Another Favor...AW MAN!

"I wonder what everyone is going to think of him." Tess said smiling at the cream colored baby carrier lying against her chest. Itachi glanced over her and the carrier and shrugged his shoulders.

There wasn't a baby store in the village that Tess picked masari up in, so Tess had to pick some stuff up on the way. As the elemental continued to smile down at the little pale pride and joy in her arms, she mulled over the things that itachi told her back in the hotel room in her head. He sounded like he really had something in store for her. at first, her mind was so clouded with the excitement of having a new baby around, that she didn't think of the possibilities.

but now that the baby was hidden away from her in his receiving blanket, giving her time to actually think, her thoughts unsettled her.

She told itachi that he could do what ever he wanted. And that could mean anything. It could be the most degrading, most frightening, most...well, whatever! Tess glanced over to him, just staring emotionless into the forest ahead of him, planning her demise...

Itachi glanced at her, and then back at the road. "What are you staring at?"

"I m trying to read the inner machinations of your psychotic mind to see what you have in store for me..." Tess said honestly. His smile, though cute, unsettled her.

"You won't know until I tell you. That much, I can guarantee. Who knows, maybe it won't be as bad as you think..." Tess' eyes lit up.

"Really?"

Itachi snorted. "No. it could be worse..." he said darkly.

"Can I at least, take a guess on what it might be?" she asked. Itachi shrugged.

"Go ahead. I can promise you that it's only going to give me an idea of something worse to do."

Tess groaned, looking down at the baby again, trying to hold back her smile this time. "wiener." she mumbled.

The elemental s thoughts were completely pushed away by the delightful sound of the baby. Tess peaked under her receiving blanket. The little blue hat that the hospital gave him slid around his eyes. Tess smiled as she pulled it up, and was delighted to finally see the beautiful shiny black eyes of his for the first time. Tess narrowed her eyes a moment as she thought of something. She grabbed the top of his hat and gently pulled it off, revealing his small black curls.

"Itachi?"

Itachi looked over to her, giving his full attention. "Hm?"

"I didn't really notice this before, with me being scared and all, but masari...he looks just like you." itachi said nothing before he continued to look where he was going. Tess chuckled.

"Shut up." he mumbled.

It had taken no time at all to get to the akatsuki hideout. It took Tess about thirty minutes to find a baby store near her. She didn't buy a lot, just some clothes and a bottle or two. After she introduced him to chase and the rest of the guys, she was going to find another store.

After a few more minutes, itachi and Tess, and the baby finally made it to the boulder that made the hideout just that. The elemental waited for itachi to do his hand sign and walked through the hall.

"Do you feel them anywhere?" she asked the uchiha.

"They re in the kitchen, as they always are." he said.

Tess grinned. "Okay, you go in first. I want them to see me with the baby." itachi rolled his eyes this time before pushing open the door. Before it closed, she could see deidara and the rest of the guys glance over before going back to doing what they were doing.

Tess' grin became wider when she gently opened the door and made her way towards the kitchen. Everyone had their heads down, talking about something silently until she knocked on the threshold of the door.

"Hello, hello, the person that gave your lives meaning is back!" Tess yelled, posing with one hand and cradling the baby in the other. Deidara was the first to get up and run to her. Tess had to move away slightly to hug him.

Still oblivious to the newborn she cradled in her hands and the fact that she had given her best friend a lack luster hug, deidara grabbed her shoulders. "Finally, un! We ve been waiting for you, yeah!" he yelled, ecstatic

"Well, itachi picked me up and we rented a hotel for the night." deidara grinned, ignoring that last comment, so happy to see her, and about to bring her into a hug again when Tess moved away.

Deidara s shoulders slumped, narrowing his eyes confused. Why wasn't she hugging him back? Didn t she miss him? The rock-nin was about to ask just what was wrong with her when sasori spoke.

"Tess, what is that?" he asked, pointing to the sheet covered carrier around her chest. Deidara looked at Tess for a moment and at the carrier before he went close to her, opening it slightly.

His eyes widened when he saw the black haired child resting peacefully against her chest. Deidara gasped, grabbing his heart as if she had just stabbed him and backed away.

"What...what is...?"

"What is it?! What s the matter!" chase said. Tess smiled when she unclipped the carrier off her shoulders and placed the baby in the middle of the table. Everyone gathered around, but pulled back at the same time when the sheet covering him started to move. Tess smiled when she pulled the sheet away from the baby's face, making everyone gasp.

"What the fuck is that?!" kisame asked, snapping his head up to Tess. Tess laughed when he counted with his fingers to see just how long she'd been gone.

Tess groaned. "Okay, if anyone else asks me what he is one more time, they're getting branded." everyone but chase was surprised. The fear manipulator pouted her lip as she pushed the guys who were on either side of her away to better see the bundle of sweetness.

"Awww, look at him. He is so precious! Can I hold him?" Tess smiled at her friend across the table, nodding. Chase pushed the guys out the way with her hands and gently grabbed the baby off the table. Tess walked around to her, watching as the newborn blew spit bubbles and oohed and awwed, totally forgetting about the guys for a moment until sasori spoke again.

