Disclaimer and all. Kishimoto. Yes.
Gah, I'm SO sorry for this ridiculously long wait. First there was studying, then there was exams, then there was work, and then I was kicked out of the house and without computer/internet access for quite a while.
But anyway, now I have a brand new laptop and a newly set-up wireless internet connection. Yay.
So thanks to all my reviewers – this is the very last chapter, there will be no more. Sorry again for the wait.
VengeanceSasuke's cloak billowed behind him, a black flag raised on a ghostly mast. The battle around him blurred in a collage that only brushed him but never stayed. He had no trouble finding his quarry. He knew Naruto better than anyone.
For the first time since he had killed Itachi, Sasuke's mind was cleared of all obstacles. It was like a hail back to the days he had spent with Orochimaru, when everything was coldly simple. Fight. Become stronger. Hate, hate, hate.
Itachi took the weakest pieces of Sasuke, the pieces he couldn't destroy, and wrapped them in cloth where they could sit without being touched. His goal was only: Kill Naruto. Possess the Kyuubi. It was a beautiful sense of freedom.
Naruto was easily found in the midst of the fray, barking confused orders to confused underlings from the roof of the Hokage's estate. He fought with the strength of desperation.
Giving no warning Sasuke launched his attack. Shadow clones from behind and above threw Naruto off the roof down two stories to the ground, Naruto barely breaking the fall. Sasuke didn't pause for breath, following up with a line of shuriken that Naruto only narrowly managed to roll away from. Coughing from the clouds of dust blown up, Naruto dodged blow after blow, never getting fully on his feet, finally falling forwards, grinding his teeth into the earth.
"This is all the strength of the revered Hokage?" Sasuke laughed over him. "What a joke."
Naruto coughed again on the dust clouding the air about them both. Slowly, not giving any hint of his movement, he formed seals with his hands trapped under his stomach.
"Why waste time bragging when you can attack?" Sasuke didn't have time for a witty reply before the dust around him solidified into fist-sized winged creatures that smothered him with their wings, pinning his arms to his sides and plastering themselves over his mouth and nose.
Eyes watering from the dust, Naruto watched as Sasuke struggled against his bonds, face coloring and the muscles in his neck straining from the weight of the clinging wings. Then he went slack.
Oh God. Suddenly hit by the gravity of what he had done, Naruto rushed forward and peeled a pair of creatures off Sasuke's mouth.
Sasuke's eyes snapped open and the clouds of wings were thrown off him to disappear into smoke and dust. A swift gut-punch threw Naruto flopping to the ground like a dying fish, gasping for his lost breath.
"Konoha is burning," Sasuke taunted. "Look how well the Hokage has taken care of his people."
Squinting through watering eyes, the wavering light of flames met Naruto's eyes. He could smell blood and fear. People called to him, begging for help, direction, hope. He had none to give.
"You have failed." The energies began to gather in Sasuke's hand, the screeching birds of the move he had intended to finish Naruto off with so many years ago.
Naruto stood in the formal ceremonial hall in Konoha. All the village elders were present to anoint him as the Sixth Hokage. He was taking his oath. He had spend the three nights trying to memorize it. He's said it so many times the words had lost all meaning. He knew he'd forget it all the next day.
"...to protect those entrusted to my care, to see the great for those who can only see the small, to make decisions that none else can make..."
"You are now the Sixth Hokage. You are now Konohagakure."
"No." Naruto whispered into the earth that was now soaked with the blood of his people. "I am Konohagakure."
As Naruto spoke, the earth under him began to vibrate. Sensing it, Sasuke's head rose to attempt to sense the new threat.
"Do you know why we're called the village hidden in the leaves?" The rumbling became stronger and the battle paused to look around itself. The wind had stopped.
In an instant the sky and land inverted and the leaves blocked out the ground and the roots covered the sun. Then everything was right again and the leaves were in the air and the roots were in the ground, tugging, tying, slapping, squeezing, slicing, ripping, popping. Roots climbed out of the earth and leaves screamed in the air, destructive and beautiful, transforming the intruders unto living trees.
Sasuke ripped with his hands, formed seals, blew fire around his body, but nothing would stop the force of Konoha. After only moments blood began to seep from between the roots encircling him and his face was nearly unrecognizable, skinned, and bleeding from raw pores. He looked at Naruto, but Naruto just looked back. The Hokage would do nothing. Sasuke understood he was dying.
It's not betrayal when your opponent strikes first. Naruto said that to himself, but Sasuke's gaze said something else to him. He told himself that Sasuke was crying from the physical pain. Naruto wasn't even sure if the liquid streaking his friend's face was even tears – it was too thickly tempered with blood.
Naruto could see Sasuke's lips moving through the veil of spinning leaves and groping roots, trying to tell him something. Naruto moved towards his old friend, squinting to read the words limping out of Sasuke's mouth.
Woe to the man who reaches the summit of the tallest mountain – all he can do is jump off.
Sasuke's lips barely moved, forming his last words. I jumped off.
"I'm not sorry." Naruto said, loathing the words but recognizing their truth. "I would do it all again."
Sasuke would never hear Naruto's reply. He was already dead.
xxxx
I feel like I owe a few clarifications as to the events so far. So...
The 'unnamed female Akatsuki woman' (I hate making OCs so I figured I'd cop out on the name...) mentioned harbors the Nekomata. According to Wikipedia, the Nekomata holds a certain power over the dead. Essentially for her own amusement as well as to further the ends of Akatsuki (that is, to aquire the Kyuubi) she messed with Sasuke's head a bit by summoning Itachi's spirit into his body, with Itachi's ring as a medium. Sasuke's weird dreams were a result of his possession.
Akatsuki suspected that Sasuke was a softie, so they got Nekomata chick to babysit him and make sure he got the job done. They knew Sasuke's power, and also that he was best placed to kill Naruto (Naruto would not be all that willing to kill Sasuke), so they used him to achieve their ends. Too bad it didn't work out.
Also, I came up with the character long before the Akatsuki duo that kills the Nekomata jinchuuriki shows up... so there is incongruity with the canon.
Sasuke says some somewhat cryptic stuff when he dies. "Woe to the man who reaches the summit of the tallest mountain – all he can do is jump off... I jumped off." What I was trying to get at is the feeling of emptiness that both Sasuke and Naruto felt once they achieved their goals. Sasuke killed Itachi, Naruto became Hokage, but nothing really got any better. In fact, things got worse, because both no longer had a passionate and driving goal to motivate them. Sasuke and Naruto climbed their respective mountains but found that their climbing had placed them very far apart from each other, which was painful for both of them. In the end, though, Naruto realized that being Hokage was not a summit to be reached – it was a duty to be fulfilled and constantly renewed. Naruto placed his goal above his bond with Sasuke, finally realizing that he could not force Sasuke to live his way no matter how much he cared for his friend.