AN: Ok, I'm so pumped for this chapter with the introduction of Jūzō Biwa. He's going to be a main character of the Akatsuki and so I'm looking forward to writing him and Kisame together. And again, I understand he was Itachi's partner in the anime and he will have interactions with Itachi when we get to it which is going to be a lot sooner than you think. Oh btw, while reading Jūzō's dialogue, do so in the most stereotypical, surfer bro accent because that's his voice. Please and thank you.
Cat Beats: Just setting up the last characters until we get into the meat and bones of the Akatsuki! We're finally getting there!
p.s. no beta, too lazy to edit. Please excuse any jank.
Warning(s): Genderbend (Mid), Language (Mid), Out of Character
…
Wasteland
The Akatsuki Arc
Chapter 59
"So, Sasori, you have finally located Biwa Jūzō?" It had been four weeks since Pein pawned Jūzō's information off on Sasori so he may have his informants track down the swordsmen. It must've been his longest investigation to date which was bizarre for the likes of the Akatsuki's personal detective. Unfortunately, due to it, they had been at an intersection.
"Yeah, I finally located the blighter," Sasori said, metallic tail idly kinking itself side to side like a feline. Orochimaru moved her chair, so he didn't thunk her in the head as he once did before. "Lemme tell ya, findin' that bastard was a bitch-and-a-half. Wanker kept 'imself quiet—like dead quiet. When goin' 'round lookin' fer 'im didn't pan out, I just 'ad me men investigatin' whoever been killed lately with a big-arse, fuck off sword,"
Whilst put colourfully so, Pein got the idea of it. "But you found him?"
"Yeah. As of three days ago, 'e's in the Skylands,"
"Skylands? Hmm, Jūzō sure been gettin' around!" Kisame cackled.
"The Skylands is a water-locked nation with only one way in and out on land. So long as Jūzō doesn't take to the sea, we should be able to intercept him in the Frostlands with it being so far as the Steamlands," Zetsu inputted quietly from where she positioned next to Pein's desk and listening in.
"Nah, goin' into the sea would put him in Kiri waters. They own the Grave Sea after they—ahem, obtained it from my people,"
"Then it is as Zetsu said and we'll cut him off as he leaves the Skylands," Orochimaru said between huffs of her tobacco pipe. Sasori grumbled as the perfumed fumes leaked into the seams Hiruko. "So, this is just an enlistment mission?"
Pein nodded, intertwined hands tucked underneath his jaw. "Yes. You are just going to speak to him to extend an invitation to the Akatsuki,"
"An' if 'e says no?"
"Hmm, I don't think he's going to do that. Ohhh, once he sees me, I bet he'll accept without question," Kisame said with a grin and chuckle that caused his broad shoulders to jump up and down.
"…An' if 'e says no?" Kisame's smiling downturned as he stared at Sasori. Orochimaru swatted at her partner for his jackassery since Kisame was too new to differentiate when he was being serious or an asshole. Though, he was an asshole too when serious.
"For the off chance he rejects the invitation then you are to detain him and his sword to be turned over to Kiri for the bounty," Pein explained simply. By the frown Kisame then delivered onto the leader, he obviously wasn't pleased by that order if it came down to it. "Practice extreme caution when approaching Jūzō. There is the real chance he will be hostile, with or without Kisame present. Any questions?"
No one said anything so it was Zetsu to speak. "Do we leave immediately?"
"Yes. We do not want to miss our opening to intercept him as he leaves the Skylands. Otherwise, if he succeeds in reaching the Steamlands, we may lose him,"
"And if that 'appens, I ain't lookin' fer 'im 'gain!" Sasori bellyached though it was understandable with how hard it was to find Jūzō just this once.
"Any other questions?" Silence. "Then you are all dismissed. I look forward to meeting our newest member or receiving his bounty."
