Some crazy stuff is happening, but everything is subsiding... or is it? If it isn't one thing, it's another!

Chapter 3

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" shouted Tobi as he and Trunks flew around while the Saiyan held onto his shoulders, looking for Deidara. Trunks still found it funny only he and Deidara's supposed teacher could fly, much less how much enjoyment Tobi found in it. He was like a child, easily amused.

"Hey Tobi do you see anything?" Trunks asked. He couldn't sense him anywhere, so he figured he was pretty low on energy. Best thing to do was do a physical search, but it was getting late, their visibility was starting to suffer.

"Deidara-senpai? He's right over there." he replied, pointing over to a small clearing a few hundred feet away from Konoha.

"Why didn't you just say so!" Trunks asked, annoyed as he flew towards the area.

"Cause Tobi LOVES flying!" he yelled as they flew towards where their missing partner was.

X X X

"And he was yellow." said Salayna. The entire time she had been describing her lost companion to Deidara, she hadn't realized he had been working on something. His way of saying "Thanks for not killing me or turning me over to the village."

She was confused as she watched his hands stay tightly together. What was he doing?

"Does he look like..." Deidara opened his hands, on his right hand stood a small clay figurine of a Labrador Retriever, described just the way the Inuzuka told him, minus the color of course due to the whiteness of the clay. "... this?"

Her emerald eyes lit up, and a happy smile spread across her face as she stood up and walked towards him, taking the figurine into her hands.

"Yes! It looks just like him!" she happily laughed. "But how did you do that?"

Deidara smirked, lifting his hands up and opening the palms. "I know what it's like... To be judged, just like you, yeah."

Mouths? she thought as she glanced at them. It was odd, but it made her realize that even though she had lost her companion and it was hard being looked at like she was, someone always had it worse. Like him. But then again, he didn't seem sad or upset or anything. He seemed normal, considering he was still pretty hurt from whatever got him there. She still didn't know what was happening, she just wished her brother would come back.

"Hey sis, where are you?"

She turned her head as her sense of smell picked up her brother, along with several others heading her way. He was a ways away, but he could hear his voice, he was getting closer.

"Looks like help is-" she stopped as she noticed he wasn't where he was sitting before. She quickly looked around, but he was nowhere. "Deidara?"

A moment later, her parents, along with the parents of her and her brother's friends had dropped down. Sakura quickly rushed over to her daughter and grabbed her, relieved she was alright.

"Are you okay? Why were you waiting out here?" she asked.

"I'm okay, Mom. I was just watching the guy who got hurt, but he's gone now."

Kiba's nose picked up another scent he wasn't familiar with. "He's not that far away. I smell him. But I smell... clay?"

"That's not all." said Akamaru. "Something else is close by, but I've never smelt something like it before. Hard to describe."

"Hinata." said Shino as he glanced over, noticing his wife had already taken the step, scanning the area with her bloodline trait. "You see anything?" he asked.

"... Three of them. They're... flying?" she said, confused as she focused more. "Kiyosato's right... Black robes... red clouds."

"No way!" Naruto said.

"Akatsuki? Are you sure?" Ino asked.

Hinata nodded. "I'm sure."

"Ah, dammit." said Kiba. It made sense now. Hidan's body being dug up, that murder in the morgue he heard about, and now this. Something wasn't right, he could tell as he and Shikamaru exchanged an understanding nod.

"Dad? What's going on?" asked Kiyosato. "What do... those robes mean?"

"They're not friends, son. They're Akatsuki... and it looks like they got tired of waiting for us to make a move."

"Make a move?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "Kiba and Shinta went with me to the Nara forest this morning, in case you guys were wondering what was happening."

"Well what happened?" asked Naruto.

"One of my dad's men was doing a routine check when he noticed something strange. That crater I dug and buried Hidan in? Well... it was open."

They all looked on in shock aside from him and Kiba who had already known.

"That... crazy psychopath with the triple bladed scythe that killed Asuma-sensei is free now?" Ino asked, grabbing onto Naruto's arm.

"I don't know anything, Ino." Shikamaru started. "All I know is that all of his body parts were removed from the pit by the time we got there. He may have been immortal, but you can't survive without food or water for thirteen years straight. You eventually die from the lack of nutrients."

"That mysterious killing at the morgue this morning." Kiba said. "That wasn't just another person."

"No." Shikamaru stepped in. "The nurse that saw what happened claimed to have seen the cabinet for Kakuzu's body opened, except Kakuzu was gone."

"What could the Akatsuki want with the dead bodies of their former members..." Shino thought out loud.

"Maybe they're planning on doing something about that whole 'dead' thing." Temari said. "The Second Hokage's jutsu he made for bringing others back to life could be the reason we've been seeing so many weird things going on."

"Maybe, but it's too soon to tell." Shikamaru replied.

"We need to tell granny right now!" Naruto declared.

"That's exactly why we weren't suppose to tell you, Naruto. Or anyone for that matter." said Kiba. "We have no idea what's going on, and if we just go off the handle and get everyone riled up, we'll be back where we were thirteen years ago."

