Don't be deceived by the happy-sounding nature of the chapter's title.

Songs: "The city is at war" by Cobra Starship and "Riot" by Three Days Grace.

Chapter 9: Heat of the moment.

Konan's hands flexed against his face and her legs tightened around his body. Hidan wanted to get closer to her but the fact that she was in the window wasn't allowing this to happen. He got a little frustrated and growled.

She hopped down, tightening her arms around his neck. The kiss deepened, Hidan tugging on her hair, forcing her to tip her head back. He pushed her up against the wall and broke off, breathing heavily.

'Maybe... maybe this is what she wants?' he wondered, trying to decipher the look in her eyes. She shivered, hugging Hidan closer. He pulled her away from the wall, clutching her to his chest. He glanced several times at the bed, judging whether or not it would be a good thing to take her over to it.

'It would be warmer, seriously,' he assured himself, guiding her over to it. She sat on it but tugged at him too, pulling him down onto her. He breathed in her scent deeply, nuzzling her neck with his nose. He smiled and lipped her neck; she wasn't wearing perfume. Her blood was good enough.

Konan's hands were curious enough. She pawed at his chest, unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it off his shoulders. He raised his head; her hand slid up the back of his neck. She pressed down on his head. He let her kiss him while he concentrated on the strings holding her dress on. He undid them, and tugged down on her dress and pushed her over.

She gasped against his lips and he deepened the kiss. Their tongues danced in her mouth, deep probing caresses. He broke off and kissed slowly down her neck. She pressed her head back into the pillow, her ankle stroking his calf. He raked his fangs over her neck very gently, eliciting a whimper from her. Her hand pressed against his head.

He complied, sinking his fangs slowly into her neck. She arched into him and he growled lowly, pulling his fangs back out and sucking at her neck. She sighed in pleasure, her arms wrapping around him so that he lay on top of her.

Something pricked at the back of Hidan's mind and in a chiding voice he heard Kisame growl, "no, Hidan."

He licked the bite mark and rolled off of Konan, keeping his back to her.

"Good boy," and then Kisame's presence left Hidan's mind. He sighed. Konan gingerly touched his back and he sensed that she'd turned. Her back pressed against his a moment later, and Hidan sat up to pull the blankets over both of them.

--

Hidan was awoken by soft lips on his. His violet eyes flicked open and seeing that it was Konan he relaxed, breathing into the kiss. He felt her smile before she pulled back.

"Morning sleepy head."

He smiled cutely at her, "hi."

She giggled and gestured toward her dress, "you bad, bad boy."

He blushed and sat up, looking down at his chest and reiterating, "you bad, bad girl."

They both laughed and there was a knock on the door. Hidan scrambled up and opened it. Kisame stood on the other side, arms crossed over his chest. Hidan paled.

"Have fun?"

Both Hidan and Konan blushed. Hidan glanced over his shoulder to see that Konan was trying to get her dress back on properly. Hidan sniffed and sneered at Kisame, "maybe if you hadn't frikkin' interrupted we would have, seriously."

Kisame's eyes grew as wide as saucers, his eyes darting around, "er..."

"Yeah, exactly."

Konan gave Kisame a look, "ugh! That was why he rolled off of me! Kisame!"

He bolted. Both Hidan and Konan exchanged looks before laughing.

"Hey, gimme a hand with this will you?" she demanded lightly, gesturing to her dress.

"Okay," he walked over and tied her dress on properly, resting his hands on her waist for a few minutes. He sighed and pulled away, walking toward the door.

"Does this mean that...?"

He stopped and whirled around, "what did you want to talk about yesterday, seriously?"

Konan's face turned red and she stared down at the ground. She was chewing on her lower lip. Hidan quirked an eyebrow, 'now I really wish I could frikkin' read minds... ugh...'

He released a sigh of frustration and ran his fingers agitatedly through his hair, ruffling it up.

"'Does this mean that' what?"

Konan opened her mouth to speak but Kisame appeared again behind Hidan. He slung an arm around Hidan's shoulders and peered keenly at Konan. She quickly shut her eyes, face turning scarlet. Kisame laughed.

"Eh, girl, I need to take you home. It's one in the afternoon. Your mom has already threatened me."

"Threatened you?"

Kisame swallowed lightly, "your mom is Anko. Anko is known for being flirtatious. And is known for jumping guys when they least expect it. She's already threatened that she'll make me stay for supper and... well, don't make that face."

Hidan drew back slightly at Konan's furious expression. She stomped toward Kisame and grabbed his wrist, dragging him away.

