The room went silent before slowly Deidara glanced at his partner "I knew I had a good reason to hate you." he muttered. Tobi stood after a brief moment, going over towards the now nervous Hyuuga who had picked up they had misspoken.
Tobi leaned down by them, Hinata reflexively hiding against Neji as the masked man spoke, "Ah yes, I forget my cousin clan activates their abilities much earlier than we do." he smirked under his mask, quickly coming up with a way to flip this all around. He stood up and returned quickly to his more childish appearance. He waved his fingers at his fellow members and explained "Tobi is a very good boy. Tobi made nice with Itachi so Itachi made nice with Tobi."
He spoke, as though that explained everything when in reality it only left the others with more questions. "Tobi's clan was full of meanies so Tobi said he would go. Tobi went and found Itachi. The clan was boring to Itachi so Tobi said it was okay to get rid of them."
Sasuke's face turned to one of pure rage at this though he stayed quiet, biting his tongue so he didn't say something he would regret. He dug his nails into his legs to keep quiet. The Akatsuki seemed satisfied with this however, the ones who didn't know of Tobi's secret identity assuming he had been kicked out and got Itachi for revenge. While the ones who did know quickly realized this was a convenient lie to keep him covered.
Once things calmed down, Tobi skipped over to his place by Deidara, sitting down beside him. Deidara looked like his bad mood had doubled, crossing his arms in a bitter sign of annoyance. The Hyuuga children were just glad no true trouble had come of it and no one seemed mad at them. They made a mental note to keep their mouths shut about anything they saw using their special eyes, not wanting any trouble to start.
Itachi said nothing of the Tobi revelation as he had been one of the few to know of his true abilities. He, Kisame, Pain, Konan, and Zetsu had previously been the only ones to know but at least now they had a good cover-up. He steered the conversation back in the right direction, knowing this needed to finish soon so he could have a moment with Sasuke. "You were about to have the children introduce themselves." he reminded Konan calmly.
The woman nodded, turning to the kids. She motioned to Sasuke, silently telling him to go first. The little boy, not wanting to share too much with possible enemies, muttered "Sasuke Uchiha. Six years old. Sharingan."
The other members had expected him to be much different. They knew he was six and in an odd situation, but it was hard to imagine someone related to the proud and strong Itachi would be so nervous. Itachi made a note of this as well, remembering how happy and carefree the little boy had been only a few months ago. Had it been then when he was asked, Itachi was sure he would be jumping up and down explaining how tasty tomatoes are or how disgusting sweets were to him.
Naruto was beside Sasuke, and he was quick to introduce himself with a carefree attitude. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm six too. My favorite thing is ramen and my least favorite thing is Sasuke." he smirked over at the ravenette who moved to swat him over the head for the comment. Naruto yipped, "Teme!" covering his head.
Pain watched the body, quieting down in contrast to the many comments made by the Akatsuki about the boy being 'too loud' or the occasional 'well he has a fire'. Uzumaki? He hadn't seen anyone from his clan for years, and never had he seen a blonde Uzumaki before either. Their hair was nearly always red, it was one of their dominant traits throughout the clan. He wasn't expecting this boy to be an Uzumaki, as their clan was also dying out slowly.
He glanced at the redheaded boy who was holding his bear close at all the noise. If anyone, he would have guessed he would be one due to the red hair and hidden power. Yes, Pain could sense a large amount of power coming from both him and Naruto. Perhaps brothers? Pain broke up the chatter as he looked at the smaller boy. Too small, in fact. He looked sickly. "And who are you?" he prodded.
Gaara answered in a voice none of them were expecting. It was like a gentle rasp, his words coming out slowly, "I am Gaara. I'm a member of the Kazekage clan. I'm six as well." was all he said. This caught Sasori's attention. A member of the Kazekage clan?
Hidan asked "What's that supposed to mean? A Kazekage clan? There is only one kage for a village at a time. I haven't ever been to the hidden sand village besides for a select few missions but wouldn't it be run like every other village, with the leaders being voted on?" he questioned the little boy.
The boys teal eyes watched Hidan as he spoke, shaking his head back and forth "The Kazekage is voted in but it's an age-old tradition for my family to become the Kazekage because of our magnet release." he explained quietly.
