10th Tomoe || Video, Action at Route 47, 4th Wall Event

[beforethedarkness]

[There was a Crobat flying around a boy frantically and a Luxio nuzzling at him to try and wake him when the pokégear broadcasts to the network. Once it's on, a Blaziken appears on screen and points him out, clearly distressed at the state of his trainer. It's not hard to see why, as Sasuke starts getting up and spares the gear a look. He's covered in burns and his clothes are slightly tattered, but that likely isn't the most jarring thing about him.]



[It doesn't take long for Sasuke to wobble over, his hand gripping tightly at his left shoulder the whole time while he does. He cuts the feed once he makes it to the camera.]

[ACTION!]

[He's breathing hard as he's just trying to keep going, stubbornly pushing his pokémon away from him at every turn. Those pokémon just continued to try and help him, or at least carry him, back to a town. Any town. They didn't know what to do when their trainer was like this, clearly in a lot of pain and weak. Why did he keep pushing them away?

He stops, nearly falling when someone appears in his path. Who, though?]

Comments

[onefate]

"Stop following me!"

To say Neji was unamused was putting it lightly. Not only was he far from the Land of Fire already, Lee and Gai-sensei had charged ahead in one of their foolish contests of 'youthful sprinting.' And, well... he had lost them. The boy with the Byakugan wasn't used to loosing anything, but here he was, without a familiar landmark or person in sight.

Save for this thing that kept following him around, some kind of bipedal creature that had taken an interest in him. Anyone but Neji would know it as a Meinfoo -- Neji saw it as an irritant. His attention more focused on ignoring the weird little thing than on anything before him, it's almost a surprise when he finds a road, and in the middle of it, someone emitting a vile purple-hued Chakra.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

[beforethedarkness]

What? He stopped at hearing that voice, blinking a few times as he let it sink in. That voice was... Vaguely familiar. He turned to face him, again trying to shove his Luxio off of him as he met Byakugan with Sharingan.

"Neji."

So he was here... When had he gotten there? He didn't care, he just needed a way to force the mark back. But how.

[onefate]

His own eyes weren't activated just then, though as soon as he catches sight of Sharingan, his own intensifying in response. In spite of that Chakra, he didn't... seem overtly hostile, at least, not yet. Neji's eyes flick over his entire body, reading past the strange marks and the evil Chakra, filing away every small twitch and involuntary movement.

Then that thing nudged his arm, disrupting his focus as he tilted to the side, then snapped a glare to it. "Stop that!" he snarls, returning his attention to the Uchiha boy, brow furrowed as he gives the marks on the other's skin a pointed look.

"What is that?"

[beforethedarkness]

"... Pokémon. They're like ninja animals," He murmured, eventually losing his footing entirely. The tall bird-like creature behind him caught Sasuke, crooning softly and looking up to Neji with his own plead. It looked like this person knew what was going on. He had to help his trainer, somehow!

The Luxio at Sasuke's feet ran over to Neji and pawed at him, mewing and distressed with the same sort of request. Her trainer was weak, and he looked sick. And it looked like this guy knew him! Maybe he could help?

[onefate]

"Pokémon?" They didn't look like any animals Neji had ever seen, but fine, if that's what they were, then there was no helping it. He gave the one at his feet a glare and sidestepped to get out of its way.

"That's not important," he says finally, stepping around the cat-like thing and approaching, the Meinfoo following behind him. The last time he'd seen that kind of Chakra, the Uchiha had shattered the arms of a Sound ninja that had been able to take on Lee. He wasn't taking any chances, in case the other's seeming weakness was a ploy. "Those marks. What are those?"

[kuramaless]

The moment he'd arrived he knew a few things. One, that he'd been somewhere else like this before, and two-- that he was somewhere else. He was getting pretty astute these days, if he did say so himself.

The need to work out why he wasn't on the battlefield then was somewhat eased by his past time in Death City, and the urgency to work out just where he was died when he first bumped into those-- creatures. They were distracting enough until on his way along the path he'd happened upon left him standing face to face with none other than his friend, rival, enemy, team mate. Uchiha Sasuke, considerably younger than he recalled. Looking exactly like he had done at the valley of the end, only with less protruding wings and--

"Sasuke!"

[beforethedarkness]

What?

"Naruto?" His voice was hoarse when he responded to the blond, blinking at him as he looked over his shoulder to see if he could find the source. Only one person had a voice that loud and annoying, and sure enough it was him. The Blaziken took the opportunity to hook his hands under Sasuke's arms and tried to pick him up, much to the boy's distaste as he protested and shot the pokémon a glare, "Hiruzen, stop. I can walk."

The pokémon just shook his head, giving Sasuke a worried look before he looked up to Naruto. He wanted the other person to understand that his trainer needed help. Hopefully he would get that.

[kuramaless]

"Sasuke." The name was repeated, much quieter this time. Whatever those creatures were, Sasuke had given them names. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Sasuke had been here for at least a few days, although it probably took someone a lot more grown up than Naruto had been before.

Quick to react, he hurried to Sasuke's side, looking up at the-- thing and offering an awkward grin before leaning down, hands pressing just above his knees to look down into Sasuke's face. "-- The curse." He was from before... When, though? "You okay?" So it was a stupid question. Some things didn't change, but he just didn't know what to do for him.

[beforethedarkness]

Days nothing, Sasuke had been there for months. The Luxio at his feet pawed up at Naruto, mewing softly and sadly while the Crobat tried to nuzzle into the back of Sasuke's head. Sasuke, again, tried to shake them off as he was breathing hard. On top of the mark, his regular chakra had been drained and he was covered in burns and cuts.

