PLEASE READ - Summary:

He was first named the saviour of the city. The man who would bring the city into the future... But instead it has moved from on dictatorship to another.

Hatake Kakashi lives in a city that's watched. Eyes are everywhere and the citizens are oppressed. Even though there is no crime, students live in constant fear of 'the snake' and at an early age children are taken away and 'modified' for the good of the city. Kakashi's life has been on a constant downhill since all those important to him are dead, killed by the ruthless system. But Kakashi then meets a revolutionary group of teenagers who plan to bring the city into a new dawn.

Spoilers: There will be no spoilers beyond episode 143/manga chapter 412 in Shippuden. Simply because I haven't got beyond that point yet, so if there are any inconsistencies in the characters please forgive me and let me know how I can improve.

AU: There'll be no OCs, and everyone will have their ninja powers but in a different kind of way. There is NO chakra in this universe. The setting is futuristicish. Since I'm English and I have no idea how the Japanese school system works and about the social hierarchies etc (and even with research it wouldn't be accurate enough if I haven't set foot in Japan) I'm going to use the English school system, but don't worry this isn't a school fic so it won't be a massive feature. People's ages will also be different to the canon but not in an extreme way.

Rating: This is only rated M for language and violence. There will also be a character death... Just to warn you if that's something you dislike.

Pairings: The only official pairing in this will be PeinKonan. I'm going to leave everything else open to interpretation.

If you've actually bothered to read all of that this is my first fanfic, and the first time I've written in 3rd person. So any reviews/constructive criticism are extremely welcome and are appreciated :)

Chapter 1: Introducing Akatsuki

He's late. Late again. Kakashi rubs his eye as he surveys the building in front of him. Harsh corners jutting, the concrete cold and unforgiving. The windows are deep-set as if to defend themselves from an oncoming attack. The building looks more like a prison than a school. A wry smile tugs at Kakashi's lips from beneath the mask. But then…doesn't everyone think school is a prison?

Deidara is not happy. For one thing Sasori has conveniently engineered things so that Deidara has to sit next to Tobi in form. And the other thing is that on the other side of him is Hidan.

"Sempai!" Tobi squeals, squeezing Deidara's arm so hard that all circulation is cut off.

"So I said to fucking Kakuzu, Jashin will fucking curse you…" Hidan rants.

"Sempai! Tobi was a good boy so Sasori let him sit next to Deidara."

"Then the fucking dick said…"

Deidara can feel a vein throbbing at his temple. The mouth in the palm of his hand strains against the fabric of his fingerless gloves. Suddenly the door opens and the chaos in the classroom ceases.

"Who the fuck is that?" Hidan spits. Evidently the whole of the class seems to agree with Hidan as the students glare at the boy who has just sauntered in. Jiraiya, the teacher, jerks up from whatever he had been writing and looks at the boy as if he's just dropped from the moon.

"You're the new boy…" He frowns. "Weren't you meant to be here fifteen minutes ago?"

The boy laughs uncomfortably and rumples his hair. "Well a black cat walked across my path so…" He trails off as everyone continues to glare at him.

"That's all we need, another retard," Deidara hears Kisame mutter.

"And an idiot who likes to make people wait," replies Sasori. Deidara decides not to join in on their conversation, as he isn't talking to Sasori.

Jiraiya rolls his eye. "Right… This is Hatake Kakashi," he tells the class. "Now go sit down."

Kakashi looks around the room. The whole class looks like they want to kill him. He rubs his bandaged eye, which is itching like crazy. There are two empty seats. One next to a bizarre looking boy who's half black and the other half white, and he's encased in what seemed to be the jaws of a plant. The boy's yellow eyes gleam and drool dribbles down the corner of the black side's mouth. He's either really hungry or has rabies Kakashi thinks. The other seat is at the back beside the window, next to a bored red head. Kakashi sees the window and heads straight towards it.

"Jashin's going to fucking curse you," an albino hisses at him as he walks past. The red head doesn't say a word when Kakashi sits next to him but gives him a faintly disgusted look. The chaos in the class resumes and Kakashi sighs. Good thing he's not here to make friends.

