The Unknown Goddess: A Naruto Fanfic - Volume 1 Chapter 51

Sasuke was very confused and slightly terrified as he descended into complete darkness. He couldn’t move. He could hardly see anything. He didn’t know what was going on. One minute he was staring into Athena’s blue eyes the next he was falling in a dark abyss. Trying to move was futile for his body would not respond. Panic threatened to overtake him, but he took in a deep breath and kept calm. Panicking in this situation would of him no good. He needed to be calm and think things through. This darkness was caused by Athena. She is the one that pulled him into a genjutsu of sorts. He need not panic.

Right?

He had no idea what Athena planned on doing right now.

He blinked in shock when the darkness suddenly faded and opened to a familiar world. He looked down, finding himself on a grassy ground. He turned around and found himself facing the back of his house. What? He looked down again. Why were his hands so small? He was closer to the ground too. Was he reduced to the size of a child?

“Yes ”

He jumped when he heard Athena’s voice. He looked around frantically and found her seated on a tree branch, book in hand. She remained her tweleve year old self.

“What’s going on? ”

“Have you ever thought of the possibility of there being more than one reality? ” she asked, sounding cryptic .

More than on reality? No, he had never thought of such a thing. Now that it was brought up he couldn’t help but wonder. What would his other self be like? Would his father have accepted this other version? Whoul he be a genius like his brother? Would he even be the younger brother? There were now so many questions.

“Now that I’ve got you thinking about that , I’ll warn you” Athena said seriously. “You will not like this reality”.

“What do you mean? “That was a stupid question. There was only one meaning behind those words.

“Exactly what I said” Athena returned her gaze to her book. “This reality does not favor you”

“It doesn’t? ”

“Not one bit” Athena sighed. “As disappointing as this will be and as bad as I feel about doing this.. ” Athena trailed off with an unreadable look in her blue eyes. “This will also answer some of your questions”

Sasuke didn’t say anything to that and returned to staring at his house. He looked back at his hands before looking at Athena.

“You’ve put me in the shoes of this version of me? ”

“Yes, great observation ” Athena smiled, seeming proud. “You now have control of that body, but the minute I will everything to start, control will no longer be known to you. You will, however be conscious of what’s going on. There will be some moments where I pull you out of this perspective to help you see things more clearly, though”

“I see” He wondered what this world has in store for him. Athena already told him it would not be good and she put this together to help him unlock his Sharingan so it must be terrible.

“Are you ready? ”

“I’m not sure”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be leaving your side ” Athena was suddenly next to him and placed reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“That’s reassuring but I’m still not sure I’m ready for this”

“Too bad” Athena patted him on the back. He tried to turn towards her to say something, but he couldn’t. Instead his body started moving towards the house without his control. “It’ll feel weird but hang in there”

Stepping into the house he made a bee line to his brother , tackling him in a tight hug. He couldn’t help but want to smile. He looked up to his brother and wanted to constantly be near him. Apparently this version of him was the same.

“Big brother, will you train me now? ”

“Sorry, Sasuke” Itachi ruffled his hair as he removed his ANBU mask. “I need to talk to father, maybe later? ”

“But you promised! ”

“I know ” Itachi chuckled. “Wait a bit”

“You never keep your promises ”

He really never does.

“Sorry”

Little Sasuke huffed and watched his brother get his father. The two exchanged some silent words before making to leave the house. Sasuke made to follow them, but his mother held him back.

“Now, now, you know what your father says about following him” The ever kind Mikoto reminded as she pushed his bangs out of his face.

“Where do they go all the time ”

This version of him was not different at all. He always wondered where they went. They never told him. It was always business . He wasn’t allowed to know what their secret conversations entailed.

“They just need to talk about ninja stuff”

“You say the same thing everytime”

“Time for a change of perspective”

When the familair voice was heard Sasuke was suddenly staring at his younger self and mother. They couldn’t see him. He looked to Athena, who stood next to him.

“They can’t see us? ”

“Nope” She snapped her fingers and they were suddenly in a dim room. Sasuke was a bit taken aback by the sudden change. There were a group of people gathered in the room. His father and brother were amongst them.

“Father, I do believe there is another way” Itachi spoke quietly as he strode to keep up with his father’s fast pace. “Too much blood woll be shed if we continue like this. The potential of another war is very high with this plan”

Fugaku stopped suddenly , not facing his son.

“I expected good news” he said, his voice cold. “You have a mission and you must not fail”

“Father”

“We can not continue like this. We live in their shadow. We were cast aside, limited to this pathetic space we call our compound all because of something we did not do. They do not try us and we shall give them reason to cower before us” Fugaku said sternly. “We will have power and you will not betray us”

It took Sasuke a moment to understand what was going on , but when he realized it his eyes widened in his shock. He watched his brother walk away. He then looked to Athena who observed the situation with interest .

“So this is what took place” she said to herself.

“You didn’t know this? ”

“No”

Sasuke looked at her in disbelief.

“Then how are you showing me this? “How could she pull him into this genjutsu if she did not know of what had taken place.

“I merely follow the string of fate” she informed him. “I did tell you that this will be more than a genjutsu. This is just a different version of time and time is something I get along with, you see”

Sasuke decided not to question her further.

“My father planned on seizing power” Sasuke said. “This is what was happening seven years ago? ”

“Yes”

“Will it be stopped here? “He looked to Athena for answers and she only smiled sadly.

