A/N: Hi and welcome to my third fanfic, The Red Clouds of Love. I wanted to do a fic like this for a while, and I figured now would be as good as any time. For the newbie's who don't know, I don't like waiting for fics to be updated, so when I write one, I post it all at once. Anyway, this may or may not be my last lemon fic, since I'm writing my own story currently. Please be aware that I haven't watched that many Shippuden episodes, so my knowledge of the Akatsuki members is limited to Itachi, Kisame, Diedara, Sasori, Orochimaru (does he count? Not really but I thought since he's an ex-member he deserves to be included in my list), Tobi and that guy with a plant on his head who I think is called Zetsu. Well, lets do this!
Chapter One
The Akatsuki's next move
Time: 11:58 PM, Monday night
Location: The hidden lair of the Akatsuki, The Land of Rivers.
The darkness of the cavern felt strangely… artificial to the figure. Like a spell of shadows had been cast inside the cave, just to unnerve the inhabitants. But the figure didn't mind, he had been here enough times to get used to the darkness. And the smell, which reminded him of smelling humid air on a hot, tropical day, even though the figure had spent very little time in such climate, even before he joined the Akatsuki.
The figure, which was hunched over and draped in the cloak of the Akatsuki, moved at last, walking up steps to a large pillar of stone. The only defining feature he possessed other then his cloak was his face, which was completely covered except for the eyes, which radiated malice and doom. He stood not even a mere meter and a half off the ground, but his entire body was hunched over like a cripple, making him look a little like a turtle who had no shell.
When the figure reached the top of the pillar, he saw one other figure standing on the pillar next to him, wearing a grim smile and also wearing the robes of the Akatsuki. The first one turned and faced the center of the ring, composed of ten pillars and a larger one in the center.
"Sasori, my man" The second figure turned and said, "It's good to see you again, how are you doing?"
Sasori simply looked on. "Deidara, you would be wise not to treat me like a child" Sasori said in a gruff, aggressive voice.
Deidara turned back to the center, where on each pillar, images of people began to form.
Deidara and Sasori knew the names of the people, and both also knew that they were untrustworthy, cruel and merciless, just like them. The one nearest to Sasori spoke in a voice that was lined with electronic tones, but still coherent.
"I don't want to waste any time here, so let's get right to it" The figure looked at all the images of the others in turn and then at Deidara and Sasori. "Itachi and Kisame, you failed to capture the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox three years ago, and since then, we haven't made a move to try again, I think now would be as good a time as any."
One of the figures, his image not revealing much save his bright red eyes, spoke next. "This time, we shall not fail. Naruto Uzumaki is a foolhardy individual, he will not pose a threat to me and Kisame"
"I say we simply cut off his legs and drag him back here" Another image said, this one tall and having a large sword strapped to his back. "As long as we don't kill him, the Nine-Tails spirit won't die either"
"Kisame, your way may sound efficient, but in practice it is likely to fail" The second figure said, his voice and expression perfectly neutral. "Naruto may be weak in relative to us, but it will be difficult to capture him without one of us being at least injured to killed should he unleash the Nine-Tails"
Kisame looked at the second figure. "Then how would you go about capturing him Itachi?" he said, his lip curled in dissatisfaction.
"We cannot capture him by normal means, for should he unleash the Nine-Tails we would surely either die or be forced to flee" Itachi said, still not looking at Kisame.
"Again, how are we supposed to capture him?" Kisame repeated, his tone rising in anger.
"Silence. Both of you." A third figure said, this one whose head was surrounded on both sides by two large jaws not unlike that of a Venus Fly Trap plant. "Think about it. It is always easier to have prey walk into a baited net, rather then hunt it down and drag it back."
Kisame sneered and growled. "Stop speaking in riddles, Zetsu, just tell us how we are supposed to capture the little runt"
"He means that we must get Naruto to come to us, by baiting him with something precious to him. Like, say, a friend" Itachi explained, his tone still staying flat.
"Then I think I already have the perfect bait," Zetsu said. He raised a hand toward the middle pillar and an image of a young girl with dark blue hair appeared. She looked about 16, dressed in a light blue sweater and white pants. Nobody save for Zetsu knew who it was, though judging by the pupil-less eyes Itachi could guess she was one of the Hyuga clan, a powerful clan of his own village.
"This is Hinata Hyuga, heir to the Hyuga clan, and it's future ruler" Zetsu lowered his hand "She is Naruto Uzumaki's fellow classmate and friend, and harbors severe romantic feelings for him. She is far weaker then Naruto, and from what I gathered, the perfect target to bait the Jinchuriki"
Nobody was surprised about how much Zetsu knew about this girl. He was the top spy and scout for the Akatsuki, and for the last month he had been undercover as a chunin of the leaf village to gather information on the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Zetsu was one who knew all, he heard every whisper, and knew every secret. His knowledge alone made him formidable.
