Foosha: Sorry it's a little late guys! I ended up having to work yesterday and I didn't realize that this chapter would be so long o.o But it was so.. awesome! So thanks for all the alerts and thank-you Miko Hayashi, DeeaE, Hex Aether, Chillybean, Kyoki no Megami, and Killergirl101 for the reviews! You're amazing :D

Nicky: Foosha doesn't own any references from Naruto or other shows, and she certainly doesn't own Francesca either!

Vash: These guys are too much trouble.

Foosha: I drew pictures of them with their outfits on deviantart if you're interested!

The rest of the week went by at a dreadfully slow pace, filled with problems beyond belief. When Vash and I were too busy (or just too lazy) to help the Akatsuki search for the portal, they took it upon themselves to look. And this was our first terrible decision of many; to trust them enough to be adults and not do something stupid. Here's a recap:

Saturday consisted of an amassment of missing pets, particularly in our neighborhood. When I walked out to get the mail that day, I noticed the abnormal amount of missing pet posters stapled to trees leading towards the main road. At first I thought it was kinda weird but ignored it, until I crashed into Calcifer on the way back. And do you know what was hanging from his mouth? A tail! A FREAKIN' TAIL! I don't even know what it belonged to! Of course he immediately slurped it up in order to hide it, but I already caught him red-handed. Acting as any good mother would, I grabbed the black side's ear (because I dislike him more) and tugged him inside while he complained the whole way. Thank god for our immunity. And to top off that day, I found a dead squirrel lying in the grass. Sure that would have been fine and dandy if it had died naturally, but it had an unnatural amount of strange symbols and cuts carved into its body. Who does that! Seriously? Only stupid Marshmallow and his weird religion would. Yeah he told me about it, but I zoned out half way through. Well anyway, he and Cal had to sit in the "kitty-time-out-corner", and go without dinner that night, much to their dismay. Orangey helped us accomplish this, since the two had made such a commotion.

Sunday was relatively easy. Though we did discover that Foofy had a stalker! Well… he still does. And for some reason she knows Vash. I guess they go to Pharmaceutical classes together or somethin'. So she stopped by with a bouquet of flowers just for Foofy. He seemed pretty happy to have an admirer, but she seemed a tad too attached to him. Vash and I still aren't sure how she knew where we lived, either. I hope that situation doesn't get any weirder.

The rest of the week just became more difficult to deal with. Monday was the day that Fishy and Cal were outside looking for the portal and somehow someone saw them. So, of course, they called the police and reported a monster sighting. Not that the police believed them, but that didn't stop the person from going door to door asking if anyone had seen the crudely drawn figures that resembled the shark and plant men. Something similar happened the next day, except this time the police did come and it was over Tobi and Prolay. Apparently there had been a string of missing objects as well as pets (I'm sure they are connected…), and several neighbors described the masked criminals to the police as the robbers responsible (I'm sure Tobi would, but I think Prolay is cooler than that, well at least cool enough not to get caught).

Wednesday Orangey and Lila were also connected to the robberies after an older couple saw them walking around looking like "teen hooligans out for their lawn ornaments". I guess it makes sense though since they both look like punk kids, but they act completely tame (at least from what I've seen so far).

On Thursday, Jen showed me an article in the newspaper about a local "Bigfoot" wandering around. When I looked at it, I recognized Prolay walking by a playground. His size dwarfed the small children that appeared terrified by his presence. So much for him being cool. You can't just walk around in a mask when you're that large and expect to be ignored!

Speaking of not being ignored, on Friday I took Foofy and Spirit with me shopping and we ended up at the register where that one dude works (I think his name is Damon…) (Foosha: It is) (Oh, thanks). He recognized me and asked how the cats were doing, to which I replied by placing a spray bottle on the conveyor belt. He didn't ask anything after that, except he did comment on my "pretty friends". Before one of them could beat up the poor kid, I dragged them out of the store, laughing hysterically. Not my fault Foofy has that long flowing hair and Spirit has those big girly eyes. And even though that made my Friday, I was soon overcome with guilt after returning home, when I discovered that Tobi had stolen a ton of video games (in a noticeable manner) and brought them back for me to play. I later was able to convince him to return them… well most of them at least. I've wanted Super Paper Mario for a long time… so I shouldn't waste his generosity.

