SLAP!
The harsh, resounding sound of the slap echoed violently across the rocky riverbank, cutting through the roaring rush of the Naka River.
Sasuke's head was snapped to the side by the sheer force of the blow. The sharp silver kunai slipped from his trembling fingers, clattering uselessly against the hard stone steps. His entire face burned, a bright red mark instantly forming against his pale skin, but he didn't feel the physical pain at all.
Slowly, his trembling gaze drifted upward.
Standing protectively in front of little Itachi was Uchiha Mikoto. Her long, beautiful black hair blew gently in the afternoon wind, framing a face that was twisted in pure, maternal fury.
Her hand was still raised from the slap, and her large, round belly—holding the eight-month-old unborn fetus of Sasuke himself—pressed against her red colour dress.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY SON?!" Mikoto screamed, her voice cracking with a terrifying, protective rage that only a mother could possess.
She didn't wait for an answer. She immediately dropped to her knees, completely ignoring the older boy as she wrapped her slender arms tightly around Itachi.
Her hands checked his tiny shoulders, his arms, and his face, her voice trembling with intense panic. "Itachi! Itachi, look at me! Are you hurt? Did he cut you? Are you okay, my sweet boy?!"
Little Itachi was completely frozen, his small hands clutching his mother's sleeve as he stared over her shoulder at the strange boy with wide, shocked eyes.
But Sasuke couldn't hear their voices anymore. The world had gone entirely silent around him.
He just stared at her. Large, hot tears pooled in his wide dark eyes, spilling over his burning cheeks one after another.
'Kaa-san...' his mind wept, his chest tightening so hard it felt like his ribs were going to shatter into pieces.
'You are... you are just as beautiful as you were in my memories. Why... why did you leave my side? Why did you leave me all alone in that dark world?'
He sank to his knees right there on the hard river stones, his body shaking with heavy, uncontrollable sobs. He looked at her gentle hands—the same hands that used to cook his favorite meals, the same hands that used to tuck him into bed and wipe his tears away.
But right now, those hands were holding the child who would destroy everything.
'Why...?' Sasuke thought, a bitter, agonizing cry catching in his throat as he stared at his mother's protective stance.
'Why are you protecting him? Why protect a horrible son who is not worthy of the title of a son...? Why protect the monster who will eventually kill you with his own two hands... the very hands you gave birth to?'
The sheer tragedy of it suffocated him. She was standing there, fiercely shielding a future murderer, entirely unaware that the infant kicking inside her womb right now was the boy crying at her feet, and the toddler in her arms was the one who would end her life under a blood-red moon.
'Why, Kaa-san...?' Sasuke screamed silently into the void of his own grief, his vision completely drowning in tears as he clutched the front of his shirt, his heart breaking into a million irreparable pieces under the warm afternoon sun.
The heavy, painful silence between them stretched out, broken only by the sound of Sasuke's ragged, uneven breathing as he knelt on the cold river stones.
Looking at her face, every single cell in Sasuke's body screamed with a desperate, agonizing hunger to just throw himself forward.
He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms tightly around her waist, to bury his face into her dress, and to smell the comforting scent of home that he had lost so long ago.
He wanted to weep into her shoulder and tell her how terrifying the world had been without her, how cold the new bed felt every single night, and how hard it was to breathe in a new empty house that never heard the sound of her laughter.
'Just once... please, just let me hug you once, Kaa-san...' his soul begged, his hands twitching against the rocks as his knees dragged a fraction of an inch closer across the stones.
But as his eyes fell upon the sharp red mark of her slap on his hand, reality crashed down on him like a freezing avalanche.
He couldn't. He absolutely couldn't touch her.
To this Mikoto, he wasn't her precious, beloved little youngest son. To her, he was a dangerous, unforgivable assassin who had just tried to brutally slit the throat of her innocent son.
