Unsolicited

Chapter Three

-Change-

The next morning everyone got up bright and early, all dressed in their black funeral clothes. They were the first ones to arrive, and not long afterwards so did everyone else. It wasn't a very long funeral, because Sasuke wouldn't have wanted to waste people's time that way. The only ones who attended were the original rookie nine and their families, the teachers from the academy, and the Hokage.

There wasn't a viewing, because Sasuke had been cremated and put in an urn, which was given to Akito at the end of the funeral. It wasn't anything fancy, just plain white, with the Uchiha symbol painted on the front. Once everyone had left, the Sabakus and the last Uchiha headed back to the Uchiha District to change into their travelling clothes and leave. After gathering up all of the things that Akito wanted to take with him, they headed for the gate of the village, where Naruto and his family met them in order to say goodbye.

"It sure is going to be different from now on." Naruto said, for once being serious.

"You mean now that the Uchiha line is going to be from Suna?" Gaara smirked, secretly proud of this new upper hand.

The blonde frowned, crossing his arms. "Oh yeah? Well…who's to say Akito wouldn't want to come back when he's older?" he asked.

Said boy gave him a blank look. "Yeah, cause' I want to stay with a bunch of pansies. Minako is probably the only person that I might miss. Maybe. But not enough to come back."

Minako smiled, hugging him. "Thanks Akito-kun! That means a lot coming from you." She released him, stepping back. "Have fun in Suna. Don't forget to write me and tell me what it's like."

"Sure."

"Don't worry Minako." Natsumi smiled. "I'll take good care of him."

"I know you will Natsumi-chan." She said.

Gaara clapped his hands then and got everyone's attention. "Alright. Not that I don't love being here. But let's get the hell out."

Satomi was the first one to start for the gate. "Finally." She sighed.

"Wait! Are you guys gonna come back and visit any time soon?" Naruto called after them.

"No." Gaara, Satomi, and Akito replied at the same time.

"Bye!" Natsumi waved excitedly, following after her father and her sister. Toshiro waved as well and walked with Akito, telling him all the cool things about the desert.

Sakura hugged Naruto goodbye. "Goodbye Naruto." She said.

"Bye Sakura-chan. Take care. And good luck with that emo." He snickered. She just rolled her eyes before running and catching up with her family.

"And that, my friend," Toshiro smiled, gesturing to the massive fortress that was known as the village hidden in the sand. "Is Suna. The greatest place ever!"

"We'll see." Akito commented, evaluating the place. He didn't want to set his standards too high after all, that way his chances of being let down were decreased.

Natsumi ran up beside Akito, nodding in agreement. "We have salty ice cream!"

Akito gave her an odd look. She definitely was a strange one. He could tell that he would be having some problems with her. Toshiro was okay so far, and Satomi seemed like she didn't really care. And that he could deal with. But Natsumi…she was too much like her mother, and he didn't know if that would fly.

"Alright kids, you can show Akito all the cool things about Suna later. For now, let's just head on home and let him get settled into his new room." Sakura said.

Natsumi huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I need to shower anyway. See you guys at home." She waved, disappearing in a wisp of sand.

The rest of the family got to the large mansion a few minutes later. They all went upstairs, where the bedrooms were, and Sakura looked to her oldest. "Toshiro sweetie, will you show Akito to his room? He can take the one next to yours if you want, since the girls are across the hall."

"Yeah sure." He nodded, glancing over at Akito. "Come on." He gestured for him to follow and the two went down the hall and to the left. Toshiro led Akito to one of their vacant rooms and opened the door for him. "This is your room. You can do whatever you want in here. Mine's next door," he pointed to his own. "Then Natsumi's." he gestured to the one across from his and then the one beside that. "And Satomi's."

Akito followed where the redhead was pointing with his eyes. "So which one is the bathroom?" he asked, wanting to know. He pointed further down the hall at two doors across from each other.

"There's two there."

"Ok. Thanks." He said, walking into his designated room. He set his pack down on the bed and then looked around, making a mental list of everything he would need in order to make the place more comfortable for him to stay in. Toshiro nodded and left him then, going to his own room to unpack.

