Title: In your Shadow I Stand

Summary: From the start, Naruto was bound to be with Itachi but when Itachi left the village he entrusted his brother, Sasuke to watch over Naruto until his return. Sasuke chose to remain hidden as he protects his brother's love. But how could he keep his distance when something keeps pulling him closer? AU. SasuNaru. ItaNaru.

Warning: Yaoi. And OOC Sasuke because he's kinder here. So a lot might freak out because we're used to the words Sasuke and smile not being together often in one sentence.

Disclaimer: Naruto © KISHIMOTO Masashi / Cover Image © Reng

Note: I am aware of what's going on currently in the manga. But here in my fic, Madara is still the main antagonist... don't want to over complicate things.

Chapter Two:

Faithful

Day in and day out obsidian eyes watched the sunshine blonde making sure that none of his footfalls would be heard, no inch of his shadow nor outline would be seen, and no breath would be heard because for everyone, he's dead. It was bizarre for Sasuke at first, looming around with no one supposed to see him. He felt like a living ghost and it felt kind of lonely with nobody else knowing you exist, no one to talk to. But seeing Naruto was enough. Sasuke made it to a point that Naruto will be his reason to endure all the pain of being alone. Naruto is his best friend after all, but he did feel sorry for him when they faked his death almost a year ago.

But they had to do it or else. Sacrifices must be made and Itachi was smart enough to choose which ones to let go and to save and at the end of the day, it will always be Naruto who he will protect. The younger Uchiha knows the depth of his brother's love for his soon-to-be spouse and he's proud of it and because of that he agreed wholeheartedly in taking on this duty –to watch over Naruto in the sidelines.

Sasuke was perched up on a tree with the thick foliage hiding him; his chakra perfectly masked so that he won't be sensed. Right now he was watching as Naruto and his team trained. A new member was added when Sasuke 'died', his name is 'Sai'. The surviving Uchiha doesn't like his replacement, he was too… bold. Obviously flirting with Naruto with every chance he got. Sasuke could only face palm whenever his best friend reply innocently to Sai's obvious innuendos.

On the other hand, Sasuke's thankful for Naruto's stupidity and unknowingness, now he won't have to worry about anyone tainting the blonde's mind. Itachi will be pissed as hell if he found out that his pure little angel grew up knowing a bunch of…things… that he didn't teach himself. Possessiveness runs in the family of course and dominating males in the clan would literally shred to pieces those that dare soil their future brides. Yeah, that Sai would be minced meat if Itachi was here. The worst thing that Sasuke will do to the opportunistic teenage boy in case he forced his way to Naruto was to slit his throat; and that was him being kind and considerate.

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei you cheater!" Naruto's loud mouth got him back on track. Black eyes narrowed trying to assess the situation better and when he did, he couldn't help but smile a little. "SENSEEEIIII!" The blonde kept whining while struggling from the trap that Kakashi set up. The trap left him hanging helplessly from a tree bark with his limbs and mid section bound by thick ropes.

Kakashi chuckled, "Now now, Naruto. Traps are completely legal so I'm not cheating."

"Yeah Naruto!" Sakura chided in and laughed at Naruto's cries.

"Noooo! It's unfair!"

Sasuke's smile grew. Whenever he sees that bright honest smile or hears his voice full of mirth it pushes him more to move on about what happened that fateful night. Their loved ones were killed, Itachi exiled himself, Sasuke played out his death, and left them with a burden of making Naruto believe that he was left alone. If one would delve further about it, it would almost take an eternity to take in completely. But Naruto's resiliency was remarkable and contagious to those who really know him.

At first, Sasuke thought that his best friend would change after all that and he would be watching over someone who looks like his best friend but completely foreign. But much to his appreciation, Naruto didn't change; he was still the cheerful sunshine that they love.

Leaping out from the tree stealthily, the raven followed Naruto as the team called it a day.

He kept a steady pace as he leapt from roof to roof and occasionally going down to the streets and trailed him on foot. His duty was anything but easy; he had to keep a close eye on Naruto while being cautious of anyone seeing him. Sasuke thought of doing a henge to camouflage him but then he thought in using a jutsu he would have to exert chakra and that will be his downfall. It would be easy to sense his chakra since it became one of a kind in the area. So with that, he settled on doing things manually.

While walking down the streets, Naruto stopped when something in the stall next to him caught his eyes. And in turn, that something also stared back at him and gave a soft yip.

"Aww, aren't you precious?" Naruto cooed over at the fluffy puppy and knelt down in front of its cage. The baby canine instantly went over at the end of her cage and stuck out her nose in between the thin bars. Naruto giggled and tickled the tip of her nose gently with his finger.

"Oy! You brat! Get away from my merchandise! She might catch a disease!" A middle aged man reprimanded him and ushered him away from the kitten.

The blonde scowled, "Geez, mister. I know people avoid me but it's not like I have any terminal illness or anything."

"Even so! Don't you notice how others die when they get too close to you?! Now scram!" Hearing that, Sasuke's eyes widened and then glared at the man. How dare he blame Naruto about everyone's death? He had nothing to do about it, at least not directly. But of course, the civilians were left in the dark about the true foe in this village.

Sasuke's heart sank when he saw Naruto run away and he didn't miss the sight of the other's tears. No matter how much the raven witness the people of the village bent out their anger on his friend he still can't get used to it. Surely, it hurts Naruto more since he was the one getting all the heat. Still, Sasuke felt for him. The young Uchiha mentally cursed his older brother. Didn't Itachi know how hard it is to watch the blonde suffer almost every day and do nothing about it? No matter how much Sasuke wanted to hold the other close to tell him that he's loved and there are people who care about him, he couldn't do it he wasn't supposed to be seen by anyone including Naruto. All Sasuke could do in these moments was watch, hell, that was all he was supposed to do. But maybe he could make feel Naruto better somehow…

Naruto grumbled some incoherent things about how people were so mean to him when he didn't do anything and about how they openly show their disdain for him since his parents are gone. Now he had to live in a measly apartment. It wasn't right, his father owned the house they lived in so how come he can't stay there? With all those thoughts he began weeping again while sipping his cup ramen –his dinner. He sniffed, "Itachi… when will you be back…?" Then suddenly a knock on his front door caught his attention. With a hopeful look, he turned to the door and crawled over to it after he set down his 'meal'. "I-Itachi…?"

When he got to the door, he stood there for a few moments while holding the doorknob still not opening it. His heart was pounding. Even if he knew that there's only a slim chance that it was Itachi, he couldn't help but feel like he knew the person who knocked, someone he haven't seen… for a long time.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door but was disappointed to see no one. But when he looked down, he saw something that made him smile.

"Woof!"

"WAH!" His exclaimed happily and kneeled down to grab the open box that caged the puppy he saw earlier. Naruto closed the door with his foot seeing that he's got an armful. The blonde set down the box next to his bed. He picked the dog up and brought it close to his face. "Hello there, buddy!" The puppy barked and licked Naruto's nose making the boy giggle. "Aw, you like me?" And the puppy barked again with its tail wagging more enthusiastically. "Yey!" Naruto hugged the petite animal close to his chest. Now that he had the puppy, he won't be lonely going home to an empty house. "Oh! I should name you."

As he thought, he trailed his eyes all over the room looking for some sort of inspiration for a name. 'hmm…ramen… miso… shrimp… aloe… vera… haha that's funny… no. Hmm…' "You know I'm still wondering where you came from… Of course you came from your mother but what I meant was who brought you here?" He stared at the dog for a while then brought it away from his face, "You're not stolen, are you? 'Cause I can't have people hating me more than they already do… Well yeah, I want you to be my pet but even so. Thievery is bad." The puppy tilted her head wondering why her human was speaking so much. Then she struggled from his grasp since she was getting a bit uncomfortable from the long hold and Naruto let her down. Perhaps the owner felt bad on insulting him and just gave the puppy to him… yeah right. Well whoever gave it to him he was thankful for it.

Naruto sighed and then smiled when he remembered something, "Sasuke and I wanted to have a pet dog…"

FLASHBACK

"Ne, 'suke!" A little blonde boy called as he ran towards his friend who was busy reading a book.

"Hn?"

Naruto knelt down beside him, "Let's buy a puppy!"

Sasuke turned to him and raised a brow, "But Aniki already gave you a cat, right?"

