Chapter 1: Finished Fight, Redemption, and Acknowledgment

Author Note: This will be my first attempt at writing a Fanfiction story, so forgive me if my descriptions of fights and character interactions are a bit lacking.

Constructive criticism is welcomed. Also if anyone will be willing to help me Beta in the future contact me if you are able.

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO ALL CANON CONTENT BELONGS TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO.

"Speak" Characters Talking

'Speak' Characters Thinking

"Speak" Bijū and Summon Animal Talking

'Speak' Bijū and Summon Animal Thinking

Jutsu or Certain Key Terms

Lets start the story-

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Valley of the End

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Located close to the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound is a location called The Valley of the End. With a waterfall serving as a border between the 2 lands, the valley is memorialized with two giant statues of the main legendary combatants: Hashirama Senju on the Land of Fire's side of the waterfall and Madara Uchiha on the opposite side to symbolize his defection from their village. The statues are posed to make the Traditional Shinobi Sparring's Seal of Confrontation, which is protocol before a duel. It has some land around a giant lake, but, the valley is now heavily damaged to the point of almost none recognition due to a new fight that is approaching its final stages.

In the sky above The Valley of the End 2 new individuals are fighting. The first is Naruto Uzumaki (age 17 and he is 5 feet 5 inches) The village pariah turned hero after all his trials as a Shinobi. He is currently in his Six Paths Sage Mode his body is coated in yellow Chakra; a sort of circular design is featured prominently over his stomach; the whisker-like markings on his face become thicker; six magatama markings are present on or around his collar; various other dark designs appear along his body, sometimes densely enough to give the appearance that he's wearing a body suit beneath the yellow coat. A pattern consisting of a Rinnegan-like marking above nine magatama also appears on his back. His eyes are yellow while his pupils maintain the cross of vertical fox-slits with horizontal toad-slats there with no pigmentation around his eyes. His skin does not glow along with the rest of his slightly damaged outfit. He also wears a Konoha Hitai-ate.

The second is Sasuke Uchiha (age 17 and he is 5 feet 6 inches) the last of the Uchiha clan and a Rouge Ninja. He has spiky black hair with a blue tint and hair has hung over his face as bangs. He is wearing a gray zippered, high-collared, short-sleeved shirt with the symbol of his clan, blue wrist warmers, and dark blue pants, over which hangs a blue cloth that covers him from his stomach to his knees, which he secures with a purple rope belt. Though the outfit is slightly damaged. His right eye is his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan while his left eye is a Rinnegan that contains three tomoe on its two innermost circles for a total of six.

Sasuke wants to start a revolution where he kills the current 5 Kage and become the individual who will shoulder all of the world's problems alone, while Naruto wants to stop Sasuke's plan for a revolution that would result in Sasuke being alone for potentially all eternity.

Both are inside of their own creations of Chakra titans. Naruto through the use of shadow clones combined three Kurama avatars into a single construct with three faces and six arms, which is called the Asura Kurama Mode preparing his strongest Jutsu yet. In its right arms coated in yellow chakra, creating a Six Paths Big Ball Rasenshuriken (Rikudō Ōdama Rasenshuriken) and in its left arms, it creates a Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken (Bijūdama Rasenshuriken), both infused with natural energy. This Jutsu is called Rikudō: Chōōdama Rasenshuriken (Six Paths: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken). Sasuke through drawing on the power of the Bijūs, the armor of the Complete Body — Susanoo form is reduced somewhat, exposing the humanoid within covered in lightning called the Indra Susanoo. Sasuke creates a longbow and arrow that are infused with lightning-natured chakra. This Jutsu is called Indora no Ya (Indra's Arrow).

"You finally decided to kill me, Huh?" Sasuke says to Naruto preparing his Jutsu.

"We've taken on a lot of responsibilities upon our shoulders…" Naruto begins to say while remembering his first spar with Sasuke at the Konoha Ninja Academy. "But you see, I…" now remembering how Sasuke wanted to fight him during the Chūnin Exams preliminaries. " I wanna fight, and win against you fair and Square!" Naruto says with growing conviction and slight anger while Sasuke not saying anything looks uninterested in this. "But…not against the current you! But you already know that too…right Sasuke?!" Naruto concludes finally launching his Rikudō: Chōōdama Rasenshuriken (Six Paths: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken).