"Yo, Hidan, you're gonna' be down at the court tomorrow right?"

"Uh, the ones near Sakura's right? Yeah I'll be there."

Konan glanced between the two before muttering something about talking to her mother. Kisame laughed at her words.

--

Konan didn't quite understand why the Akatsuki were going to play basketball in the cold weather but she agreed to show up there anyway. Under her mother's orders Konan bundled up nicely before piling into her mother's car. Anko had to turn the key a few times before the car finally started - "darn cold," she said.

Konan watched the clouds as her mother backed out of the driveway, tracing their shapes with her eyes. They were on the road when her mother asked a question, "did you ask him yet?"

Of course, Konan stared down at her hands and blushed, "n-no I haven't been given the – the opportunity to d-do so."

"Well, you better ask him soon. Your ex is starting to scare the living daylights out of me."

Konan shuddered, 'I can't believe he was stalking around my house like a predator. I'm so glad Kisame snarled at him and scared him off.'

Her mother voiced Konan's thoughts, "I'm so glad Kisame drove you home. I've never seen Pein so scared before. But the way Kisame snarled now that -"

"Mom, he has a girlfriend," Konan chirped quickly, squishing all of her mother's hopes of getting with the man, "plus, I don't think I'd be able to survive with a mind-reading Vampire as my father."

Anko giggled at the last comment, turning a corner. She squinted out the windshield at a man standing on the side of the curb. He had raised a hand as if to flag them down.

"Who's - ?"

"Kakuzu I think. I've never formally met him. He's Tobi's dad," Konan informed her mother, unbuckling her seatbelt as her mother slowed to a stop. As Konan got out she turned red.

"You take good care of her you hear?"

She stomped around the front of the car as Kakuzu laughed softly, nodding his head.

"We'll do our best to keep her from getting abducted. Shoo," he flicked a hand at Anko a few times, making the woman pout. She blew a kiss to Konan – who blew it back – before driving away. Kakuzu jerked his head toward the stairs and Konan followed him up.

"You look dressed for the weather," she teased as they came to the top step. Her comment startled laughter out of Kakuzu and he clapped a hand to his mouth to smother the sound. She giggled at him and managed to understand his muffled words: "I can change my body temperature."

She headed toward the bleachers that rose high off the ground under a kind of roof. Looking toward the courtyard she saw that Sakura was also here. She was currently holding the ball and refusing to let it go.

"Hey, Kakuzu," he turned his head toward her, "could you tell Hidan to come over here?"

"Sure thing," the older Vampire began walking toward the other seven. Hidan had gotten the ball away from Sakura and Kisame was holding her tightly in his arms. She was protesting vehemently but was awed as much as Konan was when Hidan easily dunked it. She swallowed lightly, 'why do I always have to forget how tall he is?'

Kakuzu approached Hidan and jerked his head in Konan's direction, obviously telling the albino that he had been requested. Konan looked away at the lines of houses on the street. This basketball court was in urban areas, just on the outskirts of the city. And it was very pretty.

She watched Hidan as he approached her, tossing the ball listlessly over his shoulder. Tobi caught it and assumed a game of keep-away with Sasori. The object was to keep the ball away from a reluctant Zetsu. Konan refrained from giggling.

Hidan hopped onto the bleachers and settled onto the step just about the one she was resting her feet on. He leaned his head against her ribcage, tilting his head back jerkily to look up at her, "hey."

"H-hi," she stuttered. He grabbed one of her hands and played with her fingers. He stared at the court in concentration and nipped one of her fingers by accident, making her squeak. He grinned sheepishly at her but didn't release her hand.

"What's up?"

She attempted not to smile while glaring over at Kisame – she succeeded only in pouting. The way Hidan was acting was enough of a tip off that he knew something he shouldn't and Konan blamed Kisame for it. Hidan nibbled cutely on her pointer finger and she couldn't help but smile at him.

"Come on, Konan, spit it out already."

"I think you already know because someone told you," she informed him, glaring icily at Kisame. Kisame felt her glare and grinned back, waving. Sakura wrapped her arms securely around his torso and muttered something. Kisame picked her up, rubbing her bare legs with his free hand.

"Cold legs," Hidan muttered, sitting next to Konan now, "that's what she gets for wearing a damn skirt, seriously. He warned her."

Konan could only blush; Hidan had slipped his arm around her waist.

"You know, he just dropped the damn hints. He didn't tell me a single thing. Just dropped hints. I figured it out on my own so don't go giving him hell for it."

