Chapter 37: Recognize

Just puppets to be controlled. That wasn't her intention. Not at all. She hated to say it, but Itachi was right. Acting childish and selfish didn't hide the fact that he was still a genius. The insightful Itachi knew exactly what was going on.

Konan sighed heavily on her way back to the kitchen. Thank God this would all be over soon.

"Die!"

"Ahh!" Konan ducked just as the wall shattered in front of her face. A scythe with three blades was embedded right where her head would have been had she not hesitated.

Hidan peered around the corner and saw Konan. "Oh. Uh, sorry." He pulled his weapon free with a mighty jerk. "Thought you were Itachi."

"So you tried to kill me?"

"No, not you. Itachi." Hidan gripped the scythe tightly with both hands. "I'll murder that jerk and eat his bloody heart raw."

"You're seriously going to kill him?"

"Well, not right away. I like to play with them a little…"

"But you intend to kill him?"

Hidan hesitated. "Well… more like maim… or slaughter or decapitate… Something along those lines. I hate to nitpick…"

Konan groaned. Hidan was going off the deep end. Itachi was dead no matter what at this point so she didn't bother to try to stop him. If Hidan wanted to waste his time Uchiha hunting or if Itachi wanted to use hypnosis on Hidan to keep him under control, so be it. She wasn't about to stop them. "Fine, do whatever you like. Just be careful and don't kill anyone unless you know for sure."

"Yeah, yeah…" Hidan licked the handle of his favorite weapon, already fantasizing the death to come. "Not a problem…" He got into position as Konan left, calling out to Itachi is a low croon. "Here, Itachi… I've got a little present for you…"

"God help us all…"

"Konan!" Sasori ran down the hall and leaped into her arms, snuggling her warmly. "Did you yell at Itachi? Is he in trouble?"

She patted his head. "Yes, he's in trouble… I think Hidan may punish him…"

Sasori giggled. "Then he shouldn't have been naughty, huh?" Sasori tried to climb onto her shoulder but was having a tough time doing it from his current position. "Did you want to play another game?"

"Sure thing, but first we have to clean up the kitchen. There's a big mess in there from lunch." Konan carried Sasori back to the kitchen and opened the door.

It was better left closed. It was one of the worst messes they had ever left. Broken dishes were everywhere, the floor covered with jagged pieces of glass and food. One of the chairs was split in half and another lay in pieces. Leftover food splattered on the walls and ceiling. There were puddles around the table and even more broken glass. The table was one of the worst in terms of a slimy mess. Hidan's movements had ground pieces of food into the heavy wooden table. Small shards of glass were also wedged into the table and it was soaking wet. There was a long trail of messy footprints leading from the table to the sink and then to the door, Konan was sure were Hidan's.

"This is going to take a while…" She wasn't looking forward to picking up all this broken glass and food. Beside her, Sasori was getting antsy. This didn't look like much fun to him. He wanted to play. Picking this mess up wasn't going to be fun at all. Knowing that neither one of them would have much pleasure in doing this work, Konan called out for someone who might. "Zetsu!"

A green body seeped up from the ground beside her and opened up. "Yes, Konan?" asked the ever loyal Zetsu.

"Would you mind cleaning all this up for me?" she asked sweetly. "Sasori needs some attention and there's a lot of glass around…"

He nodded his head happily. It had been a while since she had last commanded him. "Of course! It's a pleasure. I'll get started on it right away." Eager to please, he started to clean up the mess, using his own sleeves as a broom.

It was best to leave him be. Konan left with Sasori without saying anything else. She tried to ignore the fact that she had just manipulated him, just as Itachi had said. It was a fact impossible to ignore. She knew what she was doing. Then why did she keep doing it? What Itachi had also told her rang in her mind as well. Sometimes doing such things showed people what they would have refused to see otherwise. Perhaps this was a good thing. Either way, she got out of work and now Sasori could play with her without distractions.

"So play now?" he asked, hopeful.

"Yes. Play now," she answered.

"Yay!" Sasori started running, then turned, called her, wanting to be chased.

Hidan stood at the end of the hall for ten long minutes, waiting for Itachi to come around the corner. He knew Itachi was crafty, but was confident that there was no way he could sneak past him unnoticed.

Unless, or course, he walked across the ceiling instead. Itachi looked down with a smirk. This was almost too easy. "Going my way?" he called down to Hidan who suddenly dropped his scythe. Itachi jumped down, landed beside him, still smirking. "In the last hour or so I have you… I'd like you to do something for me…"

"Yes, master."

