I've had this idea stuck in my head for a few days, and since it hasn't gone away, I figured I would write it up.

Warnings:
AU, Messing with ages/time frame, Sasuke OOC (he's five in this, he's not going to be an evil little brat), fluff, Sasuke/Naruto friendship (I guess it can be viewed as possible future SasuNaru if you want it to be...), etc

Disclaimer:
I don't own the Naruto characters.

Mikoto was chatting away with her friend Kushina when her five-year-old son, Sasuke, entered the room and stared at the redheaded woman.

"Mom? Why does 'Shina got a balloon under her clothes?"

Freezing out of shock that her son would ask such a thing, Mikoto guess that it was because he had never seen a pregnant woman. Still…it was rude of Sasuke to ask such a thing; however, before she could reprimand Sasuke, Kushina started laughing.

"Sasuke, I don't have a balloon under my clothes," Kushina stated.

"Then why is your belly out to here?" Sasuke questioned while using his hands to show how big Kushina's stomach looked to him.

"There's a baby in there."

Mikoto watched has Sasuke's eyes grew dramatically, only to groan at her son's next question.

"You ate a baby?!"

Mikoto was grateful that Kushina was such a lighthearted woman, and that Sasuke's questions weren't bothering her, but she was still somewhat embarrassed by Sasuke's comments.

"No, Sasuke, I'm going to have a baby."

Mikoto silently sighed out of relief when it seemed that Sasuke finally understood what was going on.

"Um…'Shina?"

"Yes, Sasuke?" Kushina questioned with a smile directed at the boy.

"Can I have it?"

Having been taking a sip of the tea she made earlier, Mikoto had to make sure she didn't suddenly breathe in at the question her son asked. What did Sasuke want with a baby anyway? At least her friend seemed to be taking this all in stride as she was laughing at the strange question without being upset.

"Sasuke?" Mikoto started. "Why do you want Kushina's baby?"

She hadn't been expecting the pout that appeared on her son's face, it was rare for Sasuke to actually pout over something.

"It can be my friend," Sasuke muttered. "Not like the people at school, I don't like them, and 'Tachi has his own friends."

"Come here, Sasuke," Kushina said with a smile.

Mikoto watched as her son did as he was told, leaving her to wonder what her friend was going to say in order to get Sasuke to stop asking his silly questions. Kushina took Sasuke's hands and bowed slightly to be at eye level with him; her friend was being serious now.

"Sasuke, babies need to stay with their mommies for a long time and—"

"I can be its mom," Sasuke insisted.

"No, it doesn't quite work that way, Sasuke."

Seeing tears start to form in Sasuke's eyes, Mikoto hoped that Kushina could fix the problem…it was beyond her control for quite a while now.

"Don't cry, you can't be his mom, but you can be his friend if you want."

"Really?"

"Yes, in fact, whenever I need someone to look after him, I'll bring him over here, so you and your mom can keep an eye on him. You're the only people I would trust with my baby."

"You…trust me?"

"Sure do, Sasuke. Now, you're going to have to be responsible, nice, and strong enough to keep him out of trouble, okay?"

"Okay!"

She couldn't help but smile. Kushina could always fix a problem in ways that Mikoto somewhat envied.

"When will the baby be here?" Sasuke asked.

"Well…let's see, what is today's date?"

"Um…Friday?"

"It's October third, Sasuke," his mother told him with a smile.

"I was gonna say that! October third!"

"Well, Sasuke, I still have three months until the baby is due, he's not ready yet."

"But—"

"Sasuke, why don't you go see what Itachi is up to?" Mikoto suggested.

With a small smile, she watched her youngest son grumble.

"You can tell him about your new friend," Kushina added.

Sasuke seemed to light up at that, and Mikoto watched as he rushed from the room, trying to find his older brother, probably to tell him all about his new friend that wasn't even here yet.

"Sorry about that, Kushina."

"No problem, he's just curious about it all."