Izaya was the only person out of the whole group who didn't cause any trouble this week, and that's because he was busy watching Rin at my house since I was forced to babysit the ones who really needed it. Well, now that everyone is caught up, let's continue with our current predicament; figuring out new disguises for the Akatsuki. After all the publicity, they definitely couldn't go outside until we figured out a new way for them to dress. They offered to use their "ninja power stuff" to change how some of the weirder ones (aka Fishy, Prolay, Cal, and Tobi's face) appeared to us, so of course I had to ask.

"Why haven't you told us you could do this before? And why can't you just use it all the time?" Foofy answered with a shrug.

"Never thought about it, and we can't just waste chakra all the time, hm. We might need it to get back and besides it's easier to just steal clothes, yeah. " Some of the others nodded in agreement while Vash and I sighed. Then what is Orangey's excuse, hm? Argh, now I'm starting to sound like Foofy. So the two of us spent the morning looking up outfits on the computer that would make them look like American young adults, even though not all of them were actually young, they could always alter their features a bit.

After about an hour, I put together their outfits on so I could give them an idea of the stuff they needed to steal, though they might have already had it in their random clothing piles. Besides the other trouble they got in during the week, the members (mostly Konan) took turns collecting random clothing that they liked. But now they just sit in piles on the ground because we can't really fit them anywhere. This place has become a pigsty…

"Okay guys, we got some outfits together for you, so get a good look and go find them! Ready set go!" I said loudly, waving my arms in a large circle ending in the direction of the most stores. Even though most of the guys were used to my weirdness, I'd still get the occasional comment.

"Weirdo," Cal mumbled quietly before sinking into the ground while the rest took off in their clouds of disappear-ness. When the smoke cleared Izaya and Foofy were still sitting on the couch lazily. Vash quirked a brow and walked in front of them with her hands on her hips.

"Gotten a bit slow with your age? Or did you just not hear?" Foofy glared at her while standing up, gesturing to a random pile of clothes.

"We already have clothes like that, yeah. And I'm only nineteen, hm." I gawked openly at him and walked over, also noticing that I was slightly taller than him. Haha! I'm tall! Awesome!

"Hehe you're just a baby then! Wittle baby Foofy. D'awww," I cooed messing with his hair. He slapped my hand away looking irked.

"I'm only a year younger, yeah! And I'm a year older than shorty here, hm!" Vash promptly dug the heel of her shoe into his toe before leaving the room. Stupid ninja baby. He hopped on his uninjured foot and shook his fist at Vash's retreating figure. "Bitch, un! If I had clay I'd kill you, hm!" I cocked my head to the side.

"Oh yeah you said that before. What do you mean?" He proceeded to explain to me in vivid detail about his bloodline trait thingy and how he could use his special hands to make whatever clay figure he wanted and have it explode with a key word he used. He used the phrase "art is a bang, un!" to describe this. Of course I absorbed all this with my childlike wonder. Except for the phrase. That was lame.

"Really! Show me!" He looked taken aback, but reluctantly held out his fists to me, slowly opening them to reveal a little mouth on each palm. I think my brain imploded at that moment, especially when they smiled and opened, showing off their tongues. "Wow! You guys are all like crazy scientific discoveries waiting to be examined! Not that I would do that but… it's just so weird and cool. Like how does that even work? I don't even want to try to think about it! Also wouldn't it be kinda awkward when you wash your hands or hold them together? I mean is it? Or is it just normal? Do they ever kiss each other on accident? Oops, didn't mean to ask that! Hehe…"

Foofy's face went a bit red and without answering any questions, he stormed out the door, slamming it behind him. Vash walked out of the bedroom in a red U-of-U t-shirt and dark jeans, wiping her glasses off on her shirt.

