Chapter Thirteen: Sleeping Arrangements.

Author's Notes: I'm so glad so many of you liked the previous chapter :D. I was so afraid 'cause I really rushed on it ;_;. But, this chapter I've been really thinking about, and there's one spot that may seem a little OOC, but I think it's funny anyway XD. So, please enjoy the thirteenth chapter!

Oh! And thank you very VERY much for all the reviews, favorites, views, and alerts! I'm so glad so many of you like this story! :D

The boy in orange mask sniffled pathetically at the delicate bump he had received on his head after Deidara had caught him and, literally, smashed his head against the rock wall of the base. Dariru was getting a bag full of ice ready for the boy to help ease the pain. They were the only ones in the fairly large kitchen; at least, it would have seemed large if not for the long table that was in the middle of the room. Tobi had decided to completely ignore all the chairs and had taken a seat on the countertop, continuing to sniffle on occasion. The brown-haired girl closed the freezer door, a plastic bag full of ice in one hand, and grabbed a small towel to wrap the bag in.

"Put this on the bump," she told him like a mother tells a child who had just gotten hurt. To Dariru, the masked Akatsuki member acted like a child, and that was what she would refer to him as: a boy.

Tobi made an exclamation of pain and removed the ice bag from his head. "How's it supposed to help Tobi if it hurts, Dariru-kun?"

"Don't press it on the bump so hard, first of all," she took the bag from his hand and barely placed the bag on the bump, demonstrating to him how he should do it. He didn't make any pained noises. "Does it hurt now?"

"Not really. Now it's just too cold."

She shrugged, "You'll get used to it. Now you hold onto it." The masked boy did as he was told and sat still for a moment as he held the wrapped bag against the bump.

"Hey!" he seemed excited, "It doesn't hurt Tobi anymore!"

"Good," she sat down in one of the chairs and looked at the cabinet above Tobi's head. The moment Deidara had finished punishing Tobi, Kisame had told her to watch the boy and left the two behind. At first she was alright with being alone with the hyper kid, especially since the blue man needed some time alone after having to travel with her for so long. Then the boy started to complain about the bump on his head and wouldn't stop talking about how Deidara was mean to him even though he was just trying to help the blonde man. It made her wish that her blue companion had stayed a little longer, or had at least kept his hand on the small of her back.

Oh, she had noticed that. And she had known that her hands had been on his chest. It had felt so nice to have been that close to him again. She could feel his muscles beneath the cloak and shirt, and had to resist the urge to rest her head on him and feel the warmth that emitted from him. Hell, she wouldn't have mind if he had kissed her right then and there. But she knew he couldn't do that; he was an S-ranked criminal. It was probably bad enough for him that they were friends of sorts.

A cold, wet piece of ice landed on the back of Dariru's neck, making the girl take in a sharp breath as shivers crawled up her spine. She grabbed the ice cube and looked at Tobi accusingly, "What was that for?"

He began to the close the plastic bag as he spoke, "Tobi's been trying to get Dariru-kun's attention for a while. But Dariru-kun wouldn't answer."

"Oh. Sorry Tobi. I must've zoned out." She had to stop thinking about him like that; she just had to. They were friends, and that's probably all they would ever be. Just friends.

"Hey, hey! Dariru-kun!" The boy chirped, jumping off the countertop and walking up to her. "Can we play a game?"

"Um…sure. What kind of game?"

The orange mask hid his face, but the girl was quite certain that he was grinning from ear-to-ear, "Hide and Seek!" A quiet grumble found its way out of her mouth. It was such a childish game to play. But if it would keep the boy out of trouble then…

"Okay," she sighed.

Tobi threw his arms in the air and hollered, "Yay!" Cold water dripped from the towel that covered the bag and onto the floor.

Dariru held up one finger and added, "But you're not allowed to hide in any of the rooms that are in the living hall! Got it?"

