A/N- Well I haven't updated in a while. I'm sorry about that.
"Unmei, you really have to concentrate. Have I taught you nothing?" A scolding ghost looked at the young Unmei. She was usually cold and calculating when it came to her targets, but on this particular day it seemed hard to focus on the man below her resting place in the trees.
Unmei simply tried harder to sense her target, who was a rogue ninja like she usually hunted. This ninja wasn't particularly powerful and if Unmei wanted to, she could easily manipulate his red string to kill him, but for now she was just focussing on sensing only his string. Sensing someone's fate was harder than sensing chakra, mostly because it can only be tracked by some people and it connects two people to each other. Unmei was one of that some people. As Ghost had explained to Unmei, there were other people like her in other parts of the clan, but they were much older than her and some even chose to ignore their ability.
After the death of her parents and after Kisame abandoned Unmei, she left her little clan to train with the ghost, which, to her clan, seemed as if she was only going off on her own to train.
"I can sense him, his other half died about a year ago. No one else is alive that he has feelings for. His heartache caused him to go rogue and kill people that are happier. Such a person would be more content dead." Unmei replied neutrally. After about 4 years of sensing people like this, their sad stories had become something Unmei was used to. Rogues usually didn't go rogue because of happiness, Unmei mused.
"You're right. What course of action do we take now?" The woman Unmei dubbed Ghost, since the lady had incessantly refused to be called the name of a person she wasn't anymore, asked expertly. Both of them were used to this routine of theirs since they've gone through training like this so much that it's become second nature to both of them. Unmei went to random villages as a hunter-nin and either captured, killed or let go of the people the villages were after. She was cheaper to use than any other hunter-nin so most villages don't care to know who she is or what village she comes from, as long as she gets the job done.
"I'm going to kill him and take his body to the village." And so Unmei did. She swiftly landed on the ground after jumping from the tree before taking her own string and suffocating the rogue ninja. The strings were supposed to make her own fate weaker and render her useless, except she no longer had a fate since Kisame cut off all ties with her. This made her string easy to manipulate, even though she lost sight of who she used to be every time and grew emotionally weaker. The strings tire out the user emotionally, which in some cases could turn to be worse than physically. Unmei no longer felt any positive emotions thanks to her training. This deemed to be an advantage on the battle field and only there. If Kisame had been with her she could feed off his emotions without hurting him so she could be herself and strong. They would have made the ultimate team if he would only have waited to listen to Unmei's reasoning.
Unmei and Ghost were about to take their prey to the village that required him when they were blocked by two cloaked people. Unmei instantly noticed the cloak as the organisation Kisame joined. She had kept tabs on his movements throughout the years by channelling his part of the string. It had been a full eight years since she had last seen Kisame and a full four years since she had last checked up on him. For four years Unmei had been taught by Ghost the basic and advanced techniques of being a ninja before being taught about her own capabilities for the past four years. The training was rough and meant to break Unmei down before building her to become stronger and most nights of the first year Unmei found herself crying before falling asleep. Ghost had gotten her mind off of Kisame and her parents and let her focus only on training and eventually Unmei had begun healing. By the fifth year of her training Unmei had started being happy again only to lose all emotions due to her technique. Unmei was now a full-grown 18 year old emotionless killer.
"We need you to join our organisation." One of the two cloaked men said to Unmei. Ghost looked at Unmei and told her to go with them; maybe she could gain Kisame's trust again. It would help her training to be around him. Unmei silently agreed with Ghost.
"Why?" Unmei wanted to know before going with them.
"Because if you don't we'll kill you bitch." The other cloaked man spoke to Unmei. She glared at him.
"I meant for what use. Am I going to be part of the organisation with you or am I going to get killed by you?" Unmei restated her question.
"To be part of the organisation with us, we need you to fight alongside us." The more peaceful person spoke. Ghost nodded at Unmei, reassuring her on their decision.
"Alright, I'll come with you." Unmei agreed.
"Good, I'm sure Kisame will be happy to see you." The peaceful one replied. Unmei would have looked shocked if she could.
"Did he ask for me to join?" Unmei asked the peaceful cloaked figure. She didn't particularly enjoy talking to the rude one.
"No, our leader has heard of you from Kisame and after that we've seen what you can do to your victims so our leader asked for you to join." Unmei accepted the answer. She knew the organisation must have been watching her. It would be strange not to be watched by someone in the ninja world. No matter how discreet you were, there was always someone watching.