"Tess, where did you get him from?" he was the only logical person not counting on his fingers to make sure that Tess wasn't gone for nine months.

"I got him yesterday. some lady named ayame was giving birth to him and I helped deliver him, but she died during labor and I didn't want him on my conscious the rest of my life soooo...here he is!" Tess said poking at his cheeks.

Somewhere in the back round, deidara caught his breath, clearing his throat. "And itachi let you keep him, yeah?" he said, more relaxed. Tess shot a look over at the rock nin.

"First of all he didn't LET me do anything. I just didn't want him to be mad at me for taking this baby in. and I told him I couldn't just leave him in that village, so I didn't. But I do owe him something..."

"What is it?" chase asked as she rocked masari. Tess shrugged. It was silently killing her inside, as she thought about what itachi possibly could want from her. He had turned down sex, so it was obviously big.

"I don't know. But I hope it's not too bad. I have to go and report to pein s office and tell him the news so I need masari back." Tess said as she maneuvered her arms to take the baby and go to pein's office.

---

Tess knocked on the door before twisting the knob. "Pein?" she called.

"Ah, Tess, you're home...and you aren't alone." he said with narrowed eyes. Tess smiled at him nervously. Konan had her eyes narrowed as well. "What the hell is that?" Tess glared.

"Bitch, what the fuck do you think it is? It s a baby!" Tess yelled. It wasn't because Tess didn't like konan; she was just getting tired of people saying that. God, what the hell did it look like?

"Relax konan. I know what it is, and believe it or not, it isn't really that big a deal." Tess snapped her head over to the akatsuki leader. "What?"

"Let me rephrase that. it isn't a problem...but I ll need you to do a couple of things for me." dammit. She didn't even know what itachi wanted her to do; now she has pein asking for favors?

Before she agreed to something she probably wouldn't like, Tess thought before she blurted out the wrong answer. She could always do the things itachi asked her, but pein, he was a different story. Tess narrowed her eyes before speaking.

"What kind of things?" she asked warily. Pein entwined his fingers together and put his fist on the table.

"They aren't big things, and now that you can handle a reasonable amount of pain, I have the utmost confidence that you will do great in this." Tess became even more suspicious. Pein was, for the most part, upfront and quite blunt with her. If he wanted her to do something, he had no problem voicing it outright.

"You re scaring me pein." Tess said honestly. And, though she tried to ignore it, Tess heard konan snicker.

Pein gave the paper woman a glance from the side of his eye, and the snicker was gone as quickly as it had come. "There is no need to be scared. Tell me Tess, have you ever heard of an initiation?"

Tess shrugged her shoulders. "Who hasn't?"

"Well, every member in this organization has gone through an initiation. And they have successfully passed. Everyone, but you Tess has gone through it, and I believe that it is high time that you should as well."

Tess kept her eyes narrowed. Was that what he wanted her to do? An initiation? That didn't sound so bad. Well, not as bad as what she thought.

Again, she didn't just want to blurt out an answer before pein fully explains. For all she knew, Tess would have to sleep with everyone, girls included. Chase was fine, but it gave Tess the shivers to think about konan like that. She might as well think of her grandparents...

'Okay, I m drifting. It isn't that bad. Just ask him what it is.' "So what is this initiation all about?" she asked.

"Hm...Asking the important questions. Addellay has taught you well."

"She tried her best..."

"She did well. Usually we put a member against the strongest person to see how he'll do. We put each chakra type with it's opposite. For instance, since kisame is water, I would put him against itachi, since he is fire." Tess nodded in understanding. She got that concept but there were still more questions she needed to ask.

"Okay, I get it. But I m an elemental, I know fire, water earth and air, so who can I go against?" she asked.

The way pein smirked creeped her out. "I could always put you against kakuzu." Tess tensed but pein continued. "Or I could just put you against konan, who has no type. Or even chase, since she has no chakra, like you. But then I thought 'why should I choose. There are so many possibilities, so I came up with the brilliant plan of putting you against everyone."

Tess was silent. Maybe that was exciting for him but that didn't make her as happy. She didn't want to fight her friends. Especially in a no holds barred initiation. And not only that, they were ruthless killers, and she hated to think of them that way, but they are and there was nothing else she could say. And she was in love with one of the killers she had to fight.

A blinding ache took place behind Tess' eye.

As if reading Tess' mind, pein spoke. "I know you don't want to fight them Tess, but believe me, this is for your benefit. And I would not be doing it if it wasn't. Think of it like this, it will be great practice for the upcoming battle. Because she is in konoha. This technique is just to test out your skill, to see what you learned."

As much as she wanted to be angry with pein and his decision, she knew he was right. As much as she loved everyone, she was training to kill someone. And she didn't want to just march down to konoha and not know what to do. Tess wanted to be on the top of her game when she met this tempest girl, she wanted to go down to that village and know that she would be the one to live when the fight was over.

Masari started to shift and whine in her arms, it had been a while since she fed him and all the formula she bought was in her suitcase. And he probably needed to be changed.

Tess sighed as she played with masari's fingers, and without a word, she turned to the door.

"It is great to have you back Tess..." pein said before the elemental closed the door behind her.