Suteta - (Akatsuki fanfic)

Part 19

A light, amused scoff escaped him as he left his room for the hall. He has no real obligation to the leader, does he? No, and right now he doesn't even follow Itachi's orders. That is the kind of advantage we need, should there be any sort of argument. Perhaps. Then again, he may prove to be just as troublesome as Deidara and throw a ridiculous fuss. Not to mention he can be just as dangerous as the leader.

The thought slowed his pace, and he sighed. She just had to get lost on our borders...

Dismissing the statement and pointless frustration, Zetsu hurried toward the kitchen. Casual chatter between Tobi and Hanaki filled the atmosphere as he rounded the corner. They were sitting at the table with a mess of colored pencils scattered about. Some on the floor, and table of course, and some on the counters or in the other chairs. Crinkled pages of paper laid around in a similar pattern. At least the ones that were scribbled on.

Hanaki was sitting on her knees in one chair while the masked nin sat next to her, stacking all the unused pencils in an expertly manner to form a tower. The balance between each pencil was flawless. He tried to get her attention, saying, "Hanaki, look! I did it!" and pointing to the tower, but she only glanced before going back to her drawings. His excited tone dropped. "Uh... Nevermind," he said as he took the tower apart to start again.

As for Kisame, he was leaning against the counter at the back of the room. One arm was folded across his chest while he twirled a red pencil in his other hand. It didn't seem as if he was focused on anything in particular and staring into space. However, as Zetsu came into view his eyes shot up. And he was less than pleased. "She's fine," he said before the plant nin could say a word, prompting the other two to shift their attention to the entrance as well. Hanaki's eyes lit up a bit, but her flat expression didn't change. "And before you say anything else, I will have you know I am the one standing between her and Itachi."

Oh, of course he holds that over our heads, he thought in annoyance. Yesterday Zetsu caught the shark nin and Hanaki in the middle of an argument. He didn't know about what, but it had clearly been turning into a shouting match and she was crying. When Zetsu stopped the quarrel he was rather aggressive in telling the shark nin to stay away from her. It was offensive to say the least. And Kisame was correct; he has been the only real wall keeping the Uchiha from getting too close to Hanaki and being all too tempted to hurt her. In hindsight, Zetsu was the one out of line.

Regardless. "I'm not here about that. I need to ask a favor from you."

The shark nin raised an eyebrow then narrowed his gaze. "Now why should I do you any favors?" he asked snidely.

With a roll of his eyes, Zetsu motioned with a short wave of his hand. "Just come here for a moment," he said impatiently as he continued to the next room.

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Though disgruntled, Kisame tossed the colored pencil in his hand back to the table and followed the plant nin, who didn't stop until they reached the far end of a hallway across the living room. It was fairly out of Hanaki's hearing range, he noticed. What could possibly be the issue now? "Well?" he prompted. "What is it?"

Once Zetsu half turned to have him in view he wasted no time in getting to the point while keeping his voice quiet as if the toddler could actually hear the conversation at this distance. Though he doubted it. "I need you to look after Hanaki."

"Excuse me?" As he scoffed he folded his arms and leaned with his shoulder against the wall. Since the tan stone was smooth it didn't bother him much to have the gills on his shoulders exposed against it due to the thick, black tank top he was wearing. As cold as it may be outdoors the inside of the hideout was rather hot in comparison, partly from being partially underground and partly from fully regulated insulation. "She's not my problem. I'm not babysitting." Immediately, he turned down the request.