The grim look on Konan's face spoke volumes about the tone of the meeting. Deidara had taught Sasori some body language, and his training had given him a guidebook on basic facial expressions to watch out for, so the redhead quickly recognized the flattened ears and off-centered jaw as a sign that Konan was distressed. He took a seat next to Kisame, being careful to flag down Hidan to sit beside him. Deidara noticed this but said nothing, choosing instead to quietly sit behind the Akasuna as he whispered another apology, following the dozens he'd already voiced since his discussion with Sasori. Sasori, for his part, said nothing. At the moment, he still needed plenty of space from the blond Falk.

Sasori glanced around the room, trying to see who all would be attending this meeting. Kakuzu sat at the front of the room near Pein, and Itachi wasn't far off, sitting beside Tsunade. Only a few other Falks were present; most were still doing their normal jobs around the camp, along with Tobi. This appeared to be a small meeting to discuss private matters, and whatever course of action they decided on would be announced to the masses a little later.

In the midst of his thinking, the lights in the room went dim; the last person must have arrived, and the meeting was about to start. Konan stepped to the front of the room and clicked for attention, although all eyes were already on her. "Zank you for joining me today," she said, voice firm and businesslike. "As many of you know, Regi 'as suffered a great tragedy, and while we were lucky enough to escape wiz few casualties, many in ze city above were not so lucky."

Heads around the room nodded in agreement.

"Many of you 'ave questions about what went wrong. Who could 'ave found our base? An accident? Or somezing more sinister?" She paused here and shut her eyes for a brief moment, gathering herself before going on. "We sent a team back to ze remains of our camp. Zere, we found ze bodies of several of our comrades…among zem was my old friend Jiraiya, along wiz ze remains of some sensitive documents." Hushed whispers broke out but were silenced by a motion from Konan. "I do not know if Jiraiya willingly betrayed us or was forced to; I would like to believe ze second option, but now we shall never know. At zis point, we must assume zat a good portion of our information, including locations of our bases and at least some information on our commanding officers, 'as been, as ze 'umans say, utterly compromised."

More whispers broke out at this news, even louder and more anxious then before. Sasori also felt a knot in his stomach; what if those documents mentioned something about the humans under the VUM's care? Information like that could be spun in a dozen different ways, and none of them were favorable for Konan and her men.

"Fortunately for now, we are safe in zis base," Konan stated loudly, redirecting their attention to her. "None but Pein or myself could provide ze location of zis place, so zere is no way zat our enemies will find us. In addition, ze coup led by ze Sound Minds will no doubt draw the attention of the Verden armed forces, and may even attract 'uman intervention. Zis may be our best chance to try and track down Orochimaru.

As some of you are aware, we 'ave reason to believe that Orochimaru is somehow connected to the Sound Minds, but we strongly doubt that 'e is actually present in Regi wiz zem. Even before ze war broke out, zat *hiss click hissss* always preferred to live off-planet. A decent cloaking system would make 'is ship impossible to track; but, victory makes people confident, and confidence, as you say, breeds foolishness. All our attentions are focused on re-infiltrating Regi now to tap into ze communication lines zere; eventually, someone will say somezing stupid zat will lead us to zis bastard. For now, we shall stay at zis base and try to reorganize ourselves. Some will be sent to ozer bases zat can use zeir talent; but most of you need to keep your men 'ere, and prepare for a battle. I know we are more inclined to sneaking and pulling strings from a distance, but at zis point we cannot afford to simply wait around for ozers to act on our information. Be ready; ze move could come in weeks, or a few short days. If you 'ave any more questions, talk to Pein. I 'ave ozer business to attend to now." The lights came on as Konan walked to the back of the room, her small feet echoing loudly on the metal floors. Not a word was spoken until she'd left the room.

-n-

"So, what do you think?"

Sasori looked up from his tray of food, which had to be balanced carefully on his lap since they were eating in his room. Things were tense at the base right now, so the humans were choosing to keep a low profile, and part of that involved staying in their rooms as much as possible. "About what?"

Hidan gave his friend a disbelieving look. "Shit, about all of that! Fuck, Konan's acting like we're about to hold a Jashin-damned funeral, Kakuzu's doing that weird quiet panic thing, this Orochimaru fucker knows all about VUM and us now…c'mon, you've gotta have something to say!"

