Timeline Note: I started this story right after Sasuke declared he would attack Konoha. I knew nothing about the Hachibi or its fight, so anything about that is disregarded for this plot. Sorry for the confusion.
A/N: Alright, this sort of an experiment for me, so you have to tell me what you think. I'm still deciding if I'm going to continue this, so I really need feedback on what I should change, add, etc. If you think it's total crap, you have to say so, okay?
The first sensation Naruto felt upon waking was pain; sharp and intense in some places, dull in his joints and muscles, but pain all over none the less. He disregarded this, surprised to even find himself alive, and snapped his eyes open.
He was lying on his back in a clearing, his head turned to the left, too lazy and too much in pain to bother turning it to the right. There were a few more snapped tree branches and kunai embedded in trunks than he remembered, but Naruto could just about recognize this part of the forest as being not too far from his usual training ground and Konoha.
Konoha!
Naruto struggled to get to his feet, but if the overall pain of his most recent injuries didn't stop him, the overpowering headache that came when he tried to raise his head did. He let himself fall onto his back again, breathing hard with a beads of sweat already forming on his brow. He needed to get to get back there, but how? Who knows how long he could have been out of it? And Sasuke… oh damn it, Sasuke could have the whole place in ruins by now. Worse yet, if the bastard didn't succeed, they'd kill him for sure. Naruto had to get back and somehow stop both things from happening. What if it was too late?
Naruto cursed as he tried to at least prop himself up by his elbows and failed. He'd never had to deal with this sort of thing before; Kyuubi would usually make sure the worst of his physical pains were taken care of. Speaking of which, it was probably that stupid fox's fault Naruto was in this mess, it usually was whenever Naruto found huge chunks of his memory gone missing as he did now. Well, might as well ask him.
The blonde closed his eyes and tried to relax, imagining himself in the dripping chamber that contained the cage of the demon. Sure enough, he found himself there, and the second he did he regretted ever having come.
The first indication of something being wrong was the floor; it was comply dry and concrete. There were no echoing dripping sounds or malicious intent or burning chakra in the air, nothing. There was always water, there was always murderous intent. The chamber always gave Naruto chills, but seeing it so empty was just as disturbing. He was currently away from the cage, and although there was a sickening feeling in his gut of what he might see, being the masochist that he was he turned to look none the less.
The enormous gates he had looked at so many times before loomed over him in the semi-darkness. Normally they would be parallel, with only a paper seal holding them shut. Now, there was no seal to speak of, and the gates had swung open like a malicious maw. Beyond them was nothing but darkness, not even a tiny red glimmer of a hope. There was no trace of the creature that had been held captive there.
It was a shock to say the least. The blond took a shaky step back and tripped. He fell with a plot onto the hard stone floor and just sat there, too shaken to utter a sound or take his eyes off the metal doors. Sixteen and a half years those things had kept back the creature that had both ruined and saved his life on countless occasions. The only think he could think now was, where was it now?
His head pounded, but after many minutes, perhaps hours, the memories of what occurred here trickled back to Naruto, making his blood run cold and breath ragged.
The water of the floor was much higher than it usually was, easily up to Naruto's knees if he didn't bother to stand on top of it. The swooshing of Kyuubi's tail and his excited chuckles filled reverberated along the walls.
"Why did you drag me in here?!" Naruto bellowed at the glowing eyes in the darkness. "I need to stop Sasuke! He's going to destroy Konoha! I don't have time for this!"
Kyuubi laughed once more. "It's not Konoha you should be worried about." the fox paused took in Naruto's confused expression with delight. "Besides, I didn't summon you here... he did."A flick of a tail indicated that the blond ought to look behind him.
Naruto swerved around to face the darkness directly across from the cage. All he saw was a expanse of water receding into the shadows. Everything was perfectly still. Naruto started to turn back to give the fox a piece of his mind when a tiny ripple skidded across the water. It was followed by more, and soon the blond realized they were coming from approaching footsteps. He could only watch as a lone figure emerged from the darkness.
Naruto gritted his teeth. "Sasuke."
The Uchiha smirked. "You let your guard down far too easily, dobe. It's entirely too effortless to get in here."
Naruto glared daggers at him, internally wishing he knew how exactly he was supposed to prohibit access to the cage chamber for a Sharingan user.
"All the better for me, I guess," Sasuke wasn't even in a fighting stance, the arrogant bastard. The way he was standing, hand on his hip, he looked as if he were taunting Naruto back when they were twelve. "Anyway, what are you waiting for? Break the seal."
