A/N: I'm starting to wonder if it's a good idea to have author notes in this fic. But no, I'm too committed. I don't like to stop things halfway.

So then... This chapter is exactly what it says on the tin. Enjoy.

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Sasori

Only at the last moment did anyone think to question whether or not the originals would be invited to their dinner meeting. The assumption had been that they would be. But then again, did they want that? Did the originals want to get involved with the clones, or remain separate? As dinner approached and the idea of them joining a meeting became more real, that idea also became very uncomfortable. It didn't feel right for the originals to join in group activities. It felt as if they were already separate.

Other people began to notice Konan's absence. She was the link between them and the originals, the only person who spanned both groups. If anyone should decide whether to issue an invitation, it was her. But Kakuzu made it clear that she was busy and not to be interrupted. What to do?

Sasori arrived on his motorcycle, along with Laurie. He parked the bike at the side of his shed, got off and went inside the shed to take off his helmet and jacket. Laurie followed him in. "Just in case it's not clear, I'm serious. Really really serious. If I look like I've forgotten that I only wanted to stay for half an hour, drag me out by force if you have to. I really can't afford to be tired tomorrow."

"Don't worry. I take care of the people I'm responsible for." Sasori hung his jacket across the horizontal rungs between the stool's legs, placed his helmet on top of the seat, and left the shed. He checked frequently to make sure that Laurie didn't bump into anything. The shed was getting increasingly crowded. However, he sensed that he was nearing the point at which his progress would accelerate to breakneck speed and all the parts of his creation would snap together just like that. I don't want to put it off. But because of my work responsibilities, I should. How to decide…

That was an important question, but not the most important. He put it aside as he entered the lobby. Kakuzu was there, standing guard. "Excellent. Now we're waiting on Kisame, and possibly Zetsu. If Zetsu feels like coming back at all."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "Zetsu and the others came back? I thought we'd scared them off for good."

"Not Tobi, and nobody can say no to Tobi."

Itachi came in. "Laurie. Hello. This adds unexpected factors."

"No it doesn't. She's only staying for half an hour in order to meet the originals, not for a meeting."

"In that case, let's finish that task right away." Itachi glanced at Kakuzu. Kakuzu nodded. "As for the reason why I came here, I wished to report that Hidan is fully operational. He can field concerns now. He is in the backyard, not wishing to immerse himself too suddenly. He still needs time to recover."

"Let's not bother him then. I don't have a reason to right now." Sasori waved a hand at Itachi. After you.

Itachi led them upstairs. A line of symbols had been drawn about three-quarters of the way up the staircase. As they passed over it, Sasori felt something. "They have requisitioned chakra ink and other resources," Itachi murmured quietly. "As we do not have more than an occasional use for it, Kakuzu saw fit to give it to them."

"I'm going to have to borrow it back for my project, then," Sasori replied. "I am a little annoyed that Kakuzu didn't think of that, or probably even know about it. But it's not that big a deal. A one-time borrowing: that should be easy to request."

"If there is any left. I do not know what else they might want it for besides the alert seal."

The originals stood in the hallway outside the twin room. Sasori guessed they were renovating it into a base of operations. Itachi stood at attention before them. "This is Laurie. She is a civilian NPC who we are friends with. She wanted to meet you. It should be only a brief conversation."

"If it's not, I've been assigned the responsibility of dragging her away," Sasori added. He nudged Laurie's hand. Go on.

Laurie had frozen stock still. She had to try several times before she successfully spoke. "I gotta admit, I just thought it would be interesting to meet alternate versions of the two friendliest people I know. But now I remember the other part of it. That you guys are trained. Like, actual, official, went to school for it and lived as it for years, trained ninjas. That's intimidating." She gulped.

"Civilians don't often recognize the magnitude of a shinobi's history. Ones that do rarely face us without fear or hatred," Original Nagato said. Wow. And I thought Konan was stoic. His face doesn't make any expression even when he's giving an enormous compliment. "How did you become acquainted with this group?"

"Sasori rescued me from an abusive boss situation," Laurie said. "Um, we - we worked together. And still do."

"She has some hand to hand combat education," Sasori added. "Since my original was a puppetmaster used to hiding behind his dolls, that put us on fairly even footing. She's a good sparring partner for beginners."

"Yup," Laurie said, her face totally red.

Original Yahiko smiled. "You don't need to be afraid. We're not the sort of people who attack anything in sight. We only fight with a good cause." Original Nagato's eye might have twitched, but it was hard to be sure.

