Authors note: In this fanfiction, Naruto successful brought Sasuke back from the village and instead of being trained by Orochimaru, he was trained by Kakashi. This is a Sasuke x Naruto fanfiction and if you don't like that or Yaoi, this isn't your cup of tea.

Disclaimer for the story: Naruto's not mine.

Chapter 1

Sasuke Uchiha never thought the day would come where he'd be six-teen years old and hiding behind a tree from a creature that looked like it crawled out of the nearest dumpster. Of all things, he was behind a big tree that laid in the fire country, praying a collective prayer to the universe.

"I think I killed it. What is that thing?" His eyes glare at the creature that laid in the middle of multiple trees.

The creature was incredibly tall, standing or, rather laying now, at about seven feet or taller. It had a horrid snot themed color skin, yellow with a hint of green. His stomach was a bit chubby with a few scars across it. Gratefully, it had some cloth on that covered its crotch. Sasuke and Naruto really didn't need to see a monster's private parts! That was the last thing they ever wanted their minds to remember.

No book in history had any knowledge about it; At least every book the raven haired man read didn't. Though, Sasuke successful took it down with his fireball Jutsu so it couldn't be all that dangerous. Apart of him wish he stopped to ask the monster what it was, though. On the other hand, He wasn't even sure if it talked like humans did.

Konohagakure and the forest of the fire country was like the ocean. There was still so much to explore.

Naruto peeks his head out to get a glance as well. "I don't know, go poke it." There was no way he was going over there to do that. This was his mission as well as Sasuke's, but he knew one look at that thing would give anyone nightmares!

The two boys were Jonin's now and they were currently on an A-Class mission to go help a village that was being threatened by some powerful gangsters that happened to be Ninja's. It brought them back some memories of their first real mission! Though, this time they weren't in the hidden mist village nor were Kakashi and Sakura with them. It's okay, they could handle themselves with just each other. Even if they bickered at every free second they could.

"No, you do it, you're always talking about how much more manly you are than me." That was true. If the knuckle head Ninja wasn't yelling about being hokage, he was screaming about being better than Sasuke. How much was it true? That's debatable. If you asked any girl, she'd probably say Sasuke, though.

Pouting with his cheeks puffed up and lips perked, Naruto turns his head in a scoff, not amused with his rival's statement. Just because the reasoning was correct didn't mean Naruto had to agree with it.

Staying behind the tree and waiting for something to happen wasn't the right thing to do. The creature could get back up or another could arrive soon enough to see their friend down for the count. They had to check if that thing was dead and get going already! "Am not." The aqua eyed Ninja denies, not willing to even take one step near that thing. He could smell it from five feet away and it was revolting.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke starts to pull his Katana out of it's stealth. Really, the other was too stubborn for his good. For someone who took on almost anyone, the blonde boy didn't have much balls at the moment. Amusing.

Smirking in a mocking manner, the Uchiha makes a mental note to tease his friend about this later on. "You're right, you're not." Naruto feels some anger boiling up inside his stomach. "I'm much more manlier than you." He was not! If anyone was the manliest here, it was Naruto Uzumaki!

Whispering insults, Naruto follows suit as Sasuke hesitantly strolls towards the crispy creature. He was not about to let Sasuke out match him. "That thing smells worst than week old milk." Naruto comments, cringing. "I think I'm going to be sick." Sasuke only snorts. He did have a point.

The Uchiha had been around many dead corpses, thanks to the Massacre, and they didn't nearly smell as bad as the thing that laid unconscious in front of them.

"Be careful, this thing could be alive still." He grabs a nearby stick before poking the thing in the head; his katana in the other still. "At any moment, it could wake up and attack us again." Of course, Naruto understood that. He had a Kunai pulled out and ready to throw it if the moment came for it. He was an idiot, but he wasn't stupid. His ranking was Jonin now! That meant he could handle himself. Well, mostly.

"Do you have any basic ideas as to what it is?" Naruto gestures towards the dead thing, the urge to throw up fading slowly.

