The Red Mirror

A Naruto Fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Shonen Jump, Viz, and other companies, and it’s creator is Kishimoto Masashi. I am not writing this for profit.

Take a concept from one manga, and take it for a spin and twist in another…

"Owww..."

Naruto winced sympathetically at his twin. Sakura had proceeded to beat the stuffing out of him, before giving Naruto and Shizune a rant that nearly tore the wallpaper off. Her anger spent (on them anyway), she'd stalked off.

Hinata had been placed on the spare hospital bed in the room, while Red Naruto sat next to Naruto's bed. Shizune had run off, red faced, with the excuse of going to the bathroom and an admonishment to Red Naruto to keep the original in bed.

"Guess she hasn't lost her touch, huh?" Naruto managed to joke. Red Naruto scowled at him, rubbing his bruised forehead.

"Bite me, Blue Eyes. Just for that..." He pulled out a storage scroll, and released one with a poof of smoke. He pulled out a container of ramen, and with a pair of chopsticks attached to it, he began to eat. Naruto's jaw dropped, and he began to drool.

"Hey, hey... You brought me ramen?" Naruto asked. Red Naruto rolled his eyes.

"No, this is my ramen."

"What?!" Naruto gaped. His twin just snorted.

"After my day, I am having my ramen, which is for nobody but me, so fuck you."

"B-But, but-BUT C'MON! YOU'RE ME!"

"Yes, you're me, and as a result, I can totally imagine how horrible this must be for you, after getting into a tickle fight with Shizune-nee-chan," Red Naruto said, noisily slurping up some noodles. He took the time to chew them, and then swallowed. "Mmmm..."

"You... You bastard," Naruto hissed, "you're just going to eat that ramen in front of me?!"

Red Naruto looked thoughtful for a long moment. He then rolled more noodles onto his chopsticks, and raised them, tortuously slowly, up to his lips. Just before he took this portion into his mouth, he looked at Naruto out of the corners of his eyes... And just grinned.

"Yeeeeep."

"RAWRRRR-GAH!"

Naruto flailed his arms frantically, as Red Naruto casually kept his face planted into the floor with his foot.

"Now now, you'll only aggravate your injuries," Red admonished.

"MNGRLE MPH!"

"Such language!" Red Naruto said. Naruto snarled and tried to push himself back up to his feet. Unfortunately, Red Naruto's foot kept pinned, without any visible effort on the red eyed copy's part.

"D-Damnit! How the hell are you doing that?!"

"It's not that hard. One, you're still recovering. And two, I'm boosting my strength a little with my chakra," Red Naruto explained. He lifted his foot off the back of Naruto's head, before grabbing the original by his shoulders and tossing him into his bed.

"OOF!" Naruto stared at his counterpart. "Wait, but how?"

"Simple," Red Naruto said. "You know how much faster and stronger we were while using the Fox's chakra?"

"Yeah?" Naruto asked.

"Well, the Kyuubi's chakra is a lot denser than ours, and a lot more potent," Red Naruto explained. "I can't do anything about the potency part... I'm just like that naturally," he said with a smirk. At Naruto's scowl, Red Naruto sighed.

"Short version is, using the techniques we use to walk on water and stick to trees, I just built up the chakra in my body and kept it contained inside my leg, which increased my strength." Red Naruto shook his head. "Any idiot can do it."

"Which explains how you-"

"Think carefully before you say that, you'll be insulting yourself," Red Naruto said. Naruto scowled, but said nothing more. "Good... Which brings me to something important I wanted to talk to you about. Now that you're awake."

"What?"

"Well, here's the situation: If you die, I die, and I really have no interest in dying, Blue Eyes. I like living," Red Naruto explained. "So! I'm going to train the hell out of you until you're strong enough to not die."

"You're going to train me? But-But you only know what I know!" Naruto said.

"And with just what you know, I was able to kick your ass."

"I-I still beat you!"

