A Leaf

Konohagakure no sato.

The Village Hidden in the Leaves was a meshwork of shops, houses and compounds contained within the wall that defined the village border. The wall itself was surrounded by the forests that gave the village its name. At the center of Konoha stood the Hokage tower, which looked out over the village and was the workplace of its leader and protector. The tower faced the Hokage Monument, where the faces of the current and previous leaders lay etched in stone.

It was early, still too early for the civilian populace to be awake. Even the shinobi of the village remained mostly asleep, all except for those who patrolled the village at night or the most youthful of trainees.

In the pre-dawn hours, the Hokage Monument remained too dark to see clearly. But, if one were to look closely at the otherwise unremarkable faces—and luckily no one would for some time—the outline of a young boy might be visible.

However, Uzumaki Naruto was no stranger to stealth.

Naruto giggled maniacally to himself as he applied more paint. "You look so pretty, Yondaime-sama!"

The thought of the actual Fourth Hokage's reaction brought another round of laughter. Not too loudly of course, he was far too stealthy for that. Or at least that's what he thought to himself as he nodded along assuredly.

"Anyway, you should probably retire and give the cool hat to the Godaime. I mean just look at him, he's awesome!" He exclaimed.

"Tch, I'd say he leaves a lot to be desired." Another voice added in.

Naruto started, nearly losing his footing. Luckily, he recognized the voice instantly, "Gah, don't sneak up on me like that, Sasuke!"

"Hn. It's not my fault you can't sense me, loser," Sasuke replied.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto had already returned to painting along the faces of the Hokage, walking along the stone faces to add the necessary details for his masterpiece.

Sasuke just stared. "Are you trying to spend the last few days of the academy in detention?" His voice was dripping with condescension and frustration. And if that didn't describe Sasuke in a nutshell, what did?

Naruto laughed. "More like reminding everyone where I'm going next. Besides, the view's amazing!"

And it was. From the top of the monument, the gently illuminated village seemed to be surrounded by an endless ocean of green-tinged darkness. Even as he said it, a breeze spread over the forest, and he watched as leaves further and further out swayed in that darkness.

"Yeah," Naruto said, continuing with a massive grin. "This is a great place to watch the chaos unfold!" He started painting again.

Sasuke did not take in the view. He didn't even look away from Naruto. He just watched, shuffling with increasing impatience as Naruto transitioned from the Fourth Hokage back to the "fifth."

"So, no training today?" Naruto scratched his head when he heard the question. Sasuke sounded way too frustrated for a day of him goofing off again. Seriously, what was his prob-oh. Oh.

He slowly stopped painting, Sasuke's bad mood washing over him. He picked his words carefully.

"Getting up here was basically morning cardio anyway. Not to mention all the running I'll be doing later. So you'll have to catch up to me there." His voice was light-hearted but subdued. Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement. "But after class we can go through everything. Full contact."

Sasuke mulled it over—the last two words seemed to do it for him—before nodding. He still looked pissed, but Naruto knew it wasn't actually directed at him.

"Have fun, dobe."

Sasuke looked around at the monument, in what Naruto chose to interpret as unadulterated admiration, and the tension dissipated somewhat. Sasuke left, scaling to the top of the monument before heading out. Naruto shook his head. Such a nice fellow. Very helpful.

Suddenly, he remembered something. "Wait!" He said, scaling up after Sasuke. The sky was looking slightly bluer by this point. He wouldn't have much time to add the finishing touches.

Sasuke turned back.

He used his best pleading face—and really he had several. This one was geared towards repeated requests. "I kind of, er, do you think you could-"

"Yeah, yeah. See you later." He replied, turning back almost immediately.

"Thanks, bro, you're the best!"

With that, Sasuke left.

Naruto was so hopeless sometimes. At times, it would have been amusing, but now it only made Sasuke think of one thing.

He shook his head before mumbling quietly, "Baka otouto."

Sakura left her house early in the morning. She closed the door quietly behind her. Of the many kind things she could say about her parents, being early risers was not among them. Luckily, they didn't need to be.

The sun was shining brightly. Her family's house was located closer to the outer edge of the circular compound than the main path that cut through it, so she walked along until she reached the wall. From there, she followed the path happily towards the main entrance.

Suddenly, a blur shot by her across the top of the wall, streaking by in the opposite direction.

"Hisakurabyesakura!" A familiar voice called before darting away again. She thought she could hear laughter in the distance as several angry blurs followed after him.

