A/N: SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY I can't believe this. In the course of writing this chapter I looked over some earlier ones, and discovered a plot hole that literally formed from one chapter to the next, a pretty gaping one, that I had no idea about until just now. How did I miss that?! Now I have to somehow explain why Hidan was propped against a tree with a nasty gut wound waiting for healing one chapter and sitting with Nagato laughing the next. This is why on my other story, the one I intend to be readable, I gave myself permission to not publish unless I've had the chapter ready for at least a few days. This is what last minute writing leads to.

It's a good thing I don't intend this story to be readable.

This chapter is brought to you by music. Music and a book on trees that I've been reading recently. It's a good book. Identifying information in the end notes.

:D

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In town

The watchful person was very startled. He missed a note. But then he kept on playing as if nothing was wrong, and that was good because the song was good. It made the demon boy sway back and forth. When it was over, he clapped.

"You like music?" the person asked after everyone else had left.

The demon boy nodded. He threw money into the open guitar case, bright orange 500 dollar bills and blue fifties and tan 100s. Crow Person looked at it. "Monopoly money?"

Little did he know: it was actually real money. The boy giggled. He had said hello to the money-loving person and stolen some bills after the money person finished counting them to himself and before the money-taking person counted them herself. The big person had said not to steal from his friend, but it would just be so funny! He had a dark bird in the bank right now to record the money person's reaction when he realized what must have happened. It was no fun if he didn't realize and get mad.

"Thank you," Crow Person said. He looked around. Currently there was nobody else nearby. "What would you like to hear next?"

"Hmmm…" The demon boy looked through all his memories of guitar music. "Hmmm…"

The watchful person saw that he was having trouble making a decision, and started playing a tune to tide them over. It was not a song. It was only a tune, something that pleased the ear with its acoustic qualities and repeated itself in a calming way, like a lullaby. The boy began to sway back and forth again. He decided he didn't want to hear anything specific. This tune was enough.

"This one is also my favorite," the person said gently.

The boy continued to sway back and forth, his eyes closed. The music was hypnotic, good for rocking back and forth to. He started to feel like he could be sleepy.

Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea. He opened his eyes. "Heyyyy. You want money? I can get more money. You want happy people?"

The crow person looked at him with puzzlement and nodded.

"I have lots of people! They'd like it." And me too. "How's…Saturdays?"

"You would like me to play at the hospital?"

"Mhm." I'd like it…

The person smiled, just a little. Maybe he knew and maybe he didn't know that the demon boy wanted to sit and listen like a normal child. If he knew, he didn't make a big deal of it. "I would be honored."

He started on a different tune, just as pleasant. The boy sat and listened. Human children who looked like him seemed so happy. He was not human, and he was not a child, and he had adultlike dignity. He couldn't have an inner child, because he had never actually been a child and there was no way he could hold onto a remnant of something that had never existed. But maybe there was something about being a child that had nothing to do with being in the process of development. As a demon, he had been fully developed for as long as he had existed, yet he felt like a child sometimes. And it made him happy, just like the human kids he saw. He wouldn't indulge it too much. But if he found a person who did not threaten his dignity…

He watched the watchful person. The person's dark eyes glanced at him occasionally, but not to judge or criticize. He said nothing. He concentrated entirely on producing the music that made the boy rock back and forth without realizing. He was a perfect elder to look up to, as the boy yearned to do. He had no real elders, nobody to learn from or look up to. Nobody to sit with who would hold him, next to whom he was just a boy and didn't have to be anything else. He didn't know why he would want to be held. He didn't know why he wanted anything. What was the purpose of a demon? What was he supposed to be?

The watchful person's music didn't have any answers, but it did feel nice. That had to be enough.

The boy silently drifted over to his side. He curled up and leaned against the arm that had to move the least. Being against a large, warm side was nice. Why am I so human? Warmth shouldn't matter. My darkness can feel like anything it wants. Size shouldn't matter; I can expand, and I was created at whatever size I'm at now. This is all human kid stuff. He tried to remember how he had been a long time ago, at the beginning of his existence. He remembered pursuit, yearning, always following the next interesting thing. He had never been still. It was as if he was constantly empty, constantly missing something. He'd found and developed more elaborate ways to pursue and yearn and try to fill that emptiness over the years. And now, finally, he sat still. The emptiness wasn't filled, but it didn't bother him so much, and if he listened closely to the music he could feel a little bit more complete for a while.

