The house was silent and glowing orange in the sunset. It was late and the group of trouble makers still had not returned and Jo absentmindedly wondered if she should be worried. She shrugged it off and dumped her bag next to the couch, leaving her shoes by the door. She settled onto the couch with a glass of wine and her hair in a messy bun and let out a tired sigh, enjoying the silence before the storm of housemates came home.
Jo was sitting at the corner of the couch, her legs tucked under her as she leaned on the armrest. She sipped her wine slowly and just listened to the hum of the air conditioner giving her a break from the muggy Virginia air. The sun crept lower and lower as cicadas shrilled outside. It was peaceful and she closed her eyes for a moment and leaned her head back, just resting.
"Jo!" Hanna shouted as she bounced into the house, holding grocery bags and flipping on the lights, making Jo wince at the sudden light. "We brought food!" She shouted and tossed a box of cheese its at Jo. She caught them with a small smile and just held onto them for moment while she set her glass down on the table. "You guys can go toss your stuff in the attic." Hanna suggested over her shoulder as the rest of the herd followed.
Everyone stumbled in, bags of clothes and groceries rustling, chatter and grunts of disproval mixing in and creating a cacophony of noise.
Once the groceries were put away, Lily got out of the kitchen and out from under foot, pulling a bottle of white wine from the fridge on her way out. Jo watched as she munched on some cheez its. Lily plopped into a chair, unscrewed the wine, tossing the cap on the table and just took a few gulps straight from the bottle.
"Don't waste my good wine." Jo mumbled at her, grabbing her glass to take a sip. Red wine and cheeze-its were an odd combination, but she made it work.
"It's not a waist if I enjoy it." Lily sighed and took another sip. Itatchi had abmled in and sat on the other end of the couch. Sasori had made himself comfortable on the floor, arms resting on the coffee table, back against the couch. Pein was sitting in one of the chairs while Konan leaned against his legs, their eyes trained on the quiet TV Jo had flipped on. Zetsu stood in a corner, looming like a malicious houseplant.
"You know you can sit, right?" Lily asked him, pointing her bottle at him. He just stared from the shadow.
"Don't bother, I've tried." Jo told her and sipped her glass again. A crashing sound came from the kitchen and some swearing from Hanna, but the two women ignored it. That was fairly usual. "Bad day?" She asked.
"You don't even know the half of it." Lily mumbled and sipped more from the bottle before turning to Itatchi. "You guys were terrible in the store. I can't take you people anywhere." She said and drank more. Itatchi looked at her and raised his eyebrows.
"We weren't that bad." Konan said softly from her seat, the faintest hint of a smile on her lips. "We didn't start the fight."
"I mean Hidan being loud and swearing, Sasori and Deidara arguing over art, and people being uncooperative in getting new clothes." Lily pointed out. Konan nodded at her, a grin threatening its way onto her face. They were a bit of a rowdy bunch.
"I want pizza." Jo announced, breaking the silence that was threatening to settle in. "Hanna! Can we get pizza?" Jo called, turning her head to the kitchen and Hanna appeared in the doorway, face apologetic as she rubbed her hands on a towel.
"That's probably a good idea." Hanna told them. Lily sniffed the air that had wafted in with Hanna.
"Is something burning?" She asked. "It smells like hair." Hanna looked at them sheepishly.
"Well, you're not wrong." Hanna admitted and pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "Deidara caught his hair on fire and Hidan knocked over the pot trying to put it out." Lily looked at her and took a long sip of wine. Jo just blinked before pulling out her phone with a sigh. She took another sip as she dialed the number. Hanna had retreated into the kitchen again. Lily drank more of her wine while Jo ordered pizza. Looking around, Lily noticed some had changed already. Pein had changed into a black button up shirt and rolled up his sleeves. The shirt was untucked from his jeans. Sasori only changed his shirt, wearing a plain white tee shirt with the black pants he arrived in. Someone had dropped food on his shirt during lunch. Deidara dropped food on his shirt.
