Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Naruto franchise and this fanfiction has not been written for profit.

- - -Sasuke's Decision - - -

"The Sibling Rivalry ends here", Naruto declared, resolutely glaring in Sasuke's direction.

Hagoromo knew he could do nothing more than place his faith in Naruto's declaration. The old sage knew he had interfered enough in the realm of mortals. Despite his best efforts to change history, Sasuke was following the very same murderous path his son, Indra, had chosen. Now, it was up to the reincarnation of his son, Ashura, to protect the world.

"Very well. The rest is in your hands, Naruto!", the Sage of Six Paths exclaimed before finally fading from the world of the living.

Both Kakashi and Sakura gazed at Sasuke as if they were deer caught in the headlights. Neither could believe that the man who had just helped them defeat the all powerful Kaguya was fully intent on committing an act as evil as murdering the five leaders of the five hidden villages throughout the world.

Sasuke looked in Naruto's direction. "I am not your true enemy."

"No, you're not." The young jinchuriki said, releasing an exasperated sigh. "You're my friend and you're part of team seven. But I will not allow you to do anything to harm the leaf village, much less the world."

The sharingan wielder shook his head. "To truly protect the leaf village and the world, you must be willing to destroy them . . . or rather, the purpose they currently serve."

"Sasuke, you're talking about murdering the five kages", Naruto growled. "No good could ever come of that."

"And what if it could? You of all people know as well as I do that this world is full of endless hatred. What if all it took was one evil act to rid the world of that hatred?"

Sakura had been listening closely to the conversation between the two boys and had been clenching her fist and gritting her fists tighter and tighter at each passing moment.

"SASUKE!", the girl shouted, immediately catching both boys' attention. "Why do you always do this?"

The Uchiha warrior glared in the girl's direction, unmoved by her shouting.

"First, you left the leaf village and joined Orochimaru. Then you joined the Akatsuki. Now you're talking about murdering all of the kages. Why must you insist on falling lower and lower?

Naruto had a look of bewilderment on his face. In all the years he had known the pink haired medical ninja, he had never witnessed this much anger and rage from her before, especially towards Sasuke, the man she loved.

"Since you've left the village, can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me you've gained anything with all of your hate and loneliness? You may have gotten stronger, but are you any happier? Don't you remember team 7? Your family? Can't you see the effect your decisions have had on all of us."

Tears quickly began flooding the female shinobi's eyes. "Sasuke, I love you with all of my heart. If you still have even an ounce of concern for me, I beg of you, don't do this."

A familiar smile manifested itself on the Uchiha's face. "You really are annoying."

Sakura quickly recalled hearing these words in the past, shortly before Sasuke left the village. Words he expressed before thanking her. For a moment, a sparkle of hope fluttered in the girl's heart.

"You have a lot of nerve asking me what I've gained. Look at you. A hopeless girl who trots around with fairy tale notions of true love. You've pursued me for 3 years, right? But what has all of your love gotten you?"

Sakura's heart sank as she heard these words. She wanted to respond, she wanted to show him he was wrong, she wanted to convince him to return with her back to the life they once shared. But despite this, she found herself unable to utter even a word.

The rogue ninja smirked knowingly. "That's what I thought."

Kakashi looked to Sakura. Despite losing his sharingan eye, he never had any trouble reading Naruto and Sakura. With just a glance, he could tell that Sakura was trying put on a tough front, but was considerably hurt by those last words from Sasuke, as if someone had just shattered her very soul. He wanted to scold Sasuke for belittling this girl's feelings. But based on the way she stood up to Sasuke just now, he could tell that doing this would more or less be treating her like some weak fragile girl incapable of defending herself. Sakura had come a long way after all.

Even still, she had raised an excellent point. One Kakashi intended to press. "That doesn't answer Sakura's question. What exactly have you gained these past 3 years?"

"I've gained something you all lack", Sasuke said, tapping his own forehead head with the tip of his index finger "I've gained clarity."

"Clarity?", Kakashi asked.