He didn't know what demons were supposed to become. Nobody could show him what was supposed to fill him and bring him to stillness. The only role models he had were humans. Was it really surprising that he was half human?

The boy listened to the music and drifted on the edge of sleep.

Outside town

The trees were gone.

The small plants were not gone, and the medium sized plants were not gone. Only the trees were gone. That was bad. Trees were good for hiding and smallness and darkness and safety. The medium sized plants were not safe.

Would healing work? Must try. Open door inside, feel snake power flood body, flood out…

It did not work. The trees were alone, nobody to keep them alive and nobody to keep them from growing too fast. They were dead already. Now the stump was gone.

Who killed trees? Find them. Show them the openness and non-safety. Plant more trees. Snakey drags on the small plants. Medium size plants block sight. Too crowded!

The stumps were so straight and clean. Big Person? Big Person nice… Misunderstanding. Had to be. Off to find Big Person.

How to find Big Person: Cross the road, looking for cars. Find somewhere good to stand. Then close eyes and feel for the weight of the air. Big Person had a sort of weight, a sort of tingliness. With eyes closed and a little bit of snake power, not opening the door all the way, just a little, the weight could be felt.

Back across the road, go around the too-crowded bushes, into the people place. Through the places where people lived, into the small businesses. Follow weight to ice cream truck. Big Person was there. Big Person had no ice cream yet; he was talking to someone. A lady.

"You've gotta tell her how you feel," he said. "All ignored and hurt and shit. Tell her not to dismiss ya just because she can't see why this deal was so important to you. Even if she doesn't know why it would hurt to lose it, she should care that you're hurt. That's what friends are for."

"Every time I try to talk about it, I end up feeling like I could rip her head off," the lady said.

"But you're not really angry," Big Person explained. "It hurts and it sucks, not being able to tell your friend about it."

The lady lowered her head. "We're not like that, though."

"Do you want words? I know some words you could say."

"What are they?"

The big person took a moment to compose just the right words. "When you see her next, ask her, 'Do you know what this looks like? This thing where you tell me all these platitudes and start talking about your happy life? It looks like you're ignoring me. I'm here to talk to my friend, not to someone who doesn't care about how I feel and doesn't want to hear it. I'd call my mom if I wanted that.'"

The lady smiled at the line about her mom. "Punchy, funny, not too touchy-feely." She thought about it. "Maybe I could say that."

"Hope ya do," Big Person said. "I had a best friend go off at me, yell at me and say all this hurtful shit, because he didn't understand me once. It fucking sucked."

The lady looked at him. "What did you do?"

"I had another friend there. She told him when he called that he'd better say those things to my face. Then, when I met with him, I remembered that I'd wanted to thank him for something just before he called. I gave him a hug and said 'Thank you,'" the big person remembered. His voice was sad and happy mixed together. He started to smile. "You can't lose track of what matters. I wanted to get back to being friends, so I was friendly to him. It reminded him to be friendly to me too. We're good now."

The lady threw out her ice cream cone. "I've never been the best at this, even though I'm a girl and we're supposed to be friggin' experts on reading each other's hearts. Are you a counselor or something?"

"Or something," Big Person said.

The lady looked at him like she couldn't figure out where to put him. "Well, thanks. I didn't expect this from a pick me up ice cream." She took a twenty dollar bill from her wallet before putting it away. Big Person started to smile as she walked away, like he could feel her spirits rising already.

Confused. Why had Big Person hurt the trees? Big Person's brow wrinkled. He started to look around. He was surprised to see Snakey. "Kid? You okay? I've never gotten this from you." Confused. Hurt. Small anger. It was true, the small anger was not usual.

Well… Ice cream. The small anger could wait. Mint chocolate chip?

The big person paid for it and an orange-chocolate swirl out of the twenty. The ice cream was good. The small anger couldn't survive ice cream. Big Person chuckled as he licked out his cone. "Okay, now are you okay?" Take his hand. Tug softly. Make him follow.

