Nue's POV

I slowly opened my eyes as I began to regain consciousness. "Finally. You're awake," I sat up and found my twin standing a few feet away from me as a light breeze blew through her hair. She looked as if she was staring off into space.

"You really are an idiot." She mentioned. I stood to my feet and walked over to her. "Where are we?" I asked. "In your mind." She answered. "Why is everything white?" I asked.

"Because this is the blank part of your mind. I don't really find it surprising since you're that clueless sometimes." She mentioned. I rolled my eyes at her comment.

"What are we doing here?"

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

"Your reckless actions."

"I'm sorry?"

She sighed and faced me. "You do realize you were about to kill Shikamaru, right?" She said. "Of course I was. That was the plan. At least until you got in my way. What was that about, anyway? Why did you protect him?" I demanded.

"Because it wasn't time to kill him." She said. "Huh?" I looked at her confused. "Remember when you nearly killed Kakashi during that bell test? Remember how I told you it wasn't time to kill him yet?" She asked.

"Mm-hm." I answered. "It's the same reason why I stopped you from killing Shikamaru. It wasn't time for to kill him yet." She explained. "What do you mean? When will be the right time to kill him? Why do you always stop me from doing my job?" I demanded, angrily.

"You'll know when the time comes, my clueless twin. But don't worry, I have a plan. Just be patient a little while longer." She said, chuckling. I rolled my eyes and turned away from her, my arms crossed over my chest

"Aw, did I upset you? Come on, don't be like that. There will be a time when you get to kill them. All good things come to those who wait." My twin said as she wrapped her arms around from behind, her hands fondling the front of my body.

"Oh, and another thing." She mentioned. "What is it?" I asked, coldly. "I've been thinking about giving a name for myself." She said. "A name?" I repeated, my back still facing her. "Yeah. Instead of calling me 'Twin' or 'She', why don't you give a name so it'll be easier for the both of us?" She suggested. I sighed, annoyed.

"All right, fine. What name do you wanna go by?"

"Hmm.... How about Eun?"

"Eun?"

"Yeah. It's your name, spelled backwards. Pretty clever, huh?"

"Yeah, real clever. Can we go now?"

"Sure, Miss Busybody."

She raised her hand to my face and gently tapped my nose with her finger as a small light appeared on it. It got bigger and bright until I closed my eyes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My eyes snapped open and I found myself lying in the middle of a forest. I sat up and looked around. "Dammit, where did you put us, Eun? I don't recognize it at all." I mumbled. I stood to my feet and began to walk forward. "Nue... Come on. Where are you? This is starting to get real annoying." Hidan whined in holographic form.

I came to a complete stop as I listened in on their conversation. "Will you knock that off? You've been trying to contact her for the past ten minutes." Kakuzu said, getting annoyed. "I'm just gonna say it right now. She's dead. End of story." Kisame said.

"I can hear you, you know." I mentioned, bluntly. "Ah, so you are alive." Pein said. "Where've you been, Nue? We've been trying to contact you, un." Deidara said. "Are you all right?" Kakuzu asked. "Yeah, I'm fine." I answered as I started to walk again.

"Where the hell did you run off to, Nue? We had to leave the battlefield without you to seal the Two-Tails." Hidan said. "Sorry, I was having a conversation with my twin. She brought me inside my own mind to have a talk with me." I explained. I continued to walk forward until I found Hidan and Kakuzu's bodies sitting on a rock.

"Well, hurry up and get here. We've already started the extraction." Hidan said. "Right." I replied. I sat down behind Kakuzu and concentrated before appearing in my holographic form. "There you are." Kisame said, grinning.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." I apologized as I stood on my post. I made a hand sign and helped them extract the Two-Tails. I recognized the host immediately. It was Yugito Nii from the Cloud Village. She trained me for about three months and made me what I am today; a strong kunoichi.

"I'm sorry... Sensei. I'm sorry to do this to you. But... this is for the best." I whispered. "You went to the trouble of calling us back just to seal the Two-Tails?" Hidan asked, obviously not amused. I sighed.

"Must you be so loud?" I asked, annoyed. "It will take three days. Prepare yourselves." Pein informed. "Three days? Aw, man. It's raining where we are." Hidan whined. "Hidan. Shut up." Kakuzu said. "But I was this close to slaughtering those Leaf morons. I was just about to prove to those heathens the might of the Way of Jashin." Hidan said.

"The Leaf aren't heathens. They ventilate their ancestors and follow the Way of Fire. In fact, one can say their low tips for fighting are just as valid as yours." Pein informed as he looked at Hidan. "Huh?! How dare you! Are you trying to insult me?! Huh?!" Hidan snapped.

