Ohhhhhhhhh, this is exciting! Eee! This is a Naruto muse that's been at the back of my head for a really, really long time... but I only realized it and how to put it to use while playing Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen 3 with my friend. I've had muses coming at me like crazy thanks to that game. It's nuts.
Before you even get to the summary: THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR UP TO AND INCLUDING CHAPTER 227 OF THE MANGA! ...AND THEN SOME! I have no idea what episode of the anime that is! You should more or less be perfectly current with the anime before reading this. This fic is violent (read the rating!) and contains Sasunaru! It will also be very, very depressing. If I pull it off.
Summary: All over fanfiction, we've read things about what would have happened if Sasuke hadn't left home or if whoever managed to bring him back... but this is a massively angsty Sasunaru fic that takes things a step further. What if Naruto had gone with him? Don't hate me just yet - I went crazy over making sure everyone was in character. It took a lot of time and energy, even just for chapter 1. And now that chapter 1 is over and I can move on, it's very refreshing. I hope everyone loves this fic as much as I do. And, apparantly, I'm pretty quick-on-release as far as people who write multi-parters go.
If you review, I will love you forever! I promise!
Without further ado, I bring you...
Vie
Chapter 1: On Sacred Ground
"It's not meaningless. To me, you are already... my closest friend..."
Sasuke said that.
Sasuke actually said that. To Naruto.
Naruto stared deeply into his best friend's red eyes, the burning crimson drowning out even the shocking blue of the chidori. He knew that there was no other way. He had to fight Sasuke in order to bring him back. The two of them had never given one another a chance to be friends the way they had both really wanted to be. If Naruto had been given the patience to sit down and actually talk one-on-one with the other boy, the odds that any of this would actually be happening would have been cut down drastically. Even if it was too late, Naruto would fight for that opprotunity. He had to.
...For Sasuke's sake.
The shrieking chitter of the chidori and the roaring winds of the rasengan met in a deadlock of power that - after a few moments of violent struggle - exploded in a backlash of energy, blowing both of the boys in either direction. Sasuke was flung back into the force of the waterfall that rained down between two statues of warriors. Naruto was thrown, skipping across the water until he finally dipped below the surface. Both of them left deep waves crashing against the canyon rocks.
Sasuke swam away from the waterfall that he had been sent into, rising when he was far enough away to reach reasonably steady water. He focused his chakra into his hands and pulled himself up onto the surface. He drew a deep breath of air, immediately focusing his attention on the direction he had seen Naruto disappear. Swearing under his breath, he panted for oxygen as his sharingan eyes darted over the surface for something that he may have missed. He refused to give Naruto an opening to attack.
Naruto had been able to match his full-powered chidori. He had seen that technique before... it was what Naruto had held against him in the earlier fight, the one they had on the rooftop of the hospital before Sakura and Kakashi came between them. When they had been thrown away into the water towers, Sasuke had made the most visible mark, soaking himself to the skin with the water that had poured out over him. Naruto on the other hand had blown the back out entirely, leaving a large jagged hole proving his superiority. In response to the use of his chidori, Naruto had learned something new. Something better... that dropout...
Across the canyon, Naruto swore repetitively to himself, uttering the word like a prayer in his mind until it meant nothing but a confession of helplessness. He allowed himself to float helplessly to the surface. Sasuke watched him from the other end of the lake, fixing his trained eyes on the blonde in case he made any sudden attacks. Yards away, Naruto realized he couldn't fight anymore. He turned his head slowly from his place, floating in the water, watching Sasuke as the Uchiha heir stared at him.
...he just couldn't do it. It had finally occured to Naruto - with wrenching pain in his stomach - that Sasuke had really wanted to kill him. He really...
One more chidori. One more chidori was all he needed. Kakashi had told him when they had been training that two were Sasuke's limit... but two wasn't enough. His chakra might be drained to zero, and he might end up dying... but he was desperate. He stared intently at Naruto as the blonde slowly rose in his place, making no moves at all to attack. Sasuke would have to pull off another chidori perfectly to end the fight. It would have to be after a fast move, so he could leave Naruto defenseless for the blow.
He really... Naruto's eyes were burning. His lungs were burning. It wasn't from the fight - it was from some deep tight feeling inside his chest. When he finally managed to get back up to his feet, he discovered that he was crying. His breaths were painful and sharp and he could feel warm tears running down his face. '...you really... want to kill me... like you... don't feel anything...' He sobbed, choking on his thoughts as he clenched his teeth. 'Sasuke...' He couldn't see Sasuke's expression. He couldn't see any regret in those red, power-hungry eyes. 'He's really thinking, seriously... about how to kill me. Right now. In that head of his... he really... he seriously wants to...'
