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Sasuke sat rigidly still in the tree branches, waiting, in the Land of Iron. Snow covered the ground and powdered trees, thick and heavy. The owl Jugo sent to scout earlier reported the Raikage’s party heading in this direction. He had instructed Taka and Zetsu to wait for him along the perimeter of where the summit was being held and gather intel on security measures. Sasuke himself was interested in observing the Raikage, sizing him up. He was not worried about taking the man on, but if he thought he could ambush them before they reached the summit, that would be one less kage to deal with when he launched his attack on the summit.
It took nearly an hour before he finally spotted movement in the distance, and with his sharingan spinning, he was able to see them in great detail as he suppressed his chakra signature even more.
The Raikage was a tall, heavily muscled man with dark brown skin, slicked back hair, and a sparse mustache. He wore an open haori, shirtless underneath, as if the biting wind did not phase him. With Sasuke’s fire nature, it wasn’t bothering him either, but he wondered how the man stood it, since he was known for a lightning affinity.
He was flanked by his supports, a blond man and a white haired man. They were nearly in front of him when Sasauke sensed more approaching chakra signatures. Soon another white haired shinobi and two kunoichi, one redheaded and one taller and blonde, joined him, but Sasuke paid them little mind because he recognized the chakra from an incoming person immediately, no matter how much it may be cloaked. He’d recognize it anywhere. Naruto was coming, and it felt like Kakashi was with him.
His jaw tensed, but he didn’t allow himself any other movements.
Suddenly, the blonde man looked alarmed, crying, “Samui, you’ve been tailed. Show yourself, you hidden leaf dogs!”
Within seconds, three white cloaked men jumped in front of them, Naruto in the front with a bandaged eye, Kakashi on his left, and a vaguely familiar man was on his right. He’d seen him at Orochimaru’s hideout when Naruto had infiltrated it with the new Team 7.
The red haired kunoichi was yelling at them.
“How dare you, Naruto! You tailed us here? What’s the big idea?”
Sasuke listened carefully. Why was Naruto all the way here? Zetsu had let him know Danzo was on his way, and Naruto obviously was not a part of his security detail.
“You the Hokage’s errand boy, Kakashi Hatake?” the Raikage said in a rough deep voice, looking at his old sensei.
“No sir,” Kakashi answered. “Today I’ve come to ask a favor.”
Well, thought Sasuke. That was interesting. What favor could the Leaf need from the Land of Lightning?
“Naruto Uzamaki of the Leaf would like to petition you,” the silver-haired jonin continued in a polite tone.
Sasuke looked intently at Naruto, who had not yet taken his uncovered eye off the Raikage.
The blonde man called them rude for interrupting their journey, and Kakashi’s tone turned apologetic as he answered.
“Enough of this,” the Raikage silenced him, voice deep and commanding. “You there, boy. Start talking.”
Naruto took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself.
“It’s Sasuke. I want you to cancel the elimination of Sasuke Uchiha.”
There were protests of outrage and confusion from the Lightning ninjas, and Sasuke himself had to keep from gasping. He furrowed his brow. This is what Naruto was here for? How pointless! Did he really think the Raikage would honor his request, after what Sasuke and Taka did to the Eight Tails?
Naruto’s voice gained his attention again.
“I know what I’m asking may sound ridiculous to you,” he said but then seemed to lose his composure. He squeezed his eyes shut and his words became rushed and grew louder in volume. “But this is the only way that I really know how to say it. Sasuke is my friend, and I can’t just stand around and watch my friend get killed.”
Sasuke’s eyes darted to the two at his side. Both Kakashi and the brown haired man stayed silent, faces grim as Naruto spoke.
Naruto’s posture was slumped now, his voice trembling with emotion as snow fell around them.
“And besides, I don’t want Leaf and Cloud ninja killing each other because of Sasuke. I don’t want my friends or yours to get lost in their need for revenge!”
Of course. Of course Naruto would say something like this. Still clinging to their friendship after everything Sasuke had done. Still protecting the Leaf and not understanding any drive for vengeance. So naive. Naruto, of all people, should want revenge on the Leaf almost as much as him for how they treated him.
