VALLEY OF THE END

The waterfall plunges into a strangely calm lake. Flanking the cascade are colossal figures—those I mentioned earlier—so immense that gazing up from their feet induces vertigo. Naruto feels it too, but not for the reasons you might think.

Now standing on the lake's surface, he looks upward. There, far away, above Madara Uchiha's head, two crimson dots blaze—the sharingan of his friend. Even from this distance, he senses the resentment they radiate. If glares could wound, this one would pierce him through. Just as an arrow is currently piercing Neji Hyuga, with no one there to aid him. But that's not that important to you and me.

Naruto clenches his teeth and bounds up the mountain, his chakra-infused feet adhering to the rock.

"You shouldn't have come here," Sasuke says, bluntly. He means it. For him, this burden is his alone to bear. Or, to put it differently, his troubles are not Naruto's concern or anyone else's—only his own. "Leave. I don't have time to pummel you."

"Sasuke! You… you idiot… how can you be so foolish!" Yes, eloquence was never Naruto's strong suit. He seems to think problems can be headbutted until they magically resolve. It... works sometimes. Are some things only fixed through violence?

They stand atop the stone colossi: Sasuke on Madara Uchiha and Naruto on Hashirama. If there's a meaning to this, they will miss it. They're young and they're blind. Don't blame them too much: so are we.

"This is the last time I'll tell you, Naruto. Either leave now or regret it." Sasuke turns away, attempting to walk off. But a kunai lodged at his feet halts him. Whirling back, rage etched on his face, he says, "You really need things beaten into your head." Fine. He'll allow Naruto to waste his time once more.

Naruto forces a laugh.

"Act tough now that you still have teeth. I'm going to pummel you so hard, Sasuke. And then I'll drag you back to the village to apologize to Sakura!"

"So that's it." There is a moment when Sasuke pauses, closes his eyes, and reopens them. "I know you brought your friends. Did she come with you?" The other looks at him but remains silent. Only his expression hardens. "You're so naive. No wonder they take you for a fool!"

Now Sasuke hurls a kunai. He's practiced it thousands of times, and the blade whistles as it slices through the short distance between them… but Naruto easily catches it midair. Twirling it between his fingers, he grips it with the tip pointing downward. And he prepares to fight.

"Sasuke!" he shouts. "You're coming with me!"

His friend scowls in anger before simply responding with a name:

"Naruto!" The way he says it makes it sound like a curse.

Now, a shift in perspective. We see the mountain from afar, the waterfall cascading with its endless roar. Above, the black clouds shower us with thick, heavy rain. And right above the waterfall, between the two ancient shinobi, Naruto and Sasuke clash in midair—kunai against kunai—sparks flying from the edges of metal.

Fists fly, slicing the air. Each blow is met with pain, dodged by a hair's breadth. The two ninjas separate and collide once more. Sparks dance anew. Stabs miss their mark, cuts merely graze fabric, and a burst of flame evaporates part of the water beneath them. Naruto tears a shuriken from his shoulder. Sasuke's nose bleeds, and he wipes it with the back of his hand. So far, the fight remains evenly matched. But the scales are about to tip: after another exchange of blows, they clash again, and this time, Sasuke's kunai slides past Naruto's guard.

"Back off!" Sasuke deflects his friend's weapon and, spinning mid-air, kicks him toward the waterfall. The impact is so forceful that it creates a ring of rain as the air disperses. Sasuke lands on the water, while Naruto hurtles down the cascade, smashing rocks in his path. "You idiot, what do you hope to achieve?" Sasuke mutters to himself. "You'll die for nothing."

In a split second, Sasuke sighs in frustration. The next moment, his eyes widen as Naruto sprints up the waterfall, the water parting before him due to the pressure of his chakra. Although Sasuke has time to prepare, everything happens too swiftly. The punch that connects carries such force that it pierces his guard, cleanly striking his chin and lifting him off the ground. No time to think. Naruto seizes Sasuke's chest and hurls him downward. Then, mid-leap, he delivers an identical kick to the one he'd received moments ago.

Sasuke shoots across the lake like a cannonball. Now we see him sink into water that, at night, appears utterly black. Bubbles surround him, leaving a thin trail of blood from his mouth. For two or three seconds, he remains motionless, submerged. But then he opens his eyes, and his sharingan ignites in the darkness.

A hand emerges from the water and holds onto it. And there rises Sasuke—drenched but nearly unscathed. Naruto stands waiting on the shore. He's discarded his orange jacket, now as soaked as fabric can be, and tossed it aside.

"I told you I'd crush you," Naruto says, cracking his knuckles. "So when you're done bathing, come here. The best is yet to come."

Something has changed in him. Like Sasuke, his eyes also glow. It's not a sharingan, of course. No, the power he conceals is far more fearsome—and far more difficult to control. His sky-blue gaze now mirrors that of the Nine-Tails Fox: irises red as blood, pupils slit at the center.

"I thought you'd grown stronger," Sasuke spits out some blood and walks on the water toward Naruto, slowly assessing him. "Seems I expected too much. Can you do anything without that monster of yours?"

