Disclaimer: I'm thinking it's quite obvious that I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.
Burnt fields where trees used to stand are seen in patches while the rest are slowly withering. Debris cover the battlefield as much as corpses litter them, most being sickly pale clones of the black and white Akatsuki member.
Away from the raging war between Shinobi and Akatsuki, two men stood atop two large statues in the Valley of the End. One of them dressed for battle accordingly, a slate gray mask hiding his face, each eye wielding a powerful doujutsu. The other was dressed in a black and orange jacket with matching orange pants, his unruly bright blonde hair tied back with a hitai-ate, showing his affiliation towards Konohagakure no Sato.
"So we finally meet face to face, Naruto. It's a pity that Sasuke-kun had to disappear before this had to take place," the orange masked Uchiha said, his Sharingan and Rinnegan eyes boring into Naruto's evading eyes.
"Don't you drag Sasuke into this, you disgusting man. Seeing that you allowed yourself to come to terms with another equally disgusting monster makes it worse. You disturbed the dead into doing your bidding," Naruto growled, "This ends now!"
In front of them lie the dead bodies of the former Jinchuuriki, sent by Madara to distract the Squads. Not far behind them, they sensed the upcoming wave of White Zetsu clones, but it didn't seem to have as much numbers as the ones before.
"Does that mean they will soon cease to come?" asked a chakra sensor type shinobi.
The leader of the group hovered above the ground with his sand platform at his feet, his face was emotionless. "Perhaps, but we must be ready for anything!" he exclaimed, his sea foam colored eyes stared at the area he felt the enemies coming.
Suddenly, a large explosion resonated through the whole battlefield, shaking the Earth's foundation.
"Oh no…" one shinobi said.
A kunoichi from Gaara's left side looked at the one who spoke, "Shikamaru, what is it?"
The ponytailed Nara looked at Temari with wide eyes, "The explosion came from the Valley of the End… that's where Naruto is fighting Madara!"
"No…" Gaara gasped in a low tone, his eyes grew wide, "He's released the Kyuubi."
True to what the Kazekage said, everyone viewed the red furred kitsune that seemed to attack at the ground with either its claws or tails. However, not five minutes later, it disappeared from view.
"Gaara-sama!" the sensor shinobi called, "The army of enemies, I can't sense them anymore! It's as if they vanished!"
'Could Naruto have destroyed Madara?'Gaara thought to himself before he sent his Tanuki Eye to scan the area.
Sasuke stood hidden from what he had witnessed just after he had awoken not too far from the Valley of the End. He was going to jump in to help the blonde, but his body protested. His right leg had a large oozing gash on its side with the bone sticking out while his uncovered torso was littered with wounds of all sizes. Not only that, he had no weapons and he was close to chakra exhaustion.
"Who's that?" he spoke to himself, fixing his eyes on the dark skinned man that had assisted Naruto in killing Madara at last. "Huh, looks like Naruto succeeded in saving at least the Hachibi Jinchuuriki…"
The lone Uchiha collapsed where he stood, his Sharingan eyes fading to black as his chakra couldn't keep them activated and closed them.
"Uchiha Sasuke?" a voice called him.
The raven haired opened his eyes at the voice and saw an ANBU before him. He looked over his broken leg and pressed his hand towards his radio.
"Tsunade-sama, A-sama, I've found Uchiha Sasuke not too far from the place where the Kyuubi was last seen. He's wounded and has chakra exhaustion…" over the radio, two voices were heard: one seemed to be yelling in anger while the other ordered what to do, "Hai, Tsunade-sama."
The ANBU looked at the teen on the ground and took out some bandages, wrapping it as cautiously as he could on the broken leg.
The last thing Sasuke saw was the ANBU picking him up before falling unconscious.
A couple of weeks have passed since that day, the end of the War. While it may have been shorter than the others, it still took great shinobi. From each of the Villages, they sent groups over to investigate Madara's and Kabuto's hide out, in which they found Anko barely alive and Yamato was in some type of suspended animation.
