Blue Skies

Chapter One

"Wait, it's just about to break, it's more than I can take. Everything's about to change." -War Of Change, Thousand Foot Krutch

Naruto Uzumaki was not your average shinobi.

He was loud. He wore orange and refused to eat anything that did not contain noodles or pork in it. He was the Kyuubi Jinchūriki and had yet to learn the ways of mastering the beast inside of him, especially after nearly killing his sensei in the process of making that attempt.

But he was also different in the sense that he was bound and determined to bring his best friend back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, no matter the cost. Even if it meant breaking every rule placed upon him or charging headfirst into a dangerous situation, Naruto refused to abandon his teammate, his long time rival, his best friend...Sasuke Uchiha.

The Uchiha had always been an enigma to Naruto; the exact opposite of what the blonde was. He was quiet, he wore dark clothing and ate healthy. But he was also the last surviving member of the once mighty Uchiha Clan, said to have eyes so fearsome even the most vicious of criminals would cower before the eyes that reflected emotions. The firebreathers, and the avengers. Because that was what Sasuke was: an Avenger.

Naruto never truly understood what Sasuke meant by that description. First, the Uchiha had been set on avenging his clan, all of whom had been murdered by his older brother, Itachi Uchiha. The two siblings had always remained a mystery to Naruto, no matter how many times Sasuke brought the gruesome past up. The blonde never knew what it was like to have a brother, much less to have that brother murder his entire family in front of his eyes, so he couldn't relate to Sasuke in that respect. He certainly could understand Sasuke's emotions though, better than most people in the village. It was just too bad Sasuke refused to see that Naruto, too, could have pain.

And that was why Sasuke had left. The promise of revenge and power had been too tempting, a better way out of the pain he had endured since childhood. Naruto hated that. He hated the fact that Sasuke had chosen Itachi over the whole of Konoha, over Team 7...Kakashi, Sakura...himself. That, Naruto thought, was what hurt him the most out of this situation. After Sasuke had acknowledged him, after Sasuke had become his best friend...the Uchiha tried to kill him and left him behind.

Even now, as Naruto sat under the open sky in a clearing just outside of Konoha, he felt a familiar ache just under his right shoulder, where Sasuke had pierced his body with a Chidori, and the blonde wanted to believe so badly that Sasuke hadn't meant to do that. That he hadn't wanted so badly to kill off the Jinchūriki. But the proof was there, both in the wounds Sasuke had left on Naruto as well as the Uchiha's absence in the blonde's life for the past three years.

A warm wind brushed through Naruto's hair as he reminisced in the memories of Team 7, and he sighed as he realized that was all that Team 7 currently was. Memories, a chapter of a book that had long since ended. Naruto grimaced when he thought of books. The mere mention brought back more memories that he particularly didn't want to dig up right now...memories of Jiraiya.

Sitting up, Naruto rubbed his hand through his hair to comb out any snarls in it and closed his eyes, feeling the sun beating down warmly on his orange and black sweatjacket and orange pants. It was an unusually warm day in the Fire Country, and despite the heat Naruto had decided to dress in his normal attire. The blonde allowed himself a quick smile as he stood up and shook his arms, feeling the annoying stinging of blood loss in his hands and in his feet while he rose.

A yawn escaped his lips and he rubbed at his eyes in irritation while the sounds of construction echoed in the woods around him, the noise originating in the still recovering Konoha. Naruto frowned and opened his eyes as voices began to approach the clearing he stood in, recognizing one of them to be Konohamaru. The kid wasn't that bad; in fact, Naruto liked having him as an apprentice. He just go so damn annoying sometimes.

Naruto wondered if he had been like that when he was younger.

Deciding that he didn't want to deal with the boy at the moment, Naruto quickly turned to his left and jumped up, landing on a branch near the trunk of a tall pine tree and used the momentum of his impact to push off, deeper into the thick foliage in front of him. The blonde listened as construction continued in the village as he ran, and tried not to feel distressed at how little progress had been made in the three months following Pain's attack.

Not even a third of Konoha had been rebuilt, and most of that had been because of Yamato using his Mokuton style to create houses and shops again. And yet Naruto supposed he should be grateful; an apartment building was one of the first buildings to have gone up, and he had immediately been given a room in it along with furniture that had been salvaged and donated by the villagers to him.

