A/N: Nothing much to say this week. Let's just go.

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Itachi

After writing out drafts of the new group rules and putting them on the fridge directly beneath the existing rules, Itachi ate a snack. Then he wondered what to spend the rest of his day doing. Not thinking intensely. I've done enough of that.

He decided to round up a willing partner and watch a movie. He sent a message in the group chat. Not long after, Sasori and Deidara said they would be available shortly. Itachi made popcorn while waiting for them to return.

Deidara and Sasori walked into the kitchen with their hair in disarray from flying. Sasori absentmindedly rubbed his head while looking over the popcorn. "No disaster, right?"

Itachi blinked, unsure what he was being asked about. "From Original Hidan?" Deidara clarified.

"Oh! No, there has not been any disaster, related to him or otherwise."

"Wonderful," Sasori replied. "Mm. Good texture on the popcorn. It could stand a little more salt, I think."

Itachi divided the popcorn into three bowls. Sasori sprinkled additional salt on his. While he did that, Itachi turned to Deidara and said, "So then… I did not have any specific movie in mind, but I thought something animated and cheerful would be ideal."

Deidara rubbed his chin. "Animated and cheerful, huh…"

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Sasori asked.

"I have just finished revising our group rules. My primary objective now is to avoid intensive thinking. I would prefer a movie with a very clear and obvious moral, something simple."

"How about Brother Bear?" Deidara asked.

"Sounds good to me," Sasori said. "And it meets all of your stated criteria, Itachi."

"Excellent."

They sat together on the floor, their backs against a wall, in Sasori's room with a quilt draped across their laps. Sasori opened Netflix on his laptop and turned up the volume. They slowly munched on popcorn while watching a man turn into a bear, befriend beasts that he previously would have killed on sight, and eventually return to his original tribe to usher in peace and harmony between the humans and the local wildlife. Oh, and there were some derpy elk tagging along.

"What a pleasant movie," Itachi said when it was done. "Oh, there is a sequel?"

"Yes, but the sequel is all about romance," Sasori said while closing the browser. "Nobody from his original tribe makes an appearance, there are pink animals, and it ends with a girl turning into a bear for the sake of a guy who doesn't technically have a tribe anymore, and somehow her whole entire tribe is fine with that. Nobody is upset about losing an opportunity to shore up alliances - except with the bears, I suppose - or that they'll probably never see her again, or… Seriously, what the hell happened to his whole tribe? It's just bullcrap."

"Ah. I see. I would not be interested in that."

"The romance subplot with those two deer is done well, though," Deidara said.

As Sasori and Deidara debated the merits of all the romantic subplots in that movie, Itachi hugged the quilt to his chest and smiled. Ah, this is nice. Simple time with friends. Exactly the balm my overworked mind so often needs.

"The pink animals, though," Sasori said.

Deidara nodded. "Yeah, the pink animals, hm."

Itachi smiled. "I, too, dislike unnecessary gender coding of the animal kingdom."

Sasori rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't even get me started on the delicate feminine snouts of every female bear who isn't initially portrayed as a monster."

That started another round of discussion. It resembled the streams of thought that Itachi often had. However, unlike those restless and frequently unproductive thoughts, the conversation stayed on track and came to a graceful end. Could the dialogue format be responsible for the difference? Perhaps consulting others when I am confused instead of trying to work out the problem myself would be something to try, then.

Sasori put his laptop back in its usual place on the bedside table and Deidara folded up the quilt for storage. When they both were done, Itachi asked, "Do either of you ever wonder what your place in the world is?"

"Um, all the time," Deidara replied. "That's, like, my number one thing, yeah."

"I have in the past. Not anymore," Sasori said.

"How did you deal with it?"

Deidara sighed. "Just kinda keeping my head down and not thinking about it much."

Sasori dusted off his hands. "It's everyone else's problem now."

Itachi blinked. "Elaborate."

With a smile, Sasori said, "Other people want to put me in a place? Okay, fine. They can do all the work of finding or inventing such a place, then. Why should I have to figure out what box I belong in? Whoever cares most about me being in a box, that's who should put in the work, and I don't care as much as the people around me do."

Boxes? That metaphor is typically used for identity labels. But we are not talking about identity labels. Are we? "I meant to ask about roles, about relations to a wider field of meaning, about…"

"What do I do and how successful am I at it?"

Itachi blinked some more. "Yes. That's exactly what I was trying to say, but you said it much better."