…
"So Kisame," Zetsu said as she walked side-by-side with Kisame, Orochimaru and Sasori while they maneuvered through the darkness of an abandoned water drainage pipe out of Amegakure. Apparently, Kojima had complained to Pein that the Akatsuki going in and out so much for mission was putting Ame in danger each time they had to open Heaven's Door. That, and it was "wearing out the gate's mechanisms". So, they started leaving through the old drainpipe instead which was a lot easier as it bypassed a lot of the Marshlands swamps. Just dark and smelt like mold and mildew. "I'm just curious—Jūzō, is he a ningyo too?"
"Ohhh no, he isn't. He's human," Kisame said.
She blinked upward at him. "He is?" He nodded to confirm. "Oh, I thought the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were all ningyo? Or I read once they were all ningyo or founded by the ningyo. I cannot remember,"
"Yes, but no. It's a long story," He shrugged.
"I have time," Afterall, she didn't want to leave to find Jūzō until they were in the Steamlands in the least so to confirm his position to set an ambush. So, it was going to be a long walk there.
"Oh yes, Kisame. Please, do share. I am curious too," Orochimaru echoed the other woman's inclination from the background where she and Sasori were lumbering behind. Sasori moreso due to Hiruko. Sasori groaned to express his displeasure with the story time but was hushed by Orochimaru punching her hand down onto his back. While it didn't hurt, it succeeded in shushing him for now.
"Ohhh ok. Like I said, it's a long, long story but if you insist! Hmmm, let's see where to start? Ohhh, I know. Well, the Swordsmen are a Mist thing, not a ningyo thing. We did make the swords though—from parts of the Sanbi,"
"The Sanbi?" Zetsu parroted. "That's the Three Tails, isn't it?"
"Ohhh yes. Samehada here was made from one of its scales," He patted Samehada as he said this, and the sword wriggled on his back, muttering a purr through her bandages. "See, once upon a time, the ningyo and Sanbi lived in peace. It's said in ningyo myth that God himself gifted the Sanbi to us so we may be its guardians. And we were, for a long time. Hmmm, that is until that bastard Senju,"
"Oh, you're speaking of Hashirama?" Orochimaru piped up.
Kisame snapped his fingers. "Yeah, that's the bastard. Hmmm, he showed up, demandin' the Sanbi 'cause he was gonna use it accomplish 'world peace'. Ha! Bullshit that was. My ilk wasn't just gonna hand over a Tailed Beast to him though, so they used the swords to fight him off,"
"Interesting. I've never heard this," Zetsu said, genuinely.
"Ohhh yes. Unfortunately, that Senju bastard wiped them all out and took the Sanbi. He gave it to Kiri and y'know what they did? Used it to declare war on us. Apparently, we were gnats they were lookin' to swat for a long time so they could take our waters to open trade routes with other nations. Y'know the Grave Sea I talked about? Yeah, that used to be our motherland. It's named that due to how many bodies of ningyo and human alike sunk down into it during the war. It lasted for years since we couldn't defeat them on land, and they couldn't defeat us in the waters. So, more like a stalemate. It wasn't until Kiri figured out how to brainwash the Sanbi against us were we forced to surrender,"
"And then what?" Zetsu asked, not meaning to interrupt but she was involved in this bit of history she never learned about. She didn't even know ningyo were a thing before she met Kisame. Whilst she knew of "mermaids", she always thought them mythical beings in children's books. Now she knew they were real and in fact, "mermaids" were a racist interpretation of the ningyo.
"We were pushed out our home and made into third-class citizens of Kiri. Took the swords too and used them to make the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," Kisame clished his canines and Zetsu grimaced at the scrapping noise as her teeth pinged with sympathetic pain. "Sooo back to your original question: no, the Swordsmen aren't all ningyo. In beginnin' it was because the weapons only answered to ningyo owners. But sooner or the later, they were housebroken to let humans wield them too, so all Swordmen are human now. Only Samehada here cannot be used by weak, human hands. She's a diva like that," He chuckled and again, affectionally patted his living sword who again wiggled in happiness. Zetsu smiled as it reminded her a lot of Teo or Daora.
