3. The Weird Stalker and a Not So Bad Kid

Naruto stood staring at the dark wooden door in front of him, weighing the key to it in his hand and hitching the strap of his messenger bag higher up his shoulder.

This was the first day he was actually going to take care of Emi. For real. Without her father.

He had only spent a day with her before while Sasuke was at home just to see how their daily lives usually were like and learn to find his way around the large house – which should be called a mansion, really. What did they even do with all that space? The ceiling on both floors was so high he almost felt like he was in a church, and every single room was around the size of a small studio apartment. Everything was nicely decorated, though, with dark wooden furniture contrasting well with the creamy white walls, giving the interior a warmer feel. And of course the house had all the latest electronics. The kitchen was filled with shiny surfaces looking as if they had never been used – well there was a lady cleaning the entire house every other day, apparently – and the living room should really be called a small theatre. Even the bathrooms were spotless and modern to the extreme.

He liked Emi's room the best – the only room he really had been to except the kitchen, living room and bathroom. It had soft pink-colored walls with a bed covered in an equally pink bedspread and fluffy, cream colored pillows. Above it hung a nice, pink tulle fabric like a curtain, making it look like a perfect bed for a princess. Animal plushies flocked it as well and Naruto still couldn't figure out how Emi slept with all of them on her bed every night – which was what he had heard from Sasuke when he questioned where to put all of them once she was supposed to go to bed.

That was another thing; Sasuke didn't seem as tense as he had been the first time they officially met and was actually quite civil now. However, he kept a seemingly effortless blank or annoyed expression on his face whenever he and Naruto were speaking. Naruto would have thought he simply hadn't learned how to use his facial muscles properly, unless he hadn't witnessed him smile and laugh with his daughter, which led him to believe that Sasuke was still a little wary of him. He kind of understood his reason, though. From what he had learned, Sasuke was the youngest child of a very well off family and had been raised to succeed his father along with his older brother. He was also clearly aware of how good-looking he was, which could only mean he had chosen to stay distant from new and unknown people since he knew they most likely only wanted to be friends with him for his social status or his appearance.

But he really did look stunning when he smiled. As much as Naruto didn't want to admit it – because really, that was his boss and he absolutely shouldn't be thinking this at all – he felt a small fluttering in his chest whenever Sasuke gave Emi an adoring or amused smile.

He shook himself slightly to get back to reality when he felt his cheeks growing a little warm and a small smile spreading on his lips, squaring his shoulders before determinedly putting the key in the lock and turning it without letting himself feel nervous. Then he opened the door a crack to stick his head inside, checking if anyone was home.

"Hello?" he asked hesitantly and opened the door wider. This was the first time he entered without ringing the doorbell and it felt kind of weird. "It's me… Naruto…"

He stepped inside uncertainly and toed off his shoes just as there was a clatter coming from down the hall before small feet could be heard running.

"Na-chan!"

Emi rounded the corner to the kitchen at top speed, not pausing for even a second as she threw herself at him from the top of the three steps leading up from the entrance hall. Naruto felt a wave of cold wash over him before his instincts kicked in and he dropped his bag to throw himself forward as well, catching her mid-air and making her giggle happily as he let out a huff of air from the collision.

"Emi," he groaned, hitching her a little higher in his arms and putting her on his hip. "You can't just go jumping at nothing. What if no one's there next time?"

"But no one was not there!" Emi protested, blinking at him a little too innocently. "Na-chan was there!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes playfully, letting a slow mischievous smirk spread on his lips. Emi suddenly looked a little uncertain but didn't get the chance to try and wriggle out of his hold before he started tickling her side with one hand while gripping her tight with the other. She let out squeals of laughter, tightening her arms around Naruto's neck to keep from falling while huffing breathlessly through her laughs.

"Na-chan!" she pleaded through her laughs as she squirmed in his arms. "Sto-op!"

"Nu-uh," he chuckled and hoisted her higher so that she was hanging over his shoulder. "Bad girls need to be punished!"

Emi resorted to hitting his back weakly, her small feet kicking in the air while she continued to laugh.

"I'm not bad!" she let out in a mixture of a yell and a laugh.

