As Itachi drove, he kept glancing in the rear view mirror at Suigetsu's limp body. He felt surge after surge of guilt, mainly because the guy was Sasuke's friend. And Sasuke had seemed so comfortable around him, as in Sasuke didn't think Suigetsu was a waste of time. And that was pretty rare.

I mustn't deter from my earlier thoughts...I have to focus on foiling the Akatsuki's plans.

He drove into the underground car park of the Akatsuki building and wondered where exactly he was planned to put Suigetsu. He couldn't think of many places, but Pein had told him to bring him back here. Sure enough, Zetsu was waiting by the parking spot designated specifically for Itachi.

"The boy is in the back?" Zetsu asked as Itachi got out. The Uchiha nodded. He was glad that Hidan had knocked him out again, because if Suigetsu had been awake, he would have recognized Itachi and that would be anotherpiece of information he wasn't meant to know. Itachi did not want to give Pein more reasons to kill Suigetsu.

"I'll take him. You go upstairs,"

Itachi nodded again and glided towards the elevator. He refrained from glancing back and seeing what exactly Zetsu was doing, but once he heard the door close, he locked his car using a remote.

Beep beep.

He couldn't help himself. He glanced back over his shoulder.

But Zetsu was gone.

That night

"Suigetsu?"

Mangetsu looked around the silent house. He raised an eyebrow. He had come home for a moment to find his room in slight disarray - actually that was an understatement. His closet had been shoved open and his shoeboxes tossed aside. His bed had been upturned and papers were strewn all across the place. He'd automatically assumed that Suigetsu had been at it again. It wasn't the first time his brother had displayed his disgust ove Mangetsu's actions in this way. Mangetsu found it totally childish.

He sighed and stalked back to his room. He lifted the loose carpet.

His notebook was gone.

Shit... he stood up again, his chest pounding as he ran thoughts over in his head. Suigetsu...you fool.

He walked out again, ready to find his brother as quickly as possible. That's when he saw it.

Blood?

He knelt down. Someone had obviously made a lot of effort to clean up. But they'd missed a spot. Mangetsu brushed the minute spot with a finger. It was fresh. He narrowed his eyes.

Akatsuki...

"Hey...I haven't seen you in ages, have I?" Deidara hauled up the cat that always lurked outside the cafe and brushed it gently behind the ears. "Where've you been, hmmm?"

The cat meowed and rubbed its head against Deidara's chin. The Iwa smiled and put the cat down again. He looked around and sighed, the stability of his ability to think straight still swayed by the fact that Suigetsu was probably in some dank room in the Akatsuki building somewhere.

"Whose cat?"

Hidan dropped a few things into the trash can and dusted off his hands. Deidara shrugged.

"Dunno,"

"Stray?"

"Yeah," Deidara suddenly got the sickening feeling that Hidan might bring the cat back and slaughter it, so he picked it up again for security.

"Meh," Hidan cracked his back and neck. It disturbed Deidara how loud it was. "I'm going home. Pein better not fucking call me, or fucking else. G'night, Deidara,"

The Jashinist headed around to the back of the cafe.

Deidara was about to put the cat down and head for his own car when a motorbike suddenly squealed up to the pavement, its engine revving loudly. The blonde had to take a big step back or the front wheel would have run over his foot. The cat squealed loudly and leaped out of Deidara's arms in fright, its tail brushing his face in the process. Hidan's car backed out and drove off. Deidara watched as the motorcyclist removed his helmet.

Oh. Fuck.

"M...Mangetsu,"

Mangetsu looked at Deidara with his serious purple eyes. He couldn't imagine ever having the chance to look at the waiter like this...he bared his teeth and immediately clamped a hand around the Iwa's throat, pushing him up against the glass of the cafe.

"Where's my little brother?"

Deidara growled and wrenched Mangetsu's hand away.

