Anything

Chapter 1 - Pein Knew

Pein knew from the begining it was going to be a mistake to send Itachi and Orochimaru out together on a mission. Their coming from the same village could cause tension, and the way Orochimaru had eyed Itachi when the latter was first introduced to Akatsuki...It meant bad news. But they were short on members and the mission had to be done.

When Itachi came back without a partner, he had patiently explained to Pein what had happened. Orochimaru would no longer be part of Akatsuki. The Leader was aggravated and dismissed Itachi, giving himself time to think. It didn't matter that Orochimaru was gone, Pein never really liked him anyway, but he needed the ring back. (1)

For a while he let it be. He had the 'aoi' ring, which he gave to Deidara as he joined. He also had the 'san' ring, which passed from one of Kakuzu's partners, to the next, eventually belonging to Hidan. But after that one, he had no more rings to give, and an extra member. Tobi. Keeping up a childish antic, he incessantly asked for one.

Quickly becoming tired of Tobi, he sent out Itachi and Kisame to go retrieve the 'ku' ring. The one Orochimaru had taken with him. He had expected the mission to go well. Itachi had managed to deter Orochimaru once, he most likely could again, on top of that having the help of his teammate. He had expected no difficulties at all.

He sensed the two of them return and waited for them to bring back a mission report. He was surprised when only Kisame came into his office to give the report. He seemed a bit jumpy, but Pein didn't mention it.

"Orochimaru destroyed the ring." Kisame told him in conclusion. (2)

Pein sighed, "Understood. You can rest up for a couple days, but expect a mission soon after."

"Yes, Leader-sama."

"Kisame, where's Itachi?" He had to ask, usually Itachi was the one giving the report and Kisame would be skipping out on it, not the other way around.

"Oh! Just...In his room." Kisame kept his gaze steady but he was obviously nervous. Giving him a searching glance, Pein dismissed him from his office.

He was a bit upset by the loss of the 'ku' ring, but let it be. At least now he knew that Orochimaru wasn't carrying it around with him anymore. The only thing on his mind was why Kisame was so skittish during the report. There were a couple details missing, that was easy enough to notice. But what were those details, he asked himself. He figured it didn't matter as long as the two would be able to do the mission he had for them in three days.

It turned out that it did matter, and that they wouldn't be able to do that mission after all. Kisame came into his office early the next morning, completely dishevelled. His face was in an expression of utter panic and it took him quite some time to manage to speak, only after continuous prodding from the Leader.

"Kisame, what's going on?" Pein was sitting straight in his seat, wondering what the emergency was, and if it actually was urgent. He hoped it wasn't another fire in the base because of Deidara. Or another lost pizza delivery man because of Zetsu. Or another all out brawl between Hidan and Kakuzu in the middle of their small base.

"Itachi!" Was the thing that came out at first.

But this made Pein realize it just might be serious. Anything wrong with the Uchiha couldn't be small, especially for Kisame to freak out so badly, "What about Itachi? Is he alive?"

"Itachi is...Tiny!" Kisame spread his arms about a meter wide.

"What?" It was the only thing the Leader could think to say.

"He's tiny." Kisame repeated.

"I heard the first time. Does this have anything to do with your mission yesterday?" Pein asked, remembering his weirdness from the day before.

"Yes."

"And what do you mean by tiny?" He couldn't help but ask.

"He's short. Like, a kid."

"...I want you to tell me every detail of your mission."

It turned out, that on their way to Otogakure, Itachi had become sick. He'd started coughing up blood, and he was dizzy. Kisame explained that it wasn't the first time it happened either. Itachi had been sick for a while now, coming down with these attacks every so often. It rarely got in the way of missions. This time was the exception. Kisame had forced Itachi to spend the night at a hotel in Oto, telling him to recover. Forcing himself would do nobody any good, and it was pointless for Kisame to continue the mission with Itachi if he would be spending the entire time worrying about the other.

When he left Itachi at the hotel, he'd been sleeping. The attack was gone, but it had left him tired. Kisame hadn't been gone for long. He'd talked with Orochimaru, found out the ring was destroyed, and returned to Itachi. But when he did get back, Itachi was still sleeping. Kisame had been afraid that he'd gone into a coma. He checked his pulse and saw that it was normal. Orochimaru had told him to leave, or else be hunted down, so he knew that they couldn't remain there.

He tried to wake up his teammate, but was unable to. Itachi was too far gone. Kisame carried him back to the base. He was surprised that their return trip hadn't roused Itachi up from his slumber at all. He put Itachi into his bed and made his report to Pein. His worry for Itachi is what made him so jumpy during their meeting.

"I spent the night in his room, hoping that he'd wake up sometime during the night, but he never did. I fell asleep at some point, though, so I couldn't be certain. But all I know for sure is that when I woke up, Itachi was smaller than usual. Much smaller."

"Why was I not aware that Itachi was sick? And why on earth would you leave him alone at the hotel? Especially in Oto. Orochimaru was after Itachi, which is why he left in the first place."