Naruto was about to answer her but his eyes fell upon the face of her very irritated looking father coming down the stairs and he immediately stopped what he was doing, gently putting her down on the floor again. Emi gave him a confused look before glancing over her shoulder.

"I hired you to take care of Emi, not make a ruckus while I prepare for a very important phone conference," Sasuke grumbled.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Uchiha," Naruto said awkwardly, not confident enough to use 'Sasuke' to address the other yet.

He usually wouldn't have any qualms about using a person's first name, but Sasuke was… well, different. He kind of wanted his permission since he had been so suspicious of him in beginning – still was, actually.

"We were just having a bit of fun," he continued sheepishly.

"It was very funny, daddy," Emi chimed in, smiling sweetly when Sasuke turned his gaze on her.

He gave her a tiny smile – looking like he was doing his best to keep it from spreading, which in turn made Naruto grin.

"I'm sure it was, princess," Sasuke agreed.

He looked up at Naruto, who quickly cleared the smile off his face and tried to look serious. Sasuke must have caught a small glimpse of it anyway because his eyebrows lifted slightly. But he didn't say anything other than:

"I will be late tonight. Emi's dinner should be ready at six. Her clothes for the day are already on the bed, so you just need to put them on before you two eat breakfast; I need to sort out some documents. Also, the driver should be here at around half past seven."

Then he turned and stalked back up the stairs before Naruto had the chance to say anything. He let out a quiet sigh and looked down at Emi, taking in her pajamas with small yellow ducks printed on them. She grinned back up at him.

"Let's go get you dressed," he said and smiled as well. "Unless you want to go in your pajamas?"

Emi's expression turned excited, her eyes twinkling.

"Can I?" she asked hopefully and Naruto laughed lightly, worriedly glancing up the stairs.

"I was kidding," he hastily explained. "I don't think your dad would like that."

Emi wrinkled her nose in disappointment. But she was quickly over it and grabbed Naruto's hand to pull him up the stairs, down the hallway to the last door and into her room while excitedly prattling about how everyone at her kindergarten would be surprised when he dropped her off instead of her dad and someone she called Tachi.

"Don't you have better things to do other than wasting my time?" Sasuke growled angrily into the receiver of his phone. "Like actually getting to work?"

"Little brother," Itachi tutted condescendingly.

Sasuke leaned back in his office chair, twirling his fountain pen as he resigned himself to listening to his brother's very unnecessary deductions about Naruto. He knew he couldn't hang up unless he wanted Itachi to call him over and over again, disturbing the otherwise peacefully quiet air of his office.

"You do realize I will have to investigate this Naruto you hired, do you not? I can't leave my little princess in the hands of a child molester," Itachi continued.

Sasuke rolled his eyes although his lips twitched slightly. Then he glanced at the shadow of his father passing by the frosted glass in the door to his office.

He had not told his brother he actually had changed his opinion of Naruto during the few hours they had become more acquainted with each other. He was quite… sunny. As in he smiled a lot and appeared to be unnecessarily cheerful, but he seemed like a good kid. Well, 'kid' was a bit much but Sasuke was a whole six years older than him, so he decided he had every right to call Naruto that.

Also, Emi was completely enamored with him, for reasons Sasuke simply couldn't understand. He knew children had a tendency to get attached to things quickly, though, and maybe Emi was so adamant on being with Naruto because she actually had been a little lonely ever since Sakura had left. Naruto just happened to be the first other person Emi really talked to and connected with outside her home and kindergarten.

"Well, father is here and asking for those documents you were supposed to have finished," he sighed. "And Naruto is not-"

"Hush!" Itachi hissed suddenly and Sasuke frowned. "He's returning from his classes."

Sasuke rubbed his forehead tiredly, not bothering to tell his brother Naruto couldn't hear them as he was on the other side of a phone and Itachi was apparently stalking his employee in his car.

"Wait a minute," Itachi mumbled slowly. "Why did you hire a driver for him? Is he worth it?"

"Itachi," Sasuke grumbled. "I will not let Emi ride the bus or subway and Naruto doesn't have a driver's license."

"Hm," he hummed. "Good decision then, little brother."

Sasuke put his pen down, listening to the engine of his brother's car for a moment as he started it up and started driving before taking a small breath.

"Itachi?"

"Mm?"

"Come back to work!"

