Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and I am making no profit from this story, it is only for entertainment.

Chapter Summary: In which Sasuke's world falls apart and he has to pick up the pieces, with a little help from a meddling redhead


Chapter 18: The Saddest Thing About Betrayal Is That It Never Comes From Your Enemies

Naruto dropped his head onto the table and let out a loud groan. Kazuya, the traitor, let out a laugh from his place on the sofa and Naruto shot over a glare that the brunet couldn't see.

"If you had done it when I told you to, you wouldn't be suffering like this."

Naruto just let out a louder groan.

"Why are there no classes in the academy on how to do taxes? Why do we do much pointless maths yet when we actually need it...?"

"You know, even if there were, we skipped so much of the academy that we probably would have missed them anyway."

"Shut the fuck up."

Naruto glared down at the tax forms. Life had been so much easier as a genin. As a genin, tax is automatically deducted from your mission pay so you never have to worry about it. Same with active mission chunin and jounin; whenever he did missions as Team Hari, his mission pay also followed this system.

Desk chunin, however, due to the fact they are paid by the hour and often work in multiple departments have to fill out a form per department and get proof of hours worked from the Registry. This all gets handed in to the Finance department, who work out the tax threshold for the coming year based on what was worked that year. Since he didn't have to do that last year, his tax threshold was low this year as it was set at the minimum but he had a bad feeling it was about to go way up. He even had to fill in another form for the bulk payment he got in April for the ANBU training.

"We have to leave soon."

"I know," Naruto snapped back, filling in some of the pages. "It's easy for you. You literally only have the hospital to worry about. I have three sources of income."

"You knew these were due at the end of June."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he scribbled his signature down. The tax year in Konoha was June-June due to the chunin and jounin exams taking place in July. This set up the village finances in preparation for the promotions from those exams.

He quirked his head to side as he felt Rio's signature come into range.

"Rio's on his way."

"Nice!" Kazuya jumped up."I'll handle the ambush, you finish those forms."

As his friend got the bucket and walked up the wall to stand above the entrance, Naruto scrawled some last signatures down. He put his brush down and took a moment to scan the forms; they looked right but he wouldn't know for sure until the Finance department sent them back covered in red ink. He shrugged and rolled them up, standing and shoving them into his pocket as Rio's signature reached the front door.

The door swung and Naruto grinned as Kazuya dumped the bucket of glitter over their youngest brother, the blond letting out a loud shriek. Naruto doubled over in laughter as Rio stood in the doorway, frozen in shock. Kazuya joined him and Naruto wheezed as his friend lost control of his chakra, thumping onto the floor. Rio glared at the pair of them, his arms held out to the side as he was surrounded by heaps of glitter.

"Kazu-nee! Why?"

Naruto gasped for breath as Kazuya struggled up from where he had fallen, still giggling.

"Just because you've started the academy doesn't mean we can slack on the training," Kazuya grinned. "A good shinobi always has to be aware of his surroundings."

"Y-yeah," Naruto wheezed, clutching his side as a stitch started up. "You need to be able to dodge that."

The sight of Rio folding his arms and pouting, still covering in bright, gold glitter, set them off again.

"This is not what I meant by training," Rio scowled.

"Yet it will prove invaluable," Kazuya finally dragged himself up from the floor and patted Rio's hair lightly. "Now, make sure it's all cleaned up by the time we get back from our mission. I've made a bunch of meals for you in the freezer and you can go to the Inuzuka for anything else."

He dodged around the swipe from the angry academy student and Naruto took that as his cue to grab his packed bag from beside the fridge. He threw Kazuya's to him as the older boy darted to the window.

"You can't expect me to clean this up by myself!"

"Love you, Sunshine!" Naruto called behind him as he reached the window. "Study hard, Hana's in the village if you need anything, stay safe and out of trouble!"

He followed Kazuya out the window to the sounds of Rio's outrage. First the Finance department, then the front gates to meet the other member of their team.


Naruto closed his eyes, walking forward slowly. He waited patiently until he finally felt the foreign chakra beginning to enter his system.

"Now."

He opened his eyes and looked to Kurenai. She smiled and nodded, dispersing the genjutsu.

"You're getting really good that that."

"You really are," Kazuya agreed, walking beside the female chunin. "There's almost no delay between her casting the genjutsu and you sensing it now."

Naruto grinned and skipped along the dirt track to Konoha.

