A/N: Wow. I've had a really good week where I wrote two entire chapters for Twospirit, so I didn't get to this one until the very last minute. I expected it would be hard. I expected it wouldn't turn out very good. But no, inspiration struck at just the right moment. I often have things happen to me at just the right moment. Maybe I'm interpreting everything that happens to me as the right thing as part of my efforts to make meaning of my life, or maybe I really am that lucky. Either way, the seemingly fortuitous nature of most of my life is why I harbor a deep-rooted belief that the universe is fundamentally a place conducive to happiness.

To anyone who doesn't have such a belief: don't worry. My belief is not something I chose just because. It is logical given my circumstances. Yours is, too. Have faith in it. To anyone who does: haha, I hope you like my story then! With its ultimately optimistic nature, and all.

Even if you read this far in the future, know that I have some degree of affection for you.

.

General

That night, the weather was clear but windy. It was pronounced adequate. Hidan sat at the front desk and told people as they came in, "Backyard fire tonight." Or rather, a clone did that. Other clones were at work making dinner. Hidan was very proud of himself and planned on showing off.

Deidara, too, looked like he had something to say. Hidan was too curious to resist. "What is it? Come on, you can tell me first."

"No, hm. I want to make an announcement."

Nagato and Yahiko came out next. Yahiko took deep breaths. "Tomorrow's my last day. I can't really believe it." Deidara's face twisted, but he held to his word. Hidan crossed his arms and huffed.

Itachi, unusually, was busy scrolling on his phone. "I am contemplating getting a therapist. It is time I worked through my history with my family."

"Should I be offended?" Hidan asked nobody in particular.

"I am considering that," Itachi said. "I have not decided anything yet. I am merely comparing rates right now."

Nagato blinked. "Huh. It's so weird to think about where anyone else came from. You must have had a family at some point, but I'm used to not thinking about families."

"I ran away from my family because my best friend had just died and I felt that they were placing too much pressure on me."

Sasori yawned. "My parents died, and my grandmother felt so bad about it that she didn't tell me. I figured it out on my own."

Deidara shrugged. "I just kinda don't live with mine anymore. They're still alive."

Samehada raced out into the backyard, followed by Kisame. "What was your early life with your parents like?" Nagato asked.

"They told me jack and shit about my family history. I've had to do all the detective work myself." Kisame sat down heavily. "It's like they deliberately tried to make my past disappear. I can't believe I didn't notice. I didn't even care before."

Samehada trilled and shook his head. After several follow up questions, Kisame determined that he was saying he did not remember his early life at all.

After that, silence fell. They waited for Kakuzu to appear and give his own history. And they waited. And they waited some more.

"Does nobody have anything else to talk about?" Kisame asked.

"Where's Kakuzu, yeah?"

Kisame started, then went suspiciously quiet. Sasori said nothing. Deidara's eyes narrowed. "You guys know, don't you?"

"It is nobody's business," Itachi said.

"You too?"

"Whatever," Kisame said. "So leaving Kakuzu aside, everyone except Deidara has some kind of tragic past."

"It sounds that way," Yahiko said, looking around. "I had no idea."

Itachi put his phone down. "What happened happened. It survives only as part of what we are now. Let only that part be important; the rest isn't worth grieving. It has already been grieved and forgotten."

Nagato stuck a twig into the fire and raised it in a toast. "To all the things we don't know." After a moment, Yahiko nodded and raised his hand. Kisame did the same. One by one, everyone joined the toast. Konan was the last, and she joined partly out of a sense that she should. To her, the things that were unknown were not to be toasted. They were to be feared.

Hidan decided not to wait any longer. "Hey guys, look at this!" He created a clone, which made him dizzy because it was one clone too many for his comfort. Fortunately, the clone's only job was to immediately disperse to tell the others in the kitchen that it was time to serve dinner. They did so, carrying plates out the back door.

"You finally made material clones!" Yahiko exclaimed. "You were trying so hard at that, but you could only make air clones."

"Fuck yeah." Hidan smirked. "But they can do a lot more than carry shit. Watch this." He turned to the clone giving him his food. "Make up something random and don't tell me what it is." The clone scratched its head, then burst out laughing. It dispersed itself, and every other version of Hidan started to giggle. Hidan laughed out loud and wiped tears from his eyes. "'Your worst enemy is a ratty carpet'! Haha! That's awesome!" Yahiko snorted.

