Tsunade didn't make a show of it. She moved with quiet finality, her footsteps muted against the polished floorboards of the Hokage's office. Without a word, she crossed to the far wall where a reinforced cabinet stood, its metal edges dulled by time, its chakra seals glowing faintly with layered protections only she could undo. The seals shimmered as her palm pressed against them, the air pulsing once with quiet resistance before the lock disengaged with a low thunk. She slid the doors open and reached into the shadows within. Her fingers closed around a thick, weathered scroll wrapped in deep ochre leather, its edges fraying slightly despite the golden cord cinched tightly around it. The scent of old parchment and medicinal ink rose from it like a ghost of forgotten hours. Tsunade pulled it free with care, then reached again, this time withdrawing two heavy tomes, one bound in cracked black leather, stamped with the war-worn seal of the original Konoha Medical Corps; the other was older still, its red cover faded almost to rust, the symbol for cellular regeneration etched faintly like a scar in the hide. She cradled the weight of them in her arms as though she were holding a legacy.

When she turned back to Sakura, the silence felt weighted. Her face, so often vivid in emotion, was unreadable, stone-still, her eyes measuring. "These aren't standard issue," she said, voice low but edged with quiet intensity as she placed the scroll and books onto the broad wooden desk. The sound of leather hitting wood was soft, final. "Most medics don't get clearance for these unless they're already leading surgeries or serving as division heads during wartime." Sakura looked at the weight of them, no, the presence of them. They weren't just books or scrolls. They were relics of war and salvation, their surfaces whispering with the chakra of countless hands that had turned their pages before her. The black tome seemed to hum softly, dense with battle-scarred medical procedures: annotated diagrams of nerve systems singed by lightning techniques, emergency triage seals drawn in thick brushstrokes, and handwritten notes in the margins, some frantic, some reverent. Pages were stained with long-dried ink, and in one case, a brownish smudge that might have once been blood. These weren't lessons, they were warnings. The red tome was quieter, but somehow more unnerving. It opened with anatomical sketches so precise they felt alive, each chakra pathway inked with obsessive care. Next came case studies of cellular regeneration, the kind of chakra manipulation that danced on the edge of godhood, rebuilding tissue from nothing, reprogramming cells to remember wholeness. But it came at a price. Entire sections were crossed out, the kanji overwritten with the word "forbidden" or simply "failure." One page described an early version of the Creation Rebirth seal that caused the user's cells to divide so fast their lifespan was halved in weeks. Sakura's breath caught as she read it. Tsunade watched in silence as Sakura reached for the scroll. Her fingers trembled, not from fear, but reverence. The golden-threaded cord was smooth and slightly warm, reacting to her chakra as it uncoiled. She unrolled the parchment slowly, revealing complex blueprints for sealing arrays meant for multi-layered trauma intervention. Each line pulsed faintly, reacting to her touch. These seals weren't theoretical. They were alive.

"I trust you won't waste them," Tsunade said, her voice quiet but unshakable. It wasn't a suggestion. It was a charge.

Sakura stepped forward, her pulse loud in her ears, and bowed her head, not low in deference, but in genuine gratitude. The scent of old ink, cedar oil, and chakra-imbued parchment rose around her. "I won't." She spent the rest of the afternoon in focused silence, seated cross-legged on the floor of Tsunade's office while the sun moved steadily across the windows. Her notebook quickly filled with annotated sketches, cross-sectional organ diagrams, the sequences for tenketsu suppression during battlefield surgery, regenerative triggers layered with summoning seals. Her handwriting was tight and clean, but her margins were full of questions. 'Would this array respond better to stabilized yin release?' 'Test layering this with Astra's chakra crystal resonance.' Her eyes stung from reading. Her back ached. But she didn't stop. 'This isn't new,' she thought, heart beating faster as she copied down a particularly brutal healing method for severed spinal cords. A strange calm settled over her then. Not peace, but clarity. These weren't impossible teachings, especially not for Sakura Haruno. By late afternoon, the Hokage's office had settled into a calm hum, a soft symphony of rustling paper, the crisp scratch of ink on parchment, and the gentle clink of tea cups exchanged between Tsunade and Shizune as they shared whispered updates. The golden light from the westward sun spilled through the window, casting long, warm shadows across the worn tatami mats and the polished wood of the low table Sakura had pulled close beside the filing cabinets. The air carried a faint scent of brewed herbs mingling with old paper and the subtle musk of well-used scroll cases.

Sakura sat cross-legged, poised but relaxed, her brush gliding confidently across the parchment. Before her lay the scrolls, their pages weighted down with heavy ink stones carved from polished jade and onyx, preventing the delicate rice paper from fluttering in the slightest breeze. The diagrams she traced were intricate, cellular channeling patterns for active chakra stitching that demanded precision beyond mere technique. Some required four-layer chakra division running simultaneously along a single network line, each pulse regulated like a heartbeat to avoid overstimulation. Others called for opposing polarities, delicate dances of yin and yang chakra meant to stabilize and cleanse poisoned tissue without tearing the cells apart. Her brow furrowed with concentration as her eyes scanned a particularly complex sequence of interwoven chakra streams. She paused, brush hovering, then glanced up toward Tsunade, who was busy reviewing mission reports but didn't look up.

"What's the blockage this time?" Tsunade's voice was calm but edged with curiosity.

Sakura tapped a fine line on the diagram. "If I run dual polarity chakra through a necrotizing vessel to preserve tissue on both ends, wouldn't that rupture the cellular walls if I'm not suppressing my own current?"

Tsunade's gold eyes finally lifted, sharp and assessing, narrowing with interest. "It would. That's why you bind the opposing stream in a spiral wrap, think like coiling a vine up the damaged artery. That keeps the charge contained while you trigger clotting."

Sakura's lips pressed into a line before she murmured, "So wrap, not overlay. Got it." Her brush resumed its dance across the page, each stroke deliberate and fluid, translating the abstract intricacies of chakra theory into muscle memory and tangible knowledge.

'Every line I copy isn't just information,' Sakura thought, her heartbeat steady but quickening beneath her ribs. 'It's a step closer to mastering the power to save lives on my own terms. To protect those I care about without relying on luck or others.' The words felt heavy and real inside her chest, a quiet promise to herself. She adjusted her posture slightly, feeling the worn tatami beneath her knees, the slight ache of sitting too long but refusing to break focus. Outside, the wind stirred the leaves softly, but inside this room, time narrowed to the brush, the scroll, and the endless flow of chakra weaving through her fingertips, threads of life and healing tangled with memories she was determined to keep.

