Zetsu dragged me up the stairs, and out the back door. We walked out, hand in hand, to meet a brisk fall breeze.
I shivered, and Zetsu looked at me. "You cold? Of course she's cold, Baka. Oh.. well, here. I'll warm you up."
His arms wrapped around me, warming me up almost instantly. He let go, and we came to a beautiful garden.
Dirt paths winded around various flowers, trees, and other plants.
The forest surrounding us made us even more appreciative of the beauty of nature.
We sat down on a bench together, watching the sunrise.
'Seeing the beauty of nature always makes me cry.' I thought to myself.
"Me too." Zetsu replied. I guess I said that out loud by accident. I was glad he heard though, or I never would have known that about him.
I leaned on his shoulder, continuing to look at the sunrise. "But that makes me feel like the crybaby of the group." He said.
"Oh, Zetsu. You're not a crybaby. I actually think it's pretty sweet that you weep at beautiful things, like I do."
I looked into his eyes, to see that they were watering. I could feel my own vision get blurry, and we wept at the beautiful scenery before us.
"I'm happy that there's at least one person who feels the same way about pretty things. I'm also glad that you're that person, Taki. I'm glad I was able to meet you.. and be your.. friend?"
We were silent for a long time. It was still pretty early to be outside in such cool temperatures.
I turned my head to look at Zetsu. "Weeping is a pretty human thing to do. When Kisame said that, it hurt your feelings, didn't it?"
Zetsu frowned a little at the mention of it. "Yeah." After a couple of seconds in silence, I said, "That is another thing that makes you seem pretty human. I know that you're not really human, but you have many traits about you that makes it easy to see the human in you. Get what I'm saying?"
...
"Yeah."
I turned my head back to the sunset. "I also think you should think about how Kisame feels, too. I'm certain that he felt bad for hurting your feelings. Especially for a human, it's pretty hard to lower yourself enough to realize that you've done something wrong, and apologize for it."
Zetsu lowered his head. I sighed contently. I felt my eyes start to get heavy. I fought off the sleep that nagged at me. "Just.. think about it, okay?"
Even though I couldn't see it, I felt his head nod. We were struck with another considerable length of peaceful silence.
I yawned, and tiredly asked Zetsu, "Mmm.. Zetsu, could you keep a secret?"
He continued to stare straight ahead of him. "Of course. You can trust me, and I know that I can trust you, too."
"I have feelings for Tobi. I just don't know if he would understand how I feel for him if I tell him, though." I nuzzled into his chest, to warm myself up.
Zetsu put an arm around me. He didn't have even a hint of surprise or judgement on his face.
"Even though it may seem that he wouldn't understand your feelings for him if you did tell him, I'm sure that deep inside he would understand perfectly."
I closed my eyes tiredly. I stayed up way too late with Deidara, and woke up very early as well. I probably got about three or four hours of sleep at most.
"Um, hey. You seem pretty tired.. Would you like me to carry you back?..."
Zetsu's POV:
Taki's body went limp in my arms, as if an answer to my question. She had fainted out of exhaustion. I sighed, smiling, and carried her back to the hideout.
On the way to Taki's room, I passed Sasori. He raised an eyebrow.
"Woah, dude, what happened to her? Wait.. did you kill her?!" Sasori asked, his voice raising questioningly.
"Why, how dare you!" I remembered what Taki said, and tried to cool it. "Calm down. No, we didn't kill her, she passed out due to exhaustion. We're taking her to her room right now. Care to join us?"
Sasori gave me a bit of a strange look, but got over it quickly. He looked at Taki, then sighed. "Fine. I'll come." We opened the door to her room. I carried her to her bed, laying her head on the pillow.
I tucked her into her covers to make sure she was comfortable. Sasori smirked at me. "I never thought you would grow to be so soft, Zetsu."
I chose not to answer. I leaned down, and kissed her on the forehead. "Get better, Taki." I whispered.
Sasori had a look of surprise spread across his face. "W-woah. I didn't know you were that attached to her."
I blushed. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop blushing? I'm not blushing. Yes. You are. Fine."
Sasori stopped me. "Hold on, hold on. You have a crush on the brat?"
"Don't call her a brat!" I yelled. I face palmed. The edges of Sasori's mouth pulled upward into a smile.
"Ehehe.. Ah, that's funny. Don't worry, though. I won't tell her." He winked. "I promise."
I looked down. "It doesn't matter. She doesn't like me. She has feelings for someone else, she told me so."
Sasori pat me on the back. "Aw, don't worry Zetsu. You'll find the right girl for you someday."
Sasori's POV:
Zetsu sighed, and walked out of the room. I chuckled. If any Akatsuki member were to fall in love, I would least expect it to be Zetsu.
But who could Taki have fallen in love with? I would have to ask Deidara, as he was her partner.
I turned my head to look at Taki, who was out cold. She looked like she wouldn't wake for a long time.
I felt a little bad for her, as she had woken up extra early just to clean up the kitchen, and make food for us, even though she was extremely tired.
I mentally slapped myself. I don't feel bad for anyone! Pull yourself together, Sasori.
I stepped out of the room, and went to the living room. I sat down on the couch next to Itachi. He looked over at me, staying silent.
"Zetsu likes someone.." I mumbled to myself. "Hn. Is that so?" Itachi asked. I panicked a little. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to say that out loud. It's a secret between him and I."
Itachi spoke in a low whisper. "You can't keep secrets from me and my eyes. He likes Taki, doesn't he?"
I shrugged. "What does it matter? She doesn't like him back, she likes someone else, though I don't know who it is."
"Hn. You're right. It doesn't matter, although my interest has been piqued."
How did I even end up talking to Itachi, anyway? He's a pretty weird kid...
-
Zetsu walked down the hallway, and unconsciously bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry!" It was Kisame. "Nah.. it's okay."
They stayed silent for awhile. "Actually." Zetsu started. Kisame awkwardly waited. "Um.. I actually was going to say.. that.." he took a deep breath.
"I forgive you."
Kisame grinned. He pat Zetsu on the back. "Thanks. I'm glad to hear that you're feeling okay." He walked away.
Zetsu let out a breath that he had unconsciously been holding in. How was Kisame able to apologize to him? He could barely contain himself while forgiving him.
And that was the day in which Zetsu began to respect humans just a tad more than he used to.