Suki

I peered into Sakana's room, before moving out of the way. Zena and Kira took a quick look in as well.

Our friend was currently wrapped up very snugly to the immortal Akatsuki member's chest. .

"I told you," I grinned, excitement bubbling inside of me. "They totally did it."

Kira smirked, muttering "finally", before resuming the task I had interrupted her from to show her that Sakana was holding out on us.

Zena commented on how good that was for Sakana, leading me back down the hallway. "They're really cute together," she added.

I agreed, "Hidan is pretty hot. Just not as hot as Kisame."

Seriously, Kisame was the best Naruto character, and his death had sent me into a month-long depression.

Kira had called me a wuss so many times, despite the fact that she was pretty upset when she had seen Sasori's demise at the hands of Sakura and Chiyo.

Zena drifted off somewhere in the base, likely watering the myriad of plants Zetsu had placed throughout the base.

The brunette was usually off in her own little world, but I enjoyed spending time with her nonetheless. She was very sweet, could cook her ass off, and she looked like a wood spirit. I would wife her right up if she weren't hardcore crushing on the cannibalistic plant-man.

We hadn't really discussed much about Naruto, instead keeping our conversations on our histories and current love lives.

Kira and I were a different story. I mostly talked while she listened, but she would occasionally throw out information I hadn't even thought of yet.

She had logically pointed out that we had to have appeared right after Naruto's departure with Jiraiya, and judging on how the Akatsuki's missions weren't centered on capturing jinchuriki, I had to agree.

Actually, all of the missions I had been on with Itachi and Kisame were recon (meaning I got to spend the day in a luxurious hotel while the men did their ninja-stuff) or assassinations, which were pretty cut-and-dry.

I mean, Itachi was extremely skilled, so of course his missions were always successful and concise. I really had no reason to join them other than satiating my wanderlust and curbing my cabin fever, in all honesty. But Kisame was happy to bring me along, so we could spend more time together.

In Sakana's absence, I had gone on three two-day missions, and two overnight missions. Kira was gone when I left, and back when I returned, and she didn't talk much about her missions, she didn't talk much about anything. She was withholding more juicy details than Sakana, but I couldn't force anything out of her.

Zena spent her days tending to a small garden in the back yard. She didn't seem to mind staying there with little company, and didn't leave the base much. She was serene and really easy to get along with.

My sister was something else entirely. She got along well with some of the more stoic Akatsuki members like Sasori and Itachi, and she sure charmed the heck out of Pein, too, but she and Deidara argued constantly, though they weren't really arguing. She also wasn't fond of Tobi, but I knew it was just Tobi, and not Obito.

To be completely honest, she had opened up a lot more in the presence of the criminals, speaking more in few weeks we had been here than she'd speak in six months at home.

Kira and I were a stark contrast; I was open and friendly, but she was quiet and reserved.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sight of my shark. I squealed at his return, running and jumping at him.

Kisa's large arms wrapped around me easily, catching me effortlessly. I pressed a kiss to his nose before looking over his shoulder and waving at Itachi.

He smirked and ruffled my hair, greeting me quietly.

They had gone on a mission overnight, and Kisame had promised to be back as soon as he could.

Now that he had made good on that, I got to cuddle with my shark.

Speaking of sharks, he was still holding me. I 'eep'-ed as his grip locked around my waist. He carried me off to 'our' room, no doubt to pass out for the next few hours.

Itachi shot me one last smirk before wandering off to go to Uchiha things.

I layed my head in Kisame's shoulder as he carried me down the hall. "I missed you," I said.

"Suki, you were asleep for the majority of my absence," he chided me with a deep chuckle.

I pouted, "And I missed you for the entirity of it."

Kisame shook his head, clearly amused by my antics. At least someone enjoyed it.

To be fair, Kisame advised me not to torture Sakana as much as I did, but it was so fun to press her buttons.

Arriving in his room, Kisame dropped me onto his large bed before draping his cloak over the back of his desk chair and joining me on the soft mattress.

