Once again, I thank you for your constructive comments! Welcome to chapter seven :D
Arists/songs I listened to while writing this chapter: Ellie Goulding ("Wish I stayed"), Gackt ("Oasis"), Eddie Rath ("Karin"), Shakira ("Añoz luz", "Mon Amor").
Uchiha's Eleven
Written by Venerate
Chapter seven: Baikan Danzou
April 14, 2010
Baikan Danzou was a calm, rich man. He was reliable and loyal, known for being able to keep quiet when the situation called for it. If you wanted to tell someone a secret, Baikan Danzou would be the one to tell. His pale, thin lips were sealed until you said that it wasn't considered a secret anymore. Even then, even with permission, Danzou wasn't one to gossip.
Danzou worked had worked as a politician, but had now taken a different path, making thick money on his dirty business. With skills in the economic department, he fooled companies and corporations to invest in his work. After that, Danzou disappeared for a time, only to appear again to fool someone new.
Baikan Danzou was nothing more than a cover. Nothing more, nothing less. He only existed because of Sai's intentions to infiltrate Akatsuki by acting as their client.
While Danzou had a reputation of being smart and quiet, Akatsuki had yet to find out how impossible the man could be. Dressed in a suit, a navy blue tie around his neck, Sai felt more like Sasuke than Danzou. So, Lee and TenTen helped him stuff a pillow on the inside of his white dress shirt.
With a beer tummy and moustache, Sai felt more like Danzou. Standing outside the newly built sky scrape, he put on the horn-rimmed glasses and ruffled his grey-tinted hair. He kept from laughing, knowing that he looked like a fat, old man.
With a deep sigh, his moustache tickling his upper lip, Baikan Danzou walked inside.
Akatsuki had twelve official members. Danzou had met four of them so far. He was sitting in one of the congress rooms, occupying himself with fiddling with his papers.
Kakuzu and Hidan, two strange men, were sitting on the other side of the table. They were both tall and muscular, Kakuzu keeping himself hidden by wearing a strange piece of clothing around his face. He was holding a calculator, lowly counting something. Hidan was smirking as he drummed his fingers on the table, his eyes resting on Danzou's figure. The grey-haired man was a believer of Jashin, making him unpredictable and dangerous. Sai had noticed this when Hidan introduced himself to Danzou.
Two more members were in the room, completely silent. Akasuna no Sasori, a red-haired boyish looking man. Sasori had the voice of a young man, but his height and stature could deceive anyone into believing him to be an innocent teen. Next to Sasori sat Deidara. The long-haired blond man was only quiet because he was busy playing with clay.
So much for dangerous criminals.
The door was opened again, and all stood up as Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi entered. Kisame wore a shit-eating grin, as if Itachi had said something incredibly funny before they entered the congress room. However, this seemed impossible as Itachi held no signs of amusement. On the contrary, Sai noticed the small scowl that was barely there.
Danzou bowed as Itachi and Kisame acknowledged him. The tall, monster-looking man had a blue tint on his skin, and Sai wondered just what it was. An illness, a full-body tattoo? Dirty images appeared before his dark eyes when he accidently stumbled over the thought, 'is he blue everywhere?'
Resisting the urge to gag, Danzou kept still. He glanced at Itachi, who stared right back. The Uchiha was both much alike and unlike his younger brother. They shared the same colour of skin and eyes, but their hair-colour and body figure were different. Whereas Itachi's hair had taken a grey tint – 'stress?' – Sasuke's hair was almost blue in the sunlight. Whereas Sasuke was tall and muscular, Itachi was lean and slightly shorter. Itachi's face had a rounder shape, which could have made his appearance gentler, had he not been wearing that dull expression.
"Pain isn't showing up, guys," a female voice came from the door. Danzou looked up at her. She was kind of pretty, with a smooth expression and her hair a blue page-cut. She wore a discreet blouse and a knee-long skirt, her suitcase indicating that she was more than a secretary. The make-up on her face was very suitable for her appearance, some eyeliner blended with an almost navy-coloured eye-shade.
She smiled politely directly at him, bowing. Sai made sure too look as flustered as possible when Danzou stood up – even though Sai hardly found other people attractive, Danzou probably did. He bowed, correcting his moustache while he did so.
"Konan," she introduced herself. "You're Baikan Danzou. Welcome." She sat on his right side, picking up a few documents. "Zetsu and Tobi are busy at the moment, but you'll meet them later. Here, I prepared a contract. Of course, it still needs to be filled in and completed, but hopefully, you'll accept it."