Yūhi Kurenai was a tall, dark-haired woman who at the start of the mission had seemed very unsure about them. It had quickly become apparent that it was due to their age but after liberating a town in the deep south of Fire Country between just the three of them, she had re-evaluated. Naruto liked to think that his sensing and Kazuya's healing of the town's entire infirmary had played a part in that.

They had also learned a bit about her as well; turns out she was a genjutsu mistress. The first stage of the chunin exams still stuck in Naruto's mind and he knew he had to get better at detecting chakra entering his system, no matter how subtle or how much was going on. He wasn't about to let this opportunity pass so he had managed to convince her to cast genjutsu on him on the way back. She had seemed a bit confused but caught on quickly after the first couple illusions.

"Now if you could do that in the middle of battle, you'd be sorted."

"The fact you can do it at all is amazing," Kurenai smiled, raising her eyebrow at Kazuya. "There are not many shinobi who can detect my chakra during a genjutsu."

The village gates came into view and something in Naruto relaxed at the sight. It had been a long month away and Naruto was more than ready to sit down with a bowl of ramen with Rio, even if it was a bit late. He wondered if he'd been able to get the glitter out of everything; the academy chunin had been finding it in their staffroom for weeks when they dumped it in there.

They handed in their papers to Izumo and Kotetsu at the gate and waved to Kurenai as she headed off in the opposite direction. Naruto hoped they had more missions with her in the future; she was cool. They would meet up to hand in their mission reports first thing tomorrow morning, using tonight to write them up. Naruto was already cataloguing the new information that would be added to the giant map in the office.

He and Kazuya walked along the village streets, the dark, cloudy sky casting an uncharacteristic gloom over the village. Naruto stretched out his sensing ability to track down Rio but stopped as he came across a gaping void, with more lights flickering out even as he stood there.

"Kazuya, you need to get the ANBU to the Uchiha compound. There's a team south-southwest of here, on top of the kimono shop."

"Wait, why-"

His friend was cut off as Naruto shot forward, pushing chakra to his feet as he flung himself to the rooftops.

"Someone's killing the Uchiha!" he screamed behind him as a group of Kiba-sized chakra signatures were snuffed out.

The wind tore at his face as he ran across the village, desperation fuelling him as the signatures dwindled. He finally reached the edge of the compound; the normally proud flags bearing the Uchiha fans hanging limply in tatters. He threw himself through the entrance and swallowed harshly at the scattered bodies lying discarded around the street. Smoke rose from some of the homes and Naruto had to choke back the bile that rose up.

He shook his head harshly and ran towards the only signatures he could feel; there were two and both were Uchiha. There was another large Uchiha one in the distance near the Police Station but he didn't have time to go there; he had to focus on the majority he could save. He strained to feel for any foreign signatures but could feel none; no indication of what had done this to the proud Uchiha clan.

He pushed himself harder as the larger signature lunged for the smaller one. He finally saw Itachi shove a kid out of a house and Naruto dove forward, grabbing the kid as Itachi swiped a kunai at the empty air. Naruto looked down to see a shocked and tearful Sasuke; he shoved the kid's head into his shoulder as he stood so he wouldn't look round to see the bodies still scattered throughout the street.

"Don't look, Sasuke," he muttered beneath his breath. "Help's on its way."

The kid was shaking; he complied, but Naruto knew it was more likely he hadn't heard him and was still in shock.

"Do not interfere, Uzumaki."

Naruto looked back up with burning eyes.

"What the fuck have you done, Itachi?"

The older Uchiha was still dressed in his ANBU uniform sans his mask. There wasn't even any blood splatter on his uniform to indicate what he had just done. His dark eyes were blank and Naruto didn't know if that made this all worse.

"I have proven myself." Itachi threw out his hands to gesture to the destruction around him. "But I must speak to Sasuke alone. You are standing in the way of this."

"If you think for a single second I'm going to let you near this child after what you just did to his family, you are insane," Naruto hissed, holding Sasuke tighter to him.

"I killed the Uchiha clan to prove my power!" Itachi proclaimed, pointing a kunai at them. "Sasuke is the only one left that has the potential to be my opponent."

Sasuke began to stir as Itachi continued.

"But right now he is too weak..."

Naruto looked down at the boy in his arms and made a decision. He chopped the back of Sasuke's neck and the boy became a dead weight as he dropped into unconsciousness. He hefted the youngest Uchiha further up into his shoulder.

"What did you do?" Itachi took a menacing step forward, showing his first emotion since Naruto arrived.

