"Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess called Konan. The princess loved to sit outside when the weather was fine, and often she could be found playing in the meadows with her colourful ball.

"But one day as she was playing, Konan accidentally lost the ball down a well. She rushed over and peered down it, but it was both dark and deep. It seemed as though her ball was lost forever.

"Just then, a frog jumped out of the well and said "I could get that for you of you like."

"The Princess leapt back, startled, before remembering her manners. "Oh, erm, that would be awfully kind of you," she said.

"The frog winked at her. "I only want a little favour in return," he said, before leaping down the well.

"After only a few seconds, the colourful ball flew out of the well, with the frog clambering out after it. The Princess thanked the frog and turned to leave.

"But the frog stopped her. "Wait," he called, "have you forgotten the deal? I want something in return."

"Konan asked the frog what she could do for him, imagining that he wanted request gold or jewels, or something similar. To her horror, he asked her to kiss him."

"Ew! That's gross!" One half of Zetsu exclaimed. The other half wrinkled his nose in agreement.

Once more, the entire Akatsuki were gathered around Tobi, who was reading another fairytale. Deidara was, for once, present of his own accord, although he still pretended he hated every moment of it. Tobi glanced up at Zetsu's comment before continuing.

"Konan refused, and stormed off back to her castle, leaving the frog sitting on the side of the well. She promptly forgot about her unpaid debt.

"That evening, as the King and Queen were eating supper, a croaking noise came from outside the dining hall. When the king went to see what was causing it, he saw a frog sitting on the floor. "Please, Your Majesty," said the frog, "I wish to speak with your daughter."

"Needless to say, the king was extremely surprised to hear the frog talk, but he let him in. When Konan saw the frog, she leapt up and cried, "Away, accursed creature!"

"But the frog simply replied, "I demand payment of your debt."

"The King and Queen were confused, and asked the Princess what was going on. When she refused to answer, the frog told them what had happened down by the well.

"Upon hearing the tale, the King and Queen agreed that Konan must do as the frog asked. Reluctantly, she kissed him.

"But as soon as she did so, a puff of smoke surrounded the two. When the smoke cleared, instead of the frog was a handsome prince!"

Tobi would have continued reading, but an excited and very feminine sounding squeal from Pain stopped him. Pain blushed as the rest of the Akatsuki turned to look at him, and gestured Tobi to continue.

"The frog, who was actually a prince called Pain," Tobi said, shooting a sly look at his leader, "explained that he had been the son of a rich king before an evil witch cast a spell on him. The spell could only be broken by a princess's kiss.

"The princess fell in love with the prince as soon as she saw his true form, and the two were married the next day.

"And now it is said that every frog you see is a prince under an enchantment, just waiting for their princess to kiss them."

Tobi looked up from the book to see the Akatsuki with tears in their eyes. Even Deidara looked touched by the story.

"That was beautiful," Pain sniffed. The rest of the Akatsuki agreed. "And just think," He continued, "all those poor princes stuck as frogs…"

Suddenly Tobi leapt up. "Leader-sama!" He exclaimed. "We should save them!"

Nine ninja crept around the bushes outside the Leaf Village, waiting for the gates to open. Only Kisame was missing from the group; he had been deployed to collect frogs from a nearby river.

They all remained utterly still in their various hiding places, barely even fidgeting when a group of three ninja strode out and came walking towards them. Pain raised his arm, the signal, when he saw one of them was kunoichi, and the other Akatsuki members leapt from the trees.

Ino, Shikamaru and Choji didn't know what hit them when. Within a few minutes, Choji and Shikamaru were out cold, and Ino was bound and gagged.

Ino struggled to free herself, but the ropes were too tight. She looked up fearfully at Pain, who clapped his hands dramatically and called out: "Kisame! Bring the frogs!"

Kisame walked forwards carrying a bright red bucket. He grinned happily as he pulled out the first victim - a worried-looking green toad.

"That's a toad, Kisame," Itachi commented.

"It doesn't matter," Pain said impatiently. "Un-gag the Princess!"

Kakuzu removed the wad of cloth from Ino's mouth, and the confused girl immediately began babbling.

"I think you're mistaken," Ino said hurriedly. "I'm not a princess, and I don't want to kiss some slimy toad!"

"Neither did the princess in the story!" Tobi exclaimed excitedly. "That proves it. She must be the princess!"

Kisame pushed the toad to Ino's lips and pulled it away again. Ino coughed and spluttered, chanting "ew, ew, ew," while the Akatsuki watched the toad with suspense.

Nothing happened.

"It didn't work," Itachi finally said, disappointed. "I told you it needed to be a frog."

"There must be a frog in here somewhere," Kisame said. "She can just kiss all of them until we find one."

Eleven amphibians later, a disgusted Ino and a disappointed Akatsuki found themselves looking at an empty bucket.

"Maybe she just isn't princess enough…" Hidan commented, as they walked away, leaving a struggling Ino tied to a tree. "Perhaps we should try someone else."