DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR DRAGON BALL Z.

Once again, please give the story named 'Dystopia Unleashed', by WhoIsThisDamnAuthor a look. I'd actually started writing 'The Path Of God' a long time back, and then decided to stop writing it. It was then adopted by my buddy, who decided to take it down a largely different path.

Thank you for your time! On with it!

Machination

There was a light drizzle in the air. The whisper of the trees stood paramount over any other sound that sluiced its way through the forest. And amidst the symphony of rainfall, the odd animal's cry and the swaying of leaves, the young boy's calculated footsteps was nothing.

He wore a thick coat, woven from fur. His head was drawn back, and his blonde hair seemed to stand out in stark contrast in the forest that dawn.

He silently unhooked the crossbow. Selecting a narrow-headed, steel-tipped bolt from his quiver, he nocked it. He paused a second, eyes on the deer. He was broadside. His startlingly cerulean eyes roved over the 'zone' for a moment, before he bent his knee.

'kchuck'

It was a clean kill, one a good hunter might've been proud of, but Uzumaki Naruto said nothing. He drew his hood, not wanting to get his hair wet, and moved. Slowly, he removed the bolt, closed the deer's eyes and got on with his job.

"Good."

It was a rather toneless compliment, but the seven year old broke into a rare smile. They said nothing more, as Naruto drew back his sleeves and bit into the venison. A fire crackled away merrily in front of them, waging a lone battle against weather that suggested that the morn was fit for naught but sleeping.

"Goku?"

The man turned towards him.

"What if I wanted to kill a human with the crossbow?"

"You will need a broadhead. This type of bolt is fit for a quick, clean kill, where you can't afford a second strike. A broadhead will pack a greater punch, will dent more than bone."

"Oh."

"But why speak of killing on a morning such as this, child?"

"Gloomy weather…nice, but…well, I was just thinking as I killed the deer, what it would take to kill someone, ya' know, a human."

"You have your answer, then. Shall we leave?"

The blonde-haired boy didn't reply. He got up and drew a strange back around his back. As the man named Goku walked outside, Naruto took a second to look around their cave. He knew it was silly, but he'd grown to like the cozy little place in the three days they had camped out there.

"Goodbye, little cave. We'll come back, one day!"

The man named Goku smiled, unknown to the boy. For just a moment, Goku was convinced that the voice, and the words it had uttered reminded him of another boy named Gohan.

Son Goku sat alone on the throne made of roots.

One…Two…Three…time had passed…so slow…so agonizing…

And then, finally, it happened. After such a long, long time, Son Goku felt his mind focus on the goal. It was far away, but not out of reach.

With a vigor driven by sheer curiosity to see what would happen next, Son Goku began scripting this tale.

"You are…Uchiha Madara…are you not?"

It seemed as if dusk seemed to have approached them a few hours earlier, for Uzumaki Naruto. The young boy was tired, traversal with the man being devoid of breaks. But the boy would not complain. Life with him, after all, had always been like this, what other company had he known?

Distance existed between the boy and the man. Son Goku had shown not an ounce of fatherly affection to the boy. There was a sense of coldness…emptiness about him, but Uzumaki Naruto always seemed to know that it was merely exterior. On the other hand, the boy loved him. As a son would. He had grown up mimicking the only person known to him. In speech, in manner…

And when the man started teaching him various things…survival, food, shelter, the boy absorbed it like a sponge. They had never talked much, never talked at length, yet the relationship they shared didn't necessitate it. A lot was said in the calm silence they had spent time in, all those nights just lying under the sky, skinning animals, eating.

And now, as he stood outside the rather foreign looking structure, a haphazard cross between a cave and a building, Uzumaki Naruto felt apprehension.

"This is where I leave you."

He turned up, looking into the man's depthless eyes.

"Seems like it."

"You know what to do…you know when we will meet next. Until then," they man knelt, his face close to the boy's. Uzumaki Naruto felt a strange heat at the back of his eyes.

"Take care, Naruto."

For the first time, Goku's hand swept across the boy's head, ruffling his hair for just a second. The boy bit his lower lip, trying to hold back the tear that threatened to betray him. His hands wanted to move, wanted to envelope the only man he'd ever known in a hug, but before they could, the man had gone.

The boy walked in. It was complete and utter darkness, yet the boy didn't seem to mind at all. He knew, for example, that he had to walk in the direction of the small breeze that seemed to make it's way into that part.

'Curious,' he thought…breeze inside a cave. The darkness was not a deterrent for the boy, for he had been raised not to fear it.

He walked, and the darkness seemed to disperse slowly. He regained more and more visibility, his eyes taking in the details. Cracked walls, dilapidated floors, the odd root that almost managed to trip him up as he walked.

And soon, he was inside what seemed to be the main hall. It was a large, large room, empty but for a single person standing in the far end. Uzumaki Naruto saw the man's head turn towards him, and for a second was befuddled, before realizing that the orange face wasn't a face it all, it was a mask.

"Uchiha Obito."

The voice was firm, but it seemed to have a large amount of color to it. For Uzumaki Naruto, even the emotionless delivery of the man's introduction contained more color than all those conversations with Goku.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

There was a moment of silence, before the man reached forward and removed his mask.

Naruto stared curiously.

"Whoa…your face. Those roots trip you up too?"

The man's face seemed to break into an odd smile.

"You're as I expected, young man. Welcome, I suppose. I cannot assure you that your stay here will be pleasant, but you will learn many new things, that you can be sure of."

The boy didn't reply, taking time to bask in the emotion being thrown at him.

'There is not a hint of falseness in the man's voice…Maybe this isn't going to be so bad after all.'

"Nice cloak…"

Uchiha Obito laughed.

"You will wear one day, child. Until then…"

Two characters. One the destroyer, the other the savior. A classic story, painted in hues black and white, told time and again.

How drab…

How fitting, for the world to encapsulate itself into something as simple as that…

A tale must be grandiose, it must have the details, of how the savior came to be, of why the destroyer came to be.

And most important of all, a tale must reflect life. Life isn't black in white. The boy who is born into the clan who only know violence, instead of becoming the destroyer as expected, would become the savior this time.

And the boy fated to save the world would destroy it.

Son Goku smiled. He wasn't capable of manipulation, he would not script the events one by one. He would ink the beginning.

Uzumaki Naruto would, appropriately ink the end.

Claps filled the air. The teacher looked at the boy with a smile on his face. The boy seemed to smile back confidently.

Uchiha Sasuke sat down, amidst whispers of congratulations, having passed the practical exams with highest possible marks. Several girls seemed to have their eyes on him.

The air was taking on a chill that evening. Children dispersed, telling each other about their tests, about how they'd messed up here and got it right there, and so on. The streets were starting to look lively, with the lights coming on and the chatter of the peaceful village's citizens filling the air.

Uchiha Sasuke walked confidently. In a few days, he'd be a genin…he'd be that much closer to Ita-nii. He knew for a fact that his brother had secured the highest possible marks back when he'd taken it too, but the raven haired boy doubted if he'd done it in record time! Why, the teacher had exclaimed th-

The boy froze.

Something was wrong. Something was-

What makes a savior? What makes him the hero we want to get behind? Is he the underdog? Is he fighting against all odds to uphold his ideal?

"O-Okaa-chan…?" The boy seemed to prod the body, yet the lifeless form of his mother lay still.

Or has he suffered a great loss, and he chooses to get past it…to stand once again…

Son Goku smiled. He'd been in time to save Uchiha Mikoto once. The second time, Uchiha Itachi's kunai had struck true.

Son Goku dipped his quill, smiling. He was not the one who was pulling the strings. Uchiha Itachi was being ordered by someone else, who was being controlled by someone else, who was someone else's puppet, and so on, and so forth.

He was merely the spectator, that was all.

End.

This update has come so late it cannot be called an update. Anyway, if you are still interested, here's what I have to say :

The 'style' of this story, is...well, rather irritating to some, I think. Instead of writing a set of events in a detailed manner, I'm skipping through them rather fast, focusing more on the individual moments rather than the whole set piece.

However, I hope there will be a change next chapter, so that this reads more like a normal story. I'll deal with both Naruto and Sasuke as protagonists, and tell both their lives as a more coherent story. This will mean longer chapters.

The whole story, however, will be a total of eleven chapters, of that I'm certain. Tis will mean that there will be timeskips, of course. If you dislike this...way of telling a story, do not continue.

Anyway, I have rambled on long enough.

Next time! :)