"My answer is the same," Sasori said. "I'm far too busy doing whatever it is that I do to try to describe it. I'm only interested in doing the work. If other people want to explain what work I do to yet more distant people, the responsibility of inventing a job title falls on them."

"But without a description of your responsibilities, how can you determine how successful you are?"

"Itachi, am I successful at what I do?"

"Yes."

"What do I do?"

"..."

"My point exactly."

"Am I successful at what I do?" Deidara asked.

"Nearly, but not quite," Sasori replied.

"And what exactly do I do, yeah?"

"I have no idea. But whatever it is, you should work on it."

"Fascinating," Itachi murmured. "It never would have occurred to me that success could be measured independently of an official metric."

"Itachi, you're in the same boat as Deidara, at least as far as I can tell," Sasori said. "You're only mostly successful at what you do."

"I primarily advise Konan and other leaderly figures, so I will have to ask them for their judgments before I can be sure. That said, your judgment sounds exactly like my own. I tend to be plagued by a feeling of something hovering out of the corner of my eye where I can't quite see it."

"Me too!" Deidara said. "It's a feeling like I'm usually not in the right place or doing the right thing."

"I can't say anything more," Sasori said, raising his hands. "And I wouldn't want to, because Itachi was trying not to think too hard."

"Conversation is different from solitary thinking," Itachi told him. "I do not mind intensive conversation."

Sasori sat on his bed. "Would you like to hear about what Deidara and I discovered in town?"

"Haunted artifacts?"

"Close…"

Original Yahiko

Original Yahiko and Konan had a very productive meeting with the church group. As they left town, he said, "I had no idea there was such a variety of book clubs anywhere!"

"Nor did I ever dream of neighborhood organizations like that one woman described, despite such a thing being, in retrospect, a system that would have greatly advanced our goals," Konan replied.

"Learning about other people's lives is really educational, isn't it? Even though we weren't focused on any 'useful' topic."

"If there is one thing I have learned from this world, it's that the boundary between useful and useless information is vaporous, if it exists at all. It likely does not."

Original Yahiko sighed. "Tell that to the mayor."

"Leaving information out for the sake of not overwhelming your conversation partner is not the same as declaring that information useless. It was merely…not immediately required."

Isn't that the same as declaring some information to be more important or relevant than other information? Original Yahiko decided not to ask. There were more important things to focus on. "Teknos certainly understood that principle."

Konan nodded. "Yes. I agree with Sasori's judgment; the demons did indeed choose well."

"I've been curious about them. We heard the basic story of how you discovered the demons' existence, of course, but that story raised more questions than it answered. I hoped getting to meet one of them would help, but…"

"They are…complicated," Konan murmured. "A relationship that begins with fear and avoidance cannot be otherwise. But even so…"

"They sound similar to the vampires, who also hate and avoid your version of Hidan. I can see why their powers would make talking with them more difficult than talking to the vampires. But this world has many ways of talking to people without needing to see them or even be near them, so I don't fully understand. Why are relations with the vampires so much better than relations with the demons?"

Konan walked carefully along the road. Even though there were no other pedestrians around, she stepped in such a way as to make no sound. "Lack of respect."

"Lack of respect?"

"The vampires treat us as dangerous potential foes, and we likewise. The demons treat us as sloppy accident-prone children, and we likewise. It is difficult to maintain a solid relationship when every time you think about the other party, your thoughts are tinged with pity."

"Pity? Teknos was not pitiable at all. He was smart, well-spoken, shrewd…"

"He is our best hope at restoring relations with the demons as a whole," Konan said, nodding. "He is a demon that can be respected."

"Others of those demons aren't?"

"They are powerful, but not willful. They maintain their state of existence, but do not act. The one demon who did perform something that can be called a willful action only did so out of resistance to the concept of changing her lifestyle in any way."

"There's nothing wrong with simply being happy as you are. That was what we fought for, remember? We started the Akatsuki in the hopes that every Hidden Rain villager would have the ability to live a quiet and peaceful life if that was what they wanted. We were forced to become warriors; we didn't have a choice. If we had had a choice, I might have grown up to live like those demons do. They sound quite pleasant and amiable, not like bad people at all."

"Do you respect them for that?"

"Yes. It takes much strength to stay pleasant and amiable in a world that tries to force you to become a warrior. I admire their ability to stay out of the chaos that consumes us."

