DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or the things associated with the Naruto-verse. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

SPOILERS: If you haven't read up to Chapter 430 in the Manga, then go read it. Or be spoiled. Doesn't matter much to me.

Naruto Shippuuden: Individuals

By Zahn-Shi

He stared at the makeshift memorials erected in the soft ground. Only a few of the graves contained bodies, the rest were empty and just marked with chunks of rock, wood or weapons that had been strewn about. The young man could name almost everyone in the village, or rather when it existed. Now there were only two known survivors.

Naruto Uzumaki grimaced as he remembered the other survivor.

Sasuke Uchiha.

There were rumors that Sasuke's ragtag group named "Hawk" had joined forces with Akatsuki to capture the tailed beasts, and that the last Uchiha had fought and captured the eight-tailed beast. While he did that, Pain attacked Konoha and wiped it off the map. The Fifth Hokage had spared everyone from death with her amazing powers, but when all of Pain's bodies attacked, the massacre resumed.

Good as he had become, Naruto couldn't handle all of the bodies at once. And so his friends had died. And so he had survived. He stared at the makeshift memorials erected in the soft ground. Two of them were a little more special than the rest. His mind wandered back to a time long ago to a journal in which he wrote some of his thoughts.

"I like cherry blossoms, they're so pretty," he had written. "And sunny places."

Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuuga. The emotions threatened to overwhelm him so he swung his pack over his shoulder and started down the rubble-strewn path that led to the forest. And to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, there's a powerful chakra signature headed our way," Karin reported.

The leader of Hawk didn't look up from his stew and continued eating.

"It's probably just Pain or Tobi," Suigetsu commented, tearing a chunk out of his bun.

"It's definitely not anyone from Akatsuki," she replied, standing up and backing away from the entrance towards Sasuke. "This is nothing I've ever felt before."

They could hear the traces of fear creeping into her voice. Sasuke swallowed his mouthful and set his bowl down. "Different how?"

"I can't even describe it, it's just different. Almost wrong."

The Uchiha grabbed his sword and slid it into place on his lower back.

"Do you want backup?" Suigetsu asked, hand already reaching towards his own sword.

"No," Sasuke said sharply. "Everyone stay in here. Do not come out."

The presence was waiting for Sasuke outside his camp, standing with the mid-afternoon sun to his back. "That cloak doesn't suit you Sasuke. Red clouds are not your thing; you should go back to the fan."

"Naruto, I should have known." Sasuke noticed immediately that his opponent looked a lot different from their last encounter. He activated his Sharingan. "I see you're taking a bit after the Fourth Hokage with that look."

Naruto smiled and then snarled. "Pain destroyed Konoha."

Sasuke twitched involuntarily.

"You're supporting a monster that killed an entire village. Everyone is dead," Naruto continued, keeping his voice even.

"You're lying. Konoha was mine in return for helping capture the Eight-tailed," Sasuke accused. And then he realized that perhaps Pain failed to honor their agreement because he failed to capture the beast.

"Grandma Tsunade. Shizune. Iruka-sensei. Kurenai-sensei. Gai-sensei. Shikamaru. Choji. Ino. Kiba. Shino. Bushy-brows. Neji. Tenten. Sai. Captain Yamato. Konohamaru. Hinata. Kakashi-sensei. Sakura," Naruto listed them off one by one. "Everyone."

Sasuke tried steeling himself, telling himself that he was past such bonds, but hearing Naruto list them all, it was becoming too much to handle. "Everyone?" he whispered.

"Only you and I have survived. We're it. Pain wants the Nine-tailed fox. If he gets that, what do you think he's going to do with you? He'll destroy Hawk as a potential threat. Konoha will be gone forever. The Uchiha clan will never rest in peace."

"Shut up," he muttered, closing his eyes to hold back the tears. "Shut up!"

Naruto stepped forward and opened his mouth to speak again but Sasuke lunged forward and grabbed Naruto by his jacket. "You're lying!"

"You think I could lie about this?" Naruto demanded, the tears falling freely. "Sasuke you idiot you've been lied to this whole time! But not this! This is the truth!"

"I don't believe you!" Sasuke punched Naruto's face viciously. "You're lying!"

Naruto responded with a head-butt that broke Sasuke's hold on him. They both activated their latent powers. Sasuke's eyes swirled into a kaleidoscope pattern while Naruto's flattened into a horizontal rectangular shape. They could sense the chakra flowing.

'Those eyes!' they both thought. 'Where did he get those eyes? They hold such power!"

"We shouldn't be fighting each other," Naruto growled. "You're not my enemy Sasuke, you've never been!"

"Can it loser," Sasuke spat. "You're not going to interfere with my revenge."

"Then let me help you."

Sasuke paused. Help him? "What are you talking about?"

"I didn't care too much about the fact that Akatsuki hunted me for the Nine-tailed fox. But when Pain killed everyone I knew and loved …"

He understood. The figurehead leader of Akatsuki had made it personal. "Madara knows the truth about my brother and my clan. He'll talk or he'll suffer."

Naruto relaxed his stance.

"This doesn't mean we're friends, loser. You can help me and I can help you, that's all there is to it," Sasuke clarified.

"That's fine with me." Naruto released his natural energy and his eyes returned to normal. He grabbed a small scroll and unrolled it. "I hope you're ready for this."

Sasuke reverted to his normal Sharingan and nodded. "I've been ready a long time."

The two of them disappeared in a flash of yellow, leaving the rest of Hawk behind.

"I already know of your abilities," Pain said to both of them. "I've seen them before."

They knew it too. But he had never seen them fight together, only apart. Like Pain, they were formidable in their own rights, and like Pain they were even stronger together. The bodies under Pain's control moved forward and both prodigies reacted, moving sideways until they were several feet apart. Memories flashed before the newly trained Toad Sage's eyes and a sense of familiarity erupted within him.

'These bonds,'

Naruto smashed one body into the wall.

'This familiar feeling,'

Sasuke sliced a second in half.

'With his eyes,'

Naruto ducked under a kick but felt a strong tug that pulled him off his feet.

'With his power,'

Sasuke dived in, Chidori at the ready, and struck a third body, freeing Naruto from the altered gravity.

'Together,'

Naruto formed and shoved a Rasengan into a fourth body, sending it flying.

'We will …'

Sasuke didn't have time to marvel at how Naruto could form a Rasengan without the aid of a shadow clone.

'Take revenge,'

Naruto glanced at his partner and couldn't help form a satisfied grin. He gathered Natural chakra and activated Sage mode.

'For Konoha,'

Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, ignoring Itachi's warning in his head.

'For the Uchiha,'

They were so close to Pain, the anticipation was almost boiling over.

'For the Hokage,'

It was no longer about the individual, but the other person. To fight for them, to protect them, to help them. Out of the flames of war and the ashes of death, two warriors had risen.

'For Itachi,'

Their hands were a blur of seals and their voices filled the air with confidence and anger.

'For Jiraiya,'

"RASENGAN!"

'For Hinata,'

"CHIDORI!"

'For Sakura,'

"For the World!" they yelled.

And they lunged.

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