Thanks to the wonderful people who favorited this story, it really moved me to see people enjoying it. Also, a special thanks to xXMikomiUchihaXx for commenting! Woohoo, first commenter! I know my writting sucks compared to my friend's so I apologize if the Sasuke part doesn't do the job for you! Either way, please comment to let us know what you think!
Sasuke's POV
Sasuke had taken his katana out, careful for any menacing chakras around. He had been polishing it for some time now, impatient but hesitant in the same time for the moment that the steal would cross the kistune's heart and rip it in little shreds.
Various dark thoughts kept playing in his head, as he was polishing his precious weapons.
He couldn't forget Naruto's persistent efforts to get him back because he could never get why the blonde was so obsessed with this. Any other human being would have just accepted that their friend had long been lost in darkness and would have let go and move on.
Sasuke was well aware he had lost his road back to a happy life but he didn't regret it. All he cared for was his revenge, until he died. He wasn't destined to live as other normal human beings with normal lives and without worries or huge past traumas that no amount of time or love could wash out.
Naruto would never get how Sasuke felt. Why he was shaped the way he was, why he did what he did. To Naruto it all seemed pointless. And it was. But Sasuke didn't care, his life did'nt have any point either way ever after his family had vanished.
He lived for their memory and his revenge. No one and nothing else.
Naruto was far from getting this and thus he'd pay for his foolishness. One should never play with the fire and if they can't put it out, they should at least run from themselves. But no Naruto had the hero syndrome, he had to shove the salvation down his head, either Sasuke had a say on this or not.
Sasuke couldn't put reason in his ex teammate, he had tried but it had been without use. Naruto was just too damn stubborn.
Sasuke never ever believed that his blonde rival would love him. He thought he only wanted to surpass him, to show off as a hero by bringing him back, that he had convinced himself that he loved Sasuke so as to feel as a better person, something he was not.
But all that was meaningless to him. He was actually a depressed scared traumatized little boy inside him, but no one could see. But he prefered it that way, since he was trying to come out as tough and strong in order to keep everyone out.
Thinking back on it, Naruto used to be important to the raven back at the time. And that was one of the reasons he left. If he could come to care for an annoying failure of a ninja that did nothing but mock him and antagonize him, then Sasuke must have been weak himself.
And he needed to be strong, for his revenge. Feelings were a luxury he couldn't afford to indulge into in his lonely life.
He snapped out of his thoughts, realizing he had been pointlessly polishing his weapons all this time since they were already sharp enough.
He hid his katana back under his robe, hanging it on his shoulder. He stood up, kind of taken aback by the long silence.
Even if himself was a cold and distant unsocial person, he was used to people talking all the time around him, was it his teammates, or enemies.
It wasn't often he stayed completely by himself, in absence of any human presence whatsoever. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he felt less lonely when people were around him.
He started walking around the cliffs, looking down at the village.
He could make out small figures passing by, to their houses, to the shops, to and off their jobs.
Konoha seemed too busy for such a small place.
But come to think of it Konoha wasn't unimportant at all, as it was one of the few powerful ninja villages in the whole known to them world.
Naruto's POV
Sometimes, Naruto thought he'd have been better off as Anbu rather than Hokage.
Albeit the current situation was making him feel like a cheap quitter, the opinion remained. His legs could stretch and maneuver freely unlike when he wore his coat, and the long-sleeved shirt? Wow. It actually breathed!
This inspired the fact that since he wasn't a real anbu, Naruto would eventually be back to having people hang on his every word in the stuffy office he dubbed hell, sorting out papers and dooming himself to endless paper cuts. Because he belonged in the office - forever and always.
Why couldn't he get that through his head? He had been selfishly thinking about himself and Sasuke lately, with their messed up past and how they both ended up. It wasn't right. And all Naruto had from the experience were regrets. Of not being faster, stronger, more perceptive.
But just because he was ******** up, didn't mean that he had the right to jeopardize the foundation of Konoha's future. If he ever did anything right, it would be to ensure that it would be around for years to come. There'd always be this guilt about Sasuke.