"I'm not going to let you sprout whatever shit you were going to come up with to hurt this kid further," Naruto took a step back as he mentally screamed for that ANBU team. "He's gone through enough. He doesn't owe you anything."

Naruto dropped his gaze as he felt something shift in Itachi's chakra.

There was no way he would win against Itachi in a straight fight. He had to protect Sasuke and if Itachi had his Sharingan activated, then Naruto couldn't even meet his eyes. Naruto was just a chunin; Itachi was an ANBU Captain. He just had to last long enough for Kazuya to get that ANBU team.

Itachi said he had killed the Uchiha clan; but the signature he had sensed near the disappearing lights hadn't been Itachi's. He hadn't been here for the whole massacre so Itachi must have killed the others before he came into range.

"Why would you risk yourself for a stranger like this? You know I could cut you down where you stand?"

Naruto still refused to meet Itachi's eyes.

"No one deserves this, especially not Mikoto's kid."

There was flicker in Itachi's chakra at the mention of his mother before Naruto spoke up again.

"Why, Itachi? It can't just be about power." The puzzle pieces just didn't fit in Naruto's brain. "If it was then why the civilians? Why the kids?"

"I did this to prove my power. The clan has become weak; I have proved that this night."

Naruto couldn't help but feel that Itachi didn't really believe that.

"Sasuke has to be the one to kill me."

"That'll be his choice," Naruto shot back venomously.

He finally sensed the ANBU team reaching the edge of the compound. He sensed Itachi building up his chakra for something and mentally sent an apology to Sasuke. It was either Itachi's capture or their lives.

"An ANBU team is on their way. You can either fight me and get caught by them or flee now and leave Sasuke alone."

Itachi hesitated and Naruto took a chance.

"Your accomplice has already fled the Police Station."

"I did this alone."

"We both know you didn't. You're working with another Uchiha."

Itachi fell silent and Naruto felt relief as he sensed Kakashi with the ANBU team. He jolted back at movement from Itachi.

"Your sensing abilities are as great as they are dangerous; for both your opponents and yourself."

Naruto almost wanted to ask what he meant by that but Itachi vanished. His chakra signature reappeared far from them and Naruto lost track as it left the village. Naruto sank to the floor, still clutching Sasuke, as the adrenaline coursed through him. He let out a shaky breath as he finally loosened his grip on the kid.

Sasuke looked so different to the tiny child that he had given a tomato to in the market. His ashen face was streaked with tears and even in sleep his face was lined with pain and sorrow. Naruto dreaded the kid waking up; the world he would awaken to would not be kind to him. He looked over to the house that Sasuke had been shoved out of and he swallowed a hard lump; Mikoto was dead.

He looked around at the bodies and the sense of wrong pushed down on his shoulders. The Uchiha clan was dead. There should be so many chakra signatures around him; he should have been overwhelmed by the number of people. So many people dead, just like that, by someone who should have loved and protected them.

Who was that other Uchiha though? Naruto had never felt his signature before. From what he'd been able to sense in his peripherals, the other Uchiha had been the one to take out the Police Station. Then why had Itachi insisted that he had done it alone? Was he covering for someone?

There was something that didn't sit right about any of this, but it was hard to think about it when surrounded by the dead family members of the boy in his arms.

He squeezed his eyes shut as tears began to fall. Maybe if he had been quicker he would have been able to save more of them. He didn't hear the ANBU team land near him, but he felt their signatures. Kakashi approached and knelt next to him, placing a careful hand on his shoulder. Naruto looked up through blurry eyes to see the impassive dog mask of the ANBU staring back.

"Any other survivors?"

Naruto shook his head and looked back down at Sasuke's face. The ANBU team moved around him as Kakashi remained next to him.

"Who did this?"

"Itachi," Naruto managed to choke out. "And another Uchiha; not from the village."

Kakashi squeezed his shoulder and rose, leaving Naruto sat in the middle of the Uchiha's cobbled streets, clutching the last Uchiha in his arms.


Hiruzen rubbed his eyes as his headache persisted.

What a mess.

The Uchiha clan was gone and it was due to one of his own former council members. Hiruzen was not sure the last time he had felt such fury as when young Itachi had come to report on the Uchiha clan's death. It had been a bit later as the Uchiha had had to avoid Naruto-kun's sensing which was another issue that had to be dealt with.

There was nothing to be done after the fact; the Uchiha clan was gone and Hiruzen could not bring them back. He could only promise Itachi to keep the cover story that the boy alone had been responsible for the massacre and to keep Sasuke away from Danzō. He could also remove Danzō from the council, dismantle Root and prevent him from being in a position to make this sort of decision ever again.

