Disclaimer: I don't own nor have I contributed to Naruto in any way.

Sky-eyed Kitsune: I am holding a shield right now because I am terrified of the tomatoes that will be flung at me right now. I know, that was the longest hiatus ever, but I liiiiive! ((dramatic resurection)). Oh my thank you so much for reviewing even while this was on hiatus; I'm not worthy! T_T As far as the timeliness of updates...it will be sporadic, I'm sorry to say, but I hope to finish this story this year!

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Chapter Twenty Three: A Piece for a Promise

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"Why didn't you kill me then?"

Sasuke squinted his eyes as harsh sunlight bore down on him from above.

"…what…what am I…"

"Eh?! Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, eyes sharp and focused on Sasuke's figure above.

"…doing here?"

Sasuke turned his head to the side, locks of hair casting a relieving shadow on his face from the overpowering light. His eyes scanned over Sakura and Sai along with a jounin he didn't recognize. "What…" Sasuke almost choked on air as realization hit him. This was where he would almost kill Naruto for the second time, without a second thought. If there was ever a moment in his life that Sasuke had wanted to relive, it was this.

Digging his heel into the dusty dirt beneath him, he opened his mouth, knowing what he wanted to say all those years ago at that very moment in time but didn't.

"It was merely on a whim that I spared you."

"What!?" Sasuke felt his blood freeze as the words slipped through the air like mist. He knew he couldn't have just said the same thing that he did all those years ago, he couldn't. He opened his mouth to speak again, attempting to correct what he had said.

"I didn't want to do things the way Itachi did," were the words that he repeated callously.

"No!" Sasuke felt himself beating against the barrier of his locked mind, trying to break free as Naruto's bright resilient eyes cracked to throbbing murky blue, his armor chipped at Sasuke's words. Sasuke felt his legs move of their own accord down to where Naruto stood, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No, not this…" Sasuke begged as he unsheathed his katana with his free hand.

"Does someone who can't even save their friend deserve to be Hokage? Ne, Sasuke?" Naruto murmured quietly into his ear, and Sasuke used all of his strength to will his head to turn and look at the blond.

Sasuke blinked in surprise as the hand resting on Naruto's shoulder turned into the one piercing through his chest. Sasuke felt a wave of terror whip through him as he watched the light leave Naruto's eyes, deep ruby droplets of blood spilling over his own pale hand. The chidori he held in his clenched fingers through the other side of Naruto's body fizzled out.

Sasuke stood there, simply watching his best friend and unrequited love die hanging on his arm. He suddenly felt control return to his body, and he pulled back his hand from Naruto, letting the blond plunge into the water they stood on below.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted, releasing his chakra and diving in after him. He furiously kicked his legs, one arm propelling him forward while the other reached out to the sinking form. He felt his fingertips brush against wet tendrils of Naruto's hair, before they slipped from him and Naruto's body sunk faster and deeper. Sasuke's lungs burned and air bubbles welled from the corners of his lips as he grimaced in frustration. He kicked and thrashed his legs, keeping his arm outstretched to the blond as if willing him to stop. Naruto's face was peaceful, eyes closed even as he fell into an endless dark abyss, the hole through him gushing clouds of red into the water.

Sasuke rushed ahead as Naruto's body hit the sandy bottom of the river, and he stretched his arm ever presently. His fingers stretched as he inched closer, and grabbed Naruto's hand…but passed right through it.

"-ake up Uchiha!"

Sasuke hissed as he felt a sudden pain in his ribcage, and the fuzzy images around him began to take clearer shapes.

"Maybe I'm not doing it hard enough…" he heard a deep voice ponder aloud, before he saw a foot slam into his calf.

"Agh!" he grit, glaring up at his attacker.

"Yea, that's better," Kyuubi mused.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes sharply as he stood, noticing that he had fallen asleep on the roof. "You crazy son of a bitch, what's wrong with you!"

Kyuubi crossed his arms and turned away. "Fine then princess, don't ever expect me to release you from a genjutsu again."

"What?" Sasuke practically spat, and Kyuubi smirked.

"Pretty pathetic, an Uchiha putting down his guard enough for little genjutsu to catch ya."

Sasuke scanned the area, searching for chakra signatures, but felt none but Kyuubi and his own. "Don't bother. That genjutsu wasn't from anyone in Konoha," Kyuubi said, and Sasuke turned to face him.

"Then from where?"

Kyuubi scratched the back of his head in such a Naruto fashion that Sasuke felt his mood slump, reminded that the blond was no longer around.