She sighed in exasperation, but there was a tiny smile working its way onto her face. "Naruto..." She shook her head.

Wait, if Naruto was spending the morning getting chased around the village, that meant...!

She continued down the road that lead to the main entrance with an extra skip in her step. When she finally reached the entrance, she waited, looking towards the adjacent part of the compound excitedly.

The Senju clan crests spaced at regular intervals along the wall of the compound stopped at the gate. They stretched back along the wall next to the path from which she had just come. On the other side of the entrance, the symbols were replaced with the Uchiha crest, trailing back out of sight along the opposite side.

The red and white fans stretched off into the distance, the occasional Uchiha milling about, but none of them were the one she was waiting for.

"He's not here, you know."

Sakura turned to a less welcome, but equally familiar face. Senju Noriko stared back at her. Two years her junior—not that you could tell from the way she looked at her—and heir to the clan.

Her arms were partially crossed over her body as she examined her nails disinterestedly, but then her eyes slid back to Sakura. "I went to meet him at his house, but," she sighed dramatically, "he had already left. I thought he might show up here, but it's not like he had a good reason to. Even he couldn't know I was going to surprise him." She laughed loudly, throwing her head back for emphasis before looking back to Sakura expectantly.

Right. Naruto was the one who always wanted to be around her. Sasuke probably had better things to do.

She took a short, calming breath. No biggie. She would just have to see him at school then.

"Ah well, thank you, Noriko," She gave a small bow, which probably looked more like a nod and began walking to school alone.

"Don't be disappointed, you never had a chance anyway." Then after a pause, she added, "Koji."

Sakura didn't turn back around. But, once she was far enough away, she sighed sadly to herself.

That girl.

The Senju and Uchiha had a long and brutal history together. First, as enemies during the Warring Clans Era and then as comrades in arms. Following the examples set by the First and Second Hokage, they put their grudges aside and survived together through three terrible world wars.

Over time, their bond grew closer than that of any clan. It was one of the reasons that their clan compounds, once separate, were now practically one and the same.

From this closeness in battle and proximity, affection between them was not uncommon.

The most honored clan marriage in the whole village, it was said, was between the Uchiha and Senju.

Her name was Senju Sakura, but...Koji meant orphan. She was no Senju. Not really.

She nearly sighed again, but caught herself. Wasn't she just practically skipping down the street earlier? How quickly things change.

"Sakura."

Her head shot up so fast she heard her neck pop. Sasuke was standing casually on top of a small building to her right, a backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Sasuke!" Her hands came together in excitement as she beamed up at him. "You're here! I thought when I didn't see you at the gate you had left already and-oh my gosh, I left you at the gate didn't I? I mean, I didn't leave you, but I wasn't there for you-not that you need me to be there to walk to school or anything," She laughed nervously. She was rambling like an idiot. And Sasuke was looking like he was seriously reconsidering showing up. "Just, uh, glad to see you!" She smiled.

Contrary to her fears, he didn't run away but landed softly next to her on the street. He was carrying a second pack as well.

"Hn." He grunted, but he didn't look as uncomfortable as before.

"Oh well, better late than never! Ready to go, Sasuke?" She asked happily.

Sasuke looked back at her. He started to look uncomfortable again.

Great, what did she do? That was a normal question!

Finally, he spoke, "Noriko is a real piece of work, huh."

Oh great, he saw that. "Oh, uh, you saw that?"

He nodded, adjusting his pack. There was a short pause, then he spoke again. "You let that girl push you around too much."

Great, now Sasuke thought she was being bullied by a ten-year old.

"No, no, it's not like that." He looked highly skeptical at that. She wasn't getting pushed around by Noriko. Okay, she was a little, but... "It's complicated."

She looked back towards the direction of the compound. She couldn't exactly win the affection of the clan by chewing out their princess. Not to mention picking an actual fight. Besides, she was just a kid.

He grunted again, undoubtedly unconvinced. "If you say so."

They started walking.

Surprisingly, he broke the silence. "I hung back to avoid dealing with her by the way. Don't tell me the 'fangirl' has spread to their year too?"

Her heart skipped a beat, but she answered quickly. "Afraid so, she said she went to your house looking for you. Better be on the lookout for them!"

He gave an annoyed grunt at that and she laughed lightly at him. "Next thing you know, she'll bring Inuzuka Mina with her," she said, "can't hide from that."

