Title: A Change of Plan

Rating: PG-13, may or may not go higher as the story progresses.

Summary: (Contains spoilers) What if Naruto, rather than Sakura, had followed Sasuke that night? What if Sasuke had never left with the sound-nins? One small decision can send everything spiraling out of control. Most likely will contain various pairings, none of which have been established yet.

Notes: Reviews are loved-loved-loved. While I love shameless praise, I don't mind constructive criticism. I find that writer's don't get that enough on this site. However, outright flames will be ignored, or possibly posted in "notes" sections for a few good laughs. I'm very bitter about that. =P

A Change of Plan

He planned to leave under the cover of darkness. Yet there never was true darkness save on moonless nights, which this was not. Silver illuminated the lone form of the young Uchiha, who moved with firm steps, a determined gleam in his eyes. This was his night, and damned if he was going to let anyone get in his way. To anyone, it would seem that wanderlust had consumed him, drove his feet onward as he quested towards some unknown destination.

But, of course, he did know where he was going. He'd stop at nothing to get there, damn the cost.

You can only turn your back on me so many times, Itachi... the boy swore resentfully in his thoughts. You'd better keep your eyes on me from now on.

Reflection seemed to deflect all other thoughts. In this single moment, Sasuke was alone in the silence of the night, and all of the world had ceased to exist. There was nothing but his goal standing before him.

The wind slowly began to pick up, urging leaves and branches to sway. They complied, producing the familiar, calming swoosh that sounded much louder than it should to the youth. Another noise was disrupting the tranquility that had just been present. A rather loud noise, at that.

Footsteps. Who else would be out at this hour? he wondered, a bit irritated that his plan to leave unseen might be foiled.

"Sasuke?" a voice drifted over.

The scant light of the moon didn't allow for him to see the approaching figure's face just yet, but the voice made it obvious--painfully obvious--who it was that followed him. Not that Sasuke would welcome an interruption by anyone, but from him?

"Sasuke! Wait up!" Naruto exclaimed, much louder this time, as he ran over. "Why are you out so late? I mean, I'm out late, too, so you could ask the same question, but I do this a lot when I can't sleep. Had too much ramen before bed, I think. At least, that's what everyone tells me is the reason I can't sleep. Can't shut off my brain..."

He trailed off, realizing that his ramblings gave the Uchiha no time to answer. Though the other stopped, he didn't speak a word in reply.

"You okay?" Naruto, who by that time was side-by-side with Sasuke, peered into his face so that blue eyes were meeting dark ones.

Dark ones that looked up quickly, catching Naruto off-guard. He jumped back a few steps. If looks could kill, the figurative daggers being flung from Sasuke's eyes would certainly be hitting their mark about now.

"Get lost," Sasuke growled, refusing to say anything else.

"Huh?" Naruto blurted out, daring to edge a bit closer. "What's up with you all of a sudden? You've been acting like an ass since..."

"Shut up," the Uchiha interrupted.

Certainly doesn't waste words, the blond boy thought, resisting the urge to say anything of the sort. He didn't want to get on Sasuke's bad side, merely find out what was causing it to manifest itself.

"It's none of your business," was the only hint he received. "So unless you'd like to start where we left off with nobody here to break us up, I suggest you do what I told you the first time. Get lost. I'd rather not have to fight you over this, it would only be a waste of time."

"I am not a waste of time!" Naruto exclaimed, digesting only one meaning of the comment rather that listening to it as a whole. "Take it back, you asshole!"

"You. Are. Wasting. My Time. Need I say it again?" Without waiting for the other to even open his mouth, Sasuke began to walk away.

"Don't turn your back on me, damnit!" Naruto yelled out at the retreating figure. "I'll show you!"

Such a startlingly similar echo of his previous thoughts made Sasuke stop in his tracks as if the very words paralyzed him. The wind had died down, and both boys were still as the trees. Each was aware of the silence that hung like a veil over the entire scene.

Maybe he would understand-- Before the thought could fully form, the Uchiha shook his head. Naruto couldn't understand why he was leaving, even if he shared that same desire for recognition from the person he sought to match his skills with. Naruto would never do anything like this, Sasuke knew without a doubt. Wouldn't give in to anything and would find that power on his own. But too much had happened, and Sasuke simply couldn't wait. No matter where he was, it seemed he was always walking in Itachi's shadow. There had been no doubts when he set off to leave with those sand-nins, to find Orochimaru, to gain that which he desired.

But now, because of that damned Naruto, here he was, starting to question himself again. Doubt, it seemed, would be his downfall. But he couldn't allow that, period.

"Where are you going, Sasuke?" the blond boy asked, his voice much lower than it normally was. "And don't tell me your not going anywhere. I saw you, looking at everything like you'd never see it again. I'm not a total idiot, y'know."