"You know something, Naruto?" Sasuke's voice sounded the same as it ever had as he growled threateningly. Orochimaru's seal spread a dark pattern like fire across his face. Naruto looked away - he couldn't face it. He didn't understand why Sasuke would want to... "They say that a first-class ninja can understand what lurks deep within an opponent's heart just by crossing paths once... They don't even need to say anything." Sasuke rose slowly, stretching his limbs in a subtle way as he allowed the seal to take him over, giving him power. "You are too naieve, Naruto."
Naruto stared at his hands. He had been naieve...
"Well?" The blonde's eyes darted upwards once more as Sasuke shot up straight, adopting a posture Naruto had seen many times before. "Can you see what lurks deep inside? What lurks deep in my heart!"
"Katon!" Sasuke closed his hands in a seal as he drew in a gasp and leaned back, the curse seal drawing it's pattern completely across Sasuke's body. Naruto hesitated, waiting for his timing as Sasuke finally exhaled, breathing fireballs in his direction. "Housenka no Jutsu!"
Naruto didn't have the heart to fight any longer, but he managed to dodge the fire. He focused his chakra to fuel his leap, but in the air Naruto turned to discover Sasuke had followed him up. The Uchiha managed to spin, delivering Naruto a powerful kick to the jaw to send the blonde spinning downwards. As he fell, Naruto caught a glimpse of his old friend's face. He was smiling. His sharingan eyes were wide and wild with the adrenaline of battle, and the chakra seething out through his seal.
...and all he could see was Sasuke years before, sad and alone.
Sasuke was always alone. Naruto had almost begun to believe that Sasuke might have been like him... Someone who he could finally be friends with... and he was relieved that neither of them would be alone anymore. Naruto was so happy... he couldn't wait to finally talk to Sasuke. He wanted to meet him right away!
Naruto hit the water hard, and the sound of the splash he made clapped against his ears.
...but his voice never did reach Sasuke. He could already do everything so well... and he was so popular with everyone...
It took longer than it should have for Naruto to recover. His heart just wasn't in it anymore. He turned to slowly to see Sasuke coming at him with a punch, and he barely managed to move in time to get his arm up and catch the other boy's attack. Sasuke was smiling...
...Sasuke was different from Naruto. The blonde had gotten his hopes up so badlythat they could be friends... Naruto felt terrible when it didn't work out... but he refused to forget about Sasuke. Hoping that they would get to know each other eventually, Naruto had claimed Sasuke to be his rival, whether or not the other boy chose to acknowledge him. He didn't want to lose... because Sasuke would call him a loser. Even when they became Team 7, nothing had changed. Naruto was stubborn... and he always spoke his mind...
Sasuke broke free of Naruto's grasp with ease, landing a punch to his face. The pain still failed to compare...
...Naruto... wanted to be like Sasuke. Sasuke was... his aspiration. That was why he was so happy when Sasuke finally acknowledged him. With the words "I want to fight you, too"... Sasuke acknowledged Naruto for the first time.
Naruto squinted his eyes shut and clenched his teeth against reality as Sasuke held him trembling in the air by the collar of his jacket. In his other hand, the chidori sang it's threatening song faithfully.
'...but you and I already understand each other... even without having to cross paths in a match... you didn't say it then, but now I know...'
Shaking, Naruto forced himself to open his eyes as Sasuke drew him closer, smirking with the knowledge that he had already won.
'...we were already friends!'
"It's not meaningless. To me, you are already... my closest friend..."
...Naruto needed to show Sasuke what friends did for each other.
"Sasuke! Let's stop this!"
'...it may just be me having this one-sided friendship dream, but if that's the case, I've really made a fool out of myself, haven't I, Sasuke? But it's not like I could help it. I don't understand why, but I just don't... I just can't...'
"Ha! You fool!" Sasuke barked back in his face, drawing back his arm, bearing back the chidori and holding it ready. "You think anything you can say will change things now!"
"I... I just can't let you be taken away by Orochimaru or anybody!" Naruto reached up and grasped the arm that held him in the air, his bright blue eyes meeting Sasuke's evenly. "I don't want to lose you, Sasuke!"
Sasuke's smirk faded slightly, his eyes squinting for a moment. "You talk too much!" He announced, finally bringing up the courage to attack Naruto with the chidori.
