Disclaimer: This story is based off of Cheesey Goodness's characters, and as such credit here is given to her. And I don't own anything in here, other than the amusement park idea and Ryoko. This is for you, Minory and Dark! Enjoy!

Author's Note: Yeah, this takes place in an amusement park near where we live, but I'm too lazy to go through and take out all the references. Just imagine it to be your own local amusement park, and you'll do fine.


"So…why on earth are we here, again?"

"Leader-sama said we needed a vacation, un. Said if we destroyed one more hideout that Zetsu would have suddenly gained several hundred more pounds, un."

"Can't imagine why he'd say that." Yume pushed some hair out of her face and squinted in the sun as she looked at the sign looming in front of them. "Kennywood? Sounds more like a retirement home than anything."

"If it is one, then we're way overdue." Sukkiri pointed to several five year old children who were laughing with one another as they ran inside. With nothing better to do, and Leader-sama's threats still looming at the back of each of their minds, the four Akatsuki members ventured in, unaware of the horrors that awaited them…

"It's…too…happy…"

Deidara was very close to going into a twitching fit, having been assaulted by the carnival music that tends to prevail in amusement parks. Itachi as usual, displayed no emotion, except for a furrowed brow of annoyance when a child went by with his mother pointing at him, "Look mommy! Those guys all have red clouds on their coats! Do you think they're the clowns that came in late?"

"Ignore them, Sukkiri-san…ignore them…" Deidara was inching away from the fiery red-head, hoping that she would not do something rash. Ignoring the somewhat tense scene behind her, however, Yume shrugged and walked on ahead, wanting to find out just what these things called 'rides' really were like. She had not even taken two steps, however, when a sudden collaboration of screams reverberated around them, and within an instant, Itachi was drowning in a sea of every teenage girl within the park.

"Guys! C'mere, c'mere! Itachi is ALIVE!!!"

"Oh ehm gee! ITACHI!!!"

It took Deidara detonating clay bombs every few seconds to reach Itachi and drag him away to safety, chocolates raining down upon them as fangirls did their best to appease them to bring Itachi back.

"That's certainly no experience I ever want to repeat again…"

"Well then what are we to do? We can't exactly keep walking around here with Itachi without getting mobbed by fan girls every few seconds."

"Hmm…" Yume smirked to herself as she studied Itachi, an idea forming itself in her mind. Itachi frowned back at Yume's stare, knowing already what it was she was thinking, "No."

"Yes! A disguise will work perfectly! Or…" A smirk curled her lips upwards while her eyes sparkled darkly, "Would you prefer to die an absolutely humiliating death, suffocated by completely powerless teenage girls? By the way, mine!"

Yume snatched away the chocolates that had somehow managed to stick itself to Itachi's cloak while Sukkiri nodded slightly, "Yes, that seems a good plan; but we do not have anything to disguise him with…"

And that is how, fifteen minutes later, four people were walking casually in Akatsuki uniform down the paved paths in the amusement park, but instead of their normal hat, with over-sized sombreros won from a local game.

"We are getting stared at more now, un! This was the most ridiculous plan, un!"

"I didn't exactly see you complaining when I got you that sombrero…"

Turning a light shade of red, Deidara turned away from Sukkiri, grumbling to himself incoherently about having to do something from getting completely scammed of his money and more importantly, dignity before it was all gone. Ignoring this small exchange, Yume was watching closely for any potentially approaching fan girls, just as Itachi was. She smirked to herself again as she thought about how Itachi might actually have one phobia in this world, much as he tried to hide it.

"Hey, wait a minute! If we have never been here before, how could so many people know who we, or at least Itachi are?"

The other two stopped their bickering long enough to realize the truth in Yume's words, "Er…good point. You don't think that Itachi's some sort of pop idol in his spare time…?"

"Of course he is, un! That's why he paints his nails like a girl, un!"

Itachi glared at Deidara, obviously defensive about his nails, "I would hold my tongue next time. After all, at least I do not have a gender identity complex."

"FOR THE LAST TIME, I AM A GUY!!! UN!"

Quite apart from gaining several scandalized stares, a different kind of threat emerged…

"Is that the 'un' guy?!"

"Oh ehm gee! Deidara's here too!"