"That's so sad," Zetsu said once he was done with Orochimaru humming and nodding to mimic her sentiment before engaging in quiet conversation with her partner. "I was just curious because Jūzō looked like a ningyo in his mugshot,"
"Understandable too, Ms. Zetsu. You're meant to think that. Human Swordsmen purposely make themselves look like ningyo to intimidate opponents in fights. Sooo it's a like an initiation to have your teeth filed down by the other Swordsmen?" He shrugged. He didn't get it but then again, he wasn't human.
"So 'e ain't gonna drown us er nuffin with no water jutsu bullshite?" Sasori so helpfully injected from the back and unintentionally broadcasting everyone else's anxiety for this mission.
"Nah. Far as I know, Jūzō was a Swordmen first and foremost. Never saw him use jutsu outside the basics you learn in Academy,"
Sasori scoffed incredulously at this information. "An' ya think this Genin-grade bastard is Akatsuki material?"
"Oh Sasori-kun," Orochimaru sighed, exasperated, with a shake of her head. Even Zetsu delivered him a backwards look which was met by glaring. Afterall, who was she to speak never having gone to Academy at all?
"Yes, I do!" Kisame professed with a shark-este grinning. "But when we do find him, best leave the talking to me, hmm?"
…
While Kisame, Orochimaru and Sasori traveled to the Skylands, Zetsu went on ahead to confirm Jūzō's location within the nation and that he hadn't left course to the Frostlands. At the pace they both parties going, it was calculated they were to rendezvous on the border of the Land of Hot Water and Land of Fire on the dawn of the third morning. Zetsu kept track by phasing between the other Akatsuki members and Jūzō, minding well to keep her distance from the Swordsmen in order to observe him. Thus far, she hadn't observed him doing much outside walking and taking a nap once and awhile. Oh, and talking to himself—or was it his sword? She wasn't sure.
On the third day, everything was going to plan. Kisame, Orochimaru and Sasori were nearing the border from the Firelands side whilst Jūzō approached from the side of the Steamlands. Everything was perfect for the run-in. Kisame took the helm so he'd be the first person Jūzō saw and if the ningyo's information was correct, it could avoid them a fight.
With one last check, Zetsu used the Mayfly to phase herself at Jūzō's location, from the ground a distance back where she could not be seen. As she did, the saw the air was heavy and grey with mist which wasn't too surprising since it was the Land of Hot Water and thus the atmosphere was often foggy due to the springs. However, this mist was…bizarre. It wasn't natural, as if it was…a jutsu? Yes, a jutsu as she felt the air itself crackling to life with chakra. Due to it, she couldn't sense Jūzō either. It was a millisecond she had this empathy that she heard a whistling in her direction and succeeded in withdrawing back into the dirt just as massive sword came crashing down where her head was once a second ago with a metallic crash that quaked the earth itself.
'He knows I'm here?' Zetsu questioned herself as she fled through the landscape from the impact site and up through a nearby tree. 'He shouldn't, not with the Mayfly. No, it's the mist. He's sensing my presence through the mist,'
Not a moment later, the tree she was dwelling in whilst gathering her thoughts was sliced in half like a knife through butter, inches from taking her head off in the process. Again, she retreated back through the ground while the earth quaked over there and there was the thunking of the sword being brought down atop it akin to a clap of thunder. Instead of trying to get a visual on him and likely getting killed in the process, Zetsu made a getaway back to the other members so she may caution them.
They were peaking an embankment when Zetsu spawned from the dirt with her Mayfly. "Wait!" Kisame, who was leading, paused at the flytrap, a little befuddled by it, with Orochimaru and Sasori stopping as well in back of him. "Jūzō is on the defensive. He must've learned we're here,"
"Hmm, that so?" Kisame uttered with a digit tapping at his chin while he had himself a think. "No offense, Ms. Zetsu, but I'm sure he knew we were coming the moment we set foot in the Land of Hot Water. A country like this is his element, afterall,"
"Brilliant. So, talking isn't an option then?" Orochimaru inquired, slightly frustrated as all this walking was havoc on her feet and she wasn't privy on the idea of fighting in heels.
