"Sasuke, you traitor!" Naruto cried. "I'll end this now, before you have the chance to hurt anyone but me!"
"Traitor?" Sasuke asked with a hurt expression. "Why, Naruto, I'm afraid that's quite an offensive misconception." His voice had become soft and mocking. It not longer even sounded like Sasuke. "Let me offer you a glimpse into my mind, and maybe we can change that." His eyes flashed red, the Mangekyo Sharingan glowing vividly. "What do you say... my friend?"
"Ganenmaru, are you absolutely certain?" Sango asked urgently. He growled and bared his brilliant white fangs.
"Of course I am. I'd know that godforsaken stench anywhere. That's the Snake Sage, no doubt about it." He snarled and curled his lips higher. "And if I'm not mistaken, it's those two boys... Uchiha and Uzumaki... And - ah, even Cousin Kyuubi, too... Interesting..." High above them, Tatsumi and Disura sat astride Fuyukaji and Hibara. They nodded gravely at Ganenmaru's words. Hibara screeched in frustration, clicking her beak and clenching her talons.
"How very unfortunate," she complained. "It would be so satisfying to kill that slithering beast."
"Satisfying, indeed," Ganenmaru growled, eagerly licking his chops. SAngo took a firmer hand on his thick neck fur as he leapt over a stream. Jakku's white tiger, Kirimatsume, followed close behind, although he was sure to stay out of the path of Ganenmaru's eight thrashing tails.
"Hmph," Fuyukaji snorted, ruffling his brilliant white scales. "What would you know of satisfaction, Ganenmaru? Your four feet are stuck on the ground. Flight is by far the ultimate joy you can experience."
"Hold your tongue, Fuyu, before I put another fork in it." Fuyukaji snorted indignantly, tongues of blue flame flaring from his nostrils.
"Must you fight now, you two?" Hibara scolded. "This is hardly the time!" Ganenmaru bared his fangs in a grin.
"Honestly, Hibara," he chuckled, "you're much too serious! I was only kidding!"
"Maybe you were..." Fuyukaji muttered in an undertone.
"Did you say something?" Hibara snapped.
"No, of course not." He sighed. "Women..."
"Why you - Hmph!" Hibara snapped, flapping her enormous brown wings and rising another two hundred feet above Fuyukaji. He sighed again, white flame gushing from his jaws.
"So, Sango," Disura called from Hibara's back, "what's our plan?"
"We need to find Naruto and Sas- pfth! Ugh," she said as a cloud of leaves flew into her face. "Okay, we need to stop Sasuke from - pfth! Sheesh! Okay, stop!" They all slowed and dismounted in a clearing. Sa,kura had ridden double with Jakku; Ruku had gone with Tatsumi. "Okay. Now. Here's the plan."
"Tatsumi sounded pretty riled up when she called me," Kiba said worriedly. "What d'you think -"
"Sasuke's back, of course," Shikamaru said. "And doesn't it just figure! Naruto invented all these precautionary ways to keep from dying in battle, then the one person most likely to kill 'im shows up, and what does he do?! He keeps it a secret and goes to face Sasuke alone! The guy who's so concerned about our safety, and -" He stopped and growled angrily. "So much work for me!"
"Captain Shikamaru," asked one of Konoha's medics, "what is your plan of action?" Shikamaru sighed.
"Alright, here's how it breaks down. Team Guy is our first cell. Next is me, you, my dad, and Choji. Then Ino, Sai, Kurenai, and Shino. After that is Kiba, Hinata, Lady Tsunade, and Kakashi. So far, all Jonin. Our last teams are clan-specified. Hiashi and Hanabi Hyuga are first. Then Chouza Akimichi, Shibi Aburame, and Inoichi Yamanaka. Last are Tsume and Hana Inuzuka with Kuromaru. Kiba's got Akamaru. Yamato's going to join us as we leave.