Hiruzen had grown soft in his old age, depending on his council perhaps too much. That was going to change. Now.

Itachi had suggested he join an organisation called Akatsuki to not only reinforce his image as a criminal but to spy on them for Konoha. Hiruzen was more than aware that he did not deserve the loyalty of a shinobi like Itachi but he was grateful for it nonetheless.

The Uchiha had also warned him of Naruto. The redhead had somehow found himself in the middle of all this and had reported to Team Ro that there had been a second Uchiha present. Itachi had reported that it had been another member of the Akatsuki but had not been able to inform Hiruzen of his identity. It was troubling but there were far larger concerns to address right now.

A knock from his door but before Hiruzen had a chance to answer, Naruto burst in, Hiruzen's harried secretary following behind. He waved the poor woman off and took the boy in.

Naruto was now eleven, Hiruzen believed; only two years younger than Itachi. He was still dressed in his customary mission gear and Hiruzen absentmindedly noted that the boy was to hand in a report in just a few hours. Some of his long red hair had escaped its braid and stuck haphazardly in all directions; the scar on his face was fading, although it now stuck out against pale, sickly skin. Despite the tears dried on his face, Naruto's blue eyes shone with determination. Hiruzen couldn't help but think he looked more and more like Minato with each passing year.

"Naruto-kun, I understand this has been a trying night," Hiruzen began, watching Naruto's hands curl into fists. "Thank you for your swift actions in saving Uchiha Sasuke but it is now being handled."

"Itachi wouldn't have killed him," Naruto frowned, coming to stand in front of Hiruzen's desk. "I didn't save anybody."

Hiruzen grimaced. The boy was taking this harder than he thought.

"I want to talk to you about what's happening to Sasuke now."

"There is currently a retrieval and identification mission underway to compile a list of the dead," Hiruzen sighed. "Once this is done, a funeral will be held and all assets and powers of the Uchiha clan will transfer to Sasuke. He will not be able to take the Clan Head seat until he reaches chunin so the status of the Uchiha clan has been suspended until that time."

"I don't care about all that power bullshit," Naruto snapped. "I want to know what is going to happen to the eight year old child in the hospital right now."

"There are many families in Konoha who would petition to take Sasuke-kun in," Hiruzen started but Naruto cut him off.

"They are all fucking vultures! They don't care about Sasuke; they'll just want 'the Last Uchiha'."

The redhead spat out the last phrase with disgust.

"Either way," Hiruzen continued. "Sasuke won't be going to anyone. He also won't be going to the orphanage. His status as the Last Uchiha would make him going to any one family too disruptive to the power balance within the village. He will be living on his own."

This statement almost seemed to horrify Naruto more than the power-hungry families.

"Jiji, he can't live on his own!"

Hiruzen sighed.

"He must. There are no living family members and no one can take him in."

"Why can't he live with me?"

"Naruto-kun, you cannot get preferential treatment. You hardly know the boy; I know tonight has hit you hard but I'm afraid Sasuke has to fend for himself. He has the wealth and resources of the Uchiha clan behind him; he'll be okay."

"He just lost his whole family; money won't mean anything to him," Naruto mouth wobbled. "I owe his mother! I can't just let him survive on his own."

Hiruzen levelled his gaze at the boy.

"What about moving him in next door to me? Into 9B? There's no way in fuck he would be moving back into the Uchiha compound so he'd have to find somewhere anyway, right?"

"What happened to the couple living next to you?"

"Apparently we're not very good neighbours," Naruto shrugged. "Noise complaints and stuff; but if Sasuke moves in there, Kaz and I can check on him, make sure he eats, has clean clothes, pays his bills."

Hiruzen considered his proposal. Technically, the Uchiha would be living on his own; he would just have friendly neighbours. He also had a feeling that no matter where Sasuke was moved to, Naruto would track him down and look after him anyway.

"That should be acceptable; however, you must be prepared to accept that Sasuke might not want your help."

Naruto nodded.

"I know, but I have to try."

"And Naruto? Everything you saw and felt tonight, including the intruder, is now an S-rank secret," Hiruzen ordered. "No one must know that Itachi did not act alone; you must stick to the story that Itachi told you. He did it alone and for power. Do you understand?"

"Wait, what?" Naruto stared at him in confusion. "But he didn't; the other Uchiha was the one to take out the Police Force. I'm also pretty sure he took out some of the kids too but I could be wrong as I had only just arrived back in the village then. I have no idea what the ratio was for the Massacre but it wasn't all Itachi."