Leading the Big Person in his grown body made it show how slow traveling really was. For him, it was just a stroll. But he didn't get impatient. Impatience was bad. Big Person is nice. Big misunderstanding. Surely he had to understand about the trees?

He scratched his head when the stump of a tree was pointed at. "I don't understand."

How to make Big Person understand: Turn away from the tree. Walk a few steps over to a bush. Look at the little plants dragging on Snakey and look at the bush blocking out everything and feel very, very crowded. Then back to the tree, put a hand on it and close eyes and think of a forest and feel better.

"Oh," the big person realized. "You like trees better than shrubs." He looked around. "I cut them down because I like the look of the shrubs around here and don't want to see 'em replaced." He rubbed his chin. "Which one of us comes here more often? How often do you come here, kid?"

Take a hand and wave it sideways to cover everything. All the time. This is the short way to the garden. Had just decided to look after the flowers at the forest entrance that morning. But before, went between town and forest for other reasons, and the shrubs and the road was still the short way. Travel was slow. Couldn't take detours.

"Yeah, and you can't just go around," the big person said. "I get it. Shit. What do you wanna do? Plant more?" Yes. "Okay. Um… We have to find acorns or something to make that happen. It's already around when they should start growing. Shit."

A quest to find acorns began. "I'll look for anything left on the ground," Big Person said. "If you know where squirrels have been, look there." He disappeared. The squirrels have been many places. But how to dig? Snakey might get dirty. Snakey was draped over a log so he would not get dirty. Then digging happened. Nothing was left. The squirrel had come back. More digging happened, and more nothing. Found one acorn, but one won't be a forest.

Big Person came back. "Look what I got," he said proudly, holding out a handful of nuts wrapped in thick, black outer shells that only a squirrel could chew through. "Think this is enough?" Yes.

Back in the shrubs, the big person asked, "Whaddaya wanna do? Pretend we were squirrels and bury 'em close to the trees, as natural as we can? Or use your powers to nudge it along a little?"

Lonely trees are sad. If the door was opened just a little, life force flowing around was obvious. There was connection between trees. Lonely trees would die, like the cut ones. And they were sad. Close to Mom trees. And just a little powers.

Big Person ripped up the ground, making holes in the grass roots and stems so the trees could grow, several feet away and in the sun but still within reach of the older trees. Most of them were put in reach of the older trees of the same kind, which would be friendlier. Snake powers made them grow out of the ground and sprout leaves. There; now they could grow like normal.

"Sorry about the other ones," Big Person said. "I shoulda asked if anyone else liked this place before making my own landscaping decisions."

Misunderstanding. That was all. Big Person petted Snakey when offered. "Thanks, kid. You're really cool, you know that? The demon kid has the best little friend ever. He'd better know how lucky he is."

*sniff* Such nice words… They made tears. Hug Snakey tightly and sway back and forth. "Aw, don't do that," Big Person said. "You can reach out. I'm right here." His arms were big and strong. Up here, the medium sized plants did look pretty. So warm. The warmth made sleepiness.

Big Person's weight was like sitting in a hollow, at the bottom of everything, safe and quiet and home. Big, strong, warm. Daddy? That word meant lifting and doing things together and being strong. Daddy. Half snake, half human. Snakes did not have parents, but humans did. Half lonely, half whole. Now, being held… All whole.

The sleep of a baby came quickly.

Deidara

Deidara's head started to hurt fifteen minutes into his search. He wasn't having trouble making sense of the definitions provided, nor remembering what was what. He just couldn't believe yet that there was so much, nor understand why there would be so much. Could there really be so much variety in people? But everyone seemed to have more in common than they had differences, in Deidara's experience. The pain in his head was the physical sign of mental rejection of this worldview. What he saw now contradicted what he'd seen before. It would take time to make sense of it and bring the two together.

He called it quits after half an hour and sent Hidan a text containing three words. Agender. Demiboy. Genderflux. That done, he put his phone on Stitchy's back and had Stitchy carry it all the way across the room while he buried his head in his pillow and groaned.

The worst part is, this isn't even the worst of it, yeah. I can relate everything back to Hidan and make sense of it that way, yeah. But everything I was looking at before just came out of nowhere. How do I make sense of that, hm? How could he relate to things that did not match anything in his world? Maybe I should take a nap. Sleep is good for putting things together, yeah. He wriggled his way under the covers and drew them up over himself. Even though it was the middle of the day and he was not in the habit of taking naps at this time, he had no trouble drifting off.

