A/N: Overwhelming amounts of things to do between now and Thursday alone. Through it all, this story provides much needed reassurance and lifting of spirits. This was the best decision I ever made.

I wish everyone good luck and new strength in this season of busyness.

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Yahiko

Yahiko's first instinct was to greet this guy the same way he had greeted the wolf. "Hi! I'm Yahiko. This is Nagato. I think we're supposed to meet somebody here?" He raised a hand and waved.

The man looked back and forth between them and the wolf. Noting the beast's gently waving tail, he relaxed. "Who are you supposed to meet?"

Nagato whispered, "This is going to sound idiotic." To the man, he said, "I think someone led us here as part of an April Fool's Day prank. We were bored, so we went along with it, and now we're here. We might as well get to know you."

Yahiko looked back at the wolf. "What's his name?"

"Her," the man corrected. "I know it's hard to tell with all that fur. I call her Wave." He put the knife away and shook his head. "An April Fool's Day prank? What kind of prank is that? I mean, I know what the day is. But how did you get here?"

Nagato explained about the light and the path. "It's possible we were supposed to go somewhere else, but we were distracted looking at the forest and just continued straight. If there was a fork we missed it," he apologized.

"A glowing patch of light in the road?" The black-haired man looked bemused. "I would have to see this."

Nagato blinked. "You're not an NPC."

"What?"

Yahiko chuckled. "It's a nickname we have for people who don't notice that weird things are weird. An NPC would probably be asking how we knew the light was friendly by now." How did we know the light was friendly? It could have been trying to get us lost. It didn't, so it must be harmless, but there's no way Nagato and I could've known that when we saw it. I should be more careful and not just walk up to dangerous things. That's exactly what Konan is angry at me for. Yahiko sighed and patted the large wolf for comfort. She let him. At least I made a new friend.

The black-haired man opened his mouth to ask more questions, then closed it. "Okay, fair. I've actually met people who don't look twice at Wave. They just treat her like a large dog and don't even ask why I'm with a wolf." He sighed. "How do you guys have a nickname for people like that?"

Nagato shrugged. "Same reason we didn't question the appearance of a giant spot of light on the road. We've seen a lot of weird things, and a lot of people who don't even notice. Have you noticed my eyes?"

"Yeah, I wasn't going to ask."

"I've lived my whole life with people not asking, even after I realized they should be and started pointing it out. It's like a litmus test I can use to tell if someone's an NPC or not."

The young man looked down. Yahiko thought he looked sad. What's wrong? He naturally went over to offer comfort.

The guy shrugged. "I just…wonder why I got rid of my teeth if nobody even notices. I don't even remember why." He rubbed at the side of his mouth.

Yahiko opened his mouth to say, Maybe you noticed, and that was enough, but he stopped himself. Nobody notices me either. Why do I worry they will? Why do I…?

Nagato smiled sympathetically. "Everybody who isn't an NPC around here has parts of their past that were literally out of their control. I can't explain it, and trust me when I say you don't want me to, but that wasn't really your decision."

It wasn't my decision? Yahiko's brow wrinkled. Then whose decision was it? Why am I not like what I want to be like? Why am I not strong, and able to handle myself, and other things? Why do I need to be looked after? Who decided that I should be like this?

The guy shook himself. "I guess it doesn't really matter. My teeth are fine now. It would be kinda cool to still have them, but I'm not missing out on anything." He shrugged.

I'm missing something. Yahiko thought of Hidan. He has so much fun, and never worries. He knows who he is. I want that.

"Yahiko? Are you okay?"

He blinked and looked back at Nagato. "Yeah, just trying to think. It's not working that well. I'm glad you're better at it." He really is, isn't he? Hidan said that he figured out what was wrong and how to fix it already, and I still don't really know what's going on and I have no idea how to fix it. Yahiko hurried over to rejoin Nagato's side. Maybe I should ask Nagato for advice. But… Well, he doesn't know I'm weird. He's a normal guy; he'd have no idea. I should just stick with Hidan. Hidan knows about not being a normal guy. Nagato can't help me with that.

