Chapter seven is now up! YAY! Okay, so I took a some creative liberties with the Akatsuki's lair but of well. Enjoy!

PS, I don't own Naruto but my birthday's coming up and...


Deidara sat on the other side of the campfire with his head hung. Itachi had wisely decided to stay the night just inside the Waterfall Country border. Presently, it was just him and the defeated looking Deidara in camp; Sasori was off doing god knows what and Naruto and Kisame had somehow managed to become friends and were currently 'gathering more firewood' aka planning elaborate pranks on the other Akatsuki members.

"So…" Itachi attempted to start a conversation rather lamely. Seeing the younger child like that was starting to creep him out a little.

"How are Sasuke-kun, Kiba-kun, and Shikumaru-kun, un?" Deidara's voice was flat and hollow.

"Fine, last I saw."

"And Konoha in general, un?"

"Fine…?"

"So now you're part of an organization that wants to bring down Konoha, un. I bet your clan loved that one when you told them. Oh, right, you killed them all to test your strength." Deidara snarled slightly and glowered at Itachi. Itachi was slightly relived to see some light in the blonde's eyes, even if it was rage.

"I had my reasons and the Akatsuki's goals differ from what you think. It's really not so bad." Deidara snorted at this comment and Itachi arched an eyebrow.

"Is that why you have to force your members to join, un?" Itachi couldn't think of anything to say to that so the two sat in silence for a while.

"It's safer, you know. We are easier to pick off alone and there are plenty of people eager to do it. Even S-rank criminals need protection in numbers. Akatsuki is like a mini village. We all joined for different reasons but we all are glad to have done so in the end."

"Yeah? Well I had a companion and we were fine together, un. We didn't need Akatsuki for protection. But thanks a lot for forcing us to join your crazy-ass cult and separating us, un. We are eternally grateful."

"You speak for both Naruto and yourself?" Deidara snorted and turned away, successfully ending any more conversation.


"Right, then there's Zetsu and he's just a walking plant with split personalities. Any good ideas for him?"

"Umm…. Ah! How about when he's on a mission we fill his room with dirt and plant flowers and grass?"

"I think he might enjoy that." Kisame rubbed his chin in thought. "We could chase him around base with watering cans."

"Nah, that's too boring. Help me out with this, will you?" Naruto struggled to pull a dead limb off a tree. The two of them where indeed gathering firewood; currently they had a small truckload of dry, burnable wood but they were having way too much fun to just go back. Kisame freed the limb with one swipe of Samehada. "Um, how about this Tobi fellow?"

"What about him?" Naruto had to word this carefully; he needed information about the man they thought would be a good partner for him.

"How do you think we should prank him?"

"I don't think we need to."

"W-what do you mean?" Naruto was getting nervous. This Tobi must be absolutely terrifying if even Kisame didn't want to prank him!

Kisame grinned at him like a Cheshire Cat. "I'll let you figure that one out for yourself." He turned away from the blonde so he wouldn't see him trying not to laugh. "I think we have plenty of wood now." He said after the urge to laugh had died down. "Let's head back to camp."


"The Akatsuki base is a cave?" Deidara asked doubtfully. The five of them where standing before the sealed entrance to the infamous organizations' lair. The two newcomers were kind of disappointed in what they saw; if the Akatsuki was so wonderful why did the members live in a cave?

"Stop whining, brat."

"Whatever you say, Sasori-danna." Deidara said 'Danna' as if he couldn't think of anything more disgusting than the word in existence. Kisame and Naruto, on the other hand, were speaking excitedly in hushed tones.

"Every member gets their own room and they're pretty big too! We work in two cell groups and partners have rooms that are either side by side or across from each other."

"Is Tobi-san's room close to Deidara and Sasori-sama's?"

"I dunno were Tobi's room is. But we only have an open room for Deidara; we weren't planning on getting you too. Maybe Deidara will have to blast you a room somewhere?" Itachi ignored them all. He stared at the seal on the boulder and waited patiently for someone to open the door. While he waited he thought about the new members.

Deidara hated him. He had made it perfectly clear that he would love nothing more than a chance to get back at Itachi for the humiliating recruitment. Itachi would need to keep an eye on him. As for Naruto, Itachi was a little disappointed that the boy hadn't recognized him yet; Uchiha wasn't exactly a common name. Although Naruto had been five when they had last met and was probably suppressing the painful memories about his former village. Besides, if he did remember he might ask Itachi difficult questions.

