Greetings fellow readers and writers! This is my first full Naruto fic and it is gonna blow your mind, believe it!! I've been toying with the general idea for this fic for some time now, but it was only after seeing 'Enchanted', from which I draw a lot of elements, without permission from Disney, (don't sue me), that I finally got down to writing. I also borrowed ideas from '300', another great movie, and also the hit anime/manga 'Death Note,' and a lot of other Anime. Again, don't sue me. And so, please read, review, and most of all, enjoy!!!
Prologue: Saving a Friend…Four Years After the Chûnin Exam…
"SASUKE!!!"
It has been a long and difficult journey for Naruto Uzumaki, one filled with hardship and pain he could never have imagined back when he was still flunking the Clone Jutsu test. But now, after nearly a year and a half since he returned from his training journey with Jiraiya, Naruto has the perfect opportunity to fulfill his promise to Sakura. Finally, he's going to bring Sasuke Uchiha back home.
"I know you're here, Sasuke!!" Shouted Naruto as he stood on the edge of an abandoned quarry, "Come out! Stop running from me, you damned coward!!" At nearly 16 years old, Naruto was without a doubt the tallest among his age group. He had allowed his bright blond hair to get a little longer, yet his strikingly blue eyes remained full of the same wild energy he had back when he became a Genin, but that energy was much more under control. The bright sunlight of early afternoon gleaming off his headband, which displayed the symbol for The Hidden Leaf Village. Underneath his orange and black jacket, he still wore the crystal Tsunade gave him. Today, Naruto hoped that the 5th Hokage's gift would bring him luck; he sure was going to need it.
Naruto jumped from the quarry edge and easily landed on the rock floor. He stood up, "It's time we finished it, Sasuke! Today we decide once and for all which of us is stronger!"
"Don't make me laugh, Naruto!!" From somewhere in the boulder strewn quarry came Sasuke's voice, "Isn't it obvious by now? With the powers Orochimaru gave me, I am the superior Shinobi."
"So you are here," said Naruto, "Good, I can finally pound some sense into that overly thick skull of yours! And as for your new powers, how many times do I have to tell you? Orochimaru only wanted you so he could stick his twisted soul in your head!"
"I knew that from the beginning," said Sasuke, "I knew exactly what Orochimaru wanted from me. But that doesn't matter. I've destroyed Orochimaru; he'll never trouble The Hidden Leaf Village again. So just leave me alone, Naruto."
"If you say you're no longer under Orochimaru's sway," said Naruto as he headed into the boulder laden maze of the quarry, "Come home."
"You know I can't do that," said Sasuke, "I can never go back to The Hidden Leaf Village. I've been labeled a traitor. Every Jônin in the village would be after my head if I ever set foot back there. But that's not going to happen, I have no desire to return to the village. And I have other reasons for staying away."
"Of course," said Naruto, "Your brother. Listen to me, Sasuke; I also have a bone to pick with Itachi; him and The Akatsuki. They're all out to rule the world, but we can beat them, if we work together. Come home with me, and we can destroy Itachi, together."
"Itachi is my responsibility!!" snapped Sasuke, "He murdered my parents and the whole Uchiha clan! If anyone's going to kill Itachi Uchiha, it will be me, not you!!"
"You honestly believe you can take on your bother all alone?" Naruto asked, "I seem to remember an incident six years ago. Itachi and one of his Akatsuki allies tried to kidnap me and take the spirit of the 9-Tailed Fox demon. You ran all the way from home to the town where Pervy Sage and I were looking for Granny Tsunade, just so you could warn me of the danger. I'm still touched that you cared back then."
"What's your point?" Sasuke asked.
"My point," said Naruto, his voice bolder, more confident, "Is that you tried to kill Itachi, and he nearly killed you instead. What makes you think you'd do better now?"
Naruto had no idea just how close he was to spotting Sasuke; the last survivor of the Uchiha clan was less than twenty paces from the blond Chûnin. "As I seem to recall," said Sasuke with a smirk on his face, "You didn't fare so well that day either. I remember that Itachi's companion Kisame had you at his mercy, something that shark-faced bastard has little of."
"I admit," said Naruto, "I didn't know what I was getting into at the time. But I've changed since then, Sasuke, and so can you."
"I've already changed, Naruto," said Sasuke, "My Shinobi prowess has nearly doubled since our last encounter. Now, are you going to say anything useful? If not, I suggest you leave me alone and stop wasting my time!"