"Yes, through sheer. Dumb. Luck." Red shook his head. "Which ain't gonna save us every single time. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to not leave living to chance. So! I'll train you, you pass on what you learn from Ero-Sennin to me, we call it even if you don't die."

Naruto frowned and thought it over. "... Okay, you've got a deal... ONLY if you share some ramen with me."

Red Naruto smirked. Too easy... "All right..." He looked back at the door, as Shizune returned. The Hokage's disciple looked red-faced and sweaty, and her scent made him grin.

"Hey, Shizune-nee-chan. Can I give Idiot Boy here some ramen? It's just to seal a deal."

"Ah? Er..." No! Don't look into his eyes! Not again! I... DAMNIT!

At Naruto's pleading expression, she sighed and nodded.

"All right..."

"YAY! I love you, Shizune-nee-chan!" Red Naruto blinked, and scowled as he found his hands suddenly empty. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, as Naruto messily devoured the box of ramen. Neither blonde paid much attention to Shizune, who was well on her way to beating Hinata's blush intensity.

Hinata, meanwhile, had deepened her breathing slightly, but not quite enough to be noticed by either Naruto...

Red Naruto's clone had cheerfully slipped away from Sakura, and right out of the hospital into the fresh air and sunshine. He briefly entertained going to eat more ramen, but, almost uncharacteristically, the thought was discarded in favor of a new distraction.

"Hmmm...?" Red Naruto blinked at the flower shop display, and cocked his head. He could spy an exasperated Ino through the window. The reason was obvious.

"Hmmm... Sakura-chan," he thought aloud. The pinkette was raving about something, which the blonde girl was tolerating. Red Naruto couldn't imagine why this was-In his experience, most girls were always talking about something. Sure, he liked to talk too, but mainly because he didn't have many people to talk to on a regular basis. Girls talked all the time. Frankly, it was a little weird to Red Naruto.

Hey, wait! The clone thought, grinning. That's perfect!

His creator wasn't going far enough! He just wanted to make sure the original survived. Which was good, Red Naruto didn't want to die any more than his creator. But there was so much more to life than just... Well, living.

Like girls! Cute, curvy, nice girls like Hinata. Hot, curvy, dangerous girls like Anko. Curvy, kind and understanding girls like Shizune-nee-chan. Aw hell, girls in general were great! Especially curvy ones.

He saw Ino look at him, and he stared back. He glanced over at Sakura, then questioningly at her. Ino blinked in mild confusion, before rolling her eyes. Red Naruto grinned, and entered the flower shop, loudly ringing the bell.

"Hey Sakura-WOAH!"

"Damnit Naruto, what now?!" Sakura growled at him, rechambering her leg for another kick. Red Naruto dodged that one too, and backflipped over the counter to land behind a surprised Ino.

"Honestly Sakura-chan, I send a clone all the way down here to get you some flowers in apology, and you just decide to beat me up! Again!" He sighed and pushed Ino out of the way of a thrown pot. "I just can't win!"

"SAKURA! Watch the merchandise!" Ino admonished. She then shoved Red Naruto away from her with a scowl. "As for you..."

"Ino-chan! Just the girl I wanted to see!" Red Naruto grinned. He leaned in close to her, making the blonde girl blush.

"Wh-What?"

"I need some advice on girls." He glanced at Sakura, who was fuming at him. Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Better late than never...?"

"I mean, part of my problem is that I don't know how not to piss them off," Red Naruto mused. He shrugged. "That might be just Sakura-chan though."

"DAMNIT NARUTO!"

"Ah ah ah! Please? Private conversation? Just a minute Sakura-chan, I promise I'll get back to you in a moment," Red Naruto said politely. Ignoring the gobsmacked stare the pinkette now wore, Red Naruto turned back to Ino, who was also rather shocked.

"... Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Naruto?" Ino asked at last. Red Naruto grinned ferally, and leaned in a bit closer to Ino. He was pleased at the red blush on her cheeks.

"Let's just say I've had an upgrade," he purred, before pulling back out of Ino's personal space. He smiled cheerfully.