Immediately his shoulders sagged in disappointment, "Aw…but that's where all the good hiding spots are…"

"It's also where you're teammates go to be left alone. Now go hide somewhere, and don't get into trouble." She closed her eyes and heard the boy run out of the kitchen hurriedly. Time to count…

One, one thousand…two, one thousand…three, one thousand…four, one thousand…

She counted to herself, not wanting any of the mature members to realize what childish game she was playing. It wasn't until she got to ten that girl opened her eyes and grumbled, "Ready or not…here I come." The moment she stepped out of the kitchen, she saw someone go down the hallway that led to the rooms of the members. Immediately she ran towards the hall, yelling, "Tobi! I said that hallway was off limits! Get back here!" The smell of rotting flesh engulfed the air and Dariru's senses when she reached the mouth of the hall. The figure that she had caught up to was facing her, as if expecting her arrival.

The stench just got stronger when the figure spoke in a kind voice, "You were right. There is an intruder here." It was nauseating. That putrid smell of dead bodies made Dariru dizzy to the point where she couldn't stand. She fell on her rump as another, darker, voice spoke, "She looks weak. Let's eat her."

The girl had heard what he said, but made no move to get away or even try to explain why she was in the base. The fear of vomiting kept her still as the large figure stepped into sight. The man had an over-sized cloak, which hid most of the venus fly-trap that grew out of it. Half of his face was white and the other was black; both sides sported yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the dim lighting. The green hair that was on his head seemed out of place, but the most significant thing about him was his scent. It was this man who smelled like dead bodies. She could stand the smell of blood, but rotting flesh was a different story.

Then, the happy voice of Tobi chimed out, "Zetsu-san! You're back from the mission!"

Zetsu looked at Tobi as the boy bounded toward them. "Hello Tobi," the man said kindly before growling out, "Go away. We're about to eat."

"Eat who?"

The two-colored man pointed at the dizzy Dariru, "Her."

A gasp came out of the boy as he crouched down next to her. "You can't eat Dariru-kun! He's one of us now!"

"One of us?" the man echoed, puzzled by the boy's comment.

"Well…Dariru-kun's not an Akatsuki member yet but…Pein-sama said he could live here and be my friend!" Though Dariru was not too excited to be Tobi's friend, judging from what had happened with Deidara just recently, but she was thankful that he was stopping this green-haired man from his dangerous intentions.

The man stood still for a minute, trying to translate the boy's happy description into a more mature one. A disappointed grumble emitted from him followed by the kinder voice saying, "If Pein-sama has kept her alive then we'll leave her alone." He turned on heels and proceeded down the hall, taking the putrid smell with him. It took a while for the girl to regain her composure before chancing to speak.

"Tobi?" she could feel her stomach churn slightly.

"Hm?"

She held out her hand and grumbled, "Give me the bag."

He pulled the now damp towel and bag out of his pocket and gave it to her without saying a word. She un-wrapped the towel and opened the bag, pulling a handful of melting ice cubes out. The cold water felt refreshing against her forehead as she pressed them onto her skin. For a few minutes she sat there, letting the water run down the sides of her head, before popping what remained of the cubes into her mouth. She swallowed the cold liquid once each cube had completely melted. If this was how it would be every time she bumped into that man—Zetsu, she believed his name was--then she would just have to avoid him. It couldn't be that hard to know he was nearby with a scent like that.

"Is Dariru-kun feeling better?" Tobi asked with legitimate concern.

"Yeah," she breathed, "yeah, I'm okay now Tobi. Thank you." With steady legs, the girl stood up and began to walk back to the kitchen, the masked boy walking in-step next to her. The whole room was spinning slowly by the time they reached the kitchen. Dariru sat down on a chair while Tobi perched himself on the countertop again. The dead body smell still lingered in her nose, but at least the room had stopped spinning.

"Tobi, get the hell off of the counter!" the voice of the silver-haired man scolded, "I don't want to know that your ass was on there every time I wanna make a sandwich!" The masked boy jumped off the counter immediately and sat across from the dizzy girl. She didn't really pay either of them any attention until the immortal man spoke to her. "Who the hell are you?"

"Dariru," she answered.

