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DISCLAIMER: sadly, I've discovered that figuring out different funny (not) ways to say that I don't own Naruto is rather amusing. I know, I need a life, which is why it's on my grocery list.

WARNINGS: Long authors' notes, possible OOC-ness (tell me if that's the case people! I like having my characters actually in character, y'know?) Swearing -also, starting now, this is going to be slightly AU, because there is no Sai and ... that guy I can never remember the name of; you know the new sensei guy? Yamato or something? Yeah, you know. Him. Anyways, as I've said before, there's going to be multiple pairings, but be aware that some of them are going to be shounen ai, too, 'kay?

I update as fast as a crippled old lady sprints at a track meet, 'nuff said.

...However, aren't you just SO happy about this super-long chappie here? I mean, it's here people! Yeah, I know, I'm not very happy with it, either...

NOTES: I support the Naruto-isn't-as-dumb-as-he-acts group of people, so he's not going to be as dense as other people make him out to be. Also, if everyone seems a little too mature, then it's because of the really serious situation and the fact that it's been 4 years since the time skip started. Don't worry, after all of this mission-drama (probably only one more chapter after this one), there will be a lighter mood to the story!

CHAPTER 2: THE MISSION

"Naruto!" Sakura briskly called over her shoulder. "You're lagging behind again!"

Her voice jolted Naruto out of his reverie and he picked up the pace of which he was silently leaping from tree branch to tree branch until he was even with her.

"Thanks Sakura-chan ...again," he said sheepishly. "I really don't mean to keep spacing out on you like this." He briefly directed a small grin in her direction before letting it fade back into his previous grim expression and turning his attention back to the seemingly endless tangle of trees so that he wouldn't accidentally leap headlong into one. That wasn't something that he felt like doing, now or any other time -but especially now. Who wanted to get caught in the middle of enemy territory because they ran into a tree? It would only make it more humiliating when they realized he was a Konoha ninja and should be more at home in trees than anywhere else...

As they landed on a rather short branch and leaped onto another one almost instantly afterwards, Sakura shot him a look that was not only concerned, but faintly uneasy before looking away at the next instant. "You know you can always talk to me about it," she encouraged meekly, and despite her tone, Naruto could tell that she actually meant it.

Her shoulder-length pink hair was being whipped out behind her by the movement-induced wind, but Naruto knew she couldn't care less about that now, whereas her younger self would have been thoroughly troubled. Even after having become reacquainted with her for about year now, he still managed to find it amazing how much she had matured in the time that they'd been apart. (Hell, he wasn't even sure that the only reason he was noticing it more every day now was simply because that was the rate at which she was growing; it made him wonder if that was what people were noticing in him, as well.)

She was no longer the shrill, annoying, unfocused, selfish, and unskilled pre-teen girl that she had once been, and really deserving of her status as chuunin (in Naruto's opinion, at any rate). However, as much as she had become more agreeable and accepting of him as a friend and equal, it didn't necessarily make her less violent -in fact, Naruto was almost certain that she just did it now because she figured it was the best way for her to show affection.

Strangest thing was that he found himself agreeing with her, even though it probably should have been the opposite... It odd how things like that turned out. (To be frank, he rather pitied the poor soul that she would no-doubt eventually get into a relationship with; he could only see her actions in that regard becoming more pronounced the deeper she went... Yeah. He REALLY pitied that person...)

Aside from her personality changing, even he could admit that Sakura had actually grown to be a very attractive young woman. It was proved when he noticed that some of their peers had openly acknowledged that, as well (however, Naruto was an exception in that particular category.) He really wasn't interested in her like that anymore -and to be frank, he would will it no other way.

Since he had come back from training with Ero-sennin, their relationship had taken on a new strength until it was almost as if they were siblings instead of simply friends or closer-than-average, long-time acquaintances. They had become so close that occasionally, words weren't even needed in order to communicate with each other.

However, this was not one of those times.

"Yeah, I know," Naruto replied. "But it's fine. It'll be all over after this mission, anyway."