Tsunade watched her for a long moment, eyes sharp but softening just enough to betray a flicker of something like pride beneath her usual stoic mask. The fading sunlight slipped lower, casting golden bars that stretched lazily across the polished wood floor and pooled on the scattered scrolls and ink stones like liquid amber. Dust motes danced in the shafts of light, swirling gently as if caught in a slow, invisible current. The room smelled faintly of aged paper, warm wood, and a trace of sandalwood incense that hung in the air like a quiet blessing. But Sakura didn't notice any of it. Her focus was absolute, her entire being anchored to the delicate strokes of her brush. Each movement was precise, almost ritualistic, as she traced the intricate chakra pathways etched in ink, layered spirals and intersecting lines that mapped the flow of life itself. Her fingertips tingled with the subtle hum of chakra weaving through the scroll's fibers, a soft electric pulse that seemed to thread through her veins and settle beneath her skin. It was as though she wasn't just reading the scrolls, she was absorbing them, imprinting their secrets into every cell of her body. When she did look up, it wasn't with the wide-eyed wonder of a novice. Her gaze was sharp, analytical, piercing through the layers of theory to find cracks, inconsistencies, places where she could push further. Her lips pressed together, eyes narrowing in thought. 'If the standard binding spirals restrict blood flow too much, then the balance must come from compensating polarities in the adjacent vessels... but how far can I extend that without risking cellular fatigue?' The question hovered in her mind like a challenge, a puzzle she needed to solve not just on paper but in practice.

She paused, fingertips hovering over a diagram illustrating a regenerative stitch meant to accelerate tissue repair by synchronizing chakra pulses with natural cellular rhythms. Her breath caught, heart tightening in a way that felt both familiar and new, a sharp reminder of the stakes behind every technique she mastered. 'This isn't just theory. Every failed stitch could mean a life lost. Every success, a chance to change a fate.' Tsunade shifted, breaking the quiet moment, but Sakura's attention barely flickered. The older woman's faint smile was subtle, an unspoken acknowledgment that here was someone not simply hungry for knowledge, but hungry enough to wield it. The sun slipped closer to the horizon, the room growing cooler and shadows longer, but Sakura remained, unwavering, a single figure bathed in golden light and determination, etching the future stroke by stroke.

The roar of the waterfall was deafening, an endless crashing of water against stone that seemed to shake the very cliffs around them. Mist curled like cold fingers through the air, wrapping around the colossal statues of Hashirama and Madara. The two figures loomed overhead, their eternal faces watching in silence, carved with the weight of war, of shattered ideals, of brothers turned enemies. Naruto stood at the river's edge, his lungs heaving, sweat clinging to his skin. His sandals slipped slightly on the slick rock, but he didn't falter. He'd made it. Ahead, Sasuke stood motionless in the spray, his back lit by the pale light filtering through the mist. His posture was rigid, a silhouette of resolve, like he'd already left Konoha in spirit, even if his body still stood on its soil. "Sasuke!" Naruto's voice tore through the sound of water, echoing harshly between the cliffs. "Are you really gonna throw everything away? Your friends... the village... everyone who risked their lives to bring you back, and for what? Just to get stronger?"

Sasuke didn't turn. His voice came low, flat, devoid of warmth. "Yes." That one word cut deeper than any blade. It left Naruto frozen for a moment, air caught in his throat, fists clenching until his nails bit into his palms. His heartbeat pounded like war drums in his ears.

"So that's it, huh?" Naruto growled, stepping forward. His voice trembled, not from fear, but from the weight of betrayal. "You'd really betray all of us, her, for a 'chance' to chase Orochimaru's power?"

Sasuke stepped forward too, the motion fluid, almost casual. His voice carried no malice, only certainty. "You don't understand."

"You're right," Naruto snarled. "I don't. But I won't let you go!" In a blur of motion, Naruto lunged. Water splashed beneath his feet as he grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder and yanked him back hard. His fist swung fast, faster than thought, and cracked across Sasuke's jaw with a sharp snap, the impact echoing louder than the waterfall itself. The shockwave scattered a flock of birds from the cliffs, feathers spiraling through the mist. Sasuke barely moved. His head tilted from the blow, lip split open, a crimson line dripping from the corner. He turned slowly, eyes cold and void of emotion, black pools that had lost their reflection. Then he spat. A thin ribbon of blood splashed across Naruto's cheek. Naruto didn't wipe it away. His chest heaved, breath burning like fire in his lungs. Every muscle trembled, not just with anger, but heartbreak. He had reached him. He was right here. And Sasuke still..."Then I'll bring you back by force!" Naruto roared. The ground beneath them seemed to pulse as chakra flared from both bodies, heat and fury rising into the mist as the battle between brothers finally began.

Sasuke's hand moved like a whip. He grabbed Naruto by the shirt and lifted him off his feet with unnatural strength, his fingers digging into the fabric and brushing skin, the contact searing-hot from the Cursed Seal's surge. His skin darkened and pulsed as black marks slithered across his neck and jaw like living ink. "You don't have the strength," he said, and punched. The blow landed like a hammer to the gut. Naruto's breath exploded from his lungs, a strangled yell ripping free as he rocketed backward, ribs flaring with pain. He bounced against the stone path, once, twice, before crashing into the river below. The cold struck like a slap, water closing over his head, stinging his eyes, muting the world into a roar of bubbles and blood. He barely had time to register the ache in his spine before a shadow dropped beside him. Sasuke landed in silence, eyes sharp and unblinking, like a hawk. His chakra felt heavy now, dense, sharp-edged, wrong. Naruto swung on instinct, but Sasuke was already inside his guard. A breath later, a kick slammed into Naruto's sternum. Bone screamed. His body sailed backward in a spray of river foam, crashing against a moss-slicked boulder with a thud that echoed up the gorge. One of his weapon pouches ripped free, the seams fraying as it tumbled end over end. Sasuke's hand snapped out like a serpent. He snatched it mid-air, momentum carrying him into a backflip that ended cleanly atop the stone platform again. His feet touched down without a sound.

Naruto groaned and rose, soaked through, water dripping in rivulets down his temples, his fingers clenched into fists at his sides. His whole chest felt tight, breath wheezing through bruised lungs. But his glare burned. "You think that'll stop me?" he growled, voice shaking with anger and pain. He slammed his palms together. Chakra roared from him in a snarl of light and wind. A dozen shadow clones exploded into being with war cries on their lips, surrounding Sasuke in an instant. But they were paper to Sasuke's blade. He moved like a storm, sweeping low, striking high, his fists and feet cleaving through them with terrifying grace. The clone bursts sounded like crackling wood in a fire, each pop lighting the air with brief flashes. Smoke and sweat filled the space between them. Then they were gone. Only Naruto remained, chest heaving, muscles trembling. He didn't stop. He flung a volley of shuriken, dozens, his hands a blur, metal glinting as it spun toward Sasuke like a hailstorm. Sasuke didn't flinch. He weaved through them, snatching two mid-spin, his expression contemptuous. A few clinked harmlessly to the stone at his feet. Then, without warning, he drew Naruto's own wire strings from the stolen pouch. The threads shimmered faintly with residual chakra. Before Naruto could blink, Sasuke lunged, closing the distance with a blur of speed. Wire lashed through the air. Naruto's limbs jerked back, yanked taut. The cords cut into his wrists and ankles, pinning him to the rock like prey beneath a predator's claw. He struggled, chakra flaring wild, but it was too late. The stone beneath him scraped cold against his back, and Sasuke stood above, eyes narrowed in merciless focus.

