*Chapter 6: The Wakening*

The next morning finally arrived. It was early and the sun warmed up the Earth relaxingly. Everything and everyone was rising for the start of their day, but none were prepared for what was to come in the house of the Akatsuki that fateful morning…

-Morning (8:32 a.m.)

*Kitchen*

"Would you like some coffee Pein. It's fresh," Konan offered her confidante as she finished brewing from crisp smelling coffee, the aroma filling the air in the house with a sweet, soothing scent similar to waffles. To Konan, it gave the sense of homage whenever those coffee beans were crushed and brewed into that strong tasting liquid she loves.

"Certainly," Pein shortly replied.

Though Pein really didn't need to drink coffee to gain the morning boost, he would just be nice and accept a cup or two. Konan knew he didn't prefer it as much, but asked to see if he wanted some anyways, wondering whether he secretly liked the brown stuff or he's just being kind to her, which in her mind, seemed like a sweet gesture.

Just as she was pouring a cup for her red headed leader, a shriek filled the house, causing Konan to spill the hot liquid all over the counter, accidentally knocking the cup off and onto the floor. Broken pieces of the glass cup spread out and she had accidentally burned herself with the coffee.

"Ahh! Damnit!," she hissed as she placed the pitcher back on the counter and gripped her leg where the hot liquid had made contact to her skin.

Pein jumped up and checked on her with the emotionless expression as usual. He didn't show it, but he was concerned.

"Are you alright Konan?," he questioned sternly.

"What was that scream?," she inquired as she held on to her injured leg, looking at the destroyed white dish that the house had provided for its guest.

"We're probably gonna have to pay for that," she added as she cringed from the sharp pain.

*Hidan & Kakuzu's Room*

"What in the hell happened here?," Kisame confusingly wondered as he stood in the doorway.

"NOOOOOO! It can't beeeee!," Hidan cried at the top of his lungs as he appeared to be hovering over something, or even, someone.

Everyone else who stood outside the room to examine the situation were puzzled by what they saw inside. Pein rushed over as soon as he finished helping Konan relax from her burn just moments ago. Hidan's weeping as loud and annoying as ever.

"What is going on here? Who screamed just now? Answer me," Pein demanded from his underlings.

Deidara and Sasori jumped back a bit from their leaders terrifying tone, especially after what he did to them last night during one of their "art" arguments. They wanted to avoid another conflict.

"It was Hidan," Itachi responded lowly.

The leader of the Akatsuki then shoved everybody to the side to get a better look of the whining silver-haired man who cried like a baby this early in the morning, which irritated Pein very much. He didn't like to deal with these idiots this early into the day. He typically left that job to Konan, but even she didn't like to handle their problems. He peered down pathetically over Hidan's head while kneeled onto the floor.

"Hidan. What is the meaning of this? What purpose did you have for startling the entire house with your unnecessary shouting?," Pein questioned roughly as he stepped flat on his back.

Sobbing and sniffling, Hidan looked up at his leader, tears rolling down his cheeks and eyes slightly red and glossy. He brings up what was the source of his sadness: the remains of his long beloved scythe.

"My baby! My scythe! It was destroyed," he cried and cried uncontrollably, almost like waterfalls streaming from his eyes.

Pein and some of the others became irritated by his big baby acting and couldn't take his whining any longer; eyebrows twitching of annoyance from everybody. Kakuzu appeared from the other side of the hallway, casually walking towards the formed crowd, curious of what was happening inside the room he and Hidan shared.

He walked over, behind Kisame and Zetsu, trying to peek past the individuals.

"What is the deal here?," he asked whoever paid attention.

*Living Room*

Lying in a still, comfortable position on the three-seat couch, Konan listened from afar the situation that was taking place. Because she was in the living room, all she could make out was the sounds of Pein and Hidan bickering at each other over who knew what, but she had a hunch about how it would end eventually, knowing that Pein was dealing with it.

The burn on her leg began to heal gradually with a bag of frozen peas wrapped over it. The sting was faint but it would remain there for a while longer. She even hoped it'd stop hurting before the peas thoroughly thaw and go to waste. The boys would probably want some later for a lunch side.

"When will this burn fade so I can walk again? More like when will Pein allow me to get up despite the little pain I actually feel right now?," she mumbled as she stared at the bag in her hand.

Konan laid her head back on the pillow, hoping to relax for a few minutes or so, or until the guys were done with their fight and decided to come have breakfast as a group like usual. Though she found it difficult to completely ignore the shouting from far away, she did what she needed to do to block those idiots out of her mind. Just as she slowly closed her eyes, the sound of something shifting was coming from the kitchen next door.

Alarmed, she darted and scanned through the view of the kitchen from where she lied, but saw nothing. She dismissed it and dozed off for a quick nap, until something broke back in the kitchen and startled her for good. Extremely curious, she jerked herself out of the couch, removed the substitute ice bag and left it on the sofa pillow; heading next door to investigate.

