Extended Summary: The fateful duel between Sasuke and Naruto ended exactly as the jinchūriki had predicted. Death awaited both of them at the Valley of the End. Finally having realized his mistakes, Sasuke is about to pass away when fate offers him a second chance as he seemingly gets sent back in time to atone for his sins. Except the world he wakes up to is not quite what he remembers... Now, stripped from his power, his past and even his own identity, the fallen ninja is determined to find answers. He seeks to know everything about this bizarre new reality, about the world he came from and finally about himself; learning how to be humane again as he struggles with his new life along the way to redemption.

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fan fiction. No profit is being made by the author.

Author's Note: I'm glad to finally present you this new story of mine. I've been having this idea on my mind for years (basically, since the time the manga ended), thinking it through slowly and scrupulously, and now I've finally found the source of inspiration to start working on it.

Some of you might know me and my style from my previous work in this setting – whether you do or not, I've got some news for you. The first one is that for the sake of a better plot and also as a tribute to most of my subscribers, I'll keep the main pairing the same. The second one is that I deliberately made certain characters heavily OOC in this story, for it is set in the alternative timeline in which a few crucial things went completely differently from the way they did in canon, most notably: Minato and Kushina are alive, Minato is still the Hokage; Naruto is significantly smarter and far more skillful than in canon; the Uchiha clan has not been wiped out; Hinata was placed in Team 7 instead of Sakura; Hinata and Hanabi's mother is alive.

Some of the concepts in this alternative timeline are partly inspired by the Road to Ninja movie as well as a few anime episodes related to it. Don't expect it to be a rip off, though, for I merely took some references from them. Unlike in the movie/anime episodes where every character's personality was just reversed no matter how awkward or illogical it seemed, none of the changes here will be having come out of nowhere, meaning that every single change will be conditioned by some event that went differently than it did in canon. For instance, Hinata's mother is alive, hence she was raised in a different way and hence a different personality; same with Minato and Naruto.

I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

Warnings: Crossing Timelines and thus OOC for some characters.

TEMET NOSCE

Prologue

Slowly opening his eyes, he winced at the dim light of the moon that seemed blindingly bright to the ninja, instantly making the flash of searing pain pierce his skull. Coughing quietly and trying to catch a breath, he tried to lift his head a little bit, feeling slightly confused as he tried to remember where he was and what had happened to him.

But then Sasuke gasped reflectively – the horrible feeling in every single cell of his body at the shinobi's attempt to move was a perfect reminder of what had happened to him.

"Awake now, huh…," came the familiar weak voice from the left.

The Uchiha turned his head very slowly, as though he were afraid that a careless motion might kill him. His eyes widened slightly as they stopped on the blond's face.

"Yeah… It's just as you see it… If we move too much, we'll bleed to death," muttered Naruto, staring at the sky thoughtfully with sadness, but also with strange relief in the blue eyes.

For a while, Sasuke kept looking at him, as though expecting the boy to say something else, but Naruto seemed to be either losing his consciousness or just too deep in his thought, so the Uchiha eventually turned away.

"Just look at you… Pitiful," he murmured, frowning. "Why do you insist on getting in my way every time?" he finally asked, gritting his teeth. But Naruto never replied, so he continued,

"I… fell into the darkness, and it gave me the power to do everything my way. It never mattered who it was… I tried to cut all the ties I had with everything around me…," he turned to his friend again. "But you... You never thought of cutting ties with me… No matter what happened… No matter what I did," he tried to clench his fists, but it turned out that he only had one arm remaining, "Why do you care so much about me?!"

"Don't you already know?" Naruto finally glanced at him and the weak yet happy grin appeared on his face. "Heh, look at you, talking so much now just 'cause you can't move…"

"Shut up and just answer me!"

"That's because you're my friend," came the seemingly simple yet actually so complicated reply.

Sasuke frowned again, feeling irritated but also curious. No… not just curious, he needed to know it. He needed to understand it now, at least before he would die. Otherwise, everything would turn out to be pointless… His entire life...

"You already said that once. What does that mean to you?"

Naruto's dreamy gaze returned to the inky blue night sky.

"If you want me to explain it, I'm not really sure how to put it… It's just that when I hear you blabbering about carrying everything on your shoulders… I kinda… feel the pain, too."

The Uchiha stared at him in disbelief, not saying anything.

