After the mission in Waves, Sasuke activates an old Uchiha scroll to summon his future self. By that time, he reasons, his other self must have killed Itachi already, so he can train him and accelerate the process.
The problem? At seventeen, Sasuke knows every painful truth about his clan and big brother, so helping his younger self doesn't entice him. However, he soon realizes that he can use this opportunity to Set Right What Once Went Wrong. Was his twelve-year-old self so easy to manipulate?
lie in reverse
is a finished Naruto fanfiction work by MoonlitNightin.
This fanfiction provides examples of:
- Badass and Child Duo: Teen Sasuke came from right before the Fourth Shinobi War, so he has his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, two animal summons, and his Lightning Release techniques almost perfected, amongst other things. So he can easily overpower the Third Hokage, Danzo, Kakashi, and rampaging tailed-beasts. Preteen Sasuke is, at this point, a measly genin. A very talented one, of course, but one that doesn't hold a candle to his older self. So, with teen Sasuke protecting and training him, the two of them have this kind of dynamic.
- The Corrupter: Teen Sasuke is this to his younger self because he wants to make him hate Konoha as much as he does, so the two of them can destroy it together and then go searching for Itachi. Like Tobi did with him in canon, teen Sasuke's winning card is that the truths behind the Uchiha Massacre are horrifying. What he didn't account for is that, when he was that age, Sasuke was not as sociopathic and desperate as he gradually becomes in his teenage years.
- Rule of Symbolism: Shadows are used to convey older Sasuke's villainous streak, so they pool around him whenever he's acting as The Corrupter or planning evil schemes. For example, when he's trying to convince his younger self that Konoha deserves to burn in hell (and that's why they are invading it tomorrow), there's little to no light in the room.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Like in canon, teen Sasuke is out of his mind over his grief for Itachi. That's why he will do anything to ensure his survival and avenge him, i.e., raze Konoha to the ground and eliminate the corrupt politicians who forced him to kill the Uchiha Clan. He mostly succeeds — he kills Danzo and, by threatening the Third Hokage (who still dies in the Suna/Oto Invasion), he gets Itachi to be reinstated and the other councilors to be demoted. Furthermore, Sasuke's younger self is never marked by Orochimaru nor he abandons the village. Unwittingly, teen Sasuke's actions also impact positively preteen Sasuke, mostly because the latter realizes how rude, cruel, obsessed, and overall unhappy he will become. This results in him appreciating his team and start healing from his trauma.
