When Sasuke woke up, he found himself in a classroom at school. He looked at the sky outside.
"Is it this late already? What was I doing just now? Damn it, why can't I remember?"
Clutching his still faintly aching backside, Sasuke headed home. It was already so late; if he didn't get back soon, his mother would scold him when he got home.
As Sasuke walked home, he failed to notice anything wrong. Wasn't everything around him a little too quiet?
When Sasuke nearly reached his doorstep, he finally noticed something was wrong. Normally, no matter how late it was, he would see elderly men or women out for a stroll here. Why hadn't he encountered a single person after walking for so long today?
Seeming to catch a strange smell, Sasuke sniffed. The scent felt odd, almost like blood.
"How could this be?"
Sasuke's heart tightened for no apparent reason. Everything around him felt far too quiet, and the smell of blood kept drifting over. No matter how foolish he was, even he realized something was wrong.
He continued toward home. When he saw his surroundings, he felt his legs trembling. Severed limbs lay everywhere, along with all sorts of scattered organs. He could even see some people's eyes still wide open, as though they had witnessed something terrifying before they died.
"Wh... what happened here?"
Now Sasuke was even more worried. He didn't notice that his voice was trembling. Everything around him was simply too horrifying, and he was extremely worried about his parents and older brother.
"Big brother, Father, Mother, where are you?"
Sasuke kept walking deeper inside. As though sensing something, he looked up and spotted the figure he least wanted to see.
"How could this be? Big brother, you..."
Sasuke felt as though something had lodged in his throat, leaving him unable to speak. They had already driven off that Obito Uchiha, hadn't they? Why had his brother still slaughtered everyone in the clan?
"Why? Big brother, why did you do this?"
Itachi didn't answer Sasuke's question right away. He merely wiped the blood from his blade before speaking slowly.
"To test my capacity."
"Test your capacity? Is that your reason for slaughtering the entire clan, men and women, young and old? Why did you listen to Obito Uchiha? We already..."
Sasuke roared hysterically, tears pouring down as though a dam had burst.
But Itachi shook his head.
"No one forced me. I did it to test my capacity. Father, too-he was another tool for my test."
"Damn you, Uchiha Itachi! You bastard! How dare you! I'll kill you!"
"My foolish little brother, you're still too weak."
At this, Itachi even scoffed and told Sasuke, "As you are now, you aren't even worth killing... My foolish little brother... If you want to kill me... hate me! Loathe me! Then live on in your ugliness! Run, run... and cling to your miserable life!"
Sasuke hadn't expected Itachi to say such things. Seeing Sasuke remain rooted to the spot, Itachi was a little puzzled too.
Outside the illusion, Naruto was even more puzzled. He had already made Itachi deliver his classic words from the clan massacre, so why hadn't Sasuke awakened his eyes yet? Had he subjected Sasuke to too much stimulation lately? Had he become immune?
That wouldn't do. This Genjutsu had been cast just for him. Although it couldn't compare with Tsukuyomi Space, it still had some effect. Seeing that Sasuke's Sharingan still hadn't awakened, Naruto decided to give him something stronger.
Naruto continued forming hand seals, and the illusion changed again.
"Do you want to resist?"
Looking at Sasuke standing there and glaring at him, Itachi found it somewhat amusing. He waved a hand, and a fellow wearing an orange-red mask appeared.
"Uchiha Itachi, aren't you going to do it yet?"
"Heh, he isn't worth killing yet. Where's the person I told you to bring?"
When Sasuke saw who had arrived, his eyes nearly split with rage, and he gritted his teeth.
"Obito Uchiha, you bastard!"
"Heh, a brat who can only run his mouth. Take a look at who this is."
Obito tossed out someone trussed up like a dumpling. When Sasuke saw who it was, he was utterly shaken.
"Naruto."
"Damn you, how dare you!"
Meanwhile, Naruto was struggling desperately. He spat out the rag stuffed in his mouth and shouted:
"Run, Sasuke! You're no match for them!"
"Mouthy brat."
Obito drove his blade straight through Naruto's back, piercing his heart. As he pulled it out, a streak of blood followed, landing squarely on Sasuke's face. The warmth of the blood frightened Sasuke, while blood gushed from Naruto's back and chest as though it cost nothing.
"Heh, a Jinchūriki's vitality really is tenacious. His heart's been pierced, and he still isn't dead."
"Naruto, are you all right? Get the hell out of my way!"
Sasuke charged forward like a madman, snatched Naruto away, and shielded him beneath his body. Looking at Naruto trembling in his arms, Sasuke found even speaking extremely difficult. He stammered.
"N-Naruto, you..."
As for Naruto, he spoke with difficulty, blood flowing continuously from his mouth. Even in this state, he was still thinking of Sasuke.
"Sasuke, run... live on... hurry, run."
After saying that, Naruto fell completely still, leaving Sasuke alone, frozen stupidly in place. He looked at the blood on his hands, still carrying Naruto's lingering warmth. But Naruto himself-Sasuke could feel that his life was already gone.
Only after a long while did Sasuke shout.
"No, Naruto, no!"
Scarlet Sharingan appeared in Sasuke's eyes. The single tomoe was a success.
The illusion began shattering piece by piece, and Sasuke woke up. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Naruto standing there and discovered that he was perfectly fine, without a trace of blood on him.
Sasuke immediately threw himself at Naruto and pulled him into a huge bear hug. As for Naruto, he could only wonder whether he had gone a little too far just now. Look how upset he had made the kid.
"Thank goodness, Naruto, you're all right. Thank goodness."
"Ahem, um, Zhuzi, how about letting go of me first?"
Being hugged like this by another man made Naruto feel goosebumps rising all over his body.
As for Sasuke, scarlet Sharingan had appeared in his eyes, though they only had a single tomoe. Although the awakening process had been somewhat complicated and rocky, at least they had managed to get Sasuke his Sharingan.
"Sasuke, your eyes."
At that moment, he also came to his senses. Had everything just now been Genjutsu?
He had almost lost everything. At that thought, Sasuke first glared at Itachi, then at Naruto. Ignoring them both, he gave a cold snort and went off to stay by himself.
Itachi looked at Naruto, intensely curious about just what sort of illusion he had woven for Sasuke to leave him like this after coming out of it.