"You believe in Jashin?" was his next question.

It caught her off guard, "Who's that?"

As if she had pushed a button, Hidan made a disgusted noise and hollered, "Well that fucking figures! I get to be put in an organization full of cock-sucking atheists. Oh well," he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a liter of orange-juice, "at least I won't burn in Hell." He twisted the cap off and began to chug down mouthfuls of liquid.

"But Hidan-san," Tobi started, "if you like pain, then wouldn't you like Hell?" Dariru could tell the question was an innocent one, but apparently Hidan didn't take it that way.

The man stopped drinking the juice and snapped, "Shut the fuck up Tobi! You don't know what Hell's like anyway!"

"Oh, do you know what it's like Hidan-san?"

The boy in the orange mask ducked just in time to avoid the half-full bottle that was thrown at him by the enraged man. The man shouted at Tobi for being a "smart ass" and stomped out of the kitchen, leaving the orange sticky mess behind for Dariru and Tobi to clean up.

Embarrass: Cause to feel self-conscious or ill at ease; disconcert. Or even to complicate.

That was what Kisame was feeling as he stood in the middle of his room. He wasn't embarrassed at the fact that there were a few dirty clothes lying around with blood-stained rags, which he used to clean Samehada. He wasn't embarrassed by the fact that it had a musty smell mixed in with dried blood. No, it was the fact that he had no spare blankets or even a futon to let Dariru sleep on that made the S-ranked criminal's cheeks hot. There was just the cold stone floor and his bed, which only had one blanket on it, and he wasn't going to let her sleep on the floor. He had gone to Pein to ask if there was a spare futon lying around any where. The leader had told him that there weren't any spares, but Kisame knew better than to believe that. The orange-haired man was just being cruel.

Now the man had to think about what to do. He could always stay up while she slept, but he couldn't do that every night. Plus, he really wanted to sleep in his own bed tonight; it had been too long since he had a proper night's sleep. They could both sleep in it; it was big enough for the both of them to fit in, but that would just be awkward. But there was no other alternative. He had no chair in his room, since he always used his bed to sit on, and if he slept in the bathtub he would never hear the end of it if someone else found out.

Kisame grumbled and took his headband off to rub his forehead. He would love to make the girl sleep in Tobi's room, since he was probably the only one who had no idea what puberty was, but Pein had been right. If she slept in his room, the others were more likely to leave her alone. If she slept in Tobi's room, then they would mess with her. He just hoped he didn't have another one of those dreams again. Hell, the subject itself was starting to make him tired already. He placed Samehada against the wall and tossed his cloak to the side once it had been unbuttoned.

A knock came from the door, which he took his time in opening. Standing there, with a slightly pale face, was Dariru. He cleared his throat and mumbled, "Is uh…something wrong?"

She shook her head, "No…but that guy with the stitches—his name is Kakuzu right?--locked Tobi in his room and told me to get to wherever it was I was sleeping."

"Um…okay. Come in," he moved out of the way and she stepped in slowly into as if unsure of what to do. He wasn't too sure what to do either…but right now he just wanted to sleep. "Well, uh…you tired?"

She looked at him nodded, looking a little sick, "Yeah, a little."

"Alright," he turned his back to her and said, "Go ahead and get yourself ready."

There was silence before she asked, "Um…where exactly am I sleeping?"

"M-my bed," God damn it, why did he have to sound so weird when he said it?

"Okay…" there was a hint of suspicion in her tone, "but…where are you gonna sleep?"

Again there was silence before he spoke, "Same place as you."

He didn't need to look at her to know she was blushing, "Oh! Um…a-are you sure? I mean, I won't mind sleeping on the floor!"

"I have no spare blankets. Or a futon."

"Oh, um…well…uh…" she let out an awkward laugh, "I'm sorry..."

He turned and said, "What are you apologizing for?"

She seemed taken aback from his sudden burst and answered uncertainly, "For uh…being a bother and—"

The man didn't wait for her to finish her sentence before pointing to the blanket-covered mattress. "Get in."

