Prologue: Easy Choices

The barrel vanished in a puff of smoke, and Sasuke stood up. He flexed the fingers of one hand, then the other, and clenched a fist, feeling the flow of new power rush through his body, coursing through his veins.

Yes… with this…

Sasuke reared his head and laughed, a sound filled with dark anticipation that cut like the edge of a knife.

With this, he would be free.

He heard something from behind, something that vaguely sounded like a voice, one he recognized, but he ignored it.

It was time to leave.

With a push off the ground, Sasuke was gone.

XXX

It was at the Valley of the End that Sasuke finally paused for a moment to regain his breath, kneeling atop the Shodai's head...

It was a beautiful place. Lush green forests and mountains surrounding an idyllic waterfall, the two statues, features slightly worn by time but still sharp, attesting to the skills of the sculptor.

Sasuke shook his head, and rose to his feet. That was enough rest. With a single leap he crossed the river, landing atop Madara Uchiha's statue.

He had to keep moving, or else-

"Sa-su-ke ~!"

Sasuke Uchiha, Rookie of the Year in his graduating class, a once-in-a-generation prodigy, one of the last members of his illustrious clan, chosen of Orochimaru of the Sannin…

Froze.

Nonononononononononononono-

"I finally caught up with you!" The voice continued, bright and cheerful.

Sasuke felt like all of his joints had rusted, screeching and resisting him as he turned slowly, ever so slowly to face her.

She was young, only twelve-years old, just like him, but even at that age she showed the signs of a future beauty. Long, straight red hair framed a face as delicate as a porcelain sculpture with dewy eyes, high cheekbones and lips like rosebuds. She was wearing an orange shirt with long sleeves that hid her hands from sight and a pair of long, blue pants.

"But still, Sasuke," she continued uninterrupted, her lips drawing up into a pout. "You're so mean! I was calling to you right when you got out of that barrel, but you didn't listen at all!"

Sasuke raised a shaking finger at her. "N-none of that m-matters now, N-Naruko!" He stammered as assertively as he could "I-I have alr- already severed the b-bond between us! F-from now on-!"

"Severed… the bond… between us?" She started chuckling, then laughing, a bell-like noise only belied by the sudden shadow that seemed to fall over her eyes. Her voice slowly started changing, moving faster, becoming oddly distorted even as she spoke. "What are you saying, Sasuke? Just yesterday, I licked aaaallll of your old dinner plates clean, so as you can see there's no way you could sever the bond between us bEcaUse yOu'rE AlreADy iNsidE oF Me aND wE'Ll alWaYs bE toGetHer BeCausE yOu cAN neVEr evER EVer leAvE mY sIdE aNd-"

Sasuke let out a strangled yelp and threw out his hands, flinging an entire brace of kunai in Naruko's general direction. As soon as they struck, the exploding tags attached to the knives detonated, throwing up a cloud of dust and smoke.

Sasuke looked up, watching the cloud of smoke slowly clear.

D-did I get her?

"That was so meaaaannn!" her voice echoed from behind him.

The Uchiha felt a deathly chill rush down his spine and whirled, just in time for Naruko to bound up to him and pull him into an embrace.

"But you know…" she whispered, tracing circles on Sasuke's trembling chest. "I don't mind if you're rough with me sometimes too Da-ar-ling~."

Sasuke squawked in pure terror and in an instinctual move, pivoted and broke her center of balance, flinging her over his shoulder.

Or he would have, had she not disappeared in a puff of smoke when he was halfway through the maneuver.

A shadow clone.

That one coherent thought which had somehow forced its way through the hysteria that was now gripping Sasuke's entire being was washed away just a moment later when he turned back to look around, and saw what was before him.

"Sasuke!"

"Sa-su-ke ~!"

"Sasuke!"

"Sasuke!"

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Not one.

Not ten.

Not a hundred.

A thousand of them. A thousand identical red-haired girls, all of them calling his name, all of them slowly advancing on him.

Barely able to think through the haze of absolute terror that consumed him, Sasuke brought his hands together repeatedly forming the seals as fast as he could.

Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!

The clones took the fireballs head on, unable to avoid the sheer spread of the barrage. They dispelled by the dozens, throwing up clouds of smoke that soon covered the entire mass of them.

Sasuke leaned forward, panting, but keeping his eyes focused straight forward, watching the cloud of smoke slowly disperse.

When it was finally gone, he could see. The army had been decimated. All of them were gone, probably disappearing as soon as the flames licked them.

All except one.

"Why Sasuke~" Naruko said, a faint red aura flickering just above her skin. "If you wanted me to walk through fire for you then-"

Sasuke shrieked and charged her, fist crackling with lightning, eyes closed as he flailed wildly.

Splat.

Slowly, almost not daring to believe, Sasuke opened his eyes.

There, in front of him, he could see it. His hand, stuck straight through Naruko's right shoulder, blood dripping from the wound. Her eyes were open, wide with shock, staring straight at him.