Pain asked wearily "So then that would make you the main candidate to become the Kazekage one day. Why would someone order you dead if you're so important to the village's survival?" he asked. He had no way of knowing how much the question would hurt the little boy to think about until he saw the light veins appearing in his eyes which he easily hid from the others.
"I have an elder sister and elder brother, Temari, and Kankuro. They will take control of the village instead. Temari is really good at using weapons and Kankuro is a puppet master. So one of them will just take over and when they have kids they can just go back to using the magnet release like we always have." Sasori suddenly understood why the boy had held a look of recognition when he spoke of his puppets. He must have been thinking of his older brother.
Now understanding, Pain nodded. They all noticed the marking on his head which had the symbol for 'love'. No one commented on it, however, just as no one spoke about his sand. There was a lot surrounding this boy, but he looked ready to snap if he was asked anymore. So they moved on to the next introduction, much to Gaara's relief.
Attention turned to Hinata and Neji, the Akatsuki waiting for them to introduce themselves. Neji spoke first since Hinata was quietly leaning on him and waiting for him to go first. "I am Neji of the Hyuuga clan. I'm eight and serve as the bodyguard for Lady Hinata. I have the Byakugan." silently sending out a warning not to mess with his younger cousin, much to the amusement of the older ninja.
Kisame raised his brow at the bodyguard information, as he was once a bodyguard for his village's top secret information. He was one of the youngest in the bodyguard department, and even then he was fifteen at the time. This little squirt was an official bodyguard? He doubted it. "Lady Hinata? Sounds important. Shouldn't they have someone a bit older guarding someone with such a high title?" he pointed out.
Neji glanced at him, blank silver eyes a bit unsettling to the missing-nin as he was watched. "Her bodyguard needs to be around her age to help strengthen a sense of loyalty. That way when her life is threatened the guard has no issue in giving up their life," he explained easily.
Kisame nodded in understanding, smirking a bit. Maybe he and this kid could get along after all. Finally, it was only Hinata left, so the little girl remained laying against her older cousin's side. "I'm Hinata of the Hyuuga clan. I'm five and also have the Byakugan. Neji-Nii-San is my protector and teacher." she smiled, glad at her lack of stuttering.
The Akatsuki nodded, looking at the youngest of the group of children. They could tell she was shy, which would be something they weren't used to since most of the members were either dangerously quiet or annoyingly loud. It didn't take long before Sasori sighed "Its nearly 9:00 pm, the small ones are probably tired, and me personally I'm hungry. So we should probably get dinner going. If memory serves me right, it's your turn to cook tonight Itachi."
The older Uchiha nodded, and soon the ninja all dispersed. Kisame headed to his room which was shared with Itachi, needing to get a few things sorted out from their last mission together. The members of Akatsuki shared rooms, Pain claiming it would help them knit closer together so they would work better in fights alongside each other.
Sasori got up, heading to clean his puppets up off the table. After a moment of hesitation, Gaara followed Sasori into the dining room. He stayed at a distance, watching the older ninja clean up. Eventually, the sand ninja looked up to see Gaara watching him from a few feet away. At first, he was unsure of what to say, not used to being around children. Though, if this kid would be living with them, he knew he couldn't just ignore him for years to come. "Hey, kid." he greeted.
Gaara approached slowly, holding onto his bear tightly as he looked at the puppet on the table. Gaara looked like his emotions were conflicting, his eyebrows wavering slightly much to Sasori's confusion. The little boy's hand shook, as though trying to shove back emotions. Sasori asked, stopping the cleaning of his Kazekage puppet, "Hey kid, what's wrong? I thought your brother used puppets too? Are you frightened?" he tried.
Sasori's hand came down to touch the boy's shoulder, though his sand quickly blocked it off on reflex. Gaara held onto his bear tightly, pointing at the puppet with an almost confused look. "Grandfather?" he looked up at Sasori. The older redhead quickly realized what was wrong, and moved to glance between his puppet and Gaara quickly.
"Oh, that's right, with the sand village the Kazekage title is passed down through the family that would make him your grandfather. Oh, here, don't be upset." he panicked slightly as Gaara grew more confused. He could tell he was more confused with his own emotions than why his grandfather was made into a human puppet. He did the first thing that came to mind, and that was to activate the puppet. He had the large item stand up in front of Gaara, the boy looking up at it in slight awe.
