This will be a KakaNaru story at a later date so if you don't like yaoi move forward to another story. Alright I also do not own Naruto...I know your're suprised about that huh :D. So,as this is my FIRST attempt at fanfiction please be kind...however please review honestly and let me know how I'm doing. No flames please. If you like the story idea I will be happy to continue with more chapters!

The Value of a Life

The view was extraordinary as always with the sky turning from azure to a deep shade of purple touching all the possible extremes in between to present a panorama worthy of a painting, or perhaps poetry. In the normal course of events this vista would have produced a serene feeling as the sunset continued to illuminate the village below and the lights of individual houses began to sparkle lighting the path for the Shinobe who walked to their assigned duty of night shift gate watch.

Tonight there was no peace in the view, all he could feel was the wind cutting through his jacket and pain. Not physical pain, but intense pain none the less. Who knew that one life could be considered more valuable than another? Who knew that "friends" would put a higher price on the life of the "prodigy" who turned his back on them and betrayed their village instead of the dedicated friend who stayed to defend his precious people? It was more than he could stand this time, wasn't it enough that some of the very villagers that he fought to protect called him "demon" at best and tried to kill him at worst? It wasn't as if the years of service had really changed the opinions of the Council either. Then of course there was the fact the even though he had friends he loved, he found that they refused to see or believe that he too could grow and chance as time went on. Honestly did they believe that he couldn't mature just like them? In the last five years did they think that the only change that had occurred in him was he was taller? Really who wasn't immature at thirteen years of age, and add to that his upbringing that included himself, a run down apartment, no parental supervision and poor to no interaction with the community and what did they expect? Of course he lacked manners and social graces he wasn't taught them. Education was a joke until Iruka Sensei but by that time he was so far behind he had no idea what was being taught in class. In fact all the skills and knowledge he used to graduate from the Academy was self taught knowledge. So was he hailed as a prodigy? No he was labeled a trouble maker, loudmouth and dead last.

However time passes as it always does and with it comes experiences that provide the medium for growth, change and maturity. He had learned the hard way that education was important and so he had applied himself to learning what he needed to know whether it was strategy or simply to write with a legible hand. He also applied himself to learning the things needed of a Shinobe by asking help from surprising sources to be trained in the areas he was lacking. He doubted however, that any of his friends would believe that he spent time with Ebisu to learn the basics or time with Genma to learn patience. Hell, he had even spent time with Kurenai Sensei to learn about the social graces. Still no one acknowledged these changes or asked were he spent his time they just continued to see him as the "Dobe". In truth it bothered him and his old self would have jumped up and down and demanded respect but that time was past and he waited patiently for the people closest to him to realize the difference. Was it so hard for Sakura to notice that he didn't yell at all times and run headlong into danger anymore? Perhaps more importantly was it not possible for Kakashi Sensei to notice that he was using strategy in all his encounters now and had improved on all the basic Shinobe skills?

The pain wouldn't abate no matter how long he sat there looking out over the village, and his heart rate was just as fast as when Sakura and Kakashi Sensei told him in their own special way that they valued Sasuke more than they did him. The pain rolling through his body assured him that his special friends and teammates had in deed let him know that they wanted Sasuke back regardless of the cost.

The Recent Past

In the past five years more than one attempt had been made to recover the Uchiha heir, in fact the count as of today was five attempts to bring Sasuke back to the village including the first attempt that brought about the fight at The Valley of The End. That fight was the start of a pattern that most undoubtedly was not good for his health. He could still recall that his goal had been to scratch the head band that represented Konoha while his teammate's goal had been to kill him. That kind of circumstance makes an impression on a person, one that is not easy to forget. Despite that he willingly made a promise to Sakura to bring the Uchiha back to the village and his teammates where he belonged.

Nonetheless, for the love of God, he had been thirteen when he made that promise and a world of things had changed since then. He had been seriously injured on that first attempt along with Choji, Neji, Shino and Shikamaru but at that age he had no real concept that he might die or that one of his friends might. Really at that age your pretty sure you will live forever and that you can accomplish anything. Once again, it takes time and maturity to bring the truth to you that life is precious and that no one leaves it alive.

So as time marched forward four more attempts were made to rescue Sasuke each one more dangerous than the last as both Sasuke and him grew in power and Shinobe skills. Every time an attempt was made he was injured to the point that the Hokage was sure no one had come that close to death and yet still live, yet he still continued to put his life on the line to complete his promise and retrieve Sasuke. To say that he wasn't anxious at each encounter with Sasuke would be a lie, and he tried to never lie to himself. Yet he still moved forward in his attempted despite a growing concern that maybe just maybe this was something that should be left to his childhood. Conceivably it was time to let childhood dreams die?

He wasn't convinced that this was the case till the most recent attempt to infiltrate Sound to take the Uchiha back. In yet another battle between himself and Sasuke he found that he was once again using less that lethal force in an attempt to detain the boy unharmed, however Sasuke wasn't as gentle as he used ever bit of his strength and knowledge to kill. Once again he found himself in the Konoha Hospital strangely thankful that he housed a demon capable of healing enormous damage. Unfortunately he was to soon find out not everyone was so lucky, and so it passed that on his day to be discharged from the hospital his long time friend Neji informed him that he had missed Rock Lee's funeral while he was in the hospital.

"What do mean I missed Lee's funeral!?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sorry Naruto but the Hokage would not let us tell you about it, she said that it would be detrimental to your recovery. You really took a beating this time." Neji said.

He remembered looking at Neji with tears attempting to tip out of his eyes and thinking "is Sasuke worth this?", "is he worth more that the life of Lee?" "is he worth more than me?" The answer he came to was no, not just no but hell no! So he smiled sadly at his tall handsome friend and said

"I'm not doing it again Neji."

Neji replied "you're not doing what again Naruto?"

"I'm not going after Sasuke again, it's not worth it. He decided he wanted to go that snake's bed so to speak now he can lie in it! I won't sacrifice any more of my friends on this childish quest!" Naruto said.

Neji looked at Naruto with curiosity and thought 'he's grown' and said to Naruto,

"I'm relieved to hear that Naruto. I was beginning to wonder if it would take your death at the Uchiha's hands to end this foolishness. I know the Hokage will be quite relieved to know that we won't have to be carving your name on the Memorial Stone soon".

Naruto smiled sadly at Neji and said

"Tell Baa-Chan I'll talk to her later but right now I need to say good buy to my friend".