Authors Note: This story is NOT slash, I haven't finalized the pairing, because it's likely this story will be long enough for Naruto to have multiple romantic interests (not harem, he just dates around a little)

THE LAST UCHIHA

No one would have expected Sasuke Uchiha to have such a pronounced reaction to Naruto's return. Most shinobi of the leaf probably didn't know they had met before. But Sasuke had thought about him all this time, Naruto, the strange boy who starred in his worst nightmares.

Flashback

Blood. Blood everywhere. Itachi was gone, he must have left after he released that horrid genjutsu.

'Why did he leave me here? Why did he do this? Doesn't he love me?'

Sasuke couldn't get up, he was shaking so much. All he could do was stare at his hands, the blood of his family dripping off of his fingers and welling up between the cobblestones.

"H-Help me!" His pathetic plea echoed off of the walls of the Uchiha District, not a single man or woman left alive to hear him.

His eyes burned, but the tears couldn't escape. His head was still spinning in circles from whatever Itachi had used on him. It was all too much.

Even though his ears were still ringing, he could hear heavy breathing and the uneven pitter-patter of quick footsteps behind him.

"Are you alive? Get up, we need to get out of here!" The boys breathing became faster as he got closer to Sasuke. "Oh Kami, why is there so much blood!" The voice was thick with panic, and it sounded as if he was struggling to breathe.

Sasuke flinched as the boy spun him around, the sudden contact striking fear into his heart. The boy was wearing an obnoxiously bright orange jumpsuit, frayed at the edges and stained with Uchiha blood. The boy's spiky blonde hair was no better, matted with grime mixed with sweat and blood. He was favoring his right leg, his left looked like it was shattered and yet he still stood upright.

"Can you stand?" He shook his head in the negative. "Get on my back, we've gotta get out of here before the bastard in the orange mask finds us!" The orange boy crouched to allow Sasuke to wrap his arms around the boy's shoulders.

'Orange mask? Itachi wasn't wearing a…' pain shot through his mind at the memory of Itachi and his torturous genjutstu.

The boy struggled to lift Sasuke but managed to get on both feet and start slowly limping through the Uchiha District. Bodies littered the streets, the blood now thick enough to run through the indents in the cobblestone paths.

"Kami save us…" Sasuke could feel the orange boy shiver at the sight, but was too shocked to give a reaction of his own.

The sound of metal clashing echoed from a few blocks away, and the strange boy started to limp faster, grunts of anguish occasionally escaping his lips.

"We've got to make it to the walls, if we make it out into Konoha then we can tell Jiji!" With a loud grunt, he trudged on forward towards the outer edge of the Uchiha District.

The sounds of death got closer and closer, outpacing the orange boy whose breath became increasingly strained and shallow.

The wall was in sight, but Sasuke nor the boy would be able to climb out in their current conditions. Sasuke chanced a look back, and much to his horror he saw what the blonde boy had been so afraid of. A man in a black cloak and swirling orange mask stood still, staring at them from the opposite side of the main road.

"Let him go, boy. I may yet let you live." The man's cold tone didn't even faze the boy carrying him, who just turned his head sideways and spat blood out on the street.

"You sick bastard! He's just a kid!" The orange boy crouched down slowly, laying him down on the concrete before turning to face the masked man.

"Very well then." The masked man twirled a kunai between his fingers, slowly approaching the two young boys. The blonde haired boy swung himself to protect Sasuke from the man, letting out a low growl in pain.

"Well, looks like Hashirama was right after all. The children of Konoha really do carry the will of fire." The masked man let out a chilling cackle, before resuming his advance toward the blonde and Sasuke.

The blonde boy tapped Sasuke's shoulder, giving him a shaky grin. "The name is Naruto Uzumaki, tell Jiji that-" A single kunai pierced his back, and his light smile started dripping blood "That I still want my spot on Hokage mountain. Or at least tell him that I went out like a badass." He looked on in horror as the blond boy let out an inhuman scream and grabbed Sasuke's arm, swinging him around and throwing him over the imposing wall of the Uchiha district.

Sasuke woke up the next morning covered in blood and grime, and noticed the blond boy's handprint burnt into his wrist.

Present

And now Sasuke knew that Naruto was alive. The chakra burns on his wrist had faded, but were still clearly visible up close. The Hokage had told him not long after Naruto had "died" that the reason his hands had burned was because Naruto was the container of the nine-tailed fox, and he had used the fox's power (unintentionally, the Hokage had assumed) to throw him out of the Uchiha district into safety.

Questions rushed through his head, dizzy at the possibilities this presented.

'How did he escape that man? Did they torture him? How much does he know about Itachi?' Sasuke quickly decided that he had to meet Naruto as well, so he might as well talk Kakashi and the Hokage into letting him come with.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura, who was half-asleep on the waiting room couch. Seeing as she was unable to interfere, he pulled open the door to the Hokage's office and took a brave step inside before announcing his request.

"I want to see Naruto too." The Hokage gave Sasuke a weary glance and a sigh of exhaustion, while Kakashi just leaned back in his chair to wait for a response.

The Hokage finally nodded in confirmation, standing up from behind his desk and shrugging on his Hokage cloak.

"I'll meet you and your two students at T&I, be there at 3 in the afternoon. If you're late, then I'll burn all the porn in the village and throw you in the pile".

Kakashi just let out a grin and a light laugh. "Except yours?"

The Hokage just laughed and walked out of the office.