Chapter 1 – Alternate reality

"Naruto, you will be paired with Sakura," Iruka started. The pink-haired girl smiled shyly. Sasuke risked a glance at Naruto. His face was blank as always. "And Sasuke," their sensei finished.

Sakura squealed in delight. Sasuke remained silent and calm, but he was secretly glad to be paired with Naruto. As their sensei continued, he let his thoughts wander, thinking back about the tale Itachi had told him just a week ago.

Six years ago, Naruto had had the nine-tailed fox demon trapped inside of him. His father had sealed the demon in his son right before sacrificing himself for the sake of the village. Naruto's mother had died right after giving birth to her second son, and Naruto's brother, who unfortunately didn't survive either. The details of the tragedy were unknown, but Itachi had told him his theory.

He had said it was probably the work of Madara, an Uchiha ancestor. He had first tried to unleash the Kyubi twelve years ago, and after this failure, had tried again - successfully this time - six years ago, killing the entire Namikaze family, except for Naruto.

The villagers needed someone to blame, and in their misunderstanding had chosen to blame Naruto for everything, hating him because he had the Kyubi inside him. Naruto had become a bitter and sad child, and very lonely. And this made Sasuke sad. It simply wasn't fair that Naruto had to go through this all alone. But whenever he tried to smile at him, or to talk to him, Naruto pushed him away. Maybe, if Sasuke was in his team, it would be different now…

xxx

Their new sensei Kakashi was sitting in front of them, outside the academy, waiting for them to introduce themselves. Sakura was clad in a long red dress, and was playing with her long pink hair nervously. Sasuke frowned, wondering how this could possibly be an adequate outfit for a ninja. As for Naruto, sitting on his other side, he was wearing baggy pants and a simple t-shirt, all black, and he was glancing away unfocusedly, apparently bored as ever. His long blond bangs partly hid his face from Sasuke.

"Let's start with you, Sakura," Kakashi said, glancing at the young girl. "What are your likes and dislikes, and your motivation to become a ninja?"

"Right," she giggled, "hum… actually, I really like… my teammates, Naruto and Sasuke, because they are really cool," she risked a glance at them. Naruto didn't look back. Sasuke glanced at her sideways and made a little smile, out of pity. Her smile widened and she looked back at Kakashi. "That's pretty much it."

"…Okay. What about you, Sasuke?"

"I can't really say much about likes or dislikes," he answered, "but my motivation to become a ninja are to protect the village, and my family and clan, at the best of my abilities."

Kakashi smiled. "I am sure you will grow up to be as excellent a ninja as your brother, and I am proud to have you on my team."

"Thank you, sensei." He gave a slight nod.

"And what about you, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Blue eyes darkened as they looked up at their sensei. "I also don't have much to say about likes or dislikes. As for my motivation, I wish to kill the man who unleashed the Kyubi and killed my family. And don't give me that natural disaster bullshit." He added before Kakashi could say anything. "I know it's what all the villagers think. But I was there. I know better."

He glanced away, and Sasuke repressed a shiver. Kakashi seemed unbothered, though, as if he had expected all that.

"All right, well my name is Hatake Kakashi. And well, that's all I'm saying. Anyway, we meet tomorrow morning at 5 am for a special training. Oh, and don't eat breakfast."

"Why?" Sakura frowned.

But Kakashi didn't answer, and in a cloud of smoke, he disappeared.

Naruto got up, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away quickly, without so much as glancing at them.

"He is so mysterious," Sakura said dreamily. Then she turned to look at him and smiled. "Would you like to walk me home, Sasuke?"

He got up and shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I'm gonna go train…"

"Oh, okay," she seemed disappointed. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah," he said, and walked away.

xxx

The next day, Sasuke met up with Sakura and Naruto at 5 am, just like Kakashi had asked them. But the latter wasn't showing up…

"He is so late…" Sakura whined as she sat on the ground, yawning.

"I would definitely have slept longer," Sasuke agreed in a low voice.

"Yeah…" Naruto said. Their eyes met for a brief instant, and they exchanged a little smile. But then Naruto glanced away again.

Somehow the slightest smile from Naruto warmed Sasuke's heart.

About thirty minutes later, Kakashi finally arrived. After he made up some bullshit about getting lost in the village – seriously, someone needed to teach this guy to come up with better excuses – they moved on to the training grounds.

Kakashi showed them two small bells. "Your objective will be to get one of these from me. The two of you who succeed will officially become shinobi. The one who can't get a bell, will be sent back to the Academy."

Sasuke frowned. Beside him, Naruto was showing no sign of reaction, but he looked dead serious.

Sakura gasped loudly. "But we passed the exams! I thought we were already ninjas!"

Sasuke could have sworn Kakashi was smirking behind his stupid mask. "You have to pass this last test." He said simply. "It starts now!"

