Before we start, I just want to get the groundwork laid down. This is a slight AU where Sasuke is the stable character, and Naruto is the one who tries to run away. Everything else is explained, so if you're interested, continue.
Bold is written letters, Italics are dream sequences.
Chapter One
War is hell.
He knew what he was getting into the moment he signed up for the academy. Death and destruction were integral to the life of a shinobi. But did he really have much of a choice? His father was a war legend. Being the only son of the White Fang of Konoha meant that Hatake Kakashi had to follow in his father's footsteps.
And, in a way, he did. The young Hatake advanced in prodigious leaps and bounds, placing him far beyond the peers. When he was saddled with a no-name girl like Rin and an immature fool like Obito, he could only assume that they would slow him down. But he paid the price.
On a mission in Rock country, Rin was separated from the group. With their sensei, Namikaze Minato, busy with the enemy forces, Obito convinced Kakashi to go against orders and save Rin.
"Those who don't follow orders are scum, but those who abandon their friends are even worse than scum."
Such passion. Burning so bright, Obito seemed to be one destined to be carved upon the Hokage monument one day. Alas, one ill fated ambush later and his name was engraved into the memorial stone. Each name upon it represented someone who was KIA, or Killed in Action. And the fact that Obito was carved upon that stone settled heavily upon Kakashi's shoulders. Whether survivors guilt, or plain old loneliness, the burnt out ninja started every day at the monument to remind himself. Never again would he allow another teammate of his to be remembered upon that stone. Even with such strict precautions, he failed once more.
His student, Uzumaki Naruto, son of his sensei and the Forth Hokage, ran for the hills when he discovered who his father was. Kakashi had been on a mission at the time, but hurried onwards without rest when he heard the news.
Sasuke, one of his other students, tried to face Naruto head on. The headstrong child seemed to only respond to blunt force, and Sasuke was desperate to keep him from leaving. Even though he would not admit it, Uchiha Sasuke had a bond with Uzumaki Naruto. One stronger than brothers. So, with the clash of two such titans, Sasuke felt like he had no other choice. Concentrating the pure destructive properties of lightning into his hand, the jutsu-enhanced fist punched through the other boy's heart. Sinking to the depths of the lake that they battled upon, the fourth's legacy's golden locks were never to be seen again.
Without the energetic blonde to hold together the team, it came apart quite rapidly. Frustrated with her teammate's mortality, Sakura apprenticed herself to Tsunade, the legendary medical ninja, pushing herself to likewise be able to heal the gravest of wounds. Sasuke, on the other hand, took on as many missions as he could, to copy new jutsu and hone his talents. In reality, both of them just were trying to forget the heartbreak that was Naruto.
Kakashi sighed. Another day started with the mourning of teammates.
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Sakura was tired of being weak. Every day, Sasuke and Naruto just got better and better. It seemed that every minute not spent training meant she was falling behind. As a kunoichi, she just didn't have the drive an motivation to succeed. That was why when such a legendary kunoichi like Tsunade had arrived in the village, Sakura snapped at the opportunity. She begged for an apprenticeship and Tsunade was more than happy to supply.
At first, the work load was easy. Just an hour of one on one with Tsunade's assistant, Shizune, and some scrolls to take home and read on advanced anatomy. Then the personal training got longer and she was to work hours in the hospital. With each passing day she became more immersed within her medical training. Finally, Tsunade decided to take time out of her busy schedule to personally work with Sakura.
She made her way, that fateful day, to the Hokage's tower. Sakura ascended the steps to Tsunade's office, nervous at what would await her within. Her hand wrapped around the metal handle, but before she could open the door, it burst open. Storming out of it was Naruto, a folder in his hand. He looked more furious than she had ever seen him before. Tsunade called after him, but it was if she wasn't even there.
At the doorway, Sakura paused expectantly, but Tsunade gave no explanation, and they went directly into training. Her task for the day was to re-start the heart of a "dead" fish. That was one of the most difficult tasks that she had ever been put to. The early morning melted into the afternoon and eventually the evening as the training tried to push the earlier events from her mind. But it embedded itself deeper into her mind the more she waited. The curiosity was just too much to bear. By the time she finished, near midnight, she decided to stay up a bit longer and pay a visit to see Naruto. She wanted answers about what happened.
