Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or 'Collide' by Howie Day.

A/N: I don't think any of these are gonna be connected to one another. There will be spoilers. There will be much AU. There will be improbable and impossible situations. Keeping that in mind, please enjoy.

..I..

"I want you to stop Uchiha Sasuke's execution."

The members of Hawk froze.

The bespectacled redhead turned to her crush. "You know him?" she asked at the same time the white-haired boy said, "Execution?"

The youngest Uchiha motioned for them to be quiet. The last thing they needed was to be caught here.

The Raikage's entourage appeared less than moved. "You're still on about that?!" a dark-skinned kunoichi exclaimed, incredulous. "I can't believe you came all this way for that," groaned her partner.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but I have to try!" Naruto yelled. "Sasuke is my friend! I can't sit back and watch him be killed!"

Sasuke felt the stares of his new teammates boring into his head and avoided eye contact. His own eyes narrowed. Idiot. Why wouldn't he give it up already?

"I don't want Sasuke to cause a war between Konoha and Kumo!" the loudmouth ninja was saying. "I don't want either of us to be caught up in revenge!"

The Raikage uttered a disinterested "Let's go" to his followers and started moving, but Naruto apparently wasn't finished. He dropped to his knees.

Years of shinobi study kept Sasuke's shock from showing on his face. Naruto was one of the proudest people he had met in his life, and yet here he was. Pleading for Sasuke's life.

"I'm begging you!" the blond yelled. "I don't want anyone else getting killed for revenge! All Sasuke ever thought about was revenge-it changed him! It consumed him and drove him mad! He's not the same guy I knew anymore!"

Sounding pained now, he finished. "I don't want that to happen to anyone else!" He choked on what sounded like tears. "So..please.."

There was silence for a few moments, during which it seemed as though nobody breathed. The Raikage shattered the silence with his usual bluntness.

"I will kill Uchiha Sasuke!" he thundered. "It is up to you to ensure it ends there!"

He and his entourage stalked off.

"Naruto.." Kakashi's voice; firm, but not unkind. "Get up. That's enough."

He helped his sobbing former student up, and the Konoha ninja left as well. Quiet descended once more upon the clearing.

From their hiding place, the Hawk members simultaneously exhaled. Three of them shifted to look at their leader.

"Sasuke?" Jugo began hesitantly. Suigetsu chose a more direct approach: "What the hell?"

"Who was that?" Karin inquired, frowning at the odd look on the Uchiha's face.

Sasuke blinked, smoothed out his features again, and stood.

"Nothing." His voice was icy, a warning that the one who pressed him further would die a painful death.

"But-" Karin ignored the warning and tried to protest, but Sasuke cut her off.

"It was nothing," he growled, "of importance." A pause. He took a breath.

"Let's go."

..Fin..