Ok, this has been swimming around in my head for months, but I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to do it. I started on it awhile ago, and got majorly stuck. But inspiration struck and I ended up overhauling the entire first portion. The setting is the "final battle" between Obito/Juubi and the rest of the ninja world. Sasuke has joined the Shinobi alliance. I guess you could think of this as a potential "ending" to Naruto. Not necessarily the way I want it to end, mind you. This one-shot is VERY bittersweet, and was inspired by the song "Experienced Many Battles" from Naruto Shippuden. I would actually advise listening to it right before or while you read this to get the full effect of the emotion that I am attempting to convey (if you listen to it while reading the story, wait until the story break/time lapse to start it). I hope you all enjoy.
*Edited 8/18/13 (Just fixing some minor grammar issues)
I do not own Naruto or the song "Experienced Many Battles".
When Forever Comes
Naruto watched as his final attack collided with Obito and the Juubi, sending both man and beast flying backwards to impact the hard ground with crushing force. When neither threat made a move to get up, Naruto collapsed, panting, onto his hands and knees. After a few stunned moments of silence, the battlefield erupted into cheers of victory. The shinobi laughed and danced and hugged each other, so great was their relief. Many were even crying.
"Naruto!"
He turned to seek out the person calling his name and saw his teammates making their way over to him. Sakura was waving to him, a huge grin on her face. Sasuke strode along beside her with his lips upturned in the smallest of smirks.
Naruto opened his mouth to answer when both of his teammates tensed, looking at something behind him. Sakura's giddy expression morphed into one of terror and Sasuke's hand flew towards the hilt of his sword.
Naruto whipped his head back around, only to be met with the crazed eye of the Juubi as it feebly lifted its head and used the last of its strength to send a weakened, albeit still deadly, mass of chakra spinning towards him before falling back to the ground. He frantically tried to get to his feet to get out of the way, but his last attack on Obito and the Juubi had left him nearly unconscious and completely bereft of chakra, and his legs buckled beneath him.
As he watched the approaching attack, he knew he was going to die.
As soon as that thought registered in his mind, however, Naruto caught a flash of movement in his peripheral vision. He watched in horror as Sakura flew past him and ran to intercept the blast, sliding to a stop several hundred yards in front of him and flinging her arms out wide, as if to catch the mass of roiling energy.
At the same moment she jumped in to face the attack, a shadowy figure materialized before him, crouched in a defensive stance.
Sasuke.
Naruto wanted to scream at them in protest. What were they doing?!
But it all happened in only a split-second. There had been no time for words. One moment he saw the shadows of his teammates cast into sharp relief in the pulsing light of the oncoming attack, and the next, everything went white.
The force of the attack sent Naruto skidding and flipping backwards across the rocky terrain before he came to rest face-down on the battlefield, bruised and broken, but still conscious.
An instant later, he heard rather than saw the bodies of his teammates hitting the ground nearby, two sickening thuds echoing across the suddenly eerily silent battlefield. In a panic, he turned over to look for his teammates, and as his eyes readjusted after the brilliance of the Juubi's attack, he could make out pink and black amidst the rubble of the broken landscape a short distance away. Ignoring the screaming of his lungs and the searing pain he felt all over, he slowly dragged himself to his teammates.
As soon as he reached them, he knew. They wouldn't be coming home. The first tears rose to his eyes as Sakura, a gaping wound in her stomach, struggled to turn towards the sound of his voice. She had minutes left, at best. To her right, Sasuke had not fared much better. His spine was virtually shattered and he was left with massive internal bleeding.
"Sakura-chan... Sasuke... Why?" Naruto's voice broke on the last word, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat, unable to continue.
When she was finally able to focus on him, Sakura shakily lifted her hand to his cheek and smiled.
"Shhhh. It's okay...Naruto. Please...don't cry," she managed to force out between her labored breaths, even as two tears of her own made their journey down her cheeks to the blood soaked ground below. "You're...one of my...precious people. I...I couldn't let...you die. You haven't...fulfilled your...dream."
A feeling that Naruto couldn't define pierced his gut as he shook his head in protest, reaching up to hold the hand that was gently cupping his face.
