"What kind of questions?" Sasori asked, though he knew full well what kind of questions Tomozou was going to ask. Tomozou was not stupid, naïve, or blinded by familial love, like the other two children currently were. He was probably feeling spiteful and devious, not only because Sasori had beat him into the ground earlier, but because Hitomi and Seishirou left him alone the second they got their father back.

"I'm not asking you--I still hate you," Tomozou snapped, narrowing his cyan eyes. He nodded towards Kakuzu. "I'm asking him. He was the one who stopped you for us, you psychopath."

"I've been called worse…" Sasori said loftily, setting his chin in his hand. Kakuzu snorted, trying to keep from chuckling. Sasori gave him a look, however, that said not to give too much away. This was dangerous information to give to a kid.

"Shoot, then." Kakuzu turned to him, looking faintly amused. He'd taken off his mask and head wrap earlier that day, complaining of the heat, and had neglected to put either of them back on. It was clear that Tomozou was still trying to adjust to his stitches.

"Who were the members of the Akatsuki?"

He was a pretty smart kid, Sasori noted. He knew better than to ask directly about Seishirou.

Kakuzu tilted his head back, pretending to think. Tomozou saw through it, however, and huffed--but he knew better than to rush a man easily twice his size. "Well… Let's see…"

"Better get that old brain of yours working again, Kakuzu. Get the cobwebs out of there," Sasori joked halfheartedly.

"Coming from the man who probably does have cobwebs between his ears," Kakuzu replied without missing a beat. "Akatsuki members. Before or after the Bijuu battle?"

"Before, obviously," Tomozou said with a frown.

"That's still not very specific. You see, between the two of us here, we've gone through… Oh, about five partners? All of them complete assholes. Are you counting those, or--" Sasori couldn't suppress a smile. It was kind of sad they were taking advantage of a kid for their own amusement, but oh well. He didn't have a conscience.

"The ten members that fought the Bijuu, twelve years ago!" Tomozou said, probably a bit more loudly than he should have. The other three in their group looked up at the outburst. Sasori saw Neji narrow his eyes a bit; he knew what they were talking about. Seishirou just stared at them cluelessly with his ringed eyes. Neji quickly drew the other two's attention again with the conversation, leaving the other three relatively alone. But Sasori knew the Hyuuga man would be listening.

Kakuzu pointed at himself, then jerked a thumb towards Sasori. "Us. Our partners, Hidan and Deidara. Zetsu, and his partner, Tobi. Itachi and Kisame, and then there was Leader-sama and his partner, Konan."

"I knew about all of them except Zetsu, Tobi, Konan, and the leader," Tomozou said, mostly to himself. He took a few moments to think. Kakuzu shot Sasori a wry smirk, clearly wondering how much they could get away with before another outburst.

"How'd you know about Itachi and Kisame?" Kakuzu asked in amusement. "Do the academies actually remember them?"

"I never went to school."

"His mother is Karin," Sasori said, cutting across Tomozou's answer. Kakuzu's reaction was worth it. His head snapped towards Sasori so fast he was surprised he didn't snap it.

"Fucking serious?"

"Three guesses as to who his father is," the redhead said by way of acknowledgement.

"Wow." Kakuzu turned back to Tomozou, grabbing his chin and tilting his face towards the firelight. "I guess I didn't notice it before… Holy shit. He looks just like Suigetsu."

"You knew my parents?" The kid obviously couldn't believe this, and remained skeptical after Kakuzu released him.

"I knew…of them. Sasori knew them a bit more personally." He shrugged. Then, a sudden thought struck him in the form of, "Hey… Does this mean that Orochimaru's his fucking grandfather?"

"Who the hell is Orochimaru?"

"In a way, it kind of is," Sasori allowed, trying hard not to laugh. "I'm merely amazed that the kid isn't a puddle of water somewhere, with how unstable his DNA probably is."

"Hey, kid, can you take a hit?" Kakuzu asked, peering down at him.

Tomozou bobbed his head fiercely, glowering at them both. "I know what you two are talking about, but I don't know who Orochimaru is." He wouldn't let the matter drop.

"My partner prior to Deidara," Sasori supplied flatly. "In a way, he caused most of this."

"How?"

Once again, Tomozou was ignored as the two men spoke. Kakuzu blinked, and then nodded. "You know what? That's fucking right. If Deidara hadn't killed off that creepy bastard, he wouldn't have met that princess, and he probably wouldn't have fallen for--"

"Point is, Orochimaru's responsible for a lot of things," Sasori interrupted. "Who knows what life would have turned out like if he hadn't died so conveniently."

