Akatsuki's Week With Baby Itachi
Summary: Orochimaru tries to control Itachi with a jutsu, but it backfires and the Akatsuki are left with a few problems on their less than care-capable hands. Thank Kami it was reversible!
A few hours later, when everyone was gathering for brunch (even S-ranked criminals liked to sleep in every once in a while), a frazzled Kisame walked into the kitchen, scanning the room for his small partner. "Have you guys seen Itachi-san?"
Konan frowned from where she and Deidara were making pancakes, one of the few breakfast foods everyone liked and the bomber never blew up. "No. He stayed the night with you, right?"
"Yes, but he was gone this morning so I checked everywhere but didn't want to invade anyone's privacy so I came down here to ask you if he came back to you guys." The blue man answered, running a hand through his blue hair in worry, wondering where his little partner could have possibly disappeared to.
"He wasn't there when I came out of the shower," the kunoichi said, a worried look coming over her own face. Sure, there was no way Orochimaru - or anyone - could have gotten into their lair and taken the child without them noticing, but there was a number of other possibilities she'd rather not ponder. "Maybe he's with Pein now?"
"Maybe who's with me?" Said man asked as he walked into the room, finger combing his damp hair from his own shower.
"Itachi." Sasori answered, setting the table for the two cooks. "Have you seen him?"
"Not since last night, no." The ginger answered, a frown coming over his face before hjs purple eyes narrowed into a glare. "Don't tell me you lost him?"
"No, he's still in the hideout," Kisame quickly replied, reassuring their Leader so no punishment will be delivered. "I can sense his chakra around but I can't seem to pinpoint him."
"Meaning he's upstairs, un." Deidara concluded, knowing that the upstairs were shielded by seals so that if someone were to manage to enter their base without them noticing, they won't know immediately where to look. It prevented potential assassins from sneaking into their rooms while they slept. "But where?"
"You don't think ... he walked in on Hidan doing a ritual and is now hiding, do you?" Konan asked, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. Kisame's face suddenly settled into a scary glare.
"He better not or I am shredding Hidan to pieces and dumping him in a dumpster." The blue man growled out, turning around to head towards the miser and zealot's room, only to run into said zealot a few steps later.
"Why would you fucking dump me in a Jashin damned dumpster?" The silver haired man arched an eyebrow, noticing Kisame's unusually dark expression and the glares he was receiving from the others. "What? What are you pussies all staring at? Enjoying the view? Well, take a fucking picture, it will fucking last longer."
"Hidan, did you preform any rituals on base?" Pein growled out his question dangerously and Hidan frown in confusion.
"No. I fucking had to trek three miles from here to do my ritual. Three hellish miles! I had to wake up before the ass crack of dawn! This is so unfair! You're all disrespecting my religion! Jashin will have your souls for this!"
"So you've been out the entire morning?" Sasori interrupted before a religious rant can really begin.
"That's what I fucking said."
"Then where is Itachi-san!?"
"Shh!" A voice hissed behind Hidan and they all turned their attention to Kakuzu as he walked into the room. They sagged in relief when they saw a sleeping Itachi in his arms, his little head resting in the crook of the mummy-like ninja's head. "You'll wake the bozu up."
"Why was he with you and why does he look bone tired?" Kisame asked as he stepped forwards, planning on taking his partner from the miser, only for his hands to be slapped away. By a big file all of the Akatsuki recognized and dearly hated. It was the report that signaled how much will be deducted from their pay for the damages they have done to the hideout during the previous month.
"He snuck into my room and insisted on acting as my calculator for balancing the checkbooks and solving other financial problems. Kid's definitely a genius.." The oldest in the group replied, handing the file to Kisame, grabbing some food from Deidara's hands, much to the blond's immediate protests, and backing out of the room slowly. "He fell asleep when I started writing up your pays. I'll be going now. The stock market needs a little Uchiha-touch added to it."
"Get back in here with that child, Kakuzu!" Pein ordered and the miser made a run for it, Konan, Pein and Kisame hot on his tail. The chase woke Itachi up and he blinked a few times before slipping out of Kakuzu's hold without anyone even noticing in their chase, walking calmly over to the table and jumping into his seat. The four ninja were too busy duking it out to notice that the boy had escaped their conflict and was now yawning, waiting for food to be served. Deidara put a plate of pancakes in front of him and the sleepy Uchiha thanked him before starting to eat. The two artists regarded the raven haired one for a short while before Deidara broke the silence.
"Itachi, what do you think of art, un?" Sasori glared at the blond but was ignored by said blond in favor of the answer from the only member that never commented on art at all. Sasori would be lying if he said he wasn't curious about the answer but he knew how much Deidara disliked the elder Uchiha brother and that whatever Itachi said could set the sculptor off like one of his clay bombs.
"Art?" Itachi repeated, looking up from his food, blinking his big eyes at the bomber.
"Yes, un. What do you think is real art, un?"
Itachi paused to think over his answer before giving a shy smile. "I think art is the ability to cause a certain emotion in another person. When an artist manages to cause emotion in a spectator, I believe they have achieved their goal. Happiness, content, anger, disgust, awe, sadness, fear, excitement, love, sometimes even hatred and so much more ... As there are countless emotions we can't even name, I believe there are countless forms of art. And they can be brief or lasting impressions, just like art. Art is beauty in the eye of the beholder." He told them confidently. "And everyone will have their own interpretation. Tastes are not to be discussed." Itachi quoted, completely disarming Deidara's incoming rant about how art was a bang and all that jazz. In fact, the former Iwa nin was gawking at the boy, much to Sasori's amusement, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed with the well thought out and mature answer.