Konan sighed and figured that Hidan was probably right. He was the smartest student at Saint Mary's, and she wasn't giving him the credit he deserved.

"Come on. Teeell meee."

"I thought you knew."

"I wanna' hear you say it, 'cause I wanna' be sure I was right," he nosed her head. She couldn't help giggling.

"I want you to be my boyfriend, Hidan," silently she added, 'because I want to feel safe and I only feel safe with you' but she felt that would make her seem selfish. Hidan's arm tightened around her like he had heard her thought. She leaned against him, securing her arms around his chest.

She watched as Deidara appeared to be sneaking toward them. Hidan twitched and then snarled, "Deidara, you come any closer and I'll stick you like a roasting pig you hear?"

Deidara shrieked and leapt into Itachi's waiting arms, "OH MY GOSH ITACHI SAVE ME! RUN!"

And Itachi faithfully ran around the court in circles until Deidara started laughing. Then he dropped him and the two got into a little wrestling match that Tobi enthusiastically joined. Konan and Hidan eventually got off the bleachers and Madara jumped off of Kakuzu's shoulder. Konan and Sakura decided, because they were women and Madara was like a little boy, that they would chase him as so the "men" didn't humiliate themselves. Kakuzu was very, very grateful.

That was when the problem arose.

'Where is that pesky little thing going!' she and Sakura finally had him cornered but now he was climbing. Suddenly, he froze. Konan felt a vibe coming off the Vampires that she didn't like and she turned to Sakura. Even though the pinkette didn't go to Konan's school she had already been dating a Vampire for a year.

Konan found that Sakura's eyes were wide. She looked frightened of something. She followed Sakura's gaze and found herself scared as well. All the Akatsuki were staring at the two girls with hard narrowed eyes. Madara shot past the two girls, crying weakly as he scrambled onto Kakuzu's hand. A collective breath went through the Vampires but Kisame's hard face stayed.

"Sakura. Konan. Get over here. Now."

Sakura gabbed Konan's hand tightly and hurried back to his side. She clutched his sleeve tightly, on the brink of tears it seemed.

"Wha-what's going on? What scared him?" Konan asked Kakuzu, gesturing toward Madara. Kakuzu patted him on the head and he whimpered, "he saw a Slayer. He thinks the Slayer may have also seen him."

"Is there like... a rule that you guys aren't allowed down here?" she questioned cautiously. Deidara bared his fangs and hissed, "there was. Way back when, a day before Fu-gay-ku and his punks left."

Kisame scowled at him and restated, "we were confined to the ghettos. Fugaku and his company left three days before it was decided that we were to be treated fairly and equally to humans. We were never allowed in this neighborhood," he swept a big blue hand around the area, "until that time. Fugaku and his men don't know that. Madara believes that the man he saw was from Fugaku's company."

Konan felt Hidan by her side and she reached for him instinctively, much like Sakura had for Kisame. After five minutes the Vampires calmed down and started a game of half-court basketball. Konan and Sakura joined in, and the guys pouted that now they had to be "gentle" and "gentlemanly". Itachi had no problem doing so, and though he was on the opposing team from her he helped Konan line up a shot. It swished and Deidara whined, "Iiiitttaaachiiii!"

Itachi stared at him innocently.

And Kisame's hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder.

"Zetsu. Get Sasori out of here. Now. Go."

Zetsu was startled and for a moment he stared at the back of Kisame's head. Then he grabbed Sasori's arm. Konan blinked at the normally hyper red-headed boy. He looked like he was in a semi-petrified state.

Zetsu started whispering to him, slowly bringing him out of it. Sakura approached Kisame, whispering his name on the wind and reaching out toward him. He reached back slightly as if to take her hand but retracted his arm and took a deep breath.

"Take Sakura with you."

He lifted his hand off of Itachi's shoulder.

'Why did he - ' then it struck Konan and she hugged herself, eyes wide with fear, 'Slayers. Itachi's shoulder. Bullets... oh no...'

Sakura protested violently, "NO! Kisame!" she wriggled out of Zetsu's arms and he called after her, "Sakura!"

She latched onto Kisame's arm, tears streaming down her face. He had his sword in his hand now and he was staring – no, glaring out at something only he could see. Konan backed into Hidan, who wrapped his arm around her waist.

Kisame was attempting to get Sakura off his arm without hurting her but she stubbornly stayed attached. Konan heard her sob out, "I'm not leaving you."