"Salayna." Sakura said, looking at her daughter. "Your brother said this person you were with had a black robe with red clouds painted on it. Is that true?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

She sighed. "What did he look like?"

"Um... He was kind of young. And he had really long blonde hair and blue eyes."

"What?" Sakura said, stepping back. "Are you sure? What was his name? Did he tell you?"

"He told me his name was Deidara, why?"

"He's... He's dead, though... How was he... ?" Naruto asked out loud, just as surprised as his former teammate was.

"We need to tell the Hokage this, Naruto." Ino said, tugging on his arm.

"She's right, Shikamaru, we can't keep this a secret anymore. If the Akatsuki are doing something, we're going to need to be ready for them." Kiba said.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it was just a matter of time before the cat got out of the bag."

They all agreed and made their way back towards the village, silent as the majority of them were in disbelief three members of the Akatsuki they thought they had killed were disappearing, and suddenly reappearing.

X X X

"Release."

The barrier protecting their hideout lifted as the three members entered inside to find the living quarters empty.

"That could have gone better, yeah."

"Why did we leave if the village was right there? Couldn't we have just taken the nine-tails?"

"You're not used to being stealthy are you, Trunks? Then again, that explosion you did was anything but discreet, yeah."

"Yeah... sorry about that. I thought I was holding back when I fired that off but-"

"Wait, you were holding back when you shot that?"

"Well yeah, if I had actually put a lot more power behind it, I probably would have taken out that mountain in the distance."

Deidara and Tobi just stared at him in complete shock.

"What?" Trunks asked, wondering if he said the wrong thing.

"You know what, Trunks? You're not bad, yeah."

X X X

"So Deidara said we had to go, saying it was too hot to be around the village even though the nine-tails showed up after we picked him up." explained Trunks to the Illusive Man over the projector.

"I see. Deidara was right to be cautious, although now sneaking in will be much more difficult now that they are aware the Akatsuki are active again in the Land of Fire."

"So what's the plan?"

"You said they only saw Deidara's face, not yours?"

He shook his head. "No. I grabbed him before anyone saw me or Tobi."

He chuckled in his thoughts. That's the name you've given yourself. Clever. "Then it's time for us to gather information." he said as he tapped his cigarette, letting the ashes fall to the ground. "Do you remember how to get there?"

"Uh... yeah, I do. It wouldn't be that bad."

"Good. Then meet me in Konoha tomorrow, in the middle of town."

"What?" Trunks asked in shock. He was just talking about being a good idea to leave, now he wants to jump right into the heart of the city?

"Successful espionage depends entirely on not being noticed. Everyone has seen or heard of the rest of the Akatsuki, and since you are yet to be seen by anyone of the village, nor have I, we can successfully infiltrate and gather information should we play our cards right posing as regulars."

"Okay. But what are we trying to find out? More stuff about the nine-tails?"

"Yes. Everything we can without drawing suspicion. Simple things: What is his name, how old is he? Does he have any family? If asked indirectly and separate individuals bring it up in casual conversation, we can avoid detection all together."

"Alright... I'll head out tomorrow then."

"One more thing, Trunks."

"What?"

"Don't wear your robe. It's a red flag across every nation."

He looked down at his Akatsuki robe. Yeah, it was definitely going to draw a lot of attention if people were that nervous after seeing Deidara. "Got it."

X X X

He was surprised how quickly he felt himself fitting in the first week of him being here. Granted he felt Tobi and Deidara were his only 'friends' if you'd like to call them, he still got along with the others to the point where he felt like they didn't want to kill him. Or maybe he was just nervous and it led to his paranoia.

He took his boots off and laid back in the bed with the room they provided for him. A fairly large one, even though he was told that all the others were roughly along the same size, he still felt spoiled. One medium sized window was all that the room had, but in space, it was fairly good-sized, with a bathroom attached to it, even though he had that back home... his home.

I know these guys need my help... but still...

The door opened as Trunks sat in the middle of his bed with his legs crossed as Zetsu came in, facing him at the end of the bed.

"How ya settling in? This mission was more than just a failure. It was a test of loyalty."

"Loyalty?" he asked. But he figured it made sense. He could have just taken off at anytime he was with Tobi or Deidara, but where could he go? Still, he was glad to know he passed... whatever that meant.

Zetsu held out a small box, opening it to reveal a ring. It was a purple-gray color, with the character rei, or, zero labeled in the center of the ring.

"And I... passed?" he asked.

"Yep."

Trunks took the ring, the instructions simply told him to wear it over his right thumb, which he did and was surprised at how well it fit.

"Welcome to the family."

END!

Yep, I did it. Trunks is in the Akatsuki, AND I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY! =( But just wait, I promise, some stuff will happen, and then some more stuff will happen, and then you'll be like =O when it's all said and done! Anddd there's your first 3 chapters to start the story off. Please review, and I'll see you guys next time!