"Even so, I feel inadequate. I think I'll go back downstairs and see what Deidara's up to," Laurie mumbled. Sasori could not fault her for this. He followed her back to the stairs, leaving Itachi to say whatever needed to be said to the originals. They descended in silence. Her face remained red all the way down.

Since they were already there, Sasori checked the backyard. Deidara was there with Hidan. I guess we have no choice but to bother him. "Take some deep breaths," he told Laurie. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Remember what I said."

"What are you, my dad?" Laurie whispered. She smiled a little, and all her signs of embarrassment disappeared. "Poor Hidan. He's gotta be wiped. Yeah, I understand what's going on. Don't worry about me."

"I'm not. I'm concerned about him." Sasori led the way out the back door. He was simultaneously surprised and not to find Deidara and Hidan sitting in total silence. On the one hand, I know that silence works like a charm. On the other hand, I didn't expect Dei to realize that. I've got to remember that he is a smart kid. Sasori broke the silence with a wave and a greeting.

"Hey," Hidan chirped. He sounded like his usual self, but they all knew better. He grinned at Laurie. "How you liking all the changes?"

"The originals are super intimidating. I thought I might have to be dragged away from them, but no. I couldn't stand to be in their presence. I'm just a civvy. Just a non-ninja girl with barely a little martial arts training." She blushed again. "But, um. But anyway… They're interesting."

"Yeah," Deidara agreed. "I thought about that all shift. I'm not feeling so great about myself either, yeah."

"At least you are a ninja," Laurie said, sitting beside him and giving him a light shove.

"Yeah, at least I can fly, yeah." She'd only sat beside him for three seconds, and already he had perked up noticeably. Sasori got the sense that he should leave them alone. Hidan picked up his scythe and went into the woods, apparently feeling the same. Sasori followed him.

"How are you?" Sasori whispered when they had gone deep enough for trees to enclose them on all sides. "Both in terms of overall tiredness, and the state of your memories."

"I feel better," Hidan replied. "But I have this shitty feeling like something's haunting me all the time. Like I can feel what's missing."

"Any specifics? You said earlier that you were missing at least two landmark memories, but memories of little moments that you've enjoyed remained intact. Big memories seem to be in danger, but little memories survived. How about your memory for facts? Skills?"

"Hey, look at you, turning into the next Itachi," Hidan teased. "Lemme see. Hmm… I still know shit that you learn from books. I can visualize all the steps involved in driving a car. I can throw my scythe; I know 'cause I've practiced. I forgot that I could change form though."

"Maybe we'll trip over something that you've forgotten. But it looks like Kakuzu was right. Little memories are the sort that you rely on to guide your daily life, not landmark memories. The ones you need in order to function are alright."

"Yeah, I know."

"I was just making sure."

"It still fucking sucks not to know what my first memory was, though."

"Kakuzu might be able to remind you."

Hidan sighed. "But I'd have to go inside to chat with him, and there are just too many fucking people there."

"Have you even met the originals?" Sasori asked. "Now that you're not on the verge of passing out?"

"Eh… What if it's a real strain on me?"

"They're stoic like Konan is. I don't think it will be. You're not intimidated by people who have more training and discipline than you, are you?"

Hidan smirked. "No, I am fucking not. Alright. You convinced me. Now you gotta convince them to come out here."

"Will do." Sasori crossed through the backyard as quietly as possible and checked the group chat once the door closed behind him. There was consensus that there should be a meeting and that the originals should be informed that there was one, but not explicitly invited. The question of where the meeting would be held was still open. Sasori typed, Hidan's using the backyard as a retreat where he can get the distance he needs to recover but still be available to talk to. We should meet in the sunroom. Unless someone already has, I'm going to see the originals now, so I might as well tell them about the meeting. Itachi said that he had not thought to mention it. Sasori put his phone away and climbed the stairs again for the second time in fifteen minutes.

Did Original Nagato seem annoyed, or was that an illusion? "Do the clones typically become more active in the evening?"

He's definitely annoyed. "Yes. We hold group meetings over dinner. There's one tonight in the sunroom. That's the room where we had pie earlier." Sasori shrugged. "Anyway, Hidan's recovered enough to talk. He is not recovered enough to be around large amounts of people while he does it, so he is in the backyard. He'd like to meet you, now that he's rested enough to benefit from it."

"Your version of Hidan is in a leadership position, correct?"