Sakura had made the offer to listen to his problems more than once, but he'd always declined because... Well, he wasn't entirely sure why he'd always decline the offer; all he knew was that he did. Naruto was vaguely aware that talking about these 'problems' with Sakura would probably end up becoming one of those weird therapy things that Rokuro had mentioned once or twice. Then again, Rokuro had his own problems, and to be honest, the man was just plain creepy...

"Of course, coming from you, that made a helluvah lot of sense," Kyuubi drawled sarcastically.

"And whose fault do you think THAT is?" Naruto retorted coolly. Thanks to his training with Jiraiya, not only was tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra easy, relatively safe, and practically second nature to him (however, he had also expanded his own chakra capacity during his training with the legendary pervert, so he hardly ever needed Kyuubi's help in that category anymore). At any rate, Jiraiya had also been able to assist his pupil in communicating with the old fluff ball. True, they hadn't been able to get along at first, but now they had established a relationship that, although not one of the best examples when it came to what they said to each other specifically, was still strong and fond, bickering and bantering included.

He began to say something else to Kyuubi, but Sakura interrupted him. "Okay. It's just kinda unnerving to see you so quiet..."

"Well, it's not every day that we go traveling to the lair of a creepy snake-pedophile with little hope of telling our grandchildren about it later, you know -and might I add that you're not acting much like yourself, either...?" he quipped, trying to make himself sound more light-hearted and less affected by this mission than he really was. He always found it rather ironic that whenever he seemed to really need it, he couldn't put up his façade correctly. Not that he used it as heavily as he used to, but that wasn't the point...

"That's true. I wasn't thinking about that," she acquiesced. Suddenly she gave him a crooked grin, "but you mentioned grandchildren. I want to know where the kids are coming from."

By that time, they had caught up with the rest of their group (which consisted of Tsunade and Jiraiya) so Naruto had to repress his reply. To help minimize the possibility of being caught by random patrolling sound nins, they had split up into three groups, the other two being lead by Shikamaru and Kakashi, respectfully. It had been decided that they would attack first and clear out Orochimaru's henchmen -and whoever else decided that they wanted to get in their way.

This mission wasn't simply to bring back the youngest Uchiha -although it would be quite a nice bonus if they did. No, this mission was one that they had all known would eventually be assigned... just... not this far down the road.

They had spent most of the last year gathering information on the layout and location of the lair as well as studying how to quickly defeat sound nins. During that time, they had been able to thwart some of the snake Sannin's plans in such a way that he was forced to push back the body-transfer date to sometime during the next couple of days instead of a year ago.

Now, all that was to their mission was to stop Orochimaru from performing the body transfer and finally managing to obtain the Sharingan. They were to do this at all costs, even if it meant killing the youngest living Uchiha in the process.

Apparently, Sakura and Naruto had been more behind than they had thought that they were, because Tsunade and Jiraiya were both standing on tree branches waiting for them.

"Err... W-" Naruto started, but Tsunade cut him off.

"I just got word from Shikamaru and Kakashi: they're in position and ready to begin the assault. I told them that we were, too -so you better get ready for the signal," she informed them, her eyes hard and expression deathly determined. She was so out of it that she had even neglected to affectionately refer to Naruto as 'brat' -or one of her ...less kind nicknames.

Considering the circumstances (potential incredibly lethal threats to the village, her medical knowledge and the like) Tsunade had been able to get a few of her assistants (including Shizune) to temporarily take over her position to that she could take active part in the mission with little fuss. She claimed that she had neither the faith nor the heartlessness to give the position of fighting Orochimaru to anyone other than herself and Jiraiya. She seemed to truthfully believe any other opponent to be easy prey for him -and after seeing him fight over four years ago and knowing that he had gotten stronger since then, Naruto tended to agree with her.

That didn't mean that he had to like it.

Sure, he knew that in an all-out fight that he would probably never stand a chance against the snake-pedophile, and he certainly didn't envy the two Sannin the job of having to fight him -although he had to admit that in his younger years he probably would have, which almost made him want to smack his forehead at his own antics... Still, the point was that that wasn't it at all.