"Where did the immature one go?" I just shrugged to her and resumed the duty of tying my tennis shoes, still thinking about his weird mouth hands. "Well whatever. Let's get our shopping done before they get back. I don't want Tobi whining about not being able to go again. And we don't need another disaster this week." I nodded to her and jumped up, giving her a salute.

"Let's go! Izaya! Hold down the fort!" He looked at me blankly, before resuming watching the television with an almost sleepy look on his face.

Foofy's POV

"Stupid bitches, hm." I walked outside to cool off a bit and saw the hammock on the left side of the yard. Huh. That seems nice. Somewhat forgetting about what happened, I wandered over to the hanging bed and took a seat before immediately getting tossed over the other side. I sat up with a huff and looked at the hammock. "Harder than it looks, yeah." More carefully this time I tried to even out my body weight so it wouldn't flip to one side, and after a few close calls, the hammock finally settled in a rhythmic swinging motion. Ah this is nice… My eyes closed automatically while a cool breeze blew some of my bangs off my face.

"Bye Foofy! Maybe you should trim your bangs a bit while we're gone!" Cracking my right eye open I saw shorty and blondie waving slightly before walking away. Finally. It'll be quiet now.

Being in a world with no threat was kinda nice. I didn't have to keep my guard up because we were stronger than anyone here by far. It was kinda like a vacation. Except I needed clay. Damn. Oh well. We'll get back soon enough.

Suddenly there was a rustling to my right so I opened my eye again to see my admirer standing there, grinning. When she noticed I was watching she smiled even wider and waved before bounding up to me.

"Hey Deidei! I just came by to say hi! You look really nice today! Heheheh… oh I think you have a bug on your hair! Let me get it!" And before I could even think about what she was doing, she whipped out a white cloth and swiped at some bug on my face before clamping it over my mouth and nose. Then everything went black.

Itachi's POV

There was a strange thump sound outside. Suspicious, I stood up from the couch and walked to the backyard to see Deidara being dragged off by that crazy woman. She looked at me for a second and gave an embarrassed smile before dragging Deidara away faster. Before I could stop her I felt a tug on my left hand. My eyes drifted downwards towards Rin, who stood pulling on my arm. My mind had been a little hazy all morning and it was unusual for me to not notice her sneak up. And then my eyes started to droop a bit. What's wrong with me? Before they closed completely I saw Rin smirk slightly, and then all was dark.

Nicky's POV

When we finally got back from the store, I immediately put the groceries away as fast as I could and started cooking a few of my dinosaur nuggets in the toaster oven. Yes, dinosaur nuggets. I love them. Don't judge me. And of course I was trying to hurry so no one would steal my food. I've noticed since they've been here that none of them can really cook either. So if one of us made snacks, they all helped themselves. Not today though. These babies are all mine! Mine I say! Vash grabbed a mint from the mint jar on the counter and walked over to where I was.

"Hey where did the other two go?" Now that she mentioned it, no one else was here.

"Maybe they went to grab some extra stuff for their clothing that they forgot." She shrugged and jumped a bit when a swirl of smoke appeared in the kitchen, revealing the rest of the members with arms full of clothes. From the back of the group I could see Fishy sniffing the air.

"Is that food?" An "eep" sound escaped my mouth and I grabbed the cooling off dinosaur nuggets and stuffed them all in my mouth.

"Mrrroff." So much for enjoying my lunch today. Vash took a step in front of me and pointed to the bedroom/bathroom door.

"Okay guys, go get dressed. Konan can stay out here." Ignoring her, the group looked to Orangey who nodded, making them leave to their designated areas. After swallowing the mass of nuggets, with difficulty, I washed my hands (because I don't wanna touch anything with icky hands) and walked up to Konan (I finally remembered her name!) to inspect her dress. And it was perfect! Just like the one we saw! It was a short little strapless summer dress that ended at the mid-thigh with ruffled ends. It was covered in teal, orange and maroon colored flowers and tied together with a thick sparkly belt below the bust line. She looked up from her findings to us with a slightly confused face.