"Deidara, I LOVE YOU!!!"

"Oh this …"

Sukkiri grabbed the back of Deidara's cloak and ran off with him as a solid river of fangirls went screaming and running after them. Hiding his face behind the wide front brim of his sombrero, Itachi inched away slowly, much to Yume's amusement.

"Ha! You really are scared of 'em!"

No sound came from behind the sombrero, but Yume still had enough common sense to know that Itachi was glaring at her. Brushing this off, she grabbed his hand, which normally would have been grounds for her own to be pulverized, but remained unharmed as she dragged him over to the Magic Carpet.

"This looks like fun! I heard screaming from this direction, so it has to be!"

Itachi remained silent, inconspicuously tightening the cord under his chin that held the sombrero securely to his head. Yume noticed this as they stood in line, then moved to do so too, but kept fumbling with the cord. "Damn it! I can't see what I'm doing!"

After watching her do this for several minutes, Itachi made a slight noise of annoyance and lightly batted her hands away, tightening it for her. Yume froze from her impatient tantrum and almost turned red from the momentary contact Itachi's fingers had with her neck. Wait, why am I acting this way? This is only Itachi, who I've known as a kid! It's only Itachi…only, right?

"The line is moving."

"Oh, right!" Yume hurried after the moving people in front of her, Itachi moving at a much more normal pace. Luckily for them, they got seated in the back row of one of the halves of the ride, away from the prying gazes of the curious ride-goers. For a few minutes, nothing happened, but just when Yume was about to ask Itachi if they should try looking for Sukkiri and Deidara, the ride lurched, rotating back and forth with sudden changes in direction. Each time it did, both Akatsuki members could feel their stomachs lurch with the ride, being tossed and turned by its sadistic whims. Finally, it stopped at the top of its rotation sequence, giving them time to recover, "So, you think it's over now?"

As if to laugh in Yume's face, the ride fell suddenly down into its rotation again, grabbing screams out of its riders. Yume and Itachi remained determinedly quiet however, glad to see the ride finally finish. Getting out of their seats quickly, they stopped just outside the fence separating them from the torturous ride.

"That was still fun, wasn't it?! Itachi? Itachi-kun…?"

A lurching sound near her feet brought Yume's attention to them, which caused her to laugh like a maniac. Itachi, who was never fazed by anything, was throwing up from the Magic Carpet.

Rather than keep laughing at him like she was strongly urged to do, Yume grabbed some napkins from a nearby food stand and helped him clean himself off, "How about we don't go on anymore rides like that, okay?"

Itachi coughed somewhat as he stood up and accepted one of the napkins, wiping his face clean. He didn't say anything in return, but nodded at her, and followed Yume when she walked off to find Sukkiri and Deidara.

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"Think we lost them, un?"

"Probably. They can never follow us in here!"

"But we might want to get you out of here though, hn. You're not supposed to be in here, un."

"Hey, do you have a girl in there with you or something?"

Sukkiri clammed up immediately while Deidara coughed somewhat, "No, I was just practicing my voice-overs!"

"Hmph. Well keep workin' at it, that sounded pretty convincing."

They waited as the man left the bathroom, the two Akatsuki members standing rather uncomfortably on top of a toilet in the men's bathroom. Once they heard his footsteps fade away though, they relaxed and got off it, Sukkiri moving over to the entrance to check if the coast was clear. Deidara grumbled a bit as he fixed his hair and fastened the sombrero back on, messy as it was from the chase. He then followed Sukkiri out and kept close by, having learned just a few minutes before that it was better to be pulled along by her if chased by fangirls than to run on his own legs.

"So…what exactly are we supposed to do in these sort of places, un?"

"Well there are things I've heard people call rides here, and--food!"

Snatching Deidara's wrist again, Sukkiri pulled him over to a funnel cake stand, where she promptly ordered the largest one they had. Deidara watched without much interest, that is, until he felt a long-nailed hand rummage through his cloak.

"What the--?! Get your hands off me, un!"

"Relax, I'm just getting some money. You don't expect me to pay for my food, do you?" Before Deidara could protest, she handed over the amount for the funnel cake, then pocketed the rest of the money.

"Give it back to me, un!"

"No…but I'll let you have some of my funnel cake!"

