5 Ch 4. Uchiha residence.

Jiraiya, who had explained Izana's circumstances to Uchiha Fugaku, left Izana at the Uchiha residence. The meet-up was rather sudden, as Fugaku had been notified only a short while ago. So now, with a new face in front of him, it took a while for Fugaku to get his bearings and hsi emotions to come to the fore front.

Fugaku was furious to hear of the incident.

His eyebrows frowned ever more deeper than their usual state, giving a scare to all the people that were passing by.

Fugaku picked up Izana, talking to him in a gentle tone.

"Don't be scared, you have returned to your family."

It was a tone Izana had not expected to hear from the man, as his countenance was rather cold. His strong arms held Izana gently, yet they felt strong, the muscles tightening slightly as Izana was shifted in a more comfortable position, one that spoke of experience of carrying children.

Izana was a bit surprised at the intimacy he felt from Fugaku.

The man had met him for the first time, and he was already acting so warm to him. It was a strange and foreign feeling. Strange, but he didn't dislike it. He leaned slightly deeper in the embrace of the, for now, unknown man. It felt odd to do so, yet it felt right.

"Call Itachi."

Fugaku said shortly, feeling the child snuggle deeper in. his embrace, after which several shinobi appeared and then disappeared. Uchiha Fugaku was never alone, not in his own clan, for he was the Uchiha clan leader.

"Izana. Look around you, you're home now. No one is going to hurt you again."

Fugaku looked with sorrow at the head of black hair on his chest, recalling what Jiraiya had said about him.

The child had lived through hell for his entire life.

He had awakened the Sharingan at such a young age.

Had been force to experience soul-rending pain as he was forcefully being made a jinchuriki.

Hsd almost died under the hands of his captors just to illicit results of a rickety experiment.

Unfortunately Jiraiya had already dealt with the basterd, otherwise Fugaku would surely have sent the Uchiha's to deal with the enemy himself. Let them experience the agony of making the Uchiha their enemy.

At least for now, Izana should experience some parental love, even if it wasn't possible to get that from the childs own parents.

In a minute Itachi stood in front of Fugaku.

Itachi was the only child of Fugaku, being the same age as Izana, three years old. His son would surely be good company for Izana to feel more at ease, to adjust to the living conditions of the clan.

"Father, you called."

Itachi looked at Izana with curious eyes. A small child was safely tucked in his fathers embrace, the body strangely fragile looking compared to the sturdy frame of his father.

Itachi had never experienced his father being so close to someone else's child.

This was truly a day for firsts, as the next thing surprised him even more.

"Itachi, this is your cousin. He is the son of my brother. He has been missing since three years ago while your aunt was pregnant with him. Treat him like your brother."

Fugaku put down Izana and introduced him to Itachi.

"Izana, this is my son Itachi. I hope you'll be friends."

Izana, not knowing what he should do, could only stare at Fugaku.

"Uncle, what doesit mean to be someone's friend? Is it the same meaning as being companions with my previous 'friends'? Are friends supposed to disappear when you just meet, never seeing them again?"

Fugaku was so shocked by Izana's words that he didn't know what to say.

He was shocked imagining how his nephew's life would have been previously. While he had heard of the atrocities from Jiraiya, it was a first to hear the childs personal experiences from his own mouth. It was clear as day the his previous friends had perished in the experiment, leaving Izana's impression of friends a bit askewed.

"A friend is someone you are close to, someone you share happy and sad times with. While friends may part ways, there will surely come a day you are reunited. While some may be permanent, not all friends will leave."

Itachi explained, seeing that his father was still too shocked to answer.

He grabbed Izana's hand and pulled him along with him.

"I'll take care of him father.Leave it to me to show him around."

Itachi said as he took Izana with him into the estate. There were many places that would be interesting to a child who was seeing the whole Uchiha estate for the first time. Their home was but a single part of the whole.

*

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*

Having shown Izana around the estate, the general neighbourhood, the small stores that sold shinobi tools and general goods, the main clan house where meetings were held.

Currently they were at their own home.

It had been a whole new experience for Izana to enter someones personal home. He and his friends had lived for years in a single room, one where someone would die every day if they weren't careful. Here it was tranquil, with only his aunt moving about as she was cleaning the house.

She had looked at them with a smile only a mother could have, hushing them to Itachi's room, as she was still in the middle of cleaning the living room.

Currently they were inside Itachi's room, a perfect reseprentation of its owner. The room was bare, with only the minimum amount of furniture.

Among them was a pair of kunai and shurikens.

In the shelves on the wall were multiple books and scrolls, some containing history knowledge, while others held the knowledge of certain jutsus.

While it was rather empty, the room had a certain feel to it.

In Izana's eyes, the room appeared cosy and warm in contrast to his previous cell.

"Can you tell me about yourself?"

Itachi said as his eyes were still focused on Izana.

It was the first time he had same someone his age look so disheveled, malnourished and weak. It was a true eye-opener.

Izana felt uncomfortable beneath his stare and started to talk about his experiences until now as far as he remembered. From his first memories to the time he was brought here to the Uchiha estate.

He even told Itachi about Ryuujin, even though the Third said not to tell anyone.

Even though he felt uncomfortable because of Itachi's stare, he still felt like he could trust Itachi. After all, Itachi was supposed to be his family. Family would be kind right? They wouldn't hurt you. He needed someone to love him, to give him the warmth he had felt for the first time and wanted to keep. He didn't want to return to the cold place that was his past.