She limped the way over and when she got there, she spotted a shattered glass cup right next to the other coffee cup that had fallen just minutes ago. It became oddly peculiar to her. In fact, it began to concern her bits more than before.

"There wasn't another glass on the counter, was there? No," she said in her mind, puzzled by it and concentrated deeply. That is until she felt a pair of hands grab her arms and jolted in fear.

"Konan, what are you doing on your feet? I told you to relax on the sofa," Pein complained to her.

"Yes but-!"

"No buts. That was an order. You need to recover from your injury."

"It doesn't even… Ugh, fine," Konan surrendered, allowing him to pick her up bridal style and returned her to the couch.

"I can't believe you Kakuzu! Why the hell did you break my scythe into lots of pieces?," Hidan wailed towards Kakuzu, gritting his teeth upsettingly.

"I already told you for the one hundredth time, it came after me in the middle of the night and I had no other choice but to destroy it," Kakuzu argued back to his shorter partner.

Suddenly Konan took interest and listened in on it more.

"What the fuck are you talking about?! My scythe doesn't have a mind of its own. That's impossible!," Hidan spat, angry and confused.

"I know you don't believe me, but it did happen. It was floating in mid-air while you were heavily knocked out and it lashed at me a few times before I stopped it from killing me. What else was I supposed to do? Let it cut me like slices of bologna?," Kakuzu told, so frustrated with the Jashinist.

"Ooh~! Bolognaaaa~! That actually sounds good with some pieces of bread and cheeseeee~! Ooh ooh~! And maybe with a side of chi-!," Tobi commented on the side, not taking this fight seriously.

Deidara dashed behind him only to smack the orange masked man upside his head with an annoyed look on his face, like always, because Tobi got his every nerve by just being himself.

"You idiot, this is not the time to be thinking about food, hmm," Dei nagged to him as his eyes were twitching and shut from disappointment.

"Oooowwwww…!," Tobi cried rubbing his bump.

"I don't fucking believe you!," Hidan shoved Kakuzu fearlessly, knocking him back into the short chair behind him.

The others gasped in surprise as Kakuzu suddenly became furious and prepared for battle. The fire in his eyes ignited even more when Hidan stepped closer to mentally accept his invitation to hand to hand combat.

"Terrific. That's all we need is another feud to damage the house more than it already is," Itachi made a low comment.

"Yeah, but it's always fun to watch from the sidelines," Kisame added.

"What do you say brat? We watch or leave?," Sasori asked the blonde.

"Maybe we should stay. Missing this would just be ridiculous, hmm," Deidara replied smoothly.

Everyone waited patiently for the fight to begin, wondering who would make the first move to whom. Anticipating, Konan dwelled on the accusations that Kakuzu explained to his partner just moments ago. A scythe floating? Without its owner wielding it? How was that possible? She knew he wasn't a puppet master and had no other unique special abilities hidden. Hell, she didn't think he had a brain for that matter. For Kakuzu, he didn't take any drugs. She knew he was too stingy to think about buying drugs off the black market. So what could it possibly be?

Then she remembered the broken glass right before Pein intruded and took her away. There were no extra dishes set out that she recall, unless Pein pulled it out from the cabinet, but what knocked it over? No one was in the kitchen at the time it fell, so…

"I bet 10 on the old man~!," Tobi shouted cheerfully, referring to Hidan.

"Fuck you Tobi!," Hidan snapped at the sideline.

Pein rushed in between the very tense duo, reaching out his arms in opposite directions, prepared to blast them with his mighty pushes. He was pissed, they could tell, but he remained emotionless and strangely calm from the outside.

"Nobody is going to destroy anything. We can't afford to replace the entire house if you morons decide to go at it every time you have your little pathetic feelings hurt. Now I want you all to shut up, make up and resolve the problem, excluding the violence. If you disobey, I will be forced to take special care of you, personally," Pein deathly spoke to each of his members, except for Konan, who sat soundlessly in the background.

Disappointed that they got no action and body parts flying around, Hidan and Kakuzu reluctantly surrendered and went their separate ways. It seemed they didn't want to look at each other's faces for a while, so as long as there was no bloodshed, Pein was fine with it.

"Alright if you want to have breakfast, now is the time. Otherwise, get out of my sight," Pein instructed, walking towards the kitchen so he can continue with his now rocky morning.

Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori and Tobi follow their leader into the area so they too could find some food to eat and start their day. Konan remained in the living room, famished but distracted by the things she has already suspected.

"Was there something weird going on in this house, or what?," she thought to herself.

She was determined to find the answer to this day long question, no matter what. But would she be prepared for it?

"AAHHHHHHH!," the scream that paused everything, including Konan.

"What the?," she said softly.