Sasuke still says nothing and finally launches the giant lightning arrow against Naruto's Jutsu. 'This fight with you right now, will be my last.' Sasuke begins thinking as time between the clash of the 2 Jutsus slows. 'Indora no Ya (Indra's Arrow)…Currently the most powerful Jutsu in my arsenal So justdie. Just be gone already!'' Sasuke concludes to think as the Jutsus collide with each other creating a massive explosion that results a blinding light.

The result of these 2 unrivaled Jutsus causes a terrain-altering catastrophe that destroys the land and almost everything around it…or at least in one perspective it was supposed to.


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Falling from the sky the purple Chakra of Sasuke's Susanoo and the Naruto's Bijū Mode come closer and closer to the ground while slowly dissipating until they both fall to the ground with dust covering them up. When the dust clears it shows Sasuke who lost the blue cloth that covers him from his stomach to his knees along with the purple rope belt and his gray shirt is damaged a bit. He coughs once and with his right arm slowly pushes himself up using his arms and legs for support. He is panting seemingly close to exhaustion, but is running on adrenaline now.

But when the dust clears across from Sasuke, Naruto appears who is no longer clad in his chakra with his normal but damaged appearance exposed; yellow-blond, spiky hair and blue eyes, as well as his three whisker markings on his cheeks returning to their normal line state. Naruto's wears elbow length mesh armor, orange pants, and his Konoha Hitai-ate has is black in color. He has his right knee and right hand on the ground, while his left foot is on the ground and his left arm resting on his left leg for support. He is panting seemingly close to exhaustion, but is running on adrenaline now.

"Damn it…" Sasuke starts to say as he stands up "You're not—!"

Naruto says nothing as he makes his cross-fingered handsign. "Naruto!" he pauses as he hears a gruff, but slightly worry voice and get pulled into his mindscape.


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Naruto's Mindscape

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We now see the Yin version of Kurama or more commonly known as the Kyūbi. He is a giant kitsune with nine long swiping tails. He has dark orange almost brown colored fur with black fur around its eyes that stretches to its ears, red irises with black slits for pupils and the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands.

"If my Nature Energy didn't make it to you in time, you'd have been blown away just now!" Kurama begins to tell Naruto. "And your Chakra has already been drained from—" He continues but is interrupted by the outside fight.


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"Amaterasu!" Sasuke says, as his left eye bleeds a bit as black fire sudden appears seeming engulfing the right arm Naruto used to defend his face. But Kurama's Chakra covered Naruto's arm just in time then separated from Naruto's arm onto the ground and Naruto begins to move closer to Sasuke. 'Only a diversion, huh? I can't actually take him down with this…' Sasuke begins to think as he brings his hands together 'I need the Bijūs…' as Sasuke thinks this his left eye suddenly gets assaulted by a pulse of pain and grabs the left side of his face with his left hand. 'I've used too much Chakracan't maintain control!' Sasuke grits his teeth trying to fight the pain. 'At this rate, I can't use my left eye's abilities either!' as Sasuke is forced to keep his left eye shut.

After hearing a splash of water Sasuke gets alerted to Naruto's presence once again as his right eye's Sharingan had already shifted to it's original 3 tomoe state and while it looked like Naruto was going to punch him, but suddenly Sasuke got kicked upward by another Naruto. Then 2 more Narutos appeared from smoke and kicked Sasuke a bit more, then as that one Naruto that was going to punch him Sasuke's Sharingan was able to read Naruto's movement and while Sasuke did get punched in the face his arm slammed into Naruto's face resulting in them getting sent to the ground. Sasuke then removed the blue wrist warmer on his right arm to reveal a seal. He activates it and 3 Shuriken appear, then by grabbing them he infuses them with lightning chakra and as he rolls on the ground he throws them at 3 Narutos paralyzing them. Sasuke then charges in with a Chidori covering his left hand at the 3 Narutos in front of him and 2 of them poofed away while the 3rd one stayed in one piece signifying that this might be the real Naruto and this Naruto grabbed his arm holding him in place. Then to Sasuke's surprise the 4th Naruto that was behind him gets runs to him and gets punched, afterwards the Naruto that Sasuke attacked got poofed away as well showing that it was a fake. And Sasuke hits the ground a few times before stabilizing himself.