"We have a huge kitchen! Everyone likes different foods and we keep it well stalked so no one goes insane and tries to eat someone else." Kisame continued, positively delighted to have a captivated audience and he found Naruto's wide-eyed expression hilarious. Even Deidara and Sasori had stopped sulking and were paying attention to the fox child.

"Eat someone else?"

"Oh, yes. Zetsu loves nothing more than eating people for fun." Kisame sounded positively gleeful.

"Let's not forget that he could also be sacrificed to Jashin, maimed, have his internal organs sold on the black market, poisoned, be turned into a puppet…" Sasori listed all the 'death-by's' he could think off. Although normally completely void of all emotions, Sasori was enjoying Naruto's terror way too much. Even Deidara smirked slightly as Naruto tried to formulate a good comeback. "Anyone that's too weak to ward off an attack isn't needed in Akatsuki." Sasori finished.

"B-but I-"

"Door's opening." Itachi brought all of their attention back to the lair. The great bolder trembled slightly, and then rolled aside as the seal was deactivated from the inside. Itachi was relieved to see that it was Konan standing in the entrance as she rarely asked questions. "Hello Konan-san." He greeted her and she smiled in return. She waved one hand at them to beacon them forward then turned around and walked into the dark interior of the cave. Naruto and Kisame followed immediately after her but the other three paused. Deidara was reluctant to enter the cave because it seemed to him that the second he did so his freedom would end and the other two wanted to make sure he didn't try anything.

In the end, Deidara entered because Naruto was getting out of his sight. Deidara had reluctantly come to the conclusion that the Akatsuki wasn't bad for Naruto and by extension, himself. Hadn't he wished that Naruto could have some friends and training since they left Iwa? And now that wish had come true in a twisted and bizarre way. Itachi and Sasori still followed Deidara closely even though he no longer had an opportunity to escape.

Naruto and Deidara both stumbled slightly on the unfamiliar terrain of the cave when the sealed door slammed back into place and cast the cave into total darkness. Kisame grabbed Naruto's upper arm to prevent him from falling but neither Sasori nor Itachi even attempted to stop Deidara from walking into a wall. Konan giggled as the five scuffled and protested amongst each other in a very childish manner. Naruto was suddenly glad of the dark because it masked his blush wonderfully.

"The lights will come on in a second." Her voice sounded like church bells to Naruto's ears but the others didn't seem to notice anything. "If it helps, you can hold still until they do." Just as she finished speaking a line of torches along either wall flared into life. They must have been created using some kind of jutsu because they all burned without an apparent fuel source and they produced no smoke.

Konan lead them deeper and deeper into the cave; up and down twisting tunnels and trough doors with seemingly no proposes. "Who made this?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"Dunno, good question though." Kisame stroked his chin while he thought.

"I know." Konan glanced back and smiled again. "This place was once a great ninja village back before even the current countries existed. It was the first ninja village ever; before this place existed ninjas existed as roughs and assassins-for-hire."

"Well that's what ninja are now only we're the roughs and the villages are for hire, un." Deidara grumbled.

"While this village was alive…. It was the most peaceful era of the world" Konan sounded dreamy.

"What happened then?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm?"

"The village, I mean. What happened?"

"That's one of the answers we're searching for. But it seems likely that there was a word war and the village was torn in two. The opposing sides abandoned this village and went around the world. As they moved smaller parties broke off and formed our current ninja villages."

"And the ones that didn't settle, un?" This time it was Deidara who spoke.

"They faded away and with them the history of this place. The current villages all have this story but they have become so distorted by region that we don't know what exactly happened." Naruto and Deidara raked their brains for the ninja origin story they had been taught in the Iwa academy. Sure enough they both recalled a story very similar to the one Konan had just told. Only they had heard it as a golden palace in the clouds that had been torn apart by corrupt demons pretending to be ninja. Konan's version was more believable and besides, as a kitsune Naruto (and Deidara for different reasons) hadn't been fond of the whole demon bashing thing.


Konan smiled at them once more then stopped in front of a perfectly ordinary door. She knocked once then pushed the door and walked in without waiting for a reply. The others waited for a few seconds before following her; none of them had the privileges that Konan had. Naruto and Deidara didn't know what to expect the office of an S-rank criminal organization leader to look like but whatever it was neither had expected what Pein's room was like.

