Chapter Twenty-Nine

MIZU NO KUNI, KURAIGAKURE; ROYAL CASTLE, WAR ROOM

"Konohagakure has a new Hokage?" I repeated, Oyaji nodded once.

"Hai Joo-sama, Tsunade of the Legendary Sanin." he replied, I bit down on my lower lip in thought.

"And what about Sunagakure?" I pressed.

"A new Kazekage has yet to be assigned, for now the council is running the village." he answered, I moved my eyes to Konan.

"Oka-san, what do you think?" I asked, Konan smiled a little.

"Sada-chan, this is your first move as Joo. You need to make a decision that's going to be best for your people." she responded, I huffed quietly.

"Demo...why does Konohagakure have to be an option?" I pouted quietly to myself, crossing my arms over my chest. Konohagakure was too close minded, I didn't like the idea of my people being allied with them, for all I knew they could try to take over my village and kill all of my people.

"Sada-chan?" Konan pressed, I groaned softly.

"No, not Konoha." I stated. "They are Akatsuki's biggest threat and I don't trust them."

"A wise move Sada." Pein agreed in a cold voice. I smiled a little at the praise, turning my attention back to Oyaji.

"Oyaji, do you know who they have in mind for Kazekage?" I asked, he nodded in agreement.

"Sabuka no Gaara." he answered, I felt my heart swell with joy at the words.

Sunagakure was considering Gaara as Kazekage and with Gaara being my best friend, we could be the perfect allies to each other. Amegakure was already allied with Kuraigakure but that was a given seeing as that was the Akatsuki's home base. If Sunagakure joined us in this, then that would already be three nations fighting towards a goal of world peace. Not to mention Sunagakure was in one of the biggest countries, shinobi were scattered across the land and it could be our biggest force towards stopping threats like Orochimaru.

"I've decided." I stated. The record keeper straightened up at my words, ready to write down every word I said and every proclamation I made. "Kuraigakure will ally with Sunagakure, once the new Kazekage is appointed."

"And you're sure about this?" Sasori asked lazily, sounding bored. I nodded in agreement, Suna was the best choice I could make for first allies.

"If Gaara becomes Kazekage, we're golden." I said softly, smiling a little. "He's my best friend and I know that if something bad happens here, he'd send his people to help. Just like I'd do the same for him."

"You mustn't let your personal feelings cloud your judgment Sada-chan." Konan advised, the smile on my lips widened.

"I know him." I assured. "I know what kind of person he is and I know he'd do anything to help me, this is the right move. I can feel it." Itachi nodded in agreement with me, squeezing my hand lovingly under the table.

"Then I'll immediately have someone prepare the necessary documents Joo-sama." Oyaji offered, I nodded a little.

"Arigato Oyaji."

It had been a little over two weeks since I had taken the throne as Joo and things were going quite smoothly. I'd had a coronation ceremony to crown me as the new ruler of Kuraigakure and the people had been more than thrilled about it. I'd been welcomed with open arms by my people and they were more than willing to follow my lead, it'd helped lift a great weight off my shoulders knowing how supported I was. I had been working very hard to accomplish everything that needed changed before I returned to Amegakure with the rest of the Akatsuki, I had decided that I would leave the village in the hands of Oyaji. As much as I would've liked for my mother to be in charge during my time away, I knew it wouldn't be the smartest move to make. The people didn't seem to trust her completely and I wasn't so sure that she would rule in the way I needed her to, for that reason I had decided to make Oyaji my adviser and right hand in the decision making.

My mother had seemed quite upset when I'd admitted I wouldn't be in Kuraigakure full time with her, she'd seemed slightly heartbroken that I would be leaving the village almost as soon as I'd come home. I'd explained to her that as much as I wished I could stay, the sake of the world was a far more important matter. I'd told her about the Akatsuki, after receiving the okay from Pein, telling her in great detail the goal of world peace and that we were aiming to relinquish all war throughout the world. As much as I wanted to stay with her and makeup for lost time, I knew that there were far more important matters to attend to. After a very long conversation, we'd come to an understanding and she had agreed that I needed to stay with the organization, do what I could to help make the world a safer place. It had warmed my heart when she'd told me how proud she was of me, I'd never thought I'd hear those words come from my mother but I was glad that I had her back in my life, she'd finally accepted me.

