At last, Naruto broke through every obstacle and shook off every pursuer. Guided by his almost instinctive sense of Sasuke's Chakra, he reached the Valley of the End alone, like an arrow freed from every restraint.
The waterfall roared deafeningly. The colossal statues of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha faced each other across the valley, as though silently recounting an age-old fate.
Just as Sasuke Uchiha was about to leave the valley, Naruto Uzumaki caught up with him.
Naruto stood at the foot of the First Hokage's statue, his chest heaving and his clothes soaked with sweat. But his eyes shone fiercely, fixed on the familiar yet strangely distant figure below.
"Sasuke!!!"
That shout held too much: anger, confusion, grief, and a fierce resolve born of finally catching up.
Sasuke Uchiha stopped and slowly turned around. His gaze was cold, his crimson Sharingan utterly still, as if he were looking at a stranger.
"You caught up after all, Dead Last."
"I promised Sakura I'd bring you back!" Naruto Uzumaki leaped from the statue and landed on the water, sending spray flying. "Come back with me, Sasuke!"
"Go back?" Sasuke's mouth twisted in a sneer. "Back to that hypocritical village to keep playing pointless ninja games? I decide my own path."
"And your path is going to Orochimaru? That's wrong!" Naruto Uzumaki shouted. "That's not how you get stronger! We agreed we'd grow stronger together..."
"That was your idea," Sasuke cut in coldly. "I've severed every bond I had with Konoha. Including you."
"Bonds..." Naruto Uzumaki repeated, his voice trembling. "You think you can sever them just by saying so? Our fights, our promises, our memories of Team 7—were they all fake?!"
He jerked his head up, and the tears he could no longer hold back slid down his cheeks.