The younger boy pouted, "Well, yeah… but Nemu doesn't have a playmate… an animal playmate. See, she should have a playmate and best friend too! Like how I have you as my best friend and playmate. So I was thinking we'll buy a puppy and you'll keep it!" He grinned

"Hmm… Father did say that I should learn to be responsible and having a pet will prove that I know how to take care of things…" Sasuke sighed, "Alright, but we don't have money yet to buy another pet. How's about we buy one when we already started earning money like Aniki?"

"Un! Buy a girl puppy, okay?"

"Why a girl?"

"'Cause Nemu's a girl so she'll want another girl to talk about… you know..." Naruto leaned in closer to whisper, "…girl stuff."

"Ah, right." Sasuke chuckled at his friend's antics. Seriously though, could dogs even communicate with cats? Well it doesn't really matter.

Naruto smiled brightly happy that Sasuke agreed to him, "Sooo… what'll you name her?"

"Excuse me?"

"Name. For your future pet."

The raven looked up thinking, "I like the name…"

Naruto smiled at the memories of his past with his best friend. Sasuke was always so kind to him, though sometimes he reprimanded him about his grades. Everyone knew that Naruto was slow academic wise and that he was lazy in his lectures so Sasuke always nagged him to study more diligently –if Itacdhi wasn't around to do that himself. They would argue at times but still at the end of the day they were still the greatest of friends. No one understood them more than each other.

Dark pair of irises gazed through the window from outside. He watched as the blonde fed and tended to the small animal. Sasuke noted how Naruto seemed to glow from happiness with the puppy around. He was happy that he bought it for him, good thing the black hood of his cloak shadowed over his features so the owner didn't get to recognize him by chance. It was risky but at least he got to fulfill one of his promises to him. He just wished Naruto didn't forget about that.

"Wonder what he'll name her…" Sasuke muttered as he pulled down the hood of his cloak. Then he saw Naruto head towards the window. Swiftly, Sasuke jumped from the branch to the lower branch and hid behind the bark of the tree.

The blonde opened the window and inhaled the fresh cool evening breeze. From where Sasuke hid, he gazed at Naruto. That smile that all of them love still remained, you would think that no one would be able to smile from all the treatment he gets everyday from the villagers, yet here he was, still glowing with hope. The soft moonshine casted down upon him made him look even more ethereal.

"Naruto…" Sasuke whispered unconsciously in awe, and then he snapped out of it when he saw Naruto look around as if he heard something. Sasuke quickly slid behind the tree. After a few moments he heard the dog bark as if concerned for its master. The raven slowly took a peak and sighed in relief when Naruto turned to face the puppy,

"Oh don't worry; I just thought I heard something…" Naruto giggled, "Guess I'm just missing someone." He knelt down leant down from his bed where he was kneeling down next to the window and picked up the puppy.

Sasuke mentally smacked himself. He forgot how Naruto's senses were keener so of course he would somehow hear him. He should be more careful. Turning back his attention to the blonde, he couldn't help but smile a little as he watched him pat the puppy happily.

"Come on, let's go to bed, Mihr." And with that Naruto closed the window and turned off the lights.

Sasuke was stoned, his eyes wide, and then smiled, "He remembered…"

FLASHBACK

"I like the name… Mihr"

Naruto tilted his head to the side, "Mihr? Why that?" he asked. The name was peculiar and new to him.

Sasuke shrugged and turned back to his book and replied, "From what I know, Mihr is the angel of friendship, he brings people together and helps mend broken friendships. I think it's a good name for the dog. I don't really have any deep further explanation; I just like the sound of it. You could pick another name."

Blue eyes blinked, "Mihr… Mihr… Mihr…" he repeated and then nodded with a bright smile, "Ah! I like the sound of it too!"

END FLASHBACK

The next morning, Naruto went to the Inuzuka's to ask about how to properly care for his new pet. Hana was more than willing to give a free check-up on the pup and gave a few pointers to the blonde when it came to the right food to feed it. She also gave him some basic supplies. Kiba was enthusiastic in knowing that his friend also has a dog.

