Suo Aburame yrs 0-5
Gabriel had no clue how he had ended up as a baby. It probably had something to do with that fucked up archway his older half-brother had shoved him through when they'd gone with their father to his job at the Dept. of Mysteries. All he'd known was that he'd woke up as a baby in an alley in some strange place, unable to understand a word. He didn't know how old he was, but given the fact that he couldn't really move - like at all- he had to be close to newborn if not a newborn. Deciding to do what most babies did to get attention he let out a plaintive cry. It wasn't half a minute later when someone stepped into the alley he was in. It was a young woman who appeared to have been crying recently.
She blinked when she caught sight of him before cautiously approaching him. She glanced around suspiciously before picking him up and checking him over - damn it, he hadn't realized he was naked! - and then cradled him to her chest. Then she did something unexpected. She jumped- yes jumped- to the roof to their left and began heading that way, jumping from roof to roof. A few minutes later she dropped down in front of what he thought might be a hospital and carried him in. It was a hospital.
A nurse in pale grey scrubs took him from the lady and into another room to be checked over. He was given an exam before a warm bottle was shoved into his mouth. He cursed the baby reflexes as he immediately began to suckle it, only then realizing just how hungry he was. The nurse said something and the woman hesitated briefly before shaking her head no. The nurse gave a sharp nod before picking him up and carrying him away to be placed in a crib alongside several other cribs. Most contained toddlers but only one other had a newborn. He was placed next to the newborn. He looked over to find a black haired infant sleeping quietly. He settled down and went to sleep. Hopefully this would make more sense in the morning, or all be a dream.
Suo crawled around his area of the room, making sure to knock into as many things as possible. The older orphan sitting a few feet away twitched with each noise he made, concentration breaking from his attempt at meditation. He opened his eyes to glare half heartedly at Suo. Suo did his best to look innocent, giving his two teeth grin to the older boy. The stern expression broke a few seconds later.
Junta moved over to him and picked the toddler up to hold in his lap.
If you wanted my attention you didn t have to interrupt my meditation. Suo grinned up at him and clapped his hands together. He was working on sentences, but he knew if he moved too fast the creepy man with the bandages, or the black haired one that looked like a snake may take him. He blessed his highly noticeable red hair for why he hadn t been snatched up yet. Junta stood up with Suo in his arms and spun around making wooshing noises. Suo gave a happy little squeal and let the older boy baby him for a while before demanding to be put down. Satisfied that he d annoyed the older boy enough he moved on to other targets.
Suo, it turned out, was the bane of the older orphans from the moment he could move about without much aid. When he started walking, earlier than most but not enough to take notice, he was an absolute terror. If his watcher turned their back for a second he d be gone. Tracking him down became a common chore for the Academy age orphans. Babysitting was more common with the older civilian ones who hadn t trained to be Shinobi but were yet to be old enough to leave.
Junta was the only one who could both track him down, and keep him in line. Suo had a soft spot for the older boy who reminded him of his eldest sister from his old life. He was kind, patient, and a knack for knowing the right thing to say at the right time. It broke the toddlers heart when Junta finally graduated the Academy and left to be a Shinobi. He died before Suo turned three, yet another casualty of the Third Shinobi War. It was his death that nurtured a desire in Suo to find peace.
Suo liked people, liked to watch them, learn from them, and about them. Even in his past life he could often be seen sitting in windows just staring out at the world outside. In this life, Suo had quickly found that he always, always knew when someone was nearby. He used this little gift to escape his sitters, and to sneak around the orphanage in the wee hours and get ahold of books in the small library the Matron kept for teaching letters and words to the slightly older children. He used them to learn the language.
Over time Suo realized that some people felt different then others. Where the majority of people had a wilder taste to them when he felt them. Some of the adults and older teens, and the older Academy students, had a more refined one. Where the matron just tasted gritty, and like putting a stone in your mouth, Junta, had tasted like wood smoke and hickory. Like putting a wood chip in your mouth and letting the flavor surround your taste buds. In essence, they both tasted like the earth, just one was cleaner than the other.
He didn t know what this little gift meant, just knew it was something he should probably work on. And he had nothing but time until he was old enough to choose his path in life.
Suo grumbled from his place up in the tree. He was avoiding his minder. The fifteen year old, older teen had called him a useless baby so Suo deemed the girl unworthy of listening to. He didn t care that he d probably get in trouble for it later. The four year old looked up when he felt someone approach and found and older boy, looking to be about 13 was standing in front of a large black stone partially covered in kanji and hiragana. Suo shifted slightly to get a better look at him.
The boy had short, silver hair sticking up at impossible angles and a mask covering the bottom half of his face. His left eye was hidden behind bandages and he had multiple other wounds bandaged over his body. Suo looked back at the stone in understanding. The boy must have lost someone, this was that stone the older kids were always telling him about. Suo decided he wanted to know if Junta was on it, so he shimmied out of the tree.
The silver haired boy looked surprised to see him walk up to him, glancing around in surprise to make sure no one else would suddenly pop up. Suo squinted up at the stone, but the letters were too high up for him. He turned to the older boy tugging slightly at his sleeve to bring his attention back down. The teen looked down with a frown.
What? Suo pointed up at the stone before speaking, doing so slowly so that he didn t mispronounce it as he was prone to doing.
Is the name Junta on there? The boy blinked his lone eye once before turning back to the stone and looking over it, reading rapidly. He paused three lines up from the bottom and pointed to it. Suo stood on his toes but was still too short to see it. He turned to the boy and held up his arms in silent question. The teen gave a put upon sigh before bending down and lifting him up so he could see it, pointing to it again.
Suo stared at the name for a second before reaching forward slowly to place a hand on it.
I m sorry you didn t get your dream, Junta, I promise to do it for both of us. He nodded to himself and wiggled so that the older boy put him down. With a shallow bow to the older boy he made his way back to his hiding place, ignoring the boy s eyes following him. They didn t talk again, or an any of the weeks that followed.