AN: So, this chapter and the next, I'm hella hyped for, especially the next chapter. They're going to be exposition heavy, but damn, it's going to be worth it. We're finally getting to the recruitment of the Akatsuki's members! Woot woot! Orochimaru is definitely going to hardest to write the recruitment for since we never saw it. We didn't entirely see the others either, but I have ideas for them.
Fun Fact: Pein's phrase of "Would you kindly?" is a reference from Bioshock and the phrase that was programmed to function as a trigger for the post-hypnotic suggestions. I thought it perfect for him, considering his godlike persona and leadership.
ForidaAhmed: Oof, as a character or how I write her? Jk. I may've made her a little too OP, but we're talking about the character that literally no one could kill in the series (except Sasuke?) so they just gave up and let him do whatever the fuck he wanted. He was like the cockroach of Naruto. I like what they did with him in Boruto though.
Cat Beats: Oh yes. Everything involving Obito and Madara felt contrived and Kaguya came outta nowhere. She wasn't done justice as you said, taken out by humans. And no, she isn't an alien in Wasteland, spoilers not spoilers. God, I hated that too! Ugh, as do I but sometimes, you can't get outta writing them and I try to write my fight scenes are basic as possible. But not too basic because I made that mistake before and am trying not to do it again! Yes, I do and thank you for continuing to read after all this time! Readers like you make this fanfiction worth writing!
magmo22: Unfortunately, no. As Wasteland is structured, Obito and Madara cannot exist? Lemme explain. So, because in this Zetsu is a human being, that means there are no White Zetsu and since there are no White Zetsu, Madara never made them using the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path because Madara never summoned it so he died from old age and never lived until the Third War to find Obito. So, no White Zetsu = no Demonic Statue of the Outer Path = no Madara = no Obito. But wait, how did the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path get to earth then? Nagato was the first to summon it on accident using his Rinnegan. But wait, how did Nagato get the Rinnegan? Didn't Madara give it to him? In canon: yes, in this: no. Nagato was born with it. BUT WAIT, how was Nagato born with it? That's going to be explained, in fact, in this chapter with Wasteland's own original lore! Phew, I think that made sense, lol. Oh wait, one last thing since I've gotten this question a few times now. -inhales- BUT WAIT, WHERE'S BLACK ZETSU? It's been in the story the entire time, just hafta squint for it -wink wink-.
As for the Akatsuki, it was just made by the Ame Orphans, no outside influence except an organization to help the needy in a war-torn nation which was revived as a mercenary group hellbent on world domination. Just as it originally was until Obito and Madara and that clusterfuck was introduced.
Oh, and for English dubs I did like in the Naruto series: Kurenai Yūhi (I am a diehard fan of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn), Kakashi Hatake (he was my favourite teacher until Aizawa came into dub, lol), Might Gai and Rock Lee (perfection!), Gaara (I didn't appreciate his dub until Liam O'Brien voiced Lunatic in Tiger and Bunny) and…that's all I can remember from the top of my head. I only watched a few episodes in dub when Naruto first came out then switched to sub and I've only heard everyone's voices through the video games. I'm salty they didn't give Deidara a masculine voice like in the sub.
Guest: Thank you! Here it is!
Warning(s): Language (High), Violence/Blood/Gore (Low), Genderbend (High), Original Character(s)
…
Wasteland
The Akatsuki Arc
Chapter 45
"Oi oi oi. Wouldja look whose 'ere? 'ello Pein, Konan." Sasori cackled, shambling out of the way as Pein and Konan stepped up to join their members in line.
"What're you two doing here?" Kakuzu questioned with an inquisitive eyebrow.
"It was decided that in the best interest of the Akatsuki, that defeating a threat such as Orochimaru would be better as an organization." Pein explained though by his exhausted expression, what was not said and obviously read on his features was: Konan made me do it.
Kakuzu snorted dismissively at this. "We've done just fine without the 'organization'."
"We're not dead." Glut inputted his two cents though he couldn't testify for his mental health nor that of his little mouse friend.
"Did you find Zetsu?" Konan asked snappish, hinting her true motivation for being here was not to help with Orochimaru.
"'ere." Sasori interjected, exhibiting said girl to Konan. Zetsu snarled at her with bared canines and kicked in his metal tail's clutches, causing the blue-haired woman to gasp, horrified with a hand to her mouth; this being the first time she had personally experienced her ballistic state.
"Oh yes, I was positive you'd successfully extract her." Pein said which was bullshit considering the fact he was the one to give them the ultimatum of Zetsu or Orochimaru, much to Kakuzu's displeased glaring. "Sasori, would you kindly turn her around?"