"Alright then," said Naruto, "I'll get down to brass tax; nearly six years ago, I made a promise to Sakura that I'd bring you home. Today I bring that promise to a head, believe it!"
"You can't be serious!" Sasuke chuckled, "Is Sakura still crooning over me? Honestly, you'd think she'd move on by now."
"I may not know much about girls," said Naruto, "But one thing I know is that when a girl loves a boy, she never gives up on him, even if he's a spineless, cowardly rat-bastard assh#le who doesn't deserve to belong to a clan. As far as I'm concerned, you're just an orphan, like me. As far as I'm concerned, the Uchiha clan doesn't exist, it never existed, it never will exist."
Suddenly, Sasuke appeared ten paces in front of Naruto, a look of utter rage on his face. He was dressed as a vagrant Samurai, with blue pants and a white shirt. A katana sword was strapped to his back. Sasuke had also let his hair grow out a bit, but his black eyes gleamed with hate. "You take that back," Sasuke said through gritted teeth, his red Sharingan Eye threatening to erupt into the open, "I mean it!! Take it back!!"
Finally, thought Naruto, I've struck a tender nerve. Now for the next phase. "You want me to take it back?" Naruto taunted, "You want me to take back that you are without honor? That your family's honor died back when you were just a little kid who could barely remember his hand signs? Now who's making me laugh!?"
"How dare you!!" spat Sasuke, the curse mark on his left shoulder pulsing in sync with his rage, "I had all twelve hand signs memorized back when you were still learning how to walk without falling over! I could make clones of myself back when you were still struggling to make one that didn't look like a pile of sh$t!! And let us remember the number of times it took you to pass the final exam in order to get your ninja license! Three times you failed!!"
"At least I kept trying!" retorted Naruto, "I never gave up, even when nearly the whole village saw me as a worthless, troublemaking orphan with a dangerous demon locked inside him. But despite all the hardship, all the failures, there was one person who believed that I was worth something, that I had potential, that I could actually be a true Shinobi." In Naruto's mind he remembered his time at the ninja academy, all the times he screwed up in class, all the pranks he pulled around the village, just for some attention. But mostly, he remembered the one person in the while village who saw Naruto as more than a vessel for the 9-Tailed Fox Demon.
"Iruka-Sensei never gave up on me," said Naruto, "And I never gave up on bringing you home, Sasuke. You're not going to run away this time; today we finish this once and for all. You're going back to the Hidden Lead Village, one way or another."
"What makes you think I won't run away?" Sasuke asked, "What makes you so confident you can keep me here in this quarry?"
"I know so," said Naruto, "Because I had this quarry scouted out in advanced, knowing that you'd come here. The only way out is up the sides of the quarry. Look around you, you'll find that we're not alone."
Thinking that Naruto wasn't trying to pull such a simple trick, Sasuke took his eyes off of Naruto just long enough to scan the edge of the quarry above. At least 50 people were standing along the edge, watching the two young ninjas. Most of them were Shinobi from the Hidden Leaf Village, while a few were from the allied Hidden Sand Village.
"Kakashi-Sensei never gave up on you either," said Naruto with a grin, "he and some Chûnin and Jônin are gonna make sure that you don't leave me hanging, like last time."
Up on the edge Might Guy glared contemptuously at his long-time rival, Kakashi Hitake as the notorious 'Copycat' ninja read 'Return to Make Out Paradise,' the latest romance novel from Jiraiya. "Do you have to read that right now?" Guy asked, "At this very moment? Your pupils are about to engage a cataclysmic battle to the finish! Aren't you at least going to watch?!"
"They'll be fine," said Kakashi in a calm, contented tone as he turned a page of his book, "Naruto has this well in hand."
"But…But they're your students!!" exclaimed Guy, "If Neji and Lee were to battle to the finish, I'd watch!!"
"Well that's your prerogative," said Kakashi, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm just about to get to the good part of my book."
"But…But…" stammered Guy.
"Pay him no mind, Guy-Sensei," said Rock Lee as he, Neji Huyga and Tenten stared down at the quarry, "He has his own Nindo to follow, as do we all."
"I don't like this," said Ino Yamanaka as she, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi stood further along the quarry edge, "We should be down there with Naruto, all of us. I mean, Sasuke's as much our friend as he is Naruto's."
"We all agreed to follow Naruto's plan," said Shikamaru is his usual bored tone, "And that means we stay up here unless he needs us."
