Chapter 9 - Kisame Saw
Kisame saw a change in Itachi. When they ate breakfast that morning he watched him talking excitedly with Konan, and realized that it wasn't the same shy child that had been sitting in that seat only six days before. He'd grown comfortable in their presence, feeling as if he belonged. Something that the adult Itachi had never been able to do. The way he talked with all of them, no trace of fear towards the most feared people in the nations.
Although, Itachi didn't know that part.
Sasori asked to see Itachi after the meal to have some final tests done on him, and Itachi had no problems agreeing to it. He was no longer afraid of the person he had given the title of 'doctor' to. Because he trusted him, something Kisame noticed, he didn't do often. Itachi didn't trust people, and the fishman held pride in knowing that Itachi had at least some amount of trust in him.
Once the meal was done, the members dispersed in all directions. Kisame stayed in the kitchen to help Deidara do the dishes.
"Did Sasori tell you why he wanted to check the kid, yeah?" Deidara asked Kisame, begining his task of drying the dishes, while the latter washed them.
"Nope, but I'm sure he'll tell us later."
"Yeah..."
"What is it?"
"Oh? Nothing, just thinking, yeah."
"Well, don't hurt yourself there blondie." Kisame grinned at him to show he was joking, though still earning himself a snarky comback.
"Fuck you fishstick, yeah." He said, using Hidan's nickname for him.
Kisame just laughed, "But seriously, what are you thinking about?"
"I'm just wondering if...If Itachi's going to remember all this whenever he returns to normal, yeah."
"Hm, that's a good question, but I have no answer. Do you want him to remember?"
"He seems happy, and it's always good to have happy memories, yeah." Deidara said as his reply.
"Hey fucktards!" An overjoyed Hidan greeted them, entering the kitchen area.
Kisame quirked an eyebrow and stared at the Jashinist, "Why're you so happy?" He was used to seeing Hidan angry, and wondered why the sudden mood change.
"I've got a mission bitches! Finally!" He raised his left hand into the air, the one holding his scythe. He didn't really do the room height to his scythe length ratio, for it went straight through the ceiling. Without even a second glance, he pulled his weapon out of the ceiling.
"About damned time, yeah." Deidara mumbled, turning back to the dishes.
"Just don't get beheaded this time. Hearing you yelling out curses at Kakuzu for days when you return isn't fun for anybody." Kisame also continued the task of washing the dishes.
"Tch, not like I do it on purpose." Hidan grumbled.
"When are you leaving, yeah?" Deidara asked, his tone hopeful.
"Later tonight." Hidan didn't sound all that pleased at the prospect of having to wait so long.
"Damn." Deidara said loud enough for the other to hear.
"Yeah, well, it's not my choice. I'd leave now, but Kakuzu wants to wait until tonight. The fucking old geezer just wants to finish his money counting. The bastard. Making me wait longer than necessary."
Suddenly, Kakuzu appeared in the doorway, "If you have nothing better to do than pester these two, you can fix the ceiling. Everythings where it usually is." He nodded his head in greeting to the other two, then left the room. He had somewhere else he needed to be.
With a couple curses, Hidan exited the room also. He went to the closet down the hall, grabbed what he would need to fix the hole, and returned to the kitchen with them. He'd done enough holes throughout the hideout that he had become pretty expert at repairing them. The room was silent as he repaired the hole and the other two finished the dishes.
Once the dishes were done, the two agreed to take Itachi outside to show him Deidara's art, seeing as he hadn't had the chance to see it yet. They went to retrieve the child in Sasori's workroom. When they entered the room, the two were talking, having already finished the tests.
"I was just about to send him to you." Sasori commented.
Itachi jumped off the desk where he had been seated, and ran over to Kisame. He grabbed his hand, and smiled at him, "Sasori-senpai let me look at my blood! It was really gross."
"I showed him the samples because he was really curious to know what it looked like." The puppetman explained upon noticing Kisame's uncertain expression.
"Itachi, do you want to come outside with us, yeah? I'm going to show you my art, yeah!" Deidara told the child, his own face holding a childlike joy at the mention of his art.
"I'd love to!" Itachi's face mimicked Deidara's joy, and the two adults could only smile.
They started leaving the room, and Kisame turned to Sasori, "Are you coming with us?" He asked.
Sasori shook his head, "I can't. I have to take a look at these." He gestured to the blood samples.
"If you change your mind, you know where to find us." Kisame said, and the three of them left Sasori alone to finish his work.
They went outside the base and and walked further away, making sure they were far enough that no bombs would effect the hideout. Deidara, although having had fun testing his bomb, didn't want a repeat of the other day. The other members were still angry with him. Once where they wanted to be, Deidara extended his hand to Itachi, showing him the mouth there. The child looked at it in awe, having not noticed it until that moment.
"This, is what I use to make my art, yeah." He extended his other hand, and the mouth spat out a clump of clay. He formed the clay into a small bird, having Itachi's full attention the entire time. He lifted his hand and the bird flew off into the sky, "And what is art, Itachi? Art is a bang! Katsu!" The bird exploded in the air, and Itachi stared at it wide-eyed. Even Kisame was a bit entranced, although he'd seen it countless times, it was still fun to watch Deidara's works' explode.
"Pretty cool, yeah?" Deidara looked smug.
"Can you do it again?" Itachi stared at the blonde hopefully, obviously thinking it was pretty cool.
"I can do it as many times as I want, yeah!"
And he did. He took more clay and transformed it into his explosive clay, all the while explaining the process to Itachi. He let his creation go up into the sky and he would explode it. He repeated the process, eventually letting the child help him with the sculpting. It was fun having a captivated audience for once.
They made birds, snakes, and spiders until the blonde ran out of clay. By the time that happened, the sun had passed accross the sky and it was nearing time to eat. Deidara let the final bird fly up into the sky, and let it fly around in circles for a while. Itachi watched it soar and smiled in anticipation for the creation's explosion. No matter how many times he watched it happen, he was still just as excited.
With a final 'katsu!' the tiny bird in the sky exploded. The smoke rising up into the sky in a straight line. There had been no wind that day. All three of them stared at the remainder of their fun of the day, one in pride, one in excitement, and the third in fascination. Kisame, the first to return to reality, turned to the other two.
"We should head inside, supper will be just about ready." He said, and they slowly agreed.
Itachi grabbed Kisame's hand and let himself be brought back towards the hideout, but he shot glances back at the spot where the clay sculptures had exploded. The fishman wondered if the child was even listening to Deidara's rant about his art, but chose not to say anything. They were all happy at that moment and he wasn't going to do anything to mess that up.
They entered the hideout, Deidara went to his room, while the other two went to the kitchen. Kisame went to the sink and poured a small glass of water, and turned to the child, holding out the cup, "You have medicine to take." He reminded him.
Itachi wrinkled his nose in disgust, but took the offered item, "Do I have to?" He asked this every time.
"Yes, now hurry up, the food's almost ready." Kisame said, noticing that the plates were being put on the table by Kakuzu.
"Okay..." Itachi pouted, but left the kitchen and went to his room to take his medication.
"You'll have to watch him, you know. He'll skip out on it if he gets the chance." A voice said, and Kisame looked at the kitchen entrance to see Sasori.
"Yeah, I've realized that." Kisame agreed.
"There's a meeting after supper. It's about the brat, so Kakuzu agreed to keep him occupied while we have the meeting." Sasori told him.
"Doesn't he want to know what you have to say?" Kisame asked.
"He already knows."
"It's time to eat, come on." Kakuzu said upon entering the kitchen for the last time. The table was set, and he was getting the members.
All of them gathered around the dining room table and ate their meal. With a bit of light conversation going on between them, it was a peaceful supper. Especially compared to other nights. When they were finished, they all stayed to help clear off the table, stalling time while Kakuzu convinced the child to join him in the living room. Itachi agreed when the other promised to tell him a story, albeit very hesitantly. Kakuzu didn't like telling stories, and he didn't think he had any that would be good for children.
But he knew he had to get Itachi out of there so Sasori could do his meeting, and so promised what needed to be promised. As he and the child exited the room, they all relaxed. They finished cleaning the table before returning to sit around it. Sasori remained standing and waited for everybody else to settle down before explaining the reason for the meeting.
"As most of you know, this morning I took more blood samples from Itachi. I spent today taking a look at them, and what I could see within the blood was the jutsu that was placed on him. The fact that the jutsu has resurfaced means that it's almost finished. The transformation back into his adult-self will be soon. Itachi will be back to normal by tomorrow morning." Sasori told them.
Most of the people at the table just stared at him with uncertain expressions on their faces. The news was so sudden that they weren't really sure what to make of it. Suddenly, Pein chose to break the silence.
"It'll be nice to have everything back to normal once more." He commented.
"Thank Jashin! Now I won't have to watch my language anymore." Hidan said.
"You tried to watch your language, yeah?" Deidara quirked an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Well..."
"It was fun to see him as a child, but you're right. Things need to be done and I need my partner back." Kisame agreed with the Leader.
"Does the transformation hurt?" Konan asked.
"No. He'll go to sleep like normal tonight tonight, and he'll sleep the whole night through. He won't even notice it." Sasori replied.
"Is he going to remember anything tomorrow morning, yeah?"
"I can't say anything for sure. But, he's only three so the chances are very slim."
"That might be for the best." Pein said.
"Maybe..." Kisame mused, thinking about what Deidara had told him earlier. Itachi might enjoy having some happy memories to look back on. Memories that didn't surround his parents and little brother.
"You'll need an excuse, as to why he has no memory of the last week." Zetsu pointed out, interrupting the silence that had ensued Kisame's musing.
"I'll figure something out." Kisame said with a shrug. He figured his excuse would be that he'd been sick the entire week, fading in and out of consciousness. Itachi would probably believe him, and if not, he wouldn't question any further.
Pein stood up from his seat, "If he doesn't remember, try to keep it that way. Pretend it never happened. Things must return to normal."
Konan stifled a glare, and followed him out of the kitchen. His leaving the room meant that the meeting was done, and the members took notice of it. Zetsu left the room with a 'farewell', quickly followed by Hidan, who was on his way to find Kakuzu to see if they could leave for their mission. Deidara and Sasori returned to their respective rooms, just trying to pass the time. Kisame also went to find Kakuzu, but he wanted to see the child that was with him.
They, he and Hidan, found Kakuzu and Itachi in the living room. The former was reading a book aloud, and the latter was leaning against him, listening intently. His eyes though, were slowly slipping closed.
"Yo, Kakuzu, when are we leaving?" Hidan asked his partner.
"Later." He replied, and continued to read the words in a whisper, as if it were a story only shared between him and the child.
Hidan's grip tightened on his scythe, but didn't say a word. He knew he couldn't convince or force the other to leave. He glared viciously at his partner, before leaving the room. He would go take out his frustration on the trees surrounding the base.
Kisame joined them on the couch, "How's the book?" He asked.
"It's really good!" Although his voice was thick with sleep, Itachi still managed to sound enthusiastic.
"What's the last thing I said?" Kakuzu chuckled lightly, noticing that the child was almost sleeping.
"Um...'But now let us descend to greater woe.'" Itachi replied. He opened his eyes and smiled up at Kakuzu, knowing he'd surprised him.
