"You have to get out of here!" said the Hokage.
"I don't want him to do that," said Orochimaru. "I want him to stay here so that he will see how much power I can give to him. Don't worry Sasuke. At the end of this battle you will see how much power I have and will join me so that you can gain power."
"I will join you on the day that Konohagakure falls," growled Sasuke.
"That is going to be today," Orochimaru smiled.
"I will never let Konoha fall," growled the Hokage.
"Nor will I," said Sasuke.
"We shall have to see," said Orochimaru.
Suddenly the battle began. Both Orochimaru and the Hokage ran forward to fight against each other. They moved so fast that Sasuke couldn't find a way to join in the battle without running the chance of hurting the hokage as well as Orochimaru.
It seemed to be only a moment before Orochimaru jumped back and began to perform hand signs that Sasuke had never seen before. He was actually surprised that he had never seen this jutsu. For the longest time he had believed that he already knew all of Orochimaru's moves, but this one was not like the others. He watched with his shuriken eyes as two coffins grew out of the roof that they stood on. A third one began to grow as well, but it was stopped when the hokage stopped the jutsu.
The tops of the coffins fell away to reveal the first and second hokages' dead bodies. Sasuke was shocked as they ran forward in Orochimaru's stead to fight the hokage. He got over it quickly though, so that he could help fight against one of these new enemies.
After some time of fighting against wood and water Sasuke saw the hokage begin to perform the one jutsu that Naruto had warned him never to let anyone do. It was the jutsu that the yondaime had used to seal the Kyuubi within him. "Stop!" he yelled at the hokage as he jumped in front of him and grabbed his hand before he could finish the jutsu.
"What are you doing?" the hokage yelled back.
"I'm stopping you from making a huge mistake," growled Sasuke. He pushed the hokage out of the way as another attack came in their direction.
"This is the only way to defeat him," said the hokage.
"You won't defeat him like this though," said Sasuke. "If you try, you will die in vain."
"There is no other way."
"There is another way."
"No there isn't."
"We just have to fight him together," Sasuke said as he blocked another attack.
"What about the hokages."
"I can get rid of them," Sasuke said. "I learned it with my sharingan. I just need you to buy me some time while I prepare."
The hokage looked skeptical, but he had no other choice than to do as Sasuke had said. Sasuke sank to the ground and began performing a series of very complicated looking hand signs.
Just as the hokage was about to collapse Sasuke jumped to his feet and sprinted forward. He grabbed both of the dead hokage's hands and threw them towards their coffins. He followed their flight and, as they regained their balance, he slammed his chest into their chests. This move he had actually learned from watching Kabuto try to perform it on Naruto more than once. It completely destroyed the nervous system so that there was no way that their bodies would ever be able to move again. He was grateful that he didn't have to perform the same jutsu on the fourth hokage who, he assumed, was in the third coffin.
Finally, he was able to face Orochimaru and fight him head on with the help of the hokage. He would admit that he would much rather face this foe of his lives with Naruto by his side, but he also felt glad that Naruto wouldn't have to face the man who had caused them both so much suffering in the past and the future. Naruto did not deserve to have to deal with him once again.
Both Sasuke and the hokage ran towards Orochimaru and began attacking him with all they had. Orochimaru was losing and they all knew it. Even with the body that he had taken from another person, he was becoming so damaged that he could barely move. Because of this he decided to play dirty. He pulled out a dagger and thrust it into the hokage's chest while throwing some sort of dust into Sasuke's eyes.
The hokage cried out in pain as he collapsed onto the floor and Sasuke wiped his eyes of the powder that had affected them. Even though he had gotten all of the dust out he could not see anything. The only thing that faced him was complete darkness. He wanted to chase after Orochimaru, but he couldn't do that since he could not see anything. He was happy though that he had been able to damage Orochimaru's heart while they were fighting. Orochimaru would have to have his heart fixed before he could attack again.
The three ANBUs who had been forced to remain outside ran to both of their sides. The only thing they could do though was to rush the two of them to the hospital.
Sasuke awoke to find that he still could not see. He could sense that both Sakura and Naruto were in the room with him.
"Sorry guys," he said. "I wasn't able to perform my part in this whole plan."
"It's not your fault," Sakura gasped. "That man played dirty. We can't win them all."
Naruto remained silent, and it scared Sasuke. Had he disappointed the boy so much that he wouldn't even talk to him? That's when he felt Naruto's rough fingers run just under his eyes. "Thank god," he sighed. "This dust will wear off by the end of today. I was afraid you might be permanently blind. That would have been horrible."