"So here's our plan. Naruto and Sasuke are fighting on the plains just outside the Final Valley. Chances are, they'll end up there sooner or later. So the twenty-four of us are going to rim the perimeter of their battle and take down Sasuke. How? Like this: As Sasuke and Naruto enter our perimeter, you all surround him and act as if you plan to attack. Then, while he's distracted, Sango, Tatsumi, Disura, Ruku, and Jakku will create a wall from the five elemental barriers: Earth, Fire, Sound, Water, and Lightning," he said, counting them off on his fingers.
"That's where we spring our trap. My dad and I'll catch him in our shadows - we'll make them so strong even the sky'll turn black. Then, when he's immobilized, you and Tsunade will sever all of his vital points."
"All?" the medic asked anxiously. "You only need one to -"
"All, I said. Even when his heart stops, keep breaking vital points. We don't want him coming back again and again like a headless cockroach." The medic nodded.
"Understood."
"And whatever you do," Shikamaru warned, "don't look into his eyes."
Naruto stared dazedly at the red sky and black clouds above him. The ground was covered in a gray, translucent fog - or what he assumed was fog. The air was still and empty, neither warm nor cold, and the clouds and fog billowed on a nonexistent wind. A black shape with white eyes rose out of the ground before him. Naruto tried to run, but his arms and legs were tied to two wooden boards in the shape of a cross.
"Where - Where am I?" he stammered. The form chuckled.
"You are trapped in my Tsukuyomi - The Nightmare Realm." He brandished his sword. Suddenly, the figure transformed into two. One was Sasuke, the other a thin, pale man with a bony face and waist-length black hair. The voices echoed around him as they chuckled. Then they spoke again.
"For the next seventy-two hours, you will remain here with us." They each drove a sword into Naruto's abdomen. He screamed and writhed in agony. The two men shrieked like hyenas, reveling in his pain. Sasuke leaned close to Naruto, smiling broadly.
"You always judged me so harshly," he whispered in Naruto's ear. "You judged me without knowing my pain." He twisted the blade and drove it deeper. Naruto screamed again. Orochimaru grinned behind him. Naruto glared into Sasuke's eyes. Suddenly he was surrounded by a swirling vortex of memories and images. A young Sasuke stood alone in a bloody street.
"Mother! Father!" he screamed as a man and a woman fell at his feet. A young man leapt in front of him, stepping on the bodies. "Why, Itachi?!" Sasuke screamed, sobbing quietly. "Mother and Father... Why did you kill them?! Why?!" Itachi leaned close to his ear.
"I wanted to test the extent of my abilities."
"That's... why you murdered our clan? To test your abilities?" Suddenly he rushed at Itachi. "You're insane!" Itachi sunk his fist into Sasuke's ribcage. He gasped and slumped to the ground, tears running down his cheeks. Naruto felt his physical and emotional pain as vividly as if they were his own.
"Harbor your hatred for me, little brother," Itachi whispered. "Cling to your pathetic existence and live. Live with your sole purpose being to hate and kill me. Harbor your hatred and grow stronger."
The memory suddenly vanished, and Naruto was viewing the Forest of Death through Sasuke's eyes. Two fangs bit into his neck above his left shoulder, spreading a burning sensation like acid over Sasuke's body. He screamed in agony, and so did Naruto as the sensation made him wish, pray, plead for release, death, any way to end this torture.
The scene changed again. Now Sasuke looked down at his black-marked body, feeling an effortless surge of power as purple chakra swirled around him. He lunged at one of the Sound genin in a fury, snapping his shoulders out of their sockets as punishment for hurting Sakura. His first taste of cruel, effortless power. Maybe now, killing Itachi would be possible...
The battle with Gaara. Sasuke was exhausted; the mark was threatening to take over. No, he couldn't let it. Anger and jealousy surged through Sasuke. Why was Naruto, useless, prankster Naruto, so much more powerful? Why did he deserve it? Because he wanted to be Hokage? Feh.