"The what?"Naruto didn't understand, but Kyuubi snickered.
"Oh don't be thick," Sasuke pointed behind Naruto to the tag keeping the two doors of the cage together. "That."
"Do you think I'm fucking stupid? Why would I do that?" Naruto screamed, drawing a kunai out of his sleeve to defend himself.
"Well, to be frank, yes, I think you're very stupid. And weak. There's no way you could defeat me without breaking that seal and releasing his power."
It was Naruto's turn to smirk. "I'll die protecting this village, just like I'll die making sure that you're back to stay. I have my own power, I don't need the fox."
"Big words," Sasuke sneered, reaching back for his sword. "Unfortunately, not the words I was looking for. You see, if you break the seal, there's a small chance you might live. Very small, but still a chance. If I cut the seal open. However," The Uchiha drew his katana, and lovingly ran his finger along the blunt edge of the blade, "I get control and you die."
Sasuke's Sharingan morphed somewhat, but before Naruto could tell what changed exactly, Sasuke vanished from the spot with nothing but a ripple of water. He reappeared a second later within arm's reach of the metal bars, sword raised to slash open seal. Naruto spun around and ran to stop him, although instinct told him it was a wasted effort. He could never make it in time.
"Sasuke!"
The sword came down with a sickening whoosh. Just before the sword met the paper seal, Sasuke's arm halted. Naruto came to a stop too, unsure of what just happened.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." A cold, human voice echoed. It was not Sasuke's, and it was certainly not Naruto's.
The latter gasped, for the first time seeing a human arm reached out of Kyuubi's cage, holding Sasuke's at bay. The sword the raven-haired youth was holding dropped from his grip and disappeared into the water with a gulp, his fingers noticeably shaking, as the figure that the arm belonged to stepped forth from between the bars.
"N-nii-s-san." Sasuke managed to stutter out as he backed up several paces.
Naruto crouched into a defensive position. He couldn't see Sasuke face from the angle he was at, but didn't need to to know the expression he wore.
There was a long silence as the two boys regarded the man, and vice versa. Sasuke was the first to come to his senses and yank his arm out of his brother's grip.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead. I killed you!" Sasuke voice portrayed something close to weakness, telling Naruto that Itachi was definitely not part of his plans.
Itachi disregarded the question entirely. "I had a feeling Madara would get to you before your friend did. Shame." He waltzed past his brother, who sidestepped in shock to let him pass, and made his way to Naruto.
The blond raised his kunai, but Itachi made no move to try to attack, simply stopping a few feet away. "This is only half of my power," he continued, "but it seems that you'll need it. It should last you about twenty minutes, in which time I urge you to make sure my brother ceases any attempt to try to get the Kyuubi. I would recommend killing him, but you have already expressed a desire to find other methods. That is your choice as long as you do it in the twenty minutes I can give you protection from his Mangekyou Sharingan." Naruto cocked his head to the side, completely lost after the first sentence, but Itachi ignored him. "My brother is strong, he's defeated half of my power before, although he needed to rely on his own inner demons to do it...something he doesn't have anymore." Sasuke snarled quietly behind him. "So, what do you say?"
Naruto hadn't even finished processing the information, so he just blinked.
"Good enough," Itachi shrugged, and dissolved into crows. Naruto flung up his defenses but the crows were too many, as they swirled around his thicker and thicker, obscuring his vision and his movements. The last thing Naruto saw before he was completely surrounded was Sasuke hoisting up one of his kunai and bringing it down sharply across the seal on the cage.
Naruto groaned as he looked up through the leaves at the sky. It was cloudy, or it could have been ash, it was hard to tell. There was no way of knowing what had happened after Itachi gave Naruto his power, or if it had even worked considering the seal had been broken before hand. Struck by a sudden idea, Naruto lifted his jacket up over his navel and lifted his head just enough to see. Sure enough, the familiar black markings were gone, replaced by a gash across his stomach that, like most of his current injuries, had the appearance of being healed in a hurry and not quite finished.
Pulling his shirt back over his exposed stomach Naruto let himself fall back down again, for the first time with his head turn to the right. If he had been standing up, he would have jumped.