Itachi

Itachi stopped playing after a while, letting the last note fade away in the air. The demon boy did not stir. Itachi looked down at him, watching him while he slept. From this angle, it's impossible to tell he's a demon. He looks just like a boy. He was fascinated. He could not stop watching. Itachi hadn't interacted with children since he last saw Sasuke. I remember looking after him when I was six. Holding him. It was so easy. I'm told I'm a natural. Yet I have not looked after children in any capacity since leaving him.

He was glad to see that whatever touch he'd had, it was not faded or diminished. Only someone with a talent for it could have gotten the demon boy to behave this way. This must be a sign of great trust on his part. I must not let him down.

He continued to hold his guitar in playing position, because to put it away would have been to disturb the boy. People drove their cars in to refuel or simply walked by on the sidewalk, and stared. Some approached for a closer look. He played nothing, yet the sight of him with a sleeping child was enough to bring smiles to people's faces. As long as I am bringing joy to the world, my work here is complete. One or two people threw money into his case, just because.

Itachi wondered about the demon boy's relation to the other demons of this world. He knew of their existence, I believe. But does he interact with them? Do they know him? With one hand, he fished out his phone to text his new incubus friend. Do your kind know about the demonic child who lives outside of town?

A few minutes later, he got a response. Demonic child? Demons don't work that way. We don't have children.

I understand. I was unclear. He is simply a demon who happens to take the form of a child.

Take the form of a kid? What kind of demon is he?

So you do not know of him?

No.

He knows of you. He is a substantially more powerful being than your kind are, and less specialized. He looks after ghosts, manipulates reality, and can transmute his body into various substances. Itachi wondered if he ought to be telling other demons about the boy's powers. What good would it really do? He'd already gotten an answer to his question.

I have never heard of any kind of demon that can do that.

Neither have I. I was just curious. Thank you.

Itachi turned his phone off and put it away. When he looked down, he was startled to see the demon boy looking up at him. "Who was that?" the boy asked.

"A new friend of mine," Itachi answered. "An incubus from the bar. We talked with him about Hidan."

The demon boy narrowed his eyes. "Grr."

"What are you upset about?"

"He's half invisible! It's like hide and seek, but I can't seek. I so want to see what happens."

"Hidan? He is half invisible?"

"Yeah. I'm a demon, so I can't see that kind of stuff."

He cannot see divinity? Itachi wondered what else he didn't know about the demon boy's powers. "Your powers are very different from the other demons that live here. He had not heard of any with your abilities."

"I think there are multiple classes," the boy murmured. "Like my friend. He's not the same as yours. Maybe…"

"Your friend can access the powers of a god, right?" Itachi recalled that much from Konan's description. "You believe it is a different class of god from Jashin sama?"

The boy hemmed and hawed before deciding to tell him. "Yeah. 'Cause she actually does stuff, like specific stuff. Doesn't just represent things."

"Like the other demons are to you. They're more specific." Itachi nodded. "Of course. There are multiple classes of divine beings around here. It seems so obvious now."

The boy sat up. "Tomorrow. Don't be late."

Itachi blinked. "Am I supposed to be there at a specific time?" But the boy had already warped spacetime and disappeared. "...I suppose not."

He took a few moments to notice the disappearance of the boy's weight, how he felt a little sad that it was gone. Then he started playing again. It was a sad tune.

Kakuzu

That little…

He shook with anger as he walked back out to his truck. Little kid or not, he wanted to punch that demonic brat in the face. The little jerk had stolen from him directly in front of his face. That was a deep betrayal. He was never going to trust that thing ever again.

Kakuzu sat with his hands on the steering wheel and did his best to calm down. He could not punch the demon kid in the face. The boy was too powerful. Trying would only result in the boy finding new and increasingly creative ways to humiliate him. Just let it go. No use beating my head against a wall.

Still he wanted to punch something. He turned his truck towards home. Hidan's welcome to the TV. He has very good ideas sometimes. He parked his truck around the side, went directly to the back, and let himself in through the back door. He didn't want to meet anybody who might be inside. This time was reserved for him and those sweet, delightful punching bags only.