"Holy shite," Kisame said. "Did you just instantly share a memory among all the versions of you?"

"Fuck yeah!"

Itachi's mouth fell open. "What you said in the group chat earlier was not a hypothetical. It was real. You can live multiple lives at once and learn several times faster than normal."

"This has to be what we're like, right?" Hidan said. "We're made from parts of them. Therefore, we can go back to being parts of them. We're exactly like them!" He pointed to his remaining two clones, who nodded and dispersed. "It's just gonna take a while. That's fine. I'm having fun here."

"Can the rest of us learn how to do that?" Yahiko asked.

"Sure. All you do is, you take your chakra and gather it up in your belly like a ball, then you push part of it out, and then you cut the connection, and bam! You've split yourself."

"Great. So how do we do this gathering?" Kisame asked.

Hidan blinked. "You just do it."

"This is why jutsus tend to have hand signs," Konan said. "Unfortunately, I did not at any point see Naruto use his Shadow Clone Jutsu. I don't know what hand signs it uses."

Hidan tried to fiddle with his hands. "How the fuck do I translate what I feel inside to my hands?"

"You may have invented a form of chakra manipulation that allows for the creation of hyper-personalized jutsus which can be used in ways that other jutsus cannot and are immune to copying, but also cannot be shared."

"Unless you have a similar understanding," Yahiko said. "I think I know what he's talking about. Let me try." He closed his eyes and concentrated a lot. He shuddered. There was a puff of smoke - but no clone appeared. He tried again. The same puff of smoke happened, this time accompanied by a clone. Yahiko grabbed his head and moaned. "Ow, I think I used too much chakra. My head hurts." The clone dispersed.

Konan wrinkled her brows. "Hmm. How much chakra did you give the clone?"

"I can give them different amounts of chakra?"

"Presumably yes. Naruto was capable of creating a few clones or a few hundred with the same amount of effort. It must be possible to control how much chakra they receive."

"What the fuck?" Hidan shook his head. "I'm pretty sure these things need a minimum amount of chakra to exist at all. A few hundred? How much chakra did this guy have?"

"I may have been exaggerating," Konan admitted. "But we did receive a confirmed report of him creating 46 clones at once."

"A few dozen? How much chakra did this guy have?"

"The most chakra it is possible for a human to have, I believe. He was the container for the most powerful of the tailed beasts, as well as an Uzumaki."

Nagato coughed and tried not to choke on his food. After successfully swallowing it, he asked, "Wait, what?"

"Ah, have I not mentioned it before?" Konan tilted her head. "Evidently not. Unusually large chakra reserves are a common characteristic of your family."

"It's not just because of the Rinnegan?"

"No, it's probably the only reason you are capable of using the Rinnegan."

"Hold up," Kisame said. "You're talking about a guy who mastered the use of shadow clones and who's related to Nagato somehow?"

"Distantly. As I have said before, people do not change clan affiliations in my world as easily as they change names here. It is possible for people of the same clan to be very, very distantly related, so much so that there is no concern whatsoever about inbreeding if they should marry."

"Even so, it is kind of cool," Nagato murmured. "I am vaguely related to a shadow clone master. Nice."

Hidan's jaw dropped. "You knew the most powerful person in the whole world?! Learns everything several dozen times faster, powerful beast, crazy mounts of chakra. Shit, he could have ruled the world. Wait a sec. Is this the guy that tried to take over the world because he lost someone?"

"No. Naruto is the only person standing between that man and success."

Hidan laughed. "I am way less worried about that now. Your world's probably just fine."

"Wow," Yahiko breathed. "You knew a lot of incredible people."

"She only described one person," Nagato said.

"She knew our originals too, and they're incredible."

"No," Kisame snarled. "They were not incredible. They were fucking selfish bastards who deserve to be served several doses of humble pie if they dare show their faces. If I'm going to reunite with mine someday, all the memories he's going to get are about how much better it is to live life as someone people can actually trust."

