Gold Ring
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Chapter One
Summary: When Itachi entered Akatsuki, he didn't expect Naru to be there. Nor did he expect this criminal organisation to hold mysterious ties to Konoha which he had never known. M for Hidan's mouth.
It was a rather dark room. Twelve year old Itachi mused, flicking his crimson eyes around the large, cavernous space. No one was in the room with him. How odd, he'd entered the Akatsuki base, and no one had stopped him, nor had anyone welcomed him. It was as if the place was completely empty, deserted.
He turned his head a little to inspect the large, metal door, still open behind him. Involuntarily, he took two steps back, so that he was standing in the dimly-lit hallway that led to the room.
Findng the base had been relatively easy. Well, for Konoha's former Anbu Captain, it was a piece of cake, he'd been taught methods of tracking and locating in his Anbu training. Of course, being young had helped him acquire a lot of information. Heh, those, fools.
Where were they? He flipped through information in his mind. He'd discovered the location only two days before the massacre, which had been last week. There was no chance that Akatsuki would have found out...however...
His eyes narrowed, if they did not know, where were they? In his knowledge of criminal organisations, he knew that they wouldn't leave the place completely deserted. Unless this wasn't the main base... he glanced at the huge, ugly looking statue of a strange beast standing before him. It had nine empty eye sockets, which seemed to be staring at him horrifically.
Hell-beast. Something demonic from Makai. Perhaps it was a dormant beast, a type of demon used as a vessel. Or it was a demon artifact, perhaps a gate to Makai.
He could sense a good lot of chakra residue around the statue. No...this was the main base. This artifact was priceless, it must have taken a great amount chakra to summon, no one would leave something like this behind, no matter how big it was.
From the monster, two human like hands were stretched out, a small door was located in the door next to the hands, which he noted. He wondered what his father would have thought of this place.
"Despicable criminal rats. They deserve a death sentence. Bring them back to the Police Headquarters, Itachi. My son."
Something along those lines. Itachi found himself thinking hard. He couldn't remember much about the clan he killed, except of the blood and the way they refused to scream before dying. Not a word was spoken as they died. Uchihas died in honour. No Uchiha deigned to let an enemy see their pain, or hear their cries.
Itachi was the enemy.
A sadonic smile tugged at his lips.
They may have tried to concealed it, but his mangekyou could see the fear in their eyes. He readied a kunai in his hand as he continued his thoughts. All of them, strong, emotionless Uchiha.
All but one.
His eyes switched from the normal sharingan to burning mangekyou. His brother.
Everyone had always known that Sasuke was a different Uchiha. His first attempt at Gokakyuu had been a disaster. He was a failure in the clan, constantly over-shadowed by the achievements of his older brother.
This general mindset changed Sasuke, in the space of two years, between the age of six to eight. He changed from the cute, lovable little child to the serious, cold-blooded, second genius of the clan.
This was the clan's fault. Itachi convinced himself. Sasuke will be able to grow by himself in the absence of his clan. He will become great. He will become greater than I. Perhaps, maybe he will help me end my life.
One day... Itachi poised the kunai and turned his head, ever so slightly.
Sasuke...
All for Sasuke...
Itachi spun at lightning speed and released the kunai in a smooth throw.
"Come out." He said easily just as the kunai left his hand, concealing his nervousness under years of Anbu training, "I know you're there." Whoever this was, they had approached so silently that he hadn't detected them until they were a few feet away.
There was a resounding clang, then a soft clink, as his kunai dropped to the ground, against the force of another.
A petite figure stepped out of the shadows, face showing as much surprise as his when he met the intruders eyes.
It was a girl, not much younger than Sasuke, who was eight. Her hair was pure spun gold with crimson tips and three, deep whisker like cuts marred each of her cheeks. Those eyes...
Itachi's eyes flicked back to normal Sharingan on instinct, before cursing mentally and flicking back to Mangekyou with terrifying force.
Those blue eyes. They were speckled in many types of blue, sapphire, sky blue, sea blue, turquoise, cerulean, stormy...
In her hand there was a small katana fashioned to fit the hand of a child, but none the less deadly in the palm of an expert. She pointed it to the floor as she spoke her next words, cautiously.
"Itachi?"
There was something off about her...Itachi's eyes flicked to the top of her head. She had no proper human ears. Instead, two russet clumps of fur lay lazily at the top of her head.
Itachi remained silent, glaring at the girl with twin Mangekyou, willing for her to faint, disappear...what the hell was she doing here!
