A/N: Nothing much to say here. Um... It's Father's Day! Happy Father's Day everyone!

.

Hidan

Hidan purred. Everything felt supremely right. He was warm, a familiar and beloved scent filled his nose, he was nestled against someone warm and soft… There was no better way to start a morning. Eventually the warm presence shifted, and he opened his eyes sleepily. It was Nagato. He was not awake yet. His red hair had fallen all over his face. Hidan wanted to brush it away, but then he remembered that Nagato was shy. It might be a bit much. So he lay where he was and watched strands of hair flutter out with every exhale only to settle back down again.

As he woke up more, anxieties beyond the present moment began to intrude. Was last night going to last? Was Nagato free now, or would he go back to his cage of fear? Had it all just been a rush of hormones from being flirted with for probably the first time in his life? Hidan shoved those questions away. Worry later. Memorize Nagato's sleeping face now.

Nagato's eyelids began to flutter. His breathing changed. Hidan's heart beat. When those eyes opened, what was going to be the first look in them?

Nagato opened his eyes. And he smiled. "Hey," he mumbled. He blinked some more. Then Hidan felt every single one of his muscles go rigid, just as he had expected. Ah, well, nothing good lasts forever. But Nagato had smiled first. That meant the world. He fought past the paralysis to push himself up and out of bed, make sure he was clothed, and creep over to the door. Nobody was out in the hall. He made a show of checking anyway, then left as quietly and quickly as he could. In the hallway, he felt a burst of shame at this. Why was he skittering away instead of saying it would be alright if they were seen together? But wait - was that his shame, or someone else's? Hidan went to the lobby and out the front door to make sure.

The shame went away. Hidan couldn't even understand why he had been ashamed to be respectful of someone's comfort instead of trying to convince them that their feelings weren't real. That was the exact opposite of a thing he should be ashamed of. He sighed. But could he go back and try to take it away? Nah. This is his own stuff. I've been patient while he figures it out. I can wait a little longer.

He found a nice place to soak up the morning sun and sat down in it. *purr* He lay down and spread his arms over the grass. The morning sun, and the morning dew, and the morning shadows of the grass which made everything look so special… He liked mornings. The fact that he also liked sleeping in did not diminish this.

"Hi hi."

"Heyo." Hidan flicked his eyes up. The boy was sitting somewhere outside the range of his eyes. Instead of moving, he decided to continue lying there and talk to a disembodied voice. "Whazzup?"

"I've never had so many guests before in my people zoo," the boy said. "How do you think it'll be?"

"Oh, that's right. I'd totally forgotten." Hidan tried to remember who was scheduled to be going. Me, Itachi, Yahiko and Dei volunteered. Four people. That is kinda a big group. "Lemme see. You could listen to Itachi play, and the snake kid can lead the rest of us around. I've also been here before, so I can give a tour. If you wanna split yourself up to organize some tricks for us, that'd be neat."

"What kindsa tricks though…" Hidan didn't need to look up to see that the demon boy had vanished. He'd just suggested an idea complex enough to keep the boy busy for the rest of the morning. Ideas like that were the best. Hidan tried to think of one for himself, because his mind was wandering back to Nagato again and that could become annoying.

Yahiko

Yahiko sat up in bed with a feeling like he'd been reborn. He remembered the previous night as if it was the last night of his old life. His sleep had been amazing, his body was filled with strength and as long as that was true then his mind was too. Things are going to be different from now on. He believed it.

The day brimmed with possibility. Who ought he to meet first? Nagato or Sasori? Yahiko decided to delay the climax for just a little longer; he went to see Sasori first. "Hi," he said, poking his head in and waving.

"Hello," Sasori said. He continued to type on his laptop.

Yahiko slid inside and closed the door behind him. He silently took a seat on the end of Sasori's bed and waited for the engineer to finish whatever he was doing. In the meantime, he tried to organize his thoughts. Itachi said he's very knowledgeable about LGBT stuff. I thought he said, as he passed me recently, "Go for it." I was going to be hanging out with Konan. Did he mean I should show her my female form? But how could he know?

Sasori finished writing whatever he was writing and set his laptop aside. "Is there any reason why you're here?"