Sasori took a bite of biscuit and thought for a minute. "I feel like whatever happens, we're going to get hurt," he stated plainly. "Whoever's behind all our troubles, Orochimaru or NADSRaD or someone else, they've always been a step ahead of us. They'd cleaned out the mines almost completely when we got there, they knew to poison a VUM unit and that Zabuza guy, they knew to go to Jiraiya for intel, they knew to delete more than a few files on NADSRaD back on Earth…who's to say they don't know that we're waiting for Orochimaru to slip up? Hell, if Orochimaru is the one behind all this he might deliberately feed us bad info to lure the VUM into a trap and wipe the rest of us out!"

Hidan whistled. "Damn, knew you had an opinion, but man, that was fucking intense."

Sasori shrugged. "I'm sure Konan and most of the members in her inner circle are thinking the same thing. Kakuzu probably would tell you the same."

"Tch, if he felt like signing it all out instead of just calling me stupid," Hidan chuckled. "Fucker."

Sasori smirked. "You know, for someone who supposedly hates Falks, you seem to get along pretty well with Kakuzu."

Hidan shrugged. "Some of 'em aren't too bad, like Kakuzu and Konan. I could do without getting my ass shot off by those pilots out in space, and if I ever find the fuckers that killed my brother…" he shook his head. "Besides, Kakuzu needs me."

"He needs you?"

"Ass," Hidan said, shoving a chuckling Sasori. "Fucker needs help with his stitches at least. Besides, I'm the only one around here he can talk to without a Jashin-damned pen and pad, so there's that too."

"I guess."

"Stop smirking like that, asshole! You and that fucking blond aren't any better."

Sasori's merriment died down somewhat at the comment. "Deidara and I aren't always together."

"The hell you aren't. He follows you around like a fucking duckling, and you always let him." Hidan frowned. "Hey, did you guys fight or something? 'Cause he looks like a kicked puppy and you've been in a shit mood all day."

"Nothing happened," Sasori stated.

"Yeah, but-"

"Nothing. Happened. Hidan."

Hidan gave his friend a long look and finally sighed before going back to his food. 'Whatever you say."

-several hours later-

Kakuzu peered up from his spot on the bed when he heard the door open. Hidan stepped in and shut the door behind him with a metallic thud. He didn't seem to notice the Falk at first, and it wasn't until Kakuzu sat up that he realized he wasn't alone. "Hey, you're back. How was your chat with Konan?" Hidan had known that Kakuzu would be speaking with the blue-haired Falk after the meeting; frankly, he'd been expecting his mute friend to be gone for far longer.

"Not good. She's panicking and hasn't slept in a long time," Kakuzu rapidly signed. "I told her to stop making plans until she gets some rest, but I think it fell on…" here he had to spell out 'deaf ears' with an obviously frustrated look on his face.

"Here, these signs," Hidan showed him. "Stop getting so worked up, dumbass. You're talking in a third language based on your second language. You're not gonna understand everything in a month."

Kakuzu's response was to flop backwards on the bed and stare up at the ceiling. "So, what are we supposed to do now?" Hidan asked. "Just sit on our asses until they send us out to fight?"

"Yes."

"Tch, fuck that," the Jashinist grumbled. "I fucking hate waiting."

"Never would have guessed."

"You are seriously the most sarcastic Falk bastard I've ever met." Kakuzu shrugged, and Hidan took this as his cue to change the subject. "So, any idea what Sasori and Deidara are fighting about?"

"Fighting?"

"You seriously didn't notice? Deidara's all mopey and shit, and Sasori's being super defensive. I dunno, maybe it's stress from the move, but something's up with those two." Kakuzu frowned but said nothing. "See, you noticed it too! So what do you think happened?"

Kakuzu shrugged.

"Oh don't give me that shit. C'mon, it's your job to know what's going on with everyone around here; you've got to have some idea!" Kakuzu shook his head, and Hidan's eyes narrowed as his resolve to get an answer out of his friend grew in strength. "Tell me. Or I'll start whining again."

"That ended badly for you," Kakuzu pointed out.