"Can you help me put it on? I'm not sure how it works." I nodded excitedly while Vash just shrugged. We both weren't much of the fashionable types, but that didn't mean that we didn't know what looked cute or not. I'd love to wear this type of stuff but I could never pull it off like she does. She's got toned muscles and long legs. I'm just… bleh.

After a few minutes, we finally were able to get her into the cute dress. We added the final touches of a colorful ice cream necklace, teal bangle and maroon high heels, and topped off the outfit with the flower she always wore. I couldn't hold in my happiness and clapped my hands excitedly.

"Aww you look so pretty! I love it!" She turned around a bit awkwardly, since she wasn't used to the shoes and tugged a bit at the dress bottom. Even with the lip piercing, she looked like a little doll.

"It's beautiful… I like it," she said quietly, a small smile on her face. Vash nodded in agreement and I gave her a thumbs up.

"Okay. Now we gotta see what the guys look like."

About fifteen minutes later, the guys walked out in their new outfits, looking a bit uncomfortable. Orangey walked to the front of the group showing off his charcoal colored tank top with the word "OBEY" printed neatly in the center in a gold-ish color. He wore tight-fitting black jeans and casual shoes that matched the color of the wording from his shirt. Seems appropriate. At least he matches now. He's a well-dressed hooligan!

Cal was next with similar pants and a black t-shirt. He had changed his skin to a light tone, but kept his hair that forest green color, which matched with his green rimmed sunglasses, green belt and green shoes. Another skater/punk look. Works for his hair I guess.

Standing behind Cal was Prolay without a mask for once. His stitches had also disappeared and he just looked very tan and slightly younger (since he looked pretty young anyway). He wore looser washed out jeans, a black tank top and some comfy looking black slip-on shoes. The sunglasses we paired with his outfit were on his mop of brunette hair. Wow...he's pretty.

His less than awesome partner Marshmallow stood beside him with a sneer on his face. It really suited his outfit though. He wore a navy and red baseball cap backwards with the word "OBEY" scrawled on the back, like Orangey's shirt. He had on a tight red t-shirt, and plaid navy, red and white shorts with white flip flops. He kinda looks like a jock type.

Spirit was sitting on the couch looking bored with his tan colored fedora hat (with a black strip of fabric around the middle), white V-neck shirt (with a deep red heart on it), black baggy shorts, and black and white tennis shoes. Kinda reminds me of Jason Mraz… with the hat I guess.

The once blue-skinned Fishy was now a tan tone, though he did keep his deep blue hair. His strange eyes were covered with aviator glasses (which suited him well) and he wore a dark blue t-shirt and tan cargo shorts, with blue flip flops. Yep. He's totally made for the beach.

The last outfit somewhat surprised me, even though I knew it was just an illusion type thing, it was weird to see Tobi wearing only large sunglasses and a bunched up scarf to hide his face. He donned a familiar looking shirt of mine (my candy one to be exact) and regular jeans with black converse shoes.

"Girl. Where are Itachi and Deidara?" Directing my attention back to the whole group, I realized that the other two still weren't present. Wonder what happened to them. Vash stepped forward voicing a similar idea.

"We thought they might have gone with you since they just disappeared." There was an awkward silence in the room when we all realized they were missing.

"Yeah well… they can take care of themselves, right? They are ninjas after all. But… it has been a rough week. And they didn't even dress in their costumes. What if they get arrested and try to fight back?" The thought made me freak out a bit before Orangey spoke.

"I suppose we'll have to locate them first, but we can also search for the portal at the same time." Vash nodded her head.

"Why don't we split into groups to cover more ground?" And for once Orangey seemed to agree with her. "How about… I take Fishface, Konan, Stitches and the Bitch." Hidan burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Who's "the Bitch"?" Everyone just looked at him for a moment before it finally sunk in. His cheeks tinted pink. "WHAT THE FUCK I AM NOT A FUCKING BITCH YOU SHORT-ASS WHORE!" And in an instant he was rolling on the floor after receiving a swift kick to the crotch from Vash, whose face had gone slightly red in anger. Orangey coughed to gain everyone's attention.