"I thought you said 'e wasn't gonna fight us?" Sasori said, speaking exactly what was his partner was thinking of saying next.
"Ohhh, I never said he wasn't goin' to fight, I just said he'll join the Akatsuki without question," Kisame shrugged.
"So now wut then? We've got a Swordmen of the Mist in the fuckin' mist! An' wit' a big-arsed sword to boot!"
"Hmmm, I suggest we just stick to the plan. I'll go in ahead and you all can be my backup. Just in case things go upside-down," Though, truthfully he didn't think it would nor would he need the backup when it came to facing another Swordsmen.
"Fine by me, I need a sit," Orochimaru said, kneading one of her ankles. Sasori parroted her sentiment with a huff. However, immediately afterward he gave a disappointing grunt when Orochimaru said having herself a sit involved her situating herself on Hiruko's back. It wasn't the most comfortable chair, but it would have to do to get her off her feet.
"Oi! Git yer arse off me, woman!"
"I'll stay back with them," Zetsu said. Afterall, she was the one to tip off Jūzō to their presence, though not on purpose. Maybe it'd be best for her to stay back too.
With everyone in agreement, Kisame set off while the other Akatsuki smuggled themselves away in the surrounding foliage as backup, if need be, outside the haze so Jūzō didn't clue onto them. It was just a walk down the path until he found the air and himself suffocated by the lukewarm condensation drifting in from the hot springs which gave the Land of Hot Water its namesake.
Unfortunately, due to being a ningyo, his eyesight was poor, moreso than a human so he was unable to see through the mist. However, his other senses were acute. That included his sense of smell which was on per with a canine. Especially when it came to blood. While he couldn't see Jūzō, he could sure as hell smell him. He remembered the man had a bizarre quirk of painting his face with the blood of his enemies. Jūzō must've just killed someone too because the scent of gore was fresh. So, much like a hound, Kisame was on the hunt.
As he maneuvered through the fog, he kept a hand preemptively on Samehada's grip. She quivered in her bandages, obviously having either sensed her sibling sword nearby or Jūzō himself. Either or. He kept walking and walking, all while anxious for when or where Jūzō may strike. Though, not anxious in a bad way. He must've trekked a mile by now without sign of Jūzō yet knew him within the zone. What was he waiting for? By now, he must've picked up on Kisame. It was impossible not to. He never took him as the patient type. Well, Jūzō must've developed telepathy since he last saw him because the second—no, millisecond that thought blipped into Kisame's head, there was a sudden movement in the mist and Kubikiribōchō cut through fog like solid matter.
Kisame drew Samehada not as moment too late to parry it with a loud, metallic clang and spray of sparks of metal on metal. The impact reflected the mammoth blade back into the haze only for it to slice through again, focused at Kisame's side. Again, he countered the attack but was sent stumbling a step from the pure strength of it. He pushed back but wasn't granted a second of rest when Kubikiribōchō came crashing back down on him, over and over and succeeding in herding the other Swordsmen into defending. Due to the power of each hit, he couldn't free his hands up for a jutsu either. All of sudden, there was a noise in back of him, quiet but familiar.
Using one hand, he employed Samehada as he turned and caught the kunai lazor-focused on his neck, inches from his jugular which would've ended in a silent but deadly kill. He grimaced as the knife slashed through the wedding between his fingers, slicking his palm with blood. The hand wielding the blade pushed it further into his hand until the tip knicked the man's adam's apple. Meanwhile, he was losing his grip on Samehada as Kubikiribōchō bulldozed through her. Between a rock and a hard place, as a last-ditch effort, Kisame yelled.
"Jūzō! It's me, man!"
