Pein watched as each Akatsuki member entered the room, his Rinnegans never missing a detail.

Hidan stumbled in, using his scythe for support. "My fucking eyes and head!" He complained, rubbing his hands over his tired and bloodshot eyes.

No doubt the result of his overconsumption of sake last night, Pein thought disdainfully while Hidan managed to find a seat and half slump-half fall into the seat. He immediately leaned forward, crossed his arms out in front of him and laid his head down on them. His scythe leaned against the wall next to him.

Kakuzu and Itachi came in next. They look tired. I suppose Kisame was his drinking partner. That odd coupling makes sense. Even romantically. Hidan and Kisame though? I'll have to give this some more thought.

Itachi sat near the back so as to be left alone and left to develop the mission's strategy. Kakuzu sat as far back as he could from Pein's prying eyes. He didn't want Dear Leader to know he was cooking the books.

Kakuzu thought he deserved extra money for putting up with the annoyance known as Hidan. He didn't see why he should approach Pein about it considering he, Kakuzu, had a lot more seniority over the other man in age and shinobi skill. Besides, youngsters should respect their elders. So he took a small percentage off the group's earnings because he wanted to.

The rest filed in, one by one, with Pein taking a critical eye to them, especially noting their weaknesses. Once all the members were seated and silence descended the room, Pein began to speak.

"We have a plan in this organization and that plan is for one of peace. What forces peace the quickest? War."

He began walking around the room. "It will be a brutal fight to suppress Villages and towns to our idea of rule. I am not willing to throw your lives away." He had stopped by Konan and he gently stroked her cheek as he said the last part.

He returned to the front of the room, where he could see the face of each Akatsuki member. Pein was silent for a moment before he spoke again. His voice was calm and deep, reflecting the seriousness of his thoughts.

"We certainly do not have many allies but do we have a few. Their numbers won't be enough so we may as well consider them unavailable for now.

"What we need is a way to maximize the assets we do have. We may need to fight a guerrilla war to instil fear and to survive. We need new tactics and we need new ways of fighting."

A chorus of protests came from everyone. Some protested their way of fighting was fine while others protested that their way of fighting wasn't being recognized.

Here we go. Now it begins. Pein closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd have to have Konan make him the tea for his migraines. The bickering, screeching and shouting was beginning to give him one. Finally reaching his breaking point, he slammed his fists on the table in front of him and shouted.

"SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!"

Startling everyone, the demand shut them all up. They looked at him with a mixture of fear and confusion. Pein's Rinnegans were glowing and Hidan had found out the hard way that that wasn't a good sign.

"As I was saying," Pein's snarled, his voice even deeper, "we need new tactics. We need to evolve. It's the only way we will survive and accomplish our goal.

"So!" He stood up straight and crossed his arms over his chest, "I would like you to meet the newest member of the Akatsuki."

The conference room's door opened slowly. The figure was tall and leanly muscled. The hand that had lazily pushed the door open was calloused and had several small scars on them.

The figure put his hands in his pocket and strolled in. Once he had stepped into the brighter lit room from the hallway, the members got a good look at him.

His jet black hair was pulled into a ponytail and he had a light scattering of freckles across his nose. A vertical scar ran from below his eyebrow to his mid cheekbone. How he wasn't blinded was a question they would get him to answer later.

His left fingers grazed the flaps of his kunai pouch that was strapped to his left thigh. He wore the standard blue and white Akatsuki outfit and the robe, with it unzipped.

Dark brown eyes scanned the faces in the room and matched them to the mental dossier he had on them. Standing beside Pein, with his hands still in his pockets, he began talking.

"I've been watching you guys. I've been collecting information about your battles, your motives, the scandals and corruption you're involved in and I can say this with confidence: unless you change, you will cease to exist. That is all."

Having said his piece, he turned to leave the room.

"OI! Fuckface! Who the hell are you?!" An irate Hidan shouted after the retreating back. He fumbled around on the table until he felt a scroll with his fingers. He quickly scurried it to within his reach, grabbed and threw it at the man's head.

"WHOOOOOO! Fucking bullseye!" He cheered while flipping the other man off.

He sighed. So troublesome.  He ignored Hidan and continued walking.

"Stupid dickface!" Hidan muttered, turning to find Kakuzu so they could get going for their bounty mission. The room was empty.

During his intense stare down with the mystery man, the rest of the members had left the room via a side exit.

"Well... that was rude!" He said in disgust while grabbing his scythe. He set off to find his partner and recite his hunting prayers for Jashin.

What he didn't notice was a pair of brown eyes watching him.