Gaara himself was having a hard time other than the obvious reasons. He reached his hand up to touch his head where the symbol 'love' was. He could still remember the day he put it on himself. To represent the fact he was a demon who only loved himself. After all, it had only been a year or so since his uncle had died, dropping the bomb on him that no one could love a monster. Gaara had no idea why he felt a tinge of sadness at seeing the puppet. After all, he had never seen or met him, the man dying before Gaara was ever born. He had only heard stories of the man's bravery and loyalty to his village.
He supposed it would have to be due to his older sister's stories about how great he was, nothing like their father. Kankuro had even shared a brief few stories of the older man. Gaara may have been disconnected and have more hatred in him than most adults, but that didn't mean he had been able to fully throw away his emotions just yet as he wanted to. Gaara moved forward, hugging the puppet around the waist. Sasori watched, hesitantly moving to use his puppet to stroke the boy's hair. He was surprised to see the sand not blocking it.
Gaara soon enough let go, wiping his eyes to prevent any building tears from falling. Sasori quickly sealed the puppet, going over to look at the younger sand ninja. He was curious about where the hell the sand was coming from and why he refused any physical contact, but if there was one thing being in the Akatsuki taught him, it was that everyone has their own demons to handle. He wouldn't force it out of Gaara. After all, it wasn't like he himself would be sitting down with Pain any time soon to talk through his abandonment issues. "Come on. It smells like Itachi is almost done with dinner. Let's set the table."
They headed off to do so, Sasori just glad the kid hadn't been more rash and thrown a tantrum. After all, if he saw his grandmother made into a puppet when he was his age, Sasori would have lost his shit. They made the table, not in any rush since the others were preoccupied.
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After they had all split off, Naruto had decided it was best to wander around to get to know the place which was apparently his new home. He checked out the first floor and found that a majority of it was the living room, bathrooms, kitchen, and dining room. He then headed upstairs to see that was where most of the rooms were located. After being shooed out of more than one room he became aggravated, moving on to the third floor. He was surprised to find a large library style room, bookshelves upon bookshelves lined up on the walls.
He smirked as a thought flew through his mind. A dork's, specifically Sasuke's, fantasy. Naruto noticed a large bed in the center and walked over to it. He pressed against it, tilting his head. Was this a bedroom or a library? He got up on the bed, only finally spotting the other man in the room. He sat with his back turned to Naruto, in a chair which faced the window. Naruto slowly got up, inching towards the man. He came up beside his large chair which looked out onto the village, asking "Who are you?" since he hadn't seen him in the house previously.
The man was deathly thin, his bones easy to see through his body. He had a pair of purple eyes which Naruto didn't recognize either. His red hair was swept to the side, the man's body so still Naruto wondered if he was dead. Finally, he got an answer. "I am Pain. You shouldn't be up here, young one. I assumed you would be getting to know the other members." he commented.
The younger Uzumaki pouted a bit "I thought the guy with the orange hair was Pain?" he asked with confusion. "I tried saying hey but they just kicked me out of whatever room they were in." he sulked looking up at the older male who gave a dry chuckle to that. "Are you okay?" he asked after a moment of the man going into a coughing fit.
Pain nodded a bit, wiping some blood from his mouth as to not scare the boy. "The orange haired male is one of my six paths. Think of them like puppets I can see and walk around as." he explained, turning his head to the boy "They'll warm up to you eventually. Just give it time." he assured the boy. Shaking his head lightly he added, "I'm fine, just a bit sick is all."
Naruto nodded lightly and thought for a moment before suggesting "Maybe cough drops will help. The man who took care of me when I was little used to give them to me and then I wouldn't be sick." he smiled as the idea popped into his head.
The older Uzumaki smiled tiredly at that, slowly moving his hand to pat the boy on top of his head. "I'll try that. Thank you, Naruto." he praised though knew his issue was a lot bigger than a cold. He asked "So you're an Uzumaki you said?" seeing the nod from Naruto, Pain commented. "I'm an Uzumaki as well. I've never seen one with blonde hair. Normally they have red." he noted.