Sasori obliged, flipping Zetsu upside-down and backwards so her back was to the ginger. Picking a hand up, Pein lined it up with her thrashing head as a chakra rod materialized from his palm. It ejected out like a bullet and landed perfectly into the depression in the back of Zetsu's neck. Once it injected itself, her eyes bulged and she mumbled out a disjointed bay before her eyes went white and she blacked out, hanging debilitated with her arms swaying in the wind. Sasori then pulled back his tail and flung the unconscious girl to the side as if she was a piece of litter.
Kakuzu and Konan both saw her flying overhead and stepped to catch her, but to their surprise, Glut was on it, snatching Zetsu from mid-air. As he landed onto his knees, he glanced up at her two anxious guardians staring at him and gave them a heartening nod before fleeing to safety with Zetsu in his arms. Kakuzu and Konan glared at Sasori to which he just shrugged but his obnoxious cackling could be heard from inside Hiruko.
Pein opened his mouth to say something else now that Zetsu had been taken care of but was interrupted by a squeal which caused everyone's heads to swivel to the cause. Orochimaru was up again, filthy and disheveled from her tumble, but positively beaming despite this as she stared at Pein and Konan in particular. She grinned at them which made their collective insides fall as they were noticed and recognized.
"Konan! And Yahiko! Ah! Look at the lot of you, all grown up and big! Jiraiya said you had died." Orochimaru gushed at them, like a family member to a pair of children after not seeing them for an extended period of time. "Oh, where's Nagato? Oh! How I loved that little Nagato!"
The others stared at Pein and Konan in bewilderment and awaiting an explanation how Orochimaru of everyone knew them and by a name-to-name basis nonetheless, but they said and explained nothing, faces passive but inside, dying.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Come here and give Auntie Orochimaru a hug." She opened her arms out to initiate said hug. As she stepped towards them, Pein held up a hand, delivering her a cautionary blast of his Shinra Tensei which sent her stumbling backwards, breaking off her other heel and sending her falling onto her backside. Orochimaru clicked her tongue against her teeth as she pushed herself to her feet, dusting off the dirt from her behind while glaring at the pair. "Why I never! Wait until I tell Jiraiya of your naff behaviour!" Basically, confirming their continued correspondence in secret.
It was then Manda also had picked himself from his fall, shaking himself of the debris and hissed, spraying acidic spit over the landscape like rain. "Wo krilon ahraan zu'u, Manda?" Who dare hurt I, Manda? He brayed and glared daggers at the Akatsuki, searching them for the culprit.
As he did, he spied Pein and Konan now standing with the others and once seeing them, he flinched back as if startled by their presence. "Kul of Hagoromo het ahk? Nid..." Son of Hagoromo here also? No… He sniffed the air momentarily then thrashed his head as if he had smelt a disgusting aroma and spat. "Nid, ni Kul of Hagoromo! Hi dreh ni sahlon do rok. Tul, hi lost ok miin!? Aan nizah Kul?" No, not Son of Hagoromo! You do not smell of him. Yet, you have his eyes!? A false Son? Pein had said nothing during all of this as his Rinnegan stared back into the emerald orbs of the serpent gazing at him, unintimidated by his size nor world-crushing strength.
"False Son?" Orochimaru parroted, tapping a painted fingertip to her identical, purple-coloured lips which quirked into a smirk. "Oh, so that's it, is it? Last I checked, little Nagato had the Rinnegan. Oh Yahiko, how could you? Jiraiya said you had an antagonistic personality, but to murder your own friend for his eyes?"
"Do not speak on matters you have had no part in." Pein gnarled, hand still directed at her and his fingers twitching to blast her into another dimension.
"Zu'u fen lost nid malun ko daar fod faal Kiir se faal Nidhogg ahrk aan Nizah Kul of Hagoromo los het." I will have no part in this if the Child of the Nidhogg and a False Son of Hagoromo are here. Manda interjected then squinted his gaze at Orochimaru. "Ahrk niney fod hi, Orochimaru." And neither should you, Orochimaru.
Orochimaru clicked her tongue and delivered Manda a dirty look. "Don't tell me what I can or can't do, you overgrown worm."
"Hi los gein do mu, Sosseprakem! Nii los hin dez wah braag Ragnarök! Dreh ni vodahmaan daar!" You are one of us, Snakeblood! It is your fate to beckon Ragnarök! Do not forget that! He exclaimed, baring his fangs and lashing the air with his tongue aggressively. "Zu'u fen gesiigor faal Sage se daar jahfir." I must go inform the Sage of this development.
"Yes, yes. Go tell your mum." Orochimaru shooed him off.