Sasuke grunted some more, before replying, "I don't suppose you know a good way to hide your scent."

She laughed. "Nope, you're too smelly!" Her eyes widened. "I mean not that you smell, just that, uh," Breathe, Sakura. You're rambling again. Relax, it's just Sasuke. Just Sasuke. She took a breath. "Just that their noses are really sensitive."

"Hn."

"Actually, I was just reading about the effects of chakra on olfactory receptors. It doesn't actually change the structure, but it does amplify the signal. Also, it seems the Inuzuka naturally have a much higher density of receptors in the first place."

Sasuke grunted to indicate he was listening, but didn't add anything so she kept talking, first about receptors and then onto other things.

They fell into a familiar rhythm as they made their way to the academy.

This is how conversations ended up going the few times it was just the two of them. Sakura would delve into information about medical ninjutsu or geography or the like—trying to control her displays of affection—with Sasuke listening on as they made their way to the academy. Sometimes he would ask questions, but mostly he would just listen with the occasional grunt to indicate she said something he liked. Or at least that's how she interpreted it.

It would be more distressing, but occasionally he would relay or repeat any number of the obscure facts she had told him on previous walks.

It made these moments special.

And so, they made their way to the academy.

Sasuke sat near the back of the classroom as the teacher reviewed the Third Shinobi World War. Sakura was off to his right, but the chair to his left, where Naruto usually sat, was empty.

Of course, other people had wanted to sit next to him, but his glares promised pain and torment and even the most ardent of his admirers didn't dare risk it without his permission. His fellow students, like Sakura next to him, were carefully taking notes, but he was distracted.

They were reviewing information from the school year for the upcoming Graduation Exam. They were graduating soon. Very soon.

"Can anyone tell me one of the major treaties that came from the war?" Few people seemed eager to answer. Of course, it only took one. "Yes, Sakura?"

"The Sovereign Shinobi Villages Treaty officially ended the war and made way for the signing of the Nonproliferation of Constructed Jinchuriki and Feudal States Treaties."

"Very good. Can anyone tell me what either of those were about?"

Kiba spoke up in a confident voice, smelling the low-hanging fruit, "The nonproliferation one was about not proliferating constructed jinchuriki."

The teacher looked unimpressed, but continued. "Yes, yes, the Third Shinobi World War was characterized, especially early on, by the creation and deployment of many powerful artificial jinchuriki that caused massive casualties on all sides. And-are you writing this down?" As people started and quickly began writing things down, Sasuke's mind wandered. He knew this already.

Unlike natural jinchuriki, artificial jinchuriki were made by sealing self-replicating chakra of sufficient concentrations instead of biju. Often times this chakra was demonic chakra, and it was always dangerous. This technique, first used in the Second World War, had exploded in the Third and helped destabilize the balance of power maintained since the distribution of biju in the First. To avoid turning the countryside into a wasteland in the seemingly inevitable Fourth War, the creation of more artificial jinchuriki was outlawed internationally.

Creating additional jinchuriki was considered an act of war against all nations and the identities of all jinchuriki, artificial and otherwise, were recorded and known.

All but one.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Naruto was dropped on his face at the front of the class. He was hog tied, but otherwise looked no worse for wear. The class laughed loudly.

"Quiet, quiet! Thank you, anbu-san." The masked shinobi were out of sight, but presumably left quickly.

Naruto looked up with a grin. "What's up, sensei?"

Their teacher looked down disapprovingly. "Thank you for joining us, Uzumaki-san." The bell rang and the students quickly began to mill out for the next class. The teacher scheduled Naruto for detention and didn't bother to untie him.

A lot of the class laughed, poking fun at the bound Naruto as they passed. Naruto took it in stride, throwing back his own comments to amuse, embarrass, or infuriate the masses. All the while, he futilely hopped up and down on his stomach, trying to find a way to undo his restraints.

"...Agh, you smell like dog piss...well, my leg kinda itches. Don't worry I got it. Eh, eh, eh. Okay, maybe not...no limbs and I could still kick your ass...Totally worth it...it's a nice look for me though, don't you think? The mischievous rogue, looking up at his princess!"

That last one was to Sakura. She rolled her eyes. "I'm not your princess, Naruto." She took out a kunai to cut him free.

"But here you are, freeing me from my restraints! If that's not true love, what is?"

