Author's note: Another chapter here. Somebody many reviewers have been asking for finally shows up. Also thanks for over 300 reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Itachi

Sarutobi sighed. Once again Naruto had been delivered into his office after his latest caretaker suffered a mental breakdown. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised. The man had lasted quite long, in fact, he might have set a new best time for a civilian, the Third would have to check the records to be sure, but eventually even he was reduced to a sobbing shell of a person. And the seven-year boy with the face of a little angel but a very different behavior was once again temporarily in his care. And it had to happen just when there was a foreign ambassador demanding audience with the Hokage right now or else, and when the 'or else' could mean war, the Sandaime couldn't afford to make him wait while he looked for a suitable caretaker for Naruto. So he just handed the child to the nearest Anbu and told him to watch over the boy for the rest of the day before steeling himself to deal with the political crisis of the month.

Uchiha Itachi suppressed a sigh, because showing any sign of frustration would be unprofessional. And he couldn't afford to be anything other than professional; many people were already doubting him because seriously, a twelve-year-old Anbu? But Itachi was determined to prove his worth, so he showed no sign of dismay when he had been saddled with babysitting Naruto duty just as his shift was about to end. He was an Anbu agent and he was going to fulfill his duty to the village and the Hokage, no matter how much it messed his plans for the afternoon.

He had promised Sasuke to spend the afternoon with him training and he didn't want to disappoint him after skipping their previous two planned training sessions because he had been busy. But he had a mission and had to carry it out. That was more important than keeping the promise to his younger brother. Then he was struck by an idea worthy of the genius of the Uchiha clan. Why not take Naruto with him when he helped Sasuke train? The boys were about the same age, so they could be friends. His father wouldn't approve, but Itachi didn't care for his approval much. And besides, Fugaku was busy at the Military Police Headquarters, working on some complicated murder case, so he wouldn't be home until very late evening, if he came home tonight at all. It wouldn't be the first time he had stayed at work overnight. He didn't even have to know that Naruto had been there.

Itachi snapped out of his musings when he noticed that Naruto had slipped from his grip and was now running down the corridor in a childish attempt to be stealthy. He caught up with him quickly.

"Do you want to make a friend?" he asked. Naruto's face lit up like a sun. A friend was something he had always wanted. He nodded enthusiastically. "Then come with me."

Itachi was a bit apprehensive of how would Sasuke react to his charge, but he didn't have to be. Sasuke was ecstatic to have a friend too and soon the boys were running around the training field, playing a game only they understood. Now the only question remained how will his mother take it.

Mikoto wasn't very happy with the situation. Naruto might be the son of her best friend, but... ah, that was exactly the problem. She still remembered just how destructive Kushina could be as a child and she didn't want somebody who took after her running around the Uchiha clan compound. But so far Naruto was doing nothing bad, so maybe it would be alright. She really wanted to stay and watch over them, but she had an appointment with her hairdresser. She couldn't afford to miss that. As the wife of the Uchiha clan head it was her duty to represent her clan and she couldn't do that with split ends, could she? That would bring shame to the name Uchiha. And besides, Itachi was here. He was a genius. An Anbu at twelve. He could take care of everything. And so she headed to the hairdresser, leaving the three children alone.

Soon after she was gone, Itachi decided to start the promised shuriken-throwing lesson. Sasuke was good as always. Naruto... Itachi couldn't decide whether he was so bad or so good. His shuriken never hit the designated targets, but if he was actually aiming at the windows, then his performance was impeccable.

Eventually he called it quits. Both boys were getting a bit tired, their hands a bit cut by the shuriken, and there weren't any more windows for Naruto to break. And besides, all of them were hungry. So Itachi lead them to the kitchen and Naruto demanded ramen. Itachi thought 'why not' and tried to prepare it. Unfortunately he had spent most of his time training to be a shinobi and his cooking lessons had suffered for it. Naruto tried to help enthusiastically and Sasuke joined in with his own culinary tips. Before they made something that only very vaguely resembled ramen, yet Naruto still slurped it like the food of gods, the kitchen was a complete mess.

After the lunch break it was playtime again. At times Itachi wanted to intervene when the games got too destructive, but when he saw how happy Sasuke was, he decided against it. He would do nothing to shatter his brother's happiness, even if it meant having new decorations on their house and losing some of the old ones. Eventually another Anbu appeared, informing him that the Hokage had found a new caretaker for Naruto and they should report to the Tower immediately. So after a tearful goodbye from Sasuke and a promise to come and play again, they left.

The sun was already down when Fugaku called it a day and left his office at the Military police headquarters. It hadn't been a good day. It was outright bad. They had made absolutely no progress on the murder case and a swarm of angry grieving relatives had been demanding results all day. And how was he supposed to work when they wouldn't stop bugging him? It was frustrating, so his mood was understandably foul. He just looked forward to a quiet evening at home. Maybe Mikoto could do something to improve his mood. She was good at that.

But as he neared the Uchiha clan compound, he noticed something terribly amiss. His first clue was that the Uchiha fans decorating the outer wall were now painted over and the neon orange color formed rather rude symbols. 'Was the demon brat here again?' he thought. 'Why didn't anybody chase him away?' Such negligence from the guards was inexcusable. When he walked through the gate, an even worse sight greeted him. The flowerbeds in the garden were completely ruined, as if a giant mole had dug through them. The rest of the front yard looked like a battlefield, just sans any corpses. Though that would change the moment the Uchiha clan head caught the culprit responsible. The windows were all broken. There were more orange squiggles on the house. Inside, there were yet more squiggles and the kitchen was a complete disaster. And he was almost sure that the shards on the ground used to be a priceless antique china statue that was their family heirloom.

"What happened here?" he asked no-one in particular.

"I played with Naruto," Sasuke answered cheerfully.

"The brat was here?" Fugaku growled.

"Yes," the boy nodded, completely ignoring his father's foul mood. "Itachi-nii brought him here. He was minding him as an order from the Hokage."

So the Hokage had ordered the Demon Brat into their clan compound? And allowed him to wreak havoc there? That was an insult. But he couldn't do much against the Hokage. He just grumbled and walked into his room, slamming the door behind here. There he came upon the worst sight yet. The altar to his ancestors had been disturbed. The bowl for offerings now contained ramen and the photo of his late father now sported three whisker marks on each cheek, made in permanent marker. Had Fugaku paid more attention to his children, he might have recognized Sasuke's hand behind his father's makeover. But he didn't and so he jumped to the wrong conclusion. And even if he did, he would just assume that the Demon had corrupted his poor innocent son.

That was the last straw. A ruined home his pride could swallow, though just barely, but a desecrated shrine to his ancestors he could not. Some insults just couldn't be forgiven. If the Hokage insisted on disrespecting them like this, he was going to show him just why the Uchiha clan was the most feared among all shinobi clans. The Sandaime was strong, so it would take some preparations to take him down. But he will do it, or else his home might be invaded by the Demon again. And he was determined to prevent that at all costs. When he was in charge of Konoha, such things won't happen again. And best of all, the Demon Brat who loved to prank his Police Force wouldn't bother him ever again. It would take some planning, so he should start immediately.