Yeah, I'm late after moving my update day back. I'm sorry! T.T

My Internet provider needs to get its crap together! :(

Mischa's P.O.V.

"What are you doing?" Glancing up at the unfamiliar feminine voice, I blinked when I realized that the speaker was Konan – away from Pein. She was gazing down at my little drawings and origami, but her focus was primarily on my origami scorpions riding my fierce origami dragons. It was weird seeing her in the drab (hehe) setting of the Akatsuki living room, since to me she always seemed to look almost regal, despite the piercings.

Smiling, I held one pair of my army of duos out to her. "I started making some scorpions, but they looked lonely, so I made them some dragons to be friends with and help conquer the world! Then all the people who pour alcohol on the cute little scorpions will get eaten by the dragons, and all the dragon hunters will be poisoned by the scorpions."

The corners of Konan's lips twitched up in a small smile, and she knelt down beside me. "Do you have dragons where you come from?"

I felt my stomach sink at the thought of dragons not actually being real. "Only the enlightened know for sure, but the general consensus is that they don't exist, and never have. It's okay, though; one day I'll find them, and my sister and I will rule the world with them. That way, people won't keep dying for stupid reasons, and if we rule the world, no other countries will be there to attack us." Remembering that I was supposed to be from the same world as them, I smiled at Konan sheepishly. "Well, the world across the ocean. If you want, we can fly here once we have things settled over there and help you guys plot world domination. Then we'll all be best friends and we can have super-awesome ninjas where we live, too."

Konan raised an eyebrow. "Do you think conquering your lands will solve all of your problems, as well?"

Rubbing my chin in thought, I frowned contemplatively. "Not really. I mean, where we come from, we've already had two world wars, and the country I'm from has used nuclear bombs. Nuclear bombs are kind of like a super powered version of Deidara's clay, except that they create these huge explosions that can kill millions of people. You'd think that everyone would do their best to keep it from happening again, but that was over fifty years ago and people either are starting to forget what it was like or just don't care. We might have another world war on our hands eventually, so using nukes didn't help anybody, really. I guess where I'm going with this is that you can't scare a generation into submission and expect their great grandchildren to remember the horrors with the same amount of emotion."

"I see."

"I guess it'd solve all the problems temporarily, but you can't please everyone, so we'd have a civil war on our hands eventually."

"You have an interesting view on war. Most people in the ninja world would say that war is often just, or at least permitted, because a ninja thrives on conflict. Peace means that no one needs ninja anymore."

"Dude, if war was necessary for ninja, then you'd all go to war until there were no ninja left. Don't ninjas get missions and stuff from civilians who're about as chakra-proficient as I am?"

"Yes…" Konan replied, drawing out the answer.

"Then you'll survive without war. If anything, war will be the death of ninjas, since it depletes the numbers and makes everyone lower the standards for who's qualified to actually be on active duty."

Konan's face darkened momentarily before resuming its expressionlessness. "Perhaps our world would be better without ninja."

I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I think that if there were no ninja, people would find other ways to have huge armies capable of killing off entire civilian populations singlehandedly. People from where I'm from don't have chakra, but like I've said, we've had plenty of normal wars and world wars."

"How can they be considered world wars if they don't involve us?"

Crap! "I guess it's because… We don't know about the rest of the world? It's for the known world! Yeah…" What're you talking about? I'm the most convincing liar you've ever seen! She totally believes me. Not… I winced at her blatant – yet somehow perfectly-concealed (don't ask how I even know) – disbelief. I totally could've handled that better… "We never really covered it in our classes, and I don't think they'd bother to unless they knew they were wrong. Which we don't. Didn't. I know, but they don't. I'll just… shut up, now…"

After a brief pause, Konan slowly, hesitantly, gave me a small smile. "It's alright. I enjoy listening to you." She turned to the entryway. "You may come in, Tobi. We aren't discussing anything important."