"I almost wish my old dumbass partners had died more important deaths, now. Instead, all they gave me was Hidan."

"But he has such a winning personality."

"Yeah, I'll say. I hope the Bijuu eat him and shit him back out before we find him. Then I can finally bury him without having to worry about stitching him back together."

Tomozou cleared his throat, and the two returned their attention to him. "Did all of those members you listed die on the night of the Bijuu attack?" he asked, clearly trying to keep from snapping at them again.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On how specific you want to be. Technically, Itachi died that night, but not as a result of the Bijuu--"

"I know, I know, Sasuke-san killed him. But what about the other five?"

"Sasuke-san? You know him, too?"

Tomozou glared up at them, his mouth a thin line. Obviously he wasn't going to get into his own history when he wanted to know about the Akatsuki's.

Kakuzu sighed and leaned back again. "Hmph. Kids these days. No fun."

"I agree," Sasori said blandly.

"My question."

"Fine, fine, lay the fuck off while we try to figure out just how much to tell you."

Tomozou's eyes widened, catching the firelight. He darkened back into a scowl just a moment later, however, as he figured out that Kakuzu was teasing him again. "Knock it off!"

"Why? There's nothing else to do."

"Look, I just want to know which stupid member of the stupid Akatsuki was Sei's--" Kakuzu clamped his hand over Tomozou's mouth, shutting him up. Both he and Sasori looked over towards the happy family, who thankfully hadn't noticed, save Neji.

"Sasori, damage control. Neji needs to know we're not too much of a threat just yet," Kakuzu said quietly. He stood up, dragging Tomozou along with him. "Come on, kid. We're taking a walk."

-.-.-

Tomozou let himself be dragged off into the desert night, though he wasn't happy about it. He merely knew that he didn't stand a chance in hell against Kakuzu, and if he didn't cause a scene, he might just get some questions answered.

Once they were far enough away that the fire was just a pinpoint of light on the distant horizon, Kakuzu sighed, running a hand through his long hair as he stopped walking. Tomozou stared sullenly at him. "You're causing a lot of trouble, kid,"

"I just want to know a few things."

"Like what? This time, none of those games. I can see through them before you can even think of them, and they're getting really fucking annoying." Kakuzu sighed again, and Tomozou didn't miss him roll his eyes.

"Which Akatsuki member was Sei's dad?" Tomozou asked flatly. That was the heart of the matter, though if he really was going to find out whatever he wanted about the Akatsuki, he had a few other questions in mind, too…

"Only his dad?" Kakuzu obviously was talking to himself, but Tomozou heard it nonetheless. "Hmm. …Well, I really don't have much control over you, short of the fact that I could snap you like a twig, but here's the deal. I'll tell you enough to sate your curiosity, but you can not let Seishirou know. Or the little girl."

"Deal." So he was finding out stuff they shouldn't know? That was even better.

"So… Seishirou's father, as you've guessed, was a member of the Akatsuki." Tomozou had known it, but he hadn't necessarily realized it.

"How did he end up with Hitomi's parents, then?"

Kakuzu gave him a flat look. "…I can tell right now that you're going to go off on tangents."

"We have all night. Suna will still be there for us tomorrow."

"We're waiting until sundown to attack."

"It will still be there for us tomorrow at sundown."

Kakuzu sighed, obviously seeing that not even logic would deter Tomozou from his attack. "Right. Well then, let's see… Hinata--Hitomi's biological mother--was best friends with Deidara, Sasori's partner. She, because of Deidara and his influence, was kind of adopted into the Akatsuki as a sort of…princess."

"Wait, what--?"

"Don't ask. I'm not elaborating on their fairytale," Kakuzu replied wearily. "Ask Sasori about it sometime, though. He'll love that." It was clear that Sasori wouldn't love that, which was precisely why Tomozou made a mental note to do that.

"So, Hitomi's mom was adopted. That's how they knew the Akatsuki members?"

"Yes."

"What about Sei, then?"

"His father was an Akatsuki member."

"'Was'. So he's dead, then."

"Yes. His mother is dead, too. Because of…situational problems, Hinata and Neji took Seishirou as they fled the village of Amegakure."

"What do you mean--?"

"I mean what I mean. If things had been planned more carefully, I doubt Hinata would have ended up with the damn kid. But they weren't, and half our organization up and died that night," Kakuzu snapped, patience all but gone at that point. Tomozou hid a sheepish smile and relented.

"So… His parents both died that night. How old was he then?"

