the thousands, certainly. Probably in the tens of thousands.”

Twilight’s breath stopped and hitched in her throat as she considered the possibility. Thousands of humans dying? That sounded horrible. She couldn’t begin to imagine ponies being involved in such a conflict, much less dying at that sort of rate or number. Gathering herself, she asked her next question.

“Which side were you on?”

“I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

“The good side, or the bad side?”

Sasuke sneered. What naivety and innocence.

“Of course you would think like that, pony. You didn’t even consider what started the war, or who was involved, or any other variable. Nothing is black and white. I’m more shocked by the stupidity of this place every day.”

“Equestria isn’t stupid!”

“How do you solve problems with relations in other countries? Humor me.”

“Well, we talk it out, and we reach a decision-“

“What if they don’t want to talk about it?”

“Why wouldn’t they want to discuss the problem? We reach a decision, and-“

“What if they’re angry? If they want blood?”

Twilight paled.

“Blood?”

“Yes, blood. As in the citizens and soldiers of your country killed. They’ll invade. What do you do, then?”

“Well, Princess Celestia would take care of it,” Twilight said, with complete confidence in her mentor. “She would stop the fighting.”

“You can’t rely on your leader for everything. And how good is her tongue? You can’t convince everyone, no matter how hard you try.”

“Yes you can!” Twilight argued stubbornly, childishly stomping her hoof onto the oak wood of the tree-library. “Celestia would sort it out with them and then-“

“Here’s how it would work in my world.”

Twilight perked her ears, as did everypony else, interested to hear his rebuttal.

“Diplomatic tensions are on the rise between two countries. Arguments are tossed back and forth over something- a resource, land, anything, really. Eventually, they decide a diplomatic meeting. The officials that are meeting hold a lot of power and influence in their respective countries. They carry valuable information that would certainly harm the other country if it was released.”

Everypony nodded in understanding.

“Both countries want what they’re arguing over, but they don’t want to give it up. At the date and site of the meeting, they send shinobi to deal with the problem. Depending on what helps the nation more, they will either kill or capture the diplomat and torture them for information, to weaken the other country. Afterwards, the other country, weakened and insulted, either backs off and lets the country claim whatever it wanted, or it starts a war.”

“What a horrible process!” Twilight shouted immediately. “Is diplomatic relations where you come from really that uncommon?”

“No, it happens all the time. But shinobi are used to solve problems more.”

“That seems stupid. Why would a government act that way?”

“They want as much power as possible, obviously.”

“But why so much? Can’t they be happy with what they have?”

“If you could answer that, people would call you a genius at human psychology. Greed is a driving factor in all government on my world, even if it might not be the same here.”

Twilight looked both angrily stumped by the stupid procedure that the humans seemed to use to deal with problems, and just as well, terrified of what he was suggesting. Did they have war that much? How many died every day to violence? Twilight shivered at the possibility.

“I’m part of no Hidden Village, though. Not anymore. So I could care less about the wars that they involve themselves in. To answer your original question, though, I would probably be on what you consider the bad side.”

“Why?”

“For my revenge.”

“Revenge? What happened to you that you would go into a war that you aren’t even involved in for revenge?”

“I am an avenger. As soon as I get back to The Elemental Nations, I’ll continue on my revenge.” Sasuke said this coldly. There was no emotion in his voice.

Twilight feared this ‘human’ a bit, and the answer to the question she was about to ask next even more, but she had to ask it. She was both too curious not too, and she had to know Sasuke’s intentions, as well. What kind of pony was he?

“What is your revenge, anyway?”

“To kill every person in The Leaf Village and burn it into the ground,” Sasuke spat. He clenched his fists as his Hatred roared inside his body. It wanted revenge, and so did he. Revenge for treachery, for lies. The slaughter of the Uchiha Clan. For deaths unneeded and for, above all, the sheer arrogance of the Leaf- thinking they could get away with it!

As Sasuke obsessed over his revenge, everypony else in the room was shocked by his the cold seriousness in his tone. He spat the words Leaf Village like it was poison being expelled from his lips. Fluttershy trembled a little and everypony else in the room could only stare at the thing that seemed so driven to kill the ponies that had apparently wronged him.

“Sasuke, how old are you?”

“Sixteen, dumb horse,” he answered, coldly. His eyes seemed to be shifting red. Twilight wanted to take a step back, but held her ground, regardless. She ignored the insult. She could tell that he was hurting.

“Sixteen is too young to be so murderous like that! Listen, I’m older than you, and I can tell you from experience that-“

“Twilight,” Sasuke interrupted, his voice dangerously cold and quiet, “have you ever taken a life?”

Silence exploded and washed over the room as Twilight, in mid pleading-rant, seemed to have been stopped in her tracks, effortlessly. She sputtered helplessly, and then started glaring at him, before she answered.

“No! Of course not! You… have?” Her fury abated and turned into a disgusted terror.

“Plenty of people. My first one was when I was twelve or thirteen years old.”

“Why… so young?” Twilight asked. She murmured the words, not being able to handle or believe what he was saying. Sasuke’s eyes looked on emotionlessly in a cold apathy as he continued. Even as weak as he was, he seemed no less hateful.

“Violence is a daily occurrence in my world, and many experience it when they’re young. And it’s an integral part to some jobs. Like shinoibi. There’s one Hidden Village that’s worse than any of this, though. Or, it used to be, anyway. There are many ranks of shinobi. It goes genin, chunin, jonin, Kage, and then there are those who are above Kage, even though they don’t have specific names. In one Hidden Village, to become a genin and start your ninja career, you had to kill the people you’d been learning with, for years. These people were friends, classmates. Sometimes, even siblings. And people did it anyway.”

“Why?” Twilight demanded, with tears in her eyes.

“Because. To become stronger. Whoever was stronger survived and their ninja force was composed of genin and above that had already killed. It certainly saved them from having to help ninja that had just killed for the first time on the battlefield.”

Silence again possessed the inside of the tree as everypony considered and thought about what he had said in silence. He came from a violent world. Was that why he was like this?

So hateful and cold, as if he could never feel real happiness again, instead feeling only a vague empty sensation in lieu of satisfaction or anything else.

“Which are you?”

“Which of what am I?”

“Rank. Of shinobi.”

“Above Kage. Where I come from, I was one of the strongest.”

“So, if you were so strong, why not stop the fighting?”

“Stop the fighting? That’s like asking humans not to breathe.”

“But if you were so strong, why couldn’t you do it?”

“First, because it’s an impossible goal. Second, because I neither needed to nor wanted to. Why do I care if they kill each other? Their conflicts and problems are their own, and that’s that. I only care about my vengeance.”

If Twilight had had tears in her eyes, then Rainbow had barely kept herself from crying, Fluttershy already had been, and Spike had a distanced look on his face- it was clear that he couldn’t process what he’d just been told.

“But, why-“

“Enough, horse. I’m tired of questions.”

“So, you’re really strong, huh, Sasuke?” Rainbow Dash asked brashly, moving closer towards him. She flew backwards in the air, with her hooves in front of her, kicking up wildly into the air, in specific orders that looked like combinations.

“I bet I could beat you with my karate.”

“Your form is horrible.”

“W-what!?” Rainbow almost dropped out of the sky, and then turned, glaring at Sasuke.

“You’ll see whose form is horrible!”

In a competitive rage, Dash shot forward in the air, charging at Sasuke faster than a speeding bullet. Sasuke only activated his Sharingan and waited for her defeat. He effortlessly blocked each of her weak, slow strikes, as Sharingan showed him the way. His eyes showed the prediction- blurry phantom hooves that waved as the real hoof would in the future. He blocked her attacks with one hand and looked like the entire thing was amusing him.

Soon enough, Dash grew angry, and huffing, gave up her assault, which had done nothing but make her hooves sore. It felt like she’d been striking diamond! What was this Sasuke guy made of? Maybe Jerk Material, the way he was staring at her with arrogant, red eyes. A cocky smile was smeared across his face, and he seemed to take great enjoyment in how weak she was in comparison to him.

“How do you do that?”

“My Sharingan.”

“Your what-a-gan?”

“Sharingan. Look into my eyes.”

Dash leaned in and glanced closer, noticing the difference that wasn’t there before. Black onyx orbs were now instead swirling red complex designs- a large, six pointed star that contained a lighter design within them; another six-pointed shape, akin to a sunflower. Imprinted over that, within the star, was a three-pointed skinny triangle that had a hole in the middle. It spun and twisted inside his eyes, as if analyzing everything around him.

“Why does your eye look like that?”

“It’s Sharingan. The visual prowess granted to members of the Uchiha Clan. It’s very powerful.” Sasuke spouted all of this information arrogantly, as if he wasn’t boastful enough already. Dash seemed mesmerized by the swirling red-black designs.

“It’s so… cool!” Dash whispered, never seeming to want to pull her eyes away.

“How does it work?” This time it was Twilight who spoke, unquenchably curious.

“It can predict movement at an extremely fast rate allowing me to counter any and all physical attacks, and I can see through any sort of illusion or genjutsu.”

“So that’s how you beat me, huh? The eyes?”

“I don’t need them to beat you, though. You’re pretty weak, and your form is horrible.”

“Aaaugh! I am NOT weak!”

“Compared to me, you are.”

Rainbow Dash huffed and didn’t respond.

“So, how do I get these things?”

“You don’t. Only I can have them.”

“What! C’mon, I won’t misuse them! Tell me the secret.”

She was unknowingly starting to piss Sasuke off. While playing around with these weak ponies was semi-amusing, he was only even bothering to answer anything because of how tired he still was; there wasn’t much else to do. And he didn’t like his clan’s power to be thought of as something that was easy to get, or something common. Only the elite had Sharingan.

“It’s in my blood, only. You’d have to rip the eyes out of my skull and switch ours if you wanted the Sharingan.”

Dash seemed off-put by the casual way that he talked about such violence, but she managed to shake it off and ignore it like he’d never even said it.

“What do you mean your blood?”

“It means when I have children they’ll probably get it too. It runs in a family.”

“Oh.”

Rainbow Dash lazily floated around in the air backwards, almost like she was swimming in the air, but stopped abruptly when she took a bored glance out of the window. She didn’t expect it to find purchase-that is, anything remotely interesting. She squinted out of the window as she floated level to it, and soon announced what she heard.

“Hey, everypony! There’s some huge crowd outside. It looks like there’s some pony up on a stage or something. She’s saying something but I can’t see what. Do you guys wanna go see what’s up?”

Twilight perked up. She was getting tired of such depressing and shocking discussion with the mysterious, dangerous being that she’d just met.

“Well, I’ll go. Sasuke, do you want to come?”

“Hn,” Sasuke said, pulling himself up from the chair slowly. He didn’t say anything else, but by getting up, everypony figured that he meant he was going.

Shrugging, Twilight began to trot lightly to the door, and soon the entire group was moving towards what seemed to be a huge scene right in the middle of Ponyville. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Fluttershy, and Sasuke watched as some pony- looking to be a showpony- paraded herself around on the top of a stage.

It was some blue unicorn mare with a stylish, but simple mane, and a large purple hat and cloak that had stars as a pattern, all over them. Her cloak was held together by a large beautiful gem in the front. She shouted and boasted to the crowd.

“I am the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie!”

The unicorn continued to show off and pace back and forth on top of the stage. Sasuke decided he already didn’t like this pony either; she was boastful, but she looked weak.

“I have the most magical ability in all of Equestria! There is no pony stronger than me in magic. I have no equal!” Trixie continued in these statements for a while.

“What makes you better than anypony else! You’re not that special!” Rainbow Dash called out.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie will have you know that I once saved the town of Hoofington from a large, powerful, and above all, DANGEROUS Ursa Major!”

Many ponies in the large audience that had gathered seemed amazed by the pony’s firework show. She continued to shout, and boast, and go on and on and on. Applejack, an orange earth pony with a blond mane mostly covered by a big, ten gallon hat, and with three apples as a cutie mark, was in the crowd, and her, along with Rarity, soon grew annoyed at her false bragging.

“Yer lyin’! The most magical pony in Equestria is mah friend, Twilight! Besides, even if yew weren’t lyin’, what’s the point of all yer power if all you do is brag ‘bout it?”

“I must say, I agree with Applejack. You’re quite obnoxious.”

“Well, well, well. It seems we have some ‘neigh-sayers’ in the audience. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

Applejack worked her way through the crowd, coming to the front.

“Ah did!”

“Care to challenge me? I’m sure if you believe that I’m “lyin’” then you’ll have no problem accepting a chance to prove me wrong.”

“Fine then! Ah’ll do it right now!”

Applejack angrily stepped up to the stage and, after Trixie told her to go first, began performing rodeo rope tricks. Trixie soon turned it on her as the rope became a sort of snake-rope that tied Applejack up and left her humiliated in front of the crowd.

Applejack looked angry and sad, and was removed from the stage. Rainbow Dash piped up next, shouting from the crowd that she’d beat Trixie.

“Dumb showpony! I’ll do something you can’t do!”

After this, Rainbow Dash soared up into the sky, and began gathering water and moisture from the clouds. Darting and rushing from cloud to cloud, she soon had a lot of moisture. She hurried to the stage and used her weather manipulation powers to make a miniature rainbow. The crowd seemed impressed by this, and then watched as Trixie used her magic to turn it into a funnel and bounce Dash around inside it until she was dizzy.

Dash left the stage next, and Trixie called out who she thought had been the other complainer. Rarity stated that she wasn’t going to take part of this.

“I’m above such nonsense.”

“What a horrible mane!”

“HOW DARE YOU! MY MANE IS NOT HORRIBLE! IT. IS. ON!”

Rarity proudly strode up the stage, not thinking that she could be humiliated just as everypony else had been. Rarity tossed back her purple curled elegant mane as her horn began to light up and the curtains around the stage were surrounded in the same light blue aura. She quickly cut up the fabric and used it to form an outfit, smugly showing her work.

Trixie wasn’t going to have that, however. The second that Rarity was done, Trixie again used her magic and Rarity’s beautiful, ornate mane turned into a garish green. Rarity began screaming and shrieking loudly.

“GREEN! ANYTHING BUT GREEN!”

A pony with a green mane in the crowd looked insulted and angry, but said nothing.

“So, is it true? Is there no pony else who will try to prove themselves against me?”

“Twilight, you can go!”Encouraged Spike, just as he had been the entire competition.

“Show that dumb bragger whose boss!”

“No, I can’t.”

Twilight froze when she heard her own name called. Sasuke leaned on his sword and watched as Trixie ran her mouth some more. It was starting to really annoy him. Wasn’t anyone going to put her in her place?

“Twilight Sparkle is your name, is it not? Your friends all tried, and failed! Will you challenge me as well?” Trixie asked, narrowing her eyes balefully at Twilight.

“….No…” Twilight said quietly, with her ears laid back.

Trixie scoffed and shouted again once more.

“See! I AM the most powerful! I am the most powerful pony!”

Sasuke sighed.

“I guess I’ll have to do it, then,” He said, surprising Twilight and Spike. They quickly realized what he meant and watched, intrigued, at what he’d do.

As Trixie continued to boast endlessly, only annoying Sasuke more and more, he spoke up, loudly, above the crowd and above Trixie.

“Where I come from, they say the crow that caws loudest is the weakest.”

The crowd caught his meaning, and began laughing at the jab. Trixie fumed immediately at being humiliated at all in the slightest.

“So, what are you called, thing? I’ve never seen a monster like you before.”

“Uchiha Sasuke. Stop bragging. You’re weak. And annoying.”

“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! I demand you take those insults back at once!”

“No.”

“Sasuke Uchiha, you say? Uchiha sounds like a family name! The Uchiha sound rude and shameful, and pathetic, if they can’t even know when they’re wrong or when to take back insults! Or knowing when they’re addressing their bett-“

Trixie didn’t get to say anymore. Sasuke jumped up on the stage. Easily, with speed that no one here could see, he drew his chokuto and swiftly held it to the throat of Trixie. His eyes flickered into Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and they looked incredibly hateful and cold. Until now, no pony had insulted or even asked about the Uchiha clan. But now that somepony had, they weren’t getting away with it.

The impeccable grey steel was held just so against her throat that it was slightly cutting into her- there was a thin red line across her entire neck, and the sword, as well. Sasuke didn’t even bother putting Lightning chakra into the sword, it wasn’t needed. As his Hatred and Anger roared inside his psyche, he stared at her with even more iciness and abhorred her with her eyes. Even though he was doing nothing, it seemed that Trixie was going pale.

She stared into Sasuke’s eyes.

As soon as she did, the world broke. She saw death. Blood, splashing against the stage. Her blood. Her head, decapitated gruesomely, sailing through the air and landing in the dirt, face down. Her stomach, disemboweled, and her guts spilled onto the floor- organs- heart, stabbed- stomach, crushed- intestines strung around her body and choked her lifeless corpse like chains- at the same time, she was soiling and urinating herself- she jerked horribly, dying, as Sasuke stabbed her over, and over, mercilessly.

The blood- she choked on it. It came out from everywhere on her body- her empty eye sockets, as her eyes had already been ripped out and tossed on the floor- and her neck, oh Celestia, it gushed from her neck, going everywhere, and it was so red and it kept coming and coming and coming- and it came from her torso, where she’d been stabbed tens of times, huge gashes and slashes and tears and holes in her flesh, all weeping red tears, and then the red blood came from her horn- it had been torn off, like a limb- and it spurted from the stump of what used to be the source of her arrogance- it spurted and dribbled out- and she had been dismembered, all of her legs were cut off, and they were spurting blood too, and it wouldn’t stop no it wouldn’t stop it wouldn’t stopstopstop-

Trixie jerked, and realized with wide eyes it had been some sort of death-vision. It didn’t matter, she was urinating herself, and crying at the same time. She broke down and cried and pissed herself right there in front of all of ponyville, and Sasuke only stared down at her with cold, hateful eyes that possessed the glare of something that lived in Tartarus or maybe something that was even more evil, possibly.

“See, weak. Dumb horse. Never insult the Uchiha clan again, or I’ll kill you where you stand. You’re lucky I decided to spare you this time. Leave and never come back.”

“Get fucking lost.” Sasuke spat, his Hatred incomprehensible. It soared high above anything Trixie had ever felt before- how could one being possess so much malice? This was a random thought in the back of her mind. She wasn’t concentrating on it, though.

Trixie snorted uselessly, still unable to move, sobbing helplessly, completely traumatized, and still was peeing herself, still crying, still sobbing. A humiliating, shameful, embarrassing yellow pool of urine formed below the shocked mare. Sasuke re-sheathed his sword. He limped off the stage calmly, not caring or even paying any attention to the shocked crowd in front of him. Unknown to Sasuke, he had not only directed his Killing Intent at Trixie, but it had exuded off of him, his Malice rolling in waves and washing onto the ponies that had been right by him. They all stared in disgust, shock, horror, and terror as the terrifying monster calmly limped off of the stage and walked away, heading out of town.

Everyone in the crowd- including the entire cast of the Mane Six, and Pinkie, who was probably the one shaking the worst in the entire crowd- took a few moments to fully come to terms with what they’d seen. Slowly but surely, the crowd dissipated, with a random mare or two walking up to the stage, and helping the mentally destroyed Trixie walk off the stage and clean her up. The rest of the Mane Six stared in shock, slowly gathering together.

“Holy clop. That was brutal.” Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.

“He, he did it to me before… not as strong as that, though.” Pinkie Pie muttered.

“What!? Pinkie, is that true?” Twilight Sparkle asked. She was getting frustrated, though, even when angry, Twilight was still smart enough to know not to go against something like that. She knew that it would only end in her death.

“What gives him the right to do that!” Rarity spoke up, this time.

“If I knew that ruffian was going to do that, then I wouldn’t have sewn back his clothes!”

“Fluttershy, you’re taking care of that thing? Let him go on his own!” Dash said.

“M-maybe. But what if he doesn’t want to leave? I couldn’t make him leave.” Fluttershy said, meekly staring at the ground. Just the idea of it alone was already starting to frighten her.

“Well, you need to. We’ll come with you!” Dash said, trying to encourage into Fluttershy. But it wasn’t working; her ears were laid back, her eyes were closed, and she was shaking like a leaf as she stood, imagining the confrontation.

She couldn’t even imagine what his world was like. He had said that not everyone there was a shinobi, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t be hateful, too. As The Element of Kindness, Fluttershy couldn’t understand such malice and cold uncaring. It was below her, and she would hopefully never feel such feelings herself.

“Even if we all went, it wouldn’t make a difference… he’s too strong,” Fluttershy said, with closed eyes and wings drooping.

“There’s no way he’s really THAT strong… right guys?”

Rainbow tried to get the hope of the group up, but they all seemed to be equally as hopeless as Fluttershy. Rarity said she needed to make dresses, Pinkie Pie mumbled something about going back to Sugarcube corner, Applejack said she had to get back to work on the farm, and they left Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy to think about a solution by themselves.

______________________________

Meanwhile, back at Fluttershy’s cottage, Sasuke laid down in the bed. He was almost practically healed by now. Mostly full strength. He started to doze off, and soon fell asleep, dreaming of revenge against the Leaf.

______________________________

Somehow, they’d done it. They’d won.

That’s what the Rokudaime of the Hidden Leaf, Naruto Uzumaki, was thinking.

He sat proudly at his large Hokage desk. He’d gained the respect of everyone. No longer was he called demon, or monster, or go-away-trash-go-find-a-hole-and-die-in-it.

He was referred to as both Hero of The Leaf, and Hokage-sama.

It was one of the only things that Naruto ever wanted, and, idly, he thought, he should’ve been happy. He’d even started seeing Hinata, and now that things were starting to get serious, they were thinking about having a spring wedding.

All he’d ever wanted.

He fucking hated it.

He’d failed Sakura.

He’d failed to bring Sasuke home.

And he’d failed to save all his friends, as he’d promised.

He turned in his chair, staring out at the prosperous village of The Leaf. It had taken some time and hard work, but all the villages were beginning to recover from the Fourth World Shinobi War. It had been a few months since it happened, around four, and Tsunade had only stepped down recently. In fact, his Hokage Coronation had only been a few days back.

He’d been trained for the position for a while, first.

The war had matured him, in a way. While he was still fairly childish, he had seen too much death in that war- and it had changed him. Like it had changed all of them.

Naruto’s outfit was similar to both Jiraiya’s and his father’s. He had a long cloak that was just like his father’s- an orange one, with dark red flames. His toad scroll sat in the corner of the room. He had a high collar on his orange cloak, and he wore a better version of his jumpsuit under that. He still looked a lot better than he had, though. The blond continued to think about Sasuke as he watched the sun set over the Hidden Leaf.

I could’ve sworn I saw something, that day…

The Jyuubi had just been playing with them. After Sasuke had left, the real fight started. It had gotten only infinitely harder, and they thought they were going to lose for a while, but the turning point had been when, somehow, the First Hokage broke out of Orochimaru’s jutsu. No one could figure out how he’d done it to this day, but he’d then managed to free the four Hokages, but not dispel them, so they stayed, still summoned. Together, they’d beaten back Team Taka, and had also managed to trap Orochimaru in a jutsu so that he couldn’t break out, couldn’t fight, and couldn’t cancel the summoning. Then, they turned to the bigger foes.

Naruto, Bee, and the Four Hokages of Konoha fought bravely against the Jyuubi, Madara, and Obito. Despite Madara’s previous arrogance, he soon lost his courage when he saw the First charging him- the First, the only ninja who had ever beaten him. It was a hard fight, and they still all almost died, but they’d managed to kill Madara, kill Obito, too, and split up the Jyuubi and turn it back into its split forms- seven tailed beasts had popped out, at the end. They promised not to harm humans- Ichibi said promises were meant to be broken, though- and they left, splitting up, going to the ends of the earth.

The amount dead was gruesome. Piles upon piles of bodies littered the battlefield. It had taken weeks to fully assess the dead, and at the end of it all, when they returned to their countries, the surviving shinobi were hailed as the heroes of this generation. Naruto himself had then been asked by Tsunade the next day if he thought he had what it took to become Hokage. Of course, without a doubt, he’d answered yes. She’d begun training him in political matters, diplomatic ventures, speech, etiquette- and, for once, Naruto paid attention.

And only a few days ago, it had been his pleasure to become the Sixth Hokage of Konoha. His face was being chiseled into the mountainside that hung over the entire village.

But, even after the War, when he’d talked to other Kages, to his friends, to any other shinobi that had been there that day, and was still alive- when he talked to them about the hole in the air, in reality that he’d seen- they’d all said they hadn’t seen it.

Naruto, you’re imagining things.

It didn’t happen.

Sasuke… died.

Naruto pounded his fist angrily into the desk restraining his strength- otherwise; he’d have smashed it to pieces. He refused to believe it.

“Bear.”

Instantaneously, the Anbu member appeared in front of Naruto. Loyal to the death, the Anbu-nin stood there, waiting for instructions.

“Get me a hawk. I need to send a message to the Land of Lightning.”

“Of course, Hokage-sama.”

Within a minute, Bear returned with a hawk, that cawed loudly when it saw the Hokage. It flapped its wings energetically, clearly ready for travel.

Only one man had believed him when he’d told everyone what he’d said.

Now, he needed his help.

Killer Bee,

The New Hokage of Konoha formally requests you to inspect the area that the final battle of the Fourth Shinobi War took place. I know that you know you saw it too. I refuse to believe that Sasuke is gone. I want to have this cleared up- to make sure he’s not a threat to the Five Nations, but I’d be lying if I didn’t mention I wanted him back as a friend, too.

You obviously don’t have to accept this. It’s a request- I’m a foreign Kage, I have no command over you. But, I’m asking you to do it, as a friend- help me find a friend.

Use your Jinchuriki powers, and your chakra. See what you can find. I know that I sensed something that day. It was… weak, but the air there changed. That area will always be permanently different, but I’m not talking about geography or terrain. You felt it, too. I saw the look in your eyes.

It almost felt like when you summoned something.

Something’s been done to reality, only around that area, because of that battle with the Jyuubi. Something. I don’t know what, but it was something.

Anyway, as your friend, please investigate.

Sincerely,

Naruto Uzumai, Son of The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, The Sixth Hokage of Konoha.

Satisfied, Naruto rolled up the message into a scroll and gave it to the hawk, with specific instructions to give it to Killer Bee personally. The hawk was smart; if it couldn’t find Bee, it would find the Raikage and he would find Bee.

After all he’d done for the world at the Fourth Shinobi War, they would be willing to do him a favor or two.

The Anbu-nin only known as Bear disappeared, and Naruto looked out over the Leaf Village again once more.

I’ll find you, Sasuke.

I will.

______________________________

There was a few minutes of silence, as Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all thought what they could do- and then Twilight stomped her hoof into the grass.

“I know what to do,” Twilight said.

“Huh? What!?” Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash shouted, clearly excited by the prospect of somehow getting the thing to leave them alone.

Twilight Sparkle, a potent unicorn, stared up at the sun and sat in the grass of Ponyville. The light was beautiful- the sun, it was so powerful. Certainly powerful enough. She jerked her head back down and then stared at her two friends confidently.

“Get Princess Celestia.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Deception, and An Octopus

Sasuke was lying down inside the bed, turned over, his back facing the doorway. It had been a few hours since he had dealt with the annoying unicorn that had been in the middle of Ponyville- the Great and Powerful Trixie, Sasuke faintly remembered she had called herself. Sasuke scowled as he thought of the weakness and the innocence of what seemed like the entire land around him. That unicorn was anything but powerful.

More like the Weak and Pathetic Trixie.

He’d shown her. Her place, that was. Especially after what she’d said about the Uchiha. Sasuke gripped the sheets and nearly tore them off the bed as his Hatred began to roar- his family, mocked? Insulted? He wouldn’t stand for it- hadn’t stood for it, in fact. He doubted if anyone would be saying anything negative about the Uchiha around him for a while, if ever.

He could feel his muscles, they yearned for use- he’d apparently made a full recovery over the course of a few days.
His bones seemed stronger than ever, his muscles, no longer torn or sore, and his chakra network flowed correctly, with no obstructions or problems- in fact, he thought that he might’ve had more chakra then he had before he came here.

While he enjoyed this boost of strength that surviving the Tailed Beast Balls had given him, he still thought and pondered about his most important problem- how to get back to The Elemental Nations. He was still wondering about how all of this had happened- blown across dimensions, realms, existences- and ended up here. If anything, it was more of an inconvenience than a real problem- he didn’t think anything in this land could be a threat.

He was fairly sure of that, anyway. He knew that there had to be some kind of law or police force-much like the Uchiha had been- or a guard, or something. There couldn’t just be nothing. And while Sasuke was sure that there was one of these forces for… Equestria… he was also sure that they proved no threat to him, considering that it seemed he could scare most of the race here with just killing intent and nothing else, which was sad.

But it was also good, because as Sasuke gave it more thought, he realized that he could’ve fallen into a stronger world or dimension that might’ve not been so kind or easy on him- indeed, if he had fallen into a place with strong enemies, he could’ve easily been killed while he was still weak- not to mention that no one probably would’ve come and taken care of him after finding him fallen, unconscious, on the ground somewhere.

His great hearing allowed him to detect the shutting of a door, quietly, directly outside of his room. So Fluttershy was home. She’d probably come annoy him now, complaining about what he’d done to the other stupid pony. I’ll just ignore her, he decided. Lo and behold, it wasn’t long before the door was opened and a yellow Pegasus with a pink, curled mane walked into the room. She coughed a few times, having trouble finding her voice, then spoke.

“Why did you do it?”

It was one of those rare times that Fluttershy had a confident, forceful air in her tone- even though she was normally nervous and soft-spoken, she felt partially responsible for taking care of Sasuke and, in a way, enabling him to commit such deeds. This, along with the knowledge that Princess Celestia would be coming soon, gave her the bravery to confront Sasuke despite the fact that she was (wisely) scared of him.

“She insulted the clan of the Uchiha. If anything, I was kind, like a weakling. She deserved death for it, if you want the truth.”

“Why is your clan so important to you!? It doesn’t excuse your behavior, you know!”

“Leave it. I’m not explaining it to you. It doesn’t concern you, anyway.”

“No, you will explain it to me! You’re being horrible! Trixie was being a mean pony but she didn’t deserve that much, either. She wasn’t even humiliated- if anything, everypony feels sympathy for her now, instead of being annoyed by her.”

“Good for you, good for her, and good for them. Now leave me alone.”

“No, I won’t leave you alone. I’m not scared of you because Princess Celestia is coming! She’ll deal with you herself if you keep acting the way you are. I’m trying to save you from her. She’s usually a very nice pony but she can get the job done if she needs to.”

“Big deal. I’m sure she’s as weak as everyone else around here.”

“She isn’t! She raises the sun! I’m sure she could beat you.”

“Even if she could, which she can’t, I don’t see her around anywhere. It looks like you’re trying to order me around, while idiotically forgetting what I’ve done the last two times to somepony,” he said, spitting the words with concentrated malice, “who has angered or annoyed me. If you want to save your life, leave the room, now.”

“I can’t believe you! After I’ve taken care of you, you won’t even explain your behavior!”

As Fluttershy continued, Sasuke considered his options. While she was probably lying about something raising the sun, in hindsight, it actually made sense for this kind of country to have someone like that. It was the only way that they could live in peace, anyway. Otherwise they’d probably have to fight all the time- this land looked like it had some dangerous creatures- dragons, he’d seen a griffon, once, and probably more.

“See the light, Sasuke! Stop being so cruel!”

Before he could stop himself, Sasuke repeated a phrase he had once said, long ago.

“I have turned my eyes away from the light. My goals only lie in the darkness.”

“W…What?”

Her fury suddenly abated- instead, was a deep sadness and pity for the world that Sasuke came from, and sadness for Sasuke- what had he gone through to make him so cold?

If it was anyone that could make someone feel guilt, it was probably Fluttershy, and her kindness could be used to heal hearts, too- she had turned many a savage bear or manticore into a nicer animal just by her presence. And she had hoped that it would work for Sasuke too. Her ears drooped, and she started to sob; not silently. It was a loud, hopeless crying.

She’d failed.

Fluttershy trotted away from the door and slammed it, and flew over to a corner, and cried in it. She was surrounded by her animal friends- they tried to comfort her.

Sasuke was in the room- had heard the crying.

And, inside, he felt the smallest spark of guilt take hold, and become a weak flame.

_________________________

Even after Fluttershy had cried, Sasuke still didn’t explain himself. Fluttershy didn’t bother him for a while. She only entered his room to give him fruits and vegetables, and then she left, wordlessly. She seemed depressed and down, all because of how Sasuke was acting- she still couldn’t imagine what had made him like this. It had to have been something horrible. But she didn’t bother asking him- she knew what she would get, and it didn’t seem that he would care for her pity or her sadness for him, either.

Sasuke laid alone in the room and thought long and hard for quite a while. Mostly about revenge on The Leaf- he still couldn’t believe that he’d felt guilty of all things- and how he’d kill each and every person, and burn the shops to the ground, and destroy the monuments and the Hokage Faces- he’d made her cry- and then he’d kill the children, and once he’d destroyed the entire village, then he’d- she didn’t deserve it-

Sasuke shouted a wordless scream of frustration-how could he even feel guilt anymore? He didn’t know, but what he did want to know was how he could stop feeling it. It wasn’t a good feeling, and he didn’t need it getting in the way of his vengeance. It would only hinder his goals- maybe even get him killed, if he stopped in the middle of a fight like a weakling because of all the horrible guilt he was feeling. He needed to get rid of his frustration, somehow.

Jumping out of bed, he strode quickly to the door, and opened it, without a word. He walked out, past all the animals, who glared at him, and out of the cottage.

Fluttershy watched him go, silently. She didn’t say anything. She wanted him gone. She didn’t hate him, but she didn’t want to care for someone so cruel. She knew not to antagonize him, though, or anger him- he was too unstable and dangerous, and before they made any kind of move to get through to him they’d need Princess Celestia here, first. She didn’t want anypony dying just because of their rushing and carelessness.

Sasuke stepped outside of the cottage and looked around. He was still frustrated that he had such a lack of a lead on anything relating to him being able to get back to The Elemental nations. Still, though, he could try one other thing. He slowly formed five seals after biting his thumb hard- hard enough to draw blood. Finishing the jutsu, he slammed his palm into the grass, watching with satisfaction as a large hawk appeared.

“Is there any way for me to get from here, to your home, and from there, to The Elemental Nations?” The hawk seemed confused by his surroundings- it looked different than anything from the Shinobi world- but shook its head, regardless. It began to speak.

“We hawks are not very proficient in sealing jutsu, but even if we were, different dimensions and space-time jutsu are extremely complicated. You could be killed during the transportation, or it may fail, or nothing may happen. There are too many risks and the chances are too high. Doing things in The Elemental Nations is already hard enough; throwing another world into the mix only makes it harder. Plus there’s the fact that I believe you did not arrive at this place through normal means. Is there anything else that you needed?”

“No, you can leave.”

The hawk dispelled itself and went back to its home immediately, and left Sasuke to brooding and thinking in the grass in front of Fluttershy’s house. So he was stuck here for now, unless he made an effort to get along with the locals.

His Hatred and Anger roared- Fool. Don’t swallow your pride. They’re weaklings.

But then, a small voice chipped in- added in- and it seemed to have more power than either of them, even with how small and weak it was.

You’re being cruel, said his Guilt.

He swore loudly, his eyes flickering between Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and his normal black onyx eyes. He’d have to… apologize. Even inside of his mind, Sasuke found the word disgusting and pathetic. He’d have to prostrate himself- as if he was lesser than them- and, and… but, would they believe him? Or…

He could just use genjutsu. While that might work, he hesitated to use it immediately. Fluttershy had said something about some Princess Celestia. It was possible that she could see through his genjutsu- and while he was fairly certain that she didn’t raise the sun, she was probably still very powerful. Again, it was the only thing that explained the innocence of this world- or this country or place, or whatever, because if they didn’t have an all-powerful goddess guarding them, they’d have to actually fend for themselves.

No. No, he couldn’t use genjutsu. Simple lies, deceit, and trickery, that was what he would have to use. It should work out fine- everything here was so naïve that it was inevitable that they would believe him- they probably wanted to, anyway. Fluttershy had cried for him when he’d said what he’d said- how long had it been since someone had cried for him, instead of crying because of what he’d done or who he’d killed?

Sakura, and Itachi.

That was the last time that had happened- he remembered it.

SASUKE!

Foolish little brother…

Saske shook the memory out of his thoughts. Another option was that he could go hide in the forest that this cottage bordered on. While it was probably dangerous there, it would probably be better than apologizing. And he wouldn’t have to swallow his pride to do it, either. But, at the same time, again, he would be alone in his endeavors to get back to The Elemental Nations. And he doubted that, now, without any leads and his only idea, using the Hawks to get back, had failed, he was going to be forced to rely on these dumb horses. He doubted that the snakes would have any more useful information or help available, anyway. Not to mention the fact that he’d betrayed Manda, and they probably wouldn’t take too kindly to him summoning them, anyway.

Sighing, he made for the doorway. The door creaked open and he saw Fluttershy, still looking sad, sitting in one corner of the room. She only looked up him with incredibly big, sad eyes, and even in Sasuke’s black heart, a few strings were tugged on. Sighing again, even more loudly, he made to sit down next to her, plopping himself down with ease. He was almost fully recovered- his legs were still a little weak, at times, but for the most part, his pain, slowness, and lack of strength were gone. He was healthy again.

“My time… in The Elemental Nations… has made me cold.”

Fluttershy raised her head, a small smile slowly slipping onto her features. Her wings raised as well, and she paid more attention, propping herself up on both hooves as she listened more intently. Sasuke barely managed to hide a scowl, but at the same time, couldn’t force himself to smile, either- still that same blank, apathetic stare that seemed to hold no emotion, guilt, or any kind of sympathy in it.

“The coldness has affected me in many ways- I do not care for other people much anymore. It’s so hard to get rid of it, and I don’t mean to do what I do… it’s almost like I’m not even in control, sometimes.”

Fluttershy listened on, completely enraptured in Sasuke’s ‘heartfelt’ apology/confession. Sasuke was surprised, even in himself- it seemed that, in a way, even for him, not all of this was a complete staged lie. Most of it was… but still. Strengthening his will, he pressed on, forwards. He cleared his throat as he spoke once more.

“And I still need to get back to The Elemental Nations… and while I can never truly forgive how The Leaf has wronged me, perhaps I could learn to contain my rage enough so that vengeance isn’t needed. I’ll need your help- and Twilight’s too- and probably whoever this Princess Celestia is, as well.”

“That’s all good,” Fluttershy said, “but I still haven’t heard you say it yet.”

“Say what yet?” Sasuke replied, legitimately confused. Fluttershy only relaxed a little more and sighed slightly, as if waiting for Sasuke to reach a conclusion he should’ve already came to. His eyes widened when he realized what she meant.

“I-I’m… sorry,” He bit out. It was clearly difficult for him, and he didn’t have to fake that part or act whatsoever in the slightest, there. Fluttershy clopped her hooves together joyfully, seeming very impressed by his ability to admit his mistakes and him finally giving an apology.

“How wonderful! But there are still two ponies you need to forgive.”

“Maybe the pink one, but not the blue one.”

Fluttershy’s joy stopped, and she wilted, before asking the obvious question.

“Why?”

“She insulted the Clan of the Uchiha. I will not have the name sullied. That’s one thing that I can’t and I won’t take.”

“But, with how you act, aren’t you sullying the Uchiha as well?”

In an instant, Sasuke glared at Fluttershy so horribly that she felt that she could die. His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly in his eyes with undisguised hatred- malice so deep and pure, pure Hatred, that it felt like it was going to corrupt her soul. And, for that instant that Sasuke glared at Fluttershy, she felt that she might’ve just killed herself by what she said. He could strike out in an instant-faster than she could run or fly, or even react to- and lop her head off, or stab her in her chest and pierce her heart. Kill her in any number of ways.

But he relaxed his glare, noticing as she sighed audibly and fell back, breathing heavily.

“Sorry… but, as for your question… maybe,” It was a lot of effort for him to say that, “but the need for vengeance overrides the name of the Uchiha. I just won’t have outsiders saying that, especially when they know nothing of the Clan’s past, my past, or the entire situation in general. It really is none of their business.”

Fluttershy shrugged internally. She figured that she was making huge strides, even now. She wasn’t going to push her luck more than Sasuke was allowing her to. If he didn’t want to talk about it yet, then she wouldn’t mention it anymore for the time being. Plus, she really didn’t know what had made him like this. It held a special place in her kind heart, even with how hateful and aggressive and violent he was. It had to have been something terrible…

Sasuke was amazed that he had managed to deceive and lie his way through all of that. While he was a ninja, and deception as a trick, weapon, or tool of survival was nothing new to him, it had been very hard to swallow his pride and somehow answer those questions while acting like he was actually wrong, and that he was actually sorry.

But it appeared that Fluttershy had believed him, and if she did, then everypony else probably would, too; they all seemed to be equally naïve and stupid. It wouldn’t be hard, then, to get help for returning to The Elemental Nations.

Sasuke grinned, only for an instant, but instantly covered it back up with an aloof expression. Turning to Fluttershy, he then asked her a question she’d never think he would ask.

“How can I… make it up to you?”

This was getting difficult for Sasuke- pushing his limits of self-control. Fluttershy’s adorable grin split her entire face and she began to speak in that quiet, lovable voice of hers.

“You don’t need to really make it up to me. You haven’t wronged me, anyway.”

“Then, where does the pink… pony… live?”

“Oh, you mean Pinkie Pie! She lives and works at Sugarcube Corner. It’s that one building in Ponyville that looks like it’s made out of cookies and sweets.”

Oh, that place. It had looked absurd and utterly ridiculous the second he had seen it, and now he’d have to enter it and apologize to the weakling who had disturbed him while he was sleeping. Sighing louder, he jumped up, and began to make his way to the door.

Fluttershy wasn’t done, though. She leapt up, and began flapping her wings slowly, and the pink-maned Pegasus flew around happily inside her cottage as her animals jumped around joyfully. It looked like something out of a Christmas movie. As Sasuke turned the knob on the front door, she had to make one last comment that expressed how happy she was at the current turn of events. She sounded sickeningly gleeful as she spoke.

“I’m so glad you’re being nice, Sasuke.”

Sasuke barely managed to avoid throwing his katana at her as he shut the door.

_____________________________

Sasuke sighed, more than a little disappointed in himself as he turned from the cottage and began to walk along the road that led to Ponyville.

It was growing darker, now, near the time of twilight, as what he’d done to Trixie had happened around late morning to midday. The blue skies of Ponyville and Equestria were growing darker, and it had been a nice day- barely any clouds, as scheduled by the weather team. Sasuke figured that the stupid pink pony would probably still be working at her idiotic, weakling sweets job- he didn’t even like sweets- and he could embarrass himself and the dam Uchiha name by going to her and apologizing to her.

He walked down the little brown dirt road from Fluttershy’s cottage, looking at the forest and woods that were nearby, and the grassy plains and vegetation that carried into the distance. In the far, far distance were the apple trees that he’d seen before- if their stupid flank tattoos were to be believed, that place was probably owned by that orange pony that he’d seen before. It held no interest for him, however, and as fast as Sasuke had glanced over at it, paying the slightest bit of attention, his glance flickered and he looked elsewhere.

The evening was nice, as nice as or nicer than ones in The Elemental Nations- it was fairly beautiful, Sasuke had to admit, even if grudgingly. He watched as random Pegasus ponies soared through the air, enjoying their natural gift of flight. They sped through the sky, and some others lazily rested on top of clouds, sleeping or watching the others who were more energetic than them and less lethargic.

Sasuke only paid them a moment’s notice, and then ignored them, moving faster towards his goal. He thought absently of another night, a night that seemed as happy as this one, before it had changed, before-

DON’T FUCK WITH ME!

Foolish little brother…If you wish to kill me, Sasuke, hate me, despise me. Run, run, Sasuke; Run and survive and cling to life in an unsightly way, and only when you possess the same eyes as me, should you come before me.

And then Itachi had made him weary, drowsy- made him start to pass out.

And then, even though he thought he imagined it, he now knew it was true-

Itachi’s sad face, staring back at him, tears streaming down, there was-

Guilt-Regret-Despair-more, more-

Sasuke shook himself out of his reverie and noticed he was much closer to Ponyville. Had he really been walking that entire time? He felt a little disappointed that he’d gotten distracted by his emotions and memories so easily. Pushing down his feelings- shoving them down, like he always did, to the bottom, he continued onwards, still moving forwards to complete this stupid apology that he shouldn’t even have to give.

Sasuke entered the outskirts of the town, and, as he expected, he got the attention- the glares, the stares, the confused glances- why should he even be here- like he was a damn leper. He bit back his Pride, though- a raging monster, stomping around in his Psyche- these lowly creatures, looking down on you. Kill them, destroy them, burn them and cut their wings and horns and heads off and then burn the whole town and force them to help you back to The Elemental Nations, and once you gain the information kill-

Sasuke controlled it- put it back in its place, though the others were raging just as hard- his Pride was only one of the entities that he had to control in his mind- his Hatred, the strongest, his Pride and Anger a close second. Guilt was a small, but powerful voice, always talking. Unlike the others, who at least sometimes quieted, it seems that Guilt had something to say all the time- listing everything he’d ever done.

Pushed away Naruto, your only real friend. Sakura loved you, pushed her away too, hurt both of them. Disappointed everyone in The Leaf Village- they expected you to become their genius. Karin loved you, you betrayed her. Disappointed, no, failed your brother, and ran from the village, and every person you ever killed or betrayed or deceived along the way, and, oh, don’t forget the others, too, them too, those-

That voice was the voice that wouldn’t shut up. It seemed to be constantly talking- cataloging everything he’d ever done. He didn’t feel guilty for it- no, he didn’t- and he crushed it down, though, compared to the others, it was infinitely more difficult. Gaining control of himself once more, he walked further into Ponyville.

The arrogant swagger that he walked into town with would make Blueblood look humble. Sasuke looked around the town, at the ponies staring, and tried to ignore them. Some fillies and colts following their mothers or fathers around stared, curled around their parent’s legs, watching- who’s that Mommy, oh, nopony, honey, look away, look away and just turn and let’s go back to the house and eat some daisies for dinner-

“STOP FUCKING STARING AT ME!” Sasuke shrieked, and the ponies, who had had looks of curiosity on their faces before, quickly became terrified and scattered, running back to their shops or homes or businesses. The center of the town was mostly deserted, with a few ponies who stayed to tend to their shops or whatever else they had been doing, but they all made it an obvious, visible effort to stay as far as possible away from Sasuke.

Adjust his chokuto on his lower back, Sasuke made for what appeared to be the building that Fluttershy had told him about. A incredibly extravagant, ridiculous looking cake-thing of a building, it stood out, colorfully advertising what you would come there to do- buy and eat sweets- cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pies, chocolates, everything, it seemed. The building had many different types of sweets built into it.

He walked up to the store, successfully ignoring this time the few staring ponies that still lingered outside, and opened it without any other hesitation. Inside the store were a few ponies eating cakes and cookies at seats, and there was a mare and a stallion hard at work at the counter, selling their wares and preparing more. There were plenty of sweets for sale at the counter, and the entire store seemed to have a cake or cupcake theme.

He hated sweets.

Both the mare and the stallion looked incredibly preposterous to Sasuke. Still, he’d have to talk to them, as they probably knew the pink horse and could help him talk to her.

Casually striding over to them as if he owned the place, Sasuke interrupted them as they worked. It only took them a few seconds for them to look up and shatter their previous hard-working composure, leading into dumb, astounded, slack-jawed looks. It was annoying being the only human here. Everyone-everypony, stupid change- everypony around here looked at him as if he were the freak-meanwhile, it was they who were actually strange.

“Do either of you know a Pinkie Pie?”

Carrot Cake seemed to break out of his surprised gaze first, quickly speaking up.

“Oh, yes, she works for us. She’s off her shift right now. Why, do you need something from her, or to talk to her? By the way, what are you?”

Carrot Cake answered his questions even as he went back to wiping down the dirty counter- it was like he could never get it cleaned. Even now, crumbs and icing covered the thing, and it looked incredibly unprofessional, not to mention messy. He wiped at it, frustrated that instead of becoming clean and clear the icing merely smeared and the crumbs seemed much too stubborn to do anything but cling to the counter.

“A human. Yes, I need to talk to her. Where can I find her?” Sasuke said, feeling at least a little glad that they didn’t mince words or beat around the bush- just told him what he needed to know. Carrot Cake continued to smear around the icing on the counter, and listened to his wife sigh and then she got a sponge that actually had soap on it, and could clean the counter better. She bumped him aside, and Carrot looked up, embarrassed, even as he answered, talking to Sasuke while he sold a cupcake to a pony that had just come in.

“Pinkie is upstairs in her room. She’s been feeling really down, lately. Do you have anything to do with that? She hasn’t been herself recently, and the only things that ever really make her sad is not being able to eat sweets forever, or not being somepony’s friend. And since you’re new in town...” The stallion trailed off, letting Sasuke complete the thought.

“Yes. We didn’t meet on… the best terms. I’ll go talk to her now.”

He began walking to go behind the counter and walk up the stairs that were visible from the door of the store, but was stopped by a weak hoof that blocked his progress. Sasuke turned to Carrot Cake who impeded his movement. He looked at Sasuke with what would pass as a hard look, if it was judged by a baby. His attempt of intimidation was laughable to Sasuke- weaker than a damn genin, and easier to kill, too. Still, he listened, even if he was incredibly annoyed by this stupid, idiotic pony.

“I don’t want you hurting her, especially if you already have. Am I clear?”

“Crystal,” Sasuke bit out, and Carrot turned back to the counter immediately, apparently satisfied with such a fake answer. He had barely tried to conceal his dishonesty, and it seemed that they didn’t notice. Internally shrugging at their stupidity, he moved past them and made for the stairs, wasting no more time. There was nothing worth noting in here, anyway.

He wanted to be done with this as soon as possible.

He climbed the stairs slowly, looking with mild, unenthusiastic distaste at the entire building around him. It was so outrageous and ridiculous that he couldn’t believe it. Why make a store look like a cake? It was dumb. There was no functionality from it- it was just showy, but it didn’t even look good. Like everything in this world that involved ponies, it seemed that they didn’t understand simple things. Even if it was a different world, it still confused Sasuke to the point that he just put it to the back of his head and didn’t question it.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he looked down a small hallway, decorated as bizarrely and nonsensically. There was a door, and then, after a turn, two more doors. He opened the first, and didn’t find anything but storage- mostly non-perishables, tools, and other things needed in a bakery. Opening the second door, he found an empty, quiet, dark bedroom, with no one inside it. Figuring that they lived in the same place that they worked, like Pinkie did, he judged that this was the stallion’s and mare’s bedroom. Moving along, he came to the last door in the hallway; and the last door on the upper floor.

Just as he reached for the handle, he hesitated.

Did he really need to apologize to such idiocy?

Unfortunately.

Sighing much louder than necessary, he creaked open the door. Pinkie seemed to be lying on the bed, with her mane flat and silky, instead of poofy and joyful. There was a depressing, choking air in the room that seemed to strangle his attempts to apologize. It seemed to be…wrong… like she should always be happy, and when she wasn’t, there was something wrong with the universe. Again, his Guilt pricked his heart.

Innocent little pony, and you scared the happiness out of her, yes you did, you black hearted abomination, what will satisfy you, will your cruelty ever end, or will you just keep going and going until everyone is as miserable as you are, yeah, probably, that’s it, I’ve got it-

Shaking off his stupid sentimentality, and barely withholding a scream, he approached the bed. She wasn’t sleeping, but she did seem to be dozing in her sadness. Her pink tail, just as sad and limp as her mane, curled around her hooves as she hugged herself in the fetal position. She sniffled to herself. As the happiest pony around, he seemed to have insulted or hurt her personally.

“Pinkie Pie,” he said. “My name is… Sasuke Uchiha. I’m here to… apologize… for what I did a few days ago… you didn’t deserve it. You were just trying to… talk to me… I’m a shinobi, though. It’s not entirely my fault, either. I’ve been trained and trained myself to have good reactions, and waking me up like that was the most dangerous way you could’ve done it.”

Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to visibly brighten, but she did raise her head and pay attention, and Sasuke supposed that that was a start, even with how much he really didn’t want to do this. Moving closer, he continued to apologize. Even as he spoke, his Pride raged- it was the thing being the most wounded currently; even his Hatred was quieter than the screaming Pride inside of his mind and his heart.

“And, I’m sure that you can understand that I didn’t really want to do it, even if you did startle and anger me… can you,” he said, keeping himself in check even as he body wished to do violence, “can you… forgive me?”

He said the words as if speaking them killed him- like he’d just allowed the seeds of cancer to take root in his body. His Pride certainly was acting like it was diseased, now- roaring and yelling and screaming, never shutting up-

Lowly pony. You are above such creatures, you ARE UCHIHA! YOUR VISUAL PROWESS IS UNMATCHED AND YOU PROSTRATE YOURSELF-WILLINGLY- IN FRONT OF SUCH WEAKLINGS. WHERE HAS YOUR PRIDE GONE, SASUKE? I AM HERE! LISTEN TO ME! YOU MUST-

Sasuke let out a pained scream, sounding like he’d just been stabbed. With Guilt still talking and Pride now raving as well, he scarcely contained himself and barely kept himself from lashing out at everything that was around him. Pinkie seemed scared, but also sympathetic for him. She reached out with a hoof, touching his purple sash, slowly, carefully, as if she expected it to turn into a snake, climb up her body, and strangle her.

“Are we… are we… friends?” She asked hopefully, and it was at this point that Sasuke nearly lost control. His Hatred flared, his Pride roared, and Guilt seemed to sing about his failures and his betrayals even louder. He calmed himself- forced them to stay quiet.

He couldn’t say yes- even he wouldn’t sink that low, to say himself that he was friends with this idiotic pink pony- but, as if a muscular twitch, he barely nodded his head, less than an inch downwards. Pinkie Pie’s eyes began to grow wide. She shook violently, like a shaken up soda can- almost like she was about to explode-

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” She screamed, right near Sasuke’s ear, and he’d be lying if he really didn’t want to whip out his sword and slit her throat. She bounced around joyfully, her mane twirling as it instantly popped back up- something that didn’t seem realistically possible.

“We’re friends, we’re friends, we’re friends!” Pinkie further rubbed it in, and his Pride raged even more and harder, if it was possible. Still, soon enough, he was able to ignore them- push them down completely- and then he didn’t hear them, and it seemed unnaturally quiet, after having voices talking in his head for several hours.

Faintly, a male voice, probably Carrot Cake’s, called them down.

“Pinkie Pie, come down! Princess Celestia is here!”

“You have to meet her, you have to meet her!”

Pinkie Pie practically dragged him down the stairs after they’d left her room, and then Sasuke was standing in the middle of Sugarcube Corner, looking at tall pony in front of him. Compared to the other ponies, who barely even met his waist- some shorter ones were at the height of his thighs- this one was about as tall as Sasuke, even slightly taller.

She had a golden crown on and a flowing mane that seemed to be every color. She had golden horseshoes on- and Sasuke couldn’t tell whether it was gold or the horseshoes that was meant to symbolize wealth- and she had both wings and a horn, which Sasuke could easily tell made her special. Her coat was completely white, and she seemed have the complete admiration and devotion of everyone around her. Sasuke tried to hide his boredom. He’d long since lost respect for authority.

It was a long time that he’d stood in front of someone that held such power, such pull- and she seemed to have a motherly air about her. She addressed the strange being in front of her, with more than a stern tone. As she spoke, she walked closer to Sasuke.

“My most faithful student and protégé, Twilight Sparkle, has informed me of your… actions since you have mysteriously arrived in Ponyville. I’ll tell you right now that I’ll have no fighting or anything of the sort going on, especially involving my protégé or the Elements of Harmony. Explain yourself. Explain your… cruelty.”

“I need to get home. I won’t lie that I have been more than threatening since I arrived here, but the first time was an accident, and in regards to the second, she completely deserved it. I understand that you have power. You could help me get back to where I come from.”

“I could. And it would probably be in my best interest to do so, considering what you have done since you’ve arrived here. What do you mean by ‘deserved’? I’m sure that she didn’t deserve the kind of public humiliation that you put that pony through.”

“After what she said, she’s lucky I didn’t kill her.”

“Violence solves nothing. I wonder if where you come ponies have figured that out yet.”

“It’s people. People, not ponies. And violence solves plenty of things. As for what she said to insult me, trust me when I say that when someone insults my dead family who all died tragically to treachery, I don’t respond kindly. I’ve killed for less.”

Despite Celestia’s years of diplomacy and ability to beat around the bush all afternoon, that last sentence had her stumped. Perhaps he wasn’t as sociopathic as her student had made him out to be in the letter that she had sent.

“Well, I may be able to help you return to your home. But, first, I have something else.”

Sasuke grunted, annoyed. What did she want now?

“I have a proposition for you.”

______________________________

Killer Bee, Jinchuriki of the Eight Tails, was strolling around the Village of the Cloud. He had sunglasses on, with blond hair and a metal Cloud forehead protector tied to his forehead with a white band. He had a blue tattoo on both his left cheek on his face and his left shoulder and he had fingerless gloves that had rings on the back of the hand with three red rectangles on each glove. He was brown skinned, and also had a sort of tunic that passed as a shirt, which wrapped around his neck and ended there.

He had seven swords, all smaller than normal katana, but still dangerous, that were held across his body in different sheaths, attached in different places. His ensemble ended with blue pants and sandals, with white socks that had the same red design rectangles as his gloves.

As he walked along the Cloud Village, which was a large Ninja Village with many high-rising buildings and cliffs, he rapped to himself.

“Fool, ya fool! I’ll kill ya, with my ninja tools! And then steal your princess, and your jewels, and dart away into the forest, with-“

He was interrupted from his terrible rhyming by the large caw of a hawk that descended upon him, and stopped, waiting patiently in front of him. He looked around. No one else was near him. The message was obviously meant for him.

He took the scroll out, unrolled it, and began to read.

“Naruto, ya fool.”

TO BE CONTINUED.

A Chase and A Hole In Reality

Killer Bee finally finished reading through the message that Naruto had sent him- he was surprised that Naruto hadn’t asked him about this, or at least mentioned it again after the War, sooner. He’d been mostly dormant and bored in the Village Hidden in The Clouds for a while now, and if this was going to let him leave the village, then it was a god-send, even if there was a job that he had to do. He’d been cooped up so long- just like he always was, his brother keeping him too closely leashed to the village- that he’d been begging for a reason to leave.

Now, he had it.

Killer Bee did remember what he was talking about, that hole in the air that he’d seen right as Sasuke was supposedly destroyed by the three Beast Balls. It hadn’t been pretty- most had thought him dead, said good riddance, and moved on. Only Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura seemed really moved by it, and Naruto had barely reacted in time to an attack from the Ten Tails that had nearly killed him, because he’d been staring at the spot for so long.

He knew the spot that Naruto was talking about- it was mostly a destroyed wasteland that they’d left as soon as they could. It was still there, and sometimes, Shinobi passed through it, momentarily stopping and praying for those that had died there, but other than that, the place was deserted. No one really visited, and the entire landscape- and, apparently, the reality of the place- had been changed because of the battle with the Jyuubi.

It was, luckily, within the Land of Lightning’s territory. While he had certainly gained a lot of respect- and lost a lot of hatred that people had had for him, just for him being the Eight Tails Jinchuriki- he still didn’t have the right to just go gallivanting throughout other nations or countries without permission. And this would definitely be without permission. No one wanted Sasuke back- and truthfully, Killer Bee didn’t even want Sasuke back, either. He’d destroyed his brother’s arm, and nearly killed everyone in the War.

He wasn’t doing this because he wanted to.

He was doing it because Naruto had asked him to.

Rolling up the scroll, he put one hand over his face, shielding him from the sun. He glanced around the village, looking for anyone that he could take with him. He figured that it would be a pretty dangerous mission, and he might need help- but at the same time, if he tried to get anyone to go with him, they might tell the Raikage. But Bee also didn’t want to be sucked in wherever Sasuke went- if he went anywhere- without anyone knowing. He contemplated what to do for a moment as the hawk flapped its wings and waited patiently.

Unrolling the scroll, he got out his own inkbrush, and added his own message, of course, it was in lyrics. It took a great deal of time longer than it should have because of that, as well. Pursing his lips, he added a few final words, then grinned. He rolled up the scroll and told it to go the Raikage, and then immediately left. He probably had less than five minutes.

He could leave the village if he wanted- it was just that he didn’t because he knew that his brother would get angry. But this was obviously important to Naruto, and Bee, even if reluctant because it was Sasuke, wanted to help him, because he felt that he owed Naruto because how much he had helped at the War, even if he was a foreign Kage. He ducked behind several buildings and avoided the civilian populous, getting closer and closer to the walls of the village, and he was unseen by even the shinobi that were walking through the village.

The people on the walls, though, were usually a bit more aware. Still, he crouched and crept along, which was an impressive feat, being so silent, especially with how tall and big Killer Bee was. Back against the wall, he searched for a way out the village without the guards noticing, even if only for a few minutes so that he could get a head start. He didn’t expect to be out long- maybe a few hours, at most- but as long as they didn’t interrupt him before he was done, he didn’t care if he got dragged back after and beat up by his brother.

He decided to do it the old fashioned way.

Gathering a lot of demon chakra in his arms, he busted a large hole in the wall, and ran out, with the chuunin guarding the walls soon following after him. But, as expected, they couldn’t keep up with an extremely strong Jinchuriki, and they fell behind almost immediately, watching the red creature with four tails sprint away at an insane pace from the village.

Around the same time, A, The Raikage was in his office, doing paperwork. He had blond dreadlocks and a bracer on his arm, and was wearing a large, white cloak with blue pants and a green sash-cloth hanging over the pants- the same thing he had worn during the War. He was brown-skinned with a tiny mustache and beard combination, and was a very tall, very muscular man. He looked to be frustrated, almost all the time. A man that was prone to anger, he got roused the easiest when his brother was doing something stupid. Because he was always doing something stupid. No exceptions, when it came to his brother and stupidity.

A hawk cawed at him, and he grunted, looking up at the messenger, and letting it land on his arm, reading the message. Already, as he was reading Naruto’s message, he was getting angry- he knew what Bee had done, certainly. He continued on, and was furious by the time that he finished Bee’s little rap, that explained what he was going to do.

Yo, Bro! Na-ru-to has asked me to go check out wherever Sasuke went!

So, don’t be mad or get scared if it’s another place I am sent!

Just send a team to get me, because I’ll be fine till then, see!

Yeah, the Jinchuriki, that’s me, your brother Killer Bee!

-Killer Bee

A crushed the paper in his hand, and made the kind of roar that sounded like a demon screaming. His attendants watched calmly as he smashed the desk in with his one hand. It was a common, nearly daily occurrence. The Raikage was an angry man.

“That’s the third desk this week, Raikage-sama.”

“Shut up! Get Anbu ready to help me follow him!”

“Hai, Raikage-sama.”

__________________________________

Killer Bee grinned as he left the chuunin in the dust, but then he cringed as he heard the roar of his brother. He swore that he could hear it, even all the way from here- but maybe that was just because his senses were so amplified by his demon powers. Still, he wouldn’t look forward to going back to the village. He added on another tail of chakra, now reaching five tails. Putting more power and speed in his step, he upped the pace, jumping off of a cliff and landing on the next one, repeatedly. A lot of the terrain of the Land of Lightning- and especially around the Village Hidden in The Clouds- was made up of high cliffs and tall mountains. It would be a little while before he got to the area that they had fought the Jyuubi at.

He pricked his ears and listened, knowing the terrain and the kind of leaps he had to make so well that he hardly had to pay attention to where he was jumping. He wanted to make sure that he wasn’t being followed. His great hearing picked up nothing, and he continued on, figuring that it had taken his brother a little while longer than usual to scramble Anbu or Jonin, and he was safe, at least for now. Leaping and scrambling across the rocks, he continued his journey throughout The Land of Lightning.

________________________

Meanwhile, The Raikage was getting ready to leave. Anbu had already been scrambled, and whenever his brother did anything stupid- but especially, when he left the village- he always dealt with the matter himself. He only requested the best of their Anbu- and the ones that had the best speed and physical endurance- because most would have a hard time keeping up with the pace that he was going to set for them.

He was planning on going at his full-speed, without Lightning Armor, and while Bee was fast, he wasn’t as fast as A, who was the second fastest Shinobi in the entire world, the first being Naruto, and, historically, the first was Minato, Naruto’s father. He set his attendants to try to take care of some of his paperwork- there was still much to do involving the war, but this was more important. It was something urgent that needed to be taken care of now.

He stood outside of his Kage-office, and waited for the Anbu to arrive. Moments later, they did. A full squad of three was to accompany him. While he would certainly have no problems beating the crap and the stupidity out of his brother on his own, after reading the message that Naruto had sent him, and what Bee had said he would do, he decided to bring Anbu, just in case something strange happened.

A hadn’t seen the ‘hole in reality’ that they were talking about, but that sounded both serious and dangerous, and something that they should obviously be cautious of, as well. So, he bran Anbu just in case they ended up fighting someone- or something- that was strong. He stretched his arm and shoulders out, rolling them for a few moments, as the Anbu waited silently. They were all equipped with masks and cloaks, similar to Konoha Anbu, except instead of animal designs, they all had the symbol of The Hidden Village of The Clouds on them.

“Go,” he commanded, and they obeyed, leaping forwards at the same time as he did, clearing the walls of the village with ease from the power of their jump. From there, they began navigating the cliffs, as Bee did, and since the Raikage knew where he was going, he doubted that Bee would outrun and escape him for long. He picked up his pace and the Anbu struggled to keep up- it wasn’t that they were weak, or slow. The Raikage was just that fast.

As he leapt from cliff to cliff, he had one thought in his mind.

Brother. Don’t get hurt.

________________________________________

Killer Bee was sure by now that his brother was probably following him; his brother would never be this slow about anything- much less something involving him leaving the village. Pushing it to seven tails of chakra, he boosted himself ahead. He had given himself the chakra- the energy, the strength, the speed- all of that. But he had made sure not to transform at all, to keep his comparatively lithe and speedy form. More weight from the Eight Tails transformation would only slow him down at this point, and he didn’t want that.

As he continued to leap from cliff to cliff- which were quickly becoming less common, and leading to a large forest that he could see coming up pretty soon- Bee still wondered about Sasuke. He knew that he had seen what Naruto had seen as well- he’d heard Naruto’s scream, and instantly re-directed his eyes where Naruto was looking, and, even if only for an instant- certainly longer than Naruto had been looking at it- he had seen the same thing, that same hole or rip, or whatever it was, in the space of the universe.

Bee grunted as he launched himself off of one of the multiple precipices that were all around. As he got closer, the landscape became more and more damaged. Both the civilians and the ninja had done their best to repair the landscape and heal the damaged countryside and farmlands- as well as rebuild the small towns and villages that had been destroyed over the course of the War. Still, it had only been four months since that day, and it wasn’t anywhere near being done. He glanced at the destruction as he passed it.

Large, gaping holes had been gouged into the cliffs- huge boulders were positioned awkwardly, and would likely fall and destroy more landscape when they did. Rocks were scattered strangely, all the way into the forest, as if they had had multiple landslides in the past few days- but it was just from the fighting. All the faces of the mountains and cliffs looked battered- and some were burned and melted away- fire jutsu- and others were misshapen- earth jutsu taking away some of the material there for the technique. While the cliffs looked ruined, though, it was nothing compared to the forest.