"Well you deserved that Hidan for not having your guard up. So that means Zetsu, Sasori Tobi and I will be with… the other one." Ugh. Is it that hard to say our names? Sigh. No respect. Vash nodded.

"Okay. My group will take the south-west area after the neighborhood while Nicky's will be north-east. Let's get this over with."

Meanwhile…

Itachi awoke in an unfamiliar room filled with all sorts of… toys and girly things.

"Finally you're awake. Sorry I had to kidnap you Izaya, but I knew you wouldn't come quietly since you have more important "ninja" things to do."

He looked up to see Rin standing over him, guessing he was on the floor.

"I'm going to show you my toys and then we're having lunch with my parents because that's what a good person would do. I'm going to teach you how to behave."

Itachi sat up and stared at her, mildly surprised that a small girl like her was able to drag him to her home. He stood to leave, but sat down shortly after, feeling slightly dizzy. Rin smiled at his actions.

"Sorry. I knew what mug you used for coffee so I made sure to add a little something to make you sleepy. You can't leave yet. The effects won't wear off for a while. So make yourself at home! But don't steal anything. I know my toys are valuable." He gave her a flat look and sighed quietly, conceding to her childish wishes. What else could he do in his state? And he wouldn't want to traumatize her with any jutsus. He wasn't heartless.

Noticing his quietness, Rin skipped over to one of her many shelves filled with figurines and grabbed one that looked like a cat man, bringing it over to Itachi. "This is the Baron. He's a gentleman, just like you need to be. Now we're going to watch this movie and I want you to do everything he does, okay? Good."

He nodded slowly and watched as she sat up the movie on her large television. The others would be okay without them. And it's not like he couldn't handle himself. He did wonder what they were up to though.

Vash's POV

I decided to check out the busier part after our neighborhood, where the shops and food places were. We were trying to avoid anywhere too near our house after all. Who knows who would randomly recognize the ninjas even in their disguises. I'm sure if one of the guys were wandering around that area there would be some sort of fuss with police or something.

"Short bitch, I'm fucking starving. Buy us fast food." I gave Bitch a harsh glare and flipped him off.

"If you want food, Bitch, you have to give me money. I don't steal it like you guys. And it'd be difficult to steal fast food unless you took it from someone. We need to keep looking, not eating."

There was a loud growl that erupted form Fishface's stomach. He laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"I guess I'm hungry too. We didn't have breakfast since we had to get new clothes." I gave a heavy sighed and my stomach gave a growl of its own.

"Fine. We'll get some food, but you have to pay me back! Stitches I leave you responsible." He groaned loudly.

"You guys are going to waste all the money I have."

"That you stole."

"So what? I still had to work for it." I looked around for the cheapest place nearby and decided on Del Taco. Nicky would be jealous.

"All right guys, we're going to Del Taco. Follow me!"

Nicky's POV

"So… you think the missing guys are okay? I'm kinda worried about them. I mean… even if they're ninja, who knows what happened." Orangey er… Pein just shrugged at my comment and continued leading our group in the directions I pointed.

"Our first concern is the portal. They can handle themselves. Now keep looking. What's that area over there?" I looked to where he was pointing across the street to a large open park area.

"Oh. That's Sugarhouse Park. Wanna check there?" He nodded and nearly proceeded to walk into the middle of the street had I not grabbed the back of his tank top. I immediately let go and gave him a sheepish grin. "Er sorry I just didn't want you to get run over. Here we use these things to get across the street. Hey Tobi! No stop!"

Ignoring my directions, Tobi had already made it through half a lane before I heard a car honking at him. Instantly I latched onto his arm and pulled him back with a quick jerk, landing him and I on our backsides as the car sped past, honking the whole way. My heart was pounding quickly. Wow. I never knew I would be the type to help someone in trouble. Shows how attached I've gotten. Stupid. But I can't help it.

