A/N: I wanna know, what couples do you guys support in this fic? I already know which ones I'm going to end up with, but I'm curious! (PokemonXPokemon, HumanXPokemon, HumanXHuman.)

I'm curious, because a friend of mine has decided she likes Raichu and Konan. I didn't even know what to say to that.

Crack or real, tell me what you like!

"Where exactly are we going, anyway, un?"

"We're getting dropped off at Maiden's Peak."

"Where's that?"

"Hey, look!" Misty yelled. Everyone looked to see where Misty was pointing.

"There it is!" Konan said.

"That's Maiden's Peek?" Deidara asked, looking at the large cliff. A huge rock stuck out of the ocean next to it, the top shaped like a woman.

"Yeah. That's it."

"…I just realized something…" Brock muttered.

"What?"

"I just wasted a whole summer!"

"Wasted? We spent the summer adventuring, how was it a waste?" Ash asked.

"For kids, summer means fun, and food, and getting out of school… But for me… It means something else."

"I know exactly what you mean!" Jiraiya said.

"I knew you would! Oh, the tragedy!"

"We have to wait a whole year!"

"What are they going on about?" Konan asked.

"Summer means bathing suits!" Brock whined.

"And girls who wear them!" Jiraiya added.

"Now the summer's gone, bikini season is over!"

"I feel your pain, Brock!"

"They're so… spastic." Eevee said, looking at the two whining men.

"They have a point." Raichu told her.

"We know you like bikinis, Raichu."

"Yep! But, that's okay. Pokémon don't wear bathing suits. Of course, I guess I wasted my summer, too."

"Why? If you don't care that much about bikinis, what's wrong?" Butterfree asked.

"All the wild Pokémon will be inside for the winter, which means there won't be any girls…"

"We're girls." Eevee pointed out.

"I mean wild girls."

"Oh, we're not good enough?"

"No, you're great!" Raichu laughed. "But, c'mon. A one-night thing isn't bad once in a while."

Eevee stared at Raichu in disbelief.

"...What…?" She muttered.

"What?"

"A… one-night thing?"

"Yeah. Why, did it never happen to you?"

"You're disgusting!" Eevee yelled.

"You're just jealous." Raichu teased. "I'd be happy to show you what it's like."

"PERVERT!"

"Aw, you're overreacting! It can be so many different things; it depends on who you're with!"

"You're really disgusting, you know that?" Eevee said.

"No, really! It can be… Hang on, I'll be right back."

"Don't bother!"

Eevee and Butterfree watched Raichu run up to Konan.

"Don't you think he's creepy?" Eevee asked.

"Um… Sometimes."

"How could you not! He's such a pervert!"

"Not always."

"…What's he doing…?" Eevee asked.

Eevee and Butterfree raised an eyebrow when Raichu began to dash up Konan's leg. She looked down in surprise, but really didn't have time to react. Raichu stole the flower from her hair, and jumped back to Butterfree and Eevee.

"Raichu!" Itachi growled.

"No, it's… it's fine." Konan muttered, knowing she'd get it back.

"What's that for?" Eevee asked.

"As I was saying, it can go so many different ways!"

"Was it really necessary to steal that?" She continued.

"Yeah, it kinda was. C'mere!" Raichu said, reaching over to Eevee.

"No!"

"Butterfree?" Raichu asked. "May I demonstrate?"

"D-demonstrate? Demonstrate what?" Eevee yelled.

"Calm down, I didn't mean that." Raichu said.

"U-um… I guess it depends on what you're trying to demonst-"

Butterfree was cut off by Raichu, who grabbed her wing and pulled her over.

"Anyway, there are so many ways it can go! It can be just for fun!"

"Fun? What, like a hobby?" Eevee asked.

"Yeah! Or it can be comforting!"

"That doesn't make any sense! How can you comfort someone you've just met?"

Raichu ignored her, and put the rose in his mouth.

"There's one more way it can go."

"Oh? What's that?" Eevee asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Butterfree was beginning to wonder why Raichu needed her, until he pushed her back into a dip.

"It can be a passionate and wonderful display of romance." Raichu whispered.

"Yeah, that's just creepy."

Butterfree twitched. Raichu's face was about three inches from hers, and he was talking about passionate displays of romance.

Holy crap.

"Let go of Butterfree, you're probably scaring her." Eevee said.

"R-Raichu?" Butterfree asked.

"Yeah?"

After a few seconds, Raichu realized that Butterfree was holding her breath, and her heart seemed to be going a mile a minute.

"Whoa… Butterfree, are you okay…?"

Butterfree tried to say something, but went limp before she could. She had passed out!

"Nice going, you pervert!" Eevee yelled.

"I-I didn't mean to!"

