AN: Once again, before beginning I would like to respond to an anonymous review. (Sorry, it's the only way I really can). Guest who mentioned that you didn't like how I was blaming the war on Sasuke: first of all, the opinion that sasuke is to blame for the war was that of Lee and Kiba and the ninjas of Konoha, not necessarily my opinion. You have to see it from their perspective and not the perspective of the reader, as the characters don't get the full bird's eye view: Naruto was always at risk from the Akatsuki, however it wasn't until after the 5 kage summit when Sasuke attacked that his life was in serious danger. After Danzo, Team 7 saw Sasuke with Tobi who ended up attacking the village. So in my opinion, the people of Konoha would probably see Sasuke as the cause of their problems. Now, taking into account all the information we have as the readers, my personal opinion is that Sasuke was not fully to blame, but he's not innocent either. A war would've happened without him there, but perhaps it would've happened later. He was more of a catylist and less of a cause if that makes sense. Please note that my opinions and the character's opinions may differ, so while they may currently think Sasuke is the root of all evil, I don't necessarily agree.

And now, on with the show. Footnotes above the AN


Chapter 12

Sai hadn't had any luck snatching keys from teams. He'd sent his ink animals out to scout, and they'd all come back bearing the same news: the only teams within reach were strong enough to require at least two members of Team Seven to defeat. Not wanting to resort to finding Sasuke and working together, Sai widened his search and continued.

This pattern continued for some time until Sai finally admitted defeat and decided to turn back and find Sasuke so at least they wouldn't return to Naruto empty handed. It was at this moment that he heard the blood curling scream. It wasn't coming from nearby, so he quickly and quietly moved closer to where he assumed the sound originated from.

Three ninjas, clearly teammates, were preparing for an ambush of some kind. One of them, a tall brunet, whispered to the other two, who crept away. Sai's first assumption was that they were targeting someone else, but then the first ninja transformed into an injured Naruto.

Sai was immediately on guard, thinking they wouldn't pull this farce on anyone but one of the blond's teammates, but the fake Naruto crept away from him, limping and moaning in pain. That wasn't right. And also, why would they show him their transformation? No, the only thing it could be, Sai quickly concluded, was that they were ambushing someone else. And that someone else had to be the only other member of Team Seven: Sasuke.

Silently as he could, Sai followed the false Naruto watching to see what the Uchiha would do. These idiots won't even know what hit them, he smirked in his head, imagining them all being pinned with the Mangekyo…Wait. Sasuke can't use the Sharingan. Just as he was thinking this, the subject of his thoughts stepped out from behind a bush. The Uchiha was staring at the fake Naruto as if he couldn't see him, his facial expression blank. Come on, come on, Sai urged in his mind, don't fall for it. You can't use your Sharingan but you can still tell right? There's no way that's the real Naruto…

"S…Sas…uke," the fake stuttered before collapsing on the ground. Sai had to admit that if he hadn't seen the transformation, he would've been almost fooled. The voice was spot on, and the disguise was nearly flawless. Except Naruto would never get in that situation to start with.

He expected Sasuke to turn around and immediately find those ambushing him, or even laugh and cheer that the "obnoxious dobe" was finally dead. What he didn't expect was to see the Uchiha crumple to his knees and stare at the seemingly unconscious Naruto with what could be called a pained expression. Sai's heart tugged on him slightly when Sasuke's legs and arms were entrapped by bits of earth and still the raven didn't move, didn't blink. At that moment, Sai realized he didn't have to like Sasuke, but he could at least trust him a little more.

He recognized this team as one of the ones he'd spotted earlier who seemed to be at a high enough level he couldn't steal the key on his own. But, he figured, he could scare them away at the very least.

Sai's ink lions burst into the area all at once. One charged toward the still body of the fake Naruto on the ground while the remaining two lions ran into the sparce underbrush, chasing away the two teammates in hiding. The fake Naruto jumped up and transformed back into the tall brunet guy Sai had seen earlier.

"…The FUCK?!" He yelled, trying to slice the lion with his kunai. The ink separated and then reassembled as the lion charged once more. Giving up on the fight, the brunet ran off after his teammates, leaving Sasuke alone in the clearing, the earth that had been binding him down crumbling harmlessly.