The forest was demolished. There was really no other word for it. Huge, elongated spaces of what had used to be copses of trees and forestry had been scraped away like God had taken a huge shovel, from techniques like Tailed Beast Ball. Plenty of the trees were burned from fire jutsu- and it looked so strange, entire sections of the forest being burnt black, and then sections right next to them looked fine- and some were yellowing from too much water, from multiple water techniques. Still more were crushed under boulders, and that’s not counting the wood that had been used in wood techniques, which had left towering monstrosities shooting and jutting up from the forest awkwardly.

As Killer Bee leapt down into one of the spaces, memories of the fight came back him. He remembered how hard it was: they had all barely survived, and if he and Naruto had fallen, that would’ve been the end of it. They had only just managed to kill Madara and Obito, and then splitting the Jyuubi back into the seven parts that had made it up had been even harder. At least when that was done, though, the Tailed Beasts promised not to hurt anyone for a while. Bee hoped that they stayed good to that promise, because right now, there were seven unsealed Tailed Beasts walking around The Elemental Nations.

The seven tailed red beast continued to jump from tree to tree, and whenever Bee reached one of the gaps, he would sprint ahead at inhuman speed and clear the entire thing within seconds. It was fun for him- being out of the village, running like this. Even if he was on a request from the Hokage, one that his brother was probably going to be angry that he even followed, it was nice to be out of the village once in a while, and to use his power, as well.

It was while he was running that he saw another.

Another ninja, who didn’t seem to be dressed that special, who happened to be running ahead of him. He was catching up to the ninja, but what Bee wanted to know was why the shinobi was even here, in the first place. He had obviously come from another angle, the way he was jumping, diagonally. If anything, he’d probably come from one of those small cliff villages or mountain towns that were ubiquitous across The Land of Lightning. For now, though, he wanted to see who this was, because they were starting to get close to the battleground. Bee wanted to make sure that they didn’t have ill-intentions.

Jumping ahead and reaching him, and turning back to his human form for a moment as to not startle the man, he began conversation in a jovial, and much too casual, manner.

“Hey, you! I see that you’re running this way too!”

The ninja, who had a serious look on his face and had been previously concentrated on his journey, nearly jumped out of his damn skin the second he heard Bee’s voice. He tossed a kunai, which Bee blocked effortlessly, and shouted, clearly surprised and caught off-guard.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I’m Killer Bee! Jinchuriki of the Eight Tails, as you can see!”

Bee turned one of his arms into an octopus tentacle and was answered with a scream and a dozen more kunai as the man attempted to make more space between the two of them.

“Monster! Get- get the hell away from me!”

“Sure, I will! Just let me know your intentions are not ill!”

The ninja seemed confused.

“…What?”

“Ok, this is how it is, see? My good friend Naruto sent a letter to me, and told me, Killer Bee, if I could see what had happened at the battlefield of the War-see!”

Killer Bee pointed ahead to a huge, more destroyed area of land that the largest parts of the battle had taken place at. The ninja, who had been confused, relaxed momentarily.

“Who’s Naruto, anyway?”

“Fool, ya fool! He’s the Hokage. Why do you keep throwing your ninja tools?”

“Oh! You, uh, you startled me. What the hell do you mean by your intentions are not ill, though? What does the battlefield have to do with any of that?”

“The battlefield is a graveyard, as well as a special place that still probably has bodies lying around, scarred, that may have secrets that from sight should be barred! No one else ever comes here, and do not, I repeat, do not even come near! There are things here that should have you trembling in fear!”

The ninja, who still seemed skeptical, shot forward, ahead, and left Bee in the dust.

“Wait, ya fool! Don’t make me use my ninja tools!”

The other shinobi, who didn’t appear to be wearing a headband anywhere, shot kunai against Bee’s own knives, and the shining steel crashed into each other and fell uselessly through the forest canopy, all the way to the ground. Growing angry, Bee pumped chakra back into his legs, and all over his body as he went back into a seven tailed form. When his transformation was complete, after only a few seconds, he shot forward like a rocket.

The shinobi, who was dressed very plainly- probably so he didn’t stand out- had blue pants with a brown cloak and a black shirt under the cloak. His fists were bandaged, and he had white socks under black sandals. He was brown haired, with blue eyes and a small mustache. His chin was scarred, like it had been hit three too many times, and there was a large scar of what had certainly been some kind of cut that stretched across the right side of his face. His nose was large, and jutted out from his face as if it was out of place.

The shinobi’s eyes shifted wildly as he continued to run ahead. Of all of the people that he could’ve ran into, the Jinchuriki of the Eight Tails- one of two only Jinchurikis who had ever gained full control over their demon- was one of the worst! Their strength level was above Kage, and he didn’t want to try to test himself like that. He simply ran ahead and hoped that he could out-run the guy, and maybe get away without being seen again. He’d already made his mistake, however. Bee chased furiously after him, wondering why he was here. He had no headband or village signia, and he was at the battlefield of the War.

It didn’t make much sense, and Bee didn’t like it. While there was no rule about visiting the battlefields that were scattered around The Land of Lightning, not only were they rarely visited, but most people didn’t attack other shinobi without any reason. Additionally, he didn’t give any reason why he was here, only throwing kunai at Bee, and then running away without a word. Bee narrowed his eyes as he leapt forward from tree to tree, most of his tails lashing out wildly behind him in every direction as he thought.

Who could he be? Killer Bee didn’t need anyone messing up this mission, and he couldn’t waste too much time, as he knew that his brother was probably after him, and would be gaining on him soon, but he couldn’t help to be suspicious of the man randomly running around this area of The Land of Lightning, with no headband, or any kind of explanation as to why he was here. Jumping ahead again, he was gaining on the man, and was nearly upon him.

The shinobi breathed slowly, and calmed down. He’d lost the guy, whoever he was. He had already made a mistake by being seen. But that could easily be corrected, because as long as he wasn’t seen again, the ninja would probably give up and he could get away. He didn’t get what the guy meant- no ill intentions- but he wasn’t doing anything important anyway. He just wanted to not get seen, not get caught, and get out of The Land of Lightning. This was the fastest path out- it wasn’t his fault that he had to run this way. Grinning, he attempted to shoot forward and continue running until he reached the border, only to be cut off by a large, red monster with seven tails that whipped around as if they were sentient.

The shinobi screamed and held a kunai up in front of him.

“Get back! I’ll kill you! Whatever the hell you are!”

“Fool, ya fool, it’s me! Killer Bee, do ya see?”

The red, powerful and vicious chakra dripped off of him and returned to his body like water, and before long he was standing normally in front of the strange shinobi. The ninja visibly calmed at this, but still kept his kunai up, nonetheless, staring down Killer Bee. Killer Bee stood still, waiting for the shinobi to make the first move. He seemed to be getting more and more impatient, while Bee stood there calmly. The ninja was sweating, and shot his kunai at Bee and made a wild attempt to get past, but was hit backwards into a branch by Bee.

“Just let me pass, man! I gotta go!”

Killer Bee grimaced, becoming surer by the second that he shouldn’t let the man pass. He didn’t know him, but his face seemed familiar, as well as his scar, and even his clothing. He looked dirty, like he’d been camping in the forests and the wilderness for far, far too long, and he also looked desperate. The ninja was sweating, and his pupils shot back and forth, as if searching the entire area around them for anything else that could be there.

He looked too paranoid, but Bee also accepted that he might’ve just been scared of him because he was a Jinchuriki. While that angered Bee a little, he would only get into more trouble with his brother if he blocked someone who was just trying to get by. Reluctantly, he dropped his guard, and let the man pass, but still ran along with him, because he still had to get to the center of the battlefield, where the strange occurrence had happened.

The shinobi visibly relaxed when he was allowed to continue forward. Hopefully, this guy will leave, soon, and I can set out for the border at a faster pace, he thought. After a few minutes, though, the guy still wasn’t leaving, and he was worried that the demon guy was following him. He knew that he couldn’t beat him in a fight… but he might be able to get away. The ninja waited for the chance. He hoped it would come.

_______________________________

A, The Raikage, raced forwards with his Anbu in tow. They were going at a ridiculous pace, and the Anbu, though they were tired, didn’t complain as they shot forward through the forest. It wasn’t but a few minutes later of silent travel that they stopped momentarily as they found kunai imbedded into the trees. A grew angry. Bee, if you got into some kind of dangerous fight, all because of this dumb job that Naruto asked you to do…

The Raikage smashed his fist into the side of a tree, toppling the large vegetation, and sending it crashing to the ground. After a few more seconds, he judged the best direction to go. Based on how the kunai were thrown, they had went forward as they continued their fight- if it was a fight, anyway. The Raikage dared anyone to attack his brother in his country! He’d smash them into a pulp, and then he’d beat his dumbass brother up afterwards.

It was another few minutes of travel before they saw what appeared to be a bright red figure chasing after a dark-clothed one. Fearing the worst, The Raikage shot forward and activated his Lightning Armor at the same time, intent on ending the fight. So he was confused when he was blocked by the body of his own brother, who shot out a few octopus tentacles to stop The Raikage from using Lariat on the ninja.

“Bee, what the hell are you doing? Let me go!”

The ninja looked with fear at who was surely the Raikage. The Anbu, who were trailing behind, and weren’t here yet, were off in the distance, but the shinobi could just barely make them out. His eyes widened at the sight of Anbu, and he took off, ahead, without a word as The Raikage struggled in Bee’s grip.

“Bee, let me go! Do you know who that was?”

“No, brother! Just someone passing by, just… some other?”

“You charged at him, and it looked like it was about to get grim, so I stopped you from killing him! Why did you charge at him, with your limb?”

“At first, I thought he was attacking you! But he’s an A-rank missing nin in The Land of Lightning, Bee! You dumbass! You let him get away!”

Bee didn’t say anything else, but looked embarrassed.

“Well, we have to chase him now! Let me go! Plus, he attacked you. That means I’m dealing with him. You three, come with us. We aren’t done yet.”

The Anbu, who had only just now caught up with The Raikage nodded, and Bee, The Raikage, and the small group of three Anbu immediately began pursuing the fleeing man who had gotten a head start of a minute or two because of Bee.

The shinobi darted through the trees as his heart raced. Was that the Raikage? Screw that! I’m not fighting him! The man thought. He darted and leaped from branch to branch, sometimes leaping between large gaps in the forestry. The closer they got to where the battle was, the more damaged the landscape became. Seared, charred ground was more common than normal, brown dirt, and the holes, gaps inside the forestry, and wounds to the countryside were even more common and larger than before.

One particular scar of the land was easily visible, and clearly had been devastating. A tremendous, massive scrape had been bored into the land. It continued on, until it was out of sight. For miles, most likely. That was one of the times that the Jyuubi had used the Tailed Beast Beam and shot it, destroying everything in its immediate path, and then, many, many more things as the energy continued on and on. It stopped eventually, but not before destroying mountains and villages. There were more than one of these scrapes, and it wasn’t hard at all to tell where they were. They were so enormous and flashy that they were impossible to miss.

The shinobi ran across one of these, after leaping from a branch. He was nearing the heart of the battle- that is, where the damage was the most severe and the most obvious. Here, at where the main battle had taken place, kunai and shuriken were still strewn randomly across the battlefield. The ninja had done a decent job at attempting to clean them up, but you can’t get them all, and they certainly didn’t- there were probably a good three or four hundred of each total across the entire large expanse of ruined land.

The Raikage and Bee, along with the Anbu, were right on his tail. Despite being an A-ranked missing nin, and probably used to running all the time, there was no way that he could outpace Bee, who had the advantage of the Eight Tails, or A, who was the second fastest shinobi in the entire world. Besides the fact that he was getting tired, from the ridiculous pace that they were forcing him to keep up.

Finally, the shinobi jumped into an area that seemed like a large explosion had taken place- a huge crater was what he stood in, and for a good hundred feet around that, the trees were nothing but black stumps. The Raikage and Bee landed shortly after as the shinobi panted, exhausted. The Anbu landed almost just as quickly, but still were also tired. The chase had been stupid- they, members of Anbu, nearly worn out by some criminal.

The Anbu breathed heavily but remained silent, and the Raikage didn’t speak either, only staring down the criminal. Bee seemed unnerved as he used his demonic chakra to feel out and search the area around them. The entire crater, and the black stumps, all seemed… thin. As if they could be torn apart easily, at any moment. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, exactly, but Bee kept on his toes. Something was going to happen.

“Stay-stay back!” The missing-nin shouted uselessly, glancing wildly between the Raikage, Bee, and the three Anub, who looked to be moving as to surround him. “I’ll kill you!” He screamed. The Raikage only narrowed his eyes, and was getting ready to charge when it happened. A large, loud booming echoed throughout the crater, and both Lightning ninja and the missing-nin looked to see what the sound was.

A swirling in the air confirmed it. There was crackling- as an unstable hole formed in the middle of the air- then vanished, and then appeared again, a few seconds later. Bee gaped at the anomaly and the Raikage had a likewise expression. The Anbu, faces hidden, could not truly be judged, but the gasps gave most of it away. One person wasn’t surprised or scared, though. The missing-nin was excited. I found my way out of here.

It was incredibly unstable- making loud booming sounds, swirling and circling violently and not always entirely even there. It was a huge, giant hole- probably around eight to ten feet in diameter, and even more in terms of length, looking more of an oval than a circle. It was most of the time a dark red, but the color changed every second- red, red, blue, yellow yellow, red, red, red, red, black, and then red.

For the missing-nin, even to an idiot like him, something like that even though it was obviously incredibly dangerous was still a better way to go than to be captured by the Raikage and then taken back and executed. As the entire group of ninja gawked at the impossibility, the ninja leapt, and grinned as he neared the rip in space.

The Raikage came out of his stupor, but it was far too late- the missing-nin had already disappeared into the swirling hole. Then he said the only words that could be said.

“Damn it! Why didn’t anyone else get him!”

“Raikage-sama,” said one of the Anbu, “You said that you were going to-“

“Shut up! Damn it!”

The Raikage was silent for a moment as he considered the possibilities. Assuming that the missing-nin had survived- which was a wild assumption, the portal could easily lead to instant death. It seemed that it was sporadic- the portal hadn’t opened again, when it had before been opening and closing every few seconds. There!- just for a second. And then gone, again. This was troublesome. He turned to Bee.

“Bee, what do you make of it? Naruto asked you to look into this himself.”

Bee, at first, said nothing. He was too busy staring intently at the spot that the missing-nin had disappeared into. It seemed that it wasn’t going to happen again. It had been silent and nothing had happened for several minutes now.

“Well?” asked the Raikage.

“Brother, I don’t know what to say. I’ve been very confused this day. But I have a solution for my confusion.”

Forming the tiger seal, and only for a moment, he created a shadow clone of himself, and gave it a lot of chakra- more than usual, so it would last a while. It waited calmly, already knowing the plan, and no one said anything else. It was obvious what was about to happen.

Just for a second, the flickering portal appeared.

“GO!” shouted the real Bee, and the clone Bee instantly leapt, throwing himself into the portal, which disappeared almost right after the clone Bee was fully within the portal. Bee waited for a few moments, and didn’t get anything.

“So, it didn’t dispel?”

Bee only shook his head in response, and the Raikage grunted.

“Damn. That missing-nin probably got away, then. Well, Bee, when you get the memories, tell us what you saw.”

_________________________

Later, when they were back in the village, the Raikage had returned to doing paperwork after beating the crap out of his brother, and Bee had sent a response to Naruto informing him that, yes, the hole in reality was still there, and that he was investigating it, and had sent a shadow clone through it. He encouraged Naruto to write back as fast as possible.

Now Bee sat on one of the high-rising buildings in the Village Hidden in The Clouds.

All he could really do now was wait.

TO BE CONTINUED

An Angry Dragon, And A Yellow Pegasus

Sasuke stood, unimpressed by Princess Celestia’s proposition. She had asked him to go with the stupid purple pony, and all the rest of them, to take care of some problem. Looking outside the window, he could already see the thick black smoke cloud spreading across the sky. It was so dark that it blocked out everything. Sasuke supposed that this did need to be taken care of, but the part where he was lost was where he needed to bring help.

“Why do I need help? I can do this on my own, just fine.”

As much as interacting with the ponies annoyed and angered him, at the very least, the dragon would be something to do. He could probably very easily goad it into a fight and then kill it, if for nothing but entertainment. Not if they were there, though. He’d have to be watching out for them the entire time, with how weak and helpless the dumb horses were. He watched as Celestia paced back and forth inside of Sugarcube corner before responding.

“But it’s not you going. It’s you helping Twilight, not Twilight helping you.”

“And again, I don’t understand. I could handle this on my own. Why even bother risking the life of your student against something as dangerous as a woken dragon?”

“Her life isn’t in danger. She can handle it just fine on her own.”

“Even though I doubt that, there’s still the question of why I’m even being sent, then.”

“To prove that you can handle helping without using violence.”

That pissed Sasuke off, for several reasons. One, they thought that everything could be solved without violence. The sad part was that they were completely wrong- violence was one of the best choices, and it was often that it was one. Two, that they were sending him to wake up a dragon and tell it to move, without wanting him to fight it. Three that they were ordering him around. He followed no flag or king, and certainly didn’t take orders from a horse.

“Suppose I do this. What will it get me?”

“My cooperation in getting you home. I have heard from my student about your world, and as… repulsive as it is, I’d rather have you there than here if you’re going to act like you’ve been acting. I’m just glad you haven’t hurt anyone yet, even if you are cruel.”

“I’ve already said I was… sorry,” he bit out, “for that, but both times were justified.”

“How so? I’ve only just heard of them being ‘justified.’ Tell me, how is terrorizing two mares for no reason justified?”

“There are reasons for that. The first time, she woke me up by touching me. Where I come from, waking up a ninja like that isn’t something someone that wants to keep their hand does. A shinobi is most vulnerable while he’s asleep. It’s not Pinkie’s fault for not knowing that, but it’s not my fault for attacking her, either.”

“The other, she insulted my dead family. That’s enough said.”

“How did she actually insult them?”

Sasuke gritted his teeth and hid his anger. It wasn’t even any of her business. He didn’t enjoy having to resort to even pretending to like these naïve ponies and their stupid attitudes about everything, but he didn’t like explaining to this horse why he was right in what he did.

“She called them shameful, called them cowards. She’s lucky I didn’t do worse.”

Celestia furrowed her brow, but said nothing else. This… shinobi, as he called himself, seemed disturbed, in more ways than one. He was so violent, and cold… but what had made him that way? The death of his family, maybe? It was possible. But he acted as this was all normal behavior… Celestia idly wondered how hateful the place he came from must be.

“So, you’ll do it, then?”

“It’s not like I have that much of a choice. It’s either this or don’t go home.”

“You act as if it’s something so terrible.”

Sasuke made some sort of sound similar to a growl, but didn’t say or do anything else. Celestia noticed him tensing up, though. She decided that it would probably just be better if they got on with it. She walked outside Sugarcube Corner, and Sasuke figured she meant for him to follow her. The townspeople watched, enraptured by the appearance of their Princess as she walked to The Golden Oaks Library.

She knocked twice on the door, and waited, and soon a lavender unicorn answered the door. Twilight Sparkle gasped and began apologizing.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Princess Celestia! If I’d have known you were coming I would’ve cleaned up more and told everyone to get ready, and would’ve prepared food and-“

“Calm down, Twilight. As much as I like to visit and speak with my most faithful student, I’m here to give you a task. Do you see the smoke in the sky?”

Twilight walked a few steps outside of the library and noticed the long, thick trail that led all the way to the mountain. Her eyes widened when she saw it.

“Oh, I was reading! I didn’t see that. What is that from? Is there a fire?”

Celestia giggled. It was just like her student to be so in a book that she could somehow ignore or not notice something as large and overbearing as that.

“It’s from a dragon. Twilight, I need you and your friends to convince the dragon to leave. If he does not, then Equestria could be blanketed in smoke for the next hundred years. This is a mission of the utmost importance. You remember Sasuke, don’t you?”

“Uh, yes, Princess. Why are you mentioning him? Did you talk to him?”

“Yes, and he said it was all a misunderstanding. He’ll be going along with you.”

“With us? I think we can do it on our own. There’s no need to involve him.”

Sasuke smirked as Twilight, even without knowing, was siding with him, in a way. Either they go, or he goes, but why send both?

“It’s mostly to see if I can trust him. I know you can do it on your own.”

“Oh, okay, Princess Celestia!” Twilight chirped.

Sasuke scowled, both at Twilight and Celestia, even as their backs were turned to him and they continued talking. It seemed that he wasn’t getting out of this.

There was a booming sound, as if from far away.

Instantly, Sasuke turned.

There was nothing.

All he saw was the moving ponies that walked around throughout the town square. Most regarded him with a look of disgust or fear- as he had just screamed in the middle of the square not long ago, it wasn’t surprising. Ponies had just began to walk through it again.

Where had the booming sound come from? There was nothing there.

“So, Twilight, I want you to gather the rest of the Elements of Harmony, and-“

“Woah, what’s with all the smoke?” Rainbow Dash asked, as the chromatic Pegasus mare came speeding by the library. “Oh, Princess Celestia! I, uh, didn’t see you there! Sorry!” Rainbow Dash said as she barely stopped herself from crashing into the large tree-building.

“I was just talking to Twilight about that. Rainbow Dash, what that is, is smoke, from a dragon. It’s actually very dangerous, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”

Rainbow Dash looked out across the sky and saw the putrid, black substance staining the baby blue atmosphere. It didn’t even seem to really be doing anything.

“Really? There’s not even that much of it. How’s it so dangerous?”

“It will block out the sky if it’s left unchecked. Smoke from a dragon is thicker and harder to get rid of than normal smoke; it will clog up the sky, block out most of the light- it will do this for a hundred years. Rainbow Dash, I need you to gather the other Elements of Harmony and tell them to come to the library. We’re going to deal with the problem.”

Rainbow Dash nodded once, and then took off at an incredibly fast speed to inform everyone else. Pinkie Pie had already followed them and was standing by Sasuke, still grinning with glee as she glanced at him probably five times a minute. It had been a problem plaguing her for days- not being friends with somepony- but now she was! And-and- what if he had friends from the world he was from. A whole new world of friends?

Pinkie was probably trying to not explode like a rocket, but meanwhile, Sasuke was sighing and getting ready for a bad time. He was beginning to regret doing any of this. Nothing was worth the complete destruction of his pride.

I’M STILL HERE, SASUKE! YOU’RE KILLING YOUR PRIDE, YOU KNOW THAT? YOU’RE KILLING ME. YOU ARE ABOVE THESE CREATURES- YOU ARE UCHIHA. NOW, TAKE YOUR SWORD, AND RUN IT THROUGH THE WHITE ONE FIRST. SHE’S THE MOST DANGEROUS. THEN, ONCE YOU DO THAT, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY TAKE CARE OF THE PINK-

Sasuke grunted and tried to block out the voices in his head. People had called him crazy before, but what if he was actually going crazy now? He tried to shake it off and focus on what was going to happen soon, what he’d be doing, but the feeling lingered.

They’d probably take the chance while they were climbing the mountain to ask him all kinds of questions that they had no business asking. He already knew that they’d be asking annoying questions, probably multiple times. Sasuke’s mood was worsening by the second, and the way Celestia’s guards stood by her, and eyed him suspiciously, didn’t help either.

Eventually, everypony arrived- though Rainbow Dash had to almost drag Fluttershy there by her pink mane. She stood there nervously, poking a hoof at the ground, scraping up some dirt, and saying mostly nothing. She saw Sasuke and how Pinkie was acting around him, probably already planning his party, and she brightened, even if only momentarily.

He did change. I knew he would.

Once they were all assembled, Celestia began to speak.

“I assume that Rainbow Dash has told you all why you’re needed here?”

“Ah’ll say! Who does that dragon think he is? He can’t block out Equestria’s sky!”

“No, he cannot, Applejack. That’s why I’m entrusting all of you with the important mission of making him leave his mountain and returning Equestria to the state that it’s meant to be in. Sasuke will be coming with you on this venture.” It was then that Sasuke decided to speak up. He’d been mostly silent the entire time they’d been gathering, and through the conversation, but now he felt it necessary to know why he was here.

“I’m the muscle, apparently.”

“Princess, what does he mean by muscle?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing, Twilight. He’s just there to see if I can trust him.”

“No, she’s lying.” Sasuke said plainly. “I’m the muscle.”

“How can you say the Princess is lying? Apologize right now!” Twilight said suddenly, growing very defensive of her mentor and teacher.

“It’s true, though.” Sasuke said, voice full of impertinence. “She’s sending six ponies against a dragon. A full grown one, from what I understand. What’s to stop it from eating all of you? I really would like to know, considering I doubt any of you can really fight.”

There was a brief silence as none of the ponies at the meeting said anything.

Celestia didn’t say anything either, but it was clear that he was pushing her. She breathed out slowly, gaining control over herself before she said something distasteful.

“They are more than enough, trust me.”

“Whatever.” Sasuke said, leaning on the side of the library.

“I think it would be best to get started now. The longer we wait, the more smoke that dragon is going to breathe out while it’s napping.” Twilight said, and the rest firmly agreed.

As they slowly trudged along with Rainbow Dash flying overhead, Sasuke sighed. He wished he could’ve just gone by himself. He’d probably already be there by now, they’d been walking for several minutes. He could go so much faster than these slow, dumb horses.

Having nothing else to do, his mind idly wandered back to the booming sound they had heard while they were in front of the library. It bothered Sasuke. The sound was familiar, but it didn’t seem that anyone else had realized it. His ears were probably better than theirs, but it seemed pretty loud. It was strange that they hadn’t heard it, as well.

The stupid ponies were making small talk as they walked their way to the mountain- with Rainbow Dash having to return to the ground to practically pull along Fluttershy. She was shivering and seemed incredibly scared, and for once, Sasuke was surprised that any of them acted with any degree of intelligence. It was smart that she didn’t actually want to go- smart that she feared dragons. For the rest of them, the fact that they thought they could handle a dragon was insipid arrogance.

Sasuke considered how huge the dragon could be. Based on the size of the mountain, and the fact that it was probably sleeping inside a cave that was a part of the mountain, it probably wasn’t any bigger than the Eight Tails, or more powerful, either. And he’d only grown stronger since he’d fought Killer Bee- had mastered Susanoo and gained the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, too. When it attacked, he would deal with it. It was inevitable.

They’d probably try to deal with it first, though. With words, inevitably. Sasuke curled his lip in disgust and scowled at the same time at the thought of it. Didn’t they understand it was a beast? Even if her little assistant was a weak, idiotic dragon, this one sounded much more like a real dragon- that is, fierce, powerful, unforgiving. It wouldn’t feel any guilt over burning a few annoying ponies to a crisp.

His Guilt was babbling, though, and Sasuke resisted the urge to cover his ears. It wouldn’t do any good, anyway- he knew that the speech was within his head, or his mind. It wasn’t an external source. It was annoying though, because Guilt never shut up.

Don’t you wish you could take back what you did to those two innocent ponies? All you do is boss others around with your strength- you’re rarely subtle, you’re nothing more than a brute at times, really. You’re so greedy, too, with all of your lust for power- isn’t what you have enough? No? Well, just keep scraping and grabbing for more and more and more-

Sasuke tried to tune out the voice, though it wasn’t easy. It never stopped talking, and tuning it out was really only a way of quieting it- even then, he could still hear it, it was just quieter, continuing to babble and talk and talk and carry on and on. It was why he hated his Guilt the most- unlike Pride, Anger, and Hatred, who at least were silent sometimes, Guilt never was. Will it ever be silent inside of my mind again?

It had been bothering him more and more lately. Despite at first being able to ignore the voices, it had been plaguing him so much that he’d been forced to acknowledge them, even if small, minute ways. He knew that actually answering them wasn’t good- he knew that hearing them at all wasn’t good. Insanity wasn’t something he thought he’d ever have to face.

“Sasuke? Sasuke?”

“What?” He snapped, annoyed.

“Oh, nothing. You just looked really out of it.” Twilight replied.

“I was just thinking.”

“About what?” Twilight immediately asked. She was still interested in what kind of world he came from, even if it might’ve been horrible. She had thought about it for a while and decided that it was possible that he had just lied about it, or had a particularly bad opinion of it. It couldn’t have been as bad as he described it.

“Personal things.” Sasuske said, marking the end of the discussion.

“Oh.” Twilight promptly fell silent. Unlike some of the other ponies walking next to her, she was a little better at knowing when to take a hint. Not that Sasuke had been subtle with the way he’d said ‘personal things.’ Still, she couldn’t help but wonder why he was the way he was. Something about his family dying- he’d mentioned it before- but she wasn’t sure if she should ask him or not. She saw the way he’d gotten before when others had mentioned it negatively.

She wasn’t risking her neck, even out of curiosity. Maybe when he was calmer, she’d ask. Until then, unfortunately, I’m just not going to know. Must’ve been something terrible.

“You all realize I could do this on my own, right?” Sasuke said.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, curious.

“I mean, I already know what’s going to happen. This situation is too dangerous for any of you. It would be better if I went on my own. Just tell Celestia you went.”

“Lie… to the Princess?” Twilight squeaked. A look of terror came over her face before she got control of herself and firmly shook her head.

“Never.”

“Fine, have it your way.”

“Are you actually doing this out of… consideration?” Twilight asked, confounded by what could be an amazing change in the shinobi.

“Don’t make me laugh. I couldn’t care less about any of your lives. I’m just annoyed because you’re slowing me down and wasting my time.”

“Hey!” Dash whined, while she was tugging along Fluttershy, who was trying not to cower completely as they got closer and closer to the mountain. “How can you not care about our lives? What did we ever do to you?”

“What did you ever do for me, is the actual question.”

Rainbow Dash huffed, but didn’t say anything else.

What a plothole.

“What was the thing that made you like this?” Twilight blurted out, and immediately clamped her hooves over her mouth, but the damage was already done.

Sasuke turned to her with a cold, evil glare, the Sharingan in his eyes already beginning to spin. He walked right in front of Twilight, and stopped walking, and blocked her as everyone else stopped, watching whatever was about to happen. Fluttershy was cowering, but from Sasuke, now. Pinkie Pie seemed equally afraid- even though he said he was her friend, he was still scary when he was like that. Rarity, though nervous, seemed to have hardened herself, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack got ready to jump in if needed.

Sasuke suddenly chuckled- a high, cold giggle that echoed throughout the road that they were walking on. Twilight flinched backwards but otherwise held her ground, and everyone looked at Sasuke strangely as he began to speak.

“Did you ever consider that, in other places, life may not be so wonderful?” He asked, and watched as Twilight stumbled for answer. He beat her to the punch, though.

“Don’t bother responding. The answer is that you haven’t. I could already tell from the moment I got here- the innocence, the naivety… the stupidity,” he spat, watching as Twilight started to grow angry, “was astounding, to be completely honest. Sometimes, life tosses you out a pair of lopsided dice and you can barely cope with the roll you get. Unlike this place, where everything you have is handed to you, I had to work for what I have, with loaded dice on Fate’s side.” He stopped for a moment, and right as Twilight as about to reply, he made one last point. “And, oh, I almost forgot. Being protected by Princess Sunshine there from anything bad, ever. It must be great. Everypony here,” Sasuke snarled, “Is coddled.”

“Equestria is not stupid, or innocent, or naïve! It’s just not… horrible, like you!” Twilight screamed, furious, and Sasuke only looked at her for a moment, and laughed, not caring about what she thought of him.

He resumed walking along the path, and everypony glared after him, before following, Twilight fuming the most out of all of them. Her anger thrived inside her mind.

Of all the jerks I’ve ever met in my life, he’s the most rude, most arrogant, most condescending jerk I’ve ever met. I can’t believe him! How can he be like this?

Twilight continued to fume for a while, even as they got much, much closer to the mountain. The base of the huge spire of rock was nearly upon them, when Sasuke spoke up for the first time in several minutes. Oddly, he seemed to be addressing Fluttershy.

“Don’t worry. If it attacks us, I’ll kill it.”

“No! Don’t kill it!” Fluttershy managed, even as they began to climb the mountain.

“Why? Aren’t you afraid of dragons? If he attacks us, he deserves what he gets.”

“B-but, it isn’t his fault-“

“We’ll see when we get there. That will be when we decide. If he gets up and leaves, then he won’t be burned to death.”

“Burned to death?” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “You can’t burn a dragon to death. You’re going to need a new battle plan if your idea is to fight a dragon with fire. That won’t work.”

“My fire is… special.” Sasuke said, and didn’t comment anymore on it as they climbed the large mountain. Applejack was whispering to Twilight while they climbed.

“Twi, what are we gonna do? Princess Celestia asked us to have it leave, not to kill the darn thing! How are we going to explain it to her if he does do it?”

Twilight looked troubled, and didn’t seem to have an answer.

“We’ll just have to be completely persuasive.” She decided, and Applejack nodded, even though the orange farm pony looked unsure. She looked ahead at Sasuke and watched the ‘shinobi’- or whatever he was called- walk in front of the entire group. Rainbow was behind, still making Fluttershy walk, and Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight and herself were in the middle.

Ah’ve known this thing for a shorter time than anypony here with us, and I don’t know if he’s ever acted differently, but this is the meanest thing I’ve ever met! Even Nightmare Moon wasn’t as mean as this thing was… at least, in a different way. What’s his problem, anyway?

Applejack could tell he was lying when he’d said that he was Pinkie’s friend- and not just because she was the Element of Honesty, although that was a part of it. It was just clear that he wasn’t that type of pony- shinobi, whatever. In fact, if anything, he seemed more of the opposite- a loner, in a way. Applejack had contemplated telling Pinkie, but with how happy she looked, she had decided not to. If they asked her, then she wouldn’t be able to lie. But until then, she could just not tell the rest of her friends that she’d figured that out.

Applejack would be lying- and she didn’t lie- if she’d said that she liked Sasuke, or if she even approved of him. She frankly didn’t like Sasuke- and, if she was a meaner pony, she’d probably say that she hated him. But she didn’t. She was just surprised by the way he acted- not to mention angry at how he’d treated Pinkie. But not just how he’d intimidated her.

Applejack was disappointed in Sasuke because he’d told Pinkie he was her friend. No one messed with her friends, and she’d grown especially fond of Pinkie. Despite always thinking her a weird mare, after they’d all banded together to face Nightmare Moon, Pinkie had become one of her best friends, along with everypony else in their group. And Sasuke had lied to her about one of the things she loved the most- friendship.

Applejack would get along with Sasuke, but she never thought she would like him.

There was an awkward silence for the next few minutes as they slowly plodded up the mountain. The steepness was steadily growing, and it would’ve been harder to travel up it if they didn’t have hooves. They’d been trekking for a while, and the less athletic pones (Twilight and Rarity) seemed to be growing a little tired. The only one who seemed completely unaffected was Sasuke, who stayed silent as they scaled the dangerous mountain.

“Are we getting closer?” Sasuke asked.

“I think so.” Twilight said quietly, looking at their surroundings. They were reaching the peak of the mountain. “Princess Celestia said the cave that it lived in was near the top of the mountain. And I think we’re getting closer to the source of the smoke, too.”

Near the peak of the mountain, after passing through several gaps, and hard places to cross, was a large cave. It wasn’t far off. The smoke seemed to be coming directly out of it- a long, thick vile plume that sprouted from the opening in the mountain. Sasuke thought he could hear a snoring from the cave. He grinned. A sleeping dragon would be even easier to kill.

“It looks like we’re here. So, are you going to do this the smart way, or the stupid way?” Sasuke asked, and all it took for him to get his answer was glares coming from Twilight and her friends. He sighed, but walked to the side of the cave, and waved his hand, indicating for them to enter. Twilight only gave him a baleful glare before striding into the open cavern. The mouth of the cave was huge- easily able to fit a dragon within it. The moss outside suggested no one had been around this area in a long time. Twilight didn’t blame them.

“Hello? Hello! Is anypony here?” Twilight asked, as she walked deeper into the cave. It wasn’t very deep, but still, for a little while, there didn’t seem to be anything. She rounded a corner and was met with a huge, red dragon, sleeping on top of and amidst a gargantuan pile of gold and valuables. Gems, crowns, gold coins, gold weapons… there seemed to be some of everything here. The dragon itself was fairly massive as well- clearly a fully grown one, and even one that was older than that. It had probably been collecting its horde for a while.

“Can you… wake up?” Twilight tried, but wasn’t surprised when she was met with silence. The beast was in a deep sleep- and was constantly breathing out the large black smoke that was clouding the skies of Equestria. She’d have to be louder or more annoying, or wake him up in some other way. Breathing in, she prepared to yell.

“WAKE UP!” She screamed, and the dragon did wake up that time. It cracked an irritated eye open and gazed at the weak, idiotic being that had dared to disturb its slumber. Hah. A pony. He snorted at her and blew her back against the cave wall with a blast of smoky breath. Settling in against his gold pile, he rolled around it in like a dog rolls in the grass. He went back to sleep within moments, and left Twilight sitting there, frustrated, on the floor of the cave, covered in soot.

She only glanced moodily over at the dragon and wondered if it was worth a second try. She doubted that he would react so mildly a second time. Still… she had to try.

Steeling herself, she shouted once again.

This time, the beast wasn’t so nice.

It took a great, deep breath.

And exhaled a huge plume of flame out at Twilight, who promptly fled while screaming in fear. The dragon went back to bed more irritated than before, and took longer to go to sleep this time. It scraped together gold and gems and laid its head on the massive pile of wealth, and went to bed with thoughts of greed and a larger horde in its head.

Sasuke couldn’t help but smirk as he watched a dirty, soot-covered Twilight walk out of the cave, frustrated. She only looked over at him, and huffed, but said nothing. She didn’t have to voice her failure. Sasuke got up and started to walk into the cave, but was practically blown aside as Rainbow Dash sped into the cave. He only watched her with bored eyes as she turned around the corner that the dragon slept at. If he had to wait for all of them to fail, then fine.

It would really make no difference to Sasuke in the end.

“Hey, dragon! Yeah, you. Get up!” Rainbow Dash said, her voice loud and brash. She was tapping the dragon on the side of its head, repeatedly, whilst standing on one of its ears. After only a few seconds of this, two yellow, serpentine eyes stared back at her as the dragon awoke. A loud rumbling in his throat turned into a growling.

“Why won’t any of you annoying ponies go away!” He snarled.

Raising up to nearly his full height, he towered over Dash by a good forty feet. Inhaling even more than he had with Twilight, he blew out a large, flaring plume of fire, and spread it across the chamber and continued to fire it as Dash flew to avoid the deadly flame. Red-orange flames covered everything in a searing heat as he coated his own home in fire. Rainbow wouldn’t give up that easily, though. She still didn’t feel in danger.

“I’m not going away so easily, pal. You need to leave. You’ll cover Equestria’s sky in smoke, and then nopony will be able to see the sun or anything.”

“NO!” The dragon roared, and soon resorted to flailing his claws in an attempt to catch Dash in them, after his fire hadn’t worked. All it had ended up doing was melting some of his horde, which only made him angrier. Dash dodged back and forth, but it was clear that she wasn’t making any headway. After a while, she exited the cave. Not out of cowardice, but instead because it obviously wasn’t working.

“Well, that didn’t work.” Rainbow Dash said, with a frustrated frown on her face. She flew backwards in the air as if she was doing an aerial backstroke, before she offered somepony else a chance. “Does anyone else have any other ideas?” Rainbow asked. She asked this with a nervous tone, growing more and more anxious mostly because they were slowly failing and would have to eventually resort to Sasuke’s method.

He only grinned as he waited. He knew it was inevitable.

“Beasts can’t be reasoned with.” He said casually as Rarity strode into the cave.

“Dear,” she began, “Would you consider-“

“LEAVE!” The dragon boomed, and swiped at her with his claws, and even as Rarity turned and ran, she felt it drag slightly across her flank and hind legs, and her back- when she exited the cave, she turned and examined the damage.

He’d cut her slightly across the entire back half of her body- light slashes that ran across her coat, contrasting the normally beautiful ivory coat that Rarity possessed with blood that was slowly seeping in and staining her fur. She winced even as Fluttershy touched it slightly.

“Stop touching it!”

“He did this to you…? I can’t believe it! I’ll… I’ll show him!” Fluttershy said.

Her fear of dragons suddenly disappearing, she fluttered into the cave, and began to lecture him about how mean he was and she furiously shouted at him- an accomplishment for Fluttershy. The dragon closed his eyes and blew flame through his massive maw, spraying red, hot substance throughout the air at Fluttershy.

Because his eyes were closed, the Stare, which she’d planned on using, didn’t work. The terror of dragons- big, fire-breathing, full-grown, claws and fangs… dragons! It all came back, and she squeaked and tried to run away, but it was too late.

Unlike Rainbow Dash, she wasn’t fast.

So she got hit by the flames, and shrieked in agony as her left wing was ignited and torched in flames, the yellow feathers bursting into hot, burning fire.

She sat on the floor of the cave, and listened to the dragon settle back down into his gold, and promptly fell back asleep, with no regards to her life, or limb, that was steadily burning up. She started to cry, even as her friends and Sasuke approached her.

“Oh my Celestia! Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash shouted, and an instant later, glared at the dragon that seemed rather content, even as her best friend’s left wing burned.

“I told you. And none of you listened to me. Do you care if I burn it now?”

Twilight, with tears in her eyes, turned away from the scene.

“Do it.”

“Move behind me.” He commanded, and everypony, not wanting to test their luck again, obeyed willingly. They crowded around the body of Fluttershy, who cried and mewled weakly as she attempted to clutch at her left wing. What had once been a beautiful, yellow wing was now a blackened, charred flesh with very little feathers. It stretched out like the wing of a bat, and Fluttershy shrieked again when she saw the damage.

Twilight had been putting it out with water spells, and Rarity had helped her as best as she could, although she couldn’t generate water as fast as Twilight could. They poured it over the wound and tried to treat as best as they could, though it was clear that the wound might be permanent. Twilight wasn’t a medical unicorn- she only knew the basics- but she knew that the wound, currently, didn’t look very good.

Sasuke’s eyes spun wildly as he activated his Mangekyo Sharigan and surrounded them in a violet shield of protection and hatred. His Susanoo stared deeply at the dragon, which still slept. Sasuke, while caring very little for the ponies, still figured he owed Fluttershy only the smallest debt. So, he’d repay it. In one of the only things he knew how to do.

Revenge.

His Sharingan spun as he muttered the name of the technique.

“Amaterasu.”

Immediately, the body of the dragon ignited into roaring black flames that started spreading across his entire body. It awoke immediately, flailing horribly at this new, strange pain. Dragons didn’t burn- they were flame made flesh. A dragon didn’t understand the terrible pain that burning gave a being- it had never felt it, even in its long life of hundreds of years. But now it felt it. The flames spread, and Sasuke grimly smiled.

His eye bled- the blood capillaries had exploded inside of his eye- but it had been worth it. It would heal, anyway. It always did. It was his visual prowess- he was gifted.

LOWLY CREATURE! IT DOES NOT KNOW TRUE FLAME! YOU ARE MORE DRAGON THAN HE!

Sasuke’s Hatred cackled violently inside of his mind as he watched the dragon burn.

“A wing for a wing.” He muttered.

The black, terrible flames spread to the left wing of the dragon- just like his flames had to Fluttershy- and they began to burn it horribly, charring it to death. The heat was so powerful and terrible that it even burnt the normally resistant skin of a dragon- resistant enough that they could swim in lava for fun. And the fire raged, and the dragon screamed
.

“How does it do that?” Twilight whispered to Sasuke, watching as the dragon burned alive. She couldn’t say she felt sorry for it- but she didn’t feel good about what they had done, either. She wondered how he could pass natural defenses like that.

“Amaterasu are flames from Hell- flames so hot, they can burn anything.”

“W-what… what if the dragon flew into a lake?”

“Then it would burn the water in the lake.”

“And then it would go out?”

“No.” He chuckled at her ignorance.

“Not even close. The flames never stop burning until I tell them to. They never stop.”

“It would burn the water in the lake. And it would burn the grass next to the lake, and the field or the forest the lake was inside. It would burn the towns and cities that were near the lake, and burn the country the towns and cities resided in. Then burn the world, until there was nothing left to burn. It burns everything.” Sasuke whispered back, in some sort of awe at the flames’ terrible power. Twilight couldn’t look away, no matter how gruesome the sight was.

The dragon rolled around on the ground, but it was useless. Instead, the flames spread to the gold and the rock of the cave as well. It tried to fire flames at them, but it was futile. Even as the six ponies protected behind Sasuke’s Susanoo cringed and closed their eyes in fear, the flame rolled harmlessly off of the purple material.

“What weak fire.” Sasuke commented. He was content in sitting here and watching the dragon burn to death. Then he would stop the fire, and they would go back, and that stupid Celestia would get to hear from her pupil of all things that they had failed and had to go with Sasuke’s method. He grinned darkly. He’d enjoy the look on her face.

Fluttershy managed to regain consciousness, and watched the dragon burning to death in agony, screeching horribly in pain as it rubbed its body against the side of the cave, trying to do anything to get rid of the new, terrible pain that it was in.

“Stop it.” She said.

“What?” Sasuke asked, turning around, annoyed.

“Stop it. Stop burning it.”

“You’re too soft. That wound was nearly fatal, and you want me to let it live?”

Fluttershy only glared at Sasuke.

“Hn. Fine.”

With a few more drops of blood leaking from his red eyes, Sasuke turned back to the massive creature in agony on the cave floor. He stopped the flames immediately-but surprise, surprise- the damage was already done. It looked like his left wing was wrecked, not to mention the majority of his red scales were charred beyond belief. The dragon looked at them with eyes widened in fear, and scrambled out of the cave, trying to fly and failing, tumbling to the ground before setting off away from the mountain to some far, far away location. Sasuke scowled at the cowardly, retreating creature.

After a few minutes of helping Fluttershy recover, they set out, leaving from the mountain. Sasuke idly thought that he was still right, in the end, and shrugged. He led the ponies on as they helped Fluttershy limp back to civilization- and, hopefully, to recovery.

______________________________________

The missing-nin, falling through a void of colors- suddenly landed in the middle of a forest. He got up slowly, rubbing his sore rump, and looked around. He didn’t have any idea where this place was. What the hell was this?

“Where the hell am I?”

TO BE CONTINUED

The Tears Of A Kind-Hearted Princess

It had taken them longer to get back to Ponyville than it had to get to the mountain, and it wasn’t just because of Fluttershy’s condition, though that was obviously part of it. Mostly everypony in the group was tired, besides Sasuke. He could’ve kept going for days at such an easy pace like this, but he said nothing. He knew how weak they were. He just walked slowly and went along with it, because he’d only get lectured for leaving them.

The return trip was mostly quiet. No one really talked, except when they were fussing over Fluttershy. She was having trouble walking- unsurprising, considering the level of her injury. It had turned out that the flames had not only ruined her wing, but they had burned one of her legs pretty badly, too, and as a result, if the pain of the wing wasn’t enough to slow her down, she was limping on three hooves as they hobbled homeward.

Sasuke was still contemplating on how prideful Celestia had been to send her own student and her friends against a dragon, especially when there was a safer, assured alternative right in front of her who had even volunteered to go. She’d certainly feel bad when she saw soot-covered Twilight- could’ve easily been grilled Twilight- Rarity, who had her backside, hind legs, and back slashed open- and the wounds looked worse than they were, because she also limped on the way home- and then worst of all, horribly burnt, little innocent Fluttershy.

The mood wasn’t exactly somber, but it wasn’t cheery or excited, either. Applejack seemed to constantly glance between the three battered ponies- Twilight and Rarity, as unicorns, were more susceptible to physical damage, and the throw against the cave wall had done more to Twilight than it looked like it had- and Fluttershy, who was being held up by Rainbow Dash, who she leaned on. Pinkie Pie walked on in the middle of this, looking strangely calm- probably still in shock of the ordeal, and all six of them, behind Sasuke, who was technically their savior
.

Even if he’d rather be killed than be recognized as one.

“Why won’t you just accept the thanks?” Twilight asked, more than a little frustrated that Sasuke seemed to take their gratitude and discard it into the dirt that they were passing by. He was unusually silent throughout the entire walk back, only speaking twice.

“I’m no hero,” Sasuke said. It had the usual accompanying sneer, but there was something that lied deeper within it. Twilight couldn’t discern it, though, and left the issue as it was, obstinate shinobi winning because of his stubbornness.

The wounds of the other ponies besides Fluttershy, while not minor, were not as threatening or serious as what the yellow Pegasus suffered from. She winced after nearly every step. Flexing the wing at all was a painful, agonizing chore. It really did look like a bat wing- even more, after they’d cleaned the wound some and really looked at it. Rarity had to struggle to not look away in disgust, but not only would she ever not do that to Fluttershy, she was suffering from wounds as well, and she wasn’t a hypocrite.

Fluttershy’s wing was worse than originally thought. It stretched out painfully, with melded skin that had bonded together after melting from the horrible heat of the dragon’s fire. The melting skin, after melding together, had only went to make movement even harder, considering that the entire shape of the wing had changed. Blisters coated the entire limb, and were spread out across the charred, seared flesh that was Fluttershy’s wing. No feathers remained, most if not all having been burned off, and the rest falling off after.

Twilight had at first thought that her wing had a small chance of recovering, but Twilight now knew that, unfortunately, she probably would never get her wing to recover back to the way it was. She might be able to regain wing use after extensive magical surgery and therapy, but she would still be an even weaker flier than she was before.

Somehow, though, Fluttershy didn’t let it get her down. She held a small smile on, and it only ever wavered when she stepped- as the pain exploded throughout the left side of her body- the burn, while deadening many of the nerves, still hurt tremendously.

Sasuke thought he was crazy, because, as he occasionally glanced behind himself to look at the wounded ponies he was leading back to town, he felt a smidge of compassion. It was so small- just like his Guilt, who still ranted repeatedly inside of his head. It didn’t talk, though.

Not yet, anyway.

Guilt still did, though.

You could’ve easily attacked the dragon and made it leave much, much earlier. Instead, what do you do? You let them go first, even though you realized the danger of the situation. That’s what you always do though, right? You love being right- after all, you’ll go to practically any lengths to get it, even going to the point of allowing the pony who’s taken care of you the entire time be burned horribly in dragon’s fire- the scream, did you hear the scream she made, when she was being burned and torched and having her wing melte-

Sasuke tuned it out. The thing that made him worry was, though, that it was getting harder to do so every time. It seemed that he had to make a conscious effort to sustain control over his mind- sustain control of the voices, that wouldn’t leave. He wished that they would leave, but they wouldn’t. He snarled wordlessly as his Hatred began.

Even though his Pride and Anger were the most talkative besides Guilt, who never shut up, out of all four of the voices, the worst one was his Hatred.

Mostly because his hatred was the loudest.

I CANNOT BELIEVE THE WEAKNESS THAT YOU POSSESS, SASUKE!

ARE YOU SERIOUS? KILL THEM ALL, AND SPARE NONE OF THEIR LIVES. EVEN TALKING BACK TO YOU SHOULD BE PUNISHED. THEY DO NOT REALIZE THEIR PLACE. YOUR HATRED IS WEAKENING. I MUST REMIND YOU OF THE IMPORTANCE OF HATRED.

DO YOU NOT REMEMBER YOUR BROTHER?

YOU ARE WEAK, SASUKE… BECAUSE YOU LACK HATRED.

LET YOUR BLOOD BE REPLACED BY BLACK, TERRIBLE MALICE THAT RUNS DEEP INSIDE OF YOUR HEART. LET THE ABHORRENCE CONTROL YOUR SOUL, AND USE THE POWER THEY GRANT TO DESTROY AND TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY YOURS! YOUR VENGEANCE, YOUR CLAN’S REVIVAL! USE THE HATRED, SASUKE.

LET THE HATE FLOW THROUGH YOU!

LET THE HATE-

Sasuke let out a pained grunt as he managed to shut up his Hatred. He’d listened to it before- but now… it was just overbearing. It reminded him of Orochimaru in some ways for some reason, and he hated that. He wasn’t sure how to fix any of this. Not to mention that he couldn’t have the time or concentration to even think anyway, with all of the idiotic ponies around him, and the voices in his mind that wouldn’t shut up.

“Sasuke, are you okay?” Pinkie Pie asked, concerned, and he brushed her off with a short nod, which she seemed to accept, even though she didn’t smile while doing so.

Many would be surprised at Pinkie Pie having such ability- that is, the ability to read people. It wasn’t something she had been born with- it wasn’t her special talent, either. It was something that she had learned over the years after becoming someone that had hosted parties- the ability to read someone, read their emotions… read their problems, in some ways.

It didn’t work when she was sad, or when she was happy, but only when she was calmed. Thus, she only used it rarely. It required her to calm down- something she had never really enjoyed- and really concentrate on the person. But when she did- she could just tell.

He was clearly in pain, even though he had told her he wasn’t. There was so much weight on his shoulders- and it wasn’t just because he was slouching while he walked that she could tell. He seemed… strangely thoughtful, and not completely full of anger or frustration, like Pinkie thought he would be. And… he was worried about something.

She couldn’t get more than that. That was about as far as she was ever able to tell, and that was already pushing it. It was often hard to calm herself down to use the ability, but it had been easier after the dragon attack, where she’d been crying for Fluttershy. Instead of simply allowing herself to become incredibly joyful once more as they began walking back to Ponyville, she used her self-control- it existed? - And tried to see how her friends were feeling.

The less obvious something was, the harder it was to spot, because it was mostly all based off of body language. And her friends seemed to all be feeling down- but she didn’t even need to calm herself to be able to tell that. Pinkie sighed, and put on a smile.

Maybe she’d be able to cheer up her friends by being happy, at the very least.

They walked into town not too long after that, and immediately marched to the center of town, where Celestia was still waiting. At first, she’d worried because the smoke didn’t clear- still didn’t clear, still didn’t clear… but later, when the smoke had finally stopped spouting from the mountain, and she could barely see with her great eyesight a small, red figure tumbling and falling down the mountain before running away, she knew they’d succeded.

She just didn’t know how.

Celestia had anxiously awaited them while they came back, and sat in the middle of the town square, looking patient and confident, even if she wasn’t feeling so. Her guards, as silent and loyal as ever in clean, pristine armor, waited faithfully next to her. The townsponies were beginning to calm down- after all, they rarely saw their princess, but at the same time, after staying for hours and waiting, they had grown used to her extended presence, though everyone still bowed when coming by and she still had ponies waiting on her.

“Do you need anything else, Princess?” Asked one mare.

“No, no, I’m fine.” Celestia said with a smile. She attempted to disarm them with her grin- mostly hoping they would assume that they had sated her, and that what they had already done, waiting on her foreleg and hoof, would be enough- but sadly, it hadn’t. If anything, it had probably made it worse. After that, the townsponies really didn’t leave her alone.

It wasn’t that she minded the attention. It was more that she was completely worrying about Twilight- and even felt a little guilty, that she wasn’t paying attention to the townsponies. If they left her alone, then it wouldn’t bother her, and she could wait for Twilight with no interruptions.

She practically knocked aside everyone, including her guards, when she Sasuke entering the town. She’d have been lying if she said that she wasn’t worried about Twilight. Sasuke’s statement had gotten to her more than he’d ever know.

Even as she busted through the crowd- which Sasuke had probably missed, as he was only turning toward her just now- she began to calm herself, and put a cool, composed mask over her surprised face- she’d been practicing it for millennia. It wasn’t hard to do it, even now.

Even as she was making her way over to them, she knew something was wrong.

Twilight seemed to be covered in soot- which worried Celestia, but she didn’t appear to be very injured, which calmed the Princess quickly. Rarity didn’t look comfortable, but from this angle, Celestia could see nothing wrong with her- except a red streak on her side.

But Celestia knew she had made a mistake when she saw Fluttershy.

All composure thrown to the wayside, she galloped over to the group, who waited for her patiently as she sped across the town square to them. Ponies stared, mouths open. Ponies whispered. Ponies talked. She knew the scene she was making- rushing to normal ponies.

And she couldn’t care less.

She stopped right in front of the group- Sasuke, with a triumphant grin on his face.

Celestia only frowned at him, but if anything, it only made Sasuke’s grin wider.

“What happened?”Celestia asked.

“We-“Twilight began, but was cut off by Sasuke.

“Oh, nothing, Princess.” Sasuke said, as he looked over at Celestia. “Only Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy being hurt, and all because of you telling them you could get a dragon to leave the diplomatic way. Instead, I ended up having to take care of it, by burning it, which was what was going to happen anyway, regardless. It’s too bad that you wouldn’t let me go alone in the first place. Now look at poor Fluttershy. She’d have died if I didn’t interfere.” Sasuke said, pointing to her.

Celestia only glared at Sasuke for how he tried to rub salt in her wounds, but soon enough she focused on the ponies who’d been hurt by her pride. She looked in horror over Fluttershy’s wing- not that she’d never seen a burn before. It wasn’t the fact that it was burned, because she’d seen more than one wing like this in all her time alive. That wasn’t what made it terrible- that wasn’t what made it hurt in her breast.

No, what made it hurt was that it had been her that had ordered them to go.

And what else made it hurt was that he had been right.

“What happened, Twilight?”

“We went up to the mountain and tried to talk to it. I went first… and I couldn’t do it,” she said, ducking her head in embarrassment and failure, “so Rainbow Dash tried, but that didn’t get anywhere, and then Rarity got cut up, but then Fluttershy…” Twilight only limply pointed with one hoof to Fluttershy’s ruined wing.

“Rarity and Fluttershy… I must apologize.” Celestia said, laying her ears flat on her head.

“For… for what, Princess?” Rarity asked. With a grimace on her face, Celestia continued.

“For ordering you to go. Sasuke was right in this instance- this one instance- but he was still right nonetheless. And because I overestimated your strength, and had to be right, you all were hurt. Severely.”

Sasuke was loving it- eating it all up. He grinned with sadistic glee as he watched someone other than himself suffer from Guilt. He wondered if anyone else had that feeling- he hadn’t heard this voice ever talk until recently, but he wondered if this was what having a conscience felt like. What an annoying thing. No wonder people were always ‘good.’ If their Guilt would never shut up, that’s probably the only reason they did ‘good’ things.

“No, no, Princess!” Twilight said, even as her mentor turned away from the group in shame and began walking away. “Somepony had to go, right? Wasn’t it good that it was us and no one died, instead of you sending somepony else, and them dying instead of us getting hurt?”

Celestia turned around, rainbow mane drifting in the air regally as she faced her student, student’s friends, and Sasuke, who looked straight at her. I told you so, his eyes seemed to say. She wanted to yell at Sasuke, but instead turned to Twilight.

“When I first got you as a student, Twilight, you were just a filly. You’re nearly completely… innocent. There are plenty of things out of my control, and not everything is perfect. But Equestria, for the most part, is a happy place. What saddens me is that I sent you and you got hurt. You have to understand, Twilight. You’re not Luna or me; you don’t possess the same level of powers we do. I don’t know why I thought you could go against a full-grown dragon. It takes many unicorns of a certain magical level to take one down. Even you by yourself could not do it, as is obvious here. I take responsibility, Twilight, because I promised myself I’d never hurt you. And now… I have. Both you, and your friends.”

Twilight could only stare in shock at Princess Celestia, who was crying. Clear, solid tears streamed from her mentor’s cheeks as she looked at Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy.

“I’m sorry, Rarity. Those slashes look deep. They may take time to heal. But besides that, both you and Twilight will be fine in the long run. The pony I really have to apologize to is Fluttershy.” Fluttershy squeaked as she watched the crying Princess Celestia walk over to her, slowly. Celestia put one wing over her and covered her with it, speaking softly as she did so. “I’m sorry to inform you of this, Fluttershy, but… you may never heal from what has been done. The damage to your wing may be too severe.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy said. It sounded so dead and emotionless that Celestia couldn't bear to face her mistake- she sobbed a few times, and ran away. Twilight only looked after her in horror as she gathered her guards and left immediately.

The guards even seemed distraught; despite their good training and instructions on never changing face- always following the orders of the Princess, never looking surprised, no matter where you go or what happened- it was impossible not to react to that, even in the smallest way. Nopony alive had ever seen Celestia cry- the last time she had had been many, many years ago. Twilight watched as the chariot flew away.

“Ah…ah can’t believe it.” Applejack was the first one to speak, out of them all. “Ah’ve never seen the Princess… cry, before. Never seen it in my whole darn life.” Everypony in the entire group was silent, save Sasuke, who had to speak up, one last time.

“This is why I wanted to go alone.” He muttered, and looked at the group behind him, most of which were glaring at him. Twilight spoke first.

“You didn’t have to do that!” She screamed, walking up closer to him. Predictably, not only was he not intimidated or scared in any way, he instead seemed to be amused by the little display that was going on. “You didn’t have to rub it into the Princess like that… so what if she made a mistake? Ponies make mistakes all the time!” Twilight said, throwing her hooves into the air as she continued her rant. “Tell me this, Sasuke! If you knew this was going to happen, why didn’t you just go in first?”

“None of you stupid horses would let me.”

“Ponies! We’re ponies. And it’s not like any of us could’ve stopped you. So why not go first? I have to know, now. I just have to.”

“Then I’d be the one getting into trouble. You remember what Celestia said. If I wanted to have a chance of getting home, and her helping me, I had to follow orders. I was order bound. Your stupid, sentimental orders of not hurting a dragon. Of talking to it, instead. Completely ridiculous. It may not be something that matters here, but back where I come from, insubordination is a bigger deal than you might think.”

Twilight could only glare at him as she realized he was right.

“Still. You didn’t have to do that… to the Princess.”

“She deserved it. I don’t care what you think, I know I’m right. I’m not going to save her feelings just so I don’t hurt her a little while I criticize the mistake she made.”

The rest of them could only glare at him as he then asked another question. One that he’d never be expected to ask. After Twilight answered, they could only gaze in shock.

“Where’s the hospital?”

“You’re not hurt,” Twilight replied, still furious, but pointed in one direction with a hoof anyway. Sasuske responded by picking up Fluttershy as quick as a flash, and carrying her, set out for the hospital.

“Alright. This is a onetime thing, do you understand? You’re all lucky I’m even doing this. You two can walk. She’s more hurt than you.” Sasuke said as he lifted Fluttershy’s body, and then leapt high into the air, and began traveling to the hospital.

Unsurprisingly, he made it to the hospital within twenty or thirty seconds after leaving the group. By carrying Fluttershy, even though she slowed him down slightly, he could finally move at the speed that he wanted.

Fluttershy had squeaked and whimpered the entire time, both from the pain of her wing- it wasn’t like Sasuke was going slow, so he jostled her more than once- and from going at such a fast speed. She’d never gone so fast before, and to Fluttershy, it was frightening, as he leapt and sprinted all the way to the hospital.

As soon as Sasuke arrived, he walked inside and placed Fluttershy on the floor, who immediately sunk to her belly, hooves on either side. She didn’t have the strength to stand up anymore- the trip there had taken a lot out of her, and she was already exhausted and tired from the simple pain of the wound, anyway. Once she had the attention of Nurse Redheart, who looked, horrified, at Fluttershy’s melted wing, Sasuke left the building immediately.

On his way back, he saw Rarity limping, making her way over. He didn’t bother helping her. Unlike Fluttershy, she’d never done anything truly important for him. He stopped randomly in the middle of Ponyville, and glared all around as the ponies looked down on him as an outsider- he’d never fit in here, anyway. Staring back at those who dared to stare at him, he watched the town for a few more minutes before he started to wander in the direction of The Golden Oaks library. It had been several minutes since he’d taken Fluttershy to the library.

He didn’t bother knocking, and just came right on in through the front door as Spike still seemed to be organizing books or something. Ignoring him, and walking right past him, Sasuke began to search the building for Twilight.

He found her within a few minutes of looking around the entire building. She’d just exited her bathroom after cleaning herself up-wiping most of the soot out of her mane and coat. She frowned as she saw Sasuke waiting, remembering Celestia, but still thanked him.

“It was nice what you did for Fluttershy.”

“I just had a debt to repay. Don’t expect something so weak like that again.”

“Okay, whatever you say.” Twilight said, but she had a feeling that Sasuke wasn’t as bad as he tried to make himself out to be. Twilight thought that he was changing, even if it was really slow- really slow- and that he might be turning different.

“Why are you here, though?” Twilight asked as she toweled herself off, completely drying herself and walking down the stairs to go back down to the first level of the library.

“I figured that you could help me find a way home now. Celestia would probably have you do it anyway since you’re the least stupid horse out of all of them.”

“It’s Princess Celestia, and ponies. I guess, probably, but I don’t know where to start. I was going to write a letter to her, anyway. I’ll ask her where I should start.”

Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m sorry that you still feel it’s your fault about what happened. I don’t blame you. I blame Sasuke. He could’ve jumped in earlier but chose not to. He says it’s because you would’ve blamed him, but I don’t think you would do that. You aren’t cruel.

Sasuke says that he wants me to help him find a way home, but what I’m sure he doesn’t know is that teleportation and portal magic is extremely complicated. I have no idea of where to start. He did do the job you requested after all, even if he SHOULD’VE jumped in earlier, so… do you have a book or some resource I can look into so I can get started?

No one blames you for what happened.

Sincerely, your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight encased it in an envelope and passed it to Spike after calling him over.

“Spike, send this letter to Princess Celestia.”

“Okay, Twilight!” With a plume of emerald fire that appeared from the baby dragon’s maw, the letter disappeared and went off, out of the window.

“Now what?” Sasuke asked impatiently.

“Now we wait. We have to give the Princess time to reply.” Twilight said as she went to some other room. Sasuke only glared at Spike as he waited. Spike seemed to notice, and gulped, but didn’t do anything, just continued to re-organize books.

Sasuke waited impatiently. He knew that the reply would come, but the problem was that he had nothing else to do. He couldn’t practice any real techniques because first, ponies would get scared and he would get blamed, and two, there was no space or room for them anyway. He could easily burn down the entire town by accident with one great fireball jutsu. Grumbling under his breath, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

It was a nice afternoon, but it was boring to Sasuke, and he had to watch and wait as Twilight and Spike did mundane activities. Twilight had went into the kitchen to fix herself some tea, and she drank that, and watched Spike put up all the books while she was drinking, and once finished, she helped him organize. The library was a mess with how hectic it had been for the past few days, and they were finally getting around to cleaning it up.

So Sasuke waited, and he waited, and he waited.

It was an impossibly long while later- to Sasuke, probably forever, but in actuality, an hour or two- when the dragon suddenly burped, and coughed out a letter that seemed to be bulging. Twilight picked it up with her magic, and noticed that it took a lot more strength to hold it up then it should have. Walking over to her desk, and placing the enevelope of the letter upon it, she hesitantly ripped it upon and read the message.

It just so happened that Celestia had included a transformation charm inside it, and what was probably a mite of dust before, but without losing the weight it bore, became a giant, heavy brown tome, that slammed into the desk the second it was released. Naturally, Twilight immediately began to squeal, but she still read through the letter before moving onto the reading material that Celestia had sent her, no matter how badly she wanted to read it.

Dear Twilight,

Thank you for your compassion, my faithful student. I’m glad to know that you think it’s not my fault- but, in my opinion, it still was. You didn’t fail any tests or exams, Twilight. I was overconfident and began to figure that you could handle everything, because I taught you so well. I both overestimated my own teaching ability, and the strength of you and your friends. If Fluttershy never heals, no matter how many times I say sorry, it will not be enough.

