Chapter 2: In Which My Best Frenemy Gets All Sentimental and I Don't Cry (You Cried)
Sasuke turned to me, hovering there in the sky like an edgy black-winged storm cloud that occasionally judged your life choices.
"You didn't disappoint me," he said.
I blinked. "Wait, what?"
"You've grown stronger," he continued, ignoring my dumbfounded look. "More than I expected. You're worthy."
Worthy.
I looked around like he was talking to someone else. Maybe a flying fish named Naruto who actually understood what was going on. But nope. It was me. Uzumaki Naruto. Resident knucklehead. Ramen lover. Shadow Clone spammer. And apparently… worthy.
"Worthy of what?" I asked, dumbly.
He gave me the smallest smile. The kind that barely moved the corners of his mouth but might as well have been a full-blown hug coming from Sasuke. "My rival. My equal."
My brain short-circuited.
You ever have a moment where something you thought was only in your head—some one-sided hope or feeling—suddenly turns out to be real?
Yeah. That.
Because for years, I'd chased after him. Always a step behind, always yelling at his back, like some kind of emotionally constipated puppy. I thought maybe… maybe he cared. But he never said it. Not once.
Until now.
"I always thought I was annoying you," I muttered. "Like… you hated me or something."
Sasuke snorted. That's right—snorted. I almost fell out of the sky.
"I did," he said casually. "At first."
Wow. That stung a bit.
"But even then… I needed you."
That made my heart do a weird flip. The kind that feels like someone dropped a Rasengan in your chest and forgot to turn it off.
What I didn't know—what Sasuke didn't tell me—was that Orochimaru had played one of his twisted little science experiments. Made a clone of me. Perfect voice, perfect moves, perfect me-ness. It fought Sasuke like I would've. Talked like I would've. Believed in him like I would've.
And Sasuke had no choice.
He had to kill it.
He thought it was real, even for a moment.
And the pain from that—that moment where he thought he'd really lost me—had shattered something in him. Or maybe unlocked something. Like a Sharingan powered by heartbreak and stubborn loyalty.
That's when his Mangekyo had awakened.
Not from hatred. But from the fear of losing the one idiot who wouldn't give up on him. Me.
He didn't tell me any of this. Not then.
But I felt it. Somewhere deep in my gut, in that weird Naruto-way I had of just knowing things even when they weren't said.
He looked at me like he was finally seeing me. Not just the guy who chased after him, not just the loudmouth with the orange jacket—but his friend. His equal.
And somewhere in that dark, stormy head of his, he'd decided: once Itachi was gone, once his revenge was over…
He'd ask me to walk with him. Not behind him. Not chasing his shadow.
But beside him.
And that?
That was enough to make me smile.
Still… I had a reputation to keep.
"Geez, Sasuke," I said, rubbing my nose so he wouldn't see the moisture in my eyes. "You're gonna make me cry. Say something rude already."
He rolled his eyes. "You're still an idiot."
There it is.
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Let me tell you something about New York: it's loud, it smells like hot dogs and car smoke had a baby, and the buildings are so tall it's like someone was compensating for something.
Sasuke and I were hovering over it, invisible. Yeah, you read that right—invisible. Not metaphorically. Not ninja-style "you-can't-see-me-behind-this-leaf" stealth. I mean full-on chakra-cloaked ghost mode. If anyone had looked up at that moment, they'd have just seen blue sky and maybe a bird or two giving us dirty looks.
And don't even get me started on the pressure in the air.
"Feel that?" I asked Sasuke, as we hovered over some rooftop that smelled like pizza, tar, and something I'm pretty sure was regret.
He nodded, his Sharingan deactivated, eyes narrowed. "There's someone strong nearby."
No kidding. My Sage Mode was practically shaking in its sandals. This guy's life force was like staring into the sun if the sun was also made of thunder and bad vibes. A golden blur zipped by in the sky above us. Blonde. Glowing. Radiating energy like he ate explosions for breakfast.