For a tense moment, the blitzkrieg didn't ease up and he was prepared to sacrifice in his arm in favour of not having his throat slit. Thankfully, such drastic measures were not taken as Kubikiribōchō eased off Samehada and the kunai at his throat withdrew. "Kisame?" Once confirming to be his old friend, the water clone with knife in hand dissolved while Jūzō himself stepped out of the mist, sheathing Kubikiribōchō and smiled with arms outstretched as if the hug the other man. "Holy shit, dude! It is you! I'm sorry, bro. I like thought you were that motherfucker Fuguki."
"Hmm, are you suggestin' all we ningyo look alike?" Kisame lightly quipped as he too put away Samehada and used the sleeve of his Akatsuki cloak to sponge up the blood from his hand.
"What? No, bro. I just like saw ol' Sammie there and like, thought it was him. Good to see you again, dude!" Jūzō punched him playfully in the shoulder before noticing his injured hand. "Err, sorry about your hand, man."
"Nah, it's all good, man," Reaching back, he squeezed Samehada's hilt and the extra chakra flowing through him caused his sundered hand to heal instantly. He cracked his knuckles.
"How did you get Sammie there, huh? She's lookin' gnarly, man!" Leaning over, he scratched his fingers over Samehada's bandages making the living sword waggle her handgrip and screak in happiness. "And what're you wearin', bro?"
Blinking, Kisame gazed down at his Akatsuki cloak and petted the fabric, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. Though, it didn't take much with him. He was blue, afterall. "Err, that's why I came to find you, man,"
"Oh yeah? Turnin' me in for the bounty, bro?"
Kisame guffawed at the question despite not being too sure if Jūzō was serious or not. "Nah," Without further ado, he whistled to signal the others it was safe. A minute later, three silhouettes walked towards them through the haze. Once they came into view, Jūzō laughed, much to the confusion of all.
"Y'all match, bro!" He said, pointing at Kisame and then the others in child-like glee. "You in like, a club now, dude?"
Kisame itched the back of his head as he looked between Jūzō and Akatsuki. "Somethin' like that, man. It's a mercenary group,"
"Mercenary group?"
"Yeah. Y'know like bounties and stuff?"
"If I may?" Zetsu's timid voice uttered from behind Sasori and Orochimaru as she stepped between the partners. Jūzō eyeballed her flytrap up and down, obviously either identifying it or circumspect. "We are the Akatsuki, and it is as Kisame said, we are a mercenary group that functions outside the jurisdiction of the Five Nations. We specialize in bounties and other missions at competitive rates. We've taken interest in your particular set of skills and think you a perfect member of the organization,"
"Yes, as the beautiful Ms. Zetsu put it," Kisame said once she was finished and Zetsu blushed, though it couldn't be seen through the teeth of her Mayfly. Orochimaru giggled at the other woman's obvious shyness while Hiruko's wooden eyes would be heard swiveling in their sockets in obvious need of greasing. "We came to ask if you wanted to join,"
"Me?" Jūzō asked, ushering at himself in disbelief. "Why me, bro?"
"Cause' Mister Big asked me who I wanted to be my partner and I wouldn't put my life in no one else's hands but yours, bro,"
Jūzō gasped, laying a hand over his chest, and looking a little teary-eyed like a scene out of a soap opera. "Bro…"
"Oh my…" Orochimaru sighed, kneading her the junction between her eyes at the cheese-level melodrama, smearing her powder white foundation in the process.
"That a yes? Er a no? Please tell me it's a no so I can kill 'im," Sasori drawled, clashing the metal interconnections of his tail together in irritation. Orochimaru hushed the irked puppet by patting him on the back.
Jūzō thought on it for a moment, scratching his cheek whilst staring off before exclaiming an enthusiastic, "Sure!"
Everyone was bewildered by the ease of it but none so more than Kisame himself. He expected a fight in the least, knowing Jūzō's personality. In fact, he was a little disappointed he wasn't going to get a fight one-on-one so he could show off Samehada—a real fight. "Seriously?"