My eyes widened – When did he get here? – as Tobi walked into the room, his hand rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Tobi didn't mean to eavesdrop. Tobi just thought Konan-san and Mischa-chan might be talking about…" He trailed off before continuing in a stage whisper. "…girl problems."

I blinked in the ensuing silence before letting out an involuntary snort. As if a dam had been broken, I began to laugh uproariously. At their confused expressions (well, Tobi I didn't know about), I tried to tell them between gasps for breath. "I'm sorry… it's just that… Tobi's talking about girl problems. I didn't… know he knew about them!"

Tobi blinked. "What are girl problems? Everyone mentions them without explaining to Tobi."

I immediately sobered. I kind of wonder if Obito seriously doesn't know about the menstrual cycle… He has to know, doesn't he? "Um, well, Tobi, girl problems are where… Oh, hey, Sis! Tell Tobi about 'girl problems', 'cause he wants to know!"

Shylah – who had literally just entered – stopped and frowned at me. "Do you mean girl problems or girl problems?"

Tobi tilted his head to the side confusedly. "There's a difference?"

After glancing briefly at me, Shylah smirked a very predatory smirk and turned to Tobi. "Well, you see, Tobi, when a girl reaches approximately between the ages of eleven and thirteen, her body begins going through certain changes. In order to prepare for full physical maturity, she begins to go through the process of something called the 'menstrual cycle', in which an egg, a component of conception and human life, is produced. The egg then matures until such a time as when it is ready to be fertilized. The lining of the uterus – an organ designed to house the fetus – increases in thickness. In the event that the egg(s) are not fertilized, the egg is expelled and the lining of the uterus is broken down using a considerable amount of mechanical force in an often painful process mimicking the contractions one would experience during labor. As the menstrual cycle is a cycle, the process repeats within the time of a little less than a month."

Tobi was silent for a few seconds, and then "Oh. OH, KAMI! I need mind soap!" Tobi yelled in a very… un-Tobi voice. Apparently, he didn't know about that…

Shylah raised her eyebrows before addressing Konan. "One would think he would've learned that somewhere along the lines when becoming a ninja."

Slowly, Konan nodded. "I think all the official Akatsuki members know." Her face fell into a concerned frown. "Of course, you never know. It's entirely possible that some of them weren't taught that simply because it wasn't deemed necessary."

Sis grinned mischievously. "Let's see… Who wouldn't have knowledge of that if it wasn't absolutely necessary? Possibly Kisame, but I think he would've figured it out by now. Maybe Hidan or Deidara, since that doesn't really seem to pertain to them. I wonder…"

Konan sighed. "Please don't attempt to find ways to mentally scar our members. As S-ranked criminals, their sanity is already precarious enough as it is."

"As you command, Konan-san."

Konan nodded and returned her attention to me. "Would you like to make origami with me?"

I smiled. Making origami with the origami-master Konan? Count me in! "Sure! Do you want to use some of my paper?"

She shook her head and held out her hand. From her wrist, a perfectly square piece of delicate white origami paper removed itself and floated lightly to her hand. "I have my own supply."

"Mind if I join in on this origami-making fest?" Shylah questioned as she walked over to us. "It's been a while since the last time I made something with my little sister."

"Sure!" I chirped, holding out a slip of paper for my sister to take. When she had taken it and sat down, I looked at Konan. "What should we make?"

"Do you know how to make flowers?"

"No, but I'd like to learn if you'll teach me."

"Very well," Konan replied, positioning her paper on the coffee table. With several fluid motions, she created an intricate origami flower. Holding it up for us to see, she began to speak. "This is a bit more complicated than what I'll be teaching you, but I thought you might like to keep it as a reminder of what you could accomplish if you practice enough. Now, as for what I'll be teaching you today…"

Emi's P.O.V.

"I'm so bored without Kisame and Itachi here!" Tracey whined from behind me as she began twisting my hair into a complicated braid. "I miss my 'tachi!"