Loose papers lay randomly around the floor with little origami creatures hiding in and amongst them, books and scrolls had been cast randomly onto tables or stuffed onto overflowing shelves, wilted and fresh garlands of daisies were hanging off of coat pegs, and a woebegone green parrot sat in a corner cage. Deidara half sneered at the man sitting behind the desk at the far end of the room. So this was the most dangerous organization in the world? Pathetic!

Naruto was watching the two people standing behind his new leader. On the right, Konan smiled reassuringly at him and put a hand on Pein's shoulder; the person standing on the left was tall and dressed in funeral black. Naruto wondered what he was thinking behind his orange, spiral-mask.

"Ahem." Pein glared at them and the blondes were disconcerted by his pale blue, ripple-patterned eyes. He shot Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori a look that clearly said Finally! What the hell took you so long? "I believe I told you to bring Deidara, who is the other one?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Kisame said.

"And why, pray tell, is he here?"

"He and Deidara-san grew up together and it would have been difficult to bring one without the other. If we would have killed him Deidara would never had agreed to come here." Itachi said, "Perhaps he could be Tobi's partner?" The masked man jumped slightly and looked swiftly to Pein.

"Perhaps…" Pein stared at Naruto briefly before turning his attention to Deidara. "Welcome to the Akatsuki, Deidara-kun. Here," Pein held out a teal ring and beckoned for Deidara to take it. "Put this on your right index finger." Naruto noticed that all of the people in the room, aside from himself and the masked-man, had rings of various colors positioned somewhere on one of their hands.

"Aoi…?" Deidara read the character on the ring before he slid it onto its designated place.

"You will be given a uniform by Konan then Sasori, as your new partner, will show you around." Sasori grumbled something unhappily. "But first, please put a scratch through the Iwa symbol in your headband."

"What?! Why, un?" Deidara took a step back from Pein in alarm.

"To show that although your past was in Iwa, you are now loyal to us." Konan looked at Naruto as well as Deidara as she spoke. Deidara frowned and reluctantly removed his forehead protector and took out a kunai. He shot a side Naruto a sideways glance before he slashed through the symbol of his former village.

"Good." Pein leaned back in his chair. "Itachi, Kisame, Sasori, Deidara, Konan; you are dismissed." Konan smiled at Naruto as she left and Kisame gave him a quick thumbs-up. Deidara showed no intentions of leaving without Naruto until Sasori threatened to stab him with his tail. Deidara threw Naruto a desperate glance and then was gone. Naruto was alone with Pein and the masked-man in an unfamiliar place.

"So, Uzumaki Naruto, I am impressed that you managed to remain unknown to the Akatsuki… even though the company you keep is rather well known." Naruto said nothing. "You will excuse me when I say that you cannot join the Akatsuki. We had only one open seat and your…Aniki?" Naruto shook his head. "Deidara has just filled it. However, you could become an unofficial member and partner with Tobi." The masked man fidgeted a little and knitted his fingers together.

"Um… Leader-sama? Who is Tobi?"

"Me, silly." The masked-man said. Naruto felt like the sky had fallen. Where was the terrifying ninja? Why was this fool claiming to be the great and mysterious Tobi? "You seem surprised!" Tobi giggled and Naruto quickly shut his mouth.

"I, um, thought…well, I expected… I didn't…."

"You will have plenty of time to discuss things later. For now-"

"Leader-sama!"

"-I think that-"

"LLLEEEAAADDDEEERRRRRR-SAAAAAAAAAAMMAAAAAA!"

"What is it Tobi?"

"Do we get rings and cloaks?"

"No, now may I continue?"

"But Leader-sama! How can we be members-"

"Unofficial members." Naruto interjected helpfully.

"-Without rings and cloaks? Think of poor Naruto-chan!" Tobi hugged Naruto and the kitsune stiffened. When had Tobi walked over to him? Could he be a better ninja than he seemed?

"Ask Konan later! Do you mind if I speak now?"

"HAI, LEADER-SAMA! TOBI WON'T MAKE ANOTHER PEEP!" Tobi yelled into Naruto's ear. I take it back thought Naruto; he's a useless fool and a worse ninja!

"Naruto-san, as you are still young you will be trained here. You will report to me and you will follow direct orders; but as you are not a complete member you will be given small leeway. Only you and Tobi may leave base without a mission until I say otherwise. Understood?"

"Hai, Leader-sama."

"Good. Welcome to the Akatsuki, Naruto-san." Pein and Tobi stared at Naruto as he withdrew a kunai and, with none of the reluctance Deidara had shown, slashed through the symbol of Iwa.


Tobi was fun to write about :D Please review!