Sasuke fell onto his hands and knees... again. He was worn out from his fight with Uchiha Madara. I have to make it back to Konoha... even if just to apologize... he thought. He forced himself to stand up and took a few steps. He braced himself on a tree. It had carvings in it, an arrow with kanji that had long been worn away.
You have to be patient if you want to reach your goals, he remembered Madara saying. He frowned. Madara's words aren't important. He knew he was dying.
He placed one foot in front of the other, focused on moving forward, nothing else. Before he knew it, he heard the familiar sounds of the village. He finally collapsed in front of the gate.
"Huh? Are you okay?" the gatekeeper said. Sasuke recognized Izumo's voice. Kotetsu must be there too.
"I need… to speak… to the hokage," he whispered.
"I'm the hokage," a familiar voice spoke up. Sasuke looked up weakly. Naruto was so old now. He looked so mature.
Naruto recognized him right away. "Uchiha… Uchiha Sasuke…" Naruto whispered.
Sasuke smiled weakly. "Naruto…," Sasuke fought his pride, but he lost his battle and he sighed. His head flopped to the ground and he let his body rest… finally.
When he woke up, his body was aching. He sensed someone watching him and opened his eyes. A doctor with pink hair stood at the foot of his bed… a hospital bed.
"Sakura?" he whispered. She only looked at him, then turned and left. He touched his chest, it was bandaged. Why would they help me? He wondered. His body ached in agony.
Another person came in. Sasuke swallowed. "Hokage-sama…"
Naruto smiled sadly. Sasuke noticed his eyes. They were so different. They used to be so full of life, dedication. Now, they're only full of duty. Duty! Since when has Naruto ever followed the rules? They were so empty now… so dead. Is it my fault?
"Naruto… I'm still Naruto to you, Sasuke… please don't call me Hokage."
"But you are the Hokage… your dream… you finally made it," Sasuke said, even though it hurt his chest to speak.
"Sasuke… I want to tell you… I'm sorry I gave up on you so many years ago… I'm sorry I couldn't save you from your darkness… I will bear that burden alone… I'm sorry for not being able to help you… my best friend," Naruto said, turning for the door.
The door slid open and Ino came in, followed closely by Shikamaru. Shikamaru looked older as well. He looked tough, merciless, though Sasuke knew he had a good heart.
"Sasuke… it's really you!" Ino cried out. Shikamaru looked at Sasuke, stricken. Shikamaru touched Ino's forearm reassuringly. Ino composed herself and nodded. She exited silently.
Naruto exited silently, leaving Sasuke alone with his thoughts.
Everything is so changed. Everyone is so changed. They're all strangers now. Maybe coming here wasn't a good idea after all. Why are you such an idiot, Sasuke? Why didn't you let Naruto save you? I let everyone down. Even Itachi because of my pride… and I couldn't even apologize to Naruto! I put him through all that pain and couldn't even apologize! Sasuke slammed his fist on the bedside table, angry at himself.
"Yo!" he heard a voice that made him perk up. He automatically looked at the window… of course. Kakashi was standing in the window.
"Kakashi…" Sasuke said nervously. Kakashi was totally unchanged except for the fact that he didn't have a make-out book with him… obviously, and he had aged a lot. Stress has taken its toll. Sasuke wondered if that was his fault too. Kakashi still had the same alert but bored eyes. His silver hair was more silvery than Sasuke remembered.
"Why did you come back?" Kakashi asked, straight to the point no one else dared to bring up. Sasuke shrugged helplessly.
"Kakashi… you once said it was your job to kill me… well, now's your chance," Sasuke said seriously. Kakashi shook his head. "You never understood did you?"
"What?"
"I said that… Sakura said that… Even Naruto said that all because you were our friend. We didn't want you to fall so low," Kakashi explained, "I know why you came here." Sasuke gasped quietly to himself.
"And I'm sure Naruto has already apologized… but," Kakashi narrowed his eye, "Don't hurt Naruto again. He's finally reached his dream, but he still bears the burden of his best friend. He's not happy about it. I can tell he thinks of you every day."
"It's been nine years—" Sasuke protested.
"And have you forgotten Itachi? And it's been eighteen years have you forgotten your parents? Your clan? You're still so naïve, Sasuke," Kakashi interrupted. Sasuke didn't reply.
Kakashi gave him one last lingering glance and poofed. Sasuke couldn't ignore that feeling of guilt deep in his gut.
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Story notes: If it's OOC, let me know! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This fic was purely fanmade and I do not get any profit for this whatsoever. Finshed -_-' my first fanfic so... I'm happy, but sad that it's finally done... :) thank you Silverwolf & Fantasy Madeline
Chapter notes: Thanks for reading! Please Review!! I want to know what you think!!
*gasp* ... *double gasp* ... my story's gone!! :O I'll reupload it if possible.. -_-' (: good thing it's on fanfiction as well... Well, i don't use fanfiction anymore, but like the first few chappys are on there.
Chapter end notes: Well... I suck at writing... haha. Well, I suckED anyway. Ugh... I gotta do hw. I'll re-upload chapter 2 later. As in a few days...? Thanks.