White. That was the inscription on the ring worn on her right middle finger. White to Itachi's red and Deidara's blue. And whilst white could sometimes be associated with nothingness, due to its apparent lack of colour and everything else, it was their leader that bore nothing on his finger.
She could hear Itachi and Kisame talking quietly as they prepared to seal one of the jinchuriki. She didn't know which one it was they were about to seal, and nor did she care. As long as all nine ended up sealed, that was the important thing. Her jinchuriki had been the nanabi, which she'd acquired well before Deidara had found his ichibi. It was currently being held in a special sealed cage, unless of course they'd already sealed it. She wasn't concerned in the slightest. Her job had been to find it, and all that remained of her purpose was to help the others seal the rest away.
"Chione-sama," a voice called out, and she looked up to find the cold eyes of Uchiha Itachi staring at her. She met his gaze with an equally cold glance, which he broke off by turning around. "We're beginning," the boy informed her and she got to her feet.
She followed him; after all, it was what she was here to do. She'd been in the area when the Leader contacted them announcing that they were to perform the next sealing. Since Itachi and Kisame were nearby, she'd gone to them, and was welcomed appropriately. After all, she was the Leader's 'pet' as Kisame put it when he thought she wasn't around.
"Chione-sama," the blue skinned man greeted her, and she bowed her head respectfully, though inside she was snorting. The 'sama' suffix wasn't added out of respect, but in mocking of her position as the one closest to the Leader. In fact, her whole name was a joke. Before joining Akatsuki she was nameless. She'd been a kunoichi with no name and was the fear of the northern countries. But when the Leader had approached her (she was the only he'd approached personally), he'd insisted she take on a name. She had, of course, refused.
He'd named her Chione anyway, meaning 'Snow Queen'. He thought it fitting. How he knew about Yuki no Kuni being her country of origin, she didn't know, but then her speciality did give it away slightly. It had also been where he'd found her, standing in the middle of a blizzard as if she wasn't surrounded by a mass of swirling frozen water. But her body was resistant to all but the most extreme of temperatures, and the blizzard was nothing but a strong wind.
Out there, in that blizzard, she could have taken him, could have defeated him. It was her element and definitely not his. She could have killed him and moved on, continuing to wander until she found something new to occupy her time and thoughts. But the swaying factor that made her join his organisation was the fact that throughout his proposition he stood there with her in the snow. And when he'd finished, and she'd agreed, he offered her his coat, leaving him standing there in trousers and a flak jacket over a long-sleeved top. She'd tried to refuse, but he'd insisted, saying that he had more at home.
He'd almost died from pneumonia but had pulled through, but with no help from her. It had been his own fault for talking to her in the ice and then giving her his coat. She wasn't going to help an idiot. In the end, she didn't need to, and so began their alliance.
Zetsu was the first to come to their side. From the start she'd had mixed feelings as far as he was concerned. He was efficient, and had many useful talents, but she didn't trust his split personality. She didn't trust any of her comrades, but she trusted Zetsu the least, even though he'd been with them the longest. You can't put any trust in a person who argues with himself. She wasn't stupid.
Sasori and Kisame were approached next, along with Kakuzu. Not having much patience for art, she didn't get on too well with Sasori, though was grateful that he had some form of punctuality and that it had rubbed off on Deidara. She and Kisame both used water jutsu, and so there was some common ground there, but the Mizugakure shinobi, with his unusually large chakra supply, was lacking in personal control, whilst she was quite the opposite. As for Kakuzu, the only time she'd fought beside him she'd barely survived, and as a result, the same could be said for him.
The next string of members included Itachi, Deidara and Orochimaru. She found herself getting on with Itachi, in that she didn't have any major qualms with him, which was as good as it really got. Deidara was too loud for her liking, as was his style of fighting. Fortunately for him, Sasori got to him before she could get really annoyed. As for Orochimaru, she had been against him joining. She couldn't deny he was powerful with few morals, but his interests were obviously elsewhere. She didn't boast when he left; it wasn't her style, but she did give the leader a distasteful look when he heard the news.
Lastly there was Hidan, who was too caught up in serving his God, and much too disrespectful for her to cooperate with on a daily basis. Fortunately he complemented Kakuzu perfectly, which meant she rarely had to put up with him. And of course, there was Tobi, who irritated her to no end, but with Deidara as his partner, he wasn't a concern of hers.
"What's wrong, Chione-sama?" Kisame asked, grinning. "Getting cold feet?"
She ignored him as she took up her position. She was used to the 'cold' jokes. Ice was her element, and from time to time she had to remind them of it. She was stronger than them all, and had proven it. She'd made them all bleed to within inches of their lives, only to bring them back from death's door. Hidan was probably the only exception, since he was apparently immortal, and she hadn't been able to test this theory with his recent defeat at the hands of Nara Shikamaru.
And it amused her slightly, that despite their humiliating defeats and then revival at her hands, they still came to her. They all did eventually, since she was the only female. There were some times when being an S-ranked criminal prevented you from reaching the pleasure houses, so you had to make do with what was available. Not that she particularly cared; a woman's body had its own urges.
The only one that didn't come to her was the Leader. He either didn't swing that way, or he thought himself above it, though it wasn't that he didn't get the urges. She knew that she was beautiful, had been told it more times than she could count. But beautiful meant nothing to her, especially when hers was an ice-cold, frozen beauty. One that even the Leader found hard to resist.
And she made them bleed when they came to her. She made them bleed; staining the white sheets red, not satisfied until her white skin too was coated.
"Even when you make love, you're cold," Itachi had commented once, his blood on her skin. She'd informed him that it made no difference where she was; she would always be the same. Whether they were almost talking like friends, or coming to blows in the throws of battle, or romping like animals in the hideout, she would always be unchanging. After all, her ice didn't melt, so why should she?
One of her oldest memories is of snow being covered in blood. Part of her thinks it's her blood, whilst another part believes it to be that of her parents. However, she doesn't care, only knows that blood is framed nicely by white, which is as close to art as she'll ever get.
When the rings were first given out, and she was given the white ring, she hadn't commented. White appeared to fit her in so many ways, that she didn't see any point in bringing it up. But as time moved on, she began to see the Leader's true meaning in giving her that ring. White meant death, which she freely delivered. White meant innocent, and in terms of Akatsuki she was, since she hadn't killed anyone to join, and her jinchuriki had be hostless, so she'd taken no lives there. White meant silence, which was why she was always sent to arrange their alliances.
And white meant peace, which was what she felt deep down. She had no qualms with what she was doing. She didn't see there being anything wrong with their goals. She was totally at peace inside, which was apparently quite different from their leader. He had nothing inside. He was empty.
She sometimes allowed herself a small smile when she heard stories about the 'awful Akatsuki members' who were 'so evil inside that it was a wonder they managed to sleep at night'. She wasn't evil inside, and neither was their leader. Some of the others she wasn't too sure about, but she was certain about her and her Leader. They weren't evil inside. She was peaceful and he was empty.
And they both slept perfectly well.