Naruto managed to react before Sasuke could hit him. He had no time - or desire - to waste creating another rasengan. Pulling against the arm that held him aloft, Naruto kicked Sasuke's arm up over his head as it came at him. Although it sent numbing tremors up his leg, Sasuke's balance was thrown due to the momentum that he had placed behind the blow. The chidori sizzled to an end, the static frazzling Naruto's hair.
"Damn you!" Sasuke roared, his last chance wasted. He threw Naruto with all of his might at the closest stone wall in his frustration, and he gritted his teeth as he growled, running to chase the blonde and catch him off-guard.
Naruto used his chakra to push against the air and he spun, landing with his feet against the cliff face. "Sasuke!" he called, backing up the wall.
This time, Sasuke wasn't listening. Instead, he ran across the water and chased Naruto up the side of the cliff, letting out a growl as his sharingan flashed in his eyes.
Naruto chose instead to flip over Sasuke's head and away from the wall, but he was forced to block several quick punches from his friend before gravity took him and threw him down again. "I won't fight you anymore, Sasuke!" he cried, forgetting to focus his chakra until he discovered himself under water, and unable to breathe. He couldn't fight Sasuke anymore... but he would not let Sasuke kill him. There were too many people waiting for them to come home to Konoha. Naruto gathered the air in his throat as he pushed downward against the water, praying to descend in time to gather his thoughts. But he coughed as his collar bunched against his throat, and he was pulled against his effort back into the air, where he swallowed a deep breath to gather himself and choked on the water he had enhaled.
"Why won't you fight me!" Sasuke roared, not bothering to turn Naruto around to get him facing in the proper direction for the blonde to see his face. Instead, he dropped Naruto in time to deliver a sharp elbow into his side, sending him spinning through the air once again.
This time, Naruto almost caught himself before he fell under. His hands held the chakra below the surface, and as Sasuke ran to attack him again, Naruto retreated under the water, reaching back to push Sasuke's feet out from underneath him. The Uchiha boy slipped clumsily and stumbled across the surface - an amusing sight for those who saw him as a proud and strong individual.
"I won't fight you because you're my friend!" Naruto managed to blurt out with a gasp as he fumbled to the air. "I'm tired of fighting you! What's the point, Sasuke?"
"Are you stupid!" Sasuke asked, straightening himself as if he was contemplating on whether or not to risk using the chidori again. "I'm leaving the village and you can't stop me!" Sasuke pulled out a set of kunai and threw them at Naruto. "Fight me seriously!"
Naruto didn't even bother trying to dodge the kunai - he had faith that the Kyuubi would heal him. One flew close to his ear, shredding a few locks of hair from his head. Another dug itself high in his shoulder on the same side. The third embedded into the center of Naruto's chest, and he winced shamelessly at the pain. "I can't fight you!" He choaked as he grabbed at the kunai and pulled them painfully out of skin. For the first time in his life, Naruto didn't have the heart to fight. He had only realized days before that fighting was the only way they had to acknowledge each other. Friendship wasn't supposed to work that way... "...but I can't go home without you!"
There was nothing more Sasuke wanted to do than have a good match with Naruto where he could beat the blonde into the dirt. It was that inspiration that was hurting Naruto. "You won't have to!" Sasuke announced. "I'll kill you first!" The Uchiha was getting impatient and began flinging more kunai at Naruto as he began approaching.
Naruto dipped and dodged with minimal effort to escape what he could, taking several of the weapons into himself with winces and gasps, only to pull them out again. Naruto was tired of having to communicate through fighting. "I came here to get you, you idiot!" The blonde growled as viciously as he could muster now that his fire was gone. He was exhausted and discouraged, and with several slowly-healing kunai wounds, he was sore as well. "Why is that Orochimaru guy so important to you? Don't you care about your friends?"
"I don't need friends!" Sasuke announced, throwing one last kunai at Naruto's head, which the fox-boy managed to duck under.
"Well, I do!" Naruto cried back, pointing a thumb at his chest, "and everyone's counting on me to bring you home! Do you realize what we had to go through getting here!"
"You wasted your time!" Sasuke shouted, assured that Naruto wasn't going to attack him long enough to consider how to come at the blonde again. "I'm not going back!"
"If we're friends, what did I do to make you want to kill me, Sasuke?"
