AN: I do not own Naruto! If I did I would be rich and probably take over the world. But I don't, so no.
Warnings: Mentions of child abuse, massive amounts of cute fluff, characters may be a little OOC, adorable/ vulnerable chibi Naruto.
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"What do you mean you can't fix him?!"
Honey brown eyes narrowed at the fuming raven teen. Flicking a lock of blond hair out of her eyes, the busty blond hunched over her desk
"I mean exactly what I said brat. This jutsu was highly unpredictable. It's never produced the same screw up twice. It shouldn't have even been taught to you." She aimed a hot glare at the lazy jounin lounging by the door. He offered her a lazy half moon eye and raised his hands placatingly.
"Ma, I had merely thought that they could use a bit of a challenge."
"You shouldn't have-"
"Quiet!" Sasuke hissed, glaring death at both adults. He actually had reason to be angry at this point, though. Not only had he had to carry his teammate turned child across the village, but he also had to deal with the weird looks people kept throwing his way. Or to be more specific, at the child in his arms. One of them had even dared to throw a stone their way (resulting in said person receiving a fist to the face courtesy of Sasuke). Therefore, it fell to reason that the Uchiha was confused, annoyed, and well on the way to developing a headache. Not to mention that all the screaming had made Naruto (who still refused to let go of him) grip him tighter.
Tsunade's glare softened slightly as the normally cold and stoic Uchiha patted Naruto awkwardly on the head. Hm. Interesting.
"Bring him here and I'll check him over. I should be able to get rid of the bruises at least."
Sasuke walked forward willingly, relieved to have a break from carrying the child. He reached down and began to pry Naruto's tiny hands from his shirt, steadfastly ignoring the whimpers of protest. Finally managing to free himself, he set the young boy on the ground and began to peel the jacket and oversized jump pants off the thin body, leaving him standing only in his green and orange boxers that now could have served as oversized shorts. He started shivering and turned around to attempt to burrow back into the clothes only to be stopped by a pair of pale hands on his shoulders. Eyes wide, he stopped and looked up at the aristocratic face and the intense black eyes boring into his.
"Calm down. No one's going to hurt you. I won't let them."
'I'll protect you…'
The shivering lessened slightly, and Naruto reached up to grasp one of the much larger hands and have a small, hesitant nod, eyes staring intently at the older boy. He turned around to face Tsunade, giving Sasuke n unobscured view of his back and the large burn and bruises spanning the expanse of his back. Sasuke mentally winced at the sight. 'What happened to him?'
He began to tug the small boy forward as gently as he could, pulling until he stood, trembling and clutching Sasuke's hand like a lifeline, but still standing, in front of Tsunade.
"Alright, let's see what we can do about all those injuries," Tsunade muttered, reaching towards Naruto, who instinctively flinched back. Ignoring the movement, Tsunade moved her hands over the injuries carefully, pausing for a few moments to heal the places that needed it. A frown marred her face momentarily when her hands passed over his ribs. Finally, she sat back with a reassuring smile. "All right, good as new."
Naruto's eyes, which had closed at some point during the procedure, popped open, looking surprised. He raised his re hand and hesitantly and began running it over his body, checking for injuries. Finding none, he gave her a shy smile before turning around and wrapping his arms around Sasuke's legs. Sasuke picked him up and sat down in one of the cushy chairs facing the desk, setting Naruto carefully on his lap. Naruto cuddled back into his arms cautiously.
Tsunade observed the interaction with interest. Still, questions needed to be asked to discern how much Naruto remembered. "Do you remember who you are?"
Naruto looked surprised, glancing up at Sasuke nervously before answering.
"Naruto Uzumaki," he said softly, relaxing when the older boy holding him didn't shove him away immediately when he answered. Maybe the boy was new to the village and hadn't heard about him yet.
"Do you know where you are?"
"The Village Hidden in the Leaves."
"Do you know who these people are?"
"No."
"How old are you?"
Six."
Sasuke looked down at Naruto in surprise. He was that old? He was so small…
"Who do you live with?"
"Myself."
"No one else?"
"No…"
Nodding grimly to herself, Tsunade looked over at the team, from Kakashi who didn't look surprised (actually he was reading that orange book), to Sakura who looked annoyed that Naruto was sitting on her Sasuke-kun's lap (and glaring the small blond to express her annoyance), to Sasuke who had wrapped his arm around Naruto, to Naruto himself who had sunk back into Sasuke's chest as far as he could.
"Naruto will stay with Sasuke until he has returned to normal."
The announcement was met with a screech from Sakura and a calm nod from Sasuke. Strangely, though, Naruto was the one to voice the first objection.
"He won't want me after he finds out what I am," Naruto stated blandly, looking resigned.
Brown eyes narrowed subtly. "And what exactly are you?"
"A demon brat."
Sasuke blanched and turned Naruto around on his lap to look at him. "Who told you that?"
"The villagers," Naruto muttered, tensing for the hit or yell that was sure to come.
Sasuke frowned at the answer before wrapping his arms around Naruto, pulling the distressed child closer. "The villagers are all idiots. Don't listen to them."
Naruto looked up at him with wide, disbelieving blue eyes, unmoving. Then a small smile broke out on his face and he leaned slightly into the embrace.
Tsunade watched it all contently. Perhaps the Uchiha was Naruto's chance for finally having something good…
"Well then. I guess that's settled."