"Okay, un."

Within a few minutes white powdered sugar had spilled down the front of their Akatsuki robes, but this was only to be expected as Sukkiri kept claiming that the good parts of the cake were hers, Deidara claimed they were his as he was the one who actually paid for it, and other such things. Their argument ended however as they came to the entrance to a ride flanked by a wooden phantom figure, practically daring them to go inside.

The last of the funnel cake was devoured by one of the mouths on Deidara's hands as the two stared at it, wondering whether or not they should dare the other to go on that ride. Without waiting another moment, Sukkiri and Deidara turned towards one another, their fingers pointing to the other, "I dare you to ride that thing!"

Both their expressions reflected the other's, a look of slight surprise. Sukkiri was the first to break this game of "Mirror, Mirror" as she chuckled darkly, "Alright, I have no problem with getting on it. But I have my doubts over if you can handle it…"

Deidara screwed his face into a disgruntled frown, stomping onto the path where the line stood in, "I so can ride it, un! I'll beat you at your own game, un!"

They stood in line for what seemed like an hour, the ever-popular ride being overridden with fans. Growing increasingly bored, Sukkiri had decided to start poking Deidara with her long fingernails, gaining a series of annoyed grunts by Deidara before he started poking her back, the two engaged in what very well seemed like their own personal war.

"Aw, aren't the youth of today so adorable? You can just tell they like each other!"

"What?!" They stopped their poking match at the sound of the lady behind them, realizing just what it may have looked like to other people. Throwing the other a glare, they then proceeded to stare at whatever was around them, up until they ended up at the front of the line and the train of cars stopped in front of them.

"So where would you like to go…?"

"The back, un!"

Conveniently leaving out that the back was in fact the part of the ride that went the fastest (Sukkiri had noticed this by observing the rides before them, while Deidara was busy staring at…something else), Sukkiri followed Deidara into the ride, smirking to herself as it slowly crawled up the hill, lending suspense to the atmosphere. Deidara's hand next to hers on the seat bar grew progressively tenser and tightened its grip on it, until his knuckles turned a ghostly white.

"Are you scared, Deidara?"

"No, un! I wanted to see how tightly I could grip this, un!"

"Whatever you say…oh look! We're at the top!"

For right at that moment, their car was the last to go over the hill, which meant that it went down the fastest. Sukkiri laughed with great mirth as they sped downwards, while Deidara let loose screams that complimented his feminine appearance. As the ride snaked up and down other assorted hills, Sukkiri grew increasingly excited while Deidara's screams kept getting louder. The ride finished very soon, unfortunately for Sukkiri, but Deidara welcomed this as he tore out of his car and towards the exit, pure and unadulterated terror pasted onto his face.

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"How do you know they're here?"

"I heard screaming from over here that is louder than any of the others. They must be causing some sort of trouble-"

Itachi was cut off as his eyes widened in surprise at the sight that was hurtling towards him. Deidara, rather than blowing random civilians up like he expected him to be doing, was still screaming as he ran towards Itachi, tackling him to the ground as he hugged him tightly.

"Help me, un! She's a witch, a fearless witch, un! She made me go on it, un! Don't let her get me, un!"

"…get…off…me…"

"Gah, un!"

Deidara leaped off him like he had just touched a hot coal once he realized he had tackle-hugged Itachi of all people. Sukkiri raised an eyebrow at this, having just arrived there from the ride's exit.

"So now that we've found one another, what to do now?"

Yume frowned a bit as she thought, "Leader-sama said he'd send Ryoko and Zetsu to get us when this place closed, so we're stuck here 'till then. Want to go play a shooting game?"

And it was with that being said that the four Akatsuki members went on a game-playing spree (except for Itachi of course, although he obliged for the shooting range). Several hours (and ginormous stuffed animals) later, the sky had darkened, causing them to realize just how soon the time would come when they would have to leave.

"I don't think we have very much longer here."

"Well then," Yume popped the rest of the fudge she had made Itachi buy for her into her mouth, "What would you guys like to go on?"

"NOT THAT THING, UN! NO, NEVER AGAIN, UN!"

"Okay…other than the Phantom's Revenge, what should we go on?" Sukkiri asked, ignoring Deidara's hiding behind her.