Naruto pants in exhaustion, but despite this he still creates a Rasengan in his right hand and runs toward Sasuke. Sasuke's right eye then turns black colored showing his Sharingan had deactivated and his Chidori had stopped working as Sasuke looked panicked. However fatigue managed to catch up to Naruto and caused him to trip sending his Rasengan into the ground making a hole in it. Taking the opportunity Sasuke kicked Naruto in the face and once Naruto was on his back Sasuke sat on Naruto's chest to make sure he didn't get up. Naruto puts a hand on Sasuke's face to stop him, but that didn't stop Sasuke from punching him like crazy as Naruto tires to defend as Naruto's left eye begins to swell. Naruto then grabs Sasuke's shirt to give him a headbutt, which causes Sasuke to get up and then Naruto kicks Sasuke in the chest. Naruto slowly gets up and walks towards Sasuke, while Sasuke who was his back slowly pushes himself backwards.

'He's still not—!' Sasuke thinks in growing frustration. "Give up already…" Says exhaustingly as he gets up and runs toward Naruto, while Naruto just takes a deep breath and runs towards Sasuke.

"Sasuke!/Naruto!" both yell at the same time as they punch each other. They keep punching each other as blood spills out of them in varying degrees, adding a couple of kicks in as well as they both scream. This pattern of fighting continues even at dusk when Naruto and Sasuke keep fighting, barely able to stand, or even land hits on one another and even if contact is made the attacks are weak. Now Naruto just keeps his fist on Sasuke's head while Sasuke just keeps his fist on Naruto's stomach both panting in exhaustion as both of them fall on their knees and Naruto's Konoha Hitai-ate falls on the ground.


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Naruto's Mindscape

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"Hang in there!" Kurama says while keeping his hands together. "It's not much, but I've finished infusing some more Chakra—!" Kurama continues, but he notices something amiss.


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The fist Sasuke has on Naruto's stomach starts absorbing some of Kurama's Chakra. "This is one of the abilities of the Rinnegan. As someone who possesses the eyes of the Uchiha…" As Sasuke tells this to Naruto struggles to stand strait and eventually falls on his arms and knees. "My victory is inevitable."

Sasuke now stands up. 'Now…' he thinks as he holds his left arm to use the Chidori again. 'Now, I can finally be alone!' as he stands over Naruto's panting form. "Farewell…" he begins to say as the Sharingan in his right eye reactivates. "My one and only…friend!" Sasuke finishes saying as he begins to strike Naruto down with his Chidori.

As the lightning Jutsu approaches him Naruto looks at his Konoha Hitai-ate and see a reflection and quickly looks towards Sasuke and gets face to face with him and for a moment Sasuke's right eye twitched in pain and his Sharingan deactivated once again. At that moment Naruto gets his second wind gives Sasuke an uppercut with his left fist resulting in Sasuke getting punched into a wall of rock with dust blocking his vision. Naruto bends down for a moment to recuperate.


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Naruto's Mindscape

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"That was a great Counter! You didn't miss the fact that his Visual Prowess is weakened! Kurama praises Naruto on his counterattack.


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Naruto says nothing as he picks up his Konoha Hitai-ate off the ground and holds onto it in his left hand as he looks at the hole he punched Sasuke into.

Sasuke puts his right hand on the edge of the hole waiting to get out. "Over and…over and…over and…over and…over and…over and over and over and over and over again!" Sasuke says each time with growing frustration and anger and slams his fist against the wall a few times. "Just give up and let me cut you down!" Sasuke screams.

While Naruto gives one small out of breath laugh he says "Can't do that." While Sasuke looks angered and confused Naruto finishes by saying "'Cuz I'm your one and only friend!" almost smugly. Which angers Sasuke for a moment until he takes a deep breath and reactivates the Sharingan in his right eye and creates a vicious looking Chidori in his left hand.


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Naruto's Mindscape

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"I figured as much…" Kurama begins saying. "He's assimilated the Chakra I created and infused for you, and made it his own…" Looking outside the mindscape for a moment Kurama says "He is gathering all the Chakra he can into that Jutsu…He intends to finish this with one last blast." Kurama concludes assessing the situation. "Listen, I'm giving you what remains of my own Chakra…" Kurama begins saying his final advice and plan to Naruto for a while as Naruto turns to look at him. "Once I do that it's going to put me to sleep. Don't unleash your Jutsu until the last minute, so he doesn't absorb more Chakra from you. Well, not that he can use his newly awakened Rinnegan to absorb Chakra while putting out his own Jutsu…" Kurama then gets a bit stunned as Naruto says nothing holding out his left arm in a fist and looking at him a smirk of silent confidence. Kurama closes his eyes for a moment and then gives a grin as he uses his right arm and gives Naruto a fist bump for a few seconds. Then Naruto begins to walk away.

