General
"That was…" Konan searched for the right word.
"A clusterfuck," Hidan helpfully supplied from her left.
"Yes, that. Let's recall everything that happened in order, shall we?"
Everyone's flinching muscles prepared themselves for upcoming work.
Konan tried to summarize the battle in the most detached, objective way she possibly could. The minds of her listeners filled in the negative meanings all by themselves, though, so everyone flinched as their mistakes were brought up regardless. "The enemy was successfully pursued to the target area," she began, "where an ambush dealt a strong blow. Lack of follow up allowed the enemy to escape and move freely. She took a predictable course, making possible another ambush that resulted in her successful capture. Overly forceful efforts to restrain her put one of our own in harm's way and freed her from captivity. Last-minute recognition of poor planning allowed her to escape again and attack two more of our own, inflicting moderate wounds on both. While attacking, the enemy became sufficiently focused that a timely intervention succeeded in immobilizing her yet again, so she could finally be restrained and the mission completed."
Sasori did not flinch when his actions were first mentioned, but only because he had not yet realized there was anything unwise about them. Now that he thought about it, Itachi did seem like he'd been holding her pretty well before the bird crashed. Oh crap. So I actually…
Kisame flinched at everyone else's discomfort, but felt relieved for himself. He thought he'd been ridiculous. Stomping on moss? Really? Thank god Konan hadn't described what their "successful ambush" actually looked like. He prayed she wouldn't describe it any further. And, by accident, it seemed to have worked out somehow. Kisame felt like a miracle had carried something away before it could land on his shoulders. What happened to make such a stupid idea work out?
Kakuzu's hands tightened. If anyone made him speak, he would not be kind in his words. He'd had the element of surprise and had not held back at all, yet had still somehow failed to catch the freakin' enemy. Maybe it was my timing. He'd finished transforming and was recovered by the time I got there. If I'd arrived a couple seconds earlier, maybe mid-transformation, it would have worked. He still allowed himself to feel all defensive about it.
Hidan felt the general mood, and sighed. For something that had actually worked, nobody seemed very happy about how it'd gone. He elbowed Konan. Konan elbowed him back. She knew.
Konan pulled Hidan a little closer and propped herself on his shoulder. "I'm proud of all of you. Missions that go this far sideways don't generally succeed. I am proud to see that this one did."
Heads raised around the room. Had she really said that? There was something good to say about their mess? She is?
Konan nodded to her right. "Yahiko, Kisame. I have seen and heard of many uses of water style techniques, including pulling water out of the air first to use them in a desert, but I have never heard of controlling water inside something else. That was very creative, as was your use of simple tricks to achieve something disproportionately effective. As we are surrounded by plant life, I recommend developing more techniques like that.
"Itachi. You figured out a way to use visual jutsu against an enemy who causes paralysis on sight, and coordinated your efforts with Yahiko and Kisame's ambush despite not having planned with either of them. Quick thinking and coordination is essential in a team mission. Excellent work."
She nodded to Laurie. "Thank you for keeping injuries to a minimum, and assisting in the final defeat of the succubus. You may not be like us to land strong physical blows, but a sharp tongue can be just as effective."
She also nodded to Nagato, for organizing the first ambush. And that was all the well-deserved praise she had to hand out. There would be no pandering in any group of hers. "As for the mistakes that were made:
"Nagato, you have little experience using your powers, and so failed to judge your own limits accurately. That should correct itself with training.
"Kakuzu, your problem was mostly timing. Learning to identify when an opponent is least able to change course or defend themselves is a problem that should also resolve itself with sparring.
"Sasori, your idea was excellent in itself. The only fault is that it conflicted with Itachi's. I suppose some blame rests with me, since I was in charge of communications, but you must also be able to quickly and accurately perceive what is happening. You did not see that she had been captured. If you had, you could have pulled aside and restrained her without being attacked.
'Although…" Konan mused to herself. "Your experience while being attacked was a key part of her final defeat. It would have taken much more effort to get her to collapse if you had not had that experience. Some good did come out of that mistake."
Sasori nodded. Silver linings. He had to try to remember the silver lining to that experience. He still hugged himself tighter just to be sure that he had his skin on.
What experience? everyone else wondered. Sasori felt eyes on him. His skin crawled and he got the urge to get away and hide somewhere safe, where no souls would be looking at him. Touching.