"Be more careful guys. You can't use your ninja powers in public or I'm sure the government would be on you like crazy fast." I sighed and stood up along with Tobi, grabbing his hand in the process. "Now follow me and don't go unless I tell you to. Got it?" No one said anything so I assumed they understood. Thank god Vash took Hidan. I'd die. Tugging on Tobi's hand I led them, with Pein's permission, to the crosswalk where I pushed the button for the light to change.

"Tobi likes holding girly's hand." I looked up at him to see him bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet while looking around. A smile crept on my face and I laughed a bit.

"You gotta be more careful. You could've been seriously hurt." When the signal came on I motioned for them to follow behind me close. I hope the other guys are okay.

Meanwhile…

"So Izaya, I understand you're Nicky's cousin and have been teaching my daughter piano. How long have you been playing?" Itachi looked up from his plate of expensive looking food (from what he's seen on Food Channel), to Rin's parents who sat at the end of a long oak table. Rin piped up, knowing Itachi was unlikely to answer.

"He's mute momma, I told you that. He's been playing since he was my age."

"Well that's very interesting! Isn't it dear?" Her husband looked up from his plate to nod quickly before going back to his food. The mother smiled once again at Itachi. "I'd love to hear you play. We have a grand piano in the front room."

Itachi's eye twitched unnoticeably before his gaze drifted over to a nervous looking Rin.

"Oh um… he's very self-conscious about his playing, momma. He's just here for a home visit to meet with you." Inwardly Itachi sighed. It would be a long day for him.

Vash's POV

"That's quite a bit for such poorly made tacos. It should only be about fifty cents," Stitches reasoned to the cashier. How he came to know this much about money, I'll never know. Maybe Chichi lent him one of Nicky's books. Who knows? All I knew was that he'd been arguing with this guy for the past twenty minutes about prices. There was a line of angry people behind us and to top it off no one could decide what they wanted.

I finally got fed up with his bargaining and pushed him aside, buying twenty tacos and a few burritos. Stitches is going to pay double what I spend. Maybe even triple. I grabbed the trays when they were ready and snapped at the loud group to sit down somewhere. They finally found a place at the back corner of the restaurant. I took a seat next to Konan while the boys sat across from us in the slightly longer booth. As soon as we sat down, both the Bitch and Fishface started stuffing their faces, while Konan and I took our time. After about five minutes they finished the plate, only letting the rest of us have one taco apiece.

"Hey short bitch, I'm still fucking hungry. Buy me some more fucking food," Bitch exclaimed loudly, slamming his hand on the table. A few girls in the table behind us giggled and waved at him. I wanted to puke. That'd be a waste of a good taco though. Fishface looked longingly at the counter.

"Yeah… I'm still kinda hungry too," he admitted sheepishly. Konan stood from her spot and I moved to let her pass.

"I'll get more food. I've collected some money of my own. You still have to pay me though, Kakuzu." Stitches just mumbled something into the hand that held up his face while Konan walked away to the counter where a couple of other guys stood. As soon as she walked up, they started talking to her, though it seemed more like flirting. I facepalmed. It's already turning out to be a hassle with these guys. Suddenly there was a loud crash, with glass breaking. I turned my head to see Konan toss a second guy into a wall across the room.

"What the hell bitch? We aren't supposed to fucking fight or I could've killed these bitches and made my own fucking food!" The Bitch yelled across the room, nearly flipping the table over. Stitches shook his head and Fishface tried to calm him down. Konan walked back over to us looking neutral.

"They said we're not allowed to come back here again, we've been kicked out." I groaned out loud and stalked out of the building, the other ninja following behind me. Turning around I glared at all of them.

"You're lucky you knocked them unconscious, otherwise they could sue you or something, Konan. I can't take you guys anywhere! Well mostly the Bitch, you two are okay." The Bitch sputtered and started yelling curse words at me, but he was soon quieted down by Stitches. "Shut up. All of you. We don't want to have police suspicious."