"It really hurts. There is no way I can just ignore it!" added Naruto.

Sasuke lowered his eyes to the stone surface both of them were lying on, still remaining silent.

"Well, today I'm hurting all over so there isn't much I can do… But at least it's all over now, eh…"

Yes, it was.

The Uchiha's eyes slowly closed as he sunk into his own thoughts and feelings.

He'd always known that Naruto's life was very lonely. Just like him, the last Uchiha, this boy was an outcast since his early childhood. Back when they were still kids, he acted like an idiot on purpose so that people would scold him simply because he wanted them to pay attention to him. To notice him. To recognize him…

At first, Sasuke didn't think he was even worth considering at all. He seemed like just another weakling who was playing and fooling around out of stupidity. However, after seeing him doing foolish things and getting punished every time, the optimistic smile on his face never fading, for some reason the Uchiha started keeping his eyes on this goofy boy. And that time he also realized that Naruto's weakness had started to sink into him, too.

Sasuke couldn't stop paying attention to him. When he saw him doing everything he could to create bonds with other people it reminded the Uchiha of his late family. And for some reason he felt relieved whenever it happened, and this strange happiness he felt also made him think it was a weakness. He trained hard to escape from it and to become stronger than his brother, to take revenge on Itachi. But then the Uzumaki ended up in the same team as Sasuke himself… And so he got reminded of his family once again.

After clearing missions with Naruto, who wanted to become Hokage, he could feel and see clearly that they were both getting stronger. And then he realized that he wanted to fight with his noisy teammate. That's why when he saw him suffering… He would feel pain too. And when he understood Naruto's pain, for the first time he considered the boy his comrade.

But at the same time… He couldn't just let him become stronger. When he saw how powerful the two of them had become… He understood that Naruto also knew and felt it all. He was relieved to see someone else like him and he felt so happy that he wanted to talk to the Uchiha right away…! But he didn't, because he was envious of his skills. And so he decided that Sasuke would become his rival! The Uchiha became his goal. For the first time in Naruto's life, he had a bond. And during their missions as Team Seven he kept going after him because he wanted to get to his level.

But it was actually the opposite. In truth, Sasuke was the one envious of him. He had the kind of strength the Uchiha was missing. And it made a part of Sasuke hate him, for this was another reminder of his past, the one that made him feel so conflicted and torn. Because Naruto always walked ahead of him, much like Itachi used to…

And today, too…

The raven haired boy opened his eyes again, almost closing them again the same second as the golden rays of morning sun hit him mercilessly, feeling almost burning to the ninja.

How much time had passed? A few hours? Or perhaps even days…?

Sasuke couldn't tell but, he was still feeling horrible. Much worse than the previous time he woke up. He now wasn't even sure if he was still alive or perhaps this was the beginning to his way to the afterlife…

However, the rapidly returning pain he still felt made it clear that the shinobi was still present in the realm of the living, so the Uchiha coughed, clearing his throat from gore before turning his head to the left – this time it was significantly harder than before, almost impossibly so.

Naruto's eyes were closed, and his face was unnaturally pale. The wind brushed the strands of his golden hair, and it almost seemed like he was merely enjoying his peaceful sleep, but something was wrong… Sasuke could see it without activating his Sharingan.

The Uchiha gasped then as he finally realized what had drawn his attention. His friend wasn't breathing…!

"Naruto…," he whispered, realizing that he wouldn't be able to help him at such state even if he could move. He turned away and looked at the crimson sky once again, letting the blood stained tears flow down his cheeks freely as the last bits of his pride finally died out. "What have I done…?"

His friend was gone now, and Sasuke knew that he was about to follow him. And with the two of them gone, the entire ninja world would die, too. Simply because nobody would be able to release people from the Infinite Tsukuyomi…

And this was his and only his own fault. He had destroyed everything. Everyone was doomed because of his arrogance… his foolishness...

"If only…," he whispered, beginning to feel delirious. Apparently, the strain was finally hitting him as he felt the familiar fever – just like back when Madara had stabbed him though his heart, "If only I could go back… and change everything… If only…!"

He sobbed, suddenly remembering Itachi's final words to him:

No matter what you do from now on… I will always love you.

The Uchiha gritted his teeth and groaned desperately, feeling even worse now if this was even possible in his situation. Was this what his brother had ever wanted? Was this the outcome of Sasuke's own dreams and ambitions…?

