8 Ch 6. Additional member.

A couple of months passed in which Itachi became five years old, just a little bit older than Izana by a few months. The birthday was rather grand in the Uchiha estate, as many relatives came to visit and congratulate Itachi for his birthday.

Another piece of joyous news was that Kushina was pregnant. Apparently she had been for a while now, yet they only found out a short while ago, when Kushina had been showing the common pregnancy symptoms.

Izana decided to go visit them, to congratulate Minato and Kushina. It was rather special to get a new adition to the family after all.

He saw their scene of them yelling at each other, "I'm going to be a mother!" "I'm going to be a father!"

The were clasping each others hands in excitement as Minato began to twirl Kushina around the room, laughing boisterously. Her red hair danced around wildly, as she planted her head on Minato's chest, giggling at his antics.

They both seemed very happy and he didn't want to spoil the moment and was planning to sneak away, yet was caught by Minato's eyes. Minato rushed forward, urging Izana to enter, the goofy face of him turning even goofier as the smile only widened at sharing the news.

"Izana, I'm going to be a father!"

Minato grabbed Izana tightly, hugging him fiercely.

It was a dream come true, as he had been looking forward to becoming a father. Now he was truly about to become one and he just couldn't calm down.

"I'm happy for you Minato-nii, Kushina-nee."

Izana smiled at them both, a thought popping up in his head as he looked at the two of them. He wondered if the child would have Kushina's blazing red hair or Minato's sunny Yellow. Maybe a mix of both would look good.

[I'm happy for the both of them, though it will be a difficult experience.]

Ryuujin said, spoiling the moment. His tone of voice was severe, a hint of dread clouding it in a depressing mood.

"What do you mean Ryuujin?"

Izana said in his head.

What Ryuujin had said couldn't be good.

[You remember that nasty energy you felt near Kushina, right? She is not a normal Kunoichi, she has a tailed beast sealed inside of her. Worse enough as it is the grumpiest of all. She had to have Kurama, the Kyuubi. Kurama is a Nine-tailed fox, one with the most sinister chakra. Izana, listen carefully. When a female Jinchuriki gets pregnant, the seal will loosen and the tailed beast may escape, wreaking havoc on those that have sealed it. When a tailed beast frees himself from the Jinchuriki, the Jinchuriki will die, unless it is quickly sealed back into the Jinchuriki. More often than not, the Jinchuriki dies.]

Izana was shocked at Ryuujin's words.

This...!

This is really bad! Kushina would die when she would get a child?!

"Then Kushina-nee will die?"

[She won't, it should be fine if handled with care, care that Minato would surely give before the birth is about to take place. I'm just a bit worried that something unexpected happens. It often does when Kurama is involved.]

Ryuujin shrugged, not planning to talk anymore. It had said all he wanted, doing all he could to prepare Izana for the worst case scenario.

Izana, sighing deep in his heart, didn't pursue the matter any further. He was too young and weak to truly help in this situation. Maybe Ryuujin would be able to help. If he was able to use Ryuujin's power, then maybe he would be able to help.

He quickly went home, thinking of what to do if something unexpected might happen.

[Don't worry if it does happen, we will find a way to fix it.]

Ryuujin immediately brushed away his worries.

He had Ryuujin, surely he knew how to fix things if it too a turn to the worst.

"Un, lets make sure nothing bad happens."

Yet something unexpected did happen, though not to Kushina.

Mikoto, who was scheduled to deliver her own child later this week, was already giving birth. They were about to swiftly rush to the hospital, a grand escort of the strongest Uchiha shinobi ready on the side to ensure the trip would be safe. While it was rare, pregnant Uchiha's were kidnapped, as had happened with Izana's mother. But in this case, it was just for insurance, as everything had been prepared before hand. That is if Mikoto would have given birth near the day she had ben calculated to.

Fortunately the early birth wasn't something to worry about; it was just that the family was unprepared for it when it truly happened. It occurred so swiftly that all previous notions and preparations were thrown out of the window.

Screams could be heard from inside the house.

That's right, the house. They had been too late to move her to the hospital, the cervix had already dilated and effaced too much to ensure a safe transport to the hospital, so she was giving birth inside her room.

Izana, not expecting the screaming, was really anxious. Was it bad? Is she hurt badly? She won't die right? Is it supposed so much to scream?

Plagued by these thoughts, Izana was pacing back and forth in front of the room.

Itachi, who could no longer watch him, gave him a chop on the head.

Izana bent down, looking with teary eyes at Itachi as he painfully rubbed his throbbing head.

"You're making me nervous too, so stop it. It is normal that it hurts. Just wait. The screaming will stop in a moment."

Itachi said as he calmed Izana down, though they were both still nervous. It took a while for both of them to remain sitting, wriggling a bit as they were too tense to remain perfectly still.

Fugaku was silently waiting besides them with his hands clasped together, as if he was in deep thought. He appeared to be a lot calmer, but his tapping foot revealed the nerves he was secretly feeling.

Like Itachi had said before, the screaming eventually dimmed in a soft huffing and moaning followed by the wailing of a baby.

Itachi, who met Izana's eyes, went together with Izana inside the room. Fugaku followed silently after, closing the door behind them.

What came into view was an exhausted Mikoto with a newborn baby boy in her arms. The black tufts of hair clung tightly to his skull, the head a ruddy red as the baby boy wailed silently.