Meanwhile, Yahiko and Nagato stood a few feet away.

"I'm not the only one hearing all this, right?" Nagato asked.

"Unfortunately." Yahiko mumbled.

"…I think Raichu needs help…"

"I agree."

"No, I mean that Eevee is attacking him."

Yahiko looked over to find that Nagato was right. Eevee was indeed attacking Raichu. Raichu, who refused to hit girls, wasn't fighting back.

"Just leave him. He deserves it." Yahiko said.

Raichu ran behind Konan, who immediately came to his defense. She pulled Raichu up, where Eevee can't get to him. Eevee hissed, and tried to jump up on her. Konan moved away to avoid any more conflict.

"Are you kidding me?" Yahiko asked. "She defends him?"

"She doesn't know what happened. Eevee does have a temper." Nagato pointed out.

"Deidara, get Eevee, will you?" Konan asked, still trying to get away from her.

Deidara grabbed Eevee as she ran by, which just caused her to panic.

"NO!" She screamed.

"What's her problem?" Jiraiya asked.

"She's probably still scared after pulling your stitches out, Deidara." Konan said.

Yahiko and Nagato decided to help out with the situation, and prevent it from deteriorating any more.

"Don't let it eat me!" Eevee begged.

"He's not going to eat you, for the last time!" Yahiko growled.

Eevee finally squirmed out of Deidara's grasp, and jumped over to Nagato.

"But… that mouth!"

Yahiko walked over to Deidara, and pulled his shirt up to show that his mouth was closed. Needless to say, Deidara wasn't exactly comfortable with Yahiko doing this.

"H-hey, un!"

"It's… it's closed?" Eevee asked.

"Don't go opening it again." Yahiko said, pushing Deidara's shirt back down.

"Hey, Yahiko!" Raichu yelled.

"What?"

"Didn't you make a bet with Eevee that you could take Deidara in a fight?"

While this was true, Yahiko was slightly distracted by Raichu's position. It looked like he was getting a bit too comfortable with Konan, and using her chest as a backrest.

"Raichu, get off." Yahiko said.

"I dunno, she picked me up. I think she wants me here." Raichu sighed.

Yahiko and Nagato walked over to him, feeling overprotective of their trainer.

"Move." Yahiko growled.

Raichu ignored Yahiko, which just pissed him off. He grabbed Raichu's tail, and yanked him off.

"Yahiko-san!" Konan yelled. "What's your problem?"

"She really is oblivious, isn't she?" Eevee asked.

"She's not a Pokémon. She doesn't know what Raichu's doing, most Pokémon aren't interested in humans." Nagato said.

Yahiko decided that it would be a good time to show Konan what had happened to Butterfree. He began to walk away, and waited for her to follow. After realizing that she wasn't going to come, Yahiko tried to pull her by the hand. Konan refused, still angry at Yahiko for 'being mean' to Raichu.

"This is ridiculous." Yahiko muttered.

"We could just bring Butterfree here." Nagato said.

Yahiko ignored him, and picked Konan up.

"That works, too…"

"Butterfree?" Konan asked. "What happened?"

Nagato, Yahiko, and Eevee pointed at Raichu, who did his best to look completely innocent. However, he didn't realize that Itachi was standing right behind him. Eevee and Yahiko smiled, knowing that Itachi would believe them.

"Raichu?" Itachi asked.

Raichu flinched, and slowly turned around to face his trainer.

"R-rai?"

"Did you do that?"

Raichu shook his head.

"I know you're lying to me, Raichu."

"Ra-Raichu!"

"Return. We'll talk about this later."

"He didn't even attack her, and she fainted." Nagato said.

"That'd be a good battle strategy." Yahiko muttered.

"What?" Eevee asked.

"If he refuses to hit girls, that'd be a good way to take them out."

"Not every girl would fall for that." Eevee said. "Like me."

"You'd faint if Deidara did that to you." Yahiko told her.

"I would not."

"Yeah, you would."

"Hey, what's with all the commotion here?" Misty asked.

"It's the end of summer festival." Jiraiya said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I came here a few years ago for this."

"H-hey, who's that girl!" Brock yelled, pointing toward one of the docks.

Everyone else looked over, but a mass of people happened to walk by and block their view, trampling Brock in the process.

"Ooooowww…"

When Brock got back up, the woman was gone.

"N-no! Where'd she go?" He yelled.

"Who cares, Brock? Let's go check out this festival!" Ash said.

"W-why did she have to go…?" Brock muttered.

"Oh, be quiet." Misty said.

"There's more fish in the sea." Jiraiya told him.

"You don't even know her, un." Deidara said.

"HEY, YOU!"

"I-is it the pretty lady?" Brock yelled, turning around.

Behind them stood a short old woman, with a long purple coat.