"What the hell are you doing here!" The girl said incredulously, extra long canines jutting out as she spoke, shock written across her face. "Where's Oro-niisan?"
Itachi stared at Naru for a few seconds. She'd disappeared a few days after her sixth birthday. His first Anbu mission had been to search for her. It had been his first failed mission. Actually, his whole squad's first failed mission. The whole of Konoha believed that she was dead.
What the hell was she doing in the hide-out of the world's most notorious criminals?
And who the hell was 'Oro-niisan'?
"Who's Oro?" He asked. Naru's ears lifted up lazily, as if they had a mind of their own.
"You know." The eight year old gave him a half-amused half-annoyed look, "Orochimaru."
"That snake freak?" Itachi said out of impulse, disliking where this conversation was leading.
"Don't call Oro-niisan a Snake freak! He's cool! He's nice to me!" The ears twitched.
Itachi mused that Orochimaru was more interesting in dissecting the girl than being friends with her. But decided not to mention it.
"What are you doing here?" Itachi asked.
"You didn't answer MY question." Naru retorted impudently, sticking out her chin. Itachi wondered how she'd lasted two seconds in the place with a personality like this. Perhaps it was her feline looks, the fangs...the ears...who knew, she probably had a tail too...
"I left Kono-" Itachi began, before Naru interrupted.
"Hey, wait a moment!" She chirped, smiling animalistically with her fangs poking out, "How's Sasuke and Mikoto-san?"
Itachi froze.
Of all things to ask him about...
He didn't notice, but his Mangekyou was spinning furiously, although Naru seemed unfazed. "Mikoto-san is dead. Sasuke...ah...Sasuke is fine."
"Oh!" Naru gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, Itachi noticed faint trails of chakra trailing behind them, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean..."
"It's fine." Itachi interrupted, but Naruto continued.
"...to make you tell me that you killed them!"
"WHAT!" Itachi snapped, his hands flying to the handle of his Anbu Katana, which was slung across his back.
"Oy." Naru said, and comically held up her own, which was dwarfed dramatically by Itachi's. "Do you think I'm stupid? You're coming here because you want to be offered a place. You want to be offered a place for security from...from...lets guess...Konoha? Why? Cos your ma's dead and you killed her, yes? Unless you're a spy..."
"I'm not a spy!" Itachi hissed, "I want nothing to do with Konoha anymore!"
"Oh..." Naru blinked once...twice... "Thats too bad then. How bout the rest of the clan? Who'd you kill for that spinning eye?"
"I killed all of them." Itachi replied coldly, "Shisui gave me the Mangekyou. The whole clan is dead, except of Sasuke."
"Ah! That's a pity!" Naru exclaimed, "What's Oro-niisan going to do without Uchihas!"
"What are you talking about!" This girl was seriously irking him, if only he could just raise that Katana and chop...chop...chop down...at her neck...
"He needs an Uchiha, you see. I guess he'll just take Sasuke then."
Itachi fumed. He'd killed the whole clan for the purpose of protecting Sasuke, only to leave him defenseless, in the hands of a freak like Orochimaru.
"You haven't answered my question, why are you here?" Itachi chose not to reply, steering far away from the former topic in an attempt to calm himself down.
"I ran away." Naru shrugged, "Isn't that obvious? Geez! This crazy guy tried to stab me, six times! I ran into the forest, and Oro-niisan found me and took me here...its called Akatsuki...I think. And I've been living here and training here ever since... for about two years...I think."
She reached up a hand and scratched one of her ears, "Ya see, Orochimaru gave me these. He pulled out the essence of the bastard fox and moulded it into physical form on my body. I got the fangs first, then the ears. He's going to try and get me tail and claws."
She WAS an experiment. Itachi tried not to snarl in disgust. Didn't she know he was manipulating her? Once he'd finished his little game, he'd dump her and go and find something else to play with.
"Naru..." Itachi began, only to stop himself, "Uh...where is the Akatsuki?"
"Oh them?" Naru smiled cheerfully, creating a horrific image with her two pairs of jutting canines.
Itachi waited for an answer.
"They're right behind me." She turned and waved a hand behind her.
Suddenly, something seemingly like a heavy curtain fell, and eight individuals were revealed. (Konan, Pein, Kisame, Zetsu, Orochimaru, Sasori, Deidara, Tobi)
What the hell! Itachi's pupils dilated a little. How could his sharingan have not pierced through the genjutsu? Unless...he watched the falling chakra debris and confirmed his suspicion. Naru was using demon chakra. That meant he need to activate Tsukiyomi to see through it...well...that was his theory.
