**************************************
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Deidara and Sasori joined Kakuzu, Hidan, and the twins after an hour or so, nothing being mentioned of what was sure to have gone on in the attic.
After they were finished at the park Deidara and Hidan went home with their twins, and Sasori and Kakuzu went their separate ways to prepare for the inevitable plague that was school in the morning.
*******Seven-thirty pm***********************
"Hey Hidan, un!" Dei yelled from the confines of the kitchen. The zealot was lounging on the couch in the living-room, feet up, watching Sponge-Bob-Square-Pants with the twins. Naruto seated to his right, Ino to his left, both were leaning on him ever-so-slightly, tired from their day of activity. He didn't mind.
"What?" He shouted loud enough to be heard.
"I have to run to the store, un! Give the twins their bath and have them to bed by eight!"
"Okay!" Before the last syllable had left his mouth there came the sound of the front door slamming shut. The masochist was on his own. Grabbing the remote he clicked off the TV.
"Hey!" The twins protested at the same time.
"It's bath time. Grab fresh underwear and pajamas and meet me in your bathroom!" The kids complied, obviously used to their mother being a bitch about them being clean. Walking slowly down the hall, into the twin's room and then into their bathroom, he wondered exactly how long Deidara would be, what he'd needed, and why he'd chosen to go at seven-thirty, and not earlier.
Turning the knob on the tub he tested the water on his wrist to see how it measured up. It was perfect. Thank Jashin for that required child-care class.
A few minutes later and they were in the bathroom, a bundle of clothes in their arms, taking it from them and setting it down on the toilet seat he shut off the water and motioned for them to get in.
Ino stripped and did so, no problem. Naruto however, ran away and hid under the covers.
"What the hell's his problem?" Ino tsked at him.
"Watch your language! He's afraid of water. When we were little he almost drowned in the tub because mommy left to make a phone-call while the water was still running. Dei had to save him, I couldn't lift him up." Oh great. Now he was going to have to deal with this. No wonder the blonde had left.
"Um…I'll take care of him, just try not to drown, kay?" When she nodded he walked quietly out of the bathroom so as not to scare the little boy. Sitting at the edge of the bed he was huddled in, he began to talk.
"So I hear you're afraid of water." He began.
"Yeah. What's it to ya?" The little blonde cut in defensively. Kind of put off by the hostile behavior, the zealot continued.
"So am I." Tossing the covers off of himself, Hidan's lavender eyes were met by those of sparkling cerulean.
"Why're you scared?"
"When I was little I almost drowned in a pond at school." And afterward got viciously nabbed by his father. But he wasn't going to tell the tyke that.
"How did you get over it?" Now's the time to lie.
"Well, I had someone to help me through it. And you have me, I won't let you drown." The first part, had never happened. He was still scared to death of any and all water. He sponge bathes. But that wasn't going to happen to Naruto if he could help it. "C'mon the quicker we get it done, the quicker it'll be over."
The small boy grabbed his hand and together they went into the bathroom where he stripped and tentatively got in, cross-legged, beside his sister. Hidan shampooed and rinsed them, they cleaned themselves off, the drain was unplugged and they were wrapped in towels, then dressed in their pajamas and tucked into bed.
"'Night guys!" He called behind them as he exited the room. To his surprise, standing behind the door, was Dei. Clutching his chest he admonished in a whisper: "Don't fucking scare me like that! How long have you been there?"
"Oh…about twenty-five minutes, un."
"What did you get at the motherfucking store that only took you five minutes?"
"Oh is that where I said I was going un? I just had to run outside and get the mail." There was a sort of strangled noise, and then Hidan was on top of him, using all of his self-control (which wasn't a lot) to not strangle him. The blonde was stronger than him though, and rolled over so that the positions were reversed, stood up, and dragged Hidan back up to their room.
"Get undressed and go to sleep, un." He snapped, stripping himself down to his red checkered boxers and sitting down on top of his disheveled bed. "If you want to use my boxers you may, un."