"Ah, you're not beautiful and young!" Brock cried.

"Who're you calling 'not beautiful'?" She yelled.

"Ignore him, I'm sorry." Misty said.

"I'm here to warn you all about something."

"Warn us?" Itachi asked.

"I'm here to warn you of a beautiful maiden… she will cause you great trouble."

"Well, she must be talking about me!" Misty laughed.

"Quiet, girl! I'm talking about a beautiful woman, not a scrawny blabbermouth like you!"

"Scrawny?" Misty yelled.

Ash and Deidara smiled, and tried not to laugh.

"Who is it, then?" Brock asked.

"Go to the great ceremony at the shrine… you'll understand."

"Well, that actually starts soon." Jiraiya said. "We should start walking now, if you want to go."

"What exactly is this ceremony?" Brock asked.

"You'll see in a minute, here comes the ceremony master." Jiraiya said.

A old man walked up on the stage, and turned to face the crowd.

"Welcome to the end of summer festival! Thank you for coming to this wonderful –and terrifying- ceremony. Here, once a year… we reveal the maiden's greatest work of art!" He announced, pointing at a large tarp.

"Art, huh?" Deidara asked. "What is it?"

"A painting." Jiraiya said.

"That's not art…"

"You need to have an open mind."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Konan muttered.

"Now, prepare yourselves! I will now reveal the art!" The man yelled, yanking the cover off. The painting was quite large, about as tall as the average person. The painting depicted a woman standing on a seaside cliff.

"I-its… gorgeous…" Brock whispered. He stood up, and began to walk toward the painting. "That's her… That's the girl I saw…"

"There is a legend that goes with this painting, and it is a sad, sad tale. It says that this woman had a lover, who went off to fight in a war… she promised to wait on that cliff for him. She said she'd wait forever. But, the man never returned… she waited on that cliff until her body turned to stone."

"That's terrible…" Konan muttered.

"That… poor woman…" Brock whispered, still walking toward the painting.

"HEY!" The man yelled, grabbing Brock. "Don't get too close! This is an antique!"

"I have to see it!"

"If you want to see the maiden, go up to the cliff, and look at her body, it's turned to stone!"

"…Hey, Brock…?" Ash asked.

"…What is it…?"

"It's getting late… Maybe we should go back to the Pokémon center."

"No… I want to stay here a little while longer." Brock muttered, looking at the maiden's statue.

"You know where we're staying, right?"

"At the Pokémon center. I know, Ash. I'll make it back before curfew."

"I'm staying, too." Itachi said.

"You, un?" Deidara asked. "You're the last person I'd expect to stay."

"I'm not staying for her."

"Then, why are you?"

"I've been hearing people talk about ghosts."

"So?"

"Ghost type Pokémon are powerful. I want one. They're bound to be here."

"Make sure you're back on time." Konan said.

"I know."

"Tayuya… Do you have it ready, yet?" Orochimaru asked.

"Yu!"

"Good. Bring it here. Tell Jirobo to get it ready. Get the others, too."

Tayuya disappeared into the hallway for a few minutes, before returning with Kimimaro, Sakon, Ukon, Jirobo, and Kidomaru. Jirobo carried a large barrel on his back, while Kimimaro carried a Curse Stone.

"Tayuya, Grass Whistle."

Tayuya held her flute up, and waited for Orochimaru to release Pein from the holding chamber. As soon as the door opened, Pein charged straight at Orochimaru.

"Now, Tayuya!"

Her flute turned a bright green color, and began to glow. Everyone but Pein covered their ears as she began to play. Pein stopped, suddenly feeling exhausted. He collapsed on the ground, falling into a deep sleep.

"Kimimaro, give me the stone."

Orochimaru took the stone, and put it in Pein's hand. The chain that was floating around the stone began to climb up Pein's arm. It was only a matter of moments before it was floating around his whole body. The chain tightened, embedding itself in his skin.

"Kidomaru, do you have the pill?"

"Kido."

It was about the size of a pepper seed. Despite its size, it was very dangerous. Orochimaru took it, and looked back at Pein. The pattern the chain had made on his skin had coiled up into a small mark on his neck. He was ready.

"Hold him up, Jirobo."

Jirobo obeyed, picking up the great Akatsuki leader by his collar, and held him over the barrel. Sakon and Tayuya held the cap, getting ready to seal Pein in. Orochimaru forced the pill down his throat, and watched it work. Pein's eyes flew open moments before Jirobo shoved him into the barrel. Tayuya and Sakon slammed the top on, and quickly sealed it shut.

"Now, we wait." Orochimaru said.

A/N: Well, I feel like this was shorter than usual. Anyway, which pairings are we liking/not liking? Crack or real, cross-species, ETC!