WARNING: This chapter contains character use of medical marijuana, and small discussions of mental illnes. This is not entirely important to the storyline, but this chapter will later be used for Kira's character development.

This chapter will also contain some of your favorite Akatsuki members completely out of character.

Thank you.

Kira.

Since childhood, Suki had been the reason I lived; the only thing keeping me from offing myself.

I didn't think about that often, but occasionally the thought arose. Usually, I sulk off to my room, write a few poems, and smoke myself speechless.

Unfortunately, I didn't think marijuana was as easily accessible than at home. Fortunately, I knew the exact person to talk to.

After Suki drifted out of the kitchen, I sat next to Zetsu and turned my eyes to him.

"Good evening, Zetsu-san."

"If you pester me like the blonde did, I will eat you." He growled.

"I have a botany question. Do you know what weed is?"

Zetsu's golden eyes bored into me. "Of course I know what weeds are. Do you think I'm stupid?"

Ah, so that's a no. "No, Zetsu-san. I meant marijuana. It's a plant."

He didn't seem to know what I meant, so I explained the cultivation and uses of the 'drug'. "It's really something that is used as medicine where I come from."

"We have the canna plant, if that's what you mean."

I smirked, now we're talking. "Do you happen to have dried canna plant?"

"I suppose. Why?"

Oh, Zetsu... Sweet, innocent Zetsu.

After showing me his 'stash', I paid him for the herbs. "I'll return in a few minutes."

I easily found Sasori, who supplied me with a few scraps of thin paper, which he explained were for tracing. I didn't care what their intended use were, just what my intended use for them was.

He came with me, despite not having flesh or... lungs. I made a pit stop to Itachi's room, telling him to follow me.

Sakana was sitting on the couch in the living room, staring at the fireplace boredly. Taking pity on her for that disastrous meeting at breakfast, I nodded at her to follow me, and soon the four of us and Zetsu were gathered in Zetsu's greenhouse.

I expertly rolled the plant into the paper and snapped my fingers at Itachi. "Small katon."

He created a tiny flame at the tip of his fingers, and I lit the spliff.

After taking a few drags, I passed it to Sakana, who did the same.

"Where did you get weed?" She asked, after exhaling smoke slowly.

"It's actually canna," Zetsu replied, taking the joint from her hand. "I grew it."

"That's fuckin sick," She replied. I glanced at Sasori, who was watching us with an amused look on his face.

Zetsu took a small puff, coughing, before passing it to Itachi.

"What is this supposed to do?" The Uchiha asked, regarding the small smoking item with apprehension.

I smirked, leaning back against a table. "It's going to help your eyes."

He shrugged, "Alright, I guess." He tentatively took a puff, breaking out into a fit of coughs like Zetsu had. Sakana giggled, the drugs already lifting her mood.

Itachi held it out to me, and I accepted it.

It was passed around the circle a few more times before Zetsu and Itachi were giggling. Sasori shot me another amused look.

After putting the joint out on my shoe, I felt the effects of the drug kicking in. Zetsu and Itachi were long gone; the psychopath was quietly carrying on a conversation between his two halves, and the Uchiha was extremely talkative.

He was carrying on a conversation about different types of poison with Sasori, who was also as interested as Itachi.

Sakana moseyed over to me, a smile creeping across her face. "Suki said you were smart, I just didn't think that this is what she meant..."

I shrugged, "I make do. Tell me, do you smoke?"

She nodded once, "Mm, sometimes. PTSD. If I have an attack, it's usually edibles. I am known to smoke, though. And what do you treat with it?"

Depression. Suicidal ideations, Anxiety. The list goes on.

Having a chemical imbalance in your brain isn't something easily remedied; in Sakana's case, a past experience could render her something into a blubbering mess should an act or event trigger a flashback. My depression and suicidal thoughts had always been a damper on my life, hence the self-medicating.

Sakana and I carried on our conversation as we trod the familiar path to the living room. Surprisingly, my sister and Sakana's idiot were sitting across from each other, deep into a normal-seeming conversation.

I plopped down next to my sister, who gave me a knowing look, and threw my legs across her lap. Sakana, with a huge-dopey smile across her face, sat down on Hidan's lap, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek.