Manda said nothing to her quip and instead, pulled himself back from once he came. In his wake, leaving a belching, meteor-sized crater in the earth where Otogakure and all its inhabitants once was.
With Manda having left, Orochimaru turned from the gaping hole and what was left of Otogakure—which wasn't much—shaking her head with her hands propped on her hips. "Shame that. All that work, gone. Oh well, it isn't like I don't have more subjects and materials to rebuild with. Now then," She addressed the Akatsuki, specifically, Pein and Konan. "What has spawned on this little reunion?"
"We're here to arrest you." Pein explained straightforwardly, much to Orochimaru's boisterous laughter that lasted the uncomfortable length of a minute.
"Arrest? Me?" She squawked, dabbing a tear from her watering eye. "And what gives you the impression you can do that?"
"Well then, we can turn over your dead body instead." This again was met by uproarious laughter as if it was the funniest one-liner ever.
"You think you can kill me? My my, pinch your friend's Rinnegan and think yourself God now, do you, Yahiko?"
"Yes." Pein said seriously in reply to each question, unblinking.
Orochimaru waved a dismissive hand at the ginger as if he was gnat buzzing in her ear. "Oh posh, I've faced far scarier than the Rinnegan in my lifetime."
"Like Hanzō?"
The Sannin made a face at the mention of her old mortal foe but decided to entertain it with a pushed smile. "Yes, like Hanzō."
"Then you should fear the Rinnegan."
"And why is that, sweetie?" She asked in a sickly, sweet voice.
Pein stared at her hard, ringed orbs dilating. "Because I killed Hanzō." He said, stoic, and Orochimaru's shit-eating grin instantly fell from her powdered white face which then twisted demonically.
"Porkies!" She barked. However, as she glared back into the Rinnegan, she must've gotten the hint that no, he wasn't lying and Hanzō was in fact dead or the strength of the ancient Kekkei Genkai registered with her, because her bristling disposition switched on a dime. She turned around, rapping her fingernails on her chin while mumbling to herself momentarily then turning back around, smiling at them innocently. "May I say a few words?"
"You can have five."
"You cannot kill or arrest me." Orochimaru said, numbering each word on her fingers then realizing she didn't have six fingers. "Oh, bugger me, that was six. May I explain?" Pein narrowed his eyes at her and said nothing, which she took as being permission.
"I reckon it was Minato that sent you, wasn't it? That little brat has had it out for me since day one and I cannot fathom why," She said in faked bereavement while tapping her chin again in bewilderment to sell her obliviousness on the situation.
"What is your point?" Pein pressed, growing increasingly impatient with the woman each second he had to listen to her speak, his fingers flexing to "encourage" her to speak faster.
"The point being: how much did he offer? Two-hundred thousand ryō? Three? Posh. He just said that to get you interested but he knew as well as I that he had no intention of paying that."
"And why is that?"
"Let's say, you can arrest me. I give it… say twenty-four hours until the Elders learn of it—which is being generous, might I add—and when that happens, then why should Minato pay up? Afterall, he'll have to spend the dosh hiring you or someone else to arrest me again. That is, if the Elders have not finished him first. And if, god forbid, you do kill me, well again, the Elders will quickly find out about that and put their finger on the pulse of Minato's little payout to you. I've got my hands in too many projects for them."
"So, what you're saying is, either or, we will not be paid?" Pein summarized and while she had a point, he was unimpressed.
"What I'm saying is that I'm worth a lot more alive than dead to you."
Pein piqued an eyebrow. "To me?"
"Yes, to you all. Don't think I didn't recognize the half-billion-ryō man, Kakuzu, over there," Orochimaru proclaimed, staring directly at Kakuzu who glared back at her, disgruntled to be recognized so easily, before she then pointed at Sasori. "Or you. I'd recognize the Third Kazekage's face anywhere so you must be…Akasuna-no-Sasori. Am I right?"
"You reckoned right." Sasori confirmed smugly.
"I must say, you're a lot uglier than I imagined you being." She mentioned next, making Hiruko's features scrunch into a glare that she shrugged off. "Basically, what I'm saying is this: I think I'd be the perfect addition to your little rag-tag group of miscreants you've got going on here."
"Are you suggesting I let you join the Akatsuki instead?" Pein clarified, flabbergasted with Konan mimicking his dumbfoundment.
"Oh, the Akatsuki? Is that what this twee club is called? How cute. But yes, yes I am."
"And why would I ever do that?"
"Because, I've got connections, funding and bodies for your disposal. That, and with my newest project ground zero, I could use something else to funnel my considerable talent towards." The Sannin said, jabbing a thumb of her shoulder at the rubble of her capital. "So, what do you think?"
