A Grain of Sand Among the Leaves
Jinchuriki Living Here Among Us
The sun peeked through the wax paper adorning the traditional doors of the small room, making the dust motes appear in the morning air. The dark eyes of the six-year-old blinked before pushing himself out of his futon. Itachi's feet made a sound when he first hurried off, but his training kicked in as he snuck into the kitchen where his mother, Mikoto was speaking to one of their neighbors and family members.
Next to his mother was a blanket where his six-month-old brother lay on his back chewing on his foot. A smile spread across Itachi's face, and Mikoto lets out a soft laugh as he knelt down next to the blanket, his eyes glued to the small infant. "Good morning Sasuke."
Out of the infant's mouth came a string of babbling which made no sense, the arms and feet kicking out in excitement. Itachi watched as the infant began to move, attempting to roll over. The family member who lived next door spoke in a light tone. "The Hokage got back with his wife sometime last night. The guards mentioned something."
"Oh." Mikoto's eyes sparkled. "I'd love to see Kushina again. Maybe she'll visit today."
Sasuke rolled over onto his stomach after a bit of effort and pushed himself up in a rather precarious manner. The other member of the Uchiha clan frowned. "But should they have been back from that diplomatic meeting so soon?"
Itachi frowned, the news hitting rather hard. His mother's mouth twisted into a frown, so the fourth Hokage returning that early must not be a good thing. He let out a sigh, looking down to see Sasuke crawling towards him, rocking as he did so, starting off by moving the wrong way. Soon his little brother was in his lap, attempting to pull himself up using Itachi's clothing, standing on his two legs in a rather shaky manner.
Outside they could hear the bustle of people starting their day to day business, and a sigh escaped his lips. At the age of only six, the young Uchiha already knew too well how irritating politics could get. One hand reached to steady Sasuke's back, preventing the infant from falling over backward. A shout came from outside as another member of the Uchiha clan hurried forward, her face flushed with excitement. If he recollected carefully, this member of the family was around twelve.
"Lady Kushina is coming to visit you Mikoto."
"Well, she normally does when she returns from a trip. She normally visits me every day unless there is something wrong."
"Kakashi Hatake's with her." The girl's hands leaped to her mouth, a squeal escaping her lips. "Lady Kushina's also got a baby with her."
'What?" Mikoto's eyes blinked a couple of times, indicating something confused her. The young female hurried back out of the home, making Itachi stare in confusion.
"Oh dear. Is she more excited about the young man she wants her first kiss from showing up here, or that Lady Kushina has some unknown infant with her?"
"Eww..." Itachi's nose wrinkled up, his hands gently wrapping around his younger brothers back.
His mother laughed, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "You won't think so when you get older. Mother knows this kind of thing."
The other woman stood up. "I'd best leave so you can have your tea."
The six-year-old Uchiha felt his mouth twist up, before looking up at his mother. "Was Aunt Kushina expecting a baby? How come we didn't know?"
Mikoto's eyes sparkled with mirth, ruffling his hair again. "Lady Kushina isn't able to have children, so perhaps she and the fourth decided to adopt a little one?"
"Does this mean Sasuke will have a friend his age?" Itachi's head tilted, wondering what kind of baby Lady Kushina found. A thought popped into his head of Kushina finding a wolf club and claiming the animal as a baby, sending a shudder through the small frame of the six-year-old.
"Maybe. That would be nice."
Itachi watched the door for when Lady Kushina walked through the door, the young jonin hot on her heals. The six-year-old frowned, wondering why Kakashi wasn't assigned to a more important task. The fourteen-year-old held up his hand so his fingers formed a peace sign when he saw Itachi. "Yo! I think that's the appropriate form of greeting."
The mouth of the six-year-old twisted into a frown, confused as to why the young jonin would do such a thing. "No, I don't think it is."
"Oh..." Kakashi seemed disappointed, but this fact soon became ignored in favor of the small bundle in Kushina's arms.
