Author's note: This is something I finished quite some time ago and it's been lurking on my USB stick ever since. This particular oneshot has an implied theme; can you guess what it is?

Either way, this story will get a sequel in the future; I have started that one already but I don't have a definite posting date yet. I'm testing the waters with this oneshot to see if there's any interest for the sequel LOL (So you know what to do, hint, hint LMAO)

Warnings: Sasuke's pov; Alternate universe; pre-slash; small age difference; smidgen of angst; time skips

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like it!

I Was Waiting for You

He stood next to mum, idly looking around while he waited for her to decide whether she was going to buy the tomato sauce or not. He wondered whether his big brother would be home by the time he and mum had finished their shopping. Itachi attended the kendo club right after his classes were over, so he hadn't been able to join their mum on their shopping trip.

"Mum, can we get those little tomatoes too?" he asked, remembering he had eaten the last one yesterday.

Mum hummed absently, still studying the two jars in her hands. They both had tomato sauce in them, but apparently weren't from the same brand, so now she was trying to decide which one she wanted to buy. "Sure, sweetheart, we'll have to stock up on vegetables anyway, so we can get those cherry tomatoes for you too."

"Thank you!" he grinned, clinging to one of the bars of the shopping cart tighter.

A flash of red passing by the aisle snatched his attention and when he turned to look, he saw a lady with long, red hair pushing a cart in front of her. She was wearing a green dress and light brown boots and her stomach was oddly rounded and big while the rest of her body was slender.

Curiosity piqued for reasons he didn't know, his fingers uncurled their grip around the metal bar and he went after the lady, leaving his mum behind in the aisle. The red haired lady was standing in front of a table where the store employees had created a pyramid of ramen cups, picking up some of the cups and putting them in the cart. As she was doing that, he scuttled up to her side, his eyes trained on her swollen belly.

She looked down at him curiously when she noticed him. "Oh, hello there. Do you need some ramen as well, sweetie?" Her purple eyes studied him while she held a chicken flavoured ramen cup in her hand.

He shook his head. "No, I don't. Why's your belly so big? Did you eat a lot?"

She laughed, apparently amused by his questions. He didn't understand why; what was so funny about his questions? He was serious!

"No, I didn't eat a lot – well, at least not that much to get this big," she chuckled and patted her belly gently. "My belly's big, because I'm expecting a baby."

He tilted his head to the right, frowning. "There's a baby in your belly?" That seemed so strange. Then again, hadn't mum once said that babies came from a woman's belly?

"Yeah, he'll be born in a couple of months," the lady smiled. "He has to stay in my belly now to grow big enough."

"Oh." That made sense he guessed. "What's his name?"

"My husband and I are thinking of calling him Naruto," she answered; her eyes twinkling.

"Naruto," he repeated softly, rolling the name around on his tongue. It sounded nice.

"Here you are!"

Mum's voice made him swivel around and he blushed when he saw how worried she looked.

"I thought I'd lost you, I've been looking everywhere! Sasuke, you know you can't just disappear like that," she scolded him, bringing the cart to an abrupt halt in front of the table. She looked at the red haired lady and sighed softly. "I'm sorry about this, I thought he was still standing next to me. I apologise if he's been bothering you."

The lady waved her hand, grinning. "Ah, no need to apologise. Kids are curious and honestly, he wasn't a bother. You've got a cute kid."

"Thank you. Sorry again; that'll teach me to make decisions about brands quicker," Mum said, a bit chagrined, and she pushed a lock of her black hair behind her ear.

"Oh, I'm terrible when it comes to making decisions about that," the lady said sympathetically and smiled embarrassed. "Honestly, I can only make a quick decision when it comes to ramen; all the other stuff, I leave up to my husband." She lifted a piece of paper out of her purse. "He's the one who writes the grocery lists, because if that's left up to me, I won't leave the store for hours!"

"I usually write down my grocery lists, but I forgot this time," Mum admitted, chuckling softly. "And indecisive moments like these remind me every time why I started writing down my lists in the first place."