No, he didn't like the feeling of knowing that he had no choice in having to fight and possibly kill someone he used to know and... well, cherished. He didn't like that feeling at all, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it now. He had been assigned to the mission, and that was that; he had to do his part or die trying -after all, what good was he if he didn't even ATTEMPT to complete a mission?

Naruto still aspired to become Rokudaime one day, after all. He couldn't afford to let what he was feeling weaken him like that. What if it was a life or death situation that concerned the lives of innocents and he was faced with something he didn't want to do, would he just blow that off, too?

Needless to say, he flat-out REFUSED to let that happen. He still needed to gain the acceptance of more than just his fellow ninja if he was to become Hokage one day, so he needed to prove to the general populous that he could set his emotions aside and do what he had to, if only for the time being. If that meant fighting and possibly killing Sasuke, then he would do it, because that was his job. Hell, it wasn't like Sasuke saw them as more than enemies now -he'd even taken the time to demonstrate his point, so it wasn't like he'd be making some huge mistake that he'd be regretting later on, ANYWAY...

Despite his self-assurances, Naruto found himself praying to whatever God was listening that it wouldn't have to come to that.

The group was moving forward again, and he used it as an excuse to viciously cut off his train of thought and concentrate solely on moving forward and how he would perform his part in this mission.

The beginnings of the 'signal' came shortly afterwards -in the form of the many sounds of battle. Only about an half hour later was it 'officially' set off when those sounds faded into silence as Kakashi and Shikamaru's groups infiltrated deeper into the underground confines of Orochimaru's lair, allowing their teammates to conserve the energy they would undoubtedly need when they challenged their own adversaries.

To make searching easier, the four split up into even smaller groups, Tsunade and Jiraiya, and Sakura and Naruto. With a nod, they went their separate ways, small voices in the backs of their minds voicing their hope of meeting once more, and with good news.

Upon entering the mostly-underground lair, Naruto quickly noticed the engravings one walls took on a quality that distinctly resembled that of basket weave. Evenly-spaced brackets sported red-orange torches that guttered and nearly went out as he and Sakura whizzed past them. However, the flames never actually did go out, simply shrank, grew, and continued to outline their shadows and the wreckage that the other teams had left behind.

Naruto came across a random door and yanked it open, his heart seeming to be more than willing to hammer its way out of his chest as he half-hoped, half-dreaded what he would see in the room beyond.

Darkness. Then, as his eyes adjusted, he glimpsed a couple of winged chairs pushed back none-too-neatly from the small round table they were supposed to be positioned around. A dusty, cobweb-adorned chandelier of no particular beauty hung above the arrangement; there were no windows that he could see.

Feeling as if his mind was in some sort of haze, Naruto muttered a small curse under his breath and quickly shut the door and ran down the hallway after Sakura's oddly muffled footsteps. Said footsteps stopped abruptly as she yanked open a random door of her own and paused to take in what she was seeing. He didn't stop to wait for her however, seeing as he knew that she would follow him once she was sure that she hadn't missed anything and that she would call if she found anything.

He felt his heart constrict almost painfully with both relief and anxiety when she too, uttered a softly-spoken profanity, closed the door, and sprinted after him as he took a left when the hallway forked.

They worked like this for what felt like lifetimes: running, stopping, yanking open doors, uttering harsh curses between breathy panting when they saw nothing, slamming the door shut again while making as little noise as possible, and continuing their almost frenzied, soundless sprinting away from the area to lessen their chances at getting caught. Occasionally, they would see the remnants of the sound nins that their comrades had disposed of -or even the remnants of those same comrades. All of the corpses they saw were bloodied and mangled almost beyond recognition, and it wasn't exactly the most pacifying thought.

But they didn't stop, only continued to push onwards. They were too deep into enemy territory and their minds were too focused on the possibility of getting caught and outnumbered to stay in any one place for more than a couple of seconds. After all, any decent ninja knew that if there was even a possibility of being sensed, then there was also the possibility that you may or may not be able to survive when faced against whatever your enemies pit against you. So, the key was not to get sensed and increase your own chances of survival.

