Normal POV

Pein, the fearless stoic leader of the Akatsuki was having an admittedly great day. Leisurely following a worn path, weaving in and out of towering lush trees that protected him from the sun's rays, he strolled. It was around one in the afternoon when he decided that he needed a break from the pressing paperwork and a walk in the forest surrounding the Akatsuki base was the ideal way to spend that break. Speaking of the base, things have been pretty peaceful.

"Now there's an adjective I thought I would never use when thinking of life with my members," Pein thought sarcastically. The truth is, he enjoyed everyone's antics-to an extent-but had to keep up his appearance, so he acted like Kakuzu slicing Hidan's head off was a burden, or Deidara blowing a hole through the wall was undesired. On second thought, that one actually wasn't all too enjoyable.

As Pein ventured deeper into the forest he let his mind drift as his feet seemed to gain a will of their own and carried him down the familiar path. While his mind was adrift, he failed to sense the looming presence overhead. In an instant it seemed that he was being tightly bound in thick vines that appeared from above. Immediately narrowing his eyes, he shot an infuriatingly calm glare above him and though he outwardly remained apathetic, he could feel his stomach drop. Two people he thought to be dead, finished off by his own organization, were peering back at him with sickening grins.

Suddenly Takeo let out a loud, gravelly laugh as Rika leapt down to stand directly in front of the Akatsuki leader. Pein absentmindedly thought the sound was hideous, but gave no indication of a reaction. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Rika's hands were flying through the motions to perform the jutsu and Takeo's vines tightened around Pein's arms, legs, and chest. Yet again before he could do anything, with a great motion from Takeo, the vines were flinging him against a nearby tree trunk and the undead ninja fled. Shoving himself to a sitting position, Pein immediately scanned the area, but could sense no trace of unfamiliar chakra or any indication that he had been attacked.

"But they were dead-my voice?!" Pein's eyes widened and his small hands shot up to grab his throat-wait, small hands?!

He stood and starred down at himself and, to his horror, didn't see very much. Just as Hidan had been, Pein was now a small child. With a furious huff, he rolled his pant legs up as much as he could and attempted to gather the large cloak that he was practically swimming in around himself. Perturbed by the clothing that was much too large to stay on his small frame, he stomped back towards the base. Approximately an hour later he slumped down against a tree, absolutely beside himself with frustration.

"I'm the leader of the Akatsuki, I can't be a child!" he snarled to himself, glaring at his tiny feet as if that would make them return to their rightful size. Hearing a rustle in the distance, Pein tensed up and drew out a kunai, briefly wondering if he would be able to fight.

"Who's th…Leader-sama? Is that you?" A familiar red-head came into view, stooping down a few feet away from the child while suspiciously observing him.

Refusing to look him in the eye or answer, Pein continued to glare at his feet, lowering the kunai.

"Answer me."

"Yes," Pein snarled. Sasori, much to his credit, hardly even faltered as he face-palmed and closed the distance between himself and the child. In one smooth motion he removed Pein's cloak, wrapped it around him, and lifted him into his arms. "Sasori!"

"I'm carrying you back to the base. I don't want to wait for you to walk behind me. I hate waiting," Sasori said in a bored tone as he headed towards the base.

"I'm the leader of the Akatsuki, I can walk!" Pein snapped irritably, struggling in the ex-Sand nin's arms.

"You need a nap," Sasori said teasingly.

"I do not! I demand you put me down!" Pein said. Sasori ignored him and continued walking. After a few minutes Pein found it difficult to keep his eyes open and halfway back to the base he was sleeping in Sasori's arms.

"Why do I have to find all of the regressed members, why not the brat or Tobi? First Hidan changes and now Pein?" Sasori thought. He glanced down pensively at Pein and then a thought raced through his mind. "Now Pein? Now Pein. That's impossible, we killed them…"

Sasori's eyes slightly widened and he gripped his leader in a firmer embrace before he began sprinting back to the base. When he arrived, he quietly raced in and almost crashed into a certain foul-mouthed member.