"I'm certain Deidara will enjoy the Paratrooper over there…"

"Okay then! Come on, let's go!"

Grabbing Deidara's wrist again so that he flew behind her like a flag, Sukkiri ran off to the ride of flying umbrella-seats, getting through the short line quickly. Not giving the blonde a chance to speak or even move, she sat him down next to her underneath one of the umbrellas just in time for the ride to start. Expecting Deidara to panic or otherwise display his anxiety of getting on rides, Sukkiri turned away, but realized after a few seconds that he was not in fact screaming. As the ride progressively grew higher, Deidara seemed to fiddle around with his hands, as if not knowing what to do with them anymore. Raising an eyebrow at this, Sukkiri was about to speak, but was cut off as Deidara slid onto her.

"What are you doing-?"

"It was the ride's fault, un! Centripetal force and such, un!"

They didn't speak for a few more minutes, suddenly feeling very awkward. "Er…Sukkiri, un?"

"Yeah?"

Instead of receiving a verbal reply, Deidara tilted his sombrero so that it hid the part of his face that faced the rest of the world, then leaned in to lay his lips on top of Sukkiri's. They remained this way for awhile, both of them enjoying themselves, though not saying a word of it to the other. When the ride stopped however, Deidara hopped off it quickly and ran off, the back of his neck turning as red as his face. Once again, Sukkiri followed after him at a much slower pace, a small smile adorning her face.

I think I like this 'centripetal force'…

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After watching Sukkiri pull Deidara off to the Paratrooper, Itachi had walked towards the bridge that spanned over the lake, laying his hands on top of the railing. Yume stood behind him, not saying a word, since she figured she had bothered him enough for the day. Her eyes sparkled a small bit however as she pointed up to the sky, "Hey look, Itachi! They're setting off fireworks!"

He did not move, but could see them reflected in the water. As usual, Itachi's face remained indifferent, not showing any emotion whatsoever. His mind however, was a very different story.

So many things swirled within it: memories, urges, dreams, and other such things he would never relate to anybody. As Yume smiled to herself while watching the fireworks explode overhead of them, Itachi allowed a smirk to pull at his lips lightly.

I think I will break this pattern…but for one night, though.

"They're so beautiful, they are!" Yume's face was glazed over with the glow of a day well spent, which tugged at something within Itachi. He could not explain what it was, and did not even attempt to, not wanting to figure out that he may be feeling something other than apathy for the first time in so many years. He acted on it however, despite what a small voice in his head told him to not do.

Without waiting to see if Yume would turn her attention to him, Itachi moved forwards and tipped her chin up so that he was able to kiss her, timing it almost perfectly with another firework's explosion.

Needless to say, Itachi had caught her off-guard, but Yume responded back, despite her own conflicts within her mind. This is a surprise…I guess I would have been kissed eventually, but by Itachi?

She did not have much time to savor the kiss however, as several things happened at once. Sukkiri and Deidara for one had witnessed this kiss, but so had a hundred million fangirls.

"…something tells me we'd better run…very fast…"

Itachi did not say anything back to Yume, but grasped her hand tightly as they ran for dear life, the screams of the fangirls and the firework explosions working together to deafen them all.

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"So I'm assuming that you all had fun?"

Zetsu and his newly appointed partner Ryoko were waiting outside the gates to pick up our four heros. Her expression was far from sympathetic after watching the four Akatsuki members finish their latest chase and end it at the entrance where she and Zetsu had been waiting. Rather, she was smirking widely and keeping herself from laughing so hard that even Leader-sama would have heard it miles away.

Zetsu remained expressionless for the most part, turning around to start walking in the opposite direction, "Leader-sama wants us back by morning. We should start off now."

Ryoko shook her head amusedly as she pushed back her teal side-bangs, never in a million years expecting to see something like that happen in an organization such as Akatsuki. As the rest of them followed Zetsu's conspicuous plant leaves, she turned to look at the four members behind her, "So, what did you guys do to get them so mad? They looked like they were about to murder Yume-chan…"

"Trust me…it's a long story…"


Yeah...I don't quite consider this story perfection, but it was the first one I wrote for Dark and Minory, so of course it's bound to be less-than-ideal. So keep your eyes out for some more stories to be uploaded soon.