"I wasn't aware of that part..." Kisame mumbled, "I thought he just left. As for not telling you he was sick, Itachi asked me not to tell anyone. He's been using medicine to hide it."

"I see. Bring me to him then. We'll see if we can wake him up." Pein stood up and went over to Kisame.

"I don't have a clue how this happened. I didn't leave him alone for long, and for someone to be able to get close enough to Itachi to actually do anything to him..." They left the office.

"We'll get to the bottom of this, Kisame." Pein assured him. He hoped so anyways. Itachi was one of his most efficient members, and certainly one of the least bothersome.

Luckily they avoided any other members, for they would surely inquire as to why their Leader was following Kisame through the base. They arrived in front of Itachi bedroom door quickly, and Kisame hesitated before opening it.

"Here we go..." He said to encourage himself. He and Pein entered the room. The lights were still off, meaning Itachi was still in bed. A candle was set up though, on the bedside table, giving the room a red glow. Kisame had used that light to be able to keep an eye on his partner during the night. Eventually he'd fallen asleep on the floor. When he woke up, he shined the light over his teammate who was curled up in a ball, the blankets clutched in small hands. His black, short hair had hung around his face.

Kisame picked up the light once more and used it to light his teammate. Itachi still looked the same as he did that morning. He heard Pein take a sharp intake of breath.

"Is this...Itachi? He's..."

"Tiny?" Kisame finished Pein's sentence for him.

Kisame leant forward and put two fingers against Itachi's neck, feeling for a pulse. It was still beating at a normal rythme. His face was competely rid of all stress, which was odd for the Uchiha.

"What the hell happened to him...?"

"I don't know! I left him alone for only a couple hours!" Kisame said in an exasperated tone.

"In Oto. Where Orochimaru is."

"You think Orochimaru could do this?"

"He know's a lot of unusual jutsu, and he's powerful enough to get near a sick Itachi."

"Yeah, but Orochimaru was with me at the time." Kisame pointed out.

"True...What about Kabuto?"

"He was gone at the time. But...Whoever the fuck did this, it better be reversable!" Kisame exclaimed.

"I'm sure...Itachi, wake up."

The child continued to sleep.

"I don't think that's going to work." Kisame told him, "I've tried it."

"Uchiha Itachi, you better wake up right now or else!" Pein suddenly realized that he sounded like an angry father, and stomped away, ignoring the grinning Kisame. He switched on the light in the bedroom, illuminating the room properly. Kisame blew out the candle and put it on the bedside table. They could see Itachi's child-like build now that the light was on.

"He's so adorable as a kid." This time Pein gave Kisame an odd look, the latter merely ignored it.

"I think we should hold a meeting to discuss this." Pein stated.

"How about after breakfast? I can smell Deidara's pancakes from here. There's maple syrup...Butter...And even strawberries! Itachi loves strawberries on his pancakes." Kisame closed his eyes and smelled the air. He had a good sense of smell, but even Pein could smell them, and he had to agree that they smelt good.

"Well..." Pein looked at the sleeping child, "We can have the meeting during breakfast. Everyone's together anyways."

"I don't know how I feel about leaving him alone..."

"He'll be fine, Kisame."

"But what if he wakes up and nobody's here?"

"He won't wake up. He's been out for so long, I'm sure he'll stay asleep for another hour at least."

"But-"

"No buts! There's no need to worry. It's Itachi after all. He'll be able to take care of himself even if he does wake up."

"He's just a kid!"

The two bickered for a short while, Pein seemed to have forgotten he was the Leader and could make Kisame do as he asked. Neither noticed onyx eyes open tiredly.

"Do I smell pancakes?" A small voice seemed to ask nobody in particular.

Both Kisame and Pein stopped talking and at the same moment looked at Itachi. He was sitting up on the bed, his legs beneath him, and one hand was holding the blanket while the other was rubbing sleep out of his eyes. His usual clothes was now much too big for him, and hung around his small frame. His ring was staying on his small finger only because of luck, and they saw that his nails were no longer painted purple. Kisame had only taken off Itachi's shoes and hitai-ate, so even his cloak remained on him. His hair was shorter, just reaching his shoulders. The lines that were usually under his eyes were now almost non-existent.

He got out of his bed and stood on the floor, the clothes pooling around him. His hands were holding onto the opening of the cloak, and pulled it around him. He bowed his head a little.

"Excuse me sirs, but where am I?"

Pein and Kisame looked at each other, and the latter hesitantly replied, "We're at the Akatsuki headquarters."

Itachi's brows creased together, "What's the Akatsuki?"

The two adults shared a look again. Pein chose to take the lead in this one, "The Akatsuki is an organization of shinobi from different nations that take on missions to help the small villages." He explained the Akatsuki in the most innocent way possible.

"But...Why am I here? And how did I get here?" Itachi inquired, looking from one man to the other.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Kisame knelt in front of him, so he could be at eye-level with him. He ignored the temptation to cuddle his child-teammate. Itachi really was adorable as a kid, especially with the oversized clothes on him.

Like the normal Itachi, the young Itachi had no trouble looking at him directly in the eyes, unlike so many others, "I talked with my mother for a little bit last night, then I went to bed."