Sai stepped forward as his lions disappeared and approached Sasuke. Given the raven's reaction to the situation, the artist wanted nothing more than to mock him. "You've grown so used to having your Sharingan as a crutch you can't even tell genjutsu from reality without it anymore."

Sasuke didn't respond. Instead he continued to stare blankly at the spot the fake-Naruto had just lay. Sai wasn't one who knew a lot about human emotions, but Naruto and Sakura had taught him a lot. He could tell if someone were trying to hide something, or if they were faking a smile now. But what he couldn't identify was the look on Sasuke's face. It seemed as though the Uchiha were hiding his emotions, but what the raven was feeling was beyond Sai. Something about the way Sasuke kneeled on the ground, unmoving and unblinking, jarred something in the former Root member's heart.

"You know," Sai began, despite the appearance that the Uchiha couldn't hear him. "I read Naruto's file before joining team seven." He waited for some sign that the raven was listening. After a few moments of silence where Sasuke didn't say anything, Sai continued. "It was interesting; he seemed to be an enigma to me. He was rebellious, always disregarding the rules for no apparent reason, and yet he had been given all these interesting missions. To say the least; I was intrigued." Sasuke finally blinked.

"He becomes friends so easily with others, don't you think? It's almost like people want to hate him, but can't because they're so drawn to him. And he trusts them. He trusts too easily." The raven gave no indication that he was still listening. "He was always going on about you and your bond of friendship with him. He believed he could bring you back if he could only find you." He had Sasuke's full attention now.

"I spared you back then because I wanted to see what a deep bond of friendship looked like. If I had just followed my orders, I would've killed you silently, swiftly."

"I don't need to be spared, thank you. I can handle myself," Sasuke replied venomously, standing up.

"Hmm. I can see that." Sai looked pointedly around the area where the other team had recently fled.

"Slight miscalculation," the other scoffed.

Sai ignored him. "I don't think you're going to kill everyone anymore. I was concerned when I saw you communicating with your former traitor friends; that's why I was so adamant we continued walking. But the reaction you had just now made me believe what Naruto had said all those years ago. I may regret it later, but I'm going to trust you now."

Sasuke looked startled at the blunt honesty from Sai. "Why?" He finally asked.

Sai chose to ignore him. "I'm going to follow them and make sure they don't find us. Were you able to get a key?"

Much to the artist's dismay, Sasuke held up a small key. "Take it back to the cave Naruto is. I'll be back later." As the Uchiha walked away, Sai began to track the other team. He shouldn't have let them out of his sight, but it worked out better this way; now Naruto and Sasuke would have time to talk.


It started raining several hours after Naruto was left in the cave alone. He assured himself that the ledge leading to the opening was up high enough from the base of the canyon so as to not let water in, but it didn't stop him from needlessly worrying. How would Sasuke and Sai get back in? Kakashi had warned them to not be caught in the canyon when it rained, and now Naruto could see why.

The water flowed quickly over the edge of the cliffs into the slots, filling them up quickly. The sounds of people screaming had reached the blond's ears the moment the rain began, and were only stopped when the water had presumably reached a height somewhere above 5 feet. Kakashi's warning now held meaning to him; getting caught down there meant no escape from drowning. Even the strongest ninja didn't have a chance against nature. (1)

So to say Naruto was surprised when Sasuke walked in, alone and unharmed, would be a gross understatement. "Where's Sai?" The blond asked warily, but his only response was the sound of metal hitting rock when something dropped from the raven's hand. He squinted at the ground. It was a key. That can't be good.

"Sasuke, answer me," he pleaded. Sai was his friend, and he couldn't stand to lose any more than he already had.

"He's fine," Sasuke grunted before lying down, his back to Naruto.

"But what about the flooding…?"

"We weren't in the slots, and he's not stupid. He'll be back when the storm clears."

"How can you be so sure?" But Sasuke's words made sense, and Naruto's tone lost its desperate quality.

A sigh escaped the raven's lips. "Dobe, just shut up and let me sleep." Naruto knew better than to argue.