"Hey dickfaces, stop staring! Ask about what kind of conversation they had with a demon some other time," Hidan intervened. Sasori thanked him from the depths of his heart. Hidan smiled back. No problem.
"What exactly did your creative ambush look like?" Itachi asked Yahiko and Kisame.
Yahiko was more than happy to talk about it, and too fast for Kisame to stop. "Oh, well, we didn't have any water around, but we had plenty of plants. Plants have water in them, right? So Kisame crushed some moss, and I worked with a bush, and as soon as she came around Kisame threw moss and dirt in her eyes and I got the bush to reach out. All it did was brush against her a little bit…"
"That was enough," Itachi reassured him. "Touching someone while they can't see you is good for causing fear. She thought she was in danger, so she stopped. I couldn't have surprised her with the Tsukiyomi otherwise."
"Really?" Yahiko understood now what he was supposed to feel pride for. He turned to Kisame. "I thought we didn't manage anything like I'd hoped for, but it worked! We did it. It can't be foolish if it works!"
Kisame disagreed, but if people were going to be not thinking he was foolish, he could keep his opinions to himself. Yahiko beamed for them both.
"Did no one teach you about not trying what you see on television?" Kakuzu grumped.
"Television?" Kisame asked. "Moss likes water. Therefore, there's a bunch of water around. We didn't see anything on television."
"Actually, I saw a cartoon where characters who could use water had almost complete control over plants. I probably wouldn't have tried something dry and woody like a bush if I hadn't seen that," Yahiko admitted sheepishly.
"A cartoon? Are you serious?" Kisame looked at Yahiko like he'd said something so bizarre it stretched the bounds of reality. "'Don't try what you see on TV' is advice for shows that at least use living people. How on earth did you think using a cartoon as a model was going to work?"
"Where else was I going to see water powers?" Yahiko justified. "And it worked, right?"
Kakuzu rolled his eyes. Kid's actually got a point. That isn't much weirder then what we have here in the so-called "real world."
Konan elbowed Hidan. "Cartoon?"
"Do you know comics or manga or anything like that?" She nodded. "Like that, but it moves."
"But, everything's fine now, right? I can go home?" Laurie sounded like she wanted to sleep at home more than she really did. It was really nice to meet everyone, actually. She wouldn't mind spending more time here. But she hadn't forgotten that Hidan had planned something she couldn't be there for, and she didn't really belong. She wasn't a ninja like they were.
"Yeah, hm," Deidara answered. "But you'd still come over, right?"
"Yeah. Definitely. If...you know, if I wasn't getting in anyone's way," she qualified.
"No way!" Hidan objected. "That idea I had for the thing Konan wanted me to think about was all about our originals, that's all. I just thought you'd feel weird like you didn't have anything to talk about. You don't get in anyone's way! It's not true."
"I foresee a lot of time spent in that shed over to the left as you came in. It's going to be my workshop. You're free to hang out," Sasori offered.
Laurie blinked. They really wanted her to be here? Even if she wasn't a ninja? Her face turned tomato red and she found herself staring at the carpet very quickly. "T-thank you. I...Wow. Thank you guys."
Deidara punched her lightly in the shoulder. "Anyone who helps take down a demon deserves an honorary position somewhere, yeah."
"I guess that makes sense." She didn't understand entirely, but partially. She'd take it, at any rate. "Yeah, I'd love to hang out with you guys. Maybe I could...be a guinea pig, or a cheerleader, or whatever you guys need."
Yahiko nodded. "You already are. If we get used to things like this, we might forget they're amazing. It'd be good to have you around for a reminder." Whether he noticed or not, he was the first person to take Laurie's civilian status to be a good thing. She noticed.
Hidan wrapped an arm around Konan's waist. It seemed needed. "I think what we need now is downtime, to just fucking relax for once," he declared. "It's hard as shit to be alone in here. A good few hours would be fucking great, and if anyone wants to disagree with that I will punch you into a wall. Anyone want to disagree?" He looked around with a glare.
Deidara yawned, Yahiko's eyes flickered in the direction of his room like he'd recalled something he wanted to do, and Kisame and Kakuzu shot him grateful glances. Hidan relaxed and let himself slump. "In that case…" Konan pushed herself off and stood mostly under her own power, allowing Hidan to blink and get his vitality back. He yawned. "We're officially adjourned. All you fuckers clear out."
