This was it. The final battle between Naruto and Sasuke. God, how he'd anticipated this! With his brother's eyes, his obviously superior skill, and his sword, he'd obliterate the little blond idiot. He thought they were still friends? Dream on!
Naruto was standing very still in the middle of a clearing, far away from Konoha. That wouldn't help him. Sasuke and his subordinates would invade the village when they were finished. Not that his subordinates were around to help. No, they were standing by, hiding out while the shinobi war raged around them. Sasuke didn't care about the war. Not now, at least. He had to get rid of Naruto, and get the nine-tails. Then Madara's plan would be complete.
He came up behind him with a surprise attack, slashing down onto his shoulder. He got a surprise of his own, however, when the smaller boy lazily raised his arm and blocked the sword. With a flick of his wrist, the sword twisted out of Sasuke's grasp. Damn. He hadn't been expecting that. When the orange and black covered boy turned, the brunette struck him in the chest with his palm, but it hardly connected. When had he gotten so fast? He grabbed his hand and twisted his arm, then pushed him away carelessly. Sasuke spun around and glared.
"It's been a while, Sasuke," Naruto murmured, looking at him with a sad face. It was the kind of face that just said he'd given up. Perfect.
"That it has," the rogue ninja returned, grinding out the words venomously. He backed up a little and picked up his sword, and then held Naruto still using the power of his eyes. There was no resistance, and no reaction.
Once inside his head, Naruto simply asked, "I guess just having a little chat is out of the question?"
"Correct," Sasuke hissed, waving his hand. Naruto was suddenly tied to a cross. "I control this place, Naruto," he said, while in the real world his slowly inched closer to his former friend's immobile body. In the world in his mind, Naruto nodded mutely.
He didn't even have to use any ninja techniques. He just stabbed the blond in the chest. Naruto crumpled to the forest floor.
In his mind, however, millions of images assaulted Sasuke. Naruto's horrid, lonely childhood, and his solid resolve to become someone everyone would like and respect. The time when they'd accidentally kissed, the time they'd come back beaten and bruised after learning to control their chakras, the time Sasuke had saved him. Then there was the day that they'd tried to glimpse behind Kakashi's mask, and Naruto must had looked over and seen him hugging Chouji around the neck, and the eyes through which he saw this connected with a voice and laughed. The images started with jealousy and a little bit of malice, but then eased into something that he'd only felt a little behind his own burning lust for revenge: friendship.
Then came training. He had all the information he needed, and yet... he couldn't bring himself to leave Naruto's mind and run to tell everything to Madara. He was overwhelmed with the sense of friendship, of how Naruto didn't think once of killing Sasuke, but of convincing him to come back.
Finally, it seemed to linger on a picture of team 7, with Naruto and Sasuke looking angry, Sakura happy, and askashi looking like he was trying to be the mediator. Sasuke might have laughed aloud.
He wrenched himself from the boy's mind with a gasp. Looking down at the open blue eyes and the pained expression, he paused. What was he doing, anyways? He killed his brother, who was following orders. Now he was getting revenge on a village that had down nothing! The Hokage was to blame for that, and the Hokage that had made that order was dead. There was no one to blame, ad he'd just killed his best friend. Yes, he admitted it, Naruto was the best friend he'd ever had.
"C-come on, Naruto, stay awake," Sasuke said as gently as he could, smiling. "It's going to be okay. You're going to make it, just watch. Hold on..."
"Sa...Sasuke?" Naruto asked, struggling to see him. "Is that you?"
"Yes. Come on moron, stay awake."
"I... it was good to see you again," the blond said softly. The life in his eyes faded. The last bit of breath left his lungs, and his body went limp.
It started raining. Sasuke stared dumbly at the shinobi. He shook him. He tried healing him. Oh, the wound closed up nicely, not even a scar. The rain washed away the blood. But Naruto didn't open his eyes or sit up.
"Come on." The words came out short. "Wake up. Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up! Hello? You idiot!" Sasuke yelled, throwing the body down. He back away and pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around them, and he cried. Damn it all, what had he done?
A hand patted his back, and his glanced up, expecting a subordinate. No. The blond stood there, looking worried, his head tilted to one side. "You okay?"
Sasuke scooped him up in his arms and hugged him. "Woah, hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Naruto demanded, struggling against the vice grip on his arms. He feet were off the ground and Sasuke's face was buried in his shoulder.
"Don't ever let me be so stupid again, alright?" he growled.
Naruto kicked his legs uselessly, and then replied, "okay."
Karin came running back and told Sasuke that they'd lost the war and that Madara was dead. He beat her up and told her to shove it right where the sun don't shine. He then went with his friend back to his town where he would face the punishment for his actions.
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So, I haven't written anything in a while. This just popped into my head. Not BL just the normal friendship implied in Naruto. Hope you liked it!
~Mocha
