Additions:
Okay, guys. Here's my next chapter. Kudos to the people who reviewed me! You guys are the reason I finished this! Thanks. Now, read ahead.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
A dark figure rose out from the shadows. The silhouette had red eyes and very defined lines carved underneath his eyes. Jinpachiro grabbed his sheets and pulled them around him as the apparition in front of him morphed into a giant weasel with Sharingan eyes and sharp teeth. Jinpachiro whimpered as the beast inched its way closer to the small boy. No longer was Jinpachiro in the safe confines of his bed, but now huddled in a small corner desperately trying to escape the monstrosity heading at him. Jinpachiro looked at the giant weasel and it grinned at him. Off of each pointed tooth, blood dripped menacingly to the wooden floorboards. A cackle escaped from the depth of the weasel's throat. It opened its jaws and lunged.
"Wake up, Jinpachiro." Sasuke shook the boy impatiently. Sasuke had been sleeping peacefully, when the boy's cries had disturbed his slumber. Out of all of the offenses you could commit to Sasuke Uchiha, waking him from his sleep was one of the far worst.
"Wah!" Jinpachiro opened his eyes and looked at his uncle. "Uncle Sasuke! Uncle Sasuke, it was awful! A weasel was trying to eat me! A weasel with Sharingan!" The boy was breathless as he relayed his nightmare to his uncle.
"Its fine now. I won't let any weasel with Sharingan in here. I'll kill them if they try." Sasuke awkwardly tried to comfort the child, wondering if that was how Jinpachiro now imagined Itachi.
"But he was huge!" Jinpachiro spread his arms as far as they would go to prove his point. "And he had really pointy teeth!" Jinpachiro brought his hands to his lips and stretched out his mouth to emphasize his story.
"I've already killed one monster, if another weasel comes back for my family, I'll kill it too." Sasuke nodded as he comforted Jinpachiro. Then he yawned.
"Go to sleep, kid." Sasuke patted his head then stood up to leave the room. Jinpachiro jumped out of his bed and stood, looking at his uncle.
"But I'm still scared! Whenever I was scared back at my old home…" He looked down for a moment, then back up at his uncle. "Yuri would protect me. He would sleep next to me, then sing me to sleep, whenever I woke him up. Can I come in there and sleep with you? Please?" Jinpachiro asked. Whenever he said, "Please," he stood up on his toes and pouted.
Sasuke sighed and answered, "Ninjas don't need to sleep with their uncles when they're afraid." He looked down at Jinpachiro and the boy looked downcast. "But, we can make an exception tonight. Come on." Jinpachiro smiled up at Sasuke and followed him into Sasuke's bedroom. They climbed into bed, and within seconds Jinpachiro was fast asleep. Sasuke lay awake and wondered to himself for several minutes: Who's Yuri?
The next morning, as most mornings, Sasuke woke up and prepared himself for the day before the sun rose. It was a habit of Sasuke's and a good one to keep. He fixed tamagoyaki for himself and Jinpachiro. When Jinpachiro came downstairs, the food was waiting for him to eat it.
"Hmm! Uncle Sasuke, did you make this?" Jinpachiro asked taking his first bite of the Japanese omelet.
"Hn."
"You're a good cook!" Jinpachiro announced through chunks of egg in his mouth. Sasuke frowned. Whenever his family was killed, Sasuke was left to take care of himself and over time, cooking had become another one of his many talents.
"Don't spread that around." Sasuke finished his meal and stood up. "I'm going to training. Do you want to come?" Sasuke asked. Jinpachiro nodded vigorously and jumped from his chair.
"Yeah!" He ran around Sasuke and out the door. Sasuke followed and saw the child pulling on his sandals.
"Are you going to finish your breakfast?" Sasuke asked as he kneeled down next to Jinpachiro to pull on his boots.
"I'm not hungry anymore. Let's go!" The boy leapt up and stood next to Sasuke.
"Fine, but we're not running there. We can walk."
The two made their way through Konoha's streets and onto the bridge that had been the meeting place for Squad 7 for what seemed an eternity to Sasuke. On the way over to the bridge, Sasuke had received many stares from the residents of the village. It seemed all eyes were on Jinpachiro. Whenever Jinpachiro caught someone staring, he'd quickly run to the other side of Sasuke and try to hide. Sasuke defended Jinpachiro by glaring at any person who happened to be looking in the direction of the child.
