Quick Author's Note: Sorry this took so much longer than I said it would! Inbox me or leave your reviews for me! I'm always looking to get better. uwu

"... How fucking dare you."

The grit of Naruto's own teeth felt like it would force his molars to give way and bite through his own jaw. The blood running down his hand dripped onto the top of Konoha's hospital roof. He'd finally turned around completely, staring straight at Sasuke's disgustingly emotionless face. He wanted to bust his former teammate's lip just for the sake of getting something out of him. "You think you can just show back up...?"

"No."

"Then what the fuck do you think you're doing here, Teme?!"

He couldn't control his words or tone of voice anymore. Every fiber of his body and every bit of his will struggled to hold himself back. If they let go for even a second Naruto almost feared what he would do. Which is why, as quick as he can, Naruto forces himself to relax even if it was the slightest bit. He'd been so angry for so long. At least with Nagato, his anger was short lived. With Sasuke though, his bitterness had the time to build to the point he couldn't sleep some nights.

Still nothing from Sasuke's end.

He looked so calm and collected that it pissed Naruto off even more. How could he be so casual?

How could he be acting like his old self?

"Answer me!"

"I didn't plan on actually seeing Sakura or my daughter-"

"What did you forget her name?!"

"I simply wanted to make sure they were living well."

"You've been gone for thirteen fucking years and you aren't even gonna call her by her name?!"

Naruto's foul language, which he'd learned to dial back for the sake of meetings with Elders or other higher ups, returned in full force. He couldn't hold anything back other than his own body, and even that was difficult. Which is why his words would do the beating for him.

At least he can see Sasuke blink.

"... I haven't come back to visit. I just wanted to make sure that Sarada-"

"Is alive? Not homeless? Happy?!"

"Was growing up as best she can."

A single click of Naruto's sandal, unable to keep his feet in place. The more Sasuke spoke, the closer Naruto came to punching him square in the face. He does his best to reel himself in, and settles. At least to the point he can speak again. "She doesn't have much more growing up to do, asshole. She graduates next week."

Then something hit Naruto.

"Is that why you're here? Is she valuable to you now that she's almost a ninja?!"

Sasuke falls completely silent, and Naruto starts to tremble again. They had worked for so long. Sasuke used to spout words of revolution. Of changing the Shinobi system and yet there he was continuing to support the stereotype that people in their world are meaningless without strength. His stained hand opens quickly, flexing his digits, allowing actual blood to flow to his fingertips rather than out of the deep marks his nails had left in his palm.

"It's important that Sarada understands her family history. It's important that she understands what she has in her."

"Wha...? What are you talking about?!"

"She's an Uchiha and I can't let her potential be wasted."

"Are you fuckin' serious?!... Who... Who are you?"

His fist is suddenly clenched again, feeling his frame starting to quake at the mention of Sarada. She wasn't Naruto's daughter. Had no blood relation. Yet he couldn't help feeling tied to the young heiress. He knew what it was like to be fatherless.

He wished her own father felt the same way.

"It's what's best for her."

"Don't act like you know what she needs! Needing a father and needing training are two completely different things!"

His teeth sink quietly into his lip and he allows silence for a few seconds, almost hoping it sinks in through Sasuke's demeanor. When he realizes it isn't, his head lifts and he spits his words toward him again. "Why?... What was so important you could willing leave your wife and child behind for so long?"

Why was he so angry?

This wasn't his family. Sarada wasn't his daughter, Sakura was a good friend, but that was the extent of it. The questions he asked and answers he demanded seemed much more fitting to come to and from Sakura herself.

He had family issues of his own, but none of that mattered in his current situation..

He knew what Sarada was enduring and the notion she was being forced through it all reminded him of himself. He knew it hurt. He also knew her father wasn't trying to fix it.

That's why his blood boiled.

His last question did seem to strike something in Sasuke, however. Naruto can, at least, see the Uchiha's jaw clench. Maybe he had been getting through. Maybe he could continue to pry deeper into the man's mind. "... Answer me, Teme!"

"The bottom line is, I don't owe you answers, Naruto."

That tore it.

Naruto's eyes seemed to flare. His bandaged hand lifts up and fires off with a fierce determination and swift speed that only Sasuke could've seen coming.

He had expected it the moment he chose his response.

Sasuke's own wrapped arm comes up, palm open and receives the hit. Though his face didn't change from that snarky, critical expression, Naruto's sheer force did cause a bit of a stagger in his formation. A click of his shoes to mirror Naruto's earlier one before he regains his composure and speaks again. "... That doesn't mean I wouldn't speak anyway."

Dark black eyes meet Naruto's bright blue and Sasuke can't help the twinge in his chest. He had always been able to read the Hokage like a book. Naruto wasn't himself anymore. He was angry. Anger wasn't something Sasuke had never seen from the blonde, in fact it was quite common in their younger years.

He'd never seen him so hateful toward himself.