"Regardless, you cannot tell anyone about this other Uchiha," Hiruzen tried to make it clear but Naruto continued.

"And why now? Why tonight? Plus his motive is sketchy at best; he did it for power? He said that the clan had weakened but I give out missions and they haven't; there has just been a decline in trust between the village and the clan over recent years. Not only that, but in terms of power, the civilians and the kids shouldn't have come into it-"

"Naruto!"

The boy shut his mouth and gaped back at Hiruzen.

"You are a chunin barely out of your first year! You do not have the authorisation to take this matter any further than I allow you to!" Hiruzen snapped. "I know I have been lenient with you, but in this matter you will follow your Hokage's orders. You will tell no one of the true events of tonight; you will tell anyone who asks that it was Itachi alone and he did it for the sake of power. You will not pry any further. Is that clear?"

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto asked stubbornly. "He deserves to know the truth."

"No one. Am. I. Clear."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen nodded his head curtly at the redhead, relieved to finally get this through his skull. It was to protect him; the less he knew about this the better and he already knew too much as it was. The boy would forgive him. Naruto was well practiced in the art of keeping S-rank secrets.


Genma stood beside Raidō as the shinobi around them murmured between themselves. It was the very early morning and he tried to suppress a yawn, resting his head on Raidō's warm shoulder.

"Hey, do we know what this is about?"

Anko and Kurenai slipped in next to them, peering over the people in front of them to see the Hokage's empty desk. Genma shook his head as a yawn finally escaped.

"Nope, but it must be something big if it was this last minute."

Kurenai let out a yawn of her own and Genma peered sleepily over at her.

"Late night?"

"Just got back late last night from a mission with your boys," she stretched her hands above her head. "We're handing in our mission report in a couple hours."

"I wonder where the Uchiha are," Raidō commented. "If the meeting is that important, some of the Police Force should be here."

Genma lifted his head to look around. His friend had a point; there was not a single Uchiha in sight. Usually they were all over this kind of thing.

The Hokage entered through a side door and the shinobi in the room collectively stood to attention. Genma narrowed his eyes as Naruto snuck in after the Hokage; as their village leader stood in front of his desk, Naruto stood to his right and behind the desk.

Naruto didn't look good. He obviously hadn't gotten changed from his mission the previous night and his hair was in a state. His face was pale and he appeared not to have slept; dread pooled in Genma's gut as the Hokage began to speak.

"Thank you for gathering so quickly; I have grave news that will impact Konoha and I need the people in this room to help the village get back on its feet."

The Hokage seemed to age in front of their eyes.

"Last night, Uchiha Itachi attacked and slaughtered the Uchiha clan. There was one survivor; Uchiha Sasuke, who is in his first year at the academy. He is recovering at the hospital."

A dead weight dropped in the room and Genma froze. The entire clan? There was no way; there was no way that a whole clan could just be gone overnight.

"We now have to fill the void left behind by the Uchiha Police Force; we will be setting up a new recruitment system but until we get that up and running I need you to fill this role. Over the next month, you will be set up on rotations for patrols around the village while the Mission Assignment Desk sorts through the Uchiha's paperwork and organises the new Police Force."

Genma's eyes snapped to Naruto; the redhead looked faintly sick at the thought and Genma couldn't help but feel the same.

"I will be making the announcement to the rest of the village tomorrow morning, but I wanted to inform you to your new roles right away. You will be summoned to the Desk to be handed your rota within the next forty-eight hours. The funeral will be held at the end of the week, after the bodies can be identified and prepared. You are all dismissed."

No one moved for several minutes.

Genma looked up as he felt a hand on his arm. Raidō gestured with his head and they began to exit. Genma abruptly halted and turned, spotting Naruto. The redhead was slumped was he shuffled forward, half-heartedly dodging around the much taller shinobi. Genma grabbed onto Raidō's hand and dragged him back into the room until they reached the kid.

Naruto looked even more pitiful up close. Genma reached with his free hand and grasped his shoulder firmly, guiding the boy out of the room. Raidō quickly caught on and together they shielded Naruto from the surrounding crowd.

They navigated the halls and finally came to the open air. Genma released Raidō's hand and put his hand on Naruto's other shoulder. He forced the boy to meet his eyes; Naruto's blue eyes were glassy with tears and Genma pulled him into a tight hug.

"How much did you see?"

Naruto was quiet for a moment.