"But—"

"Now."

Without hesitation the girl climbed into his bed and lay on her side, facing the rock wall that the bed was up against. Kisame grabbed the blanket and covered her before placing a fist on her head, "I told you before to not apologize for things that aren't your fault."

"I know…" she sounded guilty at his accusation.

He smiled at her, but made sure she wasn't looking when he did so. "I'll wait for you to fall asleep before I get in, okay?"

"'Kay." When the man stood up to walk away, planning on wandering about the base for a while, he heard the strangest words come out of her mouth. "Good night."

No one had ever said that to him before…of course, no one has ever told him that they weren't afraid of his appearance either, besides her. He was at a loss for words at what to do, but he just mumbled back, "'Night," and left the room.

Morning came, and while most of the Akatsuki members were awake and moving, there were still two others who were still asleep. Kisame was lying on his back, sleeping soundly in his own bed. This was the first time he had ever felt so comfortable in his bed…perhaps it was because he had been traveling for so long? There was a loud knock at his door, making the man groan in annoyance. He didn't want to get up; he was too comfortable. The knocker started talking, probably telling him to hurry up and get up, but he couldn't tell who it was that was talking. The blue man had woken up at one point in the night to take his shirt off, and now felt a little pressure against his bare chest. It wasn't an uncomfortable pressure, but it was still noticeable. It was also at this point that the man realized he had his arms wrapped possessively around something. He opened his eyes in tired confusion as the object moved slightly. By the time he had seen what was going on, his door opened and heard Deidara make a disgusted noise.

"Holy shit, yeah!" the blonde said, turning away and covering his eyes. "Jesus Kisame! I thought you said you were straight, un!?" What Deidara had seen was quite interesting to some:

There was Kisame, sleeping shirtless with Dariru using his chest as a pillow. She even had one of her arms clinging on his shoulder. And with the way the blanket was positioned, it looked like she may have been shirtless.

But Deidara didn't know that she was still wearing all of her clothes.

Kisame sat up straight, with a half-asleep Dariru still holding onto him, and growled, "I am straight."

The blonde smirked disbelievingly, "Yeah, that's why the new guy is in your bed, un! And probably naked! Pervert, yeah."

The blue man rolled his eyes and yanked the blanket off of Dariru to prove the intruder wrong. The girl groaned loudly in complaint at the sudden rush of cold air and opened her eyes. Once she saw what position she was in, she hurriedly let go of the man and hugged her knees to her chest, trying to hide the blush that took over her face. Though, Kisame had wished she had kept holding onto him. She had felt so wonderful against him…

Deidara cocked his head to the side and pointed at Dariru, "Oi, newbie!"

She looked up at him, "Y-yeah?"

"Be careful," he whispered loud enough for Kisame to hear, "I think the shark's got a thing for roosters."

A small giggle came from the girl at the man's accusation. Kisame just bared his teeth, grabbed a shoe that was on the floor, and threw it at his head. "I'm not gay!" Deidara dodged the shoe and ran out of the room with a big grin on his face. Dariru was still laughing at what the blonde had said; making the blue man grab her shoulders and shake her, "Don't laugh! You'll just encourage him!"

"I-I'm sorry," she giggled, "but, so far, this is one of the best mornings I've ever had!" A small blush coated Kisame's cheeks. He wondered if her morning included waking up on him…

"Yeah well," he got out of bed, the cold ground making him more alert, "I'm gonna take a shower now. You should go get something to eat."

Deidara downed his cup of coffee fairly quickly. He had another mission to do later on with Sasori and got more energy from the dark brown liquid when he chugged it. There were three other people in the kitchen with him. Itachi was sitting at the table, sipping at his cup of coffee slowly and silently while Kakuzu sat across from him, reading a newspaper he had somehow acquired. Hidan was leaning against a counter while eating a bowl of cereal loudly with just his boxers on. The sight reminded Deidara of what he saw in Kisame's room. It made him laugh on the inside at how embarrassed the blue man and new kid looked when they realized what was going on. And when Kisame had stated that he was straight, the blonde believed him; he just loved giving the blue man grief and would continue to do so.

