~Chapter Three~

~Meet the Siblings~

Deidara rolled over in his sleep and groaned. It was morning. He hated mornings. The sun filtered through the crappy blinds, a ray of light aimed directly at the blonde's. Naruto really needed to give his apartment an upgrade. Or should he say their apartment.

It was hard to believe that this time yesterday morning, he was as free as a bird. Now, he's stuck with a new little brother that turned out to be quite the handful. He developed a neat little habit of saying 'believe it' after every sentence, ever since Deidara had said it to him earlier. The artist wishes he had have picked a different phrase….

"Nii-san~!" Naruto sang, grinning down at the artist. "Time for breakfast! Believe it!"

Sighing, he rolled over, successfully falling off the couch and face planting into the carpet below, earning a laugh from the seven year old. Deidara groaned. What a wonderful start to the day. He picked himself up off of the ground and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. "Breakfast? You actually have something edible here, un?" he asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Don't be silly Nii-san!" Naruto laughed, as is if Deidara had told him the sky was green. "I get breakfast at Ichiraku's! And lunch… and dinner… and supper… and everything in between… heh heh…" he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Deidara raised an eyebrow. 'Ichiraku's, hmm?' he thought to himself. 'The twerp practically lives there, how bad could it be?'

"Yeah, sure, why not?" he shrugged in agreement. "It's got to be better than whatever garbage you have lying around in here…." He said, eyeing the fridge/toxic waste storage container.

Naruto beamed a smile up at him, crystal blue eyes sparkling. "I LOVE YOU, NII-SAN! BELIEVE IT!" he yelled at the top of his voice and clung to his mid-section.

Deidara sweat dropped and ruffled the smaller bonde's hair.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now let go, un."

"I LOVE YOU NII-SAN! BELIEVE IT!"

Sasori shot the wall dividing his apartment and his neighbour's an irritated glare. They were a noisy bunch. He was glad Gaara was much quieter than the pair of blondes next door. He wouldn't be able to withstand this mission otherwise. He looked over to the boy on the couch, who was still sleeping quietly. A small smirk tugged at the puppet master's lips and he closed his eyes, making a few quick hand signs.

When he opened his hazel eyes again, he stared at the far wall of the Akatsuki cave. His hologram form stood on the left thumb of the two hands. He could recognise the holographic forms of his partner, Orochimaru on the opposite side of the hand he was stood on, Kisame, Kakuzu and his latest partner, who Sasori couldn't remember the name of, stood on the finger in between. On the other thumb, Pein stood tall and stoic. The finger next to him didn't have anyone standing on top, meaning the last occupant must've recently died. Konan stood on the next finger and Kisame's partner, Ryou, was next to her. Zetsu the Akatsuki spy took the remaining one.

"Hello Sasori, nice of you to join us," Pein greeted at him, glaring slightly. "Be on time next time." Sasori nodded, not bothering to give him an excuse. His oh-so-glorious leader wouldn't listen anyway. Not like he had one to give but that's beside the point.

"Before we begin, I'd like for us to mourn the death of Aka Janpa*, who died on a recent mission." Pein said, bowing his head. The others followed suit. Aka, was one of those rare members the Akatsuki recruited that everyone actually respected and liked. The others being Konan and… well, just Konan.

After a few moments, they lifted their heads and looked back up at Pein, who cleared his throat. "Sasori, we'll start with you. Give us a report of your mission."

Sasori nodded. "I've collected the Shukaku and we're currently residing in Konoha. We had a run in with the Hokage but he didn't seem to recognise either of us. In fact, he led us to an empty apartment we can stay in!"

"Sounds to me like you're not as memorable as you thought you were!" Kisame joked, his toothy grin still evident despite being in his hologram form.

Sasori gave him a look and Pein rolled his eyes. "Be careful Sasori. This is the Hokage we're talking about it. He may be old but he isn't a fool. He could have given that apartment to you to keep an eye on your whereabouts, or to set a trap. Don't underestimate him."

Sasori nodded. "I've already set traps around the doors and windows. I'm not one to be underestimated either." He smirked.

"Ah Sasori-kun! You're always well prepared!" Orochimaru smiled at his partner. "'You fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.' Correct?"

"As always."

Pein cleared his throat. "If you two are done reacquainting yourselves, I'd like to continue this meeting." The Akatsuki leader waited for all attention to be put back on him before continuing. "Now, our funds are running low again so I'm going to need you to make a few cut backs…"

Gaara tilted his head at his big brother. Currently, Sasori was sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room with his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his hands fixated in a hand sign. He looked to be… meditating or something. He waved his hand in front of the puppet master's face, trying to get his attention. It didn't work. Probably because his eyes were closed.