"Yup." How much have they been told? It would have been nice for Itachi to update me on this. "If you want to know the reasons why, anybody except Hidan can tell you. He's not allowed to understand the factors that make him good at leading people."

"Your version of Kisame said something similar," Original Nagato murmured.

"If you want to understand how we work, you should understand what we are." I shouldn't tell them too much. Just enough. "It would be best if you thought of us all as parts of one mind. In relation to our originals, what we've lost in raw power we make up for in coordination. We're not a bunch of raving assholes like you're used to." Sasori glared in Original Nagato's direction, but not directly at him, not wishing to cause offense. "I'm not remotely interested in turning myself or anyone else into a puppet. Deidara wouldn't dare to use bombs in a populated area, Hidan doesn't sacrifice people, Kakuzu doesn't steal hearts. We're not dicks. We're just ordinary people who suddenly learned that we have magic powers."

"Konan did say that."

"Good. It bears repeating. Anyway. Hidan might be waiting for you, and I don't like to keep people waiting." Sasori turned and left.

Kisame and Samehada met him at the base of the stairs. "Hey," Kisame said. Samehada trilled. "Kakuzu's had us scouting all day. Wanna sit down somewhere and relax for once?"

Sasori smiled. "You might as well have not called out of work." He led the way to his own room. It was near the sunroom, so there would be no difficulty in making it to the meeting on time.

"My job doesn't keep me this busy," Kisame argued. "I've been walking constantly. With Same on my back. I'm sorry, Same, but you do weigh a certain amount." Samehada warbled in a way that conveyed no hard feelings.

Sasori opened his door. "What have you been scouting for?"

"Public opinion. The demon kid says he won't interfere with a damn thing. He won't even show his face. Any possible thing he could do would stabilize the glorious chaos the originals are creating. Oh, speaking of glorious…" Kisame lay down across the length of the bed. "Oh, it's so soft." Samehada climbed up next to him and nuzzled his cheek. "He said the same was true of his snake friend."

"Kakuzu's thinking of everything," Sasori said, impressed. "So those are two X-factors we don't need to worry about. What else?"

"You went back to work, so he had me hit up the demons. They're not doing so hot. Jashin sama's rise to prominence was bad enough. They're getting clobbered by Amita sama. And they had some questions about the stormlike event they all felt happening last night. Like high winds, they said. A hurricane."

"If divine power is imagined as wind, yesterday would have been like a tornado touching down. It makes sense that they could feel that all the way across town. So the demons, formerly harmless, are now potential X-factors. I don't expect that Kakuzu was happy to hear that."

"He was not. I gave the demons everything we know about Amita sama. The stingray pool, mainly. They're going to check it out themselves." Kisame turned on his side to look at Sasori and lowered his voice. "And I pulled the friendliest one aside to remind him that we've fought a demon of their kind who went crazy and attacked the group before. We'd really rather that not happen again. He said he'd try his best to keep peace, but since the whole group he was with had heard what I said about people I know creating a divine tornado, he couldn't guarantee anything. The news is going to spread like wildfire and who knows what sorts of reactions it'll get. The one I talked to didn't look happy himself. He told me that if we're going to be doing crazy shit like summoning people back from the dead, a lot of demons will want to be in closer contact with us."

"In other words, they see us the same way. Formerly okay, now X-factors. Well, I hope they do manage to keep the peace. If they don't… We're a lot better at combat now."

"Yeah."

They sat and lay in total silence for a moment, just resting. Kisame took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "I checked on the NPCs too. No apparent change. If narrative convenience is falling, it's going down slowly. We're not going to wake up tomorrow in a world where everyone is 100% aware that being half shark is fucking weird. We don't need to worry about the FBI swooping in. Yet."

"Good. I've got a project to finish." Sasori sighed for dramatic effect. "After so long… Slogging through ideas, brainstorms, blueprints, testing, anxiety about limited resources… I get a feeling like I might hit the good part soon. The part where it all comes together. The problem with that is, the workweek's just started and I don't want to leave Laurie in the lurch."

"Laurie's good," Kisame told him. "You can trust her. If you're hit by inspiration, she'd understand."

"All the same."

"Yeah, I get it. Don't wanna let people down even if they do forgive you for it." Kisame turned on his other side to face Samehada. "Words don't express how grateful I am for your…you-ness, Same. You're an angel. You've felt Yahiko's Angel Jutsu, right? A strong power that makes everyone it touches feel safe and looked after? That's you." Samehada made a high-pitched sound of awe. She lunged forward and nuzzled Kisame, or maybe that was her lipless way of kissing him.