He knew he couldn't fix things. They'd probably never even see each other again. But he had to move on. He had to stand in front of his people, and act like nothing bothered him.
It was his duty.
''I won't be gone long, all I want is some fresh air.'' He added quickly, ''And you can't come with me so..I'm..I'm gonna go.''
Admittedly, just thinking about him was like ripping out the stitches from a fresh wound again and again. Remembering them as kids... hearing Sasuke say his name...He couldn't stand it. At this rate, he'd never be whole.
''I'll see you...'' When? In an hour. Probably not. He didn't want to upset anyone but he needed space. ''Just walk around for a bit, okay? Take the back roads. No one will know the difference.''
''But sir-''
''See ya!'' His words were faltering because he doesn't have much of a plan. Blond hair juts out in patches from behind his mask, the only distinction of Naruto's golden appearance.
His feet are taking him someplace, someplace he doesn't even care to register. People are everywhere, but for the first time in months, no one stops him. It's kind of a relief actually. It would be a while before anyone realized his replacement wasn't him. So to Naruto, time seemed to stretch on in an endless expanse.
Beneath his mask, Naruto smiled. He felt so free, so calm. Maybe I should go visit Sakura.
No, he wouldn't visit. Even thinking it he knew that the idea was a bad one. She would probably nag at him for missing work. Besides, she worked at a hospital now. Remember? Sakura was as busy as him!
He walked a little further until he spotted a sloping roof, immediately leaping up it's broken tiles and running along the tip of it's arch. He had no sense of restriction in these clothes, only the idea that he was going to have fun.
''Maybe I'll go to the markets.'' mumbling to himself, Naruto crept passed a window, listening to the distant rumble of someone's footsteps. Naturally, he ignored this, opting to jump back down into the street. Some people eyed him as he landed; probably questioning his intelligence(or the gold hair, not many had as bright a color as him), before continuing on.
A laugh broke his lips, erupting into a joyful sound as he strolled through the streets.. listening to what people said, and how they reacted to each other. It was brilliant, actually, to feel so normal again.
''Yo, Anbu!'' Naruto inclined his head, looking toward a shopkeeper with interest. The man was larger, and a bit more hairy than some. But his face was disgruntled, catching Naruto off guard.
''Do so'good, would'ya? Kids keep prankin' meh round har.''
Folding his arms, the pear-shaped man glared at Naruto, expecting some kind of response. But what was there to say? Don't worry, he'd protect the potatoes?
''I'm on it.'' He supplied. The man seemed startled at the sound of his voice, but didn't mention anything. Naruto, of course, took this as his chance to leave, and sprinted onward.
And by some stroke of luck, he felt it.
A sinking feeling. Like a stab at his heart, pulling him down to the mud. Naruto stopped dead in the center of the market, his eyes wide. What was this feeling? This sense of worry? Naruto tried to look at each of the passing faces, but found few people left on the street. As a last resort, Naruto looked upward, toward the past Hokages' images. A wind ruffled through, shifting his hair at an awkward angle. But he didn't notice. All he could think was...
Something's going on.
Sasuke's POV
Sasuke looked down at the village once more, his hand clenching onto the cold steal.
An anbu figure seemed to be watching the mountains carefully, which made him anxious for some moments. Could it be that someone had recognized him and had informed the Konoha elders? This wasn't good.
Something,though, about this figure seemed familiar. The way he stood, they way he looked towards the cliffs. There was a weird aura around him, he could swear he had it felt before somewhere.
And his hair…was golden blonde. So much like the color of someone he knew…
Could it be Naruto? No, wait, Naruto would never mask as an Anbu and go out freely in the village like that. He was a strictly guarded as far as Sasuke was informed. But knowing Naruto he had it in him to be wild and naively bold like that.
And come to think of it, wasn't it in those plains, the hokages heads that his old friend had made his first prank before he had enrolled into the ninja academy ? He still remembered that day, not without a feeling of melancholy stinging his heart.
He still remembered how upset everyone at the village and at the ninja school was with the little ''cursed'' boy, how mad Iruka was and how disappointed in Naruto he made himself out to be.
