DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto…this fic is purely fan-made!
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Chapter 3: On the Move
"OK! Now, let's begin!" Tobi stood on the centre table, and his voice practically radiated his excitement. "To make me seem like a real leader, I thought we should have missions. So I've created a list with new partners for everyone, and the missions I want done. It took me the whole night to come up with all this, so do as I say!"
Kakuzu tried to hide a laugh. "Looks like Tobi stayed up all night to work on his 'Pein' impression as well."
Tobi jumped off the table, with a swish of his cloak and disappeared through the door, sticking the papers on a wall as he did so.
"Oi, Kakuzu, read off those papers would you?" asked Deidara, who was stretched lazily on the couch. "…right…" Kakuzu rolled his eyes, but got up and detached the papers from the wall. "Ok…the new teams are Konan with Kisame, Zetsu with Itachi, Sasori with me, and Hidan with Deidara."
Everyone nodded to their new partner, except for Deidara, whose eye twitched as he glanced nervously at Hidan's scythe and creepy grin. "Why? Why do I have to be the one stuck with the creepy Jashinist? Just kill me now…or Hidan will do it." Deidara was freaked out, but tried not to let it show.
"Am I really that bad? Deidara looks pretty scared…hehe I'm gonna have fun tormenting him, what with all my 12 rituals per day…" Hidan thought, looking at Deidara with an evil smile.
Kakuzu flipped the paper, and read the other side, which contained details about their missions. "Missions. Ok, so we have to each…what the hell? I'm not doing this." Kakuzu dropped the paper, and sat back down. "What?" asked Itachi. Sasori sighed picked up the paper with his chakra strings. "Missions. Gather information on the 4 rookie groups of Konoha, led by Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma and Gai."
"No way. I'm not going to waste my time to gather information on some weak pathetic genins. What does this have to do with us anyways?" Hidan muttered.
"Nothing really, but it's a leader-assigned mission. So we have no choice but to accept." Itachi said grudgingly.
"You know what? I'm gonna go and tell the 'leader' what I think of his 'missions'" Hidan grabbed his scythe and headed for the door, with a dark expression on his face.
Konan had been listening quietly, but knew that Itachi was right anyways. Having Hidan beat up Tobi was not going to help matters. "But…Hidan's too stubborn and violent to listen to reason, unless…" Konan grinned. "Hey, Hidan, if you don't want to do the mission, I'll ask Tobi if one of us can cover for you. I mean, it may be dangerous for you to gather information on a bunch of genins, since they are so strong and all. You don't have to hide your fear of rookies from us."
"Ohh, she is good. A mix of sarcastic attitude and taunting will definitely ensure that he will complete the mission. But I do think that last line was a bit too much." Kakuzu thought.
Hidan stopped, and turned his head slowly, eyes narrowed in a glare. "WHAAAT?? Fear of rookies? Who the hell does she think I am? Fear of rookies… I'll show her a fear of rookies…but she'd better learn to fear my scythe!"
"You know what Konan? I'll do the mission. And I'll do it better and faster than you and shark-face over there!" He stormed out of the room, and Deidara looked at the ceiling and sighed. "Geez…it would have been scary enough for me to deal with him when he was in a normal mood, but now he's super mad…" Deidara thought. "This 'mission' is going to be so troublesome."
Kisame sweat dropped. "Geez, I've never seen him so motivated to do a mission that didn't involve assassinations. And its one of Tobi's missions no less…Wait. Did he just call me shark-face?"
"Score! Hidan's so predictable." Konan smirked, but faltered as she saw the look on Deidara's face. "Hehe…oops! Sorry Deidara, but he's now your problem."
"Who's going to do which group?" asked Zetsu quietly from the shadows he always seems to be conveniently located in. He wasn't the type to joke around much, so he just wanted the missions to be finalized.
"I want to take Kakashi's group." said Itachi.
"I really don't care, but I guess I'll take Asuma's?" said Deidara.
"We'll take Gai's." Kisame said.
"Guess that leaves us with Kurenai's, then." said Kakuzu with a look at Sasori. He nodded in response.