Thankfully, it wasn't waking up and that either meant Sasuke knocked it out too harshly or hopefully, dead. It was bad enough to even look at it! Fighting it would probably be easy, but not pretty in the slightest.

Sasuke shakes his head no, just as confused as his blonde friend's. Seriously, everyone seemed to think he knew everything. It did help his ego and pride, but that was besides the point. "Honestly, I have no idea as to what this thing is."

That makes Naruto laugh a little. Sasuke didn't know everything, after all. For a while, the knuckle head would state random facts and ask if they were true; to test the Uchiha's intelligence. That only made Naruto more jealous, though. Of course, Sasuke had to be perfect.

"Why are you laughing at me this time, loser?" Sasuke stands up, throwing the stick he grabbed towards a bush. "You really are strange."

Naruto just laughs even hardly, snickering. The laughing soon came to a stop when he heard the other call him strange. He was not strange! If anyone was strange in this Ninja world, it was Shino and his clan. What kind of people actually like bugs? Butterflies were cute to an extent, but Beatles and cockroach? Gross.

Cockroaches had no need to be alive, yet for some reason, they were one of the hardest things to kill. It took Naruto about a million hits with his shoe to kill one. Right now, he'd much rather take on fifty of those things that get any closer to that revolting monster.

"It's the middle of the night and we still need to get to that village. Let's go." Sasuke draws his sword back into its stealth, no longer feeling any threat. This did confuse him, though. When he got back to the hidden leaf, he'd ask Kakashi about it or research through the library.

"If we have to fight a gang of rogue Ninja's at night, you're buying me a month long worth of Ramen." Naruto groans, hopping onto a tree branch and heading out towards the small village not too far away now.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "As if I'm ever going to do that for you, loser." He comments rather coldly. "I have better things to spend with my money."

When those words escaped Sasuke's mouth, Naruto could feel a imaginable katana stab him right through the heart. No one disrespects ramen or the ramen man. That was going too far! In the knuckle head's mind at least. Possibly Iruka's as well.

"What could be better than ramen?! More swords or knives for your dangerous collection?!" Naruto shouts, leaping onto another branch; his eyes not daring to leave from the Uchiha's. This was a serious matter and he needed answers.

Honestly, causing such a ruckus this near the area where rogue Ninja's were, wasn't the brightest idea. "Will you tone down your voice?" Sasuke wasn't in the mood to get yelled at by Naruto of all people right now. "We're going to get caught and like you, I don't want to fight any gangsters this late at night!" Who did? It was midnight about and if it were up to him, Naruto as well, the two of them would be already asleep in their sleeping bags.

"Fine, but you're answering me later, bastard." Naruto shrugs, agreeing. He already had a concentrate on leaping from tree to tree, rather than passing out and falling to his death. These huge trees were no joke. It wouldn't be surprising if they grew until they hit outer space.

Meanwhile in the Hidden Leaf, Tsunade finds herself in the hokage office with a stern look. "Is all that true?" The news that she just heard about made her feel silly. It wasn't that the new info was, but the lack of her not realizing this was the case made her feel embarrassed.

Shikaku nods his head. "Yes, we believe the Akatsuki have something to do with the mission Sasuke and Naruto were given." This was all too much. The Akatsuki had already kidnapped the Kazekage and killed Asuma not too long ago. Did they understand what taking a break meant?

"We have to warn them." Tsunade thinks to herself, a hand on her head to show that a headache was forming. The terrorist group really didn't know when to give up.

In some cases, they were even more stubborn than Naruto. "Why would they be targeting Sasuke as well? I know of his brother, but I didn't think the group cared enough to butt an eye towards him." Tsunade shakes her head.

Everyone who lived among the five great villages knew about the Akatsuki and their desire of having the tail beast in their grasp. So, it wasn't completely unexpected when the group would go as far as to send a false emergency scroll to kidnap the blonde. Did Sasuke have anything to do with this?

The fifth hokage already knew that Sasuke was a suspicious fellow. He still had the desire to kill his older brother, much like before, but now he was more calm and secretive about it. She also knew that he trained in secret at times, which made her question the young Uchiha's loyalty to the village.