Pein did not answer immediately, something Konan picked up on as she glared at her partner for his silence. "Pein, you cannot seriously be thinking on this!"
"She does have her points, Konan." Pein replied, not regarding her as his eyes did not leave Orochimaru as a precaution.
"Absolutely not! Orochimaru is not joining the Akatsuki!" She barked, literally putting her foot down in the manner as she stomped.
"Oh Konan, please. Don't be so harsh." Orochimaru interjected, earning the blue-haired woman's animosity next.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Kakuzu chipped in as neither could he believe Pein was considering letting the woman responsible for hurting Zetsu join the Akatsuki. If this organization hadn't gone to shit yet, it was now.
"Kakuzu, Sasori," Pein addressed the other two males present. "Why don't you two and Glut return back to Ame with Zetsu. I think the three of us have a lot to talk about." Konan stared at him, horrified while Orochimaru smirked. Neither gave argument with Sasori shrugging it off while Kakuzu had been itching to leave this entire time to check up on Zetsu.
"Oh! Before you go, I've got a gift for you," Orochimaru intercepted, much to the curious and timid glances from the others. "Consider it a peace treaty." From her sleeve fell an object that she then flicked at Kakuzu at light speed.
He effortlessly caught it in his hand where it had been targeted at his face and opened it to find a glass flask in his palm with a suspicious, yellowish fluid sloshing inside. "What is this?"
"Oh, it's the anti-venom for my snakes. That little girl may've gotten one too many love bites from them. If she wants her chakra back, she'll have to drink that."
Kakuzu wasn't buying the bullshit she was shoveling until Sasori stepped in, being the resident poison expert. "Lemme see that, Kakuzu." He extended his tail over to the felon who happily handed the jar over. Sasori then inserted it into Hiruko's mouth underneath his bandana like paper money into a vending machine. After a minute of hemming and hawing, he shared his findings. "She ain't lyin'. This 'ere's a modified cocktail fer crotalus cerastesI with 'ints of…Vitis vinifera L, is it?"
"Oh, how clever! I must say, what I heard of your expertise is true, Akasuna-no-Sasori." Orochimaru genuinely complimented him, further fueling the puppeteer's fat head.
"It's safe." Sasori reiterated, flinging the container back to Kakuzu. Despite as much as he didn't trust Orochimaru and especially not Sasori, the miser had to trust them just this once, for Zetsu's sake.
"Of course, it's safe. She'll just experience a twee bit of, hmm…sickness to get the venom out. Now, scratch your back, scratch my back, if you please?" She pointed at her purple, feathered snake which had been previously nailed to the ground by Glut. Kakuzu begrudgingly yanked out the needle and the snake spat at him as a warning before slithering off to Orochimaru who plucked it up. "Oh Faskom, my poor Faskom, are you ok? Here, let your lady kiss it better." She obnoxiously cooed to the boa before kissing where the senbon had been embedded in its muzzle, her lips glowing green with medical ninjutsu and healing it.
"Ttthank you, Lady Orochimaru." Faskom uttered then draped himself back around her neck with her petting his feathered scales.
"We may talk now."
At this, Pein waved them off. Sasori began the slow, slow trek back to Amegakure during which, Kakuzu went searching for Glut and Zetsu. He found his partner behind a tree and hidden underneath the cloak of darkness. He had the unconscious Zetsu sprawled in his lap and a nest of gauze and other medical supplies laid out around him as he nursed her wounds. Smidgen was doing her best at helping as she dabbed the moisture from Zetsu's face with a comically tiny handkerchief.
"How is she?" Was the first thing out of Kakuzu's mouth as he crouched besides the redhead and stared with concern at his subordinate.
"She's alive, but weak and dehydrated. Has herself snakes bites and a gnarly head wound too." Glut said, motioning at her bandaged arms then pointing at the patchwork of bandages on her head which had to be layered a maximum five times to blot the blood and pus oozing from it. "She had a yellowing to her eyes which makes me think she may've been poisoned."
"I have the antidote." Kakuzu said, showing the capsule to Glut who looked at the elder for an explanation but received none.
"So, what is happening?" He changed the subject.
"They're talking."
Glut's eyebrows flew to his headband. "Talking? What could there be to talk about? We came to arrest her, not talk!"
Kakuzu didn't explain further as he picked Zetsu up into his arms, cradling her to his chest in bridal fashion and started walking in the direction of Amegakure. Glut scrambled to package his supplies before scumbling behind him so not to be left behind in the hostile territory. They easily caught up with the lumbering Sasori and the three of them walked together in silence after a failed attempt at conversation by Glut. Zetsu remained unconscious the travel back, likely exhausted from her episode and whatever else happened to her during the three days she was jailed in that undercover concentration camp. He didn't expect her to be awake for awhile.
