Heaven and Earth Together At Last Chapter 1--Separate Ways, a naruto fanfic

Hey everybody, thesaiynjedi here with the first chapter of my latest fanfic, and it is one that some of you might have been waiting for.

In honor of April 3rd, "NaruSaku Day," I am starting a new story that will reveal how, in my alternate reality at least, Naruto and Sakura finally fell in love and began their romantic relationship. This story will be another prequel to my ongoing story "Shinachiku's First Adventure," and I am not expecting it to go for very long. My goal is to have it finished in time for April 3rd, but if I am unable to make that deadline please forgive me.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it, and just for the record this is just a fan's personal reinvisioning of the ending of the series with no intention of offending Masashi Kishimoto or the fans of his original ending.

With that said, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Separate Ways

Love was in the air in Konoha. After the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War many up-and-coming ninjas from the new generation seemed to share the same realization: Life was short. Death could come at any moment, and perhaps it was best to count your blessings and enjoy life while it lasts.

Unfortunately for Naruto Uzumaki, great hero of the war and recently promoted Chūnin of Konohagakure, that meant taking a back seat to figure out his feelings for a certain pink-haired medical ninja. For years they have fought, trained and served together as part of Team 7, later known as Team Kakashi, named after their former sensei and their current Hokage.

As he sat there in his usual seat at Ichiraku Ramen, he remembered that from the moment he met her he knew she was special. And it was for more than just her pretty looks. Like him she had been picked on, bullied, treated like dirt for nothing that was her fault, in her case her large forehead. Frankly, Naruto had no idea what those kids were talking about, he always found her forehead quite charming...charming enough that he wanted to kiss it...

He had seen her at the academy, she was one of the top students in their class and by far the most promising kunoichi his age...Or at least she would have been, if not for her blatantly obvious crush on his best friend.

Yes, Sasuke Uchiha, the young man that was pretty much the only brother that Naruto had in this world. Cool, serious, powerful, he was everything that every girl his age wanted in a boyfriend. It was no wonder that Sakura became attracted to the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, and Naruto was a fool to ever think that he had any chance with her.

After Sasuke, err...severed ties with the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto was distraught that his best friend would do such a thing and did not hesitate to join Shikamaru's retrieval squad to get him back before he crossed the borders of the Land of Fire into Orochimaru's realm, the Land of Sound. Right as they were prepared to leave, Sakura came to him. She did not come to join them, she would not have been of much use back then anyway, but instead to beg for Naruto's help. She begged, out of desperation, for Naruto to bring Sasuke back to her, crying her eyes out as she said so.

In that instant he knew that he had lost, that no matter his feelings for her, Sakura's heart belonged to Sasuke and to Sasuke alone. And so, with a forced smile and a heavy heart, he made the most selfless decision of his life. He made her a promise of a lifetime to bring him home...a promise he failed that day and would dedicate the next five years of his life to fulfilling.

And so the two of them trained, endlessly, both together and apart, to the same common goal of getting back their friend, only to fail time and time again. And yet despite everything, despite all of the yelling, the punches, the chastising, the getting shot down for dates time and again...he still liked to believe that they were bonded now, even if she would never be his...

...Which was why that snowy day in the Land of Iron stuck out so much in his memory. It happened out of nowhere, not too long after an unexpected visit from a certain masked member of the Akatsuki, that Sakura showed up with three of their friends. Back in the village, the others had all decided that by this point Sasuke had become far too corrupt for his own good and unless drastic action was taken he could trigger an all-out war between the shinobi nations; therefore, they had a responsibility to end him. Sakura, shockingly, agreed to this and accepted the task of traveling all that way to tell him herself. But instead...she told him she loved him!

Of all the hypocrisy! Of all the random lunacy! After years of rejection and beatings, of making her feelings for Sasuke so obvious to everyone, now out of nowhere she expected him to just accept that her feelings had changed just like that?! How stupid did she think he was?! Needless to say he rejected her that day and told her she was lying to herself, much to her anger...and with that he also lost his only chance at being with her.

Naruto hadn't thought about that day in a long time, and even after he saved her from getting killed in her ill-fated attempt to end Sasuke herself, where he literally swept her off her feet to save her life, they have not talked about that day since...Frankly, it is a miracle that things ever returned to normal between them at all.

After the war Sasuke was finally returned home and Naruto finally fulfilled his promise...at the cost of his arm. Yeah, he got it back—in the most painful procedure he'd even been through!—but that was alright. Stopping Sasuke's final, monstrous plan to revolutionize the world and bring him back once and for all was all that mattered.

One thing did linger in Naruto's mind though, and that was their final parting words before he left, again, on his personal quest for redemption following his acquittal during his trial...

