"...I don't want to."

"Pein."

"No... I might drop it..."

"You won't drop her, un!"

"Aw, Leader-sama, just for a minute."

"...why?"

Deidara sighed and adjusted the squirming Ayatsuri in his arms, rolling his eyes, while Sasori folded his arms and Konan raised her eyebrows and said, "Because, I want you to."

Pein's eyes wandered from each face, before shaking his head. "No..."

"You're not going to break her, un." Deidara said, as Ayatsuri let out a small squeak.

Sasori craned his neck to look at Suri for the umpteenth time that hour. Deidara had been right, she was a beautiful baby- bright blue eyes that reflected Deidara's, and a tuft of bright red hair that he knew hailed from his own likeness. Tiny, closed mouths on her hands, with her fourth mouth just below her ribcage covered by a light purple shirt.

"Watch, Leader-sama," Sasori said suddenly, stepping closer to Deidara, "It's not hard."

He adjusted his arms as Deidara transported the kid into Sasori's grasp. "Just support the head... it's not that difficult..." Konan said quietly, repositioning Sasori's elbow to accommodate Suri's neck.

Suri stared up at Sasori with incredibly bright eyes, silent as ever.

Pein winced, and then groaned. "Fine! But only for a minute!" He said, holding out his arms. Sasori handed the child to the Akatsuki Leader, who held her gingerly, his face pale.

"See? Not that hard, Pein." Konan muttered, folding her arms and watching Suri's tiny fist curl around the sleeve of Pein's cloak.

"Make it stop staring at me..." Pein said uncomfortably. He leaned his head away, cringing slightly. His eyes widened suddenly and he looked down. "Deidara... I think it's chewing on my sleeve..."

Deidara frowned and leaned forward to pry Suri's hand away from Pein's cloak. A bit of fabric was clamped in the tiny mouth, gnawing happily.

"Um... Sorry, Leader-sama," Deidara winced sheepishly, "But the extra mouths are probably teething."

"What? Deidara, how can she be teething?" Sasori asked, "She's only two weeks old..."

"The extra mouths grow a lot faster than the actual mouth itself, because of the chakra." Deidara explained, holding up one hand. "At least that's what mine did." His hand-mouth opened and the tongue stuck out slightly. Suri's attention was immediately on this, and her eyes opened wide. She waved feebly at Deidara's hand, and Pein winced and seemed to tighten his grip.

"Hm..." Sasori frowned slightly, and then his eyes widened in shock as a tiny pink tongue slid from the middle of Suri's hand. "Well, at least she knows it's there."

"Of course, un." Deidara folded his arms indignantly, "It functions like a normal mouth should, just... no throat or esophagus... it's just an extra body part, that's all. It doesn't move independantly, un..."

Konan held out her arms, "Pein, my turn." Pein nodded eagerly and slid Suri into Konan's arms.

Smiling slightly, Sasori reached over and laced his fingers with Deidara's, and recieved a gentle squeeze in return.

"I'm surprised she's not screaming up a damn storm again," The door opened, and Itachi wandered in with Kisame behind him. "I could barely sleep last night..."

Deidara rolled his eyes. "Not /my/ fault," He muttered. "Go sleep in a different room if it bothers you that much, un."

Kisame crossed the room to look at the baby over Konan's shoulder. Suri's eyes widened at the sight of the shark-man, and she reached up one hand to try and touch.

"She's not terrified." Sasori raised an eyebrow. "That's a surprise..."

"I think she seems more fascinated than anything..." Kisame said quietly, as Suri batted at the collar of his cloak. "Hah. Much better then when she saw Zetsu."

Deidara grinned. "Now THAT was funny, un."

"Zetsu's appearance is a lot more drastic, though." Pein said cooly, leaning against a wall. Itachi leaned over Konan's other shoulder, a blank expression on his face.

"...it's cute." He said after a minute, folding his arms. "But if I have to change one diaper..."

"That job belongs to me." Konan said sharply, glancing up at the Sharingan user. "I'm the only one that knows how, anyways... Poor Suri and I are stuck here with a bunch of  testoserone-fueled bishie men who don't know the first thing about parenting..." Suri made a small noise as if to agree, now distracted by Itachi's hair.

"Let her pull it." Kisame nudged Itachi with a pointed grin. "Do it."

Itachi frowned at the other for a moment, but suddenly winced as Suri caught hold. "Ow." Itachi winced, and tried to tug his hair free from Suri's iron grip. "Ow-ow-OW. MAKE HER LET GO."

Deidara pulled Suri's hand away from Itachi's hair with a smirk. "Hehe. I couldn't beat the great Uchiha Itachi in a fight, but my two-week-old daughter can make him beg for mercy? Woooow, un. " He said, as Suri's hand curled around his thumb.  

"Shut up, brat." Itachi growled, massaging his scalp. "Just...shut up."

Sasori grinned, and squeezed Deidara's other hand. "Hope she doesn't bite you, Dei-kun." He said, watching as Suri's other hand went to Deidara's thumb as well.

"She won't yet," Deidara said with a shrug, "The most she can do is drool at this point, un."

"And drooling she is," Pein pointed out, leaning forward slightly to look. "Konan, you might want to wash your cloak afterwards."

"I'm going to, don't worry," Konan said, rolling her eyes. "Not like baby drool is a toxin, Pein."

Pein frowned again and huffed. "Might as well be."

"Oh, quiet." Konan said, "You wouldn't know a toxin if it waved in your face..."