"Um… Well… How?" That was all Yahiko had the ability to ask. He couldn't decide exactly what he was asking "How?" about, so he didn't specify. He left it as a general "How?"

"You know Nagato's been covering for you, right?" Sasori asked.

Yahiko sagged like his strings had been cut. What?!

"When we first cracked open the money boxes and you made that crown of flowers for Kakuzu, people had some questions. Making crowns out of plants isn't a widely practiced skill. But Nagato waved his arms at us and got us to shut up."

Yahiko fumbled for words. "He knew I'd be embarrassed."

"Do you remember that day when we hung out and I told you about the bicycles being like spirits?" Sasori asked. "I may be an engineer who works with machines, but that doesn't make me one of those TV scientists who laugh at anything that falls outside their dogma. The opposite, actually. I relate to machines the way other people relate to people. Intuition. Gut feeling. I just know when something sounds or looks wrong. I'm as good a mechanic as I am because of that. Nobody who actually has to consult instruments in order to tell if something's broken is a good repairperson. So I have a strong sense of intuition and I trust it. There's no proof of anything, but I don't need proof to have a feeling."

Yahiko's cheeks were warm. But it was not a scorching heat; it was quite pleasant, actually. He already had a feeling about me? Maybe other people do too. Maybe Nagato does. So it won't be as much of a shock as I was afraid it would be. It was a relief to hear this. Yahiko couldn't help but smile. Before last night, it would have been terrifying! Wow! I'm making amazing progress. He couldn't believe how far he'd come in only a month of being fired inside a gentle crucible.

"Itachi told me you knew all kinds of stuff," he said.

Sasori shrugged. Was he a little embarrassed? "You tend to when you want to know why everyone else thinks something is such a big deal."

"You're interested in these kinds of things because they don't apply to you?"

"No, they apply to me. Kicking me out is an effect," Sasori said. "And making me aware of it. In another world where people didn't shove sexy images into everyone's faces, I would be able to say it doesn't apply to me. But since they do, it's like being at a party and I'm locked on the outside of a glass door, but some jerk keeps somehow pulling me and slamming me into the door just so I don't forget it's there. Of course I want to know what the hell that jerk is doing and why."

"And…gender? That's not something anyone bothers you about."

"It is not, but you'd be surprised how tightly woven all the sub-communities are."

Yahiko couldn't help but grin. "I had a dream about you last night."

"What did I do?"

"I was playing…it could have been either baseball or soccer. I think it was football for a moment in the beginning. Anyway, you were a referee. Someone tried to call me for something, but I was standing on the far end of the field wondering if I should do something because I'm not good at sports. So I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. And you said that I hadn't done anything wrong, and called for a review of the footage, and other people got mad at you for wanting to review the evidence first. So you quit being a referee and decided to be a detective instead, and took me with you. And then it turned out we were on one of those TV shows where they investigate mysteries. I was in the role of the secondary lead, the straight by-the-books person, the one who's usually played by a woman."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "I was the outside-the-lines play-by-his-own-rules guy?"

"Yeah. It made sense, too. Because the police office was actually a political office and the president sometimes threatened to fire me, but you were always out and never attended meetings, except with the devil one time. Yeah, someone made a reference to you meeting with a bunch of deities, but I didn't think anything of it and it was perfectly normal to me in the dream."

Sasori nodded. "Makes complete sense. I never thought of myself as the guy who breaks all the rules and raises hell. But actually… I can be like that, can't I?"

"You are like that."

"For a certain definition of raising hell."

Yahiko got up. He was about to thank Sasori for his time, but the door opened. Hidan leaned in. "Hey, Sunshine, there you are," he said. "Can I borrow you for something?"

"Sure. I was just going." Yahiko waved to Sasori as he left. At the last moment, he remembered to dart back and say, "Oh by the way your advice on not saying good or bad even in my thoughts was super helpful. Thank you." Then he was out. "Hey," he said as he caught up with Hidan, "how did last night go?"

"Super amazing," Hidan answered. "I'm trying not to think about it. What do you wanna see at the demon kid's place today?"