"So, how about it Ino? Tell me about girls, and how wonderful and amazing and... Well, confusing they really are! Please, please?"

"... And... What would I get in return?" Ino asked. Red Naruto sighed.

"I already brought back Sasuke, what more do you want?"

"Eh?! You-You did?" Ino asked. She shot a look at Sakura. The pinkette sighed.

"I was... Going to tell you," she offered. Ino scowled.

"When?"

"Well... When I had more news on him... Naruto? Don't you have anything more on him?" Sakura asked. Red Naruto hummed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Not yet. They're not telling me anything."

"Even so, I would've liked to know if Chouji and Shikamaru's mission was successful," Ino ground out. Sakura held up her hands.

"I-I swear, Ino, I was going to tell you!"

"Yeah! She was! I just kind of pissed her off on accident. Please, don't blame Sakura-chan," Red Naruto interjected quickly. Ino gave Red Naruto a formidable look, before it slightly softened.

"Well... At least you got him back... What happened, anyway?"

"Ah..." Sakura tried. Once more, Red Naruto came to the rescue. Not like he was keeping count.

"It's complicated... But! He's back, and he should be fine. Soon."

Ino gave them both hard stares, which both members of Team 7 returned carefully. The blonde girl at last sighed, and glared at them.

"I know you both know more than you're telling... But I'll let it slide, for now."

"Aw... You do trust us, Ino-chan!" Red Naruto said cheerfully. Sakura managed her own smile at her best friend, which Ino mirrored. She then turned to Red Naruto and sighed.

"So... You want to know about girls, huh?"

Red Naruto nodded. "Mmhm."

"Any girl in particular?" Ino asked. Red Naruto hummed.

"Well... Hinata-chan would be great! Or Shizune-nee-chan! Or you!"

"Me?" Ino asked. Red Naruto grinned.

"Yeah! You're a pretty girl! I'd like to go on a date with you!"

Ino blinked. She blinked again. She then looked over at Sakura, whose jaw seemed to be trying to push through the floor into the center of the Earth.

"And what makes you think I'd want to go on a date with you, anyway?" She asked flatly.

"I'd go anywhere you wanted, I'd pay, and I'm great at parties," Red Naruto grinned.

Ino blinked again, and glanced over at Sakura, who was glaring furiously at the male blonde. She felt a mental lightbulb go off over her head, and she internally grinned.

Oh ho? Is this right, Naruto? You're going to try to ignore Sakura into liking you? Try to make her jealous? Hmm... I know she kind of likes the attention, so this... This is clever. And if Sakura gets desperate enough... Heheheheheh... Perfect! This should make things very interesting...

In addition, Ino admitted to herself that she wanted, no, needed a break. Worrying herself sick over Chouji and Shikamaru had taken it's toll over the past two days, and now that they were going to be all right, she wanted to unwind. It wasn't like Naruto couldn't be coached-She imagined that's how he saw the date, as a means of learning about women.

Which, from the looks of it, hadn't crossed Sakura's mind.

"You've got yourself a date, Naruto," Ino said cheerfully. "Pick me up... Mm... At around 6 tonight? Dress in something nice... Say, black. I think you'd look good in it."

"Thanks Ino-chan! I'll see you then!" Red Naruto hopped over the counter, and procured a random bouquet of flowers. He quickly paid for them, before turning to Sakura and handing them over.

"Here you go, Sakura-chan. Sorry about everything. I'll see you later!" He then ran right out the door, leaving Sakura to stare after him. Ino smiled cattily, and leaned over the counter.

"Well... Wasn't that nice of him? Hmmm... I think I'll close up early..." She turned and headed into the back, humming a tune. Leaving Sakura to stare down at the flowers, alone.

Thinking.

Kakashi let out an inaudible sigh as he walked down the hallway. Ibiki Morino walked alongside him, in contrast completely as peace in the bowels of the T&I Section.

"He's in here," Ibiki stated flatly, taking the handle of a cell door. A pulse of chakra went through the sealwork decorating it, releasing the locking system. Slowly, the door creaked open, revealing a single, dirty genin in chains.

"I'll take it from here," Kakashi said. Ibiki nodded, and moved enough to allow Kakashi into the cell. Another burst of chakra, and the cell door slammed shut behind him.

The jounin was silent, his hands tucked in his pockets. Sasuke also made no noise, eyes blindfolded.

At length, Kakashi sighed, and began to speak.

"... When I was 13, shortly after I was promoted to jounin, my team was assigned the mission of destroying a bridge in Kusa no Kuni. Iwagakure was using this bridge to move their forces into the country, a major front during the War."

Sasuke said nothing, but his head rose slightly. That let Kakashi know that he was, at least, listening.

"On our way to the bridge, two Iwa ninja kidnapped our medic, named Rin. My teammate, Uchiha Obito, insisted that we go and save her. I said no. My father had sacrificed a vital mission to save his comrades. Because of it, he'd been disgraced and committed seppuku."

Now he definitely had Sasuke's attention. Kakashi continued, his soft voice strangely loud in the tiny cell.

"Obito refused my order, telling me that my father was a hero before he headed off on his own to save Rin. I thought about what he said... Thought about Rin. She had always been kind to me, though I did not return her romantic feelings. I also thought about Obito. How he felt we were trash for abandoning our friend to the enemy."

Kakashi paused, and closed his eyes for a moment. He reopened them and continued, no longer in the cell but far away, in a rocky gully.

"He found the ninja who had taken Rin, and I managed to arrive in time to help him. We fought one of them. Even two against one, we were losing. My eye was sliced clean through while I took a blow for Obito. It was this that was enough for him to activate his Sharingan, and he managed to kill our opponent with it. Out of a desire to protect me."

Kakashi let out a sigh.

"We found Rin in a cave, and while trying to free her, the other ninja who had taken her caused a cave-in. A boulder fell from the roof, threatening to crush me. Obito shoved me out of the way, just in time to save me, but not himself." He reached up and tugged Sasuke's blindfold up, allowing the two Sharingan users to look eyes to eye. Sasuke's remained defiant, angry, while Kakashi's was closed in a mirthless smile.

"He asked Rin, with his dying words, to give me his remaining Sharingan. Rin implanted it in place of my destroyed eye, and with it, I killed the last ninja."

The room was silent once again. Kakashi opened his eyes. Sasuke's Sharingan spun in angry defiance, and the Jounin closed his eye again.

He lowered the blindfold, and turned to the door. He knocked twice, and Ibiki opened it from the outside. Kakashi exited, and Ibiki shut the door with a loud slam.

"The Hokage hasn't given me any orders on what to do with him yet," Ibiki said. Kakashi shook his head.

"Then just keep him here," he said. The torture expert frowned, but said nothing. Even when Kakashi produced a kunai and stabbed himself, bursting into a puff of smoke, he didn't raise so much as an eyebrow.

The question was merely to give Kakashi the means for an out. Ibiki wouldn't have his job if he hadn't been able to tell that.

A flicker of chakra outside the window caught Red Naruto's attention. As Naruto was too focused on his ramen to really care, the other blonde ninja moved to it, and rolled out onto the roof.

"Eh? Where are you going?" Naruto called. Red Naruto shrugged.

"Need some fresh air," he said. He climbed up the side of the hospital, not waiting for Naruto's reply. Once he reached the roof, he flipped over onto the surface and looked around.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei! Where are you?"

A moment later, the cyclopean jounin appeared, Icha Icha Paradise no where in sight.

"Yes?" He asked mildly. Red Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"So... See Sasuke?"

Kakashi stared at the clone of his most unpredictable student. Red Naruto shrugged.

"Just a guess... Am I right?"

"Yes... How?" Kakashi asked.

"I've noticed a weird chakra flare, like feedback, when one of my Kage Bunshin dies," Red Naruto said. "Including some extra memories."

"It's just one of many uses for the jutsu," Kakashi confirmed. Red Naruto grinned.

