Sorry for being late with this one but now we can finally let the Akatsuki meet Izumi!

Thank you all for the fave, follows and reviews!

princessbinas: I try to resist infants, pretty easy when they don't care much for my existence anyway. XD

Greer123: Sorry for the wait!

I'm Da Bomb: There's the fact that if they kept it a secret the entire time from the Elric brothers specifically, it would have limited their chances of them actually helping the Akatsuki. This at least ensures that the Akatsuki can use their jutsu around them with limited questions.

RimK10: Glad you liked the fight!

Warning: Language, minor violence, breaking of the fourth wall (kinda, not really, my beta thinks so), some silly but awkward moments between Deidara and Itachi.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or Naruto.

Deidara shot a hand to his exposed eye to double check what he was seeing. A dark-haired woman with dreadlocks kicked Ed across the street, almost scolding him for becoming a State Alchemist. When she turned to face Al, her face lit up with some… some form of emotion that Deidara couldn't pick up. It wasn't until she grabbed the suit of armor by the wrist and flung him to the ground did he realize that the emotions she was showing were disappointment.

"You two have been slacking in your training!" Izumi crossed her arms in disapproval as her students slowly approached her, one rubbing his head to feel for bumps, "Just because you joined the military it doesn't mean you can get away with becoming lazy."

"Sorry about that… umm... Teacher, is it a good idea for you to be out of bed?" Terrified as he is, Al always made sure his teacher felt well enough to walk around.

"Forget about my health! The only reason why I'm up is that I heard you two were here- bleeehhhhh" Suddenly a mini waterfall of blood poured out of her mouth in an almost comical fashion, earning panicked screams from the Elric brothers.

Izumi's husband Sig rushed to her side and helped her clean her face. The two shared a loving hug while the Akatsuki stood by the fence, watching the display with slowly frying brains. It didn't help that cute pink hearts began to fly from the couple, a few smacking the Akatsuki teens in the face as well as the brothers. Well… at least they have a happy marriage?

Of course, their staring didn't go unnoticed, "Hm? Who are they?" Izumi questioned with a tilt of her head. They didn't look familiar to her and she knows these boys, they often keep to themselves and don't spend time with people their age.

Al straightened up, "Oh! They're um… uh…" How could he word this whole thing to his teacher? They weren't exactly friends, but he couldn't just say they were mercenaries. If teacher got this furious from his brother joining the military… hellfire would rain from above if she thought they hired mercenaries.

Itachi took a step forward and bowed, "My name is Itachi Uchiha, I'm one of the bodyguards for another State Alchemist. We're from Xing so the Elric brothers were letting us tag along so we could learn about the country and its alchemy." He straightened up to offer his hand, "Sorry for the intrusion."

Izumi smirked and accepted his hand, obviously calling bullshit on the story, "It's no trouble. And whose the blond?"

Deidara awkwardly shuffled over but doesn't offer his hand, "Deidara."

There was a long pause as Izumi's eyebrow slowly raised at an almost painful rate. Quite the polar opposites these two are, "Deidara…?"

The bomber shook his head, "No family name, never had one, un." He only offered his hand when Itachi retracted his own.

"Izumi Curtis and the loveable fellow behind me is my wonderful husband, Sig." She noticed the slightest hitch in Itachi's breathing that she almost missed had it not been for the close proximity. Hm… she'll need to talk to these two later, it wouldn't be any good if it turned out that they were causing problems for her students, "Well, come inside and we can talk there."

The group followed Izumi into a modest dining room, not much to look at and the Akatsuki stuck close to the exit. Deidara leaned over to Itachi while Izumi spoke to the brothers, "Something's off about her, un." He spoke in a hushed whisper, too quiet for a non-shinobi to hear.

This was new, Deidara usually keeps to himself rather than tell anything to anyone, let alone Itachi, "What makes you think that?" He eyed the group at the table, they were talking about the baby and Izumi had looked at them several times.

Deidara clicked his tongue, "The way she breaths and the sudden coughing of blood… I'm not a medic but that is not normal for a woman her age. That should have killed her years ago, un." He crossed his arms with a nod, positive in his statement despite what was going on in the Uchiha's head.

'The same with mine… yet here I am breathing…' Itachi held his tongue but a quick flare of chakra confirmed Deidara's statement, something was wrong with Izumi's body. He should have picked up basic medical ninjutsu had his own chakra reserves been anything but less than average.