Konan had on a blue shirt and black shorts. It was still hot outside so she wanted to wear shorts, freeing her pale legs. The weather in this world is very different from theirs and she wasn't used to it yet. Lily turned and looked at Itatchi. He put on thin dark grey lounge pants.
"Pizza should be here soon." Jo said and tossed her phone onto the table, next to the discarded box of cheeze its with a sigh.
"Hidan, no!" they herd Hanna yell and a loud crashing sound came next.
"Wonder what they're doing." Lily said as she sipped from the bottle more. Jo grit her teeth and took another sip of wine. They were too loud.
"Damnit, Hidan." Deidara's voice came. "You're no help."
"The fuck do I look like? Some maid? Fuck this bullshit!" He shouted and they heard a rag get tossed down.
"You made this mess, help us clean it!" Hanna's shout echoed into the room.
"Fuck that." Hidan yelled. Tired of the shouting, Jo knocked back what was left of her glass and set it down on the table and stood with a huff.
"Excuse me." Jo politely stepped around those sitting on the floor. She quietly walked into the kitchen and Lily sipped more of the wine. She could feel it starting to hit.
"Hey, Pein." Lily called to him. He looked to her and watched her start to sway in her seat. "On a scale of one to ten, how sad would you be if you went back without Hidan?" She asked, giggling to herself before a loud smack rang through the house.
"What the fuck was that for?" Hidan shouted and they heard the back door slide open and the fading indignant and pained shouts of Hidan. They sat in silence, listening for any clues as to what was going on. Without warning, Hanna bolted into the room and grabbed Lilly by the arms and began pulling her, wanting her to get up.
"Lily, Lily, you gotta come see this!" She said excitedly. Lily let her pull her into the kitchen and the two women peered out the door. They got there just in time to watch as Jo, holding Hidan by the ear, yanked him over the edge and into the pool with a large splash. Jo stood there, watching him flounder in his new jeans and white v-neck shirt, the thin fabric clinging to his chest. Jo stood above him, dusting her her hands off as though washing her hands of him before placing them on her hips.
"Oh my god." Lily slurred.
"I know right?" Hanna squealed and Lily grinned as the smaller girl shook her with glee.
"What are you two doing?" Deidara asked, coming into the kitchen. He walked over and stood behind them, looking out over the scene. Lily and Hanna just gave each other sly smirks.
"How long?" Lily asked Hanna, earning a huge grin.
"Couple days if he plays his cards right." Hanna calculated.
"Hey, are you guys-" Deidara started only to be interrupted and shushed.
"Hush, shush!" Hanna told him. "You'll jinx it!"
"Yeah," Lily swayed and elbowed him. "You'll jinx it." She giggled and Deidara just looked at them bewildered.
Jo stood at the edge of the pool, watching as Hidan got his footing. He glared at her and she glared right back, unfazed.
"Now that you've cooled off that attitude, are you going to help clean?" She asked, sounding as though she was speaking with a child. Hidan gulped water and spit it at her, smirking. It splashed on her pants and she tried to dodge it. "Ugh! You jerk!" She brought up her foot and went to slam it in his face, but he grabbed her ankle and reached up and grabbed her arm, pulling her into the pool with a maniacal laugh.
"Take that stick out of your ass!" He shouted as she crashed into the water.
"Oh my god." Hanna bounced at the door while Lily giggles, swaying on her feet. "So freaking cute!"
"What are you guys doing?" Kisame asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"They're watching Hidan and Jo fight in the pool." Deidara explained. Kisame's face brightened up.
"You guys have a pool?" He asked and Hanna nodded enthusiastically.
"You guys can use it if you want." Lily explained as she opened the door more and stumbled out. "I know I am." She announced and reached for the hem of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head, discarding it on the patio, with only a yellow bralette on.
"You don't have your swimsuit!" Hanna called out through her giggles.
"That sounds like a sober person problem!" Lily called back and set off her shorts, nearing the pool's edge, leaving her in her bralette and boy short underpants. Lily hesitated at the edge of the pool and the three in the doorway watched her as she loomed.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Hidan shouted at her as he fend off a very wet and very pissed Jo. She just fell forward into the pool, startling him.