Naruto smiled excitedly at that "Really? You're an Uzumaki too? I've never met someone else with the same last name before." he leaped up and down in excitement, much to the older man's amusement "I dunno why I have blonde hair but I'll be finding out soon. Kisame promised if I came with them he'd tell me who my parents were."
Before Pain could say anything, Konan entered. Seeing Naruto she frowned, going over to them. The boy frowned back at her as she approached. "Naruto, what are you doing up here?" since the boy just shrugged, she sighed and turned to Pain. "I'm sorry Nagato. I didn't know he was up here disturbing you." she apologized, noticing how tired he seemed.
Pain waved it off as he excused it, "He wasn't disturbing me. We were just speaking is all." he assured his friend. Seeing a light nod from Konan, he smiled to her thinly. However, both quickly noticed the frustrated look on Naruto's face.
"First the guy with the orange hair is Pain, then he's Pain, now he's Nagato, why can't you people make up your minds." he groaned in annoyance. Konan smiled at the boy with a light shake of her head at his childishness.
Pain waved him over, and the boy obligated. "Pain is what I go by. Nagato is my real name, but only my close friends get to call me that. Would you like to call me Nagato?" he offered, unsure why he had taken a liking to the boy so quickly. Konan also seemed surprised at the offer but said nothing as Naruto quickly nodded in excitement.
Since the little boy rarely had any friends, he was eager whenever the chance to form a bond came. Naruto asked happily "You'll be my friend?" unused to such offers due to the villages dislike for him. He never knew why he was disliked, but he knew he was by the parents and then that hate went onto the children. So to have someone who didn't seem disgusted by him was a miracle to him.
The older Uzumaki nodded lightly, unable to say no to the small ray of sunshine. Konan smiled at the two, glad they seemed to be getting along. "Well, dinner is probably almost ready. We should head down Naruto. Nagato, I'll bring you a plate when it's done." the red-haired man nodding as he heard this.
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Neji and Hinata had ended up sitting beside each other on the floor of the bedroom which Konan had shown them as Neji's. Since there were exactly five rooms for in case half of the ten member pairings needed a break from each other, there were exactly enough for the children. Though, now it looked like Deidara would have to get over himself and room with Tobi now that the spare rooms were taken.
Neji and Hinata were playing Miss Mary Mack. Neji was speaking slower since Hinata wasn't exactly the quickest as speaking, even if it was a game they had played for over a year since Hinata learned to speak in full sentences. "Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack All dressed in black, black, black. With silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back. She asked her mother, mother, mother, for 50 cents, cents, cents, to see the elephants, elephants, elephants, jump the fence, fence, fence. They jumped so high, high, high They reached the sky, sky, sky. And they didn't come back, back, back 'Til they smelled pie, ie, ie!"
They continued on playing it for a bit, Hinata too shy to speak to the other members and Neji still unsure of their new 'home'. They played for a bit, and luckily no one came to bother them. Neji honestly hoped no one would go after Hinata as he would have to protect her and he really didn't think he could lay a hand on any of these men or Konan. It never even occurred to him that he technically wasn't being forced to protect her anymore.
It was odd, the idea of his curse mark no longer affecting him. It almost seemed unreal. So he shoved it aside, not willing to face this life-changing truth. Soon enough Konan came in with Naruto, the woman waving him and Hinata over. "It's time for dinner. Let's go you two." she smiled a bit as they scrambled to stand up.
They came over by her, nodding a bit and heading towards the dining room. Itachi was setting the now full plates down on the table, Sasuke helping him. Though, they noticed, the boy didn't look like he was doing it for fun. No, it looked more like Itachi had asked him to help and he had been too scared to say no. They all sat down, and they were lucky the table was one of those old fashioned ones which were long enough to fit an entire clan into.
Itachi had made an omurice for everyone, which the older members quickly ate without complaint besides a light scowl from Deidara. Sasuke also ate it quickly and quietly, along with Neji and Gaara. Hinata tried to eat the large omurice, but it kept slipping off her fork and onto her plate since she couldn't get too good of a hold on it. Then when she did, it was hard to bite into the large egg.