"Nothing matters if I can't save you! I need you! Both of you!" he pleaded, turning his eyes beseechingly to his other teammate. Sasuke simply closed his eyes, silently affirming Sakura's words.
"Naruto."
The girl's faint voice brought his attention back to her once again.
"Promise me...you'll carry on...without us."
Us. So she had guessed at Sasuke's injuries.
He began to shake his head again, but Sakura squeezed his hand gently, letting him know she wasn't finished.
"Please...Naruto. This is...my last request. Work hard. Become...the Hokage. But...most of all...be happy," she gave him one last weak smile as he suppressed a sob before turning to her newly reclaimed teammate, the boy who had held her heart all these years.
"Sasuke-kun."
On hearing his name, Sasuke reopened his dark eyes to meet her soft, green gaze.
She stretched towards him with her free hand, but he was too far for her to reach. She settled for leaving her arm outstretched on the ground with her palm facing up towards the gloomy grey sky.
"Welcome home. And...thank you."
Sasuke cast his eyes down as she echoed back to him the very words he had spoken to her the night of his desertion. And how appropriate they were, for this time she was the one leaving, though he would undoubtedly not be far behind. As he raised his eyes to hers once more, he hoped she could see in them the apology he could not bring himself to voice.
She did, of course.
With upturned lips, she turned back to face the slate colored clouds above her.
"Don't worry. We'll see...each other...again."
Her eyes began to slip shut.
"I love you both...so much," she murmured and her voice trailed off into a whisper that was borne away on the wind. "So, so much..."
Then she was gone.
Naruto fell prostrate by her side, weeping, the drops collecting in her hand still held to his face, as if she were trying to catch his tears.
On Sakura's other side, Sasuke lay facing the pair, his eyes fixated on the girl's wan features which were relaxed in the stillness of eternal slumber. The hand which was not in Naruto's grasp was extended towards the dark haired boy in a gesture of... invitation? assurance? forgiveness? He grimaced.
She had always been too forgiving towards him.
He tried to move to take the hand, but found that he could not. Whatever damage had been done to his spine had rendered everything below his neck useless. He felt the cold creeping through his limbs and knew that he did not have much time left. He gave the weeping boy across from him a few minutes to grieve before addressing him.
"Naruto."
The blonde boy lifted his red-rimmed eyes to look at Sasuke, his tears cutting paths through the blood and grit that coated his face. When Sasuke did not continue, Naruto gazed one last time at Sakura's face before slowly moving to her other side to kneel in front of his best friend and rival.
Sasuke looked blankly up at the sky, not sure if he would be able to say what he wanted to say if he had to look Naruto in the eye.
"I don't have much time, but there's something I need you to hear."
He heard Naruto trying to stifle his tears and took a deep breath.
"I've done a lot of things that I regret. I foolishly refused what you and Sakura offered me, yet you both continued to wait for me with open arms."
He paused and indicated Sakura's outstretched arm with a small tilt of his head.
"Could you..."
Naruto understood immediately and placed Sasuke's hand over Sakura's, helping to wrap the boy's fingers loosely around her smaller hand. He felt his heart break all over again at what their clasped hands symbolized. Sasuke had finally reached back towards them. He had finally come home.
And now he was leaving again.
Sasuke could feel his strength seeping away, and took another deep breath, waiting for Naruto to settle back by his side before continuing.
"I have little hope that I will be going to the same place as Sakura, but maybe I was able to atone for some of my sins today."
The dark-haired boy finally turned to look his teammate and friend in the eye.
"If I do happen to meet her in the afterlife, we'll wait for you. Together. Take your time, though. Live a long life and bring change to this world."
Here, he offered Naruto a small but genuine smile.
"If there's anyone who can do that, it's you, dobe."
With that, Sasuke allowed his eyes to close.
"I hope we meet again... Naruto."
And as the first drops of rain began to fall from the bleak, grey sky, the last Uchiha left the world with a smile on his face.
Naruto stared down at the boy as grief, anguish, anger, and pain all swirled and churned through his chest. There was no fresh torrent of tears, however. Because as he looked at the small smile tilting his friend's lips and the hand clasped around Sakura's, Naruto knew that Uchiha Sasuke had finally arrived at that ever elusive end he had sought after for all of his life:
Peace.