The two didn't have to wait on the bridge for long before Sakura and Sai arrived. The two were bickering about taste in beauty, when Sakura hushed Sai with a fist to his chin.
"Good Morning, Sasuke!" She greeted and smiled. Then two pairs of eyes came to rest on the young boy hiding behind Sasuke's legs. "Is that the boy that you took in a couple of nights ago?" She inquired. Sasuke gave a curt nod.
"I'll introduce everyone when Naruto gets here." Sasuke said as he pushed Jinpachiro out from behind his legs and leaned on the railing. Jinpachiro pouted at having been pushed away from his hiding place and clung to Sasuke's leg furthest away from Sai and Sakura.
The four waited in a semi-awkward silence for thirty minutes before Naruto arrived. When he did, Sasuke started the introductions.
"This is Jinpachiro Uchiha. He's my nephew." Sasuke started and Naruto interrupted.
"You mean, like, Itachi's son? When did he have a son?"
"About four years ago, dobe. Anyway, he came to Konoha looking for me and now he's here." Sasuke finished motioning the child that was still clinging to his right leg.
"Teme, so are you taking care of him now?" Naruto asked and Sasuke nodded.
"Shut up, so I can tell him you are," Sasuke said to Naruto as he scraped Jinpachiro off his leg. "Jinpachiro, this is Naruto, Sakura, and Sai." He said while pointing to each. Naruto, Sakura, and Sai each said their separate greeting while Jinpachiro continued trying to hide behind Sasuke's leg.
"When you were sick I stopped by to take care of you! You weren't awake, so you won't remember me." Sakura leaned forward and smiled at the boy. His cheeks burned a shade of pink and he grasped Sasuke's pant leg.
"He's shy!" Sakura whispered, straightening herself up.
"More like afraid." Sai smiled. "Hag."
Sakura turned on him yelling, "What did you say? You-" Sakura jumped toward his throat and Sai took a step back to avoid it. She followed with a punch at his face and Sai ran off the bridge with Sakura in full pursuit.
"Well, looks like today's sparring has begun without Kakashi-sensei. Is he gonna stay and watch?" Naruto nodded his head, indicating Jinpachiro and the Uchiha nodded. Naruto grinned at the thought of being able to show off his abilities. Sasuke started to walk off the bridge and Naruto followed. When, they reached a clearing in the trees where Sai and Sakura wouldn't disturb the two's combating, Naruto and Sasuke started training.
Naruto dashed toward Sasuke as the said Uchiha unsheathed his long sword. Two kunai flew at Sasuke and his deflected them with his sword straight back at their source. Naruto zipped to his left and Sasuke flew at Naruto with lightning speed. With the Sharingan activated, he could see Naruto's movements before he acted. He saw the blonde's fast hand signals for a substitution jutsu as Sasuke swung his sword at the replacement. As he had expected, his sword sliced through a log. Sasuke kept his blade turning to destroy the clone that had just appeared directly behind him, and succeeded.
The two continued sparring while Jinpachiro sat underneath a tree and watched. At every new trick or jutsu, his eyes would go wide with excitement.
Finally, the two called it a day. Sasuke walked toward Jinpachiro wiping the sweat of his brow.
"Well?" Sasuke asked, reaching the child.
"That was cool! You were cool! When you were like, whoosh! And then, Bam! Then he was like," Jinpachiro turned and jumped two inches as he finished the thought. "You were like-" And Jinpachiro continued as Sasuke walked passed him. Jinpachiro followed, all the while retelling the fight that was full of enthusiasm. They walked back to Sasuke's house and Sasuke started adjusting the house and life to fit Jinpachiro into it.
When night came, Jinpachiro went to bed. His dreams were filled with nightmares of weasels and dead cats. The boy woke up crying twice. Of course the ruckus the small child was making roused Sasuke, but he disregarded it. He was drowsy and tired.