"A little over a week, I think… Young."

"…May I ask who Orochimaru was?" Tomozou asked timidly, sensing the edge of Kakuzu's tolerance of him.

"Sasori's old partner. He told you that."

"I meant… What connection did he have to my parents?"

"Why not ask Sasori? He knew about it more than I did. I only tolerated Orochimaru and his experiments. I never had a hand in them like the Suna bastard. Any more questions?"

Of course he had more, but Kakuzu's tone made it more than clear that he shouldn't ask them just then. "N-No."

That night, he couldn't sleep. He couldn't stop thinking. So Sei is descended from Akatsuki… And my parents have ties in this 'Orochimaru' guy, too. I wonder who he is? The name didn't sound particularly familiar, but then again, Tomozou didn't have the best long-term memory. He sighed and rested his head against his shoulder, the only available pillow without going to sleep by Seishirou and Hitomi. He'd done that often while they were on their own, but now, he didn't feel right intruding on their happy little family. Feh, stupid kids, he thought spitefully, opening his eyes to glare at their sleeping forms.

It was clear that the adults wanted him to go to sleep so they could talk, and that was part of why he was staying up. He was kind of hoping they'd get tired of waiting to discuss their plans and just go ahead with their conversation, though they didn't. Eventually, Tomozou drifted off to sleep.

-.-.-

"Is he asleep yet?" Sasori asked, glancing at Tomozou out of the corner of his eye.

"His heart rate is slowing down; yes." Neji sighed, turning off his Byakugan. To be using it again to make sure children were asleep… It left a lump in his throat. Usually it was Hinata's job to tuck the kids in and make sure they went to sleep. "So, what did you tell him?"

"Little brat thinks he's hot shit figuring out that Seishirou had a dad in the Akatsuki. He didn't even bother asking about his mother." Kakuzu chuckled quietly. Neji stared at him flatly.

"What are you going to do if he tells Sei?"

"He won't. There's too much animosity between them for such secrets to be shared," Sasori replied with a smile.

"Speaking of animosity--"

"Here we go."

"--What were you three doing yesterday?!" Neji demanded, ignoring Kakuzu's eye rolling. The other two probably wanted to discuss their Suna-related plans, but he wasn't going to back off until he had some clear answers. It wasn't every day you found an old friend trying to kill your daughter.

"You know how Suna traveling is," Sasori said sarcastically, waving him off. "Everyone got a little hot, and some tempers snapped."

"Sasori, I'm serious."

"I didn't kill any of them, did I?" He returned Neji's glare. "I was more than a little fed up of having to wait for them constantly, and you know I'm not the most patient man around."

"Were you honestly trying to kill them?"

"Maybe just Seishirou…" The brunette punched him in the shoulder, though he knew Sasori wouldn't feel any pain. "Fine. If you must know, I was wondering if he would use any sort of ninjutsu he shouldn't know."

"You were testing him--? And you tried this by attempting to murder all three of them?"

"It worked. He used a Katon jutsu and he nearly roasted the Copy-nin puppet." Sasori shrugged before flopping down onto the sand below. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired."

Neji leaned over into his view, still glaring. "You're a puppet."

"Alright, stop it, both of you." Kakuzu pulled Neji away from him. "Sasori was being a bad boy, but he did it with a good intention. End of the damn story."

"Kakuzu, you stay out of this," the Hyuuga man snapped. "You don't have children, so you don't know--"

"I'd sacrifice them to Jashin if I ever did, too, especially if I ever started acting like a pansy. What happened to the cold, beat-the-hell-out-of-anyone-who-looked-at-me-wrong Hyuuga brat I used to know?"

"No, it was whoever looked at Hinata-hime wrong," Sasori corrected. "He and Deidara had that in common."

Neji didn't appreciate being ganged up on, but even he had to admit that he wasn't so angry now that he knew Sasori's intentions (even if they were completely absurd). Plus, he knew when to let a subject drop. Though suffice it to say that he wasn't exactly going to be great friends with Sasori again for a long, long while. "…Suna, then?"

"Suna," Sasori agreed, without moving from his spot on the sand. "Though with you two here, the three brats are entirely superfluous."

"You only got them because you planned to sneak into Suna with them, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You would have left them alone in the wilderness if you hadn't needed them."

"Yes. I dislike children."

"Funny, I recall you saying the same thing about a certain blonde awhile ago…"

-.-.-

Hitomi woke up slowly, wiggling her fingers and toes as she squinted into the morning sun. She sat up, stretching with a yawn. She'd had the most wonderful dream… Kirigakure had been safe and whole again, and she had been with her family once more. Ryo and Miki were both still alive, too. In addition to that, Tomozou was there, with a couple of people she hazily deemed his parents.

