Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other character of the franchise. This is just fanfic to sooth the soul (at least it's meant to) and not for profit. In addition some of the dialogue and scenarios from the anime have been used in this piece and copyright belongs to Masahi sensei and the Anime's script writers
Warnings: Yaoi, Future Mpreg (so if it aint your thing please move on and dont flame),really crap writing and grammar coz it isn't beta'd coz i dont know how to get it done (i know, i iz kind dumb). In addition MAJOR *Spoiler Alert for Itachi and Sasuke. Read at your own peril!

Ps: This is my first fanfic ever so any criticism is more that welcome (constructive, that is! ).Enjoy

The Beginning of the End

Loneliness, agony, pain, fear, anger, grief, helplessness and an unquenchable thirst for revenge were all familiar feelings to him. All he'd ever known, since that horrifying day his brother had brutally murdered their parents and massacred their whole clan in cold blood. These feelings were what had driven him to betray his village, abandon his comrades and friends. But worst of all, these feelings had led him to a death battle at the Valley of the End where he had almost killed his best friend and the only person who remotely came close to understanding him. All in his quest for power.

He had thought he'd understood, then, what grief and desolation meant as he walked away from his defeated friend, who'd now become an enemy. In some corner of his mind, hidden deep within his conscience, he'd been relieved that he had not given in fully to those feelings, and the taunts of his brother that had replayed over and over in his mind... urging him to kill his closest friend so that he could activate the Mangekyo Sharingan. However, deflect from his village he had... and of his own will... therefore he'd unequivocally severed his ties with Konoha... and Naruto. He'd grieved then,...his heart bleeding at the thought of loosing Naruto, but his desire to kill Itachi and avenge his lost clan had meant more to him, driving him forward to Orochimaru and his destiny as the avenger.

However, as he processed the information ,the masked man he'd come to know as Uchiha Madara, had given him, he felt his whole world shatter. A pain and sense of betrayal sharper than he'd felt when he'd seen his brother standing over the bloodied corpses of their parents, tore at his heart , shredding it to pieces as if it were a ferocious beast. He clawed at his neck, struggling to breathe as the sheer enormity of what he'd done hit him like a sledge hammer to the chest. The cave like room they were in started to spin as his vision went in and out of focus. He could barely hear the other man's voice, as he urged him to breathe. Memories of what had happened earlier came rushing before his mind's eye ... Itachi's taunts,Tsukuyomi Amaterasu, Kirin, Susano'o... finally leading to Itachi's bloodied fingers tapping his forehead gently, sadness and regret reflected in his dark weary eyes... 'Sorry Sasuke. This is it'.

A feral scream full of wretched and utter despair tore out of his chest and he felt his body fall, still weak, desperately trying to recuperate from the damage it had suffered at the hands of his now deceased brother . As the light and the world faded from his eyes, one thought remained steadfast in his mind as he lost consciousness. Konoha would pay dearly!

Konoha

'We've done everything we can. Let's head back...to Konoha'

Naruto woke up in a cold sweat. His room was still dark, even though the incessant chirping of birds outside his window signalled the beginning of daybreak. His room, he realised with a pang; they were back in Konoha. It had been a week since they'd returned from their failed mission to capture the Uchiha and bring him home

They'd been so close this time, he thought as he groaned out loud, the sound muffled by the pillow he'd stuffed his face in, in a fit of exasperation. They had been so close to bringing Sasuke back home that it had almost killed him when they'd lost his trail. He remembered the sense of desperation he had felt as Sasuke's scent and chakra faded into nothingness in the rain. There had been no trail to follow, no clue as to where their former comrade had vanished to. He 'd seen his feelings mirrored in the the eyes of his team-mates, as he'd read frustration and sadness, when they'd regrouped back at the Uchiha ruins. The blonde teen had heard the defeat in Kakashi's voice as he ordered his team back to Konoha; the boy finally and reluctantly acknowledging that his friend had yet again eluded them and escaped their clutches.

Naruto felt like he was going to cry. He still couldn't understand why Sasuke had disappeared and hadn't come back home when it was clear that Itachi was dead . Although the Amaterasu flames and Tobi's interference had stopped them from reaching the fight and Sasuke, Zetsu's feedback had informed them of the elder Uchiha brother's it was only sensible for Sasuke to come home now. He had achieved what he'd set out to do. Sasuke had left to kill Itachi and avenge the massacre of the Uchiha clan, at the expense of his village, comrades and friends. Itachi was dead...and as far as Naruto was concerned, that was all done and dusted.

Of course he knew the village would not welcome Sasuke back with open arms. Konoha's elders did not take too kindly to rogue ninjas who deflected and risked the security of the village. However, Naruto, as well as everyone else involved knew that Sasuke , unlike any other rogue ninja who would've immediately been disposed of when captured or imprisoned indefinitely if they surrendered, was for all intents and purposes the last remaining Uchiha; one of the oldest and half of the founding clans of the village of Konohagakure. The Uchiha could not be disposed of easily as he had the sole responsibility of reviving his clan. To the elders and other clan leaders, Sasuke's crimes were nothing, when weighed against the need for the Uchiha clan's revival and everyone knew it . Naruto, as a fellow member of team 7, exclusively knew that this reason was also another one of Sasuke's goals that he had yet to achieve .

SO WHERE THE HELL IS THAT DAMN BASTARD ? Naruto screamed and cursed inwardly at the image of his ruthless and cold-hearted friend that he'd conjured up in his mind, as he tossed and turned on his rumpled bed covers.

'He should be here in Konoha getting ready to make babies with one, or two or even all of his fan girls for all I care ,' Naruto thought angrily, ' well...except for Sakura-chan of course' he added when the idea of Sasuke and Sakura making babies together sent cold shivers down his spine, though he didn't know why. Perhaps it because he had a crush on Sakura...

Or was it another reason altogether... ?

He was so caught up in his mental rantings that he noticed too late, after a particularly violent toss, that he'd over estimated the width of his single bed. Thus Konoha's most infamous, 'Number One Unpredictable' blonde-haired ninja started out his day with a nasty bump on his head and a sore and bruised tooshie.