Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Akatsuki or any of the characters/concepts featured. All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

'Oh! Zetsu look, look!'

Zetsu smiled softly and followed where Tobi was pointing to see a butterfly resting on one of the many flowers in the greenhouse. A cabbage white. It was common but undoubtedly beautiful and slowly spread its snowy wings as if showing off a little.

After the funfair had closed the day before, Tobi had been extremely disappointed. For some odd reason the boy had developed an absurd fascination with bright lights, kind of like a moth, so not being able to float around the rides had been a huge blow to his joyful demeanour. To cheer him up, Zetsu had suggested they visit his father's greenhouse in the morning, to which the younger had happily agreed before bouncing around a while.

It was hard to believe that Tobi had never visited a proper flower garden before; after all he had once been an Alpha. Perhaps his parents hadn't let him or Itachi had something to do with it…

Zetsu frowned at the thought and looked over to the Omega who was now over by the rose bushes and leaning forward innocently to get a better view of the dazzling red petals. The early light of the sun shone brightly through the glass panels of the building and seemed to highlight the area Tobi was standing in. He was like a child visiting an aquarium or theme park for the first time; curious and endearing.

Yet despite this and the beauty of the foliage, something told Zetsu that the scene before him wasn't entirely right. The atmosphere was more tense than peaceful and the quiet chirping of birds outside was not present. Granted, the Alpha knew he was taking a risk by bringing Tobi to the glasshouse, but his father wasn't home. In fact, neither of his parents were home. So why was he so worried? Why did this feel…bad?

'Zetsu! Come here! Come here! Quick!'

Zetsu was knocked from his stupor and smiled softly at the Omega, who was beckoning him over and waving his hands childishly.

He had found a caterpillar.

A fuzzy one.

Zetsu grinned and the two males crouched down to the creature's level. The insect had reached the edge of the leaf it had been chewing on and its top half was now slowly waving in all directions, trying to find something else to eat.

Tobi giggled a little as the creature continued to squirm and gently held his hand next to it, allowing the caterpillar to crawl onto him and lazily explore is palm. He held it up to the hole in his mask and Zetsu could tell he was smiling beneath the porcelain.

'It's so cute and fluffy and stuff! And it feels funny! Maybe it wants to find something eatable…'

Zetsu chuckled. 'The word is edible, Tobi.'

Tobi cocked his head to the side in confusion. 'Edible?'

'Yep.'

'But that doesn't make any sense…'

'It's in the dictionary.'

'Tobi hates the dictionary!'

Zetsu smiled and took the caterpillar from Tobi's hand, placing it a little higher up on a new leaf. Hopefully it would grow to be something beautiful. That's what Zetsu loved about the species; you never knew what the result would be until the cocoon was broken. 'Do you hate the thesaurus as well?'

'No, Tobi loves dinosaurs!'

At this, Zetsu couldn't help but laugh loudly and Tobi gave him a mock glare from beneath his mask. What was so damn funny? He did love dinosaurs…

Zetsu sighed as his laughter came to an end and ruffled the younger boy's hair lovingly. 'Tobi, the thesaurus is a book-'

'Tobi knew that. He was just testing you!' stated the boy proudly.

'Sure you were.'

'Tobi was! He was!'

'Right, and that caterpillar is going to turn into a dragon,' teased Zetsu, playfully nudging Tobi in the shoulder.

Well that started a war.

Tobi began poking the Alpha in the cheek repeatedly and the two boys began chasing each other through the many rows of plants, laughing and trying to cut each other off. Zetsu smirked when he realised he had cornered Tobi by the cacti and was about to pounce when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to the right to look out of the side of the building, the trees and bushes on the other side distorted slightly by the opaque glass.

He frowned and stared a little while longer in disbelief. This was private property. No one could've gotten in…

Tobi noticed his hesitation and tilted his head. 'Zetsu?'

The Alpha didn't appear to hear him and instead drifted closer to the greenhouse window as if in a trance. He pressed his forehead against the glass to get a better view, using his hands to cup the sides of his head as though he were holding a pair of imaginary binoculars. Tobi stared in worried confusion and made a move to step forward but Zetsu held up his hand, stopping him.

'Stay there, Tobi.'

The Omega nodded unsurely and stayed put.

Suddenly a loud crashing sound was heard across the other side of the greenhouse, glass breaking and hitting the floor with a terrific smash.

The affect was instantaneous. Both Alpha and Omega took one look at each other, realised they were thinking the same thing, and made a dash for the door at the far end of the building. But as soon as they turned they could see that their only escape route was blocked. Two handsome young men with raven hair stood on either side of the entrance in smart uniform, their tall collars partially covering their mouths and the esteemed regal symbol of a golden wolf stitched into the material.

The Alpha board. Fucking bastards.

Tobi whimpered like a lost puppy and covered his mask with his hands. Zetsu felt his chest tighten and glared at the arrivals with silent loathing. From behind them another two appeared, although one of these had scruffy brown hair. They must have been the ones that broke the glass to get in.