After Jinpachiro's second nightmare, the boy sat up for ten minutes thinking to himself. He drew his knees up, placed his elbows on his small knees, and rested his chin on his wrists. If anyone had looked at the sight of Jinpachiro's thinking, they would have noticed the resemblance between the boy and his uncle.
At last Jinpachiro made a decision. He would put his plan into action in the morning when his uncle was awake.
Morning came soon enough. Sasuke's sleep had been disturbed several times in the night and he was still lethargic when he climbed out of bed at the crack of dawn. He made his way through the morning ritual that everyone goes through and cooked breakfast. When Jinpachiro finally came down, Sasuke had already finished his breakfast.
"G'morning, Uncle Sasuke." The child greeted sitting down at the table. Sasuke greeted him with his usual "Hn" and Jinpachiro started poking at his plate.
"Not hungry?" Sasuke finally asked after Jinpachiro had created, knocked down, then rebuilt up the "Tower of Egg."
Jinpachiro hummed in response and his tower crumbled again. Then he opened his mouth to speak.
"Uncle Sasuke? Um…there's something back home that I gotta go get, so I probably won't be back for a couple of days. So…yeah." Jinpachiro scratched the back of his neck as he broke the news to his uncle.
"What makes you think I will let you go?" Sasuke inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"I have to. There's something I gotta go get." Jinpachiro crossed his thin arms over his chest to emphasize that his decision was made. It wasn't about to be changed.
"Well, I suppose that you can-" Sasuke started to speak, then raised a hand to keep his nephew from interrupting Sasuke's words. "-only if I go with you. You nearly died coming to Konoha. You wouldn't make it back to where you came from." Sasuke finished.
Jinpachiro set his elbows on both sides of his plate and rested his chin on his wrists in a "brooding" manner. The boy was clearly thinking about his uncle's proposition.
"On one condition." Jinpachiro finally announced.
Sasuke raised the same eyebrow. "Oh?"
"You let me bring back whatever I want." The conditions were out in the open and Jinpachiro waited for his uncle's response.
"And if I don't meet that condition?" Sasuke choked back a chuckle.
"You can't come."
"Jinpachiro, I think I need to set something straight. You're my responsibility now. You do what I say."
"But!"
"No buts. Who's the stronger ninja?" Sasuke picked up his plate and started washing it.
"You are." Jinpachiro mumbled incoherently in defeat. Sasuke grinned.
"We can still go. I'll have to make a phone call first." With that, Sasuke picked up a dusty phone and punched in a couple of numbers.
The phone rang twice before someone answered.
"Hello?" Came the cheerful voice of the Kyuubi vessel from the other line.
"This is Sasuke-" Sasuke started and Naruto cut him off.
"What do I owe the honor of having you call me?" He asked.
"Don't interrupt." Sasuke half-growled before continuing. "I'm leaving Konoha for a couple of days. I'm going to Jinpachiro's old town to pick up some of his things. I'm letting you know so everyone doesn't think I ran away from Konoha again."
"Don't tell me. Tell Granny Tsunade. She'll care before I do."
"She won't let me go if she knows." Sasuke spat the words out. "Supposed to be part of my punishment for leaving Konoha in the first place."
"Listen, Sasuke. I have information." Naruto paused slightly dramatically to keep Sasuke in suspense. "For a price."
"No."
"One hundred percent guarantee that it will get you an escorted trip out of Konoha."
"…What's your price?"
"Ramen. Four days."
"Make it three."
"Goodbye."
"Fine."
"Alright, listen. I'm about to tell you exactly what to do step-by-step. It will help, trust me.
"Okay," Naruto started, "Schedule an appointment with her. Bring Jinpachiro. Pull a sap story and have Jinpachiro cry."
"It won't-" Sasuke voice started full of annoyed skepticism.
"Ah-aha, Sasuke. I just so happen to know that the counsel and Granny Tsunade have been taking into consideration of lessening your punishment for your exceptionally good behavior and occasional suck ups to Tsunade. Trust me, Sasuke. Granny Tsunade's on your side. This will give her the perfect excuse to give you that 'chance'." Sasuke could hear the quotations in Naruto's voice at "chance".
Sasuke sighed before talking again. "You'll get that ramen when I get back."
"I'd appreciate a thank you. I mean this stuff is golden! Its better then leaving and getting six months probation and a butt load more of community service!"