"Now I'm not saying this is correct or anything, but it kinda sorta felt like…Naruto's. Like he left it here with a trigger."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Is that possible?"

"Well unless someone has the exact same chakra signature as him then no. His is quite unique."

"Don't relatives have similar signatures?" Sasuke asked, and Kyuubi scoffed.

"And what relatives does Naruto currently possess?"

Had him there.

Sasuke sighed as he closed his eyes, rubbing soothing circles over their lids, before he froze and they snapped open again

"I know where Naruto's manuscripts are."

Kyuubi grimaced at the familiar place he was being led to. Too many bad memories were kept there, ones that Sasuke didn't even know. It was all the demon could do to keep quiet and fist his hands at his sides as they walked over the first Hokage's head at the valley of end.

Sasuke suddenly stopped, and Kyuubi huffed, crossing his arms. The memories were almost consuming him, they were so strong.

"How could anything possibly be here?" Kyuubi suddenly spat, anxiety clawing at his belly and making him shift his feet. "Naruto never came back here after you two fought." He blinked as the Uchiha suddenly turned to him with blood red eyes.

"That's a lie," he said sharply. "And you know it."

Kyuubi looked away sourly. He wanted to leave this place so badly; he felt as though he was suffocating.

Sasuke closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, feeling the air he passed through as he walked.

Where are you…

Sasuke stopped abruptly as something pulsed beneath him, and he could see it under the stone: the bright cerulean glow of Naruto's chakra signature.

"Oi Uchiha, let's just go an—" Kyuubi jumped back as he saw the screaming birds of Sasuke's hand light a fiery blue, hurtling downward and smashing the stone head beneath them. Kyuubi covered his face with his arm as rocks went flying and a cloud of chalky dust curled up from the explosion.

"Are you mad!?" he shouted at the raven, only able to see his silhouette in the cloud, hunched over on the broken ground. The dust cleared and Kyuubi's face slipped to a blank stare as Sasuke pulled out a small scroll from beneath the cracked stone.

I found it….I found it… "I found it," Sasuke voiced aloud in astonishment. He was just barely able to doge the sudden hands that rushed at him, claws and all, grabbing for the scroll.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Kyuubi.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Uchiha," Kyuubi said slowly, his face suddenly stony. "Give that to me."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the drastic change in the demon's mood. He could feel Kyuubi's chakra pulsing out in hot waves around them, nearly snuffing out the small chakra signature Naruto had left behind.

"No," Sasuke said, taking a careful step back.

"Then put it back," Kyuubi offered instead, his eyes never leaving Sasuke's. "Cover it. Bury it. Pretend we never found it."

Sasuke froze where the stood, gripping the thick scroll tightly.

"Naruto never came here after you two fought."

"…you knew," he finally realized. "You knew…that his research was here!"

Kyuubi crossed his arms. "To be fair I wasn't sure of what exact place it was in."

"You fucking bastard!" Sasuke shouted, feeling his sharingan bubble to the surface; the urge to trap the demon in the Mangekyo was nearly overwhelming. "Do you want Naruto to stay dead?"

"No," Kyuubi snapped. He took a step forward and Sasuke crouched a little, ready to fight if he had to. Kyuubi himself took on an defensive stance, arms up to shield him. "Give me the manuscript, Sasuke."

"Don't you fuck with me," Sasuke hissed, grabbing his sword from his back and beginning to charge it with chakra, holding the scroll to his chest like a sacred artifact. "You don't want Naruto to come back. Admit it!"

"No!" Kyuubi shouted, his red bubbling chakra engulfing his shaking limbs. "I meant everything I said! My life is worthless without Naruto. I have nothing, no one."

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed in disbelief.

"I made a promise," Kyuubi said firmly. "If there was anything that anyone should remember about Naruto, it was his nindo: he always keeps his word. I would be that much less of a friend if I didn't extend the courtesy to him."

"You better start making sense in the next ten seconds before I gut you," Sasuke hissed, his rage nearly boiling over. He gripped the scroll so tightly his knuckles burned white, hand shaking. After a tense moment of silence Kyuubi finally sighed and lost his defensive stance, slumping a little as his chakra disappeared.

"I lied to keep the last promise I made to Naruto before he died," he said, staring down at the ground by Sasuke's feet where the scroll had been hidden. "In Naruto's final days I could, in fact, read his mind more clearly than ever. He was an open book, even when I couldn't speak to him. I saw where he hid the manuscript, here at the Valley of End. And I made him a promise that day…"

Sasuke kept his sword up regardless of Kyuubi's words;he would protect that scroll with his life, and Kyuubi's, if he had to.