After a bit of watching her struggle, Neji sighed quietly, reaching over to cut it up for her. Itachi noticed that and made a mental note to cut the food up for them. Neji, Sasuke, and Gaara were old enough they knew how to do it themselves but Hinata didn't seem able to grasp it quite yet. Once her omurice was cut up she ate it much easier, smiling at her older cousin who seemed to ignore her after he helped with the food.
Plates were quickly cleaned, all besides Naruto's. The boy had made quite the mess, using his chopsticks to go through and remove every single vegetable Itachi had placed within it. Naruto ate the egg and rice however, only leaving the greens on the side of the plate. After all, he was used to eating ramen and maybe at best some takeout sukiya. He hadn't had a real meal like this one in...well...ever as far as he could remember.
Dinner went by in silence, the members usually talking about their latest kill or mission but not sure it was a good idea with the kids listening. Then the kids said nothing as to not break the silence, or being too distracted with food in Naruto's case. Dinner came to a close at last and Kisame got the dishes, Konan heading over to the side of the table where the kids had been eating.
She lifted Hinata up, Neji quickly joining beside her on reflex. Konan smiled thinly "Come on you four, let's get to bed." she spoke, confusing the kids as to why she said four. Until that is, Itachi came behind Sasuke. He set a hand on the little boy's shoulder, which twitched in response.
Itachi looked down at his fidgeting little brother, speaking in a commanding voice "Follow me to your room. We need to speak."
Sasuke followed Itachi towards his room, silent with his head dropped and hands shaking a bit. He had glanced over at Neji, looking to see what he should do. After all, the Hyuuga was the oldest of them. So Sasuke figured he would know what to do. Unfortunately, Neji looked just as lost as the Uchiha in terms of what to do. Neji watched as they split off into separate rooms, giving Sasuke an apologetic and unsure look.
As they got into Sasuke's room, Itachi picked him up. The six-year-old gave a slight screech, kicking at his brother in surprise while swinging his fist at him rapidly. Itachi hadn't actually touched him since the day of the massacre when he had striked the younger one. Sasuke was quickly let go of and put on the bed, the ravenette backing up until he was on the far side of the bed away from Itachi in a defensive stance.
Watching his younger brother go into a panic for a moment, Itachi sighed. "Sasuke, calm down. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead," he warned lightly. The younger Uchiha slowed his retreatings, but still found himself unable to stop shaking like a leaf. He had been in shock that night when he came home, and now that the deaths and what his brother had done were allowed to synch in, he felt the effects of his fear ten-fold.
He knew Itachi said to harvest his hatred, but he was too busy panicking to focus on the hate he felt for his older brother. Itachi raised a hand to motion Sasuke closer, but all he got was a raised arm to cover his brother's face. "Please, no, I'm not ready yet. It's only been a few months. It wouldn't matter how much I hated you, there's no physical way for me to be ready to fight you yet. I don't even have a properly developed Sharingan yet. I didn't even know I had it until Neji told me two months ago!"
Suddenly realization hit Itachi, and he sighed. The boy thought they were going to fight using their Sharingan in the bedroom. Itachi reached over, putting a hand on his brother's head. "You really are so very foolish, little brother. I wouldn't waste my time allowing you to live if it was only to come back and slaughter you a few months later. Nor would I tell you to build your hatred without allowing you time to foster it." he added.
He moved two fingers to motion the younger over once more, "Now, come. I did not predict you and I meeting again so soon nor under such odd circumstances. If you would like to hear the truth behind that night I suggest you sit down over here."
The younger one seemed hesitant but followed his older brother's orders, moving to sit beside him. He grimaced as Itachi began stroking his hair. "W-What truth? You killed everyone. What more is there to say." he crossed his arms lightly and looked away. Itachi would chuckle, if not for the seriousness of the situation.
"Sometimes I wonder how accurate your IQ scores were, Sasuke." he shook his head back and forth with a slight smile. "Highly gifted indeed," he muttered, but seeing Sasuke's face he knew his attempt as loosening the mood wasn't a success. He sighed "You really must look at things from all possible viewpoints Sasuke. The world is not all black and white. I did what I did to protect you."
