Disclaimer: The publishing of Masashi Kishimoto's manga "Naruto" began in 1997-1999 (depending on your point of view) . I am not Masashi Kishimoto, nor am I any affiliate in the publishing industry. I do not own in part or in whole any of the characters, concepts, stories, or other copyrighted materials. I'm just writing a fan fiction piece.
I'd like to say upfront that if you're opposed to seeing the Akatsuki as anything but selfish, heartless terrorists, you probably won't like this story.
Warning: This story features pseudo-canon content, meaning that while some major events certainly still take place, the aftermath is contradictory to the canon story-line. Characters that should be dead are not because an excuse has been made to alter such defining events in the plot. Rest assured that within the boundaries of this fan fiction, the author is doing all in its power to ensure that major future events are not altered because of this fandom-based disruption of the Naruto time-space continuum…
Important Notes for Readers:
1) I've set the time frame of this story at just after the "Immortals arc", meaning that Pein's plan hasn't seen its final stages, so we're going back in time for those of you up to date with Naruto Shippuden. And for those of you wondering what Shippuden is, shield your ears for risk of spoilers.
2) There are a few things I want to mention because I'm paranoid and hyper-defensive:
A) I've fudged a couple things in this chapter. I don't know exactly what the deal is with Nagato's hardware, and I doubt Zetsu can actually communicate in any recognizable way with plants, but they're old plot devices that I wasn't sure how to replace.
B) As for a part of the story that may confuse some people: "Konan kept an eye on her two partners, Nagato and Pein, as the latter essentially physically supported his comrade." This sentence is based on my presumptuous reasoning that if Nagato has to get around, he's probably aided/supported by someone, and for some reason, in my head, I envision Deva Pein as that someone. In short, Yahiko is sort of a crutch for Nagato in the latter's infirmed condition.
And with this lengthy, but hopefully helpful author's note out of the way, let the story begin.
Chapter 1: The Jutsu
Just inside a forest somewhere in Grass Country, there sat a small cottage, simple in structure with tall planks of plain wood serving as walls; there was nothing particularly special about it. Inside was a small simple kitchen, a family room, and a hallway that led to three doors barely wide enough for walking through. But if one were to open the trap door on the floor of the hallway under the long rectangular rug, one would find a long staircase leading down to a shallow but long and wide stone chamber. The walls were lined with boxes of documents, information stored over years of operation, specifically Akatsuki operations. This was one of the several low-key hideouts maintained and occasionally used by the organization of S-Class criminals. The locations and their security varied across the map, but had a few things in common – simple buildings, remote areas, and information always being stored underground.
It was in this particular cottage that a relatively uncommon meeting was about to take place. A meeting with all Akatsuki present – in person. Deva Pein's ringed eyes roamed disapprovingly over the tattered members of his organization. The past few weeks had not been good to Akatsuki, with a handful of them suffering grievous injuries: Deidara's arms, Sasori and Kakuzu's near-death experiences, and Hidan's profound dismemberment. Itachi's eyes grew ever dimmer, though he did what he could to minimize the attention drawn to them. A formal report from each of the Akatsuki was in order and in turn, they stepped forward announcing to the leader what they had managed – and failed to accomplish as pertaining to their assignments.
"So in summation, we have sealed the Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, and Rokubi. We have acceptable financial standing according to Kakuzu's records, and all members are miraculously still alive." He finished on a dull note, clearly not impressed with the last announcement. "Your updated assignments are simple." The leader continued as Konan passed along their papers with detailed descriptions of their further work. "Continue as planned, and we'll have the remaining bijuu in good time." Pein then turned to glance at the four wounded, but gradually recovering Akatsuki. Turning to leave, he called back in a muted voice: "Deidara, Sasori, Hidan and Kakuzu will remain under the radar and minimize activity until their strength is fully restored. Kisame and Itachi, you'll be expected to compensate for this reduction in moving agents. Konan, Zetsu and Tobi, your ongoing work remains the same. You are all dismissed." The orders were delivered cleanly and crisply, followed by the soft click of the floor-bound door as it shut gently behind the orange-haired man.
Upstairs, Pein wasted no time in turning right to go further down the hallway, and turning left into a dimly lit bedroom. In the left corner sat the man who breathed life into the otherwise motionless corpse of Yahiko. Attached to the cumbersome equipment that kept him alive, Nagato smiled weakly up at the red-head, a sad smile reserved for the faces of loved ones who seem far away even when they're in the same room.