"Either they see his strength as a threat, since he is a close friend of Naruto's and holds the Sharingan." Inoichi breaks Tsunade from her thoughts. "Or it could be that he's working with them. Unlikely since he does hate his brother." That made Tsunade take a deep breath, assured by the other blonde's words.

Tsunade stands up from her chair and goes to the window. "Have a team go after Naruto and Sasuke. Whatever what's going on, if it involves the Akatsuki, they'll need some backup." Not only that. There's still the slightest chance that Sasuke might be a traitor and Naruto needed to be warned himself.

Shikaku and Inoichi bow before the hokage. "Right away, lady Hokage."

The moon was high in the sky and Itachi couldn't find the urge to sleep. His orders were specific and absolute; he had to do what pain told him to do. "I should have just lived a normal, boring life in the shadows." The older Uchiha mutters to himself.

The last thing he wanted to do was put his younger brother and his friend under a genjutsu. Honestly, if he could've, he would have told Pain that he'd much rather get captured by the leaf than to ever do this. Even if he had no room to talk; he did beat his brother and pin him to the wall once.

"Having nightmares there, Uchiha?" The mocking full of Deidara is heard from behind him. "Must suck having to go put a Genjutsu on your precious little brother. Tomorrow." Despite every nerve in his body telling him to hit, the Uchiha holds back his anger. Of all people, why did Deidara have to be awake?

Much to his displeasure, Deidara sits himself beside Itachi and grins. The older man knew that whenever the blonde grinned, he was plotting something. And even for a second, if the annoying member thought about hurting his brother, Itachi was going to push him off this cliff.

Just because he had to act like a heartless Akatsuki member that wanted the world to perish, it didn't mean he had to be a bad older brother. Though, he was far from being a good or hell, perfect one. He did traumatize the younger brother who was so dear to him.

"He's foolish and weak. That makes his life insignificant." Itachi wonders if you could hurt your teeth if you gritted them across each other too hard.

Nevertheless, he had to make his act look real; if for the slightest moment the Akatsuki members doubted his loyalty, his job as a double agent would go down the drain. Not to mention, he'd probably be killed. If anyone was going to kill him, it was going to be by a fellow Uchiha. And it was not going to be Tobi.

"And here I thought family was suppose to have each other's backs through thick and thin." Deidara mocks again. "I guess I shouldn't expect that from you. The man who murdered his whole clan in one whole night."

Itachi rolls his eyes, sighing. "Deidara, if you don't be quiet, I'm going to make you be quiet." He was in a bad mood and if his nerves were going to get pinched by the annoying blonde, he was not going to play nice.

He really should have just lived in hiding. That would've of been more ideal in every way possible.

Back with Sasuke and Naruto, the two finally were able to sit down and rest for the night. They weren't too far away from the village, but far enough that they could sleep without the possibility of their enemies attacking them during the night. Even so, Sasuke wasn't going to chance it. His instincts told him that he was in enemy territory and he needed to stay on guard.

"Why are you so stiff?" Naruto raises an eyebrow from his sleeping bag. He was laying beside the raven haired teen. "You aren't going to sleep looking like a plank wood." He never understood why Sasuke felt like the whole world was against him. Though, he should. The Uchiha had his whole clan taken away from him, lost his chance of gaining power from a legendary Sannin, and now, the whole village still looked at him with disgust.

"We're Ninja's, we can't relax like common citizens." Sasuke comments, closing his eyes.

The blonde laid there in silence before whispering a soft oh. That was true. Sasuke usually spoke the truth and this time was no exception. Shinobi lived the most dangerous lives in this world, after all. They possessed strong Chakra that could be turned into Jutsu's and other things.

Naruto shifts his body so that his face was looking directly at Sasuke's body; straight and hands beside his body. That couldn't be comfortable! "Do you still want to kill your brother?" Naruto's curious voice causes dark, midnight blue eyes to open.

"I haven't heard you talk about your revenge once since I got back from training with Jiraya-sensei." Now, Naruto was speaking in truths.