It took him a moment to process what had happened, and then, at once, he was hit by a bittersweet mix of euphoria and sudden regret.

He had done it, he had gotten rid of her! But had she really deserved it? All she had been guilty of… all she had done was love him. How could he have-

Naruko's rosebud lips quirked up into a smile, and her hands came up to cover blushing cheeks.

Wait, hands? She shouldn't have even been able to move her right-

"Thrusting into me so suddenly… how bold of you, Sasuke~."

And something inside of Sasuke snapped.

"NONONONONONONONONONO GET OFF MY ARM GET OFF MY ARM GETOFF GETOFF GETOFF GETOFF GETOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFF!"

With a force of will, and despite her resistance, Sasuke tore his arm out of girl and dove off the side of the statue, into the river below. Without any hesitation, he pushed the poor, violated appendage underneath the surface of the lake and began scrubbing it off as fast as he could.

"Aaah…" Something in Naruko's voice caused Sasuke to stop and turn around.

She was slightly downstream from him- Wait, was she drinking the water he was using to clean-

"My blood, your sweat, all mixed with the taste of nature…" she said, bringing her hands (Sasuke idly noted that the wound he had inflicted on her shoulder only moments before seemed to have already closed up) back to her cheeks. "It's like we've already had our first child."

He felt another set of her arms wrap around him from behind. "Isn't that right, darling~?" Sasuke panicked, struggling to shift left, then right, but she was holding him too tightly.

So he did the only thing he could do.

Sasuke slipped down, leaving Naruko holding his shirt, then turned and ran as fast as he could, all pride forgotten.

"Ah! Sasuke, wait for me!"

The cursed seal spread across the Uchiha's skin, his skin turning a dark purple, and a pair of hand-like wings sprouted from his back.

With a single beat of his new appendages, Sasuke took off into the sky, in the direction of Rice Country and his salvation.

"Don't worry, Sasuke!" he heard Naruko cry out from beneath him. "I'll find you wherever you go! Even if I have to scour the entire world! Because we'll alllllways be together, no matter what~!"

Sasuke knew she was right.

He really, really wanted to cry.

XXX

Naruko turned to look at Kakashi when he arrived and smiled that gentle, happy smile of hers.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're here! Sasuke went that way!" She pointed in the direction of Rice Country. "Now we get there before him!" She blushed prettily. "I'm sure he must be really sad, thinking that he won't get to see me for suuuuch a long time, so I decided to let him go, then surprise him when he arri-"

That was as far as she got before Kakashi seemed to teleport behind her, landing a swift chop to the back of her neck and catching her as she fell to his feet, unconscious.

Picking the girl up, Kakashi looked into the distance and smiled under his mask.

"As your teacher and your superior, this, your very freedom, is the last gift I can give you." He sighed. "Good luck, Sasuke. Don't look back."

He turned and leapt away in the direction of Konoha.

And as he moved, Kakashi knew that he would not regret letting Sasuke go.

He had broken the rules, but he had saved his comrade.

He was certain that Obito would have been proud of him.

XXX

"Can you confirm, after watching them fight?" Tobi asked.

Zetsu, both black and white halves merged, nodded. "Yes. Acquiring Sasuke Uchiha will bring the Kyuubi's jinchuriki straight to us," Black Zetsu rumbled.

"But still…" White Zetsu muttered. "I don't know if this is a good idea. There was something wrong with that girl. I get the feeling she'll be very troublesome…"

Tobi laughed. "Do not worry. She is just a child, after all. What threat could she possibly pose to us?"

XXX

"How is Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked Kabuto as the medic the laboratory. "Is he… doing better?"

The medic pushed up his glasses. "Yes, he calmed down after some… persuasion."

"Oh? Persuasion?" Orochimaru looked up from his work.

A small grimace crossed Kabuto's lips. "I… had to guarantee several times that you would definitely take his body after three years and that you would use it to kill Itachi for him. He made me promise. Repeatedly."

"Oh?" Orochimaru laughed. "I had not expected my new vessel to be quite so eager. This is good news, Kabuto."

The grimace on the silver-haired man's face deepened. "I… do not know, Orochimaru-sama. It felt less like eagerness and more as though he was afraid of what would happen if you did not take him. If I may speak freely…" Orochimaru nodded, and Kabuto continued. "I am no longer certain whether taking Sasuke's body is the best course of action."

"Your concern is noted," Orochimaru said, the ever-present smile on his face widening further. "But in order to attain my goal, the power of the Uchiha is an absolute necessity."

"I… see, Orochimaru-sama."

The Snake Sannin let out another rasping laugh. "Come now, Kabuto. Do not be so gloomy. After all, today we have achieved a great victory. I have obtained a new and willing student and a perfect future vessel. In just three years, with Sasuke's body, I shall be unstoppable."

Kabuto pushed his misgivings down, and returned his master's smile.

"Indeed. It is just three years, after all. What could possibly go wrong in a mere three years?"