I cuddled with him until I was sure he was asleep, his snore rumbling lowly. As much as I wanted to pester him into doing something fun with me, he had just returned from a mission.

Slipping out from his clutch wasn't an easy feat, but I had learned how to leave him relatively undisturbed.

Since being freed from my feline form, Kisame and I had practically been inseparable, but I knew where to draw the line in my persistence. Usually, Itachi would be the one to decide whether my company would be a nuisance or not. Usually, it wasn't.

I crept from the room, closing the door softly behind me.

I was greeted by Sakana's tired gaze as I entered the kitchen. She had a mug clutched in her hands, and had stopped talking mid-sentence upon my intrusion.

"Good morning," I chirped, opting to drink water instead of tea.

"Mornin', Suki," Sakana yawned.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked, taking a drink of water and watching her over the brim of my cup.

She blushed, looking at her tea. "Let's go with not really."

I set my glass down on the counter, leaning towards her. Zena was fluttering around the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

"Spill," I urged, "Come on, Sakana. You've been home for two days and you haven't told me anything."

Her green eyes darted between me and Zena, who was now standing beside me.

"Well- uh..." She began, her face reddening even more. She took a long sip from her teacup.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, as she set her cup down.

"I'd prefer to figure it all out first." Sakana muttered, staring into her drink. "I know I keep putting it off but-" She cut herself off, and I felt a twinge of guilt in my gut.

"It's okay," I said, "I shouldn't be pressuring you so hard."

A ghost of a smile flashed across her face for a moment, before it was replaced with a deadpan look. "Why don't you tell me about you and Kisame?"

I felt my lips turn up into an excited grin, and I circled the counter and sat in the barstool next to her.

While I blabbered on about how well a relationship with the "demon shark" was going, Sakana listened patiently, occasionally tossing in a sarcastic remark.

Eventually, Zena had finished cooking and left to go gather any awake Akatsuki members for the meal.

She had made a spread of food, knowing how big some of the criminal's appetites were.

Sakana and I set the table with bowls and chopsticks before seating ourselves at the island again. Tobi had skipped in first, followed by Deidara and Kira. They walked by me, Kira making some snide comment about Deidara, and the artist mumbled some death threat as they sat down. Itachi had appeared somewhere in there as well, but I was distracted by Tobi's enthusiastic good morning hug. A few moments later, Zena returned with Zetsu and Kakuzu trailing behind her. Sakana greeted the miser with a nod, shoveling a bite of rice into her mouth with her chopsticks.

I waved to the two, but the sound of heavy footsteps caught my attention, and I turned to the doorway and locked eyes with my target. His eyes narrowed at the sight of me, and I broke out into a run at him. Kisame caught me like he always did, and carried me back to the kitchen.

Sakana apologized to Kisame on my behalf, but my shark just ruffled my hair and chuckled. He took a seat at the end of the table, next to my sister and Itachi.

Sakana started to laugh, but froze as her eyes landed on the doorway. She dropped her eyes to her bowl again, glaring at the rice and egg resting in the bottom.

I glanced up to see Hidan lingering in the doorway, and flashed a smile at him. "Good morning, Hidan."

"Cat-bitch." He replied, before shuffling past me and joining his partner at the table.

I looked at Sakana, who was still staring at her food. "I'll be in my room."

I glanced at Zena, who stood at the counter opposite me, and raised an eyebrow at her, mouthing, 'what the fuck was that?'She shrugged one of her shoulders before resuming washing the dishes. I didn't eat, instead draining the water from my glass before following Sakana's path.

True to her word, she was in her bedroom. I entered and shut the door behind me.

"Do you want to talk?"

She finished making her bed, then turned around and sat on it. "You're not gonna take no for an answer."

I shook my head. "That's the price of being my friend."

She dropped her face into her palms, groaning, "I didn't ask for that."

Shrugging, I joined her on her bed. She turned her body toward mine and put her head on my shoulder. "I just- it's hard. And complicated."

I nodded, understanding the atypical relationship between girl and criminal. "It's kind of weird, but I think I'm in love with Kisame," I said. "If that makes it any easier for you to open up to me."