If he stepped forward to embrace her, she wouldn't open her arms with love. She would flinch away in horror. She would shield Itachi even fiercely, looking at Sasuke with eyes full of absolute disgust, fear, and hatred.
The thought of his own mother looking at him with hatred was a strike far deadlier than any kunai. It pierced his chest so deeply that he physically gasped for air, his fingers clenching into the dirt until his knuckles turned completely white.
"Get away from us—!!" Mikoto spoke again, her voice dropping into a low, fiercely protective voice as she pulled Itachi back a step, her dark eyes tracking Sasuke's every tearful tremble.
"I don't know who you are, or what kind of grudge you have against a child, but if you dare take another step toward my family... I will not hesitate to strike you down myself."
Sasuke let out a choked, broken laugh through his tears, a sound so full of raw despair that it made little Itachi's breath hitch behind his mother's back.
'You would strike me down to protect him...' Sasuke thought, his head hanging so low that his dark bangs completely covered his weeping eyes, his hot tears dripping steadily onto the gray stones below.
'You don't even know, Kaa-san... You don't know that the baby you are carrying inside you right now is me. You don't know that I am your son too...'
The absolute cruelty of the timeline wrapped around his throat, choking him. He was standing right next to the source of all the warmth he had ever known, yet he was completely frozen out in the dark, forced to act like a monster in front of the only person who had ever loved him unconditionally.
Sasuke tried to shift his weight, desperately wanting to push himself off the cold stones and escape the suffocating weight of his mother's furious glare.
But his legs felt like they had no strength. The sheer emotional shock, combined with the crashing waves of his trauma, had drained every single ounce of strength from his body.
As he tried to stand, his knees buckled violently beneath him, and he lost his balance completely, his shoulder scraping against the hard ground as he stumbled back down onto the rocks.
He looked so small, so utterly broken, kneeling there in the dirt.
Taking a ragged, shuddering breath, Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to dig deep down into his soul to find whatever tiny shred of courage he had left.
He couldn't just lie here and fall apart in front of them. Slowly, his shaking legs finally pushed his body upward. He managed to stand, but he didn't dare look her in the eyes.
Instead, he bent his body forward, bowing his head incredibly low in a deep posture of absolute apology and regret.
With his upper body bent, his hot tears dripped straight off his chin, splashing rapidly onto the grey stones below. When he spoke, his voice was entirely ruined, cracking and fracturing into painful, broken gasps as he struggled to force the words out of his tight throat.
"I'm... I'm sorry..." Sasuke wept, his small shoulders shaking violently with every single sob. "I'm... I'm really... really sorry..."
The words felt like ash in his mouth. He wasn't just apologizing for the sudden attack just now. Deep inside his fractured heart, his thoughts turned into a dark, agonizing spiral of guilt.
'I'm so sorry, Kaa-san...' he thought, his chest aching so intensely it felt like a physical blade was twisting inside his heart.
'I couldn't protect you... I couldn't protect you back then during that horrific night... and I can't even protect you right now in this time either...'
The absolute helplessness of his situation crushed his spirit. He had traveled all the way through time, back to the era where his family was alive and breathing, yet he was still completely powerless.
He couldn't tell her the truth about the massacre, he couldn't change the dark future waiting for her, and he couldn't even reach out to hold her hand without being feared as an enemy.
He was just a ghost from the future, trapped in a loop of endless grief, forced to stand in the beautiful afternoon sun and watch the tragedy of his life play out all over again.
Mikoto stood her ground, her arms still wrapped tightly around Itachi's small shoulders. She watched the strange boy bow so low, his small frame shaking with a level of raw, agonized despair that didn't make any sense for a simple assassin.
Her dark eyes remained sharp and filled with caution, but deep inside her chest, her maternal instincts gave a sharp, painful tug.
It was completely unnatural. This boy had just tried to commit an unspeakable crime, yet seeing him fall apart on the rocks, listening to his voice fracture into those broken, breathless apologies... it made her stomach twist with a strange, inexpressible ache.