"Hohenheim." The Akatsuki snapped their heads to the table when Ed and Al gasped, Ed's automail arm clanked as he gripped his fist in frustration. So, the brothers have a history with someone named Hohenheim?

Deidara piped in, "Who is that?"

"He's our father…" Al provided the answer while looking over to his brother with concern as Ed seemingly revisited the ghosts of their past, 'Brother…"

"That bastard… he's the reason mom died…"

Deidara shifted uncomfortably in his shoes, "I'm going to call Konan, let her know we made it to Dublith… Miss. Izumi?" Izumi looked up to the teen, "Do you have a phone I can use, un?"

"A phone? Yes, it's in the front of the store. Would you show him it, dear?" Izumi grinned at her husband. Sig gave a nod of confirmation before pushing himself up and leading Deidara out of the room, but not before the blond paused and gave Ed an odd look. The look only lasted for a moment, but it was enough for Itachi to notice.

Seemingly having enough of Ed sucking up all of the happiness in the room, Izumi slammed her hands on the table, startling the brothers, "We are going to eat! We are going to eat, talk and be happy with the lives we currently have and you are going to like it!" She looked to Itachi, "Will you and the other one be joining us?"

Itachi nodded, "Yes, let me help." He pinched the cuffs of his button up and rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, "I may not look it, but I use to cook meals for my… family. I'm quite good." If Izumi noticed the pause, she didn't make any comments.

"I'll be the judge of that. Come on!"

Within an hour the table was covered in simple yet elegant dishes that… sparkled. Almost everyone in the house stared at the food, then at Itachi.

"Is food supposed to sparkle like this?" Ed examined his steak with suspicion, eyebrow raised to his hairline. There must have been something alchemically done to the food to make it look like this.

Deidara didn't even blink at the shine before grabbing his utensils and smoothly cutting the meat like rich butter, "It always looks like this when Itachi cooks, un." Taking a bite he hummed in bliss, "Yep, you haven't lost your touch, Uchiha."

Now Ed was glaring at Deidara, "I thought you hated him, why eat his cooking?"

"Because I know when good food is placed in my face." The bomber stuck his nose in the air, "Cooking can be an art too." It wasn't any of Ed's business to know that Konan made everyone except Pein and Zetsu learn how to cook. It wasn't a surprise to anyone that Itachi was already skilled in the kitchen, but it was a shocker when Tobi proved to be just as good… though the food never sparkled. Not to brag but Deidara can make some pretty damn good desserts.

'Hm… so these two don't think highly of each other.' Izumi mused to herself before looking to Al, "Are you not going to eat?"

"Oh! I had a big lunch on the train ride here, I'm good!" The poor boy nearly had a figurative heart attack at the question. But his reaction was enough to cause Izumi's eyes to squint into a minor glare. She's known these boys since they were small, complimented with her large bullshit detector… something was up, and she was determined to figure it out… after dinner.

Ed finally took a bite after seeing Deidara and Itachi already enjoying their meal, "How can this be any different from normal fo-" The moment Ed took a bite, his mouth began to water and a groan of pure pleasure escaped his throat, "How is this…?"

Itachi hid a smirk behind his wrist as he chewed, finishing the bite with a swallow, "Trick my mother use to teach me, my little brother didn't like beef until I cooked it."

Deidara snorted, "Yeah- …" He inhaled and resumed his meal, 'Gah… no point making a snide comment now. I'll save them for later…' Not to mention, what would benefit him pointing out how Itachi was one of the last Uchiha besides making himself look like the ass. Nothing, that's what.

After dinner, Izumi insisted on taking care of the dishes, going as far as to literally kick Itachi in the butt to make him leave the kitchen. She allowed him to help her cook, but she'd be damned as the proud housewife she was if she let a guest clean. But once the boys were up in bed… or at least she HOPED they were in bed, she had some investigating to do.

"I want to have a word with you two." Izumi placed her hands on her hips as the Akatsuki had turned to leave the house for the night, "Have a seat. I'll make us something to drink."

Itachi sat politely in the same chair Ed had just used hours before and getting a clear view of Izumi preparing drinks. Deidara, however, chose to focus on a ball of clay he was working on. Curiosity took over and the desire to figure out what was in it so when the time came, he could make more using alchemy. Naturally, his attention only wavered when the smell of a familiar bitter liquid reached his nose.

Izumi laid down two cups, pouring the black liquid into them before serving herself a small portion of it. It was late after all and coffee wasn't exactly ideal for her health. But no adult could resist coffee, even in the dark hours of the night.