After a moment, Deidara shook his shock off like a dog would water from its fur before snatching up the child from his seat, dangling Itachi in front of him in a very awkward manner. Sasori instantly rose to his feet, unsure what the crazy blond will do now. "Deidara," he warned but his partner slash lover ignored him, focused on the Uchiha. His sudden excited grin meant trouble for everyone.
"I'm going to show you that art is a bang, un!" He exclaimed, taking the boy with him as he ran past the still squibbing quartet before Sasori could stop him.
The last he heard of them before they disappeared was Itachi's displeased and indignant shout of "But I'm not finished eating yet!"
00000
Deidara returned a hour before lunch with Itachi, looking pretty smug about having managed to entertain the Uchiha for three hours with his explosions deep in the woods and far away enough from the hideout that they hadn't been able to find them. Itachi had watched with the same excitement any ordinary child would as the clay sculptures came to life and exploded a few feet away from him, never powerful enough to hurt him and a bit of flair added in since Deidara was looking to impress, not detonate. And he had greatly enjoyed Itachi's bell like, infectious laughter as adrenaline from being so close to something so potentially dangerous coursed through his small body.
When they returned, though, a mother henning Kisame took Itachi away from the crazy firecracker and into their room while Pein chewed both Deidara and Kakuzu out for the way they were acting around Itachi. Konan then berated him as well for using Itachi to sort through his paperwork. Sasori and Hidan just watched the show from afar, enjoying their partners' and Leader's misery.
When lunch came around, the shark returned with his little weasel partner on his shoulders, the two of them talking about the sea and Kisame's home village, Itachi having happily told Kisame about Koniha and the Uchiha Clan. Kisame was rather impressed how a four year old could so easily takk about their clan and village without spilling a single vital piece of information about them in the process. Then again, this was Itachi-san. He knew how to say everything he needed to say without saying anything he mustn't say. It could be confusing as fuck but the Uchiha was who he was. He wasn't going to say anything about the Leaf that could harm his village.
Itachi liked dango. It was a well known fact. Little, four year old Itachi loved dango and would stop at nothing to get it, something Kisame and Konan learned that very day. Konan had just returned with new supplies for the next week or so when Kisame and Itachi entered the room. Itachi's little eyes, sharp even without his Sharingan, had focused in on the sweets that Konan had bought him for after lunch and asked if he could have one. Konan had answered that he could have all the sweets he wants but only after lunch, so he wouldn't spoil his dinner. Not even Itachi's pout would get him his favorite treat so he told Kisame to get one for him. The shark had seen the warning glint in Konan's eyes and sighed, telling Itachi it was for his own - and Kisame's - good. Itachi had then jumped off of Kisame's shoulder and deftly climbed the counter, startling the two adults with his fine mastery of chakra at even such a young age. He managed to get a hold of one of the dango before Konan snapped out of it and snatched the kid up with lightning reflexes, berating Itachi for such childish behavior. She forbade him from using chakra suction to do that again and put the dango in the cupboard overhead, closing and locking it.
Itachi had glared at her and at Kisame in betrayal before leaving the room, frustrated. Hadn't they told him he was allowed to act like a kid, to be a kid here? Why was what he did suddenly so bad? He had been acting his own age for once! Well, he guessed most kids his age weren't able to climb things with only the use of their chakra. He couldn't help it, though. He had learned that skill for a reason! He lived alone in the Uchiha main house for weeks on end at times. He needed to know how to reach foods and other things in high places after his mother left to help in the war efforts. He couldn't ask his uncles and aunts or cousins all the time. He was supposed to be the future head of the clan! They were supposed to rely on him one day. He can't appear week before them at least.
Itachi sighed, on the verge of grumbling to himself about how mean Konan and Kisame were. He would go ask Nagato-kun or Kakuzu to get him the dango but Kakuzu would no doubt want help with the checkbooks again or be too busy with them to help Itachi while Nagato-kun wouldn't disobey his girlfriend, even though he was the Leader. It's something Itachi learned a few months ago, when his father came back home due to a mild injury before he went back to war. His mother had been able to make his father submit due to something Itachi still didn't understand. He had asked her later, knowing his father would be too embarrassed to talk about it, but she had been embarrassed, too, saying Itachi was too young to know about such things. Whatever it was, Itachi had noticed that most women seemed to be able to do the same with their partners, too, so he guessed Konan-san did so, too, with Nagato-kun.
"Hey, brat." Itachi looked up with a scowl when he heard the calm voice of Sasori while the puppet master walked by in the hallway, heading towards the kitchen. "What's got you so glum?"
"Nothing," the child replied, resisting the urge to pout again. Chichiue said it was childish an unworthy of an Uchiha. Especially not the Uchiha heir, which Itachi was, despite him being only four.
"You know where Konan is?" The redhead asked, wondering what the little one was thinking about. Who knew a kid could have such a good poker face. Sure, it was still nothing in the level Sasori and especially the older Itachi had mastered but it was still pretty damn good.
Itachi tilted his head to the side, not answering but rather ... studying the Akasuna. There was something ... odd about the redhead. The Uchiha swore he saw little blue strings running through and over his limbs, as though strings for a, ironically, puppet master to pull on and control. Black eyes widened as something occurred to the Uchiha. "Sasori-san, how do you move?"
Sasori arched a fine red eyebrow at the little raven. So he noticed he was a puppet himself, huh? It had taken the others a few months of knowing him to see it. Perceptive as always, Uchiha Itachi was. "I use small amounts of my chakra to form really thin treads and attach them to the limbs of all my puppets. In the case of my own body, the strings don't lead to my fingers but rather my brain, so they function like nerves in a human would."
