"Moron."
"I'm being serious Bastard."
"Tch."
"Hokage-sama, two people have infiltrated the village. We placed a high alert, all of the villagers are evacuating now and all available ninja are waiting for briefing."
"Alright, let's go."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Sasuke...?"
"Hm."
"You know, I-I'm really being serious don't you?"
"Hn."
The room was tense as the nin waited for orders, Sakura could sense that much and it gave her an itch. Her mind began to race with all of the possibilities of who the attackers could be and with a sinking feeling, only one person came to mind. She didn't voice it, since it was taboo among her comrades but still no matter how hard she tried not to think it, she couldn't. She chewed her lip nervously and her hands grew tightly by her sides. She glanced at Shikamaru and he gave her a knowing look.
'So I'm not the only one thinking this.'
That made the feeling even worse. She was sure that some of the others had figured it out by now and she felt silly thinking that they hadn't. Her fists clenched tighter before she took a deep breath to relax them. As she did a hand slipped into hers, giving it a squeeze. She looked down at her hand, curling her fingers around the others tighter but kept her eyes away from the person. Tears prickled in her eyes as she continued to stare at her hand.
"Bastard, I-"
"Don't say anything."
The blonde Hokage entered the room quickly, an ANBU wearing all white close behind. With one commanding glance all attention turned to the front of the room. A pregnant silence wrapped itself tightly around the group. The Hokage heaved a heavy sigh and Sakura felt the person holding her hand give it another squeeze. This time it felt less reassuring. This time it felt tense and she squeezed back, hoping it conveyed the message. The Hokage cleared their throat before barking out orders.
"I want all Chunnin to help evacuate the villagers; all Jounin will now be placed on guard at their specific emergency stations. All ANBU will begin tracking. You will not engage the enemy. I want to see what they are here for first. On my orders we will devise an attack if need be. Shikamaru I need you to come up with something and fast, Neji help him. I'm going to repeat myself, ANBU you do not attack. I don't want anything rash happening. Now go."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
Sakura bit her lip harder and pulled the person holding her hand into a vice-like hug. The tears leaked through tight eyes and instantly she felt weak as she pressed into the person even more. They returned the hug, resting their chin on top of her head, wrapping arms around her waist. A sob escaped her mouth and the person pulled back. She refused to open her eyes as a warm hand rested on the side of her face. The person drew their thumb across her cheek, wiping away all tears.
When the hand disappeared she opened her eyes to see a brilliant smile.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan."
They leaned forward, pressing soft lips to her forehead. This didn't help her tears as they spilled again. All around them, people scurried to do as the Hokage had told them. The Chunnin and Jounin darted out first and the ANBU formed a group at the back of the room, slipping masks over their faces, pulling cloaks tighter around their bodies. The person in front of her chuckled lightly and she had to wonder how they could laugh at a time like this.
"Sakura-chan, don't worry. Everything will be okay."
They stepped away, flashing one more smile before a mask was being pulled over their own face. The person turned away from her and she fought the urge to reach a hand out to hold them back. Their black cloak swayed as they walked towards the group of waiting ANBU and upon reaching the group they all disappeared, leaving Sakura alone with the Hokage. She glanced up as the Hokage placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
'Everything better be okay...Naruto...'
"Targets have been spotted at the Uchiha compound. Nothing is happening as of yet. They're just standing there. We're positive they know we're here. All ANBU are in position."
"Alright get back to me if anything changes."
The Hokage sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last five minutes. Sakura glanced at her nervously and she wished the girl would stop, it wasn't doing anything to ease the own coil of fear in her stomach. Shikamaru and Neji were conversing quickly among themselves, going over the plans of Konohagakure while devising a specific plan of attack and defense.
Tsunade could hear them arguing over who should play what role in the ANBU team. Neji wanted Naruto as far away from the Uchiha's as possible and Shikamaru seemed to think that Naruto being the main part of the action was a better plan.
"If he's near them you don't know what they'll do. The elder Uchiha wants the Kyuubi and the younger Uchiha... We don't even know what he wants!" Neji hissed angrily.
"There is no use in trying to keep Naruto away. He'll make himself part of the action. I say the best bet is to use Naruto as bait. Split the Uchiha up. Sasuke will fight him and that gives the rest of the ANBU a chance at fighting the elder one."
"You want to use Naruto as bait? What if your plan doesn't work? If Naruto dies-"
"You have no faith in him Neji?" Shikamaru cut in.
That earned a heated glare from the Hyuuga. The two continued to stare each other down and finally it was the Hyuuga who gave in with a sigh. Shikamaru nodded, writing down the last of the plan and walked over to the Hokage. He handed her the paper and she began reading through it. She would admit that she preferred Neji's plan of keeping Naruto safe but knew that with both Uchiha together defeat would be near impossible.
