(A/N: Almost done! And, I kno y'all have been waiting for it, I stick Night Shade in it! -AKA: Why the FF is named Night Shade- so, ya. I'm happy w/ this one. So, hope y'all enjoy reading it and please please RnR)
Yukie eyed the cliff, walking up to it and examining it. "How do they get in?" she asked, more to herself than anything.
Leon shrugged, answering anyway, "A jutsu, I guess."
"I'm going in," Yukie declared, performing her spy jutsu, Hidden Shadow. Her body became black and shadowed. She slowly sunk into the ground and vanished into the shadows.
Leon waited in silence, wondering if Yukie had made it inside. He stood impatiently, Koton on one side and an anxious Kotori on the other. He heard Yukie's voice cry out, an anguished voice echoing into the darkness.
"Yukie!" Leon called out, wondering if she could hear him. Kotori's body went rigid and she stared with earnest eyes at the cliff wall. "Yukie!" he called again. No reply. "Damn. I shouldn't have let her go."
Kotori changed back to her small cat form and vanished, Shadow Leap. Leon stared blackly at the spot Kotori had been. But his attention was drawn back to the cliff when somebody walked through it. He was holding Yukie close to him around her waist, a long knife held at her neck. Leon took a step back and Koton, in his small dog form, leapt onto his shoulder.
"You're with her." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. This man must have been watching them this whole time. Although he held Yukie tight, threatening to kill her at any sense of threat, his voice was amused and his dark eyes were curious. "You know, nobody has broken into here before," he said conversationally to the two, as if they were having some idle chat.
"Well then I guess it was about time somebody gave you a run for your money," Yukie replied cheerfully, falling instinctively into her sardonic behavior. Whenever she faced somebody she didn't like, her attitude instantly changed into one to annoy.
But her comment didn't seem to affect him at all. "I guess you're right," he said with a slight shrug, "But still, not just anybody could get in. I must admit, I'm intrigued by your abilities." As he said this, he put his long knife away and released Yukie. She took a hasty step away from him and spun on her heel to face him. To her great surprise, he held out his hand, saying, "My name is Zero. Welcome to the Akatsuki entrance. If you're interested, you're welcome to come inside and talk with me. I'd like to get to know you two better."
This completely threw Yukie off. She just stared at his hand that he still held for her to shake. She finally looked up to meet his eyes questioning, "Why do you want to talk to us?"
"I told you before, you intrigue me," Zero replied, dropping his hand back to his side, "I have no tricks. I just want to talk with you and your friend."
Yukie glanced back at Leon to see his take on it all. He just shrugged. She turned back to Zero, "Fine. We'll come in. But you will let us leave if we want?" He nodded, but Yukie pressed on, "I want your word."
"Very well. I promise you, if you ever have the desire to leave and voice that desire to me, I will let you leave and will do nothing to stop you. You have my word, and my word is not easily broken." Yukie seemed satisfied by this. Zero opened the entrance to the Akatsuki and stood aside for Yukie to enter. "After you, my dear."
Yukie eyed Zero again before deciding to enter. She stopped forward and called out, "Kotori," the cat appeared instantly out of the shadows, "is everything clear?" Kotori meowed and Yukie nodded her approval. Kotori jumped onto her shoulder and the two entered, followed closely by Leon, then Zero.
Inside, Zero took the lead and the two guests followed with caution. He took them down a flight of stairs and into a large, dimly lit room. Zero stopped for a moment then continued straight through the room and Yukie and Leon fought to keep up without running. Having gained enough space between them, Zero reached the door and performed a jutsu.
A clear barrier rose in between Zero and the other two. Out of the ground grew hundreds of faceless, limp, human-sized dolls. One vaulted forward, holding a long blade in its hand. Yukie dodged the attack. Kotori leapt off Yukie's shoulder and used her special jutsu Night's Beast. Kotori held them off and Yukie ran to the barrier. Leon was already there with Koton covering his back.
"What's the big idea, Zero?" Yukie demanded.
"You can leave if you want," Zero replied calmly, "the exit is open. I will not stand in your way. I brought you here because your abilities intrigue me. What better way to see them than to watch you fight?"
Yukie hesitated, "What will we get if we impress you?"
"The other members of the Akatsuki are fighting in Konoha as we speak. Konoha is strong. Every one of our members will not come back alive. Assuming the positions are open, I offer you a place in the Akatsuki."
"…Sasuke's in the Akatsuki, isn't he?" Leon asked quietly. Zero nodded.
Yukie and Leon exchanged glances, both thinking of their options. A conversation seemed to go on between them without words. After a few minutes of considering their options, the two turned their backs on Zero and prepared for battle.
"Keep them together," Yukie ordered the other three, "I can get rid of them, easy." The three spread out around the room to get the dolls into the center. Yukie went to the center of the large room and performed a jutsu, Night Shade. The entire room turned black, immersed in shadow. Yukie jumped into the air and dove back to the ground. Instead of landing head first onto the hard ground, she went through the floor and vanished into the shadow.
There was a moment of tense silence when Leon, Kotori, and Koton herded the faceless dolls into the center and Zero watched in anticipation. One of the dolls stopped, suddenly alert. Yukie leapt out of the ground and with one stroke of a kunai, defeated the doll. It fell back and vanished. Yukie dove back into the ground once again.
There was silence again before Yukie appeared again, in another place, taking off the heads of two more dolls before diving back into her dark abyss. She popped up again and threw shuriken to take out four more. It continued like this for some time until there were few enough dolls left that Leon, Kotori, and Koton could start fighting, too.
Zero watched in astonishment as Koton hurtled through the air and bit off the head of the last doll, which vanished before hitting the ground. The four fighters turned and looked at Zero. They had defeated 500 dolls, each created to fight and move uniquely. And they had done it in less than ten minutes. Zero doubted that even he could do such a thing. All he could do was smile and release the barrier jutsu he had placed in front of him.
