Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…

Summary: The Akatsuki pairs enjoy a little bonding time at the beach. Has shounen ai if you squint.

A Little Break

oOo

Pein gave a satisfied smile as he took in his surroundings. The moonlight gave the water an eerie glow and it made the sand look like fine silver powder, it was indeed a sight. It was rare to find a decent uninhabited island these days, but thanks to Kisame, they managed to find a small, but beautiful island on the far coasts of Kirigakure.

Lately, he noticed that the rest of the Akatsuki's focus and patience during missions was beginning to waver due to too much stress and exhaustion. Pein felt slightly guilty since the main cause of that stress was him pushing them to capture their assigned Jinchuurikis faster. Unfortunately, in his impatience, he forgot to think on the fact that even Akatsuki members have their limits.

So, as a solution to this problem, he suggested that they take a small break from their missions. Immediately, Hidan, Tobi and Deidara cheered loudly, Itachi, Konan and Sasori remained emotionless, while Kakuzu, Kisame and Zetsu gave relieved sighs. Even though he received different reactions, he knew very well that they agreed.

Another reason as to why he decided to have their vacation in a secluded place was to fix the lack of teamwork between the partners. His job was made easier when they split up in the usual pairs and claimed one part of the island as their own.

West beach was Kisame and Itachi's, east beach was taken by Hidan and Kakuzu, Sasori and Deidara went for the north beach, south beach belonged to Zetsu and Tobi, while he and Konan were allowed to wander around wherever they wished.

He was unsure whether his plan was working or not, but he needed to check…

He formed a hand seal before disappearing with a 'poof'. Leaving Konan to stare at the place where Pein was standing a few seconds ago.

oOo

Kisame held back a sleepy yawn. He was starting to get bored and uncomfortable due to the endless silence between him and his partner. He gave a sigh and spared his partner a side glance, feeling slightly annoyed that the younger man still took no note of his discomfort. Don't get Kisame wrong, he was happy to have Itachi as his partner. In comparison to all the others, he got along well with his partner and they rarely had any disagreements. The only thing he hated was the silence. Hidan and Kakuzu had the usual bickering, Sasori and Deidara had their "Art is eternal" or "Art is a bang, un!" debates, Zetsu and Tobi had Zetsu's conversations with his other personality and Tobi's "good boy" rants.

While the other pairs had their own way of interacting, he and Itachi barely spoke to each other at all. If Kisame was lucky to catch Itachi in a good mood, he'd at least hear him use other words other than 'Hn'. Kisame ran a hand through his blue hair and decided to break the silence before he fell asleep on the spot.

"Itachi-san?"

"Hn?" was the monotone reply of his partner.

Kisame felt his hopes of having a decent conversation with Itachi diminish. Despite that, this was better than having to endure the silence any longer. He let out the question that kept buzzing in his head ever since they got there.

"Well…I was only wondering…if you disapprove of this vacation…"

He was met by a raised eyebrow. Kisame knew him well enough to know what Itachi's unspoken question was.

"You see…you didn't really seem that favorable when Leader-sama suggested we take a break…or perhaps this island was a bad choice…"

Kisame muttered that last part but Itachi's keen hearing caught on nonetheless. Itachi only let out an amused chuckle, nearly scaring the hell out of his partner for his very rare show of emotion.

"You don't need to worry, Kisame. I admit to have been on edge as well. If Leader-sama had not suggested this vacation, I would have cracked already. And as for your other problem…" Itachi turned his head to look his partner in the eyes "…this island you brought us to is quite amazing."

Kisame stared. Disbelief was written all over his face and his mouth was opening and closing like a goldfish.

Another amused chuckle. "What's wrong, Kisame? Do you need to take a swim? You look like a goldfish loosing air…or more like a shark loosing air"

This time, Kisame jumped back a few feet, a finger pointing shakily at Itachi. "Y-You laughed…t-talked…and you actually MADE A JOKE!!!"

Itachi smirked slightly and shook his head "It seems that the atmosphere of this place is starting to get to me…"

Kisame got over the surprise of Itachi's out of character-ness and walked over to his partner, grinning widely.

"Itachi-san?"

"Yes?"

"We should come here more often, then!"

And Kisame finally learned that even though Itachi can laugh and joke, that still doesn't make his Sharingan any less terrifying.

oOo

Zetsu hugged his knees closer to his chest and laid his chin on top of his white arm. Watchful yellow eyes darting back and forth, bare feet nervously shuffling across the sand. He wasn't really sure what made him so tense these past few days. Leader-sama brought them here to relax and loosen up but for some reason, he only felt dread creep through his senses when he laid eyes on the vast ocean.

"Look, Zetsu-san! Tobi is making a sandcastle!"

Zetsu craned his head to the general direction of his partner, happy to have something else to think about.

Tobi was carelessly dumping sand into a bucket with a shovel, humming cheerfully as he flipped his bucket over to make another tier for his castle. He turned his head to meet his superior's stare and gave an energetic wave.

