Helping A Brother

Chapter 2

*Beginning of Winter Semester, Year 3*

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are to report to the Hokage immediately." The ANBU told Naruto. With his orders complete, he disappeared in a body flicker, leaving a swirl of leaves and wind in his wake.

'Hmm, I wonder why I'm being called by the old man.' Pondered the shinobi in training. 'Well, I better get moving.'

*Time Skip*

"Hey old man, I'm here!" Shouted the blonde as he barged into the Hokage's office, not bothering to knock.

With one look at his surrogate grandfather's face, Naruto automatically became serious. Usually when he arrived, the old man had a smile on his face. Very rarely did he walk into his office and see a frown etched into the elderly man's face.

"I believe you might want to sit down." Said Hiruzen, gesturing to the couch on the side of the room. "There has been an incident involving the entire Uchiha clan."

"What happened to Sasuke? Is he alright?" Naruto asked, worry evident in his voice.

"Do not fret so, my boy. Sasuke is alright. But he will be in the hospital for a week or two." Explained the Sarutobi clan head.

"A week!? What about the academy?" Asked Naruto.

"I was hoping you could help with that. Everyday after class, Iruka will give you the papers you worked on in class, and you will explain to him how to work out any new subjects you cover." Hiruzen told the blonde.

"I guess that's fine. I was probably going to visit him everyday after school anyways. Can I go see him now?" Naruto asked.

"I do not see why you can not. Let me accompany you." Sarutobi told him. In short order, the jinchuriki and the Hokage were walking down the street.

The walk took longer than it would have if Naruto had gone alone. They had to stop many times as people often talked to the Hokage about their problems. Most of the time, he would offer to do what he could, but on occasion, he was pulled aside for small talk.

After another twenty minutes of walking, the strange pair finally made it to the hospital. Many of the doctors and nurses saw the "Kyuubi", and started glaring at him, but one look from the Hokage quickly ended the stares.

After another five minutes of walking, they made it to the Uchiha's room. Naruto quickly ran over to him, clearly worried for his best friend and rival, who seemed to just be staring out the window with an expression of anger.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" Naruto asked. Although he was addressed, Sasuke showed no signs of hearing the blonde.

"Calm down Naruto, Sasuke is tired, and has been through a great deal." The old man said.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll probably hear about it sooner or later, so I don't see the harm in telling you. Well last night, the entire Uchiha clan was killed, save for Sasuke and the perpetrator." Explained Hiruzen.

"What!? Who could do such a thing?" Asked Naruto in all his naivety.

"My brother, Itachi." Growled out Sasuke, speaking for the first time since he's woken up.

"Sasuke! I'm glad you're okay. Did Itachi really do that?" Exclaimed the blonde.

"Yes, I saw him with my own eyes. I saw him standing over our parents, a bloodied katana in his hands. He told me to hate him, and to kill him one day. Then he tortured me for three days." Explained the last Uchiha.

"But all this happened only last night."

"Naruto, my boy, Sasuke was put in a genjutsu. It seemed like it was three days to him, but in reality was only a couple seconds. He's been unconscious due to the mental strain." Explained Sarutobi.

"Well don't worry, Sasuke, I'll help you kill him." Declared Naruto.

Sasuke and Sarutobi were both surprised by the blonde's declaration.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I have to do this on my own." Admitted Sasuke.

"Well then how about we both get incredibly strong together, then, when you decide to fight Itachi, I help you get to him, and protect you from other enemies while you take him down?" Asked Naruto.

"I, well, I guess that's fine. But don't forget, I'm already ahead of you I our spars, so that means you have some catching up to do." Sasuke said, smirking for the first time since he's been awake.

"What!? That's a lie! We're tied for this year!" Yelled Naruto in indignation.

"Have you forgotten about last year's final spar? I beat you fair and square." the Uchiha explained.

"That doesn't count! It's been a full semester. I've grown much stronger!" Shouted Naruto.

"Now boys, I think that's enough. Naruto, I think it's about time we head out. Sasuke is probably tired." Suggested the old man.

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke." Said Naruto.

"Yeah, see you later. Thank you for visiting me, Lord Hokage." Sasuke said.

"Think nothing of it. I'm just glad Naruto has a friend." Hiruzen then waved a farewell.

"Hey! I have other friends!" Yelled Naruto as they both walked out the door, the Hokage shutting it behind him.

"Thank you, Naruto." Whispered Sasuke.

*Two Weeks Later*

Naruto has been taking Sasuke's class work to him everyday for the last two weeks. They hadn't gone over any new subjects, just doing a review of the last two and a half years they've been in the academy.

Even though there was nothing to help him with, Naruto usually stayed with Sasuke until visiting hours were over, just talking about random things.

When the Uchiha was finally released from the hospital, it was Saturday morning, which meant he had almost a full week to train. Naruto was most likely in first place for the class rankings due to him being gone for two weeks. He had a lot of ground to make up.

Sasuke was on his way to a training ground when he remembered what Naruto said.

"Well then how about we both get incredibly strong together, then, when you decide to fight Itachi, I can help you get to him, and protect you from other enemies while you take him down?"

'This is all to defeat Itachi.' Thought Sasuke. With that thought in mind, the Uchiha turned down an alley and made his way to his best friend's house.

*Time Skip*

"Woah, you really want to train with me? What happened to always wanting to train alone?" Asked the Uzumaki.

"Like you said, we're both going to get extremely strong. Together." Replied the Uchiha.

"Right! Well how are we going to do this?"

"Well I was thinking we could just spar."

"But that will just get us use to each other's attacks. We need an all around improvement."

"Hey, speak for yourself."

"You know what I meant. Well what's your training regiment?"

"Well, I usually just repeatedly go through my taijutsu katas, getting faster each time."

At this, Naruto sweat dropped. "How do I lose to you? Is that really all you do?"

"Yeah, is something wrong with that? I like speed."

"Well how about we go with my training regiment?"

"What's that? Two push ups and hopping in one foot?"

"Close. Two sets of twenty push-ups and pull-ups, four sets of twenty sit-ups, and a five mile fun."

"What? Then how do I beat you?"

"I just started this work out when you got put in the hospital. Before that, it wasn't even half that."

"Well let's get started with the run."

"Okay, let's go."

With that, both academy students took off running around the training field.