The young redhead sat down on the floor cross-legged in front of Sasori, his small arms wrapped tightly around his teddy bear's neck. Gaara watched him silently for a few moments, his emerald eyes staring at the calm, tranquil expression on the older boy's face.

After a while, he set the stuffed animal next to him, giving it a light pat on the head. He copied his brother, fixing his hands into what he thinks is the hand sign Sasori was using and closed his eyes. He kept this position for a few moments before releasing it. He couldn't see why he would sit in this position for such a long time. It was boring.

Gaara picked up the bear again, hugging him close. He just sat there and stared at his brother, until the older red head opened his eyes.

Sasori blinked down at the young jinchuriki sitting in front of him. He was out (well, out of mind. The puppeteer had yet to leave the apartment) at the meeting for a couple of hours, had Gaara been sitting there the whole time? "Are you alright, kid?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gaara nodded in reply, hugging his bear tighter to his chest. Gaara was a quiet child. He rarely spoke to Sasori, only speaking to him when he was spoken to, or maybe making the odd comment or asking the odd question. He didn't mind of course; he liked the silence. The redhead was just glad he had this boy as his 'adoptive brother' rather than either of the blonde's next door. He could hear nearly everything they said (shouted) to each other through the paper thin-walls. For the first time since the Akatsuki member arrived, it was quiet in their neighbour's apartment. They must be out.

Sasori looked down at the stuffed animal in Gaara's arms. He was sure he didn't have that when they arrived in Konaha... "Where did you get the bear?"

"The closet," he replied, pointing to the door between the bathroom and the bedroom.

"I see..." Sasori looked over to the closet. He hadn't been in there yet. In fact, he'd barely spent any time in any room but the living room and joint kitchen. When Gaara fell asleep, he checked out the other rooms. The bathroom wasn't as bad as he expected it to be, but it still could be doing with a thorough cleaning. Same as the bedroom. There were one or two things that the seven year old probably shouldn't have seen but other than that, it wasn't completely terrible.

"Aniki?"

"Hmm?"

"Can… Can we get some breakfast now?" Gaara asked shyly, clutching his bear. Ah yes, breakfast. Sasori forgot about food. Being a living puppet, he sometimes forgot that the humans needed to eat or they would die of starvation. He never needed to worry about someone's diet before, as Orochimaru usually fed himself.

The puppet master smiled at him, keeping up his big brother act. "Of course. Let's see if we can find somewhere to eat!"

"Naruto, un? Are you done yet? We've been here hours and you have to go to the academy in twenty minutes!" Deidara groaned, his blonde head rested on his fist, his arm propped up on the counter of the ramen stand. If had have known that the squirt ate this much, they would've left earlier. He didn't even know how someone that little could eat so much in the first place….

"Just one more bowl nii-san!" Naruto grinned after finishing the sixth one in a row. "Or maybe two…."

Deidara closed his eyes, and sighed. "You can have ONE bowl, yeah, but only if you can eat it in ten minutes flat!"

"I can do it in five! Believe it!"

"Oh I can, yeah…" he mumbled, rolling his eyes. He waved for the ramen stand owner to bring Naruto another bowl before sighing.

At this rate, he was going to eat him out of house and home and he had only known him for less than a day, most of which they were asleep for. He was going to need to find a job soon, before they end up in debt. It was a wonder the small boy could afford to eat ramen so often in the first place. Did he already have a steady income? An inheritance from his parents perhaps? Whatever the case may be, he'll have to go to the Hokage to see if anyone would be willing to hire an undercover S-ranked criminal. Probably not but you never know. Konoha people were weird.

As mentioned before, Deidara hadn't been in the village long and he already knew the people here weren't normal. First of all, the Hokage. What kind of leader blackmails an S-ranked criminal to stay in his village? Honestly, most kage's would bribe them to leave but this guy just had to go against the status quo. He'd also spotted some guy walking around town on his hands wearing green spandex. Deidara was no fashion expert but he was pretty sure that skin tight body suits were not in style at the moment. Or ever. Then there was the pervert that kept staring at his chest, furrowed his eyebrow in annoyance and stalked off, mumbling something about 'finding better research'. He didn't even want to know what that could've possibly meant….

