Chapter 5: The Shopkeeper's Proposal

Transcending Bonds

Summary: What does Sasuke see beyond his blade? That is the question he struggles to answer as he slowly remembers his forgotten past. When the question does really matter and he realizes the answer, to whom will he point his blade to: his new bonds or his old ones? Originally written by Imperialpatty

Jinta lifted his baseball bat at the zenith, the glorious sunny rays illuminating his personal engraved name on the sport equipment. There was nothing like a baseball bat to shout in silent volumes manliness when it came to prove his masculinity to whoever was watching him.

Even if that person was the ever seemingly impervious Ururu.

"Aren't you gonna say something?" Jinta snapped at the dust sweeping little girl. Ururu looked at Jinta, a budding confused feature marking her eyes. The brandished baseball bat seemed like the most obvious hint so she took a poke at it.

"It's great Jinta-kun." Ururu said, hoping that Jinta would be satisfied. Then again, this was Jinta she was trying to please.

"How can you say "just great" with a face like that?" The spiky redhead chided, running two hands down on each side of his face in an exasperated manner. "At least put some "oompf" into it, Ururu!"

Ururu pondered what was this "oompf" meant? Where was she supposed to put "oompf" in "Its great Jinta-kun"? After "great" or before "Its"? "But it'll be weird if I say "oompf, it's great Jinta-kun." she said worriedly out loud. Jinta felt the familiar vein popping on the left side of his forehead.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Jinta vociferated. He jumped and landed behind her, rubbing his knuckles on her head. "Emphasis, dummy, emphasis! Just because you don't care doesn't mean you can act like it!"

The never-ending ordinary moment came to halt when the two children felt an anomaly in the air, like a tint of cold air piercing in their direction across the warm atmosphere and it was getting closer by the second. It wasn't heavy and calamitous like a hollow but the heaviness of the spiritual pressure was enough to make both Jinta and Ururu feel like whoever or whatever was coming towards them was out of place.

Neither hostile nor friendly. Rather, a really, really out of place reiatsu.

The presence finally entered their field of vision. A young man dressed in a white kimono with dark purple pants and knee-length black sandals walked steadily towards them. Jinta judged from his ardent scowl that he wasn't going to unnaturally turn away as everyone else did.

Anyone armed with a sheathed blade coming to Urahara Kisuke's shop was here for one thing only: business.

The raven-haired man came to a stop a few feet away from Jinta and Ururu. His night varnished eyes slowly gazed from one child to another, as if he was indirectly questioning them if either of them were the people responsible for the shop. Not one to miss a beat, Jinta piped up.

"You a customer?" He asked, putting up a vulgar front. If Jinta offended the raven-haired man, he did not show it.

"Not exactly. Are you the shopkeeper?" he asked.

"Not exactly." Jinta mimicked. He didn't know why but his guts didn't like the guy at all. Just then, Jinta's strict glare caught the man's right hand retreating to his back. "Get back Ururu!" He ordered, readying himself. It was then he wished he had brought his real bat at the current dilemma.

The man had no intention to fight. Instead of withdrawing his blade, it was a piece of paper he showed to the temperamental boy. "I'm hoping this is the right place." He added. Jinta was taken aback by the unexpected gesture. He snatched the paper away.

"Dude...you kinda suck at drawing." He said, grinning mischievously. Ururu, who hadn't uttered a single word the whole time, spoke up.

"Jinta-kun, even if that's true, you shouldn't say it. That's rude." She reprimanded. Jinta laughed but then stopped cold at the shadow that overwhelmed his own.

"Jinta..." the voice drawled slowly behind him. Two large hands were placed on each shoulder. "You're in deep trouble."

Jinta's became as white as a clean sheet of paper. The very tall, muscular man over-towered all of them, glasses hiding the sheer pernicious mirth behind them. "CUSTOMERS ARE ROYALTY! GO REPENT!" He screamed as he grabbed Jinta and threw him right across the open doors of the shop. After that little display of prowess, the large man turned to the swordsman.

"I'm Tessai, the Shopkeeper's Assistant. How can I help you today, good sir?"

The store had a mystic quaintness about it. The light smell of incense, accompanied by the rustic furniture and the plain guise partitioned across the shape would give one the idea that all of those factors were put in place to purposely calm anyone who entered the business domain.