"Hn." Sasuke hung up the phone and turned around to nearly trip over Jinpachiro. The boy was shaking with anticipation. His coal black eyes glowed.
"Are we going?" Jinpachiro's voice reflected his excitement.
"We have to make one stop before hand." Sasuke answered him then knelt down to eye level with the four-year-old.
Sasuke took in a breath before speaking. "How bad do you want this thing?"
"Really bad!"
"Enough to do anything for it?"
"Yeah!
"Okay, Jinpachiro. Pout." The boy obeyed. "Now, look down. Next, look up slowly at me through your bangs. Good. Now blink a couple of times. Good. Just like that. Now, let your bottom lip shake and muster up all the tears you can." Jinpachiro quit obeying at this point and stared indecorously.
"I'm going to ask the Hokage's permission for this trip. I'm going to need you to do all that I told you just now in order for us to go. If you can't remember my instructions…look sad. Think…of…that you're not going to get this thing…"Sasuke stopped talking for a little bit.
"What are you going to get?" He asked.
"Uh, I don't want to tell you."
"This isn't going to work, Jinpachiro."
"Okay, I'm going to get…uh, um, uh," The boy started to stutter, obviously thinking of something to say.
""Don't lie to me."
"Uh, okay. I'm going to get…Yuri." Jinpachiro glanced at his uncle's face for a brief second before fixating his gaze on a spot on the carpet.
"Who's Yuri?" Sasuke asked as an irritation started to be born.
"My…cat." Jinpachiro said then looked up at his uncle. "Is it wrong for ninjas to have cats? Yuri's my best friend! He's been the only family to me ever since my mom died!" Tears were swelling up in the frantic child's face.
"Don't cry…" Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh before continuing. "Yeah, ninjas can have cats. But what's wrong with a cat from here?"
"He's not Yuri." Jinpachiro pouted.
Sasuke rubbed his temple then covered his eyes. "I can't believe I'm doing this…" He muttered under his breath.
"Let's go see the Hokage. She has to give the okay for us to go. If she doesn't, then we'll get you a new cat." Jinpachiro gasped as Sasuke walked out the door.
Only when Sasuke arrived did he realize that he forgot to schedule an appointment. He stood with the chuunin in the front office and argued with him for ten minutes before Tsunade opened the door and demanded to know what was giving her a headache. The chuunin explained the situation and Tsunade let Sasuke into her office.
"What do you want?" She demanded taking a seat in her chair.
"I'm asking to leave." Sasuke answered bluntly. His patience was gone from the previous argument with the chuunin.
"I'm asking are you out of your mind?" Tsunade answered calmly.
"No, and I have good reason." Sasuke answered, wondering to himself if it really was a good reason.
Tsunade's eyes went from Sasuke's face and landed on Jinpachiro's hiding figure.
"…Explain." She said.
"This is my nephew, Jinpachiro. He's Itachi's son and he came here looking for me. I took him in." Sasuke explained. Tsunade's eyes widened slightly at his explanation.
"Why do you need to leave? Cut to the chase."
"He came here and left his personal belongings in his previous home. He wants them and I want to retrieve them for him."
"What kind of personal belongings?"
"…You tell her, Jinpachiro." Sasuke nudged the boy in front of him with his foot.
The boy remained quiet under Tsunade's harsh gaze. Jinpachiro had his gaze stuck firmly on the bottom of her desk. The three waited in silence as the seconds ticked by. Finally, Jinpachiro mustered enough courage and breath to speak.
"My cat." It came out barely above a whisper and cracked twice in the single sentence. Jinpachiro's normally pale white skin was a deep shade of pink.
"Your cat? What's wrong with the cats in Konoha?" Tsunade asked soothingly to the child.
"They're not my friend." Jinpachiro muttered. Once again, his voice cracked.
Tsunade frowned and looked at Sasuke. "I'm sorry, but your punishment clearly states-" Tsunade started to recite it when Jinpachiro interrupted with a new found courage.
"Please, Miss Hokage! He could die! Nobody's feeding him! If he dies, he'll be unhappy, so I'll be unhappy! Then that will make him even sadder and his cat spirit will never be happy! Then, I…" Jinpachiro had started crying and by the end of his stuttering, he was sobbing so hard he couldn't speak.