Sasori looked away. I shouldn't be around. They deserve privacy. "You two seem happy. I'll check out the meeting and come back to get you when it starts. Rest well." Kisame started to say something, but Sasori hardly heard it before he was out the door.

Kakuzu glared at his phone in the hallway just outside the sunroom. Sasori maintained a good 6-foot distance between them and asked, "Is something not going as planned?"

Kakuzu growled and put his phone away. "I saw Nagato earlier. I thought he was finally accounted for, that he'd cooled down and come back. But perhaps he only returned long enough to change his clothes and leave again, because nobody can find him now."

"I just got a batshit insane idea," Sasori said.

"Tell me."

"Why not send his original to look for him? Our Nagato is freaking out, but his original is stoic. He has problems with feeling powerless and unimportant, but his original is powerful. They're establishing a whole goddamn base of operations for themselves after less than a day of being alive again. If anyone can resonate with and maybe help him through his problems…"

"It seems that the originals are to be considered a separate minigroup of their own. I can't send them anywhere. You can ask politely and see if they agree to it."

"If he has his phone with him, our Nagato's still connected to the group chat. Send him a message through it. Not a pressuring one. Something more like, 'Sending love and support.'" Sasori winced. "Or a different phrasing. The point is, his problem must be really serious if it's still a problem before and after a major change to our story. That's why I thought of sending his original. A problem so serious should be handled by people equally as serious. As comforting as the rest of us clones are, maybe we're just not serious enough to make a dent."

"Seriousness. Noted." Kakuzu didn't have a notebook with him, but Sasori could see him filing it away. "Since it's your idea, I won't tell anyone else. You should be the one to ask them. I'll forget about Nagato for tonight's meeting, but I'd rather not have a member missing two days in a row."

"Yeah. Kisame told me what he found out about the demons in town. I understand."

They checked inside the sunroom. Hardly anyone was there. Deidara had brought Laurie in; she was doing a good job of comforting Itachi. They were the only ones present. Sasori checked the time. "Dammit. Excuse me." He went inside and tapped Laurie's shoulder. "Laurie. I know Itachi's mysterious and therefore fascinating, but you've been here for more than half an hour. Don't you have a sister's wedding to go to tomorrow?"

Laurie startled. "That's right! Thank you, Sasori. I really can't stay up late tonight. Bye, everyone!" Deidara gave her a hug and promised that although he didn't know anything about her family, he would do his best to sit through a wedding story if she wanted him to. Laurie laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Sasori looked away reflexively. What is it with me running into all the happy couples today? That reminded him of something. There were a lot of romantic feelings in the group. Sasori ran down a mental checklist. Deidara was happy. Kisame and Samehada were happy. Nagato and Hidan, not so happy. Hidan and Konan… Hey, wait a second!

"Konan had better not still be busy," Kakuzu fumed. "It's been hours."

"Kakuzu, stop worrying about other people's decisions," Sasori told him sharply. "It's an inefficient use of your energy. Focus on what you can control. You can send Nagato a get well soon message. You can go to my room and tell Kisame and Samehada to get over here when the meeting starts." Sasori looked around and saw that Deidara and Itachi were listening. "You can record the highlights of the meeting to share with Hidan. You can find out where Yahiko went and get him - I'm sure he's just distracted. And if you are so determined to have Konan here, then man up and fetch her yourself. Maybe canoodling with Original Hidan has her in a mild mood. Maybe they'll both want to rip your skin off. You have a protective skin technique, so what do you care either way?"

Kakuzu lowered his gaze to the ground. "I would rather not confront her."

"Don't you wish to make a good impression on the originals?" Itachi asked. "Then you must demonstrate the strength to handle confrontations on their level. They will not hold you in high regard if there is a divide between themselves and Konan on one level, the clones on a lesser and weaker level, and you firmly in that lesser, weaker group."

What the shit? Since when does Kakuzu care about anybody's opinion? But before Sasori's amazed eyes, Kakuzu straightened up. "Fine. I know where she is. Itachi, send the get well soon message. I'll deal with her and Yahiko. Sasori, get Kisame if and when other people bother to show up. Deidara, go up on the roof and take a look around. See if there is anyone besides Hidan who's not ready to come inside our base, but nonetheless wants to be close." Kakuzu left the room.

"We should follow orders promptly," Itachi said while pulling out his phone. "Like an organized, disciplined group."

"Sure," Deidara said. "But before I do that, what the fuck? Since when does Kakuzu care about anyone's opinion, yeah?"

