It was strange how the young and the immortals kept dying, Kisame mused. He himself had never been much for eternal life, it just didn't seem right, but even in the Akatsuki, boys ought to live long enough to become men.

But now Deidara had become one with his art in the form of the world's biggest hole in some forest in Fire Country and Itachi had been killed by his brother. What goes around comes around, Kisame supposed, but he'd known Itachi, or at least known him better than most, and something told him that the boy wouldn't just go die in a fight, ill or not, unless he wanted to. So when Sasuke had dressed in the Akatsuki colours Kisame couldn't help but thinking that Itachi spared his life twice. He did not know why or how it all fitted into Mizukage's great plan, but he knew that Sasuke was about the same age as Itachi had been when they'd first met and by the look of it the younger Uchiha could throw even worse tantrums than his brother. Kisame didn't actually think that Itachi had left Sasuke in his care, but since he was there he might as well keep an extra eye on him. God knows it's needed, Kisame thought as he watched Sasuke sitting next to him at the table, the boy was an even pickier eater than Itachi.

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A/N: And that, my friends, was the last chapter. I really didn't mean for it to become so angsty, but I blame it all on Kishi for killing off the boys like that. Big thanks to everyone who's followed this fic:)