Nagato briefly thought about holding Yahiko's hand under the pretense of comforting him, then dismissed the idea. It would feel nice, but it wouldn't really matter. Yahiko didn't feel the same way. He would see it as normal, because he was a regular guy in that regard. Nagato was just different, and he shouldn't make Yahiko have to bear the weight of feelings he couldn't reciprocate. Yahiko couldn't help him, and would feel bad for not being able to. Better to stick with Hidan if he needed to tell someone how he felt. Nagato kept his hand to himself.

The black-haired guy beckoned, and Wave came to his side. "Well, you guys must be nice if Wave likes you. She's very protective."

Yahiko flushed and hoped Nagato wouldn't say anything about him being the male equivalent of a Disney Princess. Nagato did not say any such thing. He only smiled warmly and a little wistfully at the wolf, before asking, "So, if it's not painful to talk about, what did you mean about your teeth?"

"Everyone in the Hatake Clan has weird extra teeth," the man said, gesturing at the side of his mouth. "Some of us get them out as soon as they grow in. But if nobody even notices, then why? I have no idea why we do that now."

"Hatake?" That word sounded familiar. Nagato strained to remember. Why did it sound familiar?

Yahiko winced. Seriously? He's been standing here talking to us for a while, with a wolf, and I only just now made that connection. "The wolf people?"

The man looked more closely at them both. "You've heard of us?"

Yahiko nodded. "Konan met a guy named Sakumo, and there's some other guy named Ruta who's helping us put together what we know about weird things."

The man stared blankly for two seconds, then burst out chuckling. "Seriously? You know Sakumo and Ruta?" He shook his head. "I'm sorry; I haven't even told you my name yet. I must have picked up some of Wave's tendencies." He held out his hand. "I'm Makuto."

Nagato shook it. "That's okay; it's been awkward this whole time for me too."

"If you know Sakumo, you must be fine," Makuto said. "He might be in the outer cabin. Come on."

Just then, they all heard the rumble of an approaching engine. A large black pickup truck ambled out of the forest, coming to a stop in almost the exact spot where Nagato had. Yahiko walked up just as Kakuzu got out.

"Did you see the light on the road too?" he asked.

Kakuzu looked around. "Yes." He sighed. "Someone is going to great efforts to piss me off today. I already had to…!" He growled. "This had better be the last of the tricks. I'm not in the mood."

Yahiko smiled and held up a hand placatingly. "If it helps, you can think of this as business instead of a trick. The light led us to our neighbors; this is where those nice wolf people Konan told us about live. Come on!" He beckoned for Kakuzu to follow him.

Kakuzu rolled his eyes and went to move his vehicle before following. Once he had joined them, he said, "If the three of us, in two different vehicles, were led here, then the odds are good everyone else is going to see that light too. I hope you can handle crowds."

Yahiko looked at Wave, who had stopped waving her tail pleasantly and was alert once more. "Oh… Yeah, that might not be good." I probably should think more about what's going on. It was nice to be carried away for a little while, but she might be frightened. I should think for her sake. "Who is doing this? The light kind of wavered on the road, like someone was making it."

"I looked up," Kakuzu said. "It's a reflection. I couldn't see who was reflecting all that light down, but they clearly haven't thought this through."

"We should definitely see Sakumo," Makuto said. "He's more flexible about guests. Come."

The three of them followed him to an outer cabin. This one was like the rest, with large porches and a wide roof, except that it faced outwards with stairs leading up to the porch from the forest. Nagato looked back, and could make out the existence of some other buildings, but he would not have seen them from the forest side without deliberately looking. Yahiko looked out in the direction of the forest and saw a disturbed patch of dirt just beyond the porch. Makuto opened the door and waved them inside. Yahiko noticed that Wave did not follow them in. Instead, she stayed at the bottom of the stairs and made herself comfortable next to the porch.

Inside, they found a very comfortable space with couches and other amenities. It was pleasantly warm and the lighting resembled firelight, though there was no fire in sight. Yahiko sighed in joy. "This is nice."

"Yep." Makuto looked around. "The half-wolves like to stay here because it's the cabin closest to the forest, where the wolves live. The other cabins are for people that don't go into the forest as much. He should be around here somewhere."

"Tigers," Nagato remembered. "Like Ruta. Are there any full tigers in these woods?"

"I don't know." Makuto shrugged. "If there are, they don't cause any problems for the wolves. Wave and I would know if anyone was causing trouble for the wolves."

