A Child Of Many Secrets

Chapter 2

Third person pov

After nearly five whole minutes of staring at Nahiko, Pein and Konan realized the kid probably wasn't going to do much but sit there and play with his stuffed toy. At least, that's what he seemed to be occupied with for now. So, as odd as it happened to be, Pein went back to work. Not without keeping an eye on the kid, of course. He glanced over every so often, otherwise continuing his work as though Nahiko weren't there. It was hard. His mind was going a mile a minute trying to figure out when he possibly could've conceived this child. 

Pein tried asking Konan about her thoughts on the kid. She'd responded with a shrug the two times he'd tried to question her, so he'd stopped asking. She clearly didn't know what to think, but like him. They were stuck in the same boat. He hated that he didn't know what to do. He hadn't felt this helpless in quite some time now. This brat had showed up with a picture of his actual, real body, and then claimed himself his son. He should've been able to handle this better. On some level, he should know what to do. But he doesn't. So all he can do is sit here, watch, and wait for something to happen.

The  child didn't speak again. It didn't turn around either, facing the corner whilst he played. Pein was glad. He didn't fancy jabbering fools with too many questions. It was quite convenient that this kid should find himself entertained by a singular toy-- one Pein hadn't had to provide. Still, that didn't mean the kid could stay. The more Pein thought about it, the more preposterous it seemed. Him? Having a child? It seemed impossible. Downright insane, even. There simply was no way. 

Konan left after an hour or so. Pein wasn't sure why exactly, but he also didn't really care. Her business was her business. Nahiko didn't indicate that he'd even noticed the woman had left, never once turning around or looking over. Even so, Pein was now left alone with a child. Sure, the kid wasn't exactly doing anything, but he was still there nonetheless. Now it felt as though Pein had to watch the child ever second or else something would happen. It was far more stressful than he cared to admit, and he found himself glancing over at the boy with much more frequency. 

With a quiet sigh to himself, Pein hesitantly went back to his paperwork. The words seemed to scramble on the page, making them impossible to read or focus on. Every few seconds, he'd spare a brief glance up at Nahiko. Nahiko was never doing anything even relatively different. Every time Pein looked, he was still playing with that rabbit of his. At one point he thought maybe he heard the boy murmuring to it, but a quick look up would bring silence despite Nahiko's back being to him. Pein felt tense. This kid was anything for normal. He was hiding something. Pein wasn't sure what, but he could feel it. It was something big.

It was only after an hour that Pein was able to truly continue his paperwork without the words flying erratically across the page and keeping him from truly focusing. This was only because Nahiko had stopped doing much of anything at all. He was now simply sitting there, his stuffed toy leaning against his side. He continued to face the corner like a kid placed in timeout. Pein wasn't complaining about this either. His lack of movement made it far easier to concentrate on other things, such as their workings in the land of the Mist, and the reports that had been brought in just last week from Kisame.

Being the leader of the Akatsuki wasn't the most busying thing in the world, but there were many other things that required Pein's attention. He ran an entire village in the background as well, and he had to maintain the health of his body. He only had to much energy. He wanted to conserve for the day he knew he'd have to help capture the tailed beasts. So far they'd already found the locations of two, and they were now searching for the remaining seven. They didn't even enough members yet to conduct a proper extraction. It was no matter. Their time would come. 

Pein looked up after a moment to glance at Nahiko only to do a doubletake when he realized the child was no longer there. He felt his panic swell, his head swiveling side to side. Scanning the room, he didn't immediately see the kid. Had he slipped out the door? No, he would've heard him if that were the case. The child had a fair amount of chakra for someone so young. Somehow, Pein was still frantically unable to locate them right away. Quite pathetic. He was secretly glad Konan wasn't here to bear witness to his obvious panic. He doubted she'd allow him to live it down.