Karin followed behind Itachi and Kisame into the larger village, noticing the excess rain. But then, at least she had been warned about it. She held only Itachi's hand so she didn't get lost, but once they reached the house she let go.
Deidara raised his brows. "Another one? Uchiha, I thought you were going to get a healer." he frowned. "Sasuke's legs are screwed up. You don't have time to be fucking around. They might heal like that, then any chance of him keeping his strong legs are gone."
Itachi chuckled, the little girl putting her hands on her hips. "Excuse me? I'm the best healer in my village, and will easily be able to heal Sasuke up. Ignorant fool."
Kisame snickered, leading her towards Sasuke's room and leaving Deidara to rave about how he wasn't an idiot. The door pressed open, and they spotted Sasuke rather quickly. He sat in the bed by himself, working on a few sheets of technical practice. He looked up when he saw people enter, Kisame waving and heading over with Itachi. "Hey, kid. Dead yet?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes at Kisame, straightening his back reflexively when he noticed Karin. The redhead walked over, lifting his shorts a bit so she could get a better view of his legs. They were a dark color, bruised deeply in both blue and purple. He also had little bits of bones pressing against leg from the inside, making her wince. That looked painful.
She got up on the bed, chakra coming to her hands. She focused on where the base bone should be and began gently massaging the pieces back into place. Sasuke gasped in pain, eyes shooting open. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Itachi reached over to offer him his hand, and Sasuke gladly took it. The six-year-old gripped onto his older brother's hand, trying his hardest not to cry. Which was hard, with someone pushing your bones around inside your body using chakra.
Karing seemed satisfied with one leg, the skin now was torn from her forcing the bones into place but otherwise fine. The flesh was the only real issue left, bruised and cut. She figured she could heal that with her blood though.
As Karin started on the other leg, people slowly began to pile into the room. Some concerned for the whimper's escaping Sasuke, others curious what all the noise was. By the second leg, Sasuke was full-on clinging to Itachi, not caring to hide the pain he was in. He just wanted it to stop, even the sand hadn't hurt this much.
Pain questioned, "Itachi, I know you said a woman and her daughter were healers, but I assumed you'd be bringing the woman. She'll get tired a lot easier." he frowned lightly.
Karin kept the focus on Sasuke's legs, not even hearing their conversation since she was busy focusing on her chakra staying even. Itachi noticed this, so he went ahead and answered. "I came for her mother, but it seems I was a few weeks too late. She's dead. Karin has been treating patients by herself. Apparently, they were forcing her to stay so they could use her powers."
Pain nodded with a frown. "How did she pass on? Does she belong to a clan that can take her in?" he asked, not liking the idea of a single child practically running the hospital.
Kisame leaned back on the bed, noticing Sasuke's attention shifted to the older ninja's words rather than his injuries. Itachi shook his head back and forth. "She overused her powers and died because of it. She belongs to the Uzumaki clan, but unlike most, she's a direct descendant with no other mixes in her. This means her blood is so pure in chakra she can heal others by letting them drink her blood. She's also amazing at sensing chakra signatures, uniquely so. She surprises even her mother in that sense. She truly does have the makings of a good ninja, if it's nurtured well. Then as far as her clan goes...well you know how few are left of the clan. It would take months to locate another member. So she seems to of been living alone."
Just as Pain was about to respond, Karin distracted him. She seemed so deep in thought she hadn't heard a thing they had said. She had pulled out a kunai and was slicing against her palm deeply. Blood began oozing out, and she lifted it to Sasuke's mouth. "Drink up," she commanded.
Sasuke looked momentarily disgusted, but Itachi lightly pressed his head forward, silently demanding he did as he was told. Sasuke rolled his eyes, blushing a bit as he put his mouth over her hand and began drinking from her.
After a few seconds, the blood flow stopped and she frowned. She took her kunai again, stabbing further into her hand and then reoffering it to Sasuke. The raven-haired boy grudgingly took it as he noticed a warm feeling in his veins, almost relaxing as the cuts and bruises began to heal.
Just as she was about halfway through finishing Sasuke's legs, Itachi laid a hand on her shoulder. The girl pulled her hand away, looking a bit dizzy. Itachi rubbed her back gently. "That's enough for now, Karin. Don't overdo it."
Sasuke noticed he could at least move his legs a bit, and smiled thinly at Karin. "Thank you," he noted, glad to be able to move his legs around a bit.
