Pein (ペイン, Pein) is the leader of Akatsuki and a missing-nin from Amegakure. He is referred to as "leader" by all Akatsuki members except for his partner, who refers to him by his name. He has the respect of most of his subordinates (Hidan is an exception) and is the one directing their actions. Despite maintaining authority over the other members, he takes orders from Tobi, who is also revealed to be Madara Uchiha. During his initial appearances Pein appears as nothing more than a shadowy figure with unusual eyes, having several increasingly lighter gray circles around the pupil and a pink outline on the corners of his eyes. As the series progresses, however, elements of his appearance are slowly revealed, with both his auburn hair and the piercings on his chin being shown before the rest of his face.

Although he has not been seen in battle, the unnamed member states that Pein has never lost a fight. The only jutsu he is seen using, the Shapeshifting Technique (象転の術, Shōten no Jutsu?), allows him to clone his subordinates using human sacrifices that they control and can use to engage enemies without risking their lives. The clones formed are perfect copies of the original, even possessing the kekkei genkai and unique weapons they may possess. Their abilities are proportionate to the amount of chakra given to the clone (in its debut, he requested thirty percent). Pein also initiates and supervises the jutsu that forcibly brings a tailed beast out of its host. When it becomes necessary to gather his subordinates, he can communicate with them over long distances through some form of telepathy. Moreover, Pein has displayed the ability detect the movements and chakra of people travelling within rain.

Pein has displayed at least a cursory knowledge of the various villages, as well as the underlying political and economic conditions in the country at large. When Hidan referred to the Konoha-nin as "godless heathens," he gave a short description of Konoha's "Will of Fire," then proceeded to note that all countries have some similar practice to justify their battles. He is also rumored to be the leader of one of the warring factions in the Land of Rain's current civil war, where he uses Amegakure as his base of operations.

Hidan (飛段, Hidan?) is the foul-mouthed partner of Kakuzu and the second-newest member of Akatsuki. The first kanji in Hidan's name (飛) stands for hisha, the rook in shogi. Hidan belongs to the Jashin religion, a religion that worships a deity named Jashin and where anything less than utter destruction is considered a sin. As a part of his religion, Hidan owns a charm with an upside-down triangle inscribed inside a circle that he carries on a chain of beads. Before a battle starts he prays to this charm, asking for nothing short of a kill or, in the event that a target must be captured alive, for forgiveness. Once a battle has begun, Hidan dislikes being interrupted or being forced to stop the fight, and it takes a great deal of persuasion to get him to comply. After battles, should he have time, Hidan performs a thirty-minute ritual in accordance with his religion, which seems to culminate by stabbing himself in the chest and lying upon the ground.

Hidan is apparently immortal, having been fatally wounded a number of times and even surviving decapitations while still retaining the ability to speak. Although he can survive dismemberment, Hidan needs to be connected to his body in order to control it. Kakuzu is able to help Hidan in these situations by using his threads to reattach his body parts, allowing the wounds to heal with time. Kakuzu can also take advantage of Hidan's immortality by attacking without worry of needing a new partner, allowing Hidan to act as a distraction while Kakuzu attacks their opponents from afar. Although neither is fond of their partnership, this coupling of abilities makes the two ideal teammates.

In battle, Hidan wields a three-bladed scythe that, in addition to causing fatal injuries, increases Hidan's chance of drawing some of an opponent's blood. Upon acquiring blood and consuming it, Hidan draws the same symbol that is on his charm on the ground. Once entering this symbol Hidan's skin turns black with white lines in roughly the same locations as his bones. He also becomes "linked" with the opponent, causing any damage done to him to also be done to the opponent (akin to a voodoo doll). So long as this link is active Hidan is able to cause damage to himself at his leisure, bringing him pleasure from the pain it causes to both himself and the opponent. After toying with his opponent by giving himself nonlethal injuries, Hidan stabs himself in the chest, fatally injuring the opponent and causing his transformation to reverse. While being a useful technique, Hidan needs to remain within the symbol for the voodoo-like effects to work. If he does leave, the link still exists and his transformation remains, leaving him to only need to return to the symbol to resume the technique.

As Hidan and Kakuzu travel through the Land of Fire, Hidan is forced into battle with Asuma Sarutobi. After forming a link with Asuma and preparing to kill him, Hidan is stopped by Shikamaru Nara. Although Shikamaru is able to break the link and allow Asuma to decapitate Hidan, Hidan is soon able to rejoin his body with Kakuzu's help, reform the link, and kill Asuma. Before Hidan can turn his attention to Shikamaru and the rest of his team, he and Kakuzu are called away by the Akatsuki leader. Once their business is finished, Hidan and Kakuzu set out for Konoha to finish their battle, though along the way they are captured by Shikamaru, who had been waiting for them. Although Kakuzu is able to escape, Shikamaru is able to use his shadow to force Hidan to attack him, although he eventually decides to lead Hidan away so the rest of his team can deal with Kakuzu. Upon reaching his destination, Shikamaru restrains Hidan, covers him in exploding tags, and causes a pit beneath Hidan to break away. Finally having a chance to avenge Asuma's death, Shikamaru lights a cigarette and tosses it at Hidan, causing the exploding tags to detonate. As his remains fall into the pit Hidan promises to kill Shikamaru in any way po

Aloneness. Darkness. That's all there ever is. That and blood. Bloodlust for my brother. Its all his fault anyways. All his fault this person I've become. I consist of hate, ice and murder. They all want me but they don't know me. They don't really care. If they did they would know I don't want their smiles and I don't want their fucking fan clubs. All I want is the end, to reach my goal, kill my brother, and end the dark. It smothers me. Its all I see. Its absorbed my soul over the years. I know longer feel. They all speak of love, the annoying happy people. Hmph. Love. There is no such thing. No its all just fake. Loved ones killing loved ones. That's all I know of love. Until recently anyways. Not that I would call the way I feel for him love. Its more a lessening of the usual hate. I do hate him though. Him and his stupid meaningless dreams. And that smile. Its so fake. Even I in my cage can see that. Inside he's dark like me and I hate that too. But what I hate the most is his light. Its hurts. It pierces me to the core that fucking light. And do you know why its there? Because he chose it to be. That makes me hate him so much . But the light. Oh how addicting. To be able to see again. I haven't really seen since that day when he took away my sight. But when I'm around him I see more than blood. I see more than the end. I see him. And I hate it. I need the darkness. Nothing can be allowed to touch the darkness. I need it to survive. It is me. But he brings light and it terrifies me. It terrifies me like that day terrifies me. But I can't get away. I'm so addicted to it I almost gave up the end. Can you believe that? I almost died to keep the light. And I hate that. I hate that weakness. All I need is the darkness. Fuck the light. That's why I hate him. That's why I hurt him. To destroy the light and reach the end. That's all that matters.

----------------
Now playing: Dr. Bombay - Safari
http://foxytunes.com/artist/safari/t...