April 16, 2010
When Neji answered the phone, he was glad to hear that it was TenTen who had been appointed to report today. Listening to Lee yesterday had made his ears bleed, and he had had a very hard time understanding what their status was. Sai had requested to speak with Shikamaru the day he met Akatsuki, and the Nara had listened intently before re-telling everything to the others.
"Another day in paradise," TenTen said sarcastically. "Almost makes me wish something would happen so I get to use my new Kukri."
"Why not stab Lee a little?" Neji suggested. "If I have to endure one more mission report from him, both he and I will meet the Gods earlier than expected."
"You don't believe in God, jerk. So, Sai was out doing some business today as Danzou. I followed while Lee stayed at the apartment. I kept in the background, but my services weren't needed. Everyone seems to love this fat, hairy dude."
"Hmm," Neji agreed. "I will inform Nara of this. Have a good evening, TenTen."
"You too."
They hung up, and Neji glanced over at Shikamaru, who was half-asleep. Hinata was next to him, unsure if she should wake the other up or let him be. Neji merely kicked the brown-haired genius, causing the Nara to jump awake. Once he was sure that he had Shikamaru's attention, he informed him of Sai's success.
September 14, 2007
Sasuke grabbed his bag, sweat running down his forehead. Not thinking straight, he hurriedly put his suit jacket in the bag along with the disgusting amount of money. Dressed only in pants and a white dress-shirt with rolled-up sleeves, Sasuke wiped some of the sweat away, zipping the duffel bag shut.
He could hear the sirens clearly. He knew that the others had made a beeline, just like himself. Now, it was just a matter of getting out of there undiscovered. The hotel they lived on was placed only a kilometre or so from the casino, to which the police were heading.
He grabbed his already packed suitcase, which had been waiting patiently by his door since yesterday. Leaving the luxurious room, he entered the corridor. Shock filled him upon seeing Ino waiting for him. She still wore the purple dress from last night.
"C'mon, c'mon," she hissed angrily. "Sakura wouldn't leave without you, but I managed to get her out with TenTen and Kiba."
"What are you doing here then?" he asked, not understanding her presence. Ino wasn't too found of him because of his past with her girlfriend.
"I told her I'd look after you. Otherwise, she wouldn't have left." Ino was only holding her purse, her bags probably leaving the city already, along with Sakura and the others. "C'mon, now. I saw a car stop here a few minutes ago."
"Do you know any Chinese?" he asked her. She threw a dirty look over her shoulder. Despite her pumps, she still managed to walk fast. By the looks of it, she didn't know big amounts of Chinese. "If they talk to you, let me handle it, okay?"
"Whatever, man. I just want to get out of here, suspicious-looking or not."
They reached the lobby, seeing two cops talking to the receptionist. Otherwise, it was empty. It was early in the morning. Either the hotel guests were still out partying, or they were sleeping. Sasuke had hoped for more people in the lobby. It would have made everything much easier.
"Wei, teng!"
Both Sasuke and Ino froze at the demand, the blonde's grip on her purse tightening as the uniform-clad police walked over to them. They were clearly not in a good mood, looking impatient and tired. Sasuke turned around, asking in fluent Chinese, "Is there anything wrong?"
The officer stared at him as if he was stupid, "Passport."
Sasuke picked up his passport, mumbling for Ino to do the same. Once they opened their passports, revealing their identities, the cops smacked their tongues impatiently, asking where they were heading and why they were going so early in the morning.
"Family emergency," Sasuke lied. "We must go back home immediately."
Ino was sweating just as much as Sasuke did, and she grasped the sleeve of his dress shirt, her nail polish leaving marks in the expensive fabric. At the moment, he didn't mind. If they got out of this mess, he'd burn all of his clothes as a sign of gratitude to the Gods.
"You must follow us to the station."
Ino gasped, putting her hands in front of her red-painted mouth to hide the quivering of her lips. Sasuke put a strong arm around her shoulders, comforting and acting at the same time. "We're in a great hurry," the Uchiha pushed. Ino looked confused, not understanding much of what was said. "My brother is very ill–"
"No."