Sasuke sighed in relief. He didn't even care about the fact that he wasn't going to be blind (he hadn't even really allowed the feeling that he was blind to settle in), but he was relieved that Naruto wasn't mad at him.
Sakura smiled at the two of them. She really needed to get them together. Then a thought came to mind. It's time for another attempt. "You know Naruto," she said. "Sasuke will have to have someone watching over him until he can recover. He can't really stay here because they need the beds for those who got hurt during the battle."
"What about his parents?" asked Naruto. He liked the idea of being able to look after Sasuke and be by his side for the whole day, but he just didn't think he would be the right person for the job.
"They will have to be helping the village rebuild," Sakura answered. "There was quite a lot of significant damage, and the Uchiha's are expected to help out because they used to own the police force of Konoha."
"What about Itachi?" Naruto asked.
"All the ANBU have been called to protect the Hokage," she answered.
"Can't you take care of him?" asked Naruto. "You would be the best since you have more medical training than we do."
"I can't," she said quickly. "I promised to help the nurses at the hospital." Of course that was a lie since most people still didn't even know that she could do medical ninjutsu, but Naruto didn't have to know that. "You should do it. Sasuke doesn't trust anyone else as much as he trusts you."
"Ok," Naruto said happily. "I'll be glad to help out."
"Good," she said. "You should probably take him home now than."
Naruto nodded before helping Sasuke up. Sasuke didn't really need the help, he was temporarily blind not temporarily immobile, but he accepted it anyway because it gave him a reason to hold onto Naruto for the mearest of seconds. When he was steadily on his feet Naruto grabbed his hand and started pulling him out of the hospital room while Sakura watched them go with a smile.
"So what should we do?" asked Naruto when they reached Sasuke's house. They had walked all the way there holding hands and Sasuke didn't think he could have been happier. He supposed he would have to thank Sakura for her unwanted meddling now.
"Are my parents not home?" asked Sasuke.
"I don't think so," answered Naruto. "They're probably already helping the village rebuild."
"I see," said Sasuke.
"Would you like something to eat or drink?" asked Naruto as he guided Sasuke so that he could sit on the couch. When Sasuke was fully seated Naruto slipped his hand out of his grasp so that he could go to the kitchen and Sasuke had to resist the desire to reach out and pull him back.
"I don't need anything," he answered.
"You need to at least drink something," Naruto said.
"Than I will have water," Sasuke sighed.
"Ok," said Naruto. Sasuke could almost hear the smile in Naruto's voice and it made him long to see the other's face. He would go mad if he couldn't Naruto's face any longer. The thought crossed his mind that that could happen, but he pressed it to the side because he knew that if it ever did happen it would be far in the future and because of old age.
Naruto gave Sasuke the glass and helped him drink the water before he put it on the table until Sasuke would want some more. Just then Sasuke's parents walked through the front door. Naruto stood and bowed to them politely as he said, "It's very nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha."
Fugaku growled at Naruto and then walked upstairs. He was still mad at Naruto for telling the council of his family's plans to overthrow the hokage. Sasuke kind of thought it was annoying that his father still felt that way since it was Fugaku's fault for coming up with the plan in the first place. Besides, Fugaku's anger towards Naruto always made the few nights that Naruto stayed over very awkward for every person involved.
His mother, on the other hand, was much more accepting of Naruto. She saw only that he had saved her from the sharp edge of Itachi's sword. "Naruto," she said happily. "What are you doing here my dear?"
"Sasuke was attacked with some sort of powder that makes him blind for the day," Naruto answered. "I thought that I would take care of him until you guys came home. Now that you're here I should probably leave."
Sasuke tensed. He didn't want Naruto to leave just yet, but he couldn't think of an excuse to make him stay either.
"You should stay the night," Mikoto smiled. Sasuke sigh. His mother had never been one for needing a reason to do anything in this world.
"Oh I don't want to be a bother," said Naruto. He tried to stay away from staring the night unless they had something really important that they had to do because of Sasuke's father's hatred towards him.
"We don't mind sweetheart," said Sasuke's mother.
"I don't want to get on Uchiha-san's nerves," sighed Naruto.
"Please stay," Mikoto begged.
Sasuke could tell that Naruto was still wavering so he decided to use their last resort and gang up on him. "Please stay the night Naruto," he said.
Naruto sighed. There was no way he could say no when people began to gang up on him. Especially if one of those people was Sasuke. "Alright," he sighed. "I'll stay."