"I expect to be teaching mine about what it really means to be human," Sasori said gravely. "Lesson one: humanity is not a weakness to be overcome."

Yahiko flushed. "Right. I forgot that some of them aren't admirable at all. But even so… Powerful people, shaping the world. It's still kind of…something…that she knew so many."

"Right place at the right time," Hidan said, putting his arm around Konan. "And that's where you ended up, too. Hey, angels mainly work as messengers, right? It's true! You are an angel!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I know shit so terrible you can't even talk about it happened in the past. But it brought you here. That doesn't make anything better, but maybe it gives it meaning."

Konan stared into the fire. The very idea of that day having a meaning other than destruction and emptiness is absurd. Being bound and helpless, crying out and struggling and failing to stop the deaths of the people she loved… Konan felt the rope around her wrists again. For a moment she was back on that cliff. It only lasted for a second; the vision wavered enough for her to realize she could move her arms, which dissolved it entirely.

Hidan rubbed his eyes. "Or not. Fuck."

Deidara put down his fork. "A flashback?"

"Yeah. Something to do with being tied up and helpless." Hidan put his arm back around her. "Now that I know you better, I can say that that must totally fucking suck."

Kisame grunted. "Yeah. We actually get why that would be bad now. My sympathies."

Konan closed her eyes. "Where is Kakuzu?"

"Okay, okay, fine, we'll find another topic," Kisame muttered. "So…you guys want to hear some interesting things about stingrays?" He told them interesting things about stingrays for several minutes, until they heard the sound of Kakuzu's truck pulling in.

There was a brief moment of silence. Nagato cleared his throat. This must be something important, something that even Kakuzu would be nervous about. Why else would his friends be trying to distract us? "Where did you learn all these cool things about stingrays?" he asked.

"From someone else in the aquarium, this morning," Kisame said. "I've started doing something new. Every lunch break, I'm gonna go around to different exhibits and talk with the people there."

This announcement was sufficiently distracting that even Deidara, who was dying to know what was going on, turned back around. "What? You're spending your breaks talking to people just because you want to? Who are you and what have you done with Kisame, yeah."

Samehada licked the side of Kisame's face. He grinned. "Turned out I was avoiding other people out of cowardice. Same needs me now. I can't afford to be a coward."

Yahiko's jaw nearly touched the ground. "And you just…did that? Just like that?"

As part of their normal seating arrangement, only Sasori, Kisame, Hidan and Konan were in a position to see Kakuzu as he approached. Sasori carefully put his drink down; even after being told, seeing it was still a shock. Hidan was not so careful. He spit out his mouthful of water, making the fire hiss and crackle. Konan's eyes widened. Kisame, strangely, started to grin. Why am I happy about this? Maybe it's because we're both trying not to be cowards. I'll support a good friend fighting the same fight any day.

Everyone else turned around. "Holy crap," Deidara exclaimed. He was the only person to speak. Everyone else was too stunned to, whether they had known or not.

Kakuzu, like Sasori, held himself differently with the cloak on. He stood firmly, giving off an aura of immense confidence and power. This combined with his natural height and strength made him absolutely terrifying. He looked all around the fire, expecting a response and prepared to defend himself. Once again, he was surprised that he did not need to. The people he had expected to criticize him looked at him with…awe and respect? How was that possible? Gods damn it, I will never understand anything that happens with these people. Why do I want to be one of them, again?

Hidan squeaked. His eyes overflowed with tears. He leaped to his feet and ran around everyone else to give Kakuzu a hug. "Kakuzu! I can't believe you… *sniff*"

What the hell is going on? Kakuzu reluctantly hugged him back. "What's with the waterworks?"

Hidan stepped back and wiped his eyes. "It was the same way when you apologized. I never expected that. I never expected this. I can't believe you did all this." I don't know why the fuck I'm crying either. I never wanted him to be like my other friends. I never disliked the way he pretends to be stone; I've always admired that, actually. So why do I like it so much when he stops pretending? I don't want him to be like this all the time, do I? No, he wouldn't be Kakuzu anymore if that happened. But I absolutely fucking love these moments of his. Kakuzu… You know how much you mean to me, right? Hidan sniffed. "You're a great friend, you know that? I'd never want to stop knowing you. Never ever."

