Disclaimer: not mine

Warnings: male/male pairing(in the future), unbeta-ed version

Sasuke: 7

Naruto: 17

Itachi: 13

Minato: 25

Kakashi: 18

Iruka: 17

I'm taking a liberty with the ages of the three last people, but it's so obviously AU that I won't let that disturb me.

Chapter 7

It was the sunlight that woke Sasuke in the morning. Sleepily he blinked a few times, then sat up in his bed. Only that it wasn't his bed he was lying in, he wasn't even in his room.

Sasuke looked at the white walls, the bed next to his were he could only make out a blond mop of hair and sleeping form of his brother slumped in a chair next to his bed to come to that deduction.

"It wasn't a nightmare, huh? It was all real." he thought, tears gathering in his eyes.

Burrowing his head in his knees, the young boy started to sob heartbrokenly.

Suddenly he was gathered in a pair of warm arms and his brother's voice floated into his ear: "Shh, Sasuke. You're safe now and I won't leave you again."

It took some time, but when Sasuke finally stopped sobbing his little heart out, he looked up at his brother's face.

"Do you promise?" he asked, his childish voice still filled with hurt.

Itachi nodded his head and whispered: "Promise. If I ever have to leave on a mission again, I will pay a Jounin to look after you till I return."

And Sasuke believed him. He knew that Itachi loved him; the fact that he had obviously spent the whole night at Sasuke's bedside was proof enough. There were dark circles under his brother's eyes and deep lines on his forehead.

"Sasuke, can you tell me what happened?" Itachi asked gently.

Sasuke leaned back into his brother's embrace, resting his head on Itachi's shoulder.

"I was getting really frightened of those looks the others shot me. I waited till father and the others were on duty and then told mother that I wanted to go out and train. She smiled at me and said I could leave after lunch; she had made me special onigiri.

So I sat down at the table and ate, even though I wasn't hungry. I was halfway through the first onigiri when I started to feel really tired and heavy.

The next time I woke up I was in a cave, bound to a post and a creepy man was cutting me on my chest.

Father and other members of the clan council sat around me in a big circle and made seals. Then there was a flash of crimson light and I wasn't alone in the circle anymore.

At first I was afraid of Naruto, because he was acting strangely, sniffing me and touching me. He later explained that the jutsu had made him confused like after a concus-conco-concosion. He wanted to make sure I was real.

Then Naruto told me to hold tight and carried me piggyback style. He fought everyone in the cave and then ran into the forest, where he fought more till we were alone. Then he looked for a good den, because we needed a sanctuary.

In the cave he hugged me to keep me warm and answered some of my questions, though I didn't ask many, just his name and why he had acted funny. I was still tired and feeling a bit funny and fell asleep.

I only woke up when I heard your voice. I knew you would find us, Nii-san!" Sasuke ended his tale.

Itachi's eyes had turned Sharingan during his brother's recounting of the happenings the day before. So his mother had drugged her youngest child with a loving smile on her lips. The more he heard about his clan's misdeeds the gladder he was for sentencing them to death.

His hands carded through Sasuke's midnight black hair, the action calming to them both.

It was disappointing that Sasuke hadn't gotten more information out of the blond lying in the other bed, but it was a start. At least they knew now that it was Naruto who had been summoned. Interesting, more interesting though were the questions of why and how.

That would have to wait till the blond woke up. The Yondaime had ordered to be informed at once when that happened; he wanted to question the teen himself.

The blond enigma could wait; Itachi had more pressing matters to think on. Like how he could explain to Sasuke that they were the only two Uchiha left.

He didn't regret his sentence and never would, but Sasuke was only seven years old and the week had been traumatic enough for him. Would it be better to tell him now or should he keep silent a little longer?

It was then that the other bed's occupant woke up with a groan.

O

I

O

Naruto groaned before he had even had a chance to verify with his eyes that he was indeed, once again, in a hospital, as his nose informed him.

Honestly, one would think six months in a hospital consecutively would be enough. No, the first place he woke up in this strange place where Sasuke was alive and Sharingan seemed plenty, was a hospital, too.

"I'm glad to see you're awake. The medics weren't sure when or if you'd wake up." a deep voice disturbed his musings.

Naruto opened his eyes and sat up. His muscles protested painfully at the action, but he could feel that his chakra level was nearly at where it should be.

Azure eyes took in the picture of Itachi lovingly embracing a chibi Sasuke and closed again. Rubbing at his eyes, Naruto looked again.

"Nope, still there. Perhaps I should check if it's raining Ramen, too." he thought faintly.

"Naruto-kun, my name is Uchiha Itachi, I am Sasuke's brother. For helping my brother you have my deepest thanks." the older Uchiha brother bowed as well as one could with a lapful of clingy seven year-old.

"I'm just glad the chibi is safe, no thanks necessary." Naruto replied, his voice still hoarse from not having used it for so long.

Itachi set Sasuke back down on his bed and stood up. "I'll have to inform the Hokage now that you're awake, Naruto-kun. He wants to ask you some questions regarding last night." The young Jounin walked out the door to send a messenger to the Hokage tower.

In the meantime Sasuke quickly climbed out of his bed and into Naruto's.

Naruto smiled warmly at the warm bundle that snuggled into his chest. Who would have thought that Sasuke was such an affectionate child?

"Naru-chan, don't be mad with Nii-san for not finding us sooner. He was on a mission. My Nii-san is the greatest shinobi ever, you know?" the little child told him with an earnest voice, the hero-worship he had for his older brother easily detected.

"I'm not mad at your brother, chibi. I just don't like hospitals and I'm hungry which always makes me grouchy."

Itachi still stood in front of Sasuke's hospital room listening in when the Hokage arrived.

"You do know what they say about eavesdropping, don't you, Itachi-kun?" Minato teased lightly.

"That every ninja worth his name does it?" he countered with a blank face.

"Touché." the older man replied.

Itachi knocked once before they entered the room together.

TBC