“Yes it will, but.. ”

“But what? ”

She sighed and snapped her fingers again. Again Sasuke was not prepared for the sudden change in scenery and it took him a moment to regain himself. They were now in the Hokage office. There was currently a meeting being held between the old man and the shinobi council.

“This took place a few days before the meeting we just witnessed” Athena informed as she leaned against a wall. She was glaring at someone. Sasuke followed her gaze to an otherwise unassuming middle aged man with the right side of his face hidden by bandages. His expression was hard as he spoke to the old man

“We are running thin on solutions. There is only one way to keep this village safe” the man spoke.

“That is Danzo, a very despicable man”

“There is always another way Danzo” Hiruzen said sternly. “Genocide is not the answer”

Sasuke flinched at the sentence. Something within him sunk immediately. Genocide. Was that man suggesting they execute every Uchiha? That’s despicable. There had to be another way. The old man always finds another way. He wouldn’t order the death of his clan. He couldn’t. Anything but that.

But that sinking feeling got worse the longer those words bounced around in his head. This reality was not kind to him. Athena said so and when she said there was a solution, she didn’t look very happy.

“He won’t let that happen, right ? ”

Athena didn’t look at him. She instead eyed the old man.

He knew what that meant. He would. He would order the death of his clan if things get worse and from what he had seen things will get worse.

The scene suddenly changed.

They were now in a forest where Shisui and Itachi stood opposite eachother in complete silence. They both had their Sharingan activated. There was total silence. One could hear a needle drop. The wind was blowing , flowing through their hair. The squawk of the birds could be heard as they took to the sky.

“Training? ”

Athena nodded and watched a single white feather drop to the ground. The battle started instantly. She marveled at the exchange of blows and weapons. They were fast, appearing in one direction within seconds of being in their former spot. Athena followed it all and took pity on Sasuke who struggled. She had always wanted to see what took place during this training sesh. It was amazing. She will forever remember this scene. Never to be forgotten.

All good things must come to an end.

“He never trained me” Sasuke huffed

“Don’t be so disappointed ”

“I know what this is about” Shisui suddenly said once he had pulled Itachi up to his feet.

The scene was quick to shift. They were now on a cliff of sorts. The sky was orange with the setting sun. Sasuke stuck close to them, wanting to know what they would be talking about. What they planned. Could it prevent what he felt was inevitable?

“I’m guessing things didn’t go very well” Shisui said from his spot on a small stump.

“I’m sorry” Itachi apologized. “I did everything I could but the only thing I could accomplish was to withhold the plan”

“This is a coupe involving our entire clan. We knew it wouldn’t be easy to dissuade them” Shisui said in understanding. “Their will to make this happen is stronger than we anticipated. That said, delying the plan is still a good result”

“And you? You said you planned on finding some allies, any luck? ”

“Unfortunately it’s not going well. For better or worse they’re part of the Uchiha clan, so their bond is strong”

There was silence after that statement. Itachi looked pensive if not disappointed.

Sasuke was happy his brother and best friend tried to stop it. At least his brother was not in this deadly coup. He always knew his brother would do the right thing. He could do no wrong. Despite all of this. Despite their planning he still had a very sick feeling in his gut.

“Don’t give me that look” Shisui said, standing. “Remember, this is you and me we’re talking about, Itachi”

Athena smiled at the scene. Shisui had his hand on Itachi’s shoulder and smiled reassuinhly.

“It’ll be fine, so don’t worry too much”

She would ship this if she was a fan of this pairing. She loved their brotherly relationship and was happy it remained as that.

“In any case, you keep an eye out and work from the inside. I’ll work on finding another wa-”

He was then interrupted by a little Sasuke running to catch up to his brother.

That brought up a question.

“Was there a point in me being in that small body? ” Sasuke asked Athena who hid a smile he caught.

“It was for my amus.e.m.e.nt at the time”

“Why am I not surprised”

Sasuke watched his brother interact with the younger him. He chuckled when he tapped his forehead. He was too young to know what they were conversing about. He always thought Itachi just said that to justify his secret keeping habit but he knew better now.

“All of this was taking place seven years ago”

Athena nodded.

“Everything is practically a mirror image”

Another nod.

“Why aren’t you here? ”

“I do not exist in this reality”

“How is that possible”

“Alternate reality”

“Something bad is about to happen, huh? ”

“Sadly”

“It will hurt”

“Definitely ”

Sasuke sat on the grass the feeling in his gut was distracting and making him sick. He didn’t like this at all. He didn’t like how things were going.

“I’m not going to like it”

Athena remained quiet and let the boy process things. It was a learning experience for her as well. She’s seeing things she never saw before. And to think it was all because of her eyes. She really did see everything, didn’t she?

She closed her eyes for a moment.

She didn’t want to show Sasuke what could’ve been, but she felt like she had to do it. It would answer his questions and make him see things as they are and what they could have been. It might traumatize him, but he wouldn’t be an Uchiha if he never suffered through trauma.

She still felt terrible about this, but again she felt like it had to be done .

This was sure to unlock the Sharingan. This could also impact him enough to awaken the three tomoe sharingan. It was a possibility.

This Sasuke grew up with his family. His caring mother. His distant father that he still respected and loved. His promise breaking brother. Seeing all of that just fall apart will hurt.

An Uchiha is destined to suffer pain.

That’s just how it is sometimes.