Even Kakuzu had to admit this trick was a very pleasant one. Perhaps he did not regret following that weird light, after all. But there was no way in hell he would show such a thing. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "They had better not cause trouble for humans, either."

Footsteps echoed down a hallway, and a man with long white hair appeared. "More guests?" He glanced at Yahiko, then Nagato, then Kakuzu, and back to Nagato, this time paying special attention to Nagato's eyes. ""You're from Konan's group."

"Sakumo?" Yahiko asked.

"Yes." Nagato reached out to shake his hand, and the wolf man accepted.

Yahiko was reminded of something that he had completely forgotten about ever since he first heard it. "Hey, have you heard about our originals?" He gestured between himself and Sakumo to imply that he was specifically talking about theirs, and not everybody's.

"Maybe that's why," Makuto muttered. He was rubbing the side of his mouth again.

Sakumo struggled to remember exactly what about their originals the orange-haired man was talking about. His gesturing provided no clues. "I'm not sure if I have. I've heard a lot about originals."

"My original and yours died a really long time ago," Yahiko said. "So I don't know why we're here. We shouldn't be. It's confusing."

"Oh, yes, Kisame said there was someone else like that," Sakumo remembered. "Welcome! What's your name?"

"Yahiko." They shook hands.

"And who are you?" he asked Kakuzu.

"Kakuzu. I'm not huggy and affectionate," Kakuzu warned.

His size and this claim reminded Sakumo of Kisame. But Kisame had revealed, after some time, that he simply did not have any family. He was very affectionate with Samehada, but not to anybody else because nobody else was like family. Sakumo bit his tongue, restraining himself from asking questions that would tell him if the same might be true of Kakuzu. "Welcome."

"And I'm Nagato," Nagato said.

Sakumo nodded. "I was with Ruta and Konan a few days ago. They spent a lot of time talking about you, but it is nice to finally have a face to go with the eyes I heard about."

Nagato flushed. "I don't use them, or even think about them, not for a while…"

Yahiko grinned. "Alright! It's nice to finally meet you guys." He looked around excitedly. "Is Ruta here?"

"He went to the library after work, so he's delayed," Sakumo explained.

Makuto piped up to say that he was going back out in case Kakuzu's prediction was right and more people were going to be showing up. He departed with a wave. Kakuzu grumbled some more about tricks, which prompted Nagato, Yahiko and Sakumo to start discussing the trick that had led them to this place. All agreed that Deidara had to be in on it, because Kakuzu had seen someone in the sky, and Hidan must be too because he seemed like the type to have fun with mild pranks. Konan and Hidan tended to be in sync, so the conversation turned to her next.

"I disagree," Sakumo disagreed. "I think she would join in a prank."

"Really?" Yahiko smoothed back his hair. "She's all business-like, though. Even with Sasori's laptop, that was for work reasons." He glanced at Nagato for reassurance. Close save! I almost said, "Even when she was acting all strange." Whew!

"Well, we had some pressing business to attend to then," Nagato continued. "She had really important reasons to only use the Internet for work. Just because she didn't go wild and have lots of fun exploring it the first time she saw it doesn't mean she can't have fun. Sakumo could be right." Yahiko admired his words. The topic was masterfully diverted, and in a way that sounded natural. I need to be more like Nagato. How can I learn to do that?

"Really?" Sakumo asked. "She, ah, didn't?" He was flushed and shifted slightly, obviously uncomfortable.

"Didn't what?" Yahiko hoped he wanted to know the answer.

"Didn't…'go wild.'" Sakumo took a deep breath and told them the story of his first encounter with her. After providing all the plot details, he elaborated on his impressions of what was happening. "The look in her eyes was… I… It was… Excuse me."

Yahiko nodded. He could understand the need for words. He really is like me - same originals, same word problems. I want to be friends with him!

"Slippery?" Nagato suggested. "Like things could have gone anywhere? Like sliding?"

"Yes," Sakumo said with a shiver. "Like that, except wild, too. I got the sense that I wasn't talking to a person anymore, if that makes sense. Everything she did, it was different. Alien. I kind of wanted to ask what she was instead of who. She looked at me like I was prey, among other things." He shivered again. "But then she sounded more reasonable at the end, like a switch was turned on or off. I still don't understand. I think something's not right."