There was a soft knock on the door and Akito looked over and saw the elder redhead. Gaara came in then, looking somber. "Look Akito, I know this isn't ideal. But I do want you to know that I'm going to treat you normally. I want you to be a kid, and I know that this is a big thing to deal with at your age. But your father was important to me, and you are important to me as well. So if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"I don't know how to be a kid." He admitted softly.

Gaara actually smiled and stopped before him, kneeling down. "Well guess what. You have three awesome kids who can show you how it's done. I think you and Toshiro will get along very well. And I think you and Satomi may be pretty darn alike. And I know Natsumi can be…trying sometimes, but the things she does is only cause' she loves you. And later on, I think you'll really appreciate all the little irritating things she does to try and make people smile."

"I don't know…" the ebony haired boy said, looking a bit skeptical. "But I'll try. I don't want my presence to cause any problems in your family."

"Akito, you are my family now. And causing disturbances is what this family does best. So feel free to say and do whatever you want. Except say you hate anyone, because that's just negative. And Sakura loves you very much, because she loved your dad a lot." He tried to explain. "You're important to all of us." He placed his hand on top of the young Uchiha's head and actually smiled.

The corner of Akito's lip tilted slightly, and in that moment he looked so much like Sasuke that it was scary. "Thank you." Then it vanished, and his brow furrowed. "What am I supposed to call you and your wife?"

The Kazekage laughed. "Well you can call me Gaara if you want, or Dad. I respond to both. Since I guess technically I'm your dad now. But you can call Sakura her name, or Pinky, or Nurse Betty, I get a kick outta that every time I call her that. Sometimes I just call her Woman, and she seems to respond to that. But then again she also goes by Mom." He smirked, nudging the boy playfully.

Akito just blinked, not seeming to fully understand the joke. "Can I just call you sir, and her ma'am? All the other ones…seem weird."

"Those are kinda impersonal though, don't you think? I'd prefer not…you can just call me old man if you feel like it. But on another note, I know you like to train, and something I think you will like about Suna, is our training is a bit harder than in Konoha. Plus, you get to learn to fight in a whole new terrain."

"Is there someone here who can teach me to use a sword?" he asked, his gaze trailing over to Sasuke's old katana. "My father promised to teach me…and I still want to learn…"

Gaara nodded. "Yup. I'll even get you a special trainer in it. Is there any other particular skill you'd want to learn so I can make sure you get the best teacher?"

"Can Kakashi-sensei come train me with my sharingan and lightning every once in a while? I think with everything else I'll just teach myself."

"Sure. He can travel with Neji and Lee when they come here." He told him, smiling slightly. "I'll send a letter immediately."

"Thanks." Akito said, returning the elder redhead's smile.

Gaara stood straight then. "No problem. So we'll call you down when dinner is ready, and then we can call it an early night."

He nodded, and Gaara left him then. Akito began to unpack his clothes, meticulously placing them inside his closet and dresser. Just as he was finished with that he was called down to dinner. It went by pretty quickly, and most of the conversation was made by Natsumi, Toshiro, and Sakura. When it was over everyone went up to bed, and the house became silent. Eerily silent.

It wasn't that Akito couldn't deal with the quiet, because he could, welcomed it even. But there were all these noises that the house made that he wasn't used too, and it was making it impossible for him to sleep. He laid there in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Despite having unpacked and put away the few things he had brought, this room was still foreign to him. And it was now that his situation was beginning to sink in.

He was in Suna. Not Konoha. Suna. It didn't matter that it was a different terrain to fight on, or if they had salty ice cream. It wasn't his home, where he had grown up. It wasn't where his father had raised him, or where his ancestors were buried. It was all wrong.

The temperature of the house was too cool. His sheets were too stiff. The mattress was too soft, and the room was too square shaped, instead of rectangular. On top of this, the whole place smelled funny. Not bad, just…different. It didn't smell like his father's clean, crisp body wash and shampoo, or the polish they used on their weapons. Or even the large amounts of old books in the library. It just smelled…lemony. Like the cleaning products that you got from the store.

