Chapter 6

"Who is Naruto?"

I felt a sick feeling begin to form in my stomach. Did Naruto not exist in this world? Maybe it was just he hadn't started classes yet? I offered an awkward smile, "Ah, sorry! I had some ramen last night and was thinking of narutomaki toppings! I meant Chouji!"

Kiba laughed, "I suppose it's easy to mistake Chouji for a food topping as much as he eats."

I offered a smile in return but internally I was freaking out. I wracked my memories for any knowledge of Naruto and found, to my dismay, that the only knowledge I had of the dumb blonde was from my previous life’s memories. This was not good.

I fell quiet as Iruka moved us from endurance training to the target area. It was an open space with numerous targets in the shapes of bullseyes, wooden posts, and strawmen, but my mind was still far from what was happening. Had Naruto joined Sasuke’s class later in canon? It was mentioned he failed the exam three times, but he was the same age as Sasuke. That meant the exams were likely something that happened throughout the year and just were more practice prior to the final graduation exam. It’s possible Naruto was just in a different class rotation?

I felt sick to my stomach. If Naruto didn’t exist, but other things like Kaguya did, I was well and truly screwed. I mean, it’s possible I could succeed on my own, but the truth was, without Naruto, so many paths closed. Without us joining forces, there would be little hope of gaining the rinnegan and even less of the Sage offering to help me. Furthermore, I actually liked Naruto as a character. Sure, he was a little annoying at the beginning, but his character growth was truly excellent and his philosophy of life was one that this world desperately needed.

I sighed. Nothing could be done in the moment. My best bet was to keep my eyes and ears open and hope for the best.

“Sasuke, you’re up,” Iruka’s voice broke me from my thoughts. He had another one of his concerned looks on his face and I felt myself irrationally annoyed once again. I get it. I just underwent a huge traumatic experience and you’re worried about me. Rationally, I totally get it. I still felt anger bubble at being pitied.

I stepped forward and took a few of the shuriken from the pile. We were aiming for the wooden post this time. I could see where several had hit and others had flown past the wooden post into the area behind. I wouldn’t miss.

I closed my eyes and took a breath. Focus. There would be time to ponder Naruto’s absence later. For now, all that mattered was hitting the target. I had three shuriken in each hand, held loosely between my fingers. This was slightly cumbersome but shouldn’t be too difficult. I’d practiced this with Itachi before.

I moved, relying on muscle memory and the pure talent that ran through my veins, and watched as my shuriken arced through the air.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Each of the shuriken found purchase in the thick wood and I heard gasps and yells of encouragement from the crowd of students behind me.

“Yatta! Way to go, Sasuke-Kun!”

Kun?

I frowned. I hadn’t heard anyone else using honorifics. Everything had been in English. Well, wait, that was not totally true. I had thought of the Fire Style as Katon without ever really thinking about it and placed Sensei at the end of Iruka’s name as well. That was odd.

As I walked back to join the group, I mentally catalogued different words. Fire Style was Katon, but Great Fireball remained in English. Fire Shadow was Hokage, but Lord Hokage was not Hokage-sama. Sensei was an honorific but Hime was not.

My brain hurt. This world’s grammar was like some weird amalgamation of English and Japanese. It was then it dawned on me. It wasn’t so much that I had transmigrated into the canon Naruto world. I had transmigrated into some fanon FanFiction world with weirdly interspersed Japanese words. Which meant my future knowledge was absolutely useless. This meant in the world, anything goes.

I felt sick to my stomach once again. I had knowledge, but it was not trustworthy. I could not reasonably rely on it so it should not factor into my beliefs.

In my introductory philosophy courses, I typically started with the field of Epistemology, a fancy word for the study of how we know what we know. It attempts to answer the question of “how do we have knowledge?” To state that an idea is knowledge, we would state that it is a justified true belief. A claim must be justified, or proven via evidence, true, or consistent with reality, and believed by the individual for it to be a claim of knowledge.

For example, I can make the claim that all swans are white. Because I believe that all swans are white, it is a belief. Additionally, this claim is justified because every swan I’ve seen is white and, as far as I’m aware, every other swan who has been seen by anyone was white; thus, it is justifiable. And finally it is most likely true because, as far as I’m aware, it is consistent with reality; however, it is only most likely true because it is entirely possible that somewhere there is a green swan swimming in a lake untouched by man. Thus, one of the chief principles of epistemology is the ideal of Epistemic humility. We act and reason as if we have knowledge, but we must possess humility and acknowledge that it is entirely possible that we were wrong.

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In this instance, I had been acting as if I had knowledge, but was lacking in Epistemic humility. I wrongly assumed I had been teleported into the world of canon. In this world, it was entirely possible that Itachi really was a heartless killer and Kaguya did not exist at all. Still, there was enough of this world that was consistent with canon that I could at least use canon knowledge as potential theories, but, ultimately, I needed to rely upon the information that I possessed, not future knowledge.

“Sasuke, your turn again!”

