I: The End

It hurt... It hurt so very much, but he lived through it. There wasn't supposed to be a way to survive, yet here he stood, breathing, his heartbeat loud in his ears, gazing up at the gates of Konoha that should have been destroyed long ago. The people behind that gate shouldn't exist and most importantly, he shouldn't be here.

Sasuke had done this to him; it was a last attempt so save his life at the cost of his borther's. Naruto hadn't wanted that. He would have gladly died alongside everyone else. Now he was here again, at the start of his hell and the only place he could ever consider home, Konoha