Yahiko needed time to remember what he was talking about. "That's right! We were going as a group. With Itachi."

"And Dei."

"Yeah. Safety in numbers." Yahiko rubbed the back of his head. "Konan and I went through the upper floor, mainly. I'd like to see some places on the lower floor."

"I'd like to see some spooky destroyed shit," Hidan chirped. "Pretty sure I remember there being holes in the floor."

They found Deidara. "Hey guys!" Deidara said. "When are we leaving, yeah?"

Yahiko was amazed. "You already remembered?"

Deidara shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm not really super busy around here, yeah."

"Oh. Right." It was hard to remember that for other people, last night had just been an ordinary night.

So then they found Itachi. "Oh, yes. I am glad you reminded me," Itachi said.

"Okay, what the fuck?" Deidara looked around. "What happened that was so important you all forgot about visiting a haunted hospital?"

"Stuff," Yahiko said. "That I talked with Jiraiya about."

"Organizing said stuff," Itachi said.

"Going places," Hidan said.

Deidara looked at all of them very suspiciously. "Is this another conspiracy?"

"Nope," Hidan said. He pointed at Yahiko and Itachi. "They don't know shit."

"You remember that stuff we looked up that one time that nearly made me start crying?" Yahiko asked. "That."

Deidara was very confused. "Nearly made… Oh! That stuff! Because you had questions about...identity."

"Yeah, that."

"We are the fucking worst at holding conspiracies," Hidan declared. He laughed.

"You talked with Jiraiya about that, hm?"

"Yeah. He was so kind. I never expected anyone to say the kinds of things he did. It changed my whole perspective."

"I don't get it, but I'm glad it happened for you, yeah."

Itachi nodded. "As am I."

Deidara turned to Hidan. "So what was the place you went to?"

"...Shut up," Hidan said. "I'm trying not to think about it. So, plans?"

Itachi shrugged. "He never gave me any specifications. Whenever it is convenient."

"It's early, yeah," Deidara said. "Let's give it some time."

"Hey, Sunshine, let me show you that present I made for Konan." Hidan didn't waste any time waiting for agreement. He nearly pulled Yahiko off his feet.

Yahiko had to rush to catch up, again. It's not very nice to have to rush. "Is something going on? Why don't you want to think about what happened with Nagato?"

"Because it gives me stomach butterflies and I avoid the shit out of anything that does that," Hidan answered. He scratched his head vigorously.

Yahiko came to a stop that was sudden even to him. He grabbed Hidan's hand. This time, it was Hidan who was nearly pulled off his feet. He looked back at Yahiko curiously as if it was their first meeting. "Yeah," Yahiko said. "I feel like a whole new person." He squeezed Hidan's hand and closed his eyes, summoned up all the reborn feeling he could. I am a new person. I am accepted. I am loved. I don't have to be afraid anymore. I can imagine things now! He imagined showing everyone else his female form, imagined Sasori toasting him and inviting him over afterwards, and grinned.

When he opened his eyes, he felt great. He could hold Hidan there as long as he needed to. Hidan's eyes were wide and distant. He shook his head, coming back to himself. "Shit."

"Are you alright now?" Yahiko asked.

"I think so. Thinking about him still gives me the stomach butterflies. But I'm not so desperate to run away anymore." Hidan hugged Yahiko. "Thanks, Sunshine."

Yahiko bit his lip to keep a hold on himself. "Come on! I want to see that present."

Like Konan, he was initially rendered speechless. He held the frog like it was a crystal idol, ready to shatter at the slightest touch. He turned it around and around, looking at the red markerwork, knowing from experience how much time and thought it took to color in such a way. Then Hidan tilted the frog for him, and the three icons came out of its mouth, and he stared at them with his mouth hanging open. A little orangeish sun with little triangles for beams. A red crescent moon. A blue flower. The three of them, all kept safe inside the mouth of an attentive frog. A frog who would care for us like we're his own kids, even though we're different from him. Yahiko looked up with tears in his eyes.

Hidan grinned. "She loved it too! Yes!"

