Title: Unfixable
Author: Rikugou
Pairing: None
Fandom: Naruto
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

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When Sasuke came back to Konoha after nearly a decade away, Naruto thought that maybe things would finally return to normal between them.

That maybe, just maybe, they could recover their lost time and things could go back to the way it used to be when they were genin. They could go back to being Sasuke and Naruto of Team 7, unacknowledged best friends and fierce rivals.

But every time Sasuke called him 'dead last' or 'idiot', Naruto found that he was never able to muster up the anger that used to come so quickly when he was younger. Any response he made always felt flat because his heart was never into it -- not that the Uchiha ever seemed to notice. Hokage-training kept him too busy to think about it much, but it lingered like a festering wound in the back of his head, aching periodically and taking him by surprise whenever his mind wandered off.

It wasn't until Sasuke made a major screw up on a mission that the answer came to him.

"What the hell happened, Uchiha!" Naruto growled, slamming his fist on the desk. Everything on top of it rattled ominously in response. "This was supposed to be a basic B-class retrieval mission!"

Sasuke just stared back at him, black eyes cold and unyielding.

For a moment, it seemed as if things were back to the way it used to be: Naruto shouting at an all-too-cool Sasuke as Kakashi-sensei looked on. Any moment now he was going to intervene in their argument before it turned into a fist fight. Sakura would probably jump on the bandwagon and play mediator to calm them down.

But the utter frustration and weight of responsibility weighing heavily on Naruto's shoulders told him they weren't those genin anymore. They hadn't been those genin in 10 years.

Tsunade sat nearby, watching both of them from underneath hooded eyes and placidly sipping her tea as if nothing was wrong. As if two of her ninjas -- his friends -- weren't lying on surgery tables fighting for their lives as a team of medic-nin tried to piece them back together.

"I got them back didn't I?"

Naruto wanted to shake Sasuke until he managed to knock some sense into that rooster head of his. The bastard was pressing every one of his 'solve with a kick to the head' buttons and it wasn't making him a very happy camper. Instead, he kept his hands clenched, nails biting painfully into his palms to stop himself from going through with it. It wouldn't look good if word got out that the Hokage-in-training was abusing his ninjas.

Righting a chair that had somehow fallen over during his display of anger, he sat down and calmly folded his hands across the desk. "Do you at least have the scroll you were sent to retrieve?" he said through gritted teeth.

Pale fingers rummaged briefly through a travel pack before coming up with a slightly blood stained object. Sasuke carelessly tossed it to Naruto; the scroll landed in his palm with a loud smack that bordered on pain. Giving the other ninja a rather unimpressed look, he untied the strings, glancing briefly through the contents before handing it over to the Godaime.

"Are we finished yet?" Sasuke's tone was blatantly insubordinate.

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously. They were close friends once, but Sasuke's behavior was quickly shattering any lingering remnants of the relationship. He had known for some time that his higher ranking might possibly interfere with the way he would have to treat his friends, but until now it had never been an issue. He opened his mouth, intent on grinding that aggravating Uchiha pride into the ground, but before he could get more than a word out someone knocked sharply on the door.

"Come in," Naruto said curtly.

Konohamaru stepped into the room and stopped a few paces away from the desk with a smart salute, entirely ignoring Sasuke's dark glower. "Hinata-san's condition has been stabilized and the medic-nins believe she should make a full recovery within a few weeks," his friend said with a slight smile.

"And Shikamaru?" he asked, fearing the worst.

"Shikamaru-sempai is still in surgery, but Shizune-san and Sakura-san are confident he'll make it through with no problems," the younger ninja said. "Ino-san would probably kill him otherwise," he added with a grin.

An intense feeling of relief swept through him. "Good," he nodded. "Thanks for informing me."

Naruto turned to Sasuke again, but the jounin was already gone. He wasn't really surprised that the Sharingan-user had left, though it was still irritating. Konohamru said a quick good bye before leaving the office as well. Slumping in his chair, Naruto felt an impending headache throb just behind his eyes and heaved a weary sigh. He had a fleeting urge to hunt the other man down, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Are you going to go after the Uchiha?" Tsunade said, placing her cup of tea on the desk.

Ten years ago, Naruto would have ran out of the office to chase Sasuke down. Now...

He shook his head and murmured a quiet, "No."

Sometimes, there were things that just couldn't be fixed. Things that only got worse no matter how much you tried.

And as much as Naruto hated to admit it, this was one of them.

-end-

Finished: 3.11.06
Editted: 3.18.06