For the lovely reviewer who requested this – a pre-massacre fic! The Massacre doesn't actually happen, and neither do several canon events. Characters are also mostly OOC.

Please Enjoy!

BP

A six-year-old Naruto gulped, staring at the police officer next to the angry shop keeper. What did he even do that was wrong? All he did was walk in and try to by some clothes. The Uchiha before him looked forbidding, ignoring him when he protested that he hadn't done anything, while the shop keeper hissed lies into his ear.

Finally, the Uchiha nodded. "I see. I'll take him down to the police station immediately. We'll see if a night in the cells will change his behaviour any." Naruto's eyes widened, the unfairness of what was going on hitting him in the gut. He stayed quiet though, and followed the Uchiha to their side of Konoha, to the police station. He kept his ears as flat as he could, trying to make himself seem smaller than he was in the hopes they'd leave him alone. He couldn't keep his long, fluffy tail from hanging behind him though, as much as he wanted to have it around his waist, comforting him as it so often did when situations like this happened.

When they got to the station, that severe demeanour seemed to evaporate from the officer – and several other officers, to the utter confusion of Naruto. His ears perked in curiosity and slight hope that he wasn't in as much trouble as he first thought. The officer that had taken him here fixed his gaze on his ears, which immediately flattened as Naruto took a step back warily, his tail finally wrapping around his waist in a protective gesture. His fingers quickly found their way into soft fur, comforting himself.

Several officers' eyes softened at the movements, recognising the signs of abuse when they saw them. The officer that brought him immediately focussed his attention back on his face and crouched in front of him. Unnerved, Naruto frowned but met the man's eyes, remembering that Jiji said that not looking the person who was going to talk to you in the eye was rude. He didn't notice, but several of the Uchiha turned to each other in surprise.

The tomoe in the eyes of the man in front of him span lazily. "Naruto, are you okay?" Not daring to speak, the boy nodded. The man gestured for him to come closer. Naruto visibly debated this before hesitatingly moving closer. "I know you didn't do what that shop-keeper said you did." His ears perked a little and a little of the wariness in his eyes went away. "My name is Uchiha Fugaku." Naruto bowed quickly.

"Nice to meet you." He greeted quietly, still holding onto his tail. A ghost of a smile appeared on Fugaku's face at the boy's manners.

"Nice to meet you too." He sent a glance to the blonde's ears. "Would you mind, Naruto, if I touched your ears?" One of Naruto's hands moved to cover one of his ears, distrust clear on his face, the other hand staying in the fur of his tail.

"… Why?" The politeness was gone, but, Fugaku mused, the boy has a reason to be suspicious. He shrugged.

"No reason. They just look cute." The compliment surprised Naruto enough that his hands fell to his sides and his tail unwrapped from his waist, swaying side to side lightly, while his ears perked a little.

"… Really?" He asked tentatively. "Only Jiji seems to think so." The Uchiha was confused.

"Jiji?" He didn't know the boy had a grandfather. Naruto nodded, matter-of-factly.

"Hai. Sandaime-Jiji." Comprehension dawned on the elder's features, followed by a soft smile.

"I see. Will you let me?" Naruto studied him for a moment, eyeing the other people in the station as well, who were working while keeping an eye on what was going on. It sort-of reminded him of how it was in the Hokage Tower. Turning back to the elder, he nodded slowly.

Fugaku noted that, despite Naruto having given his permission for him to touch, Naruto's ears still flicked under his touch, trying to avoid it. He stayed calm and gently stroked the boy's ears, rubbing slowly. Naruto seemed to enjoy the touch, closing his eyes and relaxing with a small smile. After a few seconds of this, a low purr started in the back of the boy's throat, making several people stop what they were doing as it got louder.

Several hours later, Sarutobi Hiruzen walked through the doors of the Uchiha Police Station, more than irritated at the actions of his villagers. He'd only just heard that his young charge had been arrested for 'attempting to steal clothing' from someone's shop. Reading the report, the Hokage had scoffed at the ridiculousness of the notion of Naruto stealing anything, before realising that it had been several hours since the arrest had been made.

He was fully prepared to have to demand that Uchiha Fugaku return the boy to his care and explain that the accusation was false. He knew that he would probably have to comfort the boy after – spending time in one of the police department's cells wasn't pleasant, from what he understood.

Instead, he saw several people huddled in one area, while several others were either walking off, looking satisfied, or watching the huddle with amused looks. As he approached, several of the Uchiha noticed him coming and moved out of the way – with, he noted curiously, far more respect and amiability than the last time he saw them. It was then that he heard the rumbling sound, making him sigh with relief. And then laugh loudly when he actually came upon the source of the sound.

Fugaku had made himself comfortable sitting on a bench next to Naruto, a fluffy tail in his lap as he stroked it now and again. Another member of the force had settled down on the other side of Naruto, rubbing at one of his ears. A third member was crouching in front of the boy, just talking to him. The boy himself looked ecstatic at the attention and was soaking it up like a sponge. He was slow at responding to the man he was talking to, most likely due to being petted, but the Uchiha was accommodating and didn't seem to be offended, nor did he immediately dumb down the conversation, think that Naruto was slow because he was stupid and couldn't understand him.