As a result of that shred of common sense, and despite the fact that they both knew the extent of their own rather impressive amounts of power, Naruto and Sakura were neither stupid nor incredibly cocky about it -while on missions, at any rate. They were both aware that they weren't invincible -besides, they both had their own aspects of this mission to complete, and reckless, unreasoned gambling with Death would not help them to do that this time.

"Playing it smart for once?" Kyuubi quipped, smirking condescendingly. "Well I'll be damned; there IS a first time for everything..."

"Oh, shut up! I'm not that careless!" Naruto thought indignantly.

"No, you're not," the fox demon agreed. "You're worse."

Naruto took a breath and forced himself to bite back his reply to that. 'It won't do me any good to start arguing with a head-strong demon in the middle of Orochimaru's lair,' he repeated to himself. 'It won't do me any goo-'

"Yeah. You keep telling yourself that."

Eventually, the pair came to a fork in a hallway and intentionally went in opposite directions. It was a detail that they had secretly added in since the general layout of this mission was laid out. In their minds, it would make them less noticeable and able to cover even more ground than before. In the event that they did get caught and besotted with more opponents than they could handle, then they were both wearing skin-tight wrist-bands that, if filled with chakra, would alert one's partner that one was in need of assistance.

So Naruto continued his search-and-run patterns without his teammate -until the ground took a brief moment to violently tremble beneath his feet, stopping him mid-sprint. From where he was, he could have sworn that he heard the sound of a random tunnel's ceiling straining and finally collapsing -under the influence of some type of explosive, more than likely. Not even a second later, he heard a faint chorus of indecipherable shouting -the strangest thing was that it all seemed to be coming from the same direction.

'What the hell was that and who specifically did it affect?' was that first thought that sprang into his mind. 'Should Sakura and I meet up again to go and check it out, keep doing what we're doing, or run in the other direction?'

"Judging by the sheer force we just felt, you should probably run," Kyuubi supplied helpfully. "Or you could go towards it and get yourself killed -doesn't matter to me."

"Why am I finding that hard to believe? -Oh yeah, maybe it's because if I die, you die too! You forget that little detail or are you just being stupid?"

Kyuubi either couldn't come up with a good reply to that little remark or simply didn't feel like dignifying it with a response -and judging by the amount on muffled snickering at the demon's end of the conversation, it was probably the latter. Naruto decided that now was as good a time as any to begin ignoring him. (He had long since stopped trying to figure out the way Kyuubi thought or why he seemed to be laughing at him at entirely random times. Who could really unravel a fox demons' thought patterns, anyway? He'd been actively dealing with the damn thing since he was 12 and he STILL hadn't grasped it, even though he was supposedly possessed a talent for reading people. Go figure, right?)

Naruto stayed where he was for a few more seconds before remembering himself and where he was and continuing his search of the area for Sasuke or Orochimaru. Damn the consequences for doing so, if he ran into either one of them, they were going down. It was a specifically outlined factor of this mission: those two needed to be separated at any and all costs.

He was only about a half hour into totally fruitless searching when he felt a spike of chakra thrum against his wrist -the sign that Sakura needed help.

Needless to say, there was not a second spared after that moment and Naruto was forced to break the system that he had redeveloped in favor of rushing in the direction he sensed his teammates' chakra. Since Sakura had started viscously refusing to be babied and protected by others, if she was actually asking for help, then she was either practically dead or in way over her head. Either way, he was certain that the situation was bad. Very bad.

He raced through multiple twists and turns, a broken-down door, the right fork in yet another hallway, another right, a left, and one last twist before he was abruptly interrupted.

It was sudden, and if not for reflexes honed by years of training, then it would've been a confrontation that Naruto wouldn't have survived. The rustle of clothing, soft whooshes of movement-induced wind, a flash of red-orange light reflecting off metal, and a grunt of effort brought him face-to-face with the one person who'd managed to make his life both more bearable and a living hell without even trying.