Naruto slowly rose to his feet. Taking a long, shuddering breath, he scrubbed his eyes with his sleeve and looked down at his teammates and two closest friends.
"Wait for me Sakura-chan, Sasuke. It will take time for me to fulfill your final requests. But I swear on my life that I will uphold them."
He leant down and gently placed his hand atop Sasuke's and Sakura's intertwined ones.
"That... is the promise of a lifetime."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
(Cue song, if you want to listen while you read.)
This was the memory that Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, was thinking of as he lay on his deathbed after many years of faithful protection and service to his home. As old age claimed him, he remembered that promise he had made all those years ago. The most important one of his life. He smiled.
"I'm coming Sakura-chan, Sasuke. I kept my promise. I'll see you soon..."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Naruto was awakened by warm sunshine on his face and the sweet sound of birdsong. He allowed himself to simply bask in those comforting sensations before slowly opening his eyes. He was laying on a bed of soft, green grass in a meadow full of the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen. He sat up leisurely and looked about him. This place was unfamiliar to him, and yet he felt as if he had been here forever. The soft sunlight and gentle breeze brought with them the warm feeling of belonging. Of home. Naruto once again closed his eyes to relish this feeling before his brow furrowed. He felt like he was forgetting something, something important. Foggy images of bright green eyes and unruly dark hair floated into his mind. Just as he was about to grasp the importance of those images, someone spoke behind him.
"Naruto."
He turned to see a tall young man, with blue eyes and blonde hair much like his own, smiling gently down at him. Naruto simply stared at the man for a moment before recognition hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Dad..."
"Hello, Son," Minato answered, still smiling. "Welcome home."
And then Naruto remembered everything. In a torrent of memories and images, his whole life came rushing back to him. Questions began to flood his mind, but before he could voice any of them, he was pulled into a tender embrace. Minato then released him, though he kept his hands firmly on Naruto's shoulders.
"We'll talk later," he promised, his eyes flicking to a point over Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto was about to protest when another voice, this one bright and energetic and so, so familiar, interrupted him.
"Oi! Naruto!"
He glanced once more at Minato's grin before slowly turning around.
There, on a little rise on the far edge of the meadow, stood Sakura. She was waving and smiling, and her entire being radiated light. She looked young and carefree and beautiful.
"Sakura-chan..." he breathed.
She then turned and stretched out her hand towards something further down the hill behind her. Naruto watched as a pale hand slipped comfortably into Sakura's, and another figure emerged over the edge of the rise. Sakura turned back to beam at Naruto as the person came to a stop at her side. Dark eyes gently regarded the young girl before turning to meet Naruto's awed gaze.
"Sasuke..."
One side of the young man's mouth lifted in a crooked smile of acknowledgement. There was no trace of the hatred that had consumed him for most of his life. He looked completely and utterly unburdened. This was Sasuke as he should have been.
The two stood waiting with their hands clasped, just as they had been on that day so long ago. Waiting for him, just like they promised.
He looked hesitantly back at his father.
"It's alright, go ahead," Minato encouraged him. "After all, we have forever to catch up."
Naruto nodded before turning back to Sakura and Sasuke. He took a few uncertain steps before breaking into an effortless run, briefly noticing that he too was young once more. The enormity of his father's words struck him.
"After all, we have forever to catch up."
Forever.
Looking up into the smiling faces of his friends, he let an earnest grin of his own overtake his face.
He liked the sound of that.
The End
Finally finished! I'm gonna be totally honest here. The first time I imagined this out in my head, I cried.
As some of you are probably able to tell, I started writing this awhile back before some of the more recent stuff in the manga took place (AKA Obito/Juubi stuff). But this is FF, so it's ok if it doesn't exactly follow the storyline J
I want to thank all my previous readers and reviewers, because you are what helped me finish this thing! I went back and looked at reviews for Breathe and traffic stats and stuff and realized, "Holy crap! People from all over the world are reading (and enjoying, hopefully?) something I wrote! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!" And so I was totally motivated to finish this. I really hope you enjoyed it!