Neither the Leader or Kisame spoke, both taking in the information. It seemed that not only had Itachi's body gone back in time, but his mind had also gone back in time. Pein decided to go along with it as he made up an answer to the child's questions'.

"We're friends of your father's and he told us to watch over you for a while, since he and your mother were going somewhere. He brought you here last night, while you were sleeping." Pein lied. Kisame sweat-dropped. There was no way Itachi would believe that, and he was right.

"My father has no friends. And nobody can move me while I'm sleeping." Itachi countered, giving Pein a distrusting look.

Kisame decided to take it into his own hands, figuring out a better lie that would better suit Itachi's life. He didn't know much about Itachi, but figured he could make something up better than Pein could, "We're acquainted with your dad, and he told us he gave you a drug to make sure you slept soundly. There's been a lot of fighting recently in Konoha, which you might have noticed."

"Yes, father said a war was begining."

"And it is. He told us to watch over you while he went off to fight."

"I see..." Itachi didn't sound completely convinced, but he didn't really seem to care, "Why am I wearing these clothes?"

Luckily they were saved from answering another difficult question, because Deidara's loud voice echoed throughout the base. "BREAKFAST!" Itachi looked at the door with an alarmed look on his face.

"That's one of our members, his name is Deidara. I'll go alert them of your presense and Kisame can help you figure something out with the clothes. You can come find us in the kitchen afterwards." This was Pein's way of telling Kisame to stall as long as possible while Pein explained to the others Itachi's condition.

"We'll meet you there soon." Kisame said, and Pein left the room, leaving him alone with Itachi. He brought his gaze onto Itachi, who was staring at him blankly. "Well...Let's see what we can do about your clothes." But he didn't move. He didn't want to approach Itachi too much, knowing that he would normally never allow it.

Itachi looked down at the pool of clothes around him, "I think I can do something with this..."

"Do you need any help?" Kisame asked, and Itachi just shook his head. "Alright, I'll just go get myself ready, and I'll be back in two minutes. Is that okay?"

"Yes."

"I'll take the ring though, just to make sure you don't lose it. It was your ticket in here, that's all." Kisame took the ring from Itachi, and stood up. He grabbed the hitai-ate from the bedside table, and chose to bring both items with him. Just in case. The young Uchiha might be upset seeing his scratched off leaf symbol, and the ring was too precious to lose. "I'm off, I'll be back in two minutes." When Itachi nodded, he left the room.

He was still in his clothing from the day before. It wasn't really a problem, it was just that his cloak was dirty from the long trek back and forth from Oto. He went to his room, removed his cloak, and left it on his bed. He put Itachi's items on a dresser in his room. Samehada was leaning against the wall next to the door, but he chose to leave it there. He wouldn't be needing it. He gave some food to his fish, Glinda. Realizing there wasn't much else he had to do, he left his room and made his way back to Itachi's room. He could hear the loud voices of his teammates further away, and wondered how they were taking the news. Probably not very well.

Upon entering his partner's room, he was surprised to see Itachi waiting for him. The small Uchiha was sitting on his bed, his hands in his lap, and his legs crossed at the ankles. He looked at him as he entered the room, his face was its usual blank, but there was an unmistakeable curiosity in his eyes. Itachi got off the bed, and Kisame was quite impressed with what he'd managed to do with his clothing.

He still had on his usual black t-shirt, but he'd wrapped his white sash around his waist tight enough to make it look as if it almost fit. He still had his black pants on, but he'd used a kunai to cut off the extra length at the bottom, and he had found his hairband, which he was using to keep his pants from falling. He'd bunched the pants on the side and tied the elastic around it, tightening it around his waist. His bare feet made no sound against the wood tiled floor.

"Well, you sure did a good job." He grinned at the young Uchiha.

Itachi wrung his hands in front of him, and brought his gaze to the floor. It was the first time Kisame had ever seen him nervous, and found it was a bit refreshing, "Come on, kid, let's go see the others." Itachi nodded and went over to him. The two exited the room.

Kisame felt a tug on his shirt and looked down to see Itachi looking at him, "What is it?"

"What's your name?" He asked shyly.

"Kisame." He replied, and they kept walking. He was surprised that Itachi never let go of his shirt and walked close to him.

"Kisame-senpai, why are you blue?"

He laughed, and ruffled Itachi's hair. This just might be fun.

AN: Hello! (1) If you're reading this, I really expect you to be following the manga closely. If not, expect spoilers and a couple confusing parts. Any questions, feel free to ask! (2) I don't know what Orochimaru did with the ring, but I thought this would make a good answer.

Now, this story is actually already completed. It has ten chapters, which I'll be uploading about once a week, or maybe twice a week.

I have tried very hard to keep this story as canon as possible, and as un-cracky as possible. It's an emotional kind of Akatsuki-bonding fic. I know the idea of 'turning into a child' is prety much cliche, but I wanted one that was plausible and not just humour. I wanted one that made sense, and so I wrote this! I hope you enjoy reading this! I certainly had fun writting it!

Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!
-MewMew