He turned back to male form and brushed everything away from the comfy chair, some instinct telling him any room was too far away. Deidara still had some chakra left, so the blonde could get his own bed. There was clearing out as requested. Konan looked carefully around to make sure there was no one else in the vicinity before flopping into the big chair and burying her face in the opposite arm cushion. She didn't feel exactly like sleeping, just lying there and staring at the carpet and not moving a muscle. But the chair required curling up to use as a bed, and she was still uncurled with her legs hanging off the opposite end, so she would have to move. That was unpleasant to think about. She closed her eyes and went to sleep instead.
Hidan figured he should be helpful. Probably. He didn't want to. But if she was stiff or sore later, he'd have to feel it, so Hidan got up and folded her into the big seat more comfortably. Only then did he slump against the arm Konan rested on, and sit there listening to her breath while not moving a muscle. It felt great. He closed his eyes and fell asleep after a few minutes. It was glorious.
Yahiko
Yahiko sat in the bathroom of his room, glancing around every so often. He knew full well there was nobody, except maybe for ghosts the demon kid could've sent. The demon kid wouldn't tell anyone, would he? Yahiko promised to be extra boring if that happened and hoped the kid heard. There was no one else to see so he opened the lid of the chest and looked in.
He didn't see its contents, but rather Hidan standing there earlier grinning and trying out his new body, extending an arm and rotating it from side to side and wiggling his fingers with the glee of a child on Christmas putting together a contraption that was sure to be unlike anything he'd seen before, sure to. Hidan was weird. He seemed very happy with being weird. Yahiko wondered just what kind of weird Hidan was. How could he just turn into a girl like that and have it not be strange? Is he maybe… But Yahiko had never heard of anything that could make an important part of one's identity be not important. What is he?
At least there was a great possibility that Hidan would enjoy the contents of Yahiko's chest and not find them strange. It felt good to consider sharing them with someone else. Yahiko felt a pang of guilt that it wasn't Nagato. But he's so much more than me… He wouldn't understand. Hidan seemed like he could understand anything.
Yahiko closed the chest and returned it to its place, which was much too out in the open for his comfort. Anyone could see it if they walked in here. He shivered and contemplated prying loose some of the wall between the toilet and the sink, hiding it there. The idea was compelling. He considered it for a good several minutes.
Yahiko's contemplations ended when he winced and realized he'd been trying to scratch at the makeshift bandages on his cheek. They itched, and he saw a lot of them had turned red when he looked in the mirror. Nobody had gotten around to changing them for proper bandages yet. Yahiko watched some more redness grow in one corner and winced again. Scratching was a very bad thing to do. Yet the amount they itched made his eyes tear almost as much as the pain did. He had to do something!
This model of sink did not have a stopper in the drain, so he hurried all the way to the kitchen and got a can to put over it. Thank gods the sink was deep enough for that to work. He rubbed his hands and twisted his fingers together as he waited for the water to finish running. His cheek twitched. That itself was bad and caused small twinges of pain, but it relieved the itching a little so he couldn't stop. Finally the water was ready!
He pushed the itching to the side enough to concentrate on his chakra, gathering the water he'd collected into a ball and holding it to the side of his face. Oh, gods, that's better! The itching disappeared immediately, and the pain too. Yahiko closed his eyes and stood in pure bliss, savoring the lack of discomfort around his wound.
He opened his eyes lazily, like someone who has just been sleeping, to check himself in the mirror. The ball of water had a lot more red in it than he'd expected. His heart took a leap. Yahiko also noticed that the paper covering his wounds was intact and not behaving at all like paper in water should. He concentrated on the feeling of no itching or pain and held onto it as he took the water away from his face. He put it back in the sink and removed the can so it could drain, then put the can back and poured another sinkful. While it poured, Yahiko ran a finger over the paper on his face. It felt slick. He wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion and looked closer. The itching was back. He splashed some water upwards onto the bandage. It ran off the paper's surface like water off a duck.
Huh? Is it covered with oil or something? That hypothesis made sense to Yahiko's fingers. No wonder it itches. He carefully peeled the paper away from his cheek, and gasped. The side of his face was covered with blood still, which was now free to run down to his chin and drip off. It itched so very much. His eyes teared and he immediately stopped the water, gathered what he had into a ball and got it to his face as fast as possible. Ow! Itching hurts! Oh gods no wonder it was so red. The pain disappeared again. There was another, longer period of time spent savoring the relief. Yahiko only opened his eyes when his arms grew tired of this position and his chakra started to waver.
