A/n: I don't really like tomatoes. It just lept to mind. And don't ask about what the hell I mean until you read the chapter. Sure, I could have put this on the end instead, but it's funnier in the beginning because it seems more random. Which, really, it is. Curse you, random mind!

Did I mention NaNoWriMo? And how it means that if I wind up stretching this tale into a trilogy (I have a feeling that would just be stretching it far too thin), it won't be posted until December? Well, yeah. If you're interested in this NaNoWriMo thing, I have it linked on my profile, I think, at the bottom.

Sayuri's role is going to just LEAP on you because I haven't been writing enough about her to imply things properly. So I'll hint at it now, too, and it will probably be obvious.
This whole sequel thing seems highly relevant to children. I mean, seriously...

Ehhhmmm...sure, that'll be it for now.

Disclaimer: I own only Ren, Haruka, Shikai, and Sayuri. Everyone else is the spawn of Masashi Kishimoto.
Told ya it has too much to do with children. :nods like I'm actually on to something:

Fortunately, Haruka awoke a few hours later. Pein felt that he made a good decision in taking her to his room and letting only her immediate family into the room. Which, technically, included Sasori, Deidara, Itachi and Tobi. They most certainly weren't helping with anything.

By the time Haruka came to, Deidara had become bored with all this and was giving Sasori a raised eyebrow as he fingered the zipper at the top of his coat. Sasori kept shaking his head, occasionally muttering, "Now's not the time, Deidara-chan." Tobi had fallen back to sleep and was using Itachi as a pillow while he stared blankly at the wall above Haruka's bed. Kai had just gone downstairs, muttering something about using the time she had being used better. Pein himself sat at the foot of her bed (technically his own) and stared at her, trying to ignore Shikai whining, "She's okay, why do we have to wait here, can I go outside and climb trees, please Otou-san?"

When she finally blinked her eyes open, she smiled at the first person she saw—Pein couldn't immediately tell if that was him or Deidara. "Have you been waiting for me this whole time," she asked, "Sasori-oniisan?"

Pein sent a glare to the red-haired puppet, who asserted, "Look, I'm not endorsing this!"

Ending the glower with a feeling of unforgiving, Pein turned back to his daughter to say something, to be interrupted by a knock at the door.

Deidara called in the most anything-but-masculine voice he could muster, "Who is it?"

"It's Kisame," the person on the other side of the door answered, and Pein would indeed agree that it was Kisame. "Listen, could I talk to Itachi?"

Itachi stood and strolled to the door, followed by Tobi, and after a brief exchange of quiet words with Kisame, the two left the room.

Haruka sighed in relaxation and asked innocently, "Otou-san, why do we have scary people like the weird old guy here?"

Pein took a deep breath. This was the exact moment that he had been dreading: the moment of explanation. "Haruka-chan," he began patiently, "there are some things that should be explained." Pein suddenly wished that Kai wasn't doing the dishes. She'd be a lot more useful if only she was up here helping him out rather than doing what anyone else could be doing.

"Otou-sama," Sasori asked, "would it help for me to send Okaa-chan up?"

'Is he psychic or something?' Pein wondered. "Yes, Sasori-kun, it would."

The redhead nodded and rose to leave, Deidara prancing after him in a manner that Pein would rather consider to be disturbing, leaving Pein to cook in the silence left behind with Haruka and Shikai.

It took a few moments for Shikai to break the silence. "Are you going to explain all this or not?" he demanded. "You haven't even told us what you're explaining!"

"Shikai-kun, some day," Pein explained slowly, "you'll understand that a lot of things are a lot easier to do when you have someone beside you. Hopefully, I will find some way to raise you to be immune to that dependance."

"What's that supposed to—" Shikai was interrupted by Haruka yelping at the sudden explosion of smoke.

As the smoke cleared, Kai's image became more defined, until she stepped forward and asked glossily, "You called, honey?"