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Kurama's Flashback

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"Who are you to be so confident when you couldn't even save Sasuke?" Says the Yang version of Kurama who had red-orange fur and was filled with anger.

"I've never given up" Naruto begins to say while directly look at Kurama's eyeball. "Once you give up, it's over. I will save Sasuke, and…I'm coming after all that hate inside you too, someday!" Naruto finishes with a smile.

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Flashback over

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As Naruto leaves the mindscape Kurama's last thoughts before his sleep are, "Now go…You're the one and only for us too…" his thoughts slow as he closes his eyes. "That's why Sasuke is…"


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Naruto and Sasuke just stare at each other waiting for the moment of their final clash. As a leaf slowly makes its decent into the water between the 2 fighters. As soon as the leaf hits the water Naruto as Sasuke jump towards each other, Sasuke going downward and Naruto going upward. As Naruto makes a Rasengan in his right hand he feels the hands of everyone who supported him to help him form this Rasengan. As Naruto and Sasuke are waiting to clash they see their progression as Shinobi from kids at the academy till now while screaming until their Jutsus clash once again creating a blinding light as Sasuke thinks many things from the past.

'Naruto…' from their first fight in the Valley of the End. 'Just disappear already…' from their first reunion in 3 years since his defection. 'and take our bond along with you!' From their clash some point after killing Danzō to their current clash and final clash.


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Possibly Purgatory?

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An academy Sasuke wins a spar with an academy Naruto with Iruka telling them to make the Unison Sign and with anger filled glares the 2 kids begin to fight each other then the image stops and turns black and white. As the 2 older versions of Naruto and Sasuke with his black eyes completely uninjured and clothes undamaged watch in the 3rd person. "What is this?" Sasuke asks while Naruto just glances at him and remains silent.

Now it shows when Sasuke and Naruto talk to each other sometime after Danzō's death and his fight with Kakashi. "Sasuke…" past Naruto speaks. If you and I fight…We'll both…die."

Now it shows the current Naruto and Sasuke at their old training ground where the bell test was conducted. "Am I dead?" Sasuke asks out loud having a melancholy expression.

Now it shows them in Haku's Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals) "This sensation…" Naruto starts talking then it shifts to the hotel where Naruto first encountered Itachi and Kisame "It must be…" then it shifts to the roof of the Konoha Hospital where the water containers were struck by their Chidori and Rasengan respectively "Probably." Also having a having a melancholy expression.

Sasuke then walks and Naruto follows to the top of a random building in Konoha with everything looking dark and depressing. "Pitiful, isn't it?" Sasuke asks but Naruto gets confused and then he looks down. They see a bunch dark shadows in the shape of people surrounding an academy Sasuke and an academy Naruto. "You had the Kyūbi…and I was an Uchiha. We were ostracized from the village and treated like outcasts." Sasuke says then suddenly the older Naruto and Sasuke got transferred in that circle. "And we represented the village and it's people. Right?" as Sasuke finished saying this the young Naruto screamed and ran through the shadows and the young Sasuke said "I won't let you say I'm wrong." As Naruto just looks at the young Sasuke the back at the real Sasuke. "You called me your brother…In that sense, perhaps we were." Sasuke says to Naruto.

Now it shows them on a lake in Konoha during a sunset "You're totally wrong! Damn it, you don't understand, do you?" Naruto tells Sasuke as he slaps him in the chest then runs upwards and suddenly he turns into his academy self while Sasuke looks on and a young Sasuke looks at the lake.

Now it shows the academy Naruto swinging on the tree swing near the academy, then turning into his 13-year-old self, up to his current 17-year-old self as Sasuke approaches him. "Sorry, Grandma Tsunade…I promised…I wouldn't die…until I became the Hokage…" Naruto says out loud looking sad. Sasuke then looks at the Hokage Rock showing the faces of the 5 Hokages. Suddenly Naruto stands up and panics "Oh yeah, The Mugen Tsukuyomi(Infinite Tsukuyomi)! This is bad! The Release Jutsu can't be activated without us there, right?!" He says in panic.