The lady laughed and they started discussing various brands and even a couple of recipes for some reason. All the while Sasuke couldn't stop himself from staring at the lady's rounded stomach, barely containing the strange urge to touch it.

Naruto, huh?

He liked that name.

After finishing the last page in his book, he closed it and placed it down on his lap, looking around idly. Next to him Itachi was working on his mathematics homework; his pencase on top of the papers he wasn't using to prevent them from being blown away by the soft wind. The gentle scratching of his pencil on the paper was almost drown out by the noises of the kids playing on the swings further down the gentle slope.

They were both at the park because mum had been fussing about them spending too much time inside. She'd insisted they had to get some fresh air outside of walking to school and back, so Itachi had decided they would go to the park for a while. His own homework already finished, Sasuke had opted to take the book with him which he'd started reading two days ago.

He should have taken another book with him, because Itachi still wasn't finished and he didn't feel like –

Abruptly he turned his head when something in the corner of his eye moved and he blinked when his brain registered what it was. A baby with a mop of bright blond hair was determinedly crawling in their direction; his sky blue onesie dragging across the grass. As Sasuke watched bemused, the baby came closer and closer; his pace rather quick for someone so small.

He got up when it seemed like the baby would crawl past right them and wondered where his parents were. A baby didn't drop from the sky suddenly, no matter what his cousin Shisui insisted.

"Hm, Sasuke? Where are you going?" Itachi asked absently, still bent over his homework. He hadn't noticed the strange baby yet.

He knelt down on the grass and gently tapped the baby's shoulder with his finger. The baby abruptly stopped crawling and stared up at him, blinking owlishly.

"Pretty blue eyes," Sasuke murmured when the large blue orbs locked onto his. They were a deep blue, the colour the sky took on when there were no clouds to obscure it, and they shone in the sunlight.

His blond hair glistened like gold and before Sasuke really knew what he was doing, he'd plucked the baby off the grass and plopped him down on his lap. He was heavier than he looked like and he had to fumble around a bit in order not to drop the baby on his back, but he managed. A small smile curled around his lips when the baby grinned widely, clapping his hands for some reason.

"Bah!"

"Hey, nii-san, can we keep him?" he questioned, liking the weight of the baby leaning against his chest.

He wasn't really fond of babies, because they tended to smell and scream and cry a lot – at least his cousin Izumi's baby sister did – but there was something about this particular baby that made him like the little boy. Maybe it was the way he was giggling excitedly or the way he squirmed around without actually leaving his arms or the way he stared back at him with those deep blue eyes.

He couldn't really say what it was, but something in him told him to keep the baby, to not let him go. They could bring him home with them, right? Mum could take care of him and that way Sasuke would get to keep him.

"Keep who?" Itachi inquired and the rustling of papers abruptly quietened. "Sasuke, do you – is that a baby in your lap?"

Sasuke turned around and saw his brother looking perplexed at the still giggling and babbling baby in his arms. "Yeah, he was crawling to us. He's got pretty eyes and he doesn't scream or cry like Yuki-chan. Can we keep him?"

Itachi blinked and placed his homework next to him on the quilt. "No, Sasuke, we can't keep him. He already has a home; I bet his parents are really worried now, we should go look for them."

"But why?" Sasuke frowned, hugging the baby closer to him. "He was crawling to us, I told you. I think he likes me, see?"

As some sort of answer the baby started waving his arms wildly, smacking Sasuke's arm weakly. He blew a spit bubble at Itachi, who looked taken aback, and Sasuke grinned, liking this baby more and more.

"I think he was just crawling around aimlessly," Itachi said and stood up. "It's a good thing you stopped him at least, before he got even further away. Now we really have to go look for his parents, though. They're probably worrying a lot now."

Sasuke frowned, looking down at the baby, who gazed back at him innocently. "Are you sure we can't keep him?"

His older brother sighed and opened his mouth to reply, but then a female voice shouted, "Oh my god, Naruto, there you are!"

A red haired woman came running to them, her long hair whipping around her, and she snatched the baby out of Sasuke's arms the second she reached them. She looked close to crying as she hugged the baby against her chest and pressed kisses on his head.