She just shook her head, cutting him free. He gave a big sigh of relief, which turned into a squawk of pain as she poked him in the ribs. "It's called friendship."

Naruto rolled over, rubbing his side while he looked up at her in contemplation, "Nope, still seems like love to me!"

Sakura sighed in exasperation as Naruto continued to pester her with outrageous compliments and assertions about her undying and/or inevitable love for him.

Sakura was way too kind to that idiot. Ah well, he might as well break it up before they were late for their next class.

"You can't deny it forever! 'Naruto, I love you.' Say it with me. 'Naruto, I love,'" Then Naruto noticed him standing behind him. He spun around, a huge smile breaking over his face.

"Sasuke!" That made Sakura blush, not that Naruto noticed. Honestly, he probably forgot the whole previous conversation already. Sasuke snorted internally at that.

"Have fun, dobe?"

Naruto giggled, no doubt reminiscing some dumb chunin's misfortune. "Man, you should've been there." He sighed contentedly, "I love glitter." He looked back to the Uchiha. "It's glorious by the way. Iruka-sensei is making me clean it up in addition to detention. But," he whispered conspiratorially, "some people can be in two places at once."

Sasuke nodded in recognition as the blonde spun back on Sakura. "You'll wait for me, won't you, Sakura-chan?" He asked with wide eyes.

Before Sakura could answer, Sasuke piped back up, "Save it, idiot. We've got class."

Naruto pouted at him. "Fine." He made to walk towards the door, before turning back. "Hey, did you-"

Sasuke threw Naruto his backpack. The blonde would say he didn't have time to grab it given his morning activities.

Sasuke was pretty sure he just forgot it. Again.

Naruto thanked him loudly as the second bell rang. The blonde grabbed Sakura and dragged her to their next class.

Sasuke just looked after him, standing alone in the empty classroom.

"You're welcome."

Even if the hyperactive knucklehead was annoying, he was also his best friend. He knew Naruto felt the same way. They would always have each other's backs.

And they would keep each other's secrets.

Because, if he couldn't trust his brother, who could he trust?

After class, Sakura and Sasuke waited for Naruto to find his chance to slip out of detention so that they could walk home together.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't go unmolested.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Forehead," Ino sneered at her. Sakura growled.

"What do you want Ino-pig? No one wants to see your ugly mug around here!"

Ino stuck her nose up in the air. "I'm sure some people could enjoy my company," she sidled up to Sasuke, "isn't that right, Sasuke-kuuuun?" She wrapped her arms around him. Sakura twitched angrily. Hands off!

Sasuke fixed Ino with one of the darkest glares Sakura had ever seen. Ino just squealed, cooing about how handsome Sasuke was.

The Uchiha shoved her roughly off of him and walked away towards the gate.

Ino stared after him in shock, but quickly composed herself. Of course, that was when she noticed Sakura laughing at her. "What are you laughing at?!"

"What happened to 'Sasuke will be mine' and your 'feminine touch,' Ino? Dont tell me you're losing your gift!" She laughed as Ino growled at her.

In reality, Sasuke's mood had been souring more and more throughout the day. As it was, it seemed like only Naruto could really pull him out of whatever dark thoughts were floating through his head. Sakura wanted so much to help, but she had no idea what was wrong. Any attempt she had made to ask had been met with stiff dismissal (and, as she began to notice, quick redirection by Naruto into another topic).

Her blonde friend seemed to know what the problem was, but she was kept out of the loop. Naruto didn't seem too worried however, so maybe she would leave it to him.

"Shut your mouth! It's not like Sasuke likes you any better!"

"Ha! Are you kidding, I spend nearly every day with him."

Ino glared imperiously at her. "As his friend maybe. But face it, if you haven't become his girlfriend by now, it's never going to happen."

"That's not," she remembered herself, glancing toward where Sasuke was. He was out of hearing range, glaring at anyone who got too close. She stepped closer to Ino. "That's not true!" She ground out.

Ino smirked victoriously. "Don't blame me for not having the guts to tell him how you feel. Unless," her eyes slid knowingly to Sakura, "you already did. Oh, poor thing, he rejected you, didn't he?"

"No!" Not exactly.

Now Ino was laughing at her. "Well since you failed, I'm sure I'll capture Sasuke's heart in no time!"

"I didn't fail," Sakura said, perhaps still a little too emotionally. She quickly collected herself and gave Ino a small smirk, "But believe what you want, maybe I'll go enjoy my secret-uh, I mean my success. "

Ino gaped at her for a second before narrowing her eyes. "You're bluffing."