Zetsu's white side smiled softly while his black side just rolled his eyes. The black side didn't really approve to the idea of Tobi joining the Akatsuki due to his childish nature, while the white side was only more than happy to have at least one person in the organization that brought smiles and life to some of its members. This was probably one of the issues that both personalities can't really agree on. Come to think of it, they rarely agreed on anything at all…

"-tsu-san? ZETSU-SAN!"

Zetsu was immediately snapped out of his thoughts by Tobi's loud voice. He had spaced out again. He had been doing that a lot lately. He blinked repeatedly before he tilted his head upwards to give Tobi a questioning look.

"Yes, Tobi? What do you want?"

Ignoring the black side's harsh tone, Tobi plopped down next to the plant-man, eyes locked to the waves that ran toward the shore. Zetsu noted how oddly silent the masked shinobi was and felt worry replace the anxiety in his mind.

"Tobi, is something wrong? You're not usually this quiet. Yeah, what's up with you?"

Tobi quickly averted his attention from the crystalline water when he heard the question coming from the worried man beside him. Shaking his head, he stood up and suddenly wrapped his arms around Zetsu's neck, greatly surprising the plant-man, who had to stop his flytrap from snapping shut on impulse.

'Zetsu-san always worries about me. Even when it's supposed to be Tobi who should be worried about Zetsu-san…"

Needless to say, Zetsu was completely taken aback by his statement. "W-What do you mean, Tobi?"

"Even when Zetsu-san is injured after missions, he always takes care of Tobi before himself. Zetsu-san never fails to cheer me up when I'm sad, but Zetsu-san only hides his pain and loneliness from everyone else because he doesn't want them to think he's weak." Tobi pulled back a little to look Zetsu in the eye. "This time, Tobi wants to be the one who makes Zetsu-san happy."

Zetsu was deeply touched at the sincerity of Tobi's words. Zetsu looked down to hide the pink tint on his cheeks and mumbled an inaudible yet heartfelt "Thank you"

As he buried his face in Tobi's shoulder, the horrible memories of "parents" that once tried to drown him in the ocean was the last thing on his mind.

oOo

"Well, this sure is a fucking surprise. Never thought our asshole of a leader would actually care enough to give our asses a break for once..." Hidan muttered before throwing another pebble in the water and watching the ripples' pattern.

His partner, who was half lying on the sand, letting the water wash over his legs looked up at him and glared.

"He is our leader, Hidan. The least you can do is at least try to show some respect."

The Jashinist was miffed at kakuzu's response and threw another pebble in the water. "The only one I respect is Jashin-sama. No one else. Not even our so-called leader"

Kakuzu just looked back down and shook his head disapprovingly. 'What was Leader-sama thinking when he recruited someone like Hidan into the Akatsuki?' He made a mental note to ask the leader that sometime soon.

He frowned as another thought hit him. If he hated the bastard so much then why did he even bother to sew him up whenever the idiot got decapitated? Why couldn't he just leave him there to rot like what he did to his previous partners? This wasn't the first time such questions filled his mind. It happened quite often. Every time he stitched Hidan's head back to his body he would ask himself. Why? Every time he waited for the silver haired bastard to finish his rituals he would ask himself. Why?

Hidan stared at his partner strangely when Kakuzu suddenly began furiously shaking his head. Kakuzu noticed the look he was being given and spat out a harsh "What?"

Hidan narrowed his eyes at his partner and growled out "What the fuck is your problem? Wouldn't you think it's strange if someone suddenly shook their head for no reason?" he turned around and walked away, muttering about "Mother fucking heathens" and "Go to hell".

Kakuzu didn't bother to follow him. It wouldn't do him any good if he irritated Hidan any further, anyway. He lied down on the sand with his arms crossed behind his head, feeling that he should at try and make the most of their vacation by letting go of his worries. He stared at the shimmering stars above him, remembering back when he was still a naïve child who thought that stars were merely diamonds stuck to the sky.

Five minutes later, he got bored of counting the stars and sat up, muffling a yawn. He stood up and dusted off the sand that was left on his shirt and shorts. As he was straightening out the slight wrinkle on his shirt, his eyes widened and he spun around and caught the can with his right hand before it collided with the back of his head. Unsurprisingly, Hidan was standing there, looking a bit disappointed and holding a soda can, identical to the one he threw at Kakuzu.

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow and dropped his defensive stance. "I'm surprised you're back so soon. You usually cuss and yell crap at the others before you drag your miserable ass back here, or are you already done?"

Hidan shrugged, taking a sip of his soda before walking toward his partner. "I dunno, I guess I didn't really feel like bugging them today. Or maybe it's because the blond bitch threatened to blow me up if I gave him a headache."

Kakuzu scoffed at him before opening the soda can Hidan "gave" him. But of course, Kakuzu should have known that anything that came from Hidan should either be thrown in the trash or shoved back in his face when soda shot out of the can as soon as he opened it.