Yahiko gulped and ran a hand through his hair more forcefully. "Yeah, she kind of does that. It's scary." Technically he had not seen her looking at anything as if it was prey, but the feeling of her hand on his neck and her whole body above him was so vivid that he almost could. She is different from other people. Huh… If the people here are all half-predator, would they understand her better? Yahiko stopped running his hand through his hair as a surge of hope washed away the lingering fear. "Hey."

Sakumo was too busy shaking his head in agreement. Kakuzu, leaning against the wall, was the one to narrow his eyes and ask, "Hey what?"

"I think it was like instinct," Yahiko said. "Like he said, kind of predatory. Maybe people who are half predator would get it."

Nagato and Sakumo looked at each other. "We already have a standing invitation for Kisame," Sakumo said.

"I think she's getting restless. Going out and visiting people and different places would be good," Nagato said.

They nodded at each other and shook hands. "I guess...allies?" Nagato offered. "Hidan and Konan are in charge, and they like you, so -"

"Of course." Sakumo nodded firmly. "I'm already looking forward to meeting the rest of you." That said, he scratched his cheek uncertainly again. "But how is she doing? I have not had a chance to ask."

The three Akatsuki members glanced at each other, wondering how much to say. "Better," Nagato ventured. "It's not going away, exactly, but we're learning. She's adapting too. I think we'll get along much better in the future." Sakumo relaxed just a little.

There was a knock on the door. "You were right," Makuto said from outside. He walked in with Kisame and Itachi behind him.

"Hello," Itachi said. "Kisame told me how his visit here was. I'm honored to meet you." He held out a hand for Sakumo to shake. "I am Itachi."

Sakumo shook his hand. "Hello. Why does something smell like fish?" He stumbled over his words as he tried to say, "I mean, more than already."

"I work in an aquarium," Kisame explained. "Uh, Same? Hello?" He leaned out the door. "Why is Same having a staring contest with a wolf?"

Itachi looked too. "It looks more like a wagging contest."

"It was a staring contest until a few seconds ago," Kisame told him. "I take it that's a good sign." The sound of warbling came through the open door.

Itachi stepped back and looked around. "This place looks very comfortable."

"I know, right?" Yahiko looked around. "I keep expecting there to be a nice fire, but there isn't one."

"It's tolerable," Kakuzu muttered.

"He's just mad at the tricks," Yahiko said. "Wait… Everyone else got individual tricks before we got this one. What trick did you get, Kakuzu?"

"I got a friggin' kitten following me around everywhere who wouldn't shut up," Kakuzu snarled. "I found her a nice home where I will never have to see or hear her ever again."

Nagato laughed. "One kitten is enough?"

"Yes."

"One?" Sakumo asked. Yahiko explained to him that Hidan already was a kitten. The half-wolf still looked confused. "Mitsuki said he was much more tigerlike."

"He changes what kind of cat he is," Yahiko said. With much circling of his hands as if he was trying to shape the air between them into a ball, he said, "Like if you offer to pet him, he's a kitten, but then he goes hunting sometimes or gets in a battle and he's a wild cat, so sometimes he's more or less grown and more or less domestic than other times. You really have to know him to get it."

Sakumo shrugged and waved Makuto over to tell him about their new official alliance. Nagato whispered with Kisame and Itachi about Harbi. Yahiko was glad to hear Samehada had a new friend. "That was really nice of the demon kid."

"I didn't think so," said Kakuzu.

Nagato turned and stared directly at him. "Give it up already, Kakuzu. You've been grumbling so consistently since we got here that I know it has to be an act." Kakuzu rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Sakumo gave permission to use the couches, and they all sat down to hear about the escaped octopus. Discussion of the octopus led to discussion of when he'd first met the friendly Asian kid in charge of the octopus, and before Kisame knew it he was talking about his very first escapade in the aquarium. "I can't believe I never thought of getting him out of there before," Kisame said. "I knew he was able to breathe air, and I knew he was always happy to see me and was glad to hear about things outside of the tank. How did I never think of getting him out of there myself?"

"Don't blame yourself," Nagato said gently. "Those were your false memories. You didn't have a choice."

"How are your false memories of your vacation? I never thought to ask," Yahiko realized.

"Dreamlike," Kisame said. He shook his head. "They don't feel real."

"I don't think any of the false memories do," Nagato said.