"Oh, definitely. Nothing to see here," Sakura said, glaring right back.

Ino regarded her carefully, looking for something in her eyes. Whatever it was, she must have found it because she looked away first. Then she smiled, "Better go save your secret success before someone else manages to snatch it away."

Sakura's head swerved back to Sasuke. She groaned. Noriko was chatting animatedly to the Uchiha, ignoring all his dark glares and following him whenever he tried to make an escape. If Sakura's attempts to do something didn't end up in the equivalent of a diplomatic incident, it would be a small miracle.

Ino laughed and Sakura stuck her tongue out at her. Then, Sakura made her way over to Sasuke.

Noriko's dark eyes spun to her. She smiled. "Oh, there you are, Sakura-chan," she said with false delight, "I was just telling Sasuke-kun that he and I should spend more time together. We are partners this year for the Clan Ceremony after all." She finished, attempting to blink flirtatiously at the Uchiha.

He had moved onto studiously ignoring the young Senju.

Sakura wasn't sure what to say. "Oh, yes, well, maybe another time."

Noriko was still smiling. "And why would that be? We should definitely walk home together. We can prepare for the ceremony and," she winked at Sasuke, "get to know each other."

"Uh, I don't think Sasuke-"

Another voice beat her to it. "Sasuke's busy," Naruto interjected harshly.

Noriko regarded him with surprise.

Naruto had already walked past her, nodding to Sasuke as they started to leave. Sakura followed after them. So did Noriko. They barely walked a few feet before Naruto turned back to the Senju. He leveled his own dark look at Noriko.

Apparently that fazed her. "What? I'm walking home!"

"But you weren't invited to walk with us, now were you?"

The young Senju girl gaped at him. Naruto just waited for her to leave.

She opened her mouth to speak, but jumped in fear as Naruto cut her off.

"Scram." Naruto growled. And, she was gone.

The intensity left Naruto's face in an instant. "The 'fangirl' spread to their year too? Seriously, stop being you, Sasuke! It's way too much hassle."

Sasuke just snorted. But Sakura was still hung up on Noriko. She hit Naruto on the arm.

"Naruto! That was mean!" She said.

Naruto rubbed the spot she hit, but didn't seem fazed by her admonishment. "What?" He said, "She started it."

"What are you talking about?! That was all you!"

Naruto smiled at her, throwing his hands behind his head, "Yeah, but she was annoying Sasuke." Sakura looked unconvinced. "Not to mention some anonymous sources informed me that she was a real brat this morning."

It took Sakura a second to put two and two together. She spun on Sasuke.

"What did you say to him?" She yelled.

Sasuke regarded her lazily. "Just enough obviously," he responded. There was a ghost of a smirk there though. "Look, he's all protective now."

She tried and failed to be mad at the Uchiha. No wonder Naruto was acting like he just beat up a bully and saved the girl.

"That's right. Nobody messes with my girl, no matter how tiny without getting an Uzumaki smackdown!" He yelled triumphantly, holding his fist in the air.

Sakura shoved him. "I'm not your girl, Naruto."

He gave his trademark grin. "Not yet! But what kind of Hokage can't sway hearts and minds?"

Sakura's eyes glittered dangerously. "I'll sway something!"

Naruto squeaked in fear, sliding behind Sasuke as Sakura advanced on him. "Sasuke, save me," he whined, clinging to the Uchiha.

"What kind of Hokage cowers from opposition?" Sasuke helpfully supplied.

"One who doesn't want to get killed by me!" Sakura yelled, holding her fist in the air.

Sasuke smiled at her, his eyes glinting with laughter.

And then, she found herself laughing too, the stress of the day diffusing away as they made their way home together.

They parted ways at the gate. Sakura went one way, while Naruto and Sasuke went another. Eventually, they made their way back to their house, a large two story building near the center of the Uchiha half of the compound.

As they entered, Sasuke rushed up the stairs. Naruto wasn't so lucky.

"NARUTO!" His mother roared at him. Naruto cowered. "What's this I hear about you vandalizing the Hokage Monument?" Kushina asked with fire in her eyes.

Naruto wanted to interject and explain that he hadn't vandalized the Monument. He had improved it. Totally different. But, he knew better than to interrupt his mom during one of her moments of passionate parenting.

Well, unless you knew how.