"Yes, Kakashi. Clarity. The ability to see that which is true. I've come to understand the true nature of the world. The world is full of hatred, far moreso than anyone realizes."

"Sasuke . . . you're much different than you were the last time we crossed paths", the silver haired jonin thought. "You were full of so much hatred last time, but now . . . it's as if your heart is a complete void."

"But, the world has an inherent flaw. It can be manipulated by the acts of a few people. The fates of many can be determined by the choices of a few. Look at this war. It was started at the whims of Obito and Kabuto, but look at many people died fighting in it. Look at how many people have banded together as a result. Or consider the entire shinobi system. Look at how much has spawned from the decisions made by Hashirama and Madara alone."

"Sasuke, I asked you once and now I'll ask you again: What do you ultimately aim to achieve?"

"I aim to exploit this flaw once more; I aim to manipulate the world, but not towards some false dream, but towards a true reality. By my hand, I will manipulate the world towards true peace."

"And how will murdering the five kages do that?", Kakashi said with an inflection of disdain in his voice.

"The five kages are but a symbolic sacrifice. They are remnants of the old world and will soon die with it. By disposing of them, I will become the new world's hated enemy. The cycle of hatred will end at long last as all the hatred in the world will become focused on me."

A thought occurred to Sakura. One that appeared to render the lone Uchiha's plans meaningless. "But Sasuke, all of the villages have already banded together against a common enemy. You don't need to—"

"No", Kakashi interjected. "Right now, the five nations have indeed joined forces, but as of today, the entire reason for our joint efforts has already passed on to the afterlife."

"Making the peace we have now temporary at best", the pink haired kunoichi quickly realized.

"Precisely", Sasuke nodded his head in agreement.

"But that would go for you as well, Sasuke", Kakakshi retorted. "Even if you were to succeed in murdering the five kages, you'd die eventually, whether naturally or at the hands of someone seeking revenge. Even if your brand of peace were to come to fruition, it would eventually cease."

Sasuke, however, didn't appear alarmed by Kakashi's observation. "You forget, Kakashi. I have the rinnegan as well as the power of all nine tailed beast at my disposal. Once I unlock the full potential of my new assets, I will cheat death and insure that my will remains intact for the rest of time."

"None of that is going to happen, Sasuke", Naruto declared. "Did you forget? You still have me to contend with."

The Uchiha warrior calmly shifted his attention Naruto. "The last time we fought, we were able to look into each other hearts. And in your heart, I was able to see what you wanted to do; like I do now, you understood the hatred in the world and you sought to get rid of it."

"Yes", Naruto replied.

"Don't you see? To kill you would be a complete waste of the powers you've been given. Use the powers the sage has bestowed upon you and help me end the cycle of hatred. If this war has shown us anything, it's that when the two of us work together, we can accomplish anything we set our minds towards."

There was a hint of sorrow in the young jinchuriki's eyes. For three years, the boy had vigorously pursued his friend. No matter how low his friend fell or how much suffering he had to endure, he refused to let go of the bond they had shared. Now, the opportunity to rekindle that bond was right before him. Sasuke was finally acknowledging him. However, the boy knew in his heart that he could never accept the offer his friend was making to him without betraying everything he stood for.

"Sasuke . . . you said you wanted to be hokage, right? What does being hokage mean to you?"

"If you must know . . . the hokage is a true leader; he is one who puts all others above himself and will stop at nothing to protect his people; it is someone that can light the darkness that plagues all the villages; one that could go through all that and survive. When you look back in retrospect, up until the day he died, the true hokage of the leaf village was Itachi."

"Itachi?"

