Sasuke was getting nervous. Days had passed, and he had heard nothing from Tsunade. As Anbu captain, he knew everything that happened in the village, he was supposed to, but in this case he had heard nothing of any kind of action on the Hokage's part. The only time he had brought it up, Tsunade only said "Wait. This is a soft operation, one that will require a very specific set of delicate skills. We can't rush this, but I promise, you will be the first to know."
Sasuke had felt this kind of tension before; he knew it well in fact. Before every battle, before every fight, before every conflict this feeling had come up. A feeling of tension and unease, as though different parts of him were battling, trying to tear him apart in different directions. It came as a relief that when he woke up this morning and walked down the stairs, Tsunade was waiting for him.
"It's time. The mission has begun, and I need your skills Anbu." Her words were serious, but the smile on her face wasn't. Sasuke had no idea what was going on.
"What do you need Hokage-san?"
Unable to contain her excitement, Tsunade began to pace around the living room. "This mission will be dangerous and unpredictable, considering the pieces involved in it. I don't know how long it will last, or even if it will be successful." She stopped in the middle of the room. "No, it will be successful. It has to be. All of our futures depend on it."
She looked up at Sasuke, hope and tears glittering in her eyes. 'This has to work Sasuke. It has to."
"Tsunade..." Sasuke was at a loss for words, but the Anbu in him caught on her cues of the mission and said with quiet efficiency "What do you need me to do."
"Your role in this mission will be support. You will assist the leader in any way she sees fit. Everything, everything, she orders you to do will be followed to the letter."
"Understood," The Anbu replied. Sasuke however was still quite lost.
"The first part of the mission is simple, but won't be easily accomplished. You need to bring Naruto to my office. You will not fail captain." Tsunade growled.
The war inside Sasuke intensified and he felt as though her were going to tear apart. "I don't know if I'll be able to accomplish this –"
"You. Will. Not. Fail." Tsunade punctuated every word. "It is time for a change Sasuke, and change needs to start with us. You were right with the intelligence you gathered, you were absolutely right, but we cannot allow the enemy to dictate our movements, we need to take control. It will be hard, it will even be painful, but...but this has to work." Tsunade wasn't able to keep up the tough talk. Tears were streaming down her face, but the hope hadn't left her eyes.
Sasuke sighed. "Tsunade, this isn't a war. We're only trying to bring, well, bring your Naruto back."
Tsunade began to walk out the door, and Sasuke thought she had ignored him. She paused at the door frame however and looked back. "No Sasuke, this is a war. This is the last war I will ever fight as Hokage, and I will not lose. You have your mission, I expect you in my office with the target as soon as possible. I'll be waiting...for as long as it takes." With that, she disappeared, leaving Sasuke alone with his own personal war.
Sasuke started to go upstairs and get his battle gear, but he stopped at the stairs. Naruto was supposed to be his friend, and the first thing he thinks about is getting his weaponry?
"Look Sasuke," he said to himself. "I know you're scared, but she's right. It's time for a change. Let's go face your friend." Sasuke walked out the door, closing it behind him.
When a ninja trains, they take it seriously. The skills that they are sharpening are there to save their lives, and more than any weapon, more than any jutsu, they need their skills to be the most deadly on the battlefield or else they won't survive. Naruto took his training to the next level though. Even Rock Lee, the genius of hard work, would have been impressed at his regiment.
One of the many things that people don't understand about ninja's is that they are not fighters. A normal fight lasts minutes. For a ninja it lasts seconds. You kill you opponent as quickly and as efficiently as possible. It doesn't matter how many push-ups you do, or how many training dummies you destroy. The goal is not necessarily to be stronger or faster, it's to be more deadly than your opponent. So Naruto had long given up on the basic training styles, and focused on sparring, on killing. After all, if you can make hundreds of clones of yourself, you might as well put them to good use.
"Five this time."
"Are you sure?"
"Is that supposed to be some kind of a joke? Are you sure?"
"All I'm saying is that you have a lot of weight on you, maybe four..."
"I am not going to have this argument with myself. Five, now, go!"
Five blonde ninja's rushed at Naruto, who was standing in the middle of his training field. He let them come, allowed them to surround him. With the amount of weight he had on, he wouldn't be able to move as quickly. He would need to be more efficient.
One threw a quick punch at his face while another tried to sweep his legs from under him. Damn, they were getting coordinated. He let his legs fly out and fell backwards onto the clone, a dagger in his hand. Kicking up got rid of another and a fast spin killed the remaining three. Four seconds, not bad.
"Don't you ever get tired of beating yourself up dobe?"
Naruto spun around and saw Sasuke standing at the edge of the clearing. "You're interrupting my training."
Sasuke rose a hand in an apologetic gesture. "Sorry, by all means, feel free to finish killing yourself."
Naruto smirked and went back to work, killing his clones with ruthless efficiency. There were hundreds of them waiting their turn, but at the rate he was going at, he would be finished quite quickly. Sasuke took the time to collect himself. He was glad he had been able to keep the nervousness from his voice.
