The lights had been out for nearly 10 minutes and Kisame was already snoring loudly. If not for that, I probably would have fallen asleep already. I stared at him hard, willing him to stop with all my brain power but to no avail.

Frustrated, I tossed about and flipped over to my other side in a huff to see Itachi staring straight up at the ceiling. Before I could tear my eyes away, I was surprised he turned his head to meet my gaze. It froze me in place.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked me, barely audible.

"I should be asking you, you're the one with an injury," I replied, trying to be equally quiet.

"You had a long day. Besides, not all injuries can be bandaged." He offered calmly, his gaze continuing to hold. A gleam of moonlight reflected off his dark irises in such a way that softened their usual edge.

"True. It would have taken a lot of bandages to warm me up after falling into that water. Like a lot, I'm talking mummy status amounts of bandages." I whispered.

Why are you like this, Izumi?

"I didn't quite mean it like that... but you're not wrong," Itachi mused. I couldn't tell in the dark, but I swear I detected at least a hint of amusement.

"Well, mummies aside... is he always like this?" I gestured to the snoring Kisame behind me. Now that elicited a small smile from the Uchiha.

"You grow accustomed to it. Sometimes it helps to push him onto his side."

"Wait, are you serious?" I half-whispered, half-hissed, fully entertaining the idea of trying to shove Kisame into a quieter sleeping position.

"No," Itachi admitted calmly.

I quelled the urge to throw a pillow at his face, settling for an empty threat instead, "I should throw a pillow at you, you know." I feigned a scowl.

"And what's stopping you?" He pressed with peaked curiosity.

"Self-preservation and an outstanding moral compass of course," I retorted with some haughtiness.

"Ah, of course, " he agreed with a small nod. "Well, I suppose I should consider myself fortunate that you're very merciful indeed."

"Indeed you should," I teased. "What would you have done if I tried to move Kisame and he killed me in his sleep with his crazy ninja reflexes?"

"I was counting on that sense of self-preservation you were just speaking of," he noted coolly.

Oh, he was good. I stared him down hard, trying quickly to think of a witty comeback. I had nothing and he knew it.

"You should get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day too," Itachi advised. If he was trying to hide his smirk, he wasn't doing it well.

"Yeah, you're right... Goodnight Itachi." I whispered through a yawn.

"Sleep well…" He said just barely loud enough for me to hear.

The morning came quickly and I awoke as a cranky mess after a very sporadic night of sleep. My hair stuck up in all directions and the bags under my eyes could have carried groceries.

"Yeesh, did you even sleep, shorty?" Kisame asked with a grimace.

"No, but you did," I grumbled mostly to myself. Kisame thought this was quite funny as it made him produce an impressive chortle. I tried to rub the sleeplessness out of my eyes before throwing my dark, tangled hair into two messy little buns. My entire lower half ached from the previous day's journey and I couldn't help but let out a small groan at the thought of doing it again.

"Izumi, when you're ready you can have a seat on your bedroll. Kisame and I will spend the morning breaking the first piece of the memory seal. Then we'll head back," Itachi said while tying his own hair back.

I had almost forgotten about the memory seal. How very stupid of me. I took my place on the mat and awaited further instruction.

"I'll apologize now, this may not be a pleasant sensation," Itachi warned.

"W-why? What are you guys going to do to me?" I asked, not even attempting to hide my nerves.

Itachi paused for a moment pensively before answering. "Think of it like this, someone put a lock on your memories and we are trying to pick the lock. There are 8 tumblers we need to get through in order to fully open it, each one quite difficult to get past. Difficult, but not impossible."

Kisame interjected, "breaking the lock would be the fastest way in, but that might also damage the door. Get it?"

"I think so… so this is the only way to do it without risking my sanity?" I asked with a hard swallow. Itachi nodded.

"What sanity?" Kisame teased.

"I was being kind to myself," I said, flipping him off with a smile which garnered another chuckle out of him. Something I had learned from Hidan and wanted to try out on someone. Kisame seemed perfect for that.

"The first will be the quickest." Itachi assured me, ignoring Kisame and me being children. "It would appear it's already been eroded over time. Seals like this have their weaknesses… sometimes a person's will to recall a memory may wear it down over time. Simply seeing something that triggers a recall of one of the sealed memories can spark a painful but quick break of the seal or a portion of it." Itachi explained as he stood before me, adopting a more rigid posture and bringing his hands up in front of him. He formed a hand sign and Kisame did the same, each standing across from each other with me in the center.

They began immediately. I honestly didn't feel anything at first, I had wondered if they'd even started. The concentration plaguing both of their faces assured me they had. It crept up on me like a bad cold. I didn't think anything of it right away, but over time I felt it getting worse and worse.