"Oh yes, I have so many ideas of how to use it... But spill. What happened?"

Kakashi stared at Red for a bit, before he answered.

"Sasuke reacted as I expected."

"All angry and silent?"

Again, Kakashi found himself surprised at the depth of Red Naruto's insight. The clone smirked.

"You'd be surprised what you can figure out with a bit of an outside perspective on your memories. Anyway... As it is, he's stubborn because he's determined that he's right. He doesn't think he's really been beaten, you know? And he feels he has no reason to stay here."

"And?" Kakashi asked. Red Naruto hummed thoughtfully.

"Well... What we need to do is give him a very big reason to stay here. Right now he's motivated by getting power to kill his big brother. So... We find the means to ensure he'll get that power."

"Such as?"

"Well, there is the fact Orochimaru is from Konoha, and Itachi is from Konoha, and we have two Sannin and people trained by Sannin..." Red Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "A long term solution... We'll have to find one. As for the short term..." Red Naruto closed his eyes.

"Well... In order to evolve his Sharingan, apparently he has to kill his best friend. So..." He reopened his eyes... And grinned.

"Kakashi-sensei... Can you find Jiraiya? I'm going to need his help... And yours."

"What have you got planned?" Kakashi asked, with just the slightest hint of wariness. Red Naruto's grin grew, his sharp canines gleaming in the sunlight.

"I think Blue Eyes and Sasuke have some issues that need to be resolved. But, since he ain't gay... I've got another way to solve it..."

Kakashi had faced many frightening, strange and downright terrifying situations in his life. He was a ninja, after all. But right now, he had to add the truly evil smile on Red Naruto's face to his top ten list. Even fighting the possessed Naruto hadn't been this frightening...

And yet... Like a man presented with a trainwreck, he just couldn't help but watch.

"... You are all completely insane."

Why oh why oh why wasn't she allowed booze while on duty? Stupid Shizune, stupid job, she couldn't take this madness while sober!

Red Naruto merely grinned and shrugged. "Yes? And? Your point being?"

"Never stopped us before," Jiraiya said, also grinning. He'd been easily sold on the brat's plan. One, it actually had a fairly decent chance of working, and two, if it didn't, it'd still be immensely entertaining and Sasuke would be stuck either way. Hell, having Red Naruto do it allowed for the original to serve as the, heheh... Good cop in this situation! It really was brilliant.

Kakashi sighed. "Personally I think it will just make things worse. But... Psychologically, I can understand the motivation. That, and without something significant to change him, Sasuke is going to stay on this path."

That, and Jiraiya promised to write a new Icha Icha Paradise based upon it. The man knew just what buttons to push.

"Completely insane," Tsunade muttered again. "Completely!" She glared at Red Naruto, obviously the originator of the plan. There was no way it could not be. Sure, it had Jiraiya's perversion involved, but the goals were firmly Naruto's.

"You do realize if this backfires, you're in for a world of hurt."

"Probably," Red Naruto said. "But I also know that Sasuke won't get better without something to shake him up. Break him apart. Once that's done, we can rebuild him. Stronger, faster, better than he was." Dramatically, Red Naruto pulled a single, old-looking scroll from his jacket and presented it to her. The Uchiha clan symbol was emblazoned proudly on the bindings that held it shut. Her keen senses traced every line of chakra throughout it, intricate sealwork that no one less experienced than the Sannin could argue was not authentic.

"We can do it, Tsunade-nee-chan. We have the fuuinjutsu," Red Naruto concluded. Tsunade felt another headache come on, and she pinched the bridge of her nose to try and stave it off. Predictably, it didn't.

"... You have my permission... But I'm warning you! This is all on your heads! Your broken, perverted, madness filled heads!"

"'Broken, perverted, madness filled heads?'" Jiraiya quoted. "You have been sober too long."

A moment later, a Jiraiya-shaped object was sent flying through the tower wall, far off into the distance. Back in the office, Tsunade slowly lowered her fist, and shot a truly terrifying glare upon the only other inhabitants in the room.

