Summary - Sasuke has returned after a five year absence. Completely void of all emotions, he claims he only wants to become the strongest. Naruto and Sakura, along with the rest of the infamous 'Rookie Nine' need to draw out the old Sasuke and reassert their friendship before he turns into the one person he really hates. Main pairing is SasuNaru, along with many minor pairings for fluffy goodness.
Rated For - Swearing, violence, and future citrusy situations.
Disclaimer - Believe me, if I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing this.
Chapter Seven - Subito
-------Sasuke.-------
What the hell was all that about? It wasn't like I'd never seen Naruto worked up over something. In fact, this was a mild tantrum. He was probably grumpy from being woken up and embarrassed so easily.
I shrugged, watching him run off. A quick glance at my watch let me know I had twenty minutes to drag his sorry arse back to the training ground, so I followed.
I caught sight of his orange clothes, easily maneouvering around the roofs of the village. His words floated after me.
"I preferred you much better when I thought you were my friend."
What did he mean by that, anyway? He 'thought' we were friends? When had I ever given him the impression we were friends?
I have to admit, before I left, I did talk to Naruto and Sakura more than I have been recently. But that was because, even though I found them annoying, I didn't really know much about them. I didn't want to get on their nerves until I was certain they really were that irritating.
And the more time I spent with them, the more irritating they became.
Except I started to be alright with that, for a while.
-------Flashback.-------
Sasuke slammed his hand into a wall.
'Dammit! It's not meant to be like this!'
Chilling memories of his brother's taunting caused him to slump to the ground. He tilted his head back, closing his eyes, trying to ignore the growing pain in his hand.
"I saw you playing with that brat again.Don't. Friends are worthless, they hold you back."
Sasuke opened his eyes, the voice of his father now invading his thoughts.
"You should strive to become more like Itachi, Sasuke. Look at him. A genius of the clan!"
Later, when they found out about Itachi's involvement with Shisui's death and the Akatsuki, his father had swung around so abruptly Sasuke still wondered whether he had been replaced somehow.
"I see now, that your differences...well...It is good, that you do not want to be like Itachi. Embrace your compassion, grow stronger because of it."
But Fugaku had died at the hands of Itachi, and so Sasuke had believed his older brother's words to be true.
And yet...Sasuke turned his head towards the window. Sunlight was filtering through in a revoltingly clichéd manner, and he sighed. He had intended to do just as Itachi had said – turn away potential friends, and focus on his strength. He needed to become stronger than Itachi in order to defeat him – surely taking the same path and bettering him that way would be efficient?
'But Naruto and Sakura...' A voice in the back of his head said.
They were giving him doubts, now.
Sakura was still annoying, since the attention she gave him was almost entirely superficial. But even she had started to be able to talk to him without stuttering or asking him out.
And Naruto...
Naruto treated him like a rival, true, but lately it seemed like that was a good thing. Like they were rivals for all the right reasons.
'Friends...'
-------End Flashback.-------
On a number of occasions, Naruto had proved to be a fast developer, and when he finally started getting really serious about his training, asking to spar with me, exhausting himself practicing, I had found myself envious of his abilities, and proud of his progress as a result of our friendly matches.
Okay, so maybe we had started to become friends. A moment of weakness on my part, I'll admit, but that was over and done with now. I had no interest in his friendship, only what he had to offer as a rival. An enemy. That's what I had been taught as a child. A couple of months of hurried post-neglected attempts to rectify me in my father's eyes could not change that. Right?
Right. So Kakashi sending me to get him was turning into a really huge waste of my time. I snorted, watching him pause momentarily. I sped up, caught up to him quickly, and grabbed his wrist.
"What are you doing?" he asked me tiredly. He was slower than usual - though my speed had considerably increased since the Chuunin exams, he normally wouldn't have allowed himself to be captured this easily.
I didn't say anything, since I didn't feel the need to. I felt a stab of annoyance as he wriggled out of my grasp, and considered knocking him out. Before I could act on this, however, he stopped moving and stood still, watching me.
What now?
"Why are you following me?"
He received silence as a response. How was I supposed to explain that I needed him to come with me so we could continue training? Not that much training would happen, of course, but it was better than chasing him around the town.
He sighed, and turned. I made to grab him again and he snatched his arm away.
"Alright already! Let's go to the training grounds."
Finally...
I started walking again, and when I passed him he shot me a glare. "And when we get there, we're gonna fight."
I shrugged, practically ignoring his comment. In truth, I was rather anxious to see just how much he had developed since the last time I saw him.
"Ah, you're a little late, Sasuke." Kakashi said, his smile hidden by his mask. I muttered something in reply and turned away. I couldn't even bring myself to glare at him.
Let them think I can't feel anything. All I feel around them is anger and annoyance anyway...
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto began, "I want to fight Sasuke."