Naruto and Sakura immediately jumped and scattered, probably finding hiding spots in bushes or trees. Sasuke wondered if he should imitate them, but he figured it would pretty useless if all of them were just hiding and doing nothing. He didn't want to jump at Kakashi and attack though, that would be stupid and reckless.

He chose to produce a fire style attack, to engage the fight and see how Kakashi would counter. So he made the hand signs – while Kakashi had started reading a pornographic novel, it seemed – and sent fire balls at him.

His silver-haired sensei jumped back, evading all the fire balls, without even closing his book. Well that was embarrassing… He jumped in the nearest tree, and sent shurikens at him. He aimed at his arms and legs – he wasn't trying to kill the man after all.

But again, Kakashi dodged frustratingly easily. Sasuke might as well have really been trying to kill him; it probably wouldn't have made any difference…

Then Naruto jumped in. Sasuke decided to hide and stay back for now. Naruto produced shadow clones and attacked Kakashi straight on. His tai jutsu wasn't bad at all for a ninja straight out of the academy, and even Kakashi seemed impressed with the shadow clones. But still – he didn't even close his god damn book.

Actually, Kakashi seemed to disappear in the middle of the fight. Naruto released his clones, confused, and retreated as well, probably not wanting to stay in the open like this.

Sasuke forced himself to calm down and think. He had to get one of those bells; after all he wanted to live to his parents and especially his brother's expectations. He thought about various strategies he could use, with his shuriken or kunai skills, tai jutsu, fire style techniques…

While deep in thought he heard Sakura scream nearby. He gasped slightly and immediately ran toward the sound. She was his teammate now after all, so he wanted to make sure she was okay. He found her lying down on the ground. He frowned as he approached her and checked her vital signs. She was just unconscious; she didn't seem injured at all. Maybe Kakashi had tricked her, or frightened her or something…

He heard sounds of fighting nearby. He snapped his head toward it and approached, hiding in the bushes, looking down at the training grounds.

Naruto was giving it a try again. He had made shadow clones, and they were fighting with kunai knives. But it was useless. Kakashi – who had put his book away at least – destroyed all the clones. The real one suddenly appeared out of nowhere, right behind Kakashi. It was a good diversion, but their sensei saw right through it. He spun and caught Naruto's arm before he could strike with the kunai, and sent him flying in the water.

Sasuke's heartbeat fastened slightly, and he threw his own shuriken at Kakashi while he seemingly had his guard down. It looked like he caught him at first, but then his body transformed to a log. A replacement technique, of course, Sasuke thought. It couldn't be that easy.

After some more failed attempts from Naruto to fight Kakashi, and after Sakura had fainted a few more times – Sasuke didn't know what was wrong with that girl – it was already lunch time.

Kakashi called for a break. He had tied Naruto to a log, because he had tried to cheat or something like that. Kakashi didn't give much explanation. The blond ninja seemed incredibly frustrated and pissed, but he was silent. As for Sakura – who was now awake – and Sasuke, they were offered lunch, and told not to give any to Naruto.

"This training will continue after lunch." Kakashi finally said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Sakura started eating quietly. But Sasuke couldn't bring himself to eat. This whole thing was making him kind of nervous, and he didn't have much appetite. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed very hungry, and his stomach was noisy. Sasuke felt bad for him, thinking that it must be pretty humiliating.

"You can have some," he offered his lunch to Naruto. "I'm not hungry anyway, and I don't feel Kakashi's chakra around…"

Naruto's blue eyes widened slightly as he looked at him. Sakura was frowning, looking worried.

"It's not like you're gonna be very useful if you're hungry and weakened anyway," Sasuke added.

"I'm not hungry and weakened," he protested. Sasuke made a little smile. "Anyway," Naruto continued, "it would be nice, except I'm kinda tied up."

"I'll help you, you moron," he chuckled.

He was about to grab some food with his chopsticks when Kakashi made his – rather theatrical – appearance. With a frightening storm surrounding him, he approached them angrily. Sakura was scared. Naruto was frowning. Sasuke was… just confused, actually. What was up with this weird sensei dude?

"You pass," he eventually said.

The storm disappeared and he smiled behind his mask. Yes, very weird, Sasuke thought.

After that he told them about ninjas breaking the rules being trash, but ninjas who didn't help out their teammates being much worst than that. Kakashi then told them that he would give them a chance, since Sasuke had decided to give Naruto some food even though he had been ordered otherwise.

He told them where to meet the next morning, and disappeared again.

Sakura mumbled something about being very tired, worn out and weakened because not only had she skipped breakfast, but also the meals from the day before because she was on a diet. And then she left to go rest at home.

"On a diet at twelve years old, seriously," Sasuke shook his head in disbelief as he cut the ropes to untie Naruto.