The infant had auburn colored hair, was tinier than any baby Itachi had ever seen. The skin was pale as if the infant were sickly, and the eyes were a pale seafoam green that didn't seem natural. The strangest feature was the black circles around the infant's eyes, something which wasn't at all normal. Itachi stood up to try and get a closer look, pulling Sasuke up into his arms as he did so. "Why does he have black eyes? He's too small for someone to punch him."
Mikoto's eyes widened, a hand touching her lips at her oldest son's comment. She removed her hand, shaking her head at Kushina. "I am so sorry. My son said something inappropriate."
Kushina blinked a couple of times, looking down at the baby while Itachi adjusted Sasuke so he was in a better position in his arms. The six-year-old glared at the strange infant. "Well, Gaara was born that way."
"Gaara..." Itachi's mouth wrinkled up, his head shaking. The name was rather strange.
"Why don't you take Sasuke and Gaara into the other room to play, Kakashi can go and help you keep an eye on them. You can keep the door opened a crack as well." Mikoto let out a sigh.
Kushina looked at Kakashi, whose facial features twisted up in confusion. "Um..."
"How hard is taking care of a baby?" The response from the fourteen-year-old elicited a laugh from Mikoto's mouth.
"Have you ever held a baby, Kakashi-san?"
"No. Why?"
Mikoto held out her arms. "Well, you need to hold your arms like this so that Kushina can give you the baby. You also need to support the baby's head as you hold them, otherwise, they'll get hurt, as they can't hold up their heads when they're little."
Itachi watched the mask of the young jonin move, indicating that Kakashi was thinking over her words carefully. He quickly held out his arms, and Kushina set Gaara into his arms. The teen let out a gasp. "Oh. He's so tiny."
"Hopefully, he won't be for long."
The teen's eyes widened, repositioning the infant in his arms carefully, before following after Itachi. The six-year-old sat Sasuke in his lap, and continued to stare at Gaara, but the view became even more strange at seeing one of the last people he'd ever expect to be sitting in front of him holding a baby.
"Are you alright with this?" Itachi held onto Sasuke's arms despite the fact the six-month-old wanted to go and explore.
"Alright with what?"
Itachi took a deep breath. He could hear his mother speaking in the other room. "So, where did you get the baby from Kushina? You didn't steal it did you."
A snort escaped Kakashi's lips as if the suggestion amused him. Kushina took on an indignant tone, and the young Uchiha found himself tempted to lean over, peeking through the crack in the door, letting go of Sasuke's arms as he did so. "No, I didn't! Minato and I are fostering the Kazekage's youngest."
The dark eyes of the six-year-old widened, shocked by what Lady Kushina said. Kakashi let out a sigh. "You'll want to keep that bit of information to yourself."
Itachi turned his head, looking at the boy, watching as Sasuke crawled over towards Gaara, wobbling as he did so. Gaara didn't notice, and simply blinked up at the sibling. "So, is the reason you're alright with this because you're getting to be the bodyguard to the Kazekage's kid?"
"It makes sensei and his wife happy."
"Yeah, but..." Itachi's mouth twisted into a frown. Sasuke continued to crawl slowly over to Gaara, the six-month infant's eyes twinkling with excitement at something new. A smell, however, filled the room, and Itachi's nose wrinkled up. Kakashi's eyes widened, shocked.
"What was that?"
"What, you've not smelled a diaper before?" Itachi moved over to Sasuke, pulling his little brother over so he could check Sasuke's diaper. His frown deepened, realizing the diaper in need of change wasn't his younger brother. He looked up at the young jonin. "It's yours."
"What? I didn't dealt it. That's something Guy would do."
"You..." Itachi's eyes blinked a couple of times, shocked that Kakashi was so clueless about something like a diaper. "Not you. The baby." The teen's dark eyes blinked a couple of times, still confused at what Itachi was getting at. "Didn't they ever change a diaper in front of you? Weren't you near enough to the baby to smell it?"
