Inevitable

Two more months passed and the kidnapped couple grew used to living with the Akatsuki. The teams had only managed to catch the seven tails and were taking a break due to the knowledge that the eight and nine tailed jinchuriki were the most powerful, and the eight tails - Killer Bee - had control over his demon octopus's powers, so he would be difficult to defeat even if Pain himself faced him, so instead, the rogue ninjas spent their days like they usually did before the whole demon hunt: training, going on regular missions, and other strange things…

"No, firmer. Positioning is everything," Itachi commanded, observing as his student then changed to a solid and stable position appropriate for the activity they were doing. "Alright! Now... Start!"

"One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!" Amejisuto and Deidara shouted while moving their thumbs. Their hands were locked together and both were staring at their battle of digits. The intensity was rising as they moved quicker, pinning the other down for a few seconds with almost-bruising strength before they escaped. Hidan, Itachi, Kisame and Tobi were gathered around and watching.

"This is boring," Hidan yawned.

"How about we make it interesting?" Kisame smirked, pulling out a few coins and placing them on the large table that had the thumb wrestlers fighting on the other end. "I'm not dumb enough to bet large amounts, but I'll place money on this nonetheless. I bet Deidara will win."

"Hn, why not. I bet on Ameji. She is my student… And would probably kick my ass if I bet against her," Itachi took out a few coins and added them to the pile.

"Thanks for your confidence in my skills," the brunette rolled her eyes before focusing again.

"Don't tell Kakuzu we're doing this. He would have a cow. I bet on Deidara too. I would say that it's because girls are weak but I can't say it when both are girls," Hidan threw some loose change on the table.

"Hey!" the two in competition objected before going back to the intense battle.

"I think Amejisuto will win! She's awesome! And even if she doesn't, she's still awesome!" Tobi put down a bit more than the others.

"Woah, Tobi, that might be a bit too much-"

"Nonsense! Tobi can bet on whoever Tobi wants with however much money Tobi wants to add," the masked man crossed his arms childishly, not even apologising for interrupting Itachi.

"I didn't know that he still had money. Figured he'd spend it on candy and stickers or something," Hidan smirked.

"EW! DON'T LICK ME, THAT'S CHEATING!!! Not to mention gross!" the Ishi's voice called the surrounding members' attention. They looked over and saw she was glaring and Deidara was looking at her, amused.

"What? You a germaphobe or something, yeah?"

"If I say yes will you do that again?"

"Yes."

"Then no.”

"Ok, that's good to hear, yeah," the blond smiled ever so innocently as the brunette screamed again at feeling the tongue slither out once more.

"Is that against the rules?" Tobi asked.

"I doubt the creators ever really came across people with mouths on their hands, so no. Besides, who would bother writing a rule book for thumb wrestling?"

"Tobi should!" the 'childish' man squealed before taking paper out of who-knows-where and started jotting down rules. "And tongue interference isn't allowed! Do it again and senpai gets disqualified!"

The thumb wrestle went on for a while and everyone stayed silent before Kisame started to get annoyed. "One of you guys just win already!"

"Alright, fish face, I'll be sure to finish this quickly, yeah," Deidara said confidently.

"That's what you think," Amejisuto smirked, using a smidge of chakra in her thumb to pin his down and hold it there for eight seconds of him struggling.

"Yay! Ameji wins!" Tobi got up and danced around happily.

"So Tobi and I split the money," Itachi smirked, counting the change and splitting it evenly. "Here Tobi," he held out the other man's winnings.

"Nah, keep it. Tobi's just happy he got to see a pretty girl kick senpai's butt!" he giggled oddly.

"Why you-"

"I won't stop getting you back, Senpai!" the masked man ran away at top speed while Deidara sat down on a couch with a sigh.

"Jeez, you put clay bombs in his and Orochimaru's room a few times and the kid is trying to get me back. I have no clue what me losing this really did though, yeah. He had nothing to do with it."

"Hasn't Orochimaru gotten you back yet?" Hidan asked.

"All he really does is give me that creepy glare, yeah," the blonde leaned back and closed his eyes in thought. "Well, there was one time where he put snakes in my bed but they were harmless. Yeah."

Everyone stared at him in disbelief. He didn't care that even Orochimaru was trying to take revenge?

"Well anyways, Itachi has a history lesson to teach me so we gotta go," Amejisuto hopped up and grabbed her fiancée's arm and started walking with the Uchiha dragging slightly behind.

"Why are you even learning that stuff? You guys live here now so there's no need to learn things to impress a clan that you'll never go back to," Kisame said.

The two stopped and Ameji turned around with a sad smile. "Well one can only hope."

