[Valley of the End]
The Valley of the End is the place where the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound meet. However, it was a memorial to the citizens of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leafs. A memorial dedicated to the battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
Many years ago, an incredible battle took place there, where Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, clashed with the legendary Madara Uchiha. Madara, who had become disillusioned with the foundation of Konoha, used his Sharingan to take control of the Nine-Tailed Fox, using it as his weapon against the first Hokage. No longer believing that peace can be achieved with diplomacy and kindness, he decided that peace can only be achieved through domination and power.
The battle was fierce, and the battle was destructive. The land around them was torn apart, shredded into oblivion as the two titans fought. Hills and rivers were born and destroyed due to the final battle between the Uchiha and the Senju clan. The earth shook as the Kyuubi roared alongside Madara. The sky screeched as fire, lightning, and earth rained from above and below.
Despite Madara Uchiha giving it his all, in the end, he had lost, slain by the man known as the First Hokage, but also the man that was once his best friend. Hashirama, who mourned the loss of his friend, decided to create two large statues of himself and his friend, as a tribute to his friend.
However, history has a funny way of repeating itself. Or more accurately, history has a funny way of rhyming like a tragic poem.
This is the case of Sasuke Uchiha, the last member of the Uchiha clan, save for his elder brother, who had slain his clan members, sparing only his baby brother. Consumed by hatred, Sasuke had vowed revenge against his sworn enemy, doing whatever it took to become strong enough to kill his brother. That is when Orochimaru the serpent slithered into the garden, promising Sasuke power if he switched allegiances. After a few days of hesitation, Sasuke accepted his offer, defecting to the Sound Village with the help of Orochimaru's elite servants.
However, his defection did not go unnoticed. Tsunade, the newest Hokage for the village, had sent a team to retrieve Sasuke. That team consisted of Shikamaru, a member of the Nara clan; Kiba, a member of the Inuzuka clan; Choji, a member of the Akimichi clan; Neji, a member of the Hyuga Clan; and finally, Naruto, the unknowing last member of the Uzumaki Clan.
Naruto was the most special member of them all, in more ways than one. For one, he was the carrier of the Nine-Tailed Fox, which had laid heavy destruction to Konoha a few years ago. Because of his fate as Konoha's jinchuuriki, he was seen as the demon itself and was ostracized from society. This might have crushed the souls of lesser men, but Naruto used his bitter life as motivation to prove his worth to his village. Declaring his goal to become the Hokage, he worked hard to become stronger. Eventually, the boy did grow stronger, meeting incredible foes and allies alike, and even learning some powerful techniques along the way, which included the Shadow Clone technique and the Rasengan.
Naruto, the energetic boy full of spirit, had eventually made some friends along the way, including his rival, Sasuke. They didn't always get along, but they had eventually grown to respect each other, and at some point, they eventually developed what some would call an odd type of friendship.
That bond, however, is currently being tested now, as Sasuke and Naruto are now at the Valley of the End. They had been fighting for a few minutes, and at the moment, they were both evenly matched, both in skill and determination.
"Sasuke…" Naruto's appearance had changed as he was using the same energy he'd used fighting against Gaara. He now had claw-like hands and his teeth had sharpened like a fox, with his blue eyes turning angry red. "I will take you back to the village even if it's the LAST thing I will do!" Naruto yelled, running towards him over the water and throwing a powerful punch at the cursed seal from Uchiha, who was sent back into the stone wall with a loud crash! The Uchiha was sent flying back so hard that it crushed the mountain wall behind him, causing some dust and debris to fall on him.
No movement was seen in the crater for a good five minutes, giving Naruto little breathing time.
"Don't be foolish…" Sasuke finally spoke out from the crater he now stood in. He slowly walked out of the crater, now fully transformed into his cursed seal form. His skin turned dark grey like his eyes, and his hair grew longer as it turned dark blue. Sprouting from his back were webbed-claw-shaped wings from his back, and a star-shaped mark appeared across the bridge of his nose.
Sasuke, now in his fully formed cursed form, shouted, "And why do you even care?! Like I said, you never had a family! You've always been alone! So don't try to stop me!"