Sakana sighed. "It doesn't."

"Listen, I know how Hidan can be," I started. "If he hurt you or-"

"That's not it..." Sakana interrupted me. "Hidan didn't do anything wrong but-" Her voice caught in her throat. Whatever it was, it was definitely bothering her.

In the short while I had known her, Sakana had taken everything in stride, with a sarcastic comeback and an amused smirk. Sakana was strong, and I knew she'd make a kunoichi I'd look up to. The Sakana I had met a few weeks ago wasn't the same shaken girl in front of me.

"But what?" I pressed, "Sakana?"

"I can't change it now," she muttered, looking into my eyes.

"I'm so confused right now," I admitted. "Sakana, I know you don't want to tell me, but if you don't, I can't offer you any advice."

She sighed, sitting back. "Then I'll show you."

After Sakana had shown me the cause of her stress, she had made me promise not to tell anyone, especially not Hidan.

She had explained that he hadn't done anything wrong but she couldn't bring herself to look at him, much less talk to him, in the wake of last night's events.

I offered her a few words of praise before returning to the living room. My shark and my sister were sitting on the couch, amused by something.

Stopping in the doorway, I watched them for a moment before the rogue Mist nin noticed me.

"Suki!" Kisame cried, and I skipped over to him to take my rightful place on his lap.

I kissed him quickly, before glancing at Kira. "You're in a good mood."

She turned her eyes to me, and I suppressed a smile. Of course, Kira's face seemed deathly serious, but the corners of her lips were just barely upturned, and her eyes sparkled mirthfully.

Kira wasn't the best at expressing emotion, but twenty three years spent with her gave me the ability to almost read her mind.

"You're internally monologuing." Kira replied.

"And you say twin-lepathy isn't real."

From the time we were kids, we had this uncanny ability to know what eachother were thinking. I called it twin-lepathy, but Kira was adamant there was some logical explanation for it.

Kira's insistent that it's not a real thing, but here we were in the Naruto-verse, getting pretty attached to this not real characters, so what does she know?

A lot, actually. She's really smart, but usually spent her time training her brain rather than her body. I, however, have been an athlete since childhood. After school, I was practicing in the gym while Kira sat on the bleachers, studying.

We were both accepted to the same University on different scholarships, where we shared a dorm room. Coming from a poor family, we were used to sharing a bedroom, so neither of us had any complaints.

Despite our differences, we got along extremely well. I wasn't dumb by any means, but she was way smarter than me. She would defend me against mean kids who would insult my intelligence, and I would back her up against physical threats.

I was internally monologuing again. I turned my head up to receive a kiss from Kisame, before standing up.

"I think I need some training." Kisame had offered to help me train weeks ago, but had difficulty not going easy on me, so I resorted to any other Akatsuki who had the time.

Usually, it was Itachi, but he had taken to spending time reading medical ninjutsu books in his room.

Deidara and Sasori were nowhere to be found, so that left me with one option.

I found Hidan's door easily, as it was directly right of Sakana's, and rapped on it a few times. After a moment of rustling around and cursing, the Jashinist opened his door, glaring at me.

"What do you fuckin' want?"

I offered a friendly smile, "I was wondering if you'd spar with me. Taijutsu."

He sighed, and after a moment, agreed. "...Fine." Hidan closed his door and followed me down the hallway.

He didn't speak while we walked to the indoor training grounds, and I was glad for the silence. I had never really had an actual conversation with the Immortal Jashinist, and I hadn't really been that much of a fan of his, considering what he had done to Asuma and Shikamaru.

Arriving at our destination, Hidan entered first and I followed. Sasori and Deidara were fighting; the puppeteer was moving his creations around on the ground, and the suicide bomber was flying around on a clay bird, picking off the wooden dolls one by one.

Hidan didn't look at them, making a beeline for the next available space, shirking off the various pouches of weaponry. I joined him after a minute, stretching my arms and legs in preparation.

"Ready?" Hidan asked, and I nodded in confirmation.