Yahiko put it back on the shelf. The frog was the centerpiece, and currently only occupant, of a freestanding shelf on the wall above her bedside table. Its presence there was transformative. The whole room was warmer than it was the last time he'd been here. Hidan sat on the bed behind him. Yahiko turned around. "I'd rather not, not while she's not here. It's not nice to snoop in other people's rooms while they're away. Let's go." Hidan shrugged and got up again.

They were going to go to Yahiko's room, but Hidan decided at the last minute that he preferred the back porch. They had to stop in the doorway and stare in astonishment. The back porch was…clean. When had that happened?

Hidan sat down and looked around. "This is nice. I like this." He turned to Yahiko. "So, something happened last night? Spill!"

"I showed Jiraiya my girl form," Yahiko said.

Hidan stared at him. "Did you just mention it out loud without looking for hidden spies under the bushes first?"

Yahiko burst out smiling. "He accepted me! He told me he didn't mind if I was a girl, or if I liked boys, or anything like that. He even understood. I thought he would never understand, would look at me like I was weird for not being such a manly man like him, but actually…" He paused. "Oh. I don't know if I can say this."

"He has a boyfriend?" Hidan guessed.

"What? How did you know?"

"Hah! Fuckin' called it! I can sense people like me a mile away. The way he sat, something in the way he talked and looked at people… I thought there was possibility there. I thought, 'No way in ever does this guy confine himself to one gender.'"

Yahiko blushed. Just from how he talked and sat one time? It's like Hidan has the succubus' sense of prey, too. "He doesn't have a boyfriend, actually. But he told me he's bisexual."

"How'd Moonlight like hearing that?"

"I haven't had an opportunity to talk to him yet. He doesn't know."

"Fuck, and we're going to the hospital together." Hidan groaned. "Eh, maybe it'll be fine without that."

"Are you sure everything's okay? Are they, uh…dangerous stomach butterflies or not dangerous?"

Hidan shook his head. "It's not even useful to talk now. I'm waiting on Nagato. So let's not talk about me, let's talk about you. Anything else exciting happen?"

Yahiko thought about everything else that had happened for a full half minute before he finally realized that something exciting was sitting right under his nose. "Hidan? Do you get a…weird kind of vibe from me?"

"What kind of weird?"

"Having to do with my sexuality kind of weird."

Hidan shrank back. "I do get a vibe from you, but it's not from your sexuality. It's from something closely related. But I really don't think I should be telling you too much about yourself. That feels wrong on all the levels."

Yahiko clasped his hands in his lap. I would never ask anyone to violate their conscience. But at the same time, I really want to know. "Well, let me tell you more about what happened. I talked with the friendly incubus. In this form, my eyes were drawn to certain parts of him and his voice made me think of things. In my other form… The same things happened, but they were…more convincing? It felt like something was possible in that form that wasn't in my real form, but I still wasn't attracted to him."

Hidan looked away. What little Yahiko could see of his cheek was bright red. "Some stuff doesn't matter the gender," Hidan mumbled. "Like, you know I don't want to be female with a lady. I like women. I'm attracted to them in that form too. But, totally aside from who I'm attracted to, I have a particular thing for thrusting. If the action can't include that, I'm not really into it. Maybe something about the dynamic or the movements or whatever appeals to you."

Yahiko looked away and turned bright red too. "Um… Uh… I'm a virgin, and I've never really tried… Never thought much about that kinda stuff. Busy thinking about other things."

"Yeah. Totally. I getcha."

They sat there in silence for a while. "So, uh, he also said that he'd met other people who irritated him for no reason before," Yahiko said. "So I'm not the only one."

"Irritated him? What are you talking about?"

"He got another vibe from me, even when I was male. He said he couldn't quite place what it was."

"You really should be talking to Sasori or somebody about this, not me," Hidan said. "I don't want to tell people about themselves."

Hey, I'm already doing that. I'm already doing the right thing! Yay! "Good to hear."

"I love it," Hidan said. "That feeling when you find something and suddenly everything you've never been able to put into words clicks into place, and you make sense of yourself for the first time in your life. The 'There's a word for that?' feeling. It's even better when you weren't able to describe 'that' before. It's a unique feeling and I love it and I would never want to take it from anyone."

