Title: Change of Plan

Rating: PG-13

Summary: 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: I'm very sorry for the delay. Life's been weird, and this chapter isn't flowing as easily as the first two did. Hopefully, now that it's done, more interesting things shall follow, and I won't be as reluctant to write about 'em. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I would steal his forehead protector. =D

Change of Plan

[ Chapter Three ] Clashing of Truths

"Was he serious about..." Sasuke's voice lowered quite a bit, to nearly a whisper that the wind threatened to blow away. "...you being the host of the Kyuubi?"

Naruto found this a much easier question to answer than the ones before it. It required a simple yes-or-no answer and didn't involve any heavy thinking on his part. Sasuke had already found out, so there was no point in trying to deny what was already established as fact. "Yes."

The very ease with which Naruto affirmed this was enough to make Sasuke drop his calm front for just a second. Such honesty worried him, made him more edgy than he should be feeling.

"How long have you knonw?" he asked in a tone that made it impossible to interpret the emotion behind the question.

"I didn't find out 'till I graduated," Naruto replied, feeling a qucik stab of something--anger? confusion?--at the fact that he hand't learned until thpoint in time. "And it wasn't on purpose either."

"You had no idea until last year?" the young Uchiha blurted out with a bit more feeling than he cared to put into his words.

It was shocking to him that such a secret could be hidden so long without ever being exposed. He knew that people resented Naruto for the practical jokes and annoyances he was known for, but apparently this infamy dated back to a time even before his birth. But who would hide a person's true identity from that person for so long?

"That's what I said," Naruto answered with a hint of annoyance.

The perfect reaction. Sasuke was glad that he was irritating the other boy. If he wanted to match his skills up against Naruto, he only had six days. There was no point, however, in waiting. Should he best the blond, then he would have a reason to stick around, so he could try to challenge Itachi. If Naruto bested him... Sasuke didn't want to believe such a thing could happen, but he understood there was a chance. He was prideful, not stupid. If such an outcome came to pass, he would leave as soon as possible.

The possibility that the sand-nins would not wait for him flashed through Sasuke's mind, but he pushed it away. Too much thinking, when he ought to be instigating that fight.

"Well," he began, appearing to snap out of a trance as he made up his mind about the situation.

"If that fox is as powerful as everyone claimed he was, and Itachi already implied you were learning to harness its power...Show me," Sasuke demanded in a cold voice that wouldn't take no for an answer.

"What?" Naruto was instantly curious about the abrupt request and his rival's sudden change of attitude.

"You heard me," the boy retorted condescendingly. "Stop pretending you have no idea what I'm talking about. Now that I know what you are, who's inside of you, defeating you will take on a whole new meaning. A rematch of what Kakashi interrupted?"

Even Saske could realize this didn't sound too much like him. He was being too talkative. Baiting others was not something he made a habit of doing, and it was rare that he would seek out a fight, rather than accept a challenge from someone who had heard of his clan's prestige.

Former prestige, he reminded himself. There is no more Uchiha clan, save for me and him. And when I can finally kill Itachi, I'll be the only one left.

That train of thought left room for nothing pleasant to follow. It was more of a trainwreck, leaving mental images of death, dispair, and pale ghosts of the past in its wake. The avenger would take an eye for an eye, thought he'd have to settle with claiming just two for the many of those that died.

And Naruto knew that Sasuke would not give up until they had fought. The flames of determination in his eyes burned anything they looked at, and that fire struck something within him, as well. The need to rise up to any challenge presented to him, to prove himself to those who he so badly had wanted to the approval of--though his respect for Sasuke had slowly dwindled as the Uchiha changed and became someone who he was not. Perhaps this was who Sasuke really was, and Naruto had simply never noticed. Yet he wanted to believe that this was only temporary, that he could do something to help out the one he considered a long-time rival and, up until recently, a friend who he would protect with his life.

"Fine," Naruto decided. "Let's do this somewhere else, though."

"Anything in public will only draw attention. You're right," Sasuke nodded. "It seems you do have something of a brain, after all, even if you don't use it all the time."

Naruto growled something under his breath as he tried to ignore the other's words. He knew he was being baited, and that was just fine wth him. He'd knock some sense into Sasuke somehow.

"The last place we trained before you left with Jiraiya, you remember it?" the raven-haired boy questioned. "Meet me there in a half hour."

"I'll be there!" Naruto called out as Sasuke turned and slowly walked away.

Footstps were the only indication that the blond had taken off, as well. The Uchiha didn't look back once. Why should he? He shouldn't care where Naruto was going, should only care that he showed up to fight. Shouldn't care that defeating him might convince the boy to side with his brother. But it did matter. Any time Itachi spent any amount of time in other company, there was a chance that other person would kill him. Sasuke wouldn't and couldn't let anyone take that chance from him. Such thoughts fueled the rage he welcomed and helped to keep his thoughts in order while he readied himself for the fight.

People say there's a fine line between love and hate. It's hard to cross over the first time, but once you've gone over, you might just come back to where you started.

At the designated time, Naruto found himself standing at the edge of a grassy field. It was surrounded by a variety of trees on three of its four sides, the arrangement of the different shades of green causing a pleasant sight for the eyes of anyone who watched it.