Naru smiled again and stepped back. A man with spiky orange hair and various piercings all over his body and face reached down and patted her on the head, as if she were a pet, "Good job Naru. You're acting skills have improved, so has your genjutsu. You noticed our presence and managed to create a genjutsu while speaking."
"Thankyou, Pein-sama."
Naru flew over to Orochimaru, "Oro-niisan!"
The snake like man ruffled her hair, "Naru. Good Job."
She must have instigated the jutsu when her hand flew up to her mouth. Itachi thought.
"What is the meaning of this?" Itachi asked gripping his kunai tightly as his eyes flickered over the people behind the leader. They were strong. He'd be able to take down three or four, perhaps even five, but would ultimately die if all of them attacked him at once.
"The meaning is that you have been accepted into Akatsuki." Pein smiled, revealing rows of polished teeth.
"We're letting this fucker into Akatsuki? Are your brains fucking fried?" A silver-haired, well manicured, and...shirtless man spoke up in a harsh voice. Around his neck was a necklace which had a semblance to a rosary. He carried a large red and white scythe over his shoulders.
"Hidan, he'll bring us money." A glowing-green eyed man retorted.
"Shut the fuck up, Kakuzu, all you fucking care shit about is money." Hidan yelled.
Naru's ears twitched as she turned to Orochimaru, "Hi, Fucker."
"Shut up, brat." Orochimaru bonked the girl over the ears.
"Ey, you little fucker!" Hidan yelled at Naru.
A tall, orange-masked kid turned, "You talking bout Tobi?"
"No, the other little fucker." Hidan rolled his eyes.
"Who me, Hidan-niisan?" Naru turned abruptly and bounded over. Itachi's eyebrow lifted. She resembled a plush toy more than a shinobi to be.
"Haha, come here... Hidan-fucking-niisan. Thats a shit-load of humour you have." Hidan chuckled as he fingered his rosary.
"Hidan-fucking-niisan." A blonde haired, boy muttered, "How bout me, yeah?" He looked about fifteen. A red-head with honey-brown eyes stood next to him, looking beautiful. He looked around the same age as well.
"Its Dei-dei Kun for you, Deidara." Naru smiled angelically, although the fangs made her look the opposite. "Guys, meet Ita-chan."
Itachi twitched at the new nickname.
Hidan turned and regarded him with one, elegantly lifted silver eyebrow, "Hey red-eyed fucker."
"You call me that one more time and you'll see the fires of hell." Itachi threatened.
The cavern exploded with laughter. Itachi glanced around in a confused manner.
"You see..." Deidara choked out through laughs, "Hidan...can't...die...He's like...centuries old...he's an old bag...yeah..." He coughed a few times before raising a mocking hand to wave at Itachi, who noticed (with a shudder) a slimy pink tongue coming out of a mouth in the hand.
""Hey...Ita-chan." The red head next to Deidara drawled, "Akasuna no Sasori."
Suddenly, Itachi phased out of sight. In a fraction of a second, he was behind Deidara and Sasori, meeting kunai with a spiked metallic tail with a clang. Itachi's eyes widened a little, surprised that someone had caught his attack. He followed the tail down to Sasori's backside, somehow, it had been attached there...
"Stop staring at my ass, pretty boy." Sasori drawled, Itachi noticed the dreamy, seductive tone, "You see, things are different from Konoha here, in Akatsuki. We're not the weak fools you're used to. Keep your hands off me unless you want your pretty body to be made into wood."
"Ha!" A blue-haired, blue-skinned, gilled, shark-like man grinned, flashing a row of jagged teeth, "The new kid got owned."
"Fucking owned, yeah." Deidara and Hidan nodded.
"Pucking owned." Naru nodded as well, having moved her way, with ease into the midst of the boys and men. Itachi fought the urge to shake his head in amazement. This girl was consorting with criminals, S-class no less, especially males, as if she'd known them for her whole life, and had nothing to fear.
For the first time, Itachi noticed a blue-haired woman, with a paper flower in her hair, looking dolefully at him through blue eyeshadow and indigo eyes. What the...he thought this was a male organisation...
"I'm Konan." The woman said simply, lifting a hand, ignoring the pieces of animated paper which fell out and began performing theatric acts, and holding it out for him to shake.
Itachi shook the woman's hand cautiously.
"Zetsu." A pleasant voice said. Itachi spun to face an intimidating looking man with a pair of golden-yellow eyes, extremely weird melanin deposits on either side of his face, green hair, and what resembled a venus fly trap protruding from his collar-bones.
