Is it deja vu if you're a different clone?

[punchingisluv]

CHARACTERS: Sakura, Sasuke, Matt
SUMMARY: Sakura arrives. Not pleased
PLACE: Tier 3 by elevators
TIME: Day 1
WARNINGS: Mood swings; Anger, Paranoia, Nostalgia, Disorientation, Angst. Also emo sprinkled around.

Comments

[nobodyspawn]

At precisely the same time but several metres away, Sasuke had just begun to move from his own lift with no small degree of caution. He hadn't yet decided whether he was drugged or someone had managed to hit him with an illusion, but it had to be one of the two. He wouldn't agree to something this stupid. His own instinctive moment of panic hadn't faded even as he read the - incredibly condescending - 'newsletter', so it was a careful boy that edged around the side of the pillar to observe whoever had spoken.

And a surprised one seconds later. Maybe the drugs hadn't worn off yet. He looked down again at the paper crumpled in one hand as if it would give an answer, then went back to staring at the girl in front of him with a careful mixture of confusion and suspicion.

[punchingisluv]

Sakura noticed the flicker of movement at the corner of her eye and she very carefully lowered the paper before fisting her hands, her only obvious weapons, and turned to look.

The newsletter fluttered out of her hands as she simply stared. Her mind went in tight circles of impossible logic. Genjutsu. But no chakra, so not a genjutsu. But he was 16 now. Taller. This...this Sasuke couldn't be real. She took several steps back until she was flat against her own pillar and gave him a fierce glare.

"Who are you and what on earth can you hope to gain by impersonating my teammate?" She crossed her arms and gave him a harsh look, "You aren't even doing it right. You got the age way off."

yaaay repost

[nobodyspawn]

"My age is off?" He muttered it just loud enough to be audible, trying to use enough sarcasm to hide the fact that she'd said almost exactly what he had been about to say. Who would bother to make such a high-ranking illusion and then get the image completely wrong? As he seethed, he noticed the last dregs of haziness wearing off. Perfect. It was a good illusion, he'd admit, but nothing would stand up against the scrutiny of the sharingan.

He closed his eyes firmly, trying to access a power that... suddenly seemed out of reach. Eyes snapping open again, he tried to channel chakra several more times before resorting to a series of seals, and then uncrumpled the paper to read the final paragraph with growing panic. One line stood out, and he momentarily forgot about the problem in front of him. 'suppressed your abilities and talents'. Someone had suppressed their chakra? It felt like he'd never used it in his life.

should be, yes. is, no.

[punchingisluv]

Sakura muttered under her breath about half-assed illusions, and at almost the same moment, raised her hands to dispel it. The chakra didn't slip away from her grasp, like it would have if she was tired. It wasn't there. She tried to pull it, reaching deeper to see if it was buried and then she saw the panic on Sasuke's face. She ducked down quickly to read that paper again.

"...has to be a genjutsu..." She furiously read and reread the paper. She dropped it and formed a series of seals as fast she could. She tried to pull chakra to her fists. Anything.

It was several moments later when she finally looked up, "You aren't an illusion are you? What the hell is going on?"

Poor Sakura. At least this one isn't missing an arm.

[nobodyspawn]

It was nearly painful to say, but as he took a longer look around and began to realise just how off everything was, Sasuke had to admit he didn't have a single idea. That was ignoring the fact that Sakura looked several years older than she had been yesterday.

"Some kind of trick," he suggested, moving closer but staying well out of her reach, "an illusion that effects an area." Belatedly, he added, "... Where are Naruto and Kakashi?"

No, he's just real. Much worse

[punchingisluv]

Sakura looked away, trying desperately to come up with sort of explanation for all this. How could an illusion fit a mass area and disguise her chakra completely from herself? Not even the most complex ones she knew could do that. It didn't even feel like she just couldn't reach it. And for that matter, who had the power to take that from her?

"...I don't know. Not here, I think." She glanced around the area and looked at the paper again. Not looking up from it, she muttered accusingly, "What on earth do you care?"

[nobodyspawn]

... That was odd. She wasn't acting at all like the Sakura he knew. He watched her for a moment, weighing up the pros and cons of challenging her identity, then shrugged, both to her and to himself. He'd play along until she made a mistake large enough that she couldn't recover from it.

"It'd be easier if they weren't in the illusion, but that's probably too much to hope for when he's concerned."

