Chapter 2
There certainly were a lot of events that led them to end up here. And by here Sasuke means, surrounded by the smoke from the fire and the smell of blood which is all that was remaining of Konoha. And those once esteemed stone faces were slowly deforming, all except that of the yondaime, which was protected by an orange chakra bubble. All of Konoha could see a bubbling layer and the top almost seemed to resemble ears, like a cat. No, a fox!
A huge fox was walking all over the village, not caring about anything that was coming under the feet of that grand figure. Houses were getting crushed, and the greedy evil villagers were trampling over their own neighbours in a futile attempt to escape.
Nobody saw such destruction coming, least of all Sakura who had been one of the firsts to intercept the duo before they showed up in Konoha. They were the first line of defense; Naruto thinks that the officials were mainly relying on the concept of sensitivity. If this was about power, then Sakura would have been the last person anybody would send.
Sakura tried her best to convince them to stop. At least when she asked Sasuke to come back for her, she was able to make the Uchiha laugh wholeheartedly for the first time. Then other than that, she could very well try and appeal to the side of Naruto that dreamed of being the Hokage one day.
Except, the blonde jumped around saying he had a new dream.
‘Sakura-chan, I realized that revenge is so much more fun than being the Hokage ever would have been.’
And when Sakura tried to attack them, even she has to acknowledge that she thoroughly embarrassed herself.
“Alright, Naruto! Prepare yourself!” Sakura declared, her voice echoing with a tinge of bravado that did little to mask the nervous tremor in her tone. She charged forward, her fist cocked and ready to deliver a punch that she hoped would be impactful. So that everyone could finally know that she is on their level.
She is sure she landed the blow on Naruto’s stomach completely, but the blonde didn’t nudge. Even the grin did not move from his face.
He looked up with an exaggerated yawn. 'Oh Sakura-chan, you're really going all out today. It's too bad that if I were to go all out here, people wouldn't be able to find even a strand of that pretty pink hair of yours.' The voice sent chills down her spine and her knees would have given out if it wasn’t for the grip on the hand she used to deliver her punch.
Naruto tightened his grip and easily lifted her enough to thrown her to the tree near them. She felt her backbone hit the trunk of the tree. Sakura blinked in surprise; her breath knocked out as she sat against the tree. She looked dazed, surprised and most of all humiliated. Naruto strolled over with a bemused expression and crouched down slightly.
“I’d advise you, Haruno, to wake up and understand that you're a hundred years too soon to be challenging me.”
She was left looking at their backs, like she always had.
Sasuke had just given Naruto a fond smile when the blonde went back to join Sasuke and had grabbed the blonde’s hand, intertwining it with his own.
Now a small group of people were slowly hiking upwards, all the people who once thought they were Naruto’s friends. Nobody else had survived except maybe Sakura vaguely recalls that Kakashi and Iruka had suddenly left for an emergency mission last night.
They had all been silently walking to their destination, the platform above the stone heads. They knew that is where Naruto and Sasuke were. After all, it was difficult to miss Naruto’s laugh echoing around the village. That sound was louder than the screams of the injured and the dead almost as if it was mocking them for being weak.
Ino suddenly stopped, she dropped to her knees with her head in her hands. ‘The- they ki’ she tried to speak but couldn’t finish the sentence.
She didn’t have to because Choji did it for her, his face pale and eyes wide, clenched his fists he said ‘they killed everyone. They destroyed the village.’
They could all see it, their once-familiar streets were now a chaos of collapsing buildings and smoldering debris. The peaceful homes and training grounds were reduced to ashes.
Neji, usually so composed, stood with a rigid posture, his Byakugan activated as if trying to make sense of the unimaginable tragedy. Hinata, her heart heavy with sorrow, clung to Neji's arm. Her eyes were filled with a deep, pained empathy, the sight of the flames and the destruction casting a shadow over her gentle spirit. She fought to keep her composure, though her voice was a whisper. “How could this happen…?”
‘I’ll kill them. I’ll them both. Thi-this is our home, our village.’ Kiba grunted and yelled.
Shikamaru next to him deadpanned, ‘you can’t’. And maybe everyone was not aware of the difference between Naruto and Sasuke’s power compared to theirs because they all stared at Shikamaru dumbfounded. ‘Why do you all think you are still alive, capable of walking and not dead on a ground somewhere?’
Kami, Shika wishes they would know. But he knows the pride Konoha shinobi have, and it always overshadows their smartness.
‘We are alive because they are expecting us. Naruto can sense the chakra of the entire village, so do not even think that we are sneaking up on them right now. They know we’re coming, and they want us there.’
Shikamaru was probably under no obligation to try and dumb the situation down for everybody around him. But he feels bad because this was his hometown once too. Given that Shikamaru was the last person to attach sentimentality to inanimate things, and in this case, it was just streets and houses, but maybe he was more of a softie than he gave himself credit for.
"Shikamaru's right. We can't stop those who killed an entire village within an hour. Though he never said we have to go back" Shino voiced out.
‘But we will still fight them, it is all we can do to try and avenge our village and our clans.’ Neji claimed and Shika held in a sigh.
‘Well, the best course of action would probably be to keep Sakura in the front. They might have unfinished business with her, and she could be the only one they would not kill on the spot.’
Naruto Uzumaki was a sight to behold, starkly contrasting the destruction around him - he was a figure of joy. He twirled around, laughing like a chid with a manic glee in his eyes. As he moved his black cloak flew behind him. Naruto and Sasuke had taken their time to design these cloaks, choosing to abandon the signature colours they once wore as shinobi of Konoha.