I smiled a little at the thought, turning my attention to Oyaji. He was by the world map hung up in the war room, marking Sunagakure down as our first potential ally since I'd been crowned ruler, I was sure that he would make sure everything would run smoothly in Kurai while I was away.

"Joo-sama, do you have any other allies in mind?" he asked, I bit down on my lower lip in thought.

"Ano..."

"I believe you'd done quite enough for today dear." Konan commented, I turned my eyes to see Pein nod in agreement.

"Hai, we have other matters to discuss." he stated, I nodded a little.

"Of course." I agreed. I turned my attention to the Kurai shinobi in the room, waving my hand once. "Leave us."

The guards bowed respectfully, ushering out my records keeper and escorting Oyaji out as they shut the doors behind them. I squeezed Itachi's hand under the table, watching as Pein rose from the table and began pacing the room slowly, looking deep in thought as his eyes scanned the world map.

"We have accomplished something great here." he stated in a cold voice. "The lands will soon realize how powerful the Akatsuki are and see us as a threat, we'll need to gather more reinforcements against those who appose us."

"Aye." Kisame agreed, Kakuzu nodded his head.

"Does anyone have any suggestions for gathering more members?" Konan asked, Sasori sighed lazily.

"More members hm?" Deidara questioned, sounding confused. "Demo, I thought the goal was only ten."

"Fucking right?" Hidan groaned, leaning back in his chair. "I don't wanna deal with anymore assholes."

"The new members we gather won't be of our status in the organization." Kakuzu said gruffly. "They'll merely be underlings."

"I could get in contact with some of the other Swordsmen." Kisame suggested after a moment of silence, I nodded in agreement.

"Hai, the swordsmen are all quite strong." I added softly. "I met a few of them when I was with Zabuza-sama."

"What do you think Pein?" Konan pressed, Pein crossed his arms over his chest.

"They would be a good resource to add to Akatsuki." he finally said. "Sasori, I'll need you to call forth your sleeper agents, we'll need to keep a close eye on Konohagakure."

"Hai."

Sasori nodded his head seriously, his eyes were cold, I was sure he was calculating how many agents he should plant in Konoha. What about the other villages though, wouldn't it be a good idea to plant some in the others and see if they were the type that would ally with Akatsuki?

"Ano, leader-sama?" I spoke, trying to force my voice louder than normal. Pein turned his eyes to me, purple meeting red. "Do you think...it could be a good idea to do the same for the other villages?" Pein blinked coolly, seeming as though he were waiting on me to finish my sentence.

"I believe Sada is right." Itachi said in a monotone. "We could have them observe the other villages, see which could be swayed to join Akatsuki and ally with Kuraigakure."

"Oooo, that's a good idea." the white side of Zetsu cooed.

"Shut it you." the black side grumbled.

"Agreed." Pein said, a smirk coming to his lips. "Sasori?"

"I'll be sure to start immediately." the red head stated, nodding once.

"Any other ideas?" Konan asked cheerfully. Hidan huffed quietly, I turned my eyes to see him prop his elbow on the table.

"Many other Jashinists managed to become fuckin immortal." he commented, slicking his silver hair back. "Not fucking sure if they'd join this damn circus, demo, I'll try the shit."

"Baka." Kakuzu grumbled. "We don't need more of you."

"Ooi you damn atheist, Jashinism is the truest fucking religion in this damn-"

"That's enough Hidan." Konan snapped.

"I believe Hidan could be right." Pein mused, chuckling darkly. "Having more immortals on our side could be quite the advantage. Contact them Hidan."

"Tch, whatever." Hidan seethed, glaring darkly in Kakuzu's direction.

I pressed my lips into a thin line, trying my hardest to think of any other people that could be swayed to our cause. Having more Kiri shinobi on our side would be a definite plus, more immortals so as to not have any significant loss to the Akatsuki if any other people died, who else could we recruit? There weren't any other Uchiha's in the world other than Itachi and Sasuke, so trying to find more Sharingan users was out of the question, wait...what about Iwa? Deidara had told me about being in a group called the Explosion Corps, if we had more bombers than that would be quite valuable, Deidara wouldn't have to take on a load of work on his own.

