Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto characters or places. I only own the characters from Earth/our world. Even then, they are based on actual friends of mine. There are some snippets of Chapter 353 at one point, though not necessarily totally canon to the manga.

Author's Note: I'm putting this up a little early tonight so you all don't have to wait all day for it tomorrow, since I'll be on the road for most of the day and thus unable to post. This chapter wasn't as hard to write as I thought it would be, to be honest, and YAY! We get our first Itachi cameo! (dances) Anyway, apparently the Akatsuki's on the move. This might mean trouble for the Naruto world. (dun dun duuuun) Oh, and I made a mis-count in the estimated chapters left to go. There will actually be a total of about 67 chapter, so the countdown is currently at 14 to go. Well, that's all I really have to say for now. Enjoy!

Chapter 52: A Very Different Gang

KATIE

The air around me cools down considerably as I feel the heat of the sun vanish from my skin. The sound of dripping water reaches my ears, a soft but ominously steady sound. I shiver slightly, the cold and damp sinking through my clothes. Behind us, the grating rock-on-rock sound repeats, bringing a sense of dread into my heart. Moments later, Tobi sets me on my feet and removes the blindfold. I blink several times as my eyes adjust to the gloom.

In the darkness, I can't make out very much of our surroundings – if anything at all. It reminds me of the tour I once took of the DeSoto Caverns. At one point, they turned off all the lights, leaving nothing but immense and empty darkness. I lift a hand to my face, expecting to see nothing as I had then, but surprisingly I can make out a bare outline. There must be some slight illumination in here somewhere. Glancing around again, I spot tiny slivers of sunlight around what seems to be the entrance to the cave -- or cavern -- or wherever we are.

Deidara moves past us, muttering under his breath. That's the only way I know it's him and not some trick of my eyes. I follow his voice, turning with him so I don't lose him in the darkness. "Where is that damn lamp, yeah," he growled, fumbling through the dark. "Ow!" There's a metallic clang followed by a stream of curses. Then, light floods the cavern -- partly, at least.

The light didn't chase every shadow away, but it did illuminate our immediate vicinity. Stalagmites and stalactites are scattered on the ceiling and floor -- some connected and others not -- all sleek with a fine coat of water. Small pools of water gather here and there, fed by slow but steady drips from the rock structures above us. In the middle of it all stands the single metal lantern, its oil-fed flame remaining ever steady in the lack of air flow through the cavern.

The obvious question here would be 'where are we', but I know it would be pointless to ask. Why would they tell me, after all, if they went through the trouble of blindfolding me on our way here? It's one of their meeting places -- one of their designated locations for the appearance of their astral projections. That much is obvious and probably all I really need to know for the time being. So, instead of asking any pointless questions, I stood still and quiet, waiting nervously for something to happen -- for someone else to appear.

An odd sound starts echoing through the cavern, almost like the buzzing of insects steadily fluctuating off and on. I glance around our dim area of light for the source. Something large shifts to my left. Turning my gaze in that direction, I yelp in surprise and quickly scurry away from the object rising from the ground. My heel catches the uneven floor, and I tumble backwards.

Deidara catches and steadies me before I can fall into the lantern and knock it down. "Careful," he advises. "The floor is slippery, yeah."

I nod numbly, watching as the dark object splits down the middle and opens, revealing a pair of luminous yellow eyes on a bi-colored face. Zetsu. He studies me for a long moment before grunting. "This is the girl? She doesn't look dangerous. She's puny."

For a brief moment, I consider taking offense to his words but quickly decide against it. I don't want to make him mad, especially if he's actually here and can thus actually hurt me. After all, Zetsu's been known to eat his enemies, and I don't exactly want to experience that little bit of the Naruto world. Thanks, but no thanks.

"Danger is not always measured in size, Zetsu," a dull voice commented from behind me.

I turn to find the blurred projection of Pein studying me with ringed eyes. Beside him, a second figure shimmers into existence, the paper flower on the head marking her as Konan. Swallowing, I allow Deidara to tug me to the outside edge of the circle of light, positioning me between himself and Tobi. I don't object to the manhandling. Frankly, I feel saver where I'm standing now.

Moments later, more figures appear around the circle. First comes Kisame's immense shape, his sword immediately recognizable. I stiffen slightly when his partner arrives a heartbeat later -- Itachi Uchiha. His red eyes slide over to focus on me, and I quickly look away, focusing intently on the lantern. I'm going to have to be incredibly careful with him around -- even more so than I usually am with Tobi and Deidara. That Sharingan is dangerous, and who knows how he'll try to use it when he finds out about my knowledge.

There's no 'if' about it. He will find out. I have no doubt.

The last two Akatsuki members appear at the same time, and one of them almost instantly speaks up. "What's the deal? We just had a meeting yesterday. Why the hell do we need another one today?"

My eyes flick to the speaker, zeroing in on the pendant hanging around his neck. It's Hidan. Madara's words from our discussion yesterday rise to the front of my mind. Hidan and Kakuzu were the ones who encountered Ashley.

The object of my scrutiny turns and scowls at me. "What the hell are you looking at, bitch?" he demands.

Tobi bristles at my side. "Don't talk to Koneko like that!" the masked man says sharply.

