Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

The Last but not Alone

A short figured darted from one hiding place to another, occasionally stopping by trash bins as it carefully sifted through the trash, occasionally removing objects from the pile to stow away inside a threadbare canvas bag. The sudden sound of a shrieking cat caused the figure to suddenly dart away from the half-sifted pile of trash to take cover in a shadowy doorway of a house even as a yell in the distance demanded for quiet.

After a short time, the figure determined that it was safe to proceed and moved back towards the pile of trash on the ground. It was very rude, after all, to leave trash lying around in front of a person's house.

Darting onwards, he made a special point to avoid the white-eyes residence. They somehow always knew when he was around and had far too many close encounters for his comfort. Darting further down the silent street, he turned onto a main thoroughfare and into what seemed like a completely deserted section of town.

Frowning at the seeming lack of any sort of place to scavenge, he ran down the street, his head turning this way and that. It took longer than he had hoped, as night would not last forever and his stomach grumbled in protest at its emptiness but he finally came upon a home with some trash neatly placed into several bins.

Grinning at finally having found some possible treasure, the figure tripped over a rock in his haste to get to his prize and went tumbling face first into the trash cans, causing an awful din as everything began falling every which way.

Uchiha Sasuke was a loner by circumstance. He had once looked up to his brother, striving to become the very best that he could so he would do his family proud yet it had not been enough. Itachi's final taunt kept echoing inside his mind as he continued to brood in the darkness, his long bangs covering his face in an imposing manner.

"I am an avenger," He thought to himself. "I will become strong enough to kill that man and make him pay for everything that he has done! I shall walk down the path of the avenger alone and I wil… HOW IS ANYONE SUPPOSED TO THINK WITH ALL THAT RACKET?!"

It took Sasuke another few seconds after his mental outburst to realize that he was alone, in the Uchiha district, in the middle of the night and there was an awful noise of banging and clanging at the front of his house.

A fear gripped his heart as he imagined what could possibly make all that noise. Perhaps Itachi had returned after changing his mind about letting Sasuke live and had run afoul ANBU guards in the village. Sasuke reached out a tremulous hand towards a kunai located near him as he thought about how he would be powerless to stop Itachi in his current state.

"NO!" Sasuke mentally screamed, pushing logic to the side. "I am an elite Uchiha and an avenger! Justice is on my side!"

Pushing himself to his feet, he sprang for the front door, determined to bring justice upon the man who had taken his family from him.

Throwing the door open, Sasuke raced out with kunai held aloft and a battle cry ripping itself from his throat and… coming to an abrupt halt barely three steps out of his house, staring at the orange lump covered in refuse with trash bins rolling around it.

Looking around in confusion, Sasuke saw that the streets were completely devoid of battling ninja or, in fact, anyone at all.

Walking slowly over to the lump, kunai still firmly grasped in his hands in case this whole situation was a trap, Sasuke carefully stuck out a foot and nudged the lump before he jumped away quickly as the orange lump seemed to spring up from where it was on the ground. It was only then did Sasuke realize the orange lump was a person... or maybe a midget, based on the size.

"And just what," Sasuke began in his most imperious tone of voice. "Do you think you're doing, midget?"

The orange midget spun around and Sasuke found himself face to face with a boy, no older than he was. As the boy tried to sputter out a response to him, Sasuke took the time to look more carefully at this intruder into his solitude.

The first thing he noticed was that he was short, almost a head shorter than himself and he was thin, far too thin. His cheeks had a sunken look to them and his skin had an unhealthy sheen to it. His clothes were threadbare but looked well taken care of and the shoes he was wearing, if they could even be called that, looked worn right down to the sole. What caught Sasuke's attention, however, were his eyes. Blue and alight with indignation and something that made him feel wholly inadequate.

"I'm not a midget!" The boy finally shouted directly into Sasuke's face, causing the Uchiha to take a quick step back. "I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet!"

Shaking himself slightly to get over the shock of such a loud and obviously rude individual, Sasuke turned to look at the tipped over trash cans that lay in front of his house, their contents spilling out. Before he could say anything, however, the boy darted towards the trash and started to methodically sift through them, occasionally asking the Uchiha if he was sure that he didn't want a particular item.

"Hn," Sasuke replied to most the queries, trying to figure out exactly what the boy was up to. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm gathering things." Came the reply as the boy started placing the trash back into the bins, having scavenged what looked like some old packaging items and a few expired cans of food.

Shaking his head at the strange answer, Sasuke tried once again. "I meant why are you intruding in the Uchiha district?"

The boy stopped what he was doing and took a quick look around before replying.

"Doesn't look like anyone is around."

Sasuke reeled back at the nonchalant way this boy, this street urchin stomped all over his pride and anger of being the last Uchiha.

"They were killed and if you don't want to suffer a similar fate, you will learn to respect the solitary existence of an avenger!" Sasuke snarled at the boy, bringing the kunai that was still in his hand up once more.