Kushina's red hair stood on end as she towered over her son. "Dattebane! Do you know how much trouble you're in?" She yelled.

Naruto just held his hands up in defense.

"Why I ought to-" then Kushina noticed what was in Naruto's hands. All the anger left her face in an instant as she started to drool slightly. "Is that Ichiraku R-ramen?"

Naruto put on his most apologetic face. "I was so sorry and knew you would be disappointed in me. But I didn't want you to be sad, so I brought you a present. I'm really sorry, kaa-chan." He glanced up with puppy-dog eyes.

Kushina nabbed the box and was scarfing down the ramen in an instant, suddenly sitting happily at the kitchen table. She waved off his apologies. "Aw, that's alright. You're such a good boy, aren't you?" She slurped up a long noodle, sighing in content. "Don't worry about, uh," she took a second, trying to remember what she had been scolding him for. Then she shrugged, "whatever it was."

"Your parenting style still surprises, Kushina," Fugaku said as he entered the kitchen.

Kushina finished, slurping up another noodle and gave Fugaku a goofy, contented grin. "Whaaat? He said he was sorry for the thingy he did," Kushina whined distractedly, gesturing with her chopsticks before scarfing down more ramen.

Naruto's stepfather sighed minutely, but his eyes were soft. "There's more to it than that though, dear," he said, before rounding on Naruto. His eyes hardened. "Although, I'm sure these childish antics won't continue. Will they?"

Naruto looked down with a scowl. "No."

If Fugaku was going to say anything else, it was cutoff by Sasuke rumbling down the stairs. His tanto was on his back. He didn't acknowledge anyone, just grabbed Naruto and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Kushina asked curiously. Fugaku watched intensely.

Naruto held back on Sasuke, and the Uchiha turned around. "Training," Sasuke grunted out. That seemed to satisfy Kushina, who went back to her ramen.

Fugaku looked down on him. "That's my boy."

Sasuke tensed as if he was going to say something that he would probably regret, but Naruto tugged him out the door. "Bye!"

"Mmm, eat with me, Fugaku-kun!" Kushina said, dragging Fugaku to the table as they left.

Outside, Sasuke glared at him, shoving him off and hopping away towards the training grounds. Naruto shook his head as Kushina and Fugaku began to talk.

Slurp. "How was your meeting with the Hokage?" She asked.

"You know Hatake-sama. I'm not one to argue with the Hokage about..." Fugaku's voice faded away as Naruto chased after Sasuke.

They punched, kicked, ran, squatted, walked on trees, practiced their jutsu, threw their shuriken, and hid. They stretched, did pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, crunches on the grounds, and crunches hanging from trees. They took a break, drank water, and pictured the next great technique they would use.

Then, they fought.

Naruto's clones were spread out along the ground and through the trees. They were all surrounding Sasuke.

With a roar, they charged. The Uchiha's head was down as they approached. Finally, as the first wave of clones neared him, he looked up. The bright red of the Sharingan spun in his eyes.

He clasped handfuls of kunai in between his knuckles. He let them loose, and they flew through the air at alarming speeds. Some thunked into the approaching clones. Others grazed them just enough to dispel them. Occasionally, as he threw handful after handful, they would collide with each other, ricocheting in some unexpected direction to take out some unsuspecting clone.

His Sharingan allowed him to use his projectiles to their fullest, ensuring the maximum number of clones would be destroyed.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. As Sasuke flipped through the air, a clone flew headfirst towards him. He sunk a kunai into its chest, but two more followed suit from either side, thrown by the numerous other clones around. He twisted through the air, dodging them, and landed on the forest floor with his tanto out.

Then, he stabbed above him, dispelling a clone falling down with an axe kick.

The right thing to do was retreat, whittling down Naruto's clones until he could lock onto the real one. A calm assessment of the battlefield regardless of the particular details was why Sasuke often came out on top.

Sasuke faced front.

Immediately, he found himself twisting out of the way of a kunai, before deflecting punches and kicks from three different locations at once. Even as he dispelled the clones, another rose up to take its place. He ducked, flipped, twisted, and skirted as he tore through the scores of clones. But it wasn't enough.

He deflected a kick, ripping his tanto through the offending clone, but the impact had him sliding back. Another kick from the side snuck through his guard and sent him tumbling to the forest floor.