The two youths stood just a few feet away from each other, underneath a pale blue sky tainted by the promise of a storm. Onyx eyes stared into blue ones, and the opponents sized each other up, circling like wild dogs. It was a conflict between light and darkness in appearance alone. Each one had their own reasons for doing this, each believed that their views were right, and neither would back down.

The quiet stillness in the air was shattered in the next moment by a gust of wind, and with this, Sasuke seemed to disappear.

Intense speed... Naruto gathered his thoughts together and looked around cautiously, turning in circles with each spin of his head. The other was not behind him, ready to strike. In fact, he didn't seem to be anywhere. Well...two could play at the hiding game. As quickly as possible, he made his way to a nearby tree.

Suddenly, the one he sought umped down at him from the branches, using the weight of his falling form to pin Naruto to the ground. A kunai was pressed against his throat.

Too easy. Something's wrong. Sasuke thought.

The boy was grinning back at him, the expression a foil of the grim one the Uchiha wore. The kunai was pressed closer to soft flesh, not with killing intent, but merely to remind the blond who was in charge of the situation, and more to remind himself than Naruto. He vanished with a puff of smoke.

He must have sent the clone here, then waited somewhere else...! Sasuke barely had time to realize what was going on before a rain of shuriken flew at him from a tree or so over.

There seemed to be no reason to wait, exchanging countless, pointless blows that would only serve to reduce their stamina or use simple attacks that would drain chakra. They would start where they left off the last time. Or so each decided, prolonging the time before the gestures that would begin the clash of their new techniques.

What if someone sees? Sasuke wondered. I'll never have a chance of leaving and getting stronger.

What if we use too much power? Naruto worried. I don't want to hurt Sasuke more than I have to, but I might not have a choice.

Bodies slick with sweat, hair plastered to their foreheads, the two of them panting... There was a momentary lull in the battle. The sky seized advantage of this opportunity to scold them with a loud blast of thunder and a few drops of rain. Something like that wouldn't stop them, but it would--so to speak--dampen their spirits a bit.

.

.

Neji, by that time, was outside, white eyes surveying the area. He should be going somewhere to train, despite the weather. You had to be prepared to do what had to be done on missions, no matter what the conditions were outside. So why bother only training on clear days?

But the look in Naruto's eyes when the boy had run out earlier was hard to ignore. Neji's curiousity had been sparked by his strength, increased by his overall attitude and unpredictable reactions. He just seemed too nice to be plagued by...whatever it was.

A slow, steady drizzle had begun, and the parched ground welcomed it. The streets were clearing out as a few people went inside the various buildings, not having the same sense of purpose as Neji did. He was quite wrapped up in wondering where Naruto had gone and paid only enough attention to those around him that would prevent him from having any unnecessary collisions.

Just a few feet in front of him, muttering something he couldn't quite understand, was one Haruno Sakura. As one of Naruto's teammates, perhaps she'd be able to guess at where the blond went. Luckily for him -- or maybe it was unluckily, depending on how one looked at the situation -- she spotted him first. The eye contact gave Neji an excuse to speak without sounding as if he really wanted to start a conversation with her. Because he didn't.

"Sakura," he nodded by way of greeting. "Have you seen Naruto around?"

Caught off-guard by the fact that Neji was even bothering to talk to her, she stammered out her reply. "Um, yeah, I did see him. About ten minutes ago. Why?"

"I had to ask him a question," he replied with little emotion to color his tone.

"I don't know exactly where he went, but he looked pretty serious. Sasuke went in the same direction a few minutes after. They were headed that way--" Sakura pointed, but never got to finish giving her information because Neji simply started walking away.

She stood in stunned silence for a moment, while inwardly she swore at his rudeness (and thanked the gods, not for the first time, that Inner Sakura remained just that). And on top of that, the rain was messing up her hair. Geez.

Sasuke following Naruto. Both of them acting strangely. Though Neji didn't know exactly what each one was thinking, he was at least able to grasp the potential that such an encounter held.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?"

Sakura's voice jolted Neji out of his predictions and brought him back to the present. He hadn't expected her to follow him, but she was anything but stupid.

"I don't know," he answered.

It wasn't entirely a lie. Either way, she'd see for herself within the next few minutes. The two genin quickened their paces as the destination became obvious. One of Konoha's training grounds.

.

.

It seemed an endless, this staring contest between bright eyes that reflected blazing hearts. Sharingan red met sky blue, and neither looked away, not even to acknowledge the moment that Neji and Sakura approached.

"Don't hold back anymore, Naruto. Now that I know about the Kyuubi's power, I want to see it in action," Sasuke braking both the silence and their gazes. "Though sealed up in someone like you, maybe you really do need help releasing its power..."

Kyuubi...?!

Both Neji and Sakura went rigid with shock, not quite understanding the words they had just heard. It didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense. And yet, somehow...it did.

.

And I'll leave you with a cliffhanger, just so you can actually read this chapter. Because if I don't post it now, I don't know if I ever will. I'll try to get the next chapter posted by tomorrow, maybe the next day. I have issues with updating things, I always get nervous, or blocked, or make stupid excuses. Don't believe a word that comes out of my mouth (keyboard). In fact, you shouldn't even believe this right now.