"I got there too late," he sniffled. "I felt them dying when I got back but by the time I got there, only Sasuke was left."

Genma squeezed him tighter. The moment he had seen his student he had dreaded this; it was like the Hyūga Affair all over again. Naruto had a great gift and he was always trying to use it to help others; but this time, it might have been too much for him. Genma couldn't imagine being able to feel people dying around him. It was bad enough just seeing it.

"There were just so many bodies, Sensei. I recognised so many of them; I've seen them around the village."

"I'm so sorry, Naruto."

"The village will never be the same," Raidō spoke up and Genma smiled half-heartedly at him.

Naruto took a deep breath and pushed away from Genma. He roughly wiped his eyes and sighed.

"I've got to go. I have to get a shower before going back to the office."

"Naruto, maybe you should take the day off," Genma tried to gently suggest. "This isn't something you can just brush off. Everyone is going to take it hard and they weren't there to see it."

"I don't have time," Naruto shook his head. "It's all hands on deck. We have to go to the Police Station and organise the rotas and, oh no, the Registry, Finance, all those departments will have to be updated and normal missions have keep going too..."

"Breathe, Naruto-kun."

Naruto grimaced in an attempt at a smile towards Raidō.

"Thanks Genma-sensei, Raidō-san. I'll see you when you come to get your rotas."

Naruto shunshined away and Genma sighed, staring at the spot his student had disappeared. The sun began to peak over the village, shining a cold orange light through the quiet streets. The village already seemed emptier.


Sasuke stood in the empty flat, keys dangling from his limp hands. He finally been released from the hospital an hour ago and the Hokage had told him he would be moving in here. It had been two days since that night and the memories were still fresh in Sasuke's mind.

He let go of the keys and they dropped to the varnished, wooden floor with an echoing clank. He couldn't bear to be in here anymore; he went for the window and slammed it open. He climbed out and made his way to the roof. Finally reaching the top he sat there, the cool evening air moving through his thin t-shirt.

His clan was gone; his family was gone. If he went to the compound right now there would be no one there to greet him, no one there to smile at him, wish him a good night. His mother wouldn't be there to tell him off for being late; his father wouldn't be sitting in his office. They never would be again. He was totally alone and it was all because of Itachi-nii.

Turmoil churned in his gut at the thought of his brother. When he'd entered their home to find his brother standing over his parents' bodies, his brain had frozen. There had been no thoughts, no comprehension, no understanding. He just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that his big brother could have done something like that. Then Itachi had lunged for him and Sasuke's brain had remained frozen, still unable to react.

Someone else had arrived then and Sasuke couldn't remember what happened after that. He must have blacked out because he'd woken up in the hospital some time later. Some guy with pink eyes had been there to check him over; the Hokage had arrived much later to tell him what had happened.

The Hokage said that Itachi had done it to prove his power; that Itachi had been the one to kill Shisui last year. The memory of his brother lunging for him with a kunai made it easier to believe but it didn't fit with the Itachi that Sasuke knew.

But did Sasuke even know Itachi anymore? Itachi had been so busy with ANBU and his missions that Sasuke had barely seen him in recent years. Who knows what his brother had been up to in that time?

Sasuke was still alone. He still had no family, no clan, no home; and it was all because of Itachi.

"Room up there for one more?"

He flinched as a head popped up over the edge of the roof. The older boy smiled at him as he clambered onto the roof, his orange jacket flowing with the night breeze. His long red hair hung loose around his shoulders and a large scar marred the left side of his face. The boy dumped a blanket onto Sasuke's shoulders and took a seat next to him. Sasuke frowned as he stared into his face; he looked familiar.

"I'm your neighbour from 9A, Uzumaki Naruto," the older boy shrugged. "I've got a brother in your class, Rio? Loud blond kid?"

Sasuke stared at him; his voice was familiar too.

"I know you."

Uzumaki sighed and nodded.

"I didn't know if you would remember."

"You were there that night," Sasuke whispered. "You faced him."

"I was there," Uzumaki confirmed. "I wouldn't call what I did facing him. I just stalled him until the ANBU arrived."

"Why were you there? How did you know something was happening? Why did no one else notice?" Sasuke demanded.

Uzumaki let out a heavier sigh and leaned back on his hands, staring at the night sky.

"You've heard of chakra sensing in the academy, right?"

Sasuke frowned.

"Yeah, the Nidaime was famous for it. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I was born with the ability; I'm the only one in the village who has it. I came home from a mission that night and tried to find Rio. Instead I felt chakra signatures disappearing in the Uchiha compound; I sent my friend, Kazuya, to alert the ANBU while I headed straight for you."