These were black robes with a fox’s hand sprouting from the border beneath. This was important for Naruto ever since he had befriended the nine tails and learnt about how villages used the creature for their wars, imprisoned him for their gain and blamed him for everything. Also, he had been shunned because he was the vessel for the creature. It was a little ironic that now this village was being horribly crushed under the weight of a colossal, huge Kurama. On the cloak, Kurama’s fist was open and was letting a bunch of crows free. The crows were for Itachi, a boy who never actually got his freedom. The new clothes signified Naruto and Sasuke’s new beginning, and they loved it.
“Look at it, Sasuke!” Naruto shouted; his voice filled with exhilaration. “We did it! We finally did it!” He spun around, his arms outstretched as if embracing the chaos around him. The Uchiha stood a short distance away, his expression cool and calculating, though there was a subtle satisfaction in his eyes as he watched Naruto and a peaceful smile.
‘So, arson is the only thing that can bring a smile to that face?’ Naruto asked while moving closer to his frien- no, not friend. Sasuke was his partner now, his boyfriend.
‘No, I think you do it quite well too.’
Sasuke’s voice was smooth, and Naruto let that baritone wash over him. It had not been long since they got together, so maybe you call say that Naruto was still in his honeymoon phase. Sasuke was freer now, maybe because the burden of his family and Itachi’s history had been shed, or because he finally had an intimate relationship with Naruto. But the Uchiha smiled more, talked more and was not as snappy as he once used to be.
Don’t get them wrong, they still have the innate thirst to be better, stronger. And before lovers, they were rivals. Though now, Sasuke would hold his hand after they yell at each other and well the angry sex as well as the hate sex were both mind-blowing.
“Ah teme, you’re getting too soft.” Naruto said softly as blood rushed to his cheeks. He looped his hands around Sasuke’s neck and pressed his body close, both their breaths mingling. Sasuke’s dark eyes bore onto Naruto’s blue ones.
Their lips met in an electrifying kiss; it was as though no matter how many times they had been together Naruto would never be able to react to kissing Sasuke normally. It still feels like the first time, it still feels like he is getting familiar with the Uchiha’s body, his soul.
Sasuke’s insistent mouth parted Naruto’s shaking lips and it sent wild tremors down the blonde’s body. Sasuke’s fingers tangled in Naruto’s golden hair, pulling him closer as if they could mould into one. Naruto almost lost himself in the embrace, but it was Sasuke who pulled apart.
“They’re here” the raven said.
“I know.”
"Sasuke" Sakura shouted, and Naruto rolled his eyes. Sasuke chuckled but didn't let his grip on Naruto loosen.
“Ah Sakura-chan!” Naruto exclaimed. He was irked, till now Sakura almost called for Sasuke first. At first Naruto thought it was jealousy because he liked Sakura but soon, he realized that he was jealous, but for the wrong reasons.
Sasuke did not loosen his grip on Naruto and in turn maneuvered them both in such a way that they were sitting with Naruto firmly on Sasuke’s lap. His ass perched right on top of Sasuke’s dick. Sasuke had buried his face in Naruto’s neck inhaling him deeply, ignoring even the speck of Sakura’s presence.
"Say Sakura. How does it feel?"
Sakura didn't know what to say. How did she feel about what? Watching the village crumble? Watching everybody die? Watching the man, she loved be behind it? Then watching him kissing someone else, have someone sit on his lap while the love of her life is holding him the way she wanted to be held?
"How does what feel?" She asked, finding her voice but still looking at the ground.
"Oh, you know, being an orphan" he asked. Her eyes snapped back to the blonde, and he looked as though he was genuinely curious.
"What?" She screamed. How could Naruto have the audacity to ask such a daunting question, did he want to agitate her further? Had he really lost all sensitivity and humanity?
"You remember, you always wanted that. You definitely used to tell me how lucky I was. So, do you think you can do anything now? Is it better that they won't be there to hold you back? Maybe you're happier now, they aren't there to embarrass you over your achievements. Wait, Sasuke what are the other perks of having no parents?"
"Nobody to tell you what to do" Sasuke chirped in and laid back against the tree trunk that supported his back. There was a lazy grin on his face and there was a time Sakura would have died to see it, now she felt like dying because of it.
"You know it's good you got to experience it. After all nobody knows about dreams better than us. So maybe a little gratitude Sakura-chan? You get to be an orphan, is it as good as you imagined?”
She wanted to scream all frustrated. But by that time, all the others she had come with, were standing next to her.
“Oh, my Sasuke, we got an entire army here.” Naruto said while Sasuke chuckled. The words were not as humiliating as it was to realize that the duo were not even the least bit threatened by the force standing in front of them.
Kiba was the first to charge towards them, angrily yelling some words that got lost in the wind. It took a look from Sasuke for Kiba to get burnt with black flames which did not seem to go out no matter how much one tried. After that, each person who charged on them suffered a similar fate.
Sakura had just been crying watching her friends die one by one. She watched the light go out of their eyes and felt her own will and courage decrease along with it. It was some time till only her and Shikamaru remained. Sakura charged in, would it make a difference? She did not know. But one thing was clear to her now more than ever, she never was on the same level as her teammates. They were gifted, she knows. But if she had been better, if she had noticed how miserable the village had made them both, maybe things would be different.
It does not matter now does it? Because the man she loves just drove his hand through her heart and she can feel her body shutting down. No more tears came down, now there was just darkness.
_________________________
Sasuke and Naruto lived quite happily.
They saved the ones who were meant to be saved, and punished all those who didn’t. As Konoha burnt so did the sadness and burden they carried ever since they were infants.
Life had been hard, but you know how fire is purifying? Maybe it just purified all their inner demons – is the stupid reasoning Naruto gives to Sasuke who in turn just smiled and muttered ‘ussuratonkachi’.