Yet now, Naruto was a hokage . Sasuke admired the blonde for his route so far and considered him a worthy rival, able to compete with his power.
And this is what made the fight even more exciting. All he had to hope for was to find it in his cold heart to not give in to the memories or feelings Naruto could wake up inside him, upon their reunion.
His thoughts reverting back to the ANBU , his stress returned ten fold and snapped him out of his deep thoughts.
He clenched his fists and walked away from the edge of the cliffs, as he climbed onto a tree and hid in its branches, planning his next move if that person was really after him and did plan to go up alone or with help-the latter more expected if he was really an anbu- to hunt his head down.
Suddenly, a thought made him freeze in agony,as his eyes fell on his akatsuki vest he wore from under his black robe. There was a good sized piece of its right down edge torn.
It must have been when he was climbing up the hills, having his outter robe untied, so the vest had come in direct contact with the rocky surface and thus it had been trimmed so much that a piece of it was torn.
And where could that piece have fallen now? How stupid could he have been to not notice it before? If someone found signs of akatsuki around, they would be alert on in no time.
Now, he knew what this anbu was on about.
He probably had found the piece. But he couldn't leave now and cross the village again,or he'd get caught if they already knew.
Going the opposite way wouldn't work either, seeing as he had no food or water with him and the road back to another human civilization close enough was pretty long and deserted.
He sighed in agony, he really shouldn't have based on his fortune so much. He never had much anyways and he should have known better ever after he happened to be born in a family that was slaughtered from their own member.
Naruto's POV
He should be turning away. Be marching right back to his office, and forget about this feeling. Yea, that's what he should do. But he didn't. Couldn't.
Naruto studied the faces of his Hokage, mesmerized by their features. Each one seemed a lot older than himself, so much more prepared. In retrospect, the blond presumed to be nothing more than a spec compared to them. They all had the makings of great courage and leadership... Naruto didn't think he could do half the things they did. So what led him to chose this life in the first place? He wanted to try. Be remembered, like them. Be admired. It had been exactly four years since he took over as Hokage.
The disbelief, confusion and surprise was still vivid in his mind. Now, he found that a little bit of horror was mixed in, too. Looking back, all he could see was Sakura's awarding smile, Kakashi's smug expression. And naturally, all he could hear was the joined voices as they congratulated him, or sang with joy. They thought he was going to make things so much better. Magically attain all the answers.
Naruto also remembers that his training ended that day, and how he'd always wondered if he had taken on this role a bit too soon.
What's that?
Catching sight of something fluttering in the wind, Naruto studied it for a long moment, pensive. Eventually, it peeled itself from the face of the rock, permitting he watch as it fell right into the sky. On instinct, the boy's heart beat with the tempo of the falling piece, depicting another sense of dread for the situation.
Naruto couldn't help it. His body coiled downward then, blue eyes captured on the bit as he leapt straight up into the air. When he reached the top of his jump, the boy stretched. His fingers grazed the soft fabric before snatching it. When he landed, Naruto eyed his treasure, gasping for breath. Is this...? Glaring up to the faces, Naruto paused. Atasuki couldn't be here. He'd ensured Konoha of that long ago!
''Dammit.'' His shoulder stung from the stretch, but he ignored it. He had bigger problems at the moment. This piece of fabric was evidence to that. Naruto felt a headache coming on with this knowledge, because dealing with the cloaked sort meant lots of trouble.
The smart thing to do would be to go and get help. But that would mean tattling on himself, and being locked up in his office. He wouldn't get to see if the Atasuki were trying to invade Konoha, or if they were plotting something bigger. No, that wouldn't calm his concerns. But it should be what he was doing.
''Just a quick look,'' he promised. No harm could come from that, right? Naruto scaled the mountain in a matter of minutes, whimpering once when he cut his palm on a jagged rock.
Thus, he made quick work of wrapping his hand with the cloth, bundling his palm. The sun made things a bit harder up here, but with a little perserverence, he reached his destination.
This was probably the worst friggin' idea he'd ever had.
''.. Show yourself!''