Sasuke considered his words.

"It's not a coincidence that the Hokage put me in the flat next to yours, is it?"

"No, it isn't," Uzumaki looked back down to Sasuke. "I asked the Hokage to do it."

"Why?" Sasuke snapped, shoving the blanket off him. "You don't even know me. You think just because you were there that night you have the right to make decisions for me?"

"No, Sasuke, I asked the Hokage to do it because I know what you're going through. I know what you're about to go through and I want to help you. I don't want you to struggle like I have."

"What, your brother killed your clan?" Sasuke huffed, hugging his knees to his chest.

"I lost my whole family in one night," Uzumaki simply said, and Sasuke snapped his head round to stare at the older boy.

"It was during the Kyūbi attack; the same night that my sensing ability activated. My parents were killed in the attack and I had to feel their chakra leave this world. I woke up in the hospital and they were gone."

Sasuke couldn't imagine that; feeling his parents dying. It was bad enough seeing their bodies after the fact.

"I've never told anyone that so I'll ask you to keep it to yourself; especially from Rio."

He nodded as Uzumaki continued.

"What people don't realise is when you lose your parents; you lose way more than that. My godparents, my adoptive aunts and uncles, even my house and all my possessions. My entire world crashed down around me overnight; I had to build everything over from scratch. Thankfully, Rio was born that night so he kept me sane in my new life."

Uzumaki smiled, but his expression clouded.

"You're eight; you've never lived alone; you've never had to fend for yourself. You've always had your family there for you; but now you don't. I don't want you to have to fend for yourself, to have to learn everything the hard way, like I did. I can tell you that it's no fun."

Conflicting emotions churned in Sasuke's gut. He felt insulted that this relative stranger thought he was incapable of looking after himself but the way that Uzumaki spoke...this wasn't pity or doubt. Uzumaki genuinely believed what he was saying.

"We once we missed an electric bill when we first became genin. We were still learning how bills worked. Kazuya took Rio for a surprise sleepover at the Inuzuka's while I had to beg the electricity company to turn our heating back on for the two days before we could get enough D-ranks to pay the bill. It was in the dead of winter so the flat was absolutely freezing."

Sasuke stared at Uzumaki in horror before the older boy chuckled.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm very proud of how far we've come. Rio is growing up into a great kid." His smiled faded. "It's a lot though. You constantly have to be thinking and balancing: rent, bills, groceries, appointments, academy supplies, missions, training, errands, chores. I don't know where I'd be without Kazuya."

Sasuke considered his words. It really did sound like a lot. Would he have to do all that now? Did his mother do all that for him before?

"But we had to learn all this the hard way." Uzumaki picked up the blanket and placed back around Sasuke's shoulders. "It would have been so much easier if we had someone there to tell us how it all worked whenever we needed it. I want to be that person for you."

Sasuke clutched the blanket tighter to him.

"I also want to do it for your mother."

"You knew Kaa-san?" Sasuke demanded, the blanket slipping slightly.

"We've met before, you know," Uzumaki remarked. "You were about four years old and had dropped an onion at the market. You were with Mikoto-san and she told me how much you liked tomatoes. I bought you one and your little face just lit up like a lantern at the Rinne Festival."

Sasuke tried to remember but the memories were murky.

"I ran into your mother a lot on D-ranks to the market. She was amazing; no matter how many questions I asked her, she always answered them all. She was also the one to teach us the best way to get blood out of clothing which I can tell you saved us countless times on laundry."

Uzumaki pulled a small, well-worn notebook out of his jacket pocket. He handed it over and Sasuke took it, swallowing a lump as he read the cover. Scrawled in an academy student's handwriting was 'Mikoto-san's Secrets to Life'. Opening it, he flicked through the book and took in the pages and pages of notes. He recognised some of these recipes; Kaa-san had made that tomato soup for him they day he started the academy.

"Kazuya and I wrote down every bit of advice she ever gave us." Uzumaki stood and stretched his arms above his head. "That's yours now; Mikoto-san would want you to have it."

Sasuke closed the book and held it close to his chest.

"I'm not here to force you to accept my help, Sasuke; I'm just here to let you know our door is always open to you. If you need anything, any help or advice, I promise I'll always be there for you." Uzumaki walked to the edge of the roof. "Kazuya makes a great breakfast; we've got some tomatoes too if you feel like joining us."