"Oh Naruto, you scared me! How did you manage to crawl this far?"

"Ma!" the baby, Naruto, replied, smacking his lips.

Naruto … Where had he heard that name before?

Eyebrows furrowed, he stood up and studied the woman in front of him, who was still shushing and rocking the blond boy, seemingly unable to stop kissing him. Long, red hair … Naruto …

"You're the lady from the store with the big belly!" Sasuke suddenly blurted out, startling both his brother and the woman.

He blushed underneath the stares of two pairs of eyes, but he was sure of it. Even though he hadn't thought about the encounter in months, this was definitely the lady he'd met that one time in the store. The one who'd been pregnant and who had spent ages talking with his mum about shopping and recipes.

That meant that this baby was the one she'd had in her belly during that time; the baby she said she'd wanted to call Naruto.

Recognition lit up purple eyes. "Oh wow, you're the cute kid from back then!" she exclaimed surprised, cradling Naruto against her shoulder. "Man, it's been months since then – I can't believe you still remember me."

Aware of Itachi's eyes on him, Sasuke shrugged, a bit bashful. "I remember you because of your hair and your baby's name."

"Yeah, I guess it's not an everyday name," she chuckled and her face softened when she glanced down at Naruto, whose gaze was roaming aimlessly around the park. "This little guy nearly gave me a heart attack just now. I look away for just a couple of seconds and suddenly he's gone! Thank you so much for catching him; I don't even want to know how much further he'd have got on his own." She shook her head wearily.

"He's fast," Itachi offered, drawing closer.

"Too fast for my liking," she smiled wryly. "I need eyes on my back and my sides just to keep up with this little rascal. Seriously, though, thank you so much."

"My little brother was the one who noticed him first," Itachi commented, nodding at Sasuke. "So you should mainly thank him."

The lady smiled at him. "Well, thank you very much – Sasuke, was it?" He nodded, surprised she still remembered his name. "You really helped me out a lot with him. How about I buy you two some ice cream as a thank you?"

"You don't have to," Itachi replied, but she shook her head.

"No, no, it's the least I can do. Without you, who knows what would have happened?" She shuddered. "No, I insist. Unless you want something else like sweets or so?"

"Ice cream's fine," Sasuke said, his eyes drawn back to Naruto almost automatically. The baby looked back and smiled sweetly.

He didn't really care about a reward, but at least this way he would get to spend more time with the baby before he had to leave with his mother. Too bad they couldn't take him with them; that would have been fun.

After that time in the park, they kept bumping into the lady with Naruto. Sometimes her husband was with her and it was clear Naruto had both inherited his blond hair and his blue eyes; his face seemed to resemble his mother's the most, though.

During all those times they saw each other, they got to know each other better. Sasuke found out that the lady was named Uzumaki Kushina and her husband Namikaze Minato. They had moved into town a couple of years ago and Minato worked as a baker while Kushina was a full time housewife for now.

A friendship sparked between Kushina and Sasuke's mum after a while and from then on it wasn't odd for Sasuke to come home and encounter Kushina sitting in the kitchen, talking with his mum, while Naruto was either playing on a mat or napping. It wasn't really the same as actually keeping Naruto with them, but it was close enough.

Sasuke had initially thought his fascination with Naruto was because he'd never seen such bright blue eyes on a baby before and because Naruto didn't cry and smell like all the other babies he'd seen. He thought he'd grow bored of the baby boy eventually, but that didn't happen.

Naruto continued to be the one exception to his general aversion of other children and he enjoyed playing with him, even if the five year difference between them meant Sasuke had to play with baby toys instead of with his own games. He didn't mind, though. He liked seeing Naruto's face lit up whenever he managed to fit the right block in the corresponding hole and liked hearing him laugh when they built a castle or a tower with the colourful blocks before they all tumbled down when the construction became too instable.

He felt immensely proud when his name was the third word Naruto learnt to say and was smug every time Naruto chose to walk to him instead of going to Itachi once the little boy learnt how to walk.

