I have a confession to make: I don't own Naruto. I know this comes as a shock, but... it's true.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

New P.O.V.: Reia

My mind was fogged, bringing back memories of a trip to South Sudan and an unfortunate run-in with a bar - literally. It was difficult to open my eyes, and I was suddenly reminded of Shylah's description of what it's like to wake up with pink-eye. For a brief, panicked moment, I wondered if I'd somehow managed to contract the illness. I didn't want to be at any less than one hundred percent today, the day I finally convince the police (who for some reason weren't taking Mischa and I seriously) that our friends were really missing and in need of help.

The sound of voices faded in through the fog. "We should just eat her and be done with the nuisance. We can't just eat her, that would be rude! There are too many annoying girls running around our headquarters. She's not even dead, yet! Besides, look how small she is; she's barely enough for a good breakfast."

My eyes shot open as I realized they were talking about eating me. It took a few seconds to adjust to the poor lighting before I could see, but when I could, I was startled to see a man with two totally opposing skin tones, yellow eyes, green hair, and some sort of Venus flytrap-like mantle or something protruding from his shoulders. I gasped and sat up, mentally checking myself for any injuries while I kept my eyes on him. I hated hostage situations, especially when I was in them.

… This isn't my first rodeo, okay?

"Oh, she's awake. About time!" He - they? - turned to me fully, his black half looking irritated while his white half looked mildly concerned. "Are you alright? We don't want to eat bruised meat."

"You want to eat me?" I was finding it difficult to wrap my mind around someone actually wanting to eat me. I mean, I'd encountered cannibalistic tribes on journeys with my parents, but they'd never actually wanted to eat me. "I'd rather not be eaten, today. Check back in seventy years, please."

"Is that supposed to be humor? Why would it be humor when it wasn't funny? Maybe she's not a very funny person. If that's her humor, she's better off being eaten." I stared as he proceeded to argue with himself. It was weird to witness, but if he wasn't focusing on eating me, I wasn't complaining.

A pungent odor hit my nose. Whatever dank room I was in, it smelled almost like a funeral home mixed with a tomb. I subconsciously curled in on myself and tried not to look at anywhere but the ground. I don't know why this smells so bad, but I don't want to risk being mentally scarred by looking around.

"I've been living here for nearly a full week now, and I just found out that the door to the basement is in the cellar, the door of which is in the pantry." The Green Man and I paused as that familiar voice drifted quietly from the top of the stairs. Two pairs of footsteps proceeded down the stairs as the voice continued. "I didn't even know we - you - have a pantry. Or a cellar." Both sets of footsteps stopped at the bottom of the stairs, but I couldn't get a clear view of who they were. "Where are the lights?"

A switch was flipped, and I blinked rapidly at the sudden influx of light. There was an almost inhuman hiss, and when my eyes had adjusted I was treated to the sight of Shylah pressing her face into the back of a man with an orange mask. "Warn me next time, Tobi-san."

Tobi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Shylah-chan. I thought you were prepared when you asked for the light."

Shylah sighed before hesitantly peeking her head up. "Hey, Zetsu-san. Reia, this guy over here is Zetsu. Zetsu, that young lady right there is Reia. Oh, and this is Tobi," Shylah added, patting Tobi's shoulder once. "Welcome to the wonderful wizarding world of Harry Potter."

"Shylah, I don't think you should be joking at a time like this."

Shylah waved the comment away as she stepped towards me, removing her cloak in the process. "In these troubled times filled with ridiculously serious plebs, one plebeian rises above them all to provide comedic relief to those who clearly need it." When she reached me, Shylah swung the cloak she was holding onto my shoulders and adjusted the clasp so that it wouldn't fall off my narrower shoulders. "There. Thanks for humoring me and not eating her, Zetsu-san."

"You're welcome, Shylah. She wasn't worth the effort, anyway." Both halves of the Green Man - I mean Zetsu - replied. I eyed them warily as they seemed to meld into the wall behind them - him? -, suddenly glad that my barely-five-feet-tall stature had helped prevent me from becoming a meal.

Shylah waved him off lazily before turning to Tobi. "And thank you, Tobi-san, for helping me find this place. It's like a labyrinth in here." She paused for a second before continuing. "Oh, and judging by the course of events thus far, someone will most likely end up in your room next. It will probably be my sister, Mischa, so I'd appreciate it if you were nice to her. You also might want to keep your mask on when you sleep or something so that she doesn't see your face, y'know."