The moment she took a sip, Deidara grabbed his cup and smirked, 'Hell yeah… and Danna isn't here to stop me! Forget alcohol, this stuff has a better kick!' Tilting the cup slightly, Deidara closed his eyes and attempted to take a sip of the coffee.

Keyword "attempted".

Instead of a hot liquid, all Deidara felt against his lips were fingers. Snapping his eyes open with an annoyed grunt, he looked down and his brain only registered two things: purple nail polish and a bright red Akatsuki ring. Eyes began following the fingers to the owner's hand… arm… shoulder… and finally, face… damnit.

He was kissing Itachi's fingers.

It was as if a force threw Deidara backward as he flung himself from his chair and away from Itachi. Said Uchiha skillfully grappled the cup, preventing coffee from spilling out and blankly watching the younger male slowly realize what just happened.

"What the hell, Uchiha?!" He was not blushing, he was trying not to strangle Itachi with all his might thank you very much!

Itachi slowly blinked, setting the cup down onto the table, "Sasori does not want you drinking coffee… and frankly, I'm not that patient enough to deal with you hyper." He had to admit, it was amusing watching Deidara sputter and hiss like a wet cat, satisfying even.

"Bastard…" Grumbling, Deidara returned to his seat and crossed his arms, avoiding eye contact with both Itachi and Izumi.

Okay, Izumi had to let out a laugh, "Well, that removed one of my worries!" The two stared at her, "You two were so stone-faced and quiet the entire visit, naturally I wanted to make sure neither of you were putting my students in any danger."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "We would never intentionally put them in danger, our orders from our superior was to protect them. They get in enough trouble by themselves."

"Oh, I am well aware, but that doesn't stop me from being cautious. If they get hurt because of something they did, then they need to face the consequences… but I will not tolerate others harming them. You understand?" She received two nods, "Good… now, you two have some explanations to present."

The woman smirked and rested her chin against her fist, "There is the fact that you two are not from Xing." The Akatsuki tensed, "For one, your names are not like those from Xing. 'Deidara', 'Itachi Uchiha', they do not fit their cultural alphabet. Not to mention everyone from Xing… at least the ones that can afford to cross the desert, have a family name. Lastly…" She jabbed a thumb towards Deidara, "Blond."

A loud thump was heard as Deidara's forehead collided with the table. Of course, everyone in this world has natural genetically correct looks! They've never seen anyone with blue or green hair… hell, everyone's eye colors are almost always one of three colors. Not to mention if a family photo was ever seen, kids look like their parents! Why did it take so long for someone to question their appearance?

"You know a lot about the country, huh? I'm guessing telling you that Deidara's family is mostly blond would be met with disbelief?" The fact Izumi didn't even blink gave away the answer. Itachi straightened himself out, the temptation to cast a genjutsu on her was strong. But she also wasn't a threat, she had no connection with the military and it's obvious she's not fond of them… what to do…?

Finally, with a reluctant sigh, Izumi leaned back in her chair, "Spill, who are you really?"

Deidara tilted his head, squinting his eyes, "Do you honestly think we'll give up our secrets so easily?"

"No, honestly I would have questioned how stupid you two were if you did. But who is Konan?"

Finally, an easy question, "She's the State Alchemist we guard along with a few others, un." Deidara kept their numbers vague, "The others are with her."

Now it was Izumi's turn to cross her arms, "A female State Alchemist… now that's a rare breed." She paused to cough for a moment before continuing, "Now Itachi, I kept noticing that you would hesitate on certain words… like family… why?"

It was as if walls started closing in on Itachi. Does he tell this random woman something that was common knowledge in the Five Great Nations? The one thing that made him an S-rank? Or should he lie-

"Itachi's family, save for his little brother, were killed less than a decade ago." Itachi eyed Deidara, who was talking in a monotone voice, "He joined our group not long afterwards and I joined less than a year later, un."

Izumi's eyes soften almost instantly, "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have…"

Itachi held up his hand to stop her, "Don't. The story itself is common knowledge where we are from." He didn't mean for his voice to be clipped, but it happened.

Sighing, Izumi pushed herself off her chair and back onto her feet, "I won't ask any more questions, I can tell that you two don't mean any harm for the boys and that's all I care about." She made her way over to the stairs to head to her room, only to pause, "What about your brother?"

The Uchiha finally allowed himself to crack a small smile, "Maybe I'll tell you the whole thing when we meet another time. He's become… an interesting young man." Seemingly satisfied with the answer given, Izumi vanished upstairs.