Seeing the look of disbelief on his younger brothers face Itachi prepared to speak, giving his half-truth. He couldn't tell him the full truth just yet, after all, Itachi still had a mission to do and he couldn't risk Sasuke spilling it on accident. He had lied to Sasuke originally as he wanted him to be seen as a hero by the village when he killed his older brother, but now that he had been taken and was to be around other criminals for years he would have to forsake the plan.
"The clan was going to hurt you, Sasuke." seeing the slight eye roll he elaborated. "Sasuke, you are a second born Uchiha. You know this, but not fully what it means. Haven't you ever noticed how few of the other families in our clan had second born, and if they did they were treated just like the second class as you were?" he pointed out.
Sasuke glanced away, nodding slightly. The boy resisted murmuring out a sarcastic reply, listening as his older brother spoke. "Sasuke. Do you remember my friend Gisei? How he 'never returned from his mission'? Sasuke, he was a second child and his older brother had just gone blind. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
The younger Uchiha looked away, shaking his head back and forth quickly in denial. He crossed his arms, shoulders shaking slightly. "Mother and father wouldn't do that to me. They loved me." he clenched his jaw lightly. Itachi sighed, wrapping his arms around the younger lightly.
Sasuke felt his brother pull him closer, and ducted his head lightly. He growled "You're lying to me. Even if father didn't spend time with me a lot he wouldn't do that to me. Mother wouldn't let him." though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than Itachi. Sasuke glared as he moved his fist against his brother's arm "You're just saying that because you don't want to admit you killed everyone! You killed aunty and uncle, even the other people in the clan you didn't even know! How could they possibly be responsible for what would have happened?"
Itachi could sense the fresh hatred from his brother and sighed. He rubbed his temple and sighed "Sasuke, now isn't the time to throw a fit. I had to end them too because otherwise, the tradition would have continued for years to come. I had to save you and the future generations who would meet the same fate. Think back to that night, and don't block out the parts that don't make sense or are too painful. Remember everything. Meeting these realities is the only way to move forward."
Sasuke still didn't seem to believe him, but he also at least had quieted down a bit. He sat with his head lowered, eyes clenched in confusion. Finally, the boy gave in, murmuring "I'm tired. Go away." not wanting to think on it any further but knowing he had to. His head hung low, not bothering to fight it when Itachi lifted him up, sliding him under the covers. He needed time to think, after all, you couldn't always just accept the truth right away when the truth was so bitter.
The older tucked him in, running a hand over his head gently before turning to leave. As he was just about to leave, he felt a hand grasp onto the back of his robe. Turning to look down at his younger brother, who glanced away slightly as he asked, "You wouldn't do that to me, right? You wouldn't make me give up my eyes?" he questioned quietly and tiredly.
Itachi watched his brother, allowing a hint of a smile to grace his lips as he promised "Never, little brother." shaking his head back and forth. Sasuke nodded a bit, slowly turning over to sleep as his older brother left the room. He had a lot to think about, but he supposed he would have to sleep on it as he was just too tired at the moment.
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Konan set Naruto to bed first, the blonde practically leaping onto the large bed. Luckily he had no distaste for her as she tucked him in, the young Uzumaki finding it much more comfortable than his old bed in the apartment the village had given him.
After Naruto had nuzzled into the bed, Konan asked "Is there anything you need before bed? Do you need to go to the bathroom or anything?" she asked, trying to think of anything he might need before she left. The boy shook his head back and forth, smiling. Her features were much softer than usual as she asked: "What are you so happy about?"
The nine-tails holder grinned as started pointing to each of his fingers as he spoke. "I got to hang out with Gaara and Sasuke-teme all day, plus Neji and that one girl. Then I got to eat whatever that was at dinner, and now I get to sleep in a big bed. Not to mention Kisame said he was going to tell me who my parents were soon, and I got to meet someone else from my clan. Oh! Then I also got to meet you, and everyone else." he smiled.
Konan nodded thinly, watching the little boy's excitement slowly ware off into drowsiness. "I suppose it has been a good day for you. There will be many more so come, I promise. You must sleep now, however. You don't want to be tired for tomorrow."
Hearing this the blonde nodded, slowly drifting towards sleep. Then it was on to Hinata. She had told the girl to wait in her room, so she headed over to where the girl was waiting for her.