He gave me a very confused look, as if I had taken his old, pissy Sakana, and replaced her with a smiling idiot. I did kind of do that, now that I think about it.

I shrugged, smirking at his confusion. I felt Suki's hand on my side, and before I could catch her hands, she yanked my new medicine from my hip-pouch, brandishing a joint at Hidan.

His look of confusion deepened, somehow.

Sakana cackled, "It's happy 'baccy"

"I'm sorry?" Hidan asked, looking between his not-girlfriend and the little white item.

"It's drugs," Suki muttered, holding it out as if its touch would poison her. "Kira got Sakana high."

Sakana barked out a laugh at that. "Not just Sakana! Ha! We left the babies with Pinnochio!" She was giggling in between words, and I realized she was correct.

"Shit." I muttered, standing up. "Not that I'm asking for help, but I don't want Sasori-san to murder me.. So... Uh. Hidan, Suki, please accompany me to the Greenhouse."

Though they were confused, they followed me back to my new-favorite room, gawking at the sight of Zetsu and Itachi posing together while Sasori sketched them.

"Uhhh, what the fuck?" Hidan asked, taking in the image. "Seriously, emo-bitch, what did you do to them?"

I shrugged, walking over to Sasori and peering down at his drawing. He drew them separately, dividing their bodies into different pieces of a puppet. Itachi and Zetsu were giggling as the struck vogue poses.

Suki ran over to Itachi, scanning over his body like a concerned parent. "How are your eyes feeling, Itachi?"

"They don't hurt, this is very interesting." He said, looking at his hand. "I quite like this stuff."

"Me too, except now I'm really hungry?"

Itachi nodded, a smile rising to his face. "I am as well."

I was amused at the thought of these two murderous criminals having the munchies, and even more amused that I had been the one that had caused it.

Hidan and Sasori corralled the four of us, still giggling at absolutely nothing, and led us to the kitchen. Suki set off to find Zena, the four of us demanding something yummy to fill our tummies.

Itachi, Sakana and I sat around the table, occasionally laughing at the stern look on Hidan's face. Zetsu dug through the fridge, devouring any leftovers that dared cross his path. Sasori had left to go find Pein and make some sense of the mess we were.

When Pein entered, we all broke out in cacophonous laughter. He glared at us, and all except Itachi fell silent. "Does somebody have a magnet?"

Zetsu howled from the fridge, and Pein turned his glare to me. "What did you do to them?"

I smirked, "Gave them medicine." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Kira, need I remind you that these men are expected to be ruthless killers, and you've rendered them completely useless?"

Obviously, Pein was not amused. "Itachi has his eye problems and Zetsu has another person living in his brain. I'm helping them." I deadpanned.

"Mphmhmhph phahamhmph." said Zetsu, through a mouthful of raw fish.

"He has a point, Leader." Itachi said, nodding sagely.

I looked between the two of them as Sakana fell into another fit of laughter. Hidan snapped at her to shut up, and she bit back with a wonderful delivery of, "eat shit and DIE."

To which Hidan responded, "We're both immortal, dumbass." Itachi thought this was hilarious, as he burst into giggles.

"I literally cannot handle this. Zena, please feed them and make sure they return to their normal state without incident." The shadowy leader of Akatsuki left the room, muttering under his breath about dumb girls.

Zena nodded, already preparing a meal. I moved to the stool to watch her cook, and Zetsu took the seat next to me.

"Zena-chan, you're amazing." The plant man was really out of it, as he leaned forward and propped his chin on one of his hands. "I would gobble you right up."

Zena turned around, glancing at me. "Zetsu-san, please drink some tea."

He nodded eagerly. "Would you brew some Jasmine? Or Oolong?"

I nodded. "Make some for me too, please. Green."

She sighed. "You're even more demanding under the influence." She made the tea anyways, additionally pouring cups of orange hibiscus tea for Sakana and Hidan. The accepted their drinks, before Hidan drug Sakana off to, I assume, attempt to sacrifice her.

Zetsu practically moaned as he sipped his tea, happy with whatever Zena had picked out for him. Judging by the scent, it was some sort of peppermint. She also placed a plate of rice and vegetables in front of him, and he pouted.

"Woman, you can't make me eat this." Zetsu crossed his arms indignantly.

Zena sighed, shooting me an aggravated look. "I live off of solely fruits and vegetables," she explained. "Zetsu, you'll be fine if you eat a few carrot sticks."