"Amazing." The boy breathed. "But how do you move your other puppets at all with just a few fingers?"
The puppet master didn't know where these questions were coming from or why Itachi wanted to know but he indulged in summoning a puppet from one of his scrolls and showing Itachi how everything worked. He enjoyed the awe he inspired and guessed Itachi's definition of art might be quite accurate. But he didn't have time to really get into the matter, as Leader-sama was waiting and he had other things to do. "Do you know where Konan is? Leader-sama wants to see her and I have other things I must attend to. We can continue this conversation later, okay?"
The dark haired child nodded and pointed towards the kitchen, just as Kisame came walking from that direction in search of his partner. Itachi glared at him, bid farewell to Sasori and continued down the hall. Sasori watched in amusement and sympathy as Kisame deflated, wondering what the shark had done to earn the kid's ire. Even Deidara got along with the kid. It must have been something really stupid. He wished Kisame luck and went on to find Konan, bringing her to Leader's office and going outside to train with Deidara.
Itachi, meanwhile, had snuck into the artists' room and had opened Sasori's spare puppets closet, finding a rather large collection. He tried out a few times to do as Sasori had and make those chakra strings but he only managed after a twentieth try or so. He still needed another ten minutes to get the basic movements of the puppet. It wasn't anything graceful or deadly like Sasori's control over his puppets were but Itachi figured it will have to do. He poked his head out of the room and felt around with his chakra as best as he could and, finding the hallway clear, he dashed towards the kitchen, his senses on high alert.
Once he was in the kitchen, he focused on maintaining the chakra strings, a far more taxing task than Sasori made it appear, and moved the puppet upwards until it was level with the cupboard containing his prize. He ignored the slowly boiling water for the stew Konan had been in the middle of making when she had been called away and instead made the puppet lift one of its arms and force open the lock with fumbling, wooden fingers. He moved the puppet to open the cupboard and take out three dango sticks before hastily closing the cupboard and rushing out of the room, puppet now in flying after him when he heard Konan walking back in. He hid inside Konan and Pein's room, knowing they will think he would never dare come into the room of the person about to chase him around for this little mischief. He ignored Konan's voice calling out for him and he ignored it twice as much when it was joined by Kisame, the traitor. Itachi just set down his puppet of choice on the bed Konan and Nagato had placed in their room for him and actually sat on the couple's big bed, contentedly eating his dango. When he was done, he ft rather sleepy and just laid down, falling asleep instantly, dango sticks still in hand.
00000
"What's with all the yelling?" Sasori asked in a bored tone of voice when he and Deidara returned for lunch. Konan had gotten everyone to join in on her search party for the young Uchiha after an hour of searching for him alone and not finding him anywhere. They were actually starting to worry. Again.
"What did Itachi-chan do, un?" The blond bomber asked with a curious voice, having witnessed just how polite and mild the child actually was. Mischief didn't go along with the mature Itachi they all saw in both the four year old and the fifteen year old.
"Konan wouldn't fucking give Itachi dango so the little bastard threw a bitch-fit and fucking broke the Jashin damned cupboard, how we still don't have a fucking clue, before hiding somewhere and we can't find him." Hidan oh so helpfully explained, glaring at the purplish-blue haired girl like it was all her fault.
"How did he reach the cupboard?" Sasori wondered.
"Chakra suction, un," Deidara guessed but Pein shook his head.
"None of his chakra touched an object in there. Not even the lock of the cupboard." The ginger haired man said with a sigh. "There's actually close to no chakra traces in the kitchen at all, so he hadn't jumped up either. And he didn't use kunai to climb up. Only the lock itself is damaged."
"If he was this tricky as a kid, no wonder he became such a splendid ninja." Sasori mused to himself with a shake of his head. "Did you check all the rooms?"
"Yeah. Sorry for going into your room without your permission, though." Konan apologized, running a hand through her hair, which had become frazzled an hour ago.
"I'm not!" Hidan exclaimed, grinning at Sasori. "You have quite the doll collection, Sasori. Do you fucking play with them often?" He mocked, causing the redhead to narrow his eyes.
"Why were you going through my stuff, Hidan?"
"I wasn't. Your closet was fucking open when I came in and I just took the opportunity to see what's inside. Privacy freak."
"Sasori-dana never leaves his closet open, un." Deidara said, catching on to what might have happened. "It would seem Itachi-chan managed to get in there by himself."
"He's not in there now." The silver haired man said, crossing his arms.
"He's not in our room, either." Kisame said, scratching the back of his head in confusion. Pein's eyes suddenly lit up.
"I think I know where he is." He said, turning on his heel and heading straight for his and Konan's bedroom, intent on finding the boy. The rest followed, interested with how this was going to turn out, Hidan walking at Pein's heels like a lost puppy. When they arrived at the door of the founders' bedroom, Pein opened the door without knocking, only to curse and duck as three seemingly senbon flew through the air. Hidan cursed up a storm as one hit his jugular, one his forehead and one went straight through his heart. He fell back into Kakuzu's arms, his cursing only getting louder. Had he been anyone else, he would be dead right now. Death by dango sticks. What an embarrassment. "Itachi, what the hell!?"
"Gomen," the sleepy child said as he rubbed his eyes from his nap, having reacted instinctively when the door had been so rudely thrown open.
"Is this where you have been this whole time?" The Leader asked incredulously, calmly walking over to Itachi abd picking him up. When he felt the boy snuggle against his chest, Pein was about to let the matter drop but Sasori's exclamation had him rethinking it.
