Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter Twelve
Sunrise109
"Meet our two newest members," Pain said tonelessly.
"... Hinata, heiress to the Hyuuga Clan and Deidara, the notorious bomb insurgent."
Hinata did her best to school her features into a cool mask as she stood in the open space, in between Itachi and Kisame, while Deidara slouched behind them sulkily. It looked like they were in some kind of magnanimous underground cavern which was more like a breath-taking labyrinth than anything else.
Several unfamiliar shinobi stood in front of them, so that they all formed a semicircle. Hinata carefully avoided everyone's gazes, although she felt a few pairs of eyes boring into her intently, clearly observing her every move and formulating an assessment of her character.
"It's rare that we're all gathered here together, so let's make the most of our precious time together," Pain said casually. "I'd first like to reiterate the Akatsuki's primary purpose before our two newest members, which is split up into two segments: Phase One of our mission is to amass money and proliferate our reputation, through rendering our services to our clients. In Phase Two, we are to capture the jinjuriki one by one, and extract their Tailed Beasts, in preparation for my forbidden jutsu which will be the harbinger of peace to the Ninja World. We already have the Five Tails, Kokuou, thanks to the combined efforts of Hidan and Kakuzu—"
"Woohoo! We will gather all the Failed Beats in no time!" Hidan exclaimed competitively, raising a hand in the air to high five the shinobi beside him, which Hinata quickly deduced was his partner, Kakuzu. The man had an eerie appearance, with stitches on the visible parts of his body, a masked face and pupilless emerald eyes. This invitation for a high five was promptly rejected by Kakuzu, followed by a resentfully scowled out, "Shut up, brat. And it's Tailed Beasts, how do you not know that already? I'm tired of your foolishness." Hidan merely chuckled at his partner's dark response. All the other members remained silent, as though they were used to such odd displays of banter, intertwined with thinly veiled animosity, between the pair.
Pain continued, as though he had not just been unceremoniously interrupted.
"—This will ultimately lead us to attain our final goal, which is world peace, or domination, whatever you wish to call it. Whilst half of us will focus on Phase One, the other half will focus on Phase Two, until our two goals merge. Is this understood?"
Although Hinata was carefully trying to avoid her new Leader's gaze, this was impossible—it was as though there was an unseen force urging her to do what she least wanted to do—and her translucent gaze met Pain's hardened, pierced features unwillingly; yet the man who wielded such fearsome power and influence within his organisation looked breathtakingly young, perhaps only a few years her senior. He wore a scratched out Amegakure forehead protector around his pale forehead, and his orange-coloured spikey hair toppled over the silvery rim.
Pain's penetrating gaze next swept over Deidara (who looked like he was barely paying attention to anything that had just been said), searching for any signs of opposition from him as well. Clearly, this part of the Akatsuki's objective was non-negotiable.
"Got it, yeah." Deidara bit out, before muttering to himself, "As long as it doesn't interfere with my art appreciation time, humph."
Pain's ominous words reverberated in Hinata's mind...
...In Phase Two, we are to capture the jinjuriki one by one, and extract their Tailed Beasts, in preparation for my forbidden jutsu which will be the harbinger of peace to the Ninja World.
Naruto... Hinata thought anxiously.
Despite all her inner turmoil and worry, the Hyuuga heiress once again managed to school her features into an emotionless mask, pulling off looking completely disinterested and uncaring about this insidious objective.
What did this mean?
There's no turning back now. I'll have to find a way to deal with this predicament later. For the time being, I must bluff my compliance in order to stay alive.
"What do you say, Hyuuga? I hear you'll be a valuable medic to us, having survived your trial mission and restoring Deidara to health. You're a natural wielder of the Byakugan kekkei genkai and fully proficient in the techniques of your Clan. Itachi has also informed me that you do not like killing—I wonder how we will circumvent that annoying preference of yours, Hyuuga?"
Hinata stilled under the Rinnegan-wielder's weighty gaze, like a deer caught in a pair of headlights, and this time she was convinced that he was using some kind of invisible ninjutsu force to compel her to hold his gaze, although she had never seen him move his hands to form any hand seals...
"—Well, duh, she's a medic! Of course she doesn't like killing!" Tobi suddenly butt in, his gloved hands waving frantically in the air to catch everyone's attention, even though his comical swirling orange mask already made him stand out. Almost everyone sweat-dropped at his impromptu outburst.
Hinata unexpectedly activated her Byakugan, the veins of her bloodline limit protruding around her temples, already shifting into the signature stance for Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms.