"No. I did not intend to read your reasons of why you do battle. After all, you and I are birds of a feather. It doesn't matter what you use to justify war. Religion, philosophy, resources, land, revenge, love, even a win. No matter how tribute of a motive, their all worthy causes of war. There will always be war. The reason can be found later. Human instinct seeks conflict. " Pein explained.

"Aw, nobody wants to hear your long-winded lecture. Listen, I've got my own way of doing things. I have my own set of goals. I don't intend to devote my all to this organization, alright?" Hidan said. "So long as your affiliated with the Akatsuki, you will contribute to its goals. Once they have been achieved, your own wishes will be swiftly granted as well." Pein told him.

"I've heard that before." I mumbled, rolling my eyes. I still haven't killed Orochimaru and I'm getting more and more eager to kill the longer I wait! How is it that he always gets the upper hand?! Ugh, it's so frustrating!

"Ha! You can act all cool if you want. But it won't change the fact that the only thing that the Akatsuki wants is to make money. You're the same as Kakuzu. And fighting for the money is the motivation I hate most." Hidan said.

"You're right. Our immediate ambition is indeed financial. But the Akatsuki's true goal lies elsewhere. And one it is one that will ultimately cost a great deal of money to fulfill." Pein said.

"After Nue and Tobi, I'm the third newest member of the team. So, I haven't heard anything about this true goal from you. You just plan stuff behind my back." Hidan said. "Stop whining Hidan or you'll make him angry." I warned. "Hmph. Are you sulking? I suppose it's about time I told you." Pein said.

"Huh?" Hidan said, puzzled. "The Akatsuki's ultimate objective will be accomplished in stages. There are three steps in total. The first being money." Pein explained. Hidan sounded annoyed when he mentioned money. "The second is to use that money to assemble the first mercenary shinobi army the world has seen." He continued.

"Come on, that's just like what the shinobi villages are already doing. You complete a mission and you get a payment. What? You want to become the ruler of some tiny village that doesn't have a host's nation to support it? Is that what were all doing here? Heh, how stupid." Hidan said. "You're going to get yourself killed with that mouth of yours." I warned him.

"Hmm... A village supported by a host's nation? You have it backwards." Pein said. I shot him a confused look. "What?" Hidan asked.

"I'll explain it to you sequentially." Pein said. Okay. Now I'm interested. "For a nation that posses a powerful ninja village, shinobi business plays a key role in their profit structure. Such villages are in great revenues, participating in conflicts with within and beyond their nation's borders. They support that nation's economy, not the other way around." He explained.

"So in other words, in order for that nation to have steady revenue, war becomes unnecessary evil." I said. "That is correct. However, the current error has seen only smaller conflicts. There are no more great wars like in the past. The villages have downsized to save money and many shinobi have lost their jobs. Shinobi exist to fight. They risk their lives for the sake of their land and yet, this is how their rewarded." He continued.

"The Five Great Nations are still fine. Those lands and their ninja villages are vast and trusted. They're stable, receiving plenty of missions from other lands. But not so for the smaller nations. It takes an enormous amount of money to maintain a ninja village. Those costs remain the same in times of war or peace. That being said, if a village downsizes too drastically, it won't be able to protect itself from a sudden conflict. That's where we Akatsuki come in. We will not align ourselves to any nation and only mobilize the necessary number of shinobi at the appropriate time. An organization that will accept money for contracts of war. From both small villages and ninja villages alike. But first, we'll take on all sorts of conflicts for little profit, exclusively cornering the entire war market. Then, we will use the tailed beasts to cause new wars altogether. And eventually, we'll gain a complete monopoly. We will control all war. In the wake of this, the ninja villages of the Five Great Nations will collapse. They'll have no choice but to use the Akatsuki. Then, and only then, will we achieve our true goal which lies just ahead,"

I saw him raise his hand out in front of him.

"It's the third and final step. World domination." Pein finished.

I see. So that's what this is about. I yawned and closed my eyes momentarily. "Did she really fall asleep on us? Hey, Nue! Wake up!" Hidan yelled. "I'm not asleep, you moron," I opened my eyes and looked at him with a frown.

"But I could really use some sleep. I'm exhausted." I said, yawning again. "When are you not tired?! All day, you sleep and sleep until nightfall!" Hidan said. "She's nocturnal, Hidan!" Everyone said.

"Tch." Hidan mumbled. "How many times do we have to remind you until you get it through that thick head of yours?" Kakuzu asked, annoyed. "Shut up, Kakuzu!" Hidan snapped. I yawned again. If I have to listen to them yell at each other for three days, I might as well fall asleep.