"You're dead…and you're worried about what happens to the world?" Sasuke asks Naruto.

"Of course! We can't leave it like that!" Naruto replies.

"Sakura and Kakashi still remain. They'll figure something out." Sasuke counters.

"I hope so." Says Naruto as he sits down again. Naruto then grabs his chest and looks to be in pain.

"Naruto!" Sasuke says a bit worried and everything turns black for a moment and then Naruto has disappeared. Sasuke looks left and right to see if anything happened and he looks back to the Hokage Rock "The Hokage, huh…" Suddenly an academy Sasuke was getting a piggyback ride by a younger Itachi Uchiha who is wearing black shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back, bandages around his ankles, and black sandals and wore tan pants. Itachi carried the young Sasuke to the village with only 4 faces on the Hokage Rock. "Pretty soon, Big Brother, they might carve your Great Stone Face over there." The young Sasuke says. Suddenly Itachi stops and the background becomes darker and then the blackout happens again, this time Itachi is the one who disappears as the young Sasuke falls on his butt. "Big Brother?" The young Sasuke turns his head left and right trying to find Itachi. Suddenly everything turns red as Sasuke remembers all of the moments when he hated Itachi from the Massacre to their final fight.

As Sasuke lays down in the rain after the fight he remembers Itachi's last living moments. Itachi taking his index and middle fingers and taps Sasuke on the forehead saying with a smile "Forgive me Sasuke. This is it." And now Sasuke remembers Itachi's last moments as a Reanimated Shinobi; giving him a one armed hug, taping his forehead to Sasuke's, and telling him "And no matter what you do from hear on out, know this…I will love you always."

Still laying in the rain Sasuke closes his eyes and thinks "Big Brother…I'll be seeing you…soon."


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It is nighttime as Sasuke starts to open his right eye and sees the moon a bit blurry at first.

"You've finally come to, eh?" says Naruto voice. Sasuke quickly turns to his left to see Naruto next to him but just as quickly gets a shot of pain through his whole body realizing both of them are still very much injured and his right eye is black indicating his Sharingan is no longer active. "As you can tell…both our bodies are pretty messed up right now and if either one of us moves too much we'll probably die of shock." Naruto says as plainly as possibly.

"Why would you go that far? Why do all that…just to get in my way?" Sasuke asks as Naruto remains silent. "I gained the power to enter the darkness, and sever all bonds…And naturally, everyone tried to cut their ties with me at some point." Sasuke begins to talk and then turns his head to Naruto and says "But you…You've never attempted to cut me off."

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Sasuke's Flashback

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"The only one who can handle all that hatred is me!" Naruto said this in the past.

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Flashback over

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Sasuke still looks at Naruto and asks "Why do you keep involving yourself with me?"

Naruto replies by saying "You already know, don't you? Now that your body can't move, your mouth sure is moving a lot."

"Just answer me!" Sasuke says impatiently.

Naruto turns his head to the right and says "'Cuz you're my friend."

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Sasuke's Flashback

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"What is it with you anyway?" A 13-year-old Sasuke asks.

"I'm your friend!" A 13-year-old Naruto with red Kyūbi eyes replies.

"Just what the hell do you want? Why are you so fixated on me?" An almost blind 17-year-old Sasuke angrily asks.

"It's because I'm your friend!" A 17-year-old Naruto says calmly.

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Flashback over

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"I've heard that before." Sasuke replies. But what exactly does that mean to you anyway?" Sasuke questions.

Naruto turns his head to see the sky and says "You can ask me to explain it, but I really can't put it into words." He pauses for a moment and continues to say "It's just that…When I see you take on stuff…and get all messed up…It kind…hurts me." Sasuke seems surprised by this. "It hurts so much inside, that I can't just leave it alone, Dattebayo (y'know)?" While Naruto keeps talking Sasuke just pays attention. "Though right now, I'm in a lot of pain all over, and I can't do anything about it." Naruto finishes as just says ouch a few time. Until Sasuke and Naruto blackout again.


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Possibly Purgatory?