"Ano..." All eyes were on me in an instant, I felt my cheeks going warm but forced myself to meet Deidara's visible eye, my face was probably scarlet at this point. "Dei, what about that group in Iwa you told me about?" I asked, he blinked dumbly.

"You mean Explosion Corps hm?" he asked, I nodded hesitantly. "I suppose they could be good allies to have, obviously their explosions aren't as powerful as mine but it'd help to have other bombers hm."

"Do you think they'd join?" I questioned, he shrugged halfheartedly.

"I have a few friends that are still part of it, I could try hm." he replied, smoothing his bangs.

"I think that could be a tremendous help." Konan added, Pein nodded once in agreement.

"Very well." he agreed. "For now, we'll stick to just contacting those we've spoken of. We'll focus on building Akatsuki further at a later time, we already have the shinobi of Kuraigakure on our side so we have a decent sized army. We'll need them for the next movement."

"Next movement?" Kisame pressed. Pein nodded and resumed his seat, his eyes were darker than I've ever seen them.

"The fuck are you talking about?" Hidan spat.

"We have one enemy that must be taken care of without delay." Pein began, I tilted my head to the side curiously. "You all know who I speak of."

"Him." Sasori growled, I turned my head to see his eyes dark as well. I'd never seen Sasori this way before, he was already a cold and calculated individual but the look in his eyes was even more menacing than usual.

"Who are we talking about?" I questioned, Konan moved her hand to my shoulder from across the table and turned her eyes to the Akatsuki leader.

"Pein, Sada-chan doesn't know." she commented. Pein nodded once, his eyes finding mine.

"One of the biggest threats to Akatsuki is Orochimaru." I felt the blood in my veins go cold at the words, managing to swallow the lump in my throat.

'That's right, Orochimaru betrayed Akatsuki. Itachi said that he'd been Sasori's old partner before Deidara was recruited.'

"Orochimaru has information on Akatsuki that could ruin us." Pein stated, his voice colder than normal. "For that reason, we'll need to eliminate him before the other nations manage to discover our triumph against Kuraigakure."

"I'll make sure he suffers greatly." Sasori murmured darkly, Deidara nodded in agreement.

"Before that is to happen, we'll need to find Orochimaru's home base." Pein continued. Konan nodded, folding her hands in her lap.

"We may have a way to do just that." Itachi stated, turning his eyes to find mine.

I felt a small smile come to my lips when our eyes met, even though they had none of his usual warmth, his hand gently squeezed mine from under the table, trying to reassure me he loved me. I didn't know if he or Kisame had told Pein or Konan about me being connected to Orochimaru through my curse mark, but I was about to find out.

"How so?" Konan pressed.

"The curse mark he gave me." I admitted. "It warns me in a way, the closer I am to him, the more it hurts. I could use that to find him."

"We'll have to be careful how we go about this." Pein said. "Orochimaru is crafty, he may know we're coming for him so we'll have to be prepared when the time comes."

"What about Sada-chan's curse mark Pein?" Konan questioned, sounding concerned. "She shouldn't have to live with it her entire life."

"It's alright Oka-san." I replied. "Making sure he's not a threat to us is more important than having it removed, I'm not sure if he can even do it once it's applied."

"I'm unsure as well." Sasori commented.

"From the information I've gathered." the white side of Zetsu started.

"We've gathered." the black side snarled.

"It looks like there's a second stage to the curse mark." the white side finished.

"Uchiha Sasuke has been moved to this stage." the black side added.

"Nani?" I whispered, feeling shocked. "Is he alright?" The other Akatsuki members had confused expressions as they stared at me, not knowing that Sasuke was a good friend of mine, only Itachi and Kisame knew the truth.

"Hime and Itachi-san's Omouto were good friends." Kisame explained, Zetsu nodded once.

"He's doing quite well from what we could tell." the white side's chipper voice said.

"Hell bent on revenge though." the black side chuckled darkly.

"What are we to do about this then Pein?" Konan asked curiously.

"Itachi?" Pein questioned.

"I will deal with Sasuke." he said coldly. "The affairs of the Uchiha are between us."

"Demo Itachi-sama." I exclaimed, unable to stop myself. "We need to help him, Sasuke has a good heart-"

"Sada-chan." Konan interrupted, her tone gentle. "That's not your place to ask that of Itachi-san."