"So what do you think of the new kid, un?" Deidara proposes to the group at lunch. The members of the self-proclaimed Akatsuki are sitting out by the playing field next to some trees. The perfect place to have a conversation and not be overheard.

"An idiot," Kisame answers. "He's been late for every single lesson." Deidara has to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing when he see's Sasori's jaw tighten.

"Hatake Kakashi… Where've I heard that name before?" Pein wonders. There's silence because that name does sound familiar.

"He was involved… With that," Itachi voices. Everyone stares. It's unusual for Itachi to say anything. Even Tobi is strangely silent.

"What's that? What did the fucking bastard do?" Hidan asks.

Pein ignores Hidan. "Uchiha Obito… That was your cousin's name wasn't it?" Pein says swiftly. "The one who went to Konoha?"

"Hey what's he doing?" Konan cuts in. Everyone turns to see Kakashi standing in the path, hand in his pockets. In front of him is Kabuto blocking who's his way.

Kakashi looks at Kabuto with the utmost dislike. This guy is clearly not going to let him pass.

"Orochimaru-sama told me everything," Kabuto sneers. Orochimaru…Kakashi suppresses a shudder. Because of that… If you could call him a man, because of him Kakashi hadn't slept fully through a single night in years.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Kakashi says. Hey it's worth a try. After all, it had worked on that idiot in p.e who had started jumping up and down, proclaiming Kakashi is his 'eternal rival' after they had drew in the 100m this morning.

"How does it feel?" Kabuto asks. "To know you killed them?" Then he starts laughing. That does it. Kakashi's eye flashes and his fist connects with Kabuto's face. There's a sickening crunch and blood drips to the ground.

"Well would you look at that, new kid has just broken Kabuto's nose," Kakuzu drawls.

"He better watch out, Kabuto is decent in a fight," Kisame says but the words die away. Just as Kabuto lunges, he trips and falls flat on his face.

"What a fucking idiot!" Hidan laughs

"Kakashi's the idiot…" Pein mutters. "Picking a fight when everyone knows Kabuto is one of the snake's favourites." The group looks at each other uneasily.

Kabuto stands up and lunges again but once more he trips.

"Why's he being so clumsy? Un?" Deidara asks.

"He's not being clumsy," Sasori says lazily. "Kakashi is just dodging him." Deidara reaches into his pocket and pulls out his eyepiece. Adjusting it just in time to see Kabuto miss his third punch as Kakashi sways to the side. Kakashi then hooks his foot around Kabuto's ankles so Kabuto is sent flying.

"No way! Un!" Deidara exclaims. "He's good!"

Sasori just smirks.

Kakashi is now fed up of Kabuto. He stoops down, grabbing Kabuto's hair and wrenches his head back. "Mention Obito's, Rin's, Minato's and Kushina's names again and I won't go easy on you," Kakashi say in a bored voice. Kabuto gurgles, probably on his own blood. Disgusted, Kakashi let's Kabuto's head drop and walks away.

"Hmmm… He'd make a good recruit," Pein ponders. He turns to Itachi as if asking permission.

Itachi nods and answers, "he can be... Persuaded to join." Pein then turns to Tobi.

For a strange moment Tobi's seems to be in deep thought. Like he's struggling to remember something. Then he jerks and says "yay! A new Akatsuki member!"

Pein smiles and says "Sasori, Deidara I'll leave it up to you. Meet us in the usual place; make sure you're not followed."

Sasori rolls his eyes and says, "Do we even need to be told?"

Pein glances over at Kakashi who's now being dragged away by a screaming head teacher. "He's one to watch," Pein warns. "Especially since Kakashi'll definitely be monitored now by him."

