This fic is a project I've been more or less working on for a Really long time, so I hope people will read it! You'd be kind enough to drop in a review, right? I like honest comments. Just tell me bluntly what you think. Also, just ask if something's bothering you and I'm not being clear enough or something.

STORY INFO:

Yaoi / shounen-ai (i.e. gay) content later on so I won't accept any complaints regarding not warning you.

Pairing: Sasuke x Naruto - It won't be a seme x uke relationship, though, and don't know if there'll be any side pairings
Rating: M - There'll be some violence and some kind of sexual content but I'm not planning on writing a lemon.
Genre: Adventure/Romance - I'll get to romance later. Buiding the story takes a few chaps, though.

Note! I'm messing with the timeline! Sasuke's somewhere around 20 and Naruto's... a lot older. I don't know which characters are Sasuke's age now and which were born around the same time as Naruto, but it's important that you know to suspect that not everyone's the same age.

Disclamer: Naruto characters and the original story aren't mine. They're the property of Masashi Kishimoto, but the plot of this fanfiction is mine. (this will apply to the later chapters)

Killing An Immortal
chapter 1

The Hokage was waiting for him. Naruto knew he was, so he just went straight ahead into the Hokage tower and headed for the Hokage's office. There was some kind of a secretary in the lobby before the office, but she dared not try and stop Naruto. The moment Naruto opened the office door and the person sitting behind the table near the opposite wall had realized that someone had come in; he jumped up from his chair. He seemed to try to do it composedly but he failed miserably.

"Naruto-sama?" he asked, testing the air. He was bewildered. He had been waiting for a former Konoha ninja who had resigned his duties several decades ago and had presumed he would actually look old, too. He was known to have lived for more than a hundred years, so the Hokage had really been expecting someone looking much older than twenty.

Naruto nodded an answer and the person behind the desk, apparently the Hokage judging from his cape, gave the slightest of bows. Naruto had never met the man before, but he supposed a bow any bigger would have been a disgrace to his position as the Hokage; at least he seemed to think so.

'He's new…' Naruto thought and brushed the bow aside as always. He didn't wish for anyone to show him high regard.

Everyone tended to show great respect to Naruto if and when they happened to know his identity. For that same reason he tended to hide it. Some respected him because of his superior strength and knowledge. Maybe most did it for fear, though. This Hokage was new in his position and, like everybody else, he had surely heard great stories about Naruto – the protector of Konoha. Naruto had already had the chance to see several people claim the title of the Hokage and the last couple had reacted to him just like this. They hadn't seen the actual person behind the stories and their posture remained tense for the whole time Naruto was in their company.

"We are in all gratitude that you have come! We cannot face this enemy alone," the Hokage said with now half excited, half astonished face. He leaned on his desk and seemed to relax a bit.

"You do know that I didn't come here to fight for Konoha?"

"Yes, I know of your… circumstances. And since he's involved... But still we were unsure if you'd really come…" The Hokage sank back to his seat.

Naruto wasn't going to answer. He understood Konoha's need for protection and someone who the people could rely on, but this is how it always went. They would ask him to aid them in a battle that had even the slightest of possibilities of losing. It happened rarely, though, as Konoha was one of the strongest ninja villages, but Naruto had lived long enough to experience it many times already. They would call for him, whether there was Orochimaru or no Orochimaru involved. He didn't help if he wasn't, though.

"So, what's happening now?" Naruto asked, tired of the silence.

"We do not know the exact location of Orochimaru himself right now, but some of his squads have already positioned themselves around Konoha. He's either trying to surround us or just spying for now. We only found out by accident when one of our ANBU teams was returning from a mission. He's trying to move quietly, though."

"How big are his troops?"

"He's joined forces with ninjas from other villages and they're big enough to counter Konoha now. We have sent teams to investigate but we have yet to find any evidence of actual ninja villages fighting alongside him."

It had been about a hundred years since Orochimaru had killed the 3rd Hokage and he had kept pretty quiet since then. He didn't bother anyone as long as they didn't bother him. He kept himself busy with his experiments, whatever they were, but he also knew that he would have to face Naruto if he attacked. Since Naruto's childhood, generations had passed and now people had started to question the whole existence of both Orochimaru and Naruto. They had become more like legends than real living people. Only the highest ranking citizens had real evidence of their existence. This Naruto knew and it made him wonder whether Konoha knew about Orochimaru's real objectives and he voiced this question.

"Are you talking about his immortality jutsu? We know of that, but what does it have to do with Konoha? Do you think he's attacking for that reason?"

"No, not only for that. He does hold a grudge against Konoha so I guess he's trying to destroy the village in the process. I believe he is currently looking for a new body to contain his soul in and that he has his eyes set on someone in Konoha."

"In Konoha? I don't think he could have heard of anyone that strong living here. Every strong individual's identity is strictly kept secret to prevent attacks aimed at them. ANBU masks are worn for that reason."

"Of course. But I also happen to know that he might have gotten this piece of information before that person was considered strong enough to be kept hidden."

The Hokage sat a bit uncomfortably behind his desk, thinking through all possible ninjas of whom information might have leaked so long ago. Naruto let him think for a while on his own, eying the room in his boredom. The Hokage might even get it if he really tried. There was a picture of each previous and the current Hokage on the walls. They were hung up on two walls opposite from each other on Naruto's both sides, six pictures on each wall. It seemed to Naruto like there was always one picture more when he visited. Naruto's eyes lingered on some of the Hokages' faces. The third Hokage, Tsunade-baachan and Kakashi-sensei… he still missed them. He missed the fourth Hokage, too, even as he hadn't actually known him. They were all parts of his youth.