Now, onto the other manner of business. The letter I sent you, as you certainly know by now, held a transformation charm that contained a large tome within. This is the reason why the reply is so late- I went into the royal library, and had to dig deep, for a while. Even for me, these spells are ancient, and many of them are nothing but theories. What you hold in your hooves is a book that has some of the rarest work in Equestria.

It is a book containing some of the only collaboration work that Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever ever did together. Now, they both lived in the same age, but were born in different times. As Starswirl the Bearded was growing old, and eventually, dying, Clover the Clever was an up-and-coming strong, smart unicorn with things to prove, and theories to think up. You know the time periods, I don’t have to explain that to you. What most ponies don’t know is they did work together, even if only for a short time.

What resulted is some of the greatest magical theory in the history of Equestria. Now, Twilight, before you crack that book open, and I know you are-

Twilight’s eyes bugged out as she watched the letter predict her movements. She hesitantly closed the book and sighed, and went back to reading the letter.

You must listen to me. There is a reason that this work is unknown. Now, again, as it is known that Clover the Clever and Starswirl were very, very powerful and intelligent unicorns and the best of their generations, it is also known that magic is dangerous. Some of the spells in here are dangerous, and even the ones that are mostly theories, which are the majority, must be approached with extreme caution. This has not been touched on in a very long time, and most have forgotten about it, including myself. I only recently remembered because your letter reminded me of it. I personally kept the research hidden away, unsure of what it could do to Equestria. But being a Princess is busy, and as such, I never got alone time to study it, and it grew layers of dust trapped away inside a wing of the royal library.

Sasuke did help, so use the genius potential for magic that you have, Twilight, and try to send him home. There is no time limit on this assignment, and I wouldn’t blame you if it took a while, anyway. And you may keep the book afterwards, also. I know that you would like to study absolutely everything inside of it, and I trust your judgment on what is dangerous and what can be attempted.

Sincerely,

Your Mentor, Princess Celestia.

Twilight looked up from the long letter and glanced at the huge, brown tome that dominated her desk. It really was massive- bigger than most of the books she had. It astounded her that all of this was the work of only a SHORT time of collaboration between the two genius unicorns. Both were so famous they were still studied inside magic theory and magic history classes today. She imagined professors she knew getting their hooves on it, and giggled.

The Princess had truly given her an amazing gift.

She held it up in her magical grip as if it was a gift from the gods themselves- in a way, it was, if Celestia could be considered a goddess, which some of her subjects did consider her one- and instantly placed it back on her desk, and heaved with her magic, flipping over the front cover of the unmarked brown book like it was as heavy as a wall. It made an audible thud once coming into contact with the wood. The first few pages were blank; unsurprising, considering the number of pages and the size of the book that contained them.

She set to her task, and began flipping through the book for a few moments. The emptiness of it all only lasted a few pages in the beginning, and then Twilight soon broke into a slack-jawed stare once she began reading some of the material. The wording in here was incredibly complicated- diagrams had all sorts of lines and markings, some of which she barely remembered. She could understand all of it, it was just…

Twilight retrieved her notes and began looking through the book in earnest.

It had several pages about leylines, the very tail end of which Twilight was now reading-

As my friend Starswirl says in the paragraph before me, leylines are extremely important, you see. Once you understand your leylines, which, as all unicorns know, is the magical veins in your body that carry magic throughout you, performing magic becomes much easier. Accurately using your leylines is what seperates a good unicorn from a bad one or a great one.

I can do a spell more accurately, faster, more impressively, and all of this things, while losing less energy than a less talented unicorn. Leylines are thought up to be something given to unicorns, though some disagree with this theory- Starswirl included. Leylines come into use in all kinds of magic-the most important being plane materialization, or traveling between planes.

Plane materialization consists of a two to eight ratio of white to black magic…

Twilight continued to grow more and more engaged as she read on. It talked about plane materialization for a while longer, it seemed. A few more chapters of it- fifty or so pages of it, and it all ended with this phrase-

Now, obviously, this all still in theory, so no unicorn should try this without first studying up on it. Now, moving onto to something considerably more interesting, at least to most- battle magic. Leylines are extremely useful during battling with magic, as…

The chapter continued on there, and Twilight frowned as she realized her answer lied inside the explanation of plane materialization. Despite the fact that it was work that was very difficult to understand, she got the gist of things the first time through. Knowing how dangerous it was, however, she didn’t attempt anything. Gather up paper and pencil, she began taking notes, humming to herself in delight as she did so.

Sasuke watched as the scholar did her work. He knew that she’d be working for a while, probably. She might not even get it today, or tomorrow- Sasuke had no idea whether magic was difficult or not, and he wasn’t going to ask her. After a few bored minutes of watching Twilight read through the book and then begin taking notes, he decided to leave. He knew that nothing of importance was going to happen, even if he stayed for a while, so he got up and left the library, leaving Twilight with some comment about getting him if something happened.

He exited The Golden Oaks Library, and once outside in the town square with everyone staring at him, he decided to go somewhere else. He didn’t like their looks, and right now Pride and Hatred were raging on about killing them, and Guilt was still calmly listing all of his mistakes in a monotone voice. He’d rather be somewhere else. Sasuke sighed before walking slowly outside of Ponyville and on the road to Fluttershy’s house.

Sasuke walked that road for a while, but soon grew bored. There wasn’t a point to even going to the house, because Fluttershy was at the hospital. He could go sleep, but… it seemed like a waste of time. He wasn’t tired anyway. Still, there was nothing else to do, so sleeping it was. He’d rather have extra energy if he needed it for when the time came to go back. Hopefully, for his vengeance’s sake, it would be fairly soon.

After continuing on for a short while and walking further to Fluttershy’s house, Sasuke stopped. He didn’t stop because of fatigue, or because he’d seen something interesting.

He stopped because he’d heard the booming again.

It was loud- incredibly and only echoed throughout the forest for a few seconds. Sasuke knew that it wasn’t normal for the forest to be making that sound- he only wondered why the ponies hadn’t investigated it yet. Maybe it was because they were afraid of the forest.

Deciding to investigate, Sasuke jumped into the forest and sprinted for a while, going through trees and branches, and avoiding natural, stupid predators in there that wanted to kill him. More than once- no, several times- he had to fight off timberwolves or manticores who were hungry. After killing the most recent manticore, he continued on in the direction that he’d thought he heard the sound in. Only, there was nothing there.

Sasuke scowled as he looked throughout the forest. Something in here had to have caused the noise- he was sure of it. He heard leaves rustling. He turned.

“Who the hell are you?” The shinobi said. Following close behind him was Killer Bee.

Sasuke grinned.

TO BE CONTINUED

If anyone wants to know what I listen to when I write Visual Prowess, it's this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0A9aEOt4MM

Confrontation

Naruto Uzumaki sat at his desk and sighed. It had been a few days since he’d sent the hawk and he still hadn’t received a message back. He knew that the travel certainly wouldn’t be instantaneous but he couldn’t help but feel worried and be anxious about the entire thing- not only because it dealt with Sasuke. It could potentially be the most dangerous place any shinobi had ever gone- they had no idea what could be lurking on the other side of the portal.

In fact, for all they knew, Sasuke could be on his last legs right now, fighting beasts that were beyond imagination, possessing strength that was unthinkable. And he was just sitting here, waiting, doing nothing- Naruto sighed again. Maybe a visit to his favorite ramen stand would cheer him up. He created a Kage Bunshin quickly as he walked out of the door. The perfect replica of him got busy on the stack of paperwork on the desk, though it had the same worried expression that was matched by the original Naruto’s face.

His coat swirled around him as he walked. As Naruto had grown up even more after the War and turned into a respectable, honorable man, he resembled his father more and more, and their resemblance only grew closer every single day. Naruto’s face on the Hokage Mountain behind the village matched his father’s, who was only a space away, separated by Tsunade, who had stepped down shortly after the War to hand Naruto the position.

She had stayed in the village, though, and was in the shinobi military reserves. She didn’t do much except gamble these days, and occasionally taught some of the younger shinobi who looked up to her combat tactics. Her day job was being head of the medical facilities, and hospital- and she also taught her specialty, what she was known for- passing on her incredible skill as a healer to an entire new generation of eager young men and women.

Naruto saw her from time to time, and she gave constant advice on being Hokage, which Naruto always took. He’d learned everything he knew about being Hokage- besides just the pure strength and ability as a ninja- from Tsunade, and he was always asking her for more whenever they did manage to meet up. He was still new at the job, and would probably take a few years to really settle in and become a great Hokage.

The second he’d walked out of the Hokage Residence, and took a few steps out of the building, he was recognized. But, not as a demon, or a monster, or something that didn’t deserve to live or share the same space as the individuals next to him.

He was recognized as a leader, but most importantly, as a hero.

As he passed them, people hailed him. And the more that did, the more noticed him, and the cycle repeated. He could only blush as the endless praise continued.

“Hokage-sama!”

“The Hero of the Hidden Leaf!”

Three small children, certain to be ninja one day, ran up to him and blocked his path, jumping up and down frantically as they asked questions.

“Hokage-sama, how did you become so strong?” One girl shrieked as she tackled his leg.

“Uh… eating my vegetables and never giving up?”

“Really?” The girl asked; eyes wide. The two boys next to her paid attention with the same amount of enthusiasm. He pushed his hand through his blond hair and sighed.

“Yes, really.”

“Daddy! Buy me some vegetables!” The two boys and their older sister shouted as they ran back to their parents. Naruto could only laugh as he walked to Ichiraku Ramen.

It was what he had always imagined being Hokage would be- the endless praise, the glory, the strength of being the strongest ninja in the village- all of it was true. But, at the same time, he had only discovered that not all of it was great unlike he thought it would be. Like the present, people constantly mobbed him and talked to him during the streets- and while the stares of adoration and admiration were better than glares hatred and malice, Naruto was still getting used to being called a hero. It was certainly something new.

It was also annoying. Just like it was when he’d defeated Pein, afterwards, he could hardly handle all the attention and glory that came along with accomplishing such a feat. People wanted to shake his hand, wanted him to kiss their babies, and wanted him to meet relatives coming in to town. Everyone was proud of Naruto, now- and it was almost like now that everyone realized he was a hero, no one wanted to share him with anyone else.

Naruto nervously rubbed his hand behind his head and grinned. As he walked throughout the village that was glad to be his home, his coat blew behind him in the light wind. In kanji, ‘Rokudaime Hokage’ was visible. He still carried his ninja tools on him- just pure habit- but the truth was that he hardly needed it. He was already a jutsu monster and probably the strongest single shinobi in the Elemental Nations, with Madara dead, Obito dead, and Sasuke randomly disappeared into wherever he’d gone.

Having reached his destination, Naruto gazed at the large structure before him.

He pulled aside the cloth and stepped into the ramen stand. Although, it was more like a ramen shop now. See, after Naruto had become Hokage, it didn’t mean that he stopped going to Ichiraku’s every single damn day. Which meant that, after a short while, people realized where he was attending every day to get his lunch- and subsequently went to the same place. Within a month or two, the place had gotten so much business that they’d expanded- and still, the place was often packed, although there was a special seat in the back just for Naruto- a full orange table and seat for the Hokage.

Instantly, when he entered the shop, everyone cheered him and hailed him, and Naruto could only run his hands through his blond hair, and hold them up, as if at gunpoint. In the back, Teuchi watched as the boy was repeatedly assaulted with verbal cheer, almost endlessly. Teuchi could only barely withhold laughter. It was just funny watching the boy be so nervous about the glory that he’d certainly earned for himself.

Leaning back in his special seat, reserved for him, Naruto waited for Ayame to come over to him and ask what he wanted for lunch. It wasn’t long before the sweet girl strode over in her uniform- which was still the same- and inquired as to what he wanted.

“Two bowls of Miso, please.” Naruto said politely, and Ayame nodded with a small smile before rushing off to help her father take care of the order. They had one or two new employees, but they were mostly used to clean the shop and tidy up the place- and occasionally, organize the supplies used to make the ramen. They weren’t called into work much, and when they did, they only worked a few hours. Ayame and Teuchi still preferred to run the shop by themselves if they could- which they could, and did.

Even though Naruto was embarrassed by the glory and the sudden fame of being both Hero of The Leaf and Hokage, he was letting it get to his head a teensy bit- and why shouldn’t he, after all? He’d worked so hard for a majority of his life to earn the title- saving the village himself, more than once- doing all kinds of dangerous missions, training till he was dying, and not to mention helping save the world and kill some of the most depraved, dangerous criminals known to the Elemental Nations in the form of the Akatsuki.

But, even with everything going so well, Naruto still had trouble thinking about what he was going to do when he received a reply from Killer Bee about Sasuke. He figured that he wouldn’t be able to leave himself- as sad as it was; it was true- at least not right away. What he could do, though, was tell Bee to keep an eye on him, while he got ready to leave. He’d have to make preparations for the village- he couldn’t just go running off chasing after Sasuke anymore.

Naruto had grudgingly accepted that, in all times, the village came first.

Naruto supposed that when he left, he could bring Sakura- no. She wasn’t weak, but she would get in the way of the fight. Not only would the battle be incredibly close, he didn’t want Sasuke hurting her like he did last time. He might not bring anyone with him… He wasn’t sure yet. But, what he was sure of was one simple thing.

He’d drag Sasuke through the gates of The Leaf.

And he would do it himself- this was his issue, anyway.

“Your food’s nearly ready, Hokage-SAMA!” Teuchi taunted. Naruto groaned.

“Not you guys, too!”

There was only amused laughter in the kitchen for a few moments before, a couple of minutes later, Ayame came out with two hot steaming bowls of ramen and a plain pair of chopsticks that she handed the Hokage. She set this down on the table lightly and then grinned at Naruto, before moving away to attend to other orders that were coming in at the lunch time rush of the restaurant. Naruto could only salivate as he gazed at the meal before him.

There was only one thing he could really say.

“Itadakimasu!”

With that said, Naruto split his chopsticks and heavily dug into his ramen. Within a few minutes of eating, there was nothing left- Naruto’s mouth had become a vacuum for ramen over the years. Leaning back into his chair and sighing, he pulled out some money and left it on the table before leaving wordlessly, though it was still impossible not to gather attention. He left, cheeks burning from within as his ears flushed, with people chanting behind him.

After leaving the new Ichiraku’s, Naruto wondered where he was going to go now. He knew that he should go right back to work in the Hokage Residence- but, his clone had that covered, he guessed. So, if his clone had that covered, where could he go?

He lit up as he realized how he could spend his time.

He could go visit Hinata on his free time. She wasn’t on a mission, and was almost assured to be home at this time of the day. Grinning to himself, he began to stride down the street with clear joy in his step as he enjoyed the warm day in Konaha.

Around the same time, a brown hawk was flying into Konaha, carrying a simple message that was tied to it. It was Killer Bee, who’d finally wrote Naruto back. It would fly in, give the message to his clone, which would dispel- and send the news and the information to him.

Now Naruto would have to start making preparations to leave, because he knew where Sasuke surely was. And, unlike Bee, he wouldn’t hesitate to dive into the portal.

__________________________

Sasuke grinned as he saw this new shinobi- who he didn’t really care about- and Killer Bee. One quick activation of the Sharingan, tomoe spinning, told Sasuke that not only did the ninja have a small amount of chakra, compared to him, and was weak compared to him, but that Killer Bee was actually a clone. It didn’t really matter to Sasuke. All that mattered was that others had come here.

And if they had come here, there had to be a way back.

That was what interested Sasuke.

He’d have to play it safe, though. He needed information, and while he could no doubt force it out of the shinobi, he didn’t want to have to. He might never learn some things that would otherwise get him out of his situation that he was stuck in.

The shinobi didn’t notice his eyes- and he soon deactivated the Sharingan.

Forcing a false smile on his face, he started a discussion with the shinobi.

“You come from the Elemental Nations, right?”

“Of course.” The man said, and then grew nervous. “That is where we are, right?”

“No. We’re in a place that’s much, much more innocent. They don’t know what a kunai is here. There are no shinobi here. I came here in the middle of the War. How did that end, by the way?” Sasuke said. He tried to work it in as a casual question.

“Your hatred, yes, it ran so deep, but your plan failed, you stupid creep!” Killer Bee’s clone shouted, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes in his annoyance, before launching a kunai casually at the clone and dispelling it.

“Oh, so he was a clone. Oh well.” The missing-nin shrugged, and then peered around the forest a bit more, looking past Sasuke as he inspected their surroundings.

“So, if we aren’t in the Elemental Nations, then where are we?”

“Some place called Equestria. Everypony are horses here.”

“Everypony?”

Sasuke growled audibly. It was beginning to get to him, this place.

The man, despite being an experienced ninja and killer, started growing nervous at the amount of killing intent the strange ninja had suddenly started producing.

Sasuke calmed his rage just as quickly, though, even though it was hard to shove it down. He glanced back at the man, who was calming down. He’d been tensing, getting ready for a fight- it felt like the man in front of him wanted to kill him.

“So, as I asked before: who the hell are you?”

“Just another ninja. It’s not very important. But I do want to get back to The Elemental Nations, though. After the War, what happened to that place? I’ve been here for a while.”

“Not much. Most of the current Kages survived, although the fifth of the Leaf stepped down and some other blond kid stepped up. He looks like the fourth did apparently. I don’t know, I was never from the Leaf, and I wasn't there for the battle, either. Imagine, what if he was like the Fourth’s son or something?”

So, Naruto. You’re finally Hokage. Maybe you’ve learned something from the job.

“That’s interesting news. Very interesting.”

“So, this Equestria place, wherever we’re in… how long have you been here?”

“Too long. I miss home. Trust me, this place is annoying.”

“How annoying?”

“You can’t do anything around here. They think that they can solve problems by just talking, and there’s zero violence here, whatsoever. It’s incredibly, annoyingly innocent. I just want to be back home where things make sense again,” Sasuke said, sneering at the man.

“And the locals are all… horses?” The missing-nin asked.

“Well, they say they’re ponies. But they’re horses, basically.” Sasuke replied.

“That’s strange.”

There was an odd silence in the forest, before Sasuke asked the obvious question.

“How did you get here?”

“Well, through a portal. But… I’m not sure if you would want to see it. I’m not really sure what’s happening with it, but I’m pretty sure that-“

“Whatever! Just take me to it!”

“Fine, fine!”

Though the man seemed a little angry and annoyed, he led Sasuke to the portal. They traveled to it in record time- the man, as a missing-nin, wasn’t slow, and Sasuke for once didn’t have to wait on anyone that was trying to catch up behind him.

After only a few minutes of traveling in the forestry, they reached what had become a small clearing. It looked similar for some reason to Sasuke- this must’ve been where Fluttershy found me, or somewhere around here- and above them, a hole in the air moved.

Only, it seemed… wounded. The hole, while still there, was not the same as it had been for the missing-nin a short time before. It seemed it was trying to fix itself- seal itself up. It was like someone had torn their flesh, and they had only dropped one layer of skin over the wound. The hole was still open, but it was obvious that it was trying to… heal, for lack of a better word, reality.The hole, while still there, was fluxing a bit, and it looked like a small film of material was growing over the opening- its scab, you could saw.

Sasuke only grinned, though, as he saw his chance for escape.

As he tensed his leg muscles to jump, a nagging voice in his mind spoke.

He’s a missing-nin, Sasuke. A missing-nin who would certainly no doubt terrorize Equestria and attack and even kill ponies. He was a criminal there, but at least there’s something that could enforce law in your lands. Here… he may be killed by Celestia or Luna, but he would kill anyone else, and no doubt before he died he would’ve caused constant chaos and terror. Could you really let something like that run free, knowingly, Sasuke? Are you still the same obsessed, selfish piece of trash that-

Sasuke growled as he smacked himself in the side of his head. It never shut up! At the very least, the others did, but his Guilt… he sighed, but didn’t stop getting ready to jump and travel through it. He turned to the shinobi, who was watching him with a strange curiosity.

“Is it safe to travel through there?”

“Are you a missing-nin?”

“Yes.”

“Then no. When I left there, the fourth Raikage and his brother were after me. Besides, I may have gotten lucky when I traveled through there. I’m not in a hurry to do it again.”

“I’m going to test it.”

Dobe, I’m going to use your jutsu, Sasuke thought as he put his hands together in a seal, only momentarily before he formed a shadow clone of his own. The other Sasuke only looked at the original and nodded, before leaping into the portal fearlessly.

Sasuke only waited at the portal for thirty seconds before he got the memories.

When he did, he screamed.

A void of colors, falling- or being lifted, Sasuke wasn’t sure which- and then an arm had struck out at him, and began to try to kill him. With it being his clone, he had avoided the first few strikes, only to look up in terror as he saw a legion of the black creatures waiting for him, waiting for him to be lifted towards them. It was a one way thing- the clone couldn’t stop it- and had ended up being killed.

The real Sasuke shivered as the memories came back to him and he tried to calm himself down. He probably couldn’t pass through there. There were… things… in the void of the portal. He gave a jealous glance towards the missing-nin, who’d somehow managed to survive the trip. He sighed again before asking the missing-nin if he’d seen anything in there.

“No. Only… colors. I didn’t see anything else though. Besides the Raikage’s brother.”

“There are things in there. Monsters guarding the void.”

“Monsters? Really?”

“Yes, really.”

The gears inside of Sasuke’s head turned as he tried to think it all out logically. The only thing that made any sense was that whatever those things were, they were the guardians of the void. In layman’s terms, they were there to patch up the hole, but had only woken up extremely recently, or, at least, decided it needed fixing recently. He knew that he probably wouldn’t be able to get past them, even with Susanoo. There were too many, that was their place, and they probably controlled it, and they were all strong to boot, as well.

He tried sending in one more shadow clone, only to get the same result. Sasuke sighed before turning to the other shinobi.

“I don’t think we can get back through. We’re stuck here for now.”

“Well, it’s not really a problem for me. I couldn’t even go back there anyway. I’m surprised that I even survived going through there. It was either that or get killed by the Raikage. Probably the worst person I could’ve run into.”

“What, are you a missing-nin?”

As soon as Sasuke asked, there was a awkward silent in the clearing in the forest.

Sasuke sighed.

“I’m not a hunter-nin or anything, you know.”

“But how does that equate to me trusting you?” The man shouted, backing up and putting distance between him and Sasuke. Sasuke only rolled his eyes and scoffed at the weakling.

“It doesn’t. But just calm down. We’re soon going to have a way to get back.”

“Wait, how?”

“Short version is I helped the locals with something and now they’re going to help me back by devising a way to create a new portal or something else that can take us back. There’s magic here, apparently. I’ve met ponies who can use it.”

“It’s still weird to imagine that everyone here is a horse.”

“Trust me, it is. I’m still not even used to it.”

“Well, what now?”

“You can do whatever you want, but I’m going back to Twilight. She’s probably started working on the problem by now. It’s been a little while since I left, so she should’ve at least deciphered something from that old book by now.”

“Twilight?”

“This unicorn horse that I know. It’s hard to explain.”

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll come with.”

“You might as well. Trust me, there’s nothing to do around here.”

The shinobi just shrugged and followed Sasuke as he leapt into the branches and began a casual, weakling’s pace. He knew the man wasn’t that strong- he might’ve been fast, but he could tell that even if the man was a B or A rank missing-nin, it wasn’t something to even really worry about. He probably had bad strength, a poor jutsu pool, and not much real training. Most missing-nin left when they were younger, and they didn’t get much stronger over time, unless they had someone to train them.

As they leapt through the forest, the shinobi noticed the marking on Sasuke’s jacket. He could’ve sworn that he recognized it, but it didn’t come to him. Shrugging, he continued running and following Sasuke.

After a few minutes of traveling through the Everfree forest, and reaching the border, Sasuke walked out of the forestry and brushed some leaves and twigs off of his shoulders. He jerked awkwardly once, trying to get all of the dirt and materials off of his body and his head. The shinobi was doing the same. Sasuke lifted one hand and pointed lazily into the distance.

“See that little town over there, not far from here?”

The shinobi peered out into the expanse, and nodded.

“Well, that’s Ponyville. I know, the name is ridiculous. A lot about that place is ridiculous. But, the important part is that’s where the pony that’s going to help us lives.”

“Alright, I think I get it.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. Leading the way silently, he walked calmly into town and heard the man following him. The missing-nin was in awe of everything around him. That other shinobi wasn’t lying- everyone here really was a horse. The shinobi couldn’t decide whether or not that was a good or bad thing.

On one hand, no one here would recognize him.

But on the other hand, he had a feeling it would get annoying really fast.

It didn’t take them very long to walk to town and reach the library again. Without even bothering to knock, Sasuke easily pushed the door open and shuffled inside with the shinobi right behind him in tow. Spike, who was still re-organizing the bookshelves, only stared as he saw another one of the humans walk into the place.

“Where did he come from?” Spike asked as looked up at the tall man.

“Same place as me, in the same way as me. I need to talk to Twilight.” Sasuke said, pushing past Spike and going further into the building to find her. This left the shinobi and the young dragon alone, and a long moment of awkward silence prevailed until the man broke it.

“So, what? Are you like a, uh, a lizard, or something?”

“I’ll have you know that I’m a dragon!”

“You don’t look like one. You’re supposed to be bigger and meaner.”

Spike only grumbled and ignored the man as he went back to organizing the bookshelves. This was becoming ridiculous. First Sasuke, who Spike wasn’t really sure about, but now this other guy, too? Where the heck were they all coming from? Spike didn’t know, but he didn’t want a bunch of them here. After seeing how Sasuke acted and how he talked about where he came from- The Elemental Nations, right? - He didn’t really want anyone else from there to come here. They already had enough trouble around here as it was.

“So what, you just organize the bookshelves here?” The man asked, bored.

“Yep.” Spike said, hoping that the annoying thing would go away. He had work to do.

“So, are you the one that runs the library, or…?” The man said, trailing off at the end.

“No. Twilight runs it. I’m only her assistant. She couldn’t do all of this herself.”

“Must be pretty boring. It looks pretty boring.”

“Yeah, it is.” Spike growled. The man only looked down at him strangely before walking off into a different direction. Spike sighed and shoved a book into its place, and hopped off the ladder, before moving it and beginning all over again on the next shelf.

“This place is weird.” The shinobi whispered as he walked through the library/home of Twilight. Oh, an apple! He took it and began eating it as he found Twilight’s kitchen. Everything was smaller scale here- from the furniture to the fridge. Even the building in general wasn’t that large- it had been fairly hard to get in the door, and he’d had to duck when he did so.

Eating the apple, he walked through the building some more; more than once walking through the library where that weird dragon thing was working. After a few detours, he eventually went further into the back, where he found the other shinobi and a weird purple horse thing talking. The purple horse thing had a huge brown book that she was studying. So, was this the ‘Twilight’ that the other guy had been talking about?

Still chewing on the apple that he’d found on the table, he walked closer towards them, listening to them talk as he ate. He swallowed the last of the apple and dropped the core on the floor. Twilight turned and glared at him as she saw what he did.

“Hey, that was my lunch!” Twilight said, outraged.

“Oh well, big deal.” The shinobi replied, picking his teeth with his fingernail.

“Well, if you’re going to eat it, can you at least pick it up and throw it away yourself?”

“Fine, fine. Annoying horse thing.”

“Hey!”

The shinobi ignored anything else she said and walked over to a nearby window, opening it, and tossing the core out of the window. It hit a stallion on the head who was passing by, who raised his hoof and shook it at the building, angry. The stallion glared at the building for a few moments, before walking away while grumbling.

“That’s not even really getting rid of it!” Twilight shouted.

“Whatever,” The shinobi said, and Twilight huffed, before turning back to Sasuke.

“So, there was some kind of portal there?”

“Yes, but we can’t go through it. There are things waiting inside.”

Twilight shuddered as her mind conjured up false images of what they could only look like after Sasuke described them to her. She didn’t blame him for not wanting to go in.

“So I’m going to have to rely on your stupid magic. It’s unfortunate.”

“Magic isn’t stupid!”

Sasuke only muttered something that wasn’t hearable, and they both turned back to the brown book as the shinobi tried to occupy himself by looking around the building. The other ninja wasn’t lying. It seemed that everything in here was fairly innocent- he still hadn’t even seen another weapon here. Dark ideas began to form inside of the ninja’s head as he realized he could probably do whatever he wanted without consequences here.

“But it says here to do plane materialization you need to… wow.”

“What?” Sasuke asked, worried about his own situation.

“No, it’s just that I’ve never had trouble with an assignment like this before. This is probably some of the hardest stuff that I’ve ever read regarding magic. It’s sort of expected though- I didn’t expect understanding this to be easy. Both Clover the Clever and Starswirl the Bearded wrote this book together. I’m almost surprised the concepts aren’t more complex.” Twilight commented as she read through the book some more.

“I wonder what would happen if I…” Twilight said, trailing off. She was hesitant, at first, before her horn began to glow. Sasuke only watched, intrigued, as Twilight’s horn, glowing, began to glow brighter. Then, just as was becoming too bright to look at, Twilight groaned as she felt a pain run through her body, and then-

A bright white shockwave exploded outwards from Twilight as she was blown backwards, along with the other shinobi. Although the wall of force hit him, Sasuke simply stuck his feet to the surface of the floor using chakra, and held his ground- having better reactions than the other ninja. The white shockwave blew back papers and books, and in general shook the building.

After a few seconds, silence returned, and then a voice could be heard downstairs.

“Aw! Really, Twilight? Really?”

“Sorry, Spike!” Twilight yelled as she picked herself up off of the ground and shook herself off. The shinobi only glared at her as she got up, sitting across from her after he smacked into a wall. Twilight shivered as he got up and yelled at her.

“What the hell, horse-thing!? Are you trying to kill all of us or something?”

“Shut up. It’s a side effect of the spell, obviously.” Sasuke said.

Twilight was surprised to hear Sasuke speaking up for, but he wasn’t done.

“She’s helping you get home, so you probably shouldn’t complain. It annoys me especially, so stop it.”

“Sasuke… I didn’t realize that you cared so much about me-“

“Shut up, horse. I don’t care about you. I just don’t like having to listen to complaining.”

Twilight only put on a small smile as she walked back to her desk. She knew that it was just Sasuke’s way of showing that he cared.

I don’t care about her. I’m only interested in getting home.

Guilt decided to speak up, then.

Of course you’re only interested in getting home. The greed and arrogance of the Uchiha is what you’re made up of, after all. Keep on being selfish. It’s the only thing that you’re good at. Worthless thing. Betrayer, murderer. Criminal. Naruto has spent so much time-

“SHUT UP ABOUT NARUTO!” Sasuke yelled as he covered his ears- like he could stop a voice that was coming from inside his mind by covering against external sources. Twilight only stared at him, and when Sasuke opened his eyes and took his hands off his ears, he looked around and saw both the other ninja and Twilight staring at him.

He grunted and walked out of the building, leaving Twilight with the ninja. He only stared at Sasuke’s retreating form, before walking out of the building with him. He wasn’t going to follow him, but probably explore the rest of the town instead
.

Twilight only shook her head for a moment before turning back to the book. Even though she was confused, she still was also concerned, too.

Shinobi are crazy.

She held the brown tome in her hooves as she read through it again, trying to understand the complex meanings of the content within. The last spell had backfired for some reason- and she had to understand why. But even as she read, one thought was running through her mind, and it wouldn’t go away.

Who the buck is Naruto, anyway?

____________________________

Sasuke walked outside of the library and leaned against the side, frowning.

He’d lost control of himself.

He shuddered as the voices spoke- inside his head, sounds bouncing off the walls of his mind- and he shook his head violently, wanting to smash it into the side of the building.

Get out! Get out get out get out!

I’m surprised, Sasuke, Guilt said, and Sasuke could only groan in pain as the voice began speaking louder and even more fiercely inside his mind than before. When you are experiencing pain and suffering, you seem to hate it just like anyone else does. But you seem to lack the same compassion and understanding towards others. Even though Karin was a bad person, you still stabbed and betrayed her. She probably will forgive you in the long run, but is it right to abuse her trust? The Uchiha, all hail the powerful arrogant bastard who thinks he can abuse-

Sasuke let out a pained shriek as he punched himself in the side of his head. He repeatedly battered his fists against his skull until the pain overwhelmed the seemingly endless voice.

It WOULDN’T SHUT UP!

Sasuke’s chest heaved with labored breathing as he hyperventilated.

I’m losing it. I need to calm down. Calm down.

Breathing deeply in and out, he slowed his breath and closed his eyes until all was left was complete silence, save for a small, but annoying voice that said-

You can’t get rid of me so easily. Just like Naruto, I cling to you…

Sasuke bit out a pained groan and stopped leaning on the building, staggering off in a random direction. He closed his eyes for a moment and eventually found himself pressed against a wall. He slid down until he was sitting against the wall and tried to calm down.

“Sasuke, you don’t look okay.”

Sasuke opened his eyes and squinted against the harsh light of the sun as his eyes refocused and saw Twilight in front of him.

“I’m worried about you, Sasuke. What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, horse. Go back to figuring out a way to send me home.”

“But you’re bleeding.”

What?

Sasuke lifted a hand hesitantly to his head and felt the sides and his black hair. He could feel the blood running down the sides of his head. He’d hit himself so hard that he’d hurt himself. He managed a crazed chuckle before he got up to his feet and shook it off.

“It’s nothing. Go back.”

Twilight only gave him a suspicious frown, but nodded as she walked back into the library. Plopping herself back down at her desk, she could barely concentrate on her spell. She knew that something was wrong with Sasuke- how he’d screamed at nopony was a good indicator of why she had a reason to be worried- but he was too stubborn. Twilight didn’t know how to make him admit it, or approach him about it. He only ignored her when she tried.

Sighing and flipping a page of the large brown page, for now, the mare conceded to the point of simply figuring out the spell.

_______________________________

The shinobi was exploring the rest of the town, but wasn’t really enjoying the stares he was receiving from everyone. He glared back at them, and they quickly walked away, looking in other directions or simply running in terror. He grinned when he saw them do it. The ponies were the weird ones, not him, so why was he being stared at? Do they treat every newcomer here like a diseased person? The shinobi didn’t know, but he didn’t appreciate all of the negative attention.

Spying a cart of apples with some orange horse selling them to the small amount of ponies that were still in the town square, he casually walked up to stand and looked into the sea of apples inside of the cart, searching for the best ones.

Reaching inside, he pulled one out and began to eat it, in front of Applejack.

“Hey! You need to pay for that first!”

With a mouthful of apple fruit, the man responded while shrugging his shoulders.

“What’re you going to do about it?”

“This!” Applejack charged at him recklessly, and when she got close, tried to turn and applebuck him in the leg. The man easily dodged it. Despite being a weaker missing-nin, he knew that this creature had no power. Applejack only tried to buck him again, and failed similarly. The shinobi, beginning to get annoyed, drew a kunai from his pouch.

Casually, and without really trying, he tossed it and watched it bury itself inside of Applejack’s right foreleg. She let out a pained cry and nearly fell to the ground, standing on three limbs as the fourth bled heavily. The kunai was lodged deep. She tried to walk, but only collapsed. The shinobi grinned and took a few more apples before starting to eat them as well.

The small pony that was crouched behind the cart took off deeper into Ponyville.

________________________

Sasuke was walking through town when a small foal came to him, crying, and bulled into his leg. Sasuke only looked down and growled, but was surprised when the pony was crying.

“Dumb horse, why are you crying?”

“Mah name’s Apple Bloom… and my sister Applejack, the mean thing hurt her! You gotta help!”

“Applejack? I think I know her.” Sasuke said, remembering the orange pony.

“Didn’t she wear a hat or something?”

“Y-yes.” The filly said, sobbing at his feet.

The filly was a yellow, normal pony- or as the horses here called them, ‘earth ponies.’ She had a red mane and tail, with a ribbon in her hair. And the cute filly was sobbing at Sasuke’s feet. Sasuke tried to shake her off his feet, but she only clutched harder with her hooves.

“Where is your sister, dumb horse?”

“S-she’s in the middle of town.” Came the muffled reply from Apple Bloom, who had her head hidden in between her hooves and his sandals.

Sighing, Sasuke walked closer to the town square. He wondered what ‘mean’ thing had hurt her. It could be another dragon, though he decided that there would be more pandemonium if something as large as that was attacking the town. It could’ve been one of those weird cat things or wooden wolves from the forest, though.

Rushing faster to the scene, he came upon a bleeding Applejack clutching at her foreleg, collapsed on the ground, and the shinobi above her laughing as he devoured apples. The townsponies shied away in fear, and no one looked ready to do anything about the man’s cruelty. Except for Sasuke, whose eyes widened as he watched the scene.

Inside of him, he felt a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Sympathy.

For some reason, the scene felt wrong to Sasuke. Normally, he didn’t care about anyone but himself- but it was different now, for some reason…

This place has to be getting to me, Sasuke thought, but…

“Hey, stop it.”

He interrupted the shinobi’s cruel laughter, who stopped eating and took his time to turn towards Sasuke. He only glared back at Sasuke.

“Oh, it’s you. Why should I stop?”

“Because you’re picking on innocent weaklings. Only cowards waste their time with weaklings. Now leave.”

The shinobi chuckled, drawing another kunai from his pouch before spinning it wildly with one finger. He walked a little closer to Sasuke, spinning the black steel. It gleamed in the daylight, dangerous. He smirked as he stopped walking.

“What if I don’t?”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

Sasuke drew one hand behind him, and gripped the hilt of his sword. He drew it out with a screech of steel- the impeccable grey metal making him even more confident as he held it one hand. His eyes, black, suddenly turned red with complex markings. Blue electricity ran across his blade as he spoke softly.

“If you don’t leave, I’ll kill you.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Temporary Relief

The shinobi trembled in fear as killing intent began to leak out of Sasuke like water out of a bad faucet. It permeated the air, and the shinobi could feel his bloodlust- his want and intent to murder him, to end his life. It was nothing new to the shinobi to feel such a feeling- plenty of people wanted to kill him in the past, and he knew that it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. It was more than just Sasuke wanting to kill him.

It was different.

There was a strange… malice... that seeped from the mysterious ninja in front of him. He had electricity that curled off of his sword, no doubt extremely deadly. He seemed fairly normal, though, and the shinobi was wondering how truly dangerous the other ninja was. The only things that truly scared him were the red eyes that the ninja possessed, and that mostly scared him because he didn’t know what it was and what the ninja was capable of.

He held another kunai up in front of him and sized up Sasuke. There was just something that was off about him. The shinobi knew he would have to take this fight seriously. The orange horse-thing still bled heavily next to him, and he wondered how much trouble he’d gotten into just for hurting the dumb horse-thing. Wasn’t the other shinobi a human, too?

Wasn’t he on his side?

“It’s just a dumb horse, anyway. Why do you even care?”

Sasuke scowled at the man with an intensive, terrorizing mix of anger and hatred, and his voice was once again abnormally soft and cold as he responded.

“It’s none of your business why it’s my business. Leave. Now.”

“No.”

The shinobi would later regret these words.

“I don’t know how strong you are,” the shinobi said, and at this, Sasuke could only smirk, “but back in the Elemental Nations, I was an A-rank missing-nin. I had a decent bounty on my head in the Land of Lightning, and I was fairly dangerous, so I don’t think you want to fight me.” Sasuke’s evil grin only grew larger and larger as the shinobi continued with his arrogant, insipid statements. “I think you should leave, not me. You don’t want to fight me.”

“Oh, but I do. I really, really do.” Sasuke’s voice was filled with a sadistic joy as he stepped forward again. As he did, the shinobi unconsciously stepped backwards, and every step was the same. Forward, back. Forward, back. Forward, back. The shinobi seemed to be growing more and more nervous by the second as time went on.

“For such an arrogant and confident opponent, you’re keeping quite the distance.”

“Shut up!”

By now, the man was a good deal away from the apple cart, where Applejack was still bleeding out. Somepony had run and went to the hospital to call a nurse, but they wouldn’t be back for several more minutes, at the very least. The pony was only an earth pony, and there weren’t many pegasi in the square, anyway. The ones that were there were too horrified and captivated by the sight to pay attention to much else. Sasuke smiled grimly as he moved closer.

“I’m an A-rank ninja! G-get away!”

“I’m an S-rank. I could care less.”

The way the man’s eyes bulged was an entertaining sight, and Sasuke couldn’t help but to bark a laugh as he got closer. The man, still fearful but not willing to do down without a fight, suddenly launched himself at Sasuke. Sasuke grunted and leaned to one side, as the multiple illusive images told him where the man would go. He smiled as his visual prowess made the battle easy. The shinobi groaned, annoyed, but retrieved several more kunai from his pouch and threw them at Sasuke, black steel gleaming in the daylight.

Sasuke blocked them all effortlessly, and the kunai fell to the ground, and Sasuke charged ahead at the man, with ridiculous speed. No one else but Sasuke and the shinobi could follow the fight, and everypony else in the town square was left to watch glimpses and little slivers of vision here and there.

The shinobi panted as he barely dodged a strike from the man’s sword. It was so dangerous- a sword, of electricity! He couldn’t even block the strikes or he’d be electrocuted. He had to resort to dodging every single one. He knew that it wasn’t go to last, and the man jumped away from Sasuke for a brief moment and stopped as he executed several hand signs fairly quickly. A basic bolt of lightning shot out at Sasuke from the man’s hands, and he blocked it, almost without trying. He grinned at the man- what a damn weakling.

“Are we in the academy, or are you actually trying to kill me?” Sasuke taunted.

The man only growled before retrieving some shuriken from his supply pouch and tossing them all at Sasuke. His bad aim, however, left him accidentally throwing some at the ponies in the crowd nearby. Sasuke growled as he blocked all of them, forced to defend the ponies. They were being stupid; staying here and getting in the way while a battle was going on.

Applejack only looked on as she barely caught small portions of the strange fight that was being shown before her. It seemed that Sasuke was much more powerful than they thought- what he’d shown before in the rare demonstrations of his strength were child’s play to what was happening now. The furious battle was clearly in Sasuke’s favor, though.

Applejack didn’t understand how much, however.

Sasuke breathed deep and exhaled with satisfaction as he felt unused muscles glowing with strength. In such a peaceful land, he hadn’t had to use any of them for a while, but now fully healed; he was stronger than he was before- probably a lot stronger.

The man edged closer to the ponies, and he suddenly held one up, a foal, by the neck. A struggling Sweetie Belle, who’d been watching the entire thing, flailed in alarm and tried to escape his grasp, but failed to do so. A weak magical grip seemed to engulf the man, but he shook it off without any effort- Sasuke’s eyes could see it. It looked like he just pushed chakra out of his tenketsu- that was how the grip worked, apparently. It surrounded the person, but could be repelled by the many tenketsu that were located all over the body.

He held up the struggling Sweetie Belle with one arm, by the neck, and pressed cold, uncaring steel to the vital area, which killed her resistance immediately.

“If you care about them so much, you shouldn’t attack me anymore. If you do, I’ll kil this one. Then I’ll kill more of them after that, too. It’ll be on your conscious.”

“Look into my eyes.”

What? Look into his eyes? He wasn’t falling for any kind of trap.

“Fine, if you won’t do that, then I’ll tell you my name. Uchiha… Sasuke.”

With widening eyes, the shinobi almost dropped Sweetie Belle, but then held onto her even harder as his mind processed what was happening.

“You’re THE Uchiha Sasuke? You’re that Sasuke?”

“Yes.”

“International Criminal, sole survivor the Uchiha Clan, S-rank missing-nin,” he choked out, from a bingo-book he’d once read, ”Killed Orochimaru- do not fight at all costs. Avoid at all times, do not encounter. Attempted Kage Assassinations; took the arm of the Raikage.” The shinobi said, quivering in terror as he realized who he was facing.

There’d probably be no surviving this.

“G-get away. I’ll kill her! I really will! I’ll kil-“

Sasuke had just been playing with the man. He couldn’t match Sasuke’s real speed at all.

So, in the next instant, several things happened.

One, the ponies, and several of their foals who were next to or behind them, all of whom were directly to the side or behind the man, were covered in red.

Sweetie Belle was covered in red.

Sasuke was covered in red.

And the shinobi was covered in red.

In a speed that no one save Sasuke could comprehend, he attacked the shinboi. Rushing at him with agility that the shinobi couldn’t perceive, he struck deep, shoving his sword intensely into the man’s stomach. In the instant before that, he’d deactivated Chidori Nagashi, so he wouldn’t electrocute Sweetie Belle. As he shoved the sword deeply into the man’s gut, Sasuke, in the same instance of time, while the man was still unaware of what had happened, he took the man’s hand that had the kunai and forced it away from Sweetie Belle’s neck.

He instead jammed it directly into the man’s throat.

And the last thing he did in the same instance was take the man’s pouch so he would have no more weapons on him. He stood in front of the man as time passed- slowly to Sasuke- and those around the shinobi, and the shinobi himself, realized what had happened.

He grabbed for his own throat and gut at the same time, attempted to stop the blood flow from both and failing to at both as well. Blood spurted and splashed out, and coated Sasuke and Sweetie Belle, who were in his immediate proximity. Farther away- but only marginally, the ponies and their foals had a decent amount of blood splattered on them as well.

Tearing his sword out of the man’s middle, he slashed the air and got most of the blood off, sliding the deadly weapon back into its sheath calmly. The man was still grasping at his throat, and blood spurted out more and more, coating the ground and the shinobi as he fell to the ground, with blood running down his entire front.

It slowly formed a crimson pool beneath the man, and there was complete and utter silence for one single second. It seemed that the silence possessed the town square- no, Ponyville, Equestria, the universe. It was completely and utterly silent, and not a single sound or word was heard or said in that single second, that single moment in time.

And then the screaming started.

Ponies and their parents screamed as they scattered from the square, holding their young. Sweetie Belle was too in shock to move- having witnessed death at such a young age, and at such a close distance. She’d watched as the thing’s eyes- the mean thing’s eyes- dulled, and the life slipped away from them. She’d watched as the body jerked as he fell to the ground, and then how it didn’t move anymore.

Then she’d smelt the terrible smell as the man vacated his bowels, and shit and pissed himself. All of this she’d seen, heard, smelled, and existed nearby as it had happened.

It wasn’t unexpected when Sweetie Belle vomited on the side, either, but that was beside the point. In less than a minute, the town square had been vacated, excluding Applejack, who couldn’t walk. She’d seen the whole thing- and with a stronger stomach than most, was able to avoid puking, but she’d have been lying if she’d said that she wasn’t disturbed by what she’d just witnessed. Sasuke calmly deactivated his Mangekyo Sharingan, and picked up the body effortlessly, before leaping off and running out of town.

He carried the dirty, filthy body, covered with blood and piss and shit and chucked it deep into the Everfree Forest, before leaving just as quickly. It was vicious enough inside there, and there would certainly be some timberwolf or manticore that came along and decided to eat the body. Problem solved, Sasuke headed back to town.

When he arrived, Sweetie Belle was still sitting there, covered in blood, and Applejack was leaning on the side of her applecart, while groaning in pain. She put both hooves to the kunai that was jabbed into her foreleg, but hissed in pain as soon as she touched it. She didn’t want to pull it out.

Sweetie Belle was still sitting in shock- her eyes were distanced, her look dazed. It seemed like she was completely out of it and was still trying to cope with what she’d just seen happen. Her mouth was still dirty with puke and she made no attempt to clean it or to even move at all as she stared off into some random direction- the real action was happening inside of her head.

It had only been a few minutes since the panic, and already other ponies were coming to investigate. Twilight, for one, came along with Spike, and the rest of the Elements of Harmony, besides Fluttershy, who was immobile in the hospital. Rarity, had, however, gotten off with bandaging and instructions to not move around too much- the slashes weren’t as bad as everpony originally thought.

So, Sasuke heard another scream as he again entered the town square.

Rarity, with bandages all over her flank and lower half, ran up, ignoring the pain, screaming at the sight. Sweetie Belle- her little sister- covered in blood. Combined with Applejack still sitting there, lying in pain and bleeding out, trying to get the kunai out, and Sasuke, who had blood on him, she very easily managed to put two and two together.

“My poor sister! How dare you!”

Rarity attempted a half-charge at Sasuke, which ended when she fell comically and didn’t even make it near him- despite how little difference it would make. She squealed at the pain, and the bandages were tinged red. Sasuke sighed at the idiocy of it all, but said nothing. Applejack, however, quickly spoke up for him.

“No, no. It ain’t like that! He helped me and Sweetie. Even if Ah don’t agree with his… methods, he didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Then who did that to you?” Rarity demanded. As she asked this, Pinkie, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Spike had just arrived. They all stared in horror at the scene.

“The shinobi I killed.” Sasuke answered.

“…Killed?” Rarity whispered.

The town square was uncharacteristically silent as they gazed at Sasuke.

Sasuke’s eye twitched as they stared him down. The entirety of the Elements plus Spike minus Rarity stared at him. They’d heard him talking about killing, but they’d never seen him do it, before. They’d seen him intimidate Pinkie and Trixie, and even cripple and attack the dragon. All of that was bad enough. It didn’t change the fact that they’d never heard about or seen him killing- and it changed them. He saw it in their eyes.

Slight fear- that was steadily growing over time in the terrible silence. A pity that was strangely humiliating, to Sasuke. As if they felt bad for him, that he could actually bring himself to take another’s life. Sweetie Belle, still out of it, only stared on blankly, but for some reason, her stare affected Sasuke the most of all. He tried to inch away from them- tried to get away from the stares. It didn’t work.

They were so intensive to Sasuke. Gripping. He couldn’t look away. Murderer, they seemed to whisper. We thought you were better than that. The words were silent, and soft, but most of all, they weren’t actually there. Sasuke couldn’t know what they were actually thinking- but it couldn’t have been good. As they continued to stare, it started to get to him more and more. Face hardening, he resolved to set the record straight before they could form opinions.

“Don’t stare at me like that.”

Their expressions changed instantly. Before, on everypony’s face, were fear, anxiety, terror, wonder, and anger as well. They’d been unsure as of what had truly happened, and had kept speculating, even after Applejack had informed them that it was okay. They stayed away from him- backing away, just like the shinobi had done. Sasuke couldn’t help but feel something- it wormed its way into his heart, but he plucked it out before it could nest.

Just for a second.

Guilt- guilt had been in his heart, but he ripped it out and-

No.

“Don’t stare at me like I was in the wrong. If anything, you should be thanking me. Thank me that Applejack and Sweetie Belle are alive.”

They still looked suspicious, so he continued.

“Would you rather have a knife shoved in the man’s throat, or in hers?” Sasuke said, jerking a thumb at Sweetie Belle, who was still staring. She was playing with her mane idly- hooves smeared with blood trying to fix her mane, discoloring the pink-purple mane more and more as she did so. Her white, pure hooves were stained with blood. She gaped, still, and her hind hooves awkwardly scuffed the dirt as she kicked at it, sitting on the ground on her rear.

Rarity choked out a sob and hugged Sweetie Belle, who seemed to not even notice that Rarity was doing so. Her distanced gaze was horrible- a true testament to show what had happened. Eyes unfocused, hardly could believe what she’d seen. Sasuke knew what it was.

He’d experienced it once before too.

Innocence lost.

“Thank you, Sasuke,” Rarity managed to say, “truly, thank you. You saved my dearest sister… even if she’s like… this, now.” Rarity gestured with her hooves to Sweetie Belle.

“But, did you really have to kill him?” Rarity asked.

It seemed to be the question they’d all been waiting for. Everypony else perked up when they heard the question asked- instantly, many pairs of eyes fixed themselves on Sasuke. They were all watching him-wondering, waiting. What would he say? Would he admit guilt to taking a life? Or would he admit that it hadn’t affected him in the slightest?

It ended up being neither.

“I didn’t particularly enjoy killing him, if that’s what you’re asking. A battle like that with a shinobi like that always ends in death on one side- and I’m not getting killed just so I don’t kill him. He was fairly dangerous, or so he told me. A-rank ninja. I killed him before he could do any of his really dangerous techniques, though. He probably had more than he got to show.”

Everypony around nodded, though they didn’t really understand what he was talking about. Sasuke looked at the scene all around him- and then he fixed his gaze on Twilight, who stared back at him. Breathing deeply and calming himself, he started speaking.

“Twilight, did you make any more progress on the spell?”

This seemed to snap Twilight out of the shock she’d been in. Shaking her head back and forth, mane twisting wildly, she cleared her head, and then replied.

“A little. It’s hard to understand, though.”

“Mah question is whether or not anymore of yew shinobi will be comin’ through the portal. Yew’ve caused enough chaos here as it is,” Applejack told Sasuke bluntly, “but at least you didn’t hurt anyone. Him, though. He nearly killed Sweetie Belle, and hurt me pretty bad.”

“No, I don’t think so. I looked into the portal. There are… it’s impassable.”

“Well, good. Ah’m gonna be frank with yew, Sasuke. I don’t particularly care for ya, or your kind. All yew seem to do is cause trouble. But yew saved us from the dragon, and yew saved Sweetie Belle and me, so Ah gotta thank you for that.”

He wasn’t unsurprised.

“Whatever.”

He turned to leave, and then they asked him where he was going.

“Food.” He simply replied as he walked in the direction of the Everfree forest.

“There’s no food in there! There are manticores, they’ll eat you!” Twilight called.

“More like I’ll eat them.” Sasuke replied, a little annoyed, and was slightly satisfied when he saw Twilight blanch at the idea of eating meat, even a predator.

He went deep into the Everfree forest and found a manticore. Killing it easily, he cooked it and ate his fill without much trouble, and left again, quietly. He returned to town to find the square mostly deserted, still, with the blood still on the ground. Obviously no one wanted to clean it up, and the ponies around were still shocked at what had happened.

Sasuke didn’t really care, but as he walked through the mostly silent Ponyville, the silence reminded him of something- it was silent. Both outside, and inside his mind.

Guilt had stopped talking.

A look of true, real happiness appeared on Sasuke’s face as he realized how quiet it was. Guilt wasn’t talking, Hatred wasn’t talking. Not even Pride was-

I’m wounded, Sasuke. Not only did you go into battle because you had a fucking bleeding heart for a stupid horse, you protected it, and even explained yourself after. Ridiculous! Where’s your pride, Sasuke? I’ll tell you: I’M RIGHT HERE. You’re belittling yourself and I don’t understand why. If you continue to do this, you will no longer be Uchiha.

Sasuke bit out a pained groaned as he clutched awkwardly at his head. Pride was still there, though, but at least Guilt wasn’t, for now. Though he wasn’t sure exactly why Guilt was quiet, he decided not to question it. It hurt every time any one of them talked, and he wasn’t going to jinx himself. After Pride rambled on for a bit longer, he fell silent.

And it was again silent in Ponyville.

Sasuke sighed, trying to find something to do. Now, there was nothing to do but wait. The boredom weighed down on him heavily, but there was nothing to cure it with.

Before, when he was going after Itachi, all he’d do was train. Train, train, train. On his free time, he trained, and then he slept and ate, and that was all he did. Not much else. There was no time for fun and games- he was out on a mission of vengeance, after all.

Then, after that, he’d gained new knowledge, and had another target upon which to focus his hatred. And so, he trained and he attacked the five Kages and tried to destroy the Leaf. That was still his goal… wasn’t it?

He scoffed at himself; of course it was still his goal. He’d destroy everyone in the Leaf village and burn the place to the ground, and Naruto would be the last person he’d kill, for trying to defend the worthless place in the first place.

No you won’t, Guilt said.

Sasuke groaned in extreme pain. The pain had been intense- like a jackhammer pummeling into his brain. It was back.

Why did it have to come back?

I’ll only leave for so long, Guilt said. I’m what you despise the worse- what Pride calls a ‘bleeding heart.’ The insipid, heartless bragger. You’ve repressed me for so long Sasuke, repressed what most call their conscious. No, I’ve grown stronger and angrier because of it. I only left because I saw you doing something good, but you set your foot right back on that path of vengeance, didn’t you? I expected as much- with how worthless you and your clan are, I’m not surprised all you can do is hurt others. What a damn brute. I’m ashamed even being part of your conscious, not to mention having to witness the horrible decisions you make ever da-

Sasuke screamed in pain, clutching at his head as the voice reverberated throughout his mind and his being. It felt like the voice was coming from everywhere- and he was unable to stop it. He couldn’t attack himself, or something that didn’t have a physical form.

He was helpless, basically.

Sasuke Uchiha didn’t like feeling helpless.

If only he could be back home already- but no, he couldn’t. Not yet. Not until Twilight finished the spell. Still holding his head slightly, he wandered.

At first, he had no idea where he was going. He moved this way or that, strode around Ponyville, and didn’t talk to anyone. Everypony avoided him with as much space as they could possibly give him- after what they’d seen him done, even if he’d technically saved them, they’d seen how dangerous he could become and how threatening they he could be. As he passed random ponies out in Ponyville, they all gave him a wide berth.

Eventually, somehow, he found himself at Ponyville’s hospital. He staggered in, breathing heavily, but didn’t fall. The voice was still going, but it was getting quieter.

He could handle the pain when it was quieter.

When Guilt was quiet, it was like a dull agony that was ignorable- he’d already slept through it while it was happening several times before. But when Guilt was talking loudly, it was impossible to ignore. It was a loud torture that ripped through his mind and pounded into his brain. He walked further into the hospital, ignoring the nurse who demanded that he stopped. After she followed him for a bit, he turned.

He fixed her a glare of hatred and furious anger, and she backed off quickly enough.

After a while of wandering, he somehow found his way to Fluttershy’s room.

He walked in and closed the door, ignoring some other random mare next to her on the bed, separated by a curtain. The other mare looked at him curiously, but didn’t say anything. Sasuke walked up to Fluttershy’s bed and stood, and watched her while she was sleeping.

Her wings looked absolutely horrible.

After the burns had cleared away, and what was left of- if you could even call them wings- were revealed, it was clear how much actual damage had been done to them. A melded, fleshy, jagged limb jutted out awkwardly from Fluttershy’s back, and it was featherless- really, they looked terrible. Even the feathers on her other wing were seared off, but the damage to that one was minimal. No, it was her left wing that the damage had been done to.

Even with the burns mostly healed after a few days, the damage had been dealt almost immediately as soon as she’d received the wound. Because of the high temperature of the flame breath that a dragon possessed- easily going over a thousand degrees- it had melted her flesh together. Joints and muscles now con-joined where they weren’t supposed to, and the flesh was horrible discolored- not like her yellow coat. It looked bony, and Sasuke could easily see the jagged, wild places where the bones jerked out of place wrongly.

The pain must’ve been immense, and Sasuke himself had to give credit to Fluttershy. He knew that she was basically innocent and not at all used to real pain. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully, even if they had her sedated or something, with magic or something else.

After sitting there for a while, he got up and left, without Fluttershy waking up.

He wandered around the town a bit more, but didn’t have anything to do.

He was thinking about what Guilt had said, earlier.

Now that Applejack had been wounded in her front hoof like that, she probably wasn’t going to be working on her farm. Sasuke knew that farms were hard work to take care of, and someone getting injured like that was probably incredible inconvenient for the rest of the people-ponies- that worked at the farm.

He wondered what would happen if he went and helped at the farm.

Shrugging his shoulders awkwardly, he wandered off through town a bit more, putting the idea off. He ended up walking into the Carousel Boutique, and saw Rarity making dresses, albeit a little slowly. She was still hindered by the wounds in her legs, flank, and back. She cringed every few moments as she moved around, but otherwise seemed fine.

Due to Sasuke’s stealth, Rarity hadn’t noticed him, but he made a point to be louder than he usually was, getting closer and watching her make dresses. Rarity turned to him, and smiled, before putting the dress that was in her magical grip down. The strange, blue aura that Sasuke still wasn’t used to faded as the materials fell to the desk that they were floating above before. Rarity seemed to struggle to find words before speaking.

“I must thank you again, Sasuke, even if you traumatized my sister a little. It was so dreadful, watching her like that. I must’ve cried for her the entire time I was helping her clean up. She cried too, after she… got out of it.” Rarity finished lamely as she walked through her store/home, moving into the kitchen.

Sasuke noticed how well she took care of herself. She’d already changed her own bandages it seemed- and while he barely knew Rarity, he knew how much she took care of herself. She seemed to have an even more pristine coat than before because of the injury- to compensate for the wound, she bathed and went to the spa even more. The doctor had recommended keeping the wound very clean, anyway.

“The poor dear, she sobbed and sobbed, but she’s sleeping upstairs, now.”

“Would you like some tea?” She offered.

“Hn.” Sasuke grunted, and didn’t say anything else.

Rarity sighed, but went and made the tea anyway, and they drank it quietly.

“Do ponies drink tea often?” Sasuke asked as he set down his cup.

“No. Although I’m surprised you know how to.”

“No, more people do it where I’m from. My mother was the one who taught me how to drink my tea.” Sasuke seized up as he realized what he’d just said.

“Oh, your mother. What’s she like?” Rarity asked nonchalantly, not paying attention to Sasuke’s facial expression as it darkened more and more. She poured herself another cup and began to drink, but was surprised when she heard the cold reply.

“Nevermind.”

Faster than she thought was possible; Sasuke had disappeared from her store. Huffing and muttering about individuals who lacked manners, she wandered back into her inspiration room to continue creating her great art.

__________________________________

It had pissed him off a lot to hear her ask about his mother, but he managed not to hit Rarity. She was one of the things that could still set Sasuke off, despite the fact that he’d calmed down slightly since he came to Equestria.

Sasuke grumbled and scowled as he walked around town. He knew he was just avoiding the inevitable, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It was really his pride that inhibited him- to go offer help to another person was already strange- his problems weren’t theirs, and theirs weren’t his- but the fact that they were ponies somehow made it all worse.

He noticed that, while before, he’d spotted the three crazy foals- The Cutie Mark Crusaders, as they called themselves- scampering around the town often, even for the short while he’d been here, they weren’t here now. It didn’t surprise Sasuke, though- he knew that two had just been through a traumatic ordeal, and he didn’t even know where the third was during all of that. The orange one, ‘Scooter’ or whatever her name was.

Eventually, though, he just started walking in the direction of the farm.

The entire time, Guilt was still rambling. Sasuke frantically tried to shut her out, but nothing really worked- it seemed that this was the only way. He’d noticed the silence- the absolutely beautiful silence that he’d never appreciated so well before- right after he’d helped everypony in the middle of the town square. It had been amazing- not having to listen to the maniac voices in his head talk all the time!

As he walked further and further way from town, it got even quieter. Much like before, except the only noise he heard was Guilt rambling onwards and never-endingly in his head. Still, it was clear that it was helping. The closer he got, the quieter it got. Buildings and ponies walking around them were replaced by the wilderness for a short time as Sasuke slowly walked out towards the innumerable apple trees that dotted the landscape, far away.

It took him a little while, because he wasn’t in a real hurry, and he was also still procrastinating, but eventually he wound up at the Apple Family farm. It didn’t look much different from the farms back home, although everything was slightly smaller scaled due to ponies being smaller than the average man- or the average farmer.

They had large fields that were being tilled- still brown and with deep, long stretching furrows that went out of eyesight. They had apple trees that were beyond counting- They went in miles for every direction, and Sasuke knew that they probably managed this with a lot of other workers. There was too much here for one or two ponies.

But, curiously, he didn’t see anyone else. He didn’t see anypony else, rather. He didn’t even see Applejack. He figured that everyone was instead inside of the house. Shrugging, and scowling at the building- detesting himself for what he was about to do- Sasuke took his time walking to the front door, and knocking awkwardly.

It was silent for a few seconds- and the voices in his head had gotten even quieter, by now- but soon enough, the door was opened. A curious filly looked out towards him, and then opened the door wider. It was Apple Bloom. She stuck her head out, and looked at him, uncertain of his arrival. “Why are you here?”

Sasuke barely bit the words out.

“I’m here to talk to Applejack.”

“Oh. She’s inside.”

As Sasuke was going to step inside, Apple Bloom suddenly perked up.

“Oh yeah, by the way, thank you fer helpin’ her! You did save her, ya know.”

Sasuke barely nodded as he stepped inside- he could already feel his pride being crushed. He wandered into the old home- it seemed so… cozy, and sickeningly so. He gazd around at his surroundings, noticing how old and outdated everything seemed. He wasn’t surprised at farmers in this world being poor. They were poor back where he came from, too.

There wasn’t too much decoration- they had basic necessities, but Sasuke was certain that they didn’t have extra cash just lying around to spend on luxuries. He wandered around throughout the house a bit before finally actually seeking out his target with intent. He found Applejack at the dining table, although she wasn’t eating- just sitting there. There was a red stallion next to her- larger than most, Sasuke noticed. He was the biggest normal pony that Sasuke had seen yet.

Next to him was a pony that looked incredibly old- as if it was a miracle that she was still even alive. It was some green mare that looked like she was knitting. They hadn’t noticed Sasuke’s arrival yet. He was right behind the door frame, and with his ninja skills, they didn’t realize he was there. They all seemed to be a little somber. Applejack took off her hat with her undamaged foreleg and set it on the table, revealing her blond mane. She sighed.

“Ah don’t know what we’re gonna do, Mac. I’m hurt, you’re still recovering from your injury… Granny can’t work, and there’s no way that Apple Bloom could take care of everything.”

She ran a hoof through her mane, sighing tiredly, and placed her injured foreleg on the table. The hoof made a light tapping noise when it hit the table, and Applejack winced in pain, and then sighed again. Big Mac looked nervous, and Sasuke, without even knowing the pony, could tell that the look didn’t fit the stallion. He looked easy going and laid back, even if hardworking. Big Mac frowned, and commented.

“Ya can’t work like that. Don’t even try doin’ it.”

“Ah know that!” Applejack replied, frustrated.

But her anger dissipated just as quickly as it had appeared, and she sighed again before dropping her hooves onto the table, depressed and beaten.

It was then that Sasuke decided to walk in and show himself.

“I could… help, if you wanted me to.” Sasuke mumbled.

“What?” Applejack asked, confused. “What? No. What are you even doing here?”

“I came to… help.” Sasuke mumbled, but inside he was furious with himself. He couldn’t believe that he was doing this. Applejack’s stubborn pride wouldn’t allow it, though.

“No, no. No.” She repeated, endlessly, but Big Mac stepped in before more damage could be done and Sasuke might actually leave.

“Don’t listen to mah sister. She’s dumb.”

“Hey!”

“It’s true sis. You know this is a golden chance. It would give us the time we needed to rest. You’re not ruining this for us just because you don’t want to accept help.”

Applejack only ran her hoof through her mane again, and slumped onto the table.

“Fine. We aren’t paying you much, though.”

“I’m not asking for money.”

“Even better, then. Alright, Big Mac. Show him the work he needs to do.”

As Big Mac led Sasuke out to the fields to show him his tasks, Sasuke couldn’t help but feel humiliated that he was resorted to this. He was above farm work.

But, it made Guilt quiet in his head.

There was silence.

And that was all Sasuke cared about.

TO BE CONTINUED

Betrayal

Big Mac had gasped when he saw several Sasuke’s appear around the original, and start harvesting apples from trees. He gasped and was shocked even more when he saw how fast the five Sasuke’s worked. They harvested apples at a breakneck pace- and, even though Big Mac was a little reluctant to admit it, so fast, that even he or his sister couldn’t keep up if they tried.

He’d of course asked what it was when Sasuke had first made the few Kage Bunshin, and Sasuke had, while annoyed because he had to explain the basics of chakra to a simpleton, given him a basic rundown on what it was. Afterwards, even though Big Mac understood it, he still couldn’t help but to stare as he watched Sasuke work on the farm.