"People typically do not care about the opinions of others who are unrelated to them, but care very much about the opinions of others who are related to them in some way. For example, a class clown does not care what the teacher thinks of him but desires very much to be seen as cool and rebellious by classmates." Itachi sounded like he was reading a passage out of a textbook. Had he thought about this topic so often that this exact idea had gained solid form? His mind must be relentless. Speaking of hurricanes… "I believe this principle applies to Kakuzu. The rest of us are not like him. We do not value discipline and organization like he does. Our opinions on his skills would be meaningless if we had any, which we don't because we care so little. The originals are like him. They value order and structure. In the presence of people who are like him, the instinctive need to belong awakens."

"The demons may or may not hate us again, the originals are setting up a base of operations within our base, and now Kakuzu's acting like a schoolgirl. What a day." Sasori shook his head, then reminded Deidara to go to the roof. "I'll stay here and wait for people to show up."

Itachi looked up. "Dinner. That is another thing to be considered. You have a minimum of ten minutes before anyone appears. Check on the state of our food. If Kakuzu aims to present an image of discipline, he would not have left dinner to be rushed together at the last minute. Would he?" Itachi shook his head. "No, that wouldn't make sense. There must be some dish already prepared."

"Itachi, I'm worried about you," Sasori said plainly. "Lie down on the carpet. I'll get the red blanket. If there's time after I find out what's going on with dinner, I'll lie with you. In a platonic way, in case that wasn't clear to lovestruck young minds who should be on the roof right now."

"Sorry!" Deidara ran for the door. He paused and leaned back in, grabbing the doorframe to stabilize himself. "But I'm glad you have someone to cuddle with even though you can't have a partner, yeah." Then he was gone.

"It's true," Itachi said from the floor. He was already lying down. "In this culture, romantic and sexual love are presented as the only ways to fulfill basic human needs that in truth can be fulfilled by any kind of relationship."

"Right." Sasori headed for the game room, feeling unsettled. Is this like a QPR sort of thing? No, no. It's just friendship. That doubles as family. But not the sort of family you outgrow, rather the kind you share your life with forever and ever. Crap. He had given up long ago on hoping for that kind of bond. Now what he had once hoped for sprung itself upon him out of the blue. He did not know how to feel about it.

Nagato

Nagato: It's alright if you do not participate in the meeting tonight. Kakuzu and I send our support. Itachi sent this message in the group chat. Deidara messaged a heart emoji soon after. A few minutes later, Sasori did the same. Everyone else must have been very busy, because there was not the dogpiling of support that would usually be expected. Not even Yahiko or Hidan responded.

Nagato sat in the town's resident gay bar, at the bar, drinking a glass of orange juice very very slowly. The last time he had come here, he'd felt very accepted and seen. He hoped to recapture that feeling. But it was only going to happen if he left the bar, and that wasn't going to happen until he felt less depressed. He knew he should stop checking to see if Yahiko or Hidan had responded. But he couldn't stop himself. Yahiko says such nice words, but they seem to be nothing more than words. He was probably going to spend his entire stay at the bar.

The seats at the bar briefly emptied. The bartender slash owner came over to him. "Something going on?"

"Life stuff." I'm not sure it's because of my childhood abandonment issues this time. It feels more current than that. Maybe they're mixing. I don't know. It's all so complicated.

"This is a good space to figure things out in. Let me know if you need anything." Some people came back to the bar. He left to attend to them.

What am I doing here?

He spent his entire stay at the bar. He left around 10 at night. He didn't know where to go, so he drove home. Everyone else was already asleep by the time he got there, as expected. He went inside, grateful for the darkness.

"A most ninjalike maneuver, from someone who is hardly beginning to understand the ways of ninja." Nagato stopped in the middle of the lobby. Chills ran up and down his back. That was his own voice that had spoken. In the shadows to his left, beyond the desk, something moved. Nagato felt the urge to use his Push jutsu to blast whatever it was away. But he couldn't do that because it would damage the building. All he could do was stifle himself, stand still and wait for this dreaded encounter to be over.

Original Nagato stepped into the faint light from outside. Nagato's heart pounded. His gut twisted, making him grateful that he hadn't drunk anything alcoholic. He ducked his head, shrinking down, trying not to shiver in fear. He felt his original's gaze on him, and knew how he must look. What am I doing? Why am I this way? Broken.

"I remember this," his original murmured. "From when I was ten years old."

Nagato sniffled. God, what can I even say to that?