We began, Hidan rushing at me first. I dodged his punch, returning one of my own. As we fought, he would give me pointers on how to better my technique. He advised me to use my chakra to enhance the strength of blows, commenting on how a child could take ten of my punches with no effort.

He actually wasn't a bad sparring partner, I had assumed he wouldn't take it easy on me, but it was the opposite. He was actually training me.

Our battle ended with me on the ground, a bruise forming on my ribs.

"You could have easily avoided that." Hidan said, walking over to me. He helped me up, and I huffed at him.

"Not without stamina," I replied, breathing heavily.

"Then next time, work with someone to train your stamina." He replied haughtily. "Ingrate."

"Whatever." I took a long drink of water from my bottle, wiping my mouth across my forearm. "Hey, thanks for helping me."

He shrugged. "Had to blow off some steam."

"Yeah, but you totally held back," I informed him. "You're soft on us."

He rolled his pink eyes, and started reattaching his pouches to his legs and hips. "You wish, blondie."

"Well, you're definitely soft on Sakana."

He scoffed. "That's different."

I watched him, curious about who Hidan really was as a person. He couldn't be that bad if Sakana liked him. "How?" I finally asked.

He shrugged, not looking up at me. "Because Jashin-sama gave her to me."

Finished with the space, we walked toward the exit together. "So what's bothering her anyways?"

"Beats me," Hidan replied. "She bitched me out this morning for no reason, I was assuming you'd know."

I remembered my promise not to tell Hidan the real reason, so I offered a weak shrug, opening the door and stepping out into the hall.

"It's probably her time of the month or something," I said. "I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"Yeah, whatever. Just- if you want to spar again, let me know."

"'Kay." I replied as he walked away, before turning and walking the opposite direction.

Later, Kira and I were sitting on the sofa, watching her idiots arguing over which of their arts are better.

Kira cut into the argument, leaning forward. "Let me ask a question." They paused to look at her.

"How would someone admire art if it was destroyed as soon as someone looked at it?"

Sasori crossed his arms and gave Deidara a triumphant look. "My point exactly."

"That's not fair, yeah! The point, as I believe you are asking, of my art is that it is unique and can never be replicated for copied."

Kira made a noise, "Imagine having a favorite work of art, and then attempting to display it. You can't, because it can't be replicated, as you say."

"That's the point, yeah!" He harrumphed and stormed out of the room. Sasori smirked and patted Kira on the head. She almost preened in his attention, and I giggled.

"You two are so very cute together."

My sister flushed, and Sasori glared at me, chorusing: "We aren't together!"

I shrugged, "Then you should be."

Sasori wordlessly walked away, mumbling something about daft girls and their usefulness.

I turned my eyes to my sister, who was glaring at me. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Stay out of it."

I smiled, "Whatever do you mean, dear sister?" She flicked me on the forehead before standing up and leaving the room.

Zena entered a moment later, softly telling me that dinner was ready. I nodded and trailed to the dining room/kitchen and nodded at Zetsu, who was eating a large hunk of raw fish.

"Hello, Zetsu-San." I said, eyeing his food. "Are you enjoying your meal?"

He made a noise as he took a large bite. "Zena-San is skilled at cooking. She gave me fish."

Nodding, I picked a few pieces of sushi up and set them on my plate and sat down next to him. "I agree. She's wonderful."

Biting off another piece of fish, he nodded. "I would say that I tolerate her the most out of all of you. Not that it's saying much."

"Hm," I ate a piece of sushi before replying. "So you like her, then?"

"What do you mean? Of course I like her, otherwise I would have eaten her by now."

I scoffed. "You're soul mates," I pointed out. "You're saying you have zero romantic interest in her?"

"I never said that," White Zetsu said, but Black Zetsu narrowed his eyes at me. "Need I remind you that I am a cannibal with no room in life for romance?"

I finished my meal and stood up. "I guess if you say so, I just noticed that you're pretty close to her."

"That's because she feeds us." Black Zetsu began, "And she's not annoying constantly," his white half finished.

"Ow," I said, washing my plate off. Zetsu was a jerk.