There, lying not four feet away, was Sasuke. He lay face down in the grass, his clothes torn in places, but most of the injuries on his body were burns. Naruto tried to reach his arm out to touch him, to see if he wasn't just hallucinating, but his fingers couldn't quite reach. For a startling moment, Naruto didn't think he could see the Uchiha breathing. That was all it took.
With a sudden jolt of energy, the blond pushed himself off the ground into a sitting position and crawled over to his friend. He leaned his head in close, looking for signs of breathing and a pulse. Sure enough, both were present, strong and sure. Naruto let himself slouch down next to Sasuke, willing his own heart to stop beating so loudly. Sasuke was alive. Thank god, oh thank god.
For the first time in years, Naruto could sit next to his comrade without fear. When Sasuke would wake he'd try to kill Naruto, but for now all was at peace. After a long silence, Naruto dared to turn his friend over so that he was lying on his side. He'd forgotten how calm the Uchiha could look when he was asleep; defenseless, harmless, almost cute in a way. Naruto reached over and pulled a bit of his raven hair out of his face.
Wait a second, what was he doing?! Naruto pulled his hand back in disgust and stared accusingly at the sleeping form before shoving at it. "Oi, wake up teme!" he ordered a bit more gruffly then he'd meant to.
Sasuke's face scrunched into an annoyed expression before his eyes opened. The two old friends blinked at each other, Naruto sitting and Sasuke still lying on the ground at his knees, for a few seconds. The moment of hesitation ended when Sasuke swiftly produced a kunai out of nowhere and held it to Naruto's throat. All Naruto really had to do to get rid of it was push Sasuke's arm out of the way, but he kept his hands by his sides making no effort to disspell threat.
"Who are you?" the Uchiha growled.
Naruto's eyes widened a fraction. "What are you talking about?' He tried to sound threatening but it came out in a falter.
"I asked, who the hell are you?" Sasuke spat, and tried to prod Naruto with the kunai, but the blond finally moved to pin his arm to the ground. He pushed on the arm until Sasuke was forced to let go of the weapon, but still kept his grip firm afterward.
"Stop being stupid, you know full well who I am, teme."
"Who do you think you're insulting!?" Sasuke twisted around in Naruto's hold, managing to give him a hard kick to the shoulder that sent him sprawled out on his back with a grunt. Before Naruto could get back up, Sasuke was had managed to maneuver himself onto Naruto so that he was practically straddling waist, kunai in his fist once more held to the blond's throat.
"No one insults… um…uh…" Sasuke seemed to be at a loss. His eyes darted to the side as if looking for something, and Naruto felt the metal press harder into the flesh of his neck.
Naruto ignored the knife at his throat, as he was more focused on where Sasuke was sitting. It wasn't so much the position itself that was bothering him, if was his reaction to it. Naruto was never one for knowing what was appropriate in which situations, but the tightening in his pants just had to be a mistake. "…Uchiha Sasuke?" he tried to finish for him, hoping that this would get Sasuke off because his face was starting to color.
"So that's your name, is it?" the raven-haired boy drew the kunai back a fraction. "That still doesn't tell me what you're doing here."
Admittedly, it was getting harder to think the longer Sasuke sat on him like that, so it took Naruto a while to catch what the Uchiha had just said.
"What? No! That's your name! My name is—"
"No! That's impossible! My name is…my name…is…" Sasuke let the hand holding the kunai fall to his side as a pouty frown came over his face.
Then he began to fidget, which in his current position, caused Naruto all the more discomfort. The blond wasn't really able to focus on the real problem at hand since he was more conflicted with why the hell Sasuke sitting on his turned him on so fucking much. It was Sasuke. He was guy. Naruto had never had this problem before. He could wrestle Kiba to the ground and not feel a thing. He's spar with Lee. Naruto was supposed to like Sakura; he was supposed to like girls. No, he still liked girls. This was wrong. So wrong on so many levels.
"Oi, Sasuke." Naruto finally managed. The Uchiha flinched at the sound of the name, which sent shivers up Naruto's spine, which at the moment hurt like hell. "Mind getting off?"
Seemingly for the first time, Sasuke noticed exactly where he was sitting and immediately jumped off, allowing Naruto to sit up painfully. He landed in a crouch ten feet away and glared his Sharingan at the blond. There was another silence, in which Naruto had the odd feeling that Sasuke knew what Naruto was so flustered about.
"So…what you're saying is my name is Sasuke," he ventured. Unlike Naruto, he didn't fail at coming across as calm even when completely confused.
Naruto nodded.
"And your name was…?"
