Walking through the battle-worn corridors it occurred to Aiko that the members of Akatsuki did not get along very well. She would definitely have to watch her step in this place. The man before her was mysterious. She was sure she had never met him before but at the same time sensed something familiar about him.
Deidara trailed behind them, occasionally muttering complaints. The Uchiha didn't speak during their walk until they had arrived in front of a polished oak door.
"You can go." Although he faced the door it was obvious that the statement was directed at Deidara. The blonde looked like he was going to reject the command but he decided against. Aiko was suddenly curious as to what was behind the door that had caused Deidaras hesitation. From what she could tell he was not one to be easily intimidated and if he was he would never show it.
Aiko quickly swept those thoughts from her mind and turned back to the Uchiha. He put his hand to the door and with a tiny amount of pressure it swung open. Perhaps it was because of her curiosity to what lay beyond but the door seemed to move with an agonizing slowness. As it moved trepidation began to settle in the pit of her stomach. At last it finished its slow crawl and the Uchiha walked into the room, Aiko quickly fell into pace behind him. Her face formed into an apathetic mask of her inner emotions.
She examined the room with a cool gaze and noticed it had a warm, lived in feeling that was in direct contrast to the halls outside. The lights were all off but she could see the outline of a large leather recliner to the left and the eyes of paintings glimmered in the dark. The floor was polished wood and Aiko was afraid to trek mud onto it.
The Uchiha stepped into the middle of the room and stared at the silhouette of a man standing at the far wall. His face was hidden by shadows but Aiko could tell that he wore the same black patterned cloak as Tobi, Deidara and the Uchiha in front of her.
"Itachi." Said the voice and the Uchiha nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Where are Deidara and Tobi?"
Itachi. Aiko finally knew the Uchihas name.
"I told them that I would bring her too you Leader-sama."
"'Her' can hear you." Silence followed Aikos outburst.
"Very well." The Leader said as if she had never spoken. "She will stay with Deidara for tonight. He has a spare bed." Itachi nodded then quickly left the room.
The Leader lifted his hand from the shadows and motioned for Aiko to follow. He stepped through a door beside him that Aiko had failed to notice and she hurried to catch up.
The next room was lighted and Aiko looked carefully at the Leader. She was surprised by his appearance. He didn't look like the leader of the worlds most feared criminal organization. His hair was orange and spiked all over the place. Multiple piercings covered his face. Despite looking like an oversized teenager he was still intimidating. It's the eyes. Aiko decide. They weren't ordinary. Swirling rings surrounded pupils that were equally as orange as his hair. As she scrutinized he looked back. They're eyes locked and Aiko felt fear. Fear of him, fear of this place. Fear. It was not a foreign emotion but it was not unusual for Aiko. Her knees began to shake and she felt she would fall over. Just as she thought she couldn't take it anymore the man swiftly turned and left the room. Aiko hurriedly tried to regain her composure and followed him. She followed him back into the many corridors that ran intricately through the base. There were many turns and doors that were all identical, though none as fancy as the one leading to the first room. He stopped suddenly in front of a door that was the same as all the others.
"You will stay here tonight and answer us tomorrow." He said.
"Answer what?" but he didn't reply.
He walked away and Aiko stood outside the door for a moment before opening it a little and peeking inside.
Deidara sat in the room. It was a very small room. There were two beds, each one situated against opposite walls. Two desks stood side by side at the far wall across from the door. One of the desks was covered in what looked like puppet parts and the other was littered with clay. Deidara sat at the desk with the clay. He was carefully molding a detailed sculpture of a bird. He was so lost in his creation that he hadn't noticed Aiko enter. She walked over to the bed beside him and sat down.
"You sculpt?" she asked him curiously.
He jumped at her voice, startled at her sudden appearance.
"Yes." He replied after calming down and returning to his work. Aiko could have sworn that she saw something different in his eyes as he glanced at her, but in an instant it disappeared. In its place was a smile. A bright new energy emanated from him as he asked the next question.
"What do you think art is?" Aiko smiled back. She was reminded reminiscently of a child asking if he could open his Christmas presents yet. She wanted to laugh at his eager expression but managed to hold back all but few escapee giggles.
"I don't know. Perhaps something to be admired from afar. Always just out of reach for the ordinary souls."
"You have a good idea of art, un. But you are missing one thing."
"What is that?" Aiko was curious of Deidaras sincere and proud attitude towards art.
"Art is fleeting!"
"I guess so."
"I knew I'd like you, un! You're the first to agree with me. Sasori-Danna didn't get it at all."
"Sasori? Aiko asked him. "Is that who used to stay here?"
As soon as Aiko spoke the words sadness erupted onto Deidaras face. She noticed his pain and tried to make things right.
"I'm sorry Deidara. I didn't mean to upset you."
Deidara heard the sincerity in her words but he couldn't find a drop of sympathy in her. Aiko reached to touch his shoulder in a comforting way but he moved away. He hadn't meant to react like this but whenever someone mentioned his Danna he couldn't control himself. An awkardness filled the room and the silence between them stretched to what seemed like a decade. A grateful interruption came in the form of Tobi.