Their arms were trembling as they strained against each other: kunai to katana, blue to black; complex, tangled web of pent-up emotions to complete and utter apathy. Each watching in his own way to see who would caved first, who would risk snatching his weapon back and attacking at the [very real] risk of losing his life to the other.

They stayed this way for quite a while, neither giving in either by the way their weapons clashed to the intensity of their locked gazes. They weren't communicating, per se, because they didn't have to. They were both aware why the other was in the position he was in and that he wasn't about to back down and give in any time soon. For them, it went without saying.

Growing rather impatient with the monotony of just standing there and waiting to see who would make the next move when it was obvious neither would unless the other initiated the action, Naruto sprang back enough so that he was out of range of Sasuke's weapon, the other boy instantly mirroring his actions. His mind -and Kyuubi, who had randomly decided to start actually helping instead of harassing him (not that he was complaining... much. Sheesh, it was as if he hadn't fought Sasuke before. He wasn't a COMPLETE idiot!)- were already working to calculate his next moves.

They were both panting slightly, but he noticed that it was more so with Sasuke -and to be frank, he wasn't really surprised. He had been applying a rather large amount of pressure against the katana...

Over the past couple of years (the last one in particular), Naruto had been growing in leaps and bounds -the height and bulk categories, in particular. He was now slower than ever, but he also possessed more brute strength and endurance than he ever had, so he supposed it was a win-lose situation. He had to make every move count and every evaluation accurate -or be able to handle the consequences because he had lost the ability to get out of the way in time if he fucked-up.

He just didn't want to be fighting Sasuke right now. He really needed to get to Sakura and help her. Things would've been so much easier if he had attacked a half-hour from now or something like that -but no, the bastard couldn't have convenient timing for once, COULD he? Ugh!

Resigned to the inevitable fight against his former-teammate, Naruto moved in to attack, his actions copied by Sasuke. They met more or less evenly. Kunai met katana and the harsh sound of clashing metal rang out inside the hallway in a strangely muffled fashion.

Sasuke slashed at his abdomen, and Naruto had a little difficulty moving out of the way enough to parry the blow and not get cut to ribbons. Naruto did a series of thrusts and slices at random vitals, and Sasuke avoided all of them with cat-like grace. Naruto then noted that his Sharingan wasn't even activated. Sasuke wasn't even really trying right now -'and why should he?' A small voice queried in the back of his mind. 'Speed and swordplay are his specialties, after all.'

Fighting Sasuke was the perfect example of a challenging opponent for Naruto. He wasn't big like Naruto was, so he didn't posses brute strength -but he sure as hell possessed the speed to make up for it. It had been one of the main factors that had made them such good rivals all those years back, because even then the traits had been rather apparent.

As he temporarily got himself out of the other boy's striking range, Naruto unconsciously frowned in concentration. If he could just get that katana out of Sasuke's grip, then he would have the upper hand. Sure, he'd fought like this before, it simply wasn't his forte, and since he had the ability to make it so that it was, he wasn't stupid enough to pass up the opportunity.

They charged and clashed again, exchanging, blocking, and parrying blows, springing back, and diving back in. Naruto trying to send Sasuke's katana flying, Sasuke not giving him any opportunities to. Sasuke trying to either immobilize or cut Naruto to ribbons by using his weight and lack of speed against him, Naruto also not giving him the chance to.

They weren't as aggressive as they could have been, and they weren't using any of their best techniques -wouldn't unless the other started it- there were no cleverly-laid traps and there was no back-up located on the sidelines, laying in wait for the perfect chance to jump into the fray themselves. No, there was none of that, even though there should have been. They were merely testing each other: 'how strong has he really gotten?' And, 'he was never able to take the kind of attack before; I wonder if it's any different now...' No fancy, power-sapping moves were needed for them to evaluate each other -in fact, it was easier without them. Theirs was a type of curiosity born of rivalry, friendship, and years spent apart.

Periodically, the two young men would feel the earth shiver beneath their feet in varying levels of intensity. Sometimes, it would occur at exactly the wrong moment (while performing a complex foot maneuver, for example), causing one or both of them to temporarily lose his balance and give the other the perfect opportunity to attack. When this happened, it was treated as a test of the other's reflexes and speed of recovery. 'Will he be able to block this thrust while trying to regain his balance? How long will it take for him to get to his feet again and make a proper offensive comeback?'

