Disclaimer: Basically I tragically do not own Naruto (although I wish i did!) but I do own all Oc characters (not revealing any names as of yet)

so enjoy XD

A child's scream of pain suddenly drew Sasuke from his deep brooding and he glanced swiftly around for the source of that painful sound. Seeing no one he closed his eyes, extending his senses for anything out of the ordinary. Freezing suddenly he focused on one sound, that of flesh-on-flesh and the dull 'Thwack' of something hard, possibly metal hitting bare flesh and the soft whimpers of someone suffering in silence. Then the sounds changed suddenly. Now it was of metal-on-metal and it seemed that the victim had a protector.

Moving swiftly Sasuke followed the sounds of what seemed to be an all-out brawl until he finally reached the entrance of a dim back alley. There were many people crowded in there, civilians by the looks of it and he saw two holding a small blonde haired bundle against one of the walls, weapons in hand and seemed preparing to stab him. Sasuke could make out the faint whispers falling from that broken mouth, begging the to stop and crystal tears streaked down cut and bruised cheeks, rolling gently over scarred cheeks.

Suddenly a flash or red appeared and the men who had been holding the boy fell, noiselessly, never to rise again it seemed, from the sight of the sharp kunai embedded within their chests and Sasuke was left with the impression that this stranger was trained and now thought little of killing. Yet, as he watched the red form standing before the child who was now lying motionless in a heap on the floor, as if boneless and from the shadowed stranger there seemed to be a feeling of fierce protectiveness and a slight tinge of melancholy and deep sadness that tinged the air, emanating from the unknown figure.

Those left standing began to move forward towards the pair, improvised weapons clutched tightly in hand but it was only after taking a couple of steps that the first fell, a scarlet blur moved swiftly between the close-packed bodies as if in an intricate dance, each movement leaving more to fall to the ground groaning and writhing in pain. The grace and ease of movement showed a natural grace and that the unknown stranger was not someone to get on the wrong side of.

Finally the alley grew silent, except for the whimpers of pain from the disabled civilians and Sasuke noticed that, excepting the two who had been holding the boy no more were dead, a broken wrist for some, gashes and cuts that burned for others.

He frowned as, when he turned his attention back to the stranger that they were crouched over the blonde boy, a hand gently smoothing tangled and blood-matted hair from the child's dirty brow. Sasuke stepped forward but with his shuffled movement the scarlet figure turned smoothly, a kunai in hand and their stance relaxed but tense ready for anything and any threat. The last Uchiha gasped as he stared into the emerald eyes of a quite breathtaking girl who assumed was a kunoichi due to the impressive skills she had just exhibited though he saw no headband marking her origin. The girl frowned at the sight of him before slowly putting away her weapon, her eyes flitting constantly, never staying in the same place too long, always alert for danger it seemed. Looking closer it seemed that the girl was probably around his age and he hid his softening gaze behind the famous uchiha mask as he watched the girl bend down and smoothly pick the young boy up gently with what seemed to be practiced ease and Sasuke was given the impression that was a pretty common event for the girl.

He watched as the girl seemed to carefully inspect the boys injuries and watched her grimace at the seriousness of some, one being a broken wrist and was curious when she sighed gently before holding the boy close to her, careful of his arm and prepared to jump upwards, presumably on to the neighboring rooftops that flanked the grim alleyway, taking the speedy way of most shinobi by going straight over the village via rooftops, missing the busy and crowded streets below. Sasuke was confused when he felt a pang from his frozen heart at the sight of the boy being so close to the mysterious girl and was shocked to realize he, Sasuke Uchiha was jealous of some unknown street urchin.

Turning away from the two he walked away, with the slight 'whoosh' of air as the girl jumped, taking her bruised package with her, out of the corner of his eye sasuke noticed that she was headed to the hospital and, when looking back he carefully noted the sad smile and look in her eyes as she glanced down at her blonde companion.

All Sasuke was left with was a red after-image and a ringing question pounding in his temples …

'Who was she?'

A.N. So what d'ya think of it? this is just a vague idea I had hanging around so just decided to type it and see how it went. Not sure if i'm gonna continue this or not, guess it'll all depend really

Emberlove to all

xxx