Itach sat on a barstool and waited. And waited. And waited some more. It had been three days since he'd started trying to call Kisuke. There hadn't been an answer. Itachi was starting to wonder if Kisuke had gotten himself killed. It wouldn't have been that surprising, just slightly disappointing. Itachi glanced around the bar again. And waited.

After several hours, Itachi started heading back, tired and dissapointed. When he walked into the base, Kisame looked over at him. "Itachi-san! You're back!" He hopped off of the small table he'd been sitting on and strode over. Then he paused and looked closely at Itachi's face. "Is something wrong, Itachi-san?"

Itachi looked at him. "No, I'm good," he answered. "Why?"

Kisame frowned. "You just have this look on your face…" he looked closer, making Itachi start to feel uncomfortable. Finally, Kisame said, "I got it! You look disappointed. Did you go on a bad date? Did you get stood up? You want me to kill someone?"

"Kisame, if I truly wanted someone dead, I'd do it myself."

"True…" Kisame muttered.

The two of them strode into the next room. On the couch were Kakuzu and Deidara, caught up in a violent quarrel as to whether or not to buy things from infomercials.

"But we're out of my favorite nail polish!" Deidara was protesting. "Come on. Just let me borrow some money! I'll pay you back! It's only thirty-two bucks! I NEED THE ONYX BLACK NAIL POLISH NOW!

Kakuzu started strangling him with his tentacle-like strings. "No way in fucking hell," he replied. "You're the one who always borrows money and never pays any of it back. Give me back my fifteen thousand dollars and we'll talk."

Kisame snickered. "Yeah and he make fun of me for acting gay—oh my gosh look at all those hairdryers!" He shouted halfway through what he was saying, sitting down on the couch next to the others and staring at the TV screen. "…must…buy…"

Itachi rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen. Martel was cleaning a large red puddle off the ground with a mop, and Hidan's head was jammed inside the oven. Itachi looked from one to the other. "Um, do I want to know…?"

"No," Martel muttered quietly, "probably not."

Itachi poked Hidan's unconscious body with his toe a few times. Then he walked over to the puddle she was cleaning. "You stab him or something?"

Martel glared up at him. Her face was pale, and she had dark circles beneath her eyes. She grabbed the top of the mop to steady herself as she swayed slightly back and forth.

Itachi grabbed her arm. "Whoa. Are you alright?" He asked, steadying her. "You look…sick."

She stared blankly at him for a few seconds. Then she blinked sleepily a few times and muttered, "Wait, I thought you were blind or something…"

"Well I'm not completely blind," he replied. "I can still see that you look like shit."

"Oh, gee, thanks," she mumbled, pulling her arm away. "You're so polite, weasel-brain. Girls definitely like hearing…" Suddenly, she doubled over slightly, grabbing her head and gasping a little bit. Itachi grabbed her arm again. She blinked a few times dizzily. "I'm fine. Just…a migraine…"

Itachi sat her down in a chair. "Here, I'll go get you an Ibuprofen or something," he said. He turned and started walking away.

"Wait…" she murmured faintly. Suddenly she jumped to her feet, knocking over the chair. "Wait, Itachi!" She screamed in a strangled voice.

Itachi turned around, as Martel collapsed to the floor.

He stared at her for a second. The he ran over. "Martel?" He asked, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her arm. Her eyes stared blankly ahead. They were glassy and empty. "Martel! Martel, are you alright?" He shouted. She didn't respond.

Itachi stood up. "Guys!" He shouted loudly. There was no answer. "Guys! Hello? Somebody, get the hell in here!" There was still nothing. "DAMN IT, SOMEBODY GET THE FUCK IN HERE!"

Kisame peaked inside. "Is something wrong, Itachi-san?"

Itachi grabbed his arm and dragged him over. "W-What's wrong with her?" Itachi asked.

Kisame stared at her for a few seconds. Then he bent down. "Martel?" He flipped her onto her back and felt her pulse. "Ok, um, her heart rate seems to be slowing down," he muttered nervously.

By then, several other Akatsuki members had started to peek inside. Hidan pulled his head out of the oven, looking dazed. Deidara and Kakuzu looked through the doorway curiously.

Itachi ignored them. "So what's wrong with her?" He asked Kisame.

Kisame glanced up. "Itachi-san, the most medical training I ever received was learning how to be a lifeguard when I was sixteen. If she needed mouth-to-mouth, I might be able to figure out what I'm doing, but other than that, I got nothing."

Itachi looked around. His eyes fell on Kakuzu. "You help with medical stuff sometimes. Can't you do anything?"

Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "The only shit I know how to do is to either sow a body part back on or remove her heart," he muttered dryly. "You want me to try either of those?"

Itachi grimaced. "Damn it." He looked around at the others. "Does anyone know any medical shit? Anything at all?" He was answered with silence. He looked down at Martel. He felt her forehead. "Jeez, she's ice cold," he murmured. He took off his cloak and wrapped it around her. Then he picked her up and carried her into the closest bedroom.

He set her on the bed. Everyone else followed, with Deidara grumbling quietly about everyone cramming into his room. Itachi glared at them. "Unless any of you have any idea how to fix this, go away," he growled. He looked back at Martel.

Martel had begun shivering violently. Itachi felt her forehead with the back of his hand. She still felt like ice. And her lips had started turning blue. This makes no sense. Itachi thought frantically. What the hell kind of disease could do this?

As he pulled away, his hand started tingling.

Itachi looked at it for a second. "What the…?" He muttered. He flexed his hand a few times. His fingers had gone completely numb.

The rest of the Akatsuki had managed squeezed themselves in behind him, except Zetsu, who'd strangely been absent. Kakuzu and Sasori were looking curiously at the unconscious girl on the bed. Deidara was shoved unhappily into a corner.

Tobi shoved through the crowd of Akatsuki members. "What happened?" He asked. "Is she having a seizure? Is she giving birth? Was she eaten by a whale? What's going on?"

Itachi scowled at him. "Tobi, all of those statements are completely ridiculous," he told Tobi disdainfully. "Try thinking before you speak." The tingling sensation had spread to about his elbow.

"Itachi-san," Kisame said quietly, noticing Itachi trying to flex his arm. "Are you ok?"

"I-I'm fine," Itachi answered, gingerly rubbing his numb arm. The tingling had spread to his shoulder. "My…my arm just fell asleep…"

Hidan scowled. "So nobody knows what's wrong with her?" He asked. "Fuck. I wanted to kill her myself. Well, maybe this is Karma of some sort for making fun of me, bitch."

Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "Does your religion even believe in Karma?" He asked. He looked at Martel again. "Damn, if she dies, we're all screwed."

Itachi glared at them. "You two are being assholes," he muttered. "Will you two—"

The tingling reached his chest. Suddenly, he couldn't breathe. He grabbed his chest. He tried to take a breath, but his lungs refused to work.

"Itachi-san," Kisame asked, "what's wrong?"

Itachi turned toward him. He tried to say something, anything, but he couldn't speak. The tingling spread further. His legs went numb and he collapsed forward onto his knees. The corners of his vision were going dark.

"Itachi-san!"

The voice was distant and muted. Itachi looked up, trying desperately to draw a breath, to scream. Everything was blurry and muted. Stars started flashing in front of his eyes.

Then he felt himself falling forward…