[punchingisluv]

She stared at him. He most definitely wasn't acting like the Sasuke she'd met again so briefly. Then again, he didn't look like him either. He was like the one she'd know years ago, before his betrayal. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him suspicously. Really, what could someone hope to gain by impersonating a younger version of her ex-teammate?

She decided to treat him like the one she knew from home and see what happened. Maybe that would bring the imposter out of it.

"Really, what do you care? You don't take help. Not from me and not from Naruto. Not when it counts most." It spilled from her without real thought. Things she had wanted to say to her Sasuke. Even if this was an imposter, it provided some relief.

"You're just good at turning your back on people."

[nobodyspawn]

"... is this some kind of joke?" If it was, it had gotten old about five minutes ago and was only getting older. Only the total seriousness of her expression made him doubt it. Was it some kind of ploy to split the team up? They couldn't have picked a worse messenger or tactic if they'd tried. Abruptly, he tired of the whole charade.

"You're not Sakura."

[punchingisluv]

Her mind skipped and she stared at him. Her arms were crossed defensively and she gave him a harsh look.

"I don't know who are you, but I'm Sakura." Her mind went in circles of logic again and once again, she came up short. Facts: he looked like younger Sasuke. He talked like younger Sasuke. He acted like younger Sasuke.

"What's the last thing you remember?" She finally decided just to act like he was real. She'd keep her own opinons to herself until she could prove he was fake.

[nobodyspawn]

She couldn't be serious. A dismissive comment was on the tip of his tongue before Sasuke decided it would probably be more effective to humour her. He went through the past few days in his mind, and picked out an event that wouldn't do an enemy much good, just in case. That he couldn't actually remember details of the past week would have to be dealt with later, when she wasn't around.

"Finishing a C mission," he said, eventually, "Eating at the ramen stand. Naruto tried to make Kakashi teach him chidori again." He folded his arms, almost in challenge, and looked up at her. "You?"

[stripedsmoke]

The lift chimed as the doors opened again and Matt nearly stumbled out. He cursed and squinted, quickly focusing on the two closest sources of uncertainty. It took him a few moments to realise he was staring at a couple of kids. Not very happy looking children, either.
Attempting to watch them without looking like he was--and failing, as his head was killing him and thus hurting his ability to concentrate on anything--he grabed the newsletter and glanced over it at the pair.

[punchingisluv]

Sakura only had a moment to digest what he was saying, before she heard that chime behind her and she automatically turned to look, clutching for weapons that weren't there. A person, just as unhappy to be here. Not from her world though and her heart sank. Why had she hoped it was Naruto or someone else from home?

She turned to face her more immediate problem and she searched her memory for that event. Before he left obviously. Before Itachi even. After Chunnin exams obviously, since he knew Chidori. She crossed her arms.

"After the Chunnin exam then." She counted off in her head, "Three years ago. Before you left."

[nobodyspawn]

"... Before I-" Sasuke cut himself off, expression shifting back to suspicious a moment too late. To hide his discomfort, he glanced over as the the lift disgorged another person, this one completely new and with all the hallmarks of a civilian. That disproved his illusion theory one stage further, but he took several prudent steps away to put 'Sakura' between them anyway.

"So you're saying you're Sakura in... three years? That's stupid." This time, his suspicion wasn't a cover, and it was laced with contempt for good measure.

[stripedsmoke]

Matt frowned and tried to focus on the newsletter in front of him. Listening in on the kids wasn't helping him figure anything out, so perhaps the paper actually offered up by this place would help? Not that he was ready to trust anything it gave him.

[punchingisluv]

"Not as stupid as seeing you three younger again." She replied automatically, "How else would I know about some stupid mission and going to the Ichiraku and hearing Naruto whine about that? Never mind the fact he doesn't have an affinity for lightning, he was so stuborrn about it."

She kept a cautious eye on the man behind them and tried to figure out how she could deal with this Sasuke. If it was a real Sasuke at all. Nothing made sense.

"Look, I know you have a cursed seal on your neck. You got it from Orochimaru during the Chunnin exams. It took you over in the woods, partially, and only when I stopped you did you calm back down. Now do you believe I'm Sakura?" She was getting more and more annoyed. How dare he not believe she was who she was. And in her time, such information was irrelevant with the death of Orochimaru so it wasn't as if she was giving away anything.