I'm BAAAAAAACK~!

But it's not me you want. It's the story. So enjoy!

---

Kisame thought he knew what the term "blown away" meant. He had battled countless ninja with explosive ninjutsu, and gotten his ass beat by too many of Deidara's bombs, but he STILL didn't know the true definition of being blown away. And after that giant shot was fired, he was finally enlightened.

To put it simply: Shit got REAL.

A massive blast cut through the air, shoving ponies aside like bugs on a windshield. The air pressure was enough to break a hole through a solid brick wall. The force of the shot could give Shinra Tensei a run for its money. "GET DOWN!" Itachi yelled, ducking into a defensive position. The ninja- ponies hunkered down and covered their heads with their hooves.

It wasn't just air that shot out, though. Tons of multicolored streamers and shimmering bits of confetti launched away at the ceiling, and came raining down on everyone. After one more giant poof, BALLOONS were floating around as well.

"NYAHAH! I LOVE IT WHEN I GET TO USE THAT MOVE!" Someone shrieked hysterically. "Good for parties, good for capture!"

The Akatsuki waited for all the flying party items to clear before they dared look at the source of the voice. It was, predictably, PINKIE PIE.

But not just Pinkie Pie. It was Pinkie Pie standing next to a humongous glittery CANNON the size of Gamakichi.

She patted the side of the cannon lovingly, and turned to Kisame and Hidan. They had gotten the worst of the blast, and were stuck in muzzle- high confetti and streamers.

"You two, tut tut tut! You should know better!" Pinkie scolded, smiling. "You shouldn't cause such trouble!"

"YOU WERE F*CKING SPYING ON US, WEREN'T YA, YA DAMN WOMAN?!" Hidan raged.

"I said I would be there to watch you, you know! This was a friendship test!"

"Again with those things?!" It was Kisame's turn to become angry.

Pinkie ignored their complaining and continued. "I knew what you were up to! I saw the entire thing with my own-" She stopped for emphasis, and leaned in very close to them. "-EYESSSSSSSSS. NYAHAH!"

"This is stupid! Now lemme out of these f*ckin' streamers so I can beat Kisame's sorry ASS!"

"As if you could, you son of a bitch!" Kisame barked back.

"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU! DO I NEED TO FIRE THE CANNON AGAIN?" Pinkie yelled, her diamond- blue eyes glinting. Her shrieks were enough to shut them both up. "Now be quiet while I lecture you like Twilight said I was supposed to."

The Akatsuki unfolded from their defensive positions, and peered at the three ponies onstage. It was truly a mess up there. You had Pinkie Pie and her wild, crazy self, along with two huge mounds of streamers, and a HUGE cannon. And who could miss the bits of splattered apple pie strewn everywhere? The place was, no doubt, a mess.

They took a look at Pinkie. Surprisingly, the hysterical smile she normally wore was gone. For once, the pink pony looked SERIOUS.

First Pein, now Pinkie Pie, Konan thought, it's signifying the end of the world!

"You know, we brought you here to become better friends. You know, laugh at some good pony jokes together! Laughter is something that can help cure any fear, comfort any pony, and tie us all together! It can turn frowns-" She paused, and frowned. Then, she took her two front hooves and lifted her muzzle into a smile. "UPSIDE DOWN!"

"But," she continued. "Even though you made others laugh, you made one person feel left out and sad. And he was your friend!" She turned to Hidan. "Laughter and jokes... should only be used to help somepony, not harm them! I heard what you two said to each other! It was hurtful, even for me to hear!"

"Laughter is something you need in a friendship. Friends are there because you make them happy. But, with mean jeers, they leave. You want others to laugh with them, not at them, right?"

The two ninja ponies were silent. Both didn't care much for ''sissy shit", but they couldn't deny that this was true. It was just how the human mind worked- er, pony mind? NEVER mind. Pinkie didn't wait to resume talking.

"You should apologize to each other."

"HELL NO! I'm not apologizing to his f*ckin'-"

"Sorry."

Hidan stopped his tirade. He looked at Kisame, who was calmly staring right back. The blue pony's eyes didn't blink, and it looked like he was patiently waiting for Hidan to explode into jeers and curses about how lame he was.

But they didn't come.

"Whatever, tuna- fish."

Nothing could have surprised "tuna-fish" more than that.

"Hidan..." Kakuzu trailed off.

"He..." Sasori gawked at him in disbelief.

"He... HE CAN ACTUALLY SPEAK WITHOUT CURSING?!" Ah, now the Akatsuki were being blown away.

"AW, SHADDUP, YA F*CKIN' BITCHES! It doesn't mean a damn f*cking thing!"

Kisame just snorted. "It's not like I cared anyway..." Flashing Hidan a sharky smile, he continued. "Dimwit."