"You worry too much, Sasuke," Itachi chuckled. "I already put all the documents father asked for on my desk and – ooh, no. You're not losing me that easily!"

Sasuke groaned.

"He's trying to escape! Sasuke! What kind of nanny did you hire?!"

"The kind that doesn't need to be stalked. I hope you didn't run a red light."

"Don't worry, little brother. I can just tell the police my precious little niece has been kidnapped," Itachi chortled while managing to sound deadly serious at the same time. "Are you sure we can trust him?"

Sasuke so badly wanted to point out that it was not 'we' that needed to trust Naruto, but only Sasuke himself. And he had reluctantly admitted to himself he might have jumped to conclusions a bit too quickly concerning the blond man the third time they had met. Sure he was looking at Sasuke with a slightly star-struck gaze, but he was nowhere near behaving as pompously or crazily as people usually did around him – which made Sasuke think he was just a bit dazzled by the wealthy surroundings he suddenly found himself in.

He was great with Emi as well, matching her energy level while still managing to somehow be mature when he needed to be. Honestly, Sasuke was a little impressed with how well he seemed to fit in with them just from what he had seen during that one day he had spent with them.

"I caught up with them again, Sasuke!" Itachi exclaimed triumphantly.

"Whatever!" he growled, actually a little worried for both his brother and Naruto. It wouldn't do to have either of them getting into an accident. "Just get back here!"

Then he hung up, rubbing his temples as a headache slowly came creeping. If Itachi scared Naruto away Sasuke would strangle him. He couldn't find honest and genuine people easily and from what he had seen of Naruto, he was as close as he could get to one at the moment.

Naruto had the unnerving feeling of being watched as he made his way out of his university, awkwardly sliding into the backseat of the black car with tinted windows waiting for him after having waved goodbye to his friends. He greeted the driver before glancing back as the car slid into the afternoon traffic to see a silvery Porsche trying to stealthily follow them.

He frowned. For trying to be sneaky, the person in the car couldn't have thought it through properly, what with their flashy choice of car and not so discreet tailgating.

He suddenly remembered Sasuke telling him how Emi had almost been kidnapped once as he explained exactly why Naruto needed an ID-card along with a note signed by Sasuke just to drop Emi off and pick her up, which was why the car following them was extremely worrying. Maybe someone thought it would be easier to get to Emi now since Naruto was new to this whole situation. But why would a seemingly rich person need to kidnap another rich person's kid?

"Um," Naruto started, getting the driver's attention. "Has that car following us been doing that the entire day?"

The driver frowned and looked in the review mirror.

"No, but it has been parked behind me since I arrived to pick you up." The driver met his eyes through the mirror. "The next light is almost turning red, do you want me to speed up sir?"

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. I don't want Emi to get kidnapped on my first official day."

The driver nodded and Naruto gave a last glance back as their speed picked up, putting some distance between them and their follower. Then he pulled out his phone, hesitating slightly before deciding it was better to be safe than sorry and pressed the call button after finding the number to Sasuke's private cellphone. He had said to call him if there were any sort of suspicious happenings, and a car following them was certainly such a suspicious happening. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous, and it was sadly not because of the person stalking them.

"Hello?" Sasuke answered on the first ring, sounding quite annoyed and Naruto bit his lip.

"Yeah, hi. It's me, Naruto," he started awkwardly.

"Oh," Sasuke's tone changed slightly and he let out a tired sigh. "Right. If you're calling me about a car following you, it's my brother."

Naruto blinked.

"What?"

"He's quite protective of Emi and has investigated every new person she develops some sort of relationship with after the kidnapping attempt, which means he's currently in the middle of investigating you."

Naruto's mouth fell open.

"You can't be serious," he said incredulously. "That's… kind of…"

"I know," Sasuke muttered. "If you could please talk to him so he knows you're not a threat, I would be very grateful."

"Um…" Naruto hesitated, not sure when exactly he had gained Sasuke's trust in the few, brief moments they had met. "Yeah, of course… you think I'm not a threat anymore?"

There was a long moment of silence on the other side of the line and Naruto was starting to think the other had hung up on him. Then there was some rustle of paper and a sigh.

