Disclaimer~ Naruto and affiliated characters do NOT belong to me but to Masashi Kishimoto
Broken Promises
Naruto's POV
"Sasuke!" I scream,chasing after the raven haired shape before me. The former Konoha Shinobi had attempted to attack my village again but I had managed to drive him at the cost of a considerable amount of chakra. Now I couldn't enter my Nine-Tails Chakra Mode however I pursued my old friend anyway, despite objections from Sakura who told me to wait for reinforcements or at least let her come with me but I had declined, she had to tend to any wounded and I wanted, needed to do this alone. "Sasuke!" I yell again drawing a kunai and throwing at the missing nin, who dodges without a glance back. "Koso" I hiss under my breath picking up my pace to try to catch the raven haired boy in front of me. I knew Sasuke was also low on chakra, thanks to a heavily injured Neji due to an attack from Sasuke's Susanoo which had drained the Sharingan user of his chakra but at a great price to the village and her inhabitants. That was a major reason I had convinced Sakara to stay behind, Neji and many other Shinobi needed her. Besides I wanted, needed, to take down my old friend and hopefully fulfill my promise to Sakura from so many years ago and bring him back despite her releasing me from said promise.
"Please Naruto don't worry about bringing Sasuke back anymore, instead please do whatever it takes to save the village. And you better come back safely" This was Sakura's new plea, her voice repeating it on my ears. I had numbly nodded, only now noticing that her affections had shifted so she valued me over the Uchiha, before jumping up into the tree's in pursuit, glancing quickly back at the pink haired kunoichi who was staring after me in concern before turning to treat a now unconscious Neji. That had been the first time I had heard her drop the -kun she had always attached to his name, she really had moved on. I turn my attention back to my pursuit as the trees begin to thin out and I realize with Sasuke and I had ended up where it all started back at the Valley of the End. A bitter laugh is drawn from me at the familiar scene, no better or more fitting place possible for our final battle. Sasuke takes one more leap landing on the stone head of Madara, a Uchiha like Sasuke, and I stand on the head of the other statue, the first Hokage. Sasuke turns to face me, dark eyes cold and full of hatred.
"You never know when to give up do you dobe?" He says with a shake of his head drawing his katana. I don't answer, knowing an answer wasn't expected, instead drawing a kunai. Sasuke frowns as if confused by my lack of response, last time we had met here I had yelled on and on about how would bring him back but this time I knew the words would do nothing, mean nothing. The only way to fulfill my old promise was to fight. "Ironic isn't it dobe, ending up where this entire thing started? Wheres it's finally going to end" he finishes, a crazed glint in his hatred filled eyes. He was no longer the Sasuke who had left Konoha all those years ago, there was no hope of him ever coming back now and I could tell that he would no longer hesitate to kill me. Now all I could wonder was why. How had it gone so far?
"Why Sasuke? Why turn on Konoha, on your team, your friends?" I ask him. desperate just to understand before we fought.
"Why? Why?!" he asks letting out a laugh filled with insanity. "Because that's how you become strong, to cut loose all bonds. All bonds do is weigh you down and hold you back and why should I forgive the village that took my brother and my family away from me?! You would never understand, you were always alone."
"You're wrong Sasuke" I reply in a low voice, clenching my fist around the kunai I had drawn. "True I was raised without a family but I have created one now! Ero- Sennin, was like a father to me and Tsunade-baa-chan is like a mother or grandmother. Old Man Hokage was like my grandfather. You, Iruka- sensei, and Konohamaru are like brothers to me and Octopus is like an Uncle. The rest of Konoha 11, Garra are like my cousins, they are my family!" I tell him, the faces in my head as I recited them. I may have started out alone in the world but now I had a family and now I knew that my parents didn't want to leave me and loved me. "And you're wrong about the power of bonds, they don't weaken you at all! Bonds make you stronger, give you a reason to fight other than revenge! Look at where we are, the Valley of the End where Madara and the first Hokage fought to the death and the Hokage won because he was fighting for those he loved for the village!" I shout recalling the story Kakashi-sensei had told me.