It started as a certain tightness in my head, but the tightness gave way to a dull burning which later came with a heavy pounding, like my brain was throwing itself against my skull in order to escape and lead a life of its own. I reminded it inwardly that it needed me as much as I needed it. This did not stop the pounding but it amused me at the very least. Varying degrees of this went on for hours before I felt a bursting sensation. It hurt for a moment but if anything, it was satisfying. It was like trying to pop a pimple for hours and then finally, sweet release.

"That's it," Itachi announced before kneeling down to my level. "You did well," he said quietly as his hand looped under my arm to pull me up. I felt Kisame under the other arm and between the two of them, I was on my feet again.

"That sucked," I said, trying to focus on hiding the fact that I was swaying in place.

"Hey wobbles, is this all part of your big plan to get me to carry you everywhere?" Kisame teased. I let out a laugh.

"I'm not clever enough for that," I admitted.

"Just lucky then I guess," He joked as he took the sword off his back and squatted down, motioning for me to climb on his back. I wasn't in any position to say no.

Being back at the base was like we had never even left.

"Fucking asshole!" Hidan's yell roared throughout the hollow cavern, "You ate the last fucking dango!"

"I have more mouths and therefore more sweet tooths… sweet teeth? That doesn't sound right either... Anyway, the point I'm getting at here is fuck you," Deidara retorted, his words slurred together thanks to the sheer amount of dango in his mouth.

"Izumi? What are you doing back already?" Sasori was the first to notice me walk in.

"Zetsu didn't tell you?" I asked as I plopped my bag onto the couch and pulled my cloak off, letting it fall in a heap.

"Whoa!" Hidan exclaimed from behind me. I turned to see him leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his bare chest, looking me up and down.

"What?" I asked awkwardly, trying hard not to shy away.

"I just never realized you had tits, let alone an ass."

My mouth dropped as I stared at him, horrified. "What is your problem?" I demanded while crossing my arms in a huff. He mischievously raised an eyebrow at my chest. I looked down and quickly slapped my arms against my side, realizing that crossing them only made things more apparent.

Hidan began to laugh maniacally.

"What is so funny now, Hidan?" I asked in frustration.

"Your face is sooo fucking red right now," he managed to say through his fit of cackling.

"Alright, I think that's enough," Sasori said while taking me by my shoulders and pushing me into the kitchen.

"Thank you," I said with relief.

"Of course," he gave me a small smirk.

"You know what's wrong with this picture, un?" Deidara strolled in nonchalantly. I rolled my eyes and didn't even bother to ask what, I knew he would tell me without any prompting on my part.

"You're in the kitchen but you're not cooking." He smirked as my brows came together in anger.

"You know what Deidara, why don't you just shut your mouth for once, all of them." I suggested with gusto.

He looked back at me with a pout pasted on his face. Our eyes didn't break from each other for a long moment. Finally I sighed and threw my arms in the air.

"Okay, fine! What do you want?" I huffed as I opened the pantry door.

"Chicken katsu! Oh and fry some veggies in tempura and put a bunch of sweet and sour in one of those little dishes, un." I laughed under my breath at his sudden giddiness.

"You know, as good as that sounds, I'm afraid I can't do it." I shrugged as I leaned against the counter coolly.

"Why not?!" he cried, looming over and nearly smothering me in the process.

"Calm down, geez. You don't have the ingredients I need to make any of it, you bean-brain." I said quickly as I pressed my palms against his flaring chest, pushing him back at arm's length.

Oh wow, his chest is really solid.

I quickly removed my hands from him and prayed my inner thoughts didn't register on my face.

Oh dear lord, I might actually be a pervert.

I waited for him to say something because my brain was malfunctioning at the moment. He looked at me before staring hard at the floor. I could tell he was deep in thought.

"First of all, don't call me bean-brain. I don't know what that is and I don't like it." He said, causing me to laugh-snort. I would most definitely be calling him bean-brain again. "Secondly, we're going shopping," he announced abruptly while grabbing my wrist and pulling me behind him. I stumbled as I tried to keep up.

"Deidara, Deidara! Do you really need chicken katsu that bad? The nearest town is hours from here!" I whined and dug my heels into the ground.

He turned and flashed me a sly grin, "By foot."

"Um, yes. That's correct. What do you mean by foot? How else do you propose we get there? Fly?" I flapped my arms mockingly with an incredulous expression.

His grin spread like wildfire, "Exactly."

I cocked my head and looked at him perplexed.

"Just trust me, un," he said as he grabbed my wrist and tugged me behind him. I gave up trying to resist and just focused on keeping up at that point.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Shopping seems totally safe and normal and there would be no way for it to go wrong, right?