Akatsuki Issues
By Magewriter
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: As much as I wish that I did, I don't own anything by Masashi Kishimoto. And, however much this may have strayed from her pictures, this fanfic has still been heavily influenced by Suzimi, who draws the best Akatsuki pics/comics on DeviantART.
My fanfiction may soon be influenced by "Akatsuki: The Musical," which can be easily found on Youtube, also known as the Animepunch Masq Skit 10. Don't try to find it by typing in "masquerade" because the person who posted that version (which has superior lighting and sound) spelled it wrong. It gives theme music to each of the Akasuki members except for the nameless one and the leader. It may sound odd for me to refer to them that way because I've developed their characters so much, but in the show, it's a huge deal that you've seen one of their silhouettes.
This fanfiction is going to have varying viewpoints. It will start out with Leader's in this chapter (this is the sequel to Deidara's Troubles. Don't read this if you haven't read that because it won't make any sense) and we'll see what happens.
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Ritonno was injured. She had been hurt in the street wearing a formal yukata, completely defenseless without even knives or shurikens.
This bothered Leader more than it should have. Everyone hated the Akatsuki. It was to be expected. The organization was the elite group of ninjas that were going to take over the world. As long as there was enough human greed, there would be an Akatsuki. This had never bothered Leader; he believed that the human will to conquer and steal was what separated them from animals. So what if the Akatsuki killed a few people? So what if they started a few wars and took over a certain aspect of the world's economy? It was all part of their goal.
What disturbed leader was that he was worried for Ritonno. In his mind, he knew that she was going to be perfectly okay and that his other members had been through worse; however, there was something that bothered him in a way that didn't make sense. It couldn't have anything to do with the illusion that she had been put under; Itachi did something similar, and Leader had no problem with it. It was that she had been injured, her and no one else.
Was this an emotion? Leader quickly put the thought out of his mind. He didn't have the time or resources to be swayed by petty things such as emotions. They had meant the downfall of too many people.
What then? Was it simply because she was an Akatsuki member? It couldn't be. He hadn't worried for Zetsu either time that they had been sprayed; he felt a longing to check on Ritonno constantly, to make sure that she was alright, even though he knew that Deidara would tell him if her condition changed.
He found himself eating dinner with the Akatsuki that night, even though he knew that nothing significant would happen. The next morning, he had breakfast in the normal dining area to see if Ritonno was better. But no, Deidara was still taking two bowls of miso downstairs. Leader didn't want to ask about Ritonno because that would show that he had some sort of special interest in her, and that would lower his status in the Akatsuki.
At dinner, however, Deidara helped Ritonno come up the stairs and walk to her seat. When she saw Leader looking at her, confused, she simply smiled and said, "I like to pretend that I'm recovering faster than I really am. I should be okay in a few days; don't worry."
"You shouldn't overexert yourself."
"I'll be fine; trust me." She was still smiling, that laughing-type smile that said that he shouldn't be worried.
But he was.
Perhaps the most annoying thing about his being worried about her was the fact that he was worried about her. It was changing his decisions, and he didn't like it. "Are you sure? You were hurt pretty badly, from what I could tell."
"No, illusions always make me confused. Oh! Itachi, when I'm better, we have to spar." She was looking at him as though this were decided; Leader doubted that Itachi would be able to get out of it.
"Why?"
"Because I want to show you that, in a fair fight, I'm stronger than you. And you can't use your tsukiyomi! Just ninjutsu and physical techniques."
"But… my tsukiyomi is part of my technique."
Ritonno began to glare at him and her tone, when she spoke next, was that of a person who was going to be obeyed. "If you use a single illusion or make me relive a single second of my past, I swear I will kill you." She was greatly transformed from the girl who had come to Leader's room the previous morning, with her soft voice and tiny steps. Ritonno was now a woman to be obeyed; if Itachi didn't play by her rules, which were actually pretty fair, he was going to get it, and bad.
"Okay, okay, we'll spar without my tsukiyomi when you're in decent health!"
Ritonno smiled. "Good." For some reason, her smile was reassuring to Leader; that confused him, too. Why did he feel so oddly when she was happy or sad? If he were a normal person, he would have thought that he should talk to somebody; however, he was the leader of the Akatsuki, and he somehow thought himself incapable of emotions as normal people felt them, so he didn't realize that he had any such need.
After dinner, Deidara helped Ritonno back to her room – Itachi might have offered if it weren't for her reaction to his picking her up two days before – and Leader retired to his room, where he watched the same soap opera as the rest of the Akatsuki; however, he didn't believe in meaningless channel surfing, so he was asleep by ten o'clock.
In the morning, Ritonno managed (by hanging tightly onto the handrail) to make her own way up the stairs; Deidara made them both miso. Leader wouldn't have known this if he hadn't been downstairs during breakfast.
"Oh! Rei-donno! You come downstairs for breakfast?"
"Not usually."
"I was going to say… You're not really a morning person, are you?"
"I'm waiting for my tea water to heat."
"I know a heating jutsu. I could teach it to you."
"Okay." He walked into the kitchen and got his teakettle, then sat down across from her. "Show me."
