Here's a thing.
She arrived four years after he did, clinging to Pein's coattails with big, brown eyes and a trembling, busted lip. Her hair was dark, but he could see the blood matting it in some places; what has this child been through.
Pein had rested a hand on top of her head, stared down at her with this look he had only seen in his mothers eyes. "This is Caelan, she has. . .possibilities." He looked to Itachi. "If anyone touches her, they will face my full wrath, understood?"
Itachi nodded softly, confused ."Why did you bring a child home, Pein?"
He didn't answer Itachi, he just turned and the girl followed close behind, her bare little feet leaving bloody prints behind.
4 years later. . .
He heard her screaming, but he did nothing about it, continuing his concentration on the book between his fingers. The screaming was growing closer, footfalls becoming more clear and more irritating.
He sighed when his door flung open, arching an eyebrow at the teenage girl was was hiding under his sheets and the weird blonde man that was flailing his weird mouth-hands at where she peeked.
"Itachi! Help me!"
Itachi shook his head and she wailed dramatically when Deidara finally got to her. She kicked and giggled, falling over the other side of the bed and Deidara followed, causing more cries for help and laughter to erupt from the girl.
Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose. "Get out of my room, now."
Both Deidara and Caelan popped up on the other side of the bed, hair disheveled and both utterly confused as to why Itachi didn't enjoy their play-time. Its not like they didn't do this every day, with the loud voices and the barging into his room because Deidara was afraid of Itachi once but now, he didn't fear the Uchiha when Caelan was around.
"Do I have to go?" Caelan was trying to use puppy eyes on him, but it never worked on him like it did some members of the Akatsuki.
Itachi watched a dissapointed Deidara sulk out of the room, the door shutting behind him. "If you are quiet, yes." He plucked up his book once more, opening it back to where he left off.
Caelan climbed onto the bed, crossing her legs beneath her and looking around the room. It was always so gloomy in here, or rather it was blank. No one really had anything to decorate with, they weren't children, but everyone has something special in their room. Deidara had his art, Sasori had a menagerie of puppets-in-progress and Zetsu had his plants.
She wasn't allowed in anyone elses rooms, they picked on her too much.
Caelan jumped up, trotting over to Itachi and grabbing his hand despite the look of death in his eyes. "Itachi! Take me outside!"
Itachi sighed and pulled his hand away. "No."
She pouted, stomping her foot. "Please?"
"No."
She huffed and crossed her arms. "I'll just get Hidan to take me out then."
Itachi's eyes darted up to her face, deadly. "Fine."
A smile broke out on her face and she bounced around the room while Itachi put up his book and grabbed his cloak. She took off down the hallway, keeping ahead of Itachi but stopping to make sure he wasn't too far behind.
It was cloudy outside, but Caelan didn't mind, skipping around merrily, with Itachi close behind. He didn't know what she wanted to do, but she wasn't allowed out alone and she definitely could not go out with Hidan. He knew she only said that to get him to go along, but he had that. . .undeniable worry that she would attempt to recruit tbe Jashinist in a trip outside.
And Pein forbid it.
"We won't be out here long, I promise," she chirped as she knelt beside a small patch of flowers, puny little weeds. "I just have to get some of these."
The wind spet between them, sending Itachi's coat fluttering in its grasp and her hair to whip around her face. She hummed as she plucked the flowers, careful in her selection, keeping them in one hand.
"Why do you want weeds?" Itachi questioned, staring at the back of her head.
She looked back at him; why does she look like that? She smiled softly and went back to picking flowers, jumping to her feet when she felt she was done.
"I'm ready to go back inside." She was still smiling at him.
He nodded once and they went home, Caelan running off somewhere while Itachi moved into the kitchen; why were the corners so dark? He settled in one of those corners with a small bowl of cabbage, chewing slowly as he thought of Caelan of all people.
He didn't know why Pein had kept her.
He claimed her village had burned around them and she was there, an utter innocent in the world, and that was all he said. No special abilities. She wasn't a ninja, she wasn't trained, she was just there all this time and Pein still treated her like she was a child.
In a sense, she was.
She had bonded, sort of, with many of the members, it was like they had a little sister that never went away.
As he headed back to his room, he saw Deidara and Tobi chasing Caelan, completely oblivious to the Uchiha walking down the hallway. He entered his room and took off his cloak, reaching for his book on the shelf, but he froze when he caught something from the corner of his eye.
On the table beside his bed, sat a bottle of water with weak little weeds coming out of the top.
Itachi lowered his arm, staring at the flowers, and he smiled softly.
I dunno, does anyone think this could become a story? Nothing really complex, just fluffy, cute family-style chapters? I was thinking it could go all the way to. . .Itachi's end.