Kakashi sits at the bus stop and reflects back on his first day. He grimaces at the memory. After the, well if you could call it a fight with Kabuto, Kakashi had been dragged away by Tsunade to her office where the headmistress had screamed at him for what felt like hours. Overall he had emerged relatively unscathed with just a week's worth of detentions. But…Kakashi shudders. He'd been an idiot to let his emotions get out of control like that because now Orochimaru would know… Stomach acid rises up, burning Kakashi's throat and he pushes the thought away. He reaches in into his bag and pulls out a slim paperback with a man chasing a scantily clad woman. Flirting Paradise is the best medicine ever, prescribed by the author himself. Kakashi sighs. Ever since…Well it happened about eight years ago Jiraiya had taken in Kakashi, as well as his godson Naruto. A brief smile flickers across Kakashi's face as the blonde ten year old walks into his mind.

"I'm going to free this city one day!" Naruto would always yell, to which point Jiraiya would clamp a hand over the boy's mouth just in case anyone heard.

After the 'incident' Kakashi found going to Konoha School unbearable… Every lesson, every face just reminded him… Kakashi stares hard at his book but he just ends up reading the same word five times over. In any case when Kakashi had decided to change schools, he and Jiraiya had made a pact. At this new school they would ignore each other in case the connection leads to any trouble but after what happened to today…Jiraiya is so going to be pissed Kakashi thinks feeling a twinge of guilt but Kakashi was pretty used to that feeling now. Guilt. The other emotions though, like anger; it'll take a while for him to learn how to control those. Kakashi hates these new emotions, but he deserves them. He doesn't want to get over the guilt. It's spread into his system like a disease and Kakashi hopes he'll never find a cure.

Kakashi returns to Flirting Paradise and a blush seeps across his face.

"Well… I never had you down as a lover of porn," a voice drawls. Startled Kakashi looks up. The red head he had sat next to in form looks at him, expressionless. Standing next to him is the slim blonde haired boy Kakashi had seen from a distance.

"It's not porn, it's err a romance novel," Kakashi replies and returns to his book.

The blonde laughs. "I'm Deidara and this is Sasori, un," he says introducing himself and his friend. Kakashi flicks his eye from one to the other, trying to gauge their actions. Sasori continues to look bored but Deidara has a smirk pulling at his lips.

Wary, Kakashi snaps his book shut and slips it back into his bag. "That's nice," he answers, standing up.

Deidara's grin widens. "Mind talking to us somewhere private for a sec?" He asks casually.

"I'm afraid I can't," Kakashi say, holding up his hands giving them a fake smile. "There's this old lady who needs me to help her with her shopping so…"

"You really need to think up better excuses, un," Deidara laughs.

"Sorry," Kakashi rubs his head sheepishly. "But it's true… In any case I better get going-"

"We can't keep Pein waiting," Sasori cuts in. Clearly he's not amused.

"Mmm Sasori no danna is right," Deidara agrees, speeding up the conversation. "Let's go and meet up with our friends. We know a good place where we can't be disturbed."

Then it clicks. Kakashi stands up. "Yeah sure," He says casually, nodding at Deidara.

Sasori rolls his eyes and says "finally. It took you a while." Deidara laughs once more and gestures to Kakashi to follow them.

It takes them an hour to get right on the outskirts of the city; the furthest out anyone can go. The air feels lighter here and Kakashi glances up to see the diseased filled sky has turned to a faint brownish colour. Sasori and Deidara stop by one of the many monotone buildings that look exactly the same as every block of flats does in the city. Kakashi follows them inside.

"This is it, un," Deidara says, pulling a key from his pocket. Sasori and Kakashi remain silent. All the way here Deidara has been chattering non-stop, but he has been talking for three since Sasori just kept quiet whilst Kakashi had his nose in his book. The ground floor flat smells of mould and damp clings to the wall in places.

"Sorry about the smell, un," Deidara apologies. "It's Sasori's stupid puppets."

"Tsk," Sasori says annoyance flitting across his face. "It's more likely your clay."

"You just don't understand true art," Deidara says leading them towards a cupboard in the corner. "Art is fleeting, un."

"Eternal, brat," Sasori replies rolling his eyes.

"Fleeting, and don't, call me brat, un," Deidara snaps back.

"Sorry to interrupt the art chat," Kakashi says. "But what are we doing here?"