Time wasn't moving the way it should have, going either too fast or too slow but never seeming to pass at its typical pace. In Naruto's mind, it felt like an eternity, when at the same time, it couldn't have been more than a few minutes -while in reality, they had been going at it for about 45-minutes. During that time, not a word was spoken, but after feeling another mini-earthquake-like sensation, Naruto finally asked, "feeling tired yet?" His voice was curious, cocky, and mocking; as if he thought that Sasuke really should be feeling worn out by this time.

Naruto himself was in fairly good condition: a few shallow cuts from Sasuke's katana that he hadn't been able to evade in time and the regular hoard of scrapes and bruises that one got from just about any fight. He was slightly out of breath and had already used up a small chunk of his chakra supply, but he could continue fighting like this for a good while yet, and he could do it easily -more or less.

Sasuke didn't reply, didn't even make any indication that he had actually heard him; just attacked Naruto's right leg in a way that made it difficult for him to spring out of the way or block it. He ended up ripping the orange material of his pants and creating a shallow cut on his thigh, drawing blood.

"What? Suddenly decided to go deaf on me?" he taunted, jumping out of the way of a slice aimed for his chest and hurtled a kunai at the area between Sasuke's neck and shoulder. Sasuke leaped out of the way at the last second; receiving what looked to be a painful, but moderately shallow gash on the part of his arm just above his bicep seemingly without noticing it. And if the increased intensity in his attacks were any indication, Naruto was annoying him.

No, it wasn't much, but it was something and that was more than what he'd gotten this entire time -that is, if he was right. With Sasuke, it was harder to tell than it was with anyone else he associated with. He wanted to see a reaction to his taunting, so he may only be seeing what he wanted to see. It had happened before, and this time didn't have to be any different. So he risked a glance into the other young man's eyes to see if he was really getting to him or not.

Naruto had to admit that he wasn't entirely surprised to see nothing but icy indifference -at first, anyway. For some reason, they had both frozen mid-movement the moment their gazes locked and as Naruto stared, he was slowly starting to see what could only be described as an inner battle reveal going on behind the mask of indifference. What it was about? He had no idea; all he knew was that it was there, and it was steadily becoming easier to see (now whether this was because it was becoming more intense or the more he looked the more he saw it remained to be seen.)

Naruto didn't know how long they stayed that way, just staring at each other, their bodies as still as if they had been abruptly paralyzed. He didn't know what to think, or if he was thinking at all. His mind seemed to be as frozen as the rest of his body. Hell, even Kyuubi had shut up.

Until...

"Why?"

The question was quiet, only half-audible, and there was so much pent-up emotion behind it that it surprised him. Naruto doubted that he had actually heard it with his ears more than seeing the question in his eyes or hearing it with his mind, like how he 'heard' Kyuubi.

He probably wouldn't have answered at all, if Kyuubi hadn't reminded him to and broken him out of his trance... thing. Fumbling with his suddenly miniscule vocabulary he finally snapped, "'why' what?"

For a few seconds, all Sasuke did was stare up at him condescendingly. As if Naruto had to be lacking a brain to not know what he was talking about -and reminding Naruto again of how much taller he had gotten. This filled the small part of him not affected by this weird trance or the fact that Sasuke was openly expressing emotion with pride -take that, arrogant jackass!

Seeing as Naruto obviously wasn't wizening up to what he was talking about, Sasuke finally took the time to elaborate -in an oddly strained, incredibly angry voice, at that. What was WRONG with his voice, anyway? "Why are you HERE?! After everything I've done to you, you shouldn't BE here, dumbass ...You shouldn't fucking CARE about me!"

Naruto didn't know what that last statement did to him, specifically, but it sure as hell did something. It may have been the 'straw that broke the camel's back' so to speak, and completely used up the last of his endurance on the issue, thus sending him over the edge -or it may have created an entirely different reason to infuriate him. He didn't know; all he was aware of was that he saw red and could no longer be held responsible for his actions.