It was amazing, really. He’d love to be able to do the same thing himself- just make five of himself? It was ridiculous. He wouldn’t have to worry nearly as much about… well, everything, if he was able to do that. In a way, he was very envious of Sasuke’s ability. To have such a helpful technique would’ve been incredibly beneficial for the farm.

But he knew that he couldn’t. While Sasuke had explained the concept of chakra coils to him, he already understood it was something like magic- something that you were born with. Sasuke had told him bluntly that he doubted anyone here had chakra coils, and that he hadn’t seen them yet. The closest thing he’d seen was magic, but he also stated that it still wasn’t the same thing as raw, powerful chakra.

Sasuke had been working on the farm for several days- almost a week; would be a week, after today. He’d put in a lot of time on the farm- truthfully, it was good training, or so he told himself. He wasn’t going to be in denial anymore, though. He knew why he was doing it, even if it did humiliate him. At least his plan had worked for the most part, though.

Guilt had stayed quiet.

Guilt did sometimes start talking late at night- but it was minor compared to how it had been before- and he was going to work here as long as he was waiting on Twilight to finish the spell. He hadn’t visited her in a while, but he was sure that she was working hard on it- she’d better be. He’d force it, if he had to. He wasn’t above doing such things to get what he wanted.

Vengeance was still his goal.

Or so he told himself.

Sasuke’s production on the farm was ridiculous. He could plow fields ridiculously easy with a combination of earth jutsu and simple raw strength, and he could harvest apples faster than anyone due to his advantage in numbers thanks to the clones, not to mention his incredible speed and endurance.

He often shot kunai throw several apple trees at once, slicing them off perfectly without harming the fruit, and catching them all by hand before they fell to the ground. He sliced them off with his sword, threw shuriken, and just picked them by hand as time went on. He had plenty of different methods, and thanks to his unmatchable agility, they were all very effective.

After each day, even though he vehemently protested each time, he was forced to sit down and eat dinner with the ponies. This was usually about the time that Guilt acted up- as soon as he stopped helping, it shot up again- rose up, and started yelling in his head. Somehow, though, even though the pain was immense, he’d gotten used to dealing with it, because it was only one part of the day. He’d gained a form of tolerance.

He relished in his work- though he knew that he didn’t do it out of the kindness of his heart- as if there was any even there- or because he wanted to. He did it because he had to. Until he found a more permanent way to deal with what were voices inside of his head, he made it a point to help them every day, just for the silence.

He’d grown to appreciate quiet much more since Guilt had started talking.

But, unfortunately, Applejack and Big Mac were healing- and he knew it had been coming- knew it was going to happen, from the beginning. It was no surprise or nothing new to Sasuke, although he dreaded and loathed the day all the same when they told him to pack up and leave from his work. It was going to happen eventually.

He cursed their pride and stubbornness, failing to realize the irony. Because they couldn’t accept someone helping them, at least not unless they were in dire straits like they were now, and had no other choice, they’d eventually tell him to leave and to stop helping. And then, he’d have to find another way to make the voice in his head go away.

Sasuke had, admittedly, even to himself, grown softer during his stay in Equestria. Even though it had scarcely been half a month, the stay had calmed him down somewhat. Although he was still easily agitated, and more than once Applejack or Big Mac would get a sarcastic, mean comment from him when they checked on his work, he noticed he wasn’t as angry and hateful as he’d once been. He still had it inside him.

But he wasn’t just letting it out around him all the time.

Sasuke both liked this and didn’t like this. Before, he realized, even with how strong he was, he was so blinded by endless hate and rage that it had blinded him in many battles. He’d survived, but he was with a clearer head, now. The rage and hatred was still there- but it was bottled up, now. He would only release it at the correct moments- and he would be in control.

Sasuke liked being in control.

Before, he hadn’t been. Now, he was.

Grunting as he threw a kunai and knocked several apples out one tree in thousands, he leapt forward and, with many agile dashes, gathered the apples as they fell to the ground. All perfectly solid and harvested at the right time- all without a scratch on them, or a bruise, or any kind of flesh or skin of the apple missing. He put his hands on his knees and panted.

While doing ten- even a hundred trees- wasn’t too tiring, it got exhausting, after a while. There was only so much he could do- he wasn’t Naruto, after all. He didn’t have ridiculous, endless stamina that the cretin possessed. He glared at an apple tree even as he thought of the Leaf Village, and Naruto, as well- and just like that, that old hatred, pure and familiar, came right back to him.

He threw the kunai threw the tree and gazed on in satisfaction at the hole it left. It felt so… memorable. The hatred, the anger. He threw another kunai, and another. Soon enough, the tree was riddled with kunai, and while his other clones were gathering the apples, still, without stopping, he’d somehow managed to go postal on the tree.

Grumbling, he stopped himself and slowly walked up to the tree, picking the kunai out one by one, as deeply as embedded into the bark and trunk of the tree as they were. It was hard to push it down- bubbling and boiling, his anger and malice- but he managed to bottle it up. He scowled as he looked at the tree, and then walked away from it.

He hadn’t visited Fluttershy in the hospital again yet- why should he, she’s stupid for having talked to the dragon in the first place- but he knew that she probably was never going to fully heal. The only person that he thought might be able to heal a wound like that would be Tsunade- and she wasn’t here, and was never coming here, either.

He shook his blade off as he put it back into its sheath- also wiping kunai off, slightly. They got dirty when he used them in this way- but they went through and did their job all the same. Instead of blood coating the dangerous, black knives, though, it was dirt and leaves, and, very rarely due to a missed aim, apple juice, from when they went clean through an apple’s core and left a huge hole right in the middle.

Still, he collected huge amounts for the farm- something that the two siblings didn’t seem to be able to do on their own. It seemed that even when they were both healthy, and at their best, it was hard for them to collect everything by the end of the harvest. Sasuke had helped them out with that, though. Despite having so many acres, he’d managed to pick many trees clean- more often than not, trees were bare instead of full of apples.

As his clones dispelled and dropped off the last of the apple bushels, he idly grabbed two or three and started walking to town. He’d been doing it more and more lately- walking around the area around Ponyville. But he hadn’t visited in a while, and even if they were annoying, he had to depend on them to get him home.

He only tolerated them because they were helping, and because he had to.

They weren’t growing on him at all.

Casually, he wondered how Sweetie Belle was doing. He knew the look in her eyes- knew the shock, the terror that she’d had- it was the same for him, once, a long time ago.

She’d seen things she wasn’t meant to. Sasuke knew that everypony here was weak- it wasn’t necessarily their fault, but they were, nonetheless. If he wanted, he could’ve gone on a slaughtering spree and killed hundreds, even thousands, and be easily beyond any sort of justice. If Celestia was the highest law in the land, and the strongest, he would’ve had nothing to fear if he’d done that. But he couldn’t. Not only because he was relying on them to get home- as humiliating as it was- but it would be too much like…

Like…

Like what his brother had been forced to do to his own family.

Except it would be worse- not only because they were innocent and couldn’t fight back- but because… because… it would be… wrong.

Wrong?

Sasuke barked a laugh at himself and continued down the dirt road to Ponyville as he considered what he’d just thought. He’d never considered right or wrong in such a long time. But it was true- just like the slaughter of the Uchiha had been wrong, the slaughter of ponies would be wrong too- and, even if he wanted to- and he didn’t, surprisingly- he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do it.

That didn’t mean that he didn’t think about ripping out Apple Bloom’s neck sometimes, though, when she wouldn’t ever shut up.

After finishing off his apples, he reached Ponyville. The small town was bustling once more, and it looked like, for a moment, everypony had forgotten what had happened six or seven days ago in the town square. Ponies were buying food and clothes and all sorts of things from stores, they were talking with one another, and many of them were smiling.

Then, Sasuke walked into town.

Almost immediately, the disposition of the entire populace in the square changed.

Ponies looked away from Sasuke; they talked lower, and moved and inched away from him, giving him a wide gap in which nopony would go near him. Sasuke scowled at all of them- even though he’d saved them, they treated him this way- and decided instead that he was going to try to ignore them the same way they were ostracizing him.

Whenever he got close to them, he saw it. The fear in their eyes. Sasuke would roll his eyes as they walked or sprinted away, or flew away if they were Pegasi. Despite what had been considered good intentions, he instead was treated like a leper.

Sasuke chuckled to himself. So this was what being good got you.

What did he fucking expect, anyway?

It was his surprise, then, when he bumped into somepony that he hadn’t expected to see in the town. A mare with a pristine white coat was shopping in the marketplace, and by chance, they met in the middle of the town. She was surprised to see him.

“Sasuke,” Rarity said as she picked out fabrics from a vendor who was standing as far away from the large, intimidating ninja as possible, “how delightful it is to see you. I haven’t seen you in a while. You’ve been out at the farm with Applejack, right?”

“Yes,” Sasuke responded, confused. “How did you know?”

“A mare has her secrets, Sasuke.” Rarity said as she held up a cloth to inspect it in the daylight. Sasuke merely snorted at her words, and countered quickly.

“So, what you mean is, you heard it from Applejack.”

“I, uh… yes, I heard it from Applejack. She says you’ve been helping out around the farm. Not to insult you, Sasuke, but you aren’t the most… bighearted… pony- shinobi, excuse me darling- that I’ve ever met. So, why are you doing it?”

Sasuke didn’t bother telling her that it was for completely selfish reasons.

“I have a lot of free time on my hands.” Sasuke lied.

“Oh, pish-posh! There’s got to be a better reason than that. I’m all for generosity, Sasuke- I’m the Element of it, after all. But that doesn’t seem quite right.” Rarity turned to Sasuke. “What’s your real reason for doing it?”

Sasuke stayed silent as he considered on how to lie his way through this. He obviously couldn’t give the real answer- and he didn’t want to seem weak, despite the fact that the ponies probably wouldn’t look down on him for it.

His pride was already as injured as it was- he didn’t need to completely destroy it.

“I already told you. I have a lot of free time on my hands.”

Rarity waved a hoof in the air idly as she inspected the cloth she was buying.

“Yes, yes. I’m sure, Sasuke. You’re not trying to make up for what you’ve done at all.”

“I haven’t done anything.” Sasuke replied.

“Really,” Rarity said, almost in a bored tone, as if he was no longer interesting enough to hold her attention, “because I could’ve sworn you’ve intimidated several of us and probably traumatized Sweetie Belle for life. Even if you did save her.”

“I could care less about your opinion. I know I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“That’s right Sasuke- you could care less. Which means you still care now. I know that you feel sorry for all the things you’ve done- but I’m still very cross with you.”

“I have no remorse.”

“Lies,” Rarity said, perusing the cloth with a refined eye.

Sasuke seethed silently. He wanted to do nothing more than cut her head off right now, and was about to start releasing killing intent, but before he did, he had to ask.

“Why are you angry with me?”

“I’ve seen your power, Sasuke. That other shinobi- even as inexperienced as I am in something as brutish and inelegant as… fighting,” she shuddered, “I could tell that you didn’t need to kill him. You did it because he angered you, not because you had to. You didn’t need to do that in front of Sweetie Belle. My sister means the world to me, and even though you’ve saved her life, you’ve destroyed her heart and her mind.”

“Do you know what she does all day, Sasuke?”

“How could I?” Sasuke shot back.

“She sits in her room, and she cries. She doesn’t speak to anypony.”

“How is this of any concern to me?”

Sasuke tried to play it off. It was already in there- wriggling its way in, but he furiously tried to resist it, the feeling of Guilt. He figured he could disgust her and make her go away by being cruel- and for him, it was easy.

“Don’t play the villainous act, now.”

His heart skipped a beat as she continued.

“I’ve seen the way you’ve changed, Sasuke. You still may be a little cruel but you’re not the vicious thing you were when you first came here. Somewhere along the line, Sasuke, you’ve become different. You can’t say you didn’t notice it, as well.”

Sasuke had nothing to say to her, even as Rarity handed the vendor a few bits and walked off with some supplies to create new dresses with. She only said one thing as she left and sashayed her way across the town square, but it bit Sasuke to the heart- something that he sometimes wondered if it was still even there.

“It’s your fault.”

And, just like that, Guilt was back.

It really was your fault, Sasuke, oh, yes it was, and I can say with pure confidence that-

He failed to hear the rest of the message as his brain exploded into agony. Managing to make no noise, he made painful, slow steps across the town square, catching up to Rarity within thirty seconds. The entire time, he had to listen to the chaotic rambling and the terribly soft voice that was Guilt- in his head. And it wasn’t quiet this time.

It was loud.

“Wait. Let me talk to her.”

Already, once he’d said that, the pain was leaving- the pain was draining away, like water down a faucet. Rarity turned back towards him, her face curious, and she popped a brow.

“I’ll talk to her about what happened.”

Slowly, as Rarity processed what he’d said, a smile exploded onto her face- almost like, for a single instance in time, she’d become Pinkie Pie.

“Oh, thank you Sasuke! I promise you that I won’t forget this!” She bulled into his leg and wrapped her forelegs around it in a squeezing hug.

Groaning, he tried to shake her off his leg. She got the point, but gave him a glare nonetheless for interrupting the hug, and he sighed, frustrated, before he followed her back to the Boutique. When they arrived, Rarity pointed towards the stairs and muttered some directions, which sounded like ‘first door on the left upstairs.’ She seemed to be caught up in whatever dress she was making.

Sighing at himself and his weakness, he climbed the stairs slowly, delaying the inevitable. Her store/home was incredibly… pretentious, in a way. It was the only word that actually came to mind for Sasuke. Arrogantly pretentious, even. Still, he ignored the flashy, colorful, yet matching decorations and climbed the last step of the stairs.

Looking around, he spotted a door- first on his left- just as Rarity had told him. He stopped at the door momentarily, before pushing through with resolve, and opening it, just a crack. On the bed laid inside laid a disheveled, white pony with a dirty coat and a dirty mane. It looked like she hadn’t bathed in at least a day- was she that unmovable, that Rarity couldn’t even make her move for a bath?

The smallest amount of concern entered Sasuke- and he tried to crush it out, but it wouldn’t leave him. Sighing again, he walked closer, and watched the filly stare into the air, at the wall, and say nothing. She existed in complete silence- still thinking, still contemplating- about what she’d seen that day scarcely a week ago.

It wasn’t healthy.

“Sweetie Belle…” Sasuke began, feeling more and more ridiculous the further he went on with this. “I promised Rarity that we would… talk. Talk about what happened in the town square… that day.” Sasuke noticed her tense and stiffen- if only slightly- and then fall back, completely motionless, completely silent.

Existing, and nothing else.

“It was… a dangerous situation.” Sasuke said, and immediately regretted saying it like that. Really, dangerous? Thanks jackass, I had no idea. No fucking shit. He cursed at himself before forcing it through his mouth, continuing, putting her feelings before his own awkwardness and embarrassed state.

“I’ve… killed men before. It isn’t an easy thing, and never will be-“here he was just lying, but he figured that if he tried to show some remorse, she would be able to connect better with him. “But, you have to accept… life, as it is. You’re a little… removed from reality where you live. There’s nothing here. Nothing that reminds me of how I’d grown up.”

Sweetie Belle continued listening, but still didn’t move.

Outside the door, Rarity listened in.

“Maybe if I give you some perspective… you’ll understand, Sweetie Belle. You obviously think that it was the most horrible thing in the world, and how could’ve it had happened, and everything else.” Sasuke said, and noticed her frowning- as if he was belittling her suffering.

“It’s not that I don’t think it was bad- I know it was.” Sasuke said. She looked up with a surprised expression, but soon returned her head to the bed, and didn’t move again.

“I can tell I’m not getting through to you. But just know that I’ve gone what you’ve gone through before, too.” Sasuke said. He struggled… it would be hard to say this next part.

He breathed deeply, and continued.

“When I was… when I was eight years old, my entire family was killed in front of me.”

Sweetie Belle jerked her head up instantly, her eyes wide.

“But I learned that what you’re doing doesn’t work. You have to get up eventually, and do something about what happened. You can’t sit there and cry forever.”

With that said, Sasuke only remained seated for several more seconds, and then got up, standing over Sweetie Belle’s bed, before shuffling slowly towards the door.

Rarity, tears in her eyes, managed to somehow get down the stairs quietly enough to not be noticed. The poor dear… is that why he’s like that all the time?

She returned to sipping her tea like she had been before she nosily made her way upstairs to eavesdrop. Sasuke came down the stairs in a flurry- and she swore she could see tears- no, Sasuke didn’t cry. Drying her own eyes, she returned to her tea.

Hopefully, Sweetie Belle would brighten up because of this.

_______________________________

Sasuke wiped his eyes as he left the Carousel Botique. He wasn’t crying, he wasn’t. After reassuring himself with much more self denial, he moved away from the Boutique in the late afternoon. Wandering Ponyville once again, he found that he had nowhere to go, nopony- no one- to visit. Scowling at his surroundings and grumbling to himself, he glanced around the town square. It seemed that the local ponies were getting more used to his presence. They didn’t stare as much- as much.

It didn’t mean that they didn’t stare at all.

He didn’t think that would ever stop. For some reason, he’d never felt so self conscious before. So out of place, like he did here, amongst these innocent weaklings. In the distance, he spotted a large, brown tree, modeled and turned into a makeshift library. It reminded him of how long it had been since he’d checked up on progress with Twilight.

Hopefully, she was nearly done with the spell.

Then she could send him back, and then he’d be able to get his revenge.

Hardly, Guilt muttered, and he clutched at his head as the agony bounced through his being. You’re self-centered, you know that, right? Just wanted you to know, so that when it finally all comes crashing down, you’ll know who to blame.

As the searing pain in his mind dissipated, Sasuke let out a pained grunt, then did what he always did- shoved it to the bottom, and continued on. Repression. Certainly an apt way to deal with his problems, to be sure.

He plodded along slowly towards Twilight’s house as he thought about what he’d do. He’d need to gather followers if he planned on attacking the Leaf Village again.

He knew that with how strong Naruto had become now, there was no way that he’d ever be able to do it by himself. He no longer had Orochimaru inside his body- the bastard had probably died during the war after Sasuke left- and that only meant that it would take him even longer to heal after battles than it did normally. He’d be hard-pressed to do any kind of vengeance on his own in this state.

For starters, I could get Karen, Juugo, and Suigetsu back…

Sasuke continued planning his vengeance as he walked closer and closer to Twilight’s library. He didn’t know that, inside, an important decision was being made.

_________________________

Twilight Sparkle frowned as she looked at the letter in front of her. For the past seven days, she’d been slacking a bit on the spell- because she was contemplating on whether to send this letter or not. It was an important letter- to Princess Celestia, and every letter to her was important- but it was more important because who it concerned.

It concerned Sasuke.

She lifted it in a soft, purple light as she telekinetically carried it across the room- but just as she opened the door and called for Spike, she stopped. Twilight trembled there for a few moments, debating. Then, like a coward, she turned away with tears in her eyes and floated the letter down gently onto her desk, next to the large, brown tome. She couldn’t send it- even if it was very important. Because to her, Sasuke had become…

Her friend.

Since he was her friend- even if he wasn’t nice all the time back- she felt that she couldn’t send the letter. She felt horrified, inside, even though outside her she had a calm demeanor as a façade- that she was betraying her mentor, her friends- all for the person that she’d befriended before. She was softhearted, and even though he’d done some bad things, he’d done some good while he was here, too. She couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t betray Sasuke.

With a few tear drops staining the paper, she read the letter over again.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have… I have something to tell you. I’m sure that, over time, you’ve been worried about Sasuke, even more after you’d heard that he’d nearly killed a dragon. He’s dangerous, a little cruel, and seemed even heartless, at times. I don’t know how strong he is- but… I’m not saying that you have to fight him, Princess- or that you should! - But he’s… very dangerous.

You might be wondering why I’m wording it this way.

See, as I said, I’m sure you worried about him- what he would do in Ponyville, and if you could keep him under control, or not. Something’s happened lately that… pertains to this. Something drastic, something… dire. Another shinobi, a different one, came along through the portal. He seemed much meaner than Sasuke- he attacked Applejack and threatened to kill Sweetie Belle. I wasn’t there until after it happened, but I heard a first-hand account from Sweetie Belle. It seemed to anger Sasuke- and he helped.

He did help, Princess Celestia. I’m loyal to you of course, but Sasuke’s… grown on me. Despite his more than constant cruelty, despite his sarcasm… it’s something I think I’m going to miss whenever he finally leaves… or is otherwise removed from Ponyville.

He did help.

He killed the other shinobi.

Right in front of everypony, apparently. He just… did it. Like it was nothing. The blood was everywhere, Princess… it was so horrible. I’ve never seen that much blood in my life. It got all over Sweetie Belle, and Applejack was on the ground, with a weapon stuck in her fore-leg- it was just a horrible situation. Then, afterwards, he disposed of the body. Again, like it didn’t mean anything. I don’t come to you for help Princess, not as much as I used to, anyway, but… I don’t know what to do.

I’m… I’m scared to be around him anymore.

I’m not asking for you to do anything, Princess. I just had to get this off my chest.

With a pained sigh, Twilight folded up the letter. She couldn’t just DO it already! Every time she gathered the courage to go ask Spike to send the letter, there was a pain deep in her heart- the pain of betraying a friend. No matter how cruel, or how much he might’ve deserved it- even if he was protecting Sweetie Belle, to just slaughter somepony else like that, right in front of her and Applejack and everypony else.

She gave a pained sob that wracked her body.

By chance, Spike walked through the doorway- and heard Twilight crying.

He frowned. Why was she crying?

He asked just that.

“Twilight, why are you crying?”

Twilight Sparkle sobbed and buried her head in her hooves, because her chest hurt- from what she was about to do. Gathering the courage in her heart, she spoke up, even though she was forcing out the words with an even number of pained, choked sobs.

“Spike, c-could you send this letter to… C-celestia?”

Spike frowned at the lack of a title for Celestia, knowing something was wrong, but nodded stiffly, anyway. With a breath of hot emerald flames, the letter teleported away, to be read by Princess Celestia. Twilight hung her head for a few moments, wiping away tears uselessly with her hooves. Spike popped an eyebrow and glanced at her curiously.

“Twilight, are you okay?”

She wiped away at her muzzle a bit more- eyes red, watery. She forced a shaky smile and nodded, and even though Spike was young and gullible, even with his deduction skills, he knew that something was wrong with Twilight.

“Yes, Spike. I’m fine. Go back to tending to the l-library.”

“Uh… sure, Twilight. Sure.”

Spike walked away, still frowning, but said nothing else. He noted with a look of even more disdain that Sasuke had entered the building. While did think that Sasuke was kinda cool, he didn’t like how mean Sasuke was to his friends. He only barely tolerated him.

Sasuke entered Twilight’s study and watched as she read from the brown tome.

He wasted no time in asking her the question.

“Did you figure out the spell, yet?”

“O-oh! Sasuke. You startled me, there.” She turned her head away from him. Sasuke scowled. Why couldn’t she look him in the eye? Why was she stuttering?

He had more important things to worry about, even if her behavior was suspicious and strange. He repeated the question, and she looked confused for a moment before responding.

“I think so, Sasuke. Do you want me to try it?”

“Yes. Maybe you’ll get to see my world if it works.”

“I plan on staying for a little while, if it does work.”

“Go on ahead, then.”

Twilight nodded. Remembering Starswirl’s instructions- first, the wavelength-

The universal wavelength. She could feel the residual energies from Sasuke- where he’d come from- and she concentrated, noting exactly where it was. Then she concentrated- concentrated, concentrated- and slowly, a white glow began to form over the normal lavender light that was always around her horn. The white light was incredibly bright, though, and it looked unstable. Twilight felt like her head was going to pop.

“Sasuke, I-“

She didn’t even get to finish her sentence about how she couldn’t control it.

The light exploded, and after it died down and the library was visible again, Twilight was gone. Sasuke’s eye twitched. Had she actually left him behind?

He waited a minute; waited several minutes.

Nothing.

Had she really deserted him- left him in her world, so she could go explore his-

Sasuke immediately began to make assumptions- she’d been nervous. She hadn’t been able to look him straight in the face- almost like she’d been lying, as if she’d-

Had she turned on him?

He had to know.

He went and found Spike, and asked him.

“What was the last thing Twilight did before she left?” He shook the dragon by the shoulders. Spike pushed his hands away, glared up at Sasuke, and brushed his shoulders off.

“She asked me to send a letter to Princess Celestia. Why?”

Just then, Sasuke walked out of the Golden Oaks Library, and saw that Princess Celestia was landing into town, with what appeared to be a whole platoon of guards- ten or more, at least. Every guard, and Celestia, looked angry. They glared at Sasuke as they calmly trotted forward. Celestia boldly announced a statement as the entire town looked on at the arrival of their Princess. Her horn became lit up with magic as she spoke.

“Sasuke Uchiha, in addition your belligerence, inability to show respect to anyone, and constant fighting- and unable to follow one of Equestria’s greatest laws, which is do not murder under any circumstance, I’m here by placing you under arrest in the name of the Crown of Equestria, until a time that will be further agreed upon when you go to court.”

Sasuke seethed and fumed within.

It’s what a hero got.

Betrayal.

No good deed does go unpunished, after all.

And as Sasuke seethed, he became more furious- and a sword that was drawn from the sheath on his back began to crackle with blue electricity.

And Celestia watched on with hardened eyes, and her horn’s glow became brighter.

TO BE CONTINUED

Btw, you should all be grateful :P I'm uploading this chapter on my birthday!

Twilight Sparkle's Experiences In The Elemental Nations- Part One

Twilight Sparkle couldn’t believe how bright the light was. It was blinding, it was like staring into her mentor’s sun, it was… was something that she didn’t know existed before. It was so bright; it was like she was in the center of the brightest burning core of the universe. She could see nothing, feel nothing, taste nothing, smell nothing, and hear nothing. It was a bright, but calm silence- and for some reason, she felt that all was right in reality.

Then she fell on her face.

Twilight groaned as she felt the incredible light slowly dimming- dimming to a more realistic level of light, and then to a murky darkness that invaded the edges of her vision. For a few minutes she sat there, face in the dirt, gathering energy and recovering from the vast amount of it that it had taken to get her here. She breathed heavily- she was more than exhausted. So she took her time, and she rested in what she assumed was plains- had to be.

Eventually, she was able to move, and flailed her limbs uselessly for a minute before slowly putting one hoof in front of the other- like she was a foal learning to walk- and forced herself to her hooves, still breathing heavily but able to move nonetheless. Her senses slowly returned to her as her ordeal ended- and she discovered she was in some sort of short grassed area- and she looked around as to a clue of where she was.

She wasn’t home any longer, that was for sure- off in the distance, she could see a village- and it didn’t look like anything she’d ever seen in pony architecture. As she shook her head, dizziness slowly being removed from her brain, she was becoming more coherent, and her brain began to think about what had just happened- and she looked around, around for a large, brown tome that had contained the spell that had gotten her here.

Within a few moments, she’d found it. Only a few feet away from her, the brown, singed tome laid smoking, in the grass. She reached for it with her magical grip, but it took her a few seconds to get her bearings, and it was weaker than she expected as her vision was still swimming and her head pounded. She persevered, though, and soon enough the grip of telekinesis responded and the book was surrounded in a soft lavender glow as it came to her.

She flipped the pages, skimming through the text- not looking for any actual information, but wanting to make sure that the book was undamaged- she didn’t have full control of the spell yet- and it was already extremely difficult to pull off as it was. She felt that as long as the book was okay, she could continue practicing, and once the spell was mastered, return to her own homeland eventually. After a few panicky minutes of inspection, she sighed in relief and put the book down, assured it was fine.

Now, her mind turned to other thoughts. Once again, the small village not too far off in the distance looked both inviting and a good idea- a way to gain information, a way to find out where exactly in the universe she was. She shook her head once more, grabbed the book, and set off in that direction, hoping to find something that would tell her where to go. The book seemed heavier than usual, but she knew it was just because she was weakened and tired.

The light of the early morning was bright, and Twilight knew that it was not her mentor’s sun- she’d have to find out whoever raised the sun in this place, as they would certainly be in charge. It was a bit brighter than normal- and Twilight wondered whether they had as good of control over the sun as her mentor did. She set off, and she tried to get closer to the village to see who- or what- exactly inhabited it.

The clouds overhead seemed strange- as they weren’t policed or guided by Pegasi. Twilight had a horrible thought for one moment-what if nopony controlled the weather here?- but it was soon covered up with the curiosity of a researcher, which was nearly one and the same as the curiosity of a foal- as Twilight was soon realizing that she had, indeed, been the first one to travel to a new world- a new dimension, a new place- she knew that she was the first, and in more ways than one, the greatest explorer of her race.

She squeed in excitement- but got control over herself once again as she looked around at her surroundings, and the surroundings of the village- there were large forests, everywhere, surrounding the village. It wasn’t that large- it was rather small, in fact. The walls seemed low and there wasn’t anyone out front at the gates. She walked closer, wondering who lived there- and she was soon rewarded with a cute spectacle.

There were baby shinobi playing outside! Whereas Sasuke had always looked mean and heartless, these were the foals of the same race, at least, she assumed. A few of them were kicking a ball around, and Twilight noted that, at their height, they were still almost as tall as she was. They stood upright, so it was to be expected. She grinned as she watched them play from a distance. They were so adorable.

Twilight wondered if Fluttershy would be able to contain herself after she saw those things playing. Hesitantly, she moved forward, her hooves mostly silent on the soft grass and dirt of the plains around them. There were three or four of them, and they were all boys, or so it seemed, at least. Twilight wasn’t sure about genders, she only knew that Sasuke had been a boy, but there would obviously be differences in the species.

She watched as they batted the ball around playfully, with their feet. It was much like a game that she had seen other foals play, in Ponyville- and started to consider that their species may not have such a big difference as she previously thought, after all. She tried to stay hidden behind a tree as they played, but then watched as a slighter taller boy- perhaps one of their friends, but a few years older, walked up to them.

“Hey, Inari!”

“Hey, what’s up!”

They started an entirely different game now, but used the same ball, and Twilight felt strangely intrigued as she watched them play. Based on age- as Sasuke had told them his age, and he’d been fairly young, or so she assumed- these boys were even younger than him. The smaller ones seemed around seven, or eight, and the tallest one- Inari- was probably ten or eleven, maybe even twelve. They batted around the ball for a while, but then one of them gave a reason around midday that he had to leave- and the rest left just as quickly.

Inari, as Twilight remembered what his name was, was left standing there alone in the field. He looked oddly nostalgic. He started talking to himself, and Twilight, even though she knew it was rude to eavesdrop, did so anyway- out of pure curiosity, of course.

“H-hey, dad. It’s another day. I promised that I wouldn’t cry unless I was happy, but… well, it's okay. I am happy. As long as I remain strong and promise to protect the village- with these two arms. It’ll be fine. Naruto always said that it was okay to cry if I was happy…”

Naruto? Wasn’t that someone that… Sasuke had talked about?

She walked forward automatically, without meaning to, and tripped over a tree root- and the noise made Inari turn around- his eyes widening immediately. He seemed to struggle with words for a moment as he saw a horse in front of him-and she seemed to have surprised eyes, as well, although Inari could tell she wasn’t just a horse. The eyes possessed… intelligence, for lack of a better word. Sentience, fit better.

Twilight took a step back, and then another, hooves silent in the grass. She was a little afraid, and for good reason- the only shinobi she’d ever met had been angry, dangerous, and Twilight was just now realizing- more than a little psychotic. Although it was more than likely that not all were like that, she couldn’t take a chance- and she didn’t want to risk her life over curiosity. Inari didn’t move, observing with an interested expression.

“Who… who are you?” Inari asked, and Twilight was silent as she stared back at him with wide, fearful eyes. Inari took a step closer, and Twilight closed her eyes and put the book in front of her as a shield, the magical, purple grip being all too easy for the boy to see. He was shocked, but then grinned and said something she hadn’t expected.

“I didn’t know that horses could use chakra!”

“It’s not chakra, it’s magic!”

She clamped a hoof over her mouth a second too late, though, and that was able to get out. Inari’s eyes only exploded open wider- and for a second, it reminded her of Pinkie- before he grinned wider as well. He seemed to be really surprised by all of this.

“A talking horse, wow, so cool!”

“I’m not a horse, I’m a pony.”

“Oh, a pony, then. Sorry.”

She frowned as she glanced at the village behind them. She looked at the boy again.

“So, is this a village of shinobi? It doesn’t look that impressive.”

“Shinobi?” Inari seemed amused by the very thought of it, but responded again in kind, anyway. He gestured out to the large pools of water that were behind the village- and Twilight only now noticed how watery entire place seemed to be- she even noticed that the grass she was standing on, and her hooves, were wet. Inari began explaining.

“No, this isn’t a shinobi village. They’re much larger and much more powerful. This is a fishing and trading village in the Land of Waves. Most people here are humble. We don’t want any trouble- and we won’t take any, either.” Twilight was confused by his sudden change of emotion. The instant he mentioned defending the village, he seemed to grow a lot fiercer about the train of thought. He turned back to her, most of the seriousness gone from his expression.

“Where do you come from? I’ve never seen a pony like you, before.”

Twilight took a little longer to answer as she waved a hoof in the, distracted by her thoughts. So, not all humans were shinobi, but all shinobi were humans? Could a pony be shinobi? Could dogs or cats or griffons even qualify as shinobi? Twilight’s mind raced with questions, and all from this simple answer that the boy gave readily, casually.

“I come from a place called Equestria. I live in Ponyville.”

“Wow, really? Where is that!?”

“It’s uh… it’s hard to explain. I used magic to get here. I sort of got to the right place, I guess. I was just trying to get to this world in general- not to go to any specific spot, I guess. So, how is your village, is it nice?”

“You used magic, to get from your world to another world? Cool! Yeah, my village is the best. Do you want me to show you around?”

“Don’t you think people would be… you know, surprised? At me?”

“Well, maybe. But a lot of people in the village know me- both adults, and kids. I’m pretty respected around here, and people are very tolerant of most things in this country, anyway. I doubt anything bad will really happen.”

“Oh.”

“What did you mean when you said this world in general?”

Twilight wasn’t sure whether or not to tell him the truth. She remembered what she’d heard from other ponies, about what Sasuke apparently was in his own lands- International Criminal, S-rank Missing Nin, and other various titles that didn’t seem well-respected or revered in any way- they actually seemed hated, and despised, instead.

Twilight didn’t want to be attacked or mistaken as a criminal or a bad pony for being related or helping Sasuke, in any way, so she took the easy way out, and lied- at least for the time being. She didn’t particularly like lying, but she wasn’t Applejack, and she was capable of it, even if she wasn’t very good at it, or quick at it, like some other ponies were.

“Oh, I was just searching for other worlds, is what I meant.”

“Cool!”

While Inari kept talking about how cool it was for her to have come from some ‘pony-world’ as he called it, she took the time to really look at him, and compare him to Sasuke. He had black hair, and fair skin, with a blue shirt on. He seemed muscular, like Sauske, but she could already tell that he didn’t possess any kind of the power that Sasuke did. But the thing that was the most different was his cheerful disposition.

He was so… happy. Sasuke, no matter what, had always been terribly temperamental- angry, hateful, easy to upset. He’d constantly been under distress, like something was always bothering him. Twilight had hoped that not every single shinobi was like that- and apparently, not all humans were shinobi, as she had once thought. It was clear now that they weren’t as ubiquitous in Sasuke’s world as she had assumed before.

Though, it wasn’t like he’d given her any information about it, either.

“Well, we should get going. I really shouldn’t be messing around like this, anyway. I have carpenter work to do. C’mon, you can see the village from the inside.”

As she was practically dragged along by the happy, young boy, she wondered if she even was going to be able to find her way along in this world. She had no idea of where to go, besides just teleporting back to her land. She was lucky enough to land near civilization and not in the wilderness, and that was already good, but she felt that there was more she could do while she was here, in this world. It would probably take her a week, at least more, to master the spell- she had the gist of it, but she couldn’t control it.

Soon enough, she was almost dragged through the gates into the fishing village and she watched as lots of humans were walking around, everywhere, doing all kinds of things. In a way, it reminded her of Ponyville- there were humans buying things, humans selling things, humans yelling and humans talking quietly, and walking around and running and doing all kinds of small-town activities that she’d imagined they would do.

It was one thing to think about it, but another to actually see it in real life.

She saw a small group of men- not far off, barely a few streets down- working on a large home, made out of wood, much like the homes were in Ponyville. Only the frame was up, though, and it was still in construction- a large, large frame, looking like a house much bigger than needed. Then again, humans were bigger than her, and she had no idea of the space requirements that they felt were necessary for comfort.

Regardless, though, it looked like a huge project, and something certainly any colt she knew wouldn’t have the patience to work on, but the boy seemed unhindered- maybe even excited- and pulled her by the hoof closer to the house-frame, through the streets, as citizens on the sides looked by in interest and amazement. She still felt embarrassed- and had a little stage fright, even though she knew she would be stared at when she entered the village.

Soon enough, Inari had led her all the way into the heart of the village, where they were erecting a large house for a fairly wealthy man. The man stood by the side, seeming impressed with their work, nodding his head with a pleased expression on his face. Meanwhile, an older man with grey clothing, tanned skin, and a gray hair and beard, with a towel wrapped around his shoulder was both working on the project and calling out orders to the other men at the same time.

“You see him?” Inari said, pointing to the older man. Twilight Sparkle nodded furiously, and Inari continued to lead her onwards and stopped right behind Tazuna.

“Lift that beam, there! Reposition it. Don’t let it just fall out, you need to connect it so it- yeah, like that. There. Alright, now go grab the other two beams and do the other side.” Tazuna turned around after berating his work-force, and saw Inari, who he was pleased, but expecting, but gaped when he saw who Inari was with- some purple horse thing? It had a purple coat, with strange hair- as if it had dyed it- and it was staring up at him, curious.

“Hey, Inari. What’s this horse thing doing here?”

“I’m not a horse! I’m a pony!” Twilight shouted, and Tazuna leaned back, clearly not expecting it to talk. Inari only laughed, and laughed louder still when Twilight turned towards him, glaring. Tazuna only gave her an amused expression before responding.

“Well then, pony, what’s your name?”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Well then, Twilight Sparkle, what are you doing here? I’m starting to wonder how Inari even found you. Was he slacking off on the job again- outside the village, messing around?”

“Well, he met me in those plains, out there, and-“

“I knew it! Inari, what have I told you about laziness?”

“That he would never be proud of it?”

“That’s right. Now, come on, let’s get back to work.”

Twilight could only stare as Tazuna and Inari went back to work- and although people on the streets were paying attention to her, the workforce was completely concentrated on the job. Under Tazuna’s supervision, they finished another good portion of the house and called it a day by sunset. Twilight had mostly sat on the sidelines and watched them work- not having much else to do. Tazuna and Inari both dried themselves off with their towels as they cleaned themselves of their sweat. Twilight gave one last glance to the structure as they walked away.

She didn’t have anywhere to go, and they offered to let her sleep at their home for the night. She agreed, and she followed them home as they walked from the work site to their home. They seemed to be very close, and Twilight couldn’t help but ask.

“Are you his father?” Twilight asked, unable to suppress her curiosity.

Inari seemed to quiet, suddenly, and Twilight wondered if she’d said the wrong thing.

Inari grinned, and Tazuna started laughing before he responded.

“No, my father died a long time ago. He’s my grandfather.”

“Oh.” She felt the awkwardness in the conversation- even though they tried not to show it, it still did hurt them. She decided to try to turn the discussion to something else.

“It’s such a pretty sunset. Whoever’s controlling it must be as good as Princess Celestia.”

“What? No one raises the sun. It rises on its own.” Inari responded.

“What!?”

“Yeah. I’m guessing it’s different where you come from?”

“You have no idea... I wasn’t really expecting anypony here to be that similar to me or the ponies at home, though, so… it doesn’t really surprise me that much. But it’s still a little shocking, and I’d be lying if I wasn’t jarred.”

“What else is different where you come from?” Inari asked, interested.

“We control the weather. There’s never a storm unless we want it. We have magic there. There’s never really any murder or crime or anything like that- it’s very rare.”

“It sounds pretty peaceful,” Tazuna commented as they walked home.

“It is. More peaceful than here? Do you have problems here like that?”

“You have no idea, Twilight. We had a war only four months ago.”

“A war… wow.” Her mind reminded her of the war Sasuke had talked about- it had to be that one, then. He hadn’t been here that long, and it was the only recent one- hopefully.

“Is that the only recent war?”

“Yes. We don’t fight all the time, you know. We’re not completely obsessed with violence or something.” Tazuna replied.

“So, Twilight, why are you here, anyway?” Inari said.

“Traveling… I was traveling.” Twilight said carefully.

“That sounds like a long trip. I mean, between worlds,” Inari mentioned, as if it was casual. Twilight only nodded, still carrying her brown tome with her magical grip.

A small, cute little girl ran up to her and started stroking her side.

“Pretty horsey!”

“Aw, she’s so cute.” Twilight gushed. The little girl only seemed to enjoy this even more, and she petted Twilight’s mane and tugged on it a little. Twilight squealed.

“Ow, that hurts.”

“Pretty horsey!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry… uh, whatever you are. Mira!”

“Yes, mommy!” The little girl in a yellow dress ran back to her mother, who scurried her away, in a hurry. Twilight looked after them for a moment before turning back to Tazuna and Inari, who both seemed amused by the entire situation. They snickered.

“What are you two laughing about?” Twilight muttered, suspicious.

“P-pretty horsey!” They said, in unison, and started laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. Twilight fumed, but only said one thing as they pounded the ground on their knees.

“I’m a pony, not a hor-“

“Don’t care, it’s too hilarious!”

Eventually, after much laughter and more than a few horse jokes were made, they continued on and made their way to their house, with Twilight in tow, levitating her book the entire time. She felt more than a little self conscious the entire time, with everypony- everyone, apparently, the word was here- staring at her, but she managed it, nonetheless, and she was feeling better about the entire situation by the time they got to the house.

As soon as they walked in the door, they smelt a delicious scent- not far away, inside the hosue, Tsunami was cooking dinner. She was a pretty housewife, with dark hair, fair skin, and wearing an apron as she stirred the stew on the stove. It was a mixed dish- with vegetables, sauces, spices, and seasons, as well as a few cut up, small chunks of meat.

Twilight gave away her approach long before they even reached the kitchen area- the clop of her hooves were loud on the wooden floors, and Tsunami called out a response to the noise, as she turned off the stove and hurried to fill bowls
.

“Did one of you bring a horse in here? You know, I tell you not to act like barn animals, but if you’ve actually brought one along with you…”

“I’m not a horse! Why does everypony say that!?”

“Who is that?”

“It’s everyone, not everypony. Mom, it’s okay, just make four bowls.” Inari shouted from the dining room.

“Did you bring a girl home, Inari?” Tsunami gushed as she filled stew bowls with the liquid, with a white ladle- and she retrieved chopsticks, because even though a lot of the dish was broth, there was plenty of vegetables inside that using them was recommended. She got three- added a fourth, because there was a female guest in the house- and hurriedly carried them in her arms and her hands as she rushed into the dining room.

She nearly dropped the food when she saw a purple horse sitting at the table.

“What are you?”

“Who am I, you mean? My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m a unicorn from Equestria.”

“She’s traveling, Mom!” Inari said, excited, and Tsunami only looked to Tazuna in confusion, who raised his hands in the air and said nothing.

“Yes, I’m traveling. Your name is…?”

“Uh, it’s Tsunami. Tsunami.”

“What a nice name. You look like you’re struggling, here, let me help…”

Much to Tsunami’s surprise- as she screamed- the four bowls, and the chopsticks, were carefully lifted out of her hands and into the air, and set respectively to each corner of the table, in front of Tazuna, Inari, Twilight, and the empty spot where Tsunami was planning on sitting. The magical glow faded as soon as they were set down, and Inari began clapping.

“Really nice, Twilight! That’s so cool!”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Twilight said, turning away, cheeks flaming from within.

“No, really. It was really cool.” Inari said, refusing to let her deny the compliments.

“Thanks… it’s always been my talent, magic. My cutie mark told me so when I was really young.” At this, they looked confused, but Twilight knew she was going to have to explain the second she mentioned her cutie mark to them. She turned, and showed the mark.

“You see this?”

“It looks like a tattoo,” Tazuna commented.

“No, for ponies, it’s something that appears naturally. It tells you what your talent or special trait is. Not all cutie marks are as easy to obtain as others, and not all are obvious or easy to understand the meaning of right away. Some ponies don’t get them for a long time, and some get them when they’re very young- like I did.”

“Wow, that’s interesting. So, it just tells you what you’re good at?” Inari asked.

“Basically,” Twilight agreed.

“That’s really convenient. That doesn’t happen where we’re from.” Inari said.

“Yeah, I can tell. It is pretty convenient, I guess.” Twilight said, staring into what she guessed was going to be her dinner. Tsunami noticed her interest.

“It’s my special stew, I’m sure you’ll like it. It has broth, spices, meat, vegetables-“

“W-wait, what was that last thing you said?” Twilight said, stuttering.

“Vegetables?” Tsunami asked, already lifting a piece of meat in chopsticks out of the broth. “Yeah, I have some vegetables in here. It’s like it’s the only way to make Inari eat it. The boy loves meat, a lot, and it’s always a task to make him eat vegetables.”

“N-no, the one before that.”

“Meat? Yeah, there’s some meat in here.”

Out of all of them, the only one that noticed it first was Tazuna, although Tsunami came to grip fairly fast with the realization as well, nearly right after Tazuna. Inari continued slurping away, oblivious to the fact that Twilight was staring in horror at what she saw in front of her. Her hooves at her sides, and her horn glowing lightly, she gazed down into the murky stew and was disgusted by what she saw within the liquid sustenance.

A few floating pieces of brown, well cooked meat were resting directly in between delicious carrots and potatoes. They acted as if they belonged there- sitting there in the broth with everything else, like it was perfectly natural. Twilight had known they were omnivorous- Sasuke had alluded to it more than once, but for some reason, she never thought she’d be put right against it- just shoved in her face, like that.

While the carrots, potatoes and broth all looked delicious- along with the various spices and seasonings that were floating inside of the stew- the meat ruined all of it for Twilight and turned her stomach into a rolling sea. She couldn’t believe it- the meat had once been alive- an animal, not entirely unlike her, except she was sapient- but still, it had been alive. Then, these people- or, maybe not them, but somepony- had killed it, and skinned it and put the meat on the market to sell like it was any normal food product.

She realized, even in her own panic and terror, that it was something normal to these people, and that all of them, even Inari, were staring at her, different levels of concern and worry on each of their faces. Tsunami was the first to speak- being a mother, and being the most caring out of all of them, she tried to comfort Twilight as best as she could. She couldn’t really understand how she was feeling at the moment.

“You aren’t used to eating meat, are you?”

“N-no.”

“It’s fine. I’ll pick them out of the stew for you.” Tazuna said.

“Uh, yes, please.” Twilight looked away from the process as Tazuna methodically stirred through her bowl of stew and picked the meat out of it, adding it to his own bowl whenever he found a piece. Tsunami and Inari went back to eating, though they both threw multiple glances her way, and she couldn’t help but feel the odd one out- and, even though she doubted that they would eat her, she felt a little fear towards them- knowing that they ate meat.

After Tazuna had picked all the meat out of it, he handed it back to her wordlessly, and placed it back in front of her on the table. Twilight nodded to him in thanks, and used her telekinetic grip to pick up the chopsticks, and began eating from the bowl. She ate in small, dignified bites- and tried to be as mannerly as possible. She’d learned some of this from Rarity- and she planned to use it, because he didn’t want to offend them.

She noticed Inari slurping from his bowl, barely mannerly at all, and realized that this wasn’t exactly the settings of noble ponies in a city like Canterlot, though.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over that.” Inari said, pointing over to Twilight.

“What? Get over what?” Twilight asked.

“How cool that looks,” he said, gesturing wildly to her glowing horn with both hands. “Magic. It’s just so interesting. We have chakra here, but it’s not exactly the same thing.”

“Can everyone use that where you’re from?” Tazuna asked as he drank his stew broth.

“Not everpony can use it, but every unicorn naturally has the ability of levitation- even if they’re weak at magic. It’s a natural ability that comes to every unicorn very easily.” Twilight said, putting down her chopsticks as she stopped eating for a moment to talk and go on.

“There are different forms of magic, though. Pegasus ponies can push around clouds and rest on them, and even build cloud houses out of them. Meanwhile, earth ponies have much more endurance and are naturally gifted at tilling the land and understanding nature more closely than Pegasus ponies or unicorns are able to.”

“Houses… out of clouds.” Inari said slowly, as if he was unable to accept such an idea.

“Yep. Cloud houses. My friend Rainbow Dash has one right outside of Ponyville.”

“That’s so cool!”

“So, you’re just traveling, Twilight? Where will you go after this?” Tazuna asked as he ate his stew. He wasn’t sure if she was being completely truthful. He heard the hesitation in her voice the first time she had answered her question about why she’d come to this world.

“I uh… I really don’t know. Not really, anyway. I think I wanna get back, now.” Even as she said that, though, in her mind, she idly thought of something else.

SHUT UP ABOUT NARUTO!

I’ll burn the Leaf Village to the ground and kill everyone inside.

It’s a place of traitors.

“To your world?” Inari asked.

“Yeah, back to my world. Not right away, though. I want to see more stuff around here first,” Twilight lied. She was considering going to the Leaf Village, though. She wondered if everything that Sasuke had said about it was right- she seriously doubted it, if only because she knew how mean, cruel, angry and cynical Sasuke could really be. He was probably blowing things out of proportion. Still, it could be a dangerous place, and he might’ve been telling the truth about it- which meant that it would be a bad idea to go there.

“I’d be happy to show you around the place, some more,” Inari said. “People were surprised when they saw you. You’re the first of your kind here, right? That makes you like a great explorer for your people, I would think.”

“Yeah I guess I am, in a way.”

Soon enough, they all finished dinner, and were idly chatting at the dining table. As hard as Twilight tried to fit into the discussion, she knew that she wasn’t able to. She had no idea about half the things they were talking about- which was expected, considering the situation. Still, she was surprised that they weren’t more surprised at her- an entirely alien visitor. Her world had magic- and as such, were more used to impossible and unbelievable things occurring, even on a daily basis, possibly. Meanwhile, they had what they called chakra- which she still didn’t understand, despite seeing Sasuke supposedly use it more than once.

Twilight glanced around the home. She’d noticed differences in their cultures since the beginning, but it was all to be expected- buildings and architecture, morals and values, even clothing- where as apparently everypony wore it here, only ponies that had important places to go to, or important social gatherings or meetings to attend wore it here. Additionally, eating meat was acceptable here, whereas back home, it was more than frowned upon.

She liked Tazuna and Inari and Tsunami, and she thought that they liked her back, too. She wondered if they would help her if she told them the real truth. She was surprised at both their hospitality and their casual acceptance of her. While things would’ve been done similarly in Ponyville- and Equestria for that matter- and ponies were very tolerant, she was surprised to see them trusting her so readily.

She eventually couldn’t take it anymore.

Twilight had to tell them, even if they would be angered by what she said.

“I-I haven’t been exactly truthful about my coming here.”

Inari and Tsunami looked surprised, but not necessarily angry- but meanwhile, Tazuna looked like he’d been expecting it the entire time. He leaned onto one hand and waited for her to continue. Twilight took a deep breath and kept going.

“This country is part of The Elemental Nations, right?”

A nod came from Tazuna. Twilight nodded in turn and went onwards.

“I came here because of something that happened in my world. I was surprised to be so readily accepted here, but I have problems back home that have connections to here and…”

“A few weeks back, stuff started happening because someone from your world came to mine. I don’t really know who he is,” Twilight lied again. She didn’t want to be seen as a helper of Sasuke, if he was really that hated here, “but he did mention a person that he either knew of or supposedly knew. I have to ask both of you, if you know the person he talked about.”

Inari, Tazuna, and Tsunami all nodded.

“I know some people as a master bridge builder,” Tazuna said. “I may have met the person from my travels. I’ve been in more than one country, so, give me the name, and I’ll see if I can remember somebody.”

“He said the name was…”

“Naruto.”

TO BE CONTINUED

The Zebra In The Everfree Forest Can Be Quite Wise, You Know

Sasuke poked half-heartedly with a stick into a small, burning fire that he’d created in the middle of the Everfree forest. He’d made it to cook the manticore that he’d killed- its corpse was disemboweled off to the side, stomach torn open and slightly charred by a dangerous sword. He’d taken his time to extract the best meat and cook it, though he made sure he wasn’t taking forever to do it, either. He had a small pile of bones to the side after he’d finished devouring his meal. Now he thought about what to do next.

They’d been hunting him for a little less than a day now, but as much as it hurt him to say it, since he’d grown up in the Land of Fire and in the Leaf Village, he wasn’t exactly confused when it came to forests. You could almost say it was home turf, even though Sasuke wasn’t likely to agree mostly just based on principle. He could hide in here for a very long time, living off the land and killing the beasts inside the forest like it was some extended version of the Forest of Death challenge in the Chuunin Exams.

The ponies, however, didn’t have the same ability.

They hated the place, as far as Sasuke knew. He wasn’t sure about how much they knew of traversing dangerous forestry like this, or how much they knew about this forest in general- because it was just like a forest where he was from, and the rest of their lands were child’s play and kiddy in comparison to surviving in the forest- but so far, after he’d initially escaped who he’d inferred was the Princess of the Night, he had not yet been found again. He’d had some close calls, but his camp was well hidden, and for now, he was good.

Sasuke wasn’t surprised that after he’d attacked Princess Celestia, the ponies had tried to come crashing down on him hard for it. It was honestly what he’d expected- and the same sort of thing would happen- a lot worse, because they’d be ninja- back home, if he’d attacked a Kage again or if he’d dared to try to assassinate or attack one of the Daiymo’s. It still annoyed him, though- because he was being attacked for, admittedly, killing somepony who’d have only killed and terrorized others. Even though it was a heroic act, it instead fucked him over.

Sasuke didn’t like that.

For such a long, long time now, so many people- and even ponies, even if not to the same extent or for the same duration of time- had been asking him to see the light or go back to the ideals he’d had as a younger shinobi- and, if not go back to being happy as he once was, to, at the very least, become good again. Sasuke could only laugh at the pleas of the people, and of the ponies. They’d never been possessed by vengeance before like him. They thought you could just banish the sadness and the hatred away.

How naïve of them to think that way.

Fixing yourself just like that- not only was it not possible, but fixing yourself in general and going back to a previous, and not to mention undesirable, state of mind, was incredibly hard to begin with. It required a complete turnaround of your way of thinking; mentally, you had to do a one-eighty. Sasuke wasn’t sure if he was capable of that, not after all the things he’d done and still planned or felt that he needed to do. There were still people that wronged him, and that had to die, and until then…

Until then, he wasn’t sure if vengeance could leave his heart.

Sasuke, once his dinner was finished, had other matters to attend to. He got up, and started walking around camp, noting the particular locations, and how the camp could be accessed from every location. It was a fairly good spot, with only three entrances, plus the air, but Sasuke wanted more coverage than that.

He wasn’t going to move the camp; no, no. That would require way too much work this early in the night, and since he was so far uncaught, he wanted to stay where he was because this was apparently a good spot for hiding from them. He hadn’t been found yet, and that was what mattered. So now, he wasn’t moving camp.

He was going to trap it.

The trees and brush of the forest were much too thick to do anything but block something from getting into his camp. Ponies would probably get caught inside the rough undergrowth of the forest, but there were still open spaces where they would no doubt wriggle themselves through, like ants. As for them, he had that all planned out.

A ninja was always prepared, after all. He looked around the camp for a little while longer- old lessons from the academy on basic trapping coming back to him. They didn’t have to be great traps, mostly because the ponies were stupid, and they would be arrogant enough to believe they could capture him so easily. He slowly removed tools from his pouch and went to the first opening in his camp.

He had ninja wire for this specific occasion. He removed it, and went outside of his camp momentarily- gathering sticks and small branches to help him set up the trap. They didn’t have to be particularly strong because he knew how to set this up and knew the strength requirements, and how much the stick had to be able to bend; things like that. If the wood in the forest had been much drier and flimsy; easily breakable, that might’ve been a problem, but since it was not, it was not a problem. He gathered the materials and put them back at camp.

He took a few sticks and worked on the first opening into his small camp- and by setting and bending a few branches inside the forest; they were tied together with ninja wire. When something walked into them, or over a line that he’d set up that was at the same spot, they’d set off the trap. The ninja wire would encase them and trap them- he made sure that it wouldn’t harm them too much, as he didn’t want to get blamed for a pony death when he did nothing of the sort. Sasuke wondered if he was getting soft.

He tried to put such thoughts out of his mind and went back to work.

For the other two normal openings, he repeated the process similarly, until there were three traps like that across the openings in the camp. They were small, but they were still there, and so Sasuke felt that he’d need to cover them. Now that they were covered, though, he was much less worried, and knew that he’d sleep easier, tonight. With those problems taken care of, he moved onto what would no doubt be the biggest issue of making camp tonight. He glared up, hatefully, at the large gap in the trees that opened up into the night sky.

He’d had to make sure that his fire wasn’t making too much smoke once he realized how open the canopy was in the particular spot he’d chosen- but by the time he’d found that out, he’d already set himself up here, and there was no time to find or set up a new camp, anyway. The fire wasn’t very smoky, so it was good, but that didn’t meant that the gigantic hole that was lying right over Sasuke was in any way more excusable. He’d need to use more ninja wire for this, but he could always retrieve it afterwards. He wasn’t wasteful with his ninja tools.

He stretched some out, and bit it with his teeth, holding the metallic wire in place as he leapt upwards silently into the night. He landed adroitly on a tree branch- one of many that made up the outer ring that was the hole above his campsite. The long line that went from the roll of ninja wire to his teeth wouldn’t be enough, and Sasuke pulled his head away and stretched the wire farther with his teeth before leaping across and dragging across the entire hole, after tying one of the lines to the branch he’d been standing on.

He repeated this process- tying to a branch, and then leaping across the gigantic gap- a few more times before he stopped momentarily, ascertaining whether or not the trap was good enough. He’d formed something similar to a spider-web, all in order to catch nosy Pegasus ponies who thought they could run in through his trap and try to take him away to their stupid Princess who didn’t even thank him for what he did.

It was a few lines of ninja wire, only, but Sasuke had always been a prodigy, and he wasn’t in any way weak at traps- if they flew into it, the wire would snap and surround them, and pin them to a random branch.

Then they’d be found by Sasuke when he woke up- which would probably be then, because when the trap activated it would probably be fairly loud.

Satisfied, Sasuke leapt down from his trap and looked around his campsite at his handiwork. He needed sleep- mostly because he hadn’t been found yet, and he would take his rest when he could get it. He walked around the camp a few more times, paranoid, checking over each trap more than once to make sure they’d accurately protect him. After looking them and the brush over, ensuring it was indeed as thick and impassable as he thought it was, he walked back over to the fire and snuffed it, stomping the ashes into the dirt and grass.

Sasuke strolled over to a small bed of leaves and grass that he’d made. He had no tent here, and he couldn’t make one, because he had no fabric. Manticore pelts were too thick and didn’t have the right material, and he hadn’t seen an animal he could use- besides a pony, but he wasn’t making a tent out of a pony. He jumped down into his makeshift bed and tried to lay down, and become comfortable, but even now, he wondered idly if he’d be found or not. As he went to bed, the voices started fighting in his head again, and he winced as he drifted off into unconsciousness- the silence of sleep a welcome reprieve from the chaos in his mind.

______________________________

It must’ve been eight or nine in the morning, at the very least, the next day when Sasuke woke up. He’d probably gone to bed at one or two in the morning- after running for most of the night, and then having to set up camp, and catch dinner and eat traps, he’d wasted a lot of time and had to go to bed late- and as such, had woken up fairly late. He was sure that his sleep was a fraction of what a noble got in a night, though, and didn’t worry about whether or not he was getting lazy or not, from needing more sleep.

He was careful in getting up- instantly, checking his traps around and above him to see if he’d caught anything. He’d prefer if he hadn’t. That would’ve been the best situation. While catching a pony would surely be better than being caught or a pony seeing him, and running back and telling the others about him, he still wanted to use this campsite as long as he could, just because it was a good spot and he didn’t feel like moving.

The ninja wire gleamed slightly in the morning sunlight, and Sasuke knew that it wouldn’t be as effective in the day, because the traps were much more easily revealed. Still, at the very least, they’d be very annoying hindrances, and he knew that if they weren’t paying attention, they’d run into them anyway and it wouldn’t matter how visible they were. He cut himself a path through the underbrush, and once he was through, stacked the mounds of grass and leaves and growth back against itself- that way, no one would be able to tell that he’d ever been there. He could come back and his campsite would most likely be undisturbed.

He’d resolved to explore the forest more, if only to know where he’d be living for the next while. Sasuke knew that while he’d probably pissed the ponies off, and it was likely that they wouldn’t leave him alone for a while, he also knew that there was no way they could ever catch him- not out in the open, and especially not when he was well-hidden by the cover of a dangerous forest. Sasuke figured that he could only increase his rates of staying unfound and un-captured if he knew the forest like the back of his hand.

So Sasuke set out and started running through the forest some more, making sure to stay hidden most of the time and to not move too fast. The entire thing would be for naught if a pony saw him and they started chasing him again. He’d eventually have to double back to his clearing- camp place, and then he’d have to move if they found him there, and he didn’t want them doing that. He’d worked hard yesterday making that camp more habitable.

He jumped from branch to branch and looked around, usually spotting nothing but the same, over and over. The same trees, the same flowers and grass –everything was mostly the same. He’d spotted a few blue flowers, and he wasn’t stupid enough to touch them or try to do anything with them. For all Sasuke knew, they could be poisonous, and he could easily imagine the stupid ponies eating them, because they had no idea of how to be safe inside of a forest or any kind of dangerous area or conditions.

There were plenty of timber wolves and multiple Manticores inside the forest, though the Manticores were rarer. Still, despite being attacked by both multiple times while he was out exploring, they were obviously no challenge to Sasuke. Even as a genin, he knew they would’ve posed him little trouble- maybe at most requiring a Jutsu or two to kill.

He didn’t even bother covering the bodies- he knew that other animals would fight over the corpses as food, and it would just look like they were slaughtering each other. He wouldn’t be implicated in the death of a stupid wolf made out of wood, and even if he would be, they had to search the entire forest. He doubted they’d find him just based off of that.

He’d found a stream or two while he was traveling through the forest, and drank from them more than once, sometimes doubling back towards them just to get a sip or two of water. Now that he knew where they were, he could always go back to them for more water. He already filled his canteen up from one, but now that he had unlimited water, he could prepare better dishes and also bathe himself much easier- not be completely filthy, covered in leaves and dirt and grass inside of this forest. He did still have to take care of himself.

As he explored, he found what he’d thought he’d find: more and more of the damn same. The same shady, concealing trees that he was glad for, the same grassy forest floor, and the same animals- he hadn’t seen much more than Manticores and timber wolves so far, and it was starting make Sasuke curious as to whether or not that was all that was really in there. A sudden roar determined that it was indeed not.

He was more than interested in something that could possibly give him even a sliver of entertainment, and he started jumping and leaping through the trees, traveling in the direction of the sound that he’d heard. It had been something else- he’d been sure of it. The roar was much louder and deeper than a Manticore’s, and wolves didn’t roar, they howled, and even when they did that, they weren’t that loud. Sasuke was hoping for a much more dangerous opponent- or at the very least, if not dangerous, something that could occupy his attention.

The roar boomed out again, and Sasuke could tell he was closer, though not entirely there yet. It seemed to be destroying a lot of trees, whatever it was, because he could hear it rampaging somewhere out in the forest here. As he got closer and closer, he discovered that the other animals were apparently scared of it- it was causing even the normally prideful and arrogant Manticores to flee, and the timber wolves were forming temporary pack alliances and running in large groups- strength in numbers, after all.

Sasuke pulled out his sword, a quiet screech of steel echoing throughout the forest before his neck of the woods again became quiet. Like a predator, he waited and listened. In the ruckus of the fleeing animals, he’d lost its position. Sasuke could just run in and find it, but he wanted to be careful. He wasn’t going to charge in recklessly without, at the very least, knowing what they hell he was going up against. The forest was quiet, and for a moment, he wondered, sadly, if it had actually left and gone somewhere else.

Then he heard that loud, booming roar again, and he knew that it was no such coincidence. He momentarily stopped as the roar echoed throughout the forest loudly, and he lit up his sword with electricity. Chidori Nagashi, one of his original techniques- even if it was based off of an original technique, Sasuke was still and always would be, proud of it. He checked his six and his supplies- and he had everything. He was ready.

He started sprinting and leaping through the trees, landing on the branches adroitly and promptly launching himself off of them again, almost instantly. He darted from tree to tree and seemed a natural part of the forest. He stopped, halfway hidden inside a tree, vision captivated by a huge, massive being that was stomping around the forest.

He could only see the lower parts of its body- four stubby, but still massive legs, and a huge belly that all was strangely colored. It looked incredible- and Sasuke wondered what kind of other strange creatures were wandering throughout Equestria. This couldn’t be the end of the enthralling native species here. He moved closer, even if he did it slowly and cautiously.

He stopped again, and watched as the giant star-bear thing rooted around in the ground for what he assumed was either food, or just for simple curiosity. The bear thing didn’t eat, so he assumed it was just exploring. Its paws were gigantic limbs, and he knew that no matter how weak the creature might’ve been to him, it was certainly the king in a place like this. It abruptly dropped down onto the floor, sending a booming crash throughout the forest, and jolting Sasuke as he nearly fell out of his tree, though he regained his balance instantly.

It was… napping?

Sasuke wasn’t going to interrupt it. For some reason, he didn’t feel that it would be right. All the same, he still wanted to watch it, and he figured with how large the thing was that he’d be able to get closer and not be noticed. The thing probably overlooked smaller things all the time, and he had his ninja skills, anyway. If he couldn’t hide himself from an animal, he was no kind of shinobi, anyway. He jumped through a few more trees, and stopped as he was nearly right above the massive animal. He looked down at it, interested.

It looked so… peaceful, sleeping there. He jumped down and petted its side, strangely, he was enthralled by the creature. Even though it was certainly dangerous- and probably immeasurably cruel and ferocious when awake, Sasuke couldn’t help but think it was cute when asleep. A much, much louder roar made him turn though, and the smallest inklings of fear ran through him as he turned around, and met what he considered could’ve been his maker.

The gigantic star-light bear certainly resembled a god, if that was one of the conditions.

He idly realized, as he stared down the absolutely titanic bear, that it was a baby.

A baby.

He leapt a hundred feet or as away as a massive paw crushed where he had just been, awaking the baby but not hurting it. It started to cry, and the baby bawling sounded like a hundred lions roaring. Sasuke covered his ears in pain and watched as the thing completely ignored him- he was hidden in trees now anyway, and if the baby didn’t notice him, the mother certainly wouldn’t. He could hardly imagine how huge it was- it reminded him of the tailed beasts. He knew that it probably wasn’t as strong, or with the same amount of energy, but it still possessed the sheer stature and strength, and that was half of their advantage, anyway.

The mother star-light bear reached down and picked up the baby with one gargantuan starry paw. She cradled it and cooed to it- a sound that was similar to grating steel, intensified, and booming, and it made Sasuke crinkle his nose in displeasure as his ears were repeatedly assaulted. Eventually though, the bear eventually left and stomped off to another area of the forest, taking its massive baby with it. Sasuke could only look and watch as it left before shaking his head, and turning around, deciding that was enough excitement for today.

