This has honestly been on my mind since forever and I honestly don't know when I'll even get this first chapter down, I'm pretty much an expert in the procrastination area of life. But anyways, we'll see how it goes.

Disclaimer: I am quite obviously not Kishimoto, so therefore, I do not own Naruto…..for now

Chapter 1: Confidently Lost

Somberly, Sasuke stared down at the unconscious body of Naruto. Gentle rain started to fall as his forehead protector slipped off, and right before it fell out of his reach, he grabbed it. Facing it towards him, he noticed a horizontal slash right across the middle and over the symbol of the hidden leaf.

He mirthlessly cracked a half smirk. Whether unintentionally or intentionally, the blond he was looking down at, managed to put a scratch on his Hitai-ate.

Was that the reason he was standing and the blond was not? Did he lose just to prove a point? Even with the curse mark corrupting his thoughts, he did not use his attack with the full intent to kill.

If Sasuke won, why did he feel like he lost? Not only the battle but everything else as well. Looking away from his Hitai-ate, he looked to where he was headed. It was bathed in shadows, and other parts were pitch dark.

For probably the first time since defecting the village, he had second thoughts on training under Orochimaru.

Go. Follow me.

A voice that was stuck in Sasuke's head spoke again. He gritted his teeth. There was no way he'd let a snake, miles away, decide for him. He sat down in front of Naruto, and crossed his legs looking up into the sky.

Did he really know if Orochimaru was able to train him enough to where he was strong enough to beat Itachi?

The more he thought about it, Orochimaru most likely could not even defeat Itachi, hence going after himself.

No doubt, Orochimaru had ulterior motives for Sasuke, and no way in hell was he going to take over his body, but the power he got from the cursed mark was utterly addicting. If there was something he got from the massacre of his clan, it was the lust for power. He needed power to defeat Itachi, and it seemed like nobody in Konoha would be able to give it to him.

Not Kakashi. He fought his older brother and was bedridden for days. He doubted any of the other Jonin were capable of taking on Itachi, as Kakashi was one of the strongest Jonin in Konoha, and look at him now.

No one else in Konoha had experience with the sharingan. Kakashi was really the only one he could go to, but if Itachi defeated him, then how much could he teach Sasuke?

On the other hand, maybe he wasn't giving Kakashi enough credit. He'd figure that out later.

Defeating Itachi was Sasuke's number one goal. He already decided he wasn't going to kill Naruto to gain the Mangekyō sharingan.

"I don't know what to do," Sasuke muttered to himself. The rain was starting to fall harder than ever, and no doubt help from Konoha would be coming soon.

Sasuke growled in pain as he put a hand over his neck.

GO. NOW!

His legs tried to move, but by will Sasuke kept them down. The marks Sasuke was now accustomed to, started to come out freely, as the mark brought pain with a new all-time high intensity.

The pain was becoming unbearable as Sasuke started to writhe in agony, letting out screams of pain. He was starting to lose consciousness. His vision became blurry and his hearing became dull. He heard a muffled call of his name, and Naruto's.

Before he fell into what looked to be nothing but darkness accompanied by pain, he saw the silver hair of his former Sensei.

Kakashi was checking up on Naruto, but regarded Sasuke with emotionless eyes.

Sasuke fell into the slumber of unconsciousness that called him.

"Alright Naruto, everything's going to be fine," Kakashi said aloud, not expecting an answer. Now Kakashi was no medical ninja, but the wounds Naruto had were life threatening, and no doubt would have been dead or close to dying if it wasn't for the fox.

Kakashi stared down at the self-healing Naruto's body was going through.

Just enough to keep him alive, Kakashi thought. He did his eye smile and muttered a chirpy "Thanks."

The Kyubi, currently trapped inside of Naruto, blew air through his nose in irritation. He knew the brat. He was the student of that blond bastard, the Yondaime Hokage. Not to mention he was the Sensei of the person ranked at least in the top 20 of his shit-list.

To Kyubi, that was a good enough reason to hate the silver-haired man.

Gently picking Naruto up, he went over to the unconscious Sasuke.

Where he felt relief and happiness with Naruto being okay, his emotions were a whirlwind when he looked at his (?) Student.

Anger. Sadness. Disbelief. Happiness. Like he said, a whirlwind of emotions. He sighed and picked him up as well. Placing both of the young teens on his shoulders, he looked around.

The Valley of the End looked like a battlefield. Somewhat unbelievable for Kakashi, that his two Genin students were able to cause this much destruction.

With another sigh, he started a light jog back to Konoha.