The older boy hopped over the edge of the roof and Sasuke watched him go, still clutching the notebook in his arms. A sharp gust blew across the roof and Sasuke pulled the blanket closer around himself.


Sasuke hesitated in front of the door, the blanket folded up in his arms. Finally, he reached up and knocked. There was a few seconds of muffled thumps before the door was wrenched open. Uzumaki grinned at him from the doorway.

"Morning, Sasuke! Come on in, Kazuya has just finished cooking."

Sasuke took off his sandals and followed the older boy inside. The flat was cluttered but cosy, with little notes and pictures scattered around. A line of plants were under the large window in the back wall, the bookcases in the corners of the room were overflowing with scrolls and neither of the multicoloured rugs matched. It had a very different sort of feel to his house back in the Uchiha compound; it was packed and colourful and somehow seemed to perfectly fit the grinning redhead that was ushering him to the table.

"This is Arai Kazuya and you know Rio."

Sasuke awkwardly sat the kitchen table, putting the blanket on his lap and staring across at Rio as the blond inhaled the last of his omurice. He had seen the younger Uzumaki in his class but they had never really spoken; Sasuke kept to himself while the Uzumaki stuck to his group of Inuzuka, Nara and Akimichi. He looked over to the slumped figure next to the blond to see the brunet that was in his hospital room after that night.

Uzumaki placed a plate in front of him and Sasuke felt his stomach rumble at the sight of the omurice and fried tomatoes.

"Thank you," he said quietly, picking up his chopsticks.

The younger Uzumaki picked up his plate and utensils and dropped them into the sink.

"I'm heading over to Kiba's. The litter was finally born last night and I'm going to help look after them."

"So Kiba's finally going to get his own dog, huh?" Uzumaki grinned over a steaming mug.

"Yup!"

As the blond bounced out the door, Arai finally raised his head.

"Get me some coffee, Aka-chan."

"You've already had two."

"I'll need at least another three to cope with today."

Uzumaki rolled his eyes but went over to grab another steaming mug. Sasuke slowly began to eat the rice as Uzumaki sat across from him. He stared as Uzumaki took a sip of his own tea; he was just wearing a black t-shirt today. Swirling tattoos ran up his left arm on top of thick straight lines that ran all the way to his fingertips. Symbols and kanji were scattered around seemingly at random and Sasuke couldn't recognise any of them.

"Curious, huh?"

Sasuke startled at Uzumaki's voice.

"Sorry, Uzumaki-san."

"Naruto, please," he lifted the sleeve of his t-shirt and Sasuke could see the tattoo ran up all the way to the top of his shoulder. "This happened during the Kyūbi attack too. Got hit by rubble and the Kyūbu's chakra corrupted my pathways. Had to get it sealed off so it didn't spread to the rest of my body; can't use chakra in this arm anymore."

Arai shot the redhead a sharp look over his coffee but remained quiet. Naruto dropped the sleeve and grinned wryly.

"It happened a long time ago; I'd say I've adjusted pretty well. Got some pretty cool tattoos out of it too."

Naruto's grin dropped and he stood, going to gather some papers from the coffee table.

"Sasuke, we've identified the bodies and prepared them for burial." He placed the papers on the kitchen table. "It's your family so I spoke to the Hokage and you get the final say on the funeral arrangements."

"Funeral?" Sasuke dropped his chopsticks as his appetite left him.

"There's not a single person in the village that didn't lose someone they know that night," Naruto grimaced. "There's going to be a village-wide funeral held in a couple days but I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"Why you?"

"I work at the Mission Assignment Desk; I'm working with the Public Relations Office to arrange missions to organise it. I'm also the only one at the Desk who can focus on this full-time right now since I'm not shared out to another department. The fūinjutsu division isn't full-time."

"What if I'd refused your help?"

"Then I would have sent a hawk and you would have done this in one of the private rooms at the administration offices with a chunin from Public Relations. I meant it when I said I wouldn't push anything on you."

Sasuke stared down at the papers before finally nodding. As they began to work through the documents, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a tiny glow of gratitude towards this boy. The thought of having to sort through this by himself made him feel physically sick.

Maybe he would take Naruto up on his offer for help every now and then.


So while the Uchiha Massacre still took place and Sasuke is still affected by it, Naruto arrived in time to stop Itachi from using his Mangekyou Sharingan, giving his big 'hatred and work alone' speech and subsequently traumatizing Sasuke for life like he did in canon. What this will do to Sasuke and the choices he makes in the future remains to be seen...

Thanks for reading!