I don't own Naruto. Mr Kishimoto Does.

Author's note: Hey there Readers!, Welcome to Arc 3 Phase 2. I Hope you guys enjoy! I would also like to thank you guys for the Reviews. Favorites, and follows :)

Expect some grammar and spelling mistakes along the way.

Thank you for Understanding :)

P.S

I also have a new story called "Resurrection" The story is about the dead mysteriously coming back to life years after the war. Feel free to check out the story:)

Arc 3: Phase 2

(Flashback)

"Mama, what was it like when you first met Papa?"

Curiosity had finally caught up with the little girl. Sarada observed a set of small picture frames displayed on a certain table located in the living room. One photo had been giving her all the curiousity for years already, that one photo which contained the only image of her father, who she hasn't met in person before.

The little girl adjusted her glasses as she continued to observed the lone image of her mysterious father. She had no idea when this was taken but she assumed that her father was very much very young in this photo, specifically during his teenage years.

"Was He always this serious-looking?" She added to her questions. Was her Papa really that kind of person?

Sakura, who was busy ironing clothes, could only smile as she began to reminisce the good old days. Right from time of her childhood to her teenage years until now, she still couldn't figured out on why her husband had retained that serious look in him.

"Well, Your father has been always serious since we were kids." Sakura replied as she gave a small giggle.

Little Sarada could only raised an eyebrow in confusion." So that's why he was center of attention with the girls." She asked.

Another smile was let out from the pink haired woman." That's right!" She simply said. She had been expecting this from her daughter for awhile now, and she was glad that she was ready for anytime that she asked about him.

Little Sarada then gave an amused look." Looks like it, but I'm still don't get why would a lot of girls like serious people." She wondered, as she observed her younger Papa's eyes.

Those eyes, as if he had went through a lot of things.

Just then a new question popped out and she proceeded to ask.

"Was there are time that you guys had an argument or maybe the first time you guys fight over something?" She added the question to her list of curiosities.

As for Sakura, there were a lot of memories from the vault and there was this one memory regarding a certain person to which she had ultimately lost during that silent night years ago.

"Thank you for everything"

She still remembered those last words.

There was silence around the living room, Little Sarada was very much confused to see her Mama, staring at the blank space as there small tears falling from her eyes. Was she okay?

Sakura gave a small smile." Yes, there were a lot of times." She simply replied, turning her eyes towards her daughter." You know Sarada, your father was a very different person back then." She added, before continuing." He was more ambitious with his goals, and you wouldn't like him as a person." She explained.

"Wouldn't like him? Come on Mama, I know a lot of kids, who has that same attitude." Sarada gave another skeptical look.

Sakura could only gave a small smile." Well, but not as tacky as your father." She said, her daughter having no idea that she had to go through a lot of challenges and hardships just to bring back him back from the darkness, which kept him for many years.

As for Little Sarada, she was unable to get the big picture regarding her Mama's story. What was really going on with them when they were young? Did something happened that made the relationship sour before?

The raven haired girl might not know the real story but she hoped that she will understand it when the right time arrives.

She hoped to meet him soon.

Present Day

?

Cold sweat was all over her skin, Sarada hid behind a certain boulder as she silently watched the scene unfold from behind. At this moment in time, she was frozen to the point where she can't even move her whole body properly, the pressure was high as she could feel her heart beating fast. The wind was in its peak completing to what is now, the tense atmosphere.

The rookie moved her eyes around to observed the rest of the surroundings. The whole place was pretty much messed up by the unexpected explosion. She almost found herself being crushed to death by the falling debris but she was able to avoid danger by swiftly evading all of them and even destroying a boulder into pieces.

Everybody, except for two certain blondes, stood still as all their heads were looking up, staring at a the raven haired teen for the first time.

She was now just an observer as she found herself witnessing scene in history unfold. She recalled when she was a kid, her Mama used to tell her stories, her experiences as a Shinobi during her younger years and there was one time that she told a memory regarding Team 7's first encounter with the Uchiha years after his defection.

"Could this be it?"

"Could this be that moment?"

She thought to herself before changing positions to take a good look on what was happening right now.

She narrowed her eyes closely and observed.

So far there were only three people at the scene, the main members of Team 7, consisting of Sakura and Sai, and the former member, Sasuke Uchiha, who was standing on higher grounds, overlooking down at them.

The sun was in its peak, bringing nothing but the heat and blinding light. Silence was all over the ruins except for the wind that continue to blew passed by.

As for Sasuke, the raven haired teen moved his eyes around in order to see if there was anyone besides them here. A few moments later, he suddenly remembered that there was something missing, someone from his past.

