"Haku, you can sit," Sasuke sighed, looking at her still standing beside the chair he retrieved for her.
The second shinobi to grace this world hesitated; she felt it would be disrespectful for her to report while sitting but nodded eventually, sitting in front of him, hands on lap.
"So, first...tell me how come you are here; I don't know anything about this. I mean, the process..."
"I agreed to a deal," she answered, recalling the mysterious presence that discussed this deal with her.
"From whom and what is the deal?"
"I don't know the initiator, but it was that my soul imprint, or what he called ego, will be transferred from the white lands to help and serve you. I was given your identity first and then received memories about this place, some of yours... I saw what you did, what you built, and what you are trying to do; thus, I accepted it."
"The deal was to serve you." She concludes it in that simple sentence.
"I see, and you agreed? This is just another side of the same coin of what was happening to you back then in the land of waves."
"It is not; here, you aren't terrorizing people even with how weak they are; you are being their hope. I wouldn't have accepted the deal otherwise. I don't want to be back to spilling blood mindlessly."
"That's right, but, what benefit did you get? From this"
"Being alive again." It was simple; she simply didn't want to be there waiting for a random villain to reanimate her again or something worse. The shinobi world has many freaks who mess with the dead people.
"Mhm, you know about my situation?"
"The important parts, I do...I believe Sasuke-sama has received bits of memories from my life." Sasuke nodded, understanding the "important parts" and what they include if she saw about his life what he saw about hers.
"So you are real?"
"I believe so."
[Can you hear me?] Sasuke tugged at the weird link formed between them and tested it.
//Clearly, Sasuke-sama\\ and heard her soft voice replying to his inquiry even though both hadn't used their mouths to speak.
"Well, that's something good."
"Indeed," Haku smiled faintly, liking the feeling of the link between them.
"Is your chakra being blocked? Like me?"
"I can't seem to be able to access part of it. If I had to say, I'm currently at my peak genin stage, and my bloodline limit {Kekkei Genkai} too—it's being partially blocked by something." She raised her hand, and Sasuke saw the mist emitted from her pores, freezing mist, and then a thin ice sheet-like substance formed on her skin, making it harder, and from what his Sharingan read, also sharper at the fingertips. It worked like an innate weapon.
"I can't release it in great mass like I used to do; I'm sorry."
"Don't be, Haku; that's already impressive. Now, let's spar." Haku dropped down, evading the kick that was centimeters from striking her head; she rotated, trying to sweep his legs with a low spiral kick.
Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and jumped lightly, evading the low leg-sweep; he wanted to test the gap between them in his basic form, without Sharingan.
Haku made a distance from him, standing a few feet away.
"How far am I allowed to go, Sasuke-sama?"
"All out, you have your weapons?"
"I do." She swept her hands by her side, and Sasuke saw multiple senbons appearing between her fingers.
"Good, let's have fun." Haku blinked, caught off guard seeing him smiling as he unsheathed his sword.
She knows that this is most likely not the real Sasuke; he has the same name and has the same lineaments as most Uchihas, but he isn't the Sasuke she knew appearance-wise, and also his personality...he isn't much different when it comes to presence and skill, but their personalities are clearly contrasted.
Sasuke blurred, appearing before her, and did a simple front slash, trying to measure her current strength and his...
He followed with a wide horizontal slash seeing how she evaded the first one easily, this time faster.
The blade found its target, cutting through Haku's midsection. Just for the body to explode in a cloud of smoke, and from within countless senbons were hurled toward Sasuke at high speed.
'I miss this.' Sasuke smirked, his battle lust being unleashed uncontrollably; finally, he was fighting someone who was like him.
Haku appeared once more from the other side, holding a kunai in one hand, looking at Sasuke who was pierced through by many senbons, blood seeping from his injuries.
Not a second later, she rotated, blocking a kick that was aimed at her ribs, and winced at the weight accompanied by it. Her eyes briefly followed the sword that was thrown up in the air.
Sasuke, still in kicking position, used his second leg to jump and rotated, throwing another spinning kick aimed at her face. She leaned back, evading it, and raised a hand to block the damn third kick as the Uchiha used the rotation to once more do a final heel kick and tensed...
Feeling a hand gripping her ankle.
Sasuke had succeeded in distracting her by his triple kicks and used his upside-down position as leverage to grab her ankle.
His sword's scabbard that was tied on his hip blocked the kunai about to pierce his stomach accurately, and he kicked back, finally achieving a hit.
Haku's vision blurred from the pain that struck her chin.
That complicated attack all happened in two seconds, making her unable to keep up with his irregular taijutsu style.
She hastily retreated, hurling senbons at Sasuke, who stood, caught his sword again, and deflected each of them easily.
"You are strong, Sasuke-sama, even with all the limitations..."
"Thank you; you are still holding back though. Let's have a go at it later, a real one next when we have time."
Haku blinked, caught off guard by the sudden change in the scenery; that blink made her realize that she is still sitting in her chair, with Sasuke sitting on the opposite side, looking at her with a slight smile.
She understood what happened, seeing his red eyes that faded shortly after returning to their beautiful dark obsidian color.
"Genjutsu"
"Yeah, for checking where we stood briefly, that's good enough. I really want to go for it with you, but that can wait until we are free. I still have some things to do and have a few more questions."