Following Pein's example, the rest of the Akatsuki filed up the stairs and into the cabin-like building, blinking away the bright light of a late afternoon after emerging from the dark underground meeting room.
"Acceptable is one word for our financial standing…" Kakuzu mumbled sourly, not personally satisfied with their balance. He shot a look at Hidan, as though the follower of Jashin had somehow deprived them of revenue, which given his method of dealing with targets, was a vague possibility.
"Quiet, bastard, my head is killing me," the immortal quipped back, holding the right side of his heavily stitched face with a heavily stitched hand. It had taken Kakuzu days to piece the man back together as though he were a 3D puzzle. Such a time-consuming process was a labor of love that neither wanted to bear in memory nor mention again.
Kisame silently watched his partner who took a seat in the main room, keeping to himself and discreetly trying to observe his surroundings even as his eyes were beginning to fail him. The pale blue-skinned man couldn't contain his slow and deep sigh at the somewhat pitiful sight.
Sasori had immediately retreated into one of the bedrooms, content to rest in dark quiet as he was still slowly recovering from the damage dealt to his heart. Deidara cringed at the stifled sound of rattling wood as Sasori mustered up the strength to casually walk into the room and shut the door behind him. The blonde only supposed that when you only have one organ like Sasori, it takes longer to recover; Kakuzu too had been severely wounded, but once he had a replacement heart provided to him by Zetsu, gathering 4 others was easy enough given some time, and with 5 working hearts, general recovery seemed to come quickly to him.
"Hmmm… poor Sasori doesn't look like he's feeling too well today, huh Senpai?" Deidara's expression of guilt-laced compassion transformed seamlessly into one of annoyance at the sound of that singsong voice. Tobi stood behind Deidara with his head cocked to one side in his characteristically playful and curious manner, seemingly undaunted by the visibly irritated blonde who turned to look at him. Of course, what actually happened behind that mask was a mystery to anyone. Deidara sighed as he turned away, rolled his eyes, and looked toward the nearest window.
"Not today, Tobi, I'm not in the mood." In fact, no one was in the mood so-to-speak. There was a tension in the room or rather, in the whole house. All of them meeting together, it left them feeling vulnerable somehow, and Nagato's presence offered little comfort. Konan kept an eye on her two partners, Nagato and Pein, as the latter essentially physically supported his comrade. The anxiety felt by the better half of the group was infectious, and the awkwardness of this meeting was not lost on her: she knew that gathering everyone together was a rare occurrence, that the members of the organization did not necessarily play nicely with each other, and that all of them in one location seemed a risky decision. Why Nagato wanted everyone together wasn't clear, and Konan could only guess at the reason, since he had not confided this even in her. Perhaps he was feeling lonely and wanted something resembling a family to be around, even if he didn't see much of them. Perhaps he knew something she didn't. So, much of Konan's time and nervous energy would be spent musing on such things.
Deidara and Hidan, given the atmosphere were putting their foremost effort into stifling their usual attitudes, as they would certainly be ill-received – and unlike a certain blonde they could both mention, the two knew better than to antagonize apprehensive and irate S-Class criminals.
Zetsu had instructions from Pein and Nagato to make sure the surrounding area was as secure as possible. The leader mentioned to him that it would also be nice if he could manage to dissolve some of the tension. So Zetsu gave it some thought, and while it was still daylight, he concluded that food was an effective method of calming people. An hour after excusing himself from the cottage, he returned with rice and vegetables from a nearby village (the village, he had of course entered using the transformation jutsu) and fish from the nearby river. He ignored the silent look of exasperation on Kakuzu's face, and went straight into the kitchen to start cooking. Opening a cabinet he took out a couple packets of dried tea herbs, and upon having everything set on the counter, left again to fetch water.
An hour and a half afterwards, dinner was served and the Akatsuki stared awkwardly between their plates, Zetsu and the leaders before somewhat reluctantly eating. No one felt it was appropriate to comment on the dinner, but thanked Zetsu quietly as they rinsed their dishes quickly in the bowl of leftover water before leaving them on the counter, dodging eye contact with the leaders and Zetsu the whole time. The plant-man traded discouraged looks with Pein and Konan, it seemed dinner had little effect, and worse yet, it appeared that the other Akatsuki were well aware that dinner was supposed to be a calming experience, yet had failed miserably. Everyone was still uneasy, and defeated, Zetsu walked over to the window and watched the sunset being swallowed in dark storm clouds that were headed their way. After meeting Pein and Konan's (and subtly Tobi's) eyes, he turned to the other members who had dispersed throughout the main room and were trying to occupy themselves with something.
