This is a sort of depressing one. But the last line came to me and I wanted to use it and this is the story that built around it. Hope it worked.

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Lose

Sasuke was absolutely horrified at the vision of what Naruto had become, what Naruto had achieved, when he first saw the once upon a time dobe. This is what Naruto had trained and managed to attain, and Sasuke's own accomplishments seemed to pale in comparison to the sheer raw power that Naruto exuded. The fact that Sasuke hadn't realized it even was Naruto was a testament to how much power the blond had. Orochimaru had told him once that the strongest powers altered the person's very body. Naruto had gained those powers(1) and Sasuke had only touched the tip of the iceberg with his curse seal. A curse seal which he only had as a gift from Orochimaru, something that had been made by another, not Sasuke's own body.

Naruto had always loved fairytales, not realizing that he was trying to create a fairytale out of his own life, and failing miserably. The protagonist always needed his antagonist, there always needed to be some kind of mortal enemy, and there always needed to be a damsel. Naruto didn't quite realize when antagonist had become synonymous with best friend in his fairytale world, but it didn't matter because things were so perfect and happy in the life that Naruto strove to recreate by getting Sasuke back.

Sasuke didn't believe in that fairytale life because he'd had his own once, and he knew that those childish things always came crumbling down in painful explosions of reality. Naruto would have to learn the hard way. He told Naruto that he just couldn't relive the past; that once something was done and over it was gone. Naruto wasn't as good at letting go of things he believed in, things he believed precious, Naruto wasn't good at letting go of his fantasies.

"Can't repeat the past? Of course I can."(2) Naruto didn't want anyone to tell him what he couldn't do; he only wanted to prove to people that he could do whatever he put his mind to, that he could surpass what anyone expected of him.

So even though Sasuke was against it, Naruto brought him home after every last Akatsuki member was burned without any remnants left. Perhaps the fact that Sakura had to paralyze Sasuke temporarily should have clued them in, but they foolishly tried to reinstate Sasuke. Sakura was just as ridiculous as Naruto in that aspect, but even she gave up the first time he ran away for three days before Kakashi dragged him home with some lame excuse about Sasuke not really trying to run away even though Sasuke's scowl and broken leg clearly said something else. Tsunade was just glad she had destroyed some of Sasuke's chakra points, leaving the Uchiha exponentially weaker. They wondered where he had been heading because no one knew where Orochimaru had slithered away to, but Tsunade had a suspicion that the snakes were keeping Sasuke informed.

Even on Naruto's induction, Sasuke managed to cause trouble by disappearing and causing Jiraiya to be suspicious of Sasuke planning some kind of attack, that maybe Sasuke hadn't cut all ties from Orochimaru. Naruto had used his power in office to do the things he always said he would do, like intervening with the Hyuuga clan and dissolving the separate houses. Naruto also freed Sasuke so that the Uchiha wasn't under constant supervision, but Tsunade refused to repair the damage she had caused, thus leaving Sasuke still crippled and weak. Trust was the name of the game and Sasuke didn't care about winning this one. By the end of that fist week Sasuke was missing again and this time Kakashi didn't return.

Shikamaru returned with Kakashi's body and a number of Leaf shinobi that Sasuke probably just ran across on pure accident. Within Naruto's first two weeks as Rokudaime the council pressured him until they pushed his hand and made him send out an order to capture Uchiha Sasuke dead or alive.

A week after Neji purposely brought Sasuke back dead.

Of the small number who attended the funeral Naruto held for Sasuke, only Sakura really wanted to be there, many of the rest, felt it was Sasuke's time anyway. Naruto stayed for long after, sitting on the ground next the Sasuke's unmarked grave that was only filled with ashes. The council didn't know Naruto had taken the ashes, and they didn't know about the grave, because missing-nin didn't get graves or any kind of burial service. Naruto was as obsessive over Sasuke's grave as he had been over the man. No one really understood it, why Naruto was so loyal to someone who had been so disloyal. Only Sakura seemed to touch upon the surface of what Naruto felt. She understood that Naruto was all about winning what he set out to do, that he still believed in his fairytale.

"In the end Sasuke was the only battle that Naruto couldn't win."

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A/N 1. If you keep up with the current manga (chapter 293) you'll know what this is in reference to! I got so excited I would have gasped and jumped up and down but my roommate already thinks I'm weird enough.

2. Also the quote is slightly altered from The Great Gatsby, a book I didn't like, but a quote I did.

I barely edited this because I really just wanted to update with something, so if there are problems, just let me know.