I've editted the errors out of the last chapter :)
One year later, Itachi felt déjà vu once again. Here they were, he was watching as Sasuki, Naruto and Kiba played in their backyard, and Hana was walking towards him.
"Itachi," Hana said, with a much calmer voice than before.
"Hana," Itachi replied with the same tone.
"Thank you for having me and my brother," she bowed and left without letting Itachi say anything else. She picked up the four-year old Kiba who was whining about something or the other. Soon, Shikamaru and Chouji were picked up by Shikaku, too.
Itachi thought and saw little changes and still realized how much things are different.
For one, Hinata and Neji are attending the gathering since after the kidnapping. The Hyuuga finally started putting trust in the village after what had happened.
Flashback
The incident with the Hyuuga was carefully thought out by the Hokage and the clan leaders. It was dismissed and continued a few times over the next days. After the meeting went on to be more secretive, the Kumo nin weren't allowed to be in the same room anymore. Then even the ANBU weren't allowed to witness. A few of the clan leaders gave their own clan secrets away to help with the case. They related their thoughts, reasonable or not.
"I have a jutsu that can take control of another's body," Inoichi stated. "How about we make him attack the Raikage and then the Raikage will kill him? We would be getting justice for the kidnapping but we would not own the blame."
"It is a good idea," Shikaku commented. "But unless you've made a version that can take control of someone from miles away, it will pose a great risk. They'll figure it out and give a chase before we escape their borders."
"We can use my Flying Thunder God technique to escape a few miles before the Raikage reaches us," Minato added.
"No," Shikaku said. "It will be dangerous for you to leave Konoha now. There might be a trap or an ambush waiting somewhere."
"Then, I can send in the Chunin I've taught the technique to."
"The Kumo would be suspicious if we sent for more than three people as guards."
"We are getting nowhere," Hiashi interrupted.
"We must think this out carefully," Fugaku commented. "One wrong move might mean war."
"The Uchiha is right," Shikaku agreed.
"Perhaps we should send a dog after the Kumo nin after a while. We'll blame wild animals," Tsume suggested.
"I have something," Shibi finally spoke. Everyone turned their heads to listen to the words that rarely left the man's lips.
"I have been breeding insects as you should all know from knowing my clan. Some of them carry poisons, ranging from fast acting ones that kill instantly in one sting, to ones that would grow with the victim's body. They serve different purposes and I should know that the slower toxins would benefit us most in this situation."
The other clan members listened intently. He may rarely speak but when he does, he seems to have a lot to say.
"I can send in a female bug that the nin will carry about until he reaches Kumo. When he's settled and the Raikage starts to think that we've let bygones be bygones, I'll send in another bug. A male that will sting the victim and maybe a few others. The symptoms of the poison wouldn't show for another month and when it does, the pain is worth the wait. That should be justice enough. If it isn't, I can even send enough to kill half their ninja population."
"What of suspicions?" Shikaku questioned.
"The symptoms are those that are very much alike certain food poisoning. It will cause vomiting, bleeding, dehydration, eventual paralysis and slow death. They'll think it was just an epidemic. They'll never know that it was planned.
Shikaku nodded. He thought it out carefully before giving an answer. "It's the best idea I've heard."
"Are you gonna kill the visitors or half their population?" Tsume asked.
"But its inhumane to kill innocent people," Chouza remarked.
"Perhaps," Hiashi countered. "And kidnapping my three-year old daughter was fair?"
"I don't think we should kill more than necessary," Minato answered. "We'll only send the bugs to the ninja who had been here and a few who get in close contact with them. Can you do that, Shibi?"
Shibi merely nodded.
The meeting was dismissed again. The next gathering would be with the Kumo nin to witness. The clan leaders were to act as if they had decided to just let the Kumo nin go as this had obviously taken up too much of Konoha's time and efforts. They even planned on Hiashi getting up in an angry fit and walking out of the room. The Kumo nin would never know what hit them.
The planned went on successfully over the next few weeks. Konoha even 'helped' with trying to reveal what 'undiscovered bugs' had attacked Kumo. With this, Hiashi was pleased. Not only had the other clans helped with his daughter's case, they even gave away some of their clan secrets in the process. Soon, he was trusting of them more in less than two months than he ever did in more than thirty years. He realized this and wished as though he could have learnt it sooner. He decided that Hinata and all other clan children should, too.
"Hinata, do you know of the other clan children gathering at times?" he questioned her as they were eating supper.
"Y-yes Otou-san," Hinata stuttered. Ever since the kidnapping, she had developed this trait. Hiashi hoped she would get better with his plans.
"Really?" he asked to get her to speak more.
"Y-yes. S-sometimes when Kaa-san brings me t-to the market, I would see them in a g-group heading somewhere," she answered.
"How would you like to join them?"
His wife and daughter both had a confused look on their faces. He only sent them a nod.
"I will talk to the other clan heads regarding this activity. I will send you to wherever they will gather and you will make friends."
Ino ran towards the new girl. She quickly greeted and bowed at whoever the girl was hiding behind, before talking to the dark-haired child.