"Okay. Thanks for letting me know. It was nice to meet you, Reia-chan!" I stared, taken aback, as Tobi waved exaggeratedly at me before running up the stairs faster than I could keep track - that is, until he tripped up the final step and went tumbling into what was, according to Shylah, the cellar.

I wrinkled my nose once more as I caught another whiff of that awful stench from earlier. "What do you think that smell is, Shylah?"

Shylah paused on her way to the stairs and sniffed deeply before gagging and tightening her scarf around her nose. "Ugh, gross. This basement is probably used as a freezer for storing dead bodies or something. Zetsu can't always be expected to eat them on the spot."

I squeaked and hurried after Shylah as she resumed walking up the stairs, sending furtive glances back over my shoulders. "I slept in a room filled with dead bodies?! Why are there even dead bodies down here?"

"Probably because we're in a base filled with criminal psychopaths in an organization known as the Akatsuki," Shylah informed me with a 'duh' tone of voice. "Whom we are all guests of, by the way. They didn't actually kidnap us, but we're definitely not able to get home - through no fault of theirs. Our situation is just a bit more complicated than grabbing a boat and sailing the seven seas until we get back home."

"Shylah, if there was ever a time when I actually wanted you to be joking, that was it." In response, Shylah merely turned her head to look at me, a small smirk growing as she took in my serious attitude. "How are we going to survive this if you keep joking around, Shylah?"

"With skill and finesse, dear Reia. Skill and finesse." At my persistent stare, Shylah finally dropped the smirk and turned serious. "If you must know, I was going to gather information on this world by reading various books. We could use even the smallest things casually mentioned in even the lightest reads to help us assimilate, research everything we can, and pool our knowledge together so that we have enough information to live here naturally as though we were born here."

"But how do we get back?"

Shylah sighed in frustration, while her body language conveying only casual indifference. "I don't know. They way we all appeared here - the rest of us in a member's bed, while you were in the first place Zetsu would go in the morning - doesn't leave much room for investigation. The Akatsuki have some of the strongest and smartest ninjas currently, and if they can't figure out something with their abilities, it's doubtful we could."

"But you're a genius!"

Shylah wrinkled her nose for a brief second before returning to a blank mask. "Genius. I hate that word. Our definitions of genius must be very different. Compared to some members of the Akatsuki, I'm incredibly average on the intellectual scale of things." Shylah held up a hand, interrupting what I was about to say. "That's beside the point. My point is, our priority should be our ability not to stand out in a crowd and to avoid danger. We already stand out to a ninja - every living thing here has something called chakra, which we distinctly lack. We need to be convincing enough that we could just be an unusual phenomenon."

"We're with criminals who, I'm assuming, already know we're from another world. Can it really get more dangerous than this?"

"They're not the only criminals, and sometimes you don't have to be a criminal to do bad things. It's all in your perspective, and right now there are only one or two other places where we'd be safer. This isn't the safest place in the world, but at least they aren't interested in experimenting on our lack of chakra networks."

"'Safer' doesn't mean 'ideal'. I know an ideal situation isn't very realistic, but until we're absolutely safe, we need to spend as much of our time and energy as possible on figuring out a way back home."

"We should focus on safety first, and safety involves our ability to fit into this world. When we don't have to worry about some mad scientist experimenting on our abnormality in this world, then we can focus on getting home. For the moment, Reia, let's just follow my method. As far as we know, this will all work itself out and we'll be back home in a few months." I huffed and looked away. "Reia, come on; pouting doesn't suit you."

"Fine," I sighed, looking around. In the time we'd been arguing, we had not only exited the basement, but also made our way through several twists and turns, up and down staircases, and generally just lost our way. Shylah seemed to know what she was doing, though, so I at least had some hope that we weren't completely lost.

"Good. Just so you know, we have a whole corridor basically reserved for our use. This," Shylah told me, gesturing to the hallway we'd just entered by opening her arms as though to envelop it in a hug, "is that corridor. Our rooms start from this end; you may choose whichever unoccupied room you like. It'll be pretty obvious which rooms have been occupied and which ones aren't."

I nodded and began opening doors. After going through a few that were clearly lived in (messy beds, since I seem to be the only one who knows how to make her bed in the morning), I found one that wasn't occupied. It wasn't huge, but then again it probably wasn't made to do much more than house basic sleeping quarters. I shrugged and exited the room, nonplussed by the idea of getting to know it better.

Shylah was leaning against the wall across from the door when I returned. "Do you wanna borrow Emi's clothes, or are you good to go clothes shopping in my cloak?"

I paused to think about it. "I can just wear the cloak. It's like a giant blanket, so I don't have to worry about anyone seeing my pajamas in it."

Shylah nodded and pushed off from the wall, heading back the way we came from. "Okay. I'll probably have Tracey go shopping with you, then. She seems to like doing that, and it keeps her occupied so that she isn't whining to us about how bored she is."

I shrugged. "I'm okay with that."

"Good," Shylah replied, handing me a coin purse. "Here's the money you'll need. Try to dissuade Tracey from incurring any unnecessary expenses, and make a quick stop at a bookstore or two for anything that looks like it could hold necessary information."

I nodded again. I feel like she's sending me on errands because she doesn't want to do them herself.

"Oh, and be careful; there was a murder here a couple of days ago."

What?!

I stared at the architecture in awe as Tracey and I made our way through the village. As we walked (I walked; Tracey skipped), I made a mental note of the location of every place we passed that looked like a bookstore. There weren't very many - I only managed to spot about two before we reached the mall -, and the ones I did manage to find looked run-down as though they could barely afford to keep their doors opened. The whole of Amegakure looked like that, actually.

"Hey, Tracey, why does everyone look like they're just above the poverty line?"

Tracey put a finger to her chin as though trying to remember something. "Shylah mentioned something about the country having to recover after years of neglect and mistreatment, as well as the costs of a revolution. They're actually doing better than they seem; once you get inside the buildings, they look really nice. I think no one bothers with the outsides of their houses because the rain will just wash it all away."

I nodded in agreement. The rain was good on occasions; it tended to bring a sense of newness and freshness to the world after it had passed. That was the key word, though - passed. The second we'd gotten outside, Tracey had told me that the rain in Amegakure was somehow controlled by Pein, the leader of the village and country, and that he almost never stopped the rain. Instead of feeling refreshed, the area covered by his rain felt drenched and drowned. It was no wonder the village had industrialized; they probably couldn't get any plants to grow, anyways.

"I think I'm going to miss the sight of flowers very soon, Tracey. In a few days, I'll probably turn catatonic at the thought of my poor garden forced to grow wild without me." I sighed and my shoulders slumped. Back home I had been starting an organic garden to help ease the costs of groceries - a garden that, without my tending, would most likely wither and die.

Tracey patted my shoulder consolingly. "Don't worry, Reia; we'll find a way to get you your own garden here! That way you won't be in a catatonic state, and we can all appreciate your gardening skills. Except for Shylah, because she has allergies."

"How am I supposed to grow a garden in this rain? There isn't even any sunlight around here!"

"We'll find a way!" Tracey resolved. She walked over to a building and held the door open for me, indicating that we'd arrived at the mall. "But first, shopping~!"

I smiled as Tracey grabbed my hand and proceeded to drag me from one store to another before finally settling on one that had clothes that 'suited' me. I preferred to do my own clothes shopping, but Tracey loved shopping for not only herself, but other people. Most people would dismiss it as an obsession with gaining material things, but anyone with eyes to see could figure out that she prefers buying clothes for others that will help make them feel better about their appearances - almost like some kind of 'shopping therapy'.

Of course, that didn't mean Tracey would never buy clothes simply for the almost euphoric feeling of getting something new. I had to talk her down from getting me an unnecessary pair of dress shoes and an evening gown that she swore helped emphasize my figure. I also had to convince her that I wasn't interested in buying sexy lingerie, or a see-through camisole meant to go over some sort of undershirt. That (and her tendency to buy thirty outfits in one go) aside, I managed to come out of our shopping trip several coordinating clothing items richer.

We also stopped by various other stores to buy some essentials we knew we'd be needing eventually. I was surprised to find out that Shylah and Caitlin of all people had been muddling through their days without even a hairbrush to help them with their untamable hair. Tiamat had bought herself one along with some toiletries on her shopping trip, but didn't buy anything for anyone else. My motherly (shopping) instincts took over, and I was soon buying things I deemed essential for everyone.

