Author's Note: This story has humor, romance, action/adventure, and also drama, angst, horror, and mystery.

Tousan means father, okaasan means mother. Mirai means future. Therefore if I write Mirai Sasuke I mean future-Sasuke.

This story is a re-write.

The Chaos Theory

Chapter 1

Sasuke's hand twitched against the grass. He felt the heat of the sunrise against his skin and could sense four chakras, each dim but constant. His was the fifth and it was steadily fading.

Sasuke found trouble trying to open his eyes. His body would not move and he couldn't seem to breathe. He felt himself fading, so he tapped into the seal. It was the first time he'd done it in at least ten years.

He had never enjoyed his enslavement to a curse. The chakra reserve unlocked, blue energy surging through his body. Now he could open his eyes, and he felt the burning markings crawl over his face. He took several gasps of air until his vision was clear of doubles, his body trembling as he adjusted to this potent but noxious chakra.

The sharingan now activated, Sasuke wearily gazed over the others. His focus settled on Hinata, who was the closest to him. Held to her chest was a dark-haired child. He reached out to them, their bodies not a yard away. Just before his fingertips could connect with Hinata's shoulder, the seal retracted and his eyelids sunk. His arm dropped and he began to fade all over again.

Kuso. He spoke absentmindedly, and without the bother of lip movement. He was suddenly apart from his body, in fact, looking down at it. I'm dead, he mused, his mind vacant, his feet lifting from the ground.

He wondered if these were last moments that he would appreciate the flaws of earth. It should have been bizarre but was actually…comfortable. He looked down at the others, his face, his feelings blank.

Naruto was lying on his side, his body curled. He was littered with cuts and burns, blood oozing from a gash on his abdomen. His eyes were squeezed shut as he clutched it, and he released the occasional grunt of pain.

Some feet away from Naruto was Sakura, her hair littered with splotches of blood. Unlike Naruto, she did not move nor did she make any noises. Both of her arms were broken, knuckles shattered, and Sasuke knew that she would need a strong healer to revive her.

Sasuke's eyes returned to his own body. He—Sasuke—was lying on his back, face deathly pale. The most dangerous of his injuries were the clean slits across each of his wrists. Twin trails of blood crawled down his hands and onto the grass creating small puddles on either side of him.

Despite the warmth and relief of being lifted away from it all, Sasuke looked at Hinata and felt himself being corrupted. Ease turned into agitation. Hinata… he said, finding that he desperately wanted her to hear him even despite the unlikelihood of this ever occurring again. Hyuuga! he shouted, to antagonize her. Again, his eyes shifted to the child in her arms. WAKE UP!

Naruto winced, Sakura gasped, but only Hinata opened her eyes. "…What?" she whispered to herself, the child rolling off her as she sat up. Holding her head, Hinata looked around, her eyes narrow against the brightness of the sky. She regarded Naruto and Sakura, then finally, she took notice of him. "Sasuke…"

She crawled to him, through the dirty grass and those puddles of blood. She placed her hand against his stagnant heart. Veins formed on her temples and Sasuke was jerked back into himself.

He was back in his body, but everything hurt, hurt so fucking badly, and his lungs felt like they would tear to pieces. He wanted Hinata to stop torturing him but there was a fluttering in his chest that she was determined to foster. Another pulse of that searing white chakra invaded him, eating at his insides, and his eyes opened wide. He took that gasp of air that he'd needed for a while now, and for a fleeting instant, he could see her eyes. Hinata's cheeks were wet and Sasuke felt a sense of deja vu, like the two of them had done this recently. He opened his mouth to speak, but the fatigue hit him. It overpowered him, cumulating with the stress and blood loss. His eyes lowered and Hinata disappeared.

Sasuke opened his eyes, but they narrowed against the artificial light beaming from overhead. He could make out Tsunade—a face he hadn't seen in years. She was having a conversation with a haggard Naruto. She reprimanded the blonde, the way she used to, making him seem like a child again.

Sakura lay unconscious on a bed a few feet away from them. And Hinata…she was standing right beside Sasuke's bed, actually, her back turned away from him.

A face suddenly blocked Hinata from view—Kasai's face. She was perched beside him on the bed, and took to peering down at him. Sasuke would have reassured her had he thought he could speak. So instead he just stared back until his eyelids started to lower. As they did, he watched her smile.

Kasai leaned closer, on his chest, her elbows poking him, possibly keeping him from falling completely unconscious again. Sasuke tried to focus on Naruto and Tsunade's conversation. There was talk of time travel, forbidden techniques, and repercussions. But everything seemed to meld together, into nothing, as he continued to swim in and out of consciousness. He didn't know how much time passed.

He's still cold.

Hinata's voice. Not in his ears, but his head, like it had blossomed from nowhere, a sharply lucid thought. He felt her calloused hand wrap about his.

He lost a lot of blood, came Naruto's voice. He may be out for a while.

What is this? said Sasuke. A Yamanaka technique? He slowly sat up.

Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata looked at him in surprise. The room was darker now than it had been before. Sakura was up, weary but well. Kasai was still on the bed with him. She took the opportunity to scramble into his lap.

It's different… said Naruto. "It's like—we're all connected."

Hinata pressed her lips, her expression unreadable. Sasuke's gaze shifted to his wrists, the cuts that had been there replaced with pale, even scars.

The door opened and Tsunade appeared again. She paused. "I'm glad to see you're up."

The puzzle pieces slowly shifted. That was right. This was past. It was why things didn't make sense anymore. Naruto had brought them back in time to save them. Ten years, right? Yes, ten years.

"Sasuke-kun, perhaps you can corroborate your teammates' story," Tsunade continued.

"We're all exhausted, baa-chan," Naruto cut in.

"I'm sorry, but I need more information. The jutsu you used clearly had drastic repercussions. Some of you barely…"

Sasuke tried to move one of his legs off the bed, but his body stiffened up and quickly stopped humoring his desires. So he remained there, trying not to pass out again, but ended up slumping down against Kasai whose complaints were muffled in his shirt.

Hinata took his shoulder and guided him back down to his pillow. Kasai giggled as she was pulled down with him. Then she unwrapped herself from his arms, and Sasuke had two raven-haired girls gazing down at him.

"What's wrong with him?" one inquired.

"He's tired," the other responded.

"Hinata," Sasuke said, his voice a hoarse whisper.

Hinata forced a smile and leaned down to his ear. "It's ok," she whispered back. "Close your eyes."