After the visit, Kiba insisted that he and Naruto hang out so that they could talk about their pets. Now the two genin were lounging on the soft grass in a vacant training ground. They laughed how Akamaru tried his best to coax the other puppy to play with him. The nin dog barked and hopped around the other pup while Mihr looked alerted. Akamaru tried again but the other ran back to Naruto.

The blonde giggled, "Don't be so shy. Play with Akamaru!"

Kiba laughed at his pet's defeated look, "Looks like my champ got turned down, eh? Come 'ere" He patted his lap and Akamaru slowly padded his way to his master.

"Sorry Akamaru, Mihr seems to be shy around strangers." Naruto apologized and patted the other dog's head. Then he turned to his little puppy and pouted, "Ne, Kiba, Is it weird that Mihr doesn't want to play?"

"Nah, dogs have personalities too so it's not weird." Kiba replied as he scratched the shy puppy's chin. He smiled, "Mihr's got a beautiful face no wonder Hana-nee squealed so loudly when she saw her."

Naruto smiled and cupped the side of the pup's head and turned it to face him. "Hmm… I think dog's look the same."

"Haha! They don't, believe me. Well you're not surrounded by a lot of dogs so I understand that you have a hard time telling the difference. A lot of people don't actually."

They were quiet for a while, just savoring the breeze that caressed them. Kiba laid on the grass with Akamaru slumbered on his stomach. Naruto still sat with Mihr on his lap also taking a nap. He patted her soft fur and hummed softly. And Sasuke, he sat on a branch of a nearby tree and yawned. It wouldn't hurt to take a nap too for him. He was a light sleeper so he could still sense any danger that might occur.

Kiba, on the other hand, decided to break the ice, "Hey Naruto. Where'd you get that name? The dog's name."

Naruto smiled forlornly, "Sasuke."

Soft breeze wafted through the village and carried some fallen leaves. The trees softly rustled at the gentle push of the calm winds eliciting a serene sound of nature that acted as a lullaby that hushed the night. It was a peaceful evening in Konoha. Most of the people slept soundly all the while having their own dreams, one of them was Naruto. He laid in a deep slumber, pleasantly dreaming. Little did he know another presence was in his room.

Sasuke stepped in the small room quietly. His footsteps fell gently on the cold floorboards as he made his way across the room. He squatted down and patted the soft fur of the sleeping puppy. The animal stirred, opened its eyes and looked up at the man. She was about to bark but Sasuke brought his pointer finger before his lips and made a soft 'sshh' sound, telling the dog to not make a sound.

When the pup obeyed, Sasuke smiled softly and patted her more. After a few more strokes on that soft fur, the puppy fell asleep. Sasuke stood up and walked on Naruto's bedside. He carefully sat down so as to not make the sudden shift in weight too startling that it'll wake the other up. But Sasuke doubted it; Naruto's was such a heavy sleeper, though it's better safe than sorry.

Obsidian eyes laid upon the sleeping form of his best friend. He smiled a bit at how Naruto slept in a rather behaved position unlike most of the time wherein the blonde was practically sprawled on the bed. Tonight the younger just laid on his side and curled up a bit, well it was quite chilly. Sasuke congratulated Naruto in his mind since he can sleep all on his own now, the raven vividly remembered how Naruto couldn't sleep whenever he was alone. On the first few nights after the incident years ago, it was always so sad watching Naruto struggle to rest. He would either cry himself to sleep or hum the tune of his mother's lullaby to himself, but that would also cause the young blonde to cry. That's why every night, Sasuke would sneak in while Naruto drifted off to dreamland and keep him company. Just to give him the feeling of not being alone, and that someone's there for him. Even the ones who passed. They remain with us, watching over us. Though in Sasuke's case, it's quite literal and not spiritualistically speaking.

Naruto shifted as nightmares slowly took over his dreams. Sasuke saw the sudden change of his expression and immediately the raven gently laid his hand on the other's shoulder and rubbed soothingly. He began to hum softly, though it wasn't Kushina's lullaby but it still did the trick, Naruto calmed and the bad dreams faded. With that, Sasuke stopped. He shoudn't be this close for too long. He stood quietly off the bed then walked to the puppy, giving it a pat of goodbye, and he leapt off the window.

Unknown to the raven, blue eyes slowly opened half way. "...Itachi?"