Never Again: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 34: The Past

"Naruto," Sasuke said, standing across from his blond friend who was reading a book, trying to gain any knowledge in order to defeat Madara. He looked up from the book to the raven-haired man and rose an eyebrow.

"What?" 

"When we defeat Madara and the war is over," Sasuke began. "You and I will have to lead this world. The world is too broken in order to just revert back to the time before the war. Even if it could, it would still be a broken system that runs the shinobi world. We need to bring everyone together and pave the way for revolution." 

Naruto chuckled and his eyes fell back onto his book. He didn't comment on Sasuke's confidence when he had said 'when they defeat Madara'. "I can get with that," Naruto replied. "We'll bring peace and order for the world and leave it better than when we were born into it." 

Sasuke smirked. "My thoughts exactly." 

Naruto looked at the sight of his believed-to-be-dead comrade. His best friend. His brother. He couldn't believe his eyes. Sasuke was alive? Since when? And why was he playing the same role Obito played in their world? 

"What's wrong? Where did all that hatred of yours go?" Sasuke asked rhetorically, a smirk still plastered on his face. "You look as if you've seen a ghost, Naruto, is something wrong?" Naruto didn't answer. 

He couldn't. He could hear the blood rushing through his ear, his heartbeat beating erratically in his chest, the sounds of his quickened breath, and nothing else. He only heard those things as he fell to his knees, his eyes wide and all of the previous anger and determination was wiped clean, now only being replaced by despair. 

It couldn't be. . .

Sasuke's eyes widened as he suddenly hurled Naruto in front of him, his feet skidding in the dirt, his breathing ragged before a beam of light came out of the left side of his chest, destroying his heart.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted as he rushed to his best friend's aid, trying his best to repair the damage that had been done.

He couldn't. That was Sage infused chakra that had hit Sasuke, something that they found out to be unhealable. "Naruto," Sasuke whispered, blood slowly trailing down his chin, his Sharingan gone, replaced by his coal-black eye, peering at the night sky above them, the stars twinkling in the reflection of his eye. "You are our only hope. You can bring him down, I-I believe in you."

Tears silently went down Naruto's cheeks as Sasuke went still, the Uchiha now dead.

"It's not possible," Naruto whispered to himself as he suddenly gripped at his blond hair, tugging at it harshly as tears began flowing out of his eyes like a waterfall. "I watched you die. . ." 

"You died too, Naruto." Sasuke answered. He cocked his head to the side, his wet hair hanging into the air as he grinned crazily, sending chills down the spines of Sayuri and Sai, Sakura still trying her best to heal Obito. "Or did you think you were the only one sent to hell?" 

"What?" Naruto breathed out, his hands still shaking as his eyes trailed up from the ground and met Sasuke's Sharingan and Rinnegan eyes. "W-Why are you doing this?" He asked, his voice shaking as he strained his ears, waiting for an answer as Sasuke seemed to think about it for a moment. 

"Well," Sasuke began as he met Naruto's despair-filled look with an apathetic gaze. "If I had to choose a single reason as to why," His eyes bore into Naruto's soul, the teen feeling as if it were only the two of them on the battlefield. "It would be because you let Naruto Uzumaki die."