As thick as his skin was, and as emotionally plain as he liked to appear, he couldn't deny that it hurt deep down.

It was at this point he realized just how badly Naruto was shaking. He could see it in the way his teeth were bearing and the tight grip he had on his fake fingers only served as more evidence toward Naruto's mindset.

Slowly, he releases his hand and Naruto himself, satisfied with just being able to hear and potentially understand, stands up again. "They are better off without me, Naruto."

"That's horseshit."

"Is it...? How am I supposed to face the woman I tried to kill on multiple occasions and smile in her face when in reality all I can see is the look she had when I almost took her life?"

For the first time that evening, Naruto's tongue feels tied.

"How am I supposed to explain it to Sarada, for that matter? She would hate me as it is, having been out of her life for so long. She doesn't need any more grief in her life that's centered around me."

"There wouldn't be any grief in the first place if you had just been there!"

"You know there would have. I can't even look Sakura in the eyes. You don't think she would've picked up on that? Do you honestly think Sakura and I could have stayed together all those years? Call it selfish, because it is, but I can't bear that. It makes me sick the way she would look at me. How she idolized me. I don't deserve any of that and I never will. Not from her."

"And that's what kept you on the road for thirteen years?... Your own little pity party?!"

Black eyes drop to the hand again, seeing it shuddering again.

"That's why you let your wife sob at night? That's why you let your daughter grow up without a father?!"

"Naru-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

As if on cue, the wind picks up and the Seventh's cloak starts flowing with the natural push. Sasuke's eyes finally show his human half. They widen when they meet the suddenly crimson irises of his old friend.

"That self-entitlement bullshit is really making me angry! Once you have a family, one you chose to create, you don't get to be so selfish! You of all people should understand what it's like not having your father around!"

Naruto's eyes weren't as sharp as Sasuke's.

There's a loud clap.

The sound of Sasuke's fist meeting Naruto's jaw.

Naruto falls back at that, head twisted just how the hit had left it. His eyes narrow at the ground before lifting up and meet Sasuke's again. He notices the one sharingan he had. The eye behind his hair must've been glowing in the same fashion.

"Don't ever talk about my family like you've got some divine right to judge."

Naruto straightens his back and stares directly into the eyes that used to strike fear into him. The eyes he felt so bitter toward.

"You are the last person who can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Or have you already forgotten about the 'family' you had."

Sasuke had endured as much as he could. It was his turn to tear into the man across from him. "That family that decided to get up and leave because you were so busy with the business of others."

The black whiskers along Naruto's cheeks started to thicken.

"The family who grew tired of your hypocritical judgements and 'life lessons'."

His canines grew sharper.

"The wife who finally told you 'enough is enough'."

Brows push together again. His face is so tight, and the fury in his heart pumped blood into his face, feeling the veins in his neck and head begin to show.

"The public you won't even address or inform because it'll ruin the image this village has of you."

The long, sharp nails dug deeper into Naruto's own hand. His stomach twists and his head whirls.

"The children you left behind because your work was too important."

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!"

Sasuke knew what he'd done. He knew Naruto was bound to move. He just forgot how fast he actually was.

He can feel the blood vessels in his lips practically combust with Naruto's punch. Bloodied fist made contact with his face, more specifically, his mouth. As a bit of an added 'fuck you', the force he'd been struck with wasn't just that of Naruto's. It was a combination of Naruto, Kurama's chakra and the surrounding natural energy.

He tumbles backward, skillfully finding his way back to his feet before he completely stops. A cough, and a wipe of his lip as he stands up, looking down at the blood that had formed on his face and ended up on the back of his hand.

"We aren't doing this here, Teme."

Sasuke doesn't respond with words, simply staring directly into the crosses that had become Naruto's pupils. It was also Sasuke's turn to shake. He trembles with both anger and a bit of a sickening thrill. The comment of his father hit hard and he had to be sure to pay Naruto back for it.

Two fingers lift on the blonde's "human" hand, arm extending toward the Raven.

"Two rules. If I win, you come home and you fucking stay home."

"... And?"

"If I lose, you're free to go. I won't come after you. I won't send anyone after you. You can continue your little 'redemption roadtrip' and stay on it as long as you wish."

And even in a moment like this. One so tense and full of pent up anger, their friendship, the memories of old days can't help spilling through.

Naruto speaks first, "Same place same time?..."

"... Yeah."

"You've got a week. You might want to cut the hair out of your eyes, Teme."

"If you don't show up, I'm going to assume you forfeit. So be ready, idiot."

"I plan on it."

And just like that, like a flip of a switch, Sasuke seems to almost vanish from the visible world. There's no better word for it than teleportation.

It was strange. How punching the asshole in the face could relieve so much pressure.

"... Naruto..."

His head turns. He knows the voice that called him.

He knew Sakura's voice above most else's.

The tear trails on her face is worse than any piercing from Sasuke's sword.

"I'm going with you."