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Now Sasuke thinks back as he once again sees the academy versions of himself and Naruto, except that Naruto is a good few feet ahead of him. 'NarutoI knew you were always alone back then. The village shunned you, just like they did with methe lone Uchiha survivor.' Now Sasuke thinks back to Naruto's moments of attention seeking. 'You intentionally did stupid things to get scolded, most likely to get people's attention. In the beginning, I thought you were good for nothing. A weakling who just wanted to goof around. But the more I watched you being idiotic and getting scolded over and over…For some reason, it started weighing on my mind.' Sasuke continues to think as he is still a few feet behind Naruto. 'I thought back then, that your weakness was gradually rubbing off on me. Then, every time I'd see you, I'd think about you more and more. Seeing you desperately trying to bond with othersmade me remember my family.' Sasuke continues to think as he sees a cracked photo of his family for a moment. 'And I didn't know why, but I felt relief. But at the same time, I considered it a weakness. I trained hard as if to escape that weakness.' As Sasuke thinks this cracks start to appear on Itachi's image in the photo. 'In order to get my revenge on my brother to become stronger then him.'

Now Sasuke continues to think as he sees himself at age 13 with Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi as a team and what they have been through. 'And yetI ended up on the same team as you. And I began thinking about my family again. I went on missions with you as you jabbered on and on about becoming HokageI say how both of us were getting strongerAnd one day, I started to feel the desire to fight you too. And I began to see a shadow of my own family in Squad 7…' now Sasuke just sees the 13-year-old Naruto in black and white then in color. 'That's way every time I saw you sufferingThat's rightI felt itI felt pain too. When I understood your pain, I finally saw you as a comrade. But on the other handI couldn't leave you alone. You were getting stronger and stronger. Watching you get steadily get strongerI…' the scene changes to when Naruto and Sasuke are 17 and Sasuke was almost blind back then.

"I knew that you were always alone. I wanted to walk over and start talking. I'd get sort of giddy. But I stopped myself. I was jealous because you were good at everything. So I made you my rival. You've been…my goal. I had nothing, and I found a bond. I wanted to be strong and cool like you. That's why I kept chasing after you." Naruto said this to him in the past.

'It was the opposite.' Sasuke was still seeing this as his 13-year-old self. 'In reality, I was the one was jealous of you. Because you had a strength that I didn't.' It now shows Sasuke and the Naruto in front of him growing to their current ages. 'You were always walking in front of me.' Suddenly a image of Itachi appears next to Naruto. 'Just like my late brother. Andeven today…'

Suddenly an image of a Reanimation of Itachi in a forest appears. "I'll let you deal with Sasuke." Says Itachi as Sasuke get surprised to hear this.

"That was my plan from the start!" a past Naruto in a Chakra mode says to Itachi as Itachi smiles at the reply.

"Entrusting it to you was the right thing to do, after all." Itachi says to Naruto.

'These are—!' Sasuke begins to think after he realizes that this was a conversation Naruto and Itachi had in the past. 'Naruto's memories.'

"My dream…is to surpass the Hokage one day! And that's why I'm going to make everyone acknowledge me!/I have to be ready…I'm gonna called the Hokage, someone that everyone acknowledges./There's no such thing as a shortcut!/Quit messing around, I'll never run away! I will make it! Even if I stay a Genin for the rest of my life, I'll become the Hokage. So I don't care Dattebayo!/I never go back on my word. That is my Nindō (Ninja Way)!/I'm different from you. I'm absolutely gonna become the Hokage./Becoming the Hokage is my dream./I won't die…until I become the Hokage!/I'm going to become the Hokage that surpass all the previous ones! That's my dream, you idiot!/The Hokage is someone who endures the pain and takes the lead in front of everyone. So a Hokage never walks over his comrade's corpses./There is no shortcut to becoming the Hokage! And there are no ways out for the one who becomes Hokage!/No way can a guy who can't save even save one friend become the Hokage. Isn't that right, Sasuke?" Theses are all things Naruto has said at different stages of his career as a Shinobi.

'NarutoHow farHave you—?' Sasuke begin to question after seeing all the trials Naruto has been though as a Shinobi.

"No matter how powerful you become," Sasuke gets surprised and quickly turns around to Itachi's voice. "don't try to shoulder everything alone. You share your father's dream, don't you? Then don't ever forget…Becoming Hokage doesn't mean people will acknowledge you. But when the people acknowledge you, you can become Hokage. Never forget your friends!" This is the advice Itachi gave Naruto in the past as Sasuke next to the image of Naruto hearing it as well.