After a full day of shopping (we'd ordered a small lunch from a food stand when we were hungry, and thus managed to stay out past dinner time), we were both stuck with our arms filled with shopping bags. The bags weren't very heavy, but they definitely weren't light, either.

"Ugh!" Tracey moaned, sagging exaggeratedly under the weight of her bags. "I'm never going shopping again!"

"Why don't I believe you?"

Tracey morphed her expression into a pout. "No one ever believes me. What did I do to deserve this distrust, huh? What did I ever do to you guys?!"

"Maybe it's because you say that after every major shopping trip you go on, and you go on a lot." I pointed out, resisting the urge to roll my eyes at her childish behavior.

"Eheheh, oops," Tracey replied sheepishly. She blinked when I entered a bookshop, pausing before following after me. "Why are we in here? Don't we have enough bags to carry around without having to deal with these books?" Tracey, being the opposite of an avid reader, wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Shylah wanted me to buy some books while we're in Ame, and I've decided to oblige her. It's not a big deal to me, since it'll keep us occupied for the time being." I scanned the various titles, suddenly glad that Japanese was one of the languages I'd decided to learn to use. After a few seconds of inner debate, I decided to buy a few adventure novels and four novels that only Shylah, Emi, and I would have the patience to read.

Tracey hopped impatiently from one foot to the other as I juggled all seven books in my arms. I ignored her in favor of laying them out on the front counter for their prices to be added so that I could buy them. The cashier gave us a questioning look, but proceeded to ring them up, anyway. "Would you like to buy a storage scroll for your items so you don't have to carry all these books?"

What's a storage scroll? I don't know what a storage scroll is! I swallowed nervously, putting on my best casual face. "Uh, no thank you. I-I, we, w-we don't n-need o-one." I tried not to grimace at how terrible I felt for even that little lie. I swallowed again, this time in an attempt to avoid asking what a storage scroll was.

The cashier nodded sympathetically. "Don't worry, I can't control my chakra at all, either. It would probably be better if we had some way to train our children in the ways of the ninja, but thankfully we have our god to look out for us." With that the cashier handed my books (and change) back to me, wishing me a safe journey home.

I waited until we exited the store before speaking. "Say what?"

Tracey shrugged. "They view Pein as their god. I can kind of understand why - I mean, he controls the freaking rain and is apparently super-powerful. Oh, and he uses the rain to see everything in his village. Obviously not everything, because no one knows who that one murderer is, but you get the idea."

"If he can see everything with the rain, how did he miss a murder taking place?"

"I don't know. Maybe he was focused on something else?"

"What would be the point of seeing everything with the rain if getting distracted means that you can't focus on anything else?"

Tracey tried raising her hands, only to have them pulled back down by the weight of her bags. "Hey, I just threw an idea out there - don't ask me questions I won't know the answers to."

"Right. Sorry." We walked for a while before coming to a stop in front of the door to the Akatsuki base. "So… how are we going to do this?"

Tracey adjusted her bags on her arms before tentatively reaching out a bag-filled hand to open the door. I used my foot to hold it open for her, and she did the same for me once she'd entered. "We make a great team, Reia!" Tracey exclaimed. "That was kind of fun."

"We'll have to do that again once we reach my room; I don't think I'll be able to do that by myself," I replied as we walked past the kitchen. It was empty, and I was suddenly reminded that we'd stayed out past lunchtime. "When's dinner served around here?"

"Shylah usually has it made by around five." Tracey giggled when I gave her a look. "Yeah, I didn't believe Shylah cooked at first, either. She's not half bad, either. You and Mischa are still better, but the food could be worse - T could be cooking." She paused. "I could be cooking. Or Tiamat. Actually, she helped Shylah cook a few times. It was pretty tasty."

"I'll have to get in on this cooking fest later."

"I'll hold you to that when I start making supper." We both jumped mid-step (and Tracey screamed) before turning to see Shylah standing in the hall connecting to the one we'd been walking down.

Tracey placed a hand over her heart. "Don't sneak up on us, Shy. You fucking scared me!"