His battle with Itachi. Now was the time! The Chidori was sure to 0 His thoughts changed to primal thoughts of rage, then pain as his wrist shattered. "No, not again! It was so close! Not again!" he thought frantically. He willed his thoughts toward Naruto. "It's my fight! Stay out of this! I don't need you! Leave me alone! Spare yours-" Itachi opened his eyes with the Mangekyo, but the world went black. Sasuke was keeping this memory a secret. All Naruto felt was an unbelievable emotional turmoil from Memory-Sasuke.
The hospital rooftop. Naruto saw his younger self leap at Sasuke, a Rasengan spinning in his hand. Sasuke's mind burned with fury and frustration. "You don't understand! You never can!" he screamed.
"Sasuke!" Naruto screamed. "What the hell's wrong with you?! Why are you being - so -" He prepared to hit Sasuke with the Rasengan. Sasuke's Chidori crackled around his fist. Kakashi dashed between them, and both ceased their attack. Sasuke felt an even hotter anger rise in him. Kakashi! Stupid Kakashi! Why did he always have to play the hero and interrupt?! A sudden calm rushed over him - a sweet realization. He would leave the village - go to Orochimaru. Then his power was assured. Konoha was of no use to him anymore.
The Final Valley. Sasuke stood over Naruto's prone body, staring without seeing. The rain fell around him, and he walked away... Away from his old life... Suddenly the real Sasuke's voice broke through the memories.
"This next one is the last I will show you. Now, Naruto, my pain is your pain."
Sasuke stood motionless, bloody and exhausted, over Itachi's corpse. Tears flowed down his cheeks, and sobs wracked his body. He sank heavily to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "Why, Itachi?!" he cried. "Why didn't you tell me?! Why did you want to die this way?!"
The memory faded away, and Naruto was once again tied to the pole. Sasuke examined his clawed hands boredly.
"Now do you understand, Naruto?" he asked tonelessly.
"No. What did Itachi -"
"He lied to me." Sasuke sighed as if explaining was extremely tiring. Orochimaru chuckled. "He never wanted to kill our clan."
"But then why -"
"He was forced to." Naruto fell silent. "Itachi was from the Uchiha clan, and one of the most promising students ever to become a shinobi. The village elders, who had heard rumors about the Mangekyo Sharingan, wanted to see its power for themselves. So on their recommendation, my father accepted Itachi into the Anbu Black Ops." He paused for a few seconds. "The elders used him as a double agent. While he pretended to work directly for the Hokage, he really plotted to kill our clan. They gave him no choice. The Third Hokage was the only one opposed, and they overruled him." He gritted his teeth. "He defied them by leaving me alive, hoping I'd avenge our clan. Because of those bastards, not only my brother's life but mine have been forced into dishonesty and hatred!" His face lost all emotion, a thousand more blade-wielding Sasukes appearing behind him. "Now, only seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-nine seconds to go." He raised the sword. Naruto focused inward as the pain intensified.
"Kyuubi!" he pleaded. "Help me!" The fox growled and gave him a portion of its power. Naruto tensed the muscles in his wrists and ankles. The ropes snapped like dry grass. Orange chakra bubbled and hissed around him, perfectly matching the rage he felt. Sasuke seemed utterly unsurprised.
Naruto growled and threw back his head. His abdominal muscles clenched, and he uttered the most terrible, enraged battle-cry Sasuke had ever heard. Even Orochimaru flinched, if only slightly. The genjutsu shattered like glass, and Sasuke ended it before Naruto could damage his mind. They stood on the windy, rocky plain near the Final Valley. A storm rumbled in the distance, casting the early morning world in a perpetual twilight. Naruto snarled and bared his teeth like a rabid animal, crouching on all fours and digging his claws into the earth. Three orange tails thrashed behind him.
Sasuke's face was unreadable as he drew his blade, black lightning crackling along its length. He lowered his stance, gripping the pommel lightly. Blood dripped from a large gash under his left eye and hand where Naruto's chakra had hit him. He had released the Mangekyo just a bit too late. Smirking, he flicked the sword in Naruto's direction. "Shall we begin?"