There they were.

A stand-off in the Valley of the End. Two best friends' relationship coming to a disastrous end. Naruto stood in a defensive stance, judging Sasuke where he stood.

He was tense. Alert. Completely ready to wreck Naruto and everything else that stood in his way.

This was nuts. Completely nuts. How did this happen? How did things get to this point?

His normal talking points had failed. Sasuke didn't seem interested in Naruto's arguments. Nothing was getting through.

This might be the last time he saw Sasuke. If Naruto didn't win, couldn't defeat the Uchiha, he would leave and probably never come back. Sasuke didn't care about the village. Just about revenge.

...Fuck it. Naruto has always wanted to know one thing. This one thing that dug at him, begging for an answer. And it wasn't like Sasuke was going to be able to tease and look down at him for it.

"Do you ever think about that kiss we had? Back at the academy?" Naruto blurted out before he could stop himself.

Sasuke froze, eyes widening in scandal at the question.

Naruto cursed himself. Great delivery!

But it was out. Now all he could do was wait for Sasuke's answer.

Nothing moved for a few moments.

Sasuke's mouth barely perceptibly shifted.

Then he snarled, "Trying to distract me with that...how low."

There was something, something in his tone…Naruto had hit on something. He wasn't sure what, but whatever it was he needed to press.

Before he could continue, Sasuke lunged at him from the top of the statue, kunai at the ready. Naruto skirted out of the way slightly clumsily. Sasuke took advantage, a leg lashing out and nailing Naruto clean in the side.

The blond flew sideways and crashed into the rocky side of the valley. He winced, but only that as he dodged to the side. Predictably, Sasuke had followed up his attack with a thrust of the kunai. The metal struck rock, the twang of the metal snapping Naruto back to attention.

Naruto swallowed, then frowned as he weighed his options.

He decided to risk it.

"I liked it." Naruto said it quickly, afraid that Sasuke would try to cut him off if he elaborated.

Naruto's head whipped to the left as he ducked away from a thrown kunai. As he got back into a defensive position, he growled as he realized Sasuke was finishing up a series of hand signs.

"Flame Style: Fireball jutsu!" Sasuke cried before breathing out a large ball of fire that went flying towards Naruto.

Naruto quickly created some shadow clones. Three of them tossed him into the air above the fireball, propelling him up and over it. Then he created one more that swung him around and rocketed him at a seemingly surprised Sasuke.

The blond couldn't help the trickster grin that crossed his face as his fist met—

Wood?!

Naruto rolled against the ground, swiftly hopping to his feet as the chunk of wood fell to the ground next to him. He looked around, trying to find Sasuke.

Nothing.

He grit his teeth; he'd expected a fight! It was unlike Sasuke to simply tuck tail and run.

Naruto tried looking around for a trail. He trekked into the water, checking—

He barely jumped backwards fast enough to miss being burned alive as a boiling wave of fire burst from below him. He lost focus and accidentally dropped his chakra field, causing him to fall into the water.

Taking it as a sign, he dove in. Sasuke was around five meters away from him, shooting straight for the surface.

Naruto moved to intercept. He quickly summoned a crowd of shadow clones, the immediate area filled with clones of himself.

Sasuke was surrounded.

All of the Narutos converged on Sasuke. The Uchiha burst through the surface of the water, hopping to his feet and making a break for it.

Too slow.

One snagged his leg, tripping him up as the others broke the surface.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Sasuke heaved a series of breaths, peppering the area around him with small fireballs. Clone after clone poofed, the small clouds they left flaring with the fire.

Naruto broke the surface then. He climbed to his feet, eyeing Sasuke. The Uchiha has activated the Sharingan. His eyes watched Naruto, waiting for him to make the first move.

"It was my first kiss," Naruto said honestly before shouting, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

He pushed as much chakra as he could into it. Hundreds of Narutos appeared from nowhere, surrounding the two of them.

Naruto took a deep breath in, then released it slowly. He wiped his forehead as he called out, "You aren't going anywhere! I won't let you!"

Most of the Narutos converged on Sasuke. Sasuke dodged left, right, ducked...all he was doing was dodging, poorly, as all the Narutos tossed out punches and kicks to try and down the Uchiha.

Then, suddenly, Sasuke actually was dodging everything. Naruto gaped as the other boy effortlessly dispatched clone after clone. There were so many poofed clones that Sasuke was momentarily out of Naruto's eyesight from the clouds.

The smoke started settling as Naruto tensed to charge in. He was cut off by a burst of kunai exploding from the clouds. The kunai flew around him, some of them grazing him as he dodged around the flying shards of metal.

The last kunai flew by, making Naruto bend backwards to avoid it. It was then that Naruto realized it was all a decoy so Sasuke could close the distance. He also realized that Sasuke's Sharingan had fully matured; three tomoe circled around his pupils.