No. But this was the consequence of his actions nonetheless. He had destroyed everything, so he deserved to die here like this, in endless shame and complete solitude. If anything, this was a very easy punishment for he had committed to his world… Frankly, he deserved a much worse ending.

But it was all over now, Sasuke could sense death imminently closing in on him, gripping his throat more tightly with each passing moment. His consciousness was already fading away, he knew it by seeing random pictures from his past even with his eyes closed. Most of them was from his childhood… those rare moments of happiness he could still remember. Back then, he was still a human… Back then, he still knew the feeling of empathy… of happiness... of love...

If only…!

The stone under his back seemed to become softer, almost feeling like a comfortable bed now that the sweet easiness began filling his body, and then Sasuke suddenly found himself falling into the nether. The feeling was nice… it brought something nostalgic he couldn't quite describe or even figure out. Was this the road to the afterlife?

"Is this… the end…?"

"Not necessarily," the coarse grumpy voice broke through the veil of oblivion, forcing him to open his eyes one more time. The Uchiha instantly spotted the familiar wrinkled face right in front of himself, blocking the sun from his sight, which allowed Sasuke to look at him without squinting.

"Hagoromo…?" He gasped, not noticing that the strain and pain were completely gone now – despite still lying next to Naruto's breathless body, it seemed as though he was floating mid air just like the person who was now staring at him gloomily like a parent would look at a child who pulled something remarkably unpleasant.

"You made a wrong choice, my dear Sasuke. And it has lead everything to a horrible disaster."

The Uchiha frowned, astonished by the peaceful and warm tone of the ancient figure's voice.

"I–"

The sage smiled sadly, raising his hand up.

"Do not talk, my boy. I already know what you are about to say... I'm not going to condemn you for what you've done. After all, I was the one who gave you the power and the freedom to cause this tragedy. However, I must say that I am… disappointed."

Sasuke lowered his eyes shamefully, for some reason afraid to meet the gaze of the Rinnegan eyes that peered at him shrewdly as though they could read everything in his heart and mind.

Well… perhaps they actually could?

"I'm… sorry…," he squeezed out, desperately suppressing the urge to cry. Strangely, somehow he still felt too prideful to show any more weakness in front of another person.

Hagoromo's smile widened. How could he still find anything amusing in a situation like this…?

"I know you are. Now, tell me, Sasuke… If you had a chance to erase this tragedy, what would you do?"

The mismatching eyes snapped wide open as he slowly raised them up again, looking at the ghostly figure in disbelief and fear.

"Come... again? Fix... everything…?" He winced. "How the hell… how am I supposed to fix it... when everything is lost? I destroyed it all myself... damn it!" he cried, finally losing his self control and sobbing as his only fist slammed into the ground.

The sage's expression was almost parental as he closed his eyes and uttered softly:

"Kindly correct me if I am wrong, but I was fairly sure that I heard you claiming that you would like to go back and fix everything you'd done."

The Uchiha closed his mouth, blinking a few times as he didn't dare to believe his own ears.

"And... even if I did… So what?" he asked carefully in a very quiet voice.

Hagoromo met his overly defensive gaze, and his smile vanished, leaving the timeless figure with a very serious and focused face.

"I believe I could grant your wish… My mastery and knowledge combined with the power you now possess… It is possible despite being very difficult."

Sasuke froze, even stopping breathing for a moment.

"The power...? My left eye?"

The sage shook his head.

"Take a closer look at your body, child."

The boy did as he was told, almost gasping at the sudden revelation – he was covered with a very weak, barely notable red chakra cloak that was about to disappear, but was still clearly visible to a naked eye.

"Is this…?"

"Yes. Apparently, Naruto gave you the last bits of his chakra and thus sacrificed his life to prolong yours."

"No…!"

Why? Why would this moron do something like that…? Naruto was supposed to live, and Sasuke deserved to die, not the other way around! It was all his fault...!

"Yes. Without a doubt, he did it, and albeit I can only venture to guess what was his reasoning, he made this conversation possible. And thus, I believe, he made it possible for you to save the world. However, we do not have much time left. Listen carefully now if you don't want your friend's sacrifice to go in vain, my boy."

The Uchiha had to put some effort into closing his mouth and focusing his gaze on the old man, expecting him to continue in spite of being torn by the maelstrom of emotions and feelings.