He chuckled. "Thanks. And yeah she's kinda weird. And I mean she wasn't really fighting…"

"No… Hey about that I was wondering… Do you wanna train together?" he asked shyly.

He wasn't very sociable. The only person he had ever trained with outside of school was Itachi. But he figured, it was worth a try asking Naruto.

"Yeah, sure," he answered.

They decided to stay at these training grounds since they were unoccupied at the moment anyway. They finished eating lunch first – Sasuke had found his appetite again – and then they started training. Actually, it ended up being more Sasuke who helped Naruto out. He didn't mind though, it was practice for him at the same time. He helped the blond with his thai jutsu techniques.

Naruto's strength was that he was really unpredictable, and his basic technique was good. But his movements weren't swift and precise enough. So they fought together, Sasuke giving him advice at the same time. He was surprised to see how fast Naruto learned. At school, the teachers and other students had always kind of left him out, not wanting to be involved with the kid who had the demon fox inside him. But Sasuke didn't care about that. Naruto had a personality of his own, he wasn't the fox itself.

Evening came very fast – both hadn't seen time pass by. They were exhausted from all the training, but content. Sasuke actually felt good, it somehow felt like he had made a friend. It was childish, maybe, but hey he was twelve, he could allow himself to be a little childish once in a while. Not that he would actually ask him to be his friend or anything, now that would be lame.

"I should head back," he told him. "My mother will be really pissed if I skip dinner, "he chuckled. "You know, parents…"

Then he realized his mistake. God damn it, he really was stupid. But to his surprise Naruto let out a little laugh.

"Don't make that face. It's not like I'm gonna break down and cry every time someone mentions their family."

"…Right," Sasuke said.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," he smiled. It was a really beautiful smile, and Sasuke realized he had never seen this guy smile like that before. "Thank you for the training," he added.

"No problem," he smiled back.

They headed back home in silence, and they parted, Sasuke going toward the Uchiha clan section of the village.

xxx

Ever since that day, Naruto had become a good friend to him. They were somewhat rivals at the same time, playfully fighting once in a while to see who was stronger. But they were pretty much equals, actually. On missions, they always tried to show off to the other. It annoyed Kakashi a little, but he didn't mind, since it encouraged them to become stronger. As for Sakura, she was delighted and in adoration before her team mates. There was no change there, really. But when situations got dangerous, they always had each other's back, protecting each other against deadly enemies.

During the Chuunin exams, Orochimaru had attacked the leaf village, interrupting the exams. The Third Hokage had given his life to protect the villagers. But Orochimaru wasn't dead. And he had taken an interest in Naruto, while fighting in the forest. He had tried to put a curse on him, or something like that, Sasuke wasn't sure he understood completely, but the thing was, it hadn't worked because of the Kyubi's chakra inside Naruto. And in the end, this had only piqued Orochimaru's curiosity even more.

That's why, when Sakura came to him to talk about Naruto, he wasn't surprised.

"You're worried about him, too?" she asked him.

"Of course I am. I really don't like that Orochimaru guy," Sasuke shivered, putting his hands in his pockets as they walked through the village. "But it's true that he's really powerful. And I know that Naruto hates the village… There's nothing keeping him here."

"He has us!" Sakura protested.

"I just hope that's gonna be enough…" Sasuke whispered sadly.

Naruto was being more and more distant recently. He was thinking about Orochimaru's proposition, Sasuke was certain, even if Naruto never opened up anymore.

Sasuke could understand his reasoning, to a certain extent. Because the chuunin exams had been interrupted, they were still just genin, and they were still given silly missions most of the time. Naruto wanted to become powerful, he wanted to get revenge for his family's death, maybe even overcome the Kyubi, and most of all, kill Madara and his followers.

But that path was incredibly dangerous. Sasuke wished he could help him but… for now, at their level, there was nothing they could do about it…

xxx

"Sasuke, promise me, you will bring him back…"

"I will. I promise."

The promise he had made Sakura still echoed in his head as he was running after Naruto. The others had stayed back, fighting Orochimaru's men, and Sasuke could only hope they were all right. The new Hokage, Tsunade, she was different than the other villagers, and she liked Naruto a lot. So she hadn't hesitated in ordering a squad to catch up to Naruto and bring him back to the village. Even if it was against the blond's will…

Sasuke was clenching his fists, pushing his body to run faster. He was catching up slowly, but surely.

As they reached a valley Naruto stopped and turned to look at him. His expression was unreadable. Sasuke also stopped and swallowed hard, panting and exhausted from all this running. Naruto wasn't wearing his headband, his blond hair dancing freely in the wind.

"Why are you pursuing me, Sasuke?" he asked, and their eyes met.

He stepped closer. Naruto didn't step back.

"My clan, we have information about Orochimaru," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "He's constantly changing bodies to reach immortality. He probably wants yours, maybe he wants to control the Kyubi! Naruto, I'm asking you, as your friend, don't go there!"