After they were taken back, they have been healed and are recovering quite quickly, but have yet to wake up.
Meanwhile, each Village had come to an agreement, ensuring peace between them. With each other's help, they begun the reconstruction of the important buildings first, and would continue with homes and other facilities for everyone.
Now, Tsunade was making her daily rounds in the hospital, checking in the recovery of many shinobi. She was walking down the hall, checking the stats written on the clipboards of her patients, when she felt someone behind her. Just as she turned to scold one of the more stubborn of the shinobi wanting to back on duty, she froze.
"Naruto!" she gasped, running towards him and enveloping him in a tight hug.
The blonde Jinchuuriki stiffened, "Who are you?"
Tsunade held him in front of her, her eyes wide and watery. "What… Naruto… you don't remember?" she saw him shake his head 'no.' Tears escaped her eyes as she just stared at him, feeling as if her heart shattered.
Naruto's azure eyes looked at her honey eyes, something whispered in his head and images flashed in his mind's eye. "Baa-chan?" he whispered.
She looked at him again, her eyes wanting to hear that horrible nickname again. "What did you say, Naruto?"
"You're Tsunade-baachan, right?" he said.
He hadn't finished his sentence when she wrapped her arms around him again and her tears stained his hospital robes.
"Naruto, you should be in your room, you haven't recovered yet," she said, blinking away the rest of her tears, and checked his wounds.
The blonde kept silent and nodded, returning back into his room.
"Shizune!" She called, knowing she was somewhere close.
Not a few seconds later, the black haired woman appeared, "Yes, Tsunade-sama."
"Naruto has woken up, but he doesn't remember anyone. He only recognized me, so I don't know if he'll recognize anyone else. I'll finish checking the rest of my patients and I'll call up everyone he knows. Perhaps if he sees friendly faces, he'll remember."
"How did I know the woman out there… Tsunade? Where am I?" Naruto told himself.
Sitting on the bed he woke up in, he looked at a pitcher of water and a glass that were on the bedside table. Pouring some water, he drank it only to hear footsteps hurrying in the hallway.
"I hope they keep quiet if I want to go back to sleep," he said after setting the glass down.
His door opened and the footsteps slowed to a halt. Peeking through the door's opening was Tsunade.
"Naruto, I brought some visitors," she said and opened the door, showing a lot of new faces.
In walked the Rookies, their Jounin sensei, and some other friends, but he didn't know them.
"Who are they?" he asked, looking at the group, feeling like he should know them, but nothing but some glimpses come up. In the images, he saw his younger self with them, doing missions, talking, but nothing was said.
Tsunade frowned, but hid it as she turned to the group, introducing each of them. While naming each person, she looked at his indifferent reaction, as if they were strangers.
Naruto was about to talk, but was interrupted when the door was opened and two people entered. There was a girl with pink hair, just below her jaw, helping a boy with jet black hair, who had bandages all over and a cast on his right leg.
"Who're they?" he asked quietly at Tsunade.
She looked at him with a small smile, "They are your teammates: Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke."
The blonde Uzumaki looked as the masked, silver haired man quickly went to help the injured boy stand as the girl let him and ran towards the bed side. He was surprised when she wrapped her arms around him and started sobbing onto his shoulder.
"You baka, you had me worried that you wouldn't wake up!" she said, nudging him on the head gently.
Sakura noticed he was looking at her incredulously and confused, which confused her, in turn. "Naruto?" she turned her eyes towards Tsunade, receiving a shake of the head.
Neither noticed when everyone left and the only ones in the room were the injured boy with the tall masked man, a pale boy, and the busty Hokage.
Tsunade was going to pry them out of the room to leave Naruto to think, but was approached by the Cyclops shinobi.
"Tsunade-sama, I wish to stay with my team. We'll only be a moment, please," Kakashi said, hoping to use the short time to try and get Naruto to remember.
She looked at them, and then at Naruto's confused face glancing at the four left. "Fine, Kakashi, you've got five minutes."
They stared as she left, closing the door quietly behind her. As soon as they were alone, the injured black haired boy began limping towards the blonde.
