*AN: I still haven't managed to steal the rights to Naruto.*

Whatever I was expecting when I got back to base, it certainly wasn't this.

"Sepi…"

"Look, I can explain!" She said, waving her arms frantically.

"I suggest you do so." I growled.

"Now, I was minding my own business…"

"BULLSHIT!" I yelled, slamming my fist against the wall.

"I was!" She protested.

"And just what happened whilst you were, 'minding your own business?!'"

"Well…"

I stared at the common room, where most of the Kakumei were currently engaged in building and lying in a pillow fort.

"Well?" I prompted.

"Well, I decided to make a bunch of pillows?"

"Of course you did. I'm going to bed."

Haku, for his part, simply chuckled at the sight of Zabuza snoring as Fu attempted, in vain, to push him off of what she claimed was, 'her pillow,' while Jeki and Miko placed bets on who would eventually claim said pillow.

... ... ...

I had just collapsed in my bed when I heard someone enter.

"What?" I growled, a bit muffled.

"So how did it go with Yugito and Matatabi?" Sepi asked.

"We headed the Akatsuki off. Fu made the idiotic decision to follow, against orders, and engage, so now the Akatsuki knows far more about us than I hoped."

"So your teammates were idiots?"

"Yea."

"Who went to help out their teammates in danger when they needed to?"

I lifted my head up and glared. "Don't you start as well, Sepi."

She shrugged. "Dude, I'm just saying, now you know how we all felt dealing with you. Wanna know how to handle it?"

I glared some more. "Sureeee. Why not?"

"Just relax and let it happen. It'll be easier that way." She said with a wink.

"Get out of my room."

"Fine." She said, and I let my head fall down again.

I heard footsteps again, and I growled. "Dammit Sepi. Go away."

"Um…"

I didn't look up. "Oh, sorry. Dammit Fu, go away!"

"I was wondering...if you wanted to join in on the pillow fort?"

"No. Go away."

I could feel her pouting.

"Sorry for this." She finally said.

I tensed. "Wha-?!"

She grabbed me by the ankles and yanked me off of the bed, dragging me out of the room and down the hallway.

"WAIT! WHAT THE HELL?!" I yelled at her, and she shrugged apologetically.

"Sepi said that this was the easiest way to deal with you."

"AND YOU BELIEVED HER?!"

"Well, I'm certainly having fun with it."

"FUCK OFF!"

... ... ...

"There appears to be a new organization challenging us. They interfered with taking the two-tails." The Akatsuki's money keeper stated.

The shadows on the tips of the Gedo Statue's fingers stilled before looking at their leader, whose eyes narrowed ominously.

"Oh?" Was his only comment.

"They call themselves the Kakumei or some shit." The zealot supplied.

"Language!"

"Go fuck yourself."

"Silence."

At their leader's command, they stilled.

"Sasori, as spymaster I expect you to stay informed about potential threats. Discover all there is to know about this...Kakumei. In the meantime, we shall pursue the five tails. Dismissed."

... ... ...

"We need to figure out where the Akatsuki is going to strike next." I said to Sepi as I made tea, glancing at the pillow fort where the majority of the organization lay sleeping. "By the way, aren't you supposed to be in the Leaf?"

She shrugged. "I wanted to see how things were going here. How's my brother and Torume doing?"

"Honestly, no clue. They showed up and we had to go after the Akatsuki, remember?"

"Well, that's a shame. Oh, right. You have a couple job offers."

I nearly spilled my tea. "Sorry?"

She placed a couple scrolls on the counter. "Remember the Land of Waves and how they were setting up a ninja village?"

I nodded. "Yea. Naruto and Lee went there during the Jounin Exams."

"Well, Tazuna remembers our team and requested that we help out teaching at their academy for a bit."

"Hell no." I instantly said. "I hate gremlins."

She rolled her eyes. "So send another team. Another mission is tracking down some missing nin over near the Land of Fire. Our Anbu currently has their hands full preparing for the peace talks, or else they'd do it."

"Maybe they should just say no to peace talks with a bunch of murderers, then they wouldn't have to worry about it." I looked up. "ZABUZA!"

A groan greeted me.

"Get up. You too, Yamato."

The said duo pulled themselves out of the pile, making their way to the kitchen with Yamato glaring at Zabuza the entire way. Zabuza, for his part, seemed amused by this.

"You shouldn't have tried to keep up with me." The Demon of the Mist said.

"If I had realized that the sake you were drinking was a poor excuse for pig swill, I wouldn't have."

"Enough." I said, attempting to hide a smile. "Yamato, grab Fu. You guys are going to the Land of Waves to help in the new hidden village there, teaching at their academy."

"What?" He asked, sweatdropping as I handed him the scroll.

"Sucker." Zabuza said.

"Zabuza, you and Haku heading to the Land of Fire. Take Torune with you so we can see if he's planning on betraying us. We have a bounty to collect."

"Why does he get the fun job?" Yamato muttered as he walked away.

"Oh, also, we should think of collecting Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin." Sepi said, turning towards me. "They'd be valuable allies for what's gonna happen."

I drummed my fingers against my arms, thinking. "Hmm...Suigetsu never went rogue, he was kidnapped, yea?" At Sepi's nod of confirmation, I went back to thinking. "Let's find out his location and drop word to the Mizukage. I know she'd appreciate another one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen that is loyal to the village."

She nodded. "How about the other two?"

"Have Tsunade send Sasuke and Naruto to get Karin." I said with an evil grin. "After all, she is an Uzumaki, too. Say it's to consolidate the last members of the Uzumaki Clan."

