At first, he'd thought he was dreaming.

Like in most of his dreams, the setting was Konoha. He was walking through her streets, slowly, taking in the clear sky and the scent of greenery and peace that rolled on the wind. The civilians were loud and boisterous, having not a care in the world since there was no threat. Children in the Academy could be heard claiming they'd be the best shinobi to have ever lived.

However, his dreams had adapted over the years; he knew exactly what Konoha looked like. As new stalls were built in the marketplace, so they would appear in his dreams. If old buildings were demolished, they would be demolished in his dreams. He did not reside in Konoha anymore, but he kept tabs on his beloved village – he knew his true home.

So, when he glanced at the Hokage mountain after he'd gotten up for the stroll in the streets his dreams based in Konoha mainly consisted of, he was a bit surprised to see only four faces staring out over the village.

That was odd, but could be overlooked.

What couldn't be overlooked, however, was the little blond boy in orange that bowled him over.

Even more odd was the way he fell to the ground, completely unprepared for the boy's weight. He may have been sick, but he was strong enough to manage the weight of a little...

Uchiha Itachi blinked.

People did not have chakra in dreams. Dreams were manifestations of the mind – the only thing that was real was the person that was dreaming. Another person's chakra couldn't possibly be sensed in a dream.

In fact, so many other chakra signatures shouldn't be able to be sensed in a -

"What did you and your dumb crow do?! I'm little!"

A/N: This has been stuck in my head for the longest time. Uchiha Itachi is like... the epitome of sob stories. The only one who comes in second is Severus Snape (in my opinion, anyway...).

Right, so, as you can guess: this stars Itachi and our favorite blond shinobi, Naruto.

Where is this heading? I have no clue. =)