Shylah ignored Tracey's nickname for her and rolled her eyes (she's secretly very immature). "I wasn't sneaking, Tracey. Maybe if you two were a little more observant you would have noticed me beforehand and avoided embarrassing yourselves."

"Why would we be embarrassed?"

Shylah shrugged. "I'd be pretty embarrassed if something as miniscule as someone talking caused me to scream like I was being jumped. It's not actually a very normal thing to scream at the slightest provocation."

Tracey pouted, once more trying (and failing) to cross her bag-laden arms. Shylah apparently noticed this, because she stepped forward and took some bags from both Tracey and I without a word. I raised an eyebrow because she'd taken enough to be carrying more than we had - not a good idea, since she didn't have as much muscle as we did. Shylah simply shrugged and turned to walk in the direction we'd been going to our section of the base.

Tracey immediately brightened and skipped after her, leaving me to follow at a slower pace. "Thanks, Shy!"

"Hm. Reia, would you like us to give a summarization of the Akatsuki members' appearances and names so that we don't have to bother with introductions later on?"

"Sure," I replied while Tracey hopped up and down once in her over-exuberance at the idea. "Tracey, it's not that big a deal."

"I know, but I'm just glad someone finally thought to do that! I didn't know who hardly anyone was when I first go here, so I felt kinda awkward not being able to address anyone by name." Shylah and I had to hold back laughter at the thought of Tracey feeling awkward in a social situation.

"Okay… Well, you already know Zetsu and Tobi. Pein-sama has orange hair, ringed eyes, and a ton of piercings; you can't miss him. Konan-sama has light blue hair, and since she's the only female member, it's pretty hard not to know who she is. Itachi-san has black hair and either red or almost-black eyes. Kisame-san has blue hair and looks like a shark-human. Kakuzu-san almost always wears a mask of sorts, and has red-and-green eyes. Hidan is pretty much an albino with pink-ish eyes."

"Like a rat!" Tracey giggled.

Shylah paused and rolled her eyes at Tracey. "Yes, Tracey, like a rat. Anyways, then there's Deidara-san, who looks like an androgynous blonde but is most definitely a guy. Finally, Sasori-san is-"

"He's basically a large blob that squidges around on the floor," Tracey interrupted.

"He doesn't squidge along the floor. Squidge isn't a verb; I don't even think it's a word."

"Mischa uses squidge all the time."

"Then let Mischa use her made-up words and stop trying to convince Reia that Sasori-san is some kind of distant relative of Flubber."

Tracey gasped. "Don't compare my description of Sasori to Flubber! Flubber's so cute, and Sasori's just creepy." Tracey then turned to me and continued in a stage whisper while Shylah face-palmed at what she said. "Shylah's just sensitive about his appearance because she appeared in his bed."

Shylah sighed. "No, Tracey, I'm just trying to point out that he doesn't look like some kind of weird blob thing with a head and metal scorpion tail. No matter how much you and Caitlin insist otherwise, that isn't true."

We reached the door to my room, so I opened it and held it open for Tracey and Shylah before following them in. "It's a tight squeeze to fit all three of us in here." I caught Shylah giving me a deadpan stare. "What?"

Shylah just shook her head. "Don't worry about it. You two wouldn't get the joke, anyway."

I frowned as Tracey giggled and started putting my things in my drawers. "Shylah, get your mind out of the gutter. You're too old to be acting this immature."

"Maturity is overrated," Shylah replied, earning another giggle from Tracey. "See? Tracey knows what I'm talking about."

Tracey paused in her messing with one of the shirts she'd bought for me to raise her hands in surrender. "Hey, don't bring me into this! Of course I think what you said is funny - that doesn't mean I agree with it." Tracey giggled again. "Although I do."

I sighed and helped Tracey put away my clothes. Shylah unpacked everything from the bags, handing us my clothes and sorting out the various necessities we'd bought into an even pile for everyone. "By the way, tomorrow's cleaning day. Since that's kind of how we're earning our keep around here, you're both expected to help."

We both nodded in reply. I liked cleaning, and Tracey was no stranger to the whole cleaning thing, either. "Good," Shylah continued, "then you won't mind cleaning the rooms that Hidan and Kakuzu fought in."

Tracey whined something about hating to clean blood, and Shylah smirked evilly. Oh dear, I thought to myself. What have we gotten ourselves into?