This had hit a nerve for the young blonde. Naruto wished he had the words to convince him to turn away, but he knew that Sasuke had a point. He never grew up with a mother cooking for him, since he had to catch food and cook it himself. He never had a father to teach him anything until he finally got to the academy, where he began to learn how to read and write. Growing up alone with no one to look after him, he learned quickly how to survive on the streets after being kicked out of the orphanage until a few folks came into his life to help him out. Like the late Third Hokage, who he called Old Man, who gave him a home to sleep in, and Iruka, who helped him after school hours to learn how to read and write.
Then came others like Shikamaru and Choji, who didn't shun him away like the other kids, and frequently hung out with him. Then came the whole Team 7, the very same team that he hung out with. The very same group of people that he ate with, fought with, argued with, and had fun with. The very same team that made him feel like he was part of a family...
Then there was Haku, the rogue shinobi who he met before the fight on the bridge, who taught him that true strength came from protecting those you love. Even though he turned out to be the enemy, in the end, Naruto knew that they were never truly enemies and that perhaps in another life, they could've been friends.
And then there was Gaara. Poor, lonely Gaara, who was a fellow jinchuuriki who had it even worse than him. Gaara, who everyone hated and shunned, including his own father. Poor Gaara had nobody to tell him that it was alright and that the world hadn't abandoned him.
Then he came to an outsider from a different village that he was attacking. He, understood his pain better than anyone else, even though Gaara had a sister and a brother to grow up with. He was the one who healed Gaara's wound and was the first time to stopped to realize who he was, and what he was not. He was the first one to not call him a monster, but rather, a friend.
He had found people to care about, and thus, people to protect, and he was not going to let his loved one get lost in a mission for revenge that he may never walk away from. "Even if I don't know how you went through without your family, you still need to know," Naruto started channeling huge amounts of chakra into the palm of his hand. "That you've still got memories of them while I didn't And you still got people that care about you! And I'll be damned if I let you turn your back on them!"
It could've been just him, but for a split second, he thought he saw pain in Sasuke's eyes. For a fraction of a second, he thought that his eyes, which were full of anger and hatred, dim a little, as if remembering all the memories he shared with Naruto. Every good and bad moment that they shared, and even in the rare times that Sasuke would smile, would always send Sakura into a cheer.
Then that moment was gone, sadness and regret being consumed by the black fires of rage and hatred.
"Enough! Let's end this!" Sasuke yelled as he summoned his next attack with the remaining chakra he had left in his body, running towards Naruto with the sound of a thousand chirping birds coming out from his hand that was filled with lightning.
"CHIDORI!"
"RASENGAN!" Naruto's hand was filled with his most powerful technique as he rushed towards his friend. His arm stretched forward, he summoned every bit of energy he had left in his bones. He would not let the one person he considered the closest as a brother to the despair of revenge…
"I'LL TAKE YOU BACK TO THE VILLAGE, NO MATTER WHAT!"
The two techniques combined with an overwhelming force, that had an unintended reaction that soon not only was felt around the area, but also into places no one expected.
The two techniques clashed once again, making the air and the water ripple with pure power. The two boys screamed as they fought for dominance, not willing to lose their battle.
Naruto felt many things in that moment.
Fear. The fear of losing his friend, and fear of losing this battle.
Hatred. Hatred for everything that's happened to him, everything that he missed out on that Sasuke was taking for granted, even after everything he had lost and still had.
Sadness. Sadness for the fact that one of his only friends was going to leave him for power.
Anger. Anger at everything. At his shitty life. At the way, Gaara was treated. At the way that Sasuke made Sakura cry. At the way that he made him cry. At the way that Sasuke was just going to throw everything away for revenge, even the people that still cared about him. Anger at the fact that Sasuke got everything from the start, while he lost everything at the beginning.
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as he felt his attack being pushed back. Something was changing. Something was different. Naruto's attack seemed to have been growing stronger, and it was pushing him back!
Little did the both of them know, that somewhere else in the vast universe, other people were also feeling this change. This surge of power, which Sasuke and Naruto was barely comprehending, was being felt on the other side of the galaxy.