An indefinite future...
Two flashes, a destroyed building.
Two men, standing amongst the rubble, facing each other with dark, red eyes.
"It's both a good thing and a hindrance to see that you haven't slowed down, Uchiha." Naruto said bitterly, ignoring the sword at his neck.
"I thought I eliminated your ability to speak the last time we fought, Naruto." Sasuke shot back, ignoring Naruto's trench knife, which was inches from his heart.
"You thought you did, just like I thought I broke your back in five places." Naruto said casually, earning himself a hollow laugh from Sasuke. Despite the fact that the two scarred Shinobi were frozen in their killing stances, and that their respective ANBU and Otokage uniforms were covered in the blood of multiple enemies, they spoke as if it was a normal conversation between two old acquaintances catching up.
"I must admit it was a bit tricky to find a doctor good enough to fix that one up." Sasuke replied. "But greetings aside, why are you here Naruto? The last time you stormed into my village and killed most of my followers was when you tried to kill me. Are you here to have another try?"
"I actually came here on my own accord - to deliver something." Said Naruto, as he cautiously withdrew a scroll from his ANBU vest.
"I had a feeling you had finally given up on trying to kill me - I guess that means after all our battles, I come out as the victor." Sasuke's pride appeared to be still intact, as a grimace slid onto Naruto's face.
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Naruto spoke, his deep voice bearing a dark tone. "After all these years, ever since we fought at the Valley of the End, we've been trying to find ways to best each other, and it does seem like a strange time to give up." Sasuke nodded, as Naruto continued. "And then I realized it - a way to prove I was the better of the two of us, once and for all. I've done something that you were and would be never able to do."
"Something I was never able to do?" Sasuke spat in disbelief. "I, Uchiha Sasuke? The man who defeated Orochimaru? The man who commanded Otogakure to seize control of Iwagakure? The one who was vital in the destruction of Akatsuki?"
"Vital?" Naruto laughed. "Akatsuki still hasn't ended - after all these years. A few of their members stuck to their wits and escaped ours, and supposedly your grasp as well. Think back Uchiha, to the day when we were selected as a team. We spoke of ourselves, our likes, our dislikes - our dreams."
"Those bear no matter to me anymore." Sasuke's hand began to shake, as the sword quivered towards Naruto's throat.
"Because you were never able to succeed. I was able to succeed where you failed, Uchiha." Naruto took a second to enjoy the look on Sasuke's face, as Sasuke stared back in disbelief. "Despite the countless people you've murdered, the friends you stabbed in the back and left to rot and all your 'successes', the one thing you made your life goal - I beat you to it. Me, Naruto, dead-last, defeated the Uchiha to his own dream."
"You - you didn't?" Sasuke said, losing grip on his sword, his mind running at a hundred miles per hour, trying to find some way to prove Naruto's words wrong.
"I succeeded where you did not. I killed the one true successor of the Uchiha Clan." Naruto said, as he formed a one handed seal over the scroll and in a poof of smoke, above them, the head of Uchiha Itachi, bearing his Konoha headband with a cross through it, fell in front of Sasuke's feet. "I killed Uchiha Itachi."
"NO!" Sasuke's sword dropped, as he stopped to stare at the head of the one he sought after to kill for so long - his own brother.
"Goodbye, Uchiha - and the next time we meet, that head on the ground shall be yours." Naruto took Sasuke's pause to escape - he had done what he intended to do - and he was about to disappear. "Hiraishin No Jutsu."
For What It's Worth
Prologue
It was a similar scene - six years ago.
Two flashes, a crumbling valley.
Two boys, charging up their next attack, and standing among the destruction they caused - facing each other, with dark, red eyes.
"I'll give you one last chance!" Naruto called, bearing his fox teeth, his eyes a thin, blood red color, and one tail made of pure Kyuubi chakra behind him. "We can go back now!"
"You're telling me that?" Sasuke asked, his eyes bearing the Uchiha-clan's Sharingan, and his body bearing the full extent of the Cursed Seal - two wings on his back and long grey hair. "I should be giving you the last chance - it's over!"
"If you say so..." Naruto called back, as he began to form a dark ball of chakra in his hand. "RASENGAN!"
"CHIDORI!" Sasuke called out, the black lightning chakra forming in his hand. The two enemies, once friends, charged at each other, aiming to kill.
A giant flash occurred, and an explosion was created between them.
Two bodies fell down - one falling unconsciously, one falling gracefully.
The unconscious body fell first, followed by the other landing on the ground on both feet. He staggered slowly, limping towards the unconscious body of the former comrade. Both of their past transformations had ceased, they were back to their old form.
"It's over - just like you said." The blonde spoke, as his headband slipped off his head, revealing a line scratched right through it. "Looks like you were able to get one good hit - Uchiha." The said Uchiha laid on the ground unconscious, his body bearing the recognizable damage of a Rasengan - he would've been dead, had Naruto not held back while trying to dodge the Chidori. Naruto bent over, taking the unscathed headband from Sasuke, and taking it as his own, giving Sasuke his damaged headband. Naruto took one look at Sasuke, before speaking the words he never thought he'd say.
"You're not worth it."
Few would ever know what really happened that day, as Naruto later returned to Kakashi, stating Sasuke had won and disappeared, whilst only the latter was true - Sasuke's body was later recovered and healed by Kabuto.
A/N: Confused? The first part of the chapter takes place in the future, whilst the second part of the chapter takes place at the Valley of the End - stating the change of the story. This story is dedicated to the one Naruto story that first got me into fanfiction, I forgot what it's called, but I do remember what it was about - a oneshot in which Naruto kills Itachi before Sasuke.
Now the next chapter will begin after Naruto's three year training gap.
This'll be fun.