Sasuke Uchiha sat on a cushion, his arms and legs crossed as he watched Tessai pour green tea in his glass. Seated across was the shopkeeper of the establishment, fanning his face due to the lack of proper cooling equipment. Ururu was seated next to him while Jinta was out once more, this time in charge of Ururu's previous chore. Tessai retreated in the back after pouring tea for the shopkeeper.

"Well then, what can I do for you?" the man asked Sasuke in a jovial manner. The amnesiac was still wondering if he had come to the right place. After witnessing a ridiculous purple apron-wearing man casually tossing a ten-year-old looking boy, being introduced to a sandal clog and round hat-wearing man wasn't any reassuring. Nevertheless, Sasuke decided to burden the shopkeeper.

"I have no memories of who or what I am. All I can remember is my name. I've been told you can help." He said. The shopkeeper raised a quizzical brow.

"That's quite a peculiar case you have. Even if you tell me that, it's not like I carry memory inducing pills. Although... I am curious as to who sent you." He said, putting a stop to his fanning.

"His name is Isshin," Sasuke replied, catching the subtle surprise in the man's eyes.

"I see… I see..." Kisuke said, recommencing his cooling tactic. Tessai returned with a fan. He plugged it in and let it rest on the table. "

"My apologies. I was busy looking for the fan which I kindly reminded you to place back at the spot I even went out of my way to label but somehow, it just wasn't there." Tessai explained, pushing up his glasses. "Care to give a believable explanation as to why it wasn't there when I went to get it, hmm?

The shopkeeper gave a nervous smile to the man. "Well, um, you know, I was in a hurry to get back to watching this program I was really really into and-can we not do this in front of the customer, please Tessai-san?"

The dreadlock hair-styled man seemed to glare at the shopkeeper. Sasuke wondered if the assistant was going to throw the sandal-hat man out too but no such thing occurred. Instead, he gave a sigh and decided to sit as well. "I shall let it pass this time. Please try to put the things in their rightful place next time."

"Will do, Tessai-san, will do. Now, where was I before that embarrassing moment? Ah yes, Isshin..."

The room fell into a comfortable silence. The shopkeeper stared endlessly at the ceiling, while Ururu and the assistant kept staring at the Uchiha. The latter didn't bat an eye as he focused his own gaze at the sandal-hat man, wondering if the man could truly do anything for him.

"Ah, that reminds me. We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Urahara Kisuke, the shopkeeper of this humble abode."

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke," the swordsman replied. The answer prompted Kisuke to snap shut his fan.

"So you're a complete amnesiac huh? What is your earliest memory?"

Sasuke's eyes softened, his grey thoughts becoming distant at the shopkeeper's query. He could already see himself at that time and place...

Four years ago...

Something prickled his nose. He rubbed a finger over it, brushing the leaf aside. His head felt groggy like someone had wearily rubbed his head for long durations of time. As soon as his vision became accustomed to the dimpled fog that shrouded the park, his mind halted on a wall of uncertainty:

Who was he?

He knew his name. It came to him as easily as he breathed the cool air that permeated the environment. What endlessly granulated his thoughts was what was his existence doing here? What had it been doing before? Why was it that every time he tried to define his past, he was hiding behind a thick veil of utter darkness? Why was it that when he mustered every bit of his mental strength to remember, it would hurt like someone who had been running while holding their breath?

Nothing made sense. While all the other living beings were swimming in their happiness of knowing themselves by knowing others, he was an exile, trapped in the shameless irony of being utterly dead as a conscious being yet lacking the chain of memories that strung one's individuality.

A doomed paradox...

A merciless irony...

A cruel enigma...

That was what Uchiha Sasuke's existence amounted to. And no matter what he would do or try, the existence which he was hoping to somehow regain seemed like false hope.

After a brief interval of quietude to which Kisuke took a long sputtering sip of his green tea, Sasuke then suddenly felt like he was not only wasting his time but his own as well. He stood up without any notice.

"Something wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Tessai asked.

"Nothing. I just realized that there is really nothing anyone can do for me. Where do you begin when you have nothing to start with?" Sasuke questioned back.

"With trigger of recognition by association." Kisuke calmly replied.