Sasuke tensed for a moment, relaxing as he exhaled. Naruto's stomach tightened nervously as Sasuke laughed. The question he had asked was the right one, but the only thought that occured to Sasuke was how little Naruto knew about Itachi. "If I refuse to go back, and you refuse to go back without me, what other option is there but to kill you?"
"I'm not going to let you kill me," Naruto said confidently, striding continuing his stride toward Sasuke. "I'll track you down for the rest of my life, but I refuse to face home without you." It won't be home without you... "And I refuse to die until I do!"
Standing face-to-face, neither moved. Naruto wondered for a long time whether or not either of them would accomplish anything this way. They were both so stubborn...
"You can die trying," Sasuke growled, "because I won't let you win."
"We'll see about that," Naruto growled back. "I refuse to lose."
Seeing his opprotunity, Sasuke took his chance in having Naruto so close and punched the blonde solidly in the face, sending him flying a few feet while Sasuke turned slowly and began to walk up the side of the cliff while rubbing his fist. Although agitated and unsatisfied, his hesitation had caused the fingernails of second-thoughts to creep into his mind, and he chose to walk away before he could begin to accept them. Closing his eyes, he focused on his goal and shut out those doubts. He would go to the Sound. He would find Orochimaru. He would become stronger, and he would destroy Naruto as well as Itachi.
"So how are are we going anyway, you bastard?" Naruto asked, approaching him from behind.
Without thinking, Sasuke spun and backhanded Naruto in the face. The blonde fell until he managed to run his foot against the cliff face, and he used his chakra to slow himself to a stop. His nose was bleeding from the punch a few moments ago, and now his lip was swollen from puncturing a tooth through it. But already the blood was drying and his lip had stopped swelling. It was frustrating how Sasuke couldn't make a mark on Naruto. "What the hell are you doing!"
"I said it already," Naruto growled with a bitter smile, rubbing his lip with the back of his hand. "I'm going to follow you there until you give up, and I'll drag you back!"
Sasuke stared at him long and hard. "Don't bother, you idiot! I'm not going back! No matter what you say!"
"I'll have to knock you out and drag you back while you're sleeping, then!" Naruto resolved with a mischevious grin as he approached Sasuke. This time he stepped off to the side and chose to walk past him, up the canyon side. "Is Sound country this way?"
Sasuke was obviously shocked and confused. Naruto was serious about this...? "...Just fight me, already!" He snarked, striking an offensive position against the side of the cliff.
"Is it, then?" Naruto asked, pointing up and toward Sound country as he continued walking. He wasn't taking Sasuke seriously, and that infuriated him even more.
The Uchiha ran up the cliff to meet Naruto, where he kicked his legs out from underneath him and ducked in time to hear the blonde yelp as he fell over Sasuke's head. The road clear, Sasuke ran up the cliff as fast as he could, only to have Naruto quickly catch up to him once again, running on all fours. "You should know by now that it isn't that easy to get rid of me, Sasuke-chan!"
Sasuke had known Naruto long enough to realize that the only reason he was trying so hard to get on his nerves was because he was uncertain of his decision, and he was trying to forget what may or may not have been wrong with it. Regardless, Sasuke was furious and therefore forgot to consider the connotations of Naruto's actions. First, he had been there to stop Sasuke, and now he was racing him to Orochimaru. Was this some kind of joke?
It always seemed to be that way when Naruto was involved.
As they reached the top of the cliff, Sasuke yelled at Naruto to stop fooling around, and as Naruto raced toward Sound country in order to prove his confused point, Sasuke chased at his heels. The brunette pulled all the stops he could think of to keep the blonde in one spot long enough to fight him, but no matter how hard he tried, Naruto wouldn't be stilled. Instead he bounced off of trees and branches while grinning brightly at Sasuke and chiding him the entire way. Sasuke roared in frustration, unable to believe Naruto had managed to deflect his chidori at the right time. He didn't have the chakra left to try it again, and the fight would have been over by now. His entire choice to leave Konoha had been to isolate himself. At Orochimaru's side, he would be alone and strong and independant. He didn't need Konoha - he had Orochimaru. Konoha didn't need him - Orochimaru did. Sasuke didn't like to think about what the Legendary Sannin had been planning to use him for. Orochimaru wanted his body for the sake of perpetual life, but Sasuke didn't know what to really do about that. Orochimaru made him strong - he made Sasuke special... he would cross the other hurdles when he came to them.
The one thing he did know was that this had nothing to do with Naruto.