"Hidan, what's going on?" she asked frightened. He didn't respond. He merely looked down at her, glanced at Kakuzu, shared a look with Kisame and stared off into the distance.

Strange black threads emerged from the stitches on Kakuzu's arms and coiled tightly around Sakura.

"I'll take her," Kakuzu informed Kisame. Sakura cried loudly, "no! Kisame! Ki-sa-me!"

To Konan it sounded oddly like Sakura had just said "kiss me". Kisame grabbed Sakura's face in both of his hands and did just that.

"Sakura I can't lose you and I'm not taking this chance," he wiped away her tears with his thumbs and stroked back her hair. He nodded to Kakuzu, "go; she's safest with you. Tobi, you know what to do."

Tobi nodded, his face in a pout. Kakuzu was off with Sakura in tow and Tobi not far behind, Madara acting as a scout.

"Deidara, Itachi, Hidan, take Konan with you and get out of here. Get to the ghetto if you can."

The three nodded but Deidara protested lightly, "Konan should've gone with Kakuzu."

"Deidara we don't have time for that!" Itachi snapped, gesturing to his back, "get on. We need to leave. Zetsu is already gone."

Konan scrambled onto Hidan's back without complaint; she was too terrified. Hidan turned around to watch Kisame.

"Go, Hidan. Just go."

Then Kisame was gone, shooting off like a rocket toward some source that Konan couldn't see. As Hidan took off a gunshot rang through the air. Konan thought she heard Sakura scream and she closed her eyes tightly.

'Please God, oh please keep him safe. Please.'

--

He expected the shot even as he swung his sword back and threatened them with it. It rang out and missed him by at least a foot. He heard Madara's screech as his sword connected solidly with the concrete an inch in front of the man who had fired. Fear flickered through the Slayer's eyes.

Kisame shifted behind them all and snarled, "Fugaku. I thought Shikaku told you that the rules changed."

"He's obviously been brainwashed by your kind."

"My kind can't brainwash. Idiot. If you're smart," he growled to a Slayer turning to leave, "you'll stay put. Unless you want me to kill you."

The Slayers froze; even Fugaku seemed shocked, "you'd kill him for chasing the others in your coven?"

Kisame sneered, "have you forgotten, Fugaku, that your own son is in my coven?"

Fugaku growled angrily and repeated his question. Kisame gestured toward the gun, "he fired. According to Shikaku – your boss – I would have a valid reason to kill him."

Fugaku growled again and confidently said, "you can't defeat us."

Kisame flicked his wrist, "I'm the guy who took out a Squad by himself. Don't test me, and don't get cocky. You should only get cocky when you know you can win."

Kisame shot off again, knowing they would chase him. He also knew that one of them would go after Deidara's lead; the blonde had dropped it under orders of course.

Everything happened as he planned, except for one detail. One detail that had slipped his mind completely.

He let the first shot clip his shoulder.

--

Hidan backed Konan against a wall, growling lowly in his chest. Konan clung to him desperately, wanting to see and not wanting to see the Slayer behind him, past Deidara and Itachi.

Itachi's fangs dripped red. Not because he had bitten the man but because he wanted to let this man know he was a venomous Vampire; only venomous Vampires had red tipped fangs.

The Slayer warily watched Deidara's clay figurines as the blonde snarled, "make one wrong move and you're dead."

The Slayer sighed and bent over, leaving his gun on the ground. He kicked it a little toward them, "happy?"

"Hardly," Itachi spat. He glared at the gun in distaste and retracted his fangs. Deidara bared his so the Slayer wouldn't relax.

"Why do you have the girl with you?"

"Girlfriend of the pretty boy, yeah," Deidara hissed as if it was obvious. The man nodded slowly, as if he was confused.

"He's a half-breed," Itachi added after receiving the okay from Hidan.

'I don't see why the jerk-off shouldn't know. It would make more sense to him that way.'

He was looking around though and finally he sat on the floor and sighed, "where's the other girl?"

All three Akatsuki Vampires were on alert then, "what do you mean?" Itachi asked, a hint of bewilderment in his voice.

"I mean, the other girl. Where is she? There was another girl with you. There were eight of you plus some weird little masked dude," he threw up his hands in fright when Deidara lunged at him. Itachi snagged Deidara while the blonde sputtered, "YOU! You were the one who told them that we were there! You saw Mada!"

"Hey, woah, cool it. I – I was just doing my job. I w-was – I didn't return with the company! You could read my mind if you want. I wasn't debriefed with the others."

