A/N: So I decided to go ahead and continue because, let's face it, I'm a sucker for new stories. I just can't let them go without a fight!

Answer to the previous question: The King of Hearts. Kudos to those who guessed correctly. Next question at the bottom :)

Answer to the riddle: Nothing!

Disclaimer.

First Words

'You're late.'

'Yeah, we bumped into a little… erm, trouble along the way.' Kisame supplied, ignoring the snort of amusement from Hidan as they arrived in the sealing cave, each member taking their respective places on giant stone fingertips.

'What kind of trouble?' The leader demanded, his tone hard and commanding.

'None of your damn business…' The Jashinist mumbled, scowling when his partner, Kakuzu, provided him with a more respectful answer.

'A shinobi girl. One of Hidan's little play things, I expect.'

'Hey! I do not have 'little play things'! I'll sacrifice all your damn asses to Jashin-sama!'

'Just like you sacrificed that one?' Kisame scoffed, followed by several sniggers sounding around the cave. He continued gleefully when Hidan shot him a death glare, sarcasm dripping from his words like a slow working poison. 'Or is that one little girl too much for your glorious, omnipotent god to handle?'

'Why you–'

'Enough, Hidan. Let's not delay this any further.'

'Why the hell are you only telling me that?! Damn filthy heathens over there started it…' He grumbled, but his complaining went unnoticed or simply ignored by the others as their leader spoke again.

'The sealing process remains unchanged, however it will require more time and focus this time as we are extracting the seven-tails. The higher the number of tails, the higher the price. This is why I have requested as many of you to be physically present as possible.' Their leader murmured, forming several hand seals and signalling for the others to begin. 'Now everyone, focus your energy. As always, we need a slow and steady chakra flow.'

********** Elsewhere **********

Mika was tired, and it must have been dreadfully obvious if even the usually oblivious old bar owner had warned her to catch up on some sleep.

She glared at her reflection in the mirror. Weeks of restless nights of little to no sleep was beginning to take its toll on her youthful features, the skin darkened beneath her eyes and her cheeks lacking the rosy tone they'd once held. She supposed it didn't help that she was already slim and, standing at 5 foot 6, her natural lack of cleavage and now sunken cheeks made her look frail and withered.

She grimaced. Life on the run and in hiding did not sit well with her, mentally or physically, it seemed.

Glancing at her makeup bag and nodding to herself, she picked up her toothbrush and set to work on freshening up for the morning. Last night had definitely not helped her anxious behaviour, now she had Akatsuki on her radar to watch out for as well as all the other bounty hunters. But what were they doing in River country?

She had heard that Hidan had been associated with the organisation several times before now, but they had been mere whispers on the breeze that she hadn't liked to believe. Then again, the ex-Yugakure nin was not exactly known for his love of peace. Far from it. And she'd known that all along, but still… Akatsuki was a whole other league.

A knock on her apartment front door made her yelp in surprise and unceremoniously stab herself in the gum with her toothbrush. She glowered accusingly at the offending object and she dropped it into the sink, wiping her mouth on a towel as she left the room.

She half expected it to be the missing ninja in question, but her eyes landed on the honey eyes and dark frazzled hair of her neighbour and something akin to a friend, Nagisa.

'Oh! I didn't wake you, did I?'

Mika had to roll her eyes at the subtle dig at her appearance. 'Not really, I was just getting ready. I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes?'

Nagisa's expression brightened as she nodded. 'Sure!' And off she skipped.

Festivals were never something Mika enjoyed. Too many people, too much going on. Alas, her neighbour had been thoroughly insistent on Mika accompanying her to the food festival of the Land of Rivers, and hey, who was she to say no to the one person she could call a reliable friend in this world?

A small part of her wondered if she might see a certain Akatsuki member lingering in the crowded streets. But something told her it was unlikely.

She drifted back to the bathroom on auto-pilot, her mind wandering back involuntarily to the very first festival she ever experienced.

A seven year old Mikazuki stood from her mud bath with a wide grin on her cherub-like face. She had just finished working particularly hard on destroying her one and only 'suitable dress for a young lady' that the orphanage had provided her current foster parents with, when she heard an irritated shout from behind.

'MIKAZUKI NAYA. YOUR LOVELY CLEAN WHITE DRESS IS ABSOLUTELY RUINED.' As if the shouting wasn't enough, her mother figure wore heels that clicked obnoxiously loud against the flagged garden floor as she marched towards the smirking child.

'That's just it. I can't stand this anymore. First thing in the morning, you're going straight back to the orphanage.'

Mika's smirk faded quickly, replaced by an unimpressed scowl. 'I was only playing, Mrs. Haruno…'

Grabbing her hand roughly, the golden haired woman scoffed in response as she yanked her down the path. 'Well, I hope you're proud of yourself. There's no time to get you cleaned up and I'm not walking around Konaha Flower festival with a child covered in muck. Here, put this on. NOW.'

Without even giving her the chance to shrug into the shawl-like cloak she was being offered, it was forced over her head and secured tightly around her shoulders.

'Right. Off we go then. Sakura, dear, it's time to go!'

Mika scowled at the floor as Mebuki Haruno's biological daughter, Sakura, appeared at the bottom of the stairs, dolled up in a frilly fuchsia frock and bubble-gum pink pigtails. Her outfit only made Mika scowl harder. She would never be caught dead in such a monstrosity.