He didn't look like a cold-blooded killer. He looked like a child whose entire world had just been violently ripped away from him.
She clenched her jaw, forcing her protective anger to stay on the surface. She couldn't let her guard down, not with her precious baby clinging to her.
"Listen to me—!!" Mikoto said, her voice turning into a stern, ice-cold whisper that made Sasuke's shoulders flinch.
"You are crying so much... your grief is the only reason I am not handling you over to the clan police right now. If it weren't for those tears, you would already be locked in a cell for what you just tried to do to my son."
Sasuke didn't lift his head. He stayed frozen in that deep bow, the red slap-mark on his cheek throbbing in rhythm with his breaking heart.
Mikoto took a step back, her hand gently guiding Itachi to move with her, away from the weeping boy.
Her eyes lingered on Sasuke's dark hair one last time, a heavy, complicated emotion flashing through her gaze before she completely hardened her expression.
"Now go away!!" she commanded softly, but firmly. "Leave this place, and never let me see your face near my children again."
The words felt like a final, definitive door slamming shut in Sasuke's face. He remained pinned to the river stones, his vision completely drowned in a blur of warm, endless tears, listening to the soft rustle of her dress and the tiny, light footsteps of his brother as they slowly walked away from the riverbank, leaving him all alone under the bright afternoon sun.
As the soft, rhythmic sound of Mikoto and little Itachi's footsteps completely faded into the distance, the last tiny shred of strength holding Sasuke together snapped.
His trembling legs gave out entirely. He fell once again, his body collapsing heavily onto the soft grass of the riverbank. He didn't even try to catch himself this time.
He just let his weight drop, burying his tear-stained face deep into the cool, damp earth, his small fingers desperately clawing into the dirt and pulling at the green blades of grass until his knuckles bled.
And there, completely hidden by the weeping willow trees, Sasuke wept.
It wasn't a quiet, silent ninja cry anymore. It was a raw, choked, and broken cry of absolute despair that tore right out of his chest, completely echoing against the rushing waters of the Naka River.
The hot tears flowed endlessly from his eyes, soaking into the soil beneath him as his small body shook violently with heavy, uncontrollable sobs.
The weight of his failure was completely suffocating him.
'Kami-sama...' he cried out in the pitch-black void of his own mind, his teeth grinding together in pure agony.
'Kami-sama gave me a chance... A miracle to come all the way back here to the past. A chance to fix my grief, to heal my sorrow, and to finally bring back those beautiful, happy days when my family was whole.'
A bitter, broken gasp caught in his throat as he curled himself into a tight, defensive ball on the ground. 'But all I did was fail... I failed completely.'
The absolute cruelty of the realization crushed his spirit into dust. He had a once and a lifetime opportunity to time travel, an opportunity every mourning soul would die for, yet his very first instinct was driven by such deep, toxic trauma that he almost murdered his own brother in front of his mother.
He hadn't brought back the happy days. Instead, he had made his beautiful mother look at him with absolute terror and disgust.
He had made her think he was a monster.
'I'm so pathetic...' Sasuke thought, his chest aching so intensely that it physically felt like his heart was being torn apart by bare hands.
'I couldn't protect them back then... and even with a second chance, I'm still just a broken, useless child who can't change anything.'
He lay there in the grass for what felt like hours, the bright afternoon sun slowly beginning to dip below the horizon, casting long, melancholic orange shadows over his weeping figure.
He was completely alone in a past that didn't know him, drowning in a sea of his own unfixable sorrow.
"I-I couldn't make a difference back then and even... even now"
A few hundred yards down the winding curves of the Naka River, another figure was moving frantically through the tall grass.
It was Uchiha Fugaku.
The formidable Head of the Clan was completely stripped of his usual calm, stoic demeanor.
His standard dark blue Uchiha haori blew wildly behind him as his heavy footsteps tore across the dirt path.
His jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscles in his face were visibly throbbing, and his sharp, dark eyes scanned every single bush, tree, and slope along the rushing riverbanks with a manic intensity.
'Where is she...?' Fugaku thought frantically, a cold sweat breaking out at the nape of his neck as his heart hammered violently against his ribs like a trapped bird.
'Mikoto... where are you? Please let it be a lie... please let her be safe!'
Just fifteen minutes ago, he had returned home from a grueling meeting only to find the grand Uchiha estate completely empty. But the silence in the house hadn't just been normal—it had been deafening, instantly triggering the horrific memories from earlier today.
His mind flashed back to the chaotic scene in the commercial district, where that impostor—that fake, twisted woman wearing his wife's face—had caused absolute panic by claiming she was Fugaku's wife and screaming that their unborn child had been brutally killed.
The sheer horror of that moment had left a freezing dread in Fugaku's soul. When he found his house empty, his chest had tightened so hard he could barely breathe.
What if that fake Mikoto wasn't the only threat? What if someone was actively targeting his real wife and his unborn child right now?
Panic had completely seized his chest, stripping away his usual stoic authority. He had rushed out into the streets of the compound, his voice trembling and tense as he demanded answers from the clan members.
Finally, a kind woman from the clan had stopped his frantic pacing, her face pale at the sight of the Clan Head looking so uncharacteristically shaken.
"Oh, Fugaku-sama! Don't worry, I saw Mikoto-sama just a little while ago. She took little Itachi out for a gentle walk down by the riverbanks to get some fresh air."
Hearing that she was by the isolated riverbanks—far away from the crowded, safe areas of the compound—had made Fugaku's blood run entirely cold. He hadn't even waited to reply to the woman. He had turned on his heel and sprinted at full ninja speed toward the Naka River.
As he tore through the tall grass, his mind was a chaotic, terrifying loop of worst-case scenarios. 'She is eight months pregnant—' he thought, his vision blurring slightly from pure adrenaline as he leaped over rough river stones.
'She is carrying my unborn son, completely unaware that a monster was using her face in the market today! If whoever made that impostor finds her while she's out here alone...'
Fugaku's fists clenched until his knuckles turned white, a dangerous, protective chakra flaring weakly around his ankles as he pushed through a thick patch of wild reeds.
He wasn't just looking for his wife; he was hunting for her life.
'Please, Kami-sama, let the woman by the river be my real Mikoto. Let her be safe. Let my children be alive!'
Fugaku pushed through a dense, towering thicket of wild river reeds, his breaths coming in heavy, ragged gasps. He slammed his foot onto a high boulder, his sharp eyes frantically sweeping across the open gravel of the riverbank.
And then, his heart stopped beating for an entirely different reason.
About fifty yards away, walking slowly up the gentle incline of the path, were two familiar figures. Mikoto was walking with her usual graceful, steady pace, one protective hand resting gently over the high, round curve of her eight-month pregnant belly.
Clutched tightly in her other hand was little Itachi, who was walking quietly by her side, his small eyes staring down at the smooth stones.
They were alive. They were safe.
The suffocating weight that had been crushing Fugaku's lungs for the past fifteen minutes vanished in a single, explosive instant. He didn't care about his status as the stoic Clan Leader, and he didn't care about looking dignified.
Acting on pure, raw instinct, Fugaku leapt off the boulder and sprinted across the distance, his heavy sandals clicking sharply against the river stones.
"MIKOTO! ITACHI!"
Mikoto snapped her head up at the sound of her name, her large, gentle dark eyes widening in complete surprise as she saw her husband rushing toward them.
She had never, in all her years of knowing him, seen Fugaku look so entirely unraveled. His hair was messy from the wind, his haori was crooked, and his face was pale with a terror she couldn't understand.
"Fugaku-san...?" she murmured, her voice filled with confusion.
