Old Friends

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or there would be lots of smex in it.

A/N: No smut. Just building the foundation for their friendship.

Chap 2

"'Tachi-san!"

Itachi looked up at the call. Running towards him was an orange and blond blur before he
caught the living projectile in his arms, spinning him around. "Naru-chan, what's wrong?" he asked, for the little boy was clinging tightly, sniffling against Itachi's neck.

"I didn't do it!" the child sobbed. "I handed him the money and he knocked it out of my
hand. He said he d-didn't s-serve mo-monsters!" he wailed.

Looking up, Itachi noticed a small crowd gathering, unfriendly expressions on their faces. At the forefront, stood the man from the fruit stand.

"I told him I wouldn't sell to him and he took the apple anyway. He's a thief! You can't protect a monster like him!" the man snarled.

The Uchiha hugged the blond tighter. "Can you prove that? Where is this supposed apple?
And where is the money he said he tried to give to you?" Itachi glared coldly at the man.

The man gulped, swallowing hard before regaining his nerve. "The money is probably still
lying in the dirt. As for the apple, he must have eaten it already."

Itachi's Sharingan flared to life. The man took a step back. Turning to the child in his arms, Itachi forced his head back. "Naru-chan, look at me. Did you take the apple? If so, where is it?"

Shaking, Naruto gazed into the blood-red eyes. He had seen Itachi's eyes turn red before, but never had them looking at him. "I never touched the apples. I told him I wanted one and gave him my money. That's when he said I couldn't have one, and everyone started to chase me." Tear-filled blue eyes stared steadily into red.

The Sharingan-user glared rshly at the fruit vendor. "Naruto speaks the truth. You
will repay him, or we will take this matter to the Hokage."

People began to drift away unobtrusively, leaving the fruit vendor on his own. Pale and
sweating, he smiled sickly. "No need to disturb the Hokage, Uchiha-san. I'll give the
boy back his money," he said nervously. "I'll even give him an apple. The matter need go no further, eh?" He turned and headed back to his stand. His wife had gathered up the money and was loathe to give it back. However, seeing the Uchiha with the blond, she
quickly handed it over, then hurried out of sight into the back room.

Itachi gave Naruto a piggy-back ride to Ichiraku's and treated him to ramen.


~~~~~~~~~~

"Naruto-kun," the raven-haired boy said. "You are using too much chakra. Try again to
make a bunshin, but this time don't try so hard."

Again the blue eyed boy took his stance and prepared to form a clone. At first, the
chakra refused to respond. He exerted more effort, and his chakra swelled.

Itachi brought up the Sharingan in order to see how Naruto was doing. What he saw
surprised him; Naruto's chakra was pulsating, unstable. No wonder the child had such a
hard time. Unfortunately, Itachi didn't know how to fix it. Maybe when Naruto started at the academy next week, one of the senseis would know what to do. For now, the Uchiha
would concentrate on teaching the blond taijutsu and weapons work. At least that would be one thing no one could fault the boy on.


~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto usually sought him out after class; it was almost dark and Itachi hadn't seen the
blond all day. Stopping by the boy's apartment, he found that someone had broken in and
trashed the place. There was no sign of Naruto having been there, though, which was good. However, if Naruto hadn't been home yet, then where was he? Itachi's next stop was
Ichiraku's. The old man said the boy hadn't come by today. Now, the raven was getting
really worried. What could have happened? The schoolyard was empty as well. Itachi went to ask one person who might know: his otouto.

He found the younger Uchiha in his room, already asleep. Shaking him gently, he said,
"Sasuke-kun, I need to ask you a question. There's a blond boy in your class, Naruto.
Did you see him today?"

Sasuke sat up groggily, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Why do you want to know about
him? He's nothing special; nobody even likes him. He's a dobe." He scowled at his
brother. Itachi seemed to care more for that usuratonkachi than for him. He pouted as he continued, "He left class early. Some kids were making fun of him. I don't know where he went. Now leave me alone so I can sleep."

Itachi poked his brother's forehead and left. Where should he look now?

He finally found his quarry on top of Hokage Mountain, sound asleep, tear tracks marring
his whiskered cheeks. The child was shivering in the cool night air, letting out an occasional whimper. Itachi sat down next to the boy and pulled him into his lap. No one should have to suffer alone. Itachi held the little blond all night, keeping him warm. The next morning, he carried Naruto home and helped him get ready for another day of school.


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A/N: Thanks for the reviews!