"... I kind of liked it," Red Naruto offered.

"Get out already!"

"Okay okay! Sheesh! You try to compliment someone, and they don't appreciate it!" Red Naruto narrowly avoided being sent flying to the next country himself as he ran out the door. Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke, leaving Tsunade to sigh.

"... To hell with what Shizune thinks... I'm taking off early today. Very early."

All Sasuke knew, all he had known for the last two days, was darkness and confinement. Sealed up in this tiny cell, he held onto his anger as it raged and boiled inside him. It was the only thing that felt useful, the only thing that felt real.

Naruto... Naruto was the Kyuubi container. Suddenly everything he'd seen the blonde idiot do made perfect sense. Of course he'd be strong if he was like Gaara! Packing the Demon King itself in his gut! How could he not be strong?

It wasn't fair. It wasn't sane. Had he even had a chance to catch up to him?

What was even more infuriating was that, after all of that, after fighting Naruto will all his strength, defeating the blonde when he was using a tail of the Fox's great power-A tail capable of causing tsunami or destroying mountains with a single blow-what defeated him was a cheap trick! A cheap trick by Naruto!

... Or was it?

Sasuke wasn't a genius for nothing. Sure, he may have underestimated Naruto, but he knew him. Knew how he thought, how he felt. He was... His friend, or the closest thing to a friend he could have.

He was confident enough in how well he knew Naruto, to know that what had caught up to him in the forest, and casually cut the throats of two Oto ninja, was not Naruto. His eyes had been red, his aura had been off, his personality...

What is he? Sasuke wondered. All that power he wields, all that potential...

All that destruction and chaos and rage, a smaller part of his mind reminded him. We faced two things with Naruto's body... One a raging beast, a force of nature. The other...

The other...

Sasuke shook his head. No. He couldn't afford to forsake his mission. He couldn't afford to have doubts. He needed power, he knew where to get it. It wasn't like Konoha would offer him any now, not after what he'd done.

The cell door opened, and Sasuke immediately picked up who it was. His eyes narrowed behind the blindfold.

Kakashi...

The blindfold was lifted, revealing the copy ninja looking as he usually did. Calm, collected, and unreadable. He took a step back, and Sasuke felt the chains binding him release.

"..." Sasuke stared up at Kakashi, momentarily forgetting to activate his Sharingan in confusion. Kakashi, in return, merely pulled a scroll out from his vest and tossed it to him. Sasuke caught it, and his eyes widened at the crest upon it.

"ANBU went through the Uchiha district again," Kakashi said. "I went along this time, to be as thorough as possible. It seems that some parts of it can't be detected without a fully evolved Sharingan." Kakashi pulled his forehead protector up to emphasize his point.

"We found the room beneath the shrine."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in anger at his teacher, and his Sharingan eyes burned red in the dark cell. Kakashi shrugged.

"We found this... However... Only the blood and chakra signature of an Uchiha can open it."

"... Why show me this?" Sasuke asked with a growl. Kakashi said nothing. Sasuke's scowl deepened, and he looked down at the scroll, studying it intently. After a moment's thought, he raised his thumb to his mouth, and bit into it. Blood drawn, he dragged it over the Uchiha fan, while flaring his chakra through his hand.

The scroll popped open, unfurling like a flag. Highly advanced sealwork glowed across the paper for a moment, and then faded, revealing words. Sasuke began to read.

Once he was finished, he read it again. And again. And again. He looked up at Kakashi, then back at the scroll. He read it one more time, before his shoulders began to shake.

"Heh... Heheheh... Hahahaha... HAHAHAAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Sasuke laughed for over five minutes, tears running down his cheeks. They were appropriate-He started crying like a baby soon after.

Kakashi didn't make a sound, allowing his student to finish. Ten minutes of pitiful sobbing (and even a bit of thumb sucking) later, Sasuke shakily raised his head to look up at Kakashi.

"... I need... I need to see Naruto."

Phase 1 complete. Phase 2? Next chapter.