I don't own Naruto if I did none of the Akatsuki would die.
Ino had no idea how long they were traveling, but she knew one thing for sure - it was so damn long! She didn't even have the idea where they were going to, she didn't dare to ask. After the little rain cloud went away the left the cave and started walking. The silence was among them during the whole trip, Kisame would occasionally say a thing or two and the longest response Itachi would ever give him was 'hm'.
But she didn't mind the silence, she needed time to swallow all of this, she couldn't believe that she mouthed the word 'yes' to Itachi. Last week, she was a bitter kunoichi for Konohagakure, now she was going to meet the leader of the Akatsuki. She hated people like Tsunade and village elders, but what she hated even more was being weak and useless. She wanted power, and if she had to walk on the path of darkness to get to it, she was ready to do it.
By now Itachi only paid her a couple of glances, always with red eyes instead of black ones. She really didn't understand why he constantly kept it turned on, if they were attacked he would easily fight the enemy off without it, and it takes like one blink of an eye to activate it. 'Maybe he just wants to look intimidating.' She thought. 'Well, it's working.'
"We're close." Itachi said and Ino flinched. They jumped off the tree and stood on the firm ground, they were now in a meadow and Ino realized that the border was close, a border with the Land of Rain. (A country where Amegakure is located isn't named so I decided to name it Land of Rain since Amegakure is Village Hidden in the Rain) Even though it was around past 2 pm or 3 pm, as they were approaching the border the weather was becoming cooler and Ino knew that she won't be able to see the Sun in another few minutes.
Ino really really wanted to stop and observe some of the beautiful and rare flowers that were growing here, but the thought of asking to S-ranked criminals to stop because of the flowers was more than absurd. She had a hard time following these two while they were jumping from tree to tree so she was so happy that she gets to normally walk. "So, we are going to the Land of Rain?"
Itachi remained silent and continued walking, completely ignoring her. He didn't see the point in stating the obvious. But Kisame shortly looked at her and nodded. Ino turned her head aside and smiled slightly. Although the shark really looked terrifying Ino thought that he was actually a nice guy, at least it seemed that way to her, she knows him only for a few hours after all.
She wondered what the Akatsuki leader would look like. Only thing individuals like her knew, at least in Konohagakure, about him was that he went by the self-proclaimed alias 'Pain'. Not much was known about the organization, only sure thing was that they wanted to capture the tailed beasts and by now they had only a few failed tries to capture Naruto.
In the village... (cause I'm too lazy to write the rest of the journey)
Ino couldn't stop observing Amegakure. The village was surrounded by the huge lake and, as expected, it was raining. Kisame and Itachi didn't seem to have a problem with it, they were in cloaks while she was in the top and a skirt, and apparently, they didn't care for their hair getting wet as she did for hers. She heard that Amegakure is under a strict surveillance, which was proven true when there were ten guards at the village's doors, while Konoha had only two.
There was a lot of tall buildings but most of them were for industrial services and not for living. Although it was raining a lot of people was out, they were used to it after all. Ino couldn't help but be irritated when they would look strangely at her, she was presumably the one person in the entire village wearing revealing clothes and not either wearing a hood or having an umbrella. And Konoha headband around her waist didn't help it.
When she looked up two particular large buildings caught her eyes. The first one was not that far away and was in the center of the village. It didn't look like industrial building or someone's house, it looked more like a castle. It was probably the biggest structure in whole Amegakure. "What is that?" She asked and pointed at it.
"That's where the village head lives." Surprisingly, Itachi was the to give her an answer.
"And what about that?" Ino wondered while looking at the other building, it was far away from the first one and the only reason she could see it from here was because it was the tallest construction she has ever seen. It was wasn't nearly wide like the first one, it seemed more like a tower.
"Pain's Tower." Itachi said without looking at her. "That is where we are going."
In Pain's Tower...
Pain's Tower was one of the creepiest places Ino Yamanaka has ever seen in her whole life. It had four humanoid faces on each side and is connected to two smaller towers. One of them looking out over the city has Rinnegan-like eye patterns and is depicted with a pipe and has piercings, with its tongue stuck out.
