(A/N at the bottom)

The seven Akatsuki members reached the entrance shortly after twilight. They sent Sasuke out to the small clearing first, to check that nobody was waiting for them. It took Sasuke longer than it should have to come back, but Deidara kept the others in the cover of the trees.

Sasuke didn't find any people or traps set up. The most recent traces he found were from the morning. The one thing that threw him off was the types of tracks he found. Two sets of feet, one big (probably a boy's) and the other dainty (probably a girl's). There were also two sets of giant paws. What bothered Sasuke was he recognized the tracks. He followed them to the Akatsuki entrance, where another set of footprints appeared. Sasuke assumed the next set belonged to Zero.

The footprints went into the Akatsuki HQ and never came out. Sasuke feared the worst. If Zero had harmed Yukie and Leon, he would hear Sasuke's say about it. Although Sasuke didn't want to leave the Akatsuki, he would for Yukie and Leon. Sasuke went back to Deidara and told her the coast was clear. When asked why he took so long, Sasuke just shrugged the question off.

Inside the headquarters, everything was just as it should be. Nothing was out of place; no signs of a struggle. If Zero had tried to harm Yukie, there would have been signs of a struggle, and Zero wouldn't have been able to clean it up in such a short amount of time.

They walked further into the headquarters, with no sign of Zero or his captives. Sasuke scanned each dimly lit room and hallway carefully for any sign of Yukie or Leon, but found none. It wasn't until a long ways in that Deidara and the others stopped. Zero stood before them and eyed the sad looking group.

"Where's is Three?" Zero demanded, looking straight at Deidara.

"He was killed by the ANBU leader of Konoha," Deidara replied without emotion.

"Do you have his ring?"

Deidara nodded, "It is in Zetsu's possession."

"Give it to me, Boar," Zero ordered. Zetsu obliged and handed the ring to Zero. He continued, "Did you get the other ring?"

Deidara nodded again, "Sasuke has it."

"Give it to me, Scarlet," Zero commanded. Sasuke handed it over and Zero continued again. "We have two rings without owners. Only the weakest will die. I admit that I sent you all on a death mission. Only those worthy of life and given strength could have survived. Those that are no longer with us did not deserve to be with us. They have dishonored the Akatsuki and will never be mentioned within these walls again. From this point on, the owners of these rings will be addressed properly and welcomed into the Akatsuki organization. I present to you Sky."

Zero held up Orochimaru's ring for all to see and a woman wearing the Akatsuki clothing came forward. Her brilliant green eyes seemed to jump from her pale skin and contrasted raven black hair. Zero presented the ring to her and she put it on her left little finger.

"And her partner," Zero continued, holding up the other ring, "Three."

A man, also in the Akatsuki clothing, walked forward and placed the ring on his left index finger. He had short silver hair and wolfish eyes that seemed to see everything. The two stood beside each other, looking at the other Akatsuki members.

"They will be teamed with Scarlet, who will teach them to be proper Akatsuki members. South and Boar will work together. I will continue to work alone; I have no need for a partner. Now, you are all dismissed." Zero said before turning his back and going back into his office/room.

The other Akatsuki members left and Sasuke came forward to greet his two new partners.

A/N: mkay. Well. Over all I'm happy w/ all this junk and glad I actually finished something. I'm not too happy w/ the very last line… but I've never been good at endings. So, after this, I will post other stuff that's just kinda fun for some people to look at. I hope you all like it. I may do a sequel, if proper motivated and others think I should. Let me know. Please RnR, I love getting 'em. Lata!

Raven