"Too slow," Sasuke muttered. A single spark, barely visible, flared from his fingertip and danced down the taut wire. It hissed like a fuse, then detonated. Fire erupted around Naruto in a brutal flash, engulfing him in a vortex of heat and smoke. The air warped with the sudden blaze, crackling as embers spat outward. The explosion slammed against the stone walls of the valley, the sound sharp and concussive, followed by the heavy silence of choking ash. Smoke churned upward, curling black and angry into the pale gray sky. For a moment, there was nothing, just the scorched mark where Naruto had stood. Then, a silhouette emerged through the smoke, hunched and rising. His jacket was torn, singed along the edges, the spiral insignia half-burned. His skin steamed faintly. But his eyes burned brighter than the fire had. Naruto charged with a roar, boots slamming the stone as he surged forward. His fist cracked against Sasuke's cheek with a satisfying thud, the impact jarring up Naruto's arm. For a fleeting second, he felt the resistance of flesh and bone yield under his knuckles and thought he had landed the blow. But Sasuke didn't flinch. His head turned with the hit, then swiveled back toward Naruto, eyes cold, unreadable. Naruto struck again, harder this time, driving his fist into Sasuke's jaw. Blood spattered from the corner of Sasuke's mouth, dark and sudden. It hit the stone platform like droplets of ink, sharp against the gray. Naruto's breath came in ragged gasps. He hit him again, and again. Each blow was met with no defense, no sound, just that blank stare.

Sasuke's silence felt suffocating. It wasn't endurance, it was disdain. Then, quietly, Sasuke laughed. The sound was hollow. Mocking. "You idiot," he said, voice low and still. "I'm not even using my Sharingan." The words froze Naruto in place. His blood ran cold. In the next instant, Sasuke moved. Fast. Too fast. He caught Naruto's punch mid-air, twisting his arm behind his back with a vicious wrench. The joint popped, and Naruto cried out, but it was cut short as Sasuke slammed him downward. His body hit the top of the statue with a bone-jarring crack, a spiderweb fracture splitting the stone beneath him. Pain bloomed through his ribs, and the air shot from his lungs in a broken wheeze. Then, a sharp kick to his side, brutal and precise, sent him tumbling off the edge. The wind roared past his ears as he fell, limbs flailing for purchase. The cold bite of the river rushed up to meet him. He crashed into the water, its icy embrace stealing his breath in an instant. The current shoved him backward, and his vision blurred. Before he could resurface, another blow found him. Sasuke descended like a shadow, fists finding Naruto's body in the shallows. Water splashed violently with each strike, mixing with blood that bloomed in pink spirals. His fists slammed into Naruto's gut, shoulder, temple, relentless. Each hit was a thunderclap against skin and bone. Naruto curled in on himself, arms crossed, teeth grit. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, hot and metallic on his tongue. His head throbbed. The shallow riverbed scraped his back raw with every blow, and still they came. Then, suddenly, the assault stopped. Sasuke stood over him, chest rising and falling, not from exhaustion, but from something heavier. Something knotted in his brow and clenched in his jaw. Frustration. As if every blow he landed should've meant more.

He tossed the stolen bag of tools onto the soaked earth beside Naruto's bruised, motionless form. The dull thud as it hit the mud was final, almost indifferent. "You can have these back," Sasuke said, his voice flat, devoid of malice, as if returning something trivial. "You'll need them more than I do." Naruto didn't speak. He barely breathed. The rain began to fall again, cold, steady, thin lines slicing through the thick air like threads unraveling from a fraying sky. The scent of ozone and scorched stone lingered, mixing with the metallic tang of blood and the earthy smell of wet moss. Sasuke turned and began to walk, the soles of his sandals splashing through shallow pools left in the fractured stone. The crackle of thunder far off in the distance sounded like a heartbeat in the dark. Behind him, Naruto shifted. With a shuddering gasp, he forced himself upright, body trembling under its own weight. Blood slipped from the corner of his mouth, trailing down his chin, and he wiped it away with the back of a trembling sleeve. His hand shook violently, fingers stiff with pain. Every breath scraped against fractured ribs. Chakra sparked and flickered in him like a dying flame. But he still smiled.

A crooked, defiant grin that cut through the pain like sunlight through clouds. "Go ahead, Sasuke," Naruto rasped, voice low and hoarse, each word like gravel in his throat. "Use the Sharingan. Use everything you've got. You're still not gonna win. Not against my Nindō." He forced his hands into a cross-sign. Even that simple gesture sent a spike of pain through his shoulder, but he didn't flinch.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A rush of chakra burst from his core, ragged, unstable, but burning with intent. The ground around him cracked with the sudden surge. In a flare of orange light and smoke, eight clones materialized with shouts of resolve, their expressions mirrors of his own pain-fueled determination. Rain beaded across their foreheads and soaked their sleeves, but none hesitated. They charged as one, pounding across the slick stone in a blur of motion and color, fists cocked back, eyes blazing. But it was over in a breath. Sasuke didn't even stop walking. His eyes snapped open, gleaming crimson, three tomoe spinning like blades inside pools of blood. The world slowed around him. He moved like smoke, untouchable. He ducked the first strike, slid past the second, and twisted through the third with a dancer's grace and a butcher's precision. His fists and elbows cut through clones like paper, each impact surgical, exact. A heel to the jaw. A palm to the solar plexus. An uppercut that shattered a rib that didn't exist. Each clone exploded in a puff of chakra and vapor before it could touch him, one, two, three, then five gone in seconds. The valley echoed with the sound of rushing wind and splintering illusions. When the smoke cleared, only Sasuke stood.

Without pause, Sasuke inhaled sharply, chakra pooling in his chest as he weaved the hand signs with one hand, quick, fluid, instinctual. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" he roared, and a sphere of roaring flame erupted from his mouth. It screamed through the air like a meteor, licking up oxygen, its heat warping the air around it. The clearing turned white-orange, shadows fleeing from the edges of the flame. Leaves withered mid-float, curled in on themselves like ash petals. The roar of fire drowned out even the rain. Naruto dove, the heat singeing the back of his jacket as he barely slipped behind a clump of charred brush. The bush ignited at the edges, glowing embers spiraling into the air before dissolving. The leaves above him blackened, the tips curling with a sick crackle. Sweat slicked Naruto's brow, mixing with the grime and blood that streaked his dirt-smeared skin. The smoke made his lungs burn, and the scorched scent of pine and ozone clung to everything.