She smiled at her second son, happy at the additional member to her little family. She loved to have kids, the more the merrier. Just his new addition made her over the moon.

"Sasuke. Fugaku and I both chose the name, after the Third Hokage's father."

Fugaku neared Mikoto, wiping of the sticky hair that was stuck to her face from the sweat.

"You have worked hard, dear."

Fugaku said as he gently wiped her sweaty face and gave her a gentle kiss on the hand.

Mikoto smiled happily as she dozed of with Sasuke in her arms. It was a tiring day for both her and the newly born Sasuke, as he too soon dozed off in the embrace of his mother.

Izana and Itachi both held the sleeping Sasuke, amazed by how small he was. Feeling the warmth of a new life, Izana swiftly wiped away the tears that were about to fall. So this is what life is like.

Izana was truly happy with his current life.

He was getting fond of the little Sasuke, even if he was only just born. He already loved this little life from the bottom of his heart.

*

*

*

In the days that followed, a new training partner joined Itachi and Izana. It was a fellow clan member called Shisui Uchiha. Shisui was a good friend of Itachi and often sparred with him.

When Itachi introduced Izana to him, Shisui proposed to let Izana watch to learn from the spars. There was much to learn, watching others fight. It also helped to develop the Sharingan, as it had to adapt to the speed things were being processed. While the eyes may follow, it is up to the owner of the eyes to truly comprehend the information they were given and act on it.

Izana was eager to join the training, hoping to learn many new things.

Itachi continued the spar with Shisui and Izana quickly discovered Itachi to be on the losing side some of the time when he sparred with Shisui, while other times it ended in a draw. Shisui had a lot more experience than Itachi, something that surely had to do with the times Shisui had been going out. While they were the same age, Itachi and Shisui, Shisui was taken out on some of the more experienced Uchiha's outings. It helped Shisui with his own training and battle experience.

He was really skillful as he used many techniques and taijutsu styles. It wouldn't be long before Itachi would be going on such outings as well, as they were expected to develop at the best pace possible, within a decently secure environment. As secure a possible when outside the village, that is.

Izana who was mostly watching the sparring from the sidelines with his sharingan, learned many things throughout their spars. Now it was up to him to make it his own.

With every mock battle, the three of them became stronger, though some more than most. Izana wasn't allowed to participate in the spar after all.

At the end of every spar, they would visit the little Sasuke, wanting to bond with him as much as they could.

The little boy would laugh every time Itachi or Izana held him.

It was really cute and endearing.

Besides training with Itachi and Shisui, Izana was also practicing with Ryuujin. Like a Jinchuriki, Izana was also able to use a tailed beast cloak. Yet the one he used wasn't nearly as harmful to his body as with other Jinchuriki. It still hurt, but the damage was negligible.

It was a bright snow white chakra cloak, enveloping his whole body. It resembled Ryuujin's form a lot, though it didn't have the wings. Antler like horns were swirling back and forth with the chakra cloaks movements, occasional red arcs of lightning springing back and forth between the horns and along his chest.

Further development of the cloak was possible as well, as it was possible to enter the next stages as well, such as sprouting the wings on his back, as he took on a all fours position.

Bones and scales would sprout all over his body the more he let Ryuujin's chakra escape his body.

His form looked less and less human as Ryuujin's chakra began to dominate the chakra output. His own chaka was still necessary to maintain the transformations however, making the time able to remain in the cloaked forms limited.

Izana, at some point, managed to enter his full tailed beast form, the completely formed body of Ryuujin, size and everything, but wouldn't be able to do it for long due to the lack of his own chakra. He could only manage it for a few minutes. When he was in the shape of Ryuujin, he could soar high across the sky, enjoying the feeling of shooting through the sky at breakneck speeds.

Because they hadn't tried it a lot, the assimilation was a bit strained.

The only way to stretch the time in Tailed beast mode, was for Izana to become older so his body could handle the strain.

Still, Ryuujin was happy with the time they got.

He had felt a bit caged when he had been stuck on the ground for too long.

Even though he had a lot of time when Izana let him take control, Ryuujin still felt a bit smothered and was a bit grumpy because of it.

Now Ryuujin was back to his usual talkative and proud demeanour.

[You know Izana, there is really nothing that can compare to the feeling of flying through the sky. I can't help but wonder how you humans don't feel smothered, living so closely near each other. I'll let you experience it more often. For now you're the one on the ground and I the one in the sky.]

Izana couldn't help but agree with Ryuujin's words, the love of flying and his proposal.

There was nothing that could compare with flying through the sky.

Ryuujin seemed to enjoy it very much. He often encouraged Izana to try too. Izana was not used to flying and would always first fall before he could fly decently with Ryuujin's help.

Whenever he was falling, Ryuujin would always laugh at his clumsiness.

Not that they would get any accidents. They shared everything they did, so it was impossible to truly fall. When they would almost crash, Ryuujin would take control, but not before he was laughing at Izana's funny display.

"You know Ryuujin, it's become really peaceful lately. There haven't been any incidents like when we were trapped. Now we can go and do what we would like to do. Within limits off course."

[Don't say such things too soon, for trouble might be brewing.]

Ryuujin warned as they glided downwards from the sky towards the forest. The time in their tailed beast form was as good as finished, leaving the rest of the day free for Izana to decide how to spend.

They transformed back when they landed, leaving a rather big clearing where their previous large form had been. Now that their flying time was over, Izana began to run, rushing towards the house to play some more with the little Sasuke.