This might seem really disjointed, but it was meant to be. It's kind of something I've had floating in my head for a while, based around a scene I am writing for Naruto and Sasuke at the moment. Since this bit actually won't be in the final version, I thought I'd post it up first.

Setting: Towards the end of the manga, after the final battles are all fought. Naruto speaking to Sasuke, who has lost all his drive, has finally given up on revenge and says he has nothing left to live for - and who has asked Naruto to end it all and kill him.

It's all a speech, and is supposed to be completely unrehearsed and spur of the moment... Naruto saying things as they come to him, which is why, as I say... it seems disjointed.

Anyways, I hope people like it :).

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Which is a shame, as I have very specific idea's about how I think it should end ;P.

No pairing as such, though could be seen as SasuNaru... could also be interpreted as brotherly/strong friendship love.

xSteph

I've never been one for destiny.

…

The idea that some force out there has got total control over my life, that it's already been mapped out for me; is just too ridiculous.

So I concluded that it doesn't exist, that I make my own choices, that I create my own path through life.

A friend of mine… well, they didn't used to be a friend – maybe you'll remember? Anyway, they once told me that I was destined to be forever beneath them, that I was a loser and would stay a loser because that was my destiny. I proved him wrong. Spat in the face of destiny and showed him that he could too. That was the day he became my friend.

I continued treading over my supposed 'fate', the life that the world had planned for me from the moment of my birth, from the death of my father, and I slowly changed it to one of my own design, confidant that there was nothing fixed in this world.

…

So when someone told me that I was tied in hatred to you, I called him a liar.

When he said our fates were bound together, I didn't believe him for a moment.

…

But he was right.

In a way.

He had me, for the first time, questioning whether there might not be something to this fate thing.

Because, in the end; it all comes back to you. Everything that I have ever done, every step I took – that I told myself was about changing my destiny, about my strength, and getting their acknowledgement, their attention and their love – that was all about you.

Fighting you, laughing with you… being your rival, being your friend.

Chasing you, thinking about you… becoming your enemy, but still wanting you back.

Every act of good that I have ever done has been in pursuit of you, and I know that… every act I do from now on will be the same.

Getting your attention, your acknowledgement, your…

…

So he was right.

Because I am tied to you, so tightly, it hurts. I hate you so much, but I can't let go. No matter how I tell myself that destiny is crap; that I need to move away from you…

…
Do you know how happy I could have been without you?

I could have had; everything. Everything I could ever want. I would have had their praise and their acknowledgement, and I would have become everything I have always wanted to be.

I had people who cared, bonds of friendship and family, and I could have had the love of the girl I have chased for so long.

I abandoned that.

Went against them, because for some stupid, incomprehensible, unfathomable reason, I still couldn't let them hurt you.

Because all of that, means nothing. Not a damn thing.

Without you.

They told me to just forget it. It's useless. Forget him

Forget you.

I guess… I simply didn't know how.

…

Stupid huh?

But that was always me right?

The idiot.

That's what you always called me… I guess I haven't changed as much as I'd hoped since that time.

…

So I hate you.

And love you so much that the very thought of walking away from here without you – again – is more painful than losing all of those things... things that should be more than enough.

So much that against everyone else I care about, against my own better judgement… against the. Whole. Damn. World. I still thought… no. I still knew that there was some way to bring you home.

…

So don't stand there… or kneel there… and tell me that everything I have done for you is going to end here, now.

Don't you dare ask me to finish this with my hands.

Because I won't. Because I've come to a new conclusion.

…

Destiny is still crap.

Nothing in my life is certain, or constant.

…

Except you.

…

Not because of some pre-decided fate, or something marked in stone by the Gods in the heavens, or something written across the stars.

But because I chose it.

The day I walked along that hill, and looked down to see you staring at your god-damn perfect reflection in the lake. That day we both knew – even if we never realised it – that we'd found someone who we would connect to for the rest of our lives. The only one. Not because we didn't know there were others who had experienced pain.

But because for both of us, at that moment, it was a new acknowledgement. For me it was the first time someone had noticed my existence with something other than fear or hatred… and for you, heh, it was the first time someone had looked back at you without mock pity, instead with eyes that said 'screw you, you're not the only one with problems'.

So that day I decided, subconsciously, that I could handle everything… as long as you were there, driving me… and now I know that you always were, whether I could see you or not.

So I made you my constant by my own choice, and I know that I am yours too… or you wouldn't be asking this of me.

…

But all of that's irrelevant, I guess just background for what I'm going to tell you now.

Because despite all this. How I'm not one for destiny.

I'm going to play God.

I'm going to save you.

That's the fate I chose for you.

That's what's going to happen, I guarantee it.

You can't fight it anymore.

It's simply inevitable.