Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A State of Utter Denial ❯ Sasuke's Plan ( Chapter 1 )

 

 

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A State of Utter Denial

by thatreevesgirl

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Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers in this story! Well, the first half of this chapter has spoilers, not really anything else other than that. There are a lot of references to the most current manga chapters here

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money from writing this fic.

 

 

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Chapter 1: Making a Deal

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The instant Orochimaru died, the mark laid upon Sasuke's neck, the curse seal, dissipated. Its once seemingly permanent presence evaporated from Sasuke's skin, as the last breath was drawn from the elder Konohan defector and known traitor. The flood of consciousness which followed wracked Sasuke's body, and an overwhelming feeling of relief captured him. Trying to make sense of the horrors he'd experienced while training with the snake-sannin, Sasuke dropped the katana which he'd been carrying and gazed down at the man who he was straddling, who he'd almost killed in the moments before Orochimaru's death. Pinned below Sasuke's body, trapped beneath the strong muscled thighs of the deadly raven-haired shinobi, was the Uchiha's former teammate and friend. Sasuke attempted to swallow the hard lump trapped in his throat in order to speak. He finally allowed himself to acknowledge the blond teen who was staring up with confused blue orbs.

 

“Naruto?” Sasuke murmured, and then blacked out as hailstorm of shuriken hit him from behind.

 

“No!” Naruto wailed, furious at the person who had carelessly attacked Sasuke.

 

A silver-haired man limped over to where Naruto and the unconscious Uchiha were, shaking his head at the youth who was clutching the limp body to his, as tears threatened to fall from the blond boy's eyes. Kakashi pulled Sasuke away from Naruto, taking time to carefully bind the traitor's arms and legs.

 

“Don't worry Naruto, I wasn't aiming to kill. They were laced with a sleeping poison. He'll wake up after we take him back to Konoha. You understand that we have to take precautions.”

 

Naruto glared at his teacher, but nodded slightly as he took in the scene around them. The battle had been difficult, and at some moments, seemed entirely too impossible to win. The combination of Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sasuke were a dangerous trio to try and defeat. The first to fall was Kabuto, strategically taken out by Shikamaru in order to prevent him from healing or aiding Orochimaru as they attacked the snake-wielding sannin.

 

Orochimaru was much more difficult to take down, and it took nearly half the jonin from Konoha and Naruto's newest and nearly invincible jutsu to even remotely come close to winning. Sasuke had almost taken their chances away as he ruthlessly attacked his former teammate. At the time the Uchiha didn't care what Orochimaru had said about Naruto being important to helping them fight off the Akatsuki, the Kyuubi containing boy was a threat who would kill them both if Sasuke didn't take his life first. So the eternal rivals began yet another of their epic battles for dominance over each other.

 

Naruto would have let Sasuke kill him.

 

The battle wore on, and both ninja were dangerously low on chakra and Naruto had nearly transformed into Kyuubi several times. There was an instance when Naruto had an opening, a moment in which he could have easily taken Sasuke out with his newest jutsu, which combined his wind elemental powers with the Rasengan, but Naruto couldn't kill Sasuke. The power behind the newest attack was an all or nothing venture. It was meant take life, to wholly slaughter the enemy, and therefore the choice was an alive Sasuke or a dead one.

 

When it came down to his life or Sasuke's, it was a choice which Naruto could have made in his sleep. There was no way Naruto could consciously take his friend's life. It didn't matter how many people Sasuke would kill, or the havoc the Uchiha could wreak on the world…Naruto could never murder Sasuke. That was why the Uchiha had an opening, and had nearly snuffed out the life of his closest friend in the entire world. Sasuke only stopped seconds before slicing Naruto into tiny shreds with his katana, when the rest of the Leaf ninja killed Orochimaru, but the worst thing was Naruto was going to let him, Sasuke knew that.

 

Shikamaru and Jiraiya were examining what little remained of Orochimaru's body, and Ino was tending to Sakura, who had been extensively injured by Kabuto. Sai was helping Temari and Kankuro, who had graciously agreed to come and help the Leaf ninja in their efforts. The Kazekage and the Hokage were forced to remain in their respective villages, because with most of the more powerful ninja fighting this battle, it left Konoha and Suna prone to attack.

 

Thanks mostly to Naruto's incredible new power, none of the Leaf ninja had lost their lives, though many were maimed beyond repair. There was a time when Gai had cradled and held Lee in his arms after the preliminary rounds of the Chunin Exam, now it was Lee's turn to console and try to help Gai as he watched his sensei writhe in pain. Gai was missing the lower half of his left leg, and though Shizune had been able to get the bleeding to stop, the missing portion of the appendage was long gone along with the summoned snake which had ripped it from Gai's body.

 

Naruto sighed, sometimes life as a ninja could be pure hell, and there were days—like today—which the young man wished the world was different.