He beamed. "Uzumaki Naruto!" he proclaimed, trying to give Sasuke a thumbs up, which turned out to be more painful then expected. If the pain didn't stop him, the blunt truth hitting him the face did. He was introducing himself. To Sasuke. Who was was supposed to know him. But didn't. He didn't even know himself.
"Yeah, sure… so you know me?"
Did he? The Sasuke Naruto knew wouldn't go about destroying his home village to avenge his brother's honor.
"Yes."
"How do I know I can trust you on that?"
Naruto really didn't know how to answer this question. In fact, he didn't have much a reason to trust Sasuke at this point either, but, "I don't think you have a choice, and neither do I."
Sasuke stared at Naruto, giving him the odd impression that he was looking inside him (which was entirely possible with the Sharingan for all he knew.) After a moment, the Uchiha repocketed his kunai, the universal Shinobi symbol of truce.
"Fine then," Sasuke stood up, although it clearly agitated his injuries to do so. "Since I don't know my way around, you will have to lead. We need to find somewhere to get medical attention."
Naruto nodded in agreement and tried to stand up as well but was forced to fall to his knees. Sasuke sneered.
"Need help?" His voice was just dripping with sarcasm.
"No! I can make it." Naruto grunted, and tried to raise himself up again. How had he gotten up before? He'd been too preoccupied with worrying about Sasuke the register! He cursed.
Sasuke sighed and walked over to the struggling blond, slipping one arm under his waist and helping to lift him up.
"You're full of yourself," Sasuke observed matter-a-factly. "Which way?"
Naruto nodded in the direction of the village, and Sasuke made his way in that direction, supporting a limping Naruto beside him.
"I'm full of myself?" the blond retorted, "what does that make you?"
Sasuke turned his face to glare at him sharply, but then changed his mind and looked down at the ground to his other side, mumbling something about not asking stupid questions.
Naruto studied the side of his face that he could see before realizing his mistake.
"Oh, you… you don't know, do you?" he asked quietly.
Sasuke just huffed in response, ending the conversation.
The path back to the village was well used, so Sasuke was leading for the most part. Naruto really hated to be needing him for support to walk, but right now he was just too happy to care. Sasuke was back, and he was going to Konoha by his own accord. Naruto had finally fulfilled his Promise of a Lifetime. He could picture Sakura's face perfectly when she would see them entering the hospital. Who knows, maybe even Kakashi would he be there, and the old team would be reunited at last. Granny Tsunade would be so impressed she's make Naruto Hokage. Everything would be wonderful and peaceful just as it had been before. Except this time, Sasuke would stick around.
Naruto looked over at his comrade's expressionless mask. So maybe his loss of memories hadn't changed his so much; he still seemed like an emotionless bastard, but what did it matter? What would any of it matter now that he was back? Naruto would make sure that Sasuke was back to stay no matter what. Then, when Sasuke's life was finally established, he'd tell him everything; everything that happened with Itachi and Orochimaru and Akatsuki and what he could scrap together from what had just happened with Kyuubi. He wouldn't spare a detail and wouldn't alter a fact. Everything would be as it was. Yes, a new Promise of a Lifetime: he would tell Sasuke all he knew about his past life. He swore by Ero-sennin's grave he would tell him, make him see reason, make him stay for good.
Yes, the world was falling into place again.
"Are we close?" Sasuke asked.
"What?" Naruto was snapped out of his happy imaginings. "Ah, yeah. We're really close to the village."
"What village?"
"The Village Hidden in the Leaves!" Naruto proclaimed proudly. "You'll love it there! Wait until you see everyone! They'll sure be glad to see you! Oh, I can't wait to get home and—"
Sasuke nudged him to be quiet, and sniffed the air suspiciously.
"Do you smell that?"
Naruto closed his eyes and inhaled. Something peppery cough in his throat and he began to cough.
Sasuke stopped lowered Naruto to the ground, waiting for him to finish before speaking.
"It's smoke."
Smoke means fire. Naruto looked down at Sasuke arm supporting him around the waist; he could just see his hand. Sure enough, it was burned a bit in places. Naruto looked back up, fixing a determined gaze at the next corner, the one around which he knew he would find one of Konoha's smaller many side gates.
"We're almost there," he muttered, and began to stand up, forcing Sasuke to help him up and continue forward.
Sasuke said something about going too fast, but Naruto ignored him. All he focused on was putting one foot in front of another and hoping, praying, that the smoke wasn't coming from anywhere near Konoha.
