-two days later-

Kisame was nervously wringing his hands and pacing in a circle in the tent. This was it. He would finally get a chance to see Itachi for the first time in years. Now if only he could calm himself down enough to avoid fainting on the spot. "Shit, where do I begin when I see him?"

"I've had pretty good luck with 'I'm sorry' in the past," Sasori suggested. He was there for moral support, along with Deidara (who was more there to make sure Sasori didn't get caught in the crossfire than anything else).

Kisame shot his subordinate a flat look. "That's so pathetically underwhelming that I wouldn't blame Itachi if he ripped my throat out. Hell, I'd deserve it."

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of Konan's voice coming closer to the tent. She appeared to be animatedly chattering with someone, and upon entering the tent she could be seen laughing with an older Falk. The newcomer had snow-white hair and red lines under his eyes, yet didn't appear to be a day over thirty. Sasori decided this must be yet another variation of Falk genetics that gave the man his unique coloring.

Konan beckoned the man inside. "Everyone, zis is my dear friend and former mentor Jiraya. Zis man 'as been wiz Pein and I since ze beginning. You may trust zis man wiz your life."

Sasori was about to introduce himself to the man who'd received such a resoundingly positive introduction, but was stopped when he heard Kisame suck in his breath. Another Falk had entered the tent, and it didn't take a genius to guess that this one must be Itachi.

The new Falk had dark black hair that went down past his shoulders and was currently tied back in a ponytail. Deep scars ran down his cheeks from his eyes, clearly noticeable against his ivory skin. He was dressed in civilian garments and spoke softly to Jiraya. He stopped in mid-sentence, however, upon noticing Kisame.

For a moment, there was absolute silence and stillness in the tent.

And then in two steps Itachi was across the room and had backhanded Kisame so fiercely that he split the shark's lip. The Falk wasn't done yet, however, and began hissing and screeching at Kisame so violently that Deidara quickly yanked Sasori behind him and refused to let the redhead go for anything. Kisame held his hands up in defense and allowed himself to be backed into a corner. Itachi's tirade suddenly stopped as he slapped the shark again and stormed out of the tent.

Much to Sasori's shock, Kisame let out a sigh of relief. "Well at least he didn't rip me throat out. That counts for something, right?"

Sasori didn't have the heart to answer.

-n-

"Ok, try this one. I am hungry," Hidan motioned with his hands.

Kakuzu tried to repeat the movement , but his hands were much clumsier with the motions than Hidan's had been. "No, c'mon dumbass, it's like this." Here Hidan repeated the motion, albeit slower this time for Kakuzu's benefit.

Kakuzu had been placed on probation for the fight, and as a result was confined to his tent for most of the day for two weeks. Hidan, feeling guilty, had decided to spend as much time as he could with the Falk so that he wouldn't be lonely. They'd soon run out of things to talk about (or in Kakuzu's case nod or shrug at), so Hidan had decided to-

"What are Hidan and Kakuzu doing?" Tobi asked. The now-official errand boy for the camp had volunteered to bring the pair their food during Kakuzu's confinement, and had now brought them lunch.

"Sign language," Hidan answered. "Mom was hard of hearing, so me and my brother had to learn it early on."

"Oh! Tobi's sorry about your mom, Hidan."

"Don't be. It was fucking awesome to get away with swearing all the Jashin-damned time," Hidan replied with a grin. "And since Kakuzu's a mute, now he might be able to talk! Well, in a way."

Kakuzu quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper and shoved it towards Hidan. "Hm? Oh, thank you is this." Hidan made a quick gesture that Kakuzu copied towards Tobi.

Tobi nodded and disappeared out the tent door, calling back, "Sorry to drop the food and run, but Tobi promised to help the girls touch up their hair!"

"Tch, there's no way in hell the Falk girls are gonna give him up after the war's over." Hidan smirked and dug into his lunch, but was stopped by Kakuzu placing a hand on his arm. "What's up?"

"Thank you."

Hidan blinked in surprise, then shrugged and went back to eating. "Don't mention it. It's nice to actually be able to talk to you, instead of just wondering what's going on in your fucking head."

-n-

Itachi angrily shoved his clothes into the suitcase on his cot. Now he understood why Jiraya had requested that he unpack before meeting their host; if Itachi had known that he would be here, he would have bolted and locked himself inside Jiraya's safe house and refused to come out until Kisame was long gone, consequences be damned.

"Itachi?"

The Falk spun around to see a rather meek-looking Kisame standing in the doorway to his tent. "Please, can we talk?"

"I thought I made myself clear earlier," Itachi snapped. "I have no desire to see you ever again, never mind speak with you."

"I was an idiot, all right?! I've always been an idiot. You used to say that it was a miracle that I ever made it to the position of commander, remember?"

"You were supposed to trust me," Itachi hissed. "We were supposed to be a team. You left me to rot in a prisoner of war camp. Do you know what they do to Falks like me in places like those?"

"If I could redo the past, I'd go after you with everything in my power," Kisame pled. "I was angry and heartbroken. I didn't think that there was a single person in the group as smart as you that could have betrayed me."

"Leave me alone," Itachi snapped. "I don't care what you have to say anymore; you're years too late."

"Itachi-"

"Out. I'll tolerate you in Konan's presence, but I refuse to see you in my private quarters." Though if the weasel had his way, he'd be out of the camp by the end of the night.

Kisame slowly backed out of the tent, but before Itachi could close the flap he decided to give it one more shot. "For what it's worth, I still love you. I never stopped."

Itachi gave the shark a long look. "But I don't love you." And with that he closed the tent flap on Kisame, shattering the shark's heart into a million pieces.