"Seishirou." She rolled over and shook her brother, slightly eager to tell him about her dream. He had been in it, after all, and for some reason he had been the Mizukage… "Seishirou, wake up."

Seishirou grunted something and rolled away from her. Hitomi, miffed, decided that he didn't need to know about her dream, after all.

"I hope you get sunburned again," she whispered vindictively, rubbing the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes. She then looked around, craning her neck around for any of the others. Hitomi frowned; Tomozou was still sleeping a little ways away, but her father and Sasori and Kakuzu were not there. "…Father?"

No response. Hitomi got to her feet, all traces of sleepiness gone. She could see where he had sat last night, when they had recapped their travels for him. But now, there was no dad in that area. The sand didn't allow for footprints very well, either.

"Father?" Still silence. Hitomi frowned, casting about for any reason he might have left her for. Did they go to Sunagakure without them? It was still early morning, with the sun just starting to rise in the sky; they had been going to leave at sunset, not sunup. "Seishirou." She marched back over towards her brother and shook him again.

"Nngh, wha?" She scowled. If she could have spared the water, she would have dumped it on him. She settled for the next best thing: sand. Seishirou bolted up immediately once he got a faceful of sand, coughing and wiping at his eyes. "Hi-Hitomi-chan! What the hell was that for?!"

"Father is missing. All of the adults are." Seishirou stared at her, trying to decide whether or not to be angry for getting woken up like that. Hitomi stared back at him, still frowning. "They were not supposed to leave us!" she finally burst out.

"They just went to Suna…"

"They were not supposed to!" she insisted, kicking the sand in front of her. "We were going to go at the beginning of twilight. Not dawn."

"Maybe they wandered off to find food or water or something…" Seishirou paused, yawning. "Or they could have left to talk. Did you check the area with your Byakugan?"

"It makes me feel sick," she muttered darkly.

"Then just sit and use it. You don't have to be moving, you know," he said, a bit more kindly. Hitomi, sulking, sat down because she couldn't think of a reason not to. She crossed her legs carefully in front of her, and then closed her eyes.

"Byakugan!" The colors around her faded out to black and white and some shades of blue, but no matter what color it was, sand was sand. And that was all she saw. True, her range was limited, but she didn't see any traces of where the adults had gone. Hitomi shut it off before shaking her head. "There is no one in our area."

"Well… They probably went scouting. Hitomi-chan, they didn't leave you." Seishirou knew how to get to the heart of the problem, apparently.

Hitomi shook her head, pushing out her bottom lip. "Th-The last time Sasori left us… He almost never came back. If he had run into father and Kakuzu earlier, he would not have come back for us at all. Fa-Father, too, he--Every time someone comes back, they leave us again!" Frustrated, she pulled at her hair, trying her hardest not to cry in front of Seishirou.

"Hitomi--"

"Mother and father, Sasori, even Kakuzu--Ryo and Miki--even Kisho left me! Why are they all leaving? Why can they not just stay here and talk things out and-and--Why will they not just tell me what is going on?!"

By now, Tomozou was awake. He was sitting where he'd fallen asleep, rubbing at his eyes with one gloved hand, the other supporting him. Seishirou glanced at him briefly, before returning to trying to calm his sister down. "Hitomi-chan, they didn't leave you. Dad is coming back, same with Sasori and Kakuzu-san. And after we get some information from Suna, then we'll go rescue mom--"

"If they did not leave, then where are they?!" she demanded furiously, blinking back the tears. Seishirou cringed, again looking to Tomozou for some sort of help. It was not forthcoming.

"They went out. I don't know where they are, but they didn't just abandon us." Seishirou tried to pull her into a hug, but she resisted and instead got to her feet. He decided to try a different approach. "Hitomi-chan, stop this drama. You're acting irrationally. Is that how a kunoichi should act?"

"I do not care! I just want my parents and my friends and everyone back! Now!" She stamped her foot in the sand. She was now crying in earnest, too. "Ninja are stupid if all they ever do is die!"

Tomozou chose that moment to finally come to Seishirou's rescue. "Ninja are stupid like that. But everyone's stupid. Everyone dies. Get used to it." Unfortunately, his words were less than comforting.