…
Hours later, they had made it back to Ame at the stroke of midnight. They had just stepped foot into the mansion when the Zetsu shifted in Kakuzu's arms. Kakuzu and Glut stared at the teenager in hesitation once spying her waking.
Zetsu blinked open her heavy eyelids and stared directly into the hard gaze of her guardian. "Sir…?" Instantly, relief washed over them.
"Zetsu." Kakuzu set her down onto her feet, keeping a hand on her in case she was too weak to stand with Glut backing him up. To Kakuzu's surprise, she lunged into his arms, burying her face in his chest and hugging him tight. He immediately returned the token, petting his hand through her greasy hair while being cautious of her injuries.
Glut stepped back, smiling. "How're you feeling? Are you ok?"
She rubbed her face against the fabric of Kakuzu's cloak in a nodding but also nuzzling motion to the question before pulling her head back to stare up at the dark-haired man. "Sir, I failed the mission."
Kakuzu shook his head. "You didn't fail, Zetsu. That mission was a failure the minute Pein sent you in by yourself. It should've involved the organization from the start."
"I…I can't remember what happened. I think I…I think the M-Mo…"
"I'll tell you what happened later. Now, you should lay down." He interrupted her, nudging her so she let him go. "First, I need you to drink this. It's for the snake venom." He presented her the veil of anti-venom.
Zetsu accepted it, remembering the snake attack. Pulling out the cork, she smelt the contents only to jerk her head back with her face twisted in a grimace. It smelt like the infection in her head. As much as she didn't want to drink it, if this was the antidote to get her chakra back, then she had to. So, she clinched her nose shut to muffle her sense of taste and shot it down her throat, swallowing it down thickly. She shuddered intensely as a few droplets splashed her tongue and the taste confirmed the smell.
"It tastes hor—" She was in the middle of saying when her jaws snapped shut and her face flushed a green colour.
Kakuzu saw this and the way her hands urgently flew to her mouth and without thinking twice, he grabbed the girl by the underarms and ran her to the bathroom. He had barely gotten her inside and to the toilet when she proceeded to violently vomit a putrid, yellowish fluid. It made Kakuzu thankful for his mask as supported her weight through it, so she didn't fall face first into the basin. Glut came in to help but was shooed off by the miser as he just expected her to get everything out at once and be better. Except, that wasn't what went on. Instead, Zetsu continued to puke her guts out for the next hour without pause except to catch or breath or flush the toilet so it didn't overflow. The longer it went on, the madder Kakuzu got. Orochimaru had claimed a little "sickness" but this was ridiculous. He was kicking himself for trusting her and Sasori, especially Sasori!
He was going to take her to the hospital after this episode, especially due to her other injuries, but his thought process was rudely disturbed by the intrusive voice of Pein who had to be the last person he wanted to hear from right now. "Everyone, would you kindly report to my office for a meeting?"
"I can't, Zetsu is ill." Kakuzu internally snapped back, using a hand towel to sponge the perspiration running off Zetsu's face and the backsplash of spew.
"Zetsu does not have to attend then. I want you here though, Kakuzu."
"You just expect me to leave her?"
"Then take her to the hospital but I need you here now. Please and thank you." Kakuzu didn't get another word in as the telepathic connection ended.
Kakuzu was going to take Zetsu to the hospital but now Pein had just thrown a wrench in his plans. Mainly being that the hospital was on the other side of Amegakure and there was no guarantee he could get her in immediately, even through emergency. Also, he didn't want to leave her by herself while she was so ill, hospital or not. That is, unless Ryu was there but if the elder remembered correctly, he had weekends off and even it wasn't the weekend, he didn't do night shift so he wouldn't be there anyway. Speaking of Ryu…
Zetsu had emptied out a majority of her insides and was just dry heaving and dribbling bile at this point so after cleaning her off, Kakuzu helped her onto her feet to walk her out of the bathroom. Glut wasn't in the hallway which he had been pacing the last hour, so it was left to presume that he and Sasori had departed for the meeting. Kakuzu led Zetsu out of the manor and instead of going in the direction of the hospital or Pein's Tower, he made a b-line for Ryu's residence.
Ryu lived a few blocks from the Akatsuki Manor, much closer than the clinic, so they made it to the townhome in a manner of minutes, this excluding a few pits stops along the way so Zetsu could puke into a gutter or bush. Kakuzu banged on the door, uncaring if he woke the slumbering neighbours in the process.