Naruto watched as Sasuke said his goodbyes to Kakashi and Sakura. Even from far away he could tell that Sakura was offering to go with him. He thought Sasuke was saying something else to her, but he could not make out what it was. Add then he saw him tap her forehead.

That stung. HARD. But he wasn't going to throw a fit or overreact; this was what she wanted, and he was just going to have to accept that.

As Sasuke walked down the path away for them he noticed that Naruto was there.

"I didn't think you'd come," he said, looking at him with his Rinnegan still active in his left eye.

Naruto reached into his pocket with his one remaining arm and pulled out an old, raggedly forehead protector, with a kunai scratch spread clean across the Konoha symbol.

"I'm returning this," Naruto said as he held the forehead protector out.

Sasuke looked at the object for a moment before answering, "I'll hold onto this, until we can finally settle things between us."

The two former friends—no, still best friends—smiled at one another as Sasuke took his old headband out of the jinchūriki's hand.

After tucking it back into his pocket, Sasuke proceeded to walk down the path to his redemption, before he stopped one more time and turned to the blonde. What Sasuke said next stopped Naruto dead in his tracks.

"Take good care of her."

Naruto was shocked, and maybe a little bit embarrassed. It was obvious who she was, but why would Sasuke say that? Why now when he knows how she feels? What was that poke on her forehead all about? What did he say to her?

There were so many questions Naruto wanted to ask, but he didn't ask any of them. He didn't need to. Instead, he merely nodded as they parted ways.

For whatever reason, Sasuke had given him his blessing. Whether Sakura wanted him or not, Naruto would never abandon her. He would be there for her, always...

That day had gone through Naruto's brain a lot lately, but with his recent promotion, his surgery to have his new arm attached, and his usual ninja duties, he hadn't had any time to speak to Sakura...frankly he didn't know what to say.

There was another distraction too...

"NARUTOOOOO!"

The blonde turned to see who was calling his name to find a bunch of girls about his age that he didn't know blushing and waving to him excitedly. The first bunch of times it had been fun getting that kind of attention—he was only human after all—but by now it was starting to get annoying. He had absolutely no problem entertain little kids, but when that many girls his age started flirting with him for no other reason than his celebrity status, it seriously was getting old. Hell, one girl he came across was so crazy that she flashed her bare breasts and flung her used panties at him!

'Now I finally understand how Sasuke felt," he thought to himself before he finished his ramen, took a deep sigh and walked over to greet his fan club once again.

But as he walked over there, he remembered a song that he had been listening to over a radio that old man Teuchi set up in the restaurant after the war, to help entertain an ever-increasing influx of customers he and Ayame had been getting since the war, thanks entirely to the enthusiastic free press of their now world famous number one customer.

It was a song that really stuck out in Naruto's head because it reminded him so much of where he and Sakura were in their relationship, whatever that relationship was at this point. He could still hear the melody and the lyrics inside his head right now:

Here we stand
Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two
Sleepless nights, losing ground
I'm reachin' for you, you, you

Feelin' that it's gone
Can change your mind
If we can't go on
To survive the tide love divides

Someday love will find you
Break those chains that bind you
One night will remind you
How we touched and went our separate ways
If he ever hurts you
True love won't desert you
You know I still love you
Though we touched and went our separate ways

Troubled times
Caught between confusion and pain, pain, pain
Distant eyes
Promises we made were in vain, in vain, vain

If you must go, I wish you love
You'll never walk alone
Take care my love
Miss you love

Someday love will find you
Break those chains that bind you
One night will remind you
If he ever hurts you
True love won't desert you
You know I still love you

I still love you girl
I really love you girl
And if he ever hurts you
True love won't desert you
No, no

Naruto smirked to himself as started shaking hands and sighing autographs for his fans. But as he went through the motions with this, one single thought invaded his mind.

'I wonder what Sakura is thinking about right now?'

Well, what did you think? I know, pretty short right?

This was only meant to be Naruto's version of events leading up to this point; the next chapter will focus on Sakura's perspective.

The song, to which the title directly references, is "Separate Ways (World's Apart)" by Journey. I first heard it on the soundtrack to the film "Tron: Legacy" and, overlooking the simple fact that Journey are just an awesome band regardless, I was impressed at how well it described Naruto and Sakura's relationship by this point in the story, and I am amazed that no one has ever been inspired to edit a NaruSaku AMV to it!

Like my first chapter of "Shinachiku's First Adventure," the flashback to 699 was directly inspired by JTZ29's take on it in his story "Take Good Care of Her," as will the next chapter as well. I was satisfied with how he handled the scene in his story so that it serviced a NaruSaku story and still maintained much of the original intention of what the scene was.

Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed the read, and I hope to see you back for the next one!