"I know all that," Naruto replied coldly, "but he's gonna train me. For real. Not like in Konoha, I can never become powerful staying here. I need to become as powerful as the Akatsuki. To defeat them. This is the life I chose. I don't want to stay one more day in that damn village…" his voice was trembling slightly now.

Sasuke sighed shakily. "They're all idiots! I know that. But Kakashi and Sakura, and I… we're here for you, Naruto. You're not alone anymore. You're wrong, you can become strong staying with us! We'll continue to train together. You've already improved, so much…"

"It's not enough, Sasuke," he replied.

His heart sank. Not enough… He wasn't enough to keep Naruto by his side…

Then he felt angry. All those times, all those memories they shared, this incredible friendship that had developed between them, it couldn't be meaningless…

"You will turn your back on me, after everything we've been through?" he said angrily, voicing his thoughts. "Our friendship doesn't mean anything to you?"

Naruto looked sad. "Of course it does…" he whispered. "But I'm leaving. My decision is taken."

Sasuke clenched his fists and frowned. "Then fight me! I'll beat some sense into you and bring you back, even if I have to force you."

Naruto straightened himself and stared back at him intensely. He took a fighting stance, waiting.

Sasuke ran towards him and they started fighting, using only thai jutsu at first.

But Naruto was taking this extremely seriously. This was nothing like one of their playful fights. As he made a few shadow clones and started using kunai knives, Sasuke had to retreat. Naruto was fighting as if he actually wanted to kill him.

He managed to destroy his clones, and he produced a Chidori attack, that Kakashi had taught him. Naruto countered with his rasengan attack. They ran towards each other, but somehow their attacks cancelled and they were sent flying to the water.

They both emerged and stood on the water, panting, facing each other.

"Naruto," he said, breathing hard, "We don't have to do this… I'm asking you one more time, please, come back to the village with me. We can figure something out, together…"

"When did you become such a whiny bitch, Sasuke, huh? Just shut up and fight!" Naruto said harshly.

Sasuke let out a frustrated yelp as they clashed again. Naruto was incredibly aggressive; all the frustration contained in him seemed to come out in uncontrollable flows. Sasuke could only defend himself against each powerful blow.

At some point Naruto pinned him to the ground roughly, panting.

"You can't understand me," he said, frowning, "you have your family back there. They all love you and… you have a future, you have a life waiting for you there… I don't. You don't know what it's like… to lose the only ones you love… I have to get revenge for them! I just have to!"

Sasuke gathered his strength and pushed him away, getting back up to his feet. Maybe it was true that he couldn't understand him, but he still didn't want to let him go. He had to fight back better than this; he had to try to make him change his mind, before it was too late. And talking wouldn't do anything, he knew that now.

So he focused, his eyes turning into sharingan, and when they fought again he was calm and concentrated. He was seeing through every one of Naruto's movements, anticipating them. Soon Naruto was the one defending himself, backing off before Sasuke's now more powerful attacks.

When he was thrown in the water by Sasuke's lightning attack, he didn't swim back up right away, and Sasuke's heart squeezed in his chest at the fear that maybe he had overdone it. But then he frowned, feeling a familiar but dreaded red, incredibly powerful chakra coming out of the water. Sure enough, Naruto came out with his claws out, thicker whiskers and beastly appearance all in all.

Sasuke held his ground, trying not to panic. This happened when Naruto got too emotional during battle. But usually the blond was always able to get a hold of himself. Sometimes Sasuke helped him. His brother had told him that he could push the Kyubi away with his sharingan.

But there was no time for that now. Naruto let out a ferocious growl, and produced a rasengan. Sasuke had no choice. He produced Chidori to counter it. They jumped towards each other with those attacks powerful enough to kill. But there was no time to think. They clashed, and once again the attacks seemed to cancel each other at first. But then Sasuke felt himself getting weaker. Naruto's chakra, added to the Kyubi's, was overwhelming. He could almost feel the extent of his rage and frustration, and it was all directed at him.

Sasuke let out a strangled pained yell as he was defeated. He felt his body fall, and he was unconscious before he even hit the ground…

xxx

When he woke up, hours later, he was being carried on Kakashi's back. They were on their way back to Konoha.

"Naruto…" he whispered in a rasp voice.

"…He's gone." Kakashi said simply.

He squeezed his eyes shot and a few tears of pure frustration rolled down his cheeks. It was too late… He hadn't been able to bring him back… In the end, their friendship hadn't been enough…

TBC

A/N: Well, all I can say is, this is terribly ironic. I'm aware that it probably doesn't all make sense. But this isn't meant to be a mysterious story where you'll be confused and won't understand a thing. It will be all a lot clearer in chapter 2. I hope you enjoyed so far. Please review to tell me what you think!