I glanced over at the cookbook in front of Shylah. It calls for four cups of rice… There are four cups of rice in this recipe, and Shylah said I'll need at least three times that. I'm going to need more boxes of rice. How can they afford to feed themselves? Maybe ninjas earn huge salaries…

When Shylah had mentioned that it was time for her to make supper, I had volunteered because I had no other obligations to fulfill. When I'd gotten to the kitchen, Shylah had said that we would need to triple the recipe because most of the Akatsuki members ate a lot, and we were also going to eat what was prepared. I was given the duty of cooking the rice properly, while Shylah prepared the pork. Emi had joined us and was in the process of making a curry sauce.

Everything was peaceful until Hidan walked into the room. "Oi, bitches, when's the food gonna be done?"

Emi immediately tensed, while Shylah sighed irritably. "It will be done the same time today as it has been done every other day I've cooked here. At five o'clock you may come back and check with us again."

Tish chose that time to enter, followed by Caitlin and Tracey. "Is anything done? We were going to eat an early meal so we could get back to our planning." Behind Tish, Tracey smiled sheepishly and Caitlin patted her stomach for emphasis.

"Back off, bitch! I was here first!" Hidan yelled, interrupting the explanation Shylah had begun to repeat.

Tish immediately went on the offensive, puffing out her chest and drawing herself up to her full height, which was only one inch shorter than Hidan. "Say that again to my fucking face," she snarled, getting in Hidan's personal bubble.

My eyes widened at the murderous gleam that entered Hidan's eyes. "Back the fuck off, bitch. I called first dibs on this shit!"

"Tish," I began, trying to diffuse the situation, "maybe you shouldn't get into any fights right now."

Shylah nodded. "If this food gets knocked over again, I'm not making you any." I ignored the 'again'; it was probably just best to accept these kinds of things.

Tish glared at us threateningly. "Stay out of this. I have a score to settle with this bastard." She turned back to Hidan. "I'll do what I want, motherfucker!" Tracey left the room hurriedly, Caitlin immediately following after her.

"Fuck off!" Tish punched him in the gut - hard. It was enough force to make him double over. He quickly straightened and chased after Tish when she ran out of the door. "Get back here, you bitch!"

"He's not going to kill her, is he?" Emi asked, looking between Shylah and I.

Shylah shrugged nonchalantly. "Does it really matter if he does?" She rolled her eyes when Emi gave her a frightened look and I tried to silently chastise her. "If it make you guys feel better, they've been doing this every day since Tisha got here. It's a way for them to blow off steam. I also think it's how they flirt."

"That's not how Tish flirts," I scoffed, checking to make sure the rice was steaming nicely.

"Then it's how they flirt with each other."

Emi frowned. "I don't know; Tish seemed pretty serious, and Hidan didn't look like he was messing around, either."

Shylah waved off Emi's logic. "Hush, children. Mama Shylah knows these kinds of things."

Emi giggled, and I just sighed. Sometimes I feel like the only mature one in this group.

Tiamat chose that time to enter. "Is there any reason Tisha is being chased through the base by Hidan? They're both being rather loud… and a bit obnoxious… Their excessive use of expletives is getting rather old, too."

Shylah shrugged. "They're just being them."

"Ah."

Emi turned to Tiamat, a shy smile on her lips. "Would you like to taste the curry to make sure it's alright?" Her smile withered under Tiamat's no-nonsense stare, and she began talking nervously. "I-its just that, it's been a w-while since the last time I made c-curry, and I-I wanted to make sure it w-wasn't bad. If-"

Tiamat made her way to Emi's side at the same time Kisame poked his head into the kitchen. "What kind of curry is it?"

Emi's face reddened at the sudden arrival, and she busied herself with getting some curry for Tiamat to taste. "J-just a l-light curry, since the t-tonkatsu Shylah's m-making is the m-main d-dish," she replied, growing more and more flustered by the second. She nearly dropped the tasting dish Tiamat handed back, which made her face redden even more. She clearly knew how obviously embarrassed she was - she winced every time she stuttered, and quickly put the bowl shakily down after fumbling with it before trying to busy herself with the curry.

Tiamat and I exchanged a glance. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed how her eyes had started to water at her own embarrassment. Crying would only make her more flighty, though, especially if there were this many people around to see it.