"Hello kids. Seen any suspicious characters around?" I whipped around in surprise to see a policeman standing behind me with an obviously fake smile. "Actually could you hang on a second? I need to check the radio in my car, but I need to ask you some questions." Shit. He's going to check their database or something for their pictures. That's how it happens in cop shows! Then we'll be arrested! And I will too for being with them! There was a strong yank on my arm and suddenly I was being dragged behind the rest of the group who were running away from the cop. I heard his sirens switch on and prayed that we wouldn't get caught. We darted into an alley and in a poof they were all back to their normal selves. Well, normal for them. I was lifted into someone's arms and then they were running again except extremely fast. Please don't get caught, please don't get caught. This is too much like one of the scenes from that stupid Twilight book! They'd better not drop me or someone will die.

Nicky's POV

Once we made it to the park in one piece, we started walking around, taking our search between the trees and around the playground areas. Getting bored, I started looking around for a distraction and soon found one in watching the different kites floating around. I'd always wanted a kite, but I never remembered to get them when I went to the store. I want a Chinese Dragon one. That'd be awesome.

"Hey! Nicky-chan! Let's have a picnic!" I looked away from the kites to see Tobi holding up a random picnic basket and blanket.

"Uh… Tobi where did you get those from?" I could just imagine a random family somewhere about to sit down to a picnic noticing that all of their stuff is gone. He just shrugged.

"Tobi doesn't remember. Let's go!" Pein and the rest of the group walked over to us to see what we were doing standing around.

"I didn't say to stop." I scratched my cheek and looked around for an excuse.

"Well… I saw these kites and I wanted to watch them because they are really neat, and then I started to get hungry and Tobi brought over a picnic basket so… we were gonna eat it." Pein looked from me to Tobi to the basket and sighed.

"I'm hungry too. Let's take a break and eat." I laughed to myself in excitement and sat down with the rest of the guys on the blanket Tobi laid out. I opened up the picnic basket to find six sandwiches, some chips, cookies and some bottles of water. Of course I grabbed a cookie first and stuck it in my mouth, chewing on it silently while the others, except Spirit, were eating sandwiches. Cal, Tobi and Pein were talking quietly to each other, so I decided to talk to Spirit a bit. He was watching some of the larger trees far off in the distance.

"So… what do you like to do for fun?" He gave me a sidelong glance and went back to staring at the tree.

"Making puppets. Making art. It is a passion of mine." I nodded my head, finishing off another cookie. He has a totally serious artist-like personality.

"Oh I see. Well that sounds pretty cool. Think you could make a puppet sometime? Here I mean. So I could see it. I like arty stuff and that'd be pretty cool. But only if you want to!"

"Well I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to. There'd be no point."

"I guess." I forget not everyone is like me in that aspect. Sigh.

"Art is eternal and everlasting. That stupid brat thinks it's something that happens in an instant. In his explosions."

"Oh you mean Foofy? Art can be a lot of things though. There are so many different kinds. It's hard to put a label on what is and what isn't." I looked to Spirit who appeared to be thinking.

"I suppose… but the most beautiful things are the oldest."

"A lot of the time they are, but sometimes new things are cool too." Gazing around the park again I noticed Cal was observing some random plants and flowers and Pein was just snacking on some chips. Tobi was over by the small lake, feeding something to the local birds. And then I had a sudden thought.

"Hey Pein. I was wondering… could you guys teach me some of your ninja ways? That'd be cool to be able to defend myself better or beat people up." Instead of just waving off my question like usual, he appeared to almost take it seriously for a moment.

"I don't think you'd be a good ninja. You're too innocent and clumsy. You also do not have chakra, the energy we use to fuel our attacks. Chakra is in all life in our world and enables us to become better ninja. Therefore the best you could do is take classes from some other form of fighting like they have on TV." I pouted for a moment but realized he was probably right. And I'm not even sure if I'd be able to beat anyone up if the time called for it. So I had another idea.

"Well could I at least watch you guys like… you know… train sometime or something?"