"I have not completely decided yet," Sasuke finally said. "But Sakura deemed you trustworthy and Emi likes you quite a lot, so I'm trying to keep an open mind and not judge you before I get to know you better."1

Naruto felt his lips spread in a wide smile and he had to stifle a laugh.

"Wow, thanks."

"Hn," Sasuke answered.

What the fuck was 'hn'? Naruto wondered, his smile fading away.

Hn? H – n . Was it some sort of rich people abbreviation or something he needed to learn? He wasn't so sure he liked that idea, as Sasuke himself had sounded utterly arrogant and snobbish – not something Naruto would ever strive to be. Then again, he was a person who had grown up rich so Naruto really shouldn't be all that surprised Sasuke knew how to sound like one.

Rich people were weird, he concluded as he glanced back at the silvery mustang still following them.

But he did as Sasuke had asked and approached the car once they stopped outside Emi's kindergarten. He couldn't see inside because of the tinted windows but he could practically feel a pair of eyes following him as he drew closer to the passenger side, knocking on the dark glass and waving.

It took a few moments before the driver's door opened and a man with long, silky-looking hair as dark as Sasuke's tied at his neck stepped out. Naruto flexed his fingers nervously when their gazes met, feeling a lot more intimidated by just the scrutinizing look from this person than he had felt by Sasuke's angry growls the first time they officially met.

"Uhm," he cleared his throat and the man's dark eyes narrowed slightly. "Hello, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Emi's new caretaker."

The man looked at him for a moment before abruptly walking around the car with long strides. Naruto had to force himself not to take a few steps back as the other stopped in front of him, his height quite intimidating as well – he was a whole head taller than him.

"Itachi," the man said and stuck out his hand. "Sasuke's older brother."

Naruto hesitantly grabbed Itachi's hand, absentmindedly reflecting that although he was slightly frightening he was a whole lot more polite than Sasuke.

"Nice to meet you," he said and gave him what he hoped looked like a friendly smile.

Itachi simply raised his eyebrows and looked him up and down once, as if to assess his worth with just a scan of his outer appearance. Naruto rather wished Sasuke had told him a little more about his brother earlier so he could have prepared for this encounter. All he knew was that he and Sasuke were preparing to run the company together.

"Na-chan!"

They both looked up to see Emi hanging nearly halfway out a window on the second floor. Naruto's entire body went cold and he was about to run up to the tall iron fence surrounding the kindergarten to climb over it when the teacher he had met that morning while dropping Emi off appeared behind her, scolding the girl. He let out a sigh of relief as Emi was brought back inside and he relaxed.

There was a soft chuckle behind him and he looked back to see Itachi approach him with a small smile. He didn't say anything though, only patted his shoulder (quite hard) and continued onward to the guard post by the gates, leaving Naruto to blink after him in confusion.

Yep, rich people were weird.

When Sasuke dragged himself through the front door later that night he was met with the low murmur of the TV and soft chuckles. He frowned as he put his bag on the small chest of drawers to the left and pulled off his shoes, wondering why Naruto was letting Emi stay up this late. Ready to give the scolding of a lifetime, he rounded the corner only to find Emi was nowhere to be seen and the plush couch in front of the TV was occupied by none other than his brother, Naruto on the floor in front of him with a thick book laying open on the coffee table.

They both looked up as he entered and Naruto immediately stood, grinning at him.

"Welcome home," he said. Sasuke only managed to blink at him. "Emi has already eaten, taken a bath and gone to bed. I made enough food, so there's dinner for you too."

There was a beat of silence in which Naruto – and Itachi – watched him expectantly. Sasuke cleared his throat, feeling a little awkward under their stares.

"Thank you," he answered slowly, distantly reflecting no one had welcomed him home – with dinner ready, no less – in a long time. If ever, really.

Itachi snorted and nudged Naruto in the side teasingly.

"Shouldn't you offer him a bath as well?"

Naruto shot him a glare although his cheeks reddened slightly and Sasuke's frown deepened.

"I see you two get along," he said suspiciously, feeling strangely out of place in his own home.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer him but Itachi beat him to it.

"Sasuke!" he said cheerfully. "Are my ears deceiving me or are you forcing Naruto to travel back and forth every day instead of offering him a room?"