From beyond the haze, Sasuke's voice cut through, flat and cold, almost eerily still. "Still hiding, Naruto?" His tone didn't rise. It didn't have to. "You really are naïve. Did you think friendship could change me? Did you think you could save me just by showing up?" Naruto barely had time to push himself up. His palms slipped in the mud. But Sasuke was already there, stepping through the smoke like a phantom, eyes glowing, drenched hair clinging to his cheekbones, lightning in his silence. The first punch cracked against Naruto's jaw, snapping his head sideways with a sickening crack. Pain bloomed instantly, blinding and sharp. The second strike crushed into his gut, folding him in half. Naruto coughed, a wet sound, spit and blood spraying from his lips. Then came the third, a savage punch to the ribs. Something gave way. The pain was immediate, bursting white-hot and deep, like a lightning strike inside his chest. His body lifted off the ground, then slammed into the river with a thunderous splash, water exploding upward in sheets. The river swallowed him whole. For a long, breathless moment, there was only the ripple of water and the hiss of rain hitting steam. No movement. No sound. Then he broke the surface.

Naruto gasped raggedly, dragging air into lungs that screamed with each breath. Water streamed from his hair and clothes, rivulets mixing with the blood smeared across his mouth and temple. He stood slowly, hunched but unbroken, each breath a battle, each step forward an act of will. "You're my friend, Sasuke," Naruto said quietly, voice rasping but steady. "That's why I won't stop."

High above, Sasuke stood on the cliff's edge, his silhouette backlit by lightning, eyes hollow beneath the shadow of his fringe. Rain streaked down his face but didn't cool the heat radiating from his skin. "You don't get it. You never did." He dropped from the ledge like a stone, landing in a crouch beside Naruto. The ground cracked beneath the force of his fall. His gaze didn't waver. "You're the closest thing I have to a bond," he said, voice low, almost mournful. "But that's exactly why... I have to kill you." His hand lifted slowly, and lightning sparked to life in his palm, Chidori, snarling and wild, casting blue light across his soaked skin. The scent of ozone thickened again, sharper now, like a storm about to snap the sky in two. "If killing you gives me the Mangekyō... if it gives me the strength to defeat Itachi..." He paused, the blue glow painting shadows beneath his eyes. "...Then losing you is a price I'm willing to pay."

Naruto said nothing. His body trembled from pain and emotion, but his chakra churned, rising in defiance, wild, desperate, raw. The familiar spiral twisted in his palm, bright blue and volatile, the Rasengan howling like a storm compacted into a sphere. He surged forward, the water around his feet parting with each step. Sasuke darted to meet him, Chidori already roaring in his hand, the lightning clawing up his arm, crackling against the downpour. His eyes were sharp with purpose, cold with grief. Their feet struck the stone simultaneously, and their jutsu collided, spiral and lightning, spinning and stabbing.The impact detonated in a flash of blinding light and concussive force, the sound of it splitting the air like thunder made flesh. The valley trembled. Rocks cracked. Water erupted upward in towering sheets. The sky itself seemed to reel. Both boys were hurled away, flung like ragdolls across the shattered battlefield. Naruto's back slammed against the riverbank, the wind crushed from his lungs. He lay sprawled, ribs heaving, eyes wide. Rain began to fall again, soft at first, then heavier. It whispered against his skin, tracing the lines of dirt and blood down his cheeks. His fingers twitched. He couldn't feel his Rasengan anymore. His body ached down to the bone. Tears slipped free, invisible in the drizzle, but scalding in the hollow of his eyes. 'Why... why does it have to be this way...'Across the fractured field, Sasuke stood half-shadowed, his chest rising with quiet effort. His voice broke the stillness, low and toneless, but carried by the tension in the air.

"You feel it too, don't you? When two shinobi fight at a high enough level... they can read each other's hearts just by clashing." Naruto's breath caught. "So tell me, Naruto," Sasuke murmured, lifting his hand, "can you read mine?" Chakra surged violently. The Cursed Seal activated, black flame-like marks spreading like veins over Sasuke's skin, curling up his neck and jaw. His skin darkened, his eyes sharpened. The transformation twisted his features, half-human, half-something else. A wrongness in the air grew thicker, heavier. He felt darker. Meaner. The air stank of burning leaves and singed ozone. "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" A flurry of glowing flame bullets launched in a spiraling storm, illuminating the battlefield in flickering orange light. Naruto rolled, breath ragged. He dodged left, then stumbled right. One ember grazed his shoulder, igniting the edge of his sleeve. Another singed past his cheek, searing a path across his skin. He grit his teeth, but his movements were sluggish now, drenched, battered, slowing under exhaustion and sorrow. Then Sasuke was on him again. A punch cracked across Naruto's shoulder, jerking him sideways. Another hammered into his chest, forcing a pained wheeze from his lungs. A third slammed into his temple, and stars burst behind his eyes. His head whipped back, hair slick with rain and blood.

Naruto didn't raise his fists. Didn't block in time. His arms hung loose, useless, his feet slipping in the mud. The pain came in waves, dull and sharp all at once. 'Why am I not fighting...?' he wondered, each blow dulling his senses further, vision darkening at the edges. 'Was I... too late?' The battlefield blurred. Rain fell like memory. He saw flickers, Sasuke standing on the Academy roof, eyes full of challenge. Sasuke laughing for the first time during survival training, unguarded and real. Sasuke during the Chūnin Exams, bloodied but unbroken, his pride blazing even through pain. 'Was that all fake?' His heart cracked beneath the question, worse than any blow Sasuke could deliver.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, the Sharingan spinning with lethal focus. Lightning flared to life again in his palm, raw and howling. It crackled so violently it lit the shadows across his face, outlining his rage and desperation. "I'll end this," he said, voice low, trembling at the edge of madness. The Chidori screamed as it reached its sharpest point, a piercing white spear of power and purpose. He lunged, feet splashing through shallow water, the wind bending from the force of his speed. Naruto's eyes widened, he flinched, but far too late. His muscles didn't obey. His heart should have been pierced clean through. But something in him shifted in that final instant, subtle, instinctive, sacred. The strike veered, just slightly, as if fate itself wrenched it aside. The lightning blade drove clean through Naruto's right side, tearing through muscle and lung. The sound was sickening, a wet, meaty rip followed by the sear of burning tissue. Blood burst from Naruto's mouth in a violent cough, splattering the stone beneath him. The iron taste filled his throat, thick and hot. Sasuke froze, arm buried to the elbow in Naruto's body. His breath hitched. His Sharingan widened. That hadn't gone as planned. He felt the tremor in his own fingers. Naruto staggered, knees buckling, the pain radiating through every nerve like fire. He dropped to one knee, water splashing weakly around him. His breathing hitched, gurgled, shallow. Time slowed. The rain was heavier now, falling in sheets, each drop pattering against the stone with ruthless calm. The only other sound was the trickling patter of his blood, thick and slow, pooling darkly at his side.