My head whipped over to Shylah at the sound of a sudden thud to see her cutting knife inches deep in pork she'd been cutting. She whirled around to face a surprised Kisame, crossing her arms. "Do you people think I enjoy being interrupted while I'm cooking? This is unpleasant enough as it is without you Akatsuki members coming and going and generally slowing my progress! Shoo! We'll admire the awesomeness that is Kisame's shark-like appearance later."

Kisame grinned, showing off his extremely sharp-looking teeth. "I can see when I'm not wanted. I'll be back at five for some of that curry."

Shylah watched him leave before turning back to her pork and finished preparing it before taking it over to the stove and beginning to cook it. "…think they can come into my kitchen and distract me while I'm cooking… …I'll show them…"

I ignored Shylah's slightly psychotic muttering in favor of making sure Emi was back in control of her emotions. Emi took a deep breath and straightened, seemingly going back to normal. "Thanks, Shylah."

Shylah's insane mutterings paused. "What?"

"Thanks for helping me out?" Emi questioned, starting to look unsure at Shylah's confused expression.

Understanding dawned on Shylah, and she suddenly looked disappointed. "I wasn't trying to be nice."

Tiamat scoffed. "You look like you failed your indifference quota for the day."

Shylah immediately went back to her neutral expression (and her cooking). "That's right - I wasn't trying to be nice, so any niceness that come of my indifference is totally unintentional and therefore acceptable." Shylah paused and cast the three of us a glance over her shoulder. "Just don't push it, okay?"

Emi squeaked an affirmative and I frowned at her while Tiamat simply rolled her eyes. "Such a good friend, Shylah."

"Even the use of sarcasm can't sway me to the side of friendship, Tiamat. You know this," Shylah smirked before going back to her cooking. She somehow managed to give off an aura of 'don't talk to me or I'll dump this pan and all its contents on you' while she just stood there and maintained an apathetic appearance.

Preserving Shylah's silent wish to be left alone, Tiamat turned to Emi. "It was good. I think you should take over cooking from Shylah." Tiamat dodged the spice bottle Shylah threw at her, catching it before it hit Emi in the face. "After all, she hates cooking." This time Tiamat couldn't avoid the spice bottle, since she didn't notice it being lobbed into the air so that it landed squarely on the top of her head. Tiamat rubbed her noggin and picked up the second, significantly larger, bottle of cooking spices. "You're lucky these are plastic."

I frowned. "I think buying glass bottles or expensive dishes would be like asking for them to get smashed on someone in this place."

"Is that why there aren't any decorations around here?" Emi wondered aloud, moving her pot of curry to where I was putting cooked rice on plates. She waited for me to put a hot pad down before setting her curry pot on it.

"No," Tiamat replied. "It's actually because their treasurer is dirt cheap and doesn't make any unnecessary purchases. You're right, though; anything breakable or of value would probably be destroyed within a week." Tiamat's hand subconsciously fingered her necklace.

I raised an eyebrow. "Did that appear here with you?"

Tiamat's eyes widened slightly and she hurriedly tucked her necklace through the neckline of the shirt she was wearing. "I didn't take it off when I went to sleep, and so it appeared with me when I first woke up here. Don't tell anyone about it, just in case."

"I understand. I think you can rely on all of us to keep it a secret," I assured her. I wasn't about to break her confidence. Carrying a family heirloom around a group of criminals was asking for trouble, but she couldn't help it in this case.

Tiamat's gaze shifted to Shylah. "But can I trust Shylah to keep a secret?"

Shylah sighed, and I got the distinct impression she was rolling her eyes. "Shylah usually doesn't even want to talk to people. How is Shylah going to talk about Tiamat's necklace if she's too busy telling people she prefers the quiet?"

"Don't speak in third person, Shylah. It reminds me of Tobi."

Shylah tossed her hair and smirked at us over her shoulder. "Shylah doesn't know what Tiamat-chan is talking about."

Yo! So, an actual small confession: I was finished with this chapter on Thursday night. Yeah...

Also, I went to the state fair on Friday to go to the Three Days Grace concert. It's not the same with the change in lead singers, but different doesn't always mean worse. Right before the concert started, a large dragonfly flew to me and placed its face to my cheek for a second before flying away. I can now say that a dragonfly kissed my cheek.

Have an awesome week!