"Uuh, Itachi," Naruto said nervously, glancing between the two brothers. "I didn't say that."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. 'Itachi'? Since when did his brother allow people he barely just met call him by his first name? He had asked Naruto to talk to Itachi, not become best friends with him.

Itachi waved his hand dismissively.

"You let Sakura stay here without any problems," he continued, ignoring Naruto's comment.

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and sighed. Itachi never ceased to amuse himself on his behalf. He had done everything from filling Sasuke's lemonade with salt instead of sugar when they were kids to actually spread the rumor that he and Sakura were a thing just to see them squirm in the awkward situations it caused – to which he had earned a well-deserved punch from the latter.

"She is my childhood friend," he said tiredly as an explanation. Although he was a bit less suspicious of Naruto, he still proceeded with caution – meaning he wasn't about to let him live with his daughter just yet. "Naruto is not."

"It's really okay, Mr. Uchiha," Naruto reassured hastily. "I never expected to actually live here."

"Mr. Uchiha?" Itachi questioned with raised eyebrows and Naruto shot him another annoyed look.

"Anyway." He cleared his throat and picked up his book. "Since you're back, I'll go home now. See you tomorrow morning."

He gave a small bow to the two brothers and pushed past Sasuke hurriedly. Sasuke couldn't blame him. Itachi wasn't really an easy person to deal with.

"Do you need a ride?" Itachi called, this time earning a dirty look from his own brother.

Sasuke was glad his house was big enough that a small call wouldn't wake Emi. He didn't like taking risks, though, and Itachi was pushing it.

"No thank you!" Naruto answered in a quiet call from around the corner, a little more tactful than his brother at least.

Itachi gave Sasuke a pointed look, which clearly said 'You're a bad boss', and Sasuke sighed. He turned back to the entrance hall, catching Naruto just as he was about to put his hand on the door handle. His brother was kind of right; it was late and Naruto was going to return tomorrow morning so he really should get a ride at least.

"Naruto," Sasuke said to stop him.

He jumped and turned to him with wide eyes.

"Yes?"

Sasuke slipped his shoes on again before stalking past a puzzled Naruto, opening the door.

"Itachi, stay here until I get back!" he said over his shoulder to his brother who had come out of the living room as well, looking irritatingly amused. Then he turned back to Naruto. "Come on."

"Is there something wrong?" Naruto asked as he closed the door behind him, looking a little cautious.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at him before continuing down the few steps leading up to the door, certain Naruto would follow him as he started making his way across the lawn to the garage.

"No," he answered evenly. "You live on the other side of town, correct? I'm taking you home."

"Oh, but-"

"It's late and you need to come back here tomorrow before school," Sasuke interrupted him, knowing he would decline. "I may not trust you enough to let you live with us yet, but I don't want you to be exhausted either."

Naruto was silent the rest of the way to the garage and Sasuke glanced back at him again, his lips quirking at the slight frown accompanied by pink cheeks. It was interesting seeing him getting embarrassed over a ride home but Sasuke didn't comment on it and they got in the car in silence.

He glanced at Naruto, who was staring out his window, a few times as they made their way through the peacefulness of the city which only happened during nights followed by workdays. Sasuke contemplated turning on the radio to ease the slight awkwardness in the air, but reconsidered it as all he ever listened to was the news and he wasn't sure what Naruto liked. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel once, wondering if he should start a conversation instead or not.

"Sasuke," he finally said after another while of silence, making Naruto jump and turn to him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"You don't need to call me Mr. Uchiha," he elaborated. "Sasuke is fine."

For some reason, Naruto blushed again and averted his eyes. However, there was a small smile on his lips despite the obvious attempt to keep it from spreading by biting his lip.

"Okay," he said looking back at him, apparently having given up on trying not to smile and instead right out grinning. "Sasuke."

Sasuke couldn't help the corners of his lips lifting slightly as the other sounded genuinely glad to be calling him by his first name.

Naruto really wasn't a bad kid at all.

I don't feel good about this chapter. It's just... I don't know... weird?

Anyway, I'm not sure I mentioned this in the last chapter but I have a lot of stuff going on so I won't be updating regularly or frequently unless I have the time. I have never left a story unfinished, though, and I intend to keep it that way, if any of you were worried haha!

So, I hope you had some enjoyment of this crappy and weird chapter! I'll try doing better!

Bye bye!