A/N PLEASE READ: I'm back! Very temporarily back, but back nevertheless! I say temporarily because this month I'm basically up shit creek without a paddle in relation to my collage work. Nevertheless I've had a craving to write a new story and it's one that I always planned on getting around to doing; a sharingan Naruto story.

Now some important background info: Big changes! No Kyuubi for Naruto in my opinion it has to be this way for the story to function. Naruto's still an orphan and still had a tough life so far. He's also still an Uzumaki but his past is shrouded in mystery. He's slightly darker and a good bit smarter. He managed to pass the academy the normal way through being better at everything and making barely passable clones. The Uchiha massacre still occurred but Naruto and Sasuke actually became friends from a young age finding a common bond in their absolute drive to become stronger. It was still love hate at times with both being super competitive. Naruto is aware of Sasuke's goal and privately has vowed to do anything he can to help. Everything else is in line with cannon (bar maybe a few changes I may make on the fly).

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

Chapter 1

"We were never like the others, were we…Naruto?"

"My only regret…(cough)…is Itachi…he's still out there…"

"Naruto…I need you to do something for me"

"You'll need this to defeat him…take it and become great, for both of us"

"I'm happy I could call you friend"

Naruto shot up from the bed he was lying in, the sudden movement disorientating him as he tried to gather himself and establish just where the hell he was. His head ached with a stabbing pain that came from his heavily bandaged right eye.

Ironically that same pain cleared his foggy brain as Naruto became rigidly still, memories flooding his mind. The mission; Zabuza; the masked boy; the bridge; and blood, lots and lots of blood.

'That wasn't a nightmare.' Naruto's lone visible eye was now wide open as he recalled the events of the previous day.

'My best friend really did die in my arms, didn't he…and it was all my fault.' Naruto's right hand went up to touch his bandaged eye as more memories continued to flicker through his mind, uncaring to his emotional state.

The masked boy, Haku, someone who he had formed a bond with not knowing he was Zabuza's lap dog had killed his best friend. Briefly getting over his shock Naruto cursed his naivety, his stupidity. He chuckled darkly to himself, maybe Sasuke was right maybe he was a dobe. The name always had a sense of irony to it, as they both knew he was the smarter of the two, although not by much.

The mention of Sasuke's semi-affectionate name for him brought back more memories, once happy and joyous now filled with despair as it reminded him of what he had lost.

He couldn't dwell on the past for long as more recent memories began to filter through again. The anger he felt when Sasuke died in his arms manifested itself violently when chains exploded from his body destroying Haku's ice-mirrors, the technique that had proved to be their downfall, gutting the boy and spraying his blood all over the bridge. Somehow Naruto wasn't surprised when he removed the boys mask to discover it was the same person he had a deep and meaningful conversation with in the woods outside Tazuna's house a few days before. To him it perfectly summed up the fucked up world they lived in.

After that, the deep fog caused by Zabuza's jutsu cleared away to reveal said shinobi lying on the ground lifeless, his gigantic sword buried into the bridge. Before Kakashi had a chance to ask Naruto just what the hell had happened clapping could be heard from the far end of the bridge as Gato, the man who had instigated this whole mess, revealed himself along with around 50 hired goons. A couple of smug words was all it took for Naruto, whose rage had not abated, to charge at the man and his hired help. Kakashi had tried to stop him but was worn out from his fight and Naruto flew by him grabbing Zabuza's sword on the way.

What happened next could only be described as slaughter, as Naruto, fuelled by his rage and despair carved through the men not stopping till every single one of them were dead. That was the last thing he remembered.

'I must have passed out.' he thought grimly to himself.

Killing Haku and all those men didn't bring the feelings of disgust and self-loathing that he thought it would, or at least told they should by his academy instructors. Then again those feelings were being primarily directed towards the fact that he allowed his best friend to die.

Before he could think any deeper on this his thoughts were interrupted by the creaky noise of the door slowly opening.

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Kakashi Hatake had seen a lot in his 27 years; mainly because he had the misfortune of experiencing most of the fucked up things this world had to offer first hand, but even still, entering the small room and seeing his young student sitting up on the bed with a look of complete and utter despair in his sole visible eye rocked him to his core.