He didn't know how he got into the right angle, but Sasuke managed to land a punch square into Naruto's stomach, and sent the genin forward to slam his back into a tree. The tree shook violently in response, and Sasuke approached Naruto as he tried to catch his breath. The Uchiha was aggravated and wanted to end the fight quickly, so he thought fast as he approached his friend.
"Sasuke-san," a familiar voice spoke to him from behind, and both Naruto and Sasuke turned to lay their eyes on none other than Kabuto. The blow had stunned Naruto for a few moments, but the boy quickly managed to stumble to his feet, uttering a growl under his breath as he did so. Kabuto regarded him for a moment before turning back to Sasuke. "We've been waiting for you..." he murmured, shooting a glance at Naruto again from the corner of his eye. "...but I never expected you to bring us company. Why are you here, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Sasuke inturrupted. "He followed me," Sasuke grumbled between clenched teeth as he visibly relaxed. He would have been nervous going to Sound country, but now that he was there, Sasuke was glad that he would be rid of Naruto. Or at least, he thought so. "Go back to Konoha while you can, Naruto!"
"Not without you!" Naruto barked back, rubbing at his stomach absently, and at length he added "...you total moron!"
Kabuto was conflicted. This wasn't something he and Orochimaru had considered. The persuers, yes... Judging by their lack of prescence, Kabuto decided that most, if not all of the sound-nin that they had sent out were dead. Leaf genins were definately something... but Kabuto was confident that they had at least left a deep scar in the numbers of those they had sent after Sasuke. If the sound-nin were in fact, dead, that left Orochimaru practically void of talented and loyal protectors. Neither he nor Sasuke would be permitted to stray far from Orochimaru's side.
Kabuto pushed his glasses up his nose with two fingers as Sasuke and Naruto yelled at each other for him, the former attacking with punches and kicks with every opprotunity. Already having lost the will to fight, Naruto was losing the energy to do much else as well. It was a very nostalgic situation for the traitor. If Orochimaru had the Kyuubi, things might get very interesting...
Looking up, Sasuke and Naruto had scuffled one-sidedly several feet in another direction, bickering in verbal circles that Kabuto had no longer believed would be a problem with Sasuke after choosing to come to Orochimaru. He had thought that Sasuke was more mature than that, but it all just seemed to be a result of the way Sasuke and Naruto interacted. Kabuto sighed. "Naruto-kun..." he murmured.
Naruto, firey with awkward anger, twirled to face him just as Kabuto had expected him to. "Shut up, you snake loving--!"
Sasuke reacted in exactly the way Kabuto had hoped that he would, delivering a swift strike to the back of Naruto's head. Sasuke had been waiting for the opprotunity since the two of them had begun running, and he took it as soon as Kabuto provided the distraction. Naruto fell, unconcious to his knees, and Kabuto knelt to catch him by the shoulders before he fell face-first into the dirt.
The two of them exchanged narrow stares as they sighed in unison.
"...where is Orochimaru?" Sasuke inquired at length.
"He is waiting for you in his lair in Sound country," Kabuto responded briefly. "You came too late, and he was force to adopt another host."
"...I see," Sasuke responded emptily, the expression on his face remaining unreadable now that Naruto had been subdued.
"...but don't worry. He's very pleased to have you. It will just take some time before he can use you, yet. Until then, there is much training that can be done." As he spoke, Kabuto shifted Naruto in his arms until he was standing with the blonde hanging limp over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked bitterly, his voice sharp. The last thing he wanted was for Naruto to get involved.
"Sasuke," Kabuto smiled mildly, making Sasuke angry, "you managed to bring us the Kyuubi. I'm sure Orochimaru-sama will be elated. I don't know yet what he might do with him yet, but..." Kabuto hesitated when he noticed Sasuke's expression change dramatically.
"...the Kyuubi?"
Kakashi finally arrived at the Valley of the End in time to discover it raining and empty. It was such a symbolic place that he wasn't shocked they ended up there, but he was surprised to discover that it didn't end there. The jounin slowed his pace to a stop as he stared out over the waterfall. The rain was falling in full force, swiftly darkening the ground under his feet. Kakashi stared out over the water below.
...Where were they?
"The scent went off into sound country..." Pakkun muttered. "I lost it."
"...was it both of them?" Kakashi inquired carefully. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know.
Pakkun shook his little head. "I couldn't tell. It's gone now."
"Hmm..." Kakashi's expression remained concealed under his mask.
The jounin had been aware from the very beginning that it was going to be hard to take Sasuke back away from his decision... but where was Naruto?