A/N: Well, here's another fic from me. Should be about 5 or 6 chapters. The concept, oddly enough, came to me in the middle of a huge midnight thunderstorm that lasted, oh, about 20 minutes. And hence, darkness always passes. Hope this fic is good and I hope I get reviews, both good and bad. After all, if people don't criticize then how am I supposed to get any better? And if I don't get many reviews or if there's just a bunch of flamers, I'll simply discontinue the fic. Also, I'm looking around for someone to pre-read for me. Anybody out there willing to do so? Anyways, on with the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does.
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The blond haired shinobi knew it would end here the second he had entered the room. They faced Orochimaru, his elite ranks of Sound-nin, and him. Sasuke.
'After all this time, he's still within the darkness. And now, three years later…there's no way to break him out of it, is there?' Naruto's thoughts had been betraying his actions, causing indecision that had already led to an extra hit or two Sasuke had made on him. But as Sasuke, having just powered up his curse seal to level two, charged at him with a fully powered Chidori in his palm, full of the malicious intent to do nothing but kill his target, Naruto realized it was over. Sasuke intended to kill him. Not injure or incapacitate or anything other than simply kill. Naruto realized there was no other choice as he gathered and mixed his chakra in his own palm, forming a bright orb that shimmered in a mix of red and blue energy. His friend was gone. 'I have to stop him. I will stop him. Right here, right now.'
The two old friends, then rivals, and turned enemies, charged at each other.
'I can do this.' Naruto's old determination began to emerge in his thoughts as he caught a glimpse of the telltale red pupils of the Sharingan behind the sparks of the black Chidori. 'Yeah, believe it!' Naruto thrust his Rasengan towards Sasuke, bracing himself for the impact.
The explosion disrupted all the other fights going on in the large open room, both on the main floor and the balcony. The foundations of the structure were rocked to their breaking points as a familiar black ball of chakra expanded from the point where the two attacks had met, soon warping into a white ball of similar energy.
This time, Naruto struck first. He drove Rasengan straight into Sasuke's chest. The power stored in the tiny orb practically destroyed Sasuke internally wherever it hit. Naruto's eyes, red due to his use of Kyuubi's power, gazed on in grim satisfaction at the shocked look on Sasuke's face, the damage being too great for him to continue with his attack. The light faded and the orb disappeared, revealing Naruto and Sasuke to the eyes of those still standing and showing the results of the other battles to them. Naruto wasn't paying attention to any of that however. He was looking down upon the dying man that lay before him. Sasuke had reverted to his human form, completely drained of chakra and stamina.
"You were really serious about defeating – no, killing me, weren't you, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked softly to his old friend. Sasuke dragged himself to his hands and knees and coughed hard, blood staining his tattered shirt, a few drops of the crimson liquid falling to the floor.
"Is this the power you got from breaking your bonds? Is this what you wanted?" Naruto, completely drained himself, somehow found the strength to grab the front of Sasuke's shirt and lifted him off his feet. Sasuke felt cold, a sure sign of death.
"Guess you were wrong. You left to become stronger than the ninja of Konoha and you ended up losing to them. To Dead Last."
"N-naruto…" Sasuke spat, his voice loathsome and full of anger. "I-I c-can't die here. I still have to kill my brother!"
"It's over Sasuke. I-I'm sorry." Sasuke glared at his friend, thoughts of Naruto and Itachi consuming his mind as he breathed his last breath before he could no longer hold off the fatal injuries he'd taken. Sasuke went limp in Naruto's hands. His body hit the floor at the same time as Naruto's first tear.
The remaining shinobi, only a few Konoha ninja, slowly gathered, standing behind Naruto as more tears fell from the silent blond.
"It's over," Naruto said quietly.
Naruto looked up sharply as he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder to see Jiraiya looking down at him in calm understanding.
"Come on, Naruto." His voice was firm yet soothing. Naruto shifted, turning around slowly and falling into the Sannin's embrace. "Let's go home," Jiraiya said as he softly patted the young man's head.
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Naruto had been staring off blankly ever since the group had left Orochimaru's final lair. The losses had been great but they had all known what it was they were going up against when they had agreed to the S-Rank mission.
The team was large but the size was appropriate for the mission. It was uncomfortably similar to the "Bring Back Sasuke" mission Naruto had gone on so long ago. This time however, the mission objective wasn't to bring back the missing-nin. It was to destroy Orochimaru and Sasuke, along with the rest of their Sound-nin subordinates. It had been time to end the conflict once and for all.
The mission was open to as many young ninja that wanted to go along. In addition to Naruto, Sakura, and Jiraiya, all the rest of the Rookie Nine signed up, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and the Sand trio tagging along as well. Only Sakura, Kiba, the Sand trio, and Ino had emerged relatively unharmed. They were all badly injured however, only unharmed in comparison to the others. Naruto had been badly injured from his fight with Sasuke but his enhanced healing, courtesy of Kyuubi, had gotten him back on his feet quickly.
Chouji had died while fighting alongside Shikamaru, who was also in bad, though stable, condition. The two had gone up against one of Orochimaru's elite ninja, one with a curse seal. Hinata had given her own life to save Neji's while they were fighting outnumbered ten to one. Shino had been killed as a result of pushing himself too far in order to defeat his opponent, another ninja with a curse seal. Shino had outlasted his enemy but had died shortly afterwards as a result of his extensive injuries.
Tenten and Lee were in critical condition and it was uncertain whether either of them would live long enough to see the village again. The group was moving as fast as they could, hoping they'd make it to Konohagakure and Tsunade before the casualties rose again. Sakura was doing all she could to save them but their futures were still unclear.
