Sheer blast force clashes with gigantic chakra constructed sword.
A crater forms.
A line parts the rainclouds.
BOOM.
Dust clouds and earth-rain take place where mountains used to be.
He looks up, no longer through the filters of violet chakra. Beneath the line drawn into the sky, there is no rain. But there is no light either.
The arteries in his arms and eyes twitch and pulse. He coughs into his hand. There is blood.
Chakra. Near Zero.
A beat.
He smirks.
The rocks and dust settle. He sees. Naruto crouches, perhaps twenty yards away, blood dripping from the bridge of his nose, drawing in slow, deep breaths.
A hand pushing on the knee, Naruto climbs to his feet. Sturdy. Strong.
Blue eyes stare into dark ones.
A beat.
And another.
They dash in.
Chidori in the left hand.
Rasengan in the right.
They clash.
Sheer centrifugal force meets cackling lightning made manifest.
The boom comes. Later.
It fades. The sky. The earth. The rain. The world. Time. It fades.
It is White.
.
.
.
An infinite spanning space of white.
The two of them, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke stand. Across from each other. On different sides. Always…
A beat.
"I suppose I can't call you ignorant anymore," he says.
Naruto simply stares.
"You wanted to understand me. My pain. My hatred. Well, here it is. This is why I hate. Everything. You. Them. Konoha. Everything. It's not the same, is it? Pain stemmed from loneliness. This hurts, and the pain never leaves. It scratches, claws at you from the inside out until all you can think about is how much you just want everything to die. To stop existing because, because at least then, even if it's dark, it'll be quiet."
His eyes narrow. "All those faces, all those smiles, that you love more than anything else. Just gone. You think I don't know? That in spite of everything I say, everything I do, it's still utterly meaningless? That no matter who I kill or what I burn down, I'll never get those smiles back?"
He laughs. "I know that. I fucking know that! I know every day I walked through the ghost town I used to call home! I know every night when I fall asleep and every morning when I open my eyes! I know every time when I look into a mirror or even just a fucking puddle! Everything is gone and there's nothing that can be done about it except satisfying the hate you have of just everything else!"
His laugh, chokes. Eyes darker still. "And when you finally get there, finally get what you always claimed you wanted, it still crashes around you because it's all a lie. All of it. Just lies and more lies. There's nowhere else to go. Nothing to look towards. Because you can't even tell if it's real or just another illusion. How does it feel? You wanted to save me, to understand me. Well, here it is, all on a damn platter. I gave you what you wanted. You're the same as me now. A first rate shinobi with nothing but a pile of corpses to think of. The fate of world and time stretched out before us and all of it worthless! So tell me! How does it feel?"
Naruto stares.
A beat.
Another beat.
And another—
Slowly, Naruto smiles.
…Sasuke blinks.
"Heheh," the blonde laughs softly, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "sorry. It's just, this is kinda the first time you've ever told me how you really felt, you know?"
Sasuke gapes. "What?"
Naruto lowers his hand, a soft glow in his eyes. "Like you said, this is different from the pain of being alone. Knowing that the days will never be the same again, because there's just so much that's lost, never able to get back? Yeah. It hurts. It hurts a lot. It hurts just like when Jiraiya-sensei was gone. It hurts knowing he won't be around to drop in unannounced and steal my wallet or make me read his ero-books. It hurts thinking about how when I get a cut or a bruise, it'll be someone else who patches me up. No one to scream about youth, or have an eating contest with, or yell at me for being careless, or laugh about stupid jokes, or just because I'm always so troublesome or something."
He touches his stomach. "It was only for a short while, but I got the love I needed. The love I thought I never had to begin with. It's always been there, and always will be. If I just close my eyes and smile, I can see them smiling too. So, I have no need for hate. Hating and being angry just gets tiring after a while. It's annoying and it'll just get in the way."
Sasuke's breath hitches.
A soft laugh parts his grin. Naruto looks up. "I still have somewhere to go back to. I still have something left to protect. Tons more left to protect. We all share the same home, the same sunny place. It may never be the same again, but I'll never forget them. Theirs smiles, or the time we spent together. The only way I'll lose, is if I forget. And I won't. Ever. That's a promise of lifetime. My lifetime. I'll protect our home. Even if I gotta do so alone, I'll put my life on the line for it. Always."
Sasuke stares.
A beat.
And another.
His eyes…lighter. "Why?"
Naruto cocks his, an almost wry grin parting. "Cuz they would've wanted me to. They cared about me. They're my precious people. I don't really need any other reason than that."
Sasuke stares, and stares, and stares. Somewhere, sometime, his eyes stop bleeding.
"So, c'mon, Sasuke," Naruto grins widely, holding out a fist. "I'll protect Konoha, and I'll take on all of your so-called hatred. I've already decided to take on a huge load anyway, and he's the biggest, fattest whiner ever. I'm ready, dattebayo! Show me what else you've got! I'm so gonna kick your ass!"
He's not sure how, but, but something in him tugs, and it tickles. And before he knows it, something resembling an exasperated laugh nearly chokes him before he swallows it down.
"What!" Naruto scowls. "I'm totally gonna wipe the floor with you! You probably don't even have enough chakra to crawl!"
He scoffs. "That's still enough to leave your face in the dirt."
"Oh, yeah?" Naruto hollers, grinning. "We'll see about that!"
They too fade into the white.
Until even the White itself fades.
.
.
.
Boom.
The explosion of force sends both of them flying backwards, but somehow, they maintain their footing and skid to a halt.
They are soaked. In rain, sweat, and blood.
Their breaths are heavy, and their bodies heavier still.
But the rain is lighter now. Soon, it will come to a stop.
Sasuke looks at his hand. It trembles. Chakra. Zero.
He looks back up, at the pair of bright blue eyes that shine in the dark. His hand clenches, and the shaking ceases.
He stands up, straight.
He holds a hand out, palms up, and 'beckons'.
Naruto grins. "Let's get wild."
On three, they move.