"Who the heck is that?" I muttered, crouching lower.
"No idea," Sasuke said. "But he could probably level a mountain."
Which, you know, wasn't comforting. Kurama inside me was growling, not in fear—but in that "I-don't-like-this-dude" way he used to reserve for Madara and spicy ramen that had gone bad.
Still, we stayed hidden. Sentry, or whoever glow-boy was, didn't notice us. Maybe it was Sasuke's cursed seal suppressing his chakra completely. He could pass for a bored civilian in yoga pants if he wanted to. Me? I had these new fuinjutsu seals from Jiraiya-sensei that did all sorts of neat things—suppressing my chakra, enhancing my stats, even blocking mid-level genjutsu and chakra-disturbing jutsu. Basically, I was a walking, talking ninja swiss army knife.
We touched down on a random rooftop. It had graffiti on the side, a rusty AC unit humming like a dying bee, and enough bird poop to qualify as a biohazard zone. Perfect.
"Alright," I said, brushing my hands. "Step one: Don't die. Step two: Find someone smart who can help us. Step three: Eat something. Preferably noodles."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "In that order?"
"Food's non-negotiable."
He rolled his eyes and sat down, cloak billowing dramatically like he was posing for an album cover.
I took a seat beside him, legs dangling over the edge of the roof. Down below, New York buzzed like a living beast—cars honking, people yelling, and a street performer pretending to be a statue but definitely sneaking peeks at the passing ladies.
I sighed. "Do you think our world's okay?"
"It should be," Sasuke said. "Unless something followed us through the portal."
He didn't say it, but I caught the twitch of his fingers. The worry behind those cold eyes.
"Then we don't bring attention to ourselves," I said. "No fights, no flashy jutsu, and no acting like we're in an anime crossover episode."
Sasuke stared. "We are in an anime crossover episode."
"…Fair."
Still, we were in this together now. No more chasing. No more lonely paths. Just two shinobi trying to find their way home through a world filled with capes, laser eyes, and way too many people in spandex.
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So there we were—two shinobi from another world, sitting on a rooftop like a couple of confused pigeons. We had no clue where we were, what anyone was saying, and Sentry—the human sunbeam—had just zoomed by like it was no big deal. Which, okay, was very not okay.
"I don't understand a word they're saying," I muttered, watching the people below speak in fast, jumbled sounds. "It's like a frog trying to rap."
Sasuke gave me that look again—you know, the one that says, You're lucky you're strong or I'd leave you in another dimension.
"Time to adapt," he said, eyes flashing red with his Sharingan. "We'll learn it. Minds hold language."
"Oh," I said, "so we're doing that trick."
See, Sasuke can copy your fighting style, your handwriting, probably even your credit card number if you looked at him the wrong way. But me? I have this thing—Kurama calls it "Ninshu," but I call it Naruto's Friendly Mind Meld (trademark pending). When I connect to someone, I get them. Not just the words—they feel like old friends for a second.
We found a guy sitting on a bench with a bag of something called "chicken nuggets," which smelled suspiciously like heaven. Sasuke and I crouched nearby like stalker cats.
"Who's doing it?" I asked.
"You," he said.
"Me?" I blinked. "Why?"
"You won't break his mind."
"…Fair."
I dropped into Sage Mode, reached out, and boop—connected.
Flash. Emotions. Memories. Dreams about being a professional gamer and something called "taxes" that made him cry a little inside. His name was Kevin. He worked at a place called Target. He loved Spider-Man. Spider-Man.
And suddenly, I loved him too.
Naruto Uzumaki, proud fan of the wall-crawling, wise-cracking, misunderstood hero with a heart of gold and jokes for days. It was like looking into a chakra-powered mirror.
Sasuke went next, and of course he didn't connect emotionally—he skimmed Kevin's brain like a library catalog. He even squinted. "Tch. This guy thinks water makes plants grow. Idiot."