Juzo itched the back of his head. "Yeah, dude. It's just like bounties and stuff, yeah? I can do that. It's not like I'm like doin' anything else, bro. And I get to hang out with my ol' buddy too!" He punched Kisame in the shoulder who smirked and punched him back, succeeding in sending the man back a step. This shifted into a pseudo-boxing match with the two exchanging punches which then led into them drawing their swords.
"Well then, that was deceptively easy," Orochimaru remarked.
"Too bloody easy if ya ask me," Sasori sighed, as if disappointed by this fact as his tail slumped into the dirt.
This earned the ire of the pale woman to his left as she peppered tobacco into her smoking pipe. "Too easy? Weren't you whinging on that this mission best not be a bother?"
"Nothing satisfies him," Zetsu quietly inputted, moreso to herself and thought it wouldn't heard. Well, Sasori did hear her and immediately pinpointed his tail at her for the transgression. Though, the petite woman failed to flinch as she brazenly stared down the steel arrowhead, dribbling purple poison. Orochimaru just chuckled as she walked off while smoking, seeing there was nothing else to do or say here.
Zetsu and Sasori had their standoff for a tense moment before Sasori begrudgingly tailed Orochimaru. Zetsu stayed back if just to patiently wait for Kisame and Jūzō to finish their horseplay before bidding them farewell and departing herself using the Mayfly.
"So, how'd you get Sammie there, dude?" Jūzō finally asked Kisame the obvious as they walked shoulder-to-shoulder, patting Samehada as he did, and she purred. A knack only Jūzō had apparently because anyone else would've gotten their hand sheared down into nothing.
"Ohhh, you haven't heard the news then?" Kisame inquired.mH
"News? Nah dude, I ain't heard nothin' since I left Kiri," Jūzō snorted crudely and spat on the very ground they walked over at the mere mention of his hated ex-village. "Just been me and Kurouchi against the world!"
"Suikazan Fuguki is dead," It was Kisame's turn to spit.
"Ha! Is he? 'Bout time he like got his just desserts for what he did to the Swordsman, dude. I hated that man, man. Did you kill him?"
"I did," Kisame confirmed, pridefully so. "Bastard earned it. He was leaking intel 'bout Kiri,"
"Mannn, I ain't surprised. How'd you like find that out though?"
"Through Kurosuki Raiga,"
It was this twist that paused Jūzō in his step as he stared at Kisame. Kisame, meanwhile, hadn't noticed he was walking alone until a few steps later. After which, he stopped himself and turned to look back at the other Swordsman. "Raiga? He's alive? Man, I thought that dude got the rope for what happened during the Third, ya feel me, man?"
"Ohhh I feel you, man," Kisame agreed, and they kept walking once Jūzō was over his shock. "No. I don't know the details, but he became ANBU after you left. Must've made a deal with Kiri or something. Hmmm, like I said, Raiga was the one to tell me about Fuguki. He'd been gathering dirt on him for a long time. Ohhh, he even said he was like 99% sure Fuguki tipped Konoha to attack the Swordsmen that day. He didn't think you and Raiga were gonna survive too though, so that's why he blamed you guys for everyone else dying,"
"So, like, why didn't he kill Fuguki or like, tell Kiri!?"
"Ohhh, 'cause he told me if he told Kiri, they may think he's lying and fabricating evidence 'cause of bad blood between him and Fuguki and if he killed him, Kiri would just blame him for the murder and say nothing of the treason bullshit,"
"Man," Jūzō kicked up a plume of dirt, getting more and more frustrated the more they spoke on his two most hated subjects: Kiri and Fuguki. "So, like, he got you to do it instead?"
"Yep," Kisame shrugged then pulled at the strap buckled to Samehada as it threw her off kilter.
"Why you agree, dude?"
