Hi! I know it's been two years since I've updated and I feel really bad to my dedicated readers that are probably long gone by now, but I have rewritten this story and am not abandoning it.
Setting: This story takes place in Shippuden after the Invasion of Pain Arc, but before the Five Kage Summit Arc.
I really hope you enjoy! Sorry again for the super long, unintentional hiatus.
"Sasuke." Naruto sighed as he stared into the eyes of his vengeful friend, and searched for the good that he knew was still inside of him. They were facing off in a field of endless grass. Naruto looked to Sakura at his side and vowed that no matter how this fight ended, she would get home alive and well. He turned his attention back to Sasuke.
"This is your last chance to come home peacefully."
Suddenly, Sasuke was in front of Naruto, aiming a sword at his heart. Naruto, quickly side stepped the attack, just barely avoiding the sword from piercing him.
'Sasuke, you're still as fast as ever'
The rogue shinobi examined Naruto after the dodge. He seemed lively, unfazed, and confident. That would all change very soon.
"You've gotten a bit faster, but you still have no chance of beating me in this fight." Sasuke taunted.
"I'm not just faster, I'm stronger too." Naruto said as he glared at Sasuke. He had three clones at Mount Myoboku, ready to activate Sage Mode the moment he dispelled one.
Sasuke had heard of Naruto's newfound power. He had heard that Pein had destroyed Konoha in a matter of seconds, yet he had still faced defeat at Naruto's hands. He knew Naruto's level of power had skyrocketed since the last time they met, and the defeat of an enemy as powerful as Pein should be a prelude to the end of their own battle.
Sasuke's iris's turned red, with a black wheel in it.
But Pain didn't have Sharingan.
"We'll see."
"He rescued the whole village." cried the voice of Sakura Haruno, confirming the great strength of her blond friend. "Underestimating him will be your last mistake."
Sasuke glared at his ex-comrade as he fueled chidori into his sword. "Well let's put that power to the test." He said as he swiped his sword at Naruto's head.
Naruto dispersed one of his clones and activated Sage Mode. Sasuke smirked as he saw the orange pigment surround his opponent's eyes. He watched Naruto and, using his Sharingan, saw that his chakra turned into a yellow-green color. He watched Naruto's speed and strength greatly increase, but no matter how hard he tried, copying the jutsu with his Sharingan proved an impossible feat.
Sasuke grunted as he just barely ducked away from Naruto's chakra filled fist aiming at his head. He swiped at Naruto's chest with his sword, but Naruto jumped away with ease.
"Can't you see Sasuke? You're Sharingan can't copy this jutsu." He said as he aimed a regular Rasengan at him, hard enought to hurt him, and maybe knock him unconcious, but not kill him. This is why he was afraid to use his improved Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken. "It's not ninjutsu, it's senjutsu."
Sasuke smirked again as he dodged Naruto's Rasengan.
"Lucky for me, Naruto, I don't need to copy it. You certainly have improved from our last fight, but I have some new tricks up my sleeve too."
'I just need to wait for the right time to use it.' thought Sasuke.
Naruto sighed. Sasuke really wasn't backing down, but neither was he. This time, he will bring his friend home.
Sakura watched from the sidelines, always ready to jump in if necessary. Naruto had told her that she should stand aside while he was in Sage Mode to avoid accidentally hurting her, but that if he hadn't defeated Sasuke by the time he had used all his Shadow Clones, she could run in and fight with him. Though she was reluctant to follow his request at first, watching this battle between her childhood teammates, she now completely understood. She was in awe at how fast they were moving. Both boys were just blurs and colors dashing across the field faster than her eyes could follow. Besides, after Naruto had singlehandedly defeated Pain and rescued the village, she had no reason not to trust him.
'I'm here if you need me.' she thought with a determined smile on her face. 'But I know you can defeat him Naruto, I know you can bring him back home.'
Sasuke grunted as he dodged Naruto's attacks, barely able to get some of his own attacks in. He had already exhausted almost half his chakra, and the fight had been going on for only a few minutes.
'And we're not even going at each other with everything we have.' Sasuke thought. And it was true. They both had desires besides the death of their opponent to be the outcome of this battle. But he was steadily running out of energy, his original advantage of speed has been overcome by Naruto's senjutsu, and Naruto's stamina had always been superior. Naruto had ten times more chakra than Sasuke, if he ran out, it would be over for him.