"Ah, I'm going to miss that so much. I love being called master." Itachi suppressed his giggles and put his arm around Hidan's shoulders. "Here's what I want you to do…" He snapped his fingers. "Sleep."

Hidan slumped against Itachi's chest, out like a light. It was much easier getting him into this state when he was already under control.

"Whenever you see Kisame, you will recognize him as Itachi Uchiha. Do you understand?"

Hidan nodded.

"Good." He snapped his fingers again. "Awake."

Hidan's eyes opened but Itachi was no longer there. He picked up his scythe and decided to search for him instead. After all, it was unlikely that Itachi would actually come to him willingly.

Down the hall, Itachi ran across someone else he could have some fun with. "Hey, Kisame. What's up?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing…" He smiled. "Say, have you seen Kakuzu anywhere recently? I haven't seen him since lunch."

"I have no idea. He could be in his room or something. Why?"

"Just curious. Would you mind looking for me? I have something I need to do."

"Ok… Uh, what should I tell him?"

"No message. Just let me know where he is. That's all." Itachi walked away, waving over his shoulder to his partner.

Kisame frowned at the odd request, but then again, many things were odd this week. Besides, Itachi rarely gave him the full story on anything he was doing. Everything was so secretive, so this didn't surprise him too much.

Further down the hall, Kisame caught a glimpse of Kakuzu coming out of another room. "Hey, Kakuzu," he called.

He turned. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering where you were."

"None of your business."

"Then where are you heading?"

"That is also none of your business."

Kisame groaned. "I'm never going to get anything out of you, am I?"

"Got that right."

Someone else was heading there way carrying a scythe.

Kakuzu looked up towards the hall. "Where have you been, Hidan?"
"None of your business," he grumbled.

"Ah. I see where he gets it from…" Kisame joked.

"For a building built into a hill, this place is freaking huge," Hidan was saying. "It's a maze, all these halls. How am I supposed to find one measly little..?" Hidan stopped when he saw Kisame who suddenly didn't look like Kisame anymore. Standing next to Kakuzu was a man with black hair in a ponytail, Akatsuki robe, necklace and piercing red eyes. An Uchiha's eyes. Growling, Hidan picked up his scythe and charged at his enemy. "Die!"

"Whoa!" Kisame ducked as Hidan swung at his head. "What are you doing?!"

That wasn't Kisame's voice he heard but Itachi's. Itachi Uchiha was standing in front of him, not Kisame. The command given to him worked to perfection. Hidan now thought Kisame was Itachi. "I'll kill you!"

Kisame screamed and started running.

"Get back here!" Hidan chased after him, swinging his weapon of choice at Kisame's head.

Kakuzu stood by and watched. Then, with a shrug, turned and walked away. This irrational behavior was perfectly normal and expected from his partner. Everything was normal here.

In the living room area, Konan and Sasori were busy at play. She was showing him a game she knew as a child called 'slaps'. Teaching it to Sasori was very easy. They lay their palms flat down in front of each other's and had to pull away before the other person could slap their hand. Konan was gentle when she did it to Sasori but he was a little more rough. Maybe it had to do with him being a boy. That's what she believed. Boys were always more rough.

They played this for a while until Sasori got bored and wanted to do something else. Just as they were about to play a new game, they heard screaming. Konan jumped up, pulling Sasori behind her back protectively.

Kisame appeared at the end of the hall and started running towards them, dodging swings from a scythe in Hidan's hands. He was chasing him. Kisame was so afraid, he was in tears. He ran into the living room and hid behind Konan. "It's sharp! He's gonna kill me with it!"

"Get out from behind her, you coward!" Hidan swung again. "Come out and fight like a man!"

"What is going on here?!" Konan began, trying to keep Hidan from killing Kisame. "I thought you were trying to kill Itachi?"

"I am!" Hidan tried to get around Konan. "If he'd hold still, that is!"

Konan looked at Kisame and then at Hidan. "Oh… Itachi…" she groaned.

"Hiding behind a woman is low, even for you!"

"And just what is that supposed to mean?!" Konan snapped at Hidan.

"It's not how it sounds."

"Then you tell me how it's supposed to sound."

Sasori squeezed out from between Konan and Kisame and stepped away. These guys were arguing about something. He wanted to play a game but these guys were getting in the way of that. What should he do? Maybe if he yelled, he would get some attention.

Then he heard something soft and quiet. He turned around. He heard the noise again from a different room. He wandered off in search of it. He peered around corners and under chairs and tables. Then he heard the sound again, a little closer and louder this time.

"Meow!"

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