Then, a whisper. Soft. So achingly familiar. "Then promise me you'll come back, Naruto. I can't lose two teammates." Sakura's voice, like a balm against the agony. The memory surged forward unbidden, her arms wrapped around him before the mission, tight and warm, trembling with held-in fear. Her lips brushing his cheek, a gentle press full of things she didn't say. That fragile smile that tried so hard to be brave. 'I promised her... I promised her I'd come back...' The pain in his chest roared, but something else stirred beneath it, something older, deeper. The fear of losing Sasuke clawed at him, but it was Sakura's voice, her belief in him, that struck his core like lightning through ice. His hand clenched against the stone. His body trembled, but not with weakness. The water at his knees rippled, waves forming outward in pulsing rings. The air thickened, rippling, distorting like heat off scorched earth. The wound in his side hissed, steaming as the blood ceased. Then, flare. Crimson chakra erupted from his stomach in a violent surge, raw and alive, twisting around him like smoke with intent. It howled as it rose, furious and sentient. The gash in his side sizzled and knitted, sealed by something far more ancient and vengeful than any jutsu. Sasuke staggered backward, instinct screaming. His Sharingan locked onto the chakra, terrifying in form, oppressive in weight. He saw the red cloak take shape, fluid and feral. Fox-like ears flickered into being above Naruto's head. A tail lashed the air behind him, trailing sparks and heat. Naruto stood, breathing deep, slow, no longer boy but something else. His eyes had changed. Slitted, gleaming. His chakra howled like a beast uncaged. The red cloak of the Nine-Tails burned around him, alive with rage, with pain, with the promise he had yet to keep.

Sasuke clenched his fists, fingernails digging into his palms. The rain soaked through his clothes, cold against his fevered skin, but he barely felt it. "What... what are you?" His voice cracked, whether from rage or fear, even he couldn't tell. Naruto looked up slowly, the crimson chakra writhing around him in searing tendrils. His pupils were slitted now, glowing, inhuman. His expression, once soft, once open, had hardened into something furious and ancient, something wild that didn't flinch anymore.

"I'm your friend," he growled, voice guttural and warped with fury. The ground beneath him shattered as the chakra flared, exploding the stone in a violent burst. The shockwave whipped the rain sideways. "And I'm not letting you go. Even if I have to break every damn bone in your body, Sasuke, I'm bringing you home!" His roar tore through the valley, shaking the stone statues that towered above them like mourning gods. Then he surged forward, blurring through the downpour, the red cloak trailing behind him like a banner of fire and rage. Rain hammered the Valley of the End like shattered glass falling from the heavens, slicing into bare skin and plastering their hair to their skulls. Naruto's breath came fast, ragged, steaming in the cold air. His bare feet slammed into the slick mud, throwing up wet earth as he lunged. The air around him crackled, hot, suffocating. The Nine-Tails' chakra snarled like a living thing, each pulse distorting the air, blurring the lines between the boy he was and the beast rising inside him.

Sasuke's Sharingan spun wildly, tracking Naruto's movements by instinct more than thought. Every blow rocked his body. The impact of each strike vibrated through his bones, his arms aching from the force he barely managed to deflect. The third tomoe twisted faster and faster, red lines bleeding into his vision. His breath hitched. Then, crack. A fist slammed into his gut, folding him in half, the wind driven from his lungs in a sharp grunt. Pain bloomed across his core like fire. Before he could even gasp, another blow struck, a hook to the ribs, then a knee driving into his sternum like a hammer. The world flipped sideways as he was hurled backward, his back smashing into the rock wall with brutal force. A sickening crunch echoed through the stone as blood splattered across the jagged surface, his shoulder scraping raw as he slid down. The rain mixed with blood as it dripped from his chin. He barely had time to lift his eyes, everything a blur of pain and red. Naruto was already there. The chakra howled around him as he pinned Sasuke in place, one hand slamming against his throat, the other raised, trembling with barely held restraint. Sasuke could feel the heat of it, the raw, seething fury, rolling off Naruto's skin like a furnace. His own breath stuttered in his throat. His fingers twitched. Naruto's eyes blazed down at him, not with hatred, but with something worse. Desperation. Betrayal. Grief.

"Have you come to your senses yet?!" Naruto roared, the sound raw in his throat, cracking like thunder across the valley. Rain hammered around them, bouncing off the slick stone and soaking them to the bone, but Naruto didn't care, didn't blink. His hand trembled where it pinned Sasuke, the Nine-Tails' chakra snarling low and hot, veins bulging faintly beneath his skin. "How many times do I have to knock you down before you remember who you are?!"

Sasuke's lip curled into a grimace, rain streaking down his face, mixing with the blood at his jaw. His chest heaved. "You don't understand..." he spat, his voice thick with fury and something hollow beneath it. "You could never understand."

Naruto blinked. His lashes were heavy with rain, water dripping from his chin like tears he refused to shed. The flickering red chakra around him sputtered, uncertain, as his shoulders rose and fell. "Then help me," he said quietly. "Make me understand."

Sasuke's teeth clenched so hard his jaw trembled. "You don't know what it's like to lose everything," he hissed, each word sharp as a kunai. "You don't know what it's like to have a family and have it ripped away. You were alone from the beginning."

Naruto's hand dropped, the searing chakra dimming, steaming in the cold rain. "You're right..." he said, voice tight, trembling, but steady, unwavering. "I don't know what it's like to lose a family..." His fingers curled at his sides. "Because I never had one to begin with." The wind howled through the gorge, and for a moment, the only sound was the rain and the hiss of steam rising off Naruto's skin. "But Iruka-sensei..." Naruto continued, his eyes meeting Sasuke's, open, raw. "He's like a father to me. And you..." His breath caught. Lightning lit the sky, casting both boys in harsh silver.

"I used to think maybe... maybe this is what having a brother feels like. Fighting. Laughing. Wanting to protect each other no matter what." His voice thickened. "If that bond means anything to you at all... I'll stop you here, Sasuke. Even if I have to break every bone in my body." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Something flickered across his face; grief, guilt, rage, but it vanished beneath the mask.

"Don't," he growled, shoving Naruto back. Their bodies scraped together, chakra sparking from the contact. "Don't pretend you understand me!"

Naruto stumbled, catching himself, his bare feet digging into the churned mud. "I don't!" he shouted, fists clenched, the Nine-Tails' chakra flaring again in jagged pulses. "But that doesn't mean I'll let you go!" A deafening crack split the sky as lightning tore across the heavens, illuminating Sasuke's silhouette. His chest rose slowly. Then, with solemn precision, he lifted his hand. Naruto's eyes widened. Sasuke tied his forehead protector across his brow. The metal plate was scratched, scuffed, shining dimly beneath the rain and light. It gleamed like a final word. Black bangs plastered to his forehead, rain trailing down the curve of his cheekbone, he stared at Naruto, sharingan burning, unreadable.

"I told you already," Sasuke said, his voice a low promise as he stepped forward, rain slicking his dark hair and dripping from the edge of his forehead protector. The cold wind whipped through the valley, carrying the scent of damp earth and ozone. "I'm going to break our bond, Naruto. Right here." His Sharingan flared fiercely, three tomoe spinning like fiery stars, each pulse a heartbeat of finality, the last flicker of hesitation snuffed out.

Naruto's breath hitched, eyes wide and blazing with a mix of shock and fierce determination. "Why bother putting that on if you're really trying to sever everything?" His voice trembled but held steady, a raw edge beneath his words.

Sasuke's gaze sharpened, the crimson glow in his eyes cutting through the mist. "Because," he said, voice cold and resolute, "Now, I see you as an equal. But even so... you won't land a single scratch on my forehead." The weight behind those words pressed down like thunderclouds ready to burst.

Naruto's jaw clenched, teeth bared in a fierce snarl that mirrored the storm raging inside him. "Then we're finishing this." He launched himself forward with a wild cry, the sound tearing through the heavy air like lightning splitting the sky. In an instant, the valley exploded with motion. Dozens of Narutos, shadow clones, burst forth, each a fiery echo of his will, surging from every angle. The ground trembled beneath their pounding feet, their eyes burning with unyielding resolve. Leaves tore from the trees, swirling in the tempest they created, while the scent of ozone mixed with wet earth and sweat. Sasuke's Sharingan spun wildly, his pupils tracing every twitch, every shift in the swarm. His body moved with predatory grace, weaving through the onslaught like smoke twisting around a flame. With a sharp kick, he sent one clone crashing into a tree trunk, the impact splintering bark and sending shards flying like deadly shrapnel. A flick of his wrist sent a kunai spinning through the air, slicing another clone cleanly in two, the remnants dissolving into faint wisps of chakra. The dance of attack and evasion was brutal and precise, every movement a deadly calculation. Sasuke's eyes burned with ruthless focus, his breath steady despite the storm of fists and chakra converging on him. Around them, the valley seemed to hold its breath, the rain falling harder, drumming on stone and leaf as the battle raged on, two forces intertwined by fate, clashing beneath the tempest's wrath.

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke's voice cut through the chaos like a whip. A roaring inferno erupted from his mouth, a spiraling, scorching torrent of flame that tore through the air with furious heat. The firestorm blasted into the cluster of shadow clones, engulfing half of them in a blaze of orange and white, their forms disintegrating into ashes mid-flight. The searing heat pressed against Naruto's skin, the air around him thick with smoke and the acrid scent of burning chakra. The force of the explosion slammed Naruto backward against the jagged cliff face, the impact rattling his bones and sending a dizzying spin through his vision. The stone under his back cracked with a deep groan, dust and small rocks showering down. His jacket was scorched, fabric smoking and sticking to his bruised flesh. Each breath was a jagged rasp, pain flaring with every inhale. His arm hung uselessly at his side, trembling from shock and exhaustion.

Despite the agony, Naruto's eyes stayed fixed upward, blazing with desperate determination even as he coughed harshly, blood pooling thick and warm in the corners of his mouth. "Please... stop..." His voice was barely more than a whisper, cracked and raw with pain.

Sasuke's towering silhouette loomed over him, flickering in the glow of dying flames. His dark eyes, cold and merciless, bore down with a finality that crushed hope. "It's too late," he said with grim resolve. Without hesitation, he seized Naruto by the collar, fingers digging into soaked fabric with brutal force. Before Naruto could react, Sasuke lifted him and slammed him down onto the unyielding stone floor. The ground trembled beneath the impact, a harsh echo rolling through the valley. Naruto's breath was instantly stolen, lungs aching as the world around him faded into a haze of pain and darkness. His vision blurred, the edges of consciousness fraying. Then came the void.

Inside the silent abyss of his subconscious, a colossal gate rose, its iron bars cold and unyielding. Behind it, red eyes gleamed, ancient, watchful, and dripping with disdain. "You're weak," the Nine-Tails growled, voice like a venomous whisper. "And yet you survive... only because of me. Be thankful, brat." A tendril of crimson chakra slithered through the bars, coiling around Naruto's broken form, a fierce warmth blooming beneath the pain, promising power, but at what cost? Slowly, Naruto's fingers twitched against the wet stone, trembling with defiance. Then, his eyes snapped open, and the world shifted. Red chakra exploded outward in a feral burst, crackling like fire against the rain. It didn't drip or pour, it roared, alive and furious, casting a crimson glow across the darkened ravine. The water around him hissed to steam as the tail of chakra unfurled behind him, snapping once like a whip, as if tasting the air for vengeance. With a guttural growl that didn't sound entirely human, Naruto surged to his feet. His muscles knit themselves together, skin sealing with eerie speed, every wound mending as if time itself bent around his will. Sasuke flinched a step back, eyes wide. The sheer heat radiating off Naruto warped the air, rippling like a mirage around him. The chakra pulsed with a heartbeat of its own. There was no mistaking it, this was power ancient and wrathful.

"Why do you continue to get up!?" Sasuke whispered, almost to himself. Rain ran down his face but did nothing to cool the dread rising in his chest. Naruto raised his head slowly. The red gleam of his slitted eyes shimmered in the gloom, but behind the demonic glow, Sasuke saw him. The real him. The boy. The friend. That glimpse froze something in Sasuke's chest.

"I'm your friend," Naruto said, voice hoarse but firm. "And I told you, I'm not letting you go." Then he moved, no, launched. His feet shattered the stone beneath him, chakra tail lashing forward like a scythe through the mist. Sasuke barely managed to raise his arm before Naruto's fist crashed into his jaw with earthshaking force. Pain detonated across his face as the world spun, and he was flung across the surface of the lake like a skipped stone, water exploding in his wake. Naruto was already charging again, his speed nearly impossible to follow, orange and red blurring into motion. The chakra tail slashed in arcs behind him, carving the air with a sound like tearing metal. Each blow was vicious, unrelenting, feral precision driven by something deeper than rage. Every hit cracked bone. Every impact rang like a drumbeat through the rain-slick valley. Sasuke gritted his teeth, boots dragging through the water as he tried to stay upright. The red chakra, it was alive. It curled around Naruto like a second skin, shielding, striking, anticipating moves he hadn't yet made. It moved not as an extension, but as a partner, instinctive, hungry, and coiled with killing intent. It blocked strikes before Naruto even twitched. It punched when Naruto's arms dropped. He was fighting the chakra as much as the boy inside it. 'This isn't Naruto anymore,' Sasuke thought, breath hitching, eyes tracking the crimson flare barreling toward him. 'This is a storm... and I'm standing dead center.' The next moment, Sasuke countered, wings spreading wide. Naruto lunged, and was caught mid-air by one of Sasuke's monstrous hands. Not his own, but the grotesque wing-like appendages now flaring from his back. With a sickening flex, Sasuke slammed Naruto to the side. His body crashed into the embankment like a ragdoll, stone cracking beneath the weight of impact. The sickening crunch of ribs giving way echoed across the valley. Naruto gasped, choking on the sudden loss of air, as his body slid into the shallows. The water lapped at his limbs gently, mockingly calm, a cruel contrast to the devastation around them. Sasuke stood on the opposite bank, panting, steam rising from his bare shoulders. His skin had turned a muted gray, like cooled ash, etched with black markings that pulsed with corrupted chakra. The texture of his skin had hardened, scales like obsidian slate. His hair was longer now, tangled and dark as midnight, cascading over his shoulders. And from his back, two massive wings unfurled, gnarled, grotesque, hand-shaped things that twitched as if eager for more violence.