Hitomi stared at him, unsure of how to take his words. At least she wasn't crying so loudly now…

Tomozou didn't smile or frown, but instead continued. "You, me, Sei. We're all going to die one day. Your mother, your father, my parents, we're all going to die. So why worry about it? Why are you throwing this fit about it? Your dad will come back if he's alive, and if he's dead, then we'll move on."

"Fa-Father is--dead?!"

"Nice going!" Seishirou snarled, grabbing Hitomi's wrist and pulling her down into his lap. "Hitomi-chan, dad's not dead. He just left for a little while. He'll come back."

"He--He will die someday, then--"

"Hitomi-chan--Hitomi!--look at me." Seishirou grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. She blinked at him, still teary. "Yeah, the idiot is right; we're all going to die some day. Not today. Not soon. Some day when this is all behind us and we're happy again, okay?"

"How idealistic of you," Tomozou muttered, setting his chin in his hand. Then, he grinned suddenly. "Just like your dad, I bet."

Seishirou glowered at him, but his anger was soon put on hold as Hitomi gave a wail and buried herself in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rocked her until she stopped crying.

-.-.-

"Hell, if I knew we were going to be assaulted, maybe we shouldn't have come back," Kakuzu remarked as Neji was suddenly tackled by two very excited children. Sasori carefully stepped away from them as Neji fell over, after a valiant battle trying to keep his balance.

"Children--what's wrong?" Neji busied himself trying to detach them both and understand them; Seishirou and Hitomi were talking at the same time, trying to speak over the other. "Shh! Hitomi-chan, you go first."

"Father is stupid!"

Sasori and Kakuzu both stifled laughs behind their hands. Neji didn't seem amused by his daughter's remark, either. "…Seishirou, your input?"

"You're stupid!"

This time, even Tomozou was trying not to laugh. Seishirou eventually got off of Neji, but Hitomi wouldn't budge. He solved the problem by picking her up, to which she immediately tried to get away. Neji kept her firmly in his arms. "Hitomi, settle down. Now." She instantly quieted, if a bit sullenly. "Now… Why am I stupid, according to you two?"

"You worried Hitomi-chan," Seishirou said accusingly. Then, he pointed towards Tomozou, adding, "And that bastard made it worse. Can you please explain to her that you're not dying any time soon?"

"Sei! Your mother has told you not to swear!" Tomozou was failing at trying not to laugh. Seishirou looked properly chagrined, before shooting a rebellious glance over his shoulder at the pink-haired boy.

"It's his fault…"

"Ha-Hardly! You were swearing long before you met up with me."

"It is Sasori's fault," Hitomi spoke up, glaring at Sasori over her father's shoulder. The redhead raised both eyebrows, but offered no immediate rebuttal. He was probably more surprised at the accusation coming from her, rather than the accusation itself. "He is a bad influence on us." Then, in a tinier voice, she added, "…He should leave."

"I see I'm still not forgiven," Sasori replied simply.

"No." Neji set her down, but she stayed by his side, keeping him between them. "None of you are forgiven!" she exclaimed furiously.

"Forgiven for what?"

"For leaving again."

"Is that my crime?" Sasori asked. Neji shot him a pointed look, clearly telling him to shut up.

"Hitomi-chan, we left because we got the opportunity to go into Suna without endangering you children."

"What?!" the two boys shouted at once.

"It's always amusing to see how unskilled, inexperienced genin are so excited about the dangerous missions they'd likely die on," Kakuzu remarked with a sort of fondness. Sasori nodded his agreement.

"Fuck off!" Tomozou barked at them, before turning back to Neji. "Why did you go to Suna without us?"

"They were trying to protect us," Hitomi replied. It was almost like she was defending them, but the venom in her voice was hard to miss. "They thought we could not handle it."

"We've fought Bijuu, dad! Bijuu. I think we could handle a simple destroying mission." Seishirou set his fists on his hips, rolling his eyes at the audacity of the adults' instinct to protect the children.

"You lost Miki the first time and Ryo the second time you did that, if I recall correctly." Neji's tone made Seishirou shut up, at least for the moment. The ginger-haired genin bowed his head, cowed. He then sat up fully before standing up; he set Hitomi on the ground in front of him. "I think this conversation has shown me just how much we all need to talk." None of the children has the guts to say anything in reply, and just stared defiantly back at him.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Talk commences! The adults explain Sunagakure's condition, while the children excite themselves over moving into new lands--and hopefully, getting one step closer to rescuing the potential Bijuu fodder. Everyone seems surprised at everyone else, however; Tomozou reveals knowledge that even the Akatsuki-nin didn't know, and Hitomi graces them all with her forgiveness.