"The world is not kind to the weak. Weakness must be replaced by strength. You share the power of the Rinnegan. It ought to make you strong."

"It can't," Nagato whispered. "It's too dangerous."

"Nothing is dangerous except that which you do not control."

Nagato shook his head. "There's no way to use it that wouldn't damage this building. If we were outside, maybe I could do something. But not here."

"Then let's go outside."

That was the exact opposite of what Nagato wanted to do. He wanted to head straight for bed, cocoon himself in darkness and collapse. Instead, he meekly followed his original outdoors. They stopped in the middle of the street. "Well?"

Nagato's fists clenched. I hate him. He unclenched his fists and held out his open palms. He Pushed as hard as he could.

He flew backwards. He didn't understand where he was or what was happening until he hit the ground in a bone-jarring way and tumbled over and over on his sides. He landed stomach down and pushed himself up. The impact ought to have hurt, but he felt good. He looked up at his original. Original Nagato held up a hand palm out in the exact same way. Perhaps he had simultaneously used some other technique to ground himself, or perhaps he just Pushed harder. Either way, one of them had gone flying and the other had not.

Nagato stood up. I hate him so much. Was it hatred, or was it something else? He didn't care. His chakra sang to him. He launched himself into the air and Pulled up some earth to use as ammunition.

Previous battles had destroyed a single patch of road, or two patches of road. That night, the entirety of it was reduced to rubble, as was the fork that split north of the suburbs, and the forest's official entrance. Nagato never would have dreamed of causing so much destruction. But as he executed a complex maneuver to simultaneously block the trees flying at him and also propel himself out of the way, he found that he didn't regret it. Not one bit.

Yahiko

A strange noise woke Yahiko in the morning. It was the alarm on his phone. He didn't usually use it. That's right! I made plans with Tobi. I'm going to gather magical ingredients while he brushes and feeds the horses in the stable. Then when he's done with the horses, he'll help me process the ingredients. I'm part of a quest now. Wow.

Since it was official, Yahiko got up and immediately brushed his hair, put on fresh clothes, got ready for the day. I feel so official. Little One watched from the closet. "Come on, Little One. Today's the first full day of the quest. We've got to search out magical ingredients for Tobi's spell." Little One followed him out the door to the game room, where he gathered Warlic and Manta. The dolls had set protective wards over their nonliving cousins. They all looked very official as they followed him toward Kisame's room to pick up Solis.

They were interrupted. Kakuzu stepped into their path and looked them all up and down. "Reason for being active so early?"

"We are on a quest to help Tobi with a spell," Yahiko reminded him. "We're on our way to pick up Solis. Then we will go out the backyard into the forest to gather ingredients. Um… Your reason for being active?"

"Patrolling. Keeping order. You may proceed." Kakuzu stepped out of the way.

This is so different. Yahiko had mixed feelings about it. He shook them off and knocked lightly on Kisame's door, not loudly enough to wake anyone who was deeply asleep, before opening the door and sneaking in. Samehada yawned. Solis waved his arms and used magic to push Samehada's tail away. That woke the shark up. She warbled sadly as he joined the other dolls. Yahiko went over to whisper in her ear, "I've decided to join Tobi on a quest. The dolls will be helping me. Sorry I didn't find time to mention it." She licked his cheek. All was well. Yahiko snuck out as quietly as he had come. Kisame was still fast asleep.

They went out onto the back porch. Yahiko paused. Konan sent a message saying all was well and we didn't have to get out of bed, but still! What was that noise last night? "Change of plans," he announced. "We will search for magical things in a, uh, debris field. Maybe some buried treasure was unburied." The dolls waved their arms happily. They followed him around the building.

Yahiko's jaw dropped. He stepped onto the broken remains of the road gingerly, ninja instincts taking over to muffle his footsteps as much as possible. "Wow." The pavement had been shattered, uplifted by earth jutsus, pierced, torn up in strips (How?!), and other things. "Are those scorch marks?" They certainly looked like it. "Thank the gods there's no blood…" Just then, he saw a dried drop. It was hard to spot on the pavement. Now that he knew what to look for, Yahiko saw several more. My big fat mouth.

Warlic brought him a chunk of pavement. Yahiko remembered what they were there for. "Um… No, that's not magical. Remember, magical things are always pretty." Little One levitated a strip of pavement. It was rather nice-looking, symmetrical and neatly curved, but it was too large to be easily used. "The pavement, this dark lumpy stony stuff, isn't likely to be magical. Look beneath the pavement. See if anything good was unburied."