"Don't worry yourself, Ino-Chan," said Chouji between bites of trail mix, "He'll have Sasuke tied up in no time."
Elsewhere along the quarry edge, Hinata Huyga watched with her teammates, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and his faithful nin-dog Akamaru. Naruto-Kun, thought Hinata, Please win.
"So the whole gang is here," Sasuke said contemptuously, "Very well then," he drew his sword from his back, "If you're so anxious to die, I'll do my very best to send you to Hell!"
"There's the Sasuke I remember," said Naruto eagerly, "Let's do it! Shadow Clone Jutsu!!" With that ten copies of Naruto appeared in front of the real one. "Get him!!" shouted the real Naruto. The clones circled Sasuke and attacked all at once.
"Pathetic," said Sasuke. He easily dispatched the clones, each one disappearing with a puff of smoke as he stabbed them with his sword.
Yet as he stabbed the last clone, he didn't notice another batch of clones behind him. The first delivered a hard kick to his side, sending Sasuke flying towards three more, who then kicked simultaneously up, forcing Sasuke up into the air where a fifth clone delivered a strong heal kick, sending Sasuke crashing to the ground, "Uzumaki Combination!!"
The combined effect of being kicked five times and then slammed into the ground would have dealt a lot more damage, had this battle taken place a few years ago. Yet Sasuke anticipated Naruto's move and had maneuvered so he would land more softly. He then jumped, sheathing his sword and making his hand signs until he built up the desired amount of chakra, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!!" He then spat several flaming projectiles at the clones, destroying them.
Just as Sasuke landed on his feet, he saw something metal glinting out of the corner of his eye. Reacting swiftly, he threw four kuni knives at the four shuriken that two more of Naruto's clones had thrown, deflecting the incoming throwing stars. Sasuke then regretted his distraction as the real Naruto landed a hard right to his face, followed by a left roundhouse kick.
Regaining his balance, Sasuke blocked Naruto's next incoming punches and kicks, and then retaliated with two punches and three kicks of his own, forcing Naruto back several paces.
Naruto glared at Sasuke, then noticed that he had a cut lip. Such a small injury was soon mended from his instinctive healing abilities. "You're a lot tougher than I remember, Sasuke," said Naruto, "And you're not even using your Sharingan Eye."
"And you're a lot more disciplined than the last time we saw each other," said Sasuke, "I'm impressed that you're using your head for once instead of just rushing into things. But it doesn't matter how elaborate a strategy you use against me, I'm far superior than you'll ever be, Naruto."
"You're wrong, Sasuke," said Naruto, "I've been one step ahead of you the whole time here, believe it!"
It was then that Sasuke felt something gritty was slithering up his leg. He looked down to see that he was standing in the middle of a large patch of sand, some of which was nearly up to his left knee.
"NO!!" shouted Sasuke. He tried to jump away from the sand patch, yet the sand reacted faster than he could jump. The whole patch rose up and enveloped him, leaving only his head and left shoulder exposed to the air. The sand constricted to form a hard shell, leaving Sasuke unable to move as he fell to the ground.
"Earth Style:" Desert Coffin!!" exclaimed a familiar rough voice.
Shocked at his sudden immobilization, Sasuke was further surprised to see one of the remaining Shadow Clones wasn't a clone at all, but was in truth a Genjutsu, an illusion that disguised a certain redheaded ninja with black circles around his eyes. Tattooed above his left eyes was the Kanji symbol for 'love.' Strapped to his back was a large clay gourd.
"All too easy," said Garra of The Desert, "Perhaps you aren't as strong as you deem yourself to be, Sasuke Uchiha."
"You!!" exclaimed Sasuke, his voice brimming with hate, "You'll pay for this!!"
"I really didn't believe it would work," said Kankuro as he and Garra's older sister, Temari, watched from the quarry edge, " I honestly didn't think Naruto's plan would succeed. But here we are."
"Indeed," said Neji Huyga, "But remember, your brother, The Kazekage, he no longer has his demon to draw strength upon since the Akatsuki stole it. The rest of the plan all depends on how long Garra can keep Sasuke contained. And anyway, Sasuke has yet to use his Sharingan, let alone the curse mark."
"Don't worry about Garra," said Temari, "What really matters is how fast Sakura can carry out her part of the plan."
"Do you honestly think a little sand is going to hold me!?" snapped Sasuke, "As soon as I break free, I'll rip your heart out, you murdering psycho!!"