"Yeah, but these ones even less so. I can remember specific things that happened in my childhood, even if I know now that they shouldn't have gone the way they did. But I can't actually remember a single specific or important thing from my vacation."

"Really? That's sad," Yahiko said. "I'm sorry you don't remember your vacation."

"No, I do. I just remember it as a blur of relaxing on a beach, swimming, and thinking about Same."

"But not what you were thinking about Same," Nagato said.

"Yeah."

Footsteps creaked as Makuto once again climbed the stairs outside. When he opened the door, Same looked up from his game with the large she-wolf and raced inside. Sasori, anticipating this, followed the shark in without any pause. "Nice place. Now, what am I doing here?"

A great long distance away, at the edge of the forest near a stand of misplaced sunflowers, Deidara, Hidan and Konan stood together. Konan held a mirror and Hidan held his scythe. Deidara consulted all his memories of exploring the forest and found nothing. "Nice prank, yeah! Now, where did we lead them to?"

General

There was only one way to find out.

Hidan frowned after they had walked some distance down the forest path. He had been looking around him at the plants, and now he muttered, "Feels different from the flowers." Deidara shrugged. Konan remembered it in case Hidan's intuition happened to connect with some future piece of information, but it wasn't much to go on by itself.

Deidara picked up a long sturdy stick at some point and starting poking at things on the side of the road with it. Hidan couldn't help but look. That's why both of them were surprised when Konan grabbed them by the necks of their cloaks, bringing them to a stop. "The path forks here."

They looked where she indicated. The path they were currently on curved, and from the curve emerged another path. It was flat and packed, but covered with leaves, and its outlines were not clearly distinguishable due to plant life growing in. Hidan shook his head. "Nuh uh. I wouldn't have seen that shit unless I was looking closely and walking slowly and expected it to be there. There's no way anybody else in a car would have seen that."

So they continued walking, following the path that remained clear and visible and navigable by car. "After we find the others, if there is time, we ought to explore what is at the end of the other path," Konan said.

"I think that's the official place," Hidan said. "Didja notice the sign that'd fallen in the bushes? I think that's the place you'd go for a map of trails and a forest guide and shit."

"Then why is it worse maintained than this path, yeah?" Deidara asked. "Shouldn't the official path be the better one?"

Konan looked back and forth between them. "Did either of you two hear that the vampires have been trying to limit Hidan's activities by restricting access to the forest? The official path would be the one followed by people who only want to come here as long as it is freely open, yes?"

Hidan chuckled. "Seriou-fucking-sly? What the fuck would that do? I don't come in this way most of the time, they can't block off the entire border, and obviously there's still someone who does go back and forth, regardless of what they do. Waste of effort!"

Konan hid a smile. "I can understand. Forbidding an area should, in a normal place that functioned by normal rules, result in that area being checked for unauthorized people, and those people being evicted. But this is not a normal place; it is a place where nobody cares and nobody does anything to restrain our activities. They seem to lack awareness of where they are."

Deidara winced and groaned. "Oh, man, now I feel bad for them, yeah." He looked down. "That's been rough to deal with, hm."

Sympathy was expressed, and then no more was said until they found the end of the path.

With a glance at each other, they cautiously walked into the center of the campsite, instinctively bunching together in a rough triangle for defense if anything should happen. The vehicles of the other Akatsuki members were clearly visible in a parking area off to the side, between and behind two of the large cabins. They looked around warily, but nothing stirred. Hidan knew that couldn't be the full story and channeled chakra to his nose. Instantly, his ears went to full alertness. "Dog!"

Deidara and Konan looked where he was looking and saw nothing. "What?"

"Wait." Hidan sniffed more carefully. "Forest smells and dog, together. Forest dog? Wolf! That's it! And people."

"Wolves and people?" Konan hid another smile. "Well then…"

Hidan spun around, looking for the one that faced out into the forest. "Thisaway! Come on!"

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A/N: Writing the end of this chapter gave me just the boost I needed. Thank you guys, the shenanigans are helping a lot! Love you! Keep them up!

I hope they will. They probably will. They're all kinda nuts.

I'll have another installation of their adventures next week, and hopefully much of my work will be done! Yeah!

By the way I had a birthday party yesterday, which was a belated one because my birthday was actually the day before that. It was awesome! I am so excited to be [age]. (I'd have to be mad to share private information on the Internet.)