Akatsuki Kojiin- the not-so-famous orphanage of the city of Ame.

For those who did know of it, many of them knew due to the trio who ran the place. Konan and her husband, Nagato, had never been able to have kids of their own, so with the help of their childhood friend, Yahiko, they had decided to take in kids who didn't have any parents.

But what the orphanage was even more known for was its occupants. Seven, technically eight, boys between the ages of four and six lived in the large Victorian household they called Akatsuki Kojiin. The place had been running for three years, yet not a single kid had been adopted in that time. Of course, that had to be because so few people knew of the place, seeing as the kids were perfectly behaved.

"Hidan, get back here!"

Sometimes.

A loud cackle emitted through the halls as a young boy, around the age of four with magenta eyes glistening with mischief, darted through the house, naked as a newborn, and leaving a trail of water and suds in his wake. An indigo-haired woman chased after him, desperately trying to catch the child without slipping on the now wet floors.

It was past bedtime, and naturally, with commotion at such an hour came curiosity. It came in the form of another four year old, a blond one, that stepped into the hallway, rubbing at his half-lidded cerulean eyes. Unfortunately for him, he unknowingly had walked right into the path of the oncoming race, and without so much as a warning, was knocked aside, landing on his butt with a thump.

"Sorry, Deidara!" The silver-haired kid that had collided into him called back, not even bothering to spare his friend a glance as he continued his attempt to escape Konan's grasp.

The woman was instantly at the blond's side, pulling the shocked child into a comforting embrace as tears prickled at his now wide eyes.

"Nagato!" Konan called out, deciding she'd take care of Deidara. "Can you finish up washing Hidan?" She didn't have to wait for a response to know he was already on it.

Deidara sniffled in Konan's arms, trying to hold back his tears as the woman patted his long hair in a calming manner. He was the youngest of the children, and, despite acting like the leader at times, he was the easiest to upset.

Konan heard the door in front of her open once more, and she glanced up towards the five year old standing in front of them. Lazy doe brown eyes looked on in confusion as the child surveyed the scene.

"S'sowi!" Deidara cried as he held his hand out towards his roommate, wanting his friend next to him. Sasori was at his side instantly, holding the blond's outstretched hand.

"What happened?" The older child asked, a frown etched on his face.

"Hidan ran into him and he fell down. I think he was more shocked than hurt." Konan answered for the kid, who was desperately rubbing at his face in an attempt to stop the flow of tears.

"I fell on my bum." Deidara added in, glancing up at his friend through slightly puffy eyes.

"Is that all?" The redhead asked, frowning as he let go of the other's hand. "Well falling on your butt isn't that bad, Dei! See?" The elder child demonstrated, falling back onto his own behind with a small 'oof' before grinning at his friend.

Deidara let out a small giggle before nodding in agreement.

"C'mon," Sasori held out his hand to Deidara as the blond slid off of Konan's lap, "it's late, lets get back to bed."

"Okay." Deidara agreed as he took hold of the redhead's hand before he followed him into their room, casting a glance back at Konan to make sure she was following.

Sasori scrambled onto his bed by himself while the amber-eyed woman lifted Deidara onto his before tucking him in. Once she was finished, she turned and made sure Sasori was tucked in as well.

"Do you need anything?" Both children shook their heads, already having water on the night stand beside them. "Alright, then. Goodnight, you two." She smiled before giving each of them a kiss on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Konan."

"Night! Hm!"

Konan shut the lamp off, letting the nightlight illuminate the room. Deidara hated the dark, and it was better to have a nightlight instead of leaving the door open, considering the other children could be loud sometimes.

As she left, Konan shut the door quietly behind her before making her way to the bathroom, chuckling a little as she saw a soaking wet Nagato struggling to get Hidan into his pajamas. From what she could tell, Hidan was pretending to be a T-Rex, letting out roars and fighting to keep the clothes off him as he proclaimed that dinosaurs didn't need clothing.

"Dinosaurs also don't eat dessert." Konan added as she kneeled down in front of him, smiling as Hidan's eyes widened in horror. "How about you turn back into a human before you get stuck as a T-Rex, and we'll get you your dino pjs, okay?"

Hidan grinned and nodded vigorously, raising his hands as Konan went to pick him up, ignoring the fact that he was still only in his underwear.

Konan carried him to his room, which was shared with Kakuzu, the oldest of the children. The elder child only spared them a glance before he went back to brushing his long dark brown hair, which was still wet from his own bath.

The indigo-haired woman set the child down beside the dresser before pulling out one of the drawers, finding the set of pajamas with a variety of brightly-colored dinosaurs decorating it almost instantly.

"Arms up." She commanded and Hidan raised his arms in the air obediently as she slid the top half on with ease, quickly followed by the bottoms.

"Do you want a glass of water?" She asked as she carried him to his bed and tucked him in, getting a 'no' in response. "Okay. Goodnight." She gave him a kiss on the forehead before checking to make sure Kakuzu was already under the covers, already knowing he wasn't fond of receiving a goodnight kiss like the rest of the kids.

They each said their goodnights before Konan turned the light off and exited the room just in time to see Yahiko walk by, Zetsu in his arms.

The ginger grinned at his friend, "Itachi and Kisame are all set, I just have to tuck in Zetsu, then everyone's in for the night!"

"Can you read us a bedtime story too?" The five-year old piped up, golden eyes gleaming in excitement.

"Zetsu", as they liked to be called, was in truth a pair of Siamese twins who seemed to share a single body. Kuro and Shiro, as the children had been named, each controlled half of their body, split almost perfectly down the middle. In addition, they had multiracial parents, causing Shiro to be born white, while Kuro was born black, like their names suggested. At first, doctors had believed Zetsu simply had Schizophrenia and possibly a skin disorder, but upon further investigation, found his brain seemed to be split, presumably along with his nervous systems. From what they could tell, he also had two separate larynxes, or voice boxes, which baffled the doctors as such a thing had never been heard of before. Regardless, Zetsu acted like a normal child, with the exception of having conversations between the twins, and the other kids treated him the same.

"Of course!" Yahiko replied cheerfully, "how about Jack and the Beanstalk?"

Zetsu cheered, both halves exited to hear that it was his favorite book.

"You go to bed, Konan, it's late." Yahiko advised, letting her know he didn't need any more help.

Konan offered him a grateful smile in return. "Alright. I'll see you in the morning." She replied before wearily turning and heading to her room.

As she opened the door, she noticed Nagato collapsed on their bed, still in his clothes, having fallen asleep before he could even get changed. Konan quietly chuckled to herself before getting herself ready for bed and climbing in with him, bringing the blankets up over both of them in one swift movement. After a long day, she could finally relax.

"Konan!"

Or not.

Managing seven rambunctious children was never an easy task, even with help. But even so, Konan decided as she reluctantly climbed out of bed once more, it was a job she wouldn't trade for the world.