There was silence in the clearing now, and then the Raikage moved, his footfall crunching as he walked past Naruto, not saying a word, a clear dismissal of his ludicrous request.
Naruto stumbled to get in front of him, stop him to listen, and when that didn’t work, Sasuke watched in shock as Naruto threw himself in the path to bow on his hands and knees.
“Look, I’m begging you! I don’t want us taking each other down for vengeance anymore!”
His head was bowed so low that the loose ends of his hitai-ate touched the snowy ground. The Raikage barely looked at him, choosing to continue his walk past him.
Sasuke felt burning anger in his gut, hot like pulling out the fire ball jutsu. What was Naruto doing, staying on the ground like that, begging in the snow? Didn’t he have any pride? Was he really still this much of a loser? Sasuke was disgusted with him. He should not be bowing to this man, especially on Sasuke’s behalf. Sasuke never asked for this, didn’t want this. Why was Naruto so fixated on him?
Naruto stayed kneeling on all fours, but his words rang out again, even with the Raikage’s back to him.
“Sasuke has always been all about vengeance! He’s obsessed with it. It changed him. Vengeance drives you mad. It turns you into someone you don’t even recognize! I don’t want anyone else to become like Sasuke.”
His voice was noticeably cracking now.
“I don’t want the Leaf and Cloud to kill each other. And that’s why…”
He trailed off as fresh sobs broke out of his mouth, and he heaved in lungfuls of air. Sasuke watched in horror as Naruto finally collapsed fully, face in the snow, overcome by his emotions.
The Raikage spoke immediately.
“No matter what,” he said with finality. “We will dispose of Sasuke. You all ought to hold your ground afterwards.”
Other comments were made by the Leaf and Lightning shinobis, but Sasuke’s eyes stayed riveted to Naruto’s trembling form.
“Shinobi shouldn’t lower their heads so easily,” The Raikage said in response to being pressed by Kakashi to listen, speaking of the history of war and the reality of shinobi life.
“You bow your head for a criminal and beg mercy to keep your comrades safe? In the shinobi world, that is not friendship,” he said, condemning Naruto’s actions.
And it was true. Even Sasuke knew that. Shinobi do not negotiate. The strongest survive. But still he watched Naruto, as the Raikage departed with his guards, crying and banging his fist in the snow. Because at least Naruto, in this terrible world, in a system of war and fighting, had tried to solve things differently, however foolish he may look.
Kakashi told Naruto to get up again after he cried some more, and slowly, Naruto dragged himself to stand and trudge behind his two seniors.
Sasuke knew he should return to Taka. The moment to assess and perhaps strike the Raikage was lost, but he found himself frozen, not by the cold but by the echoes of Naruto’s words.
Sasuke is my friend, and I can’t just stand around and watch my friend get killed.
It changed him. Vengeance drives you mad. It turns you into someone you don’t even recognize!
Of course it had changed him, he scoffed mentally. He’d gained power, gotten stronger. He was so close now to his plan of cleansing his clan’s name, of ending those who’d brought about their demise.
And yet Sasuke felt the ache in Naruto’s pleading, the regret, and again, he chided himself from being unable to break his bond with him. No matter what he did, no matter how far he ran, Naruto always had a way of hovering below the surface of his skin.
He’d spared the blonde on a whim, he’d told him, back at Orochimaru’s hideout. And it was on a whim now that he deviated in his plan for the moment. The Raikage was still traveling to the summit. He had plenty of time to strike when they were all assembled in one place. For now, he stealthily followed the trail of the three Leaf shinobi, focusing chakra into his feet to barely make impressions in the snow.
Their journey led them to a nearby inn, and Sasuke watched until he was sure Naruto was alone in his room. He snuck into the inn, having counted the windows to know which room was his. There was no one in the hallway to be found.
Pressing himself against the hallway wall, and with chakra suppressed deep down, at a painfully slow pace, he slid the door open a crack, daring a quick look inside.
Naruto was just lying on the tatami mat floor, staring up at the ceiling with a wistful expression.
“Sasuke,” Naruto spoke softly to the room, and Sasuke’s eyes widened in surprise. How could he know he was here?
But his next sentence reassured Sasuke that Naruto was merely talking out loud.