But there was still a profound sadness inside of Naruto that refused to go away. Despite Nagato having revived everyone he had killed in his attack, and finally coming to terms with his definition of peace, the blonde realized how close he had been to losing Kakashi, Hinata, and over half of Konoha's population. He never wanted to experience pain like that again...but since he was a ninia, the possibility of Naruto keeping everyone he cared about safe was highly unlikely...

The snap of a twig underfoot broke Naruto from his inner musings.

Freezing in a crouched position, Naruto looked down and noticed Konohamaru's loud voice had ceased, replaced by the deliberate footsteps of something that was unmistakenably trying not to be discovered. Narrowing his eyes, suspicion grew inside of Naruto despite the weariness he felt from getting a cumulative sixteen hours of sleep over the past week due to helping with the reconstruction process, and he decided to slowly make his down the tree trunk to see who the mystery person was.

Channeling chakra into the soles of his feet, the blonde walked vertically down the oak tree and carefully pulled a kunai from his weapons holster, sensing that whoever this person was, they were masking their chakra signature well. As soon as his feet touched the leafy forest floor, Naruto looked up and saw a cloaked figure with a hood drawn over their head walking away from him steadily, heading in the direction Naruto had come from. "...Hey," Naruto called once he realized the figure hadn't found him.

As soon as the word left the blonde's lips, the figure stiffened and stopped in their walk. The hood turned, implying the person was looking over their shoulder, as Naruto strode cautiously towards them. "Who are you," Naruto demanded. The figure didn't respond. Grimacing, Naruto took another step closer so that he was standing right behind of the person. Neither moved as they analyzed each other, Naruto trying his damnedest to discern the person's identity.

Finally, the blonde lost patience and clapped his hand on the figure's shoulder, flinging the cloak aside and covering his vision for a brief moment while a hand clasped around his throat. Eyes widening, Naruto pushed the cover away from his head to meet Sasuke Uchiha's fathomless black eyes staring back at him. The raven's grey shirt was half-way unzipped, and Naruto noticed in annoyance that the stupid navy blue skirt/shirt thing was still tied around his waist with that purple rope thing.

"What do you think you're doing...Naruto," Sasuke sneered as he shoved Naruto roughly against a tree trunk, the wood shivering and leaves cascading around them. Naruto coughed and glared at Sasuke in return. "I could ask you the same thing," he choked out past Sasuke's grip on his windpipe. "Why the hell...are you here," he continued when Sasuke continued to stare at him blankly. The Uchiha cocked his head to the side as if to appraise the blonde's appearance.

"I heard...that Konoha is not doing so well," he drawled out finally, loosening his grip slightly on Naruto's throat. The blonde's vision became dizzy with the little amount of oxygen that was reaching his brain. "Let go of my throat," he growled, and Sasuke seemed to scowl slightly. But it might have just been Naruto's imagination. "...So this is Konoha's 'hero'," the Uchiha hissed maliciously, and then his fingers were clenched tighter on Naruto's neck.

"Able to take down the Akatsuki leader, but unable to fight against his best friend." The last two words Sasuke spoke slowly, almost spitting them past his clenched teeth. Naruto raised his hands and clamped them around Sasuke's wrist, yanking the raven's hand away from his throat. Coughing and sucking in air as fast as he could, Naruto bent over and put his hands on his knees while glaring at Sasuke past tears. The Uchiha stared back almost smugly, his still black eyes watching the blonde with an emotion akin to boredom in those dark depths.

"Although, I do hear that the Kyuubi was quite a lot of help to you during that fight..." Sasuke crossed his arms as Naruto stood straight, anger coursing through him at the mention of the fox demon. "Don't go there Sasuke," he warned lowly and picked up the kunai he had dropped on the forest floor as Sasuke had dragged him to the tree. The Uchiha arced an eyebrow. "Oh? Are you still depending on that demon for power?" Sasuke mocked. Naruto's hand twitched.

"I said, don't go there," the Jinchūriki snarled. Sasuke smirked, but not like he had used to. Not like Naruto longed for him to. This small smile was cold, it was unforgiving. It was the smile of a maniac. "You don't have the power to stop me," the raven stated as if it were an obvious fact. "You can't bring me back to Konoha, you can't stop me from destroying it. Face it, Naruto...without the Kyuubi, you are nothing." Naruto recoiled as if Sasuke had struck him, his back shoving against the tree behind him and his eyes widening with shock.

