The moon still sat above in the sky, and two men laid mutilated on rock, encompassed in their own personal revelations. Blood seeped from the wounds that were once their arms and flowed into a small pool in the cracks of the stone they rested on. An unorthodox way to solidify a kinship, with their beings finally coming into one in their blood. Through years of hardship, maturation, and a very
"How fitting is it that this is where we die?" sprung a cracked voice. The blond who it emanated from smiled a bit, cracking the dirt that had dried on his cheeks. He slowly moved his eyes to the boy lying next to him, not risking turning his neck.
The raven-haired boy continued to stare straight up, not risking looking at his best friend sitting next to him. Seeing his brother during the fight had been the first time he'd seen his sins laid bare, and he refused to let himself see them again for fear of his soul shattering. Instead he croaked out a weak reply.
"I always imagined myself kicking you into the ground. Can't say this is what I expected, but it isn't unwelcome."
Both boys chuckled a bit at the response and immediately regretted moving their arms even in the slightest. With that they settled again into a small silence before the blond offered up a solemn response.
"You know I guess Madara technically won. We're going to bleed out before we can release the genjutsu."
Naruto's eyes closed, and he lamented himself. There wasn't much stronger that he could become and yet he still felt that he should have been able to do more. If only he had perfected senjutsu to a higher degree or heightened his skills in taijutsu. Anything to have given him some sort of edge over any of the Uchiha he had faced that day.
I should have explored the wind manipulation more than just the rasenshuriken. Maybe more variety in my techniques could have provided a larger edge. Or what if I had learned and combined the eighth inner gate with my six paths senjutu? That would have bolstered my strength and speed tenfold until-
His thoughts were interrupted by the voice next time him.
"I'm the only one that will die today Naruto. Whether you think you will or not, the world needs you more than it needs me."
Naruto turned his eyes once again to his teammate, mostly annoyed at how Sasuke had continued to belittle himself in regard to the grand scheme. Regardless, he let him continue, engaged in the voice of somebody that he hadn't seen in so long.
"The Kyuubi is most likely already healing your wound, at least to the point that you won't bleed out as fast as I do. You're the child of prophecy, remember? You're meant to save the world – to stop people like me. It wouldn't look too good on those Toads if you died such a stupid death as sitting on your ass bleeding out of your arm vagina."
After that comment the novelty of hearing Sasuke's voice had overstayed its welcome and Naruto lashed out with a response.
"Will you shut up Sasuke? The world needs both of us. It's why the Sage gave you part of his gift."
More than anything else, Naruto was angry towards the naivety of his friend's words. In his eyes, the world would be no better with Sasuke dead. Sure, maybe some of the Kage would love to see the Uchiha go, but if his war efforts had shown the shinobi world anything, it was that Sasuke was one of the only men alive capable of the highest caliber of heroism. His heart had changed from who he previously was, and his ability and willingness to help those in need at present far exceeds whatever capability of harm he had in the past.
Peace would reign in the shinobi world for now, but even Sasuke simply being alive gave Naruto a better feeling of security than thousands of other ninjas, and after what the world had just gone through, a feeling of safety is exactly what they all needed.
The Uchiha had decided not to respond, and instead closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable to come. There was no use in arguing with Naruto any longer. While he had matured during their years apart, he still remained as adamant as ever about both of their roles as protectors in this world. The blond would never see reason, so he would just let nature take its course.
The two sat on the rock for quite a bit longer, letting the silence overwhelm them. There was nothing that could be done except for hoping that a medic ninja would make their way to their location.
After quite a bit longer, Naruto looked over once again to his best friend. His eyes were open unfazed staring into the sky.
"What are you staring at?" Naruto whispered.
Sasuke said nothing. He simply kept staring at the sky unblinking.
"Sasuke you dumbass stop staring. What? The stars are that pretty tonight?"
Still no answer.
The blond kept questioning.
"You dick you're just ignoring me again, huh?" At this point, Naruto began an uncontrollable chuckle. "What? Now that you acknowledged me you think it'll be funny to stop answering me? I gotta say it's a clever little practical joke but it's really poorly done."