 

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Six Months Later

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Naruto sat at Ikamaru's Ramen stand with Sakura and Hinata, laughing and joking together. Naruto didn't notice the shy glances which Hinata gave him, and Sakura was still oblivious to Naruto's long (and not very well hidden) handsome smirks which were sent her way. Sakura had almost admitted to having feelings for Naruto during her team's first attempt to retrieve Sasuke with Sai and Yamato, but had since refocused her attention on Sasuke. It was really nice to have him back in Konoha.

 

Due to the duress which Sasuke had been under due to the activated curse seal, the council of elders gave the young man the equivalence of a slap on the wrist for betraying Konoha. Sasuke had received a year of arduous reprogramming (given by Ibiki, a man well known for his plethora of ways to torture a person), being under constant supervision for at least two years, confinement to the Konoha detainment center for two months immediately following his return, and house arrest for the three months which followed that. Sasuke should have been sentenced to death immediately, so as harsh as the punishment was for leaving, it could have been much worse.

 

It had been a month since Sasuke had been released from house arrest and allowed to set a foot outside the door of the main Uchiha manor (but still never without his personal guard). Sasuke, who was more powerful than Orochimaru and possibly any other ninja in the lands, was demoted to pre-genin. The teen was forced to retake classes at the academy before returning to his genin post. Chunin and jonin weren't even a remote possibility for the Uchiha, at least not for many, many years.

 

Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata were still chatting when Konoha's favorite silver-haired jonin wandered up, reading a familiar orange book of questionable content and towing along a very grumpy looking young man.

 

“Shifts over,” Kakashi told Naruto, handing off Sasuke to the blond. The older jonin waved at the group and started walking away. “Have fun,” he called back as he left.

 

“Thanks Kakashi!” Naruto shouted at his sensei, and then turned to greet his friend. “Hiya, how are you doing today?”

 

Sasuke didn't really answer, he only responded with a typical, “Hn,” and a disinterested look as he took the seat next to Naruto. Naruto knew Sasuke had probably just finished with another of his “reprogramming” seminars with Ibiki. Every time Sasuke came out of the small, closed room which Ibiki and he sat in, the young Uchiha would return looking a bit more broken by the experience. Naruto was sure that was the point of it all, but still…he hated seeing Sasuke go through it.

 

“Want some ramen?” Sakura asked, offering what was left of her meal to Sasuke.

 

The raven-haired teen only grimaced and looked at the bowl with great disdain, shaking his head no. Naruto, however, quickly took Sakura up on the offer, slurping down the rest of the bowl's contents happily.

 

Though slightly amused by the humorous scene, Sakura rolled her eyes at her teammate with the bottomless stomach, and then turned her attention to Sasuke. It wasn't like when she was thirteen, wholly annoying and disgustingly flirtatious with her attempts to woo the Uchiha, but Sakura desired a relationship with her former teammate. She smiled at Sasuke, and using her more mature take on relationships, Sakura attempted to rekindle something which she swore Sasuke and her shared.

 

Sasuke didn't hate Sakura, no…it just wasn't there for him. The time which she spent with him when he was under house arrest (even though most of that was while she guarded him), and even now after he had been released back into the populace of Konoha, was enjoyable to Sasuke. He considered Sakura a friend and appreciated the kindness and respect which she showed him (so few in Konoha did so these days). He cherished that, but it didn't help form any feelings of romance toward the young woman.

 

Sasuke had been told he probably wouldn't be returning to Team 7, mostly because the remaining members were now all jonin, and he wasn't even a genin yet. It was irritating to know he might have to get used to another team, and even more frustrating to know that there was another person who had replaced him. It was Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto and this Sai guy. In Sasuke's mind, Sai only had one redeeming quality, which was that Naruto didn't hate the guy. If Naruto wanted Sasuke to put up with Sai, he would, without question.

 

Sasuke turned his attention to Hinata, watching as she quietly spoke to Naruto, blushing and nervously looking at her half-eaten bowl of ramen instead of at the blond as they talked. Why couldn't Sakura be more like that? In the time Sasuke had been gone Hinata had blossomed. No longer was she gawky and awkward looking, no…she had definitely grown up, and Naruto (being the idiot he was) hadn't even noticed what a beauty Hinata had become. Here was this graceful, quiet, and kind woman who wanted Naruto, and all Naruto could do was slobber over Sakura.

 

Sasuke wished he and Naruto could trade places, because of all the women in Konoha, there were none more suitable for him than Hinata. It was just like the egotistical bastard to make his relationship choices based on things other than love, but Hinata was the perfect woman to revive the Uchiha clan. Nearly eighteen, Sasuke had to begin thinking about such things, because often shinobi never lived to be thirty…hell, Sasuke had almost died many times thanks to Naruto.

 

Sasuke didn't want Sakura, he wanted Hinata. Sitting and listening to the three chat made the young Uchiha realize how simple it would be if he could just get Sakura to like Naruto and Hinata to like him. Perhaps he would speak to Naruto about his idea later when they were alone. Naruto had a twelve hour shift with Sasuke, so he would be with him until tomorrow morning at eight, leaving plenty of time back at the Uchiha manor for Sasuke to speak with the blond about his devious little plan.

