After their rather uneventful lesson had ended, Naruto stood and packed his books away, hovering for a few moments, still unsure of whether or not Sasuke would want to walk with him to the school gates. However his doubts where shattered when the raven, after also returning his books to his bag, turned to him from where he stood; halfway to the classroom door.

"Well, are you coming moron?" he said with a slightly arrogant tone present in his voice; other than that his features betrayed no emotion. A small grin formed on Naruto's face at the realization that Sasuke was waiting for him, before he registered the other boy's words and a frown replaced the grin from the insult.

"You know, you really need to stop calling me that, Bastard." He growled out, annoyed at the superiority complex the raven possessed.

Still his actions contradicted his words and he walked to join Sasuke, quite obviously forgiving him for his patronizing manor. As they walked out of the classroom and down the school halls side by side, the raven glanced at Naruto from the corner of his eyes and a slight smirk curled at the left of his lips.

"Hn."

Gritting his teeth in agitation at Sasuke's lack of response, the blonde gave a slight glare in his direction. However, the dark haired boy paid no mind to the heated look he knew he was receiving as they slowly approached the exit to the school building.

"Which direction is your house in?" the raven asked, his voice calm and his eyes staring straight ahead at the double doors in front of them. He reached out a pale hand to open the door, holding one ajar just enough so Naruto could fit through and join him.

Giving Sasuke a small grin, Naruto walked through the door, thanking him with a small mumble as they walked down the steps toward the school gate. Sasuke gave an, almost unnoticeable, nod and turned his black eyes to the blonde as they walked, waiting for Naruto to answer his question.

"I normally walk that way and take a couple of alleyways. It's about an hour walk from here." The blonde explained, raising his hand and pointing left to indicate to Sasuke which direction he meant. He tried his hardest not to show it, but talking about his home life or even just his house in general, was making him dread walking through his front door and facing Mizuki's wrath. Naruto knew he was going to be punished for locking himself in his bedroom last night. He only hoped that Mizuki was still at work. He prayed to any god that would listen, over and over in his mind that Mizuki was on a late shift at the supermarket. He didn't think he could handle the abuse tonight.

Sasuke halted abruptly in his walking as they passed the school gates to stand on the outside pavement and turned to look at Naruto; both dark eyebrows where somewhat raised and his features displayed slight disbelief.

"Your parents don't pick you up?" he asked, alarm lacing his normally, monotonous voice. Sasuke was rather surprised that anyone would allow their son to walk so far; especially when the nights became darker more quickly as winter approached.

Bringing his right arm up to scratch the back of his neck sheepishly, Naruto plastered a false grin across his face, closing his eyes in the process to hide the nervousness he felt when discussing this particular topic.

"Nahh, it's just me and my foster father. He works late a lot so I have to make my own way home." The blonde said, trying his hardest to keep his voice even and his posture casual. He swore to himself he would not start trembling or tearing up in the raven's presence; damn it, he would not allow his façade to crack, and he would not show Sasuke his weaknesses. He refused to be a burden.

With cool, dark orbs, Sasuke regarded him evenly but before he could comment or ask questions about what Naruto had said, a sleek black Audi slowly came to a stop and pulled up beside them on the curb. A marginally tinted window rolled down to reveal a dark haired man who vaguely resembled Sasuke. He was wearing an elegant suit, however his blazer was nowhere in sight, the first button on his collar was popped open and his tie was loosened; allowing him to have total comfort. As the man faced the two boys, Naruto could see he had cool black eyes, identical to that of Sasuke's, and deep set lines running from his eyes, giving him an almost overworked look; none of these diminished his natural attractiveness, only added to them.

"Sasuke." the dark haired man greeted with the same expression Sasuke normally wore on his face, before turning his gaze to Naruto. "You've made a friend I see." He stated and a warm smile tugged at his lips as he gave a slight nod to Naruto.

Blinking, the blonde's cheeks flushed slightly with heat, not used to being greeted in such a positive manor. Giving the man a sunny grin he raised his hand and coupled it with a small wave; doing it rather carefully as to not irritate the bruises on his torso. Their burning had not stopped.

Sasuke took his eyes from his brother, whom he had about to greet in return, and looked at Naruto, rolling his orbs as the blonde spoke.

"Hey, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, you must be Itachi." Naruto said slightly enthusiastically, the sparkle in his eyes once again returning at being able to meet one of Sasuke's family members. The pain of his injuries temporarily forgotten.

In response, Itachi gave a light chuckle, once again directing his gaze toward Sasuke. "I dread to think what he's been telling you about me." He said, an amused smile gracing his flawless features. Sasuke gave a small snort, before he glanced to the side and his lips curled into a half smile, half smirk, at his elder brothers teasing.

"Would you like a lift, Naruto-kun?" Itachi asked, using the Japanese honorific to address the blonde; his expression returning to the warm smile he originally wore.

As much as Naruto would have loved to accept the offer he knew he had to decline. The Uchiha brothers where quite obviously from wealth and he couldn't bear the thought of losing the first person who acknowledged him, when he saw the state of the four walls Naruto lived in. Not to mention the fact that if Mizuki was home early, he may already have started drinking, he would not put either of these perfect human beings in harm's way. They were the first two individuals to show him kindness in a very long time.

"Thanks, but no, there's some stuff I have to pick up on the way home and besides I don't mind walking." Naruto replied, a fake grin plastered on his face once more. In response Itachi gave a nod in understanding before he looked at Sasuke, waiting patiently for him to get in the car; warmth present in both his eyes and his expression as he watched his younger brother. Glad he had finally been able to make a friend.

Twisting his neck slightly to face Sasuke, the grin still in place, he prepared to say goodbye.

"Well, see you tomorrow then Bastard!" he said cheekily, before giving Sasuke a slight wave and walking off down the road, not waiting for the ravens retort to his insult.

"Hn. Whatever moron." Sasuke muttered, a tiny smirk present in his features. Knowing his reply did not reach Naruto's ears; he opened the car door and got into the passenger seat.

Although he insulted the blonde constantly, he rather enjoyed his presence; it was refreshing to have someone with such a personality as Naruto's, even if his smiles did seem rather forced at times. As his brother started to question him about the blonde and his day in general, he knew one thing, he was going to try his best to hold on to Naruto and keep him in his life from here on out. And halfway down the street, just about to make a turn into the shopping centre to buy his much needed medicine in order to treat his wounds, a blonde haired boy thought exactly the same about Sasuke.

Authors Note:

Hope you enjoyed it lovely's! ^^

I really hope everyone's in character, I found Itachi incredible hard to do :P.

Views and reviews are always welcome and appreciated