April 17, 2010
The scent of rice and teriyaki sauce filled the bottom floor, Sakura, Hinata and Chouji helping each other in the kitchen. Ino was currently downtown, buying alcohol and soda for dinner. Kiba and Naruto were playing videogames, oblivious to the serious meeting behind them. Shikamaru, Neji, Shino and Sasuke were seated around one of the computers and looking for possible security programs that could be installed into the building.
"Hey, hey," Naruto paused the game and leaned closer to the brown-haired dog lover. "Press X when you get closer to the edge, then R1."
"You have way too much spare time," the Inuzuka chuckled. "Y'know, once we're rich, you could come visit the kennel. My dog is awesome."
"I bet it smells just as bad as you," Naruto said, snickering. It earned him a shove, but he managed to keep his game character alive and well. "I saw the photo in your wallet. He's huge, like a monster!"
"He really is!" Kiba agreed. "He's been big since– when the fuck did you look in my wallet?"
Laughing, Naruto got up from his seat on the cushion. "Never mind, let's pretend I didn't say that." A devious grin crept upon the blond's face, and Kiba paused the game before getting up on his feet. "I didn't take anything!"
"But you looked in my wallet! It's like, like…like…looking in a girl's purse!" Kiba sputtered, gesturing wildly with his arms. "You little- arrgh! You little bunny!"
"Bunny? What's up with you and bunnies?" Naruto screeched. "I just borrowed some money!"
Neji turned around, facing the arguing boys with a dead serious facial expression. "Shut up or leave."
Naruto laughed, pointing a finger at the taller brunet. "Ha!"
Narrowing his bright eyes, Neji growled, "That means you too, bunny."
April 18, 2010
"Okay, we'll have to place Naruto and Sakura in the back. Sasuke and I will be upfront, by the net. Remember, Kiba's a lefty." Neji took a step back, his pale hand following the volley ball-net as he did so. Dressed in only swimming trunks and a t-shirt, the Hyuuga looked quite different. Still arrogant, but in a slightly more relaxed way.
Neji wasn't the only one in swimming trunks. Despite the fact that the lake was a few kilometres away, beyond the forest, the sun was blazing down on them, heating the ground and the air around them. It was surely turning out to be twenty-five degrees Celsius. Ino and Sakura had mini-skirts, exotic bikinis covering their privates.
Shino, sitting next to Chouji on the side, was dressed in a turtle-necked sleeveless shirt, sunglasses on his nose and a thick layer of sunlotion on his arms. He wasn't the only one covered in sunlotion, both Sasuke and Neji sensitive with their pale complexions. Naruto and Kiba, only dressed in swimming trunks, only had to put some on their noses and shoulders, naturally tan as always.
"C'mon, boys," Ino yelled from the other side of the net. "It's bloody volley ball, you don't need a tactic!"
"On the contrary," Shikamaru said from next to the blonde female. "I've already placed you, Hinata and Kiba the way I deemed most practical for our victory."
The brown-haired douche in swimming trunks laughed, "Awesome! Let's play!"
"Eager to loose, ne, dog-boy?" Naruto grinned widely, standing next to the pinkette in the back. Kiba showed him the finger, baring his teeth barbarically, responding by barking loudly,
"Coming from you, who had to be placed in the back because you can't reach over the net!"
Naruto almost flew over the net, but strong arms encircled his waist from behind before he could attack the mutt on the other side. Kiba couldn't stop laughing, obviously very pleased with his insult. The corners of Ino's mouth pulled, but one look from Naruto kept her laughter at bay.
"Let me- let me go, damn it, I'm gonna break his nose!"
Neji let go of Naruto, but proceeded in shoving him in the right direction. For a second, Naruto almost seemed confused when he faced Sakura, but then gave up and walked up to her. Still grumbling, he sent Sasuke a look, but the Uchiha was merely smirking at him. Childishly, Naruto grimaced, showing his pink tongue.
Sasuke's eyes glimmered, his white teeth flashing as he bit in Naruto's direction. Sakura giggled at the playful gesture, letting out a surprised yelp when she saw that Kiba had thrown the ball over to Neji.
"You guys start," Shikamaru said, wiping sweat from his forehead.
With a feral grin, Neji sent a look through the net. "With pleasure."
To Be Continued
A/N: I apologise for the short length, but I'm busy-busy. I'll make it up to you guys, later; when I get back home (it might take a week or so).
Questions for this chapter:
Did you find anything incorrect (spelling, grammar, facts)?
Do you have any suggestions?
Is there a scene (made-up or from a book/movie) that you'd enjoy to see somewhere in future chapters?