'I need to find a way to distract him, just for a second so I can perform my new jutsu on him.' thought Sasuke desperately. His eyes widened as an idea came to him. He gathered chakra in his hands and released his attack when he found an opening.
"Chidori Senbon!" he cried as he released more than thirty lightning senbons at his target. Naruto prepared to dodge the attack, but his eyes widened when he saw that the attack wasn't aimed at him at all.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out desperately, knowing that due to the distance and the speed of the senbons, he could not run to protect her in time.
Sasuke took advantage of this moment of hesitation, this second of contemplation, and in a flash, he was behind Naruto, slamming a seal into the back of his head.
"AAAAAhhhh!" Naruto cried out in agony as a searing pain suddenly shot through his head. Naruto fell to the ground, feeling fire run through his body and a pressure in his head that felt like his eyes would burst from their sockets.
"What... What did you-?"
Sasuke silenced Naruto by forcefully grabbing him by the chin, one hand still holding the seal at the back of his head, and making him to look into his eyes which now sported the Mangekyou Sharingan.
"Cursed Seal Saimin no Jutsu." Sasuke stated calmly as he pumped his chakra into the seal. This was his power, a mixture of the Cursed Seal and Genjutsu from his Sharingan.
"No... I-" Naruto let out another bloodcurdling yell as the fire that seemed to be consuming his body grew hotter and hotter.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled as she ran towards them, she was able to dodge most of the senbon, though one had planted itself into her thigh, and another had skimmed her arm. She made her way over to Naruto as quickly as possible. Which wasn't quick enough due to the hole in her leg, and her body still suffering from the electrocution of the chidori.
As Sakura stood in front of the boys, both of Naruto's eyes were a deep crimson red. He was rolling on the floor tormented, as if flames were consuming him from the inside. He was sweating like crazy, and the veins in his head looked like they would burst.
"If you survive this. All your power will be mine." Sasuke stated before easily sidestepping three kunai Sakura futilely tried to throw at him. He glanced at her, uninterested.
"It's no use. He belongs to me now."
He made his way over to Sakura, Chidori fueled sword in hand, more than ready to finish her off. What stopped him was a feeble hand that he felt wrap around his ankle. He saw Naruto's weak, shaking body, and knew that it took his last bits of strength to even lift his arm. He had a weak grip on his leg, and Sasuke could have easily shaken him off and continued on his way. But he stopped, looking down at his ex-teammate before turning to look at Sakura.
"Tch. You're wounded and miles from Konoha. You'll probably die in this field anyway." he stated sheathing his sword. "I don't have to kill you, I'll just let you rot here."
She glared up at Sasuke. "I won't just let you take him. I'll save Naruto."
Sasuke scoffed.
"The only way you can take him back from my control is to kill me." Sasuke shook his head. He looked down at her pathetic form, bleeding in the grass. She was always the weakest link, a little girl who leeched off the power and determination of her teammates. He looked down on her with the most condescending look he could muster.
"You and I both know you will never be strong enough to kill me." he said just before Naruto let out another agonized yell and grabbed his head in pain.
Sakura gave Sasuke a determined glare.
"I will... for Naruto." she replied.
"Sakura..." Naruto groaned, trying to speak, but before he could finish, he and Sasuke were gone in a stream of fire, the same way Sasuke had departed the last time they had met with him, Orochimaru, and Kabuto. The last blurry sight she saw of her teammate, as she looked on with tear-filled eyes, was his disheveled appearance and tormented crimson eyes before he was consumed by fire, and taken away from her.
The fallen kunoichi laid her head in the grass as tears rolled down her face.
"Naruto..."
I really hope you guys liked the first chapter, and will continue to read the story.
Edit: Ok, so people have been asking about ships. I want to make it clear that there will be no explicit romance in this fic since it's more about Sakura's development, and friendship. Besides crushes that already exist in canon, Sakura's feelings for Naruto will grow, and there will be some implied one-sided SasuNaru, but that is the most of it. However, I do have a possible sequel planned (depending on how many of you are interested) that would contain NaruSaku and maybe NaruSasu depending on how many of you like it (tell me in a review if you do). So if you want romance, please keep reading and your needs will be supplied in the sequel, for now, enjoy some development!
Please Review, because that's where I get my inspiration and motivation! Constructive criticism is the only way I can improve my writing. Anyway, thanks for reading.
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