The redhead frowned deeply, pushing the younger back gently. "Stay down. Your legs still need time to rest. Plus they need bandaged and cleaned so they don't get infected." she scolded, moving to pull a mall bag of green cream from her medical bag. She began rubbing it over his wounds, lightly tapping each one with a bit of her already spilled blood. "There. You should be fully recovered in three days, but you can get up tomorrow."
Konan chuckled a bit. "I see someone has the Uzumaki attitude at least." shaking her head back and forth a bit at the girl's proud and intelligent attitude.
Naruto was standing beside Pain, looking up at him while his leg twitched in anticipation. This girl was from their clan! She was family! Seeing the look on Naruto's face, Pain chuckled a bit.
"Alright, alright. Calm down. I'll ask her in a bit." patting the blonde's head. Naruto looked twice as excited now, nuzzling up against Pain's coat. Pain swore his heart skipped a beat. He had been thinking about what Itachi and Konan had said, and it was starting to get to him. Did he want to see Naruto's face streaming tears rather than giving off a beam of sunshine? He wasn't too sure anymore.
Hinata came over, hugging Sasuke. "You were so b-brave, Sasuke. I can't believe you stayed so s-still." she smiled, noticing his embarrassment from the eyes on him while he had been whimpering.
Karin stickered at that. Seeing the questioning look from Hinata, she smirked. "If I may say so, Sasuke-San was whining like a little baby," she spoke, enjoying teasing the younger boy who sent her a harsh glare.
Hinata looked mortified by her words, and much to the surprise of the others who knew her, she glared heavily with her Byakugan activated. "You may not say so. He's brave and smart, and pretty. I like Sasuke. I don't like you." she announced with crossed arms.
A hand moving to her hips, Karin announced. "Fine. I don't like you either. Your voice is annoying, and so is your stutter."
It looked like Hinata was about to reply, and Neji was ready to kill Karin when Itachi swooped Hinata up in his arms. Kisame did the same to Karin. Kisame hummed, "Let's not get into a fight now. Both of you be nice."
The girls crossed their arms in annoyance, Hinata nuzzling up to Itachi's neck with a 'Hn' she had learned from Sasuke. Konan chuckled, "Come on little ones. Sasori and Gaara are downstairs making dinner. They should be done soon. Karin honey, why don't you stay for tonight at least. It's too late out to be sending someone out with you to send you home, and we won't send you out on your own. You must be hungry and tired after that." she noted.
Kisame and Itachi finally let the girls down, both snorting gently and glancing away. Neji blinked, never having seen his cousin so...annoyed. Konan kissed Sasuke's forehead as the others headed down, "I'll bring you up some." she offered and he nodded.
The others all headed downstairs, Itachi helping Karin into Sasuke's normal seat. Hinata pouted at this but said nothing. They all sat down, Gaara helping Sasori bring out the food. Konan smiled a bit at Gaara. "This looks very good Gaara. Did you help Sasori?"
The boy grinned and nodded up at her, Sasori patting his head lightly. "Gaara wrapped the sushi all by himself. He did really well."
They began to eat, Neji looking up at Kisame curiously. "Kisame, isn't it cannibalism if you're eating a fish?" tilting his head curiously. Zetsu smirked from across the table.
Kisame put a large blue hand on the boy's head. "Tch. I'm not a fish. I'm a human." something he probably wouldn't have accepted if not for Itachi. "On the other hand, shark's eat each other while in their mother's womb. So even if I was counted as one it would be fair to say-" he was cut off when Itachi sent him a warning look. "What? He asked a question. You're supposed to answer brats when they ask questions, right?"
Neji glared a bit at being called a brat, Itachi rubbing his temple. "Kisame, the only child you've come in contact with over the years is Suigetsu, so I understand why you're so blunt. But most children aren't ready to hear the complete truth."
Gaara hummed, looking down at his food. "Translation: Lying to kids is the best option in Itachi's book," he spoke as he took a bite of his food.
Itachi sighed, and soon Kisame was on a full-on lecture about lying. He finished his food and stood up halfway through Kisame's speaking. "Hey- Don't you walk away from me Uchiha brat-"
Kisame followed, Kakuzu muttering, "Loud children, very loud children." he muttered. Soon, one by one, they began heading out from the table. As they stood, Naruto grabbed Karin's hand.