"Alright. I agree. Shikamaru, go and inform the Elite Jounin that will take Naruto's place. Neji go join the other ANBU. Sakura, come on, you and I will go take our positions now."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Kistune, you are to distract and draw the younger Uchiha away from the area. You are to engage in battle, he is your target and your target alone. Understood?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
The ANBU he could see gave him a nod and he grinned beneath his mask. In the blink of an eye he appeared in front of the two Uchiha, who made no move to attack or defend. He noticed Sasuke almost seemed bored, lazily turning to look at him and he grinned even wider.
"I don't know if you're stupid or if you have a death wish ANBU-san." Madara spoke.
Naruto glanced in his direction briefly before turning his gaze back on the younger of the two. Sasuke continued to stare indifferently but somehow Naruto knew that Sasuke knew it was him. He reached up slowly and undid the clasp of his cloak; it fluttered to the ground around his feet in a black pool. Sasuke raised an eyebrow slightly and if one hadn't been looking for it, they wouldn't have seen it.
"ANBU-san, you and the rest of your team will die. This entire village will be in ruins by dawn. If you want a less painful death I suggest you tell me a few things." Madara spoke again.
"Hm."
"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Where is the Kyuubi and where is that pitiful excuse of a Hokage?"
"I'll let you know everything, if your comrade defeats me."
Madara chuckled loudly and Sasuke placed a hand over his Katana gently. Naruto withdrew his own in a way that seemed he wanted no fight. Madara walked casually over to Sasuke, placing a hand on his shoulder and looked down at him, smiling. Sasuke looked up at him then back to the ANBU giving a smirk. He unsheathed his katana as well.
"Well Sasuke, do you except ANBU-san's proposal?"
He nodded.
"Good, well have fun." And with that he turned his attention back to staring like he had previously. Naruto and Sasuke both lifted their swords and got into a fighting position. Minutes passed but neither moved. Naruto continued to grin, Sasuke continued to smirk.
"You know," He started casually, "It's quite rude to not face your opponent."
"I wouldn't want to cause any problems, Uchiha. Losing to me might put a thorn in your side."
"I doubt it," Sasuke snorted, "Moron."
Naruto's grin stretched even farther, "Why don't we take this somewhere else?"
"Hn."
With that the youngest Uchiha darted after the Kitsune ANBU. They finally stopped running and ended up near the center of the village. An all too eerie silence filled the space between them, a soft breeze swayed the trees and a single leaf danced its way between them.
Away from Madara gave Naruto the chance to actually take in what was Sasuke now. His dark hair was longer, framing his face completely. Pale skin, pink lips and piercing black eyes. The front of his shirt was the same one he had worn when part of the Sound, but the bow had disappeared.
Naruto could feel his fingers twitching to touch him, to reach out and bring him into a tight embrace. This was Sasuke, his brother, his best friend, back in Konohagakure and he wasn't going to lose him again; not when he was within reach, he couldn't let Sakura down again, he couldn't let Sasuke down. The smirk had left the Uchiha's face and was now replaced by the previous look of indifference.
"Are we going to fight Moron or are you going to waste my time?"
It was Naruto's turn to laugh and he did, the sound deep within his chest, "You're so eager... Sasuke..."
"I want to kill you quickly and destroy this village of lies."
Naruto raised up a hand.
"Is that so?"
"Hn."
"Then we might as well start." The Kitsune mask dropped to the floor, its porcelain shattering all around Naruto's feet.
A loud explosion could be heard all throughout the village, or what was left of it at least. Bodies littered the ground and buildings lay crumbled to their foundations. Everywhere someone looked death and destruction showed its horrid face. The remaining nin fought hard against the enemy but his strength alone seemed unbeatable. Madara's body shook with laughter as an ANBU in a bird mask raced forward. One quick swing of his sword was all it took to take them out of the fight.
Even though he had been fighting for quite some time he felt more bored than anything. Sasuke was still off fighting the Kyuubi and in the wake of that fight everything was being demolished. The village looked horrid and Madara couldn't help the happy tears that were brought to his eyes. Maniacal laughter slipped from his lips and echoed over the fallen building. In one swift movement he withdrew his Kama, blocking an attack of senbon.
He laughed again, really, the leaf nin's attacks were quite silly and useless. From the corner of his eye a fist appeared and there was no way to stop it. The pain in his jaw shot to through his entire body and he felt his shoulder slam into a broken wall.
Blood, he could taste it perfectly well. He spit angrily and glared at the person who dared hit him. Blonde hair swayed in the breeze and almond eyes glared back at him. Madara allowed a grin to grace his features at the Hokage, chuckling darkly.
"So you've finally come out to play, Hokage-san."
Tsunade growled, "You're not welcome here Madara so I suggest you leave before you're killed."
"Ahahaha! You really think you'll be able to kill me? I'm going to destroy this village and kill everyone in it, including you!"
"If I die so be it, but as the Hokage of this village I will not allow one more person to be harmed if I have any say in it!"
"Then let our battle end quickly so I can get back to the task at hand, Hokage-san."