You're an Uchiha are you not? A raspy voice said, coming from the same body. Itachi felt unnerved.
"Yes. I am."
Uchiha meat always smells good...
Itachi took an involuntary step backwards. "I see."
"Good to make your acquaintance." The pleasant, cultured voice came back.
"Uh...you too, Zetsu-san."
A bright voice piped up from behind him, "Hi Itachi-san! I'm Tobi! Tobi is a good boy! How are you?"
Itachi turned to address the orange mask, already disliking him, "I'm good."
Orochimaru was the last to speak up, "Hello, Itachi-san." He spoke up in an oily voice.
Itachi turned slowly and glared at the snake-like man, "Orochimaru, you traitor."
"Oh!" Orochimaru licked his lips, "But so are you, little Uchiha."
"I'm nothing like you." Itachi bit through gritted teeth, "I have no qualms for killing you on the spot, since I've finally found you."
"You are no long Konoha Anbu, what makes you think you can kill me without a squad at your back? Lets not make enemies with the few people who can help you." Orochimaru said in a falsely pleasant voice.
"I could kill you easily if I wished."Itachi hissed, "and I don't need help from the likes of you."
Orochimaru hissed back, "No Itachi, you were always like me. You and I, we are the same. Both of us, hungry for power, left the village who could not give it to us. We are the same, don't try to deny it."
"Looks like they know each other, ey?" Deidara remarked to Sasori, cutting the tension which was building up slowly.
Sasori smirked, "Yeah, the Pretty boy's still green and he's already jumping in to make enemies. I like him."
"You sure you're not gay, un?" Deidara asked.
"Unlike you, no." Sasori shrugged as he flicked soft strands of red from his face, "No one would want to be with you, anyway."
"Hey!" Deidara retorted, "I'm Bi, un. I have a wide world of choice out there, yeah. Besides, from the sexy way you look at-"
"Why don't you just quit Akatsuki and work at a brothel?"
"Shut up, yeah."
"Stop acting like fools." A sharp voice cut through all the talking. Pein glared at his organisation, "What are you, children? Itachi, here is your ring, which you must wear at all times, a cloak will be tailored for you by our personal staff, Naru will show you your rooms."
Itachi caught the crimson ring which was thrown at him.
"The rest of you are dismissed for now. I will give further instructions later on." He said curtly.
The group dispersed. Itachi wondered how the leader managed to maintain absolute power over the squabbling S-class criminals
"Itachi." Pein intoned, once the others had all left, except of Naru, who stood at the metal door innocently.
"Pein." Itachi said respectfully, but left out the sama which he felt to be useless.
"You are an S-class criminal." The orange haired man said. Itachi noticed that he was a few inches shorted than himself. "I expect that you can keep yourself from being caught. I have been watching you for the past year, and I know all your abilities and weaknesses. If you are caught, do not reveal anything about us, as that will merit the destruction of the only one that you love."
Itachi's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about."
"I know you love your brother. All criminals, even S-class cling to something, to which they hold a semblance of love. As I said, fail us, and your brother will die horribly."
"I understand." Itachi said, although there was a sinking feeling in his stomach as he pondered his brothers fate. What else did this man know?
"Do you have any questions?" Grey eyes burned at him. Itachi activated Sharingan to avoid the seemingly penetrating and luring gaze.
"What is Naru doing here?"
"I see you hold two things to your heart, instead of one." The Leader remarked coolly.
"I asked a question."
"It is none of your concern." Pein said merely, "Naru will either bring us to victory or be our downfall. We are training her, and so will you."
They were making her into a weapon. Itachi understood that much. But the rest...Naru bringing them to victory? What the hell!
"Is that all."
"Yes."
"Very well." Pein said in a dismissive air, and suddenly he disappeared.
Itachi stared at the space where the man had been. That jutsu would be useful...
"Okay, lets go." Naru said cheerfully, breaking his reverie, as if she hadn't heard anything in the exchange.
"They're making you into a weapon, you know?" Itachi remarked.
"I know." Naru nodded enthusiastically.
"Don't you care at all?" Itachi said accusingly.
The girl stared at him for a while, her teeth and eyes glinting.
"Don't you miss Sasuke?" She echoed mockingly, then turned with a swish of gold and red, and padded, without a word down the hall.
For the first time in his life, Itachi found himself speechless.
Thats it. I am very sorry for starting so many stories. I will be updating Red Dawn and Fox Fang shortly...
Kitchi