She blinked at him, and he smiled widely. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and the man upstairs is Nagato Uzumaki. He tells most people to call him Pain though so I dunno. He uses that guy, Pain, to move around like a puppet he can see out of. It's really cool! Come on, let's go upstairs so you can meet him. He can't go downstairs because he's really sick. Maybe you can help him too?"
He babbled on, leading the redheaded girl towards the top floor. Konan chuckled, shaking her head at them as she moved to put the rest of them to bed. Once they got upstairs, Naruto pushed the door open. "Nagato! Here's Karin!"
Nagato forced his head to the side a bit, looking at the girl who quickly headed over to him. She reached up, feeling his forehead. "Poor man, you look very sick, and your chakra levels are so drained." she frowned in concern.
The man chuckled a bit, patting her head. "Don't worry, little one. I'm alright. Just a bit tired. These eyes tire me out a lot, after all." he explained so she wouldn't worry. "So you're an Uzumaki then. I can tell. You have the traditional red hair, and definitely have the attitude of one." he smiled a bit, stroking her red hair.
Karin smiled a bit, nodding. "Your hair is pretty. It's a nice shade of red." noticing it was a bit darker than hers. "How come Naruto doesn't have red hair?" tilting her head.
Nagato smiled a bit. "He has his father's hair and eyes."
She nodded in understanding, and Naruto looked up at Nagato with pleading eyes. Nagato smiled tiredly. "Alright, alright. Karin, your mother is gone and you've been running the hospital practically alone." seeing her confirming nod, Nagato offered, "How about you stay here with us? Your healing powers would be very useful, but we won't force you to use them. You can stay here with your clansmen, go to school, and become part of Konan's family. Which is growing admittedly large."
Karin thought for a moment, unsure. Since she was a baby, her mother and she had given their services to be allowed to stay in the grass village. If she wasn't going to give them her blood for healing purposes, how would she earn her stay? "If you don't want my blood, then what am I supposed to give you?"
Nagato sighed a bit, patting her head. "You don't have to do anything. I'm sure the other children would like to get to know you and it would be nice to have another Uzumaki around," he noted. "Konan has always wanted children, I'm sure she wouldn't mind having another." he smiled.
Looking frustrated, Karin's face turned to one of disgust. "That woman isn't my mother," she stated with a cross of her arms in annoyance at the idea of the purple-haired woman trying to take over as her mother.
Naruto pipped up, "She isn't replacing her, it'll just be like having a second mom, that's all. Besides, it's not like she makes you think like that. She just is taking care of us." he smiled.
She looked unsure but nodded a bit as she played with the sleeves of her kimono. It would be nice to have a family again, she supposed. "A-Alright." she finally decided, Nagato nodding to her with a thin smile.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
As they sat down for class the next day, Karin felt odd for a brief moment when she stood in front of the class, their sensei in front of her speaking. "We have another student today. Now, she's never had any combat practice like Naruto, but she has extensive medical knowledge so she'll be just above him. Go ahead and introduce yourself while I get the class ready, hun."
Karin spoke, normal pride still there, "I'm Karin Uzumaki. I'm seven years old, and my blood has a healing quality so anyone that drinks it can be healed. I specialize in medical jutsu." she introduced herself. They all nodded, and soon she was sitting beside them all. While their sensei worked on writing something on the board for the day's lesson, Amai turned to them.
He smiled as he spoke, "It's nice to meet you, Karin. The invitation I gave the others applies to you too. We're all going to train over at my family's compound tomorrow." the others nodding in agreeance. Soon attention turned to Sasuke after she nodded, and the white-haired man asked, "Hey, Sasuke, are you alright? We heard you got your legs broken."
Hira nodded, nearly demanding, "You must tell me how you got them healed so fast! That's extraordinary." he spoke, stars shining in his eyes as he spoke. Sasuke flustered a bit as all eyes fell on him, hand moving to point at Karin. Hira blinked, "Karin? You did this? With your blood?" he asked curiously before asking Sasuke, "Wait, does that mean you drank her blood?" he pressed.
Sighing a bit, Sasuke nodded with a fluster. It was weird to think he had drunk blood from another human being. Urg. Nasty. Karin nodded, "Yeah, I used my blood and a bit of basic medical supplies to heal his legs."