It felt really good to know that Naruto preferred him and not his older brother. Maybe that wasn't nice, but he didn't care. It was nice to know he was Naruto's favourite, even if he still couldn't pinpoint exactly why that was so great.

It just was.

"I don't want you to go." His bottom lip quivered and tears were quickly pooling into blue eyes, threatening to spill over any second now. His cheeks flushed and he looked absolutely miserable; his little fists clenched on each side.

Sasuke swallowed. "I don't want to go either, but I have to," he murmured.

Behind him his parents were loading the last suitcases into the boot of the car while Itachi was saying goodbye to a couple of his classmates who'd come to see him off. Father was setting up a new company in a city several hours from here, so they were moving out today. After nearly nine years in this town they would move to an entirely new city, forcing both Itachi and Sasuke to start anew in a different school.

Sasuke wouldn't have minded that prospect that much – he never really had liked his classmates here anyway – but he absolutely hated the fact that moving meant leaving Naruto behind. The four year old boy could hardly go with them after all; he had to stay here with his own parents.

The devastated look on his friend's face made it really hard for him to turn around and go to his parents. The pain in those blue eyes twisted something in his chest and tugged painfully at his heart, making him wish once again that father had never decided to start a new company. He didn't want to leave Naruto, but he had to and that really sucked.

"We'll see each other again," he said, determined to make that happen. It didn't matter how long that would take, he'd see Naruto again.

"You promise?" Naruto sniffled, rubbing the back of his hand underneath his nose.

"I swear," Sasuke swore and impulsively he took off the chain with the fan symbol.

Mum had gifted him that chain when he'd turned eight last year, explaining the red and white fan had been a symbol of their family, back when clans still had existed. He'd been incredibly proud to wear it, but now he knew a far better use for it.

"Here," he said, holding it out to the younger boy. "I want you to hold on to that for me. That way you know I'll come back."

Naruto's eyes widened and he accepted the chain hesitatingly, knowing even at his young age that this was something very important. "I'll be really careful with it and I'll keep it with me for you, Sasuke!" he promised, carefully cradling it into his hands.

"Good. I'll come back for it soon, I promise," Sasuke said and grimaced when mum called out for him. "I have to go now."

Naruto nodded, growing sad once more. "Promise you won't forget me?" he asked in a small voice.

"I'll never forget you, I promise," Sasuke assured him and some of the heavy weight on his chest was lifted when Naruto gave him a watery smile.

It wasn't the bright one he preferred, but it was something.

"Take care, Sasuke-kun," Aunt Kushina said softly, smiling sadly at him. Her eyes were a tad red rimmed and he knew she'd been crying in her room before coming downstairs to say goodbye.

"Give us a call once in a while, yeah?" Uncle Minato smiled, squeezing his shoulder softly. He kept his other arm wrapped around his wife's waist. Normally he would have been at his bakery at this time, but he'd taken the morning off to say goodbye to them.

"I will," Sasuke said and then he had Naruto attached to his waist, the boy finally giving in to the tears.

Hearing Naruto cry so loudly broke his heart in two and it took him a long time before he could step away from the blond boy; Aunt Kushina helping him by picking Naruto off the ground and swinging him on her hip even though he struggled a lot.

"Go, Sasuke-kun," she said softly when Sasuke could only stand there helplessly as Naruto screamed and cried. "He'll be fine."

The dark haired boy bit on his lip, but nodded and swiftly turned around, hurrying to his parents' car. Everything in him screamed to stay here, to stay with Naruto, but he knew he couldn't. Father had to move to another city, so they all followed, no matter how unfair that was.

In the car, he turned around to look out of the window and saw Naruto weakly clinging around his mother's neck, obviously still crying even if Sasuke couldn't hear it from this distance.

"He'll be okay," Itachi murmured; his usually sharp eyes soft when they looked at the crying boy.

"Yeah …"

As father started the car and they drove away, to their new life, Sasuke looked at the little boy who'd become his best friend and sent him a silent promise. Wait for me, I'll come back.

It was a promise he intended to keep no matter what.

The End

AN2: My week has been pretty shitty so far; hope yours is going a lot better. Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in my future stories (and the sequel to this one)!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.