His anger growing by the heartbeat, he was a split second away from attacking the boy when the question that came from the boy's mouth made him stop in his tracks.

"What's an air bender?" The boy asked, scratching his head as his looked at Sasuke with complete ignorance.

"What?" Sasuke asked before he could stop himself, his rage having receded into complete blankness when posed with the nonsensical question.

"I mean, how does one bend air, anyways?"

Staring at the boy with wide eyes, Sasuke subtly reached with the hand that wasn't holding the kunai and pinched himself. Nope, not a dream, someone had really just asked him how to bend air.

"An avenger you dobe," Sasuke spat, bringing his emotions back under control. "Someone who avenges others."

"Oh," Came the simple reply, as the boy turned away to continue packing away the trash still lying on the ground.

Sasuke could feel his eye begin to twitch as the boy summarily ignored him, the last Uchiha. His mouth seemingly working of its' own accord, Sasuke begin to explain exactly what was an avenger and why he was one.

"My family was killed by a certain man," Sasuke began, his jaw clenched in anger. "A man who was trusted and, as the last Uchiha, I am sworn to kill this man for what he has done!

I have lived alone for the last three years, spending every day of my life honing my skills and using the solitude to hone my will so that I will never be weakened or burdened by others again and, when the proper time has come, I shall cast off all shackles of familiarity and seek to… HEY! Are you even listening to me?!"

The boy peered over his shoulder at Sasuke while his hands continued to mechanically sift through the trash lying around. Giving a minute shrug of his shoulders, the boy began to scoop the last of the trash back into the bins before getting up and dusting himself off.

"Eh," The boy began. "Not really. I tuned you out once you started going on and on about whatever it is you went on and on about."

Sasuke's eye began to twitch in annoyance. This brat was making light the circumstances of the last Uchiha and Sasuke would not stand for it. He was, after all, an elite of the village and had endured more than anyone else had.

While Sasuke was stewing at the perceived insult to his honor, the boy finished clearing away the last of the trash and secured the tie to his rucksack before slinging it over his shoulder. He began to walk away from Sasuke before he glanced over his shoulder and called to the still fuming boy.

"Well, I guess I'll see you and, erm, good luck with whatever it is that you were going on about."

Sasuke felt his jaw drop despite his best attempts to prevent it from doing so. He was being blown off by this midget.

"You, stop!" Sasuke shouted at the retreating back. "I demand to know who you are!"

The other boy stopped abruptly and turned to face Sasuke, a guileless grin on his face as he opened his mouth to reply.

"I don't know my name."

Sasuke, who had just managed to pick his jaw off the floor felt it drop once more. He could not determine whether the boy was lying or telling the truth but one look at the boy's face and Sasuke knew that it was, inexplicably so, the truth.

He could not understand how this boy was unaware of his name. To an Uchiha, their name was almost as important as their famous Sharingan eyes, it was something that set them apart as elites in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Against his better judgment, Sasuke opened his mouth to address this strange boy once more.

"What do you mean you don't know your name? What do others call you?"

The boy shrugged nonchalantly as he considered the question for a moment.

"Mmm, they usually just ignore me or call me mean names… er other things I don't remember… I don't think those are actually my name because they sound mean so I'd rather say I don't know my name."

Sasuke was rocked by the boy's answer. The villagers of Konoha treated him, the Last Uchiha, Elite of the village with something akin to hero worship. While he was often uncomfortable with the treatment, he had come to expect as a matter of course.

This boy, however, was throwing him for a loop. If Sasuke was treated like a hero, this boy who wore threadbare clothes and rooted around in trash for things. The Uchiha was smart, genius even, and it did not take him long to come to a conclusion that made him squirm, mentally.

"Why are you gathering things from the trash?"

"Mmm…" The boy hummed thoughtfully as he readjusted his pack on his shoulder. "Some people pay for things like metal and other things I can use for myself… Money is important!"

Sasuke could only come to his own conclusions on why this boy needed money since he was not forthcoming himself. Given the overall look that he projected, the Uchiha wondered how often he would go hungry. Why not excessively skinny, the boy before him was spindly and his clothings hung from his frame, now that Sasuke really took a good look. What could this boy who looked at Sasuke with guileless eyes and an open, honest expression have done to earn him that level of animosity from the villagers? How is it that there was no one to help him?

The boy continued to stare at the Uchiha as Sasuke seemed to slip further into his thoughts. Fidgeting impatiently after a few moments, the boy turned to leave but was once again stopped but Sasuke.

"Stop!"

Sighing in some modicum of exasperation, the boy turned around to face Sasuke, his expression revealing just a hint of frustration.

"If you don't mind," the boy began. "I need to get my stuff back to my hole before sunrise otherwise I'll need to hide out from the villagers…"

Thoughts churned uncomfortably inside Sasuke's head as he once more regarded this enigma. The term the boy used to refer to his place of residence, this "hole" was uncomfortable for him to imagine. Even though they were both obviously orphans, Sasuke still owned more buildings and land than most everyone else in the village and, as the Last Uchiha, had access to the coffers of the clan. While he lived frugally, Sasuke admitted to himself that he would never want for anything. He most definitely would not be rooting around in trash for things.