"We should prepare ourselves and get ready to leave soon. It will take us at least 1 day to reach Konoha, so the faster we leave, the better." Itachi stated logically.
Everyone nodded, and began to drift to their rooms in order to gather all their necessary equipment.
"Hey, Kakuzu? Do you think you could tell Hidan that we're scouting Asuma's group? And also tell him to meet at the front in about half an hour." Deidara muttered.
"Sure thing, Deidara. I'll also try to calm him down for you shall I? And give him some soothing tea, for you. Oh, and steal his scythe too. Anything else?" "Damn!…I'm not scared of him Kakuzu! So stop acting like that!" Deidara left the room and Kakuzu grinned. 'Riight…sure you're not. But then again, you're not 'immortal' so you have a right to be scared."
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Kakuzu walked to the room he and Hidan shared, and nodded at Hidan's body on the floor, which was pierced with sharp objects and severed in some places. "Kakuzu…how many…times have I told you…not to walk in here…when I'm doing a ritual?" Hidan's voice was constricted with pain and pleasure, and he glared at Kakuzu. Kakuzu merely turned his back on him. "Sorry. Are you going to continue your rituals when you're on the mission as well though? Because I think you've completely scared Deidara."
"Of course. I can't deny Jashin just because I'm inconveniencing my new partner. If it doesn't bother you, then it shouldn't bother him either. And as long as he doesn't anger me, he won't force me to do unnecessary rituals as well. Thank Jashin I'm not stuck with Konan. If I was, I'd probably have to do rituals every 5 minutes to control myself." Hidan whispered hoarsely.
"Huh. You and Deidara are scouting Asuma's group, and Deidara wants you to meet him at the front in about half an hour." Kakuzu said, while packing what he needed for the mission.
"Yeah, ok." Hidan started pulling the daggers, kunai and knives from his body, grimacing each time the objects parted with his flesh.
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Itachi and Kisame were in their room, preparing for their missions. They both lightly packed, since there wasn't really anything that they needed. Kisame was fawning over Samehada, and Itachi was checking his weapon stores.
"Hey, Itachi? Why did you want Kakashi's group? Is it because of Sasuke?" Kisame asked looking up.
Itachi paused, and spoke to his hands, instead of looking at Kisame. "I guess. Its been many years since I've last seen him…and I'm curious to see how he's grown."
Kisame knew that this was a touchy subject with Itachi, so he let it go, and didn't question him any further.
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Konan was packed and ready, all she needed was for Kisame to come, so that they could leave.
"Maybe…I should see how Pein's doing, before I go." She thought, cheeks tinting slightly.
She walked to the corridor leading to his room, since surprisingly, they didn't have an infirmary. He was lying on his large bed, still unconscious, but looking better than he had when she had first found him.
Konan smiled gently. "He looks much better now. I hope he will feel better soon, because I--we really, really need him back." She looked down at his face, half hidden with strands of his fiery hair. "Its just not the same without you, Pein." She pushed back his hair, and then turned to leave.
She reached the main entrance a few minutes later, and saw that everyone had already assembled.
"Alright! Now that you're all here, its time for you to go on your missions! Good luck to you all…you may need it." Tobi stood off to the side, and performed the required seals to open the door. The Akatsuki members left, some nodding to Tobi on their way out.
"Geez, he's acting as if he's sending us on an A-rank mission, instead of an E-rank mission." thought Deidara, as he walked past him.
Once they were all out, the door closed abruptly, and they were left facing a blank looking cliff wall.
"Alright, lets go."
The four teams split up, and started on different paths, though all leading to their final destination: Konoha.
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Now, that all the teams are on the move, its gonna be another day before they reach Konoha…and they have all this time to get to know their new partners a little better…for the better or worse. In case you were wondering, there is obviously no such thing as an E-rank mission but Deidara's just emphasizing the fact that he thinks that Tobi's mission is not even worth being a D-rank…although I'm sure you already figured that out . the next few chapters are going to be individuals, as we see what happens to the Akatsuki teams as they travel to Konoha! Reviews and comments are always welcome!
-crimsonrose88