"Hi! My name's Ino, what's yours?" she said, noticing that the girl wasn't the only new child brought to the place. She was with another boy who almost looked identical to her. Or so it seemed to Ino. She didn't want to bother with the boy though.
"You're shy, aren't you?" Ino told her more than asked. Ino was only three years old. But she had more confidence than almost everyone her age. "Well, that's okay, as long as you're a girl. It's boring when I'm the only girl."
Hinata began warming up to the blond slowly but it was a start. She tugged on the person who brought her there and said, "You c-can leave me with Neji-kun now."
"Yes, Hinata-sama," the person said before bowing and leaving. Neji stood beside Hinata protectively but not going over.
"N-Neji-kun, you can play with the others, if you like," she said. Neji thanked her but insisted on staying with her.
"I know!" Ino suddenly exclaimed. "We can braid each others hair!"
"But I have short h-hair," Hinata raised her eyebrows. "And I don't know how to."
"I'll show you!" Ino replied, excitement leaking from her voice. "But you have to meet everyone else first."
The three went through everybody else, gathering different expressions from each. Naruto asked why the byakugan users were blind, getting a rather proud answer from Neji.
"Lot like Sasuki, dattebayo!" Naruto said, pointing at Neji. "Don't like!"
Sasuki scoffed but listened in to the conversation. Naruto pointed to Hinata and said he liked her better than her cousin.
"Play!" Sasuki tugged on Naruto. The three left them alone and went on to whoever they need to meet next.
"I don't count Sasuki a girl," Ino told them before they could question her. "She doesn't act like one."
They walked up to Kiba and Chouji who were eating. Kiba started to sniff out Hinata and Neji. They both looked a little comfortable so Ino reprimanded Kiba before they moved on. The saw Shikamaru napping beside a tree and Ino told Hinata the basic of him. Don't bother with him at all. When the two left, Shikamaru muttered, 'troublesome.' They soon met everyone, even Shino who was alone in the bushes.
After that, for the next few hours, Ino showed Hinata how to braid hair. They were both happy that they had friends now, specifically for Ino, a girl friend.
When dinner came, Chouji's parents came and brought food from their own restaurant. The children were gathered and they ate together. It was unlike any supper Hinata ever had.
"Oi, Sasuki!" Ino yelled over the table. "You should start acting like a girl. It's fun to have girl friends."
"Hn," Sasuki only glanced at the girl. There were far more important things to her than being a girl. Living up to her parents' expectations and her older brother's standards were examples.
"You do that, Ino," Kiba interrupted. "Sasuki better off training with!"
"Yeah!" Naruto added.
"No need to fight," Chouji said while munching on pork barbeque.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru commented from beside his father.
"Oi, Shikamaru!" Ino called as she heard him. "What is troublesome?"
"Hn," he replied before putting his dish at the sink. At four, he knew that if he didn't his mom would be mad. That's more troublesome than putting the dish away.
"Act like Sasuki!" Naruto pointed at him accusingly. The rest of the night went about just the same. Ino yelling at the boys like she was a mother, Shikamaru finding everything troublesome, and so on. Naruto seemed to find something in everyone that would be like how Sasuki acted in a way or another. At the end of the night, Ino even gave Hinata a hug before the two new Hyuugas were picked up.
"Kaa-san," Naruto called after waking up in the afternoon. The night before, he had been picked up by Minato and Kushina at the Nara residence. The clan children had gathered at the place to play but it seems wherever Naruto was, he picked up on the habits of the people living there. He had been sleeping when they came and they decided to let him sleep on. He slept on well into the next morning and in the afternoon.
"In the kitchen eating lunch, Naruto-kun," his mother almost sarcastically replied.
"Tell you something!" Naruto almost yelled enthusiastically as he bounded to the kitchen.
"You always do," Kushina said as he picked up the child and sat him on her lap.
"Today, no, yesterday," Naruto said as he shook his head. "New girl came to play!"
"Really?" Kushina asked. She had a guess on who it was but she decided to ask. "What was her name?"
"Hi... Hina... Hana...," Naruto thought deeply. "Hanara? No. Hinara?"
"Was it Hinata?"
"Yes! That her name," Naruto threw his hands up. "She blind I thought, but she see!"
"You thought she was blind?" Kushina laughed. It was almost like the first time she met Hiashi and Hizashi.
"Didn't mean to!" Naruto widened his eyes. "Her eyes white!"
"I know, I know," Kushina patted his blond head.
"You know?" Naruto tilted his head. Kushina nodded before telling him to eat a healthy lunch of stew and salad so that they could go visit his father and walk around Konoha.
Naruto pouted and said, "Eat ramen?"
"Okay, okay," Kushina gave in. She would say it was because Naruto was just too cute to say no to, but she also wanted ramen. "But just this once. It's not healthy. Go and get dressed."
Naruto did as he was told and wore blue shorts and a white shirt with the Whirlpool symbol. He was told of the legends of the extinct country and the Uzumaki clan and he was proud of it.
Together, the mother and son walked into the town, waving at every friend they meet.
"Ahh, Naruto-kun!" Teuchi greeted them as they walked into his store. "The usual Kushina-sama?"