Another pout crossed his face. "But Zena-chan..."

He was like a toddler. A usually bipolar cannibalistic murder-ish toddler.

Zena pushed Zetsu's plate to the side and took his hands in hers. She spoke to him gently, as if he really were a toddler. "If you eat the vegetables, you'll get a treat."

His eyes lit up, expecting a large hunk of unidentifiable meat. Zetsu quickly ate the carrots and rice, receiving praise from the short vegan woman. I snorted, and she cut her eyes at me, as if to say we're not done with this.

I drained my cup of tea, winking at her. Standing up, I circled the counter to rinse my cup. Itachi stole my seat, so I left the kitchen with a soft call of 'goodnight', and I heard Sasori fall into step behind me.

We were headed to the same section of the base, so I slowed down to walk beside him. The walk to our rooms was silent, but I broke that before I stepped into my bedroom. "Goodnight, Sasori-san."

"We both know you aren't going to sleep." He said, startling me. I hadn't expected a peep from him.

"Neither are you," I replied, a smile playing at my lips. "Do you have something to do?"

He silently invited me into his room with an incline of his head. I slunk by, suppressing my cheesy grin. Sasori of the Red Sand was soft on a young, defenseless girl, and it was me.

I sat on his bed, and he took his seat at his desk, immediately resuming a drawing he had left unfinished. I laid back, staring up at his path of ceiling. "Sasori-san," I began, and felt his eyes on me. "What do you make of this 'soul-mates' gibberish?"

He grunted, then fell silent for a moment. "Obviously there's some merit to it- this 'prophecy'. We did manage to restore the four of you to your... human forms."

That's not at all what I meant, but I'm as emotionally retarded as he was. Suki kept hinting that we would make adorable babies- yet I didn't dispute the fact that a puppet man can't have course, I'd always admired Sasori, being a pretty strong opponent for Sakura to face- despite the fact that she was entirely useless for almost the entire duration of the series. I had to admit that Sasori was badass, but realistically I never thought of him as someone I'd like to, as Sakana would put it, bone. He was a figment of a Japanese man's imagination, one that he had made public by way of a cartoon.

Yet here I was, laying across his bed, watching him absentmindedly drawing lines across a paper.

I didn't press the matter further, instead rolling to my side to pull out the now-abused joint from my hip. Sasori kept his eyes on the paper, eyes picking out any detail he wanted to add or change.

Snapping my fingers a few times, I was attempting to make a katon, but failed and cursed.

"Concentrate on your fingertip." Sasori murmured, his eyes still glued to his sketch.

I sighed, shaking my hands and flexing my fingers. I didn't have great dexterity, and my knuckles were rather sore. Eventually I got it after a few more pointers from Sasori.

Curious, he joined me on the bed. "Why do you use that?"

"Mm, well," I began, exhaling a puff of smoke. "To help my mind function normally. Among other things."

He raised an eyebrow at me, an amused smile playing on his lips.

"I also prefer being inebriated in order to deal with my sister," I added. He snorted.

"I understand, but why this and not traditional medicine?"

Good question. "The pills they gave me made it worse. Suki freaked out and called me a zombie," I recalled my sister making me promise to never take any pills again. "She may seem like she doesn't like it, but she really prefers this version of me over that version of me."

He made a noise of acknowledgement.

"Sasori-san," I started, now too aware of our casual proximity. "I'll be honest here."

Sasori's brown eyes fixed on mine, and I swallowed my words.

"Well- uh, okay. Do you care about this love bullshit?" I felt like a young girl again, asking a cute boy to be my valentine, feeling a small glimmer of hope, but already preparing myself to be let down hard.

"There's some merit." He repeated.

I felt myself droop. "I see."

"I mean, you do make attractive company." Sasori said, and the sound of my own heartbeat filled my ears.

I stammered something out, and he chuckled. Oh.

Did I just fucking swoon? Did Sasori really just say that?

"S-Sasori-san," I began. "I fail to see how this could benefit either of us."

"Perhaps we'll see." Sasori smirked at me. "If you don't mind, I'd like to use this opportunity as an experiment."

I could barely string my words together, and knowing that I would most likely regret it, I agreed to be his emotional lab-rat.