Sasuke's pace was slow as he walked away from Konoha, every time he left the village it seemed he had a new goal. Initially it was for power and revenge, then he came back shortly and left again his goal to defeat enemies of the village now he had a new goal, to travel at try to pay for his sins. He turned into the dense forest and started wondering his way in a new direction off the trail. He thought he was perhaps still uncertain of himself, his goals before now were always so clear, but this was something different an uncertainty he'd never faced. Maybe that was what he needed? He didn't know. He stopped in his tracks at a familiar chakra and looked over to see Naruto, leaning against a tree as though he'd been waiting for a while. "I didn't think you'd come to see me off." He spoke to the bright-haired man, he was indeed a little suprised to see him here. "Here." Naruto stepped towards him as he spoke, holding a headband in his hand he offered it to Sasuke. He took note in Naruto's right arm as a cool breeze blew past the both of them, he'd sacrificed that arm to stop him and to save him from himself. He wondered if he'd ever truly understand that type of sacrifice, he'd seen it before in his brother Itachi, a willingness to give himself freely for others. Still even after this he wasn't sure that he understood it, he knew what it meant and was grateful for it, especially now. Yet he still didn't understand how it felt to be willing to sacrifice anything for another, and he wondered if he ever would.
A small smile appeared on Naruto's face "I'm returning this." Naruto stretched out his arm further to Sasuke and he took a step forward to receive it. "I'll hang on to it... until our real match." He took the headband, its damaged surface with a large mark through the konoha symbol glinted in the moving light from the treetops overhead. He took a step back, he was grateful Naruto had come to see him off, but it was probably time to get moving before too much of the day faded away. He nodded his head towards Naruto and turned his back, he wondered where he would head from this point as he continued walking but before he could even finish his thought Naruto stopped him. "Wait." He called taking a few steps towards Sasuke to catch up.
"Actually, I've been thinking about something and I think you should listen." Naruto finished his sentence and Sasuke turned to meet his gaze. Yet again he was surprised by Naruto, the was he was talking didn't even seem like him, perhaps he'd changed a lot more than Sasuke had originally thought. "You should stay in Konoha." Naruto blurted, almost jarringly as soon as Sasuke had turned around. "What?" Sasuke asked in return, the questioning and slight annoyance obvious in his voice. Sasuke was quick to explain, he already knew his place wasn't in the village. "Naruto, I already decide-" But he was cut off quickly by Naruto's own voice, this was more like what Sasuke was used to with him. "I know, I know." Naruto said in a slightly raised and whiny voice. "But I don't think you should leave. Can you just listen already?" He finished his sentence, a frown now on his face. Whatever his argument was Sasuke didn't want to hear it, he'd already made his decision, but he doubted he'd let him get away without listening. "Fine." He said, shifting his position slightly as another cold breeze blew through and preparing for an earful.
"You remember when we talked to the old sage?" Naruto asked leaning to one side slightly. "Are you talking about the Sage of Six Paths?" Sasuke asked slightly irritated, it wasn't that much more effort to use a simple name. "Yeah, that's what I said. Anyway, he was uh talking about us being basically haunted by his sons ghosts and how Madara and The First were the same. That's what I was thinking about." Naruto finally finished, his sentence was long and full of pauses. "Haunted by his sons ghosts...?" He thought about how Naruto had managed to come up with such a sentence in the first place, then turning his focus to what Naruto was actually trying to say. He could see where he was going with this. "Sasuke, I think we are supposed to be working together." Sasuke was right about where Naruto was going with this, though he was surprised he'd even thought about it. Sasuke had thought about was the Sage of Six Paths had told them before, he'd come to a similar conclusion, at least that's what he knew Hagoromo was trying to get at. He planned to help the village and Naruto, in a way at least. It was the only way he could do anything. "I will be working with you after I leave, I'll collect infor-" Naruto cut off Sasuke yet again before he could finish his sentence. "Yeah, I know. They already told me what your plans are. I just don't think they're right, I think there's a better way for you to help. If you stay here." Sasuke let out a small grunt and looked away from Naruto, even after all this it seemed they were still butting heads in the same way. He turned back and looked him in the eyes, he was grateful for what Naruto had done for him, but he wasn't just going to listen to him like this. He was going to go his own way. "No. I'm leaving Naruto." Sasuke gave him a firm answer, he didn't have time to argue with him all day, it was only getting later. He watched as Naruto looked down and sighed and his fist clinching and then relaxing as he looked back up at Sasuke. "Okay, I get it." Naruto spoke in reply to his brunt response. "I should head back now I guess." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, a frown still on his face and turned his back on Sasuke, heading back to the village. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, even though he'd given him direct responses, he didn't actually expect Naruto to give it up so easily. Maybe he'd gotten a lot more mature too, things really did change a lot.