Before she could even finish her sentence, Fugaku closed the distance and threw his strong arms completely around her. He pulled her into a fierce, desperately tight embrace, burying his face deep into the crook of her neck, smelling the familiar, comforting scent of her skin.
He was careful, incredibly careful not to press too hard against her pregnant stomach, but his grip on her shoulders was trembling with raw emotion.
Mikoto gasped softly, her eyes blinking in utter shock as she felt the tremors shaking her husband's large frame. "Fugaku-san... what is it? What happened?"
Fugaku didn't answer right away. He just held her tightly, his chest heaving as he breathed her in, convincing his racing mind that she was real, that she was warm, and that she wasn't a horrific illusion.
He reached down with one large hand, gently placing it over her round belly, feeling the faint, reassuring kick of his unborn youngest son inside her womb.
"He's alive... they're both alive...' his mind wept in profound relief, a heavy shudder passing through his shoulders.
"To-san...?" a tiny, soft voice called out from below.
Fugaku slowly pulled back just an inch, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he looked down. Little Itachi was staring up at him, his small face full of innocent curiosity.
Fugaku didn't hesitate. He reached down and picked his five-year-old son up with one arm, pulling him tightly into the embrace as well, burying the little boy's chubby cheek against his chest.
"You're safe..." Fugaku finally managed to choke out, his deep voice thick with an emotion he rarely ever showed. "Thank you Kami-sama... you three are safe."
Mikoto looked at her husband's fierce, protective hold, and then down at her sweet little boy. Her heart softened, a gentle, understanding warmth washing over her as she wrapped her own arms around Fugaku's neck, holding her little family close under the bright afternoon sky.
She still didn't understand the madness that had happened in the commercial district, but feeling the heavy, desperate heartbeat of her husband against her chest, she knew she never wanted to let go.
With the terrifying panic finally settling down, Fugaku gently placed Itachi back onto his feet, though he kept one large hand firmly anchored on the boy's shoulder.
He kept his other arm wrapped around Mikoto's waist, supporting her steady steps as the family began to walk slowly back along the path toward the Uchiha compound.
The afternoon sun was starting to cast long, golden shadows across the gravel, painting the riverbanks in a quiet, deceptive peace.
"Anata..?" Mikoto murmured softly, her hand resting on her pregnant belly as she looked up at her husband's stern profile.
"What happened in the village? Why were you searching for us with such terror in your eyes?"
Before Fugaku could even begin to explain the horrific illusion of the fake Mikoto in the commercial district, little Itachi tugged gently on his father's haori. His small, intelligent face was completely serious as he looked up.
"To-san! " Itachi spoke, his tiny voice cutting through the rushing sound of the river. "Before you arrived... we encountered a strange kid by the river stones."
Fugaku's entire body went rigid. His hand tightened on Itachi's shoulder, his sharp eyes snapping down to look at his son. "A strange kid? What do you mean, Itachi?"
"He was wearing our clan's clothes, but I've never seen him in the compound before—"
Itachi explained calmly, though his small brow furrowed in deep thought. "He was crying... but then he vanished in a blur of smoke and appeared right in front of me. He pulled out a weapon and screamed at me. He called me a murderer."
Mikoto's face paled instantly at the reminder, her hand tightening against Fugaku's chest.
"It's true, Fugaku-san. He targeted Itachi with a kunai! I had to slap his hand away myself to stop the blade. He was completely broken, weeping and begging for forgiveness after I yelled at him. It was... deeply unsettling."
Hearing that an unknown, hostile ninja had just drawn a weapon on his little son and pregnant wife made Fugaku's blood run entirely cold. The connection snapped into place instantly in his mind.
'The impostor in the market... and now an assassin by the river targeting my family?! This isn't a coincidence. It's a coordinated attack!'
"Where is he?" Fugaku demanded, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous growl as his Sharingan spun dangerously to life inside his dark eyes. "Where is he right now, Itachi?!"
