Itachi wandered into their underground kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and gratefully accepting the cup of coffee Sasori handed to him as he walked by. "Sasori?" Itachi asked. "Aren't you supposed to be at work by now?"

Sasori shrugged, still in his t-shirt and boxers as he took a seat at the kitchen table. "Probably. I don't care," he said. "I'll just take off today."

Itachi sat across from the redhead. "That's right. You had that raid with Hidan last night after the induction didn't you? How'd it go?"

Sasori rubbed his brow with his fingers. "Don't even ask…" he groaned.

"It was a huge fuckin' success!" Hidan boisterously cheered, dancing his way through the doorway with a grin and donned in his work clothes. He happily hummed, digging through their fridge for something to eat before he had to go upstairs and help Pein with opening the shop.

Itachi glanced at him and then looked at Sasori with a raised brow.

"You didn't have to sit there and listen to his cheers as he sacrificed every single person in the entire goddamn bar," Sasori stressed, staring into his half-full cup of coffee. "And I had to get rid of the bodies by myself as he went off to celebrate like a moron in the middle of the streets."

Itachi sympathetically eyed him.

"Enough about me," Sasori said, lifting his eyes to stare at the Uchiha. "Don't you have school in about half an hour?"

Itachi gave a small shrug. "You know I can get there in three minutes if I wanted to," he said.

Sasori's lips curled up into a smirk. "I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about that Deidara brat," he laughed.

Itachi's eyes went wide before he stood. "Good point. He's been out dead since last night."

"I'm not fuckin' surprised," Hidan sniggered, beginning to make pancakes on the stove. "You blasted his head off at the induction. Any fucker that doesn't have my recuperation abilities would be knocked out for a long time."

"I should wake him," Itachi murmured, running a hand through the front of his messy bangs. He released a sigh. I might as well get ready myself. I'll just have to drive extra slow this morning.

"What are you doing, Hidan?" Pein stood in the doorway, arms crossed as he glared at the silver-haired man. He was dressed in his work attire already. "The shop opens in twenty minutes and you're making pancakes?"

Hidan smirked over his shoulder. "Pancakes are goddamn good Pein. I make 'em fast and can horke them down even faster. I'll be up in fifteen fuckin' minutes," he said.

Pein rolled his eyes. "You better, or else I'm putting Kakuzu in charge of you today."

Hidan shuddered, smirk gone. "Ten minutes it is then."

"Oh my God un!" a voice shrieked from down the hall. "Shit- I'm gonna be so fuckin' late!"

Sasori dryly looked up. "Another Hidan. Just what we need."

Itachi lifted a brow as Deidara flew past the doorway.

Pein smiled, reaching behind him without looking to snag the back of the frantic blonde's jacket collar. "Deidara," he said, "good morning."

Deidara paused, looking at his new leader and the three inside the kitchen staring at him. He wore red skinny jeans, an assortment of studded belts around his waist, and a black shirt with a ripped design through the chest. He'd left his hair the way he put it the night before, finding it didn't get in the way as much. "Right. Morning yeah," he hurriedly said. "Pein, do you have my-?"

Pein reached into his apron pocket, putting a set of keys into the blonde's hand. "The garage is behind the shop. You can reach the main road by a back alley between them. Drive safely and be back here before night falls," he said as the blonde nodded his thanks and took off for the main floor of Akatsuki Deals.

Sasori looked in between Pein and Itachi. "What was that about?"

"His baby," Itachi sighed, heading for the doorway where Pein was. "I'm just going to go get ready. I'll see you later this afternoon," he informed his leader.

Pein shook his head. "That's fine. As long as you're back before night. Zetsu has informed me about a suspicious factory that Orochimaru has been hiding out in," he said, not missing the sour looks Hidan and Sasori wore at the mention of the name. "I want to have a raid on that place tonight. And also Itachi, there is a student in your school you should keep an eye on. His name is Yakushi Kabuto. Apparently he's in business with Orochimaru."

"Yakushi Kabuto?" Itachi blinked in recognition at the name. The boy was in two of his classes. Psychology and Human Anatomy; both advanced. "Alright," he said. "I'll keep an eye out."

"My thanks," Pein said. "Make sure Deidara knows and gets back here too."

"I won't have any problem with that," Itachi said. "Zetsu suggested I put a tracker on his bike after the induction. As long as he doesn't notice, I can find him easily."

"Good. Hidan, your ten minutes started long ago."

"Fuck!"

Pein turned and waved a farewell to the three before heading upstairs to get ready for another day of business.

Itachi left after him as Konan entered the kitchen, listening to Sasori getting an earful for skipping out on work with a smirk.

~X~

Deidara wheeled his bike out the garage with a relieved look, glad his baby seemed to not have taken any damage at all. He didn't have his backpack or any of his school stuff, so he would need to make a stop at his old apartment to gather a few things before going to his first class. He pulled out his cell and checked the time. He had fifteen minutes. He could make it.

The blonde kicked the stand of his bike up, swinging a leg over to the other side before lighting the ignition. "I love you," he murmured to his Ninja with a large smile, flexing his fingers over the handlebars. In the next second he was shooting off through the back alleyway Pein had mentioned. This isn't so bad after all.

Dark eyes watched him leave as they sunk back into the shadows of the garage, pulling out a phone and pressing a number. Several rings went off before the other line picked up.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Tonight Akatsuki's special force is planning on infiltrating your factory. They think you're leaving at eight and won't be back until approximately nine-thirty."

"Very good. I trust you're the one who gave them this info?"

"Of course. They have a new addition to the squad."

"Oh?"

"One who specializes in explosions. He would be a deadly asset if he came along for the raid tonight. However, I'm sure he won't be coming, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Nice work double agent. I'll make sure not one of those Akatsuki pests gets out alive. I have other business to deal with now. Call me if anything new comes up, understand?"

"I understand."

"Very well. Goodbye."

"Farewell," they responded, closing the phone with a coy smile. And farewell Akatsuki.

A/N: Well hooray for mysterious phone call #1.

There's some hardcore action coming up in the next four chapters.

...or so I say :)

Next update will be soon.