Konan did not say anything in reply. They followed the road west, turning north to pass through the suburbs. Children rode bicycles up and down the street, their parents following behind. A dog walker with a very large dog waved to them. Nobody came closer than three meters, but nobody openly recoiled in revulsion or fear, either. It's sad that there is no warmth between us and these people, but at least their is no coldness, either. Hopefully, with more meetings with the mayor, that can change. After the demon boy and his ghosts, these people are our nearest neighbors. Shouldn't we try to befriend them?

They passed a suburbanite weeding her front garden. Yahiko waved at her. She waved back. "Isn't this what we dreamed of?" he murmured.

There was no reply.

"Konan?"

"You and I are very different sorts of people, Yahiko. I do not consider the ability to stay out of chaos admirable. This suburban life isn't what I dreamed of."

Yahiko's chest hurt. "What did you dream of, then?"

"Driving away the enemy forces that had imposed themselves on our country. Establishing our country as a power in its own right. Gaining a position on the world's political stage."

Power. That's what she means. But no, no, the three of us shared a dream. We were as one, united! I can't believe that she never wanted peace. "That is a necessary part of securing peace. But at the end of the day, didn't you want to come home to a life like this?"

Konan shook her head. "Not to a life surrounded by people who weren't there at my side in the battle, who do not and never will understand what I fight for."

"You never wanted to be one of them? You never dreamed of an alternate life where you could have been a civilian?"

Konan stopped and gave him a perplexed look. "In what alternate life could I possibly have been a civilian?"

"One where you weren't forced to fight for your life as a child."

Konan shook her head. "I cannot imagine any version of me ever truly accepting a life of meek submission."

Yahiko flinched like he'd been struck. In a low voice so that no suburbanite could hear him, he asked, "Is that what you think living a peaceful life is?"

Konan looked him in the eye. "You are not on the list of people who are allowed to cause pain to others. I am."

"Being deadly as fuck is just one of those things that we accept about you." "People like that are supposed to be violating our group rules." "If anyone were to suggest that I be punished, they would be treated as if they were insane." Yahiko wondered again how well he really knew Konan. People who grew up together were supposed to know each other inside and out, but Konan was as opaque as a person could get without deliberately donning a disguise. He'd always known that she secretly held great ambitions inside her heart, but this great? This powerful? This dangerous? Would you have ever joined us if your parents hadn't been killed? In an alternate life where we were never orphaned, would we have become enemies?

Konan touched his cheek softly, the way she used to when they were a couple. "Let me handle harsh realities when they appear. I am good at it. In return, you shield my back. We cover each other's weaknesses. That is how Jiraiya sensei taught us to fight. Remember?"

It was. Yet something still didn't feel right. Yahiko realized what that something was fifteen minutes later as they neared the base. If you don't respect the demons, do you respect me?

Sasori

"Why the fuck wouldn't he mention that?! If wards aren't covered under zoning regulations, they should be, which means the mayor should know about them. There should be an approval process, yeah. You don't get to just put a ward wherever you feel like it."

Itachi shrugged at Deidara's indignation. "As true as that is, I can understand his logic. He was only trying to fulfill his duties as guardian of ghosts."

"But then he should have brought it up at the big meeting with the mayor, hm." Deidara turned to Sasori. "Back me up on this!"

"He should have mentioned at the meeting any actions he had taken that were part of his duties as Regional Guardian," Sasori agreed. "Those duties were the main topic, after all."

"See?"

"Later, when he is not supervising the dolls' lesson with the vampires, I will ask Hidan to call him. I will strongly suggest that the demon boy visit the mayor as soon as he can to tell the man about this important thing that he forgot to mention before," Itachi said. Deidara nodded firmly in agreement.

Sasori shook his head. "It's not smart to delay. Call Hidan and tell him right now."

"Alright." Itachi did exactly that. "Hello again. Something else has come up. I have been informed that the demon boy laid a ward around the local library and did not mention that he had done so at the meeting of regional guardians that was held yesterday." Pause. "Yes, that meeting." Another pause. "You have called for him before. You could do so again and tell him to visit the mayor and inform him about the ward right away." Another pause. "Thank you." *bleep*

Deidara looked interested. "Hello again? Something else? What were you - Oh, the rule changes, hm?"

"Yes. Naturally."

They were all a bit thirsty anyway, so they went to the kitchen to get glasses of water. Deidara read the drafts Itachi had posted on the fridge. "Hm. It doesn't list which group members have to obey which rule."