Immediately from the Hokage's tower, she made her way to Naruto's apartment, which was surprisingly close. The first thing that she noticed upon arrival was the lights were on. Even at this late hour, the hyperactive blonde was still going. She made to knock upon the door, which promptly opened, causing her to rap her knuckles across her teammate's head. He was fully dressed and war a large travel pack. There was no sign of the usual smile that typically was plastered on his face.
"Sakura." He stated dully and curtly. "What a surprise. This makes things earlier"
"What do you mean?" She asked, not putting all the evidence together.
"I'm leaving" He stated simply, as if it were fact. "I'm done with Konoha. I've got letters I've written for all of you. If you could give them to people for me, I'd appreciate it. They're in the apartment."
"What? But why are you leaving?" It didn't make sense. "You love Konoha. You wouldn't ever abandon it, Naruto. What about your dream?"
"I can't stand this place anymore. Tsunade opened my eyes on accident today." Naruto noticed the blank look on her face, so he continued. "Imagine that someone did something horrible to you. And they were your father. And the village made him do it to you. Wouldn't you be mad at the village too?" He searched her eyes for some glimmer of sympathy or understanding, some empathy for his plight.
But she couldn't understand. Not as she was. Everything she was taught and told as a child prevented her. "So, you're just going to leave? Is that your answer? I thought you never gave up!" With sentence, each word, her voice rose. "If I need to, I'll knock some sense into you and get Tsunade-sama. I'll-"
Sakura felt the fist that collided with her stomach before she even saw Naruto move. She stumbled to the ground in pain. Before she was consumed from the darkness, she heard:
"I love you Sakura, I really do. But this is more important…"
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Sakura attempted to maintain composure as she woke with a start, but failed, trembling in her bed. It had been three years since Naruto left, and met his end by Sasuke. Immediately turning to the drawer next to her bed, she pulled out a slip of paper. Upon it was one of the last recorded memories of Uzumaki Naruto. Unfolding it, she began to trace the words with her fingers, knowing it by heart already.
Dear Sakura,
As you may already know, I have decided to leave. It won't make sense but… (indistinguishably scratched out words) I'm just going to be honest and simple. I'm an idiot and a loser. Everyone in the village hates me. And now that I know that it's their fault for everything that has happened, there's no way I can stay. Maybe one day I'll come back for you and Sasuke and Kakashi and everyone else who was nice to me.
- Uzumaki Naruto
Sakura laughed bitterly. Naruto was a dreamer, but he had the determination to make his dreams come true. And once his dreams were shattered, he ceased to live. Once the depression of the dream wore off, Sakura ambled down to her kitchen to have breakfast. While cooking up eggs, a red envelope was slid under the door. She never bothered to get up early enough in the morning to see the ANBU actually place these letters, but she still knew it was important. Stopping for a moment, she picked it up. Opening it up, it contained a small slip.
A-rank mission debriefing at 9:00
Taking her eggs off the stove and picking up a medical scroll, she sat down to eat. With such an important mission coming up, it was important for her to prepare before the debriefing. For a medical ninja, 30 minutes of studying could mean life or death for a teammate on the battlefield.
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They stood opposite of each other. The name of the battlefield was quite appropriate, actually. "The Valley of the End" they called it. Back during the founding of Konoha, Uchiha Madara and the future Shodaime battled, forever shattering their friendship , and Madara himself. Generations later, it was time for Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto to re-enact the tale.
"Why turn your back on Konoha?" Sasuke yelled over the roar of the waterfall nearby. "You've never given up! What about Tazuna? What about Gaara? What about Sakura?"
"You'd never understand, Sasuke." Naruto yelled back. "Everyone betrayed me. I'm not going back. And you know that I never go back on my word."
"Then I guess that we can't solve this with words." Sasuke solemnly replied. Closing his eyes, he drew upon the chakra necessary to bring forth his most powerful weapon, the Sharingan. He would not be able to hold back if he were to stop him. "I'll bring you back even if it means that I have to break all the bones in your body!"
