The Namikaze Legend by Aerotyl

The Namikaze Legend, Chapter 52

Uchiha Sasuke began to panic, scrambling through his stuff for a brush and paper. Resting in his clenched fist was a chain, split in half due to a bent link. No matter how much chakra he poured in, the chain wouldn't repair itself and the response from the other side was absent. His anger flared. If this was a joke, there was hell to pay. But if it wasn't...if it wasn't, Sasuke wouldn't know what to do.

Frantically dipping his brush and sloppily scribbling a quick message before his hand started to shake uncontrollably, blotching the paper with running ink. He clasped his right wrist, hoping the shaking would stop. His vision began to blur as he tried to control his tremors. Naruto...

Waking up to the sounds of a nearby stream, the chirping of birds, and the bright sunlight was definitely different in comparison to the usual dark dreary mornings where he rose before the sun did. But that thought was cut short when his head throbbed. Wait, usual? What is usual? Why was this scenery so different from what he was used to? What did he do before? His mind was racing with questions that he could no answer.

There was a dull ache in his ribs and his shoulder has definitely seen better days. There was a burning sensation in this throat and suddenly he felt incredibly parched. Sitting up straight amplified the pain in his side, causing him to groan in pain. Clutching his side, he sat up all the way and began to flicker his eyes open. The harsh light caused him to wince as he tried to gather his surroundings. For some odd reason, his eyes felt drawn to the knife on the side of the wall. It confused him a lot but he shook his head and looked for water of any kind. Thankfully, there was a small glass of clear liquid resting on the night stand. The room, or at least, the hut was very basic, completely made of straw and mud with occasional rocks. It was very...primitive.

He looked around again and saw the door rolled open. There was a pile of clothing on the floor near the far end of the bed. The green vest seemed to bring comfort to him that he couldn't understand. Looking down he realized he seemed to be void of any clothing save for the bandages wrapped heavily around his torso. Shifting forward even more, the blanket tumbled further down before he swept his legs over the side and leaned his weight onto his legs, only to hear a large cracking symphony of his joints. He groaned again and leaned on the nightstand before standing all the way up.

Grabbing the cup of water he spotted before, he downed the liquid only to discover it wasn't water at all. He choked and sputtered, gagging at the strange taste of the liquid.

"You're supposed to drink it all, not spit it out."

He turned to the new voice only to see an old man walking in with a wooden cane. He looked, least to say, ancient. There were several bandages wrapped all around his body and face. He was hunched over but still managed to look regal...and cold.

"What was that?"

"Herbal medicine. To help with your joints."

Yeah right, old man. That thing was hell in a cup.

"Do you have any water?"

The old man raised a brow and looked behind him.

"There's a whole stream of water."

He tried to heft himself up but the old man pressed a hand against his shoulder to prevent him from getting up.

"Why don't you put on clothes first, Senju."

The room went silent and he could practically hear his heart beat.

"What...what is a Senju?"

The old man only furrowed his brows and shifted over to a makeshift table and held up papers.

"Your ninja registration papers. Senju is one of your...many last names."

Newly proclaimed Senju reached for the papers only for the old man to have faster reflexes than expected.