Deidara and Sasori exchange looks. An evil grin flicks across Deidara's face. Kakashi's body tenses and but relaxes when he feels the comforting reminder of the concealed blade inside his blazer.

"Just wait and see, un," Deidara says.

Sasori rolls his eyes one more. "Always with the dramatics," he says looking unimpressed.

Deidara ignores Sasori and opens the cupboard. Kakashi raises an eyebrow, expecting more. Inside is just a rack of clothes. But, Deidara reaches in side and lifts a corner of the carpet up to reveal a trapdoor.

"Impressed?" Deidara asks.

Kakashi shrugs. "Not really," he lies. Deidara scowls, pulling the carpet back completely and unlocking the trapdoor. Sasori shoves Deidara aside and leads the way, with Deidara at the rear and Kakashi sandwiched in between. The ladder takes them down into a tunnel and as Deidara closes the trapdoor the tunnel is snapped into a suffocating darkness. Kakashi keeps walking his back aching as he stoops hunchbacked. The darkness doesn't seem to bother Sasori or Deidara since Deidara gives Kakashi a shove, "hurry up un." Which then makes Kakashi collides into the back of Sasori.

"Idiot," Sasori mutters. They stop and there's a rapid, complicated succession of knocks.

"Jashin! What the fuck took you fuckers so long? Hey Mr-I-don't-like-to-keep-people-fucking-waiting?" It's the albino from form. Kakashi blinks in surprise.

"Shut up Hidan," Sasori mutters shoving past him. Hidan just laughs.

Kakashi follows, his eye watering as he forces his retinas to get used to the light. The door slams behind Deidara and he yells "hey Pein we've got him!"

Bemused, Kakashi walks down the dimly lit tunnel that's lined with grey blocks, which has several closed doors. Hidan leads them into the first room on the left.

"They're here," Hidan announces, flopping onto and ancient sofa that has foam spilling out. Despite the sofa's condition the room looks cheerful enough, with a wooden table and chairs on the other side. Kakashi's eye roams over the various drawings that wallpaper the room that look like a five-year old has scribbled them.

A boy who's covered in piercings gives Hidan a disgruntled look as he sits down. The girl the pierced boy is sitting next to rolls her eyes at Hidan and fingers the paper flower in her blue hair. At the table is another boy with pale blue tinged skin and what looks like gills on his cheeks. Kakashi's eye then falls on the boy next to fish boy. This boy is covered in scars and stitches and is reading what looks like the Financial Times. And opposite him is… Kakashi's stomach tightens.

"Hey," the pierced boy smiles. "I'm Pein, Kakashi right?"

Kakashi nods.

"You've met Deidara and Sasori already… This is Konan," he says and the girl smiles. "That's Hidan."

"Fuck yeah," the albino says.

"Kakuzu." The scarred guy nods.

"Kisame," the other boy says.

"And that's-"

"Itachi," Kakashi finishes. "We've already met." Itachi stares at Kakashi, his expression fathomless and even Hidan has stopped cursing sensing the tension.

"Kakashi," Itachi says in his monotone voice. Everyone seems to be holding their breath as Kakashi and Itachi look at each other unblinking.

"SEMAPI!"

"Oh shit-" Deidara mutters, when an orange streak hurtles into the room taking out Deidara in a tackle. "Get it off me!" Deidara says his voice muffled. Sasori who had just sat next to Itachi watches Deidara with a faintly amused expression. This is most emotion Kakashi has seen on Sasori's face.

"Tobi, be a good boy and stop killing Deidara," a voice hisses. Kakashi turns to see the black and white plant guy walks into the room.

"Zetsu and Tobi, our other members," Pein explains. It takes a while for Kakashi to process all of this.

"Members?" He asks.

"We're Akatsuki," Hidan snaps.

Kakashi has to suppress a smile. "Oh I see… And you want me to join right?" Pein nods whilst the others watch Kakashi.

"No way," Kakashi says bluntly.

"What the fuck!" Hidan yells. "I'll sacrifice you to Jashin!"

"When in doubt sacrifice," Kakuzu drawls form behind his newspaper.

