I Can't Be Born Again

by Chronoquest

Orochimaru wants Sasuke as his new vessel and will stop at nothing to get him. Naruto made a promise to protect his friends, no matter what happens.

1. Who's Back?

Heylos, everybody. Meh, this'll probably start out sucking and then get better in the end, because it IS my first fanfiction in AGES! I haven't written one since… I think the last time I updated was last summer. Almost an entire year. Heh… okay, off to the fanfic itself.

Warnings: Shonen-ai, blood, guts, gore, fun fun….

Pairings: NaruSasu… maybe others later.

Summary: Orochimaru wants Sasuke as his new vessel and will stop at nothing to get him. Naruto made a promise to protect his friends, no matter what happens.

Information:
This takes place right after Tsunade becomes Hokage and Naruto convinced Sasuke to come back from Orochimaru. Ano…. I know it may not seem like it… but I really liked the part that I started the chapter with, and then I realized that my plot takes it as though its AFTER the entire "let's go follow sasuke" thing. . I'm a baka, I know…

Arigato – Thank you
Hai – Yes
Iie – No
Doushite – Why?
Nani – What?
Dobe – Dead-Last
Baka – Idiot/Moron
Teme – Bastard
Kuso – Shit/Fuck
Kitsune – Fox
Shimatta – Dammit
Itai - Ow

Title: I Can't Be Born Again
Prologue: Who's Back?

By Kyuubi-chan

"Dobe…" Sasuke mutters as he watches his teammate yell at Kakashi for not teaching him Chidori. Kakashi's eye turns into a half-moon as he tells Naruto to concentrate chakra to his hand.

Currently, Naruto was failing at that task.

Sakura looked at her crush. "Thank you… for saving us, Sasuke-kun," she said softly.

"Iie, that wasn't me who saved you," Sasuke murmured, his eyes looking at Naruto. "It was Naruto."

Sakura looked at him in surprise and then shook her head. "Stop be so modest, Sasuke-kun, there's no way that…" she began before Sasuke cut her off.

"Iie! It's true."

Sakura looked at Naruto again, a small smile gracing her face. She sighed softly as she watched Sasuke walk off. Naruto was interesting, to say the least. She frowned slightly. But how was it that he had more power than Sasuke? He wasn't that strong… was he?

Sasuke walked through the town of Konoha, his thoughts on his blonde teammate. How did he get that much power? He thought.

FLASHBACK ((Kyuubi-chan says: I'm only shouting out the word flashback because I'm too lazy to write the way that it would normally appear. And I want to get this chapter finished soon so that I can begin working on Chapter 2))

Sasuke looked at Naruto, who had just been thrown into the tree next to him. "Hey, Naruto, you have to save Sakura no matter what. I know you can save her. You…" he began, then his eyes hardened with anger. "Never again." His voice was a low growl as he spoke. "If its just for a while, I'll be able to hold him in place… carry her and run… as far… and as fast as you can…once you've got her."

"Sasuke," Naruto said, his voice low with… was that admiration?

"I've already lost everything once before! I don't ever want those dear to me to die before my eyes again!" He stood, looking at Gaara.

Those dear to me… the words echoed in Naruto's head. An image of Sasuke saving him on their first mission entering his mind. Needles spilling his teammate's blood everywhere, just to save the fox-boy. Naruto was silent for a moment, and then stood up.

"I get it…" he murmured, his voice not above a whisper.

An image of Kakashi's half-moon eye and smile behind the mask appeared. "I don't let my comrades die," the jounin had said in the Wave Country.

"Yeah, that's right…" the boy muttered again. Sasuke looked over at his teammate, questioning the boy with his eyes.

"I thought he was strong 'cause he survived that solitude, fighting only for himself… because he was like me… because he lived feeling the same kind of lonliness and sadness I did…" His eyes were covered by the shadow of his forehead protector. Sasuke stared at him, eyes surprised.

"But I was wrong… his strength isn't real… strength doesn't come from fighting alone… real strength is not what you have from only fighting for yourself…"

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his voice puzzled and quiet.

Haku appeared in Naruto's mind, the angelic smile gracing the young boy's face. "Do you have someone who is special to you?" Haku had asked.

Iruka had stopped the large shuriken when Naruto had been attacked by Mizuki. "When you have someone special to protect…" Iruka had told him.

"You can become truly strong!" Naruto shouted. His eyes were glaring at Gaara, filled with a murderous intent.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked. He stared at the boy as waves of chakra gathered around him.

"I WILL PROTECT THEM NO MATTER WHAT!!" Naruto had screamed as he unleashed the chakra.

END FLASHBACK

Sasuke shook his head. It wasn't like him to dwell on one battle like this. Especially the battle in which Naruto had shown just how powerful he could be. Sasuke walked quickly to his house. What he needed was rest. That would disspell the blond's image from his head.

"SASUKE-KUN!" someone yelled behind him. Gulping slightly, Sasuke turned around.

The fangirls were back.

He hurried even quicker to his home as they chased him, hoping that he could reach his house before they reached him. He hated having the group follow him around everywhere and wished that he could change that fact. But no matter what happened… even if Sasuke told the world… he would always be chased.

While Naruto will always be hated, a sly voice said in the back of his head.

Sasuke shook his head again.

"Oi!" a voice yelled. Sasuke looked up. Naruto jumped down from a rooftop, landing next to him. "Teme…" the boy grunted.

"Hn?" Sasuke asked, a smirk on his face. "Did you say something… dobe?"

"Don't call me that!" Naruto yelled. "ASSHOLE!"

The fangirls behind them heard the last part.

"Oh! Naruto's being mean to Sasuke again! Let's get him!" one of the girls yelled out. There were several in agreement with this. Naruto felt sweat gather on the back of his neck as he turned to find out how many girls were behind him.

It was over thirty.

"SHIMATTA!" he screamed as he ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

Sasuke shook his head and continued home. At least they weren't after him anymore. He unlocked his front door and stepped into the old house. He had never moved out of the place where his Clan was slaughtered. To him, it was a constant reminder that he needed to kill Itachi.

"Yo!" a voice said beside him. Pulling out a kunai, he slashed to the side as he was jumping away.

"Itai!" the voice yelped.

Looking at his attacker, Sasuke saw that it was none other than Naruto.

"What are you doing here, Dobe?" he snapped. And how did you get away from those fangirls?

"Teme… you're the one who asked me to come over yesterday!" Naruto snapped.

"Nani…?" Sasuke said… then he remembered. Oh yeah… training.

"Che… if you don't want me here, I'll leave," Naruto replied. He never stayed anywhere that he wasn't wanted.

"Iie…" Sasuke muttered, a faint blush coming on his cheeks. He shook it off as Naruto stared at him with confusion in his baby blue eyes.

Before anything else could be said, Kakashi appeared with a faint poof beside them.

"Ah, good," he said. "Both of you are here. You have to come with me."

"Doushite?" Naruto snarled.

"Orochimaru is back. He wants Sasuke."

I think I'll end this here. Don't worry, I plan on updating once a week. Or something of that nature. Hopefully I'll be able to keep my promise.

Please. Read and Review. Arigato-gozimasu!

Kyuubi-chan