"Did she just strip?" Deidara asked in disbelief and Hanna laughed before going to the living room.
"Some of us are gonna go swimming." She announced. "Feel free to join us, but if not, let us know when the pizza guy gets here." She told them. Pein and Sasori nodded, not wanting to go swimming. Konan stood and followed Hannah outside.
Itachi stood, picking up the bottle Lily had been drinking and ambled outside. The sun was down and he saw they had lights in the pool while a porch light illumiated the patio. Bugs skimmed the top of the water, nervously hovering as close to the lights as they could.
"I swear to god, I'll fucking drown you!" Jo screamed at Hidan and wrapped her arms around his neck and forced him under water. Hanna laughed from the edge of the pool where she stood. She screeched when Kisame came up behind her and tackled her into the pool, laughing the entire time. Konan watched everyone goofing off, splashing around, swimming, enjoying themselves, taking advantage of the break from the craziness of their world. Konan spied a lawn chair and sat down in it, watching everyone from afar, like a mother never joining in but enjoying watching her children laugh and play.
She watched as Itachi sat Lily's bottle of wine down on the cement and rolled up the thin material of his pants before sitting and slowly sticking his feet in the cool water. He watched his comrades and their hosts, letting himself exhale a relaxed sigh. He could feel some of the tension in his shoulders leaving him and he felt decades older than he should.
Kisame and Hanna had teamed up to dunk Hidan and Jo, the two teams working diligently to splash and tackle each other. Deidara was relaxing in the water but far enough away where he could watch entertained. Lily was swimming around in the deep end, not too far from Itatchi. He could see her teal hair under the water. It contrasted well with the yellow she wore. She surfaced for air with a small smile, and he could see her cheeks had been tinted red. She was inebriated. She spied him and slipped back under water, her thin frame splitting through the water almost gracefully. She resurfaced and smiled at him before resting her arms on the edge next to him. She pointed at the bottle.
"Can you hand me that?" She asked and rested her head on her arms. Itachi handed it to her, the corners of his mouth upturned ever so slightly in politeness. She took a sip and Itachi looked up into the night sky, leaning back on his hands. He inhaled deeply as a cool breeze tugged at his shirt. The two were silent for a brief moment before Lily struck right through his heart. "Will it change anything? The Guilt?" Itachi snapped his head to her, startled out of his peace. She rested her cheek on her hand and grinned up at him softly, her eyes staring straight through him and into the deepest parts of his soul. For a moment, he felt more exposed than he ever had in his life and his instincts told him to run. "It's eating you away. What good does it do?"
"What are you talking about?" Itatchi asked, schooling his face, wanting to know just how much she knew. She lay her head back down on her arms with a sigh and started playing with the bottle.
"You know." She told him. "You did what you thought was needed. Mistake, or not, you were trying to do the right thing. Sometimes trying to do the right thing makes everything worse. And that's ok." Itachi just stared at her. How could she possibly know all of this? She rolled her head and let it rest against his leg, the water soaking into the thin material. "You are good. You might not be a saint, but you are good." She said quietly and closed her eyes. Itachi took the bottle from her and moved it away. She didn't need any more wine.
"Hey," Zetsu said, coming out back. Everyone turned to him. Well, everyone who could. Lily was nodding off, and Hidan was being held under water by Jo and Kisame. "The pizza is here." He told them. Hanna climbed out of the pool and ran inside, leaving everyone in her dust. Jo let Hidan up and climbed out as well.
"I'll help you." Jo sighed when he saw Itachi was stuck. He nodded in thanks and after shifting, the two lifted the girl out of the pool.
"Hey, babe." Lily slurred and wrapped her arms around Jo. "How 'bout we get you out of those wet clothes." She teased, giggling. Jo swayed under the sudden weight and rolled her eyes.
"I'll take it from here." She assured him and started dragging the stumbling drunk to the house. "C'mon, let's get you dressed."
Konan waited for Itachi who had picked up the now empty bottle of wine and made his way to the door.
"I think she likes you." Konan told him quietly, her tone humorous. He looked at her blankly and she just gave him a compassionate smile.
"Hn."