"My brother's life was what lead me to this answer I currently have. Everything in the name of protecting Konoha. For that, he chose to sacrifice his own family, his own clan and in the end, himself as well. I guess I could say that was the start of it all. Up until then, what exactly have we been protecting? Our predecessors once said a village is a place where families of all kinds of people gather together to avoid killing each other. They said it was for peace. Itachi chose to carry that burden all by himself. And I finally understand. He had to live in the darkness with his bitter experiences. The people treated him like a criminal, a traitor. He shouldered all these feelings by himself, but even so, chose to protect Konoha village from the shadows. It's someone like him that deserved the title of hokage, not someone chosen by the people, but rather one who will take that hatred without complaining. Like Itachi, I will become the true hokage. But I won't just protect the leaf; I'll protect the entire world."

The sorrow that was in Naruto eye's was quickly replaced with a scowl. "And do you think Itachi would support your plan to save the world?"

"But of course. He knew when sacrifices had to be made and never hesitated to make them."

"Then you're a fool and clearly don't understand a thing about Itachi."

Sasuke sighed, sensing the true meaning in Naruto's words. "So . . . in the end, it looks like I will trudge on alone after all. So be it"

"You should know my nindo by now, Sasuke."

"Very well, but you should know me by now as well", Sasuke responded, shifting his attention to the other two members of team seven. "I will do whatever it takes to protect the world and I will hold absolutely nothing back, especially against you, Naruto. "

Naruto gazed at Kakashi and Sakura. As much as he respected their abilities as shinobi, he was fully aware of the immeasurable gap there was between them and Sasuke. As confident as the blond haired leaf ninja was in his new powers, there was no doubt in his mind that he wouldn't be able to protect them and face his friend simultaneously. There was also no doubt in his mind that Sasuke was determined to defeat him at all costs.

Naruto shifted his attention back to Sasuke. "If that's the case, then lets go someplace else. You know what I'm talking about."

The lone Uchiha warrior chuckled to himself for a brief moment. "Fine, but only on the condition that we meet there 24 hours from now."

"Naruto!", Kurama screamed in Naruto's head. "You're making a mistake!"

Naruto instantly appeared inside the mental realm where he and Kurama usually exchanged words. "What are you talking about?"

"If you accept Sasuke's deal, you will have no chance of beating him!", the nine tailed fox growled. "Mark my words, you have yet to see what Sasuke is fully capable of. With 24 hours, Sasuke has plenty of time to gain better control over his new powers. Combined with all the tailed beast at his disposal, and he will be next to unstoppable."

"And what are you saying I should do?", Naruto snarled. "Risk him killing Kakashi and Sakura or let him kill me while I'm protecting them?"

"You fool! Don't you get it? Sasuke is manipulating you. He knows compassion is your weakness. He knows that if you were to fight him right now, you'd have a much better chance against him."

"You might be right", Naruto responded. "But if I'm willing to sacrifice Kakashi and Sakura to beat him, how am I any better than he is for wanting to sacrifice the five kages?

Kurama thought to himself for a moment, but couldn't muster an answer no matter how hard he tried. "Fine. Do as you wish. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Naruto, in his physical body, looked towards Sasuke. "I accept your condition."

Sasuke turned his back on Naruto and the rest of team seven and proceeded to begin walking away. "Then it's settled. Enjoy your last day of life, Naruto."

The leaf ninja watched his former teammate move off into the distance until he was swallowed by the horizon. Everything the hero of Konoha experienced over the past three years-all of the rigorous training, all of the dangerous fights, all of the people he had met, all of the lessons learned, all of the hopes and wishes that had been expressed-tomorrow, reality would finally produce the long awaited answer: What did it all mean?

"Sakura-chan, Kakashi sensei", Naruto said, looking at his two comrades. "It's time to go back to the leaf village."

. . .

End of Chapter

Author's Note: My apologies if this chapter seemed a bit too similar to the original. I did include a number of differences for plot purposes and matters I will delve into in later chapters. All the same, I felt the original version of this chapter lacked in not really giving much explanation into the basis of Sasuke's new beliefs and that Sakura's big moment in the original was a tad bit weak for her character. She still cries in my version, but I'd like to think she comes off stronger here.

Also, I'll only be using honorifics in a limited capacty (i.e. Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan). Just a heads up!

Rest assured, every other chapter will bare little similarity to the original!