Hinata sat on her bed, hidden under the sheets and silently watching the door. Seeing Konan she smiled shyly, looking up from her spot in the bed. Konan moved to tuck her in, and the five-year-old had no issue with this. Konan sat her down in the bed, stroking over the little one's head. Konan spoke quietly as to not startle her, "Did you have a good day, Hinata?"
She wanted to know how today had been for them all, after all, if they were going to be staying with her she needed to know if they were happy or not. Hearing the slight 'Mhm', she frowned a bit. The young Hyuuga didn't look particularly upset, but she did seem a bit sorrowful. "What's wrong?" Konan asked gently.
Seeming almost startled by the question, the blue-haired girl looked down slightly with a fluster. "I-I'm sorry," he spoke quietly. "I-I was just wondering how Hanabi was doing," she admitted. Since there was no way for Konan to know who this was she added, "Hanabi is only a baby. I'm her big sister, I'm supposed to protect her." remembering her mother's words before she had passed only a month or so after Hanabi's birth.
Konan frowned at this, not aware the other child was so young. She thought for a moment before suggesting "How about this. I'll ask Pain to send someone over to check on her every week or so and we can tell you how she's doing." figuring she could ask Pain to send one of his six paths as a spy.
The younger girl seemed thrilled at this, nodding quickly. "Y-Yes please." she agreed easily. Hinata just wanted to make sure her sister wouldn't receive the same amount of pressure and disdain from their father as she had been. Konan smiled at the girl, kissing her forehead before heading out to Neji's room.
The older Hyuuga was in the room just beside Hinata's. His lights were turned off as she entered and he was already under his blanket with his back turned to her. She stayed quiet, closing the door without a sound.
Finally, there was Gaara. The young redhead sat in his bed, shifting sand into different shapes as Konan entered. Gaara's sand quickly dropped, sweeping so it pressed against his mattress. Konan came over and sat down by the boy. "Gaara, why don't you put the sand away for now? You don't want to sleep in it, you'll get itchy." she prompted.
The boy quickly shook his head back and forth "I need my sand or I can't sleep." he persisted, not wanting his mother's will to leave him. That, and he needed protection in a place so unknown. Seeing Konan's nonbelieving look he continued "It's true, I won't get any sleep without it because it keeps me safe. If I'm not safe I won't sleep." he tried to explain despite it being hard to describe for him. "Plus I can't make it go away. It stays where it wants."
Thinking it was only a case of a young ninja unable to control their powers, Konan suggested "You could let go of the jutsu for a bit? I promise no one will hurt you here." she assured the slowly frustrated six-year-old.
"No! I mean I really can't let go of it. It isn't a jutsu it's a part of me. It's like my skin-" he was now breathing slightly heavy, growing upset at his inability to explain. Konan tried to touch his shoulders to calm him down but the sand quickly moved to cover his shoulder in a protective layer.
Konan settled for shushing to try to calm him down, which eventually worked as the boy relaxed a bit. "Alright, it's alright. Just lay down and get some sleep. If you need your sand it's okay." she tried to relax the boy. Seeing he wasn't going to sleep with her still there, she slowly left once he seemed comfortable enough.
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Pain headed down the halls once everyone was asleep, checking over everything to make sure it was in order. The halls were quiet until he heard a soft grunting. He had never had this issue with any of his members before, so he went to check the rooms of the children. First, he peeked into Sasuke's room. The boy's face was contorted into pain, but he was biting on his knuckle to avoid any noise. It was clear he was having a nightmare. It didn't take but a few seconds for Pain to feel a sensation on his foot, and he looked down to see he had set off a capture trap on his foot.
The clanging of metal immediately woke Sasuke up, the teen's Sharingan activating to see past the darkness. Spotting Pain, who stood watching him with an unimpressed look on his face, Sasuke glanced away in slight shame of the trap he had been unable to resist protecting himself with. Even if he couldn't defeat any of them, he wouldn't go down by being killed in his sleep.
Pain took it off his ankle easily and turned around to leave. "Setting traps is wise when you're in a new area, however, I doubt any of the other members would be as appreciative to having their leg nearly chopped off." getting ready to reclose the door when he commented. "Also, if you have nightmares often, it's not a good idea to keep things quiet at your age. Go seek help from Itachi or Konan. Sleep deprivation will only lead to a weakened state the next day."