Unmei, Ghost and the two cloaked men arrived silently at the headquarters a few villages over. Well Unmei arrived silently; the other two people chose to argue about money the whole way and Ghost chose to comment on it even though only Unmei could hear and see her. From their argument Unmei gathered that the one who swore a lot was named Hidan and that he was very impulsive, the other member was called Kakuzu and he enjoyed his unhealthy obsession with money. Unmei never cared much for money since her parents never had financial issues. After they died she still had a lot of money to get by on, even though she uses it sparingly.
After entering a hidden cave Hidan and Kakuzu led Unmei to their leader's office. Unmei felt around for Kisame's presence but she couldn't sense him. She assumed he was on a mission. Kakuzu knocked on the leader's door and the three of them entered. The moment Unmei entered she noticed that the room seemed a bit darker than the rest of the cave since it had less lighting than the halls. She also noticed one person sitting at a desk and another person standing by the desk.
"I see you've brought the Shiryoku girl." The person Unmei assumed to be the leader said.
"Yes, she came with us willingly so we couldn't test her abilities for ourselves." Kakuzu replied.
"It will be tested in due time, leave now so we can speak to her alone." The leader ordered. Unmei stood patiently in front of them. If she focussed she could see cold eyes staring at her. When she was younger it would bother her if people stared at her mostly because they were ridiculing her for being near Kisame. She didn't mind it now since she didn't have the ability to feel self conscious in situations such as these.
The two members left silently and as Hidan closed the door after him he smiled at her evilly. She noted that they wouldn't be good members towards each other any time soon.
"Do you know why you're here?" The leader asked Unmei. Unmei thought of her answer for a while before answering.
"I believe I am here to aid the organization in gaining profit. Am I correct?" Unmei asked.
"Yes, we have become low on the needed funds for some bigger missions of ours and we need help. As I understand you were affiliated with Kisame before he joined us so I assume you're an adequate member. I've done some research on your clan and found your abilities appealing. You wouldn't be an official member until you've gained us funds and were properly tested since we only know you to be a successful hunter. Would this suit you?" The leader explained to Unmei. Unmei briefly wondered what would happen if she chose to say no, but she rather not delve into those thoughts.
"If I join the organization, would I be placed into a team? I prefer to work on my own." Unmei always had Ghost by her side to tell her if she missed anything so she didn't feel the need to have a team mate.
"You will be supervised by some of the teams so that they can track your progress, but if you prefer to work alone we won't put you in a team." The leader spoke. He seemed like a respectable man to Unmei and he at least tried to make her comfortable. Unmei didn't have ties with any villages since she was never officially trained so joining the Akatsuki wouldn't bring her any additional danger like the rest of the members.
"I accept, what are the terms to my membership?" Unmei asked, curios as to what sort of rules a group of S ranked criminals had.
"Good. You are not to harm any members unless in training and even then you are not allowed to kill them. You are not allowed to disclose any information about your missions to anyone outside of the organization. You are advised to respect all members as they are advised to respect you. You must join all requested meetings and missions, what else you do in your own time is your business, but training is advised. You can change your room as you want and you will be paid weekly. All income gained while on a mission is to be given to us." The leader seemed as he would have wanted to continue the rules but the person next to him stopped him.
"We've heard of your clan. I assume you can see the red strings?" The woman asked Unmei.
"Yes I can." Unmei replied. She briefly noted that the two people in front of her were connected, but the string was almost translucent, as if the person in front of her was a ghost.
"Who are you connected to? We don't want anyone to hold you back." The lady almost seemed saddened.
"I am connected to Kisame. He doesn't know that though." Unmei replied. Both people at the desk looked shocked for a brief moment.
"Will this hinder you?" The leader asked.
"If Kisame and I were to regain our friendship or even a romance, it would actually strengthen my abilities. As of now I am solely relying on my training to help me whereas he could have been an extra boost in my powers. He would not hinder me." Unmei replied nonchalantly.
"Usually there is a rule not to have any romances within the organization, but since it would be good for us, I would allow it were it to happen." The leader replied.
"If it were to happen, Kisame would have to initiate it so I doubt it would. He believes I betrayed him when my powers awakened." Unmei stated. She normally wouldn't have been so truthful but she believed that truth would help her in the Akatsuki.
"I see, well then we welcome you to the Akatsuki. I'll let Konan show you to your room." The leader answered. The woman next to him moved to the door so she assumed she was Konan.
"Thank you." Unmei answered before leaving to start a new chapter in her life.