He began traveling back to his campsite when, on the way, he caught sight of a pony rummaging through the forest floor. He stopped instantly and hung from a branch, watching from above. After a few moments of observation, he discovered that the horse wasn’t actually a pony- at least, it didn’t look like it. It had different coloring, with all kinds of stripes and alternating colors on its coat. Most ponies he’d seen had had simply one coat color.

If anything, she looked exotic.

Her mere location interested Sasuke, though. While every pony that he’d ever met- save the ponies that were pursuing him under royal orders in the forest right now- all avoided the forest, and wisely it was that they did so. Sasuke, while normally disgusted by their weakness, had to admit it was smart of them to just completely stay out of an area where they’d be killed. Especially when it wasn’t even that hard for them to avoid and stay out of the forest.

But this other striped pony was different. Sasuke could tell that she had confidence, courage, and above all, wisdom. She was gathering things from the forest floor- most likely, herbs. Sasuke had recognized several species in the forest that were similar to his world, although they had minor differences- and on the other hand, there were plenty here that he’d never seen before- the blue flower patches were a good example.

She didn’t seem to notice the brown, wooden timber wolves creeping up behind her.

Sasuke, about to leap down from the trees to intervene, decided to wait, and see.

Something about this pony was different.

She perked her ears momentarily- signaling that she’d heard them, but did not reveal this to them. Sasuke didn’t know this. The striped pony continued gathering her herbs as if she didn’t notice them. She had a small bag with her- similar to a satchel, Sasuke noticed- that she kept on her person. She gathered more herbs with her mouth and placed them inside the bag gently, with precise, quiet movements. He realized that she knew of the dangers of the forest and was trying to be as stealthy as possible.

With a wild howl, full of hunger and desire for a filled belly with pony meat, the three timber wolves that had been clumsily hiding themselves among bushes and shrubs directly behind her. With grace, speed, and poise, the striped pony leapt up, her golden earrings glinting in the small amount of light that there was in the dark forest.

She bucked one in the head and landed on all fours, and did the same and leapt again and repeated it. Only one remained, the other two were unconscious, from strong hooves to the head. It charged her stupidly and recklessly, and she reminded Sasuke of Applejack as she turned around and planted both hooves firmly in its face before backing off and letting it fall down, unconscious.

She then finished collecting herbs and promptly left.

To say that Sasuke was impressed by the physical display of combat ability would be an understatement. He was a great fighter, naturally, and with his Sharingan he was even better at Taijutsu, but he didn’t need it to see what she’d done in that short encounter there. She obviously had some form of experience fighting these creatures, as not only did she act quickly and effectively, she also fought calmly without any terror or panic evident on her features.

He followed and stalked her quietly in the forest. The striped pony was much different from the others, and Sasuke liked her immediately, even though he didn’t know her name, had never heard her talk, or anything else. He was impressed by her courage and boldness to come into such a dangerous place for such trivial things- in comparison, at the very least. Sasuke wondered if the herbs were truly that important to her, or if she was just justifying going into such a dangerous forest to challenge herself.

She was slow compared to him, and he could still slaughter her in an instant, but that was not what mattered. He felt that he’d finally met a pony that wouldn’t be completely annoying. Someone that might be able to help him out even- in other words, an ally. She looked smart, wise, combat capable, and most importantly of all, competent, unlike the other idiots that seemed to be the dominant species of this world.

While Sasuke had lost a good deal of his arrogance, and his hatred in his time in Equestria, it was still there nonetheless, and he still felt that the ponies had way too many delusions about reality that frustrated him to no end. It seemed that the striped pony- whoever she was, as Sasuke had never seen her before- suffered from none of these things.

He continued following her for a short while, and watched as she calmly walked through the forest. She seemed to have no fear of the place, and after what he’d seen, Sasuke could understand why. She stopped for a short time once again to collect a few more herbs, but it wasn’t for as near as long of a time compared to the last time, and she soon moved on again. Sasuke was contemplating on talking to her, if only out of curiosity.

He had never been desperate for social interaction- ever, even when he’d been here, mostly away from the other humans. He was interested in the pony, however, and resolved to talk to her soon. She walked quietly for a while longer, and suddenly sped up, though Sasuke couldn’t see why. He followed her slightly faster through the trees, and soon saw her arrive at what he assumed was some sort of small cottage home in the middle of the forest.

His respect for her only swelled more, and he leapt down from the trees, landing on his feet silently right behind her. He decided to speak up then.

“Hello,” Sasuke said simply, and she turned around in fright, backing up.

“Strangest creature I’ve yet observed,” she muttered, dropping her satchel to the floor, and defensively backed up against the door of her house, and then completed the rhyme, “Your appearance makes me unnerved.” Sasuke put some distance between the two, but did not leave her sight, instead responding to her. He especially made an effort to show that he was not holding any weapons or meant to harm her.

“You’re the bravest pony I’ve seen. You live in this forest?” Sasuke asked, gesturing to the cottage that she stood in front of. She looked behind herself, glancing at it fondly, before turning back and replying in turn. She picked up her satchel and put it back over her as she did so, turning towards the door.

“I like to live in places green; as for the creatures though- obscene.”

Sasuke had a confused expression before he covered it with a calm look as the pony turned around again. At first, he thought that she’d simply rhymed either by accident or complete coincidence- either way, it was not something intentional. A second set of rhymes, however, were already straining that explanation thin as it was. His mind instantly flashed back to a ninja he’d once battled- Killer Bee. Her rhymes were better than his, though.

“Are you a warrior, with that blade?” She asked, pointing with a hoof towards his sword that hung off of his back. He nodded, and she nodded back as she walked into her home, inviting Sasuke in with a wave of her hoof. As he walked in, he noticed that while it was small, she seemed to have one of everything in here, literally. Pots and jars lined the shelves, all no doubt filled with ingredients and herbs, much like the ones he’d seen her gathering before.

“As I thought. Your skill seems of the highest grade.”

“How can you tell? You’ve never seen me fight.”

“Admittedly, in fighting, I perceive more than most,” she said, as she sat down and laid her satchel on the floor, “and I can tell you’re strong- but of my observational abilities, I do not meant to boast.” Sasuke nodded as he sat down on the floor with her, though it was harder for him because he was so much larger than her. She watched him do so, and then opened her satchel and began to sort through and put away her herbs into their respective jars and pots, and Sasuke watched with a small amount of interest before he spoke up.

“You’re strong for a pony. I watched you fight,” he mentioned. This gave her pause.

She looked surprised at the fact that she’d been followed and hadn’t noticed. She obviously put a good deal of pride into the fact that she was able to detect the predators of the forest and not only notice them before they could attack her, but also out battle them and outwit them as well. She muttered a response quietly as she finished putting her herbs away.

“A pony, I am not. I hail from the land of Zebrica. I sailed, and then across the land to get here I did trot.” She paused, as if to consider something, and then added on, “You must be like a cat, for me not to notice you, like that.”

“I’ve had experience in stealth,” Sasuke said.

“Would you like some tea? I’m about to make some, for me.”

“Sure.” Sasuke replied, and he watched and waited as the- not a pony, she hailed from Zebrica, so he guessed something like a zebra- zebra collected the herbs and the leaves that she’d use in the mixture. She hummed as she worked, but offered no further words. She dumped the leaves inside a small kettle, and heated this in the same spot that a large pot was also resting- nearly as large as the zebra herself- certainly cooking something important.

“Creature, what is your name? For me, not knowing the identity of a friend is a shame.”

Sasuke froze, clearly not expecting such a development. He wondered if the other blue princess had gotten into contact with this zebra yet. A bunch of other considerations ran through his mind- one of which was whether or not the zebra was even under the princess’ jurisdiction, and if not, and then she probably didn’t know. In the end, he gave her his true name- if nothing more, he knew that he was in no real danger as of yet.

“My name is Sasuke Uchiha.”

“Interesting, I’ve heard of you. They do not say nice things about you- it’s true.”

Sasuke froze again. He wasn’t sure whether to attack her, or to run, or to stay.

“Hardly believe idly gossip, do I,” she said, pouring the tea from the kettle into two small cups, “Though every time they turn me away, in exasperation, I sigh.”

Sasuke slowly understood what she’d been saying. Oh! She didn’t believe what she’d heard because she was also… an outcast?

“What do you mean?”

“The ponies, they run from me scared,” she scoffed, “as if I’m a Manticore with my teeth bared. They offer me no time to explain, and upon me, heap and heap fear and blame.”

Sasuke scowled at this. He wouldn’t put it past their stupidity to be afraid and ostracize of one of the only respectable, honorable beings he’d met while he was here.

She passed him a cup of tea, and he drank from it- enjoying the way the tea tasted. It was delicious and refreshing. As he watched her drink, he thought, and thought deeply.

It was even obvious to Sasuke by now. He was no longer the cold, heartless person he’d once been. That didn’t mean he wasn’t still cruel, or easily upset, or didn't want his revenge, but.... but he was a lot more… balanced, then he’d once been. He still wanted revenge, but he was often questioning himself if it was the right thing to do lately.

His mind had been hurting more and more, as his Pride, Hatred, Guilt and Anger had never stopped talking lately. He winced as they talked again in his head. They never shut up now- they had been quiet before, compared to this. Guilt was still the worse, though, and Guilt was the loudest out of any of them- often blocking them out like one yelling voice that was louder than the others managed to shout over them.

The criminal sprints, and the criminal runs, and he does his crimes and has his fun. And he runs from the moon and the sun, and soon they will end his run and his fun. They’ll capture you, Sasuke, and then you’ll be forced to admit to your crimes. You’re despicable, and I couldn’t be more disgusted with you- you were so much nicer as a child, you never refused or ignored your Guilt then, but now you do, and it’s honestly something to be both-

Any more of the mindless babble was cut off as Sasuke emitted a grunt of agony.

“Sasuke Uchiha, you look pained. Perhaps from my mixtures, healing could be gained?”

She was offering him medical help. He almost considered it, but he refused, instead.

“No, I’ll be fine.”

They drank tea silently for a few moments more, and then a hoof was heard, tapping on the door. Sasuke froze and glanced over at the zebra, whose name he still didn’t know, who was moving to answer it. Sasuke moved to the back and henged into a pot. She seemed flabbergasted by this, but soon understood the meaning, even if not how he did it- he didn’t want to be seen or have anypony knowing that he was here. With a nod, she opened the door.

A yellow Pegasus stood there, and looked nervous, even though she was maimed. She had bandages all along one of her wings, and Zecora didn’t think that it looked like it was going to heal, at all. She turned her attention back to the Pegasus, though, as she spoke.

“I’m looking for an Uchiha Sasuke. Have you seen him? They’re… they’re hunting him down because he killed somepony who was threatening Sweetie Belle- at least, it’s what I heard from Rarity…” She mumbled into her wing. She started up again, a little louder, “Anyway, I’m looking for him. He violated a law of Equestria and the princesses want him, but if I can find him and convince him to come back now, I’m betting that they might go easy on him. Even if he killed somepony, I don’t know if he deserves imprisonment.“

Sasuke scoffed internally, but made no noise, still disguised as a pot.

Zecora considered this. She now knew that Sasuke was a murderer- apparently- and while that frightened her, she wasn’t one to completely trust ponies, either, putting into account that all they did was avoid her and complete ostracize her from their society. After remembering that, it only took her another second to decide.

Any creature can harbor hatred, even if they don’t express it violently- and her way of showing her resentment was to make her job of finding Sasuke as hard as possible.

“I’ve never heard of such a pony. As you can see, I’m quite lonely.”

“Oh, he’s not a pony, he’s a human, and a shinobi, very tall, black mane-“

“I’ve never seen him,” Zecora repeated, and watched with a small amount of satisfaction as Fluttershy visibly deflated. “I apologize; I’ve noticed that you did dim.”

“Oh, I’m not that sad, I just really want to find him… I’m sorry for wasting your time. I’ll be leaving now.” She closed the door and walked off, and then Sasuke released his henge.

“I’m not sure whether you can be trusted, or whether you should get out,” the zebra said to him as he moved back to the center of the room,” but for now, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.” Sasuke nodded to her as he moved to the door of the house.

“Thank you… by the way, what’s your name?”

“It’s Zecora, Sasuke, remember it well. When you come next time, you have much to tell.” Even though he knew he didn’t have to obey what she said, he felt compelled to do as she’d asked of him. As he walked away, he spared one last glance back at the strange zebra.

There was the smallest spark of disapproval in her eyes- no doubt at the information about the murder- and Sasuke, likewise, felt the smallest spark of shame enter him.

It didn’t seem that it was going to go away, either.

TO BE CONTINUED

When An Innocent Mind Witnesses The Injustices Of The World

Sasuke leapt from branch to branch as he traveled to Zecora’s home in the Everfree forest. Ever since he’d met her two or three days ago, he’d been talking to her every day, and found that she really was as wise as he thought she was- no, perhaps wiser. She was also one of the only creatures that Sasuke could talk to in this world, and whether he knew it himself or not, he craved social interaction- and Zecora was the one that was giving it to him.

After he’d gone back the first time, he’d had to explain to her why he’d killed the shinobi- and it wasn’t easy for Sasuke to do, but he told the truth. By the end of it, when they were drinking tea, Zecora had set it down and nodded at him and went to go get herbs like nothing wrong had happened. Sasuke had been confused by her behavior, and almost immediately, he’d asked her why she wasn’t afraid of him, or why she wasn’t running.

She had only had one thing to say to that.

“You aren’t going to kill me,” she’d said.

Well, she hadn’t said that, but she’d said it in rhymes.

Zecora had not felt frightened in all by what Sasuke had said, nor she did she feel the Princesses should truly be looking for him- after all, he mostly helped them, even if he broke a law. She’d noticed that about them- they had a hard time accepting that anypony else had different ideas or ideals. She knew that Equestria was the greatest country in the world, but that didn’t mean that people from other places- or even other dimensions- could not have knowledge to offer that might also be useful to them.

Zecora believed Sasuke’s story, and for more than one reason. After hearing it from him and comparing it to what she’d heard from Fluttershy, she found that it matched. Not only that, but she also believed it just because of the general bigotry of the ponies- and she knew that it could be a lot more just than what was happening to him. Despite the fact that she was wise and that the ponies would benefit from having her in the community, she was ostracized.

Zecora noticed that, lately, more and more, she seemed to … hate them. Hating the ponies, not only for how they ignored her but for what they did to others and how they assumed they were so much better than everypony else- from something as simple as race to something more complex, like ideals. She wasn’t sure what to make of her malice- it felt almost uncontrollable at times, and she struggled to tame her disgust of them.

She was technically- the princesses- their subject, but she didn’t even really follow their rules- they didn’t bother trying to collect taxes from her, and so she didn’t pay them- she wasn’t going to pay taxes to a crown or group of ponies that intentionally avoided her and left her out of the loop, even if they had demanded the money from her. Zecora also noticed that she was enjoying her solitude more and more, and the only other being she really cared for was Sasuke.

She looked forward to their daily meetings- talking, having tea, and general discussion- though it seemed like Sasuke was more than a little… off. She noticed him talking to himself- there’s no way he could be talking to anyone else, and she knew the words and statements were not directed at her. He often whispered things about a Naruto, or was telling somepony else to shut up- somepony else that wasn’t in the room with them.

She worried for Sasuke, but she wasn’t sure how to make it stop.

A knocking at the door interrupted her thinking. She opened it and saw Sasuke there, sitting in the relative darkness of the forest. She stepped aside and allowed him entry, shutting the door behind him. Sasuke strode in and sat down- randomly, as they always did, because she had no real seats in her house- and she noticed that Sasuke looked more stressed than he ever did before. Maybe it was the way that his hair was a little disheveled, or maybe it was the look in his eye- half crazed, half paranoid, as his gaze flickered from side to side.

What was wrong with him?

“…Zecora…” Sasuke said, turning away. He faced to the window, unable to admit it. Unlike when Twilight had been tasked to help him- and betrayed him, for that matter- this was something else entirely, something else that had a much larger effect on his pride. It was hard for him to even ask for it, but he knew that he would only feel worse if he didn’t get it off of his chest. He took a deep breath and asked her again, steeling himself, and this time, the words managed to leap out of his throat without become entangled because of his pride.

“Zecora, I need… advice,” Sasuke said, and he glanced down, looking into his lap, as Zecora handed him a small cup of tea. He looked inside of the cup and watched the green liquid swirl- he’d always found her tea to be calming, and now he probably needed it more than ever. Guilt hadn’t been quiet in the past few days, but it was more than that- he hadn’t been able to sleep. Maybe it was all too much- it was just finally really starting to get to him- but he was more stressed out than he’d thought he’d maybe ever been.

Zecora nodded to him, and lifted the kettle that had been squealing a few moments ago, and lifted it off the place it had been resting one more time, pouring herself her own cup before setting it down on the desk, calmly, and walking over before planting herself on the floor on her rump firmly. She sipped at her cup with her two hooves, taking some time to think about what Sasuke could need advice for- the Princesses? Or did he have other problems.

“What is it that ails you so greatly? Is it something old- or something that’s happened lately?” Zecora asked, holding her cup in her hooves, staring intensely into the tea inside.

She was aware- perhaps more than Sasuke realized she was- of his pride. After only a few discussions with him, she’d picked up on his personality, and as the thoughts raced through her head, she understood just how hard it must’ve been to come to her with whatever problem he had- and all the more reason that she had to help. It made her feel good that there was one pony- no, not actually ponies, for they were stupid- but still, something else that actually trusted her enough to confide something important like this in her.

She sipped at the cup in her hooves watched as Sasuke struggled to begin speaking. Even though he’d admitted his problem, he still had trouble starting- his pride wouldn’t allow someone else to help him. “Sasuke, no matter what, I will not judge you. You’ve spoke to me, and know this to be true,” she said. Sasuke nodded stiffly, and sighed. He eventually began after a few more moments of painful, awkward silence.

“Ever since I’ve come to Equestria,” Sasuke said, “I’ve been hearing voices. In my head. It’s troubling… in more than one way, is the only way I think I can put it. It’s disconcerting because I’ve never had to face this problem before- and… I’m losing control,” he admitted, as he stared into his teacup, “and it... it scares me. It really does scare me. More than I’ve ever been scared in a long time. I… I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

Sasuke slurped his tea, hesitant to speak again, but Zecora’s face told him to continue.

“I wasn’t always like this- this calm, like I am now. Before I came here, to Equestria, I was a lot… crueler, I’ve realized. I did terrible things to get what I needed to get done, and I didn’t think twice about it- not then, at least. I… I am, now. Only because of the voices, though,” Sasuke said, shivering, “and not anything else. I haven’t gained any compassion of my own accord. This place has changed me… but, it’s only calmed me down. My anger, my hatred… it’s all still…” Sasuke touched at his chest, before dropping his hand to his side, “here.”

“It’s just controlled now,” he said, sipping tea, even as his hands shook in pain as Guilt cackled and blabbed on and on in some dark, untouchable corner of his mind.

Zecora didn’t comment for several minutes, watching Sasuke shake in pain. She didn’t know what to tell him. It sounded like his pain sprang from whatever he’d regretted that he’d done- and that he’d have to accept the wrong that he’d done if he had to heal. He didn’t sound happy about his anger and his hatred- perhaps he had once been proud of it, or used it for more, but now it was simply sitting like dead tissue inside his heart- and it seemed that he wanted to get rid of it, but it clung on endlessly despite this.

Just as she was about to comment on what Sasuke should do- and she’d formed a good idea in her mind, one that probably would’ve helped him out, a good herbal remedy for mental illness that she still remembered from her homeland- a few things happened at once.

They heard the stomping of hooves outside the door- as if there were groups and groups of guards all running around outside. Even as Sasuke heard this, he began to act, and he was pulling out his sword when the next thing happened.

The wall behind Zecora exploded, and the debris nearly hit her and Sasuke. Sasuke activated Susanoo and tried to grab Zecora- but all he managed to do was surround her in the barrier so what she wasn’t hit by what happened next.

Princess Luna crashed through the top of the forest cottage violently, and the entire roof collapsed as she landed- and both her and Sasuke had their own versions of shields to help them defend from it. She whispered in the cacophony- and somehow, Sasuke could still hear her. Zecora hid behind him as he drew his sword in response to what she said.

“I FOUND you!” She crowed, triumphantly, and Sasuke grunted as she rushed at him- before having Susanoo toss her off with one of its hands, throwing her hard against one of the walls. She blew through it like it was paper, and continued sailing on, but Sasuke knew that she’d be right back. He struggled to think of a plan quickly- before he leapt through the top of the roof, carrying Zecora, and leapt through the forest, using multiple substitutions to throw them off for a minute as he found a safe place to hide Zecora.

He placed her down on the forest floor, and Zecora was still panting- and called after Sasuke as he jumped off a branch and leapt back in the direction of the cottage.

He was pissed. He may have been a criminal- even if he really fucking wasn’t because Celestia refused to recognize her arrogance- but there was a difference between hunting him down, and attacking an innocent Zebra in the process of all of it. He snarled as he left from tree to tree, specifically seeking out Luna, now. He wasn’t fucking around anymore. He saw her flying when he got closer towards the ruins of what had been Zecora’s home- instantly, Sasuke rushed at her with his blade.

She tried to enact a barrier, but it didn’t work- too much force in the electrical blade, and it forced itself right through, tearing through the barrier like it was rotten wood and then impacting into Luna’s side with just as much strength. She grunted, and then spat blood as Sasuke dug the weapon in deeper, enjoying the moment. She starting choking and coughing up a lot of blood as Sasuke tore his weapon free, doing even more damage in the process, and showering the nearby area in Luna’s blood.

“You’re pathetic,” Sasuke said, even as Luna looked up to him in confusion- her side was slowly healing, much to Sasuke’s displeasure, as her horn lit up and she used healing magic- but that could wait for a moment. She had to stay still, at least for now- and that also meant that she couldn’t run from his words, and that she had to listen. He swung his sword and flicked the blood off of it, before letting it rest on his shoulder as he continued to berate Luna.

“It’s one thing to attack a criminal,” he said, walking forward slowly, electricity charging inside of his steel blade, “but an entirely different thing to attack an innocent. Zecora hasn’t done anything to any of you. If anything, the ponies ignore her, and she hates them for it. I know the feeling all too well, and so, for the past few days, we’ve been talking on our free time. It doesn’t mean that you can attack her- if anything, since you’re so good and just, you should know this- and it doesn’t mean that the ends justify the means.”

“S-she interacted with you, the enemy. She didn’t die in the crossfire and would’ve been a regrettable casualty had it happened, but she was none of our concern all the same because of the betrayal of Equestria-“ Luna couldn’t finished as she gurgled some blood up, and coughed it up and spat a few times. Sasuke waited patiently as she rose to her hooves slowly, her healing magic almost complete and her strength almost returned.

“I see how it is now, pony. Even though I saved you from multiple deaths- or, at the very least, more emotional trauma and more injuries from that shinobi, the law must be obeyed at all times, even if it doesn’t make sense, right? That’s fine. I wouldn’t have fought you seriously if you hadn’t done what you’d just done. Now you’re going to learn what a Kirin is. Attack me now, Princess. If I get this attack off, you won’t be getting up for a while. I’ll surely win the fight.” Luna staggered, but charged at him nonetheless, her horn lighting up as she did so.

Sasuke shot multiple fireballs into the sky- large, swirling masses of red-orange flame that crashed through the forest canopy and burst in the sky above the Everfree forest- slowly creating thunderheads. He managed to do one of these every few seconds as he fought Luna- and Luna had no idea what he was doing, as it looked like to her that he had incredibly bad aim. Regardless, it was her duty to capture him, and she was going to do it. She charged her horn and launched at him- with more speed than he anticipated.

If Susanoo hadn’t been in the way, she might’ve dealt serious damage to Sasuke- or, he may have avoided it. If her horn hit his chest like it looked like it was going to, he might’ve not gotten up again. All it did was anger Sasuke more, it seemed, as her horn was now stuck inside Susanoo. Furious, Sasuke’s Susanoo grabbed her horn and held it tight, before lifting her up by it as Sasuke directed it with his hands. She was lifted high into the air.

Then, she was slammed into the ground, and she lost control of herself- and her vision, as it became blurry- as she was slammed into the ground, again, again, and again. He repeated it more than a few times, terribly furious, and with each slam he became more and more satisfied by the pain that Luna was experiencing. He still couldn’t believe that she did that, despite the fact that there had been an innocent in the house with him.

At his camp, sure. Do what she did. But not at Zecora’s home.

He spat a few more mouthfuls of fire into the atmosphere, and looked upwards, happy at the thunderheads that were forming. It was nearly complete, now. He resolved to continue smashing Luna into the ground for a little while longer as his final technique formed. It was revenge in a different way, perhaps- and still not morally right, because he’d technically started everything- but what she had done was unacceptable. If Zecora had been closer, she would’ve been killed by the explosion, and there wouldn’t have been much Sasuke could’ve done.

And then, his Guilt would be right. He didn’t want that.

Sasuke shivered at the thought of it.

If anything, it reminded him of how Fluttershy had been injured- and he realized, idly, as he smashed the Princess of The Night into the ground repeatedly, that that had also been his fault- even if only slightly more indirectly. Luna moaned from the ground- but still tried to get up anyway, only to fall back down on her bottom, still groaning. Sasuke kept up his Susanoo, but began to get Kirin ready.

“My attack that I can use now is called the Kirin,” Sasuke said, as he raised a hand to the air and pointed to the thunderheads that were visible in the sky. He’d burned several holes through the canopy of the Everfree forest- and some light was finally shining into it, now. “It’s a blast of real lightning that will strike you in one thousandth of a second. It is impossible to dodge or avoid. It is my ultimate technique- and I do not control the lightning. I merely guide it, and it finishes the job for me.”

The clouds rumbled and lightning began to crackle in them as they charged themselves.

The electricity sparked from one cloud to another, jumping and jumping until they were all sharing the same source of electricity-and it built up inside of them, growing and growing- by now, a regular blast of lightning would’ve been discharged, but not for this, it had to be withheld until the moment was right- and it grew, and grew, until the electricity was huge bolts jumping from cloud to cloud, ready to turn into Kirin at any time Sasuke directed it to.

“You’ve been hunting me for days, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want to kill you, Luna. Because I do. I really, really do. I want to kill you, but mostly because of what almost happened to Zecora. I’ve never killed anyone in this place, besides the shinobi, who I had to- even the dragon, though injured, remains with its life. Yet you all blame me for it like it was some great, terrible tragedy and that he would’ve reformed himself and obeyed your laws.”

“He wouldn’t have. Much like me, in my world, that man is a missing-nin- and he would’ve carried on terrorizing and doing as he liked for a while longer, basically, until either you or Celestia came. If you sent squads of normal guards, there’s no doubt that they would’ve been defeated- and probably, most of them would’ve been killed as well. You may wonder why I’m even sparing you if I’m so angry.”

Luna barely managed a nod- a jerk of her neck that was so fast, Sasuke wasn’t sure that it had happened. Nonetheless, he continued, striding closer to Luna as he spoke.

“The thing is, I have things to be grateful for from this land. When I came here- and even now, although it’s not as bad now- I have hatred in my heart, and anger, too. Back then in The Elemental Nations, it blinded me-and I was so obsessed with revenge, that I’d do anything to get it. After spending so much time here, though, and whether it’s rubbed off on me, or it was of my own doing, I’ve calmed down thanks to the ponies in Ponyville.”

“And even if they hate me and are scared of me- after all the things that I’ve done in the town square, I wouldn’t blame them- I’m not going to fear them, or hate them back. I was so hateful; it was on the border of insanity- my obsession was completely unhealthy. In a way, this place helped me become sane again, so I have to thank it for that.”

“And I know that they wouldn’t want their Princess dying. So, I’m not going to strike you down with Kirin. Provided you listen to my conditions, of course.”

Luna frantically nodded as Sasuke’s Susanoo held her in its powerful, violet hands.

“There’s really only two or three. The first and foremost one is that you stop chasing me and leave me alone. The second is that you don’t harm or harass any of the ponies in Ponyville about me. Thirdly, you have to leave Zecora alone, especially. After what you did, she deserves to be away from you. You ponies ostracize her beyond belief anyway.”

“There is no real choice for you here. Accept the conditions. When I take you go back to wherever it is you two live, you can tell Celestia what happened. It’s completely ridiculous how unwilling you two are- you won’t even listen to reason, or my side of the argument. Regardless, leave, now. Don’t you dare think of going back on the deal, either, or both you and your sister will regret it. Dearly. Trust me that I’ll come through on that.”

The gigantic purple hands released her, and Luna spent a few humiliating minutes on the ground, coughing, and regaining her strength, healing herself, before she got to her feet. She watched as Sasuke gazed at her, observing carefully, for any signs of aggression. His terrible, red eyes burned into her core, and she turned away, and shivered, and took off into the sky, figuring that he completely controlled the lightning and she wouldn’t be struck because he’d promised that he would not. Sasuke watched her go, still full of fury and hatred.

Guilt and Pride babbled in his head, and so did Hatred- and he stumbled the second Luna left, swearing loudly at the horrible pounding pain that was exploding inside of his head- it felt like a gigantic, muscular man was on the inside of his skull, picking up his brain and slamming it down, over and over again, repeatedly. He struggled to stay conscious through the phantom pain. He knew that it wasn’t real- just like the voices weren’t- but his body thought it was, and because it did, he had to deal with the pain.

It took a little while for the agony to dissipate, but once it did, Sasuke rose to his feet, barely steady. He looked above, through the canopy of the Everfree forest- through the holes he’d burned in the forest, and watched as the thunderheads slowly disappeared. It took them a little while, but eventually, the rumbling, deadly clouds faded back to white, and it looked like no one had ever tampered with the weather.

He raced back to where he left Zecora and took her, leaping without a word. She was silent as well, and didn’t ask what happened. For the rest of the short trip back to her home, there was no talking, from either party- and it didn’t seem like either wanted to talk, anyway. Eventually, they reached her house, and they stared at the smoking mess that it had become. There were still a few guards around, but a few glares from Sasuke made them leave.

They’d probably gotten orders from Luna or somepony else by now, to leave, anyway.

Sasuke walked up to the smoking home, and picked through the smoking wreckage. It seemed that after Luna had both blasted through the side of one wall with a large fireball, and crashed through the top, it had probably completely collapsed. It didn’t help that there had probably been guards trampling through it- uncaring about Zecora’s supplies that she stored in there, or the status of her home- which was now completely destroyed.

Sasuke crushed a piece of wood in his hands, and sighed, and looked back at Zecora. She seemed upset- for good reason. She wasn’t crying or incredibly furious, but… almost seemed disappointed in the ponies, as if she’d expected better of them, and again, they had failed her. He sorted through the wreckage some more, but all Sasuke found was a few pieces of burnt wood, some broken jars, and scattered remains of various herbs that Zecora had once held in her storehouse/home. The cauldron was tipped over, and multiple holes had been bashed into it. Sasuke glared at this, and stepped back, standing next to Zecora.

For the next several days, Sasuke let Zecora stay at his camp, and in the morning, they’d return to where she once had her house, and he’d help rebuild it. With his strength, it was easy to cut gigantic logs and get supplies from all sorts of places without the danger that Zecora would’ve faced before. Even she hesitated to go too far into an entire pack of ten or twelve timber wolves, but with Sasuke there, they were able to access the best materials with which to rebuild her broken, burnt home.

It took them a few days to get the framework done-a few days which Sasuke enjoyed greatly. All the guards had been called off, it seemed that neither Luna nor Celestia were hunting him, and it was only Zecora and him in the forest, alone. No one was annoying him or bothering him, and for once, in a long, long while, Sasuke felt content. In a few days, they had completed the framework- and now, instead of smoking ruins, a large, wooden structure stood where Zecora’s old home once was.

Then, after that, they’d gathered more materials and had managed to finish it up that day- while it was bare inside, the structure was finished. Sasuke had used Kage Bunshin more than once, and it had sped up the work a lot. Not to mention that the home wasn’t that large, either, because it still was the home for a zebra- and it wasn’t like Zecora was huge. It had been fairly simple- if he’d been Tendo, it would’ve been done in seconds, but he wasn’t, so it had taken them three or four days.

Afterwards, Sasuke decided to leave, saying goodbye to Zecora as she got settled in to her new home. He went to visit Ponyville- he wanted to visit Fluttershy, specifically. Despite making up fake reasons in his head, like he was only doing it because he had to, the smallest morsels of kindness and sympathy were beginning to nest in his heart- even if he himself wouldn’t recognize it or admit to it.

Somehow, they were also avoiding being devoured by the large seas of hatred and frustration that were still within Sasuke’s heart. He wasn’t sure that he could ever forgive The Leaf- for what they’d done to the Uchiha. But, he felt that over time, he could fit in here.

He was inside the town square when it happened.

Celestia dropped out of the sky, but held up a hoof as he began to draw his sword.

“No. Wait, Sasuke. I don’t want to fight you. I want to know… your past.”

Sasuke only looked at her, confused. She elaborated.

“My student, Twilight Sparkle, mentioned it in at least one or two letters. She’d said that you’d hinted at a past that was terrible- and that was the reason that you’re like this. So hateful, so angry… all the time,” Celestia turned away from him, and continued, “Luna told me about how she nearly damaged an innocent. I’ve been thinking about it, Sasuke. It was a boon to… t-to kill that man… even if it was against our laws. It would’ve only resulted in the blood of more innocents. You even warned me against my arrogance in sending Twilight against a dragon, but Fluttershy is permanently disabled because of it.”

“I’m sorry for not… believing you further, in the power of violence. It’s not something I like to subscribe to,” she muttered, and Sasuke looked more than shocked as she lowered her head in front of him, almost bowing to him,” but I’d like to apologize to you for terrorizing you, while you’ve helped the kingdom multiple times. You’ve even held back from killing anypony, even though we’ve attacked you multiple times.”

“I’d like to offer you citizenship in Equestria- you don’t really have rights here. You can imagine the boons that this would provide. Since you’re so powerful, you could maybe join the military or… well, I digress. The point is, I feel that even though the other ponies have given you multiple chances, I haven’t- and if anything, I should be the one that’s the kindest, here. They look up to me as a Princess, but… I have my own failings,” she whispered.

“I’d like to know your story.”

“You really, really wouldn’t,” Sasuke replied stiffly, but Celestia was persistent.

“Please, Sasuke. Is it so painful that you can’t talk about it?”

“I’d prefer not to. I don’t feel like talking about it- it’d take way too long. There’s another way- and it would be quicker and easier for me. It’d be a little more… jarring, to you. But it would probably get the point across faster,” Sasuke said.

“Whatever you need. I feel that I should be more than welcoming after the way that I’ve… been,” Celestia said, looking at the ground morosely, and Sasuke winced, but she didn’t notice it.

It felt wrong to see her so sad- even though she’d been the cause of a lot of annoyance and misfortune, he couldn’t help but feel that she didn’t know any better- and couldn’t do anything about it. And unlike his heart, she’d feel the pain forever- and she didn’t know when to forgive herself. Sasuke said a few words before he began.

“Fine, but… cheer up. It’s unbecoming of you to be so full of sorrow.”

She snapped her head up, not expecting that from him, but he was already starting before she could comment on it.

“Look deeply into my eyes.”

As Celestia did, Sasuke’s red eyes spun into more complex designs, and the world turned dark, before Celestia saw Sasuke’s life.

And when she witnessed the injustices of the shinobi world, she screamed.

TO BE CONTINUED

Twilight Sparkle's Experiences In The Elemental Nations- Part Three

Twilight was surprised by how huge the village was.

It was a sprawling, giant expanse of buildings, people- she’d only known one before, and now, after Wave, and then here, she’d seen so many- marketplaces, houses- it reminded her of a larger version of Canterlot, in a way.

She had been able to see the rough size of the city from the outside- but nothing’s the same until you experience it, and Twilight hadn’t been expecting this many people.

She’d have been so screwed trying to find Naruto if he wasn’t famous.

The guards at the front of the Leaf Village had told her, bluntly, that people didn’t talk about Sasuke around here, anymore- referring to him as not his name, but simply ‘The Traitor.’ She still hadn’t been told why that was so, but the guards seemed to be much more interested in her- and her story- once she’d mentioned his name. They’d stayed at their posts, but they had called for another while they did so.

Then, she’d met a pink-haired human- Sakura, she’d remembered her name was- and since they’d met, the girl hadn’t stopped talking. Despite the fact that she didn’t believe that Sasuke had gotten better- or had, in anyway, shown anypony any mercy at all- she had still been interested in meeting Sasuke again, after Twilight had told her the entire story, even though it seemed that everypony around here hated Sasuke. She wondered if Naruto would be any different.

Now, Sakura was leading her through the village. It still took some getting used to, being in such a different place like this- and Twilight Sparkle idly wondered if this was how Sasuke had felt when he’d first come to Equestria.

She’d gotten a decent number of stares, though, somehow, it was less than she had expected. Sakura had done her best to try to explain things about humans and shinobi that she’d been asking- and she was surprised and a little disappointed, to hear that humans had so much war in their world. It seemed that Sasuke wasn’t lying, after all.

The village was impressive, though. The buildings were huge- and in some place, put the architecture of her home to shame. The most impressive- and interesting, in Twilight’s opinion- was the Hokage Faces, as they were apparently called, that looked over the entire village. They were large, they were detailed- and they were every leader that the village had since its beginning. From One to Six- the current Hokage, she’d been told, also known as the man she was going to meet right now, Naruto- they looked amazing in their representations.

It was inspiring.

She’d stopped more than once to stare at them, and Sakura had quickly hurried her along and kept her going. She almost wished that she wasn’t here to find a way to help Sasuke- if only so that she could experience the village more. It was a compelling place, and she felt that the entire time that she’d been here was going by way too fast, without giving her any time to really enjoy it. That wasn’t what she was here for, though.

She was here about Sasuke.

Sasuke wasn’t lying, though. Ninja were everywhere here- of course, it was a ninja village, so that was to be expected. Still, she’d seen it- people casually using jutsu, in public, people with swords and kunai and shuriken, as Sasuke had told her they were called, people that wore similar clothes or used similar skills to Sasuke. Even Sakura had a pack that was strapped to her thigh that held a few weapons.

It seemed that people didn’t trust easily on this world.

Except for one person, though. The longer they walked through the village, and the more and more she heard about it, the more excited it made to her to meet Naruto. Sakura had told Twilight, repeatedly, that half the reason everyone was so impressed with Naruto was because he was a recently elected Hokage, but Twilight was more interested in his background.

She’d heard enough about it to want to meet him more than ever, now.

Saved the village multiple times, was the son of one of the previous Hokages, strongest ninja in the village- did this mean he could help Sasuke? - And, like she’d heard before, as some said, he was the strongest shinobi that was currently alive. Twilight had seen his face amidst the Hokage Faces- and he certainly looked heroic.

So it was with great trepidation and nearly uncontrollable excitement that she stood in front of the Hokage Residence- at the top, the Hokage- with Sakura right beside her. They’d been talking for barely fifteen to twenty minutes, and already, Sakura had put it in her mind that Naruto was some incredible individual that she’d be lucky to meet him, even once.

In a way, he reminded her a little bit of Princess Celestia- good, kind, upheld the peace.

“The idiot’s up there, so you can go now, and talk to him. Tell him what you told me. I’m sure he’ll still be interested in Sasuke. Me… I don’t know. Maybe. Not right now, though. I have to get to work- back on my shift at the hospital, with Master Tsunade. I’m still trying to teach these recruits how to fix a small gash, much less broken bones,” Sakura said.

It was a little humorous to Twilight how Sakura seemed to have a love-hate relationship with Naruto, but as Sakura had told her, they, along with Sasuke, had once been all on the same team- Team Seven, she’d called it. It made sense that they’d be more than friendly with each other- to the point where she was casually insulting the supposedly greatly respected leader of the village. She imagined it would be the same if she said something about Celestia.

She’d never do that, though.

There were shinobi guarding both the entrance and the inside, but after seeing Sakura, they let her through. The building was huge, and directly below the Hokage Faces. There were a few different floors in the building- all for different things. At the top was the Hokage’s Office, but there was also a meeting room, or so Sakura had told her, because Twilight had asked, of course, in the middle of the building, where the Hokage would meet with village Elder and clan Heads to discuss important matters.

She was just excited that she was in such an important government building.

After a few minutes of marveling at the interior of the building, she eventually proceeded forwards, and passed by the shinobi guards and started ascending the stairs. She still had her bag with her- and the book, too- and she was planning on showing Naruto the spell if he didn’t believe her about Sasuke- though, after what she’d heard, she didn’t know why he wouldn’t believe her- she was sincerely hoping that he cared more for Sasuke than every other human around here seemed to.

Even Sakura, who had been on the same team, didn’t seem to trust him. It again left Twilight wondering just what exactly had Sasuke done to earn the name of Traitor around here in the village. His past was more than fairly mysterious, and mostly because Sasuke himself wouldn’t shed any light onto it. Because of that, it was clear that something had happened- and Twilight wanted to know, because she didn’t like being kept out of the loop.

Who did, honestly?

She continued ascending- walking up the flight of stairs, still wincing a little with each step. The rib was still painful, even it had mostly healed. When she reached the top, she walked down a long, simple hallway- until she reached a door. Inside the door, she could hear silence, save for the tiniest groans, and then silence, again. There was no more noise. Twilight, hesitant, knocked on the door with a hoof. A cheerful voice responded.

“Come in!”

A visitor? Anything to get him away from paperwork. Boss had told him to do it, but…

Twilight Sparkle used her magic to grip the door handle- a glow surrounding the door knob. For a few moments, she hesitated, and then she opened it slowly, and strode inside, her hooves making soft noises on the wood. For a few moments, there was silence.

Twilight observed the human that was in front of her.

He certainly looked interesting enough, if that was a requirement to be a leader. He was fair skinned, with three marks on either side of his cheek, and bright, blue eyes. They were filled with… warmth? Happiness? Determination, maybe. He had yellow-blond hair, and he looked just like the statue depicted him as. Down from his face, he broadened out into a muscular young man- wearing some sort of red-orange coat with an interesting design.

He was shocked- as he should’ve been, rightly. He was staring at her like the strangest thing in the world- and from what she’d heard of his life, he’d seen some strange things, but probably never a purple unicorn. He glanced down at his huge desk- several documents marked with ink as he wrote out replies to dignitaries, decided on things like taxes, and in general moved things around in the village and kept things running.

The inkwell, next to him, was empty until he set his brush inside of it.

“Bear, why was I not notified of this? You know Boss doesn’t like surprises. Not when he’s … well, you know what he’s doing. He prefers to be left alone with her. Hopefully, Boss won’t have to come.”

“Forgive me Hokage-sama. No one told us that a visitor was coming.”

“You should’ve sensed her though. You are ANBU, you know,” Naruto’s clone said. Twilight could catch just the slightest hint of mirth in his voice, but it didn’t seem the ANBU in the right corner of the room- a mask wearing man, who had dropped down from literally nowhere, heard the humor in his voice. They probably took their job very seriously. Twilight thought they did, at least- how did they hide like that? She hadn’t been able to see them at all.

“Hai, Hokage-sama. Do you want us to go inform you, or-“

“Why are you here?” He bluntly asked Twilight. The ANBU moved to the side so that Naruto could look at Twilight. She set down the bag and lifted open a flap with magic- and Naruto looked a little surprised, but didn’t say anything.

“Also, who sent you here?” He also asked. She nodded and put the brown tome down, before taking a deep breath. She fiddled her hooves nervously, with both the ANBU and Naruto staring her down. She cleared her throat, and then tried again.

“The guards at the gate, the two at the front- and Sakura, Sakura sent me.” He looked strangely amused by this, as if he had expected it. “Look, uh… I really want to tell you, but I’m almost afraid to… I don’t know how you’re going to react.”

“I’m not going to attack you, or something. What is it?” He asked again, rolling his shoulders. Twilight looked at him. So casual and laid-back, even in this job. It was a little shocking- and what she’d heard about the man was apparently true- every single word.

“It’s just, everypony else that’s heard his name hates him. I’ve been told that you know a man by the name of Sasuke Uchi-“She could hardly even get the entire sentence out before the clone jumped up, surprised. With great force, the clone slammed his hands onto his desk.

“What do you know about Sasuke? Anything, please! I have no idea where he is.”

Wow. Twilight hadn’t expected that kind of reaction. This guy apparently really wanted to meet him- it looked like he was one of Sasuke’s only friends left here, apparently. Maybe literally the only one left. She nodded before she continued.

“I know where Sasuke Uchiha is. He’s where I’m from- I met him, and-“

“STAY HERE!” He bellowed, and brought his hands together, combining two fingers. Twilight knew she was about to see a jutsu, and watched as a poof of smoke appeared- and when it was gone, Naruto had disappeared. It was more than a little impressive.

“Hey! Where’d he go?” She turned to the ANBU, and he turned to her and replied.

“That wasn’t the real Hokage-sama. He can use the Kage-Bunshin jutsu. By destroying the replication, he alerted his real self to what was happening. He’ll be here in less than a minute,” he explained. Twilight nodded and waited, looking down at the wooden floor.

True to the ANBU’s word, less than a minute later, the real Naruto came leaping through the window, and rubbed the side of his neck where there were several red marks. She didn’t know what hickies were, but stayed silent even as he took a seat.

“This was the only thing that could’ve made me leave Hinata-chan. What about Sasuke?” He asked. She wondered who Hinata-chan was.

“Who’s Hinata…chan?”

“Chan is a suffix. It’s meant to show friendship, or affection,” he said, clearly annoyed. “She’s my fiancée. That’s not important right now, though. I need to know about wherever Sasuke is. Please, whatever you can tell me. It will help.”

“I’m glad you like him too. Everypony else seems to hate him around here- though no one will tell me why. I consider him my friend, so I think it’s important that I know why, but…”

“Your friend, huh? You sure about that?”

“Well, uh…” Twilight remembered how Sasuke was. She wasn’t sure if she should’ve worded it like that, but Naruto brushed it off, apparently.

“It’s okay. I know how he is. I probably know Sasuke better than anyone,” Naruto said.

Twilight nodded, and then Naruto motioned with his hands to continue.

“So, you know him, then? How is he? How did he arrive to… wherever you come from?”

“Yes, I know him. As for how he is, well… when I left, he wasn’t doing too badly. As for the last question, I’m not quite sure- well, I know, but I don’t know everything about it. There was a portal, and-“

“I know about the portal. I was just testing to see if our thoughts were correct- that that was the portal that Sasuke had went through. Killer Bee said he saw him, but… I didn’t want to believe it. After getting my hopes up so many times about Sasuke, even I…”

“That’s not the point, though. The point is, your story checks out, and I believe you. So, how long has he been there for?”

“A little over a month now, probably. No more than four to five weeks.”

“That’s interesting. There must be some sort of time difference between our two worlds, because he left around four months ago in the middle of the final battle.”

“Wow… four months to four weeks. I don’t really know what to say to that.”

By now, Naruto had put his feet up on his own desk, taking care not to smear or even touch any of the unfinished paperwork that was still scattered across it. He lazed for a while, reclining in his chair as he continued to question Twilight about how she’d arrived there.

“ANBU, leave. This is starting to get too personal.”

“Hai, Hokage-Sama,” they said, and Twilight watched with a dumb look as four bodies soundlessly appeared from the shadows and removed themselves from the room.

Naruto nodded once they were gone, and then continued, as if this was normal.

“So, how did you even get here if you didn’t use the portal? I’m sure that Sasuke already looked into it and then had probably told you and everyone else that it’s-“

“Dangerous, yeah. It is. I used my magic to get here- and I can get back, too.”

“Right. That’s what I heard as well- from my uh, sources. Could you use your magic to take me with you, back there? That’d probably be pretty good. I’d like to see Sasuke again.”

“I could, but not right now. I’m going to need to practice before I can take more people. Right now, I can only take one- at least, that was how much I took when I left. I was trying to take Sasuke here, too, but it didn’t work. He’s stuck there for now,” Twilight said.

“Alright, good,” Naruto replied, nodding his head.

“Why is it good? Why does everyone around here have something against him?” Twilight asked, confused and furious about what seemed so unjust and unfair.

“Do you really want to know? It’s not a story that can be told in a short time; it’s far, far too long for that. It has a lot of background that I’m going to have to explain to you, as well as things that have only happened recently. It’s not a story for the faint-hearted, either; it’s in general pretty terrible. I’ll tell you right now- Sasuke’s had a pretty shitty life here.”

“How… bad?” Twilight asked, not wanting to use a curse word.

“How bad? Very bad. I’ll start at the beginning,” Naruto said. He got up, taking his feet off of his desk. His coat flowed out behind him as he walked to the window that overlooked the entire village. The sun was setting by now- it was late afternoon; soon, nighttime. It did look pretty, Twilight realized, as she watched with him. Eventually, he turned around, and began to speak, after sitting back in his chair.

“This goes way, way back, so you’re going to have to pay attention. Originally, the First Hokage founded the village, along with the Uchiha. It was the Senju and the Uchiha that were the first two founders of the village. The Shodaime Hokage and Madara had both been contenders for the title of the leader of the village- that later turned to the Hokage- and Shodaime was chosen, obviously. They named the village Konohagakure. Madara didn’t like being a subordinate of Hashirama- that’s the First’s name- and after a while, he and the other Uchiha grew far too greedy for the power of leader.”

He let this sink in, and Twilight understood, even if she didn’t like it.

“So, Madara figured that he and Uchiha deserved to rule. The Shodaime was a Senju, and they were part of a clan- and Madara an Uchiha, and they were a clan, as you know. The first two clans that founded Konaha, and at the time, they were the only people that were really in the village. So, like I said, Madara grew jealous for power. There was a rebellion, and the Senju were the clan to win. Madara and Shodaime fought, and the First chased Madara out of the village. The Uchiha were allowed to stay, and slowly, Konaha grew.”

Twilight nodded, and Naruto kept going.

“This is where Sasuke’s story begins. After years and years, many other clans joined Konaha. The Hyuga, the Inuzuka, the Nara, and the Akimichi are just a few. Sasuke was born about sixteen or seventeen years ago, and as a baby, obviously nothing happened. He’s a little older than me. He was alive when it happened.”

“What happened?”

“My birth, the Kyuubi Attack controlled by Obito, and the death of my father.”

“What? That sounds horrible!”

“The point is, I had a demon sealed in me when I was an infant. I know this is Sasuke’s history, but I’m telling you this because I’m pretty important latter.”

“A demon?”

“Kyuubi no Yoko. The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. With one lash of its tails, it can create tidal waves, and with another, mountains will fall,” Naruto said, reciting from memory.

“Really, though, his real name is Kurama,” Naruto said, and when Twilight looked confused, he only shook his head and continued, getting back on topic.

“Look, it’s like this. It turns out that the man who controlled the Kyuubi was an Uchiha- a friend of one of my old teacher’s. He trained under Madara- who was still alive, until a few years prior to the Kyuubi attack- and he wanted revenge on the village. Well, he failed.”

“It was eight years after this that the worst thing of Sasuke’s life happened.”

“What? What was it?”

“Let me put it like this. While I was alone in the village, and everyone hated me, Sasuke was loved as a clan heir. This changed after a certain night, and he became alone as well. We later on became friends and rivals. He’d always been better than me, but I pushed him, and for a while when we were on a team, it was alright, but…”

“Look, I don’t want you to think the Leaf was evil after you hear this. Before you hear this, just remember that the people in charge weren’t the best at the time.”

“Sasuke had an older brother, one he loved dearly. He was named Itachi, and he was one of the strongest and greatest shinobi to ever live. Incredibly talented beyond measure. One day, as an ANBU, he got orders from the village to kill the entire Uchiha clan- the clan he belonged to.”

“…W-why?” Twilight whispered.

“After the Kyuubi attack, the Uchiha believed what Madara had said long ago- that they had become second-class citizens. Fearing the worst, the Uchiha began to secretly plot the downfall of Konoha- and they were planning a coup de tat to take over power in the village. So, they ordered Itachi to kill the entire clan, and then leave the village, like he’d done it as a criminal. They couldn’t let anyone know that it had been the Uchiha that had been like that.”

Twilight was too busy trying not to cry, and didn’t say anything.

“Itachi did was asked, and a little while before, he was able to unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan- I assumed that Sasuke explained it to you?” At Twilight’s nod, even as she sobbed, he nodded, and continued. “I told you the story wasn’t nice. Anyway, Itachi accepted orders, for his village, because he was loyal, and started killing the entire clan one day. He killed his aunts, and his uncles, and he killed his mother and father. He killed everyone. Obito was there, and he helped too- but that’s not too important.”

“Everyone except Sasuke, though. He wasn’t there, and he only came home from school a few hours later. So, Itachi waited. No one had heard the screams- and Sasuke came home, unaware. You can imagine what he found.”

Twilight only nodded, silent, as tears freely flowed down her cheeks.

“So, Sasuke came home, and saw his entire family- and clans are large, Twilight, very large- mutilated and killed on the ground. Hundreds of people. He didn’t know what to do, so he ran to look for his older brother. He found him just as he was killing his parents.”

“Itachi was supposed to leave no survivors- and that included Sasuke, Twilight. But, he just couldn’t do it. He loved his brother too much. That’s one of the only high points of this story. So, instead, Itachi used the Mangekyo Sharingan, and made Sasuke watch him kill the entire clan, over and over again, repeatedly. He tried as hard as possible to make Sasuke hate him- so that he’d try to get revenge, so that he’d become a hero in the Village of The Leaf- and that the Uchiha name would be redeemed, in time,” Naruto said.

“This worked out exactly as he wanted. He knocked Sasuke out, and left the village. Sasuke grew up cold and alone for the rest of the time during the Leaf Village until we all became genin. That’s a beginning ninja, in case you didn’t know.”

“I k-know. S-sasuke explained the s-shinboi ranks.” Twilight’s tears prevented her speech from being smooth and even. Naruto continued.

“So, after this, Sasuke, Sakura, and me were all placed under the same team, under Kakashi-sensei, who still lives in this village. What we did wasn’t really that important to the story. Just know that, at least for a while, Sasuske had a semi-normal childhood. We went on missions and fought people and did our work. It wasn’t much more than that. But that didn’t change the fact that he still wanted revenge against Itachi, who was technically innocent even though no one knew. And he hoped to grow strong enough to avenge his clan.”

“It was around the time of the Chunin exams that Sasuke started to go down the wrong path. He was marked by Orochimaru, a dangerous ninja, and eventually, he left the village to seek power, because he felt that he wasn’t gaining it fast enough in the Leaf Village. I chased after him, and it ended up being a mission- but everyone evolved nearly died. We didn’t get him, and I lost in my fight against him. I left afterwards for a time, but legally, under the tutelage of Jiraiya.”

“We didn’t see each other for years. I was desperate to catch him, though, and bring him back to the village. I never found him until we started to really investigate Orochimaru’s hideouts. Once that happened, we eventually came into contact with him, but I wasn’t strong enough to capture him then, because I hadn’t trained enough. He got away and he killed his own teacher, Orochimaru- well, not really, but let’s just say for the sake of the story that Sasuke got rid of him- and he formed a team to hunt down Itachi and kill him.”

“I chased after him, but by the time I saw him again, he was… gone, Twilight. He’d already killed his own brother, and not long afterwards, was informed that his brother had been innocent the entire time. You can imagine what this did to him. He blamed the Leaf Village for his admittedly horrible life- and, in some ways, he was right- and he decided he was going to take revenge on the Leaf, and destroy the Village, and kill everyone inside.”

Twilight nodded glumly. She remembered that much about Sasuke. Only, now it all made sense. She couldn’t help but feel for Sasuke, even though he’d often been cruel when she knew him. It was only something that could be expected from someone so hurt.

“The Fourth Shinobi War happened. He sided with the enemy, and he was struck down. Only, we apparently pierced reality with what Bee thinks was positive and negative energy- it might’ve been partly my fault because I didn’t know how to control the technique. He appeared in your world, and from there… I guess you know the rest.”

“Wow,” Twilight said, rubbing at her face with her hooves.

She’d sat down on the floor a while ago to hear the rest of the story, but she hadn’t imagined that his life had been so horrible. She’d known that it was going to bad- she had no delusions about that, but… she just didn’t expect it to be that bad. It was worse than she could’ve imagined. This world was different, Twilight realized, and a lot crueler than her own.

She even saw the pain and heartlessness that Naruto could possess- he had shown it for only slivers and short, precise moments- but she saw it. She knew that he could kill his own heart and murder just like the rest of them, as well. She set her bag down on the wooden floor inside of the Hokage Office before she spoke up.

“After all that, though… you still want to help him?”

“Of course,” Naruto said, like it was a simple matter, “he’s my friend.”

“O-of course,” Twilight said, and secretly, inside, she was filled with glee, even as she wiped at her eyes with her hooves. They were red and puffy, but that wasn’t what she cared about. She had finally met someone else that wanted to help Sasuke just as she did. She was wondering if the hate for Sasuke was universal here, but even if there was only one pony- person, she reminded herself- then everything could still be changed.

“I have full intention on coming through with a promise I made a long time ago,” Naruto said. “You can’t take us back yet, can you?”

“No,” Twilight admitted.

“That’s fine. I have to get ready, anyway. I haven’t fought seriously in months. I’m going to have to warm up. Sasuke will probably be a hard fight.”

“What!? Wait, why are you going to fight him? I thought you were going to help him?” Twilight asked, completely confused- and worried for Sasuke’s well being.

“I made Sakura a promise a long time ago that I’d bring him back to the village, and I’m going to finish what I started. Plus I told Sasuke that I’d bring him back to this village even if it was me dragging him with all the bones in his body broken. If it comes to that, then it comes to that. It’s not something that’s your business, anyway. Just work on the spell, and make sure it can bring three people- yourself, Sasuke, and me. You’ll help me bring him back here.”

“You… you can’t just do that! You can’t just make me work with you! What if I don’t want to? You have no right to break all the bones in his body, not after what he wen-“

As quick as a flash- and something that she’d never expected from Naruto, with how nice he’d seemed before- he shouted at her, fury horribly evident in his voice.

“You have no idea what I went through to try to bring him back to this village! I have no right? You have no right to even question me about it! We were rivals since we were kids. And I’m the Hokage of this village now, and if he’s still seeking revenge, and I’m the only one that can stop him, I’m obliged to do it. So just work on the spell. Like I said, it’s not your business. You’ve known him for what, a month? I’ve known him for years. We’re best friends, even if he doesn’t admit it, or even openly denies it.”

She was fairly intimidated by the way he’d shouted at her- but instantly, that warm demeanor came back, and he apologized for his behavior almost right away.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you. I’ve wanted this so badly, for so long…” Naruto looked away, wistfully, and then hardened his gaze back onto Twilight, “I have to bring him back. You have to help me. I’m not above forcing you, even if I’ll feel terrible about it afterwards. Don’t make me do that. Please.” He sounded desperate.

Twilight was a little scared of Naruto, but at the same time, she could see where he was coming from. Wiping up her puffy red eyes with her hooves, she nodded and then spoke.

“Y-yeah. I know what you mean. I… I’ll need a place to stay, though. And food, too.”

“Don’t worry about that. When I leave, I’ll tell the ANBU to come back. They’ll provide you with all of that. Thanks for helping me with this. I know you probably consider him a friend, but… I’m his oldest friend, if you can believe it.”

“I just want him back here, so badly,” Naruto said. His voice sounded hoarse.

“Anyway… I’ll be leaving, now. I’m going back to Hinata-chan,” he said. He seemed happy whenever he mentioned her.

A clone popped into existence, and the real Naruto left, as quick as a flash- as his father, the Yellow Flash- and was out the window, and gone in the darkness, faster than Twilight’s eyes could hope to trace him. She turned to the clone and watched as it resumed paperwork.

Within moments, the ANBU returned to their station, and one started walking towards the doorway, and motioned for her to follow him. They silently walked through the building until they stopped at some known point. He opened the door for her and promptly left, all in complete silence. Twilight plopped herself on the floor of the mostly bare room- windows to look out into the village, and a bed, and a bathroom, but that was about it.

She started practicing her magic- horn lit with great, white energy- and sometime later, a woman brought in food- local plants. They were delicious, and Twilight devoured them.

She continued practicing, and got ready for whatever was to come.

She knew that now conflict was going to be impossible to avoid.

TO BE CONTINUED

When A Black Heart Is Cleansed By Kindness

It had been a day since Celestia had asked to see what his life story was, basically.

It had also been a day since Celestia had screamed, loudly, in the middle of Ponyville.

Then she’d nearly broken down before murmuring something to Sasuke- something that he hadn’t been able to hear, but nonetheless, he assumed it was some sort of apology- before she barely managed to give what could be considered an acceptable exit before flying back swiftly to what he’d learned was called Canterlot.

At first, the attention had been negative, but after she’d said something about his courage when leaving- she’d been stuttering the entire time, but still- they forgave him, and he could walk the streets of Ponyville without everypony staring at him.

Sasuke still suffered from the voices- and they seemed louder than ever, lately. He noticed that he was covering his ears even more often- even in public- in an attempt to get them to just shut up. It was a manageable pain, but it was one that he’d wished would go away.

Plus, Sasuke was bored.

He still visited Zecora every day, and he tried to work on the farm with Applejack sometimes, but besides that, there wasn’t anything to do. He didn’t really have anyone to talk to, or anything to do. Sasuke didn’t bother training, either; he knew that he wasn’t going to get into any serious fights soon- at least, he hoped that he wasn’t. Most of the day, he ended up waiting in the apple orchard in Applejack’s farm, sitting under a certain tree.

He probably could’ve been the poster child for depression, but Sasuke didn’t care about that. It was like there was something that he couldn’t realize- and until he found out whatever it was that he was missing, he couldn’t be happy. It had been this way for a few days, and he didn’t know what to do. In the end, he sat at the base of that tree in the apple orchard, and he tried to think. Think of what it was that he was missing.

He didn’t know that someone was watching him.

Applejack watched from far away as Sasuke sat under the tree, arms crossed and head resting on them. She frowned. While she had to get to work, she felt bad for Sasuke. She had inferred from both his demeanor and what others had said that he didn’t have a good past… but she didn’t know what to do about that. In her mind, it was either something that he had to get past himself or something that somepony had to help him with, but she didn’t know what to say. She brushed at the grass with a hoof before finally walking over.

She adjusted her hat with her hoof to block the sun some more as she walked up to Sasuke. For a few seconds, the shade passed over his eyes, and he turned them to her. What she saw surprised her. From far away, she knew that he’d seemed sad- he practically oozed his depression that it was so obvious he was in. Up closer though, if anything, it was a lot, lot worse. She could see it in his eyes- it was like he was dead inside. There was no life in them.

Empty black eyes stared back at her, and she found herself retreating a step or two before Sasuke finally spoke up. He tapped the side of the tree as he spoke to her, bored.

“What do you want?”

“Ya don’t look right.”

“I’m glad there’s a way I should look, but I don’t really care about the rules around here, as you might’ve imagined. If that’s all you have to say, you might as well leave now.”

“Ya know what I meant! Not like that. Ya look real sad, Sasuke. Why?”

“Oh, there are plenty of reasons. My sad fucking life, for one. It’s not really your business, though. Just go back to apple bucking, or whatever.”

Sasuke rested his head back against the bark of the tree and stared at her with those dead, empty eyes, and Applejack shuddered and turned away. If Twilight was here, she could ask her what to do, but she wasn’t, somepony else would have to help her with it. She wondered who would have the best advice for Sasuke- or, at the very least, have something that would stop him from moping around for at least a little while. Applejack thought that she was going to be depressed too, soon, if this didn’t stop.

Leaving Sasuke alone to his misery, she returned to her work- apple bucking and the good, but monotonous cycle of it all. She worked hard for most of the day- Celestia’s sun still shining brightly down on her as she busted her flank working on the farm. Mac was alongside her for the first time in a while since he was injured, and it was more than good to have her brother back at her side while they carted apples to the barn in the hot sun.

Every so often, while working, she would toss a long, far off glance towards where Sasuke was resting- and not once, did she see the boy move. She had a nearly perpetual frown throughout the day because of this, and Mac asked her more than once if anything was wrong, and she answered the same thing every time, which was no.

“Yer still frownin’. Is some-“

“For the last darn time, no, Big Mac!”

Big Mac only snorted and continued bucking apples. Applejack stopped working and tossed what was a much more than obvious glare at her brother. He snorted at her again, and she only glared harder. He stopped bucking apples, and gathered up a huge basket of them, and carried them to the barn, shrinking under her glare the entire time. After he deposited them inside the barn, he turned, and asked her.

“Why are ya starin’ at me, like that?”

“Why won’t ya stop asking me what’s wrong?”

He snorted again and rubbed the ground with his hoof, then continued.

“The boy’s too much trouble for my tastes, even though he’s a good worker. Ya think I haven’t noticed you tossin’ glances over there the entire day? I ain’t stupid, sis. If ya need to talk to him about somethin’, then talk to him about somethin’. But for Celestia’s sake, do not do nothin’ and sit there wishin’ that ya could the entire dang day.”

“But I don’t know what ta do! Ya gotta help!”

“If I were ya, I’d start where he started, with Fluttershy- that is, if ya know where she is. I haven’t seen that mare in days. Anyway, the day’s almost over as it is. Ya may as well go look around town for her to see if she can help. I’ll clean up back here.”

“Uh, thanks Big Mac. I’m sure he’ll be-“

“You and me both know he won’t be thankful. It ain’t in his nature. Nah, I’m doing this because I can’t stand to see mah sister sad over somepony else like that, not if I can do somethin’ about it. Now get goin’. It’s gettin’ darker and darker.”

Applejack tilted her head and her hat towards Big Mac and started off, leaving Apple Acres- but as she was, she tossed one more look towards the tree- where Sasuke was still sitting. She sighed and shook her head, and then kept walking on the path.

The sun was setting, but it would be more than a little while before it was fully below the horizon, and so, Applejack figured she still had the time to visit town and try to find Fluttershy. She walked for a while, and eventually arrived in Ponyville’s town square. She glanced down the streets, across the square, and even visited some buildings, like the Library, Sugarcube Corner, and the Boutique, but she didn’t find her.

She decided to check the hospital, but Nurse Redheart just told her that Fluttershy had checked out four or five days ago. With that in mind, Applejack was fairly sure that Fluttershy would just be at her home- had been at her cottage, the whole time. She sighed, thanked the nurse, and turned and promptly left the building, quickly making her way out of Ponyville and down another road- one that led to Fluttershy’s cottage.

It was a few minutes of silent canter until Applejack arrived at Flutteshy’s cottage. The birds and rabbits outside were playing, but it seemed more than oddly silent around the home, and even inside, even though she hadn’t even checked for Fluttershy yet. She was almost scared of what she’d see when she went in there. She hadn’t seen Fluttershy’s melted wing ina while, and she wondered if they’d managed to fix it somehow. She hoped so.

She knocked on the door firmly a few times with one hoof, but wasn’t answered.

She knocked again. The rabbits and birds outside kept playing, and there was no answer.

She knocked a third time. No answer, again. Applejack frowned. Now she was getting more than annoyed. She raised her hoof and knocked hard, three times, extremely loud on purpose. It was less like knocking and more like pounding or slamming on the door. Finally, she heard a small noise, as if something like a mouse had spoken, and she waited patiently as Fluttershy finally opened the door.

It was dark inside the cottage, and she couldn’t see much more than Fluttershy’s face. She motioned with her hoof for Fluttershy to come on out, but she shook her head and moved slightly further back into the darkness. Applejack finally said something.

“C’mon, up an at ‘em! Come on out!”