Covering my mouth with my hand, I giggled. "Your Itachi? When did this happen?" I missed them as well, though. They'd been gone for the past two weeks on the same initial mission they'd been sent out on, and I was starting to worry.

"Emi~!" Tracey scolded lightly, tugging on my braids for emphasis. "Don't tease me when I hold your precious locks in my hands. I might have to cut your hair as short as mine." A pause as she pulled my braids back for an up do or whatever she called it. From the mirror stand Tracey had bought with her pick pocketing funds (don't tell Reia that she's still doing that), I could barely see above the tip of her chin to where her mouth was twisted into a frown and her tongue stuck out in concentration. "You have a super-weird haircut."

I frowned, one eyebrow dipping down in confusion. "I do? How so?"

"Well, the outside," Tracey began as she tugged on that part of my hair for emphasis, "is past shoulder-length; but when you lift the upper parts up, the parts underneath are cut to chin length. How's your hair even thick enough to do this with? And who cuts your hair, anyway?"

"My dad usually cuts my hair, since going to a hair salon always costs too much." My stomach sank at the thought of my dad and how he must feel to have his only daughter missing. I hadn't thought of him very often since I'd arrived, especially in the past month. What kind of daughter does that?

"Oh. From now on, you have to come to me for all hair cutting and trimming needs. My services cost nothing for a good friend." Tracey laughed, but it only lasted for a few seconds before trailing off. "You're worried now, huh? How do you think he's doing?"

"After Mom died, he became depressed. The only reason he was able to keep it together was because he had to take care of me. Now that I'm gone… I'd rather not think about it." Remembering that I wasn't the only one with a family to worry about, I tilted my head and looked at what little of Tracey's face I could see through the mirror. "What about your family? Do you think they're doing alright?"

"I don't think Mom has noticed. The only things she notices is whether or not she's out of alcohol," Tracey replied, her voice dipping into a bitter tone I'd never heard her use before. "Sorry, that sounded really mean. She's been through a lot – I might react the same way if someone abandoned me the way Dad abandoned Mom. Manny's probably running around like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to figure out what the hell happened to me. Tia – she's one of my aunts – probably doesn't know, since she had to go back to Spain sometime around Christmas. Manny wouldn't want to worry her, so he's probably keeping this on the D-L."

"He was the tall, blonde man who dropped you off?"

"Yep! That's him. Just don't comment on his hair; since he obviously didn't get it from Mom's side of the family, it's kind of an unpleasant reminder that our dad actually exists. He hates it." Through the mirror, Tracey's mouth twisted into a frown again. "I couldn't have any female friends in high school 'cause all they'd want to talk about was my brother and how hot he was with his blond hair, green eyes, and amazing tan. Ew. Only T and Cat didn't do that, since we've known each other for forever and we had better things to talk about."

"Oh." Vaguely, I remembered thinking that Tracey's brother had reminded me of a tanned version of an actor, but that couldn't have been right. Could it?

Abruptly, Tracey hopped up off the ground. As I rose, she placed her hands on her hips and began to crack her back to the best of her ability. "Agh, that floor was so uncomfortable. Why'd you let me talk you into it?"

I shifted nervously. "Sorry…"

Tracey tilted back until she'd made herself into a bridge on the floor – a feat of some difficulty, I'm sure, since she was so tall and reached so far off the ground. "It's fine, I was just joking. You don't have to apologize to me. Look at Shylah: she doesn't apologize to anyone, and we still love her." The corners of her lips twitched up into a grin as she straightened. "Well, some of us do. The rest, not so much. They secretly love all of us, but I don't have any concrete proof – just women's intuition."

"Sorry- I mean… I think I should begin to make lunch," I replied oh-so-smoothly, motioning towards the door that was on the other side of Tracey.

"Right away, madam," Tracey exclaimed. She turned and opened the door with a flourish, bowing me out into the hallway. "After you, my lady."

