Disclaimer: Once again. If it were mine, Tobi would be dead. Or he would have stayed dead when he got crushed by a boulder, if he is indeed Kakashi's long-lost best friend Obito Uchiha.
Warning: Yaoi in the future and the present. KisaIta, but mainly SasoDei.
1. A Problem and a Solution
One thing you can count on, Sasori thought glumly as he made his way to his class on Western Literature, was that international schools will always have some obscure class that only a certain faction of the student population will understand.
This, of course, was a reference to the amount of gaijin attending the Tokyo Culture School. Only half of the attending student body was actually Japanese; the rest were usually from the various families working for their governments in other countries as diplomats. One of the reasons that Sasori was going to a class on Western Literature, as about half of the world read and studied it. A Tokyo native, he found the reading material's concepts and values easy to grasp, but hard to accept. Japan had a completely different literature genre, anyway.
Not that it mattered, since he was a puppeteer, a master at the Omake Theatre style. He didn't care about gaijin concepts. He had nothing to do with them.
"Konichiwa, Sasori!" someone called from across the hall. A large, tall, and rather sharkish student made his way over to him, leading a much shorter, much more typical Japanese teen behind him.
The two were, of course, the only people Sasori would actually consider "friends"- in a loose sense of the word. Hoshigaki Kisame and his best friend-turned-boyfriend Uchiha Itachi were the only two students who cared to get to know him in the first place, and the only ones who had known him long enough to want to care.
"Konichiwa," Sasori replied. "Are you ready for the most incomprehensible class they offer here?"
The three of them grimaced. Kisame and Itachi were also native Japanese, Kisame of modern doesn't-matter-anymore descent with a Russian diplomat for a long-gone father and Itachi of the we-were-well-known, bow-down-to-us clannish pure-blood we-are-great type. At least, he probably would have been, if his family hadn't died from the terrorist gassing of the subways a few years back.
"It's hell," Itachi said drily as he and the blue-haired teen joined step with the red head. "I can understand the concepts, values, and all those things they call "idioms," but it doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone kill themselves if their lovers went and got themselves stabbed?"
Sasori shrugged. "I don't know, and I hardly care," he answered uninterestedly. "I don't have anyone anyway, so it doesn't matter."
"Point taken," Kisame muttered.
"That reminds me," Sasori added calmly. "We need to call a meeting- some of the stupider genin were talking about a 'secret group called Oto.' Orochimaru's getting a bit nastier, and it looks like he'll go for a power struggle."
"No way," Kisame said, impressed at the teacher's boldness. "He really wants this thing to come around, doesn't he?"
Itachi nodded. "I'll contact Hidan and Kakuzu during mathematics," he said calmly.
"Zetsu's in my history class," Kisame volunteered.
"I'll tell Rei-sama and Takikko-chan then," Sasori concluded as they reached the classroom door. They walked through just as the bell rang.
"Take your seats please," the professor said drily. "We have a lot to cover today." He waited till they were seated, and then asked the class, "What did you learn last night?"
The meeting convened after school in Rei-sama's classroom, as usual. It was the safest (so far) and most practical for the group's purposes.
Sasori was the second to last one there, due to his science teacher congratulating him on receiving a one hundred and seventy-six percent score on the most recent test. He had honestly tried to sneak out of the classroom, but she had called for him to stay after class two minutes before the bell rang.
He walked through the door pulling on the group's trademark- a black cloak with white-lined red clouds. "Urusai Rei-sama," he said quietly as the teacher who had founded the group looked at him. "I was caught up."
"Late, pretty-boy!" Hidan jeered. He picked up things like that from the American Embassy kids. Sasori ignored him and made for the table Kisame was sitting on, where the shark-like teen had moved over to make room for him.
"Takikko-chan isn't here yet either," Itachi pointed out coldly. It was a given that he did not much care for the Kusa chunnin. Hidan flapped a hand, dismissing the comment.
The member in question, sole female person in the group, came in. "Gomen nasai, sensei," Mizukame Takikko (1) said. She settled herself next to the other Kusa nin, Zetsu.
Rei-sama acknowledged her with a slight nod. He turned to the group and the smaller individual conversations ceased. "It has come to the attention of one of our members something curious. Sasori?"
