Extermination

Chapter Six

-News-

Sasuke had the distinct urge to bang his head against a wall as he sat in his study and stared at the mountain of paperwork he had to do. How he hated clan politics. Sure, he was now the Clan Head and whatnot, but he still had to deal with all of the other clans in the village, and since he was the only Uchiha, besides Akito, he was all alone when it came to negotiating and dealing with the old fuddy duddies that made up the other clans' advisors.

But he just had to stick it out for a few more years, because he already had a plan formed. When Akito and Natsumi were old enough, they would accompany him to the meetings. It didn't matter if Natsumi wasn't Uchiha by blood, she was part of his family now. She and Akito had grown extremely close over the past month, a fact that had been made known to him when he'd returned from his mission. He'd come back late that night, and had found the two sharing Akito's bed, curled against one another. He thought nothing serious of it though, because they were just children.

Speaking of them, he hoped they weren't playing too roughly in the backyard. He'd bought Natsumi her own set of plastic throwing kunai, and so she and Akito were out playing a game with them. Unless they had switched to playing tag, since both seemed to like racing and proving who was faster than the other. It reminded him of when he and Itachi had been kids, and Itachi would always run off to train in the forest and he would go chase him down.

But he digressed, he really needed to quit avoiding his work with thoughts about childhood and just get it over with. So, with a sigh, Sasuke picked up a scroll that had been deposited in his mailbox earlier that day, and opened it absentmindedly. He would just go through his mail first before getting to the serious stuff. As he scanned the contents of the letter, his eyes widened. He went back and read it again, not believing the news.

Toshiro had been found.

He took out a blank scroll and quickly scrawled a reply to Temari, filling her in on the basics of what had been happening over here, as well as telling her that she was more than welcome to bring Toshiro to Konoha to see Natsumi. He didn't want to take her all the way back to Suna after everything that had happened, especially since she was doing so well. That would just be cruel.

Once he was finished with that and had the letter in the mailbox, he made his way to the backyard, where he could hear laughter coming from both kids. He walked outside, and the sight that greeted him actually wasn't a surprise. For there were Akito and Natsumi, having a tickle fight in the middle of the sand box. Which only meant that sand was going to be tracked into his house one way or the other, and he would have to clean it up. Great.

"Akito. Natsumi." He said, getting their attention. They stopped what they were doing and looked up at him, their eyes wide in innocence.

"Yes Father?" Akito asked.

Sasuke's eyes never left the pink haired girl. "Dust yourselves off. Akito, pick up everything, I need to speak with Natsumi inside." He instructed.

Akito's face fell slightly at his task. "Yes Father." He sighed, standing and brushing the sand off of his body.

Natsumi did the same, standing up and holding her hands out, shaking them off as all the sand flew from her and fell to the ground. She was glad she was beginning to learn how to control the golden grains, because the first time they had tracked sand into the house, Sasuke was furious. Not wanting to keep him waiting, Natsumi ran across the yard and joined the elder Uchiha on the porch. "What is it Sasuke?"

"Come." He said, holding his hand out to her. She took it without question, and they went inside the house so that they could have some privacy. Then he turned to her and squat down so that they were eye level. "Natsumi, I got a letter today from your Aunt Temari." He began. "She found Toshiro, he's safe and unharmed. But she was unable to find Satomi." He waited to see what her reaction would be to this news.

The small girl's eyes widened. "My brother is okay?" she asked, smiling brightly. "I knew he was okay, just like Tomi."

Sasuke visibly showed confusion. How was it that she knew he was okay? Could it be that it was similar to him always knowing that Itachi was still alive? He didn't question it though, instead choosing to be thankful that she wasn't upset or anything. "I told Temari to bring him for a visit to see you, so he should be here within the next week or so."

"Is he going to come live here too?" she asked, only growing more excited. "I miss him so much! And you'll take care of him too right?" Natsumi babbled on, her aura seeming to intensify as her excitement grew. "Toshi's okay! And he's coming home!" she yelled, running back to the backyard to tell Akito.

"Akito!" she called, jumping off the porch and into the grass. "My brother is coming to stay!"

The young Uchiha simply stopped in his task and looked confused. "Huh?" he asked, looking from her to his father, who had come back outside as well.