"Slacker!" Sasuke punched Naruto in the face. Naruto reeled back, regaining his focus just as a vicious kick hit him in the cheek. "Do you really think that you're somehow good enough for me?" He followed it up with a hammer kick, sending Naruto's face straight into the ground. Naruto's ears were ringing and his heart twinging. He barely heard Sasuke spit, "You and your weakness make me sick. Orochimaru will help make me stronger. All you'll do is drag me down."

A fire lit in Naruto's gut.

Orochimaru couldn't have Sasuke.

Orochimaru wouldn't have Sasuke.

Sasuke was his and his alone.

A strange echo of a word went through Naruto's head. "Interesting…"

Naruto ignored it as the fire tore through him. A red aura leaked out of his seal, covering him in sickening chakra. His pupils shifted, turning into slits, as his nails grew longer and sharper.

"Sasuke…!" Naruto screamed as he rose from the ground, the chakra fully enveloping him. Sasuke had taken a few careful steps back but otherwise looked as smugly confident as always.

Time to wipe that smirk off his face.

Naruto charged at him, his fist flashing out to punch Sasuke clear into next week.

Sasuke easily dodged around it. He gave a half-chuckle as Naruto threw out a chain of taijutsu. Everything—punches, kicks, feints into haymakers and hammer kicks—seemed to just miss the Uchiha.

The cursed seal in Sasuke apparently activated as the strange patterns burned and shifted their way across his skin. The tomoe in Sasuke's eyes twirled about as he followed Naruto's moves.

Faster and faster Naruto fought. Everything was a blur as they fought on top of the water. Splashes and waves formed with every missed hit, radiating across the entire river.

The red aura flared as Naruto growled, his fist failing to even graze the Uchiha.

One of these would hit. One of these had to hit…!

Then Sasuke caught a fist.

"Done playing around? Or…" a bemused, cruel smile crossed his face "...maybe your softhearted feelings for me are getting in the way? Can't handle actually hurting me?" He snorted, beginning to twist Naruto's arm. "Pathetic."

Naruto tried to suppress the grunts of pain as he winced, trying and failing to get his fist free from Sasuke's grip. More than that, he wanted to dismiss his words.

Naruto wasn't afraid of hurting Sasuke. He was afraid of losing the Uchiha.

"You don't have to lose him if you don't want to," a familiar silky yet animalistic voice smoothly noted.

The fox.

"I can help," the nine-tailed fox offered. "All you need to do is pull."

Pull?

As Sasuke shoulder tossed Naruto into the waterfall, he suddenly understood.

The chakra. The red, monstrous chakra that was giving him strength. The fox was offering his help in bringing Sasuke down.

It was a trick. Naruto knew it had to be a trick.

But…

Sasuke was looking at him as he clambered out from under the waterfall, contempt clear in his gaze. "Didn't take much to knock out the knucklehead ninja, huh?" The cursed mark started receding. "I think it's obvious you're outclassed. Run on back to Konoha like a good kid."

Naruto swallowed, then snarled.

It was the only way.

Just as the fox had suggested, Naruto started pulling on the chakra, bidding it to come out of the seal.

What had been a small but steady flow suddenly burst forth as the fox gave and Naruto took. The aura grew, claws forming around his hands and a single tail billowing out behind him. Naruto screamed as it burned hotter inside him. The concussive burst stopped the waterfall momentarily, the water curving around Naruto.

"Sasuke…" Naruto growled, looking at the confused Uchiha in hate and need. "You're mine. No one else can have you. YOU'RE MINE!"

Naruto launched himself forward, seeking to knock Sasuke on his back. Sasuke dodged the first attempt, but the follow-up with his chakra tail nailed him hard. The Uchiha flew forward, matching Naruto's pace. A victorious toothy grin crossed Naruto's face as he reached his claws out to snatch the other boy from the air as Sasuke made a quick motion with his hands.

His claws closed on wood as Sasuke vanished in a puff of smoke.

Naruto snarled as he searched around. No sign of Sasuke, again.

Bastard! He was toying with Naruto still. Making a fool of him, trying to prove that he was better. Trying to get away.

He needed more.

Naruto pulled on more chakra, trying to focus his senses on Sasuke. A second tail grew behind him as he bent down to the ground, hands pressing against the water as he sniffed at the air.

An ear twitched as he caught the sound of breathing.

There!

Naruto jumped. The water under him burst out around him as he shot straight for the top of the waterfall.

He broke the cliff to come face-to-face with Sasuke.

A smirking, confident Sasuke.

His hair and skin had changed. There was a strange black cross across his nose and his teeth were pointed. Electricity arced from his hand as he held his prepared attack, set to hit Naruto right in the face.

Naruto's expression faltered. He'd fallen into Sasuke's trap.

"Chidori!" Sasuke leapt forward, hand stretched out to strike Naruto. Wings made of fingers sprouted from Sasuke's back as he went.