"Wouldn't that make you also a murderer?" Garra asked calmly, "What happens when the murderer is in turn murdered? It's a vicious cycle of death and hate that is far too easy to start, and far to difficult to stop."
"Save your breath, Garra," said Naruto, "At least until the job is done. Sakura-Chan, whenever you're ready."
"Sakura?" asked Sasuke. He then saw that the remaining clone was also a Genjutsu, concealing the final member of his former team. Sakura Haruno's hair had finally reached its former length, before she was forced to cut it during the second stage of the Chûnin exam.
"So you're here as well, Sakura," said Sasuke, his voice now full of contempt, "Good! Now you can here it from my own lips! I don't love you! I never loved you!! So stop moaning over me, for crying out loud, you stupid bitch!!"
"Sticks and stones, Sasuke," said Sakura as she pulled out a kuni knife, "It doesn't matter how you're feeling now, it's not really you. It's that damn curse mark that's making you feel this way. But everything's going to be alright, Sasuke-Kun," she then used the knife to cut away part of Sasuke's shirt, revealing the black curse mark that Orochimaru put on him so long ago, "I've figured out how to remove the curse mark, I'm going to save you, Sasuke-Kun."
"You can't possibly be serious!!" snapped Sasuke, "I need the curse mark!! I need it so I can kill Itachi!!"
"When I'm done," said Sakura as she made her hand signs, "You'll forget all about your brother. Or at least, you'll no longer be driven by hate and revenge." She placed her hands over the curse mark, "Healing Jutsu!!" Sakura's hands suddenly glowed bright blue as she sent waves of healing energy into Sasuke's body.
"No!!" shouted Sasuke, "I won't let you take my revenge away from me! I won't!!" With that he activated his Sharingan and pushed against the constricting sand. Slowly the enveloping sand began to give, first an inch, then another inch.
"He's resisting," said Garra in a slightly strained voice, sweat beginning to form on his pale face, "I don't know how much longer I can keep him contained!" Indeed it was a tremendous strain for Garra. When Naruto asked The Kazekage to join him on this mission, Garra gave his word of honor that he wouldn't harm Sasuke, for the whole point of the plan was to capture him. The effort of keeping Sasuke contained without hurting him was taking its toll on Garra.
"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said hastily, "Hurry up!!"
"I can't go any faster," said Sakura, "If I rush this, I'll only partially remove the curse mark. It can regenerate and take him over again."
"I won't give you the chance!" snapped Sasuke, "you stupid little girl!!" With that the curse mark suddenly glowed dark red and spread across Sasuke's body, increasing his chakra output.
"He's breaking free!!" exclaimed Garra, "I can't hold him any more!! Get out of the way!!!"
Suddenly the sand holding Sasuke down exploded outward, temporally blinding Naruto and Sakura. When his vision cleared, Naruto saw Sasuke staging up, the black blemishes of the curse mark covering his face.
"I have had it with you, Naruto!" said Sasuke, "You've stood in my way for the last time! I'm gonna finish you once and for all! But first…" He turned his Sharingan empowered eyes on Sakura, and faster than Naruto could react, grabbed Sakura by the throat and squeezed.
"I'm going to destroy everything and everyone you care about, Naruto," said Sasuke as he continued to strangle Sakura, "Starting with this little annoyance." Sakura tried to pry Sasuke's hands from her neck, but the rouge Uchiha was too strong. She began to black out from lack of oxygen.
"Sakura!!" Exclaimed Ino. She prepared to head down into the quarry to save her friend, but Chouji held her back.
"Not yet," said Chouji, "Let Naruto handle this."
"But Sasuke…" said Ino, "he's killing Sakura!!"
"Let Naruto handle it," said Chouji, "Trust him, he'll save Sakura."
Back down in the quarry Naruto was doing everything he could to stop Sasuke from strangling Sakura, who was starting to turn blue from lack of air. "Let her go, you f#ck$ng bastard!!" shouted Naruto as he alternated from prying at Sasuke's hands and hitting him in the face, "Let Sakura go!!" Yet none of his efforts were succeeding
"You can't hurt me, Naruto," smirked Sasuke "But I certainly can hurt you, in more ways than one."
"You're wrong about me not being able to hurt you, Sasuke!!" snapped Naruto. Deep within Naruto's inner self he called upon the power of the 9-Tailed Fox demon. He was suddenly surrounded by the red glow of demon chakra; his fingernails grew and sharpened into claws, his canine teeth elongated into fangs, the whisker-like marks on his face became more pronounced, but the most startling change was his eyes, which had turned blood red.