He slowed his breathing, and tried to focus on Naruto, to get used to him being in sight. It had been a long time since he last seen him, let alone talked to him. It was amazing how he had changed. He was taller, more muscled. Not big though, he was lean, like a fox Sasuke thought with a smirk. His hair was longer too, tied back in a short pony tail. On the other hand, Naruto's signature spikes couldn't be denied. His hair was everywhere! It wouldn't stay containment much longer. Well at least he got rid of the orange jump suit though, thank god!
No...not thank god. Watching Naruto fight made him realize how much more vicious he was. There was no mercy in how he fought, no thoughts of empathy or kindness. He was ruthless. Breaking legs, snapping elbows. He had become a weapon. Sasuke wished Naruto would wear something orange, if only to see a piece of his old friend again. As it was, wearing a tight black t-shirt and dark grey shorts, he only looked more deadly.
"So what did you want Sasuke?" Naruto was finished and was towelling the sweat off his face. "Come to grab a beer with an old friend?" The sneer on his face was hard to miss.
"Actually, that would great, if you have time?" Sasuke felt a little bit better when he saw the shock paint itself across Naruto's face. This was getting easier.
Naruto collected himself, and the sneer came back. "I probably shouldn't, I doubt Sakura would let you off your leash to play with the strays dog boy." Okay, maybe this wouldn't be so easy.
Ignoring the comment, Sasuke tried to change the conversation topic. "Your training regiment is pretty impressive. You wear weights for strength, you keep hundreds of clones active while fighting for stamina and of course, there's the practical part too. Not bad."
"Glad to have your approval." Naruto glared at Sasuke. "What do you want?"
Sasuke had a flash of inspiration. If Naruto was a weapon, then let's speak his language. "Your moves have also gotten a lot better. Efficient, smooth, no wasted movements. Hell, I couldn't even understand how you did most of them, and even that has its advantages. If you were fighting on a battlefield, your next opponent wouldn't know how to deal with you."
Ice cold anger was blazing in Naruto's eyes now. "Sasuke, I know you're here for a reason, would you kindly spit it out?"
"Could you teach me?"
The ice melted. "You...you want me to teach you? You? Sasuke? Want me to teach you?" Naruto was on completely unfamiliar ground. Sasuke was asking for his advice?
Sasuke was already taking off his jacket and folding it up. "What's so strange about two friends sparring Naruto? Besides, there's always room to improve. Maybe it'll help you to train with someone who won't burst into smoke."
Sasuke realized he had said something wrong when the ice returned to Naruto's eyes. "Oh, we're friends now? Well alright, friend, " Naruto spat, "Let me show you a few things. I'm not going to take it easy on you. If you want to spar, then you're going to get hurt."
"I wouldn't want it any other way Naruto. Come on, show me your stuff."
Sasuke waited for Naruto to jump at him. He saw the anger in his eyes, knew that Naruto wanted to break him, but he didn't jump. He didn't charge in, screaming at the top of his voice like he used to. He stood there, waiting for Sasuke to make the first move, and this saddened Sasuke even more. How little of the old Naruto was left? The old Naruto would have jumped right into the battle, eager to prove his strength. Now, he was waiting, calculating. Cold.
Sasuke sighed and moved in for a body blow. Naruto twisted to the side, Sasuke's arm flying by harmlessly. Naruto grabbed his arm, twisted up, and before he knew what had happened, Sasuke was on his back, his arm pointing at a bizarre angle with Naruto holding onto his hand.
"If I pull, your elbow dislocates. How's that for a lesson?"
Sasuke only smiled. Patience, he thought. If Naruto wanted to hurt him, he wouldn't be making threats. He just would have done it.
"Not bad. Show me again."
The two of them met again and again, Sasuke almost always ending up on the ground, Naruto coldly explaining what he could break, or dislocate, or rupture, or even how to kill from that position. Sasuke took it all in stride, getting up, wiping himself off and asking "Show me again."
Neither one realized how long it had been going on until the light in the clearing began to dim. The two looked up and realized the sun had nearly set. Sasuke had arrived in the morning.
"Holy crap, what time is it?" Naruto was shocked. How could he have gotten so side-tracked?
Sasuke pulled himself off the ground, trying to get feeling back into his wrist, the latest victim. "I have no idea. I would say late, but maybe the sun is just getting lazy."
Naruto snorted. "I don't remember you telling jokes Sasuke."
Sasuke laughed. "At least they're better than the ones you used to tell dobe." He walked over to his jacket and swung it around his shoulders, wincing as his muscles screamed in agony. Naruto hadn't been lying; he was in some serious pain. On the other hand, he felt good, a deep down kind of good that Sasuke hadn't felt in a long time.
"Look, Naruto, I know it's pretty late, but I was serious about that beer. Now I owe you for the lessons."
A flash of emotion shot through Naruto's eyes, and Sasuke almost didn't recognize it. Then it iced over and he shrugged. "As long as you're paying, I'm always up for some booze."
The two started walking back to the village, in silence. Sasuke felt the war start up in him again, but for different reasons. What if he couldn't pull this off? What if this Naruto was here to stay? No...no deep down Tsunade's Naruto still existed. If he didn't, then it wouldn't have been fear that Sasuke saw in Naruto's eyes.