I laughed, my cheeks tinging pink in slight embarrassment as I led the way out. "Thank you, Tracey."

"No problem," Tracey chirped, closing the door after she'd followed me into the hallway. "Now, to the kitchen!" She cried, pointing dramatically down the hall before taking off at a light jog. In case you were wondering, a light jog for her is running for me.

As we made our way to the kitchen, we spotted Kisame and Itachi making their way down another hall. Tracey immediately adjusted our course to head straight towards them. "Sexy~!" She cried out, latching on to Kisame. Yeah, I thought she was going to grab Itachi, too.

Kisame looked over his shoulder at Tracey, typical smirk in place. "You shouldn't run at S-ranked nuke-nin from behind them, especially if they just got back from a mission. I can't be held responsible for how my instincts will make me react."

Tracey released Kisame to give Itachi a quick side-hug. Her expression turned into a pouting frown. "But you didn't kill me, because you knew it was me. Plus, I yelled out to you. I wasn't very ninja-like then, so you can't tell me that you thought I was your enemy."

Kisame grimaced as though reliving a particularly bad memory. "Trust me, there are some ninja with impeccable skills and terrible stealth."

"Like who?"

"I try not to think about it."

"Bad memories?"

"Green spandex…"

Tracey winced while Itachi nodded almost imperceptibly in sympathy. "It's a miracle you aren't blind, I'm guessing. Talk about bad fashion sense… I'm glad you guys don't dress too weirdly – or at least that you aren't a bunch of creepy, spandex-clad weirdoes. It's not fun. Trust me, I've been to a cosplay convention. What has been seen cannot be unseen." She shuddered dramatically.

Kisame nodded before glancing at me. He did a double-take when he noticed my hair. "What happened to you?"

Fidgeting, I started to redden until I was blushing like mad. "Um, Tracey d-decided to t-try experimenting w-with different hair styles for me to wear."

Tracey smiled, rocking back and forth on her heels. "She's such a good model. Shopping for her is so fun because she never complains or argues about what I pick out for her. She's not like Cat – Cat hates what I buy her."

Kisame smirked at my discomfort. "Are you going to keep it like that?"

Well, considering that I managed to actually see it in the mirror… "I-I think it w-would be a bit difficult for me to do by myself. I'm not v-very good at doing fancy hairdos or p-picking out nice clothes… I'll just stick with what I h-have."

He shrugged, and both he and Itachi headed for Pein's office room. "We have to report on the success of our mission, but we'll catch up with you two later. See ya," he said, waving a hand over his shoulder. Itachi glanced back at us in his own farewell before they turned a corner and were out of sight.

After they were out of hearing range, Tracey turned to me, wiggling slightly in excitement. "They're back! This is going to be so much fun!"

"Don't we usually just watch them train or sit with them in the living room?" I questioned, unsure of why their being back was such a big deal.

"Well, yeah, but it gets so boring around here without them around here. I need something to distract me before I go crazy and do some hardcore pranking! Actually, that sounds kind of fun, now…" Tracey put a finger to her chin before shaking her head. "Nah, not yet. It's been kind of peaceful around here while they're all distracted from pranking. Er, everyone except for Mischa, I mean…"

Caitlin's P.O.V.

For once, watching Deidara explode his little clay birds wasn't enough to hold back the tide of my boredom. At the moment, I was lounging on the hard dirt of the training grounds. Deidara was far too caught up in the glory of his artistry to pay any noticed, not that I really minded – it was his passion, and I wasn't so presumptuous as to assume that my boredom would ever qualify as a higher priority. As it was, however, I was stuck with having to mess around with my mostly useless cell phone to assuage the beast that is boredom.

About the phones – I think everyone has forgotten about theirs. Those of us who had been interested by their presence were soon disappointed by the realization that we couldn't use it to contact home. Everyone had since turned off their phones – I assume – and left them to gather dust on or in our dressers. Everyone except for me, of course; I was currently fiddling with mine.