"I will show you that I have what it takes, right here and right now, if I must. One does not have to kill in order to achieve success in missions..." She stated courageously.
Hinata's fearsome gaze never left Pain's face—this time by choice—as she eyed him in all seriousness, but Pain never blinked once at her surprising display of bravery.
"You have nerves of steel, I see. You may relax." Pain stated. She's strong. He thought, unbidden to anyone else.
How she had somehow managed to pull that off—Hinata would never know. Breathing slowly, she calmly deactivated her Byakugan and returned to a normal stance.
"Whoa, she's scary!" Tobi suddenly squeaked, jumping back several meters and hiding behind Zetsu, who was an ominous presence hidden in the shadows.
A heartbeat of pregnant silence ensued, before it was broken.
"Me and Itachi will handle the messy parts," Kisame unexpectedly chipped in, thankfully coming to her rescue.
"Hmm, are you fond of her, Hoshigaki?" Pain questioned impassively, but an imperceptible uplift of his left eyebrow belied his curiosity. I was not expecting this of Kisame.
Kisame laughed in embarrassment, shrugging. "I'm guessing we're going to be a three-man team, me, the Hyuuga and Itachi? It makes sense that us more experienced members handle the dirty work for now, while she assists us with healing, until she knows more of what to do."
Pain said nothing in objection to Kisame's assertion, his Rinnegan eyes boring into the trio, which indicated he accepted this proposition.
Itachi remained silent and didn't say a single word throughout the whole exchange.
It was a bonus that Kisame had stepped in for Hinata, even though Itachi had not asked him to cover for her. The Sharingan-wielder was fully prepared to do so himself, but Kisame's action was an unexpected advantage as it would make Itachi appear less suspicious. After all, Pain did not know his full reasoning for wanting Hinata to join the Akatsuki yet...
"How do we know that she's not a spy?" Sasori piped up suspiciously. "I trust Itachi's recommendation, but her reasons for joining us are still quite unclear. Why did she desert the Hidden Leaf village in the first place?"
Unfazed by the accuracy of Sasori's perceptive questioning, Pain simply stated, "Only time will tell who the true traitors are. But anyone foolish enough to go against my organisation will be swiftly dealt with. My eyes are everywhere."
This statement left chills down Hinata's spine.
Satisfied by his Leader's responce, Sasori said nothing further, but that didn't prevent him from glaring silently at Hinata from underneath his Hiruko disguise.
What is Itachi thinking?
Of all the Akatsuki members, Itachi and Sasori were the friendliest with one another.
Hyuuga Hinata, heiress to the Hyuuga Clan, huh? Sasori thought, pinning her with an analytical gaze with those dreamy brown eyes of his, without her knowledge that the full weight of his penetrating gaze rested on her.
I will carefully monitor this new development...
"Konan, show the Hyuuga to her room and initiate her into the Akatsuki," Pain ordered. "Deidara, you come with me."
"Yes, Leader-sama," Konan said respectfully, leaving his side and moving towards Hinata slowly.
Deidara looked like he was about to make an uncalled-for comment, however one look at Pain's "no nonsense" features made him water down his snarky retort.
"If only you'd battled me in the outdoors, since I'm a long-range user, I would've made you three into mincemeat, especially fishcake guy over there, yeah. But I made a deal with the Uchiha brat and I lost, so it can't be helped. Let me only say this: no one get in my way, or else." Deidara warned, snapping his fingers to set off a loud miniature explosion in the background which caused the ground to shake slightly at the outburst.
Meanwhile, Hinata's attention focused on the female ninja who was slowly approaching her.
Konan was a beautiful-looking woman, who had a fragile demeanour about her, bright amber eyes and mid-length blue hair; but the fact that she was a member of the Akatsuki meant that in reality, her deadliness was already accounted for.
"Follow me," Was all she told Hinata, a pommelling ring to her dry tone of voice, which carried a certain level of muted authority to it. It was immediately obvious to the Hyuuga heiress that Konan was second-in-command of the Akatsuki, in any instances of Pain's absence, or should he ever be defeated.
Itachi...
She was glad that he had been telling her the truth about not mentioning to "their" Leader her forbidden jutsu, Koryoku.
Here, with the Akatsuki, she was about to embark on a fresh new start, a whole new chapter.
The dark-eyed man standing by her side with two troughs on his cheeks had remained wordless throughout the whole exchange, but he finally gave her one lingering look before she disappeared, as if to say:
Don't trust anyone here, aside from me and Kisame.
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