This story was written in response to a challenge at the Heaven and Earth fourm. We had to delete one character from the Naruto world completely (as in, never existed at all) and this is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is in NO WAY a Naru/Sasu pairing. I know at times it may seem that way, but trust me, it isn't. I should know. ::grins::

Rag Doll

It was raining. He felt the drops like needles against his fevered skin, piercing to his very core. The breaths he drew were ragged, coarse, raw. A river of crimson glimmered on the ground near his feet. A knife fell from his limp fingers, and his knees gave way.

"Touch me," the boy across from him whispered, stretching out his hand. "Please."

All he saw was blood, spilled by his own strike. He recoiled from it, his eyes wide.

"Please," the boy repeated. "I don't want to die alone."

"I can't," Naruto forced himself to say. He felt sick. "I'm the one who killed you."

Sasuke coughed, sending rivulets of blood flying, a few drops landing on Naruto's face.

"I know," he said, black, dimming eyes locked with those of crystal blue. "Please, Naruto."

What have I done?

Their hands met, Naruto's warm, Sasuke's cold and clammy.

The dark haired prodigy of the Uchiha clan smiled. "Everything has to end," he murmured, the tiny ember of his life slipping away. "My pain will be yours now."

Naruto's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

But no answer came.

"Sasuke!"

His friend and enemy lay still.

"Sasuke!" He yelled, and, seized with an alarming sense of rage, he began shaking the dead boy. "Wake up, damn you!" Tell me what you meant! Sasuke!"

The only reply he received was from the weeping sky.

Slowly, he came back to himself and cradled his fallen comrade in his arms.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way," he sobbed, rocking back and forth. "I was going to save you!"

After a few moments, he pulled away to look at Sasuke, noting through his tears that the curse seal had disappeared.

No longer was he the tool of his own revenge, but the Sasuke of their Academy days, the Sasuke before Orochimaru and Akatsuki...

The Sasuke who he had laughed with, trained with, grown with...

His best friend.

His only friend.

My pain will be yours now.

"Let's go home," Naruto whispered, getting to his feet.

The rain continued to fall.

Silence greeted him when he stepped through the gates of Konoha. The villagers were all tucked safe in their beds, not suspecting that a killer was in their midst.

All but one.

Tsunade sensed something had happened, and the knowledge kept her awake. She paced back and forth on the balcony of her compound, not quite certain what she was searching for. Movement down below caught her attention, and she paused.

"Naruto," she said to herself when she made out the figure moving in her direction. Why are you out in the rain? She squinted. He was not alone.

"We're almost there," the blonde boy said, unaware that the Godaime was tracking him. "Just a little bit further."

The shadows moved.

"Stop."

He knew that voice.

"Oba-chan."

Tsunade stood before him, her carefully schooled features blank. Never before had she been so thankful for the training she received as a girl, for it allowed her to mask her shock. She had not expected to see what she did now. She opened her mouth to speak, but Naruto was faster.

"Don't ask questions," he said in a voice not his own. "You won't be able to tell what you didn't hear."

Her eyes narrowed.

"What are you going to do?" She said, voice cracking.

"Forget it," Naruto told her, and thrust the body into her arms. "Bury him beneath a Sakura tree," he whispered. "Those were his favorite."

Tsunade's eyes moved from Naruto to the corpse and back again.

"You're leaving," she accused, terrified for him. For as little time as she had known this boy, she had grown to care for him as she would a son. If he were to leave now, after committing a murder, he would be labeled an S-rank criminal, and even she as the Hokage would be able to do nothing to help him.

Naruto knew very well what he was about to do, and how very grave the consequences would be, but he had no other choice.

My pain will be yours now.

Those words continued to play through his head, and he could not ignore them. I have to fix this. I have to. Sasuke will never forgive me if I abandon him.

"And who's gonna stop me?" He said quietly. "You? The villagers? I don't think so, Oba-chan. The only thing that kept me here died today." He made to touch the body one last time, but his arm fell to his side. "I'm sorry, Godaime-sama. I think you know how sorry I am. But this is the way it has to be."

"Why, Naruto?" Tsunade cried, anguished. "What will you gain if you go to him? There are people who love you here!"

He placed a finger over her lips, silencing her. "My pain will be yours now. Those were the last things he said to me," his eyes strayed to Sasuke. "I will be the person he was going to be. I will do the things he was meant to do. No more questions, now, Tsunade."

Without another word, Naruto turned his back on the village he had grown to love and walked away.

Tsunade watched him go, her heart beating painfully against her chest. The rain mixed with the tears that spilled down her cheeks, but she did not notice.

If you couldn't guess, I removed Sakura from the scene. Personally, I believe she has a very large impact on Naruto's life, and I envisioned something of this sort occuring if she never had existed...