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be the next Hokage! Believe it!" the artist swivelled around in his seat when he heard the little blonde's outburst. He narrowed his eyes at the two redheads Naruto decided to acquaint himself with. They were the same boys from yesterday, the two that the Hokage gave an apartment next to theirs. He didn't the older boy, who was currently examining him closely. The younger red head smiled at Naruto's enthusiasm.

"What's your name?" Naruto continued, grinning widely at the boy. After all, it wasn't often (or at all) that someone is own age didn't run away from him or try to beat him up for being a monster. It was a refreshing change to say the least.

Gaara smiled at the blonde. When he had caught sight of him at first, Gaara was sure he'd run away scared for his life, like back in his own village. But he didn't. He introduced himself and seemed to want to talk to him. This was a change he could definitely get used to.

"Gaara."

"Well, nice to meet you Gaara!" Naruto grinned at him as Ayame handed the two red heads a bowl of ramen each. "Nya~ You like ramen too? I love ramen…" Naruto zoned out and began to drool as he thought about the dish. Gaara laughed at him, before digging into his own meal.

Deidara watched the two children converse with each other. Naruto struck him as a social butterfly the minute he opened his mouth. It didn't surprise him he made friends with a total stranger really quickly. Although, there was something that bothered the artist… On their way to Ichiraku's, the other villagers kept giving Naruto glares, or scared glances. Crowds would open up just let the little blonde through.

At first, Deidara thought it was him they were directing these actions towards and that his cover already had being blown. But, it wasn't. It was a seven year old boy they all despised and/or feared… Why would a ninja village, one of the strongest at that, fear a child? Something didn't add up…

He stood up. "C'mon Naruto, un," he stated, dropping money onto the counter to pay for their breakfast. "If we don't leave now, you'll be late for the academy."

"Brat," Sasori stated, speaking for the first time since he had arrived at the ramen stand. He paid for his and Gaara's meal, before gesturing the younger boy to follow him. Gaara gripped the puppet master's hand as always, allowing him to be tugged towards the blonde brothers. "Bring us with you. We're new to Konoha and don't know where the academy is." The Hokage told him to bring Gaara to the academy to begin his ninja training and that he would inform the red-head's teacher himself.

Deidara narrowed his eyes at the puppet master. He wasn't sure what, but he could sense there was something about him that shouldn't be trusted. Of course, little Naruto didn't know any better and agreed to the red head's request against his adoptive brother's better judgement.

"YEAH!" he exclaimed, grabbing Gaara's other hand. "I'll show you the way! Believe it!" he announced before dragging Gaara and Sasori, who's hand was still gripped by the younger boy. Naruto grabbed Deidara's gloved hand and tugged him along as well, grinning broadly. The two older boys, positioned at the either end of the line, sweat dropped at Naruto's actions, while Gaara just laughed.

Deidara wasn't sure if he liked his brother's new found friendship in the red heads. Gaara seemed okay, but his older brother… there was definitely something fishy about him… The bomber glanced at said man out of the corner of his eye, and swore he'd find out what it is.

The band of brothers stood outside the academy gates, watching the other various parents or older siblings lead the children inside. A small pink haired girl ran through the gates after a blonde of the same age, while their mothers gossiped. A lavender-eyed girl clung to a slightly older lavender-eyed boy, shyly watching the other students play. A raven-haired teen, not much older than Deidara, carried a smaller version of himself on his shoulders; except the latter boy was more cheerful.

The strangest sight by far, was a small white puppy running excitedly through the throng of people, a small brunette with red markings on his cheeks following it. "Heel, Akamaru, HEEL!" he called exasperatedly after it.

"KIBA!" another brunette with similar facial markings, presumably the boy's sister, chased after the duo, trying to get both of them to slow down.

The white puppy continued to flee from his owners, thinking this was some kind of game. It stopped for a moment, picking up on an unusual scent. It followed the smell, weaving in and out of the various people of various ages until it reached two small boys, a blonde and red head. It sat down in front of them, and tilted his head.

'Ha! The mutt can smell me and Kyuubi. How precious!' Shukaku's voice echoed in Gaara's mind. The red head screwed up his face at the raccoon monster's statement. What was a Kyuubi supposed to be…? Before he could ask the demon this question, a small brunette charged around the corner and skidded to a halt behind the pet.

"Akamaru! If you run off like that again, Hana-nee-chan isn't going to let me bring you to school anymore!" he warned the puppy as he plopped down next to it to give it a hug. The dog barked in response and licked the boy's cheek, earning himself a laugh from his master.