It brought back painful memories that hit way too close to home. In fact the scenario his team and his student now faced was almost identical to the one he himself faced at their age. If he was being honest the whole thing scared the shit out of him.

Kakashi himself was feeling deeply depressed, he had failed once again, another to add to the long list. Right now though he couldn't afford to look into that abyss, he had two students who still desperately needed his help and guidance. At least this was one area he was an expert in.

Looking back over at Naruto again he saw a shadow of his former self in the boys place. They were identical, right down to the sharingan that Naruto now possessed in his bandaged right eye.

'Here goes something. I should probably start with telling him not to accidently kill his other teammate.'

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The room was silent for the longest time, neither sensei nor student saying a word. Naruto was happy with this, he didn't want to talk, he didn't want to do anything only sit in the bed and wallow in the guilt he felt. Nothing Kakashi could say would make a difference anyway, he wouldn't be able to understand.

"You'd be surprised by how well I understand the pain your feeling Naruto"

Naruto's head shot up as he locked eyes with his teacher, shocked not only from his sensei speaking after such a long time but also from his apparent ability to read minds

"How?" Naruto vocalised the question running through his mind. His voice coming out as scratchy and more guttural than usual.

"Because I was thinking the exact same thing when I was in the very same position you find yourself in." Kakashi responded solemnly.

Naruto was once again shocked by his sensei's answer. This time before he could ask any questions Kakashi spoke up once more.

"It's time I tell you a bit more about myself, Naruto."

(A/N: Kakashi explains what happened to Obito)

"Kakashi-sensei how did you deal with this….with this….pain?" Naruto asked, a pleading look in his eye, almost begging Kakashi to give him a solution that could take away the guilt, the anger, the sadness he was feeling

"I didn't….I still haven't. But if there is one thing I can guarantee, it is that I will help you to deal with it." Kakashi looked down at his student, giving him a reassuring eye-smile.

Naruto's gaze lingered on his sensei, scrutinizing him, as if Kakashi's face held some kind of hidden answer. The silence returned to the room soon after but only briefly as Naruto had more question's that needed answering.

"My eye…..?"

"It was a write off. I performed a surgery while you were passed out to replace it with one of Sasuke's."

Naruto nodded his head at his sensei's answer, it explained why he felt Sasuke's chakra coming from that part of his body. Right now Naruto didn't really want to think about what else his newly acquired eye would mean for him going into the future, he had other questions that needed to be answered anyway.

"And Sakura?" Naruto, like Sasuke, didn't have much time for the pink-haired girl but she was still his teammate and over the past couple months he had gotten used to her being a constant presence in his life.

Kakashi immediately let out a deep sigh before answering his blonde-haired student "Not good I'm afraid. At first she was hysterical, inconsolable but soon after she just shut down. I've had to keep a shadow clone with her at all times, just in case she did something to herself."

Naruto was saddened by the news but not really that surprised by it. In his opinion she should never have become a ninja. A small part of himself was angry at Sakura, if they had a stronger more useful teammate maybe Sasuke would still be here, but that small part was being drowned out by a much larger part that laid the blame solely at his door.

Silence once again reigned, there was a big multi-coloured elephant in the room that for good reason neither shinobi had brought up yet but Kakashi knew he had to, for his student's sake

"Naruto….taking a life is never…" Before Kakashi had a chance to finish he was interrupted

"Kakashi….not now. I know this may sound callous of me but what I did on the bridge is the last thing on my mind at the moment." Naruto was looking straight down at his lap while his hands clutched the sheets, not wanting or unable to look his sensei in the eye.

Kakashi for his part just sighed, the similarities between his student and himself were uncanny and not wholly welcomed by the Jonin. "Alright Naruto, just know I'm here if you ever want to talk."