Deidara slumped in his seat, "She's weird, un."

"Hn."

"Do you really have to respond to everything with that?"

"Does it bother you?"

"Yes, un."

"...Hn."

With a low growl, Deidara shot to his feet and threw on his jacket after noticing the outside air was chill. Itachi followed suit but didn't bother putting on his own coat, perks with having fire chakra in such a harmless environment. The two walked down the darkened street in relative silence as the activity level had dropped down to only the occasional drunkard or businessman returning home late before Deidara had a thought.

"Ever wondered what our lives would have been like had everyone's partners been different, un?" The sudden question made Itachi have a hiccup in his rhythmic steps, making Deidara clarify, "I mean, occasionally the Akatsuki split up or work in pairs of four, but what if we worked with different people?"

Interesting thought. Itachi hummed to himself, "Well… not many can tolerate working with me, I know that for a fact. Kisame and I work so well together I can't imagine being with another partner… hm." He took this time to examine the blond walking beside him, "This would be an interesting combination."

"What would?"

"Sharingan and explosion release. There are many different battle styles that could come with the two working together, not to mention fire chakra compliments explosion chakra in some ways better than fire and water. Though…" Itachi felt eyes on him now, "we would have to work on our indifference between each other if that were to work."

Deidara blinked, "Is that technically what we are doing now though, un?"

"Perhaps, but it would take more than a few days for the past to be let go. I'm well aware that you believe my eyes disrespect your jutsu. If we had become partners that day, I would most likely have to sleep with an eye open at all times… then again Kisame and I were no walk in the park at first either." A weird sound joined together in harmony with a matching tune, only for both to stop when the duo realized they were laughing.

Deidara cleared his throat, "Danna and I didn't get along either-... then again, I don't think we've ever gotten along." He changed the angle of his next step so he could bump shoulders with the Uchiha, "You're honestly not that bad, for an Uchiha of course. Maybe once the year is up and we get home, I'll see if Leader will let us work on missions together. Try out these combos you believe will work with your eyes, un."

"We'll see- wait." He shot his arm out to stop Deidara from walking forward. Activating his sharingan, Itachi pulled a kunai seemingly out of nowhere and threw it in the direction of an alleyway. A shriek was almost instantly heard and the shinobi heard the sound of frantic scuffling, "Come on."

With inhumane -at least in this world- speed the two caught up with their eavesdropper. A small bald man in a beggar's cloak was trying to climb the wall like a lizard, only to be stopped when another kunai nearly impaled his nose, making him lose his grip and fall to the ground. Deidara placed a hand on his hip and stared at the man with interest, "Well… and here I thought we wouldn't see any more chimeras, un." He noted the tail the man had, reptilian if he were to make an educated guess.

Itachi ignored Deidara's comment and took a threatening step closer to the quivering man, "What did you hear?" He didn't plan on hurting the man, but if regular shinobi found the sharingan intimidating, a regular civilian who is an obvious coward would definitely be unable to call a bluff. If he was smart… he would pretend that he didn't hear anything and run off scared.

"N-nothing sirs, I was walking by when I began to hear you two talk! I swear! I didn't hear anything!" It was almost pathetic how quickly he fell into a state of pure fear.

Deidara walked over, now leaning over the man with a sadistic grin and held out his free hand to show off his palm, "I suggest you return to your home… and tell no one of what you have seen. We're not the sort to forgive and forget, un." Timing his words perfectly, Deidara's palm mouth flew open to reveal its long pink tongue and row of shiny white teeth, tiny bits of saliva landed on the strange man's face. The man let out a terrified scream as he ran off, nearly knocking over a trashcan in the process.

Hearing footsteps heading their way, the duo ran up one of the building walls and waited, watching as a few people poked their heads into the alleyway as if expecting a body to be there. Instead, all they got was empty darkness, save for a few rats that scrambled away from the light of one of the men's flashlight. They only jumped down to their original place on the sidewalk when the lights of the buildings nearby went out for the night.

Deidara cracked his neck with a sigh, "Been a while since I got to let loose like that. We've had to keep such a squeaky clean appearance, it feels nice, un."

Itachi deactivated his sharingan, "You do realize that whoever he works for is going to know about us, right?"

The bomber took it upon himself to examine his nails, "I'm hoping for it."

The next day

This was wrong.