Why did the rhythm of hitting and dodging feel so freeing? Was it because of his original, or because he hadn't had a chance to destroy things in a while? Exerting brute force felt intoxicating. Every blow he landed seemed to say to the world, I am strong and I will not take your crap. When he was done, Kakuzu sighed in relief. He had not had a chance to say that for a while.

He called Hidan. He was right; we haven't hung out recently. Perhaps he could start working Hidan into the pool of serious players, make some progress on that front. Kakuzu had determined exactly who many of the sharks were, and some of their techniques. He never would have thought of manipulating someone into willingly betting too much on his own. Hidan needed to be drilled on those faces and techniques and start to make himself a known presence.

Hidan answered before the first ring was finished. "Shh," he whispered. "Got a sleeping baby here. Whaddaya want?"

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow. "You babysit now?"

"It's the snake kid," Hidan whispered.

Little pussycat's growing up. When did he start being an adult? "When he wakes up, call me back. I'm ready to drill you on everything you need to know for the pool gig."

Hidan took a few seconds to remember. "Right, that thing. Hey, I made twenty bucks earlier."

"How?"

"There was this lady who'd lost out on something and her supposed best friend wasn't being supportive," Hidan explained. "Though I bought me and the kid ice cream right after that. It's down to a little over fifteen."

Kakuzu snorted. "If you broadened your platform, became an advice columnist perhaps, you could be rich."

"No way, my style is the up close and the personal and the right there. It only works with my feeling powers too, remember?"

"Get certification and become a counselor, then."

"Nah. I don't like offices."

Kakuzu grumbled. "You won't get anywhere in life if you refuse to do anything you dislike."

"Translation: I won't get anywhere you want me to be," Hidan retorted. "Which one of us is unhappy with this situation? Not me, that's for fucking sure."

Kakuzu shook his head. "You're something not natural. But since you put up these punching bags, I can live with it. Have fun with the TV."

"I'm not at your house anymore. I'm at the entrance to the forest, the official one. The kid cleared the sunflowers."

"Have fun watching the birds."

"Shit yeah. You too." *click*

Kakuzu went back outside, this time to the garage. It was used for absolutely nothing, so Hidan's boxes had been stuffed in there. He got a larger one, went to his truck, and consolidated the smaller boxes he carried there into one large box of cash. He tossed the small boxes back into the garage. It was an impossibility to deposit all of the money in one go; there were deposit limits on cash to screen out criminal activity. But he had managed to get half of it into his account, since most of what Hidan had acquired were small bills. The other half would have to wait until enough time had passed that it wouldn't be suspicious. Kakuzu figured he needed a week in this weird town.

By then, he had cooled down and was in the mood for further exercise. Where is Konan? I'll give her credit where she deserves it - that girl's good to fight with. But she seemed not to be around. Didn't Redhead mention a favor he wanted to ask of her? Dammit. I don't know where he is or what the favor was. She was evidently busy.

Kakuzu leaned against the side of his truck and thought about things. A flock of birds passed overhead making a lot of noise. The day was nice, dry and moderately sunny. No need to worry about vampires until tonight. That kitten… What happened to her?

He could give himself iron-hard skin, so he had nothing to fear. Kakuzu secured the box, got back in his truck, and drove toward the heart of vampire country. Again.

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A/N: Research was done for this chapter! So it turns out pine cones typically open in the fall, therefore they wouldn't be available in the spring when this story is set. Obviously, acorns also fall in the fall so squirrels can bury them, but it's not unrealistic to try to find the ones left over. The round thick-shelled nuts Hidan found are the sort of nuts the tree in my backyard drops. Squirrels do eat them, but not all of them, and they mostly sit around on the ground. According to Google, those are hickory nuts. The tree in my backyard must be a hickory tree. I've never known what kind of tree it was before. Yay!

The book is The Hidden Life Of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben. It's about how trees feel, how they live, what kinds of social lives they have, how a forest works together as a community to create its own climate like a city does, etc. Fascinating! I recommend it.

I wonder if I would ever publish this story anywhere else. Its real value is in its writing, not in the product of said writing. I could revise it, make the product more coherent and readable. More of a story, less of a journal. But would I? I don't know...

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good week!