"SASUKEEE!" The howl that erupted from Naruto was powerful.
"Hn." The response was weak.
"You Bastard! Just give up already! You're almost out of chakra and you're injured, you can't even use Sharingan."
"I'm going to kill you without it, Deadlast."
Clouds began to form above them and Naruto quickly formed three Kage Bunshin. Whatever Sasuke was planning couldn't be good and Naruto only had one Sage Clone left. If he wanted to end this it would have to be soon. Sasuke raised his Katana up to the sky and lightning began to form around the blade.
"KIRIN!"
A blinding flash of raw electricity raced its way towards the blonde and he quickly created a wall of Bunshin but the attack did its job. The wall poofed away and Naruto was thrown back a considerable distance. His fall was broken by the ruble below. His head hurt and his vision swam.
"NARUTO!"
Someone was calling his name, it sounded familiar. A vision of pink was before his eyes and warm hands gripped his head. The pain slowed and a dull throb was replaced. He sat up, staring into a tear stained face. Green eyes looked scared and he reached a hand out to Sakura but she stood quickly, glaring at Sasuke.
"You Bastard! I'm going to kill you!" She shouted, fists clenching.
Sasuke stared at her, mocking her with a smirk. Naruto stayed sitting and he hoped his vision would stop swimming. Her fist began to glow green and with a battle cry she ran at the Uchiha, fist drawn back. The Uchiha made no move to get away until the last second. Sakura's fist missed and Sasuke gripped her arms from behind. Her eyes widened, chakra dispersing.
"Are you stupid, Sakura. You couldn't defeat me last time, what makes you think this time would be any different."
He threw her, like a rag doll. Her body collided into the ground and from her head a crimson pool spread. And that was all it took, the Kyuubi was released; Sasuke had no idea how grave his mistake was.
"Tsunade-sama!"
"You did it! Tsunade-sama! You defeated him! He's dead!"
"Tsunade-sama! Hey! Someone call a medic! Her pulse is low! Tsunade-sama! Keep breathing!"
Sasuke was breathing heavily, his eyes bled and he was quickly growing tired of the Kyuubi's power. A fist of red hot chakra made its way toward him and he barely had time to dodge. If he had known Naruto was up to seven tails he wouldn't have tried to draw the beast out. If only he could get Kyuubi to look into his eyes, then it would all be over.
Another growl erupted from Naruto's mouth and a surge of chakra flattened the land around them. The fist finally wrapped itself around the Uchiha's body and it burned. Naruto brought them face to face and in his anger looked the man in the eyes. He was trapped.
"Naruto-kun, release me… I'll kill the Uchiha-brat with our power and all things will be the way you want them." The Kyuubi purred.
Naruto stared at the great beast behind the locked gates for a long while. Its red eyes bore into him and he could feel himself agree even before he moved. The first step and the water of the dank cell rippled.
"Are you that weak, Naruto? Going to let the Demon Fox do your bidding?"
The blonde turned to the voice and his anger returned double-fold.
"You killed Sakura you Bastard! All she did was love you! She wanted to save you! But you pushed her away! And now she's dead!"
"This isn't about her. This is between me and you, leave the Fox out of it as well."
Naruto bit his lip and blood spilled between his teeth.
When Naruto opened his eyes he noticed it was difficult to breath. His heart hammered in his chest and his lungs gasped for breathe. His vision swam again and there was a pain in his chest. He looked down to see an arm. It was pale and soaked in blood. His own blood.
He looked up into dark eyes and a smile graced his lips. Rain slowly began to drizzle down, soaking his clothes and hair. With determination in his blue eyes he leaned forward capturing the others in a copper kiss. When he pulled back, the look of shock was clearly shown on Sasuke's face.
"Heh… I always knew you'd be… the end of me Sasuke…"
The Uchiha gasped, quickly ripping his hand from the others body. Naruto stood for a few short moments; still smiling at Sasuke.
"I-It's always been you, I've always… Lov…"
Naruto's eyes closed and his body swayed before crashing backwards onto the ground. Blood traced the outline of his still corpse and the Uchiha dropped to his knees. His hair plastered itself against his face and cold, pale hands reached up to pull dark bangs.
His own heart hammered in his chest and his eyes were frozen wide through silent agony. Breathing didn't come easy and he realized it was the starting ache of crying. He hadn't cried since, since he had killed his own brother. And now, now he had killed his entire world. The one person who loved him more than any other, the one person who had gone to the end of the world for him and only in death had he realized it. Only in death did he listen to his own heart.
A painful scream retched its way from his lips and bile rose in his throat. When he finished he crawled on all fours to the blonde, over the blonde, looking at the blonde. Tears pressed behind closed lids and the smiling face of Uzumaki, Naruto, a dead Uzumaki, Naruto burned itself into his memory.
"I wasn't lying Bastard. I meant what I said. I do love you and I'll do everything in my power to prove it."