Chapter Text
Everything happened so fast that Naruto honestly wasn’t sure what even happened.
One minute he was forming a rasengan, and a big one at that, and the next he was lying on the ground in a pool of blood, whether it was his or Sasuke’s he wasn’t sure, probably both, with a missing right arm and swollen left eye.
What Naruto does remember however was that Kurama had been uncharacteristically quiet during their fight and had only spoken at the end to inform Naruto That he was too drained to repair his arm. Naruto does remember being so angry he wanted to scream at the demon fox and ask him what good was he for then? But he was so exhausted that all he managed was a weak ‘whatever’.
He remembers his conversation with Sasuke and how he’d told Sasuke that if he attempted all this again, Naruto would stop him believe it!
And the last thin Naruto remembers is asking both Sakura and Sasuke, because Sakura had appeared at some point, if they ever wished that they had another chance at life, at this, Whatever this was.
He doesn’t remember their answers because his heart stopped shortly after.
He thought dying would be quiet and peaceful, that his soul would slip away from his body gracefully, but that’s not what he got.
Instead, Naruto Uzumaki’s peace and quiet was rudely disrupted by the sound of an alarm clock blaring, his frog alarm clock to be exact.
He slammed his hand down on it and it shattered into a million pieces, raining minuscule chunks of metal down onto his head.
With that he jolted awake and sat straight up…. In bed?
Panicked, Naruto looked around the room he was in and his panic tripled when he realized he was in his old apartment bedroom and as he scrambled out of bed and shook the metal flakes from his hair, he realized he still had his right arm and with that, he screamed.
******
Sasuke Uchiha couldn’t of asked for a better death.
He was lying on the ground, battered and bruised, left arm destroyed, cut off right above the elbow.
A slow turn of his head to the left not only comforted him, but also terrified him because lying to his left was Naruto Uzumaki . His one and only friend.
Sasuke couldn’t believe his eyes. Here was his once best friend turned rival turned best friend again?? lying on the ground beside him, looking just as beat up as he himself was.
Sasuke didn’t realize he was laughing until the pain in his chest, probably from a broken rib… or two… or three, fuck that hurt, flared up, sending him into a coughing fit which really just irritated his already broken bones even more.
When he was finally able to open his eyes once more, he realized that Naruto was in fact coherent, barely but he was, and he was staring directly at him.
Sasuke found himself turning away, embarrassed for some reason.
“Why? Why do you go so far for me?” Sasuke couldn’t help the words that tumbled out of his mouth.
“Because” Naruto started, pausing to cough and Sasuke winced because that didn’t sound good, “because, You’re my friend” Naruto wheezed out the last word and Sasuke found himself turning his head back over to look at him. Naruto was turned towards him smiling softly and Sasuke felt that familiar pang in his chest whenever he thought of Naruto.
Sakura arrived at some point and panicked, she set about quickly attempting to do something to staunch the bleeding from their arms.
“Do you ever wish you could get a second chance at all of this?” Naruto asked no one in particular and Sasuke’s chest hurt because he had. So many times.
“I just wish there was like a button to hit” Naruto continued his ramble.
“Like a reset button?” Sasuke asked quietly. Naruto responded with rapid choked coughing and Sasuke felt his blood run cold.
“Naruto? Naruto stay with me!” Was the last thing Sasuke heard Sakura screaming before he too succumbed to the darkness.
******
Sasuke sat up in a panic, heart beating wildly out of his chest. He jerked his head around to take in his surroundings and then he was terribly confused.
He wasn’t in a hospital… but his childhood bedroom?
He jumped out of his bed and ran to the bathroom and flipped on the light.
He activated his sharingan, brushed his hair out of his eyes and watched in horror as both his sharingan spun like pinwheels. Mangekyos…..
The last thing Sasuke remembers is feeling lightheaded before he hit the floor.
*****.
Sasuke wakes up to the sound of someone pounding on his door.
He groans loudly and forces himself to sit up but he’s moving as if he’s stuck in jello and his entire body hurts, not unlike when he overdid using his chidori and used too much chakra.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Not only did I get sent back to being like 12 but also I have shitty chakra reserves again??
Sasuke drags himself to the front door. His head is pounding and his eyes feel like someone threw sand in them.
Sasuke can sense Naruto’s chakra on the other side of the door and for a minute he debates opening it at all but then Naruto yells, “Sasuke Uchiha I know you’re in there! I can sense your chakra. Open the door or I’ll take it down!” So, with a heavy sigh, Sasuke swings the door open, revealing a startled, barefoot Naruto in a bright orange pair of frog pajamas. Sasuke has to blink a few times to make sure he’s actually seeing this right.
Naruto is panting and his face is red, but there’s a huge grin spread across his face.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow at him.
“Can I help you?” He asks, wincing at how rough his voice comes out. That seems to snap Naruto out of the trance he’s fallen into and launches him into a rambling mess. Words are coming out of his mouth so fast that Sasuke can’t keep up with him at all.
He does however, catch a few words, like ‘missing arm’ and ‘fourth Shinobi war’
All the ramblin is making his head hurt so he rubs at his forehead and closes his eyes.
“Slow down. I can’t understand you if you talk that fast, dobe” the age old pet name rolls off his tongue without a second thought and the onslaught of words stall.
Sasuke opens his eyes and freezes at the sight of Naruto, now wide eyed in wonder.
Sasuke heaves another sigh, wow his chest kinda hurts, and pushes the door open further, motioning for Naruro to come inside. He does so wordlessly, still seemingly caught in a daze. Sasuke shuts the door behind Naruto and turns on his heel, half hobbling into the kitchen where he makes himself a glass of water.
He turns around and just about drops the glass because Naruto is so close to him.
“Tell me you’re real Sasuke. That this isn’t a dream” Naruto whispered, bottom lip quivering, “you came back too right? You remember the fight in the valley? When we lost our arms? That was real right?” There’s a small twinge of panic mixed in with the relief in Naruto’s voice. Sasuke blinks. Briefly, he debates just lying . Telling Naruto that he’s crazy but he doesn’t because it’s kind of a relief to be back to being a kid.
Even if he’s stuck in a tiny useless body with almost nonexistent chakra reserves in a village he wants to destroy.
Sasuke blinks as he realizes that Naruto is still staring at him, a pleading look in his eyes and he realizes that he still hasn’t answered him.
Just as Sasuke opens his mouth there’s an urgent banging on his door.
Sasuke sighed and went to push himself off of the counter but Naruto had already disappeared out of the kitchen. “I’ll get it~” he called over his shoulder.
Sasuke swirled the water in his glass around and watched it spin like a tiny tornado.
“Uh Sasuke?” Naruto called from the doorway and Sasuke looked up just in time to see Naruto step out of the way, revealing a very pale looking Sakura clutching a heavily bleeding hand to her chest.
“We’ve got a problem.” She said.
Sasuke downed the rest of the water and for a brief moment, he really wished it was sake . He slammed the glass down onto the counter and ended up clutching his head from the sound.
“Yeah, a fucking big one apparently” Sasuke mumbled underneath his breath. He tried to take a step forward and the world spun around him.
‘ Oh you’ve got to be fucking with me’ is the last thought in his mind before he crumbles, world going black once more.