"He asked me to keep you away from this scroll. Fight you to retrieve it if it ever came down to…well—" Kyuubi flourished his hand at Sasuke. "—this."

"Why would Naruto leave this behind if he didn't want to come back?" Sasuke asked, keeping the flow of chakra to his sword a steady, waiting pulse.

"It can't bring him back," Kyuubi finally said, looking up at Sasuke. "Naruto created a justsu that would allow him to momentarily to leave his body and travel to the immaterial plane where the souls of all jinchurriki are forced to stay. He used this method to gather research on bringing a jinchurriki back…in case Konoha was ever in a tight spot and needed him again."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Then he can—"

"Only temporarily," Kyuubi cut him off. He approached Sasuke slowly. "That scroll has Naruto's final jutsu in it; one to bring him back, sound of mind and body, for a small window of time." He stopped less than a foot in front of Sasuke and held out his hand. "But if I remember it can only be done at a heavy price. Give me the scroll and allow me to check it, Uchiha."

"No," Sasuke said immediately. "You'll destroy it."

"Naruto spent many years of his life developing that jutsu," Kyuubi said, glaring a little. "I would never destroy his life's work…just hide it from you."

Sasuke snorted and sheathed his sword. He raised his hand, crackling slightly with a chidori mere moments from being released. "Get any closer and I'll shred through you."

Kyuubi rolled his eyes and with his free hand Sasuke undid the clasp on the scroll and allowed it to fall open.

He did a quick scan of the parchment and his eyebrows furrowed.

"The Dead Demon Consuming Seal?" He pressed his lips together thoughtfully. "I've…heard of this."

"Of course you have!" Kyuubi shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "It's the technique that Naruto's father used to seal me away into his son! And Orochimaru—"

Sasuke's memory sparked.

"Orochimaru lost the use of his arms from that technique," he recalled, cutting Kyuubi off. "The Consuming Seal took the part of his soul in which his arms resided." Sasuke looked down at the scroll. "So to bring Naruto back, even if for a little—"

"You must give up a part of your soul," Kyuubi finished. He sighed. "Listen Uchiha…Naruto was precious to me as well, but would you really want to give up a part of your soul just to have him back for a few hours, maybe even a few moments?"

Sasuke carefully rolled back up the scroll as the chidori died in his hand. He looked down from the Hokage's head where the waterfall rushed into the lake below. It was the first place in which Sasuke had contemplated killing someone.

Someone he loved.

"Yes," he said clearly, strongly. "Even if it's just for a few minutes…there are things I need to say to him. And if I die just to say those things, I'll be able to die without any regrets."

Kyuubi sighed and shook his head. "You sappy masochist…" He glared sharply at Sasuke. "…give me that damn scroll so we can prepare for this thing already."

Sasuke felt his body heave a relieved sigh and he smirked.

Sasuke crossed his arms impatiently as Kyuubi drew some symbols in the dirt.

"Does it have to be here?" Sasuke asked uneasily, scanning the area with his sharingan.

"This jutsu must be performed on the same grounds where the soul being summoned was born," Kyuubi said, wiping the dirt on his fingers against his pants. "So yes."

"But the training grounds?" Sasuke seethed, goosebumps prickling on his skin as he tried to stay vigilant. "What if someone sees?"

"That's the least of our worries," Kyuubi scoffed, standing with the scroll. "It's also the reason we're doing this at two in the morning and using a barrier to conceal our chakras."

Sasuke huffed as he looked down at the circle of strange symbols and characters Kyuubi had created.

"I don't recognize any of these," he said.

"That's because they're in demon tongue," Kyuubi replied, shooing Sasuke away. "This is where the gate to the immaterial plane will open, and you can retrieve Naruto."

Sasuke nodded. Kyuubi took on a sober look as he scanned Sasuke silently. "You've chosen, then?" Another nod, this one slower, and Kyuubi shook his head. "This is madness," he mumbled, rolling up the scroll nd tucking it at his side. He released a calming breath, squatting down slightly and bringing his hands in front of him. "Ready?" he asked Sasuke.