Something snapped inside Sasuke as, for the first time in a long time, his thoughts shifted away from revenge and the void that used to be his family. Sasuke opened his mouth but hesitated before resolutely squaring his shoulders.

"Do you want to come in? I bought too many tomatoes and won't be able to finish them by myself."

The boy stared at Sasuke with some suspicion before deciding that he could be trusted. The wide, toothy grin that grew on the boy's face tugged at something deep inside Sasuke. If this boy, who obviously wanted for everything could become so strong, mentally, alone, what could they achieve together? The thought went against everything he had come to believe since Itachi had bade him to walk the lonely road of an avenger but Sasuke found himself suddenly not caring.

Itachi was strong, yes, and he knew a great many jutsu and was a prodigy of the Sharingan. Most importantly, he had inflicted a great mental torture upon Sasuke and Sasuke had thought himself strong by learning to hate. What he saw from this boy who had learnt to release his hate and do the utmost to ignore it made him feel a sudden determination. If this boy could do it, so could he.

"That sounds great!"

As Sasuke ushered the boy into his home while the boy previous attitude of detachment and indifference morphed into an enthusiastic chatterbox that chatted about seemingly everything and nothing at the same time, a small smile flitted onto the last Uchiha's face.

"Just what have I gotten myself into." Sasuke thought to himself.

If nothing else, it was good for there to be some life back inside the stagnant Uchiha District.

The thought quickly slipped from his mind as the boy seemed to trip on thin air. Wincing to himself, he hurriedly closed the door and followed after the boy. It would not do for him to wreck the house, after all, even if he had more than enough buildings under his name. Once Sasuke was certain the boy was safely seated in a chair at the dining table, he moved into the kitchen to retrieve the aforementioned tomatoes.

"Hey!" Sasuke called out as he loaded a small bowl with his favourite tomatoes. "What should I call you?"

Up on a nearby roof, a man with grey hair wearing a dog mask watched the two boys as they bickered good naturedly inside Sasuke's house. While the mask covered his face entirely and, thus, hid any facial expression he might have worn, the man seemed to exude an aura of satisfaction. Perhaps there was hope for all of them yet. The man observed the two for a few moments more before hopping off to the Hokage Tower to report on what he had witnessed.

After Naruto had disappeared from the orphanage when he was but four years of age, the Hokage had been furious. Interrogation of the people at the orphanage had yielded little information other than that the boy had been systematically ignored because he had been deemed a troublemaker.

ANBU had been dispatched far and wide to determine whether his disappearance had been due to outside interference but it was Inu that had found him a week later, entirely by surprise. The Hokage, though it pained him greatly, had left orders for Naruto to be left as is. Danzo had begun sniffing around for the jinchuriki, whose identity Hiruzen had kept hidden, and would surely not suspect that a street urchin would be Konoha's jinchuriki.

In a twist that showed that reality is oft times even stranger than fiction, it turned out that Naruto had simply been locked out of the orphanage one night, entirely by accident. As it happened just prior to a large storm, the boy had sought shelter somewhere and failed to be able to find his way back to the orphanage.

Following that, the boy had been forced to quickly adapt to life on the streets and he showed a remarkable level of ingenuity that anonymity gave him.

Hiruzen had instructed for Inu to watch over the boy, covertly, but to not directly interfere unless the boy's life was in danger. It was imperative that the boy, while he lived as a civilian, remained under the radar until such time that he fell under Hiruzen's command and, as a ninja, be properly protected.

One key problem that Hiruzen had faced was figuring out how to introduce Naruto back into the world of ninja. He needed to attend the academy so that he could become a genin and, if this turn of events was any indication, the Uchiha would be the catalyst for that event.

Inu nodded in satisfaction as he continued along towards the Hokage Tower. It had pained him greatly to see his sensei's son rooting in trash and living in a hovel but he could also see the inner strength that came with the experience. Naruto would go on to accomplish great things, of that Inu was absolutely certain, and it looked like the last Uchiha may go on to become something other than an avenger.

Perhaps when the two graduated from the academy, he would finally take up the Hokage's insistence that he become a Jonin Sensei after all.

AN: Just a little random idea that popped into my head. What if The Boy (Naruto) had met Sasuke before he had become so deeply entrenched in the idea that he had the worst life in Konoha and that he existed solely to fulfill his role as an avenger.

The last part is a bit out of place but I felt there was some need to explain why and how Naruto ended up living on the streets. Also, if it wasn't apparent, Hiruzen had decided to not announce that Naruto was the jinchuriki of the Kyubi either.

I know there are quite a lot of holes in the story but I don't think I'll extend it into multiple chapters to address them.

Do let me know what you guys think. Cheers.