"Piss off, un," he said nervously. He glared at Mangetsu despite the fact that he actually felt very sorry for him. "I don't know where he is,"

"Your reaction said otherwise," Mangetsu answered evenly. "If you had no idea what I was talking about, you wouldn't have said 'piss off'. A 'what the fuck are you talking about?' would've been more plausible,"

Deidara averted his gaze.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know,"

"You do. You took him because he read the notebook,"

Deidara felt an overwhelming surge to spill everything to Mangetsu, but he couldn't. Not when the Akatsuki knew what he bombed. Even if Mangetsu waskind of on their side.

"He did...," Deidara admitted. "But I don't know where he is, un,"

"You were not the person who took him?"

"No,"

Mangetsu said nothing for a moment, thinking. He wanted so much to go over and punch Deidara's face in, but he held back the urges.

I can deal the blows to him in a much more devastating way later...just...not now.

He stared Deidara down.

How could he...just bomb the shopping centre like it was nothing...?

"Who took him?"

The Akatsuki...they would...they might kill Suigetsu...no. He shook his head. They would keep Suigetsu as insurance that I do my job. They wouldn't kill him.

All the same, Mangetsu wanted to know the whereabouts of his brother. He stared intensely at Deidara, waiting for his answer. The blonde shrugged, looking agitated and anxious.

"I think it was Hidan,"

"The Jashinist?"

Deidara nodded slowly, very uncomfortable in Mangetsu's presence. "Yeah...un,"

"Fine,"

Mangetsu licked his lips.

"So you are the bomber?"

Deidara's head snapped up and he met Mangetsu's eyes. "What?"

He seems horribly distracted, doesn't he? Mangetsu thought.

"You're a bomber,"

Deidara's throat felt dry. He hated himself as the seconds ticked by. He nodded hesitantly. "Y-yeah," he lowered his head, crossing his arms defensively. "I am,"

"I see,"

I will pulverize you, Deidara. Just not today.

Mangetsu walked slowly to his motorbike. Strapped on the helmet. And he drove off, not wanting to see Deidara's face for any longer than he had to. He fucking hated the guy, after all.

Anyone would...after what he's done.

His mind went back.

"Mangetsu! We're going out!"

Mangetsu sighed as he heard the tinkle of keys as his parents got ready to go out.

"Make sure Suigetsu doesn't go out! Remember he's grounded!"

"Yeah,"

The front door opened and closed. Mangetsu put down his pencil and went to Suigetsu's room.

"You heard them, yeah?"

His little brother looked up at him angrily. "Yeah,"

Mangetsu said nothing. He shrugged and walked back to his own room. It was 2 pm, and he was doing some studying on opening a business. It was about twenty minutes later when a large boom!shook the house. It felt like an earthquake: the windows shuddered in their frames and pens rolled off Mangetsu's desk. He stood up immediately and rushed to his window. A cloud of grey and black dust rose up from the direction of one of the major shopping centres of the city. He felt Suigetsu come up behind him and try to peer over his shoulder. The shaking was easing up, but it didn't feel like it was stopping any time soon.

"What's happening?"

People spilled out on the streets. Cars squealed to a halt. Horns honked. The cloud kept rising. Mangetsu couldn't speak. He pushed Suigetsu away and headed downstairs. He got out of the house and onto his motorcycle. He wove between vehicles that had stopped and were idling there on the road as their drivers and passengers rushed out onto the ground. He wasn't wearing a helmet - he hadn't been bothered. He kept driving, his whole heart hoping for something he knew was hopeless. He knew exactly where the explosion had emanated from - if you lived here long enough, you'd know too. As he got closer to the shopping centre, people were running from it, the cloud still puffing out and upwards. Screaming rang in Mangetsu's ears and he didn't even drive slower when the amount of people grew denser. He just needed to know...

No...

He slowed his motorbike to a stop. He just stared.

The shopping centre his parents said they were going to. It was...

The dust cloud was still large and thick, but Mangetsu could make out outlines of the piles and piles of rubble. He got off his motorbike and raced towards the cloud. A man gave a shout of protest and caution when he saw Mangetsu, but of course, Mangetsu ignored him completely. The dust made him cough uncontrollably and he couldn't go further. He fell to his knees and covered his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut.