Rasengan!

Chidori!

Bright, all encompassing light of power……and the distant pyre of memories long past.

Neither of the two teens, heckled by fate, knew how long they stared at each other and all that which passed between them in the light, but both understood that the impending darkness of reality would spiral in soon enough.

And so, Uzumaki Naruto spoke.

"You know…how everyone in the village used to hate me," he said, feeling his stomach, and all within, "Because of the Kyuubi inside me."

He looked at the other sadly, and smiled. "And I used to hate them all, too. There were times I wanted revenge. One misstep, and maybe I would've become the same as you, arriving at such a horrible conclusion."

The blonde teen's smile tightened, and his eyes gazed downward as he reflected upon the past. "I thought I had no connection with anyone. Until I met you and Iruka-sensei."

The dark-haired teen continued to stare at him impassively, involuntarily silent.

He scratched his head sheepishly. "I knew you were always alone. And I was relieved there was someone else like me…I wanted to talk to you right away. For some reason, I was really happy."

His hand lowered, and his smile became warmer. "But I didn't. I was jealous because you were a genius who could do anything…so I decided you would be my rival!"

He looked at the other. "I wanted to be like you. I finally had some connections. As we fulfilled our duties as Team Seven…I was always trying my best to be as strong and cool as you were."

There was a pause. Or perhaps more.

However many there were, when the moments ended, the blonde teen smiled……

"I'm really glad to have met you."

……and Uchiha Sasuke was reminded of the sun he turned his back on.

He couldn't see that well though, not anymore. And he decided to pretend it was a misperception entirely of his own. "Naruto…nothing you say can change my mind now."

His eyes narrow, and darken. "I am going to kill you and everyone in the village…!"

His fingers tighten. "Your only choices are to kill me and be the hero who protects the village, or to be killed, and become a complete loser!"

Naruto closed his eyes, perhaps in contemplation, perhaps resigned, but when he reopens them, they are burning with the will of his choice.

"I won't be a loser! And I won't be the hero who kills you either! I won't choose either!"

As the light passed and time resumed its trek, the battle that began a mere flash ago rumbled and soared.

I will………

BANG!!!

The water surface and much of its body exploded as the sheer force of the chakra from the clash of the two techniques collided.

Both Kakashi and Sakura (who was more lamenting about the ineffectualness of her gender and seriously considering either going through a sex-change or start playing for the other team—that girl who was bleeding all over the place she just saved might be a plausible candidate to start with—rather than concerned with the fight) gasped at the magnitude in which the battle started.

Sasuke flipped in midair and planted his feet on the side of the bridge, unsheathing his katana simultaneously.

He watched Naruto perform the same maneuver, except the teen skidded to a halt using the surface of the water, blue eyes blazing, never wavering from his, and he wondered, briefly, how is that despite how blurred the world was becoming for him, that irritable blue would always shine through.

He gritted his teeth. "This ends now, Naruto. And it will end how I want it."

Naruto smirked. "No, Sasuke……this won't end yet. And it'll begin not the way you want." He raised his hands, and made the ram sign.

The Uchiha launched himself, not unlike a rocket, straight at the blonde, blade raised and intents deadly.

"NARUTO!!" Kakashi and Sakura cried, as people on the sidelines are wont to do.

Time seemed to slow again, as the speeding tip of the blade inched itself into the chest……then into the heart.

Naruto coughed. There was blood in his breath, but he smiled………

"………………hey, Sasuke…………………………"

Sasuke stared past the other boy, their heads already side by side, eyes vacant and bloodier, but listening, if only for the very last time.

"………………………………SURPRISE BUTT-SEX."

………and then popped into smoke.

Sasuke blinked.

He swung around wildly just as another Naruto emerged from the water.

"NEVER AGAIN!" the Uchiha roared as he went to decapitate the approaching menace.

"I know how you feel, Sasuke," Kakashi commented quietly, while Sakura shuddered……then shuddered for an entirely different reason.

Before he could finish the strike, Sasuke heard the words, from behind, of which he would despise with all the fiber in his cellular structure, his mortal soul, his very being.

"OPTION THREE: A THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN, ENHANCED!!!"

Sasuke flew.

The scream was heard by his brother in the afterlife.

Itachi sighed. You deserved that, little brother.

And his eyes were bleeding for reasons other than abusing the sharingan.

He also seemed to have gained a rear appendage.

Sakura looked down at her empty hand. "When did Naruto……?"

Kakashi folded his arms, and nodded sagely. "Always remember to look behind the underneath." He looked thoughtful, "By the way, that was a poisoned kunai, wasn't it?"

Sakura hoho'ed.

Karin giggled up blood.

Naruto pumped his arm. "Dattebayo!"

Sasuke suffered what in the end was decided to be laceration and a really bad rash, and had to go through dozens of various physical (and mental) therapies.

He got better, though. Kind of.

AN: Seriously, though, this manga sucks. Excuse me while I go read FMA and be genuinely impressed.