“No.”

“Why?”

“No.”

“That’s not even an answer!”

“G-go away! Please!”

Applejack cocked a brow at that one. If Fluttershy thought that she was ugly or something, that didn’t make any sense. Everypony had already seen her how she was, so it didn’t make any sense to sit there and hide from everypony in the darkness like that. She rolled her eyes and opened the door further- and, as she did, Fluttershy shied away further, back into the darker corners of the room where the light didn’t yet reach.

“Yer bein’ ridiculous! Everypony already saw your wing; it’s fine! You look… okay.”

“I just… don’t want to talk to anypony.”

“But why, though? You won’t tell me. I can’t help ya if you won’t tell me.”

“I-I don’t need anypony’s help. I just want to be l-left alone.”

“Poor thing,” Applejack said, shaking her head before stepping forward.

“What?” Fluttershy replied, unsure of what she meant.

Applejack saw her cowering and quivering in one corner of the room, and she sighed, and shook her head, before walking slowly towards Fluttershy. She squeaked and put her head between her hooves, but did nothing to move away until Applejack got closer to her, and then she scrabbled to her hooves and tried to get away- but Applejack was faster, and caught up to her. She gave her a strong embrace, and the hug started to calm Fluttershy down, but she still verbally protested. Her small, weak voice tugged at AJ’s heartstrings.

“N-no, I’m ugly and nopony will like me and my wing won’t ever be the same-“

“No, no. It’s not like that,” Applejack said.

“How did you even get everypony else to go away? How long has it been since you talked to anypony?”

“T-three or four days. I just told them what I told you and they left me alone. I-it’s just…a few days ago, the doctor told me it wasn’t going to ever be the same and then I looked at it in the mirror for the first real time after it had healed- and I saw it differently, I don’t know, I…” She fell silent and tears soaked Applejack’s coat liker rain.

She whispered to Fluttershy for the next few minutes, reassuring her and calming her down. Eventually, Fluttershy stopped crying and, hesitantly, she turned the lights on.

“I-it looks terrible.”

It did look pretty terrible. Her once-yellow wing, beautiful and flawless, had now been permanently scarred. The feathers were melted and stuck together unnaturally- painfully, too, it seemed, as Applejack looked at it. They were discolored and in general looked like they couldn’t be fixed. It looked like her wing was made out of wax and it had been put in the sun and melted some, and then had been saved before it could be completely destroyed.

It took Applejack a minute to recover from looking at it- it did really look horrible, but she still wasn’t going to tell Fluttershy that. It was still really sad that Fluttershy was never going to fly again, and all because of that stupid dragon. She knew that the doctors and nurses at Ponyville General had done their best, and that the wing was likely unfixable by any sort of magic- otherwise, they would’ve already started fixing it by now.

“Y-you see? It’s terrible,” Fluttershy whispered.

“No, no. It uh… it shows yer bravery!” Applejack offered, but it was the hesitation in her voice and the sentence that hurt Fluttershy the most. She turned away with tears in her eyes.

“It shows my stupidity for trying to tame a dragon,” she said, and Applejack’s eyes widened before Fluttershy plopped herself back down on the floor. She seemed hopeless. Applejack didn’t want to leave Fluttershy, but she couldn’t cheer her up. It was like she was refusing the help. She tried to get closer, but Fluttershy flailed her hooves and shouted, trying to make Applejack go away. She shrunk back, confused and stuck.

She wanted to help both Sasuke, but she knew that Sasuke could wait, while Fluttershy seemed to be something that she had to take care of immediately. She needed the help of someone else. She left the house quickly, leaving Fluttershy in the darkness- and raced back to Ponyville as fast as she could. Once she’d arrived- and it was still getting darker, at the end of the day- she hurried as fast as she could to Rarity’s Boutique.

Applejack didn’t even bother knocking. She just rushed inside, heedless of whatever Rarity might be doing at the moment. She didn’t see her in the living room or the kitchen or upstairs- she knew that Sweetie Belle wouldn’t be here either, probably still off playing with her sister and Scootaloo. It took Applejack a few moments to realize that Rarity was probably working right now. She tried to find her room- her inspiration room, or whatever she called it.

She opened the door the second she could, and interrupted a working, humming Rarity, who turned and looked at her in surprise. She nodded to her as she cut fabrics.

“Darling, how’s it going,” Rarity said, making polite conversation as she worked, “is work at the farm hard?” Applejack nodded but walked closer and started explaining the situation.

“Yeah yeah Rares, but that’s not the problem right now! Fluttershy is over at her house cryin’ and she won’t listen ta me! I keep tellin’ her that it doesn’t matter that her wing is burnt, but… she won’t accept it. I need someone else to help me make her realize that she’s just as good as she ever was, burnt wing or no burnt wing.”

Rarity nodded and set her dress, half finished, to the side, before she followed Applejack, who practically galloped out of the building and back to Fluttershy’s house. It took them a few minutes to get there, but when they did, they slipped inside. She probably hadn’t even gotten up to bother to lock the door again. She still sat in the same place that she had before, and her animal friends looked to Applejack and Rarity desperately. They’d already obviously tried and failed- now it was up to them.

“Fluttershy, you’re being ridiculous, honey,” Rarity said, “you look fine, darling. Why-“

“Oh, Rarity,” Fluttershy said- laughing, as if the entire situation was hilarious to her, “you brought her? Applejack, are you serious? I guess you are as dumb as you look. Bringing the paragon of beauty to talk about problems with my appearance. You’re both horrible. Go away,” she said. Fluttershy hid her head under her one, good, working wing.

Unfortunately for her, both Applejack and Rarity realized what she was doing very early on. Despite the fact that the words they heard were incredibly cruel, Fluttershy had the kindest heart that they’d ever known. They knew she was just saying it to make them go away.

What proved this was the soft sobbing that echoed throughout the house moments later.

Applejack sighed, and took her hat off, lying in on the ground beside her. She ran a hoof through her blond mane, trying to make the stress go away. Rarity figured that she should try again- and, bouncing her purple curls in one ivory-colored hoof, she approached the sorrow-filled Fluttershy. Her good wing was wet with tears, and Rarity couldn’t help but feel sorry for her- it didn’t seem fair to Rarity that a pony with such natural beauty and grace had to lose it in such a tragic manner. She walked up to Fluttershy and started hugging her.

It was the only thing that she could think of right now, but she thought that it would work. Fluttershy, even while crying, hide her face with her good wing, and pushed weakly against Rarity’s stomach with her hooves, as she was hugging Rarity back.

“Go…a-away. Go… a-away,” she mumbled, contionously, but Rarity wasn’t having any of it. Eventually, Fluttershy quieted, and hugged Rarity back, but she didn’t stop hugging her. Applejack looked on and shook her head. Such a simple gesture had fixed the problem.

“Fluttershy, nopony is going to hate ya because you have a melted wing. If anything, it shows yer loyalty to Equestria- following the Princess’ orders even when it was dangerous.”

Fluttershy sniffled, but she didn’t say anything else. For a few more moments, Fluttershy was held by Rarity, and then Rarity let go, and looked down at Fluttershy, who was still picking herself up- literally, and figuratively. Her tear-streaked face had a smile on it instead of the terrible, depressed frown that had seemed stuck there forever, before. Rarity smiled at her, even with her soaked coat- wet from all of Fluttershy’s tears.

“Really, darling, and I’m supposed to be the drama queen,” Rarity said, and Fluttershy smiled before looking down onto the ground. Rarity patted her on the back with a hoof, and Applejack sighed. She was glad that was over. She was happy that Rarity had known what to do- because she hadn’t been able to get through to Fluttershy. She wondered what Fluttershy would’ve done if she had kept being stuck in that depression.

Wrinkling her nose at the possibities, she decided to put it out of her mind. She knew that it didn’t really matter anymore, anyway. Fluttershy was feeling better, and that was all that mattered. She was surprised that it was Fluttershy that was affected so much- she never had been a huge drama queen about her appearance like Rarity. She’d never expect Fluttershy to be so worried about it like that, but… Applejack guessed that everypony had a breaking point, and everypony cared about it to some extent, at least.

It was never good for self-esteem for something like that to happen.

After Fluttershy had recovered some more, Applejack decided to bring up her original point- helping Sasuke. Fluttershy listened while Applejack explained the situation.

“He jus’ sits out there, under that tree. Hasn’t done nothin’ for a while. I think we need to talk to him about it. I figured you would be really good for that, Fluttershy.”

“It’s getting late. We should probably do it now,” Fluttershy said.

“Well, basically Fluttershy, Sasuke doesn’t look… good,” Applejack said, feeling awkward, realizing how hard it was to describe Sasuke’s condition.

“What’s that mean?” Fluttershy asked. “I don’t really understand.”

“It’s probably better if ya jus’ come see him anyway. Ya’ll get then.”

Fluttershy and Rarity nodded agreeably. They followed Applejack, out of the cottage, and onto the path, as the sun set. They took their time, but didn’t dawdle, either. It was early evening by the time they got to Ponyville. While they walked from there to Applejack’s farm, Rarity and Fluttershy questioned her about Sasuke.

“What’s wrong with him?” Fluttershy asked as they walked.

“He jus’ sits there… and doesn’t do anything. It don’t look healthy, is all.”

“I guess I could talk to him… but he’s never seemed like one that needed help with those kinds of things,” Fluttershy said, and Rarity nodded, before adding something.

“I never even expected him to talk to Sweetie Belle about what he did.”

“Wait, when did that happen? And what did he talk to her about?” Fluttershy asked, and Rarity winced, before throwing a hoof to her forehead and sighing.

“Oh, you should’ve seen my sister, Fluttershy, the poor dear! All she’d do is sit in her room, and cry. He told her that he saw… he saw his entire family killed when he was young, in front of him, and that you can’t cry forever. I never expected anything resembling sympathy from him, and certainly not to any of us- he barely knows us, at least, time-wise.”

“Entire family killed? That’s terrible.” Fluttershy whispered.

“Dreadful, yes. I think that’s one of the reasons he’s so cold.”

“Really, Rares? I wouldn’t have guessed that in a million years,” Applejack drawled.

“I was merely giving my opinion, Applejack!”

Before any more words could be thrown around, they reached the outskirts of the farm. Not far off, even in the darkness, Sasuke could be seen- with eyes that could be described as dead and listless- with his back against the tree, breathing quietly into the night air. He didn’t seem as if he was actually even there.

They approached him silently, the three of them, and soon they were sitting down in front of Sasuke, in the middle of a group of apple trees- nothing special about this tree, but it was where he had decided to sit, and he hadn’t moved from there in hours and hours. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy looked at each other hesitantly, and then, gradually, their gazes focused onto Fluttershy. She cleared her throat and gathered her voice, then spoke.

“Sasuke, you don’t… look well.”

He let out a dead laugh- barked it out, a chuckle that fit someone dark-hearted. His eyes were cold and emotionless- he gazed back at them, and they flinched, but did nothing else.

“Of course I don’t. I’m in incredible pain.”

“Oh, no! Is there anything we can do to help?” Fluttershy said.

“Not unless you know to combat voices in my head, no. They don’t go away,” he said.

They were at a loss of words for that.

“I never expected to go crazy, either. The last thing I expected to lose was my sanity. Maybe this entire world was created by my mind. As far as I know, you’re all imaginary. The other shinobi, imaginary. The huge-star bear things, imaginary. Everything.”

“Star-bears? Do you mean an Ursa Minor?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, probably larger than anything called ‘minor’ can be called.”

“We aren’t imaginary, Sasuke,” Rarity said. “What will prove to you that we’re imaginary?” She hoped that she could help Sasuke. While she hadn’t cared for him originally, she still was a bit grateful to him for talking to Sweetie Belle- who’d mostly gotten over what she’d seen, even if she still looked a little off some days.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. My life’s been one big disaster after another. With me stuck here, the Uchiha will die out and the name will be forgotten from history. Maybe it’s for the best. All we ever did is cause problems, anyway.”

“What do you mean by that?” Fluttershy said, eager to see his past.

“Uchiha have always been… prideful. Maybe too prideful. Perhaps it was our arrogance that was our downfall. I’m the last of us, anyway. Everyone else is dead.”

“They were your family, right?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah. Until they all died.”

They all winced at that, but Fluttershy pressed on.

“What happened? How’d they die?”

“It doesn’t even matter anymore, anyway.”

“No, tell us,” Rarity said, trying to force it, “what happened?”

“Was it that thing you said to Sweetie Belle about your family being killed in front of you?” At Sasuke’s immediate stare of horrible hatred, she realized how tactless she had just been. Rarity smiled, nervous and looked at her hooves on the ground.

Sasuke looked down, and turned away, and didn’t say anything for a moment.

“It was that. I was surprised that I didn’t notice you.”

“Maybe I’m just so light on my hooves that-“

“No way. You’re as obvious as a bull in a china shop. My skills are slipping.”

Rarity huffed, but Sasuke ignored her, and sighed, and then continued.

“Yes, it was that. It’s hard for me to talk about… I only realized in the past few months that since that day, I’d been lied to for the next half of my life, all the way since I was around eight years old. I only discovered the truth after I killed my brother in a fight to the death.”

“Your brother,” Applejack said, surprised, thinking of Big Mac, “Why would you ever do that?”

“Because, he was the one who killed my entire clan. Well, him and Obito, but that’s not the point. I’d been lied to. At that point, I didn’t know that he had done it because he had to- and that he was actually a loyal shinobi to the Leaf. After that, I fell so deep into my hatred that… I couldn’t come out of it. I wanted to kill everyone in the Leaf so much- I still do. They all get to live happy lives, and my clan is destroyed- ruins, that’ll be forgotten when I die.”

Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had nothing to say to that. It was too terrible, and too saddening- why should anyone even have to consider killing their own brother? Applejack didn’t understand how he was able to do it- then again, he came from a much tougher world than they did. She lost her parents when she was young, but not in such a tragic way, and she still had a good portion of her family left- the Apple clan, scattered across Equestria.

Rarity, on the other hand, couldn’t imagine doing such a thing to a younger sibling- imagine, the very thought of it, corrupting and twisting Sweetie Belle’s mind at such a young age. Killing her own parents, as the older sibling- oh, dreadful! She couldn’t imagine having to do that- not even doing it of her own accord, which was already horrible enough, but being ordered to do it- Rarity shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold night air.

While Applejack and Rarity were thinking based on their own experiences as sisters, Fluttershy trembled at the sheer cruelty of it. She had no idea about this- for a good portion of things, she’d been shacked up in the hospital. Then, she’d been depressed for a while. She was still struggling to get over the idea that she wasn’t a freak right now- she had never had the best self esteem- but somepony else was suffering right now, and Fluttershy was paying attention to him. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, as she was filled with sorrow, at the terrible ignorance and hate of all of it.

“Maybe it’d make more sense if I showed all of you,” Sasuke said.

“What?” They said in unison, and Sasuke sighed, and then elaborated.

“I can show you what happened, if you want to see it. I doubt you would, though.”

There was silence as the three considered the proposal. They’d probably see terrible things, but they’d all understand Sasuke better, by the end of it all.

Surprising, the least courageous of the three said yes first.

“I-I’ll… do it,” Fluttershy said, voice softer than silk, and Sasuke nodded.

After a few moments, Rarity and Applejack agreed as well.

“I can only show it to one of you at once, but… I should be able to do it fast enough.”

Tsukuyomi worked strangely- it could only work on one person at once, but it happened so quickly that it could be used again- if one had the energy and skill to do it. Sasuke thought he could probably manage it, though it would be easier, since he wasn’t torturing, but just showing memories. He almost wished he was a Yamanaka for a second, before locking eyes with Fluttershy as she gazed into crimson, intricate designs that spun strangely, and then-

Fluttershy gasped as she was in the middle of… some place. She saw a boy walking down the road to his home. Was that how Sasuke looked when he was younger? He was so cute and innocent, then. Fluttershy followed behind him, and then was surprised as Sasuke, older, appeared beside her. They followed the younger version of himself as he walked into the clan grounds- and discovered the first murders, at the age of eight years old.

Fluttershy could only cover her mouth with her hoof in horror as Old Sasuke started to speak, and in a way, narrated his fall from innocence, to the depths of hatred he’d descended to.

“This was the first night,” he said.

It skipped- along, she guessed, since she didn’t need to see every single corpse, though she’d already seen enough for a lifetime. She screamed- as Young Sasuke screamed- as Itachi stood over his mother and father’s dead body right in front of him.

“DON’T FUCK WITH ME!” Young Sasuke yelled, but was hit in the stomach, and Itachi continued talking throughout it- telling him how weak he was, and so on.

Skip, again.

“I’ll never forget this part,” Older Sasuke whispered.

“If you truly wish to kill me, hate me, despise me… run, run, and survive in an unsightly way. Then, when you finally possess the same eyes as me, come before me.”

Skip, again.

Small flashes of his life- alone, growing up in the Leaf.

“I trained harder than ever. Met up with Naruto.”

A flash of another human, dressed in a garish orange outfit.

Skips and flashes, as Sasuke told her more and more.

“Abandoned Konoha. Killed my brother. The War.”

These details were both elaborated on in detail as Sasuke told and showed her the most important points of his life, and then he turned to her and looked her in the eyes again and-

Fluttershy screamed in real life and breathed heavily as they returned to reality. She only gazed at Sasuke’s dead, cold, red eyes with the most sympathy and pity she could muster- but already, in the same second, he was turning to another.

He showed the same thing to Applejack, and to Rarity.

By the end of it, he was fairly exhausted- and so were they, and filled to the brim with pity and sympathy for Sasuke.

“So there, now you know. Go away.”

They only shook their heads- and, in the end, it really was what Fluttershy said that made him react- as she stepped forward and hugged Sasuke deeply, embracing him fully around the chest. She breathed deeply and spoke as she did so.

“It’s not your fault.”

“G-get, get away…”

Rarity and Applejack did the same thing, and soon they were all muttering similar reassuring statements- showing their kindess to Sasuke.

And it was a dark, silent night, and there was no noise, and Sasuke’s eyes watered.

For the first time, in a long, long, long time, Sasuke Uchiha cried.

TO BE CONTINUED

Twilight Sparkle's Experiences In The Elemental Nations Part Four

Twilight Sparkle had been training for a day or two now, but she’d already made considerable progress on the spell. Her horn struggled to hold the magic- a glowing, ivory light that sparked every few seconds. Since the spell was so powerful, she was still having trouble controlling it, despite her great talents with magic. Still, she’d gotten much farther, and she was more than proud of herself.

Once again, she lost control of it, and she let the magic go, rather than teleporting- the white sparks exploding into a show of colors directly above her head that slowly faded into nothing. Every time she did it, the room was lit up- the colors were incredibly bright and of every shade and variety, and she closed her eyes every time she let it go, as to not blind herself. She sighed as she calmed down- her horn was sore.

It was something that she hadn’t felt for a long time- a deep aching, from the center of the bone-like material that protruded out of her head- but it was there. She could clearly remember her last bad horn-ache had been when she was a filly- and still much weaker at magic than she was now. Horn-aches were usually caused by overworking of the wind and the horn- and trying to master such an extremely difficult spell like this one, she wasn’t exactly surprised she was getting one, either.

It was good that it wasn’t too bad of a horn-ache, though- the worst ones had unicorns losing control of their powers and shooting off spells in random directions. No, this was a minor one- just some pain whenever she tried to use her horn, but she knew it would fade in a few days. For now, though, she sat down on the floor of her room and breathed, taking a break.

It was exhausting practicing like this- she’d try the spell once or twice, and, at least momentarily, her energy would be depleted. So then she’d have to wait for a few minutes for her stamina to return, and in that time, she’d drink some water and eat some daisies- both of which she had huge proportions next to her. Then, in a few minutes, once she’d felt she’d rested enough, she’d try again- and, infallibly, lose control and let the spell go again.

As she felt her control slipping once more, she closed her eyes and pointed her horn upwards, and let it go- and even with her eyelids closed, behind them, in the darkness, she could still see little flashes of light. That’s how bright it was. A few moments later, she sighed, and opened her eyes, and waited a few minutes.

Twilight hadn’t talked to Naruto since the first chat they’d had. The ANBU had simly given her ample supplies every day, and then left her to her training. She’d heard huge booms, coming from far away from the village- and figured it was Naruto training. She actually wanted to take a break, and go see what he was doing, but not only was it probably dangerous to even be close to him while he was training, she really wanted to both master the spell, and help Naruto take Sasuke back.

She’d had a lot of time to think about it since he’d told her their history.

In the end, she thought that she sided with Naruto. She knew that he probably wouldn’t kill him, and Twilight had seen the way Sasuke acted, more than once. She thought that he needed to be returned home. He was more than unstable- he was angry, hateful, spiteful, and incredibly sad and depressed, inside, even if he didn’t show it.

From what she’d heard from both Naruto and Applejack- and their stories seemed to connect fairly well- even if Sasuke’s past had been traumatic, he was wanted really badly in this land- and he’d committed several heinous crimes that needed to be punished. Sasuke had shown her, even if in the tiniest of shades, that life wasn’t all black and white, but she was still very much in the white. She felt that justice needed to be served- and while she would definitely not be the one fighting, she’d be providing the travel.

That didn’t mean she didn’t feel terrible about it, though.

While Twilight was doing what she thought was right- and what she knew needed to be done, she couldn’t help but feel bad about it. Even if Sasuke had commited all of these crimes, she had known him much longer than Naruto, and she felt that Sasuke really was her friend- even if he didn’t consider her one back. She had learned a lot about friendship since Princess Celestia had given her the assignment to go to Ponyville and learn more about it.

And ever since then, she’d cherished friendship more than she’d realized.

But it had to be done, and she wasn’t going to quit, even if Sasuke was her friend.

So that meant more training.

Just as she was about to start trying to cast the spell again, somepony knocked on the door, and interrupted her concentration.

An ANBU walked in, and she stopped. It was either more food, or something important.

“Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you,” the masked-man said.

Twilight raised her eyebrows. She didn’t expect him to request her to come discuss something- she figured that both of them were too deeply involved in their training. But if it was important enough to warrant him calling her, then she’d come.

She put the large brown tome down onto the floor and followed the man up the familiar stairs that led to the Hokage’s office. It was silent, and Twilight was wondering what could be important enough to have him talk to her. Over the past few days, she’d realized how important the man was, even if he didn’t act like it. He was, in a way, as she’d thought before, similar to Princess Celestia- only, he didn’t raise the sun. But he was still a savior and idolized in both the Land of Fire and in Konohagakure.

As she reached the top of the stairs, and the ANBU opened the door- and then disappeared, just as quickly, she stepped inside. Twilight shook her head as she did so. She still didn’t understand how all shinobi were able to do that- simply hide and disappear as if they were never there. Even if she’d had her eyes on them the second before- if she wasn’t watching them when they moved, she had a chance of losing them.

If she didn’t know better, she would say they were using an amazing invisibility spell.

Twilight closed the door behind her, and looked forwards at the exhausted Naruto that was practically passed out in his Hokage chair. There was another Naruto, a clone that was working on the paperwork, and didn’t look to be affected by the exhaustion that the real Naruto faced. She knew that this was because he’d probably created the clone before he went to train. Twilight was smart, and she learned from her surroundings. She’d only seen shadow clones used a few times before, but she’d already mostly learned how they worked.

“Hello, Twilight,” Naruto said, panting, as he rested, “how are you finding the village?”

“Well, since I spend my time in this huge building all day, I couldn’t tell you. I haven’t really been out to see what you’d call the village- but, my first impressions before I visited you the first time were fairly good. It looks like a great place. I noticed that the ground seemed… dug up, for lack of a better word. Is there a reason for that? There’s still a lot of construction going on, too. I thought that the village was already built.”

“It was,” Naruto answered, “but it was destroyed not too long ago in its entirety in an attack from an organization of missing-nin. It’s been a huge undertaking, but we’re nearly complete on repairs- and then we’ll be done with the whole business. It was hard rebuilding the entire damn village from scratch, but we had a few people who could help more than usual- especially a guy I know that can create wood out of chakra- and he was one of the biggest helpers. I’m just glad it’s all over, honestly.”

“That’s good,” Twilight said, and Naruto nodded.

“What did you really call me for, though?”

“Blunt, and to the point, huh?” Naruto asked.

“Well, I was in the middle of practicing the spell you want me to master so much, so yeah, to the point.”

“Really, I just wanted to ask you how your training was going. How close do you think you are to mastering the spell?”

“Fairly close. I can hold it and add more power to it- which means carrying more individuals along with me. We can probably go tomorrow, if you wanted.”

“Then that’s when we’re going. Are you sure you can take three?”

“Three? I thought you’d be taking more with you,” Twilight asked.

“No. You’ll only have to take me with you, and take me back with Sasuke after I beat him. That’s all we’re going to need. You’re just going to have to tell everyone to stay out of the way when we get there. I should be able to handle him on my own- though it’ll be hard.”

“Oh… well, I figured that you were going to take more. We could go right now if you wanted to.”

“Wow, really? I didn’t expect that. Well, I need the day to rest, so, still, tomorrow is the day that we’re leaving.”

Twilight nodded, but looked confused as he held up a hand and formed a spinning blue ball of… something. Chakra, she remembered it was called. He did it only with a single hand, though, and looked very happy with himself for it- as if he’d managed a great feat. Twilight was completely drawn by the ball- she couldn’t stop staring at it. It was really interesting, and in a way, beautiful. Naruto grinned as he held it in his right hand.

“What is that?” Twilight asked. She had to know.

“That is Rasengan, my father’s jutsu. I’ve finally mastered it.”

“It looks… potent,” she said. Naruto nodded.

“It has extreme power behind it. I worked really hard to learn it the first time.”

“I’m sure you did,” Twilight said, eyeing the blue ball with interest.

“How exactly does it work?” She asked.

“It’s really just a mass of chakra, compressed into a dense, high-speed, powerful ball that drills and spins into whatever you push it against. I can dig into trees with this and leave huge gaping holes in the bark. Usually if I hit someone in the body with this it’ll drill into them for a few seconds, and then it’ll send them flying away. “

Twilight winced. “That sounds… painful.”

“Yeah. I’m glad I finally learned how to do it one-handed, though. I used to have to summon a clone to do it. Not anymore. This should make my other techniques easier.”

“A lot of the techniques from this place are pretty interesting. For the short time you’re there, I think you’ll think the same about Equestria.”

“It sounds pretty cool,” Naruto agreed, “I’d like to see it. I really hope that we don’t damage the surrounding terrain too much in our fight, but that’s probably inevitable, unfortunately. Still, though. It’ll always be interesting to visit a new place, even if the real reason I’m coming there is different. After I beat Sasuke, and take him back, maybe you can take us every once in a while to visit or something.”

“I think my mentor Princess Celestia would like to meet you. In a lot of ways, she’s like you. I’m sure she’d connect with you, Naru-“

She cut off her own sentence as she looked in interest to the door, which was opening.

Inside, walked a young woman- a fair-skinned woman with long, midnight blue hair, that trailed down her back like a beautiful, curling waterfall. She wore a large jacket that covered most of her torso, and arms, and trailed slightly past her hips. Under her jacket she wore a fishnet that covered up skin and had a headband around her neck. Her eyes were strangely amazing- blank, but somehow more striking because of it. Twilight wasn’t sure if she was blind or not. She wore short blue pants with a holster strapped to one leg and had black sandals on.

“Twilight, meet Hinata-chan. Hinata-chan, meet Twilight. She’s from where Sasuke is. We’re leaving tomorrow, to go get him.” Hinata didn’t return Naruto’s gigantic grin, but she nodded to both of them, and then glanced over at Twilight, staring at her with the blank, white eyes that all Hyuuga possessed.

“I’ll be coming with you, right, Naruto-ku-“

“No, Hinata.”

There was dead silence as he uttered the words. For some reason, it seemed so much more intense than it was- if he didn’t want her to go, and he was Hokage, then she wouldn’t go, but Twilight could tell there was more to it than just that.

“You’re going in to risk your life,” Hinata said, fury becoming evident on her face, “and you don’t want me coming along t-“

“YES! That’s just the point, Hinata! I’m going there to risk my life. That means you’d be going there to risk your life, too. This isn’t the Fourth War; you don’t need to risk it needlessly. This is my problem. I’m going to handle it. No one knows Sasuke better than me; no one can even fight Sasuke besides me and maybe the stronger Kages- honestly, probably only the Raikage could manage to take him down- and that’s with him dying, too; both of them dying.”

“But I can do it! I can go there, take him back, and we can make him see the error of his ways… and then, my promise to Sakura-chan will be complete. My promise to Sasuke will be complete, too. I’ll finally have done what I told him I’d do all these years- take him back to the village, even if I have to break his legs and arms.”

Hinata was silent for a moment as she glared at her fiancée, and then turned away.

“I just got you, Naruto. I’m not giving you away so easily. I’ve loved you for years- and you’ve only just returned that love back. I-if you don’t come back… I don’t know what I’ll do. You have to come back, Naruto. You have to.”

There was more silence, again, in the room. Naruto didn’t seem to know what to say to that, or do, besides nod, and Hinata glanced back with a smile- a warm, joy-filled expression of her love. She walked out of the room, and then closed the door.

“So that was Hinata, huh?” Twilight asked.

“Yep, that was Hinata,” Naruto said, with a grin on his face. Only a few moments in her presence, and already, he seemed much more relaxed and less serious than before. He leaned back in his chair as his clone continued to work.

“That’s all I really had to tell, really… you can leave now, if you want to,” Naruto said.

“Oh, alright. I think I’m going to go visit Sakura. I have a few questions to ask her.”

“Oh, about what?” Naruto casually asked.

Twilight winced as she thought of it. Sasuke’s arrogant, prideful voice- and then he was right, and oh, Twilight remembered it- the heat of it, even behind the thing called Susanoo or whatever- fumbling at Fluttershy’s flaming, melted wing, as they desperately tried to fix it- but, really, all they could manage to do was lessen her pain. She later lost complete control of the wing- not only was it limp, it was essentially dead weight. She’d never fly again.

“An injury my friend had, back in my world. We couldn’t fix it, but I was wondering if Sakura herself or someone else she knew could.”

“Maybe Tsunade. It depends on what the injury was,” Naruto said.

“Who’s Tsunade? I heard Sakura mention her, but… wasn’t she the Fifth?” Twilight said, unsure if her memory was correct or not. As smart as she was, she’d only been at this place for a few days at most, and she couldn’t be expected to remember every little thing.

“She was the Fifth, yes,” Naruto confirmed, “and she’s also the greatest healer in the world. She healed a lot of my friends that I knew over the years- sometimes, from injuries that would’ve crippled them and made them unable to do things for life.”

“What was the injury, how did it happen?” Naruto asked.

“It was, it was stupid,” Twilight said, “We were on a mission from my mentor, and ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, to tell a dragon to leave from where he was sleeping because he was going to clog up the entire sky with his smog that he was breathing out while he was napping.“

“Well, we went, and Sasuke went with us, because Celestia told him it was the only way that she’d help him to get home- which, in the end, after the mission, she gave me the book that taught me the spell, but I accidentally left Sasuke behind, and well… it’s not important to the story. Anyway, the point is, is that Fluttershy went to talk to the dragon, and was burned- she’s a Pegasus, and her entire left wing was basically melted. It’s almost like stuck together- her own flesh, as glue…” Twilight shuddered as she thought of it.

“It’s just terrible, really. None of the doctors were able to fix it, as far as I knew before I left Equestria.”

Naruto had stayed silent during the story, nodding several times. It did seem fairly terrible- flesh glued together, ew. He wasn’t a medical nin, but he knew that with so many fire jutsu around, it was impossible that there wasn’t a special way to deal with burns that med-nins knew about. The more he thought about it, the more sure he became.

“There are a lot of fire jutsu in this world, and many of them burn quite hot- probably as hot as a dragon’s fire. Some of them even have dragon in the name, after all. There’s basically no way that the med-nins don’t have some way to deal with that. It’s possible they have a way to fix it. It’s a good idea to go talk to Sakura about it.”

Twilight nodded, excited. Was it possible that Fluttershy’s injury could be healed? Even if it was only a small chance, she was going to take it. She knew that Fluttershy, even if she didn’t fly often, still felt terrible about losing the ability to fly- just as well, the natural beauty that she had once possessed was now ruined- and she knew that, even if Fluttershy was shy and usually didn’t care too much about it, that every mare cared about it at least a little- and losing it had to be tragic.

Twilight wasn’t the drama queen that Rarity was, or quite the natural beauty that Fluttershy was, but she knew that it would still be tragic and she would still be incredibly depressed if something similar had happened to her. And so, Twilight felt that it was only the least she could do to try to look for a lead with the extra time that she had in this world- that could possibly result in Fluttershy being healed.

The doctors in Equestria were good, and Twilight knew they’d tried their best, but they didn’t know everything- nopony did. Somepony else could bring something new to the table about Fluttershy’s injury- and maybe, just maybe, it would be enough to heal her.

With that in mind, she resolved herself to try. She owed Fluttershy at least that much.

“I’m going now. I’ll be ready tomorrow,” Twilight said to Naruto as she left.

“Good. I’ll be waiting. Don’t worry, I think they can help,” Naruto called to her as she left his office. Twilight nodded to herself as she stepped down the stairs.

She hoped that they could help, too.

It didn’t take her long to leave the Hokage Residence, and after that, to walk through the village. It still fascinated her, all of it- the entire place- the people, the culture, the art, everything and more, all things that she could learn from this place.

There were entirely different values here, and she knew that this society was a lot more balanced than her’s was- while hers was mostly positive, killing was somewhat accepted here, at least, in some ways- she knew that all shinobi killed, and that they were still accepted, and even hailed as heroes.

As she walked through the village, Twilight thought further about that. She supposed that that was because not of what they did, but the fact that they did it- that is, even though they knew it was bad, and it certainly made them feel guilty about it later, they went through with it anyway because their village and country needed them to do it. So, in a way, they were admired, both them and their courage, because of the hard decisions that they had to make everyday in the field- and everypony knew that if they didn’t do the right thing, some could die.

Twilight didn’t approve of killing, either- she knew that nopony did from where she was from- but, over time, she’d slowly seen the need for it, even if she absolutely despised it, and it made her sick to her stomach. She didn’t think she could ever do it herself, but she could see the need for it- in a way, it was a necessary evil.

She’d still gotten the same distanced stares- people from far away, inside their houses, or down the street looking her way with undisguised curiosity. Some of them were more brave and stared at her as she passed directly beside them- they either didn’t fear her, or didn’t think that any consequences could come of it. Twilight supposed that she didn’t care about it either way- they weren’t actually doing anything to harm her, so they could look all they wanted.

She walked around for a while until she realized that she had no idea where she was going. She knew that the place was huge, and without directions, she wasn’t likely to find wherever Sakura was- the hospital, right? - Randomly, by luck. She eventually flagged down a passing shinobi who looked older and, at the very least, looked like he knew where he was going. He looked fairly strange compared to everypony else, though.

For one, his face was half covered by a mask. His mouth and nose were concealed by the black cloth, and only one eye was visible, because the other was covered up by his headband that he wore sideways- it didn’t seem to be the same way that everypony else wore it, as everyone else wore it on their forehead- meanwhile, his looked intentionally lopsided.

He had huge, untamed silvery hair- that jutted out wildly in all directions, defying both gravity and any sort of hair product that could be put to calm it somewhat. He was fairly tall and light skinned, where Twilight could see his skin, and had a similar outfit to the rest of the ninja around him that were in the village- with a flak jacket that was green and black pants with sandals, as well as a pouch and a holster.

“Excuse me,” Twilight said, and the ninja looked down at her, one eye widening in surprise for a moment before drifting back into the lazy stare he seemed to give everyone, “I’m looking for the hospital. Do you know where it is?”

“Yes. It’s down that street,” he pointed behind her, and Twilight looked as he did so, “and then you turn left, right, left, left, right.”

Twilight nodded each time as he gave the directions.

“Alright, I think I can remember that. Thank you.”

Twilight walked away, and Kakashi watched her go- before turning and walking more around the village. He didn’t go to the memorial stone; not after finding out what had happened to Obito. He was still sad for what happened to Rin, but he no longer went there. He just couldn’t, not anymore. Sighing, he put his hands in his pockets and walked away, wondering why there were talking horses inside of the village.

Twilight, a short while later, had arrived at the hospital. It had taken her a few tries- going back streets and then making a left instead of a right, but eventually, she got it. She now stood in front of a fairly large structure- towering, indeed, and still filled to the brim with people- mostly, those who had fought in the war and had received injuries that were truly debilitating. They were still trying to shorten the number of people they were housing, but only time would really help with that number.

Twilight entered the building and looked around. In some ways, it wasn’t much different than the hospitals where she came from- a lot of the building design was similar, and the colors inside, as well as outfits, somewhat, that the staff wore- but then other things were different. While people here apparently mostly healed with chakra, they still used tools a lot more than the doctors at home did- she hardly knew of scalpels or tweezers, and yet, here, they seemed a bare necessity at the very least.

She looked around in the waiting room for a little bit longer before approaching the desk. There was a bored-looking nurse there; it looked like running the desk wasn’t exactly her dream job. There weren’t many around the waiting room, but Twilight figured that she could ask first, because she didn’t have an injury, but she was just looking for someone. It took the nurse a few moments to realize Twilight was there before she leaned over the counter a bit and glanced down, and then her eyes widened in surprise.

“Hello,” Twilight said, though to the nurse, it probably sounded like a squeak, “I’m looking for a Sakura working here in the hospital?” The nurse worked her mouth stupidly, as if forming a few combinations of syllables was much more than her brain could handle. She’d heard gossip about a horse thing running around the village but she had no idea that it was actually true. She breathed a bit before she answered.

“Y-yes, actually. She should be somewhere around here- oh, hold on, let me see-“

She was cut off as the front door of the hospital was practically busted down as a few nurses ran inside with a person on a stretcher- who barey looked like he was even alive. Bloody wasn’t a term that held up to inspection- it was flowing like a fully turned on faucet from the guy. Twilight stared with horror as the medical team worked fast- and carted the guy down a hallway before turning. Soon, the desperate voices that had been listing his condition faded away as they traveled further into the hospital before there was again silence in the waiting room. Twilight glanced back up at the nurse.

“She should be around here,” the nurse said, and got up and left.

It only took her about five minutes. Later, the nurse returned- frazzled, but she seemed to be leading a half-willing Sakura by the hand towards Twilight. She nodded to Twilight, who smiled back, and then took her position at the desk again, grumbling about strange horses in the village. Sakura looked slightly annoyed, but answered Twilight anyway.

“Why did you come here?” Sakura asked, as she walked away, back to whatever she’d been doing before. Twilight decided to quickly follow- she didn’t want to lose track of her. Sakura walked pretty fast and barely gave her any time to catch up. She huffed and broke into more of a trot to keep pace with Sakura as she responded.

“Where I come from, the doctors are good, but not perfect. And my friend had an injury that they couldn’t fix, and I was wondering if you knew anyone that could fix it. Naruto said something about a Tsu-“

“Nade?” Sakura finished as they continued walking.

“Yeah, Tsunade might be able to help. What kind of wound was it?”

“It was somewhere between a third and fourth degree burn- see, it was dragonfire. She’s a Pegasus, and she got hit on the left wing with it, and it sort of… melted the wing together. Parts of the flesh are sort of cobbled together into a lump… it’s really painful, and not pretty, and she’s been pretty depressed about it ever since it happened.”

“Damn. That sounds pretty bad. Master might be able to help,” Sakura said.

“I hope so. Nopony at home could. They tried, but it was beyond them- not besides the fact that we had gotten there way too late, because it had happened while we were far away from a hospital. I was never the best at teleportation, even though my cutie mark is magic, and back then, I couldn’t teleport two ponies that far, only myself, and we had to walk… it just wasn’t a good situation for that to happen.”

“Yeah, I see what you’re saying. A burn like that, melting flesh together… it’s possible to fix it, but there’s no guarantee that we could- also, very, very painful to fix. And she had wings with feathers, right? There’s no guarantee that they’d grow back, either. We don’t have jutsu for that. For hair, maybe, but not for feathers. You ponies would have to come up with that part if you wanted her injury fully healed.”

Twilight nodded as they finally came to a stop when Sakura opened up a door and walked inside, leading Twilight along with her. Twilight entered the room and watched as med-nins wrote down notes from a board and listened to a lecture from a large-chested woman.

She had on a green coat and had blonde hair, with a rhombus- mark on the middle of her forehead. Without even trying, Twilight recognized her as the same person on the Hokage mountain- the Fifth Hokage, even if she was now retired. Many people in the group of students wrote down notes eagerly, and seemed in general just happy to be eable to learn from her.

Tsunade walked over from the students and looked down at Twilight.

“Is this the horse you’ve been telling me about?” Tsunade asked Sakura.

“Pony,” Twilight said, almost bored by now with correcting people. It didn’t seem that it would ever stop, at times- did they even have ponies here? Twilight assumed not.

“The Hokage asked me to look for you for help with a problem I have in my homeland.”

“Really, pony? And what makes you think I can help?”

“It’s a problem with a wound that we can’t cure. While I was here, I told Naruto about it, and he told me to look for you. Have I come to the right place?” Twilight asked.

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her rhombus shape on her forehead- remarking something about Naruto making deals on her behalf.

“It depends on what the wound is.”

Twilight spent the next few minutes explaining the wound in as much detail as she could muster while Sakura taught the class. By the end of it, Tsunade was nodding repeatedly, a plan rapidly forming in her mind.

“I might be able to heal it; it’s possible. It’d be pretty hard, even for me. When do you plan on taking me to do this?”

“In a few days, probably. You’ll be teaching here, right?”

“Unfortunately,” she said, glancing back at the class of med-nins, “yes. Just come here when you’re ready to take me. I’ll just grab supplies and we’ll leave.”

After that, Twilight told Tsunade goodbye and left, and eventually found her way back to the Hokage Residence- it was a lot easier finding her way to it than from it, considering that it was huge and she already sort of knew where it was.

When she got back, Twilight went to sleep in her room, and thought about tomorrow- and how she’d have to watch two friends nearly kill each other for past sins.

She just hoped that it ended well.

See Ya At The Fight

Celestia quivered as she sat on her throne. Her crown was there, as normal; her rainbow mane blew, as if in an invisible breeze. Ponies in her throne room bowed to her, and, at first glance, you’d think that she felt normal; no, that she felt great. That’s what anyone or anypony would assume, after all. She attempted to sit dignified and let nopony notice what was actually going on- it didn’t seem that anypony had noticed yet, anyway.

Celestia did not feel great.

She didn’t feel great, she didn’t even feel normal. Ever since a few days back- when Sasuke had shown her things with those eyes of his, she’d been unable to stay the same. They’d constantly been in her mind during the day, and were in her nightmares at night- it was like she was unable to escape them. It was almost humorous in a way, because she was having nightmares and being haunted by somepony else’s tragic memories- they weren’t even her own bad memories. She’d simply seen them through the eyes of another.

That didn’t make it any better, though.

“Princess? Princess Celestia?”

What?

It was almost like she was out of it- she shook her head a few times, mane splitting wildly as she did so, flowing out behind her, majestic. There was a small pony there, sitting beneath her, bowing, and Celestia had to focus as the pony again asked her.

“Princess, what should we do about the tax? Lower it or raise it?”

She’d hardly been paying attention to discussion- the massacre, and all the other things that she’d seen while she’d been taking a trip inside of Sasuke’s mind, were weighing down on her too much. She replied and tried to regain her focus as the pony walked away. The guards didn’t seem to notice anything, as they stood vigiliant and unwavering, but she wasn’t worried about the guards. She simply didn’t want anypony to know what she’d witnessed.

It was a strange desire- she wanted to keep their minds clear of what she had to now live with knowing. If they recognized her as sick or in some way ill, whether it was physically or mentally, they’d want to know why, and eventually, she’d have to tell them. Then they’d go in a rampage, probably all going after Sasuke, meanwhile, not even listening to how Celestia was trying to explain that it wasn’t her fault.

Basically, she didn’t want Sasuke to pay for her own weakness.

He’d had to live with this for years- and had actually experienced it himself; meanwhile, Celestia was almost breaking down only a few days after having witnessed it. She supposed that this was how Sasuke had gone so cold and angry- and although he was supposedly getting better now, or so she’d heard, from sources that she had- he still would probably never forgive the Leaf for what had been done. She didn’t blame him; after seeing what they’d done, she’d sort of hated the Leaf too- even if it wasn’t her that they’d ruined.

Sasuke’s life would never be the same because of what they did- and, they hadn’t even tried to end the rebellion peacefully; no, let’s just have the clan heir slaughter his own clan. It was completely within the realm of possibility to kill off the shinobi of the clan and leave most of the civilians and weaker shinobi alive- that way, the Uchiha could still exist, and perhaps, in a long time, recover- but now, with Sasuke the only person alive, and stuck here, in Equestria, the chances of the Uchiha ever coming back were very, very low.

There wasn’t much more to see to during day court; and soon, everypony else was gone. All that was left was Celestia sitting on her throne, with light streaming into the window and landing directly in front of her throne. While it may have looked majestic or regal, she knew that she was barely calm as she struggled to maintain an outer composure. More than once today she’d already felt like screaming.

She wondered how Sasuke had dealt with it- well, she’d seen how.

Years of solitude and brooding, of dreaming of reviving his clan and killing Itachi- certainly not healthy dreams that any boy should have. Even though she still hadn’t seen too much of his world- he’d only shown her the major points of his life, after all, she knew that it wasn’t normal. He’d grown his heart cold because it was the only way to handle the pain, and now he had trouble warming it up again after it was all over.

After some time of consideration, she thought that she might go and talk to Sasuke about it. At the very least, he’d probably tell her more about himself, or give her a way to deal with what she was remembering, over and over- especially considering they were his memories, anyway. With this decided, she left her throne and soon flew off, by herself- she didn’t feel like having a royal entourage today.

_________________________

Sasuke felt better.

That was the easiest way to sum it up. Ever since he’d cried, the voices had stopped.

He no longer felt such… guilt, on his heart, weighing him down, like a rock.

It was so strange, to feel so free. He walked around Ponyville, and in general, was just more upbeat, more positive and cheerful, and didn’t lash out at everything around him in his pain. He didn’t think that anything could ruin it.

He still didn’t want to go back to the Leaf Village, and he still hated it- but he didn’t think that would ever change. Sasuke had accepted that fact and instead decided to simply live far away from the Leaf Village- and here was probably the farthest he could go to get away. It was literally isolated by dimensions, and Sasuke figured that it was probably the best he could get, so he’d probably stay here, at least for now.

He had no idea what had changed him- maybe it had been the ponies all together, maybe it had only been a select five or six, or maybe it had just been that one cry when it was dark, not even a day or two ago- but he was more grateful than ever to the ponies for what they’d helped him do- what he’d been unable to do on his own.

That was, heal.

Heal.

Heal from all the emotional pain he’d been through over the years- drop off the baggage, and move on with his life. In general, just stop carrying on and continue to hurt over something that was in the past, over with, and wasn’t susceptible to change. He hadn’t been able to do it before, though- for whatever reason, something had been holding him down. Maybe it had been his pride and that had broken when he’d cried in front of ponies, because now he felt a lot more humble. Or maybe the tears had simply been the catalyst, and he’d already nearly been healed from the experience for days now.

To Sasuke, it didn’t really matter so much. He was just glad that he could live without the pain. It had hurt so much, in hindsight, but before, when he’d been in that darkness- he’d clutched onto the pain for his life, and simply went where it had led him- his pain had ended up being one of the only things he could trust in his shitty life, especially back in the Elemental Nations. He wondered if he’d ever return there. He could- he might even be able to forgive the Leaf, someday. He doubted it would happen, but he could try.

Though, he didn’t think it would work.

He didn’t want to push his chances. Still, even after all this change, and feeling much better, as he did, there was still an old, familiar, burning hatred for the Leaf that still somehow found a place inside of his heart. He wasn’t sure how it stayed there- perhaps it was so powerful that it wasn’t able to be removed. But whatever the case was, he didn’t particularly want to go back to the Leaf village- at least not right away.

But maybe someday.

He saw the world in a much more light-hearted way, now- he could still kill, and he knew that he surely could, but now he’d feel bad about it. Now, he wouldn’t want to do it- even if it was an easier solution, he’d do something else to avoid doing it, and only kill when it was absolutely necessary. Sasuke both knew and felt that he’d really changed, and it was taking root in every aspect of his life.

Even when Pinkie had been talking to him earlier, it wasn’t like a few days ago, before his ephiphany. Now, she was an actual friend to him- instead of an annoying horse like he’d always thought before. Even when she’d asked him if they were still friends, he’d responded positively- and the best part about all of it was that it had been easy to respond- and he hadn’t been lying, he’d been completely, utterly, sincere.

“Sasss-kay! Are we still friends, Sasuke! I never threw you a party or anything, and then all that bad stuff happened, and you were being a meany some of the time so I almost didn’t want to, but now I WANT TO!”

The cheerful mare bounced, full of joy, up and down, excited, and Sasuke couldn’t help but to laugh.

“Yes, Pinkie. We’re friends,” he’d said, grinning. And he hadn’t forced the grin.

It wasn’t how he used to be- and he relished the feeling as he walked around Ponyville. He wasn’t even talking to anyone- simply, he was enjoying the day. It was something he found possible, now- enjoy the day without dreaming of revenge and satisfying his deep hatred.

It was wonderful.

Sasuke loitered and laid around in the sun, being completely lazy. There wasn’t much to do, but he decided that being lazy could be a start. He’d never had time for it before, so why not now? There was no point in pushing himself to train- he had nothing to train for. There was no point in doing any ridiculous, hard work- though he could see himself working on Applejack’s farm for money when he decided that he needed it.

No reason to cause himself stress if he didn’t need to, and so he didn’t, and he simply enjoyed rather simple pleasures as he laid in the sun, watched foals play, and in general, thoroughly enjoyed the harmony that Equestria had. It was different than the Elemental Nations- no one was mean, at least, not usually. There were no wars and criminals were an extremely rare thing in these lands, as he’d come to know.

It was, in a way, paradise.

He’d remembered that Celestia had offered him a position in the military. While he had no desire or need to go running off and killing again, Sasuke could see himself protecting others, easily. Ponies or people, it didn’t really matter to him- and, at this point, he was staring to like ponies more than people. They were much more forgiving, and, from what he’d seen so far, in general, they were also smarter and kinder, as well. He doubted he’d be forgiven for his crimes so easily in his old homeland.

He was surprised when Celestia visited him, without any warning.

She dropped down out of the sky, majestic and regal. He watched as the ponies hurriedly bowed- although they were getting used seeing royalty around here because of how much they’d been visiting, they still prostrated themselves in reverence to the pony who was, to them, the paragon of kindness and harmony. Her rainbow mane flew out behind her, and her crown was positioned correctly on her head.

Sasuke could tell, though. He was good at reading people- or ponies, in this case.

Just as he had been, she was disturbed, by something. It didn’t mean that it would be easy to figure out what it was or how to get rid of it, but it didn’t matter. Sasuke could still see it. He saw the look in her eyes, a slightly fearful twinkle that was only barely noticeable. It was one of the only giveaways to an otherwise completely calm and confident Princess of Equestria. Sasuke watched and waited as she approached him.

“Hello, Sasuke. You look better than usual.”

You got that right.

“It’s in no small part because of you,” he answered, with a smile.

“What do you mean?” She asked, confused.

She’d come here with hope of asking for advice- and hopefully getting some form of answer. She wanted to know how to deal with what she’d seen, and she figured that he’d have the answer, because she felt that she was going to go insane if she didn’t find out a way to deal with it right now. She was distracted, though, by Sasuke’s demeanor. He seemed so happy, it was strange- not bad strange, though, good strange.

She’d only ever known him to be cold and almost completely heartless- he’d started changing, but she didn’t think that it would be so rapid- after all, she’d witnessed his downfall. She’d watched as he went from a happy kid-loving his mother, being jealous of and competing with his brother, and constantly trying to gain the affection and attention of his father; all he’d wanted when he was younger was to impress him.

He’d shown her that. And then she’d watched as that fateful night damned him to years of cold, terrible hatred; and indeed, she’d watched as the boy had fell from the high places that he’d previously occupied. It had been such a sad thing to see- to watch as someone with such a bright future changed it to something so dark, only of their own volition, but because of the influence of other people.

It was a good, interesting change, to see him smiling. She wanted to know why he’d changed, and it was a good thing, then, that he seemed to be more than willing to answer her.

“I’ve changed while I was here, Celestia,” Sasuke admitted, turning away and staring across Ponyville- at all of the innocent minds living their lives, many of them still bowing or otherwise showing respect towards the Princess, “I’m not the same as I used to be. You can probably tell by how I’m acting, though.”

A quick nod from her confirmed that, but she still had a confused, even if happy, smile on her face. It was great that he’d changed, but what was different?

“After having so much hatred in my heart- and holding onto so much anger, and bitterness, and all of terrible feelings that stayed inside of me so long… I just… let go, I suppose. I don’t know. I don’t really want to talk about what made me realize that I had to do it. Even if my time in this place has humbled me to a degree, I still have some of my old Uchiha pride left, and I don’t think that it’s ever really going to go away.”

“But, that’s what it was, I suppose. I let go. I realized that everything that had happened to me or had been done to me was in the past, and there was no point in moping around about it and hating what had become my life- because, even if I was almost justified to be a heartless, miserable monster, it didn’t mean I shouldn’t try to put everything behind me and try to grow into something more.”

“And, I guess that’s what happened. I’ve grown… into something more,” he finished.

“That’s… interesting,” Celestia said, wondering if the same thing was true for her. If she could just… drop it all off, and try to forget about it. If Sasuke could, then so could she.

“That’s truthful,” Sasuke corrected, and Celestia didn’t seem to understand for a second, but then just sighed and nodded and went along with it, anyway.

“No, I mean it,” He said, and she looked up to him as he continued talking, “I really mean it- that I’m feeling better because I’m putting it all behind me. You should too, whatever it is that’s bothering you, that is. I can see it in your eyes- you’re troubled.”

She widened her eyes for a second, but then shut them, and giggled. Sasuke looked confused, but she held up a hoof, and then laughed even harder.

“What’s so funny, Princess?” Sasuke asked, with a grin, and Celestia managed to stop laughing for a few moments before she got herself under control- but still, a wide grin broke her face into two imbalanced halves.

“It’s just funny, getting my problems solved by you, after… all that’s happened,” she said, and he understood, nodding before smiling back at her, as well.

“You should stay awhile, Princess,” Sasuke said, and gestured across the expanse of Ponyville, as well as all of the loyal, good citizens, some of which who were still prostrating themselves to her, “I think that it’d be good for you. If there’s something really bothering you, the stress of working all the time is never a helping factor. It’d probably be best for you. I’m serious, you should consider it.”

She glanced out and watched, with deep pride inside her heart, as foals played and parents tended to them; as couples bought supplies or fruits and vegetables for their dinner, and in general, ponies did the normal, menial things in life. It seemed so much more interesting than before- and, even though she had visited a lot recently, she wondered if she was becoming distanced from her ponies.

She realized that it could be true as she watched them. If I visited them more, then it wouldn’t be as much of a surprise to them, and not only that, it wouldn’t make them think that I’m all-powerful, unapproachable, and not even a pony. Ponies, even if they loved her, still shied away from her- and her student had often had that ridiculous, and not to mention completely idiotic idea that she’d banish her if she made a mistake.

Celestia hadn’t even banished anypony in years, and the idea that Twilight thought that about her was more than hurtful. Maybe this was what she’d really been worried about, the whole time? Sasuke’s problems were his own, and she shouldn’t have been so fearful of them- maybe, it was simply what made her realize her own problems. Again, he’d helped her- but this time, he didn’t know it. As he watched the foals play like she did, she realized that he was completely ignorant of what he’d done.

“I wonder if Twilight’s ever going to come back,” Sasuke said.

And, there was that, too.

She’d been trying not to worry about it, but that was probably another thing that had contributed to the nightmares and fears she’d been having of Sasuke’s past. She had no idea where Twilight had gone- she only hoped that she was alive, and that Twilight would return to her, one day. It was a hope that shrinked everyday- after all, they had no idea where she’d gone, and the chances only went down everyday, but still.

There was a decent chance, she supposed, that Twilight had managed to somehow get to Sasuke’s world- and, as such, it would also stand to chance that she could work to finding her way back to Equestria, her home. That did mean though that she’d be living there, amongst Sasuke’s people- and that more than terrified her, it shook her to the core. She wondered if Twilight would even survive such a thing.

Celestia liked to think that she taught her student a lot, and that she was powerful, but she realized that Twilight was even more innocent and clueless about the going-ons of Sasuke’s world than she herself was, and from what she’d seen- again, glimpses, and certainly not everything- she had a good enough idea of his world; at the very least, that people usually weren’t generous, and it was dangerous to travel alone, unless you were a ninja.

Even then, you obviously weren’t safe- as she saw from Sasuke’s memories, and how much death he had witnessed. Being a shinobi didn’t actually mean anything in the long run- plenty of shinobi died fighting other shinobi. It only meant that you were well-trained enough that you had a better chance of survival, but that in no way equated to complete protection- if anything, far from it. She had other thoughts, too.

She also realized that because of how different Twilight was, she’d stick out like a glowing horn. She knew that because of that, Twilight could be targeted specifically- and much easier, as well. Celestia only hoped that she’d taught Twilight enough about magic so that she’d survived- and she reminded herself that she had to stay positive. After all, there was an equal chance that Twilight was alive, and that she’d return, soon or someday…

“Sasuke,” Celestia said, watching her ponies, “did you see where Twilight went?”

Sasuke opened his mouth, then froze and thought about what he was going to say for a moment. He was clearly changing his line of thought. She’d always wondered about that letter thing- and later, had come to realize, as he had, that Twilight hadn’t betrayed him; even as she’d sent the letter, there was no planned plot, she'd never discussed anything of the sort with her student, but that something else had instead happened. Celestia wanted to know what. After a few seconds, he answered, and it raised her hopes a bit.

“As far as I know, it looked like she lost control of her spell, and got transported somewhere else- but that’s all I know. If she ended up in my world… well, you’ve seen my world. You know unlucky she could get there.”

“Yes,” Celestia whispered, looking at the blue sky above, “I know all too well.”

“Hopefully, she’ll come back,” Sasuke offered, but he didn’t think that he was going to make Celestia stop worrying. Celestia replied with a sigh and a short, stiff nod. A moment later, she took to the skies, and soared away- back towards Canterlot, feeling every bit better because of the short journey to speak with Sasuke. It had allievated her problems about his memories, but it had brought up an entire new dilemma- reminding her of her student, as if she hadn’t been worrying enough already.

Sasuke watched her go, until she was out of sight, and then sat down, bored, on the grass. He hoped that he’d helped her. He knew that the ponies were softer than he was- even now, as good as he felt, he still realized that he was harder than them- and that the ponies and their leaders would always be soft, just because that was the way this land worked.

It wasn’t even that soft was bad, not to him, not anymore. It was just the word that fit the place. He wasn’t using it in a condescending manner, or insulting- rather, simply stating it, like a fact- a fact that was true.

“Sasuke!”

Sasuke turned to a small, shrill voice- who did he know that spoke like that?

It turned out it was three he knew that spoke like that- the Cutie Mark Crusaders were waiting when he turned around. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo seemed happy to see him, but Sweetie Belle hid behind the both of them- and she no doubt remembered what he did. He was a little surprised that she was afraid of him, but he remembered that the only thing she’d ever seen him really do was kill another person- and, probably, battle the Princesses.

So it was actually no big surprise that she didn’t really trust him. What he didn’t get was why the other two were braver than her- if anything, all three should’ve been terrified of him for at least a little while longer, if anything. Instead, they seemed eager and Sweetie Belle a little less so, for no real discernable reason. Sasuke decided to investigate this.

“Hello,” he replied, and they seemed excited to even get a response from him.

They squealed- as if they’d already won something- and then proceeded to ask him a question. His face rapidly turned from calm to distraught in a matter of seconds.

“Could you teach us how to be shinobi and use cool moves like you-“

She hadn’t even finished getting the words out of her mouth, but Sasuke was quick to reply- a reply that he was sure they didn’t want. But he didn’t really care about that.

“No,” he said.

They froze up- it was as if they hadn’t even considered that it could be a possible outcome to the scenario they’d all imagined inside their heads.

“But whhyyyyy?” They asked, in an annoying, pestering tone, and Sasuke sighed. He forgot how irritating it could be to deal with children- whether it was human children or foals, it seemed that universally, across dimensions and through all sorts of impossible, kids still had the ability to be annoying- no matter what. It was a natural power, it seemed.

“It isn’t good for you,” he answered, and of course they took it as unfair- in fact, anything but fair. They stomped their hooves, acting like the children they were, and continued to complain.

“Nothing fun or cool or sweet-tasting is ever good for us!” Sweetie Belle complained, and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo readily agreed- as if he could be outvoted by foals, and would have to listen if he was outnumbered in opinion.

It might’ve been a bit jarring, but he decided to go with the quickest solution.

“Sweetie Belle, after I killed that man in front of you, why are you interested in being a ninja?” That was it, right there, and instantly, they all fell silent.

It hit them harder than they realized. Sweetie Belle looked down at her hooves and didn’t move- didn’t speak, didn’t breathe. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo seemed similarly affected, if not to the same intensity as Sweetie Belle.

“I-it’d be pretty coo-“Apple Bloom started, but Sasuke shut her down, right away.

“No, it wouldn’t. Trust me, you don’t want my life. Now, go away, and go grow up to be happy little ponies. Go try to find a more normal cutie mark. You don’t want any one that has anything to deal with shinobi, anyway. It’d be a curse, not a blessing, to be skilled at killing.”

“It isn’t something you desire, and no matter how much you ask, I’m not going to give in. I’m not anyone you know, and I have a much stronger will than they do, so trust me when I say annoying me won’t work, either. Run along, now.”

They seemed to acquiesce, but Apple Bloom stayed behind.

“You don’t understand! For us, Cutie Marks are important, and I want to know what mine is, whatever the cost. If it’s one about killing, then oh well, I’ll-“

“Don’t even try to finish that sentence,” Sasuke breathed, and Apple Bloom stopped on the spot- her tongue bit between her own teeth as she obeyed him. For a few moments, they stood there, and Sasuke almost thought she was going to have the audacity to start again, but she didn’t, and hung her head and her tail, walking away.

“Trust me, kid. It’s not something you want. I’m sure it looks cool and interesting and exciting to you, but… living with what you’ve done is painful. I’m only just now getting over it, even if I had a harder life than most shinobi, it’s still terrible. Go play with your friends,” he muttered. She glared at him, and then turned around, away from him.

She said something, but it was too low for him to hear, and he didn’t bother concentrating harder or asking her what she’d said as she ran away. He was surprised by how brash and bold they were. Maybe they just didn’t understand the gravity of what he did on a daily basis, yet. He remembered that he thought killing would be easy, when he was a kid.

How much of a fucking idiot was I? Did I even have enough brain cells to breathe?

Sasuke sighed, and for the first time in a while, scowled at the sky. He sincerely hoped that they wouldn’t try to do what he’d told them not to. That’d just make it annoying, and he was feeling good for the first time in a long time. He just didn’t feel like dealing with anything at the moment. So, he laid down and stared at the sky, and went back to what he was doing before. Amazingly, nothing interrupted him, for a while.

For a while- and then, eventually, something did.

He heard a pony running past- he thought it was Pinkie, and moments later, his assumption was proven correct when she shoved her face into his and shouted, overjoyed, but said no actual words- just cries of enjoyment and glee that were doing anything but translating the reason for the happiness to Sasuke. He managed to get her away- she did need to learn personal space, as nice as she was- and then he got her to calm down.

Well, he didn’t get Pinkie to calm down- it was more like he waited for her to. She was like a monkey hyped up on sugar, and it took her a few minutes for her breathing to go down past what Sasuke would consider hyperventilating. The permanent, gleeful smile on her face slipped up just enough so that she could communicate.

“Twilight’s back!” She shouted. Instantly, that got his attention. He continued listening to Pinkie as his mind ran away with the information. He wondered how she’d survived. Did she just get lucky? Was it that she was placed into a safe place when she teleported, and she didn’t have a hard time there? Did she even get sent to his world, or somewhere else?

He had to find out. Pinkie Pie continued blabbering about it, over and over, until he heard one tidbit of information that made his eyes widen and his hands clench. Instantly, his eyes turned color- and already, the red design was visible inside of his scarlet irises.

“- and Twilight came back and it made a popping sound- like popcorn, oh I LOVE popcorn- and then this other shinobi, kinda like you Sasuke, was there too, and he looked really important and all serious and stuff and he was looking around-"

He blocked out Pinkie for the time being- and it wasn’t for the sake of cruelty, it was for the ability to concentrate and try to gain some clarity on the situation. It was possible that the ninja could be from anywhere. He didn’t know what Pinkie had meant by the ninja looked important, though. Probably just had a pretentious outfit, something incredibly arrogant and flamboyant that didn’t actually portray his real strength.

With that in mind, Sasuke began to calm down. Even if the shinobi recognized him, it was a good chance that he could easily beat him in battle if he tried to fight- and Sasuke wouldn’t be the one to start it either. He also knew that it could be a swordsman or some other kind of warrior- they couldn’t tell strength, and didn’t know that most normal types of warriors were weak and paled in comparison to shinobi. He was hoping for this to happen. He was hoping for luck to work out for once in his favor.

Sasuke took off for where Pinkie had said they appeared- the town square, he’d heard, in the middle of her endless, excited blabbering- and raced over there at once. With such great speed like he possessed, and especially due to the small size of the town, he was there in less than thirty seconds. He stopped when he got closer- taking no chances, and making sure to keep himself hidden.

He could barely see because the ponies were crowded around so much, but it was clear that there was a tall ninja there. He caught a flash of orange here and there, but he couldn’t see much more than that. The shinobi was talking, but he couldn’t hear him either- the crowd of ponies again blocked out his sensitive ears with their chatter.

When he saw the spiky blond hair, though, his heart stopped- in a strange mix of fear and anticipation. Once he was able to see him, he immediately recognized Naruto.

He looked different. That would be putting it mildly, though.

Naruto had clearly grown. Sasuke could’ve sworn that he’d only been gone a little longer than a month, now, but it was possible that there was time differences between universes. Naruto wore a cloak similar to his father’s- with his own colors of orange and red, instead. He still wore the same steel headband with the blue cloth- and it was wrapped around his forehead, same as ever. He wore it proudly. He walked with confidence- in fact, it oozed off of him. He talked easily- with more dignity and sophisticated tones that he’d never had before.

Sasuke realized that Naruto had become Hokage- and acted much more seriously because of it. He watched as Naruto conversed with the ponies- and meanwhile, he watched, as Twilight slipped out of the crowd for a moment to head towards the library. She returned a few minutes later, as the ponies continued asking questions. Who was he? Why was he here? Was he anything like Sasuke? Naruto answered all of these calmly, as his ears twitched- and no one noticed, not even Sasuke.

It wasn’t long before both Princesses flew down from the sky- and everyone but Naruto bowed. He met them and they spoke- at length, for minutes, about boring, menial topics. They compared rates- economy, talked about who they led, or in Celestia’s case, ruled over. Naruto was just making conversation, though.

With a flick of the wrist- and faster than anyone in the area could see, except Sasuke- he threw a kunai out of his hand, and watched as it buried itself with force into the tree that Sasuke had been hiding behind. Grumbling, Sasuke came out.