"Natsumi, we don't know if he's staying or not." He told her, feeling bad that he had to diminish her newfound happiness. "We'll just have to wait until your aunt comes with Toshiro, okay?"

This made her stop and look back at the ebony haired man, "What?"

He walked out into the yard and stopped before her. "Although he probably will stay with us, I don't know what's happening in Suna right now to say that with certainty." he explained. "So I don't want you to get your hopes up, alright?" he asked.

"But why wouldn't my brother stay with me?" she demanded, her expression turning into something he hadn't seen in a long time. Anger.

"Because the Suna council members may not be willing to give up another of Gaara's children to Konoha." He elaborated. "It's all complicated politics, but they won't care that they'd be separating you. So I don't want you to think that he will be living with us until we know something for sure."

Akito looked from his father, to Natsumi, and then back, trying to understand everything that was going on. And honestly, he didn't want Natsumi's brother to live with them too. Then he would have to share, and she would give him less attention. And he liked having her all to himself. It was nice.

"But…" Natsumi trailed off once more, tears gathering in her eyes. "Why would they do that?"

Sasuke sighed, walking over to her and crouching before her. He reached out and wiped away one of her tears. "Because they only think about what benefits them, not what's right." he said, speaking from experience. "Don't get too upset about it Natsumi. Like I said, we don't know anything for sure yet."

"Okay." She nodded, sniffing loudly and attempting to wipe away the unshed tears. "I don't have to leave though, do I?"

Before Sasuke could even answer, Akito ran over and hugged the pink haired girl close to him. "I won't let you leave." He declared, not meaning to sound as possessive as he had. "I want you to stay."

Natsumi stayed against him, hugging him back around the waist and burying her face in his shirt. Sasuke stood and looked around the backyard, seeing that everything had been picked up. He looked back down at the other two then. "Do not fret too much over it. We'll deal with whatever happens next week when they arrive. For now, continue playing, I will come get you for dinner. We're going out." He said, before turning and heading back to the house. He figured they could all use a treat, not that Akito's cooking was bad or anything, but there were only so many things a five year old could make.

"No Akito." Natsumi huffed, pushing his hand down from the easel and the white canvas that was perched on it. "That's not how you do it. You're making the dog look all lumpy and gross." She scolded, though it was not in a condescending matter. The young girl dipped her paintbrush into the brown and placed it against the paper, attempting to make a circle. "You see?"

He frowned. "Well yours looks all funny. At least mine looked kinda cool." He pouted.

"It does not!" she protested, glaring over at him, her face turning red from her small little inner fit. "Mine looks cute. Yours is all fat."

"That is because mine eats little wimpy dogs like yours." He said. "So your dog better watch it." he began to move his paintbrush in the direction of the dog she had made.

Natsumi gasped. "It does not!" she yelled, hitting his hand with the paintbrush, causing it to fall to the floor. Both children went wide eyed. "Oh no!"

"Hide the evidence!" Akito ordered, running from the room as Natsumi hurried to collect the other supplies and cap them off. When Akito returned he had a wet towel in one hand and a dry one in the other. He tossed the dry cloth to Natsumi and bent over, hurrying to clean up the mess before it could do anything to the hardwood floor.

"Hurry!" Natsumi said softly, nervousness making her bounce. She kneeled down once he was finished and dried the floor. "Does it look like we spilled anything?" she asked him, looking over the spot.

Akito shook his head. "No, I think we got it. He'll never be able to tell." He assured her.

"What's going on." Sasuke demanded, though his tone was a bored one. Both children gasped and looked up at him, hiding the towels behind their backs.

"Nothing Father." Akito said, his eyes wide as saucers at his lie. "We were just playing."

Natsumi nodded in agreement. "Nothing Sasuke. We were just playing…" she repeated. "Playing wedding. Since me and Akito are going to get married." She elaborated in attempts to make it more believable.

The elder Uchiha raised a brow at her. "Oh you are, are you?" he asked, clearly not believing her. "Then where is the pretend wedding dress and tux? Or the flowers and rings?"

"We're using our imaginations." Akito supplied. "We didn't want to make a mess."

The pink haired girl nodded. "And Akito doesn't get to see me in my dress until we really get married."