"Go," Sasuke urged. Kyuubi closed his eyes in affirmation, a silence spreading over the training grounds and hushing the wind. Sasuke had never heard such an eerie silence in his life, where the night itself went numb under the calming pressure. It only took a few seconds for Kyuubi to run through the hand motions—snake, boar, ram, rabbit, dog, rat, bird, horse, snake—before he clapped his hands together, the sound so sharp it ripped the silence clean in two.

"I, Kyuubi no Kitsune, summon you, shinigami…" Kyuubi said loudly, taking a breath. "Dead Demon Consuming Seal!"

Sasuke clapped his hands over his hears as a terrible screeching replaced the torn silence, and the wavering image of a reaper in a wide white cloak appeared behind Kyuubi. It hovered slightly off the ground, black horns poking out of its sweeps of long white hair. Through its filmy locks Sasuke could make out a ghastly face with hollow black eyes and broken-glass teeth holding a knife.

Kyuubi turned around to the floating image. "Shinigami," he addressed it, "We will be reviving a jinchurriki here tonight. We have prepared a soul sacrifice for you." The reaper said nothing as it looked down on Kyuubi and removed the knife from between its razor blade teeth. Kyuubi motioned Sasuke over. "This shinobi will give you a part of his soul in exchange for the power to open the gate to the immaterial plane where all jinchurriku lie."

Sasuke swallowed as he arched his neck back to look up at the floating apparition. "I give to you…" Sasuke licked his suddenly dry lips. "I give the part of my soul that holds my kekkei genkei."

Kyuubi's eyebrows shot into his head. "Are you insane? You spent your entire life refining your bloodline technique. You even almost killed Naruto just to obtain the mangekyo!"

"Exactly," Sasuke hissed. "If there is anything in this world that drives me to kill the things I love the most…" Sasuke shook his head harshly as he stared up into the hollow eyes of the shinigami. "Then I don't want it anymore."

"And your brother?"

Sasuke swallowed. "Naruto is more important."

Kyuubi's lips quirked into a smile. "Uchiha, I may finally not hate you anymore."

Sasuke glared and opened his mouth to speak, but only a tortured gasp escaped. The shinigami had been too fast for his eyes to follow as it sliced him right down the middle. Every vein inside him was bursting with a fire so liquid cold that it was freezing and suffocating him all at once, yet not a drop of blood was spilled. Sasuke tried to move, to speak, do anything but tremble violently and endure the pain in silence, but he no longer had control.

Kyuubi couldn't help but flinch a little as he saw one decrepit, ghastly arm reach forward into the ethereal slice it had made, gripping a neon blue string, crooked brown nails digging in as it was pulled and tugged mercilessly.

Sasuke felt his eyes roll back and all the breath leave his body. It was explosive and suffocating all at once and he wasn't sure of how much more he could take—

"Guh-uhhhaaahhh!" Sasuke finally screamed as a piece of his soul was cleaved with that knife again, long bony fingers tightly grasping a bright blue piece of light.

"Seal," Kyuubi nearly whispered, and all at once the light was gone and Sasuke collapsed to his hands and knees.

His lungs gaped open as he clutched desperately for air, eyes watering and dampening his lashes; the pain was subsiding quickly to a dull throb in his chest, and the sudden empty feeling that resided inside of him did not go overlooked.

Sasuke shook wildly as more water fell from his eyes, streaming in thin rivulets down his cheeks. He reached up and wiped away the tears, and paused as he saw a dark burgundy staining his hand.

Kyuubi looked away as Sasuke practically clawed at his eyes, screaming as they bled internally and ran red down his face. He only dared to look back when there was a shockwave that nearly blasted them both off their feet. Kyuubi looked up into the howling red portal thrashing like a wild beast, sending pulses of chakra into the earth that electrified the barrier around them.

"Sasuke!" Kyuubi called over the wind. "Go now!" Sasuke looked up abruptly with bloodied eyes but didn't move. Kyuubi rolled his eyes as he trounced over to the raven and heaved him up. "Go now, dammit!" He began to push Sasuke towards the swirling gate when he suddenly stopped right in front of it. "You only have a few minutes. The chakra needed to keep this doorway open is enormous and can only be sustained for a short time. Don't wake up anyone but Naruto, or you'll be pulled in and won't have enough time to go back for him."

"Wake up?" Sasuke said vaguely, before he felt a strong shove against his back hurl him through the entrance.

And he felt rain.

Hm, what do you all think? Was Kyuubi doing the right thing? Should he have kept away Naruto's notes in the end? Where is Naruto? Is Sasuke a sappy masochist? Till next time my lovelies!

Sky-eyed Kitsune