Akatsuki Brothers Shorts: Cloaks
There is a teahouse in one of the outer villages around Amegakure. They didn't know it, but they were housing some of the most powerful shinobi in the age, and very possibly the ones that would be determining the future.
A red-haired man scrutinizes the pair in front of him. A cyan-haired woman sits calmly next to him, her chakra presence reassuring him. No one knows he's there, thanks to a well-placed genjutsu and sound barrier around their table (civilians wouldn't exactly be leaping with joy to see a red-haired man with chakra-poles sticking out his back).
"So. You wish to join the Akatsuki?" The man's voice is low and doubtful, "And you claim to be Uchiha Madara."
"Yes. You've had encounters with me before," The man says, and as if on cue, the single right eye hole in his mask flares red with a sharingan. The red-haired man's purple eyes widen a fraction.
"But who is your companion?" Uzumaki Nagato questions. The silver-haired teenager was a variable. Nagato knew nothing of him, yet surely he was strong enough to be accompanying 'Madara'?
"He is merely a friend," Madara shakes it off with a gloved hand. It's no big deal, it says.
The silver-haired teen tenses at the rinnegan's penetrating stare. His lower face is covered by a black mask and his left eye by a cloth tied around his head, almost like a hitai-ate without its metal plate. "Uchiha Madara and I have been acquaintances for a while and after . . . helping me he has accepted my offer to redeem his generosity." His voice is steady.
Nagato's rinnegan flares, "Oh?" He detects lies, but doesn't know where, and Konan squeezes his hand under the table, soothing his paranoia. Nagato wouldn't know what to do without her.
"The Akatsuki seek peace, are you willing to give it all for our goal?" He questions softly.
The pair nods. "Then tell me," Nagato frowns, "What are your real names?"
"I am Uchiha Madara." The man repeats.
"I have met that man once before. Tell me something that will show me that you are him." Nagato's scowl remains present.
After glancing at Madara, the silver-haired teen clears his throat. "The eye of the moon plan."
Nagato's rinnegan widens, but he makes no verbal response. Silently he is thankful for Konan's foresight in placing a sound barrier jutsu to ward off eavesdroppers. After consideration, he nods, "Very well, what do you want?"
"Well, first of all, we're going to have to change the robes." Madara speaks.
Nagato is caught off-guard. "O-our clothes?"
"Yeah, if we're going to have a nice strong organization, we need uniform, y'know? And that black drab cloak isn't cutting it okay?" Madara spoke with authority.
Seemingly realizing that this was how it was going to be like, Nagato sighs, "What are you going to change about it?" Konan stifles a giggle at her long-time teammate and friend's distress.
"Well, I was thinking something with clouds, what do you think?" He asks his silver-haired companion.
"I think there should be white outlining the clouds, so they pop," The teen suggests.
"But won't the clouds be white as well?" As Nagato speaks up, part of him wonders why he was getting so worked up about this (and also some of him wondered if he had finally lost it). It was just a cloak.
Madara looks at him like he really has gone insane (though it was hard to tell with a mask covering the entirety of his face, but Nagato swore he could sense disbelief), "No, they're going to be red." He says it like Nagato is the one spewing nonsense. "Now what I'm wondering about is what shade of red. I kinda want a darker shade, but who's going to want to hire us if it looks as if we have splotches of blood on our cloaks, right?"
"Then you better not be the one drawing the design for it," The silver-haired teen teases. Nagato blinks slowly and resists the urge to rub his eyes. This was not happening. Someone was teasing Uchiha Madara—the man who had been killed (really the fact he was talking to a dead man should've set off the 'you're crazy' alarms in Nagato's mind) by the first Hokage decades ago.
Finally after many cups of tea, migraines (mostly Nagato's), and exasperated sighs (again, voiced mostly by Nagato) the design was complete.
"Well that was fun!" Madara says, "However, my friend and I must be leaving. I assume you have the bill?" Nagato makes to stand up, but Madara and his silver-haired partner disappear in a swirling ripple between space and time.
"They were interesting," Konan speaks first.
Nagato rubs his temples. "Interesting indeed." He shoves the design inside his 'drab' cloak.
"Are you going to really make them?" Konan asks as she places down the necessary coins to pay for their numerous cups of tea.
Nagato groans, "Well I don't think 'Madara' would be too pleased if I didn't."
"You know," Konan says as they walk out, supporting Nagato slightly with the metal chakra-poles hindering him. "I think it'll be good to work with them. They're different than what I expected."
"All I know is that that was not Uchiha Madara."
A/N: Sorry guys for the late update (and not even an actual plot-based chapter)
Yep, this is a filler (if you can even have that in writing), basically a chapter that has no real importance to the story itself, but I just kinda wanted to write this. This is slightly different than what they're first meeting will be like in the actual fic, I just wanted to experiment with this sort of situation. I'm planning to do another short later on with the Akatsuki painting their nails (yay).
Next chapter will actually be with Kakashi and Obito