The blue of his eyes becoming streaked with red, Naruto seized the lapel of Sasuke's shirt and used it as a handle with which to lift him up off his feet and slam him against the basket-weave-like wall so hard that he actually created a deep imprint of the other boy's back into it. Snarling in an almost predatory fashion, he locked gazes with Sasuke again in a way that wouldn't allow him to break away and spoke in a low, wavering growl saturated in sarcasm.

"Of course, Sasuke; I'm only forgoing all of the goals I've spent my entire friggin LIFE working towards to try and bring you back. I go on all of these missions and give years of my life in the vain hope of convincing you to come back home because, y'know, I just have nothing BETTER to do.

"I've ALWAYS wanted the only person who's ever really begun to understand me spin around and betray me -and then seriously try to kill me. I just THRIVE on seeing that person throw his entire damn life away and expect me not to care about it. I go around BEGGING to have someone precious to me expect me to forget everything we've been through and watch him go and get himself fucking killed without emotion because I just DON'T place any value whatsoever in what our friendship had."

As he said that last sentence, Naruto's voice broke and his eyes began to sting. Breaking eye contact, he looked down at his sandals and took a few shaky breaths, fighting down the urge to let the tears out and regain his composure. That mostly accomplished, he looked back up and stared fiercely into Sasuke's practically unemotional eyes, then forced himself to continue again.

"I mean, everybody and their GOD knows that I just LIVE to dwell on someone who doesn't give a rat's ass about whether I live or die and won't listen to anything I have to fucking say unless I force him to."

Albeit the effect would have been a lot more intimidating if his voice hadn't sounded so pathetically shaky and he wasn't so obviously near hysterics...

Not like that was going to stop him from saying what he had been planning to say since he was notified of this mission. No, he was going to say what he had come here to say and then he was gonna get the hell away from Sasuke to let him make up his own mind. He had known that it was going to be hard -and besides, since when had a little pain stopped the Great Uzumaki Naruto? Never, that's when. He had never let something as trivial as having his emotions eating him from the inside out get in the way of what he had been ordered or wanted to do -and he wasn't about to start a new pattern now.

"Yeah, Sasuke. I HOPE to think about you every fucking time I get a spare minute because there aren't any painful memories there at all. Of COURSE not! What could possibly give you any idea that those memories take me to the pits of hell and back again every damn time I think about them?!

"No, I DON'T wish that I could just let you go screw your life so I can move on with mine. I DON'T wish that there was a chance that you cared, 'cause everyone knows 'I hate you and I want to kill you for power' really means 'I love you'."

Naruto let the silence between them drag on for a few more seconds before the red streaks in his eyes thinned and eventually faded out. He let loose his vice-like grip on Sasuke's shirt and letting him slide down to his feet again before concluding softly, "so, y'know what? You're right. You really are. I'm not you, and it SHOULDN'T affect me that you're throwing your life away, because it's not mine. But it does, which is why I'm here to whoop your ass and leave it up to you to crawl back to Konoha on your own -because I SHOULDN'T CARE."

The silence between them after Naruto's little speech was almost palpable, and it stretched on for at least five minutes before Sasuke finally said, "too bad you're at my mercy." He sheathed his slightly bloody katana with one hand and slowly held up Naruto's kunai pouch with the other. His face and eyes were virtually devoid of emotion as he forced his former-teammate into an intense, enigmatic gaze. "I can almost hear the comments: 'what decent ninja would allow the enemy to kill him with his own weapons?' Once an idiot, always an idiot, eh Naruto?"

Before Naruto could blink, Sasuke had already situated himself behind him, a kunai drawn and positioned just above his throat. He pressed the razor-sharp edge down into the unguarded flesh and practically heard the tissue ripping in its wake, puncturing the fragile wind pipe and letting the blood flow in thick, warm rivers. Naruto stayed standing up for a few seconds before his eyes glazed over and he crashed to his knees and fell face-first into his own hot, pooling blood.