"Thanks Blondie." He helped himself. "Um…do I have to go to school tomorrow?" He nervously asked, although he knew what the answer was.
"Yep. Don't worry, you'll more-than-likely have at least one of us in all your classes. Now shut up, un, I need to concentrate on my art!"
*******************************************************
It was midsummer, Hidan was standing outside, underneath the stars. Feet bare and muddy, chest exposed. A stick cracked sharply from behind him, spinning around he ran as fast as he could towards the noise, spear in hand.
At first, he didn't see anything, then a dark brown deer faded into focus, starving for blood he flung his weapon at the defenseless animal, striking it dead.
Sprinting towards the dying creature he flung himself at it's side, preparing to sink his teeth into the bloody flesh. Movement from the right told him the deer hadn't yet fully perished.
Wheeling around a rock suddenly appeared in his hand as he prepared to bash the poor thing's skull in. Before he could though, he caught glimpse of his eyes; they were a bright, familiar green.
Suddenly it wasn't a deer, but Kakuzu lying there with a gaping, bleeding hole in his side, maggots crawling visibly in the rotting flesh. The masochist was horrified, regretful at what he'd done, so he yanked the infested blade out of the miser's side and plunged it into his own chest, piercing both heart and lung. But he couldn't feel anything, and he didn't die.
Gazing down at his left arm he noticed bubbles pushing up from below the skin, disgusted he tried to brush them off, but that just made them grow larger until they burst, tarantulas the size of small radios bursting out and crawling all over his body, especially on his face, even passing through the barrier of his mouth. Screaming bloody murder he felt as though he might die from fright instead of-BUZZZ BUZZZ BUZZ
"Hidan! Wake the fuck up, un! Nothing's hurting you!" All the noise came at once, halting the terrifying dream in it's tracks. Was it a dream? Hidan could still feel the unpleasant sensation of a million-and-one legs crawling over his entire body. Why couldn't the spiders go away? He pawed at his face, digging into flesh with uncut nails.
BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ
"Hidan! Stop it, you're hurting yourself, un!" He felt the weight of the biggest tarantula yet leap upon him, forcing his hands to his sides. Kicking and screaming he tried to get away from the humongous arachnid, but that just made it hold on tighter. After a few moments, he felt a stinging sensation in his cheek: someone had slapped him. Opening his heavy eyelids he stared into the face of his step-brother.
BUZZ BUZZZ BUZZ BUZZZ
"You're not a fucking tarantula…" Rolling his clear azure eyes Deidara clambered off of him and turned off the frantically buzzing alarm. Yanking open the dresser drawer he picked a shirt and pants at random and tossed them at Hidan's head.
"Get dressed. I have dibs on the shower this morning, un." He flatly called from across the room and sauntered back down the stairs and into the bathroom. Sighing he pulled on the clothes. Thank Jashin he'd had the sense to shower at Kakuzu's when offered the chance. If he hadn't he'd definitely be screwed. A glance at the clock offered the time to be about five-thirty. What the hell? They should both have enough time to shower, how long was Blondie planning on fucking being in there?
That question was answered an hour and ten-minutes later, when the blonde bomber joined Hidan and the twins for breakfast.
"Holy Jashin, how long can one person take in the shower?" He inquired, tone annoyed, around a spoonful of Honey Bunches of Oats. As soon as he swallowed, he wanted to have chosen a different food. He'd forgotten how annoying it was to have food stuck in your cheeks.
"I have a lot of hair, un." He shrugged, pulling a bowl out for himself and searching through the cereals, finally settling on Cheerios. "Do you have your schedule for today, un?"
"No…where do I get one?"
"The guidance office, don't worry, I'll take you there." Suddenly it was all very real. He was going to be dunked in the shark-tank of pubescent teens yet again. That singular though was way, way more terrifying than the tarantulas.