Chapter 5: Unexpected Visitor

-Sakura

How dare he come back to the village like this after what he did to us? Sasuke, we had grown to hate him. Well, I wasn't sure about Naruto but I sure did. And now I looked at him with evil eyes for what he did to us. He was a traitor to Konoha.

-Naruto

We had finally found him: Sasuke. I had waited years for this moment when I could bring him back to the village but I guess something had changed over these past years. I didn't have the same feelings about him. Hate had grown in our hearts, hatred for abandoning us, hatred for not coming back, and, most of all, hatred for showing his face in Konoha after all this time.

We had been exactly alike until he chose a path bent on vengeance and hate. I couldn't follow him; I couldn't follow the path he chose. And, before I knew it, I grew to hate him. I guess I ended up in the same place he did: a place full of hatred. Although mine was hidden, hard to detect, and tangled in memories of love and friendship. How could I hate him when I loved him like a brother? There was only one answer: I couldn't.

-Kakashi

Naruto had finally found Sasuke. He had waited for years to bring him back to our village: to be able to treat him like part of Team 7 again. And yet, this was how he came back. Back for the Nine-tails, back for the wrong reason. That's why they had to fight. Naruto had to try, and so did Sasuke. They think of each other as so much different when, in reality, they are alike more than they know. Destined to be brothers, touched by fate.

-Naruto

I stood in the clearing next to Sakura, braced for a fight. I knew what I had to do. I would make him pay for every time he made Sakura cry, every time he put a frown on her face, and every time she prayed for him to come back and he didn't. Yes, he was going to pay for all of them.

"Naruto-kun…You know what I want, just come peacefully and we won't have to fight."

"Give it up Sasuke, what makes you think I'm going to Akatsuki now after all these years?"

"I just had to try. I don't want to fight a meaningless battle."

"Meaningless?! What makes you think that any part of this battle is going to be meaningless?!"

"Calm down, Naruto…" Sakura warned.

"No need to get worked up, Naruto-kun. We can settle this in a battle. Actually, I think that's the way that we should settle this," he told me, drawing his sword. "Let's see whose power grew more in the past few years: yours or mine?"

"I don't care whose power grew more. All I know is that today's the day you return to Konoha once and for all, Sasuke!"

-Sakura

I couldn't bear to watch it much longer. Sasuke and Naruto had always been rivals, but not like this. It was almost as if a new bloodlust was in the air. My best friend and the boy I'd loved fighting each other, it was heartbreaking. I had to do something.

"Stop it! Please just…stop."

"Sakura, are you…"

"Huh, you always were a crybaby, Sakura."

"Shut up Sasuke! Someone who abandoned their own teammates shouldn't be allowed to say things like that!"

"No, it's okay Naruto…"

"It most certainly is not okay!"

"Naruto…"

"You still get worked up easily don't you, Naruto-kun?"

"I said, SHUT UP SASUKE!"

"STOP!!!" I shouted; I'd run out of options.

"Sakura…If you think that shouting 'stop' and crying will change anything when it comes to a battle you're dead wrong. I could tell back then, you weren't cut out to be a shinobi." Now I was pissed off. "Some people just don't have the natural talent and if you don't, well, that's fine. But I'm telling you now, it's useless to cry and shout unless you do something for real. But…who could expect a GIRL to do anything…" That was it; I broke.

"Sasuke!" and I threw a punch perfectly aimed at his face; a fatal mistake.

-Naruto

There was no way we could win. Sakura had been down for a while now, knocked out from throwing a punch at Sasuke that had gotten turned around and aimed at her. And I, I was on the ground, beaten to a bloody pulp while Sasuke barely had a scratch on him. So, after all these years, it seems like Sasuke grew more than I did. Guess I'm not as great a ninja as I thought I was…

-Kyuubi

Naruto was out of it. I was the last hope to this battle and Naruto was the one that had to summon me. There was no hope left. I guess darkness had to take over eventually. Unless…by some miracle… the Akugan was awakened…

-Naruto

I watched him slowly walk towards me, sheathing his sword. I could feel what was next. He formed the hand signs skillfully, completing the combination in less than a second. "Naruto-kun, you're coming with me, conscious or not. So, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"I'll never go with you, I'll never abandon this village, and I'll never lose to YOU!"

He smirked. "Then you brought this upon yourself…" And his lightning-charged hand flew towards me…

Naruto? Naruto? Are you there? Who was that?

"Who are you?" I asked.

"It's me …" I couldn't hear their name.

"What's your name?"

"…" It was no use. The voice was too faint.

"Please, I'm begging your name…"

"Kushina…" I heard faintly but I instantaneously realized who she was.

"Mom, please, tell me what I have to do…"

"…Follow your heart Naruto…the answer will be there…" Follow my heart?

"I don't understand…"

"…"

"Your voice is fading, I can't hear you!"

"You're dying Naruto! Awaken it now!"

"Awaken what? Mom? Mom!"

"I love you…" I heard her say before I was left completely alone, isolated. I fell to my knees and couldn't help but cry. Cry because I was alone; cry because I'd been rejected; cry because I didn't know what to do. Thousands of memories came flooding back from my subconscious, bringing back the pain of a Jinchuuriki's childhood; the pain of rejection and hatred.

I couldn't stand it any longer. Why were they coming back now, of all times, when I was fighting for my life? Slowly, the painful memories eased away to reveal ones of my late childhood and teenage years. Ones filled with happiness and joy; ones filled with acknowledgement. And I couldn't help but smile, smile because I had turned my life around; smile because I had fulfilled my dream: I had become the Hokage of Konoha.

To my surprise, flashbacks of a different past came after my memories. Ones of other shinobi training, perfecting Jutsus, some of which I instantly recognized. The Shadow Clone Jutsu, the Substitution Jutsu, Chidori, and Rasengan. Somehow, as the memories flashed into my mind, I learned them. It was like having billions of Shadow Clones, working on hundreds of different Jutsus, and gaining all their experience ten-fold.

I found myself gasping for air after the onslaught had stopped, stuck in the same dark world. What was I supposed to do now? I shifted to a kneeling position and stared at my shaking hands. One last memory came into my mind. One of my mom kissing my forehead, just moments after I was born, and dying seconds after that…

Not a second had passed since I had found myself in that strange world, Sasuke's hand was still flying towards my face, Sakura was still unconscious on the ground, and I was still covered in blood. I tried to do something about the oncoming threat, but found my body frozen; what was I supposed to do?

Suddenly, my vision faltered and the ground shook of two quick tremors. I didn't have time to think, I had to do. Thank you, Mom, I thought as I regained mobility, swatted his hand away, and stood up, for everything. And with that last thought fresh in my mind, I trudged forward towards the upcoming battle.