"Why don't you prove it than Dobe? Prove it then, prove that your precious bonds make you stronger!" Sasuke replies jumping forward, his katana aimed at my chest and crackling with electricity. I manage to parry with my kunai, the electric current traveling through my blade into my arm causing me to nearly drop the blade. Instead I shove forward, disbalancing Sasuke slightly, and leap back to give myself some space. "Is that the best you got?" the missing nin mocks charging again. I evade, waiting for the tingling in my arm to stop before I made my move. "Are you planning on fighting me Dobe or waiting for your pathetic friends to come and save you?" I growl taking another jump to give myself some more distance before spinning around.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I shout using the necessary signs to summon the clones. About a dozen copies of me sprout up, my chakra levels so low I didn't dare create more so I could conserve my chakra. Together with my copies, each wielding a kunai, we charge the raven haired ninja. Sasuke's eyes flash red, Sharingan activating and he wields his katana with ease sending the 3 frontmost of my clones up into puffs of smoke.
"Shadow Clones? Dobe you never change do you?" Sasuke remarks, slicing a 4th clone up in smoke as my copy attempted to attack from behind. The rest of the clones and I jump back, making a loose circle around the Uchiha, grimacing. Thanks to the other clones sacrifices it was painfully obvious it was going to be nearly impossible to get anywhere near missing nin while his Sharingan was activated, on the flipside however the ability would drain him of his chakra. To win this battle I would just have to whittle down his chakra before running out of my own. With that I charge, my clones following my lead. I go in for a frontal assault as the other mes attack from the other sides, 9 of us in total, hoping to overwhelm the raven haired teen. Naturally Sasuke doesn't fall for it swinging his electrified sword in a circle around himself. I manage to duck and slid under the blade, 8 puffs of smoke going up around me. I kick up at my old friend, managing to hit his sword holding arm squarely, the sword set from his grasp and into the water below. Sasuke lets loose a string of swears and jumps back from me, anger clear in his eyes.
"Katon ryuka no jutsu!" Sasuke yells performing some quick hand signs before sending a huge fireball my way. I quickly roll, tucking my feet under me and jump, throwing myself off the cliff face towards the water. I quickly flip so I could land on my feet and look up as Sasuke looms over the side, jumping down and releasing smaller fireballs at me shouting out "Katon Hōsenka no Jutsu" I quickly dodge them but suddenly the user himself is on me, landing in front of me and punching me square in the jaw. He continues his assault landing kicks and punches on me time after time me getting a few in edgewise but he lands, the last, strongest kick, on my gut sending me skidding across the top of the water. I manage to land on my in, panting slightly and blood leaking from the side of my mouth. "So this is the so-called power of bonds?" Sasuke mocks from the opposite end of the water's surface. I growl under my breath and stand, eyes narrowed. I couldn't call on the Kyuubi, the fox's chakra low as well due to our combined strengths being required to save Konoha, and I knew with my current levels of chakra I wouldn't last much longer, we needed to end this now, even if it killed me. There was only one option left to me, I would have to kill Sasuke to protect the village. I stand completely, wiping the blood off my face and give a confident smirk as the heavens open and rain begins to fall.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I shout, two copies of me puffing into existence beside me, molding chakra around my extended hand. I was using the jutsu I promised not to, at least not unless I was in Sage form, but I couldn't risk losing, not now with so much at stake. Sasuke responds by clutching his forearm forming a chidori, the high pitched 'chirping' filling the air as the violent chakra danced in his palm. We both begin to charge, my clones poofing out of existence and in my mind I flashback to our last battle here, where Sasuke had spared me. I could tell he wouldn't think about doing so now, his chidori stronger and more violent in nature than ever, that's why I didn't want to risk using a regular Rasengan, I waited to make sure this ended here without fail. We near each other, seemingly in slow- motion, and both of us extend our arms, our attacks meeting as we both jumped up in front of the crashing waterfall water from the falls and from the sky soaking us both.
"Chidori!"
"Fūton Rasenshuriken!"
A searing pain in my chest and a sense of weightless and then... black.
I hope everyone enjoyed my first Naruto fic, I'm fairly new to the fandom and I have a lot of catching up still to do but I did my best to keep every in character. If there are any mistakes please tell me in a PM and please tell me what you thought overall in a
REVIEW
~Lakeshine
Also if anyone is interested in a Naruto roleplay site my friend and I recently created one. There are still Kage, Jinchuuriki, and Akatsuki positions open. PM me if interested or add it to your review and I'll gladly give you the link!