"OI! WATCH IT WOOD FUCKER OR I'LL-what the fuck? Is that a mini Pein?" Hidan exclaimed wildly gesturing to the child in Sasori's arms. Sighing, Sasori nodded before forking the child over to Hidan.

"It's not just a "mini Pein" Hidan, it's actually Leader-sama. Hold him while I get the others." Sasori didn't quite give Hidan a say in the matter, as he practically dropped Pein into Hidan's still-wildly-gesturing hands.

"Well shit."

Hidan stared down at the child who was forced upon him and trudged to the living room, where Deidara was sitting, leafing through a book. Hidan flopped down beside his blonde friend, lightly nudged him with his elbow, and make an exasperated noise. Lowering his book, Deidara glanced towards the albino. Needless to say his eyes widened to the size of saucers and his mouth fell agape.

"Where did you get a child un?!" Deidara cried dropping his book to the cushion beside him.

"The usual."

"HIDAN! Where did that child come from un?!" Deidara asked, slightly panicked.

"I knew this day was going to come sooner or later. Dei, you see when a man and woman love each other-" Kisame began as he strolled into the room, overhearing the latter part of the conversation.

"They don't have to love each other!"

"Shove it Hidan. So when a man and woman are deeply in love-"

"STOP UN! I meant the child that Hidan's holding yeah! Where did he come from, un?" Deidara questioned, pointing a finger at said child.

"Oh for Jashin's sake Hidan, whose child did you take? He looks a lot like Leader-sama," Kisame observed, raising an eyebrow.

"This fucker is Pein. The puppet fucker came running in the base like his Jashin damned ass was on fire before dropping him on me and fleeing to find everyone," Hidan answered with a shrug.

"That's Leader-sama?" Deidara cried frantically motioning the sleeping child.

"I just said that, she-man. I'm we killed those fuckers so it won't happen to me again," Hidan said offhandedly. Kisame frowned, shaking his head at the two seated on the couch.

"Hidan, Deidara, Pein is a child. We only know two people who have been able to overtake an Akatsuki member and perform such a ritual."

"THEY'RE FUCKING ALIVE?" Hidan roared furiously, a murderous glint in his eyes, promptly waking Pein.

"Where am…the base? Hidan? Deidara? Kisame?" Pain asked in a confused voice. He rubbed his eyes with his tiny fists and looked up at them. They were all smirking, so he glared, which was admittedly not that intimidating. At that moment Sasori and the others hurried into the room.

"Pein!" Konan cried starring in horror, "My boyfriend is a little kid!" Konan gasped. She swayed slightly as she took a step forward before stumbling and fainting. Kakuzu, being the closest, caught her and glanced around as if asking what he should do with the limp body.

"Okay everyone," Sasori said ignoring Kakuzu's plight, "This means that those who changed Hidan are still alive." Everyone realized the gravity of this situation, but they couldn't do anything and they knew it. Konan was still unconscious in Kakuzu's arms, which was the best thing for her at this particular moment.

"That was my announcement," Pein muttered crossly to Hidan, who loudly laughed.

"Come on, let's go get you some fucking clothes," Hidan said abruptly. He stood up with Pein in tow and trekked to the room where the clothes that he had used when he was mini-fied, as he dubbed it, were strewn about. Depositing Pein on the floor, he stepped out to give his leader some privacy while he changed. When Pein exited he had on blue ninja pants, a mini pair of the sandals that the Akatsuki generally sported, a black shirt, and an Akatsuki cloak that actually fit him. Against Pein's will, Hidan swung him up in the air and propped him on his hip before heading to his own room.

"I can walk myself and why are we in your room?" Pein asked. Hidan, completely ignoring the boy, plopped him down onto his bed. "Hidan! I may be in the body of a child, but I am still your leader! Answer!" Pein growled.

"I don't feel like dealing with a fainting kunoichi. This is the last place she'll look for you. Besides, do you really want to be sharing a bed with her? She might just decide that now you're too small for her liking," Hidan teased, upsetting Pein. "Hey, I was fucking kidding."

"Whatever," Pein muttered. He crawled under Hidan's covers and curled up, hiding his body from view.

