"There's a 'Bad Ending'?" asked Kakashi.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," agreed Sakura, going over to Naruto and pointing. "For example... oh."
"Oh?" asked Kakashi.
"Naruto moved the little arrow over it and a description came up," said Sakura. "It's 'Bad Ending #8 - Sasuke Triumphant' which was unlocked by 'original unaltered timeline' or so it says."
"How could my being 'triumphant' be a 'bad ending'?" asked Sasuke quite reasonably.
"Other than apparently for purposes of this game that Naruto's a main character?" asked Rin.
"Naruto - a main character," said Sakura. "Just when I think I've got the basics of this down, something even more absurd comes up."
"Sakura-chan can be mean," said Naruto.
"You're just figuring this out?" asked Tazuna.
"Well, let's just see what it is," said Sakura. "Tap it. Naruto."
Konoha was burning.
"Loser," said Sasuke, standing a few feet away from where Naruto was trying to get up. "Forever and always just a loser."
"Argh, teme. Why?"
Sasuke held up a hand that crackled with electricity, his eyes red. "Why? I killed my brother and found another needed killing. After that, another. Now this whole damn village. Besides, you know what my dream is. I've already killed the one I needed to. Now I'm going to rebuild my clan, without any interference."
"Not if I can help it," growled Naruto.
"You can't," said Sasuke. "I just wanted to let you know before you die how completely you failed. Sakura and Ino? Instead of being safe guarding those others, they've already fallen. I've used Tsukuyomi and something called Operant Conditioning. They're already broken, it just remains for me to rebuild them into their proper role."
"You bastard!" growled Naruto, actually managing to get up.
Sasuke was there then, his face dispassionate as he thrust his arm through Naruto's chest.
"I'll have several of them," said Sasuke cooly as if discussing a minor change in the weather. "Broken and remade. A large clan would be best, and the more kids the better. So you see, idiot? You've failed completely."
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" yelled Naruto, clutching his chest and looking at Sasuke as if he'd never really seen the boy before.
"That's what I want to know," said Sasuke, staring at his hand. The hand he'd stuck through Naruto's chest. Feeling all of it as if it was really him, and completely lacking in control. "I was in his head. Watching the whole... excuse me."
Everyone watched as Sasuke stumbled to the side of the road and began wretching.
Sakura twitched a few times before getting control of herself. "Okay. Yeah. That does qualify as a bad ending." She felt like joining Sasuke as the dim flickers of memory of that life faded away, leaving just an impression of a past that wasn't.
"Chidori," said Kakashi, eyeing the vomiting Sasuke. The least shaken of those present, with one exception. "He was using my jutsu. Why? How?"
Rin cleared her throat, the least affected as she'd just viewed the thing as if a movie. Also, as she'd trained as both medic and infiltrator - she was capable of being very observant during a crisis. "Doesn't matter."
"Doesn't matter?" asked Sakura, feeling her own stomach twist. "I was a disembodied ghost floating around but I could feel myself in there somewhere - screaming. How does that not matter?!"
"Because the Uchiha was at least six to eight years older than he is now," said Rin. "So was Naruto. And things have already changed. I'm here."
"I don't know if just your presence is going to be able to make a difference, but your point is valid," said Kakashi thoughtfully. "If that WAS a possible future, then that Entity has already shifted things around. It might be a possible future, but it doesn't have to be OUR future."
"Right," said Sakura, realization causing the feelings of helplessness and horror retreat a bit. "The game!"
"I don't remember any of the details but it was BAD," said Naruto, shuddering. "And what about the game?"
"The game changes everything," stated Sakura, now more thoughtful as she tried to work out details. "Even if our knowing something like that MIGHT happen doesn't change it, then Naruto's game certainly does."
Sasuke got up, wiping his mouth with the back of one hand. "That was... BAD. I refuse to believe that as a possible future though. I refuse to believe that was me."
"Of course, can't happen," agreed Naruto, sounding a little forced-cheerful.
"As enlightening as all this has been, we need to get moving again," said Kakashi. "Oh and Naruto. Turn random encounters back on. We're going to train your summons up. Just in case."
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(Posted Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:09)
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