Tsunade's gaze softened at the weeping boy. She leaned back in her chair and looked back at Sasuke.
"You're lucky, kid."
"I know."
"Take Naruto with you. Now get out of my sight." Then she leaned forward and spoke to Jinpachiro. "Go get your cat. I hope he'll be happy in Konoha with you."
Jinpachiro beamed. "Thank you, Miss Hokage! Thank you a lot! When I get back, I'll bring Yuri to see you! You won't regret it!" He jumped a bit while talking to her then took his uncle's hand.
"That…won't be necessary. Goodbye, Jinpachiro." She said as the two walked out. After they were gone, Shizune entered Tsunade's office.
"What was that about?" She asked eyeing the open door.
"Cute kid." Was all Tsunade replied.
It didn't take Sasuke long to find Naruto. The blond, orange and black clad ninja was leaning on the side of a wall outside the building waiting for Sasuke.
"What did I say?" Naruto grinned in triumph.
"You're coming." Sasuke responded, briskly walking past Naruto.
"What?" Naruto demanded. He took three long strides and was by Sasuke's side in little movements. "Why?" He complained.
"Hokage's orders."
"So…where are we going?" Naruto asked sticking his hands behind his head as he paced.
"I don't know. Jinpachiro, where are we going?" Sasuke asked and he could hear Naruto's groan from his side.
"Uh…Ishikari." The two nodded in response and continued out of Konoha. Upon reaching the gate, the two chuunin on guard looked at Sasuke wearily, but Naruto waved them off. With that, the trio traveled on foot for a small distance. Sasuke, growing impatient from the slow travel, scooped Jinpachiro onto his back and the trip went faster. By noon, the group was in Ishikari.
The town itself was of a pretty good size. It had a long market that stretched in several different directions. The density of people was thick. Sasuke kept his nephew on his back for fear of losing him in the crowd.
"Point us in the direction." Sasuke spoke over his shoulder into Jinpachiro's face.
"Um, find the Good Stuff Bar." Jinpachiro answered. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other.
"I'll get directions. Just a sec." Naruto waved a little while talking and walked in a random direction. He saw a friendly looking young woman standing at a booth, and Naruto approached her.
"Excuse me, I need directions." The young woman turned and looked at Naruto. She had a plain face, but she had a wide smile.
"Where to?" She answered him.
"The, uh, Good Stuff Bar?" Naruto scratched the back of his neck when he asked the question.
To Naruto's surprise, she winked and her smile stretched even further across her face.
"You don't have to find it. I can give you the "Good Stuff."
"No, that's okay. I, just need you to point me in the direction, and I'll be gone." Naruto backed up a step. This conversation had taken an awkward turn and he felt like he needed to retreat.
"Fine, hon. But keep me in mind, kay?" She seemed a little disappointed and she pointed in a direction. "Go down that road and when you see the Icha Icha billboard, take a right. Keep heading straight and its on that street."
Naruto nodded and thanked her.
"You know, I come in for work at night…" She started to say, but Naruto turned and made his retreat back to his friend.
"Come on. I got your damn directions." Naruto mumbled and headed in the direction that she had pointed out. Sasuke followed in a confused silence.
It didn't take long for the two to find the building. It was built of bricks and had a large crowd in the front. There was an abundance of rowdy, large men and a couple of woman wearing short, low cut dresses.
"Now where, Jinpachiro?" Sasuke looked at his nephew.
"Put me down. I can walk from here." Sasuke obeyed the four-year-old and Jinpachiro streetwalking down the street. One of the women in the dresses saw Jinpachiro and waved as he walked. He smiled and waved back.
"Jinpachiro…how did you know her?" Sasuke asked the boy.
"Oh, that's Shugar. She used to work with my mom." He answered and turned down a street. Sasuke blanched.
Jinpachiro stopped in front of a worn, old, abandoned house. The windows were boarded up, and the door frame held a door that only had one hinge.
"Okay, he's in here. I'll be right out." With that, Jinpachiro disappeared into the house. Before Sasuke could follow, Jinpachiro came sprinting out.
