chapter 2

After he closed his eyes, Sasuke felt the dark void not only return, but consume his body from the inside out. For some reason, while there was no pain to be felt, the sensation he was feeling at that moment was comparable to that of being completely dissolved into nothing. And that's exactly what happened soon after, as everything went blank in an instant, even his own mind.

Only for his thoughts to slowly return to him as air once again filled his lungs. As if regaining consciousness, Sasuke slowly opened his eyes to a world yet unknown to him. His vision was blurry and he couldn't make out from his hearing either, though eventually both became clearer by the second. He could see that he was in some sort of dimly lit cabin based on the ceiling above and from the sounds of it, the cackling whip of fire was complemented by the scraping sound of metal against wood.

"I see you're finally awake"

a voice called out. Coarse and dry, the voice had an old yet welcoming feel to it.

Sasuke slowly pushed himself upwards in an attempt to get to a more seated position, only to discover, much to his own surprise, that his left arm felt like it was back where it belonged. Sasuke quickly flipped over the blanket that had been covering his torso, gasping at the sight before him; for it turns out, his left arm was well and fully intact.

However, all was not as it seemed. As Sasuke lifted and began to move his left arm around, he noticed that there was something strange about it: the arm felt rather small. Actually, everything else felt strange too, since his legs felt like it didn't even reach all the way to the end of the bed and the world, through his eyes seemed bigger. Much bigger.

Suddenly, Sasuke could hear the creaking of a door opening as another person entered the room.

"Is everything alright?"

the new voice asked. It was definitely feminine in origin, but not of the young variety either. It sounded aged and decrepit, yet much like the other voice, it contained the same sense of warmth as well.

"Yes. It seems our little guest has finally woken up"

the first voice replied. The young Uchiha slowly turned over to his left to see who his supposed 'rescuers' were. Sitting across this tiny little cabin was a small old man sitting by the fireplace, a wooden carving on one hand and a knife on the other. His eyes looked like they were barely open, with wrinkles all over his face. His long white hair and beard served as a perfect compliment to his aging face.

Standing next to him was an old lady of similar stature with an equal number of wrinkles on her face. Though her silver hair was less visible than the old man's due to a headdress covering most of her face.

"Where…...am I?"

Sasuke slowly asked them, only to immediately pause and tense up after hearing the sound of his own voice. He clearly recalled his own voice being a lot deeper than what he had just heard, and the pitch was noticeably higher. Not as high as a girl's but it was still not a booming as he was used to.

Taking a few more moments to collect his thoughts, Sasuke's eyes opened wide once he realized what was happening as he put two and two together: The small hands, the strange depth and perception of his environment, the high-pitched voice. There was no doubt about it, he was a child once more, or to be more precise, he had been reincarnated in the form of a child.

"He can talk?"

the old man grunted

"I was certain we had taken in a feral child".

The old lady lightly smacked his shoulders in response to his comment.

"That's enough of you"

she scolded, before turning around to face Sasuke.

"You're in Rosemary village, dear boy. You've been sleeping here for weeks"

she answered with a smile, or at least what looked like an attempt at smiling amidst all the wrinkles.

"We found you by the riverside, stark naked and unconscious"

the old man commented

"we thought you were hurt but there wasn't a single scratch on you. You're lucky to be alive".

"I see"

Sasuke muttered, having neither the energy nor the desire to speak much on the matter at the moment. Deep down, he was internally groaning at the predicament he had placed himself in or rather, what the Sage of Six Paths had placed him in. Getting reincarnated in a child's body, being found naked in some village he had never heard of and apparently sleeping for weeks on end with the implications that followed, it was a little too much to take in at the moment. But then again, he had agreed to do this, so he might as well suck it in.

"By the way, what's your name sunny?"

the old man asked.

"My what?"

Sasuke repeated the question. It seems his skill in receiving information quickly had been dulled considerably as well.

"Your name, my dear. What is your name?"

the old lady chimed in.

Sasuke let out a sigh and bit his lip

"It's Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha".

The old man scratched his head, as if trying his best to remember that name.

"Well that's a handful, gonna have a hard time remembering that one. Anyways, name's Wells, and this here's my wife – "

"Majorie"

the old lady interrupted, glancing at the old man as if she was admonishing her husband for trying to speak on her behalf.

"We've been married and living in Rosemary for as long as we can remember".

"So, an old married couple"

Sasuke thought to himself, though he assumed the way they bickered was already a dead giveaway. At the very least, it seems that they were kind enough to take him in.

"By the way, we put on some of our grandson's old pants for you"

the old lady, Majorie said. To which, Sasuke looked under the sheets to see a pair of plain pants covering his legs, although he was still bare from the waist up.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he grimaced at the embarrassing thought of elderly people dressing him up while he was sleeping, but at the same time, he breathes out a sigh of relief since that they were decent enough to make sure he wasn't naked and looking like a fool.

"Thank you"

he said with a nod.

"Don't worry about it"

Majorie shrugged off his compliment

"no one deserves to walk around without clothes".

"By the way"

Wells added

"what's the deal with that eye of yours?"

"Huh?"

Sasuke stared at the old man in confusion.

In return, the old man placed a hand on his head with a look disbelief.

"Dear sweet mother of Fiore. We've taken in a village idiot!"

he exclaimed loudly

"those eyes boy, the ones on your left, with the weird color and circle thingys! Are they magic? A curse? Did the church put you up to this?"

Fiore? Church? Magic? This was getting more and more confusing by the minute. However, at the same time, Sasuke was very much aware of what the old geezer was talking about when he mentioned his eyes. There was no doubt that he was talking about his Rinnegan, though Sasuke himself was surprised by that notion as well. Could it be that the Rinnegan was carried over to this body as well? Sasuke did recall that Hagoromo mentioned that his reincarnation would involve combining both their chakras and that the creation would be based on his memories. There was a lot of explanation for as to why the Rinnegan still existed in his left eye and all of them were plausible.

"Oh shush! Enough already! Let the poor boy rest, Wells"

Majorie scolded.

"It was a simple question!"

Wells argued back.

As the couple argued back and forth, Sasuke shook his head and grumbled in annoyance. As much as he appreciated their kindness and what they had done for him, their constant back and forth was really starting to annoy him. Ignoring their argument, Sasuke lied down once again and went back to sleep.

"One thing at a time"

he consoled himself.