"Fugaku-san." He called. The man looked up at him.

"Hokage-sama." He greeted with more amiability than Hiruzen had seen in him ever. The small smile on his face was also surprising. He inwardly shook his head. Only Naruto…

"I take it," He sent an amused look to the oblivious Naruto. "that Naruto was comfortable here? You knew that the shop-keeper was lying?" Uchiha expression #15 made itself known and, according to Hiruzen's inner guide, this was the face that said: 'Of course I knew, the Uchiha can easily do [insert action/ability here] far better than the rest of you incompetents'.

What actually came out of Fugaku's mouth was this: "Indeed, Hokage-sama. We made sure that the boy was very comfortable."

The Sandaime Hokage often had reports of Naruto being 'arrested' for this, that, and the other after that incident in the following months. And after that incident, he didn't bother worrying about the boy's safety. In fact, he often debated about secretly letting Naruto live there, but of course he couldn't, because the council would eventually find out and they were firm in that the boy should live on his own – and Hiruzen fumed at this; a six-year-old, live on his own?

(Instead, he merely decided to set one specific Uchiha who'd recently become a chuunin a very special mission, one that technically made him an ANBU – not that he'd get the rank officially until he took the test.)

Either way, the Hokage would just let Naruto be until the end of the day, whereupon he would collect him, which was a difficulty. For some reason, though the boy always started in the police station, where he would end up was always somewhere else. Sometimes it was the head's home, others it was somewhere else. They would walk in, see Naruto sitting there, talking to some officer or another, and leave the building with a Naruto with them.

Naruto seemed pretty pleased with this arrangement, and it showed. The boy stopped flinching when people came close, or went near his ears. He wasn't so thin (with all the Uchiha feeding him whenever possible, he wasn't exactly surprised) and his smiles weren't so fake. The bright spark of life that had started to drift away in Naruto's eyes was back in full-force.

And, Hiruzen thought with a snicker, it was interesting to see those Uchiha that were usually so grumpy, be so pleasant and doting on the boy that wasn't even from their clan.

Itachi frowned from his position on top of a building, carefully following Naruto as he made his way through the markets. The villagers were starting to stare at the boy with hostility, though it wasn't until Naruto turned into an alleyway which would, Itachi knew, get him to the wooded areas of Konoha quickly that any of them acted. The boy's ears were flat against his ear, no doubt from nervousness and sadness because there was also no doubt that he'd heard the most likely vicious whispers of the people he passed. He shifted, hand rising to his mask to make sure it was in place.

Naruto felt his ears perk up as he heard footsteps coming towards him, followed by a small exhalation of air that he knew was a prelude to a rather nasty punch in the head. He dodged to the side, hackles raising and tail puffing up to make him seem bigger so they'd leave him alone. It didn't work. It never worked.

"Stay still, demon." Naruto repressed the urge to roll his eyes. What was he supposed to say to that?

Oh yes, sorry, sir. I'll just stand here and let you beat me bloody. Forgive my selfishness for not thinking of your needs.

He blinked, even as he continued to dodge the following blows. Kurama, I've been spending too much time listening to you. I was just being sarcastic. He heard a gasp in return.

My, I'm so proud. My little kit… *sniffle* …. Is being sarcastic. Naruto sweat-dropped.

Sometimes I wonder why people are so scared of you. You're just a big baby. He ignored the following cussing and cursed his luck when he tripped on a stone just as he was about to fully make his escape. He fell heavily, dread filling him as he momentarily lay sprawled on the ground. He heard a huff and just as he got on his hands and knees to get up again, he heard the man behind him stomp on the ground.

He tensed, but it took a couple of seconds for the pain to actually travel from his nerves to the receptors in his brain. When it did, he couldn't stop the animalistic screech that escaped his mouth, nor could he stop the following sobs as he curled in on himself. He shuddered, but tried to clear his head. The man was still –

Thud.

An incredibly familiar hand smoothed his hair while the other pushed gently at his shoulder, trying to get him to face the other. He went willingly, looking up at the now-familiar mask pleadingly. The hand on his shoulder moved to the others face and removed the mask, revealing features twisted in concern.

"Yours or mine?" Itachi asked him gently, his hand shifting from him hair to begin massaging his ear. Naruto softened.

"It doesn't matter. Both have the bruising cream." Itachi nodded.

"Yours is closer." He muttered, gathering the nearly-eight-year-old in his arms and leaping onto the roof of the nearby building and jumping to the boy's apartment.

After the cream had been applied, Itachi asked Naruto if he wanted him to leave. Naruto shook his head, grabbing a hand and sitting in the older boy's lap. Bringing the hand to an ear, he murmured, "Please don't leave. I want you here." Smiling gently, Itachi wrapped an arm around the blonde in a cuddle, bring him closer to his chest, as his hand once again started to massage the ear it was holding on to.