Kakashi stared for a few minutes. A silence had come from the other room as Mikoto went to get tea for her and Kushina. "Are you sure that... Is the baby really the Kazekage's? It doesn't sound like something Suna would do."
"The baby's two to three months early. His mother isn't doing well."
"Yes, but..." Another silence came as Mikoto thought about what Kushina said.
Kakashi, on the other hand, spoke in an abrupt manner. "Honestly, I stayed at least ten feet away the entire trip back."
Itachi's jaw dropped at the teen's admittance. The six-year-old set Sasuke down, heading into the room where their mother was still thinking of how to respond to her friend. "Aunt Kushina?"
"Yes?"
"Does Gaara have any diapers?"
Kushina patted the pouch at her side, before standing up. Itachi held out his small hands. "No. I can take care of it."
A smirk appeared on the female jinchuriki's face, and she pulled out the diaper and other needed items placing them in his small hands. She followed after the six-year-old, Itachi's mother following close behind. "This I have to see."
Itachi stepped into the room, noticing that Sasuke was attempting to make his way towards the other baby. Kakashi, on the other hand, had a rather confused look on his face, the six-year-old setting down the needed items finally drawing the teen away from the nasty smell.
Itachi spread out the blanket for changing, then held out his arms. "You need to set the baby down like this."
The white-haired teen's eyes blinked a couple of times before setting the infant gently down, remembering to support Gaara's head. "Now what?"
"You remove the diaper."
Kakashi's mouth wrinkled up, before reaching out to untie the diaper. Opening the offending piece of clothing made the smell worse, and his fingers went to plug his nose. "Eww. What... gross."
A laugh escaped Kushina's mouth, making the two look up. Itachi saw Kushina pulled his mother away, but the teen missed seeing the two watching them. "Of course, it's gross." Itachi found himself rather irritated with the teen and pulled Sasuke back into his lap. "How do you think babies go to the bathroom?"
"Oh... that's..." Kakashi shook his head, listening to Itachi's further instructions. Somehow, they managed to get a new diaper onto Gaara, and the six-year-old breathed a sigh of relief.
Itachi leaned back, glad his lesson was now over. He didn't notice Sasuke crawling across the floor again until he looked up in time to see the six-month-old reaching for Gaara. At first, this didn't seem concerning, but then something strange started to gather around the other infant as it sat there blinking and yawning at nothing.
Itachi felt his throat tightening, grabbing his baby brother and hurrying into the room. Mikoto still hadn't thought of anything to say. "Momma!" The two woman looked up. "There's something wrong with the other baby!"
"Gaara's hurt?" Kushina stood up, panic in her voice.
"No... there..."
Kakashi came in panic in his voice. "Kushina, is this supposed to be happening."
Both women stared at the sand floating around the infant in Kakashi's arms. The color drained from the faces of both women. Kushina clapped a hand over her mouth. "Jinchuriki abilities aren't supposed to start up this soon after the sealing."
"Jinchuriki?" Mikoto's voice strained. "The Kazekage's youngest is a Jinchuriki?" Itachi felt a thud in his heart, anger that something so dangerous was now near his baby brother. His mother's reaction surprised him. "Poor baby! I would never have... no wonder you and Mikoto are taking care of him. It must have been hard on the Kazekage and his wife."
"The Kazekage did the sealing."
"Yes, but with the way things are in Suna." Mikoto glanced at the two, shaking her head. "Sorry. Itachi, don't repeat what you've heard here."
"Not even father?" Itachi shuffled from one foot to another.
"I..."
Kushina took a deep breath. "If he asks, tell him that I requested he talk to Mikoto or me. He's the head of the police force, so he'll need to be filled in on the details eventually. Even if Gaara wasn't a jinchuriki, he'd want to know that we're caring for the Kazekage's son. It's not something we want people to know about, though."
Itachi frowned, not sure of the small stranger still held in the young jonin's arm, but then again, he didn't think Kakashi seemed a bit unsettled as well.
