A Grain of Sand Among the Leaves
Can't Change What's Already Happen

"I am not understanding how you thought this was a good idea."

The third Hokage sat between the two other members of the Konoha council, trying to not laugh at Koharu's indignant response to Minato and his wife walking in with a newborn infant. The initial response from the old woman involved her eyes popping out of her head, before demanding to know where the infant came from, insinuating through the context of her words that she assumed Kushina had stolen the child.

A choking sound came out of the thirds own mouth when Kushina very clearly, very loudly stated the infant was the third child of the current Kazekage. The previous Hokage felt the corner of his mouth twist up in amusement, while Homura's mouth dropped, his eyes wide in shock. A hysterical snorting sound came from Koharu's mouth in a very unladylike manner, leading her to say, "and so you stole the Kazekage's child?"

Minato smiled with that soft smile of his, and yet his blue eyes betrayed a level of sadness. "No, Rasa asked for us to take care of the infant. Karura isn't well, and the infant is very premature."

Hiruzen found himself speaking then, having an idea of the circumstances. "There's something you're not telling us."

The fourth Hokage's smile faded as he took a seat, his wife sitting near him as she tickled the infant's bare tummy. Minato's young student, stepped over, watching the action, the teen's eyes filled with curiosity. "The infant is a jinchuriki."

Of course, this would bring out a negative response from the female member of the council, standing up to lean over the table. Hiruzen's eyes closed, a deep breath leaving his lips. "Because there was no choice, and if we want to keep up the treaty with Suna, I think that turning away the Kazekage's child during their time of need is out of the question."

"That's not it! Surely Suna's council didn't approve of this. I know none of us would have approved of this had it been your own child." The atmosphere in the room quickly turned tense, the moods of both Minato and Kushina darkening. Koharu didn't realize she'd touched upon a sore spot for the couple, instead focused on the problem at hand. A thought crossed her mind. "Wait? Did the Kazekage do this without the council's permission? Do you know what kind of political mess this will put us into?"

"You do realize this mess is the result of Suna's council?" Hiruzen tapped his pipe to knock out some of the ashes before leaning back, his legs crossed so he could draw in a long breath. He let a ring of smoke float up to the roof, his head leaning back. "This is the result of Suna's council pushing to have a new jinchuriki. The youngest jinchuriki ever."

The man leaned forward, setting his pipe down. Looking Minato in the eye was out of the question, as the third didn't wish to show how much the events pained him. Koharu's facial features softened, sitting down in the chair with her arms crossed. "How cruel. We'd have never pushed this upon any of our Hokage."

Homura continued to frown, finally deciding to speak up. "Can we though handle this? Isn't the Shukaku the demon that keeps it's host awake?"

Hiruzen frowned. "Perhaps. Suna, however, bit off more than it could chew this time around. Things have gone downhill since the third. I'd like to not blame this on the current Kazekage, but Rasa's inability to fight back bothers me. One of the five major villages being weak does affect all of us and throws things out of balance."

"Raising in jinchuriki's not though the only problem." Homura's jaw set firm, the worry evident in his eyes. "The Kazekage just got rid of a major resource for his village. The council isn't going to be happy about this."

"It's temporary." Minato piped up, crossing his legs.

A silence fell over the room, and Kushina's head darted up from where she tickled the small infant. "Of course, it's only temporary. Gaara is after all Karura's little one. Not that bastards, though..."

Hiruzen watched Kushina bristle up, wondering if he should be amused by her reaction or not. He watched as Kakashi leaned forward, his focus more on the infant in front of him than anything else. The teen slowly moved his finger closer to the infant the fourth's wife held, his eyes widening as the infant grasped onto his finger.

"What's done is done. We can't exactly return the infant to Suna without repercussions, at least not until the right time comes. We'll have to be patient."

The atmosphere in the Suna council room remained tense, biting at the psyche of the Kazekage as he faced the elders of his hidden village. Rasa knew all too well the tongue lashing he would receive for the decision he made. His mind kept drifting to the frail bundle lying next to his wife, its skin as pale as his poor wife. Guilt hit him in the pit of the stomach deep, and he'd yet to register in his mind that it was a boy, his second son.

Gaara wasn't supposed to have come for two to three months.

"Where is the jinchuriki?"

Rasa swallowed, feeling sweat over his entire body, the wrong words coming out of his mouth. "The baby died?"

Those words, however, reflected how the Kazekage felt and for some reason one the elders bought his ill-spoken words while Lady Chiyo raised up one eyebrow in annoyance. "And what happened to the spirit."

"I ate it." The words were childish and foolish, yet Rasa struggled to think straight.

"Lord Rasa! What really happened to the baby?"

The reaction for some reason felt good despite the fact the Kazekage knew full well his words were out of place. He took a deep breath. "Karura gave the baby away."

A silence fell over the elders, and what he feared would happen did. "Lord Rasa, please tell us the truth."

"There is no way Lady Karura would give one of her children away. She's way to motherly."

"You want the truth. I threw the baby into a volcano." Rasa watched as Lady Chiyo let out an exasperated sound.

One of the elders cleared his throat. "And what happened to the spirit."

"The spirit of the volcano ate it." Rasa glared at the elders.

Lady Chiyo let out a deep breath. "Lady Karura is not well and made the decision to place our jinchuriki into the care of another, the jinchuriki of Konoha."

"Lord Kazekage! To allow one of your children to be influenced in their growth..."

"I agreed with this," Lady Chiyo lied, making him owe the old woman. "The infant was born premature and needs care I can not give with our limited facilities. Do we want our jinchuriki to thrive? A jinchuriki learning from another jinchuriki isn't a bad thing other. Instead of thinking about something that can not now be changed, please keep this and the fact Lady Karura is ill under wraps. It will not help Suna's morale."