Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters. I wish I did, but I don't.

Warning: This story contains spoilers for the manga.

Musings of an Akatsuki Wannabe

"But you don't have to take someone bad as your important person."

"No…even if you know they're bad…a person can't defeat loneliness."

--Rock Lee and Sabaku no Gaara

Prologue: For the Sake of a Precious Person

The moment was just as I had seen it, several months before. The eight ANBU who had attacked us were all dead, but their jounin leader was still standing. He wore a Leaf forehead protector over his bald head, and a long trench coat over his jounin uniform. His face was scarred and stern, and he radiated killing intent. He was one of the Leaf's elite jounin, and his description in the information distributed to all Akatsuki members said this: "The Leaf's torture and interrogation specialist, the ruthless eliminator of threats to the village, Morino Ibiki."

A Chuunin Exam had recently been completed in Konoha, and the attendees from other villages were returning home. Among the new chuunin was the vessel of the four-tailed bijuu, a boy from the Hidden Village of Rain. We had been assigned to capture him—or, more specifically, I had been assigned to do it. As one of the Akatsuki's newest members, the replacement for Akasuna no Sasori, I was determined to prove that I was worthy of my position. It had, after all, been my ambition to become a full member of the organization since the time I was five years old. That childhood dream had finally come true…but not in the way I had expected it to.

Anyway, we had been sent to capture the four-tailed jinchuuriki. By "we", I mean myself and my partner, Kataoka Akisane. Akisane was Orochimaru's replacement, and the only kunoichi among the Akatsuki. She had been assigned to the seven-tailed jinchuuriki, and I to the four-tails. We had already captured the seven-tails, and Akisane's Akatsuki ring linked her to its power. Now we only had to find my demon. He would be returning from Leaf to Rain after the Chuunin Exam, and we planned to ambush him on the way.

Unfortunately, Leaf had other ideas.

I knew that Leaf was going to anticipate an attack on Rain's jinchuuriki, and that they would have two squads of ANBU following the Rain team, waiting to protect them from us. I didn't know that one of their most elite jounin would also be present. The ANBU had been fairly easy to take out, but this guy was something special. With a single touch, he had activated the pain-sensing nerves throughout my body, causing me to crumple to the ground in agony and leaving Akisane to fight him alone.

She threw four shuriken at him. He dodged, but the shuriken changed their flight path and continued to follow him. I couldn't see the chakra strings that she had attached to the shuriken, but I knew they were there. Ibiki frowned and stopped dodging, allowing the shuriken to hit him. Then there was a puff of smoke, and a log fell to the ground in his place.

Akisane turned, correctly guessing that Ibiki would be directly behind her. "Lightning Element: Scorching Blast Technique!" A bolt of lightning shot from her outstretched hands towards Ibiki, but he raised his own hands and called, "Chakra Shield Technique!" A disk of chakra radiated outward from his palms, deflecting the lightning bolt, although the force of the impact did cause him to stagger back a few steps. By this time, I was getting to my feet, shaking off the effects of the torture jutsu he had used on me.

With a speed that most jounin could not have mustered, Ibiki formed another set of seals. "Wood Element: Binding Roots Technique!" Thick tree roots sprang from the ground and wrapped themselves around Akisane's body, holding her in place. Then the killing intent emanating from Ibiki increased by tenfold. "Secret Medical Ninjutsu: Fatal Strike Technique," he whispered. A green glow of chakra formed around one hand, and I saw, in my mind's eye, a terrible vision: that hand slamming into Akisane's chest, forcing chakra into her heart until the vital organ exploded.

I didn't think about my decision consciously. I'm not sure my mind was even involved on any level. My feet propelled me towards the two fighting shinobi, my arms pumping in a desperate attempt to get there in time.

I skidded to a stop between Akisane and Ibiki, and felt his hand smash into my chest.

A/N: Both of my previous fics were in third-person, so writing from a single character's POV like this is new for me. I know this prologue is pretty short, but the upcoming chapters will be longer. As always, reviews are welcome!