Any hopes the road had of still being usable were quickly dashed as the dolls started digging. It hadn't occurred to Yahiko to tell them not to. Since they had earth magic, they were very efficient diggers. They threw great amounts of material into the air and magically caught any non-earth objects that they saw falling. After a period of examining these objects immediately, they started throwing them into a pile for later examination. Yahiko decided to guard the pile. There was no need for him to do his own looking.

A lot of rocks ended up in the pile. There were also very old seeds and nuts. One of the dolls unearthed an old-fashioned wooden toy train, crushed of course. And bones. Lots of little tiny bones. Yahiko called the dolls back when the pile got a foot high. He held his fingers about a millimeter apart. "Anything that's less than this big, take out. That's too small to handle. Anything that's partly crushed, take out. I'll look through the rest." He ended up with a much smaller pile composed of old seeds, bones that had miraculously avoided being smashed, and several unusually smooth rocks. "I really should have brought a bowl or pouch or something with me to carry these in. Um, you four stay here and guard the pile. Make sure nothing in it blows away or gets stolen. I'm going to go back and get something to carry it in."

He found Kisame and Kakuzu surveying the damage directly in front of the hotel. "How far does this go?" Kisame asked him.

"All the way up the road. There are burn marks, peeled strips, and drops of blood in some places."

"What's with the holes?"

"Oh, the dolls made those. We're looking for little pretty-looking things. Tobi likes to collect those."

"Our vehicles just got substantially less useful," Kakuzu muttered. "If you start running now, you might just get to work on time. Or you could ask Deidara for a ride."

Kisame sighed. "I'd rather not use Dei as a taxi service. But since I only just now found out about this…" He went inside.

"I need to get a bowl or pouch or something," Yahiko told Kakuzu. He went inside, headed straight for the kitchen, and found a bowl of a suitable size.

Leaving the kitchen, he nearly bumped into Konan. "Purpose?" she inquired.

"Um, I forgot to bring something to carry our pretty little objects in. This bowl will do for now."

"Obito is awake. He has questions about the note that was left for him."

"Right! I'll get to that." Yahiko went around her and ran to the lobby. He continued running all the way up the road, where he found the dolls dutifully standing guard. "You guys are doing a wonderful job. Tobi's gonna love this. You can all take a break now. I'll, uh, find you when Tobi has something else for us to do." The dolls looked at each other. They ran back to the hotel. As Yahiko walked back with his bowl full of pretty things, he passed them running the other way with the skateboard.

The whole base had erupted into a frenzy of activity. Sasori could just barely be seen with his helmet and jacket on, manually guiding his motorcycle along the grass towards the suburbs. Kakuzu and Itachi spoke with Konan in the lobby, which had been redecorated. The changes were minimal so far. Yahiko couldn't see exactly what had changed, but he knew the desk hadn't been so clear before, and the mug of writing utensils standing atop it directly next to the return-to-base lamp was definitely new. Was the lobby being remade into a base of operations, just as the originals were apparently doing to their twin room? Yahiko didn't have time to ask. Tobi had gone to sleep in the nearest empty room, like he had the first time he came out. But now, Zetsu wasn't around. Obito, waking up without Zetsu in a place he could not have expected to ever see again, would definitely be upset. Yahiko tapped Kakuzu's shoulder, said he was going to Obito, and raced down the hall.

Obito wasn't in the room. Yahiko checked outside and found him and Hidan in the backyard. "Hey, Sunshine!" Hidan called. "Good thing you're here. Other Me keeps coming back wanting to talk to this guy, and it's really fucking annoying having to beat him off. He's like a mosquito."

"Yahiko? Where is Zetsu?" Obito asked. In his right hand, he held the note that Tobi had written for him.

Yahiko sat down o n Obito's left and held the bowl in his lap. "They got really upset yesterday and left, I heard. But they must know how scary it would be to wake up and find them missing. I'm sure they'll be back soon."

"Tobi left a note for me."

"Yeah, I told him to. I thought it would be better if you had some explanation of what was going on. Um. Tobi wants me to work with him to gather pretty things." Yahiko held out the bowl.

Obito had no interest in the bowl. "I…I don't know what's happening…"

"Neither does anyone else," Hidan told him. It was meant to be reassuring, but it had the opposite effect. Obito curled up into a ball, hugging his knees.

"Two guards?" Original Hidan surprised them by leaping down from the roof directly over their heads. "How fragile is this guy?" His malicious grin exposed far too much teeth for comfort.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Hidan snapped at him.