There was only one more person that was missing and by the time that person arrives, the reunion would now be complete and all he have to do was to wait.

(Interview)

"It was pretty much a different atmosphere, I knew that it would be very plain stupid if I immediately reveal myself just to forcefully take over the situation, so I chose to stay hidden for awhile and observe more."

-Sarada

(Meanwhile)

His heart was racing.

Naruto dashed his way through the final pathway of the corridor. By the time he had heard the conversation and that the rest of the team had managed to find the long lost Uchiha, a sudden burst of adrenaline took over him as he felt the need to head to that area where the rest were currently at.

His only fault was not telling the rookie before he left but he managed to wave a goodbye sign towards Showtaro and his friend, telling them to catch up once they have recovered.

All those three years that he had trained and worked hard was for this moment. He considered himself to be ready and prepared to finally confront him. He still remembered that fateful day which he failed to bring him back because he wasn't strong enough. That wss still stuck in his mind, which kept repeating everyday.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in determination. He found himself going through different directions and time passed he found himself running towards a certain exit which would eventually led him towards his final destination. From a distance he could finally see two people standing there, which soon revealed to be his two teammates in the form of Sakura and Sai.

He shook his head as he didn't believed that he was too late. No matter what happens, he's going to prove that all those years wasn't a fluke and he will make sure that promise that he made will be fulfilled.

He briefly stopped his tracks and rested for several seconds. He was gathering every confidence that he could find as there was no turning back once he proceeded on. Naruto took a deep breath and soon continued on his feet as he headed towards final exit.

As He finally reached the end of his journey, he let out his last words before entering the scene.

"I'm gonna bring you back, Dattebayo

By the time he stepped out from the darkness, he was immediately greeted by the bright light as he found himself being almost blinded by it. His vision was blurry and could only see the glimpses of his teammates, who were all standing in the middle and looking upwards.

"What are they doing?" He asked himself as he stopped his tracks once he arrived at the middle.

"Are you guys alright?" He immediately asked the two, although thr blonde didn't get at least a response from them.

Naruto continued to expand his mind as he proceeded to looked around the area that he was currently in right now. It seemed that this place was a training room or somesort that had been recently destroyed. He then recalled that there was a mysterious earthquake that rattled the whole hideout before, and it was all finally coming to him.

He immediately felt a familiar presence from above and as soon as he stopped his direction and looked up like the rest of his teammates were now doing.

By the time he looked up, his vision became clearer and he widened his shocked to see a familiar face that he had not seen for these past three years.

A face, which had very cold eyes staring at him right now.

"Sasuke." Naruto muttered under his breath. His body was frozen in shocked as he had no idea that all of this would be so overwhelming for him.

It was a very unexpected moment for him and he stood there staring with a mixed of disbelief and shocked.

As for Sasuke, the guy kept his emotionless state, He narrowed his eyes towards the trio as he continued to observed them, especially the blonde." So you're here huh?"

So far there were only three of them and without any Jounin captain leading them, which gave confusion.

Where was Kakashi?

Was He too sick to go?

Or Was He usually late as always on his arrivals.

" I assumed Kakashi is with you somewhere here." The Uchiha said, although there was no response from the other party.

Although, it doesn't matter since it was kind of an amusing thing for him to see them all once again after three years. He had to admit that those two had really changed since he had last saw them. He wondered on how strong they were now.

He kept his eyes towards the trio and continued to observed them. By the time he had laid his sight on the black haired teen, which was Sai, He finally realized the revelation.

"So he's my replacement?" He asked, wanting to know the clarification from the rest, but there was still no response, giving him another chance to make another comment of his own.

"So another loser has join in the ranks."

(MEANWHILE)

?

It was indeed a very shocking and surprising moment for the team, especially for Naruto and Sakura. Everyone had expected this to happened, they were ready for every possiblities ahead of them although still they weren't able to to immediately act by the time the moment had arrived.

They were all silent, especially Naruto, who's mind was on overdrive, thinking of any ways to bring his professionalism out of him. He wanted to show everyone that he had matured and he can handle this types of situations.

Although, the only problem was that he had been quiet for too long already, he was pretty too late which instead brought more awkwardness to the situation.

He looked to his right and saw his pink haired teammate, who's also having the same kind of problem as well." Sakura-chan too!?" He thought to himself, as he briefly observed the girl, who was having a tough time to recuperate.

While the two teens where still finding their confidence, Sai had other plans, He was more in the side of getting things done, with a very serious face, he proceeded to raised up his katana, getting the attention of everyone, even surprising the pink haired teen.