Itachi had a moment of pity after hearing Izana's words. Izana was still so young, yet had experienced all the cruelty the world had to offer. And that was a lot considering they were shinobi, people that would die to complete their mission.

Itachi didn't know how he would have been, had he been in Izana's situation. Would he be able to remain sane? Or would he break the moment the pain became too much for him? It was a question that would remain unanswered.

"Well, I'm alright, so it's better now. I have Ryuujin and you now, along with uncle Fugaku, Jiraiya-san and the others, so I'm not alone anymore."

Izana smiled at Itachi, small dimples appearing in his cheeks.

Itachi felt his heart twitch a bit, his cold eyes gaining a hint of warmth. His cousin was rather cute. He didn't have the stoic and arrogant demeanor of an Uchiha and looked more like a little rabbit. Would it feel the same if he had a younger brother?

"In the Future, don't smile so easily, especially towards strangers. You should only do that at home. Otherwise there'll be a lot of flies around you."

Itachi warned. He could already see all the girls flocking around Izana. It would only be a bother if they would clamor around him.

It didn't help that Izana had no common sense and wouldn't understand the situation.

"Okay?"

A bit perplexed, Izana agreed to Itachi. Though he had no idea what Itachi meant by attracting flies. He softly sniffed himself for any weird smells, not finding the source of a smell that would attract any flies.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"Itachi, Izana, its time for dinner."

Mikoto's voice, Itachi's mother and his aunt, came from behind the door.

"Coming. Let's go Izana."

Itachi and Izana left the room and went to the dinning room.

Inside were Fugaku and his wife Mikoto.

"How was your day Izana?"

Mikoto said in a kind voice. She had heard from Fugaku Izana's circumstances. It was good to see the child be more at ease than before. Children should remain children for as long as they could.

"It was really nice, Itachi showed me around and we talked inside his room."

Fugaku send a questioning look at Itachi.

He wouldn't have pried too far, right?

Itachi looked a bit guilty at Fugaku, which answered his suspicions.

"Itachi didn't ask you about anything painful did he?"

Mikoto, understanding the gaze between Itachi and her husband asked Izana.

"No, it wasn't painful. We're family, so we should share our feelings?"

Izana said as he tilted his head a bit in confusion of the words he just spoke, after which he smiled at the family of three. It was nice to have a family. He had heard about families before, so he had often imagined what they would be like. Now he could experience it for himself.

Like Itachi, Fugaku immediately said the exact same words to Izana about the danger of his smile.

Still not understanding what's wrong, Izana nodded.

Mikoto could only smile at this heart-warming scene.

She already considered Izana as part of her little family.

She softly caressed her slightly bulging stomach, for she couldn't wait for her second child's birth. A bigger family was always a joy to experience.

*

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A few months had passed.

Fugaku had decided to celebrate Izana's fourth birthday this week, for this was the week in which his mom was apparently thought to have given birth to him. It was a shame he had been taken from them before they could even celebrate the birth.

The whole Uchiha household was preparing for his birthday, yet Izana had no idea what a birthday was supposed to be like.

Fugaku said he shouldn't come back until noon, which gave Izana the time to visit Kushina nee-san.

He often visited her, talking with her about a lot of things.

After the first two meetings, Izana had felt something was different around her than it was around others.

When he had asked Ryuujin about it. He only responded with, we'll talk about it a bit in the future.

Izana had no idea when Ryuujin would talk about it, but he guessed it wouldn't be soon.

"Kushina-nee do you know what a birthday is? Uncle Fugaku said we would celebrate my birthday today, but what is a birthday?"

Kushina, faced with the innocence of a child with no common sense, was happy to explain.

Even her speech became a little messed-up in her excitement.

"You know, a birthday is the day when parents and friends celebrate the day you're born. It's really nice, you know. You get a lot of presents and all the people you like are there. At least the people that are around in the village."

Izana still didn't know what the nice thing was about birthdays, but he at least knew what they meant now.

"Then are you and Minato-nii coming? And Jiraiya-san?"

"Of course Minato and I are coming. I don't know about Jiraiya, but he'll probably come."

"Then what am I supposed to do on a birthday?"

Kushina pulled Izana in a big hug.

"Nothing silly, cause it's your birthday. Enjoy it as much as you can."

Kushina released Izana and shooed him of to his home. She had to prepare for the celebration. It would be impossible to do so when Izana was here. He needed to hurry back or else he would be late.

It was already noon, so Fugaku was probably expecting him any second now.

When Izana walked in, confetti was sprayed through the air, while a big cake was placed in the middle of the table. Four colorful candles were burning brightly in the dark, waiting for him to blow them out and make a wish. A small piece was missing, being clumsily cut off.

Around him were his uncle, aunt, Itachi and most of the other people of the Uchiha clan.

In the corner sat Jiraiya, fervently eating a piece of stolen cake like his life depended on it.

Near him stood Kushina and Minato.

Kushina was in the middle of lecturing Jiraiya on his manners while Minato stood beside her as he acted like he wasn't there.

Tears welled up in Izana's eyes as he saw the people he had grown to like around him.

He now knew how it was to have a family and how it was to be happy.

Deep in his thoughts he could hear Ryuujin talk.

[Happy Birthday, Izana.]

He smiled as he happily blew out the candles, hoping this happiness would last for a long time.