 

Yes…it was a good plan. Naruto would get Sakura, and Sasuke would get Hinata. Sasuke smirked to himself, which brought questioning glances from his three friends, mostly because Sasuke never smiled anymore (not that he ever really smiled before he left Konoha either). Even the tiniest of emotions which the Uchiha released were a welcome event, so Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto only returned the smirk with warm grins of their own.

 

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Later that Night

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Naruto sat on Sasuke's couch, drinking something which he had found in the fridge, a dangerous feat for any individual, because it had probably been there since before Sasuke had defected. It was late, Sasuke would go to bed soon, and so would Naruto. It was awkward, because Sasuke's guard had to set up a cot in the Uchiha's bedroom, so Naruto and Sasuke often slept in the same bed (Naruto hated the damn cot with a passion). It would be easy enough to tell if Sasuke tried to sneak out, but not unless the person was in the same room as him. Naruto didn't even think he should have to guard Sasuke, he trusted his friend to remain loyal to Konoha, fiercely believing in the person Sasuke was.

 

“Gettin' sleepy?” Naruto asked, watching Sasuke as the dark-haired teen paced back and forth in the living room of the manor.

 

“No…thinking,” was the mumbled reply from Sasuke.

 

Sasuke wasn't only thinking, he was scheming to himself about ways to win over Hinata and to pass Sakura along to Naruto. Perhaps it was Sasuke's newfound loyalty to Naruto which made feelings impossible for Sakura. He knew how much Naruto cared for the kunoichi, therefore, he would never attempt to impose himself on someone who Naruto liked.

 

Naruto watched Sasuke with an intense curiosity. “What's going on in that weird head of yours?” Naruto asked.

 

Sasuke shrugged, not sure how to propose his idea of helping each other win over the women they wanted.

 

“Yeah right, teme…you've got something going on. Don't hold back, you know what'll happen next time you're with Ibiki if you harbor weird crap inside yourself.”

 

Sasuke didn't need to be reminded of that. The time he spent with Ibiki each day was torture…literally. Mostly a barrage of mental tests to make sure Sasuke was loyal, but sometimes the young Uchiha had to allow himself to be physically tormented as well. It was what he had agreed upon, this sentence or his life. Sasuke had chosen to live, and if that meant dealing with a bit of unwanted pain, then so be it.

 

Sasuke decided he should probably just discuss the plan with Naruto, or the idiot would keep bothering him about it all night.

 

“You like Sakura, right?”

 

A quizzical look graced Naruto's face, “Well, yeah, that's pretty obvious. Why are you asking about that?” Naruto blushed a bit, and then his confused look transformed into anger, “She likes you, and want to date her, don't you?”

 

“No, dumbass, I don't want to date her,” Sasuke growled at Naruto, as if even the mere suggestion of such a thing was pure idiocy.

 

“Then why are you asking?” Naruto queried again.

 

Wasn't it obvious? Why couldn't Naruto just figure out what Sasuke was trying to say without having to explain it? A long sigh escaped Sasuke's lips before he continued. “I want to help you win Sakura, but I want something in return.”

 

Naruto eye's lit up, “Yeah, yeah, anything…I'll help you with whatever you want if you help me get with Sakura!”

 

The overzealous exuberance was highly annoying to Sasuke, but he continued, “Hinata likes you.”

 

“What?!?” Naruto exclaimed, completely unaware the Hyuuga girl had a crush on him.

 

“She likes you, but I want her to like me,” Sasuke explained.

 

Naruto's face finally showed a bit of understanding. He got it, Sasuke wanted Hinata and was willing to help him win over Sakura if Naruto returned the favor.

 

“Hell yeah!” the blond exclaimed, a foxy grin crossing his lips which even forced a small smirk on Sasuke's mouth as well.

 

This was exactly what Sasuke needed to make returning home feel more normal, to escape the world of revenge by delving into something which was the polar opposite from what he had been trying to achieve for over half of his life. He would start a family, train hard, and someday he'd seek out Itachi and kill him for all the pain Sasuke had endured. That was Sasuke's new plan, and with Naruto helping, perhaps it was even closer than he originally expected.

 

 

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END OF CHAPTER

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End of Chapter Authors Notes: And thatreevesgirl takes a challenge! Cha! I have been wanting to do a Naru/Sasu/Naru fic for awhile, but haven't had any inspiration for one of my quirky little plot devices which I can normally pop out. I can come up with a thousand reasons why odd character pairings should happen, but SasuNaru baffles me. I was lucky enough to snatch up a challenge, so I really want to thank Saxis for their wonderful plot-bunny. I hope I do it justice.

 

Also, I promise the rest of the story won't be quite so dreary, the first part was a bit more angsty than I had hoped. I like funny, not angsty. That is why I am categorizing this as “Angsty Dramedy”…yes, that sounds right.

 

Be warned, this is SasuNaruSasu…but I want to make it as realistic as possible, so there will in-between stuff (so yes, scarily there might be boys kissing girls *gasp*).