'H-hey, Mika-san.' The pink-haired girl offered her a small smile, but she just huffed in response, her black locks falling over her eyes in defiance.

They made their way out of the house swiftly, Mika being dragged by the wrist the whole way there while Sakura trailed after them obediently.

'Now, listen very carefully to me.' Not far from the main event, Mebuki knelt down on one knee to stare Mika in the eyes, and although they knew she was addressing both girls, it annoyed her to no end that she was the one being glared at. 'The diplomats from Yugakure will be here and as you both know, as one of the leading families in Konaha, I am to be one of the representing guides that will be greeting them. I need you BOTH to be on your very best behaviour. PLEASE.'

The fact that Mebuki Haruno had just said please in such a manner surprised Mika enough to nod once submissively, and with a relieved sigh, the woman rose to her feet and continued down the streets to where the visitors had arrived. It had been mere convenient timing that the ninja from the village of hot water had arrived during the celebrations of the flower festival. A chance for Konaha to really make an impression on their newly accepted allies, and the village was absolutely flooded with people.

'Lord Tatsuo. It is an honour.' Mebuki greeted a tall, greying male with a polite inclination of her head. 'My name is Mebuki Haruno. It will be my pleasure to escort you to the Hokage tower should you so wish.'

'The tower? Nonsense. This is my first time visiting the Leaf village. I should very much like to take a look around before we officiate anything. Need to know what I'm getting into, you see.' He smiled but it failed to meet his eyes, which remained hard.

'Of course, my lord.'

'Suck up…' A younger, childish voice sounded from behind the leader of Yugakure, who merely sniffed at the interruption.

Mika smirked at Mebuki as she spluttered for a response, before settling with a severely undignified, 'who was that?'

The male shifted slightly to the side to reveal a young boy, no more than eight years old. 'This is Hidan. He's somewhat of an adopted son of mine.' His eyes swooped over the two young girls on either side of the woman before him, an unspoken question.

'Oh! My daughter, Sakura,' said girl curtsied prettily on cue. 'And, similar to yourself, my foster daughter, Mikazuki.' She did not curtsey. She just stared.

'Please follow me, Lord Tatsuo, the festival begins on the main street.'

Somewhere in the crowded street, Mika managed to slip away. And somewhere in the rush of the festival, she managed to 'accidentally' lose her shawl. She skipped merrily down one of the quieter alleyways in her mud covered dress and towards the back of the village where she knew no one would be.

Now free of her duty as 'respectable daughter', Mika settled herself in an open field near Konaha ninja academy, picking daisies and looping them together in a rough chain.

'You look like shit!'

Her head snapped up in surprise, golden-topaz irises locking with teasing magenta ones. It was the boy from before.

Sticking her nose in the air and turning away from him, she snorted. 'You shouldn't say that word.'

'What? Shit?'

She whipped her head back around to glare accusingly at the boy.

'N'aww, does the sweet little goody-two-shoes not like that word? How about a different one? How about fuck?'

Mika gasped, standing up to her full size and unfortunately still having to tilt her head back to glower at him. 'Shut up!'

They stared each other down briefly, before the defiant boy broke down into a fit of mocking laughs. 'Is that the best you got? That's pathetic, kid.'

'Don't you 'kid' me! You look the same age!'

'Oh yeah? How old are you?'

'…Seven.'

A grin spread across his features and Mika growled inwardly. 'So you are younger. Which means you have to do as I say!'

'No way!'

'Yes way. Also, I'm a guest of this village, so you have to make me happy. You can start by getting me something to eat!'

For a second, he thought she was actually going to do it. Until she launched at him. He landed on the grass with a soft 'oof', momentarily stunned before she managed to scratch his cheek with her nails.

Seconds later, he flipped them over and had her hands pinned beneath his knees as he straddled her stomach. 'So, you do have some fight in you!'

Mika only stuck her tongue out in response as she squirmed beneath his weight.

'HIDAN. WHERE ARE YOU?'

'Aw man, here we go…' The boy grumbled, clambering to his feet faster than any normal eight year old should be able to. 'Gotta run, squirt. See you around!'

And with that, he was gone.

Mika had to smile at the memory.

That was the first time she had ever met Hidan, and she couldn't hold back the eye roll upon remembering his very first words to her.

'You look like shit.'

It was so typical of him. It seemed like a lifetime ago, their first meeting. It had been so long since she last saw him, almost five years if she counted correctly, and each and every time he popped up in their crazily interwoven lives, he never failed to surprise her.

She also allowed herself a small laugh as she recalled Mebuki Haruno's face upon discovering the revealed state of her foster daughters outfit, though she seemed to be the only adult who even noticed, let alone cared. That following morning, as Mebuki had promised, they had begun their journey back to the orphanage in the land of Rivers where Mika was quickly gaining the reputation of the 'troublesome child that nobody could put up with for longer than two months'.

The staff there had even started a series of bets whenever a family expressed an interest in her, though Mika didn't care. She hated them all.

A/N: My first flashback. What did you think? Was I clear enough? Obviously I improvised on certain details that are unknown in canon, so I hope they were up to standard.

Question of the day: What is the longest word in the English Dictionary?

Same question, but a riddle: What is the longest word in the English Dictionary?

Answers in the next chapter :)