"Naruto, what was the last thing you remember?" Sasuke asked him, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Naruto crossed his arms in concentration, thinking hard on his memories. Suddenly, eyes widening, an image flashed in his mind: a battlefield, dead people, dead trees, burnt fields, and blood.
"War… I think… I was in a war," he said softly, "There was death all around me…" he trailed off, fixing his eyes on the bed sheets on his legs.
Kakashi sighed, he actually thought it might bring more memories than that, but if that's the only thing he remembers then it's going to be a long time until they can have the former Naruto. "Come on, we should let Naruto get some rest."
All but Sasuke stood from the bedside. He was still staring at Naruto, his face contorting in concentration as he thought of leaving or staying. His hand moved towards Naruto's and took it.
"Naruto, look at me. You have to remember!"
His eyes locked with cerulean blue ones, startling the Uchiha when he felt his eyes shift into the Mangekyou Sharingan on its own and then blacked out.
He smelled something strange in the air around him and it wasn't the hospital. His Sharingan eyes scanned the area around him, but there was nothing but blackness. Suddenly, he heard a cry of pain behind him. Turning around, he saw Naruto clenching his head with his hands.
"A genjutsu only an Uchiha can break. Madara was gravely mistaken when he thought you had died Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke looked around, seeing nothing of the Kyuubi at all, but he could recognize the damned fox's voice anywhere. "Are you saying Madara did this to Naruto?" he yelled at the voice of the fox.
"No, your brother did. Of course it was Madara, brat! I don't know how, but the bastard lasted too much time conscious after his whole body was dismembered. Now this genjutsu is a last resort to many Uchiha, it seals the memories of the target. All that's needed is a quick eye contact and it's done. The only one who can break this sort of genjutsu is another Uchiha. Now, do you understand?"
Sasuke nodded to nobody, but his eyes went back to Naruto as he saw him fall unconscious and they disappeared in the darkness.
"… -shi-sensei, Sasuke's regaining consciousness!" a female voice woke him up.
He opened his eyes quickly, but regretted it the second he did so as the hospital lights were too bright. 'Did I hear someone gasp?' Ignoring that at the moment, he slowly opened his eyes, and was able to adjust to the illumination of the room.
"What happened?" he asked, looking at Sakura.
The pinkette stuttered for a moment before glancing at him, a light blush on her cheeks, "Your Sharingan activated on its own and both of you fell unconscious. Sasuke… your eyes were crying blood, as if you were using your Mangekyou Sharingan's abilities, and…" she hesitated, looking away from his eyes.
"And?" he urged her to continue.
"Your Mangekyou Sharingan inverted its pattern," Sai cut in.
Sasuke eyes widened in surprise, but before he could run off to see, he felt movement.
"S-Sasuke?" Naruto gasped, gaining everyone's attention, "You're back?" he grinned.
Before the raven haired could even reply, he was embraced in a hug by the blonde, who was happily ruffling his messy black hair and laughing along. The Uchiha couldn't help but laugh too; it felt good to finally show some emotion with your precious people.
Kakashi, Sakura, and Sai laughed at the picture before them, their goofy blonde teammate was back.
"So Dickless, do you want to escape and go eat?"
Everyone stopped, Naruto glared at Sai, and Sakura sweatdropped.
"You wouldn't mind if Ugly, Emo, and Pervert join in, would you?" Sai added, but immediately became unsettled with all the killer intent focused on him. "Did I say something wrong?"
AN: Yes, Sasuke was taken back to Konoha after all. I wrote this after I had a weird Naruto themed dream. (I dream a lot in anime style if I was previously watching anime or reading manga)
Anyhow, this has been the latest thing I've ever written after leaving 'IWoF' discontinued because I hit a major 'road block' and I had no idea how to continue on. I have, however, taken in consideration rewriting it, but don't get your hopes up. Well, if I ever get back on my feet to try and remake that story, I hope I do finish it. I really wanted to. =/
Ja ne!
- BloodKitsune11