"It does make plants grow."
"He microwaves ramen with the lid on."
"...Monster."
But now we knew what we needed. The language. The names. The world.
The X-Men, the Avengers, the Brotherhood, and more. Some of the people here had powers because they were born that way. Some had accidents. Some just had money and trauma. And all of them had superhero names cooler than anything we got back home. (Looking at you, Kiba.)
Sasuke's eyes glinted as he flipped through info like a battle plan.
"Logan," he said. "Wolverine. Has metal bones. Slices through anything."
"You're not stealing his bones, Sasuke."
"I want his metal. I can make a sword."
"You're like a crow. 'Ooh, shiny!'"
He ignored me and kept muttering about "adamantium alloy convergence points" and other words that made my brain hurt.
"You think we'll meet them?" I asked, eyes scanning the skyline.
"We will," Sasuke said calmly.
"You'll fight them, won't you?"
"Only the strong ones."
I smiled. This was going to be a long mission.
But hey—at least I could finally read the signs. Which was good because Sasuke nearly walked us into a dog grooming salon thinking it was a library.
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With the language downloaded into our brains like a ninja Google Translate, things got easier. Well, easier for me—Sasuke had already started acting like he was born in a penthouse and had a five-star ego to match.
"We're going to stay somewhere comfortable," he said, which was Sasuke for I'm tired of being mistaken for a homeless hover-cosplayer.
So we went to this place called the Aurum Crown Hotel—which, by the way, had golden chandeliers, floors that were shinier than Sasuke's forehead protector, and bathrooms bigger than Ichiraku Ramen.
I was about to ask how we were paying for this when Sasuke walked up to the front desk, locked eyes with the receptionist, and bam—the poor guy's face went blank like he'd just forgotten what gravity was.
Sasuke's Sharingan swirled lazily. "We have a reservation under 'Uchiha.' Top floor. Presidential suite."
"Yes, sir. Of course, sir. Would you like the rooftop jacuzzi pre-heated?"
Sasuke gave me a smug look that screamed peasant, then walked toward the elevator like a shadow in Armani.
"You hypnotized him," I whispered. "That's cheating."
"Would you rather sleep in a dumpster?"
"…I mean, I've done it before."
Our suite had three bedrooms, a private theater, and a fridge full of tiny drinks that cost more than a mission bonus. I opened one out of curiosity and immediately heard Sasuke say from across the room, "Don't touch the minibar. You'll trigger an alert."
"Why is it so expensive?" I muttered. "Is this water blessed by the Sage of Six Paths?"
I tried the jacuzzi instead. That was a mistake.
The jets turned on with the force of a tailed beast sneeze, blasting me into the ceiling. Sasuke didn't help. He just glanced up from the couch, raised one eyebrow, and muttered, "Dobe."
After I peeled myself off the ceiling and got a towel that felt like it was made of chakra clouds, we sat out on the balcony overlooking the city.
"Why'd you go for the fancy life so fast?" I asked. "You're usually more... dark cave and revenge training vibes."
He didn't answer right away. Just stared out at the skyline, lightning flashing faintly around his fingertips.
"We don't know how long we'll be here," he finally said. "Might as well enjoy the view."
That caught me off guard. It wasn't often Sasuke said something… not angsty.
"Hey," I said, nudging him. "You're not going soft, are you?"
He glared. "Try me."
I grinned. "Nah. I like this version of you. Fancy Sasuke. Five-Star Sasuke. You should get a monocle."
He almost smiled. Almost.
The city was huge, alive with energy—mutant, mystical, and everything in between. Somewhere down there were heroes we hadn't met, villains plotting who-knows-what, and probably a ramen shop I was destined to find.
But for now? We had a fancy room, a temporary peace, and a mission.
Step one: Don't cause an international incident.
Step two: Find a way home.
Step three: Get Sasuke that unbreakable sword.