"In order for this to work, you must make a clear choice. You now have two options, Sasuke. Either we attempt to let you save everyone… and you'll have to repeat your way from the beginning, living a different life this time. Or you go to the afterlife, and this world remains dead for all eternity. This is your call now. Voice it."

The Uchiha grimaced, looking away.

"What kind... of question... is this…? As though there is... a choice. What... do I have to do… to make it work? To save… everyone?"

The man paused as his long staff floated in front of him at the light motion of his hand.

"It is essentially very simple. But before we start… Tell me, where do you think we are?"

Sasuke frowned, looking around and to his own surprise seeing nothing but the phantom in front of himself – everything else was dark now.

"I have no idea," he replied honestly.

"Take your time and think about it. This is important for you to understand."

The young man groaned, clenching his only fist but not daring to argue and risk his only chance to fix everything. After a good minute of futile thinking he finally sighed, shaking his head.

"I truly have no idea. Is this a kind of intermission? A place between the afterlife and our world?" He didn't notice that the pain was completely gone now, and so were all the signs of damage his body had suffered.

Hagoromo gave him a long curious look before smiling again, nodding in satisfaction.

"Memorize this moment, my boy. Wherever you end up after this conversation is over, do not ever forget about this place and this moment. Eventually, you will come back to this place. This is the unavoidable price you must pay for your second chance, do not ever forget about it either. And when you come back, you must have already figured it out. You must be aware of the nature of this realm, because I shall not be able to help you get out of here for the second time. This is the last time you see me, from now on you will be completely on your own. Naruto has already fulfilled his part of the prophecy... And he has entrusted the future to you. It is now your turn to become the savior. Everything will depend on your decisions and your resolve. Do you understand?"

He nodded slowly, confused by the sage's words but also feeling too impatient to reflect on their meaning. After all, he was about to be gifted with the time to think about it later, wasn't he? Surely, this could wait.

"Yes… I think I do."

Hagoromo nodded as well.

"Very good. Now, raise both your hands up and come closer…"

He did as he was told, locking his fingers with the old man's and feeling the unfamiliar unpleasant heat beginning to spread through his chakra… and when did his left hand regrow…?

"What… what on earth is this…?" he whispered, feeling more and more weak with each second passing as his flesh, or whatever it was, began to wane right in front of his eyes, turning into pure chakra.

"Your road to redemption… begins here," the unclear voice echoed in his ears as the image of the old man in front of him became dark blurry.

And then everything faded away.

-~X~-

He didn't know how much time had passed before the endless darkness around him parted a little bit, allowing something to break in. The remote distorted sounds reached his ears, making the boy begin to regain his consciousness.

Was that a sound of crying? Yes, someone was definitely sobbing not far away from him… But where? And who...?

Sasuke…

That was his name. Was someone calling for him?

Please, Sasuke… No…!

The voice was definitely familiar. He was certain that he had heard it before, but he couldn't quite remember where… and when. Who was that...?

You cannot die… you cannot, this is unfair! It can't be! Please… Please!

He probably could do that… could he? At least he felt so, just didn't know how to force himself to wake up. But this person… this woman… her desperate plea made him want to comfort her for some reason. This was so unlike him... but he couldn't help it.

Who was she? Who was begging him to wake up…?

Please, come back to me… Please...

It sounded like a weakening whisper, but at the same time it was so strong that it triggered something long forgotten deep inside of him. He now realized that he had to wake up no matter what. He just had to!

The ninja opened his eyes, peering at the white ceiling of some room. Everything was still blurry and he couldn't quite focus his gaze on anything, but it looked… real.

"Am I… alive?" he whispered, blinking a few times as he tried to regain his eyesight.

The oppressive silence that surrounded him almost convinced the boy that he was actually alone in the room, and the voice he had heard was merely a hallucination.

Until…

"ITACHI! Itachi, he's alive! He's awake!" the delightful unbelieving scream echoed in his head like an explosion, making the boy wince at how loud it was… did this person had to be so annoying…?

He then stopped breathing at the belated realization.

Itachi…? Was he dead, after all?

Sasuke forced his eyes to open fully, moving his gaze to the right, dazed as his eyes met the ones he had almost managed to forget by now. The loving eyes the dead and hollow version of which had been chasing him in his nightmares for many, many years.

"Mother…?"