Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto.

This was written for Rowena DeVandal's One Thousand Words or Less Challenge on the Fireplace.

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The Price of Vengeance

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"We'll get him back, Naruto. You know we will. And who knows? Maybe once he's killed his brother, he'll come back all by himself. And then… and then we can all be happy."

Naruto sat on the stream's edge, tugging at the end of a lank spike of blond hair. Sakura's words from dinner still spun through his mind, careening aimlessly in circles as his thoughts often did. A single thought could haunt him this way for weeks, an idea lodging itself in to make a lifetime impression. It was something that had always lead to him being seen as simple. And maybe he was. But it was the way Naruto was, especially when the thought revolved around something he loved.

It was a warm evening, and Naruto was glad for it as he dipped a foot into the water, slow rapids teasing his skin. His fingers kept at his hair, tugging it along with the slow gnaws at his lower lip. His mind was centered far away from the clearing in the forest, far away from the other members of his team, from Konoha or any of the things around him.

His mind was on Sasuke now.

In the last three years, his thoughts had centered around Sasuke more often than they had not. Finding Sasuke, bringing Sasuke home, knocking the shit out of Sasuke until he admitted what an idiot he was. It was Naruto's purpose, his goal. He had to bring Sasuke home… or what kind of Hokage would he be? How could he really chase his dream and lead the village if he couldn't even bring his friend home? So before Naruto could move on in his life, work towards his life's ambition… he needed to save Sasuke.

But he worried. Now, Naruto would never admit to worrying about Sasuke of course, not even on pain of death. Sasuke was his first and best friend, his rival, his teammate… but that didn't mean Naruto would be caught dead fretting over the bastard. It just wasn't right.

Sasuke's goal in life was to find Itachi and kill him for his sins, to avenge the family Itachi had killed so mercilessly. It was his motivation, his reason for existence. Sasuke had worked to get stronger so he would be able to kill Itachi, Sasuke had tried to kill him in order to kill Itachi, Sasuke had gone to train with Orochimaru because he wanted to kill Itachi. It all led back to Itachi. Naruto shivered despite the warmth of the night, pulling his knees up to his chest.

But what would become of Sasuke when he finally succeeded?

If Itachi was his entire motivation in life, where would that leave Sasuke once he had killed him?

Naruto didn't really understand a lot about family, nor did he really get the kinds of feelings that drove Sasuke on. Emotion was something that escaped him. Even his own emotions were beyond him, often jumbling them up between conception and expression. But he didn't need to understand emotions to put together what would happen to something that had fulfilled its purpose in life.

Sasuke would waste away.

Naruto's fingers clenched at his knees, dirty fingernails digging into the material of his suit. He would bring Sasuke back, and he would only be able to watch as he deteriorated into a husk of a man. If the lack of purpose didn't end him, the guilt would take over. Sasuke was human, and Naruto knew he wasn't a heartless murderer. He wasn't like Itachi. But once he'd killed him, he would be. He would be a murderer, for he would have killed not for protection or self defense, but for vengeance. And it scared Naruto more than he could express, even if he had been in the habit of admitting that certain assholes were worth anything to him.

Could he save Sasuke from this? Could he bring back the surly but good-hearted boy he had first met, bring him back from whatever Sasuke had or would become? Could he save Sasuke from himself?

If Sasuke managed to kill Itachi, Naruto feared he would be too broken to repair. The asshole's heart wouldn't be able to handle knowing that he had killed the last living connection to his family. And Naruto feared that being unable to fix Sasuke would drag him down as well. Sasuke was his most important person, no matter the hardships he faced, no matter the gulf of problems between them.

But… no. A slow grin formed on Naruto's face, a ferocious glimpse of determination.

Naruto never admitted defeat, and he certainly would not let Sasuke the Bastard be his downfall. If it came down to Sasuke breaking, he would just have to gather up the little mini Sasuke bits. And somehow, somehow… Naruto would piece him back together again. Sasuke would be home again, and Sasuke would be whole. Naruto would never give up. For Sasuke. For Sakura.

For himself.

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