It was Naruto's eighth birthday and after almost all of the Uchiha clan had wished the boy a happy birthday, Mikoto and Fugaku had shoved a picnic basket in Itachi's hands and told him to take Naruto and Sasuke to the nearby park to have a picnic. Itachi found it pleasant. He didn't often get the chance to just spend time with Sasuke and Naruto for a whole afternoon and evening. He loved spending time with them – especially when it was Sasuke and Naruto together. They argued like dogs and cats or, rather, foxes and hounds, with Naruto teasing Sasuke and Sasuke retaliating when he couldn't take it anymore, only to become more frustrated by the fact he mostly couldn't catch the boy. But they obviously had a very deep friendship that Itachi just loved to see. They kept him amused and melting with sappiness in turns. The two seemed to have tired each other out though, now that the sun was just starting to set, and had fallen asleep next to each other on the blanket. Itachi was next to Naruto, petting his ear softly.

It was peaceful. Until it wasn't.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, hearing a group of villagers coming closer, boasting that they would definitely catch the demon this year and kill it, finishing what the Yondaime started, and then they would be hailed as heroes.

Not while he still breathed air.

Itachi stood gracefully without disturbing the two sleeping boys, Sharingan spinning. Then, without a sound, he leapt away.

Ten minutes later, Fugaku was blinking as his son calmly but viciously dropped four dazed villagers in front of him, Sharingan glowing dangerously and a small frown on his face that spoke volumes. He nodded to his father, silently snarled at the unaware villagers, and Shunshin'd away. Fugaku sighed.

He never was a particularly forgiving boy when it comes to people interrupting his time with Naruto. He snorted, amused. I doubt that will change in the future.

Two years later, and Itachi was kneeling in front of Danzou in his ANBU uniform that he'd received a year ago (officially) with his mask put to the side.

"Itachi, I have heard disturbing things coming from the people of your clan. A coup d'état will not be tolerated, and the Hokage will do what he must to keep the peace." Itachi narrowed his eyes. "You can side with the Uchiha, launch the coup d'etat, and die along with your clan and your little brother. Or you can side with Konoha, eliminate the Uchiha and your little brother can be spared. After all, we can't have an impressionable mind like his be turned against Konoha by watching Konoha ANBU kill his clan." Eliminate… the clan? Coup d'etat? Itachi frowned mentally, watching Danzou closely. The man seemed too eager to destroy the clan, to him, when he hadn't even spoken to the Hokage yet about his findings. Danzou sighed, unaware of his thoughts. "This will be a difficult mission for you, Itachi, but there is no one but you who can do it." Itachi didn't answer, turning and walking away, well aware that Danzou would think that this meant that he'd accepted the mission.

And what happens to me after I complete this mission…? Danzou would destroy me, Sasuke, and Naruto. Sharingan flaring to life, he Shunshin'd to the Sandaime's office, who looked up when he appeared.

"Itachi? What brings you here?" The Hokage, asked, confused as it was generally at this time in the late afternoon that Itachi had his 'petting-time' with Naruto, and he loathed having it interrupted. As if knowing his thoughts, the young Uchiha narrowed his eyes.

"Danzou has tasked me with a mission to eliminate the Uchiha clan under the assumption – wrongfully, might I add – that the clan is planning a coup d'état. He said that I could either die with my clan, or save Sasuke's life by killing them all myself, making myself a Nuke-nin." Hiruzen frowned.

"He oversteps his bounds." Itachi opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. Hiruzen noticed. "What else, Itachi?"

"If I may say… Danzou appeared too eager to have the Uchiha wiped out." He nodded.

"That may be so… To assign one of my shinobi to wipe out his own clan, without my express permission at that…" Hiruzen sighed heavily. "We have to deal with him. Tonight." Itachi heard the order hidden in the words and bowed his head.

"Understood." The Hokage's eyes softened on the fourteen-year-old.

"For now though, I believe that Naruto will be waiting for you." He smiled when Itachi's mood visibly improved before he vanished in a swirl of Leaves.

Naruto purred happily, pushing his head into Itachi's fingers. His tail was wrapped around the waist of the Uchiha.

"You really are the best at this…!" Itachi gave a small grin, a smug light in his eyes despite the events of the day.

"Thank you." Hearing the small amount of smugness in the raven's voice, Naruto shifted his head enough that he could look up at Itachi, glaring playfully.

"Don't get smug, Itachi, there could always be someone better than you at this." Contrary to his words, Naruto's eyes very nearly rolled back in his head as Itachi purposefully rubbed harder at one of his ears while the other travelled down to the base of his tail, scratching there gently, retaliating for the comment. The blonde whined. "Itachi! That's cheating! You know what I mean!" Itachi just laughed, his already-deep voice echoing through the room.

Dear Guest reviewer, how was that? I'm not sure if I did your request justice, but I did my best! (Sorry there was less humour/fluffiness than you perhaps hoped)

And don't worry anyone else that has reviewed with requests, I will be doing them! I'm just doing the ones that resonate with me at the time first ;) Look forward to more coming soon!

BP