One costume ordered, check. One costume dug out of the depths of a closet, double check. One hyper Tobi who refuses to let Mar out of his sight? Yeah, Mar had known that somehow telling Tobi he could be her best friend would be a bad idea. Mar had expected Tobi to get excited, maybe even a bit boastful just to irk Deidara, but refusing to leave her alone with anyone? It would also seem that Tobi had declared a monopoly on escort duty. His partner varied, he did not. Mar was being driven up the wall. "Why don't you let someone else take a turn, so you can get some time to yourself?" She suggested, fingers crossed behind her back. "As your best friend I must escort you wherever you may go!" The hero pose he also adopted would have been rather impressive, if Mar hadn't been so depressed by the answer. "Can I come Mar?" Naruto asked timidly, eying the Akatsuki. Itachi had informed Mar that the others had been ganging up on the hyper blonde, preventing him from taking his turn. After all, why should the Akatsu-boys hog all the travel time? Naruto deserved to go places with her as well.

"Of course! I shall guard you from the succubus." Kakashi looked up from his book, giving Mar an incredulous look. "Did you say succubus?" The look intensified when the entire room started nodding their heads. "Yeah, hm." Deidara confirmed, a haunted look in his eye. Poor Deidara and Itachi had gotten the worst of it, seeing as how Sasori had discovered that showing intense interest in Mar not only embarrassed the hell out of her but also kept the harpies at bay. Deidara was a slower learner. Not slow, because slow ninja don't last long, but slower. By the time he had seen Sasori's game, Sasori had maneuvered himself into a position where no one else could use the same trick. Itachi just didn't give a damn. Seriously, with all the bull he'd had to deal with over the course of his life, why the hell should be care about one little civilian teenager? Even if she was obnoxiously inappropriate.

Thank god for Keaton, who managed to capture her attention by merely existing. Whenever Danisha started getting truly out of hand, Mar would call Keaton down to the front. The moment he came into view, whatever Danisha had been about to say just stopped. "Why would you willingly work with a succubus?" Kakashi asked, giving Mar a disbelieving look. "It's not like I had much of a choice. I'm not in charge of the hiring, and I can't just quit." Mar said flatly, waving a hand around. "How else would I take care of all my boys?" Great, now she sounded like a Sugar Mama. "I just wanna know what the hell a succubus is." Naruto said. He looked adorably confused. "It's a mythical creature, usually female, that devours a man's life force through... well... sex." Mar explained, shrugging at Naruto's alarmed look. It wasn't like there was an actual succubus involved, and sure the reference was a bit extreme under normal circumstances. Danisha is not normal circumstances. "Still gonna come?" Mar asked, grinning mischievously. Naruto nodded uncertainly. "Yeah, I'll come."

"I can handle it myself, Mar-chan." Tobi objected, shoving Naruto aside to reach her. "I'm a good boy, Zetsu-san said so." Mar patted him on the head, "I know you are Tobi-love." Speaking of Zetsu... "Has anyone seen my Phantom lately?" Mar asked the group, the majority shrugging at her. Halloween specials had caught their attention. "You don't really see much of Zetsu, normally." Kisame pointed out, watching Charlie Brown try and catch a Great Pumpkin. Mar had never understood the need for this special. Charlie Brown was made for Christmas. "I know, but I get nervous when I can't keep tabs on you."

"Stalker."

"Concerned friend slash babysitter." Mar objected, frowning at the accusation. "Because you knew Deidara's birthday by chance." Itachi said, helping the case against her. "That's because of the fanfiction! Someone mentioned his birthday somewhere and I remembered it for whatever reason." Mar would never admit being a Deidara fangirl. Nearly throwing her laptop across the room when he died proved nothing. Nothing she said. "Uh-huh. Right." Kisame teased, ruffling her hair. That was the last time Mar sat next to him. Traitor.