Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto and whatever else I shoved in here, I'd be one of the richest assholes in the world. But I'm not, so I don't own them…
Here's the rewritten Chapter 1 – Too stupid to fail
Chapter 1 – Too stupid to fail
A tattered leaf flutters in the wind…
The shuffling of dragging feet echoes…
A barren land void of any vegetation stretched as far as the eye could see. Burned corpses of both man and beast littered the landscape. And up ahead lay a great ruined gate, once proud and tall. Naruto and Sasuke had finally returned to Konohagakure…
Our two conquering heroes have finally returned to Konoha, a village that lay in ruins. Both boys slowly limped along the streets to Hokage Tower, gazing sorrowfully at their failure. With each step they took, more and more devastation met their eyes.
The bodies of Kotestu and Izumo, the forever Chunin, lay burned in the dirt by the great gate of Konoha…
A ruined counter top was all that was left of Ichiraku Ramen, both Teuchi and Ayame dead…
The hospital was reduced to rubble, its patients and doctors killed as the building caved in…
And the face of the Sandaime Hokage was all that was left of the Hokage Monument, the last guardian of a lost village…
The Village Hidden in the Leaves lay destroyed with its last shinobi returning broken and defeated. A shadow fell over the two when had finally reached the ruined Hokage Tower. The kanji, hi, though tarnished, was still hanging on the tower. It silently proclaimed "…the will of fire will burn as long as those who keep it in their hearts stand strong…"
Indeed, for Naruto held the will of fire within him, and would carry it till the end. Sasuke reached forward and pushed the remains of the double doors open and they stepped inside. Both boys made their way to the top, to the Office of the Hokage. They both stopped in front of the strangely intact doors and with sad smiles, they pushed the doors open and walked inside. There, standing where it stood since the village's founding, was the desk of the Hokage. Both shinobi strode slowly in front of it and sadly whispered,
"…mission success, Squad 7 reporting in…"
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha shed silent tears as they stood at attention in front of that desk. The two almost could feel Kakashi and Sakura standing there beside them, comforting them with reassuring. And then in unison, they sank into the chairs that had somehow survived the destruction. Naruto glanced over at his raven-haired friend. "Ne, Sasuke," Naruto whispered, chuckling sadly. "I finally brought you back to Konoha. And I didn't have to break your arms and legs to do it." He reached over and softly punched Sasuke's shoulder.
Sasuke chuckled, and then let out a pained gasp. "But I think you just re-broke my shoulder", he said as he rubbed it in sad humor. He turned his head to stare out the shattered window and at the broken mountain. Sasuke suddenly had a funny thought.
"Dobe, I think they have enough space for you face now," he said, pointing with a chuckle. Naruto just smiled and replied, "Yeah, with Baa-chan's big head up there, I didn't think my face would have fit."
Then the blonde's face turned sour, "But what's the use? What's the use of being a Hokage of a dead village?" He got up angrily and made his way over to the window. He turned to Sasuke and gestured to the ruins of Konoha. "Konoha is gone and I couldn't stop it from happening!"
Rage slowly leaked into his voice as he whispered, "We may have succeeded in our mission, but we failed the world! We were supposed to stop this from happening and we failed!" Naruto then sat and laid his head on the desk. "We failed… I failed…"
Minutes passed as Naruto slumped against the desk and Sasuke had a peculiar expression on his face. Then the raven-haired boy looked as if he finally solved a great mystery. Sasuke stood and leaned on the Hokage's desk with his back towards Naruto. He slightly turned his head to the blonde and said, "But what if we could fix it?"
Naruto's head shot up and he stared at the Uchiha in disbelief. "What?" Sasuke turned to Naruto fully and placed both hands on the desk, shoulder length apart. He leaned in close and said with a dead-serious look, "…What…If…We…Could…Fix…It?" A second passed before Naruto leapt to his feet and grabbed the collar of Sasuke's scruffy shirt. He slammed him into the desk and screamed, "What do you know?"