At first Yahiko struggled to understand what feeling he was describing. Wait. Could it be similar to what I felt with Jiraiya last night? He summoned it again: the feeling of rebirth, of nothing ever being the same. Like that, but for my understanding! He's right. That should never be taken from anyone. "I understand," Yahiko said. "Thank you."

Hidan was scratching again. "I should get out of here," he mumbled. "All that stuff you said about the incubus is making me itch." Only then did Yahiko remember that Hidan was attracted to him. Yikes! I'm so sorry! The back door closed itself, leaving him alone to wrestle with guilt.

Konan

Konan ran her fingers along the repaired crack in the lobby wall. It seemed stable. She turned her attention to dusting the front desk next.

"No, it's not like that," she heard Kisame say. He was coming closer. "I just admire her, that's all."

"That's how it begins." Kakuzu.

"I am allowed to admire someone without liking them that way." They entered the lobby. Kisame stopped in his tracks. "Hi."

In my world, I would decorously act as if I had not overheard. This would allow us both to save face. It would be polite. In this world, it would only be taken as a blatant lie, and blatant lying is among the rudest of the rude offenses one can make. After having lived here for a month, both make sense to me. But they are opposites. Strange how opposites can be reconciled so easily. Reconciled or not, the habits of her early life were still dominant. Her instinct was to go on as if she had heard nothing. She had to stop and consciously force herself to say, "Who is it that you admire?"

"Some lady I work with," Kisame said. "She looks after the stingrays like I do the sharks, but she's so open about it."

"Do you aspire to be like her?"

"Yeah. I kinda do."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "Have you trained at all in the forest?" he asked as he and Kisame went out the front door.

As she dusted, Konan wondered who was looking after Samehada. Her question was soon answered. "There you are," Nagato said. Samehada followed behind, looking around with his tongue out. "I have to get out of here, somewhere where my head can clear. Do you know a place?"

Konan placed the dusting cloth in the garbage can that sat next to the desk. "I am sure I can find something."

She did not ask why his head needed clearing. She did not ask where he and Hidan had gone last night. Some of her old habits were appropriate sometimes, and she was starting to get a sense of when those times were. Acknowledging and asking questions about something personal, for instance, only seemed to be appreciated when the other person was clearly comfortable with that subject. Someone who was avoiding it themselves appreciated when she did likewise. That much was easy. However, there were nuances she had encountered that made it hard to put this knowledge into practice. It was hard to tell when someone was genuinely avoiding a topic - they could be only staying quiet for others' comfort, but silently wishing for it to be acknowledged, or they could appear perfectly comfortable only to withdraw when the slightest touch was made. She had made that mistake with Yahiko when teaching him Transformation Jutsu. The way he avoided her afterwards told her he had not appreciated the attempt at support. She should have pretended nothing was happening. That was what she did now with Nagato. If he was more comfortable than he appeared, he would tell her when they were alone and far away.

"It is warm today," she observed. "Fine weather."

"It is? Oh. I thought that was just me."

She glanced at him covertly. He did seem flushed. "You feel unusually warm?"

"Yeah. Like I'm floating." Nagato couldn't help but smile. "I'm not used to floating though. I need to get my balance. I need to take a breath." He took a deep breath.

Clearly, he was more comfortable than he had appeared. "What is it that makes you float?"

Nagato groped for words, but found none. He gave up the effort. "I'm in love with Hidan," he whispered. "But I've never been with anyone before. I don't know what to do."

Konan stopped in her tracks. Samehada squealed. The shark nuzzled Nagato's legs and made all kinds of celebratory happy sounds. Nagato laughed, a disbelieving laugh. "Thanks?"

Konan stared at him. He has never said anything of that kind out loud before. Something had changed, and she couldn't be sure what. She needed more information. She stayed quiet and waited for him to provide it.

Nagato bit his lip. He seemed to be groping for more words. He turned toward her and opened his mouth to speak, but did not. He closed it. Opened it again. Even if he had not had chakra, Konan could have seen his inner turmoil plain as day. He often had an aura of inner turmoil, but this time it felt different. It was unstable turmoil. It ended. She was shocked that it had finally come to an end. "I'm gay," he said.