"What the heck Sai!?" Naruto widened his eyes in surprised and exclaimed out.

Sakura, being the calmest stood there baffled once more. She thought the teen haf already change and turned into a new leaf." Sai, you're mission was to-" She was suddenly interrupted by the latter.

"Yes! My original mission was secretly assasinate Sasuke-kun." He said, before continuing on." But I don't care about my orders anymore." He added, narrowing his eyes towards the Uchiha.

"I want to act my own free will now, and I want Naruto-kun to help me remember to what its like to feel." He explained, finally showing his true colors to the everyone.

"And I think it was something important."

Naruto and Sakura continued to listen to the young root. This was the first time that they hear speak like this. It was not the usual strange emotionless teenager that they met days ago.

As for Sai, he gave his all his voice out and exclaimed towards the Uchiha." I don't know much about you but I know there's a reasom why Naruto and Sakura came all the way here just for you!" He said.

"They're all going out here just to keep that "Bond" from being severed." He said, as he took glances at the two." I still don't understand that."

"But for you, you must understand that!"

There was silence that took over once more. Sai finished his speech strong as he expected it to be. He really wanted the Uchiha to realized that "Bond" And he hope that guy would understand everything that was happening right now.

Although, his efforts were still yet to be considered worth it.

Sasuke could only gave a small smirk and shook his head. What was this guy saying? Does he even know anything about his history? Why was he blurting out words as if he already knows the truth?

"You don't know anything." The Uchiha replied towards the teen." You see, I have a different "Bond." He added, as his mind began to trigger the memories of his big brother, especially that fateful night.

"I have a bond of hatred with my brother." He continued." Surely, other bonds had merely confused you and I understand why." He explained." And distract you from your greatest desires and emotions that matter."

He was a person who never lets himself be taken over and weakened by these bonds, he had to stay like this way in order to achieved his goal. Heck, he would not even hesitate to severe his former bonds with his old teammates, apparently he considered the bonds that tied him to them, a hindrance to his goal.

He was showing everything from his despise and carelessness just to make them believed and realized that they should have given up. The last time they had a chance to save him was three years ago, during his battle with the blonde at the valley..

As for Naruto, He was narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth in annoyance. He refused to believed the Uchiha's statement.

"Then Why Didn't you Kill me!?" The blonde said, referring to his last battle with the Uchiha at the Valley of the End." Is this your Idea of cutting off bonds!? Sasuke!" He furiously added, much to the concern of his pink haired teammate.

There was quietness once more as Sasuke closed his eyes, remembering his big brother's last words to him." The reason is simple." He said." It's not that I couldn't cut off my bonds with you."

"The idea of doing what he said in order to become more poweful made me sick." He added.

Naruto narrowed his eyes." What are you trying to tell me?" He asked, all of these was vague for him.

Sasuke continued to be emotionless expression." That day I left you on a whim..." He trailed off, still recalling his unexpected victory three years ago, before jumping down towards the blonde in a blink of an eye.

The rest of everybody was startled and shocked to find the find the Uchiha in front of them already and He was leaning on the blonde as he continued to his speech." Come to think of it, wasn't your dream to become Hokage?" He asked.

"You should've spent these three years training instead of wasting your time around chasing me, right Naruto?" Sasuke added, secretly giving a small devious smile.

"And this time I'm going to kill you on a whim." He finished his sentence as he drew out his blade, and pointed it on the blonde's back, He was serious in his words and he was really going to do it.

Sakura was still shocked, as much as she wanted take action right now, she was unable to, because her whole body was frozen and she can't even move a single muscle. She directed her eyes towards the young root, who was still standing there." What are you doing Sai!?" She exclaimed.

(Interview)

"Every single thing was happening at the same time, I really wanted to help Naruto, but something was preventing me to do so. Sai on the other hand was obviously going to take matters in to his own hands."

-Sakura

(MEANWHILE)

Sarada held gripped her hands on the giant boulder that she was hiding in. She was now on the point of getting out of her position in hopes of saving the seventh but it would only reveal her presence to the rest.

She was now eager and ready to do it. It looked as if her teen Papa was really going for the kill and she had no choice but to take action right now or else.

And as she was about to make her move, something unexpected interrupted and prevented her in the form of certain familiar male voice from behind.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

(MEANWHILE)

Naruto stood there still, he was in fact surprised, despite the distinctive sound of the blade being drawn he still decided to handle the situation in a more calmer way, he still remembered and kept the blonde rookies' advices, he knew that it was the only way to do it.