The older medic asked, "Is this blood thing something you can learn? That sounds super useful, why don't we have more medics like that? Is it something that runs in your family?" this earned a briefly hurt look from the girl, and a light glare from Neji.
Karin quickly recovered, used to other people's insensitivity. "No, it's unique to the women in my mother's family. You can not learn it. There aren't a lot of medics using their powers for this because there aren't a lot of them left."
When Hira opened his mouth to ask where they were, Seikatsu put a hand on the child's shoulder. Normally, Hira had a good head on his shoulder. But when it came to his interests, he tended to get excited. Looking up, he noticed Karin looked very uncomfortable and almost cornered. He wanted to punch himself for being so blunt. Before he could apologize, Seikatsu made the announcement for class to start.
It carried on easily for a while, up until it was nearly time to go home. Which, of course, meant it was time for them to get their grades back.
The younger ones felt their stomach do flips in protest as the man began handing back papers. Neji could have cried. 79%. He had never scored under 92%! Even then, he had felt ashamed! His father died with complete faith Neji would be alright because of his smarts, but here he was shaming the clan beyond salvation! He bit his lip. He deserved to be punished for such an act of complete disrespect to their clan name. Would he be punished by Konan or Pain? He didn't think they would know how to activate the seal, but still...
Hinata frowned a bit, looking at the 52% which was plastered over the front. Her head lowered a bit in similar shame. Her father would be so ashamed. She would have extra training for months after a grade like this. She had never been to school, but she knew well enough from her early tutoring this was terrible. She bit her lip. Konan wouldn't think she was a fool and abandon her as her father had threatened to, would she? She like her new home though...she didn't want this.
Biting his lip, Sasuke looked down at the page. Lining the top was 75%. He barely passed. He was a shame to the Uchiha name. They were supposed to be intelligent. He was the son of the head, he should have been the best among his clan, just after Itachi! Oh, Itachi. He would be so ashamed.
Gaara got his paper and blinked. 34%. He looked at the others, noticing the sharp drop. It wasn't that he was unintelligent, no, it was quite the opposite really. He was brilliant. But he tended to be motivated and praised when he put effort into physical learning, so he usually didn't bother with written knowledge. It didn't bother him too much, then.
Looking down at the paper, Naruto felt his face heat up unbearably. 11%. The only part he had gotten completely right was the tracing his name part which had been difficult in itself. Then he got the majority of the ninja morals part right, at least. He bit his lip. Nagato had assured him he was brighter than he thought. He had let the man down. Karin and he seemed so smart. They wouldn't hate him when they found out he wasn't, would they?
Karin was handed a packet similar to the ones they just got back, and Seiketsu nodded firmly. "That will be all. Have a good weekend. Dismissed."
They all nodded, the younger ones quickly folding their papers up in shame. They all headed outside, trying to look surer of themselves than they waited out in the same spot they had the day prior. This time they all headed off, besides four of them. Yoi, Shu, Kicho, and Hira stayed put with them. No one said anything for a long while, the kids leaning against the wall, and Yoi and Shu standing beside them. Hira was inside with their sensei, helping clean up the classroom quietly with Kicho.
Sasuke, who stood on the far end beside Yoi, glanced up at him. He asked curiously, "Are you waiting for someone? How come Amai is leaving with Totsu today instead of Kicho?" he asked curiously. Shu smiled a bit at his smart notice.
The blue-haired man yawned a bit. "We figure we should stay with you until someone comes to pick you up. The older people in the village get pretty suspicious of outsiders until they get to know them," he explained, and Sasuke realized for the first time, as he looked through the rain he could see a few villagers glancing at them. He supposed he had blocked this out, used to it from the last few months. "Usually they leave together. They live in the same compound. Amai's family took Totsu in a long time ago. Yesterday she just walked him home because he gets nervous being alone in the village, and we needed to speak with you." he explained.
Neji tilted his head. "How come they're not going home then? At my old school once the after school clean up hour was over we just headed home.?" he questioned curiously, since Hira and Kicho had remained inside with Seikatsu.
Shu chuckled lightly. "Well, long story short, Hira lives with our sensei. Then he likes to keep an eye on Kicho since she lives in the village alone. Her father's a traveling merchant."
They nodded in understanding, and just as a few more questions were about to sprout, they heard the voice of a certain woman. She had paper up over her head, protecting her from the rain with its thick layers. She headed over to them with a thin smile, seeing them under the school overhang. She formed her paper so it covered them too. Hinata practically darted over to her, connecting herself to the woman's side. Naruto mimicked this action, smiling thinly.