And so it began. Lashing out with pure power, Naruto summoned an army of shadow clones to assault his former teammate. However, using the perceptive abilities of his Sharingan, Sasuke easily dispatched them. But he wasn't finished. Taking a deep breath, he spurted flames from his mouth at Naruto, who promptly dived into the water. Sasuke scanned the are for signs of his orange clad teammate. He was not disappointed as he saw Naruto with another shadow clone forming a spiraling ball of chakra in his hand.
"Are you so desperate to run?" Sasuke asked, the fury edging through in his voice. "Do you think you can kill me?"
"Stop calling me weak!" Naruto roared. His facial features elongated, and sky blue eyes turned a gory red. "I can make my own decisions!" And upon the last utterance, the enraged blonde rushed forward.
Reluctantly, but without hesitation, Sasuke formed the Chidori in his hand. A weapon of pure lightning was the only thing that could possibly go up against such a powerful attack as the Rasengan.
The two met, and one fell. Naruto dropped to his knees, Sasuke's hand where his heart should have been. Blood poured out of everywhere - seemingly fleeing his failing body.
"Tell Sakura…" He eked out "That I'll miss her." And he slowly sank to the bottom of the lake, entombed in its murky depths.
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Sasuke's eyes snapped open, his face betraying no emotion. Another day, another nightmare. They happened so much, between Itachi and Naruto that they had completely ceased to faze him. Seeing no point in going back to bed, Sasuke slipped out of the covers and went to the training room in his house.
When he was little, his brother's complete and utter massacre of his family scared him away from the manor he grew up in. However, after all the years of hard training as a ninja, he grew out of such petty affairs. All that really mattered was that he was able to renovate it enough to live in.
Sentiments were for the weak.
He struck the targets, trying to clear everything from his mind, but he could not. His mind drifted to the mysterious scroll Sasori no Akasuna had given them on their last mission. The insane missing-nin had claimed that it had to do with Orochimaru and another expatriot of Konoha. His curset artifice gave out before he could elaborate, and the scroll was directly addressed to the Hokage. He would simply have to wait to find out.
Working his way through all of his stances and training regimens, he returned to his kitchen. Waiting inside was none other than his sensei, Hatake Kakashi.
"Yo." The leader of team 7 stated nonchalantly. "Shikamaru told me we have a mission, and wanted me to let you know. We've got to be at the Hokage's tower in two hours."
Immediately, the enigmatic teacher disappeared off to wherever he spent his time. Sasuke guessed it was to spend some "alone time" with those perverted books.
Turning to his counter, he pulled out some rice from a cabinet, dumping it into the steamer. After taking care of the rice, he opened up his fridge for some vegetables. Expediently, he chose a tomato and some carrots. The ingredients were quickly put together into a sensible meal. Once he finished eating, he returned to his room to pack for the upcoming mission.
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At 9 o'clock sharp, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi all stood before Tsunade in her office. Actually, Sasuke and Sakura were quite surprised, because usually Kakashi would be a couple hours late to everything. Immediately when they saw him there, they new something was going on.
"You all know about the scroll that Sasori no Akasuna gave us." Tsunade stated.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Sakura replied. "In defense of Kazekage-sama, we eliminated Sasori. He gave us the scroll."
"I am to assume that it has relevance to the mission?" Sasuke asked, always managing to be rude in a polite manner.
"Yes." Tsunade replied. "It gives directions to one of Orochimaru's key research labs, as well as outlining his general operation."
"So, we're going to take out the lab?" Sasuke asked.
"There's one more thing." Tsunade said. "The scroll has the name of the 'expatriot' that he mentioned."
"Who does he have?" Kakashi asked, saying something for the first time at the debriefing.
"I'm quite sure that this is some kind of mistake, but I'm not taking chances here." Tsunade told him. "It claims that the expatriot is Uzumaki Naruto."
(End of Chapter)
A.N. Okay, I'm not exactly going to write these on a timetable. I want to do this right, not quickly.