The red-headed teen coolly recited what he knew. "During training today, I overheard some of the Suna genin discussing something to do with a 'secret group called Oto.' They went on to mention that it wasn't as exclusive as our group, Akatsuki, and that the leader promised power to followers."
"That's stupid," Zetsu said flatly. The golden-eyed boy looked disgusted. "Why is Orochimaru trying something now? It doesn't make sense."
"Unless he wants to get rid of us," Takikko pointed out, flicking her blue hair over her shoulder and out of her way.
"It's not possible though," Hidan argued. "We're too strong. You should know- you should all know- we're the best. The elite. The ones guaranteed to graduate with the highest honors and actually be begged for body guarding positions."
"Not necessarily," Kisame shot back. "I'm in you science class, and your scores aren't much to talk about."
Hidan glared at him. "That has nothing to do with anything," he grouched.
"Skill isn't a guarantee of safety," Itachi said disgustedly as he found a way that they could be crushed. "He can take us all out simply by bearing down by sheer numbers if he has enough."
Silence fell as the others digested this grim fact.
"That sucks," Kisame muttered finally, vocalizing what everyone else was thinking.
"Well," Rei-sama said thoughtfully. "Obviously we need a way to fight this new threat. I suggest getting some more members and going from there. I have researched a few students, and here are your assignments." The group waited expectantly.
"Zetsu, there is a Konoha genin of some promise. His name is Tobi. I want you to find him and talk to him about anything you can think of- gain his trust and bring him in if you think him worthy enough." He stopped and pulled a small booklet out that he handed to the Kusa nin. "These are his statistics in combat skills and studies, as well as background information. All you need to know is here."
He shuffled a few more papers around and procured three more booklets from under a stack of student reports. One he handed to Takikko.
"This is Masuda Yuri," he said. "Another girl, you'll be pleased to see. Not great at close quarters, but top of her class at genjutsu and some long-distance ninjutsu. She's from Ame, a second year chunnin like you. The book has more; read it carefully. I think she'll make a good addition."
He turned to Kisame and Itachi. "Another Konoha genin. His name is Uzumaki Naruto, an orphan probably half American. Incredibly brilliant despite the apparent lack of a brain. Slow on the uptake, he can be strangely creative in his tactics- I believe he beat his rival, your younger brother Itachi, by using an inventive trap that left the Uchiha hanging upside down by his ankles. He also has the nine-tail fox Kyuubi sealed in him. We need power like that.
"Sasori." The last booklet went to him. He opened it as Rei-sama began to talk. A picture showed a blonde-haired blue-eyed American looking teenager who stared dully out of the small frame.
"He's in Iwa. Just transferred here with his father- a major diplomat with a lot of influence. From America; more specifically, the state called California. He has a strange fighting style, and he took out the entire chunnin group using explosive clay. A quiet second year chunnin. Apparently, he's rather antisocial."
Sasori nodded, heart sinking slowly. He had a gaijin. That was just great. He didn't think they were bad, per say, but most were painfully ignorant.
"Alright, you know what to do," Rei-sama said. "Meeting over. I'm going home."
A/n- Whoo. And I'm going to bed.
Yes, another SasoDei fic. I just like them, they're a great couple. To the point, yes, another multichaptered fic. This idea has been banging at the back of my head for a while, so I'm finally writing it all down.
(1)- Mizukame Takikko is NOT, and I repeat, NOT a Mary Sue. She is merely a sort of other character. The only member not introduced in Akatsuki (besides the leader) is a blue haired person whom some people think is a girl. I just gave her a name, and possibly a personality.
Right now I'm playing off of the different schools in Japan. There are two types of schools there: traditional and international. Traditional are usually all Japanese, without any compensations for English speakers, whereas international are able to cope with a wider scope of nationality. I figured, let's have it at an international school, and we'll chuck Deidara in from the states. Huzzah.
Oh, and before I forget: "Gaijin" means foreigner. A lot of Japanese people hold a kind of contempt for foreigners- "stupid gaijin," "baka gaijin." They usually think you're a bit ignorant.
I'll explain the school system later, in another chapter… I'm too tired now.