"Uh huh." The ebony haired man said, nodding slightly. He didn't believe their lie for a minute. Especially because he could feel the fluxes in their chakra, something they wouldn't know how to control for a long time. "Well I'm going to be in my study." He said, turning to leave the room. Akito and Natsumi let out relieved breaths, thinking they had gotten away with their story. Until Sasuke spoke up once more. "Be sure to put those towels in the separate hamper, I don't want them to get paint on any of the clothes." He said, disappearing down the hall.

Both fell forward, groaning aloud. "Man…" Natsumi whined. Then they both heard the doorbell and perked up.

"I'll get it!" the two yelled. They glanced at one another, until Natsumi shoved Akito out of the way and laughed.

"Nope! I got it!" she called, running down the hall towards the door. Akito ran after her, and tackled her to the ground.

"No, I got it!" he said, getting off of her and using her moment of disorientation to run right up to the front door. He opened the door then, and was surprised by what he saw. Standing right in front of him was a boy that was a bit taller than he was, with bright red hair, and eyes that were a barely darker than Natsumi's. Behind him was a woman with dirty blonde hair that was tied into four ponytails.

But even though he had a pretty good guess on who they were, he stood there in shock, just staring at them. He didn't even acknowledge the sound of Natsumi running up behind him.

"Toshiro!" Natsumi gasped, running past Akito and hugging the older boy, whose expression turned into absolute bliss, a beautiful smile adorning his features.

"Natsumi!" he called back, hugging her tightly, both of them holding each other dearly.

The blonde woman smiled at the two, her loving gaze fixated on the pink haired girl. "Hello small one. How are you?"

Natsumi looked up and over her brother's shoulder, not releasing him. "Aunt Temari!"

Akito continued to watch the scene, feeling his jealousy rise at how quickly she could smile for this boy when it had taken him forever to get a smile as beautiful as that come to her face. Sasuke walked up behind his son then and took in the scene. He looked at Temari then. "Come inside." He said, grabbing Akito by the back of the shirt and moving him out of the way so that the other Sabakus could enter.

Temari did so, giving him a small nod before passing the two young ones and heading in. Natsumi finally released her brother and took his hand, pulling him inside with her. Once the door was closed she took a deep breath, laughing as she did so and pointed to Sasuke. "Brother this is Sasuke. He's been taking care of me while mommy and daddy are in heaven."

The young redhead looked up at Sasuke, smiling as well. "Thank you sir for taking care of my sister." He replied politely, making Temari giggle.

"It is no problem." The elder Uchiha said, slightly uncomfortable for the thanks. It was like they thought he was a good person or something. Ridiculous. "And just call me Sasuke." What, did they think he was old now too?

Toshiro nodded. "Okay."

Natsumi pulled her brother towards Akito then. "And this is Akito. He's been taking care of me too. We've been playing together every day and practicing."

"Hello." Toshiro waved, smiling at Akito and holding out his hand to him. "I'm Toshiro."

Akito almost didn't take his hand, but it would upset Natsumi, and his father would reprimand him. So he did. "Akito."

"I'm glad you've been taking care of my sister. It makes me feel better to know she's safe here with you." The redhead said truthfully, giving Akito a firm handshake.

Temari sighed contently before looking back to Sasuke. She frowned then, but tried not to let the children see it. "Sasuke…we need to talk."

He nodded. "We will do so in my study." He looked to Natsumi then. "Natsumi, why don't you show Toshiro your room and you can all play while Temari and I talk."

"Okay." she beamed.

"Actually," Toshiro interrupted, looking to his sister. "I wanted to talk to you too. Just me and you. Only for a little bit." He smiled at her when he saw her sad and confused expression.

Temari nodded. "Of course Toshiro." She said, watching the redhead pull his little sister towards the back door and disappear into the yard. The blonde sighed, shifting her gaze back to Sasuke. "That's the first he's smiled since I found him."

"Hn." Sasuke said, looking down to Akito, whose expression was anything but happy. "Akito," he said, getting the boy's attention. "Go and practice with your kunai. I'm sure Natsumi will find you when they are done."

"Yes Father." He said, turning and going down the hall towards the training room. The elder Uchiha motioned for Temari to follow him, and he led her into his study, where they would have privacy. He didn't even bother to sit down, since he knew this discussion probably wouldn't be long.

"I take it your news is anything but pleasant." He said, turning to face the blonde woman.