"WHAT THE F*CK DID YOU SAY, LITTLE MERMAID?" In an instant, the streamers binding the two ripped apart, and they both lunged at each other. But this was a friendly spar, even with Hidan and Kisame spitting death threats while they pummeled.

Pinkie giggled hard, and was soon, quite surprisingly joined by members of the Akatsuki. They were a team, after all.

"Okay! You guys should be going back to Canterlot Castle now! Princess Celestia believes it's better for you to stay under her watch."

"PSHHHH. As it we f*ckin' need it!" Hidan snorted, dodging Kisame's fist.

"There's a carriage here anyway! Come on!" Pein took a look at all of the members of his team. The ninja- ponies looked tired as hell, even though they had barely done anything the entire night.

Guess bad pony jokes can really wear you out, He thought.

With that, the Akatsuki left the tavern- church and filed into a spacious white carriage that brought them all the way back.

---

"Man, that was tiring.'' Zetsu rasped, rolling his neck.

"Tobi thinks so too!"

"What time is it, hmmm?" Deidara asked with a yawn.

"Time for bed, that is." A warm, gentle voice said behind them. Their heads whipped around to face none other than Princess Celestia herself, smiling at them. "Did you have fun?" She only got blank, emotionless stares in response.

She brushed the awkwardness off like it was dust on her wings.

"Great! Let me show you where you'll be sleeping!"

The princess led them through a series of hallways, rooms, and doors. The Akatsuki were docile little lambs following her until they reached their destination.

"Here we are!" She said, opening two tall double- doors. Inside was a HUGE room, furnished in purple, white, and gold. Purple satin canopy beds lined the cream-colored walls, and several paintings hung around them. The marble floor was cool to the touch, and you could see the reflection of the grand crystal chandelier above them in it. The most beautiful view, though, was the brightly lit city below, which could be admired from a balcony outside.

"Thank you very much," Konan said in a monotone. It was just a formality, anyway. When a complete stranger (basically) not only let you stay in their huge castle, but provided you with a luxurious room as well, there was no doubt that you had to be polite.

"Ah, it's no problem at all!" Celestia said. "I'll leave you all alone now. Good night." With that, she opened the doors with sparkling white magic and left. The clinking of metal could be heard from outside.

Guards, Konan thought. Well, it's to be expected. We are "criminals" after all.

"We're lucky the princess has shown us such kindness." Pein said, his ringed lavender eyes staring straight through all of the Akatsuki's souls. "We should not take it for granted, and try to learn the 'magic of friendship' these ponies speak of."

"They sure have a trust system here, hmmm," Deidara blinked. "We could explode this room at any moment and escape."

"If I would let you, you could. But I will not." Pein said evenly.

"PAH!"

"Let me remind you all once again. Friendship is only a step on the stairs to world peace. We bond together as a team, we become stronger. When we become stronger, the Kyuubi will be ours. And it's so close by, too. The moment we can all work in perfect harmony will be the time for us to take the Nine Tailed Fox."

"Yeah, yeah, enough of your f*ckin' preaching, Leader." Hidan said.

"You do more of it than I do."

"PAH!"

"I'll 'preach' more to you later. Go to sleep."

---

"So, how'd it go, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked, cocking her head.

"SWELL! Right, Twilight?"

"Definitely. I can tell they're really starting to open up to each other." The purple Alicorn smiled approvingly at Pinkie, and proceeded to give her a high-five.

"So w-what happened?" Fluttershy stuttered.

"Well, they both started telling mean jokes about each other. Then, when Flim and Flam came in with pies, they started having a food fight. Afterward, it seemed like both of them were done with petty fighting and wanted to attack FOR REAL, with that powerful foreign pony magic they have. I could feel the tension in the air... But then, Pinkie here stopped them both with her Mega- party cannon!"

"That's right, I did! They both flew apart!" The pink pony giggled. "But get this, you guys! The blue one, Kishane, or something, apologized on his own! and he wasn't even hesitant! He just stared back at that awful foul-mouthed pony and didn't even attack!"

"Well, that's a relief! Our efforts haven't been for nothin', then!" Applejack hooted. "Probably because he's used to apologizin' for what he's done wrong."

"And the foul-mouthed pony spoke calmly too! He just said 'whatever', but it was a sentence without any bad words in it!"

Twilight nodded. "Now we know who's the bigger pony. You can swallow your pride and admit that you were wrong, and life your life guilt free after. Friendship is all about accepting, isn't it? The wrongs and rights of your peers?"

She got many happy grins in response.

"YEAH!"

---

And that's it for now, hope you've enjoyed!

Truthfully, I have some friendship issues since I'm probably too sensitive about stuff... Hope the whole part about friendship didn't drone or sound too fake.

Reviews, follows, favorites, anything is appreciated.

SO LONG!