"And if we should capture this Hinata, and Naruto doesn't care?" Deidara questioned, his eyebrows rising in disbelief.
"From what I've seen, he's very protective of all his friends." Zetsu claimed "When Sasuke Uchiha ran off to join Orochimaru, Naruto took off after him like a fly to honey. In fact, he is still attempting to find him to this day"
If Itachi showed any emotion about the mention of his little brother joining the former member of the Akatsuki, he didn't show it. Most knew that Itachi rarely showed any emotion at all, but what could you expect from one who singlehandedly massacred his entire clan save his little brother.
"So we capture the Hyuga child, and we bring her back here?" Deidara asked, the smile on his face returning at the idea.
"Well, that is part one of the plan, yes" Zetsu confirmed. "But the true masterpiece is what I've planned afterwards. What if we were to turn the girl to our side? She must know Naruto far better then we do, it would be much easier for her to bring him to here then if we were to"
Silently, Sasori was impressed with Zetsu's plan. Not only was it flawless, but also perfectly devious and cunning. Sasori had grown used to Zetsu's intelligence over the years, but he still was impressed whenever he used that brain of his.
"An interesting idea Zetsu" The figure beside Sasori said "Very well, we'll try it out. Deidara and Sasori, I want you to enter the Hidden Leaf Village and capture Hinata Hyuga, and Itachi and Kisame, I want both of you to work on making the girl work for us. Train her and break her mind, but do it without jutsu. Jutsu can break easily, while the old fashioned way is much more difficult to erase."
All understood, and one by one, the figures vanished, the last two being Itachi and Kisame. In silence, Deidara and Sasori both stood on neighboring pillars, deep in thought.
"Well Sasori, my man, it looks like you and I have a kid to snatch" Deidara said, smiling devilishly. Sasori grunted in approval and both of them walked down from the pillars.
Deidara and Sasori were not the best partnership in the Akatsuki, and they frequently bickered about the true nature of art. While Deidara said that art was all about the explosion of when you first see it, Sasori claimed that art was eternal and lasted forever. And so their fighting styles greatly differed from each other, Deidara used exploding clay to create blasts he considered art, while Sasori made long-lasting puppets out of humans. But still, they both worked well together and had never failed an assignment.
When they reached the cave mouth, Sasori spoke under his breath in his deep, scratchy voice. In front of them, the boulder that made up the crude entrance slowly moved aside, allowing the two to pass through unhindered. This hideout was close to the land of fire, and so it would take a mere couple of hours to reach the hidden leaf village.
"Deidara, we shall stay on the border of the Land of Fire for a night" Sasori grumbled
"We need more information then what Zetsu gave us, so you must scout the village from the air. Find the Hyuga compound, and analyze our target. Tomorrow we shall make our move."
"Sure thing Sasori, my man" Deidara said with a smile. Normally Deidara wouldn't have taken orders from Sasori, but the idea was a good one, and even though he didn't like to admit it, Sasori was stronger then Deidara, and he wanted to stay on his good side.
Both of them stepped out of the cave and onto a river, using their chakra to walk on the water, but such easy techniques were second nature to both of them, being so powerful. Sasori moved slowly, there was no rush to reach the border, and moving quickly would just tire him out.
Deidara was not so patient. He reached into a pouch on his thigh and used the mouth in his hand to eat and digest some of the exploding clay. They continued walking for a few minutes and then the mouth spat out the clay, signaling it was ready. Deidara closed his hand for a second, and when he opened it, a crude clay bird was sitting in his palm.
Deidara dropped in on the ground and closed his eyes. In a poof of smoke the bird grew immensely, so that it was even larger then Deidara. Deidara climbed atop the bird and tossed something to Sasori, who caught it without his hand emerging from the sleeve of his Akatsuki robe. It was a small piece of metal that blinked red every few seconds.
"Just hold on to that Sasori, my man" Deidara smiled, "I'll find you later, sometime tomorrow night, and with that I'll be able to track your location"
The bird he had created stretched it's large wings and lifted off the water with a splash. The clay creature moved quickly and Deidara turned it in the direction of the hidden leaf village. Deidara grinned, wondering how much fun snatching the Hyuga girl was going to be.
Sasori watched his partner fly east, toward the land of fire, and grunted in anger at his impatience. "Just don't keep me waiting too long Deidara" Sasori said, even though he knew Deidara couldn't hear him. "You know that I don't like that…"
A/N: And that's chapter one! I'm going to try and make this my longest fanfic so far, +20k words at least. So buckle your seatbelts, because from here it's only going to heat up. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how Deidara and Sasori should capture Hinata, should Deidara get her like her caught Gaara? Or more subtly, like when Itachi and Kisame infiltrated the village? I'm not sold yet, but we'll see what happens!