Itachi shared a look with Hidan and he finally eased away from Konan. He walked toward the man while Deidara retreated to Konan and held her securely to his body, hissing a little at the man.

"Alright, we'll believe you – for now. You better not be lying to us or your dead as hell, seriously."

The man looked pained, "I'm not lying. I'm just trying to do my job."

"How did you know there was another girl with us?" Hidan quizzed, ignoring the comment. The man remained silent until Hidan bared his fangs; pearly white and glowing.

"Healer..." he muttered then shook his head and looked around. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth as if to speak, but he revealed something that made Hidan stumble back in shock.

He had revealed his own set of gleaming fangs.

--

Kisame flexed his hand and caught the bullet as it fell out. He smirked lightly; his other wounds were already healing. He'd noticed that only two men still had bullets in their guns.

'Time to make them waste the rest,' he held his hand over the edge of the roof top where he was taking a breather, 'come and get me...'

He watched as they looked up and dodged his blood like it would transform them. He took off along the buildings, putting Samehada away. There was no point in having it out.

'... if you dare.'

--

"Wha – wha – what the hell!?" Hidan finally managed to exclaim. The Slayer cringed and his fangs tucked back away in his mouth, "hey, keep it down will you. My ears are sensitive."

Deidara's face reddened, "everything about you sensitive yeah! Your a freaking – freaking sensor. Of course your sensitive!"

"Deidara he knows that. He knows what he is," Itachi pulled Hidan away from the other half-breed and placed himself between them, flicking his fangs once.

"How can Slayers not know when they have one of us among their own forces?"

The man sighed, "I'm Tyler. And just so you know, Fugaku can't tell the difference between a Vampire and a human unless you flap it in his face. Literally. Sorry. He's your dad right?"

"He was never bright. Less apology, more explanation."

Tyler swallowed, "there's only a handful of half-breeds in the system. Mostly the reason why we get in is because we know how to mask our Vampiric side. I'm mostly human, and this might surprise you but I don't have to feed on human blood to live."

"What? But you have fangs! That makes no fucking sense!" Hidan exclaimed, staying wisely on his rear less he fall over again. Tyler shook his head.

"You're a lucky one. You're exactly half-Vampire and half-human. You're fifty-fifty. Me? I'm twenty-eighty. Mostly human. There's this one half-breed – and I have no idea how he got past the Slayers – that's in the force. He's ninety-ten. Yeah you heard me. Mostly Vampire. Don't know how he does it."

"That's why Kisame let you come after us..." Itachi muttered under his breath, "because I interrogate and store information in my brain," his red eyes flicked to Tyler, "keep talking. This is food for me. Feed me."

Tyler gulped and paled, "no... no that's bad..." he was talking to himself. Itachi perked up, "what?"

"They're here... they... that Kisame guy... don't tell them I'm a half-breed. They'll kill me."

Hidan's eyes widened, 'what the hell? Kisame's here? What? What? I'm confused.'

"They're here, don't you understand?! They chased him here! I know the rest of you are here I can sense you! I can sense that girl! It's not good; she's freaking out. They're downstairs. Go, go, damn it, GO!"

Deidara rushed off with Konan, Hidan following closely. He listened in on Itachi as he bounded down the stairs, "come with us!"

"No I can't! Look, I can't risk getting my cover blown! The Prince gave some of us orders you know..."

Itachi was by Hidan's side in a flash, refusing to argue further, his face pale.

"For the Prince to order half-breeds to join the Slayers... he knew this would happen, didn't he?"

Hidan didn't respond, 'he's talking to himself again. I hate it when he does that, seriously. Freaking creepy.'

He halted right before he would have crashed through Deidara and stared blindly at the scene before him. Konan turned into his chest and his arms circled around her protectively. Deidara was snarling and spitting and clinging to Itachi mightily. Itachi stared at the Slayers, eyes wide.

Kisame was lying on the ground, on his back, a gunshot to the chest. It hadn't hit any vital point, 'except for maybe piercing his lung. Okay so that's a vital point. It pierced his lung. Its spreading. You better have fucking planned for that, dad. Oh gawds...'

Kisame had propped himself up on his elbows and was staring with lidded eyes at Fugaku and his men. His hair had mostly flopped against his forehead. Blood had pooled on the ground when Kisame had been lying and the puddle continued to grow in size. Hidan saw Tobi suddenly lurch forward, Kakuzu's hand came out and Madara screeched like his life depended on it. Konan screamed; the gun went off.

Next chapter coming later tonight.