The day after the hospital Incident, Mikoto was finally able to return home with the newborn Sasuke. Heiwa was at the Uchiha compound often to assist the matriarch until she was cleared to be active around the house again. Koka and Kaede accompanied her.
Itachi had been relieved that Koka acted like her normal self after she had been attacked. Koka was a silent spitfire. He did not know what to do when she cried. He simply did not like it. None the less, he kept a more watchful eye on the girl. Koka's ability, like his mother had said, would make people want to use her. But now he realized that would not be the only problem. Some people, like that man, could attack her for what she knew, even if they did not know about her ability.
At first he had been worried about having to watch both her and baby Sasuke at the same time. Koka needed protection, even if the young child denied it. But Sasuke was his infant brother who Itachi simply had to watch over. Thankfully he never had to choose.
To everyone's but Itachi and Kaede's surprise, Koka was quite taken with the baby Sasuke. Whenever the group of females were at the Uchiha compound, Koka was often found near Sasuke. Therefore, without fail, whenever Koka was around, Itachi was there as well. Despite Itachi's apparent protectiveness of the smaller girl, she still remained quiet and aloof, if not cold. It was during one of those days that Shisui and Kaede got the shock of their lives.
The two older children had taken to playing together since their younger counterparts rarely strayed from the baby's side. The two had just gone inside to get a snack when the sight in the living room caused them to pause.
Baby Sasuke lay sleeping in his makeshift bed the children had made him. But Itachi and Koka were sitting nearby, and close together. The younger children were carrying on a conversation. One more advance than children their ages should have been capable of. Itachi was explaining chakra to Koka. And Koka in turn was listening adamantly and understanding what was being said.
Kaede and Shisui exchanged a glance before continuing on their way. Interrupting the moment between the two younger children would feel wrong.
Koka sat silently as Itachi explained how to use chakra to her. She had been watching out the window watching the shinobi go by after Sasuke fell asleep when something surprised her. Most of the people going by had done so at a normal pace, but, without warning two men suddenly jumped to a roof. The speed of it had surprised her and she let out a quiet 'Oh'.
"They used chakra to jump higher." Itachi had heard her quiet surprise. She shot a glare at him.
"I know that." Her head turned back to the window and Itachi turned back to the book he had in his lap. It was not long before Koka caught his attention.
"But, how do they use it?" Itachi looked up to see Koka looking at him. The young Uchiha blinked in surprised at being addressed but answered anyway.
"Well, chakra is formed through physical energy and spiritual energy channeled through the chakra pathways. Then it is controlled in various methods, usually hand signs."
Koka looked down at her hands and flexed them before looking back up at Itachi. "Can you mold it yet?"
Once again Itachi was surprised and thought of how to answer her. "As clan children, and more specifically, as Uchiha, we begin chakra training as soon as we are able. I have only recently started." He waited for Koka's next question, knowing her interest had been peaked.
"Can you teach me after you learn?" Now Itachi was really stumped. Not only had Koka been engaging him in a peaceful conversation, she had been asking him questions, and asking him to teach her.
"I don't know if I would qualify as a good teacher." He saw disappointment flash across her face before hastily adding, "But I can try to help you." There was a flicker of relief across her face, but it passed so quick that Itachi was unsure of whether or not he actually saw it.
The two of them lapped into a peaceful silence once more.
Later that night, Itachi was scouring through the study when his mother found him. So engrossed in what he was doing, the young Uchiha was startled when Mikoto spoke.
"Itachi? What are you doing in here?" The young boy looked up at his mother with a serious expression.
"Koka asked me to teach her about chakra." He became confused when his mother began to laugh quietly.
"Are you looking for something to help her?" Itachi nodded.
"Koka isn't a clan child, so her pathways aren't as developed as an Uchiha's." The young boy had a small look of distress about him. "I promised I would help her though."
Mikoto smiled at her eldest son. He really was a kind child. She stepped into the room, looking through a particular shelf. Itachi watched with interest. He had forgotten that his mother would be able to help him with this type of thing.
"You forget, despite many of the Uchiha being shinobi, some are civilian. Occasionally their children become shinobi and cannot be trained the same way as say I was or you are." Itachi nodded as his mother spoke. He had forgotten.
With an exclamation of triumph, Mikoto pulled down a small book from the shelf. It had been higher than Itachi's reach was, and would have been hard for the young boy to find. She handed it to him.
"Here. This is what you are looking for." Itachi took the book from his mother and looked it over.
It was a thin, plain book titled Chakra Learning for Beginners. It would have been easy to miss. He smiled up at his mother.
"Thank you, mother." Mikoto smiled at her son and sent him off to bed.