Pein was perfectly adjusted to Kai's tendancy to show off that little smoke-puff thing, and hadn't even blinked at her performance, instead proceeding to answer, "Well, Haruka-chan's awake, and now it seems we have some explaining to do."

Kai raised an eyebrow, conveying that Pein's answer was too vague. Haruka seemed to pick up on this and repeated, "Why do we live with scary people?"

"Well, Haruka-chan," Pein began, silently hoping that Kai would take it from the pause he left.

"The world is not a kind place," Kai picked up. Pein thanked his lucky stars that she had joined Akatsuki. Sure, maybe none of this would have happened if she hadn't, but she sure made everything that was happening considerably more tolerable. "There is hate, and there are wars, and everyone generally hates each other."

Maybe that was a little too blunt…oh well. It wasn't Pein, but Kai, who went on with a cruelly just tone, "This hatred exists because everyone is seperated—none are united. Your father and I are leading a group that is working to unite the people of the world under one flag.

"As it happens," she went on, not allowing either of her children to ask questions, "we have realized that nobody would accept this unity if it was anyone else's flag, if it was proposed by any of the nations, and for that reason we have created this organization to work to lead the people of the world together.

"Nobody accepts us, however," Kai continued. "They frown upon our ideals and tell us that we do not crave unity, but domination. If we wanted true harmony so much, we would have remained in our villages and worked from inside. And they continue to insist that our methods are impure—they will not open their minds to us unless we show that we are a force to be reconed with. For that reason, we have been forced to resort to recruiting those of the greatest strength that we could find, and those of true power tend to be…a little less handsome.

"Which isn't to say that's an absolute rule," she added, turning a smiling gaze to Pein. "Your father, for example, is probably the strongest person I know, but he is no less attractive."

Shikai groaned. "Okaa-san, do you have to be all mushy about it?"

"Son," Pein answered defensively, "you'd have a considerably different opinion in my shoes."

Shikai looked down and commented, "Yeah, I'd be a bit more worried about walking out of them."

"I think that's a great idea," Haruka exclaimed, distracting from Shikai's comment. "Uniting the world would make everyone happy!"

"Hey," Shikai began hopefully, looking up at Pein. "If you're so strong and so great, can't you teach me something good?"

"Shikai-kun, you're too young to start ninja training already," Pein argued.

"No I'm not!" Shikai protested. "Takada-otousama said I could start ninja training next term!—and he rarely let anyone train as ninjas otherwise!"

Pein exchanged a questioning look with Kai, who answered coolly, "He means the man who owned the orphanage."

' Oh,' Pein thought. ' That makes sense.' "And why would this Takada guy think that you are not only one of few under his jurisdiction, but even that you can start being so different at such a young age?"

"Because," Shikai declared, his back straightening determinedly, "I have the motivation. I have to become strong enough to defeat Akatsuki."

Pein blinked. ' Shit,' he cursed. "And why do you have to do that?"

"Nii-san, stop acting like you're the only one!" Haruka protested. " I'm going to help you, remember?"

'Double shit.'

"You're still too young, remember?" Shikai taunted. "You wouldn't be allowed to start ninja school for two more terms, at the least, remember?"

"Well, I'm still going to help you!" Haruka insisted. "I'm going to be there to heal you when you almost get killed, remember?"

"I won't almost get killed, remember?" Shikai crowed. "I'll be so strong, not even Akatsuki could so much as put a scratch on me!"

Pein stood. "If you'll excuse us…" He turned and walked toward the door.

"Okaa-chan and Otou-sama need to talk, okay?" Kai cooed, following him.

When Kai closed the door behind her, her expression clouded with worry as Pein launched straight into discussion. "Kai-chan, I remember ordering you to leave a note with them at the orphanage. You didn't say anything obvious like 'Akatsuki has prevented me from taking care of them,' did you?"

Kai shook her head. "I said it was occupational issues. I was afraid that my line of work was dangerous for me and it would be better for them to never know me than to loose me. And that the job didn't even pay very well."

"Okay," Pein continued. "Then why are they hounding for our blood without even knowing it?"