"I told you, dattebane!" Kushina said as she helped Naruto sit on one of the chairs. "Just Kushina like before! And yes, the usual."
"The usual, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered.
"Taking up after your mother, Naruto-kun?" Teuchi asked as he went to work on their ramen. He noticed Naruto's new speech ticks. "That's good new. Kushina-sama is a great shinobi!"
"Ne, just Kushina," Kushina interjected. Teuchi set the first bowls of the pair and before long, they've already finished.
"No fair!" Naruto whined.
"It's the same amount, Naruto-kun. Isn't it?" Kushina directed the question to the cook. Teuchi merely smiled. The two showed up at least once a week in his shop. And everytime was the same. The same as when it was just the Yondaime Hokage-sama and his wife. The same as when it was just Minato and Kushina. Now, it was Naruto and his mother.
After a few more bowls of who-can-finish-it-faster, Teuchi wondered if most of the taxes he was paying was spent by the Hokage on food.
"Nii-san!" Sasuki yelled after her brother. Itachi had been training in the woods, and Sasuki knew exactly where. Sure enough, Itachi sat waiting for her on top of a rock.
"You never play with anymore!" Sasuki whined as she walked towards him.
He gestured for her to come near. Yet again, he poked her in the forehead. Sasuki rubbed the spot he hit. She hated how he always did that and how he looks so calm doing it.
"Why do you always do that?" she glared at him. Itachi stared at her. She only looked like a cute brat who can't get what she wants. And nothing like intimidating.
"Do what?" He humored the little girl. He stepped onto the grass and lay down.
"Poke me in the forehead," she said as she plopped down beside Itachi, her small arms crossed over her chest.
"It is... Pleasing to do so," he replied nonchalantly.
"It's not,"
"It is," he turned to face her, insistence shown on his face. Sasuki can be stubborn if she wanted to.
"Hn. No, it's not" she replied. "And if it's not to me, then it shouldn't be to you."
Itachi let out a sigh before thinking up a philosophy in life he could teach his little sister.
"Do you see that tree? The way its leaves are shaped?" he started.
"Hn," she squinted at the tree his brother was pointing to. "It's as average as any other."
"In your perspective, it might be," he replied, and motioned for his sister to lay her head down beside his.
"In my perspective, it is shaped very much a like our clan symbol," he added. Sure enough, as Sasuki stared longer at the tree, it formed the symbol. The leafy part seemed to be a perfect circle. The upper part made a crescent caving downwards with a different shade from the bottom. The trunk finished the look as it was almost perpendicular to the ground.
"Do you see what I see?" Itachi asked after a while. Sasuki merely nodded but he knew.
"Sometimes, we need to see from the eyes of another. It helps us understand, if only a little, what they are thinking, what they are going through," Itachi continued. "It might even explain their actions. When you grow up, Sasuki, this might help, even in life or death situations."
"Hmm?" Sasuki seemed a bit confused. Itachi immediately thought of a situation.
"Well, if for some reason, you come across someone who might seem like he enjoys killing people. It might be because of something that happened in his past. More often than not, these people would open up on it, they will think that they have the upper hand. You can talk to him about it, therefore stalling time. You can save up on chakra or wait until back ups come."
"What's this got to do with you poking me in the forehead?" she whined.
"If you understand people, it will get you in fewer fights, in less danger when it is not necessary."
Sasuki thought about it. "Did this happen to you?"
"No," Itachi answered. "So far, it has not."
"Then, how come you know about it?" Sasuki asked. Itachi gazed at him, eyebrows raised in the slightest. "Don't answer, I already know."
This garnered a small smile from Itachi. Sasuki was quick to pick up on things.
"Always remember what I have told you, Sasuki," he started getting up. "It will do you good. Now let's go back home. Kaa-san will be worried."
Sasuki reached up to Itachi, wanting to be carried home. Itachi gave her a smile, helped her up and knelt so she could ride on his back.
Itachi wished she would always stay like this. Yearning for things such as hugs and piggy back rides. But he knew that she'll grow out of it. Maybe even faster than average children because as far as he knew, she was nowhere near average.
"You know, I came looking for you because I wanted to tell you something," Sasuki suddenly remembered.
"Really? What is it?"
"A new girl with white eyes came to play yesterday," she said, stiffling a yawn.
"Interesting," Itachi listened to her. He was pleased that the Hyuuga had started to trust the others. It was a small thing to let their children play with the other clan children, but it was a start.
"And then, Ino started teaching her how to braid hair and telling me that I should start acting a girl,"
"She did? How come?"
"Hn. I don't really know. I don't know how I'm not acting like a girl," Sasuki's voice started getting more quiet.
"You should be yourself. You should not change yourself to please others. Especially not for your friends," Itachi said softly. "If they truly are your friends, they will accept you."
Sasuki only nodded. Itachi didn't talk further. He knew she understood.
The two went on their way home, halfway through which, the little girl fell asleep on his brother's back.
HELLO I'm sorry for the... absence of updates. But this one is more than the first two chapters combined :) I think I'll update in a week if I get the inspiration and from then on, I hope I can update once a week :) I own nothing but the plot. Please review, it gives me more inspiration to write more and faster :)