Chapter Two: In Interrogation
Sakura woke up to find Kotetsu pounding on her door. She stumbled out of bed and opened it, hoping that the noise hadn't disturbed her parents.
"Sorry to wake you Sakura, but Lady Tsunade needs you in the infirmary near Interrogation."
"Sure, just let me change and I'll go with you." She reappeared at the doorway five minutes later, dressed but still bleary-eyed.
"What's happened?"
"We had some unexpected visitors about half an hour ago."
"Sasuke?"
"No, but… well, it's sort of the Akatsuki."
"What?" Sakura exploded, walking quicker and dragging Kotetsu along, "Shouldn't the city be on alert? Why aren't we going to the hospital? Are people still fighting? Are there any casualties? Injured? Dead? What's going on?"
"Calm down, Sakura. There wasn't any fighting." Except for Shizune and Lady Tsunade.
"What do you mean?"
"They surrendered at the gate. Well, actually a man called Kakuzu surrendered them at the gate." Sakura looked at him in confusion, "You really need to see them for yourself. Come on."
When they arrived at the infirmary, it was to find the whole room opened up, with every bed in use. Tsunade was standing in the hallway outside directing ninjas and nurses, when she noticed Sakura.
"Oh good, you've made it. Keep an eye on things here and make sure they," nodding over her shoulder to indicate the sleeping figures inside, "stay asleep. We don't want them to wake up just yet."
"Yes, my lady."
"I'm leaving you in charge. Kotetsu, resume your post at the gate."
Kotetsu saluted and marched off. Tsunade turned and strode off to Interrogation.
In an interrogation room, Kakuzu was seated at a table, with his hands out in front of him. He had been checked for concealed weapons, but he had already removed all of them at the gate as a show of goodwill. It was true he didn't have to stay here with these people, imprisoned. Just sitting in this room was bringing back bad memories. However, he was sure that if he left the others here, without explanation, it would cause a whole heap of trouble in the long run.
Besides the Hokage seemed nice enough, maybe she'd let him go.
The man in front of him did not seem as nice. But then Ibiki did not try to look nice. Intimidating, yes, but never nice. He was currently standing by the door with his arms crossed. He hadn't asked anything yet and he didn't seem to want Kakuzu to start talking, so he had kept quiet.
Then there was a knock at the door and Tsunade walked in. She nodded to Ibiki, then took a seat across from Kakuzu.
"We need a better explanation for this, Kakuzu. What happened?"
"I really don't know."
"You must know something about it!" Tsunade said in exasperation.
"I know that Deidara's been moping around for months because he was stuck with Tobi as a partner."
"Wait, stop there. Just so we're clear, Deidara and Tobi are?"
"Deidara has long blond hair and Tobi has dark hair and carries a mask. He used to wear it all the time but given his current circumstances, it's not possible at the moment. Would you like me to tell you which is which out of the others?"
"If you wouldn't mind."
"Kisame Hoshigaki is blue and resembles a shark. His partner is Itachi Uchiha, who has long straight black hair. Sasori has the red hair and pale skin. Zetsu is the weird quiet kid with the green hair. If you find him talking to plants, that isn't unusual. Hidan, well you'll know which one is Hidan. Three of the older kids will hang around together. I know that they say their names are Nagato, Konan and Yahiko but I only know Konan. There are five others that I'm not familiar with."
Tsunade made some notes and looked up at him again, "Alright, so Deidara was moping?"
"Sasori was his partner. From what I understand, despite their differences, Deidara prefers working with Sasori over Tobi any day of the week. So he's been researching ways to bring Sasori back after one of your kunoichi killed him last year."
"That was after the two of them kidnapped the Kazekage?"
"Yes. Tobi joined the Akatsuki shortly after that. He can be a little... hyperactive."
"Do you know what sort of jutsu Deidara was attempting?"
"No, to be honest none of us were really all that interested. Partners come and go in the Akatsuki. I've had more than my fair share of them. It's not something we focus on. But Deidara couldn't stand Tobi."
"But the jutsu, Kakuzu. What type of jutsu was it?"
"Well, just look at them. It was probably some sort of youth restorative or time reversal jutsu."
"You don't know anything else about it?" asked Tsunade, not entirely convinced.
"No, we didn't care what Deidara was doing. We didn't care that Sasori was dead. We just kept on with our missions."
"Why did you bring them here?"
"I don't know whether you knew this, but the Akatsuki leader Pein, and his deputy Konan, are from Amegakure. They ran the village for years, but they were always putting down rebellions. Some of the townsfolk didn't want them in charge. I had to get them out of the city before anyone found out. Their lives were in danger."
"You're mercenaries." Tsunade scoffed, "You, yourself, are known for collecting bounties on anyone when the price is high enough. Why not turn them in and leave them to their fate?"
Kakuzu opened his mouth then closed it. He looked away, glancing around the room, as if unsure how to say what he wanted to say. Tsunade watched him curiously. He was obviously attempting to make sense of something for himself before he tried to explain it to her. She wondered how long this would take.
"Perhaps I've changed too." He murmured.
"What are you talking about?" She asked in confusion.
"You'll see when they wake up." Kakuzu muttered as he crossed his arms.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Ibiki opened it and Iruka poked his head in.
"Lady Tsunade, Sakura says she can't keep them asleep any longer. They're waking up."
"And so it begins!" Kakuzu muttered ominously.