Kakuzu and everyone else stared at him. What on earth? Crying and tearful confessions of friendly love? Where did this come from? "I think you accidentally touched on something very important to him," Nagato said.

"Yes, the cloak may mean a great deal more than even he realized," Itachi added. "Especially on you. Given everything you have said and done before, it means a lot that you would wear it now. So much that even I cannot describe it."

"I can," Kisame said. "Come the fuck here and sit the fuck down." He made space between himself and Sasori.

Samehada made a series of trills, wiggles and nods as Kakuzu sat. "I believe I understand what's he's saying," Sasori said. "You, here, yes." Samehada nodded vigorously.

"Ah, that is the meaning," Itachi realized. "I agree."

Nagato and Yahiko grinned. "Welcome to the club!"

Deidara laughed. "This has got to be the coolest thing you've ever done, yeah!"

"It looks really good on you!" Yahiko exclaimed. "I can see the ninja."

What. The. Actual. Fuck. Kakuzu's head was still swimming. Wearing the cloak earned him a fire hose to the face of love and admiration? He had expected some people to be glad that he was finally taking down a barrier between them, but nothing of this intensity. Had the barrier really been that strong? He'd thought it was nothing more than a bit of formality. Surely they had known he wasn't really going to leave and that he cared about them, right? Only now did it occur to Kakuzu that people without Hidan's sense might not have known that. And even Hidan was breaking down in tears now that Kakuzu was putting it out in the open. Did nobody know before?

He would have liked to correct that misunderstanding. But declarations of love were not his thing. As soon as he considered the idea, Kakuzu almost dismissed it as silly and humiliating. He rescued it from the brink of dismissal just in time. No point in hiding the truth, remember? He turned to Hidan, who now sat where he had before at Konan's side. "Hidan. Explain."

Hidan sniffed. "Sorry, I'm still recovering from my own thing. I can't feel you. What do you want me to explain?"

"This." Kakuzu gestured down at himself.

Hidan grinned. "Aw, is this your way of finally admitting that you like us and care about us and you'd stay so we don't get hurt?"

Kakuzu clenched his fists. That is the worst way he could have phrased it. But he did not deny Hidan's words. They might have been insulting, but they were true.

"Aw," Yahiko said. "Hey, thanks. I thought I was nothing but annoying this whole time."

"No, you could never be annoying," Nagato told him. "Don't let anyone, even a grump like Kakuzu, make you think that about yourself."

Itachi and Konan decorously drank from their bottles of water, averted their gazes and did not say a word. Sasori finished his dinner in the same manner. Kisame elbowed Kakuzu. "Before this, I was talking about my own quest to not be a coward. I've changed my mind. I'm glad you got a cloak. It's nice to have someone else fighting the same fight." Samehada gave Kakuzu's face two licks, then retreated. He knew Stitch Human was not as cuddly as other humans.

"Hey, Kakuzu," Yahiko said. "We were talking about some things before you showed up. It seems like everyone else, except for Deidara, had some kind of traumatic past with their family. Um…" Wait, why am I bringing this up? Deliberately? It was natural the first time, but now I'm forcing it on him. I shouldn't force someone to talk about something they might not want to talk about. Wait! Sasori said I shouldn't use the word should. But I don't know how to think without it!

Kakuzu growled. "I grew up in a hard place with people who expected me to work for my spot at the table. As soon as I failed, they didn't have any sympathy. I've been looking after myself forever. And that is all I will say about it."

"Wow," Sasori deadpanned. "Orphans and demi-orphans. I never knew we all had so much in common. Except for you, Dei."

Deidara sighed. "I've always felt kinda like an outsider in this group, yeah. I mean, a lot less than I've felt with anyone else, don't get me wrong, yeah. But still… It's like everyone is on a slightly different level and I don't know how to get there."

Konan and Itachi looked at him. "That is not at all true," Konan said. Her tone of voice and her aura made it clear that she was insulted.

Deidara paled. "I didn't… I mean…" He sighed. "I know there's no reason to feel like this, really. I'm sorry I brought it up."