"What does that mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Sit for a minute, Sasuke-kun." Kisuke said suggestively. Sasuke reluctantly did so. "What I mean is, people who have amnesia of your severity are able to remember by following either one of the three possibilities: the first one being recall trigger through familiarity. That means that you will be able to remember certain things by experiencing an event that gives you the sense of either having a deja vu or instill within you a gut feeling that indicates you have done something similar in the past. Follow me so far?"

Sasuke wasn't going to deny what the sandal-hat man was saying made sense. "Yes."

"The second possibility is recalled through a physical and concrete item. Its essentially similar to the first possibility, the distinct difference being that the item in question must be something that you had or have in your possession and that the moment you make contact with it; it creates a trigger within your brain, like a small click."

"I see. So what's the last one?" Sasuke asked, keenly interested in the topic at hand.

"The last one is probably the hardest. Man, I wish I had a cracker to go with this..." Kisuke said, confusing the Uchiha.

"What?" Sasuke asked, not following the geta-boushi man.

"Oh sorry, I was just wishing had biscuits to go with this tea." The shopkeeper answered, turning a sly grin towards his assistant. If Tessai was displeased, he most likely showed it by brusquely standing up and then retreating with hurried steps to the back of the shop. Sasuke wondered if Urahara had a knack for just about annoying everyone he met.

"As I was saying," the sandal-hat man resumed, mixing the rest of his tea with his pinkie, "the last type of recall is triggering by systematic actions that have been performed in an exact fashion as an amnesiac might have done in the past."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Doesn't that fall under familiarity, like deja vu?"

"Almost. That's why it's the hardest because you see, the range of distinctiveness is as big as a needle in the middle of a haystack. After all, it's the same as someone running yesterday to a convenience store and then today running again in the same manner. Not much of a difference, is it?" Kisuke said.

"No, it isn't," Sasuke replied. Just then, Tessai came back with an assortment of cookies, biscuits and crackers, to which he laid elegantly on the table.

"Ah, thank you very much," Kisuke said as he took one and nibbled on it. "Hmm, that's good."

"Urahara?"

"Oh sorry, of course, you can have one too, Sasuke-kun," The shopkeeper said earnestly. Sasuke grabbed the edge of the table with his hand and applied so much pressure to it that small cracks were beginning to form.

"Ack! My precious table!" Kisuke wailed almost comically. "All right, all right, I'll finish, honestly!"

Sasuke relaxed his gripped. He would've smiled evilly but decided to keep the facial gesture in reserve. "Go on."

Urahara cleared his throat. "Sasuke-kun, what if you were to pose an action in a time and place so congruent with a situation in your past, most people would see it as a frightening coincidence?"

Urahara let a definite time to let it all sink into his client's brain before he continued. "Of course, this is why this recall proves to be the hardest because it can be at times any of the two other triggers and yet not. Your best chance at the moment is recalled through familiarity."

"If it's that, then I have done plenty of it with no results," Sasuke said, his thoughts backtracking through the last four years of his life. Kisuke adjusted his hat.

"That's only because your options were limited. However with this..." Urahara withdrew from the confines of his jacket a small green pill and placed it in front of his client. "...you'll be able to reach new heights of experience."

Sasuke eyed the pill with utter doubt. "I don't do drugs."

The shopkeeper stared at Sasuke and then locked eyes with his assistant. The two laughed heartily. "I never pegged you as a joker but that was pretty good, Sasuke-kun."

"I wasn't joking," Sasuke replied seriously, adding more mirth to the shopkeeper's laugh. Sasuke waited patiently for the laugh to cease and to hear a reasonable explanation.

"For the faux-body I will prepare for you, this here," Kisuke said, pointing to the pill, "is your new friend, mod-soul number 4371."

Sasuke frowned. It was obvious that the man was making light of his predicament. "I'm leaving."

"Tessai-san, if you please?" Kisuke said, biting onto another cookie.

"Of course," his assistant answered, pointing a finger at Sasuke while inaudibly chanting.

"What are you..." The raven-haired amnesiac suddenly felt drowsy and then cursed his naivety as his vision faded and his mind drowned into oblivion.

Author's Note: Sorry about the wait, everyone. A lot of things have kept me preoccupied. It should be relatively smooth updates from here. I hope that you all enjoyed this relatively short chapter. Expect the next one to be out by next week.

Anyways, please do me a favor and leave me your thoughts on the chapter, for I love to know what all my readers think of the story and how they feel about each chapter that is published. In other words...

Review. Favorite. Follow.

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Wolf's Honour