"I'll be back in while to make sure your ass is still alive, see ya kid!" Hidan said and strolled out of the room. Later that night he came back with some food and water for Pein, as the leader had fallen asleep and hadn't left. He gently shook him awake and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Kuzu said he'd cut my head off if I didn't feed you."

"Thanks," Pein yawned. He ate onigiri and got a drink of water, then went back to sleep. Hidan carried the dishes out to the kitchen and handed them to Itachi.

"Hn?" Itachi asked looking at the dishes in his hands.

"I kept him alive for the day, I don't do dishes," Hidan said. Itachi looked up from the plates and glared at Hidan. Kakuzu and Kisame sighed, and then decided to take action. Kisame took the dishes from Itachi and started washing them, while Kakuzu dragged Hidan to the living room.

"Where is Leader-sama?" Zetsu asked when Hidan and Kakuzu arrived in the living room.

"Is he okay? You didn't hurt him, did you?" Konan asked cracking her knuckles, though obvious worry laced her tone.

"Calm down bitch, he's in my room sleeping," Hidan said plopping down on the couch beside Deidara, who was dozing off.

"Hidan you should know not to annoy Itachi," Kisame said strolling into the room with said weasel.

"Hn," Itachi…hned? Hidan just rolled his eyes, and turned to say something to Deidara, who had fallen asleep. Everyone other than Deidara, Hidan, and Itachi left the living room.

"Damn," Hidan sighed and crossed his arms. He stared at his blonde friend before realizing that Sasori was heading towards them, about to enter the room. Hidan leapt up from his spot and grabbed Itachi, then flung him on top of Deidara, who woke up and screamed. Hidan raced across the room before turning back to look at them.

"ITACHI! GET THE FUCK OFF OF HIM YOU RAPIST!" Hidan screamed just as Sasori came into the room. Hearing this Kisame and Zetsu raced into the room, curiosity getting the better of them.

"Itachi," Sasori growled. He pulled out a vile of poison and got into a fighting stance just as a flailing Deidara and a calm Itachi managed to detangle their limbs. Deidara stared around the room, frazzled from his rude awakening. Kisame stepped in front of Itachi, blocking him from Sasori.

"Move Kisame," Itachi and Sasori growled in perfect unison. Kisame sighed, but reluctantly moved to Zetsu's side. They watched the two men who were ready to kill each other before Tobi ran into the room and stopped beside Zetsu, his eyes wide. During his observation Kakuzu strolled into the room and stopped short at his side, observing for himself as well.

"LEADER-SAMA!" Tobi wailed as loud as he could. Moments later Pein came into the room, looking tired as hell.

"What?" Pein growled. Giving the room a once over he noted that Itachi and Sasori were about to have an all out battle, Kisame looked mildly entertained, Deidara looked baffled, Hidan was suspiciously missing, Tobi was clinging to Zetsu, and Zetsu was…staring at him.

"TOBI IS A GOOD BOY! TOBI DOESN'T LIKE FIGHTING! LEADER-SAMA SAVE ITACHI-SAN AND SASORI-SAN!" Tobi wailed covering his ears. Before any of the males knew what was happening, Konan came stomping into the room, dragging Hidan with her. She narrowed her eyes and slapped both Sasori and Itachi.

"Boys, stop it! Don't any of you realize that we have something that we need to deal with? Our leader, my beloved, is a child! Those people we thought we had dealt with are still alive and are targeting our members!" Konan shouted as tears gathered in her eyes, "We've got no way to fight them and we don't even know what jutsu they used! We can't even begin to understand it, but all you can do is fight amongst yourselves?"

"Konan don't cry un," Deidara said quietly as he stood from the couch. He took a few cautious steps forward before futilely attempting to wrap his arms around the woman. Her arms immediately encased him as she pressed her face to his shoulder, desperately clinging to him, as if that hug could piece everything back together.

"Konan…never cries," Zetsu said staring at her.

"We're in trouble," Kisame murmured softly to Zetsu as he glanced over at Pein.

"Konan…everyone…" Pein thought as he glanced at his respective members.