Naruto tried to summon shadow clones to redirect, to take the attack, something, anything.

Everything popped as soon as it formed. He had a split-second to realize that the demon chakra was too intense for the clones before the Chidori met his face.

No thoughts crossed his mind in the next few moments. Everything was blinding. Sound, sight, pain…

He came to as he hit the water. As Naruto sank, he took in what had happened, what had happened to him. His skin was burned all across his face and neck, centered around a gaping bloody wound that exposed the bones in his shoulder, neck, and jaw. It turned Naruto's stomach, but more it fed the fire in his gut and crawling across his skin.

"More."

Naruto felt a hard push of chakra against his seal. He pulled on it, the fire covering and burning him more than even the Chidori had.

More tails sprouted as his wounds healed. He didn't know how many, nor did he care.

All he cared about was Sasuke.

No one would have Sasuke but him. He would sooner kill Sasuke before he let anyone else have him.

He propelled himself out of the water with chakra. His feet broke the surfaces he pulled himself out with his tails and claws. The flesh on his hand has evaporated into the red aura. The burning was intense, but it was nothing to bother about.

His claws skittered against the rocks as he ran straight up the side of the cliff with leaping bounds. He broke the cliff face to find that Sasuke was again prepared for him, hands again bright with lightning.

Sasuke opened his mouth, words flowing from them. He couldn't understand what they were.

They didn't matter.

The Uchiha pulled his hand back, again ready to blast him full-on.

He settled on his haunches and brought his tails to his mouth. A bright ball of destruction formed swiftly. It was ready in half the distance Sasuke ran to hit him.

"CHI—"

Sasuke was cut off as the ball flew from his mouth. A bright explosion blasted out from him in a fiery ball of dirt and flame. Smoke clouded sight, but he could still smell the Uchiha.

He bounded through the destruction to the far edge of the crater. Amongst the broken and burning trees Sasuke still lived.

"MINE!" He snatched Sasuke up in his jaws even as the Uchiha tried to crawl away. There was something wrong with the Uchiha's legs and a gurgling noise was loudly escaping his lips.

"Nar...uto…" The word sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't remember from where. It itched at his brain for a moment before he discarded it.

Only Sasuke mattered.

He dragged Sasuke along with him, intent on taking him back to his den. It was in a city with a lot of people, but they didn't worry him. They would keep Sasuke there, where he would be.

Sasuke's legs dragged along the ground as he weakly pushed against his jaws. The bones refused to move, staying in place over his body. The Uchiha gasped, blood flying from his mouth, and he made some more noises.

Something Sasuke said, though he didn't understand him, made him drop the Uchiha to the ground. He sniffed at Sasuke, trying to figure out what was said.

"Knuck...le...head…" Sasuke fake punched at him. "You...win."

He coughed several more times, blood flying in great globs, before he seized a few times.

Then he was still.

He sat there staring at Sasuke, trying to figure out what was going on. Sasuke was fine. He was always fine. He was one of the strongest. Something simple like their fight wouldn't have done anything too bad to the Uchiha.

…But he wasn't moving. Everything about him had stilled. Even his heartbeat had gone quiet.

A cold flush went through him as he paced around Sasuke. He nudged him with his nose, trying to get a reaction.

Nothing.

He growled, he screamed, he pounced on the Uchiha.

Still nothing.

He began to whine.

This wasn't right.

Sasuke wouldn't die. This wasn't how it should have been. This was wrong.

A strong push of chakra against the seal took his attention. He didn't need any more of it and tried to push back but he couldn't keep the red chakra in check.

Another tail grew.

He knew it was Bad. Why he didn't know. It didn't change the fact of what it was. He was trying to stop it.

More kept flowing into him.

Suddenly everything went flying, a blur to his tumbling body. It felt like earlier, when Sasuke had hit him, but worse.

He got his bearings back just in time to take several kunai to the already-healing wound. It was a moment of confusion with them wrapped in paper before everything was again a blur, this time of smoke, fire, and concussive force. He felt his arm detach, falling limp against his side as the wound in his neck grew.

He made to move but found himself locked into place by...dogs? They should have been nothing, but in his injured state they were just enough.

From the smoke emerged a ninja. He knew this man: one-eyed, masked, with grey hair...he was familiar. From where, he didn't know.

There was a sheen in his eye as he approached him. It was with a mild flash of panic that he saw an electrified kunai in the man's hand.

The panic was not his own.

A voice urged him, screamed at him, to do something, anything, to survive.

He knew that was Wrong. What he was was Bad. He needed dealt with.

The man said something before his kunai lashed out, striking clean through his neck. The man ground the kunai in deeper, deeper, until he knew he would die. His body couldn't heal this.

He fell to the ground, kunai stuck in the stump, as his gaze settled on Sasuke.

Sasuke.

His and his alone. He was with the Uchiha until the end. Just like he wanted.