Sasuke starts to look forlorn. 'Big Brother…' Sasuke thinks as an academy Sasuke gets tapped in the forehead by Itachi as he notices Itachi in his Akatsuki uniform across from him and then it shifts to a 13-year-old Sasuke and Naruto facing each other. As more people stand next to Naruto in the light as he ages to his current point the distance between them grows further and further away as Sasuke alone in the dark ages to his current point and now Naruto has everyone he has encountered past to present, dead or alive, allies and former enemies, even his Toad summon and the Bijū stand with Naruto as Sasuke remains alone in the dark witnessing it all.

Until suddenly an image of himself now stands next to Naruto in the light as well. The original Sasuke in the dark make a face of sad realization and closes his eyes for a moment unable to look at this. "I see." Sasuke begins to say. "Then…show me…"


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The sun is now starting to rise as Naruto starts to wake up while Sasuke must have woken up a few moments before him.

"Where are we? Don't tell me this is really Heaven this time?" Naruto asks in exhausted panic for a moment.

"Looks like we fell asleep and slept until morning." Sasuke begins to say and then smiles saying "We've failed to die again."

Naruto tries to move a bit but his body won't listen to him and he says in slight frustration "Damn it! I still can't move! I was hoping to punch you hard and make you finally open your eyes!" Sasuke then laughs for a few seconds and Naruto asks "W-What is it?"

"We're messed up like this, and you still wanna fight?" Sasuke replies with a grin.

Naruto quickly replies "Damn right! No matter how many times it takes—"

"I admit it." Sasuke interrupts Naruto. "I've…lost." He admits seemingly glad of the outcome as the sun rises higher.

"You idiot!" Naruto yells at Sasuke who is momentarily shocked as the rolls are now switched with Sasuke being the calm one and Naruto the annoyed one. "This fight isn't about winning or losing! It's about punching a sulking friend, to make him snap out of it! That's what it's about! The real match I want, comes after that Dattebayo!"

"Hey, Naruto…" Sasuke begins to say.

"What." Naruto replies angrily.

"I just acknowledged you." Sasuke begins to say as Naruto now looks at him. "If I die here, the long cycle of destiny that the Sage of Six Paths mentioned will probably end as well. This is…a kind of revolution too. You can release the Mugen Tsukuyomi(Infinite Tsukuyomi)after I'm dead, by transplanting my left eye into Kakashi or someone else. I'll put an end to myself."

"By dying?" Naruto calmly questions. "Don't think dying will settle this! If you're willing to die, then live and help me instead. What I want to do is to make all Shinobi cooperate with each other. And that definitely includes you!" Naruto tells Sasuke this with a slightly louder voice.

"Just because you want that doesn't mean others will agree to it." Sasuke argues back.

"Damn it! If you keep whining and sulking, I will slug you again!" Naruto argues back.

"There's no guarantee I won't stand against you again…" Sasuke tells Naruto.

"Then I'll stop you again! Besides, I know you're not going to do that type of thing anymore." Naruto tells Sasuke.

"How can you be so sure?" Sasuke questions.

"Don't make me repeat myself!" Naruto starts telling Sasuke as tears build in Sasuke's eyes. "Haven't you figured it out yet?! Now that I think about it…You were always pretty stupid too…" Naruto finished saying and gets surprised noticing Sasuke's momentary tears.

"Shut up, Usuratonkachi (you loser)." Sasuke gets the last words in while Naruto just laughs getting the last laugh before as both of them prepare to fall asleep once more. Getting a better look at the condition these 2 are in they are on their backs heavily injured, a line of blood on the side of their mouths from the bottom lip to the bottom of their jaw, multiple beatings almost all over their bodies, Naruto's right arm and Sasuke's left arm are burnt and bleeding but their index and middle fingers are in the Unison Sign, and the Konoha Hitai-ate that Naruto was gripping in his left hand had essentially turned to dust. The 2 Shinobi fall asleep a few minutes ago, However unknown to them someone was coming out of the forest.

End of Chapter.

What did you think good, bad, or in between?

My goal for this chapter was to create Sasuke's redemption set the stage for them to be on a similar page when the plot starts. Hope you liked the chapter.

Please leave a review.

Next Chapter: Unknown Phenomenon, Unexpected meetings