Itachi turned around, pointing his tiny finger back toward the dense patch of weeping willow trees a few hundred yards away. "Over there. He collapsed in the grass after Kaa-san told him to leave."
Fugaku immediately stopped walking. He turned to his wife, his expression hard as stone. "Mikoto, stay here. Do not move from this path, and keep your guard up. Wait for me right here."
"To-san, I'll show you!" Itachi said. The brave little toddler reached up, his tiny fingers grabbing tightly onto Fugaku's large index finger.
With Itachi guiding him, Fugaku moved at a rapid pace, his heavy sandals cutting through the tall grass as they sprinted back toward the isolated slope. Itachi's small legs moved as fast as they could go, keeping a firm grip on his father's finger as they rounded the thick cluster of wild river reeds.
"He's right over her—" Itachi began, leading his father right under the canopy of the large willow tree.
But suddenly, the little boy's voice completely died in his throat.
The words faded into a stunned silence.
No one was there.
The soft, green grass where Sasuke had been weeping just moments ago was completely empty. The wind gently rustled the leaves above, but the mysterious, crying boy had vanished like a ghost into the afternoon fog.
Fugaku stepped forward, his sharp Sharingan eyes scanning the trampled ground instantly. He dropped to one knee, his large hand brushing aside the blades of grass.
There, lying abandoned in the dirt, was a half-eaten, messy onigiri, its grains of rice scattered across the earth. And right beside it, reflecting the fading orange light of the sun, lay a sharp, heavy, silver kunai.
Fugaku picked up the weapon, his thumb running over the pristine, unfamiliar forging of the steel. This wasn't the weapon of a standard academy student or a common bandit. It was the high-grade, deadly tool of an elite, seasoned ninja.
"He's gone..." Itachi whispered, staring blankly at the empty spot, his small hand still frozen in the air.
Fugaku stood up slowly, clutching the cold kunai tightly in his fist as a deep, terrifying dread filled his chest.
Who was that boy? And how had he vanished without leaving a single trace of his chakra behind?
---
⚡NEXT CHAPTER⚡
One impossible technique...
One impossible truth...
A battle that should never have existed begins to shake the very foundation of destiny.
Far below the silent mountain...
A forgotten hero races through the darkness.
While elsewhere...
Someone long imprisoned quietly waits...
...for a door to finally open.
And as Konoha slips deeper into chaos,
another legend is about to make his entrance.
👉 Chapter 53: The Yellow Flash Of The Leaf Vs The Fourth Hokage
SNEAK PEEK LINES 💬
'....I don't need to waste energy trying to look for invisible Hirashin marks.'
'....He simply ceased to exist in one spot and began to exist in another.... '
🌸 AUTHOR'S THOUGHT 🌸
HELLOOOOOO EVERYONEEEE!! (≧▽≦)💖
First of all...
I'M SORRYYYYYY!! 😭🙏💥
I know the chapter updates have been more irregular than Kakashi's punctuality... and probably more confusing than Orochimaru's life choices. 🐍💀
Unfortunately... EXAMS HAVE DECLARED WAR ON ME. 📚⚔️😭
So for the next few weeks, updates might be around one chapter per week. (╥﹏╥) Please don't throw tomatoes or Rasengans at your poor author... Your poor Author just wants to survive the exams. 🍅💥🙇♀️
Please don't lose interest in the story! 🥹💕 Every chapter is still being planned with lots of love, chaos, mystery, and enough plot twists to make even Kawaki question reality. 😭✨
Thank you so, so much for reading, voting, and patiently waiting for every update. You all seriously make writing this story so much fun! (つ≧▽≦)つ💖
So... stay with me just a little longer! After exams, we'll dive straight back into the madness! 🔥⚡😈
Until then...
Take care of yourselves, drink water, study if you have exams too (yes, this is your reminder 😤📚), and don't let the suspense eat you alive! 🤭✨
With lots of love,
— Your Author,
Shinomiya Sakura 🌸 💕
---
—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
---