~*~*~*~

Sasuke was confused. Why were they all at the hospital? His mom said something about 'Shina's baby and being early. Wasn't that a good thing? Now he wouldn't have to wait three more months for the baby, but then why was everyone looking scared? Even Minato, 'Shina's husband was there looking scared, and he never looked scared.

All of this was confusing for Sasuke, and he wished that someone would explain it to him. Unfortunately, 'Tachi was at some sort of practice for something, and his father went to get him, so Sasuke was with his mother and Minato while 'Shina was with the doctors.

He was about to get up and go ask Minato to explain, since 'Shina was his wife and she was always good at explaining things to him, but then a doctor came out and started talking to the blonde man. Knowing that it was rude to interrupt, Sasuke stayed where he was and waited until someone tried explaining.

-----

Some hours later Mikoto was leading Sasuke into a room, and he spotted 'Shina, so he rushed over to see if she could explain anything.

"What happened, 'Shina?"

"Sasuke…the baby came early, but we don't know if he is going to be okay."

He was somewhat confused, but he liked that 'Shina was telling him things that usually big kids were told, so he was trying to understand.

"I want you to promise me something, okay Sasuke?"

Nodding eagerly, Sasuke was willing to do anything to know what was going on, and to please 'Shina; she was his mom's friend, and he didn't mind listening to her.

"He's really small, so he'll need someone to look out for him. I need you to do that when I can't. I'll need your help keeping an eye on him because, although he might be a fighter, he's still small and won't be able to do a lot for a while."

"Okay, I'll help watch the baby."

"Thanks, Sasuke."

The smile that 'Shina gave him made Sasuke feel like he did something good, but he still was curious….

"Can I see the baby?"

"Tell Minato to take you to see him when he's allowed to go," Kushina stated.

Nodding, Sasuke rushed out of the room, leaving his mom to talk with her and to go to Minato who was outside of the room.

"You! 'Shina said that you have to take me to see the baby when you go," Sasuke stated.

Sasuke knew that if his mother was there, he would be yelled at for being rude, but he always found bothering the man to be fun.

"Ah, yes…you must be the helper Kushina was talking about."

Frowning, Sasuke could tell that Minato wasn't as happy as he usually was. Most likely from what had happened, but 'Shina made everything sound like it would be okay.

-----

After what felt like forever to the five-year-old, a nurse finally came to get Minato, saying something about being stabilized and machines, but Sasuke wasn't really paying attention. However, he became aware of everything when Minato began leading him somewhere else.

Once they reached another room, Sasuke noticed that it was quiet…minus the beeping noises of machines. They finally stopped near something that looked like a clear box, to Sasuke, and he noticed that Minato looked a mix between happy and sad. Pulling at Minato's sleeve, Sasuke was determined to make sure that he wasn't forgotten.

"Oh, sorry about that Sasuke."

He felt himself being picked up, and with the new perspective, Sasuke looked down and saw the tiniest person he ever saw. Now, although only five, Sasuke felt that the baby was too small.

"Why's he tiny? And why are there things stuck to him?"

"He was born too early, Sasuke," Minato whispered. "The 'things stuck to him' are machines that are helping him stay alive."

"Stay…alive…? He almost died?!"

Sasuke felt bad when Minato looked sad again, but he was a kid, what could anyone expect?

"This is why you have to help Kushina and me out with him."

"Oh…okay."

Falling silent for a moment, Sasuke realized something.

"Does he have a name?"

"His name is Naruto."

Turning his attention away from Minato, and focusing entirely on the small sleeping baby in the box, Sasuke tilted his head.

"Hi, baby Naru. I'm Sasuke, and I'm 'sposed to watch you. Oh, and I'll teach you things too, but you have to get bigger first."

Sasuke then started chatting away to the sleeping baby, saying anything that came to mind until Minato told him that it was time for them to leave.

"Bye, bye baby Naru," Sasuke said while waving as Minato led him out of the room.

Now, more determined than before, Sasuke knew that he had promised 'Shina, but now he made a quiet promise to himself and Naru that he would watch him and keep him safe forever.