Hidan's eyes widened at Kakuzu. "You can fucking talk?!"

Kakuzu suddenly doubled over and began wheezing, rubbing his throat and shaking his head. "Shit, you ok?" Hidan asked, doubly shocked now.

Kakuzu did his best to give Hidan what he hoped was a flat look.

"Oh fuck you," Hidan snapped as he reached under his cot and fished out his canteen. "Here, drink some water already." Kakuzu gratefully took the canteen and sipped at the water.

Hidan, meanwhile, was taking a rare opportunity to stop and think before making his next move. "I think I get it," he said at last. "Your throat's pretty fucked up, so you can't talk without hurting yourself. Am I right?" A nod was his answer. "So you just tell everyone you can't fucking talk, so they don't give you shit and try to make you talk." Another nod. "Jashin-damnit, Kakuzu…"

The Falk handed back the canteen and stretched out on his own cot with his back to Hidan. In the span of one day, he'd gone from being one of Konan's most trusted soldiers to some idiot that got into a brawl over a stupid shove. He was sore, he had an injured eye and hand to care for, and there was a very real chance that he was going to be demoted the next time Konan saw him. Clearly all he wanted was for both the day and the conversation to be over. Hidan was willing to let the matter drop as well and give them both some time to recuperate, but not before saying one last thing. "Hey, I swear I won't tell anyone that you can talk a little. Swear on Jashin himself."

Kakuzu briefly looked over his shoulder at the zealot and gave a slight nod before turning away again. Well now. If Hidan didn't know better, he'd think that he was bonding with a Falk.

-hours later-

Deidara was curled up into a small ball at the edge of camp, making soft chirping noises and glaring into the distance. Damn that Kisame for telling Sasori the truth! Without the shark butting in, Deidara could've just kept what he was doing a secret until he repaid his debt and Itachi was found, and then Sasori and all the other humans would go away forever and take Deidara's feelings with them!

The blond clutched his knees tighter. All right, that was probably a lie, but it was a comforting lie, and after his fight with Sasori the blond needed all the comfort he could get.

"Deidara?"

The blond jerked his head up, eyes widening as he confirmed his suspicions that Sasori was the one addressing him. His shock quickly turned into resentment, however, and he turned his head away from the Akasuna. "Did I mistranslate earlier, un? I don't want to see you right now."

"I know. But you could at least give me a chance to explain myself." Deidara didn't reply to that, so Sasori decided to go ahead with what he was planning to say. He sat down beside the blond leaned back on his hands, looking up at the metal plate above their heads. "It's a shame that we can't see the stars from down here. It might make my explanation a little easier to understand."

Deidara made no comment, but at least now he looked to Sasori from the corner of his eye.

"You see, humans have always loved gazing at the stars. We even looked for patterns of stars that seemed to make pictures and called them constellations."

"Constellations," Deidara slowly repeated, trying to log this new word into his already extensive English vocabulary.

"I know that for your whole life, Falks have been in contact with other planets," Sasori went on, "but for the longest time, humans were all alone. Lonely, cosmically microscopic life forms clinging to a tiny ball of dirt orbiting a lone star. But we always wondered if there was anything beyond the planets we could reach; some other life forms that could prove we weren't alone in this infinite universe."

"Was that the purpose of your satellite that we found?" Deidara asked, unable to stop himself from being drawn into Sasori's story.

"Partially," Sasori answered. "That's why we put all those languages together on a disc; so whoever found the satellite would know that something else was out there too. But here's the funny thing, Deidara."

"What?"

"The satellite you found was part of a pair. The other one is still floating through space, sending back messages to Earth. It's still drifting alone in an infinite void, and no one knows it's there except for a few scientists back on Earth."

"What's your point, un?"

"I'm sorry for this fighting," Sasori apologized. "Not just for the fight between you and me, but this whole damnable war. Humans can be skittish sometimes, and when they think there's a threat approaching, fighting is our natural reaction. But if that other satellite is still going, maybe the universe is a lot emptier than our recent contact with Falks has led us to believe. So we should value what we have. We should try to understand and be kind, so we don't lose one of the few friends that we know about." Deidara was now giving Sasori his full attention. "I don't hate you, Deidara. I still think you're my best friend. Just from now on, tell me when you're going to do any other Falk signs of affection. For all I know your species has sex by ear nibbling or something like that."

"Danna!" Deidara cried out, ears flattening themselves in what Sasori assumed was an embarrassed manner.

"I'm just saying," Sasori answered with a smirk, holding his arms up in gesture of surrender. "So, can we still be friends?"

Deidara smiled and nodded. "Yes. Sorry for-"

"Don't worry about it. The fight's in the past."

"Ok. But danna?"

"Yes?"

"What's an, 'ear nibbling', un?"

"…"

-n-

"Monsieur Fishy!"

Kisame froze in his tracks before slowly spinning around to face a perturbed Konan. He'd been caught sneaking towards the entry vent to Regi, after being told that he was forbidden to go after Itachi. This probably didn't help the increasingly tenuous relationship between the humans and Falks. "Oh, hi Konan," Kisame cheerfully said, hoping to mask his nervousness. "This, ah, isn't what it looks like-"

"Do not be playing ze mind games wiz me," Konan snarled, "unless you want your insides to be on ze outside very soon!"

"Konan, please!" Kisame begged. "Itachi's not just some fling I had! I…I'm completely head over heels in love with him. He means more to me than anything in this world or mine. I'd gladly give up my command if it meant I could see him again."

Konan hissed and rubbed the back of her neck in an agitated manner. "Fine. But you are not going up to Regi! I will make arrangements to 'ave Itachi brought to us at ze base. Until zen, will you please stay put and get your men under control?! I swear, zese constant disruptions by your underlings will be ze end of me!"

"Thank you Konan!" Kisame exclaimed. He was half-tempted to scoop up the blue-haired Falk in a bear hug, but decided at the last minute that he didn't want to have his throat ripped open before he could apologize. "I swear to you, you won't have a single issue with my men from here on out!"

"Good," the VUM leader replied, "because ze next time somezing goes wrong, you'll 'ave to deal wiz ze local commander Tsunade, and she is much less forgiving than I."