The Hokage stood by the window of his office, silently overlooking his village as the stormy sky rumbled above. He felt the ring on his finger itch and the reminder it brought crashed onto him with a wave of hatred and regret, the memory of his wife and daughter bringing a familiar pain.
He didn't flinch as 12 thumps sounded throughout the dark office, he didn't need to turn to know that the heads of his ANBU guards had just hit the floor and their bodies soon followed suit.
"You've finally come" He said.
"I promised you I would" The voice of the man who was once his brother answered.
Sasuke took a deep breath, too many faces of those he lost flashing through his memory as he turned and saw him, his hair was still blonde but where once it had been a light tone, almost like it was kissed by the sun, now it was darker and with a few strands of dark red accentuating it, his once iconic orange jacket was so stained with dried blood that it was mostly red, but it was his eyes, as ironic as it was for Sasuke of all people to say it but his eyes had changed so much, and it wasn't just the fact that they were slited red instead of the familiar blue but the hate they held instead.
"It has been a long time, Naruto" Sasuke said.
"Not long enough to make me forget"
Sasuke sat down in his chair, in the seat Naruto once dreamed of having, and sighed.
10 years, that's how long it had been since that day, he wanted to change the world, bring peace by making sure all the world's hatred was focused on him, he knew there would be sacrifices, that it wouldn't be easy, and he went through it anyway.
He still remembered what he did, he tried to wage war on the world, he pushed and it pushed back and he soon found out that even with all his strength he couldn't win the war alone, that even if annihilated the enemy forces in one battlefield, the combined might of the Shinobi Alliance would crush his forces in three others.
His men weren't enough, and with every battle he lost more of them, when he was backed into a corner he was forced to make a choice, Naruto could have won that battle, if anyone could turn several battlefields around at once it was the blonde, but he refused to fight, refused to kill people who fought to defend him in the previous war under the orders of the man who stole his dream, who sent the love of his life to die for a cause she didn't believe in.
Sasuke felt he didn't have a choice, that it was do or die, so he did what he had to, even if he regretted it, even if the words of his former friend echoed in his head for years to come.
One day I'll come back, I'll break free from your control and when I do, I'll reduce everything you ever loved to ash beneath my feet.
And so he used his eyes to strip away the free will of his once-brother, Naruto won that battle and many others afterward but Sasuke knew he would one day fulfill his promise, if there was one thing Sasuke knew was that Naruto Uzumaki never went back on his word.
"You weren't like this" Sasuke said. "The Naruto I knew wasn't so full of hate, so merciless, as to do the things you did to hurt me"
"The Naruto you knew is dead" Naruto spat, glaring at Sasuke. "He died when he finally got the family he so desperately craved only for it to be ripped away by someone he loved as a brother! When you took away his right to choose and made him commit countless atrocities against people he saw as friends!"
"She was a Konoha ninja!" Sasuke shouted. "It was her duty to fight for her Kage!"
"She was not yours to sacrifice like a fucking pawn!" Naruto shouted back, slamming his hand on the table and cracking it.
"Neither was Sakura yours to kill! Neither was Sarada yours to use against me!"
"Sakura died because she was so obsessed with you that she threw everything away just to be by your side! She didn't care who she hurt as long as he precious Sasuke-kun loved her!"
"And what about Sarada?" Sasuke asked. "What about my daughter? She was innocent yet you brutally murdered her and left the body for me to find"
"Hinata was pregnant when she left" Naruto said. "She had just found out and we were going to have a child, then your ambition took her away from me, the child was innocent as well, why should you get to have a family when you took mine?"
Sasuke grit his teeth and said.
"And what about everyone else? You killed so many people, our friends included, who had nothing to do with this!"
"Your friends" Naruto growled. "I told you, the Naruto you knew is dead, he thought he got rid of me in the waterfall of truth and he almost did, but when he snapped I was reformed, and none of them are any friends of mine"
"And the innocents? The civilians you killed? People who weren't even from Konoha?"
"They supported you" Naruto said. "Even if only by trade they did it, and as far as I'm concerned that's more than enough to kill them"
"What now?" Sasuke asked. "You fulfilled your promise, I have nothing left, you won!"
"Not yet" Naruto said as massive barriers appeared and surrounded the entirety of Konoha. "The village you reshaped to honor your precious brother still stands"
"You think I'll let you do this? That you can just come here and take away the last thing I have left just so you can take your revenge?"
"That's the thing Sasuke" Naruto spat. "I'm doing what you did, I'm taking away your right to choose, tonight Konoha will become ash and there's nothing you can do about it"
"I'll stop you" Sasuke said, getting to his feet and glaring at Naruto.
"No" Naruto said with a cruel chuckle. "You won't"
In the trees outside of the barrier, Yami watched as with a blinding flash of light everything inside was completely incinerated, once it was done he looked at the complete form of his vengeance.
Only ashes remained.