"Is that one of my puppets!?" And indeed it was, carefully draped over the smaller bed. Itachi nodded and Sasori turned calculative eyes on him. "Did you use it to get to the dango?" He asked, pointing to where Deidara and Konan were taking out the three sticks out of Hidan, who was gagged by Kakuzu so he didn't traumatize the boy. Said four year old just nodded again, not fully awake yet. He didn't see how everyone paused in what they were doing to gawk at him, desperately wanting to go back to sleep but knowing that it was rude to fall asleep on someone.
"I'm never denying him dango again if he'd do all of this for it." Was all Konan said and the others nodded in agreement.
Itachi just continued rubbing his eyes.
00000
"Yo, asshole," Hidan greeted that night when Itachi walked into the living room, once again dressed in his pajamas. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"I wasn't sleepy." The boy replied, climbing onto the couch to sit next to the Jashinist, turning curious eyes to the screen. "What are you watching?"
"Some horror, gore flick with lots and lots of screaming and blood." The pink eyed man replied, studying the kid for a while. This kid never ceased to surprise them. From chakra suction - only three saw that, so far - to chakra strings, this kid had better chakra control than most adults. They didn't know if it was because grown up Itachi is still dormant somewhere inside of him or if it was because Itachi had always been just that great. "A kind of movie you probably shouldn't be watching."
"I saw war. I don't think this will affect me as much." Was the calm reply, Itachi snuggling up to Hidan's warmth like a cat. "Blood in real life is always worse."
"You've been near freshly spilled blood before?" That surprised Hidan. He himself had first been near spilled blood when he was ten and had killed for the first time when he was eleven. He knew Kisame, Pein and Konan had definitely been near spilled blood long before that age, what with Kisame being a ninja from the infamous Bloody Mist and the other two being war orphans. Kakuzu, Sasori and Deidara, he didn't know about, but he had thought at least Itachi had seen blood spilled later in his life. Then again, the kid had been ANBU at the age when Hidan had first killed. Of course he had seen blood spilled before Hidan. He had probably killed before then, too.
"I spilled it." The raven replied casually, not even flinching when the villain in the film slaughtered three women, all three screaming and dying gruesome deaths. Hidan paled and it wasn't from the movie.
"W-what?"
Itachi looked up at him and the look in his eyes would have been enough to forever dry up Hidan's thirst for blood and killing. They were large and would have been innocent had they not been as red as the blood they were talking about, two tomoe lazily spinning around his pupil. In those powerful eyes of the Uchiha prodigy, Hidan saw unmatched pain, a lost innocence that should not have been lost for years to come. Itachi looked empty like this. Like the blood he spilled had drained the life out of him. His eyes were so cold, not at all like the cool, indifferent looks he shoots everyone.
"A few months ago, while I was still with father on the battlefield, in the camp, he took me down to the war zone. Well, actually," the boy looked away, those deadly eyes focusing on the acted out massacre. Hidan wondered if it was safe to let someone who had massacred their own family to watch such a movie. For all of them. "He told me to come there by myself. I watched as they fought until dawn. There were bodies everywhere ... " The boy's eyes were hazy as he recalled, the tomoe spinning faster, more dangerously. "And at dawn, I went down there. The battle was over. We won. Iwagakure's ninja had left. There were dead, dying and injured everywhere. A man called out for water and I ran over to give him some, but he thought I was a ninja and jumped up to try and kill me." Itachi brought his knees up to his chest, squeezing tight, his fists white from how hard he was holding onto his arms. "I slashed his throat, a nice, easy and quick kill. He died in seconds. My father told me that people kill each other needlessly in war when I asked, that war was warriors killing each other for no reason other than because the higher ups wanted more power." The boy let out a shuddering breath and Hidan wished he was better with kids so he could somehow comfort him without it seeming awkward. "I hate war. I would do everything to stop it." His eyes flashed, the tomoe spinning incredibly fast for one circle before slowing down and fading back to black slowly. The boy looked up at Hidan, a small smile on his face. "But Akatsuki is working towards peace, too, so I have nothing to worry about."
Hidan was struck dumb by such innocence as Itachi once again turned to look forwards, not watching the movie but rather gazing into the distance with those seemingly all seeing eyes of his.
"I will train hard so I can become as strong as you guys and help you achieve peace." The little Uchiha declared with determination. "It's a goal worth fighting and dying for. Peace."
"Yeah," the Jashinist said, drawing the little Sharingan user closer to himself. "I guess it is." Even though he was a true believer in the way of Jashin, he still liked the thought of not having to fight from time to time. Just a chance to laze about with Kakuzu in bed or hang out with the other Akatsuki members. That was a very nice thought. But this conversation brought up a question that no one had ever been able to answer.
Why was Itachi in the Akatsuki?
It was obvious the guy wasn't so big on killing and world domination and he hated illusions, working to always see through them so he must have known that the peace Pein promised wasn't the real peace he obviously craved. What was he doing in the Akatsuki then? Did he have nothing better to do?
"Blood doesn't splatter like that from a cut throat," the displeased comment brought Hidan back to reality and he looked down to his scowling movie companion. He looked to the screen where he saw what had the Uchiha so pouty and he couldn't help but snicker. Sure, this boy had killed at four for the first time but he was still not an expert. That will probably come years later, when he joins the ANBU. He was still an amateur right now and Hidan felt it his responsibility to give Itachi a crash course on all the ways to slit throats and the way they bled afterwards.
Screw Pein and Konan and Kisame mother henning the boy. He had seen and done far worse than they thought at this age. And while Hidan would actually give anything to forget the moment of dawning realization that Itachi already wasn't so innocent, he knew he couldn't rewind time to stop Itachi from growing up so fast.
