Chapter Seven: Pein
"Is this it?" I wonder aloud. Kisame and I stand before a large cave with an entrance shrouded in darkness. "Doesn't look much like a demonic statue."
"The demonic statue is inside." He explains as we enter the cavern.
I have to blink as my eyes adjust to the gloom. From the sunlight pouring in through the entrance, figures become distinguishable, and behind them in the back of the cave a large rock formation. I can make out what looks like a man holding out two hands. It's not very demonic looking, but then, neither am I, and look at the horrors I've committed.
There are six people in here including Kisame and I. The first to approach is a humanoid figure that looks to have been fused with an enormous carnivorous plant that sticks up like a collar. Inside the plant there is a man with two halves – one black and one white.
"Kisame!" The white half hails cheerfully, "Long time no see!"
"Hello Zetsu." Kisame replies with the usual eel-voice and Danzo smile.
"Who's the bird-brain?" Black Zetsu asks. His voice is different than White Zetsu's; much less friendly and more taunting. There is only one mouth, but it seems as though each half uses the mouth independently, so that two different entities speak out of the same mouth in turns.
"Akaime." I reply, stroking Akaime's feathers. Zetsu nods.
"Lovely to meet you, Akaime. And the crow?"
I blink at the insult and Kisame sniggers quietly. "The crow is Akaime. I am Uchiha Itachi."
Zetsu's laugh fills the cave and echoes off the walls. "I'm only playing, kiddo." White Zetsu grins, "I know who you are."
"It's good that you've arrived." Orochimaru breaks in, "Now we're only waiting on Hidan and Kakuzu."
"They're probably lost. Idiots." The voice is young and high, but it comes from a hideous hunchbacked thing that scuttles forward and glares up at me. This, I presume, is Sasori, the one who hides himself inside a puppet.
"Or doing a Jaashin ritual." Kisame snorts and rolls his eyes.
"Or bounty-hunting." White Zetsu adds.
The member who hasn't spoken yet is a tall woman near the statue with a paper flower in her lavender hair. Kisame's right – she's not the freshest daisy on the chain, that's for sure.
I feel another presence now, in the shadows near Konan. I can only assume that this is the leader of the Akatsuki. He does not step into the light, nor does he speak, but lurks quietly there.
It is a full two hours before Hidan and Kakuzu arrive. In that time, neither Konan nor the man in the shadows comes forth and the five of us are left to converse while we wait. I discover that all of us are experts in evading personal questions.
When the last two arrive, it might as well be with a fanfare of trumpets announcing their arrival. These are not the subtle type of nin, that's for sure, audible before they become visible.
"Divine judgement! That's what awaits the heathens who dare sully the name of the great Jashin with their unworthy tongues! You have not pleased him!" Someone yells.
"Enough of your crap!" A deeper voice snaps, "I got the job done and I took the money, that's all there is to it!"
"You don't just get the job done, Kakuzu, you savor it. Revel in the pain that you inflict upon yourself and upon others. HONOR JASHIN WITH YOUR BLOOD! Greed has no place in divinity!" the first voice screams.
I can see them now; one is very tall and bulky, and the other is slim and framed by an enormous weapon in his right hand. They approach the entrance to the cave, still biting each other's heads off.
"I don't care about your stupid god!" Kakuzu snarls. Hidan looks aghast. "I'm sick and tired of hearing you rant about Jashin this and Jashin that! Will you shut up!"
"I've told you not to speak his name!" Hidan screeches, "You are not worthy!"
"And you are not sane!"
Orochimaru confronts them first. "Gentlemen, please, enough of your bickering."
"Yes." Sasori adds, "You've kept us waiting. I do not like to be kept waiting."
"You know what I don't like?" Hidan replies, albeit in his inside voice, "Bastardly and unfathomably greedy heretics!"
"Calm down, Hidan." Orochimaru sighs. Hidan whirls on him.
"Don't tell me to calm down, snake-ass. You know, for a guy who deals with snakes, your snake is kinda small and weak!"
Kisame snorts with laughter and Orochimaru hisses softly but ignores the comment.
"Well." Sasori comments grimly to me, "That took an unexpected turn."
"Ah, so this is the new bugger is it?" Kakuzu spots me and glides over, "Uchiha Itachi. Well, kiddo, if you ever need to make a business deal, come to old Kakuzu." His eyes are even scarier than Kisame's with their black sclera, and his breath smells of onions. I do not trust him in the least.
"Don't trust that sunnuva bitch." Hidan calls over, "He has no respect for the Great One and he's a swindler to boot – he's destined for eternal torture and believe me, pain is all well and good when it's shared, but if it's inflicted . . . not so much." Hidan comes up to me and elbows his partner out of the way. "You look like you'd make a good Jashinist, whaddya say? Don't worry, I'll follow through with the proper induction rituals. You can trust me. After all, I'm a very religious man."
Hidan doesn't really seem to have all his marbles there, and I'm afraid of the storm that replying in the negative will bring on – that triple-bladed scythe looks pretty wicked – and I look around at the others, hoping someone will speak up for me. Each of them looks on with interest in silence, including Konan from her corner.
"That's alright, I'm fine as is." I say politely, "But thank you for the offer."
Hidan looks at me for several long seconds and his face cracks into a grin. "I like this guy! He's nice!" he holds out his hand. "Welcome to the cult of goddamned assholes and glad receivers of Jashin's hatred – except for me of course."
As I shake his hand his thumbnail digs into my wrist, drawing blood. Before I can snatch my hand away he's already gathered a drop of blood on his finger, which he sticks into his mouth.
"Good iron taste." Hidan nods approvingly and cackles at my slightly grossed-out expression as he turns away.
"Enough, Hidan." A deep voice emanates from the shadows under the statue, where the man I haven't seen has been waiting the whole time.
"You're probably creeping out poor Itachi." Kisame adds. Hidan seems to be offended and waves his scythe threateningly.
"Me? Creepy? Look who's calling the kettle black. Tell me, Kisame, was your mother arrested for bestiality when she birthed you or was that shit-face your punishment from the government of Kirigakure?"
Punishment for what? I wonder, as this exchange goes down.
"Watch yourself." Kisame snarls menacingly, "Lest you become shark-bait in the near future."
"Come on." Hidan whines, "I was only having a little fun." He crosses his arms sulkily.
"Let us not waste more time." Sasori cuts in. Hidan turns to him.
"Sasori, sweetheart, must you wear that awful thing over your adorable self? It's going to make my stomach turn. It inflicts pain upon the eyes."
"Yes." Sasori glares, "I must."
"If you're finished, Hidan." Black Zetsu hisses. Hidan falls silent, as though he knows better than to mess with Black Zetsu.
It is now that the mysterious man in the shadows reveals himself to us, springing onto the thumb of one of the statue's hands. I see that he is of tall stature and has a shock of bright orange hair. His face is studded with rivet-type ornaments as he opens his arms to us.
"Welcome, Itachi. Welcome, all of you. Our meeting commences . . . now."
Each member of the organization perches on one of the fingers of the statue and I take my place on the right ring finger. As I draw closer to Pein, there seems to be something funny about his eyes. He catches my gaze and holds it, and a tingle runs down my spine . . . I thought it was only a legend.
Rinnegan!
A/N: this chapter was meant to be a more lighthearted one to introduce the Akasuki and help me better identify their characters.
hope you enjoyed, please review ^^