What's the point, since I can't do anything with it? I thought, sorely tempted to throw the stupid thing as far across the room as I could. I didn't, but I wanted to.

"Is that the thing you had when you appeared here?" Deidara asked, his voice breaking me out of my frustrated thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, it is. Friggin' useless piece of junk."

"Is it supposed to do anything, hm?"

I rolled over onto my stomach. "It's supposed to be able to contact people over long distances, but it doesn't work here. That sucks because we could contact people to take us home, or we could play games to pass the time."

"You're bored, un? Do you wanna plan some pranks so we can finally pay back Mischa and Tobi for putting that toilet paper roll on my pillow?" Deidara sat beside me, using me as a backrest.

"I still can't believe you thought that was real."

"You're the one who's seen these things before, not me, yeah!" Deidara snapped, his mood immediately going sour. "It was only for a second, anyway." As you can tell, it's still a sore point for him.

"Hmmm…" I flicked through the apps on my phone, trying to come up with a good payback prank that didn't involve explosions. My finger paused on my downloaded music, and I smirked. "Wanna annoy Shylah?"

Deidara perked up and looked at me with interest. "Maybe. Do you think she's out of wherever she goes to avoid us, hm?"

"We'll just have to find out," I replied, chuckling mischievously under my breath. Deidara stood and helped me up before leading the way to the living room – the most likely location where Shylah would be. Sure enough, she was there, making origami with Konan and Mischa. Two birds with one stone. I hope Konan doesn't hate country music…

I opened the music app on my phone and flicked through the songs until I found a nice country song. "Hey, Shylah, I totally forgot that my phone can still play music." I pressed 'play' on one of the songs I knew would get under Shylah's skin. Sure enough, she tensed visibly and narrowed her eyes at me.

"This is a new low, even for you," Shylah muttered. "It's a slow song, too. It's like slow pop with excessive amounts of twang. I can understand drawl, but I have yet to figure out the appeal of twang. Why are you doing this to me?" When I didn't reply, she reached into her pocket. "On the bright side, my phone just naturally plays louder than yours," she reasoned, pulling out her own cell phone and opening the downloaded music app. She pressed a button, and the sounds of operatic rock filled the room, drowning out my own country music. While she hummed along under her breath, Mischa happily belted out the lyrics in sync with whichever woman was singing.

Sighing, I turned away. "Well that was a bust. Any ideas?"

Deidara frowned for a second before smirking. "How do you feel about flying?"

I glanced at him skeptically. "You guys have planes here?"

"What are planes, hm?" He asked, leading me outside into the cold, cruel rain that was apparently controlled by Pein. Because yes, there is a god, and he wants rain 24/7, according to the people of Ame.

"I'm guessing you don't have them, then. They're basically these giant, aluminum metal machines that are aerodynamic and powerful enough to fly with multiple people in them. I think some can fit over a hundred in them. I've never flown in one, but Reia has, and she says the experience depends just as much on the other flyers as it does on which company you fly with. … If you don't have planes, how can we fly? Is it part of your 'chakra' thing?"

Deidara's smirk widened. "We'll ride on my art, un," he informed me, reaching into his pouch and beginning to form another one of his creations.

"I'd rather not explode."

Deidara rolled his eyes as his clay bird hopped forth from his now-opened hands. "I won't blow it up with us on it. That kind of defeats the purpose of having an effective ninja technique, un. Suicide bombing is reserved as a last resort, not just for fun." Yep, he's a terrorist – normal people don't think so nonchalantly about blowing themselves up. … Are there any normal ninjas around here, even?

Putting two fingers of his right hand in front of his face, he made the clay creation enlarge until it could safely carry two people. He hopped on before turning back around and offering me his hand. "Come on. It won't kill you, yeah."

"Fine. But if I die, I'm coming back to sue your ass."

"How would you sue me, hm?"