Naruto smiled at him, and Sasuke only gave a neutral stare back. Already, the ponies seemed to sense the tension in the air. On the order of the Princesses, they began to leave Ponyville- and Twilight seemed pale.

Naruto went right to the point. He’d already mentioned it to the Princesses, and while Celestia seemed to disagree, she said she’d allow it, if Sasuke went peacefully.

Luna was all in favor of it.

“Come back to The Hidden Leaf Village, Sasuke. I can promise you a safe return, and your rights as a shinobi will be reinstated. It’ll cost me an incredible amount of paperwork- not to mention getting most of the other countries and their leaders getting pissed off at me- but I don’t care. You’ll be an elite jonin, and it might take a while, but you’ll eventually regain your honor.” He waved his hand and brought it toward himself. “Come on, let’s go.”

He had a huge smile on his face- like he always did.

Sasuke smirked, and gave his answer.

“I don’t want revenge anymore, Naruto. I’m done with trying to destroy the Leaf.”

Naruto’s smile probably couldn’t go wider. It was approaching Pinkie-levels now, and Sasuke noticed the resemblance. His smile fell at Sasuke’s full answer, though.

“This place has changed me, for the better, though. I’m not so hateuful, anymore. I laughed for the first time in forever, today. But, at the same time, I don’t think I’ll be able to come back with you, Naruto. I still can’t stand the Leaf for what happened to me, even if I’m not going to try to get revenge anymore. I’m not going with you.”

Naruto’s happy, bright blue eyes immediately narrowed. The next words that he spat out of his mouth were never what Sasuke expected to hear from him. Naruto was beyond angry. He was furious, he was livid.

Naruto was pissed.

“Don’t even try to give me that, Sasuke! God, you’re arrogant. I just gave you the offer of a lifetime, and you piss on it! I’m glad that you’re not going for revenge on the village- not like you could do it, anyway, but I’m drawing the line here. I’ve offered you a chance, time and time again to come back, and even now, you’re refusing me. You’re still a criminal, and I’m offering you freedom. And, even as my friend, Sasuke, I’m bringing you in.”

As a swirling blue ball of chakra formed in Naruto’s hand, Sasuke vividly remembered a similar speech that Naruto had given him- what seemed like lifetimes ago.

“Even if you have to break all the bones in my body?” Sasuke asked, smirking.

“Even if, Sasuke,” Naruto said, still angry, remembering the Valley of The End.

The Princesses seemed to be arguing with one another, but Sasuke and Naruto weren’t concentrated on them. Twilight was about to burst into tears as she watched Sasuke’s arm light up with lightning- and a sound similar to the chirping of birds filled the air.

As they charged at each other, Twilight realized that this was always going to be what happened- and even if she tried to intervene, she’d only get hurt.

Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack all watched in horror as the strange creature they came to know as a friend charged someone down; the other, doing the same to him. Sasuke only remembered the last time they’d truly done this- and, even over how loud his Chidori was, he heard Naruto so clearly- so clearly, he thought he’d remember it for the rest of his life.

“It’s been a long time, Sasuke.”

TO BE CONTINUED

If anyone gets the chapter title as a reference, you win.

The Fight

The entire battle was started off with Naruto’s Rasengan spinning into Sasuke’s Chidori- and they clashed against one another before Sasuke pulled away, scowling, and jumped away a decent amount of space. Chidori couldn’t stand up to the drilling power of Rasengan- not when Naruto was healthy like this. He took his out sword and held it in one hand, and started running Chidori Nagashi throughout it.

Naruto took his cloak and threw it to the side. He cracked his neck a few times- and it wasn’t like any other time that he’d fought Naruto. Naruto was stronger than ever- and from what he’d seen from the last battle, in The War, he had full control over his beast. Sasuke’s crimson irises spun rapidly as Naruto tensed himself. Naruto knew Sasuke was going try something- and got ready for it.

Across his body, orange flames and chakra appeared- and he activated his Kyuubi Chakra Mode- and at the same time, hands of chakra came out of his body and pushed him away into the air, from the ground, as Sasuke used Amaterasu where Naruto used to be standing. His eye’s blood vessels burst as he did so- and the blood ran down his face, but he ignored it, as usual. By now, he was used to the pain.

Black flames exploded and ate away at where he used to be. Naruto landed adroitly, a little farther away. Naruto reached into his back pocket and felt around- and with incredible speed that Sasuke was barely able to match, they began to launch shuriken and kunai at each other. The shining metal numbered in the hundreds- and through the hail of weaponry that screeched across the town square of Ponyville, every other noise was drowned out from the sound. Sasuke and Naruto panted as the metal clattered to the floor-

Then, immediately, before all of it had even hit the floor, they dashed at each other, and engaged in a melee battle- throwing in jutsu when they could manage it. Sasuke jumped at Naruto and threw a rapid punch at his face and, at the same time, attempted to kick his side, but was blocked by Naruto- who jabbed at him with a fist, and managed to catch him in the side. Sasuke slugged him good in the face, and both jumped away and breathed a bit before launching themselves again.

As rapid punches from Naruto blocked quick strikes from Sasuke, Sasuke shouted at him while they fought. Sasuke’s red, angry face seemed to have no effect on Naruto, who only fought him harder even as Sasuke argued with him.

“Naruto! I don’t want to go back to The Leaf Village, maybe later, but I’m not ready for it, not yet! I’ve found peace here, and you’re not going to take it away from me!” Sasuke screamed as he slammed Naruto in the gut with one arm. Naruto groaned but didn’t let up, and formed a large Rasengan in one palm that was heading for Sasuke’s side alarmingly fast. Sasuke twisted, his visual prowess granting him aid in the battle, and barely moved out of the way of the attack as it swung through midair.

At the same time, Sasuke slashed at Naruto with his sword, but Naruto moved, and the most he managed was a small cut that was already healing by the time that they touched down onto the ground. Sasuke grunted as he knew that bruises would be forming later- despite the fact that they blocked most of their strikes on each other, a few hits did land, and he could feel the pain fading from his torso as he readied himself.

Naruto created a few red-orange chakra arms- Sasuke was still getting used to the strange method of attacking- and in them, rapidly formed multiple gigantic Rasengan. Sasuke’s eyes widened, and he did several backflips as the arms shoved the Rasengan into the ground where he’d been a split- second before. Sasuke eyed the huge craters they created- the spinning balls drilled hard into the ground and created miniature dust clouds that blocked the vision of the two combatants for a few seconds.

When it faded, Sasuke had already charged at Naruto with Chidori- who weaved back and forth as Sasuke furiously tried to bury the deadly lightning jutsu in his body. He struck at him with his huge, red-orange arms, but Sasuke dodged them, before jumping off the ground and attacking from above.

“NARUTO!” He shouted as he fell upon Naruto. Naruto didn’t move- and instead, raised a palm and formed his Rasenshuriken- and Sasuke eyed it with caution. He was in midair and it was hard for him to move- and he desperately wished that he still had his curse mark so he could form wings- because, at the very least, he’d be able to move. He had another way, if he needed to, but he preferred not to use it yet.

When Naruto threw the Rasengan that suspiciously looked like a Fuma Shuriken at him, though, he didn’t hesitate any longer, and quickly formed the required seals and bit his finger, and shoved his hand downwards, into the air- and instantly, smoke obscured the vision of Naruto as Sasuke summoned a large brown hawk that only barely dodged the Rasenshuriken. Naruto glared at Sasuke as he formed another Rasenshuriken.

“I’m your friend, Sasuke. But I’m doing what I have to. I still have my responsibilities as Hokage, and you need to come back to the Village- even if you don’t want to. By law, as the Hokage of Konoha, I’m going to capture you and bring you in.”

Sasuke snarled as he listened to Naruto. It was like Sasuke hadn’t even spoken. He considered how to handle this battle even as he formed seals and spat out a large battle to make the Rasenshuriken detonate- and the first he’d simply dodged, but the second had come into contact with something, and so it exploded.

Sasuke’s eyes widened as he watched the destructive power of the jutsu. Naruto was using extremely deadly force. He had, for some reason, always assumed that Naruto would only try to take him in with slight force- but Naruto wasn’t playing around. He was too good of a shinobi to be distracted by even this realization, however, and as Naruto’s chakra arms formed nine normal Rasengan and raced to his position on them, he stayed on his hawk as it dodged them. He launched another large fireball at Naruto.

Naruto backflipped and jumped off a tree, high into the air- as the large fireball came into contact with the ground, and Ponyville, as well. While he was glancing at the ground for a fraction of a second, he saw Luna and Celestia arguing, furiously- waving their hooves at each other- and it almost looked like it was going to turn into a fight- but he had no time to pay attention to it as Naruto charged at him.

Naruto had gotten much faster- so, so much faster. His chakra form grants him that speed, Sasuke guessed, idly, as Naruto’s fist was buried in Sasuke’s cheek. He was sent flying with spittle leaking out of his mouth as he crashed through the roof of a house and slammed hard into the floor. He groaned and dug himself out, and glared at Naruto who was still falling right towards him- wind whipping at his clothes as he did so.

Sasuke wiped the blood off his face and the side of his mouth as he got ready- and used his Eternal Mangekyo to form a shield of Amaterasu around himself- again, making his eyes bleed more as he fought with Naruto. The Rasengan crashed uselessly into it- and soon all petered out afte drilling into the shield for a few moments. Naruto leaped back and narrowed his eyes as the black flames around Sasuke disappeared.

He’s good, Sasuke realized. Better than I realized he’d be. I didn’t get a real feel for his strength at the war because we hadn’t really fought enough. But now, we’re doing this until one of us is knocked unconscious- or, perhaps, further, even.

Again, he launched himself with such great speed- and again, Sasuke failed to dodge it. He remembered something as he was ruthlessly punched in the gut, repeatedly. The fists pounded into his stomach, relentless, and he was starting to have trouble breathing. He did his best to block what he could, but the speed was hard to fight- he wasn’t going to lose instantly, but he was at a definite disadvantage.

Just like Rock Lee, Sasuke realized.

It does not matter how fast your eyes can see if your body cannot keep up.

As Naruto caught him in the same right cheek again, and Sasuke went flying through three houses before he righted his body and jumped off a tree, he realized he’d have to do better than this if he wanted to stay here. Naruto wasn’t screwing around; he was taking him down already, and if Sasuke didn’t start taking this as a fight for his life- which it was, in a way- a fight for the happiness he’d just acquired- then he’d be taken away.

He didn’t want to go back there.

Mangekyo spinning, he paid very close attention- and tried to let his Sharingan guide him. These things had happened to him before- sometimes, when in a battle of an opponent with greater speed, he simply had to rely on his kekkai genkai to guide him. And he did so, and watched- with only split-seconds to react to the punches- the images appear in front of him. They were hazy, and blurry, but showed how his punches would go- and Sasuke was able to block most of them, even landing a couple of hits back.

He caught Naruto in the side with a particularly hard kick, and Naruto wheezed, before jumping back a few feet. But now that Sasuke had an advantage, he wasn’t going to let up. He chased after Naruto, and continued kicking at him- landing a few, but mostly, just hitting Naruto without getting hit himself, which was good. He could see the frustration and growing anger on Naruto’s face- red, furious, and twisted features opened up into a snarl that was more than a little demonic.

Well, he DOES have a demon inside him, Sasuke thought.

Naruto pulled out more speed- from where, Sasuke had no damn idea- but he sure fucking felt it when two hard fists slammed into his stomach and blasted him back with force. He was propelled backwards and smacked the side of a tree- which slowed him down enough that he was able to grab a branch, swing up, and breathe for a second- but damn it, already, Naruto was coming for him again!

This is fucking ridiculous, Sasuke thought, growling. I should be stronger than this.

Is it me that’s weaker, or him that’s stronger? I can’t tell.

He blocked a blow that would’ve sent him reeling with his forearm- and he could feel the force, really, really feel it as it smashed into his arm with ruthless strength. He struggled to block Naruto’s attacks- it was like he was fighting ten Kages at once. Naruto certainly had gotten stronger- it wasn’t him that had gotten weaker. It was more like he’d stayed mostly the same, but compared to the last time he’d really fought Naruto- which had been back at Orochimaru’s, when Naruto had been incredibly weak- this was on a different level of difficulty.

A kick to the stomach sent him flying- and right then, Sasuke saw his chance. He had to thank his visual prowess, always, because it gave him such an advantage. He saw the way Naruto was moving- and saw the tiniest possible opening. He held a huge Rasengan in his palm, Odama Rasengan, he thought Naruto had called it, and was preparing to race under Sasuke’s flying body and shove it into the middle of his back- something that would no doubt deal serious damage to Sasuke.

If I get hit by that, this fight will become nearly impossible, Sasuke realized.

Quick as a flash, Naruto was upon him- but in the same instant, Sasuke activated his Eternal Mangekyo Susanoo- and large purple hands were the first parts that formed, surrounding his body in a protective cloak of violet, powerful energy. Naruto’s Rasengan pushed against it repeatedly, but to no avail- and instantly, one of the arms smacked Naruto.

He was shot down onto the ground, instantly, in the middle of Ponyville- and Sasuke looked around, noticing how wrecked Ponyville was already. They’d already crashed or used a technique to destroy both Sugarcube Corner and Rarity’s Boutique. A few other buildings and homes were destroyed, there were multiple small fires raging in different areas, and the grounds in places were scorched, from Sasuke’s fireballs.

With his Susanoo now out- and using his unfair advantage, he went to work. He trusted his Susanoo to hold up for a decent amount of time- hell, a while, provided Naruto didn’t start using anything ridiculous like the Tailed Beast Bomb. The bow materialized in the cloaked figure’s hands, and it starting firing arrows at a ridiculous speed. They were huger than Naruto was himself- if he got hit by one, if it was direct, he’d die instantly, and if not, it’d probably rip off a limb. Naruto was too fast for it, though- and dodged all of them.

The Susanoo kept up, firing arrows as Naruto struggled to dodge them, desperate. He jumped and did all kinds of flips and different kinds of movements that were so quick, graceful, and well executed, that it would make gymnastic students look like crippled people in comparison. All of this, to dodge the deadly arrows that Sasuke was firing.

Sasuke, meanwhile, was calming down. He’d forced Naruto on the defensive, at least for the time being, and knew that he had time to think out at least a few steps ahead while the Susanoo occupied his opponent. He wasn’t anything like Shikamaru, but he could plan out things well enough- probably better than Naruto could, anyway, he reasoned.

He knew that Naruto’s stamina- combined with his speed and strength, would no doubt win him the fight in the long run. He had to figure out a way to beat him quick, and, if not that, then some other way, but he couldn’t be captured. That was the one thing that mustn’t happen. Sasuke wouldn’t allow it.

Naruto, even while avoiding his attacks, though, was steadily making his way closer- and it was still hard to react to his movements, even while relying and trusting on his kekkai genkai. Despite how good the Sharingan and its advanced forms were, it couldn’t do everything, and Sasuke was finding this out the hard way as he backed up around Ponyville, shooting arrows at Naruto, leaving craters in the ground, but running out of space to run.

Over half of Ponyville was demolished now, and Sasuke realized that, by the time they were completely done, there would be nothing left of it. He snarled and fought harder, trying desperately to save both himself and the town. He couldn’t remember having this much trouble in a fight before- the last ridiculously hard fight that he’d had before had been against Itachi, and since then, nothing else had been on this level of difficulty.

He would’ve found this out if he’d been able to fight at the War, but instead, he’d been tossed here, so that hadn’t worked out. And now he was finding out how strong Naruto had gotten- and he didn’t want to see what other tricks he had up his sleeve. Naruto had been strong enough to become Hokage for more than a little while now, it was clear, because he was much stronger than a Kage right now.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Sasuke growled, each time he missed, and then Naruto was close enough to shoot a Rasenshuriken at his Susanoo- but no, it hit, and damn it, that took away too much stamina! Every time he was hit while the gigantic, purple being was active, it protected him, and that was good, but it also drained his energy to do so- not to mention that using Susanoo supposedly draining his life force, though he didn’t know if that was true or not.

Sasuke was starting to get a little more and more frantic as time went on. He knew that it was starting to become harder to win the battle. He struggled to hit Naruto at all, with any attack- but at the same time, he noticed that Naruto wasn’t exactly in top shape either- Sweat dripped off of his face like a river, and even though he was fighting as hard as he was, Sasuke could still see the exhaustion that wracked his body.

Sasuke only hoped that he could outlast Naruto- but, at the same time, he was getting tired, too. Still, they had a long way from even being close to done. He decided to mix in Chidori with his Susanoo arrows at the same time, and hoped that the sheer number of projectiles would possibly be able to hit Naruto. It paid off a few moments later, when, after Naruto came close to use a Rasenshuriken on him, he caught him in the shoulder with a Chidori Sharp Spear- and the attack carried through, impaling Naruto’s shoulder.

He dropped the beam off immediately, but grinned at his success- and watched as Naruto leapt back for a moment and fought much, much more defensively. He knew that had hurt, and for a variety of reasons. Not only did it make him have to waste energy regenerating with his Fox Chakra, it also was worse because he was already exhausted. He was glad that he’d finally landed a hit on Naruto after all this time.

Naruto slowly stood up, and for the first time, made Kage Bunshin- and now, Sasuke was both scared, and wary. He didn’t know about the limitations of the Chakra Mode, but what Naruto had really been doing was conserving his strength. He only couldn’t use clones if Kyuubi was trying to get out- meanwhile, now, with Kurama on good terms with him, he could really start to dip into his energy and use his full power.

Sasuke wasn’t aware, though. He only thought that it was a pretty even fight with a slight advantage over Naruto. So he was surprised when two Rasenshuriken came crashing into his Susanoo at once, and it nearly broke through- it shattered most of the ribs of the complete Susanoo, and drained Sasuke of a lot of his energy. But he wasn’t ready to give up yet. He’d just have to rely on basics, now, and hope that it was enough.

The second Naruto charged at him, and rushed him with that ridiculous speed that Sasuke was still getting used to, he leapt up, and left Naruto in the trap he’d prepared- and watched, with satisfaction as Naruto ran right into multiple explosion tags that went off immediately, and then- right behind him- a hoof crashed into his back and there was pain all over his body, as well as a contorting sensation.

He knew what it was, though, and flared his chakra, and turned and glared behind him- at Luna, who’d started taking a side in the fight. Meanwhile, Celestia had taken to doing the same to Naruto- and had repeatedly tried to use telekinesis on him, to no avail, as Naruto easily flared his chakra and dodged all kinds of spells that she threw at him.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Sasuke snarled as he gestured at the area around them, throwing his arms wild and wide, “You do realize if you get caught in the crossfire of this, you’ll die, right? One serious attack from Naruto or I could end you if it hit you right.” Luna didn’t respond at first, only flapping her wings and rushing at him with her horn glowing. It seemed to take on a sharper tone, and Sasuke realized that she’d made it much stronger and sharper than it should’ve been- which was revealed by the little whistling it made in the air as it came towards Sasuke at full speed.

“Fine, then,” Sasuke said, though he couldn’t hide his frustration. He could only hope that Naruto dealt with Celestia slower than he did and didn’t use the time to take free shots on him- something that could certainly spell his downfall if he had to start fighting two of them at once. He flipped backwards and gasped as Luna attempted to impale him with her horn that was probably as hard as a lance, and much sharper.

Sasuke was pissed, and had had enough of this shit.

He didn’t have the time for this. Naruto would no doubt deal with Celestia faster- as he spared a glance that had probably only lasted half a second behind him, and watched as Celestia was being systematically destroyed by Naruto- and he had to do the same thing to Luna, quick, or he’d risk getting ganged up on. He let out a scream of frustration and brutally punched Luna so hard in the side that it sent her flying towards the ground- and it seemed that Naruto had done the same thing, as Celestia went flying in the same direction. Sasuke landed on the ground after being in the air, and glanced behind him, in the opposite direction.

There it was, that small reprieve, and then again, Naruto was after him- and Sasuke watched as he zipped forward, and tried to counter his hits with his own limbs- and a flurry of blocks, grabs, and punches and kicks followed. Through the haze of all the attacks at a nearly blinding speed, Sasuke was barely able to keep up, and he knew that he was both falling behind and slowing down, and then a wide strike from Naruto caught him in the side.

It sent him crashing into a house, and he climbed out of the rubble, really pissed off, now. He forced himself to calm down and assess the situation. He watched as, far off, Celestia and Luna battled each other- and he could barely even pay attention to that as Naruto was already rushing him and approaching him rapidly again. Right as Naruto was about to hit him, he traded places with a log halfway across Ponyville- one of many split pieces of wood from all the trees that had been destroyed in the fight.

He slowly slid his sword out of its sheath, after he’d put it back there, and charged Chidori onto it- and waited. He watched as Naruto raced forward, and was soon upon him. Sasuke used his skills in kenjutsu to battle him- and Naruto couldn’t try to hit him head on with one of his limbs or risk using it. He started using a kunai, but he’d still be shocked. He jumped back and glared at Sasuke, and then glanced up.

Sasuke did as well, and watched as, in the sky, the two Princesses were still fighting. He couldn’t overhear the furious conversation they were having, but it must’ve been brutal, as Celestia got a good hit in with one of her spells, and managed to send Luna flying towards the ground- but she didn’t hit as hard as the shinobi did, and Luna was able to right herself in mid air. Luna responded with a barrage of light-orange magic projectiles that looked similar to a plume of fire when launched like that- even though they were just large magical arrows.

Celestia dodged most of them, though a few caught her in the sides, and flew towards Luna with clear intent-

That was all Sasuke had time to observe, as Naruto was already coming at him again, and he had no choice but to dodge and defend, and try to strike back with his sword when he could- which was becoming a rarer and rarer chance as the battle went on. He’d shocked Naruto a couple of times, but it was still hard to do so, and Naruto broke away from it each time pretty quick, leaving Sasuke tired, and with few results.

He breathed deep as he assessed the situation. He knew that it was becoming harder and harder for him to win, and he’d soon have to pull something off- what, he didn’t know. But he’d have to do something, or he’d be beaten, and he’d be dragged back to the Leaf Village, no doubt to try to be integrated back into the society. He didn’t understand why Naruto didn’t just get it. Maybe Naruto didn’t think he’d really changed.

“Naruto,” Sasuke called, as Naruto approached, and the young Kage stopped, curious.

“I’m not sure you get it,” Sasuke said, and Naruto was beginning to understand what he was talking about- and already, was creating clones to make multiple Rasenshuriken to launch at Sasuke, “there’s no point in bringing me back. I don’t want to go home. I’m never going to be the same,” Sasuke said. Naruto didn’t respond at first.

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m only hoping for you to get better, but…” Naruto said, launching his Rasenshuriken at Sasuke- who dodged, and they exploded, taking almost the rest of Ponyville with them. The entire small town was little more than charred grass and pastures, smoking buildings, and ruins all around. Sasuke only watched in shock as Naruto went on an angry tirade- crying, the entire time, with tears running down his cheeks from his bright, blue eyes.

“Don’t you ever fucking think that I’d considered giving up on you? YOU have no idea how hard it’s been for ME! Everyone else at home and everywhere else has already given up on you, and you still act this way- as if it’s my fault or something. BIG FUCKING HINT, SASUKE,” Naruto yelled, furious and nearly incoherent, screaming, “YOU’RE THE ONE WHO RAN FIRST! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO RAN AWAY BECAUSE HE WASN’T STRONG ENOUGH, NOT ME!” Then, the volume of Naruto’s voice dropped significantly, until it was hardly a whisper.

“And you act like it’s all about yourself… as if I don’t know that you don’t want to come home… you haven’t wanted to come home in years, and I doubted that you would, even now..”

Naruto grew more furious then, if it was even possible, and his chakra flared, “YOU’RE SO FUCKING SELFISH! YOU FORGET ABOUT MY RESPONSIBILITES! You’re a missing-nin of the Leaf, and I’m Hokage, and you need to be brought to justice.”

Naruto calmed himself down and glared at Sasuke- and Sasuke realized, a little too late, that it wasn’t furious- it was a completely cold, logical anger that possessed Naruto, now. No longer would his emotions be interfering with his skills as a ninja.

Even as he wiped the tears from his eyes, he charged Sasuke again, and they argued as they fought- fists flying, kicks landing, but still, voices echoed throughout the destroyed Ponyville as they fought- and above them, another conflict raged, as the two Princesses fought for the first time in a thousand years.

Sasuke had dropped his Susanoo to save energy, but he was considering reactivating it- he needed breathing room, and Naruto was getting closer, and-

And then Naruto’s fist was buried in his stomach, and he had no idea what had happened. Maybe he’d missed it- hadn’t been paying attention, because his eyes surely wouldn’t have missed it. It didn’t matter, though. Naruto had already delivered a bone-cracking kick to the side of his jaw and sent him sprawling and reeling into the ruins of a building that had already been destroyed in a similar manner.

Sasuke groaned as he rose to his feet. Simply put, he was getting his ass kicked. He needed to focus and get in another good shot- he saw that the hole he’d put in Naruto’s shoulder was still bleeding, and still there- but it was healing way faster than it should’ve. Sasuke knew that if he didn’t get in some sort of damage soon, then it would be over way before the fight should’ve been.

He wouldn’t have a chance to come back; he’d be defeated, pretty effortlessly, and then he’d be hauled back to… there. He didn’t want to go back there. Not after he’d overcome a lot of his problems regarding the place that was for sure. Naruto was rushing at him again, and he activated Susanoo once more, the violet being encasing his entire form, and then some. It raised its hands and shot the arrow from the bow-

Naruto twisted and barely avoided it, but still kept coming- and Sasuke balked at his, for lack of a better word, balls. He closed the gap in another second or two and started firing rapid punches at the Susanoo’s cloak- which was rapidly denting. The ribs had regenerated, but the Susanoo was weaker than before. It swung its arms and tried to shoot its bow, but Naruto was able to dodge them- that was, until, by chance, he messed up his rotation of dodging, and an arm caught his ankle.

For one single second, he hung in midair upside down- and it reminded him of when Naruto had fallen for Kakashi’s simple trap during the bell test, when they’d originally began being a team. Sasuke’s crimson irises swirled and his eyes widened more, if it was possible, when he saw it. It was his chance- his chance. He went through handseals faster than he’d ever thought he’d been able, and charged a Chidori that he shoved in Naruto’s chest.

Instantly, Naruto leapt back, but the damage was already done. It hadn’t touched his heart or any vital organs, but it had gotten pretty damn close- and that was all that mattered. He was slown down, and Sasuke tried to take advantage of it as best as he could. Sasuke rushed forward- and for once, it was Naruto that was on the defensive. He frantically dodged as Sasuke’s Susanoo rained down blows on him- and the large, purple hands held an incredible amount of force, easily capable of crushing or shattering bone.

He caught Naruto in the torso/shoulder, and it wasn’t even a direct hit, but more of a graze- but it didn’t matter, the Susanoo was too powerful. It was Sasuke’s best defense and offense for a reason. It hit Naruto incredibly hard, and broke most of the bones in his upper arm, his shoulder, and a lot of his ribs, to boot.

Naruto leapt back some, and leaned on his right side a lot more- it was his left side that had been disabled. He breathed heavily and heaved- it had taken a lot out of him, that hit. Sasuke was tiring, and had been hit pretty hard several times, too, but he was in a better position. Sasuke was fairly sure that he could win, now.

It was about then that Celestia launched herself at Naruto- again- and started firing red bolts of magical energy, that he frantically tried to dodge. Luna did something similar to Sasuke. It was clear by now that Celestia was siding with Sasuke, and Luna, with Naruto. Sasuke didn’t care that much, but figured it would make the battle more annoying- having to worry about a minor, but potential threat, was distracting enough that it could ruin things.

So, with that in mind, both of them did the obvious thing.

Naruto used his speed and clocked Celestia in the jaw so hard that a breaking sound was easily audible- so hard that she stumbled, and then fell backwards, knocked unconscious. Her eyes were unfocused, and Naruto looked down at Celestia, and then at his hand, before closing his eyes. Not too far off in the distance, Twilight trembled and then shouted a wordless shriek of disbelief before charging forward- away from the group of Ponyville citizens that cowered as the battle raged on. She stumbled halfway there- but Twilight kept going, as she cried, tears running down her purple face.

She was probably close enough to hear it when Naruto said it.

“I didn’t like having to do that.”

She ignored everything, though- she practically ran through Sasuke’s and Luna’s fight, who was soon knocked unconscious by the flat of his blade to her forehead- and then Naruto and Sasuke were fighting again, but she didn’t care. Twilight ran past everything, ran through smoking ruins of buildings and small, sparse fires that raged, here and there, occasionally using short teleports to cross spaces that were dangerous.

She arrived faster than she thought she would- she almost crashed into her mentor’s unconscious body. She sobbed over her, thinking her dead, and Twilight’s tears stained her mentor’s coat. Celestia groaned, and even through the loudness of the fight that was happening behind her, she could hear it- hear it, very easily. And she smiled, even while she cried, happy that her mentor was alive.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke fought heavily- and Sasuke had gotten a few more good hits in. A good percentage of Naruto’s bones were broken now, probably more than half. He wasn’t ready to give up yet. Meanwhile, it seemed that Sasuke was simply being exhausted. He knew that he had to end this soon. He activated Susanoo and fought more furiously than he ever had before- and Naruto seemed on the defensive.

Naruto growled, and brought his hands together in a tiger seal- and a huge, huge plume of smoke erupted as Naruto transformed into the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. Sasuke balked at the bulk of the gigantic creature- it was barely big enough to even fit its front half in Ponyville- and the tails waved wildly behind it. It was clear that Naruto was on his last legs- he was breathing even heavier, even as large as he was. But he was going to try to take Sasuke down before he completely ran out of energy.

He charged a small Beast Ball- and ate it, and Sasuke tried to run, tried to move, but it was too late- and the beam erupted. It was all Sasuke could do to block it- they were far away enough from anyone that could be hurt, but still, Sasuke hadn’t been able to move in time. Naruto had clearly practiced to be as fast as possible with the technique. The Susanoo’s ribs broke, though, and the Susanoo disappeared, and Sasuke fell as his last vestiges of energy gave out. He swore as he landed on the ground, back first.

Naruto seemed done too, though, but as he fell, he angled his huge, huge paw to hit Sasuke- and Sasuke felt himself slammed against the ground by incomprehensible force as most of the bones in his body were broken. Still, with Sasuke’s will to live, he wasn’t dead- just knocked unconscious. Naruto transformed back into himself- and let the fox chakra dissipate, and put all his energy towards healing himself.

Naruto had broken many bones, and was tired, but victorious. He simply stood over Sasuke’s broken form for several seconds- and then began to cry, and his tears hit Sasuke’s body as he did so. He hadn’t like having to do that to his friend- but it was done, now. He’d beaten Sasuke, and now he would be taken back to the Leaf Village.

He hefted Sasuke’s body over his own- and it was hard work, considering he was tired and wounded, but he managed it, nonetheless. Everypony from the town only watched in shock as Naruto calmly strode across the complete ruins of Ponyville- there were small fires everywhere, barely alive flames that clung desperately to life. Every building was destroyed.

He approached Twilight- who was still crying over her mentor’s body.

She looked up at him, furious, and whispered one word.

“Why?”

“She attacked me first,” he said, hoarse. She ripped her face away from him for several moments and didn’t answer.

“Don’t make me force you, Twilight. I already feel bad enough as it is,” he said.

Twilight turned to look at Naruto.

She saw a young teenager that was barely a man. She saw a heavily breathing, bloody teenager, slowly regaining his stamina, that had his best friend slung over his back- and he’d had to do this- both as a promise to himself, because of his reponsibilites, and other reasons that she knew he had to have. Twilight was educated enough about the situation.

“I won’t take you, I won-“

Twilight’s voice caught in her throat as a kunai was pressed against it, and her limbs were grabbed awkwardly- preventing her from escaping. She screamed and beat her hooves against her, but he didn’t move. She looked up at him- and saw the desperation, and the need- the need to have him home.

Even if he didn’t want to go home.

She didn’t do anything for several seconds.

“Please,” he whispered.

She sobbed, and then a white, glowing light surrounded them, and they were gone- even as Rainbow Dash slammed into where Naruto had been a second later.

________________________

They teleported directly in front of Konoha- and almost immediately, the two ninja at the front gate noticed them. They only watched with open jaws as Naruto began to slug himself forward, and Twilight watched him go.

“Feel free to visit,” he’d told her, right as they arrived. She probably would. Still crying, she turned, and decided that she was more worried about her mentor than anything else. She disappeared in the same white light.

Naruto’s sentence was barely a whisper, but the two chuunin heard it clearly.

“I did it,” he said.

He carried Sasuke over his shoulder and walked into the Village- and almost right away, was met with varied cries- cries of alarm, of triumph, of happiness, and of surprise, most of all. Naruto made it all of two steps inside the village before stopping and breathing for a few seconds- refusing his body’s desire to collapse. As he rested, the strength came back to him, and he stumbled forward, more. Soon enough, Sasuke was taken off of him, and it was a lot easier to walk.

“Prison,” he said. “Until further notice. Treat him, heal him. Keep him well fed, don’t let him die. Keep him weakened enough, though, and on lockdown. A special guard for him- a bunch of jonin.”

The chuunin nodded, and saluted his Hokage, and dashed off, with Sasuke on his back. Naruto stumbled forward a little bit more, and then slumped to the side of a building he’d managed to make it to. The hospital. A nurse ran inside and called for help.

He breathed heavy. He was alright, but exhausted.

Naruto could scarcely believe that he’d somehow done it. He’d managed to beat Sasuke, drag him home, and with the help of one of Sasuke’s friends, nonetheless.

It didn’t mean that he felt any less terrible about doing what he’d had to.

He’d hated hitting Celestia- and he’d hated threatening Twilight even more. He knew that it had to have been worth it, though. It had to.

Or, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself knowing he’d threatened an innocent. He didn’t like doing what he had to do- he was a shinobi, anyway. They weren’t supposed to fight fair, and neutral parties were techinically fair game in a mission- especially if they got in the way and/or had promised their help beforehand, as Twilight had.

Naruto sighed. It had been a long day.

He’d probably regret it more, later, but for now, he was happy that he had Sasuke back- and then passed out, exhausted, slumped against the hospital’s outer wall. He was carried inside and treated to personally by Sakura and Tsunade- both knowing what he’d accomplished. Hinata waited for him, ever-patient, by his bedside- happy that he’d returned.

Meanwhile, in a dank, dark, prison cell, Sasuke Uchiha was doped up beyond belief on drugs and had a supply of nutrients and water. The cell had him in chains, with seals inside the cell and on the doors of the cell, too. Four Jonin guarded it- one of them, Kakashi.

There was no emotion visible on his face- and, if you looked at him, it looked like he was trying to ignore who was in the cell behind him.

Sasuke, mostly broken bones and barely alive, was tended to by several medics. He’d be out of commission for a while- and staying in that cell for even longer.

TO BE CONTINUED

Before complaining about OOC, read the new story description.

Hard Decisions

Simply put, Sasuke was a wreck.

He lay down, inside the cell, as he was guarded by four jonin. Guy, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Inoichi stood in front of the prison cell bars. It was fairly silent in the prison- there were a few other ninja in here, but they didn’t require a guard, like Sasuke did. They weren’t incredibly powerful, capable of killing Kage, like Sasuke was. Even Guy, who was normally upbeat, stayed completely silent while on the job.

Sasuke was bound with a tube of nutrients and water attached to him, on a stand, from two bags. He was inside a bed, and still couldn’t move, barely. Most of the bones in his body were still broken. He’d been cleaned up by nurses somewhat, but he was still fairly dirty; he hadn’t even had a bath yet. He was still asleep- and probably wouldn’t wake up for a little while longer. He’d had some moments where he’d drifted in and out of consciousness, but no more than that, really. He’d taken a horrible beating.

Kakashi wasn’t sure what to think about all of it.

He knew that, along with probably everyone else, Sasuke had needed to be brought to justice- but not like this. Kakashi realized that this was what a criminal got. A cold cell and no sympathy from anyone around him- and he was automatically wanting sympathy and more care for Sasuke, just because he had been his student. He didn’t know how Naruto had managed to do it- beat up his friend like that, and drag him home.

It would sort of be like him doing that to Obito, but worse. Their bond- Naruto's and Sasuke's- was stronger.

Kakashi supposed that Naruto was stronger than him for that- and not just physically, either.

A loud groan came from the cell- and all four jonin turned as Sasuke tried to move when he woke up- and couldn’t. He shifted a few moments before groaning again, and then falling silent. He had broken bones and was restrained by chains- he wasn’t going to go anywhere. Kakashi considered calling for a nurse, then thought better of it. Sasuke didn’t need it, not really. He could withstand a little discomfort.

It was a hazy, white existence of pain. Sasuke’s eyes were regaining their clarity, but everything was blurry- and everything was pain, too. Sasuke could barely see, much less hear, taste, or smell or think. It was all beyond him- all he could feel was that he’d been mauled near to death by one of those star-bears, or something. He could feel just how wrecked his body was, and he knew that it wasn’t good.

What he didn’t know, though, was where he was. He couldn’t remember anything- it was too blurry, too many details, for a brain that was obsessed with its agony. The pain blocked out anything else, and it was too important right now- no other thought or memory warranted any of Sasuke’s attention. He couldn’t move, couldn’t get up. He could try to open his eyes, though. He prepared himself.

His perceptive senses didn’t overreact, thanks to the dim lighting of the cell. He looked around for a few minutes- glancing there and there, at the stone walls, at the bed below him- only what he could move his eyes to. His neck wasn’t really able to be used. It was too damaged. The memories slowly came back to him, and when they did, he screamed.

He screamed loudly.

He screamed loudly, before breaking down and crying. It was humiliating, but he didn’t care. He stopped soon enough, afterwards. He was fairly sure he could hear the breathing of the four guards to his cell, and could sense their presence- and he knew all four of them. It didn’t matter to Sasuke, though. He was worried about something far different. He tried to raise his voice, but found it was a hoarse, terrible imitation of what he should’ve been able to produce.

“Am I going to be executed?” He asked them. It was the first, most important question. He remembered that he’d lost the battle to Naruto, and now that he was locked up, due to his missing-nin status, it was a very possible reality. He considered using Izanagi if that happened, even if he lost his visual prowess. There was no point in having it if he was dead. He couldn’t see them- his body was turned over- but he could hear them as he replied.

“That hasn’t been decided yet,” Kakashi replied. Sasuke let loose a moan of both relief and pain. That was good, he guessed. It probably stood to reason that they’d let him remain alive, because he doubted that Naruto would have him killed after all that he went through. He realized how dumb of a question it was, but only after he’d asked it. He wondered how well Naruto was doing. He no longer wanted Naruto’s or the Leaf’s destruction- and even though he’d brought him back, Sasuke still cared.

“How’s Naruto?” Sasuke whispered, and Kakashi whipped his head around so fast that he couldn’t believe he possessed that kind of speed. Was it possible? Had he just heard some sort of caring in the voice of THE Uchiha Sasuke? Kakashi could scarcely believe what he was hearing. He’d heard that Naruto had mentioned that Sasuke was changed, but… he’d never believed a single word of it. He thought it was just Naruto’s hope, and he’d imagined it, or something. He never expected to be confronted by it like this.

What he hated more was the way he had to answser it, though.

“I can’t tell you the answer to that question,” he droned. Sasuke closed his eyes and willed his body to move further away from the man, even if it wouldn’t do it. He should’ve expected as much. There was no way they would tell him, as a missing-nin, especially with the history that he had of attacking friends and allies of the village. Not to mention how he’d been put in here, too.

Kakashi hated himself for what he’d had to say. He’d had to treat Sasuke like dirt- like a common criminal. He didn’t like doing it, even if… even if…

If it was what Sasuke deserved, after all that he’d done?

He tried to put that thought out of his mind, and just went back to guarding.

Sasuke didn’t remain silent for much longer.

“How will my fate be decided?” Sasuke asked. Kakashi was almost certain that, in a situation like this, it’d be up to both the council and the Hokage, with the Hokage of the village getting the final say. He knew that the council would have a vote, but luckily, he no longer contained the idiots Danzo, Koharu, or Homura- Naruto had removed them on his first or second day of office- Kakashi remembered how angry they’d been.

“The Council of Konaha, and the Hokage, but the Hokage’s decision is final.” Sasuke wished that he could nod if he wasn’t completely immobile from the state that his body was in. He knew that he would be safe, then. He doubted that Naruto would have him executed. He wondered if anyone was ever going to visit him. For now, though, he managed to drift off to sleep. Later, he awoke to women taking care of him.

He realized he had a bedpan, and grimaced. It was incredibly humiliating, and certainly something that everyone probably enjoyed to see- come one, come all! See the great Uchiha Sasuke captured, and humbled! Sasuke growled, even as the women washing him finished, and they moved away hesitantly, before stepping out of the cell. Immediately, the seals on everything reactivated, and he was locked up again.

He knew that, in a few days, when he was a bit better, they would let him eat his own food- but for now, it had to be nutrients. He couldn’t even chew yet, really. That was how immobilized he was. Sasuke drifted off to sleep again, and in an hour or two, the jonin changed shifts- and Kakashi made a beeline for Naruto.

__________________________

Naruto was laid up, too, but it had only been maybe a day since the battle, maybe two. He had taken serious damage, but the worst of it was exhaustion, the wound in his chest, and the broken bones on the right side of his body- all of which was healing up well. The nurses had been extremely kind to him- and Sakura had visited him on more than one occasion. Who was permanently attached to his bedside, though, was Hinata.

She hadn’t left it since he came back, and he thanked her for her dedication. He had been in deep thought ever since he’d woken up. He was probably going to go back to sleep, but he knew that everyone was going to depend on him to make a decision. What to do with Sasuke? He knew that he couldn’t have him executed- he would never do it anyway, but especially not after what he’d gone through to get him back.

No, no. It had to be something different.

The decision, though, avoided Naruto, and instead, in its place, were the thoughts about what he’d done. Even lying in the hospital bed, Naruto cringed. He still remembered what he’d done- destroyed Ponyville, punched Celestia, threatened Twilight. It haunted him, and he couldn’t forget what had happened by his hand. Justice didn’t toss it aside- and he couldn’t abandon his morals for Justice.

For then he became like Sasuke, and then he became the criminal. He’d have to make it up to them- how, he didn’t know. He had no idea. Help rebuild their town, maybe. He knew that Twilight would come to visit, soon. He wondered when it would be. Surely, it couldn’t be too far off. He wondered if they would even speak to him, after what he’d done. It weighed much more heavily on him after the entire thing was over and done with.

He stared out the window as Hinata held onto his hand- and then, she spoke.

“Naruto, you look… troubled,” she said. Hinata was confused. She figured that, out of all things, he’d be happy. He had finally done what he said he was going to do- he had kept his promise to Sakura, he had done everything he set out to do. She gave him a bright, nervous smile. No one else but him and Sasuke knew of what had really happened over there. He hadn’t really told anyone what happened yet, besides the fact that it was a tough battle.

“I… I did things that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for,” Naruto mumbled. Hinata, not expecting this at all, raised her eyebrows in surprise. Naruto had usually been the paragon of morality- he’d always done the right thing, and had managed to find a way out, without straying from what he didn’t like to do.

“It couldn’t have been that bad, Naruto,” she said, trying to console him,” I’m sure-“

“IT WAS, THOUGH! IT WAS!” He screamed hoarsely, and Hinata reared back in shock, before Naruto pounded the white sheets of the hospital bed in frustration and rage.

“I… I destroyed a town where the ponies lived. I didn’t kill anyone, but I still probably made them homeless. I’m pretty sure I broke the jaw of their Princess, when she attacked me. But those things still weren’t as bad as what I did next, when I was pushed. I was, I was desperate. I… I don’t know,” he whispered.

“Naruto, what happened?” Hinata asked, and when Naruto didn’t answer, she tried to turn him towards her- and when she turned him, she saw a familiar sadness that lurked deep within Naruto- an emotion he rarely showed, but Hinata knew that he had, at one time, felt it all the time- when ostracized from the village.

“I threatened to kill Twilight with a kunai if she didn’t take me and Sasuke back,” he said. “She didn’t want to do it because I punched Celestia in the face. But I… I made her do it,” he said. Hinata looked at him, with a mix of disappointed anger and sympathy, at the same time. He watched Hinata, wondering what she’d say to that. He hoped that she wasn’t disgusted.

“I’m not exactly impressed by it, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m a little disappointed, Naruto. I thought you’d never resort to what other shinobi did.” That did it, right there. It wasn’t her anger, or shock that would’ve set him off- and even disgust, while bad, still would’ve been preferable to how she was making him suffer right now.

She was disappointed- which was probably worse than anything else.

She had expected better.

Naruto could only really hang his head in the hospital. Hinata didn’t say anything for several minutes. That was until he felt her warm lips pressing against his own-and then she broke off. Hinata gave him her brightest smile- while Naruto looked at her confused.

“Naruto, I will always love you. And I will always support you, even if you do the most idiotic, insensitive, cruel things. But I’d appreciate it if you made up for what you did.”

Naruto nodded again, still downtrodden, and Hinata smiled at him.

Then she jumped him, and their hands were all over each other- and later, when she was asleep, and her naked form was pressed against him, Naruto stared at the ceiling, and sighed. He knew what he was going to have to do. He only had to wait for Twilight to come for it. He’d have to make up for everything.

His conscience would probably kill him if he didn’t.

______________________

Kakashi had talked to Naruto about not guarding Sasuke. He’d said that it wasn’t an option- and that they didn’t have enough jonin right now, for him not to.

Kakashi only sighed.

By chance, they tried to visit Sasuke at similar times. It had been nearly two weeks in Equestria, even if it had only been three or four days in Konaha. Naruto had left the hospital that day, in his cloak that matched his father’s so well, and headed off to the prison Sasuke was detained at. On the way, a bright light and a popping noise- and then Twilight was next to him, too, and she glared at him as she appeared.

He could only offer her a guilty look back, and she seemed to soften up a bit, but didn’t say anything as he walked forwards. For a few minutes they were silent as they walked through the village- that was, until Twilight decided to speak, first. Naruto listened- it was the least he could do after what he’d done. He knew how he was going to make up for it, though- at least, he hoped that it would make up for it.

“We started rebuilding Ponyville,” she said, and Naruto nodded as they continued to walk through the village while talking, “and Celestia’s jaw is healing. I’m still furious with you about that, Naruto. It’s going to take me a while to forgive you.” Naruto didn’t offer any sort of defense; he was already getting more interaction than he deserved. He’d rather be bitched at than entirely ignored by her.

“As you can imagine, your reputation in Ponyville- and in Equestria in general, since you did punch our Princess, after all, isn’t that great. It’ll take a lot to make up for that,” she said. Naruto only turned and she continued following him as they walked into a building- and, once inside, they walked closer and closer until they descended several flights of stairs. Every ninja that passed him saluted him.

It only made him feel worse- that he was still accepted, even after what he did. The place was completely locked down, tight- there was more than just one criminal in here. The guards in the top levels were low to mid chuunin range. As you went deeper, though, the criminals only became more dangerous. Sasuke had an entire floor to himself because they hadn’t had any A-S rank criminals in a while.

They descended the stairs and got to the bottom floor in silence. No one talked for several minutes, and Naruto had all the silence that he needed to be able to think. He needed to both rebuild Ponyville, and help with what he’d already promised- and he’d do both of those things, as soon as they were done visiting Sasuke. They reached the bottom and slowly walked through the cold halls.

There was no noise, and Twilight shivered at the conditions. How a wounded person could stand this, she didn’t know. She just supposed that shinobi were tough. She also wondered how Naruto was up after taking so much damage in that fight- she easily remembered the time difference between their realms, and knew that it had only been three or four days for them, even if in their word, it had already been almost two weeks.

Twilight remembered about the Kyuubi-and how he said he had it inside himself. She figured that was what it was, and decided not to question him about it anymore. She didn’t want to talk to him in particular, anyway- not after what he’d done. There was only one person in here that she wanted to talk to, and they were rapidly approaching his cell. When she saw Sasuke, though, she barely held in a scream.

Sasuke was propped up in a bed, already awake and alert only four days after taking such a beating. He had cleaned the blood off of himself, but he still looked incredibly depressed- and he was chained up, too. She saw the pain in his breath, and knew that he was far from completely healed. She could only balk at the cruelty that the people in this world employed against a criminal.

“Hey, Sasuke-“Naruto began, but Sasuke already had a prepared response for any form of communication from Naruto. It was eloquent, to the point, and described his feelings fully.

“Fuck you,” Sasuke whispered. Despite the hoarseness of his voice- which was better than it had been, but still healing, it was still clear and audible in the room. Naruto didn’t have anything to say to that. He meanwhile returned a smile to Twilight, who grinned back at him- happy to see him, even in his current situation.

He coughed a little bit, and then glared at Naruto- who nearly shrunk under his judging gaze. He looked for a few moments at him, and then tore his eyes away, before whispering something. He rasped it in the quiet, dim light of the prison.

“Is there any chance I’m getting out of here?” He asked Naruto, and Naruto didn’t have a response to it- Sasuke could only scoff at his sad form, and muttered something that only he in the room heard- it was so quiet, no one else could hear it.

“Figures,” he said.

“Do you really need to keep him locked up like that?” Twilight said, frowning. She didn’t like it. She could see the pain in his breath- she saw in how much agony he was in, how much he hated being here, and how much he currently hated Naruto for bringing him back here again. Naruto only nodded once, and then Twilight turned a glare on him.

“Why? He can’t hurt anyone.”

“He’s an S-rank ninja. If he didn’t have those seals and chains then he could escape easily. Since he’s full of village secrets, and has committed many crimes, he needs to stay put if the Village Council and I decide that he needs an exec-“

“You can’t be serious.” Twilight said, and Naruto shook his head.

“Hopefully it won’t happen. But I am serious. Completely.”

There was silence in the prison cell as Twilight stared at Naruto, and then shook her head at the stupidity of the place. She had no idea why they wanted to kill Sasuke, but she wasn’t going to let them do it. Not without trying to get him out first. Her horn took on a soft lavender glow that covered its entire form, and then she teleported herself inside the cell.

Inside the cell were many, many Lightning Seals- many of them, C-rank or higher jutsu that were quite good at disabling someone. Sasuke’s eyes widened as she fell to the floor, and she twitched as electricity flowed through her being- though, the second she did it, Naruto was already having the jonin undo the seals on the cell- and pulling the bars open, he reached inside and grabbed her up before resealing and locking everything back up.

“We had seals just incase you tried something like that, too,” he said.

She couldn’t say anything or move her muscles because of the electricity, but Naruto could see the intense disdain for him that she held inside them. She didn’t have to be able to move for Naruto to be able to see that. He didn’t like being hated- he was already too used to it. He especially didn’t want it from someone who could’ve been his friend- should’ve been his friend, more like. He didn’t say anything, though.

Naruto stayed quiet.

It was a few minutes later that she managed to pull herself to her hooves. She had only a glare for Naruto, and glanced at Sasuke with sad sympathy that seemed to go much deeper than Naruto had thought it would. Despite all of this, though, Naruto was torn. He had to make a decision, and soon- because he knew that people wanted to know what he was going to do with Sasuke. By all purposes, he should’ve had him executed.

But he couldn’t do that.

And not because he wasn’t allowed- he could do it, if he wanted to. It was completely within the law for him to have Sasuke executed. But it wasn’t possible for him, morally. He didn’t know what he’d do to himself if he actually managed to do that.

He didn’t want to think about it.

So, that wasn’t a possibility. He had no idea how to make Sasuke pay for his crimes, though. It had to be something large, something major. Something that would really make him regret what he’d done. But, as for what it was, he had no idea, yet. He’d have to sit and think on it some more.

Naruto only looked at Sasuke for a few seconds more, and then walked away, leading Twilight Sparkle away. She glared at him, but followed him, even if she threw more than one glance over her shoulder as they left. They walked out of the building- and Twilight more than once asked Naruto where they were going, but he repeatedly told her that she would see.

They ended up at the hospital, and Twilight watched as Naruto managed to get a hold of both Sakura and Tsunade- and once they were both there, it was then that Naruto revealed his plan. He turned to Twilight.

“Take us to Equestria. We have things to do there.”

“Like what?” She said. Skeptical, which made sense, after what he’d done.

“Like fixing Ponyville,” Naruto said, pointing to himself, “and fixing Fluttershy’s wing,” he said, pointing to Tsunade and Sakura. They had all their tools that they’d need for surgery. Twilight still looked suspicious, but nodded, and a bright white light surrounded them, before a popping sound filled their ears.

The light was blinding, but when it faded, after a few moments, they were in Equestria. Tsunade and Sakura looked around in interest- they’d never really been here before. Meanwhile, Naruto looked in both shame and disappointment at the sight in front of them. Not only was the countryside still damaged, but Ponyville was still a terrible, terrible wreck.

The buildings had only just begun to be constructed- and there was only the smallest inklings of progress. There would probably be months and months of work before it could even really be considered a town again. Naruto knew what he had to do, though.

“You two, go find Fluttershy. Twilight, help them find it. I’m going to fix Ponyville,” he said. Twilight still looked skeptical, until he made a thousand Kage Bunshin. Her jaw dropped as a thousand of the same man appeared in the field. She’d seen the jutsu used before- several of him in the fight, and she remembered it well enough. But she didn’t think that it could be used to that extent. She watched as hundreds of Narutos ran forward and began to help.

She wanted to stay and watch what he did with so many of himself- and how much progress he made on the village- but she reluctantly led Tsunade and Sakura away. The hospital had been no exception to the destruction- except, they’d managed to get everypony out in time. Barely. They were using a large circle of makeshift tents as a camp and medical area while Ponyville was rebuilt, but it wasn’t very convenient.

They were just lucky there had been no one in critical condition or too dangerous to move when Sasuke had gotten into his fight with Naruto. While Fluttershy was technically healed, it was still hard for her to move around or really do much of anything with her wing as messed up as it was. She had her own tent that she was sleeping in, and Twilight was taking them to it. Tsunade and Sakura seemed calm- as if nothing could go wrong.

Twilight was the opposite.

She was shaking as they arrived at the tent, and she was both worried for her friend’s life, and excited at the prospect that they may have been able to fix her wing. Tsunade and Sakura began to pull out their tools and prepare everything as Fluttershy awoke. Sakura couldn’t help but feel sorry for the creature.

She’s so adorable. She doesn’t deserve a wound like that, Sakura thought.

“Fluttershy, these people are here to fix your wing. They’re friends of Sasuke,” Twilight said. Fluttershy nodded, and made no noise- as shy as she was, she wanted her wing back so much that she was able to crush down her bashfulness for what she was going to be doing. She lay down on the floor of the tent- and couldn’t help but gulp as she looked at the multitude of tools that the two shinobi had on them.

“Sleep,” Tsunade said, and used an anesthetic jutsu on her- pressing her glowing green palm deeply into where she figured the lungs of the creature were. Fluttershy took a few deep breaths and was out in a few minutes- sleeping on the small tent floor, looking quiet and adorable. Tsunade and Sakura nodded at each other.

Twilight got out of the tent, and walked around- until she spied Rainbow Dash snoozing in a tree not far away. She’d been working on rebuilding the town, but had taken a break- before they arrived here. It looked like she was still on it.

She shot a small bolt of magic that hit Rainbow Dash in the flank, and sent the Pegasus flying off the tree- and she somersaulted in midair and regained her flight path, and turned and landed on the ground, glaring at Twilight- like interrupting her nap was a deadly sin.

“No time for you to be angry, Dash,” Twilight said, and Rainbow looked confused but continued listening. “They’re going to fix Fluttershy’s wing. I need you to guard that tent,” she said, and pointed to it with one hoof and foreleg, “and not let anypony inside.”

Rainbow nodded.

“You can count on me, egghead,” Rainbow Dash said, and she soared for a moment or two before touching down directly in front of the tent- and glaring all around, daring anypony to try to even get inside the tent.

Twilight was satisfied with that, and decided to walk back to Ponyville- where Naruto had said he was going to rebuild, supposedly. She watched in awe at how fast his clones moved- at how strong they were, how they worked in teams- it would be possible to rebuild the entire town in a day like this. She could only feel her animosity towards them disappearing- they were correcting their mistakes, especially Naruto.

There was only one thing more he had to do.

__________________________

Naruto fell on his ass as all his clones dispelled and he looked around at his handiwork- he seemed to have been able to rebuild everything. It looked the same as it had been- well, not exactly the same. Some buildings were off, here and there- and the library was an actual building, now, not a tree- and he’d managed to placate Twilight by telling her he’d let her have some scrolls on the history of the Elemental Nations, and a few other things as well, before she left after taking them back.

He did destroy most of her books, so it was the least he could do.

The ponies seemed to only barely tolerate working with him- and even afterwards, seemed only grudgingly accepting his presence. Naruto could only shrug in response to that. He knew that it would take some time, and it was own fault- he wasn’t complaining. He was just glad that he was allowed to make up for his mistake at all.

What Naruto was most excited for though, was none of that. He wanted to see how Sakura and Tsunade were doing- they’d been working all day, and it was already deep into early evening- they’d probably been going at the surgery for a good ten or twelve hours, by now. Naruto strode casually from the rebuilt Ponyville over to the almost completey abandoned tent area- they’d all went from back there to their houses, obviously- and saw the tired-looking Rainbow Dash guarding the entrance.

She attempted a glare at him, but she yawned, and he instead snorted and laughed at her terrible attempt at intimidation. Rainbow Dash’s magenta eyes were constantly blinking as she fought to stay awake- she had already been tired when she agreed to this, and it was draining enough after telling the Cutie Mark Crusaders that they couldn’t get their cutie mark in surgery today- for the fortieth time, was it?

Tsunade walked out of the tent- nearly bumping into Rainbow Dash on the way- and wiped her brow, followed by Sakura, who did mostly the same. Dash ran inside and looked- and looked at Fluttershy’s completely reconstructed wing.

It looked almost exactly the same- only, it didn’t have feathers. Rainbow Dash figured that it was because they hadn’t grown back in yet. It looked as healthy as it ever had- albeit a few stretching, darkened patches of leathery skin on the wing- that would be covered up by feathers, anyway, so it didn’t really matter. It was yellow, and the wing looked really healthy, even the bone structure looked correct.

Rainbow Dash walked outside and hugged the leg of Tsunade.

“How?” She whispered. Tsunade only laughed, along with Sakura and Naruto.

“She’s the best medic-nin in the entire world,” Naruto said.

Afterwards, they were preparing to leave, and Twilight was getting ready to take them along- when who she’d expected touched down. She’d been too busy in Canterlot with Day Court, Twilight expected, but the night was Luna’s domain, and so now, Celestia had time off. She saw Naruto and tensed for a moment- then stopped, and sighed. She walked closer, and Naruto did the same. Naruto spoke first.

“Sorry for knocking you out,” he said. Celestia didn’t say anything for a moment- and Naruto wondered if he’d really pissed her off when he did that, and she was going to attack him again. Then she nodded, and began conversing with Twilight for a little while- and she also had received the news that the surgery on Fluttershy had been a success, and also asked Tsunade and Sakura questions about how they’d managed it- and they answered it the best they could. Soon enough, though, everyone had to leave.

Naruto had been surprised that she was so forgiving- but supposed that it was how everyone was, from this place. He certainly wasn’t going to ever take advantage of them again, or complain. They left soon, and with a white, loud pop, they were back in Konoha.

Tsunade and Sakura left, and Naruto walked Twilight along- to the library in Konaha, where she received a large amount of scrolls- where she realized that they couldn’t do that, because she couldn’t read his language. They had a good laugh over it- but eventually, it came down to it, and Twilight had to ask the question.

“Are you ever going to release him?” She asked.

“I cannot, in good conscience, kill my friend,” Naruto said, and Twilight began to grow hopeful- but, with the next sentence, he crushed it down. “But, at the same time, he’s done many horrible things to Konaha and betrayed it several times. I’m not sure I can just let him off like that- even if he’s my friend, even if says he doesn’t want revenge. It’s not as simple as you make it out to be.”

“But couldn’t you just-“

“Stop,” he said, and she did. There was a tone in his voice that suggested he shouldn’t be pushed, not right now.

“Don’t pretend to understand our ways, and I won’t do the same to yours. Even if I told you about how tough his past was, it still doesn’t excuse what he did. And there’s the political consequences. I have to be worried about this village, as well as my standing in it. Releasing Sasuke would make me look a little weak, but not to just the village- I’m more worried about how angry the other villages would get if I did that.”

Twilight fell silent at that. She didn’t pretend to understand their complex politics- and the inner workings of them. She’d forgiven Naruto, but she still didn’t know him too well- but she could tell that he cared for his people. She thought that was good, at least.

“Until I have more time to think, he’ll remain in that cell, and it’s final,” he said.

Twilight nodded. She realized that she had no say over it- and could only offer Sasuke support. She made her way over to the prison, by memory- and she watched him for a bit, as he slept, still constrained by those horrible chains in the cell- still surrounded by dank, dark stone, and still wounded pretty terribly, as well. She wondered if Sasuke was going to get out.

Until then, though, she’d offer as much support she could, and hope.

That was one thing they couldn’t stop her from doing.

Hoping.

TO BE CONTINUED

Epilogue

Sasuke had slowly recovered over the past month inside of his cell- the loneliness and separation from his friends hadn’t done him any real good, though. He sat, as he usually did, staring at the damning bars with a depressing look of defeat that remained lodged in his eyes. He was trapped, and by now, he’d accepted that he hadn’t won, and he wasn’t going to get out of this. He’d lost, and he’d pay the price for it, now.

Over the month, his mind, while his body had been recovering, had been the only thing that he was able to entertain himself with- and, because of that, he’d dreamed up and imagined all sorts of false, ridiculous situations that would never occur- though he wished that they would, every day he was trapped inside of the cell. Dreams and wishes like sudden benevolence from Naruto, or Celestia and his other friends crashing through the bars and pulling him from the chains that bound him to the ground.

But he knew that none of this would happen. It was simply the only thing to do besides stare at the dull, gray walls that surrounded him. The jonin changed every eight hours, and not only that, but everyone seemed to refuse to talk to him, except Kakashi- and even he had seemed to talk and respond less to Sasuke lately. It was silent, and Sasuke hated it in silence. All was a silence, calm crushing opression- that systematically stomped Sasuke’s will into the ground until all was left was a smear on the floor.

It was probably the silence that was the worst.

That and the waiting, that is.

He’d remembered when he’d been going insane- and after he’d had his ephiphany, and had gotten rid of a good deal of the hatred and animosity that lied deep within his heart, that it had gone away- the voices, they’d left him. It had been silent, and back then, he’d been thankful for it. He’d been thankful that Pride was no longer raving, and he’d been thankful that Guilt had shut up, most of all.

But now, he could care less if he had a million voices talking in his head at once. Cram the populations of the five biggest countries inside his head, do whatever! Just have something talking. Something. Instead, it was a deep, dark, cell with silence surrounding him. Outside, the guards remained silent. When he breathed, it seemed silent, and even if he screamed, he thought that it might’ve been silent.

It was times like this that he wished he hadn’t survived the fight.

There was something that he took solace in, though- the rare visits from Twilight. So far, she’d only visited once more, this time without Naruto. Naruto visited at least twice a day, but he’d stopped talking as well. After the first few days, he’d come in, look at Sasuke, and then walk out a few moments later, without any sort of noise or word uttered- and nothing damn near an explanation for his behavior, either.

Sasuke knew what had caused it, though- he hadn’t talked to Naruto the first time, or the time after that, or the time after that, either. Eventually, Naruto didn’t talk to him, or even attempt to start a conversation, and neither did Sasuke. And Sasuke would rather live in the hellish silence inside the cold cell than talk to Naruto. His pride didn’t disappear, even if his hatred and his anger were diminished.

He was still angry with Naruto- this entire situation was because of him, after all. The dobe had finally taken him back- broken bones and all, just like he fucking promised that he would. Even after he knew Sasuke’s past, even after he knew the truth, and Sasuke’s repair of himself- and his admittance of eternal hatred against The Leaf.

And still, he’d dragged him back, and plopped him down on the floor in this cell, and trapped him in this- in this- hell of people living all because of his clan’s perish- and, and they all laugh outside, and they all laugh outside and play and the children play, and the mothers watch with pride and mirth in their eyes- as the, as the Uchiha died so they could have happiness- and for one moment, one single moment, Sasuke felt the old hatred bubbling up- and instantly, he crushed it out, and buried it under a mountain of denial.

It had been terrible to feel it again- that old, terrible hatred. This place- it brought it out in him. To Sasuke, it was the greatest, most ironic thing. The universe must’ve spat and cackled in his face at the same time- captured by the village he’d once wanted to destroy, but had given up on his vengeance.

Sasuke was beginning to doubt that he was getting out of this alive- after all, he’d only received one visit from Twilight, and none from Sakura- who he thought would be visiting him the most. They still hadn’t decided what to do with him- and it was the waiting that made Sasuke believe they had decided to kill him, but were too cowardly to go through with it.

He was staring deep into the shadows of his cell when he heard steady, slow footsteps. He looked up- expecting Naruto. Who he saw instead was someone else- someone he’d beene expecting the entire time, but had never actually gotten.

Sakura walked into the room, approaching the four jonin and the cell that Sasuke was in. She still wore the same clothes that she did before the war broke out- black length shorts that stretched down her legs just to her knees, a red shirt/jacket that was sleevless, and sandals with long shin-guards. She also had on a small pink cloth that was similar to a skirt, except it split down the front and back, and she had her pouch tied to her leg.

Sasuke saw something in her, more than he usually did, as she walked forwards, towards him. He remained silent and stared at her, as she stopped and sat down, directly behind the jonin. For a moment she didn’t say anything, and neither did Sasuke. Their breath stopped and their eyes met for a few seconds. Sakura looked away first, glancing in other cells as if they were interesting people inside them.

She was about to get up and leave- he hadn’t said anything, and she didn’t think he was going to- when he asked her. It was a quiet, hoarse, croaking voice- that pleaded with her from across the room as she was about to exit it. She turned, not expecting at all what he’d said.

“No, wait. Stay,” he said.

She stayed.

___________________________

They reminisced and talked about the old times- and for the first time in forever, Sasuke didn’t find Sakura annoying, for some reason. Maybe it was because she was no longer a weakling or because she no longer pursued him so much- but he enjoyed their talks that day. They talked about all kinds of things- their early missions, how stupid Naruto used to be- and still was, now- and Sakura didn’t leave for a good hour later.

Sakura had gotten up and turned- and walked away from his prison cell. Already, he looked to be growing much sadder- and even though Sakura knew that what he was getting had to happen, she couldn’t help to feel sad for him. She waited by the door to the stairs- and curled one had around it as she stood, halfway in the door and halfway out.

“Should I come tomorrow?” She asked him.

The voice echoed throughout the small prison- and she didn’t think that he’d say yes, but she’d noticed something had changed about Sasuke. Something was… different.

It was then that she saw that boy nod faster than he had ever in his entire life.

____________________________

She started coming to him everyday around that time- it was around lunch, or so, and she would leave the hospital and go, and talk to Sasuke. Everyday, she strode down from the halls of the hospital- far too used to the strange smells that accompanied the building- and she’d walk out in the sunlight and the open air for a bit. Then she’d enter the dank, depressing walls of the prison, and descend to the bottom level, and go talk to him- everday.

They talked about all sorts of things, and talked about nothing- and, in time, after a week or two; it became more that Sasuke enjoyed her presence more than anything else. The talking to her was just a bonus, but he enjoyed having someone else there, too, because Naruto hardly visited anymore, and Twilight visited often, but only every one or two weeks, because it wasn’t that long for her- three or four days became almost two weeks in Sasuke’s time.