"Nowhere," he answered flatly. "I'm not going anywhere. But you are."

Naruto opened his mouth to demand to know what the hell Sasuke meant by that, but before he had the chance, the other boy had lunged straight for him, hoping to catch him off-guard with a quick blow to the head. No need to cause him any extra pain, no need to let him find out where he was going, knocking him unconscious seemed the best way.

But Naruto was fast, dodging just a few split seconds before the blow could connect. "Watch it!"

Silently swearing, Naruto began to regret that he carried no weapons. Who would have thought they'd be needed for a little stroll in the middle of the night?! Thankfully, he had other things at his disposal.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu…" he mumbled, instantly splitting into a dozen clones to form a circle around his rival.

Abandoning the need to taunt his opponent, as it would only distract them both from the fight at hand, Sasuke concentrated, eyeing the clones as he sought a hint that would alert him to the real one.

The clones rushed at him simultaneously, favoring a group attack rather than individual ones. Sasuke jumped, making the appropriate hand signs as he did so. A blaze erupted from his mouth, an attack that he hadn't used for quite some time. The clones scrambled away, clumsily dodging.

"Didn't anyone teach you not to play with fire, Sasuke?" a voice asked from above.

Thirteen pairs of eyes looked up to where the form of someone on a rooftop came into view, previously hidden simply through the silence it practiced while observing. Dressed in outlandish clothes, it proved a striking contrast to anyone in the village.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded one of the Naruto clones, going for the direct approach.

"Why don't you ask him?" the voice suggested pleasantly, pointing at Sasuke, who seemed to have frozen up for the second time that night. "He knows."

"Itachi," the younger Uchiha growled.

There was a short pause before he continued, "The one I hate to call brother, and the murderer of the Uchiha clan."

"No need to flatter me," Itachi shrugged off the labels casually.

Ignoring his previous opponent, Sasuke turned his attention to the one whose defeat he believed to be much more important. About tomake his way to the rooftop, he was forced to stop in mid-step when Itachi simply jumped down.

"You know you can't defeat me in your current state. There's no use trying unless you enjoy the pain that such an action promises," Itachi said, almost casually, his crimson Shanringan gaze burning into his brother's darker ones. "Besides... Tonight, I'm here for the Kyuubi."

"The what?" Sasuke was surprised enough that all thoughts of hate and violence left his mind for a moment. But just for a moment.

"This boy--" the older Uchiha gestured to the group of clones. "--is the host in which he was sealed by the Fourth Hokage. Such a powerful being wouldn't be defeated so easily, you see. Do you think people shunned him simply for being an orphan? The younger generations were never supposed to know. It appears that some secrets can be well-kept, after all."

Naruto... The one who Kyuubi was sealed into? One who wreaked such havoc and cost so many lives, in his body? It's... Not, it's not impossible. Someone like him who never seems to be able to lose...that's where the power comes from...

A wave of pride rushed over Sasuke briefly. At one point in time, he'd been superior in ability to Naruto. That battles that had been interrupted twice since both had trained would decide if that fact still held true. Now, more than ever, the desire to find out which was stronger overwhelmed him.

"I have an offer for you," Itachi began.

Confused, Sasuke whirled around to find that his brother had made his way over to the blond, who had willed his clones away as he listened in on the discussion between brothers.

"Come with me. I know how you can tap into that power more than you already have," he continued.

He's a murderer. Why the hell am I listening to him? Naruto thought, and yet he was unable to pull his eyes away from the intense gaze of the one who was speaking.

"I'll come back in a week, Naruto," Itachi surprised him by calling him directly by his name. "By then, have an answer ready..."

He jumped back up to the rooftop where he had first been spotted, probably to make more of a dramatic exit than anything else. Instantly, two bodies flew at him. He dodged them easily, lazily.

"I didn't come here for you," the older Uchiha explained, turning and vanishing into the night.

The moon watched on as a group of ANBU members swarmed around Sasuke and Naruto, ready to question them about what they had seen. Someone had spied Itachi and alerted them, but they had just arrived.

"He didn't say anything important," Naruto said quickly. "I was just talking with Sasuke, and he showed up. Really, it was nothing."

Sasuke grumbled something about murder, though whether he was talking about Itachi or the ANBU, nobody could be quite sure. One thing, however, was quite obvious. He wouldn't be leaving that night.

It seemed there would have to be a change of plans.

Ooh. I'm so proud of myself, it's my first serious fic that I feel like I'm going to work on. As I said before, reviews and/or constructive criticism are loved and appreciated, while flames are ignored and/or laughed at. ;; I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I'll hopefully have a new chapter up relatively soon.