Perhaps he could actually treat the kid like a kid while he was like this. This was a second chance for Itachi to have a childhood, even if it only turned out to be temporary.
00000
At two in the morning, Itachi woke up from his spot leaning on the snoring Hidan, the two having fallen asleed while watching the SAW marathon. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before sitting up, trying to ignore Hidan's loud snores. He knew he would never go back to sleep with how loud the silver haired man was so he got off the couch silently and headed towards his room. It was too dark for him to clearly see so he kept close to the walks, holding on to the railing as he climbed the stairs and once again touching the wall as he headed towards his and Kisame's room.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when thunder grumbled outside, cursing his bad luck. Just great. He hated thunder and lightning, ever since he saw the war especially. The lightning hurt his eyes and the thunder reminded him of the sounds of battle. He knew he'll have to get over it at some point but that point still wasn't here. He hurried towards the bedroom and quickly got in, closing the door silently. He was relieved to see that the window had the blinds closed and the curtains drawn, at least stopping lightning from hurting his eyes. He started walking towards his bed when he heard the thunder outside yet again. He couldn't help but flinch and he looked enviously towards his roommate, who was sleeping like a log.
Then he got an idea, an indulgence he hadn't gotten to enjoy since he was two. He looked around, as if expecting someone to be watching him, before he deftly climbed up onto the blue man's bed, snuggling up close to Kisame while making sure not to disturb the shark. Kisame just mumbled something in his sleep before his large arms snatched Itachi up and drew him into his embrace. Itachi ignored the little squeak of surprise he gave and instead cuddled up closer to the man he had known at first sight would protect him. When thunder rolled above the hideout again, Itachi didn't even flinch, enjoying the warmth and the smell of the sea that Kisame was emitting. A small smile spread across pale lips and the Uchiha easily fell asleep.
And when Kisame woke up the next morning to the sight of his little partner cuddled up in his arms, he was even more love struck than before.
00000
Later that afternoon, good news finally reached the hideout in the form of the returned Zetsu and Tobi. They have apparently found Orochimaru and had managed to get out of him that the jutsu was incomplete and will wear off after a week before the snake Sannin escaped them.
"It was supposed to be a mind control technique, something that will last more than long enough for Orochimaru to take Itachi's body," Zetsu had explained to the other members of the Akatsuki, Konan off playing with Itachi to distract him. "But he had messed up somewhere and had ended up turning Itachi into a child. He then tried taking Itachi with him but Itachi is apparently a splendid fighter at this age already. He stabbed Orochimaru and the bastard had to regenerate before escaping. He started researching the jutsu he used a bit more and found out it was temporary and lasts only a week. When we found him, he was planning on trying to kidnap Itachi, but I think he won't do that now. Not after we told him that we were taking care of him. Not after a four year old kicked his ass."
"Of course he fucking kicked his ass." Hidan said off handedly. "He killed already at this age. He's obviously a BAMF ninja!"
"Tobi doesn't understand. How could have Itachi-san killed already? He looks like such a good boy!"
"Apparently his jackass of a father had taken him out to see the war and he was attacked by some bastard he was trying to help. The fucker got what he deserved, a slit throat, but the kid seems to be traumatized by it." The zealot then turned towards Kakuzu, who just happened to be near Kisame and Hidan changed his initial question to something else. "Do you know when he fucking awoke his Sharingan?"
"Um, at eight?" The shark answered uncertainly. "Itachi-san says that he got it after his first friend was killed in front of him. Something about the Sharingan needing strong emotions to awaken."
"Then why the Jashin damned hell does he have it now?"
"What?!" They all yelled. Well, everyone but Kakuzu. He looked thoughtful.
"It is possible that he had been unaware of awakening it. After all, I doubt he had the luxury or taking a mirror with him to war. They probably only found out about his Sharingan when someone else saw it. Although," he paused with a frown. "I heard that there are instances where someone awakens their Sharingan but cannot use it until they get stronger. Maybe he was too young?" They all thought about it before Pein shook his head.
"We can speak about this with the grownup Itachi. We need to focus on his turning back into the grownup Itachi. Will it hurt?"
"Orochimaru didn't know. And if he did, he didn't say anything." The two halves of Zetsu answered.
"Guess we'll find out in three days, un." Deidara pointed out uneasily, not liking the idea of a child being in pain. Especially not a child he'd been helping take care of just yesterday.
"Where is he, anyway? We haven't seen him yet. You just contacted us and sent us to find Orochimaru." Zetsu commented, looking around for the pipsqueak Uchiha.
"You would have come in real handy yesterday," Kakuzu snorted, still embarrassed that they had spent an hour searching for a child. A genius little Uchiha ninja child but a child none the less. Although, after what Hidan had told them ... Perhaps Itachi had never truly been a child at all.
"He's playing with Konan now. No doubt they're buried in origami." Pein answered, shaking his head at his girlfriend's over excitement at having around someone as fascinated by her origami as she was.
"Oh! Oh! Tobi wants to see! Tobi wants to see!" The masked childish individual exclaimed before sprinting out of the room before anyone could suggest it wasn't such a bright idea. They all sighed and followed after him, most curious about what will happen. The fifteen year old Itachi avoided Tobi like the plague. How will little Itachi respond?
Now, Tobi knew the Uchiha had been turned into a child but actually seeing it was a whole different matter. The second he entered the living room and those big black eyes fell on him, nostalgia hit him like a brick wall to the groin, if that made any sense. He just continued staring at the four year old, lost in memories of parading around the little genius for shits and giggles and impressing girls - one girl in particular.