Gaara stood up slowly, making his way to stand beside Naruto with his eyes matching the other's nervously happy ones. Neji and Sasuke gave the other two a slight wave, before heading over to stand beside Konan. Both boys hung back a bit, and all the children besides Gaara seemed extra skittish to the woman. She smiled thinly at Yoi and Shu, who bowed from their spot under the overhang. Karin had come over after them all, walking at a normal pace. She took Hinata and Naruto's hands, and soon they were off.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Once they got home, the children quickly headed off. Karin headed to her room. She had taken over Neji's room since the older boy usually slept with Hinata anyway. She sat down and pulled out the packet. She got to work on it, not paying the other's much mind.
Sasuke headed to his bedroom, trying his best to hide the tears welling in his eyes. Once he got to his room, however, the flood gates opened. He felt his cheeks wetten as he sat down, leaning against the door. He kept himself quiet, looking over all the missed marks. He didn't want Itachi to see this. He would be so ashamed of him. He found his thoughts trailing to his father. The man wouldn't be surprised at all. His mother would probably have him doing all sorts of extra chores, and point out his incapability to do as well as Itachi. She's say that it wasn't his job to be a copy of Itachi. But still...
He brought his knees to his chest, throwing the packet against the opposite wall. He hated this, it wasn't fair! He always tried so hard but got so low. This was terrible. He was a failure.
Neji headed to his and Hinata's shared room, sitting down on the bed. Hinata followed him, sitting beside him. The girl bit her lip. "We did bad..." she murmured. Neji nodded sadly in confirmation. They had done bad.
"We'll just have to go back and fix our mistakes. Then we'll know better for next time. Maybe if Konan-Sama sees we're trying hard she won't punish us too harshly." he spoke, paranoia poking out. He rubbed his forehead subconsciously, and they both quickly got to work. Hinata did not want Konan to be disappointed in her.
Naruto headed outside to the training grounds. He took his paper with him. Looking over it, his face warmed. Everyone had got better than him! He tossed it in an outside trash can, not wanting to look at it. He sulked, sitting and looking at the sky. He hated this. He finally had a family, and he couldn't even do something as simple as homework.
Gaara had made his way to Sasori as per usual, sitting beside the other man to watch him work with his puppets. Sasori hummed, "Welcome home, Gaara." glancing around. "Where's everyone else?" he asked casually.
The smaller redhead shrugged a bit. "I think everyone's in their room, besides Naruto. They're upset about their homework grade, I think." he spoke softly.
Quirking a brow, Sasori asked, "What kind of grade did you get on the work?" not taking his eyes off the puppet as he asked. Itachi, who stood nearby, leaned on the counter to listen in along with Konan.
"I got 34%. I couldn't understand most of it." he shrugged.
Frowning a bit, Sasori spoke. "Gaara, I understand you don't know a lot since you haven't been in school before, but I want you to make sure you're listening to the parts of the class that aren't only about combat. I noticed that was the main part you were struggling with. Keep an ear out for technical and emotional information, alright?"
Seeing the little boy's nod, he let it go for now. Itachi and Konan both frowned. They should probably go check on the other children if their scores were something to be worried about. As Konan headed upstairs, she noticed Pain's six paths speaking to Naruto.
Naruto looked like he was pouting a bit as Pain hovered behind him. "What's wrong, child?" the orange-haired man asked. Naruto snorted a bit at that, and Pain moved a hand to the back of his neck to lightly trace his fingers over it.
Naruto whimpered, leaning forward in startlement of the sudden touch. He hadn't been expecting it, but now that it was there, he found it to be surprisingly relaxing as it rubbed the back of his neck soothingly. He lowered his head a bit, into his knees, which were brought up to his chest. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I'm not smart like you or Karin."
Pain quirked a brow at this, lightly moving to rub the boy's back. "You aren't a fool, Naruto. You just haven't got the chance to practice traditional data as long as the others have," he assured him. It felt wrong, seeing the bubbly boy so miserable. "You'll learn in time. For now, all you can do is try your best to learn from your teacher and classmates."