"Hidan," Kakuzu grumbled from behind his newspaper, "if you won't put a shirt on, then at least put some pants on. I'm getting tired of looking at your hairy legs."

"My ass!" Hidan scowled through a mouthful of cereal, "You can't even see the hair on my legs!"

"I beg to differ."

"You're just jealous of my body Kakuzu and you know it."

"Yeah, 'cause you know," Deidara cut into their conversation sarcastically, "everybody wants your old body, un. God knows how long that thing has been rotting on this planet, yeah."

Hidan glared at the blonde and snarled, "Shut the fuck up douche bag! At least I don't look like a woman who gives blowjobs for a quarter behind dumpsters!"

The one thing that Deidara couldn't stand, other than Tobi, was when someone called him a girl. He was no woman! In fact, he was the farthest thing from a woman! The blonde placed his coffee mug on the counter and faced the silver-haired man. "Care to run that by me again, yeah, old man?"

The immortal's lip twitched as he slammed his bowl down and squared his shoulders, "I said that you're a—" A cloak, which was thrown by Kakuzu, landed on Hidan's head. The man yanked it off and bared his teeth at his partner, who was now in just a t-shirt and pants.

"What the hell man!? Why'd you do that?"

"Just put it on before the new kid's eyes burn from the sight of your hairy legs." The larger man ordered.

Deidara looked up and saw that the new kid was, indeed, in the kitchen now. He seemed to be moving about nervously as if unsure what to do. It was quite funny really; his movements even gave him a girly look to him. Though he seemed to be doing his best to not look at Hidan…

"And why the fuck should I?" Hidan tossed the cloak onto the table and grinned evilly at the new kid, "Where're all men here. So why should it matter?"

"You're so slow Hidan that it's embarrassing," Itachi grumbled as he took another sip of his coffee.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not slow!"

Kakuzu sighed and said, "Not all of us are men here, Hidan. Now put the cloak on."

Deidara blinked multiple times at Kakuzu. The new kid was…a girl!? Kisame, the big blue weirdo, was able to get a girl to sleep in the same bed as him!? He looked at the girl in the striped tank top and began to notice the little feminine things about her. There were two lumps on her chest, they were small and barely noticeable, but they were there. Her hips did sway a little bit in a girlie way, but she seemed to be fighting against the natural movement. And her covered legs were small like a woman's legs should be. However, if Kisame had allowed her to be in the same room as him then he must feel somewhat attached to her. Deidara made a mental note to give the blue man more grief about it later on and to leave the girl alone. If Kisame did like her, then it would be dangerous for him to try to do anything to her.

Apparently, Hidan still didn't get it.

"Aw, how sweet of you to help Deidara come out of his tranny closet Kakuzu," Hidan gave both men a fake smile. Kakuzu rolled his eyes and grumbled while Deidara's face met with his palm. The man really was slow…

It was then that the blonde saw a fully clothed Kisame walk into the kitchen, his hair wet from the shower he had taken, and stop at the sight of Hidan. The large blue man pointed at the cloak on the table, keeping his eyes on the silver-haired man, and ordered, "Put the cloak on Hidan."

"Oh, you too huh?" Hidan scoffed in disbelief, "What the fuck is up with you guys? Konan's not here, so what's the fucking deal?"

It was then that the new kid placed her hand on Kisame's arm and said quietly, "I'm uh…gonna go take that shower now." And she left the kitchen without another word.

Hidan laughed and pointed at where the girl had once been before saying, "The new kid sounds more like a girl than you do Deidara." He laughed a little more, receiving silence as a response. It wasn't until the laugh turned awkward that the man became silent and looked at everyone in the kitchen. He licked his lips and looked at his toes, "The new kid's a chick isn't she?"

"Yes." Itachi answered.