When Uchiha Itachi tilted his little head to the side like a curious kitten or a crow, Tobi disappeared.
Uchiha Obito broke.
The masked man jumped across the room, scooped the adorable boy up into his arms and cuddled the life out of him, squealing like he would deny for the rest of his life since the boy was born whenever he got a hold of his little cousin. "Itachi~!"
Said prodigy blinked up at the orange mask before recognition flashed across his onyx eyes. "Obito-nii?"
Obito only cuddled the Uchiha some more, getting a small smile and a faint blush for the show of affection only he had ever showed this little boy. Sure, after Obito's 'death' and when Itachi grew up a little, he'd meet Shisui who would also be openly affectionate with his younger cousin but never to the degree Obito had been. And while Sasuke was a cuddler until the massacre, he was younger than Itachi and it just wasn't the same.
"Oh, how cute you are! I almost forgot that you're already a heart-breaker!" He gushed at his little cousin, grinning behind his mask when that blush intensified. He'd grown so used to the cold, indifferent mask that Itachi wore nowadays that he'd completely forgotten how easy it had been to get a reaction out of his younger cousin. Of course, he had also almost forgotten the beautiful smile he used to make until he just saw it again. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm in trouble and the Akatsuki is helping me." Was the innocent reply of his younger cousin. ''They're protecting me from Orochimaru-san, since he attacked me for some reason.'' He then took in the sight of Obito and frowned when he noticed the size difference. ''How are you so much older all of a sudden?''
Obito hated Itachi's perceptiveness even when he was younger. It prevented people from lying to him, even if it was only the small, white lies that would have spared him pain or his innocence. It also prevented Obito from lying to the older Itachi. He wondered if the teen knew he was not really Uchiha Madara. ''It's what war does to people. It makes them grow up extra fast, which is why you were taken from the battlefield. You know how protective aunt Mikoto is of you.''
Itachi just nodded along, still too young to know about the aging process and the Uchiha had been merciful enough not to make him learn anatomy so young yet, other than the places to stab if he's in a fight. Itachi smiled up at him again, startling him with how much emotion Itachi was openly showing. ''It's good that you're here, too, Obito-nii.''
Obito placed a finger to Itachi's lips, silencing the child. Itachi blinked at him in confusion. ''You need to call me Tobi, here.'' He explained gently. ''No one is to know that I am your cousin, okay?''
''But why?'' The little genius inquired and Obito fumbled for a good response.
''It's for our protection.'' He settled for. ''If someone were to find out I was here, they'd know you were here, too, and they'd come for the Uchiha heir. We can't allow that, now cane we?'' The little raven shook his head.
''We can't, Tobi-nii.''
The older cousin's lips twitched beneath his mask. He heard the others coming in behind them and he knew they heard that, so he snatched Itachi up and spun him in a circle, earning himself some startled laughter from the child. ''Waah! Itachi-san called Tobi Tobi-nii! Itachi-san is so cute!'' He was immensely glad that he was allowed to play a fool in front of the Akatsuki, as it allowed him to dote a little on his cousin like he had not been able to since Itachi arrived.
''Tobi, put him down before you drop him, un.'' Deidra snapped, moving to take the child from the childish grownup. But Tobi moved out of his grasp, holding Itachi close to his chest like an overprotective mother when faced with creepy men.
''No! Tobi not let Itachi-san go! Tobi play with Itachi-san! Deidara-senpai more dangerous than Tobi!'' He started running when he saw the pissed off expression on Diedara's face and the blond gave chase, Itachi screaming with laughter as he and his older cousin were chased.
''We won't be able to get any peace and quiet now, are we?'' Sasori drying asked, not really expecting an answer. It was obvious. Still, they all enjoyed Itachi's laughter greatly, especially since they knew they might never hear it again after the week was up.
00000
The fifth day after Itachi was turned into a four year old child, the Akatsuki decided to take the child out to the nearby town since there was a festival there. They had quickly bought him a nice little kimono, black with red clouds, which they found great amusement in. But Itachi had made a request they found very hard to deny so they had told a tailor to stitch on a red and white fan on the back, proudly proclaiming Itachi the Uchiha that he was.
The little genius found great amusement in the antics of his protectors as they got ready for the festival in the hideout. Kisame was chasing Hidan around for teasing him about his blue kimono - the Jashinist had suggested that he simply go naked if he was going to chose a kimono the color of his skin - while Pein held onto the boy so Tobi couldn't steal Itachi and run off again. Konan and Deidara were fighting over how they should tie Kakuzu's obi while said man threatened to kill everyone - but Itachi; damn that overly emotional, defective heart - if they spent too much money. Sasori and Zetsu just watched as the others made fools of themselves. Neither could believe how relaxed a child could make them all feel.
When they finally set out, Itachi was riding on Kisame's shoulders, since he was the tallest of them all, enjoying everything he could see from his high perch. The shark man had a careful grip on his little partner's leg as he walked through the crowds, pausing whenever the soft spoken child asked him to so he could better see something. The flush of enjoyment on Itachi's cheeks made the Akatsuki very glad they had indulged in going to the festival. It would be a wonderful memory for Itachi, if he retained any when he got back to his usual age.
They all played a few games, winning Itachi small stuffed animals that seemed to only elicit more laughter from the child. People were staring at them, they, too, enjoying the rare sound that was falling from their youngest member's lips. Itachi had always garnered a lot of attention, with his intellect and his looks. Kakuzu had been right when he said that the Uchiha beauty had culminated in Itachi. Even as a child, people stopped to admire that same Uchiha beauty and grace. Itahci's smile only made him even more angelic.