“Where are you now? What are you thinking? Are you okay? Now that you’ve killed Itachi,” — Sasuke’s gut clenched at the name of his brother and the confusing emotions he felt surrounding his death — "did it make you feel better? Or are you in more pain?”
Sasuke swallowed down the emotions surging up his throat.
“Why won’t you come home now?”
Why wouldn’t he come home? Because he no longer had one. The Leaf, where he once thought he belonged, had destroyed it.
“I miss you,” Naruto whispered. “I’d do anything to see you again.”
Sasuke frowned at the desperate omission, but then he heard a sound far down the hall, and making a split second decision, he opened the door enough to slip inside and slid it closed soundlessly only to turn around and see Naruto half sitting up, staring at him in disbelief with eyes blinking slowly.
“Is this a dream? Am I asleep?” he murmured, staring up at him as Sasuke kept his face void of emotion.
“You always were an idiot,” he finally said. “No, you’re not dreaming.”
Relief broke across Naruto’s expression, and he opened his mouth, eyes swimming, when Sasuke put his finger to his lips.
“Don’t alert the whole inn,” Sasuke whispered harshly, and Naruto snapped his lips shut before his expression clouded.
“Why are you here, Sasuke?” he asked, tipping his head to the side to study him, sitting up straight.
“I thought you just said you missed me,” he taunted in a low voice, and Naruto flushed in embarrassment.
“I do,” he hissed. “Of course I do, but I didn’t think you’d want to see me.”
“Why did you ask the Raikage to spare me? Surely you didn’t expect him to listen,” Sasuke said, neither confirming nor denying Naruto’s statement.
Naruto glared at him.
“What do you expect me to do? Nothing!” Naruto whispered harshly. “I don’t want my friend to die.”
Sasuke stepped forward, scoffing at that term, “friend.”
“Friends? What does that word even mean to you, Na-ru-to?” he said, drawing out his name. “Why are you so fixated on me? You have other friends.”
Naruto moved to stand up, and Sasuke’s hand went to his sword. Naruto paused, and holding eye contact, kept his movements slow as Sasuke watched, ready to defend. But Naruto made no steps toward him, keeping his body language neutral, though not fully relaxed.
“It’s different with you,” Naruto said, shaking his head stubbornly.
“How?” Sasuke mocked with a sneer. “Because you want to save me?”
“No, because you are my best friend, dammit,” Naruto said, clenching his fists. Sasuke’s hold tightened on the hilt of his blade, and Naruto closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths before his fingers were loose at his side again.
“And again,” Sasuke said. “Tell me what that even means to you.”
Naruto ran a hand angrily through his hair, eyes jumping to the floor and back to his face.
“Ugh, you know I’m not good with words,” he said, and Sasuke merely looked at him, waiting, expression cold.
He watched as Naurto caught his bottom lip between his teeth and worried it while he seemed to gather his thoughts.
“Fine, maybe friend is not exactly the right word,” Naruto admitted, meeting Sasuke’s eyes fully again. “It’s more because you are my … most precious person.”
Sasuke could not stop himself from reacting, his eyes widening.
He remembered a day years ago, when they were fighting together on Team 7’s first real mission. They stood on a bridge, and a masked boy was speaking, talking about his master being most dear to him. Those words, the implications… Like Naruto felt… like he could lo—
“Don’t you know how that sounds?” Sasuke demanded, cutting off his thoughts, and Naruto swallowed hard and stared until finally he gave a solemn nod.
Sasuke nearly reeled back from the revelation, and then quickly saw their childhood rivalry in a new light. Why their bond had been so important, why it felt like so much more than just two teammates.
His throat was dry, and he struggled against the urge to clear it. Because he felt it too, he understood. Naruto had become his most precious person, as well, his most cherished bond apart from his family. But it hadn’t felt familial at all.
Contradictory elation and fury ran through his veins at the same time, pumping him full of adrenaline, and in a blink, he was in front of Naruto, crowding into his space, teeth bared.
“Damn you,” he seethed. “Damn you and this bond. Why, why can’t I sever it?”
It was as close to an admission to the feelings as he could give, and Naruto, of course, saw it for what it was.