The repercussions on Sasuke would be severe, and no doubt, Tsunade would be furious with the wounds that happened to all her shinobi. Even more so with Naruto's.

He sighed. However, it was better than the alternative.

Sasuke would have been hunt down by the Anbu, and that was something nobody wanted. The Anbu were relentless and ruthless. No way would Sasuke have stood a chance even after a year of training with Orochimaru. Anbu trained day and night for years. No matter how good the snake was at teaching, Sasuke would have not been prepared.

He also feared for the Anbu. Anbu could not defeat Orochimaru, and even if they managed to, he would escape.

He quickened his pace, with an idea forming.

"Hokage-sama, Kakashi-senpai has been spotted with both Uzumaki and the Uchiha," stated an Anbu as he appeared in the hokage's office.

The blonde hokage's eyebrow furrowed as she asked, "What is the condition of the two?" She could not keep the worry out of her voice; Naruto was someone special to her.

"Critical condition," The emotionless voice responded. "Tell Shizune to set up the equipment, I'll be there right away," She commanded.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," and with that, the anbu left, not leaving a trace.

Tsunade bit her lip in worry. Damn that Uchiha brat. She was going to make it hell for him once he recovered. The other genin have already came in, and Tsunade already did what she could do. All they need is rest now.

Still, the condition they were in was frightening for them just being genin's. They all went up against chunin-Jonin level shinobi's, the ones that even lent a hand in her sensei's death. Even though it was a dire situation, she smiled a small smile, because these kids would grow up to be extremely strong and make everyone around them proud.

Naruto's health monitor was beating steadily, and so was Sasuke's. Sakura sat between the two, asleep, but lines of tears were visible on her face. Tsunade stood at the door with Kakashi.

"Kakashi, their injuries were life threatening. Sasuke from exposure to the Kyubi's chakra, Orochimaru's curse mark, and just from Naruto himself."

"Naruto from using too much of the Kyubi's chakra, and not to mention the hole that the Uchiha put in him."

Kakashi stayed silent. Tsunade was not really expecting a response; she was just stating facts as calmly as she could.

"I'm sure their mental state will be fine, I don't believe either them would be corrupted from the Curse mark or the Kyubi completely.

She sighed. She could probably guess spot on what was going through Kakashi's head.

"Kakashi…" She started.

"No. Whatever you are going to say, it is my fault. I should have been there. I should have been a better sensei to all of them. I should've…" Kakashi trailed off.

Tsunade was never good with cheering people up. But she was Hokage now, she had to cheer people up. "Kakashi, there's only one person to blame here, and that's Orochimaru. He attacked Sasuke's need for power. The curse mark corrupts, Kakashi. We all should've seen the signs and paid closer attention to one with the curse mark, but we didn't. We put our faith in a genin with a lust for power because of his past. If anyone from Konoha is at fault, Kakashi, it is all of us."

Silence ensued as Kakashi pondered over the words.

"Naruto should be up in a day, the Kyubi sped up the healing process. Sasuke may take two days, his injuries were less severe than Naruto, but his healing process is regular."

Tsunade took a look at the two genin. They both looked so at peace minus the bandages. She let out a small growl as she looked at the state Naruto was in.

"You do know once Sasuke heals he will be put in trial, right?" Tsunade asked Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed. "Hai."

"I doubt anything severe will happen however, he is the last Uchiha Konoha has control over currently."

Kakashi nodded. It was going to be a long couple of months.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, staring into bright lights. For a second, he forgot where he was and what had happened. He ignored the pain as he lifted his arms, and was surprised to see them in bandages.

He observed the room and saw Sakura reading a book, and even further, the black-haired boy who he deemed his best friend and rival. And the one he swore to bring back.

He gritted his teeth and shut his eyes as the memories of the fight came back. Shaking himself out of it, he spoke.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, I told you I'd bring him back."

Sakura's green eyes snapped towards the blond shinobi who had a small grin on his face. The pink-haired eyes immediately turned watery and she quickly got up to wrap her arms around Naruto.

Naruto winced in pain but managed to wrap his arms around Sakura and enjoyed the warmth she was giving off.

Sakura rubbed her eyes and then tapped Naruto lightly in the chest. "You idiot.."

Naruto managed a sheepish laugh and rubbed the back of his head, "eh you know me Saku-!" The blond shinobi's sentence was cut off when Sakura leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Naruto, really, thank you."

Naruto looked at her with wide eyes, "Thank you for coming back...and I suppose for bringing back our troublesome teammate," Sakura said with an easy going smile.