"Mother fucker…"

Dariru made sure to make her shower quick. She didn't want to use too much water and she wanted to get back into her clothes quickly in case someone decided to barge into the room again. This morning had definitely been a surprise to her. Waking up on Kisame had actually felt nice; he had been so warm against her and she had felt the muscles, which had been developed through years of relentless training, tense up. It would have been if they could have stayed like that for just a little longer without Deidara waking them up. In fact, now that she really thought about it, she didn't have a nightmare that night; not a single one. The memory made her blush happily; she really did feel safe around the blue man. A smile began to spread across her face as she began to put on her fingerless gloves. The smile turned into a giggle as she remembered what had occurred in the kitchen. Yes, she had been shy to see Hidan in just his boxers, but it had been funny to hear him and Deidara fight. But thankfully, Kakuzu knew that she wasn't a boy and tried to make him cover up. Though, she had been quite surprised at how the silver-haired man was built. He seemed a little boney, but his arms were quite well-built. What sort of weapon did he wield to make his arms that developed?

When she opened the door to meet back with Kisame in kitchen, she came face-to-face with an orange mask. A loud asp came from the girl as she stepped back before realizing it was only Tobi. "My god Tobi," she breathed, "you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry Dariru-kun," The boy mumbled tiredly, "Tobi's hungry."

"Oh…okay…" The girl began to wonder if this was what Deidara had to go through every morning, "do you want me to go with you to the kitchen?" The short-haired boy just nodded and took a step back to let her through. "Okay," she said as she began to lead him to the kitchen.

When Dariru had left the kitchen, the first thing Kisame did was get a cup of coffee and sit next to Itachi. He didn't really need it now, but he just wanted to drink something to keep his mind off of this morning's wake up. It was then that Deidara decided to sit next to the blue man with an air of mischief about him. An inaudible grumble rumbled in Kisame's throat; he should've known better than to expect some peace with the blonde in the room.

"So…Kisame-danna?" He started with a big grin on his face, "How exactly were you able to get a decent-looking chick to sleep in your bed with you, un?"

The blue man cringed as Hidan began to choke on the rest of cereal. This was going to be a long day…

Hidan coughed a few more times before hollering out, "WHAT!?" with Kakuzu next to him, who was rinsing off his plate and cup. The tan man punched his partner in the jaw before he mumbled out, "Shut up, you're too loud." Hidan glared at the man as Deidara continued.

"Yeah. When I went to wake Kisame-danna, the new kid was in his bed, yeah."

An evil grin began to spread across the silver-haired man's face. He went behind Kisame and leaned over his shoulder, "Aw, isn't that sweet?" he said in fake adoration before asking Deidara, "Were they naked?"

It was Kisame's turn to choke on his coffee. He set the cup down and coughed heavily a few times before snapping, "No! We were fully clothed!"

"Oooh," the man lingered, "You're more of a dry humper huh?"

He couldn't take it anymore. The blue man took what was left of his scolding hot coffee and poured it on Hidan's head. The silver-haired man began to scream and curse at the pain before he started to stumble out of the kitchen and to his room. Kisame stood up to get himself another cup of coffee, just in case the silver-haired man decided to come back. But this teasing was expected; it was rare for anyone to bring a girl into the base. The only other times there were females from the outside in the base were brought for either Hidan's crazy rituals, or for sexual release. In which case, the girls would be killed the very next morning or were already dead. Everyone knew that Dariru was here to stay unless Pein said otherwise, but now that most of the organization knows of her sleeping arrangements, the blue man knew the endless teasing would begin.

"What're you gonna eat Dariru-kun?" Tobi's familiar voice filled the now silent kitchen as the orange-masked man and girl walked in.

The girl shrugged and replied, "Not sure. I don't want to touch anything that belongs to someone else…" Her hair was still wet from her shower and looked black. But the Kisame knew the color would lighten up once it was dry. He watched her as Tobi picked out what she was going to eat. Her baffled expression was quite funny to look at, though he had to casually turn his back to everyone to hide the smile that began to spread across his face.

And though he didn't know it, the blue man was unable to hide his expression from Uchiha Itachi.