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After finishing his talk with Kakashi, Naruto got out of the bed to go check on Sakura. He felt it was his duty after completely failing one teammate to at least try and help the other. When he entered her room he noticed Kakashi's shadow clone sitting on a chair in the corner and Sakura sitting on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chin. What happened next surprised both him and the shadow clone; Sakura, as soon as she noticed him jumped up from her position on the bed and ran straight for him, burying her face in his chest and circling her arms around him in a hug. Naruto was stunned and quite uncomfortable not being used to this type of physical contact. It didn't get any better when she started to ball her eyes out, but Naruto resolved himself to help his teammate and slowly but surely brought his arms around her to reciprocate the embrace.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that but eventually Sakura cried herself out and her tears were replaced by choked mumblings. Extracting the girl from his chest to get a better understanding of what she was saying Naruto heard faint mumblings of 'I'm sorry' being repeated over and over again.

Naruto sighed, he needed to set his teammate straight and although she was extremely fragile at the moment and experts would say what he was about do was wrong it still needed to be done. Grabbing Sakura by the shoulders in order to knock her out of the stupor she was in, Naruto made sure she was looking him in the eye so he could be certain what he said next got through.

"Sakura what happened to Sasuke on the bridge was not your fault…." Sakura looked like she wanted to interrupt but Naruto silenced her and continued.

"…..The burden of Sasuke's death lies solely on my shoulders, because firstly it was my fault and secondly because that is the way it must be. But you do hold some responsibility, not for Sasuke's death but for yourself. You have a choice to make, will you quit here or will you continue on as a ninja. I must warn you though, if you decide to continue on you will have to change almost everything about yourself, because next time it will be you who ends up dead, and I really don't want to have to bury another teammate." Finally finished with his speech Naruto noticed that Sakura's eyes had widened considerably from when he had started, and he could see the tears welling in her eyes once again.

Feeling he had said enough, and wanting to leave the girl with her thoughts Naruto turned around to leave the room, stopping at the door when he heard Sakura speak up properly for the first time.

"What about you Naruto, what choice will you make?" Naruto stood there in the doorway unmoving before finally sighing and looking back at the visibly distraught girl from over his shoulder.

"I don't have a choice Sakura." That was the final thing he said before exiting the room.

Little did he know the profound effect his words would have on his pink-haired teammate.

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The extra week or so spent in the Land of Wave finishing the mission was torture for the 3 remaining members of team 7 but especially for Naruto who was still coming to terms with his best friend's death. It didn't help that the people of the Wave were treating him like some kind of hero. He was no hero, he was just a stupid kid. A stupid kid that allowed his best friend to die.

It came as a massive relief to all three members of team 7 when the bridge was finally complete and they could start the journey home. It didn't take long, as without Tazuna they could travel at much greater speeds. Although Naruto was relieved to leave the Wave when he saw the giant gates of Konoha looming in the distance he felt a giant pit at the bottom of his stomach. His failure was about to become common knowledge.

When they arrived the trio were quickly ushered to the Hokage's office. Once there, they spent the better part of four hours reporting on what happened during the mission to the Hokage and his advisors. It was painful for all three of them having to relive and talk about the death of their teammate.

Eventually the two genin were excused, by the time they left the Hokage building it was dark out. The blackness of the starless night sky perfectly summing up the mood of both genin. Sakura excused herself saying something about her friend Ino and breaking the news to her. Naruto bid her a farewell watching as she wandered her way down the lit street. As far as he was aware she hadn't made a decision on whether or not she would continue on as a ninja. Naruto was glad she was giving some time to the decision.

As he was making his own way home Naruto passed a shinobi item store that was just closing up. Going inside the first thing that Naruto noticed was a face mask similar to Kakashi's. Picking it up he made a decision.

'Often time's people wear mask's in the proverbial sense to cover up their greatest failings. This will be my mask and I will wear it from now until the day I die.' With that silent vow to himself Naruto grabbed a hand full of the masks and paid for them.

When he finally got home he went straight to his room and collapsed on his bed. With a single tear rolling down his face from his only visible eye, Naruto had one final thought before sleep claimed him.

'I know now what I must do.'

A/N: And that's a wrap. This chapter was really more of a set-up than anything else. I had a good bit to get through and I hope I did it in a semi-decent manor that seemed at least somewhat natural. Whether or not this story gets updated is up to you. If you read my a/n at the top you'll know I'm super busy this month and even into December so I need those favourites, follows and reviews. Anyway hope you enjoyed and hopefully I'll see you next time.