Kai bit her lip. "I can't think of anything. Maybe we just have a bad reputation. I suppose they live in an orphanage, it wouldn't be impossible for their closest friends from before to have been orphaned by our doings."

"Yes, that sounds right," Pein agreed. "But how do we go on from here?"

"I don't know," Kai admitted. "Do you think it would be possible to talk them out of their goals?"

Pein thought about this for a moment. "I'm not sure…that does sound like a good idea, it just doesn't seem possible—it would be hard to talk them out of supporting friends who suffered because of us without blowing any cover we might have…"

"…Maybe we should talk them out of revenge," Kai decided. "As of yet, we probably look something like saints, the whole thing with us 'uniting' the world might make it plausible…"

Pein nodded and opened the door again, trying to ignore that his entrance had obviously ended a small conversation between the two children, but it was hard when Shikai stared at him with suspicion and Haruka's gaze held a hopeful question.

"Haruka-chan, Shikai-kun," Pein addressed. "We have decided that…"

"…We don't think that your motivation is healthy," Kai picked up. Pein hated his dependance on Kai's smooth talking, but at least he had her to do that.

"Why do you say that?" Shikai wondered suspiciously.

"You want to defeat Akatsuki because of what happened to others at the orphanage, right?" Kai asked.

"Of course!" Haruka and Shikai chorused, but only Shikai went on. "Misaki and Tsubasa and a lot of our other friends were orphaned by them, and we're going to avenge their parents!"

"Shikai-kun and Haruka-chan," Kai sighed. "You two are very young still, so maybe you wouldn't understand, but…revenge does nobody good. It might set a goal, but what about when you reach that goal? If you ever do reach that goal, then what? You kill everyone linked to Akatsuki's leader, I assume?"

"Yes," Shikai answered swiftly, but Haruka hesitated and said, "Well, everyone who's…you know, not been very nice…"

Kai nodded. "That might solve your problem, except it won't work."

"Why not?" Shikai demanded, while Haruka just looked on expectantly. "If all of them are killed, then none of them can go against us!"

"Shikai-kun, one thing that you'll learn is that everyone loves someone," Kai explained. "So, in the end, everybody is very closely loved by someone or another. Everybody has someone who, if given the chance and maybe even if they aren't, will avenge them. For example," she went on, "when you kill Akatsuki's leader"—Pein felt something odd stir within him, an uncertainty that he agreed with her words—"then the rest of Akatsuki will most likely try to avenge him by killing you. What do you do then?"

"Then we kill everyone in Akatsuki!" Shikai answered. "It's obvious!"

"But there's more to Akatsuki than the main members," Kai pointed out. Her mouth twitched as though it was going to say something different from what she did as she went on, "They have spies from almost every village, and they would be after you, too. And before you say that you'd just kill them," she added before Shikai could respond, " they will have more loved ones, and whether or not they approved of those people working for Akatsuki, you will still have killed them, and by the time that they've been killed for your own sakes, you've turned half the world against you just because you killed so many people."

Shikai closed his mouth into a serious line and his brow furrowed in thought. Haruka just closed her eyes, her hands together on her lap and her head bowed to face them. Finally, her brother spoke bitterly, "Then how are we supposed to defeat our enemies?"

Kai inhaled deeply. "You don't," she answered simply. "Instead, you should just try to make the best of your situation, and focus on helping your friends to cope without their parents."

"How are we supposed to help them from here?" Shikai demanded.

Kai paused before deciding to respond, "Train hard, so that one day you can live on your own and help support them when the time comes."

"That's boring!" Shikai protested.

"Life is boring," Kai agreed. "If it isn't, you're trying too hard for something that probably isn't so great anyway."

Shikai pondered this for about half a minute before he finally sighed and admitted, "Okay, you win. I won't hunt down Akatsuki." He looked up with a determined suspicion and added, "But only if you tell me…what's the pattern on your cloak supposed to mean?"