"The Suna council is throwing a fit." She told him, running a hand down her downcast face. "They are absolutely furious that Natsumi is here, and they want her back. I told them that it is clear Gaara left her to you, and that she will not be dragged back to that bloodbath she witnessed. No doubt that would fully cause her to snap." Temari sighed and hugged her arms around her waist. "When I found Toshiro, he didn't remember anything that had happened. He appeared fine, and when we got back and heard the news, he just went silent. He wouldn't eat anything until I told him that we were coming to see Natsumi."

"But…" she trailed off. "I tried to get them to allow Toshiro to stay here with his sister, but they won't have it. And I don't want to bring Natsumi back, but I can't bring Toshiro here. I just don't know what to do."

Sasuke thought about this, but couldn't really think of much of a solution. "Well it isn't really a surprise on how they are acting." He said. "And I agree, there's no way that Natsumi will be returning to Suna. Not after how long it's taken her to act the way a normal four year old girl should. Not to mention that Akito will have a fit. They've grown pretty close since her arrival." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Perhaps…we will just have to leave things the way they are. There's really nothing that Naruto can do, and simply arguing over it will just risk the start of war. And neither Toshiro nor Natsumi need to deal with that. Not after everything else."

Temari nodded, looking somber. "Though we may be looking at some trying times. With Gaara gone, that leaves a mess of alliances thrown up in the air. I will be taking on as Kazekage until Toshiro can take his place, but that will be a long time until then. All my brother's hard work might come tumbling back down."

"Naruto will help you to make sure that it doesn't." the Uchiha assured her. "It would be a ridiculous idea to try and change everything that Gaara built. He was the best Kazekage Suna ever had. I would go and visit him while you are here, and see what you can work out. Perhaps there is a way you can at least keep things with Konoha the way they are, or even improve them." He suggested. "And he will back you up on any decisions you make regarding your village."

"I know." She sighed, though there was pain evident in her gaze. "It's just so hard. It's like…while I was out looking for Toshiro, it hadn't even happened. But being there in Suna…without either of them…" the blonde trailed off, wiping away a stray tear. "I'm sorry." She laughed, though it was mostly to hide the sob that wanted to erupt. "I should compose myself better."

Sasuke lifted a shoulder in a shrug. It wasn't like he expected her to not be affected by her brother's death, or even Sakura's. The two had been good friends, after all. Not to mention she was a woman, and they were always emotional. Always. "Take however much time you need." He said. A thought occurred to him then and he frowned. "Does Toshiro know that he's not going to be allowed to stay with Natsumi?" he asked.

"Yes," Temari nodded, looking off towards the window in the study. "He knows he is not staying and he also knows that she is not coming back with us. He is under no disillusion of what the future holds for the two of them. He was upset at first, but when I told him she was staying with you, he seemed to calm down. Apparently he remembers you, and told me, 'so long as she's safe I'm alright with her being in Konoha' and then he dropped it altogether. I hope he's not like my brother in that aspect."

"We can only hope." The Uchiha sighed. "But if I remember correctly, he has a lot of Sakura in him. I think he will be fine."

Temari sighed and walked over to the window, pulling the curtain back that draped over the glass. She stared into the backyard, where Toshiro and Natsumi were sitting close together, both their faces more serious than she had ever seen. "I wonder what they are talking about."

Sasuke walked over and activated his sharingan, beginning to read their lips. "He's telling her that he won't be able to live with her here, and that she can't go back to Suna. But that he will visit as much as possible, and she shouldn't be sad." He deactivated his bloodline then. He looked at her. "At least we don't have to break the news to her now. I was wondering how to do that, actually." He admitted, since everyone knew he didn't handle emotions very well. His own or those of others.

"Yes…that's good." she said, moving away from the window once more. 'This visit won't be long. I will speak with Naruto tomorrow and then we will leave. Suna is in absolute chaos right now, I was reprimanded for even thinking of taking Toshiro at this time. But I knew it was necessary." Temari explained. "I can take him back to the hotel over night if you do not want more than the two you already have."

"No, he will stay here." Sasuke said. "He and Natsumi need all the time they can get."

"Alright then." The blonde looked back to the window. "I have some things to take care of, I'll be back for him tomorrow afternoon." She bowed to him before leaving the room and then the house altogether.

The Uchiha let out a sigh and moved to check on Akito. The Sabaku children would be fine in his backyard, and he felt that they would appreciate being left alone. Besides, Akito needed help with his kunai throwing.