"Kiba! Akamaru!" the female brunette from earlier called and approached them. She stood behind the boys, as she tried to catch her breath. "You two need to stop running off like that or I swear I'll get Mom to keep Akamaru at home with the other dogs!"

"But Hana-nee-chan!" the boy whined as the dog howled.

"No buts! I'm serious the time!" Hana said, placing her hands on her hips. "Someday, you two are going to run straight into trouble…" she sighed. She looked up from her brother and his best friend, finally noticing the other four boys that stood with them. The two blondes and the youngest red-head looked at her with bewildered expressions, whilst the oldest boy was un-amused. Hana smiled at them. "Sorry, these little scamps can get a little out of control sometimes…" she apologised, ruffling Kiba's hair.

"So we noticed," Sasori stated.

Hana laughed nervously, and examined the boys. She had seen the youngest blonde a few times when she picked up or left Kiba at the academy, but he was usually alone. She doesn't recall seeing the other three before. "Hey, are you guys new?" she asked. "I don't remember seeing you around here before…."

Sasori nodded. "Gaara and I just moved here yesterday," he told her, placing a hand on top of his adoptive brother's head. "In fact, we don't know our way around the village. Do you mind showing me to the Hokage's office? The blonde brat doesn't seem to be of much help…" he said, rolling his eyes.

Deidara glared at him. "Hey! I'm not exactly from around here too, un!"

"I can do that! I have no missions today anyway!" Hana beamed at them. "Oh, I'm Hana Inuzuka by the way and this is Kiba, my little brother and his pup Akamaru." She introduced them, earning a smile and a bark from each of them.

"I'm Sasori no Sabaku and my brother Gaara. The blondes are…" Sasori trailed off at the end, realising he didn't know their names.

"Deidara Uzumaki, un and-"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be the next Hokage! Believe it!" Naruto grinned, placing both hands on his waist as he stood proudly.

Deidara and Sasori sweat dropped at his outburst, having witnessed it for the second time that morning. Gaara just smiled as Kiba screwed up his face. "You're loud…" he stated, bringing the blonde out of his dreamland.

Hana racked her brains, trying to remember where she heard the name 'Naruto Uzumaki' before. She shook her head, deeming it unimportant. "Kiba, be a big boy and look after Naruto and Gaara until they get settled, alright?" she asked, kneeling down to the boy's level.

"But Hana-nee-chan," he whispered, a hint of fear in his eyes. "The other kids say Naruto's a monster!"

Hana blinked at this revelation, glancing at the grinning blonde boy. He didn't look like he was even a little dangerous. "Kiba… does he look like a monster to you?" Kiba glanced over at Naruto before looking back at his sister and shaking his head. "Exactly. Don't believe everything you hear, sport. Most of it isn't true. Now, promise me you'll play with them?"

Kiba sighed. "Okay Hana-nee-chan…"

"Good boy!" she grinned, ruffling his hair. Hana turned to the two teens behind her. "You guys want to head to the Hokage's now or wait to later?"

"Now's good," Sasori replied.

She grinned. "Well then follow me!" Hana began to walk in the direction the four boys had previously walked from, Sasori and Deidara following behind her. The three older siblings left their three younger brother's up to their own devices.

Gaara watched Sasori walk away, unsure if he was okay at being separated from his elder brother to be left with two complete strangers. He glanced at Naruto and Kiba. The blonde boy seemed to like him and want to be his friend and the brunette hadn't run from him so maybe, he could build some sort of friendship with both boys.

"Hana-nee-chan told me too look after you two which means you both have to do what I say!" Kiba grinned, crossing his arms. His canine companion barked in response before panting and wagging his tail.

"What? I didn't agree to that!" Naruto exclaimed, absolutely horrified at the idea.

Gaara sweat dropped. Okay, it might be a dysfunctional friendship the three might eventually build up, but it's still two more friends than he had in Suna. In fact, Gaara had a feeling he could grow to love Konoha. Things were looking better already.

A/N:

*Aka Janpa = Japanese for 'red jumper'. You know what they say, the guy in the red jumper always dies first. And since this guy is the first to die in my series, I thought the name fitted. ;)

Hana does know that Naruto has the Kyuubi sealed inside him, she just doesn't remember right now.

Also, Sasori isn't a teenager – he just looks like one (To me, anyway). Considering he turned himself into a puppet when he was roughly sixteen, he still must look sixteen. Therefore, as far as everyone who doesn't know his true age (in this story, he's in his late twenties) are concerned, he's sixteen.

Review?