Ulterior Motive - Why did Sasuke spare Naruto's life after their fight at the Valley of the End? What if he had a deeper motive?

Ulterior Motive

The sun was fading.

Uchiha Sasuke stood above Naruto, his dark eyes no longer containing the Sharingan. As his head bent to watch Naruto, the knot of his hita-aite loosened and his forehead protector fell with a clatter onto the ground beside Naruto's head. He made no move to pick it up, as there was no point. Not because it had been scratched with the rasengan, but because he had no use for it.

The rain was falling.

There was water on his face, but it was only the rain, there were no tears. His face then tightened with pain, as he gripped his arm as he fell onto the ground. He knew what he had to do. In order to achieve the Mangekyou, he would have to kill his best friend. Naruto finally served a purpose and for that he was grateful. Now he could seek his revenge.

There were no regrets.

His uninjured hand reached for his kunai, and with shaky fingers he brought it closer to Naruto's neck. His trembling fingers only made him angry, he was so weak... he had done so badly in the battle. That was why he needed power. At any cost. Even if he had to kill Naruto. Even if he would be classified as a high ranked missing-nin.

"Wait Uchiha Sasuke," a voice called.

From the nearby surroundings, a body appeared, half-merged with the surroundings. His most noticeable features was the large venues flytrap like object that enveloped his head. But what Sasuke noticed was the all too familiar Akatsuki robe. His dark eyes widened in surprise, and his eyes flashed into the sharingan for a moment before it faded due to his lack of chakra.

"You wish to kill Uchiha Itachi do you not? Then I suggest you spare your comrade's life."

"What does the dead-last have to do with my brother?" Sasuke sneered.

"Your brother is looking for Uzumaki, so you could use him as bait, so to speak to find and kill him"

"I could just kill him without the dead-last," Sasuke scowled, his hand tightening around the kunai.

"Then you will never find him."

"That's a load of-" Sasuke begun.

"In at least thirty months, your brother will attempt to capture Uzumaki again. You can use Uzumaki to lure your brother and then get your revenge."

Without letting the other make another comment, the Akatsuki member merged back into the background. Uchiha Sasuke remained silent, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

Part of what that thing said was true. All this time he had attempted to find traces of Itachi but had found nothing, and it was true that Itachi had attempted to target Naruto. But right now, he sure as hell couldn't stay here, not after his fight with Naruto. Without the Mangekyou he would not be strong enough, and Konoha was far too weak.

For the time being, he would go to Orochimaru and in time, he knew Naruto would attempt to pursue him again. After all, that was the fool Naruto was. He would wait until the time was right, get stronger, let Naruto lead Itachi to him and then he would get vengeance along side with the Mangekyou.

To kill two birds with one stone. He would be patient. He had time.

He turned and walked away.

The End

A/N: This was written when I was fourteen.

2006-05-13 - Ulterior Motive published.
2011-02-13 - Slight update to replace line breaks.

-Demeterr