"Deidara-sempai! Leader-sama wants to see you!"
Aiko was amazed at the orange wonder. It was like he was oblivious to the tension in the room. Maybe he was. He had just barged in shooting his mouth off. She would have thought he'd make an awful ninja if not for the fact that she saw his single eye sweep the room. Taking everything in with his observant gaze. She saw in that instant that he could be a formidable foe if he wanted to be.
"Do you mind Aiko-san?"
"Huh?" she was still watching Tobi and didn't know what Deidara was talking about.
"I have to go see Leader-sama."
"Oh, that's fine. It's getting late anyway. I should get some rest."
He nodded and left with Tobi. Aiko wasn't actually sure what time it was. It was so hard to tell when there was no sunlight. At least with Deidara gone she had time to think about what had occurred. She lay down on the pillow and suddenly felt more tired than before. Her eyes closed and she drifted into a deep sleep.
Aiko awoke to the sound of a very excited Tobi shaking her. She looked down and saw that she was still lying on top of Deidaras bed. The other bed looked like it had been slept in and Aiko felt guilty for using a bed that wasn't hers.
"Come on! Come on!" Tobi yelled. "Leader-sama wants you! You need to answer the question!"
Oh shit! With what had happened last night there had been no time to ask Deidara what the question was. Tobi had already begun dragging her out of the bed and towards the door. She wriggled out of his grasp and shooed him out of the room so she could change. She deliberately took a long time and when she finally opened the door she found Tobi slumped against the wall. He had fallen asleep waiting for her. Every few seconds he would let out a cute little snore. She carefully stepped over him and found a pair of eyes watching her from within the shadows. They glowed red and she instantly recognized them to belong to Itachi. She nodded an acknowledgement that she had seen him and followed him through the shadows of the corridors.
He led her to the same room she had visited the day before. In it was the same man. He stood in the same spot as before and again the lights were very, very dim. Aiko couldn't understand the secrecy after she had already seen his face. Except that this time there was other shadowy figures dotted across the room.
"Where is Tobi?" the Leader asked.
"Probably still in the corridor sleeping." Aiko told him.
He looked at Itachi who nodded then he nodded back at Itachi who left the room, presumably to get Tobi.
What is with all the nodding? Do these people have no social skills?
I would appreciate it if I could see the people I'm talking to." Aiko said to the leader with a sardonic edge to her voice.
Again the leader nodded and fireballs came from behind, lighting torch brackets that lined the wall. Aiko spun around and saw the Itachi had returned with a surprisingly silent Tobi following.
Aiko turned back towards the middle of the room and saw the other members of Akatsuki. There were five that she hadn't met yet. One was a girl with bright blue hair. She stood next to the Leader. Another looked very arrogant. His hair was slicked back and an evil smirk lit his face. He stood next to one who looked like he had a bad surgery experience. All his visible body parts were held together with stitching. One of them looked like a plant. His face was split into two colors – black and white – and a large green thing covered his head. The last one confused Aiko the most. He had blue skin and gills. He saw her watching him and grinned. Teeth sharpened to razors flashed in the flickering light.
"What is your answer?" the Leader asked snapping Aikos attention back to him.
"Ah, what's the question?" she replied with a sheepish smile.
A snicker made her look again at the fish like man who was just barely muffling his laughter.
"Will you join Akatsuki?"
Now it was Aikos turn to laugh which seemed to confuse most of the people in the room. Between her fits of laughter she managed to form a mildly coherent answer.
"Of… course... Why… wouldn't… I?"
The Leader looked taken aback by her answer. He had obviously been expecting to use force. He recovered quickly though and turned to address the other members.
"With the addition of our new member we will be changing our previous sleeping arrangements. Kakuzu will be moving into Deidaras room. Tobi will be moving into Kisames. Hidan to Zetsus and Aiko will be with Itachi."
Upon concluding his miniature speech he exited the room and left the others to fight it out amoungst themselves.
"I'm not sharing–"
"Fucking asshole–"
That was all Aiko heard before she saw Itachi leaving and hurried to follow him. It would not be good to get lost in the many hallways at a time like this.
Trailing behind Itachi Aiko began to memorize the layout of the base. All the time she had been following he had given no indication that he knew she was there. He stopped abruptly in front of a door and Aiko nearly crashed into him. The door was just a solid grey slab like every other door in the base. There was nothing distinctive about it. He opened the door and they both stepped inside.
"This is our room." He stated simply. "There will be another bed added soon."
Aiko couldn't understand what he was talking about. The room was a good one. An empty desk was situated against one wall. There was a rack for shuriken and kunai. A practice dummy that looked like it should have been replaced years ago. And one… oh. One bed was in the very center of the room. Aiko immediately knew what had to happen.
"I'm not sleeping on the floor."
Kisame walked down the corridors. He didn't mind sharing a room with Tobi as long as he got his beauty sleep. He stopped in front of Itachis room and put his ear to the door. There were a lot of crashes which probably meant that the girl was already unhappy with her new roommate. Kisame smiled to himself and continued down the hall. This was going to be interesting.