Sakura found herself enjoying seeing Sasuke again a lot- and enjoyed talking with him even more. It didn’t help that her old attraction to him had surfaced- and his dirty face, from so much time in the prison- and even his smell, didn’t make her stay away. They were treating him fairly inhumanely, but she had to crush down her sympathy for him, even though she wished she could turn the steel that separated them into scrap metal.

“I still remember the day that dobe tied me up,” Sasuke said, smirking.

“Naruto tied you up? When was this?” Sakura asked, intrigued. Sasuke gave a dry chuckle. He shifted inside his cell- and winced, as the chains dug in too deep and were tied too tight. He was constantly doing that- shifting and moving inside his cell to try to get some form of comfort, but it wasn’t easy. They squeezed his wrists and ankles like boa constricters- and sometimes, he felt like there was that much force on his wrists and ankles.

“Well,” he said, trying to remember, “I remember it was the day that Kakashi came to us and asked our dreams or whatever. Then he left and told us not to eat breakfast. But that wasn’t till tomorrow, and then people were eating lunch, and I was eating by myself when he attacked me. The idiot managed to tie me up- and henged as me, though I have no idea why. I got free later, but I still don’t know why he even did that.”

Sakura had an idea, though.

“Naruto…”

She started snorting and chuckling, earning a confused, amused look from the Uchiha that sat restrained a few feet away from her. She played with her hair, and felt like she was twelve again- trying to talk to Sasuke, and feeling incredibly flushed and her heart was moving too fast- but unlike all of those other times, Sasuke wasn’t ignoring her. It was ironic that only after he’d become an international criminal, and was restrained in a super high-security prison, that only now he’d show her attention.

“He henged as you to try to get me to kiss him,” she admitted.

“Did you?” He asked. He was so much more different than he used to be- a little bit more like he had been when he was a lot younger- he still had a serious personality, but it wasn’t an impossibility to make him laugh, either. He had the same kind of outlook when he was a kid- but none of the poisonous, terrible hatred was there, or any of the frustrated anger either. It was a composed, less psychotic, healthier Sasuke, and Sakura was glad to see it.

“No… now that I think about it, Kakashi found spoiled milk inside his apartment, he told me a long time ago, I remember. He kept leaving for some reason, randomly. Now I get why!” She said, laughing. Sasuke chuckled. The jonin seemed to ignore them- and luckily for both Sakura and Sasuke, Kakashi had never had their shift yet- and instead, was usually in either early morning or early to late in the evening. They always saw random jonin, though- because the people that guarded were switched everyday.

Twilight visited them once- and she’d walked in, and talked to both Sasuke and Sakura- and they’d understood how little she understood about the shinobi world. She seemed frustrated the one time she’d came when both Sakura and Sasuke were there- as if Naruto were incredibly cruel and he was the villain. They couldn’t help but try to explain to her that he was just doing his job- and even Sasuke, even if he felt a fair amount of animosity- which was completely understandable- knew that.

Twilight visiting was rare, though, and she’d passed on some news to them while she’d been there. The Royal Sisters had made up it seemed, after their fight when they were taking sides with either Naruto or Sasuke. Ponyville was doing well, or so she said. Sasuke had mentioned to both Sakura and Twilight that he still wanted to go back there- and admitted that he preferred Equestria to the Elemental Nations.

It was still strange to Sakura to see it, too- Sasuke being so friendly with someone like Twilight, especially since she was a pony. She still hadn’t heard the story of how he’d been when he’d been there, but she suspected that it had calmed him down to how he was now- collected, tranquil, and much more easygoing- from how he had been- which was raving, foaming, lunatic, murderous and psychotic.

And that was on a good day, too.

They’d changed him so much, though, and that was the most surprising part about all of it. It hadn’t been her, or Naruto, or Kakashi that had any effect on him. Killing Itachi had only made him angrier in the end, after he found out the truth, and finally getting his revenge had only made him grow more furious when he discovered that he had killed his brother for basically nothing. And after everything, Sakura had to say that she wasn’t surprised.

It wasn’t that surprising, to be honest. After having such shitty luck in the Elemental Nations- repeatedly, one time another, being dealt the worst hand, it made sense that he no longer trusted or liked the Elemental Nations… much, at all, really. Instead, it had taken teleporting him to another world to cure what had been a borderline mental disease. His bloodlust and vengeance had seemed that way, to Sakura at least, by the end of the war- right before he’d left. She still remembered the day.

She remembered the look on Sasuke’s face- the terrible fury, the absolute hatred that was evident on his features that day. That day, she’d never seen him worse. Never before had he been worse, more hateful, and angrier, than the last day of the Fourth Great Shinobi War. She still shivered when she thought about how he used to be- but when she remembered how he was now, the shivers turned into a warm growth that began in her heart and exploded throughout her body, outwards.

It was all-encompassing- the feeling. There was tingling in her fingertips, and her stomach was about as still as a ship at sea during a storm. Sasuke spoke to her so easily- and it wasn’t just her love and affection for Sasuke that was making her feel so happy. He spoke back to her, he paid attention to her- and the best thing of all was, even though he was imprisoned, he seemed to be so… happy, and much more carefree. She was sure that he was still angry at Naruto, and maybe even at the village, but it was okay.

Because it was the good kind of anger- that was, frustration that was normal.

It wasn’t terrible wrath that wouldn’t leave his heart for years.

She was hoping that Naruto would be lenient on him-and maybe after he got out, something could happen between the two of them. Sakura knew that she was getting her hopes up- he probably wouldn’t return her feelings. But still, maybe, they could be friends now- instead how it used to be, with her chasing him around, and him absolutely ignoring everyone that wasn’t Itachi or anyone who could give him power.

“H-hey, do you remember that time when-“

Sasuke was unfortunately not able to continue his story as they heard the door at the far end of the prison open. The steps were slow, and they were steady, and when the person came into view, Sasuke glared. Naruto stood there- but even his glare softened as he glanced at Naruto. To put it bluntly, Naruto looked like death warmed over. He looked terrible. He ran a hand, shaking, through blond hair that was mussed and seemed even more messy than usual.

His clothes seemed new- he’d probably changed, but that was the only detail that seemed clean about him. His face looked haggard, and fatigued, and his eyes seemed more closed than open. Still, he smiled at the two of them, and the four jonin guarding the cell, who regarded Naruto with respect, even in his exhausted state, and saluted him. He gave them a lazy nod, and turned his head to Sasuke- who didn’t glare, but instead looked at him with no expression- and Sakura, who had a small smile on her face.

“How long am I going to be in here, dobe?” Sasuke asked him and Naruto only sighed in response- it was clear that he was frustrated. Sakura didn’t envy him, either- having to decide something like that, while being unable to spare one of your friends must’ve been hard. Sasuke did have to be punished- if word got out that Naruto hadn’t punished him, there’d be hell to pay- and she knew that just sending him back to Equestria wouldn’t work.

Banishment, on its own, would hold no meaning because Twilight would and could come back whenever she wanted, and bring Sasuke back- and then the punishment was ineffective, and it didn’t matter anyway. Most people probably wanted him to execute Sasuke, so he was already getting off light, there. Sakura was sure that Sasuke knew all of this, and probably was either just scared or impatient- or just sick of being in a cell.

“I’m not sure, yet, but you’ll probably be able to leave soon,” he said, and Sasuke looked a little more upbeat at this. It looked like Naruto had been thinking on it for a while- it certainly didn’t look like he’d been doing anything else. Naruto only looked at Sasuke a little more- a little sad, a little regretful, and then he shuffled out, probably heading straight to bed. It wasn’t long before he was gone.

Sasuke seemed a little happier at this- and so did Sakura, who was really hoping that Sasuke got off and out without too much punishment. It had almost looked like Naruto had decided what his punishment was going to be, but he hadn’t said anything, so she doubted it was true. The two went back to talking for some time after that, and then she left later, and went back to work at the hospital.

She only hoped that tomorrow would bring something different.

__________________________

In the Hokage’s Office, as he looked over the village, Naruto sighed.

Today was the day, after all. He decided the punishment for Sasuke, and the punishment was coming- and Naruto had already questioned himself several times if it was the right thing to do, but in the end, he thought it was. What he was going to do, combined with banishment to Equestria, should’ve been more than enough to placate foreign Kages and Daimyos. A few dignitaries were coming today to see the event.

And it made him fucking violently sick. Naruto had always been a good, moral person- and he was still feeling the guilt for what he’d done in Equestria. He didn’t believe that anyone, much less Sasuke, who was a friend to him, should have to be treated like this- paraded around as he took his punishment, like the thing was an entire joke. Or, like Sasuke was an animal for their entertainment. He didn’t like having to do it, or in this way.

He had to prove to people that it was really Sasuke, though, so it was the best way to do it. He wondered if this was how being Hokage felt all the time. He was still glad that his dream had come true, but he didn’t exactly look forward to making these very hard decisions. He knew that this was probably one of the hardest ones he’d ever have to make, but it still hurt him in his soft core that could only be damaged by… cruelty.

He was looking better, at least- he looked much less tired and exhausted after he’d slept for the night- and the better part of the early afternoon yesterday, now. It had been more than a month since Sasuke had been brought back, and now the decision was finally being carried out. Naruto only wished that it didn’t have to be him that ordered it.

The date was set around noon, today, and it was nearly time. People were gathering in the central square of Konaha as he had instructed his ninja to spread the word. There was already a large crowd, and several noble families from several countries- including Lightning and Earth, and Water- seemed to have arrived. There were a few high-level jonin as well, elite, older ninja that were here to watch the event.

The Kages or Daimyos themselves weren’t here to watch it, but they sent their most trusted forces or families to watch in their stead, to ensure that what was happening was correct. Naruto cursed the other nations for the first time- and he felt that, as a leader, it would hardly be the last time that he did so, either. If it was actually up to him, he’d let Sasuke go.

He couldn’t do that, though.

He groaned, and then forced himself to move, quickly making his way for the window and jumping down and out- not bothering to walk through the door and down all of those stairs. He wondered if Twilight would come today or not. It would both work for him, and not work for him- but again, this had to happen. Naruto was just hoping that she didn’t have to see the event itself happening.

He took his time- he didn’t rush, but he didn’t dawdle, either. He saw the crowd outside of the stage they’d erected growing, still, and he had to glance away after a few seconds. Many ninja that he passed saluted him, and Naruto regarded them with fake smiles that he’d gotten very good at practicing in his lifetime. Within a few more minutes- and it was nearly noon- he was at the prison. He breathed in deeply, and entered the prison.

He sighed as he went deeper- past levels for other kinds of ninja- weaker ninja that could be let off more easily, for their crimes usually weren’t as serious. Sasuke, though. There was no way of getting out of what was about to happen to him. Clan heir, strong, S-rank, involved in the war, and had even killed Konaha shinobi, like when he’d managed to murder Danzo. He still counted, even if he was a dick. There was nothing that Naruto could do for something like him.

Except punish, and try to not puke while doing it.

He reached the bottom level- and entered the room. The four jonin saluted him immediately, but he waved a hand, dismissing them.

“At ease,” Naruto said. They nodded and stood firm and unwavering, waiting for orders.

Sakura was there too- waiting by the cell, less than a foot or two away from Sasuke.

Naruto took a good, long look at his friend. It was the last time that he’d see him this way. Sasuke looked dirty and unkempt, as he would, being kept in a cell like that all the time. His clothes were ruffled and dirty, and his hair greasy- they cleaned him, but it was obvious that as he grew stronger and recovered, he refused care. He still had his pride, after all. Sasuke only looked at Naruto and waited for what he would say.

“Drain all of his chakra. Leave only the slightest amount,” Naruto said. Sakura wondered what he was doing, but that was a good way to start. He wouldn’t be able to use his Sharingan, or any sort of jutsu, if he was exhausted. She watched, hopeless, as one of the seals in the cell lit up brightly, and Sasuke grunted in pain- for a few seconds, and then he nearly fell over on the floor as he breathed, heavy and quick breaths, and his eyes drooped more than once.

“Sakura, move. You four, take the prisoner and lead him out. Follow me. He has several different seals in that cell- and cooped up as he was, though he was strong, he shouldn’t be able to resist you. He has no chakra now, either. We removed all his weapons. It’s time,” Naruto said, in a dead voice. Sakura already had tears that were threatening to spill themselves from her eyes. The jonin nodded and opened the cell- and Sasuke didn’t do much to resist, couldn’t do much to resist, as the jonin practically dragged him along.

They walked at a slow pace out of the prison- the entire time; Naruto’s cold look didn’t change. The stony face of the Rokudaime Hokage did not waver, and the other nations were about to see that the carefree, joyful Naruto Uzumaki could too make a hard decision, as they had to, so many times before in their lives.

Sasuke had several seals attached to his dirty clothing- one of which was a chakra suppressing seal- ensuring that he could do nothing during whatever was coming up. He didn’t have any chakra anyway, though. It took them a few minutes to exit the prison, and when they did, Sasuke covered his face and his eyes from the harsh sunlight- it was a terribly annoying change from the dim lights of the prison cell that his eyes had grown used to.

He was bound in shackles and chains- one for his arms, one for his legs, and he stumbled forward slowly as they led him throughout the village. Sasuke’s eyes constantly were tinging red, and then going back to black- proving that he was trying to use Sharingan, but it was simply not working. Before long, they reached the crowd, and they all parted for Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and the rest of the jonin guarding Sasuke.

It was unsurprising to see the crowd eager to see blood. They were yelling and cheering for it. Naruto didn’t speak until they were all up on the stage- a gigantic wooden pedestal built specifically for this occasion. The jonin took defensive positions around Sasuke- and held his arms, so that he couldn’t move. He was forced to kneel in front of the crowd- and, head down, Sasuke stayed silent.

It was about a few seconds after that, that Naruto got tired of their cheering.

“QUIET!” He roared, and people calmed down, and the square grew silent with confusion and fear in the air. He rubbed his nose and sighed, before speaking.

“This man,” he said, pointing at Sasuke, “is a traitor. He’s a criminal, he’s done horrible things to the Leaf, and he deserves to be punished- and, he’s going to be. Severely. But while all of that is true, he doesn’t deserve this cheering you’re doing, either. Are all of you animals, or are you human beings, at the very least? Show some restraint.”

Naruto turned away from the crowds in disgust- and it flashed back, in his mind- similar crowds wanting punishment for him being a demon- hell, maybe some of the people were even the same. He managed to force it down, though- and turned back to the crowd.

“You can come out, Roku.”

An older man walked out of the crowd, and began pacing his way to the cage. He looked old- much, much older than the crowd anticipated. What was he going to do? The crowd expected a public execution, but that wasn’t what Sasuke was getting. He was getting something that, to Sasuke, might’ve still been worse.

The man walked up to Sasuke and removed his shirt- leaving him bare-chested. He took some supplies out of his clothes- what was that, a brush, and ink? The man began to paint a symbol on Sasuke’s chest, and the ink felt cold to Sasuke as he coughed. It was only after a few seconds that Sasuke understood what was happening.

He struggled, furiously, but it seemed to make no difference- the man continued to paint the symbol on his chest and ignored Sasuke’s struggles. His arms, and everything else, were subdued, and he couldn’t move. His senses began to dull as the cold feeling on his chest began to grow stronger- it felt like it was trying to freeze his heart.

The old man muttered some words- it didn’t matter to Sasuke, because the pain that happened next blocked out everything. It was an existence of agony- pure pain, only. He didn’t hear, see, feel, taste, or smell anything. The only thing that he could hear was his own screams- and he could feel, and smell, and see the blood leaking from his eyes- and he could taste the bloody tears as they leaked from his eyes into his mouth.

The man moved away after that, but the damage was already done. His ears were ringing- and he felt the urge to throw up, so he did. He leaned forward and emptied what little remains his stomach had onto the wooden floor that he was sitting on. He could barely hear the words from the villagers, but Sakura was saying something that he could just barely detect with his ears- and he didn’t like what he heard.

“…sealed….what! Naruto, how could you!...” There was more, but that was what Sasuke heard- and it was all that he needed to hear. They’d sealed away his pride, his lifeblood- Sharingan. He felt numb, and dead, and he looked out at the crowd as they jeered at him- apparently already having forgotten what Naruto said. He didn’t have anything to say, and continued staring, until Sakura pulled him and turned him around.

He stared into her face- crying pure, clear tears, and the sun hit it at just the right angle in the morning- before she sobbed and wrapped her arms around him. The jonin already let go of him, knowing that their job was already over. He encircled her back with his arms and hugged her back, but he felt like he was… distanced. There was still ringing in his ears, and more than once, Sasuke wiped his eyes to find bloody tears leaking from them.

The entire world was presented in a haze of red, and Sasuke could barely understand what was going on around him. The one thing he did understand was a flash of white light- and then a purple unicorn that seemed to be crying next to him as well. A few minutes passed in a red existence that he could barely contemplate. He then felt a restraining feeling on his limbs- and turned, numb, and watched as Naruto stared with wide eyes, but didn’t look away- and right before he was teleported, Sakura latched onto him, screaming something that Sasuke couldn’t hear.

Naruto screamed and leapt forward- but it was too late.

Sasuke rolled and coughed as he tumbled. He looked around. He was in Ponyville again-the rebuilt version, that looked a little different than before- but still, was mostly the same. He still bled from his eyes- and reached a hand down, trying to wipe away the ink that wouldn’t. It wouldn’t wipe away- it was stuck, it was dried…

__________________________

He’d tried it as much as he could, but it was a no-go.

His Sharingan was sealed away, and to boot, a decent amount of his chakra and physical speed and strength. He was a lot weaker than before. He was probably as strong as when he left Orochimaru, maybe slighter weaker- and without Sharingan. Sakura had tried to comfort him, but he’d asked to be left alone, and she did so, reluctantly.

He’d never have to go back there again, or so he learned from Sakura. The punishment had been the sealing of his pride, and permanent Banishment from the Elemental Nations- Sakura said that that particular part could be taken back at any time, but Sasuke didn’t think it would be.

Not that he wanted it to be taken back, anyway.

Later, he entered the library-and everypony, all the friends he’d made- Twilight, Fluttershy, with her healed wing, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie- hell, even the Cutie Mark Crusaders were there- and friends included Sakura. They were all waiting there for him. They’d each said what they could, but they couldn’t understand it, what had been done to him. No one could.

“So, what’ll you do now?” Sakura asked. Sasuke glanced at all of them. He supposed they were his friends now- and he liked this place more than he liked the Elemental Nations, even if it was weak, had stupid logic at times, and the ponies here could be annoying- it was more of a home than he’d ever had before- besides before his clan was killed, that is.

“I guess I’ll take Celestia up on her offer,” Sasuke said.

Even with his lost prowess, he felt better than he ever had. He’d been freed of chains and demons- his Hatred and Anger, gone. His heart felt light, not weighed down by guilt, at all. He could still feel him, but they no longer controlled him.

And that was the best part.

Happier than ever before, even with the current circumstances. Eyes aren’t everything.

Sasuke supposed he’d help the ponies here out. They’d changed him, and dragged him out of the darkness- even if they didn’t fully understand how deep the pit he’d been in went.

So he’d do what he could to assist them.

Even without his Visual Prowess.

THE END.

Ending Notes:

I'm fairly happy with how this turned out. Now, people will ask if there's going to be a sequel- the answer is probably. I won't have the time for a while, though, and first, a few more ideas I have must be written. Still, any questions, criticisms, or holes you see in the plot- I'm pretty sure they aren't major ones, at least- all can and will be answered in the comments. You only need ask.

One question I'm sure people will have- you set up a romance? SakuraXSasuke. Yes, the answer is yes. It will be explored and covered in the sequel, if it's ever written- PROBABLY GOING TO BE WRITTEN. Remember the probably part, please. For now, the romance is only heavily implied.

It's strange that it's finally ending. At least for now, you won't see any more updates for this in your favorites.

What's even more strange is that this story is longer than my shitty original novel. Lolz, oh well.

I guess that's about it.

UgalaaWriter out.

I need a pre-reader, or a beta.

Title of chapter. I need a pre-reader, or at least someone to contact, in the event that the sequel to Visual Prowess (Which will be called Ocular Talent) is written. There are no words currently, but... with the chance that it actually starts being written, I need someone to contact.

Despite the fact that my story is shitty as fuck, and is full of mistakes (easily viewed by reviewing on how easy it was for DPV111 to poke holes in the flimsy logic of the story, not to mention just by reading the piece itself) somehow, people still like it, which is I guess the nature of fanfiction anyway.

My writing style is still developing, and I'm pretty new in an ancient craft that people have been practicing since long before I was born. It's easy to see this in the amateurish content of this story. A pre-reader would help it seem to suck less, despite the fact that it does.

So here are the five requirements of a pre-reader, for me.

(And this is why I don't just go to one of the places where you can get pre-readers, because they might not know enough about Naruto, besides the fact that I want to give someone who read and liked the story a chance to be a pre-reader) They need to know A LOT about Naruto. A lot a lot. In and outs of the manga, most of the plot, etc. I really don't want there to be so many mistakes like there was in the first story, not to mention on how boring the fight scenes were.
The pre-reader has to know English very well, and be talented enough in grammar/spelling. You'd figure this goes without saying, but just in case, I'm putting this up there.
They have to be able to read fast enough. It doesn't do me any good to have a pre-reader if you email me my chapters back by 2017 for publication.
You can't be nice to me. This is actually the most important out of the list. I need someone to stomp on my balls hard if I make a mistake and make sure to point it out, and even argue with me if necessary. There's no point in having a pre-reader if they bend too easily to mistakes in the story.
You need to have the time to pre-read. This goes along with number 3, basically. There's nothing else to say in this point, really.

I think that's about everything. So, put in the comments if you're willing or interested in pre-reading. I'll have names to refer back to in the event that Ocular Talent actually begins being written. In other news, I've been lately editing, harshly, I might add, my shitty ass real fiction novel that I wrote. Hoping to get it published eventually. Had an idea for another story too, with opposite values, since my first story, Blank Malevolence, one of the main themes was fear. In that story, it'd probably be bravery. But enough rambling. This is all you need to know for now. So yeah, comment below if you're interested.

I guess that's it for now.

And I know that you're not supposed to post chapters without story content, but if I put in my blog, no one would read it or see it, at least not from my perspective. I don't have that many followers, so I don't think that I would get any pre-readers. My two cents.

As a Princess Falls To A Criminal

Sasuke gazed on with red, swirling eyes as he inspected his situation. Guards, all the same, began to surround him- and he made no move to stop them. Each of them, wearing shining, golden armor, as hard as could possibly be. They probably thought they were invincible- they’d easily apprehend this criminal with the help of their Princess.

Sasuke would enjoy showing them how wrong they were.

Sasuke let out a cackle of off-key, insane mirth, and Celestia’s eyes, though they lost no fury, were still clearly confused by the action. He soon stopped, though it was clear that the entire situation was somehow humorous to Sasuke. He pua little more chakra into his sword and watched with satisfaction as the electricity sparked off just a bit brighter.

“Of course. What did I expect? It’s what I get for trusting anyone- oh, sorry, Princess. Anypony- the stupid fucking way you change words in this place doesn’t even make any sense, because there are things other than ponies- but whatever. The point is, I’ve been betrayed again, and I’ll take the blame this time because it’s what I should’ve been expecting the entire time. No one wants to help me, and all the universe wants to do is fuck me over.”

“You haven’t been betrayed. You broke a law of Equestria-“

“Bullshit, Princess. Or, maybe I should say horseshit. The last thing your faithful student did before sending a letter reporting my actions of saving the townspeople was teleport away, probably to my land, and leave me stuck here. She took the book, too, so there’s no getting back for me, I guess. It was probably the plan all along- and now, you’ve got me right where you want me. All just because I helped out.”

“You did not ‘help out’. You broke a rule of the land. All guests of the nation are to be treated with respect- and certainly, not murdered. From what I’ve seen of you, and heard of what you’ve done, I can easily assume that you didn’t need to kill him. So why did you?”

“Because it was the safest thing to do,” Sasuke spat.

“Why?”

“Because leaving someone like a shinobi alive is a good way to get killed later, idiot! You wouldn’t know anything about it because you have no common sense, but I, along with every other shinobi who’s worth his kunai, have been trained in stealth, power, and speed. If I left him alive, even if you sent guards, he would’ve hidden away somewhere, and continued terrorizing, and killing. I solved your fucking problem. I should be getting thanks, not this. Whatever the hell this is.”

“I’ve already told you what this is. This is an arrest party, designed to take you in. You will abide by the laws of Equestria and come in for further questioning as to why you killed the man, and you will explain yourself as I will not have a murderer or somepony as cruel as that walking free in my land.”

“So, this is an arrest party?”

“Yes, criminal scum!”

Sasuke took a step towards a guard. The guard backed up, but still verbally reprimanded Sasuke for his movement, even as Sasuke started laughing.

“Stop! You’ve violated the law!”

Celestia frowned as she watched Sasuke laugh.

“What, exactly,” Celestia said, moving closer, horn lit, glowing, “is so humorous about this situation, to you?” The light on her horn continued to grow brighter, but even as his Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly, and his Chidori Nagashi raced across his gray steel blade, Sasuke laughed a bit more, before answering.

“Oh, it’s just funny to me- the idea that you think you can take me in.”

“We’ll see about that, colt,” Celestia muttered, and the guards began to leap at Sasuke.

The first Earth Pony guard jumped at Sasuke, hooves outstretched to hit and damage the criminal. He’d hit him in the side, and then when the guard landed, he’d turn, quick as a flash, and buck him in other side, and knock him down. The plan was perfect: it couldn’t fail.

So it was the guard’s surprise when Sasuke dodged him as if it was the easiest thing in the world- and smacked him in the back of the head with the flat of his blade, electrocuting the guard through his armor and sending him sprawling in the dirt next to Sasuke. The other guards looked on, even more furious than before, but Celestia seemed the angriest of all.

“You should stop and leave, before I start using lethal force.” Sasuke said.

“You’re lucky that I’m even holding back at all. None of you deserve it, certainly.”

“Ignorant, foolish child. This is my land, and you’ll follow my rules,” Celestia whispered.

In the same instant, Celestia leapt at him, with real intent and force, wings fully extended and horn glowing brightly, and Sasuke had to push chakra out of his tenketsu multiple times to shake off the telekinetic grip that both her and the unicorn guards were trying to use on him. It wouldn’t work on him. Although Celestia was fairly fast, she wasn’t fast enough.

And, as she passed Sasuke, and he moved swiftly to the side, Sasuke decided it was a good point to then jam the first few inches of his sword into her shoulder and stand there, holding his ground, as she passed him, and Celestia screamed in agony as she dragged her body along the blade, leaving a long gash behind that blood flowed out of like a river.

The gash stretched from her shoulder to the middle of her back, and had nearly touched her wings, though they were thankfully left unmarked. She breathed heavily, and the guards and the townsponies looked horrified as Celestia sucked in breaths and lit her horn up.

“That,” Celestia said as the wound inexplicably sealed shut, with a loud hiss and a wince from the owner of the gash, “was the first time that I’ve bled in many, many years. You’ll pay for that.” She shook her head and her mane, and then, with a toss of her head, motioned for her guards to rush at him again, while she sat back and charged magic to attack him with at the same time. The guards darted forward, obeying, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes and watched, carefully, as three of the nine remaining guards came for him.

Sasuke found himself fending off three unicorn guards, though it was incredibly easy as he twisted into the holes that there were between their attacks. His Sharingan easily provided him with the right moves to make, and he followed in kind and trusted his visual prowess as he struck one guard in the back, sending him crashing down, and laid into another with a strong blow from his closed fist that left a huge dent in the metal of the guard’s helmet. The guard went down, with what was probably a concussion. That left the unicorn guard that had used all his magic to speed him up and go for Sasuke’s chest with his horn.

He was left crashing into the other guard as Sasuke began using his real speed to fight, now. No more messing around. The unicorn guard who had been trying to shove his horn into Sasuke’s chest instead landed on his buddy and nearly impaled the other guard. The three were left in an inelegant, moaning pile on the ground, and Sasuke turned and smiled grimly at Celestia as the other six guards rushed him at once, and Celestia’s eyelids burst open and she stared at Sasuke as her horn’s magic began to form.

“You’re starting to piss me off!” Sasuke roared, and as Celestia ignored him as she shot forth several bolts of blue, arcane energy. Sasuke didn’t want to know what would happen if they hit, so he darted backwards, and jumped between several buildings as he dodged them. But, as he found out, the spell wasn’t that easy to dodge, and it wasn’t that easy, either. They followed and pursued him relentlessly, and he swore as one crashed into a home and exploded, and he leapt away. He stopped, and closed his eyes, concentrating.

Then, he opened them again, and the Sharingan spun with a renewed, different malice as the blue bolts, looking like gigantic arrows made of shimmering cobalt energy crashed into a wall- a fortress- of violet, purple power. The full, complete Susanoo looked around with an unrestrained, clear disdain as the guards leapt at it stupidly. All except the one who didn’t jump were knocked back just as easily and thrown with huge speed and force into nearby buildings, blowing holes in the wall and leaving he guards crashed against the broken remains of the buildings. Sasuke smirked at Celestia and the one guard left, who stood in front of her.

Out of all of them, the guard looked the youngest- and not because he actually looked the youngest, because they all looked the same- probably some sort of magic. No, he looked the youngest because he had the most fear coming off of him. Even as he crouched in front of Celestia, there was no bravery, or bravado or any kind of courage in the act; even though it was protection in its intent, he didn’t have the mental fortitude or the conviction for it.

He was literally shaking in his boots, and Sasuke knew a way to make Celestia take a hit.

Breathing deeply, he raced through jutsu handsigns incredibly fast and tensed up, throwing his back outwards as he gathered fiery air inside of his lungs. He had no doubt that he’d probably made this weak enough that it wouldn’t kill him. Besides, there would be no civilian casualties. By now, all the other ponies had already deserted the town square that had turned into a battlefield- most had run for the hills or the outskirts of Ponyville. He saw several that seemed to be specifically going for the Apple farm.

“Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!” Sasuke shouted, and as he breathed out, a gigantic fireball, swirling with red, orange flames, sprouted from his mouth. It continued forward with surprising speed and Sasuke watched in sick satisfaction as the guard in front of Celestia quivered- but strangely, didn’t move. Sasuke frowned. He was sure that the guard would move. Surprising. It seemed that some of the creatures actually had something resembling a backbone. It didn’t possess quite the amount cowardice that he was expecting.

Celestia stepped forward, and with a protective air that reminded Sasuke of a mother, she snapped her horn forwards firmly and wove a yellow shield that seemed thick- Sasuke wouldn’t have been able to see through it if it weren’t for the Sharingan. The flaming, gargantuan ball of fire bashed uselessly against the shield, and continued for several moments in its attempts of destruction before fizzling out and leaving the air in the area heated.

Celestia panted, clearly, it had taken a lot to not weave the shield, but instead to enforce it constantly with energy to make sure that it didn’t crack under the pressure. Sasuke only grinned viciously. He could do Great Fireballs all day long if he wanted to, and if that was what only one did to her stamina, he had no doubt that not only would she not be able to block a stronger attack, that she had no endurance, and wouldn’t even come close to him in a real fight- which was what this was evolving into.

The guard in front of Celestia stumbled back, into the Princess’ forelegs, and she pushed him back onto his feet as he looked down, embarrassed. Sasuke only smirked and decided to rub it in a mite further. Speaking loudly so she could hear him, he taunted them.

“Equestria’s finest, huh? A genin from where I’m from could beat your guards.”

“Quiet, Sasuke!” Celestia reprimanded, but Sasuke only narrowed his eyes and began walking closer. The guard tried to stand to, and face him strong, but one look into his eyes made the royal guard want to turn away. The creature was frightening, hateful… unnatural. He wasn’t even expected to face something this strong. He’d still try to protect the Princess, though- and he charged recklessly at Sasuke before being smacked to the side.

The guard tumbled to the side, with a huge dent into his helmet, and groaned. Celestia narrowed her eyes and looked at the battlefield. They were scattered everywhere- six in one spot, three in the other… the newest guard to be taken down had his spot. All of them were knocked unconscious, but Celestia hoped that was all it was. It didn’t look like he’d done any kind of fatal damage to any of them. While she was grateful to Sasuke for this, he was still a criminal, and had to be brought in, no matter how kind he was being while fighting the law.

Sasuke started sprinting as he ran at Celestia- and she hurriedly erected some kind of yellow shield in front of him- he didn’t care, and slashed through it, breaking whatever kind of defenses she had planned. She flat out ran, now, throwing up multiple barriers when she could, trying to slow Sasuke down, even if just a little bit. It was working for a while until she stopped to try to be offensive. She stopped for about one second to close her eyes and charge a spell.

One second was all it took.

In one second, Sasuke charged at her and slashed again, and this time, he cut much, much deeper, making sure to tear into her insides, before ripping out the sword painfully. Not only were her insides torn up from the sword that had completely destroyed her guts, they were charred, if wasn’t bad already, from the electricity that still sparked off of Sasuke’s gray blade. She bled heavily, from a deeper rip across her form. Sasuke leapt back for a moment and let her heal herself. He smirked. He was actually having some fun with this.

Celestia hissed as her wound hissed- and closed. It was like some sort of super healing- that dealt with cauterization. It seemed that she could use it a lot, but it tired her nonetheless. She panted as she stared down Sasuke from across their gap. She raised her horn again, looking regal and princess-like even in her condition- sweaty, with blood on her coat, and in her flowing mane. A different color of light surrounding her horn formed- this time, it was red. Sasuke looked on, curious. In an instant, he raised his sword, and a bolt of energy headed for his face was sliced in half as it was split by the blade. Sasuke glared at Celestia.

“Getting faster?” Sasuke taunted.

“Is it too fast for you?” Celestia countered. It wasn’t intimidating- being trash talked by a princess who looked so tired that she was about to die.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Celestia as her horn was surrounded by red a second time.

“Nothing’s too fast for me.”

Celestia didn’t respond, but shot another of the fast bolts, using her concentration solely on offense. She didn’t move, and only focused on watching Sasuke as she charged another bolt of energy. She shot it out at incredible speeds- she herself couldn’t see it, but as long as she was facing her enemy, it would hit him- that was, unless he was too fast to block it.

Nopony before had been fast enough to block it.

A second time, almost bored, Sasuke raised his sword- and didn’t bother slashing. He let the blade of the weapon do the work for him as the bolt flew ahead and tried to crash into Sasuke- but only ended up being split into two and flying past him harmlessly at incredible speeds. He raised his sword and put it over his shoulders, and stood there. Then, almost as if reconsidering about the entire fight- he sheathed his blade and waited.

Celestia watched him with more than a bit of anger at his arrogance. Now he thinks he can deflect it or dodge it by hand? Let’s test your mettle, Uchiha. Again, she launched the projectile, but it almost looked like Sasuke hadn’t moved- it went through him, and he stood there, and looked backwards, before turning to her and grinning.

She glared at him, furious. He was playing with her. She roared and flew at him, offering her horn to his chest. Sasuke turned to the side and watched her race past like an angry bull. The second pass, though, he didn’t move. He retrieved a kunai from his pouch and blocked Celestia’s horn with his knife- the horn scraped it against it intensely, but rather than look tired or worried, he looked happy and excited.

He likes this, Celestia realized. He likes this fight, for whatever reason.

Soon enough, Celestia realized that this wasn’t going anywhere, and leapt off, and they stood in their original positions again. His Great Fireball technique had burned the grass and land around them, and their battle had done damage to the landscape- though, thankfully, there was no real damage to the village as Sasuke hadn’t used any of his actual dangerous Jutsu, at least not yet. Celestia glared at a smiling Sasuke as he observed their shared handiwork. He called over to Celestia from their relative space, and what he said made her angrier than she had been before.

“Are you done trying yet?”

In a rage, Celestia started exerting herself, which meant that it was going to make Sasuke barely have to try. She shot multiple volleys of the red-horned attack, and the fast projectiles were effortlessly dodged by Sasuke. She sprayed him with the blue bolts of arcane energy, but he ended up cutting them in half or simply dodging them. She hadn’t hit him yet, and as her anger possessed her, the task only became more and more impossible.

Soon, though, Sasuke began to grow bored of this. And, even as he fought, he fought in pain and became more and more furious- because Guilt was speaking to him as he battled.

The words, in the battle, couldn’t be recognized, and were gibberish at best, but they were painful gibberish. Sasuke grabbed at his head and nearly fell, almost being hit by one of Celestia’s attacks as his Guilt momentarily immobilized him with pain.

The second he was able to move, he immediately went to end the fight.

Celestia watched him curiously as he stood still. She wasn’t sure what he was doing- but she could see his eyes, and stared into them, swirling, and they looked red and angry and hateful. She steeled herself, before continuing to launch projectiles at him. Whether by his mistake, arrogance, or simply a lucky shot from Celestia, somehow, it had hit. Celestia wanted to cheer as she watched Sasuke finally fall to the ground. Adjusting her crown with her magical grip, she began to walk forward calmly and regally, dignified, to take Sasuke into custody, and then she’d-

She felt a horrible ripping pain in her chest, and looked down, in horror.

Sasuke had no expression on his face as he twisted and shoved the blade deeper, deeper into her heart, and he soon dragged it, as soon as it was deep enough. The blood of a princess, and her organs, coated his blade as he forcefully tore it through more of her body. From her chest, he moved downwards, slowly carving through the rest of her stomach and lower abdomen until there was a stretching gash so large that he probably could’ve climbed inside of her body- and it was completely torn open, and leaked blood.

Celestia’s eyes were stuck into a permanent horror, and they only flashed in more pain as she felt the pain tearing through her body, and she bled, and then she screamed and-

Sasuke watched as Celestia passed out from afar. The Tsukuyomi was difficult for him to use for more than a short period inside of the genjutsu, but that had been short enough that it had worked just fine. He didn’t want to kill the stupid horse. He knew that they’d probably never stop chasing him, then, and it was annoying enough. She’d probably be grateful that he spared her life after this- but that was too hopeful, Sasuke knew. Even if she attacked him first.

Sheathing his sword, he turned- and watched as a group of crying fillies and colts looked on at the scene in horror. Despite hardly any blood being shed- besides Celestia’s, which was only on the ground because she had taken a second to heal her wound, they still sobbed for their fallen Princess. As he passed them, they mobbed his legs, and tried to stop him. They tried to smack him with their hooves, which felt like small taps on his legs. They were doing less than an ant could. Sasuke tried to shake them off of his legs, but they wouldn’t let go.

He flared his killing intent and growled at them, and they seemed to fall off like bugs that had been sprayed. He stepped over the pile of unconscious fillies and colts and started walking out of Ponyville calmly. Behind him, was destruction. There were sparse fires here and there from his Great Fireball Jutsu, and the villagers seemed more than ready to stay the hell out of his way. Knocked out bodies of royal guards laid here and there, and in the middle of all of it, was a fallen Princess.

Her mane was still flowing, even in her sleep. The townsponies gathered around their fallen Princess, and they wept. The colts and fillies would cry over her body, as well, and she would awaken later to find mostly the entirety of Ponyville mourning her as if she had died. And she would go back to Canterlot, with her guards, and lick her wounds.

_______________________________

On the outskirts of Ponyville, Sasuke thought about his situation. He’d officially attacked a Princess- and a goddess of the sun, too, by what he’d heard about Celestia in the short time that he’d been in this ridiculous land- and he’d defeated her, pretty easily, too. That wasn’t what the problem was.

Sasuke was thinking about the consequences of his actions. Normally, he didn’t do this- but he realized how much he’d need to hide, now. It wasn’t like they could beat him, but they could just as easily keep sending soldiers and Celestia could keep chasing after him until they finally wore him down and captured him.

It would take forever, but it was certainly possible, the more Sasuke thought about it. He didn’t want to get caught- he should’ve just run, in hindsight. Although running from the law was only a step below attacking them, he’d attacked their Princess- and now, likely, no one would be on his side. He wouldn’t be surprised if even ponies like Rarity, Fluttershy, or Pinkie were no longer on his side- if they were, at all, since the beginning.

He knew they’d betrayed him- and he knew that Twilight had teleported away and left him behind to be apprehended by the law of the land. So, by all rights, he should kill them. Kill all of them- it wouldn’t even be hard. He could easily go from city to city, casting Great Fireball Jutsu across the entire land and scorching their civilization. If Celestia was the strongest protector they had, then it really wouldn’t be hard at all to do something like that.

But not only did that result in thousands of deaths, they hadn’t really pissed him off enough to do that. He was no longer as surprised or angered by betrayal as he once was, although the reason why was fairly horrifying: because he was used to betrayal. He would still destroy the Leaf and kill Naruto, but that was something that he would always be pursuing, no matter where he was- as for these ponies, though, their small betrayal could be forgiven.

It didn’t matter if he forgave them for their transgressions, though, because they certainly wouldn’t forgive him for his, not after this. Sasuke started to think where he could hide. He couldn’t hide with Fluttershy- she was in the hospital, anyway, and they’d probably check her cottage. Spike was a no, and so was Applejack- she couldn’t lie to save her life, and Sasuke was fairly sure her farm was more important to her than Sasuke was. Pinkie couldn’t keep her mouth shut, and he didn’t even know where Rainbow Dash lived.

Rarity also didn’t know how to keep her mouth shut, and she was the last option he could think of- besides just running into the Everfree forest and living off of the land in there. That was a fairly good plan compared to the others, honestly: it wasn’t like he couldn’t survive in there, and the forest itself would turn away most ponies from entering- they were scared of the place. He’d be mostly hidden, until Celestia decided to come back. As he began to enact his plan, though, he saw something off in the distance of the sky.

It looked like Celestia, but instead, it was blue. It was shooting forward pretty fast- and Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and dodged to the side as it crashed into the ground- and a regal blue alicorn rose from the crater, and shook dust out of her wavy mane as she glared over at Sasuke. Scores of Pegasus followed her- all of them, Royal Guards. Sasuke swore and jumped into the Everfree Forest, but they were right behind him, and weren’t going to let him go. Luna soared after him, one thought in her mind.

Thou have harmed my sister- and now, thou shall be harmed in turn.

As Sasuke leapt through the leaves, with over fifty Pegasi following him, he shot multiple fireballs at them, which barely dissuaded them- and he was forced to continue running as they crashed through the branches and attempting to slam into his sides. He dodged most of them, and through the chase, many of them were left behind to try to catch up with the fastest. The blue one was still right on his tail, and he knew that he would have to stop soon and fight them- and after a little while longer, he did just so.

As the royal blue winged unicorn flapped her wings, and landed on the ground calmly, she glared at him, and the Pegasi that surrounded him did the same. So, Sasuke did the only thing that he could think of- and used Susanoo. The great, purple being slashed its sword directly into Luna’s side, and she cried as it cleaved through her side. She fell, defeated, if only momentarily, even as she started to heal herself- and Sasuke cast a large scale genjutsu across the clearing in the forest, and using multiple substitutions, escaped, still sprinting through the forest.

Now they’re even more pissed off, he thought.

Luna rose up from the forest ground, and cleared what she felt was illusion magic.

“Spread out!” The commander of the guard detail called out.

They were going to find him, and then Luna would bring him to justice.

Her wings flared as she took off with the Royal Guard, and they searched for the ruffian in the forest below them. Sauske kept running, and elsewhere, a Princess breathed heavily, wounded, in her bedchambers at Canterlot, as attendants cared for her and fussed over her every need.

Luna, Celestia thought.

Do not be foolish.

TO BE CONTINUED

Twilight Sparkle's Experiences In The Elemental Nations- Part Two

Twilight Sparkle was surprised by how eagerly Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami responded to her question. Inari practically slammed the table as he jumped up and confirmed her question.

“Know him? He’s a hero!” Inari shouted, and Twilight backed up, more than a little nervous with the current situation. Tazuna laughed and watched how fired up Inari got whenever someone had anything to ask or say about Naruto- ever since he’d saved the Land of Waves, the boy practically prayed to him like he was a God, sometimes.

“A hero?” Twilight asked, and Inari nodded furiously again, before Tazuna sighed- he saw the confusion and the lack of knowledge right across her face. He’d told the story multiple times, but it seemed that he was going to have to tell it again. Tazuna rubbed his face with his towel and then put it down on the table, pushing his bowl away. He turned to Twilight, who started to listen intently as he began his tale.

“Exactly three years ago, this country was in a state of ruin. Everyone was incredibly poor and no one was able to buy food. Inari’s father was alive back then. When he stood up to the man who was making the land poor, Gato, he was killed- in front of everyone. Inari started being sad right about then. He’s a happy kid now, but… not before Naruto, he wasn’t.” Tazuna took a break to get up, and get sake from the kitchen, and even though he could see a little bit of anger on his daughter’s face for bringing out alcohol around Inari, he didn’t care.

Whenever he really thought of Kaiza, he had to take a drink.

He poured himself a shot into a glass and set the sake back on the table.

“So, Inari was very depressed, and never got along with anyone. He always thought that there were no such things as heroes, because the only one that he knew died. You should’ve seen him- hell, you should’ve seen all of us. You saw how happy this Land was? That would’ve been impossible back when Gato was in control. He controlled a wealthy shipping company and had the money to hire many soldiers- and as such, he ruled with an iron fist while he was here.”

“So, with everyone starving, and with no help from anyone else coming in, I left on my own, sure that I could go a village and manage to get some help that would remove Gato from this country- and give the people the power to make the country prosperous again- as it has become, since then. Everyone can eat now, and we’re recovering our economy better than ever. Our population is growing and we’re having to build more because of it- that house I was working on today is an example- I’m taking up carpentry even though I’m a master at bridge building.” He stopped to take another shot, and Twilight listened intently to the story.

“So it was around that time that I left the land to go look for help, and after a little while, I found myself drunk at the gate of the Leaf Village. I requested help in getting home- basically, bodyguards until I got back to the Land of Waves. You see, our country was so poor that we could not even afford to pay a ninja village to come clear out Gato- all I had was the money for a C-rank mission. So, when I left, I had three shrimps who I thought were worthless, and one jonin ninja who knew what he was doing. It turns out it was their first C-rank ever.”

“Naruto Uzumaki, Haruno Sakura, and Sasuke Uchiha helped save this country- under the leadership of Hatake Kakashi. Everyone around here knows their names because of what they did for the land. When they came, they battle ninja that Gato had hired- and defeated them, and chased off all of the mercenaries too. But, because of the courage and the stubbornness that Naruto showed, it gave hope to the people, and they came to help when Naruto and Kakashi were at their weakest and could no longer really fight.”

Twilight couldn’t believe that Sasuke had once helped people. He sounded like he’d once been a lot better than the Sasuke she knew him as- hateful, angry, and brooding.

“So, there’s a very large bridge from here to the mainland. It is not named the Sasuke Bridge, or the Sakura Bridge, or the Kakashi Bride. No, it’s named the Naruto Bridge, because along with helping the Land, he was the person that brang the hope back to the people that live in this Land now- and without him, we’d still be depressed and starving under Gato’s rule.”

Tazuna finished his little tale and poured himself another shot- still thinking of Kaiza and how unfortunate it had been for him to die, like that. He had liked the man, and had been a good, close friend to him- and while he’d been alive, he’d been incredibly good to Inari.

“So yes, I know Naruto. Everyone in this village knows Naruto. He’s a savior.”

Twilight had nothing to really say to that, and slowly the gears in her mind turned as she thought about what that could mean, then- were Sasuke and Naruto once part of a team? What had happened to them? Sasuke had seemed to angry when he’d yelled at, well nothing, but when he yelled at whatever was reminding him of Naruto to stop talking about Naruto. Twilight wondered how deep their relationship really ran and how well they really knew each other.

But she knew that no matter how much she wondered, it would never be the same thing as just going and finding Naruto and asking him, finding out what happened. He might’ve hated Sasuke, but she thought that above all, he wouldn’t hate her for knowing Sasuke. She was still treading on thin ice here as it was- she knew that the people of this world were dangerous, but she didn’t know how dangerous they were. She’d only seen a fraction of Sasuke’s combat ability, and Twilight wondered whether or not everyone was like that here, or whether he was on the weak side of the spectrum or the strong side of it.

So, in the end, after all the thinking, there was really only one thing for her to ask.

“Is there any way that I can go and meet Naruto myself? If he’s such a great savior, then he may be able to help me with my problem.” Twilight said, and Tazuna nodded as he set down his sake bottle, and moved out of his chair, stretching his old bones before dropping back down and answering her question.

“As far as I’ve heard, he still lives in the Leaf Village. He’s a very important man. He doesn’t have much time, so whatever you have to ask- it has to be important. He will not turn back someone in need, but his time is very valuable these days, and he cannot have it wasted.”

Twilight nodded.

“Where is he, then? Is he nearby?”

It was now that Tazuna and Inari laughed.

“No, you’re going to have to travel to reach him. He lives in the Land of Fire- which is near here. In the heart of the Land of Fire, and its source of all its great military might, lies the Leaf Village. He lives there. I promise if you go there and ask for him, and your need is great enough, he will either send someone to save them, or do it himself- which would probably be the worst thing for whoever’s messing around with your world, lass.”

“Why would that be? Is he really that strong?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Some people think he’s the strongest shinobi of this generation. He and Killer Bee practically won the war for us with their Tailed Beasts.” Before Twilight could ask another question about that, he interrupted her. “Anyway, the point is that he can probably help you, and I know where you can go to meet him. I can give you directions and tell you where to go- though I’m not sure you should go alone, because even though we just won a war, people are still the same as ever, and bandits and highwaymen could get you on your way there.”

Twilight nodded, a little surprised that these humble people knew someone who was apparently such a great person. She spoke up as he was about to say something else.

“I may not look it, but I can defend myself. I know combat magic and short range teleportation as well as cross world teleporting, now, at least. I’m fairly sure that I could defend myself if I went to go see Naruto in the Leaf Village. I’ll leave tomorrow. Which way do I go?”

“Calm down, calm down. You’re so excited to go see him. Things must be really bad where you’re from.” Twilight didn’t say anything, but decided to answer.

“It’s not that they’re completely terrible, it’s just… I think Naruto can help. The person that came to my world from here, I think that he knew Naruto.”

“That’s easily possible. Naruto does know many important, powerful people- and he is now important and powerful himself. Tomorrow, Inari will take you to the Great Naruto Bridge, and we’ll give you a map and help you with directions, but from there, you’ll be on your own.”

Twilight Sparkle nodded. She’d go and see what she what Sasuke had really been like. He had always confused her, and now she could finally find out what had made him that way, the Sasuke she knew. She suspected that he hadn’t always been like that- it was fairly obvious, actually. No one becomes bitter at birth. There had to have been something…

They finished up their chatter and talked a bit more, and cleaned up after dinner, but Twilight couldn’t stop thinking about Naruto and how he was related to Sasuke- and vice-versa. Even as she fell asleep, both excited and a little worried about the next day, the thoughts never left her head, and she continued thinking about it, even in her dreams.

_____________________________

Twilight Sparkle woke to the sun rising- and it glared into the house and the mat she was laying on. She kicked the covers off of her and rose up- still not used to the sun rising by itself. She knew that it was normal here, but to her… she shook her head and snorted, and walked out of the room that the small family had kindly provided her with.

She walked out into the kitchen and was surprised to see everypony already awake. Apparently, people got up early in this house to work. Inari was already waiting for her, and he was holding some white thing with a black triangle in the middle. It looked like food. He gave it to her wordlessly with a smile, and she grinned back before taking a bite, levitating it with her magic. She swallowed her food before she turned and grinned, thanking him for the food.

“It’s good!”

“Thank you.” Tsunami said, and Twilight realized that she had been the one to make it. She thanked Tsunami for her rice ball meal, and soon enough they all left the house, Tsunami the only one that was staying behind. Tazuna went to the construction site, telling Inari to be fast about showing her where the Great Naruto Bridge was, and once she was on her way, to get right back here and start working again. He nodded and Tazuna walked away, leaving Inari to his important task.

In Inari’s pants he had a couple of maps, and he pulled them out and began explaining the geography of The Elemental Nations to Twilight as they walked. Luckily, no little girl pulled on her hair this time, and after ten or so minutes, they were completely out of the village. Soon after that, they were walking through marshy, wet plains, with small copses of trees and miniature forests around. They passed through several of these as Inari talked.

“So, here’s the Bridge,” he said, pointing to one long, thin line that dragged from the island they were on to one large, massive spanning continent, which was split up into a bunch of smaller nations- the largest of which, Twilight noticed, was the Land of Fire. Other huge ones included the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning. He explained to her a basic route that a lot of traders took from here to Konoha and back, and what would be safe.

“So, if you just go like this- and this is similar to the way my grandfather went when he went to the Leaf Village for aid, then…” Inari showed her a basic route that she could pass through as they got closer to the Naruto Bridge. She continued to nod, paying all of her attention to the paper. She knew that it was important that she knew her way around in this world. So far, she’d met nice people, but she knew that it wouldn’t always be that way. Last night, in her room, she’d practiced her magic and the spell using the brown tome that she was carrying in a bag that they had given her before she left.

She’d have to practice it every day, but even in only a few days, Twilight was almost certain that she’d master the spell. She had already used it correctly once to travel between worlds, but using a spell of that magnitude and power was much different than using it and being able to control it- which was what she wanted to be able to do. Even from far away, as they approached it, Twilight gasped as she saw the Bridge.

Great really was the right word for it, she idly realized, as she stared at the great work of architecture that Tazuna had apparently led. The planks were massive and stretched across a huge gap. It seemed to go on forever, although Twilight knew it ended- it was just a really long, really wide bridge. On the top, a sign proudly displayed the title of ‘Great Naruto Bridge’ and Twilight realized how thankful the people of the nation truly had to be to name a great thing like this after one person. It only made her more excited to meet Naruto.

Eventually, they were standing directly in front of the Bridge, and Inari waved her goodbye as he walked to the village. Twilight watched as he walked away slowly, observing him for several minutes as he slowly strode out of view. She turned back to the gigantic woodworking masterpiece, and stared across it. It was then that she realized she was now alone in this world- and that no one was going to save her if she got into trouble.

She took a deep breath, and took her first step onto the wooden bridge. It felt smooth on her bare hooves, and she shuddered before taking a few more steps, the sounds of her hooves on the bridge being much too loud for her liking. With how much the clop of each hoof echoed throughout the mostly silent air, she thought that everypony for miles around would be able to hear her, but she continued forward, nonetheless.

A few more steps and she slowly grew bolder over time- and she was soon traversing the bridge at a steady canter. She plodded along happily across the massive bridge- all the while appreciating the work for what it truly was, and how huge it really was. Her bag flapped a bit and smacked into her side after every few steps when she started to speed up, but she ignored it. It didn’t bother her.

It took her a little under an hour to pass the bridge completely- and she realized how huge it really was, then. It was a bridge that spanned part of a sea. Even if it was a fraction of the ocean, she realized that the bridge was more than a mile long and simply kept going, stretching on and on until it had finally hit the Land on the other side. She took her first step off the bridge and looked back at the great wooden monument as she did so.

Maybe one day, she’d come back, and visit Inari and Tazuna and Tsunami again, but for now, she had somepony she had to meet- well, not really a pony, but… she had a meeting to get to. Nodding firmly to herself, she set off again, leaving behind the behemoth bridge in her wake. She’d taken her first step on the way to the Leaf Village, and now she was in the Land of Fire, traveling towards the Leaf Village to meet somepony who could help her-no, help Sasuke.

____________________________

It was only after a few hours of silent, solitary travel did she really understand how huge the lands on these maps really were, and how long it would take her to get to the Leaf Village. It wouldn’t be an impossible amount of time or anything, but she knew that it would certainly be at the very least a few days, even though she wanted to be there now, already. She stopped to rest under the shade of a few trees, and she remembered that she had no food.

While she wouldn’t die without food for a few days, it certainly wouldn’t be comfortable, and Twilight wondered if there was any nearby food to be found. She was a pony, but even though she didn’t like referring to it, ponies had horse roots. She knew she could eat a lot of vegetation because of this. Hungry, she wandered off of the path for a while until she found a flower field of daisies- her favorite. She made sure to eat her fill until she stuffed herself, and then she must’ve plucked seventy or eighty of them and shoved them in the bag with her to eat while she was on her journey.

It didn’t even matter to her that they might get crushed by the book- she was just happy to have a food source that would allow her to eat without her having to worry every night about food. She knew that it would only waste more time as she tried to get to the Leaf Village- and she was happy that, at the very least, that particular problem was taken care of. Afterwards, she continued traveling west.

It was a few hours later that the sun began to set. It was nothing new to Twilight, but it still reminded her of how different their worlds were- on hers, the sunset was a controlled thing, as was the sunrise. It was something that she could depend on, always- Princess Celestia would always bring the sun to her ponies, and life to the land, and then she would allow the light to fade and night to come- if only because balance was needed, and there had to be some sort of order for their land to truly flourish.

Here though, in this world, Twilight Sparkle thought, it’s not the same. She knew that she couldn’t count on any variable being the same- and that sometimes things would change without reason. She hoped that she could handle it, because she knew that while she was decently powerful herself and she could take care of herself, she was always used to stability, and that was one of the things that this land apparently lacked.

As the sun dropped below the horizon, she stopped and tried to find a place to sleep. With night coming, she wanted a safer area to rest in, and Twilight walked around a little on the path, looking for a small clearing or spot that seemed better than the rest. It took her a little while, but she eventually found a clearing not too far from the path that was empty and seemed like it would be a good place to sleep. She put her bag and her tome down here and walked around in the forest that surrounded the clearing, gathering stones and branches, making a firepit from almost nothing fairly quickly.

She made sure to set wards- spells that would alert her if someone was trying to come into her camp, and tell her where they were so she wouldn’t be attacked during the night.

With that done, and a large, warm fire roaring in front of her, she turned to her tome, and picked it up again with her magic. She still had to practice the magic- she wasn’t going to get better automatically. Twilight was still a little angry that she’d left Sasuke behind- all because she’d been too new at the spell to take someone along with her. In a way, she wondered if it was for the best, though- this place seemed to have caused Sasuke nothing but a lifetime of anguish. She couldn’t understand how from what she’d seen yet, but she had a feeling that she’d understand fairly soon enough- and she was wishing she wouldn’t.

Her horn was surrounded in the bright, white glow again as she practiced the dimension traveling spell. It always put so much pressure on her body- and she winced as pain traveled from the tip of her horn all the way to the end of her tail. She blinked rapidly as she trained herself- trying to hold the power in the tip of her horn for as long as possible. When she no longer could, she released it, yelling in agony as she did so. It crashed into a tree near her and exploded- incredibly unstable when uncontrolled.

Twilight looked at the huge gouge in the tree that the explosion had caused, and was more than a little frightened. It hurt to cast, but only because she was so inexperienced- and she thanked whatever luck she had that she’d made it here the first time she’d used this dangerous spell. She let the pain fade from her body- she knew it was only a side effect of spell casting, she’d had this kind of pain before- and then she took a deep breath before she started to charge the bright white dangerous energy in her horn again.

She practiced this way until it became truly dark, and then she ate some dandelions from her satchel and fell asleep soon afterwards, staring into the warm, roaring fire.

______________________________

Twilight must’ve awoken at two, or three in the morning. The wards had gone off, and she had felt them. She turned around in the darkness- the fire had gone out a while ago, probably. Not even the ashes were smoking anymore, and the light and warmth was long gone, faded away. All that was left was the night. She could barely see or hear anything, but she had felt something from her wards, and she trusted her magic over her senses any day. She patiently waited for something to come out of the trees or to try to attack her.

Minutes passed, and nothing happened. She was starting to think that it was all a dream or that she was just hallucinating when a dark figure in the night, much, much taller than she was came crashing into her camp, yelling like a madman. There were five others, who all did the same thing. She quickly realized how outnumbered she really was- but they were just bandits with clubs. She was a unicorn, and a trained student of Princess Celestia. She narrowed her eyes at the first man- who she could barely see in the dark, and lit her horn up, casting light across the entire clearing and revealing the bandits for what they were.

Six large, burly men, all equally dirty and stupid as they came, surrounded her with grins on their faces. Little did they know she actually had barely any valuables on her, but Twilight was more worried about her life right now than anything else. She charged basic stunning spells on her horn- designed to incapacitate the enemy, for a short period of time, and repeatedly fired them off, as the men got closer. A few got stunned right away, and all but one were disabled when the last one finally reached her.

He swung down at Twilight with the club, but she turned, and barely made the club miss her head, instead impacting in her side. She wheezed and screamed in pain- probably a broken rib or two, as the man swung quite hard- but before he could lift his weapon and swing it again, she teleported- putting space between them. She glared at him and fired a stunning spell- much more powerful than needed for the man’s size and weight- and watched as he fell with a loud cry. She turned and cast a large light over the campsite.

Six men were now on the ground, groaning, but she was in considerable pain. She wasn’t sure how she was going to do this, but she quickly dug a large hole in the ground- ripping large chunks out of the earth and tossing it into the forest, repeatedly. She had lifted heavier things before and as such, these chunks of dirt that were clinging together were, in comparison, nothing. She then admired her handiwork- a large, deep pit, and lifted the men and their clubs inside, making sure to drop them inside without cushioning the fall. She heard more groans of pain and she smiled in her victory, before walking back to the middle of the campsite, still limping and wheezing in agony from a broken rib.

She decided that she needed to set it more than she needed to do anything else right now, and she winced as she applied something similar to a healing spell with her body. It set the rib in the right place, though it did nothing for the actual pain- in a hospital, there’d be another unicorn there casting an anesthetic spell- and she wouldn’t normally feel it. She had no such luxury here, and simply had to deal with the terrible pain, starting to cry as she did so.

When it was done, she made sure to apply another spell that healed any internal wounds and bleeding she had. She moved very slowly and carefully- she’d just set her broken bone, after all. She got very close to her satchel and her tome that was still lying on the forest floor. She settled down against them, still in a fair bit of agony. She realized how cold and dark it was though, and knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep like this. She lit her horn up one more time, and gathered branches from the trees around the clearing.

She set it on fire with her horn- sparks of orange energy flying off before catching flame- and soon fell asleep the way she had the first time, to a warm, roaring fire.

_______________________________________

When she awoke the second time that day- to the sun shining down on her- she got up and did it slowly, still groaning the entire time. The agony and the pain were still inside her body- and she threw a hateful glare toward the pit that the men were still inside of. She realized how close to death she’d come last time- if she’d been hit anywhere in the head and lost control over her magic at any time last night, the man that made it to her would’ve ruthlessly struck her until she died. Twilight scowled- a rare thing for her to do- at the world.

This world was pretty cruel- they usually didn’t have crime like this where she came from. She limped her way over to the pit and gazed inside- seeing the six men and their clubs still trapped inside the makeshift prison. She called down to them as they groaned, barely conscious, and told them what she’d do if they tried to follow her.

“You lost. Don’t bother trying to follow me, or I’ll do something worse next time.”

The threat was false- Twilight didn’t have the malice or cruelty in her heart to do something that would make them truly regret attacking her- but the threat had weight at the same time because the bandits were the ones who didn’t know this.

Twilight ignored their apologies and cries for help as she gathered her supplies and left the campsite. Hopefully, they’d be rescued by someone in a day or two and she’d have a huge gap between them then. She realized that, no matter what, if she traveled a road in this world it was dangerous. Even a road that caravans and traders used to travel between cities or countries was still a road that could be attacked- no matter how ‘good’ it was.

She groaned as she strode forward, carrying on.

It’d be a long day.

__________________________________

She took the map out of her satchel and looked over it while greedily stuffing dandelions into her mouth. She figured that she’d made good time yesterday and today, especially today, for traveling with a broken but set rib. She’d had to do everything more slowly. It was only midday and she was stopping for a large lunch because she’d left too early to have anything that actually resembled breakfast.

She looked at the road it was traveling- and saw how it whisked around and finally stopped at the Leaf Village. She figured that she was probably half way there. The world either wasn’t as large as she thought it was, or teleporting was cheating, because that’s what she’d been doing yesterday and today. She could jump forward up to a hundred yards- at least, where she could see- and then she could walk for a little while, resting herself, and then do it again when she felt she was strong enough that she was able to.

Using the short range teleportation trick so many times like that was effective for traveling but draining and tiring on a unicorn’s body, and now she was paying the price for it with her exhaustion. Still, as one of the most powerful unicorns- probably the most powerful, although she didn’t like to think about it that way, and didn’t like to brag about it- in Equestria, she knew that she could keep going like this for a long, long while.

Her magical endurance was off the charts, and more than one pony knew this- though Princess Celestia was one of them. If she didn’t have the magical endurance that she had, and had never trained herself to maximize and push it, she’d have never even been able to do things like lift the Ursa Minor. Twilight kept eating dandelions as she looked at the map. Yep, probably two more days. She wondered how she’d be greeted there.

It couldn’t have been as bad as Sasuke said it was.

She heard a hero lived there- that had to have made it a great place.

____________________________________

To say Twilight was tired by the time she made camp again that night would’ve been an understatement. Seeing how close she was at midday, she’d pushed herself the entire time the rest of the day, using short range teleportation as often as she could and then walking the rest of the way. Still, she now had a particularly large fire with her and she still had plenty of dandelions to eat. Even eating a lot every day because she was exhausting herself like this, the storage that she’d obtained would last her quite a while.

She was still practicing every day, and after only a day or two of practice, being the genius of magic that Twilight was, she’d nearly completely mastered it. The shining light on her horn was now completely focused and controlled; and it was rare that she lost control over the spell anymore. She knew that the very nature of the spell was chaotic- and, as such, she couldn’t expect it to ever be fully controllable, but how she had it now was good enough.

At this level of control, it would always get her to where she wanted to go.

She rested, and soon fell asleep afterward.

______________________________

Soon, after a day or two more of the, admittedly, monotonous routine that she’d been repeating every day, she was on the path that said it lead to the Village Hidden in The Leaves.

How was it hidden if there were maps to where it was? She didn’t understand.

As Twilight walked through the path, unknown to her, ninja, ANBU, and scouts of the village watched her closely, trying to determine if she was a threat or not. She turned once and was met with gigantic gates. It looked like a city more than a village, but whatever.

Twilight walked bravely, wincing a little due to her sprained rib that she’d been healing over the day or two since it had happened. The two chuunin that had guarded the gates for years- through attacks on the village and the destruction of the village, and even through a Great Shinobi War- met her, and looked at each other strangely before turning to her.

“Why is there a horse here?” One of them said.

“I’m not a horse, I’m a PONY!” Twilight exclaimed, and they seemed surprised with her outburst. She blushed, a little embarrassed by her temporary loss of control, but soon turned back to them and made her point quite clear. The two ninja- she assumed them as guards- seemed surprised, but listened nonetheless.

“I’m looking for a man named Naruto.”

They instantly dismissed her, and she hadn’t thought it would be this hard to meet him.

“Hokage-sama is a very important man, and he doesn’t meet anyone without appointments. The Hero of The Leaf doesn’t have time for nonsense; he’s a very, very busy man- though I doubt you know these things, because you don’t look like you’re from around here. Unless you have a very special reason, I doubt that he’d see you on such short notice. What is your reason for having to meet with the Hokage?”

“Do either of you know a man named Sasuke Uchiha?”

As both of the men looked to each other, and then to her, with disgusted expressions, and Twilight shrunk under their angry gazes, she knew that this was only going to get more complicated. One of the men sighed, and then began to speak.

TO BE CONTINUED