A/N: Mwahaha, second chapter in one day. X3

Sick and tired of hearing all these people talk about "What's the deal with this pop life and when is it gonna fade out?" But then you got to realize what we're doing is not a trend. We got the gift of melody we're going to bring it till the end

Drii groaned looking at her clock. 'Who in the hell is playing old N'Sync songs at 6:30 AM?'

Stepping out of her room, she peered down the hall and saw Tobi dancing in the living room. "TOBI! TURN IT OFF!"

"But Tobi's a good boy!" he squealed over the loud music.

Slamming her door shut, Drii went over to her dresser and picked out her outfit for the day. She picked up her clothes and went into the bathroom to take a shower. As the hot water poured over her skin she thought about what she was going to do to hide on her birthday. She supposed they all forgot what day it was, so if she laid low and didn't drop clues about it, she'd be safe. She toweled off the beads of water from her skin and pulled on her jeans and AFI shirt. She found it funny that at 20 she could look like she was 16.

She walked out of the bathroom with her hair wrapped in a towel and a toothbrush in her mouth. Stepping into her room again she searched for a hair tie while Tobi changed the song to Axel F. With a sigh she realized that she'd have to wear her hair down for a day. But returning to the bathroom she found the door was shut. She knocked on it a few times and heard Itachi tell her it was occupied.

"Come on! I need to do my hair too!" she said.

"I'm about to take a shower," he responded.

She sighed in exasperation. "I've seen your ass naked before, open the door!"

She heard the lock click and slid into the bathroom and let him get into the shower before she opened her eyes again. She resumed brushing her teeth and moved on to the wet mass of waves that was her hair.

"Where's my shampoo?" Itachi asked over the water.

"Under the sink where you put it," she said before handing it to the patiently waiting hand outside the shower curtain. "I'm borrowing one of your hair ties."

"Don't get your germs on it," he teased.

"At the moment my germs are the least of your worries, dear friend."

She nabbed a hair tie from his part of the cabinet and left the bathroom and Itachi in peace. Upon returning to her room she started running a comb through her hair and came across a tangle in a hard to reach place. By now everyone was awake so she went to Sasori and handed him the comb. He motioned for her to sit on the floor in front of him and Kili watched him work the tangle out.

"Is this a normal occurrence?" she asked smiling.

Drii returned the smile. "Sadly yes. Such is the curse of long and gorgeous hair."

Kili turned around and saw the reason she'd stressed the word 'gorgeous': Itachi had walked into the room running a comb through his own hair. He muttered his trademark 'hn' and continued his activity.

Kili looked back at Drii for an explanation.

Drii smiled, "It's an agreement we have. He's not very social around most of the Akatsuki, so on occasion he has to say something about his hair if I challenge him with my own. It'll make more sense if you just watch it. Besides, we all know my hair is SO much better."

Itachi gently combed out a knot (yeah, he's human. he gets those). "It's red."

Sasori handed Drii the comb letting her know he was done. She stood up and her newly combed hair fell to her thighs. "It may be red but it's softer and smells better than yours. I smelled your shampoo. You and your lavender-ness."

"So long as it's soft and it smells good," he said.

Then there was a pause. Drii took a lock of her hair and smelled it, seeming confused. "Why does my hair smell like Axe?"

The two exchanged glances. Then they both rushed upstairs to the bathroom to investigate. Drii opened up the bottle of what was supposed to be her shampoo and the smell of Axe greeted her. "I think..." she stopped talking as they both came to the same conclusion: Tobi. Drii ran downstairs to clobber him and Itachi got to work putting them in their original bottles that looked nothing alike.

Kili laughed as Tobi ran around the base trying to escape Drii's glare. Sasori, who wanted quiet today, quickly settled it. "Drii, why don't you go play the piano downstairs? Tobi, you can just...do whatever you do that's quiet and won't get you in trouble."

Kili watched them go to their activities and looked over at Sasori: "You seem to play the father figure a lot."

Sasori replied sarcastically, "I'm even the mother sometimes."

Kili laughed and looked over at Itachi who had taken a spot next to her on the couch. They exchanged a quiet conversation and soon everyone quieted down at the sound of the piano downstairs. Coldplay's 'Clocks' greeted their ears as Drii played the notes while lost in her own world. Itachi and Kili walked into the downstairs to listen better.

Of course, it didn't look like a basement at all. It was nicely furnished with carpet and a nice paint job. In one corner was the piano being played by Drii, in another was a nice area to sit down and read a book. The room was the same size as the floor above and even had a room that resembled a dance studio.

"Drii often disappears down here. It almost takes an ANBU squad to get her out," Itachi said quietly.

Kili laughed softly. "She brightens you up, though. You seem more social when she's around."

Itachi shrugged. "I suppose she's like a sister to me. Either that or someone like you that I can trust."

They sat down on the couch as Drii scrolled through her iPod for another song to play.

"Any shout-outs from the audience?" she asked suddenly aware of her company.

"How about some Beethoven?" Itachi asked somewhat sarcastically. This earned him an "oh please" look from the pianist.

She sighed and decided to give it a shot. Hesitantly she began playing Fur Elise. Kili watched as her hands gracefully hit the keys sometimes seeming indecisive about which key to stroke. After a while her hands started getting tired, so she simply made her own ending to it.

She got up from the keys and looked over to where they were sitting, about to say something. Itachi motioned for her to be quiet and Drii saw Kili asleep with her head on his lap. She smiled, and started walking to the stairs when he stopped her. Gently setting her head down on a pillow, he pulled Drii into the reading area of the basement.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

"I think something's wrong with her. She's been sleeping a lot lately, and she seems hungrier than normal." he said in a somewhat rushed tone.

"Hungry for food or hungry for blood?" Drii asked.

"Food," Itachi replied.

Drii thought about this for a few moments. "It could just be a phase, Itachi. Is there something outside of this that gives you reason for concern?"

Itachi thought. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Is she like this on her period? Does she have a history of this? Tell me."

More thinking was done by the Uchiha. "She was like this once before. But that was when...that happened." he said quietly.

Drii nodded. 'That' referred to an incident only the three of them knew about; an incident that almost cost Kili her life.

"I'm not saying it's certain, Itachi, but it's a possibility that she may be. I don't know right now. But we'll wait it out and make sure she stays healthy. If it happens again, and turns out how it did last time, she might not make it through."

Itachi took in her words and nodded. She put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile before walking upstairs.