"He's not here. Yuri's not here." Jinpachiro was shaking. He breathed evenly, then calmed down as a new idea struck him.
"I know where he is! Come on!" Jinpachiro grabbed his uncle's hand and started to run. He went as fast as he could, but Sasuke was still one-third walking, one-third jogging, and one-third being dragged. They turned down several streets before Jinpachiro stopped in front of a house that was significantly more impressive then the last. Before Jinpachiro could run in, Sasuke pulled the boy back.
"Why would your cat be in here?" He asked.
"This is where I lived after my mom died. The lady that lives here is my aunt." Jinpachiro wrinkled his nose when he said aunt. "She didn't like me or Yuri." Sasuke nodded.
"Did she know that you went to Konoha?"
"No! If she knew then she wouldn't have let me go! Obviously." Jinpachiro crossed his thin arms.
"Then it might be wiser to sneak in." Sasuek walked around the house to an open window. "Hm, convenient."
Sasuke lifted Jinpachiro and set him down inside quietly then followed. The room looked like a study. There was a wooden desk that was covered in books. Jinpachiro started to walk out before Sasuke stopped him.
Jinpachiro turned and looked questioningly at his uncle. Sasuke shook his head and lifted Jinpachiro.
"Point the way. We don't want to get caught." His voice was barely audible, but Jinpachiro nodded in response and pointed. Before Sasuke followed, he turned and looked at Naruto at the window. Naruto pointed at a tree and mouthed, "I'll wait right there."
The interior of the house wasn't as impressive as the exterior. Dirt splotched the floors and random objects were piled around in messes. Yellow stains seemed to drip down the walls. Jinpachiro pointed Sasuke down the building into a small room with a small bed. The room appeared as if no life had touched it in months.
"Here." Jinpachiro whispered and Sasuke set him down. The small boy crawled around, searching for his cat. Finally, he fell back on his heels in a squatting position and rocked a little bit.
"I don't know where he'd be." Jinpachiro sniffed. Sasuke knelt down to comfort the child when he heard the sound of heels clacking on tiles swiftly down the hall. In a fast movement, Sasuke lifted Jinpachiro and was out a window that appeared much to small for a normal adult to fit through. When he landed, he sprinted to the tree where Naruto was supposed to be waiting. The blond ninja wasn't there.
Sasuke let out an irritated groan. Jinpachiro was sobbing in his arms.
"He's probably dead! Yuri probably starved to death!" The words came out cracked and in between frequent sobs and wails.
"Hey! I followed you guys in and I find you guys already out here again! Did you give up?" A certain voice came too cheerfully from behind them. The two turned to see Naruto holding a dark brown cat.
"I saw this cat wandering and was going to see if its yours. Is it?" Naruto asked and set the cat in Jinpachiro's waiting arms.
"Yuri!" The boy let out a loud cry. Sasuke lifted the two and jumped onto a near by building. Naruto followed.
"Well, lets get back to Konoha. I hope that the lady in there didn't hear the kid's yell." Naruto said indicating the previous house with his thumb.
The group made their way back to Konoha. It took more time and it was dark when they had returned. Jinpachiro had managed to stay awake the entire trip, and when they walked through the gates of Konoha, the small boy insisted through heavy eye lids that they take his cat to see the Hokage. Sasuke refused bluntly and took the two home while Naruto reported in.
Sasuke tucked Jinpachiro into bed immediately when he got back to his house. The small boy held his cat tightly in his arms under the sheets. Sasuke expected the cat to try to get away, but it tamely stayed in his owner's tiny grasp. Sasuke watched Jinpachiro sleep for several minutes with a small smile on his lips.
"Good night," Sasuke whispered as he walked out of Jinpachiro's bedroom. Jinpachiro hugged his cat closer with sweet dreams of his new happy family.
Author's Note: Okay, I finished another chapter. Once again, sorry if anybody seemed out of character for you. I did what I said I would. This chapter took place in more areas than just Jinpachiro's room.
Next Chapter: Jinpachiro doesn't know how to read or count! The miniature Uchiha now has to balance learning ninja skills and academic skills from the academy. How will his first day go? Who is there for Jinpachiro?