“Sasuke,” he whispered, his name almost reverent in the boy’s mouth, like a prayer, like a challenge. Sasuke’s muscles twitched.
“And if I’m so precious to you,” he growled. “If you won’t break our bond after everything, then tell me, Naruto, how far are you willing to go? What would you do to keep me by your side?”
Naruto’s blue eyes were fierce. He did not back away as Sasuke pushed into his space.
“I’d fight you and drag you to the Leaf,” he said. “Drag you back to me.”
Sasuke gripped the man’s upper arms and squeezed like a vice.
“Never!” he snarled. “I will not go back there.”
“But why?” Naruto pressed, expression hard. “Did our time as a team mean nothing?”
Sasuke pressed his lips together hard until they were white; a tremor ran down his arm. When he spoke, it was through gritted teeth.
“The Leaf is the reason my parents are dead, not Itachi. He was just used. He was following orders from your fucking beloved village and the leadership. They wanted the Uchiha wiped out!”
Naruto’s mouth fell open and his eyes bulged as he listened.
“But that can’t be…” Naruto started to say, and Sasuke cut him off viciously.
“True?” he laughed darkly. “A village that trains children for war. A village that left two orphan boys to raise ourselves, that actively shunned you.”
He was shaking Naruto now as he watched the man’s lips tremble.
“The Uchiha were close to staging a coup because of their mistreatment and isolation from the rest of the village. Danzo and the Hokage gave my brother an ultimatum. Either the whole Uchiha clan would die if they revolted, or he could neutralize them and spare me.”
The horror on Naruto’s face was just a pale ghost of what Sasuke had felt, but he could see that Naruto believed him in second, could now understand a sliver of his rage.
“Oh god, Sasuke,” he croaked, eyes watering, tears threatening to well over. “I … fuck.”
Sasuke released him then harshly, taking a step back.
“I will never return to that hell,” he vowed. “I would see it destroyed before then.”
Pain crossed Naruto’s expression, and he grabbed at his chest, taking shallow breaths.
“What will you do, Sasuke?” he panted out, and Sasuke thought of his soon-to-be revenge, unable to stop the nearly crazed smile that crept on his face before he answered.
“The Third is out of my reach,” he said coolly. “But I will kill Danzo. No one will stop me.”
Naruto’s eyes fell shut as he frowned.
“He’s the interim Hokage, now,” he whispered.
“He’s a monster!” Sasuke spat, and Naruto barely covered the way he flinched. They stood there in silence for a few moments before Naruto could look at him again.
“And once you’ve killed him? Then what, burn the Leaf down?” he asked quietly, resigned.
“Probably,” he answered truthfully, and Naruto bent at the waist, hands on his knees as the words hit.
“But all our friends. Kakashi. Sakura…,” he said shakily. “They’d be caught in it.”
“And anyone who stands in my way,” Sasuke said firmly, and Naruto’s head snapped back up at the clear warning to him. He would kill Naruto, too, somehow, if he had to.
He licked his lips, eyes wild.
“Is there anything, anything at all, I can do to change your mind?” he asked hesitantly. “Anything I could trade for their lives. Not Danzo’s, but everyone else. Because if you attack the Hidden Leaf, I'll have no choice; I will fight you, don't doubt that. Sasuke, save your hatred. Throw all of it right at me.”
Again, Sasuke was surprised. He’d expected an inane speech about the cycle of hate and vengeance. He did not expect such an earnest plea, a willingness to acknowledge that he was owed justice. He thought for a moment, fingers flexing. Was there any way he’d spare the village? He could only think of one. A way to cripple their power and give him any semblance of a balm for their crimes.
“You,” he stated finally. “I’d kill Danzo but leave the Leaf be, to an extent, if you came with me. If you renounced the Leaf and became a rogue ninja with me.”
Naruto stared at him, stricken. Sasuke felt no pity for his choice. The Leaf had given his brother an ultimatum, so Sasuke would return in kind.
“Consider it a compromise,” Sasuke drawled. “My dream of revenge traded for your dream to be Hokage. Then they’d lose their hold over you as the jinchuriki, lose the hero they don’t deserve.”
“Sasuke…” Naruto said pitifully, brokenly.