A few seconds later, a tired-eyed Ryu opened the door, dressed in a bathrobe and glasses on upside-down after scrambling out of bed. "K-Kakuzu? Is everything ok?" He mumbled sleepily upon seeing his companion for the unexpected, late night visit. It was then noticed the worse for wear Zetsu tucked under his arm and his fluffy lips downturned into a frown. "Zetsu? Are you ok?"
"Zetsu is sick and I have to attend a meeting." Kakuzu explained briefly, pushing the ill teenager towards the pediatrician. "I'll be back for her later."
Before Ryu could ask the slew of questions bombarding his exhausted brain, mainly if whatever she had was contagious, Zetsu made a gagging noise, her green cheeks puffing out, and realizing she was going to heave, the eyeglasses man urgently pushed in the direction of his bathroom. Kakuzu yelled a half-hearted "goodbye" and pulled the door shut behind him as he left to Pein's Tower.
…
Kakuzu was the last person to make it to this emergency meeting.
Glut and Sasori were present and cast curious glances at the uncharacteristically late older man as he stepped off the elevator into the office, neither of which looked too pleased. Kakuzu took attendance beside his partner and once he did, he saw the source of their displeasure. Orochimaru was present, seated with her feet casually propped on Pein's desk as she huffed from her pipe, making the space reek of tobacco and cheap perfume.
Pein, meanwhile, was trying to distract himself with paperwork with one hand shielding his eyes, likely to prevent any accidental peep shows up the woman's dress. However, upon hearing Kakuzu's arrival at last, the ginger picked his head up and put his pen down before pushing himself up from his desk, clearing his throat.
"Thank you all for arriving on such short notice," He began, folding his arms behind his back. "I've gathered you all here today to introduce the Akatsuki's newest member: Orochimaru." He said it was the grandest sigh like he himself obviously knew how fucked up this was.
At her introduction, Orochimaru bent her back to flash a nefarious grin at the males and gave a cheery: "Hello, hello."
"Are you fucking serious!?" Kakuzu exploded, pointing a finger at the woman and basically voicing what everyone was thinking.
"Oh, I guarantee you he is and it's rude to point. You should be old enough to know that, Kakuzu." Orochimaru interjected, swatting at him and he pulled back his hand, balling it up as if to punch her but somehow exercising just enough self-control not to do it. "Where is your little friend? Did you give her the anti-venom?"
"Yes, I did, and she's been puking her fucking guts out! You said she would have a little 'sickness'!"
"But of course, how else do you expect her to expel the poison? I could've not given it to you and just let her perish. You should be more thankful." Nevermind, he was going punch her.
"B-But wait…what of her bounty?" Glut interjected as he stammered this out mournfully, this out in left field draft feeling like the equivalent of witnessing three-hundred million ryō being dumped into a fire for him.
"Well…"
"There was no bounty, never was." Orochimaru interrupted Pein, swinging a hand which cast smoke in everyone's faces. "Besides, I'm worth much more than three-hundred million ryō. You'll see."
"Don't rub it in." Glut muttered, disheartened.
"And Konan agreed to this?" Kakuzu asked next, now taking notice of the fact the blue-haired woman strangely missing in action from the meeting, especially being the type of person which stuck to her partner like glue.
"Konan had a say, but all decisions are final with me."
"So much for partnership, aye?" Sasori inputted with a cackle, unable to help himself though he didn't try too hard.
"Speaking of partnership," Pein placidly segued off him, directing his intense gaze onto the puppeteer. "Orochimaru is going to be your partner, Sasori."
Hiruko's jaw quavered under his black bandana. "O-Oi, what?"
"Partners with the Akasuna-no-Sasori? Oh, joyous day!" Orochimaru cheered.
"I ain't git a say in this?"
Pein blinked at him. "No."
Sasori tried to dispute the decision but was silenced as Pein held up a hand so he could speak instead. However, whatever he was going to say, the words fell to the floor as the man's head violently jerked to the side, as if slapped by an invisible force. Everyone else stared in mute surprise and confusion as he stumbled, catching himself on his desk and cradled his cheek which had quickly coloured a bright pink.
He rubbed the scathing flesh. "I admit, I deserved that." The next second, his head surged to the other side as if struck again and heaved a grumble. "And that one." A third was delivered to the other side and he growled, pointing a finger at nothing. "That is enough!" He roared at no one in particular.
When he determined a fourth wasn't coming, he gathered what little professionalism he had left, clearing his throat and addressed the Akatsuki while ignoring the burning and bruising of his face. "Orochimaru is part of the Akatsuki and she and Sasori are partners. That is final. Any further disagreement on the matter will be considered insubordinates and you'll receive a cut to your commission from missions for the next quarter." As much as everyone had something to say on this, except Orochimaru herself, the moment money was involved, they knew better than to push it so the male members begrudgingly remained mum on the subject which appeared to satisfy their red-faced superior. "Thank you. You are all dismissed."
