Reborn!

15: True Shinobi Are Stealthy

"What do you mean?" Naruto repeated, now cursing the fact that he had not seen fit to use sleeping gas to make sure that his friend did not awaken during the procedure.

"I have to admit that your disguise was excellent, though. Flawless, in fact," Sasuke continued, activating his Rinne Sharingan as he observed the transformation. "I was not aware that Hokage-sama had possessed such a perfect transformation technique."

Scowling, Naruto reluctantly admitted, "I just wanted to make you immortal."

"I can tell," the Uchiha replied wryly as he watched Naruto's transformation fade away to reveal the form that he usually associated with his friend.

"You're going to accept it?" Naruto asked, not bothering to conceal the hopefulness in his voice.

"Of course not," Sasuke snorted. "I have no wish to see everyone I care for die before me."

Naruto visibly deflated.

"Oh."

"But a fail-safe to ensure that I don't die before I want to will be well-warranted," Sasuke spoke quickly, noticing his friend's disappointment.

"There is no way that I will prepare such a shoddy and incomplete thing," Naruto did not hesitate to reply, shooting the idea down right away.

"So you want us three to be alive until the end of the world?" Sasuke shot back.

"Well..." he looked away guiltily.

The raven sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Look, I do not blame you for wanting to keep us safe and protected. Honestly, I am touched that you care so much about us. However, I do not want to be immortal. You do not want it for yourself either, do you? I doubt that Sakura would just take that idea sitting down either. I understand your fear of losing us. I also worry about your safety all the time, with you running off on all sorts of adventures every other day, after all. Despite that, it does not mean that I desire immortality. Even if you cannot come up with such a method, it is fine. I will accept my end if and when it comes. I will simply make the most of my life while it lasts. I will try to make a difference while I can. None of us wants the end of the world to befall us once more. That is why we chose to return to the past, remember? You have gotten completely sidetracked with your paranoia with regards to the safety of Sakura and myself," the dark-eyed one of the duo explained patiently yet not patronisingly, smiling sadly at the rather broken look in his friend's eyes.

"Yet I cannot help but fear that I might lose you two. You are all I have left," the blond breathed, tears streaking down his face as he reached out to brush his fingers over Sasuke's cheek.

"We came back," Sasuke insisted, his voice firm as he caught Naruto's wrist and forced the other male to meet his gaze. "This is our second chance. We can fix this."

Naruto looked down sadly, avoiding Sasuke's probing eyes.

"I know, but it is just so... painful to see them all again when I can still remember seeing all their cold corpses littering the ground," Naruto said this in a whisper, regret tinging his voice.

Regret for not being strong enough, for having been such a fool as to not keep those dear to him closer. He blamed himself. How could he not? They had fought for him, who was the last jinchūriki. They had run towards their deaths at his command. It was all his fault.

"No one blamed you, Naruto. You did what was best for all of us, Leader of the Shinobi Alliance Namikaze Naruto-sama," Sasuke responded in an almost-joking manner. "They are all alive, are they not? We can try again. We will save all of them this time. I will not foolishly abandon my friends and family this time. You will not be forced to play the fool until the end, this time. We are here now and that changes everything."