The first thing that alerted Sasuke he was dreaming was the fact he was back on the training grounds in Konoha. He knew, for a fact, that he was somewhere near the Sand, and it was pouring rain. There was no way he'd gotten back so fast.

Even so, that didn't stop him from enjoying the feeling of a slight breeze on his face. He leaned back against a tree and closed his eyes. Everything about this place felt peaceful.

A sudden shadow in the corner of his right eye alerted him to a presence. Goddammit, this is my dream. Who's disturbing me?

He opened his eyes to glare at whoever was ruining his dream. When he saw who it was, however, he stopped.

Naruto stood before him, a different look on his face than Sasuke was used to. It took him a moment to realize the blond appeared happy to see him, rather than giving the poorly disguised disgusted looks he'd been getting lately. To continue the strangeness, Naruto smiled and stepped forward.

"Naruto?" Gods, his smile was breathtaking, even in his mind.

The blond said nothing, but instead stepped even closer, his shadow covering the Uchiha completely. Sasuke's heart sped up. What was going on? The other's grin grew wider as he leaned in towards the raven.

"Nar–"

A pair of lips stopped Sasuke from speaking. He felt a hand stroke his chin, before cupping his face, while the other made its way to the back of his neck, pulling him closer. Without thinking, Sasuke kissed back. He wrapped one arm around his partner's head to fist the blond's hair. With his free hand, he grabbed Naruto's bicep and tugged on him a little, bringing their bodies flush against each other. The raven was about to open his lips, make the kiss deeper, when he became suddenly aware that he wasn't kissing anything anymore.

Confused, Sasuke opened his eyes. Naruto had somehow reversed their positions and was standing near the tree, a sad look on his face. He was no longer smiling. The raven sensed something was wrong, so he looked around. There were no trees near him. There was nothing. He turned, wanting to go back toward the blond, to feel his arms around him again, their lips pressed together once more. But when he looked back, Naruto was further away than before.

Why is he getting away from me? Sasuke tried to walk back to the trees, but suddenly the world slipped out from under him, and Naruto started flying backwards. A moment later, Sasuke realized the blond was not the one moving; it was him.

He tried to stop, tried to grab onto something, tried to move back to where things were good, but it was hard to grab onto nothing, and he couldn't stop himself when his legs weren't even moving in the first place. As randomly as it had started, it stopped. Sasuke wasn't sure what was going on, so he spun around…

…And found himself face to face with Itachi.

"Aniki…"

Itachi, like Naruto, didn't respond. Sasuke was gripped with the intense terror that his brother could disappear at any moment, the same way the blond had.

"Itachi," he all but begged.

At first, he was afraid the other Uchiha would just stand and gaze at him with the unreadable expression, but instead he spoke. "Sasuke. You've grown."

The feeling of tears sprung into his eyes. He shook his head; Uchihas didn't cry. Itachi gripped his shoulders, stopping him immediately. Without a word, the elder Uchiha wiped the tears off his brother's face.

"I'm sorry," the younger said, startling even himself.

"Sorry? For what?"

"A lot of things, I suppose. I'm sorry I thought you were a monster in the first place. Sorry I didn't think before I chose revenge. That I didn't hesitate in my initial decision to destroy Danzo and the Leaf. And I'm sorry I never had the chance to prove myself good again before I was captured."

Itachi chuckled. "Foolish little brother. I never wanted you to know the truth."

"I trained so hard for you all this time, and now I have nothing to prove for it." Against his will, the younger Uchiha was starting to feel depressed.

"You were never training for me, Sasuke." Itachi's voice had a strange quality to it.

"What?"

The elder Uchiha let out a harsh chuckle. "You really are a fool, aren't you?"

Sasuke glared in a similar fashion as when he was a child. "Aniki."

Still grinning, Itachi spoke again. "Why did you want to defeat me in the first place?"

"Revenge," the younger answered almost immediately.

"Well, yes. But why the rush? For a while you were content with continuing to train and approaching me when you were ready."

"You had just come to town," Sasuke began, confused. "You were threatening my friend. I needed to get stronger as fast as possible."