As they turned to take their leave, the elevator chugged up and out stepped a pleased looking Konan. She was flexing one of her hands, as if she had hurt it and was scrutinizing a broken nail. Pein noticed her and cringed. "Konan…" He said to his partner and she gifted him a dirty look that could curdle milk. "Would you kindly measure Orochimaru for a cloak…please?"
"Oh no, I have to wear that? It's hideous." Orochimaru gasped, indicating at Konan whose antagonism swapped from her partner to the other woman as her amber orbs drilled into her skull, taking personal offense to her criticism since she was the one to design the cloaks. Pein flinched as he heard the origamitress's knuckles crack from how taut she had them clenched. He had just personally learned how hard she could hit.
Konan stamped to her desk to fetch her measuring tape to strangle—measure the Sannin's dimensions and pins to stab—mark the tape.
The others exited the office before things got nasty—nastier—with Glut and Kakuzu stepping onto the elevator after Sasori had left first. The partners stood side-by-side in the cramped cage in uncomfortable silence before Glut interrupted the terse tension, being one which disliked the quiet and made him nervous, especially with Kakuzu.
"This is horrible." He uttered.
"I know." Kakuzu said through a clenched jaw and glared at the metal plates squealing past the elevator.
"Three-hundred million ryō just gone like that."
"I know."
"It was so much money…we may never see that kind of money again."
"Glut. I. Know." Kakuzu snarled out.
Glut heard the anger building in the elder's tone and being acquainted with Kakuzu's temper, he dumped the subject as he didn't want to be the object of his wrath. Though, unable to help but give one last passing opinion. "Something should be done about her, that's all I'm saying."
Kakuzu balled his hand, knuckles cracking. "It should be."
…
Ryu answered his door for the second time that night and wasn't surprised to find Kakuzu on the other side, though back much sooner than he had expected. "Kakuzu. How did the meeting go?"
"Horrible." Kakuzu huffed, arms crossed. "How is Zetsu?"
"Oh, she's…ill." He said after a moment, rubbing his hands on his fresh shirt, having suffered a little "incident" on his bathrobe after failing to get Zetsu to the bathroom in time on one occasion. "She's running a fever along with the vomiting. But I'm sure you knew that. Does she have the flu?"
"No, apparently, she was poisoned by snakes and this is a result of the anti-venom."
"Oh yes, that would make sense. It could be her body purging the venom." Ryu hypothesized, fueling Orochimaru's claims and Kakuzu hated that. He didn't want to feel like he owed that bitch anything since she was the cause of this to begin with.
"I'm going to take her to the hospital." Kakuzu made a step to enter the house and piqued an eyebrow as his entrance was intercepted by the smaller male who gave him a sympathetic smile.
"You look exhausted, Kakuzu. Why don't you leave her with me, and I'll take her to the hospital instead? That way I can see to her immediately." As much as he wanted to decline the offer, Ryu had a point.
The last three days he had slept like shit since Zetsu left to stake out Orochimaru and especially when she didn't return after that first day and he learned of her possible kidnapping. Now she was safe and sound, besides the obvious, he felt like he could crash. Today was a clusterfuck. Besides, Ryu was one of the few people in this world Kakuzu could say he trusted so he didn't see why he couldn't leave Zetsu with him, even for just the night.
So, he complied, stepping back out of the doorway and nodding. "Alright. I'll leave her to you."
Ryu smiled at him, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "If I have any developments or anything happens, I'll call you right away. If you hear nothing, then that's good news."
"I'm going to hold you to that, Ryu."
"You've held me to a lot of things, and I don't think I've disappointed you yet." Ryu laughed. "I'll see you in the morning, Kakuzu. Rest well."
Kakuzu nodded again and waved the doctor off before leaving. Meanwhile, Ryu went to collect Zetsu as he had left her in the bathroom where she was emptying her stomach into the toilet so he could hurry her to the hospital.
Before leaving, he made sure to lock his bedroom door and plug the underneath of it with pillows.
…
"Konan…may I?"
It had been a number of hours preceding the meeting and Otogakure and Konan had been giving her partner the silent treatment ever since, spending it at her desk doing paperwork while scratching her pencil and shuffling papers unnecessarily loudly to communicate her displeasure with the orange-haired man. Pein knew she was unhappy with him and had been giving her space, but this was ridiculous and childish at this point. That, and the tension between them was suffocating him like smoke from a fire and making concentrating impossible.