Sasuke shoved the angry Nin away and stood up. He looked back at Naruto and said, "What if we could fix all this? What would you say if I knew away to make sure all this never happened?" He then strode to the open doors, "What if we could go back and save everyone?" Sasuke ran out the doors while Naruto followed, glaring at the retreating Uchiha.
Naruto ran after him through the Tower and out into the village. They weaved through the alleys and streets, leapt over buildings and dodged wayward debris until they reached their destination:
The Abandoned Uchiha District…
They slowed to a walk and eventually reached the Uchiha Council Building. Sasuke gestured Naruto to follow him into the building. In the main room, Sasuke knelt down and lifted the tatami mat like he did all those years ago. Both boys then dropped down and entered the hidden room that held the Uchiha clan's greatest secrets. Naruto looked on as Sasuke immediately began searching the room, checking every surface.
"What the heck did you mean back there Teme?" he demanded. "What the hell are we looking for?" Sasuke glanced up at the blonde.
"A long time ago, I found this place after the Massacre. Itachi told me I had to come here if I wanted the secret of the Mangekyou Sharingan", the Uchiha said as he continued to root around the altar that held the Mangekyou Scroll. "This scroll holds the secret to gaining the Mangekyou Sharingan, but there was this passage that I didn't understand. I never understood what it meant until just now." The Uchiha then stood up and concentrated as he tried to remember.
"So what, there was some weird message in the scroll and now you suddenly understand it?" The blonde questioned the contemplating raven. "What does that have to do with fixing everything?" The Uchiha turned to the confused blonde. "The passage was a riddle or some sort of prophecy. It was really vague, but it hinted at a way to fix something after it's already happened."
Naruto grabbed Sasuke and asked, "What did the scroll say?" Sasuke sighed then said in an eerie voice:
A choice is made and a world is lost.
Sorrow and death are within our gaze.
With the eyes of misery, a sacrifice shall be made.
Reverse the flow and regret no more.
Naruto looked clueless, "What did that mean?" Sasuke once again shoved Naruto away and said, "It means that there's some way to correct a fix something that's already happened, but we need to give up something to make it happened. It will probably only work with a Mangekyou Sharingan."
"So?" the blonde gestured questioningly. "What do we have to do?" Sasuke just shrugged at him and said, "I don't know exactly. I think we need to sacrifice something, but need my Sharingan to do it." Naruto crouched down and gripped his blonde locks in frustration. He glared up at Sasuke and said, "Well then, why are we here? If you don't know what we need to do to make it happen, then why did we come all the way here?" He then sat down against the wall. "We could have had this conversation at the Hokage's Office.
"I thought there'd be something here that would explain what we needed to do," Sasuke said as he took a seat beside Naruto. "Maybe there was some secret compartment in somewhere on the altar that hid another scroll." He then glared up at the altar holding the Scroll. Naruto followed his gaze and had an idea. "Hey, what if we need to sacrifice the scroll? You know, since it's on an altar and everything?" Sasuke then stared at the blonde incredulously. "Sacrifice the Secret Scroll of the Mangekyou Sharingan! What gave you that idea?"
Naruto shrugged and said, "Well, you already have your freaky eyes, so you don't actually need the scroll."
"But what about future generations of Uchiha?" Sasuke asked. Naruto gave Sasuke a funny look. "Listen, I don't know if you've noticed, but we're the only survivors. And I'm not help you repopulate your clan, let alone the world, even if I can turn into a girl."
Sasuke blushed at the imagery, but he just shook his head, "Okay, but how do we sacrifice it?" Naruto stared up at the Mangekyou Scroll. "Well, what if you used those black flames of yours? We burn stuff for sacrifices and those flames can only be made with your super monkey eyes." The raven-haired Uchiha looked at Naruto and wondered if this idea was sheer genius or just plain stupid. Naruto then quickly stated, "If it doesn't work, you'll have the scroll memorized just in case and we can high-tail it out of here if something goes wrong."
Sasuke just sighed and said, "I really hope this works." Both boys stood up and walked up to the altar. Sasuke opened the scroll and quickly memorized its contents with his Sharingan. The two then looked at each other and nodded.
Here goes nothing…
There's the first chapter, revised. Please review.