It's true that Sasuke is measuring him up. But he miscalculated. Naruto's speed as he lunges is far greater than expected. Sasuke's sharingan can track his movements; his body can't.

So Naruto's shoulder slams into Sasuke's stomach, dragging him ten, twenty meters backward to the lake's edge. In an instant, Naruto is behind him, arms wrapped around Sasuke's waist from behind. Naruto bends backward, lifting Sasuke off the ground and slamming him onto the earth. Sasuke lands on the back of his neck with a pained grunt. A smile plays on Naruto's face as he spins around to face Sasuke, who remains sprawled on the ground. Naruto delivers a right hook to his cheek, followed by a left, and the next blow is a powerful straight punch. Sasuke catches it with his hand. His grip is, in a word, painful—the bones in Naruto's fist creak beneath his fingers.

"You're not the only one hiding something," Sasuke says. Dozens of black marks spread across his skin, as if someone has painted them with a brush. And look at his chakra—it's surging! Naruto notices it too. But it's too late. Sasuke forms a seal with his free hand, takes a deep breath, puffs out his cheeks— "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" And with just a few words, everything is engulfed in flames.

ISN'T THIS WHAT YOU WANT?

Naruto opens his eyes and sees his reflection in the lake. His eyes are blue, and the marks on his cheeks no longer resemble scratches. He has returned to normal. But the world around him has changed: still in the valley, yet everything else has vanished. The sky is an empty black void, the forest reduced to darkness. Of course, there is no trace of Sasuke. In this illusory world, only one other being exists besides himself. You know exactly who it is.

The waterfall before him has an opening in its waters, like a door. After a moment of hesitation, Naruto slips through it. Inside lies an immense cavern with a towering ceiling. At the far end stands a cage as tall as the cavern itself. It imprisons a colossal beast. And the scrap of parchment on one of the bars is all that keeps it sealed.

The Nine-Tails Fox lies sprawled behind the cage, staring directly at him. Its eyes, as always, drip with disdain.

"So you've returned," its voice is deep and slow, like an animal's growl. "Beaten and with your tail between your legs. Pathetic."

"Shut up," Naruto replies. "I don't need you to defeat him. Just send me back."

"I see," the Fox chuckles. "So you don't need me. Ridiculous. You're nothing more than a useless pup—can't fight, can't run, can't—" here, it narrows its eyes— "bite. Why do you think that Uchiha boy hasn't defeated you yet?"

"I can handle him. I've fought Sasuke before!"

"And every time, you've lost!" The Fox roars, shaking the entire cavern with its voice. Dust and pebbles rain down from the ceiling; the walls groan, crack. "You ungrateful child, when have you ever achieved anything through your own strength?"

"I've told you to send me back!"

"Don't you dare demand anything from me, Naruto Uzumaki. As far as I'm concerned, you can die in that lake like a dog. Do you think I'll lift a finger? Save you? Poor fool. You've come here to be killed for that girl, and for what?"

"Shut it and let me go! I'll prove I can defeat Sasuke alone!"

"Prove it, you?" The Fox snorts in exasperation. "How insolent. And how foolish. Can't you see you've already lost?" It turns its head toward one side of the cavern. A bare wall where, like an illusion, Naruto's image appears, engulfed in flames, slowly descending toward the lake's shore. "You're going to die, Naruto Uzumaki."

"That's not… I wouldn't…"

"Listen!" The Fox's voice shakes the chamber once more. "You have one choice, and I'll tell you what it is. Take my power. Take my power and kill that Uchiha boy."

"I won't kill Sasuke!"

"So you choose death? Surrender like a coward? Disgusting. Who would've thought Kushina's son would be so pathetic!" Although Naruto tries to respond, he can't. The Fox stands up, presses its head against the cage bars, and stares at him with bloodshot eyes. "Choose, brat! Will you die, or will you live? Will you surrender like a rat, or will you defeat Sasuke Uchiha? Isn't that what you want? Isn't that the promise you made? Answer!"

Naruto closes his eyes, recalling the sound of his own voice: "I give you my word, and you know I never go back on it," he had said. "I'll bring Sasuke home, even if it costs me my life."

Some promises are better left unmade. Sometimes it's wiser to stay out of things. Or is it?

"Damn it," Naruto bites his lip until it hurts. "Damn it, fine! You win…! If that's what it takes, give me your power! I'll defeat Sasuke! But I won't kill him," he adds, clenching his fists. "I'm not like you."

The Fox laughs, slowly.

"Ah, but you'll have to give me something in return." Naruto tries to protest, but falls silent when the Fox clicks its tongue disdainfully several times. "No time for complaints, kid. You're dying. Choose: yes or no."

"That's not what…!"

"Yes," the Fox interrupts, a malicious glint in its eyes, "or no."

There, on the cavern wall, the illusion of Naruto is about to be consumed by flames.

"Fine! I accept! Get me out of here! Now! Now, Fox!"

The Fox laughs again, this time aloud. And the entire scene, the illusory world, plunges into darkness.