"That's because it is an unconscious judgment achieved through subtle unspoken consensus. Those sorts of judgments are known to change, often suddenly and without anybody realizing it. Having to constantly ask ourselves who falls into which category is a feature, not a bug."

"Who's in what category right now?" Deidara asked.

"Konan, Original Nagato, Original Hidan, Madara, and Sasori are in the group that is permitted to use violence. Clone Hidan may also be. His empathic powers make his status somewhat unclear."

"Hold up. Sasori?" Deidara looked Sasori up and down. "What about Kakuzu?"

"He is not permitted to exercise violence."

Deidara looked totally confused. "Since when is Sasori expected to hurt anybody, tho-" He cut himself off abruptly. "I mean… Outside of a training battle, obviously."

"Imagine Kakuzu slapping you across the face," Itachi instructed. "What would you think?"

"That he was really angry?"

"Now imagine Sasori slapping you across the face. What would you think?"

"That I'd really fucked up." Deidara blinked. "Oh…"

This was news to Sasori. Wait a second. I'm on the exempted list because every member of the group trusts my judgment enough to assume that whatever I do to them is merited? I thought Itachi was just desperate for guidance when he asked me to judge how successful he is. If what Itachi says right now is correct, then people like Kisame and Yahiko would also ask me for advice and trust what I said just as much. But why? What did I do to earn that?

"I guess it makes sense," Deidara murmured, turning to Sasori. "When Konan broke into your house and stole your laptop, you totally had the moral high ground, and you used it well. You judged her in ways that not everyone agreed with, but the way that you judged her was… It was fair, you know. Not weak. Nobody was gonna argue with it. Yeah, I can see it now, hm."

Ho-ly fuck. It actually works. That book that I read that inspired me - I have to read it again! "You all think I'm impartial?"

With no hesitation and not a hint of doubt in his voice, Itachi said, "It is one hundred percent certain that you are the least biased person in this group."

Sasori wouldn't have judged himself to be so. I have a lot of feelings about things. I just don't show them. Is that what it means to be impartial? "Really? I have opinions of my own. There are lots of things I think should change, or think should be improved on, or whatever."

"Yes, but you would never fall into depression should your desires not be met, would you?" Itachi asked.

"Of course not. What good would that do?"

"I do things that I know are no good, may even be distinctly counterproductive, all the time. I cannot seem to stop myself from doing them. You can stop yourself. You have a mysterious, wonderful power that I don't. Of course I would trust the decisions of someone with this amazing power."

Sasori stared at him. Is he still in an unconfident mood? But then, Deidara crossed his arms and nodded. "Yeah, totally. It's like you said earlier, yeah. I don't know what you're doing, but you're doing something when you keep your head so level, and whatever it is, you're really good at it."

"I'm not…doing anything."

Itachi studied Sasori's face with the Sharingan. "It truly seems that way to you. How interesting."

Sasori had no idea what to say or do. He was very glad to pick up the distant sound of the door opening. "Someone has just returned. Why don't we go meet them." He walked out immediately. It was not a question.

He, Deidara and Itachi met Konan and Original Yahiko. "What were you guys doing?" Deidara asked.

"Meeting with the church group," Konan replied.

"And also discussing the demons," Original Yahiko muttered.

"What was discussed regarding the demons?" Itachi asked.

Konan and Original Yahiko both looked unsure how to answer that question. "Ah, well, our relationship with them," Original Yahiko said. "How - how strong it is."

Sasori sighed. "Oh, dear. That topic."

Deidara looked at him. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Well, our relationship with the demons isn't good. We only talk to them when there's a disaster happening."

"Really? We do?"

"Yes, Dei," Sasori said deadpan. "We are a group devoted to growth and change. The demons are a group of people who mostly do not grow or change unless they have a bonfire under their butts forcing them to. Imagine the conversation if we did regularly converse with them. 'What has been going on with you humans lately?' 'Oh, gods, where do we even start. Let's see: we changed our leadership twice, revised our group rules, banished and then unbanished a core member, and we're throwing a huge party to celebrate the fact that we're even still in a group. How about you? What has been going on with you?' 'Uh… We're trying a new brand of beer.'"

Deidara made a face. "Worst conversation ever."

"Exactly. It is hypothetically a good idea to maintain a strong relationship with these powerful beings who live near us, but practically speaking, it would take wayyyyy too much effort. Not worth it."