"To defeat me or to protect him?"

He didn't answer immediately, thinking instead on his feelings from that time.

"Both, I suppose," he said finally.

"You killed Danzo for revenge, so why the focus on Naruto?"

Sasuke started. He wasn't expecting that. "What?"

"You may not be ready to admit it to yourself, little brother, but he's more important to you than I ever was."

"Don't be ridiculous," the younger tried to laugh it off.

"Oh, I'm quite serious."

Sasuke just stared.

"You said you originally left the village for both revenge and to protect him, but you won't admit that it was more for one than the other. If I had been after anyone other than Naruto, you would've been content with training harder and harder each day, remaining in the village until you determined you were ready. You never would have sought out such a dangerous method of gaining power. Kakashi would've been able to get you started, and you know that."

"What are you saying?"

But Itachi began to fade. Sasuke felt himself panic.

"Wait! Aniki!"

"I have to go now. The rest is for you to figure out."

His heart was tugging at him painfully. "Don't make me watch you disappear again, Itachi. It's not fair."

His brother was almost gone by this point. The elder Uchiha gave a genuine smile. "Foolish little brother. Life isn't fair. If I stayed forever, you'd never grow and move on."

"Itachi!"

"I am so proud of you, Sasuke." He was gone.

The younger Uchiha's cheeks felt damp as he opened his eyes. His arm was reaching outward in front of himself, towards his brother who'd just disappeared. He lowered it and wiped his eyes.

"Sasuke?" He turned his head and spotted the outline of one of his teammates near the entrance to the cave. The rain was still pouring outside. The raven sat up, making sure no tears were streaming down his face. None were.

"Is something wrong?" The voice repeated.

"Sai still not back?" He ignored the question.

"No." The blond walked towards Sasuke and plopped down next to him. A moment later he spoke again. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing. I know you guys think I'm some sort of idiot, but I know what a nightmare looks like; I saw you tossing and turning."

Sasuke felt heat enter his cheeks as he remembered the first half of the dream. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Naruto shrugged. "Say what you want, I know what I saw."

"It's none of your business, dobe."

To his surprise, Naruto seemed to get irritated. "It is my business, teme. You're my teammate and if something's wrong it affects me too."

It was hard to argue with sound logic, so Sasuke remained silent. The blond used it as an opportunity to continue.

"You talk about wanting to be friends and teammates and…whatever, rivals or something again, and yet you sit here, not telling me anything."

Sasuke decided he needed to interrupt. "I never said I wanted any of that, dobe. Don't put words in my mouth."

Naruto was quick to retort. "You want me to call you Sasuke again. Isn't that the same thing?"

Once again, Sasuke found he couldn't argue with the blond's logic. Damn it all, when had he gotten smart?

But Naruto plowed on. "I don't get you, Sasuke. Any normal person would tell their teammates if something's affecting their performance, but noooo. You're Uchiha Sasuke, you do what you want."

"Shut up," Sasuke hissed. The blond had gotten under his skin in a way no one else could, and he could feel all semblance of control slip away.

"I don't know if this is yet another revenge thing for you or what, but I don't want any part of it. You've been acting off for weeks – don't glare at me like that, even Sai's noticed. But whatever it is you need to get over it. It's obviously a problem if you're having ridiculous nightmares right after falling asleep – "

Most likely, Naruto would have continued to shout stupid things at Sasuke, but at the moment it was hard to do with the raven's hand around his throat. Sasuke was livid and he didn't know why. He just found himself yelling back at the blond.

"Don't even think you know anything about me, Uzumaki! You've never had to deal with your entire family begin killed or finding out it was all some stupid plot to keep Konoha safe! You've never had to watch someone you've cared about leave you! You've never seen them die!" He was breathing hard, his eyes wild.

"Of course I have, Sasuke."(2) The blond's voice was incredibly calm compared to what it had been moments before, his expression sad. Sasuke felt incredibly guilty. He dropped his grip and walked away, willing himself to calm down.

"Why did you leave?" Naruto spoke softly, voicing the question that should've been asked years ago, but never was.