“Take it or leave it,” Sasuke said coldly, crossing his arms, stance tall and firm. He knew there was no way Naruto could accept it, knew that all he ever wanted was the village’s acknowledgement, but this was his price. And it was the only offer he’d ever give.
Naruto hung his head, and Sasuke watched as tears fell in splatters on the mat below him. For several minutes, the only sound in the room was Naruto’s choked breaths.
“I’ll do it,” he finally answered, barely audible. “If it will save everyone, if it will save you, I will do it. ”
Naruto forced himself to straighten and dashed tears from one whiskered cheek with the back of his hand, sniffling. But his eyes were determined when they raised to meet Sasuke’s. A hot, prickly feeling bloomed in Sasuke’s chest, much like the exhilaration he’d feel when he’d best Naruto when they were younger. Naruto was coming with him. He had chosen him over the village.
“I mean, how could I ever become Hokage, if I can’t even save a friend,” he said, more tears spilling down his face, but his voice grew stronger. “I'm the only one who can handle all that hate you have. Do you understand? I'm the only one who can fulfill that duty, so I'll bear the burden of your hatred, or I'll die with you. I’m ready.”
He moved to grab his pack from the corner, but Sasuke stopped him with a hand on his arm. A spark of heat ran through him where they touched, and he tried to not let it show.
“Not yet,” Sasuke said, and Naruto looked at him, confused. Sasuke left his hand on Naruto, testing how it felt, appearing to think to give himself a second to absorb the feel of the blonde’s skin under his palm.
“I still have to deal with Danzo, and I can’t take you with me,” he murmured. “The Akatsuki want the nine-tails, and they’d try to capture you if you left now.”
Naruto nodded and looked down at Sasuke’s hand before slowly moving his arm away, gently brushing his fingers with his own for a second. The spark ignited again, dancing through his nerve endings.
“Then when?” Naruto whispered, and Sasuke watched his Adam's apple bob as the young man swallowed.
“Once I’ve killed Danzo. Prolong your stay here any way you can, and meet me ten miles west of Samurai Bridge in three days. And then we will put distance between here, the Land of Fire, and the Akatsuki as soon as possible.”
“I’ll say I’m not feeling well,” Naruto answered thoughtfully. “And make a plan to sneak away. I promise I’ll meet you. And I never go back on my word.”
Sasuke nodded and hesitantly, before he could think better of it, he raised a hand to Naruto’s face. Naruto startled at first, but as Sasuke cupped his cheek and ran his thumb along a whisker line, Naruto slowly relaxed into it, a blush spreading down his face to his neck with each stroke of Sasuke’s thumb.
Sasuke leaned in closer.
“And come alone. No tail. No telling anyone where you are going,” he muttered, his breath now so close it ghosted across Naruto’s skin. The blond shivered. “Do not betray me, or I will strike you down as I’ve always promised. If you do not show up, consider our compromise over.”
“I will show,” Naruto said, voice firm. His blue eyes found Sasuke’s and held them. “You know I will.”
Sasuke stared into those eyes, feeling the pull they had on him since the first day they glared at him, and on impulse, he moved his thumb down across Naruto’s bottom lip, tracing the shape of it. He heard Naruto inhale sharply.
“Hn,” was all Sasuke said in acknowledgement as he edged ever closer. If either of them spoke now, their lips would touch. Naruto seemed to be holding his breath, and Sasuke’s eyes darted to surprised blue ones then back down, and he let his mouth capture Naruto’s.
The kiss was brief, soft, in such contrast to their first kiss at the academy, something that was more akin to a crashing of teeth and the taste of miso. This time, however, Naruto’s lips were dry and warm, and Sasuke felt that spark erupt for a third time at the new point of contact.
Without another word, he used his considerable ninja speed to pull away and cross the room, out of the door with just the barest hush of a door sliding open and closed, leaving Naruto gaping.
Sasuke was well on his way back to Taka’s location within minutes, his presence in the small town just a flicker. His rage was still there, crackling like a thousand chidoris in his bones as he focused on his goal of destroying the man who was responsible for the death of nearly an entire people. But in the center of his being was a tiny pinprick of something else now. A hope to no longer be entirely alone in the darkness.