He was still on the Uchiha's grasps and it was the perfect time to respond." Someone who can't even save even one friend isn't fit to become Hokage." He replied back, towards his former teammate.

"Right, Sasuke?" He added, with a little dose of sarcasm.

Sasuke stayed in silence." So be it" He said before proceeding to stabbed the blonde on the back.

The world began to slow down as the rest watched the Uchiha slowly directed his blade towards the blonde's back. Everyone thought this was finally it since it was too late to interfere but in the last few seconds, a certain black haired teen quickly rushed and blocked the attack.

By the time Sasuke had proceeded to stab the blonde, the young root took action and as swiftly as the wind he appeared in front of the Uchiha, and behind the blonde's back, blocking the attack by immediately grabbing raven haired teen's hand.

?

It immediately grabbed the attention and caused both surprised reactions from Sakura and Sarada at the same time, although Naruto remained calmed, He had already expected the young root to take action.

Meanwhile, the momentum was transfered between Sai and Sasuke, as they engaged on a stare off.

"That's the correct way to block my attack I'm surprised." The Uchiha commented with a sarcastic tone of voice. In truth, He was a bit amused since the other guy was treating this seriously.

As for Naruto, He gave a brief eye contact towards the young root as he decided to make the first move by suddenly grabbing the Uchiha's arm in order to incapacitate him long enough for Sai to make the second attack by knocking him down.

Although, The Uchiha was a step ahead of them as a series of lightning bolts began to appear on both of his hands summoning a familiar technique.

"Chidori Nagashi!"

Not more than a second a the ligtning quickly spread out and headed towards both of the two teens beside him. It unleashed a small explosion causing the teens to forcibly let go of the Uchiha as they were sent flying away to a distance, crashing on the ground.

Sasuke stood as the lightning static was surrounding him. He observed his surroundings

It didn't stop from there as the Uchiha turned his direction towards the blonde, who was still recovering, and proceeded to charge at him at full speed.

As for Naruto, The blonde was still recovering when he suddenly felt a presence fast approaching him. He immediately looked up and saw his former teammate charging at him at full speed.

He wasn't able to react that much since the other teen was faster, and for a few seconds there, He really felt helpless and just stared at him waiting for his supposed demise.

Luckily, He was able to gather himself up as he felt this strange energy that burst out inside of him and it wasn't from the Kyuubi. As if it was an untapped energy or just merely an unknown instinct that he wasn't aware of.

Naruto quickly evaded the attack, causing the Uchiha to hit the ground instead.

The blonde stood up as he immediately drew out his Kunai, anticipating another attack from the latter which happened in a matter of seconds.

Sasuke drove towards Naruto once more, gripping his blade, as he was ready to give another attack once more.

Naruto, this time prepared, braced himself as he sided on the defensive stance. He knew that this was going down the line, and as the Uchiha finally reached him, he gripped his Kunai and sway his hand thus clashing with the other's blade.

The battle between the blonde Uzumaki and raven haired Uchiha resumed once again since their last battle three years ago at the Valley of the End.

"Damn!" Naruto gritted his teeth. He was almost overwhelmed by the sheer power that Uchiha projected and he could feel the blue electric sparks of the Chidori trying to transfer to his body and harm him.

He could feel his hands shaking and so as the force of the blade pushing through against him. He had little time left before everything could go wrong for him. Luckily, he managed to avoid another supposed fate as he jumped away from the Uchiha, doing a backflip and landing a few distances away from him.

Sasuke continued to charged at the blonde, who braced himself once more, and this time his attempted strike was blocked yet again by the blonde, which was followed his counterattack via a quick uppertcut up to the chin which stunned him.

Naruto slowly turned to the offensive side as he followed a series of strikes towards the Uchiha, who immediately anticipated it, and evaded those attacks with ease.

The battle was slowly turning into a Taijutsu fight.

Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance as he can't seemed to land any of his attacks on the Uchiha since his sneaky uppercut. Even though, his Taijutsu wasn't on the elite levels, yet still he believed in his ability and continued to held his own against the Uchiha.

As for Sasuke, He kept a small amused look, He never really expected the blonde to be keeping up with this. It was very typical of him to be unpredictable right now, yet he still can see the flaws in the blonde.

After a handful of time engaging on a Taijutsu battle, The Uchiha decided that it was finally enough as he looked forward to end this once and for all. He swiftly evaded one strike by the blonde by ducking down causing the teen to gave a surprised look. He then proceeded to immediately strike the blonde right on the stomach using the handle of the Katana to incapacitate him.