"Take this!!" shouted Naruto as he reared his right fist back, "FALCON PUNCH!!" He then delivered a hard jab to Sasuke's family jewels.
Sasuke had no choice but to let go of Sakura. He grimaced and moaned in agony as his hands clutched at his assaulted groin. Sakura collapsed to the ground coughing for much needed air.
"You dirty bastard!!" gasped Sasuke as Naruto rushed over to Sakura, her face returning to normal, "You so got to die!!"
"Earth Style: Sand Shuriken!!!" exclaimed Garra. He threw a throwing star made of said at Sasuke's eyes, the shuriken breaking up just before it impacted, thereby giving Sasuke a double eyeful of sand.
"Nice shot," said Naruto to Garra as Sasuke tried to claw the grit from his eyes.
"It may be for naught," said Garra, "I don't have enough Chakra to contain him again, now that he's activated the curse seal."
"No problem," said Naruto. He then looked up at the edge of the quarry, "Shikamaru!! Plan B!!"
"That's our cue!!" said Shikamaru as he, Ino and Chouji jumped into the quarry.
"Sakura-Chan," said Naruto as he powered down from his demon mode, while Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji rushed over to them, "Are you alright? Can you continue?"
"I'll be fine, Naruto," said Sakura in a slightly hoarse voice, "Just make sure that Sasuke's holding still."
"You got it," grinned Naruto, "Shikamaru, Now!!"
"Rodger!!" exclaimed Shikamaru as he made his hand signs. In the years since the Chûnin exam, Shikamaru has refined his Shadow ninjutsu techniques to the point where the effects of the technique cannot harm him; he can hurt those trapped by his jutsus without hurting himself. "Ninja Art: Shadow Constriction!!" With that Shikamaru extended his shadow until it connected with Sasuke's. The combined shadows then reached up and wrapped themselves around his body, trapping Sasuke again. He fell back to the ground with a thud.
"Make this one count, Sakura," said Shikamaru, "If Sasuke goes to Stage 2 on that curse mark, I doubt anyone of us can keep him down."
"Relax, Shikamaru-San," said Sakura, while Shikamaru exposed Sasuke's left shoulder and the source of the curse seal, "This time I'll finish what I started."
"You fools!!" snapped Sasuke, "I'll kill you all!!"
"Sasuke," said Sakura as she made her hand signs for her Healing Jutsu again, "I'm going to say this with as much love and kindness as I possibly can; SHUT UP AND TAKE YOUR F#CK$NG MEDICINE!!!" She then slammed her hands onto Sasuke's shoulder, the blue healing energy blasting through his body.
"NO!!" screamed Sasuke as Sakura's Healing Jutsu began breaking apart the curse mark, "OROCHIMARU!! YOU PROMISED!! YOU PROMISED ME POWER!!!"
"You killed Orochimaru," said Naruto, "Remember?"
"OROCHIMARU!!" shouted Sasuke one more time as the black blotches faded from his face and body, retreating back to the central point of the curse seal, which soon dissolved from his body as black smoke. Within a minute the mark was gone, leaving only a faint imprint and two small dots where Orochimaru bit him.
With her chakra nearly exhausted, Sakura leaned back, sighing with fatigue. "It's alright, Shikamaru-San. You can let Sasuke go."
"Whatever," said Shikamaru in his usual bored tone, "It's your funeral if this didn't work." He then released his control over Sasuke's shadow, allowing him to move again. But Sasuke didn't move. He just lay there, stunned by the loss of the curse seal.
Just then the Sharingan faded from his eyes, returning to their normal black. As Sasuke tried to stand up, he looked to see Sakura sitting next to him. From the look in his eyes, it was as if he were seeing her for the first time in a long, long time.
"Sakura?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper. His energy spent, he collapsed. Sakura leaned forward to catch him, her arms cradling his head.
"Naruto!!" shouted Kakashi as he, Guy and everyone else rushed into the quarry, "Sakrua!! What happened!?!"
"Did it work!?!" exclaimed Rock Lee, "Is Sasuke… Is he?"
"He's alive," said Naruto, "But ask Sakura if it worked, it's her Healing Jutsu."
"It worked," said Sakura, "Sasuke is free of the curse mark." She then bent towards his ear, her face full of love and happiness, "Rest now, my love," she whispered, "The nightmare is finally over."