A Naruto landed on top of him with a kunai, stabbing down toward his face. He deflected its kunai with the flat of his tanto, palmed an exploding tag, and slapped it to the clone's chest. He slid his knees to his chest and pushed the clone into the air with his legs, catching a punch to the face for his troubles.

The tag exploded, eliminating that clone and killing other descending clones as well. Sasuke rolled to his feet. His lip started to ache painfully. He spat the blood onto the ground and snarled.

As more clones advanced, he rushed recklessly into the sea of orange, tearing through the blondes in search of the real one. He twisted, slid and ducked as he sliced through them, but every now and then a clone would hit him, clipping him with some punch, kick or slam.

He thought he saw the real one between the clones, but through the constant motion, the blonde would evaporate, melding into the waves and waves of duplicates. He snarled and pushed forward.

Another clone clipped him, slamming full body past him with incredible speed and exploding into nothingness as it collided into the trees. But the real Naruto was...there!

He darted through the clones, skirting past them with inhuman grace. The clones slid closer together, forcing him to cut his way through as he reached for the real one.

And then, a hand wrapped around his ankle. He tumbled, landing awkwardly on his shoulder as his momentum carried him forward. He slid, careening into a tree, but rolled to his side to avoid the clone that had tried to land on him. It dispelled against the hard surface of the tree trunk.

Sasuke smiled in satisfaction, but it contorted into a grimace of pain as his shoulder flared angrily. More Narutos were approaching and he had to do something.

His body protested.

With a yell of exertion, he flipped sideways onto his feet, sliding through handsigns.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu! (Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!)

And the forest of Narutos burned.

Sasuke was breathing heavily. Then, there was a crack from behind him.

No! He had let his guard down! He spun to deflect an incoming blow, but there was nothing there. From above, something crashed into him, slamming him into the floor as his head spun.

He lashed out with his tanto before realizing he had dropped it. His head hurt along with the rest of his body as he struggled to defend himself. The Naruto punched him, pinning him down along the edge of the charred forest floor.

He lashed out with a punch of his own that connected, the clone grunted but didn't dispel. His eyes told him why. Another fist collided against his head.

He held up his arms to protect himself as Naruto rained punches down on him. The punches bounced against his forearms as he covered his face. Then, he felt a could touch of metal on his neck.

"Gotcha, Sasuke," Naruto said, holding his kunai to the Uchiha's neck.

Sasuke's throat tightened as the defeat bubbled up inside him. He should have relaxed, accepting his loss for what it was, but he couldn't. Not today.

He slid his arms down, slapping his hand around the Uzumaki's wrist. He pulled him off balance and swept his legs out from underneath him. They rolled until Sasuke was on top.

Now he rained punches down on Naruto, causing him to lose his grip on his kunai. Sasuke's fists bounced off the blonde's face again and again before he felt Naruto's feet against his chest. Naruto kicked him off, and the Uchiha flipped through the air, skidding back as he landed on his feet.

Naruto got to his feet slowly.

But Sasuke was breathing heavily, angrily as despair threatened to overwhelm him.

Even if Naruto had been a real enemy who for some reason had hesitated in killing him, his escape had been too slow.

He would have died.

He would have failed.

He glared at Naruto, who glared back.

Sasuke wondered if Naruto could see the pain behind his eyes the same way he could see the sadness behind Naruto's.

Sasuke just needed to hit something and get hit until the pain went away. Naruto was there for him.

Naruto charged. Then Sasuke punched him in the face. And, Naruto punched him right back. Again and again, they traded blows, until all they could feel was their bruises and exhaustion.

Almost two years ago, Uchiha Itachi had disappeared.

Their brother—his brother—who had always been there for them and who had helped them become the people they were, was gone. He had vanished on an otherwise uneventful border patrol mission. A simple B-Rank mission for the prodigy of the Uchiha clan.

He had taught them their jutsu. The Shadow Clone. The Great Fireball. He had looked to them and said that he would help them become great.

He had said that he would always be there for them with advice and assistance as they marked each milestone on their way to greatness.

One such milestone was Graduation.

He had talked about watching them graduate, had planned to give them scrolls—which they had found—as well as his kind words and wisdom—which they had not.

He wasn't going to be there to watch them graduate. For all they knew, he might never be there again.

So they fought until they couldn't fight anymore.

AN: I'm pretty sure Koji doesn't actually mean orphan. Koji minashigo was one translation though, so I just grabbed the first part because it sounded pejorative. Obviously, I don't speak Japanese.