"I have skills, okay? What- whoah!" I yelped as we abruptly took off, clinging to Deidara for dear life. "I'm too young and beautiful to die!"

"Where did that come from?" Deidara asked, his stupid smirk mocking me with its sexiness.

Wait, what? Man, my mind thinks weird things when I'm afraid for my life.

"If I fall, I'm totally gonna die! No joke, no lie, no kidding about it. I don't want to die."

"Calm down. You're not going to fall, un."

"You're just saying that."

"I'm not going to let you fall, okay? Just relax and enjoy the ride, yeah," Deidara placated, slowly settling down to sit on his bird, dragging me down with him. "See? It's not that bad, is it?"

Finally, I managed to calm down enough to really get a good look at my surroundings. "Yeah, it's kind of pretty." Or it would be if the sky weren't covered by clouds and the wind weren't blowing huge rain droplets in my face. "So why don't you do this more often? It seems kind of relaxing, or at least more relaxing than hanging out in the ba- headquarters all day."

"Because rain sucks, yeah."

"Good point. Can't you just ask him to stop the rain for a little bit?"

"I would, but he needs that to protect his village and keep an eye on intruders. Usually it's not such a big deal, because I'm not always here. Recently, though, I haven't been able to practice outside because of the rain, un." Deidara sighed. "Now that Leader-sama's started sending us out, I won't have to confine myself to the limits of the underground training area, yeah."

"Sounds fun," I muttered, barely keeping the sarcasm out of my voice. Yes, because making huge explosions is, like, the best thing ever. It is pretty, though. I guess it's not too bad. The rain's just getting to me right now. Where's the sun? I need it! "I miss the sunshine."

Deidara smirked back at me. "Me, too. We should get back, now, though. My clay can only stay together for so long in this chakra-drenched rain without turning to mud and gunpowder, un." He directed his bird to fly us back down to the entrance. After we'd gotten off, back onto the sweet ground, the bird took off to fly a few circles in the air. It suddenly exploded, the sound and light muffled by the rainwater that had saturated it.

I turned to Deidara, a small grin making its way on to my face. "You're right; your art doesn't work well with all this rain. Makes me want to see it somewhere that'll let it really explode."

Turning to the door, Deidara grinned over his shoulder at me. "If Leader-sama lets me, maybe I'll take you with me on mine and Sasori's next mission so you can see me in action. As long as you remember to stay out of the way, you won't be in danger. It'll be fun, I promise, yeah."

"Maybe," I replied, following him into the hallway. "It sounds too dangerous for me to risk my life just to see some fireworks – even if they are really awesome. Hey, I have to go put this in my room. See ya later?"

He shrugged, making his way to the stairs that led to the underground training area. "Sure. I have some training to do, anyway, un."

As I made my way to my room, I fidgeted with my phone a little more. If somehow getting a signal unlocked the key to us going home, it was worth a try, wasn't it? I mean, it's not like it wouldn't kill me-

I stopped dead in my tracks as my phone lit up and rang a little jingle, notifying me that I'd gotten a text. Glancing around to make sure that no one was nearby, I scurried to my room and closed the door behind me before shakily opening my phone. I was filled with so much nervous anticipation that I ended up fumbling with the keys for several second before I could open the message. It was a number I didn't recognize, but I didn't care.

Hey. We still on for tonight? ;)

…What? Who is this Sam? I don't know a Sam! Vaguely, I remembered a Sam in my Algebra I class, but it couldn't be that Sam, could it? While I was in the middle of debating whether or not to ask whether or not it was the Sam I really knew – er, didn't know -, my phone replied on its own.

Sorry. Apparently, I'm the only one with an immune system, so I have to stay and make sure no one dies.

That sucks.

Yeah. Usually Tracey's healthier than I am, but she's down, too.

Do you need us to come over and help out? I could ask my mom to make her epic chicken noodle soup.