Itachi and Deidara watched from the sidelines as Izumi told Ed and Al the story of how she also tried human transmutation. They watched in silence as the brothers' nearly broke down on the spot, as Izumi threw them outside and beaten the two in a senseless brawl… and finally when she held the two in her arms. The concept of something taking your body parts as not only payment but also punishment for playing god is somewhat more baffling than the idea that this world survived without chakra. The two exchanged glances before nodding, might as well… share their own version of human transmutation.

"We actually succeeded in something similar." The trio jolted and looked at Itachi, "Well, not us specifically. One of my home's former leaders created a technique to reanimate the dead."

"And… and he succeeded?" Izumi's voice was breathless, "How…?"

"If it's not obvious enough, we're not from here. We don't have alchemy, but another kind of technique called jutsu and it harnesses the energy within us, eliminating the limitations of alchemy. We can manipulate the soul and put in a host, bringing that person back beyond the grave with all their thoughts intact." Or mostly intact if you exclude what Orochimaru apparently can do, "It's a forbidden jutsu though."

Ed tilted his head, "Forbidden? So it is like alchemy."

Deidara let out a short laugh, "Not even close. Based on what I'm seeing, you guys do it to bring back loved ones. Anyone who uses the reanimation jutsu is doing it to make soldiers. Unstoppable, never tiring, soldiers with the intent to mentally degrade the enemy, un." It reminded him too much of Sasori's puppets, everyone becomes surprised when he shows off the Third Kazekage… not to mention the whole eternal bit.

Itachi eyed Deidara and sighed, realizing that he is the one that will need to explain how the reanimation works, "From what I have read and heard from you Ed, to bring back the dead here requires enough material to make a human body… but to bring someone back with the reanimation jutsu only needs the DNA of the person you are trying to bring back and…"

A pit fell in Ed's stomach and a lump of fear lodged in his throat, "And…?" Please let it be something simple.

"A living person."

Silence. Izumi couldn't look at the Akatsuki anymore as Ed and Al shot up to their feet. The shorter of the two was the one to shout the question, "Why the hell would you use another person to bring back someone?"

If Itachi felt a reaction bubbling inside him, he didn't show it, "It should be obvious, you claim that you could create a human using material from a marketplace but did you even consider that there are some things not obtainable by normal means? Can you truly say that you know every element in the human body? Every cell?" He paused, looking at everyone with subtle shifts of his eyes, "It's one of the few techniques that follows your laws of equivalent exchange by the book. You want a life? You must take a life. There is a reason why it is forbidden."

Deidara nudges Itachi when the tension became unbearable, "Come on, un." He proceeds to drag Itachi away, but paused to look at the brothers, "We won't be far, just yell and we'll show up." The two walked away, leaving the others oblivious to the single crow perched on the rooftop of Izumi's house.

Itachi spoke up once they passed to another street, "Should we have told them?"

"Tch, why not. I just think the whole idea is stupid. What god takes away body parts as punishment?" Deidara paused and rolled his eyes, "Besides Hidan's if Jashin is as fucked up as we're lead to believe, un. Not to mention that it seems to take away parts of the body that symbolize who they bring back. What do you think it would take if we tried the transmutation?"

"..." Itachi looked away to focus on other things. What would it take from him? His tongue so he couldn't apologize and speak his mind? His eyes so he could no longer look at the smiling faces of… who would he bring back? One of his parents? Shisui?

"I personally don't have anyone I would want back. Never knew my parents and anyone else I should consider are still alive and kicking, un I wonder if it could take away our chakra..." Deidara flung his hands behind his head to crack his neck, "You know we're being followed."

Two figures emerged from the darkness, a tall imposing man, and a smaller tomboy woman. Neither one provoked any kind of reaction from the Akatsuki besides a raised eyebrow from Deidara, much to their disappointment.

"Greed wants to… have a chat with you two." The woman had to pause and consider her words.

Neither Deidara nor Itachi looked at each other but they were thinking the same thing, 'A homunculus.' It had to be, based on all of the various books both have skimmed, it was safe to assume that the homunculus are named after the deadly sins. But something seemed off.

"Very well." Itachi spoke with the duo, almost instantly activating his sharingan, "But if you try to attack us, you will regret it." He inched closer to Deidara despite the blond's groan of annoyance. The last time they encountered these guys, Deidara ended up in the hospital. The last thing Itachi wanted was to be held responsible for his partner getting injured.

… Huh… Deidara being his partner… not the worst thing out there.