Then, with a small 'pop' and a wispy puff of smoke, the body vanished, leaving only the pool of blood. Wary and slightly uneasy by the sudden turn of events, Sasuke shoved the kunai pouch into the overlapping material of his gi-top and swiftly unsheathed his katana, unconsciously dropping into a defensive stance. Quickly schooling his slightly tense muscles and expression, his appearance became completely and utterly calm; seemingly unruffled by the fact that the earth had just shivered under his feet again or that the body of the person he had just KILLED had randomly disappeared into thin air.

He simply sunk into his stance and waited.

Then, almost faster than the eye could follow, he spun around and began executing a complex series of crisscrossing slashes and slices at a particular place in the air behind him. There was the sound of metal forcefully meeting metal, even though only one of the metal objects could be seen.

This vehement, half-visible exchange went on for a while, growing more and more intense as the seconds passed. After some time, a very much alive Naruto began fading in and out of visibility until he finally snapped solidly into focus, seeing as he was too intent on not losing any limbs or his life to keep up the henge. This was an understandably difficult task, seeing as he was armed with only one kunai now and couldn't maneuver quickly.

However, he managed to use his brute strength to his advantage by trapping Sasuke's hand holding the katana at a way that hands WEREN'T supposed to bend; this caused the katana itself to clatter uselessly to the ground. He was sweating and panting and hurt and angry as all hell at that fucking bastard for taking everything he'd said and simply brushing it off as if it had been nothing -it was NOT nothing, damnit! It took a lot of courage to say crap like that and he had meant it -he was not going to be fucking IGNORED about it!

Scowling, Naruto leaned in closer, mercilessly applying more pressure on Sasuke's wrist and disgustedly snarling, "So THAT'S what you would've done if I'd really let down my guard -KILLED me!? Just like that?"

Sasuke didn't reply; he didn't have to.

Naruto was practically howling in anger, hurt, and frustration. "I can't believe I-"

The rest of his sentence was lost in a deafening rumble and his hold on Sasuke's wrist was broken by the worst earthquake that he had felt yet. The shaking was so intense that dust and dirt from the ceiling got shaken off and started raining down on the pair -albeit they were too distracted to notice it. Even though Naruto had been standing perfect still when it happened, the earthquake had thrown him off balance, sending him stumbling away from his former-teammate in an effort not to fall on his ass and become too vulnerable.

The shaking and rumbling went on for a few more seconds before finally subsiding and leaving the two young men several feet apart. Cursing his stupidity for allowing himself to be caught off-guard like that, Naruto immediately trained his eyes on Sasuke's still undisturbed features, and saw him looking right back; the hints of a smirk playing across the corners of his mouth.

"Looks like Sakura's gotten stronger," Sasuke said nonchalantly, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his recovered and re-sheathed katana. "Unlike you."

With that, Sasuke allowed his smirk to become a little more apparent before he vanished in a puff of smoke of his own, leaving a bewildered, confused, hurt, shocked and angry Naruto in his wake.

-----------------------------------

I know what you're thinking: that whole angsty sappy question on Sasuke's part ("why are you here? You shouldn't care about me," blah, blah, blah. Yeah, you remember) was incredibly OOC. I, the ultimate "you CAN'T make them OOC!" harpy ...am a hypocrite. But y'know what? I'm not! I know what you're asking: "and how is that, smartass?" Well, if you were to go back to the anime and watch their fight at the Valley of the End, he asks a similar question ("why do you go through so much trouble for me?" to be exact). All in all, I figured that if they could pull it off in the anime, then I could pull it off here.

You know what? If you hate this story, I have no problems with you flaming me -however much I prefer constructive criticism. Flamers can't ever come up with a good reason as to why they torture themselves enough to read a fic about a couple they hate -and then go and care enough to give it a review. I mean, seriously, can you say "no life" -not to mention the fact that I've developed a peculiar fetish about publicly humiliating them on the ever-handy profile. And let's not forget CD 2's sadistic tendency to break out the popcorn whenever she sees someone in pain or being humiliated...