Lost kitsune

Acknowledged feelings

The view from where he was wasn't all that clear, and it was very likely he was hallucinating due to blood loss or fever. But even so, the figure he saw in front of him, was unmistakably Sasuke. The familiar face came more clear in his view as Sasuke bent down and leaned over him. He appeared to be saying something that Naruto couldn't hear. But the look on his face was nothing short of concern. 'Sasuke? Worried about me? What a joke...' Naruto found himself being leaned onto a tree in an upright sitting position.

"You came back for me?..." the question was barely audible coming from his weak form.

"Yes, I'm here. I'm right here. Hang on." Sasuke placed a hand on the blondes whiskered cheek. "I'm here..." before Sasuke could say any more he was interrupted by someone behind him clearing their throat. Sasuke shifted his focus immediately and glared. "Nii-San.."

"Sasuke.." they stood there for a while, staring. Each had their eyes blazing red. "It's been a while.."

"I will kill you, you fucking bastard." Sasuke shouted, then a blue ball of lightning could be seen protruding from Itachi's chest. But the older Uchiha simply disappeared into hundreds of black crows. "You cannot defeat me.." Itachi's voice echoed. Another Itachi appeared, "you're weak" Itachi muttered before he heard Sasuke yell "Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!" Itachi was caught point-blank in Sasuke's attack. The fire was of very high temperatures. No human could survive that attack this range. As the smoke cleared, Sasuke was shocked to see Itachi's body was again nowhere to be seen.

"What? Sasuke clenched his teeth. He was sure he had the upper hand.

"Foolish little brother." Sasuke looked up to see Itachi sitting on a tree branch a few feet above where he had been standing a second ago. He had been watching Sasuke in a genjutsu the entire time.

"Even after all this time, you still can't distinguish reality from genjutsu. You'll never defeat me at this rate." Sasuke huffed a breath in frustration.

"This was only the warm up, Itachi. I know very well what is a genjutsu." He then pulled a kunai out of his pouch and threw it behind him. He smirked as he saw Itachi grab it in defense.

"You're wasting my time little brother, I have to get the fox back to headquarters so we can extract the power."

"His name" Sasuke growled "is Naruto"

This piqued Itachis interest. As it was rare to see his brother who emotion, let along defending anyone other than himself. The older uchiha decided to put it to the test.

"Go away, I have absolutely no interest in you."

"You're not getting away with him as long as I'm here!" Sasuke shouted back, doing his best not to sound scared or insulted. "You want him?! You have to kill me first!!!"

Itachi was shocked to hear this. He had never seen his brother so determined. He made sure to not let it show on his face. Successfully keeping it blank. ".........You would die for him then?" Itachi could never kill Sasuke, he knew that, but Sasuke didn't.

Sasuke turned to look at the beaten boy behind him who came into his life without warning and changed him for the better. He had been watching, silently for once, since the fight had started. The raven was confused by his older brothers words. It was almost as if he was testing him. But that wasn't the evil man Sasuke had vowed to kill all those years ago.