"The rain," Kisame breathed slowly, "it's coming down hard." Deidara did not answer preferring to stare off into space, consumed by his thoughts.

"Tomorrow," Pain had told them, "tomorrow, you will get the boy." Kisame hoped they caught him, he hoped it more then anything.

"Pain won't let you go, just because you catch the Jinchuriki." Deidara warned him. They took a step back as the downpour extended a foot farther into the small cave, blown by the raging wind. Kisame didn't respond.

"Then I'll go on my own."

Deidara's eyes slanted lazily over to his tall accomplice. "Fool. You're not even as strong as me, and I could never hope to defeat the leader." Kisame could find no answer.

"I don't care if it costs be my life," Kisame spat, "I'll butcher the leader into a million pieces to save him."

Deidara snapped out of his lazy doze as small paper butterfly burst from the shadows of the cave and flew into the storm, unfazed by the tempest outside.

"SHIT!" Deidara shrieked. "After freaking Konan tattles, we'll both be dead!"

Kisame looked around, frightened. "How the hell did they know where we were?"

"A reliable source," answered a voice in the depths of the cave. And out of the murky darkness engulfing most of the shelter came none other then the prodigy himself. Uchiha Itachi.

"Bastard!" growled Deidara. He lunged angrily at Itachi, but stopped in an instant.

"What the-" Kisame began, but it several seconds Deidara collapsed on the floor, grasping his heart as if he thought somebody was about to rip it out. Kisame had no clue how right he was.

Itachi's Sharingan faded back to normal, black eyes. He nodded curtly, and vanished out of thin air.

Deidara was still shaking on the floor. Kisame helped him up. "He was holding it…while…blood…pumping…I…I…" but it was no use. Deidara had fainted. Kisame nervously bumped his body with the hilt of his giant blade. Out cold, for sure.

Kisame was about to start to tend to him when he dreadfully felt that familiar feeling. That he was being tickled apart into tiny particles. That he very being was materializing. Soon, he was standing in the Akatsuki base, a static figure.

"Yes…master?" Kisame asked nervously. Pain was standing with his arms folded, scowling. Konan stood to his right, Zetsu to his left. All the other teams were out on there respective missions. The way Pain frowned was extremely unnerving. He never showed his teeth, barely opening his mouth to speak. At least Sasori smirked when he screwed with you.

"It has come to my attention," Pain began, "that you would like to join me in combat."

"Master, I can assure you," Kisame put out frantically, "I had no intention of-"

"Whether you planned to try or not is not of importance. You spoke it, and that is enough for me. So…" he stretched his arms out wide, "try."

Kisame noticed that the static feeling was gone. He was there, in the light-blue flesh. "How the-" Pain didn't smile, but there was a gleam of triumph in his eyes.

"Try." He repeated.

"Try what?"

"To butcher me into a million pieces, of course."

Kisame broke into a cold sweat. "I won't master, I just won-"

"Would you rather…I make the first move?" Pain stared blankly at the shark-like figure. Silence. "Very well then."

Pain snapped his fingers. Kisame's torso was ripped open. He bellowed in agony, dropping his sword. Pain snapped them again, and the veins in the open torso could be seen constricting his heart, like a hungry snake.

Kisame's eyes were bulging out of his head. "Stop! Please! I'm begging master! STOP!"

And to his surprise, his veins went slack, and his torso sewed itself back together. Pain crossed his arms again. "You have learned your lesson?" he asked politely but firmly.

"Yes, master! Yes, of course!"

"Then you won't mind me changing your mission?"

Kisame gulped. This mission was his only chance to find him. To save him. To repay him for what he had done. But as Pain's eyes burrowed skeptically into his mind, he saw that he had no choice. "Yes, of course, master."

"Good," purred Zetsu. He took a small blue scroll out of his robe, and handed it to Tobi, who had burst from the ground beside him. Tobi hurried over to Kisame and thrust it into his hand, tripping several times before he got there.

"You're new mission," Pain began, "is to find a new member. Kakuzu has…disposed…of yet another."

Deidara was ushered into the base by Itachi and Sasori, and thrown on the ground next to Kisame, with a loud crunch.

"But let me warn you," drawled Pain, "if you fail this mission, if you choose to save him instead of remaining loyal to the Akatsuki…" And for once in a very long time, Pain smiled. Kisame was horrified.

Kisame waited until Pain was escorted away by Zetsu and Konan and Tobi and tunneled away before moving. He slowly helped a still shaking Deidara up. Itachi and Sasori stood watching. Sasori was smirking arrogantly.

"This was all your fault!" Deidara spat at Itachi. Kisame was impressed he was brave enough to do this, after his recent encounter. The Uchiha's eyes remained normal, though.

"It was my mission to make sure the two rookies were loyal. I assure you Tobi passed the very same inspection. Surprising, seeing as he isn't even a member." Itachi said quietly. "Otherwise, I could really care less what your trivial goals are."

"Maybe you should give that cloak to Tobi," Sasori chuckled at Deidara.

"Maybe you should shut the hell up!" Deidara shrieked. Kisame flinched again, half expecting Sasori to attack his partner. But instead, he stayed stationary, his red hair blowing lightly in the breeze.

"You will learn, over time," Sasori said, "that all the things that have happened so far in your lives, all the people you wish you could kill, the ones you wish you could have back just for one second, to savor their love for another instant, does not matter. Your life now belongs to the leader. It belongs to Akatsuki."

"No," Kisame said, suddenly. "You could never understand. Maybe you were willing to kill your family, but I say no. I loved my family, and I'm not afraid to admit it, Akatsuki member or not." Sasori didn't respond.

"How could you ever understand how it is to lose the person you cherish more then your own life?" Kisame continued. "My little brother was my life! If you had a little brother, you'd probably butcher him!"

A particularly loud blast of thunder pierced the normally sound proof walls of the hideout. And Itachi's eye locked onto Kisame's. Was that pity in the dark eyes? Or just hatred? Kisame couldn't tell.

"It is of no importance," Sasori muttered, unfazed by the words he had just received. "I learned long ago that family wasn't a gift. Parents, siblings, grandma's, they're there for one reason: to test you. I saw through the test, and passed with flying colors. Meanwhile, some fools find it necessary to wade through life, being slowly sucked down by family ties. There's only one way to truly succeed: alone." Sasori turned on his heel and slowly walked away, into the deep maze of caverns that made up the back of the hideout. Itachi followed.

"Well," said Kisame, turning slowly to Deidara, "Let's see what this "mission" is all about."