"It's nothing," He insisted, shaking his head and frowning at Naruto. Wait a minute... "What... How? You're older..."

[kuramaless]

He spared a quick glance at the thing down by his feet, and then up at the one behind Sasuke's neck and-- it was no wonder Sasuke was trying to shake them off. He was quick to curl his arm around the Uchiha's back, waving at the flying thing. "Just-- leave him alone a second, yeah!?"

He shook his head right back, opening his mouth to complain when Sasuke said that. "... Yeah. This is one of them places right? Where you just end up, yeah? I've been to one before, not like this with the weird-- animal things. Er, a lot of stuff's happened."

video;

[heartdive]

Hey! Where are you!

[ planning to fetch, yes ]

[Video]

[beforethedarkness]

[Sora? He frowns at the pokégear, eyes still blazing red as the poisonous chakra leaks through him. That's before he shakes his head and tries to just keep going.]

Don't know.

[Hiruzen appears on camera and tries to stop Sasuke again, causing him to jar to a stop before he sighs and pulls out the gear to properly determine his location.]

... Route 47.

[Video]

[heartdive]

Way to really be out there...

I'm going to send out Fluffy, okay? She can make it there a lot faster than I can.

[Video]

[beforethedarkness]

[Who was Fluffy again? Sasuke just frowns, shaking his head and trying to stand on his own, without Hiruzen's help. Even if the pokémon in question is trying to out-stubborn him in helping him walk.]

I don't need help...

[Video]

[heartdive]

You're kind of a selfish jerk, you know that?

Just shut up and let your friends help you.

[punches]

[ Sakura's not sure what this place was, but it's no Konoha or any kind of place near it judging by the strange creatures she kept running into. Even though she had her own following after her, she paid it little attention.

Landing down into a clearing right in front of Sasuke, her surprise can hardly be contained as those bright green eyes widen instinctively. This had to be a strange form of jutsu or something, right? Because Sasuke wasn't... no, not like this anymore. ]

Sasuke-kun?

[beforethedarkness]

[The call of his name prompts him to lift his head to meet her eye, blinking a few times. There's something off -- too tall, different clothes, and simply the way she held herself were strange and new. But there was literally only one person he knew with that particular hair and eye combination, and her voice matched too.]

Sakura... You're here, too?

[The tall bird-like one insisted on keeping his hands on Sasuke's shoulder to keep him steady while the blue cat ran up to Sakura and mewed curiously at her. The bat? The bat was flying high and eyeing Sakura almost with suspicion, but the fact that her trainer wasn't acting like she was hostile got her to calm as well.]

[punches]

[ Rising to her feet before him fully, Sakura's gaze travels from each of the strange creatures around him, taking in each and every one briefly before settling back on Sasuke. ]

Yeah, I just showed up here today. [ She admits. ]

Have you been here for long?

[ She ought to show more concern for the other issues going on, but she can't. No, she has to wet her feet in speaking with the boy again. There may some years between them, but her awkwardness stems from events he's yet to live through and acts he's yet to commit. ]

[beforethedarkness]

... It's been almost four months since I got here.

[Just like Naruto and Neji, Sakura had only arrived today. Great. The throb and heat from his mark are more than incredibly distracting to him, but he has to focus on Sakura. They're not near where any tall grass, but there's still the cave to contend with. And the way back to town - Cianwood, if the map was right - was through there.

He's quivering visibly from trying to hold it all in, causing Blaziken to look fretfully down at him again. Sasuke, undeterred, tries to keep up eye contact, as if he doesn't look (or feel) like he's about to pass out. On the plus side, that very effort is helping the mark recede, even if it's not much.]

[punches]

Allow me to help you, Sasuke-kun.

[ Nope, not strange at all to still call him that despite the age difference. What's strange is the fact that he's been here for four months. If he was here, then who was the Sasuke who...

No, she can't think about that right now. Sasuke's hurt and clearly that must take control of her every sense. ]

I've learned to do miraculous things under the training of Tsunade-sama, so please believe me.

[Video]

[chosen_light_child]

Sasuke-kun! What's wrong?

[Hikari was pretty sure that tattoos that looked like flames were not supposed to suddenly sprout on a person's body like that. At all. This was really, really bad. Everything that was happening seemed to be a lot worse than the things in Johto that happened that no one understood that usually happened.]

[Video]

[beforethedarkness]

[Considering that the last time Hikari saw him was when he was still possessed by Lesly, she isn't exactly a person he wants to see right now. Then again, he doesn't really want to see anyone, but that's beside the point.

He's still panting hard when he bothers to reply to the feed again, though the fact that Hiruzen is there holding him still is more annoying than anything.]

... Avoid Goldenrod, if you can.

[Because being incredibly vague is always helpful.]

[Video]

[chosen_light_child]

[Hikari frowns, looking over at him.]

Did that Bowser person do this to you?

[Because well, she's already at Goldenrod. Whoops. And her Pokémon took the invitation to go wild with fighting against the attackers.]

[Video]

[beforethedarkness]

... Not quite. [It's true, really. Bowser didn't do that much damage to him (aside from striking him with lightning), but that doesn't mean Sasuke isn't feeling the effects of the battle he's had.]

[Video]

[chosen_light_child]

[Hikari frowns. Okay, so it wasn't something that Bowser did, but with everything going on right now it could be ANYTHING.]

Has this ever happened to you before?