"Talking"
'thinking'
dreaming or flashback
"Kyuubi"
-

To think that losing someone I had known for barely anytime at all could be so mind numbingly painful. My eyes didn't dare accept the sight of the black haired boy's onyx eyes as they slowly closed shut. His arm fell limp against my leg but I couldn't really feel it.

It felt as though the whole world had fallen away. There was no Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, Zabuza. There was no Haku, no ice mirror jutsu, no senbon needles burrowed deep into my skin. All there was was my friend, lying on the cold hard floor of the bridge, his warmth slipping away like water evaporating from glass. Soon it would all have been siphoned away and nothing would be left but the shell.

The shell of my best friend.

That very thought made something freezing inside of me squeeze my heart and force its bitter cold into the beating muscle. Such a weak thing, such a simple thing. Why was it so easy, yet so hard for people to die? A drop of poison could kill someone without a trace, so why couldn't, sometimes, a stab wound? Internal bleeding could kill someone, so why couldn't a completely paralysed body?

Any of these alternatives would have been bliss, bliss, compared to seeing Sasuke lying there, limp, unmoving… lifeless…

Tears nipped at my eyes and I fought to keep them away. Shinobi don't cry, it's a rule.

Those who break the rules in the shinobi world are trash. But those who don't even care about their comrades are worse than trash.

Kakashi-sensei's words came back to me at the worse possible time. Before I could stop myself I was clutching Sasuke's life deprived body and sobbing into his cold, deep blue shirt. 'Now we'll never get to know who was better…'

The feel of the soft fabric against my face held some comfort. But the smell that accompanied it convinced me that Sasuke had been real. That he had been my rival. That he had suffered the same pain I had. That he had somehow ended up thinking of me the same way. As a rival… as a friend.

"He found…" Haku's voice echoed around the ice prison and anger began to squirm its way into my body. "He found a strength he didn't realise he had. Why? Because of a certain someone who was precious to him. To save that person he rushed in knowing it was a trap."

Sasuke… did that… for me? But I was a dobe; I could barely even control my chakra right, the best technique I could do was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Sasuke risked his life, no… Sasuke sacrificed his life for me?

"He was a true ninja, worthy of honour,"

Anger was boiling away at me now. How dare he? How dare he speak about Sasuke as if he knew him, as if he cared about him? What despicable bastard would make me feel as though I had just caused the death of a true shinobi?

"Shut up," I snarled. Slowly, I laid the boy down and rubbed away my tears. "I-I hated you too, Sasuke. And yet…"

Fury was all I could feel, racing through my body like fire. I could practically feel the burning, in the pit of my stomach, emanating from deep inside me. From somewhere behind me I head Haku gasp. I didn't bother to find out what was wrong. I just let the hate take me, the image of my dead friend burnt into my eyes.

"You'll pay for this,"

My body felt different. My anger, my hate and my pain were giving me strength. I was no longer the pathetic blond who couldn't even stay conscious. Now I was all powerful, I could avenge my fallen comrade. My fallen brother.

Naruto, don't let… your dream die…

"I'm gonna kill you!"