Naruto's face remained blank for a second or two before he started out with a chuckle that turned into full blown laughter, with Sakura letting out a light giggle as well.

The laughter turned into a grimace of pain as Naruto held his abdomen, "ne, I can't even laugh right now," he whined with a pout.

"That's right, let me go tell Tsunade-sama that you're awake, I'll be back!" The pink-haired kunoichi informed chirply. Naruto nodded with comical tears as Sakura left.

"I should kick your ass again for preventing me from laughing, teme."

"Hn." Was his only response from the only other person on a bed. He woke up around the same time the blonde did, just merely resting and listening to his pink-haired teammate speak. He wasn't going to lie, he would have missed her...and his sensei...and the blonde…

"Hey, don't ya think it's kinda unsafe to have us in the same room together?" Naruto let out a sheepish laugh.

Sasuke sighed. "If you paid attention, you would know that they put chakra-suppressing seals on us, and I don't know about you, but I can't really move right now."

"Oi! of course I knew that!"

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Shut up, dobe, I'm trying to rest."

"You're the one who started it Teme!"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. On a second thought, maybe not the blond.

Ironically, a comfortable silence settled in the room between the two. A few seconds passed before the blond shinobi spoke softly.

"Teme, why didn't you leave? I know you were still able to move quick enough to be gone before Kakashi-sensei arrived. So why?"

Sasuke closed his eyes.

"I'm still trying to figure that out myself."

Tsunade and Kakashi walked into the room to the scene of Naruto and Sasuke playing shogi calmly, the board game on a table between the two. Well, as calmly as Naruto could play a game he had little understanding in how to play.

The two other shinobi were baffled at the display of utter normalcy between the two, as if the near death experiences from each other did not happen.

"Baa-chan! Kakashi-sensei!"

A respectful nod from the uchiha.

Kakashi tried not to let a true smile show. He had come to realize that Sasuke had chose to stay behind instead of being forced by his fatigue. There was hope, and he would not give up on his team.

He settled for his usual eye smile and waved his hand, "Yo!"

Tsunade also came to the realization for the lack of aggression the Uchiha had and the calmness displayed was usually not shown if one was being held against their will.

A quick check up on all their major injuries was done by the Hokage.

"Well brats, the both of you are mostly healed, save for extreme soreness throughout your entire body. I give it a few more days before you're fully healed, you, Naruto, will probably be able to leave by tomorrow."

She lingered at the now closed up hole Naruto had. It would scar, and she was sure Naruto knew that.

"Yatta!" The blonde shinobi grinned with a fist in the air. "I hate hospitals!"

The Hokage rolled her eyes at the statement, but gave him a smile nonetheless, happy that he would recover smoothly.

"You, Sasuke, will be brought before the council tomorrow evening."

Naruto's grinned turned into a frown, while Sasuke merely nodded. He was honestly expecting to be in shackles in a dark room, but he wasn't about to ask for something he really didn't want.

"Baa-chan, I want to be there tomorrow," Naruto asked seriously.

Tsunade nodded. "You, along with Kakashi were going to be requested anyways to be there."

Tsunade checked her watch. "I have to get back to the tower but I'll have Shizune come by to check up on you two."

As she got up to leave, she ruffled Naruto's hair and gave him a warm smile. "Good job, brat."

As Tsunade left, Kakashi walked and sat down on the chair between the two, where he would spend the next few hours, along with Sakura.

Sasuke grimaced in pain as he walked up the steps to the Hokage tower. Chakra-suppressing seals were still on and he was forced to wear a straight jacket, and if that wasn't enough, two Anbu accompanied him.

Tsunade and Kakashi both informed him that he should be getting off easy, due to his willingness to return back to the village, they could blame his defection on Orochimaru's cursed seal. He still didn't know if being in Konoha is what he truly wanted, but there was no point in wondering anymore, he was stuck here and did not feel like attempting another defection again.

Sasuke was lost. Confidently so.

The council along with his sensei and teammates were supposed to be there already.

Sasuke took a deep breath as they reached the council room doors. The Anbu to his left held open the door, Sasuke exhaled.

And he walked in with his head held high.

It has been awhile since I wrote anything on here, apologies for the very rough edges.

Well, I didn't like the ending and rushed the interaction of the hospital but I really just wanted to get the chapter over with. Not much happened at all, mostly just setting the scene for the next one. But Hey, finally finished it after months. I have a rough idea of where to go with this story , but mostly just a go with the flow story per se, but i see that changing.

Also, I'm sure this type of story has been done before but I've never stumbled across one so, there's that.

Anyways, I'm out , happy holidays to you all, be safe.