The Hokage crossed his arms on his desk. He had a grim expression on his face. "You know who he's after, don't you? Do tell."

Naruto sighed. This wouldn't be pretty.

" Uchiha Sasuke."

As Naruto had expected, this piece of information had been a shock to the Hokage. His eyes widened as he heard the name, he stood up and started shouting, "You can't be serious! I've been even more careful in every matter regarding him! I've even made sure his face has never been shown outside Konoha!"

"It doesn't matter. Orochimaru knows of him. Nothing can be done about it now. Just a couple of days ago I heard some rumours which confirmed my suspicions."

"How can he know…?" the Hokage said in desperation with a voice close to a whisper. He slumped back into his chair yet again and looked so utterly desperate that it almost made Naruto laugh. Konoha remained to be protective of its Uchihas.

"You remember Itachi, don't you? He left Konoha some thirteen years ago and joined an organization in which he met Orochimaru. I don't believe he actually told him about Sasuke but the Uchiha incident wasn't as secret as it was supposed to be and Orochimaru definitely knew about Itachi's bloodline limit."

Naruto knew this needed some digesting on the Hokage's part, so he moved himself onto a love-seat on the side of the office, under the pictures of the first six Hokages. It was a very comfortable love-seat, he had to note and he sat in comfort. Naruto always took great pleasure in studying other people's facial expressions and, through them, reading their thoughts. He was a master at this, of course. He had the experience worth generations.

The Hokage was leaning stiffly on his crossed hands. His eyes darted aimlessly around the room, not really seeing anything. 'He's going over all the possible plans of how to save the Uchiha.' Soon he started to bite his thumb nail. 'Is he really not coming up with anything?' This went on for a while and Naruto decided to relax until the Hokage would come up with a master plan.

Suddenly, the Hokage jumped up and directed his gaze at Naruto after wondering shortly where he had gone from standing in front of him. "What can we do? I can't just send him out of Konoha because he's a threat and if he stays here and things go wrong…"

"No, you can't throw him out alone but you can't keep him here either. Orochimaru shall not get the sharingan. He'll get too strong. I believe that the Uchiha's not the kind to sit around quietly when others fight, right?"

"Well, no. I guess you're right."

"So we really can't hide him here. Do you have a strong enough team to send with him?"

"No. We need all possible forces here not even mentioning the strongest ones. I already said that Orochimaru's strength is enough to counter Konoha's. And Sasuke-san probably won't co-operate with just anybody anyways…"

Naruto sighed heavily. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this but, at the same time, he had known it would. While travelling to Konoha, he had already gone through every possible scenario. "Then, do you have any objections to me escorting the Uchiha out of Konoha?"

"You?" the Hokage was dumbfounded.

'He really didn't even consider this as an option', Naruto thought. 'Although… If I weren't me, then I wouldn't have either.'

The Hokage didn't take a long time to think it over. "Well… as long as Uchiha-san is okay with it."

"I'm sure he is."

Naruto sighed inwardly. 'What have I gotten myself into..'

ooooo

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That evening Naruto was lying in a room the Hokage had provided for him for the night. He didn't have anything to do, so he had decided to go to bed early. He had lain there for about an hour thinking about what he had promised to do for the Hokage.

Naruto knew leaving Konoha wouldn't be that easy. He would easily get through any resistance alone and leave Konoha unharmed, but now he had to consider the Uchiha. He would probably need a diversion. If Orochimaru really had squads all around Konoha, there'd be no way they'd get through unnoticed. It was probable that soon Orochimaru wouldn't let any ninjas or other villagers to get to or leave from within Konoha walls and then their chance to leave would be gone. They'd have to leave soon. Tomorrow would be ideal. The day after tomorrow might just be too late. While Orochimaru was still setting his table, he wouldn't notice some peaces being missing. But then again, Naruto was trying to mess with the vital peaces.

Naruto got up from the bed and went to stand in front of the only window in the room .

The room was only a storage room in the Hokage tower but it just conveniently had a bed in it. It was high in the tower and therefore the window gave out to the roofs of the village houses. The sky was already quite dark but people were still awake as the lights in many houses were on.

One lone district in the distance caught Naruto's attention. His room was positioned just high enough to see the house roofs. The houses had once belonged to the Uchiha clan but now it had been passed on to the only surviving Uchiha in Konoha. Naruto briefly wondered what would happen to the house when the Uchiha himself would be gone.

Naruto had been to the Uchiha territory for several times many, many years ago. He had never liked those surroundings, though. He could never relax there and had always felt ­watched and out of place. The Uchihas had seemed to him like people who didn't care very much about the people outside their clan and he felt that he had been expected to be better and stronger if he wanted to be friends with an Uchiha.

'When's the last time I really had a friend?' Naruto sighed. 'It's not easy to live old.' Naruto decided that that was worth a laugh.

He had pretty much isolated himself from other people after his friends had started dying. All of his childhood friends were dead by now. He had known it would happen sooner or later so he had left Konoha before it happened. He hadn't been strong enough when Orochimaru had first attacked and some of his friends had died then. He could never forgive Orochimaru for killing everyone, but his hate towards him had lessened after time passed. By now his old friends would have been dead anyways. His hatred had become like a blunt sword, but he would still kill Orochimaru in the end. He had no other goal in his life so he dedicated his everything to that. No-one but he and Orochimaru could defy time, so this was their battle. No-one else could join them in their immortal lives and it seemed like their destiny to kill each other in the end. Both of them couldn't keep on living and in a way, Naruto hoped it would be he himself who would die.