I was broken from my thoughts and nodded. Enough thinking. Too much of that might actually get me killed in this world.

The rest of the day passed without much to speak of. It consisted almost entirely of different lectures interspersed with physical training. Iruka was not the only Sensei who would teach and would alternate with others as he took a break. I found that I was grateful that Iruka was my “home room teacher” as it were. The young man had a natural care for others and his style of teaching was quite accessible. Though none of the teachers were particularly bad, none lived up to Iruka’s example.

“Would you like me to walk you home, Sasuke?” He approached as I was packing my bags for the day. I pursed my lips. I would not be opposed to the company, but I wasn’t necessarily heading straight home.

“Ah, thanks for the offer, Sensei, but I’ll be fine.”

Iruka gave a concerned look but nodded and said, “Alright, but if you ever need anything, let me know alright.”

I felt that same irritation bubble, but offered a smile all the same.

“Will do!”

The young-older shinobi nodded and turned back to his own things. I finished packing and made my way down the street. Classes ended around 4pm each day, so I still had time to do some training on my own and enjoy my evening.

I made my way through the village, my backpack on my shoulder. Occasionally a villager would give me an odd look, but I paid it no mind. I breathed in the energy that suffused this place and observed. One of the first things I noticed was that people were kind to each other. Very different from my own hometown of New York. When someone bumped into another they apologized. People smiled at each other and I could tell that there was a general affection that members of the Hidden Leaf had for one another. It was somewhat bizarre considering that one out of three citizens were soldiers that could kill dozens in an instant, but I suppose that is what Hiruzen spoke of when the Will of Fire was mentioned. The people of this village loved one another and would die for one another.

I felt affection bubble in my heart. My clan may be gone, but that did not mean I could not build a new family. I could love this village and protect it with everything I had.

I paused. Without Naruto, someone had to become Hokage, right? As I looked around, I decided yes. I would protect these people.

It took some asking around, but eventually, I found where I was looking for. I stared at the sign hanging over the small restaurant: Ichiraku Ramen. Alright, time to see what this place was about.

“Welcome!” The kind voice of a young woman rang out from behind the counter. A middle-aged man could be further back prepping some food ingredients.

I took a seat at the bar and gave a friendly nod, “Hello, this is my first time here.”

“Oh wonderful,” the girl smiled brilliantly, “My name is Ayame Ichiraku! Will your parents being joining us?”

I saw her gaze extend past me expectantly and then towards me with a look of concern. I felt that same familiar ache of grief blossom in my chest and I felt my eyes begin to tear up. I swallowed and forced back the pain.

“Ah, my name is Sasuke Uchiha. I’m here on my own.”

Her face seemed to fall as I said my name, but it did not last before she graced me with a smile once again. It was different this time though. Less exuberant and more…sincere.

“Ah, well welcome Sasuke. We are happy to serve you. Do you have a taste for anything in particular?”

I looked up at the menu and pursed my lips. I hadn’t eaten much Japanese food in my past life, preferring more Italian and Hispanic dishes, but my younger self’s memories were sufficient.

“I’ll have the tonkatsu ramen, please.”

Ayame nodded and yelled out, “Dad, one tonkatsu!”

“Will do, Ayame!”

I smiled softly at the interplay between the father and daughter. Despite the grief in my heart, it was also warming to see.

I sat patiently and observed the two as they worked. From a quality perspective, it was good to see that Teuchi was using fresh pork in the tonkatsu and, as Ayame worked, the pickled eggs looked fresh as well. I felt my stomach begin to growl as the smell of beef broth began to fill the air. Yeah, this was going to be good.

Soon a steaming hot bowl of ramen was placed before me and I gave Ayame and Teuchi a smile, “Thank you both so much!”

“Ah you’re most welcome, Sasuke! Enjoy!”

I nodded and proceeded to eat. The first bite was heavenly…and so was the second. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the pork was seasoned in just the right manner. I took my time, enjoying the meal, but if this was the meal they ate in canon then Naruto was right. Ramen is the food of the gods.

I finished eating and paid quickly with a portion of the allowance partitioned to me for the month. I couldn’t eat here every night, but I sure as hell was going to make it a weekly thing.

“Come back now, Sasuke!” Teuchi said with a smile and I gave a thumbs up.

“Absolutely!”

By this point it was just past five. Time for training I suppose.

The next few days past by in a similar manner. I would attend class, make myself dinner, and train until I was exhausted before heading to bed. In my training, I found I most loved running and practicing the Katon jutsu. Running with chakra was freeing, as if I was flying, and practicing Katon left me feeling warm inside. Soon, I would need to incorporate chakra control training, but for now I was just gaining a measure of what I could truly do.

In class, I mostly kept to myself, though I had seemed to develop a friendly rivalry with Kiba in our runs. The two of us were consistently at the front of the pack and would share good natured insults as we ran. I still had yet to see any sign of Naruto, however, and my concern grew. If he didn’t exist…then everything rode on my shoulders.

And so, the following week, I made a choice and sat next to Shikamaru Nara.