Konan stayed quiet. His aura commanded it. Nagato himself didn't look so commanding. He let out a short amazed giggle. "I said it! I said the word!" he whispered. "I...I like men. I said it!"

Konan had no idea what to do. She didn't know why saying a word was so important to him. I have learned much about the role of speech in this culture, but clearly not enough. Anyone else would have understood. Anyone else would have been better to share this critical moment with. His joy made her feel more alien than ever before. She gave him a proud smile. "Congratulations."

Nagato laughed again. He looked down at Samehada rubbing against his legs and making happy sounds. "You don't know why that's good news, do you?" he asked. Konan thought he had remembered that she came from a different world, but then she realized he was talking to the shark. She looked at Samehada. You come from another world too. I never suspected we had so much in common.

"In order to say something, you have to face it," Nagato explained. "Out of sight, out of mind, out of talk. I couldn't say it because I couldn't accept it. But now I have. I've accepted myself for who I am." He straightened. He was clearly very proud of himself.

Konan was ashamed to find that she still didn't understand. Samehada, on the other hand, seemed to understand perfectly. The shark made a loud trill and nudged Nagato's leg, then curled his tail around so it pointed at Nagato and thumped it upon the ground twice. "Yeah," Nagato agreed. "I can share it with other people now." Samehada lolled his tongue out. Nagato bent down to allow the shark to lick his face.

I have less understanding than a shark. Konan took a step back. What does he mean by acceptance? He knew he preferred men before. He was not in denial about it. He did not hide his affection for Hidan. What changed? From her point of view, nothing that mattered was different. A word was a word. She knew words could affect thoughts, but his thoughts seemed not to have changed, so what the hell was going on?

Samehada made a curious sound and came over to her. He licked her hand and squeaked as if frightened. "Is everything alright?" Nagato asked.

Konan closed her eyes. I do not belong here. "I do not understand your happiness," she admitted, "but I understand that you are happy. That is good."

Samehada warbled some more. Nagato shrugged. "I don't understand it myself. I mean, I knew I liked men before. But… I guess it always felt separate from me, like a challenge that was being inflicted on me. Now I truly understand that it isn't separate from me and it's not a challenge. I am gay." He giggled again. "That's something I am. Me. What I want, not what I don't want or what I can't have."

Konan struggled toward understanding. It seemed like it might be within her reach, if only she stretched a liiiiittle farther… "You are happy because you can finally have what you want?"

"Yeah. It's not a punishment anymore, not me being forced to want something I can't have." His face grew downcast. "I wondered if the universe was playing a joke on me, making me like someone like Yahiko. So close, but so far. I wished I could not feel that way. But now I don't wish that anymore."

It was still beyond her reach, just barely. Konan sighed in frustration. But it has something to do with the fact that he is finally able to satisfy his desires. I know that much. "You will take him as your lover, I presume?"

Nagato flushed and ducked his head. "You make it sound so serious! But yeah. Yeah. I just need to take a few breaths first." He took a deep breath and started walking again. They passed between buildings and entered wild undeveloped land, scrubby grass and weeds everywhere. "You don't mind…?"

"Of course not. I know how he is." Konan frowned at the difficulty of walking on this terrain. The way the flora grew so tangled together was like nothing she knew from her world. "It seems natural to me, actually. Possibly a side effect of growing up within a love triangle."

"If I like him and Yahiko, does that make me poly?" Nagato wondered.

.

A/N: "Nobody who actually has to consult instruments in order to tell if something's broken is a good repairperson" = why I would not make a good therapist. No people intuition at all here. Barely any intuition about myself. Do not take as your profession something you have tried and tried again and still have no natural feeling for. I think that's good advice in general.

Regarding polyamory: Yeah, it seems pretty natural to me, too. Not in my own life, but in my shipping. Can an aromantic asexual be considered polyamorous? Does it count if you only have an inner feeling that such an arrangement is perfectly natural and what you desire to see, even if you don't wish to make it a reality in your own life? I dunno.

So then... Enjoy the weather if it is not life-threatening, and good luck if it is. And I'll see y'all next week!