"I understand, you are really strong, my lord. I hadn't even recognized it was a genjutsu."
"Experience made many things near-perfect." Sasuke shook his head and left it at that; even for someone who had awakened the Rinnegan, perfecting Sharingan's abilities was just as important.
And genjutsu being one of them, especially since the real Sasuke had complicated feelings toward Itachi, who was...second to none when it comes to that.
"And it's okay to just call me by my name when we are alone."
"I understand, Sasuke-sama."
"..." She saw his raised eyebrow and caught the hint.
"Sasuke...dono?"
"Just Sasuke is okay, so...do you have a real body?"
Haku didn't voice her answer; she took a senbon and used it to prick at her finger.
Sasuke saw a drop of blood showing on her finger's tip.
"I believe so; I can feel my chakra, my blood, and my heartbeat. I'm just a few years older than when we met in the land of waves..."
Sasuke wondered how a measly 50 chakra threads can summon a human, a shinobi nonetheless; he still didn't get how that works.
But at this point, he already had a hypothesis about how his chakra gain works.
It sounds ridiculous, utterly weird, but he had witnessed even more bizarre incidents in his shinobi life, and that was the only plausible theory about the reasons for his chakra limiters and the ^rewards^.
Dimensional laws—what if this is this dimension's law or the world's law?
He wasn't supposed to be wielding chakra, none other, but due to this pandemic, the world is allowing him to gain it; the more he cleanses it from walkers...the more chakra and his jutsu he unlocks, which are...the rewards.
Yet if that was the case...why had no other received similar rewards when killing walkers? Maybe because he was the irregularity in the first place, and that was the way to gain the permission and have back his power?
He rubbed his forehead, dismissing the thought altogether, and turned to her, who was looking at him with some concern seeing his actions.
"Mhm, let's do some more physical tests later; don't worry, it will be a private matter known by the two of us only, just to see if our blood and system work differently. Is there anything you want to say to me?"
"I want to know your orders for me, Sasuke-sama. What is my duty here?"
"My counselor, bodyguard, right-hand shinobi, ANBU...you pick what you are comfortable with. But yeah, you will help me run this place and keep it safe, for now; do recon."
"Do I get to pick another choice? Besides being your Anbu."
"Of course, which is...?"
"Your friend," she smiled, seeing Sasuke's pupils widen for a moment.
"Gladly," Sasuke chuckled, shaking his head.
He was caught with the flow that he has forgotten that Haku, in the end...is real, not a shadow clone he used to deal with like they were puppets.
Haku covered her mouth, giggling at his reaction. He was really nothing like the Uchiha she knew or heard about.
Even the Sasuke she knew briefly would've never smiled like that for such a simple thing.
It seems he is different here when it comes to his emotions.
"Oh yeah, can you understand this?" Sasuke finally remembered how this whole meeting with Haku was spent with him speaking in Japanese... So he switched to English, trying to see if she could understand it.
"The link—I understand what you said thanks to it, but I don't think I would if somebody else spoke to me in it." He nodded his head.
"How long would it take you to get it to the basics?"
"Hmm, how complicated it is compared to coded shinobi communication and fuinjutsu?" Sasuke took a few moments to think about it.
"I can say it's not as complicated, structure-wise, but it requires some focus and a good memory."
"I'll get it down to the basics in a matter of five days, if that is okay with you." She nodded, confident in her learning ability.
"Sure, don't pressure yourself; your lodging...for now it can be here or some secret point. I want your presence to be secret for a while. Is that okay with you?"
"I have no issue, Sasuke."
"Great, let's go," she nodded, following him to another section. Sasuke chose a wide area and dropped all the supplies she might need.
"Um, may I ask how you did that, Sasuke? Storing those many things without a scroll?" It was the first time for her to witness it, waving a hand and making things appear.
"A separate dimension—I got a special seal that I myself don't understand; it gave me a big space. Here, anything else you need?"
He turned to her, seeing how she started moving things to some places, like the bed, sofa, food table, clothes, and other supplies, positioning them to her liking.
"It's good."
"Alright, that's some info about this place and how to get out of here; you should be able to do it yourself. You can leave anytime; just be stealthy about it." Sasuke put her through a quick genjutsu to show her some things after asking her permission and then left.
Leaving Haku behind, who started going through the journal and trying to understand the full situation that the inherited memories didn't show her, like his relations, enemies, future goals, etc... and also starting with the basics of the new language... alphabets.
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A/N:
First thing, converting the fighting scene in my head to written form has always been hard, so yeah... I wrote it hastily. It can be shit.
Second, Haku is way more powerful, not as a fully grown Sasuke with his experience, which is the MC but still in the same tier as most elites.
But the thing I want to clear is... I'm not nerfing her or him.
None was really serious in this fight; Sasuke just wanted to see if he was dealing with a real shinobi, the Haku he knew.
And Haku was reluctant; she was good-hearted by nature and didn't use her ice release for offense, fearing for causing him some damage, as she herself too...didn't know how skilled he was. The memories she received were from his life here, and his enemies had all been utterly weak.
{Remember that she had mercy on the real Sasuke in the original timeline...faking his death.}
So that's why she limited herself, just like Sasuke, who refrained from going all out with his Sharingan.
...
It's slow pacing, I know, but I wanted a chapter focused on his first summon and to clear some somethings. Have a good day.