'Sakura-chan…' Naruto moved silently with the rest of the group. Sakura had fought Kabuto, the ex-Sound-spy, and defeated him by instantly mending her muscles after he'd cut them and taking him out with her Tsunade-like strength. And she'd been standing behind him and Jiraiya. She'd looked at him right before he'd passed out in the old man's arms. Her eyes were full of regret, sorrow, and pain. She hadn't looked at him since. As if he wasn't going through enough torment.
'Times like these, they remind me of when I was all alone. They're all looking at me differently now, avoiding me practically. No surprise really. Despite all their own battles, nobody could've missed that performance we put on.' Naruto had resisted as much as he could but once Sasuke had initially powered up his curse seal to level two, he'd been forced to draw on Kyuubi's power, going straight to four tails and demolishing quite a bit of the arena in the ensuing fight.
'You should've given me more control, kit. I could've wiped out all those pathetic little Sound-nin in seconds.' Naruto gave a short, hard laugh in his mind.
'Yeah, along with half of my teammates in the same swipe. I just wish Sakura understood things better.'
'From your point of view you mean.'
'Yeah, I guess so. It's not fair. He charges me with killer intent after I've been holding back as much as possible to try and just stop him. And she still can't look at me. She probably sees him every time she merely thinks of me.' Naruto sighed to himself. 'Well, if looking at me causes her that much pain, then I guess it'd be for the best if I let her be alone for a while.'
'And if she never gets over it?' Kyuubi asked calmly. Naruto didn't respond.
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'It wasn't his fault. You know that. Sasuke was a t-traitor. He was going to kill Naruto. B-but…he's gone forever now.' Sakura felt like crying for the thousandth time but she was out of tears. She had cried and cried and cried, trying to drown her aching heart. But, naturally, it hadn't made her feel better at all. And so she had progressed into silent mourning. And she had done so to an unprecedented extent, only talking when absolutely necessary. Ino and the others had been trying to get her to open up and talk about her feelings, trying to get it all out in the open, but Sakura hadn't entertained any thoughts of doing so. It had been a day since anybody had even tried to talk to her, which wasn't surprising considering the harsh verbal lashing she had given an undeserving Ino.
'I know she's only trying to help. They all are. And I know I shouldn't have lashed out like that. But when I think of him, all I can remember are the old times. Before all the fighting, before he got taken into the darkness. When we were all friends and we were all happy. But it's all over now.'
Sakura glanced up and quickly looked back down at the ground when she caught sight of orange and black clothing.
'And it was by his hand too. I'm so sorry, Naruto. But every time I look at you, I see him. I – I hope you understand. N-naruto. You've grown so much since then. He was your best friend.'
She chanced a look at the back of Naruto's head. She looked away abruptly as his face emerged in her mind, her dry eyes willing tears that just wouldn't come.
'Naruto…I'm so sorry.'
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Ino looked back and forth between Naruto and Sakura as her mind wandered back to the huge fight that had taken place a few days ago.
She had managed to take down a few Sound-nins through using Shintenshin on one and carefully stabbing the rest in the back. Unfortunately, she had been spotted and quickly outnumbered but she'd taken out the four ninja who'd surrounded her. During the fight, the body she'd been in had taken a beating which Ino felt the full force of when she returned to her own body. After disposing of the weakened ninja whose body she'd taken over, she'd turned just in time to watch Naruto and Sasuke charge at each other with huge chakra forces in their hands. Ino had been shaken by the explosion and knocked of her feet but she barely noticed that she'd fallen. She was too distracted by the faint images inside the orb.
Relief had been her initial feeling when the bright light faded away, revealing Naruto standing over Sasuke. However, with realization of the situation came a feeling of dread in her stomach, mixed with a dark satisfaction that had caused her insides to twist and turn. She watched silently as Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a few final words before Sasuke went limp in Naruto's grip. Everything was pretty much a blur after that.
'And so it's all over.'
Sure, Ino had given up and let go of Sasuke when he'd left, finally seeing him for the selfish bastard he was, but that merely changed the feeling of sorrow that Sakura was enduring into a feeling of emptiness that had settled like a pit in Ino's stomach.
They could all tell themselves he'd been just another missing-nin, another S-Class criminal that needed to be taken down. But they all knew it wasn't true. Ino had lost a piece of her past. Sure, the piece had fallen into darkness, but it had still been there. Now all she had was an empty hole.
'But if this is what a lack of feeling feels like, then Sakura must be going through absolute hell. And Naruto…' Ino had never known the other blond shinobi beyond a first name basis. He'd always been loud and annoying and Ino had taken part in the constant teasing that the poor boy had been forced to endure.
'Naruto, I wish I could help you. But then again, I wish I could help everyone. Just to fill this hole.'
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Naruto stopped in front of the opening in the huge stone wall that surrounded Konoha. The gates were open, a line of shinobi standing in a line about thirty feet behind the gates, Tsunade standing in the middle. Naruto sighed as he walked through the gates and towards the Hokage who held a grim look on her face in response to their weary and sorrowful looks, as well as the caskets they carried.
"It's finally over…we're home." Naruto whispered to himself, sighing once again as he passed through the gates.
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A/N: Well, there you have it. Hope you all liked it. If I get enough reviews, maybe 8-10, I'll continue it, but even if I get that many reviews, don't expect an update until sometime after August 1. But please, review, even if you think it was horrible. Your opinions will only help. Unless of course your review consists of mindless flames. In which case, they will be duly ignored. Thank you. D