The strangers flinched at the sight of Itachi's eyes but lead them off anyway, occasionally looking back to make sure they were still following. Based on the types of people they started to see, this was most likely the equivalent to a red light district. The building they entered was called the Devil's Nest, rather uncreative considering it was just some bar. But it was the basement and its inhabitants that really caught their interest.

"So these are the two that Bido spoke about?" A man with spiky hair, sharp spikey teeth and a fur collared vest where the fur was also somewhat spikey approached them with a coy grin, "Minus the cool red eyes you two don't seem to be of much interest."

Itachi tilted his head, contemplating if a genjutsu was needed before snatching Deidara's wrist before he could go for his clay, "Looks can be deceiving. Considering other homunculi we have met you are the only one that could pass as a legitimate human."

An odd noise escaped Greed's throat before he threw his head back to laugh, "Oh, I like you kid. Bido here told me that you guys have some oddities about you, oddities that I want to keep." He shot his hand out to offer a handshake, "My name's Greed. Let's be pals, mkay?"

Side story #2: "Oh no, not here too…"

Finally feeling like he could relax, Itachi dressed in some sweats and a random shirt he bought back in Resembool. Noting that Deidara has gone to space land in his mind, he quickly took over the bathroom to get ready to sleep. This included a long session of hair brushing and cleaning his teeth, steak really did not like to get out. Once he finally rinsed his mouth, satisfied by the lack of meat in his molars he physically jumped half a foot when his temporary partner let out a yell.

Briskly walking back into the living room of the hotel they were staying in, Itachi was met with a frustrated Deidara, "What happened?" He swirled his head to look at the window, they had sealed the room so no one could hear them and a minor genjutsu was all that was needed to keep their appearances hidden. Nothing seemed to add up to him.

Deidara removed the ribbon from his hair so he could violently tug a hand through his locks, "This damn world has it too, un!"

"Pardon?" Itachi tilted his head in a parrot-like fashion, what existed here that would cause Deidara to get so worked up? … Besides tight laws on any form of pyromania or Tobi suddenly appearing, of course.

"Flashbacks!" Deidara growled as he received a blank stare, "Come on, Uchiha. Haven't you noticed? Sometimes when you fight people everyone just stands still and stares for a solid minute before they continue their actions. Do you know how many times I've been able to kill people because they look like they're suffering major PTSD, un?" He threw his hands up in frustration, "I saw Ed make the same face when I was heading to call Konan, he was remembering something about that Hoen-whatever his name was."

Itachi paused and thought back on this, yes… there have been times where people seemed to space out for a short while only to return to the present with eyes that saw their entire past. He's done it too, sometimes when waiting for Kisame to return he would think back on his family, the good times he's had with Sasuke…

Strapping his sandals and getting ready for his mission, Itachi heard the pitter-patter of his brother's bare feet racing over to him, "Nii-san! Can you teach me shuriken jutsu tod-"

"You're doing it right now, un!"

Itachi instantly snapped out of it when Deidara's voice out-matched his little brother's. Oh great, now he's going to become self-conscious about this. Was this really that common? All Itachi could do was wrap a hand over his eyes and rub his face as a sudden wave of exhaustion hit him like a typhoon, "Let's just… let's just sleep… I don't want to think about this and end up not being at my full mental capacity tomorrow."

"Tell me about it, why did I decide to think about it, un…?" Not bothering to change his clothes, Deidara simply removed his t-shirt and long-sleeve, tossing them to a random spot in the room and took over the couch, "Night, Itachi."

Itachi allowed his eyes to slowly blink as his mind put itself back together. Looking at the blond, he was surprised to see him passed out. So much for this new thought haunting him. Not bothering to return the sentiments to an already sleeping person, Itachi turned on a heel and went to the bedroom… only for another thought to enter his mind.

'There are two beds in this room… why does Deidara insist on the couch?'

The side story was just some fun that I decided to have between Deidara and Itachi, I like that their friendship is slowly forming to where they can have civil conversations now. In any case, I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to have Izumi talk to the Akatsuki since she naturally wouldn't trust them right away; but as I wrote it out I realized that she isn't the type to interrogate people that are not the brothers… also the food part and the coffee part were some of my favorite things to write so far.

I was originally going to do the whole bit with Greed in this chapter, but then this would have taken forever to not only write but also my brain didn't feel like coming up with all the dialogue. Nu uh. Thankfully I'm starting to get use to the idea of writing out unique scenes that divert from the main story, helps with bonding.

As always, reviews are loved and next week will be Greed fully meeting the Akatsuki. I'll see you guys then.

Bye!