"Well this time I'll have the upper hand," Hidan boldly declared. "You can't pin me if I pin you first, jackass!" And before Kakuzu had time to react, Hidan was on top of him, using his arms to pin the Falk's shoulders as he straddled the Falk's thighs to pin his lower body, careful to avoid the stitches in his side. "Now just try and get out without talking, bastard!" Hidan dared him with a sinister grin. "Or signing. Shit, you know what I mean!"

Unfortunately Hidan had either underestimated the strength of Kakuzu's arms or overestimated his own ability to restrain his opponent, because Kakuzu barely batted an eye at knocking Hidan's arms off of his own, wrecking the Jashinist's balance and sending him falling forward. Hidan managed to catch himself on his forearms and braced himself above the Falk, giving Kakuzu an angry look. "Watch it, dumbass! I could've hurt you."

"…"

"Dumbass? Hey, you in there?"

It was at that moment that Hidan realized how close their faces were now, and that Kakuzu's attack had caused his torso to fall forward to cover Kakuzu's chest. He could feel the warmth radiating off the Falk, and the slow steady heartbeat below. Kakuzu's face had a strange expression now, whereas Hidan's was probably a mix of panic and embarrassment as his cheeks flushed red. "Um, I…"

Hidan was about to suggest that he needed to get up, maybe even throw in a bit of humor and admit defeat to Kakuzu, when the Falk suddenly moved his hands to Hidan's thighs, holding him in place. The zealot looked down in confusion, and then back to Kakuzu for an explanation. "Kakuzu?"

The hands slowly moved upwards, sliding over Hidan's hips, then his waist, his ribs, and finally curled around his shoulders. Hidan, for his part, squeezed Kakuzu's upper arms out of nervousness as his heart sped up. Something was about to happen, he could tell; but what?

His answer came a moment later when Kakuzu leaned up and nipped at the side of his neck.

Hidan started and swore softly but didn't try to move. He'd had partners go for his neck before in the middle of a makeout session, but this was different. Kakuzu's lips were much firmer against his skin, his tongue more maneuverable and warm, and frankly the Falk was doing a very good job of convincing Hidan not to stop him. Silently, Hidan tilted his head to the side, praying that the Falk would recognize the human sign for 'keep doing that.'

He needn't have worried. A second later Kakuzu had sat up, keeping Hidan straddling him as he adjusted his grip and continued to run his mouth along the Jashinist's very sensitive neck. Hidan practically whimpered when he felt teeth scrape over his skin, followed by lips sucking over the same spot. It had been a very long time since he'd had a partner for this, and frankly he'd never had one that felt so good.

A moment later Kakuzu broke off and leaned back, giving Hidan a moment to collect himself as he gently rubbed the side of his neck that surely had a hickey now. Only then did the reality of the situation set in, as he looked up into Kakuzu's eyes with a startled expression in his own. "Did we…?"

Kakuzu nodded.

"And that, um…fuck, that meant something to you, right? Other than an attraction to how insanely hot I am, right?"

Kakuzu rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Right. Ok. Shit."

"Hidan?"

"This…we need to talk about this…holy fucksticks, I just made out with a Jashin-damned alien."

"Hidan."

"Hold on, just one sec." In a flash Hidan was out of Kakuzu's lap and crossing the room towards the door. Kakuzu felt something in his stomach twist; if Hidan walked out of the room now and left him alone, after he took a risk like that, there was no telling what he'd do.

But the Jashinist didn't leave; rather, he locked the door from the inside and then turned around to walk right back to Kakuzu. "Ok, um, we should probably talk about this. Like, a serious talk. Because this is serious."

Kakuzu nodded in agreement, wondering if perhaps he'd broken the human. Hidan didn't seem to be quite right at the moment, what with the lack of swearing and all.

"But, um, before we do that…can you do that neck thing again? Because that was fucking awesome. Like, oh my Jashin, where the fuck did you learn how to do that awesome."

Kakuzu chuckled and then motioned for the Jashinist to climb into his lap again, which Hidan did as quickly as his concern for Kakuzu's stitches would allow. Moments later, the Falk was nipping at Hidan's skin while the Jashinist dug his fingers into Kakuzu's shoulders.