I stand with Sasuke at the edge of the crater, staring down at the remains of the hideout. Sakura and Naruto stare back, eyes wide, like they are remembering a dream. They stand frozen beside a boy, Sai, who replaces Sasuke, and a man with chestnut hair who replaces our sensei.

There is no one to take my spot, but when I look at Sakura, I see she is everything I could have been and more. There's only one thing she doesn't have, could never have in the same way that I do.

I take Sasuke's sleeve as Sai says, "Naruto and Sakura would do anything to protect their bonds with you. I still might not understand it that clearly, but you must understand it, Sasuke. And you, too, Ren."

I purse my lips at the sound of my name coming from this stranger's mouth. How dare he pretend to know us? I look down on them and say, "You may be right, but when bonds no longer serve us, those bonds need to be broken. Sasuke and I have a bond between our families, one that's united us over lifetimes. That is what has maintained us."

Sakura inhales sharply. Over the years, she had suspected there was something that kept Sasuke and me together. Now, hearing it from my own mouth, her suspicions are confirmed.

"The bond between Sasuke and me," I say, lowering my voice, "it's the only one that matters."

"Ren's right," Sasuke says, "that's why we severed other bonds. And I have a different bond between my older brother and me. It's the bond of hatred. These two bonds are all I need. Too many bonds will only lead you astray. It weakens your ambition and distracts you from what really matters."

Naruto grits his teeth, demanding, "If that's how you felt, why didn't you kill me that day, Sasuke?"

"It's not that I couldn't break our bond, Naruto," Sasuke says. "I was simply doing what my brother was doing before me. It was only another way to gain power. I don't owe you any explanations – all I will tell you is, that day, I only spared your life on a whim, nothing more."

I tug on Sasuke's sleeve. "We've wasted enough time," I say. "Let's go."

He eases my hand from his shirt. "I should finish what I started. This will only take a minute."

Before I can stop him, Sasuke dives into the crater, appearing in front of Naruto, an arm braced on Naruto's shoulder as though he means to pull him into a hug. He unsheathes his sword and starts to drive it into Naruto's back. Sai leaps forward, catching Sasuke's wrist, only for Sasuke to send a stream of his Chidori through his body, surrounding himself in an electrical field and immobilizing both boys.

Sakura moves. I jump into the crater and catch her fist in my palm while the team's new captain intercepts Sasuke. Grabbing Sakura's forearm, I toss her aside. Sasuke impales their captain with his sword, digging it into his shoulder and pinning him to the debris. An electrical current goes through his sword, paralyzing the captain.

I shake out my hand, feeling the power behind her punch. She's been training, practicing her chakra control. If this gets out of hand and we go head-to-head, she could probably hold her own against me.

"Ren," Sakura says, and I bristle at the sound of my name, at the way it vibrates in the open air. "Please. You can't really have forgotten everyone. This whole time, Shikamaru—"

"Don't," I say, my chakra welling inside of me. "You show up here and believe that names will mean anything to us after all this time. You don't know us. You don't know who we've become."

Sakura backs away at the ferocity of my voice, stung. Naruto stirs beside her, drawing our attention. When he lifts his head, his eyes glow red, his irises forming cat-like slits. The vibrations hike around Naruto as his chakra suddenly multiplies tenfold.

"Sasuke," I say and step aside to let him see. Sasuke's Sharingan widen, the tomoe slightly spinning.

In my mind's eye, I see it: a fox the size of a beast, its skin bubbling with orange chakra. The Kyuubi. Sasuke's vision sharpens. With the Sharingan, Sasuke makes the Kyuubi's chakra dissipate.

Naruto's eyes return to normal. He pushes himself to standing.

While Sasuke is distracted, the new captain presses his hands together in a seal, and wood pushes through his injury, knocking Sasuke's sword back. He continues to flip through seals – wooden beams sprout from the earth and curve overhead in a dome. I flip through seals of my own, calling up stone spikes to break through the dome and give us an opening to escape.

Sasuke and I land on the lip of the crater. I frown, saying, "I told you we should leave. Look how troublesome—"

I stop myself. Sakura takes advantage of my momentary lapse and says, "Ren, I know you never wanted to leave the village. I know you only followed Sasuke-kun because you wanted to protect me and Naruto. Maybe you thought you could convince Sasuke-kun and got wrapped up in it too—"

"Quit wasting your breath, Sakura," I say. "Nothing you say has ever gotten through to me. I never saw you as an equal."

"How can you stand by and let Sasuke-kun do this, Ren?" Sakura demands, undeterred this time.

"You should know better than anyone that Orochimaru only wants to use Sasuke!" Naruto agrees.

"I don't care what happens to me," Sasuke says, "or anyone else. All that matters is that I get my revenge. Neither Orochimaru nor I are strong enough to defeat Itachi alone, but if I can obtain the power to defeat Itachi by giving myself to Orochimaru, then I'll give him my life a thousand times over."

"And if this is what Sasuke wants," I say, unmoved by the fear on their faces, "then I'm going to help him get it. That's the kind of bond we have. In the end, we'll both get what we want."

The captain staggers to his feet, grimacing as the wood in his chest withdraws. He announces that he'll no longer hold back, that Sasuke and I are rogue shinobi of the Leaf, and we need to be detained using whatever means necessary.

Sasuke scoffs. He impales his sword in front of me and weaves through hand seals. His chakra charges up, and I tense, stuttering, "S-Sasuke, wait—"

Sasuke raises his arm into the air – but Orochimaru arrives at last and catches Sasuke's wrist. "I wouldn't bother with that," he says. "Be smart about this."

"Let go," Sasuke says.

"Now, now," Kabuto says, appearing on the other side of me. "I'm not going to tell you again. Watch your tone with Orochimaru-sama."

"You're not in any position to talk down to us," I say. "Where have you been this whole time?"

Kabuto narrows his eyes at me, saying, "I was tied up. Regardless, listen to your elders for once."

Sasuke glances at Kabuto, even less inclined to follow orders from him. "Give me a reason to stop."

Kabuto scoffs. "You remember the Akatsuki, don't you? We want the good people of the Leaf to take care of as many of them as possible." Kabuto gestures to the shinobi in the crater. "If the other Akatsuki interfere, you might not get your precious revenge. If it helps your chances even a small amount," Kabuto says with a shrug, "it's worth it. Wouldn't you agree?" At this Kabuto looks me.

"Kabuto is right, Sasuke," I say, hating that I have to admit it. "If Itachi still has the Akatsuki behind him, there's no telling what we'd have to do to get him alone."

Sasuke arm relaxes, falling back to his side. I hand Sasuke his sword. He shoves it back in its sheath.

Around me, Orochimaru, Sasuke, and Kabuto burn up, heading to our safehouse. But I delay my escape, lingering to have a final word with them. They mistake my remaining as a return.

"Ren," Sakura says with a breath of relief. "You—"

"Don't come after us anymore," I say. "Don't look for us. Let Sasuke complete his revenge. Until he accomplishes this goal, he will be dangerous every time you get in his way. He will kill you. And I won't be able to protect you next time."

"Ren—"

I burn up, too, disappearing to follow Sasuke once more.