It also made it impossible for anyone to deny him anything, which is how this mess had started to begin with.
Itachi had seen a throwing game with little shuriken for kids who wanted to play ninja. He had been fascinated with such a game and had asked to be allowed to play it. Not sure if they should allow a shurikenjutsu master to play a child's game and get them unwanted attention - adults winning games was okay, but not these rigged kiddie games where one was never meant to win and Itachi would win; shurikenjutsu master and all. Still, Itachi had had such a hopeful look in his eyes that they had been unable to say now and Kakuzu had given Itachi enough ryo to pay for one turn. The little Uhciha had beamed up at them and had ran off to play the game, leaving quite a few people giggling with how cure the kid was. The Akatsuki stayed back to observe if there was any threat heading towards Itachi's direction while he was otherwise occupied so they can react before said possible threat was to make its way to him.
Itachi found out that the game was rigged as soon as he was handed the shuriken. A normal child wouldn't have noticed, or even a normal adult that had never held a real shuriken. One of the edges was significantly heavier than the other three, which would as a result make the shuriken fly in a path not intended or drop to the floor altogether. The end result would still be the same. The shuriken would never make it to the bullseye. Itachi resisted the urge to glare at the cheat of a man as he smiled down at the newest ''sucker''. Well, Itachi wasn't about to fall for his trick. He felt the shuriken up until he found the right balance and took careful aim.
The spectators were left gapping when Itachi released all three shuriken at once, letting them sail towards the same target until two suddenly arched, one heading towards the left target and one towards the right. Even the Akatsuki were impressed with such mastery of shuriken at such a young age, despite having seen Itachi do even more impressive maneuvers with the weapons. All three shuriken hit their targets at the same exact moment and the crowd cheered for the cute little boy. The Uchiha smirked at the phony, who in turn glared at the child and accused him of cheating. His honor put into question, the little ninja had glared in turn, startling the man with the first version of the Uchiha Glare of Death that Itachi mastered, and the boy took out a handful of real shuriken, hurling them at all the targets and hitting each and every one. Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, the Akatsuki made to move to get their youngest member and maybe have Kakuzu and Kisame intimidate the man into giving in or simply letting Hidan sacrifice him to Jashin, when the crowd suddenly started pushing them around, all of them protesting the man's accusation of the child being a cheater.
The pushing around became an outright fight in a matter of seconds and the S-ranked criminals found themselves having to wrestle with drunken men or have slap fights with delusional women who have inhaled who knows what. In the meantime, Itachi had slipped from the fight, not wanting to be crushed under their feet. He avoided the food fight that had started outside the circle of wrestlers and ran away from the incoming food from the children who had taken the chance to cause mischief. They, of course, couldn't hit Itachi but the Uchiha still ran away, never one to enjoy a conflict.
Of course, this ended in Itachi getting separated from the Akatsuki and left him completely lost. And even though he were a genius, Itachi was still very much a child and the thought of not finding his protectors left him in distress. He tried finding them by himself, but he ended up just wandering around aimlessly, getting more more distressed by the minute. People didn't seem to care that a child was lost and in distress and just continued with their own festivities.
Just as he felt tears threatening to flow down his face, Itachi felt himself being lifted up by a pair of gentle hands. He was soon turned to face the person before he could start panicking and he instantly recognized the silver hair and the face mask the man wore.
''Hey, there. You okay?'' Hatake Kakashi asked gently, trying not to spook the boy. Itachi wanted to ask Kakashi the same question he had asked Obito, but it occurred to him that the answer must be the same. Instead, he just nodded his head but Kakashi had seen the tears gathered in his eyes. ''Are you lost?'' The Uchiha nodded again and the silver haired ANBU frowned.
''Kakashi, what's going on?'' An unknown brunet asked as he came to stand behind the Copy Nin, instantly seeing the cute little child. ''Oh, hello there.'' He looked back at the older man with a frown on his face. Kakashi gave him a blank look, recognizing the look on the brunet's face as the one he usually still wore when his old ROOT training kicked in.
''He's just lost, Tenzou.''
''He looks familiar.'' The brunet, Tenzou, insisted, regarding the child, studying his ash colored hair and black eyes.
''A lot of kids look like this.'' Kakashi said in exasperation. Itachi frowned. Kakashi hadn't recognized him. The younger man didn't seem to know him. Were they really Konoha shinobi? Everyone in Konoha knew about him, the prodigal heir of the proud Uchiha Clan. And he wasn't being vain or anything. His father had practically paraded throughout the village with some other elders when he was born, as though he were some sort of savior or whatever.
''Doesn't he look like someone we know?'' The brunet insisted, scratching the back of his head as he thought. Itachi suddenly had a bad gut feeling that something bad would happen if they realized who he was. He didn't know what it was that was telling him this but he had always followed his gut feeling before and it always came out better for it. Like when he had took one of his aunts' old slippers instead of his uncle's. Sure, he had looked ridiculous with pink slippers and many a kids from the Clan had laughed at him, but the id who had taken the uncle's slippers had fallen prey to one of Obito-nii's pranks and had smelly feet for weeks to come. No one knew what Obito-nii had used for the prank, just that it had taken hours of soaking the boy's feet in sour milk for the smell to finally evaporate. He still had smelly feet, as far as Itachi knew. ''I know, he looks like-''
''Oh, there you are, Ita-chan!'' Itachi sighed in relief when Konan ran up to them, taking the boy from the silver haired man's grip and cuddling him up to her. She had seen the silver haired ninja and recognized him instantly but she had panicked when she saw that he was holding their youngest member. Thinking fast, she had ran at him full speed and snatched the boy up before he could blink and was now cuddling him like an overly worried mother. Which is exactly how she felt, to be honest. She had never been this fast in her life. She was careful to cover the red and white fan on Itachi's back, cursing their inability to deny the child the Uchiha symbol on his clothing. If she wasn't careful now, these two Konoha ANBU will no doubt notice it and things could only get worse from then on. She fussed over the child before turning to the two 'nice men'. ''Thank you for finding my son. My husband and I were worried sick!'' She bowed respectfully towards the Leaf ninja, feeling like puking her guts but knowing she has to keep up appearances.
