Fate Change

Part 1/?

Summary: All it took was one incident, one single lapse in action, to change fate.

Disclaimer: I make no profit from this except that of self-satisfaction. All the molah goes to the force of nature that is Kishimoto-sama.

"Why, Sasuke..? Why didn't you just kill me?! That would've broken it! Or maybe you can't! Maybe you're afraid! Huh?!?" Blue eyes looked defiantly up into black ones.

Sakura cast a worried glance over at her blonde teammate.

"Naruto…"

"…there's a simple explanation," coal eyes closed for a contemplative moment, "it's not that I couldn't break the bond between us," the lids lifted again. "I was simply doing as my brother did before me. It was just a strategy to gain power."

"What do you mean?!"

"I don't need to explain anything to you, the only thing you need to know is that your life was spared only on a whim!"

Blue eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched at the tone of the words. Team Kakashi looked up at the only missing-nin member. Or at the spot he had been standing in.

Naruto flinched at the light, barely-there touch on his shoulder, he would've thought it had been a breeze if the pressure hadn't remained and become slightly heavier as another body pressed against his front.

"That reminds me…" the black haired boy pressed just a little closer, leaving about two centimeters worth of space between them. Naruto then realized that Sasuke hadn't even really been touching him, it was just the sheer force of his presence.

"Didn't you use to say your dream was to be Hokage? Instead of wasting all that time chasing me," a smirk spread across the black haired boy's lips, "you should've been training. Don't you think?"

The both heard the soft exclamation of their pink haired teammate.

"S-Sasuke!"

"Because this time-" at the soft, metallic sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath, blue eyes widened, "-you could lose your life on a whim."

Naruto schooled his expression, fighting the urge to snarl back at the threat and throw a punch. Sasuke's blade chinked softly at it completely left the sheath. Naruto swallowed the saliva in his mouth, wetting the throat he hadn't even known had gone dry.

"If someone can't save a friend, then I don't think that they deserve to be Hokage. Do you, Sasuke?"

"Humph." The smirk fell from the Uchiha's face. He drew his arm back and his blade along with it.

Is this it?

Naruto closed his eyes and let himself lean forward a little bit, into the familiar and strange warmth of his friend. He opened his eyes again and let out the breath he was unknowingly holding.

The tension was building in the air. He could feel it almost like he could feel mist on his skin, prickling. And it was tinged with something he couldn't quite place but that he knew was definitely not tending towards anything he'd call "good." But…

Why did he feel so weirdly calm?

He heard the blade slicing through the air before he actually felt it. He simply lifted his right hand to the place on his stomach where he felt the insistent pain. His fingers touched the pointed tip of the blade and then slid down the edge of it to where it had torn through his clothing and skin, touching his own warm blood.

The blade went all the way through…

He felt like something had been torn inside of him, in more ways than one. There was the one through his stomach and then there was the one somewhere in his chest. And then…he felt nothing.

Nothing except the soft, physical press of Sasuke's body against his own, which became greater as his knees began to buckle and he leaned even more into the other nin, and then there was the feeling of the blade being pulled from him.

"You idiot," Sasuke breathed out. Naruto felt himself smiling and let his hand fall from the wound. The hand that Sasuke had had on his shoulder came up under his arm to hold him up as he slumped. Why did he suddenly feel so weak?

"Did your body move on its own that time, teme?"

He thought he heard Sasuke say something before the world went dark.

Oh god, oh god, oh god…

Do I dare to actually write an angst fic? Mm…possibly. I don't even know where I am (or did mean to go) going with this but for some strangely sadistic reason, I wanted Sasuke to stab Naruto during their reunion.

Why?

Hell if I know. I just think it would've added to the whole "Naruto trying to save his would-be killer" thing. I don't know…

Crap.

It's 1…no, 1:30 a.m. right now and it may very well just be the time that's making me want Naruto to fall into an angst pit for a little bit (not that I wouldn't help him out eventually). God…what's wrong with me?

Well, by the time I actually have this typed up (I handwrote this out! Four pages! Whoots!...but it was on wide ruled paper… D/) it will probably be a much different time (though not by much XD its 11:30 p.m. this time…) than one in the morning.

And why did I put this A/N at the bottom of the page? Because! Who actually reads the ones at the top? We all just skip them unless it's a fic that we're waiting for updates on. I know it, you know it, and Sai-kun knows it. And it's fine. Who cares?

I'm starting to ramble now so, review please.

And anything is welcome in reviews. I don't care really. I just like input.

Did anyone else want Naruto to get stabbed by Sasuke?

…hehe, that sounded so dirty. Gah. My mind…

*passes out from exhaustion*