Maybe. ;)

Uh… Am I flirting with a guy I barely know, or has my phone gained sentience? I quickly typed up a short Hello? to get the ball rolling and figure out who was using my phone to flirt with my classmates, but it wouldn't send. After mashing the 'send' button a few more times, I huffed and threw the phone onto my bed in frustration. What good is a phone if you can only see someone else's conversations?!

Text me the word, and I'll be there.

My hero. -_-

You know it. :P

Great… My phone is flirting with a guy I barely know, and somehow he knows me well enough to be okay with asking his mom to make us soup. What the hell has been going on back home?

Tiamat's P.O.V.

Stretching my arms above my head, I heaved an unnecessarily large sigh and leaned back in my less-than-adequately comfortable chair. After far too long, I've finally gotten this financial report organized. Ah, how long have I been here? Oh, dear, I seem to have missed dinner. A small snack should suffice, I suppose, considering that I'm only a bit puckish. Maybe some fruit from that papaya stand I always see on the way here? Yes, that sounds nice…

As I donned my cloak, I checked the other offices to see if anyone else had lost track of time and stayed late. No one had, but they had left me a key to lock up with. There was a little note attached to it, and it read: Kulkarni-san, we left you your own copy of the keys to the store. After all your hard work, we thought you had earned it. –Matsushita, Ken

How sweet of them, I thought distantly, my stomach growing steadily hungrier. After locking up, I hurried to the papaya stand owner. He quickly took my money before giving me my papaya, probably because of the recent increase in thievery that I'm fairly certain had something to do with Tisha. As I have no evidence, however, that remains more of a suspicion than an actual accusation.

Nonetheless, the papaya was sweet and pleasantly juicy, without an excess of fluids. I devoured it quickly and without a second thought. Apparently I was hungrier than I'd originally assumed. How that could escape my notice, I had no idea.

When I entered the headquarters, it was relatively silent. Recently, our group had become accustomed to a routine of exploring the building during the evening. It helped stave off the boredom before we had to go to sleep, at least, even if it ended up not being productive in any sense of the word. Occasionally, we would find rooms filled with old and often useless items of times past, although the curiosities were of little interest to most of us.

I made my way to the library, my most recent spot for relaxing after a tedious day of attempting to fix the mess that was Mastushita's finances. Once I'd arrived, I made my way to the back, where Kakuzu still sat, calculating the Akatsuki's budget. I chanced a peek at it, and was surprised to find that they were projections for the next few years.

"This looks well-done. I don't see a single ryo out of place," I complimented.

Kakuzu grunted. "Of course you don't. I've been doing this for longer than you've been alive."

I raised an eyebrow. "And how old do you think I am?"

"Young. Your age is difficult to pinpoint, but most likely between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five."

He's good. "I see. Has anything happened while I've been away?"

"I'm not in charge of keeping track of these idiots, just what they spend. They won't get a damn ryo if I have any say in it."

"Not even to buy food on the road?"

Kakuzu glanced up at me with a deadpan expression in his eyes before returning to his money. "We're criminals. If they need supplies, they can either steal them or obtain money through their own means. I'm not their parent, and even if I was I wouldn't give out money like that."

A man after Father's own heart. "I agree." If only because he's not the type of person you'd want to argue with.

"You're more intelligent than you seem, then."

"Thanks, I think."

The phone thing has some significance, I assure you. I feel like I made Cat kind of bipolar this chapter.

OH GOSH MY FOOT FELL ASLEEP AND IS WAKING UP! THE PAIN!

In other news, I was half-asleep when I wrote this. I need sleep. I'm going to bed early to make sure I get more sleep.

I'm also running out of ideas and pulling things out of the darkest pits of my butt. ...Don't ask. I do, however, have an idea for a random filler thing that in no way pertains to the actual plot (that I only kinda sorta have planned), just in case. If you guys want, I can write that in, or I can bust through my impending writer's block and hopefully make a half-decent chapter. The choice is yours, should you choose to respond.

Thank you for reading, and have a nice week! :3