"...Why the hell are you here...and why are you saying all this," he whispered. And there that smile was again, lifting Sasuke's lips into a terrifying cresent shape. "I'm just seeing how my old home is doing," the raven said, his eyes narrowing as he said "home". "In fact, I was hoping to have done some of this damage myself. But it looks like this 'Pain' beat me to it..." The Uchiha's eyes trailed away from Naruto's face to stare up at the sky. "Besides, I could ask you the same question...you're pretty far from the village, Naruto. Are you planning to go looking for me again?" Sasuke chuckled, but the sound was heavy with hidden anger.

The blonde flinched, but stood straight again. Sasuke glanced back down at him, but this time the red of Sharnigan was what met Naruto's sky blue glare. "I will bring you back," the Jinchūriki snarled, and then he ran forward. In a flash, Sasuke drew his katana from behind his back, the sound of steel striking steel echoing in the forest as the Uchiha parried Naruto's kunai. "Make sure you actually try this time," Sasuke said from behind his blade, both weapons shaking with the force the each boy was putting behind the attacks.

Naruto grit his teeth while they leapt apart, before each one coming together and again blocking the other's blows. Naruto shoved his shoulder under Sasuke's katana and into the raven's chest, sending him flailing backwards. Then the blonde ran forward and attempted to punch Sasuke in the gut, the Uchiha twisting in the air and avoiding the blow. Then he leapt up and brought the heel of his foot crashing down on Naruto's back, sending the Jinchūriki crashing in the forest floor. "Ugh!" Naruto groaned while Sasuke put his foot on his head, digging the side of his face into the dirt.

"What's the matter?" Sasuke mocked and pressed down harder. "I thought you had gotten better over these past three years. But here you are, a worthless Konoha shinobi at my mercy. I expected better than this." Naruto scowled and kicked his legs down, forcing his torso up and grabbing Sasuke's ankle, flinging the Uchiha down and leaping up. "I have gotten better," Naruto snarled. Sasuke laughed. "Then prove it," he spat and stood holding his left wrist in his hand as the sound of birds chirping began to fill the air.

Angee coursed through Naruto, and he quickly summoned a Kage Bunshin while Sasuke busied himself, and then cupped his right palm for the Rasengan that was forming rapidly. Both boys looked up at the same time, red locking with blue, and then they charged forward. That was when Naruto noticed his attack was going to reach Sasuke last. Blue and white light filled Naruto's vision...

Then he was flung back. But not by Sasuke's Chidori, nor was Sasuke flung away by Naruto's Rasengan. Landing on his back and skidding on the leaves, Naruto looked up and winced as a pure white orb floated where Sasuke and Naruto had been just seconds away from killing each other. Blinking, Naruto raised his palm to shield his eyes, and noticed Sasuke do the same, each one staring at the orb as the light expanded. Whiteness enveloped Naruto's form, and he suddenly felt weightless, but at the same time extremely heavy, as the ground vanished beneath his form and he began to fall.


Sasuke blinked his eyes open at the sound of birds chirping.

The raven didn't even dare to open his eyes yet; he could tell there was more light above him, and the light that had enveloped him earlier was still causing him to see spots behind his closed eyelids. That damn orb, he thought angrily. He had been so close to killing Naruto! Whatever that thing was, he was going to make it pay...

Feeling grass underneath his palm, Sasuke raised his hand to his forehead and shielded his eyes, slowly blinking them open and managing to stare at a cloudless blue sky, hearing more birds and the sound of people...wait a minute. He and Naruto had been in the middle of a fucking forest, there were no people around them for miles! Sitting up quickly, Sasuke took his hand away from his forehead and saw that he was lying in an open expanse of grass, which seemed to extend for about fifty feet in all directions before meeting a gravel path, along which walked people. Actual people.

Confusion fell on Sasuke as he watched the people just walk by, without even sparing him a second glance, and then he looked to his left to see Naruto lying on his side, still seemingly unconscious from whatever thing that had attacked them. Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke smirked as he realized the opportunity to kill Naruto was close. But then he realized he was still within eyesight of anyone who happened to look in the boys' directions as he shoved his hand into the blonde's chest.

Then panick reached the Uchiha as he realized he couldn't feel his chakra.

"This is impossible," Sasuke hissed and tried to activate his Sharnigan, dismayed when his vision didn't enhance. Looking up, Sasuke saw trees lining the gravel paths in front of him in equal intervals, and above them stood towering metal structures, reflecting the sun's rays with massive panels of tinted glass.