15: A Battle Against Time

As the world stitched itself back together, time shuddered—an unseen force rippling across reality. The stars above Konoha flickered as if momentarily uncertain of their place in the cosmos.

Sasuke stood in the middle of the street, panting, his Rinnegan flickering between existence and exhaustion.

And yet, he could only focus on one thing.

Naruto.

Standing there, grinning like he hadn't just been lost to oblivion. Like he hadn't just been erased from history.

"What?" Naruto blinked at Sasuke. "Why are you looking at me like that, teme?"

Sasuke let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He didn't know whether to punch him or collapse. Instead, he did neither.

"Nothing," Sasuke muttered, shoving his hands into his cloak. "You're just as much of an idiot as ever."

But something still felt… wrong.

The village hadn't reacted. There was no shock, no recognition that their Seventh Hokage had been missing. The world had rewritten itself seamlessly, accepting Naruto's return without question.

Had time truly bent to Sasuke's will?

Or had something—someone—allowed this to happen?

Late that night, as Naruto laughed with his friends at Ichiraku, Sasuke stood alone atop the Hokage Rock, eyes scanning the sky.

That's when he heard it.

A whisper, faint as the wind.

"You meddled with forces beyond your understanding, Uchiha."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Kurotensei."

The voice chuckled darkly. "You forced time to yield. Impressive, but reckless. The balance is broken."

Sasuke tensed. "What are you saying?"

"You saved your friend. But the universe cannot abide an unbroken law. A debt must be paid."

The air grew cold. Something ancient and unseen shifted in the fabric of reality.

"The world will forget another."

Sasuke's blood ran cold. He turned, his Sharingan flaring—

But the voice was gone.

The next morning, Naruto stretched, yawning as he stepped out of his apartment. The village was alive, bustling like any other day. He smiled. Everything was normal.

Until he saw Sakura running toward him, panic in her eyes.

"Naruto! Where's Sasuke?"

Naruto frowned. "What do you mean? He was just—"

He stopped. His breath hitched.

Something was… missing.

"Sasuke?" he whispered.

His mind reached for memories. The battles they fought. The scars they shared. The rivalries, the friendship—

And found nothing.

The world had stolen Sasuke Uchiha in return.

Naruto's heart pounded as he staggered back. No. No, this wasn't right.

"Oi, Sakura—Sasuke—he—" He grasped at words that wouldn't form, at a name that was slipping through his fingers.

Sakura's brows knitted together. "Naruto, who's Sasuke?"

The ground felt unsteady beneath him.

"No, no, no—"

He turned, sprinting through Konoha, grabbing anyone he could. Kakashi. Hinata. Shikamaru.

"Where is he?! Where is Sasuke?!"

They all gave him the same puzzled look.

"Naruto… who are you talking about?"

And just like that, Naruto knew.

Sasuke had given everything to bring him back.

And now, the world had erased him instead.

Naruto stood alone beneath the Hokage Monument that night, the weight of everything crashing down on him. His fists clenched, his body trembling.

"You bastard." His voice cracked. "You really think I'd let you disappear after all that?"

A deep breath. His blue eyes burned with a fire that could rival the sun.

"I swear, Sasuke—I'm bringing you home."

As the wind howled through Konoha, a whisper echoed back.

"Tch… took you long enough, dobe."

Naruto grinned.

The battle against time wasn't over yet.

Naruto didn't sleep that night. He sat atop Hokage Rock, staring at the village below, his mind racing.

Sasuke was gone.

No records. No memories. No one but him remembered.

Just like before.

But Naruto had spent too long defying the impossible to accept this. If time thought it could steal Sasuke away, then it had picked a fight with the wrong shinobi.

"Tch. You idiot… You always thought you had to bear everything alone."

He rose to his feet, determination hardening his expression.

If Sasuke had found a way to break time for him, then he would do the same.

Even if it meant tearing through the very fabric of reality.

Naruto knew where to start.

The Otsutsuki Temple.

Deep beneath the ruins, where time had first been shattered, was the last place Sasuke had been before everything changed.

And if anyone still had answers, it was Kurotensei.

Naruto arrived at the temple as the sun began to rise, its golden light barely penetrating the depths of the cavernous ruins. With every step, the air grew colder, heavier, as if the space itself resisted his presence.

At the heart of the ruins, standing before the shattered remnants of the Portal of Time, Naruto closed his eyes.

Kurama was gone. The power that had once let him tear through dimensions was no longer his.

But he still had something stronger.

His will.

"I know you're there, bastard." His voice echoed through the chamber. "Come out."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then—

A tear formed in the air before him, like a wound in reality. From it, a deep, inhuman voice murmured.

"Uzumaki… you return, though you should not exist."

Kurotensei's form materialized—shifting, formless, its presence a swirling void.

Naruto's fists clenched. "You took Sasuke."

"He took himself," the entity corrected. "The balance demanded a price. He was willing to pay it."

"Yeah?" Naruto took a step forward. "Well, I'm not."

The darkness around Kurotensei pulsed.

"Foolish child. You defied time once. Do it again, and the cost will be greater."

Naruto smirked. "Then I'll just have to make time my bitch."

Kurotensei chuckled, a deep, reverberating sound.

"Then step forward, Uzumaki. Let us see if your will is stronger than fate itself."

A portal erupted before him—unstable, flickering, leading to a void of infinite shifting realities. Naruto hesitated for only a second before stepping through.

And then—

Everything fractured.

The world exploded into a thousand moments at once. He saw himself as a child, painting the Hokage Monument. He saw Jiraiya, smiling at him. He saw the Fourth Great Ninja War. He saw Boruto's face, his daughter Himawari's laugh.

And then—

He saw Sasuke.

Standing in the middle of an empty Konoha.

Alone.

Trapped between time.

"SASUKE!" Naruto sprinted forward.

Sasuke turned, his expression unreadable.

"I told you not to come after me, dobe."

Naruto grinned. "Like hell I'd listen."

But before he could reach him, a force ripped them apart—time itself rejecting Naruto's interference.

"Uzumaki," Kurotensei's voice echoed. "You cannot take him without sacrifice. What will you give?"

Naruto barely hesitated. "Anything."

The darkness loomed.

"Then the choice is made."

A blinding light.

A deafening silence.

And then—

Naruto gasped awake.

He was lying in the middle of the village. The sun was rising over Konoha.

His head throbbed. His body ached.

But then—

"Oi, Naruto."

He turned.

Sasuke stood there, arms crossed, looking as annoyed as ever.

Naruto let out a breathless laugh. "You bastard."

Sasuke smirked. "Took you long enough."

But something felt… different.

Naruto looked around. People bustled about the village. But they weren't greeting him. Weren't acknowledging him.

No one knew him.

A chill ran down his spine.

"Naruto?" Sasuke frowned. "What's wrong?"

Naruto swallowed hard. "Sasuke… what did I give up?"

Sasuke's Rinnegan flickered.

And then, Naruto saw it.

Hokage Rock.

Six faces.

But the seventh—his own—was gone.

His name had been erased.

Time had taken him instead.

But as he looked at Sasuke—alive, real, standing beside him—Naruto only grinned.

"Tch. Worth it."

Sasuke smirked. "You really are an idiot, dobe."

Naruto stretched, letting out a sigh.

"Guess we've got one last thing to fix, huh?"

And together, they turned to face the future—ready to defy fate one last time.