A/N: Hey guys, good to see you again! I know this chapter might seem completely irrelevant but I can tell you it does hold significance! Thanks for the support in my first chapter!

Chapter 2: Begin the Journey

Kisame took a sip of herbal tea and checked the packet to see the brand. Perhaps he could bend Kakuzu to buy it rather than the clumpy mixture that barely passed for drinking standards he insisted on calling "tea".

"It's about time we left," Itachi announced, walking into the room.

Kisame sighed. "But I haven't finished my tea yet."

Itachi frowned. "We have a long way to go, and Pein wants us to complete the mission as soon as possible."

Always in a rush, Kisame thought as he miserably stood and poured the hot tea down the sink.

His idea of morning was adjusting to the first light with a cup of tea, perhaps reading a book if he had one, and letting the sleepiness leave his body. Itachi's idea of morning was waking up at the crack of dawn and then hitting the road at full pace. To Kisame, that summed up to "nightmare".

The only reason he poured the tea down the sink was because Itachi was right, as usual, as Pein had firmly instructed they be quick about capturing the Nine Tails. To Kisame, that seemed a far more difficult feat than said, and everyone else seemed perfectly relaxed about it. That wasn't the only problem. Kisame didn't even want to wonder how they would get into Konohagakure without causing too much fuss. Itachi's face was well-known there, and his own face was unforgettable.

Yesterday, they'd fought their way back to the footpath, and continued on their gruelling journey, as that was the correct way to Konohagakure. Fortunately, they'd found an inn that had reluctantly provided them with food and beds.

In return, Kisame had politely thanked the landlord and lady for their kindness, as well as cleaning his dinner plate, making his bed, keeping the bathroom in place, discussing recipes of fine cuisine with the landlady and telling the landlord interesting stories of his life and journeys, thus gaining their respect, whilst Itachi left for his room without acknowledging them and left everything behind for them to clean up. His behaviour was appalling, and antisocial. It gave a bad name to the Akatsuki. "Youth these days," the landlord had said. Kisame had agreed.

Now, as they were leaving the door, the landlady handed Kisame a basket of freshly baked cookies covered in a plain, pink cloth, and also a simple travel bag to carry them in, and then they were on their way once more.

Kisame took a bite from one of the biscuits and sighed with happiness. It was a soft taste of chocolate and a faint spice mixed together to create the perfect treat. He folded the cloth back over the biscuits and carefully put the basket inside the bag.

He felt eyes watching him, and turned his head to see Itachi staring at him in disapproval.

"What?" Kisame asked.

"Carrying those biscuits adds extra weight, thus slowing you down, thus slowing us down," he nagged. "You should just eat them all or leave them."

"Actually, I intend to savour them for the journey there and the journey back," Kisame huffed, defensively. "They taste brilliant, Itachi. I'm not about to consume such beautiful masterpieces in one day, and I refuse to even consider leaving them behind."

"I don't understand what it is with you and food," Itachi sighed, but Kisame could see the faintest of smiles as he turned his head away.

The day was colder than yesterday, the breeze much sharper. Kisame pulled his bag closer to him, following robotically after Itachi. He soon found the sound of his footsteps interesting. After the inn, there had been no sign of life, once again. It was the same repetitive scenery, and even Kisame had to submit to boredom. Itachi wasn't one for amiable conversation.

Just as he was losing all hope, Kisame spotted a distant town, one that seemed to promise life, considering there were people at the gate. Kisame glanced at Itachi, but found no change of emotion in his expressionless gaze.

"Look, Itachi," he said, wondering if Itachi could see the town, or whether it looked like a blurred shape to him. "A town."

"I know," Itachi nodded.

Kisame looked away again.

"We could stop there," he tried. "It's getting late."

"We could," Itachi pondered.

"Did I say could?" Kisame said. "I meant should."

"I see," Itachi replied.

They neared the gates of the town. It was definitely small, and the people at the gate were no Shinobi, just mere watchmen. Kisame could see them quaking as the two members of the Akatsuki neared. One man fled, whereas the other tried to stand his ground.

"Hello," Kisame tested.

"Please don't hurt me," the man fell to his knees. "I don't want to die."

Kisame chuckled as they walked past. It was always interesting to strike fear in the hearts of the weak.

The town was very clean and with few people. Everyone looked at them, and murmured things Kisame assumed were about him and Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki. Other than that, it seemed a pleasant place, and Kisame wouldn't have minded staying there the night.

The sun had begun to sink lower on the horizon, turning the sky a pinkish orange colour. Kisame could see the trees around the town darkening. He turned to Itachi.

"I think we should stay here the night," he reasoned. "It's dark."

And your eyesight's bad enough. His unvoiced words echoed around his head.

"I suppose you're right," Itachi agreed.

Kisame was glad that, for once, he was allowed to be right.

Itachi wandered through the town, searching for a place to stay that looked accommodating, yet not too busy. The only place they could find was an old looking inn that was a bit worse for wear. The wood was rotting from age, and the paint was fading from the walls. The sign was cracked and faded, so Kisame couldn't read it, and the windows were grimy. A dim light from inside crept under the door and through the windows.

"I'm not sure about this…" Kisame swallowed, having a sudden change of heart; he preferred the finer things in life when it came to eating and sleeping.

"We have no choice," Itachi shrugged. "It's too late to travel now, and we don't know where the next civilisation is. By next nightfall, we could be camping."

Kisame liked that less.

"I'll go inside and see whether we can stay there," Itachi said, and walked to the door.

He opened it and slipped inside, but the door didn't close properly, so Kisame preoccupied himself by listening to the conversation.

"Me and my friend need two rooms for the night," Itachi said.

"You can't stay here," the innkeeper growled in a high pitched, scratchy voice. "Not you."

"Me in particular, or the organisation I belong to?" Itachi asked.

"All of you," she spat.

"Let's put this differently then," Itachi said coolly. "Either you let us stay here and we pay you, or you don't let us stay here, and we force you to give us rooms without payment. You choose."

The woman stuttered and Kisame chuckled and turned towards the door. He felt movement behind him and spun round to see a boy in rags and a straw hat racing down the street, a basket with a pink cloth covering it bundled in his arms.

More importantly, it was Kisame's biscuit basket.

"Thieving son of a-" Kisame yelled, but swallowed his sentence before finishing.

Itachi opened the door of the inn and stared in shock. "What is it?"

"Someone stole my biscuits, Itachi," he explained. "I need them back."

Itachi pulled a face. "Are they really that important to the mission?"

"They're important to me," Kisame insisted. "You either come or you don't!"

He turned from the inn and ran in the direction the boy had disappeared to. He could hear Itachi close behind, and felt relieved that at the moment of urgency, his comrade cared about his personal needs.

Kisame wasn't sure why he cared so much for the biscuits' welfare, but something about them called to him, and it wasn't just the taste. It went further than that.

It even went as far as saying those biscuits played a key role to the events of the mission, and as ridiculous as that sounded to Kisame himself, he was still running after a basket of biscuits.