Kakuzu grinned and shook his head. He continued reading, now assured that the kid was actually listening to him. He finished the next couple canto's (1), having the attention of both Itachi and Kisame. The words rolled off his lips effortlessly and in a smooth rythme, never missing a beat. Time slowly melted away from them, and when Kakuzu finally closed his book, the child was fast asleep and Kisame was still captivated by every word.
"I'll put him to bed." Kisame whispered to not wake the sleeping child, but it didn't work. The second Kakuzu finished talking, his dark eyes opened and gazed around tiredly.
"Already?" He mumbled, pulling away from Kakuzu.
"It's getting late." Kakuzu told him.
"Come on." Kisame stood up and looked over at the child. Itachi sat up straight and extended his arms towards Kisame. Without hesitance, he picked up the kid and held him in his arms. In a matter of seconds Itachi had placed himself comfortably and slid his eyes closed. The fishman smiled gently, "I'll come see you later." He told Kakuzu and left the room.
He went into Itachi's bedroom and made him sit on the bed. The child rubbed sleep out of his eyes and looked at Kisame expectantly, "What is it?" He asked, for the fishman began going through the dresser drawers.
Kisame returned to him with clothes in his hands, "I need you to get changed into these." He handed the child the clothing. Although Itachi stared at the clothes curiously, he didn't ask why, for which Kisame was thankful.
He turned around while the kid got changed into the much larger clothes. When Itachi told him he could turn around, Kisame saw the child had folded his yukata, put it on the edge of the bed, and had then crawled into the bed. Itachi stared at him through half-lidded eyes.
"Do I have to go back to mother and father?" He asked, yawning softly. He seemed to have made a link between the too big clothes from his first day there to the ones he was just asked to wear.
"Yeah, everythings all good now. No more war." Kisame replied. He approached the child and tucked him in.
"That means peace, right?"
"Yeah, that means peace." Kisame patted Itachi's head gently, "Sleep tight, kid."
Just as he was about to leave the room, he heard a soft, "Good night, senpai." He smiled to himself, and closed the door softly behind him.
Not knowing really what to do with himself, he went to the dining room. He was surprised to see that he wasn't the only one who had ended up there. Kakuzu had gone there after putting away his book. Sasori had joined him soon after, with Deidara trailing behind. Kisame sat at his spot at the table.
"Hey." He greeted them.
"How's the brat, yeah?" Deidara asked.
"Sleeping." He replied, "What are you guys doing here?"
Sasori shrugged, "Nowhere better to be."
Within a few more minutes everybody ended up finding themselves in the dining room. They all drifted there with no real destination in mind. Nobody had a clue what to do, and so went to the only place they knew the others would be.
"Looks like we're all here." Pein commented upon sitting down. He was the last one to show up.
"Well..." Kisame's gaze drifted over to Itachi's empty seat. Soon, all of them stared at the chair. It was odd not to have Itachi seated there. Of all of them, he was usually the most present.
"I can't believe Orochimaru went through all that trouble to get Itachi. He must of really been stalking him to of known exactly when he was vulnerable." Hidan said. He'd never met Orochimaru, and thus didn't really know just how much Itachi, Sharingan, and immortality meant to him.
"Orochimaru is ready to do anything to get the Sharingan." Konan said.
"It wasn't about the Sharingan this time, though. This was to test his jutsu. Orochimaru wanted to test it, and he chose Itachi just to enact a bit of revenge." Sasori explained.
"He did all this to have a young body again." Kakuzu said.
"All this, to be young again."
"To be young again, yeah." Deidara mused.
And oddly enough, they all had the same thought. The most honest and real thought they'd had in a long time.
'I'd give anything.'
AN: Hello! (1) I made him read the same book 'Inferno', and that book in separated in canto's, not chapters. On another note, there's only one chapter left. This chapter didn't really come out as I would have liked but I hope you enjoyed it anyways!
On a random note, I had a snow day today! Yay! And that's why I'm updating in the middle of the day. The next chappie will be out in a weeks time.
Thanks for reading!
Please review!
-MewMew
