*Desclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story.
Warning: language, gore, yaoi, fluff*
Konan sat by her boyfriend, slowly chewing off her nails as she worried for her man's health and for her friends. Kakashi and his team had left nearly two hours ago. She jumped as she heard Temari swear from the kitchen, agitated at Naruto who kept bothering the girls in the kitchen.
"Are you okay, un?" Deidara asked. The whole of her closest friends who weren't gone were in the living room, waiting for Pein to awaken.
"Yes, I'm just worried," she answered, running her fingers through Pein's hair.
"They'll be fine," Itachi said, referring to their friends who were gone and Pein.
"I just hope they hurry back, un. I'm worried about Sasori danna, un," Deidara said, a look of distress on his face.
"I'm sure he's okay, he probably crawled up some tree and is waiting for someone to rescue his ass,"
Deidara smiled lightly, confident that his danna was alright.
It was silent for awhile, broken by a pained grown coming from the man on the couch.
"Pein?" Konan asked softly as she leaned over to look at his face. She let out a relieved sigh and smiled as he opened his eyes and looked at her, a frown on his face.
"What happened?" Pein asked, voice hoarse and throat dry.
"You passed out after hearing about Hidan," Konan explained as Pein slowly sat up. A pained look crossed his face as he was reminded about Hidan.
"Where's Kisame?" He asked after glancing around, noticing the larger male being missing.
It was silent for a few minutes. Pein grew suspicious of his friends' silence.
"I repeat, where is Kisame?" Pein asked through clenched teeth.
"He, Kakashi, Gaara and Sasuke went to get some weapons," Konan explained cautiously.
Pein stared at her for a few moments.
"They what?!" He exclaimed, standing up quickly.
"Pein, listen-"
"They weren't supposed to leave, Konan!" Pein snapped, glaring viciously at his love. Konan froze, not used to being snapped at by her boyfriend.
"Listen, Pein, you ass, we need firearms, to protect not only ourselves, but the other worthless people in this house. It's no use getting upset they already left. What you need to worry about, is a certain missing redhead who's probably stuck in some tree, hiding like the bitch that he is," Zetsu explained.
Pein stared at him for a moment before he gasped dramatically,
"Sasori," he looked to the side with wide eyes.
"We need to find him, un,"
"And quickly too," Itachi finished.
"But who?" Pein asked quietly to himself.
"Kakuzu and I can go," Zetsu said.
"Is that a good idea? I mean with what happened with Hidan-"
"Trust me, he could probably use a little time away," Zetsu cut off Konan.
"I'll go as well," Pein stated.
"But Pein-"
"It'll be fine, Konan," Pein said as he hugged the bluenette. Zetsu hugged Tobi to his chest, whispering quietly in his ear. They pulled away and the three left the house, after Pein had instructed Konan that if they hadn't returned in three days to leave Kakashi in charge and if they also don't return, that Shikamaru was to take his place.
"Where should we look first?" Kakuzu asked as they climbed in a car.
"Where they were last before they got separated," Zetsu instructed. Pein nodded and started to drive, silence consuming them as they drove to the large shopping centre.
"It's not your fault, Pein," Kakuzu said quietly.
Pein glanced at the man next to him, his words tugging at Pein's heart.
"I know, but I can't help but feel guilty, if I had been a better leader, perhaps none of this would have happened, first Gai then Hidan and now Sasori? What's worse is we don't even know whether he's alive or not,"
"It has nothing to do with your leadership skills, it could have happened to anyone," Zetsu said, trying to reassure his friend.
"Besides, we all know how stubborn Sasori can be, he's probably out there somewhere-" Kakuzu was cut off from his sentence by Zetsu
"In a tree," he said smirking at Kakuzu who glared at him from the passenger seat.
"As I was saying, he's probably out there somewhere already thinking about what he's going to tell us," Kakuzu continued.
"You mean scold us like children who did something wrong," Pein joked.
They all laughed as they thought about their friend.
"Like when we were kids, he was the most mature out of us," Kakuzu said.
They chuckled again, but it soon died down as they neared the place their friend was separated from the rest.
Quietly they stepped out and almost instantly did Zetsu take charge, using his tracking skills to try and find their friend.
"There's blood over here," Kakuzu said.
"Deidara said he was shot, right? Did he say where?" Pein asked as he came and stood next to the taller male.
"He was definitely shot, there's a shell casing over here," Zetsu said as he walked over towards the other two.
"Dei said that Sasori had clutched a wound near his ribs," Kakuzu answered Pein.
"Let's follow the blood trail," Zetsu said as they started to follow the blood all the way into the woods. They soon stumbled upon a large puddle of blood.
"There was definitely a struggle," Zetsu stated as he looked over the area.
"You think this blood could of been from his wound?" Pein asked, a little pale.
"He was running, the horde was following him, he tripped over this tree root over here and fell down, he shuffled backwards and," Zetsu trailed off.
"They got him, didn't they," Kakuzu stated quietly. Zetsu nodded in conformation.
"Oh, Sasori," Pein said quietly as he used his left hand to support himself against a tree, his right hand gripping over his chest where his heart is. He felt grief for losing someone so close to him, someone he knew nearly all of his life.
"Pein, let's go," Kakuzu said.
Pein turned, a cold look on his face.
"No one tells Deidara or anyone for that matter," he hissed through clenched teeth.
They nodded and slowly made their way back to the car they had arrived in. Pein didn't mean to be so cold, he just didn't know how to react, how to grief for his lost friend when he had to worry about so many other people.
When they arrived back at the mansion, they could see a horde heading in the direction of the mansion they stayed in. Panicked, they ran back inside where everyone was huddled in the living room.
"Mister Zetsu!" Tobi said before he practically tackled the man in a hug. Pein was embraced by Konan, a relieved look on her face. Deidara stepped forward, a hopeful look on his face.
"Danna?" He asked glancing between the three. Kakuzu shook his head, watching as Deidara's hopeful look was crushed. Naruto watched the blond, feeling sympathetic for the other. He walked up to Deidara and awkwardly placed a hand over Dei's shoulder, giving him a sad smile.
"Has Kakashi and the others returned yet?" Pein asked.
"No, they-" Konan was, once again, cut off by the previously mentioned entering the house.
The four were almost instantly tackled into their own hugs. Kakashi by Iruka, who kept looking him over for any sign of a wound. Gaara was practically jumped on by Naruto, his brother and sister. Naruto kept on holding onto the redhead as if his life depended on it, thanking him repeatedly for returning. Sasuke was shyly embraced by Hinata, her face red from unshed tears at the great relief that her crush had returned in one piece. Itachi had hugged Kisame, feeling relieved that not only had his little brother come home safely, but the love of his life had too.
"Did you see that horde heading straight toward us, Pein?" Kisame asked when Itachi pulled away.
"Yes, we did, we must prepare to kill them trough the gates and fences, perhaps even prepare to leave should the need arrive," Pein instructed.
"Should we pack our stuff?" Kakashi asked.
"Yes, just as a precaution, they might just break through and we'd need to leave then," Pein said. Everyone nodded and went to pack their things for the possibility that they might need to make a hasty escape. It was calm for a short while before the groans and moans could almost be heard clearly.
"Alright, everyone grab a weapon," Pein said as they went outside, everyone armed with their own weapon as they started to stab the zombies through their heads. It was quite messy and they just kept coming, a never ending flow of the living dead.
"Watch out!" Kisame yelled as a fence went down from where most of the girls were. They ran quickly, but Hinata wasn't fast enough as one of the zombies grabbed her before she could flee.
"Hinata!" Naruto yelled as he ran for her, followed closely by Neji, Sasuke and Pein.
Hinata let out a scream as it continuously tried to bite at her, but she managed to fight it off in time for Sasuke to shoot an arrow through it's head. Hinata collapsed to the ground with the added weight of the zombie on top of her. It was quickly removed and she was pulled to her feet, multiple questions being thrown at her.
"Are you alright?" Pein asked, trying to be calm as he grabbed her lightly by her upper arms, looking deeply into her eyes. She nodded slowly, shocked about what had just happened. Pein turned away from her yelling for everyone to get back inside.
"Deidara!" Pein yelled running to the blond who just stood still, staring at something.
"What are you doing? Get inside, now!" Pein said, frustrated. He almost groaned aloud when the blond didn't budge. He sighed harshly and looked in the direction Deidara was. He froze, his heart nearly hammering out of his chest.
"Sasori?"