"Toshiro is staying over the night!" Natsumi beamed, running down the hall, dragging the redhead behind her. "Toshiro is staying the night!" she sang, as they came to her room. "You can stay in here with me Toshi, since I want to spend as much time with you as I can."

Toshiro smiled down at his little sister and then around at the room. "Okay…sounds good."

Akito glared at the two of them, though it was mostly directed to the redhead. He didn't like this boy at all. He was taking away all of Natsumi's attention. Without even a word to either of them, he walked down the hall and into his room, closing his door so that he would be left alone.

Natsumi stopped, looking back at the closed door and frowned. "Hold on," she told her brother, running across the hall and knocking on the door. "Akito?" she asked through the wood. "Akito? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." His voice said through the door, though it was muffled.

She frowned. "Won't you come out and play with me and my brother?"

"…no."

"How come?"

"I don't want to." He said.

The small girl felt her heart throb and lowered her head. "Okay…" she pulled away then and walked back into her bedroom.

Toshiro watched her closely and once she was in front of him, held her face with his hand. "Everything alright?"

The sound of his voice seemed to break her from the trance she was in and she nodded, giving him a small smile. "Yeah…everything's okay."

Natsumi closed the door then and her and her brother played and read together until they heard Sasuke call them all for dinner. The two kids hurried down the hall and saw the elder Uchiha placing plates down of things that looked far too delicious to be his cooking. Natsumi giggled and climbed up into her chair. "Did you get takeout Sasuke?"

"Of course." He said, the corner of his lip lifting in a small smile. "I figured I would treat us all to dinner."

Akito entered the room then, appearing sullen and withdrawn. He sat down in his seat silently, and watched as his father set everything on the table.

The other two children watched him, Toshiro averting his gaze since he knew the behavior was because of him. Seeing this, Natsumi got down from her chair and went over to Akito's, grabbing a hold of his arm. "Big brother, I never got to tell you. Me and Akito are going to get married when we're older." She smiled, pulling the boy down slightly and kissing his cheek, which in turn made the redhead snicker. Akito's eyes widened, and a blush came to his face, the first emotion he had shown since Toshiro's arrival.

Sasuke shook his head. So they were still going on about that, huh? "Natsumi, please take your seat so that we can commence dinner." He directed. "You can tell Toshiro all about your wedding while we eat."

She nodded and hurried back to her chair, getting in it and smiling at the two. Toshiro smiled as well, since he could see the embarrassment still lingering on the young Uchiha's face. "If you are going to marry my sister, then you know it is your duty to protect her always. Correct?"

"Obviously." Akito muttered, picking up his fork and stabbing it into a random pile of food that was on his plate.

"Akito." Sasuke said in reprimand, glancing over at his son.

The young Uchiha sighed and looked back up at the redhead. "Yes. I have already told Natty that I will take care of and protect her for the rest of her life."

This only made the young man's smile widen. "That's good. It makes me feel much better to know she is safe with you." He nodded and then nodded in Sasuke's direction. "And you, I know if my father entrusted you with her, it is the correct way to go. I'm happy."

Natsumi giggled and began to get some food on her plate, her feeling of elation radiating off of her like sunlight. They continued to eat dinner then, with Natsumi and Toshiro supplying most of the conversation. And when that was done, Sasuke dismissed them all to get ready for bed, while he did the dishes. Not wanting to intrude upon the two sand siblings' time together, Akito retreated to his room once more. After actually spending some time with the redhead, he had to admit that the boy wasn't as bad as he'd originally thought. And so, Akito didn't really have that much of a problem leaving the two to themselves. Besides, he would be leaving in a while, and then he would have Natsumi all to himself once more.

The two got ready for bed, since it was now late, and they brushed their teeth and changed into their pajamas. After everything was taken care of, the two climbed into bed and snuggled against one another, falling asleep, but not before allowing their sadness to finally resurface.

Sasuke waited a while before checking in on Akito, making sure that he was fine. Seeing that his son was fast asleep in his bed, he then checked on Toshiro and Natsumi. They were cuddled close together, and looking so peaceful, that it was as if nothing had happened to their family. Not wanting the light from the hall to disturb the sleeping siblings, he silently closed the door and walked down the hall to his own room, already thinking about what the next day would bring.