Sasuke's POV
Sasuke's loneliness and peaceful silence was suddenly invaded by sounds of someone climbing the rocky hills and the sense of a familiar chakra filling the area around.
It was a strong kind of chakra , one he knew very well and would never forget, no matter how much time would pass.
His heart started racing faster. Could this really be Naruto? His chakra and sounds alert followed the sound of his voice, echoing around with a weird unseen strength Sasuke hadn't witnessed in his past friend before.
It seemed as if the years of working as a Hokape had paid off for Naruto's personal growth and the once stupid ninja was now an intimidating rival.
Sasuke could now lay his curious eyes on the anbu figure, that was letting out such a familiar aura.
Now that he had heard his voice, even if it had matured somehwat since the last time he had heard it, he was sure that this very voice belonged to Naruto.
His onyx eyes shining with primal instinct, he observed better as the man moved around the the rocks.
A sly smirk made its way up to his face, as his hand slid down under his robe and clenched on his katana.
This would be interesting: Naruto in an anbu form.
Last time he checked he was still a Hokage. If Sasuke had to take a wild guess, he'd say that probably, he was just going around fooling everyone in order to steal some brief deeply desired freedom.
Maybe Sasuke himself wasn't one but he could only guess how busy a Hokage ought to be, given that even mere ninjas of low ranks were never left in peace, either, filled with constant difficult or easy missions.
After all, he had worked for Konoha once. He knew how the story went.
He moved around the branch and jumped down silently, so that Naruto wouldn't hear him or notice any light movement . He stayed hidden using the thick chain of trees in front of him as coverage.
Staring at Naruto silently, like a snake watching its prey, he took two kunai out, throwing them from two different directions towards the blond, never ceasing to move around in his great speed.
The point wasn't to attack him or scare him. This would only alert him after all.
What he wanted to do was two things: first, cause the anbu mask to fall off-which he managed with the second kunai while Naruto was busy dodging the first-after all they came from two totally different directions- and second check if Naruto had come up there with any other force or guardians to get him down. Once attacking their hokage, he knew how anbu would work.
They wouldn't be able to resist but fall in the battle in order to protect their Hokage. Then again you couldn't be sure, and that's why he was willing to take his risks with it.
Coming all alone to Konoha for the hokage's murder was enough of a great risk on its own.
He started making his way to Naruto from behind, silently and cooly, sure that the blonde couldn't spot him just yet in his great speed. His steps as soft as ever, he made no wrong moves on the ground.
He had caught a glimpse of Naruto's tanned face before, the second the mask had dropped to the dusty hard dry ground.
He expected the moment he'd meet with his past teammate for his heart to go racing in astral speed and emotions of melancholy, regrets and past caring fill him , but nothing of the sort happened and now he was walking silently and steadily in a calm way towards his prey, as if nothing else mattered in the world other than his aim.
Yep, when it really came down to it, Sasuke was a professional at what he did…or was he?
With one swift move, he was inches away from Naruto, his chest facing the blonde's back.
Now he was sure that the fifth Hokage could feel him but it was too late anymore.
In a matter of seconds, he unsheathed his katana and placed it in front of Naruto's neck and chest, holding it tightly with his right hand, while he pressed the blond ninja's back against his chest with his free hand.
For some reason, his pale hands were shaking in the physical contact but his husky voice didn't, when he whispered in Naruto's ear, brushing his lips lightly against his earlobe.
''Long time no see, …Hokage.'' he said, his voice dripping from sarcasm but in the same time a hint of honest emotion.
Plox, comment?
_
Comment and save a life! Muhahhaha jk!
Sasuke: Yeah…okay…R&R sounds more proper, don't you think? -.-
Me: I don't like typicalities, plus no one is going to comment no matter how I phrase it, either way! Gee, you smartass!
Sasuke: Then why do you keep on posting this?
Me:…Huh! Oh god you should just be thankful I put you in the story, you teme! So now hush yourself!
Naruto: Hey! Only I can call Sasuke-teme that!
Sasuke: *sigh*
Me: Uh, I think I forgot my line, damn you guys! Aaah… Oooohh, yeah, that's it! :
Until next time!