"These are matters of the Uchiha, Sada." Itachi said, his voice not as cold as usual.

I could tell he was trying to be gentle towards me about the situation, but I couldn't back down from this. Sasuke was my friend (and would be my brother in law once Itachi and I married) and I didn't want him to be killed simply because he'd allied with Orochimaru. Even though Sasuke had chosen the wrong path, it didn't mean there was no time to correct it and I wanted to save him from an awful fate. I knew he wanted to kill Itachi for the murder of their family/clan but perhaps he would back away from that choice, when he saw that he wasn't going to get to Itachi without going through me first. I could only hope that the situation would turn out alright in the end but for now, I wasn't going to let Itachi push me out of this conversation. I knew he loved me, just as I loved him but I was part of this family too, I wanted him to hear me out.

"They concern me just as much Itachi." I turned my eyes to him, red meeting onyx. "You asked me to marry you, I'll be just as much part of the Uchiha as the two of you." I stated softly. "As your fiance, I should have some say in the matter." I tried to stare at him with as much courage as I could muster, there was silence around the table as we stared at each other until finally, Itachi released my hand and moved to cup my cheek, leaning his forehead down against mine.

"You are right my love." he murmured. "Gomenasai, what would you like to do?"

"Sasuke is strong." I whispered, looking up into his eyes. "Another Sharingan user could benefit Akatsuki, if you both could put your differences aside then we should convince him to join. If he won't, then we should at least spare him, he's family."

"That could cause problems Sada-chan." Konan commented.

"I agree, sparing the boy's life could come back on us." Pein agreed.

"Then let me talk to him." I pleaded, turning to face them. "He'll listen to me, just let me try, please."

"Sada." I turned my eyes back to my love, forcing myself not to cry at the distant gaze in his eyes. I knew he was doing it for the sake of his mission but it just seemed to tear me apart when I couldn't see his true self, the warmth he held inside himself. "Very well." he murmured, I felt my heart leap at the words. "You can talk to him once the base is located and we invade, demo, if you can't convince him to back down then we'll have to eliminate him." I nodded in agreement, a small smile came to my lips.

"Trust me, I can do this." I whispered, he placed a soft kiss to my forehead.

"Then we have a plan." Pein's voice grabbed my attention, everyone was focused on him again. "Zetsu, do whatever it takes to locate Orochimaru's base, if you can't find it, then Sada will take over at a later time. The rest of us will leave tonight to return to Amegakure, we must be ready once he's found."

"Hai."

Everyone spoke at the same time, the word echoing quietly through the room as Pein rose from his seat with Konan at his side, dismissing everyone from the meeting. Itachi and I left the war room side by side, his arm was around my waist to steady me. The gown I was dressed in skimmed the bottom of the floor as we walked the halls of the castle, I wasn't used to wearing clothing of this stature so it was a little harder to keep my balance, I couldn't wait to be back in my Akatsuki uniform. As we walked in the comfortable silence, my thoughts were bolting around in my brain, unable to slow down as I thought over everything mentioned in the meeting.

I hoped that everything would work out when it came to Sasuke, I wanted to do everything I could to save him from a dark fate and I knew that Itachi didn't want to kill Sasuke. We'd talked about him before together and I knew how much Itachi loved him, he'd never wanted to hurt his brother with the actions he'd taken, he'd done everything for Sasuke's sake. I couldn't begin to imagine how he was feeling about it, Sasuke didn't know the truth and hated Itachi for what he'd done, not knowing that it had all been for him. I hoped that I would be able to end the turmoil inside Sasuke once I managed to talk with him.

"Sada." I tilted my head up to look at Itachi, smiling softly when he pressed a short kiss into my hair. "Arigato."

"For what?" I questioned, not understanding.

"For wanting to help Sasuke." he murmured. "There would have been nothing I could say to save his life without blowing my cover, arigato."

"I know how much he means to you." I whispered. "This mission is going to be intense."

"It is, however, we'll manage to get through it." he swore.

"As long as we're together." I added, he smiled.

"As long as we're together." he repeated.

The world better be ready because before it knew it, there would only be peace. One day, the Akatsuki would end all war and hostility between the nations. One day there would be no hatred, only love throughout the world. For now, it was time to go back home.