Naruto blinked up at him, not expecting the light assurance from the other. Despite himself, a large smile plastered his lips. He moved back a bit, laying a hand beside Pain's leg. It was simple, but it helped him a lot. He was content with his grade as long as Pain didn't dislike him. He would do better, and make the man proud!
Konan smiled a bit at the two, heading upstairs. She could hear the muffled noises in each room but wasn't prepared when she opened the door to the Hyuuga's room. Both seemed to stiffen, on alert. She didn't like it. Why were they so nervous? "Hey, guys," she spoke gently in greeting.
Before she could continue, Hinata pressed his lips together in a frown, looking away. Neji flinched violently. Her words died in her throat. She took a step forward to comfort them, but Neji's arms flew over to pull Hinata into a hug and drug her closer to his lap as if protecting her. All the while his eyes were widened, like a thief caught in the act.
She came closer, slower now, noticing Neji's hold tightening on the girl who hid closer to his chest. "Come now, don't be afraid. Nothings going to hurt you. Shh." she assured, taking small steps until she stood beside them. She reached out to gently run a hand through Neji's long hair, the boy looking down a bit. He bit his lip as she asked, "What's wrong, Neji? Why are you and Hinata scared?"
The boy looked down, unsure of himself. He hated to admit it, but he didn't know what to do. "I don't know what to do," he muttered nervously. "I'm supposed to protect Lady Hinata from threats besides her father. B-But you're her mother now so I don't know to protect her from you or not." cursing the slight stutter in his voice.
Konan's eyes softened as she sat beside him. "Neji, I won't hurt you or Hinata. You two are safe," she assured them. She moved a hand over his headband, "Here, let's remove this. You look like your sweating from all this. Covering your forehead will only make it worse."
Neji's hands flew back, protecting his forehead and trying to tear away from her hands. "Don't! Please, don't," he muttered, not liking it when his seal wasn't covered. It made him feel exposed. She rose her hands, gently petting his long brunette hair.
"Alright, I won't hurt you. I promise. You're alright. You can keep it on." she shushed him. The boy wiped his eyes, feeling suddenly tired as she rubbed his back. "I'm not going to hurt you or Hinata. I promise." she pulled the boy into her lap, and Hinata to her side. The smaller girl blinked a bit, not used to seeing her older cousin receiving such care. Usually, there was no one to offer it, and even if there was, she had always assumed he would reject it.
Konan promised them, "I won't hurt any of you, ever. I'm your mother now. I'll keep you safe." she murmured them both soft reassurances. Meanwhile, Itachi was only just now pressing the door open.
Sasuke had refused to move from in front of the door, focusing on trying to hide his crying before his brother got in. When Itachi finally did push in, Sasuke made a beeline for the other side of the room where his bed was. Sasuke sat with his back to his brother, not sure if his eyes were still red-rimmed.
Itachi sat behind him on the other side of the bed, sighing a bit. He slipped off his Akatsuki coat so he was only wearing his normal netted shirt and pants beneath. He loosened his hair a bit, making him look much more relaxed. Sasuke took the bait, asking after a hesitant moment, "What are you doing?"
The older smiled thinly. "Relaxing. Come here, Sasuke. It's just me. Just Nii-san." he assured the boy, tugging him over so he was resting in his arms. Sasuke hesitantly allowed this, head lowered a bit. He ran his hands through his little brother's shorter hair. "What's wrong? I heard you got your papers back today."
Sasuke glanced away, clenching his fists. His shoulders slumped a bit. "I got a 75%," he muttered shamefully. "Mother and father would be so unhappy." wiping his eyes which welled a bit as he admitted it. "I know it's true, but I just don't want to remember them like that." he muttered painfully.
Itachi rubbed his back gently. "That's not true. Just don't think about it for now. I've got you. Your safe with me here." he promised.
Noticing the lack of disappointment at the grade, Sasuke looked up at him. "You're not disappointed in my grade?" he asked, honestly surprised. Itachi wasn't judgemental--far from it-- but he assumed since his mother and father where he would be too in this particular area.
Itachi kissed his forehead lightly. "Of course not, Otouto. You'll do better next time. I'll help you work on the parts you missed." lifting the book from the ground nearby. Sasuke relaxed in Itachi's arms as they began going over the missed questions, his nervousness slowly sinking.
Feeling the comfort from the elder ninja, the kids knew one thing. They trusted these people with their lives, even if they had only just got to know them. There was still plenty more to go, though.