"Well, here's the hand position. Then, it's just a normal ninjutsu. Focus on heat."
He imitated her hand sign, they heard the water boiling, and steam began to pour from the spout and the hole in the top.
"Thank you, Ritonno."
"No problem. I've done just about everything there is, so I know all sorts of handy stuff. Is there any more water in that kettle?"
"Plenty."
Ritonno stood up and, even with her limp, managed to get to the cupboard and get the tin of tea leaves.
"Finally, I get to have my morning tea again." She proceeded to take one of the cups that was sitting in the middle of the table (the members set them out every night after dinner) and put a few tea leaves in, then added some water to make her wonderful morning pick-me-up. "Two days is way too long to go without tea."
"It definitely would be."
"Deidara, do you want some?"
"I'm fine with just miso, yeah, and it's done now." He carried the two bowls of miso into the dining area after turning off the stove, then sat down next to Ritonno and handed her a spoon.
"Huzzah. Liquid breakfast. Well, it worked for Deidara, I guess; it can work for me."
"Do you not want miso, yeah?"
"No, it's fine; it's just that I usually have something with rice for breakfast."
"Oh. Rice doesn't really go with miso, yeah."
"I know that. I'll show you some cooking tonight so you won't have to do laundry."
"You noticed, yeah?"
"Of course. I mean, the last time I was gone, you were loopy for a couple days. I think you ingested a little too much detergent."
"I think so, too, yeah."
"Oh! Hey, Hidan. I have a question: are we getting low on laundry detergent?"
Deidara turned around to see that Hidan was, in fact, just entering the kitchen.
"How do you do that?"
"I heard you come up the stairs. For an elite ninja, you're pretty darned clunky in the morning." Ritonno sipped her tea as smugly as was possible under the circumstances.
"Actually, we're just getting to the end of this box."
"Mm-hm."
"What? Are you waiting for me to say something?"
"…And what were you planning to do once you were done with this box?"
"I don't know. Get more?"
"Have you ever bought laundry detergent before?"
"Once, I think. Before you came, the one who finished a box was the one that bought the next, and we barely even washed our clothes anyway." Leader found it amazing that the Akatsuki members were so willing to give Ritonno so much information on such short notice.
"Well, when you do, make sure to buy bio-degradable. That way, if I'm ever gone again, hopefully Deidara won't get completely loopy for two or three days if he has to do laundry."
"He was?"
"Yeah. I think he ingested some of the detergent."
"Suffering is good. It shows Jashin-sama that you are strong and willing to serve him."
"Yeah, but Deidara doesn't follow Jashin."
"It's not my fault that I happen to share a goal with a bunch of unfaithful freaks."
"What did you call us?"
"Leave it, Ritonno. Hidan is Hidan. Let him be. You already have a match arranged with Itachi."
"I know… I guess I'm just a little irritable because my body's messed up, y'know?"
"Definitely. I had more than my share of fights when I was young; I believe that it's important to fight as many different people as you can so that you're ready for anything."
"Definitely." Ritonno sipped her tea. "You really made the water hot, didn't you, rei-donno?"
"I like my tea to stay hot."
They finished breakfast with very few other words, except for a few greetings. Eventually, Leader was done with his breakfast, so he went upstairs and read. He heard Ritonno joking with Deidara two floors below.
That afternoon, between lunch and dinner, he heard Ritonno coming up the steps to his room. He could tell that it was Ritonno because every other step was louder than the other, there was a pause every few seconds, and he could hear the handrail creak.
He opened the door just when she got up.
"Hi, Rei-donno. Wow, my ankle hurts." Because it was Ritonno, this actually wasn't in the form of a complaint; instead, it was simply a comment.
"Would you like to sit down?"
"Sure." Apparently, she had gotten used to his random acts of kindness, even though they were few and far between. She sat down on the chair next to his map of the world.
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to talk to someone."
"Huh? Why would I do that?"
"Well, anyone with eyes can tell that you like me."
"What?!"
"Yeah. I'm not so sure that the rest of the Akatsuki has eyes in the sense that the analogy says, but I do."
"Remember your place, Ritonno."
"I'm trying to. It's just sort of… painful watching you not admitting it to yourself."
"Leave."
"Okay. But, Leader-san?"
"Yes?"
"Don't start thinking that you're above emotion. It could make you into something you don't like." She left then. To think that one of his Akatsuki members would be so outspoken to tell him what he felt! It was an outrage! Ritonno was now at the bottom of the stairs and he could hear her talking to Deidara.
Leader knew why she had done this! She was taking advantage of her injury, using it as a defense so that, if any other Akatsuki members got mad at her, she could postpone a fight until she was well again.
Leader, with his sinister thoughts, now had a "justified" reason to keep an eye on Ritonno.
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Sorry the chapter ends sort of badly… Leader is soooooooooooooooooooo in denial! I find it hilarious!
Ritonno's getting better! She's so awesome! She's like a mix between an OC and a real character! …I mean, considering the cast of Naruto, the nameless character is probably going to be creepy, but Ritonno is awesome.