A/N: Well, um… Hello, every one!

I really can't stress enough how sorry I am! I can tell that I've let down many of you not updating for so long. So, I'm really very sorry! I had my reasons, though. I also felt bad because I couldn't continue with the story…

Anyway, I want to thank everyone who didn't lose hope in me. I will finish this fic properly no matter what, I promise!

Now, please, enjoy the chapter!

Naruto entered the Uchiha district, carrying his younger self on his back, as the latter had drifted off to sleep when they were sitting on the Hokage monument. They passed empty houses, some had their windows shattered, some even lacked doors, the walls bore signs of the shurikens having been thrown into them, flower beds by the windows, without proper care, were long since void of any signs of life. No one really attempted to hide the evidence of the massacre.

Naruto's footsteps echoed in the lonely street. It was such a strange feeling to be the only source of the sound; even birds did not seem to favor this place. He was walking through a ghost town. Naruto gulped down. How could Sasuke stand walking through this street every day? Was he deliberately torturing himself with this view, using it as a reminder that would not let him stray from his goal?

If you walked or better run through it looking only at the ground ahead of you, probably, you could be lucky enough to miss the terrible details that gave out the true nature of this uncharacteristically silent street. But Sasuke would not do it, would he? Naruto knew him well enough to guess that Sasuke was determined to carve the image into the back of his head. A cruel punishment, which he preferred to call a means of sustaining his resolve to kill his only living sibling. He wanted to overshadow all the early memories with this image as if the streets of the Uchiha district have never been full of people, as if he has never walked down them hand in hand with his brother smiling happily. Holding onto those memories was too painful for him, unbearable even, so he desperately tried to shield himself from them. In truth Naruto did not even have to guess, he knew, he could just feel that Sasuke had these thoughts and conflicted emotions. Naruto could tell because he had them too, once, when he felt just as lost. His own life, the loss of his precious people and his struggle to be accepted, allowed him to share Sasuke's pain. But it was more than this, he understood the other boy so well because he cared deeply for the Uchiha and wanted to see the source of his pain, to understand it, so that he could help him move on, because he could not let Sasuke be swallowed by the hatred and despair. He wanted them to walk alongside, because then they would not be alone anymore. And maybe, just maybe, someday they would share more than each other's pain, but also the happy memories, they would acquire together.

Trying to reach Sasuke for years, he thought more than once how selfish and self-serving his quest was. He was determined to do whatever it takes to drag back an unwilling Uchiha or die trying. That was the promise he made to Sakura. He vowed to make Sasuke return, because before anything else it meant saving his life from Orochimaru. But then Orochimaru got defeated by Sasuke, and it would be a lie to say Naruto had not anticipated that outcome. Maybe Sasuke was naïve in some ways, but most certainly not gullible enough to willingly let a sick pervert ride his body, and if he was to fight Orochimaru with his life at stake he would not die no matter what, because there was only one man Sasuke was prepared to die fighting.

Even as a missing ninja Sasuke was capable of surviving on his own, or so Naruto believed, having face in his friend's strength. But then again, why did he keep chasing Sasuke who clearly had no interest in him or the rest of Konoha, not to dwell on the fact that he ended up hating the village. Naruto knew the real answer to that question for a while, but was reluctant to admit it to himself. Sasuke might not needed to be saved, but Naruto did. With Sasuke's betrayal a huge part of Naruto's soul was torn into shreds and no matter what he did he could not mend the pieces. It hurt. It hurt so much he could not possibly go on like this. Even his dream did not seem as meaningful if at its completion there would be no Sasuke to make a sarcastic remark about dobes becoming Hokage, but still smile and pat him on the shoulder. He felt emptiness, the kind of which he had not felt since childhood. It was eating at him, destroying him. So he desperately ran after the only possible thing that could fill in that growing vacuity – his bond with Sasuke. Ignoring Sasuke's wish to permanently sewer that bonds, he blindly pressed on. He knew it was selfish, but he could not care less.

Naruto clenched his teeth. This time he would definitely do it right. No matter how much he liked to be in the spot lite, he would make sure that there was enough room for Sasuke, because he could not let him slip into the shadows again. Now that he knew that imposing on the Uchiha would only estrange him, the only real question was how to stop him from ruining his life by killing Itachi and becoming Madara's pawn. He won't force himself on the Uchiha and warn his younger self about it, but he has to make sure Sasuke's goals do not involve the destruction of Konoha. And that meant he has to somehow make him shed the mask of the avenger. And this thought brought him back to Uchiha Itachi and the question as to how contact him and persuade to tell Sasuke the truth.

Naruto sighed. He probably only have to parade out of Konoha flaring Kyuubi's chakra here and there and not only Itachi, but the whole bunch, Madara included, would turn up to assault him. He has to work out a plan to be more discreet about his movements, unless he wanted to end up facing Madara in his weakened state.

His train of thought was disturbed by a soft noise somewhere above his head. He immediately tensed and looked up to determine the possible source of the noise in this ghost town like district.

TBC

Please, review! But, I beg you, do not threaten to kill me! I feigned death for more than a year and I really can't continue to let down my last remaining fans.