Hidan was clutching his sides, roaring with laughter, unaware of the death glare that was being sent his way, nor the black tendrils that were beginning to wrap themselves around his neck.

It was only a few seconds later and Hidan found himself screaming profanities at the top of his lungs and demanding that Kakuzu sew his head back to his body while Kakuzu trudged back to the springs to wash off the sticky liquid.

oOo

Deidara smiled to himself as the rolling waves plummeted back to the surface of the water, creating a loud splash before another big wave came along and did the same. Since Leader-sama advised him not to make any clay bombs detonate just in case the sound may attract unwanted attention, he had kept sulking the whole first day of their vacation. But when he came out of their, his and Sasori's, tent to get some fresh air, he was immediately drawn to the mystical sounds of the waves splashing along the water's shimmering surface. The waves greatly reminded him of his clay bombs. The bigger the bomb, the louder the bang.

"I've noticed you've been hanging around here a lot lately."

Deidara looked over his shoulder, slightly surprised to see Sasori standing not far behind him, red hair being tousled by the wind and arms crossed. Deidara gave his partner a smile before standing up and walking over to where the puppet master stood.

"Hi there Sasori no Danna, un! Why are you still up, un?"

Sasori stared down at his shorter partner, his face still devoid of any emotion. "I should ask you the same thing. Don't tell me you're sneaking out here to make those clay bombs of yours?" His red eyes narrowed in suspicion at that last part

Deidara, a bit put out by his partner's accusation, pouted and huffily turned his back to his partner, arms crossed. "Why do you have to be so mean Danna, un?"

Sasori just rolled his eyes at him. "Whatever. So, if you don't come here to make clay bombs, then what?"

The blond immediately perked up and spun around to face his partner, grinning wildly. He tugged playfully on Sasori's arm. "Come on, Danna! I'll show you, un!"

The redhead soon found himself being dragged by the arm towards the ocean. He turned his attention to his partner, who had his hand clasped around his wooden arm. 'What on earth could he be so excited about?'

Before he knew it, Deidara came to an unexpected stop. Sasori silently thanked Deidara's tight grip on his arm or else he would've fallen flat on his face, which would have been highly embarrassing. The blond turned to face him, grin still present on his face.

"Can you hear it, un? Can you hear it, Sasori no Danna?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Hear what?"

"Just close your eyes, listen carefully and tell me what you hear, un."

Sasori shrugged his shoulders. Maybe he'll play along just to satisfy the blond. He closed his eyes and listened for anything unusual, but all he could hear was the loud splashing of the waves. Opening his eyes, he turned to his partner.

"All I can hear is the waves."

Deidara's grin, if possible, grew even wider. "Exactly, Danna, un! Does it remind you of anything?"

Sasori put a finger on his chin. He did remember something…maybe one of Kisame's water jutsus…but that couldn't be it…what interest could the blond have in water? He closed his eyes again and frowned deeply. The sound of the splashing waves filling his ears…louder splashes followed as the waves got bigger…wait…

"Your bombs…" Sasori muttered

"What was that, Sasori no Danna, un?"

"The waves remind me of those irritating bombs of yours…" he said, a bit louder this time.

Deidara stuck out his tongue "It's not irritating, Sasori no Danna. It's art. And art…" he put his hands forward, the mouths also sticking out their tongues "Is a bang, un!"

Sasori smirked, was he starting this again? "When are you going to learn that art is eternal?"

The blond narrowed his visible eye at Sasori "Art is a bang, un!"

"It's eternal, dammit."

"Its true beauty lies in the explosion, un!"

"It lasts forever!"

"Like the waves, the true beauty of it is during the big splash, un!"

"But the waves will go on forever!"

"ART IS A BANG, UN!"

"ART IS ETERNAL!"

But even though they don't show it much, Sasori believes that nothing, not even Hidan, could last forever and will soon whither away into nothingness and Deidara also had those moments of which he wished would last forever.

oOo

Konan kept silent as Pein reappeared on the same spot. Raising a thin eyebrow, she asked "That took you about half an hour, Pein. I'll bet you have enough blackmail material to last for a century."

Pein smirked and held up several pictures and a video camera. "Don't tell me I would waste my precious chance in getting these babies. I'm surprised that none of them actually noticed me…not that I'm complaining, of course."

Konan shook her head exasperatedly. "Sometimes, I wonder if you're any different from the others."

Pein only smirked "You'd be surprised at how evil I am compared to the rest of them." He cackled devilishly as he tucked his newly acquired blackmail material in his cloak.

oOo

End

Matsuri: okay, this is our first fanfic. I did this with the help of my little sis so it's a bit long…

Maylie: So uh…we'd love to know how we did on this fic. We also take requests for any Akatsuki pairing. But the only non yaoi pairing we like is PeinKonan. Any other hetero couple is a problem for us.

Matsuri: Yeah…So feel free to send your request and we'll do our what we can.

Thanks for reading. Criticisms are very welcome.