His voice, when it came, was not prideful, but resigned. Low and sharp, like a blade sliding from its sheath. "This... is the power I need. The power to sever everything." Sasuke's voice rang hollow, as if echoing from the bottom of a well. But his sneer twisted with venomous pride, his lips curling into something cruel, something that no longer resembled the boy who once watched the sunrise with them from the Hokage Monument. "You leave me no choice, Naruto," he hissed. His eyes shimmered with cold resolve, the flicker of lightning dancing behind his Sharingan. "This is what power looks like. You think you've come far because of some monster sealed inside you? I've earned this. I chose this." Naruto didn't respond. He swayed slightly, his breath catching in his throat as he rose to his feet. Water rolled from his clothes in sluggish rivulets, steam coiling upward in hazy spirals. His left arm hung limp at his side, bone possibly cracked, the muscles trembling. But still, he stood. Crimson chakra crawled over his skin in convulsing pulses, clinging like molten flame, shaping itself with will and wrath. A second tail flickered into existence behind him, unstable and flickering, slapping the ground with a hiss that sent ripples across the water. Every breath tasted like iron and smoke. His stomach churned. The chakra scorched his lungs from the inside, boiling in his blood like firewater. Kurama's strength wasn't a gift. It was a bargain. One paid in pain.

Sasuke laughed again, but it was jagged, teeth bared like a blade unsheathed too many times. There was no humor in it, only the chill of madness, of something long broken trying to hold shape. "You don't get it, do you? You can't stop me." His voice cracked on the edge, fury trying to smother doubt. "This power... it's what I need to kill Itachi. You're just-"

He faltered. Just for a heartbeat. Kakashi's voice echoed in his mind, weary and stern. "You'll lose yourself, Sasuke." Then Sakura, tears sliding down her cheeks, whispering that she believed in him, and Naruto, always Naruto, bleeding and still reaching for him. He shoved it down, swallowing the flicker of hesitation like bitter ash. "I am more special than you." Naruto growled, deep and animal. His hands clawed at the stone as he dropped forward, running on all fours. The chakra behind him exploded in arcs, splashing like liquid fire as he charged. His eyes gleamed like twin embers stoked by hurricane winds; feral, unrelenting, alive. They collided mid-field, the shockwave erupting outward in a shattering burst of white spray and shattered earth. Water turned to mist. Stone cracked like brittle glass. Naruto's fist slammed into Sasuke's ribs, and Sasuke's cursed wing countered, the grotesque limb bending unnaturally as it caught the blow. There was no rhythm now, no technique. Only violence.

Naruto struck again, snarling, drool flecked with blood trailing from his lips. Sasuke spun, his wings slicing through the air with an insectile hiss as he flipped onto the cliff wall and kicked off with brutal force. "You're still too slow!" he roared, the curse mark rippling like molten veins down his arm as he shot forward. But Naruto vanished. For one suspended moment, silence. Then, CRACK, Naruto dropped from above like a hammer, his tail snapping downward like a blade. Sasuke twisted, barely throwing up his arm in time. The ground beneath his feet cratered from the force, stone splintering outward in jagged veins. They blurred, bodies clashing faster than thought. Naruto's claws raked past Sasuke's side, tearing fabric and skin. Sasuke's knee drove into Naruto's stomach, drawing a strangled wheeze as he was knocked back, tail thrashing wildly. They met again in mid-air, fist against palm, claw against wing. Every strike echoed like thunder through the gorge. Every blow carved away another layer of restraint. This wasn't a battle. It was a reckoning, and then, stillness. They landed on opposite banks, panting, shoulders heaving. Their breath mingled with the steam rising from the river, their sweat and blood mingling with the spray of the falls behind them.

Then Sasuke spoke, low and cutting. "The Valley of the End... how fitting, isn't it?" Naruto blinked, eyes still gleaming red, his chest rising and falling in uneven gasps. "This is where the First Hokage fought Madara. Where bonds were broken and the village nearly fell apart. Just like us, Naruto. Just like us." His voice dropped, quiet as snowfall. The river between them babbled, gentle and uncaring, a mockery of peace. Sasuke's Sharingan spun with full clarity now, three tomoe in perfect rotation, glowing like blood moons caught in eternal orbit. His cursed wings unfurled behind him, towering and grotesque. "It was always leading to this."

Naruto's face twisted, not with the sting of broken ribs or the sharp throb of torn muscle, but with something deeper, older. Grief choked his throat, hoarse and raw. "Then why?" he rasped, eyes burning behind the steam rising from his skin. "Why did you come to the Academy? Why did you eat ramen with us? Why did you smile? Why did you let me think... we were brothers?"

Sasuke didn't flinch, but the silence between them thickened like smoke. "Because you were always in the way," he said at last, the words like cold iron. But his Sharingan faltered, for just a second. Beneath the spin of those blood-red tomoe, something trembled. Something human. Something afraid.

Naruto's fists clenched tighter. The red chakra flared around his knuckles, cracking the stone beneath him with a hiss. "I don't know what it's like to lose a family..." His voice cracked, barely a whisper. "...but I know what it means to find one." Flashes of memories of Team 7, Sakura laughing in the field, her hair glowing like fire in the sun in front of a smiling Naruto and smirking Sasuke, Kakashi cracking a smile underneath his mask, Sasuke's hand catching Naruto's collar as he nearly fell from the bridge on their first mission, the shared grin that followed, their fists clashing on the hospital rooftop, not to harm, but to prove something neither of them had the words for, Sakura between them, shouting through tears about how much of an idiot both boys were. "I don't care what Orochimaru promised you. I don't care about destiny or revenge or bloodlines." Naruto took a step forward, the river whispering at his feet, his blood mixing with its cold flow. The skin on his arms sizzled with chakra burn, but he kept moving. "If you walk away from this, if you really break this bond... I swear, Sasuke..." He raised his gaze, fury and pain blazing in equal measure. "...I'll drag you home, even if I have to break every bone in your body."

A low growl built in Sasuke's throat, his eyes narrowing into slits of burning red. His chakra surged again, wild and ragged, a violent flame licking at his limbs. The cursed seal pulsed one last time, and black fire veined through his skin before retreating, leaving behind a slick, shivering ache, like frostbite under his flesh. "So be it." They launched. The world bent. Sasuke's kick cut through the air, a blur of speed and muscle, but Naruto dropped low, claws scraping sparks from stone as he dashed forward. He launched himself upward, striking with the back of his heel, aiming for Sasuke's jaw. Sasuke twisted mid-air, teeth bared, parrying with his wing. The fleshy appendage cracked on impact, a sickening crunch echoing as he snarled through the pain. They crashed again, this time in the heart of the river, water exploding around them like shattered glass. Naruto's tail whipped around, catching Sasuke in the ribs. He grunted, spun, and retaliated with a chidori-wreathed elbow, lightning skimming across Naruto's shoulder. The stench of scorched flesh split the air. Fist met fist. Bone collided with bone. The very air seemed to scream with the force of their blows. Sasuke's breath came in sharp gasps now. His right arm was almost useless, every motion radiating searing pain down his tendons. His body was unraveling, the seal's borrowed strength now gone, leaving him with only what he had left, his hatred. His fear.

Naruto roared, the chakra around him boiling, his silhouette almost monstrous against the lightning that forked across the sky. But his eyes, his eyes were still human. Still Naruto. That was what made it hurt more. The Valley of the End trembled beneath their fury. And as the stone giants watched in silence, old blood ran new again. The Flapping Chidori had torn at the air like a bird trying to escape its cage, wild, frantic, alive. Its shriek had cut through the storm, a sound not just of power, but desperation. Sparks of blue lightning hissed around Sasuke's arm even as he veered off course at the last moment, dragging the jutsu into the stone instead of Naruto's chest. The impact split the cliffside in a deafening crack, shards of rock exploding outward. The recoil jolted up his spine, dislocating something in his wrist. He didn't care. He had pulled the killing blow. He had chosen not to end him. 'Why?' Rain began to fall softly now, not the torrential downpour of before, but a quiet, rhythmic pattering that beaded across his hair, mixing with the blood and sweat already streaking down his face. It trickled along his jawline, cool against overheated skin, cleansing but not comforting. His lungs felt hollow, each breath shallow and uneven, as though even air had grown too heavy to carry.

The carved statues that stood sentinel on either side of the valley, Hashirama, Madara, watched in grim, stony silence, their weatherworn faces inscrutable in the mist. The final embers of the boys' jutsu faded into the air, leaving only scorched earth and a silence that roared louder than any clash of chakra. The swirling black chakra sphere, half Rasengan, half Chidori, had collapsed on itself, imploding with a soundless wail that still echoed in Sasuke's ears. He knelt beside Naruto, hunched over, breath hitching like the aftermath of a scream. His chest rose and fell in uneven jerks, muscles spasming from the pain that now flooded back in. His right arm hung uselessly, nerves alight with ghost-electricity. Blood soaked his side, sticky and warm, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. His hand hovered, twitching. It ached to do something, to reach out, to hit, to hold, but it couldn't decide. Not yet. Not after this. Naruto lay still, the torn edges of his jacket fluttering in the breeze. His chest rose, shallow but steady. His outstretched hand was open, palm empty, the Rasengan gone. Burn marks laced the skin, raw and angry, but his face, his face was... peaceful. Slack with exhaustion, dirt streaking his cheeks, and yet serene, as though something within him had understood what passed between them... even unconscious.

Sasuke stared at him. Jaw tight. Throat burning. His vision blurred, but not from the rain. 'You scratched my forehead.' He remembered those words, how he'd spat them like venom back at Naruto on the hospital rooftop. The cut across the metal of his protector shimmered now beneath the drizzle. It wasn't deep. Just a scrape. Just enough to leave a mark. A mark that shattered everything. The lie he had told himself again and again, "You'll never be able to touch me" collapsed. But Naruto had. Again and again. With fists, with words, with the sheer force of his heart. No technique. No Sharingan. Just Naruto. Sasuke's fingers moved to his headband. The metal was cold, smeared with blood and rain, loosened in their final clash. He held it tightly for one breathless second, staring at the etched scar. Then he let it fall. It landed beside Naruto with a soft clink, a sound far too gentle for the battlefield. And there it lay, scratched. Not by a rival. But by a friend. His breath caught in his throat. A sob. Or a gasp. He couldn't tell anymore. He exhaled, the sound ragged, and pressed both hands to the ground, the stone slick beneath his palms. His body sagged, the adrenaline finally gone, leaving him with only tremors and pain. His arms shook violently, whether from cold or grief or guilt, he didn't know. His forehead lowered, brushing the dirt. The rain cloaked him, hiding the tremble of his shoulders. Hiding the sting in his eyes. But even through the blur, he stared. Right into Naruto's face.

Naruto's mouth twitched. A faint murmur, no louder than breath on glass. "...still your friend..." The words barely registered, half-choked beneath the hush of falling rain, but Sasuke heard them. They slipped into the quiet like a kunai into flesh, unexpected, piercing. His eyes widened, breath catching in his throat. Not from surprise. From something deeper. Something older. For the first time since the fight began, his expression wavered, cracks forming in the stone. It wasn't quite sorrow. Not regret, either. But something fragile and suspended in between, like ice too thin to walk but too beautiful to look away from. The tight lines around his mouth eased. His shoulders dropped, a fraction. He closed his eyes. And in the darkness, he saw him. Itachi. Not the child he once followed through the streets of the Uchiha compound, but the man with blood on his hands and silence in his eyes. That same gaze. Cold. Hollow. Distant. A void. The night of the massacre burned behind his eyelids, wet footprints, the iron scent of blood, and Itachi's face, unreadable even in moonlight. But now, here, beneath the shattered sky, lying half-buried in mud and fractured rock, Naruto looked nothing like that. Even broken, even unconscious, his face held something. Not vengeance. Not judgment. Hope. Soft and aching and real. And that... terrified Sasuke.

He forced himself to stand. His legs screamed in protest, muscles raw from overuse, joints swollen and stiff. A tremor passed through his limbs as he rose, like the last aftershock of a quake. His soaked clothes clung to his skin like a second weight, each step pulling at the wounds slashed across his ribs and thighs. Every breath was shallow, edged in fire. The taste of copper still lingered in his mouth, his blood, or Naruto's, he wasn't sure anymore. The forest beyond the valley loomed, silent, waiting. A mouth of shadows. And it called to him. Like a curse. Like a promise. He had won. That's what this was, wasn't it? Victory. He had severed the last thread. And yet... He looked down one final time. Naruto lay still, his chest rising faintly, his face slack but unafraid. Rain kissed his lashes and ran down his cheeks like tears not his own. The forehead protector lay beside him, half-buried in the dirt, its scratched metal catching what little light remained in the sky.

"You never understood," Sasuke murmured. His voice was almost lost to the storm, barely more than a breath between thunder. "But... maybe you will." He turned. Each step away from the boy who had once been his teammate, then rival, then... something more complicated, felt heavier than the last. Like walking through wet ash. The boy who had chased him through every wound. The boy who refused to let go. Even now. The rain thickened, pouring like a curtain drawn over the scene. A shroud. And behind him, Naruto lay motionless beneath the ruined sky. The scratched forehead protector gleamed once more in a flicker of lightning... then darkness swallowed it whole.