"We'll be handling night-watch today." He said, and planned to say something else, but changed his mind as the words died in his throat. He opened the front door and turned back, "We're just going to take one more look around before dark, but we're fairly sure that the area is clear." The others nodded slowly, all of them making eye contact with Zetsu for the first time that day.
Scanning the entire area for 3 miles around was a thorough, but seemingly wasted effort, as he found no sign of the presence of other people, and the plants and trees had nothing to report. So he returned with the generally good news to find that most everyone had already gone to sleep. He had of course checked each room to ensure that everyone was present and undisturbed. Looking at the clock as he came back into the main room, he realized that he had been gone for 5 hours, and the sky had long since turned dark, so he hung his rain-soaked cloak by the door and sat down in a chair facing the front door and one of the windows. He stretched, hearing bones crackle and the leaves of the plant twitch, allowing himself to slump slightly, but remained upright. It was quiet, cool, and pouring outside – in other words – it was going to be a long night, though he was brought back into sharp focus by the occasional rumble of thunder.
The early morning, besides getting brighter, didn't bring much change as the sky was still pouring down rain, and it was still all too quiet, though now the chirping of some birds could be heard. He decided to take a walk outside and scan the general area again on his way to get some food for breakfast: eggs and bread, fairly simple. Everything went smoothly, as his disguise went unquestioned, until he got back to the cottage to find a slightly frazzled-looking Pein, Konan and Nagato. It didn't take long for Zetsu to realize why they might be upset, as the sentinel had left while everyone else was still asleep, which in hindsight anyone could see that that was not good for security. "We brought items for breakfast." The white half offered with the smallest of smiles, hoping in vain that it may prove a peace offering. All three shook their heads, just grateful that this time nothing happened, but next time, they might not be so fortunate.
Some Akatsuki could not hide the nervous smiles at the bad vibes flowing between the leaders and Zetsu at breakfast-time. Tobi watched from the back of the group; he very well may have been smiling, the lucky bastard, Deidara thought glancing back at Tobi and his iron-clad expression cover, and trying desperately not to smile. No one saw fit to ask why Zetsu was getting dirty looks, but it was on everyone's mind. Only when the leaders decided to leave the main room and deliberate on some details of their plan did the others relax, trading looks of mild amusement when they thought Zetsu wasn't looking.
Tobi got permission from the leaders to go take care of some personal business, provided that he waited for Zetsu to come find him before they both returned to the hideout. Tobi waved off the warnings jestingly, saying he'd be a couple days and not to worry if he took a while. Deidara shook his head in dismay, "what a kid, un…"
Slowly the Akatsuki calmed down over the next few days. They were taking some time to fine tune their approach to the remaining bijuu and this place provided a single location for the Akatsuki who were recovering to rest in relative peace. In three more days it would be time for them to part ways once again. But the fourth night, Zetsu had bad news for the leaders: the plants informed him that they had detected movement in the area, and indeed he found signs that people had been by, and likely not civilians. Nagato had been relocated to the underground chamber with Konan as company since the arrangement had been on her suggestion, while Zetsu and Pein stood in the main room, looking carefully through the windows for any motion out in the dank blackness.
Watching from around the corner in the hallway, Deidara wondered why Nagato and Konan were nowhere to be seen, and why Zetsu and Pein looked so anxious. He jumped slightly when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, but turned to see Kisame looking questioningly between him and the pair in the main room. Behind Kisame were Hidan, Itachi and Kakuzu as well. Deidara shrugged, to show them that he was just as confused as they were. For a moment, Deidara wondered why Sasori hadn't joined them, but he remembered how tired Sasori has been – he was probably still asleep in the room next to him.
Pein's eyes flickered at what he thought was a glint of metal, and trading a look with Zetsu, the latter briskly stepped forward, opening the door and immediately diving into the ground, melting into it and vanishing. Whoever was out there, however, was already fast at work, creating symbols on the ground with blood and forming kata. Zetsu leapt out of the ground, concerned that the figure had made no effort to retreat, meaning that the jutsu he/she was about perform was dangerous, and clearly meant for the Akatsuki. His step as he pushed himself out from the soil while breaking the intruder's balance smudged a character on the ground, but as the enemy formed that last apparent kata, the symbols lit up, turning a bright white and the glow spread around the building in a large circle. He was too late.