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head in confusion. ''Um, it's nothing?'' The one known as Tenzou was still staring at Itachi and Konan stiffened when she saw his eyes widening. Konan realized why when she realized that they had been in partial darkness up until now, but as a man selling rice paper lanterns passed by, their light illuminated Itachi's oh too Uchiha features and the brunet had recognized the youngest ANBU in history with ease, despite his young age.
''We have to go!'' Konan rushed out before running away, hearing the brunet start after her and Kakashi calling after him.
''It's Itachi, Kakashi-senpai!'' She heard the silver haired man curse as well before his footsteps joined in on the chase, both calling for her to halt. When she ignored them, they started hurling warning shuriken and kunai at her that, had they not thought her to be a poor woman Itachi had tricked with his genjutsu, would have killed her. Itachi was staring over her shoulder in fright and shock and Konan wanted to guide his head to face forwards, but she had no time to readjust him.
She suddenly felt a hand on her weapons pouch and then a gentle tugging before she heard the sound of fumbling with her kunai and shuriken. A second lather, the sound of weapons being thrown and the thunks they made as they connected followed, Kakashi and Tenzou cursing as the strategic throwing of shuriken and kunai made them stumble unless they wanted to have their foot stabbed by a kunai or ducking to save their head from being struck by shuriken. It was sloppy, all things considered, but she knew Itachi only wanted to slow them down. She was grateful for his assistance but she knew she didn't have all that many weapons in her hostler. She preferred her paper over kunai and shuriken, Itachi's preferred weapon besides his katana.
Itachi saw that the two were gaining on them when he stopped hurling weapons at them. He now only had two kunai and two shuriken left, as well as some trap spikes and some wire. He thought over his provisions before turning to look ahead, where he saw that there was a left turn into an alley. ''Konan-san, take the left turn.''
Konan wanted to question him but saw that his eyes were indeed the red of the Sharingan, although there were only two tomoe and not three, like she was used to. He was calculating something in that bright little head of his and she will have to trust his plan to get them out of this. So she turned the sharp corner and heard the dropping of the spikes and then wire being stretched. She was curious as to what he was doing but she had to concentrate on running around the barrels in the tight ally, jumping over overturned boxes and the such.
She heard their pursuers follow them down the alley and prayed that whatever Itachi had thought up would work. It, apparently, did, as Kakashi and Tenzou jumped overhead and Itachi hurled his last two shuriken at them, the throwing stars bouncing off the wall and separating and going on either side of the two men, only to bound back and encircle them once, tightly, before embedding in the walls. When the grunted in pain, Konan dared to look up and over her shoulder, only to see that Itachi had used the wire to connect the two shuriken so that they would restrain the ninja. But there was no way those two shuriken could hold up two fully grown men!
Which Itachi must have known, because he took careful aim and threw the two kunai, their tips stabbing the wall barely visible through the holes of the two shuriken. As the throwing weapons were now, the two ninja will be restrained for at least a few minutes, enough for Konan and Itachi to disappear.
''Nice going, Itachi!'' It would seem he really was a master of shurikenjutsu. Konan wouldn't have been able to do this if she had had ten minutes to plan it out and if she were standing still. She guessed his Sharingan had helped with that, especially since it was rather dark in the alleyway.
''Can we please go home, Konan-san?'' The boy asked, not at all sounding affected by the praise. She guessed this was far too much conflict for a boy who hated it.
''Of course,'' she answered, continuing on her way, knowing that there was no way those two would stay like that for much longer. In fact, just ten meters later, she heard them going after them again. She cursed under her breath when she felt them coming closer, knowing they will catch up to them if they didn't do something, but Itachi had no more weapons and he still didn't know how to use ninjutsu or genjutsu. She prepared to use her paper when she heard Kisame.
''Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!'' A giant wave of water hit the streets, heading towards the pair of ANBU, the brunet cursing and doing some earth jutsu to try and absorb the water while Sasori sent a puppet to pluck up Konan and Itachi from the street.
''Let's get out of here,'' Pein commanded, taking the slightly shaken up Itachi from the tired Konan and leaping off of the roof, the rest of his organization quick to follow. Deidara stayed behind long enough to hurl one of his explosive clay figurines at the Leaf ninja.
''Katsu!''
The Akatsuki left the village with a blast.
When the smoke cleared up, Tenzou looked at his captain with confusion. ''Was that really a kid Uchiha Itachi?''
''I don't know,'' the silver haired man replied with a tired sigh, running his hands through his hair. ''What I do know is that we'll have to pay for this.'' He gestured towards the damage the Akatsuki had left in their wake, not that they knew it was them.
Tenzo had anime tears rolling down his cheeks. ''Damn, Itahci really is evil.''
Kakashi didn't reply, still thinking about the child version of their once teammate. Had that really been Itachi at all? The shurikenjutsu the kid used would suggest so. But if it really was Uchiha Itahci, how had that happened to him? And why was he with those strange people?
But he didn't have the time to ponder that. He would have to make these people realize that they had just been doing their job and hadn't been the ones to attack their village.