"You are evil." She said with a grin of her own. "How about Juugo?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm not sure how to keep his Curse Mode from activating, so you get to decide how to deal with him."

"Roger that!"

... ... ...

Panic. Heat. Blood on my hands. Bodies with no eyes.

The Uchiha District. Flames everywhere. The smell of bodies burning, screaming echoing. Flames licking at my skin, burning my face. Bodies emerging from the flames.

Shena. Toru.

"We died because of you. Why didn't you tell us?" They hiss.

Tears that burn my skin.

"Please...I never meant for any of this to happen. Please." I begged.

Another several figures.

"Mother…" I whispered.

Itachi.

Kakashi.

Anko.

More come. The stench of burning flesh fills my nostrils as more come.

One final figure stands in front of me, and I hit my knees.

Blood runs down her throat. Dark abysses where her eyes were.

"You let us all die." Fu says.

I jerk awake, familiar arms cradling me.

"Shh." The familiar scent of the forest fills my nostrils. I look up to see the beautiful golden eyes looking back at me.

"You still have your eyes." I murmur, reaching a limp hand up to brush her green hair aside.

"Of course. Rest now." She replies, and I fade back to a dreamless sleep.

... ... ...

"Does this really happen every night?" Jeki asked quietly as Fu sat on the bed opposite him, Ibukai's head resting on her lap as she continued to stroke his hair.

"From what his teammates told me, yes." She said back softly. "It's gotten worse."

He looked up from where he nursed the gash across his arm, one that Ibukai had given him when the jinchuriki had tried to shake him awake. "Worse?"

She nodded, her eyes sad. "He...had his Sharingan active, back in the Leaf. The Sharingan copies each moment perfectly to one's memory, and no amount of time will dull the images or emotions."

"Okay, that explains the nightmares, but not why he attacked me and not you."

"You really are an idiot, kid." Zabuza said from the doorway.

"Your student or my teammate?" Miko asked, standing beside the Demon of the Mist.

"Yes."

Miko smirked. "Jeki, you bunk in Yamato's room from now on."

"Teammates sleep in the same room though." Jeki pointed out.

"Indeed." Miko said, turning away and walking down the hallway.

"I doubt Ibukai will allow you to overturn his decision so easily." Zabuza said.

Miko glanced over his shoulder. "I'm still leader of Team 6 since we graduated. He'll accept it, despite him being a stubborn son-of-a-bitch."

"Why's that?" Zabuza asked, genuinely curious.

"Because it's what is best for the group. We won't be able to sleep with his nightmares every night." Miko replied with a yawn and a wave. "Night."

... ... ...

I awoke with a start. Jeki wasn't in the room, and Fu's scent was all over my side of the room. I didn't miss the dash of blood by my bunk, either.

With a sigh, I swung myself out of bed, grabbing my katana and tucking it into my belt before heading to the common room where everyone was gathering.

"Zabuza and Haku left before the sun." Miko informed me. "As did Yamato and Jeki."

I did a double-take. "Sorry?"

"You and Fu will be teamed up from now on."

I bristled. "You can't just-!"

"This is an order from your Jounin commander." Miko snapped. "Any other questions?"

I glared. "We're not in the Leaf any longer, Miko."

"Indeed, and you wake up more than just two people when you have nightmares now. It's bad for the organization if we're all sleep-deprived."

The next thing he knew, he hit the opposite wall before sliding down, clutching at his stomach, a direct result of my punch. I simply gave him a glare before walking away.

... ... ...

WHACK!

"OW!" Miko said, grabbing his head.

"Out of your entire team, I would have expected you to to be the one to know better than to bring that up." Fu said angrily. "ESPECIALLY with other people around." With that, she turned on her heel and strode off.

... ... ...

Left, right, slide, flip backwards, fireball-

"WATCH IT, BRAT!"

I blinked in surprise. I had taken to the training room in an attempt to let off some steam, but simple katas weren't working, so I had switched to incorporating jutsus into it. Unfortunately, Tayuya had entered just as I had thrown out another fireball, and had dove to the ground to avoid getting burned.

I gave an annoyed sigh. "What do you want?"

"A fucking mission! I've been here a week, and nothing!"

"And you thought that interrupting me training was a brilliant idea because?!"

"You'd give me a mission to get me the fuck out of your hair."

I glared and opened my mouth for a retort before closing it again. "...Fair enough. You know what, grab Miko and Kankuro and get their asses in here."

She smirked and walked out, only to appear less than two minutes later. "Now, gimme a damn mission."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, starting right now, figure out where Sepi is and get all known information on the Akatsuki. Crimes, backstories, hell, down to their damn place and date of birth if you can! Jiraiya of the Sannin is a good place for to get the information as well. Take two of the samurai with you and send the rest in here."

Miko gave me a confused look. "Ibukai, we already know-"

"No, we don't." I snapped. "Kimimaro is part of the Akatsuki, and Tobi's partner, Min, is also a new one on our radar. Find out everything. I want nothing taken for granted. Dismissed."

"What a drag." Miko muttered.

"You guys didn't know Kimimaro was part of the Akatsuki? Fuckin' really?" Tayuya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You did?" I asked.

"No shit."

I smirked. "Good. Compile everything you know about him. In two months, all Kakumei will be recalled to base for a mandatory meeting. You have that much time. Oh, send the samurai and my partner in."

She smirked and headed out the door.

I thought for a few more minutes before heading out of the training room and towards a storage room. Might as well start teaching the samurai while I have time. I have a feeling that after not too much longer, that hourglass is going to run out of sand, and I'd prefer to be ready when it does.