AU: Next chapter is up and ready to go!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!
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Three days.

It had been three days since Orochimaru took Itachi. Three days since the gypsy was back in that hell. Three days since Kisame yelled out in frustration and practically tore apart the train. And three days since Kisame found out that he was in love with the weasel. Kisame growled, pacing the room in frustration. 'Why? Why did he have to be put in that kind of torture? Why did he have to suffer?' Kisame thought, throwing random things around. 'Why couldn't have it been me? Why couldn't the monster be punished instead of an angel like him?'Kisame ran his fingers down the wall, making large indentations.

"WHY WASN'T IT ME?" he cried out, about to throw something through another wall when he took a closer look, dropping the item and walks over. It was the wall right above Itachi's bed, the one with all of his writing and poems. Kisame ran his fingers lightly over the marks. "Why?..." he said, tears sliding down his face and he crumbled on Itachi's bed.
_

Itachi limped back into his old room, hissing slightly as he sat on the bed. He rubbed his sore legs, frowning and takes out a stashed first aid kit that Konan had bought him, taking out the icyhot and rubs it on his injuries. Itachi hissed lightly but sighed in relief once it was over, wrapping his cuts and puts it away, laying down in his cot curled up in a ball. 'I better get some sleep now while Orochimaru is taking his bath...I need all the energy I can get...' He thought, curling up tighter and tries desperately to fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~(A FEW HOURS LATER)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Orochimaru slammed open the door to the little room, growling as the gypsy jumped. "You little fucker!" He yelled, walking over and yanked Itachi up by his hair, slapping him across the face. Itachi whimpered and looked up at him, making Orochimaru slap him again. "You were suppose to be out there cleaning ten minutes ago! Don't make me beat you so you can't preform Itachi..."he threatened, making Itachi whimper lightly and dropped him on the ground, watching as he scrambled around to get the cleaning supplies. Itachi grabbed everything he would need, rushing out and starts cleaning the rickety trailers from top to bottom, Orochimaru watching the whole time.

'hnn...that little brat just might be a good finale act...' Orocimaru thought evily, his mind going in all different directions.

Itachi soon finished and put all the cleaning supplies away, looking up as Orochimaru dragged him off to the bathroom. "You'll be staying here until the performance is over..." he said, filling the tub with ice cold water and gets up. "Strip to your boxers and get in." Itachi glared half hearted and stripped to his boxers and head jewel, climbing in and shivered, Orochimaru opening the little window in the bathroom and let in all the cool night air. Itachi sivered more as he was forced to lie on his back, the snake man chuckling darkly.

"Don't move and don't die. We'll be back to let you out after the show. and I will tell if you get out..." He said, motioning to a camera in the upper left corner of the little room and a little color changing stick on the bathtub, the part that was in the water blue and the other part pink. "If you disobey my orders you will be punished serverly. Got it?" Itachi nodded shakily, laying back and shivered heavily as Orochimaru walked out.

'I wonder how Kisame is doing...' he thought. 'I mean...I-I just wish I could have stayed with him...even if it was just the two of us, I like him around. Nice, smart, charming, handsome, a lovely drawer and has a beautiful character...He was so sad to see me go...I-I don't want to see him sad...I son't like him to be upset...W-Why do I feel this way?...Why do I care so much about this one person?...' Itachi thought deeply, remembering all the times that Kisame had looked happy, his amazement at Itachi's abilities, his beautiful, awe inspired eyes when he played his violin. He was in love. Itachi loved the strange blue man named Kisame. He was in love, and he went and broke his heart.

And, for the first time since he was a child, Itachi cried.

_(a few days later)_

Kisame sighed, twirling the burnt meatball around on his plate. Konan watched him sadly, looking down at her own plate and almost cries. Deidara and Sasori sat side by side, not saying a word and ate. Kakuzu and Hidan sat across from each other, Hidan not making one comment about how crappy the food was for how imperfect it was. Zetsu ate his food without any complaints, twirling the spaghetti around his fork and put it in his mouth lightly. Tobi and Madara were surprisingly quiet as well, Madara eating a meatball every now and then and Tobi sitting perfectly still, having not even touched his food.

Pein looked around at his broken family sadly, looking at all their depressed faces. Ever since Itachi was taken no one had acted the same, Tobi was quiet, Deidara and Sasori weren't acting affectionate, Hidan and Kakuzu didn't bicker, and of course Kisame was just a big hunk of depression. he never smiled, never looked happy, even his eyes were filled to the brim with sadness. Pein sighed lightly, looking at the calendar on the wall. One week, exactly to this day. It only took one week and the removal of one member to completely shatter his family.

Pein frowned, looking closer at the calendar and got up, going to his office to check something. In his absence, Deidara finally talked. "Tobi un...Eat something..." he said, noticing the normally cheerful man's waist to be as small as a pole. Tobi shook his head, making Deidara mad. "Tobi, un. I said eat."

"No." was all the reply Deidara got, and it was all it took for him to tackle Tobi and get his frustration out.

"I said eat the damn food un! Eat the meatball, spaghetti, hell, lick a plate for all I can un! But eat something!" He said, trying to shove a meatball down his throat through his mask. Kakuzu got up and picked both of them up, holding them at arm's length.

"Stop it, you both are acting like children." he said, eyeing both of them.

Deidara growled. "If he wants to die that's fine un! It's not like it's going to help bring Itachi back un!" he yelled, instantly regretting it as Tobi started bawling. "Tobi un...I-I didn't mean too..."

Tobi sniffed and was going to run off when Pein suddenly ran back in with some papers and tickets. "People, listen up! We might have lost our family member today, but tomorrow he is ours." Everyone raised an eyebrow, beckoning him to continue. "I reread his so called owner's paperwork and, even though it cost me night upon nights of no sleep, I think I finally found a loophole!"

Kisame almost instantly brightened up and picked him up. "WHAT IS IT?" He said, practically radiating hope.

Pein smiled. "He gets to own Itachi for his entire life, correct? Well, Itachi has already died once, so now he's owning him illegally, because, to the government, Itachi never died. So, we can go with the contract that Itachi signed here to legally prove that he's ours! We just show the government that Itachi really did die!" He said, smiling brightly as Kisame hugged him.

"You're a genius! But, when can we get the two int he same place? I mean, it's not everyday that a government agent goes to a circus..."

Pein smiled again. "Oto Circus is doing some grand finale at the Pentagon for their closing season, and it just so happens that, since he was so sure that Itachi was his, he sent us tickets to rub it in our faces, problem solved." Kisame smiled wide, cheering.

"Itachi! Hold on, because here we come!"

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AU: Yay! Akatsuki plans their next move! But what is Oto's grand finale? What will happen to our beloved evil doers? Find out in the next chapter!