The ball was much more red than the first one, almost solid. It looked like a ball of blood itself. Could I have gathered up all the blood like that? It might have been faster. He put it in the sink and took the can away again, then started pouring a third sinkful of water. The can was noticeably bloodstained this time. It would have to be opened and used immediately for psychological comfort, and Yahiko thought he should be the one to do so since it was his blood. It was a small thing of canned soup. He could manage that.
Yahiko looked down at the paper where he'd dropped it in the terrible itching. He'd dropped it inside-up, and the inside was covered with his blood. It wasn't dripping anywhere, only a thin layer, but Yahiko could still tell it was a lot more blood than the paper had absorbed. The oil or whatever that waterproofed it did not a very good bandage make. Yahiko picked it up by a very small corner and dropped it in the trash.
His face was much cleaner, and Yahiko was happy to note that nothing was still bleeding. It was a little unrealistic for such long scratches in so short a time. Did ninjas heal faster than regular people? That was handy. He took the third sinkful of water and eased the (much improved) itching yet again. Ahhhhh. Oh, that was wonderful. Yahiko put it back in the sink and exclaimed "What?" aloud when he saw himself in the mirror.
His scratches looked different. His skin was not red and sore-looking. Redness lasted longer than bleeding did, but it had gone away in a shorter time. He touched one scratch mark softly. It was not tender like it should have been. But, when Yahiko took his hand away, he saw some red starting to creep back in around the wound! Is it getting sore? That doesn't make any sense! Wounds don't unheal! This one was. It was getting inflamed and red again before his very eyes. Yahiko could not believe it.
The itching returned. Yahiko ran a finger up and down the worst scratch, relieving it very little. He glanced down at the water. It was sink water like he'd poured three times by now. He looked to the left at his hand. That was the source of the chakra he'd been using to stir the water.
He channeled some chakra through his finger into his face. The itching went away again. Yahiko watched the redness disappear. It took longer because his chakra had to spread without the help of water, but it happened. Yahiko's mouth was getting noticeably dry from hanging open, as were his eyes. He blinked and swallowed. Holy crap. I have healing powers. Or at least pain relieving powers; he didn't see anything actually closing, but the redness and itching stayed away and there was no bleeding. Holy crap.
Yahiko took his hand away and waited for some redness to come back. It came back a little slower, but he didn't think there was a significant difference in the time it took for his body to respond to germs entering his wounds. The scratch marks weren't better at all. Yahiko concentrated on his left cheek and willed his chakra to go there. Would it work? His chakra stayed in his face. Yahiko had to really force it to the surface. Not much happened once it got there. Yahiko thought he could feel some deeper change, but nothing in the mirror was different. He relaxed and applied chakra with his hand again.
He started to smile. I have some kind of healing powers! Now that was something he could really use, and use often! He ran to show Nagato.
In the forest
Water was splashing. The kind person was happy. He was happy that he had new powers and that the strong person was with him. He was happy because he could be kind like he was, could be even more of himself. The strong person was happy because he was also kind, though he did not have kind powers like the other one did. They played with the water because they were happy.
Did the kind person know how much power he had? Was he the right kind? Maybe he could be taught if he was. Or at least it would be good for kind people to be together.
They were tired under the happy. Maybe later.
The sun was soft and warm, and the hill was so tall and steep. The sun felt kind, too. It must be kind because it fed the plants, and the plants were the right things and everything. The last plants had been so long ago. They were so dim. Lost.
Lost. Going back to the last time was hard. This was okay. The people were here. They were good. The plants waved hello. They were strong and green. It was their season. They called to each other in smells. Like a quilt. Quilts went in all different crossing directions too, like the smells. There were bees very far away.
The plants stopped. There was a very big door. There was a not very big window that was open. The floor smelled of sitting for a very long time. It was quiet. A mouse had been in the room sometime. It smelled good. It had a nest in the next room. It tasted good too, but it was so big.
The plants waved hello again. They were closer together and didn't know anything about stone or sitting or mice. A clump of dark fur was caught in a bush where someone hadn't been careful. Or maybe they had. It could be good sometimes to leave some fur so people knew where you were.
Lost. Long fur wasn't very thick. Nobody knew what it smelled like. Nobody knew where it came from. It would not be good to leave fur. The smells were different. They were warmer. They would not be good to eat because only mice were good to eat. Mice and crickets. Sometimes crickets were lazy and did not jump though they could. Mice and crickets and birds. Sometimes birds did not fly when they could. The kind person was smarter than crickets or birds because he knew to be what he was as much as he could. He would be kind when he could.