For hardly a second, Sasuke considered pretending he hadn't heard it. He considered lying back down and trying to get some dreamless sleep where Naruto and Itachi wouldn't bother him. The second passed. Sasuke stopped walking, but didn't turn.

"I left because I had to."

The anger and irritation from before returned to the blond's voice when he next spoke. "What do you mean you had to? You could have stayed – "

Sasuke was having none of this. "Leave me alone Naruto; you seem to have that down to an art."

An irritated snort from behind him caused Sasuke to turn around. "You left for three years, and you expected me to just welcome you back with open arms? Are you high?"

Sasuke crossed his arms in front of his body. "I had to become stronger than Itachi –"

"And then you just had to come back to destroy the village." Naruto's voice was swiftly becoming hysterical again.

"The situation changed, Naruto."

"Oh yeah? The situation changed, huh?" Instantly, Sasuke could tell Naruto was baiting him into a fight. He wouldn't let him. "What, found out your brother was a victim and decided to switch sides?"

Sasuke tried to interject. "That's none of your – "

Naruto plowed on, ignoring him. "Couldn't have bothered to find out beforehand could you?" The blond was practically shouting now. "No you had to just go and fulfill your stupid revenge. Then because you were wrong you decide to take it out on everyone else –"

"Stop!" He didn't want to hear anymore.

"Why?! Can't handle the truth?!"

"This isn't your business, Naruto!"

"It isn't my business?!" The blond looked absolutely furious by this point. "You tried to kill me, Sasuke. THREE TIMES!"

"I WAS MAD AT YOU!" They were both shouting at the top of their lungs now.

"WELL THAT MAKES IT ALL BETTER THEN, DOESN'T IT?!"

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" He was being childish, he knew. But he couldn't help it; Naruto brought it out of him.

"HOW IS ANY OF THIS MY FAULT?!"

"YOU COULDN'T STOP ME!"

"What?" Naruto looked completely taken aback, his voice returned to its normal tone and volume.

"I – I uh…" Sasuke swallowed. He hadn't been expecting to reveal that. "Nevermind." Naruto looked about ready to say something more, so he decided it was time for a change of subject. "I won't let my performance waver again." He hoped the blond noticed the bite in his voice when he said that.

"Sasuke…"

"Just leave it alone." The raven didn't want to look at the blond, not when he could feel the turbulent emotions inside him. All he wanted was to get out of the cave, be done with this fucking exam, and move on with his life.


Footnotes: (1) As mentioned in the last chapter, slot canyons are formed by water rushing through rock. The danger of drowning in a slot canyon in the rain is real. If you plan on hiking through one, I highly suggest you check the weather ahead of time.

(2) He's actually had all these things happen: Naruto's parents died to protect Konoha, he had to watch Sasuke leave him, and then Neji died right in front of him. And that's just the canon. As you've already figured out by now, other people died in the war too (according to this fic). Because, let's be honest, one semi-major character dying does not constitute a war.

AN:There it is! The dream sequence was actually written way back before school ended in like chapter 4 or 5, so it's been through quite a few edits. Sai's story was also written about a month ago, so it's been through a few edits before joinging chapter 12. The shouting match between Sasuke and Naruto has been written and rewritten since it merged with the dream sequence months ago, and I have to say that this edit is more IC than all the rest were. Originally, Sasuke gave in and admitted he'd left the village to protect Naruto out loud. That's so unlike Sasuke that I chose to change the whole 500 word speech to "nevermind". It seemed more realistic.

So what'd you think? Like it? Hate it? Don't care enough to review? Haha let me know.

And one last thing: If you guys are impatient for updates and want to see what else I have planned for this pairing, then I suggest you check out my one-shots. For SasuNaru fans: check out The Alley Out Back - college AU with a lovely makeout session. NaruSasu fans: Companion one-shots The Smartest Idiot and The Stupidest Genius detail two different sides of the same story (also college AU). Don't care either way? Sasuke is Not Gay was the one-shot that inspired Fallout. And if you've read them all and want more, check out my favorite stories, because I have a bunch of SasuNaru/NaruSasu fics under there that I'm sure the authors would love to get reviews for.