Kakashi's smile disappeared insantly, and Sakura held back a gasp as she looked between the two of us. Naruto removed his headband, the metal hitting the earth with a dull thud. His blond hair, still as messy and spiky as ever, fell forward a little, its restraints gone.
I was not wearing a headband, something no one had failed to notice. I had been denied the right to wear a Konoha symbol anywhere since I had left.
Kakashi opened his mouth – to interfere, I assumed – but to my surprise he closed it and nodded grimly. "Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming. Sakura, perhaps now is the time to practice your medic training."
"Kakashi-sensei, that's not funny!" she whispered, clearly horrified.
Naruto crouched, waiting for Kakashi's signal. I merely stood there, cold anticipation building up deep inside of me.
"Begin!"
-------Normal Point of View.-------
Sasuke vanished before the last syllable left Kakashi's lips. Naruto paused, still poised in his original position. Just before Sasuke's foot connected with his head, he disappeared as well. Sasuke changed direction in a split second, searching for him at same time.
Sasuke wheeled around and paused.
"Surprised?" Naruto asked, a playful, hopeful grin on his face. He was standing just to the side, next to Sakura.
"No." Was all the reply he got, and the grin faded. Sasuke studied him for a moment, before continuing. "But if all you can do is run around and throw clones at me, then you haven't changed at all."
Naruto's eyes narrowed, and Sasuke found himself unable to contain my frustration any longer. "Five years. I gave you five years to improve. Anyone else worth fighting would not have stopped for macho posturing and a goofy attempt at a hero's catchphrase. You," he said in a low voice, "are useless. As a Hokage, you would be pathetic."
"Get angry, Naruto. Don't hold back on me now because you're afraid of hurting me. You always held back..."
Sasuke took a step back as a powerful aura emerged from Naruto. His eyes blazed red, and Sasuke frowned slightly.
"You don't know anything about me. Not anymore. So don't you dare try to make assumptions about why I fight, or who I find worth fighting properly." The last part was obviously meant to annoy Sasuke, and in spite of it all he found myself glaring at the hot-headed blond.
"And you know nothing about where I've been, why I've been there, what I did...what I learnt. You..." Sasuke started walking towards him, then began to run, building up speed.He felt his fist connect with Naruto's face with a satisfying crack, and watched as he went flying into a tree. With a pop, a pile of rocks fell to the ground, reminiscent of the days of fighting long ago.
"Teme..." a voice whispered in Sasuke's ear, and the darker-haired boy's leg swung around on instinct. It connected, surprising Naruto, and in an instant Sasuke grabbed him, coming up from behind. Without hesitation Sasuke began to execute his Barrage of Lions attack, which Naruto had seen enough times to be able to get out of.
Dodging faster than Sasuke had expected, Naruto began making a series of hand signals Sasuke only vaguely recognised as a summoning spell, and he quickly mimicked his former friend's actions. (1)
Brief confusion flashed on Naruto's face, but, shrugging it off, he slammed his open palm into the ground and with a loud 'poof', a huge toad appeared, Naruto on its head.
"Hey, brat, I hope you didn't summon me just to squabble with your friend." He croaked (2) huffily.
"Aw, shut up, would ya?"
"Want me to eat you?"
"No, no, just...just fight! Geez, grumpy old toad!"
Sasuke coughed loudly, bringing Naruto's attention back to him, and he finished the jutsu required. A low, loud rumbling noise was heard, and without much more warning a snake's head shot out from underneath the Uchiha and spiraled upwards into the air before finally emerging and coiling its body up, ready to attack.
Sakura's hand flew up to her mouth in horror. "Th-that's..."
"Orochimaru's snake. Like the one that attacked me in the Forest of Death during the Chuunin trials. But why?" Naruto frowned. The large snake hissed menacingly, and Sasuke smirked from atop its head.
"Scared, you big chicken?" Sasuke taunted. He froze, realising what he'd just said, as did Naruto and Sakura.
"Scared, you big chicken?" Sasuke asked Naruto, a grin on his face. Naruto's look plainly said 'I hate you and I never asked you to save me', and he responded rudely and turned away in a huff.
Naruto's panting and battered body stood in front of a huge snake, with Orochimaru watching disdainfully in the background. "Scared, you big chicken?" Naruto grinned up at Sasuke tiredly, his eyes a forceful red.
Sasuke opened his mouth to say something else, but was startled by the small, genuine smile on Naruto's face.
"Heh. When you say things like that, you make it seem like you're actually him."
"What...?"
And then the smile was gone. As were the giant toad and Naruto.
(1) I haven't read the Shippūden series yet, so I don't actually know many of Sasuke's newer attacks. I vaguely recall something about snakes, although I think it had something to do with a sword, but I hope you'll forgive the lack of realism in terms of the manga.
(2) Couldn't resist the pun, sorry.