Sasuke's eyes remained open, and his mouth had not made the slightest quiver to indicate a response. It was then that Naruto noticed that small rise and fall of Sasuke's chest had ceased. Still, Naruto pressed on, now with tears welling at his eyes.
"C'mon Sasuke. Sakura's waiting for us. Kakashi, too. You think they're gonna let you go that easily?"
Tears began to fall now from his cerulean eyes, and his chuckle continued.
"You're the worst at jokes, you know that? Acting like you're dead. You're such an asshole." At this point his chuckles began to transform into light sobs, and he pleaded with the Uchiha to be joking with him, begging him to just blink, smile, cough, wiggle a finger. Anything to prove that he was still with him.
And still he received no reply.
He turned his head back to the sky, not believing what had happened, with tears still streaming down both sides of his face, dampening his cheeks. He closed his eyes, doing his damndest to escape the world of the living. Anything to get away from this nightmare. All of the years of promises and training and aiming for the one goal of bringing his friend home. All of it ended with the death of Sasuke Uchiha.
And with that, the death of Naruto Uzumaki's strength.
He did the only thing he could do. He cried. His emotional dam broke and he wailed into the night, cursing himself and whatever cruel entity let this happen. It was here, crying like an infant, that Naruto damned the cruelty of this world – that children barely out of adolescence were forced to fight and die for god knows whose sake.
He was only seventeen. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Two seventeen-year-old boys were forced to fight to the death because of their differences in how the world should work. Two boys, not even fully out of puberty, were forced to decide on how the world should be run.
Far too much responsibility was laid on their shoulders, and one of them had paid the ultimate price for it.
His sobs turned to whimpers and he closed his eyes, hoping for the same fate as his best friend to befall him.
Instead of death, he was received with a searing pain throughout his body.
In the forests on the border of the land of fire, one figure sat alone at a fire, watching his godson sleep.
It was the end of their first week of their three-year training trip, and Jiraiya still couldn't get over how much the boy looked like his father. Give the little shit some longer hair and take away the whiskers and he would be the spitting image of Minato.
His thoughts reveled to his teaching days, when the legendary Fourth Hokage was just a small Gennin, easily excited and dangerously prodigious. It was the same fire that he saw in the brat sleeping across the fire from him. Sure, he wasn't the smartest shinobi in the world, but Naruto was crafty and caught on easily. Above that, his determination to succeed was unlike anything that he had ever seen before. In Jiraiya's eyes, that beat a prodigy any day.
Said boy stirred in his sleep, and Jiraiya closed his own eyes, ready to let dreams take him and his mind wander. He thought about the next few years. Maybe he'd write another book – not smut this time. He was sure that his adventures in this world with the unpredictable knucklehead ninja would provide him with the inspiration necessary for one with a more serious tone. Something that rivalled his first book in the care and dedication he felt towards compelling characters and plots. Something more than monotonous sex and nude scenes, but one that captured what it truly meant to be a shinobi.
A book of war and hardships, but also one of triumph and bonds. One that he could finally be proud to tell Naruto that he had written.
Screams erupted in the forest.
Jiraiya opened his eyes and immediately pulled out a kunai, scanning the area for any signatures of chakra, only to find that the screams had been coming from the blond laying on the ground. They were bloodcurdling, and the older man hurriedly jumped to the boy to try and wake him from whatever nightmare was happening.
When he reached Naruto and pulled him into his arms, he noticed that the blond wasn't sleeping at all. His eyes were wide, and tears were streaming from his face. The screams weren't of nightmares, but from pain. And what surprised the sage even more was the left eye of the blonde, which had morphed from its usual blue to a dull purple with circles surrounding his iris and three tomoes adorning a few of the rings.
Jiraiya ignored the eye for the moment and focused on the screeching boy, whose screams were beginning to die down. The white-haired man held the blond to his chest, cradling him and praying for the boy to stop crying.
Is this some kind of genjutsu? Or maybe some awakened bloodline? I mean, Nagato was an Uzumaki but I never considered the Rinnegan to be part of their heritage.
Naruto's yells died to whimpers as he continued to cry into the man's chest, muttering indistinguishable sentences while just repeating over and over-
"Jiraiya oh god. I thought you were…"
The boy continued to sob into the man's chest until he again fell asleep.