---------------

"So other than those few troublesome Uchiha members, your clan history is pretty close to the Senju clans it seems," Ameji said after hearing the basic history and main events of the Uchiha Clan. She moved around slightly on the bed; her butt was starting to hurt from sitting too long. It had been about two or three hours of Itachi talking about his clan, and her brain was exhausted.

"Not exactly, but whatever. It's not like you're getting tested on this, it's just basic information," Itachi stood up and stretched. "I wouldn't say anything like that in front of my father if I were you though," he looked over with a humored glint in his eyes.

Amejisuto looked down at her lap and fidgeted nervously. Itachi knew that as a sign that something was on her mind and sat down once more, looking at her intently. She looked up at him and sighed. Without him even saying anything, she just knew that he was expecting her to say something. 'We've spent way too much time together,' she mused.

"Kisame and everyone else might be right… We may never be able to leave," she sulked. "I don't want you to think I've given up hope, but we're surrounded by S-class criminals and someone who has the rinnegan. If we try to escape, we will be killed."

"We will escape one day," Itachi said confidently.

"Yes, but it might not be anytime soon. I hate to say it, but I think we should just accept that we'll be staying here for a long time, so we might as well treat it like our new home."

The Uchiha frowned. “No, we should continue treating it as a hotel. If we accept this as our home, we’ll start making connections with the enemy and it will be even harder to go.”

"But… I’ve already become friends with Deidara, Konan, Tobi and maybe even Kisame,” she sulked. “I hope we can escape soon."

There was a knock on the door and Deidara entered the room. "Hey Amejisuto, are you any good at cooking, yeah?"

"I can make snacks as long as I don't use anything electric," she gave a smile and a thumbs up. Deidara chuckled before looking at Itachi.

"How about you, yeah?"

"I'm quite good with the culinary arts, yes," the man nodded.

"Great! You're on dinner duty tonight, yeah! Chicken katsu, please!" the blond ran out of the room laughing before anyone could protest.

Amejisuto lifted her hand to her mouth, trying to cover up a giggle. "Well, makes sense for him."

"Well I guess I'm stuck as cook. Is there anything special that you want?"

"I'll just have the same as Deidara," she shrugged. "No point in giving you extra work. Besides, it sounds good…"

"Alright, I guess I should get to it then," they left their room and headed to the kitchen where they found sticky notes on the fridge with everyone's orders. "What do they think this is? A restaurant?!"

-----------------

"I overheard the two talking about never accepting this as their home," White Zetsu reported.

"Hopefully, we will gain their loyalty in the near future. I wouldn't let them on a tailed demon mission, but if war occurs, they will be on our side once we gain their trust and support," Black Zetsu said.

"I doubt it will be that simple," Pain objected. "If war breaks out, surely they will escape and join Konohagakure. No, we have to subtly brainwash them over time."

Madara glared at the ground. "I doubt that they could be brainwashed. The Uchiha definitely would not fall for it, and the young girl is probably on high alert due to being captured so easily more than once. We need to come up with a good plan, like keeping them isolated if war breaks out."

"I thought brainwashing sounded like a good plan," Konan spoke up. "We can't be too certain that a war will start so soon though, so there isn't really a reason to be discussing it. I suggest we try to gain their trust."

"I have a better idea," White Zetsu grinned evilly. "If they've decided this will never be their home, we should just destroy the other one so they have nothing to go back too."

The other members thought about it silently for a moment. "The nine-tails is in that village. We would have to fight him in order to go through with destroying Konoha," Pain broke the silence.

"Well then, we might as well go for the eight tails for now so when we fight the nine tails, we can destroy the village and then do the extraction once he's almost dead," Konan suggested.

"So it's agreed that we will destroy Konohagakure?" Madara asked. The others nodded. "Then it is decided. In the next month, prepare to fight the eight tail's jinchuriki, Killer Bee."

"Who should we send?" Pain said as Madara started walking to the door.

He looked over his shoulder as he touched the door knob. "Hidan, Kakuzu, Kisame and you two," he looked at the rinnegan user and the woman before leaving and switching to his dumb high voice to greet Deidara.

"Hey! How's it goin, Senpai?!"

"Get out of the way, idiot! Itachi is making dinner and I'm starving, yeah!" the others heard the blond growl before hearing an 'oof' from the masked man as he had been pushed into a wall.

"Uchiha can cook?" Pain thought out loud.

"Maybe not all powerful men are hopeless," Konan smiled slightly, looking intently at her friend before laughing a bit. The mood wasn't as serious now, and the bluenette was thankful. She didn't like the tension and dark mood that those small meetings brought, though most people wouldn't believe it due to her being seemingly serious all the time. "I would like to try his cooking too," she headed out. Pain sighed and sat down, knowing the woman would bring him back something.

"I wonder if he would take a request of frying up some bodies," both Zetsu's said before they disappeared, leaving the orange haired man behind in his seriousness.