The brunette stepped forward. His face was pale and he strongly reminded Zetsu of horse; his nose was ridiculously long for his face. He sounded parched. 'Well, well…what's all this then? Couple a li'l rats that ran too far from the nest I'd wager…'

'You have no business here…' whispered Zetsu.

The man raised his eyebrows in disbelief. 'I don't? That's funny, mate, 'cause we gotta call askin' for us to track ya down. Ain't that right fellas?'

Murmurs of agreement came from the other board members.

The guy continued, 'Now listen, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Personally I prefer the easy way; I ain't had my coffee this mornin'…'

'You're always going on about your blasted coffee,' muttered the Uchiha next to him, sounding a lot more posh and sophisticated, 'If that's all you have to think about then I suggest you sort your life out-'

'Piss off, Hotaka!'

'Sir, you are such an ass! Can't you see I was talking?'

'Can't you see I'm in the middle of a fuckin' job? I don't do it and the board is gonna flip, mate, and the same goes for you!'

'Having a tantrum now are we? Very classy-'

'Well we can't all be Uchihas!'

'True; you couldn't cut it.'

'Ugh! For cryin' out loud, I've had enough of your shit! I so wanna bitch slap ya right now!'

Zetsu and Tobi watched quietly, astounded as the two intruders bickered and threw harsh insults at each other. In any other circumstance it would have been comical. They were like an old married couple on a television sitcom. Eventually another of the men decided to step in to prevent his colleagues from ripping each other to shreds. He coughed to get their attention. 'If you two are finished with your petty little argument may I remind the both of you that they are still here?' he pointed to Zetsu and Tobi, the latter bleating in response like a missing lamb.

Reluctantly, the brown-haired man and the snobbish Uchiha quietened down. The raven shot his partner a sharp distasteful look and the brunette flipped him the bird before turning back to Zetsu. He grinned lazily and closed his eyes in a very relaxed manner. 'Sorry 'bout that; some guys jus' don't know when to pipe down, ya know? So are ya gonna come nicely or not? The boss gave us permission to force ya-'

'We've done nothing worthy of punishment,' murmured Zetsu. He was determined to hold his ground on this one.

The man sighed sadly and made a clicking sound with his tongue before speaking. 'Liar, liar pants on fire, mate. You and ya li'l Omega pet here have broken the rules. Ya know the one about not touching another of a different class and whatnot? Don't deny it 'cause we all know it's true.'

As he said this he shook his finger at the two males in a disapproving way, kind of how a mother would scold her children.

At this Zetsu seemed to retreat into himself. His expression became blank and dull, holding nothing to neither provoke the board members nor appease them.

The brunette grinned hugely, sporting rows and rows of piano-like teeth. 'I win, mate. Now hold on a minute…'

He reached into his pocket, the other board members following suit, and pulled out what looked to be a mask of some kind. It was made of brown leather and appeared to have some sort of odd futuristic muzzle attached. He fastened it around his face and the others did the same.

Zetsu stared at them warily. What were they planning?

The man with brown hair noticed his confusion and rolled his eyes. He reached up and pulled the mask a few centimetres away from his face just enough so that he could speak.

'For the gas, mate.'

Gas? What?

Zetsu blinked. His eyes grew wide.

But he wasn't quick enough.

The board members had already thrown a grey ball-like object at his feet and it rolled around on the floor while releasing a pungent mist that enveloped the two boys, bringing with it a throbbing headache. Tobi was the first to fall, hitting the ground with a loud crack as half of his mask broke. The orange fragments skittered off in all directions with several landing in the shrubbery.

Zetsu shut his eyes tightly as they began to water from the fumes and dropped to his knees in a blind panic. He began coughing and spluttering in an attempt to get clean air but each time he breathed in, the gas infiltrated his lungs further and stole what little breath he had. He was suffocating and his body was being starved of oxygen. He looked up with bleary eyes to see the members of the Alpha board walking towards him through the fumes. The masks attached to their faces seemed to stretch grotesquely as his vision failed him. They seemed almost zombie-like in appearance.

The last thing he heard before he gave in to the smoke was the brown-haired board member arguing with his colleague, Hotaka.

'I told ya they would fall for that! But ya wouldn't fuckin' listen to me, would ya? You didn't believe me! Ya didn't fuckin' believe me! Ya never do!'

'I thought they would be smarter than that. Nice touch with the whole 'for the gas' thing though…'

'Heh. Why thank you, mate...'

Aw, geez guys...I abandoned you for a month! *Cries*

I'm so sorry for my absence; things have been difficult. Stress and depression are never a good combo, my friends. Not that I'm trying to score pity points or anything, I just thought you deserved an explanation is all. :/

Also, like the moron I am, I realized I haven't been replying to reviews as I should have been. I remember just sitting there like; ...Shit. -_-

So Anarchy shall now make an announcement! *Gets into epic pose* From this chappie I shall reply to as many reviews as possible, believe it! :D

In other news, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I can't even remember when it is, but y'know. XD