He didn't used his Chidori or even strike him with the sharp edges of the blade because of reasons that he can't even explained.

Naruto cringed as he felt the pain in his stomach, he let go of his fighting stance as he was then sent flying towards a distance via a strong kick from the Uchiha. The blonde landed and came crashing on ground and also letting go of his Kunai.

Sakura stood there as she helplessly watched the the scene unfold right in front of her. Here it was again, as her own fear was taking over and she couldn't even bring herself to helped the blonde. The atmosphere was very tensed as she tried to move her wobbly legs towards the scene.

She kept her eyes on the Uchiha, who was still dealing with the blonde.

A thought then suddenly came up to the pink haired teen. If she could act fast enough, she could end this battle by sneaking up to the Uchiha in hopes of knocking him out. It was indeed a really good idea but the only problem was that she didn't have enough time execute her move since she felt a presence from the behind.

Sakura widened her eyes in surprised to see that raven haired teen was gone in front of her and by the time she turned around, she saw those familiar onyx black eyes looking at her own.

The pink haired teen was startled as she slowly took a few steps back. She never expected that it would turned out this way. Her mind was on overdrive as she thought of ways to handle the situation. She was going into a state of panic.

Although, outside of her state of shock, was a calm Sasuke Uchiha who just stood there giving her a look that no one had seen before. There were no signs of him going to attack as in that very moment, the raven haired teen just observed the pink haired teen as if he hadn't seen her in years.

For Sakura, she also noticed something different in his eyes, they were weary and tired, of course it would be very obvious since he lost his family, been a rogue genin that was training under Orochimaru, but it was different, as if the guy had been through a lot of things in a span of decades or maybe that was only her guess.

The pink haired teen was speechless, she tried to bring out any words from her mouth, but at the same time, she was running out of things to say.

It was at this time that the raven haired teen began saying something to her, to which she didn't clearly heard. It was a faint whisper, something in the lines of "I'm sorry" or simply just mentioning her name. It made her more confused and wondered if he was really going attack him or not.

As Sasuke took the steps forward, he was then prevented once more as he then felt another headache which forced him to cringed in pain and held his head, much to the surprised of the pink haired teen, who took a few steps forward to see if he was alright.

"S-Sasuke." Sakura mentioned the teen's name, as she slowly neared him.

As for The Uchiha, the pain was taking its toll as images and mysterious memories began to flashed right before him. Seeing also a mysterious blurry vision of a man carrying a staff and hearing a cryptic sentence from him.

"You'll be forever trapped inside, and you will never come out!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth." No!" He exclaimed to himself as he tried to resist it once more. Everything was going down for him as the darkness was pushing him back.

It was at this time that something unexpected had happened in form of a new arrival, as he felt a force immediately surrounding him and something had wrapped around him in the form a number of Ink subtances that was summoned by a certain black haired teen from behind.

"Sai!" Sakura exclaimed as she too was surprised.

From behind the Uchiha was the young root Shinobi as he finally recovered from the electric blast that he had received just awhile ago. He used all the remaining time that he had to prepare himself and waited for the right moment to strike and he knew this was the moment that he had been waiting for.

While the Uchiha was still incapacitated, he wasted no time as he made his move by drawing out his Kunai and began to charged at him, along with some ink creatures beside him. He was going full forced on this one as he seemed to have the upper hand already.

Although what he didn't expect was that the Uchiha's headaches had stopped and the teen suddenly turned his attention towards the young root with full blood red eyes of the Sharingan.

Sai widened his eyes in shocked as he felt his body slowly being paralyzed from head to to toe. Although, this time he was mentally prepared as he continued his charged as his ink creatures continued to disintigrate one by one.

As he finally reached the Uchiha, he proceeded to raised up his small blade in an attempt to strike him down, but in an unexpected twist, The ink substanced surrounding the Uchiha vanished into thin air, causing the teen to fully turned around and gave the young root a smirked.

"Too bad." Sasuke muttered before finally making his move as he thrust his blade towards the young root's shoulder completely stabbing him and sending him towards a boulder crashing on it.

Sai winced in pain as he felt the blade go through his flesh as blood began coming out from his wound thereafter. Half of his body going numb because of the pain that he had received.

Sasuke was gave a cold stare at the teen as he let his blade pinned the young root on the boulder." You always had the bad timing but I've gotta to say that it was a clever bold move." He commented with slight amused tone.

Sai could only grit annoyance." Dammit! I thought I had him." He cursed to himself. He felt disappointed and at the same time helpless. There was really no stopping this guy unless-->>

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