To his welcomed surprise, Konan picked up her head to look at him for the first time in awhile. It was to stare daggers into his soul, but he saw his opportunity to preach to the chorus. "I apologize for what transpired today."
To this, the female threw down her pen in frustration. "You didn't listen to anything I had to say back there!"
"No, I didn't." He confessed.
"Why Orochimaru? Why?"
"She has capital that the Akatsuki can benefit on such as internal intelligence on Konoha as well as other organizations and hundreds of potential agents at our disposable if she was telling the truth."
"If she was telling the truth, Pein! She may not be and what is stopping her from turning on us instantly?"
"Because it would be more detrimental to her than to us. As far as the world knows as of now, the Akatsuki is an organization which provides mercenary services at well under the competitive rate, nothing more and nothing less. Our presence is not considered a threat. Orochimaru, on the other hand, knows we can and will hand her over to whoever offered the highest reward if she crosses us." Konan disregarded this claim with a cynical scoff and roll of the eyes to which Pein sighed, exasperated. "Konan, give her one chance, that's all I ask."
"Just one chance. Then if she does anything to muck it up, I get to personally put her head under the guillotine."
He nodded. "Fair enough."
With that past them once and for all, both quietly went back to their respective tasks and the atmosphere in the office was a little lighter; definitely easier to breathe and focus.
Though, it was a few minutes later that a random yet curious thought crossed Pein's wandering mind and he paused, staring blankly at the sheet of paper in front of him while clicking the thruster of his pen against his lip. "Hmm… Ragnarök…"
"What was that?"
"Ragnarök," He said again, leaning back in his chair. "Back in Otogakure, that snake was speaking to Orochimaru and mentioned a few curious things. If I'm correct, it called me the 'Son of Hagoromo' but then claimed me to be a 'False Son'. Hagoromo…that was the name of the Sage of Six Paths." That couldn't be a coincidence given the Rinnegan.
Konan raised an eyebrow at him. "You could understand that gibberish it was speaking?"
He glanced at her. "Yes, you could not?" He asked to which she shook her head to indicate not. "Yes, yes I could, and I feel as though I had heard it elsewhere. Besides that, one other thing it mentioned was Ragnarök and again, I feel as though I have heard it before. It rings a bell, does it not?"
She spared a moment to think on it then nodded to his conclusion. "Yes, I think I remember hearing it somewhere too. It's a strange word."
"Yes." Pein tapped the writing device in his hand against one of his lip piercings so it made a tiny, metallic chime as he scratched his brain for the origin of the word. However, after giving it a few minutes, he could find nothing except a faint nagging at the back his head. "Perhaps it will come to me later." He concluded with a defeated sigh and went back to signing papers.
It wasn't even a breath later that Konan suddenly perked up. "Ragnarök! I remember now!"
Pein stared at her anxiously. "Do you?"
She nodded. "Yes, it's from that old storybook Jiraiya read us as children. That one that inspired your ideas for the Gutsy Shinobi?"
It was with that one clue that everything came screaming back to him in a bombardment of his better childhood memories. "Yes, you're right! It was that one, wasn't it? Yet, I cannot remember a single thing from it, especially nothing regarding this Ragnarök."
Konan agreed with a shake of her head. "Neither can I. All I can remember was the cover had a picture of a tree on it and it was about a war between good and evil."
"Perhaps we could find a copy of it to refresh our memories." Pein puzzled over.
"I don't think so. That book was old even when Jiraiya read it to us. We would have to find in a bookstore or from a book collector. Maybe the library. Maybe someone somewhere has a copy."
Pein nodded. "Maybe."
…
AN: Ok, ok, ok. I'm going to straight up with everyone here: I have no idea why Pein and Konan let Orochimaru into the Akatsuki. I don't know what he said or did to get in and the anime or manga didn't give us a hint so I basically…bullshitted it. Within the plausibility of the story, of course! But yeah, given their back story with each other, I'm only left to assume that Orochimaru's recruitment was Obito's doing and Obito isn't in this story so yeah…not my proudest moment and I admit to it! If for some reason I come up with a brilliant idea or see something that is like "it could've gone this way", I'll happily rewrite this chapter. But for now, this is how it is.
Anyway, this chapter was originally going to be divided into the next starting after Kakuzu left Zetsu with Ryu, but I felt it to be way, way too short so I included half of the next chapter into this one. So, the next may be on the smaller side but I don't care because I am jammed to write it! You'll understand when you read it, muhahaha. A lot of seeds were planted in this chapter and they're going to blossom into beautiful, beautiful flowers.
Next Chapter: To Smile.
Until Next Time.