There was the smell of blood. There was also the smell of happy and chasing and teeth. It was good.
The house was noisy. Noise was bad. Maybe later.
The other house was not noisy. Nobody was here now. They took a step out and a step back, were here and not here. Small, testing, not sure. They didn't know the other houses. Maybe later.
The kind person's house was tired. They were not sure, but not small. The house was not noisy because they were tired. There was stone behind the house to make a good stage. It had cracks. Maybe there were flower seeds in town.
There were flower seeds in town. They were small and happy. They were happier when they were not small. The stone had flowers coming out of it now. It looked much better.
The tall tree in the forest was tall enough to see over all the others. The tall branches of it had birds in them that sometimes hid the forest when the birds were feeling friendly. The birds were coming back and feeling very friendly. They were very hungry. They liked the leftover flower seeds. One of the birds was very tired. It tasted good even though it was thin. It was crunchy.
The sun was up and high and flying. It was happy. It must have been happy, because it was supposed to be bright and flying and it was. It was too kind to not be happy. It was very, very warm. It was not good to sleep in the tall tree, because the sun and wind could play tricks together. The stone never played tricks. The water made holes in the stone on the river. Those were good to sleep in.
The holes were very cool and dark. They were more cool and dark later. The sun was getting tired, and the wind was bored so it was running and flying everywhere. There were many crickets under a log. They were crunchy. They were spiny on their legs. The kind person and strong person were gone. They were tired. The big person and claw person sat. They talked but were quiet. They were alone together. The big person was happy because claw person fit with him and liked to be with him. The big person wanted longer hair. Long hair wasn't everything. Sometimes it snarled, and sometimes it was scary when people couldn't see you in the dark. Lost.
The big person could see around to find out where he was, but they were alone together. Maybe later.
The kind person brought water for the flowers. The stone was all wet and had a lot more dirt piled around the flowers. They were extra happy. The forest was quiet.
There weren't so many mice in the night, and everyone was quiet. They were good to play with. Maybe later.
The dark person was very happy. He was good to play with and he was big and he was now.
Itachi
Itachi petted Samehada and stared up at the stars. This far from town, the sky was still too bright to see much, but he could make out Orion. He'd heard some dire predictions about the red star on Orion's shoulder. Itachi wondered if he wanted to live to see the stars change or not. It was a curse to wish that someone's life be interesting.
Samehada nudged at Itachi's side, taking him out of his thoughts. Itachi tried to figure out what the shark wanted. "Do you want to know what I was just thinking of?"
Samehada shook his entire body.
"Do you want to know why Kisame's grumpy and tired?"
Samehada shook his whole body again, then turned and began to whine in a specific direction. West. Of course. Itachi should have thought of this himself. "I see. You want to hear about our battle, is that it?"
Samehada nodded very strongly. Itachi paused to consider how he should tell it. He hadn't seen the whole thing, after all. So he started with Konan's version, and elaborated afterwards with what he knew and what he'd learned. Samehada was a great listener, lunging forward and snapping his teeth on an imaginary enemy when Itachi described Nagato's ambush, lashing his teeth in disappointment when she got away, wiggling all over the place to the point where he fell backwards at Yahiko and Kisame's ambush, and lolling his tongue out in what looked like wonder after Itachi rolled him back over and finished with himself and the succubus being run over by the bird.
Samehada also whimpered when Itachi said that the demon had gotten free and attacked Sasori, and burst into loud howling sobs when the demon attacked Yahiko. Itachi shut up after that and held the shark as close as he could, trying to sooth Samehada. Nothing seemed to be working. He'd never suspected that Samehada cared about Yahiko that much. He does get along well with animals… Itachi told Samehada that Yahiko had wanted to fight the demon, that he was very brave and looked very strong, and that he was happy after Konan rescued him. The shark quieted down to sniffles. Itachi offered to bring him to meet Yahiko as proof that the shark's other favorite person was okay. Samehada nodded.
Itachi would have stopped in the doorway to Yahiko's room as soon as he saw the man was asleep, but Samehada dashed in and leaped straight into Yahiko's bed somehow. Yahiko woke up and switched on the light. "Samehada? Hello! What are you doing here?"
"I told him the story of our battle with the succubus, and he was very upset to hear you'd been attacked," Itachi explained.