"But they're our friends. Shouldn't we make some kind of effort? Maybe there are certain kinds of conversations we should avoid, but making no effort to keep in touch seems cruel. It makes it seem like we don't care about them and don't value them, hm."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "That is the most selfish reason to keep in touch that I have ever heard. Don't tell me you actually think that letting a friend sink into oblivion just to preserve your own reputation is the right thing to do."

"What? Oblivion?"

"If we keep showing people the same consideration all the time regardless of what they do, it sends the message that they can do anything they want. We don't hold them to any standards. Imagine if someone was willing to be friends with you when you spent every day sitting in front of the TV eating ice cream."

Deidara blinked slowly. "After I was discharged, there was a whole entire month where I lived like that. You showed up."

"Not out of obligation. Not because I was worried that some imaginary observer would condemn me for not being selfless enough. I showed up because I actually wanted to, because vegging out in the company of a friend was enough novelty at that point in my life to satisfy me. If you went back to that lifestyle now… Probably not."

Deidara thought some more in silence. Eventually he said, "Ignoring the demons still feels mean, hm."

"It would be meaner to cling to the past. Trying to milk a dead cow doesn't help you or the cow. The few demons who are capable of a multi-sentence answer to the question 'What's up with you lately?' know how to find us."

Deidara averted his eyes. "As someone who's been in a condition where I literally couldn't reach out or do much of anything, I'll say that having someone come around to check on me just because they have to is better than having nobody come around at all."

"By 'have to,' do you mean they're getting paid to? Because that's a different matter. Money is a form of compensation. I'm talking about no compensation at all. Nothing about the experience is in any way pleasant, yet they force themselves to come because they don't want to look like bad friends."

Deidara's lower lip wobbled. "That's not relevant because the demons are very pleasant people, hm."

"Itachi, recite me that list of exempted group members."

"Konan, Original Nagato, yourself, Original Hidan, Madara, potentially Clone Hidan," Itachi recited.

"Six people. About a third of the group. A full 33% of this group, including several of our most highly respected members, is expected to inflict pain and hardship on a regular basis." Sasori raised his hands. "I spoke in a confusing way. I used the word pleasant, but I meant something by it that's very different from its usual connotation. I meant…good-feeling. Feels good. Maybe 'pleasurable' would have been a better word. In this group, pleasurable means painful. The demons, by being so obnoxiously pleasant, are the least pleasurable company imaginable."

This explanation got through. Deidara's eyes unfocused. "Holy fuck," he whispered. "I only started dating Laurie because she could flip me on my butt. I like her the most when we spar together. Is that what you mean?"

"I'll mention it next time I see Teknos," Sasori said. "If he wants to strengthen our alliance, he should send demons to fight with us. Like the vampires do. Yeah, that's a good idea."

"Dialogue really is a much more effective form of thinking!" Itachi remarked.

Sasori finally remembered that Konan was standing right there. He turned to her and bowed his head. "Uh… Sorry for taking over your topic."

"It's alright," Konan replied. "Your input is very valuable."

Sasori remembered what he had been thinking about before she showed up. Valuable even to her? Of course. She is the one that I held in my power, way back when. Perhaps Itachi is right. Perhaps I should define my role in this group, if only to avoid being surprised if everybody chooses me to act as their leader one day.

I'm just a creative person who likes to build and tinker with things. When did I become so powerful?

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A/N: "Thinking via dialogue" is the number one greatest benefit I have gotten from splitting my identity into Jake and Ezrin. I don't even care if they're "real," whatever that means. Real enough to make two voices out of is enough for me.

Yes, this last two-thirds of a chapter is all written in response to my feelings about this one friend of mine. That would be the same friend I mentioned in the notes on "Storm-Weather Friends." We're still struggling to find our way back to the good relationship we used to have. Sasori's conversation with Deidara is literally a train of thought in written form, and I am surprised at its conclusion. It is true that I like her the most when she serves as Original Hidan to my Original Nagato, forcing me to acknowledge my own hypocrisy through cutting words. She doesn't do that often. Most of the time, she is simply a nice person who enjoys simple pleasures, like making tea and walking a dog. And that is... Yeah. It is actually unpleasant to me. It's boring.

Half the time, anyway. When Jake's in charge. Ezrin loves simple pleasures and dislikes pain.

Oof...