""Cause it made sense, dude. Or like, how Raiga explained it. If I killed Fuguki 'cause of being a traitor thing, there'd be no investigation 'cause I had no other motives. Fuck, I worked under the bastard the moment I graduated Academy. I'd look like a goddamn hero! And I was. For awhile,"
"Why'd you leave then, bro?"
Kisame scratched the back of his head. "I kinda got…carried away. After Fuguki, I took his place in the Seven Swordsmen. Got my own students too. Two ningyo brothers. Lemme tell you, the Seven Swordsmen were Kiri's bitches,"
"Don't hafta tell me, bro," Jūzō obviously sighed. In fact, he was a little embarrassed to have been part of it, looking back.
"I saw a lotta shit I didn't like so I was goin' to do somethin' about it. But then Kiri found out and put a warrant out for my arrest, so I just split with Samehada. The end,"
"And then joined a bunch'a mercenaries?"
"Pay ain't bad," Kisame shrugged and Samehada grumbled her displeasure with the elbowing yet again interrupting her nap. "And it's full of pretty ladies!"
…
"So, you are Biwa Jūzō, I take it?" Pein politely asked of the darker skinned man standing next to Kisame in his office. Jūzō didn't immediately confirm nor deny his identity to the question as he looked elsewhere as if distracted by something—or someone, that is.
Suddenly, the swordsmen perked up and excitedably elbowed Kisame in the ribcage. "Dude, you're right. This place is full of hot chicks!" He whispered a little too loudly while ushering at Konan who was currently occupied with signing paperwork at her desk. Obviously once overhearing this, Konan blinked and looked up at the two men where Jūzō waved at her with a big, fat grin—and to his surprise, she gifted him an obliging smile and politely waved back. Jūzō gasped and punched Kisame in the arm. Konan put a hand over her blue lips and giggled into it.
Pein, on the other hand, wasn't so tickled by innocent interaction which he perceived as anything but. "I ask you do not flirt with my partner. Would you kindly?" He barked at Jūzō who stiffened up suddenly as if a cheating student caught by an eagle-eyed teacher.
"Oh, sorry, dude. I didn't know she was like, your partner, man," Jūzō apologized, bowing in half with arms glued to his sides. Kisame cackled next to him. Konan sighed to herself with a disapproving shake of head but said nothing else as she went back to her initialing.
Pein cleared his throat and intertwined his hands on his desktop. "As I was saying. Biwa Jūzō, I take it you have accepted my invitation into the Akatsuki?"
"Yeah, dude. If it means hanging out with my buddy!" Jūzō elbowed Kisame again who elbowed him back which developed into them pushing each other back and forth.
While unimpressed by the childish display, Pein did not comment. Instead, he cleared his throat again which caught Kisame's attention as he straightened up, not replying when Jūzō pushed against him one last time. "Very well. Welcome to the Akatsuki. Konan shall take your measures for your uniform, and I shall—"
"Konan? Is that her name?" Jūzō interrupted, ogling at Konan again. Pein stared at him, deadpanned, while Konan stifled a smile on the other side of the office. Kisame bumped him again, this time as a silent cautioning. He'd never seen Sir Leader angry, and he didn't want to find out either.
"Konan is going to measure you for your uniform, and I shall prepare the contract for you to sign. That is all. Kisame, you are dismissed." Kisame didn't have to be told twice as he seized the chance to get the hell out, so he wasn't judged guilty by association.
As Konan took Jūzō's measurements—all while he attempts at wooing her with his "charisma" failed miserably, Pein got together the paperwork necessary to swear him into the organization. In the process, he drafted up a sexual harassment clause for all Akatsuki to sign. He wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it before.
…
AN: This chapter is so, so long overdue! I apologize but a lot has happened these last few months, I mean a lot. It's a bitch to write when you're in survival mode. So, I'm not the happiest with this chapter. Anyway, things are calming down so I'm going to being writing again. Though the speed of chapters I cannot promise, as much as I am eager to get to more interesting plots.
Next Chapter: The Last Chinoike.
Until Next Time.