"Oh! Don't worry about me, Same. Look." Yahiko turned his head to reveal his left cheek, which was obviously all scratched up, but not nearly as red or bleeding as it should have been. "I have healing powers, apparently." He petted Samehada and turned his uninjured cheek for Samehada to lick.
"Healing powers?" Itachi wouldn't deny the evidence of his eyes, but if Yahiko had healing powers why hadn't anyone mentioned them?
"I discovered it earlier," Yahiko started to explain. "Hey, Same, get off me! So, my bandages were itching badly earlier, and I'd tried something a few days ago where I used my chakra to hold water together in a ball and stir it to clean wounds. I did it again and the itching went away completely. I took off the bandages and washed all the blood away, and when I was done nothing was bleeding. So I thought ninjas just heal faster than normal, but then I did it again and I saw a difference in the mirror from before I did it to after. And then I saw that difference reverse. That was how I accidentally figured out that my chakra alone can do things."
"Your scratches still look very bad. They must be rather weak. And why hasn't Konan said anything about them?" She would tell Yahiko about abilities he was so happy with, right?
Yahiko shrugged. "I tried channeling chakra to my face directly, but it didn't work very well because my chakra stayed inside my body. I have to deliberately apply it from outside to do anything. She probably didn't know."
"Hmm." Interesting. So they had abilities that Konan did not know anything about after all. "This raises an obvious question."
Yahiko and Samehada turned to look at him. "What question?"
Itachi left the doorway to sit on the end of the bed where he could reach Samehada. "I have to wonder now exactly how she knew our originals. All she's said is that she worked with them, and I have a feeling as if it wasn't the same kind of relationship as she has with us. How exactly did she know them?"
Yahiko sat up and put his chin in his hands. "Well, she likes Hidan, and gets along really well with Nagato. She doesn't get along with me at all. But me and Nagato always go together, and she doesn't seem surprised by that. Hey, everyone else does too. You and Kisame were friends before she got all of us together, right? Kakuzu knows Hidan better than anyone. And Sasori and Deidara seem to know each other better than anyone, too." Yahiko had the lightbulb look behind his eyes as he finally made these connections, and he pumped a fist and smiled proudly when he finished.
Itachi met his eyes and stopped petting Samehada. "You're right. I hadn't noticed that before." He thought quickly, putting all these things together. "So if our relationships are similar to our personalities, and they are a little like our originals'... Then, that implies our originals were arranged in pairs as well. She's described it in strictly professional terms. Which makes sense, because each pair has very complementary personalities. If they can get along, complementary personalities can be very productive together."
Yahiko giggled. "So our originals worked together, and got along at least that well! Great."
"And, taking into account the rest of what you noticed, at least some relationships between our originals were personal," Itachi finished. "So what we had this morning, with everyone working to accomplish some common goal, is probably the most like what our originals did."
Yahiko sighed. "Wonder why she doesn't talk about it?"
"We aren't our originals. Similar, but not the same. It must be like having found a replacement family. Is there any wonder she won't open up about her first?"
Yahiko was quiet. He looked down, and Itachi could see something in his expression. Itachi waited for whatever it was to come out. Yahiko whispered, "You remember what I told you about my parents?"
Itachi did.
"I guess I know something about what it's like to have a replacement family." Yahiko's eyes looked a little moister as he softly petted Samehada. The shark was making low, short churring noises of sympathy. "I haven't even told Nagato everything. You're right." He looked up as if he could see through walls. Yahiko's room was in the same hallway as Konan's, on the opposite side. Itachi didn't need to look to know what Yahiko was looking at.
"She may not appreciate attempting to build a connection all at once," he warned. "Be careful."
"I know. I will." Yahiko shook his head and returned to patting Samehada. "I just wish I knew why she dislikes me so much. Why did she and my original have problems, if I can have common ground with her and he was mostly like me? It doesn't make sense."
Itachi had wondered that too, like everyone else. He still didn't have any idea. Maybe Yahiko's original had accidentally hurt her at some point and she hadn't forgiven him yet. Maybe it was a misunderstanding - she didn't seem very optimistic about people, and Yahiko might have seemed too good to be true. Maybe there'd been competition over Nagato. He couldn't say, and wouldn't speak until he could. He just nodded along with Yahiko's opinion that it didn't make sense.
"I've just got to show her I'm different," Yahiko declared. "She'll learn to tell me apart, and then we'll get along better because I haven't done anything to her. It'll be fine."
Itachi nodded again. "That's the most realistic thing to do."
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