Just as they were about to make it around the corner Naruto broke free of Sasuke's support and limped with newfound strength around the bend. He tripped to a stop, eyes wide and breath hitched.
Before him was not the gate, or a wall, or even a building. Everything was leveled, a big smoking pile of rubble as far as the eye could see. Parts of it were still aflame, but the fire was dying down for the most part. Ruined buildings, twisted metal, bloodied weapons, all lay still and silent on the land that was once a village. The Kage Mountain beyond it was also ruined, as if a giant club had come ripped a big gash right across all the faces. It now stood like a grave over the remains of the battlefield. Sasuke's team could not possibly have done this. It was Kyuubi. It was himself. Naruto was responsible.
He didn't notice as Sasuke came up along side him.
"Something tells me we aren't going to find medical attention here," he smirked after a moment of regarding the scene. "Let's go find another town before—"
But he didn't get a chance to finish what he was saying because Naruto pelted forward, falling to his knees before the very edge of the ruins. With all the strength he had left, he flung the nearest piece of rubble out of the way, then another and another. He dug into what was left, looking, searching for something, he didn't know what. Something had to be under this, something that wasn't destroyed.
The people that were here! Sakura! Kakashi! Granny Tsunade! Kiba! Lee! Hinata! Neji! Shikamaru! Chouji! Sai! Where were they? They had to be under here somewhere! They had to be alive! They were just under that piece of that fallen wall!
Naruto threw it aside but no one was there. He reached in further, scorching his hands and scratching his flesh against broken glass but there was nothing.
"Hey! Stop it!" Sasuke was standing over him, holding Naruto's arm back before he could pull anything else away. "Stop it," Sasuke repeated. His voice was calm, but his eyes were blazing, alarmed at Naruto's reaction.
"I have to find them!" Naruto bellowed back at him. He tried to pull his arm away but Sasuke wouldn't let go that easily.
"Find who?" Sasuke yelled back.
"Them! Sakura-chan! Kaka-sensei! Them! Everyone! They have to be here!" Naruto felt something pushing at his eyes and his nose and his throat. "Let me find them! Help me!"
Sasuke stared at Naruto, searching his face before scanning the ruins with his Sharingan.
"They're dead, Naruto. " Sasuke whispered so quietly Naruto almost didn't hear. "It's no use. There's no chakra signature anywhere."
"No!" Naruto screamed at him, "No! They're alive! They're still alive! Their buried! We have to find them! We have to save them!"
"You can't." Sasuke turned around completely in place "You could get a whole army to search this place top to bottom. All you'll find are their ashes."
"An army! That's it!" Naruto almost felt like laughing. An army! He needed an army! Without hesitating he crossed his fingers into the familiar hand sign. "Mass Kage-Bushin no Jutsu!" he cried to the empty air.
Nothing happened.
Naruto looked around, startled. Where were his clones? He was supposed to make five hundred of them. He tried repeating the jutsu, but still got no results.
"It might help if you actually mold some chakra," Sasuke suggested sarcastically.
"That's what I'm doing!" Naruto shouted.
"That's not what I'm seeing." Sasuke had his Sharingan fixed on Naruto's stomach. "Tch. You barely have enough chakra to make one regular clone. You're years away from attempting a Shadow Clone."
"Shut up!" Naruto screamed at him. "Just shut up! I do this all the time! I have plenty of chakra! Just watch! Mass Kage-Bushin no Jutsu!"
Still nothing.
"You're not even molding the chakra you have. Just give it up."
"No! I can do this!" Naruto tried and failed once more. He knew it was no use, he knew full well, but if he gave up, everyone he knew would be as good as dead. "I can do this! I have to save them!"
Naruto's cheeks were wet and he had no idea why. "I have to save them…I have to save them…" he muttered, his voice much quieter than before. He couldn't bare to look at the ruins or Sasuke or the forest, so he just let himself fall forward over his knees, still muttering. It was gone; everything was gone. Sasuke was back, but everyone else was lost.
He didn't flinch when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke didn't say anything, so Naruto just kept sobbing; he didn't care what Sasuke thought of it. He wouldn't want Sasuke to say anything anyway. The tears just kept coming with no end and there was nothing Naruto could do to stop them. They sat next to the burning ruins of Konoha with nothing but the crackle of burning wood and Naruto's hysterical wails and repeating of "I have to save them," to fill the silence.