Inside wasn't much better. It consisted of the dozen of long hallways and Ino had no idea how can anyone find their way in here. Every single door was closed and it was awfully quiet, sometimes she could hear own heartbeat beside the usual sound of their footsteps.
It took them approximately ten minutes to reach one specific door. It was different from the other doors, it wasn't nearly as simple or small. Itachi knocked slightly but it sounded so loud, it echoed few times. "Come in." The cold and deep voice came from the inside and Ino froze. Itachi put his right hand on a doorknob and turned it aside.
Ino sucked in all the breath she had, she felt like she was paralyzed. Itachi was the one that entered first, Kisame followed him and Ino came in after them. The room wasn't what she expected it to be - it was rather simple, with bookshelves covering the most of the space. But what caught her attention was the desk in the middle. It had few documents and other office stuff on it, but her eyes immediately went to the man that was sitting behind it. Ino literally felt her blood getting cold at the mere sight of him, he had very pale skin with bright red hair. But his eyes, his eyes were the most intriguing thing about him. The Rinnegan. It was hard to determine in which direction he was looking, but Ino somehow felt that it was her. Before her was none other than the leader of the Akatsuki himself - Pain. Itachi and Kisame both bowed their head down as a sign of respect and Ino nervously did the same. "Itachi." Pain said and the Uchiha lifted up his gaze, red eyes meeting purple ones. It looked like they had their own language, like they understood each other perfectly just by looking at each other. Itachi then turned his Sharingan off, much to Ino's surprise. She wondered did Pain do it because he wanted to point out who was the alpha male around here, that his Rinnegan was stronger than Itachi's Sharingan. But there could be a dozen of other reasons.
Pain was observing them for a few moments before telling Itachi and Kisame to leave which they obediently did. Ino swallowed hard, she didn't even dare to move. "State your name." Pain said after what seemed like forever.
"Ino Yamanaka." Ino surprised herself that she didn't stutter, because she was nervous as hell.
She saw Pain's eyebrow twitch at the surname Yamanaka. Well, that was one reason why she would be useful to the organization, her clan's jutsu was created for espionage. "Tell me your reason why would you join us."
It took her few seconds to answer him on that. "I... I... It's about revenge."
"Revenge on who?" Ino really hoped that he wouldn't ask that. But she really couldn't blame him, he couldn't allow her to join if he didn't know her reasons.
"Konohagakure." It was the only reply she was comfortable with sharing.
"How old are you?" She really saw no point in that one. 'Do I need parents' permission to join?'
"Sixteen."
"What are your qualities?" That was the question she expected him the most to ask, and that was the answer she was preparing the most give.
"I guess you know about my clan's jutsu," she started and the leader gave her a small nod. "I am, I was," she fastly corrected herself. "the best sensor-type and one of best medic-nins in Konohagakure. I haven't yet mastered, but I'm pretty good at fire and water jutsu. I know a little bit of earth style as well, but I prefer not to use because it just drains a lot of my charka for a small attack. I also posses ying and yang release. Though I never got a chance to use it, I'm quite skilled in making all kinds of poisons based on flowers. As for ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, genjutsu is the one I'm most good at but I doubt that's anywhere near your level. But I promise you I'm a quick learner and I'll do anything to be useful to you."
"Hhhmmm..." Pain murmured. Ino really hoped that he would accept her, if not for fighting than as a medic or as a spy. She really wished that they don't already have a doctor, it was a common fact that Akatsuki consisted only of nine men and chances of one of them being a skilled medic weren't so high.
"Also," she added. "I'm more than prepared to tell you anything you want to know about Konoha, although I don't know that much. But, I personally know Nine-tails and a have a lot of stuff on him. As well for the One-tail although less than Nine-tails." She couldn't believe that she was so openly talking about giving the Akatsuki information about Naruto.
"You seem really eager to join." Pain said matter of factly, but his face hasn't changed for a single second.
"I am." Ino admitted more confidently.
"Fine." The leader said and Yamanaka felt her heart start racing as crazy. "I will allow you to stay here overnight, and tomorrow you'll have a test. You pass the test - you're in. You fail the test - you're dead."
Please let me know what you think. I won't be updating unless I get at least 3 reviews per chapter because otherwise there is really no point in writing further. Also, if you have any suggestion or idea for this story feel free to share it with me.