Pein and Kai tensed simultaneously and exchanged a panicked glance. "Well, you see…"

"Tomatoes!" a voice from outside the room exclaimed. It occurred to Pein that neither he nor Kai closed the door to the room as all eyes turned toward the speaker—Tobi, holding the hand of Ren who hugged her cat—Sayuri or something—to her chest by the ribcage, exposing a stomach that seemed rather larger than most cats would have. "The red is tomatoes—we have a side-business for growing tomatoes to raise funds, so this is what we wear when we sell our tomatoes—and the black is just to look cool," he added. "It's a very serious color, so everyone will take us seriously—right?"

"R-right," Kai agreed, seemingly still in shock from Tobi's functioning excuse at the best possible time.

Shikai blinked. "Tomatoes?"

"Yes, Shikai-kun," Pein answered, having regained his outward calm. "Tomatoes."

"Why didn't we see any tomatoes when we were coming in?" Shikai wondered.

"Do you really think you can grow tomatoes in this weather?" Kai answered.

Shikai slowly grinned and nodded. "Okay. You guys win. No more hunting Akatsuki."

Haruka, who had spent the entire conversation in Pein's bed facing away from the door, now craned her neck to look through the doorway, and immediately lept up and rushed over to where Tobi and Ren stood. "Hi! I'm Haruka, and I guess I still don't know my last name because I never heard it from Okaa-chan or Otou-san, and I guess I don't even know if they're married or not but they probably are because I don't think anyone should have a kid if they don't love each other enough to be married, and I guess if you live here too then we must be related or something, so maybe you're my older sister—and, and, that guy you're with, he's pretty cool too, with the neat spiralling orange mask—where do you get those things, anyway?—but he's nice, he's not scary like that really scary old guy with the cool eyes or the freaky blue guy that Shikai-niisan really likes or that weird guy with all the scars on his face or the guy with the—"

Thump. Haruka fell unceremoniously on the floor.

Maybe the stress of it all had gotten to her, but it was more likely that her third collapse in two days had more to do with Ren, who was standing behind where Haruka stood a moment before with her hand about where Haruka's neck had been before she fell.

A/n again: Third time in as many chapters. Sucks to be Haruka. :nods to self like it's a new discovery:

Yes.
Tomatoes.

Misaki and Tsubasa are two more of my reincarnating OCs. I think the names came up earlier too. And it's not unlikely that (should I wind up writing the third part) Tsubasa will make an appearance as an actual character later. Not that Tsubasa, though. Totally different.

Preview: You'd think that breakfast without Ren would be less eventful. But on the contrary, this will most certainly be the most eventful day since she came--or even before that.
(look, it took up what seems to be a full line for once! And yes, the plot's kicking in.)

Special: Tomatoes:
I'm totally overdoing the tomatoes, aren't I? It's getting older than...something really old with a dorky reference that I can't think of. Like Hidan.
I've always compared Tobi to a pumpkin. Funny how he should be the one to decide on tomatoes.
Um...yeah. The kiddies seriously bought it. SUCKERS!
And Haruka totally didn't realize that "that weird guy with all the scars on his face" hasn't appeared since she walked in on him...being weird (come on, he had his mask off--I'm sure I'm not the only one who's perverted enough to have it come to that). He has, but that really cool mask has been hiding it. Is it a good thing that she doesn't realize that was Tobi?
She's also having issues with everyone in Akatsuki. But, seriously, if you lived in an orphanage, and then your parents showed up and took you home, and then you realized that you were supposed to live with people like Kisame and Zetsu, would you be any more graceful about it? I wouldn't. Not at that age heck no at all.
And the whole reasoning behind them going after Akatsuki--as a child, I was almost sort of kind of close to my brother (sometimes), at least enough that we went through that Star Wars phase (sigh...the filler wound up totally excluding the crackier humor I had in store), and we were all "OMG JEDI ARE SO PWN-AWESOME," (not in those exact terms) and I think we seriously had collaberative fantasies of the two of us causing the end of the Empire. This seems the kind of thing that small children would do.