"I still do, but I've learned to be more quiet about it. I'm a mature young adult, no need to go running around yelling about it all the time anymore." Sasuke shrugs, looking up to the starry night sky. "I'm not strong enough to do it yet. So, until I am, I'll keep it on the down low." He knew that by now, he would've been close to being strong if he went with Orochimaru.

But the Uchiha boy was still very much strong. He went through three years of harsh and intense training from the infamous copy ninja himself!

However, he was thankfully that Naruto came running after him and didn't allow him to leave. The snake Sannin was beyond creepy!

"You have no brothers or sisters or family! You wouldn't possibly understand what I've gone through." Thirteen year old Sasuke yells, planting a strong punch on Naruto's face. No one understood how it felt. His whole clan was gone. His family was six feet under ground. Naruto of all people could never truly know how it feels!

Naruto runs back to his rival and he grabs Sasuke's collar, flinging a punch at him. He wouldn't let someone like Orochimaru take Sasuke! Not over his dead body!

Red eyes sharp, he yells right back at the Uchiha. "What about our times as team seven?! When we went on missions!" Sasuke had to fight back from an amused laugh. Those times weren't anything special. His time as a member of team seven was only a trail that lead to his true path! Going with Orochimaru and becoming strong enough to kill Itachi.

"How about our friends from the academy? Or Bushy brow's team!" Naruto was on the verge of tears. This hurt so much. "You're willing to drop us all just for the sake of getting revenge?!"

For as long as Sasuke could comprehend, revenge and hatred was all that he could feel. Nothing else mattered to him. Bonds? Worthless. Feelings? Lose them. His number one goal was to avenge the death of the family he so loved and missed.

"Naruto, stop trying to understand me!" Sasuke shouts, kicking Naruto in the stomach and moving a few feet away. "If you had a family, maybe you could. But you can't! No one can!"

That's when Naruto actually let out a tear. He didn't care anymore! His rival and best friend was going to leave. "Kakashi-sensei understands! Didn't you hear how everyone he loved is dead too?!" That's when Sasuke narrows his eyes. Yes, he did in fact know. Kakashi told him that himself.

"Why should that be important to me?" Sasuke's voice is flat.

"Because someone does understand, you fucking bastard!" Naruto doesn't even shutter, not caring at the moment if his tongue said the nastiest of words. In an second, he was sitting over Sasuke and was punching him in the face a few times.

Sasuke took a second to shut his mouth. Listening to the sounds of raindrops hitting the ground was kinda peaceful in a way. It made this hurtful conversation and fight less painful than it already was. Could it be true? Could Kakashi actually understand how he felt? It was no lie that Kakashi was strong himself. He wasn't the strongest Jonin in the hidden leaf for nothing!

Next thing Sasuke knows, he's in the hospital of the hidden leaf with multiple broken bones in his body. When the blonde told him that he was going to bring the Uchiha back home with broken bones, he was not kidding!

"Loser, how did you get me back to the village?" Sasuke sits up, pulling his sleeping bag off to look at the still laying blonde.

"A search party found me and you passed out in the rain. After I knocked you out, I followed suit because I was exhausted." The Uchiha figured as much. Naruto had a few broken bones himself and it was unlikely that the blond could carry him all the way back home.

Sasuke sighs, laying back down on the hard ground. "Right. Thanks." Was all he said. In which the blonde beside him became confused.

Was Sasuke actually thanking him for something?

The teen never thanked anyone for anything. Mostly. He knew what manners were, but he really didn't care anymore for them. Manners weren't needed when it came to things like strength. It was simply a nice thing people decided that had to be used.

"You're welcome, Sasuke. I'm not going to give up on you that easily." Naruto yawns. He just wanted to sleep. "Just don't go off trying to gain power from a creepy snake man again. I don't feel like kicking your ass again."

If the blonde really thought he could kick Sasuke Uchiha's ass, he was mistaken! The Uchiha wouldn't let a knucklehead like him beat him again. Not on his watch.

"Whatever, idiot. Goodnight." And with that, the two fell into slumber.