"We could use some sparring so we stay on our guard, but I do not know of a place to do that without drawing attention." I put a hand to my chin to think for a moment.

"Well… I could ask my uncle if we could borrow his cabin sometime. He lives about forty-five minutes away in the mountains and there are tons of open areas there. People don't live very close together there either so it'd be perfect." And that way I could have time to relax in the mountains and maybe look for wildlife or something! Yeah… awesome. And he has a hot tub! Even better! I love hot tubs…

"I suppose that could work. We still have to do more searching though, but training is needed."

"RUNRUNRUNNNNN! THEIR GOING TO EAT MEEE!" We both looked up to see Tobi running past us at a blinding speed with a gaggle of geese chasing him. Immediately I stood up and dashed away from them too, pulling Spirit and Pein with me out of reflex. Cal was also running from the geese, who seemed especially attracted to his hair for some reason. Eventually they were the ones pulling me (since I have terrible stamina), making me hang from their grips. One of the geese flew up at us and I kicked it in the face with my flailing leg. Angered it, and a few others, started nipping at my legs and feet.

"OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO DIE! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME YOU STUPID GEESE! GO FASTER! FASTER!" And so they did. I knew they probably would have just fried them with their magic-ness or something, but being in a park that seemed like a terrible idea. Letting Tobi play with geese was a terrible idea! I hope taking these "kittens" in won't mean an early death for me.

Back At Home

When we finally made it back, I walked in a collapsed on the couch where Vash was sitting. Everyone else was standing around, including a now present Izaya (wearing a random top hat) and Rin.

"Hey what are you guys doing here? We were wondering where you were. And we were tryin' to find you… but then we got sidetracked." He stared at me for a moment before slightly narrowing his eyes. Rin just smiled happily.

"Izaya and I had a play date at my house. Now he's a gentleman." I covered my mouth to stop my laugh and noticed Vash scanning the room.

"So… where's Blondie?"

"Uh…"

A Few Houses Down…

"Wake up sleepyhead." Deidara wearily opened his eyes, feeling a fog over his mind.

"Ugh… where the hell am I, hm?" Francesca just giggled at his antics.

"We're in my room, hon. I have a surprise for you." Confused, Deidara opened his eyes wider to see his so called "admirer" standing beside him in a wedding dress. He blinked to be sure he wasn't dreaming, and tried to get up only to realize he was bound by ropes to her bed. "We're going to be married! I already have it planned! Isn't it great? Hehehe… you look so handsome right now."

"What the hell is wrong with you, yeah?" He hastily broke out of the ropes with his awesome strength and jumped up, looking for the exit. The girl stepped in front of him.

"Hey! We haven't even kissed yet!" Deidara backed up against her wall and decided to take his chances. Again summoning his strength, he turned around a punched straight through the concrete to the outside and hightailed it out of there. Francesca raced to the now gaping hole in her room and looked out to see he was gone. She sighed and sat on her bed.

"Poor guy. Why's he so shy of me all of a sudden? Oh well. He'll come around."

Nicky's POV

After I told Vash and the rest of the guys about our training plans, we decided to all stay home the rest of the night and lay low. Rin was conducting a tea party with some of the members (Fishy, Spirit and Cal), trying to teach them how to be more gentlemanly, like Izaya. Prolay had to pay back Vash for the trouble everyone else caused, poor guy, since he was the only one in the group who actually had money. Suddenly the door burst open and a frazzled looking Foofy walked in, scowling.

"Why the hell didn't anyone come look for me, hm? I was stuck at that crazy woman's house all day, yeah!" Vash just shrugged.

"Sorry. We had more important things to do. If you were a real ninja you probably wouldn't have been kidnapped." He seethed silently and locked himself in the bathroom. I yawned loudly, placing a hand over my mouth to cover it up.

"What a way to end a week like this."

Foosha: Sorry if there are any mistakes! I'm totally out of it right now and in serious need of some sugar. And I hate geese! They are the devil.

Nicky: A cabin trip sounds fun!

Vash: With these guys though it'll be anything but relaxing.