He didn't wait for the boy's reply, moving on to the younger Uzumaki's bedroom. Opening the door more wearily now, he was glad to see there were no traps. The young boy laid sprawled out along the bed, snoring slightly. He didn't see anything that would make the grunting noises so he quickly moved on to Neji's bedroom.
Opening the door he quickly sensed something was wrong. The boy on the bed didn't appear to be moving an inch and there was no chakra signature. He headed over quickly, not sure what the matter was. Turning the boy over he also felt no heartbeat. He wasn't sure what to do and began shaking the boy until suddenly he puffed into a cloud of smoke.
Pain parted his lips in understanding, moving on to the next room where he assumed he would find Neji. Hinata's room. He opened the door and quickly spotted the eight-year-old under the sleeping girl's bed with a pair of shuriken. Quickly the weapons went flashing at Pain, though the man caught them with ease.
Neji's eyes widened at how easily his weapons were caught, almost as though he had thrown them to Pain. The man came closer to him, kneeling down to stare the young boy in the eyes. What he was not expecting, was for Neji to practically fly out from under the bed and start attempting to strangle him. The older ninja easily stopped this, but the commotion had woken up Hinata.
Seeing her cousin attacking Pain she immediately backed up, jumping down from the bed to go into the farthest corner. Pain frowned at the miscellaneous clawing or attacks Neji gave, catching his arms as the young Hyuuga tried to hit his chakra points. Pain held him down, watching him struggle as he spoke. "I was just coming around to check on everyone and saw your clone. I went looking to see where you were, that's all. I'm not trying to fight or kill you two. Calm down."
Neji finally calmed down with an aggravated look once Pain pointed out "If I wanted either you or her death, you would be dead. Just relax. It's the middle of the night, you should be in bed resting. Come now, both of you into the bed. I don't mind you staying with her but you both need some sleep." he commanded.
Hinata slowly complied, but only once Neji headed into the bed hesitantly. Pain watched as the two cousins laid down, Hinata curling up a bit against Neji's chest. He wiped the dirt from his Akatsuki robe and lightly scowled before leaving the room, not in the best mood after having multiple weapons thrown at him and having to fight off an attack from an eight-year-old. "Now no more fooling around. Get to bed as you should have an hour ago."
Finally, it was to Gaara, the only one he hadn't checked yet. He supposed that was where the growling and grunting was coming from. Opening his door, the man was quickly proven correct. The little boy's sand was up in the air, swishing around almost aggressively. Gaara himself was a whole other story.
The boy's left half was completely gone, replaced by a possum-like image. The possum looking half held a large grin, while its body looked like it was made of clumped sand. The claws reached up to claw at Gaara's right side, quickly waking the boy up as sand went to cover the spot which was being attacked. Gaara's teddy bear was discarded off to the side of the bed, a claw mark sunk into its stomach and stuffing spilling out lightly.
Gaara sat up quickly, the boy's grunts and hisses escaping more freely now as he clung onto the sheets. "N-Nnn!" he gasped out trying to silence himself as he noticed the older in the room. Quickly, Pain activated his rinnegan to take over the tailed beast's will. It was a bit difficult as he had only heard of the technique, but he eventually pulled it off. The beast slowly subdued, Gaara's eyes widening at the disappearance of his beast.
Pain noticed the slight shake to the boy and came closer. "Little one, are you alright?" he questioned wearily. Gaara's sand was floating around them lightly, as if in a warning state towards Pain. Gaara looked up at him, hands still covering his mouth in an attempt to keep his cries silent.
After a moment of composing himself, Gaara finally reacted. He backed up a bit, the sand forming a protective layer over him. Pain watched as the boy completely refused to answer him, his eyes only steadying in on him in a weary way. When he reached out to touch the boy, his sand would only move to block him. He sighed, not able to help the boy at all it seemed as he refused to even allow Pain the chance to touch him.
After a few tries, Pain stood and headed towards the door. "Get some sleep and awake me if that beast comes out again. Third Floor," he commanded before heading out of the room. Honestly, these bare academy aged children seemed to have bigger trust issues than half the Akatsuki.