"In this zoo? No."

"Have you seen how destroyed the road is?" Yahiko asked, hoping to buy time.

"Yeah. I wish I'd been there. But Moonshine told me to stay out of his fucking business!"

"...Original Nagato's the one who did all that?"

Original Hidan laughed. "Hell yeah! He did it while beating the cowardice out of his pussy-ass clone. The clone put up a decent fight, though. It wasn't a total snoozefest."

Hidan hissed. "He is not a pussy ass!"

"Wanna bet on it?" Original Hidan reached over his shoulder for his scythe.

Hidan stood up. "Guard him," he told Yahiko. The two versions of him growled at each other. Hidan took off running, leading his original into the forest. Original Hidan went along with this.

"Have fun trying to kill each other!" Yahiko called after them. They disappeared soon, leaving the backyard quiet and peaceful. In that quiet peace, it was impossible not to remember all of the things that had already happened in only the first two hours of the day. If the rest of the day continued at that pace, it would contain a whole month's worth of events. Yahiko put the bowl aside and tried to relax. "Wow. So much is happening all at once." He shook his head. "I have to follow Tobi's example. Tobi makes everything simple. I have to do that too." Let's see. Tobi kept asking what was so scary. I should keep asking. What's so bad about -

"Tobi's example?"

"Yeah. Yesterday, I felt like things were crazy and unstable. Tobi showed me how to find, you know, peace and order and that sort of stuff." What IS so bad? Nobody's dead, dying or even terribly injured. It can't be that bad.

"Tobi made things make sense?"

"Yeah." Yahiko looked to his right. Obito stared at the note. Tobi's childish scrawl proclaimed, Me and Sir Knight are questing to make a magic spell. It was signed with a giant smiley face that had centimeter-wide dots for eyes. Whatever Obito's handwriting looked like, surely it was nothing like that.

Obito looked up slowly. "Am I the least weird person here?"

"One of, maybe. I don't know what you mean by weird."

"You guys seem…kinda crazy."

Yahiko laughed. "Hehe, yeah. All sorts of random stuff just seems to happen around here. You either deal with it, or you have a big meltdown and then deal with it, or you have a really big meltdown, up to the level of a breakdown, and then you deal with it." He laughed again. "I think that's just how life is?"

"Zetsu doesn't like that."

"That's why he left."

"He says life is about peace and enjoying the world and being in the moment."

"What if the moment is a crazy moment where you want to do crazy things?"

"...He doesn't have those."

"Well, you guys only recently got here," Yahiko said. "Things are different here."

"Where is 'here'?"

Yahiko's mouth dried. This story. This setting. But was it his place to share that kind of information? "Well… You know about the gods… But that's not all. There's stuff happening here that you might not believe me about."

"I know." Yahiko looked up in surprise. Obito faced him directly. The masked man's body language seemed totally unbothered. "I know what you mean when you say that things are different here. I know that, even when you live in the same place where you always lived, it can change so that it seems like a strange place. I just don't know where 'here' is. Where was I before, and where am I now, and why are they different?"

Those questions made Yahiko's eyes tear up. He had also experienced that feeling of strangeness. The world looked like a very different place when you were a boy with an annoying family, versus when you were an orphan. His place in it, the way people looked at him, the sort of things he had to think about, the things he saw… They all changed. "Before, you… You were on your own. Now, you're not. Even if Zetsu's not around, even if I'm not, even if you can't see or hear anyone at all. You're still not alone."

Obito looked down. "That's a good thing?"

"Of course it is. How could it not be a good thing?"

Obito didn't answer.

.

A/N: QPR = Queer-Platonic Relationship. A sort of relationship that's similar to friendship, but much more intimate. Similar to a romantic relationship, except with no sexual activity. Just life partners sharing a life together because they're soulmates even though they're not interested in each other that way. Like JD and Turk in Scrubs.

I thought of Original Hidan's nicknames for those two before I thought of Clone Hidan's. That's why there is a line in an early chapter where Hidan refers to Nagato as Moon Guy. I knew I needed the two different versions of Hidan to use different nicknames, and I hadn't decided on which ending Clone Hidan would use. So in regards to the general concept of giving Nagato and Yahiko nicknames, the very first ones that came to mind were Moonshine and Sunbeam. Moonlight and Sunshine are weaker, more generic variations that I only made up because I had to.

Anyway. I had fun writing this one! Hope it shows. See you all next week.