"Too right!" Hidan says, obviously missing out on the sarcasm.

Pein frowns "you don't even know what Akatsuki is."

"I do," Kakashi cuts in. "You're just another bunch of idiots who think they can take on Orochimaru." Hidan starts to shout abuse until Zetsu grabs Hidan off the sofa and throws him out of the room. The door slams and there's muffled yelling until it's suddenly cut off.

"I'll make sure Zetsu doesn't eat him," Kakuzu sighs.

"I'll help!" Tobi exclaims and he stops suffocating Deidara and they exit the room. Kakashi isn't sure whether to take this seriously or not.

"We're going to stop the snake," Deidara interjects, sitting up. Kakashi looks at him. What an idiot. These guys are either totally deluded or insane. Kakashi guesses the latter. But…Kakashi glances at Kisame's blue skin. These guys are clearly majors. Majors are the ones that survive drastic modifications, minors the ones who are either modified very little or not at all.

"No you're not," Kakashi laugh, without the slightest hint of humour. "You definitely look like the type to die young."

"Told you brat," Sasori says. Deidara scowls.

"But you survived resisting," Pein points up and he stands up. "No one else has." Kakashi's eye glazes over. Resisting? You can't call what happened resisting. He rubs his eye hard, the itch going so deep he feels it stab his brain. What really happened wasn't an attempt at a revolution. What happened were just some stupid kids attempting to fight the inevitable.

"It wasn't resisting," Kakashi says finally, his voice heavy. "What happened was a foolish mistake which I never want to make again."

"But-" Deidara interrupts. Pein stops him, knowing Kakashi's going to say more.

"You'll never be able to defeat him," Kakashi says. "Anyway…No one wants to survive an attempt after a resistance."

Pein narrows his eyes. "Why?" He asks.

Kakashi shrugs and answers quietly "the only reason I'm alive is because that's my punishment." The rest of Akatsuki are silent. Pein looks thoughtful.

"Follow me," Pein tells Kakashi. They leave the room and walk past what looks like a kitchen until Pein turns left into a dark room.

"This is why Akatsuki are different," Pein says flicking a switch. Kakashi's eye widens with amazement. In front of him the wall is covered in newspaper articles, records and photos of children of various ages. The right wall is a map of the city. To Kakashi's left the wall is similar to the one in front however the photos are of teenagers and some young adults. Kakashi spots photos of the Akatsuki members and even a photo of himself. Every single part of the collection on the walls are connected by a web of red thread.

"We're monitoring current majors," Pein explains nodding at the teenager wall. "The wall in front is children undergoing modification who we think will be majors or potential majors who haven't undergone modification yet. We judge it on their family or background."

Kakashi stops listening at this point as he turns to see the wall behind him. His bandaged eye begins to water. The wall is completely bare apart from one small photo frame in the middle.

"The old resistance back in the days when Danzo was in power," Pein says as Kakashi walks over to it. "We think this whole place used to belong to them."

Kakashi stares at the photo. Kushina smiles back and Minato gives Kakashi his big, stupid goofy grin. The couple is sandwiched in between Jiraiya and Tsunade and they look probably around the same age Kakashi is now, seventeen.

"So," Pein says. "Think we stand a chance?"

Kakashi manages to drag himself away. Maybe Pein is right. Maybe this crazy bunch of people does stand a chance.

"Who knows…?" Is all Kakashi replies.

"Fancy joining us then?" Pein asks.

Kakashi looks back at Minato and Kushina then his eye suddenly catches a photo that's on the wall of children. Naruto grins back, exactly goofy and stupid like his father's smile. Kakashi's heart stop. Wait how old is Naruto now? Eight? No ten… Which means…Kakashi's heart hardens. There is no way he's going to let Kushina and Minato's son be taken away and modified. He's not going to let Naruto go through that. No child should go through the modification process. Kakashi sighs. This is going to get him killed but…

"Yeah why not?" Kakashi shrugs, as if he joins resistance groups who want to take down evil dictators every day. "Let's give it a go."

Don't worry the whole 'major' 'minor' thing will be explained later! Hope you like it.