Hidan's eyes narrow, but before he can retaliate, Pein clears his throat. "Enough. Now that we are all present, it's time to get down to business." He pauses before continuing. "I'm sure you all have noticed the stranger in our midst."

I swallow, fighting to remain calm as nearly every pair of eyes turn and focus on me. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Kisame smirk evilly. I glance over to meet his gaze and immediately know what he's thinking. Great, the tallest of them all is going to make some smart-aleck comment about my lack of height. A thought comes to me as he opens his mouth. It's idiotic and will probably get me into trouble, but I want to see the look on his face.

"Kinda short, isn't she?" Kisame drawls with no small trace of amusement.

Immediately – so I don't have the chance to second-guess myself and back out – I scowl and explode. "Who did you call a shorty who's so small that she's barely visible and hard to target?!" I demand vehemently. Bless you Edward Elric. If I ever meet you, I'm going to give you a hug to rival Kaitlyn's death-grip.

Kisame blinks in surprise, looking totally thrown by my outburst. "What? I didn't say that."

I snort and cross my arms, turning my head pointedly away from him. "Hn." I swear I hear Deidara snigger beside me, but when I sneak a glance, his face is totally blank.

Hidan, however, doesn't hide his chuckle. "She's got some spunk."

Feeling a bit confident, I smirk. "Spark too, and as I'm sure you know, water conducts electricity." I shoot a sharp look at Kisame. "So you'd better hope you're nowhere near me if you say something like that ever again."

The shark-man looks almost eager. "Making threats, now are we, little girl?"

"Nope, promises. That's one bolt I owe you. Gonna make it two?" I cock an eyebrow at him.

Before our banter can go any further, Pein cuts in. "As entertaining as this is, we have more important matters to discuss. Our guest has quite a bit of information that I'm sure she's just dying to share with us."

I stiffen and clamp my mouth shut, locking my eyes on the lantern so I don't meet any more intense shinobi gazes. When it's clear I'm not going to say anything, Kisame chuckles darkly. "Can I be the one to get it out of her? I'm sure the shrimp and I will have so much fun."

I shudder involuntarily, and Tobi steps forward, putting an arm in front of me in a protective way. "No one is going to harm Koneko," he declares. "Tobi won't let you."

"Tobi has no say in the matter," Kakuzu growls out. Oh how wrong he is.

My heart pounds heavily in my chest. I could probably cut the tension in the air with a butter knife at this point. Finally, Pein speaks again. "Stand down, Tobi. No harm will come to your charge." I might be imagining it, but there seems to be an unspoken yet there somewhere.

Tobi moves back to my side as the Leader of Akatsuki continues. "I have called you all here for a reason. Perhaps Koneko would like to enlighten us?"

I swallow, wetting my lips before replying weakly, "How should I know? You're the one who called it."

"Hazard a guess. I'm sure you can figure it out." There's a challenge of sorts in his words, one that I feel strangely compelled to meet.

Hesitantly, my heart hammering away, I lift my eyes to look at him and then around the cavern at the other astral projections gathered. My mind shifts through recent events, tracing out a rough timeline. Then it dawns on me and my eyes return to Pein. "Orochimaru is dead."

Deidara stiffens beside me. He's probably remembering our conversation from earlier. Across the circle, Kakuzu shifts. "Hmm. It's been ten years since he left Akatsuki. It seems his time was finally up."

"Whoever killed him must have been something else," Kisame muses out loud. "Who was it?"

Pein continues to watch me, and slowly the others follow suit. "Well?" Kakuzu prompts impatiently. "Who was it?"

My eyes shift almost on their own to Itachi. His red eyes seem to drill into my soul. I take a slow breath, suddenly feeling very calm. "Sasuke Uchiha."

Itachi's eyes narrow ever so slightly. Beside me, Deidara frowns. "I want to kill him, yeah."

More is said around me, but the voices seem oddly muffled as my vision tunnels in on Itachi. His eyes seem to be the only thing I can really see. "You're telling the truth," his voice echoes from all around me, filling my ears.

I blink and suddenly the cavern fades away. Tobi and Deidara vanish from my sides, and Itachi now stands directly in front of me, looking down at me with those blood-red eyes. He's no longer in the blurred astral-projection form; every detail is sharp and clear as if he's actually before me in the open sun instead of the dark cavern. Illusion, I mentally gasp. He has me in a genjustu.

"But you're worried about something," Itachi continues flatly. "What and why?"

I can't deny him an answer, so I try for the next best thing -- the same tactic I used on Madara -- evasion. "I'm worried about the future. Who wouldn't be?"

Itachi studies me. "You know more than Pein realizes."

"I know the truth." My words are heavy with implications, but I don't care. He can make of them what he wants.

One of Itachi's eyebrows twitches slightly. "And what will you do with it?"

I lift my chin. "You'll see, and believe me, you will. I don't intend on letting you give up so easily, Itachi."

Before I can make out his reaction to my words, I feel a hand touch and squeeze my shoulder. I blink, and the world around me shifts back to how it should be. Itachi breaks his gaze from mine, disappearing alongside Kisame and leaving me feeling rather disoriented.

"Koneko," Tobi says softly. "Time for us to go."