He continued to lay there for what seemed like hours, still unable to even begin to feel sleepy. Throwing the covers back, he got out of bed and walked over to his door, peeking out into the darkened hallway. He went down the hall and to the bathroom, shutting the door before turning on the light so that he didn't accidentally wake anybody up. Then he turned on the sink and began to wash his face, hoping that that would aid him on the road to slumber.

Natsumi walked up the steps, holding a glass of water. She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. She stopped then, seeing Akito coming out from the bathroom, her only light the soft glow from the moon that the window let in. "Akito?"

He looked over at her, and then noticed the glass in her hand. "Hi." He said, stopping when he was in front of her.

"Are you ok? Why aren't you asleep?" she asked, looking worried.

"I can't. Sleep that is." He sighed.

The young girl frowned, taking his hand and pulling him into his room, sitting him down on his bed and taking a place next to him. "Is it cause' of your dad?"

"Yes. And this place…feels weird." He admitted softly, bringing up a hand and rubbing his arm in an unconscious effort to comfort himself. If only a little bit.

Natsumi moved closer to him, giving him a comforting smile. "I know when I was sad, my brother would let me sleep with him. If you want I can stay in here with you and sing you a lullaby if it might help."

"Okay." He said, since he really wanted to sleep. "But you don't have too."

"Oh no, no." she waved it off and took a sip of her water before placing it on the end table. "It's fine. I was having trouble sleeping too anyways." She pulled back the covers and held them open for him so he could get in beside her.

He did, lying down on his back, feeling a little awkward. He'd never slept with anyone before, so the whole experience was new to him. He looked over at her. "I've never done anything like this before." He admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Natsumi smiled happily, and even in the darkness he could see its vibrant appeal. She laid on her side, facing him and taking his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together. "That's ok." She told him, moving closer so that they were just mere inches apart, their joined hands between them. "Just close your eyes and relax and I'll sing you to sleep."

He rolled so that he was on his side as well, and nodded, closing his eyes. Natsumi took a small breath and then began to leisurely sing to him softly. "Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep sweet Akito. Let your mind…drift away." She yawned, making herself sleepy. "And I'll keep the bad dreams away. Go to sleep. Go to sleep. I promise to be…" Natsumi trailed off and smiled. "I promise to be your safety."

Akito listened to her sing and actually felt himself begin to relax. It was so nice to be sung to, he realized. Was this what it would have been like if he'd had a mother? Then he wondered if his father would have sung to him if he'd asked. And that was when he remembered that it didn't matter, because he didn't have a father any more.

His grip on her hand tightened unconsciously, and he clenched his closed eyes a bit. Then he felt something wet slide down his cheek and across his nose, and it was then that he realized he was crying, for the first time in his young life. He kept his eyes closed, hoping that Natsumi wouldn't notice.

Natsumi saw something glisten on Akito's face and it broke her heart. But she didn't let herself falter. She moved closer to him, their foreheads and noses touching, and decided to sing him something her mother often sung for her when she was crying. "Come stop your crying, it will be alright. Just take my hand, hold it tight." She smiled, tightening her grip on his hand. "I will protect you from all around you. I will be here don't you cry."

He opened his eyes and looked at her through the darkness of his room. He blinked, causing another tear to slide down his cheek. And yet, for some reason, he didn't care that she was seeing him this way. Something told him that she didn't think any less of him, and that she would never hold it over his head in the future. In that moment, he trusted her completely.

"For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm. This bond between us can't be broken. I will be here, don't you cry. Cause you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart. From this day on…now and forever more." She smiled slightly, lifting her free hand and wiping away the few tears that had stained his cheeks.

He nuzzled her hand a bit, sighing tiredly as his eyes slid shut. "Goodnight Natsumi. And thank you."

"Goodnight Akito." Natsumi yawned, closing her eyes and snuggling against him as they shared each other's warmth. They drifted off to sleep then, with Akito feeling a lot better than he had before running into Natsumi. And in that moment, he was glad for her annoying, nosy ways.