Naruto had no idea how much time had passed before he stopped. He would have kept crying, but there seemed to be no more tears to pour out. Sasuke still hadn't taken his hand off Naruto's shoulder, and he waiting a long time after Naruto had stopped shaking to say anything.
"We should go."
Naruto ignored him.
"Come one," Sasuke stood up and pulled on Naruto's arm to do the same, but the blond refused to budge.
Sasuke placed his hand on his hip. "Well you can't just sit there forever."
Naruto looked up at him, his cheeks still red and blotchy, then back down at the ground in front of him.
"They're really gone, aren't they?" he whispered.
Sasuke too looked at the ground.
"Yeah. Yeah they are."
Naruto sighed. "I wish you could have met them. They would have been so happy to see you." He looked up at Sasuke and gave him a weak smile that never quite reached his eyes.
Sasuke nodded solemnly and reached a hand down to help Naruto up, who just turned his face away at the offering.
"I don't want to leave," he said blankly as he looked out over the destruction. "I can't. Look at this," he gestured out to the expanse. "The Hokage Mansion was just over there, that's where Granny Tsunade lived. And right next to that was the hospital where Sakura-chan worked. And right over there," Naruto pointed to where each building stood in turn. "Over there was Chouji's favorite barbecue place. And there was the rooftop where Shikamaru would always watch the clouds. That's where Kakashi bought his porn, and just a few blocks from there is where my apartment was. And that bit over there that's still smoking was the Hyuuga grounds. And that way, way over at the other end," Naruto's finger shook, "was the Uchiha compound. It's been empty since you left."
Sasuke looked between the blond head, his pointed finger, and the distance where it pointed.
"I used to live here? What happened to the other Uchihas?"
Naruto looked up at his questioning face and shook his head. A promise was a promise, but it was too soon. Ironic, how Sasuke had forgotten the pain of losing everyone, just as the weight of it was thrown upon Naruto.
"Let's go," Sasuke suggested when he'd figured the blond wasn't going to answer his question.
Naruto frowned. "I said I'm not going."
"Are you going to sit around and wait until someone comes and blames you for all this? Come on," Sasuke pulled on Naruto's arm again.
"I said no!"
"Fine then," Sasuke smirked. "At least tell me where the nearest town is."
"East about two miles," Naruto mumbled under his breath. "Just follow the road."
"Thanks," Sasuke's smirk widened as he grabbed Naruto around the ribs and hoisted him over his shoulder with little effort.
"What the crap?! Put me down, bastard!" He blond yelped, grabbing onto the nearest object he could find that just happened to be a bit of singed wood that gave way as Naruto was lifted off the ground leaving him with a fist-sized chip clutched in his hand. "Put! Me! Down!" he yelled, hitting Sasuke back with his fists and trying to kick him in the face.
"We'll get to the hospital a lot faster if you stop struggling," Sasuke reminded him, but Naruto didn't pay him any mind.
"No! Put me down! I have to stay!"
"Two miles east you said?"
"Bastard! No! Let me go!"
"You know I would," Sasuke paused, "but then I'd be completely lost. As useless as youare, you're better than nothing."
"Great, that makes me feel a lot better… Now put me down!"
Sasuke chuckled and ignored the demand.
As the ruins grew smaller and smaller, Naruto struggled and cursed like a sailor, but his captor paid him no mind. It was a few minutes after the village was out of sight completely when he stopped.
"I fucking hate you," he hissed in Sasuke's ear
It took a few moments for the sarcastic reply.
"Bummer."
A/N: Well that was pretty long, wasn't it? Okay, now the explanation. Sasuke is OOC, I know. But he doesn't remember anything, so the Uchiha Massacre, the quest for revenge, all that is gone and not affecting him anymore. He still has Shinobi skills and such, but most everything else is gone. Just imagine it as if the Uchiha's were never killed. What would Sasuke be like then. OOC, that's what.
Changes are, Naruto is going to be as well, at least for a little while. He's lost everyone and everything close to him, (except Sasuke,) so don't expect him to be cheery and such; that's completely unrealistic. But not to worry, he'll be back to normal... I hope.
I don't know if I'm actually going to put NaruSasu/Sasunaru in this, but I'll try. Actually, tell me if I should. I need major feedback with this piece since it's the first of its kind that I've done. Again, what do I need to change/add/delete..etc. You get the point: REVIEW!