A/N of Doom.

In case you’ve read Second Chances before (and actually stuck around for two years) and are wondering what the shit is going on: Second Chances, a story I started when I was new to writing (and as dumb as a box of hammers), is now being rewritten chapter by chapter to be compatible to actual Naruto Cannon and also to be just generally spiffier.

If you’re new, hello.

OOO

It was a dark and stormy night in the city, and an old man walked through it. It was a bad part of the city to be walking through, and bad sort of night to be in, but the man seemed not to care. He limped onwards like a man used to rain, and bad parts of bad cities. He limped onwards with a cold, grim determination.

It was easy to limp over rubble and filth with 1.7 legs if you knew that you were going to die, soon, and you were looking forward to it.

The man hoisted himself to the top of a slab of concrete, awkward with a missing hand and stiff knees. He leaned against the sheer cliff face it had fetched up against, settled into himself against the rain, and waited.

Eventually, the quality of the darkness changed. There were two men sitting on the concrete slab now, side by side. The second man was pale and beautiful, his face unlined, his long black hair like an ebony cascade of darkness, his solemn, long-lashed eyes like priceless rubies. The old man gave a small huff of derision. They stared ahead, into the rainy distance.

The beautiful man held a small shard of metal, which was affixed to a scrap of dark cloth, which he ran his slender white fingers over in a manner which could have been called nervous in anyone else.

The old man offered a bottle, the contents of which steamed a little in the rain. “Sake? They make it out of rats these days.”

“I’ll pass.” The pale man said.

“Suit yourself.” The old man said, and took a long drink.

There was silence, and the rain.

“So...” The old man began, and hesitated, gritting his remaining teeth.

“So, idiot.” The pale man replied. His voice was smooth, and very deep.

“You still kept your …”

The pale man gazed down at the metal and fabric. In the darkness, a small carved symbol gleamed.

“Yes. Did…?”

“No. I gave it away, a long time ago.”

“You gave it away?” The pale man glanced over sharply.

The old man shrugged bitterly. “He needed it more. He was just a kid. You know they’re sending children into battle these days? Children.”

“We were twelve.” The pale man reminded him.

“We were ninjas,” The old man said, and wheezed in amusement. “But were we ever children?”

“I…” The pale man raised his red eyes, and took in the older man’s scars, his ragged clothes, his missing hand. “It’s been so long.”

“Boo-hoo-hoo, you flashY son of a bitch.”

They were silent for a while.

“Why are you here, old man?”

“To kick your ass, of course.” The old man replied, and rolled his remaining eye. “I’m wet, I’m missing some vital bits of anatomy, like, say, my liver, I probably smell like toilet, and this is the soberest I’ve been in eight years.” The old man took another long drink. “All right, six. Bring it on.”

“I’m serious, old man.”

“I’m younger than you are, y’know. ”

“And you’re still an idiot.” The pale man bristled, then visibly restrained himself. “Why, Naruto?”

“Oh, come on. To end it all, same as you.” The old man replied, and held out his arms. “In some grand finale, I would guess, only I’m old and I’m tired so you might as well bash my brain in now. There needs to be an end, Sasuke.”

“No,” Said Sasuke, “No there doesn’t.”

The old man settled back, and regarded the pale man with something like surprise and something like disappointment. “Optimism, Sasuke? You’ve changed.”

“Not half as much as you have, you senile bastard.” Sasuke said, and sighed, running his fingers through his long hair. “It didn’t have to be this way.”

“And what way was this, oh great Sasuke?” Naruto spat. “You didn’t have to sell us out to Orochimaru for your brother’s life? You didn’t have to trade your body and soul for power? You didn’t have to murder Sakura personally for revenge?”

“You didn’t have to be the dumbest shit that ever called himself a ninja!” Sasuke shouted back. “I mean, could you have gotten any more stupid!”

“I’m not the one that turned evil!”

“I’m not the one that didn’t notice it happening!” Sasuke shouted.

They realized they were practically nose-to-nose and backed off, breathing hard.

“I…” Sasuke looked down at his fingers again. “I regret. It’s been fifty years. And I’ve been thinking. When it all went bad. When you… if there was any other way. There was. There is.”

“And.”

“And… Remember the Valley of the End? It could have gone either way, then.”

“That damn fight…” Naruto gave a hacking laugh. “It all comes down to there, doesn’t it? I dragged you back to Konoha and thought that it was going to solve everything and we were going to best friends forever and Sasuke, what are you trying to get at? How would it have been any better if you’d won, and been with Orochimaru from the start?”

“For all I know, Naruto, it wouldn’t have.” Sasuke said. “But it didn’t have to come down to the Valley.”

“We were thirteen years old, and we were completely fucked up.” Naruto said. “Excuse my stupidity, Sasuke-dono, but I can’t see any alternatives to that wonderful situation.”

“I can see everything,” Sasuke said, and his red eyes gleamed in the darkness.