Itachi put an arm around his shoulders. "Not at all. It is true that you have yet to shake things up. Even Kisame has been the focus of activity by now. After tonight, you and I are the only ones who have not. In a group of such dynamic individuals, it only makes sense to feel as if you are standing still."

Deidara looked up at him. "But you don't feel left out of things, right?"

"That is because I know and can clearly label my role in them," Itachi said. "I am an advisor. That is my role. I can think of all the times I have been asked to offer my viewpoint and see that I have accomplished much indeed."

"But what role do I have?" Deidara asked. "I seem to kinda wander around doing whatever seems like it needs doing, yeah."

"Let's think about it," Nagato said. "We can help."

The group took a moment to think of the roles Deidara had played in the past. Nagato and Yahiko remembered him being with them up on that hill with the Hidan who was not Hidan. He balanced us out. We could have agreed with each other about what was true, but he brought in another viewpoint and made us think some more. Thanks to him, my explanation of why vampirics are the way they are didn't take over.

Konan recalled all of the private discussions they had had as friends. Having to explain myself to him makes me clarify what I did not realize was unclear before.

Itachi remembered the day they met with the friendly incubus. It was good to have someone else to talk to on that day. Someone who, like me, was far away from the center of power. In fact, didn't we call that night and question the narrative about Hidan?

Kakuzu grunted. "Nice of you to ask about my life that one time."

"Have I ever thanked you out loud for disturbing my life?" Sasori asked. He looked genuinely puzzled. "Because I've always been grateful to you for pulling me out of my comfort zone."

"That night when we talked with Fugue Hidan," Nagato said, "I made up this whole big explanation that made perfect sense to us because we all make perfect sense to each other. And then you questioned it. You asked if I was supporting genocide. It balanced everything."

"You might already have found your role," Itachi told Deidara. "The counterweight. It's true that you tend not to be going the same direction the most influential people at the time are going. It is a disruption, but a beneficial kind. It is a form of not belonging, but the necessary kind."

Konan dipped her head. "You are invited to continue questioning those things I decided long ago."

Deidara smoothed out his ponytail. A counterweight? Because I'm usually going against whatever the people in power are doing? But I'm not trying to do that. I didn't even realize until just now that I was, yeah. Could it be true?

"There," Itachi said with a smile. "The point of this was to give you a tool to help you locate those times when you contribute so that you don't get the mistaken impression of not belonging. Let me know how it works."

Deidara smiled. "Sure! On that note…" He cleared his throat. "I have an announcement, yeah. I've decided to look for a part-time job, yeah. I was kind of a wreck after coming back from the army, but now I think I can handle that."

"Nice," Sasori said with a smile. "Dei's growing up."

"I know a place with an opening," Yahiko said.

"But don't rush into something you hate," Hidan warned. "Don't you fucking dare. You deserve to be happy. And we're not like Kakuzu's, or anyone's, family. You don't have to take anything just to support yourself. We've gotcha."

Itachi put a hand on Deidara's shoulder and nodded. Deidara grinned. "Who needs parents when we ended up here, yeah?"

.

A/N: Aaaggghhh so adorable. I love stories with found families! *heart* Mainly because I hope to find one myself someday...

It was only while writing this chapter that I realized how everyone else would react to Kakuzu having a cloak. Why would they react that way? Well, these characters are all parts of me. Kakuzu getting a cloak is, metaphorically, a real event that really happened. Accepting that I am defensive sometimes and thinking that I have good reasons to be, that it serves a protective function for the rest of me, that it's not just a "mistake" and an example of me giving in to social pressure to not be the COMPLETELY OPEN and accepting person that I really am, that's really been happening lately. It feels good to welcome in a part of you that was denied before. So yeah, they treat him like a prodigal son. It makes sense. Deal with it.

Deidara, too. I am striving to grow up and assume adult roles, don't get me wrong. But it's easy for me to lose sight of the whole picture, assuming I ever see the whole picture (I don't know that I do). That means it's very easy for me to get overconfident. I only started perpetually feeling uncertain after many, many incidents of being overconfident and finding that i had led other people astray because of that. This, too, is valuable. I hope for it to weaken, but not to disappear entirely.

So then. Welcome in those parts of you that have been out in the cold and need a home. Know that you are valuable. And until next week, enjoy the outdoors.